"You're laughing," Bruce deadpans, and even with those contacts on, that burning glow of anger lights up his brown eyes whiskey golden. "Our toddler stole your car, robbed a toy store, and you're laughing."

"You look so beautiful when you're angry. "

"Harvey."

"Doll. It's funniest shit ever," Harvey exclaims, holding a pleased looking Jason, happy as a clam, cuddling a wonder woman kangaroo plushie.

Jason giggles, " shit!"

Bruce groans. Harvey grins harder, "That's funny too! Come on, you're tellin' me our kid ran over the clown, and you don't find it funny in the slightest."

"Not at all."

"You're just mad you didn't ran over him first."

Bruce doesn't deny that. "He's taking the toys back."

"Eh, come on."

"Harvey."

"Oh, what are ya gonna do? Send me back to arkham?"

---

"You don't listen to him, kiddo," Harvey says, behind a wall of glass, back in his orange scrubs. Harv is irritated with him because his Bruce time is limited. "You're gonna do great things. Great, destructive things."

Jason laughs, two front teeth missing after following Dick on patrol. Turns out flying takes more than self-confidence and prayer. "Shit."

Harvey still laughs like a maniac.

Headcanons for being Diego Hargreeves’ child

Diego Hargreeves x child!reader

warnings: knifes, blood, guns, death mentions, mental hospital

a/n:

prompt: anonymous: “Hi! Could you please write a “The Umbrella Academy” Diego Hargreeves x daughter reader headcanon? I always think Diego is such a overprotective softie dad ♥️♥️”

deigo really said “?????”

how dad

but also he’d just the most loving dad anyone could ever ask for

✨it’s because he was never loved by his dad✨

“hi cutie, i love you, i love you, i love youuuuu”

he locked away all his weapons so that you couldn’t hurt yourself on them

but he always missed a few and he’d turn around and see you holding throwing knives and just FREAK OUT

“no, no, no, you may not have those! knives are for big boys like me, not babies”

“give back”

“‘give back?’ are you nuts?”

diego has conversations with lil you as if you know what the fuck he means dhshshhshs

as you got older, you became more interested in his “career”

“no, i dont care if you have powers or not! you have a bedtime, that means no vigilantism, you hear me?”

“if i say ‘no’ can i be a vigilante?”

“you know what? how about you clean up the gym for al so he doesn’t evict us?”

you did not sign up for this

you really wanted to meet your aunts and uncles, but you weren’t exactly sure they knew about you

i mean, you knew you had a cousin but everyone knew about her because aunt allison was a goshdarn celebrity

“dad, i want to meet the family!”

“no you don’t”

end of discussion

despite having a bedtime, you still watched movies late at night with your dad

he really liked marvel movies

“come on, that would never happen!”

“you come from a family of superpowered kids, a robot mom, and a monkey, and you’re upset about...a guy that shoots arrows?”

“maybe i am, what’re you gonna do about it?”

you ask about umbrella academy stories a lot, you your dad usually makes it about him

“and then i punched that guy in the face! and then i stabbed him in the leg because he was a dick! bet you’re friend’s dads arent as cool as me”

*yawning bc you’ve heard this story a million times*

you go to public school

you do have your dad’s last name

which occasionally gets recognized

“woah! wasn’t your dad a superhero?”

“i have no idea what youre talking about” :)

practicing your knife throwing while diego is away, him coming home to find his knifes stuck through various targets

so proud but he had to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself

you actually had to learn how to patch him up because he did come home a bit battered and bruised several times

“im okay, y/n. no need to freak”

“dad, there is literally blood dripping on the floor will you just sit down and stay still for five goddamn minutes?”

“woah, who the fuck taught you to cuss?”

watching the news at home when your grandfather was reportedly dead

you were actually very upset because you wanted to meet him so bad

even if he was a dick

your dad came home silent and you knew he knew

“you okay?”

“oh, yeah, im better than okay!”

finally getting the chance to meet your family

“who are you?” -allison

“im, uh, y/n. diego is my dad”

*jaw dropping*

and you know what? that happened four more times (plus ben but you didn’t get to see that)

“and you are?” -luther

“who’s the...the little one?” -klaus

“well, what do you know? diego’s a dad” -five

“don’t tell me that’s...no way” -ben

“you’re diego’s? wow, i can’t believe he didn’t tell anyone” -vanya

“i...i know who all of you are” -you

diego bragging about how perfect you are while everyone simultaneously rolls their eyes

“well, y/n, maybe one day we’ll schedule a playdate for you and claire” -allison

“‘playdate?’ how old do you think i am?...but yes i wanna meet her”

“god, you’re so much like diego, it’s unsettling”

you had been secretly training at al’s gym during your dad’s late night activities

so when trouble came your way, you were able to handle yourself pretty well

“where the hell did you learn that?”

“al showed me a few moves!”

“that old man? you’re kidding”

you met your grandmother, grace, who was tasked with keeping you safe at all times

you actually loved her sm

but there was something a bit off about her

besided the fact she was a robot

klaus snuck you out so that you two could have BoNdInG tImE

it wasn’t all bad

ben was a lil choked up that he got to meet one of his niblings

“they’re perfect”

“they just stabbed someone, buddy”

“who are you talking to?”

FIVE EVEN SCHEMED WITH YOU

“okay, y/n, i need you to curve something when i throw it, got that? right at that security guard”

“what are you throwing?”

“you’ll know when you see it, make your uncle five proud”

“IS THAT A GUN”

<3 family

running into patch!!

“hey, kid, i just saw your dad. i thought i told you to handcuff him to the radiator when you were away?”

“yeah, well, he wouldve chewed his hand off so here we are”

that was the last time you saw her :/

well, your dad was now a wanted man

“what happened to your arm?”

“no”

you actually didn’t expect this family reunion to go south like this

wait—yes you did

vanya has powers????

“i thought vanya was the one without powers?”

“yeah. so did we.”

diego straight up did not want you anywhere near that

but you, again, were his child and also fuck authority you do what you want

the vibe is almost getting shot several times

by hazel, cha cha, and “commission” guys?

going 2 ur auntie’s concert 😌✨

“y/n, hide in the bathroom and stay there until i come get you”

“dad, i love you, but no”

“y/n, i love you too, but yes”

“no”

“yes”

“NO”

“YES”

you won

but in the end (or not so much) you time traveled to...1961?

without any of your family

“this is...this is not good”

understatement of the year(s)

what was a kid like you gonna do in dallas, texas in 1961

no seriously, what

it was rough, but you managed to survive on your own

and open a paper in 1963 to find a mugshot of your dad

“son of a—”

visiting dad! (two years later)

“y/n? oh my god, y/n! shit, i missed you so much! why do you look different? you’re bigger, oh god. how long have you been here?”

“2 years, dad. you?”

his hair was so LONG

“2 months”

“christ, that’s it?!”

“i have to stop jfk from being assassinated”

“what makes you think that’s a good idea???”

“its the right thing to do, wanna help?”

“shit, i guess. as long as i dont end up here”

“no promises, people in the 60’s are crazy”

diego: 👁👄👁

you: 👀

running into five on the street soon after

“uncle five?”

“no time to talk”

“okay, asshole? i’ve been here for 2 years and you dont care?”

