#i think pamela would still call herself Poison Ivy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

unfortunate-brat · 3 years

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i kno this starts after my bday but idc, its still my birth month 😤, and i wanna spread tht bday love mkay, so

how would your fave celebrate the reader’s birthday? idk this could be a blurb or a rant i forgot the fruits for each fjsjfnns

BIRTHDAYS WITH PAMELA ISLEY

Pairing: Poison Ivy x F!Latina!Reader

Word Count: 637

Warnings: Fluff, MD/LG dynamics, implied Lactation!Kink, Ivy being a very nice caregiver

A/N: I had debated on which fave of mine but chose to try someone new from my usual.

DO NOT COPY MY WORK OR INTERACT IF YOU’RE A MINOR ! SUPPORT MY WORK WITH A REBLOG AND YOUR COMMENT ATTATCHED IF YOU ENJOYED IT ! NO AGE IN BIO MEANS IF YOU LIKE/INTERACT YOU’RE BLOCKED! NO POSTS? BLOCKED! IF YOU’RE A MINOR? BLOCKED!!!!

It’s different having a super villain as your partner, they’ve got different things to do in order to achieve their goal, for Ivy it was for plants to regain control of the Earth. Rid the world of humans to just nature, what once had been before the first cave man. Though she’d keep Y/N, her beautiful girlfriend who often listened to her rants but never saw her any different.

To the woman who viewed her not as some criminal, but a woman trying to do something good. Be environmentally healthy by disposing the toxic lifestyle every human lived by, oh how Ivy hated it and didn’t expect anyone to give it up yet found Y/N.

And for that, the inhuman wishes to say thank you in the best way possible.

It’s not even sunrise when she starts preparing, decorating an entire room in the botanical gardens they called home with various flowers, Jasmine, Cherry Blossoms, Lily’s, Tulips, whatever looked aesthetically pleasing. Toss in some poisonous ones too, those always made a nice touch.

Don’t worry though, Y/N has gotten a shot which prevents her from being harmed by Ivy’s toxic kiss or her plants. The woman could never forgive herself if anything happened to her precious flower.

Once the room had been decorated, she checks on Y/N. Still fast asleep in their bedroom area, an arm reaching out for Ivy. Though there’s still much to do, she goes back to bed so her petal wouldn’t wake alone.

Bringing her close as Y/N’s lips smacked together, hand moving to Ivy’s chest. “ I’m right here my little flower,” Pulling down her top, she lets Y/N suck on her breast, getting that comfort needed to fall into a deep sleep once more.

Later on though, as they both wake up Ivy is ready to start again. Harley’s stopped by to take her out, which should raise some eyebrows but the former doctor knows that if anything were to happen, she’s plant chow.

Now onto the cake, Ivy knows her little petal’s favorite is chocolate. Unfortunately it’s the cheesecake version and the last thing the woman wanted was to go to the store and buy it. Or even worse, go to the restaurant that sold it and purchase the dessert.

She doesn’t like to deal with humans, but someone’s ought to do it.

So an hour goes by and Ivy’s gifted the cake by a stranger, completely under her control after a kiss to the cheek. “ Thank you Andy, now go home and sleep.” The woman didn’t want to piss Batman off either so it’s best to stay under the radar.

Now with the cake, and it’s put in the fridge, she starts making the finishing touches.

Earlier Y/N wore a floral dress that her girlfriend had made, which also served to protect her should an accident happen but it was quite pretty.

Though those dresses weren’t the only ones, others were placed in gift boxes made of plants, or non blossomed flowers because why use paper when it’s littered everywhere? Ivy didn’t want to contribute so it took some creative thinking at first but she’s got it handled.

Now with the gifts ready to go, Ivy decides to get ready herself. Designing a green dress which made her look like some 1950’s housewife but that style was a secret guilty pleasure of hers.

There was food prepared and a birthday waiting to be celebrated, so when Y/N was dropped off, a little giggly but content, Ivy knew it would be a good one. “ Happy Birthday my little petal.” She kisses her girlfriend sweetly as the plants wrap around Y/N’s legs. They too have also come to love her. And this one, she’ll never forget, until next year. Ivy loved to spoil her precious petal very much so.

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#A Very Fruity Sleepover asked answered !!#Poison Ivy x F!Reader #Poison Ivy x Reader #Poison Ivy x Latina!Reader #lactation!kink #fluff #poison ivy fanfiction #poison ivy fluff

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mcheang · 3 years

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Where did I go wrong?

Prompt I got from @amethyst-geek : Mrs. Rossi is under the impression that the various Kubdel and Cesaire akumas r still running around (and that the girl Pharaoh decided to sacrifice, successfully so according to Lila, is a seperate person from Lady Wifi) when she runs into Mr Kubdel and Marlena Cesare (who ran into each at the store by chance).

When Mrs Rossi does have some free time, she enjoys visiting tourist spots with her daughter. In order to prevent her mother from meeting her class, Lila lies that akumas such as the Pharoah and Lady Wifi are still haunting the Louvre and Le Grand Paris. So they instead visit places like the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe.

That doesn’t mean Mrs Rossi is blind to the advertisements of why you should eat the dishes by Chef Cesaire or visit Mr Kubdel’s latest exhibit.

When the class bake sale is coming up, the students had agreed to bake together and share costs. And Mr Kubdel and Mrs Cesaire have the same favorite store that specialises in baking ingredients.

Meeting each other, they know they are probably buying the same things and decide to shop together. Besides, they can probably make use of the buy 2 get 1 free discounts or such like.

Mrs Rossi was also there (not for the bake sale. Like Lila would wanna help Marinette bake. But to make some old family recipes that required certain ingredients you can’t normally find in a supermarket)

So when Mrs Rossi’s trolley bumped into theirs, she immediately recognized curator and chef.

Mrs Rossi: oh hello. You’re Mr Kubdel the museum curator, and Chef Cesaire from Le Grand Paris, yes?

The two adults exchange glances. “Yes, that’s us. And you are?”

Mrs Rossi exclaimed. “Oh nobody. Well, I mean, I had come here from Italy and I was looking forward to visiting your museum and your restaurant. But before i could, I had learned about the akuma attacks. I’m so sorry.”

Mr Kubdel sighed. “Don’t worry about it. That’s what Ladybug’s miraculous cure is for. I shudder to think of the cost of damaged artefacts.”

Mrs Cesaire: tell me about it. My daughter actually attacked the daughter of my boss just because she was following a scoop. Never mind following her suspension for invading the girl’s privacy. I’m lucky to still have my job!

Mr Kubdel: I know how you feel. Jalil is my son, but I don’t know where he gets his stories from. And to think he wanted to break rules for a crazy theory of his.

Mrs Cesaire: to think, all this could have been avoided if our children were more practical. I mean, how could she think blond Chloé the bully could be raven-haired Ladybug?

Mr Kubdel: or if my son had bothered to make a credible history team and submit a proper proposal to the board, maybe our reputations as parents wouldn’t be so bad.

Mrs Rossi: I’m sorry. But the akumas are your children? I didn’t know. I apologize for my words.

Chef Cesaire waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s fine. These days, you’re bound to meet someone related to an akuma incident at least once a week.”

Mrs Rossi: I’m amazed at your composure, Chef. I would have thought you would be more devastated about your daughter’s akumatization and her absences from home.

Chef: I try to stop her from running out to film the akumas, but somehow she just evades my grasp, usine twins as a distraction.

Mr Kubdel: at least, Jalil has a blog of his own to spout out his stories. Better he find listeners there than in my museum.

Mrs Rossi: the Pharoah has a blog?

Now both adults were frowning at her.

Mr Kubdel: I know you’re not from here, but to call my boy by his akuma name is really rather rude. It’s like calling the reformed Pamela Isley Poison Ivy, like you can’t forgive her crimes and give her a second chance.

Mrs Rossi: isn’t he still akumatized?

At that, both adults brought out their phones. “There’s nothing about a new akuma on the app. When did you hear about his akumatization?”

Mrs Rossi was baffled by their response. “Months ago, by my daughter Lila.”

Mr Kubdel laughed. “Oh, you had me worried there. Maybe you need to read up on your akumas more because akumatizations last less than a day. Jalil has only been an akuma for 3 hours at most.”

Mrs Rossi didn’t understand. That can’t be right.

Meanwhile, Chef Cesaire looked at her Italian feature and considered her words. “By any chance, is your daughter Lila Rossi?”

Startled, Mrs Rossi shifted her focus to the Chef. “Yes. How did you know that?”

Raising an eyebrow at her ignorance, Chef Cesaire replied, “Because she’s been helping me babysit my twin daughters whenever Marinette can’t make it.”

Mrs Rossi took a step back. None of this was making sense. Lila said she was friends with Alya, but if Alya was Lady Wifi, she can’t have been akumatized for months! And Marinette was the school bully, how could Alya be friends with her?

Or, her mind whispered, how can you believe anything your daughter says?

Unable to think of a proper response, Mrs Rossi politely excused herself. “Pardon moi, I need a moment to reflect on what you have just told me.”

The other two politely rolled their trolleys on, silently agreeing that while they need to be stricter with their children, at least they knew what was wrong.

Mrs Rossi found an abandoned aisle and quickly leaned against the shelf, her legs weak.

What was the truth?

Shakily, she brought out her phone and did a quick research on Lady Wifi. Yup, defeated at night and only reappeared for Puppeteer.

Pharaoh? Defeated during the day.

Akuma plague at Dupont? While it is a hotspot, there hasn’t really been a mass akuma gathering concentrated there alone.

Akumatized principal? Defeated at night.

Curious now, Mrs Rossi typed out “akuma” and “Lila”

The first instance was Volpina for unknown reasons. The second instance was Chameleon, again the reasons were unknown.

What Mrs Rossi did know was that Lila had abused her trust. But no more!

That night, 3 parents were going to have a discussion about doing research with their kids.

1. first, Marlena asked what was Lila’s relationship with her mother like? Alya said Mrs Rossi spoils her daughter and takes her on incredible trips. But Lila is so modest and generous, that she was telling her celebrity friends about her classmates. Marlena found that hard to believe when Mrs Rossi didn’t even know who Alya was, or enough about her anyway. Not to mention she doubted Mrs Rossi would be close friends with someone like Prince Ali when she is so oblivious about the akuma situation. Before Alya can go call Lila for an explanation, Marlena sighs and asks her daughter to try doing research before rushing out like always. Try thinking of the bigger picture for once.

2. Mr Kubdel asked Alix about Lila. Alix said she could give Jalil a run for his money in a storytelling competition. Mr Kubdel: she was lying? Alix: hard to say, she always has an excuse ready. But she doesn’t really give legit proof. Mr Kubdel suggests she try doing research so she can tell fact from fiction. And maybe have Jalil join in, if only so he will stop insisting that Ra is really Ladybug. Show undeniable proof before you talk ears off.

3. Mrs Rossi confronted her daughter, having read the news and called her principal. Lila gulps and tries to claim that her principal is an akuma who messes with online information. “I doubt that since you are probably the only one who would say this! You are grounded, young lady! And while you are grounded, you can try finding a new job or fill out your school application forms because you have been expelled for framing a student!” After this, Mrs Rossi decided to keep a much closer eye on her own daughter so as to find out where else she had gone wrong! She actually bugged every room in their house and considering how Lila had nowhere to go for the moment, she was watched 24/7. To prevent Lila from getting suspicious, Mrs Rossi gave regular calls to check in on her daughter. She would never accuse Lila of lying immediately after being told a lie, but would save it all up for later with further punishment. Lila decided to quit talking and start behaving after Mrs Rossi warned her that one more strike, and she would be sent to military school and disinherited.

Miss Bustier would have tried to give Lila some dignity by hiding the real reason for her absence. But Alya and Alix told the truth.

And so maybe Alya, Jalil and Mrs Rossi learned a thing or two about pausing before taking a leap of faith. That maybe you should just gather some proof so the words can be believed more easily.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #ml salt fic

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ecoterrcrist · 2 years

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First I like to apologize to @femtale for my ramblings about ivy, but also want to thank you for one letting me ramble from that one question but also UNDERSTANDING what I mean about Ivy having two sides that the comics refuse to explain but ALWAYS seem to do to Ivy.

If you guys would like to know my rambles this is what im talking about

So i firmly believe there are two sides of Ivy and it is seen often in the comics, there is the 'Poison Ivy' eco-terrorist side where she is very much still pamela isley before powers but honestly uses her abilities to take out companies, ceos ect who are trying to hurt the earth while being more caculated and planning things out then there is the like 'may queen' from what i read that's what some of the comics call it, and that's that side of ivy that has lost control, has connected to the green to the point she can no longer hear her own thoughts just that of the plants and really takes control and becomes this 'villian' where no life matters except that of the animals and plants and this is seen multiple times when batman ( and one time selina i believe?) have to recruit harley to snap her out of this state and like come to her sense so to speak

and this also happens a lot when she is threatened and cant protect herself where he mind is preserved in the green and her body is like this blank state where she can't remember much. there are a time or two where she actually is split and the 'may queen' is one separate from her and poison ivy is another person but really just one person split in two

so i don't think she's really this villain she wants to do good she just cant stand people who don't take it seriously so she has to threaten and hurt those major people responsible but she wouldn't hurt the little guys like most villain do, you can only really consider her a villain when she's the 'may queen' which again isn't really her fault...does that make sense?

ivy as we know is connected to a force called the green, well the green speaks and while some people like swamp thing can easily connect to it, its proven that ivy is connected but has trouble maintaining a connection like swamp thing does where he can split his thoughts with the green as to where ivy cant and suddenly snaps and all of a sudden man kind doesnt matter the only thing that seems to connect ivy to well ivy is Harley, but yeah she def has lost control in the comics and people really don't really say much as to WHY suddenly ivy's personality changes you know? Cause like one moment shes this flirtaious fun to be around person who has a goal in mind but doesn't harm all men then the next moment she suddenly HATES all man kind? like if she can do all these things why is it NOW in this particular moment (comic issue) she does it and hasn't dont it before? well i think its because she's lost herself and let the green cloud her thoughts but that's just me

People who read the comics (or even if you don’t ) please tell me your thoughts on this

#don't worry you don't have to read it autumn its just the copied and pasted of our convo on discord

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mayo3600 · 3 years

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ʙᴏᴛʜ ᴏғ ᴜs シ ~ ғᴇᴍ!ᴅᴀᴍɪᴀɴᴇᴛᴛᴇ

~ attack ~

tw! slight self doubt! and a little something not really though! not between the girls! 😋

the angst turns into me just crack writing at two am-

information

prologue

chapters: one two three four five six seven

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

now playing ➪

no role modelz ~ j. cole

fool me one time shame on you

fool me twice, can't put the blame on you

fool me three times, fuck the peace signs

load the chopper, let it rain on you

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

marinette looked over to delilah once she stopped the car, "here we are!"

delilah looked over to her, leaning over the car's console.

marinette got the idea and lead in too, smiling into the kiss.

"i'll see you monday?" delilah asked, tilting her head to the said, which made her look adorable.

"of course, sunshine! why wouldn't i want to see your face?" marinette giggled, looking to her girlfriend.

girlfriend.

that was something marinette thought she would never say.

she always was told that no one would love her when she was in college.

and it hurt.

a lot.

she thought for a long time, they were right. maybe she didn't deserve love. maybe she wasn't worth it.

maybe... in the end...

people wouldn't care.

sure she was ladybug, but she thought ladybug was better than marinette.

who would want to be her.

a "bully".

a "bad friend".

and... a homosexual. which was the only one that was true, might she add.

the people in her class, other than rose, juleka, and nathaniel, didn't support her.

which was dumb becasue rose and juleka were dating and everyone supported them.

but meh, marinette was happier now.

"okay, i'll see you monday then." delilah smiled, turning away.

"of course." marinette whispered, looking to the taller girl slowly receding figure.

"great choice, pup," mullo squealed, "i need to tell tikki! she would be so proud!"

marinette smiled at the small mouse kwami, "yeah, i hope."

she started driving home thinking about delilah the whole ride.

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

harley smiled when she heard the door opens, she knew who it was, marinette, "you're later than i thought you would be." she teased.

marinette smiled when she saw harley, "yeah yeah! sorry! but, i have news!" she cheered.

"news?! what news is it!?" harley jumped, bud and lou following her, silly smiled on there face.

"they're dating!" mullo yelled before marinette could say anything, laughing as they spun around the four.

"dating?! that's great! i remember when me and pam started dating, good times." harley sighed, remembering the old days that she worked so hard to get out of.

