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totaly-obsessed · 7 months

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Suprise Party

Katie McCabe x reader fic

-> It is Katie's Birthday but reader isn't one to party

➳ Masterlist

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

The 21st of September 2023, otherwise known as your girlfriend's 28th Birthday. In your relationship Katie was the outgoing one, which was not really a surprise to anyone – she liked to refer to you as her ‘better half’ because she liked the differences between you.

While she was always up to party, you would much rather stay at home and read a book or catch up on your TV shows. Meeting new people? No problem for Katie, always making quick acquaintances and friends, introducing you straight after: “Hi, I’m Katie, this is my amazing girlfriend Y/N – Nice to meet you!” By now it was well well-rehearsed sentence, always coming out when you were her date to a function she had to attend.

The Irishwoman had no problem with not throwing a big party for her birthday, after all, it would only be a year till the next one, but you knew that her friends liked to celebrate with her. So in secret, you had contacted Leah and Steph, the two footballers helping you set up a little something in one of Katie's favorite restaurants for the evening.

The morning, however, was all yours. It was a weird situation for Katie, coming back from the World Cup and into the new season, not having much of a preseason, and already having played two Champions League games, which resulted in Arsenal not going further. So today, you had planned a cozy morning, before Katie could party all she wanted, safe with her arsenal teammates – knowing you were waiting for her at home.

So here you were, at seven in the morning, making breakfast – in the form of a cake. It was covered in vanilla buttercream, and decorated with red hearts – the inside being red velvet. You were in a hurry, Katie’s normal schedule did not allow her to sleep past eight o clock, and even though she did not have training today, you knew she would be up – and it would be even earlier, when she could not feel you, next to her.

But with a cake in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other, you made your way to your shared bedroom. The soft morning sun was trying to get in through the window – after setting the cake down on your desk, you allowed it in, pulling the curtain aside, slowly.

Unhappy groans can be heard from somewhere on the bed. With a quiet giggle, you made quick work of jumping onto the bed, straddling the older woman. “Happy birthday to you!” A broad smile made its way onto your girlfriend's scrunched-up face.

After laying a gentle kiss between her eyebrows, Katie's face relaxed. “Happy Birthday to you!” Kiss on the left cheek.

“Happy Birthday dear best girlfriend I could have in the world.” Kiss on the right cheek, which was a little shaky, as she was laughing at how you had sped through your new name for her. “Happy birthday to you!”

She made kissie-noises at you, expectingly holding her face up – but upon not receiving a proper kiss, she started to pout. “Babyyy!” The pout intensified, when you hovered above her, a teasing smile on your face. “Not faiiir!” Her voice was deep and gravelly, having just woken up, sleep still deep in her eyes, so it was safe to say, that you were surprised when she promptly rolled you over, easily overpowering you (I mean, have you seen those arms).

“My turn.” Kissing your face all over.

“Hey! It’s your birthday!” By now the Irishwoman was wide awake

“Yeah it is – I want breakfast in bed”, and with that she pulled you closer, diving in for a kiss.

“I made cake!” an excited hand stopped her advances, leaving her shoulders to slump. Laughing she got off of you – with hurried steps you set the cake down between you, handing her a spoon.

Stuffing yourself full of cake at eight-thirty in the morning was a nice start to the day, but it didn’t stop there. After a lot of cuddling and staying in bed, you finally convinced your girlfriend to get out of bed and get ready. You had to compromise though; you would join her in the shower so that she would “allow” you to take her out. Would you have kept the pout on your face for just a second longer Katie would have broken, and both of you knew it.

Pottery painting.

That was your chosen activity – and even though the brunette looked and acted incredibly tough, you knew that she would like this. Katie had been dropping hints, always showing you TikToks of people doing it and cooing “Look how pretty their mugs are! They would be perfect for my breakfast, don’t you think?”

They turned out pretty nice, Katie having gone for flower designs, had been much faster and had done two mugs, while you had decorated one with mushrooms, flowers, and many more things. Now they just needed to be fired and you could pick them up.

Your afternoon was spent relaxing together until you told her to get ready. “But for what?” And back was the whining.

“You will see it then, baby.” And after a lot of moaning and you hurrying her, she was done. As an alibi for eating out together, you had gotten dressed as well.

“Why is it so empty?” Her confusion was evident when she only saw two parked cars at the location. “It’s the middle of the week baby, people are probably working.” She seemed to be happy enough with it, not questioning it, when you littered soft kisses on the back of her hands.

With quick steps, you held the door open for her, which got you a swat to the bum “Oy! That’s my job!” But it was quickly forgotten when she saw the decorations and her friends jumping out “Happy Birthday Katie!”

The brunette stood there for a second, not knowing how to react, before turning to you, her comfort person, and pulling you into a hug. Teary eyes pressed into the nape of your neck. “Thank you, baby.” With a soft smile, you pushed her into Leah’s awaiting arms.

“You’re ours now McCabe! You’ll see ya missus later. Say byeee!”

And with that, your girlfriend was pulled away by her friends. You waved her goodbye, earning you just another pout, Katie being sad that you were leaving her.

It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that Katie called you, slurring slightly, asking if you could pick her up.

She was already outside of the establishment, together with Steph, who you dropped off at home.

An hour later you were cuddled up in bed, Katie pulling you as close to her as she possibly could. “Thank you – I know you don’t like things like that. I appreciate what you did for me.”

She could practically feel your face heating up on her chest “Well I didn’t do it alone Steph and-“ A kiss interrupted you, Katie shushing you. “Just take the compliment, baby.”

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

liked by stephcatley and 44.331 others

katie_mccabe11: All my love to my incredible girlfriend. And thanks to all of you for the Birthday Wishes!

#woso x reader #woso imagine #arsenal wfc x reader #woso imagines #katie mc cabe x reader #katie mccabe x reader #katie mccabe

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bat-besties · 1 year

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Mia Dearden and Steph Brown Headcanons!

I’d love for them to meet supporting the Birds of Prey! They would both be about 18 when this happens, so Steph’s new to Batgirl but has been Spoiler, and Mia has been Speedy for a year.

They both want to have fun and prove themselves, and I think there might be a little competition between them and their mentors over their use to the team.

Mia is better at long-range combat and undercover work; Steph is better at short-range combat and detective work.

They both talk. A Lot.

Steph is very talkative because she’s very extroverted and friendly; Mia is talkative but it’s more of a defence mechanism at first, she’s actually a bit shy. I think that at first Steph can’t work out why Mia gets more quiet as time goes on and worries she’s mad at her, before realising this is a Cass/Tim situation. That’s cool - Steph can manage her introverts. Mia then goes up to being very talkative again, but with quiet stretches between. She appreciates that Steph can match her energy whether it’s a long ramble, a rapid conversation, or just chilling in silence together.

Steph gives Mia tips on using her hooded cape for Maximum Dramatics and Mia shows Steph how to hang upside down (“You’re a bat, right?”)

Mia met Babs at the wedding and is intimidated by her. She was too shy to tell her she’s started hacking herself, but Steph would slip it into conversation and Babs would be excited! Meanwhile Steph is like “you need to STOP me talking to Dinah before I tell her something embarrassing” (and Mia does)

They both idolise Huntress the most out of the Birds of Prey. Come on, she rocks purple, stands up to Batman and defied her criminal origins? She’s also a badass with a bow? They gush over her together. She is also the only person who can get them to shut up over the comms.

They love the same teen music and commiserate over Harper and Ollie making fun of it when it is actually really fun and catchy! Mia and Steph fight scene where they take down Riddler to the tune of One Direction’s Best Song Ever. The Birds of Prey record the security footage for them.

Steph prefers reading classics and Mia prefers YA, so they swap recommendations (Steph recommends Dracula and Mia We were Liars)

However they do discover they’re both Hunger Games fans.

Mia is a straight-A student and Steph struggles more with academics, but Mia knows more than anyone that intelligence comes in a lot of forms and it’s hard to catch up after a difficult childhood/adolescence. Equally, just how impressive Mia’s academics are (SHE SKIPPED ALL OF MIDDLE SCHOOL) is something Steph can fully appreciate and hype the fuck up.

Honestly being with someone else from a working class background is nice amongst all the billionaires. Oliver keeps telling Mia to read Marx when she talks about her childhood. Bruce once gave Steph $50 to buy a box of tampons. Yes she kept it.

They do realise that neither man really understands the crucial gap between Steph growing up on the poverty line [under US census definition] with parental neglect and Mia staving off homelessness through survival sex work. The girls are acutely aware that Mia came from a background like Steph’s but had to leave due to abuse, and that their situations could easily be reversed. They could have really nuanced conversations about gender and class.

Steph makes a joke about being pressured to sexualise herself at 15 and Mia’s like SAME and tells a much more concerning joke and Steph completely cracks up.

Mia: I’m glad you found that funny because it did make Connor almost cry.

Steph: Oh yeah, you should meet Cass. Her sense of humour is so dark Signal couldn’t light it.

They’d bond over friendship with Tim! When Steph hears about how chill and accepting he was of Mia’s HIV diagnosis she’s not at all surprised because that’s Tim all over. She tells Mia how when she first met Tim he thought he got Steph pregnant with a kiss and was still reading feminist theory for the first time. That’s her boy! He listened.

Mia worries that reaching out to Tim or the other Teen Titans would be weird since they haven’t reached out to her and maybe they won’t even really remember her-

Steph tells her if she rocks up to the tower for a reason other than the world ending and with some snacks, they’ll talk about it for months after. (She knows because she did it).

Steph offers to introduce Mia to Cass, Kara, Damian, and other heroes she’s teamed up with over the years.

In turn, Mia realises Steph struggles to make friends at community college despite her friendliness and with Mia actually having friends at high school, she gives Steph tips for “getting close to people authentically when you can’t tell them about the vigilante thing”. We see in the comics how Mia has to work on making friends, so I feel like she could pass on advice to Steph who is more used to hanging around people enough that they become close and being super open.

Mia tends to get more quiet and passive aggressive, Steph tends to yell and confront rather than letting things simmer. They would struggle to deal with this at first. For Mia, Steph yelling would remind her of Richard and make her feel Steph is trying to intimidate her. For Steph, Mia making mean comments would remind her of Bruce and make her feel that Mia thinks she’s better than Steph.

However, I think they could communicate to work this out and deal with conflict without yelling and with direct communication.

Mia makes Steph watch Powerpuff Girls and Steph makes Mia watch Gravity Falls.

They also have a sleepover involving a ton of snacks and Project Runway

It’s nice to talk about casual things - like how Mia’s boyfriend cheated on her with Emma Watson, Steph and Tim tried to date in costume but not out of it, and how Mia has killed someone and Steph has tried multiple times. Normal teen stuff.

They end up having some deep chats on stakeout: So how was the realising not all men are evil being deeply painful because it meant your father chose to be like that?

Mia: Even though he proved he’d never hurt me, Ollie kind of set back my progress in trusting men when he cheated on Dinah. It just felt like even good men would betray women for sex. But he’s grown from that and they’re married now.

Steph: Yeah, Bruce set me back when he had a mafia alter ego and didn’t tell me, leading to my brutal death which he still blames me for to this day.

Mia: GIRL

Look the two of them have to look after a young girl together and get her to a safe place and use her testimony/skill to take down whoever was hurting her so she's part of her own rescue. They just have to.

One of them is a natural blonde and one dyes her hair. They know which is which but they’ll never tell.

#mia dearden #Stephanie Brown #steph brown #batgirl #speedy #i was thinking about how they seem similar on the surface but are quite different #and also how i love them #mia is a Loud Introvert #the headcanon is about their interaction #their personalities are canon (mia can be passive aggressive and steph is not the best close-combat bat but she is better than some other #titans)#or i guess my interpretation of canon #i just found this fun #i hate that mia was in a BOP comic and never talked to the others!!

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starpirateee · 5 months

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Richie's movie

@lautski-week day 3 - movie

Warnings: none / read on AO3 here

Richie's movie came out on Sunday. Pete didn't know what it was actually called, but he knew that Richie was really excited about it. Originally, Pete thought it was his attempt to finally step away from the anime scene, but when he asked about it, Richie had launched into a small ramble about the source material, which just so happened to be one of his favourite light novels.

Pete hadn't been all that interested in watching it originally. But Richie wasn't actually here anymore to watch it for himself.

Maybe he owed it to him to try.

But, there was no way he was going alone.

It was late at night on a Friday when he decided that he owed it to Richie to watch this movie, and the thought had consumed him. He couldn't sleep.

Briefly, he thought about texting Ruth. She would like something like that, wouldn't she?

But he couldn't even do that, could he?

Really, there was only one option, wasn't there?

Pete:

Hey, I cant sleep. You still awake?

He stared at the empty text box for what felt like ages, and then finally, he got a reply:

Steph:

im still up sure, something wrong?

Pete:

Not really. Just thinking

Steph:

thats not good at 1am

whats wrong?

Pete:

That movie that Richie wanted to see came out

Pete:

And I kinda want to watch it in his honour, y'know?

It sounded stupid, didn't it? He wasn't even interested in the movie itself, he just wanted to feel less alone in this crazy world. He turned over, throwing the sheets over his head.

Pete:

Sorry. I know how stupid that sounds

Steph:

not at all! you wanna go to the movies for richie?

Pete:

I guess... You wanna come with?

Steph:

sure, sounds fun :)

Steph:

is tomorrow good? i can probably see you there if youve got a time

Pete:

Tomorrow's fine

I can get there maybe after lunch? 2 ish?

Steph:

see you there, pete <3

Even after confirming the date with Steph, and feeling a little more at ease with himself, sleep still didn't come easy to him. He spent ages scribbling in his phone's notes, random ideas that my or may not turn into something some day...

Eventually, the tiredness he felt caught up to him, and he drifted off, thinking about Richie and hoping that there was another side where he was having the time of his life. After everything, that was the least he deserved.

The next day, the tired sensation was promptly replaced with a deep pit of nervousness, and he couldn't source where it had come from. More likely than not, it was down to the constant stream of thoughts that had all surrounded Richie. This was his day, really, and Pete knew he was going to think of that no matter what else happened.

Steph had been kind enough to offer to keep him company for the day, but by the time she'd agreed to that, it was close to 1:30 in the morning. Was she still going to show face? Would she even remember?