“two years, huh? i spent 45 years in a post apocalyptic world as a 13 year old and beyond”

“i didn’t say it was a competition, dude. you kinda dropped us all at different times. at least, me and dad. he—”

“is trying to kill lee harvey oswald, i know. come with me”

finally running into your other aunts and uncles, who were so excited to see you

you ran into their arms and they picked you off the ground and you felt closer than ever after only knowing them for 10 days

dad broke out

lila too

“im your new mom!”

“you’re what?”

diego dragged you along with him almost everywhere

he had missed you so much, but he keeps forgetting you kinda grew up without him for a while longer

meeting grandpa :)

“a grandchild, huh? how unfortunate”

“bitch”

“what did you just call me?”

“a bitch.”

your dad and basically the entire table trying to hold back laughter

reggie was stunned

cold hearted just like him <3 he didn’t know if he was offended or proud

this is so confusing

diego just disappeared off the face of the earth

and assassins were on your case

“the goddamn swedes are back oh shittt im gonna die”

“y/n, just curve their bullets”

“it’s not as easy as it sounds, klaus!”

you were doomed

theres too much to go over

apparently you died on a farm????

and then you didn’t??????

and your dad was almost apart of the commission

��hey, you okay, y/n?”

“i would like to take a nap please”

“yeah, me too”

“me three!” -klaus

yeah it was never that simple 😌💕 the end

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @cullens-stuff // @lotsoffandomrecs // @takethebladeawayfromme // @that-nerd-tessa // @teenwaywardasgardian // @spidergirla5 // @sheridans-dynamos // @freya-xo // @johnmurphyisbisexual // @jay-is-groovy // @ravenmoore14 // @purpleskiesstorm // @abbiesthings // @thereagles // @ofthedewthesunlight //

are you taking requests? if so can you pls use the line "is there a problem here, gentlemen?" in a story?

BONUS STORY! 2ND UPLOAD OF THE DAY?? CRAZY. (if there is a second upload it’ll be at 6pm EST)

Author's Note: You fucking bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to do that.

Y/N - Your name

Batfam + batsis story. Y/N is the newest daughter of Bruce Wayne and is following in everyone’s footsteps as the youngest, in years of service, vigilante of the crew. They hold a gala with villains.

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: LMAo Angst whoops, no spoilers but injury and description of injury, Swearing, no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd amen

One-Shot. Not in the Criminal Psychology Majors Continuity.

Y/N packed up her knives into her thigh holsters, apparently, Bruce thought it was a good idea to hold a gala with the known villains of the world. And the kids had to handle it if it got out of hand, Why the fuck are we doing this, She thought, This is a stupid idea.

"Kids, I know you all think this is stupid-" Bruce tried to say before he was cut off.

"You could fucking say that again." Jason snapped at him.

"Kids, I know you all think this is stupid." Y/N mocked Bruce.

"Okay, okay, I get it. It’s a dumb idea.”

“Again, no fucking shit, Sherlock Holmes,” Tim said.

“You guys really don’t need to gang up on me like this,” Bruce tried to say.

“Gang up on you?! You’re the one all like ‘Hey kids! We’re going to do a gala with villains hehe! I hope u don’t mind xoxo.’ Shut the fuck up, Bruce,” Y/N snapped.

“Do you even want to go with that attitude?”

“No! I think that’s pretty fucking obvious!” she snapped again as she went to go grab one of her guns, but Bruce grabbed her arms.

“No. Guns,” he said, trying to be stern with her.

“No. Villains. In. The. House. Oh wait. You’re an idiot, I forgot, silly me,” she mocked before struggling out of his grasp and grabbed her guns and holstered them, one on each side, ambidextrous shooter because she had learned from Jason, quick with knifes and throwing them as well.

“Y/N, there’s no need to be so violent with me,” Bruce tried to say to get her to calm down.

“You just better hope none of those villains make a fucking move, Bruce.”

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

At the party, she wore combat boots and a cat suit under her dress, just so she could slip it off and go into action just as quickly. Her vigilante name was Syndicate, because when she named herself she thought she had the same values as Bruce and his kids. After time progressed, she realized that she was a lot more like Jason than she cared to admit.

They both carried guns into that party like no one was watching and telling them not to. They didn’t trust the villains in their house in any capacity, and that was obvious from both of their outbursts earlier in the day. They were the outliers in the batfam. The ones who did agree with some of what they were shown, but guns and death were necessary sometimes. She and Jason were the true Syndicate.

It was a masquerade ball, so everyone’s faces were hidden, but Jason had his white hair streak, so she knew where to go to talk about the gala and what they would do if the villains attacked the rest of them, and she did so.

Walking over to Jason, she could feel the eyes of many men around her, not everyone recognized her as the newest daughter of Bruce Wayne, so eyes were hungry and they wanted to dance the night away with the temptress. She thought that dating was idiotic, though. And especially if it was a villain trying to sweep her off of her feet.

“May I have this dance, milady?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” she said while accepting his outstretched hand and they went to twirl around the dance floor when she leaned into his ear, “I don’t trust these fucks, Jason,” she whispered.

“Who the fuck does trust it,” he whispered back.

“We need to be on our toes.”

“You’re already on your toes, dancing with me,” he joked.

“You’re the worst, Jason. I mean it.”

“When do you not. But I’m your favourite brother and you know it,” he said as he dipped her.

“While that may be true,” she stopped when she caught some of the people leaving to the backdoor, “We have an issue,” she whispered and pointed towards the people leaving.

“Son of a bitch.” 

And they were off as fast as they could without drawing suspicion.

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

“Is there a problem here, Gentlemen?” Jason asked when they met up with the people trying to snoop, they assumed.

“Yes, there is,” one of the mystery men said as he pulled a gun and pointed it at Jason, “And it’s you, son.”

“Cute! He even brought his little girlfriend with him!” one of the other men exclaimed as he snooped closer towards Y/N and pulled a gun on her too.

“Festive, truly, you three are,” she said, staring down the barrel of the gun.

“Shut it, girl,” the second man commanded.

“No thanks,” she said as she grabbed the barrel of the gun and struggled it out of her face, it misfired and hit a few different areas of the wall behind her, at the same time, Jason had managed to get the gun out of his attacker’s hands and was pointing it back at him.

She continued to one-hand hold the gun while she tried to find the handle of one of her knives. She managed to grab it and fling it into the shoulder of the third, not speaking, man’s shirt and pin him to the wall. The struggle for the gun was still on though, but she was able to get her other hand onto the gun when it fired off.

 Jason was busy attacking the other two men to notice that Y/N had been shot in the shoulder, and too busy to realize that the party had been evacuated and Bruce was up his ass in texts asking where he and Y/N were.

Y/N slumped to the ground, clutching her wound when the man turned his gun on Jason, she used her boots to her advantage and kicked the man to the floor as hard as she could. Jason ended up being able to tie the three men to each other within 10 minutes, while Y/N was bleeding out on the floor, he didn’t notice she was shot till she was clutching on for her life.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” he whispered as he tried to lug her off the ground and run to the front entrance, where he could hear the ambulances going off. When she whispered to him, “I’m...” she breathed, “Sorry...” she breathed again, “Jay,” she didn’t breathe again.

He sat there in shock,, clutching his dead sister’s body in his arms and making no noise when the paramedics rushed in and saw the damage. The called in for the coroner, and went to get Jason off of her.

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

In the police station, they told Jason that they just needed him to explain his story, even though they had the footage. Bruce was pressing charges against the men, later to be Harvey Dent and two of his accomplices, for the death of his daughter.

