#have a quick babs because I didn’t have a lot of time to draw today

[duketectivecomics]

You might've answered this already and I just didn't find it, but one thing that always perplexed me about Duke was how old he was in comparison to the other Batkids. It's obvious he's younger than Dick and Babs, and I pretty sure he's younger than Jason and Cass, and older than Damian, but I cannot tell if he's meant to be Tim and Steph's ages, younger, or older. Could you help me?

You’re all kinds of good here, anon!!! I answered a similar ask abt the Order of Adoption but didn’t dive into specific ages on that post BECAUSE well they didn’t ask lmaooo but ALSO:

Comic ages are very fluid usually! While Years™️ might pass in the canon proper, or while time seems to slow to a crawl, having a character’s age outright stated is something that occurs very rarely for most characters, if at all!

Because it’s always much easier to have a floating age range to work and play around in! It’s easier to keep a character Perpetually 12 or 16 or 25 or mid-40s or- you get the idea. SO, with that in mind. Let’s do our Best to Break Down What Age Duke Might Be Currently A N D how it might interact with the Other Batkids!

(Warning for a Very Long Post, lots of issue citations, and a LOT of comics terminology regarding specific runs/events/continunity. I’m gonna try to keep it as clear/concise as possible ofc but plz keep these things in mind! If you’re not at least marginally familiar with Bat-Comics, you might find yourself feeling a little lost here!)

So from the Zero Year arc we see a common Trend that plays out pretty consistently with Batfam comics: a Life-Changing Event Occuring while the protag is Young™️.

(Batman (2011) #30)

With how Duke is drawn in these particular issues, and given the trends of the past, I’d place him in the 8-12 range. The historic precedent being ofc that that is the same range that canon usually places both Bruce and Dick at for their Tragedies™; the more benign reason being that he... just very much Looks to be drawn in that Range. He’s very clearly an Older/Prepubescent child here.

Fast Forward to his Next Appearance in the Endgame arc and-

(Batman (2011) #37)

He’s definitely older! He’s wiser! And he’s giving Batman a fistbump lmao. Again, no strict age given here BUT, since they condensed each Robin to a Year or Two tops with Bruce (its n52 and its fucked up is what it is), we can assume it’s been at least 4-5 since Zero Year (which would mean if we go off the age range I proposed for that year, then theoretically he could be anywhere from 12-16 here, and I think that tracks pretty well. Not Perfectly and Certainly Not so well with Pre52 continuity ofc, but I’ll talk about that later!)

In We Are Robin, while its not stated Directly In The Text, it IS given as an Informational Tidbit that Duke is 16 (specifically this can be found at the end of issue #4)! (Sweet sweet canon confirmation FINALLY)

We know that WAR takes place Fairly Soon after Endgame (almost immediately, give or take a month or two given that Duke’s been placed in a few foster homes at this point and has racked up Quite A File) now, again id like to remind y’all that while this is a NICE starting point to have, keep in mind that comics are fluid and this may be retconned slightly/ignored in later stories bc Keeping Duke 16-ish is in DC’s Best Interest at the moment. (Having Relatable Teen Characters afterall is a Good Marketing strategy™️. And the longer they can Keep them Young, the Better)

With that in mind let’s take a moment to Highlight the fact that Duke and Damian have crossed paths at this point AND the storylines that have occurred during this year that were meant to be in conjunction with one another!

Because Prior to Endgame, Damian had Died! And just a year (in real, meat-space time) before We Are Robin, he was resurrected and had begun his “Year of Atonement” in the Robin: Son of Batman maxiseries. Midway through both this series and WAR (and, we can assume, midway thru this “Year” for Damian) the Robin War begins/ends and we see at least one major Moment between these two boys who will soon call one another brothers:

(Robin War #2)

Given that R:SoB is followed up VERY quickly by Teen Titans Rebirth (in which Damian celebrates his 13th birthday), we can conclude that Damian would be 12 during this time (well, 12 and 1/2 to play it safe lmao). That being said, this Confirms about a 4yr gap between Duke and Damian! (One Batkid down at least! but he’s the key to the others so put a pin in him!)

As We Are Robin draws to its conclusion, DC was releasing another arc that would eventually flow into the Rebirth Era, by the end of which, Bruce would approach Duke with an Idea (which involves Bruce becoming Dukes temporary guardian & as he states Many Times “Trying Something New” with Duke).

And thus the Rebirth Era begins, and Duke began his Year of training (most directly encapsulated by the Cursed Wheel arc in the All-Star Batman run:

(All-Star Batman #1 (back-up story))

Bruce introduces Duke to a training regimen that Alfred has named “the Cursed Wheel”. It encompasses all the training Bruce and the other bats have undergone and condenses it down into color-coordinated segments that will take Duke a Year to Complete.

It can be assumed that by the End of this Year Duke will somehow miraculously still be 16, despite, again, an entire ass year passing.

There’s one story that takes place mid-year in All-Star Batman, and the Cursed Wheel is meant to be capped off by Duke’s first Official Day as the Signal (in the titular Batman & the Signal ofc) BUT, near as I can tell after this story, Dukes age is not brought up again. So until they DO bring it up either in Batman & the Outsiders or whatever future run Duke becomes involved in, we can assume DC will be working with the idea that he’s meant to be in that 16-18 range from here on out (ie still a minor).

But, dear anon, you might be saying “okay, that’s cool, but how does that relate to my question abt how he falls in with the other Bats?” You’ll have to be a little patient with me here, but I think I may have cracked the code!

Keep in mind I’m gonna be addressing both the Post-Crisis to Flashpoint Continuity (ie mid-80s to 2010 in comics history) and the N52-slash-Rebirth Era (2010-Today). Its generally agreed by fandom and DC alike that these points of rebooting &/or Major Events constitute the era of “Modern” comics, and that everything from the 80s-on might more or less be canon on some level, even if not All of it is.

