#like monstrous secrets and stuff?

[clockworkbee]

Is it just me or do all v. e. schwab books simply have that vibe? It's like halfway through the book it hits you, it really is written by her.

#im not talking about anything in... #particular #except maybe... #the aesthetic #like guys and shadows and coats? #like monstrous secrets and stuff? #idk #v. e. schwab

[cryptidghostgirl]

Rhapsody (Alastor x Cursed!Gn!Reader)

Pairing: Alastor x Reader

Description: Alastor and Y/n have been taking down the overlords of Hell together for years but Y/n has had a secret and Alastor knows it.

Warnings: ANGST. Listen, when I get to write stuff not for requests, it's usually angst. Idk what to tell you.

Word Count: 1,545

Part Two: Ritornello

Master Lists:

Master Lists 

Hazbin Hotel Master List

Rhapsody Master List

Alastor had met Y/n in the early years of his career in Hell. As two agents of misfortune set on taking down the overlords of Hell, the Radio Demon and the Bard became fast friends. Before either of them really realized it, their care for one another had become a bit more than platonic.

It had been difficult to handle at first. Both had been let down, utterly betrayed by people that they had let into their lives in the past. Both were reserved but, it was inevitable.

Alastor was always causing trouble, making problems. He kept things interesting. Y/n liked that, liked him and his spirit. They were on the shyer side, having stage fright even though all their powers were based on music and performance. It was an amusing contradiction, the first thing that had really pulled Alastor in.

When he had finally worked up the courage to tell Y/n how he felt about them, they had been working on writing a new piece of music while Alastor wrote the script for his next broadcast. He hadn't been able to take it anymore. Watching them work, the concentration on their face, hearing them pick tunes on their instrument, the intimacy of the moment had over taken him.

They had look up in surprise, and he had apologized, controlled by a sudden fear of loss. Y/n had shook their head and gotten to their feet, allowing their lute to disappear. They had walked over to him, turned his face to theirs. They had kissed him, gently. Alastor was a goner.

He had never loved nor felt love like the one he shared with Y/n. It wasn't fire and passion, it wasn't destruction. No, the love was soft and gentle. It was a kitten they had adopted off the streets. It was a soft evening fog: all consuming and lovely.

None of the overlords were really all that surprised when they heard the news. Alastor and Y/n had similar goals, similar patterns of living. From what they knew of them, the pair balanced one another out perfectly, made one another stronger, better. Where Alastor was loud and omnipresent, Y/n was more reserved and watchful. Where Y/n could manipulate and control the world around them, Alastor handled people. Even the manifestation of their abilities was similar in some respects, Alastor with his microphone and Y/n with their lute. In combining their abilities and territories, they managed to control nearly a third of Pentagram City. Alastor was the face of their little operation while Y/n was the power. The overlords knew they had to act soon, otherwise their downfall would be inevitable at the hands of the most powerful duo of sinners in Hell.

They kept no secrets from one another, save one. Y/n, in all their quiet chaos, would disappear on occasion. It was something that began happening a year or so into their relationship, a few years after they had met one another. They would jump up and leave in the middle of conversations even on occasion. Whenever Alastor tried to ask about it, they always brushed him off. He never got more than a brief excuse out of them but, he trusted them. It was okay. He knew they weren't working against him or anything malevolent like that, it wasn't in their nature.

It wasn't that Y/n didn't want to tell Alastor what was going on, it was that they were scared. The truth of it all showed fragility, made them into something monstrous, made them weak. They trusted Alastor but, not enough to let him in. They trusted no one enough to let them in on this front. The secret put a strain on their relationship, but Y/n was certain it was better than the alternative.

The couple's favorite spot in all of Hell was on the outskirts of Pentagram City. There was a field there of red grass. A hill at the center bore a tall, twisted tree with bark so dark brown it was nearly black. It was where Alastor and Y/n went to simply exist, to escape the self imposed disarray of their lives.

Alastor had asked Y/n to meet him there that day and so they did. He had told them nothing other than that he had something important to tell them. As they climbed the hill, they spotted Alastor seated beneath the tree at the top reading a book.

Y/n smiled fondly at the sight. He was so engrossed in his book that he didn't even realize they were there until they were already seated beside him.

"Hey." Y/n smiled, leaning up against Alastor's shoulder.

He jumped slightly, turning to face them. His eyes softened at the sight and he closed his book, putting it to the side.

"Hello song bird." he cooed, pressing a soft kiss to their lips, "How has your day been?"

"Alastor, you saw me this morning. It's only like two in the afternoon."

Alastor shrugged and Y/n laughed lightly, pulling their knees into their chest.

"It's been okay. Nearly figured out a way to take that dinosaur overlord out, I forget their name. Should be done by the end of the week."

Alastor furrowed his brow, he looked down at his lap.

"Hey, are you okay?" Y/n asked, noticing the change in their partner's demeanor.

"Y/n, why do you always run off places?" he asked suddenly, "It's been happening more often, are you alright?"

Y/n sat up straight, taking their head from Alastor's shoulder.

"I'm fine."

Alastor shook his head.

"You're lying again. Sometimes... sometimes I feel like I don't really know you. So, I've made a decision."

Y/n's eyes went wide, his words a bullet through their chest. Sure, things had been a bit rocky between them of late. Alastor was right, they had been leaving him more frequently, hiding from him. They always figured things out, Y/n was sure of it. They had done it before and they would do it again and one day, once they figured out how to stop the curse, how to break it, they would tell him. Everything would be okay.

Their heart pounded against their ribcage, begging for release. They took a shaky breath.

"A decision?"

Alastor looked away, pulling a knee into his chest. Unable to meet their eyes.

"I'm joining the overlords and..."

"Oh, theres an and?" Y/n scoffed, "Joining up with our sworn enemies, the demons we've been trying to take down for years, that I've spent my afterlife fighting against, isn't enough of a betrayal?"

Y/n felt the anger rising in their chest. They pushed it down. Any strong negative emotion was a danger, the anger was a trigger and Y/n's body the loaded gun.

"I think we should see other people."

Y/n's heart dropped, crashing through their diaphragm. Their breaths quickened, becoming heavy and panicked. They had been in Hell longer than Alastor, it was true but, they loved him. He made their afterlife complete. There had been a before, the last thing they wanted was for there to be an after.

"I'm sorry, Y/n. It's over."

A sudden pain wracked their body. Y/n looked down at their hands to see the familiar claws sprouting. They jumped to their feet, turning their back on Alastor.

"Are you okay?" Alastor asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Oh yeah, fine!" Y/n stated, though their tone was anything but convincing.

Alastor got to his feet, noticing the way Y/n's body was beginning to change its shape, become more monstrous, more animalistic in its nature. He had never seen them do something like this before.

"Y/n, what's going on?"

They didn't answer, simply letting out a quiet, pained groan.

"Is this why you always have to leave?"

Y/n's panting became more intense as they tried struggled to keep their normal form. They pressed their hands to the sides of their head. Their eyes had gone black by now, not that Alastor could see.

"It's fine." they uncomfortably laughed, "Everything is normal. You can leave now."

Alastor sighed. His eyes lingered on their form for a few seconds longer before he too turned his back to Y/n, crossing his arms.

"I can't do this anymore. It's like you live two lives, one I am in and one I'm not. I..."

Alastor let his sentence trail off in indecision. He wanted to tell them he loved them. He did love them, a lack of care wasn't why he had to break things off. It just didn't feel right, to say it here and now, even if it was still true. Everything had become too much and the overlords had given him a truly tempting offer. Alastor had to think about himself, his future. He had to do what was best for him, not them. Not when they were the reason he had been in a constant state of upheaval for the past several years. Not when it seemed to never stay good once it got better, not when the times it was bad became worse and quicker every time

"I'll... see you around."

----

A/N Listen, I am obsessed with The Owl House, okay?? And Raine and Eda are the cutest and just shhhhh. Okay?

NEXT PART: Ritornello

#x reader #hazbin hotel #alastor #hazbin alastor #alastor the radio demon #hazbin hotel alastor #x reader writer #alastor hazbin hotel #x reader fanfic #x you #alastor x reader #alastor fanfiction #alastor x you #alastor x gn!reader #gn reader #gender neutral y/n #gender neutral reader #gender neutral pronouns #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin #hazbin hotel fanfiction #hazbin hotel x gn reader #alastor x gn reader #x reader fanfiction #x reader angst #alastor angst #hazbin hotel angst #angst #cursed reader #cursed!reader

[lovetei]

Okay so, someone headcanon that Lucifer interact with Cerberus very seriously like no baby talk or any normal petowners behaviour…? This is actually kinda canon now? In the recent Lucifer’s card. He be trying to get his lepus doing smth by acting like they’re business partners and the lepus keeps electrocuting him in the progress lol.

And just imagine MC being the lovely troublemaker they are keep sneaking in the underground tomb to see Cerberus to give him belly rubs, snacks and all of the things Lucifer didn’t do because MC feels bad cuz Cerberus can’t experience all the “good boys stuff” he deserves

Then one day, Cerberus just break out and just running around the house to find MC cuz they forgot to give Cerberus his daily without Lucifer knowing snacks, and daily cuddle too! What a crime. How would the bros react to that?

I was surprised Fluff and crack dominated the poll I created last post 😭

But this cute as hell.

I'm back on my long post era :b

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MC who thinks Cerberus is just a giant puppy that deserves love cause he's a good boy

Warnings: Grammar errors, spelling errors, long post, Mentions of starving, Mentions of eye bags, Mentions of some real threats

Versions: Demon brothers, Side Characters

Links: Masterlist

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LUCIFER:

He's a very serious pet owner

He doesn't punish his pet though, no fasting or whips just some soft scolding and lecturing

On the other hand, there's you who as a pet fever, always hyperventilating when you see Cerberus

He figured that you might turn his stoic and monstrous three headed dog into some giant puppy

So he made sure that he adds one more barrier, specifically preventing you from entering the tomb

But guess what? You're the shit.

Ain't no barrier gonna stop you.

So you sneak out late at night while struggling to hold all the large sized snacks you starved yourself to get your hands on just make Cerberus feel like the good boy he is.

Of course, Lucifer noticed this but he's not really sure and he does not want to confront you about this.

Like, what if you're not actually going to the tomb to pet and give Cerberus belly rubs? He'll look like a fool.

But it just kept getting worse.

The eyebags around your eyes

And how Cerberus gets more and more whiney

What the fuck is on about you two

So as a punishment, he decided to give you a break (Wow)

You're not allowed to leave your room until the dark circles under your eyes disappear.

And to his surprise, and prediction, Cerberus managed to break out of the magic he applied on the tomb that prevents him fron going out without his permission

He's both disspointed and proud.

Disspointed because his dog is disobeying and proud because his dog is actually really strong.

And as to his guesses, he ran up straight to the HOL and broke the door open.

And just like in those movies

You guys met halfway and life dramatically cried out as if Lucifer prevented two lovers from meeting each other.

He's just standing on the background like :l

Cause he expected this much.

MAMMON:

He liked the dog don't get him wrong

It's just that, he's not as crazy as you are about them

Plus that three headed tree pisser tried to kill him multiple times

And he's NOT happy about it

It's not like he can get any time to bond with the dog too since Lucifer is keeping a tight leash on him both literally and figuratively.

That might stop him

But not you

As your first man, he already know you're up to something the moment he saw you, through his crows, carrying large sizes of food, now human food, dog food.

He also knows that you're someone who don't actually want someone to know about this little secret of yours

So he just kept quite and stood at the bay

Watching you sneak around the house, trying to get to the tomb by yourself

Who knows? Something might go wrong and he needs to be by your side to save you as your babysitter and as your first man.

He started getting worried as soon as he saw those eye bags though

So he admitted that he knows what you're up to and suggested that you stop

You got mad

Of course

He knew it

He snitched on you by the way

He didn't straight up told Lucifer that you're going out to meet Cerberus

He just pointed out that you have like the worse eye bags ever and subtly said that you might be on some late night rendezvous.

He's glad that Lucifer gave you that time out.

He's sorry for snitching on you too but your health comes first before some belly rubs and dog treats.

When he heard the door of HOL crashing down though

He knew damn well who it was

He actually opened (broke) the door for you.

LEVIATHAN:

He's not that much of a dog person

More on reptiles and amphibians

But he understands why you're all crazy about dogs

I mean it's a common thing among humans right?

He's pretty sure Lucifer won't let you near Cerberus though since all about the string, guard dogs type while you're all down for cutesy belly rubs and treats.

Then one night, when he's about to get water after playing video games all night he saw you

Sneaking out

And he thought "What if MC actually have a hidden identity like in those anime?! That would be so cool!"

And so he followed you

And saw Mammon following you too

Mammon explained what's happening to him.

He's actually surprised you would go this far.

He started following you every night too of course

Even though he knows that you can knock out Cerberus with a single hit if you're actually serious

He even started watching anime about dogs and reading managas about them too then recommending them to you

He just loves the expression you make when you're so excited and your heart is melting because of the cute illustrations.

Wait

Is Mammon snitching?! On you?!

He's surprised cause, what the fuck, he's actually the last person he thought will snitch on you

It's understandable though, 'cause he's actually near on doing the same.

He's just glad that you got mad on Mammon instead of him

So you got your rest and you're not mad at him, it's a win win for him.

He also got to record the whole dramatic reunion between you and Cerberus.

SATAN:

He's a cat person

He can barely care

About Lucifer and his pet

But if it's you then... Maybe he can bare with it.

He just loves how you look at dogs like how he looks at cats.

You guys really are soul mates.

But why would you starve yourself for dog foods..?

He got a little mad because of it but he knows you just love Cerberus so much

And that you want to treat him like the good puppy he is because the so good Lucifer FAILED to do so.

He knows you're sneaking in and out of HOL to go in the tomb and meet Cerberus

He applied a few spells that made you seem more approachable to animals and be more sneaky without you knowing too.

But his guts are just telling him to close this book and follow you.

And so he did.

And he saw not one,

But two of his brothers trying to act sneaky and following you down to the tomb you knowing

He didn't expect this to be honest

He thought Mammon would be too dumb to find out and Levi will be watching too many animes and play too many games to even notice.

But he guess he underestimated their feelings for you

That doesn't mean his is in any way less than them though

That's why he's here

Although he knows that Lucifer would find out sooner or later

He didn't expect Mammon to be dropping hints when you're his absolute partner in crimes

What a traitor

He would've killed him and fed him to his crows if he did that to him.

But he knows that Mammon is just as worried as he is

Plus he knows to himself that he will be telling you to Lucifer if this gets any worse.

So he is really no better than Mammon

Putting you on some sort of time out and forcing you to rest is a good way of punishment, he expected it, Lucifer spoiling you.

But Cerberus barging in the HOL is not something he thought would happen.

He knows how disciplined Cerberus is, he's Lucifer's pet after all.

He also thought the dramatic meeting was cute and he chuckled a bit.

ASMODEUS:

Oh... Dogs?

He doesn't like stray fur on his clothes though...

But he guess he can understand you.

Cerberus is indeed one big, fluffy dog after all.

Despite being locked down inside the tomb

Cerberus is actually squeaky clean and always smells good.

He's one of the dogs Asmo will be okay being close to.

He can understand you buying him treats and sneak one or a couple of times

But sneaking out in the middle of the night just to give him treats and belly rubs?

Even starving yourself to buy him food is outrageous

You could've asked him for help, he has all these money from modeling just rotting away

Waiting to get spend on some shoes and pearls.

Like Mammon, he dropped subtle hints, commenting on your eye bags but Lucifer seems to not take him seriously as he thinks that Asmo points out even the slightest difference.

He's dissapointed, he means, it's your health on the line here!

So he resorted into confronting you

He thought that maybe following you to your late night sneak outs and pretending to catch you will work

He didn't expect Mammon, Levi and Satan following you too though

He's looking at them all shock cause what the fuck?

And then when he's about to scream Satan just pulled him and covered his mouth with his hand.

When you're about to leave though, he tried to break free from Satan's grasp and proceed with his plans but instead earned shushes from everyone.

Out of all people

He didn't expect Mammon to snitch on you

He actually thought that Cerberus snitching on you is higher than Mammon telling you on.

But he's glad to hear that you're under house arrest and is prohibited from tiring yourself

You really need this rest, honey.

He's one of the people that took care of you that day, actually.

He painted your nairs and gave you a spa day inside the bathroom.

And then he heard a loud crash

He just rolled his eyes and stopped fanning your wet finger nails and just let you run out of the room

He must confess he thinks the reunion is dramatic but it was cute

All the heads of Cerberus whining and crying

But your nails dear!

BEELZEBUB:

Beel loves Cerberus too!

It's just sad that Lucifer won't leg him take care of him as much as he wants to

Cerberus' main job is to protect the tomb where their grimoires are located at so he understands why.

Lucifer doesn't want Cerberus to end up all cutesy greeting each 'visitor' that enters the tomb like he's friends with them

He want Cerberus to not even think twice and attack anyone who would enter the tomb except Lucifer himself.

But aside Lucifer, Beel is the second most close to Cerberus as he's the one that take him to walks most of the time

And when he found out that you like dogs too

Specifically Cerberus

He looked at you with obvious adoration in his eyes

Cause, finally, someone can get him

He wants to treat Cerberus like a good boy too almost just as much as you but Lucifer won't let him

But you have a plan?!

Wait, why are you starving yourself..?

That's bad...

If you just want to buy Cerberus dog food and treats you can use his money

But why do you insist that you want to buy his food yourself?

By what money? The money you got from starving yourself?

He knows he can't stop you though

So he just cooked extra portions when he's on duty and insisted that you share foods with him

So, problem number one solved

But now there's another problem

And it's you sneaking out late at night just to feed Cerberus!

Look at yourself MC!

You barely get any sleep!

He actually decided to start feeding Cerberus himself after he saw the dark circles under your eyes

But after he saw Mammon, Levi, Satan and Asmo hiding behind a big rock he already knows he's late and that you're in the tomb again

When Asmo tried to go out and confront you though

His heart dropped

Cause "What if MC thought were stalkers?!" "MC will think we're controlling!"