He had a text. He'd been so caught up in his own rampant thoughts that he hadn't even realised.

Steph:

still up for today?

Once he'd read it and really got into his head that yes, she did want to come, his heart fluttered with relief.

Pete:

Yeah, I'm still gonna be there

Steph:

okay

dont worry about it, its gonna be okay

Pete:

Thanks, Steph :)

Pete sighed. She said it was going to be okay, but was it? Was it really? The two of them had collectively lost more in the last few weeks more than anyone could comprehend in a few years. With the weight of the world quite literally on their shoulders, who was really left but each other?

That didn't do an awful lot to lessen his nerves, but it did make counting down the remaining hours a bit easier. Slow as it was, that time did pass, and he set on his headphones to start the walk down. He knew he'd invested in such large ones for a reason... At least that way he could look like he was trying to block out the world.

Steph was already there when he arrived, and waved him over. He braced himself for something he didn't even know, and noticed how much less tense he felt, just by seeing her there.

"Hey, Steph..." He removed his headphones with one hand and managed the most sincere smile he could.

She took his free hand and returned the favour by shooting him a smile that seemed totally reassuring. "How are you?"

"Honestly, I kinda feel sick. No idea why, I've just been dreading the hell out of this since I gave myself the idea.." He knew why he felt like shit, if he was really honest. It was his own fault. A constant stream of thoughts that he thought he could solve by airing out his panic in the shower? That was ridiculous, and he knew it.

Her brow creased. "Why?"

"I don't know! I mean, it's got nothing to do with you, you're great! I love-" he hesitated so subtly that Steph almost didn't notice. "Hanging out with you... I just- I guess it's cos this was supposed to be Richie's movie..."

"Hey, I get it. We don't have to do this if you don't want to..."

"This is for him. I wanna do this... For him."

Steph nodded. "Alright. Which one is it?"

The two of them looked up at the board, and Pete tried to figure out which was the right movie. There were a lot of titles he recognised, and then...

"That one. I remember the name of the book Richie told me about."

"Absolutely no offense to the guy, but that looks like it's gonna be cheesy as shit."

Pete couldn't help but laugh at that. She was right, in all fairness, it did look like it was going to be quite the movie.

#lautski week #stephanie lauter #peter spankoffski #starkid #void offering #i am just incapable of lighthearted things arent i #oh well :)

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sapphire-weapon · 11 months

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Did you see that Stephanie panisello said that she and Matt Mercer didn't even work together in DI?? LOL looks like the cl*on stans are outta luck. Ever since Leon x Ashley has been made 100% canon it looks like Capcom is finally gonna be sinking all those other ships and good riddance. After all these years thos cl*on shippers were SO sure they were gonn a be Leon's second canonical ship but NOPE! It was us! When Leon and Claire have zero real interactions in DI do you think they'll melt down as hard as a*on stans do?

dude what the fuck are you talking about LMAO

like there's so much going on in this ask idek where to start

i'm just gonna go down the list in order, i guess

like... so what's the implication here? that because steph and matt weren't in the sound booth at the same time, leon and claire don't interact in DI? when we've already seen them on screen together in the same scenes? because i'm pretty sure that the CGI movies aren't mocapped by the english cast like the games are -- i'm pretty sure that they're mocapped in japan, and the english cast just provides the voice acting. so, like. yeah. a lot of the time, when you're doing voice work, you don't work with the other actors. it's entirely possible that your scene partner hasn't even recorded their lines yet, and you're just trying to act and react off of text you're reading in a script. that's why voice acting is so hard and why so many film actors struggle to make the transition from film to voice.

leon/ashley is not "100% canon" in the way that you're implying here. leon/ashley is canon in resident evil 4 remake and nothing else. i have said this repeatedly. don't expect capcom to commit to this ship. capcom does not commit to ships in RE. capcom won't even canonize valenfield, and you really think they're going to commit to leshley?? LMAO

even if leon/ashley was "100% canon" in that way, it would only be in the remake verse. death island is OG canon, which means that aeon is still the name of the game there. OG canon has done absolutely nothing to kill the canonicity of aeon, so we need to assume that that whole thing is still going on.

cleon has been dead canonically for a fucking decade, so i have no idea where this sentiment of "finally" is coming from, here. damnation fatally wounded it, RE6 twisted the knife and ripped the hole open further, and the ending of infinite darkness coup-de-grace'd it. anyone who honestly thought cleon was still somehow going to become canon after RE6 is an actual legitimate fucking lunatic. which leads me to my next point...

i haven't seen cleon fandom be insane since about the time of damnation's release -- so, very early 2010s. in fact, i have not met a single cleon fan since then who was operating under any sort of delusion about what the state of their ship was in terms of the canon. cleon fandom lost this war years and years ago, and they all know it.

like. bro, leave cleon fandom alone. they've suffered enough, and they're our friends, besides. i know that there's a decent number of my followers (who are also probably some of my anons) who ship cleon first but still enjoy what RE4make did and are supportive of our ship.

and i also kind of ship cleon, to a certain extent. i've been pretty vocal about this.

i mean, hell, i would even be willing to ship aeon if capcom was ever willing to put at least some thought behind the execution of it, as opposed to none at all.

i just constantly take a shit on aeon fandom because they're a bunch of joyless fucks who can't allow anyone else to have anything ever and always have to chime in on every little thing with some form of "okay but leon loves ada tho" or "don't forget aeon is canon." like, fuck off, dude. aeon fandom is in a constant state of "the best defense is a good offense" as though anyone on the fucking planet is actually trying to take the canonicity of their ship from them.

they're not. we're not. aeon won the OG timeline. they need to stop being such sore winners and trying to rub their victory in everyone else's faces and shout down people who are still trying to have fun with other things.

and they're also a bunch of media illiterate dumbasses who sit around dreaming of happily-ever-afters for leon and ada and come up with headcanons for babies and shit, when all that shit is directly antithetical to the nature of the ship so i don't understand why the fuck they even like the ship to begin with, but that's a separate point.

so like

yeah dude, you need to pull yourself the fuck out of the late aughts. the war is over. it's done. it's time to stop fighting.

#i'm sorry for being so abrasive in this answer but #this ask feels like an aeon fan trying to masquerade as one of us in order to gauge the temperature of where we're at in the fandom #because i know none of you fuckers talk like this #and anyone who was actually familiar with this blog at all would know the reality of leon/ashley being canon and my stance on cleon #AEON FANDOM YOU'RE STILL THE CRAZY ONES #WE DON'T DISLIKE YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR SHIP #WE DISLIKE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE ASSHOLES

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deadletterpoets · 1 year

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I remember when Batgirls was first announced and I listened to an interview with the current writers. They talked a lot about how Barbara Gordon was their favorite Batgirl and how they planned on reading about the other two. I haven’t been following Batgirls or been keeping up with anything about them but even from the beginning it didn’t feel like what was being done here was with great love for these characters. Like I just remember listening to this interview and they talked lot about Babs and her relationship and I became very worried since then.

I listened and read every interview they did leading up to the release of Batgirls and let me tell you, I was VERY nervous hearing and reading what they were saying. Hell the interview where (I believe it was Cloonan) said Steph and Cass were like 12 or 13 caused a massive uproar then Conrad had to be like "Nah nah she misspoke" (and tbf the artist Corona was like "pretty sure they are older than that" in the interview).

I say that to say I'm pretty sure I know what interview you are talking about and yeah, Conrad mentioned somewhere else that when they were offered the job he went and read (and reread) all the Batgirl material (never know it from reading Batgirls, but whatever). However both of them basically went into this only really knowing Babs and having to discover Cass and Steph through writing them which is probably why it took them over a year to finally figure out they shouldn't be writing them like middle schoolers.

Anyway, I have never felt a passion or love in the writing with Batgirls. It comes off so mechanical and editorial, but also like filler. Maybe the writers did want to try to push these characters forward, but they aren't doing it in any real way that feels like Batgirls is something anyone needs to read. That's just me though. If people ask me what to read for Cass/Steph/Babs content I'm not saying Batgirls.

There's just so much potential in a series like this and I think Cloonrad were the wrong people to bring in for this book. Especially when it's clear there are writers passionate about these characters, I don't quite get why ppl that aren't even in agreement on the age of the main characters (since they knew basically nothing about them) were asked to write it. Especially since this book was the big COMEBACK for Cass and Steph especially as lead Batgirls.

This is just me though, others rode the wave and have enjoyed the books up and downs and see more pros than cons and I envy them. Idk how much longer this team will be on this book. If it'll be cancelled when they leave or someone new replaces them. I just want someone who writes these characters to WANT to write these characters cause they understand and are passionate about the direction they want to take them in. It could still suck, sure. But if I can at least believe it's coming from a place of love it'll make it an easier pill to swallow.

#cassandra cain #stephanie brown #barbara gordon #batgirl #batgirls #dc #dc comics

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claireofluxembourg · 4 months

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1. I thought you deleted your account because it was not showing and I was like no!! 2. Why does royal fashion police criticize Kate so much? Like I get the lack of work calls for criticism but like she praises Meghan and stands up for Meghan when Kate gets the same hate. I understand that there are some Kate stans that can not handle criticism at all but like Sussex stans are also up there. 3. How dumb does a guy need to be to cheat 😩 like Alexander girls are following you because of your family history and maybe looks and you’re dumb enough to respond on your account and you just got married! I wish Denise were still here! She’s have a field day. Is there anyway to relay this tea to her? 4. Charlene’s clothes are probably gifted/sponsored. Monaco royals are like walking billboards. 5. I’m in the few but I like MT, but her clothes aren’t always flattering for her figure though I love she takes risks. I’m actually surprised the cost of her clothes isn’t talked about more. 6. Stephanie I love you but it could be better but her smile makes up for it so I’m like yeah whatever lol

WHAAAAT? Lord, the world would end and I would still be here lmaooo shout out to CoolGirlTactics who plotted to kick me out of the fandom kasfkasfkasf

My theory is that because they compare Mary and Kate a lot it makes her bitter (as if there's any competition when both of them are completely different people) because she's Australian too so she shits on Kate and supports Meghan because she's the Anthitesis of Kate. But she only supports Meghan for likes tbh and to seem woke.

Literally that tea was so out of my radar because I don't fuck with pretenders (lol) but the fact they got married like five seconds ago and apparently he's cheating is literally terrible.

UFO No More has a very detailed explanation about how they count the items and the criteria but some people don't know how to read and then go and talk shit like RFP or any other Twitter Keyboard warrior. I would suggest everybody to read the disclaimer lmao.

Trust me when i said I've been keeping an eye on her wardrobe for a couple of years now. Obviously I don't follow her as much as I did before because I think she's a bully but the way she revamped her style needs to be talked about, I think her uniform is really good. Fingers crossed she wears more McQueen. Also funny people are so shocked that two rich countries have royals that dress themselves like rich people.

Steph literally can do nothing wrong in my book. Her style is abysmal? yes but she is an asset to the GDF, she has no scandals and makes cute babies so she's forgiven.

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rickie-the-storyteller · 10 months

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Steph's Crew - Part 16: Never Be the Same

Intro:

Welcome back!

I've actually been reading back on all my past posts in this series recently, and it's crazy how much has happened already… and I'd say we've definitely passed the half-way point by now... we're almost done!

Last time, we got a closer look into Elise's life and got more development in her relationship with Bret. We're going to get a bit more Brelise development here, as well as the crew's general excitement for their upcoming prom and plans for the summer. The end of term is approaching fast, and they're all thinking a lot about their futures.

Stephanie has been doing some thinking, too - but not about school, prom, summer or her future. She's been thinking about her past. Her dreams about her late foster sister and the old family she left behind.

What are we?

(Bret, Stephanie, Alice and Dylan are walking out of school together at the end of the day. They're chatting about their year group assembly earlier)

Alice: I never want to hear Mrs Danes sing again…

Stephanie: (laughs) You're so mean, sometimes.

Dylan: Yeah. Come on, Ally. She weren't THAT bad.

Bret: (mumbles) Yes, she was.

Alice: THANK YOU.

(Stephanie laughs even harder at this. Dylan shakes his head, but smiles, clearly amused)

Alice: My mom is here. Come on, Dylan.

Dylan: Cool. Bye, guys!

(Stephanie and Bret say goodbye and Dylan leaves with Alice)

Stephanie: I should go, too. Got a bus to catch. See you tomorrow, Bret.

Bret: Later, Steph.

(Stephanie leaves. Bret gets a text from Elise that says: "Look to your left!"). He looks to his left, and sees Elise at her car. She waves at him and smiles cheerfully. He laughs and waves back. Then he heads over to her and the two get into the car together)

Bret: (smiles at Elise) Hey.

Elise: (smiles back) Hey.

(About five minutes later, they are still sitting together in the car, passionately kissing. The windows are slightly fogged from the weather. They stop after a while, and Bret notices a look of slight uncertainty on Elise's face)

Bret: Hey, what's wrong?

Elise: Oh. I don't know… sorry. This is just… a lot.

Bret: (confused) Ok…

Elise: I've never really done this sort of thing before.

Bret: Oh. (reaches over and takes Elise's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze) Well, that's ok. We can take things as slow as you need.

Elise: (smiles) Thanks, B.

Bret: So I take it this is your first time, then?

Elise: (awkwardly) Uh- what? I-er… what do you mean by that?

Bret: In a relationship.

Elise: Oh! Ok. Yeah, it is.

Bret: …What did you think I meant?

Elise: (blushes profusely in embarrassment) Nothing… you don’t want to know.

Bret: I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know, El.

Elise: (takes a deep breath) I don't know. Maybe this is because my brother's Adam Kennedy. Or maybe I'm just a weirdo. But you know. When people talk about "first times" and stuff… they’re often referring to… you know. (stares pointedly at Bret, hoping that he will get the message. He clearly doesn’t) Having the sex?

Bret: (laughs) What?!

Elise: Yeah, see. I told you you didn't want to know.

Bret: No, no. I didn't mean that.

Elise: Right, I know that now. (pauses) Wait. I'm sorry, we're in a relationship now? We never properly discussed that, you know. What are we, exactly?

Bret: Huh. You're right, we never discussed that. But I don't know… I definitely feel like we're more than friends.

(Elise giggles, feeling relieved.)

Elise: Duh.