(Plus, most of fandom usually likes to borrow elements from both eras and much more rarely from stories before it, SO-)

Lets do a quick rundown of how everyone who’s Closer to Duke’s Age, Relates to each other first, age-wise:

Given that Jason was 15 when he died, in A Lonely Place of Dying its established that Bruce had become increasingly reckless since his death, and by the end of the story, Tim has stepped in to fill Robin’s shoes (he states that he’s 13 during this story btw). Pretty soon after, Stephanie Brown is introduced & established to be about a year older than Tim (wish I could pin-point a specific issue BUT, i unfortunately haven’t read any Tim OR Steph-involved comics that predate No Man’s Land... Besides the aforementioned Lonely Place and Young Justice technically, but im working on remedying that soon!)

NOW, during the No Man’s Land event, Cassandra is introduced, and pretty soon into her Batgirl run, its revealed that she’s around the same age as Jason (or at least how old he Would Have Been, had he not died.) Now, given that Jay has an August bday and Cass has a January one, fandom sometimes likes to play around with the idea of one being older than the other (OR even speculating/placing them in an AU as twins/siblings, given that Lady Shiva (Cass’ mom) was a Possible Candidate to be Jason’s biological mother but that’s a Whole Other Thing i wont get into here.)

The point being, Cass, in this era of comics, IS slightly older than Tim and Steph. At Tim’s start as Robin, their ages could either line up like: Tim-13, Steph-14, Cass-15 (being a few months ‘behind’ Jay), then Jason at 15/16 (depending on how soon Tim filled the role after Jay died in April) OR Jason-15/16, Cass-16/17 (in this case she’d be a few months ‘ahead’ now instead)

So brief detour to talk New 52, however! Because Tim, Steph & Cass all got switched around from where DC originally left them prior to the reboot! Now I haven’t read much of them in this era, other than Batman & Robin: Eternal, so my Understanding of their current ages is Spotty at Best. The general consensus seems to be that while before N52, Stephanie had been attending her first year of College (& doing VERY WELL i might add), with the reboot she was set back a few years alongside Tim to a vague Late-Teen state (so 16-18-ish, instead of a Very Clearly Established 18/19). Cass is probably the worst off for this reboot, given that B&R:E basically constitutes her new origin for the new continuity, and does nothing to confirm her age (all I really know is that she’s a Vague Late-Teen too... Probably? Maybe?), given how much they infantilize her, and subsequently how fandom in turn has taken to infantilizing her too, theres a semi-popular fanon that places her Younger that Tim and Steph. And I, for one, propose that we ignore that bc its Weak Sauce my dudes.

Some fans chose to ignore N52 continuity due to this vagueness, and will stick to the ages established before the N52/Rebirth reboots. But its something to keep in mind regardless bc we’re all obviously going to pull from what’s most familiar to us!

But WHERE could we place Duke with regards to them, then? Because them being “Late Teens” is certainly much too vague to work with!

This is Where Damian is the key!

Because Damian is one of those rare exceptions to the Reboot Rule. His story flowed almost seamlessly over from before to after. While he was made a Robin at the age of 10, he continued to grow and learn even after the universe was being rewritten to suit the whims of DC editorial. 

If we choose to ignore how everyone else’s ages and origins were swapped around, and stick with the growth that was presented before the reboot, then we can draw some interesting conclusions!

Firstly, though Stephanie also had Died and subsequently Returned, she hadn’t lost much, if any time, from the Ordeal. At the start of her Batgirl run, she is enrolled at a Gotham university and making headway with a more firm foot in the Batfamily (even to the point that she and Damian spend a few issues bonding. At this point in time, Damian is definitely 11, and again, Steph can be assumed to be 18/19 during the course of her run. We’ll assume 18 for clarity’s sake.)

So, then when Damian is 11, now our line up is as Follows:

Dami - 11, Steph - 18, Tim - 17, Cass 19-21 (the range depending again, if you subscribe to Cass being either older/younger than Jason).

WHICH MEANS, If during Robin War Damian is 12 (and a half) THEN We’ve got an age line-up that Potentially looks Like This:

Dami -12(and 1/2), Duke - 16, Tim - 18, Steph - 19, Cass - 20-22 (And Obvsly Jason, Babs & Dick at their varying Older Ages than everyone here)

and im just now realizing i Didnt include Harper in this line-up, but thats bc she’d also throw a big wrench in all this.  I’d personally throw her in with being Steph’s age, but I’m pretty sure she was supposed to be either that, or between Steph and Cass (again, since its N52, i believe Cass was/is assumed to be Younger than Steph, but that contradicts the assumed following of pre52 canon that we have for the above line-up, obvsly, and so we ignore that lmao) 

All this to say, however, that canon and fandom is what you make of it, and if you want to wiggle these ages around a little, you’re more than allowed! God Knows i usually like to skew the Tim-Steph-Cass age group to be a tad older than this in my own fic writing, and I like to have Duke start as a Robin at 14/15 instead of 16, but that’s just bc I like the dynamic potential it could bring with them being Definitively Older that him, and thus in a more secure place to be Mentoring him right alongside Bruce & the others.

But you might see these age ranges and want to do something Different (say, making Tim, Steph, Cass, & Duke all the Same Age at 17 instead! And that very well tracks with how current comics kinda looks right now!) and you’re absolutely valid to do so! Because again, comic character’s ages are meant to be fluid, not fixed!

And at the end of the day, its all about wanting to see these teen heroes kick serious ass haha

#duke thomas #guest starring: #batfamily #damian wayne #tim drake #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #randywrites #randys meta #meta #asked and answered #anonymous asks #this was A LOT and i tried to throw some humor where i could #but uhhhh yeah!!! i hope this helps anon!!! #also just realizing its TWO AM WHERE DID THE TIME GO #ah well. Worth It

[keichan]

Paint Me This

Request: DUDE I LOVE YOUR BLOG SM CAN I REQUEST KAGEYAMA X READER?? Liek the reader loves to paint and becomes manager because she knows Yachi and they fall in love and kags tries to confess and fails like the bab he is 🥺🥺? Fluff please!