Though, Mammon snitching on you is something he expected

People might think that he'll die loyal and never snitch on you but he knows better than that

He knows that Mammon will put your health above everything and would snitch if needed

For him, house arrest is a light and well thought punishment

He doesn't know why you need to receive it though

He means, you did nothing wrong, you just feed and play with the dog

He thinks the dramatic meet up is cute too!

He's standing on the background looking like ^^

BELPHEGOR:

He likes Cerberus

He has fluffy fur and would carry him when their together

He's unbelievably large too so he's like a giant, moving bed for Belphie

And he understand why you would go crazy over Cerberus

He is indeed one of a kind considering how he has three heads

But he can't understand why you would go through such lengths just to play with the dog

Don't get him wrong, he knows that you like Cerberus and sees him as a giant puppy

But Cerberus guards their grimoire and that grimoire is very important to them

So he's also one of the people that actually prevents you from going in the tomb to play with the hell hound

Lucifer trained them to be a strict guard dog for a reason

And he knows it and it's for his own good too

Though, he knows his explanations won't stop you considering how you're starving yourself to buy him dog food and toys

And even wake up late at night just to sneak out and give it to Cerberus

He wants to protect you of course

Cerberus is still a hell hound that's above thrice your size

So he did the unthinkable and stayed up late

Wanting to spy on you

He saw you sneaking your way down the hallway and so he decided to follow you

And then he saw them

Not Cerberus

But Mammon, Levi, Satan, Asmo and even Beel spying on you too

He guess he underestimated them

He just joined them behind the rock though and rested on Beel's shoulder

He's more assured now since his brothers are watching over you too

But when he heard the sudden rustle made by Asmo trying to struggle to confront you

His eyes shot open and helped Satan on strangling him down

Hell, he almost turned to his demon form

You falling ill is something he's scared of, but you getting mad at him is another

And both are as bad as the other

Actually, the way he glares at Asmo as Satan covers his mouth is terrifying

He might as well just point a knife at his neck at this point

And then the next morning what woke him up is not Lucifer

But the door of their house falling down and creating a loud thud

And is followed by loud howls and whines he knows too well

He's wide awake now and is staring at the two of you, dramatically hugging each other as if Lucifer kept you away from each other for years

Wait

What

Mammon snitched on you?!

Oh... So you've been on an house arrest since earlier this morning and not even a day passed and Cerberus is already running after you?

Wow

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#obey me #obey me fluff #obey me headcanons #obey me nightbringer #obey me scenarios #obey me shall we date #obey me x reader #obey me crack #obey me leviathan #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me cerberus #obey me mc

[detectivemarvelingcomics]

Not Your Classic Vigilante [Ch. 14]

Alternate Dimension AU TW: Language, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Mild Body Horror, Gore, Graphic Depictions of Monstrous Attacks, Gun Use, Weapon Use, Past Major Character Death CW: OC Use, See the OC Guide [Here] Genre: Drama, Action, Angst, Light Comedy Pairing: Batfamily & Batsis!Reader, OC x Reader YN Pronouns: Female (She/Her) Word Count: 13.7K

(14/?) [First] | [Previous] | [Next] [DC Masterlist] | [Not Your Classic Vigilante Masterlist]

Notes: I know I KNOWWW SHE'S THICKKKKKKKK it's for my dick grayson lovers what can i say?

Disclaimer: This series is originally by@fandom-meanderer who is a close friend of mine, but she has since fallen out of her Tumblr days and asked me to finish a few series for her, hence why I am now in ownership of the Not Your Classic Vigilante series, I hope I can still live up to her writing as I rewrite this series! (I promise not to change too much, hehe)

2006

“Dad!” You were quick to run down the stairs when you’d heard the door open. Bruce took notice to you as soon as you bounded up to him and the smile on his face was one that always made you happy to see. Alfred walked up next to you, greeting Bruce silently.

“Hello, (Y/N), what were you up to while I was gone?” He asks.

“Well, I finally cleaned my room,” you rocked on your heels.

“Very good.”

“Alfred taught me how to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on the piano.”

“I have to hear that.”

“And I played a little, but that’s it,” you gave him an exaggerated nod and he smiles.

“That’s good, (Y/N),” he smiles. “Now, I have a surprise for you,” he says. Your eyes widened with a childish excitement. Then, from behind him, an older boy steps out.

“Hiya,” he waves. You step back, head ducking down in shyness while you looked up at your dad. “I’m Dick, you must be (Y/N), right?” He steps forward, bending down to meet your eyes. You nodded carefully before running to your dad. You hid behind his leg and he rubs your head gently.

“He’ll be staying with us from now on,” your father explains. “You’re always saying how lonely it is here, right? He’s a bit older than you, but you’ll be spending a lot more time together,” your father urges you to step out and introduce yourself. Dick, still at your level, smiles softly.

“I heard a lot about you, (Y/N),” he says, “and if you’re okay with it, I hope we can become friends,” he reaches out to shake your hand, but you shy further behind your father.

“She’s usually not this shy,” your dad says above you.

“I think we just need to get to know each other more,” Dick responds. He leans over so he can meet your gaze and waves again. You hid your face.

“Alfred will help you get settled in, Dick, let me know if you need help with anything,” your dad says and Dick nods at him before following Alfred upstairs. After a while, Bruce stepped away from you slowly. “(Y/N),” his voice had a stern, but gentle tone.

“Dad…” you matched his tone.

“What’s wrong? You told me you wanted someone to talk to,” he crouches down to your level and you hid your hands behind your back.

“I know…” your voice was quiet.

“So, what’s wrong then?” He asks. It’s true. You’d long been asking for a friend, and while both of your parents would spend time with you, it simply wasn’t enough. Your dad was always busy doing business stuff, some adult things you didn’t understand no matter how many times uncle Lucius tried to explain it to you. And your mom was… well, something. She had to make a living by “borrowing” things, but strangely enough she never gave them back. You really just wanted someone to talk to, someone who you could play with, or someone you could spend time with. Someone your age, someone who didn’t keep secrets.

Your parents acted like you didn’t know, but you knew something was up. There were nights where your dad would leave saying he needed to get groceries and then come home with no groceries. Your mom would leave saying she’s meeting a friend and would come back with a bag full of her latest ‘shopping spree.’ But you knew they were hiding something, and as much as they told you that secrets were bad, they had so many, you had a feeling. So you wanted a friend, someone who was just like you.

And now you had one. But, something about it felt… wrong.

“Nothing,” you shook your head. The boy he brought home, he seemed friendly enough, and you were curious about him. But you couldn’t ignore this strange feeling in your chest. “Where did he come from?”

“Remember that circus you wanted to go to?”

“Mmhmm.”

“He’s from there.”

“Then… where are his parents?” Bruce hesitated.

“They’re off for a while, and they asked me to watch their son for now,” he says.

“They didn’t want to take him with them?”

“No, where they’re going is not meant for kids like you and him,” he explains. “So, for a while, he’ll be staying with us. Why don’t you get to know him, (Y/N)?”

“What if I don’t like him? Will you return him and get a new one?”

“That’s not exactly how this works, (Y/N),” your father laughs. “If you don’t like him at first, you’re going to have to learn how to get along with him somehow,” he says.

“Okay…” you mumbled.

“Why wouldn’t you like him, (Y/N)?”

“I dunno,” you shrugged.

“Exactly, go talk to him, be friendly,” Bruce encourages you.

“Okay,” you nodded your head and Bruce smiles before shaking your shoulder softly.

“Good, I’m going to get cleaned up, why don’t you say ‘Hello’ to Dick on your way up? He’s in the room across from you.”

“I will,” you nodded again and ran up the stairs.

You stopped in front of Dick’s room, the door was open and he was speaking to Alfred, quickly you hid behind the wall, not wanting to get caught by the old man. But it was their conversation that kept you hidden.

“Now, Master Grayson,” Alfred’s voice was stern, you’d only heard him speak like that to your father on occasion and you when you stole sweets. “Miss (Y/N) doesn’t know.”

“Really?”

“This must be kept a secret between you, me, and Master Bruce.” Secret? Well, that’s not fair. You wanted to know too. So much for a friend who didn’t keep secrets. There were so many around you, you were starting to think that you should keep secrets just to be like everyone else.

“And she never suspected?”

“She is only seven, Master Grayson, and not usually here on weekends,” Alfred sighs. “Master Bruce asks that you be careful.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Dick’s voice was quiet. “Does he plan on telling her?”

“When she’s older, yes. When she can understand it.” Does it count as a secret still if they’ll tell you when you’re older? You’ll just have to hurry up and grow up then!

“Sure, I got it.”

But, still, that’s not fair. You wanted to know now. But when you heard Alfred approaching the door, you knew better than to let yourself get scolded for eavesdropping, so you ran to your room and closed the door only slightly, just enough to watch Alfred leave, and once he was gone, you crept across the hallway. Dick was busy placing his items across the room, you peeked in slowly, waiting to see if he’d notice you, and soon enough he did. He raised his hand to wave, but you ducked behind the door frame instead.

“Hi, (Y/N),” he waits for you to approach him.

“Hello,” you said quietly.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Did you… want to come in?” He asks. You shook your head and he nods with a tight lipped smile. But, soon, you nodded your head and Dick let out a short laugh. “Come on in, then,” he invites you. You walked inside and sat on the desk chair while he continued unpacking.

“I have a secret,” you blurted. Dick turned to you, eyebrow raised.

“What’s that?”

“I… I have a secret stash of candy in my room,” you answered. It was secret enough, you’d been building a bit of a stockpile now. Dick cracks a smile, looking somewhat relieved.

“That’s some secret there, who else knows?”

“Just you,” you nodded. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

“Friendly secret,” he makes a zipper motion over his mouth.

“Hmm… okay, I trust you,” you hummed. Dick smiled again, this time a bit tighter.

“I’m leaving now,” you hopped off.

“That’s fine! Thanks for dropping by,” he says. You nodded your head and ran across the hall to your room.

Dick, meanwhile, took a deep breath.

This was not what he signed up for when he agreed to help Bruce.

~

2022

The beast roared and, above you, a storm started to roll in.

“Well, talk about about a warm welcome,” you glanced at Jason and he shook his head.

“(Y/N)?! We ran up as soon as we saw you leave!” Tim and Damian regroup with you and you usher them behind you. Tim looks at the monster.

“When you said monsters, for some reason I didn’t think you meant legitamate monsters,” he says.

“Cap!” Aldryn rushes out of the barracks, your rifle and rapier in hand.

“Aldryn, I need you to run back down, bring Tim and Jason with you. You two, grab what you think you all can use,” you instructed. “I’ll handle things up here until you return, we’re going to need all hands on deck.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Aldryn salutes and waits for them to join him before rushing off again.

“Damian, I need you on crowd control,” you looked at him.

“What?! I can help!”

“Too bad, this is an order from your superior,” your voice was stern, and it took him aback, “crowd control. Make sure everyone is a safe distance away, am I clear?” You waited for his response.

“Yeah,” he nodded his head curtly before running off. You readied your rapier.

“Alright… let’s see what we’re working with,” you sprinted forward and the beast reached for you.

It’s going to be long day.

“Where are we going?” Tim asks.

“Weapons barracks,” Aldryn responds, running in after Jason and Tim. Jason grabs his usual while Tim looks around. “What are you looking for? If you can think of it, we have it.”

“Do you have a bo-staff then?” He asks. Aldryn hums.

“Yes, but you’ll have to come with me. Marion was using it earlier,” he mumbles. He leads him and Jason to the elevator and they descend.

“What was that thing?” Jason asks.

“We call them Daemons,” Aldryn speaks quietly. “We’ve dealt with monsters before, but none like them. They’re on a whole other level of power and now, beause of them, we’re short staffed,” Aldryn’s voice was grim. “Not exactly the best first operation for you two but, Cap’s orders.” The conversation ends when the elevator doors slide open.

“Aldryn!” Marion was surprised to see him, but more surprised to see the two behind him. “Do they have clearance?”

“They’re about to fight one up there, so I’d say so, yes,” Aldryn nods. 

“Holy shit, that’s one of them,” Jason eyes the beast in it’s cage. It snorts loudly but it becomes a low snarl. 

“Don’t worry about this one, since it’s in here it won’t be hurting anyone,” Marion says.

“No time for introductions, but this one here will be joining your research team once things settle down,” Aldryn points at Tim.

“Right, well, I’m assuming the Captain sent you down here for a reason, right?” Marion’s and Aldryn’s conversation were the least of Jason and Tim’s worries though. Jason looked over at Tim, who was looking at the beast.

“What are you thinking of, Tim?”

“Look at it, it’s just there,” Tim says. “The one outside is raising hell. Why is this one complacent?”

“Maybe it’s got something to do with all that stuff stuck to its cage.”

“Or maybe there’s more to it then they know,” Tim glances at Aldryn and Marion before approaching the cage.

“Whoa, Tim! Do you got a death wish?” Jason grabs Tim’s shoulder.

“It’s fine, they said it can’t hurt us,” Tim shakes him off and Jason follows close behind. “Also… this one’s different.”

“Can you really say that? You’ve only ever seen one other one.”

“Jason, it’s looking at me.”

“Okay. Wolves look at rabbits, what’s your point?”

“I can’t really explain it,” Tim mumbles. He stares at the monster. And it stares back. Then, slowly, it moves its head down and closer to the edge of the cage to match Tim’s eye level.

“You! Get back right now!” Marion’s voice was shrill and Tim broke eye contact. “How did you get it to respond to you?!” She pulls him away.

“I… I just looked-”

“Just like the Captain,” she mutters. She looks at Aldryn before shoving the bo-staff into Tim’s hands. “We’ll talk about this later, the Captain needs you first.

“Right, yeah,” Tim nods shortly and Aldryn motions for them to leave. But Jason looks at the beast a bit longer. Come to think of it, Tim had a point. This one was different. And, before he left, Jason’s eyes moved down to the floor, looking at the disturbed section of it where Tim was standing seconds before. “Jason!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Jason catches up with them.

And they returned just in time too.

“Ma’am!” Aldryn returns with your brothers as soon as you’d been pushed back from the blows. You moved the hair out of your face and caught your breath.

“Good. Aldryn, stay close to the Royal family, tell them I have it under control. If you run into any of the new recruits, tell them they’re on civilian duty,” you instructed. The Daemon roars again and a gust of wind blows behind it. Aldryn runs off.

“So, what do we do? Where are its weak points?” Tim asks.

“Their stomachs, maybe,” you answered.

“Maybe?!” Tim steps back when the Daemon finally takes notice of the group.

“Better a maybe than none,” you looked around.

“Captain! What’s the situation?” Eve appears next to you with the rest of the Brigade stepping out of the portal after. You pointed at the Daemon.

“Only one for now,” you mumbled.

“Holy shit it’s huge,” Nixon swallows harshly. You heard someone scream and your eyes scanned the courtyard. Then, you spotted Lowen cornered by yet another Daemon, noticeably smaller than the other one and with a visible streak of red fur running down from the top of it’s head to the tip of its tail. You hope that didn’t mean anything, nothing bad at least.

“Make it two, you all focus on this one, I’ve got the second!” You slung your rifle over your shoulder and readied your rapier while you ran over to him. “Lowen! Lower your head!” Lowen did so and you used the planter to boost your leverage before burying the rapier into the Daemon’s shoulder. The monster roared and tried to blindly grab at you, but you held your ground, holding your rifle with your other hand while clutching onto the handle of your sword and you pressed it to it’s other shoulder and pulled the trigger. The beast roared again before it grabbed your arm and threw you back where you came. You slid against the ground before slamming into the next planter and you groaned.

“Shake it off, Cap,” Carter pulls you up.

“Oh my god! Your arm!” Tim shouts, tearing his eyes away from the first Daemon for a second. You stand up and pick up your ripped-off arm.

“At least it threw both pieces,” Nixon winces when lightning struck a few paces away from him. You held it in place while the muscles reattached and, while it did, you felt every nerve reconnect and every muscle bind itself back together. The worst of it was to come, the bones were always the last to rebuild. You grit your teeth through the pain and once enough has reconnected you readied your rifle again, confidently holding it in one hand, and you fired it while aiming for the second Daemon’s foot, staggering it long enough for Lowen to scramble back.

“Oh, that is sick and twisted,” Jason looks away, holding his hand over his mouth and you readjusted the previous death grip on your rapier.

“No time for that, focus on the big one,” you ran back toward the second monster and Tim followed you. He dashed past you, stepping in front of Lowen just in time to counter the blow from the Daemon. “Tim! Hold your ground!”

“I’m trying!” Tim tightens his hold on the staff, his knuckles turning white from the pressure alone while Lowen stays frozen beneath him. You slide under the monster, your rapier piercing the Daemons stomach just enough for it to stagger back.

“Eve!”

“Got it!” Eve waves her hand toward your Daemon and in seconds it is held by down by an invisible force, but it fought back, it struggled against its restraints until it broke free and Eve lost her footing. It stood on its feet and locked its aim on you, it foamed at the mouth while it took heavy steps toward you and made grabbing motions toward you. Tim stood at your side all the way, staff now in front of you, when two shots rang out and Jason was next to step in front of you.

“Jay, you can’t take this in a fist fight,” you told him.

“I know,” he says. The beast snorts, looking Jason in the eye. It growls lowly. “Take the kid and go, I got this,” he says. You shook Lowen out of his fear and pulled him to safety. “Alright…” Jason continues his staredown of this monster, and never once did it stop. But there was this strange feeling he got from it, like it was familiar in a sense. Maybe this was what Tim felt earlier. Then, once a few magic circles surrounded it, the monster was debilitated and held in a prison of light.

“Go help the others with the big one,” Eve strains and Jason stares a her.

“You sure you’ve got it?.”

