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dannyphantom-zero · 3 months

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Doctor Danny Chapter 5 Stay-cation

Jason glanced at the couch as he made breakfast. Huddled inside a blanking was Danny with nothing but his pouting face exposed.

Jason shook his head. The doctor would run himself ragged at this point. Getting all upset because he couldn't go to work.

Danny was gradually getting hungrier by the second. Jason walked over with two plates with eggs and bacon on them.

"Made some breakfast" Jason said circling the plate near Danny's face. The smell was making Danny pissed off. He wanted to eat it but he didn't like the way Jason was so smug about it.

Eventually Danny broke down and had to open up his blanket to receive the plate.

"How is it?"

Danny scowled at Jason, "it's good" he muttered before shoving more food in his mouth and chewing angrily.

Jason couldn't believe how cute this doctor could be.

"Try some of this" Jason said handing Danny a glass.

Danny looked at Jason hesitantly. Danny brought the cup up to his lips and took a big sip.

A sweet liquid filled Danny's mouth, it left a tart aftertaste.

"What is this?" He asked looking at Jason with stars on his eyes.

"It's wine that I made when I visited a brewery a while ago" Jason picked up a napkin and gently wiped Danny's mouth.

Danny was too embarrassed to think.

"D-do you want some ectoplasm?!" He blurted out before thinking.

"If you want to, yes"

Jason was acting strange, why was he being shy and complacent all odt he sudden??

Danny crawled across the couch to Jason. He put his hands on Jason's shoulder to steady himself and bit Jason's neck.

A calm feeling washed over Jason as he closed his eyes. He felt disconnected and tingly. Danny was the opposite. Whenever he did this he felt like he was drinking pure energy.

"Mm" Jason's eyebrows furrowed. Danny let go.

"Better?"

Jason opened his eyes.

"Yeah, thanks"

Jason and Danny watched a few movies. Danny was talking about a character when his phone interrupted him.

Danny glanced at it casually. His eyes grew big.

"SAM!" Danny squeaked as he answered.

"Hey Danny, my band is performing tonight at the mike bar, you know the one right?"

"The usual one right?"

"Yeah, anyway we lost the lead singer so to a sore throat and we desperately need a replacement. I know how good you can sing and you play guitar so, please help me!"

Danny peered at Jason.

"Sure, I'll be right there" Danny hung up.

"Where are you going?"

"A bar nearby, I have to help out a friend"

Jason stood up and grabbed an extra jacket for Danny.

"Jason? Your coming too"

"Your still on the run remember"

Danny smacked Jason's shoulder.

"Don't say it like that! You make it sound like I'm running from the law!" Danny chastised.

Jason shrugged, "Batman isn't easy to shake off"

Danny crossed his arms.

"I already knew that, but I don't think he'll randomly bother me. He's gotta have a life too right?"

Danny got a bad feeling about the face Jason was making.

"You'd be surprised" Jason groaned.

They made it to the bar without running into to any issues. Danny stepped in and started looking around. This bar has a rustic vibe to it before but now it looked like a goth den.

Maybe it was because Sam's band was performing today but there seems to be a lot more goths than usual.

"Danny!" Sam exclaimed hugging him.

"Hey Sam, how have you been, it's been so long"

Sam grinned confidently and pointed her thumb towards her band mates who were setting up.

"My bands been doing pretty well"

Sam punched Danny's arm, "but hey can't believe my little delinquent is a famous doctor now"

Danny waved his hands.

"Sam! Don't talk about that on public!"

Jason put a hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Oh, who are you?" Sam asked.

"He's a friend of mine" Jason growled.

"R-right, Jason and I became friends recently."

Sam grabbed Danny's arm, "well sorry Jared but I'm going have to steal Danny for a bit"

Sam gave Jason a cold look, "not that it's really stealing since he isn't yours"

Danny send an apologetic look at Jason before being dragged off. Sam took Danny to the male bathroom.

"Here, change" she ordered thrusting clothes at him.

Danny didn't have time to object.

His eyes bugged out when he put on the clothes.

"What kind of clothes are these?!" He exclaimed.

He was wearing a black button shirt that was open in the back with an x strap, it also had three spikes jutting out on each shoulder. His pants were black jeans with rips and chains hanging along the side.

His shoes had been swapped for boots and on his hands he wore fingerless, fake leather gloves.

"You look almost perfect!" Sam said once Danny stepped out feeling dazed.

"Sit and stay still"

Danny sat on the stool and let Sam apply mascara to his eyes. It deepened his eyes, making him look like a real goth. A hot one at that.

"Your stage name should be...."

"How about Runner?" Danny suggested.

"Huh,Runner? Sure I guess it works"

Danny helped set up his mike. Sam let him use the spare electric guitar they had.

"Alright, you guys ready?" Sam asked, the band mates shouted in unison.

Jason waited impatiently for the Danny to make an appearance.

The band started up and Danny stood up to the mike.

"3,2,1-"

The band started playing, Jason watched Danny sing and play. He seemed so different from the doctor Jason knew.

The crowd was cheering as the band played. It had a pop rock vibe to it, the songs were catchy and Jason had to admit he liked the band.

Danny smiled and waved after the band finished their last song.

"Let me help you pack up" Danny said as he stuffed the equipment in Sam's bus.

"Thank you so much Danny! Who knew you still had in you!" Sam said laughing.

"Danny"

He turned to see Jason standing a few paces away.

"Hey Jason"

"You were really good up there"

Danny grinned.

"Really?"

"When you sang o felt my heart racing"

Danny laughed, "your funny Jason, but really it was all Sam. Her band is really great"

Sam playfully ruffled Danny hair.

"Yeah that's right, I'm awesome I know" Sam boasted.

"We should probably head back" Jason said.

"Head back, did you come from the same place?"

Danny seemed flustered.

"Yeah, Danny spent the night with me"

Danny was quick to clarify that he apartment had been broken into and Jason let him spend the night.

Though he could tell by Sam's face that she was thinking they were romantically involved.

When Danny got back he plopped onto the couch.

"You hungry?" Jason asked.

"A little" Danny said yawning.

'cute' Jason thought.

They ate and Danny passed out soon after.

The next morning Jason woke up to a note from Danny saying he had gone to work.

Jason had troed texting Danny alter that night but had gotten no response.

This went on for a couple days and later when Dick met up with Jason he could tell something was wrong.

"Hey, you look way too depressed, even for you"

Jason just drank.

"Come on, let it out"

Jason clenched his fist.

"I think I made someone mad"

Dick raised an eyebrow. Jason made people mad every day, there had to be more to this.

"This person started avoiding me, isn't answering my calls or texts and hasn't come back to my apartment-" Jason said too much.

"Ooh, romance problems huh?"

Jason groaned, "I wish, we aren't even dating. I've never been more frustrated"

"Maybe this person is just really busy, did you seem to be on good terms?"

"Yeah, I mean, he's a doctor so I guess he could just be busy but..."

Dick eyes lit up, a doctor? And a male one at that. Could it be-

"Do you have a crush on the famous doctor Fenton?"

Jason blushed furiously.

"It's not a crush!"

So he did.

"Why don't you visit him in person if your so worried?"

Jason sighed, "I don't want to bother him, besides I don't think he likes me back"

"There's only one way to find out you know"

And that's why Jason was currently waiting outside of Gotham General. He wasn't sure how long he had waited but a tap on his shoulder jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Jason, why are you here?"

He shrugged and turned his head away so Danny couldn't see him blushing.

"You weren't answering my calls or texts so I came to see you myself"

"Ah" that's right, Jason was a stalker. How could Danny forget.

"Right well I should probably get going" Danny said as he opened his car door.

Jason shut it and didn't take his hand off the door.

"Jason?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not avoiding you, I'm just tired and I want to go home" Danny said turing away.

"I'll take you" Jason said.

In one deft movement Jason had picked up the lanky doctor and put him in the passenger side.

"What?" Danny said confused.

"You said your tired, so I'll drive"

Danny looked at Jason's face, he seemed anxious.

"H-hey, this isn't the way to my apartment." Danny said.

"Your apartment isn't safe, I'll take you to mine"

"What? Why? It's not your business if my apartments not safe"

"Your my friend Danny, I don't want you to get hurt"

"This isn't the way a friend acts!" Danny said. Jason had stopped at a red light giving Danny the perfect window to escape.

He unbuckled and slipped from the car. He started running. Jason had been acting weird, too weird. If I kept up Danny wasn't sure what he might do and he was afraid to push Jason away.

They were just friends! He really didn't want to make Jason uncomfortable but now everything was ruined.

Jason clenched his teeth. He found a secure place and parked Danny's car.

He made Danny run away! He was stupid!

Jason did his best tracking down Danny. Finally he spotted someone walking alone.

"Danny!" The person turned their head and it almost looked like they were crying.

Suddenly he started running again.

Jason caught up to him and grabbed him from behind holding him in a tight hug.

"Why are you running from me?" Jason asked in hurt pleading tone.

"Because-" Danny suddenly cut off, "batman" he said weakly.

"Batman?" Then Jason saw him.

"Crap, come on" Jason said tugging Danny with him as they ran, wearing in between stores.

They ended up on the roof of a quick-mart.

"Did we lose him?" Danny asked panting.

"Yeah I think-"

"No"

Jason fired his grappling hook, at the same time Danny almost tripped. Before they knew it, they were trapped, tangled up together and hanging off the side of the building.

"Shit" Jason said softly.

Bruce pulled them up and Jason untangled himself from Danny.

"Can't you just let the poor man go?" Jason asked.

Danny sighed and stepped up.

"It's alright Jason, I'll take responsibility for my actions."

Danny held out his hands to be cuffed.

"I'm not taking you to jail" Batman said.

Danny dropped his arms, "huh? Your not?"

"Your not?" Jason asked.

"No. However Jason and I seem to need have a talk."

"Then why were tracking Danny down"

"Your always together"

Jason was taken aback at Bruce's abruptness.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Come to the manor, well discuss there"

Jason cursed after the bat had left.

"What a dick seriously, how dare he do that to you!"

"It's really fine Jason, come on. Let's go, he's probably waiting for you"

Jason shrugged.

"Just don't jump out the car this time"

Danny promised not too and they drove up to the manor. When they got there, Danny noticed a butler waiting at the entrance.

"Welcome master Jason and his friend"

#dpxdc #danny phantom #danny fenton #dc universe #batman #redhood #fanfiction #jason todd #phandom #Sam Manson

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britcision · 1 year

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Oh we like cursed Jazz content in this house

So Jazz’s gotten her degree and a nice totally safe internship at Arkham Asylum, as one does

And one day while she’s hanging in the interview room waiting for her next patient, who comes in but former fellow doctor Harleen Quinzel

Is Harley actually back at Arkham or half way through a break in? Doesn’t matter

Maybe Ivy needed a hand with a particularly well protected shady polluter

Maybe she’s breaking Killer Croc out for poker night

Maybe she’s just visiting to punch Joker in the face

What matters is the heat is on and Harley’s gonna be hanging out in this room, and here’s a cute young psychiatrist and Harley can’t resist a punch line

And Jazz Fenton? Jazz knows when she’s being played with, and she’s fought way worse than Harley

Hell, 10 minutes in she’s reminded so strongly of Danny she’s gotta call him after work

And Jazz has done her research, she knows who Harley is, and is very touched by her concern

But then there’s another rogue attack, the prison is in shambles, and it’s time for a change of plan

Harley’s happy to tell Jazz where to find an emergency buzzer and to barricade the door behind her, hoping the newbie will be safe

Cuz that works out in Arkham for sure

Before Harley can dip the door busts in, someone’s looking for a hostage and Harley’s stepping up for some more active protection of her new friend

Right up until they get shot in the face before Harley can connect and fall smoking to the floor

Jazz is no Poison Ivy, but beautiful, dangerous redheads are Harley’s kryptonite and she’s begging for Jazz’s number

Harley looks back at Jazz and her lipstick gun and oh now she’s in love

Jazz gives her the cute smile and says isn’t Harley taken, because Jazz kind of is now but they can be friends

Harley, competitive, will accept the number and demands the lucky fucker’s name cuz they’d better pray they’re good enough for Jazz

…

Three weeks later, Harley’s at the precinct with vital information about someone’s latest great caper

But she’ll only give it up to Jason Todd

(People know he’s alive only because this idea was precisely 12% funnier than Harley trying to hunt down Red Hood in Crime Alley

Harley’s a god tier psychiatrist and has known who the bats are for ages, but like fuck she’s going to Wayne Manor)

There’s been no hint that Harley was really involved and things are getting tense, but this is Harley Fucking Quinn who exists solely in places she’s not meant to be

They can’t risk not going if she might have something

So Jason, cranky about crimes, puts on his best people face and comes down to an unsurveilled (except for Bats) room to ask wtf

Harley stares him dead in the eye

“I’m gonna steal your girlfriend”

Then just drops street addresses, trap locations, and the fucking key to the warehouse crime was in

Bruce: confused but happy it worked and Harley’s still not back into major terrorism

Jason: fucking befuddled

Jazz: loves it

Ivy: fondly resigned

All other bats: never letting Jason live this down

The ongoing Harley/Hood prank war is fucking epic in proportion

Ivy and Jazz hang out whenever they’re busy and oh dear sarcastic peppy psychiatrists are also Ivy’s kryptonite

So the second Jason even vaguely upsets Jazz he is well aware she has two extremely loving lesbian moms just waiting to snatch her away

Call it Gotham Bachelorette

#dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dc x dp #dp x dc prompt #and fuck it maddie fenton comes by one day #and ooooooh lawdy the girls know where jazz gets it from #jazz fenton #harley quinn #the sirens also routinely bully bruce that he can’t adopt jazz #cuz a) she’s dating his son #and b) no black hair that makes her theirs #danny also becomes insufferable about this in very short ordee #being the ghost king means you can be as annoying as at least 3 baby bats combined

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petite-phthora · 2 months

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A promise is a promise

[DP x DC fic]

[Love at first… murder? - part 16]

<< Prev | Next >>

Part 1

Ao3

---

Private chat nicknames:

Fryer = Tucker

Dann-O = Danny

Other private chat nicknames:

Kangaroo = Jason

PolarBear = Danny

---

Danny has been searching online for a while now for the perfect place to take Red Hood to, for the second part of their date. He already has in mind what he wants to do, he just hopes Red Hood will like his plan.

