Systems
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Lex has always been there for Alex, but what happens when Alex goes away to school? Lex thinks about past, present, and future on a cold night in Manhattan.
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A look into some of the core parts about being a system with Good Cop and Bad Cop. -Written by the host of a system.-
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Lost my soul in your skin by Buttercup_ghost
Fandoms: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
13 Oct 2017
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Pinkamena’s parents didn't love her.
They loved pinkie pie.
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Zuko can almost taste it. Can almost taste the red of sunset bleeding into his veins, the calm power of steady breath in his lungs as he stands to shed the cloth draped across his shoulders.
In which Zuko is multiple people in one body, and they accidentally save the world with Aang after an uncomfortable encounter with Captain Zhao drags Zuko, kicking and screaming, into "self" discovery.
Main themes are recovery, communication, and corny humour. Fun spirit lore added for flavour.
Read the warnings
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why would you ever kiss me (im not even half as pretty) by demifool
Fandoms: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
04 Aug 2020
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Connor isn’t an idiot. He knows there’s been… issues between them, recently. He knows what’s about to happen.
the.insanely.cool.jared.kleinman, 2:01 pm: i’m breaking up with you! surprise!
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In which Connor has to deal with the aftermath of a breakup, featuring unhealthy polyamory, unfair sharing of blame, and walls crashing down.
(Also, he has OSDD.)
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When All You Want is Peace And Quiet by Soratonin for Eddie_Boi
Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
04 Apr 2025
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TodoShinDeku with the three having systems/headmates.
That's it.
That's the fic.The sounds of the world around him were dulling and he couldn’t make much of anything out. “ Zuku! Don’t give up! Come on, we have to prove Bakubitch wrong, remember?! ” he was pretty sure that was Yasuko’s voice ringing out in his head, regardless it got him to at least attempt to pull the sludge away from his face. To little success. He was weakening by the second and the last thing he saw was a flash of yellow before he passed out.
Series
- Part 1 of Peace and Quiet (Take 2)
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“The ultimate payoff is here: lifelong scoundrel and swindler Adris fehl Dain, with his brutal partner of many decades Serras fehr Almet, descends into the lost crypt of the Immortal First Emperor. The once all-powerful tyrant, and eternal lord of the floating continents of Xin, lies within a coffin of solid agate. An emperor’s legacy awaits who finds it…!
… excepting for one problem: Adris is plagued by a life of recurring misfortunes.
And no misfortune could be greater than a lust-mad, demonic castle beyond the impassable clouds owned by a supreme evil.”
Updates: Mondays and Thursdays
The adventure of a man, returned as a boy. Cast to another world, chased by the carnal horrors of it. Using wits and cunning to find the strength to fight back.
There is smut stemming from plot. Far from straight pornographic, the scenes flow with said plot and will be explicit. Please be aware.
~Tags are added as content is added.~
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Living and Loving in Naruto's World In Naruto's Body With a Perverted System That Just Wants to F**k by Anonymous
Fandoms: Naruto
25 Jul 2021
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"Listen. I didn't ask for this. Any of it. When I closed my eyes for the last time, I thought I'd be waking up dead. Not inside an anime I've never seen, and certainly not with a System making fun of me all the damn time. But then again… I'm not saying no, either."
A 12-year-old boy ends his life, but wakes up inside the world of Naruto, inside the body of Naruto himself. His only problem is that he's never actually seen an episode. Oh, and he has a snarky "System" giving out quests left and right, with rewards for completing each one. New clothes, new techniques, new weapons, all kinds of things. The System even lets him experience all of Naruto's life in an instant. And he only cried for... how long was he crying for? And, he's not Naruto, he's... someone else. Yeah. Someone who isn't Naruto--dattebayo!
Only... don't these quests seem... a little bit... lewd?
Well, whatever.
(I, the author, have not actually watched much Naruto after, like, the Chuunin exams. The Naruto wiki is the source of all information. Learn me good if I eff up, but try not to crucify me if my info was wrong to begin with. Oh, also, the "main character" is twelve, but I am not twelve, and haven't been for over a decade.)
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Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which information meant to stimulate one of your senses stimulates several of your senses. People who have synesthesia are called synesthetes.
The word “synesthesia” comes from the Greek words: “synth” (which means “together”) and “ethesia” (which means “perception). Synesthetes can often “see” music as colors when they hear it, and “taste” textures like “round” or “pointy” when they eat foods.
Synesthesia is also listening to “The Devil’s Trill Sonata” before falling asleep and waking to this mostly formed in my brain and the examples of the associations I, as a synesthete, make within about The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII as a whole.
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- English
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- 1,664
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Ender was quick to take the front upon entering Michael’s room.
In their defense, the child was adorable.
