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#like the we are robin stories are themselves bad
redrobin-detective · 1 year
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Duke Reminder for when you get back from your run or whatever you’re doing (probably actually running but idk 🤷‍♂️)
Im sorry friend this is so late, it got buried in my ask and I forgot.
I've obviously lost most of the energy of the rant but I'll sum it up with: Duke's origin with the We Are Robin (WAR) movement marked DC doing something different with the Robin title. These weren't specially picked Chosen Ones. These are kids of Gotham trying to take back the city, being inspired by the heroes to do what they can to spread their own light in the darkness.
Duke being a leader of that movement, having met Batman early on (Zero Year) and making his own way apart of but still adjacent to the Batfam. In my mind, Duke would be like cousin Kate, in that he's absolutely a Bat, but he's not like beholden to Bruce and he kinda does his own thing. The idea of the WAR being almost like Baker Street Irregulars, like street level heroes to do good and if it gets too big, you call in the OG Bats. This is the perfect space for characters like Harper/Cullen Row, Maps Mizoguchi etc to fit in. They could have their own separate stories that occasionally link up with the Bats.
Duke is serving as a leader/Oracle like figure watching out for and organizing the Robins. When Bruce realizes he can't stop Duke or the others, he ropes Duke in and gives him equipment, training and generally helps the kids. Because Bruce is looking to the future, the future he won't always be able to save but if he can save these kids and empower them... then they can save themselves and Gotham. So Duke is a Bat, no questions. Its a joke amongst the WAR that Duke knows the Bats personally, sees them outside of costume. He and Jason vibe really well and Dami respects him for the good hard work he's doing.
Idk, I like Duke as a character but I will admit it eats at me that this kind of exciting, bold, progressive new character was kind of tosses aside for the same old 'nice kid, dead/unavailable parents, becomes Bruce's ward, slap him in a costume and fight crime'. It doesn't matter that oh! He's dayshift or Oh! He has powers!!! It's still the same formula. I love making jokes about Bruce's revolving door of kids but at some point it's gotta stop. Duke being his own dude, alongside the Bats making real change in Gotham. God that would have been So interesting guys and I'll forever be upset about it.
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matchingbatbites · 1 year
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Steve proposes to Eddie during DND.
He's played about a dozen times since the Vecna ordeal three years ago, just one-off stories with no real consequences, and while it took him a little bit to get a feel for the game, he's finally reached a point where he doesn't feel totally out of place.
It helps that Eddie absolutely lights up every time Steve agrees to play, that his boyfriend tends to go a little easier on the rest of the table because they all help Steve half-fumble through the mechanics. It's worth it when Eddie beams at him for figuring something out first, for suggesting a dumb play that has the table screaming when it works.
It's the summer after the kids' senior year, and when Eddie offers to run an all-day one shot to celebrate their graduation, Steve instantly starts planning. He talks to Robin, who absolutely gushes over his idea, and along with Dustin they plan it all out.
He learns the premise of the one-shot from Eddie - there's a big bad who's been taking people from the kingdom, and the king is finally forced to do something when his own son, the prince, is also taken - and Dustin helps him make a character, a fighter who is the personal guard of the prince, whose goal is to find and bring him back safely.
Eddie seems pleased with the character when Steve explains it to him, even more so when Steve suggests the idea that they've fallen for each other and have been lovers in secret. "You're such a romantic, sweetheart," Eddie says before kissing him, and Steve knows it’s a tease and a compliment, knows that Eddie loves how soft he can get over things like that.
The game happens about two weeks later, and Eddie wasn’t joking when he called it an all-day affair.
They get started at about ten that morning, Steve and Eddie, their four boys, and Erica all crowded around the little dining table in Steve and Eddie's little apartment, with Robin, El, and Max entertaining themselves in the adjacent living room.
At Eddie’s insistence, they take a break every couple of hours so everyone can get up and stretch and use the toilet, with slightly longer breaks for lunch and dinner (sandwiches and pizza, respectively, both provided by Steve and Eddie).
The big bad is defeated at around nine that night, and everyone is elated as Eddie takes them through the aftermath, letting each player character have a short moment to reunite with their stolen friends and loved ones.
Robin and the girls have moved to sit on the nearby kitchen counter to listen, partly because El always enjoys these soft moments in the story, and partly because Robin knows what’s going to happen soon.
Steve stays quiet, letting the others have their moment as he fights down the sudden anxiety that sparks through him, knowing what he’s about to do. He looks up when Eddie says his name, takes a steadying breath, and asks "Do I see the prince?"
Eddie nods, says "You do."
"I go over to him."
"He sees you approaching and he rushes to you, meeting you halfway. As soon as you're close enough, he throws his arms around you and says 'I knew you would save me, darling.'"
Steve smiles. "I say, 'I always will, my love' and then I kiss him."
The teens hoot and holler a little as Eddie grins. "He kisses you back, and for a moment it's like everything else fades to the background. All that matters is him, back where he belongs, safe in your arms."
Steve nods, and before he loses his nerve asks "Can I do something?"
Eddie quirks a brow, curious. "Of course,” he says, and Steve takes a breath to steady himself.
"I take his hand, and then I drop to one knee."
A couple of the teens give little 'ooh's as Eddie looks at him, clearly a little surprised, and Steve continues before he can say anything.
"Three years ago, I took my place by your side as your personal guard. I swore to care for you, to protect you from anything that would want to hurt you, and somewhere along the way, we fell in love."
Steve swallows, knows he's blurring the line of character and person as he speaks, staring at Eddie across the table.
"The last three years have been everything to me. Any time I'm not with you, you're the only thing I can think about, and every day spent with you is a fucking gift, because I know just how close I came to losing you."
The sudden urge to touch Eddie becomes overwhelming and he stands, watches Eddie's shocked face as he rounds the table and drops to a knee in front of his lover. Eddie's eyes are wide and he gives a soft "Steve?" as Steve takes a slender hand in his own, remembers the words he had practiced over and over with Dustin.
"I don't want to be just a fighter anymore. I want to be a paladin, set on a righteous path, and if you'll let me, I want to make an Oath of Devotion. Not to any god or angel, but to you, the love of my life."
Steve pulls the ring from his pocket and offers it to Eddie. It's very much not traditional, and at first glance seems to be just another chunky ring that blends in with Eddie's current selection. But Steve had to get it, the shield molded onto the band and the new 'beloved' engraved on the inside repeating what Steve always says, I'll protect you, I love you.
Eddie is in tears as Steve stares him down, as he gently asks "Eddie Munson, will you marry me?"
For just a second, Eddie is completely still, save for his shaky breathing. Steve doesn't get scared, he knows that sometimes it takes Eddie a second to register things when he's overwhelmed. He waits it out, and after a few seconds Eddie blinks rapidly before jerking forward, dropping to his knees as he throws his arms around Steve. "Fuck yes! Of course I will!"
Cheers erupt through the room, and a flash goes off when they meet in a kiss. Eddie looks over to see Robin with a camera in her hand and tears streaming down her face. “Don’t mind me,” she says, a bit choked up even as she beams at them, and Eddie’s head whips back to Steve.
“You planned this!” he yells, unable to stop his own tears from falling, and Steve laughs. “Of course I did!” is his reply as he takes Eddie’s hand back so he can slide the ring onto it, and he ignores the second flash from where Robin sits.
“Wanted it to be perfect,” Steve says softly, stroking his thumb over the ring, now at its new home on Eddie’s finger. “Wanted you to know how much you mean to me, and I figured something nerdy would hit all the right buttons.”
“I helped with the nerd stuff!” Dustin calls from his seat, and Eddie laughs wetly as he scrubs at the tear tracks on his cheeks. “I should have known something was up with you, Henderson. You’ve been bouncing off the walls for weeks.”
Steve stands up from the floor before helping Eddie up, and they both grunt as Dustin practically slams into them for a hug, quickly followed by a more reserved El. They hug each of the kids in turn and accept their congratulations, and after a few minutes Eddie is put together enough to actually finish out the one-shot.
Later that night as they're getting ready for bed, Eddie presses up behind Steve, one hand sliding to rest on his stomach and the other opening in front of them, revealing a simple, gold band.
"You beat me to it, you dick," he says with so much tenderness, and Steve laughs as he takes the ring.
"You can still do your proposal, if you want," Steve replies, heart swelling as he looks over the band, sees the little 'sweetheart' engraved on the inside.
"Nah, there's no way I can top what you did for me."
"I dunno, you normally top me pretty well," Steve teases, just to hear Eddie's delighted little cackle.
He turns and hands the ring back to Eddie, asks "Put it on me?" and Eddie smiles. He takes the ring and slides it onto Steve's finger, his thumb brushing over shiny metal, and Steve feels so fucking happy as they meet in the middle for a kiss.
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luveline · 7 months
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Hi Jade! I wanted to request something with Prince Steve and his soulmate. I feel like we’ve started to see them warm up to each other but maybe we could see reader start to meet Steve’s friends and see that she’s got more people standing behind her? Like maybe Robin and Eddie teasing Steve about something embarrassing in front of her or I know she hasn’t shown up yet but I could totally see Nancy as like a lady in waiting/tutor to teach her all about proper manners but in the process she spills all these stories about Steve growing up?
thank you for requesting ♡ prince steve au fem, 1k
A knock at the door, an impatient huff. "Are you ready yet?" 
"Come in, Steve." 
He wedges into your rooms, a basket in his hands. "Why are you on the floor?" 
"Can't tie my stupid shoes," you complain, dropping your hands down, knee pulled up, too warm for all the fuss. 
Steve nearly drops the basket, he's that enthusiastic to help you out. He kneels by your feet and takes the laces of your shoes into his hands, pulling them tight, his eyebrows pinched tighter. "That okay?" he asks, pausing his loop. 
"Yeah. Thank you." 
"They didn't teach you how to tie your shoes back home? We need outreach immediately." 
You laugh and lay back on the plush rug behind you. "It's the weird eyelets. You royals do everything weird. Like picnicking." 
"So many points. These aren't eyelets, they're lace hooks. You're pretty much as royal as I am, or you will be in a matter of days. And," —he finishes tying your boot, pulling the other toward him with a small laugh— "Robin wanted a picnic. She's not royal. None of your points make any sense." 
"You'll be a wretched husband." 
Steve takes your hands and pulls you up into a sitting position. He doesn't let them go, transferring both into one so he has a hand free to straighten up your cardigan. "And you'll be a cherished wife." 
Steve pulls you onto your feet. Together, you walk through the selenite halls of the palace to the prince's private gardens, where a gazebo the colour of the sky stands shading refreshments from the eager sun. Helping themselves to the hors d'oeuvres are a tall Eddie and a shorter partner in crime, Robin. Nancy lays out in the grass next to who you assume to be her boyfriend, a handsome guy with two books in his hands, still closed. He squints in the sun, waving as you and Steve approach. 
"Hey!" he greets. "You're late."
"Don't get up," Steve jokes, waving back at him and Nancy, who's barely lifted her head. "Not like I'm anyone important." 
"Very, very hard to find you important when you're wearing shorts," Eddie says. 
Steve shrugs. "She likes them." 
You realise belatedly and with horror that you're she. How does he know you like his nice shorts? Either way, his indifference so long as you like them makes you flush, leaving his side in search of a cold drink to drown yourself in.
"Did you bring the bat?" Steve asks Jonathan behind you. 
"Hey, babe," Eddie says, offering you a glass cup set with pressed flowers in the sides, "you okay?" 
"Is that lemonade?" you ask, pointing at one of the small water dispensers. Their glass shells shine with condensation, more ice cubes than liquid inside. It's a cloudy white with blood orange slices cut and garnishing the top, their juice seeping downward slowly. 
"Sure is. Prince Stevie's favourite, as always. Don't know where the sudden love for oranges came from, do you?" 
You've had a love for them since you got here and tried them for the first time. Oranges are expensive, and so the palace kitchen has them in abundance. Steve clearly noticed. "Wouldn't you know?" you ask. "Don't you choose his meals?" 
"As if. I'm a glorified cleaning boy," Eddie says. He scoops a bagel covered in cream cheese and fresh cut salmon from a silver tray and takes a big bite. "Just stick around for the food." 
"They won't let him back into the engineers workshop on account of his bad manners, he'll be a dishwasher forever," Robin says grandly, rounding the table to stand on your other side. 
"Says you, lady's maid." 