A/N: AHHH THANK YOU SM! This is my first request ever! I don’t think that this is as fluffy as I wanted it to come out but I still enjoyed writing it 🥺I hope you like it

Genre: fluffffff, pinch of angst

WC: 2262

★Kageyama x Reader ★

”Y/N! I’m so glad you were able to come!” Yachi grinned, beckoning you to meet the team. It was you and Yachi’s second year at Karasuno and you have yet to meet her volleyball team she manages, though now was a better time than ever. Your club that you have attended for the last year had unfortunately shut down due to lack of members, but luckily your best friend was able to save your ass, per usual. Not only is it your first time meeting these guys, but your first managing gig as well 

“Yachi-san, who’s this?” A small, orange haired boy peeked between two of the taller members of the team, his mouth agape. A taller boy with bluish-black hair nudged him to silence.

“This is my friend, Y/N! Since our goal is nationals again, she’s here to help us out this seaon! So be prepared to see her more!.”

“A new manager?” Two boys practically yelled in harmony with each other.

Yachi giggled before nodding in agreement. She quickly turned it over to you for your self introduction.

“My name is L/N F/N. I’m a second year. I’m in class 2-3. Uhhh- I really enjoy painting in the courtyard during lunch so you can always find me there.” You laugh nervously at all the sets of eyes staring at you.

“Nice to meet you!” You said abruptly before dipping your body into a bow. As you drew your head your line of vision met with the tall bluish, black-haired boy from earlier. That’s when it clicked in your mind.

“Kanayama! We’re in the same class aren’t we?”

He automatically stiffened before nodding his head jerkily. A pink hue barely painted his features.

A tall blonde behind him snorted.

“Are you even going to say anything?”

“It’s Kageyama!” He stuttered.

“I’m so sorry!” You laughed rubbing the back of your head. You gave him a warm smile before breaking off to individually meet everyone else. Not before long, practice began. 

Kageyama and Hinata silently peered over your shoulder in the courtyard to see what you were painting today. With your headphones in, you quietly hummed to the rhythm and your brush strokes followed. 

He usually passed you everyday to see what you were painting, but today was the day that Kageyama accidentally lost his footing leaning forward and toppled onto your picnic table, rather hard. You jumped in your seat as the tall setter awkwardly regained his posture. He sent a glare to Hinata who instantly scurried away.

Kageyama cleared his throat and brushed off his pants.

“Sorry, I- uh was tryna see what you were painting there and I uh”

You quickly set down your brush to wave your hands.

“Don’t worry about it Kageyama-kun! You can help me judge this peace if you wanna! Go ahead and take a seat.” You absentmindedly patted the bench beside you.

He stepped his long legs over the bench before firmly sitting next to you. You presented a small canvas in  front of his face and his mouth morphed into a small ‘o’. It was the scenery of the mountains behind Karasuno high. He saw it everyday on his way home. It was a beyond perfect painting.

“Beautiful.” Was all he could manage.

“Me or the painting?” 

He froze in place before you nudged his shoulder playfully. Your eyes traveled from the painting to his with a smile so wide, your eyes squinted shut. “I’m just kidding, Kageyama-kun! Thank you!” 

A small shadow appeared on the boy's lips.

“Of course.”

Now that he thought about it, he meant you.

A month later, it has now been integrated into your schedule that Kageyama sits next to you at lunch time bearing a carton of milk for himself and a canned coffee for you. Some days he chose to paint with you, though his paintings never came out as well as yours, you definitely acted like they did. He was definitely becoming a prodigy in your world  as you were learning his. Anything that you mentioned you like, he’d attempt to paint. Meanwhile, he was more than happy to explain volleyball to you. Sometimes you’d pretend to not understand, only to see how happy he becomes when he gets to talk about what he is passionate about. You adored the setter with all of your heart.

Today the two of you sat against the wall of the school, with a sketchbook in your hand you were jotting down new ideas for personal projects when you felt a weight gently press onto your shoulder followed by a faint snore. Kageyama had passed out, though it made sense with the boys overexerting themselves for the upcoming game. With a faint smile on your face, you slid your phone out of your pocket to take a quick picture of him. He was precious, though it was definitely a  potential blackmail photo. You closed your sketchbook and rested your head atop of his until the bell rang.

Months later and the boys volleyball team had become your family to the extent that it felt like you’ve known each member for years. You knew their quirks, their antics, what made them tick. Especially Kageyama. If anything you’ve been spending more time with him than Yachi. You always put in extra hours to help him practice and study.  One could not be seen without the other. 

Though for the last two weeks you haven’t been at your usual place on the courtyard. When   Kageyama asked, you told him that you had supplementary lessons, though it didn’t make sense to him due to the fact that you have never struggled academically as far as he knew.  In fact, if he ever needed a tutor, you were always there to help him.

Now he handed you your daily canned coffee in silence at the start of each after school practice. Anytime he’d attempt to talk to you, you’d shy away and stutter nervously. If you wanted to blatantly avoid Kageyama after all this time, he was just hoping that you’d be a little more direct. After a while , he finally gave up on showing up to the courtyard for lunchtime

The evening breeze was chilling to the bone as the cold front rolled in. It was now late December and Kageyama was zipping up his jacket to begin his walk home. At the edge of campus he heard his name being called.

“Kageyama-kun!”

He turned on his heel to the sound of your voice with his heart beating rapidly. 

He stood in place until you ran up to catch him. 

“Kageyama-kun!” You panted. “I have something that I need to give to you

The setter dug his hands in his pocket with a blank stare on his face. He tilted his head. “Y/N-san, we’re about to go into winter break, I’m sure this can wait until we get back.” 

However he felt the opposite.

You were already digging through your bag before the words finished pouring from his mouth. With both hands on a canvas you presented it to him with your head dipped.

“Happy early birthday, Kageyama-kun!”

He carefully took the canvas from you and gazed at it with awe. It was a painting of him setting the ball. You perfectly captured his features. The face he always makes concentrating. The details on his fingers, his hair, his nose. Everything. It looked lifelike.