“I’ll manage,” she says while a bead of sweat rolls down the side of her face. She keeps her focus as best as she can, “but that one isn’t going down as quickly as this one did.” She takes deep breaths in attempt to hold it steady between portals, while behind her Nixon’s attacks seemed to deflect off of the bigger monster. Jason spots you running back, this time with your rifle, and you aimed it carefully before taking the shot. The bullet lodged itself into the monster’s shoulder right before it could swing at Nixon, and it stunned it long enough for him to make her escape.

“They’re getting stronger,” you commented. This one was stronger than five of those beasts you’d fought before put together. If it was taking most of the Brigade to subdue it, then that much was true.

~

2010

“Okay, I’ll help you once, alright?” Jason sighed and you grinned.

“Yes!”

“Here, put this on,” he shoves a bag toward you and you nodded excitedly before running out of the room. When you came back, your excitement shone through your mask.

“You can call me the Girl Wonder!” You threw your cape behind you and Jason snickered.

“Whoa, I’m shaking in my boots,” Jason teased and you pouted. “Wait, wait, it’s too big.”

“Of course, it’s too big, this was Dick’s costume right?” You rocked on your heels, and it became more apparent that the shoes were too big too. Jason tosses you your usual sneakers

“Put those on, let me see what I can do,” he walks around you before disappearing for a second and coming back with safety pins, “don’t move, or else I’m gonna poke you,” he adjusts the costume on the shoulders, he didn’t want to make any permanent alterations with something basically historic. 

“You think there’s gonna be a day you and I are fighting bad guys together?” You asked while he pinched up the fabric at your shoulders.

“Who knows, maybe,” Jason shrugged, his words muffled by the safety pins held between his lips.

“That would be cool, Jason and (Y/N), maybe Dick too, right? And dad?”

“Sure,” he feeds into your fantasy. “Only if I’m with you, though. You might trip over your cape.”

“Not true!” Still, Jason finds a way to shorten the cape.

“Yes, true! Look at your floor There’s trash all over it!”

“I’ll pick it up later! Geez!” You argued, but you calmed down just as quickly. “That would be so cool though… I want to be just like you.”

“Nah, you’d be better,” Jason chuckles. “There you go, kiddo,” he tests the stability of it and, once he’s happy with it, he pulls the cape over your shoulders to hide the pins.

“Now what?”

“We go to Titan tower,” Jason gestures for you to follow him.

“Oh, dad says I’m not allowed on that,” you eyed the Robin Motorcycle and Jason rolls his eyes.

“Pssh, it’s fine, you’re with me,” he lifts you and secures you to the seat before climbing on behind you and shoving the helmet onto your head.

“Is this legal?” Your voice was muffled by the helmet.

“Don’t worry about the details!” He starts up the motorcycle.

“Are you wearing a helmet?!” Actually you were wearing his.

“Yeah,” he lied and off you went.

You’d been in the batmobile plenty of times, seen the city in it just as much, but seeing it this way was different. Everything seemed closer, like you could reach out and join whatever scene was there. With the wind blowing around you and your hands firmly grasped onto the bike, this felt amazing! You felt like you were flying, moving faster than even some of the other cars, and every now and then an excited laugh would escape you.

Maybe being a Robin wouldn’t be so bad?

“Alright, kiddo, we’re here,” Jason parks the bike and helps you off. 

“You lied! You’re not wearing a helmet!” You pulled it off of your head and eyed the ‘R’ decal on the side.

“Yup, I did. Anyway, let’s set some ground rules,” Jason kneels so he can look at you in the eye, “you tell no one who you are, yeah? If anyone asks, you’re Robin, okay?”

“Why can’t I say my name?”

“It’s dangerous,” Jason explains, “and when you’re looking for Dick, you ask for Nightwing.”

“Is it also dangerous if they know his name?”

“Yes, very.”

“Okay,” you nodded and followed Jason to the side of the tower. He pulls the vent cover off and crawls in. So… maybe Jason wasn’t exactly allowed in Titan tower after a few misfortunate events that included him losing his cool and his temper. But, what can he do?

Dick really pissed him off.

But, that was beside the point. You wanted to see him, and this was the only way he could help you do that, so fuck it. Plus, with the majority of everyone's identities still being secret, he couldn't have you just waltzing in here anyway without him.

“Follow me.”

“This feels illegal.”

“Shh!”

“Okay, okay!” You followed him carefully and, after some twists and turns, Jason kicked out one of the vents and crawled out, helping you down too. You landed in some kind of lounge area, a large sofa in the middle.

“Wait here, Nightwing should be coming soon, I’ll wait for you outside,” Jason says before leaving the way he came. You sat on the couch, kicking your legs for a bit. Then you started playing with the end of your cape. The material was pretty comfy, actually, you could see yourself falling asleep in it easily. You wondered if Dick ever did. You always liked this costume, actually, it was so different from your dad’s that in some ways you preferred it.

Your brothers were heroes. How cool was that? And your dad was probably the most heroic one of them all, and that was much cooler. If only you could show it off, you were sure everyone would be jealous of you. How often can anyone say that their family are superheroes? Dick always looked so cool in this uniform, and sure he still looks amazing with his new one, but this one? It was different.

Finally after waiting enough you decided to just find him yourself. How hard could it be anyway?

Very hard, apparently.

So you did what any preteen would do and wandered around the tower, he had to be somewhere, right?

Until you landed in the middle of what you assumed to be a training room. It was a spacious room with a kiosk off to the side, and you sat down in the middle, crossing your legs and holding them to your chest. This sucked. And you didn’t even know the way back out to meet Jason to go home. Then, off to the corner of your eye, you saw movement, and you turned your head toward it but… nothing. But you felt the stares, you felt the eyes, and it scared you. You couldn’t call for help, you didn’t know where Dick was and Jason was too far to hear, so you shut your eyes tight and covered your ears. But that never stopped you before.

“Help!” Your voice was loud and immediately you heard a vent clatter to the ground while Jason tumbled out of it, he stood in front of you with one hand up and the other on his belt, ready to pull out a batarang if needed.

“Stop! We’re not intruders!” He shouts.

“Relax, everyone,” Dick’s voice was firm while he held a fist up to stop all movements, and, slowly the Titans back off. Dick eyed Jason and gestured for him to move over before he approached you slowly, crouching down as soon as he was close enough. And he felt his heart tighten. He knew it was you as soon as he’d seen you, but to see you in that? His old uniform? That old thing that had been ripped apart after many battles and had been stained with blood many a time… To see you wearing it was almost wrong. The little girl who cried whenever her brothers had scratches, the one who called for help for the smallest of things, to think that you could be a Robin almost ripped him apart, he didn’t want you to go through any of what he did, any of what Jason did. Hell, you just called for help right now and this is probably one of the safest places you could be.

Jason, only he could’ve put you up to this, and he made his intent clear from the quick glare he shot him, but Jason replied by whistling and rolling his eyes. Dick only sighed and reached out to rub your head. You removed your hands just enough to peer over them, and once you’d seen him, your frown deepened and you wrapped your arms around him, holding him tight, and he held you back. You missed him, a lot. 

“False alarm, everyone, she’s my sister,” he rubs your back gently before rising up and, once you’d looked around, you saw the other members of the Titans that Dick was always talking about. “And you,” he looks at Jason, “we’ll talk later, wait outside for her and I’ll bring her out,” he says. Jason doesn’t fight it, he just nods and leaves the room, looking back to see you watching him go.

“He’s not in trouble is he?” You tugged at Dick’s arm to get his attention. “It was my idea to come here…” you muttered. Before Dick could respond, you were surrounded by excited voices. And you recognized all of them, you’d seen them plenty of times on your dad’s big computer alongside the other heroes.

“Whoa, Nightwing! You have a younger sister?” Garfield was the first to approach you, looking at you closely as if trying to find any similarities between the two of you.

“Yeah, adoptive,” he explains, ushering you forward. 

“What a cute little girl!” Starfire pinches your cheeks and you let her, feeling the warmth from her hands radiate into your face as she did so and you didn’t hate it, “have you come to visit your brother?”

“Yeah,” your voice was slightly stifled.

“Good, take him home with you, he needs a break,” Starfire grins.

“Come on, Star, there’s too much work to do here,” he shakes his head. 

“Now, what’s your name? You got a cool one too?” Garfield asks and Dick clears his throat before you could answer.

“Obviously, we can’t tell you her name, but you can just call her Robin while she’s here.”

“That’s a little confusing with the other Robin,” Raven mutters.

“But the other Robin isn’t here right now,” Wally answers. 

“Alright, how about Little Wing, then?” Dick tosses out the nickname he had for you and your eyes lit up.

“Cool!” Wally zips over to you. “You really a Robin?” You shook your head. “Whoa, I was about to say…”

“Alright, alright, let’s not crowd her, okay?” Dick pushes you slightly behind him now, “you guys filter out, I’ll talk with her for a bit, I think I know why she’s here,” Dick wears a knowing smile, and the others groan but leave anyway, leaving you and Dick in the training room.

“So, Little Wing, what brings you all the way here from Gotham?” He sits down and crosses his legs, and you sit next to him.

“I just wanted to visit, is all…” you muttered.

“Oh, yeah?”

“You’re never home anymore…” you mumbled. Dick sighs.

“Yeah… yeah,” he nods, “the team needs me here.”

“But I need you there,” you replied. A small frown settles on Dick’s face.

“I know, I can’t come home right now, (Y/N),” he says while listening for unwanted ears, “but, hey, you still have Robin.”

“He’s still rude!” You shout. “He’s not like you, whenever I ask to do stuff with him all he does is complain, he can be so mean sometimes!” You grumbled.

“Mean? He took you all the way here, didn’t he?” Dick leans back on his palms and you huffed.

“I guess… but that’s probably because I keep complaining about how you’re not around anymore,” you pout.

“And he still does all those things with you even though he complains, right?”

“Yeah,” you looked to the side.

“Heck, even when you called for help that kid came tumbling down, I’m sure you hurt his feelings every time you call him mean.”

“Do I really?” Your voice was small. You hadn’t really considered it before. You and Jason had a tendency to argue, and maybe say a few mean things to each other every now and then, but you never once thought that you hurt his feelings during. “I guess he’s not so bad…”

“Looks like I got a worthy replacement then,” he claps your shoulder and you frowned again while shifting slightly away from him.

“Why aren’t you ever home anymore?” Dick doesn’t answer. “Is it dad? Did you two get in a fight?”

“Something like that,” Dick sighs. “But, you’re right, just because he and I are fighting doesn’t mean I should ignore you,” he rubs your hair playfully and you smiled. “I’ll carve out some time for you too, I can’t have Robin stealing all my thunder, right?” He smiles and you nodded your head.

“Promise?”

“Sibling's promise," he smiles.

~

2022

“Move!” You pushed Nixon out of the way just in time for the Daemon’s arm to hammer down on top of you. You barely dodged in time, the beast’s arm just grazing you before it slammed against the ground and cracked the concrete beneath it. You pierced your blade into the beast’s stomach and it roared above you. “Shit, not enough,” you pulled back, but the beast grabbed onto you. “Shit!” You repeated and the beast opened its maw wide before it came biting down over your shoulder, its teeth digging into your neck, back, and chest. Your scream was near primal, feeling every single piece of you rip and sew itself back together.

“Captain!” Eve’s shriek could be heard from anywhere. 

“(Y/N)!” And only Jason’s could have rivaled it. You heard successive rounds fired out and you knew they hit their target, but it couldn’t have been enough to fell this beast. Shurikens embedded themselves into the daemon’s body before you saw the staff flung toward it. But the beast only caught it in its hands and tossed it to the ground. You thrashed against the monster, you were too close to use your rifle and too busy to make your rapier be of any use aside from a handle. You grabbed onto the monster’s face, trying to pry it off of you, but it just bit down harder, pulling out yet another pained scream from you. Tim found a way to get on top of the beast and, holding Carter’s sword, he plunged the sword into the beast’s neck, but all it did was anger it further, and it shook you side to side like a dog would a toy, and your screams became garbled from the harsh movements. Tim was thrown to the ground in time for Jason to step forward and aim for the more vital parts of the beast.

But it wasn’t enough.

And you began to resort to more grotesque techniques to survive. So, with mangled limbs, you grabbed onto the beast’s ears and pushed back with all your might until you started to feel the flesh rip. Then another roar is heard. You turned your head to its source, right in front of the Barracks, and you felt an intense wave of dread.

It escaped.

The previously captured Daemon breathed heavily, chain collar around it’s neck and broken shackles on each limb. It was looking at you.

Sure, you could reattach. But, hypothetically, if you were ripped apart just enough, to the point that there was no base body to even reattach to, then this might be the end for you.

But that wasn’t fair. You couldn’t die yet, not in front of them. You were just barely able to catch a glimpse of Jason, the only one turned toward you, and it killed you, the way he looked. You couldn’t even imagine Tim. Thank god you sent Damian away.

“Oh, fuck,” Nixon charged toward it, but the daemon bent down on it’s hind legs before leaping across the air and toward you. It landed with a loud thud, shaking the ground temporarily before charging toward you and the daemon that was still trying to gnaw you in half.

You winced when the daemon locked its jaw on you, and you prepared yourself for impact, but instead, the chained Daemon bit onto the larger one’s neck and ripped it off of you. You fell to the ground, panting heavily and with no strength to get it up, but you were able to turn your head just enough to see the fight. It was gruesome.

“(Y/N), holy shit,” Jason helps you sit up, his hands red with the blood from your back. You brought your one good hand to your head and tried to stop the ringing in your ears through sheer will. Jason waved a hand in front of you. “How many fingers?”

“Three,” your eyes were slowly focusing again. You looked down at your chest.

It wasn’t reattaching. Not fast, at least.

“Are they fighting?” Carter runs up next to you, eyeing the bite wound before looking at the two beasts.

“Yeah, where’s Alex?” You were still catching your breath.

“Calling for help, again,” Carter looks around. “Eve’s getting medical supplies and Nixon’s watching the other one.”

“Okay,” you coughed up blood and you kept your head turned low. You couldn’t look at Jason. You didn’t want to know what kind of expression he had on his face right now. And you couldn’t let Tim see you this way either.

“(Y/N)! Let me see it,” Tim falls in front of you, looking at the damage, but his hands were shaking. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he says. “It was me, I saw it and got curious, I must have weakened the defense somehow,” Tim mumbles.

“Don’t,” you shook your head and looked past him, toward the fight. “They’re fighting each other… but why?” Your breathing was labored.

“Save your energy, kid.” You just realized that Jason has been supporting you this whole time. You watched the chained daemon grab onto the electric one, holding both of its arms before ripping one off entirely.

“Holy fuck,” it was like you were watching a massacre. And when the chained daemon bit down on the other for the last time, it closed its jaw completely over the other’s neck. Slowly, it rose again, opening its jaw to let the blood of its felled opponent spill out, and then it turned to you. Instinctively, you tried to push back, but Jason held you in place. His gaze was as locked upon it as it was to you.

The daemon approached the group slowly, its eyes menacing and its jaw hung open, but its steps were slow and maybe casual. Its ears folded down and as it closed the distance its eyes seemed to soften. Before it finally stood above you, everyone held still by your weakened fist in the air, ready to signal an attack at any moment. But nothing happened, it just stood there.

And then it looked at Tim.

You were already confused about why it seemed responsive to you, but to Tim too?

“Tim,” your voice was weak.

“Yeah?” He didn’t break eye contact with the beast.

“Around its neck are a pair of dog tags, read it for me.”

“Okay…” Tim reached his hand out slowly. And the beast, as if understanding, turned its head up to allow the tags to be seen better. “CK-78.”

“Does it mean anything to you?” You asked. Blood was still pooling out of the bite marks across your torso.

Tim’s eyes narrowed on the dogtags, and then he looked up at the daemon’s eye. Strange, it was as if it was begging Tim to get it. To figure out the mystery behind it.

While Tim did so, Eve returned, holding the first aid kit and kneeling next to you.

“I got it,” Jason took the bandages. He knew a thing or two about field patching, he’d say. He wrapped it around your body a couple of times after packing the larger wounds, it’ll do for now, but you’d have to get the seen by a professional later.

Look at this.

His worst nightmare.

During his time as a Robin, there was a reoccurring nightmare he’d always have.

It would start out as normal, it was one of those dreams that felt so real that he wouldn’t think twice. He’d pick you up from academy, you’d do whatever you felt like doing, and on your way home you’d be interrupted by one of the bastards who had Batman and Robin on their hit list. They would fight. And Jason would be so busy beating the shit out of them that he wouldn’t realize the mortal wounds you had. And when he would clean you up, when he would stop the bleeding any way he knew how, you would look away from him, and you wouldn’t say anything.

He would always wake up in a cold sweat after that, comforted by the fact that it was a nightmare.

Except now wasn’t that, it was real. It was so real that you were bleeding through your bandages, and you were holding your head from the blood loss, no doubt seeing the world spin, and you weren't looking at him.

“What happened?!” Damian came back too late, seeing you on the ground. It was his turn to sit in front of you. “Sister? Sister!” Damian held your face in his hands. But your eyes had glazed over. Your breaths were shallow, and your head heavy.

You were so tired.

Your eyelids slipped shut and the last thing you felt was Damian shaking you.

~

2014

You watched silently while Dick went through his normal workout routine. You were more disinterested, if anything, sure it was cool at first but now it was just a wasted three hours of your day. But, you needed to ask him something, in fact that was why you’d been staying with him for the past week, one part of it was that it was this odd request of yours and the other part of it was that you just didn’t want to be home. It was so suffocating in the mansion, so quiet, and so…

Lonely.

“What’s up, little wing?” Dick pulled you out of your thoughts. He wiped the sweat off his neck with a towel and started shoving the weights back into their original places. “You’ve been staring at me for a while now.”

“Have I? Sorry, it wasn’t creepy was it?”

“It was a little creepy,” he chuckled. “But… I know I look good,” he nudges you playfully.

“Shut up, you’re gross,” you made a fake gagging sound and leaned back against the wall, being sure to avert your gaze this time.

“Is… everything alright?” He asks as if testing the waters. You didn’t blame him, to be fair. Since you’d arrived, you hadn’t mentioned his name once.