"yeah." marinette blushed, she was still remembering what happened in the last 4 hours.

"i'm going to sleep, thanks for everything." she said, going up to her bed room.

"of course, pumpkin." harley smiled.

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

the rest of the weekend wasn't eventful for marinette, and the beginning of the school day wasn't either, not being able to see delilah.

"my brothers already want to see you again." delilah sighed when she sat down for lunch.

marinette and delilah couldn't talk much at pe due to it being kickball and they were on different teams to make it "even".

she smiled at the thought of delilah's brothers. they were so nice to her.

"when i told them we were dating, i swear to you, todd did a victory dance. probably did a bet." she mumbled, mostly to herself.

"hey-" marinette was cut off by an explosion.

delilah was surprised, this was the first attack in a while, totally not becasue the author sucks at writing agnst-

"well. well. well." a ugly purple clad man said, laughing hysterically, "a little wayne? and a new one, blue eyes, black hair? another wayne maybe? new play toys!" the joker cheered.

"stay close." delilah whispered, pulling marinette close.

the students around were running towards the doors while the joker was distracted by the "new wayne".

"brucie didn't tell me he got a new one, i thought he trusted me! well, not important! i can have two little girlies to play with today! get them!" he laughed.

all of sudden marinette blacked out, felling something hit her neck from behind.

'i couldn't sense them!' she screamed mentally.

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

"-ette. marinette. come one, wake up please." she hear someone whisper as she slowly opened her eyes.

"oh thank god your awake." delilah breathed out a sigh of relief.

"where are we?" marinette asked, her eyes slowly adjusting to the environment.

a... ball pit? on a platform?

"from what i can tell, there's a-" delilah started.

"-a ball pit below us." marinette finished.

"yeah." she looked over to delilah who was already looking at her.

"we have to get out of here." they said at the same time.

marinette giggled, looking around, "have any ideas?"

"well-" she was cut off again by a crinkle through the sound system, "why is it always me who gets cut off!"

"my two dolls have woken up! my my! let's begin the party! ha ha! you said they were balls hmm, well dearies, take a closer look! hehehehe!" the joker laughed.

oh. not balls. colored grenades?

well. that's fun.

slowly, the platform they were on started to move downwards.

"okay, we need to think of a way to get off without falling." marinette started looking around, "ah! look! down there! it's an edge! we can jump off on there."

"are you sure? it looks kinda far." delilah asked, not really for her own safety but for marinette's.

she was honestly surprised about how calm marinette was. but that just made her fall deeper for her.

"i should be okay. i did parkour in paris." it wasn't technically a lie, "what about you."

"i should be fine. father makes us work out." she shrugged.

as they got closer to the ledge, marinette smiled, "three, two, one!" delilah jumped

marientte felt her heart stop.

it looked like she was flying. she looked like a bird. like she was born to fly.

"come on! i'll catch you!" delilah whisper shouted once she landed.

"okay." marinette smiled and jumped.

once delilah caught her, she looked down to ask, "what-" delilah was cut off, "oh for the love of fuc-"

"hand them in, joker." the bat himself said, red robin behind him.

"no! you have to- wait we're are they." he asked himself. "i had them on the platform. i was looking at them."

"they're fine." batman said, turning away.

"no- wait! this was my best plan! brucie was supposed to give me 5 million bucks for them!"

"okay. i don't see them. so it looks like you get no money. sorry. you know the plan red robin." batman walked away.

"yep!" he grinned. pulling the cuffs out.

"well, kinky bird, if you wanted to have se-" the joker was knocked out before he could finish the sentences.

"no thank you." red robin said gagging out of disgust.

marinette and delilah just stood there like •-•, confused about what was going on.

"well. that's something you don't see everyday." they heard a voice behind them, it was red hood.

"replacement is luck, he got to beat the clown, i was the one to save you." he winked at marinette, not that she could see, but the girl just laughed.

"thank you for saving us." marinette smiled, bowing a bit.

"no problem, missy, just call and i'll come." red hood said, "now let's get you to ladies down, shall we?"

"please." delilah said, a little mad, marinette couldn't understand why.

"delilah! marinette! you two are okay!" dick said, smiling widely, hugging the two girls, he was in his gpd outfit.

"of course they're okay! it's marinette and delilah!" harley laughed, hugging marinette.

"marigold! oh my goodness! you scared us!" pamela isley, better known as poison ivy, cried, hugging the short girl.

"delilah. marinette." a deep voice said. "it's good to see neither of you are hurt."

bruce out of costume, looking like it was never on at all, smiled at the girls.

"it's good to see you to mr. bruce." marinette jumped, a little scared to see the father of her girlfriend.

bruce patted both their backs, "good job girls, that was incredibly brave of you to do. the school is canceled tomorrow due to damage. and we were wondering if marinette would like to come over? i'm sure the boys and alfred would love to see you again."

"she would love to!" harley laughed, looking at marinette.

marinette and delilah looked at each other with smiles.

as the others walked away, marinette and delilah stayed behind.

once they were out of sight, marinette through herself onto delilah, shoving her face into her chest, "you scared me." she whispered.

"hey, look we're okay now, right?" she asked looking down to the girl.

"yeah, we're okay." she looked up and gave delilah a quick peck, "i should go pack!" marinette all of a sudden let go of delilah and sprinted to the others, delilah right behind her.

"let's go!" she cheered, jumping.

the others just laughed at her antics.

the wayne's could get use to her around.

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

chapter seven: end

next: eight

i got nothing to say- i wrote this at 2 running on caparisons and tea.

#damian #marinette dupain cheng #pansexual #lesbian #daminette

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a-la-la-llama · 4 years

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The One Where Marinette Gets Attacked #4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

Cloud nine was where Marinette was currently residing after leaving the flower shop. The owner, Pamela, with the most vibrant red hair she had ever seen had wanted Marinette to work with her. Even though she now had a million problems on her hands with the school situation, she couldn’t fight the smile on her face. Maybe this wasn’t the most professional way to get a job but she went along with how Pamela was acting so it couldn’t be that bad. Tikki seemed to be on the same page as her because she could feel a hum of excitement on her thigh.

“How about we eat out for lunch instead of going home? I haven’t actually been out in the city since we have gotten here?”, she said out loud. Even though surrounded by people, no one gave a second glance at her antics. Having only traveled the city by rooftops and eating take-out made Marinette foreign still, even having stayed there for more than a year. Turning a corner to a cafe she had passed, Marinette waited in a short line. Walking up to the counter, the worker feigned a fake smile.

“Welcome to Caffeine Café, what could I get you today?”, the woman asked.

Marinette was given a strange look with the amount of caffeine she ordered but brushed it off. Settling into a corner booth with her tuna sandwich, she patiently waited for her name to be called by looking out the window.

Usually when she would look out her apartment window Gotham always appeared grey and gloomy. Right now, Marinette felt the warmth of the sun partially covered by a cloud on her skin. It must be Tikki’s doing. Sneaking a glance at the Kwami while grabbing her phone, Marinette was able to see Tikki happily snacking on the cookie she had packed.

“It’s a nice day, how does a trip to the park sound?”, Marinette asked.

Tikki silently nodded in agreement before returning to her meal as did Marinette.

Gotham had reminded Marinette much like they had depicted New York City in movies. It had a large park that included the famous Poison Ivy Botanical Gardens and that was open to the public like Central Park. Marinette decided going somewhere secluded was the best option due to Tikki wanting to be out. Even though she was tiny did not mean the god didn’t get cramped being in her purse.

“We could climb that hill, Tikki. It has a tree on top that we could sit under too!”, she suggested.

“Brilliant spot, my chosen. We’ll be able to have a great view and you could put the new sketchbook to use!”, Tikki cheered.

Marinette really should have been on guard out in the open all alone but something about the peacefulness of nature put her off guard. Any other time and she would have seen the attacker from behind coming. Any other time Marinette would have been able to swiftly dodge and apprehend them. Any other time but not this time. This time something tackled her to the ground just eight feet away from the top of the hill. Now, just because she was blindsided didn’t mean Marinette couldn’t swiftly recover. Tucking into a roll, she was able to end the fall squatted low on her feet instead of face planting on the floor. She was facing where her attacker should have been standing fully ready for a fight.

There was no one there.

Well, no one until she felt something wet brush the left side of her face. Turning towards the source she was met with the sight of a black Great Dane towering over her. She realized it was the one she had seen when working with Catwoman. Eye-contact with the animal was not her best choice because Marinette soon found herself rolling down the hill. Marinette couldn’t tell if it wanted to play or just recognized her since it continued to lick her face when they stopped at the bottom of the hill.

“Hello there, buddy. It’s nice to see you too!”, she said, sitting up gently scratching its head.

“Marinette! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Should I get Kaalki? We can-“, Tikki worrily pestered Marinette.

“I’m fine, Tikki. Titus just got a little excited!”, she soothed the god while reading the dog's name tag.

“You need to be more alert, Marinette! It could have been someone really dangerous. Plagg will certainly come with you next time once he hears about this!”, Tikki scolded.

“Calm down, Tikki. No one is even here besides me and this good boy. Aren’t you a good boy!”, Marinette cooed.

“His owner doesn’t seem to be here. What do you plan to do?”, the Kwami questioned.

“The dog is from that house we visited with Catwoman, Tikki. I think that’s why it ran up to me. Or it could be your magic since we do have pigeons circling above us?”, Marinette said.

“Then it would be best if you return him home without coming in contact with his owners.”, suggested Tikki.

“Right! We’ll have to cut this outing short and go get Kaalki. How does that sound Titus?”, Marinette asked the dog.

It let out a bark in agreement. Well to everyone else it sounded like a bark. She would never get used to the whole animals and plants talking to her thing. Standing up Marinette, Titus, and Tikki made their way back to her apartment. Titus even followed her up the stairs. It wouldn’t be surprising the dog was able to maneuver up the small steps with the mansion it lived in. Titus would have to have experience!

“Miri’s, we’re home!”, Marinette called the Kwami’s by their nickname. Since they lived in the miraculous’ she had decided a name played of the word would be fitting. Creating the nickname ‘Miri’s’. The kwami that had permission out flew up to greet her and her guest. She briefly saw Tikki pull Plagg to the side most likely to tell him about their day.

“Kaalki, you remember Titus right?”, Marinette grinned at the Kwami.

“Yes, it’s that mutt that lunged at me when I came to retrieve you!”, the small horse spat out.

“That is no way to speak about him and you know it. Baark would be disappointed to hear this!”, she scolded.

“Sorry, Mari.”, he quietly apologized.

“It’s okay! Now, I need to return him home ASAP and I need your help.”, she explained.

“Of course, guardian! I’ll be glad for an adventure.”, Kaalki exclaimed.

“Great! Kaalki, full Gallop!”, Marinette called.

A turquoise portal was opened up in front of her that led to a well taken care of yard. Marinette saw how Titus was wary of it and comforted him with a bright smile.

“Don’t worry Titus, your home is just on the other side. I’ll keep my hand right here while we go through!”, she said resting a hand on the top of his head.

Coaxing the dog through was much easier than dealing with a civilian. She’s had her fair share of people refusing to flee to safety just because it was magic. Seriously people, your heroes or vigilantes can’t save everyone! It’s not like you can’t peek your head through first before crossing, she would never understand Gothamites. Titus seemed to be trusting of her and calming followed her in and stepped out onto the grass.

“See, nothing bad happened. It was nice to see you again Titus but I have to go now! Be safe and try not to run off again. I’m sure your owner would deeply miss you.”, Marinette whispered while giving his head a final scratch. Titus barked a goodbye as she stepped back into her apartment and closed the portal.

Calling off the transformation, Marinette flopped onto her couch and nestled into the blanket there. She hadn’t been back home for a full minute before she was bombarded.

“What’s this about you getting attacked!”

Damian would kill whichever one of his brothers left not only the front door but the gate open when they left. He hoped it had been Drake since he despised him the most. Titus had run off when he saw his opportunity for freedom out of the well-known manor grounds. Damian had spent the whole day running around Gotham trying to locate him. The dog even had the gall to disable the GPS location chip on his collar by running into a pool of water. He knew this because of the notification of water damage when he first started his chase. Now Damian was home and in a sour mood.

“Chill out Demon Spawn! Titus is hella smart and will come back eventually. Just let him roam around and live a little.”, Jason stated.

“You do not know that, Todd. For all we know he could be in a terrible pound or worse.”, Damian retorted.

“Baby Bird, he has a collar with our number. I’m sure when someone finds him they’ll give us a call.”, Dick said trying to reassure the youngest Wayne.

“Wait, we were looking for Titus? Isn’t that him in the yard?”, Tim questioned from his seat by the window.

There the missing dog was in all his glory barking a poor squirrel up a tree.

Tag list

@legallyspawned @chocolate1721 @spartanxhunterx @dreamykitty25 @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha @loveswifi @amayakans @jeptwin @thewonderlandartist @buticaaba @books-and-left-behind-journals @gigibnl @aegyobutpsycho2 @crazylittlemunchkin @maribat-is-lifeblood @myazael @abrx2002 @pawsitivelymiraculous @silvergold-swirl @chaos-inperson

#maribat #The One Where Marinette

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peculiarwem · 2 years

Text

All the graphic novels I read while I was gone...

I forgot to put the intro to this post. Whoops. These are all the graphic novels I read between May and December I think. Including content warnings.

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Ngygen

This was a beautiful story. The art is fantastic, the way the colors emphasized the story. I read this a really long time ago and it still is just so beautiful and I definitely cried. The myths woven throughout the story is so nice. I'm crying right now and I don't remember that much about it. 50/5 stars

CW: Cannibalism (told in fairy tale), death, religious figure brought in to discourage LGBT youth, shame over sexual identity

Nubia: Real One by LL McKinney and Robyn Smith

PI do not like the DC Graphic Novel line. I think realistically they will be more detrimental than not, but Nubia was a really good introduction. After its release, DC did retcon Nubia's origin, but I loved this story all the same. I think it was cute and I couldn't ask for more. 5/5

CW: police brutality, racism, sexual harassment and gun violence

Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger and Sara Kiplin

This is the book that really started turning me against DC Graphic Novels. While the story isn't the worst, Pamela is treated weirdly by the story. Usually she becomes Poison Ivy in a lab, but here her father creates Poison Ivy. In the end there's no real resolution and also the romance only exists for this book. Pamela, to me, isn't represented in Poison Ivy: Thorns, which is a fault I find with most of DC's Graphic Novels. I wish they were true to the character. I gave it 4/5 originally but honestly I would give it a 3/5 now.

CW: bullying, sexual assault/harassment, abuse,

Fangs by Sarah Andersen

This was so cute. It's just a bunch of illustrations of a vampire and her werewolf boyfriend. It's so simple but so nice. 5/5

CW: blood, murder

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Louise Simonson and Leigh Bardugo

This is my least favorite of the DC graphic novels. It's based off of the book by the same name which I will probably never read because I did not like this graphic novel that much. The original story came out a year after Diana was stated to be canonically bi, but this story goes out of its way to avoid naming Diana as bi but names everyone else queer. The romance is dumb, it didn't have to be there, it would have been fine if the betrayal just came from a friend but also in general, the story is impossible in any of Diana's main continuities. If you think you're getting a good jumping on point from this story, you're wrong. Also the best character in this book, Alia, will probably never see a comic and that's sad. She's great. If you wanted to read this book, do it for her. I gave it a 3/5 stars.

CW: betrayal, bombing, death, plane crash, possession, shipwreck, shootings, and sickness.

House of El: The Shadow Threat by Claudia Gray and Eric Zawadski

I think the best DC Graphic Novels are about characters you don't know, but also you won't know. The Shadow Threat follows two krytonian citizens who are working against Krypton because Krypton sucks. You'll probably never see these characters in the comics and that's a saving grace. You meet Superman's parents but they aren't front and center enough to ruin the story. It was just a fun time with no rage. 5/5

No CWs

Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle and Issac Goodhart

Again, when you know these characters, these graphic novels suck. This one was represented Selina and Bruce fairly well but the way the story was built around them wasn't good. Selina starts calling herself Catgirl, not as a secret identity, but as her name and it's very cringy, but in general the story feels unfinished. There are a lot of loose threads that just don't go anywhere or where they do go is another new beginning instead of an ending. It's just disappointing. 3/5

CW: child abuse, homelessness, animal abuse, cutting, homophobia, suicidal ideation, and violence. Also, there's a little vague cult stuff.