He’ll need to make sure to get the needed materials either today or tomorrow.

Midway through his planning, his phone buzzes with a message. Danny picks his phone up, checking who sent it. He raises an eyebrow at seeing a message from Tucker in their private chat.

He opens his phone to read the text, putting his date-planning on hold for now.

---

Private chat

Fryer: so wheres my tim drake-wayne autograph danny? when am i gonna get it huh?

Dann-O: wait what? 😦

Dann-O: I still need to get it for you?? 😥😥

Dann-O: but you didn’t even end up wiping the cams ☹️

Dann-O: they were already wiped!!

Fryer: ye but I still wouldve wiped them if they werent already its all abt the intent danny

Fryer: u promised me the autograph now u gotta follow thru with it u cant just go back on ur word >:(

Dann-O: fine I’ll try and get it for you

Dann-O: I did promise 😓

Dann-O: but be prepared that it might take a while 😬😬

Fryer: great! thnx my dude knew u would come thru for me ur the best love ya danman 😘

Dann-O: yeah yeah I know 🙄😒

---

With a small sigh, Danny closes the chat between him and Tucker. He’s unsure how to go about getting that autograph.

He can’t just stalk the guy and nag him into giving the autograph, then he’d probably end up with a restraining order instead.

He could try looking online for one, but those will probably be very expensive. Though, he might be able to trick the guy into signing something? Or perhaps steal one when he’s at the manor this Saturday anyway?

However… Perhaps he can get some help with this… Danny considers.

He looks back at his phone and opens another chat.

---

Private chat

PolarBear: hey, so uh, random question ☝️

PolarBear: you wouldn’t happen to have a Tim Drake-Wayne autograph 🤔

PolarBear: or maybe know a way of getting one

PolarBear: would you?? 😅😅

Kangaroo: Why do you want one?

PolarBear: it’s not for me

PolarBear: but I kinda promised my friend I’d get one for him 😅😓

Kangaroo: Ah, okay. I’ll see what I can do.

PolarBear: really? 😲

PolarBear: thanks!! 🥰💕

PolarBear: but it’s fine if you can’t

PolarBear: like don’t feel obligated to help or something

PolarBear: if need be I’ll probably just trick him into signing something for me 🙃

PolarBear: or I could just sneak in once we’re TPing the place anyway

PolarBear: and just get one of his documents or something 👀👀

Kangaroo: Hell yeah, sign me up. This will be fun :)

---

In another realm, a bright toxic green smoke hits an unsuspecting victim, a crazed giggle following behind coming from the origin of the strange smoke.

The victim, instead of fleeing, stops right in their tracks, collapsing into themselves. Not a moment later their laughter joins in with the giggling from before.

The smoke fades away and reveals a man with bright purple hair and glowing red eyes. He’s wearing a green suit with a red vest and a purple dress shirt underneath.

In his breast pocket on the outside of his suit is a glowing red flower with purplish-black leaves that looks like a rosebud of some sort.

His face is stark white with a greenish undertone and his lips are bright red and pulled back into a deranged grin.

This insane clown who's hellbent on dragging the people of Gotham into his madness is a fairly new resident of the Infinite Realms. He’s a specter. A wraith.

A ghost.

The Joker moves closer towards the other ghost. The other ghost keeps laughing, not reacting to the Joker’s approach.

However, once the Joker is within a few meters of them, the ghost starts choking. While the ghost is unable to stop the mix of laughing and coughing, a glowing green liquid starts flowing out of their mouth.

Ectoplasm.

While they’re involuntarily laughing, their eyes are full of distress. The Joker just moves closer, humming a little tune.

Once close enough, the Joker bends down, getting right in the other ghost’s face. Ignoring the other ghost’s attempt at flinching away, the Joker drags a finger across the ghost’s face, wiping up some of the glowing green liquid.

The Joker takes a close look at it, the grin on his face becoming impossibly, inhumanely, wider.

“Oh, this! This is going to be a right laugh!” He exclaims, cackling a little. He straightens back up before continuing.

“It’ll be the show of a lifetime,” He turns around, “Don’t you agree, my friend?”

The person who has been watching the entire display from the sidelines doesn’t respond verbally, their own deranged grin forming on their face, no outside influence needed.

---

Taglist:

@i-always-say-yea @uraniumwizard @why-must-i-be-like-this @griffinthing @i23432i @imsotiredfanficlovertm @jaguarthecat @arkita-shadow @ilydana

#dp x dc #dp x dc fic #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp #dp x dc crossover #dead on main #dead on main ship #sorry for the long wait #this is kinda a short chapter #but i just rlly wanted to post something #so i hope you enjoy

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inthememetime · 11 months

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Cursed necklace DPxDC AU

Vlad is a 24yr-old student who dies in college...in the early 1900s. Since then, he has haunted the University of Wisconsin by virtue of his his old necklace.

He likes the school- and the students like him! Since photography became accessible, students, teachers, staff, and visitors alike have been trying to get photos with him, students bribe him to help with homework (after all, he's been auditing classes for a century), mainly with cheep beer, fried cheese-related foods, and (since some kid introduced him to the Green Bay Packers), Packers memorabilia.

The students leave the game on for him, and the brave ones turn the lights off and leave a spot open for him in the hopes of seeing the Wisconsin University ghost up close and personal. (If they combine this with cheese sticks and beer, it's a near guarantee).

In general, he's a beloved figure. But then the Fentons start college there. At first, it's cool! These humans have made machines to let them listen to him (with some translation errors), they're building a portal to the GZ, which means he can have other ghosts to talk to, again, and they're fun!

Oh. Wait. They're being kicked out because they tried something unethical. Oh well! Somebody just turned on a Packers game, and he can smell the cheesesticks already.

Little does he know, the Fentons have created their prototype thermos. Until his necklace (and due to the lack of ambient ectoplasm), essentially his core is in there.

For 15. Long. Years.

Danny- not as Phantom, just Danny- finds the box and, with the curiosity of a 9-year-old opens the box. Soon, he's contaminated, despite his new buddy trying to keep him safe. And dies. Yep 9 year old Phantom.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! See Damian was a TWIN! Bruce is, when he tracks down said twin, Very Displeased by the lack of safety measures, and takes his other biological son (and his son's sister who is only 12 rn) home with him.

Bruce does NOT know about his hitchhiker; a centuries-old vampire ghost. He also doesn't know Danny's dead. More under the cut!

Clark gets mind controlled and tries to start a fight. Tries being the operative word here, because his 9-year-old is fighting a grown Kryptonian. And winning.

Plasmius steals cheese a lot, turns TVs to Packers games, and is generally a nuisance. Constantine is called.

Constantine has a new best friend because holy shit, a real ghost who's willing to talk to him! He can get so much info!

Bruce: Can you get him out of my house? Plasmius: Where Danny goes, I go.

Danny: Hey, can I have this? *eats a blob ghost in front of everyone*. *shares half with Plasmius*

Constantine is both horrified and curious. Clark gets punted across state lines by a vampire ghost who was Not Happy his kiddo got in a fight. Jason gets therapy a la a 12-year-old girl, a 9-year-old half-dead kid, and a centuries-old ghost.

There's enough ambient ectoplasm to thrive on, so Plasmius can roam and Danny can start learning powers. Vlad starts teaching Jason on the sly too.

Danny starts talking to bats, cats, rats, and a snake Damian rescued. Damian takes him to break into zoos to see what else he can talk to. Bruce is tired.

Plasmius uses his doubles for housework purposes in exchange for cheese from Alfred. Alfred abuses this shamelessly to drag Bruce up from the cave and make him eat.

Jasmine is Aggressively Normal. To the point where they're considering therapy, but then she gets kidnapped, talks to Harley, and embraces her alter identity as The Mindflayer.

Ok fine, she admits that is a little villainous. Maybe she can be Wraith or something? "Look, it seems you guys are being a little too upset about-", " Jazmine, you turned the Joker into a vegetable." Jason: YEAH she did! C'mon, we're going to have some fun, kids!

Just- Bruce thought he was getting two kids from an abusive household. He did NOT sign up for 2 half-dead OP kids, a cheese and football-obsessed vampire ghost, and a...NO, Danny, you CANNOT keep the giant green hellhound. Damien, stop encouraging him!

#danny phantom #inthememetime #vlad masters #danny phantom au #dp x dc #danny fenton #redeemed vlad masters #batfam

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phoenixcatch7 · 2 years

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Brain filled with dp x dc... I'd complain if I weren't having so much fun. I've never seen such ripe pickings for twin AUs,,, top notch trope.

But Danny and Jason twins, right? The parallels are so good! Unknowingly adopted (as Danny would also be in this au), bright eyed stubborn child just wanting to do good with big dreams and not ideal parents suddenly getting killed in front of the people they cares for most, revived as inhuman people dragged into violence against their will while desperately fighting to prove their own humanity (to themselves). Green of the dead, flashing eyes, ridiculously big and built when they grow up, best friends with the outcasts of society. Black hair, blue eyes. Relying heavily on death to keep their identities safe. Still loyal, despite it all.

Just to up the ante, how about the portal accident happens on Halloween? Extra spooky atmosphere, the night when the walls between the living and the dead are thin, the perfect time to try and (fail) open a portal to the ghost world, and Danny is dressed up as Robin - they look about the same age!

He puts on the protective jumpsuit, he's not a fool, but Sam - in a witch costume, and tucker as a mummy - convinces him to put the cape and mask back on, for some photos. He looks a right hero!

In the aftermath, it takes them a few weeks to hear the rumours of a new, smaller Robin. What happened to the old one?

Dan happens, vlad happens, dani happens, it's all going on until it isn't, and Danny has finally got that growth spurt he'd been begging for - alas, only in his human form.

Maybe he's chasing a ghost, maybe he's touring a Gotham uni with Sam or Tucker, maybe it's not even he who finally crosses the invisible line. He meets a lookalike who reeks of bad ectoplasm - another clone??!

Jason is understandably spooked, but whether he goes willingly or not, he wakes up in an ice cavern, small and colourful and glowing, with a wide eyed mirror in the chair next to him.

Jason has a ghost form, and like everyone else, it's how he died. Two near identical fourteen year old 'Robin' ghosts and two identical absolute tanks of illegal undead vigilantes with vaguely malicious snark streaks a mile wide.

The chaos... The unearthed trauma... The instant snap bonding and FEROCIOUS protective instincts. Danny infodumps about space for an hour while Jason nods enthusiastically and then talks about Jane Austen while he listens. B and Danny getting into angsty shouting matches over Jason's death that ends with Danny teaming up with Nightwing to drag him over to the Manor for family meals.

Sam, tucker and jazz meeting the rest of them and going DUDE SAME they're awful lmao. Secret twin swaps. Danny hijacks his way into the watchtower and immediately blows it by freaking out about space. Jason teaching Danny how to get out of handcuffs and how to steal keys and Danny teaching him how to phase through things without anyone noticing.

Just DUDE.

#I just think there should be more Jason twin crossovers #twin au #Twins AUs slap so hard next question #Whether they remember each other is up to you #Can you imagine how the batfam would react to TWO Jason's?? He certainly doesn't tell them first #So much fun in this fandom #dp x dc #dc x dp #danny phantom #Sc #batfam #batman #jason todd #Red Hood #bruce wayne #crossover

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devilwearsgreen · 2 years

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DP x DC AU: Extra Notes

More concept pieces that I didn't want to put in the main post:

[Concept] [Age Chart]

~~~~~

When Danny got to Gotham he chose to go by the last name Gale. When Jason decided he wasn't going back to Bruce, he started going by Jay Gale, and dyed his hair the same colour as the twins. I'm thinking the red hair of his earlier character design.

After taking the three newly resurrected back to his apartment, they spent the first night on his couch (the only comfortable furniture he had) and soaked up the calming ectoplasm Danny was emitting. When he was able to, Danny went out to steal two single mattresses; but continued to sleep on the couch. When Jason was coherent enough he felt guilty about it and insisted Danny take the bed. They argue for a bit before deciding to just share. One for them and one for the twins. This is a habit they don't bother breaking even when they get better apartments.

Danny chose Gotham because the amount of curses in such a relatively small area hid his presence in plain sight. And the Lazarus Pit under the city provided him with the exoplasm he needed to survive. But some of those curses are really nasty… and surely not all of those curses are necessary right? He can't just leave them there when he can do something about it right?? So Danny also becomes the local supernatural expert, making the city a better place one curse at a time.

Danny doesn't have much time to think about schooling for the first few years in Gotham, But when Jason gets well enough and established enough to really contribute to their income, maybe he gets his GED and gives college a try.

I don't know what happened to Danny’s friends and family in this au, but maybe he does a psychology major as an honour to Jazz. (Being the older sibling is hard! No wonder she was so high strung!) Danny as the Arkham Psychologist anyone? It's one of my favourite concepts!

Danny and Tim Frequent the same coffee shop. Tim hears the things the baristas say about this regular that's been coming in for a few years before him, and becomes immensely curious about the one guy in Gotham that orders more espresso shots than him. Whenever they are in the store at the same time, they get to talking.

The twins are only a year younger than Damian, and are a lot more carefree and adventurous. At first Damian takes this as a personal affront; what's so special about these immature brats?? But they grow on him and actually get him to loosen up and act his age sometimes. The three of them add Jon to make a quartet and cause nightmares for the faint of heart.

Although the twins do receive training, they never pick up the vigilante lifestyle. Reasons being 1) They have already died once and don't feel like inviting it, and 2) they have seen how worried Danny can get about Jason and how Worked up Jason can get about Danny, and they don't want to worry either of their big brothers. Although I do like the idea of them apprenticing under Dr Leslie in the future.

In place of getting training from the League of Ass (sorry, Assassins), Danny teaches Jay the sword fighting he learned from Pandora, the hand to hand from Frostbite, the weapons training from his parents, and everything he can think of from his own years of desperate fighting. This changes Jason's fighting style just enough that no one that knew him before would recognize it. (Remember that the LoA trained Bruce too)

Danny could have sold Ice Sculptures for a few years, and it was a good source of money; but once certain villains start taking interest and its unmelting nature starts piquing curiosity, he stops. This, however, introduces scarcity, and his few sculptures become some of the most valuable things in the city. When he eventually starts making them again, he's not expecting the ferver, to hilarious effect.

Danny doesn't kill the Joker. He doesn't even hurt the Joker. That's not his place and not his thing. But there is no way in hell he wants that man to be roaming the streets while he has little brothers to protect. So he takes measures to prevent the Joker, specifically, from escaping Arkham. Very successfully. The Joker goes even more insane seeing others escape when he Can't. But he never manages to hurt anyone. Danny makes sure of it.

Because Danny is now watching over the Batfamily, he prevents Damian's death entirely. And If/ When Dick goes undercover at spyral, Danny makes sure he can keep in touch with the family.

I also believe that the reason Bruce doesn't notice that Jason's grave becomes empty in cannon, is because the League of Assassins goes back to fill it in. Danny doesn't even think about doing that. So Bruce knows that someone Robbed his son's Grave. Crime drops a bit while Bruce is on that warpath. But of course he doesn't find anything, all of the footage is blurry or nonexistent. I think it would be funny if he thought the LoA was responsible for it, even though he's in the exact wrong dimension to be correct.

#dc x dp #dp x dc #danny phantom #batman #jason todd #danny fenton #Jay Gale's brothers #this one has some fun ones #if i do say so myself #i think i want to expand on Danny being the supernatural expert #maybe in another post

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ggh0stggirl · 2 years

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Various Members of the Batfamily as the Oceans Eleven Crew

b/c me and my sibling dearest had this conversation the car the other day & i feel like it & it was very fun to do

1. Danny Ocean (the mastermind): Bruce Wayne, I mean obviously.

2. Reuben Tishkoff (business kingpin): Lucius Fox. After a lengthy discussion it was decided that Reuben would also be Bruce because he would not need outside funding and would (in this universe) own the casino that gets torpedoed by Terry Benidict, but after further consideration Rueben being Lucius makes a shit ton of sense - the person who would keep Bruce’s businesses afloat while arrested, the person who knows Bruce’s ex and his co-conspirators, and the badass who will call you out to your face.

3. Robert “Rusty” Ryan (right-hand man): Selina Kyle. I originally thought Clark Kent because he is Bruce’s best friend. But, Selina is the kind of ride or die bff to show up in front of the prison you’re being released from (for which you were arrested for theft and grifting) just to ask who you are conning and stealing from next. (I don’t actually know enough about Ghostmaker to say this, but I feel like this could be him too.)

4. Tess Ocean (the ex-wife): Clark Kent. Once again, I originally had Selina as my pick here before my wonderful sibling said: “But wouldn’t Clark be the one to be super upset learning Bruce was a thief and con-artist this whole time?” And she’s not wrong. (I can also see this as either the ship or just friendship. Either winning back the love of his life or his best friend.)

5. Saul Bloom (the old pro): Alfred Pennyworth. I mean come on, brought out of retirement by Bruce and co bullying him into it (but really because he never wanted to retire). The line (from memory so could be wrong): “If you ask me that again, you will not wake the following morning.”

6. Linus Caldwell (the thief): Damian Wayne. Very talented, but still new to the trade. Trying to step out of his parents shadows and prove himself. Doesn’t know how to talk to people while grifting.

7. Basher Tarr (munitions expert): Jason Todd. More in it for the thrills than anything, having a really good time, the crew would be dead if not for his thorough knowledge of his craft.

8. Frank Catton (inside man): Dick Grayson. Perfect amount of sunshine to con his way into working in a casino after having been banned from them in other states and the perfect amount of pure chaos to be the one to make a semi-public dramatic scene and get fake arrested.

9. Livingston Dell (tech-guy): Barbara Gordon. Although she doesn’t have Livingston’s anxiety problems, there is no one better suited to handle the tech portion of a heist. (She wouldn’t have to call for help in the third movie.)

10. The Malloy Brothers - Virgil and Turk (wheelmen/con-men/strike instigaters/jack-of-many-trades): Stephanie Brown and Tim Drake. I just see these two pulling off the bickering relationship the best, being able to get perfectly on each others nerves while always 100% having each other’s backs.

11. The Amazing Yen (the grease man): Cassandra Cain. The communicating in a different language (I love a Cass that uses ASL or has selective mutism, etc.). The only person who really does her part of the plan with zero fuck ups (except for the injury to her hand which was caused by someone else fucking up!) I also just imagine her like five feet tall.

12. Terry Benedict (slick business man/the target): Lex Luther. It fits so well. And Clark gets to sass the hell out of Lex and maybe slap him - although I could be remembering that wrong.

I wrote this up very late at night and need sleep, oh well. I couldn’t figure Duke Thomas into this :( Feel free to add more or add who you would have as each character, I love to see it <3

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reaperkiller · 2 years

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so! what the hell is up with jason: a semi-comprehensive list. because there’s so much. THIS IS A REALLY LONG POST AND VERY WORDY IF YOU DONT READ IT THATS FINE. this is mostly here for me to Remember and keep track of stuff

he went to live with eric when he was around 5 years old. mutual decision on everyone’s part, because his dad left and he was beyond distraught about it. he was much closer to his dad than his mother, and eric was the only other person in his life at that point who could console him. his attachment to eric was primarily down to ruthie + her spirit toying with his mind and emotions, drawing him to eric as part of her ‘plan’.

he quickly stopped having any contact with the rest of his family once he moved to the other side of the country. not really anyone’s fault, but it was awfully convenient for ruthie, allowing her to manipulate and isolate him even more. very girlboss move of her.

no one’s aware of ruthie’s existence, not even jason - as far as he’s concerned, he and his thoughts are two completely different entities. until, when he’s around 7 years old, ruthie finally takes on some sort of physical form to communicate with, so he can actually comprehend her existence. she’s more of a shadowy blur, not resembling a person even slightly. she doesn’t show up all that often at first.

it’s around when he’s 10 where ruthie starts influencing him more, taking more control over him - driving him and eric apart. so, over the next few years, he grows more emotionally distant. this is eric’s first kid so he jist assumes, oh this is all part of growing up, he’ll grow out of it. regardless of how jason acts, eric still loves him. unconditionally. he’d do anything for this kid.

16 now, ruthie’s form is distinctly human - looking exactly as she did when she died. jason hasn’t told anyone about her. she’s not an imaginary friend, she’s real. a spirit, maybe, but still very real, existing outside of his own brain. he’s doing bad at school, which has put an even bigger strain on his and eric’s relationship. eric is trying so hard to make it right, thinking it’s something he’s done, he just wants jason to be happy. to get through school largely unscathed. which doesnt happen, considering the amount of fights jason gets into.

he’s not hanging around with the ‘wrong crowd’, he’s the one negatively influencing everyone else.

18, and ruthie has taken on a slightly different form now - still the same woman, but... different. the 50s housewife look is gone. darker, edgier, shaved head, very much influenced by jason’s current look at that point. they’re becoming more alike. it’s at this point where he [mostly ruthie] and his bf, danny [very very important crusty little man] decide theyre dropping out of school and running away. not a single word is said. jason leaves a single handwritten note for eric. then steals his car. he’s gone, and NO ONE is to come looking for him.

this is around the time ruthie convinces him to change his name, create a whole new identity, and when he starts going by jason.

6 years pass. a lot happens in that 7 years that im not 100% sure on yet i need to sort that whole piece of the timeline out one day <3 anyway so danny knows about ruthie by now. thinks it’s a little weird, but there’s nothing anyone can do about it. she’s there to stay. as jason and ruthie begin to ‘blend together’ even more, ruthie only becomes stronger, and is kind of able to influence danny a little bit too [neither jason nor danny know this though which is Fun].

it’s gotten to a point where jason can fight back against ruthie’s influence a little bit, since theyre so intertwined at this point. he knows how she works, and she doesnt like it.

jason and danny’s relationship was never stable to begin with, but as ruthie gets stronger, it just gets worse. they’re having an argument - the worst one they’ve probably ever had. this intense emotion temporarily stops any sort of power ruthie has over jason. as the fights became more frequent, ruthie’s control and power weakened, and it started to scare her - she was losing her grip, started fading away. there once was a time this would have only fueled her, made her stronger, but now it’s having the opposite effect.

as this fight escalates, ruthie feels herself weakening more and more, and panics. in a blind moment of fear, she takes control of danny instead for a brief moment, and shoots jason

he wakes up in a ditch in the middle of the desert. he doesnt know who he is, where he is, how he got there. all he has is a strong desire to get back home. next to his temporary grave is a ring, and a single piece of paper with the words “good luck” written on it

and just as i was typing this i came up with an entire new oc. this is where the aisling oc comes in. jason’s new spirit mentor of sorts. i can explain that more once i piece it all together but basically she’s the one who brings jason back. hope this helps xx

#oc tag #AGAIN/ IT'S VERY LONG. AND JUST FOR MY BRAIN MOSTLY. BUT IT CAN BE FOR YOURS TOO I GUESS

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illeaadante · 3 years

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Batman AU - Ghostwing

Ok. Listen. Listen. I can’t stop thinking about this so I need to put it out there so other people can maybe think about it too and talk to me about it.

Disclaimer that I still don’t really know anything about batman/the batfamily other than what I’ve picked up from tumblr, tiktok, and cultural osmosis.

Here we go.

This kinda turned into more of a fic than I intended, so I’m putting it under a Read More.

A convention for ghost hunters is held in Gotham because it’s obviously the most haunted place in america. Every single ghost hunter is invited. This, of course, includes the Fentons.

Jack and Maddie are ecstatic and, of course, drag Danny and Jazz along. Vlad wasn’t invited as he is not known in ghost hunting circles but he knows that Maddie and Danny are going to be there, so he goes. (Vlad also goes on the off chance there is something there worth stealing for Valerie.)

So, the Fentons are going, but you know who else is going? Jason Todd, because he thinks it’s funny, Stephanie Brown, because she also thinks it’s funny, and Tim Drake, to see if any of their technology is worth buying/stealing and coopting into batsuits.

The batkids step in and do a double take to make sure they didn’t walk into a Rogues Gallery meeting-in-process. Everyone is there, the Fentons, the Guys-in-White, is that millionaire Vlad Masters skulking around in the back? But they are well trained and take everything in like good vigilante’s wood. Jason and Steph bounce around from booth to booth, mocking the ghost hunters under their breath or to their faces, and generally aim for the people who seem the craziest. They land on the Fenton’s because someone set Jack off on a tirade.

Jason clocks Jazz’s unimpressed demeanor and Danny shrinking himself in the corner while doing homework with far more desperation than required. His eyes narrow a bit when he notices how the red head seems to be distracting the Fenton’s away from the boy.

Danny is not having a good time and it shows. He’s grateful to Jazz for playing defense for him but he just really wants to go home. This much weaponized ecto-energy in an enclosed space is making him twitchy, and he knows if this convention goes on for too long, Technus or Skulker are bound to show up. He already spotted Vlad lurking, trying to get his mom alone while avoiding his dad’s attention, and firmly shoved himself further into the back corner of the booth. He couldn’t get away, but it made it easier for Jazz to keep everyone else away. He was alternating doing homework and texting Dani, who had been to Gotham before. His head snaps up when he feels someone staring at him and locks eyes with someone whose eyes are faintly glowing green. He hisses, which draws Jazz’s attention.

Jason sees the kid notice him and say something to the girl, the both of them watching him while the boy texts without looking. Jason and Steph share a look before edging around the booth to get to the kids.