“Everything’s fine,” you shrugged. Dick sits next to you now, picking up his water bottle along the way and taking a deep breath.

“I know it’s hard but… he’s my brother too.” That got you. You leaned forward with your elbows on your knees and you buried your face in your hands. “It’s okay to grieve,” he says. It’s already been a year.

“But what if I don’t want to?” Your voice was muffled. “Me grieving is like me accepting that he’s dead, but he can’t be, right? Dad wouldn’t have let him die, right?” Your questions would go unanswered, instead, you felt Dick place a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

“Everyone… everyone has to go eventually,” Dick says carefully.

“Why did it have to be him, though?” Your tears spilled out of your hands now. You never really thought of how deadly your family’s jobs were. They were just always so prepared, so ready for any possible thing that could go wrong, until they weren’t. “I… I’ve been watching Tim train to be Robin, and it got me thinking about what he asked me before…” your voice trailed after being interrupted by hiccups, and Dick just rubbed your upper back the whole time, waiting patiently for you to finish. You took a deep breath. “Tim asked me… to become the next Robin, originally. But I said no, and now he’s training instead. But… you know he’s so bright, he can do anything he wants and instead, because I chickened out, he’s training to be a vigilante.” Dick didn’t say anything. “But you know me and how I feel about what you all do.”

“I do.”

“I just… it’s not…” you paused. “Could I even do it?” You turned to him now. Dick, though, turned away from you with his focus on his hands. They were grasping onto each other tight with the knuckles turning white. “Dick?”

“What do you think, (Y/N)?” He asks. “If you came here to ask me to make that decision for you, I won’t. You know as well as I do what being a Robin means.”

“But he’s just so… young, Dick. I never realized how young you both were when you started, but now when I watch Tim I can’t help but worry.”

“Hell, you should’ve seen us then,” Dick laughs quietly. There’s no way you could know his thoughts right now. He who might have been the reason why you were so averted to vigilante business to begin with, he did everything he possibly could to keep you separate from it and now here you were, asking him if you should become a Robin. It was one of his worst nightmares, actually. There have been many a time he thought if becoming a vigilante was the right way to cope, he thought he was becoming a hero, but really he at first became a soldier. He couldn’t see you become like that. You who was probably the only thing keeping both him and Bruce grounded, imagine if they lost that, imagine if you lost that.

“But doesn’t it make sense though, Dick? If I became a Robin?”

“Well… yeah,” he nods his head absently, “but is that what you want to do?” You thought for a moment. The toll vigilante work took on your dad, the childhood it took from Dick, the life it took from Jason, and the time it was taking from Tim, could you shoulder that?

“I came here for two reasons,” you said instead, “one was to get out of that house. No one’s ever home anymore,” you muttered.

“And the second?”

“I was going to ask you to train me,” you admitted bashfully. “But I don’t think I was ever cut out for vigilante work, I don’t have the same resolve you and… he did,” you took a deep breath. “What exactly did you two fight about for Jason to have been banned from the Titan tower, Dick?”

“…” he didn’t answer for a while. But you knew that look on his face, he was thinking, and very hard at that too. “He wanted to train you,” he says, “he wanted to have the both of us train you. Have you learn the basics of being a Robin just in case… just in case neither of us could’ve gotten to you in time.” Your face grew more serious. “And I said ‘no.’”

“Why?”

“At that time, when you were twelve, did you want to be a Robin?” He asks. You thought about it for a while.

“Yes, I thought I could be a Robin,” you nodded.

“And now?” He waits for your answer.

“I… I don’t know. But, was the fight really all that bad for him to get banned?”

“You don’t understand, (Y/N),” Dick shook his head. “No one knows the price of being a Robin more than we did. You know, no matter how old you get, you’re still our little sister, I don't know what I'd do if even half the shit that happened to me happened to you,” he nudges you. “We didn’t see eye-to-eye on that and, well, I already disagreed with how he treated the mantle too, so I won’t lie and I tell you we started off on a good page,” he says. “And when it came to you, what to do with you and how to take care of you, we either agreed with each other entirely or were at odds, there was no in-between,” Dick rolled his eyes, thinking back to the arguments between the two.

“Really?”

“Yeah, we just never did it in front of you, obviously,” Dick says. “You know us well, (Y/N). Take you being in danger. If it was up to me you’d never be in a dangerous situation to begin with, so I hope you never held it against me when I told you to stay behind.”

“I did.”

“I know,” Dick nods. “You do this thing where you’d take a deep breath and close your eyes and that’s how we’d know you’re upset,” he laughs and you broke a smile. “But Jason? Phew. To him, as long as you were within an arm’s distance, you were never in danger, and that was pretty much true from how I’d see him with you,” Dick shakes his head.

“Well… yeah, it’s the same with you, right?” You asked.

“Of course! But, also, not necessarily,” he shakes his head again. “It’s happened enough times before, I would just pull you out of a situation before things got too heated. Jason, though, would throw himself in front of you if it meant keeping you safe, he was always reckless like that,” he says. And look where it got him. “Like that time you first visited me at the Tower, oh my god, I almost popped a vein when I heard how you got there,” Dick exaggerates his words with his hands. “The Robin Cycle?! Seriously?! God, so much could have gone wrong, and, oh my god, you were in the vents!” Dick started rambling and you started laughing. “He’s actually crazy to think that would’ve been okay,” Dick runs a hand through his hair and you settled down.

“I had so much fun that day,” your smile fell into a softer one, “I remember thinking that I was just like you guys…” Dick nods solemnly.

"That's... If there was one thing Jason and I always agreed on, it was that we wanted you to be better than we could ever be. For me, that was making your own choices free from a legacy, and for Jason that was being more prepared than he ever was," Dick says before taking a deep breath. “Sometimes I forget we were that same age when we started,” Dick says.

“Exactly,” you sighed.

“The only difference was that Jason and I were insanely traumatized, and you weren’t,” he chuckles and you shifted uncomfortably.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” your arms rested over your knees. “You and Jason were these self-made heroes, and I was the spoiled rich kid brat who thought it would’ve been easy.”

“Spoiled? Yeah. Brat? Nah,” Dick laughs.

“Hey!”

“Hey you! Whatever you wanted we got you!”

“Okay, well that was your choice,” you defended yourself.

“True,” Dick concedes. But then his smile falls. “We used to talk about it. (Y/N),” the tone shifts again, “it’s not that we think you couldn’t handle being a vigilante, anyone can take on the mantle, it’s whether or not you’d be best utilized for that mantle. You have so many other strengths that Jason and I don’t have, you know you kept us grounded so many times when all we wanted to do was fly,” Dick says. “There are days where we almost went too far, I think, and every time there you were to help us back down,” he continues, but then he stops. “If you want to be a Robin, then I’ll help you, but you need to find someone who can be your grounder too. That hopeful humanity you have is what makes you such a vital part to our team, and I’m just afraid that becoming Robin will change that,” he finishes. You held on to every word.

Robin, what did it really stand for? It wasn’t just Batman’s sidekick, it was a symbol as much as Batman was. A symbol of hope for some, the hope that came after vengeance.

And here you were, wanting to become a Robin just to hunt down the Joker.

You couldn’t tell that to Dick.

But it made you so upset. The Joker killed your brother and your father hasn’t done anything about him, hell, you were just reading an article about how Joker and Batman had a showdown and still your father let him go. Wasn’t your father angry at all? Didn’t he feel some kind of guilt or sympathy for Jason?

“(Y/N), I know what you’re thinking, I can see it in your eyes,” Dick says. “But Bruce… Bruce has his own way of grieving too. We don’t have to understand it, it’s not like he’d tell us anyway, but just like how you came to me, Bruce went to someone else,” Dick explains.

“He’s my own dad, and I feel like you know him better than I ever will.”

“I am older than you,” he nudges you softly.

“I just wish he came to us,” you mumbled. “He thinks he’s so alone sometimes, and I feel it,” you held onto your chest and rubbed it softly with the ball of your hand. “I feel like I don’t know him anymore, Dick, I don’t know how to talk to my own dad.”

“Just start small, he’s grieving too.”

“I don’t recognize him anymore, Dick,” your hands went to your arms now. “Don’t tell him this, okay?” You looked at him, your eyes wide with a hint of… something, something Dick didn’t want to admit.

“I won’t.”

“Promise?”

“Sibling secret,” he makes a zipper motion with his mouth. You moved so that you were facing him a little more.

“When he came home the other night, Tim was already in bed and I was about to go too, but you know I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately, and my therapist recommended tea. I figured dad would want some too, he usually does after late-night patrols, so I made some for him and brought it down to the cave. I was originally just going to leave it there, but he was already sitting down in front of the batcomputer… I didn’t even hear him come in,” you started. “And when I placed the mug down, he turned to look at me so fast that I almost fell back, and…” you hesitated, but Dick was listening very carefully, “he threw one of those batarangs of his. He threw it towards me and he missed, but,” your hand ghosted over your cheek, where the shallow cut was long before, “I know he didn’t mean to, he’d been on edge ever since what happened but… he scared me, Dick. The way he looked at me, it scared me so much I couldn’t move,” your hands were trembling, they were trembling so much you clasped your hands together to stop them, but they didn’t, “I’ve never been afraid of dad before but that night was different. I couldn’t say anything to him, I just dropped the mug off and ran back upstairs.”

“Did he do that?” Dick was in disbelief. You nodded your head, the image still clear in your mind.

“The next morning he apologized but… I didn’t think I’d ever be in that situation to begin with. I know, I know ever since what happened with Jason he’s been so guarded, so I’m not holding it against him but…” you trailed off. You were so scared that night. “I know it won’t happen again.”

“It won’t, you’re right,” he says. “Maybe…” he hesitates. “Maybe I’ll drop by a bit more, I know Tim’s been training, but maybe it’ll help more if a former Robin helped him out,” Dick says. Your expression seemed to perk up at this.

“You’re coming home?”

“Just visiting,” he says. “Might do Tim some good to have someone other than Alfred and Bruce, right?” He rolls his shoulders out. “Plus, I can tell you miss me,” he nudges your shoulder and you rolled your eyes again.

“I always miss you guys,” you waved it off.

“Aww, oh my god! My sister misses me?” Dick exaggerates and you groan.

“Don’t you dare make me regret coming here!”

“Oh, I am so touched, I could cry,” Dick hides his eyes with his hand before separating his fingers just enough to see your deadpan expression. You shook your head and stood up.

“Thanks, Dick, for hearing me out,” you wiped your palms on your thighs.

“Of course, anything for you, (Y/N),” he smiles.

“I don’t want to bother you anymore-”

“Whoa! You’re leaving already? Let me treat you out first, you came all the way here to Blüdhaven, I can’t let you go home on an empty stomach,” Dick jumps up and walks ahead of you.

“No, it’s okay!”

“(Y/N), Alfred would kill me,” Dick looks back with an inflated look of despair and you laughed.

“You’re right, you’re right, fine! But I get to choose!”

“Keeping up the spoiled persona, I get you.”

"Dick! You're such a..." you stopped yourself and Dick waited with expectant eyes for the punchline. "I'm not gonna say it."

"It was worth a shot," Dick waits for you to catch up and you both left together.

~

2022

You’re in the manor, but you knew, not really. The details were fuzzy, faceless paintings repeated themselves, and hallways seemed longer than usual. Every time you turned a wrong corner the hallway would loop until you realized that you had to turn around.

This was a dream.

Ever since you’d come to this new Earth, you had this uncanny ability of lucid dreaming. Or, at the very least, you were very conscious in your dreams. You always remembered them after too. But naught without cost. You either had a dreamless night, or you had relentless nightmares. You were already mentally preparing yourself for what you were about to see. If you were in the manor then, you already know, this one would be tough. And it seemed that your dream was guiding you into the foyer, and it landed you in front of the infamous bookcase. You pulled the bust’s head back and pressed the button, watching the bookcase slide forward and to the side. The staircase down was dark, near infinite. You took a deep breath and took a step closer to it.

“(Y/N)? You’re not allowed down there,” you heard a voice behind you say. You turned around and saw a much younger Dick Grayson.

“Why not?”

“It’s dangerous.” He says.

“Why don’t you come with me then?” You caught your reflection on the glass case next to you. You were so little. Your cheeks round with baby fat and your hair tied into twin tails. This was going to be rough.

“I… I wouldn’t be enough, just stay up here, okay? Let’s play a game,” he pulls out a Monopoly set and you shook your head.

“Sorry, Dick, I just want to be done with this.” You shook your head and walked into the darkness, feeling the chill of fear run through you with every step. And finally you reached the bottom, and the cave illuminated. You could hear someone typing on the keyboard. “Dad?” You called out to him and the clacking stopped. You walked further into the cave, until you could see the batcomputer and the looming figure of the Batman sitting in front of it. “I didn’t hear you come home,” you waited for his response. And there was none. “Dad?” You chanced it again. And the Batman turned quickly on the chair.

You were afraid.

You felt your heart pumping and the blood rushing through your veins. That wasn’t your father, no, it was a daemon in the Batsuit, how fucking fitting. And you screamed, you called for help, and you wanted to fall to the ground and cover your ears with how the daemon roared. And when it fell to the ground and started clawing its way toward you it just felt so real, it felt so real that you could feel the tears streaming down your face and your burning throat.

“(Y/N)! Get away!” Your dad. You felt someone pull you back with such force that you nearly flew at that size. And you watched the two Batmen fighting. One, your father, and the other a daemon. 

“You!” Another voice now. You were knocked to the ground and you saw… you. She pinned you down with a crazed look in her eyes. “You took everything from me,” her voice dripped with venom and you looked away. She wrapped her hands around your throat and pressed her thumbs against your windpipe. “I’ll kill you.” You gasped for air now and she throttled you. “Give it back. Give it back to me!” You shook your head, and you shut your eyes, trying every trick in the book to wake up. You bit your tongue, you gnawed on your hands, and you even tried doing simple math until finally you shot up from bed.

Taking deep breaths, you clutched onto your heart. Your wounds had been cleaned and bandaged. You looked around the med bay and you wiped the cold sweat from your head. You looked to the side, spotting the scattered tools, and you grabbed the scalpel. You took more deep breaths, the world at your peripherals still fuzzy, and you plunged it into your hand just to be sure you’d woken up and soon you heard a shout next to you.

“Are you crazy?! Give me that!” Jason tugged the scalpel out of your hand and chucked it toward the other side of the room. It looks like he had just woken up too. He slumped back on the chair next to your bed and took deep breaths.

“Jason, what happened?” You watched your hand reattach. Back to normal.

“What happened? You almost got ripped apart, that’s what happened,” he points at your bandages.

“I mean after, Jay.”

“Oh, well,” he shakes the shock off, “after you passed out, Alex came back and helped that other girl wheel you over here to get you patched up. Tim went with Mary, I think her name was, and they started doing stuff with the monster to see why it reacted that way.”

“And Damian?” Jason points at the other side of your bed and you turned your head toward it. Damian had fallen asleep next to you, head resting on his arms that were crossed over the edge of the bed. Wordlessly, you rubbed his hair gently and you turned to Jason. “Talk about a warm welcome,” you repeated. Jason didn’t answer, he was looking down at your hand. “You’re right. It is sick and twisted.” Your hand looked like nothing had happened to it. “Looks like I never stabbed it all, huh?” Your voice was quiet, so as not to wake Damian.

“But those are still there,” he looked at the healed over that encircled your whole wrist.

Your hands were the first to go that night.

You rubbed it softly.

“I don’t like thinking about it.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“I still have nightmares about it,” you tugged the hospital gown up, as if it would hide the scar that encircled your neck. It didn’t.

“Was that the one you had just now?”

“No, that one was… fairly new,” you thought back to it. It wasn’t the first time you’d been attacked by yourself. You figured it was some crazy dream symbolism thing that said you were at odds with yourself, but you weren’t so sure. Jason didn’t need to know about it. “It’s fine,” you shook your head.

“Oh, Captain, you’re up,” the nurse walks in with a clipboard in hand. “That was a nasty bite you had there, but I suspect it’s all been reattached by now, right?” You touched your chest. All good. You nodded your head and the nurse beamed. “Excellent, then, you’d been resting for a while so you should be able to get back to work soon?”

“How long have I been out?”

“It’s been a couple of days, Captain. Sir Grant will drop by and hand you the paperwork you’ve missed.”

“It can’t be that much, can it?” You asked. The nurse just smiles.

“Dr. Bronte ordered you to remain on bed rest for the week, he was very adamant about it,” she says. “So, unfortunately, nothing but paperwork.”

“What?! He knows I reattach, right?!” You shot up from bed and she ushers you back down.

“Yes, of course, but it’s still his orders,” she says. You groaned.

“I see, thank you,” you dismissed her and she saluted before leaving the room.

“So… Captain, huh?” Jason makes conversation. “You have to tell me about that,” he crosses his ankle over his knee and you shook your head with a slight smile.

“It’s boring.”

“Well, not like you’re going anywhere.”

“Rude!”

“I’m serious! I wanna know what you’ve been up to! I thought you hated being a leader.”

“I do.”

“So… why Captain?”

“God, everyone else is incomptent,” you rolled your eyes and Jason laughed.

“That’s more like you, tell me from the beginning.”

“Ugh… well…” You looked up at the ceiling, thinking of where to start. “When I woke up here I was so lost. I was lucky enough to have been brought in by good people, and they showed me how this world worked, but I knew I had to repay them somehow. Luckily for me, one of them was the previous Captain, so he let me train under him and now I’m here. That’s the shortened version,” you explained.

“What? Boring, give me the good one.”

“You’re so annoying!”

“Sure, yeah, now tell me about people you beefed with.”

“Fine.”

~

2015

You were worried sick, and you stayed up late to wait for your father and Tim to come home, they told you they’d be back in the morning, and now it was nearing midnight, their comms were turned off and their locations unknown, Babs was going near crazy trying to locate them and here you were, waiting in the Batcave like it would do something.

“Dick, what do you think?” You chewed on the tip of your thumb. Your older brother stood by the computer, trying to do anything to locate anything.