He studied it for minutes in pure amazement. It was one of the kindest things anyone had done for him. The joy in his heart was overwhelming.

“I’m so sorry that I’ve been distant from you lately, Kageyama-kun. I wanted to do something really special for you, though, I’m not good with painting people so I’ve been going to the art teacher’s classroom for lunch. I’m awful with secrets and surprises, so I apologize for acting the way I have I-”

You were pulled into a hug. Long arms wrapped around your body as Kageyama’s head buried into your neck. His warm breath tickling your skin against the cold.

“Thank you.” He mumbled. “I love it. You're the best.”

The compliments sounded odd rolling off of his tongue, but you couldn’t help but smile.

“So I’m forgiven?” You pulled away from his embrace, a sly smile resting on your lips, your faces inches apart.

“Of course, Y/N-san.”

Luckily for Kageyama, mother nature was on his side or else his face would be beet red.

He walked you to your home with many questions in his mind. The main one being how can he make you his?

You were startled to see Kageyama waiting at the gates, you figured that he’d be at the gym in the early morning with the spring interhigh right around the corner.

“Good morning!” He said with a smile painted on his lips. Slightly unusual, but you couldn’t help but mirror his expression.

“What’s got you in a good mood?”

He glanced over to you with the corners of his lips upturned. “So there’s this girl that I really like-” Your heart automatically sank to the ground, but you kept an eager expression on your face.

“I really want to ask her to get dinner with me at this place in town this weekend before we all leave for Tokyo. I think she’s super pretty, she helps me out in a lot of ways…” She must be so lucky to catch his eye. After all, a lot of girls at the school fawned over Kageyama Tobio. The two of you halted at your classroom door before he turned to you.

“Y/N, I really like-”

The morning bell rang.

You rest your hands over his and give him a reassuring smile.

“I’m sure she’ll say yes.”

You quickly walk into the classroom, leaving the setter with his chest aching.

“So, how’d it go?” Yachi popped in front of you as you silently flipped through the pages of your manager notebook, practice for the evening was finally drawing to a close.

“What?”

“Didn’t Kageyama-kun ask you out? He texted me that he was going to do it after break?”

“WHAT?” You shouted making the entire gym come to a screeching halt. Balls quickly thudded to the floor. You quickly used your notebook to shield your face from everyone else.

“Are you saying he didn’t?” She whispered as if the whole gym’s eyes weren’t on the two of you. 

“C’mon guys! Keep it moving!” Enoshita called. You lowered the notebook slightly only for his eyes to meet with yours briefly. With a nervous look on his face he quickly hustled back to his position on the court.

“He was talking about some girl he liked today!” You yelled in a hush whisper.

Yachi gasped. “That’s you! He really did try! Well it was the best he knew how to. And I’d like to say it’s obvious that you two like each other. I’m pretty sure the whole school knows”

Heat rushed to your face and you did your best to hide how flustered you were. Your eyes followed Kageyama as he played with the team.

“I thought I did my best to hide it.”

“I think your three-week long painting project of him kind of gave it away.”

“Shut up.”

After cleaning up, you waited at the stairs of the clubroom for Kageyama. At the top of the stairwell he paused before walking down and carefully tapped your shoulder.

“Y/N, I-”

“Kageyama-kun!” You turned to smile at him, nerves eating you alive.

“I-I just wanted to apologize for earlier. That was out of character for me-” he looked off into the distance with his hand messily running through his hair. “Just don’t worry about what I said I-”

You swiftly walk towards him taking the collar of his team jacket nervously in your hands. You catch his gaze and his speech slowly comes to a halt. You gently pull him down to your face to place your lips softly on his. Kageyama’s lips move slowly against yours as his hands travel quickly along your sides to cup your face delicately. He pulled away with his lips lingering on top of yours, his eyes searching your features for an answer to his silent question.

“I like you, Kageyama-kun. I really really like you. Sorry I misread your confession earlier, I… I uh kinda thought it was for someone else...”

A sheepish smile appeared on his lips as he leaned in to capture your lips once more. Your arms traveled around his neck to gently move into his hair while his hands moved down to hold your hips.

“Well I’m glad that’s cleared up now. Also, just call me Tobio.”

Your eyes twinkled as you studied his face.

“Give me another kiss, Tobio-chan!” 

“Get a room you two!” Tsukishima’s voice cut the atmosphere like a knife. Yamaguchi snickered behind him.

“Shut the hell-”

You grabbed his sleeve and gave it a slight tug. He smiled down at you before giving Tsukishima a scowl. Interlacing your hands together he began to walk you home. You waved goodbye to the boys before using your free hand to wrap around his arm.

You swung your intertwined hands marvelling at Tobio under the streetlights. The walk so far has been quiet, but calming. Suddenly Kageyama came to a halt, pulling you by his side.

“Y/N… Would you uh. Um… Be my- err- be my- uh-”

“Yes, Tobio.”

You quickly gave him a peck on the cheek before walking ahead of him. 

He grinned from ear to ear.

“Wait up!” 

#haikyuu!! #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu fanfiction #kageyama #kageyama tobio #kageyama x reader #kageyama x yn #kb takes on requests!

[linaofthemyscira]

Real Life Encounters Part 2

Pairing: MMA!Jason Todd/Torres x (fem!)Reader

Prompt: what if you met a real life Jason Todd? Amazing right? Here’s how it would go…

Words: 3093 (I KNOW THATS A LOT I SURPRISED MY OWN SELF)

Warnings: asshole creeps, foul language, ppl getting punched

A/N here’s part two because I really like this series! Who doesn’t like thinking of the possibility of a real life Jason Todd and batfam? Also I gave you a Latina best friend because they’re really nice.

The day after, aka the day of Jason’s fight, you had an incredibly busy day at the big expo the company you worked for was holding. You started at 6:00 am and now you were getting off at 6:00 pm. A whole twelve hours running around a hotel, sitting in various lectures, one of which was a TED Talk, participating in activities with your coworkers.…needless to say, you were exhausted.