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle

I really liked Squad. It was a little too short for me. I definitely could've read more but just in regards to the main couple. I think overall the plot was really well paced. It was a fun read. I gave it 5/5.

CWs: murder, eating disorders, general gore, cannibalism, sexual assault, alcohol, racism, sexism, fatphobia, homophobia, toxic friendships, toxic relationships, vomit

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curious-menace · 3 years

Note

The rogue gallery members general reaction to encountering the batman who laughs and his creepy ass Robin's.

ok id like to preface this by saying that red death batman straight up crucified riddler and decapitated scarecrow and the batman who laughs is MUCH worse than red death batman.

i want to enjoy the dark knights metal but it is needlessly fuckin complicated with all this multiverse oververse omniverse shit. maybe i just don't have the galaxy brain necessary to get it so i apologize if this is all wrong

(also i know its canon that the batman who laughs has no rogues gallery left, either because he killed them or joker killed them before he turned but hey ho hypotheticals it is)

also no one talk to me about kiss fan lookin riddler from this verse. im not ready.

Penguin

i think his first reaction was to laugh. Batman’s finally gone and he took joker with him. I mean he literally calls him "bat gimp". I seriously doubt he anticipated the fallout of batman becoming some sort of hideous joker hybrid. he still chuckled when he started seeing the news. someone calling themselves “the batman who laughs” and “the darkest knight” then he sees the robins, he even recognises damien and it makes him a little sick. he books the next flight out of goodwin before things get too hot.

shame goodwin was burned to the ground to stop anyone leaving gotham.

with everyone inside.

Twoface

i dont think its an exaggeration to say he was absolutly fuckin horrified. it's rare that harvey and two face agree on something, but this bastard has to go. the murder and mayhem he could tolerate, hell even killing the other rogues, some of them needed to be stopped. but having to look at this creature and know it was once bruce? harvey knows better than anyone its a fate worse than death to be trapped in your own mind with someone else running the show. they do their best to stop the darkest knight, bring all the hired guns they can to the fight but it wasnt enough. Harvey dies, but at least he went out trying to do the right thing.

Poison Ivy

She sensed him coming, her flowers screaming at her to save herself. part of me wants to hope she took one look at that abomination and noped the fuck out of there to slaughter swamp or something. but we know ivy, she stands her ground like a tree planted by a river. she looks people like batman and joker right in the eye and down the barrel of a gun and says “no, you move” Shes not a good person, but in this verse she might as well be the hero of the story, maybe the only meta human in gotham who stood a chance against him. The batman who laughs was scared of her and thats why she had to die. if she’d just minded her own business she might still be here but no. She dares the batman who laughs to come for her, she’s going to take him out. for what he did to her plants, to gotham, to HER home and HER friends. unfortunately for her ivy was one of the first on his kill list. She doesn't go down without a fight. ironically it was her human qualities, the human drive to help people that got her killed. she heard one of the robins crying and went to investigate. the batman who laughs doesn't care about those robins, he’s got a basement full of jokerized kids to throw at people. 1 to trick her and a few more to hold her down while he doused the lot of them with weedkiller and gasoline then poof.

i doubt the botanical gardens will ever be the same.

Scarecrow

part of me wants to say he’s loving this. He’s enjoying all the suffering and sadness and fear as the batman who laughs murders everyone and everything from the dandelions upwards . but he cant, not just because he’s not the one causing it. this is fear without meaning or purpose, this is killing hope so thoroughly that there is nothing left for people to fear, not even death. he’s not so foolish as to think he wont also be on the batman who laughs chopping block. so he makes himself scarce, works on a toxin that might be able to stop him or even slow him down so someone has a shot at it. Jon knows hes going to die, its only a matter of time before that thing calling itself the darkest knight sends one of his minions to his doorstep. He’s been working on something to try and help the rabid robins. he has a small soft spot in his cold obsidian heart for kids and looking at these creatures makes him physically ill.

he thinks hes made a breakthrough, thinks he’s finally got a formula that will effect batman and the joker and hopefully, whatever abomination they’ve become . he decides theres no time like the present to try it out when word of the other rouges deaths reach him. he’s the last one left and thats....well its scary. His surprise attack works, the robins go down without a fight, screaming and scratching at their faces, their throats and each other. regrettable but if he stops the darkest knight now, maybe jon can help them. Just when he thinks he’s got him, scarecrow goes down. so close, he falls at the finishing line, his toxin having as much effect as a gentle summers breeze. Much like the original scarecrow , the batman who laughs likes using guns. For jon however? he makes an exception. poor scarecrow gets eviscerated by his own scythe, pilfered from arkham asylum by the batman who laughs. gotta love the classics, right?

Riddler

Riddler was second on his kill list. only because the batman who laughs knew how much it would annoy riddler not to be at the top. He’s another rogue who stood a chance of stopping him if he really tried. sadly edward is nowhere near as altruistic as harvey, and could never be as strong as ivy. He likes to think his escape is for everyone's benefit. live to fight another day and all that. He learned from harvey and pamelas mistakes, took one look at this new batman and his creepy kids and said “fuck that noise” and tried to run. except he didn't really try. god if he’d only gotten out of the city, he would have been the only rogue that survived. the batman who laughs looks at him like a pathetic insect, unworthy of notice. he’d have killed riddler eventually, maybe put him in a riddle with no answer or a trap with no escape for extra irony points but he wasn't about to stop the little green cockroach from skittling away. but of course, riddlers ego got in the way; he just HAD to try and best this new batman, no matter how much he scared the shit out of riddler he just HAD to try. and of course, pride comes before downfall.

The batman who laughs helpfully provided riddler with some rope to help break his fall.

Harley Quinn

some part of her was happy to have joker back. he was different, scarier but she was used to the abuse. what she wasn't used to were all the kids. she recognised damian wayne but didn't quite put the pieces together to realise it was bruce under there. she thought maybe he was just a random casualty . she tried hard to look after the kids but they act like animals rather than humans, there was nothing she could do.As time went on she found it harder and harder to sit at the right hand of this clown prince of horrors. harley has always been along for the ride, but how are you supposed make the whole world laugh if everyone in it is dead? i dont know what happens to harley in this world. either she leaves and much like joker, the batman who laughs fails to notice, shes killed by him because he was bored or she does when the world is destroyed by barbatos. either way, no happy endings here.

Thanks for this incredibly depressing ask Ghostly T-T

im kidding, im kidding it was fun! it makes me wish i knew what the everloving FUCK was going on with this verse so i could enjoy it properly. the only comic store i know of has been closed since like march of last year and i don't know what im looking for on amazon to actually order them. i have 1 issue of nth metal but it was interesting enough that i want the collection.

if anyone knows what the collection is actually called hmu bc i wanna buy it.

yes i could read it online but i like owning the hard copies.

got something you wana talk about? send me an ask or a dm!💜💙🧡💛💚❤️

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organabanana · 3 years

Text

you're not saved until you leave this place | harley/ivy

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: DCU (Comics)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence

Relationships: Pamela Isley & Harleen Quinzel

Characters: Pamela Isley, Harleen Quinzel

Additional Tags: Past Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel, Abusive Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel, Mild Blood

Series: Part 1 of the 2021 Writing Challenge series

Summary: Harley Quinn - she's not Harleen Quinzel anymore - has just been saved by Poison Ivy. The problem is Poison Ivy doesn't think Harley can really be saved. I just finished reading Harleen by Stjepan Sejic and I'm feeling A Certain Way. Reading it first is encouraged (and recommended because it's amazing) but not necessary to know what's going on.

Notes: This is not meant to be particularly true to any canonical storyline beyond using Harleen (the comic) as a starting point. I took the liberty of taking bits and pieces from different storylines because I could.Written for the prompt "I should be in pain . . . . . why am I not in pain?” for week 4 of the 2021 writing challenge made by @butterbee-writes.

[ao3 link]

Harley regains her consciousness slowly, as if she was struggling to emerge from an ocean of molasses. What a strange image, an ocean of molasses. That’s what it feels like, though. Thick and sticky and dark. As her senses begin to work once again, though, Harley realizes wherever she is smells nothing like molasses at all. It smells both fresh and damp somehow. Like she imagines a rainforest might smell like. Green and thick with life. And then there’s something else. Lighter. Floral, even. Jasmine, maybe?

“Doctor Quinzel.”

The woman’s voice doesn’t immediately ring a bell, but it feels familiar somehow. Under different circumstances, she’s sure she could figure it out. But Harley’s tired of fighting the not-really-molasses threatening to swallow her brain whole. She can’t play detective right now.

“Doctor Quinz—“

“It’s Harley,” she interrupts, her voice hoarse like she’s using it for the first time after a night of hard liquor. This doesn’t feel like a hangover, though. And she doesn’t feel like Doctor Quinzel anymore.

“Open your eyes.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass.” This may not be a hangover, but her head still feels like it’s balancing precariously on the edge of the kind of headache that drives people to insanity.

Heh.

Like she needs a headache for that.

“Your eyes might be damaged. I don’t have all day.”

The woman’s tone is hard to read. Somewhere between annoyed and caring, somehow. Like she wishes she didn’t care, but she does anyway. Harley can sympathize.

“Damaged by what?” Harley asks, already opening her eyes and struggling to focus. All she sees is varying shades of green. “What happened?”

The woman doesn’t speak. Harley sees a blurred light among the greens and feels that flowery smell grow stronger when the woman leans closer to her face. It reminds her of her time as Arkham’s psychiatrist, asking questions and being ignored. And that’s when it clicks. Arkham. Of course.

“Ms. Isley?”

“Ivy.”

Under different circumstances, Harley might have taken offense at the sharp tone of Pamela Isley’s correction. But she’s not exactly in a position to pick a fight with a supervillain, and - if she’s being perfectly honest - this may be the third or fourth time Ivy’s corrected her since they first met. No wonder she’s annoyed.

“What happened?”

“Your eyes are fine. Your vision may be blurry for a while. I assume your glasses are still in the acid. What’s left of them, anyway.”

“Acid? What aci—“

Harley’s eyes widen even if she still can’t quite see. The acid. The vat of acid, and Jay’s hands around Harley’s wrists, and his smile… and then the searing pain. She brings her hands up with some effort, and even with her limited vision she can see they look bleached white. And yet…

“I should be in pain… Why am I not in pain?” She should also be in some major emotional distress, given the circumstances, but she’s more or less given up on her own mental stability these days.

“My abilities aren’t limited to toxins, Harley. You’re enjoying a very good, very potent, all-natural anesthetic.”

“You saved me?” Harley wonders, briefly, whether she has any right to sound this surprised when this is the second time Pamela Isley has done just that. Save her. “Thank you.”

“Like I told you last time, don’t thank me yet,” Ivy says, and there’s a certain emotion in her tone (Dr. Quinzel might have been able to define it, but she’s not around anymore) that makes her sound nearly human, “you’re only truly saved—“

“If I leave Arkham. I remember.” Those words haunted Harley’s nightmares for weeks. “But I left. This isn’t Arkham, is it?”

There’s a moment of silence that stretches for longer than it should, somehow. Like Ivy’s having to really think to figure out whether they are in Arkham or they aren’t.

“This isn’t Arkham,” Ivy finally says, “but you haven’t left.”

“What do you mean, I haven’t le—“

“I really don’t have all day, Harley.” That emotion — that near humanity — is completely gone from Ivy’s voice now. “Do you have a place to stay while you recover?”

“Yeah. I can- I can stay at Jay’s.” What does it say about her, that she doesn’t even hesitate to name the man who threw her in a vat of acid as her emergency contact of sorts?

If she was still working, she’d write a thesis on herself.

Pamela Isley doesn’t say anything else, and for a moment Harley wonders if she’s been alone all this time and her admittedly off-kilter brain simply hallucinated a beautiful, jasmine-scented supervillain for her to talk to. It wouldn’t surprise her. Nothing does anymore.

With some effort, Harley sits up and notices where she’s been laying all this time. It’s not a bed — not a normal one, anyway — but it’s soft and comfortable. It’s somehow both cool and cozy, and… alive, somehow. Like moss, but not quite. Which fits, because Pamela Isley happens to be human, almost, but not quite.

Harley doesn’t necessarily mean that in a bad way.

“What did you mean?” Harley says, looking at the blurry outline of Ms. Isley’s — Ivy’s — back. Her eyes are getting used to the light, and she’s pretty sure the current lack of focus is mostly due to her glasses being gone. “When you said I haven’t left?”

“You shouldn’t get up yet. You’ll faint, and pheromones won’t fix a cracked skull.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Do you want to call him to come pick you up?” Ivy pauses for a second, like she’s reconsidering her own words. “Does he even have a phone?”

“I—“

Harley clamps her mouth shut. She doesn’t know if Jay has a phone. She knows the exact location of every scar on his body. She knows exactly what to say and do to make him smile. She knows she can help him — fix him doesn’t sound nearly as good — and she knows she belongs with him. In his world. But she doesn’t know if he has a phone.

The giggles come before she can stop them. It’s not funny, but she’s laughing. She can’t stop. It feels almost like… like in a different life she’d be sobbing instead, but all she can do is laugh.

And it’s cathartic. Like a good, loud, heart-shattering crying session. Like a night of binge-drinking to quiet her thoughts. The laughter grows louder, shriller and more unhinged as she thinks about Dr. Harleen Quinzel no longer existing. Not just because Harley says so, but because she melted along with her glasses when Mr. Jay shoved Harley into that vat. She thinks about a job and a life she’ll never go back to. About the fact that she doesn’t know if Jay has a phone, but she knows the exact sound a skull makes when a mallet cracks it open.

It’s not funny, but she’s laughing. And when she stops, she feels different somehow. Like she’s laughed whatever was left of Harleen Quinzel away.

“Are you done?”

Pamela Isley isn’t laughing. She’s not even smiling. She’s just staring, in silence, like she either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that being in silence is a recipe for thinking. And thinking… well. There’s nothing fun about that. Can you blame her for trying to entertain herself somehow?

“So. Pam.”

“What did you just call me?”

Pamela Isley is suddenly dangerously close. It may not be jasmine after all. It’s something… earthier. She’s so close Harley doesn’t need her glasses to see the dangerous glint in bright green eyes.

Harley could push it. She tilts her head to one side, smiling faintly as she ponders what would happen if she said it again. Would Pamela Isley kill her, if Harley called her Pam again? And, more importantly, would that be so bad, all things considered?

“Sorry,” she finally says, making sure the mocking tone is audible in her voice, “I figured saving my life twice would’ve kinda put us on a first name basis.”

“Not quite.”

“Right. Well, Ms. Isley—”

“It’s Ivy!”

Pamela Isley — Poison Ivy — raises her voice. Harley swears the plants around them grow, like they’re getting ready to attack her the second Ivy orders them to.

Except she doesn’t.

Does this count as saving Harley’s life a third time? Choosing not to off her when she could’ve?

“Why do you keep saving me?”

“Excuse me?” Ivy takes one step back, and it’s like the greenery deflates just so. Like it’s all lost steam all of a sudden.

“You heard me,” Harley shrugs, carefully standing up and noticing the oversized t-shirt she’s wearing for the first time, “why do you keep doing it? Not too super-villainy of you, if you ask me.”

The more time she spends with her eyes open, the better she seems to see. Can acid burn somehow fix someone’s vision? She’ll have to tell Mr. Jay about the potential untapped marked in back-alley lasik surgery.

“I wouldn’t call myself a super-villain.”

“Your file at Arkham sure would.”

“Would it? And what does his file say?”

Harley stops staring at an exotic-looking flower to glare at Ivy instead. His file is wrong. His file is the result of a series of biased psychiatrists with questionable methods. They didn’t know him like she does. Nobody does. She’s the only one who understands.

He needs her. She can help.

“And what will yours say, Harley Quinzel?”

“I don’t have a—“

“Oh,” Ivy lets out a chuckle and it kind of feels like Harley figures being hit with her mallet might, “but you will.”

Harley licks her lips. Will she? Will she have a file at Arkham? Have a shrink sit across from her, on the other side of a bulletproof glass, and ask her what went wrong and when? Will she have to talk about Jay’s smile and his scars and the way he pressed her up against the padded wall of the interrogation room?

Will they call her call her a sociopath, too?

Probably. They’ll be wrong, though. She does feel remorse when she kills. It’s just she’d rather feel that than the absence of him.

“So don’t thank me, Harley. I never saved you.”

