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thevoidstaredback · 6 days

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Tim was curious. Maybe a little addicted to whatever the hell was in that coffee, he's still standing by the point that no other coffee will ever be enough, but that's not the point.

He wants answers. The Justice League want answers. No one has been able to get them. Because Phantom stays in the House of Mysteries, no one but the JLD can actually get time him. The Supers have tried listening out for him, but magic is something they're weak against and therefore can't hear through. Batman has tried to get into the House, but he's been sent everywhere else for his attempts. They would track him down as a civilian, but no one actually knows if he has a civilian disguise. It's very hard to hide hair that starkly white and skin pale enough to be blue.

Regardless, everyone wanted answers and Tim was determined to be the one to get them. Why does Phantom claim to be thirty-eight, fourteen, and eighteen all at the same time? Where did he come from? When did he die? How did he die? What the hell is in his coffee because damn was it good!

Off topic.

Tim had the rest of the Titans return to the tower while he stayed out. It'd be easier to track if he was the only one doing it. Besides, these guys work with Raven, they won't hurt him. Probably.

The fact that Phantom apparently smelled like death was another concern Tim had. Was it because he was dead? And what did Constantine mean that 'the smell lingers'?

More questions kept popping up like goddamn daisies, and there was no answers to clip them down. Tim was getting frustrated, to say the least.

***

Danny made an effort to at least try and help Constantine with the demon problem the building was having. Honestly, it wasn't even that bad, in Danny's humble opinion. The demon was just messing with people, not hurting anyone or stealing anything! He was, at most, planting minor inconveniences everywhere.

That's not technically his monkey, though, and it was most definitely not his circus. He figured he'd offer to be helpful, though, if only so that Constantine would owe him a favor. A favor he already knows how he's going to cash in.

"Why'd you really want to tag along?" Constantine asked Danny while they searched for the demon.

"What do you mean? You offered to bring me along."

"Yeah, but that's because you need to get out of the House more."

"Funny, coming from you."

"I spend more time outside of the House than I do inside." the Brit scoffed, "Now tell me why you agreed to come along. This is demon hunting. You only ever go ghost hunting."

Danny sighed and ran his left hand through his hair. Not that he could feel it, stupid nerve damage. "Deadman's been on my ass about my first trip to Gotham. I would've left to go find some place to crash, but the entire Justice League is also on my ass for some reason! I'd honestly rather not have to face any of them."

"You've been to Gotham?" Constantine asked, "When?"

Danny groaned, "Not you, too!"

"Whoa, okay, okay. You don't need to share with the class."

"Sorry."

"You better be."

"Hey!"

"Now tell my why the JL proper are after you?"

A sigh. "You remember at that meeting when Red Robin mistook my drink for his?"

"Yeah. Hard to forget. You freaked everyone out a little bit."

"Yeah. Turns out they all have questions that I don't want to answer. Avoiding them all has been the best way to not answer."

"You know you can't dodge them all forever."

"I know, but I really don't want to have to explain anything!" he whined, "The questions that they'll end up asking are gonna be really painful to answer."

A raised eyebrow. "How do you know what they'll ask?"

"Because everyone always asks the same things. Worded differently, but still that same."

"Then refuse to answer."

Danny met Constantine's eyes with a deadpan glare. "You're gonna look me in the eye and tell me that the Justice League and their sidekicks will leave me alone if I tell them 'no'?" He shook his head. "Lying's a bad habit, old man."

Constantine rolled his eyes as he went for his lighter, remembering they were were in a no smoke zone and retracting his hand. "Don't sass me, brat. Wonder Woman and Superman, at the very least, would back off. They'd get everyone else to, too."

"What about Batman and his brood?"

"Touche." the man said, "But you can't hide from them forever."

"I can try,"

"But you'll fail."

Another groan. "Can we just get this thing over with? I want to lock myself in the basement and wallow."

Part 5

Tag List:

@zaiothe4th @someonebored0100 @wolfeyedwitch @angelheartgamer @nymanders @princessbelix @luminanightfall @kgne-k @bianca-hooks123 @reigning-catsanddogs @sassywombatranchhorse @dontfightmecauseillcry @soul-lime @anarinette @serasvictoria02 @the-chaos-goblin-child @confusedshades @caicie @fantasticstoryteller @randomshtickidk @itsberrydreemurstuff

#part 6 #Enough Caffeine to Kill an Elephant #no ships #dc #dc x dp #dp x dc #dcxdp #danny phantom #tim drake #red robin #teen titans #justice league dark #john constantine #demon hunting #it's actually less hunting and more of an offhanded mention

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blogauroragloryme · 1 month

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Yesterday I was scrolling through Pinterest and stumbled into many fan art depicting Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling. JC taking care of JL as a month old baby ,then as a toddler,etc etc...

It reminded me that we never really give much credit to JC for raising JL. I mean sure JGY also played a part , but JC's affection and concern for JL is unbeatable. There was this fanart where JC is actually holding a very tiny JL , trying to figure out how to feed him , then how to change his clothes and all the things that involves taking care of a newborn. The expressions depicted in JC's face just made me ache. I mean just imagine the pain of losing his sister, brother in law and WY(cmon I know despite of JC's love and hate relationship with WY, there definitely must be a part in his heart that must be aching) fresh in his mind , having to take care of a new born , which you have zero idea about. You have to build your sect ,you don't have anyone else to rely on. You can't show your weakness to anyone else. Even if you are damn tired , almost near a mental breakdown,you cannot falter ,you have a nephew and he doesn't have anyone else but you as a family. I would like to believe many a times when JC would be extremely tired and feeling hopeless,JL must be a source of his motivation to keep on.

(I can see a bit of parallelism here with LQR where both of them were young(baby of the house 🤭)and thrusted the responsibility of taking care of their respective nephews. They're not married,but with hit and trial,they are able to raise their nephews to be fine young men.)

Just imagining what would JC have taught JL for his first word. Would he insist that JL learn Mother first before anything. Imagining JC telling a toddler JL about how his parents were ,his mother ,his father,his grandmother and grandfather and about his Da-jiu(only till the time JL doesn't understand as soon as he would grow up ,he would stop telling JL about how the three of them used to enjoy Lotus pier).

And JL eventually learning to call Jiujiu.When JC and JL had their first fight how JC must have felt? Like he's been a strict person like his mother and how certain traits of his mother can be reflected in his upbringing of JL? And when JL got his first scrape after falling down,how worried JC must be? Ok there are so many what if's and possibilities to think about...

But I just wanted to mention that JC tried his very best to raise his nephew. Parenting can always have good and bad , that's what we can see ,but both of them share a loving bond.

I really wanted to write this appreciation post for JC. I know JC has committed horrible mistakes, which are inexcusable ,but still some fans are really very harsh in criticizing him. As much as I love WY ,I won't deny that in some instances I even fault WY ,for not understanding the bigger picture. For me the simple conclusion is that both of them had pride and anger and the result was disastrous. Some are more to blame for their actions,some are less,but the mistake was on both of their part's.

So yes he's a Sour purple grape lol ,but I really hope post canon,him and WY are able to find some semblance and common footing.

#headcanon #mxtx novels #mo dao zu shi #jiang cheng #jin ling #wei wuxian

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missveryvery · 11 months

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FengQing dynamics, book vs fan interpretation, General Thoughts about Clown Generals:

Mostly me trying to stare at canon and figure out what these dumbasses think about each other and what their actual relationship is, what's actually written instead of my hopes and dreams for clown love.

we all keep writing/drawing Mu Qing being the mean one and Feng Xin as the nice one but....Feng Xin is the one that relentlessly says horrible things to him, usually unprovoked.

Feng Xin's insults:

That he hates him, that he never wants to see him again, that he's lying, that whenever he sees him doing something it absolutely must be for personal/nefarious reasons, that he's happy when xl does crimes, he's untrustworthy, that he's always scheming, that he thinks he's better than he is, that he wouldn't be where he is without Xie Lian.

Mu Qing's insults are:

that Feng Xin is just as "disloyal" as him for leaving. Basically, his usual argument is "you are just as bad as me." This is his big thing, arguably his only thing.

He maybe thinks the bathhouse is Feng Xin's fault, like he took them somewhere perverted on purpose

His statues? whack.

Says Feng Xin made a big deal about nothing about Xie Lian stealing.

I'm wracking my brain here because a lot of them aren't personal insults so much as making fun of him for something rather than saying he's a bad person. Like he tells Xie Lian about the Ju Yang thing. That's not something Feng Xin did wrong, it's something embarrassing that happened to Feng Xin.

Here's one:

Actually, rereading this, I wonder if he meant Xie Lian...? Since that's the person who they felt like couldn't tell who was a ghost. And Feng Xin has always been able to discern ghostness so far so that seems weirdly specific. Which is nuts because I think we all feel like Mu Qing should insult his intelligence all the time (Feng Xin isn't as dumb as I wish he was, though so...)

I'm extremely guilty of all of this, to be clear. And I don't know why. Sometimes I carefully have Feng Xin realize he was awful and be apologetic, sometimes deal with it.

But probably most of the time, offhandedly, I'm like "Ah yes mq wouldn't catch him in a trust fall", which is something I just saw on my dash. when it's demonstrably, literally untrue, right?

They would both catch each other without hesitation. They literally do! Even when it's at a great risk to themselves!

I think the difference is what they think will happen:

Mu Qing, idk I could go either way. He might know that Feng Xin will catch him because Feng Xin is Like That. Or he might think it's a big question mark.

By Tong'lu he says something to the effect that he's running from them because they'll just kill him if they get ahold of him. But by then things have been escalating. Feng Xin hit him during the avalanche thing off screen and Mu Qing was surprised by it and asked why he'd hit him. We saw Feng Xin punch him before (after ghost city arc), but Mu Qing wasn't confused as to why that time. In other words, normally he might completely trust him but the events of the book threw everything out the window.

But I can't say for sure what Mu Qing would think would happen.

Weirdly, Feng Xin's response is the more complicated one.

Feng Xin does NOT think Mu Qing will or has serious doubts. Except...that's just what he'll verbalize. Literally what happens in the book, he gives no visible indication that he even remotely believes Mu Qing's explanations at Tong'lu.

It's only after Mu Qing suddenly disappears that the narrator tells us that he wasn't as convinced of Mu Qing 's guilt as he acted. He was just pissed and being an asshole. Mu Qing's disappearance is what actually shakes Feng Xin's belief in Mu Qing.

They have another argument earlier about JL:

-Feng Xin assumes the worst

-Mu Qing explains

-Feng Xin backs down for the moment (and goes to have a nervous breakdown)

-but when he sees him again he starts attacking him (avalanche scene), and this fight is bad enough that they've actually pulled weapons on each other

-This fight/argument continues until Hua Cheng shows up and they have bigger things to worry about

Then we have this:

Feng Xin's pattern might be:

Get mad, assume the worst, say things he doesn't mean, eventually calms down about it/acts like it's fine.

There are a couple times where he's argued into shutting up. It's just that he will bring that thing out, that he has been acting like he calmed down about and accepted, when he's mad.

I think he actually does at least subconsciously believe an Mu Qing Explanation PowerPoint. Why? Because that's what his overall behavior reflects. Or, even if, let's say he doesn't believe anything Mu Qing says ever, thinks he's the fucking worst: he still goes on little adventures with him and hangs out with him.

He doesn't suffer people he dislikes very much, does he? He doesn't even want Xie Lian to hang out with Hua Cheng! He's very "don't associate with those kinds of people." Actually, basically everything you "know" about Feng Xin, is not quite accurate by the end of the book, just like it is with Mu Qing.

Anyway, he still happily puts Xie Lian in a dress with Mu Qing. That's basically the definition of a sworn brother.

But at the end of the day, even though I think this is all very shitty behavior on Feng Xin's part and jail for Feng Xin, jail for Feng Xin for One Thousand Years, their relationship is something Mu Qing likes. He cares what he thinks about him. He doesn't want Feng Xin to think badly of him. Despite Feng Xin being the least generous person with benefit of the doubt, he still defends himself with him and the only other person he does that with is Xie Lian. Everyone else he's accepted he can't do anything about.