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Pen and Nova look at the sky and ask hard questions. Pen explains how their experience as a systems designer has shaped their perception of God.
Series
- Part 5 of Conversations with Imaginary Friends
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What we See - Part 1 by DriftingPieces
Fandoms: Moon Knight (TV 2022), Moon Knight (Comics)
27 Jun 2022
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Marc and Steven have returned to their flat in London shortly after everything in Cairo. But there's just something Steven can't get out of his head. What really happened when they both blacked out? Where do they go when they think they are sleeping?
Steven and Marc discuss the possibility of a third and how to find common ground. How are they supposed to extend an olive branch when Jake wants nothing more than to stay in the shadows?
Series
- Part 1 of What we Are
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What We Do - Part 2 by DriftingPieces
Fandoms: Moon Knight (TV 2022), Moon Knight (Comics)
27 Jun 2022
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Marc, Steven, and Jake are learning to live together. Old habits are hard to break and old lies are even harder to remove. Jake struggles to find his place.
This is part 2 to the "What we Are" Series.
Series
- Part 2 of What we Are
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When One Becomes Many by orphan_account
Fandoms: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!, Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), ラブライブ! 虹ヶ咲学園スクールアイドル同好会 | Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai (Anime), Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS (Video Game), Love Live! Superstar!! (Anime)
18 Oct 2023
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This fic follows the collective lives of 7 systems with varying struggles and coping methods. We hope you enjoy!
(Each chapter follows a different theme and can be read as stand alone, also we are taking requests as to what you personally want to see in this AU!)
Series
- Part 1 of Idol system AU
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“Like hell I’m gonna wear a dress!”
The Cold Duke of the North was reincarnated by chance after his untimely death at the hands of an unknown enemy. With a chance to take revenge and save his sister, he is temporarily granted the use of her body to uncover the mysterious conspiracy surrounding his death.
“Lady, have you considered a re-engagement to the First Prince?”
“F**k off, old man. If you like him, you can marry him.”
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This is planning on what may end up showing here. There may be more here than the original as more planning shows up. This will link to full stories if we get any together.
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I Can Tell That We Are Going To Be Friends by Inkwellsandfeathers
Fandoms: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
07 Dec 2022
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Fabian makes a friend in Riz's system.
Series
- Part 9 of I See You There Au
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It's either die and turn into a sad ghost or sign a contract with the system. Now Tommy is in the "Male Lead's Bratty Younger Brother System", who has to fulfill his role by completing tasks for the system.
(One Shot so Far)
Series
- Part 4 of TommyInnit Webtoon/Book Inspired Fanfics
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A helping paw by cessrine333
Fandoms: 백작가의 망나니가 되었다 - 유려한 | Lout of Count's Family | Trash of the Count's Family - Yulyeohan
16 Apr 2023
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"Are you a boy cat, or a girl cat?"
He then glanced between the kitty's legs, "-huh, must be a boy kitty!"
"Oppa..."
"..."
Basen became scared at his smaller sister's terrifying gaze, "Actually, I don't know..."
Lily huffed and took the malleable kitty away from her brother. She lovingly watched the kitten blink its adorable eyes.
"But we will love you either way! We don't need to know if you are a boy or girl!"
Lily pressed her face on the kitten's soft tummy, "-Because you are very cute!"
"Hey, that's not fair!" Basen complained from his seat, "I'm the one who found it"
"Who found what"
Both froze in their positions. Cale scrutinize his two siblings and walked over using his long legs and decent build, his sharp eyebrows furrowed in each confusing second.
"What are you doing with my cat?"
"Your cat? We found it first!" They held up the kitty defensively, Basen in the back while Lily was keeping guard.
"Meow..."
Kitty!KRS wants to complain to mommy cat. These pesky humans are annoying.
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Harry Potter and the Door of Trials (Discontinued) by YumekuiSensei
Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
22 Apr 2024
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After Harry's 1st year of Hogwarts, he returns to Privet Drive 4 to spend the rest of his summer. However, upon arriving something unusual happened. A black door appears in front of Harry, calling him to go in it. Thus, the start of Harry's new adventure, filled with agony and tragedy.
featuring: systems, dungeon and tower like genre, and many more
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“Go…enter the door and test your worth… Harry Potter” Suddenly a deep rattling voice came out of nowhere.
Harry feels something ominous hiding in the fog, he does not dare turn around to see the lingering dark figure. Valuing his survival, Harry does what the entity says and opens the door. What greeted Harry was darkness, he bites back his worry and steps into the abyss. The black door closes, and a bell chime followed.
Harry was about to pass everything off as his hallucination until a black screen popped up in front of him. The screen was translucent and illuminated a soft glow, with silver letterings on it.