~*~

Harley doesn’t remember what she used to look like anymore. Harleen Quinzel may as well have never existed. It’s been three years since she fell into that vat of acid — it sounds better than saying someone threw her in, doesn’t it? — and so much has happened in her life that she can’t remember anything from before she was Harley Quinn anymore.

She’s been in Arkham… a number of times. Let’s leave it at that. She’s still with Jay. Mostly. On and off. Mostly on, though, other than that nine-month break she took for personal reasons when she went to stay with her sister Delia.

Mostly, though. Mostly, they’re on. And they’re so good when they are. Mostly. Mostly good.

You wouldn’t get it. Only she gets it. Only she gets him.

“Hey, Red?”

Ivy doesn’t even look up from whatever science-y stuff she’s working on, and Harley doesn’t really mind. They’re best pals. They don’t need eye contact to communicate.

“Why d’ya hate him?” Jay finds her new accent cute, like her higher-pitched voice and her red-and-black leotard.

“Huh?” Harley can feel Ivy’s frown even if she’s currently looking at the back of her head. “Who are we talking about?”

“Mistah Jay.”

She can feel the sour expression on Ivy’s face without seeing it, too.

“I don’t remember having said I hate him.”

“Ya don’t need to. I can just tell, y’know.”

“Can you.” Sometimes Ivy does that thing when she asks a question but her tone isn’t really question-y. Kinda cute, if you ask Harley. Over the years she’s grown to see many of the things about Ivy most people find intimidating are actually pretty dang cute.

“Yeah,” Harley stands up from her favorite moss-covered pouf (Ivy took offense last time Harley called it a beanbag chair) and sits on the edge of Ivy’s desk instead, “kinda like how ya don’t have to say it for me to know ya love me, Red.”

Ivy doesn’t smile, but her skin does. It turns this vibrant green and Harley knows it means Ivy’s smiling on the inside. It’s a whole thing. Just trust her, all right? She knows her Red.

“So. Why d’ya hate him?”

Ivy looks up from whatever botanical gibberish she’s been writing and stares into Harley’s eyes like she’s trying to read her mind.

Good thing her Puddin’s right when he says it’s mostly empty space in there, right?

Heh.

“You should’ve paid more attention when you worked at Arkham, Harley.”

Ivy stands up and leaves Harley there, dumbfounded and confused, because what does that even mean? She doesn’t even remember those months. She didn’t even think Ivy remembered. Had they ever even interacted back then? All she remembers are her… sessions, with Jay.

“Hey, wait! Come on, don’t be mean!”

Ivy rolls her eyes at Harley like she’s being overly dramatic (she isn’t), and starts collecting samples from this pots and plants.

“Why won’t you just tell me? Come on, it’s been forever, I don’t rem—“

The happy sound of a circus fanfare comes from outside Ivy’s lair, and Harley knows exactly what it means.

“Saved by the… honk, Red.” Harley winks, grabbing her mallet and putting on her hat. She can drop the subject for now. There’ll be more times. “I’ll bring ya somethin’ pretty from the heist, yeah?”

“Be safe.”

Harley’s already skipping towards the exit, but she turns around just to blow Ivy a kiss. “See? I knew ya loved me, Red.”

Ivy doesn’t just smile with her skin this time.

~*~

Harley watches the trial from the couch in the apartment she shares with Ivy and their (Ivy will deny it, but Harley knows she loves them) hyenas. It’s a happy little life. After so many years of super-villainy, switching sides has been kind of weird.

Well.

They haven’t switched completely. Just ask Batman. But they’re cool with the Batfolk now. Mostly. They promise to keep casualties to a minimum (she vaguely remembers Batman insisting on zero, but that’s a ballpark number, she’s sure) and help them catch the really bad guys, and in exchange they’re mostly free to do as they please.

It’s kind of weird, watching a trial on TV. A real trial, she means. But she figures when the person being judged is famous enough — and hated enough — it makes sense. And Gotham doesn’t hate anyone as much as they hate Jay.

He doesn’t look scared or nervous at all. Maybe he figures he’ll get out again whenever he pleases. But Bats said that’s not happening this time. Not with all the evidence Harley provided. Having bested it a dozen times herself, Harley can’t say she trusts Arkham’s security system that much. But it doesn’t really matter. She doesn’t really care.

“Ugh, commercial break. Can ya believe it?” Harley scritches Lou’s ear and nudges Bud off the couch so she can stand up. “They can call it a recess all they like, we all know the judge needed to pee.”

She chuckles to herself on the way to the kitchen for a glass of water, and on her way back her gaze lands on the carton box Bats gave her when they made their deal. The one full to the brim with everything that used to be in her and Ivy’s files at Arkham.

And she’s about to flop back onto the couch when a little tape recorder catches her attention instead. Her old tape recorder, from about two lifetimes ago, when she still wore a white coat and was called Dr. Quinzel.

“Let’s see who’s in this tape,” she says out loud as she presses the rewind button, and the two hyenas sit at her feet like they’re waiting for the best kind of treat, “maybe it’ll be Uncle Swamp Thing!”

But when the tape begins to play, the voice that fills the room is Ivy’s instead.

“Oh, jackpot!” Harley grins, muting the television to put her full focus on the preserved moment from over ten years ago. She kinda knows how the trial ends, anyway. Bats spoilered her.

“I do appreciate it, you know… the fact that you’re using a recorder instead of paper.”

Ivy sounds so different. Harley wishes she could remember the conversation, but all she has from those months are snippets of moments with him.

“Others before you had different methods. One of my previous doctors, he brought a potted plant.”

“Well, that’s nice of him, right boys? Mama loves a plant.”

“Watered it with bleach in front of me.”

Harley gasps, both at the cruelty of what she’s hearing and the fact that she suddenly has the answer to the question she asked so many times over the years. Why did Ivy hate Jay so much?

Harley looks at her bleached skin and can’t help but grin. She’s the one thing Pam loves as much as she loves her plants.

“…Doctor, your hormones are elevated. Every time you smile, you blush. Usually, I have to kiss a person to elicit such a response…”

If she could still blush, she would. She feels her cheeks burn anyway, because back then it wasn’t her girlfriend making her hormones get elevated (or whatever the Ivy from the past just said) but now… well. Now she elevates them plenty.

But more than that, she realizes, suddenly, exactly what Ivy meant when she insisted Harley could not be saved until she left Arkham. How could she really leave when Jay still owned most of her heart?

“They didn’t have double decker poptarts, Peanut. Are you sure they even exist?” Ivy interrupts Harley’s moment of reflection by walking into the apartment carrying several grocery bags and sending the boys into a flurry of excitement. “The lady at the register looked at me like I’d just asked for dragon eggs, so— wait. What are you listening to? Is that me?”

Harley nods, even if she knows Ivy can’t see her while she’s bent over leaving all the grocery bags on the counter.

“What is it? Is that from— oh.”

“Mhmm,” Harley grins, stopping the recording for now. She has the real life version of Ivy right here, so she doesn’t need the past at all. “Ya liked me already back then, huh, Pammy?”

Ivy rolls her eyes, but Harley knows. She knows she did.

“Where’d you get the tape?”

“Bats brought all that over,” Harley points in the general direction of the box, “said we can have it since we’re no longer the baddies.”

Ivy looks in the box and seems genuinely surprised when her gaze returns to Harley once again. “Our files?”

“Mhmm. All of it. Gone.”

It’s only when she tells Ivy that it fully registers for Harley, too. Their files are gone. No more Arkham.

Somewhere in her peripheral vision, she can see the trial’s back on the air. He’s going back in, and she… she wouldn’t say she doesn’t care at all. But she’s not going in with him. Her heart’s not his anymore.

She’s left.

“Pammy?”

Pam doesn’t look up from her hands as they rummage through the contents of the box, but she doesn’t need to. Harley knows she’s listening.

“Thank you.”

“Why?” Ivy looks at Harley then, frowning slightly in confusion. “I wasn’t the one who negotiated with Wayne.”

“No, I know.” Harley smiles and walks over, just to be closer. To smell the jasmine on her girlfriend’s skin. “But you saved me. A couple times. So thank you.”

And for the very first time, Harley’s pretty sure she’s figured something out before her (very smart, super quick-on-her-feet) girlfriend. Because Ivy looks at the box again, and at the muted TV where the trial is still happening, and then at Harley… and she smiles.

“You’re welcome, Harls.”

#fic #harlivy #harley x ivy #fanfic #2021 writing challenge

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awkwardbluefish · 3 years

Text

Hearts of Passion

Summary: Pamela Isley didn't know what to expect when she felt someone else in her orchard. She isn't expecting a skinny kid dressed up as Robin, picking fruit from her trees without a care in the world. He's an interesting Sapling, that was for sure.

Warnings: Swearing

Pamela Isley didn’t know what she was expecting when that distant tug in the back of her mind caught her attention. Someone was in her orchard and that someone was shifting through her garden, through her mind.

Not many people knew that the plants Pamela grew were a part of her. They were attached to her, to her mind and to her very being. She felt them grow, felt them live. She also felt them die. It was never a pleasant experience, and she doubts it ever would be. But now someone was in her orchard, in her garden. They trekked along the grass, boots scuffing at the back of her mind. They weren’t hurting her plants but there was always the possibility. Blood red hair brushes her shoulder as she cocks her head to the side, lips pressing together in a purse as her eyelids hide her irises in a wary slit. Her plants, and therefore her, wanted to investigate, to ease that twitch of curiosity thrumming in their shared veins. What on Earth was this person doing?

Very few people trekked through the groves of Robinson Park. It was common knowledge that Pamela Isley, no, Poison Ivy resided among the vines and moss at the depth of the parks. The only ones that willingly entered Ivy’s mangrove were Harleen and Selina, the two woman Isley has reluctantly grown attached to throughout the years. There were two other visitors her garden has grown familiar with, two which were not welcome but seemed to welcome themselves in either way. Batman and Robin.

Herleen, the idiotic woman, was currently in Arkham. The joker had once again twisted her thoughts, manipulating the blonde in such a way that Harley felt like she had no free will, felt like she couldn’t disobey her puddin’. Isley wasn’t happy, far from it. Despite being a psychiatrist Harley could never seem to pick apart that things mind enough to understand he was using her. He didn’t love her and he never would. Not like she could. If Joker ever came within the range of her and her plants, Ivy would choke him.

Selina and herself were planning to get Harleen out. Normally they wouldn’t go near Arkham with a ten foot pole, but Harleen was family and right now she was being exploited by a man that wanted nothing but chaos and destruction. They had to get her out, to help her. It would take a while and Harley would go through relapses but she was family, their friend, so they would try. For her.

Her mind tugs, pulling in the back of her brain. Her plants were curious, thrumming with energy. The need to know, to touch, to understand flowed through the link with such a searing intensity that Isley felt her pulse buzz and heighten in response. It was clear to her now that this being wasn’t here to hurt her babies, they were searching for something, exploring. Interesting. She lets the vines tug at her mind, their desire to investigate just as intense as her own.

She hums softly, the sound bubbling in her throat and echoing quietly around her. Each step she took were careful but graceful as she follows the tugging on her mind, letting the ebb pull her to the source. Flowers curl around her ankles, a soft sensation enough to tickle at her skin, vines brushing along her collar bone in a warm greeting before retreating, blending in with their own kind. Her babies part for her, green leaves tickling her cheeks as they make an opening for her, a door to the source of their excitement today.

A boy, young and far too skinny and dressed in familiar colours stare up at her, white lenses wide and muscles coiled. This was Robin but the small sapling was new, smaller than the first. It seems Batman has gotten another flower to blossom in his slowly but surely growing garden. Interesting indeed.

A vine curls around her wrists, cold leathery skin reassuring. Ivy doesn’t move, watching the boy with interest. The young sapling had been careful with her babies as he tugged fresh juicy fruit from her trees. Pamela liked this one already. The other Robin was far too energetic, not seeming to care for the babies that provided life to their world. Sure, the first sapling didn’t seek out to hurt her plants, only when he deemed it necessary, therefore when Poison Ivy was using her babies for revenge against the chemical companies. Still, he had hurt her babies so maybe Isley was being bias.

“Those are my fruit young Sapling.” She waves her palm, the vine slithering away from her wrist to wrap around the boys’ basket. An indignant shout escapes the boys lips but Ivy has to give him credit when its due, he doesn’t go after the basket.

The vine places the wooden basket down by her feet. Cherry red apples shimmer under her gaze, as well as blood red tomatoes. What on earth was the young sapling doing?

“You may control the plants but that doesn’t mean you own them!” Robin grumbles, lips twitching into a frown. The boys shoulders were tense, arms crossed tight to his chest. A barrier made instinctively between them, covering his heart as well as other vital organs. Smart. He was subtly defensive, as if to not to trigger her. Now that was interesting. Not that it would do much if Isley wanted to attack.

Isley chuckles, curiosity peaked as she lowers herself to her knees. She reaches into the basket, plucks out a tomato that sinks into her palm. Ripe and just perfect to be eaten. But the boy wasn’t eating, he was collecting. “Oh contrary little sapling. You are right, I do not own these babies or control them. I protect them and they let me. Now would you like to tell me why you’re collecting fruit from my garden?”

Robin frowns, face flushing red, a stark contrast to the black domino resting along his cheekbones. A foot begins to bounce and Isley watches the boy flounder with cool green eyes, seeing his limbs lock up in a freeze, sees his chest raise in slow controlled breaths. He was trying to get control of his anxiety; he was a smart one. He sure did hide his emotions better than the first one, but he was still a child and they were as plain to read as an open picture book. Isley lets him think, rearranging the fruit to prevent bruising. No need to bruise perfectly good food because of the packaging.

“And I should tell you why?” The boy grumbles, a chin jutting out and arms tightening around his chest. Isley snorts softly to herself, understanding the kids’ wariness but finding it amusing all the same. Unlike what the media likes to portray, Isley does not attack innocents, especially children. The first Boy Wonder however hadn’t left her too much of a choice. Its survival of the fittest in Gotham and there was no way she was being sent back to Arkham simply because she wanted to protect and grow her babies. She made sure to never seriously harm the older Robin though. Despite his treatment to her babies, he still managed to wiggle a way into her green heart.

“I’m just curious sapling,” she continues to kneel, willing moss to grow beneath her. There, now that was much more comfortable. “If you have a good reason, I’ll let you take the fruit home. I don’t just let greedy little children take my freshly grown produce only to waste them.”

The boy bristles, shoulders tensing in anger. The arms tighten before throwing down to his side, foot flattening the grass beneath his pixie boots in the stomp of anger. Ivy was expecting his defiance but she assumed it would be on his own behalf. But that wasn’t the case. Robin was angered over someone else’s behalf. Interesting.

“The kids in crime alley aren’t greedy little children!” He roars, words laced in that familiar Gotham drawl Ivy has gotten used to since moving here from Seattle. “They’re just trying to survive! They’ve been left on the streets to die and without nutrients in their systems it’ll be sooner rather than later! They are the farthest thing from greedy when referring to fuckin’ food! Yes, they steal, yes they might be pests but it’s not like food is handed to them on a silver platter like the majority of the people in this selfish city!”

Ivy hums, throat vibrating as a smile pulls at her glossed lips. She stands up, gripping the basket handle as she goes. Robin goes stiff, attempting to cool his features from his righteous fury. It doesn’t quite work but the effort was valiant if nothing else.

“That’s quite a statement little one. A statement I’d have to agree on,” Robins jaw drops and Pamela chuckles, a familiar warmth bubbling in her stomach. She was getting fond of people far too easily these days. “You have passion in this subject so I guess asking your opinion on an upcoming project of mine would be best.”

“What project?” Robin growls and Ivy’s smile goes a little less mischievous and a little more warm. She wasn’t only passionate about plants after all.

She strides forwards, makes her form lax. She didn’t want to frighten the child; she was not about to harm him. Robin still tenses and Pamela can feel his gaze making holes through her body. “I’ve been thinking of this little project for a while now. Of course, if I just begun it without consulting with a trusting authority then it would be a mere waste. I wish to grow fruit and vegetables in crime alley. Of course, that’s only the beginning, I hope to grow food for anyone in need in Gotham where they have free access.”

Isley meets his whiteouts in a gaze, knows the boy is assessing her. His shoulders are tense, muscles once again coiled but he doesn’t run. He doesn’t attack either. He’s interested, hope taught in his form. But he won’t bite, not yet. If he had Pamela would call Batman herself, demanding the boy to be put under more training. To not trust so easily, not without all the details. This sapling was a bright one.

“What do you get out of it?” The kid demands, once again coming in defence to protect the street kids. Interesting. There just had to be some history there. No one was protective of street kids, not unless they were one, had been one or had enough compassion and sympathy that just did not belong in Gotham.