(Bret squeezes Elise’s hand again in support, which Elise returns)

Bret: I really like you.

Elise: I really like you, too.

Bret: (sighs) We probably should have talked about this sooner. I should have been clearer before. And I'm sorry I wasn't. I just wanted to finally tell you how I felt. I wanted to be honest with you after keeping this huge thing to myself… and I guess I wasn't thinking about what could come afterwards 'cause I didn't want to just assume you'd like me back.

Elise: What?!

Bret: But you did. Which was weird. But yeah, I didn't want to assume that you did, so I went into it thinking that you wouldn't.

Elise: But that's stupid! And sad.

Bret: I know. But I guess it's alright, because it teaches a very valuable lesson.

Elise: Oh, yeah?

Bret: Never assume anything. Like, I was trying not to, but I somehow managed to, anyways…

Elise: (laughs) It's okay, Bret. I've never been in a serious relationship with anyone before. It's not your fault that I didn't get it. I've never been asked out by anyone before. I've never dated anyone. Hell, I've never even kissed anyone before last weekend.

Bret: Seriously?

Elise: Yeah. (nudges Bret's arm) Dude, I'm not lying to you.

Bret: I know… I'm not saying you are. But it just sounds hard to believe. No guy has ever approached you once?!

Elise: No! That's what happens when you tend to keep to yourself most of the time. But I also wasn't really allowed to date for a really long time. My parents are quite strict about this stuff. Especially after my older brother accidentally got his girlfriend pregnant back when they used to go here. It really messed things up for pretty much everyone involved.

Bret: (gasps) I think I heard about that!

Elise: I bet everyone in school heard about it… it's the reason I quit choir. Well, one of the reasons.

Bret: Oh my God! (pauses) I had no idea it was your brother, though. How come you didn’t tell me before?

Elise: It’s not really something we like talking about in my family. Or any deep problems, for that matter. It’s not that we never deal with problems, we just tend to keep our struggles to ourselves and deal with them privately.

Bret: (shakes his head, overwhelmed) Wow. What got them to change their mind?

Elise: (shrugs) Oh, I've always been the responsible kid. They never had to worry about me the same way they worried about him. And with prom coming up and everything, I guess they finally wanted me to embrace the full high school experience. Like, they were encouraging me to find a date and get a cute dress and take lots of pictures and stuff. They're honestly way more excited about it than I am!

Bret: Parents are weird…

Elise: Yeah…

(The two of them laugh at this, breaking the tension. Bret leans in and kisses Elise gently on the lips, the intensity of their previous make-out session replaced with tenderness and affection.)

Elise: So, we're in a relationship now.

Bret: Yeah, looks like we are.

(As they pull away from each other, Elise can't help but feel a sense of contentment wash over her.)

Elise: I'm glad we talked about this, Bret.

(She leans her head against Bret's shoulder)

Bret: Me too. I think we're going to be great together.

(He wraps his arm around her, and they sit there in the car, basking in the newfound clarity of their relationship and the warmth of their connection. Elise turns on the AC, and the two sit in a peaceful silence as they watch the fog clear up on the windows)

Elise: So, what should we do now?

Bret: I dunno. (pauses) Record store?

Elise: (smiles) Cool. (gets her keys and starts the car) Let's go!

Steph's dream journal

(Stephanie has started to journal about her dreams. Her most recent nightmare is about getting in a fight with Mel while driving in her car, which leads to a crash)

In the depths of a moonlit night, I found myself trapped in a haunting dream. I stood on the edge of a desolate road, surrounded by an eerie mist that clung to me like a shroud. My heart raced with unease as the figure of my foster sister, Melanie, emerged from the fog, her eyes filled with a mix of sorrow and anger.

The weight of our strained relationship bore down on me, suffocating my soul. We had once been close, but as time passed, resentment nestled itself between us, driving us further apart. In this dream realm, our unresolved conflicts materialized as a wicked storm brewing above us.

The wind howled, whipping my hair around my face as I confronted Melanie, our voices drowned by the tempestuous gusts. Words filled with venom flew between us, fueled by the frustrations we had harbored for far too long. With each bitter exchange, the storm intensified, crackling with electricity.

I reached out my hand, desperate to bridge the chasm that had formed between us. But as our fingers touched, the ground beneath us crumbled, and we tumbled into an abyss of darkness, our screams lost in the void.

Suddenly, Melanie and I found ourselves back on the road, seated in a car hurtling down the dimly lit street. Stupid, stubborn rage began to grip my chest as I realised we were locked in a volatile argument, our voices escalating in volume. The car became a battlefield of emotions, the vehicle a metaphor for our crumbling sisterhood.

Through the blur of tears, I could see the approaching headlights of an oncoming car, but it was too late to avert disaster. Time seemed to slow, stretching out the moment of impact. The screeching of tires pierced the air, mingling with the shattering of glass and the crushing of metal.

In the aftermath, I awoke. And here we are.

The weight of fear and pain and guilt hangs onto me constantly.

The dream had served as a brutal reminder to me. Of what, I'm unsure. The tragic fragility of our bond? The undying need to repair the damage we had inflicted upon each other, even though it is impossible now? Melanie is dead. I can't make things right with her now.

Perhaps I simply crave closure more than anything else...

Ben tells me that my Melanie nightmares are my brain's way of trying to tell me something. He believes that it is unhealthy, what I do - holding on to the past, replaying every mistake I've made in all the corners of my fragile mind. He advised me to the necessary steps to move forward and leave my past behind me. Start my future.

But what if he's wrong?

What if coming to terms with my past life and what I need to do to leave it behind and start my future?

__________

With a newfound determination, I vow to seek reconciliation, no matter what it'll take to achieve this. I'm praying that reality would be kinder than the harrowing visions that had plagued my sleep.

(Stephanie finishes off her diary entry and smiles in spite of herself)

Stephanie: There! Done. I'm a damn good writer! Why didn't I choose English as a fourth A level?

Tension in the study room

(Bret enters the study room and spots Elise sitting alone in the corner, engrossed in a book. Alice, Dylan and Stephanie are all gathered there as well, by the computers, chatting and vaping. With mischievous intent, he approaches her silently and playfully taps her left shoulder. Elise turns in surprise, but Bret swiftly moves to the seat on her right, grinning mischievously.)

Bret: (cheerfully) Hey! Got you.

(Elise bursts into laughter, caught off guard by Bret's playful greeting.)

Elise: (laughing) Oh my gosh!

(Bret laughs too, and slips his arm around her, gently pulling her closer to him.)

Bret: (smiling) Hey.

Elise: (smiles back, blushing) Hey.

(Their eyes lock, and for a brief moment, they're lost in each other's gaze, forgetting that their friends are present. The room falls into a hushed silence as the rest of the group watches their two friends huddle up, lost in their own world. But the silence is abruptly broken when Alice chimes in.)

Alice: Hi, Bret!

(Bret's gaze shifts, and he suddenly remembers where they are. He clears his throat and straightens up, trying to bring himself back to reality.)

Bret: (with an awkward smile) Hi.

Alice: Hey!

(Bret awkwardly straightens up in his seat and proceeds to greet each of his friends with exaggerated formality.)

Bret: Uh, hello, Alison.

Alice: (scoffs) My name isn’t Alison, but ok…

Bret: (pretends not to have heard that) Good day to you! You too, Stephanie.

Stephanie: (nods) Thanks, Bret.

Bret: Salutations to you, Dylan Sawa.

Dylan: (murmurs to himself) What the actual fu-

Bret: (interrupting) It is an absolute pleasure to see you on this wonderful morning. Good day to you as well.

Alice: (teasingly) Wow, someone’s being proper today. Is there something special going on that I don’t know about?

Dylan: (perplexed) Yeah, man, what's up with all the weirdness?

Bret: Nothing’s up, man. I’m just saying hi.

Dylan: You sure, mate?

Bret: Yeah. I’m sure.

(There is an awkward silence. Nobody knows what to say for a while.)

Dylan: (confused) Um, what's going on here? Can anyone explain?

(They all look at each other, unsure of how to answer Dylan’s question. Bret, attempting to downplay the situation, brushes it off casually)

Bret: (playing it cool) Oh, we’re just chilling, Dylan. No need to worry.

Alice: (sarcastically) Right. That explains everything perfectly.

Stephanie: (also sarcastic) We’re all just chilling right now. In the study room. When we’re all supposed to be, you know, studying. No big deal. (rolling her eyes) Bret bursts in and wants to chill, so let’s just chill. Whatever.

Elise: (slightly defensive) I mean, it’s not like you guys were studying before Bret got here either…

Stephanie: Yeah, but you were, El.

Elise: (gestures to all her books and notes scattered across her desk) And I still am!

Stephanie: (mumbles) Sure you are. Studying and canoodling are the same thing now, apparently…

(Elise frowns at the implications behind Stephanie’s comments. Feeling the need for an escape, Bret decides it's a perfect time to get a quick snack.)

Bret: (getting up from his chair) Well, I think I'll go grab some food. Anybody want something?

Alice: Get me chips!

Dylan: Could do with a Diet Coke.

Elise: (stands up as well) Oh! I'll come with you!

Bret: (pauses) Yeah?

Elise: Yeah!

Bret: (smiles, extending his hand to her) Ok.

(Elise takes his hand. They exchange warm smiles and leave the room together. Their friends watch them in fascination.)

Dylan: (still puzzled) What the hell happened just now?! Literally, what was that about?

Stephanie: Bret and Elise are together now, Dylan.

Dylan: What?

Alice: Yeah, they’re a thing. Officially.

Dylan: What?

Stephanie: Like a couple.

Dylan: Seriously?

Stephanie: Yes.

Dylan: Oh. ‘Kay…

Alice: I know, right? Plot twist.

Dylan: For real this time?

Alice: Yep! For real!

Stephanie: (shrugs) It’s not that big a deal, you know.

Alice: (sincerely) They're so cute. Aren't they?

Stephanie: (sighs) I mean, Ellie definitely seems happy with him.

Dylan: (still surprised, but happy) I- yeah, if it’s going well, that's great! Good for them.

(Stephanie, on the other hand, doesn't share the same level of enthusiasm as the others. She remains somewhat reserved and thoughtful, staring at them as they exit the room and walk down the hallway together.)

Dylan: And it’s about time, you know?

Alice: Definitely!

Dylan: Thought it would never happen, honestly.

Alice: How come?

Dylan: I don't know… it just didn't look good for them at first.

Alice: Yeah. It's good that they figured things out.

Stephanie: (softly) Um, yeah. Yeah, it's great.

(Neither Alice nor Dylan seems to notice Stephanie’s change in demeanour, casually continuing their conversation)

Library study session

(After school, the group plans to stay over for a while and continue their revision in the library, since they all have exams soon)

(After the final bell of the day rings, students rush out of their classrooms and head out. Bret walks over to the library and finds that Elise is already there, getting all her books out)

Bret: (swings open the door) Ellie!

Elise: (cheerfully) Hey, you.

Bret: (pretty loudly) What's up?

(Before Elise can respond, the librarian sneaks up behind Bret and startles him)

Librarian: Shh!

Bret: Oh, sorry. (whispers) What's up?

Elise: (giggles) Nothing much. I just got here. Alice told me she'd be running late, so we could start without her.

Bret: What about Dylan and Steph?

Elise: I don't know. I was hoping you'd know something about them.

(They text their other friends, who let them know that they're on the way. Then they plan to get their study session started. Bret and Elise were supposed to be studying together for their final exams, but Bret was having a hard time focusing. He kept looking at Elise, trying to come up with new ways to distract her from studying. Elise, on the other hand, was trying her best to stay on track. She had even brought some flashcards and practice quizzes to make the process more engaging)

Bret: (sighs) What time is it, El?

Elise: (checks her watch) About five minutes since the last time you asked that.

Bret: Oh. (pauses) 'Kay, thanks! (starts clicking his pen repeatedly a couple of times) I'm bored now.

Elise: (groans) Bret, come on! Your first big exam is in 15 days!

Bret: Don't you think I know that?!

Elise: Can't you just TRY to focus?

Bret: I would, but you're being very distracting.

Elise: I'M being distracting?!

Bret: Well, yeah. I mean, look at you.

Elise: (is kind of annoyed, but can't help but laugh) Oh, my God..

Bret: You're sitting there, being all cute. And smart. And studious. Did I use that word properly?

(Elise is still laughing, but she nods)

Bret: Cool, cool. But like, of course I can't focus. How am I meant to study sociology when you're over there looking like THAT?

Elise: (calms down) I knew inviting you was a mistake. Neither of us are going to get anything done, are we?

Bret: (smirks) Not if I have anything to say about it.

Elise: (sighs) Ok, but seriously. Your first exam is in about two weeks. This is so important, B. I want you to do a good job, and I think you want that, too. And I truly believe that we can make that happen! So let's get to work, yeah?

Bret: (sighs) Why do you believe in me so much?

Elise: (smiles) Because you're strong. (takes his hand) More so than you think. And everybody has the potential to be more than what they are. (pauses) Either that, or I'm just an idiot.

(Bret chuckles and kisses Elise on the cheek)

(5 minutes later)

(Some more students have entered the library and there are quite a lot of kids at tables studying, including Jason and Connor from Elise's History class)

Bret: Ok, but could we please take a break, now?

Elise: BRET!

Librarian: Shhh!

Elise: Sorry, miss.

Bret: Ha-ha!

Elise: Shut up. We've only been working for a few minutes! Why do you want a break now?

Bret: 'Cause I'm exhausted!

Elise: Oh my gosh… fine. Take a few minutes off. But then we're doing the flashcards.

Bret: YES!

Librarian: SHH!

Bret: (flinches) Alright! (murmurs to himself) Alright, bitch. I'll shush.

Elise: (shakes her head) Dude…

(Bret immediately goes on his phone. He has a fun facts app that he often goes on to pass the time)

Bret: Yo, El. Did you know that George Washington lost practically ALL his teeth?

Elise: Yes, Bret. I did.

Bret: Yeah. Apparently, he had wooden teeth instead!

Elise: Actually, he didn't.

Bret: What the- so this app is lying to me?!

Elise: George Washington had dentures, Bret. And those likely would have been made of ivory, animal bones, and even real human teeth that may have originally belonged to enslaved people.

Bret: Ugh! (grossed out) That's fucking messed up, man…

Elise: I know. It's a lot.