“I might send the Titans in after them if they’re not back,” he says. You stood up and looked at the screen. Tim had only recently been inducted in as a Robin, after months and months of training, he finally made it, and this was his first big break mission with your father after he’d saved the others from Two-Face, the first time he was entrusted with an actual mission aside from the Gotham patrols. But… you were worried.

Then, finally, you heard the telltale sign of the plane landing, and you and Dick were quick to run over. Your father emerged first and soon after…

“Tim?” You stepped forward to see him better and… You could hear your heartbeat in your ears, it was the only thing louder than the ringing. There was blood, a lot of it, it caked around his face and on his uniform, and it left footprints where he walked. He spotted you, forcing a smile and a wave.

But the world around you dulled. All conversation was muted to you. Your vision tunneled on Tim, and for some reason all you could see was Jason, head split open by a crowbar and blood pooled around him like you’d seen in all your nightmares, and when you’d blink he’d go back to Tim, bloodied. Then you’d blink again, Jason, you’d blink, Tim. What was this ringing? This fear you felt in your heart? Couldn’t your father have helped clean him up a little on his way here? Couldn’t he have dressed those wounds better? Was the blood even his?

“(Y/N)?” Tim was closer now, you noticed him nursing his side, the wound messily dressed and barely doing the job. You looked at your father.

“Oh, Tim,” your hands rest on his shoulders gently, while you tried to assess the damage. “What happened?” You asked carefully.

“It was rough,” your father shook his head. “Too many variables we didn’t account for, we won’t make that mistake again.”

“Too many variables? Enough to leave Tim like this?” You looked at him. “Let me see it,” you looked at his side.

“It’s okay,” Tim shakes his head.

“Show me,” you insisted. Tim only nodded, removing his hand just enough so you could see the scar through the cut-open uniform. Go figure, the Robin uniform wasn’t fit for a jungle. You looked at your father again, who was looking at Tim. “What happened?”

“Mutated animals, we’re still investigating it, we’ll return in the morning,” he responds.

“In the morning? Look at him! He’s barely holding himself together!” You argued. “Take Dick with you! Tim needs to rest.”

“(Y/N),” Dick spoke up, or had he been speaking?

“He’s fine, (Y/N), we all cleared him for Robin work, this is just collateral,” your father answers.

“Just collateral? He’s not a business, he’s Tim fucking Drake!” You stepped in front of Tim now. “Do you want to go back there?” You looked at him, and he shrank in his shoes. Tim only shook his head, clearly still shaken from the events.

“He’s a Robin, he wanted to be a Robin, trained for it, and now he is it,” Batman argues.

“Christ, dad, he’s thirteen!” You shout.

“Dick was eleven!”

“And look where that got him! He resents you!” You looked to Dick, who sighed and shook his head. He couldn’t answer, because what you said had some truth to it. Everyone knew it.

“Jason was—”

“Jason is dead!” You cut him off, your hands balled at your sides and your throat strained, there was a tense silence in the cave now. “You killed my brother! You killed him and you didn’t even grieve like a normal person, I had to hear from Tim that you were ripping people apart in the ports! That’s horrifying, dad! Why… why are you repeating what happened with Jason?!”

“Take that back!” Batman’s voice rose in a way no one ever heard before.

“And what will you do if Tim is gone? Are you going to go on a killing spree?” You felt like pulling your hair out. “Jason’s gone and you haven’t done shit about it!”

“I’ve done everything to avenge him!”

“Everything to avenge but none to honor!” You stood up taller now, and you looked the Batman in his eye. “The Joker still runs wild, and all you’ve done is train his replacement.”

“You know nothing about what I do for this city!”

“And I don’t want to be part of it,” you could feel your throat burning. “Look at Tim! He could be dead right now and you wouldn’t do anything about it, you said it yourself, it’s just collateral,” you turned his words on him and Batman stepped forward. You stepped back. 

“Death… death is part of the job,” Batman responds and your shoulders slumped.

“God… are you even my father when you put that mask on?” You tried to step back, hoping you’d see at least some of your dad in him, but nothing. “If death is so okay with you then I don’t want to be next in line. I will never be a vigilante.”

“What did you say?” Batman spoke up.

“You…” You’re a monster. You couldn’t find it in yourself to say it. “I will never be a vigilante, I want nothing to do with this Batman circus act, especially if you’re so okay with your kids being near killed,” you were running your mouth now, saying everything that came to mind. You just couldn’t think straight, how the hell did your older brothers do it? You would scrape a knee and they’d raise hell, now Tim comes home bleeding head to toe and you want to throttle whoever did this to him. “I don’t know who you even are, anymore, but the Batman I idolized would have never put his sons in these kinds of situations!”

“You don’t know me!”

“I don’t anymore!”

“Don’t pretend you understand this line of business!”

“I’m not! I don’t understand being a vigilante at all!”

“You’ve lived with us your whole life and you still don’t understand?! Gotham needs us!”

“You’re right, Gotham needs you! Not some remote island with mutated animals! Jesus, you could’ve at least given Tim some actual gear!”

“We didn’t account for monsters thrice our size!”

“And you didn’t think to regroup and plan that shit out?!”

“Watch your language!”

“Fuck my language, Tim’s barely together!”

“You’re acting like you know him so well.”

“And you do?! You really think any normal thirteen-year-old would be okay with getting their shit beat out of them!”

“He chose this.”

“He doesn’t have to get ripped apart because of it!”

“You are making a big deal out of—”

“I just don’t want to lose another brother!” Your voice echoed in the cave. You looked back to Tim, whose hands were over his ears now and his eyes shut closed. His bloodied hands dripped down his face and you shook your head, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping most of it from his face. Tim’s eyes opened slowly and his hands moved away so you could clean up at least that much, at least enough to stop seeing the worst possible outcome. And though you felt a rage like none other, you kept your hands steady, you kept them gentle, just enough to try to calm Tim down without saying anything that would make him more scared. 

“Why do you even bother, (Y/N)?” You heard Batman speak behind you, and before you could turn back to him, Dick took your shoulders and pushed you away.

“Let’s go, you need to cool off,” he says quietly.

“I need to help Tim!”

“Alfred will help him.”

“In that case someone has to pull Batman back to reality!” You tried to shrug Dick off, but his grip was firm. “Let go, Dick! Don’t pretend you don’t agree with me!”

“Let’s take a walk, (Y/N),” he insists, urging you out of the cave.

“Am I so wrong, Dick?!”

“Let’s go,” he keeps ushering you, “I’ll deal with Bruce.”

“You’ll deal with him?” You pushed away from him, you were just steps away from the outside. “Oh! Right! You’ll deal with him… the prodigal son,” you huffed. “Go figure, the kid he listens to is the one he chose and not the one he had,” you snarked and Dick’s expression steeled.

“Don’t say it like that.”

“But it’s exactly that and you know it,” you shot back. “When dad found out I was a weak kid he picked you up instead to train as his protege.”

“That’s not how it happened and you know it!”

“Try all you want to escape him, you never will.” Dick clenches his jaw, holding back something that probably, no, definitely would’ve destroyed your relationship, and he took a deep breath.

“Let’s go,” his voice was softer as he ushers you out again and you both take a step into the cold. “Take a deep breath, (Y/N).” You did so. Both of you were quiet, looking over the cliffside.

“I’m sorry, Dick,” you said quietly, your voice just barely over the sound of waves hitting the rock around you.

“It’s fine, you’re mad, I get it,” Dick nods. “You never get mad, this is just all that pent-up anger.”

“Yeah…” you took a deep breath again. “How the hell did you two do it?” You asked him. Dick shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Do what?”

“All of it.”

“You know, we came home much worse before.”

“But I never saw it.”

“We didn’t let you.”

“I was so young at the time, I get it.”

“You’re still young now.”

“And he’s younger.” Dick didn’t respond.

“Being a vigilante… it’s not easy work, (Y/N),” he says. “We get battered, bruised, and beaten, but we do it for a good cause. If we don’t do it, then who will?” He asks.

“I know, I understand it when you say it, but I can’t understand him,” you looked at him.

“And I respect that, I do,” Dick nods.

“Who even is he, anymore?” You looked away from him. Again, Dick didn’t respond.

“You were pretty harsh in there, (Y/N),” he says.

“Was I?”

“Jason would be proud,” Dick laughs. You didn’t. “You know Bruce is… he’s on his own train, and we’re just a couple cars behind him,” Dick says. “He has his own way of doing things, he cares in his own way, too. You know he wouldn’t let Tim die, he’s not going to put him in a situation he knew he wouldn’t be able to save him in.”

“I… I think I know that,” you shuddered.

“What happened with Jason was because of a myriad of factors that were out of all our control. It’s no one’s fault,” he looks at you, but you were looking to the city. "(Y/N)? What are you thinking right now?"

"I just..." your voice trailed off and your eyes were still distant. You hadn't realized it, you hadn't really thought of it until now. “I miss my dad.”

~

2022

“What do you think, Zee? Can you find them?” Dick’s brows furrowed together while Zatanna ran back the camera footage from the cave earlier. They played the footage in slow motion so she could run through every detail.

“What I can definitely say is that it’s 100% magic,” she says. Constantine leans over, eyes squinted.

“Yup, I agree.”

“Can you back off? You smell like alcohol,” Zatanna grimaces.

“Hey, I’m here to help too!”

“I didn’t ask for your help, you were just in the room when Dick asked me to come over and you followed,” Zatanna groaned.

“Contrary to popular belief, I was (Y/N)’s favorite,” Constantine grinned.

“Okay, that’s definitely not true,” Dick frowns.

“It is! I’d do a lil party trick for her every time I saw her when she was a lass,” Constantine defends. Zatanna and Dick share a look of disbelief before they go back to the tapes.

“Well?” Bruce approaches from behind them. “What are we thinking?”

“Aside from the obvious magic?” Constantine lights his cigarette.

“What do you think?” Bruce asks.

“Roll it back a few seconds, Zee, right before the bright light,” Constantine leans against the console, and when Bruce glares at him he straightens again. “Zoom in on the watch.”

“Here, we have a reconstruction of it here,” Dick taps the screen to the side and brings up the holographic image of the watch. Constantine swipes it around while observing the emblem etched onto it.

“The hint is here,” he says while pointing to it. “Trace back this emblem and you’ll find your boys.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“There are very few kinds of magic that you can use on an object like this,” he says. He opens the watch and the watch face deconstructs into layers in the hologram. “And when you look at the make of the watch, it explains much more.”

“Look at the hands, there’s eight of them, and with each hand is a corresponding circle with a different engraving around the circumference,” Zatanna says, “it’s a device used for transport, to put it bluntly. And if the watch hands aren’t set to a certain one, it can be inferred that a device used for transport would have its default settings set to where it’s originally from, so if we trace back the source we’ll be able to find Tim and Jason,” she says.

“What she—” Constantine is cut off by his phone ringing. “Hold on, gotta get this,” he picks it up and walks to a quiet part of the cave.

“Think you can give it a shot?” Dick asks. Zatanna hums.

“Sure,” she shrugs. “Gnirb kcab Mit dna Nosaj!” Though there were sparks, nothing happened. “I didn’t think that would work. Let me try something else. Gnirb em eht hctaw!” In seconds, a bright light forms between her hands and then the sounds of clinks and clatters of watch pieces falling to the ground are heard.

“Oh, great, they broke it,” Dick wasn’t surprised when he picked it up.

“But if there’s residual energy on it then I can trace it,” Dick places the pieces on the console right as Constantine returns.

“Alright, let’s work a deal,” he looks at Bruce. “I help you find your four missing kids if you help me with mine.”

“Tell me more,” Bruce invites him to continue.

“An old protege of mine has been having some trouble with monsters, if you and your detective brains can help him and I figure out what’s going on, Zee and I will help you look for your kids.”

“Hey! Who said I agreed to this?!”

“I thought you had a soft spot for Liverpool,” Constantine shrugs.

“Oh! If it’s him who needs help then by all means,” Zatanna smiles, remembering the younger boy fondly.

“Well, there you have it, should be quick, might end up just being an extermination job, but he won’t stop bitching about it, so what’s the plan?” Bruce and Dick look at each other. They’d been trying for weeks now trying to find a lead of some sort, with Constantine and Zatanna’s help they’d be able to figure it out much faster.

“Fine,” Bruce shakes Constantine’s hand and, at the snap of a finger, a portal opens up next to Constantine.

“Then let’s start our search,” he invites the two to enter first. “You coming, Zee?”

“I’ll follow, I want to study this watch first.”

“Smart move,” Dick says.

“I’ll see you all soon,” she watches the portal close.

The three men land in what looks like a small village. People milled about and kept to themselves while they moved about the streets.

“So where is this protege of yours?” Bruce asks.

“Beats me,” Constantine shrugs.

“What do you mean?!” Dick shouts.

“Might’ve landed in the wrong town,” Constantine looks around. “‘Scuse me, love, which way to the Capital?” He pulls aside a maiden. He cheeks tinge pink before pointing down the road.

“You’ll get there in three days if you walk, hail a cab, they’ll be able to take you there faster,” she says.

“Will do, thanks,” Constantine holds his hand up. “You guys have cash right?”

“Who do you think I am?” Bruce asks. Constantine busies himself looking for a cab while Bruce and Dick stuck together, looking around the village with a hawk’s eye.

“Whoops! Sorry, mister!” A kid accidentally collides into Bruce and runs off. Bruce checks his pockets quickly, feeling everything still inside, and soon the duo notice the grouping of children.

“Wonder what the fuss is about,” Dick stretches slightly to try to see what everyone’s looking at. “Hey, what’s everyone so excited about?” Dick asks one of the newspaper boys.

“You don’t know?” The kid asks.

“Nope,” Dick answers with a shrug.

“Dang, mister, are you living under a rock?!” He hands him a newspaper and Dick skims through it. “The Dark Knight is coming!” Bruce turned his attention to the newspaper kid. “We’ll be saved from the daemons!”

“The Dark Knight?” Dick asks, catching on to Bruce’s attention.

“Duh! Captain Wayne!”

NYCV Tag List: @gabytodd @peachydokii @marshmallow12435 @f0leysgurl @luminaaz @lolsnack @akuri-shinsou @pansinspace @time-shardz @lovely-maryj @urminebutidontwantyou @y3oudsc @rainnyydaysworld  @underworlder @franini @mayo-0-o 

If you want to be added to either tag list or removed just send me a reply to this post, and ask, or a DM and I’ll add you as soon as possible!

#dc #batman #batfamily #batfam #batsis #batsis fics #batfamily x batsis!reader #batfam x reader #batfamily scenarios #batfamily x reader #batsis!reader #batfam fics #batfamily fics #batfamily x batsis #batfam x batsis!reader #batfam x batsis #my writings #nycv

[satosugusandwich]

𝔏𝔢𝔱 𝔐𝔢 𝔖𝔢𝔢 𝔜𝔬𝔲’𝔯𝔢 𝔐𝔢𝔞𝔫…

True Form!Sukuna x Fem!Afab!Reader (This is an AU!!! Sukuna is not a homicidal maniac cannibalistic murderer! I think he’s sexy and my morals say no dick from crazy murderer BUT dick from crazy 😍)

Cw: mentions of violence from previous chapter, body image issues mentioned, sukuna is kinda an asshole

Description: You've been friends with Yuji Itadori for some time now and have seen the best, the worst, and the strange in all your years of knowing him. You've never thought he was one to have any crazy secrets and well... you were wrong. And now the demon bound to Yuji is bound to you too! How fun! Good thing that you aren't stupid and won't fall for a being that by no means should you have ever interacted with! Right? Right...?

*despite this being an aged up version of yuji, there will be no sexual stuff involving him, also the violence is only in the first chapter with a few mentions after that!!! Cross posted on Ao3 under Spicycrunchroll! THERE WILL BE LOTS OF SMUT LATER ON!*

Chapter 1 here (chapters will also get much longer once the plot is moving)

Chapter 2: Pain in the Ass

So now you smell like piss, vape juice, cum, tears, and malicious horror in the front of your best friend's car. Nothing about anything is normal right now and as much as you wanted to know about the monster in the back seat, you were still in shock from almost being trafficked and also knowing that the monster brutally attacked the men that were attacking you. They might have deserved it, but it’s not exactly the most enjoyable experience for you. You looked into the rear view mirror and could see the monster glaring out the window, seemingly bored and watching the lights of the city as Yuji sped to your home.

Yuji broke the silence. “He’s bound to me. Cuz of some family curse. He’s been sealed for a long time, but I reawakened him. You can see him now, right?” The last sentence sounded almost worried.

Your throat ached from sobbing. “Yeah.”

Yuji’s face was pale and drooping. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’ll help you when we get home.”

You closed your eyes and another tear spilled. You attempted to shift away from the thoughts of what just happened to you, “Thank you. I’m not going to ask about him too much, right now it’s all a lot to process, but what… is he?”

Sukuna huffed from the back seat, shifting ever so slightly. “I’m a demon. You can ask me.”

“Hey!” Yuji called out. “Don’t talk to her like that after all of what she just went through.”

Sukuna sighed and remained silent, turning his eyes to look at you and fixating on the outline of your face. “I’m no threat to her."

Yuji didn't respond, instead he focused on driving home, not knowing exactly what to say to you. You didn't know what to say either, your mind racing back and forth between the traffickers, the man you went out with, and the demon in the back seat. Even though you wanted to find anything else to talk about, you couldn't help but be curious about him. You tried to eye him through the rearview mirror, looking at his features. If it wasn't for his intimidating and inhuman appearance, you'd think he was pretty hot, and he also looked a lot like Yuji. Much larger than Yuji, and much much larger than Yuji. He has to slump down in his seat and his legs are pressed against the back of your seats, he easily takes up half the space in the back of the car, and on top of that, he's built like a wrestler. You couldn't help but stare at him, taking in the features of the more monstrous side of his face. Sukuna certainly notices your stare, but says nothing of it. Under normal circumstances, he'd tease but he's not exactly interested with upsetting you more. After your stare lingers on him long enough, he meets your eyes in the mirror and you quickly look away, an shiver running up your body. He couldn't help but smirk at your reaction.