Like they must be having good times together that they both find worthwhile or they wouldn't be together. He must find things about him that he values.

Best guess is: he admires Feng Xin's selflessness and devotion to "what's right", the same way he thinks Xie Lian is cool. He wants to be around these two people. These are also the aspects he fucking hates the most and says are stupid and pointless and will get you killed. He hates this behavior, he rants about it, he is horrified by it, and yet he is someone who does it over and over and over again. And it always comes back to bite him in the ass.

As for what Feng Xin likes about Mu Qing...I don't know. Like I can't even guess. He likes the Queen a lot who is gentle and kind hearted and he likes the bravery and toughness of JL. He idolizes Xie Lian. But at no point does he assert Mu Qing is anything but the opposite of those people. Even when he has evidence to the contrary he forgets it or dismisses it. So I really have no idea what a canon reason is for him to like Mu Qing.

Maybe he thinks "I'll go with him because it seems fun or interesting" and "I have to protect him" and doesn't consciously attribute any part of that to Mu Qing.

It's possible he doesn't actually like him, as much as I hate to admit it, this would be mind-numbingly realistic for a guy that doesn't like thinking deeply about things. I think a lot of people don't think too deeply about friendship, because most of the time it's about familiarity and proximity and availability. We both like this activity, you're the person I know, we do it together. I'm sure you've met people, even married couples, that when it comes down to it don't actually like each other, they're just together out of familiarity and habit.

I do wonder what it would have been like if Mu Qing had died, that's kind of the usual outcome for a character like this, I feel like I rarely see in an adult book where a character like this has a suicide mission and then is ok or not, idk, very fucked up by it at least.

I do think they're friends, canonically, but I think their relationship is very unlike what we're used to seeing. But I also think mirrors closely a lot of relationships you see in real life, especially with dudes who hang out but don't figure out a Very Important Subject Ever.

Mostly this was just me making notes to myself and then I thought I'd share.

#tgcf meta #fengqing #feng xin #mu qing #xie lian #I added alt text this time like a good human being

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spacedace · 1 year

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Here have a quick blurb I wrote partially inspired by that AU where Kon thinks Danny is a clone of his that has been mixed with Kryptonite, but it's Elle who's just escaped from the GIW instead (as always feel free to use this as a writing prompt if anyone is interested):

Trigger warning for mild gore in the form of implications of dissection/vivisection, torture, dismemberment/amputation as well as implied starvation. Nothing too detailed, but Elle is in bad shape and I want to give fair warning that it is there.

Kon was the closest when the glowing green tear in space and time ripped open in the sky above Metropolis.

Which meant he was the first to see the tiny, injured figure falling out of it, plummeting to the ground in tattered hospital scrubs stained red and green. He moved before he could think, darting forward in the air to grab the battered body, not caring what else might come out of the ominous tear in reality above them. He didn’t care if he got chewed out for being careless, not when the body in his arms was so light and the hazy eyes looking up at him were so scared.

It was just a girl.

White hair darkening to black at the ends, blue eyes ringed with glowing green, little fangs and ashen skin with an arm severed at the elbow and a horrible Y incision carved into her chest seeping through the thin fabric of the medical scrubs she was wearing. She couldn’t be any older than Jon, weakly grabbing at his jacket with her one remaining hand as Kon flew her away from the - thankfully? - closing portal and towards the nearest emergency medical team as quickly as he could. Super strength meant he never really felt the weight of anyone he carried, but there’s something about how gaunt and thin she was that made her seem as solid as sea foam and shattered glass in his arms.

“D…anny?” The girl asked weakly, voice a painful rasp full of such weak hope as she blinked up at him through tear filled eyes. Her head lolled so she was tucking her face into his chest, fragile body shaking with sobs she wasn’t really strong enough for. “Th-ank you, thank you.”

He looked down and saw this injured girl and all that’s been done to her - her green-red blood is seeping into his uniform, her body going cold, cold, cold - and all he wanted was to crush her close and give her the kind of protective hug he’d give Jon after a rough battle. He was too afraid of hurting her more to dare to try though, instead settling on the soft hushing reassurances that she was going to be okay, that he was going to get her help as he pushed himself as hard as he could to get her to medical as quickly as possible.

When he touched down at the nearest JL base, a swarm of doctors and nurses already there and waiting with a stretcher and a crash cart, the girl in his arms gave a weak wail of terror, clinging to him as hard as her frail body would allow her to. “Please don’t let them take me again, Danny, please I can’t - I can’t…”

“Hey, hey, hey,” He shushed her, “It’s going to be okay,” He said, careful as he gently shifted her down onto the stretcher. “They’re here to help. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” It took barely a touch to pull her too-thin hand from his jacket, her small body trembling as she laid there looking up at him. The green was bleeding further into the blue, but the glow of it was starting to dim. The white in her hair sunk down further, leeching all the color out of the black, letting him see the green and red of her blood staining it as it did.

“Promise?” She was so small, Kon felt his heart breaking at the hoarse desperate whisper in her voice as she wept. He wanted to find whoever did this to this girl and tear them apart with his bare hands.

“Promise.” He swore, giving as much of a squeeze to her hand as he dared. “They’re going to fix you up and I’m going to be right here. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

—

Tim found Kon exactly where he expected to: curled up in an uncomfortable plastic chair next to the bed of the mystery girl in the med bay.

Kon hadn’t left since he’d brought the girl in, stubbornly staying at her bedside and only able to be separated from her for as long as it took for the medical staff to stabilize the girl. She’d apparently not reacted well to the doctors, even less so to the prospect of the sterile white medical bay, and Kon had been the only one that had been able to get her to calm down long enough for them to actually work on her. Eventually the doctors confirmed that she was at least enough human that standard sedatives and anesthesia would work on her safely and they were able to knock her out, but even then Kon had refused to leave.

Looking at her in person for the first time, Tim could see why.

Their young Jane Doe was cleaned up compared to the state she’d been in when Kon had caught her falling out of the portal, but she was still a long way from out of the woods. Bones predominant beneath thin, sickly skin. Bruising and scars evident and recent. Left arm already partially gone when she’d appeared, now amputated up to just below her shoulder due to the amount of damage the doctor’s had found when going over her injuries.

She was small, smaller than Damian, and best estimates had her at about the same age as Tim’s youngest brother. Same age as Jon, too. And with some of her features similar enough - the blue in her eyes, the black in her hair, the glint of fangs - that it wasn’t hard to tell that Kon saw a nightmare of the things that could happen to his baby brother when he looked at the injured girl.

There’d been a bleak joke, when medical had sent pictures over of the girl for their investigation, to try and break the painful silence that filled the room when they all looked at this battered kid. That she had Bat-adoption written all over her face and that Tim should get ready to have another sibling. Tim had a feeling though that Kon wouldn’t let her go without a fight.

“Hey,” Tim said quietly, knocking softly on the door of the room. Kon blinked up at him blearily, dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, clearly tired enough to have not even noticed Tim’s arrival to the base. “She still hasn’t woken up?”

Kon shifted on the chair, rubbing his face with his one free hand - the other still firmly curled over the sleeping girl’s where it lay on the hospital bed - before shaking his head. “No. Doctor said it might be awhile. She has some kind of regenerative ability, but from what they can tell her body is so stripped of energy and resources it’s not able to fully kick in.”

Tim sighed softly, closing the door behind him before walking over to hold out the bag he brought. “I grabbed you a couple changes of clothes and some stuff from your apartment. I figured you’d need it.”

His boyfriend looked relieved, “Thanks. One of the nurses grabbed me some spare scrubs they had lying around, but uh,” Kon lifted his foot and wiggled it, showing off how short the pink and blue bunny scrub pants were on him. “They’re not exactly the most comfortable thing. Can you?”

He motioned towards the bed and the girl laying motionless and Tim nodded. “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll watch her.”

They swapped places, Tim taking over the chair Kon had been keeping vigil in, his gloved hand reaching out to cover the girl’s instinctively as his boyfriend slipped into the adjoining bathroom to change. The girl was cool too the touch, another oddity that the medical team hadn’t been able to say for certain if it was normal for her or a sign of something wrong. She had an abnormally low heart rate as well, though any attempt at raising it to healthy levels hadn’t proven successful.

DNA tests had been attempted on the blood they’d gotten off of Kon’s uniform, but there’d been…difficulties…with the system. Bruce and Barry were working together to try and fix the strange errors they were receiving, but there was no telling how long that would take. With the portal closing as soon as it opened and no good explanation of what had caused it or where it had led to, their only real source for answers was the unconscious girl. A girl who, while perhaps not at risk of flat-lining any second anymore, was still hanging uncertainly in the balance.

“Any news on her DNA?” Kon asked as he stepped out of the bathroom, looking softer and more comfortable in a pair of sweats and a hoodie. He moved to curl up in Tim’s lap, neither of them caring that the chair was in no way meant to hold two grown men, his eyes were back on the girl again nervously chewing on his bottom lip as he did.

Tim shook his head. “No. Every time they try the system just,” Tim made a vague motion to try and explain went up in sparks, “Flash & B are trying to work it out.” He studied Kon’s face, noting the lines of worry that crept in at the corners of his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Kon curled an arm around him, other hand moving to cup the girl’s so that her frail hand was cradled between their larger ones. “I think…” He paused, huffing for a moment before letting out a soft rumbling purr. One of those that Tim understood was meant for self-soothing. “I think she might be Kryptonian. Partially, at least. She’s obviously has more going on but…” He motioned with his hand, “Here, listen.”

He pitched his purr a little higher, smoothing it out to that low murmur that never failed to pull Tim into a comfortable sleep. Tim kept quiet, head tilted as he waited for what Kon was showing him. It took a moment, but at length he did hear it. So faint he could almost dismiss it as the hum of the AC, but no. It was the girl, still unconscious, but softly, softly responding with her own weak little purrs.

Tim frowned, mind casting back to the fact that the girl had bled both red and green. They’d assumed it was due to her alien biology, but if she was at least somewhat Kryptonian…

“I’ll have B test the samples for Kryptonite.” He said, curling around Kon a little tighter as he saw his boyfriend’s eyes widen at the idea before reaching for his com. “It’s something they can look at while waiting on the DNA results. We have an antidote if it comes back positive.” He tried to reassure.

He kept his hand curled around the girl’s fingers twining with Kon’s. He would make sure she made it.

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bestworstcase · 6 months

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Your points about Salem really make it evident why Salem and Cinder being at Beacon is probably the only time that we can really learn the truth about her:

Because it's basically near impossible for her to be truthful about anything except only to those she knows she can trust absolutely, or at least those who are able to challenge the facade she puts up around herself.

Tyrian, for all of his devotion, knows nothing about her except what he wants out of her (Destroy the World for reasons not explained).

Hazel was always someone who was on the borderline of betraying her due to his own moral complications. Emerald is basically an automatic no due to her own history with those who try to deceive her. Mercury is a giant question mark so far.

Watts is a big maybe depending on how you interpret his character, though it does lean towards something akin to mutual respect (and the fact that he's tellingly the only one in canon who doesn't seem to project his own desires onto her, not factoring in the dubious canonicity of the JL x RWBY films)

Cinder's basically the only person other than Salem's contact at Beacon who would be willing (or really even consider) carving through the layers of bullshit to figure out what's actually going on, even though I get the feeling she still has to sort out her own side of things in relation to the parallels with the Madame and Salem made in "Midnight".

salem divulges information more or less on the same principle jinn does, which is “if you ask, i will answer”—which is complicated somewhat by the fact that she also really doesn’t know how to communicate what she’s thinking in a straightforward way (cinder asks what’s the point of leaving ruby alive -> “never underestimate the usefulness of others; take leonardo. he was one of ozpin’s most trusted, but now…” -> what salem is trying to express is that summer rose, her general, is ruby’s mother and she’s optimistic about the possibility of getting ruby on their side down the line, but she talks in a circle around her actual point because she isn’t used to having conversations with people, like cinder, who actually talk to her like a person)

so part of the problem is that nobody asks and part of the problem is that salem, while generally honest in that i don’t think she ever lies when asked a direct question, does not think or talk in straight lines. she’s cryptic. i don’t think she’s being cryptic on purpose so much as she’s incredibly fucking old and has spent most of her very long life alone.

and conversely part of the solution is that cinder is likely to ask and summer did ask, and summer has had fourteen years by this point to unravel salem’s cryptic best efforts to probably have a mostly complete understanding of what salem’s deal is and the requisite social skills to, like, translate for cinder. salem Wants People To Know The Truth, she’s not trying to hide, she’s just not making an active effort to not be hidden, so it’s all tipped to start coming out once she enters an environment where it’s her and one person who already knows the game and a second person who is mainly desperate for salem to treat her like an equal.

where oz is the man behind the curtain, salem is stuck behind a mirror. she just needs to be asked, and heard.