You walked down the steps of the hotel that hosted the expo with your best friend at work, Wendy De La Vega, dressed down and ready to go out to eat.

“Twelve hours. We’ve been running around for twelve hours and I’m ready to collapse on the bed,” you told Wendy.

“Same but I haven’t had anything to eat for 6 hours I’m so hungry,” Wendy replied.

Around that time, Jason was coming around the corner with a few flowers to surprise you with. Since the night before, he hadn’t been able to get you out of his head, and spent the rest of his night coming up with ways to impress you the next day. His eldest brother told him flowers, not a full bouquet, but 5 roses would be enough to make you smile.

As Jason turned the corner, he saw you and your friend coming down the steps and quickly moved toward you to catch you before you got too far away.

“Hi,” he said as he suddenly approached you and Wendy. You were taken by surprise and gaped up at Jason in shock. What was he doing here?

“Hey!” you said, finally finding the words to say. Wendy, whose jaw was dropped, was looking back and forth between you and Jason. How on earth did her best friend know a guy like him?

“What are you doing here?” you asked Jason. His heart fell a bit; you had forgotten about his match today.

“ I came to pick you up for my fight,” he explained. You suddenly remembered last night’s events and you widened your eyes in realization.

“Oh my gosh that’s right! I’m so sorry, today has been hectic, I’ve worked for nearly 12 hours,” you told him. Jason nodded in understanding.

“That’s fine, I just hope you don’t have plans…” he trailed off.

“No! She has no plans! Y/N, mija, go!” Wendy gestured to Jason.

“But dinner…?” you asked her.

“We can get it tomorrow! Don’t worry about it! Now go!” Wendy said.

“You can come too if you want,” Jason told Wendy. She looked up at him in surprise.

“I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll have to pass. Besides, you made plans with Y/N, not Y/N and Wendy.” Wendy brushed it off. As you began to protest, Wendy lightly pushed you straight into Jason to make you go with him, and walked back into the hotel, waving goodbye.

Jason had absentmindedly put his hand on the small of your back to steady you when you nearly crashed into him, but quickly removed it because he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. After you stepped away from him a bit, you looked up at him with a smile.

“Looks like it’s just us,” You shrugged sheepishly. He gave you a warm smile in return and decided it would be a good time to give you the roses.

“I got you these” he pulled the flowers out from behind his back. Your eyes widened at the roses, but your shocked expression soon faded into a soft smile. A blush crept onto your cheeks and you looked down to hide it away.

“Thank you,” you took the flowers from him.

“You’re welcome,” he said.

“We should…probably get going,” you looked up at him again.

“We can swing by a nearby restaurant if you want something to eat,” he suggested. “My fight isn’t for another hour and a half.”

“That would be phenomenal,” you beamed.

And with that, Jason whisked you away to get some food, which, in fact is the true way to the heart.

After getting a quick bite, Jason took you to the venue he was fighting at. It wasn’t terribly small, but it wasn’t an arena either. He took you in through the back, because it was the quickest way to the fighter’s “areas”.

Jason led you down a few halls before opening a door into a large room full of people you didn’t know. They all greeted him warmly and then turned to you.

“And who are you?” One of the men asked. It wasn’t in a rude way at all, as if you weren’t supposed to be there. He was curious as to who this girl was, standing next to his big, brute, hulking brother.

“Uhhhh……my name is Y/N. A friend of Jason’s,” you introduced yourself.

“Jay, is this the one you were talking about?” The man suddenly turned to Jason. Jason’s eyes widened and started gesturing for the man to cut it out.

“Shhhh!”

“The one who you saved–”

“Shhhhhhh!”

“–from the bar–”

“ShhhHHHHHH”

“–last night? Huh? Is this her?”

“Would you please shut the hell up?!” Jason hissed at the man. You looked down at your feet and blushed in slight embarrassment. Now you knew he talked about you.

“I just wanna know,” the man said.

“Yes, okay? Yes that’s her,” Jason said irritatedly.

“Ahhhhh, well, Y/N, the name’s Dick. Nice to meet you. I’m Jason’s older adoptive brother,” he introduced himself. You blinked at Dick a few times in shock. Dick…older adoptive brother…black hair…blue eyes…toned build. What on earth is going on?

“I’m Tim, Jason’s younger adoptive brother,” another black-haired, blue eyed boy stepped up and offered his hand. You shook it and looked around the room. There was a young boy with, you guessed it: black hair and blue eyes and a red-head girl as well.

“I’m Barbara. You can call me Babs,” The girl said.

“Damian. You can call me Damian.” The young boy followed.

“Nice to-nice to meet you all,” you said, completely amazed at the people standing before you. Not only was Jason Todd–well his name was now Jason Torres–real, but his siblings were as well. And Bruce? What about him? You’d have to find out.

“Nice to meet you too. Jay tells me you’re not from around here. Where are you from? Bludhaven?” Dick asked you.

“Excuse me?” You asked.

“Okaaaay, not from Bludhaven then.” Dick raised his eyebrows and backed away a bit.

“No no, did you just say Bludhaven?” You asked him.

“Yeahhh, Bludhaven, New Jersey? It’s Gotham’s sister city?” Dick asked as if the answer was obvious.

“Oh, right,” you nodded. This was getting more and more weird by the second.

“So where are you from?” Damian asked.

“I’m from [state]. I’m here for a business trip,” you explained.

“Oh, I see. Where do you work?” Tim asked. Just like that, Jason’s family had made you one of their own as they asked questions about you. You gladly answered them, but soon you got overwhelmed by all of the attention.

“Hey hey, guys, calm down, you’re freaking her out, give her some room to breathe,” Jason stepped in. His family immediately stopped asking questions and backed off a bit.

Suddenly, a knock was heard on the door and the focus was off you and on the door.

“Yeah?” Jason said loudly. A woman with a headset and a clipboard peeked her head in the room.