Robin was supposed to be a lady's maid. Sick gig, good pay, she had all the grades and none of the decorum, but Steve wouldn't let them get rid of her, and after an intense training program that taught her to wield a titanium blade longer than her arm as an extension of it, she was instated as his personal guard instead. They're all job hoppers —Nancy started as a lady's maid but now apprentices as a royal tutor, and her boyfriend worked for the palace's news room but now works under the sous chef. 
You did anything you could to stay alive, and now your full time job is princess, so. You're not judging. 
"What's Nancy's boyfriends name?" you whisper. "Jon?" 
"Jonathan. I don't think anybody calls him Jon," Robin whispers back. 
"She's lying. His name is Gordon." Eddie glares at Robin. "She's trying to trip you up." 
A smack erupts through the air, chased by Steve's pleased whoop. "Yes! Baby, did you see that?" 
"I'm not trying to trip you up," Robin says, "don't listen." 
"She totally is." 
"Baby?" Steve calls, yards away in the bluegrass, a bat held at his side. "Guys, stop harassing her. Jesus." 
"We're not harassing her, Stevie, slow your roll. This is a common social phenomenon called teasing, maybe you've heard of it? You do it with friends," Eddie says, nudging your arm. 
Friends, you think. Steve's looking at you, waiting for confirmation that you're alright. "I didn't see it, Steve. Do it again!" 
Steve immediately jogs backwards, goading Jonathan into pitching another ball. He has a good arm, the ball soaring just right for Steve to curl back and send it wide across the green grass of the garden. It hits a long banner across the way, smack dab on its painted target as he'd aimed for, falling practically on top of the first. 
It's an impressive arc. You clap your hands together and cheer, though the rules of this game escape you. You think it's supposed to be darts without sharp points, but you're more concerned with the lines of Steve's bicep as he rests the bat on his shoulder, his triumphant sun-kissed smile.
"Did you see that one, baby?" Robin asks. 
"He's so impressive, isn't he?" Eddie adds, grinning. 
Steve throws them the bird, his cheeks pink. 
"That's an example of what not to do in a formal setting," Nancy says, her skirt moving like water as she puts her face in her hand, her elbow on her knee. 
"You're getting good at this tutoring stuff," Jonathan says. 
Steve meanders your way to beg a consolation hug (he puts his arm across your shoulder, muttering about mean friends and their unjust jokes). "They're the worst," he mutters, his hair brushing your ear, goosebumps erupting down your arms. 
"I think they're nice," you say. 
He hums in your ear. "You would. Wretched wife." 
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bangaveragewhitewine · 9 months
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Pinch Me
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After your first date with a familiar face from home, waking up next to Steve feels like something out of a dream. 
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This is a follow on from Clean Slate but can be read as standalone fic. 
Word Count: 4.5k
Warnings/Content: Both you and Steve are in your late-twenties and were in school together; you met again on a blind date almost ten years later. This is an 18+ fic; oral (reader receiving), penetrative sex. Spoiler but use of ‘good girl’ in a sexy content. Steve Harrington being a smooth mf comes with it's own warning.
I have tried to leave physical descriptions as neutral and inclusive as possible! Some mentions of anxiety and insecurity. Plenty of kissing to make up for that! 
Author’s Note: Clean Slate was intended to be a one off fic but here we are! This is my first attempt at smut in a fic, so hopefully it’s not horrendous! Thank you for reading, enjoy!
Thank you to my lovely @specialagentmonkey for beta reading for me💖
Once again, this is an 18+ fic. Please do not do any AI fuckery with my work or repost on other sites.
(divider by me)
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Ever since you were little, your bed had been one of your favourite places. Soft sheets, books on the bedside table and a perfectly curated stack of pillows all topped off with the quilt you had made with your grandma before her arthritis got too bad. 
In your mom’s photo albums there was more than one snapshot of you as a sleepy toddler with a wild bed head peeking up from your pillow on Christmas morning. Another few of you reading Nancy Drew in a pillow nest with a gap toothed smile. 
By now, you had made your own little nest out in the big bad world now; a surprisingly roomy studio with big windows and noisy neighbours on one side. You had bought new sheets and a duvet printed with dusty pink roses on porcelain white cotton, curated a new stack of pillows and added too many decorative cushions on top of the same quilt that had made the move with you to Indianapolis and on to Chicago. There were still books on your bedside,  a little dish for your jewellery to sit in while you slept, and an accumulation of lip balms, pillow mist and a candle or two to set the mood. 
After long shifts and bad dates, your bed was still your haven. When you were particularly anxious, you could still hear the shrill of your old alarm blaring in your ears; the sound of that clock that had dragged you from sweet dreams in your beloved bed on chilly winter mornings. Some mornings, as you rode the subway to work, you swore you could hear your bed’s own siren song calling you to get off at the next stop, come home to read and nap the day away. 
The sanctuary was for you alone, save for an occasional sleepover with your best friend Annie. Your dates were never invited to stay and make themselves comfortable. But this morning, waking up with Steve Harrington in your bed? That was new. 
It was safe to say that your blind date went well. Really well. 
You had resolutely avoided talking about school, only mentioning people each other might have remembered in the context of a story about your lives outside Hawkins. Steve was still in touch with a lot of people from home. You recognised some of their names; Robin who grew up a street away from you, Eddie Munson who you knew from art class and the occasional house party in your youth, even Nancy Wheeler. The way he lit up with so much fondness for ‘his kids’ who weren’t kids anymore made your face ache from smiling.
And Steve had listened, wanted to hear how you had liked Indianapolis for college (he had spent some time there too before making the move to Chicago with Robin after Eddie had sussed the place out and found an apartment near his own for them that they still shared). He had asked about your job, your life in the city, and took a real interest in you. 
His attention had stayed on you, never straying to see who else was around or looking for an escape route. His honeyed gaze had stayed focused, watching how you used your hands when you spoke and dipped occasionally to look at your lips. Steve’s hand had stayed close by when his fingers weren’t outright intertwined with yours. He did this thing with his thumb, stroking it across the bone of your wrist, and a few times he had squeezed your hand while you spoke as if to say ‘go on, I’m listening’ - it was so centering for your often anxious mind.
You had a few more drinks, picked a few songs on the jukebox, kept talking and talking until you were sitting close enough to hear Steve’s stomach growl, making his cheeks flush pink. 
“I know a pizza spot close by if you’re hungry?” you suggested. 
“DiFontaines?” Steve smiled a little, nodding at your suggestion. “Yeah I love it. Let’s go.”
Neither of you wanted to end the night yet, say goodbye. So you didn’t. Instead you headed hand in hand into the warm night air, nicely buzzed and in search of hot pizza and crispy cold sodas. 
The sun had dipped in the sky, taking the worst of the heat with it, but the night stayed humid and sticky. Despite the warmth, Steve held your hand and between stories, as you walked down the next block, he lifted his arm to twirl you when you passed a bar blaring Achy Breaky Heart onto the street; Billy Ray’s crooning was eclipsed by your laughter. 
“You’re such a dork,” you giggled, pushing him gently before Steve quickly hugged you against his side again. Never had you felt so comfortable on a first date - but this wasn’t just any blind first date. 
“Dork?! You been talkin’ to Robin?” Steve smiled down at you, sparking heat in your belly. 
“Guess your reputation precedes you, Harrington.” With a burst of bravery, owing it to your younger self, you bounced up on your toes to peck his cheek before taking off a few steps ahead, turning to grin back at him as he jogged to catch up before you swerved into the pizza place. 
You joined the line of late night pizza lovers and Steve had slipped an arm around you, leaned his chin on your head as your heart pounded hard. “So, what’re we getting?” he asked.
The familiarity of it all made you feel fuzzy around the edges, his thumb stroking your shoulder, the heat of him pressed against your side. 
“It’s probably sacrilegious but the New York style slice, veggie or… artichoke.” Feeling brave again you cover his hand with yours and squeezed. “You?”
“Okay so we’re both sinners then.” He hummed, considering his options. “You’re vegetarian right?”
“Yeah, I try to be.” You liked how he had remembered a tiny detail from a story told hours ago.
“Okay. Four cheese then.”
“You sure?” Your interest piqued. 
“Yeah, ‘course. You might not want a goodnight kiss if I have pepperoni breath.”
You swear your jaw dropped as Steve schooled his smile, watching the group of tipsy tourists ahead of you order their slices before his eyes darted back to you. 
Steve was more timid, his voice quieter as he filled the silence between you when you had been too stunned to answer. “It’s also totally fine if you don’t want to kiss me, sweetheart. I know I can lay it on ki-“ 
Instead you rocked up to close the gap between you, ignoring the pinch of your sandals to lay a kiss onto his lips. Steve was quick to cup your cheek, keeping you there to kiss you back just as sweetly. 
His nose has nudged against yours before he let you go, gazing into each other’s eyes until your attention was pulled to ‘order or get out’. His arm had stayed around you as you placed your orders, splitting a third classic deep dish slice between you so you wouldn't be run out of town with torches and pitchforks. 
Full of pizza and soda and bravery, you had taken Steve’s hand again and strolled through the sticky Chicago night, steering him toward your apartment with the guise of proving that the same pink scrunchie you wore in high school was in fact on your bedside table. You both knew what you were really suggesting. 
Part of you niggled away, expecting him to make a polite excuse to head home instead. But Steve only had eyes for you and sealed the deal with another kiss. You lost yourselves in each other, feeling younger together, and made out with Steve’s back against the shutters of somewhere long closed for the night as he squeezed your hips and you toyed with the ends of his hair. It was with regret that he had to tear himself away from your lips to hail a cab for you both, where you did your best to behave on the way to your apartment.
As you lay in bed that next morning, watching how Steve’s chest rose and fell with breath, how soft he looked in sleep, you felt warm and happy. His golden glow was just as dazzling in the morning light.  
Your night together had been unrushed. Steve hadn’t just hit it and quit it with you. No, instead you had kissed and kissed, making out and letting your hands roam like two teenagers except there was no hurry; no seven minute deadline or someone pounding on a guest room door to see if it was occupied. The rumours in school had been true; Steve Harrington was an amazing kisser. You had listened to a friend of a friend rave about his soft lips after a lucky spin the bottle in junior year; now you had tasted him for yourself, you understood why she had brought it up so much. But Steve was in your bed now, not hers, you thought smugly. 
On the way from the couch to your bed, he had unzipped your dress and you made sure his powdery blue shirt wouldn’t be too creased in the morning, draping it over the back of a chair instead of leaving it balled up on the ground. 
Steve had made sure you knew how beautiful he thought you were, kissed you everywhere before taking his time with you and spent an age between your legs as he worked you open for him. Lying there the next morning, you could feel your face heat up when you remembered how his touch set you on fire. The pleasant all over ache weighed you down into your mattress. 
With a messy bed-head, Steve woke a little after you and saw you smiling dreamily to yourself. He reached out to pull you closer, tucking his face into your neck. 
“Mornin’.” His voice was gravelly and deep. 
“Morning.” You brush his hair back gently and dot a kiss to his forehead before stroking your fingers over his shoulders soothingly, dragging them down his arm.  
“S’nice,” he said, lips moving against your neck before he pressed a few kisses there. 
Lying face to face on your pillow, your fingers played with the fine gold chain that settled around his throat, dipping lower into the thick hair on his chest. 
“I had a really good time last night.” Steve’s fingers walk up your arm, before twirling your hair around one carefully. 
When you look up at him, he’s got this little smile on his face. He inches closer, letting his gaze drop to your own smiling mouth before you share a slow morning kiss. 
“Me too,” you whisper, settling your hand on the side of his neck before returning his kiss again. Your fingers skate across and behind the lobe of his ear, the underside of his jaw and the shade of stubble there. 
With his large soft hands, he drags you closer still, pressing you right up against him. The t-shirt you had pulled on after the sweat on your body had started to cool last night was rucked up over your hip as Steve’s thumb strokes the dip there. 
You sigh into his mouth, feeling warm all over despite the chill of your box fan to cool the room down. This morning you're warmed by the heat and glow that radiates from Steve Harrington, hotter than the sun itself. 
“You’re really beautiful,” he murmurs against your lips, shifting his weight so you’re on your back again with one of his thighs slotted between yours. Steve brushes your hair back, fanning it out over the pillow before dipping down to kiss you again. He leaves you breathless before his lips trail lower to your jaw and neck. 