Isley hums, a small smile twisting at her strawberry coated lips. she would have to dig into that later. “What do I gain hmm? I gain nothing. Nothing but being relieved at not seeing children die, to see kids fight over a mouldy piece of bread. If I’m lucky, I’ll also be able to see these children smile, live like the children they are. But I cannot do that by myself.”

Robin doesn’t take the basket, not yet, but Isley can see his form relaxing, melting at her words. He wants this to, with a burning passion that Isley feels towards plant life. It was important to this boy. There was definitely some history there that Isley was just dying to find out. Later though. Right now, was a chance to put her long waiting plan to action. A chance to put her gifts to good, to use her powers in a way the was seen as socially acceptable. There was a need within her that never seem to abate, the need for acceptance. This need couldn’t just be filled by her babies, no matter how hard they tried.

“Why not?” It’s snapped out, words meaning to be harsh but Isley smiles. He couldn’t quite be menacing when the hope in his voice seemed to outshine even the sun. Cute.

“People would stop me. They would believe I was up to something, that I plan on poisoning innocent children or wanted something in exchange. The police would blow up my babies, maybe even arrest some street kids on the way if they were near. Batman would cut up my babies, arrest me too most likely. Despite the medias propaganda, I do truly wish to help.”

Robin’s expression had lifted, lightening during Isley’s small speech. The frown had tugged up, not quite a smile but definitely not a frown either. His head had tilted, much like a curious puppy as she talked, relaxing in an open body posture. He wasn’t tense, wasn’t in defence. He was completely curious, interested. Eager almost.

“To help plants,” Robin points out and Isley smiles.

“They’re one in the same, are they not? I wish to help plants to help people. I wish to help plants to help the Earth. Plants are being killed off and so are the oxygen supplies, the food. Plants are what I’m passionate about but they lead into so many other things.” Isley admits. She always wanted to help people and plants could do that. Humans were too dense to make sense of it, however.

Robin gazes at her, past her walls and her crimes. It was like being truly seen for the first time, by someone other than Harleen and Selina. It was frightening but it also felt undeniably good.

“You really mean it don’t you? You just want to help.” Robin’s expression is open, cheeks flushed and lips parted. He gazed up at Isley in awe, as if she were a one of a kind. She almost felt embarrassed. The kids shakes his head, a grin full of teeth. A smile, full of childish wonder nearly blinds her as he takes the basket from her outstretched palm. “Next time maybe don’t attack big companies? It might do some good for your image!”

Isley laughs, chest rumbling and a warmth coiling its way around her heart. There was no doubt about it, in a few minutes she had grown undeniably fond of this kid, the new Robin. Harleen and Selina would never let her live it down.

“Thanks Dr. Isley! I’ll talk to B-Man and sort something out! Just don’t go attacking anyone and I think he’d be okay with it!” A flutter of a cape and the click of a grabble gun and Isley is alone with her babies once again.

She smiles, pets a vine curling around her wrist. “He’s a cheeky sapling, isn’t he?”

Her babies agree and Isley knows she isn’t the only fond one of the boy.

#robin #jason todd #pamela isley #poison ivy #dc #mine #my writing #not beta read we die like robins #fluff

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nitholites · 4 years

Text

Damienette Soulmate AU, part 2 (here we go again)

Part 1

Thank you @friendly-neighborhood-enby for proof-reading this word dump you’re gorgeous and I love you

Getting permission to leave the group was disturbingly easy. The fact that Marinette was so 'disruptive to the class, always starting things. Even when she should be leading by example' and Damian was 'so mature and responsible, and works at WE, where employees are known for their trust worthy natures!' helped.

"You are much too kind for them, Marinette," Damian said as they left the class behind. She had actually restrained him from saying one of the many roasts he dearly wanted to, or from punching the incompetent teacher in the face- whichever he felt like.

Marinette opened her mouth, but snapped it shut and hummed instead. "You can say it," Damian coaxed. "Never halt your speech in front of me."

The look she gave him made him want to turn around and give her class a word lashing they won't forget. She looked almost shocked someone wanted to hear from her- a reaction no one should have. The smile she sent at him made him reconsider that plan. "I wasn't planning on holding back my words- I just realized something."

"Oh? Mind sharing that?"

She nodded. "Maybe you're right, is all. My friends, Luka and Kagami, keep telling me the same thing. I just think it's time to stop defending them like this, is all."

"They truly don't deserve you," Damian said before his mind caught up. As her smile lightened the air around them, Damian asked more about her home life- her hobbies and parents. Learning she grew up in her parents' bakery rang a few bells, but Damian chose to ignore them. She may not have learned from her parents, after all. And how could an angel like her be tied to his mangled, dark soul?

She deserved the world, as he knew from their time together on the tour. He couldn't give her the light she deserved and gave others. But maybe he could give her a space away from the air of her class, away from the cruelty of the people she used to call friends. That would be enough.

Regardless of what he could or couldn't do, what he would do was simple: Protect the smile that lit up the world for as long as she allowed.

Yes, he realized just how absurd that thought process was. They'd known each other for a day- no, a few hours. Vowing to protect her smile so soon was absolutely foolish. If it were anyone other than the kind, selfless girl beside him, Damian wouldn't have given her a spare glance.

If his brothers could see him now, he'd be mercilessly teased till the end of his days. He could hear their voices now- laughing with undertones of utter shock and disbelief.

But when she smiled, when her laugh chimed through the air like a clear bell... well, he couldn't bring himself to care.

Still, he'd suppress his quickly-growing fondness to something manageable until he had time to sort his thoughts.

Marinette, not for the first time that day, had to stop herself from letting loose her full laughter, trying not to embarrass herself and her company in public. She knew she could be loud- her voice carried when she wasn't careful, so she tried staying silent to counterbalance it- but the teen in front of her didn't seem to mind. If anything, he looked amused. The café was their most recent stop, after the museum, gardens, and flea market. A short coffee break before they went back to her class.

"Seriously?" She couldn't- absolutely could not- believe the tale Damian told, though he hadn't yet lied to her.

The teen nodded soberly, echoes of a smirk lingering on his face. "Alfred doesn't trust anyone in his kitchen anymore."

"It's no wonder! I'd do the same thing if my kitchen was as trashed," she stated, letting her hands follow her enthusiasm. "Your brothers committed the equivalent of kicking a homeless, 3-legged puppy to any self-respecting baker, let alone chef! My poor grandfather would have a heart attack!"

"Do you bake?" The question was accented with a slight raise of an eyebrow- a sort of challenge. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was many things- but a loser was not one of them, regardless of the game. Is this a game? she asked herself, slightly surprised at that train of thought. She found she couldn't answer, realizing their conversations were many things.

"When I'm stressed," she admitted. "I love the bakery and my parents, but practically coming out of the womb with a baking sheet in my hands put a few... habits in me."

Damian didn't verbally respond, moving his hand and nodding as though to say 'Go on'. So she did. "Bakers wake up at least two hours before the shop opens- or at least we do. The bakery opens at seven A.M. every morning, so we wake up at five at the latest. Usually closer to four," she started, sending a bright smile and a nod to the waiter who set down her coffee. A returned smile and a small greeting later, she returned to her explanation. "So check ‘early riser’ off the list. As stated before, I stress-bake. But I also help Papa with trying new recipes. So I'm practically always on the lookout for new or interesting flavors and combinations. Sometimes, I get so focused that I forget what I was doing," she sheepishly smiled, earning a chuckle from the boy before her.

"How do Gotham pastries compare to your family's?"

He thought the question was innocent enough.

Thought being the crucial word there.

A fire lit in Marinette's eyes then, a fire that told of harsh rants and moving arms. She laid all her complaints out there, genuine tears gathering at her eyes as she mourned the lack of decent baked goods. And as she explained each good, Damian found himself nodding along, nearly able to taste the poor items from her descriptions alone.

He nearly gagged from the imaginary taste. Never before had he uttered a sincere apology to someone outside his family, but he found himself looking into her eyes with as much remorse as he could muster. "I'm extremely sorry you had to sample those."

"It's alright, I suppose," she sighed. "I've actually started working with the bakers there to improve the pastries."

"Already? How long have you been in Gotham?"

"About a day."

She moved fast. "Perhaps one of these days, I can show you the better restaurants Gotham has to offer."

Damian paused, his mouth having moved before his brain even realized he spoke. "I mean, if you're free," he added, trying desperately to make the awkwardness clinging to the table vanish.

Before she could answer, a familiar voice called out. "Ya sure it's here, Pam?"

Damian turned in his seat, surprised at the arrival of none other than Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. He had to forcefully relax his body, seeing as the rogues had a good streak going. "I'm positive," the red-head responded, eyes searching the café. "This place is absolutely thriving." She gestured to the ivy on the wall near the register, which Damian now realized looked a bit greener than usual.

"Is something wrong?"

He turned back to Marinette, considering his next words. "Probably not," he eventually said. "What do you know of Gotham's rogues?"

"What was on the internet," she replied, eyeing the two women with... interest. "I wanted to make sure everything we needed to know was in the pamphlets, so I did my research."

Neither got the opportunity to speak more as Ivy approached their table, Harley following close behind. The questions sent Ivy's way were ignored, both from Harley and Damian. But Marinette's were answered, as she asked with a small smile. "May I help you?"

"How are you doing that?"

Marinette blinked, confusion etching into her features. "I'm sorry?"

"The plants are singing your praises," Ivy continued. "You heal them. How?"

If Damian had been watching Marinette instead of Ivy and Harley, he would have seen the flicker of understanding and surprise pass through the small girl. As it was, only Ivy, who had been watching her intently, saw it. "I simply have a bit of a green thumb," Marinette smiled, tilting her head as she did so. “That… isn’t a problem, is it?”

“Of course not,” Ivy immediately responded, shaking her head. “I just came to thank you. For as long as I’ve been Poison Ivy, the plants in Gotham have never been happier than in your presence.” Shocked silence came from the other Gothamites, but Marinette was only embarrassed. She had never been good at receiving compliments, even before Lila and most compliments turned into sneers and bullying.

Marinette stammered as she tried to thank the woman, the heat in her cheeks only adding to her embarrassment. Her words failing, she took a deep breath and calmed herself until she could speak in full sentences. “It’s really no problem- I’m just happy to help.”

The café

seemed to hold it’s breath- or perhaps the people inside did. Either way, nothing moved until Ivy did, smiling. “What’s your name, Blue Bell?”

Blue Bell? She answered anyway, having practice ignoring nicknames (even if she didn’t mind the kind ones). “Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m here on a class trip. You’re Mademoiselle Isley and Mademoiselle Quinn, oui?”

The women nodded, sending smiles to the girl. “Aw, ain’t ya such a darlin’,” Harley cooed, lightly pushing past her girlfriend to pat the sweet teen on the head. “A right angel in Gotham, ya are. How long ya stayin’, Sunshine?” Harley slid into the booth as she asked.

“A couple months. Hopefully longer, if my application is accepted.”

“Already looking for colleges?” Now Pamela was in the booth, sat beside Damian as she joined in the questioning. Marinette nodded, taking a sip of her lukewarm coffee. “All the way in Gotham?”

“I want to experience fashion and culture outside of Paris,” Marinette started. “See what the rest of the world is like while I have the chance.”

Every passing moment with Marinette caused not only the rogues, but the other Gothamites in earshot to start rooting for her. Alas, time marches on, and both groups had things to do. They split at the entrance, Marinette and Damian beginning their trek to find her class and the rogues going to… well, neither teen would ask.

Robin suppressed a sigh, eyes scanning the streets below his perch. “No helping it, Baby Bird,,” the infuriating voice of his eldest brother sounded. “It’s a slow night for everyone.”

“The third slow night in a row,” he shot back, leaping from the ledge he used as a perch. The wind tousled his hair as he swung through the night, boredom already settling in his bones. “Something’s brewing.”

“I’ll look into it,” Oracle’s voice pitched in. Silence followed (if you ignored his brothers’ incessant chattering -which Damian did). At least until Oracle spoke again. “Reported argument, three blocks from the museum. Possible escalation. Robin’s the closest.”

“I’ll check it out,” he said over his brothers’ complaints.

Only a minute of swinging later, and Robin could hear the argument. If you could even call it an argument. A large, burly man stood yelling at a smaller, meeker-looking young man, an even smaller girl between them standing tall. With pigtails.

Wait.... Robin knew those pigtails- he saw them only hours ago! Why was she out of the hotel? In Gotham? At night?! Did she have a death wish?! His mask zoomed in, their voices sounding in his ear. The large man’s yelling practically boiled down to ‘He’s my boyfriend, and therefore my property’ in prettier, louder words. Robin rolled his eyes, having seen this kind of situation countless times before. Damian, though, watched the man and Marinette, worried for her safety.

The big man started spewing nonsense about the smaller ‘getting like this sometimes’ and ‘needing to take his meds, he gets confused’. The shaking man refuted everything said, repeatedly stating how he was done, trying to get away from the man who took everything from him.

“You think those morons you call friends would take you in?! They abandoned you! You have nowhere else to go!”

“Anywhere’s better than here!”

Marinette just stood, glaring down the man who was literally three times her size. But when he tried grabbing behind her, she moved. Before anyone could say or do anything, the man was out cold with a bleeding face, on his stomach as she tightened a couple zip ties around his wrists and ankles.

Robin had to pause his thoughts and think back to register what happened. A knee to the groin. Hands on either side of his head, holding it in place as she kneed his nose hard enough to break. When he didn’t go down, she swept his legs from under him and kicked his temple.

Her voice was too soft for the microphone to pick up, but by the way the smaller man’s face slowly relaxed, she had to have been saying something.

She didn’t spin to face Robin as he dropped, but did stop talking. Standing, she pulled out her phone. “May I help you?”

“I should be the one asking,” Robin stated, puzzled at the slight tensing of her shoulders. She turned, making a face at him once she did. “What?”

“You’re a traffic light,” she stated. “I prayed the images online were photo-shopped.” She sighed, shaking her head and tutting as the man behind her chuckled. Pulling a card from her purse, she pushed it into Robin’s hands, stepping on the zip tied man on the ground. “I will literally remake your entire group’s costumes for free if you send me the material. Heaven knows I can’t let the protectors of Gotham dress as clowns,” she muttered.

Robin crossed his arms with a scowl, narrowing his eyes. “Who says we-”

“Nope,” she interrupted, holding a hand up to silence him. “No way am I letting anyone- anyone- run around looking like-” she gestured to all of him, scrunching her nose in disgust “-like that. Doing so is an insult to fashion designers everywhere.”

Back and forth they went, until Robin paused and looked to the victim.

Laughter.

Marinette smiled as she turned around, gesturing between the two conscious men. “He agrees! You’re giving the gays and fashion icons nightmares, Robin. Nightmares.”

The laughter flowing from Robin’s earpiece didn’t help the situation.

Once the cop car (singular, without sirens as Marinette had asked in her call) rounded the corner, the three gave their statements and went on their ways.

For the most part.

Robin went with Marinette a ways, both of them stopping at the intersection. “You know how dangerous it is at night.” Once she nodded, he continued. “Why were you out?”

“Well, I had a feeling,” she shrugged, letting a hand land on her hip. “I was just going to the coffee shop down the block when they ran past me, like I told the officer.”

Neither spoke for a moment, standing in silence. “Be more careful next time.”

She smiled, starting to walk again. “Always.”

Taglist:

@goblinwhoships @mochegato

#mlb x dc #marinette dupain cheng #class salt #lila salt #damian wayne #batfam #alfred knows all #alfred pennyworth #crossover #soulmate #soulmate au

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silverwhiteraven · 4 years

Text

Krypto-Rogue + Twins AU - A Krypto-Mari AU - Part 1

[ Posted on Ao3 ]

[ Summary: Pamela Isley, Poison Ivy, finds herself with a little (unknowingly Kryptonian) child on her hands, and decides she's hers now; Batman can take his adoption problem somewhere else. Unfortunately, Ivy is going to need some help with this. Single mother of plants? She can handle that. Alien with powers? Not so much. With every new one, she just really, really wishes her daughter would just develop the ability to manipulate plants already. She can handle that. Super strength? heat-vision? Freeze-breath? Super-speed? Yeah, not so much. Time to call in some back-up. If she can even trust them, that is. ]

[ Headcanon List / Timeline, not a fully-witten fic (yet) ]

Companion/Alternate AU to the Krypto-Bat AU where instead of Batman finding and taking in Marinette, it’s instead a member of Gotham’s Rogue Gallery

So same start as the Krypto-Bat timeline

She is Kia Jor-El, twin sister to Kal-El, saved at the same time but in two different pods that get separated. Kal ends up in Smallville, of course, and Kia ends up in Gotham

In Krypto-Bat, Batman manages to track Kia’s pod and where it landed and get there before anyone else. Here, Either the pod lands outside his tracking range or in a place that’s ‘not his territory’, or at least an area much harder to get into without pissing off a few unstable villains on the way, so he doesn’t manage to get there in time. So!