“Mr. Torres, you’re on in 15 minutes.” She informed. Jason nodded his head and the lady closed the door. Almost immediately, Jason’s family swarmed Jason and started taking off Jason’s jacket and shirt, getting his wraps and mask and everything to prepare him for the fight. You stood near the door awkwardly, not really knowing what to do with yourself.

Jason half turned to you and spotted you at the door and sighed.

“Dick, could you take Y/N to our seats?” He asked his brother.

“Huh? Oh sure. I’ll be right back,” Dick said and walked over to you.

“Hey! Y/NNNNN,” he drawled out your name. “I’m gonna take you to our seats.”

You looked up Dick with a warm smile, “Thank you so much.”

Dick opened the door and led you out in the hall again. He led you through the maze of halls and out to the arena, which was actually quite large and looked like an actual, televised UFC fight would be held there. You stopped in your tracks to admire how nice it looked and the massive amount of people in it.

“Woah, what is the capacity in this place?” You asked, looking around in awe.

“Uhhh, I’d say about 5,000?” Dick put his hands on his hips, one leg popped out, like a sassy pose.

“5,000 people? Seriously?” You asked him.

“Yup. But only like 3000 are coming to this tonight,” he shrugged it off and started walking again.

“Well that’s still a lot! That’s more than half of the arena!” You exclaimed and scurried after him.

“What, you don’t like people?” Dick asked as he stopped in front of a row of seats.

“No no, I just didn’t expect this to draw such a large crowd. People in Gotham like fighting don’t they?” You asked.

“No no, Gothamites like watching fights not fighting; there’s a difference.” Dick explained.

“Oh, right,” you looked down awkwardly.

“Well here are our team’s seats. Front row, super high quality.” Dick motioned to the chairs before you. You sat down in one and lightly gasped. It had a cushion.

“These are so comfy!” You smiled.

“Hey Ken doll! Can ya move please!” A man behind you with a southern drawl yelled at Dick. Dick blinked at the man a few times before rolling his eyes and looking back at you.

“I gotta go, but once Jay comes out, the rest of us will join you. Sit tight for now,” Dick said. You nodded, and Dick left you alone in the front row.

For about ten minutes, you sat in your seat, scrolling through your phone and wishing you had a snack when suddenly all the lights in the arena turned off.

“Oh my fuck what is happening? Is it a massacre?! A kidnapping?! What the hell?” You thought to yourself.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME!!” An announcer came on over the sound system. You sighed in relief. The announcer made a few more announcements before introducing.

“HE’S LEAN, HE’S MEAN AND A FIGHTING MACHINE! IIIIIITTTTSSS TWOOOOO FAAAAACCEEE!” The announcer said. One whole section of the arena cheered for the fighter. You watched as a man, with his fists raised in the air and a whole half of his face painted a reddish-purplish color, stepped into the ring. His posse went and sat in their section.

“AND NOW, THIS ROOKIE, THIS RISING STAR HAS GOT A MEAN HOOK AND IS 225 POUNDS OF MUSCLE, IT’S THE RED HOOOOOOOD!” The announcer said with more enthusiasm. Jason, with a dark red domino mask over his eyes, sauntered toward the ring, Dick, Tim, Damian and Babs flanking his sides with their own domino masks. After Jason entered the ring, his family joined you in the seats next to you.

You looked around in slight confusion. Was this normal? Wearing domino masks? You had forgotten what Jason told about mask-usage in the ring the night before.

The referee brought Jason and “Two-Face” a few feet apart from each other and stated the rules. He clapped both on the back, stepped away from the two and blew his whistle to signal the start of the match.

Two-face immediately lunged for Jason, but Jason quickly evaded the lunge and went to the other side of the ring and brought his fists up to protect is face and got into an offensive fighting stance.

Round One was a bit slow, a few blows here and a few there but not much happened.

Round Two got more interesting; Two-Face managed to pin Jason to the floor and nearly strangled him. You stood up in concern, watching as the referee pulled Two-Face off of Jason and made some signals. Jason slowly got up from the ground and rubbed his neck.

“Time-out!” He shouted at the referee. Since it was the first time-out, the ref gladly let it happen. As the ref signaled a time-out, Dick, Babs, Tim and Damian all leaped out of their seats and ran into the ring, holding a stool, a Gatorade water bottle, a towel and a bucket. You quickly scurried after them into the ring and into Jason’s corner.

As you approached Jason, he stopped Dick from continuing whatever he was saying and focused on your figure. You knelt down on one knee and placed your hands on Jason’s knees.

“Hey, are you okay?” You asked him, your tone laced with worry. Jason looked off to the left and nodded.

“Hey hey,” you got his attention again, “no you’re not. That man almost choked you to death. Don’t lie to me. It’s okay not to be okay. Listen, you go out there and kick his ass. I know you can do it. Got it?”

Jason glanced up and saw Two-Face across the ring in his corner, who was licking his lips at you. You hadn’t noticed since you were talking to Jason, but something in Jason ignited as he saw Two-Face checking you out. He hated it. He wanted to rip Two-Face’s dumb smirk off his face.

“Hey! Jason!” You caught his attention again.

“Yeah, I got it.” He said through gritted teeth as he continued glaring at Two-Face.

“Look at me.” You said. Jason tore his gaze away from Two-Face to look into your hues. “You can do this.” You said to him. You had only known him for one day but you meant what you said. A spark was created the night before, and your words fanned the flame.

Jason nodded his head in understanding and chewed the inside of his cheek nervously.

“Time-out over!” The ref shouted over the screaming fans. You and Jason stood up simultaneously and his family dashed out of the ring and back to their seats. You quickly stood on your tippy toes and kissed his cheek, then joined his family in the audience. Jason was a little surprised at your display of affection but shook it off and went back to the middle again.

The referee blew his whistle again and round two began again. You watched intently as Jason dodged jabs and hooks left and right, got in a few light crosses of his own and then it happened.

He ducked one jab and pivoted away, put his leg around Two-Face’s and tripped him backwards. While Two-Face was falling, Jason took the opportunity to punch him across the face, knocking Two-Face out cold.