(re: her inability to communicate properly, this woman describes the murderdivorce and forever crusade situation as a bad “working relationship.” every time she has to go off-script is a train wreck. she’s on her 1174932th language. someone help her)

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twistedappletree · 9 months

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Ok sooooo……. idea for you: Yi city except Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui get separated from everyone else and Jin Ling is being a cute little scaredy cat about the ghosts lol 👻

Ohohohohooooo I’ll do you one better, anon.

JL and LSZ separated from the group, then JL getting separated from LSZ, flipping his absolute shit and being a hilarious flustered mess after finding LSZ again.

Is that what you wanted, huh? IS IT?!

becauseiknowthatswhatiwantlmaooo

“The mist is worse here,” said Lan Sizhui, “Stay with me.”

Jin Ling’s eyes darted around, constantly on the lookout for ghosts as he kept quiet and let Lan Sizhui take the lead. “I haven’t even heard any of the others. Where are we?”

Lan Sizhui studied their barely visible surroundings, catching glimpses of a few shoddy, abandoned stalls. “A market street, I think—and I’m sure we’ll run into them eventually. All any of us can do is go in circles, after all.”

A shadow flew past the corner of Jin Ling’s eye. He jumped and whipped around, his hand trembling on the hilt of his sword. Such a weapon would surely be useless against a ghost but it calmed his nerves to know he at least had something to protect himself.

“Sizhui,” Jin Ling whispered, “There’s something out here…”

No answer.

Jin Ling turned around to find that Lan Sizhui was gone and he was completely alone. A twinge of panic coursed through his veins as he twirled around, unsure if he should move or stay in one place.

“Sizhui?!” he called, frantically searching the mist.

Another shadow glided through the murky atmosphere. He jumped back and gripped one of the arrows in his quiver. With his other hand still on his sword, his mind tried to figure out which weapon would be the best defense.

He narrowed his eyes and frowned, taking a brave step forward as he barked, “Sizhui, cut it out already! This isn’t funny!”

He knew Lan Sizhui was the last person to pull pranks, which made the situation even worse. Jin Ling was growing more worried for his fellow disciple than himself as the unnatural silence of the city chilled him to the bone.

The shadow from before returned, spinning towards him this time in a howling whirlwind. Jin Ling inhaled and finally moved, flying through the mist until he ran into something strong but soft, warm and familiar.

The fresh scent of orange blossom and cedar wood surrounded Jin Ling like a comforting blanket as two confused hands awkwardly encircled his waist.

Lan Sizhui looked down at him and frowned. “Young Master Jin? Are you—“

Jin Ling suddenly pushed against the Lan boy’s chest and sprang backwards, his amber eyes burning with annoyance. “You—! Why did you leave me?!”

Lan Sizhui lifted his brows and blinked, not sure how to respond. “Wha—“

The young Jin disciple spared him no room to even attempt an explanation. “You tell me to stay with you, then leave me behind! Ridiculous!”

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked off to the side, his bangs blowing outward as he sighed. “I called you three times. Something was running around out here and—“ He paused for a moment, cheeks burning as he looked back up at Lan Sizhui with a pout. “I-I was worried, but you look fine,” he mumbled. “Why didn’t you answer me?”

Lan Sizhui’s head was spinning trying to keep up with Jin Ling’s heated outburst. “Young Master Jin, I’m sorry but I honestly didn’t hear you. I thought you were still behind me—“

“Whatever,” Jin Ling interrupted, “Just… don’t wander off, I’m not gonna save you if you do something stupid.”

Lan Sizhui stifled a laugh, no stranger to Jin Ling’s fiery way of showing concern. “The mist really is bad here,” he said. “Maybe this would help?”

Jin Ling’s eyes widened and his imaginary hackles raised when Lan Sizhui offered him his hand, the Lan boy’s long, slender fingers safe and inviting. “Huh?! What are you… I-I’m not a baby! All I said is don’t wander off, it’s not that—“

Once again, the shadow from earlier barreled towards Jin Ling and hit him with a glacial gust of air, this time accompanied by the buoyant, echoing giggle of a child.

Jin Ling yelped and lunged forward, grabbing Lan Sizhui’s hand and hiding behind him, his face buried against the taller boy’s sleeve.

Lan Sizhui watched curiously as the shadow circled around them and disappeared into the mist. He glanced down at the trembling Jin disciple and smiled. “It looks like you’ve made a friend.”

Jin Ling popped his head out from Lan Sizhui’s sleeve and glared into the mist with an irritated expression. “I-I don’t need any friends! Tell it to go away!”

Lan Sizhui gently squeezed his hand and laughed. “It’s okay, it’s harmless. Just a playful spirit.”

Obviously unconvinced, Jin Ling scrunched his nose and went right back to using Lan Sizhui as a shield.

“A-Ling,” Lan Sizhui chimed, his tone gentle and sweet.

Jin Ling looked up to meet his soft, striking amethyst gaze and could swear his heart skipped a beat.

“I promise I won’t leave you.”

Heat spread from Jin Ling’s neck to his ears to his face like a wildfire, every nerve in his body ping-ponging wildly. He narrowed his eyes and sputtered, “Why say it like that…?! You’re so embarrassing!”

Confusion washed over Lan Sizhui’s face as he tilted his head to the side. “Is that not what you were worried about?”

“Shut up,” Jin Ling mumbled. Still holding Lan Sizhui’s hand, he abruptly tugged him along. “Let’s just go already.”

Lan Sizhui lifted his hand to his mouth and chuckled as he was pulled through the mist by the flustered Jin disciple. “Lead the way.”

{ 🖤 }

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seriouslycromulent · 2 months

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What I've Been Up To (Larroquette love)

A couple of weeks ago, I started watching a lot of films and TV shows centered around John Larroquette. This is not out of character, of course. If you've visited my blog before, you might know I spent a fair amount of time gushing over him in 2022 after I finally made my way through The Librarians series for the first time, and followed it with a re-watch of the original Night Court.

After that, I watched him in Boston Legal, only to get sucked into a vortex of awesomeness called James Spader. (What can I say? Like most nerds, I have an obsessive personality.)

I've since left that rabbit hole, and leapt into a few others throughout 2023. And now I'm back to gushing over JL.

Maybe it's the new Night Court TV series. Maybe it's the overwhelming increase in great fanfiction that I've come across recently. Maybe it's because the world seems to be constantly on fire and I need a salve to help soothe my psyche. Maybe it's a combo of all 3.

Either way, I'm still leaning in, and I just want to thank my fellow nerds for sharing sources and leads on where I can find more Larroquette goodness. I'm not blowing smoke here either. I truly appreciate this.

Not only because I'm slowly running out of things to watch, but because it's nice to know there are others out there who see what I see in him. You don't know how rare that is.

Anywho! Back to geeking out. Here is a rundown of films, TV shows and TV mini-series-esque things that I've watched starring JL in the past 4 weeks:

* Walter and Henry (watched on Tubi) It was ok. I didn't dislike it. I am a fan of James Coburn and it was nice to see John play a saxophone. I remember him mentioning that he played reed instruments in his musician days back in NOLA. So I'm going to assume that he didn't have to take lessons to sell those scenes.

* Some of the McBride film series (watched on trial version of UP Faith & Family streaming service) These weren't bad. Somewhat Hallmark-y, but I would actually like to see the rest of them, especially the ones JL directed. But about 4 or 5 of them aren't available for streaming, and those include the ones he directed. The ones I saw include - - McBride: Anybody Murder Marty? - McBride: Tune in for Murder - McBride: It's Murder, Madam - McBride: The Chameleon Murder - McBride: Murder Past Midnight

* Camera Store (watched on Tubi) I know JL said in an interview that he didn't like shooting this film, but I thought it was really thought-provoking. You can tell by the reviews on IMDB that some people didn't like the slow burn of the story. But for those of us who like day-in-the-life character pieces, it was very well done. One person described it as a modern-day Death of a Salesman. And I'd say that's pretty accurate. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's certainly worth a watch.

* The 10th Kingdom (watched on Amazon Prime) I think this miniseries was a big deal back when it came out in 2000, but I never saw it. I'm not sure why because I've always been a big fan of fantasy. However, now that I've seen it, I can't say I loved it all that much. So maybe that's why I didn't watch it back in the day. I think it had a great premise, and I loved how they wove a lot of different fairy tales into one big story that played out over 10 episodes (or five 90-min episodes on Amazon).

But I think I had trouble trying to figure out who the audience was supposed to be for this. I'm guessing they wanted it to be for the whole family, but some of the dialogue skewed far older at times and it left me wondering the rest of the series. Especially when it came to things on the topic of virginity, infidelity, and sexuality in general. It was just every now and then, the characters would say something that made me go, "What was the TV rating on this again?!" Also some of the scenes between JL and his daughter were incredibly dramatic, but very out-of-place with the rest of the series' tone. They were good scenes, but it's like it became a completely different series for like 20 minutes. But ... oh well. I'm glad I saw it and can now reference it in the future.

* Wedding Daze (watched on UP Faith & Family) Talk about Hallmark-y! Well, I think this one actually was a Hallmark movie to be fair. The subject matter definitely wasn't my cup of tea, but overall, the cast wasn't bad. Well ... JL, Karen Valentine, French Stewart, and the actors who played the daughters weren't bad. Everyone else was kinda ... m'eh. But it's not bad if you like these types of stories. Interestingly, one of the actors who played one of his daughters (Jaime Ray Newman) also played opposite him in one of the McBride films. It was the McBride: Murder Past Midnight one. In it, she actually came on to JL's character at one point in the story. I looked it up. She shot the Wedding Daze film first, so the McBride role came later. I'm sure that scene was interesting to shoot. All in all, I can't say I recommend Wedding Daze though.

* Chuck, ep. 202 and ep. 414 (watched on Amazon Prime) I've heard about these episodes for years, but I never took the time to check them out because I wasn't a big fan of Chuck. I basically gave up halfway through the 1st season. But for the love of JL, I made myself watch these 2 episodes where he guest starred as super spy Roan Montgomery. And what can I say? They weren't bad. I actually enjoyed them for the most part. It was also fun to see Lesley Ann Brandt playing another sexy badass. (Methinks, she's been typecast.) I also imagine John probably liked playing the scenes where he was tied up. To be fair, he probably enjoyed the whole thing. He looked like he was having fun pretty much the whole time. Still not a fan of the show though.

* Sanford and Son, ep. 505 (watched via a link provided by another fan) Having grown up on reruns of this show, I loved learning that JL was a part of it, even if it was early in his career and he probably has very little memory of it. After I watched it, I told my mom about it, and she said she remembered that episode after all these years. So that episode definitely had some staying power for a young actor, I think. I mean, how many actors can say they played a white version of Lamont Sanford? LOL! It was a funny episode that kind of gave you a behind-the-scenes look at what the TV soundstages of the 1970s used to look like. Plus, it had Robert Guillaume in it too. Thank you fellow JL fan for sharing it!

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OK. That's it for now. As I mentioned before, I don't have a lot left to watch that's available featuring our guy. Madhouse and Richie Rich are both on Tubi, but I saw those back in the '90s when they came out, and I don't really think they warrant a rewatch.

There are a lot of things in the shared folder I could enjoy, but I'd have to download them and I don't know if my computer memory can take it. Which sucks because I'd really like to watch Baa Baa Black Sheep. My mom remembers that show too. We'll see what I decide next.

I'm sure I'll land on something else before this obsession quietly gives way to another one in a month or so. Until then, watch this space face.