It’s an intimacy you hadn’t had with anyone in a long time, feeling safe enough with Steve to let yourself be loved on like this. You will yourself to be present with him, bask in his glow as it warms you, but barbs of anxiety have crept in to distract you.
Last night was amazing, slow and syrupy and tender. If that had been the last time you ever saw Steve Harrington you could have probably died happy - happier than before anyway. But instead he stayed, and as he kisses you again (morning breath ignored and forgotten). Steve didn’t care that you had faded into the background of your shared high school halls, he had loved how you had the bravery to break out of Hawkins and be you now. 
Steve notices you tensing up and peels himself back, thumbing your cheek again as he says your name. “Do you want me to stop?” he asks, concern in his eyes. It makes your heart ache. 
You shake your head and cover the hand on your cheek. “No. Never.” You pull him to you again and relish the weight of him on top, your hands over his shoulders. “I’m getting in my head. You’re straight out of a dream, Steve. I feel like asking you to pinch me.”
You feel a little embarrassed about being quite so honest with him like this, but he oozes a magnetism and calmness that makes you want to tell him everything. But you don’t want to scare him away, be left waiting for another call that’s not coming, or hear him say ‘that was fun but I’m not looking for anything serious right now’. 
He smiles and leans his weight on one strong arm so he’s not totally crushing you. “I can, if you want. But I promise I’m real. And I’m just some guy.” 
You laugh. “Some guy? Nah Steve, I think you might be some sort of apparition. Or like, a Greek god.” You squeeze his bicep for emphasis. “Definitely dreaming.”
Steve rolls his eyes, playful, and pinches your cheek lightly. “See? Silly.” He presses a kiss to where he pinched before going in for another on your smiling mouth. Steve was not shy or stingy with his kisses, you had learned. You liked that a lot. 
“I think you’re pretty amazing, y’know. If you’re not sick of me yet, would you wanna go for breakfast with me?” Steve kneels up between your thighs, the sheets pooling around his hips. Your eyes go right to the white Calvin’s pulled tight over the thickness of him. Your eyes rake up over his body until you’re caught staring, ogling, and Steve smiles when you pull a pillow over your face. You certainly hadn’t been so shy last night; he laughs and lifts it away to gaze down at you, hoping you will say yes. 
“C’mere. Then you can take me for breakfast.” You coax him back down, hooking one leg over his hip. “Prove to me again that you’re not just in my imagination?”
Steve grins and rolls himself down over you. “You been imagining me like this? Scandalous,” he teases before resuming his kisses from earlier, which you are eager to return. Your bodies move together, hips tilting toward each other seeking out that pressure that makes your tummy sizzle. As Steve’s hands slip under your sized-up sleep shirt again, your own dips down to cup him through his underwear. His breath hitches, eyes fluttering shut. 
“Baby…” 
Baby. 
You smile and repeat the movement firmer this time before beginning to coax him to hardness, breaking your hold on him only to help him remove your tshirt. It���s lost to the floor along with Steve’s briefs. His breath is hot against your mouth as your bodies press together. The feeling of Steve’s hands on your breasts draws out a whine that’s swallowed by another kiss; his hands are so big and they feel like they are everywhere, like Steve is everywhere. His mouth and hands trail lower, spreading you out for him on your dusty rose bedsheets. He cups you there, thumb swiping in a delicious rhythm that has you gasping against his shoulder. 
“I’ve got you,” he whispers, kissing the tops of your breasts. “Let me hear those pretty noises again, baby. Please?” 
You whimper as his fingers ease you open, so gentle like the polite ‘please’. Steve had proven he was a talker already last night, his words making you feel hot all over as he had pushed so carefully inside, turning tipsy giggles into needy gasps. You felt the same heat engulf you now as he lay wet kisses to your tummy, your hips, pausing only so that he could lie comfortably between your thighs after shouldering his way between them. 
He’s looking up at you, his cheek against the meat of your thigh. Lips curve into a smile when you meet his gaze, and he closes his eyes when you stroke his hair back. One of his hands takes yours and rests together on your belly as he dips to kiss you where you need him, humming against you when you gasp his name. 
Your eyes drop closed, fireworks bursting behind them as he makes you feel so good. The once or twice any other man had done this was lacklustre in skill and enthusiasm, which Steve possessed in every cell of his being. When you chance looking at him you spot his hips shifting against the mattress, chasing relief for his own ache which makes you moan louder. His whispered “good girl” sends your eyes rolling back into your skull. 
Steve brings you to your peak quicker than anyone ever had before. Mindful that you might be a little tender from the night before as he presses one long and thick finger inside before a second joins it a few moments later, gentle but with a purpose of making you forget your own name. His shoulder presses firm against your thigh, spreading you wider as his fingers pump steadily, keeping the pace and press against the spot inside you that makes you feel fit to explode. 
You squeeze his arm while your capacity for coherent speech vanishes, focusing only on the swirl and suck of his mouth and the crook and curl of his fingers. It’s so sudden, and you swear you’ve never made a noise so loud as you moan for him, trembling all over. He whispers his praise against your thigh before bringing his mouth back to where you’re weeping for him and doesn’t stop until your thighs are crushing his ears, muffling your voice. 
Chest heaving, you feel him move up to check on you. He brings you close, holding you as you glow with him and presses feathery kisses to your hairline. “You still with me? Not still dreaming about me?” 
“Mm, think I died,” you manage, peeking up at him with teary eyes. Another tender kiss to the dopey smile on your lips. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me, sweetheart.” 
His grin is deservedly cocky, earning himself the warm grasp of your hand around his length. The prettiest frown graces his face as you squeeze and slowly pump your hand, your lips moving to his neck. 
Steve’s gaze moves from your face, dragging down your body to where your hand holds him. His size makes your hand look small and you feel the kick of his arousal on your palm. You manage to swing one wobbly leg over him, sitting on the breadth of his thighs with new confidence as he holds you steady. 
You lean across him, earning kisses to your chest as you fish for a condom to rip open and roll on to him before lowering yourself down into his lap. 
Sinking your teeth into the fat of your lower lip at the stretch of him, Steve huffs out a breathy swear against your chest. His hands settle on your hip and thigh, grounding and never rushing as you breathe into the feeling of him inside you before beginning to move. 
“Fuck,” he murmurs, watching you in awe. “So pretty f’me.”
That spurs you on, chasing the tingle deep in your abdomen. Your fingers lace with Steve’s on your thigh, the other hand braced against the wall behind his shoulder. 
His head leans back by your hand, turning to kiss your wrist as you move in his lap. You curl your arm around him, bringing each other close as his hips hitch up to meet you. 
“So good, baby,” he murmurs, kissing you again as his breath comes quicker now. “You’re so fuckin’ pretty.”
Gasping his name, you hold him tight to you as you move together. He can’t take his eyes off of you, “Good girl, so gorgeous.” 
Messy kisses broken by gasps and Steve’s praise are traded back and forth. His hands feel huge where they hold you at your waist. 
The cord of pleasure deep in your pelvis winds tighter. Steve’s jaw twitches as he holds on to you, and you kiss the tense muscle before whispering, “You make me feel so good.” The sound he makes is almost a whimper and he squeezes the meat of your ass. Your hips continue their rise and roll, you feel like every cell of your body is aflame. 
Steve watches you, praising words fanning the fire low in your belly. The burn in your thighs makes you pause and he takes the chance to kiss you stupid again. 
“Feel good? Yeah?” When you nod, feeling spaced out, he pecks your swollen lips and whispers, “Let me take care of you, sweetheart.” You wonder if he lets anyone take care of him, return his generosity and affections. 
He is so gentle as he holds you to his chest and slouches lower on the bed. You close your eyes at the feeling of being held like this, cheek to his broad shoulder. His feet are flat and firm on the bed and the experimental thrust up into you makes you sigh his name. Steve sweeps your hair to one side so that he can kiss your neck again, checking in with you before continuing. 
His name echoes on your bedroom walls as he grazes the elusive spot inside of you; the way you press right against his pelvis gives a rub of friction that makes lightning zing through your limbs. “That’s it. Huh? Right there?” His voice is tight as he drives up into you again, faster now with the new angle. 
You can hardly summon the sense to make a sentence, babbling now with how good he’s making you feel, the occasional broken curse or plea. After last night and this morning, the neighbours won’t be happy or forget Steve’s name anytime soon - not that you give a fuck. 
You kiss him again, though now you’re both so far gone it’s messy and needy, hot breaths against each other’s cheeks. The lick of his tongue against yours makes you shiver. You feel ready to burst, pleasure building as his hips drive up hard into you
With the feeling of him so deep inside of you, you fall over the edge again. The feeling of your orgasm, clenching and fluttering and soaking, drags him with you, groaning against your neck when his hips slam and stutter still. His arms are tight around you, both heaving deep breaths together. 
Steve eases you both down onto your sides, tangled together. You feel dazed and heavy but the stroke of Steve’s fingers on your hip, his hot breath on your collarbone grounds you until the sounds of Chicago on a Saturday morning remind you that this wasn’t a dream. 
“You okay? That.. Jesus…” Steve’s voice is breathy, but you hear his smile. 
“Yeah. I’m…amazing.”
“Yeah, you are.” 
There’s comfortable silence as you both come back to earth. 
After a few moments Steve dots kisses to your cheeks, forehead and nose before he eases out of you to bin the full condom. Soon you’re back in bed with him, held safe in his arms. His cheeks are pink and you want to squeeze them. 
“You’re so gorgeous, Steve.” Your fingers brush over the moles dotted along his cheekbone, and he catches your hand to kiss your fingers sweetly in distraction. “Hey. Look at me, Harrington.”
“Back to Harrington?” he teases, looking into your eyes with faux intensity to make you giggle. “M’lookin’.”
“Steve. Steven.” You match his teasing with pretend-seriousness.
“Not Steven. Please, baby.” His mouth turns down, exaggerating his unhappiness with you, but the stroke of his fingers on your hip say otherwise.
“Ms O’Donnell called you Steven.”
“Please don’t bring O’Donnell up while my dick is still out.”
You both dissolve into giggles, pressing your face against the chain on his chest. “Shut up, she had that much of an effect on you?! Calling you Steven gets you all worked up? Okay perv, good to know.”
“You’re sick in the head.” His voice is shaky with laughter against your hair. “S’a good thing you’re cute.”
“Mhm. Definitely a sicko. Two cute sickos.” You take his face in your hands again. “You’re a great date Steve Harrington.”
He smiles, but it falls a little - you just about catch it. It makes your heart hurt. Your inability to just say that you don’t want this to be a one time thing makes you want to pull your own hair out. 
“I do my best. I had so much fun with you. I’m just kinda… sick of first dates though. Yknow?” 
“I do know. But that’s not how last night felt.” 
There’s a flash of recognition in his eyes as he nods. 
“Definitely helped that we had a bit of a head start on the ‘where are you from?’ shit..” There’s a twinkle of playfulness in his heart wrenching sincerity. 
“I hate that part.” You look into his eyes. It makes your chest flutter, how he looks at you.
“I know we didn’t know each other all that well in school..”
“Since kindergarten.” Your shrug is tiny, you smile playfully as he groans. 
“Since kindergarten. Shit. What’ve I been doing all this time…” he asks the ceiling.
“Same as me. Getting out of Hawkins. Going on crappy dates...” 
“Mm, true. Growing up, I guess.” He’s quiet for a moment, “Last night wasn’t crappy. Best date I’ve been on in a long long time.”
“Me too. I think I’ll let you take me out again, if you want to…” you say, whispering bravely as you act all playful despite your hammering heart. 
The smile on Steve’s face makes the butterflies in your stomach swoop again. You weren’t the only one who felt so dimmed by dating around, having your heart broken. There’s a beat of silence, charged electric as Steve looks at your lips and you touch his chain again. 
“You like pancakes, or waffles?” Steve’s eyes twinkle. 
You squeeze the bulk of his bicep. “French toast.”
His head tips back in laugh, showing off his delicious throat. “Oh she’s fancy?”
“She is.” 
He leans in to kiss you in more time. “I can do fancy, baby.” 
“You’ve done fancy twice. Fancy is hungry, Steve.”
Your laughter echoes in the golden morning light that fills your room as his fingers skate over your ribs, finding the ticklish spots before he hauls you as close as possible again. 