(10 minutes later)

Elise: Correct!

Bret: YES!!

Librarian: SHH!!

(This time, neither of them say anything in response. They do talk quieter after this, though. Elise gathers the rest of the flashcards and puts them away)

Elise: (smiles) Good job, mate!

Bret: Thanks, El.

Elise: I think you've earned yourself another break.

Bret: Awesome. I'll go get some snacks. BRB. (he leaves the library)

(At this point, Jason, who was sitting at a nearby table with Connor, makes his way over to Elise)

Jason: Hi, Elise!

Elise: Hey, Jason! How's it going?

Jason: It goes good! Yeah. I-er, wanted to ask you something.

Elise: You did?

Jason: (awkwardly) Uh, yeah. Wait. First things first… did you do question 3 on the homework sheet? I struggled soooooooo much with it.

Elise: Oh, yeah. That one was challenging, for sure. But I stuck with it and got the hang of it eventually.

Jason: Of course you got that one…

Elise: (laughs) But I'm pretty sure it's not due until next week anyway, so you've got time to finish it!

Jason: Could you show me how you approached it? I don't what it's asking for.

Elise: Yeah, of course!

Jason: Thanks, Elise. You're always so good with this stuff… Hey, speaking of "stuff…" I was just-

Elise: (interrupts) You know, I'm actually going to be here for quite a while. I've planned to meet with some friends and do some extra revision. You can join us if you'd like! I think we'd be able to help each other out a lot.

Jason: Oh… thanks. Yeah. Um. (pauses) I wanted to ask you something else. You know that prom is coming up soon.

Elise: Yeah! What is it, three weeks away?

Jason: Just about, yeah. And I guess I was wondering if you had any plans to go with anyone. 'Cause if you don't… then I was thinking that maybe you could go with me! If you want.

Elise: Wait. You want me to go to prom with you? Like, as your date?

Jason: Yeah. I think it could be fun if we went together.

Elise: Oh. Jason, that's really nice of you. But I can't go with you. I have a boyfriend.

Jason: You do?!

Elise: Yep.

Jason: I had no idea… since when?

Elise: (giggles) It's a pretty recent development.

Jason: I-wow. I'm in shock right now. I've literally never seen you with a boyfriend before…

Elise: Yeah. Well, now you know!

Jason: Do I know him?

Elise: Yeah, you should do.

Jason: Does he go here?

Elise: Yeah!

Jason: He's in our year group?

(Just then, Bret comes back to the library with the snacks. He sets them down on the table)

Bret: Hi, Jason. What's going on?

Jason: (quickly turns round to face Bret) Oh, hey man. I just found out that Elise has a boyfriend now, so I'm asking her about him since I've never seen him before. (turns back to Elise)

Bret: Uh… Jason?

Jason: Yeah?

Bret: Turn around for me.

(Jason turns to face Bret again)

Bret: (smiles) Now you see him.

Jason: …What?

Elise: Bret's my boyfriend, Jason.

Jason: What?!

Bret: Nice to meet you, bro.

Jason: Oh… ok. I get it. Nice to meet you too. (pauses) I mean we've met before, but… yeah. I'm sorry. I had no idea that-

Bret: It's ok, Jason. You didn't know.

Jason: (slightly awkwardly) I'm sure you guys will have a great time together. At prom, I mean. You're super lucky, mate. (pauses) I mean- she’s lucky too… to have someone like… you. I- sorry. I’m just in shock. I wasn’t expecting this at all!

Bret: No worries, man.

Elise: Yeah. Thanks for asking, though. I appreciate it.

Jason: Sure, sure. It's alright. I guess I do still have time to ask someone else to go with me. But until then, some help with that homework question would be nice.

Elise: Oh, yeah! Of course, come here.

(Jason sits down at their table, and the two of them work on their History homework together while Bret just awkwardly sits on the side and watches)

(22 minutes later)

Elise: Alice! Finally! Where have you been?

Alice: Doing some finishing touches to my dance video. You know, the one for my assessment.

Bret: Cool. What song are you dancing to?

Alice: Bad Romance.

Bret: Huh. Lady Gaga.

Alice: You got a problem with that song choice, Bret?

Bret: (pauses) No.

Alice: You hesitated.

Bret: No I didn't!

Alice: Yeah, you did!

Bret: SHUT UP.

Librarian: Do I need to kick you kids out?

Elise, Bret and Alice: No, Miss.

Librarian: Then shh!

Elise: By the end of this session, she's going to hate us.

Bret: (rolls his eyes) Let her.

Elise: Ally, do you know where Stephanie and Dylan are?

Alice: No clue where Steph is. I think she just went home. I do know where Dylan is, though.

Bret: Where?

Alice: He had football training at his old sports club. He saw his father there - I think he was dropping Sam off at the same time. Anyway, they had this massive fight.

Elise: Oh, no…

Alice: Yeah. Pretty sure he's not coming.

Bret: That sucks. I think I'll give him a call later. See how he's holding up.

Elise: Hmm. Do you think he'll be able to fix things with his family?

Alice: I don't know. I definitely want him to… sooner rather than later. You know, 'cause of the wedding coming up?

Elise: Yeah.

Alice: But it doesn't look like things will get better any time soon.

Elise: (sighs) I'm worried about Steph, too. Has anyone noticed she's been acting kind of weird lately? Like… sort of moody?

Bret: She's just acting like Steph, El.

Alice: (laughs) I don't know. I do think it's weird that she's kind of keeping us at arm's length nowadays. Like, we agreed to meet up here, and not only is she not here, but she's not actively communicated where she is now.

Elise: Yeah. That's kind of what I mean. I hope she's alright.

Bret: Anyways, let's quit moping around and get back to doing some productive work!

(Alice and Elise notice that Bret is no longer sitting at their table, but is actually across the room at a computer)

Alice: Oh, like you're actually being productive right now. (scoffs) You're probably just playing computer games without sound like you always do…

Bret: Actually, Alison-

Alice: Still not my name!

Bret: I'm filling out some online forms for this very important application.

Elise: Wait, really?

Alice: There's no way.

(Alice and Elise both rush to Bret's desk to see what he's up to)

Alice: Huh. Apparently, there IS a way…

Elise: A music production internship in Luton! Oh my gosh, that's perfect for you.

Alice: Why are you being serious all of a sudden, bro?

Bret: Well, we're not going to be here in school forever, are we? Lately, I've just been thinking about the future more and more, and I want to make sure I have good options. Especially since there's no way in hell that I'm going to uni.

Alice: Good for you. I've applied to uni, but at this rate, there's no way I'm getting in…

Elise: Don't say that! You've improved so much, and any university would be lucky AF to have you. You know that?

Alice: (smiles) Thanks, El. You're so sweet. You're going to uni, too, aren't you?

Elise: Yep! Hopefully Cambridge Law. Something me and my parents have wanted since nursery school.

Alice: Yikes.

Elise: Yeah, prestigious. But I've been working towards it for my whole life, pretty much. And I've been given an offer, so I do have a real shot of going there.

Bret: Wow, congrats!

Alice: Thant's amazing!

Elise: (blushes) Thank you! So all I have to do now is get all A* grades in my final exams.

Alice: Which are only a few weeks away, so… no pressure or anything.

Elise: Thanks for reminding me of that.

Driving home

(Elise is driving Bret home after their encounter with Jason at the library. The atmosphere is calm, but there's a subtle tension in the air)

Bret: (glancing at Elise) So, today was good.

Elise: Yeah! Very productive.

Bret: And that was unexpected… you know, the Jason asking you to prom of it all.

Elise: (smiling) Yeah, definitely caught me off guard too. I had no idea he liked me like that at all.

Bret: (trying to sound nonchalant) Really? You never noticed anything?

Elise: (gently) No, not at all. We've always been good friends, but I never saw him in a romantic way. But he apparently did. I guess I missed the signs, if there were any. But that’s just me, I guess. What’s new.

Bret: (pauses, his voice slightly strained) It really surprised me. (tries to sound casual) I mean, it's not surprising. You're amazing, and he's known you for a while. But I mean, it's just surprising to find out that someone else is interested in your girlfriend like that.

Elise: (noticing Bret's tone) Bret, is something bothering you?

Bret: (pausing briefly) No, no, nothing. It's just… I didn't expect it, that's all. But, hey, it’s no big deal.

Elise: (reassuringly) Bret, you have nothing to worry about. You know that, right? I said no to Jason, and he understood. He said that he’ll back off and ask somebody else.

Bret: Yeah, I know. It's just… I can't help but feel a bit, you know, weird. I mean, he's been your friend for ages, and now he's asking you out.

Elise: Kind of like you! Except it actually worked out in your case.

Bret: Yeah…

(They stop at red traffic lights)

Elise: You are my boyfriend, Bret. Not only that, but you are my first real boyfriend ever, which is a big deal to me. I chose to be with you for a reason. Jason's invitation doesn't mean anything.

Bret: Yeah, I know. It's just… I guess I never fully considered the idea of someone else liking you. I guess it’s just one of those things that you don’t really think about until you experience it. You know what I mean? I get it if it sounds dumb, but-

Elise: Hey, it’s ok. Come here. (she reaches for Bret's hand, and Bret takes her hand in his) Bret, you have no reason to be worried. I love being with you so much, and you're stuck with me. Whether you like it or not.

Bret: (pretends to be upset about that) Damn it.

Elise: (laughs) Jason's invitation doesn't change how I feel about you. You're the guy I want to go to prom with. You're the person I'm with, and I'm happy about that.

Bret: (softening) I know, El. That’s why I didn’t want this to be a big deal. I'm sorry.

Elise: (squeezing Bret's hand) Oh, It's okay. Everyone gets a little insecure sometimes, and it’s understandable why you’d feel weird. But trust me, you have nothing to worry about here. I'm committed to this relationship. And you know me. When I commit to something, I fully commit.

(Light changes to green, and Elise continues to drive)

Bret: (smiling) Thanks, El.

Elise: (smiling back) Anytime. Let's not let this affect us, yeah? What we have is special, and no one else's actions or feelings can change that.

Bret: Agreed.

Elise: (playfully) Well, now that we've got that settled, how about we talk about what an amazing time prom is going to be?

Bret: Oh, it probably won’t be that amazing. They’ve downgraded from the usual venue due to budget cuts… Plus everyone is restricted to only having one drink each. One drink!

Elise: You know you don’t have to drink excessively to have fun with your friends, right?

(A few minutes and a long, semi-serious debate later, Elise pulls up by Bret’s house)

Bret: Thanks for the lift, El.

Elise: (smiles) You’re very welcome!

(Bret’s phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out and sees a message from his aunt Rachel, saying: “Hey sweetie! Hope you had a good day at school. Dinner is sorted out, I brought pizza on the way home from work!” Bret replies: “Cool. I’m with El, can she come in and have some pizza too?”)

Elise: Is that your aunt?

Bret: Yeah, yeah. She’s back from work already. (at this point, his aunt has replied to his text, saying: “Of course Elise can stay for dinner! The more the merrier.”) Do you want to have dinner with us tonight? Aunt Rach bought pizza.

Elise: (smiles) Yeah, sounds good.

(The two leave the car and walk towards Bret’s house together, Elise linking her arm around his. They stop right at the doorstep)

Elise: (notices his distant expression) You ok?

Bret: Yeah, I’m ok. Just thinking.

Elise: What about?

Bret: (smiles) How extremely lucky I am to have you.

(Elise smiles and kisses him on the cheek. This causes Bret to turn his head towards Elise and kiss her on the lips)

Ending things on a nice sweet note <3

Brelise is official! Yay. I wrote them to be especially cute in the really early days (what you're witnessing right now lol). Things are going to go off the rails with them a little later on, but they get through it eventually.

Stephanie isn't following her boyfriend's advice about moving on lol. No matter how hard she tries, she can't help but feel pulled back to her past life and mistakes.

(and just to be clear, she DID end up just going home without a word. I wanted this part too indicate that she's slowly changing/pulling away as she gets more haunted by her nightmares and long-distance stress. But it doesn't end here...)

I think my favourite of these scenes is the library part (it also took the longest to write lol). Remember Jason and Connor? They've actually been in the story before (Elise's History lesson, where she got the whole class to believe that George Washington was a vampire lol). Wanted to include them a bit more than I ended up doing. But it's alright, 'cause you guys will see them again at prom! Which is coming up shortly.

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danny-chase · 2 years

Note

two questions because i trust your batfam comic knowledge - 1) there was no remaining bad blood between tim and dick preboot right? like they'd already reconciled and back to being best bros?? 2) do you think tim should've started to return to civilian life and wind down as red robin after reconciling with batfam?

1) I'll cop to not having read all of Red Robin carefully (i'm sorry i've tried, i get second hand embarrassment reading it) but i did go through and skim what I haven't read in preparation to this. And I'd say yeah by the end of preboot they were officially on good terms with one another

Blackest Night: Batman #3

Red Robin #11

Red Robin #12

As soon as Tim tells Dick about what he found, Dick follows up on it:

Batman & Robin (2009) #10

By issue #13 of Red Robin, Tim's pretty much accepted that Damian's Robin, and although he doesn't like Damian, he and Dick are still cool with one another

Red Robin #14

And Dick helps him out on the occasional case

Red Robin #23

And in the last issue of the run Dick's the one to praise him for not killing Boomerang at the end, which mirrors what he said in the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul

Red Robin #26

And after this encounter, Bruce chastises Tim for what he did, which I find really interesting. Tim spends the whole first half looking for Bruce and almost like convinced Bruce coming back will fix everything and disregarding everyone else... meanwhile in the very last scene Dick's the one who's praising his actions and offering support

They also team up in the final arc of Detective Comics, Batman: Black Mirror

Detective Comics #874

And Batman: Gates of Gotham had them working together with Damian and Cass, but I've hit the image limit, so I don't have any panels to show. But yeah, they made up fairly quickly. It's less of what fandom makes it out to be and more like, Tim was angry and pushing everyone away in his breakdown and Dick was ready, waiting to pick up whenever Tim called. He pretty much was never mad and always trusted Tim throughout Red Robin (as seen in Red Robin #4 when he just let's Tim leave after Tim physically attacked him, because Tim asked him to trust him). I've also noted on my blog that in preboot, Alfred was the one to give Damian the Robin costume which is something that's generally forgotten, but also the reason why Dick never like officially apologized for it. He can't apologize for something he didn't do. But I would say by the end of Blackest Night, they're on neutral terms and by Red Robin 12 they're on good terms again.

