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Witness Protection

There’s a dead guy in the alley and it’s not Danny. 

Ok, technically there are two dead guys in the alley but honestly, Danny feels like they’re way past semantics.

Because, once again, there is a dead man in the alley. 

Danny is fairly sure the guy’s been murdered. The bloody mess that is the guy's chest is a pretty good indicator, but the bloody knife that's still stuck in the guy’s guts is really what makes it for the teen.

Danny might be freaking out a little bit. Because, while he is used to dead people, they’re never this newly deceased, or for that matter, this gruesomely murdered.

Before his breath can quicken too much, Danny makes himself take a deep breath. 

Say what you want about Danny, but he hasn’t spent his high-school career moonlighting as a teenage vigilante without learning a thing or two about staving off a panic attack. Feeling more calm, Danny focuses back on the issue at hand.

I should call the police, says something in the back of his head that sounds like Jazz.

If I call in the murder I’ll be on the suspect list, retorts some other part of his brain he’s choosing to call the Sam part.

No advice from an imaginary Tuck though. Even in his own mind he can’t imagine a Tucker that hasn’t already passed out cold at the sight of a dead guy. 

Which, fair. Danny is kinda considering the option, as he’s feeling a little faint himself. It is way past time he got out of here. At least he's figured out just how to do it.

Anonymous tips are a wonderful thing, made all the more wonderful by the presence of payphones in Gotham.Danny is officially handing this off to the proper authorities.

Boy is he glad he doesn’t have to be involved anymore.

A few streets over, a hooded figure rounds a corner, their breath coming fast  as they clench their bloody fists agitadely. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone there, and yet. This is an unexpected setback.

The hooded figure leans back against the alley wall to catch their breath. Nothing to do about it but fix it. And as these things go, this is an easy mistake to fix. The face of the black-haired blue-eyed hurdle floats to the front of their mind. 

It should be child’s play.

“Bramblepaw. Tawnypaw. Meet your kin. Together, you will rule this forest."

My birthday was yesterday, so here's my annual Tigerclaw doodle! ...How differently would things have turned out if Tiger had raised his kits together and united them under his goals?

The custody dispute over the 10-year old heiress Gloria Vanderbilt fascinated Depression-era America in 1934. The girl's aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, sued for custody, alleging that her mother neglected her, had lovers of both sexes, and spent Gloria's inheritance income on her own hedonistic lifestyle. Gloria Senior retaliated by claiming that Whitney kept nude sculptures in her house (she was a sculptor herself and later founded the Whitney Museum in New York).

"The Trial of the Century," as the tabloids called it, began on October 1 and lasted six weeks. Gloria's youngest son, Anderson Cooper, later described it as "the O.J. case of its day, except bigger, because nothing like it had ever happened before." On November 13, the women in the picture above demonstrated outside the courthouse to support Gloria's mother's claim to her child. (Gloria's father had died years before.) In the end, the judge awarded custody to Whitney but allowed Gloria Senior weekend visitation rights. The NY Journal American mocked the verdict:

Rockabye baby, up on a writ. Monday to Friday, Mother's unfit As the week ends she rises in virtue, Saturdays, Sundays, Mother won't hurt you.

Above: "Little Gloria," as the press dubbed her, is hustled through a throng of reporters by bodyguards as she pays her first post-trial visit to her mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt.

Top Photo: Associated Press Bottom Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images/History.com

canonically hijinks has skeebee in his possession, I can only imagine now, A_ and hijinks battling in court over who gets Skeebee

[SKEEBEE IS MUCH MORE SAFE WITH ME, FOOL, I AM UNSTOPPABLE, I SURPASS YOU TEXT ENTITIES WITH EASE, I HAVE EXISTED LONG BEFORE THE CONCEPT OF YOUR KIND WAS EVER MADE, FOOL]

OHOH IS THAHAHAHAT SO????? YOU WANNAHA GO BITCH?????? I'LL FUCKING MAUL YOU CUNT.