Bruce had not seen his son since the incident, but things were moving quickly and he would get to see him again when the police finished their interviews. But Jason was struggling to get his words out, so they let Bruce go see his son and try to comfort him.

“Jay?” Bruce asked, trying to see if Jason would even look at him, he didn’t, so Bruce went and just hugged his son while he cried into his dad’s shoulder, “I know, son. You did your best.”

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

The funeral for Y/N involved a lot of crying from every batfam member. Even Damien, who struggled to show Y/N a lot of love, cried like no one was watching at his big sister’s grave. He actually laid beside her grave once she was buried for a while as everyone was telling stories about her. Dick found him and picked him up to take him inside. 

No one held resentment for Jason and him not noticing, they all saw the tapes, she didn’t make a damn noise until she was dying in his arms. Stubborn bitch, Jason had joked and everyone had laughed. They could at least remember Y/N for who she was before she died.

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

The trial was long and winded. Harvey, thank god, confessed in his interigation so he pled guilty to being an accessory to murder. However, both of his accomplices, even the man who shot her, pled not guilty to all charges. So the trial was hard.

Jason testified in court about how he thought she’d be okay, she could carry her own, but the gun shots were so loud and he very easily shot her. Then his lawyer started saying it was self defense.

The rest of the trial started to blur for all of them. But all of them were found guilty for the murder.

The victim’s statement to determined the death penalty was said by Bruce.

“Your Honor, these men took away my daughter. And I honestly don’t want them to get the death penalty. I want them to rot away in a prison. The poor girl was only 19, I want them to spend at least 20 years behind bars, sitting there, knowing they killed my baby girl,” he paused to wipe a tear, “I wish we weren’t here and she got to grow up and have kids. She’ll never know her nieces and nephews, the people her siblings marry, or even get married,” he paused again.

“I want my daughter back, but we’ll never get that. So, Your Honor, I ask for you to not give mercy for these men, Your Honor. Thank you.”

The men got life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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

Damien actually took his partner to meet his big sister first, before explaining the story to them. He still finds it hard to talk about how she died.

Tim goes to her grave a lot and tells her stories about his life and how he’s doing without her. He always leaves telling her that he loves her.

Barbara visits often as well. Just to talk to her. She says a lot about the missions they go on without her and how the team isn’t complete anymore, and how she worries Jason will never recover from this event.

Cassie doesn’t go often, the memories of Y/N are enough for her most of the time, but she goes every holiday and on Y/N’s birthday just to greet her and say that she loves her.

Steph seems to still have trouble accepting the fact that Y/N is gone. Maybe it's because they fought the night before and it would have been resolved so easily had she not died. It hurts everyone to see Steph talk about it.

Dick will sit at her grave for hours, he’s the one to clean her grave when it gets dirty. He doesn’t always talk to her, but when he does he asks her if she’s met his parents and if they’re proud of him. He’ll probably never know the answer to it, but he likes to think the wind that hits him after that is Y/N saying that she loves him and that his parents ar proud of him.

Jason doesn’t go to her grave on the day she died. He refuses to admit that she died in his arms, so he doesn’t go on the anniversary of her death. He bottles himself up in his room and cries. He has nightmares about her death.

Bruce wishes he could have done more, but when the trial ended he went to her grave and told her about it. He actually laid her to rest by his parents so that she could be near her grandparents. 

Alfred misses her but knows that he couldn’t have done anything, but he leaves nothing in front of the doors and windows so she can enter if ghosts are real.

Fate looks toward season 2

Where you reach the bad ending, where do you go from there?

In season 1 we got the bad ending.  The school had been taken over by Rosalind, Queen Luna, and Andreas, who are all extremely sus people!

Queen Luna believes in being in control, and you only get control by having power.  This is most obvious in the way she tries to crush her daughter’s spirit, thinking she can force Stella to be perfect. She’s also a believer in the Sith philosophy of using hate and anger to fuel magic.  Oh, and she covered up what happened at Aster Dell, which is super sketch.  We’re not totally sure what did happen, but if it was “heroes destroy town of blood witches and Burned ones!’ she probably wouldn’t have needed to cover it up.

Andreas is… he’s an odd one! Is anybody else getting crazy-eyes vibes from him?  His eyes are not actually crazy but there’s somethin’ off about the dude.  Badass Marco mentioned him as having “bloodlust” and said it was maybe good that Sky didn’t take after his dad. Andreas respects Rosalind to the point of drawing sword on his friend to follow Rosalind’s orders.  We hear from Silva that Rosalind had given Andreas a sense of purpose and he felt indebted to her.  For what, I wonder.  

He also seems to have hidden out of the public view for sixteen years on Rosalind’s command!  I wonder where he was hiding!  Was it just him and Beatrix in a cottage somewhere?  Also, why did Andreas neglect his son but agree to raise Beatrix?  Maybe he thought she was the chosen one, that’d be a good enough reason but B honestly seems to care for her foster father.

Also, and this is something I don’t think the show meant to imply… sometimes kids who are abused grow up to be overly sexual, since they learn the wrong kind of love from adults when they’re young.  That suggests a whole ‘nother level of grimdark and I do not think the writers meant to go there.  I think they just went “raised by Andreas” and “evil = slutty stereotype” and never put the two thoughts together to see the icky implications.  I sure as blazes hope not!  There’s dark and then there’s just ew.

And then there’s Rosalind.  What do we even know about her?  She was headmistress before Dowling, and mentor-slash-commanding-officer to the adults.  And she knows more about magic than the teachers at the school.  A lot more.  She knows about the nature of the Burned Ones and the Dragon Flame, and she taught Bloom how to transform in like an hour when no fairy has done that in ages!  Maybe it’s easier for Bloom, but still, Rosalind has loads and loads of lost knowledge. Where did she learn all this?

At any rate Rosalind is responsible for nuking Aster Dell, though how and why that went down is unclear.  She nuked a place.  And she manipulated her friends into helping without giving them the full story either.  They were so upset they locked her up in stasis for sixteen years until Bloom let her out.  Dowling calls Rosalind a manipulator several times, and from what we see in the show that’s spot on.  

Rosalind is also happy to murderize Dowling to take over the school so they can turn everyone to Sith philosophy.

With these three at the helm Alfea will become a scary place.  The baddie adults will be teaching magic fueled by anger and hate.  Also, we’ve just had the first fairy transformation in ages.  Will the rest of the students be pressured to transform also?

I worry the most about Stella in this situation, her heart’s already fragile after being battered by her mother for years.  Stella could just collapse, especially is her mom stays around at the school.  Or she could go full Stockholm and embrace the Sith ways.  After all, she just tried letting friendship in and THIS happened.

And I worry about Terra, the bravest of the girls and least likely to sit down and shut up for the sake of survival.  How much trouble will she get into surrounded by adults acting in bad faith?

Bloom will be Rosalind’s special student, probably under her mentor’s eye the whole time.  Wonder how long it’ll take Bloom to have the awful realization that Rosalind is not her friend.

And Musa and Aisha should get a chance to shine as spies.  Musa by reading minds to tell which students have accepted the Sith teachings and which have not, and Aisha I hope at least kept the magic thingy that eavesdrops on Dowling’s office.  Be nice if Aisha stayed the secretary, but I bet Rosalind puts Bloom in that place.