2) I think it could reasonably have gone that way. I think Tim could have decided that he wanted to work more through the Wayne Enterprises side of things, or he could have stayed on as Red Robin like he did in the comic. In Robin 1993, when Tim was younger (and less traumatized), he viewed Robin as something temporary, and made a couple comments here and there about giving up the mantle when his time was done. However, that eventually changed as newer writers were trying to set Tim up as someone who would stay in the game (via making a lot of comparisons to Bruce, having Bruce being like he'll be better than me someday, etc.). So like it's hard for me to say if it was a part of Tim growing up and changing or if it was because editorial needed Tim to change. Especially because his personality changed a lot after the One Year Later event. I think a path that I personally would have taken is to set him up as more of a supporting role in the batfamily, having him go to college, filling in on missions in a pinch, and helping out Alfred and Barbara. Tim's kinda had like a "I'll do whatever I think is the best way to help people" and if the best way for him to help people is retiring or filling in another roll (in the comics he considered joining the army because of this mentality)... it makes sense for his character in my eyes

Edit: i had more thoughts. I think if they hadn't done all the weirdness with Leslie and Steph, Leslie would actually have a good shot at talking Tim out of vigilantism

#the bootlicker era was something else #ah well #i think it would be funny if 60s bootlicker peace corps Robin!Dick met about to join the army bootlicker Robin!Tim #but yeah if you give him a way of helping people that isn't vigilantism i don't see why not #tim drake #dick grayson #undescribed #long post #batman #robin #red robin #batfam #batfamily #would recommend black mirror and gates of gotham those ones are fun to read #momo don't look

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hintofelation99 · 3 years

Note

Sick day headcannons!!!!!!!

Hell yeah, I do have a post on this already (linked here) but sick day headcanons are some of my favs so let’s do some more! (Just btw there will be some repeats but that just means I rlly like that headcanon)

Dick

Dick: Oh no, god no!

Wally: What’s wrong?!

Dick: I’m dying!

Wally, suspicious: Okay…

Dick: Please Wally this is serious, I need help!

Wally, deciding to take Dick seriously: Okay, what’s wrong? What do you need?

Dick: Just a coffin. Made of maple- no oak! And roses, preferably white, oh or blue! With baby’s breath. And-

Wally: Dick, what’s wrong?!

Dick: I burnt the roof of my mouth.

Wally leaves.

A good rule of thumb for Dick is the more dramatic he is the less serious the situation. The less dramatic he is the more serious the situation.

He will go into work with a cold and complain the entire day.

If he has something serious that’s contagious he’ll call in sick but just say it’s a slight stomach bug.

If it’s not contagious he will act like everything is completely fine.

One time he did this after getting an injury on patrol and ended up passing out and spending that night and the next day in the ICU.

He has become a bit more responsible over the years, mainly bc he thinks it’s adorable how sweet and cuddly Damian gets.

His favorite sick day activity is eating junk food and watching rom coms under a fuzzy blanket .

Babs

Dick: Please go to bed!

Babs: I am, I am, just one more line of code.

Dick: You’ve said that for the last three hours!

Babs tries to relax when sick but she has trouble actually taking a step back to rest.

Most of the time she’ll take a nightquil then get distracted by something and ends up falling asleep in front of her screen.

Usually Cass or Steph will come over and take care of her.

Steph always makes the best comfort food. And usually Cass will tuck Babs into bed.

Babs loves dozing on the couch to the sound of Cass and Steph laughing in the kitchen as they make her soup.

If Cass and Steph can’t come over she loves talking to them over discord while eating take out. Usually she and Cass just listen to Steph babble or she watches on of them stream something.

She also usually ends up falling asleep.

Jason

Bruce: Are you sick?

Jason: I’m legally dead.

Bruce: That doesn’t-

Jason: So,legally, no. I am not sick.

Jason will forever and always argue that he can’t get sick since he already died.

When he was little he was rarely able to get extra rest when he was sick. Because when he was really little he wanted to go to school to avoid Willis. After Catherine died he was too busy just trying to survive to focus on being healthy.

But when Catherine was alive and Willis was away Jason would stay home from school, and if Catherine was sober she would read to him and sing lullabies. This only happened like twice but Jason cherishes those memories of Catherine.

As a kid if he was ever sent home for being sick he’d get in huge trouble with Willis.

After being adopted the first time he was sent home with a fever he begged Alfred not to tell Bruce and hid in his closet until he stopped crying being sad. Alfred sat by the closet door with soup, a grilled cheese, and tea, reading The Princess Bride aloud until Jason came out. It took two hours.

Jason’s favorite sick day activity is drinking tea and rereading The Princess Bride (with the movie playing quietly in the background) while wearing his Wonder Woman hoodie.

Cass

Steph: Cass why are you patrolling while sick?!

Cass shrugs.

Steph, with a sigh: You’re allowed to take a sick day, okay?

Cass looks unsure but nods.

Steph: C’mon, let’s get you a bath and fuzzy blankets.

Cass forgets that she’s not just a weapon/tool. She forgets that she’s allowed to rest when sick.

Because of this she will keep going no matter what and tends to view ‘taking a sick day’ as a failure.

Steph, Tim, and Babs have been working on this with her. She’s improved a lot now that Tim lost his spleen and gets sick easily.

Now usually Steph cooks for her while Babs lays with her.

Cass isn’t against taking medicine but she never feels like the situation is severe enough to require medication. So someone in the fam has to convince her to take her meds.

She becomes extremely cuddly when sick and will cling to anyone near her.

Her favorite sick day activity is watching old horror movies with Steph or Babs.

Steph

Steph: I’m fine.

Steph: I’m- I have a fever of 104, I should rest.

Stephs mom is a doctor, so she’s used to being told “it’s just a cold, you’re fine”.

Usually she keeps going until she can’t then sleeps for like three days.

But it’s less out of stubbornness and more out of habit. So if someone tells her to rest she’s immediately like “okay!” and takes the sick day.

Babs always calls or comes over to check on her every day that she’s sick.

Cass has been learning how to cook and loves making Steph food when she’s sick.

Tim used to come over but now he always calls.

Stephs favorite sick day activity is sleeping with an ice pack or heating pad, depending on the sickness, with a giant cup of ginger ale and Cass curled up beside her.

Tim

Jason: Tim, are you sick?

Tim, tiredly staring at case files: No I-

Tim is interrupted by a violent coughing fit.

Tim: Oh, I guess I am?

Growing up Tim loved getting sick because it meant the house keeper would come over and take care of him and he might even get a hug.

But she stopped coming over when Tim was ten, his parents thought he was old enough to handle being sick on his own.

Sick days in the manor were a shock to him because he was rarely alone, there was always one family member by his side.

Now that he’s immunocompromised he’s always surrounded by people, he pretends to get annoyed with it but really he loves how much they care.

Dick always sings Romani lullabies and runs his fingers through Tim’s hair. Jason, Duke, and Steph will cook for him. Damian stay by his side and bring him tea. Babs will play video games with him. And Cass does a bit of everything, at least everything other than sing to him.

The family also takes Tim getting sick very seriously so if they here one cough he’s immediately being interrogated and getting his temperature checked.

Tim’s favorite sick day activity is laying under a weighted blanket with a cup of tea and playing video games with Babs, Steph, Duke, and Cass.

Duke

Dick, knocking on Duke’s door: Hey bud, why are you still in bed? I thought we were training together?

Duke: Sorry, I forgot to cancel. I’m sick and don’t think I can handle training today.

Dick: You’re sick?!

Duke: Yeah, but don’t worry I’ve been disinfecting and cleaning so no one else should get sick.

Dick: I’m not worried about getting sick, I’m worried about you!

Duke: …oh, okay.

Growing up sick days were spent at home either resting alone or with one of his parents.

He had to do some fending for himself (like cleaning and making food when his parents weren’t home with him) but nothing extreme or unexpected. So, overall he had pretty normal sick days.

After he parents went missing he was so focused on getting them back and saving them that he never stopped to rest when sick.

Now as a member of the Wayne family his sick days are always spent with someone by his side, at least they are if he tells the family he’s sick.

He’s gotten in trouble several times for not telling Alfred/the family that’s he’s sick. Not because he puts Tim at risk, he like all the family is very cautious about that, but because everyone worries about him and wants to help take care of him.

After several lectures from Alfred he’s finally getting better about telling the family when he’s sick.

His favorite sick day activity is reading Jason’s copy of The Princess Bride while having a bowl of Alfred’s chicken noodle soup.

Damian

Jason: Are you sick?

Damian: N-

Damian sneezes like a kitten.

Damian: No.

Cass, smiling: Sick baby brother, cute sneeze.

Damian tries to be offended but ends up having a sneezing fit.

Steph: That’s so adorable!!

Damian has the most adorable sneezes. He literally sounds like a kitten and the entire family and hero community finds it adorable. Damian hates it.

He used to try and pretend he wasn’t sick and just work through it.

Then he sneezes in front of Harley and Ivy and they cooed over him for an hour.

Now he grumpily secluded himself in his room when sick.

Usually the family will check on him and find that Jon flew over and they’re cuddling on his bed watching cartoons.

When Damian’s sick he really craves spicy food. Like everything he eats he’ll add hot sauce or pepper to. His food is so spicy that only Cass can handle it, like it makes ghost peppers look like child’s play.

His favorite sick day activity is drinking masala chai under one of Tim’s fuzzy blankets while wearing Dick’s old hoodies and surrounding himself with various soft things he stole from his siblings. This is preferably done while eating spicy tomato or lentil soup and watching cartoons with Jon.

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arty-shadow-morningstar · 3 years

Text

Graveyard Siblings (5)

[Masterlink] (PART 1) (PART 4)

-----

Mari and Cass sometimes switch their suits as they have the same body type. Cass would sometimes go out in full Hellbat gear and give the appearance that Hellbat is out more often than she actually is.

So Orphan/Black Bat also sometimes uses guns.

This also helps with concealing secret identities. Maria was rescued by Hellbat from Joker’s Henchmen. (Vicki Vale was getting sus of the new Wayne and Hellbat.)

Unfortunately since Hellbat rarely comes out and she had already made all of her appearance for the month and it wasn’t a busy weekend, the public had come to the conclusion that Hellbat has a crush on the newest Wayne.

Basically everyone thought that Mari has a crush on herself. Which led to some teasing and escalated to Mari announcing that Jason had a crush on Red Hood on live TV.

It didn’t help that a video of Red Hood and Jason re-enacting Romeo and Juliet with Jason on his apartment balcony and Red Hood on the roof was posted on the internet a few days later. (Thank you, Trixx and Tim’s awesome video editing skills)

Sadly, it was taken down 24 hours later. (Tim and the others have multiple copies of it, on the cloud or hardware, hidden around in the manor and their respective safehouses in the US.)

Some people kidnapped Jason to hopefully gain leverage over the Red Hood and to their dismay and nightmares for years to come, Hellbat came instead.

One lucky and incredibly brave reporter asked why she was there instead of her brother.

Mari being a little shit, “Red Hood may be a tough and scary guy but when it comes to his feelings, my brother is a chicken.”

Pictures of Jason tackling Hellbat somehow never made it into any papers.

The criminal underworld hasn’t taken a hint and Jason has been kidnapped a few more times.

Other times Jason was kidnapped:

Robin: Red Hood made a fool of himself in front of Todd recently and he doesn’t dare to show his face.

Spoiler: He was taking too damn long checking his hair even though I told him that no one was going to see it under his helmet and he was so offended that he is currently sulking in the bathroom.

Red Robin: Red Hood can’t think straight when he is around Jason. I mean have you seen the dude.

Arsenal*during a rare visit to Gotham*: Red Hood owes me one now.

Dick finally ends it by going out as Red Hood and rescuing Jason. Gotham is happy that Redson (Red Hood x Jason) ship has finally sailed.

-------

Kate, Babs, Cass, Steph and Mari were out on Mari’s first girls’ night since her move to the manor.

This is set a little after she came back from Paris with Jason.

They watched rom-com movies, did hair and nails, gossip about the superhero community and bitch and vent to each other.

Marinette off-handedly mentioned the crazy shits she had done during her stint as Ladybug. It started with asking about the T-rex in the Batcave and she mentions jumping into the mouth of a live one before.

Everyone in the room was shocked and after a few more questions, it was obvious that she was very reckless and self-sacrificing. Yep, she was going to fit into this crazy family just fine.

And Holy Shit. There is so much trauma packed into this kid. She needs lots of therapy.

Babs finally decided that they all needed to get out and have some fun. All in their respective suits and they went out.

Joined by Harley, Ivy and Selina.

Plagg came along because I want Plagg to meet Selina.

It was a chaotic night and it was a miracle that Bruce didn’t find out about what the girls did.

-------

Batman and Red Hood were on patrol together when Selina jumped in front of them.

“Hello, Boys”

“What do you want, Catwoman?”

“I want to meet my new prodigy, Kitty Noire.”

Cue Marinette jumping down from her hiding spot, transformed with the Black Cat Miraculous. “Hiya.”

Red Hood carries her like a potato sack and points his gun at the other two.

“Nope, she’s my sister and I called dibs. I adopted her. She’s off limits.”

“Legally, she’s mine.” Batman coughed out.

“I did it first. Emotionally. She’s my emotional support sister. You have plenty kids already, B and Selina, get your own.”

“Hey, I am still here and can hear you.”- Maria

-------

Alya was worried for Lila. She had been acting weirdly for the past month.

She looked very out of sorts. Her clothes weren’t in order and her hair was in disarray. She had bags under her eyes and her eyes looked wild. Lila didn’t look like herself at all.

She jumped at any sound and flinched at really sudden movements.

Alya tried to find out what was wrong with Lila and received vague answers.

One time Lila said that Marinette is to blame.

Alya reaches the somewhat right conclusion that Marinette was haunting Lila and hurting her because Lila used to come to school with bruises and claims that Marinette did it.

Alya goes to Marinette’s grave to desecrate it. (Yeah, go anger the ghost that is haunting someone.)