#john larroquette #fandom

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dickmedowndc · 11 months

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Upcoming Stories...

Now that my prior 9 promised fics and requests are completed, here are 8 more stories that have been requested or thought into existence that I will be working on next:

Listed in the order of their future posting, along with summaries.

Story summaries under the cut.

★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★

Post dates (12pm EST)

Hero Crush - Virgil Hawkins [Static]: July 3rd

Mechanics of the Heart - Amazo: July 6th

Kiss Tax - Bart Allen [Impulse]: July 10th

Misunderstandings - J'onn J'onzz [Martian Manhunter]: July 13th

Heart Stops - Bart Allen [Impulse]: July 17th

To Woo You, Pt. II - J'onn J'onzz [Martian Manhunter]: July 20th

Storming in the Streets, Pt. III - Conner "Kon" Kent [Superboy]: July 24th

Figured it Out - Jaime Reyes [Blue Beetle]: July 27th

★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★…★

Hero Crush - Virgil Hawkins [Static]

Summary: When Richie starts asking about your younger years, he learns something interesting about your old "celebrity" crush – it was Static. Unaware of your friends’ secret identities, Virgil has to try and remain collected after Richie calls him in ASAP, only to hear you defending your old puppy-love crush on the electric hero from an all too amused, and momentarily vexing, blonde.

…★…

Mechanics of the Heart - Amazo {Request}

Summary: He would have an eternity – to learn, to watch, to adapt. But that still meant that every so often Amazo was bound to experience something for the first time. He would need to learn how to navigate things he was unfamiliar with or seek help when absolutely necessary. Amazo had proven that he was capable of acting beyond his initial programming, and feelings were an addition he now grappled with. This feeling however, when he first met you after his return to Earth, eluded him, driving him to seek out an explanation from another.

Notes: Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, the animated show, version of Amazo.

…★…

Kiss Tax - Bart Allen [Impulse]

Summary: Bart had always been affectionate in your relationship. Quick to give or ask for anything from a hug to a kiss – the latter of which he had made a habit of giving before each mission he went on. At least when it wasn’t something last minute or it was manageable. But you had finally decided to return the affections yourself, beginning to ask for a “kiss tax” for small things such as passing through the door or handing over a drink. A practice that Bart seemed more than happy to adopt and turn around on you just as quickly.

…★…

Misunderstandings - J'onn J'onzz [Martian Manhunter] {Request}

Summary: Working on the tower or in any vicinity of a hero was never a safe job – and while staff often got to avoid the worst of it, they were not always spared from injury. You had been lucky up until this point, managing to avoid the fray until one bad choice to switch a shift and help out. You got off lucky though, despite being one of the last to evacuate the room, you would heal just fine. At least that was what Martian Manhunter told you. But the coming days found him at your side more often than not despite being cleared, and you were unaware of the circulating theories surrounding the two of you.

Notes: The Supergirl version was requested and I will try to accommodate, but I have not seen that series so he may end up being significantly more like the JL/JLU Animated version.

…★…

Heart Stops - Bart Allen [Impulse] {Request}

Summary: The last anyone sees of you it isn’t good. The fight goes south and any communication with you goes dark the moment the rockslide begins. Bart is fast, faster than anyone on his team, but he feels like he isn’t fast enough as he searches for you among the aftermath of the disaster.

Notes: The request was for a reader similar to someone from spiderverse, but I do not do crossovers, so I made them a meta with a similar skillset.

…★…

To Woo You, Pt. II - J'onn J'onzz [The Martian Manhunter] {Request}

Summary: It’s a day that J’onn has been looking forward to since he finally managed to ask you out on a proper date – but now that it’s here he finds himself nervous. Thankfully, you seem to be in the same boat. But you’re both determined to make the night a good one, knowing there isn’t anywhere that you would rather be.

…★…

Storming in the Streets, Pt. III - Conner "Kon" Kent [Superboy] {Request}

Summary: The first date had been a success, even with his friends peaking in, and the few that you had gone on after all ended the same way – fantastic. Even the few times that someone had recognized him or he had been called off on short notice. But noticing that he planned most of the dates, and that he had been busier than normal, you take it upon yourself to plan a nice night in to surprise him.

…★…

Figured it Out - Jaime Reyes [Blue Beetle] {Request}

Summary: You’ve known Jaime for some time now, which also means you’ve noticed that more than a few things don’t always add up around him. It takes longer than you care to admit, but eventually the pieces fall into place and you realize that he is the hero Blue Beetle. Too bad for him, he happens to be very bad at hiding things from you when you finally confront him.

#nicole speaks #dc x reader

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llycaons · 1 year

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Ep2: little apple mvp

fuck, but these are getting long. putting under a readmore

these early wandering scenes are really nice. lighthearted and peaceful, and probably quite enjoyable for a wwx whose last memories were of grief and pain and exhaustion and stress and persecution

reminds me - wwx was crying last episode when jc came to kill him. he might have smiled a bit, but he seemed so resigned to the fact that jc hated him but when jc told him to go and die he started crying. it was so fucking sad

the most brilliant mind of his generation on coaxing a donkey to walk...

you know this was 😬 but wwx has tremendous bad luck here because how was he supposed to know? saying something slightly rude is now punishable by death because of the context. but wwx made an honest mistake! also jl was being extremely arrogant and aggressive

jc crushing the paperman while lwj carried it so carefully on his palm...so deep

I don't agree with either wwx or lwj's methods here but jc being extremely aggressive and mean and critical of jl is really not helping his emotional development either. fuck, if a parental figure treated me like that I'd act out too

lwj coming just in time to keep jl from fucking stabbing wwx >>>>>>

the petty-off between jc and lwj is extremely funny here bc lwj refusing to deign to even open his mouth while jc fumes and throws as cruel insults as he can and I think wwx is finding it funny too? it seems like he's trying to hold back a smile here

this being wwx's memories of teenage jc 😭

THIS LINE. AFTER HE REMEMBERS HIS SISTER. SOBBING

little apple coming back to him after this very sad little scene had me a little misty-eyed...god but that donkey loves him so much in the end and he loves her so much...lsz was the first to show him kindness in this new life but she was the first to stick with him 🥺

I honest to god could not care less about this plot I think it's very boring but I do like jl's outfit with the little gold dots and the hair pieces

wwx is also kind of harsh to the kids lmao and then jingyi is like 'hgj is going to KILL us 😭' which is very funny given what we've seen of lwj so far (he's very calm and gives them support, info, and encouragement) esp compared to the anger, critiques and unhelpful demands of jc. like, I don't doubt he's disciplined juniors but we never seen anything harsh from him so what is jingyi even referring to? I don't count the handstands as cql canon btw I think it's absurd

comedy scenes of all time. to me. the anti-chemistry is palpable

it's so so funny to see Those jc fans rewrite this episode like 'jc was looking for wwx the entire time 🥺 they're brothers' when it's so starkly apparent that jc was clearly extremely angry the entire time, told jl to kill wwx before learning his identity, told jl repeatedly that all dc's like wwx should be killed and fed to the dogs, and then immediately tried to expel him from mxy's body (kill him again) after learning his identity. buddy I don't think he's at the point in his journey you think he is

he's also really rude and demanding of his disciples...I was wondering how he was with them bc I didn't remember and the answer is, not surprisingly, pretty harsh. well...at least he's involved?

the editing on this was SO funny. cut from wwx asking this to this statue, far in the distance, chasing after these tiny figures of cultivators. way to sap the drama out of a shot

he loves to do a spinny <3 even if they are in mortal danger he must do a spinny

REUNION SHOT!!!!! the tension building between them and FINALLY having them meet is just MWAH. and wwx grabbing lwj's arm afterwards is still one of my favorite little things bc wwx doesn't actually do that very often! it's nice to see him reach out to lwj almost on instinct when it's usually lwj reaching out and trying to connect with him instead. the romance in these first two episodes. ugh. delicious

whatever they did make wn look like this is was really effective

BE NICE TO HIM JC!! also even tho jiangs are the purple clan, they seem to wear blue a lot

lwj also doing a little spinny to open his weapon even though his newly resurrected beloved is in mortal AGAIN from the guy who killed him the first time = wwx doing a little spinny earlier even though his nephew and a bunch of kids were about to die. truly soulmates

I hate this shot SO much. the lens and the angle are so unflattering. you can see right up his nostrils in some of these shots

OHHH YOU"RE HURTING ME. LOOK AT THOSE SMILES

jyl scrunching up her nose here is one of my favorite tiny moments in this entire show. it's so fucking cute and I love her so much

Personal highlights: ep2

wwx grabbing lwj's wrist right after they reunite

jyl scrunching up her nose

wwx and lwj twin spinny maneuvers

little apple coming back and wwx being excited about it

#cql re-rewatch

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itcamefromthetoybox · 2 years

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Pauly Shore Trooper

Happy Star Wars Day! I absolutely love Star Wars, and can’t get enough of it, and have been collecting figures from it for years. And, I mean, can you blame me? Star Wars is one of the biggest and most influential sci-fi and movie franchises ever made, and is a cornerstone of our culture. So I thought for Star Wars Day, let’s talk about a Star Wars figure, “Star Wars: The Black Series Carbonized Shoretrooper!”

First, what exactly is “The Black Series?” Well, y’know those 6-inch action figures with all the articulation? This is the Star Wars line of those figures. The Carbonized Collection of Black Series figures is a subliine of the Black Series, where figures are given a metallic finish to make their armor look shiny and metal. The end result is a line of highly detailed and articulated figures that look like little statues, adding some flair to one’s Star Wars collection.

The Shore Trooper is a type of Stormtrooper first seen in the absolutely fantastic “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Sandtroopers go to the horrible dessert planets, Snowtroopers go to the freezing cold ice worlds, and these guys get to hit the beaches. Not a bad gig if you can get it.

This is what happens when a Stormtrooper gets his summer beach bod.

This particular Shore Trooper is painted after the ones seen in the hit Disney + series “The Mandalorian,” which takes place after the fall of the Empire, but before the rise of The First Order from the Sequel Trilogy of films. As a result, his armor has some wear and damage painted on, which really gives it that “I have been in a war” feel. The Shore Trooper’s entire paint job is absolutely amazing. The intentional wear and damage painted on in no way detract from his look, and the metallic finish looks beautiful. You really get the impression this figure’s made of some type of die-cast metal instead of pure plastic.

His sculpting is just lovely. Each plate of armor is detailed, and every part of his outfit is detailed to look just like metal, cloth, or whatever else he’s wearing. Appearance-wise, he looks really great, and I’m thrilled to have him. Even his gun is very detailed, which all results in a figure that looks like it stepped right off the screen.

Seconds before getting sand kicked in his face by a plucky rebel.

In terms of articulation, the Shore Trooper, like the majority of the Black Series, definitely delivers. He’s got articulation all over his body, so you can pose him almost any which way. The one issue is that, once you get to his legs, his skirt armor gets in the way of some poses, so watch out for that.

He has a blaster that fits in either hand, though it’s intended to be held in his right hand. It’s his only accessory, and it doesn’t fit tightly into his one hand, but having him hold the barrel with his left hand solves that problem. Just watch out, because other than the Shore Trooper holding his blaster, he has no other way to store it, so try not to lose it.

He looks cool, he’s super shiny, and he still shoots like a blind drunk.

The Shore Trooper’s a great figure aimed at the collector’s market, and I myself would recommend him for collectors and older kids. He’s meant to be displayed as part of a collection, and a lot of people would be wary of getting him banged up and scratched. Though, since I play with my toys, mine’s probably going to experience that fate. Right now, the Shore Trooper can be found on retail shelves for about $20, though I got mine for $16 because Target had a sale. This is JL signing off and wishing you Happy Toy Hunting, and May the 4th Be With You!