-Door of Trials-
Objective: Reach the end of the reminiscing
Conditions: survive
Time Limit: - - -
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When it was all over and his world was in ashes, Yanzin 849 of the Sulp Niar pool chose to remain on Earth. Can he remain unchanged, and what purpose does his life have now?
An exploration of the life of one of the yeerk nothlits remaining on Earth. Contains all OCs.
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There are some great quick-and-dirty guides to HTML on A03. This is not one of them - it is a comprehensive guide
It's now 2025, a decade later. A03 supports some new HTML and and we're all walking around reading fic on supercomputers that fit in a jean pocket. It was time update this and take a crack at finishing it. (Links and Images are in, the new Audio and Video tags are not.)
The previous three chapters have been divided into smaller concepts. Each tag continues to have - at a minimum - a link to the w3schools page about it (so you can learn more), a code example, and the result of the code example. Most tags have their attributes, things like [src] or [title], listed and examples of how using the attributes modify the tags.
There's a chapter on Bad Ideas, including how some of the archive's default CSS is available to you to format your work (users can't turn that off by hiding a workskin!)
Oh. And I added a bunny army. You could learn how to add one too.
/)/) /)/) /)/) (..) (..) (..) *( ) *( ) *( )
Series
- Part 19 of AO3 Work Skins/Tutorials
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Spiteful Entrance to a Twisted World by MofoMango
Fandoms: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
26 Oct 2025
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Yuu’s vision shifted to black. Opening their eyes, still darkness.
“Man.. What in the anime is this bullshit?”
Ding
[ This isn’t an anime, This is reality, Yuu. ]
Yuu turned their sight to something that looked like a rectangle blue hologram that appeared out of nowhere. Fully reminiscent of those ‘systems’ in webnovels or mangas.
Damn, I must have drunk poison at this point. Yuu sighed.
/// Index for people who are scared of cliffhangers. ///
Prolouge: 1~4
Heartslabyul Arc: 5~8
Interlude 1: 9
Savanaclaw Arc: 9~13
Interlude 2: 14
Octavinelle Arc: 15 ~ 18
Interlude 3: 19
Scarabia Arc: 20 ~ 24
Interlude 4:
2/2/2026* busy with other stuff :P happy CNY/LNY thoSeries
- Part 1 of Another World, Another Person
- Language:
- English
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- 216,904
- Chapters:
- 24/?
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- 2
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- 1,167
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- 2,439
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Bookmarked by summer164
04 Sep 2022
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Criw fae were assaisb and she udder fire
Peope think Y is a crow fae
Criel neoeh works fir mahciak investiture
.Allen Anthony a b a himulc / nit real
Pm ch 1Cb 8 overblit riding
Yuu summins
Yuu tgebet
Popped coem to chance whduhc scars trey ace and dce
Azul and townsAmmlus
Cb 17 comments
Silly theory I know but I can't help but think about the 'Uncle-nephew' relationship that Yuu and Crowley have, my guts are telling me that there's some sort of secret there, now I thought about it for a long time and I sorta gave birth to a theory?
Yuu and Lyran are step-brothers (Or cousins, but let's go to the step-brothers) with Crowley being their uncle, I find it sus that Yuumama said: "Be free as a crow" instead of "Be free as a bird" or "Dove" or whatever. Maybe Yuumama is a crow fae and sister (Or cousin) to Crowley??? And Yuudaddy is human???
ooo i like your words magic man >:DD we'll find out soon~ (psst! Yuu's backstory hints droppign more in arc 4! ;) )
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"Welcome to a new user experience! You have triggered this interface with the keywords, ‘Stupid game! Stupid devs! I want my f*****g money back!’ You are now bound to the character Tartaglia, the Eleventh Harbinger of the Fatui, codename: Childe! We hope you have an enjoyable user experience and we welcome you once again to Genshin Impact 2.0!”
Those are some of the first words Ajax, starving college student extraordinaire, has the misfortune of hearing upon waking up in a brave new world from what he's fairly sure is a very fatal accident involving water and a shit ton of electricity.
Okay, so he's not dead. That's good. But what's this about him being stuck playing the character Tartaglia? Tartaglia, as in the no-good, one-dimensional, cartoonish villain who met his untimely, gruesome death in the first act of the original game?
Forget this. Like hell Ajax is going to share that fate.
And so begins one man's journey to save himself from his awful destiny.
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THE GOD'S SYSTEM by missmaesama
Fandoms: 백작가의 망나니가 되었다 - 유려한 | Lout of Count's Family | Trash of the Count's Family - Yulyeohan
22 Jan 2024
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[ COOPERATE OR BE STUCK HERE FOREVER ]
Play the game or your existence will perish.Your usual reaction fic; from yours truly.