When you arrived at your apartment, Yuji insisted on holding onto as you wandered inside together, along with Sukuna following closely behind. You didn't ask about him even when he followed the both of you inside, standing to the side of the living room while you and Yuji wandered to your bathroom. After what felt like a century, you removed your soiled clothes and tossed them directly into the trash, not wanting to wear them ever again. You didn't even care that he saw you strip naked, he didn't even care either, he was more focused on the fact that he's gonna have to find some way to explain what just happened and what that might mean for you. You didn't have an inkling of what he was thinking about or what had even happened to make Sukuna suddenly visible to you and Yuji wasn't very excited to explain it to you.

After showering and sobbing for almost another hour, you finally left the bathroom to get dressed, your eyes avoiding the mirror as you rushed to get dressed, disgusted by your own body. You opened bedroom door and went out to see Yuji who was dead silent on the couch. Sukuna had moved from the door and was now looking through your fridge. He paid no mind to your presence even as you gaped at him rummaging through your food, Yuji noticed your expression and turned to Sukuna.

"Don't just eat her shit!" He sounded exasperated as though he had this conversation before.

Sukuna groaned. "You humans and your decorum. Drives me insane." He shut your fridge but took out sandwich meat and started to eat directly from the packaging.

"Um. You can get bread and cheese." You said, making both of them stop moving. "Did I say something wrong?"

Sukuna started to laugh. "Here the brat was, concerned you'd be upset I'm stealing your food." The mouth on his stomach also stretched into a smile before opening up and he dumped the rest of the lunch meat directly into it, making you gape even wider. "That's enough for now." He stepped out of your kitchen and immediately went to the recliner in the room and sat down, watching your face.

Yuji sighed again and gestured for you to sit down. "Listen, y/n. I have something I need to tell you now. I know you have a lot on your mind, but I don't just wanna tiptoe around." Yuji swallowed, looking down at the floor.

Sukuna seemed to be already annoyed before Yuji even started started talking, groaning dramatically. "Do I need to tell her? Spit it out."

He quickly quipped back, "I'm telling her!"

Sukuna rolled his eyes and sunk back into the recliner which now looks significantly smaller with him seated on it. You shifted your gaze back to Yuji and waited for him to speak. "What is it? Can't be any worse than what we just went through."

"His name is Ryomen Sukuna. Or at least that's the name that was given to him. He's a demonic spirit of the past that became bound to my family a long ass time ago, but after the first person he was bound to died, he was sealed away, but then one day, I was fucking around with some shit that was passed on to me and... well... next thing I knew he was sitting on my bed." He looked to your face for a reaction, but all you could muster was a stare. He took that as a sign to continue. "Sukuna is bound to me and as a result of me asking him to save you, he's bound to you now."

You blinked a few times before speaking. "What? What does that mean?"

Yuji looked to Sukuna then back to you. "Well, for one, you can see him. And now you can interact with him freely. Sukuna can interact with whatever he wants, just not whoever. Because of his bindings to my ancestor, he can only do certain things, like for instance, he can't hurt someone unless given a direct command. And the reason he is bound to you and not the guys he attacked is because of the way he had to save you. You see, the guy who first orchestrated your kidnapping was also bound to a demon and this demon was--"

"A pain in the ass." Sukuna interrupted. "A pitiful excuse of one too. A manipulative bastard that made a vow they regret now." Sukuna had leaned forward, looking at you with all four eyes. "By killing the bastard, I ended up creating a vacant binding and the weakling decided to reflect the binding back onto me. Luckily, the stupid shit didn't know how to do the spell properly so I was able to choose who I had to make a vow with. I don't desire to be commanded around by anyone else and thankfully, you aren't the type to demand others."

You didn't say anything in response to him, he's right. If you had the courage to boss anyone around, you wouldn't have slept with all the one pump chumps and found yourself in the situation you did. Yuji, on the other hand, was pissed that he said that to you.

"What the hell? She was literally kidnapped and almost sex trafficked, what the fuck is wrong with you!?" Yuji shouted and Sukuna had no expression.

The demon cocked his head to the side and rested it on his hand. "I didn't say anything hurtful. She's more docile than the other assholes who were in the proximity."

You rose from the couch and Yuji panicked, before he could say anything you reassured him. "He didn't hurt my feelings. Don't worry. I want to go to bed."

Yuji got up to follow. "Do you need me to sleep with you?"

Swallowing a tightness in your throat, you answered. "Could you?"

"Of course!"

Sukuna watched the two of you retreat to your bedroom and couldn't help but wonder why you stopped the conversation so soon. He isn't fond of the situation himself, when he went after the man that kicked you out of his house, he was hoping it'd be a quick return to sender and was beyond angered when he was faced with one of his own. Few demons have the audacity to openly manipulate humans, let alone the pride. He was grateful they weren't a human and was able to get rid of them, but wasn't pleased with the fact that now he has a new "owner". Truthfully, the whole situation left him scowling and exceptionally eager to release his frustrations. The humans that tried to apprehend you were foolish to ally themselves with such a cunt of a demon, but even more foolish to try and steal a human for the sake of a demon's orders. Really, Sukuna leaving one of them without the ability to speak ever again and the other with a few shattered bones was a blessing. The ones that attacked Yuji should be grateful that Itadori was compassionate enough to leave them only with some broken limbs as well. Sukuna's takes no thrill in fighting the weak and barely takes any enjoyment in other's suffering, in fact, compared to most demons, he finds it boring. And here he is, stuck with the most boring people he could have as masters, at least Itadori's ancestor was a fighter himself and sought strength similar to Sukuna. Then again, he reminds himself, at least Itadori and you are stupid enough to be funny.

Sukuna sighed to himself and looked out the window of your apartment, he's going to have an overwhelmingly uneventful life with being bound to both of you. Here he was, so ecstatic to be awoken once again, just to have to watch a shitty college romance between two brats and now watch your pathetic and sad life. At least amp up the drama if he's stuck as a bystander! Well, he wishes for that, but unbeknownst to him is that he already has plenty of drama for himself approaching at high speed now that you're in his life, as he is in yours.

#jjk #jjk x reader #ryomen sukuna #sukuna x reader #sukuna ryoumen smut #sukuna #sukuna x reader fluff #yuji itadori #jjk x you

[coffehbeans]

G/t WAC Day 2

"Post a prompt/scenario you wish you saw more often"

Oh boi, there's so many things I want to see more stories of!

More adventurous stories. Usually, some g/t stories feel a little... Boring. Sorry. It's just, even when there's fantasy it mostly revolves around two characters interacting in a slice of life rhythm, in the same place (usually a house or an apartment) and it gets stale pretty easily. I talked about this in a post before. Put your blorbos in situations! Make subplots, or conflicts, explore your world, change the setting, raise the stakes, you know? I just wish giants and tinies stopped being fixed in the same setting the entire story, and if they are, make smth more interesting happen, idk. I struggle with this too so I understand.

Growth. It's still so underutilized in stories. But oh, not any type of growth, no, I wish there were more lowkey body horror growth scenes. Like, make the character terrified of what they're becoming, make the growth painful, almost monstrous smh, make me, the reader, terrified, idk lol. I just wish there was more horror-centered growth sequences and the existential dread that comes with becoming five stories tall.

Giant Kaiju battles. Yeah. This is so hyper specific lmaoo like, I've only read one story with giants duking it out in the middle of the city and it was so cool that I wanna see more of it. Preferably with the little humans running away, to add that sweet old tension!

Accidental city rampage. Like, I never see this trope, ever. Idk, maybe this is the climax of a story, or a giant is stranded in a planet of tiny people and ends up in the middle of a bustling city, or someone becomes a giant and is so confused they're stepping over cars and breaking stuff. It's just that underlying fear of someone unwillingly commiting so much destruction that keeps me on my toes.

Giant elves?? Idk, just a race of really big, really elegant giants.

Fairies and fairy worlds! I loved Tinkerbell as a kid and just wish to see more stories with that child-like wonder of discovering a magical society of cute, tiny fairies.

Bring back that trope of someone finding a giant in the forest but like, let it come to a tense climax. I've read some stories that have this trope and then... Nothing happens. It's just, the giant lives comfortably in a huge house or smth, or goes back to their dimension, or is friends with the government. Where's the drama?? Lmaoo like, make a climax where the giant gets captured and the whole world knows, or give the tiny a rescue arc but then the giant secret is exposed, idk make stuff happen lol you could even add accidental city rampage in this one, there's so many possibilities.

I think that's all I could think about!

#gtwac #wacprompts #g/t #giant/tiny #sfw g/t #coffeh speaks up

[zetalial]

Ahhh, there's so much cool stuff with Ed's character in FMA 03. One thing I do love is his ego-driven curiosity for that darker side to alchemy. It doesn't come up all that often but it's always there.

Obviously, it's there when they first try to bring their mother back using human transmutation. He's driven to do it because he can't accept she's gone but there's also that part of him who wants to do the impossible with alchemy. Like when Al says it's forbidden and no one's ever done it, Ed suggests it's just because of alchemists covering up their failures and it can be done.

Then in Episode 7, Night of the Chimera's cry, we've got Tucker who we see deciding to turn his daughter into a chimera. Before that, there's this moment of empathy with Ed who had collapsed at the sight of a dead woman who reminded him of his mother. Tucker deduces that Ed performed forbidden alchemy and his brother is a suit of armour and he's non judgemental. Sure it was human transmutation with horrifying results but when you have that power, it's difficult not to try, right? Ed's silent in this scene.

Then after he's turned Nina into a chimera and Ed confronts him, Ed's of course disgusted and horrified at what he's done especially as Tucker admits he did it deep down just to see if it could be done. And suggests that Ed too, has toyed with people's lives with alchemy. Is turning Nina into that thing not like what Ed did, turning his brother into a hollow suit of armour with alchemy? Ed starts viciously punching him down, having lost all reason as he punches him as if to reject the words that really have gotten under his skin. He can't be anything like Tucker - no part of him can be similar to this monstrous figure - right?

But we meet Tucker again in lab 5. Tucker's conducting more experiments, creating more chimeras now out of the eyes of the public. Truly its despicable that there's a secret part of the military that publicly condemned this man but then allowed him to live in secret and continue his awful studies, now presumably free to conduct them without worrying about morality. Ed's angry to see him alive again but as Tucker hints that the philosopher's stone is close, Ed becomes curious once more instead.

He lets Tucker guide him into the red room, listens to him as he describes making a stone out of the red liquid and is very genuinely tempted to go through it. For Al's sake, yes. But also maybe he really wants to create that mythical philosopher's stone to see if he can.

#fma #fma 2003 #meta #analysis #edward elric #he's endlessly curious #and also never satisfied #unable to accept what he's been given always digging deeper #he's very determined for good and for bad #he does also have morals and they do drive him away from becoming like tucker #after lab 5 and he's made his decision not to make a stone there he never gets so close to the edge again

[powdermelonkeg]

How I would run Act III

To streamline it more. And tie up loose ends. And stuff.

Part I: The Dead Two

You're apprehended by the Steel Watch the instant you use your proper faces in town, cutting the Steel Watch at the entry (or at least moving it closer to the Gate; I missed the whole of the Outer City for like 10 hours because of this)

Gortash holds one of your companions prisoner for "motivation." They're framed for the Open Hand murders and locked up. YOU have to solve those murders and track down Orin, both to kill her and to get the murder mystery off of Gortash's back. He needs controlled fear in his city, and he plans to take the credit for apprehending the Cult of Bhaal.

Orin still replaces a member of your group. The intended route is to get Gortash'd before Orin'd, but if you disguise self all the way through to Orin's place, you can get her ultimatum to destroy Gortash first; disable the Steel Watch within three days, or your pretty little companion dies.

Dilemma: Do you risk the companion Orin has, or the one Gortash has? Intended route is to turn on Gortash; he'll send your companion down to the Iron Throne if you do, which still gives you a chance to rescue them. However, if you have Minsc or Jaheira on your side, you can use them to find a secret path into the Bhaal temple and free Orin's captive first.

If you kill Gortash before Orin, Bhaalists attack your camp, because you're no longer useful and will make such pretty sacrifices to Bhaal. One of them has a map to the temple on them. On the other hand, killing Orin first still gets you an alliance with Gortash.

I want Apostle-of-Myrkul-style boss fights. When Orin's slayer form dies, you turn to leave, and Bhaal speaks through the skull in the wall, creating an avatar of the dead bodies around the altar.

If you're the Dark Urge, usual punishment for rejecting Dad's Gifts, and then the avatar appears to tear your companions apart over your dead body. You have to win that fight WITHOUT your player character.

Gortash gets more dramatics, because there was a lack of explanation for his whole fight. When you approach him, either after killing Orin or wanting to kill him, he has his back turned to you and asks you what you plan to do with the current situation. If you turn on him, he tells you what a shame that is—that you've turned on him, yes, but moreso that you've failed to notice the room. The turrets load up, and Gortash steps backwards into a steaming divot in the wall, then reemerges in his armored form. A pity you couldn't disable all of the Steel Watch after all.

Upon defeating Steel Watch Gortash, it looks like he's about to explode—then it stops. Bane reprimands him for being such a failure, taunts him for expecting the release of death, then twists him into an amalgamation of machinery and biology, a Warforged-like abomination akin to his avatar: "a twisted and monstrous form with leathery black skin and powerful claws that could rend flesh and metal alike." (The wiki was not more specific than that)

Congrats! You have all three Nether Stones. How do you feel?

#bg3 #long post #bg3 spoilers #the act 3 thing #gortash #orin

[aemiron-main]

True Sight, Doppelgangers, Shapeshifter and Will’s Powers (And Why is Brenner Basically Every DND Monster in ST?)

So, I’m working on a BUNCH more posts about DND Doppelgangers and ST and greater vs lesser Doppelgangers and how that ties into the two different grey “Demogorgons” we see in ST, but right now, I want to talk about Will and Doppelgangers.

And, as we know, I already talked in this post about how the “Demogorgon” in ST is basically nothing like the DND Demogorgon, but is basically IDENTICAL to a DND Doppelganger.

And so, getting into the content of this post, while Doppelgangers CAN choose to drop their disguise/reveal their true form, it’s much harder to reveal them by force/forcibly see their true nature.

But there is one way to do this:

True sight.

In DND, there’s one way to reveal the true form of a doppelganger (specifically a Greater Doppelganger), and that’s true sight. The power that not only allows people to see into the Ethereal Plane (which is a whole other topic on its own that I have a draft on), but also allows them to reveal the true form of Doppelgangers.

So, if that grey-skinned ST “Demogorgon” was shapeshifting into people, like I think it’s been (especially when it comes to Brenner, which we’ll come back to later), then Will is basically the only person who would be able to see its true form.

Also, on the topic of True Sight, something else that’s really interesting to me is that True Sight also allows you to see secret doors.

Which would tie perfectly into what I talked about in this post re: the “secret door”/disappearing door in the Creel house, and Max and Lucas talking about a “door to a secret lair.”

I would love if, in S5, Will ended up in the current-day Creel house (the one without the disappearing door), but was able to see the door/see into the other timeline.

Which, conveniently, the giant rift/crack that went through the Creel house seems to have missed that room entirely- leaving it mostly intact. (it would be on screen left in the following screenshot, the room behind Victor’s study, and the rift seems to have gone right through the hallway/foyer, but not through that room)

Also, when I brought up this whole concept of Will and True Sight and Doppelgangers to James and Stav and Wilbur, James @henrysglock mentioned the scene from the “Papa,” script where Will recognizes Brenner:

And the idea of Will having True Sight and seeing Brenner for what he truly is in the context of all of Brenner’s weird shapeshifter/doppelganger imagery (and staring at the weird massacre “Henward” that looks and acts weirdly like Brenner) & True Sight being able to see doppelgangers for what they really are.

So, maybe that’s a.) why Will has been kept away from Brenner so much by the writers and b.) why Will seeing Brenner and recognizing him was such a big deal- maybe he wasn’t recognizing Brenner’s human face- maybe he was recognizing the “Demogorgon,”/that true “monstrous” form- maybe he was recognizing what he saw on the road that night:

I’m honestly not sure what the answer is, but I AM pretty sure that Will’s true sight abilities and him recognizing Brenner are going to tie into all of the doppelganger stuff in ST somehow.

Also, I know that in this post, I talked about Doppelgangers being more animalistic/creature-like rather than super intelligent and human, and while that’s still the case, there’s also a difference between regular Doppelgangers and Greater Doppelgangers, and True Sight is also mentioned to work on Greater Doppelgangers (that screenshot article snippet about True Sight is from the wiki about Greater Doppelgangers), and Greater Doppelgangers are far more intelligent and human-like.

This would also track with the two different grey “Demogorgons” we see in ST- we see this much more animalistic grey creature that jumps around rapidly, but then we ALSO see a far more human-like grey “Demogorgon” creature that lumbers around on two legs:

Which, you might be thinking that’s a stretch for there to be two different “Demogorgons,” but not only is it super obvious when you watch the differences in how they move, but one of them is CGI.

Whereas the other is literally played by a guy in a practical suit, explaining those more human movements:

I wont be surprised if those two creatures are meant to be paralleled to regular Doppelgangers and Greater Doppelgangers, respectively, and if whatever creature Brenner is (or whatever creature is imitating Brenner), is paralleled to a Greater Doppelganger.

So, Brenner is Demogorgon, and a Greater Doppelganger, and he’s also somehow the Mindflayer and Vecna. Great. Perfect. (im going insane)

Which, I mean, that does make sense, honestly.

Because when it comes to Brenner as Demogorgon, there’s everything I talked about in this post with Brenner and DND Demogorgon’s similarities.

And when it comes to Brenner as a Greater Doppelganger, that’s what this post you’re currently reading is about.