Two-Face fell to the floor, completely out. The referee gestured that the fight was over and held up Jason’s arm to signify he won. The crowd went wild. Gotham’s new MMA “rookie” had won yet another fight.

You stood up with a smile and clapped happily. Jason yanked his hand from the referee as they opened the cage and ran out to you. As soon as he reached you, he picked you up by your waist and spun you around in a circle. When he put you down, he pulled you into a hug. However since he was significantly taller than you, your feet dangled off the floor.

“You did it!” You exclaimed as you pulled away from the hug, but still in his strong embrace.

“Yeah I did!” He said joyously, looking into your eyes. Jason got lost in your eyes, he couldn’t help it; they were so mesmerizing. You beamed at him and looked into his own eyes. It seemed as if the world…slowed down around you two. Like the only person you could see…was Jason. But you liked that feeling. It felt good. It made you happy.

And then it disappeared as you came back to reality, Jason getting swarmed by reporters and you getting pushed away. Dick, Babs and Tim put themselves in front of Jason and told the reporters to back off and back up. In a few seconds, you lost Jason among the horde of reporters and fans who had come to greet him.

You stood there alone, awkwardly shifting from each foot as the swarm followed Jason back into the locker rooms.

You picked up your bag and went up the stairs out to the main exit instead of the locker rooms. Hopefully the night wasn’t over.

Fortunately, your wish came true. Jason and his family picked you up at the front and took you to a nice restaurant to celebrate his win. Then, he decided to take you back to your hotel by himself.

When you approached your hotel door, you sighed.

“Well. This is my stop,” you stated the obvious.

“Yep.” Jason nodded his head. You two stood outside the door together for a few minutes in silence before you said something.

“Tonight was really fun,” you smiled softly at Jason.

“I’m glad you thought that. I know it wasn’t really a first date but maybe while you’re still here, I can take you out on one.” Jason chuckled as he leaned against the wall on the side of his crossed arm. You blinked at Jason a few times and then nodded.

“I’d like that.” You told him.

“I’ll pick you up at 8:00 tomorrow.” He told you.

“Ooh, tomorrow’s not good, my coworkers and I planned a dinner already.”

“Lunch then?”

“Also…busy…day three of the expo…”

“Then two nights from now.”

“Perfect.” You finally were able to get a date situated.

“Perfect.” Jason repeated and smiled down at you.

You quickly got your keycard out and swiped it on the handle. You opened the door to the room and found it dark.

“Well, goodnight. I guess I’ll text you tomorrow?” It came out as more of a question.

“Yeah. You have a goodnight too, Y/N,” he said and leaned down to kiss your cheek, returning it from earlier.

As you stood in shock at Jason’s simple action, he left you alone in the doorframe. You quickly snapped out of it and went into your room and closed the door. You took off your shoes and put up your purse.

It then hit you that Jason asked you on a date and boy were you happy.

“YESSSSSS!”

TAGGING:

@just-a-girl-maybe @saltyteengirl @ioczurma @avengerdragoness@crazymangaluv @wynterrobin @dc-hoe @hellomgann1296 @redhoodshood @pertaterswithcheese

#Jason Todd #jason todd x reader #real life jason

[totesmccoats]

Saga #48

We catch up with Ghus, Squire, Upsher, and Doff as they starve on Quietus, waiting for the protagonists to return with supplies. Things are desperate enough for Upsher to consider eating Friendo, and so Ghus decides to take Squire hunting for a Dreadnaught – an invisible apex-predator that only Squire can see; well, he can see it’s innards.

Ghus, with his trusty “chopper,” leads Squire, armed with a bow, on his first hunt into the woods; and Squire asks him about his connection to Friendo and if he’s ever had to kill a person before. But, before things can get too deep, the duo are attacked by the Dreadnaught, which is only seen by Squire as a brain and eyes on top a pile of guts and veins. The creature breaks Ghus’ chopper, meaning Squire has to make the kill-shot. He looks into the Dreadnaught’s eyes…and he can’t do it.

As the two go home the next morning, empty handed, they notice smoke from their camp, and are in for quite a surprise.

I think this might be the first time that BKV and Staples end the arc with a palette cleanser, or at least not, you know, Kalima. Nobody dies; there are no sudden cliffhangers; everything is just kinda, nice. And Staples killed it with the Dreadnaught design, a pile of innards ambling around like some sort of gorilla is creepy as heck. It also appears that there’s been another brief time-skip in this issue, so next arc should fill us in on that. But we know of one very important development – fidget spinners exist in Saga now.

  Amazing Spider-Man #790

Peter and Harry have gone around the world, liquidating Parker Industry assets and apologizing to everyone the closing of the company hurts. They finish Pete’s apology tour by selling their most prized asset, the Baxter Building. But, tired of all the crap he’s getting as Peter, he decides to escape for a while as Spider-Man, taking pictures with his once-again fans, playing skip-rope with some girls, helping little old ladies with groceries, that sorta thing.

But, he’s got to bite this bullet eventually. Unfortunately, Pete’s not the only one mad he has to sell the Baxter Building. Johnny Storm is steamed about his old home going up for sale. And Pete, tired of not being cut any slack, boils over and decides that if Johnny wants a fight, he’s got one.Additionally, Clayton Cole – Clash – wants ownership of all of his work he did for PI, and is willing to steal it back. And his henchmen have plans of their own.

Christos Gage knocks out another issue as the series’ pinch-script writer, filling this book with sharp quips and just enough dialogue to keep the issue moving at a great pace, including the top-half of a spread long montage of Spidey goofing off. Immonen, Gracia, and von Grawbadger continue their run as one of the best art teams on superhero books today, with a distinct cinematic approach; and von Grawbadger in particular does some spectacular work with the Human Torch and how he acts as essentially a second sun, making everything around him seem that much blacker in comparison.