[I CAN SHATTER YOUR TINY LITTLE TEXT ENTITY CORE RIGHT THIS SECOND, YOU'RE OPPOSING A BEING OLDER THAN YOU, SYMBOLS FUNNYMAN]

UP MY AHAHAHAHAHAHASS BITCH

We're in COURT, you ANIMALS!

sorry-

[SO BE IT, I FUCKING GUESS]

Thinking about some of the meta I've seen about the flight of the Noldor (and I'm not vagueing anyone, I've seen this kinda thing a few times and from folks I don't follow, so they've already trickled out of my head, sorry, bit it's not personal)--ANYWAY. The thing is that there's an underlying assumption that the noldor should have trusted the valar, because the Valar told them that the Oath couldn't be fulfilled and that they couldn't win against Morgoth, and that was ultimately proven correct.

But like. The thing is. The Valar had just proven to be incredibly fallible.

The wonderful Light that drew the elves on to Valinor? That they built their lives around? That's gone. And it's gone because the valar just very publicly screwed up. It's gone because the Valar released Melkor, and fucking told the elves that he was trustworthy, and they were extremely wrong. The Trees are dead because they couldn't bring Melkor back into custody in a timely manner. None of this inspires confidence in their ability to deal with Melkor in the future.

Finwe is dead because the Valar were wrong.

Valinor has been proven to be unsafe because the valar were wrong.

(Arguably the kinslaying at Alqualonde is further proof that the Valar can't keep Aman safe against elves, let alone one of their own number.)

Feanor called it on Melkor. Feanor was proven right to build fortifications, even in Aman. Feanor was proven right to make back-ups of the Light, even if it was stolen. (Just because he wasn't going to hand them over for Yavanna to crack like eggs doesn't mean they wouldn't have been put to good use.) Feanor has been trying to leave Aman for a long time, and right at that crisis point he looks like a great bet. It would have looked like he'd seen it all coming, and that the Valar had invited disaster into their own home.

Hindsight is 20/20, and during the Darkening Feanor looks like a damn oracle. Why would they believe the Valar at that moment? The Valar have just lost an INCREDIBLE amount of face and authority. Trust is very easy to break and very difficult to rebuild.

When batman finds out his kid, which he clearly left buried in a graveyard, is chilling at vlad masters place, he wouldn't be happy.

Batman wants his kid back, and vlad, trying to be the bigger man in this situation, but being petty so he really isnt...might say death ends any relations and even if not, half dead means half his.

So a custody battle over one half dead Jason begins and they end up having to share.

This is not in any relation to my last few posts about vlad trying to redeem himself and ending up taking a halfa Jason in, but I thought it's funny so I am throwing it in here.

huh. when my mom was my age, i was almost 13, and my little brother was 4.

I need the fic where Bruce and Dick have a Conversation about what happened when Dick was lost in time.  about everything Dick did, in Batman’s name, in the name of the family, in the name of Gotham.  all the misconceptions about what Dick thought Bruce wanted and what Bruce actually wanted.

Bruce says softly, I’m proud of you.

the conversation that needs to be had about Damian.  Tim left and Jason hisses at any sign of family bonding, Cass was in Hong Kong and Steph with Babs, but Dick was-is-was-is Damian’s parent.  he didn’t try to take Bruce’s place.  but the place had to be filled anyway.

Dick telling Bruce that Damian loves visiting the zoo, his favorite color is green, he likes to sit in the drawing room on the third floor because it gives the best view of the grounds.  tries to tell Bruce about the hundred things he picked up in all these months while he was playing Bruce’s role but every time he thinks he’s done, he thinks of more.

he’s my son, Dick doesn’t scream.

he wants to.  oh how badly he wants to.

he’s my Robin, Dick doesn’t sob.

the only Robin that Dick chose.  the only mantle Dick passed down himself.  sometimes, when he calls Damian Robin, he does it the way his mother did, in the rolling tone of her language.  when Robin meant my darling my precious my child.