Steve’s nose presses against your cheek, smooching one more kiss there before sitting up to find his pants. As you stargaze at the constellation on his broad back, you think this might just be the start of something really amazing.
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comments, reblogs and likes are not simply appreciated - they are cherished
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itsbubbleteataro · 15 days
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Heloo! :D I saw your request are open so i decided to send one! what would be Sunday's reaction to a Furina!s/o? If that's a tad bit confusing, can you do Sunday's reaction to his s/o performing Sinners Finale (Furina's execution song) and the execution if you're feeling angsty :3 (You dont need to add that part if you dont want to) SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH IM REALLY BAD AT EXPLAINING
can i be 🤸 anon pls :3
-🤸
You bet you can! Sorry 🤸 if it's not as you'd like but I did have a lot of fun writing about it. I kept some elements that I really enjoyed and found some nice music to listen to in the prosess. I had a lot of fun brainstorming in a cafe with some coffee!
Sorry about my posting being all over the place, moving across the country in the next few months will keep one busy! Anyways heads up this will pull at the heart strings,
Without anymore stalling, I present
La Danse du Chagrin
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"Long, long ago, on a small planet named La Sec, a tradition old as the aeons persisted. Every 500 years a lottery was to be held. The winner is said to preform a dance so wonderful that the skies themselves weep and bring this dry and starved planet the water it desires"
You've told this story to Sunday as many times as he asked. Every time he seemed more and more enthralled within the sad story.
The very same story you told him when he first found you, one of of his many trips outside of Penacony.
He saw you dancing for the very first time, a style he wasn't familiar with at first. You lived gracefully, going up en point as if it were as easy as breathing.
The two of you met when he went to extend an invitation, to invite you to dance for the dreamscape. You soon became one of the more popular shows to go to when Robin wasn't present.
It was just after one of your shows, you and Sunday were in your dressing room. Him away from the public eye, watching you make yourself perfect before your next performance.
Sunday's always liked that about you, how your always perfect when you dance, as well as when you dress for the day or for the stage.
A bloodhound knocks on the door to the dressing room, prompting Sunday to get up and answer it as you were busy making sure your hair was perfect. Sunday was handed a note, addressed to you. He passed it along, setting it down on your table while he took his seat again.
Carefully you opened it, taking the note in hand and reading it. You bit your lip, keeping as stoic an expression as you could muster.
"Well my dear dove, it seems we have a show to attend in La Sec. I do hope you will come watch me dance, they did personally invite me too"
You said as you stood up, turning to face him. In hand your point shoes. In the other a red tambourine with matching velvet ribbons tied to it. Your dress a silky white with blood red accents.
"By of course my dear, it seems we are to depart?"
You nodded your head and walked side by side with him.
----
Arriving home was just like you expected. Dry, the earth cracked and starved for water. You took Sunday to Palace d'ear. A grand palace with many a room and beautiful gardens made of stones instead of lush greens. Inside tall ceilings with paintings.
Sunday looked at the paintings, filled with beautiful dancers, tales of woe and sorrow. Some of excutions.
The two of you walked on, further and further. You directed Sunday to a stage, and had him sit in the audience, while you went off to speak with an official.
------
It had been about an hour, he noticed a spinning blue sword above the stage, he figured it was just an effect. After all, it is a stage.
He blinked as he looked at you, then, the music started to play.
He watched you dance both your and his favorite solo, La Esmeralda Finale .
Your white dress swirled around you as you danced, your pristine point shoes matching your skin as always. Your hair half up and half down. Sunday always lived watching you dance.
The music ended as you held your final pose. As Sunday stood clap, the blue sword he saw beforehand stopped spinning, and came crashing down with a thunk.
Your dress was stained red, like the bow in your hair.
His eyes, wide in horror. No one had explained the sacrifice to him.
He bolted to the stage when he could, cradling what was left of you as he watched your body turn to little blue droplets and head into the sky.
Your bloodied point shoes, held close to his chest as it started to rain outside.
Oh what a terrible day for rain.
He clutched your beloved shoes close to his heart. He started to sob.
First he was robbed of his sister, now of his beloved? How the world was cruel to him.
He stayed long past the crowd leaving, gathering up your belongings to take them back to his home, your home.
Sunday never went to a ballet again, it wasn't the same.
How he wished he could have watched you keep dancing on for him
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celaenaeiln · 5 months
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Nothing in Batman comics is canon because it’s literally 90% fanfiction written after the actual creators stopped writing the characters.
anon it doesn't work that way.
By that logic, practically noone exists because the original writer of Batman, Bob Kane and Bill Finger, only created Bruce, Dick, Alfred, and the villains gallery. That's it.
No Barbara, no Jason, no Tim, no Damian, Steph, Cass, Duke, Lucius, Tim Fox, Kate, Talia - there's no one then.
But suppose we go back on that statement and say 'well actually, the creators of new characters', which still doesn't make sense but let's go with that. Then major plots wouldn't happen. Because Max Allan Collins and Chris Warner created Jason Todd but Judd Winick is the one who brought him back to life. Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick created Tim Drake but Alan Grant wrote a lot of the Robin comic and Batman comic characterization for him.
It's physically impossible to say that just because other people continued the series, the comics can't be taken seriously.
Comics are the source material. Of which fanfics are based on.
The Star Trek and Star Wars book series are written by multiple different authors but that doesn't mean that what's written doesn't happen or isn't true or is wrong. The 39 Clues and Doctor Who series are the same deal.
Batman comics are canon. Because if only the works of the original authors of Batman were to be considered canon, then practically everyone in the Batman universe doesn't exist/doesn't matter. Because they're just fanfic then.
But this idea doesn't just stop at the Batman fandom anymore because every comic was written this way. The people in Superfam? Gone. Flashfam? Gone. Arrowfam? Gone. Like this logic doesn't just apply to Batman, it applies to virutally every character in the existence of DC.
The beauty of comics is seeing how the next writer will continue the story. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they need tweaking, and sometimes they're wrong although that's usually very rare.
The problem with fandom's view on comic writing is the belief that whatever the authors create must match our perspective of the characters. That's wrong. Their characterization is what we should be adding on/building on to our perspective of the characters. Unless there is something so wrong, something so illogical, that it must be noted because that character has never acted that way before, then we must discard or critisize a comic.
Comics develop. Characters develop. Each writer brings something new and adds a layer of depth to each character they write about. That's how we get new interactions, new relationships, new sides that make each character interesting.
Take the original Dick Grayson comic and his intro to Robin
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Detective Comics (1937) Issue #38
Dick originally wanted to go to the police. He had no intention of going after Tony Zucco but Bruce is the one who demands they go after him together by themselves!
I love this version created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, but I also love the version created by a completely different author where Dick decides to stake out Zucco on his own. Both versions show different sides of him and authors sometimes even choose which one they want to include. Some have gone with this version where Dick tries to go to the police before being interrupted by Bruce and others have gone with the second, more famous version. But neither of them are bad and you can't say that the one where Dick goes after Tony Zucco is fanfiction. It's canon. If it's written in comics, it happened unless there's some disastrous, glaring contradiction.
You have to understand, these comics - especially Dick and Bruce's - are nearly 100 years old. Dick, and it's wild to think about this, existed before even the Justice League did. Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Aquaman were all created after him. If the orginial writers stopped writing, and noone picked it up, there would be no Justice League and that's a problem because the Justice League is one of the foundations of the DC comics.
So much has changed in a century and new writers constantly come in to show that change. That's why comics after the original writers finish writing are still canon and important. The original characterizations of all these major players were all super peppy and cheerful before new writers added angst and drama to their backstories. Bruce and Dick used to laugh and grin when they went crime fighting with no sadness or anger or other emotions. It wasn't until a couple decades later where writers started writing that in which is how we get the grim avenger Batman today.
Here's the third point to why they're relevant even though they're written by new authors: the passage of time in real life, is included in canon comics characterizations.
One comic talks about Dick discussing the Joker and he says, "at the beginning, it was just all fun and games. He would cause problems but at the end of the day it was a game. But one day, things went too far. People got shot. That day, the Joker changed. He was darker and evil. It wasn't games anymore."
This comic panel talks about the Golden Age to now, the progression and development of characters.
The comics and reality are inseparable because reality is literally written in. The works of writers after the orignal ones aren't arbitrary or some whimsical thing.
It's very different from fanfiction because fanfiction has no need to stick to the truth or canon characterization but these comic writers do because they have an obligation to do so. The only problem they might have is accidentally focusing too much on one aspect of a character and neglecting the other parts but almost none of them are way off the mark.
So no, for the sake of characterization, personality development, plot events, and new interactions, all comics are extremely important and definitely canon. Us readers might have different opinions and thoughts on them but it's irrelevant in the face of the fact that the comics are the only truth to which we can base our interpretations on.
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puppetmaster13u · 3 days
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For any of your cryptid batfam AUs. We know Batman thinks criminals are superstitious and cowardly. So how superstitious should most Gothamites be? What are some of the superstitions and things they do because of that? And what random BS do the Bat kids do to actively encourage the superstitions because they think it’s funny?
Vibrates in headcanons.
Okay, so, this is less just the criminals of Gotham- a lot of goons are just trying to put food on the table after all- and more of, Gothamites in general. Like they have good reason to be superstitious.
Like everyone already knows about the Court of Owls, if nothing else then from the Rhyme they use to get children to behave. But Gotham? Is Weird with a capital W even in canon. There are literal streets that disappear and only reappear on certain days, areas where on specific days gravity just doesn't work right, several portals to hell have been opened just in Arkham alone, and there's enough curses and cults to smother any other place.
Funnily enough I am actually currently working on a story that focuses a bit more on the superstitions of Gotham lol. Like a lot of this stuff? Not shit you're going to see in the more tourist-esque spots, but those are death traps already.
Now a lot of the habits and myths of Gotham start out as a thing about Survival. It started less with things about the Bats and more about the Rogues and how to survive.
Tiny plant boxes meticulously cared for, after one noticed how plants react when Ivy is around. They line the windows of almost every home despite the smog, and some even pray through them for their Mother to not attack today.
Small scarecrow dolls, made of grass balls and cloth hang from overhangs on roofs with rope like a hangman, a charm in hopes that the one walking the streets will leave them alone. It ends with some claiming that if you rip the head from the body of cloth, the Scarecrow will come for you.
Small candles and lanterns begin to appear on the windowsills of children, their own homemade batsignals. Some say if you're very good, gifts will appear beside it, while others claim that if you're very bad, the Signal will appear and take you away.
Tiny shrines appear on rooftops over the years, meticulously carved statuettes within. It started with one for the Second Robin, and some whisper about how the Red Hood emerged from it, was reborn through their prayers and gifts. Now there are more, offerings ranging from snacks to child's drawings to figures of clay. No one dares take things from it, the last time someone tried... well, let's just say it didn't end well.
The thing is? The Bats don't even have to do much to encourage this, and don't usually even do it on purpose.
Everyone knows what happened to the ones who tried to be a vigilante. They know of the first Batgirl, humanity slowly dripped away the longer she huddled in the Bat's shadow until she was twisting around just like it. Any child who had been making their own costumes, their parents burned it that night, terrified that the Bat would take their children to be its own next. The small child, everyone knew about him, a wee little thing with a camera clutched against his chest. They all saw him run after the Bats despite the protests, saw him run towards the Bat as bodies crumbled before it. They saw him grab its arm with such tiny hands, and the Bat, grieving, stopped. They all saw the Bat whisk him away, and once more whispered to their children to never follow the Bats into the shadows. They know of the girl cloaked in amethyst cloth, who chased after them despite the warnings and pleadings of others. She disappeared, and the faceless thing of chittering laughs that raced the Robin that appeared in her stead... Everyone knows what happens to those who offer themselves to the Bats, knowingly or not.
Robin can mimic voices, their own childish giggles and clicks echoing across the stone slipping into another's words. What is merely a game to them is horrific for anyone wandering the streets in the dark of the night. Some say that it can steal your voice permanently if it so wished.
Everyone in Gotham knows that the Bats aren't human. Oh they might mimic and pretend to be as such, or even had been at some point, but they're confident they aren't. Even if they put on an act outside of Gotham, corpse-like skin gaining hints of color like blood is actually rushing through veins, everyone knows that's what it is. An act.
The Bats themselves? Well, it keeps their civilian identity safe- and the shrines have helped them get children out of bad home lives and to safety, so they're not going to just... not encourage it.