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Why it is a bad idea to capture Bats by CyborgV2
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Criminal Minds (US TV), White Collar (TV 2009)
23 Feb 2024
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Lex Luthor has become president and Gotham wouldn't care except he's trying to capture the Batman.
The BAU could tell you the exact words for a man like Lex Luthor psyche, but ordering them into a hostile city wanting them to track down their Hero had only one, 'stupid'
Series
- Part 1 of Why it is a bad idea to threaten Heroes
- Language:
- English
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- 64,686
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- 25/25
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- 973
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- 4,706
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Bookmarked by forgetmesunflower
21 Aug 2024
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This plot is FASCINATING. Like wow. Everything fits together so well. I feel like the story must have been either written or mostly fleshed out by the time posting started, because of all the tiny details that become incredibly relevant later. But they remind you of those details, so they don't expect you to realize any of the past foreshadowing, which is nice.
The WOLRDBUILDING AND INTEGRATION. AAAA. The stakes are the entire city, but not in the way that Rogues might gas it. It's the whole city, everyone in it, it's relationship to the world.
The survival packs that are mass produced and accessible to even visually impaired, the Gargoyle app alerting of all dangers and rapid spread of info, the language of Outsiders/Mainlanders, and Landers as those who don't like them.
How Gotham is 10% of the GDP, a huge port for the east coast and Europe, WE responsible for so much of the affordable healthcare, cyber security, and even military tech.
The years of secrecy and lies that have been twisted so that even the FBI have no idea about the horrors committed to Gotham during the og NML. How Gotham has spent several years preparing so if it ever happened again, there would be no issues supporting the 1.7M. And all the ways Bruce/WE have made it so the country loses out instead if Gotham separates, both to hopefully stop it and also in case they can't stop it.
Yet still more world building and fleshing out outside of Gotham with the JL and the UN and AAA. It's all so much and so good!Very fascinating use of B distinguishing himself between Brucie, Batman, and Bruce in chapter 3. And it carries on throughout the story. Which it even more interesting to look back on after the end where Jim and the mayor have suggested Bruce act as a bridge between the people and Batman. I explain it as well as they did in the fic, but that final part brings this specific device to the end!
'GCPD hadn’t taken him off the most wanted list since his early days. Various officer’s had fun trying to compile the ridiculous claims witnesses had given into a semi coherent narrative.
Officially GCPD were on the lookout for a Bat, Demon, Vampire, god raised from hell, who was desperately in love with the 70-year-old Mrs Ferguson and was prone to serenading her from the rooftops.
Lex Luthor ordering him captured changed nothing as far as the GCPD was concerned, though they had sent Luthor a bill for a stake out of Mrs Ferguson’s apartment. And Officer Grayson’s partner swore it wasn’t a waste of money. They had, after all, heard the haunting serenade of a bat out of hell. Officer Grayson was coincidently in the car singing along with the radio.''It wasn’t only the crazy which came form a Manhattan sized city. No, Gotham had been systematically neglected, the police until recently ineffective. Injustice bled through the streets. If there was a city designed to push people past their breaking point it was this one. And they were here to arrest what little light and hope they had.'
'Bruce wished he could say he was surprised. But after living through no man’s land seven years ago the idea the federal government wanted Gotham dead, wasn’t a hunch, it was a bone deep certainty.'
“the wolves of war are gathering they sing a song of rotten bones.”
*quote by Ryan Graudin in Wolf by Wolf -
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Dick’s goal for Thanksgiving (code named Operation F.I.S.H.): A family outing to the aquarium.
It feels achievable - everyone has been getting along better lately, Jason is spiraling closer, Cass is coming home. But there is a lot of unspoken hurt in every direction, and Dick’s own position in the family is shakier than ever since Bruce returned.
If Dick wants to realize his dream of family bonding, there will have to be many painful conversations between all parties. Dick’s own secrets will need to surface, the ones he has long kept submerged, the ones he will fight to sink forever.
(Or: Where Bruce is just a bit darker, even less emotionally available, and treats everyone a little worse, and how they all fix their family anyway.)
Series
- Part 1 of The Fishbowl
- Language:
- English
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- 141,925
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- 10/10
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- 1,300
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- 5,647
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Bookmarked by forgetmesunflower
10 Jun 2025
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Agathokakological
'“What do you think this is, B? I’m not fighting.”..Batman is staring at him like he is one of the crazies they lock up in Arkham. Dick shifts minutely, a warning, “But everything’s always a threat to you.”
And because Dick is a reckless maniac, he punctuates his statement with a lunge forward, half a stumble with his world tilting alarmingly, pitching his face closer to the cowl. And Batman, proving Dick’s point beautifully, reacts instinctively to the perceived attack and punches him in the gut. Dick folds over Bruce’s fist, a soldier impaled on a suicide charge. Breath knocked out of him, there is no more laughing now.''And Bruce finally, finally, pulls off the cowl, revealing angry eyes, but it is too late to appeal to a different god. He has spoken the words, started the spell, and Dick knows what happens next.'