Through much brainstorming and shenanigan ideas, it has been decided who finds little Kia

It’s Poison Ivy! Dear, deadly, sweet, Pamela Isley. We all love the Sirens of Gotham, and those familiar with MariBat fics know we also love Marinette getting adopted by one, two, or all three of them

In this case, just the one, but that doesn’t mean the others won't be making appearances in her life, oh no, far from it

(After this I may do a follow-up mini-list collection of what-ifs for her being found by other Rogues, just to be diverse with it)

So anyways!

Ivy finds the escape pod in her overgrown corner of Gotham (She made it overgrown, yes, but it was already abandoned for some reason! And no one wanted it, and for some reason the person who bought up the area, Bruce Wayne, was totally chill with her freeloading there, so she has her own little slice of heaven right on the edge of hell-on-earth!! Isn’t that great??) because she very literally hears through the grapevine that something crashed into it

Surprisingly, nothing large was totally destroyed, but she wasn’t very pleased to find there was still damage to her plants by the metal contraption

She is shocked though to find the child inside the open pod, and makes a questioning comment along the lines of “That better not be an invasive species,” to the amusement of her plants

Ivy gets a few of her larger mullein plants to hold on to the considerably calm baby-toddler-child (she’s a plant-person not a people-person, she doesn’t know what this one is classified as in her state of development! Ivy isn’t even sure she’s a youngling of whatever species she is, she may be an old lady for all Ivy knows)

Then she gets to work on getting vines and roots to move the craft out of her area

She almost drops the thing when the plants holding Kia start saying that the ‘new creature’ is “hogging sunlight for herself and she should share it instead.” Ivy realizes that her chlorokinesis is letting her sense the same thing the plants do: the child was basically photosynthesizing, somehow

She decides to deal with that revelation, and the kid, later, after getting the machine that harmed her plants out and away

Now, Batman still shows up, of course, because he has a job to do

Not a ‘guns blazing’ way, of course, he wants to get things done as peacefully as possible, and releasing the ire of Poison Ivy on Gotham by being uncivil in her area is not something he wants to accomplish, thanks

Poison Ivy very happily hands him the craft without a fuss, he doesn’t even have to ask for it, because she wants it Gone

Though she does give him a glare for good measure, because she hadn’t invited him in. at least he was polite about not stepping on anything green and being level with her on why he showed up

She did, however, lie to him when he noted to her that the machine was clearly a transport device of some kind, underlying the tone with a question of ‘what was inside?’

At this point, whether she likes it or not, her parental instinct usually aimed towards plants had kicked in and she’s getting protective of the ‘not a plant but totally is because she can photosynthesize’ child, and that’s why she tells Batman that the craft was empty, and whatever was inside either got lost on the way down or escaped somehow

Honestly, she’s a bit wary of Batman having a kid in the first place anyways

She’s heard about the new birdy, and she’s a bit dubious about that. What if that gets hurt? If she hands over the child, will the child end up a young birdy, too?

Yeah, no, not on Ivy’s watch she won’t. Besides, it’s much less dangerous to be a Rogue than it is to be a Bat, right? I mean, Batman doesn't kill and has a soft spot for people in need, so even if the totally-not-a-plant child decides to join Poison Ivy in conquering the world of man and overrunning it with plants (once she’s older, of course), no harm will come to her! Right?? Right!!

So yeah, Poison Ivy lies to Batman about finding a living creature inside the pod

He sees no reason for her to lie, after all, Ivy is known for disliking trespassers, and the removing the machine is proof enough that she would remove any other foreign matter, too

He does take it with a grain of salt, however, after all, anyone can change. He’ll just be keeping an ear and an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, and see what he catches

Anyways, Batman now has his suspicious alien tech that he doesn't understand (yet), and Ivy returns to her plants that she charged with holding on to the child

She can’t help but feel very soft when looking at the alien nestled in and falling asleep in the soft leaves of her mullein plants

Yeah, that’s definitely a youngling, no person is that cute when asleep

She groans at realizing she's going to have to do PAPERWORK to adopt this kiddo

Well, the ‘work’ part she can have someone else do for her with a few eye flutters, she’ll figure out a way around the whole ‘paper’ part later. Make them do it Electronically maybe? Or use recycled paper? Hmm…

As Poison Ivy, Pamela Isley, holds her newest kinda-a-plant-but-not daughter, she realizes she has to name her

It actually takes a few days to finally think of one

It was Harley Quinn’s fault, really, calling the little girl a “silly-bum” when she got herself stuck in a thistle plant (Which also prompted Ivy to grant her the nickname of “my little thistle”)

Named after the very same milk thistle plant, Poison Ivy decides to call her daughter Marianum Ivy as a ‘Rogue name’

Then her official given name on paper, after some fairly mostly-illegal paperwork for a fake identity, is Amaryllis Isley

Mari, of course, is her nickname used, when not being called a ‘silybum’ or ‘little thistle’

But goodness, Pamela is in for a ride, because she really will have a thistle in her side once Mari starts getting her powers…

#maribat #Krypto-Mari AU #kryptonian au #marinette dupain cheng #Krypto-Rogue AU #Twins AU #pamela isley #headcanon list

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incoherentbabblings · 4 years

Text

An Endless Hope (3/9)

After a horrendous blizzard falls over Gotham, Tim undergoes a sharp change in character before disappearing. Upon discovering what has become of him, Stephanie sets off on a solo journey in a magic realm to bring him home, meeting some faces which seems awfully familiar along the way.

Archive Of Our Own Link Click Click!

On her way down to the botanical gardens, Stephanie’s mother rang.

Fumbling trying to hold onto her box of roses, Stephanie answered the phone. Her feet crunched loudly as she crossed the snow-covered grass. She flapped her fingers free from the mitten cover so the fingerless gloves could allow her touchscreen to work. She had worn Tim’s gloves since he had vanished, feeling like punishing herself for how she had failed him.

“Hi mom!”

Ooft, her fake cheeriness hurt even her own ears.

“Steph, are you okay? I hadn’t heard from you all week!”

Stephanie nearly dropped the plants in her fright. “Oh God. Mom, I’m so sorry. I’m safe. Promise. Are you okay?”

“Living out the hospital currently, thank you for asking.”

Shame flooded through Stephanie. “I’m sorry mom.”

Crystal sighed, deflating. “I guess I didn’t call either. It’s just been non-stop here. So many people needing help from the streets.”

“I can imagine. We couldn’t do anything the other night. It was too cold even for us!”

“You’re all good then?”

You meaning Tim, but Crystal would never say Tim’s name until held at gunpoint probably. He was just that boy, or him. It was sort of funny that – not only had Tim and Stephanie’s outlook’s on life undergone a flip – so had their relationships with their partner’s parent. Bruce liked Steph after a few years of tribulations (or so she thought), but the same time had not been kind to Crystal’s estimations of Tim.

Certainly, telling Crystal that Tim had kicked Stephanie the other night and run away would not have added positive points.

Stephanie swallowed dryly, not sure if she should lie for a moment, but ultimately sided on the side of fibbing. Her mother had enough to worry about at the hospital. Stephanie entering despair and seeking help from a misanthropic villain would not help Crystal do her job.

Yes, lying was the better option at the moment.

“We’re both good. We’ve got a lot of time to kill, we’re out at the botanical gardens today.”

Crystal sucked in air between her teeth. “Hmm. Okay, but Stephanie, try to remember to give me a call once a week. Just to stop my hair from completely falling out from stress.”

“Yes mommy.”

“Be good.”

And then the call ended.

Stephanie loomed outside of the greenhouse. It was covered in a thick layer of snow, thick enough to discourage entry. But there was a huge amount of warmth showing up inside, almost like an igloo, which was how she guessed this was where Ivy was. Stephanie looked for a way in, then sighed. Knocking on the door would probably be the best bet.

Ivy was at best indifferent to humans and at worst homicidal. She tended to lie low however when natural events knocked everyone back. Nothing levels the playing field of humanity like nature. Still, Stephanie was taking a gamble. She knew this. She was banking on Ivy having information Steph only had circumstantial reasons to think she held.

But Stephanie was desperate. And when she was desperate, her brain tended to throw things like caution and logic to the wind. Act on your gut, it’ll get you there in the end.

Except that one time when it really didn’t.

As far as Stephanie could tell, she had few other options, and she wanted to give Bruce some kind of information outside of a missing boy and car. If it meant risking her life and giving up her flowers, so be it.

Stephanie knocked, then opened the glass door, and slid inside.

It was swelteringly warm in the greenhouse, filled to the brim with plants and flowers which did not belong in the United States, let alone New Jersey. Stephanie stumbled into the fishpond, disturbing small lily pads.

“Excuse me? Poison Ivy?” She gulped, fear apparent on her features, as she tried to locate the green lady amongst the foliage. “Doctor Isley?”

“The only people who still call me doctor are those mocking me.”

Pamela’s voice came from behind, making Stephanie jump in the frigid water.

“I’m not mocking. I promise. I… I just…”

Ivy looked down at the roses in Stephanie’s arms and frowned. Steph held them out for her to take. “I wanted to give you these. My boyfriend and I were trying to grow them, but he went missing during the storm. I’m trying to look for him, but I need someone to look after these until I get back.”

Ivy raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. “And I was your first choice to nanny? Hilarious. Get out. One warning.”

“No please. I’m not mocking I swear.” Stephanie brazenly trudged forward deeper into the water. Ivy looked bemused, but Stephanie knew her interest in this strange young woman wouldn’t last too long. “I want you to look after them, but I also wondered if you knew anything about this storm. I would give you these to look after in exchange for information and to let me look for my boyfriend.”

Pamela looked at the flowers, then at Stephanie.

“Your lover isn’t the only one missing in a snowstorm.”

“I don’t think this is just a snowstorm. Batman and Robin have gone chasing a lead, but I think they’re looking in the wrong place. I don’t think it’s an easy fix.”

“No. It’s not.” And finally she took the flowers from Stephanie, gently stroking the petals. “What happened to the red? They haven’t settled.”

Stephanie gulped and told a half lie. “An accident. They fell. They had their own box, but it broke and I tried to… I tried.”

Ivy snorted. “Not good enough. I’ll take them off you. You can leave now.”

Stephanie slowly got out of the water. “But you said this isn’t just any old snowstorm. Do you know who caused it? Or what?”

Pamela turned around, clambering onto a vine which lifted her high above Stephanie.

“Nothing natural,” She said dryly, chuckling to herself. “Why do you care so much?”

“If I can know what caused it, I can fix it.”

Pamela rolled her eyes. “And bring your beau home.”

“Yes.” Stephanie uttered, glaring at Ivy.

“Listen little girl. All I know is, the cause is not of this earth. Not to be found in a machine. Not to be found in men. Something else.”

Stephanie followed Pamela waltzing around two levels up, craning her neck as she moved around on the floor.

“Like magic? Because I know someone who knows something about magic. This can’t be good for your plants, right? Don’t you want the cold to leave?”

Pamela flicked her wrists and the doors flew open, tree branches holding them to allow the frigid air in.

“I want you to leave Miss Brown. Good luck getting the storm to end, and good luck finding that sweet boy of yours. Maybe when Mr Drake-Wayne returns, I will trust you with these roses again.”

Stephanie tried not to appear shocked that Ivy knew her and Tim from sight and inference alone, but she was nakedly frantic.

“But I—”

“It’s magic. Magic not from this world. That’s all I can tell. It will pass. Let it do so on its own you stubborn girl.”

“No. I need to know Tim is safe.”

Ivy dropped down once more and got uncomfortably close. She raised a green hand and cradled Stephanie’s cheek. Stephanie, for her part, stared right back, unafraid.

“I don’t enjoy humans and their little love stories. Who cares if this boy comes back to you? There’s always another.”

“…Not abandoning him. Not giving up. It’s a thing for me.”

“Hmm.” And in an unintentionally mocking manner, she curled her fingers into Stephanie’s hair, loose strands reminding Ivy of vines and Steph of how much more comfortable the motion was when it was Tim holding onto her. “It’s all a bit pathetic honestly.”

Stephanie swallowed bile, resisting the urge to spit on Poison Ivy to get her to back off.

“You know more than you’re telling me.” Stephanie pushed.

It seemed Ivy had had enough of Steph and took a step back.

“Leave.”

Stephanie noticed too late that a vine had curled its way around her ankle. Looking down, her stomach dropped, but before she could say anything, the vine tightened, flinging her back and out with a squeal. She landed on a large mound of snow, unharmed, but stuck with her legs flailing around. She heard the distinct solid thud of the greenhouse doors slamming shut.

“Oh, come on!” Stephanie wiggled, trying to loosen up the snow around her torso.

What a waste of time. Of course, this storm wasn’t natural. They’d known that from the start. And now she was stuck in snow, and she had given up her roses. Her beautiful roses that she had invested far too much emotional value in. Why couldn’t she do one thing right? Every solution she tried made things worse. Like a curse. Hold onto hope, because she certainly had nothing else going for her.

Swinging her ankles, she screamed, which soon morphed into a cry. Snow crumpled and went in her mouth, making her wail.

Bad day, bad week, bad life…

Someone seemed to take pity on her, and grabbed her black legging covered ankles, dragging her out from her snowy prison. Snow went up her jacket and top, making her squeal in discomfort.

To her surprise, the person who tugged her out had bright blue skin.

“Klarion!” She exclaimed.

“Oh good! It is you. I followed the smell of Christmas and desperation.”

Stephanie sat up, shaking her coat free of snow, despair momentarily forgotten.

She had helped Klarion the witch boy once or twice, never of her own free will, but still. He was harmless enough, to her at least. He smiled widely at her, but in a way which was not reassuring. Her own smile turned brittle, then cracked and fell into misery. She was still reeling from the useless encounter with Ivy. It had maybe narrowed down where to hunt akin to reducing the search from a needle in a haystack to a grain of sand in a rice bag.

Disoriented and directionless were two words that came to mind. She tried very hard to not let her frustration seep into her acknowledgement of Klarion (who looked entirely too happy to see her), but still, her tone had some bite to it.

“What is it? Does Teekl need a new girlfriend?”

“Oh no,” He said, and sure enough, his ginger cat familiar hopped up around his shoulders, acting like an oversized scarf. “I have come to help you this time. I understand you are a friend of a friend of mine. I have many of these here nowadays.”

The last thing Stephanie wanted was a distraction, however well meaning, from trying to melt the snow and find Tim. She held up an apologetic hand.

“I’m sorry Klarion, but you’ve caught me at a really bad time and –”

Klarion, in his silly little pilgrim outfit and pointy black hair, bit his index finger. “Oh, I know! I know how you are feeling. You saw me when Teekl ran away… oh I was crestfallen. And before you so did Timothy!”

Stephanie, still sat on the snow, gaped. “You know Tim?”

Klarion seemed shocked she did not know. “You mean he never mentioned me? Why, we saved the world together, and Teekl, who is my world, a year or two ago. At least I think it was… time is funny here.”

Hope sprung anew in Stephanie’s chest and she rose, holding onto Klarion’s forearms.

“Then you know he’s missing?”

“Exactly! I am here to help you bring him back home and…brr… end this winter.”

“Oh! Klarion! You’re a godsend!” She hugged him tight. “What do we need to do?”

“Come, come! We must go to the river. Perhaps call your family. This trip may take a while.”

*****

“Oh my God you’re blue.” Cassandra exclaimed as Stephanie and Klarion arrived. Duke looked equally dumbfounded. The wind was icy, whipping around the pebbly ground underneath Kane bridge. It pierced Stephanie to her core, but Klarion seemed – as always – unaffected by his surroundings. Sighing, Stephanie waved vaguely between a politely smiling Klarion and the two batfamily members.

“Cassandra, Duke, this is Klarion. Klarion, this is Cassandra and Duke. They’re Tim’s siblings and friends of mine. Klarion is a witch who’s a… friend… of mine and Tim��s.”