Beatrix will be official queen bee with her two-dude harem of Riven and Dane. But the three of them could turn out to be a problem, because they’ve all had moments of not-evil.  Riven is friends with Sky; what happens when the baddies threaten Sky?  Or when Dane gets squeamish?  Beatrix is a straight-up true believer in Rosalind and Andreas, but they’ve built that belief by making her desperate to find the truth.  What happens when the truth doesn’t match what her idols tell her?  Beatrix is everything she is, but she’s got a brain and there are moments when she seems to have a heart for her two fellas.  

Our nice adults are in trouble.  Ben Harvey is a good dude, but if he tries anything Rosalind can always threaten Sam and Terra, so he’s well and truly pinned.  

Silva has been hauled off to a dungeon somewhere!  I can guess that Sky and Bloom will launch a rescue mission as soon as Sky works out that his biological father is not a good dude and Silva really was on his side the whole time.

And poor Farah Dowling is dead and buried!  Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t see her again.  We don’t know the limits of Dowling’s powers, only that she is very badass indeed, so it seems totally possible that she could heal herself under the ground.  Or she could still be alive now, having sent a magical decoy to talk to Rosalind.  Dowling’s smart enough not to sit and chat with a magical baddie without taking precautions.  But I think it’ll be a tree, just because Faragonda got turned into a tree once.  A tree will grow on Dowling’s grave and she’ll step out of it alive.

Oh, and there are a “shit ton” more Burned Ones out there, and they’re ‘nothing compared to what’s coming”.  According to Rosalind who knows a lot but lies a lot.  

So our heros and heroines need to keep themselves from going to the dark side, protect Stella from her mum, rescue Silva, defeat the worse-than-Burned-Ones and rally their fellow students to kick the baddies out of their school!  They have a lot on their plates!

And there will be new characters, at least one.  There is no way that Netflix won’t bring a very latina Flora in after the backlash.  But is there really a place for her in the story?  Terra has a very different personality from Flora, so if they lean on Flora’s “gentle earth mother” side it could be ok.  But really the cast doesn’t need another earth fairy.  Or, might they kill off Terra?  Have her die awesome protecting her father? 

A black Tecna would be way more interesting, but I do not think that would appease the fandom since it’s such an obvious pander to the whitewashing accusations.  Also, there’s not much emphasis on technology in Fate so there’s really not much place for her either.

I’d rather like to see Ricki come back.  Stella’s bestie who Stel accidentally blinded.  Is she still blind?  Does she know it was an accident?  Does she hate Stella now, or did her horrified family forbid her to stay in touch?  Has Luna turned her against Stella, just in case the evil queen needs one more way to squeeze trauma-fueled magic out of her daughter?  What’s it like being a blind fairy?  We don’t know what element Ricki was, so maybe she could do the “see through the ground” thing like Toph, or as a mind fairy see through the eyes of the people around her.  Ricki would be interesting!  But I bet we never hear of her again.

Possibly I should write… no. Get thee behind me, plotbunnies!

But what do you think?  What do you think the baddie adults will do to the school?  How do you think the students will react?  Do you think Dowling is alive?  Who will Netflix add to the cast to try and calm the angry fandom, and who do you wish they would?  Are you glad we’re getting a season 2 or would you rather just let this part of Winx Club’s history vanish in the rearview mirror?

Maybe a story about Young Bruce? Like him getting into trouble and stuff when he was a kid lol

Bruce was seventeen when he got expelled from school. 

Not suspended, or asked to take a few days off, like he usually was. Even when he messed up the headmasters and Deans always remembered that he was Thomas and Martha Wayne’s son. His parents knew people. His parents had influence. Most importantly, his parents were liked, even though he was not. Still, he’d gone to three schools in the last four years, being shuffled from one to another in increasing acts of desperation. Alfred thought he hadn’t found the right ‘fit’ yet.  Bruce knew there was no right fit.

The boarding school he’d been going to lately was stricter. More prestigious. No amount of influence or money could get them to keep Bruce in for another year, especially after what Bruce did to that poor boy. That poor boy.  

That’s all Bruce heard after it happened, all day.  Wherever he went, people looked at him, spoke to each other in hushed whispers. Pointed at him. Did you hear what he did to that poor boy? He walked passed them. Freak, someone would say. He would put his headphones on.

Harvey was his only friend in school. Harvey, with his neat haircut and perfectly pressed uniform. He always did it himself. Pressed his own school shirt. Most of the boys, Bruce included, used a paid laundry service.  Harvey’s family didn’t have that kind of money.  Bruce had walked in on him once in his dorm, bent over an ironing board, wearing an undershirt and boxers, and ironing his own clothes. He’d looked up when he’d seen Bruce, flushing hard and folding away the board.

Small things. Harvey cut his own hair. Usually he did a pretty shitty job. He didn’t style it, like all their classmates. No gel. It was always a shade too short. Bruce dragged him to a barbershop one time just before the summer vacation started, to get a real haircut. Twenty eight dollars.

“On me,” Bruce had said.

Harvey had come back to school after their break with a crew cut.

“Dad made me get it,” Harvey said, when he saw Bruce staring. He looked down. “He said I shouldn’t take handouts.”

Bruce had shrugged.  

Harvey also had a job. No other students did. He’d come here on scholarship, and on weekends he washed cars down at the gas station near the Burger King. The Dean had allowed him to do it, after his dad sent him a letter.  

When it happened, it was a Sunday.

Bruce was sitting on one of the benches by the gas pump with Harvey, who was taking a break. They were having mint and berry slushies, from the gas station. The owner, Rudy, a large middle-aged man with a ponytail always gave the two of them free slushies during Harvey’s break. He was pretty cool.

“Al’s been getting on my nerves,” Bruce said.  

Harvey slurped noisily through his straw. It was nearly November now, and his crew cut had finally grown out a little.

“What happened?” he asked.  

“He wants me to come home for thanksgiving. Have a big dinner with some cousins from Maine, or something. I don’t know.”

“You know how much I’d kill to have thanksgiving at your place, dumbass? I bet you guys have like, eight course meals and creme brulee and the biggest turkey ever.” Harvey looked kind of dreamy about the whole affair.

Bruce shrugged, kicking a loose piece of gravel with his shoe. “It’s okay. Nothing special.”

Harvey snorted. “Right,” he said. “My folks give me a turkey sandwich and some ice cream and call it a day.”

Bruce shrugged again. “We could switch places.”

Harvey laughed. “Yeah, sure.” he said.

“I’m serious.”

Harvey shook his head. “Why on earth would you want that?” he said. “I don’t get you sometimes, Bruce.”

Bruce slurped on his slushie. “It’s dumb to have thanksgiving if your parents aren’t there.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“I’m sorry, Bruce,” Harvey said. He was looking at him with an odd expression on his face. It could almost be called pity.  

“It’s whatever. It doesn’t bother me anymore,” Bruce lied. You knew you were really pathetic when a boy with a crew cut felt bad for you.

“Okay,” Harvey said.

“Hey,” Bruce said, “what if you come to my place for Thanksgiving? I won’t be so bored, and you can eat creme brulee. I’ll ask Alfred to make some.”

Harvey looked doubtful. “I don’t know if Dad’s gonna let me,” he said.

A car drove in, and Harvey stood back up, handing Bruce the empty slurpie cup. “Break’s over,” he said, grabbing his hose and sponge from under the bench. Then he stopped, looking at the car.  

It was Glenn Aldridge’s car. He was a day boarder, and he had the swankiest goddamn car from here to Coast city. A ‘97 Corvette. Custom wheels and interiors. Cherry red. The colour of the pure, pure envy.