'Tim has sent him a link to a research article on learned behaviour in captive marine life. Very subtle. Dick does not read it.'
'Dick is hyper-aware of himself in relation to Batman, following every single order without hesitation. He remembers a rule from his brief days in juvie before Bruce whisked him off to a life in the limelight: Keep your head down if you don’t want to get hurt.'
"You’re in this cycle; I think the way you act around each other is such a routine that you just return by habit.”
'Routine is important to keep oneself healthy and sane, Alfred had told him when young Dick asked about why he gardened every day. It’s a powerful technique for the mind. He had encouraged Dick to find stability in his own repeated actions, and Dick took this to heart as a life principle.
And routine is powerful. It has been keeping him sane all these years.''Here is Dick’s heart, beating too loudly in the tense silence. The entire cave is holding its breath. Caves were once common burial sites, and this familiar space has never felt so much like a tomb.'
'She has been gone so long; all of the cracks in their family have become fault lines in her absence, and now the earthquake has come and she is left not knowing where to stand.'
"How do you think I feel? When someone hurts you, and they don’t pay, and you have to see them again. No one else here gets it -”
'And he cuts himself off abruptly, looking at Dick.''And Jason is pulling out a gun and Bruce is pushing Cass aside, moving forward, and -
Dick finds himself thinking about the second law of thermodynamics. How there is increasing entropy in the universe, but more importantly, how complex systems tend towards chaos. His family is the most complex system he knows, and right now they are spiraling towards the event horizon of something horrible if Dick can’t think of an intervention soon enough.'“Maybe they’re a little small, But at least they’re safe. There are no predators in there, they get meals; it’s a good life.”
“Perhaps, But they do not understand their situation enough to know they are trapped. All they see is their tiny tank. How could they know what they are missing when they can never leave?”'A memory: two slabs of beef sitting forgotten in the hot sun outside his family’s trailer behind a show, somewhere in Europe, sometime in his happiest days. One piece salted, the other not enough. The meat without salt grew rancid by the end of the day. Dick remembers being fascinated that only one was still good to eat. The fortune-teller explained to him why: Things rarely improve when left alone.'
'They want him to feel angry on his own behalf, but his siblings don’t realize the size of the dam Dick has built to hold back his problems, his emotions, to keep them all safe. Dick knows it’s a little arrogant, a little self-centred, but they aren’t ready for him to break.
Dick doesn’t think they could handle the flood.''Everyone in the family jokes that Alfred sees everything, that he is the omniscient caretaker. Dick has always pretended to himself that Alfred was blind to Bruce and Dick’s fights, for Dick’s own sanity.'
'By no means infallible god or judge, Alfred is still a watching, benevolent being.'
'Jason is way too close to the shipwreck to carry Dick into a lifeboat.'
'And then Jason is laying words out like heavy weights that hold Dick in place, that demand an answer Dick can’t give, “Were you ever taken advantage of?” A dark beat, a death knell. “Sexually?”'
'There’s a specific nerve in the human body that when damaged can lead to the peculiar case of one being simultaneously unable to breathe yet perfectly capable of everything else. Dick is suddenly certain this phenomenon somehow applies to him, in this breathless moment.'
'“I should never have hit you. I’m sorry I ever did.” Never , he says. Ever. Such absolutes, but regret has no limits.'
'Dick stares at a nail in the wall and pictures his coffin.'
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“I love you,” Chan says wetly in the comedown, his voice hoarse with emotion. Felix presses soothingly close to him. Jeongin, for his part, is silent and a little gobsmacked the way he gets every time they experience an orgasm; it’s kind of endearing. “All of you. I can’t believe we get to have this.”
“But we’ve got it now,” Hyunjin says, and there’s no mistaking his voice, even when Chan can’t see his face where it’s pressed into their chest. The intensity of it. “You’re mine.” A beat. “Ours,” Hyunjin adds, sounding a little petulant, like a child reminded to share his favourite toys.
“Yours,” Chan murmurs obligingly, tracing his fingers over the muscle-lithe planes of their back, his boys in their pretty dancer body, so sculpted by effort and stubbornness and life. In English, at least, there’s no distinction between the singular and plural when it comes to the standard you. “Yeah, Jinnie. Yours.”
On tetrameric intimacy. (Or, the system4system plural joy fic.)
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operations continued in rescue mode by notquiteaghost
Fandoms: DCU, Batman - All Media Types
06 Apr 2025
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When he’s thirteen, and there’s other kid heroes popping up, and the Justice League is starting to reckon with whether they’re okay with any kid being a hero at all, Clark talks to him. That’s how Dick realises.