#star wars #may the 4th be with you #the mandalorian #black series #star wars black series #star wars toys #star wars toy #toy #toys #review #toy review #shore trooper #stormtrooper

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lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks · 3 years

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can't stop thinking of this op danny/guardian spirit/young justice crossover that I can't write because I don't have the DC universe background knowledge for it so I'm gonna just dump the concept here

be prepared for a lot of rambling

so the JL consider Amity Park a Safe Zone in case of dire emergencies

but nobody is told why, only the top members of the Justice League know anything about the place, Robin probably breaks into Batsy's computer and finds something about some hero there named Phantom but he can't find any other info about him or the town other than that he's trustworthy

and maybe the Young Justice crew get fucked up and the JL are indisposed or being distracted or something and the safe houses are compromised so Robin has to be like 'alright team I know this One Place that's supposed to be like a last resort safe space' so they all end up in Amity Park, and their pursuers are right on their tail until they hit the edge of town and then some fucking force of nature comes down on the bad guys following them out of nowhere and fucks them up

they would just be like 'holy shit who is this guy how come we never heard of him??'

and Robin is like 'oh hey so you're Phantom? Batman said this was a safe place to go when we're in trouble'

and he's expecting Danny to know some shit or have a plan or a safehouse to take them to

but Danny's just all 'uhhh this place gets attacked by inter-dimensional monsters every other day why would he send you here for safety? also Batman knows who I am???'

Robin is just confused as all hell because apparently Batman has this town listed as the Ultimate Safehouse and its hero is listed as Trusted but he's never even spoken to the guy?

real sus

but Danny takes them in and finds some abandoned house for them to stay in, and promises that whoever is chasing them will not set foot in this town, like they might have to deal with some ghosts popping up but human threats are no problem

and they're in this empty house that's, okay well it isn't dilapidated or anything but it has no power or water or even security, Phantom just tells them he's got their backs while they recover and don't worry about it

but Robin wants answers so he's quizzing Danny on who he is and why Batman trusts him

but Danny's got no idea, he's surprised the JL even know who he is because nobody has ever come to see him, nobody has ever given him any indication that they even know he's here, which he was kinda peeved about because he had to tackle every ghost attack by himself

but the Justice League not only knew he was here but apparently volunteered him to look after them?

he's a little bit pissy about that, Robin cannot entirely blame him, Robin thinks this whole thing is weird, like there has to be a reason, the JL don't just ignore kids fighting crime on their own, they would have invited him into their team, offered him help and training, not left him to figure it all out alone

although the kid was pretty powerful, he took out a whole crew of bad guys in one breath, literally

true to Danny's word, nobody finds them, the guys who had been hunting them down and chasing them everywhere can't seem to track them here, either that or Phantom just keeps getting in their way when they try, they feel so safe here, safer than they've ever felt before

Megan picks up that there's something unusual about the place, it's like the town itself is telling them that they're safe here, the air is full of love and warmth and comfort, somebody here wants them to feel at ease, somebody here wants them to feel safe

Robin still thinks it's sus

he starts to wonder if Batman was coerced by this psychic force to mark the town as a safe space, but he's pretty sure Batman's too savvy for that, besides, Megan was certain that there was no coercion or ill intent plaguing their minds, it's just a general atmosphere of safety

and she's pretty sure it's coming from Phantom

they witness a ghost fight or two and are amazed that the JL have been ignoring these pretty significant threats and just let some kid handle it alone, sure he has the same powerset as the enemies plus some, but he's still a kid and he's alone

none of them would ever have been allowed this much freedom or this little assistance

super super sus

after the JL finally get out of whatever issue they've been stuck with, they come pick up the kids and Danny is there like 'oh hey I think I need an explanation because what the fuck guys'

and Batman in all his blunt glory just tells him 'we were advised not to interfere unless absolutely necessary'

Danny obviously Does Not Like this answer and wants to know who this guy is that's ordering Batman around, then low and behold, Constantine shows up, immediately balling out Batman because 'why the fuck are you in Amity Park rn I made it VERY CLEAR that this place is a delicate fucking ecosystem if Superman gets god damn overshadowed we are all gonna have problems'

aaaaaand suddenly it all makes sense

Danny realises that any hero who's powerful enough to take on a ghost literally cannot risk that power in the hands of creatures that can just take over their bodies at any time, especially when this is a standard ability in all of Danny's enemies

but he's still shitty because like 'y'all could still have called me or something it would be nice to know I wasn't totally alone out here ya know'

and Constantine is all 'kiddo I literally had the god of time show up in my bedroom at 3am to tell me to make sure none of these fucks tried to adopt you as a side kick, one of them has a track record with this kinda thing it's a legit problem, I couldn't give these fuckers an inch, this town was off limits. so WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE RN'

aaaand Batman has to explain them a thing, basically Phantom is considered so fucking OP and has such an omniscient connection to the town itself that it makes for the perfect hiding place and defence for anyone in dire straights, and it really is only supposed to be a last resort, the side kicks had absolutely nowhere else to go with all of their safe houses compromised

aaaand that's how Danny learns that he is kind of more powerful than most of the god damn Justice League

hope you enjoyed this because I am never gonna be able to actually write it, have a nice day ✨

#lula's aus #danny phantom #overpowered danny #op danny dc edition #guardian spirit au #young justice #justice league #dc

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arty-shadow-morningstar · 3 years

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Graveyard Siblings (4)

I am sorry for not posting in a while. School is a total bitch. Here is part 4 of a fic that is not a fic.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 2)(Part 3)

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Tall Marinette.(I admit I might be projecting a little here.)

One day, she took out something from someplace high and the whole family realized that ‘holy shit when did you get so tall?’

Bonus if Jason comes back from a long mission and had a wtf moment because she was wearing 6-inch-heels and met his eyes with them on.

“Pixie?!”

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You know how Bruce has the identity of Matches Malone to infiltrate the Gotham Underground.

While Jason does the drug deals more street crime stuff, Maria uses an excuse of being the representative for Red Hood excuse to mingle with the rich people who does crime on the side (Penguin), she uses it to go to black market auctions and buy some of the lost miraculouses which got into the hands of black market dealers.

Jason knows about it and acts as her ‘bodyguard’ anytime he can or sends one of his henchmen to be one with a death threat if she gets a single scratch on her.

Bruce is unaware of this. Or is he?

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Mari helps with running WE since she is a little less busy with the vigilante side of things.

It started with Tim panicking about deadlines and Mari offering to help, to Bruce and Tim bullying the board to have her as co-CEO.

She has to be that and head of Afterlife. So she is very busy. Doesn’t know about what comes next….

------

Somehow the class comes to Gotham for a trip. It has been 3 years since her death.

Mari has changed her appearance since the day she left Paris. She has highlights in her hair after a ‘sibling bonding day’ with Jason. Her hair is kept short for convenience and not in pigtails. Along with her tall height and more confident aura, she is almost unrecognizable.

She rides a motorcycle too.

The class waits in the lobby for the tour and in walks this badass woman with aviator sunglasses, leather jacket and designer clothes which was all MT brand, making a lot of people swoon.

She takes off her glasses and walks past the class. Checking stuff on her phone and sipping coffee in her other hand.

She seems familiar but they couldn’t figure out why. (All except Chloe, Alix and Felix who are snickering in the background.)

Lila sees her and comments on how she must be a criminal with the way she dresses. (Lila internally freaks out because were her eyes messing with her? Because she looked a little like Marinette. Also jealous of the new arrival for stealing all the attention.) Alya takes the bait and calls security to ‘arrest’ her.

They just laugh. The class doesn’t understand, speaking in confused French.

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

“I am Maria Todd-Wayne, also known as designer MT. CEO of Afterlife and co-CEO of the very company you are in. I am allowed in here. Don’t judge a book by its cover.” she said in perfect French.

“But Lila told us you can’t speak French.”

“Who?”

“Lila Rossi, your friend. She told us that you and MT were dating.”

“Me dating myself. Okay I love myself because self-love is a thing but that is a whole other level. MT are my initials. Anyone who has a brain could have figured that out or at the very least do a Google search. I am not sure where your friend got that notion.”

“Hey, Bean, come on. We have a long day ahead of us.” Tim reminded her.

“Goodbye but cease the rumours or you would be escorted off the premises.”

As they rode up the elevator, “Tim, why are they here?”

“They are the lucky winners of the Wayne Enterprise Young Prodigies Contest. Why, Maria?”

“Lucky, huh.” She muttered under her breath. She might as well tell him. They are the Bats and they will find out anyway. “They are from my old class, the one you know…”

“Oh. Want me to send them back? I can do that if they are making you uncomfortable.”

“Nah. Too much to deal with. And it is unfair to send them back over a petty grudge. Besides, I could have some fun.”

“Anything that Bruce and I should be worried about?”

“I swear no killing. Just because Jason came back from the dead, hell-bent on killing. Doesn’t mean I am too.”

“Cool, just don’t do any property damage or traumatize our employees.”

“I might need you to erase some footage later and tell Bruce about this.”

“Some brownies, my favourite coffee cake, the ‘special’ brew and you have yourself a deal.”

-----

So basically she just showed up around where the class was ‘by coincidence’.

Talk to a few people and take them out of earshot of the rest of the class.

End the conversation by saying a few things only they and her would know. Insides jokes and secrets. (I pick her old childhood friends like, Nino, Kim and maybe Sabrina)

Uses Trixx to turn into a walking dead version of her 15-year old self and disappears as they freak out about how she knew that secret/story.

Freaks them out further by appearing again in front of the whole class and pretending not to know their previous conversation.

Mari manages to get Lila alone.

I should also say that Lila thought that her curse was making her see MT as Marinette.

It terrifies Lila when she finds out that MT is actually Marinette, not dead but alive after all this time and apparently living the high life she wanted. This fact made the Italian swell up with jealousy.

“I hope you are not lying about me again, Lila Rossi. Like you always do.”

“What do you want with me? I swear I didn’t say anything else about you.”

“Aw, Lila. Don’t recognize me?”

Maria flickers and Ladybug is in her place and later, the Marinette that appeared in her bedroom and back to normal.

“You! How? Why are you here? Why can’t you leave me alone?”

“Why not? I mean you did take away nearly all my friends, my parents and made my life a living hell. If you think about it, I am just repaying you the same favor. How are the others? Treating you well?”

“What did you do to me, you bitch?”

“I just put a curse on you. The ghosts of your past will haunt you until you stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop Lying, Liar. They all feed and grow in power from your lies. I wonder what would happen in a few years if you kept this up.”

“You think you can get away with this. This is war and I have already beaten you once.”

“Oh Rossi. This isn’t a war. It’s a death sentence.” With that she disappears.

Lila tries to tell her class that MT is actually Marinette. She is met with crazy looks. Some of them look like they want to believe her but don't because they don’t want to look crazy too.

Oh. Adrien wasn’t on the trip because his mother didn’t want him to go to the crime capital of America although the crime rate has gone down a little due to Hellbat curing some of the city’s bad energy..

Right after Lila told the class about MT, Scarecrow came to steal some Wayne tech and the class got caught in the crossfire. So later, it was brushed off as Lila seeing things due to the fear toxins.

-----

Joker made the mistake of kidnapping her. Once was enough to never try that again.

(It involved the use of nearly all of the Miraculouses, old and new. He was thoroughly humiliated at the end of it and his picture by the time Hellbat was done with him was on the Batfam’s Christmas Card. Like I said she doesn’t kill but making them beg for death was okay.)

It coincided with Jason’s Birthday and the video of the incident was ‘the best birthday present ever.’ The uncensored version was watched at the next undead siblings bonding day. Damian included.

After hearing a few rumours about what happened, most criminals were glad for Hellbat’s rare appearances. (which happens once a month and during really busy time of the year)

There was a time where Penguin was carrying out one of their plans and when Hellbat showed up, all of their thugs surrendered instantly. (No Batman did not pout at the fact that this French girl was more imitating than him.)

Scarecrow used his newest batch of fear toxin on her during the first year after she died.

He was astounded to see her still standing and she later proceeded to beat the crap out of him while being under the toxin’s influences.

He has tried to stay out of her way since then.

She saw Scarecrow as Hawkmoth and said a lot of things in French which scared everyone because she said it with so much hate, anger and in a very menacing tone that everyone is like ‘I am not touching this.’

It took Red Hood and Nightwing to restrain her from further beating Scarecrow up.

He was one of the people who sympathised with the Joker after the Incident.