Out of all the kids in school, he’d made the most fun of Harvey’s crew cut. And his job.

Harvey sighed.

“You don’t have to do it,” Bruce said.

“Yeah, right,” Harvey said. “Rudy’s going to kill me if I don’t.”

The window of the Corvette rolled down. “Hey,  Dent,” Aldridge yelled, “you gonna wipe the bird shit off my car or what?”

Someone was in the car with him. A girl. She giggled.

Harvey sighed again. He went over to the car and started to wipe it down.

“That’s what I thought,” Aldridge said. He was one of those loud guys. Those idiots that never shut up. “I was just telling Mona what a freak you are. How your Dad made you pay Wayne back for your haircut,” Aldridge said. He laughed. He had this awful braying laugh.

Harvey’s knuckles were white around the hose. He was quiet.  

“Jesus, you really need this job, don’t you?” Aldridge said. He was leaning out of the window now, watching Harvey clean the car. “You won’t even say a fucking thing.”

“Shut up, Aldridge,” Bruce said, from over where he was sitting on the bench.

“Leave it, Bruce,” Harvey said quietly.

“Yeah, Bruce, leave it,” Aldridge said, mockingly. “What is it with the two of you anyway? No one else to make friends with, huh?”

Harvey didn’t say anything. He was still wiping down the car. Bruce couldn’t understand why he didn’t just stop.

“I guess losers stick together.”

Harvey looked up.

“Maybe,” he said softly, “you should fuck off, Glenn.”

Aldridge grinned. “I’m impressed, Dent. You just grew a spine. Your boyfriend didn’t have to help you out for once, huh? Now excuse me while I go tell your employer that you’re cursing at your customers.” He got out of his car, shutting the door behind him.

Harvey was looking pale. Bruce knew that if he lost this job his dad was going to kill him.

“Get back in the car, Aldridge,” Bruce said.

Aldridge grinned. He was clearly enjoying himself. “Or you’ll do what, Wayne?”

“Get back in the car and drive away.”

“No, seriously, what are you going to do? Go crying to your mommy and daddy? Oh wait, you–”

He couldn’t finish the rest of the sentence, because Bruce slammed him against the side of the car, one hand clutched around the collar of his stupid prep school polo shirt. Aldridge’s face lost all colour.

“You deserve this,” Bruce said, and then he punched him in the face.  And then he did it again, because it felt so good. Strangely good. It made his mind go blank, and he didn’t have to think about what an asshole Aldridge was, and how awful Harvey’s dad was, and how awful Thanksgiving was, and how awful his parents were for leaving him alone and how much he fucking hated everything, and everyone. It made him think of nothing at all. So he did it again. And again. His hand was starting to come back bloody now. Aldridge wasn’t moving anymore.

Someone was screaming. Presumably the girl inside the car.

“Jesus fucking– Bruce!” Harvey was yelling, trying to hold him back. Bruce didn’t want to be held back. He wanted never to stop. He wanted to go.

Another pair of hands, and he was shoved violently off of Aldridge, who slumped to the ground, sitting on the floor, his back against his car. Not so cherry red anymore. It was darker. Deeper, tinged with fear.

“What the hell’s going on?” Rudy said, his eyes wide.

Bruce was silent, his chest heaving. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and tasted salt. He stared dead straight at Aldridge, blood in his mouth.

Aldridge was starting to cry.  

“Jesus,” Harvey said, running a hand through his hair. “Jesus.” He walked over to the other end of the car, opened the door. The girl screamed again.

“Help me get him into the backseat,” Harvey said, once she’d shut up. “We have to take him to the hospital.”

The girl swallowed. She walked slowly out of the car, staring warily at Bruce, and helped Aldridge up.

Bruce stood up too, and both of them flinched.  

“Stay where you are,” Rudy said, “or I’ll call the cops.”

Bruce looked at Harvey. “I’ll drive him.” he said. Harvey was terrible at driving. He hadn’t wanted his dad to teach him, so Bruce had been teaching him, the last few months.

Harvey just shook his head. “You’ve done enough,” he said. He turned to the girl. “Mona, right? You know the way to St. Luke’s?”

Mona nodded shakily.

“Harvey–” Bruce started to say.

Harvey whirled around. “You know what, Bruce? That wasn’t your fight. And I’m probably going to lose my job because of you. And maybe even my scholarship. So just shut up, okay?”

Bruce stopped. Harvey got into the car, slamming the door shut behind him.

Mona put Aldridge into the backseat, and then she got behind the wheel. Harvey was sitting next to her, his face stony.

They drove away.

Bruce stood there, watching after them, his fists covered in blood.

So that was how he got expelled. And how he lost his only friend.

He stood at the platform of the station on Thanksgiving Day, waiting for the nine fifteen train to Gotham. He’d called Alfred yesterday, telling him he’d be coming home for the break after all. Hadn’t told him that it was because he’d got kicked out. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

He checked his watch. The train was late.

“Bruce,” said a voice, and he turned.  

Harvey was holding two slushies. Mint and Berry. “You’re really going away?” He said.  

Bruce shrugged. He had his suitcase with him. He gestured to it.

Harvey sighed, and came and stood next to him. “Lost my job. Didn’t lose the scholarship, though.”

“Oh,” Bruce said.

“Yeah.”

Harvey handed him the slushie.

“Still going to Princeton next fall?” Harvey said. They’d both got early admission. Harvey, because he studied so goddamn hard all the time, and Bruce because of his parents.

“I don’t think so,” Bruce said.  

Harvey looked at him in surprise. “Why not?” He said.  

Bruce smiled wryly. “I think we both know I’m better at hitting people than I am at economics.”

Harvey shook his head. He was looking at his slushie. Studying the beads of condensation on the outside of the plastic cup. “That’s not true. You’re brilliant.”

“Princeton is not the right fit for me,” Bruce said, “which is what the Dean of admissions told me today morning, when he called me up. He heard I got expelled.”

“Oh,” Harvey said. A pause. “Does Alfred know?”

“Not yet,” Bruce said.  

The platform was quiet. Thanksgiving Day. Everyone was with their families. Everyone but the two of them.

“You didn’t go back home for the break?” Bruce said.  

Harvey shook his head. “If dad saw me now he’d probably kill me.” he said. “He said not to come home till Christmas.”

“Jesus.”

Harvey shrugged.

“Come home with me,” Bruce said again. “Really. I’ll show you how to drive in the Aston Martin.”

Harvey smiled, a little. It was sad. “I can’t,” he said, “my Dad said I’m never supposed to speak to you again. If he found out I went to your place, he’d probably personally come to the manor and put me through a wall.”

“Does he ever really do that?”

“Do what?”

“Put you through a wall.”

“No,” Harvey said, dryly, “he just constantly threatens to.”

The train had come into the station. Bruce picked up his bag and his suitcase.

“So what is the right fit for you?” Harvey said. “If it’s not going to be college.”

“I think,” Bruce said, “that I’ll go to Tibet.”

Harvey snorted. “What?”

“Yeah. I’ll learn martial arts. Become a better fighter. Travel the world.” Bruce said, grinning. Even as he was saying it though, he felt something strange rising in his chest. Something he hadn’t felt in a long while. Conviction. A sense of purpose.

Harvey was shaking his head. He was grinning too. “You’ll strike fear into the hearts of Glenn Aldridges everywhere. The champion of the weak and defenseless.”

“You’re anything but weak and defenseless,” Bruce said, and the grin wiped itself from Harvey’s face. He suddenly looked very serious.