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vashtijoy · 11 months
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what is the link between Akechi and the story of Robin Hood?
*pulls on my green British person hat and grabs a bow*
I'm not a huge expert on Persona links but they do tend to be a bit tenuous; Akechi's Robin Hood is no more like the legendary Robin Hood than Loki is like Loki or Arsene is like Lupin. That said:
Robin Hood is a thief, of course. Chalk that one up in the "Akechi is a Phantom Thief" column;
Robin Hood is a master of disguise, like both Akechi's other personas;
Robin Hood is often depicted as being of noble birth and having been unjustly dispossessed—Akechi's "prince" regalia is often interpreted that way, as a claim on a denied birthright;
Wikipedia defines "a Robin Hood" as "a heroic outlaw or a rebel against tyranny", which, well;
He's most known for having robbed from the rich to give to the poor, and I don't quite get that one. Akechi himself could be "the poor", but "robbed from the rich to give to himself" lacks a certain cachet.
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The most notable thing about Robin Hood, to me, is that Superman motif that contrasts with Hereward's Batman motif, with Loki in the middle as the second awakening—hero to villain to antihero. Because, even if he awakened to both Robin and Loki at the same time, it's like Protect and Endure—there must still have been an order.
We see it during his third awakening to Hereward—the historical figure Robin Hood was allegedly based on. Hereward resembles Robin Hood, and Robin is on the left—which makes him the first awakening. Even if it maybe didn't work the same as the others we saw.
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But yeah, one argument in favour of Akechi awakening to both Robin Hood and Loki at the same time is that Akechi did not randomly awaken. Like Joker, Akechi was awakened—to serve a purpose, to be Yaldabaoth's agent spreading fear among the masses.
That makes it very hard for me to picture Akechi starting out as a good guy, as the hero he dreamed of being. Akechi was chosen for his role because he was already full of hate—because he was the sort who, given power, would inevitably twist it to a bad end that he was already fixated on. Akechi is already the kid with the perfect outward image who's twisted and broken on the inside; he essentially tells us in the engine room that he lived his whole life that way. I have a feeling he was already becoming like that when his mother was alive.
The thing is, there's no reason that kid can't still believe in justice; of course he does. He believes in it the way people who've been hurt by religion often still believe in God. He believes in it as something that should exist, but doesn't; as an ideal, with the hate that's the flip side of love and belief. There are no heroes. Nobody will save him. Friends and family aren't real; love and trust are lies people tell themselves, tricks used to manipulate you. The system isn't on his side; no matter what he does, the world just finds new ways to hurt him, and what can he do about it?
And that guy he can't stop thinking about, who symbolises all of this injustice, whose shadow Akechi has lived in for so long? As well wish for the moon as hope to get back at him.
Except, one day, he finds the app on his phone. He goes from being bitter and powerless to having power, to having choices, to being able to hurt others like he's been hurt. But that part of him that aspired to justice, to being a hero, never really goes away. He does his utmost to give his life for it.
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damianbugs · 1 year
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What you mean by" willis todds love for jason is the reason bruce failed him" ?
Sorry ive seen your post and I agree with everything but this just kinda suprise me, not hating, just curiuos
HELLO! so this is a take that is based on pre-new 52 todds, before they were simplified to the one dimensional (and classist) personalities they're known for now. neither of them were shown to be abusive or willfully negligent, but rather found themselves in bad situations out of their control and died, leaving jason to fend for himself.
in the most simplest way what i mean is willis todds self sacrificing actions of turning to crime in order to provide for jason and catherine is the key defining part of jasons life and why he views bruce's love for him as 'not enough'.
(of course, the actual proof of this is like. one single panel and its not even said by jason. however i think it is something that can be found in jasons character through other, less obvious situations.)
in jasons initial (public) return to gotham and that long and convoluted plan to mess around with batman psychology to get the two of them and the joker in the same place, it all seems like a well planned out revenge story until the final conversation:
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Batman: Under the Red Hood
it always stood out to me, not just because of how absolutely heart wrenching the entire moment is (definitely read utrh if you haven't, at least once), but because it really gives you an insight into what love and loving someone means to jason.
to him it's an all encompassing responsibility. this idea that love is something that you need to be able to prove by the quantitive value of what you'll sacrifice for it. in this case, jason is saying i love you" in the way he truly believes gets across how much he means it; i would kill the person who hurt you.
whenever i read this part of utrh, another situation immediately pops into my mind. and that's when jason found out two-face had killed willis todd.
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Batman #411
upon finding out two-face had killed willis, jason goes on a brief grief filled rampage, swearing he'll kill him for what he did. it's important to note that up until now, jason had assumed willis was still in prison, only to find out he was actually murdered.
again, it's this idea that love is the extremes you'll go to for family. jason was well aware of willis' less than legal means to make money, and even bruce makes a mention of it in.
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Batman: A death in the family
i imagine, like a lot of what fuels jason to fight crime now, guilt is a major deciding factor in a lot of his choices. it's this guilt that he feels upon hearing about willis' death that makes him take it out on two-face. it's even guilt that plays a huge factor even in new 52 stories (such as Cheer).
so when he returns to gotham, or even before that, just hearing about what bruce had done following his death (locking the joker up instead of killing him, taking in tim as his robin) were, to him, clear evidence that he did not love jason in any way that mattered. that bruce did not love jason as much as jason loved him.
because loving him means giving up your morals. loving him means sacrificing your health and your time and your safety.
but bruce didn't do any of that in a way jason could see.
i imagine to someone like jason, who lost every parental figure in some capacity, whether it be to illness or crime or something else entirely, the evident disregard for him was as painful as any rejection could have been.
a lot of how jason feels and acts can be seen in much more interesting ways if we all look at him for he is; an unreliable narrator. he is missing huge chunks of story, especially when it comes to bruce, and has no choice but to act irrationally on the little truth he does know.
of course we the readers, and some other characters, know just how hard jasons death was for bruce. how destructively he mourned for his son.
but again, the surface level proof of it is not enough for jason, who's entire life has been love through sacrifice. but now, it's a sacrifice bruce can not ever give him.
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Batman: Under the Red Hood
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fastcardotmp3 · 1 year
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stranger things au where when it's all done, instead of the general fandom usual of NDA's and cover stories, those guys at the NINA Project figure out a way to use that same technology that brought El's memories back to instead wipe the memories of anyone involved in saving the world/ anyone who saw anything abnormal and replace them with the mundane.
It's the only foolproof way to make sure that none of That gets out, to make sure that no one decides to go poking around again 10 years down the line or write a book or a song or a movie that hits a little too closely to the truth, and the government loves themselves something that seems like a foolproof plan.
But what does this mean for our heroes? They don't remember the circumstances that brought them together, only the cover memories that were inserted in their place. They don't remember why they care so deeply for one another because a summer scooping ice cream or a walk through the woods or an-- impromptu game of baseball???-- doesn't quite line up with how it feels.
It feels bigger than that. It feels--
There are explanations for Steve's scars, he remembers a big dog and a trip to the ER, he remembers getting in a car accident and the seat belt coming loose enough to get stuck across his throat instead of his chest. He remembers-- blood on his hands, blood on his clothes, the outline of a man torn half to shreds--
He remembers a bad trip with Robin, but sometimes Robin will say something and it's-- when we got drugged- took those- when we uh, y'know tried LSD that time?-- fuzzy because of the bad trip of it all.
It's easy to accept the truth as the truth, because he remembers. It's easy, for years, to let the truth be the truth, to forget entirely that there are pieces that don't make sense, that there's no reason he should be as close with Dustin Henderson as he is because wait how did we meet? over a missing cat? It's easy, to just let it be true, because the love is there and that's what matters.
The love is there for a year and two and five and ten and Steve's life isn't always easy, in fact he's gone through his fair share of therapists for the insomnia none of them can explain, the confusion that both him and Robin talk about sometimes in the dead of night but can't remember talking about in the morning.
Eddie gets medicated for some sort of psychosis for a while because he had years of these intense night terrors that he could never explain to people, screaming at the top of his lungs, but the minute he would try to tell a shaking and terrified Steve or Robin or Nancy or whoever was present what it had been about he would just sob with frustration because he couldn't remember.
Max has a condition which made her lose her eyesight rapidly as a teenager, who has chronic pain that no doctors have ever found a real cause for despite Steve dragging her to appointment after appointment with fierce protectiveness in his eyes and voice, a desperation that there has to be a reason.
It's easy to accept it as the truth, that they all gravitated towards each other because they're all just a little fucked up in unrelated ways. That they connected to one another because oh you get scared sometimes too? scared like I do? scared like no one else understands?
Lucas starts spontaneously sobbing when some Kate Bush song plays on the radio in 1992. Can't explain it except that it hurts.
Nancy goes to a shooting range and feels her hands go steady for the first time in years in '93. She's never shot a gun before.
El Hopper had a traumatic enough childhood that doctors say she likely won't ever remember all of it, that her brain is protecting her, that-- that's probably true. They're doctors. They know better than Steve, they know about everything except why Max's legs hurt so bad she can't move sometimes.
They know everything except why Eddie can't feel pinned down without having a visceral belief he's dying.
They know everything except why Jonathan swears that their old house used to be painted a different color in the living room.
There are explanations for Steve's scars. He remembers a big dog.
Sharp teeth. Snarling.
He's in his thirties when he kisses Eddie Munson for the first time, because they're fucked in the head in the same ways, because no one else has ever gotten close enough to see the scars and hear the screaming and feel the desperation and not suggested maybe you need bigger help than I can give.
He's a grown man, and it's easy to believe the truth of his past, easy to think that growing older means it's supposed to be a little fuzzy around the edges, and that's okay because this feels bright and clear and technicolor, this thing with Eddie who has run away and come back half a dozen times but always does come back.
Whether he goes to Seattle or LA, New York or Boston; whether he and Steve are in the same place at the same time for more than a couple of weeks, he always comes back, they always find their way back to each other no matter where in the world, except--
Except there.
Everyone left that town with a haste-- or was it one at a time? No, it was the Byers first to California, except-- didn't Will graduate from that school? No. Because El went to school in Chicago at the same time that Robin started college there and she helped Will apply to the Arts Institute and--
And it was Max who went to California-- no, she was from there, but she also-- did she go back?
And why does Steve remember the house he grew up in but the minute he tries to step outside the back door onto the patio in his mind, out by the-- with the blue light and--
"Have you ever been back?" he asks Eddie one day, 32 years old and living in Chicago now full-time together. Robin's just down the road, Nancy's at the Tribune, Argyle has been franchising that coffee shop of his, is opening a spot here in town near his friends who he met when--
"Back where?" Eddie trails his hands through Steve's hair, laying half on top of each other on the couch and listening to some old tape of Jonathan's.
"Where we're from."
Eddie's fingers slow to an almost still and Steve props himself up to watch the way his brow furrows in concentration.
"Why would we go back?" he asks, and Steve has this flash-- like they've had this conversation before.
Like they've talked about where we're from before, although the name of the place never crosses their lips.
"I dunno," Steve slumps into Eddie's chest. They're getting older though so maybe just, "nostalgia?"
"Are you feeling nostalgic?" A rediscovered rhythm to gentle nails across his scalp. Soothing.
"It's where we met," Steve says. It feels true, although when he thinks about it-- "remember? How we met?"
"I..." Eddie's jaw clicks. It does that sometimes, on the same side with the scar.
There are explanations for Eddie's scars too-- a drug deal gone wrong, too many guys with too may knives-- or was it broken beer bottles? They used those as weapons, yeah. Tattered clothes and tattered skin and blood on Steve's hands--
No. He wasn't there. Blood on-- it was Dustin who found him? No. Wait, it was Wayne. Wayne found him, yeah, exactly--
"We met there," Eddie's gripping Steve's hair now, by the root. "We met back there. High school. Do you want to go back?
"Why would we go--"
Steve startles himself with the words, like they just-- like they weren't a choice to say, like they said themselves, like--
"Ed."
Breathing is tight. Steve sits up straight and looks at him. Scars on his face. Eyes so big and deep they hold endless histories--
"Eddie, do you want to go visit-- visit, uh, you know?"
"Why would we--" Eddie claps a hand over his mouth and hums out a sound of frightened discontent. "What. What the fuck."