The next was Riddler being so arrogant in his plans and managed to get Hellbat and Spoiler into a death trap.

“You know I have a few regrets in life. And my final one is that I got captured and am now going to get killed by a walking fashion disaster.”

“Hey! I made this myself. I will have, you know.”

“You have a brilliant mind but no sense of fashion at all. When I get out of here, I am going to burn that thing with you in it, for your crimes against fashion.”

“What is wrong with it?”

Cue a lot of roasting of Riddler’s costume and Spoiler adding more fuel to the fire.

They manage to escape while Riddler is crying on the floor, having an existential crisis.

The thing was no one knows why Riddler was silent the entire week after encountering Hellbat and crying when anyone mentions it.

They now think Hellbat is the scariest one in the Batfamily, second to Batman and tied with Black Bat/Orphan.

The few who find out what really happened in the warehouse that night. Blackmail material on the Riddler.

Three ( four if you count Penguin) of Gotham’s biggest villains of the Rogues Gallery scared of Bats’ newest addition. Hellbat was not someone they wanted to mess with.

---------

Magic crisis stuff. Like a world ending event thing. Dr. Fate says they need the Miraculous jewels but the last mention of them had been in Paris a few years ago and had vanished since then.

Costantine looked at Batman. “You know who you have to call.”

Batman calls Hellbat. Who hasn’t been introduced yet to the JL.

“Ah. Bats. Not that I question your authority or anything but how can your newest ‘ward’ help us?”

She takes off her helmet and reveals her face and more importantly, her earrings.

Tikki comes out of her hiding place.

“I am the current Guardian of the Miracle Box and wielder of the Ladybug miraculous during Hawkmoth’s reign in Paris a few years ago. Any other Questions?”

“Oh great Guardian. Tikki. It is an honour to meet you.”-Wonder Woman, who else.

“You too, Princess Diana. Pass on my regards to your mother.”-Tikki

A huge face-off and the big evil is defeated.

WW asks abt HM and gives a horrified face at the end of her story. Nearly everyone who eavesdropped on the conversation was.

"Forgive me, Guardian for not aiding you in your hour of need.”

“It’s okay. I understand that there are other crises, world-ending ones that JL have to take care of. I am better now. Mostly.”

“I doubt it with those revenge schemes I found lying around. But she is getting there with her therapist.”-Batman

“I hate you, Dad.”

“Did you just call him Dad?”

“No….”

“Do you see me as a father figure?”

“I see you as a nuisance with how nosy you are with my personal business. So you are more of a bother figure.”

“I see you as part of the family too, Daughter.” (Got that reference anyone?)

“Jason was the one who adopted me.”

“Legally you are adopted by me.”

Maria with Pikachu surprised face because nobody told her that. “My life is a lie.”

-------

(Part 5)

#graveyard sibling #platonic jasonette #maribat #mlb x dc #platonic daminette #platonic timinette #some class salt #lila salt #lila bashing #joker doesn't look good here either #platonic! jasonette #siblings jasonette #platonic timminette #marinette and stephanie teaming up to rip into Riddler's costume

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brawltogethernow · 3 years

Note

How would you, personally, go about writing a plot where twenty-something Dick Grayson has to take care of suddenly-deaged-to-just-after-his-parents'-deaths Bruce, who doesn't remember anything of his adult life? (I mean, other than Necessary Alfred.)

Well, the part of this concept that can really sock you in the face is. Dick knows exactly what Bruce needed to hear right after Martha and Thomas died.

Bruce, though not lacking for people trying to take care of him, did not get what he needed after becoming an orphan. He grew up, and he made the best of things, and he thought about what he needed from the world and didn’t get, and he became that, and that’s Batman, and that’s Bruce Wayne. When he saw a kid go through trauma very similar to his own, he had an entire playbook written by his own suffering and fixer tendencies ready to go. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best thing in the world for Dick Grayson short of his family spontaneously coming back from the dead, and things were good for a long time.

And now Dick Grayson, age, I don’t know, maybe the same age Bruce was when they met to intensify the parallels, has this playbook memorized. So.

Brief, miscellaneous scenario that’s about to cause the de-aging, to establish adult Bruce’s voice. He is motivated and capable with a strong sense of deadpan humor, and there is a large mishealed wound at his core. He is aware of this. He is used to working around it. He isn’t even that bitter about it, most of the time. Basically any supporting cast members filling out the scene could be interesting, so lacking an established roster to pull from you can use anybody. I think I'd use heroes who aren’t in the Batfam - characters with their own concepts of Batman but who don’t all know Bruce’s entire life story from a personal or Gothamite perspective. Dick is not present.

So something goes zam or zap or “Go back to your beginning, hero!” —Actually yeah, I like someone using magic to try to turn Batman into a baby but the symbolism catching wrong and rewinding him to when Batman was “born” instead. Some heavy-handedness is good with DC.

Elementary age Bruce Wayne is deeply unsettling. He intuits most of the situation without assistance or effort. He also doesn’t care. You can’t expect a pile of shattered glass to care about some sci-fi nonsense suddenly happening. He is a million years old. He hates you. He should be dead, they shouldn’t be dead, nothing is right. Breathing hurts, or, doesn’t, but should. It’s unconscionable that it doesn’t hurt to breathe. This child's despair is actively uncomfortable to be around. The grit of a nascent Batman grants him immunity to being comforted by the surrounding gaggle of semiprofessional child comforters. —I’m of the opinion that Bruce Wayne was probably a weird child to match the weird adult he grew up into, just initially happy about it, which I’d gun to make clear in his reactions even with the bottomless agony.

You could also snug a very traumatizingly timed identity reveal moment in here if somebody was tagging along who can go, WHY do I recognize this face from old news... WAIT.

Now Dick can show up. To a JL workroom, or the batcave, or maybe the manor, because I would want to demonstrate that Alfred is well versed in this and is sent back to a not great mental place by it. The old coping methods rise easily to hand even after decades, but he feels he never properly figured out how to fix the problems Bruce had in this period instead of just working around them. Eventually Bruce started working around Alfred’s inability to help. —But anywhere you put that sequence seems like it would drag the pacing.

So Dick shows up, and he crouches down with his characteristic gymnast’s fluidity, and he puts his hands on this kid’s shoulders, and he says...something. It’s not going to be okay. How could this ever be okay? The people assuring you it will aren’t trying to lie to you, there just aren’t words for this. But you can stop this from happening to anyone else. Opening with a conscious deployment of Bruce’s own words from a decade and then some ago, because Dick has always understood this element of their dynamic.

Except then he’s touching this real child who is warm under his hands and small. The shoulders under Dick’s hands are bony, which is a brain-meltingly irreconcilable detail with adult Bruce Wayne the meat slab. When Dick says, “My parents were killed when I was your age, too,” it’s a completely unintentional verbatim quote that crawls up out of his throat like a toad in a fairy tale. He hates that; he has a whole snarled up capital-T Thing about unconsciously parroting Bruce. But also it’s not like he’s going to stop comforting the actual child who now has a complicated look in his eyes—like he was drowning and then Dick threw him a life preserver and told him to hang on until they get to land because it’s impossible to reel him back up to the boat.

So then we go to the manor, and finally get to do some domestic nonsense, but hideous. Ugly conversations about coping and grief in your socks in the kitchen—when your parents just died, the sentence “The weather looks bad” is about your dead parents—because Alfred is coping by airing out whatever rooms Bruce used when he was smol he doesn’t now so hard you’ll never know they were shut up, which leaves Dick free to feed the child a fortifying dinner of instant oatmeal. (Mourning and food have a complex relationship, and I don’t feel food you actively enjoy is always a good choice!) This process involves Dick walking on the counter unnecessarily, which entertains Bruce for a quarter second before he’s swamped by guilt at having the audacity to enjoy something.

It’s miserable, but there’s a distinct glimmer of something promising under the murk. There’s this building surety that this could lead to something good. Bruce gave Dick the tools he needed to heal once, and as an adult Dick could repay that to this version of Bruce with interest.

And then Bruce pops back to normal, because that’s not how time works, with all of the ways that his emotional wounds healed wrong and healed open intact. But also with this Escher-like doubled recollection of the most formatively terrible point of his life, a short new version layered over the original that was pointing distinctly in a direction that would have sucked less.

#dynamic duo #DCU #batman #dick grayson #bruce wayne #(⓿‿⓿)#you don't actually WANT to leave it long enough #for them to establish a batman and robin-like dynamic that should be weirder than it is #because the more progress you make on kid bruce the worse it is when the status quo reasserts itself #and also we have seen that story before #though when dc is doing it well it proves that's not a drawback #and really committing to diverged timeline bruce as a separate character would be like #i'm listening.#phoenixyfriend #asks answered #notfic #w

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flyingkiki · 3 years

Text

We played dangerously (1/?)

Because we need more stories that show us just how much of a dirty boi Timbo is. The more smtty #TimRae the better. So excited for this story and delve heavily into their drama and dirty deeds. Strap yourselves in, bbs. it's a steamy one.