Bruce interrupts Dick’s litany of facts, the pace of them frenetic, like Dick thinks he’ll be stopped before he can finish.  he says, gently, I know he’s your Robin.  and he says it in Batman’s gruff tone.  where Robin means my darling my precious my child.

they are two grown adults.  they can make this work.  Damian is Bruce’s son, but if blood meant anything, Bruce wouldn’t have all the children that he does.  it’ll make family dynamics complicated, but that’s never stopped them before.

Dick doesn’t want Batman.  but there’s no rule that only Batman can have a Robin.  there’s no rule that Robin can only fly in Gotham--and if there was, it’s been broken a hundred different times, in New York and San Francisco and all over the world, because Robins can’t be caged.

Damian wants to get to know his father but he feels safe with Grayson.  Damian needs a Batman that can smile and crack a joke, not one that embodies the League’s principles of intimidation.  Damian knows Gotham and he knows the Manor but he doesn’t know his father.

Gotham is Bruce’s home.  but it’s changed while he’s been gone, and he needs to relearn it.  the same with his family.

co-custody is hard, but Batman and Oracle manage it fine with the Batgirls.  it’ll work for Robin too.

For the 5 ask game: how about an au where Shouto Todoroki is the kid Izuku saves from the slime villain?

Ngl this took me a while to figure out since Shoto could counter Sludgy with his ice easier than Bakugou's explosion but I figured it out.

1- Shoto goes to a private school, and is rebellious. Sometimes this means leaving school and taking his sweet time walking home instead of riding the car back like he's supposed to. One day as he takes a detour under a bridge, he passes another middle schooler going the other way. And then a villain pops out of the sewers and threatens them. Before Shoto can move, the other kid throws his backpack and runs, pushing Shoto out of the way as the slime catches up.

2- Shoto watches in horror as the slime begins to choke the other boy, and attacks- ice to freeze the sludge solid, to pierce through it in spikes- as he tries to get the boy out with his other hand. It's difficult with the sludge rolling and fighting him, but he manages to pull Izuku out. Shoto knows they can't outrun the villain though, so he just covers them with an ice dome and keeps it up as the slime beats against it.

Both middle schoolers are utterly thrilled to see All Might when he smashes through.

3- Shoto quickly melts the ice in time for them to see All Might take down the villain, then pick up Izuku's bag, which he hands over, smiling at them. "You two young men alright? It was very heroic of you to help each other- and I won't say anything about the quirk usage, don't worry." Izuku tries to say it was all Shoto, but the other boy says Izuku acted first to help him. All Might says they must be good friends, then coughs heavily when Shoto replies in the same flat tone that they just met and he doesn't have any friends. All Might says he hopes this changes that, signs Izuku's notebook and Shoto's bag, then darts off.

4- Izuku tries not to be disappointed he didn't get to ask his question- but then turns to Shoto to thank him, and tell him he has a beautiful quirk. Shoto agrees the ice is nice, but then Izuku asks more questions- he melted the ice, does he have heat too? Does he want to be a hero, he could help so many people with that, and more questions that Shoto can't make out due to muttering. He sighs, then leans against the bridge. "Fine, yes, I have fire too. But I'll never use it, because..." Cue tragic backstory reveal! Izuku is horrified. Beyond horrified, really. After the story, Shoto leaves with a faint good luck, and Izuku leaves too. But he doesn't go home- he gets on the train and heads to Might Tower.

5- He tells the front desk that All Might saved him earlier that day, but left before Izuku could tell him everything about the villain, and he thinks it's important. The secretary waves him to wait, and calls Yagi- if there really was an incident, he'd know, even if he hadn't gotten to that part of All Might's paperwork yet. Yagi confirms the sludge incident happened and that he's on the train back too, he'll be ten more minutes and can meet with the kid. He recognizes Izuku, who explains that it's about the other boy who's in trouble, not the villain. He gives a rundown of the story without names, and apologizes for meddling but he had to do something to help. Yagi says that's heroic of him, and did he get a name- Izuku did. "Todoroki Shoto, he said his name was, and I know what school he goes to- is that enough? Is there actually anything we can do to help?" Yagi says there is, and the next afternoon he and Izuku catch Shoto as he's leaving school, and ask to help.