“Hi…” Duke waved. Klarion bowed, and Cassandra made a woompf noise. She did not have a good history with magicians and took a cautious step back and behind Duke. Teekl appeared on top of Stephanie’s car, then leapt into Duke’s arms. He caught the cat, exclaiming, whilst Cassandra flinched away, not enjoying the vibes the witch and his familiar were giving off. It was off kilter and feral. Unmanageable and unpredictable.

“Right.” Klarion said, peering across the river with a dramatic step forward, looking like a Smurf pilgrim pioneer. “Are you ready to go?”

“You haven’t told me anything. Where are we going?”

“Not we. Just you.”

“Alone?”

Cassandra pushed Duke forward, calling over the wind, “What’s going on?”

Klarion ignored her, speaking only to Stephanie. “Hmm? Oh, you don’t know about the storm and its creator?”

“Only that it’s not of this Earth.”

“Indeed!” Klarion sounded entirely too cheerful. “You have been to my realm Stephanie, but there are many others to explore. The lady who caused this storm usually stays within her own, but sometimes she gets bored, and likes to go exploring.”

Stephanie slowly put the pieces together. “So… a magic… lady did this?”

“Magick. But yes. She likes to pick up people sometimes. I try to keep quiet track of my friends, and I noticed Tim had disappeared a few days ago. That coupled with this nasty weather of hers, well, one does not have to be a detective to put the pieces together!” Klarion nudged Stephanie in the gut, trying to be playful, but she only looked sick at his words.

“How do I bring him home? Will she hurt him?”

“Yes. She doesn’t mean to of course, but she likes humans so much. They freeze thanks to her though. She is sad for a little while, then decides to try again. Something we do not want for Tim.”

“No.” Stephanie breathed.

Klarion’s look became sympathetic. “He was very cruel before he left wasn’t he?”

Stephanie said nothing, and Klarion tutted. “It’s her way. She is not fond of a human’s warmth, not realising it is what makes them such.”

Cassandra meanwhile stomped her foot. “Who is ‘she’?”

“A Snow Queen!” Klarion gestured around him. “In case that was not obvious from the weather. Fey. Magick.”

“Fairy-tale.” Duke finished, blinking in realisation. “It’s just like a fairy-tale.”

“Is it?” Klarion shrugged. “I don’t know what that is. Regardless, Stephanie, you should be the one to melt his heart and bring him home. Since you’re the one who lost him.”

She tried not to let his matter of fact manner of speaking sting. “Why just me? Why can’t I go get my Batgirl suit? Why can’t you come with me? Or Cass and Duke?”

“Wait, he knows your secret ID?” Duke muttered, three steps behind Steph and Klarion’s conversation.

“Oh dear, Stephanie. You are going to be sick of this reason soon I am sure.”

She laughed brokenly. “It’s magic reasons huh?”

“Magick. And yes. Remember, the rules are very different in different realms. And names matter. Timothy Jackson Drake has been taken from Stephanie Brown. Stephanie Brown must be the one to bring Timothy Jackson Drake back. Anyone else entering will be kicked out. Their purpose does not fit with the rules. One human over there is bad enough… two! Oh dear. Three? Four? It will end terribly!” After his worrisome but somehow cheery doom of a lecture he held out his hand for Steph to take. “Here, I will share with you what I use to keep an eye on you and Tim. It will feel like an instinct to a human, pulling you in the right direction.”

Stephanie took off her (Tim’s) gloves, then held Klarion’s right hand. It was painfully warm. Soon enough her heart jerked, and she stumbled forward, almost careening onto the frozen river. Cassandra caught her and pulled her back.

“Oh!” Stephanie huffed, her heart legitimately aching from the separation.

“You will get used to it. Follow that pull, and you will find Tim. Remember, magick is not just something you do; it is something to hear and feel. Remember that and you will find our friend. I know you will succeed and find him before his heart freezes for good.”

Klarion smiled in that weird manner of his. Supposedly reassuring and bright but to the three humans standing by the river, it was unnerving and dissonant with his message.

Duke shook his head. “All well and good for Tim, but what about the storm? It’s been a week of this, how much longer? Is Stephanie going to fight a witch with her bare fists too?”

“Oh my God.” Stephanie groaned, crumpling in on herself. Cassandra remained curled around her, protecting her from the wind.

Klarion looked up, shielding his eyes against the glare of the white clouds reflecting off the white ground. Stephanie herself felt like she had been squinting for her entire life, like her eyes would never be fully open again.

“The storm will dissipate soon enough. She got what she came for, and this leakage will fade the further into her realm she returns. This is a problem which will fix itself. Tim however, will need a bit of help.”

“But why Tim?” Stephanie asked, desperation for him blending with relief for Gotham. “Of all the people on this planet, why target him?”

“That I do not know.” Klarion clapped his hands. “Come now, the more time we waste the less time you have to catch up.”

“But Bruce and Damian aren’t here.” Cassandra urged. “We should wait. There may be another way… so that Stephanie doesn’t have to go alone?”

At that moment the wind picked up, screaming it was so fierce, pushing the group away from the frozen water’s edge. She didn’t understand why, but it made Stephanie’s hackles rise. It felt like a challenge, or a warning. Don’t follow.

She was a squishy human. Klarion was seemingly willing to send her alone into a realm where that was not the norm. Whatever she would be hunting, it was strong enough to bring a city to a standstill by just leaking across the border. She didn’t know where she was going, or for how long. She didn’t know if she would make it to Tim, or what to do when she found him. How would she bring him home? What if she got there (wherever there was) and it was too late? What if she failed?

But what was the alternative? If she didn’t go, she failed Tim. If she went, there was still a chance she would fail Tim.

Just a chance.

The wind died down, and Stephanie got up, displacing Cassandra. Everyone watched as she went back to her little purple car and pulled out her satchel.

“I’ll go.”

“Stephanie.” Cassandra’s voice was unabashedly worried, and Duke did not look any happier with her decision. Stephanie ignored them.

She tossed nearly everything out of her bag – her purse, her phone, her keys, her umbrella – leaving behind a bottle of water, Bruce’s scarf that she had held onto (just in case she found Tim…just in case he was cold) and a bag of dried apple slices.

It was anything but a suitable bag of provisions for a journey which had no destination or time stamp, but Stephanie’s stubbornness had clicked on, and she had made up her mind.

“You can tell Bruce I have gone to bring Tim home. I may be a while. But he has to trust me to do it. I can do it. I will do it. You believe in me Klarion?”

“Oh yes. Absolutely.”

“That’s good enough for me.” She looked to Duke and Cass, who had both paled. “You can cope a while without me, yeah?”

Klarion had moved down to the river, and held out his hand once more.

“Don’t joke! Stephanie this is insane!” Duke exclaimed. Stephanie leapt down to join Klarion on the ice. Duke and Cassandra went to follow, but with a wave of Klarion’s hand, they were shoved back several feet. The two rushed back to the edge but were somehow unable to make the final step onto the frozen river.

“You should trust your friends!” Klarion called out.

Stephanie looked up at the two on the riverbank and smiled reassuringly. “Cover for me with Bruce, yeah? I’m fixing a mistake. For honest for real.” Stephanie took Klarion’s hand. “How do I get into that world?”

“I cannot go with you, but I have opened the way. Cross the Gotham river, and do not drown.”

Stephanie looked at their feet on the ice. “It’s frozen right now. Really frozen.”

“Not for much longer. The storm is moving north very fast. Spring is coming.”

Stephanie pulled out Bruce’s scarf and wrapped it around her neck. Then she adjusted Tim’s gloves, recovering her fingertips with the mittens. She breathed into the wool, feeling it warm her neck and cheeks. She muttered to herself a small pep talk.

“Okay. Cross the river. Follow my heart. Melt Tim’s heart and bring him home from a human obsessed ice witch. Easy-peasy. It’s like a fairy-tale. Just like a fairy-tale.”

“I wish I knew what that was.” Klarion gently shoved her away from him. “Remember Stephanie. Different realm, different rules. It will turn your human head inside out if you are not alert. It has happened to Tim. Do not make the same mistake.”

The river was covered in several inches of snow, but even so, Stephanie felt unstable, like she was standing directly on black ice. Slowly she turned, took three steps, then whipped her head back around.

“Wait my mom!”

But Cassandra, Duke and Klarion were gone. Instead it was an endless frozen lake, with the only land viewable across the bay as she slowly returned to facing forward. The sky was piercing pale blue, and already she could feel the temperature rising.

“Oh. Oh my God. Steph, what have you gone and signed up for now?”

She then took a breath, and began to cross the frozen river, heading straight for land.

Back on regular Earth, Duke dropped Teekl when Stephanie vanished. Klarion waved goodbye to the open air, then turned around to see Cassandra and Duke glaring at him.

“She will be fine.” He said, for once reading the atmosphere.

“You’ve sent her to die! Both her and Tim!” Cassandra yelled. Klarion looked mortified.

“I absolutely have not! What a lack of faith you have in your friend.”

“It’s not a lack of faith knowing someone going on a magical journey with no destination with nothing but the clothes on their back is suicidal.” Duke bit out. “I hope Batman wrings your neck.”

“Is that something he does?”

“Sometimes.”

“Oh dear.” And then Klarion stepped back off the river. “Nevermind. I’ll head off now, nothing more to be done here. Stephanie will succeed. It may take a month or two, but be patient.”

“Two months?”

Everyone turned to see a very angry Batman looming from above under the bridge, Robin perched a couple of beams down. Both looked like they were genuinely considering strangling Klarion. Teekl hissed at the perceived threat. Klarion simply shrugged with his entire body.

“Or a year. Just be patient! Trust in her!” With a little uncomfortable laugh, Klarion portaled himself away, his voice echoing through the open air.

Cassandra and Duke gulped as Bruce landed in front of them.

“Care to explain how Tim and Stephanie went missing?”

“It…It was…” It was Duke’s turn to take a step behind Cassandra, who grew very puffy.

“It was magic! Or something stupid like it. Can’t you call for help?”

Damian looked out at the river. Everyone could hear new cracking noises, and the ice began to crumple under the weight of the thick snow it held up. It was still bitterly cold, but Klarion was right. The worst of the storm had passed. Gotham would recover.

Tim and Stephanie were another matter.

#dc #timsteph #tim drake #stephanie brown #my fic tag

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morebedsidebooks · 5 years

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LGBTQ+ Characters in Comics from the 20th century I like

It’s June, Pride is here and rainbow colours are everywhere. So, I figured I’d be a little retrospective and share a short list of LGBTQ+ characters in comics from the 20th century I have a soft spot for. I’ve organized these by date of the characters first appearing but, happily most are still having stories written about them today.

Let’s start with three ladies from DC:

Catwoman

Catwoman, specifically Selina Kyle has been around comics for a long time, nearly as long as the turbulence of her relationship with Batman. Though, Bruce isn’t they only character she has involved herself with over the years. I’ve got my share of comics featuring this fierce lady of many lives and antiheroine, including part of the New 52 run by Genevieve Valentine a few years back where her bisexuality was acknowledged as canon. Though, it was the film adaptation Batman Returns in 1992 with Michelle Pfieffer that blew me away when I was young. And remains, I think the most iconic Catwoman costume, which you can see in 4K now. Hear her roar.

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is another longstanding character and probably the most popular female superhero. I had comics as a child with Diana along with watching the sometimes campy 1970s TV series with Lynda Carter. Perhaps even more interesting than the Amazonian warrior herself is the passions of one of her creators William Marston and the themes of those earliest comics. (I’d suggest the book Wonder Woman: Bondage and Feminism in the Marston/Peters Comics 1941-1948.) And of course, also the controversy over a strong heroine standing on her own sparked by Fredic Wertham in Seduction of the Innocent.

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy, or Pamela Isely with her sexual agency and connection to the Green, who admittedly may go about fighting for the environment as well as for women or children in the wrong way sometimes, is my top female character from American comics period. After again some rough treatment in comics recently, I wrote this year about her origins since 1966. Most people these days probably can’t think of Ivy without Harley, since it’s been 20 years since their first meeting in comics (longer for other mediums) but, these gals have a relationship that isn’t monogamous and has had it’s on again off again points too. (And note to DC maybe get it together on just how you define it since you waffle a bit hmm?)

Taku and Venomm

Black Panther was one of the few Marvel comics characters whose stories I’ve wound up reading. (My mum had this thing against some comics and one of my older brothers mainly passed on DC issues to me.) The Jungle Action installments written by Don McGregor are to this day still memorable. And part of that should be due also to Taku and Venomm (Horatio Walters), the latter first appearing in the “Panther’s Rage” arc. Though, it would take time for the open acknowledgement of this example of early gay characters in comics. Sexuality outside the heterosexual among other topics was taboo in the 1970s yet, McGregor managed with a collection of artists to bring a vision of Wakanda focusing largely on its black inhabitants and difficult social issues in the world to publication.

Juli Bauernfeind

I read The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio about boys at a German boarding school when I was 21. Juli was a character I connected to and the story had a profound effect on me. And I bawled my eyes out. It still makes me cry and is still one of the best comics I’ve ever come across. I reviewed the English edition a few years back. As well as wrote a post on the French bisexual author Roger Peyrefitte whose novel was adapted into a film which inspired Hagio.

John Constantine

Full of politics, call it dark with a dose of nihilism but, Hellblazer with John Constantine is just damn good. Sometimes the world is awful, people are awful, you’re awful and well yeah everything is going to hell. Constantine is pretty much dreadful for the women he’s often involved with, or well anybody really. It was in the early 90s readers were first clued into the history of his love life made up of girlfriends and boyfriends. And can we fail to recall the later S. W. Manor from Ashes & Dust: In the City of Angels, one of the most visceral takes thru a character that is basically a stand in for Bruce Wayne, and his twisted relationship with John? I’m not. It’s been a strange trip over the years some adaptations really glossing over his sexuality. Though of late handling this aspect of his character appears to have gotten better.

Stormer and Kimber

The madcap Jem and the Holograms was one of my favourite cartoons as a child in the 80s. I even had some of the dolls and cassette tapes. Stormer aka Mary Phillips part of the Misfits was the rock star I loved the most. Dedicated to music and actually quite sweet with the optimum blue hair. I had to try the colour myself. The episode where she teams up with Kimber after both have differences with their respective bandmates is a classic. So, it was truly outrageous when the series was revived in 2015 in comic book form by Kelly Thompson and Sophie Campbell, and the Stormer and Kimber relationship that had been brewing came fully out for fans. (Btw the comic also added a new character, Blaze who is a trans woman and girlfriend of Misfit’s fan Clash.)

Ash Lynx and Eiji Okamura

It’s been interesting to experience Banana Fish by Akimi Yoshida in different ways from first encountering the comic when I was a teenager, picking it up again in my twenties, and yet again the animated TV series last year. I wrote about the comic and first few episodes of the 2018 adaptation when it was airing. Though, I haven’t posted much more on it because there’s a tiny percentage of its fandom I want to avoid, as well as 30+ years on the series is still— pain. This one is a tragedy folks. However, it also has a beautiful healing love story and touched on a variety of hot button issues that are sadly still relevant today. My love for these two teen characters in a gritty USA will live forever.

Chihaya and Kagetsuya

I’ve written before how the sci-fi title Earthian was what introduced and endeared respect for m/m comics from Japan for me. The art style of Yun Kouga has changed a bit over the years, nevertheless still stands out from the crowd. And Earthian with a taboo love between androgynous male angels remains my favourite of her work.

Michiru Kaiô and Haruka Tennô

Sailor Moon has become a multimedia sensation and is beloved around the world. Many kids and even adults of all sorts in the 90s will remember it in one form or another and cite it as an influence for pursuing careers in all sorts of creative fields. Along with countless fans recognizing or discovering something of themselves in the characters. There are several different characters for rep in the series. But particularly for me Michiru and Haruka were an opportunity in a very anti-LGBTQ+ climate (their relationship was even refashioned as being cousins when brought out in English for the first time) to nevertheless see such a loving, positive relationship.

Tomoyo Daidôji

Love is a theme the creative team CLAMP revisits and revisits and Cardcaptor Sakura is the magical girl comic series with a theme on all different forms. It is one of the first all ages titles from Japan that I will recommend to people. (Despite fyi containing a whopping four student-teacher relationships. Not the purpose of this post to go into right now though.) The best friend to Sakura, Tomoyo is one of my favourite characters. Always supportive, maybe a bit alarming popping out of bushes or other spots with her camera at the ready to catch either Sakura’s everyday life or battles, and possessing boundless fashion sense. (Btw, there are other characters in the series that are or could be interpreted as examples for my list as well. Sakura among them.)