They go to a diner. They always go to a diner, when Clark wants to talk. Clark feels safe being emotionally vulnerable in diners for reasons Dick can’t piece together yet.
"It was your idea," Clark asks, once the waitress has brought their food, enough other people already eating to create a comfortable background hum of noise, "Wasn’t it? Being Robin?"
The Wilful Child Endangerment Is A Load-Bearing Batman Story Element: A Defence Of Robin, By Dick Grayson
Bookmarked by forgetmesunflower
23 Sep 2025
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'Anyway, that’s why it takes Dick a good long while to realise Bruce’s whole crusade thing is certifiably batshit.
When he’s a kid, and so angry all the time it feels like something in his chest has grown teeth and is trying to eat its way out his ribcage, it makes sense. Of course Batman exists. Of course you can’t just sit at home and let other people get hurt. Of course you have to do everything, anything you can, because the worst possible thing happened to you and someone could have stopped it and you wouldn’t wish the thing living in your chest now on anyone. Or, well, you would, and that’s why you wouldn’t. You want to destroy the man who did this to you, but you wouldn’t just be destroying him, because that’s how it works. You can’t know who else you would catch in the blast. You can’t let it be anyone.
When he’s thirteen, and there’s other kid heroes popping up, and the Justice League is starting to reckon with whether they’re okay with any kid being a hero at all, Clark talks to him. That’s how he realises.''"That’s why it’s hard? Because you can’t drive?"
Dick takes a long sip of his milkshake, to give himself a moment to imagine a world where not being able to drive is his biggest problem.
"It’s hard," he says, "because I want to believe people are good and kind and compassionate, and every night I go out and on purpose seek out proof I’m wrong. Because it’s not even that I am wrong, it’s that it’s easier to be shitty. Caring hurts. It really, really hurts." He takes another sip of his milkshake. "But you know that. You know exactly what I mean."
Clark lets out a heavy breath, and doesn't say anything.''"The problem isn’t if I’m old enough," he continues. "No one’s old enough. Could Bruce have put me in therapy instead?" He shrugs. "Probably, yeah, but it only would’ve worked if he quit too. And then everyone we’ve saved since would be dead, or worse. And we’re already worse. I can’t imagine anyone being able to talk me into being okay with that, with letting other people go through that."
The look on Clark’s face isn’t one Dick’s really seen before. It’s not one he’s enjoying seeing now. Say what you will about how little Bruce emotes, at least he’s not trying to make concerned eye contact with Dick all the time. "You realise," Clark asks, "Everyone else’s problems shouldn’t be your responsibility?"
There really was a lot of arguing, when the League first formed. Most of it was people who had never really worked in a team before realising they’re a far bigger control freak than they’d thought, yeah. Growing pains, Alfred had said. Some of it, though, was everyone else learning that when you’re Superman, when you’re that much more powerful, it can get hard, sometimes, to remember other people might have ideas, too.
Does he realise. Like Bruce wouldn’t have ever asked. Like Bruce didn’t write notes for their arguments.''"Because that’s what they’d want, right, for me to be happy, and pretending like them being dead doesn’t make me want to set things on fire will start to look like happiness if I just do it long enough? Maybe I’ll forget what it’s like to not want to die, and then that can be what happiness is."
Now Clark looks like Dick just sucker-punched him, if Dick happened to be holding a fistful of kryptonite. It’s a long moment, before he speaks. Dick drinks more of his milkshake.
"You’re thirteen," is what Clark manages. "You shouldn’t have to think like that."
Dick wonders what Clark was doing, at thirteen.
This is the root of the problem, really, with Clark and with Diana – sure, both of them have their scars, but none of those scars are older than their adult teeth. Figuratively speaking, anyway; Dick doesn’t know if either of them actually had two sets of teeth. Maybe Kryptonians just keep growing new ones, like sharks. It’d be rude, probably, to ask.''"Do you? Wish that?"
Dick doesn’t look away from the tedious, terrible list of warehouse employees and insurance policies. "I wish my parents were alive," he says. "I wish yours were. I wish the Joker was loved more as a kid, and Gotham city councillors had more conviction, and Reagan was shot in the head instead of JFK. I wish we never invented guns or private healthcare or the stock marker or the police. If wishes were horses, y’know?"
"I wish you didn’t know," Bruce says, quietly.' -
the texture of shadows by MCUsic_to_my_ears
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, The Flash - All Media Types
06 Oct 2025
Tags
Summary
“Why would he say that?” Dick asks quietly.
“I don’t know, bumblebee.”
He sniffs, huddling back down into his blanket. “Why would he… I would- Walls, I would never.”