And when it comes to Brenner as a DND Mindflayer/as the Mindflayer, we have:

A.) TFS and scenes like Patty holding the ST Mindflayer drawing up right in front of Brenner’s face:

B.) The way that ST Vecna resembles a DND Mindflayer way WAY more than than the ST Mindflayer does (versus the Brenner-Vecna) stuff, and how Brenner and Vecna (and the weird Brenner-esque 001 during NINA) all have the personality traits of a DND Mindflayer (egomaniac, superiority complex, controlling, etc etc)

(which, I also have this old post expanding on this topic- just take it with a grain of salt every time that post says “henry” and please mentally insert 001/Brenhenryward/Brenner/Vecna/whoeever the hell this is atp)

And when it comes to Brenner as Vecna, there’s everything that James and Stav and I have talked about re: the Brenner-Vecna transformation scene and the idea of Brenner having merged himself with Henry or Edward, and all of the weird Brenner-Vecna parallels.

My point is, the DND stuff in ST is very weirdly, calculatedly, WRONG all of the time. The ST “Mindflayer” looks nothing like a DND Mindflayer but DOES resemble things like the Scalepox Cloud created by DND Demogorgon, and the ST Demogorgon is NOTHING like the DND Demogorgon, but Brenner IS like the DND Demogorgon, and ST Vecna looks WEIRDLY like a DND Mindflayer, but ST Vecna also looks weirdly like Brenner during his transformation scene etc etc, POINT IS, all roads with the “weird DND stuff that’s ‘wrong’ in ST” thing lead back to Brenner.

There’s something super super weird going on here. I wish I had more answers. I just have 10 million questions.

Why is everyone Brenner?

#stranger things #will byers #st vs dnd #martin brenner #st vecna

[xoxoladyaz]

AU-gust, Day 3: Writer

TW: References to monster smut and genitalia, Shrek

Robin’s mad at him.

(Well, mad isn’t the right word. Frustrated? Annoyed? Shocked by his enduring stupidity? All of those are probably better options.)

“Seriously, dingus? You haven’t told him yet?!”

Steve anxiously ran his fingers through his no-longer perfectly-styled coif. “I’ve tried, Robin! It’s just kind of hard to tell the guy that you’re falling in love with that you write monster porn for a living!”

It had started when he was a senior in college, reeling from his break-up with Nancy and trying desperately to find anything to distract himself from his heartbreak. It was a total joke at first, trying to find the cringiest romances he could find and reading them with Robin as they got progressively more and more drunk on whatever cheap booze he’d squirreled away from Tommy that week. But then one night he found himself in bed crying when Matthias the Minotaur sacrificed his life for his one-true love and he couldn’t stand it because Matthias deserved a happy ending after everything he’d been through and Steve had read enough of these books, for fuck’s sake, he could write a better ending!

It was just a hobby for a while, a secret shame that got him through the doldrums of working for his father while trying to figure out what he wanted to do next. Steve could never keep anything from Robin, though, and while she initially teased him for writing “monster porn,” after she read one of his stories she demanded he submit it to some indie romance publishing houses and she didn’t give up until he had done so and now – well, now Steve was making a truly obscene amount of money off of his many, many monstrous and paranormal romance books (with Robin as his editor, of course) and had kissed his shitty parents goodbye.

(And if his pen name was his father’s name, which meant that anytime someone googled “Richard Harrington” the first thing that popped up were book titles like “Prisoner of the Gargoyle’s Heart” and not his father’s incredibly influential law office, well, that was just payback for twenty-five years of bullshit.)

The thing is, Steve isn’t even ashamed of it, not really. He’s always been a kinky guy, first of all, and besides, it’s not all about the sex (although his sex scenes are some of the best in the business and he hadn’t shied away from writing queer books when the rest of the world had.) What he liked most about the stories he wrote was that regardless of what his monsters had looked like, or lived through, or done in their past, or where they’d come from, they all found someone who loved them because of their differences - because of their monstrousness – and not in spite of it.

(And yeah, okay, he liked the sex stuff too. Who wouldn’t want to fuck a dragon with two dicks? Or Prince Titian, the golden-haired merman who had both sets of humanoid genitalia? Or Neptus, the half-man, half-octopus who had all those huge tentacles - )

“Dingus. Stop thinking about Neptus.”

“Huh?” Steve asked, shaking his head. “How did you - ”

“Because I know you, Steve Harrington, and there’s only one person slash fictional entity that you get that weird horny look for and honestly, I could have lived my entire life without knowing about your tentacle thing - ”

“ROBIN, it’s not – I don’t have a tentacle thing ­- ”

“ – but we can deal with your weird fetishes another day, right now we need to discuss why your boyfriend still thinks that you’re an accountant and the fact that you need to tell your boyfriend about your job so I can tell my girlfriend about my job so she understands why I need so much therapy and why I know so much about your sexual preferences - ”

“Jesus, Robin, I got it, I got it!” Steve stood and headed for his minibar. “Look, it’s not – it’s not that I don’t want to tell him, it’s just – people can get kind of weird about it.”

“Yeah, and those people suck,” Robin replied as she followed after him. “But Eddie isn’t Nancy or Tommy or Cheryl or Brad or Kel, he’s Eddie.”

“Yeah, world-famous-high-fantasy-author-Eddie-Munson! He’s, like, actually legit Robin! He’s won the Hugo Award twice!”

“He also likes to go to the Renaissance fair dressed up as a faun and annoy people by playing the pipes, Steve. And you’ve seen his weird monster dildo collection which I know you have too - ”

“I know, I know!” Steve exclaimed as he poured both himself and Robin a glass of Merlot. “I just,” Steve turned to face Robin and sighed. “I’m just scared, Robin. Like, it hasn’t even been that long but he makes me feel – I don’t even know, like, I haven’t felt this way about someone since Nancy, you know? And Eddie - this feels like it could be more than that. Like a forever sort of thing.”

Robin sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I know, dingus. And I know that people have you given you all kinds of shit in the past, but that’s not going to be Eddie. And if it is Eddie, I will kick his ass into the ocean and feed him to your squid-man.”

“Neptus isn’t a squid man, Robin - ”

/////

Robin was right, of course. Robin was always right.

(Except for when it came to best Marvel movie, she said Civil War when everyone knew that Thor: Ragnarok was the superior film.)

Anyways.

Robin was right, it was time for Steve to tell Eddie the truth. And Steve had known that too, knew that stretching it much longer than two months would probably end really, really badly, especially if Eddie didn’t take it well, but enough of his relationships (romantic and otherwise) had been ruined by people just not understanding or not caring enough to try to understand his stories or why he loved what he did, but Eddie was different. Successful and handsome and creative and intelligent? Sure, Steve had dated people who had all those qualities before. But only Eddie Munson spent hours on the phone with Steve’s friends, talking them through their D&D related problems. Only Eddie Munson showed up on their first date with flowers for Steve, when Steve was the one who normally had to go all out for his partner. 

And only Eddie Munson would learn Steve’s favorite Taylor Swift songs in his free time (instead of the latest Metallica or Ghost) because he wanted to make Steve smile, which is what Eddie was in the middle of doing when Steve finally worked up the nerve to tell him. 

“The stakes are high, the water’s rough, but this love is - ”

“Hey, uh, Eddie? I kind of need to tell you something,” Steve interrupted him as he walked into the living room, beers in hand.

Eddie stopped what he was doing at Steve’s entrance and beamed, setting his acoustic guitar off to the side. “Everything alright, angel?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I just – here,” Steve handed him a beer. He waited until Eddie had taken a sip (and swallowed) before continuing. “I, uh, well – look, we’ve been dating for two months now - ”

“Two months, three days and fourteen hours,” Eddie winked as he took another sip.

“ – and – right,” Steve flushed bright red at the look in Eddie’s eyes. “Right. Uh, anyways, we’ve been dating for two months and I just thought it was time to tell you and – okay, it’s not a big deal but it is kind of a big deal? But not what you’re probably thinking, I’m not, like, married or anything, I – I’m not an accountant, okay, I’m a writer!”

“I know.”

“ – not, like, a normal writer, I write – wait, what?” Steve gaped at Eddie. “You – what?!”

“Baby,” Eddie started slowly, his finger running in tempting circles around the rim of his beer, “you know I know people in the romance world, right?”

“I – what? You knew this whole time?”

“Yep,” Eddie shot Steve a sultry smirk along with another wink. “I knew exactly who you were when I asked you out, big boy. Or, I knew who Robin was and I put two and two together.”

“I – how?!”

“Baby, you didn’t even change your last name.”

Steve just sat there in stunned silence while Eddie continued to sip on his beer, a teasing gleam in his eyes. “But – I – and you’re okay with it?”

At that, Eddie’s smile grew a bit more serious, and he set his beer down on the coffee table so he could hold Steve’s hands in his. “Of course I am, sweetheart. You’re insanely talented, Stevie.”

“I – I write porn, Eddie. With monsters in it.”

“I know, it’s stupidly hot.”

“But you – it could hurt your career if people found out,” Steve said softly, sadly, squeezing Eddie’s hands. “People – people would give you so much shit, Eddie.”

Eddie squeezed back. “Steve, my nickname was ‘The Freak’ in high school. I was a poor kid with shitty parents who was raised in a trailer park. People have given me shit my entire life and frankly, I couldn’t give a flying fuck about what anyone said about you and your writing. If anything, people are going to ask me what the fuck someone as handsome and gifted as you is doing with someone like me.”

Steve snorted and Eddie let out a laugh. “I mean it! You’re like Prince Charming or some shit and I’m the ogre living in the swamp.”

Eddie froze for a few seconds before a maniacal grin overtook his face.

“Eddie?”

“Stevie, baby, have you ever considered a sexy Shrek retelling?”

“No. No.”

(“There’s an Ogre in His Swamp” was released on April Fool’s Day the following year. The author, Richard Harrington, posted a dedication in this book, the first of many that he would dedicate to his husband, E. W. Munson:

To my Ogre – thank you for being my happily ever after.)

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #stranger things #steddie fanfic #writer Eddie munson #writer Steve harrington #august fanfic challenge

[ashes-in-a-jar]

In my head, you’re a Magnus Archives blog. I mean, I know you obviously listen to other things, but In my mind it’s things like Welcome to Nightvale, Malevolent, Hello from the Hallowoods, The Sheridan Tapes, things like that, horror and supernatural.

So I had to do a double-take when I saw a Dungeons and Daddies post from you, I really didn’t know you listened to it. Then I see you reblog a Fawx and Stallion post, and now I’m just wondering how many podcasts you’ve listened to that I’ve also listened to.

Hahaha yes this blog has been mainly for tma stuff for years now, I still feel like I'm new to the fandom but honestly I've been here through a lot of it since the beginning of season 5

Buuuuut in the past few months I've stopped going into the tma tag regularly and been feeling a little detached from it, at least as opposed to before. My listen to tmagp has been way less interactive and I hardly reblog content anymore (which is something I like doing but because of various bad experiences on the internet recently I have yet to recover from I feel safer posting my own original posts rather than reblogging)

And that freed up a space in my mind to realize I've actually been listening to a lot of podcasts besides tma and it's honestly a shame not to talk about them more with others

I do listen to a lot of horror fantasy supernatural and science fiction podcasts! I also love a lot of dnd and ttrpg podcasts, I also love everything dropout and wish I could get into critical role but it's so big I don't think I'll manage it

I put under the cut a (quite long) list of the podcasts I have listened to and/or have notifications turned on

Anyone following me, you're welcome to send me an ask about one of them if you like them as well or want to hear about them!

I also put a list of podcasts on my to listen to list. Feel free to drop a recommendation for which them to listen to first!

-------------

Podcasts I'm caught up on (the lists are long so it's alphabetical without "the")

Ongoing podcasts

The Amelia project

Ask your father

A voice from darkness

Black box

Brimstone valley mall

Camlann

The cellar letters

Death by dying

Derelict

Eeler's choice

Ethics town

Fawx and stallion

Hello from the Hallowoods

The hundred handed

Levian

Lost terminal

The Magnus protocol

Malevolent

Midnight burger

The mistholme museum of mystery morbidity and mortality

Neon inkwell

New years day

Not quite dead

Old gods of Appalachia

The penumbra podcast

The program

Red valley

The Sheridan Tapes

The silt verses

The sound museum

Super suits

Tell no tales

Tiny terrors

Traveling light

Unseen

The vesta clinic

Victoriocity

The white vault

Completed podcasts

Absolutely no adventures

Archive 81

Borrasca

The bright sessions

Camp here and there

Descendants

Give me away

I am in eskew

Monstrous agonies

Parkdale haunt

The Magnus archives

Re: dracula

The secret of st kilda

Spirit box radio

Steal the stars

Time:bombs

We know none

Wolf 359

Wooden overcoats

Ttrpgs

The adventure zone

Campaign skyjacks

Chapter and multiverse

Dark dice

Dice shame

Dimension 20 (not a podcast but I listen to it like one)

Dungeons and daddies

Not another d&d podcast

Rusty Quill gaming

Worlds beyond number

Podcast on my listen next list:

The Alexandria archives

Alice isn't dead

Ars paradoxica

Believer

The Black tapes

Blackwood

The box

The bridge

Carrier

Counterbalance

The cryptid keeper

Darkest night

The darkroom

The dark tome

The deca tapes

The deep vault

Dreamboy (this one is nsfw so it makes me nervous lol)

Duggan Hill

The earth collective

Either

The far meridian

The fountain road files

The glass canon

Jar of rebuke

Kings fall am (I started but heard not great things about it)

Knifepoint horror

Kollok 1991

Less is morgue

The leviathan chronicles

Liberty

Limetown

The lost cat

Mabel

Maeltopia

Marscorp

Mirrors

Mockery manor

Next stop

The no sleep podcast

The orphans

The Orpheus protocol

Out of place

Paired

Palimpsest

The phone booth

Point mystic

Pseudopod

Rabbits

The right left game

Shadows at the door

Spines

Stellar firma

The storage papers

Stories from among the stars

Super ordinary

Superstition

Tanis

Tides

Unwell

Vast horizon

Victoria's lift

Video palace

Welcome to night Vale (I listen to this one very sporadically lol)

We're alive

Within the wires

Woe begone (I started but got stuck on episode 20ish but want to continue)

Wrong station

Ttrpgs

BomBARDded

Critical role (it's sooo long tho)

Dames and dragons

Dragon friends

Join the party

The lucky die

Queens of adventure

Realms of pearl and glory

Rude tales of magic

Skyjacks courier call

Three black halflings

#i should definitely update my blog description lol #podcasts #ask #mine #oh man thats alot of podcasts xD #hmmm i think i might main tag this so tma people will listen to more podcasts #tma #the magnus archives

[penaltyboxboxbox]

au ideas: vampire au (galex ? remember when alex said he’d eat george as his last food) + some kind of spy/secret agent au? + hunger games au (i think f1 lends itself to this quite well w driver pairings = district pairings. i loved your galex hunger games artwork so much !!!) + landoscar coffee shop au (can’t decide if this is anything. would they be colleagues or would lando be the customer? would daniel/carlos be ex-employees? loscar roommates?)

sending love ! 🫶🫶🫶 hope you feel better soon <3

• vampire galex: i actually love this to death. im not much of a traditional vampire lover- i like my cannibalistic narratives to be a lot grosser and more monstrous than a lot of typical vampire stuff gets for me....alex saying he would eat george is still such a compelling concept. like why did he say that. anyways...nontraditional vampire alex and the best friend george as his somewhat unwilling familiar.... complicated feelings arising as hes sucking the blood from your wrist.... augh vampirism that only increases in scope the more they drink...GUY WHO CANT HELP HIMSELF AND NEXT THING HE KNOWS HES TAKING A WHOLE BITE

• landoscar coffee shop i do you one better landoscar fast food au. this is the superior lame foodservice job au. zak is the store manager. lando is the shift lead who only got the position via favoritism and fucks around and flirts with customers. daniel is the employee who is 34 and cannot seem to land a job that is not fast food. he and lando are making tiktoks in the back room. oscar is the new employee and he cares a lot about doing a good job. carlos is the former employee turned clingy regular customer and oscar hates him. lando schedules all oscars breaks at the same time as his which ruins the workflow because he always schedules it during a rush but he doesnt care hes going to go ask oscar to hotbox his car with him. oscar WILL oblige despite his best interests.

#ask

[entomolog-t]

Idk if you’re still doing this psychoanalysis stuff but-

Still kinda new to the gt stuff but I noticed something that others haven’t brought up much that I absolutely adore. Size shifters! With size shifters dynamics between characters can fluctuate depending on if they go tiny or giant which is perfect for me since I’m indecisive lol. One of the things that appeals to me specifically is if the size shifter may not have a full handle on their ability or if it’s new to them, panicking as they look around for someone who could help, someplace to hide, etc. maybe causing a little collateral damage in the process. Maybe they try to keep it secret, seeing the ability as something dangerous or unnatural.

Then when throwing other people into the mix-

Someone the shifter trusts or someone they don’t know who they inadvertently they bond with from the encounter finds them in such a state. The person tries to play it cool for the shifters sake as their mind is going a mile a minute, trying to think of a way that the shifter can return to a normal size or at least calm down.

I got size shifters on the brain too anon 💕

Time to analyze this further-

Size shifters as an archetype have a clear tie to change. Shifting perspectives and dynamics, as well as power and control.

It can show indecisiveness sure, but depending on how its portrayed it can show a wide range of interesting topics- strong emotions, internal balance, high energy/excitability, uncertainty etc..

With size shifters in particular I think the context is crucial to getting a clear overall sense of your internal environment.

For example, a highly controlled size shifter that changes their size dynamically, for convenience and self expression, would likely imply a large personality and a desire for excitement and self expression. Comfortability in either side of the spectrum nods to self assuredness and confidence.

Now if you took that same person and made them shift emotionally, that changes the perspective drastically, nodding to feelings of a lack of control over emotions, perhaps a desire for those emotions to be seen and acknowledged. Rather than confidence, this nods to a lack of feeling in control of ones self, uncertainty, and personal disjointedness.