Unfortunately, the moment she tries to do something, the sky turns dark, clouds appear and the wind begins whipping. A Lightning strike near her and there was a cloaked figure beside her with a scythe.

All Alya saw from the figure was the blood-red lips in a very sharp grin and glowing blue eyes, raising the scythe high before she ran away. The scythe swiped the air where her head once was.

Alya didn’t get far before she tripped and blacked out.

When she woke up, she found herself in the hospital with no idea how she got there.

She was told that somebody found her with a concussion in the park and took her to the hospital.

------

The next one on Mari’s hit list was Natalie.

She wasn’t as involved in the whole thing like Lila, Adrien or Gabriel but she still did it anyways.

Her punishment is a little mild compared to the others and was more of a warning to Gabriel.

Natalie woke up in the middle of the night to see a not-so-dead Ladybug sitting on her vanity chair with the moonlight from the windows illuminating her body and her neck. Her suit was torn exactly like the day of that battle with blood dripping down her arms and from her open wounds. The shadows kept her face hidden but glowing blue eyes stared at her.

Natalie was scared at first. But she regained her normal cool composure.

“I assume you are here to extract your revenge for aiding in your unfortunate demise. But before you kill me, I regret my part in my entire thing and I apologize for everything I have done against you even though I knew it was wrong.”

“At least you show remorse over what you have done. Visiting my grave when even my parents didn’t and leaving flowers. I love those purple hyacinths by the way. Did you know that they mean sorry in the language of the flowers?”

“Why are you stalling my death? Just kill me already.”

“Madam Sancouer. You just played a minor role in my downfall compared to what Adrien and Lila Rossi did to me. And you showed more guilt over your actions than they ever did and Adrien claimed to have loved me. And like I have told the Bats, Death is too swift of a punishment.”

“Who are the bats?”

“None of your concern. You should be more concerned about yourself.”

“Lila sees the ghosts of her past and they haunt her. Adrien is in a living nightmare and has no control over his actions and is despised by everyone. What are you going to do to me?”

“Well, since you show some guilt over your actions, let me tell you a little secret. I am not dead. Not really. I mean I did die. But there was a spell in the grimoire that revived me. It took a few days to work.”

Marinette changed to her normal form. It was a little jarring to see an older Marinette Dupain-Cheng sitting on her vanity chair like it was a throne. The Ladybug suit and the wounds were gone. She looked a little familiar.

“Why are you telling me this? What was the point?” Natalie faltered as she wondered why the girl looked familiar. Marinette moved closer and her face was fully illuminated by the moonlight.

“I intend to take everything by which I mean everything from Gabriel Agreste for what he did.”

“M. Agreste just wanted his wife back. You just gave him your Miraculous, you would still have everything.”

“What difference would it make? Sure I had friends and family before but they turned out to be disappointing. I might have become a famous designer like I dreamed of and can't achieve because I died. Besides, he never said about wanting his wife to come back in his tedious monologues. For all we knew back then, he wanted them for world domination. He showed that he would end the world for them. For kwamis’ sake, he nearly started World War III, just for a pair of earring and a ring. He was willing to kill me to have her back. No wait, he did that too. If he actually read the translated grimoire or asked the Guardian or at least someone with magic for help instead or maybe used his head and made some who can heal as his champion using the Butterfly, we wouldn’t even be in this mess. Face it, Mme Sancour, your boss is a power-hungry and very controlling maniac who is also thankfully an idiot.”

“But- he- he just-. You are just a child, what do you know? M. Agreste knew what he was doing.”

“A child who had a normal life up until he tried to ruin it with his idiotic schemes and hiring Lila to do it. A child who had to fight a war on her own.”

“I am sorry you had to go through that but I doubt you and your little revenge rampage is going to solve anything.”

Ghostly Chains wrapped around Natalie’s body, squeezing tight like it was squeezing the life out of her.

“I was all for sparing you, you know. If you had actually listened to my side of the story, you would have spared from my ‘little revenge rampage’. This is going to be a little painful. Sorry about that.” In a tone that was definitely not sorry.

Pain coursed through Natalie’s body. Her skin crawled and itched as pitch back feathers grew out of it. Her bones turned to dust and reformed.

Where Natalie Sancour once was, there was a raven.

An omen of death and destruction for one Gabriel Agreste.

Marinette leaned down towards the raven. Natalie tried to peck her eye out but Marinette held the beak in a firm grip.

“Ah. ah ah. Luckily for you this is temporary. Mostly. Every night, you will assume this shape and each night the longer you will stay in this form. Slowly counting down the days until Gabriel’s downfall. Since you love helping him so much, you are going to help him know how long he has to live. The night you are a raven from sunset to sunrise, that sunrise starts the day Gabriel Agreste will be utterly destroyed.”

She released the beak and headed towards the window.

"Send him my regards."

With that, she was gone.

(Part 6)

#platonic jasonette #graveyard siblings #maribat #ml x dc #marinette meets the sirens

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dukeofgotham · 3 years

Text

Why Duke Thomas is Bruce Wayne's Son Part One

Alright, so this started as me replying to someone on a batgirl server who thought that Duke wasn't Bruce's son. I thought this would make an interesting meta post, so here we are. If you have any additions or disagreements (please keep it civil :-) I would love to hear them.

I'm going to divide this into two sections, Legal & Emotional reasons. This will be part one, bc of the photo limit on posts. I'll link part two at the bottom of the post.

Legal

First of all, I think it's important to note that Duke is fostered by Bruce, at least at some point. Bruce was legally Duke's guardian for a decent amount of time starting near the end of New 52 and into Rebirth. I personally set it as the year The Cursed Wheel took place.

Now, how do we know Bruce took Duke in? Well, it's referenced several times in canon. First off, though, we have Bruce offering.

Batman (2011) #50

And here, in Batman Rebirth, is where Duke accepts:

Batman (2016) #1

Now, this next panel is the first example of Duke being said to be fostered/a ward instead of adopted:

Batman (2016) #1

Bruce implies that this is temporary, just until Duke's parents get better. At this point, they are still a little bit distant. I mean, they haven't started the Cursed Wheel yet, so of course they don't know each other that well.

Duke's parents are still alive, so Bruce doesn't offer to adopt him. Honestly, I think this sort of mirror's Dick's situation when he was a kid.

Here's another panel from later on in canon:

All Star Batman #1 (AKA The Cursed Wheel Part 1)

Specifically the "taking me in" part.

Okay, if that's not enough, I have more more.

[More Under Cut]

In this next panel, Bruce says that Duke's parents are being kept on the grounds of the Manor:

All Star Batman #2 (AKA The Cursed Wheel Part 2)

Duke's parents being on the Manor grounds, where Duke is, Bruce thinks is distracting him. Yeah, a bit cold. (But, he's Bruce. Oh, and he makes up for it later, in my opinion)

All-Star Batman #7 (AKA The Cursed Wheel Part Six)

In these two panels we can clearly see that Duke lives in the Manor! He's spending time with Titus, and Alfred even brings him breakfast.

Batman and The Signal #1

Oh! Oh! Maybe when Duke actually calls him and Bruce family? Of course, there are the quotation marks. But that can easily be attributed to

Or maybe at the end of Duke's miniseries, when Bruce talks to Duke about school? (Side Note: Can we get more headcanons about Duke going to Gotham Academy? Because the canon basis is right here! Oh, and Riko went too! Just think of the potential!)

Batman and the Signal #3

Alright, I know there are two problems with this example. First, I know that Bruce hasn't adopted Cass in New 52/Rebirth like he should so you could say this doesn't count. But he at least has to do with caring for her (that would be a whole other post, but in Rebirth Detective Comics Steph mentions Bruce gave Cass an apartment and money).

Secondly, this takes place after it is said Duke lives with his cousin (I'll go over that in a sec). But, again, it at least shows that Bruce has to do with caring for Duke. In some capacity.

Alright! Now we have the only kink in the legal argument I've made. There is a scene in BaTS where Duke is in a bedroom with Izzy and Riko, and says he's living with his cousin.

Batman and The Signal #1

Okay, see how he says "I'm not a billionaire named Wayne -- but I'm responsible for you now"? This implies that Bruce was responsible for Duke, but isn't anymore.

Also, yes. Duke isn't under Bruce's care at the moment. But here's the thing: this hasn't been brought up in canon at all after this point. (Like a lot of thing sin BaTS, unfortunately) Yeah, it was thrown in at one point, but if you look at Batman and the Outsiders, and how much they were out of Gotham and traveling, it really doesn't make sense for Duke to be under the care of someone who doesn't know his secret identity (And Jay doesn't). So I, like other people, have taken to theorizing that Duke is back with Bruce. Though… with Bruce in current canon, that is iffy.

But even if Duke isn't under Bruce's car anymore… why does it matter? Look at Dick Grayson for goodness' sake! He was Bruce ward! And then there was a gray area when he went off on his own, and wasn't legally tied to Bruce. And then he was adopted. But did people consider him any less Bruce's son because of said gray area? No.

(Also, Tim. Not 100% sure if this is canon, since I haven't read that era of Tim's comics, but I have heard that Tim was Bruce's ward for a time while Jack was in a coma. And then, of course, Tim was adopted later after Jack died. If it isn't canon, and just somewhat widely accepted fanon, then the attitude of fans still matters. What makes Duke any different from Tim at that stage? (Though I don't think Duke should be adopted, but that's a whole other deal about loyalty to his parents, and the hope that they'll still recover.)

This brings me to the next part of my argument: Emotionally, Duke and Bruce are family.

Part Two Here

#meta #duke thomas #+ bruce wayne #+ batfam #meta post #duke meta #batman and the signal #bruce wayne #batfam #batfamily #the signal #batman #dc #dc comics

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anothertimdrakestan · 3 years

Text

Batfam On A Road Trip HC

req: “Batfam on a road trip? It’s been on my mind for like a week-”

oh god it’s probably so chaotic... and like distinctly dangerous???

also this is my car AU where there’s infinite rows of seats in the car until I’m done.

we’ve got Bruce driving - even though Damian, Dick, Tim, Jason, AND Steph all tried to get behind the wheel but after last years incident the only people allowed to drive are Bruce and Duke but Duke doesn’t like driving with his siblings bouncing off the damn walls.

Speaking of Duke, mans snagged himself a window seat SO FAST it would make your head spin. He likes to sit next to Damian (who got put in the middle because he’s the smallest) and they share earbuds and Duke’s phone which is loaded with like 128 hours of songs. Against popular belief, Damian is actually good at sharing when it’s not with one of his more “obnoxious” siblings and he and Duke get along really well - they also have the same music taste. Duke changes between queue-ing songs, staring out the window making little stories in his head, and watching Damian draw. He occasionally is tasked with holding the sharp objects smuggled into the car after they’re discovered by Bruce as he’s the second most responsible (after Cass).

Speaking of the most responsible sibling, Cass somehow got shotgun next to Bruce. This is because she’s the only who makes him not want to throw himself out of the car and she’s a pretty good navigator. So, as she tries to moderate the back of the car she also is in charge of agreeing on pit stops and coffee breaks which works well because Cass is fair and no one can be an asshole to her. On the first road trip Cass discovered a Wendy’s Frosty and now she will usually write at least one Wendy’s stop into the trip - no one complains except Tim who is forbidden from ordering the spicy nuggets after last years incident.

Tim, the one notorious for threatening to throw himself out of the car most often, is sat in the far back. He someone gets a row to himself under the guise of “sleeping” when in reality he spends the trip typing away on his laptop, chugging monster energy drinks, and occasionally trying to make Dick bark like a dog through some kind of sleep-manipulation he read about one night at 2am. It involves him whispering in his ear and usually ends up making the whole car uncomfortable, except Jason who thinks it’s the funniest shit ever. However, after the incident his back seat gets thoroughly checked by Bruce for stowaways every pitstop, but he’d never store a secret in the same place twice...

We move to Jason! Who sits next to Steph. They’re the snack distributors. Known for throwing popcorn in the other’s mouths but it usually ends up being thrown at Bruce, Damian, or both. Jason is a champ at fruit roll up eating competitions. He claims it’s because his tongue is so strong from eating... nevermind. Jason is surprisingly organized about the snacks, and frequently restocks (with Bruce’s credit card of course) on pit stops. Jason likes to complain early into the trip but by the end he’s telling the most fun stories, singing the loudest, and causing the most trouble. His and Steph’s row is definitely the most fun. But he’s still on the list with Bruce after helping Tim become a world class smuggler during the trip that shall not be named.

Steph is the family interpreter. She shares messages from the back to the front and vice versa. She’s known for saying the back row is hungry when it was in fact her but everyone loves her for her honesty. She’s the first to ask for a leg stretch break, and the one who puts on good songs after Dick has had the aux for too long. She’s basically the lorax of the batfam road trip. She usually makes the snack packs that are distributed throughout the car and is known for memorizing everyone’s favorites to optimize the best snacks. Steph actually wasn’t in the car for the great incident, she often questions what happened but only knows what Dick quietly whispered to her, something about feeding nuggets to a foreign passenger...

Dick, the storyteller, the terrible-music-meister, the road trip organizer himself, sits on the other side of Damian. He was the one who purposefully cleared everyone’s schedule for the weekend and who roughly planned the route. Dick works closely with Cass to make sure they’re going the right way and he also mediates all fights that occur during the trip, and trust that there are a lot. Dick is known for being restless and often throws his head out the window on the freeway “just to feel something” his quote not mine. Dick is incharge of taking all dangerous items off Damian (and sometimes Tim’s) person before the trip and he was in the most trouble when the intruders were found during last years incident. But he took it with stride and promised Bruce this year would be better!

Damian, the deeply unhappy middle seater, can be found drawing and pretending he can’t hear Grayson blabbing on about “this crazy adventure he had as Robin so sooo long ago”. Damian is known for pouting through the first stop but after he’s had some quiet time he can actually be seen with the corners of his mouth upturned- especially if they drive past farms during the trip (Cass tries extra hard to make sure they do). Damian also had been known to try to run away during stops so he’s kind of heavily watched by Bruce and Dick. Luckily, his place in the middle seat means he’s far enough away from Tim to be “bothered by his mere presence” which is a significant win and close enough to Duke and Cass to keep him sane.