“I’m really going to miss you,” he said, and he hugged Bruce.

“Yeah,” Bruce said, quiet.

They pulled apart. Bruce looked at the train. At a new life. Maybe he wouldn’t fuck it up this time.

“You better get on, or you’ll miss it.” Harvey said. He smiled. “Promise we’ll always stay friends?”

Bruce got on the train, and looked at Harvey from the steel steps.  “Of course,” he said,  even as the train started to pull away from the station. “Always.”

Batman TAS: Vendetta

“Alfred! You’re beautiful!”

Episode: 23 Robin: No Writer: Michael Reaves Director: Frank Paur Animator: Spectrum Airdate: October 5, 1992 Grade: B

I love it when in Batman media, we get to see Batman solving mysteries. Particularly when it’s a little bit more involved than Batman simply putting something into his computer and having it shit out an automatic answer for him. I like to see him investigating a crime-scene, interrogating thugs, and exploring new areas. That is exactly what we got to see in the episode Vendetta, as Batman tries to figure out who is seemingly axing off different convicts that share some dark connections with Harvey Bullock. Because of these connections, along with some framing and some false evidence, Batman suspects that Harvey himself could be the one causing trouble, a concept that I feel was begging to be done. Bullock often suspects Batman as not only being untrustworthy, but sometimes even having a hand in specific crimes (see On Leather Wings). Here it is a reverse situation. Harvey didn’t do anything wrong (as Commissioner Gordon insisted to Batman, letting him know that Bullock is a good cop), so Batman, instead of immediately blaming him and going after him, takes his time, trying to make sure that he has the mystery solved. This highlights one of Bullock’s flaws, and that is his pride (which we have mentioned before). Once he suspects something, he has too much pride to consider other possibilities. And sometimes, these suspicions of his can get him into a lot of trouble like in the episode P.O.V. Batman, on the other hand, is much more unbiased when he is at work. And even though he heavily suspected Bullock, in the end, he was willing to admit that he was mistaken to Bullock’s face. Bullock, obviously foreign to this respectable behavior, seemed confused, but perhaps it was enough to maybe teach him a thing or two. Batman’s little speech at the end was really nice too, and it shows that even though he feels similar about Bullock to how Commissioner Gordon feels, that he’s stubborn and hard to work with, he still respects him on some level. He knows that Bullock wants what is best for the city, and that he believes in keeping crime down while keeping innocent people safe. They both have questionable ways of working with the law too. Bullock can be slimy, sneaky, and willing to break some of the rules. So can Batman. But one major difference is that Bullock is an official employee, while Batman isn’t. Yet another thing that he is incredibly proud of. He also seemed to assume that Batman wouldn’t ever bother helping out someone like him, as if they were enemies. He didn’t seem to understand that Batman wants the same basic things that he does. The two could probably work pretty well together if they tried. And I’m not going to pretend that Batman can’t be just as stubborn as Bullock. He’s the protagonist, so we may not notice it as much (we get more insight on him), but we are sure to notice a lot of Bullock-like qualities that he possesses as we move much further into the DCAU, when he meets up with some future protagonists. Batman can be a dick, guys. But that’s a discussion for another day. I’ll just leave it with saying that I think as Batman gets more jaded and as things around him start changing, he gets much more disgruntled.

“Why’d you stick your neck out like that to help me?”

“We may have different ways of enforcing the law, but we both believe in it.”

Speaking of disgruntled, Killer Croc makes his first appearance here, and it is pretty satisfactory. When I first saw this episode (my dad watched it with me, by the way, alleviating the pain of him only seeing I’ve Got Batman in My Basement and The Forgotten prior), I already knew who Croc was, and had already seen an episode with him, so the buildup was not nearly as strong. For Char, I think it was more elevated, as I don’t think she was expecting him. She was familiar with his Suicide Squad design, though, so it was hard for her not to compare it with this more ugly one. Yeah, I don’t know about Croc’s design. I’m pretty used to it, so it doesn’t bother me, but I have heard others say that they’re not really a fan. He only kinda looks crocodile-like, and I think that is because of the more subdued, realistic approach that this show was initially going for. I tend to prefer the hulking mass that we get to see in Arkham Asylum, which is significantly scarier. In this episode, we see the fear in the convicts’ eyes as they witness the strange-looking, reptilian man, and I think that it ends up being a little anticlimactic, especially since he doesn’t kill them or anything (on top of looking the way he does). Taking all that into consideration, the episode would have gotten an A most likely if the issue was fixed. Buuuut, I do like Croc as a villain, despite this. He has an interesting enough backstory, he creates a challenge for Batman, he has a cool habitat, and his personality is fine. He’s definitely not a sympathetic villain like Freeze or Two-Face, but Harvey Bullock was the one with the focus this time. It makes sense that Killer Croc would serve more as that scary, mysterious threat which lurks around in the water, stalking and capturing him. Too much insight can take away from the intimidation. Also, not every villain in real life has all that much depth to them. As long as the episode is still entertaining and has other qualities to take the place of the intense feels (and this episode does indeed), then it’s perfectly reasonable that not every villain in Gotham would either. Sometimes you just need an evil guy, with an evil plan, and a cool gimmick.

Oh, Spectrum is back with the animation. This is weird because, again, I thought they went under after Heart of Ice which was a handful of episodes back now. Also, this episode isn’t quite up to snuff with a lot of the things that they’ve done. I noticed some recycled animation, some weird models, and overall a cheaper-feeling quality. But it’s not Akom-level stuff either, it’s closer to Dong Yang, which is 100% fine by me. I’m trying not to be spoiled. This is a 90’s television show, aimed at kids, which had an accompanying toy line. How much can I really expect? So while not very recognizable as Spectrum, it is still beyond passable, and the directing/storyboarding was a highlight (take a look at some of the below screenshots).

Do these look like Spectrum drawings to you?

This one is a little more like it. 

I like the bit where Commissioner Gordon dumps out his nasty coffee. Another little bit of character.

Croc’s hand reaching out of the water. “Hayyyy, guys! Can I get a lift?”

This still doesn’t do the intensity of this guy’s fear any justice. His sudden gasp was one of pure panic.

These types of blue colors are incredibly common in Batman TAS. The team couldn’t always use the variety in colors that they wanted. They were pushing the budget as it was.

This section confused me a little bit. We see Bullock toss a toothpick to the ground. But later, the toothpick is treated as though Croc planted it to frame him. It must have been a different toothpick, right? This is not communicated very clearly. And I don’t know, how would Croc have known that Bullock would have a toothpick on him? How would he know that others would notice? And how well known for carrying a toothpick around is Bullock, exactly?

A great shot. 

The planted toothpick. Or maybe it’s actually the one Bullock dropped. I’m not entirely sure. 

We see lightning flash, engulfing Bullock in light. It looks awesome in motion because we don’t linger on it. Although one thing that bugs me about cartoons is that we always hear the thunder boom at the exact time that the lightning strikes, which is generally not what we experience.

Look at those reflections. Another cool use of lightning. We need a Top 10 Lightning Strikes post eventually I think. Hmm...

There was nothing like this on TV at the time.

Just an s short of being a Psycho reference.

This might be the first time that we see how the entrance to the Batcave works? Oddly, we hear the clock ticking in this scene. I wonder if the hands move. And if they do, there has to be some function to prevent the door from opening  when it reaches 12 normally. I’ll bet that Alfred is the one who has to fix the time.