He squeezes Dick’s arm. “I know, bluebird,” he asserts. “He wants to control the narrative, control you.” He forces air out of his lungs. “He’s disgusting. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Dick flinches. “I reached out for custody,” he whispers. “I just consulted a lawyer. I didn’t- But of course he knew.”
Or, Wally cares for Dick in ways that aren't easily explained. He stands by him no matter what the rest of the world believes.
Bookmarked by forgetmesunflower
07 Oct 2025
Bookmarker's Tags:
Bookmarker's Notes
'He isn’t cracking bones on ‘haven rooftops, he isn’t turning himself in for murder, he isn’t dialing Deathstroke’s personal number.'
'This room is only a room when Wally opens his eyes, presses his knuckles against the faux wood floors.
An empty void ripped out of reality is probably the safest place Dick could think of.''He can only imagine the tight band of confusion, restraining his lungs, halting peristalsis. The Gotham Gazette published the story this morning. It’s already been picked up by the New York Times.
The worry of not being able to get in contact with his friend this morning was met with the half-baked assurance that no one could reach out to him for a statement.
At the very least, he knows Linda and Iris won’t be chasing the story. The lie.''His affection for his wife tinges in his heart.
He knows the comments that are made behind his back. Capes he’s never met whistling at ‘tension that could be cut with a knife.’ Elbow-nudging teammates grinning about ‘soulmates, platonic or otherwise.’
Hell, Dick came to a West family reunion once deep in the Nebraska panhandle, where the bluffs cut through the highway hypnosis. Ostensibly, he was helping out with the twins while Linda was neck deep in an investigation of Arrowhead Oil & Gas. In reality, Dick had been coming down from a joint Scarecrow-Ivy venture that had hospitalized a dozen people.
Wally’s cousins had passed around beers and made all number of assumptions about Linda’s absence. ‘Better call a divorce lawyer,’ they muttered while Wally sunk a bag into the scratched cornhole board. Three points.
Nightwing is the only hero outside his family for whom he’ll put back on the suit. He dropped the kids off at their grandparents because of a Gotham Gazette article.
He gets why people think what they think.''Linda’s never been one to shy away from hard questions. Not when Fran Kane asked him to coffee, not when Dick Grayson crashed on their couch.
It helps, he thinks, that Linda has Tori...Because Linda has Tori and Wally has Dick and there’s nothing more to it.''The air is stale. The shadows have started to take on colorless contours. The doors stretch further and further away.
Sometimes, he wonders if he has a psychic connection that allows him to sense Dick Grayson’s fears. Sometimes, he wishes it were true.''His panic attacks are never gasping-breath, trembling-hand affairs. It’s always about getting locked in his own limbs as the world skitters away. Proprioception three inches back, balance at a forty-five degree angle.
Dizzy, he calls it.''“You said lightning bug earlier. Same thing as a firefly.”
“Different words though, waterskimmer.” Years ago, when you could count the number of child capes on one hand, Roy bet Wally that he couldn’t keep up with his creative nicknames for a whole afternoon.
The game never got old.
It’s half the reason new Leaguers nudge each other after seeing Flash and Nightwing on the battlefield together.
“Roy’ll say synonyms don’t count.”
“Donna’ll say they do,” he counters.
Garth was always their tie breaker, but to be honest, Wally’s pretty sure he always sided with whoever had pissed him off the least that day.''The tufted quiet returns. Dick’s head slips onto his lap. The optical illusion walls writhe, too close, too distant.'
'“It’s a lie, cinnamon bun. Everyone who matters knows it’s a lie.”
Dick scoffs. The first few tears patter onto Wally’s jeans. “Not everyone.” Not the officials that would have the tiniest chance of getting Damian somewhere safe. Not Dick’s supervisor at the gym. Not the Leaguers who know the sprawling Bat secret.''Except the Titans. They tried to get Green Arrow involved because they were stupid enough to believe that he wouldn’t protect his yacht buddy.
(Roy’s slow spiral turned into a whirlpool a month after that.)''His closest friend is Clark’s son and if Jon expresses concern to his dad, then they’re in untested waters. Superman’s unwavering loyalty warring with his moral strength.
At the end of the day, men in power protect each other.
The shadows fold, Escher lines and Pollock smacks.''Damian has already taken so much abuse. His mom let Deathstroke the Terminator pilot his body. It’s hard to say if Damian will even recognize it as wrong, the way obedience has been drilled into him.'
'Wally watches the technicolor accelerations of dust motes and doesn’t put the pieces together.'
'Wally doesn’t know the media like Linda, but he got a feel for public opinion during his tenure as the Flash. He understands how people latch onto interesting lies, how they let it warp their judgment.