We are in fact missing two main people: Babs and Alfred. These two opt to stay home, getting the much deserved break they need. They like to have tea parties, cleaning extravaganzas, and (though they won’t admit it) the occasional dance break in the batcave when no one’s looking. They like to take the batmobile to get food and their guilty pleasure is watching rom-coms on the giant screen in the batcave while eating “trashy takeaways” as Alfred so eloquently calls them. These two have the best time, but if anyone asks they were simple awaiting the rest of their families return.

That’s how I think it’d go down! Overall I think it would be chaotic but not as bad as one might think, they are family after all : )

Oh wait, I forget, there are two more stowaways...

Bart and Kon are silent, Kon mostly flies above but occasionally slips into the trunk to rest with Bart. Bart easily slips into the trunk and is quite literally gone in a flash if Bruce ever suspects anything. Just because Tim can’t hand feed him nuggets doesn’t mean the boy isn’t read for road trip part two! He just hopes Kon made a flying stop at tacobell because he’s getting kinda hungry...

“Timmmm are we there yet?”

“DID I JUST HEAR WHAT I THINK I DID TIM”

“oh my god I finally experienced the great incident but now part two!”

“hi Steph! Yeah I’m here! Sorry Brucie, but yeah, can you pass me a twizzler?”

“HOW DID YOU DO THIS AGAIN TIM I SWEAR TO-”

yup, now that’s a batfam road trip : )

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uswntxfootball · 3 years

Text

wonderland (kristie mewis x uswnt!reader)

all the memories and suppressed feelings flood back when she gets called up to the national team again.

word count: 2624 ish

rated D for dumb idiots. also F for flustered reader. and A for a little angsty.

——

it was tuesday morning when you had a near death experience.

jordan thinks that you’re being overdramatic but you don’t listen to her anyways.

on your off day of training the team decided to go out to have a nice breakfast together at a cafe.

there was the usual banter, disgusting couple moments (you constantly made gagging noises at them), and general stupidity.

after a bit the conversation dulled a little, but spiked again when jordan said:

“hey doesn’t the uswnt roster drop today?”

oh crap you forgot about that.

“oh crap yes it does.”

you were pretty sure you were going to make it again.

you’ve been very constant with your playing, scoring goals nationally and at the wsl alike.

still you couldn’t help the nerves that crept their way up your skin, and you handed your phone to jordan to have her read the list .

“read the list of midfielders aloud for me would you?”

the forward accepted it without hesitation, this being a usual exchange between the two of you.

jordan scanned the page a few times before smiling:

“i am proud to present the midfielders for the 2020 netherlands camp-“

“oh stop it just get on with it.”

“well i was before you rudely interrupted me-“

“alright whatever well keep going then.”

“julie ertz.”

“ditto.”

“lindsey horan.”

“also a given.”

“rose lavelle.”

“obviously.”

“catarina macario.”

“i’m not surprised.”

“sam mewis.”

“uh huh”

“and yours truly, y/n y/ln.”

the table cheered a little and you blushed, taking a bite of your avocado toast to hide your smile.

“oh and kristie mewis.”

and then you inhaled sharply, choking on your bite of food.

“who?” you managed to get out through a fit of coughing.

your inquiry was met with an array of exclamations.

“do you not know who kristie mewis is?”

“sam mewis’s sister?”

“won the challenge cup with dash?”

“dated rachel daly?”

“how do you not know who she is?!”

“you’re american for god’s sake!”

you ignored them all and instead said to jordan:

“can you hand me the water?”

jordan furrowed her eyebrows and handed you a glass of water as you coughed away.

you shot her a thankful glance before it was broken again by your nonstop coughing.

daan turned and slapped you a few times on the back which helped slightly.

for the rest of the breakfast jordan noticed you were much quieter, resorting to staring off into space instead of filling the silences with bad jokes.

after breakfast she caught up with you.

“alright spill.”

you shot her a look of confusion.

“spill about what?”

“you and kristie.”

“there’s nothing to spill.”

“that’s a lie and you know that.”

“i- hey would you look at the time i gotta go!”

you glanced at your wrist quickly before running off.

jordan shook her head before yelling out:

“you don’t even have a watch on!”

steph watched the two of you and shook her head.

you and kristie were bickering about something across the field, too caught up in your own world to pay attention to the fact that training had ended.

steph and kristie were both boston college grads, and the two had been close friends before signing together.

kristie had taking a particular liking to you, and within the first week of training you found yourself included in everything the they did.

the three of you played for the boston breakers, sharing an apartment, a car, and consequently all your personal spaces as well.

and so it was only fitting that the three of you bickered.

a lot.

you and kristie more than anyone.

“that is the worst show in existence!”

“no it is not the cinematography is fantastic it’s-“

“no the acting is so bad!”

“no it’s not i-“

“you just have bad show choices.”

you gasped in offense.

“take it back.”

kristie grinned and stuck her tongue out at you.

“never.”

“well then you better run.”

kristie’s eyes widened when you lunged at her.

she took off but you, being faster tackled her to the ground.

your fingers dug into her sides and through a fit of laughter she relented.

“okay okay! i take it back! you have good taste in shows!”

you grinned triumphantly and stopped, your hands on both sides of kristie’s head as you looked down at her.

kristie’s cheeks were flushed and her chest heaved slightly as she looked up at you.

you were briefly aware of the pounding in your ears and butterflies in your stomach.

your eyes locked onto hers and unbeknownst to you you were leaning in but kristie was very, very aware of it, and just as she was about to lean in as well, steph’s yell broke the two of you out of your trance.

“hey training is over idiots!”

you shoot up so fast that your vision goes a little bit black.

you stumble a little bit before finding your balance.

“shut up mccaffrey you almost gave me a heart attack.”

you look down to see kristie still on the ground before you stick a hand out to help her up.

“what were the two of you even fighting about?”

you gave kristie a pointed look before saying:

“this idiot said my show choice was bad.”

steph thought about it for a minute.

“well i mean she isn’t wrong.”

kristie lets out an exclamation after hearing that.

“see?! i told you!”

“hey! you took it back!”

“doesn’t mean it isn’t true!”

“i’m being bullied.”

“oh shut up y/n.”

adjusting your mask and sunglasses, you made your way out of the plane with a few of your teammates.

you had just landed in the netherlands, and coming from england you had a shorter flight compared to most of the team, who would be landing in an hour or so.

you were brimming with excitement at meeting up with your us teammates, as you hadn’t seen them since the beginning of the pandemic.

even then you didn’t get to see them often as you played in the wsl.

you had signed with arsenal in 2017, after the league folded and the boston breakers disbanded, as you were done with the american soccer system.

england had welcomed you with open arms, and you soon made a home there, flying back every so often for national team camps and games.

so when the pandemic hit and a handful of your teammates signed for international clubs, you were ecstatic.

even if they signed for opposing teams.

at least none of them signed for chelsea.

christen gave you a little tap when she saw your suitcases, and you gave her a thankful look before going to grab them.

when everyone was settled, you made your way to the bus and set off on your way to the hotel.

“sam how excited are you that kristie is coming?”

your head snapped up at the mention of the midfielder’s name, an action sam noticed but didn’t comment on.

“i’m so happy! she’s happy too on being called back and can’t wait to see her old teammates again!”

your cheeks flushed a little when sam’s eyes met yours at the end of her statement, and you suddenly found the ground very interesting.

it was a little later when you arrived at the hotel and rose kicked your foot that you looked up.

making your way into the hotel was an interesting experience.

on one hand you were beyond excited that you were back with the national team, yet on the other hand the prospect of seeing kristie made you want to throw up a little bit.

it’s not that you didn’t want to see her.

you were nervous because you liked? like? her.

of course this you realized way after you had left the us.

or rather, just as you were about to leave.

you stood, heart racing as you stood in front of kristie’s door.

your hand hovered above it for a little bit as you tried to swallow and breathe normally.

you had already told steph and the rest of your friends but why was it so much harder to tell kristie?

were you afraid of what she was going to say?

that you were going to leave the country, leave the nwsl, and leave her?

you take a deep breath to calm down and you gave it a little knock.

the door flies open in less than a second.

“y/n! what are you doing here?”

kristie’s cheery demeanor rattled you a little bit.

upon seeing your face she frowned.

“what’s wrong?”

“i-“

your mouth was so dry and it trembled a little.

you could feel your heartbeat in your ears, tears threatening to spill.

kristie’s looking at you with a face full of worry now, and you couldn’t get the words out.

“i-“

you close your mouth again and take a second to look at her.

noting the ways her eyes sparkled and the way her hair was falling out from her bun in little curls over her shoulders.

and then it comes out in a hushed whisper when you least expect it.

“i’m moving to england.”

kristie looks at you too stunned to speak.

she whispers:

“when are you leaving?”

you look down at the ground.

“tomorrow.”

you keep your eyes trained on the ground, too scared to look up at her, knowing that when you look at her the tears you’ve fought so hard to hold back are going to spill.

the silence that falls between you is too heavy. too thick. too constricting.

you find yourself lunging forward towards the midfielder, wrapping her in a hug as the tears spill.

“i’m so sorry i didn’t tell you sooner.”

kristie doesn’t say anything.

she just hugs you harder.

you break away when you have to, but as soon as you turn kristie grabs your wrist.

you turn to ask her what’s wrong but her lips are on yours in an instant.

before you can even process what happened she pulls back.

“you’re going to kill it in england.”

and then she walks into the apartment and shuts the door.

ironically you walk into a door when you see her.

to be fair it wasn’t your fault.

it was hers.

well maybe it was yours.

your head had been all over the place in the past few days, ever since the prospect of seeing her was brought up.

when you had left five years ago, you couldn’t help but replay that kiss over and over in your head.

you couldn’t believe all the signs you had missed.

so yeah.

you were nervous.

and so with music blasting in your headphones, you were prepping for a run, and subsequently not paying any attention to where you were walking and she opens the door right in your face.

you stumble a little bit backwards, before falling down.

you haven’t even looked up, instead sitting on the ground rubbing your forehead and cursing.

it’s when a pair of sneakers appears in front of you that you look up.

and you actually choke on air.

before you stood the woman you had been thinking about, sporting an amused smile and quirked eyebrow.

she says something you don’t hear and it’s only when she leans down and takes your headphones off that you notice them.

your cheeks flush and you mutter an embarrassed “oops” which elicited a chuckle from the midfielder in front of you.

she extends her hand out to you and you take it, sparks shooting up your arm at the contact.

she pulls you into a hug and the two of you quickly fall into conversation.

here up close, you can spot all the changes and similarities of the girl you left 5 years ago.

the five years had been great to her, she was now even more breathtaking than before, no longer the awkward kid but a gorgeous woman.

she almost looks like a completely different person.

almost.

but you notice the same ways her eyes sparkle when she talks, the way the corners of her mouth tug up slowly when she smiles, and the way she tucks loose strands of hair behind her ear and you know this is the same girl you were so smitten with 5 years ago.

“you done checking me out now?”

your gaze snaps back up to her face and blush, a little surprised by her statement.

kristie gives you a teasing smile before saying:

“come on i’m just joking.”

she even has the audacity to wink at you.

and this behavior continues.

for the whole training camp she flirts with you.

you’re a little taken aback by the confidence in the girl.

with the constant winking and flirting and fleeting touches you’re pretty sure she’s trying to kill you.

“y/n. y/n!”

sonnett’s voice snaps your gaze back onto her face.

“sorry what?”

“you were so far into la la land i almost had to get ryan gosling to come get you.”

you shoot her an annoyed look.

“oh shut up no.”

your eyes drift back to the other side of the field, to where kristie was.

sonnett rests her chin on your shoulder and says:

“so who are we checking out today?”

you turn to her and scowl.

“no one.”

“you’re no fun.”

“no.”

“come on you love me.”

“no.”

and of course she scores.

of course.

no matter how hyped the game was.

or how difficult the netherlands defense was.

of course she scores.

she had been on for less than two minutes when she did so too.

you’re so excited you almost trip over your own feet.

she runs to you and you catch her as she jumps, and soon the rest of the team comes to envelop the two of you in a hug.

“i’m so fucking proud of you,” you whisper, and when everyone has relaxed a little, she kisses you.

it’s firmer and more insistent than the one from five years ago.

it’s almost like she knows what she wants and what you want.

you pull away after a few seconds, but only because you have a game to win still.

“come on kris let’s kick some ass.”

you let go of her and the two of you make your way back to your positions.

a few of your arsenal teammate shoot you teasing glances, and you blush when you meet them.

and when the whistle blows thirty minutes later, they make sure to tease you about it after the game.

you see kristie walking towards you and you grin, but before she gets there sam steps in front of you.

you look up at her, and when she doesn’t speak you fill the silence.

“i promise not to hurt her.”

sam quirks an eyebrow and leans in to whisper:

“you better not. or i will tear off your arm and beat you with i-“

“sam!”

kristie gives her sister a little slap in the arm before pulling you away with her.

“hey.”

“um h-hey,” you stammer, rubbing your neck nervously.

“you’re so cute.”

you blush a bit, your heart racing.

kristie catches your hand when it comes down and intertwines her fingers with yours.

“go on a date with me?”

you blush even harder and nod enthusiastically, not trusting your voice at this point.

she gives you a look before leaning in and connecting her lips with yours.

“hey please don’t bang my sister on the field!”

#kristie mewis #kristie mewis x reader #kristie mewis imagine #uswnt imagine #uswnt x reader #woso imagine #woso imagines

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stxleslyds · 3 years

Note

I have read your thought about the Batfamily, now I really want to know your thought about the one who started it, the Batman himself. We can't ignore the fact that Bruce is abusing his children, but there's also some moments where he's being a good father to them. But some of his act doesn't make sense.

He's beating his children, then calling them his son after. He act like a mad man after Damian's death (yeah, they did Jason dirty in here), feeling sorrow and desperately wanting to ressurect him, but then neglecting him continously in the future. I didn't know much about Cass, Bruce seems to always be a good father to her. But her fans once pointed that Bruce (or DC) is too hard on her to not killing/too soft on the others, because the other batkids has killed some villains while under Batman and still got to continue putting on their costumes.

What is exactly Bruce character? How is his relationship with every one of his children?

I feel like Batman can't be in a good relationship with one of his children without destroying his relationship with the other. I always love parents and children relationship in comics, but with batfamily sometimes it just so 'fanon-y' and some are hurtful.