Vlad also sees a shift and decides to give up drawing Maddie away to talk to Daniel. He goes up with a practice smile and attempts to move a stubborn Jazz out of the way subtly.

“Jasmine. How lovely to see you. And Daniel, my boy-”

“Not your boy, Vlad.” Danny growls, uncurling himself to stand beside his sister.

“Oh come now-”

“What are you doing here, Mr. Masters?” Jazz says with the lift of an eyebrow. Her arms uncross to hang loose at her sides, but the batkids watching can see the outline of some kind of baton in her pocket.

“Oh, certainly I can visit friends?” Master’s was attempting to skirt the girl, Jazz, but she absolutely was not having it.

“Funny, your only friend here is dad and you seem to be avoiding him.” The boy spit out. Masters’ smile dropped like a gargoyle off of a parapet.

“Daniel...” the man said with the worst attempt at menace Jason had witnessed in a long time.

“I think you should get going, Uncle Badtouch.” Jason said, inserting himself between Masters and the kids. “Wouldn’t want anyone to think you were creeping on some kids.”

Vlad looks affronted for a moment, before his eyes turn calculating as he stares at Jason’s face.

“Have we met?” He asks.

“Thankfully not.” Jason growls, eyes starting to glow just a bit more for emphasis. Strangely, Masters seems calmer, more enthusiastic instead of scared. Jason only subconsciously notices the boy, Daniel?, out of the corner of his eye, texting frantically.

“Surely we must have. For people like us, all we have is each other.” Masters tries to purr. Tries.

“What the fuck are you on? There’s no way we are even slightly-” he cuts off abruptly when Masters’ eyes change from (whatever color they normally are) to bright, unnatural green, and then back.

“You see?” Vlad chuckles, delighted. “We’re the same, so really both you and Daniel should join me.”

“Literally no one is ever going to join you, Plasmius.” Danny hisses. “Even when you make them they want nothing to do with you, so just leave.”

Vlad is just about to retort when a boom of “Vladdie!” comes from behind the kids. Masters sneers before slipping away with one final “you will join me one of these days.”

Jason and Steph, now confused about why the boy called Masters Plasmius and what he meant by join him look to the other pair for an explanation. Tim’s also found them after looking over all of the tech.

“Jay, your eyes.” He taps his brother before standing on the other side of Steph from him.

Jazz’s head snaps up from where it had bent over Danny’s phone with him, reading Dani’s texts.

“Mom!” she called, startling her brother and the woman in question. The batkids watched the blue jumpsuited figure turn to her kids.

“What is it honey, I’m talking experiments.”

“Danny and I have made some friends, we’re going to get a bite to eat with them.” She said, pointing to the batkids who were trying to look like that was exactly what they were doing.

“Ok, have fun!” Maddie immediately turned back to her conversation. “Tell us if you see any Ghosts!” Jack called after them.

Danny and Jazz dragged the three out of the venue and only stopped while they were on the street.

“Right, do you know anywhere we could actually go? preferably someplace populated where Plasmius won’t show up.” She said, turning to the three Gothamites.

“Yeah, I know a place.” Jason took the lead and led the other four to a hole-in-the-wall Mongolian place.

“So, mind telling me what the fuck was all that with uncle badtouch?” Jason started off.

“I’m so calling him that next time I see him.” The boy said.

“We should probably do introductions first. I’m Jazz Fenton.” Jazz said, “and this is my little brother Danny. I already know that you” she gestured to Tim “are Timothy Drake-Wayne, but who are you?”

“I’m Steph, and this is Jay.”

“Right, so?”

Jazz and Danny looked at each other. “Okay.” Danny said slowly. “What is said at this table cannot leave this table. I mean it. Not even our parents know about this and they can’t know about this.”

“Oooooo, keeping secrets from the old people? I’m in.” Jason, Steph, and Tim also quickly agreed.

“So, the think is: I’m a ghost. Well, I’m half-ghost. We’re called halfas.”

“Original.” Tim snorted. Danny just gave him a look.

“That’s why my eyes glow like this.” He demonstrated, going from blue to green and back, “I can also do a full transformation into my ghost form, but that’s kinda flashy. Plasmius, I mean Vlad, is also a halfa and we both thought that Jay was one too because of the eyes.”

“But my eyes don’t change color, they just glow.” Jay said.

“Yeah, most people with green eyes just have them glow when they’re possessed.” Danny shrugs.

Then he launches into an explanation of ghosts, halfas, the ghost zone, and what he-- and to an extent, Jazz-- has been doing in Amity Park as the hero Danny Phantom.

“...And we know you aren’t actually a halfa, because Dani-- that’s Dani with an ‘i’, short for Danielle-- has been to Gotham before and ran into you guys once. So I told you my secret identity because, you know, fairs fair.”

And I kinda ran out of steam, but basically Danny gets a support system in the form of the Batfamily and both he and Jazz eventually get adopted by Bruce because the Fenton’s are criminally negligent. The misunderstandings with Valerie are cleared up and the two of them get back together but this time with ghost-and-crimefighting as part of their relationship. Jazz and Babs hit it off, Valerie’s dad starts working with Lucius Fox, and upon request, each member of the batfamily takes a trip to the Ghost Zone to see their deceased loved ones and talk to them. Just, Danny Phantom becomes Ghostwing (Dani also shows up and stays with them in Gotham, but she doesn’t really crime fight much unless it’s right in front of her or Danny needs help, and no one begrudges her her choices), he and Jazz become part of the batfam, and Vlad spends forever looking for another halfa that doesn’t exist.

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og-danny-dorito · 4 years

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『 Man In Red 』

{ A/N:

This is that Jason x Reader thing I said I was going to write. I changed my mind about the reading thing because my stuttering got annoying and I doubt anyone wants to hear that. Anyway, thanks for reading cause I know no one likes the author’s not part, and you can reblog if you want (I don't care).

- Danny ✌️👽 }

<|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|>

From the small balcony from your apartment, you could see the rain dropping to your feet where the balcony’s overhead cover ended in front of you. The smoke rose from the cigarette between your lips, your nose flaring only occasionally to let out the smoke that flooded your lungs like poison into the open air before you. Poison...why was that word so familiar? Why did you feel the word’s meaning as you thought it and felt it as you spoke it out loud? Was there a meaning at all?

You cursed yourself for missing him, but what were you going to do, not want him? You cursed yourself for hating when he was gone, even when you yourself told him not to get attached.

It had been three months since you met Jason Todd, the vigilante known as Red Hood.

The first time you met was an odd one, mainly because he dropped down onto your balcony with his back leaning against the wall and his eyes screwed shut tightly like it was normal to do that right outside of a random person’s apartment balcony door. It didn't take you long to realize that he was clutching his side because he was bleeding out, and in those few moments of staring down at him in your pajamas at 1:03 in the morning you mad a decision to help him. Or phrased more correctly; technically act as a safe house for him whenever he was in trouble and you were nearby.

You could count on your fingers how many times he'd shown up to your house injured or needing somewhere to stay. At least that's what he said. He never took of his mask around you, and so you were fairly certain he didn't trust you enough to do it yet, or...wouldn't at all. It had been concluded (non verbally, mind you, and probably mutually?) a long time ago that you weren't just used for tactical use but also...for company. Someone to talk to.

You had to admit that he wasn't very hospitable at first. Maybe your thirst for friends waved some red flags for him in the beginning, but you eventually eased him into it. As a resolve, you started off slow.

When asked if he wanted to stay, he'd hesitate, making sure to get a little comfortable and asking to hear about something in your life to fill the silence. When asked how his day had been, he seemed a little awkward at first in his responses as if he wasn't used to reporting in a way that was a sort of ‘i care’ type. That red mask couldn't hide what was underneath forever, you know? He told you his name was Jason after three weeks of consistent asking if you could call him something other than some comic book esque alias. Jason, was his name. Jason Todd.

You'd sit out here for the past few months now, waiting with your cigarette between your lips and/or fingers, listening to the cars pass by below and watching the onlooking city of Gotham you'd grown so accustomed to. It hadn't changed since you left. At least not by much. Still full of crime, grime and bright lights. But it seemed a little...different. Maybe it was the change in jobs, or change in setting since when you lived here as a kid. You weren't sure, but you were sure of one thing; you had it bad for the man in red.

"You know, I've died once before. It's not fun. Those things just speed up the process."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, the man in red hears his name and- poof!- he's here. You made no move to turn your head as you heard the familiar thunk of weight carried in combat boots against the metal ground, shaking a glass and plate nearby that you had eaten off of and never bothered to bring inside again. He stood still for a moment, looking over your figure. He was wet from the rain, you could feel him shaking it off his coat as he stood there. Your muscles pulled taught at the corners of your eyes, he could hear it in your voice.

"Can't be that bad if I've got a dead man telling me what to do, huh?", you said, removing the cigarette from your lips. He slowly moved forward, stature seeming to be much more straight and muscular than yours. It still amazed you sometimes how big he really was, not just visually. Jason, physically, was a big dude. Like, monster height yeah you'd seen that, but muscle wise? Dude looked like he could bend you over his knee and crack your spine in half with his thumbs. Bad analogy, but you get the point.

Jason chuckled a little, taking the cigarette from your lips and holding it between his fingers. He almost made a move to smoke from it, but lowered his hand once he remembered that he had his mask on. You rolled your eyes for a second, but didn't pressure him on it.

If he was wearing it it was for a good reason. His face may have been messed up or something, but you really didn't care. Or maybe he didn't like looking at himself? "Well, smart ass, being dead helps you learn a few things. Like take care of yourself. And...take it easy.", he said, leaning onto the frame of the railing to his right with his elbows positioned to hold him up to face you. You seemed to contemplate the thought, thinking that you'd like your cigarette back while he was toying with it between his gloved fingers. Now you were starting to question if you liked how you couldn't see any of him at all in the first place because of how damn annoying he was sometimes. Maybe you also liked that you couldn't see his face, too. It might've bee not the mystery behind it. It used to keep you up thinking about it.

But, like most things, you'd gotten to the point of not giving a shit, and stuffing your hands in your pocket, you exhaled a sigh, watching smoke rise due to the coldness in the air. Your brow raised as you still didn't turn to face him. You didn't have to. You already knew what he looked like; enticing and practically begging for you to kiss his dumb mask-face. And it was annoying. "Really? Feel like that's directed at me in some way, you trying to say something?", you said, with a bit of a hiss to your voice. Of course you didn't mean it in a vile way, but it sounded like it.

He knew better than to get offended at it though, instead resorting to smiling a little and shrugging, watching the butt of the cigarette lose its flame. Would it hurt him if it hit his skin? Could he even feel pain? "You look tired, rough day at work?", he asked quietly. He meant it, you could tell from the way his pitch changed from teasing to slightly more...concerned. Your back was hunched at an angle only used to alleviate a greater pain along your posture, and your eyes were half lidded to the point of making things in front of you seem hazy if you were to zone out, like you were falling asleep standing. You sighed deeply, running a hand over your forehead. "Some dickheads from Cobblepot’s gang came in and caused a fight to break out. Had to stay a few hours over repairs cause the boss of the joint can't get his shit together long enough to stop drinking and handle it on his own."

He stood there was your brows furrowed into and agitated expression, eyes narrowing suit and grin fading from its neutral position to a displeased frown. "If that son of a bitch walks into the bar again I'll just shoot him down, I'm starting not to care if I loose my damn head for it." Jason's hand tightened on the railing he was resting on. "Don't say that." His voice seemed concerned, but more in a way of trying to sound concerned in a masked way. Like he didn't want you to know that he cared. There was a long moment of silence, and for a good few seconds you felt the familiar rage from earlier bubbling in your chest. That same burning sensation in the back of your throat and the tightness in your chest wasn't helping, your eyes narrowed as your arms crossed over one other. You were thinking it over, trying to figure out what you were thinking about it clearly behind the emotions of blinding rage. You did a lot of that lately.

He didn't push you to speak. You were starting to think that he wouldn't be good with a partner since he didn't seem to care much whether you spoke or not, but to be fair you weren't his partner. You were... what were you? A refuge? That sounded to generous for your affiliation. A safe house? Probably, but that sounded too personal. With a long sigh, you tried to alleviate the tightness forming in your ribs. The moon was almost completely clouded over, the starts invisible due to the light pollution in the city. It was kind of sad how that had become something so common now. So many kids wouldn't be able to see the stars from their bedroom window anymore, or be able to look out from their backyard and see the endless unknown they'd most likely never get the chance to explore.

Turning on your left heel, you moved to face him more directly, standing in close enough proximity to hear his voice if it were above a whisper. On previous occasions prior to your meeting you'd feel him tense up a little and grow uneasy under the closeness. But he didn't move now, and it felt more as if he was welcoming your presence more than anything. Your eyebrows lifted from their scornful expression, moving to something more mutely interested and amused. Your voice carried like the wind passing, ending far to short for his liking. He wasn't sure he'd ever want it to stop. "What about you, Red Hood- got any stories up your sleeve for me?", you asked, moving to steal your cigarette back. But Jason moved quicker than you, and faster than your hand extended to his arm he moved his hand back up to be level with his his shoulder. Tilting your head, you smiled a little. "Let me guess, you got hurt again? You can't be hurting that bad if you've managed to pop off at the mouth a few times in the course of a few minutes-" Your tone was teasing, but he made sure to cut you off to spare himself. Albeit he sounded sort of wary, it still caught you off guard enough to stop in your tracks.

"I saw something- ...that reminded me of you. Today."

Saying that made you a little more than surprised, and in a flash of heat you felt your cheeks burn up a bit and your grin fade into amazement. His shoulders dropped, head dropping for a second as his hand fell back to have his elbow rest on the railing to lean back. You knew it was weird but you felt oddly...good. Did he really think of you? "Wh- Me?", you chuckled nervously, seeming to try to hide your reddening face by the dip of your head and the sudden interest in the ground below you. "Yeah- I uh- I did.", Jason replied. In a sudden burst of what seemed like realization he hurriedly reached for his jacket pocket, taking out what looked like a small necklace in a see-through box. From his outstretched hand you thought that it looked rather nice against the leather of his gloves, and your hand moved to take it from his.