His molecules fluctuate in speed, electrons skyrocketing orbits before dead dropping back.' -
News Flash by hole_in_the_roof
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
01 Oct 2025
Tags
Summary
Bruce asks, clearly noting the tremor in Clark’s voice, “Clark, what happened?”
Clark lets out a heavy sigh as he stares through the windshield of his car, glasses balanced precariously on his nose. He says, tired and hurt, “It’s about Dick.”
Series
- Part 1 of "All Press is Good Press"
Bookmarked by forgetmesunflower
15 Oct 2025
Bookmarker's Tags:
Bookmarker's Notes
Nightwing saves a 16yo girl from rape, and tells her he was the same age. The girl tells the cop in her interview. The bodycam footage makes it to the Planet. Clark drives to Blüdhaven as he calls Bruce to tell him that journalists are getting this info. But Bruce hadn't known.
Amazing.'Lois rolls her lips and meets Clark’s eyes. “It’s about Nightwing.”
And with three words, Clark’s blood is sprinting cold through his veins. His stomach does somersaults like an acrobat, like a little kid dressed in red and green who said Superman was his favorite hero. A story about Nightwing. A story about Nightwing that has Lois leaning against Clark’s desk with heaviness in her red-rimmed, watery eyes and tragedy in her expression.''What if Clark is going to be the one to tell Bruce he has to bury a second son?
There’s a lump the size of a planet in Clark’s throat and his heart is going the speed of light as he stares up at Lois and forces out, “He’s not—?”''Clark’s eyes haven’t left her face. His forehead crinkles and his mouth opens as he tries to figure out just why Cat Grant is running a story about this—about Nightwing innocently telling a little girl that even superheroes get hurt sometimes—his brain still fumbling to keep up. Except, wait, not just hurt. It’s not that superheroes get hurt, it’s that they—it’s that they can be—
Wait. Oh God?
Lois looks at him with sad eyes, her fingers playing through his as she murmurs, “He said it happened to him, Clark.”''"When he was her age. And Cat Grant was planning to run a story called ‘Even Superheroes Need Saving’ about it. She wanted the whole world to know within the week that Nightwing was a victim of child sexual abuse. I mean, how fucked up do you have to be to—”
Somehow, of all the awful, revolting things about that monologue, the one Clark gets hung up on is when he was her age. He fumbles, “H-How old was the girl?”
How old was Dick when…? God, Clark can’t even think it. He can’t conceptualize it. Rape? But—God, but…? He hates himself that the first thought in his head is but Dick is a boy like that’s some kind of fucking reason. The second thought is how did Bruce ever allow that to happen? How did Bruce ever let Dick out of his sight long enough to let it?
“Sixteen,” Lois answers gravely.
Sixteen. Sixteen years old. That’s just a kid. That’s just Bruce’s kid. Dick wouldn’t have even been Nightwing yet. He would have still been Robin at sixteen. He would have been all red and green and silly spandex, just the bouncy, flip-flopping kid that ran around so close to Batman’s feet it was like he was trying to make Bruce trip over him, nothing but a puppy excited to be involved. The kid that still stared in awe at Clark whenever Superman came into the cave.
Almost the same age as Jason.''There’s not even a chance that they won’t. They’ll find out. Journalists always find out. If there’s a video of her saying it… they’ll find out. Nightwing is such a beloved hero. Everyone loves him. Even people that hate vigilantes like Nightwing. He’s handsome and charming and tender and he’s not like Bruce, he doesn’t hurt people. He’s the best of them. And he’s human. More human than any of them, in every way that it counts. People will want to sink their teeth into a story like this and see just how human he can be.'
'Dick glances over at Clark and his cheeks flare pink in embarrassment. He stumbles over his own tongue for a second, anxiously massaging the back of his neck, tweaking his own dark hair that fans out over his skin, “Uhm. Well, Wally and Kori know. Because we… y’know… had sex so it felt, uh, relevant to them.”
He is blushing something awful.
“And, about, uh—” Dick scoffs, eyes darting away— “Handful of random kids in Gotham and a few in Bludhaven.”''“You were helping,” Clark assures, gentle. “You saved those kids, Dick. Don’t discount that.”
Dick glances at him and glows with a momentary pride. It’s always made Clark a little sick, knowing what an impact he has on Dick, knowing how much his words mean to the younger man. How much genuine power he has to change the tide in Dick’s eyes. It’s a lot of pressure. Especially when it comes to someone as good as Dick.''“I’m… he had a father. A real one. A good one. And it’s not me. Clark, I didn’t—I couldn’t protect him. Someone hurt him, and I didn’t even know it. For years, I didn’t even know. How could I be his father?”
Clark hears the implication beneath the words. How could I be their father when I couldn’t protect either of them?
Clark shakes his head. He says softly, “Bruce, it’s not your fault either.”'