I love how the camera slowly pans as we see them coming down the stairs, with the computer system in view. I’d love to hang out in the Batcave. 

Another scary Croc entrance. Fitting that this episode aired in October.

“Ah, turnips.”

Awesome shadow work. For no other reason than that it looks awesome and makes Batman look hella intimidating. This is why people fear him.

Batman smacks the plant out of his hands. Get the gross vegetables out of his face!

“I’ve got plenty of answers. .38 caliber answers.”

“You’d better hope your men are very good shots.” I’m sure you guys can come up with many alternative captions for this screenshot.

Batman’s nose is a little crazy here. He’d look more like a bird if the ears were missing. 

This scene made me chuckle. A false Harvey Dent walks in, dropping wet. Like, yup, that’s him alright. Nothing nefarious going on at all.

Gotta feel a little bad for him, even if you don’t like him.

“Alfred! You’re beautiful!” Best moment.

See, I mean, he looks okay. Just not the best Croc design out there.

Hmmm.. Recycled segment.

Now these are some Spectrum shots!

A really cool Batman entrance. 

Char’s grade: B

Next time: Fear of Victory Full episode list here!

Lolly lady

He had always had an obsession with lolly pops. He always had one and if he wasn't eating one then there were three on call ready to be devoured. When he was a kid it was comfort from his parents arguing. He could sit there at dinner and enjoy sucking on the little round candy and ignore them. When he got older it became weird for a little boy to always have a lolly pop or wear dresses so he changed the only thing he could. He became a she. That was a lot easier. He became very good at it and his obsession became some thing people liked. Sexy was what they started saying to her in high school. She learned to giggle. Her dad wasn’t there any more and her mom seemed to like having some one to take shopping with her. In fact the two were very close. They were like true best friends. Not in the weird obsessive way mothers and daughters usually were best friends. Neither worshiped the other. They didn't even use the names assigned to them her conception. Mom was simply Sam and Roy was Lilliy. The hormones weren't hard and they moved when the dad died so on one at school knew her as Roy. She was the beauty of the school and her only bully were the jealous little boys and girls who couldn't handle her perfection. She strictly avoided dating though. She claimed religion but it was her fear of discovery that she wasn't actually quite the girl she said she was. The lolly pops never went away though. They were her symbol. they were what allowed her to be silent when she didn't want to talk and a little bit of comfort when ever the situation got rough.   It was a particularly difficult Latin translation and sucking on some thing always helped her concentrate. The biggest guy  on the foot ball ream, or really the biggest guy in the whole school Rounded the corner and grinned wildly when he saw her. It was the kind of grin a hunter makes when their prey stands in the open and has no idea there was an attack coming. That was some thing he did frequently when they made eye contact. She gave removed the lolly pop with a loud pop sound and said hello sweetly though her edge of annoyance was obvious. He didn't seem to mind.  “I heard you haven’t said yes to any one for prom even though its tonight”  “Yes things are said all the time. Props to you for being able to hear” He laughed at her attempt to insult him “I know why too”   To that she quirked an eyebrow “I though my reasons were quite obvious. I dont date.”   He made a tisk tisk sound and sat next to her, a little too close. “And I don’t use steroids.”  His sarcasm almost made her laugh because it was an absurd statement. Everyone knew he took testosterone and a slew of other drugs to help him bulk up. He had bragged about it before gym class one day and even flashed his buddy the syringes. Lilly caught a gimps of it form where she was standing.  “Some of us are more honest then others.” She said and pretended to go back to her Latin translation.  He seemed amused “you lie as much as i do. You date. You Just need the right man.” There was an odd sarcastic edge to that tone and Lilly looked up in time to see his face right next to hers. He pretended to kiss the edge of her jaw and she held her breath. Her cheeks filled with blood and she set the book down to hide the other place blood was going.  He laughed and whispered “Of course maybe  you are just hiding some thing.” he whispered in her ear and very quickly removed her latin text book. She would have thought her hands were holding it with a death but with the ease of which he took the book no one would ever have known. It sent her candy across the hall where is shattered aginst the floor. She was too saddened at the loss of her candy do notice the slight bolge of her pants. The boy grinned like a hunter with prey about to be devoured and teasingly nibbled her hear in a way that made her forget to breath. “So prom. I will pick you up from your place at 6.” He stood before she could respond and left the book where he had been sitting. She still couldn't remember how to breather completely and was still stairing at him as some one rounded the corner. She startled realizing what was easily see but didn’t have time to panic as the foot ball player was already pulling to the student and pulling the kid in the other direction and going on about how toe coach needs some one help fill all the doge balls. 