You watched closely as the dim lights from your apartment and the lights of the city blended around his fingers as they retreated from your own a little less eagerly than you expected. Huh. Slowly, you opened it, revealing what seemed to be a small blue flower in resin that looked like a water droplet. It was a pendant for the chain through its metal hook, glistening a pale silver that made you feel the urge to smile for a camera that wasn't there. Glancing up, you grinned at Jason. And in a flash of a second he felt his whole body flush with a sensation he knew all to well, especially with you. From under his mask he bit on his lower lip subconsciously, seeing how the curve of your mouth upturned in a grin so sincere he couldn't help but feel some sort of need to protect it.

"You got this for me, you big sap?", you said, grinning widely. Your tone was teasing, but the light punch in his shoulder as your eyes glistened with admiration towards the necklace proved you weren't mad or creeped out by it. Jason chuckled a little slowly, dry and hoarse but still easygoing. "I said it made me think of you, right? Might as well give it to you to uhhh... think of yourself. I guess.", he retorted softly, shrugging a little. This d o r k. This man child. This dumb sexy masked man with attachment issues. How dare he make you start smiling, the bags around your eyes bending to seem like the most beautiful part of your face in that moment. Who even uses the word beautiful so loosely anymore?

He seemed to watch as you placed it around your neck, the clasp going shut behind you through feeling its position a few times. You looked down, watching it cast a water-like reflection on your chest as you tilted your head a little bit like a child. Ah, fuck, that's kinda cute. Jason cleared his throat after a second, his arms folding over his chest after a second of watching you look at your own neck in awed silence. It was only when he felt his own body stiffen that he noticed you were looking at him, a slight grin on your face as you looked into the eyes of the mask. It felt like you were trying to say something to him, but your lips didn't move. Somehow, he knew what it meant, and his shoulders lost their tense feeling for the time.

A few awkward moments passed before you looked down to your feet, clearing your throat and stepping a little closer. Oh shit, what were you- Moving closer, you felt your breath quicken a fraction as your eyes remained trained to the ground. You avoided eye contact for now, finding the cuff of his pants just above his combat boots much more interesting, it seemed. But your hands were raising, your fingers twitching under your own anticipation. He could feel his eyes wandering now, looking over your hips, your shoulders, your lips. Did you mean what you were going to do? Did you really want it?

...

Suddenly, you felt yourself stop.

Your hands were stuck above your waist, having been firmly held in place by two leather-clad gloves. Your eyes began to go wide, stuck on the downward angle of his head. Jason, who had felt so nervous when coming into contact with you previously but was now firmly holding your wrists, held his head low, away from the gaze your head moved so desperately to maintain. Slowly, you felt yourself relax, frowning a little. What were you thinking this time? You couldn't help but swallow down a gulp of fear forming in your throat. Maybe you had gone to far...?

“You can't kiss me if you don't take off my mask, you know."

Your heart stopped for a moment, eyes going wide for a good few moments as he released your hands, moving them gently by your elbows to the sides of his mask. You felt yourself gulp, cursing the strands of hair that were tickling the sides of your face and closing parts of your peripheral. You wanted to watch with all of your senses, not just your eyes. You couldn't help but tremble a little as well, and he seemed to wait patiently.

The edge of the mask first came off of his jaw, slipping upwards smoothly as you saw what looked like part of a scar. His skin was tanned, light in places it had been cut, marred, or marked by some violent force you knew nothing about. Soon it came over his lips which were slightly parted now. Those to had a scar running up from the bottom of his pronounced chin, ending right below his pronounced nose which you saw clearly now. It seemed the edge of his eyelashes caught on the mask's cuff, causing him to close one eye. In the dim light of the balcony, you saw bright, bright eyes. They seemed to outshine the sun, beaming a slightly translucent green that made your own widen a small bit in wonder. His eyelashes were thick, dark and clumped a small bit from the wetness of the rain you assumed his face got drenched in earlier.

His brows were thick too, seeming to line the end of his forehead over his eyelids in a way that made him look brooding. There were circles under his eyes. He looked weary. You felt, in that moment, as of you were going to collapse. Your legs and fingers had been shaking for a bit now as you stood still on the pavement, eyes trained on his own changing features. Parted lips moved to close only for a second as his tongue slid over their chapped surface. He was...beautiful. More beautiful than any person you'd ever seen at least. His expression looked as if it was constantly tired and brooding; like he'd seen things he shouldn't have.

But you could see- and you were sure you wouldn't if you were only a few inches away -that his eyes were sad. The expanse of skin on his cheekbones and from his chin to his upper lip were charred, a very thin outline of a jagged letter 'J' carved into his left cheek. His eyes were...wary, like a tired animal. His hair looked messy and dark, a single white patch on the middle-left part of his head coming over one of his brows. He looked like the only reason he cut his hair was to keep it off his neck considering he had a very clean undercut in the back and a matted, long few pieces covering parts of his ears and brow in the front. His jaw was strong, having been pronounced by being clenched and unclenched with each touch, sending slight waves of heat over your body as your moved your trembling fingers to put down the helmet on the ground. It was heavy, but it didn't take you long to discard it somewhere near your flowerpots full of patches of unsoiled dirt and plates with cups on top of them.

You could see that he didn't feel completely comfortable with this, and yet in the fact that you could even consider him to think himself anything less than gorgeous made you grin widely in an odd half-smile that made a small bit of your teeth shine through your lips. He clenched his jaw nervously.

You felt a little choked up, but you could manage a few words at the moment. "Didn't know I'd be seeing God's face when I took of your mask, Jay. You could've warned me.", you said, grinning. He seemed to widen his eyes in slight surprise, moving to look anywhere but your face. Maybe he thought that if he couldn't see you you couldn't see him- and the growing blush on his face. In a breathless tone, sounding almost desperate, he spoke quietly. "Don't say that..." You rolled your eyes. "I will say that. Now look at me while I kiss you." He seemed to follow the command, his eyes still telling you that he felt a little scared. Moving his right hand from your elbow to your hip and his left from your other elbow to your neck, you slowly moved in, glancing him in the eyes before going for it.

It seemed to catch him off guard first, for he didn't actually start kissing you back until you put one of your hands on his hip, drawing him closer. You felt suddenly that with a very restrained fierceness he moved into you, hips first, seeming to grip onto the side of your neck and your hip a bit more tightly. You felt like you were being used as an anchor, but you couldn't help but not mind it when you were being kissed like this. Jason's lips were just as chapped as they seemed, but they were strangely warm. The fact that his tongue kept darting out and straight back in was sort of endearing to you as he let out a sort of pleased sound at your hand moving to tangle in his hair.

There was quiet as you parted, although you could now tell he was holding you as tightly as a screw would a nail. But for the moment, you didn't mind it. You liked looking as him like this, his eyes half-lidded and lips parted slightly, new moisture on his lips. With a grin, your eyes lit up as you felt a slight laugh come from your throat. This felt strangely intimate to you. Not once did you consider the fact that there was a slight raging sexual tension between you two that maybe said he wanted something out of this two, like a dumbass. But you couldn't feel bad right now for being dumb, you were too happy. With a slightly unsure moment, his grip loosed enough to let you stand more independently, the wobble in your movements mostly gone.

His body was slightly stiff as he stood there, eyes moving all over. His movements made a lot more sense now; you could tell that previously when he did the same stiff posture earlier with his mask on he was looking around nervously to try and avoid his impending embarrassment. But he couldn't deny the pink tinge on his cheeks, and your thumb ran over his cheekbone as your hand slid back down to your side. Your eyebrow raised for a small moment as you felt yourself smirk, placing your hands on your hip. "So, uh, that was...nice. Wanna do it again sometime?" Jason said nervously, a grin spreading out on his face. You rolled your eyes at him, shoving his shoulder a little and watching him laugh and take the hit with a dramatic movement.

"Go run home Romeo. And come back tomorrow, otherwise I'll hunt you down.", you said, backing up and watching him pick up his helmet. He shrugged a little half-heartedly before putting it back on, seeming to almost trip over the damn rail before perching up on it, looking at you with a grin. He fixed a grappling hook on the edge of the roof, pausing for a moment. His head didn't move as he breathed, but you couldn't help but chuckle a little and run a hand through your hair at the gesture. It was then that he inhaled sharply, nodding at you and giving you a two-fingered salute. "Couldn't leave if I wanted to, babe.", he said. You could hear the smile in his voice as he dropped away.

And with that, he was gone. You felt your chest flutter at the words, and for a second of watching him drop to the street below before looking directly down there to only see nothing, you bit down on your lip.

You couldn't help but not care too much about your cigarette now.

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cielrouge · 6 years

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2018 YA Reads by Authors of Color

#PrettyBoy Must Die by Kimberly Reid - A CIA prodigy's cover is blown when he accidentally becomes an internet sensation, inspired by the #Alexfromtarget story.

500 Words or Less by Juleah del Rosario - To redefine her reputation senior year, Nic Chen begins writing their college admissions essays. But the more essays Nic writes for other people, the less sure she becomes of herself, and whether her moral compass even points north anymore.

After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribar - A powerful novel about friendship, basketball, and one teen's mission to create a better life for his family in the tradition of Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers.

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena - When half-Hindu, half-Parsi school troublemaker Zarin Wadia dies in a car crash with a boy named Porus, no one in her South Asian community in Jeddah is surprised—what else would you expect from a girl like that?

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi - After their home in Syria is bombed, Tareq and family seek refuge, first with extended family in Raqqa, a stronghold for the militant group, Daesh, and then abroad.

A Reaper At the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir - Within the Empire, the threat of war looms, putting Laia, Helene, and Elias at risk.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh & Elsie Chapman - 15 bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate.

All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor - Four privileged Long Island teens befriend their favorite YA author with disastrous results.

All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell - A historical-fiction anthology shines the spotlight on queer teens, from as far back as the 1300s to the 21st century.

All That I Can Fix by Crystal Chan - Ronney kept believing his dad would snap out of it and shape up—until his hope turned into anger.

All the Stars Denied by Guadalupe Garcia McCall - In this companion novel to SHAME THE STARS, McCall covers the hidden history of the United States and its first mass deportation event that swept up hundreds of thousands of Mexican American citizens during the Great Depression.

Along the Indigo by Elsie Chapman - Love, mystery, and tragedy unfold for Marsden and Jude in a small town with a haunted past.

American Panda by Gloria Chao - An incisive, laugh-out-loud contemporary debut about a Taiwanese-American teen, Mei whose parents want her to be a doctor and marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her squeamishness with germs and crush on a Japanese classmate.

American Road Trip by Patrick Flores-Scott - After Teodoro’s older brother, Manny, left for Iraq, the Avilas begin to fall apart. But in a desperate effort to save Manny from himself and pull their family back together, T's fiery sister Xochitl hoodwinks her brothers into a road trip with many stops along the road to visit loved ones from their past.

Americanized: Rebel Without a Greencard by Sara Saedi - Saedi recounts her teen years growing up and coming of age in 1990s California while fearing deportation for herself and her undocumented family.

Analee in Real Life by Janelle Milanes - A genuinely fresh spin on Pygmalion in high school, starring Cuban-American Analee Echevarria.

Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro - Rooted in the working-class neighborhoods of Oakland, California, this is a tale of black teenager Moss Jeffries, diverse in sexuality and gender, organizing to challenge state-sanctioned violence.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan - Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird .Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents.

The Beauty that Remains by Ashley Woodfolk - Music brought Autumn, Shay, and Logan together. But when tragedy strikes each of them, somehow music is no longer enough. Now Logan can’t stop watching vlogs of his dead ex-boyfriend. Shay is a music blogger struggling to keep it together. And Autumn sends messages that she knows can never be answered. Despite the odds, one band's music will reunite them and prove that after grief, beauty thrives in the people left behind.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton - In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty. Camellia Beauregard wants to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But she soon finds that behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets. When the Queen of Orléans asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia faces an impossible decision.

Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria - In the city of Eldra, people are ruled by ancient prophecies. For centuries, the high council has stayed in power by virtue of the prophecies of the elder seers. In the present day, Cassa, the orphaned daughter of rebels, is determined to fight back against the high council. But by the time Cassa and her friends uncover the mystery of the final infallible prophecy, it may be too late to save the city — or themselves.

Between the Lines by Nikki Grimes - A new group of students join Mr. Ward’s poetry class in the companion novel to Bronx Masquerade

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney - The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she's trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland. But when Alice's handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before.

Blanca & Roja by Anne-Marie McLemore - The del Cisne girls, Blanca & Roja, have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals. Because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them.

Blood of a Thousand Stars (Empress of a Thousand Skies #2) by Rhoda Belleza - Separated, unaware of the others, Rhee, Aly, and Kara try to wrest control of the galaxy from an evil celebrity.

The Boyfriend Bracket by Kate Evangelista - Stella has had a hopeless crush on Will, her older brother's best friend FOREVER, but now that Cam and Will have graduated and are going off to college, this year is her chance to really strike out on her own. With the help of her best friend Franklin, she comes up with the perfect plan to have a boyfriend by Christmas: The Boyfriend Bracket. Or it seems like the perfect plan...right up until Will starts showing up again.

Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia - Cuban-American Peyton Rios is a rising soccer star to discovers her boyfriend’s dark secret, and confronts him—and finds herself falling down a flight of stairs. Peyton’s knee—and maybe her dream of going pro—is shattered. With her future on the line, Peyton goes to stay with her uncle in a small Tennessee town to focus on her recovery. Dating is the last thing on her mind—until she meets sweet, sexy Owen Law.