I stopped reading Batman book for a long time. And come back reading that wedding and city of bane arc, because I want to know how they killed Alfred. And honestly those run are terrible. The issue basically just a batcat fanservice, with the worst Batman and Catwoman characterization ever. The batkids didn't even got many appearance and treated awfully as if they are just extras, even if they all are capable and have connection with Alfred.

Hey there Anon!

My thoughts on Batman and Bruce have changed over the last few years, he wasn’t the character that introduced me to DC comics but what I got to read from him at the time seemed good. As time went by, I started to feel like the whole concept of Batman was overrated and he kinda tired me in entertainment such as movies and all that. He never truly was a character that I actually liked so by the time that I read Under the Red Hood I knew that I liked Dick and Jason better than Bruce.

Batman was interesting but I was completely indifferent about Bruce. That whole thing changed around the time that the New 52 was sort of ending, there I started to heavily dislike Bruce and then that turned into pure hate. Now, I am just tired of the guy and every time that he appears in Dick or Jason content my day is ruined.

I hate that DC has been writing Bruce as an abusive and manipulative person and father to his “kids”, he has done a lot of wrong to them in comic history but all went to shit (in current comics) when Bruce tried to manipulate Jason into reliving the day that he died and his resurrection in Batman and Robin vol2. #20 and when he beat Dick and manipulated him into becoming a spy after telling him that he had told everyone that he was dead in Nightwing vol.3 #30.

Bruce was a horrible human being in the pre-New 52 timeline too sometimes, mostly towards Dick but in a way, it felt like Dick was able time and time again to get away from him a little bit. Now none of his kids are given the opportunity to turn their backs on Bruce, they are kept in his surroundings no matter how abusive he becomes towards them.

My biggest problem with Bruce’s abusiveness is the fact that the writers never treat it like he acts in an abusive way, they never make him apologize or have an internal discussion where he realises that he was in the wrong. “Bruce is a horrible person to his sons but it doesn’t matter because he is right and he is Batman so that’s that”, that’s the message that I feel DC is selling us. Bruce never receives punishment or is called out for his behaviour, Dick was never able to tell Bruce that what he did to him was unforgivable, he never got the chance to explain to anyone that he didn’t play dead, and when he came back from Spyral he took all the shit from his “family” himself.

Sometimes DC does something even worse, they try to hide Bruce’s neglect with things that never happened like they did with the Ric thing in Dick’s case. Dick was passed around from villain to villain when he was most vulnerable and at the end of it all DC had the guts to say that Batman had been watching over Dick all the time. Like, why lie in such a blatant way? Does Bruce enjoy watching his son suffer from a far or was he too much of a coward to tell Dick that he was a shit father, got stuck in a hole and then decided to play “Cat and Bat” with Selina instead of caring for any of his children?

The situation with Damian’s death and resurrection was a whole thing that was meant to prove that Bruce loved Damian and considered him his son. But in their effort to make Bruce look like a good father to Damian they completely destroyed his relationship with his other kids and that was also the start of Bruce referring to Damian as his ONLY son. And like you said after Damian was resurrected Bruce ended up neglecting him afterwards which ultimately led Damian to run away.

His relationship with Cass and Duke is something that I cannot explore because I am not into those characters and they are involved in books that I am not interested in. So I cannot say anything about that.

With Tim it’s complicated because I feel like his relationship with him was never actually father/son it was more like mentor/mentee and that seemed to work better for them, ever since they started the whole family thing Bruce started to act a little bit too rough towards Tim and that ended with Bruce punching Tim during the “City of Bane” arc. Bruce never apologised or was shown realising his mistake, but DC made sure to explain that Bruce was going through a rough time so that’s why he did it. It was pure rubbish and I dislike it a lot.

I answered an ask a while ago about how I thought Dick and Jason could become family the way that DC treats the “Batfamily” within comics and I came up with the idea of the “Dickfamily” because I felt like DC made a big mistake the moment they revolved the Bat family around Bruce and not Dick. Bruce is a character that is known for being lonely and for being surrounded by darkness that he only manages to escape through the light of Robin (Dick Grayson because he was the first), he was always depicted as someone who is hard to work with and considers his teammates only co-workers and not friends. He is a difficult person to connect with, so why on earth did DC come up with a family surrounding that man? (I actually know the answer to that question and it is: money, DC did it to sell more comics under the Batman name but we are going to forget about that here, let me be petty).

Why would DC make it all about a man that doesn’t connect or goes out of his way to say that he “works alone” when Dick Grayson is standing right there? DC hates that they created a character like Dick because he is just better than Bruce at everything, he just is, he is better family to Alfred, Jason, Tim and Damian, he was even written as a better father to Damian than Bruce ever was!

Bruce is just not a people person or a person that forms strong bonds with people. And that makes the whole “Batfamily” concept suffer and come off as something forced that doesn’t actually work.

Tom King was one of the writers that tried to kill the concept of the “Batfamily” with Bruce and Selina becoming a couple and by continuously saying that Selina was who was the most important person in Bruce’s life and the one that made him a better person. All Tom King did with that is make fans and non-fans of the “Batfamily” feel rage. Like, I might not like the “Batfamily” but there is no way that Selina comes first to Alfred, Dick or Damian, there is just no way and if that were actually true then that’s boring.

All the writers that have pushed the “Batfamily” concept (try) do it in a way that makes it look grand and of actual essence but without putting any work on it, if you ask me the “Batfamily” (if there has to be one) should only include Bruce, Alfred (he do be dead though), Dick, Tim, Cass and Damian (I suppose Duke too, I don’t know much about him). The “Batfamily” has to be small because that way you can actually build relationships and make them matter. Having Kate, Steph, Jason and so many others involved in a concept that was made to fit around Bruce looks stupid! Bruce has had almost zero connection to Kate and Steph in the last ten years and Bruce’s “relationship” with Jason is a complete joke!

Bruce is just not the character that is meant to be surrounded by too much people, and he is not a good person towards his family so the whole ass concept should be thrown to the trash and finally let it die. But money is important and if there is something that DC will never stop doing, is milking Batman for content that can be (sometimes) pretty basic.

All in all, I think Bruce sucks and that his “kids” shouldn’t be dragged back to him ever again or at least for a long while. All of them would actually benefit from not being involved with anything relating to Batman. Dick could benefit from Bruce and other Bat-related characters staying away from him and letting him live his life in Bludhaven. And Jason? My sweet Chonky? He would be in such a better place if Bruce disappeared from his life, imagine the actually good books we would have if Jason was free to act the way he was meant to do as the Red Hood…

(We saw a little bit of that in the back up story of Detective Comics by Rosenberg, Batman is still involved but he and Jason are definitely not on the same side of the story! So excited for Task Force Z!)

I don’t know If al that I just said answers your question but I hope you have a fantastic week Anon!

#batfamily #batfam #jason tood #dick grayson #bruce wayne #damian wayne #dc comics #asksss

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stephspurs · 3 years

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A Family Affair | Euro 2020 Football Fanfiction

hey besties!! here is part 8! Part 8 see's Amelia in a change of colours, her friendship with Jorgi explored more, an awkward Chelsea player and a cheeky Villa boy. Please enjoy & send me your thoughts! Love always, Steph xx

Part 8. | parte otto

word count; 1569 writing tools; third person until dashed line, first person thereafter. next update; Wednesday 11/08 5pm AEST. Updates are three times/week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday)! tags (as requested by users); @footballffbarbiex @obsesseds-world @abysshaven link to fic masterlist here

Landing in the rarely-sunny but always wonderful London town, Amelia was swiftly picked up from the airport by a man in a blacked out Mercedes van and driven away to her new club-appointed accommodation in the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The 24 year old couldn’t help but feel a sense of home resonating through her body. Yes, Italy was also her home for the last 3 years, but there was something in the air in London that really made her believe that this is where she was meant to be.

Whilst happy that her quintessentially-British townhouse was a mere stones throw from Stamford Bridge and her family home just on the other side of the park in Holland Park she was still a 30+ minute commute, without traffic & one way, from Cobham. Beggars can’t be choosers, at least this way she was close to the hustle and bustle of London City, as well as her family and old friends.

A few days had passed since her talk with Fede, her swift departure from bella Italia saw only a small gathering occur at her apartment with some of the juventus boys on the eve before her flight. Constant check-ins from La Cosa Nostra whatsapp group chat, of course the word had spread to the rest of the Italian national team before she had even returned home from Fede’s place, meant that she was never left alone to her thoughts for too long.

Keeping the promise he had made when she phoned to tell him the news, Jorgi was knocking on her front door at 7:30am the following Monday morning, ready to drive the both of them to Cobham for Amelia’s first full day of work. He was the only person who knew she was taking this offer, other than the professional staff at Chelsea FC who had to organise her contract, so it was very much a nerve-wracking drive to the suburban training ground.

“Sapevo che stavi bene con il blu Azzurri, ma il blu Chelsea è un'altra benedizione che mi è stata conferita” (i knew you looked good in Azzurri blue, but Chelsea blue is another blessing bestowed upon me) Jorgi exclaimed as she opened the door to his car and slid in, having stopped right in front of her house in a no-park zone.

“Morning Jorgi, Thanks so much for picking me up - i’ll sort out a car this weekend i suppose”

“It's not a problem, I'm only a couple of streets away anyway so it's not out of my way.”

The pair caught up on the past couple of weeks without each other, speaking on the Fede situation and Amelia’s feelings. The best thing about Jorgi was how he was able to see both sides of the story. He valued Amelia's opinion and feelings as much as his long-time friend, Fede. He knew how hard it was for both parties to come to an amicable separation & he was making a mental note to call his italian pal to thank him for letting the girl go.

Amelia’s first day at Cobham was heavily administrative, spending a lot of time sorting out paperwork, meeting the team of staff she would be joining, getting her uniform, sorting out her office. After a quick bite to eat with the head analyst, Paolo (she just couldn’t seem to escape the Italians altogether), she collected her leather bound notebook and followed her colleague to the first team wing of Cobham. Whilst she was strictly working with the first team, she had expressed interest early on & stipulated it in her formal acceptance, that she wanted the opportunity to work with the academy players and the freedom to dip into the talent pool of Chelsea youth, to assist in perfecting her tactical plays.

She couldn’t deny that the blue of her uniform was the perfect shade to bring out the blue in her more-often-than-not grey eyes, she felt comfortable in it, she felt part of the team. Pushing open the door ahead of them, Paolo stood to the side like a true gentleman and gestured to Amelia through the door first.

______________________________________________________________

Walking in, I noticed that the scene in front of me was similar to the first time I met with some of these players. With their backs to me, facing the front, listening to every word that Tuchel was saying to them. I snuck in, stood to the side and waited for my introduction which came very shortly after.

“I want you all to meet the new tactical analyst that the club has appointed following a very successful european campaign this past summer, Amelia White” Thomas directed towards me, and just like that, a slight bit of deja-vu settled in as i watched 30+ sets of eyes turn to look at me. Some were happy to see me, some were polite and offered a small smile, and just one set looked a little shocked and very guilty.

“I trust you all will treat her with the respect that you show me, Paolo and all other members of this professional staff. We had to fight tooth and nail for this girl to join us and I can’t express how lucky we all are to be learning from her.” Tuchel dismissed his team, Jorgi pushing through the chairs to get to me.

“Amelia! What a surprise! Why didn’t you tell me about this!” Jorgi rushed over to me and wrapped me in a hug that I didn't return. Less than impressed with the boy's antics and sarcasm.

“Oh be quiet, you drove us both here today.” I spoke with a smile and rolled my eyes.

“Always the trouble maker Jorgi!” Mason Mount spoke from behind him.

“Amelia, nice to see you again! Can’t believe you didn’t tell us in the group chat!” Mason continued as he greeted me hello.

“Haha yeah, it all happened very quickly & to be honest, my decision wasn’t final until a couple of days ago. I had a few opportunities and I had to weigh up my options, Chelsea were willing to go a bit above the other clubs so it became obvious. Besides, someone once told me I would look good in the Chelsea blue” That someone also being the person who avoided my messages, and who is currently avoiding my eyes.

Later that evening.

“As if I deserved to know you picked the blues on sky sport?” Jack questioned the girl over facetime that evening, keeping their friendship tradition alive and cooking together.

“It all happened so quickly Jack, I was in talks with a few clubs and there was a bit of a tussle and negotiation stage and then I just had to pick one. Chelsea offered me the opportunity to foster the youth team talent and no one else was willing to cross-contaminate their professional staff” Amelia hurried down the phone, afraid that she hurt the brummie lad’s feelings.

“Calm down Mils, it's fine! I’m only playin wiv’ya. I’m happy for you - and me too, now I can come visit ya and have a place to stay in the city” He joked back to her. Jack had a certain way of calming the girl down, he reminded her a lot of Fede. He could read her before she came to terms with her own thoughts and feelings.

“Are you trying to tell me that you, with all of your friends and all of your money, need to rely on little old me for a place to stay in the city?” The joking tone went back to normal with the two flirtatious friends.

“No, I'm just saying that I'm happy you’re in the city. Ya know, it’s only a 2 hour drive. I could easily come down on a Friday after training and be back before a Sunday game…”

“2 hours is far too long to be in the car just to spend the day with me”

“That's where you’re wrong, it would be two nights and one whole day. Besides, 2 hours in the car is better than having to fly to get to you. I was prepared to do the latter anyway before your big move back to London” Oh did her heart swoon inside her chest, a quick blush spread across her cheeks and a little chuckle left her lips - unable to find the right words to say back to him.

Amelia knew the dangers of the situationship, this was exactly how it happened with Fede. She couldn’t help that she was naturally playful and flirtatious, she often didn't know she was doing it. Normal conversations to her often appeared like a hardcore flirt-fest to anyone who happened to be around the girl. She didn’t want to cross that line with Jack, she knew better than to do that, especially with how she hurt Fede in the end. She didn’t know where she was going to be in a few years, nor where he was going to be.

What she also recognised in the older lad that Fede also possessed, and she would be surprised if he didnt considering he is a professional football player, is that he was determined. Too determined that sometimes it was more about the chase and the challenge, rather than the aftermath or the reward. She knew Jack wouldn’t give up on her and would always be there for her. Was it bad that she enjoyed it?

Part 9. | nona parte

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