  Black Panther #166

Klaw has found a way to enhance his abilities by using Reverbium, and plans to ascend to godhood through Vibranium. He reveals himself as the voice in the ear of Wakanda’s previous threats over the run of the series so far, uniting Stane, Faustus, and Zenzi under his cause; and convincing the people of Azania that he is their new god.

The motivation behind Klaw’s latest efforts: the memory of his sister, who was lobotomized after having been beaten by their father and because she heard voices – voices that Klaw had always believed were real as well.

I got a really strong B:TAS Mr. Freeze sense from this issue, most likely because it’s the story of a scientist who was irreversibly transformed into a non-human by the product of their own research, and is motivated by the loss of a woman they loved. And being that Klaw is made up of semi-solid-sonics, it would even make sense that his voice would have the same reverb effect as Mr. Freeze. Well, the issue was fun to read with that voice in my head, in any case.

Unfortunately, the art in this issue just doesn’t stand out, mostly because so much of it takes place in gray hallways in Alaska. Klaw is still just a fun character to look at, because frankly he looks ridiculous; one of the worst-aged silver age character designs in my opinion, with his dumb satellite dish hand and featureless red and purple mannequin body.

  Batgirl #16

In flashback, Barbara and Dick drop in on some hackers that Ainsley used to work with, who tell them that they kicked her out of their group for designing nanobot-based drugs for the Mad Hatter. They find Ainsley shortly after and tail her to what ends up being an addicts-anonymous meeting, where they find out that she didn’t know she was designing drugs, and is a recovering addict herself. And after learning all this heavy information, Babs and Dick release some of their own emotional tension.

In the present, Batgirl and Nightwing follow the trail of bodies to a rehab clinic that Ainsley once checked into, but find it already under attack by the Red Queen’s tripped-out henchmen. Luckily, Babs remembers a way to hack the nano-drugs into making their victims docile. And afterwards, digging through the hospital records, they make three unfortunate discoveries: 1. Ainsley died of an overdose, homeless and alone; 2. She has a sister, now with the proper motivation and tools to become the Red Queen; and 3. They just let her slip through their fingers.

As with the earlier issues in the arc, the main draw for me is seeing the evolution in Dick and Barbara’s relationship, both as crimefighters, and as a couple. While there are a couple of quick fight scenes in the issue, Dick/Babs get a lot more mileage in their cases by simply sitting down with people and talking to them. Also by breaking HIPAA and digging through medical records, but hey – who hasn’t done that once or twice?

Wildgoose does a lot with smaller details in their pencils; things like younger Barbara kicking her legs as she sits with Dick on the edge of a building, or the anime-girl posters in the hackers’ apartment. And I’m really enjoying Lopes’ colors on this book, giving everything the impression of softer lighting – moreso in the flashbacks of course, giving a more washed-out effect to those scenes – while still saturating the primary and secondary reds, blues, purples and greens in the duo’s costumes enough to make them pop.

  Wonder Woman #33

Whoever it was that came up with Kid-Darkseid, Johns, Snyder, or Robinson; give them a medal. Kid-Darkseid is hilarious and I love him. I hope he doesn’t grow up too fast – they always do though, don’t they?

This issue is entirely from Grail’s perspective, as she goes around the world, killing the the Greek Gods to provide the energy to grow her baby Darkseid big and strong. But a mother worries: will he be evil enough? Feared enough? That’s not a joke, that’s in Grail’s narration in the book, and it’s darkly hilarious that even when you’re trying to raise the worst kid in the multiverse, you have parental fears that you’re gonna somehow screw up. Kinda reminds me of raising dark chao in SA2.

It’s also interesting for this story to fill in what exactly all these demi-gods have been doing with their immortality on Earth, which is overall, not much. Perseus became a Wall Street bro; others became librarians, fishermen, bears…like, just normal bears. Wonder Woman is the only one who it seems decided to do something good with her powers; likely because she was raised by the Amazons with a strong sense of moral justice.

  Nightwing: The New Order #3

Kate Kane gives orders to the Crusaders not to engage with the captured Dick Grayson in the slightest. One of them disobeys, asking if he’d at least like a glass of water, and Dick takes his opening to escape capture and begin looking for Jake. He goes to one of his oldest allies, Tim Drake, who hacks into the government files to find that they’re bringing Jake to a stasis facility in Central City. But before he heads there, Dick goes to Gotham to gear up. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to break into the Bat-cave, with it having been turned into a Batman museum shortly after Bruce died; but there are still sub-basements that only members of the family have access too. He grabs his old Nightwing gear and rides to Central City before being stopped by one old friend, and saved by a couple more. Congratulations. If you placed your bets on this story going Minority Report, collect your no-prize up front. Come to think of it, old-Dick even kinda looks like a taller Tom Cruise. The issue has the same pacing as that style of action movie, too; cutting from location to location; moving from action beat to exposition beat and ending on an action beat. The story has seemed to stray from the initial “Nightwing, but if fascist” angle, but that may be for the best. And it’s still there in softer strokes. The Bat-Cave museum, for one, is a genius bit of world-building; but smaller even, is that Tim reminds Dick that he was right to set the world on this path, despite what’s happening to his son. The desire to preserve order, any order, is a powerful one, despite the harm it could bring to even family members. The same applies to Kate’s reaction to Alfred’s death. It’s a personal loss, but not worth rocking the boat over. Plus a lighter touch really is just more fun, especially with a character like Nightwing, who was never as dark as other members of the Bat-family. McCarthy’s layouts continue to be awesome at conveying movement across the page. He uses non-traditional panel layouts, non-rectangular shapes, and overlappingoverlapping to match an action director’s camera motions: pans, zooms, cuts, etc.There are almost no gutters in the issue, as panels bleed into the next, making the issue feel fast and kinetickinetic.

Comic Reviews for 10/25/17 Saga #48 We catch up with Ghus, Squire, Upsher, and Doff as they starve on Quietus, waiting for the protagonists to return with supplies.

#batgirl #black panther #dc comics #klaw #marvel #nightwing #saga #spider-man #the new order #wonder woman