Bruja Born (Brooklyn Brujas #2) by Zoraida Cordova - Teenage bruja Lula Mortiz tries to save her boyfriend, Maks, by cheating Death; however, Lady de la Muerte is not so easily bested.

Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani - The unnamed young Nigerian narrator of this novel, with a loving family and academic aspirations, is kidnapped by Boko Haram along with many other girls and women from her village.

Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin & Ezekiel Kwaymullina - Nothing's been the same for Beth Teller since she died. Her dad, a detective, is the only one who can see and hear her - and he's drowning in grief. But now they have a mystery to solve together. Who is Isobel Catching, and what's her connection to the fire that killed a man?

Chainbreaker (Timekeeper #2) by Tara Sim - In 1876, someone is destroying the clock towers that control India’s time. Teenage mechanics Danny Hart and half-white, half-Indian Daphne Richards as they travel to Agra to investigate a series of clock tower bombings.

Check Please! Book 1: Hockey by Nogzi Ukazu - A collection of the first half of the megapopular webcomic series of the same name, Check, Please!: #Hockey is the first book of a hilarious coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi - 17-year-old Zélie and companions journey to a mythic island seeking a chance to bring back magic to the land of Orïsha, in a fantasy world infused with the textures of West Africa.

Crown of Thunder (Beasts Made of Night #2) by Tochi Onyebuchi - Taj has escaped Kos, but Queen Karima will go to any means necessary—including using the most deadly magic—to track him down.

Damselfly by Chandra Prasad- In the wake of crash-landing on a deserted tropical island, Samantha Mishra and her other private school classmates must rely on their wits and one another to survive.

Dear Heartbreak edited by Heather Denetrios - This is a book about the dark side of love: the way it kicks your ass, tears out your heart, and then forces you to eat it, bite by bloody bite. If you’ve felt this way, you’re not alone.

The Devil’s Thief (The Last Magician #2) by Lisa Maxwell - Esta and Harte set off on a cross-country chase through time to steal back the elemental stones they need to save the future of magic.

The Demon Race by Alexandria Warwick - When 17-year-old Namali learns of her arranged marriage, she flees home and enters the Demon Race for the chance to change her fate. But to compete, she must cross the Saraj on a daeva, a shadow demon that desires its own reward: to infect her soul with darkness. In this race of men and demons, only one can win. But the price of winning might be more than Namali is willing to pay.

Djinn by Sang Kromah - Bijou Fitzroy is strange. With the unwanted gift of being an empath, she has spent her entire life as a sheltered recluse. When Bijou and her grandmother move to Sykesville and she starts to attend the local high school, Bijou’s world begins to crumble. Town locals begin to disappear and the creatures from her nightmares begin to take shape in her reality. She finds herself at the center of a war she never knew was being fought all around her.

The Disturbed Girls’ Dictionary by NoNieqa Ramos - Officially classified as “disturbed,” Puerto Rican Macy vents her rage, frustrations, and fears in a dictionary-style journal.

Down and Across by Arvin Ahmadi While his parents travel to Iran to visit his ailing grandfather, 16-year-old Iranian-American Scott Ferdowsi quits his boring summer lab internship in Philadelphia and secretly travels to D.C., seeking answers about his (in)ability to succeed.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland - The Civil War is over, but mostly because the dead rose at Gettysburg—and then started rising everywhere else. Fighting the undead is a breeze for Jane McKenne, an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. But the fight for freedom? That’s a different story.

Dream Country by Shannon Gibney - The heartbreaking story of five generations of young people from a single African-and-American family pursuing an elusive dream of freedom.

Driving by Starlight by Anat Deracine - Two teenage girls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, rebel against a patriarchal culture while struggling to navigate their complex family lives.

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi - A secret relationship conducted almost exclusively via text buoys Korean-American college freshman Penny Lee, slouching awkwardly toward adulthood and a 21-year-old cafe manager who is trying to clean up the mess his life has become.

Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean - Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms. Marry the prince. Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, the choices of Mari, Taro, and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku.

The Fall of Innocence by Jenny Torres Sanchez - When she was 8 years old, half-Mexican, half-El Salvadoran Emilia DeJesus was brutally assaulted. But when a startling discovery about her attacker's identity comes to light, and the memories of that day break through the mental box in which she'd shut them away, Emilia is forced to confront her new reality and make sense of shifting truths about her past, her family, and herself.

Final Draft by Riley Redgate - 18-year-old high school senior Laila Piedra is determined to write the best sci-fi story ever. Dr. Nazarenko has led Laila to believe that she must choose between perfection and sanity—but rejecting her all-powerful mentor may be the only way for Laila to thrive.

The Final Six by Alexandra Monir - Italian-American Leo Danieli and Iranian-American Naomi Ardalan must become astronauts in record time for an inaugural space mission.

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert - Yvonne's longtime plans to play violin professionally seem to be falling apart as she nears graduation. Feeling unmoored, she begins seeing a street performer while also pondering her longtime relationship with her father's sous chef. Ultimately her unexpected pregnancy forces some hard talks and hard choices.

Fire & Heist by Sarah Beth Durst - In Sky Hawkins's family, leading your first heist is a major milestone. Embarking on a life of crime is never easy, and Sky discovers secrets about her mother, who recently went missing, the real reason her boyfriend broke up with her, and a valuable jewel that could restore her family's wealth and rank in their community.

For A Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig - 16-year-old shadow puppeteer Jetta Chantray performs with her family’s traveling troupe, the Ros Nai. Her skill and fame are her family’s way to earn a spot aboard the royal ship to Aquitan, where rumor has it the Mad King has a spring that cures his ills. But as rebellion seethes and as Jetta meets a young smuggler, she will face truths and decisions that she never imagined—and safety will never seem so far away.

Fresh Ink edited by Lamar Giles - 13 leading YA voices from diverse backgrounds lend their talents to this anthology of 12 fictional short stories.

From Twinkie, With Love by Sandhya Menon - Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy—a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan - Thrust into the beauty and horror of the Hidden Palace, will Paper Girl Lei survive?

Girls on the Line by Jennie Liu - A teen pregnancy puts two orphan girls in contemporary China on a collision course with factory bosses, family planning regulators, and a bride trafficker.

Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth - In the 1980s, Carson Mastick’s Native American coming-of-age story grapples with the day-to-day details of teenagers’ lives on and off the reservation.

The Healer by Donna Freitas - Marlena Oliveira has—mysteriously, miraculously—been given the power to heal all kinds of ailments. But her power comes at a price: she can’t go to school, she can’t have friends her own age, and she certainly can’t date.Then she meets Finn, a boy who makes her want to fall in love. For the first time, she begins to doubt whether her gift is worth all that she must give up to keep it.

The Heartforger (Bone Witch #2) by Rin Chupeco - With a thirst for vengeance, a band of terrifying daeva at her command, and her resurrected lover Kalen by her side, dark asha Tea is ready to face her adversaries.

Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith - A thoughtful story of Native American Louise Wolfe navigating the complicated, confusing waters of high school — and first love.

Hide With Me by Sorboni Banerjee - A powerful story about the unbreakable bonds of friendship, the headiness of first love, and the courage to fight for a brighter future against all odds.

Home and Away by Candice Montgomery - Tasia Quirk is young, Black, and fabulous. But when she catches her mamma trying to stuff a mysterious box in the closet, her identity is suddenly called into question. Now Tasia’s determined to unravel the lies that have overtaken her life.

Hope is Our Only Wing by Rutendo Tavengerwei - In Zimbabwe, 15-year-old Shamiso, struggles with grief and bewilderment following her father's death. For Tanyaradzwa, whose life has been turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis, hope is the only reason to keep fighting. As the two of them form an unlikely friendship, Shamiso begins to confront her terrible fear of loss.

I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan 15-year-old Muzna Saleem, who dreams of being a writer, struggles with controlling parents who only care about her studying to be a doctor. Forced to move to a new school in South London, Muzna realizes that the bullies will follow her wherever she goes. As her new freedom starts to disappear, Muzna is forced to question everything around her and make a terrible choice - keep quiet and betray herself, or speak out and betray her heart?

Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan - Criminal mastermind and unrivaled pilot, Ia Cocha has spent her life terrorizing the Olympus Commonwealth, the imperialist nation that destroyed her home. When she’s captured, Ia is trapped at the Commonwealth’s military academy, desperately plotting her escape. But new acquaintances—including Brinn and their charming Flight Master, Knives—cause Ia to question her own alliances. Can she find a way to escape the Commonwealth’s clutches before these bonds deepen?

Imagine Us Happy by Jennifer Yu - Stella lives with depression. But when she meets Kevin, she feels less lonely, listened to—and hopeful for the first time since ever…But to keep that feeling, Stella lets her grades go and her friendships slide. With her life spinning out of control, she’s got to figure out what she truly needs, what’s worth saving—and what to let go.

Inferno (Talon #5) by Julie Kagawa - Ember Hill has learned a shocking truth about herself: she is the blood of the Elder Wyrm, the ancient dragon who leads Talon and who is on the verge of world domination. With the stakes rising and the Elder Wyrm declaring war, time is running out for the rogues and any dragon not allied with Talon. The final battle approaches. And if Talon is victorious, the world will burn.

Into the Black (Beyond the Red #2) by Ava Jae - The revelation of Eros’ parentage leads to political intrigues and a change in his relationship with Kora.

Isan by Mary Ting - After meteors devastate the Earth, 17-year-old Ava struggles to survive and ends up in juvenile detention, until she is selected for a new life—with a catch. She must be injected with an experimental serum. To receive the serum Ava agrees to join a program controlled by ISAN, the International Sensory Assassin Network.While on a mission, she is abducted by a rebel group led by Rhett and told that not only does she have a history with him, but her entire past is a lie perpetuated by ISAN to ensure her compliance. Unsure of who to trust, Ava must decide if her strangely familiar and handsome captor is her enemy or her savior—and time is running out.

Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier - Mysterious maps from opposite ends of the sea cast doubt on the whereabouts of two princes, presumed dead.

Jazz Owls by Margarita Engle - Against the backdrop of World War II, a patriotic Mexican-American family proudly contributes to the war effort despite pervasive racism.

Jinxed by Amy McCulloch - Lacey Chu has big dreams of becoming a companioneer for MONCHA, the largest tech firm in North America and the company behind the "baku" - a customisable smart pet that functions as a phone but makes the perfect companion too. One night, Lacey comes across the remains of an advanced, but broken baku. Days of work later when the baku opens its eyes, Lacey calls him Jinx. Slowly but surely, Jinx becomes more than just a baku to Lacey. But what is Jinx, really? He seems to be more than just a robotic pet. He seems...real.

Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (Rise of the Empress #2) by Julie C. Dao - Princess Jade has grown up in exile, hidden away in a monastery while her stepmother, the ruthless Xifeng, rules as empress of Feng Lu. Ready to reclaim her place as rightful heir, Jade embarks on a quest to raise the Dragon Lords and defeat Xifeng and the Serpent God once and for all.

Learning to Breathe by Janice Lynn Mather - Sent away to live with relatives in Nassau, Bahamas, to escape her mother’s wild lifestyle, Indira’s new home is anything but a sanctuary.

Legacy of Light (The Effgies #3) by Sarah Raughley - After Saul’s strike on Oslo—one seemingly led by Maia herself—the Effigies’ reputation is in shambles. Belle has gone rogue, Chae Rin and Lake have disappeared, and the Sect is being dismantled and replaced by a terrifying new world order helmed by Blackwell. If the Effigies can’t put the pieces together soon, there may not be much left of the world they’ve fought so desperately to save.

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann - Alice has her blissful summer take an unexpected turn when she meets Takumi and can’t stop thinking about him. As they get closer, Alice, who is asexual, has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.

Live in Infamy by Caroline Tung Richmond - In an alternate world in which the Axis Powers won WWII, 16-year-old Chinese-American Ren Cabot grapples with the cost of revolution.

Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed - High school senior Maya Aziz works up the courage to tell her parents that she’s gotten into the film school of her dreams in New York City, but their expectations combined with anti-Muslim backlash from a terror attack threaten to derail her dream.

Love & War (Alex & Eliza #2) by Melissa de la Cruz - As the war for American Independence carries on, two newlyweds are settling into their new adventure: marriage. But the honeymoon's over, and Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler are learning firsthand just how tricky wedded life can be, tested by lingering jealousies and family drama.

Lovely, Dark, and Deep by Justina Chen - Biracial Viola Li has her future as a globe-trotting journalist all planned out, but everything comes into question when her body suddenly betrays her, after she develops an extreme case of photosensitivity, an inexplicable allergy to sunlight.

The Lost Kids (Never Ever #2) by Sara Saedi - Just a few weeks ago, Wylie Dalton was living on a magical island where nobody ages past 17. Now, her home is a creaky old boat where she's joined a ragtag group of cast-offs from the island. But when the Lost Kids invade Minor Island, they're shocked to find it totally deserted, except for one survivor who reveals the shocking news: adults have discovered the island.

Mariam Sharma Hits the Road by Sheba Karim - Three Pakistani-American teens, Mariam, Ghazala, and Umar, go on a cathartic summer road trip through the Deep South.

Meet-Cute edited by Jennifer L. Armetrout - Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere, an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of "how they first met" from some of today’s most popular YA authors.

Mem by Bethany C. Morrow - In alternate reality Montreal (1925), a young woman’s personality is the result of a startling experimental procedure, leaving her to struggle with the question of who she really is.

Mirage by Somaiya Daud - In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, 18-year-old Amani is a dreamer. But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and become the body double of the cruel Princess Maram. As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection.

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson - Washington, D.C., eighth-graders Claudia Coleman and her best (and only) friend, Monday Charles, were inseparable, often mistaken for twins—until the day Monday disappeared.

Monk! by Youssef Daoudi - This vividly illustrated biography of jazz legend Thelonious Monk brings to life his relationship with the headstrong baroness who would become a life long friend and patron.