This is how that first discussion went… Right?

i for one think steve kept jonathan's bat not just for protection purposes but because he doesn't talk to him anymore and that's the last thing he took from the byers' house.

Mad respect to the peeps able to look at a character with multiple interesting ships in fandom and decide they can just focus on one and not combine them all into a big polycule. I do not have that kind of self restraint.

You said in your hcs post how gnarly the Custad battle for spider will be, I don’t think it will be that bad since I’m sure the sullys wouldn’t care that bad as long as spiders not turning against them

I think it would be really nasty case both parties have been at odds for so long (but also not really at the same time, like Quaritch is a resurrected enemy, so the way time is measured with them is so weird) and their wounds runs so deep.

Jake would probably be unwilling to let Spider go to Quaritch cause he can never fully forgive him, even if he redeems himself. Jake's trauma has caused him to reactive towards any threats, real, fake, or potential. Quaritch will, most likely, never not be a threat to him. he would be more than willing to keep spider away from him if it meant his family would be safer. Neytiri would not want spider around if he went with Quaritch but knows that her kids would not likely hold some sort of animosity towards her if she sent their friend/brother away. The kids all have different feelings towards spider and would react differently to the whole situation; Kiri would be po'd about it, Spider is her closest friend, and understands what it's like to not have your birth parents (even if he got one back, he's know that pain for 16 years), she would want to keep him close. Lo'ak, in the case of losing Neteyam, would probably flip; not only is he losing another brother, but he's losing him to the man responsible for his brother's death. In the case of him not losing Neteyam (so canon divergence), he's still losing a brother and friend. He knows that this is gonna rip the family apart, and that scares him (that kid has to have anxiety and attachment issues after their childhood). Neteyam would feel slightly betrayed; he's only been taught to know Quaritch as the bastard that destroyed his home, and he can't see him any different, even if this clone of the one who hurt his family, is doing everything he can to better himself and make up for the suffering he and his original self has caused. Tuk being the youngest, would have the hardest time understanding it; all she wants is her brother, and she knows her parents don't like Quaritch, so she would feel so conflicted and confused.

Long story short, Spider going with Quaritch, no matter the circumstance, would feel like betrayal in one way or another. Jake is too protective, Neytiri has so much trauma tracing back to that man (she couldn't let Spider go to him and come back, but she can't take him away from his siblings, no matter her feelings for him), and the kids are strung between their parents and their brother.

Quaritch, on the other hand, just wants his kid. He's desperate to have his kid. I feel like if he risks everything to redeem himself, and he doesn't at least get to have Spider, he will lose it. One person can only handle so much mental weight before they snap; leaving the company that has controlled so much of your life, are basically war-armed gods, and now have a very good reason to kill, is already a lot to bare. But if you add the fact of being kept away from the one thing you gave it all up for, you'd go a little crazy. I could see Quaritch turning to rage, and desperation, much like Neytiri had.

It would not be an easy transition, no matter how it happens, at least not at first before trust is built.

also jake is kinda petty, in like, the dad way (if that even makes sense), so I could really see that tendency to be hypocritical and overbearing coming out in this situation; like, despite never being a good father to spider (more like a shitty owner at this point) he would act as though he was better for Spider then Quaritch. Despite accepting Quaritch as an ally, or at least not an enemy, he feels entitled to keep his son from him.

There's also the whole son for a son thing if we look at this from a canon standpoint.

basically, things would be very complex and chaotic, at least at the very beginning, but things getting any better would be a long and rocky road that may go untravelled.

i think alice and her mother Do Not have a good relationship

Would you look at this silly water creature

Turns out that pink and blue is a really pretty color combination