The history between them ran deep and long, mostly unspoken, messy, and painfully raw. Years later, here they are - older and carrying just a little bit more baggage than necessary. Tim and Raven reflect on their dangerous history and sift through the extra baggage they acquired.

~~~~

“You’re quitting?”

Raven frowned and crossed her arms defensively. She steeled herself as Red Robin stared at her, a look of total disbelief on his face as he processed what she just told him. She ignored how a heavy feeling settled low in her stomach.

“I’m taking a sabbatical,” she said levelly.

“For an undefined period of time,” continued Tim, his voice strained as he drew his eyebrows together trying to process what he just heard five minutes ago. “That sounds like quitting to me,”

She pressed her lips together as she tried to ignore the harsh press of Tim’s emotions against her. She watched him stare at her from across the briefing room, the sound of their computer working on data broke the heavy silence between them. “It’s my life, of course it’s indefinite,”

Tim blinked and followed her stance, crossing his arms as he studied her intently. “I’m not trying to take control of your life, Raven,” he bristled.

Raven tilted her head in challenge. For whatever reason she felt annoyance crawl under her skin. “It sounds like you are,”

“I’m not,” Tim pressed, sighing loudly. With a huff he pulled off his mask and threw it on the briefing table. Raven watched it slide on the flat surface before looking back up at Tim’s confused blue eyes. “Look, I don’t want to fight. You can do whatever you want, Raven. You’re right, it’s your life. I’m sorry if I sounded controlling,”

Raven hummed in acknowledgement. She knew he meant well. She knew Tim well enough that he wanted to understand the situation at hand. She shifted under his gaze and ignored how her stomach gnawed painfully. “When are you leaving?” Tim asked, his tone softer as he slid into the seat across from her. Raven watched him grab his mask and fiddle with it absently. The atmosphere shifted and her stomach churned painfully.

“In two weeks,” Raven replied and sat down in front of him. She watched Tim press his lips together and frown at the news. “I got into a special program. School starts early in August,”

Tim swallowed and threw her a torn look. “I’m glad you’re going off to university,” he began. He paused to inhale as he tried to think. “And this is not something you could do, like part-time online or something?”

Raven frowned at the way he tried to find ways to make her stay. “No,” she said. “Our work is a tight schedule as it is,”

Tim nodded in agreement. He gave a halfhearted smile. “At least I tried,”

Her stomach lurched without her consent and she ignored the jumble of emotions in the room. Her decision was final. This conversation made the move incredibly real. Pain settled low in her stomach. She needed to pack and get things going. “I want a life outside of the Titans, Tim,” she said. “Most of you have lives outside of the Tower. Gar does his stupid acting. Jaime has his family and volunteer work. You run WE, Tim. You all get to do something outside of our uniform. I just want something as close to normal as I can get, whatever that is for Rachel Roth, even if it’s just for a while.”

Tim sighed. The tension was palpable as Tim frowned. His brows furrowed and he nodded. “Yeah, I respect that, Rae,” he said, voice low. Running his hand through his hair, Tim leaned back into his chair with a huff. “Yeah, okay. Yeah,” he breathed and looked deep in thought. She felt the faint press of his carefully controlled emotions. “We’ll make some preparations for your transition and make sure that everything is in order. I’ll let the Justice League know,”

There was a beat of silence between them. Raven was surprised how methodological the conversation was. Then again, was she really expecting an argument for her to stay? There was an inexplicable pin-like pain in her chest she could not shake off. Wasn’t this what she wanted? Sighing softly, she assumed their conversation was done and stood up. Tim probably had to file a report to the JL. She had to pack up and get going with her life – they all did. Raven swallowed a thought.

“Well, thanks,” she said and turned to leave the room. She heard Tim stand up.

“Hey,” Tim called, voice slightly strained. Raven paused and turned back around, eyeing him curiously. Tim swallowed and his brows pressed together and there was a cautious look on his face. “This is not about –”

“No,” Raven cut him off sharply. “It’s not.”

Tim sighed and his shoulders lowered slightly. He caught her blue eyes and Raven watched an expression she cannot quite place cross his face. He offered her a tentative smile and nodded, his brows still furrowed and still looking torn. “Okay,” he breathed. “Yeah, good.” He paused before continuing. “We’ll tell the team after dinner tonight.”

Raven nodded. Her stomach felt heavy, she had enough of this conversation. It was done. “I’m going to start packing up stuff,” she said and made her way towards the door.

“Everyone’s going to miss you, Raven,” Tim said as she opened the door.

She paused at the door, hand resting at the metal doorframe. Her finger tapped the frame thoughtfully as a few stray thoughts ran through her mind, before turning to look over her shoulder, catching Tim’s piercing blue eyes. She sent him a tight smile and buried whatever errant emotions tickled her heart. “Yeah, I’ll miss everyone too. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

She did not come back anytime soon.

Tim forgot when he was last in the Gotham Public Library – perhaps back when he was still in high school, 11 years ago? He wasn’t all too sure. His high school memories were blurry, given how his vigilante life was far more exciting than high school calculus.

But he was sure that the Gotham Public Library did not look this modern or dazzling since he last stepped into it when he was 15. The large library atrium was cleared out from its usual chairs and tables and instead filled with cocktail tables, round tables with sparkling black and gold table settings, buffet tables lined the walls, upbeat jazz music and heavy conversations filled the usual quiet halls, and every single one of the Gotham’s elite was dressed to the nines.

It was a charity dinner with plates going for the thousands. There was a silent auction too, some collectors’ books were up for grabs. The library was launching a new exhibit with some new codex they found out of Gotham. Wayne Foundation was funding most of the research and restoration work that went with it, and tonight’s event was supposed to help cover costs for the library’s expansion projects.

He idly listened to some politicians talk to Bruce and his siblings, Damian and Cass. Jason had moseyed off somewhere (likely browsing through the bookshelves or bidding on some of the collectibles in the silent auction) – lucky for the asshole. Tim wasn’t really paying attention. There was a lot going on, Tim barely kept up if he was being honest. A business merger was keeping his mind preoccupied, he was flying out to Japan tomorrow morning, and tonight’s dinner was the last place he honestly wanted to be at – but press as CEO of WE was important, Bruce liked to constantly remind him.

“So I was saying to him, ‘Johnny, son, if you don’t pull your pants up, that’s gonna be a lawsuit waiting to happen,’,” said the old man, assistant city treasurer – or whatever – to their small group. The old man heartily laughed, wheezing into his champagne glass. Bruce looked like he just swallowed bad caviar and cleared his throat while Damian and Cass made no effort to hide their bewildered faces. Tim sighed.

“Well, it does sound like a lawsuit waiting to happen, Mr. Peters,” Tim absently fiddled with his scotch glass and wondered if he should get anything stronger to get him through the night.

The man made a wounded sound and said something before slinking off. Bruce and Tim shared an exasperated look. Damian clicked his tongue, absently tapping his glass of orange juice. “This party is terrible, father,” he sniffed and icily scanned the crowd. “May we leave early?”

Bruce eyed his teenage son blandly. “We came here together, we leave together,” he said.

“Tt,” Damian frowned and took a sip from his orange juice.

Tim glanced at Damian, mildly feeling sorry for the 16-year-old gremlin. He remembered how he felt over these galas when he was younger. Internally grimacing at the galas when he first became CEO back when he was 17, Tim hid his displeasure behind his scotch glass while taking a sip.

They milled around more, talking to investors and guests from Gotham’s elite and academe. Tim smiled politely and held conversations where necessary, idly wondering when the night would be over. The crowd soon gathered in the middle of the atrium at the soft chime of a bell, signaling the start of another round of speeches from the library. Tim and his siblings slowly followed Bruce and the rest of the crowd towards the atrium. Tim caught Damian and Cass sharing bored glances.

“We’d like to thank everyone for being with us tonight,” said the Gotham Public Library Head Librarian, a well-dressed elderly man. The man went on with library expansion updates and the latest figures on tonight funds that were raised. Tim barely listed as he checked his phone for his flight details Tam sent him earlier. Ignoring the polite applause that filled the room, Tim continued to discreetly scroll through his itinerary.

“Tonight we’re also delighted to announce the opening of our exhibit, the Life Codex: Ancient Celebrations of Life. The library is honored to house this latest discovery and carry out the research, restoration, and preservation work of these recent discoveries,” the librarian droned on about ancient documents and the restoration work involved. Tim felt Cass nudge him and he blinked, looking up from his briefer. He stared at her quizzically.

“Attention,” she whispered. Tim offered her a sheepish look and pocketed his phone. They both turned their attention back to the stage. He caught sight of Jason’s large built shuffle in next to them, looking utterly bored. Since Jason was ‘legally alive’ again, they had roped him into attending a few events once in a while – much to the older man’s displeasure.

Mr. Tompkins, the Head Librarian, went on to discuss the project details that had gone underway since last month. Documents from Africa had been flown in and the research team had been working on restoring paper and decoding the codex. Tim barely listened as the elderly man droned on and silently wondered if he could still catch some sleep before his flight in the morning. His phone vibrated and he pointedly ignored Cass' look as he pulled out his phone to check an update from Tam.

"Doctor Collins, Dean of Gotham University's history and anthropology department is leading this project and she has built an excellent team for this project. Doctor Collins?" The head librarian welcomed an elderly woman with salt and pepper hair up on stage. Tim drowned out the speech as Dr. Collins started talking about the project, briefly looking at his phone and going through the project document for tomorrow's meeting with the Japanese tech firm. Tim wondered if he could at least get some good sushi while in Tokyo. Perhaps he could ask Tam to squeeze that into his schedule, they could --

"Hey, isn't that…" Jason paused and squinted at the stage. "Huh."

"Tim, look,"

Tim closed his phone and glanced at Cass curiously before turning his attention to the stage. Tim stopped short at what he saw.

Dressed in a flowing halter gown with a modest v-neck and a teasingly stylish slit up her right leg, a strikingly familiar woman walked up on the small platform offering the crowd a tentative smile and a modest wave. Tim watched the small woman carefully shuffle across the platform as a few more members of the research team were introduced. He blinked and stared at the violet-black haired woman and felt his throat tighten.

As if sensing his stare, dark blue eyes caught his light blue ones from across the hall. They zeroed in on him, easily catching him in a sea of hundreds.

There was an inexplicable tightness that seized his chest briefly, as Tim stared back at the woman, watching transfixed as emotions flickered across her face before quickly slipping back into a small pleasant smile and keeping her gaze briefly at him before turning to her colleagues and chuckling at something they were whispering to each other on stage. Tim watched and stared at her, schooling the surprise on his face, and just drinking in every familiar slopes and planes of her face because it had been what? Five? Six? Years since he last saw her.

"That's -"

"Rachel," Tim cut off Cass, blinking away his brief surprise and instead stared intently at his (former?) teammate.

"Rachel Roth leads our research team. Is there anything you'd like to say, dear?" Dr. Collins asked, turning to the group on stage. Rachel looked surprised before shaking her head and waving her hand in decline. "Ms. Roth does excellent work in ancient runes and languages, and restoration work. It's a pleasure to have her on the team. She's a guest lecturer at Gotham U, so if you're lucky, you best sign up for her special lecture series on ancient runes."

Tim watched as Rachel blushed at the praise, ducking her head briefly before chuckling at something a blonde haired woman next to her said. The group on stage shared a laugh and Tim watched curiously at the familiar sight of Raven smiling. There were few more pleasantries on stage before the group had their photo taken

“If we could invite Mr. Bruce Wayne, Mr. Lucius Fox, and Mr. Tim Wayne, to come up on stage for a quick photo with the rest of the team? After which we can proceed with our evening, and hopefully get your support in our library’s expansion work,” the head librarian called.

Tim blinked as Cass nudged him and pulled him out of his thoughts. Clearing his throat, he handed Cass his drink and quickly walked up the stage, following Bruce and Lucius up the small steps. Pulling on his practiced Tim Wayne-CEO-of-WE-smile, he dutifully shook hands with Dr. Collins and the head librarian. He briefly caught Raven’s stare as he moved across the stage to shake hands with people on the stage. Their gaze briefly met and her lips quirked into a small smile before quickly turning away and shuffling to the end of the line and out of reach for any other contact without attracting too much attention on them. Photos were taken swiftly and before Tim knew it everyone was ushered off the stage and he was wrapped up in a rather lengthy conversation on library work and the ongoing renovation projects.

Tim discreetly tried to look over his shoulder, barely catching a glimpse of the familiar slope of Raven’s shoulder disappearing into the crowd.

“Bruce Wayne,” Dr. Collins walked up to them just as the head librarian excused himself. The elderly woman beamed and quickly shook Bruce’s hand.

“Julia, it’s nice to see you again,” Bruce smiled warmly. “You know my son, Tim,”

Tim smiled and shook her hand. “Dr. Collins, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, easily pulling himself out of his thoughts of trying to find Raven in the crowd.

“Mr. Wayne,” The elderly woman beamed and regarded both men in front of her.

Tim chuckled. “Just Tim, please,”

“I worked with you parents, Jack and Janet, many years ago on a few of their archaeological digs, back in their early years. I met you when you were a little boy once or twice. I must say I am impressed at what a successful grown man you've become, Tim,” praised Dr. Collins. The elderly woman hummed and smiled. “CEO of Wayne Enterprises,”

Tim chuckled, pulling on his best boardroom smile. “Thank you,”

“Also, this makes me realize that time certainly flies when the young boy you last saw in diapers has become the CEO of the world’s most successful conglomerate,” Dr. Collins chuckled, beaming up at Bruce with a mischievous smile. “That does make me feel old,”

Bruce chuckled as Tim politely made a face and their small group fell into an easy conversation. “The last eight years with Tim as CEO have been the best years for the company,”

Tim grinned playfully over his scotch. “Careful, is that praise I hear?”