"How did we meet, again?" Steve swallows. Eddie stands up, paces to the other side of the apartment.
"High school."
"How in high school?"
"Steve, I stopped taking those meds because they didn't help, but this isn't helping me not feel fucking certifiable either--"
"Eddie, I don't remember."
"Okay, so we're getting old!"
"We're not even middle aged!"
Eddie stops where he stands, shakes his head, and Steve watches him because it's easy to watch him, easy to look at the life they've lived and accept that they found each other, fell in love, because no one else gets what it's like to be fucked in the head. To know what's true and still feel wrong in that truth.
To believe it and still get lost in it.
Eddie clenches down on the tremble of his jaw and his eyes go big and imploring.
"What's happening, Stevie?"
There are explanations for all of it, but no one has ever been able to explain Max's pain or Nancy's sharp-shooting or Robin and Steve's inability to get drunk without losing it or the color of the paint in the Byers' old living room in that fucking town that Steve can't even think the name of--
"I'm calling Robin," he says, already striding across the floor. "I want to go back."
There are explanations.
Maybe that's not good enough anymore.
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findafight · 1 year
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Robin doesn't think about the short sleeve button up she wears on the first day of Senior year other than that it's cute until Jamie is pulling her arm close to her face, and she realizes that if she didn't want to be the centre of attention for having a rather prominent Mark that Filled over summer, she should have worn long sleeves. Damn.
The iridescent colour it's written in shifts in the light, from purple to green to gold and has the shimmer of wet ink, glitter shifting within it impossibly. Marks are always striking, their colours more vivid and beautiful than anything manmade. Neoclassical and baroque artists came close to recreating them, but even masters' attempts always look off. Movies try, but it's still…wrong. Not quite as alive as a Mark should be.
So it's not unusual that Robin's mark carries some ethereal quality, but the placement up her right forearm and the uncanny shifting of the colours do make it…well. Noticeable.
Jamie nearly squeals at her. "Oh my god! You got a new one and Filled it over the summer? Lucky!"
"Ah. Thanks." She's not particularly fond of touch, but resists yanking her arm back. Newly Filled Marks are always cause for gossip, and her being cagey would just lead to rumours.
"So?? Who is it? How'd it happen?" Jamie leans in, wide eyed. Other kids that were milling around the band room have begun clustering.
"It's, ah. It's Steve?" Why did she make that a question? It is Steve's Mark.
"Steve? What Steve? How'd you meet? C'mon, Robin! Give us the story!"
Robin shifts, and pulls her arm away, finally. "We were coworkers at the mall, and I got it when I decided that working with him wasn't so bad, even if he is a dingus. It Filled when–during the fire."
"Oh shit." Someone says.
Jamie blinks. "It's song lyrics though." And yeah, it is. Bright and bold, in Steve's Best Cursive, is and you see me now tonight going from her wrist up towards her elbow in large cursive letters.
Robin giggles. "Yeah, uh. He was…cheering me up. Because, y'know, the fire. He got mine right after."
The band room is quiet, processing. It's not common for Marks to Fill at the same time, even when it's reciprocated. Then someone from the back of the cluster says "wait. Didn't you work with Steve Harrington this summer?"
Finally, Robin grins. "Oh yeah. We're at Family Video now, though." There's tittering. They probably don't believe her. "My Mark is on his left arm, and it says," she pauses. Sharing someone else's Mark isn't exactly polite but sharing a Mark that's yours on someone else isn't at all taboo. It's part of you, on another. So she shares "you sound like a Muppet. In the same colour ink."
The room explodes into questions and astoundment and speculation. By the time second period rolls around tomorrow, the whole school will know. Hell, there'll probably be some nosy customers at Family Video for Steve tonight. Ah, well. It wasn't a secret.
"So, you're dating him now?" Comes floating above the frantic gossiping.
Robin shakes her head. "No. No way. We're friends. It's a platonic bond." Not that Dustin–ignoring that he and Erica also have Filled Marks in the same iridescence on Steve and themselves– would let up about them being scientifically proven to be perfect for each other. Which they were. As…not dating. As friends. As best friends. As a singular blob person that is unfortunately split into two people currently. But Hawkins High Concert Band doesn't need to know that.
"Fucking stunning for a platonic Bond."
She shrugs. "Guess we're just special like that."
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hellfire--cult · 9 months
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Request:
i’d love a sequel where there’s a bit of a “day in the life” with the new happy family, or maybe like some vignettes of them getting settled in and making their new home their own? i would literally love any more content in this universe but there’s my ideas in the hat! 🤍
-
Your wish is my command 💚
Hook!Eddie x Fem!Reader
wc 3.5K
Read the main story here. 🌟
Summary: This is what happens after everyone starts living in the home. A recap of everything that's happened until we reach the present.
You can always support your writers by hitting THE REBLOG button! 💚
You can always send requests for this beautiful couple! My ask is open!
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Hooked on You: After Story
Life after was something everyone had to get used to.
The boys had to be given names, full names, and thankfully Nancy who has some contacts in the newspaper industry pulled some strings for your “orphaned” family.
You didn’t give specifics, but told her that you started dating a man who was struggling to keep his family afloat. They had no records since they were living anywhere they could, and he just picked the kids up like strays. He and his best friend took care of the kids, and that it was a coincidence in meeting when you hired a ‘cleaning service’. 
But it wasn’t just any name. 
When you showed up with a big smile to your face at dinner, while everyone was enjoying themselves with the food, you had grasped in your hands the adoption papers for each boy in the group. 
Through tears, and smiles, they had hugged you one by one, appreciating your kindness but overall, calling you a different name. 
Mom.
Eddie, whose last name he chose was Munson, was stunned when he asked if they were going to call him Dad and each boy grimaced at that outcome, shaking their heads. After that Eddie had played a game of chase with the children, playing as the big bad bear, with his hands above his head, reaching for the boys.
That was another change.
“So, this is a– what?” 
“Prosthetic. It’s not normal to have a hook as a second hand here, and this has motor sensors, so you can basically have another hand!” You had explained to him, and he was stunned at the realization that he could have his left hand back. But sometimes, he discards the prosthetic, and goes back to his hook because he feels complete with it, that’s what he had told you.
Steve, now Steve Harrington, had acquired the second mom title. Whenever you were gone, or busy, or simply tired, he took care of the boys, played with them, and helped them clean the house. 
It was summer time, but you knew you will have to enroll the kids into school soon, but you had to teach them basic things, such as the ABC, numbers, some math, a little bit of history and biology, and Eddie and Steve listened intently, giving their own teachings here and there. 
You didn’t want your boys to go into middle school without knowing at least the basics, because then everything would be too complex, so thankfully, Robin, who is a teacher, happily comes once a week to give her own teaching to the kids. You found out that Steve and her had developed a strong friendship during the two months you all had been living together.
Another thing they discovered was music.
While the kids loved normal pop songs, except for Mike who had taken a liking to punk music, Steve had loved the 80’s vibe, sticking to it, and then some 90’s, but poor Eddie had not found himself in any of those genres. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was that he might like, but it wasn’t any of that. 
You had tried almost everything, latin music, grunge, rock, techno, but he was still not feeling any of those genres. You were in your room when trying everything in his music app on his phone, and you sighed when he, once again, said he didn’t feel anything from it. 
“I really don’t know what else to play Eds…” He grabbed his phone, which you had taught everyone in the house how to use and bought one for each of them, and started scrolling. 
“There was something about that Rock genre that you showed me… Something is there, but not fully?” You frowned in confusion at his words, and you had to think outside the box. You were showing him things you liked, so maybe, you had to show him things that you wouldn’t normally listen to.
“Hang on…” You grabbed his phone again and searched for a particular playlist. You grabbed his headphones from his night table, and urged him to put them on. He was confused, but did so anyways, and you pressed play onto the playlist.
Eddie’s eyes widened at the sudden strum of a guitar, wild, heavy, powerful, chord after chord. You bit your lip as you stared at his face, and by the smile that was spreading on his cheeks you knew that you hit the jackpot. 
He spent an entire day listening to Metallica. Then the next day to Slipknot. Then Guns ‘n Roses. My Chemical Romance. Megadeth. Rammstein.
The man was a metalhead.
After finding their own music, they had to find their own style. The boys almost wore the same things, sometimes jeans, sometimes shorts, sometimes plaid shirts, sometimes stamped shirts, sneakers… Steve had gone for the rich boy vibe, as you called it. He likes polos, dress pants, tight denims, sweaters, maybe a cardigan.
Now Eddie, you were surprised. He liked everything black, ripped, and he loved the sound of chains as an accessory on his hip. When he found out there were shirts of the bands he started to like, he bought a ton of them, some in white, some in black. One thing that stayed authentic of Eddie, was the black bandana, which he sometimes uses on his head still, or he puts it in his back pocket.
But one of your favorite things in the whole day was going into your room, to finally be alone with him. He was always reading a book, and you came to find out that he loved fantasy. It was funny, because he came out of a fairytale himself, but yet he loves those kinds of books. He devoured Tolkien in a week. 
He would always put whatever he was reading down to welcome you into bed, embracing you in his arms, gentle kisses that always turned into heated ones because that’s another thing that happened. He couldn’t keep himself from touching you. 
And you didn’t want him to. The boys at first made gagging noises whenever he came into the kitchen for breakfast and gave you a morning kiss, lingering there more than it should, but they soon got used to it. Whenever he could, he was wrapping an arm around you, pulling you close, kissing your neck, your face, your shoulder, anywhere he saw skin. 
So you had to introduce him to condoms.
He wasn’t a fan of them, but when you remembered you two didn’t use protection in Neverland, he told you to not worry. In Neverland time is completely stopped, as well as your cycle, and that would explain why you didn’t have periods while being there. You were in such a blissful experience that you didn’t even remember about your period.
But in this world, you could get pregnant, and even if you want a kid of your own with Eddie, there was still so much to get used to for him. But still, it didn’t forbid him from touching every single night, wanting to drown himself in you, and you weren’t complaining. He was always up for trying new things, and you both had discovered many together.
You taught Eddie and Steve how to drive, but there wasn’t much for you to teach because as soon as they touched the steering wheel, they immediately got the hang of it, and Eddie even described it as easy as sailing a ship. You couldn’t believe a former pirate said a car feels like a ship. With the prosthetic, driving an automatic is very easy for Eddie. 
The kids love the pool, you bought a slide for it and a lot of floaters for them to swim in. You noticed how maternal you had gotten ever since getting the kids into your life, and it wasn’t something you thought of ever having. Now, you want more, for some reason. You always have to shake that thought out of your head because that would end badly.
Another thing you did, not very recommended in the summer, was getting a tattoo. You had tattooed your grandma’s drawing of Neverland. You knew there was a diary of hers, and she sometimes read the story from her own head, and sometimes from there and showed you the drawing. She explained she could see the island at the top of the clouds, while flying with Peter.
So you outlined it and tattooed it on your wrist. 
When Eddie saw it, he was immediately interested, knowing about tattoos but the tribe were the only people that knew how to do it. You decided to visit the shop once with him, and he got a hook tattoo on his ankle, to test the waters of the pain. After a week, you couldn’t find him anywhere for three hours, sending you into a panic, only for him to return with six more tattoos on his body, with a wide grin on his face.
“It's summer! One is already bad, you got seven!” You had yelled at him, but he just shrugged and grinned down at you.
“I’ll get even more in winter.” 
But summer was ending, as well as the boys started becoming nervous of going to school, which was a private one so they had to use uniforms for it. They complained of course, but you had promised them that the teacher they were having was going to be very patient and that you met the kids' parents of the class already and they all seemed nice and welcoming. 
A week before the start of classes, you decided it was time for a last pool party, and so, you invited Nancy, Jonathan and Robin over, where Robin mentioned she had a long distance friend visiting and she had asked if they could come over with their little sister, to which you agreed. 
So now, you were cutting the vegetables for the salads in your kitchen, as Jonathan helped Will start the fire outside for the BBQ. For some reason, Jonathan had taken particular liking to one of your kids, but that’s good, because Nancy had found herself teaching Mike how to play some chess, and Dustin was already attached to Eddie like a Piranha. 
One of your boys, though, was sitting alone on one of the lawn chairs, looking at nothing in particular, just the ripples of the water happening  on the pool. You put down your knife, ready to go talk to Lucas, but the doorbell rings, making your head snap that way.