Isabella Yamamoto

Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa, a sequel of sorts to one of the huge girls’ comics titles of the 1990s Gokinjo Monogatari, introduced a group of teenagers on the verge of graduating, some with an idea of what to do with their lives and others questioning the path they’ve so far taken. Isabella from an affluent background but, who struggled for acceptance from her family or nearly anyone until she was gifted a handmade dress by her childhood friend George (who is Bi btw), studies pattern drafting at the same art school as Gokinjo Monogatari. The most mature of the main cast, refined, always listening and offering a cup of tea, she achieves her dream career and self-actualization in fashion. Since I have a degree in fashion design, I have to agree that clothes are so much more than just something we wear.

#lgbtq characters #comics #catwoman #wonder woman #poison ivy #taku #venomm #juli bauernfeind #john constantine #stormer #kimber benton #ash lynx #eiji okumura #chihaya #kagetsuya #michiru kaiô #haruka tennô #tomoyo daidôji #isabella yamamoto

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mr-lancers-english-class · 5 years

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Waiting to Die Part 3

Waiting to Die Part 3!

AO3 isn’t working for me, but I’ll update when it is.

Word Count: 1916

Sam didn’t go to school the next day. She had woken up with a massive headache, and when her mother checked, a perfectly normal temperature of 97° (for Sam that was absurdly high, but Pamela didn’t know that). As a mature and responsible high school junior who was definitely totally worried about getting good enough grades to get into a good college, she spent all day texting Danny and Tucker. She tried using Discord, but after twenty messages with no responses, Sam remembered that first, the school wifi had recently gone on another purge and now blocked any sight deemed “games” or “personal” or “messaging,” and second, Danny had English Literature and Tucker had Statistics and neither teacher was particularly forgiving when it came to phones. After watching half of a movie and knitting a hat, she tried again, this time via text.

SM: Am I missing anything good?

TF: No

DF: Yes

TF: Definitely not

DF: Wes has decided that Tucker’s a ghost

SM: But…

SM: He is. Is that news?

TF: Ha ha

SM: I’m here all week, folks

DF: Lancer gave me your homework. We’re starting presentations next week, and we all need to make an outline for next class

SM: I thought only six people are presenting?

DF: Yeah, but we don’t know which six, and I think Lancer’s gonna pick based on the outlines

Sam groaned. She had not enjoyed reading The Great Gatsby, and did not want to have to think about the book any more, much less give a ten minute presentation.

SM: Well fuck

TF: Lol

TF: That’s what you get for taking Lit honors

DF: Moderately jealous

SM: You did this to yourself, Fenton

He had. Where her parents had made her take the hardest courses, his parents often didn’t even realize he was at school, much less think about his course load.

TF: Sooooo……… how’re you doing?

SM: My head hurts and I have a fever

DF: How high?

SM: 97 F

DF: That’s not good

SM: I know

DF: Aren’t you normally like a 93?????

SM: Yeah

TF: When do you start melting?

DF: Dude!!!

SM: Right under 100

DF: You don’t ask somebody when they start melting!!!!!

DF: But Sam, if you get up to 98, let me know and take an ice bath

DF: I don’t want to have to explain to your parents why you’re missing and there’s a puddle of ectoplasm in your room

SM: That’s fair

TF: Gtg. Tetslaff is yelling at me for not changing out

SM: Good luck! Don’t die!

DF: He should be fine…. Right?

SM: Nope

Suddenly, Sam straightened up. Her hair started to float up around her head and the air smelled a lot cleaner. She sighed, and climbed out of bed.

SM: Ghost. I’ll text you when i’m done

DF: Valerie just “went to the bathroom”

SM: Got it

DF: Be safe! You’re still sick

Sam pulled her hair back into a quick ponytail, stuffed a pillow under her sheets and turned the lights off to keep her mother and father from noticing anything, and shuffled over to the window.

“Well then, guess I’ll die.” As her voice trailed off, the two rings split around her waist, and she transformed. Immediately, she staggered and fell against the wall. “Oh, no no no. Not good. Come on, Sam. Just one ghost. You got this, you got this.” She quickly turned her arm intangible and reached through her wall, grabbing the Fenton Thermos and Fenton Wrist Ray she kept there. Danny had been both building and stealing his parents weapons since the Trio first started fighting ghosts, leading to the rather sizeable hidden collection they now maintained. Aside from the three other guns and extra thermos in her walls, Sam had stuffed an arsenal into the school walls, her locker, Danny and Tucker’s locker, her car, an old oak tree in the park, the library bathroom, and the Nasty Burger.

“Alright, let’s do this.” She attached the Wrist Ray to her left hand and the Thermos to her belt as she phased through the wall. It only took her a minute of meandering up Main Street to find a trail of small craters and broken bricks, and only a few more seconds to find Skulker.

“Ah, Ghost Child! You are here, which means I can-”

“Cutting you short there, buddy. I’m sick. I need to be home sleeping. I don’t have time to deal with your whole ‘Kill the Whelp! Take the Whelp’s pelt and hang it on my wall! Argh! bullshit. Can we just call it a draw and you head back to the Ghost Zone?”

“Never! I shall be victorious in this hunt-”

“Dude, seriously. You never win. Like, never. Not once. I’m giving you one chance to go home. The Red Huntress is gonna be here two minutes ago, and she’s not as nice as I am. Can you please just go away?”

“You are weakened. That means I shall-”

Skulker was cut off and thrown spinning backwards in the air as a missile hit him square in the chest. Sam groaned and dodged to the side as Valerie shot by her. She popped up, and almost went crashing to the ground just as fast, her vision fuzzy and darkening. She watched as Valerie went zipping around, peppering Skulker with rockets and plasma blasts and the occasional sideswipe with her hoverboard. If she hadn’t been on the verge of falling, Sam would have taken a moment to appreciate Valerie’s skill. Sam had never seen her equal. Back when they had dated for a month in freshman year, back before either of them knew what they were doing as ghost and ghost hunter, Danny and Tucker were convinced Sam was better. Having seen Valerie in action (and having been on the receiving end of that action more times than she would have cared for and thankfully not recently) Sam knew that, if it weren’t for her plant powers and preference for negotiation over confrontation, Valerie would have long surpassed her. As it was, most ghosts just needed a few kind words, directions to a natural portal, or a weekly shipment of boxes.

“Take that, ghost!” Valerie’s shout jolted Sam back to the present, right in time to fall into the road. She sat up as Skulker crashed a few feet away.

“I shall have your skin, huntress!” Skulker roared, clawing out of the new crater.

“I already told you, Skulker, go away!” Sam planted her hands on the ground, and let her powers loose. In seconds, vines and roots began to spring from the ground, breaking through the asphalt and wrapping themselves around Skulker’s suit.

“No! I will not be defeated by a tree!”

“It’s poison ivy right now, thank you very much, and yes, you will.” Sam pulled at the vines with her mind, and they brought the metal suit crashing into the ground. Skulker’s head popped off and rolled away, his little feet kicking frantically at nothing.

“And in you go,” Valerie laughed as she pulled out her own thermos and sucked in the head, as well as the rest of the armor. “That wasn’t too bad, eh?”

Sam smiled weakly. “Not too bad.” Valerie nodded back, her mask hiding any emotions. The two girls had come to a tentative truce at the end of sophomore year, and had been getting more comfortable with each other ever since. Sam had even gotten a burner phone so Valerie could call her at any time. She hadn’t yet, but it was the thought that counted.

“Hey, you good?”

“Mostly. Just a little under the weather.”

“Aren’t you dead?” Sam turned abruptly to glare at Valerie “Ack, wait, that came out wrong. Sorry. I just, well, I didn’t think you could get sick.”

“Oh,” Sam’s face relaxed. “Yeah, neither did I. But, here I am.”

“You should go rest.”

“I’m planning on it.”

“Like, right now. Go back to the Ghost Zone. I can take care of things here, at least for a few days. Besides, if I need any help, you have a phone number for a reason.”

Sam sighed. “Okay. Don’t die, Huntress.” She lifted off the ground a little.

“You too, Wraith.” Sam chuckled at the mention of her ghost half’s name as she flew shakily away. Valerie sped off in the other direction with the small hope that maybe she would make it back in time for the end of class.

“Now, back home I go. Slowly, very slowly,” Sam said to nobody. “Very, very slowly. Don’t want to collapse, don’t want to fall.” She faltered above the buildings. “I’m gonna set myself down right there, because falling hurts a lot. That is more power than I’ve used in a while. That was more power than I meant to use.” Sam set herself down in the middle of the road, and glanced back at where the fight had just gone down. Vines were everywhere. A few were still growing, twisting up to the sky. The entire road was blocked, along with half of the sidewalk.

“That is way more power than I thought.” Sam turned away from the destruction and pulled out her burner phone. She wasn’t sure how, but once she clipped it to her belt, the phone was always there when she transformed.

“Where is it… there it is.” She speed dialed the fire department. “Yes, hello?”

“Amity Park Fire Department Non-Emergency line. How can I help?” The operator on the other side of the phone sounded too cheery.

“Hi, yeah, it’s the Wraith.”

“Oh, hi! How are you? It’s been so long!”

“I’m pretty good, Sharon, you?”

“It’s good, it’s good. Nothing’s burned down recently.” Sharon, the operator, laughed.

“That’s good. So, I made a bit of a mess…”

“Just now?”

“Uh huh. Skulker showed up on Main Street.”

“Is everyone okay? Do I need to get an ambulance? A firetruck? The police? Did you burn something down?” Sharon’s voice rose an octave as lots of scrambling and thudding was heard through the phone.

“Nothing’s burned, Sharon, and nobody’s hurt. No police or ambulances necessary. Just a lot of vines in the middle of the road.”

“Can’t you undo them?”

“To be honest, I don’t know how. I was hoping, if there’s some extra people at the station, you could send some to burn them down?”

“You said in the middle of the road?”

“Yeah, they’re growing through the road. And a few on the sidewalk. And they’re poison ivy. Sorry.” Sam winced.

“I’ll send a crew down. Main Street?”

“Yeah, right in front of the mayor’s office.”

“Okie dokie. Sounds good. And thank you!”

Sharon hung up before Sam could respond. The woman was nice, and Sam liked talking to her. She almost never got to, but Sharon didn’t know anything about her other than their phone calls and the news, so when they did talk, Sam enjoyed the outside opinion and caring voice.

“And now, all the way home. You got this Sam. You got this.” She continued walking, slowly and shakily.

It took her another half hour to walk to her house, and then three minutes to muster the strength to fly up to her window and phase through. She wasn’t sure when she had transformed back, but a quick glance in the mirror told her Sam Manson was lying on her bed and not the Wraith. She sighed lightly, and drifted off to sleep.

#danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #valerie gray #phic phight #phic phight 19 #inverse trio au #plant core au

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redjaybathood · 5 years

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Fem!Jason AU

So, it could go many different ways including the one where nothing is different at all, but what I have in mind now is this.

You came around after being dead and discover your totally platonic sugar daddy (something jay always said as a joke, you know, haha, you swept me off your feet and took me to live with you at the mansion, you got me all those cool clothes - Robin suit, mainly, but also civilian clothes, - and gadgets - again, Robin and civilian alike, - and pay for my education for the sheer pleasure of my company) did not waste his time replacing you with a shiny new model (a better model, your subconsciousness whispers, just because Tim Drake is a guy and guys are just inherently better in fight, wasn’t that why Bruce always compared you to Dick), the right reaction for this is: fuck that guy, moving on.

And so you don’t waste your time with playing mind games with Hush’s help, you don’t break Joker out of Arkham so a man could kill him for you. You can do the job yourself.

You still go after Black Mask though. You heard about Spoiler, and that would be a reason enough, not to mention Black Mask is a terrible fucking criminal douchebag.

As you aren’t concentrating on manipulating Roman Sionis into breaking Joker out to deal with you - Joker is already dead by the time the bag full of severed heads hits the round table crime bosses are sitting around - you’re more efficient in getting rid of his operation.

Batman and Co is a concern but not a terrible one at that. You stay away from civilians, you don’t bait bats, so they tend not to prioritize you over, say, any other psychotic villain Gotham is so full of.

You build your own network. Street kids, working girls, any other poor soul out there who doesn’t want to lead a violent life and is willing to let you lead this life or them. You are sympathetic towards Poison Ivy’s cause, rich white men did terrible things to Gotham’s ecosystem. You are even able to convince her that people are actually kind of a part of the ecosystem too. Or, maybe, community gardens on the roof of Crime Alley building helped at that. You don’t share with Pamela that you started this project first and foremost to make it more difficult for bats to move up there, and the secondary purpose was feeding people who live downstairs - or maybe actually it was the other way around, you can’t quite remember now.

Pam helps you to hush things out with Harley. She’s not all that buzzed you killed her boyfriend before she could do it herself but, seeing as he killed you first, you get a pass, this time.

You stay away from Catwoman. Selina is a goddess among men, yes, but she’s also awfully close to Bruce, and you don’t want to put her in an uncomfortable position when she has to question herself, her loyalties or her feelings.

You would love to say you have a thing going on with Batwoman (no, it’s not weird, shut up, you say to your subconsciousness, when I was living at the manor I didn’t even meet her once) but she, sadly, is more into lawful types then rougly handsome outlaws such as yourself. Also the age thing doesn’t help your chances any. Alas.

Barb knows. Of course, she does, she’s an Oracle. Oracle is what you fear the Government is going to be, in a few decades, seeing everything and manipulating events on behalf of 1%. She gives you a pass though so you give her one right back.

When Steph comes back, it’s the most invigorating experience you had for a long time. She likes to banter with you too, you think, ‘cause why else would she always go after you alone, without red-green-yellow colored back-up. It could be about dealing with her nemesis before she could do it herself, or about Robin being damn annoying on a good day (when you meet Damian for the second time in your lives, all dolled up in a legacy suit, you call Talia; now, you say to her, I don’t presume to tell you how to raise your kid... Good, she replies and hangs up. Okay, you think, geez. You still have half a mind to seek child services on Bruce. You do it, once, an anonymous tip, but it kinda goes nowhere, which, with the Waynes money, not all that surprising. You think long and hard about really putting an effort into it, and what to expect in retaliation, and if your mission and your kids should pay the price. You feel all wrong about it but you decide to drop it, for now).

When Cass comes around, it’s another story. You just complete opposites, no way around it. She was raised to be a killer and decided not to become it. You were raised to be a victim and so, of course, you went in the opposite direction. You have different frames of reference. You understand that. She doesn’t. It’s a shame, you think, but that’s what it is.

Now, Duke Thomas. You respects his abilities but that’s mainly all you could say about him. You two don’t come into contact with each other very often. Maybe, if Red Hood was more active during Robin War, or took an interest in We Are Robins organization, maybe things would be different. Maybe you would have now had a meta as a second in command. But ou stayed the fuck off from Robins, the name leaves a bad taste in the mouth, like ashes and blood and dry desert air. Duke, on the other hand, roots for you on the down-low because you’re quite a known character in the Gotham communities, helping kids and adults alike. Also, Red Hood once helped Izabella out of a tough spot. Signal prefers to let Batgirl or Black Bat deal with Red Hood, that’s all.

Sometimes, the business makes you get out of Gotham. You meet Kory on one of those trips. Kory, being a real pal, helps you out of a tough spot, after you nearly drown after the submarine thing. So when Kory calls and ask to go after Roy Harper (who you remember very fondly, despite literally meeting the dude once, and when he was not on his best - but that’s, you think, a part of the attraction, and what is fucking wrong with me goddamn), you do. The jail Roy’s in is like 20 meters from where you died. That’s okay, though. It’s not like a bomb will drop into the same place twice, right? Right?

It’s a close call, though. If the same jail didn’t contain a certain shipment from Lexcorp, and a certain Amazon wasn’t interested in said shipment, who knows how the story would have gone - even with Kory as a back-up you can’t really do much when you’re caught between the country’s army and rogue amazons with one of them holding a bow of Ra.

Afterward, the five of you, go to the Gotham to recuperate. Well, to Lex Luthor first, who does help save Bizarro, but he’s also a dick who ordered Bizarro killed in the first place, and also had his hand in the Roy’s losing his hand thing and getting a clone. So, you aren’t terribly impressed by him. Artemis, who insisted on going to him in the first place, isn’t, too. But that, she says, is a story for another day.

#fem!jason todd #au #fic idea #jason todd #red hood

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