The small group fell into an easy conversation discussing work and the research project. Tim quickly gathered that Dr. Collins was an old family friend of the Waynes, particularly of Bruce’s parents. He kept rapt attention to the conversation, nodding and chiming in where necessary, while occasionally glancing around the room for even a hint of purple or black.

Feeling distracted by tonight’s discovery of Raven, Tim was ready to excuse himself from the conversation and pretend to make a phone call. That seemed to be the best way to try to look around and catch Raven.

“There you are,” Dr. Collins glanced over Bruce’s shoulder and beamed. She beckoned for whoever was behind Bruce to come closer.

“I was looking for you,”

Despite the years that passed, Tim recognized the familiar voice in a heartbeat. He watched as Raven appeared from behind Bruce. He schooled his face, trying to fight away any signs of recognition and familiarity towards the black haired woman. Tim watched in a mix of curiosity and internal surprise as Raven smiled softly at their group and confidently walked up to them. From the slopes of her shoulder, the elegant movements of her hands, to her black-violet hair, deep stormy blue eyes, and that achingly familiar errant dusting of a few freckles just around the hollows of her neck, Raven looked exactly like how he remembered her. Tim blinked and absently tapped his scotch glass as he stared openly at her, a sight he had not seen in years.

“Rachel, please meet Bruce Wayne and his son, Tim. As you know Wayne Enterprises provides extensive funding for our work,” Dr. Collins said, waiving at both men in front of them.

“Mr. Wayne,” Raven began, moving her champagne glass into her left hand and went to shake Bruce’s hand. A smile appeared on her face as she and Bruce exchanged pleasantries. There was no air of familiarity between them, despite the schooled smiles that stretched across both of their lips. Tim knew that practiced look from all the undercover missions he had seen, been with, her. “It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for all your support,”

Raven turned to Tim and he watched as her smile immediately curled up just a tiny bit more in that familiar teasing way he had not seen in the last six years. There was that achingly familiar twinkle in her eyes he often saw back in the day, reserved for rare occasions, and Tim found himself smiling back at Raven and eagerly drinking in her familiar presence. “Mr. Wayne,” she said to him, a small quiver in her voice that no one but him seemed to pick up. She reached out and shook his hand.

Tim gave her hand a brief squeeze and he was pleased to see how the corner of her lips curled into a familiar amused smile he remembered. “Just Tim,”

Raven hummed and nodded, pulling her hand back. “Thank you again for supporting the research and restoration project,”

“What were you busy with before joining this project?” Bruce asked curiously. There were little updates from Raven throughout the years as she left the team for university and eventually work. While in the early years of her sabbatical Tim kept some updates on her, these eventually became less up to date as Raven eventually seemed to do her own thing.

“I was in Iceland,” Raven supplied and explained that she worked on an ancient runes translation project with the local university for six months.

Tim felt a distant memory tickle the back of his mind and he ignored the tight feeling that accompanied those distinct memories. He ignored the whisps of memories that teased his mind. Dark blue eyes briefly caught his stare and he watched that familiar curl in the corner of Raven’s lips appear. Tim smiled in return. “Iceland is a beautiful country,” he commented.

Raven stared at him, dark blue eyes intense as he remembered them. “It is,”

“We’re glad that Rachel has joined our project. She’s a fine addition to our team,” commented Dr. Collins. The elderly woman smiled teasingly. “And we’re definitely hoping she’ll considering staying in Gotham after the project ends,”

Raven rolled her eyes in amusement. “We’re just two weeks into the project. We have a long way to go,”

Tim looked at her curiously. How could he have missed her entering Gotham?. “You’ve been here for two weeks?”

Raven looked at him as if catching the slight jump in his emotions at this little discovery. “Three actually, if you count my moving in week,” she shrugged in amusement.

Three weeks. Tim stored that information for later, for a later conversation, and ignored how it settled uncomfortably in his stomach. He instead smiled at her and titled his head curiously. “I hope the transfer into Gotham wasn’t too difficult,”

Raven made a face. “It’s been interesting,” she said and Tim easily caught her familiar teasing lilt in her voice.

“Let us know if you need any assistance getting you settled, I’m sure we can send over someone to help you with your apartment,” Bruce offered, smiling charmingly at Raven.

Raven waved him off. “It’s just a few more boxes, nothing really major,”

Tim watched as a young woman tentatively approached them and offered the group an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said to the group and quickly turned to Raven. With a quick tilt of her head towards the right, she made a face. “The University Press wants to talk to you,”

Raven made a face. “Oh, Why?”

“Just stuff about the project and the lecture,” supplied the young woman. She offered Raven a wry smile and made a face. “Also one of them asked if you were single,”

Raven rolled her eyes before smiling tightly at Bruce and Tim. “I’m sorry, if you’d excuse me. It was really nice to meet you. Thank you again for all your support. I hope you’ll visit the library again and we could show you around our work,” she said. Quickly turning to Dr. Collins, she nodded politely. “I’ll see you later, Julia,”

Smiling at Bruce and Tim, she tilted her head and there was an amused glint in her eyes as she stared at them. “Gentlemen,” she then turned on her heels, casually drank the rest of her champagne with just a little bit more purpose and seemingly bracing herself for what was about to happen next. Standing a little taller and squaring her shoulders, Raven followed the young assistant towards the press. “So, what did you tell them?” she asked, amusement lacing her voice.

As the conversation between Dr. Collins and Bruce resumed, Tim took a long sip of his scotch and stared at Raven’s retreating form. A million thoughts ran through his mind and he silently wondered just how fast he could get through his business trip in Tokyo. Sushi would have to wait for another time.

#timrae #tim drake #teen titans fanfiction #raven roth #raven #timrae 2021 year of smut and steam #be ready for baggage #lots of drama #and lots of steam because WE KNOW THESE BBS

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jmoriarty-221b · 3 years

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So I saw somewhere a post that talked about how some fictional characters just have a divorce vibe going on, like, at no point in time were they ever married but they just give off that feeling that they got divorced

And now I can only think of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor having that vibe

And I spent close to an hour talking about this to my sibling and how it would be a good idea for a new DC show like, you can make so much money off of just the main Batfam alone and there are literally so many people in there that it’s just an amazing idea to have them all in a show together but kind of like a Good Luck Charlie kinda thing because there’s more than enough angst in the world

But in the case of not having enough of a budget for so many characters in one show I turned to the Superfam (Batfam is Huge like, I don’t even know half of the extended family version and that’s like at least ten characters so I could see why it wouldn’t be entirely feasible to have a show that included everyone while still being good with nice character development without having a billion dollars for the budget)

The Superfam, in my personal experience, is composed of Ma & Pa Kent (farm vibes plus I refuse to have either of them die in my AU), Clark Kent (main Superman), Lois Lane (Lana? was Smallville Lois i guess??? But idk enough about her so she’s not here), Jon Kent (Superboi II), Kara Danvers (Supergirl) & Conner Kent (Superboi I)

Now I’ve stopped watching CW shows like, forever ago??? But my brother kinda keeps up with them and basically the gist is that the ratings of every other show suck Except for the Superman & Lois show (because it’s 💫new💫) and I saw the cover of the poster like “Ah, the werewolf dude. . . mmmhhmmm that’s Lois yes, yes that’s Johnny boi, and um is that???? Nooooo, they wouldn’t do that to Conner right???? Please tell me they didn’t make Conner blonde” and I was informed that the blonde teen is Chris???? Like

Whoms’t do ye speak of

I’m not even joking but the only way I even know of Chris is from a random fanfic I read where Dick Grayson gets his own super from an alternate reality named Chris, that’s my only point of reference for this character

But let’s talk about how Conner Kent (OG Superboi) was excluded

Now I haven’t seen any episodes of this and I probably never will (no hate I’m just really unmotivated to start new shows at all) so idk if they might mention Conner or even allude to him in one scene or something

But this was my main motivator as to my new Superfam TV Show Idea

Have Lex Luthor not be a Superman villain, he’s mainly a successful businessman, a little shady but who isn’t, and he doesn’t want to Kill Superman, he just wants to be able to have some sort of viable protection against a Kryptonian in case of an invasion (see Man of Steel + CW’s Supergirl) or suddenly having a mind controlled Superman on their hands (see Justice League series or just look up what Red Krytonite does) so he makes it like his side thing to figure out ways to neutralize or hold back a Kryptonian, Clark totally thinks that Lex is obsessed with finding a way to kill Superman because they had a bad end to their friendship in high school so he’s always suspicious of Lex, Lex hasn’t really ever tried to kill him though because 1. It’s not that deep Clark ok? And 2. He’s a busy busy man with a very important job position and a company to run so does he look like he has time to harbor an obsession over someone who rejected him back in high school??? You’re more of a constant side quest Clark, so stop trying to put him on the JL watchlist ( btw ik about Lena Luthor, haven’t forgotten her but she doesn’t really play a part in this AU so let’s just have her and Kara off to the side doing their own thing ok? Ok)

Lex, Bruce & Oliver all knew each other when they were kids and went to the same school, this is just an extra detail I wanted to happen because Lex and Ollie definitely know Bruce is Batman and absolutely HATE having to deal with Brucie Wayne because “I know you’re just doing this to irritate me Bruce, you just want to see if you can make a vein throb in my forehead but I will valiantly ignore your dumbassery because I know you hate being Brucie just as much as we hate having to put up with Brucie so suck on that you petty bitch” because they bonded in ye olden days, childhood friends so to speak

Anyway so Cadmus tries to get Lex to make an investment in their company, seeing as Cadmus is shadier than Gotham when it rains Lex is basically like ‘no ❤️’ and doesn’t make a deal with them, Cadmus gets mad at not having Lexcorp financially backing them so Lex has an ‘accident’ and they steal his DNA, then they steal Superman’s DNA somehow and *boom* a Superboi is formed

Because I don’t know much about how the Core Four became friends in the first place (Robin Tim Drake, Impulse Bart Allen, Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark & Superboy Conner Kent) I’m just gonna go with what happens in the show Young Justice except it’s the Core Four becoming the Core Four when they liberated Conner (who at this point believes himself to be a clone of Superman and has only been given Superboy as a name) from Cadmus, same shit goes down meaning that Clark is just straight up NOT vibing with Conner, Conner just wants a mentor please, and the Bats kinda give Clark a passive aggressive treatment for not taking Superboy under his wing or at least agreeing to teach him how to control his powers, especially Tim because that’s his Bestie so yes

Anyway, YJ saves ppl and is on the news or whatever and Lex finds out about Superboy’s existence that way, so he researches this new super on his free time, finds out that he came from Cadmus and claims to be a clone of Superman, yet doesn’t have the whole power set Superman has??? Wait, didn’t Lex reject Cadmus’ proposal and the got into a mysterious accident??? Long story short Lex goes connecting the dots, hacks into Cadmus’ files, finds out he technically has a son with Superman and decides to take Superboy under his wing (I’ll go more in depth as to why Lex would want to do this in this AU later but the abridged version would be that he wants a kid but doesn’t have the time nor interest in finding a wife??? Also the radiation that made him bald as a kid also affected his reproductive system so while it’s not impossible for him to conceive kids he would have a very hard time actually getting to father a kid)

Him and Conner, who still goes by Superboy at this point in time, meet up and Conner finds out that here is a parent figure that is both available and actively wants to be a part of his life, so he agrees to get to know Lex and the series would focus on them becoming a family, with a special episode when Conner asks Lex for help in choosing a name for himself and it ends up with him agreeing to become Conner Luthor, it would be heartwarming and Mercy would make sure it happens within a day (Mercy is Lex’s bodyguard/PA but they’re also besties and she becomes the Responsible yet Chaotic Aunt as Lex and Conner’s father-son relationship progresses)

Obviously Clark becomes super suspicious of Lex getting close to his ‘clone’ and when Conner decides to go public as Lex’s son he’s like *GASP* and calls up Bruce because we need to get on this Bruce, Lex is a villain and blah blah blah but Bruce would be over Clark’s shit and hit him with that “actually, Lex was also an unwilling genetic donor to Superboy, who actually is not your clone either, and has agreed to take him in, I’ve been on this shit since they first met and the kid is doing just fine so if you keep poking your nose in their business then that’s your problem but you better be ready to pay child support bitch . . . have a good day ❤️”

The series would just focus on Conner getting to have a good parent figure in Lex and go more into their civilian lives rather than focusing on the superhero thing, Conner, Bart, Tim & Cassie have a sleepover at Lex’s house at one point, Lex totally Knows what’s up but it’s all good because these are his baby’s friends and they’re good people who are more than willing to prank Superman for rejecting his kid and giving his baby self worth issues (Mercy supports them)

Anyway, that’s basically the idea for a new Superhero Show

#humor #superfamily #that’s new #focusing on Conner (the OG Superboy)#because they are always excluding him #so now Lex Luthor is a caring father to him #because yes #give this boy some love #conner kent #lex luthor #clark kent #bruce wayne #tim drake #superman #superboy #cassie sandsmark #bart allen #the Core Four is here too #Lex isn’t really a villain #he’s not evil either #finding ways to neutralize Superman is just like a side quest #because yes Superman is a paragon of good and Justice #but mind control exists #so pardon Lex for wanting to be able to protect himself from an out of control Superman #Clark totally thinks that Lex is obsessed with stopping him #because they had a bad friendship ending back in high school #but Lex isn’t aware of this ‘rivalry’ he’s supposed to be a part of #so it’s just Clark being suspicious of Lex and Lex not having a clue about this #or just not giving a shit because he’s a busy businessman trying to run a huge company #just a new idea for a new DC show focusing on the Supers

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