And even within the levels of control and emotional shifting there are key differences. An emotional shifter may typically never shrink, and is always in control of their emotions, so when they do shrink those feelings are poignant, and rather than a lack of control, they may signify a need for their emotions to be seen.

Its also important to analyze what drives the growth or shrinking. Shrinking is typically associated with feelings of vulnerability- which often times is portrayed alongside negative emotions. However there are various portrayals where shrinking may be more positively associated (the vulnerability we feel when we are flustered, comfortable, in love, and safe. Shrinking because ones needs are met and there is no need to have to feel big). Growth can also be negative- the feeling of being monstrous, being seen by many, being dangerous/out of control etc. How one associates the emotions to the sizes can be extremely telling of ones own internal environment.

With that rather extensive preamble out of the way, lets analyze your particular example.

"the size shifter may not have a full handle on their ability or if it’s new to them, panicking as they look around for someone who could help, someplace to hide, etc. maybe causing a little collateral damage in the process. Maybe they try to keep it secret, seeing the ability as something dangerous or unnatural."

I've gone and highlighted some key things of note. Firstly, we see a lack of knowledge/skill in the shifter - ie feelings of lack of control. This lack of control is directed inward at oneself. Said lack of control is causing fear/stress/anxiety as seen in the need to hide, and looking for help. What I found particularly interesting is the "causing collateral damage" implying that this is a growth scenario. With a growth scenario and the need to hide there is a very clear image that comes to mind of being essentially stuck in the open- too large to hide oneself and fearing being seen- and if we circle back to the beginning of this analysis, we see that said fear is linked to a lack of control.

So one could interpret this as symbolism for fearing that others will see you lose control.

This does not directly imply emotionally - loss of control can mean failure (losing control of the situation, not being able to manage one's responsibilities, being seen when we are vulnerable etc...). This draws me back once again to Collateral Damage.

Theres nothing in the scenario that suggests it was done out of anger, frustration etc... and I would go out on a limb to assume its accidental damage- making a mistake.

Our previous analysis then becomes- Fear of others seeing you mess up.

This is further exemplified by the wanting help, needing to hide, wanting to keep it a secret- all pushing the theme that one is afraid of others seeing them make mistakes.

The language of dangerous and unnatural may even hint at these mistakes being tied to social mistakes- with unnatural in particular hinting at the idea of not adhering to the status quo. Though this is more so grasping given that it could just as easily be a normal reaction to seeing size change and is just a stand in for other negative perceptions.

The later half of this trope/fantasy is very intriguing.

"Someone the shifter trusts or someone they don’t know who they inadvertently they bond with from the encounter finds them in such a state. The person tries to play it cool for the shifters sake as their mind is going a mile a minute, trying to think of a way that the shifter can return to a normal size or at least calm down."

Note how the language chosen was not someone who trusts the shifter, but someone the shifter trusts. The shifter themselves is scared, and it is them who has a need to feel safe- be it from someone they already trust or someone they have bonded with. The stranger who they bond with is worthwhile making note of. Bonding during an encounter suggests this person is open and accepting to a degree, or that the shifter themselves is charismatic enough to make someone understand them.

The first option likely suggests a desire to be accepted and understood as one is, though the second may imply a hope that one's values/personality/character shines through their mistakes, and that their own nature is good, but misunderstood.

Playing it cool for the shifters sake is quite interesting language as well. They aren't playing it cool for their ego (their own sake) but instead for the shifter. This seems to suggest that the situation is serious/important but they are willing to let their own feelings (implied with heart racing/fear) take a bake seat in order to prioritize those of the shifter (looking for a solution).

All in all this fantasy seems to be symbolic of a fear of others seeing one mess up and the subconscious seems to have projected a desire for those one cares about to be understanding and caring born out of genuine care/affection for the individual, as well as a longing for help from others.

Further analysis of the individual helping the shifter could have subconscious projection of either who the mind may associate with wanting help from, or the traits you may associate with being in control.

-----

I quite enjoyed our session today. Please feel free to book another session with the secretary at your earliest convenience.

Until next time.

#WHEWWW #LONG ONE #but theres been some posts on shifters lately and I though now would be a lovely time to share this #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t community #g/t prompts #g/t shitpost #G/t tropes #G/t trope psychology #sizeshifter #sizeshifters #growth #AskEnto

[turqrambles]

That Time Ghost Roaster Felt So Betrayed By His Friends That He Went on Several Passionate Rants before Trying to Kill Everyone

So there's a page in the Secret Agent Secrets arc that's been memed on and highlighted a lot in the Skylanders community for being super meta since Ghost Roaster, Boomer, and Voodood are all characters that never got reposes before the Eon's Elite set and Ghost Roaster is namedropping gimmicks that came after Spyro's Adventure.

I like this joke. I'm not going to talk about it.

What I AM going to talk about is you learn later that these three are only pretending to be evil as a part of their secret infiltration mission given to them by Buzz, but during the mission, Ghost Roaster is drinking from the resentment well a little too deeply and later betrays everyone.

Notice who's doing the talking here. There's only one person saying all of these things. Ghost Roaster is the one radically going off-script and saying things that are bitter and personal while the other two just silently stand off to the side like "uh, should we say anything or...?"

There are three characters that have apparently gone rogue but only ONE of them is saying deeply personal things while the other two are going "Hee hee okie dokie boss!".

"These dumb kids always start off full of hope before it gets unceremoniously crushed by the unforgiving nature of hero work!"

"Haha! Yeah! Uh, I'll take them back to prison so we can get back to doing evil stuff! ghostroasterwhatareyoudoing-"

There is a point where they capture Voodood and he repeats the same point that Ghost Roaster brought up, but you can tell his heart is not in the performance. The poor dude's just trying to keep up appearances before the right moment comes to strike.

And it does. They pull off their secret mission plan perfectly and reveal that gotcha, they were all just fooling the bad guy!

Right, Ghost Roaster?

Uh...RIGHT Ghost Roaster...?

Oh.

In retrospect, maybe they DID see that coming.

(Don't worry, after a magical girl-esque talking down to with the Power of Friendship, Ghost Roaster gets better. He goads one of the Skylanders to try and kill him before he does so, but he gets better)

Turns out having one of the characters be known as "that guy that ate an entire village in a horrible monstrous fugue state and then became a Skylander out of pity" is bound to cause some problems down the road, who knew.

#skylanders #long post #Ghost Roaster #I knew Ghost Roaster was sad but I didn't realize HOW sad

[skyeblue8]

Alrighty, thank you for letting me share this stuff! Fair warning though, this is a stupid long ramble.

The title of this little rewrite project is currently Halfway Hell. Our star is Reagan Morgenstern, daughter to one of the most powerful and influential men, who lives in the lap of luxury, wealth, and privilege. However, her cozy life is changed forever the morning after her 21st birthday, when she is woken by a group of seven horrific and grotesque beasts. Her father, Solas, reveals to her a dark secret; He is not human, but rather a powerful sorcerer as old as humanity. Long ago, he and a group of wizards and witches were banished from their home world in the stars to be imprisoned in the Earth’s flaming core for the rest of time. Before they were banished however, Solas and his six siblings used their remaining magic to curse the first vestiges of humanity; The more wicked, despicable, and sinful they were when they were alive, the more monstrous, deadly, and magically potent their souls would be reborn as Solas’ unholy army. Utilizing the damned and tortured souls’ as magic replenishes, the Seven Siblings of Sin were able to breach their flaming prison, and now, Solas, The Dark King, believes the time for his forces of darkness to conquer all three realms is growing near, and when that time does, Reagan will be leading the charge alongside him as his Dark Princess. So to prepare, Reagan is shipped off to the many parts of the world where her father’s siblings reside, to learn to weaponize the magical properties of the six souls spiritually chained to her. But as Reagan spends more time with her ensnared entourage, a conflict begins to brew within herself: Should she follow her family destiny of rulership over all that is known? Or will the suffering and maybe-not-so-awful souls enslaved to her convince Reagan to turn a new leaf?

Ok so that’s basically the plot, I’ve also got a design for Reagan, who is my stand in for Charlie. It is a bit old which is why she’s called Piper on it, but I am planning to give her a slight makeover digitally. I’ve also got a bio for her but that’s also old and really long so I’ll be tweaking that. (btw solas is the stand in for Lucifer, he’s not meant to be Stolas, they’re entirely different characters here, I’m just using the name Solas for reasons including it sounds like Soulless and I think that’s good for your main villain)

Basically, I’m making this rewrite mostly out of spite for all the wasted potential of hazbin/helluva, and all the stupid choices that were made that completely butchered what could’ve been two great adult animation shows. I’ll take the characters from both Hazbin and Helluva and change them to suit this new narrative, while sort combining both of their plots into one(a group of morally ambiguous non human entities do some fucked up shit on Earth, while also growing from hating each other into a found family and trying to save themselves and others like them from their eternal suffering) However, instead of directly using actual Christian demonic/religious figures and stories, I’m using those texts, mostly The Testament of Solomon, as inspiration for the characters, story, and world of Halfway Hell (example; Heaven and Hell are not the traditional Heaven and Hell we know in Christianity, though the parallels with fallen angels and the seven deadly sins and Armageddon are there) So no actual names of demons and angels will be dropped, my characters will just resemble them. I don’t want to offend people and their beliefs by using these names in vain because religion is important to a lot of people, and it’s a nuanced topic that has made people do good and bad things in the name religion ever since, well, the beginning. Plus, I feel like it could make room for more diverse creature designs if I don’t make them explicitly demons or other similar concepts from different cultures such as yokai. They’re meant to be moreso ghosts and monsters in a generic sense, just ones that were originally humans and sprout from a burning land. I want this to be fantasy oriented with all the magic and creature designs I’m planning, while also having a core general theme of change, and a more specific theme of how we can make the changes we want to our lives, and why we make those changes, unlike Hazbin where it’s all about redemption for now. The best way I can describe what I want Halfway Hell to feel like is if The Owl House was written like Bojack Horseman, basically a dramedy with fantasy elements. Originally I was gonna make this even more like Bojack Horseman in terms of realism and tone down the religious influences even more, with purely human characters, an ordinary Earth setting, and it was gonna be called Seven Swinging Souls but dammit, I like fantasy stuff and I wanna draw fantasy stuff. 

And that’s pretty much what I have so far. I’m thinking once I develop more ideas and make plenty of art for it, I’ll make a new account dedicated to Halfway Hell and maybe one day make a comic series out of it. No promises at all, I’m still suffering through college and this is mostly a creative outlet but who knows. Let me know your thoughts, thank you for reading all of this nonsense!

Honestly, after looking over the whole summary of the rewrite, I think this is a really solid re-imagining of Hazbin. Actually, I think it's more than that.

Now, I will make note of how much it deviates from the original concept in the fact that it takes away from the idea of a traditional Hellish afterlife, as well as the whole thing concepts we've been introduced to since everything's on Earth, I guess, but, it's because of those differences that I think it would work brilliantly as its own piece of written work as I think it would give it more credibility for being an outstandingly well-written, original project without having the association of Hazbin Hotel as I feel that would discredit it both to those who have problems with Hazbin/Helluva Boss' writing and those who are so loyal to it that they may want partial credit for Viv.

Now, for a bit of warning, I am often extremely picky and skeptical of all new shows, stories, written works, and series I first encounter, regardless of how well-recieved they are – and that's not usually a matter of one’s storytelling ability so much as my general pickiness. With that being said, I'm deeply interested in the potential this concept could have and how you can make it your own. Good luck in college! Idk what that's like yet, but I'm sure I will soon enough. And excellent work, here!

#helluva boss critical #ask #asks #hazbin hotel rewrite #vivziepop critical #helluva boss criticism #hazbin hotel critical #helluva boss critique #helluva critical #hazbin hotel critique #vivziepop criticism #helluva boss #hazbin hotel

[vivienna-vivid]

Sinner!Kromer AU but she and Sinclair don't swap personalities. Kromer is still a fanatic and Sinclair is still insecure. Their school life goes the same as we know it for the most part, except for one small tidbit:

Kromer is a mega-fan of prosthetics.

Kromer believes that human flesh can only go so far. To ascend into a more sturdier and perfect form is the ideal. Thus, she adores prosthetics and wants a full-body one.

In this AU, Kromer came from a normal Nest family. Like in the novel, her family is relatively poor so she can't afford to get cosmetic prosthetics. So at the very least she'd like to work in a prosthetic shop after graduating, but her scores aren't the best.

Enter: Emil Sinclair. His father deals prosthetics and yet Sinclair seems a bit bothered by the topic. Does he not like prosthetics?

Two thoughts occured in Kromer: 1) "I can help him get over his anxiety and make him see how cool proathetics are!" 2) "I can use this to score a job with his dad's business!"

And thus started Kromer's friendship with Sinclair. He was very accepting of Kromer, especially since she saw how distressed the topic of prosthetics made him. Even she knows some horror stories about botched prosthetic surgeries.

But at some point Kromer started bringing magazines and articles about prosthetics. She started small: little stuff about people with one or two artificial limbs or eyes. See, Sinclair? They're functional AND they look cool! Nothing to be afraid of! Gradually she started bringing her personal stash: magazines with her dream full-body models.

Sinclair is even more troubled. He's still just as distressed over his family but now Kromer is being so overbearing. Plus, he can't really avoid her since they're already close friends. Sinclair would feel bad (plus she's usually allroaches him anyway so that's futile). So... he just bears with the growing resentment.

And then Kromer came to Sinclair's home. It wasn't anything special: they had a group project and decided to do it at Sinclair's place. Kromer was ecstatic to meet the famous Sinclairs! If she impressed them enough, she'll be working for them soon!

Sinclair's family took a quick liking to Kromer. She was inquisitive, spirited, and polite. But most importantly, she was Emil's friend. Over dinner they bonded with Kromer. They laughed and told stories with each other, except for one:

Emil Sinclair hated it. In his eyes, Kromer has just stolen his family from him. She was confident, she was outgoing, and she loved prosthetics. She was EVERYTHING Sinclair could never be: the child his parents deserved more. His resentment grew and grew after that night — towards Kromer, towards his family, and towards his weak self.

One day, a transfer student came to the school. Max Demian was his name. Kromer only caught glimpses of him but whe she did, he... he was always with Sinclair. Ever since Demian came, Sinclair hardly ever hung with her. And... that kind of hurt, especially since he wasn't as talkative to her. But it's alright, she'll live.

One day, Sinclair approached Kromer. He was a bit curt, but he was inviting her to stay the night at his place. His family would really like to see her again, he said. Kromer, happy Sinclair was talking to her again, gladly accepted.

Staying in the Sinclair estate was always nice. His family liked her lots and Mrs. Sinclair's cooking was delicious! Kromer was just about to hunker down for the night until Sinclair patted her awake. He wanted to show her something: a secret in the basement. A part of Kromer felt suspicious but she still followed. Why wouldn't she? Her friend had something cool to show.

But this secret wasn't cool. It was... sickening. Through a small vent in the basement, Kromer saw monstrous shapes rend flesh and organs apart. The stench was ghastly and the only reason she didn't scream was simply because she was paralyzed in fear.

The moment she had control over her body Kromer booked it, away from the sight and from Sinclair's home. But what scared her the most was how Sinclair quietly watched the scene without reacting one bit.

Afterwards, Kromer began avoiding Sinclair. Mercifully, he never seemed to approach her again.

So it was truly bad luck that Kromer left some of her belongings at Sinclair's house. She kept trying to ask him but their tenuous bond made it awkward. So, on Christmas, she decided to go visit his house. Maybe Mrs. Sinclair would help her out.

But instead of the warm lights she was used to, the estate was pitch dark. Silent, too. The front door wasn't locked when she tried it and a deep pit opened up in her stomach.

Kromer really shouldn't have opened the door, as the strong stench of fuel and blood rushed towards her. Before her eyes could process the horrible sight, her knees gave way. At the sight of the mangled, bloodied bodies of the Sinclair family, only her throat clenching up stopped her from screaming.

Two people stood in the midst of the massacre: a tall man in a suit of armor and Emil Sinclair himself. Both of them covered in blood, both of them holding nails and hammers. The gaze Sinclair had as he turned to look at Kromer was hellish.

"I wanted to kill you," Sinclair said, stomping at a twitching metalic hand. "That night in the basement, I was planning on killing you."

"You should've died that night. I should've just thrown you to the beasts instead of getting cold feet...!" The armored man behind Sinclair turns around and suddenly Kromer smells smoke.

Sinclair laughs bitterly, looking at his parents' corpses with tears running down his face "You did this. This was all your fault. Papa... Mama... Sis... They all changed because of you. You stole them away. You stole my family. I--" he hiccups, gripping at his bloodied nail like a lifeline "I had no choice... They were all just fakes. Yeah, my family was always dead. I was just... purifying... those bastards that took their form..."

Flames lit up behind Sinclair like a halo. And when he made his way to Kromer, Kromer could do nothing but stare at the flames. If she looked at him, she fears he'll actually kill her.

But all she got was silence. Silence, and Sinclair's burning gaze on top of her. And then...

"Guido. Let's go." "Yes, O One Who Shall Grip,"

He steps around her and leaves her with thr flames and the corpses.

As Kromer's vision turns blurry she hears Emil Sinclair say one more thing:

"The next time I see you, I'll kill you."

Kromer's world fades to black.

When she comes to, Kromer finds herself in her home.

"Sinclair... That wasn't you, was it...? No, no, it can't be. The Sinclair I know was so sweet..."

"I'll... I'll save you Sinclair, I promise."

#limbus company #kromer lcb #franz kromer lcb #emil sinclair lcb #sinclair lcb #project moon #demian lcb #AHHHHHHHHHH WROTE THIS IN ONE SITTING LETS GOOOOOOOO #guido stays in his role because he is basically a cardboard box #sinner kromer be like: I CAN FIX HIM! I CAN FIX HIM! #biblical symbolism lets goooooooo #both kromer and sinclair are abel and cain and a saint and a devil simultaneously depending on the pov #anyway time to sleep. enjoy swap!au enjoyers~ #vivien writes