Monsters (The Reckoner #2) by David A. Robertson - Cole Harper is struggling to settle into life in Wounded Sky First Nation. He may have stopped a serial killer but the trouble is far from over. A creature lurks in the shadows of Blackwood Forest, the health clinic is on lockdown by a mysterious organization, and long-held secrets threaten to bubble to the surface. Can Cole learn the truth about his father's death?

My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma - A fresh, madcap rom-com in which a Princeton, New Jersey, high school senior, aspiring film school student, and Bollywood junkie Vaneeta “Winnie” Mehta navigates the dramas of real life.

Not the Girls You’re Looking For by Aminah Mae Safi - Iraqi-American Leila “Lulu” Saad is about to graduate from high school with her three best friends by her side, but things get messy and senior year becomes a little more complicated than expected.

Odd One Out by Nic Stone - Courtney Cooper is in love with his longtime female best friend, Jupiter Charity-Sanchez, who is an out-and-proud lesbian. But the arrival of a new friend, Rae Evelyn Chin, who is questioning her sexuality, complicates their relationship and inspires new questions and possibilities between the trio.

Out of Left Field by Kris Hui Lee - Marnie’s love of baseball—and the stalwart friends with whom she plays the game with such passion—has been the centerpiece of her life; but now she’s 17 and things are changing after she replaces Cody, the school’s star pitcher. With her own team against her, Marnie begins questioning her abilities. And when fate throws her a curveball, can she play without losing the game, Cody, and her belief in herself?

The Outcast (Summoner #4) by Taran Matharu - Arcturus is just an orphaned stable boy when he discovers he has the ability to summon demons from another world and sent to Vocans Academy. As the first commoner gifted with this ability, his discovery challenges the nobility and the powers that be and Arcturus soon makes enemies. With no one but his demon Sacharissa by his side, Arcturus must prove himself as a worthy Summoner...

Period: 12 Voices Tell the Bloody Truth edited by Kate Farrell - In this collection, writers of various ages and across racial, cultural, and gender identities share stories about the period. Each of twelve authors brings an individual perspective and sensibility. Told with warmth and humor, these essays celebrate all kinds of period experiences.

Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert - Chinese-American Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father's closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there's much more to his family's past than he ever imagined.

Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda - Set against a future of marauding space scavengers and deadly aliens who kill with sound, Tuck and Laura must survive abroad the USS John Muir.

The Place Between Breaths by An Na - Walking away from those we love most may seem like the kindest thing we can do, but it’s a choice that will forever haunt those we leave behind: this holds true for 16-year-old Grace.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevdeo - In Harlem, NY, Dominican-American Xiomara Batista who dubs herself The Poet X, clashes with her strict, Catholic mother and runs up against her own self-doubt as she explores her doubts about religion, her fears of dating, and her budding talent for slam poetry.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi - 17-year-old Haitian-Domitian-American Zuri Benitez deals with gentrification in her Brooklyn Bushwick neighborhood and her own bias against Darius Darcy and his rich family in this Pride and Prejudice remix.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang - Prince Sebastian has a secret: at night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia. Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend?

Reflection: A Twisted Fable by Elizabeth Lim - What if Mulan had to travel to the Underworld? When Captain Shang is mortally wounded by Shan Yu in battle, Mulan must travel to the Underworld, Diyu, in order to save him from certain death. Will Mulan be able to save Shang before it's too late? Will he ever be able to trust her again? Or will she lose him--and be lost in the Underworld--forever?

The Resolutions by Mia Garcia - From hiking trips, to four-person birthday parties, to never-ending group texts, Jess, Lee, Ryan, and Nora have always been inseparable—and unstoppable. But now, with senior year on the horizon, they’ve been splintering off and growing apart. And so, Jess makes a plan and adds a new twist: instead of making their own resolutions, the four friends assign them for each other—dares like kiss someone you know is wrong for you, show your paintings, learn Spanish, say yes to everything.

Restore Me (Shatter Me #4) by Tahereh Mafi - Juliette Ferrars thought she'd won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander, and now has Warner by her side. But she's still the girl with the ability to kill with a single touch. When tragedy hits, who will she become?

Run, Riot by Nikesh Shukla - When teenagers Hari and Jamal film an unarmed youth from their estate being beaten by police, they find themselves hunted. But as they go on the run with Hari's twin sister, Taran, and Jamal's girlfriend, Anna, the four friends discover that the truth behind the shooting goes deeper.

Running with Lions by Julian Winters - A multiethnic group of Midwestern teenage boys contend with soccer and sexual identity.

The Season of Rebels and Roses by Virginia Sanchez-Korrol - Ranging from Puerto Rico to Cuba and the United States, this engaging novel set in the late 1880s, follows historical figures that were instrumental in the fight for self-determination in Puerto Rico.

Secrets of the Casa Rosada by Alex Temblador - 16-year-old Mexican-American Martha has to adjust to a new life with her maternal grandmother, a respected curanderaor healer in Laredo, Texas, after her reliably unreliable mother dumps her at the pink house filled with tokens of her mom's childhood that might, maybe, explain why she abandoned Martha, leaving her with a family she never knew existed.

The Secret Science of Magic by Melissa Keil - A quirky high school romance unfolds in the alternating voices of math whiz Sophia and aspiring magician Joshua. In life and love, timing is everything.

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa - Demons have burned the temple Yumeko was raised in to the ground, killing everyone within, including the master who trained her to both use and hide her kitsune shapeshifting powers. Yumeko escapes with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll. Fate thrusts her into the path of a mysterious samurai, Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan. Yumeko knows he seeks what she has...and is under orders to kill anything and anyone who stands between him and the scroll.

Shadowsong (Wintersong #2) by S. Jae-Jones - Liesl is working toward furthering both her brother’s and her own musical careers. But when troubling signs arise that the barrier between worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mystery of life, death, and the Goblin King—who he was, who he is, and who he will be.

Smoke in the Sun (A Flame in the Mist #2) by Renee Ahdieh - After Okami is captured in the Jukai forest, Mariko has no choice—to rescue him, she tricks her brother, Kenshin, and betrothed, Raiden, into thinking she was being held by the Black Clan against her will. But each secret Mariko unfurls gives way to the next, ensnaring her and Okami in a political scheme that threatens their honor, their love and very the safety of the empire.

Snow in Love: Four Stories by Aimee Friedman, Melissa de la Cruz, Nic Stone & Kasie West - Curl up in front of a crackling fire. Grab a mug of hot cocoa. And delve into this deliciously cozy and compelling YA collection of wintry love stories.

Someone to Love by Melissa de la Cruz - High school junior Olivia Blakely struggles with disordered eating and a life in the spotlight as her father’s political career starts to rise.

Sorry Not Sorry by Jamie Reed - Janelle and Alyssa used to be BFFs -- but not anymore. But, suddenly, Alyssa's diabetes becomes the talk of the school. It's turned life-threatening; without a kidney transplant, her chances are not good. Despite reservations, Janelle gets tested and finds that she's a rare, perfect match with Alyssa for a transplant. But organ donations aren't very common in her community, and she starts to feel pushback. When feuds and accusations push the girls further apart, Janelle doesn't know what to do. Will the match bring the girls back together, or drive them apart for good?

A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna - In a universe of capricious gods, dark moons, and kingdoms built on the backs of spaceships, a cursed queen sends her infant daughter away, a jealous uncle steals the throne of Kali from his nephew, and an exiled prince vows to take his crown back. Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali.

Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Choski - Three lush and adventurous stories in the Star-Touched world.

Star-Crossed by Pintip Dunn - Princess Vela is tasked with choosing a boy fit to die for the king, which is impossible enough. But then Carr, the boy she's loved all her life, emerges as the best candidate in the Bittersweet Trials. Refusing to accept losing the boy she loves, Vela bends the rules and cheats. But when someone begins to sabotage the Trials, Vela must reevaluate her own integrity—and learn the true sacrifice of becoming a ruler.

The Storyteller (Sea of Ink and Gold #3) by Traci Chee - Sefia is determined to keep Archer out of the Guard's clutches and their plans for war between the Five Kingdoms. As Sefia and Archer watch Kelanna start to crumble to the Guard's will, they will have to choose between their love and joining a war that just might tear them apart.

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender - Nathan Bird doesn’t believe in happy endings. But his friend Florence, is set on making sure Nate finds someone else. And in a rom-com-worthy twist, someone does come along: Oliver James Hernández, his childhood best friend. After a painful mix-up when they were little, Nate finally has the chance to tell Ollie the truth about his feelings. But can Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after?

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman - Music helps a Washington state teenager Rumi Seto overcome guilt and grief after the death of her beloved younger sister, Lea.

This is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow - It used to be the three of them, Dia, Jules, and Hanna, messing around and making music and planning for the future. But like the lyrics of a song you used to play on repeat, there’s no forgetting a best friend. And for Dia, Jules, and Hanna, this impossible challenge — to ignore the past, in order to jumpstart the future — will only become possible if they finally make peace with the girls they once were, and the girls they are finally letting themselves be.

Thunderhead (Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman - Rowan and Citra take opposite stances on the morality of the Scythedom, putting them at odds.

Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now by Dana L. Davis - At 16-years-old, African-American Tiffany Sly suddenly lands on a different planet: Simi Valley, California to live with the biological dad she’s never known. But Tiffany has a secret. Another man claims he’s Tiffany’s real dad—and she only has seven days before he shows up to demand a paternity test and the truth comes out.

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft edited by Jessica Spotwood & Tess Sharpe - A short story collection that illustrates the multitudes of girlhood, womanhood, and magic.

Toxic by Lydia Kang - Hana, a secretly created teen girl, abandoned aboard the sentient biological spaceship Cyclo, which is dying, encounters a mercenary boy doomed, Fennec "Fenn" Actias, to perish on the ship for his last job.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse - After the Big Water, Maggie Hoskie’s monster-slaying clan powers have woken up. She’s going to need them on a journey culminating in the kind of battle fantasy readers will relish.

Two Dark Reigns (Three Dark Crowns #3) by Kendare Blake - A victorious Katharine sits on the throne, Mirabella and Arsinoe are in hiding, and an unexpected renegade is about to wage a war of her own. The crown has been won, but these queens are far from done.

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles - When Marvin's twin brother, Tyler, is found dead by police violence, Marvin falls deep into grief. But with the help of friends and family he finds the strength to confront what happened and fight the forces that took his brother's life.

Umbertouched (Rosemarked #2) by Livia Blackburne - As Shidadi and Dara alike prepare for war, Zivah and Dineas grapple with the toll of their time in the capital. Time is running out for all of them, but especially Zivah whose plague symptoms surface once again. Now, she must decide how she’ll define the life she has left.

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson - When Fairmount Academy is rocked by three apparent suicides in the span of a week, it is up to Mexican-American Wiccan Mila Flores to conjure up the truth.

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens edited by Marieke Nijkamp - A YA Anthology of short stories featuring disabled teens, written by #OwnVoices disabled authors.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi - It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a 16-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped. But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo - Korean-American Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet Wong crushing on her is pretty cute. Still, what if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind?

Welcome Home edited by Eric Smith - A collection of adoption-themed fictional short stories, and brings them together in one anthology from a diverse range of celebrated YA authors.

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera - Ben and Arthur meet cute but lose touch, then have a series of near misses and first date re-dos before finally settling into a relationship. But Arthur's impending departure for the summer and both guys' own insecurities threaten to end something new that's only just begun.

Wildcard (Warcross #2) by Marie Lu - Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Determined to put a stop to Hideo's grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, but her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down Hideo?

Wrong in All the Right Ways by Tiffany Brownlee - Everything in Emma's life has always gone according to her very careful plans. But things take a turn toward the unexpected when she falls in love for the first time with the one person in the world who’s off-limits–her new foster brother, the gorgeous and tormented Dylan McAndrews.

#authors of color #book recommendations #yalit #women of color authors #woc authors #poc authors #diverse ya #awww yisss #it's that time of the year again!#a bit later than I planned #but better late that never I suppose lol #feel free to drop me an ask for additional recs!

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thecarmillacurator · 5 years

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I’ll Keep You Safe If You Keep Me Wild - Carmilla - Fic Review & Recommendation

*New Reviews Posted Every Saturday with one-shots and drabble recommendations Mid-Week*

Title: I’ll Keep You Safe If You Keep Me Wild (Bounty Hunter AU)

Author: The Regalist on Ao3

Word Count: 121K

Chapters: 16

Rating: Mostly Teen with a few Mature scenes

Ship: Hollstein

Tags I’d Assign: #bounty hunter, #hallmark, #nonsupernatural au, #human au #cute, #sweet, #action, #nice brother Will, #Laferry, #theregalist

Author’s Synopsis: Carmilla is a bounty hunter who decides to pick up and move across the country to be closer to her brother Will, who's living in a small-town called Silas. Laura is a journalism student who's just trying to get through her last semester of college while sorting her feelings out for her best friend Danny. One night Laura runs into some serious trouble and Carmilla winds up saving her life and maybe stealing her heart in the process.

Readability: Good. Prose reads smoothly. Narrative flow is easy to follow. There are some word typos in the sense of incorrect homophone usage which are noticeable and consistent but not frequent or particularly distracting, and there could have been more commas (which, honestly, is always better than too many commas).

Reviewer’s Plot Summary: Non-Supernatural AU. Carmilla Karnstein is a twenty-one year old bounty hunter with a painful and checkered personal history who begrudgingly relocates to be near the only person she cares about, her brother Will. WIll attends college in Silas, a small town in the American South along the Gulf, and Carmilla would ‘love to hate’ the complete hick-ness of it all, except that she absolutely can’t hate a tiny, blonde college Senior named Laura Hollis (or her smile ‘as wide as Texas’) who easily convinces her heart that it’s safe to love again. Carmilla’s New York roots are in further trouble (a kind she doesn’t mind, though) when Laura’s huge Southern family ends up showing her just how good home and a new start can really feel. But, not all is picture perfect: The life of a bounty hunter isn’t all Hallmark movies and Southern charm. Creeping through the underbelly of Silas is a dangerous gangster on the lam, Carmilla’s next bounty, who has a mark of his own. A mark who just happens to be one of Laura’s closest friends.