“Don’t worry, I got it!” Steve yells as he rushes towards the door, opening it, to see Robin, a smile on his face as they hug tightly.
“Hi there Dingus.” She pulled away from the hug to point behind her back. “My friend is unloading something and he’s right here, okay?” 
“Yeah sure.” Steve turns his head to guide Robin towards the kitchen and garden where everyone is and she immediately bolts away. He hears a clear of throat and his head turns back around, only for his eyes to land on blue ones, knocking the breath out of his lungs in an instant.
“Hi, um… Hope we’re not intruding, it’s just, I’m with my sister and I couldn’t leave her alone.” The blonde man says, looking at Steve with the same hazed look in his eyes. Steve shook his head to come out of the trance he was in and smiled, putting his hand out for a shake.
“No issue at all! The boys will love her. I’m Steve by the way.” The other man smiles, his white teeth showing off as he presses his hand against Steve’s, electricity immediately coursing through their bodies.
“I’m Billy.”
“Are you going to keep flirting or…” A soft voice says from behind him, making Billy let go of Steve’s hand with a groan, a blush appearing on his cheeks as he makes way for the redheaded girl to come forward. “I’m Max.” 
“Oh hi–” Steve felt the presence of someone else next to him, and he turned his head to see Lucas, staring at the girl with a dreamy look in his eyes. 
“Hi… I’m Lucas.” Max’s lips tugged slightly up at the sight of the boy, her skateboard in hand. “What's that?” He pointed at it and she smiled widely, walking inside the house, grabbing onto his hand to guide him outside where everyone was.
“I’ll teach you!” Steve could hear her yell as he let Billy in. He closes the door only to see Billy looking all over the house with a confused frown on his face. 
“This is big… You all live here?” He asks and Steve stands next to him, nodding as he looks around as well.
“Yep. We are grateful to her, you know. We would have…” He suddenly heard some footsteps coming over and Steve turned his head to see Eddie reaching them, with a piece of bread in his hand, his other one reaching out to shake Billy’s.
“I’m Eddie.” He greets and Billy looks down at the prosthetic hand, shaking it carefully with him, and when Eddie lets go, the blonde man’s curiosity got the best of him.
“I’m Billy– Um… how did that happen?” He asks, pointing at the hand. Eddie looks down at it and then back at Billy.
“Crocodile bit it off.” He shrugs and walks towards the kitchen once again as Billy stands there completely stunned. Steve’s eyes were bulging out of his skull almost, and he was trying to come up with another excuse because that sounded way too unreal and he didn’t want Billy to think Eddie was messing with him.
“Fucking sick.” Billy says with a smile and he looks back down towards Steve. The brown haired man lets out a sigh of relief and then nods.
“Gruesome, but yeah, sick.” Billy just stands there looking at Steve, his mind completely drifting away and Steve could even sense that, as the blonde’s eyes were just gazing into his, and that was making Steve’s heart accelerate rapidly. “W-What’s wrong?”  That made Billy snap out but his face was still the same, still staring as if his eyes were not to be trusted.
“I-I don’t know, you just seem… like you came out of a fairytale or something.” Steve couldn’t help the big smile and blush that spread on his cheeks, while Billy realized what he had just said, embarrassment filling him from head to toe, stammering on his words to try to save it but Steve was just laughing, enjoying the man’s company and voice. 
You were sneaking glances through the kitchen door, a smile on your face as you bit your bottom lip. Everyone has someone in your family, your big family, and that fills you with joy. You felt an arm creep from behind you, pulling you close to a warm body. You giggle as his face immediately snuzzled in the crook of your neck, causing your skin to grow goosebumps from it. 
“Eddie–”
“Don’t spy on them. Let my second in command flirt in peace.” He says in your ear and you turn around to face him, smiling widely up at him, your arms wrapping around his shoulders.
“I’m just so happy… Everyday just feels like a dream.” You say to him, and he gives you a nod, a gentle smile spreading on his lips as he leans down to kiss your cheek, then the tip of your nose, expressing his love for you.
“I will never regret the day I thought you were Wendy and kidnapped you.”
“I should sue.” He fake gasps while shaking his head at you.
“Now, you’ve hurt me Angel.” Your eyes looked to your side, seeing everyone playing with each other through the window pane you had, and your eyes filled with tears at the sight of it all. Nothing could make it better. Nothing at all… Except.
You felt Eddie grip your side, giving it a soft press to catch your attention again. You looked at him and his eyes were nervous, full of doubt yet with determination. 
“Eds? What's wrong?”
“I know… The kids don’t call me dad… But–” He licked his lips while swallowing a big lump down his throat and your heart was almost out of your chest and you could hear its beating on your ears. He gives you a big grin as a tear already rolls down your cheek.
He grabs your hand and walks out of the kitchen to take you upstairs and into your grandmother’s room. He then opens the balcony’s door and steps out with you, the breeze already hitting you and the sun beaming down at your body.
“Close your eyes Angel.” He whispers in your ear as he lets go of your hand. Your breathing became heavy as you did as told, and you raised your head up, towards where the second star to the right is. You always wished on it, wished that it wouldn’t take your love away, that it wouldn’t take your children away, wished that everything was real and not a dream.
“Eddie–”
“Open them and turn around.” You did as told, turning to see Eddie on one knee, a box on his hand as his elbow rested on his knee. Your heart got caught in your throat as you looked at the diamond in the box, covering your mouth with both of your hands as tears started spilling out uncontrollably from your eyes.
“What…?”
“I want to be their dad. I want to be with you, forever, for as long as you’ll have me, or for as long as we live. You’re it for me Angel, you have been it for me from the moment you decided to fly towards me, towards the ship, instead of here.” He choked up on a sob and then took a deep breath to keep going. “I know it’s soon, but I can’t imagine my life with anyone else. In my eyes, into my future, you’re always there. You will always be there.” 
You dropped to your knees, as happiness flourished in your chest, smiling through your tears as you put your left hand up, putting it on display for him. You looked up at his big doe eyes, a tear slipping out of his left one as he looked down at you as if you were the only thing keeping him alive.
And you were.
“I’m ready to be Mrs. Hook.”
And when our journey is through, each time we say "Goodnight", we'll thank the little star that shines, the second from the right.
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A/N: Remember you can still send requests for these two! I plan on making more little one shots for them, but this one is good so you can all know what happened after the return 🥰
Hope you enjoyed this magical little thing!
Song at the bottom is Second Star to the Right from the original 1953 Peter Pan soundtrack.
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ectonurites · 11 months
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Are Tim and Cass Cain actually close in canon? Or is that more of a fanon thing that gained canon status?
Alright, so the tldr answer is that yes pre-reboot they were close—but it wasn't something that happened immediately/right off the bat, it took time, and they didn't always perfectly see eye-to-eye. But like, it's not just some totally fanon thing, they were absolutely close.
I'm using past-tense in the above though because it's like... all the actual content with them becoming/being close is pre-reboot. Anything post-reboot with them either had them back at square one (during N52 stuff) or like, just sort of handwavey 'oh they're close again' without much actual elaboration/explanation. Theoretically nowadays everything's canon again so all the old stuff applies, but as far as I'm aware nothing has really dug all that deep back into the two of them/their dynamic.
Now, to give a brief crash course on Tim & Cass's relationship in canon...
Early on they weren’t all that close because Tim was absolutely intimidated by her & her background and like, in general seemed to just find her kinda off-putting:
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(Robin (1993) #73)
However Tim eventually gets over himself & after working side-by-side with her a little bit realizes he shouldn't let being intimidated by her stop them from being friends and working together:
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(Batgirl (2000) #18)
After this point they work together on several occasions, definitely communicating much better than in their initial appearances together and clearly getting along well. They're a fun lil duo:
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(Superman/Batman Vol. 1 #5, Superboy Vol. 4 #85)
Then… after a while, War Games happens. Gotham goes to shit, Steph dies (well, we nowadays know she didn't really, but they sure were both grieving) and so they both independently move to Blüdhaven, which leads us to the Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood crossover. Which has some fun little moments with them:
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(Batgirl (2000) #58)
As well as some on the more tense side, as they both navigate mourning Steph and the clashes in their ideologies/approaches to hero work—the fact that Cass wants to be & be like Batman, and the fact that Tim absolutely does not:
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(Batgirl (2000) #59)
After the crossover they mostly do their own thing staying out of each other's ways in Blüdhaven—though they do get another little story together in this timeframe in Batman Allies: Secret Files & Origins that sort of rehashes the above conflict during some training together & a team-up.
And we DO also get the cute (and oft-mentioned by the fandom) moment where Tim mentions she frequently breaks into his house to shower & steal rice krispies (just for clarity sake, while fandom almost exclusively calls her 'Cass' largely to avoid confusion with Cassandra 'Cassie' Sandsmark, within the comics themselves both Cassandras get called 'Cass' and 'Cassie' at various points—considering Cass is the one who lives in the same city as Tim at this point in canon, that's definitely who he's talking about here)
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(Robin (1993) #138)
So like, at this point they are absolutely comfortable with one another and pretty close, but just, they don't see eye-to-eye on everything so it's not some flawless friendship (and I say friendship specifically because at this point we're still a few years out from them actually becoming siblings). But it's absolutely an interesting dynamic!
Then… after Infinite Crisis we get to the One Year Later/OYL era which is... bad for Cass. Terrible horrible character assassination we all refer to as the 'Evil Cass arc' which began in Tim's book. I don't wanna pull panels from it because it's just... it's bad!!!!!!!!!!!! There's a reason it got retconned into Cass having been brainwashed—because it was bad.
I guess the only thing worth bringing up here in relation to Tim & Cass's relationship though (because as mentioned, Cass gets retconned into it having been brainwashing so anything from her in this era is irrelevant/moot) is the fact that Tim was obviously very upset about the whole situation because Cass is someone he cares about and he even says he considers family.
To fast forward through that mess, when we get to the end of it and the 'oh it was brainwashing haha!' retcon, Tim was the one to have on hand a counter-serum that could free her from Deathstroke's control:
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(Teen Titans Vol. 3 #44)
Once Cass is no longer forced to be evil and ooc, she gets a little mini at the end of which Bruce formally offers to adopt her (and Tim, who had earlier been adopted by Bruce, is present for this—so from this point on they go from a more general 'we're like family' to actually 'we are adopted siblings').
Buuuut then Final Crisis & Battle for the Cowl both occur and Cass gets extremely pushed aside by DC, giving up the Batgirl mantle to Steph and heading off to Hong Kong.
At which point we find out that Tim & Cass have actually kept in contact (just... off-panel) during this time when she's been out of Gotham and he's been off doing all sorts of stuff:
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(Red Robin #17)
When they see each other in person again, Tim urges her to be a Bat again. Maybe not Batgirl if that's not what she wants, but to wear the symbol and be part of the family. (Which she does take him up on, keeping the suit he brought her and becoming Black Bat).
She pops up again at the end of Red Robin to save Tim & also help him pull off a fake assassination attempt on himself—ya know standard stuff.
And then right before the reboot we get to see them working alongside Damian and Dick in Gates of Gotham, and see one final time that yeah—these two have kept in touch after everything, and are definitely far more on one another's wavelength nowadays than they were back in the 'fresh out of War Games' era:
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(Batman: Gates of Gotham #2, #5)
So like, does fanon over exaggerate them and their relationship? Aaaaabsolutely—that’s what fanon does. But they did definitely become close after everything they went through and had a fun dynamic together!
Sadly though, as I mentioned at the start of the post, the n52 wiped everything back to a clean slate. And while nowadays post-Infinite Frontier everyone’s histories have been restored their dynamic has never really been the same again.
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thefreakandthehair · 7 months
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@eddiemonth prompt, oct 9th: Cowboy | Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi | Cavalier a/n: steddie, post-canon fix it, brief mention of canonical harassment, brief allusion to survivor's guilt. un-betaed because I’m challenging myself to write these in under an hour. read on ao3 | link to masterpost on ao3
The sun rises over a leveled Hawkins, bright streaks of sunlight illuminating the cracks and crevices that spider through the town. Fractals that remind Eddie Munson of what’s occurred over the past week since the world first split open. 
A week of chaos, of death, of fear. A week of discovering that monsters are real, and that while the ones beneath their feet are terrifying, the ones that hunt Eddie above ground are somehow worse. 