It took her several minutes to calm her self and process what had happened. She didn't even know the guys name. Harvey or some thing like that. Why though. If he knew what she was hiding was he going to humiliate her? It had to be it. He wanted her to go with him and then in front of everyone he was going to tell everyone. Buy why make her go as his date. Wouldn’t people call him gay if he did brought her as his date? She finally decided he was doing it for status. She was asked by at least 10 different guys including the foot ball teams captain. He must have just needed a date that bad. Though it wasn’t like he wasn’t handsome. He was the biggest guy on the team though not just by bulk. he was tall and covered in lean muscle. sh vaguely remembered hearing about him doing hip hop dance. So if he was lacking in a date it was his choice. Maybe there was a bet about who could get her to go with her.  The rest of the day was pretty uneventful though she was nervous about the night to come and it was only made worse by the fact that her last lolly pop was laying shattered in the second floor English wing. She texted her mom to pick more up on her way home. However when she got home she found a police car out front and not her moms car. A police officer was sitting across a coffee table from her mother. He was trying to look stern. When Lilly came in the officer turned to her but her mom spoke first “Lilly! How was school” Like nothing weird was going on. Truthfully it wasn’t that weird but she eyed the officer like he was suspicious. “Oh don’t worry. I pulled me over for speeding and i was just a tad too far from home. Officer Louis was kind enough to take me home fro the station.”  The officer sighed “If you keep breaking the terms of house arrest they will make you serve the rest of your sentence in a prison. This isn’t a joke.” “I was running just a little late. No one is going to put me in jail for tht.” She said brightly. “No they will put you in jail for murder.” He said harshly. He was tired of her not taking anything seriously.  Sam’s face darkened immediately and the officer started to appoligize and stumbled for a moment over words “Look you two deserve better but you need to take this seriously. I still have to obey the law and you only have two more slip ups before I have no choice but arrest you for real.  Lilly frowned at the pair of adults “Yes officer she knows. Rubbing it in her face wont chance anything. Some people just deal with stress by smiling and saying harsh things to a troubled woman wont help her. She wont brake the rules again. But if you can excuse us I have a dance to get ready for.”  He cleared his throat awkwardly; not use to being scolded some one so young but not having the heart to get mad about it. He stood to leave “So long as you make sure of it.” He said nodding to the woman in question and left.   Lilly laughed aloud and her mother joined her. “One of these days he will come back to marry you.” Lilly say by her mom and shrugged her back back to the seat beside her. “Did you call a tow truck for the car?”     Same palled suddenly “I said you could use it to go to your dance?!” Lilly laughed “Don’t worry, I have a date picking me up.” She let the skepticism show in her voice and with only a slight prompt she told Sam about what happened.  Sam tried to sound as skeptical as Lilly was about the date. But she was all to eager to add in “Maybe he is just gay and-” she was cut off by a glare from Lilly. But she glared back and continued “What harm could there be. You like him-” Another glare “And he didn't actually assault you did he?”  Lilly blushed and remembered the ear nibble. “He did kind of."   Her mom got very serious suddenly and there was a very rear bout of her mother acting like a mother coming.  “Lilly you have avoided dating up until this point so I haven really talked to you about this.” Lilly frowned at the prospect of ‘the talk’ but her her mother was owed a few mom talks every once in a while and Lilly would listen. So she stared blankly at Sam and waited.  Same rolled her eyes and continued “If he made you uncomfortable and your didn’t like it.” Lilly scoffed at the implication that she could have done anything but dislike it. The way you scoff when some one accuses you of stealing the last cookie. “then you cannot go with him tonight. You need to stand up for your self especially sense he gave you a veiled  threat.” She paused and thought for a moment. “No one has the right to do that to you. You need to be strong and not let him. If you don’t like it then don’t let him do it.” She paused “But it is okay to like it. You are allowed to be attracted to anyone and if that’s the case be honest about it. Don’t let any one push you but be honest about things you do want. That is the condition of not letting people push you. You have to push your self to the place you want to be but are uncomfortable about wanting. You need to firmly say no to what you don’t want and to firmly say yes to what you do want.” Sam had succeeded in thoroughly confusing her daughter.  “So what are you saying I should do. If it was a veiled threat then I cant just do what he wants me to do because that’s pushing me? But If I want to go it suddenly doesn't matter that he threatened to expose me?”  Sam paused and thought about it for a moment. “I think that he is a teenager and bad communicating what he means. He could have been meaning to imply that if you dont go then he will tell other people or he could have just been trying to show you that he was okay with it and that you don’t need to keep it a secret from him.”  “How do I know which he meant?” Lilly was feeling exasperated buy the conversation and wished desperately for some a lolly to nibble through her confusion.  “I don’t think you can know. I think that you have to act on what you feel and prepare for the worst. If you like him then go. Worst case he IS using you for status or to win a bet in which case you get a bad date. And if you dont like him and you go then so what if he tells other people? he has no proof and you are the loveliest lady, no one will believe him. And if anyone does believe him then I home school you through the last semester and we will move to California with my sister. There is a huge LGBTQ movement there where you dont need to pretend anything.” A suggestion made before and an eventually sense all the colleges she applied to were in California. Though her mother house arrest made it harder but the federal government actually asked her to move before so she was with her sister. Some thing about having a more stable enviornment.  “So I go?” Lilly finally asked  “Do you like him?” Sam retorted Lilly glared again  “I guess i should get ready then.” And so she did, with sam to help her like a best friend any high schooler would to giggle the night away with. It was exactly 6 when the door bell rang. Lilly was putting the last pin in her hair. She wore her long dark hair in an elaborate not around her head with dozens of sparkling pins to make her hair look like it was lightly dusted in snowflakes. Her dress was a pale blue that fit the contour of her breasts and waist like a glove. It flared just below the waist into a silky silver waterfall that flowed gracefully around her with every step.  The front was shorter and showed up to her knees while the back trailed lightly on the ground. When she emerged from her bedroom her mother had already and was making some veiled threats of her own. Harvey or what ever his name was did look a little shaken which was an odd sight as he stool almost a foot and a half over the two women. Lilly cleared her throat after a moment and Sam grinned at Lilly “ Lilly! You didn’t tell me Henry was such a gentleman.” Lilly caught that Sam had saved her the awkwardness of asking her date what his name was.  “He is my Date Sam, flirting wont help.” Sam giggled as if she weren't in her early 30s. Henry looked a little like he was drowning and Lilly had a moment of wondering if this was the same person who so boldly demanded her to come to prom with him. “Shall we?” Same looked grateful as he nodded yes and promised to take care of Sams daughter though he said daughter a little like a question. Sam was unfazed and wished Lilly a good night making a point that is her if she didn't hear from Lilly every hour she would call the police. As soon as they were in the limo normal smile returned and Lilly felt a little less confident in her choice. Well less confident in her choice to go with a date... more confident in her choice of a dress that did not constrict around her hips. The limo was empty and he made a point of sitting across form her and only smiling like a lion about to pounce. She realized this was an afewl mistake. Of curse he didn't like her. He was going to make a joke of her. Self consciously she tried to make her self as small as possible. He eyed her suspiciously and said with more sincerity they she thought he could “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”  She blushed hard and before she could relay the limo stopped and another guy got into the car. He was another of the foot ball team. This happened 5 times more after that with guys or girls joining. Several were Lilly's friends and she was a lot more comfortable. At several houses they were all pulled out and the parents paraded camera in front of them. And thats how the night continued. It was the fantasy of every teens prom. Everyone was talking of going to the after party when Henery declined and said he had special plans and wiggled his eyebrows. Lilly wasnt too disjointed as she couldnt drink with the hormones she was taking and being around drunk highschoolers when you arent also drunk is no fun. She was however not to sure how these this special plan was Henry was talking about. Once they were all dropped off at a very loud and bright house Lilly asked her date about it. He smiled “It was more of an excuse not to go to their lame party sense we cant drink and I don’t want them to know i cant.” He laughed and she was confused. She quirked an eyebrow at him but he didn't answer. “Come back to my place? Were we can get out of these cloths and get to know each other a little better?” His voice was unexpectedly low and full of suggestion that made her blush “Get to know eachother? she asked with a lot more skepticism then she actually had. She wanted to get to know him in what ever way he was implying.  “Well sure, I don’t think we ever spoke one on one before today. We have lots to talk about.” Lilly sighed in a way that sounded like relief but she was hoping for a more explicit answer “Alright then lets go” she texted sam that she probably woundnt text until morning and that she was fine as the car started off. Sam replied with a winky face.  When Lilly looked up Henry was staring at her and she blushed. He had sat across from her again and she wondered why. “How far do you live” she asked trying to fill the quiet. “Not far, a couple minutes. My parents are home but they dont mind me bring friends over.” He assured her. For the first time she had the good sense to wonder how he knew where she lived and she asked “One of the  girls you had over to study told me.” he laughed like there was some joke behind it.  Lilly wasn’t amused “Why is that so funny?” “She didn't believe I would get you to come is all. And she said your mom acted like a teenager. She was was right about one of those things”  Lilly got the joke knowing that her mother’s eccentricity was some what of joke on it’s own despite how much all her friends adored her mother. “Still rude of her to just give out my address.”  He chuckled again “I told her i was just going to show up and sweep you off your feet. Then she warned me about your mom and said good luck. She said you needed to go on a date and that it would be good for you. Then I saw you in the hall and realized it would he hard to convince you like that in front of your family” Lilly blushed “So you are really okay with?” She looked down and then back at him. His response was to get and half crawl across the seat and straddle her lap. She squeaked at the suddenness of his actions. he placed her hands on her cheeks and looked into her eyes. “Very okay” he said before kissing her and as he did so he ground his pelvis into hers. For a minute she was too blown away by the sensation, the feel of the kiss, the friction between her legs, to notice something was rather odd. There was no bulge to rub against her own. When she did realize what wasn’t there she gasped through the rather passionate kiss and he chuckled at her realization and pulled away and copied her words “So are you really okay with” And he looked down, not just at him self but them together, the wrong parts in the right places. She nodded, rolling her hips up in a way that made him growl lightly. She laughed and realized that for the first there was something far sweeter than a lolly pop she wanted to taste.