Recommended to Read: Yes, assuming you enjoy sweet love stories that lack serious relational angst. However, even if Hallmark movies aren’t your thing, there’s enough CBS-Prime-Time-type action to keep the feel-good story grounded.

Review:

The story is written in third person limited, which works, but see the Cons section below for comments on the narrative tone. So, full confession: I’ve watched Hallmark movies in the past (and am still sometimes forced to because of the company I keep), but they’ve never really been my thing. Call me jaded (because yes, I’m jaded), but the reason I’m not a serious fan isn’t because I don’t enjoy cute and sweet, but because the cheese chunks and plot-holes get to be so big in Hallmark plots that I can’t swallow without choking. What TheRegalist does here is provide a nice balance between PG-13 action-related suspense and what is a sweet love story lacking in the usual heavy relational angst, all without making me roll my eyes until they hurt. In other words, if this were a Hallmark movie, I’d actually watch it. Or, maybe it isn’t a Hallmark movie. Maybe it’s more like a CBS action show (say Magnum P.I. or Walker, Texas Ranger) only where instead of an hour-long episode, they put on a three-hour movie special where the action takes second chair to my ship finally getting together. I can’t call this story fluff, but it is cute and sweet. And the use of the gangster-on-the-lam with a complication that directly places the group in danger is the perfect counterpoint to make sure that a too-good-to-be-true-romance doesn’t become too-sweet-to-ingest.

The Good: The pure, escapist charm of it. Life sometimes really sucks. It’s difficult when you work hard and don’t get anywhere. It’s difficult when you’re lonely but everyone is busy or too caught up in themselves to make space for you. Families are rarely ideal. We all struggle with being accepted on one level or another. Love seems elusive for many of us. Sometimes it feels impossible to believe you’ll find a place where you’ll belong. But that’s exactly what this story is about, making all of those yearnings become fulfilled for Carmilla, and as the reader, for you. Here, finding the right person just happens. Falling in love isn’t a struggle or filled with just-for-the-dramatic-tension arguments and growing pains. There’s a huge (huge), Southern, conservative-yet-accepting family jumping at the bit to welcome you into the fold, happy that you’re there. You’ve had bad [crap] happen in your past (loss, rejection, mistakes), but here,

those bumps and bruises aren’t left to haunt you, but are kissed like scraped knees by the Hollises and you’re bribed with red Starbursts by an adorable little child until somehow it’s better. This is a feel-good read, pure and simple.

Also a great plus: The Hollis-family Sunday meals, as well as quite a few pivotal scenes in this story, are atmospheric and highly visual in how they’re written, and key secondary characters have actual personality. This makes the world of the story easy to immerse in. Laura’s grandmother Gigi is just… amazing. The bar fight scene is great. The dynamic between Will and Carm is adorable. Important locations are well-described, and it was easy to picture the Marina and the action sequence finale.

The Concrit: If I had to peg this, I’d say it’s written as third person limited, with head hopping. Unfortunately (although, don’t worry, it’s not too dire), as the story passes into the deep end of the word count, two things start to slip. First, is that the clear head-hopping starts to blur and some scenes feel more like third-person omni. Second, is that the characters’ reactions and thoughts lose their individuality of voice and begin to sound similar to each other. Next, I do wish the characters had been slightly older. Carm had somehow developed a complex personal history and high-level skill sets which would, in my opinion, have taken a lot longer than twenty-one years to acquire, perfect, and settle into with the comfortable confidence she seems to possess. I’d prefer her to have been closer to thirty. Bumping Laura from being a Senior in college up to maybe finishing a Master’s in Journalism after working at it part time for three or four years would have made that transition easy without changing much of the plot. However, once again, it’s not a deal-breaker in any way. The truth is, in my mind I was already reading them as older and more mature than the age stated by the author anyway.

Finally, I can suspend my disbelief and actually enjoy the television-style, over-the-top and slightly campy action finale, but as much as I enjoyed the picturesque true-love romance without extra drama, the last chapter (more of an epilog?), Chapter 16, got a little too carried away and could have easily been deleted, or at least the last half of it deleted. Don’t get me wrong, I like the substance of the ending the author creates, but, as written, this is where it finally sinks into the Hallmark trap: Things needed time to mature to get to that ending. And also, at the very, very end of that chapter, there was a fluff bit on the unbelievable side which did, after over 120,000 words, finally earn the Hallmark cheese eyeroll. So, I’d recommend you stop reading after the end of Chapter 15; you’ll get all the gist you need for their HEA.

Link’s in the title above, but also, read it HERE.

NEXT IN THE QUE: Over the next four weekends, there will be reviews for the Jason Bourne AU, Vampire Hotel, a fake-dating AU, and a Sports Au.

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britcision · 1 year

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Alright, not a lot for you this WIP Wednesday, I have been doing a lot of spring cleaning! But here you go, just a lil Jason getting out there to keep an eye on his family

Featuring Harper Row for the first actual time, cuz she’s great and she deserves to be here!

First part of chapter 13, the rest is, as always, in the tags. Title is subject to change

———————

Hello Crime Lord My Old Friend

About twenty minutes after dropping Danny off at his dorm, Jason was suited up and ready to go.

Well, he’d stayed outside until he’d seen Danny shut the door behind him first. Jason had some fucking manners, though if pressed he couldn’t name who’d taught him them.

Danny’s dorm was about fifteen minutes from one of Jason’s better safe houses, as it happened. Jason had never been to a dorm, but from Danny’s stories?

A step below Teen Titans’ bunks, and those had sucked. Less privacy, smaller rooms, and more people? Who weren’t even part of the same team?

Maybe next semester Jason could offer to let Danny move in. He didn’t need need the safe house.

Red Hood could always buy the building. There were other apartments and while they weren’t luxurious, they beat half his other spots. The neighbourhood wasn’t bad either.

It’d be nice to pay Danny back a bit. Not have him closer. Just. Repay some of the debt by giving him a place to stay, rent free.

And maybe, just a little bit, the part of Jason that enjoyed the romanticism of his period novels kinda liked the idea. An estate for the king on your lands was a big deal back then.

A slightly more modern part of him thought being a landlord for his ruler would also be pretty funny. He figured Danny would enjoy that side too.

And it wasn’t like the guy could complain, since he’d literally given Jason back himself. Yeah, Jason was gonna pull that one out if Danny tried any familiar “oh I can’t accept this” on him.

Fixing his core was pretty damn god level on the favours spectrum. Jason could do whatever the hell he liked and Danny would just have to deal with it.

It cheered him up a little more, kept him in a good mood on the ride back to his safe house. It was more time where he couldn’t help Cass, but seriously?

Danny could change in a matter of seconds and be at her side not much slower. Walls, cars, goons, Jason had this feeling that none of it would slow Danny down.

And yeah, knowing that helped, but there was still a piece of him that only unknotted as he slid his helmet on and headed to the window.

“Hey, Black Bat. Busy?” He asked as the comms switched from earpiece to helmet display.

Of course he wore both. People kept trying to steal his damn helmet. That was also what the internal explosives were for.

The others all piped up when they heard him, Harper and Steph calling cheerful greetings around an ongoing conversation.

“Shit, Hood’s in, this mean I can go back to bed?” Bluebird teased. Spoiler cut her off immediately.

“Hell no, it can’t be a school night, Robin’s here! Great timing though Hood, we’re planning Red Robin’s eulogy and you have some experience there,” Spoiler chirped brightly, and Jason hesitated.

Sucked in a breath. He wasn’t gonna judge anyone else’s coping mechanisms until they got past “heads in a bag” levels.

Best to ignore it, since she wasn’t actually trying to set him off.

What the hell had Tim done since they’d left the manor?

Shaking his head, Jason settled into Red Hood and hopped onto the fire escape, scaling easily to the roof.

“Black Bat?” He repeated instead of answering, and half smiled when Spoiler groaned dramatically.

Black Bat answered in the considerate group pause.

“Not busy. Why?” She sounded amused, not even particularly tired, and Jason relaxed enough to slip all the way in.

“Thinking of going a little out of my way tonight. Wondered if you’d mind a tagalong?” Red Hood asked, hoping he sounded casual.

It wasn’t like he’d been planning to patrol the Alley anyway; his guys had already been told to handle it. He’d have to run around tomorrow night to keep the creepers scared, but he could have a couple off.

The tiny pause before her answer didn’t quite feel like judgement, but Jason muted before blowing out the sigh as she did. It wasn’t like the others needed to know he’d been stressing.

“Sure. Meet at the library?” She’d had his tracker up. Hood nodded, turning and running for the edge of the roof.

“Sounds good.” And they’d probably wound Spoiler up enough, she’d start plotting vengeance for being ignored soon. “So what the hell did Little Red do?”

“Brought Too Fine to the Bat Cave,” Spoiler told him with relish, not noticeably put out by the delay.

Not necessarily a good sign, since she was also this enthusiastic while actively plotting against him.

Wait.

Too Fine was Tucker’s hacker name.

“But he doesn’t know about us,” Red Hood said with a frown, catching an outcropping and swinging on.

“Oh, now you tell me,” Tim groused while the others snickered, “what a shame you didn’t think to when it’d have actually been helpful!”

News to Hood that he was on, probably still in the cave.

“He knows now,” Nightwing chimed in brightly, probably also travelling from the slight strain in his voice.

Hood paused for a moment, letting that sink in before attempting the next jump.

“Is he on comm?” He asked warily, because if Tim brought Tucker to the bat cave, it was entirely possible that they were all outed.

And that Tucker might tell Danny.

Shit, he still had to text Harley. Resolving to do it once he hit the library, he set back to running, throwing himself across another street.

Cass would probably take a little longer to get there.

“He’ll be back, he’s in the bathroom,” Tim explained with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. “It’s not all bad, he’s given me the full story on what happened in Amity Park. Witness account and all.”

“From a witness you let down to the bat cave~” Spoiler sang sweetly across the air.

Red Hood could hear Oracle rolling her eyes as she cut in.

“Tone it down, Batgirl. Bluebird, if you’re still thinking of heading in, could you swing past one last site on your way?” She said firmly, then lightening her tone for their current guest.

“Batgirl who? I’m Spoiler,” Spoiler grumbled, but didn’t push beyond that. None of them did when Oracle invoked the name she’d had second.

Bluebird snickered at her before answering the question, a hint of exertion suggesting she was on the move too.

“I’m not actually in a rush to go home, O, I got all dressed up so I might as well enjoy one last hurrah.”

Right, because she’d be going back to school probably when Danny did.

Harper had always been a damn good hero in Jason’s books, but she valued her retirement and none of them really wanted to ruin it. Unless, apparently, seven bats just had to stalk Jason’s new friends.

Hood would have apologized, but frankly if she’d said no, some of the others couldn’t have come to the gala to be a pain in his ass.

And then he couldn’t have had so much fun fucking with them.

Fine. One cool fruit basket for the Row household, and some rainbow cupcakes for Cullen. He needed practice on frosting roses anyway.

Although that also reminded him.

“Hey Bluebird, have the others filled you in on Phantom?” He asked, cutting off some more background chatter from Spoiler and Tim.

Nightwing and the girls had had hours by now.

“What, your new boyfriend?” Bluebird asked sweetly, and Hood rolled his eyes.

Probably hit the important shit then.

“Sent you a picture?” He asked instead, decidedly not entertaining that question.

Nightwing and Spoiler snickered. Hood flipped off their general directions, settling himself comfortably on the roof of the library to wait for Black Bat.

There was a short pause, the others now wondering what he was getting at. Good.

“In and out of suit,” Bluebird agreed, curiosity tinging with mild suspicion. Being out of retirement clearly wasn’t good for her.

Hood nodded, pulling out his phone and shooting Harley a quick text. It might be moot now, asking her not to mention Red Hood shit in front of Danny, but he might as well.

He still had to ask if Waylon knew. No reason not to do both, just in case. And see if Tucker knew when he got back.

“I know you’re outta the game, but keep the light show to a minimum if you see him around, okay?” He asked, scanning quickly over the list Danny’d cleared for public discussion.

He didn’t know if Tucker would have mentioned it, but he might as well. Cause of death was good, but Jason personally would veto “and the effects it may have now”.

Because fuck Bruce and his need for everyone to show him their weaknesses.

Bluebird definitely sounded curious now, and possibly like she was punching someone.

“Oh? He not big on the electricity?” She wondered aloud, and Hood grimaced.

Because if they were both at Gotham U in engineering… there was actually a chance Harper and Danny would run into each other.

Danny was older, but Harper skipped a couple years and he had no idea what year Danny was in. Fuck, they might be in the same classes. He couldn’t believe he’d never thought of that.

“Not exactly. You mighta seen him around actually, he’s a techie boy too. But he’s not a fan of the electricity flying around,” he explained, Nightwing making background noises that told Hood he hadn’t put the pieces together either.

Good. At least he wasn’t alone.

Bluebird made an interested hum, and probably a finishing blow considering the satisfaction when she spoke next.

“I thought he looked familiar. But then, he’s total Wayne-bait. Yeah, I can keep the good stuff under wraps if I see him around. Gonna guess he’s had some bad shocks in the line of work?”

Hood hesitated and in exactly the same instant Black Bat landed on the roof. Sam had given them all the warning about talking about a ghost’s death, so he could leave it at that.

But…

The way Danny had looked when he explained about Vlad. Yeah, he’d rather they took this seriously. He didn’t want any of his family to hurt Danny, even by accident.

“It’s how he died. He won’t spontaneously combust or anything, but it’s a bad memory.”

Silence reigned while the others absorbed that particular detail, Black Bat crossing to crouch on the roof beside him. Hood leaned over enough to bump their shoulders together.

He could almost feel concern radiating off her, which was an extra weird experience after literally feeling all of Danny’s emotions half the day.

Guess that was where Cass’s liminality was going. It made sense, kind of; despite her occasional trouble speaking, she was pretty much the clearest communicator in the family.

Having another back up way to make herself heard would only fit.

On a whim, he tried projecting comfort back to her.

—————

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#danny fenton dead and loving it #dp x dc #dpxdc #danny fenton x jason todd #dead on main ship #danny x jason #jason x danny #chapter 13 #title pending #currently hello crime lord my old friend because i had to come up with something #and we may/may not get to the Hood Reveal #we shall see #if not i’m having that for chapter 14 #jason and the bats

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