The people who still think he’s a murderer, despite being publicly cleared, are far worse than Vecna. They taunt Wayne, deface his posters with things like Dead or Alive on his missing posters, show up at his work to torment him. 
It’s why eventually, they have to tell Wayne that he’s dead. Eddie hates it, the idea of leaving Wayne in the dark, but he knows that Nancy’s right and it’s the best way to keep everyone safe. Dustin offers to deliver the news complete with his favorite, now-bloodied, guitar pick chain.
He’s just a kid, Eddie thinks, hiding in Steve’s basement for the time being, his wounds healing slowly. 
Dustin’s just a kid, and he sobs when he tells Wayne not because Eddie’s actually dead, but because Wayne is devastated and Dustin has to lie. 
Months pass, and Eddie is still considered missing despite everyone’s story that he was swallowed up saving Dustin from a crevice that’d opened beneath their feet. 
No body, no absolution. Not for Eddie. 
“We can’t keep him holed up here,” Steve groans, running a hand through his hair as he sits on the couch between Eddie and Robin. “It’s not fair.” 
“What do you suppose we do then, Steve? The town still…” Nancy grimaces and trails off. 
“Yeah, they want me dead, sure. Let ‘em take a crack at it.” Eddie says, monotone and cavalier. “That sounded bad, but seriously, what kind of life is this? Steve’s basement’s fine, but what’s the plan? I just stay here for the rest of my life, hiding? I’d rather be–”
Steve turns and levels him with a glare that needs no words. They’ve talked about this, time after time, that making comments about preferring to be dead are a personal insult to the people who love him, who fought tooth and nail to save him the way he saved them. 
He cuts himself off, shakes his head. “What else can we do?” 
Dustin is in the corner with the other kids, talking amongst themselves, until Lucas speaks up. 
“Someone who knows what’s actually going on has to get him away, outta town. Start over.” 
The older teens share a glance, Jonathan and Argyle shrugging in tandem. “California’s pretty far. We’re not going back but, we could set you up with some good people out there.” 
“He can’t just go alone though, he’s barely healed!” Robin reminds the group of Eddie’s extensive injuries, healed on the surface but not all the way through. They may never be healed all the way through. 
Eddie sighs and drops his head into his hands, elbows propped on his knees. He tries to disguise the way his shoulders shake, tries to bite back the helpless, hopeless sobs that threaten to rip through his rib cage. He doesn’t want to cry in front of his friends, and the few times he’s broken down in front of Steve, it’s pulled painfully at the tendons in his chest. 
He feels Robin rub his back and Steve rests a hand on his thigh, thumbing small circles into the fabric of his sweatpants. Well, they were once Steve’s but he can’t even go back to the trailer to salvage what he can of his things. He can’t even go get Sweetheart, not that he thinks he’ll ever be comfortable playing her again. 
“What if I go with him?” Steve suggests, quietly enough that Eddie’s the only one to hear him clearly. 
“What?” Dustin questions, stepping forward with the rest of the kids. 
“I said, what if I go with him? I know what’s going on, my body’s recovered, and let’s call a spade a spade here, I’m the only one without parents around to question where I went. So, what if I go with Eddie to California?”
Eddie’s chest pulls for different reasons— this time, with hope and gratitude, with love and affection. 
“Steve, I’m not asking you to do that,” he whispers, turning to face him individually. “You have a whole life here.” 
“We’ll come visit, and he can come back to visit, too. And eventually, you’ll be declared dead here. You can start over.” Robin slings an arm over Eddie’s shoulders and squeezes him, a rare show of physical intimacy. Her voice is melancholic at best, but the more the group discusses the option, the more it seems like the only option. 
At least for now. 
At least while Eddie remains a wanted man. 
They waste no time packing up the Pizzamobile, offered as a gift to travel across the country with the provision that Steve return it to Surfer Boy when they reach California. 
Eddie and Steve refuse to say goodbye, because it’s not. Robin promises that all of her college applications are now going to California schools, and she hugs Steve and Eddie tight enough that if love could click Eddie’s injuries back in place, he’d be healed immediately. 
As they get on the road, Steve at the helm and Eddie sitting passenger, Eddie finds that Argyle has a vast cassette collection. 
“Little soundtrack, Stevie?” Eddie wiggles the tape between his fingers and pops it into the tape deck. 
The song starts and after the first verse, Eddie just stares out the windshield, thinking. 
When he was a kid, outlaws and cowboys were glamorized. Always on the run, nothing to tether them to one place, living alone out on the road. But now it’s Eddie who feels like the outlaw, running from his own innocence, and he can’t find a shred of glamor in that.
“You’re thinking awfully loud over there, Munson.” Steve does it again, rests a hand on Eddie’s thigh as he drives one-handed, and Eddie feels that same glimmer of hope come alive again. 
Eddie shrugs and rests his head back against the seat, cracked pleather against his neck. 
“All good over here, big boy.”  They drive in silence save for Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead or Alive and Eddie watches the sunset over the wide expanse of promising highway ahead of them.
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sen-ya · 1 month
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@smolcattowo this wasn't gonna fit in the response 🙈🙈 after the bit in wano where we saw baby momo and hiyori on whitebeards ship I became obsessed w the straw hats having kids on the ship cuz the 10 of them together would be such sweet collective parents. Imma just say some stuff abt the straw hats interactions w kids and not the kids themselves lol
Luffy talks to any kid he meets the same as he does adults (like we’ve seen in canon). Especially when they’re little he’s so fun for them to play with and spend time with, and he’s a goof so kids are good company for his less life threatening antics. But the way he never treats them like ‘just a kid’ instills a deep rooted sense of confidence in them and seeds that emotional intelligence that Luffy’s got.
Zoro keeps his distance from kids when they’re little little. Not because he doesn’t like them, not because he thinks they’re loud, but because he’s low key nervous abt handling them wrong lol. The second they get to the age where they’re talking and running around he’ll train any of them who are interested. He’s never quite ‘dad’ but he’s ‘teacher’ and that fills his heart — it reminds him of the teacher he had back in his village.
Nami adores kids. She’d have the biggest Cool Aunt Energy. Never mom and she likes it that way. She loves to babysit, especially when they’re little. The first time any of the sunny kids find out that nami’s frugal it blows their mind cuz she spoils them ROTTEN. When a kid gets in trouble with another straw hat they know no matter how much something was their fault if they can find Nami she will insist that they’re innocent and probably smack whoever was trying to scold the kid.
Usopp tells them stories. He puts on big shows for their birthdays, making sure the birthday kid is the star of a thrilling adventure. When they dock at an island (that is very clearly safe, esp quaint places that remind him of Syrup Village) he loves to parade them off the ship and take them on age appropriate grand adventures. He loves them with his whole heart, and is committed to being the strong paternal presence he didn’t have. He’s very good at it.
Sanji has such dad energy. The gentleness in his heart only becomes more and more apparent. He’s the one to take them to bed when they pass out on the grass, the one to soothe them when they had bad dreams, the one to remind them to be kind to one another. He knows their favorite foods but instills a love in all of them to try new things. That lesson expands beyond just new foods. You’ll never find Sanji asleep with a kid on him, if one of them falls asleep on him he stays awake the whole time to watch over them until they wake up or he decides they need to go to bed. The first time he gets called ‘dad’ he excuses himself to go Lose His Shit.
Chopper is the band aid master. Even if they’re uninjured these kids are running around with neon bandaids somewhere on their body. Chopper makes them so comfortable with asking for help that there comes a point where when one of them scrapes their knee they excitedly go to chopper to ask him to fix it up. Cuddle puddles abound also because gosh he is so soft and every kid is so dang obsessed with him.
Robin, kind of like Luffy, is very level with the kids. She treats them gently and asks them a lot of questions. She’s very good at explaining high concept things in age appropriate ways so that it clicks for them. Every sunny kid trusts her implicitly and she’s the first one to go to if they need to talk about something that they’re unsure of. She would never make them feel like it’s ‘just a kid problem, wait till you’re older.’ To some, she’s mom. To all of them, she’s a deeply important figure.
Franky was born to be a dad lbr. He’s the designated Child Yeeter which is a very important role because kids freakin LOVE to be tossed around. He builds them crazy contraptions that make every day feel like a carnival. He enthusiastically teaches them how to build and fix things. He’s a shining example that showing your emotions is super cool and he cries with them, shows them the power of empathy, and gives them the warmest hugs for someone made of so much metal. The kids adore him and low key would do anything for him. Like Robin he’s dad to some, but every sunny kid has a deep connection with him.
Brook is weird grandpa. He gives music lessons to the ones who are interested in it. The kids think he’s SO funny and it only makes his puns get worse.
Jinbe is World’s Best Pillow. He’s the one who most often gets stuck under a pile of sleeping children. Him and Zoro will often train the kids together, all of them know some amount of fishman karate. He also makes sure they all know how to swim from as young as possible for the obvious practical reasons, but also because some of the kids are incredibly insistent on when it’s their turn to drag a power user who went overboard (cough cough luffy) back onto the ship.
OOPS THAT WAS A LOT LOL
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moistvonlipwig · 6 months
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OUAT Week Day 1: Favorite arc
Let me tell you a story.
Once upon a time, there was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know. Or think we know.
But they were never trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen. They were never trapped in our world. They just kept living in the enchanted forest forever, same as they always had been.
And they were so much worse off for it.
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Snow White and Prince Charming never had to confront the worst parts of themselves or their society. They never had to learn to accept and love a daughter who wasn't exactly how they'd imagined her. They never had to reflect on their past actions or learn to forgive the past actions of others. They built a kingdom that, much like their own selves, looked like a fairytale but crumbled like sand the moment it was challenged.
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Emma grew up with her parents, but they coddled her and taught her only to look pretty and pick flowers and sing. She never learned to believe in her own ability to solve problems, never learned the importance of fighting back against wrongdoing, never learned how to do anything but surrender in the face of a challenge.
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Henry, like his Storybrooke counterpart, wanted to be a hero. But he never had to learn empathy or compassion for villains. He never had to face the fact that people are more complex than their fairytale labels make them out to be. He never saw the consequences of black-and-white thinking. He became a knight and then a king who prized violence over kindness, vengeance over forgiveness.
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Regina never cast her curse, and thus never learned what a hollow victory it truly was. She never adopted a child or learned that there were more valuable things in life than her quest for vengeance. Indeed, that is how we leave her: on the deck of the Jolly Roger, forever in that moment of pure confusion at the idea that anything could be more important than revenge.
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Captain Hook, on the other hand, left the Wish Realm and did learn there were more important things in life than revenge. He had a child, and he gave up everything for her. But when he made a mistake and lost her, he had no support system to fall back on, no one to catch him when he fell. He returned to the Wish Realm, slid into depression and desperate schemes, and only clawed his way back to a better life once he joined up with the characters from Storybrooke.
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Robin Hood lost Maid Marian early and never had a child with her. He kept stealing for himself and never chose to put his skills towards helping others. He lived a lonely and selfish life, without purpose or fulfillment, until he stepped outside the Wish Realm and was forced to consider what kind of person he really wanted to be.
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Rumpelstiltskin lost both his son and the woman he loved. In fact, it's not clear that he was ever even reunited with his son at all. Thus, he never came to appreciate the value of making oneself vulnerable to love or the importance of doing the right thing even if it comes at a cost. Instead, he sought only power over others. He lost the humanity he once had and gave every part of himself over to the anger and fear within him. He became the ultimate Dark One.
The Wish Realm is fundamentally unchallenging. No one is forced to change or to reckon with their past. No one learns to empathize with their enemies. Everyone stays the way they were prior to the first episode of OUAT in perpetuity, calcifying into caricatured versions of themselves. It is a fairytale without depth, a fantasy world without humanity to ground it in reality. The only way to grow past its stagnation is to escape.
There are some strange and inconsistent wordbuilding choices in how the Wish Realm was written, to be sure. But thematically, the Wish Realm arc is coherent and powerful. It is a celebration of the journey these characters have taken with each other. An acknowledgment that the things you go through in life, good and bad, matter to who you are; that sometimes things we think are curses can be blessings in disguise; that, as Regina will put it in 7.20 "Is This Henry Mills?", "scratches are a part of life." The ultimate thesis of the Wish Realm storyline is that the characters of Once Upon a Time are better for having been a part of each other's imperfect, messy lives. I'd like to think that all of us are better off with these imperfect, messy fictional people in our lives, too.
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