Tag: fic remix

Gambling Away The Past 1/? (2015-12-07)

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A/N1: … I said I wasn’t going to do it, but here we are so clearly I am a big liar face. For you, anon, and your prompt here.

~

Shikako falls.

Or flies. Or stumbles. Or she is pushed and pulled and squeezed and stretched all at the same time for an eternity that only lasts a second.

The point is, Shikako is dragged somewhere–somewhen–and the first thing she sees when she comes to are several Iwa nin attacking some kids. So of course she’s going to do something about it.

When she comes back up for clarity after the flurry of battle she almost chokes on air, “S-sensei?”

“State your name and registration number,” a Kakashi Hatake shorter than her says, voice flat and both of his dark eyes staring her down.

“Hey, don’t be like that, bastard! She totally helped us out!” an unmasked and unscarred Obito Uchiha shouts.

By his side, a living, breathing Rin Nohara adds, “She’s wearing a Konoha flak jacket, Kakashi-kun. And that’s the Nara clan symbol.”

A part of Shikako appreciates the support–even if they aren’t from the one person in this situation that she knows and trusts–but the large majority of her is freaking the fuck out.

Shikako falls and knocks an entire timeline off track.

~

A/N2: Maybe I’ll come back to this…? I dunno, it’s got a title so…

Dreaming of S(ake), a DoS remix drabble (2015-11-28)

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“You never sleep?” Shikako asks one night, mind calmed and cleared after a session in the sand cocoon. It makes her braver or, more likely, less concerned about manners; she’s basically cuddling the Kazekage, such a thing would require bravery and rudeness both.

Gaara’s hand in her hair stills, briefly, before resuming its path across her scalp. “I doze, sometimes,” he says, pausing as if to better articulate his thoughts, “I’m told it’s more of a meditative state than actual sleep, though.”

Shikako hums, part acknowledgement part contentment.

“When I was younger, I used to be able to sleep for short amounts of time before…” he trails off. Before Shukaku would take over, he doesn’t need to say, “After that, I was trained in ways to stay awake.”

“How old were you then?” She asks, already reaching for his free hand to intertwine their fingers.

“Four years old.”

—

Their conversation ends at that, though they remain curled together on the sofa for an hour more, before one of the Sand ANBU equivalents comes to the office and Gaara must resume his duties as Kazekage.

It sticks with her, though, a glimmering shard of thought not quite distracting her but definitely tugging at her attention throughout the day. Not so much the tragedy of it, as coldhearted as that might be, but rather the implications that come from it.

If Gaara used to be able to sleep as a child, when people’s strength of will are raw and untrained, then that means there was something else preventing Shukaku from taking over. Some part of his jinchuuriki seal that protected him as a toddler but could not anymore as he grew. Something that had weakened or degraded over the course of three years.

Something she might be able to fix.

But she holds on to that idea for a little while longer. She doesn’t have enough information yet.

—

Technically, she shouldn’t have access to this information–despite the alliance, she’s still distinctly a Konoha nin– but, well, it’s not like she’s reading a file she shouldn’t. She’s just plying the Elders of Suna with alcohol in hopes that they’ll be willing to answer her questions.

“Our livers are going to rot and it’s all your fault,” Kankurou hisses at her, before downing another saucer of sake at Chiyo-baa-sama’s demand.

“You’re the one who wanted free booze,” Shikako shoots back between gritted teeth, a parody of a smile as she also throws back a saucer of her own. Ebizo-jii-sama has not stopped laughing for the past ten minutes.

“This is a terrible plan,” he adds, yet again, before steeling himself for another round.

She doesn’t respond because she already knows that, but like hell she’s going to agree out loud. Especially not where the elderly siblings can hear it.

It’s not that she thought she could outdrink and trick answers out if them. She knows better than that, Sakura’s almost haunted look as she told the kunoichi group about Tsunade-sama’s drinking habits and Jiraiya-sama’s own ridiculous competence while intoxicated has taught Shikako better than that. But she figured free sake would make them, if not pliant, then pleased enough to indulge her questions.

Instead she is going to die of liver poisoning. Well, at least Kankurou is going down with her.

—

Three hours and an unspeakable number of empty sake bottles later, Shikako has joined Ebizo-jii-sama with giggling of her own. She doesn’t know what she’s laughing at, just that it’s very funny.

“And then I said. I said to myself. And I said to Temari. I said,” Kankurou rambles, cheeks flushed red, “I… What was I saying?”

Shikako bursts into another fit of giggles, the elderly siblings adding cackling of their own. Their poor, patient server looks utterly resigned with life; Shikako has to remember to give him a big tip.

“Chiyo, Ebizo,” a low voice says, just the smallest hint of amusement overtop the monotone.

And now the server looks a strange mixture of relieved and nervous.

“Hey! It’s Gaara!” Kankurou shouts, completely unnecessarily, “I was telling them about. I was saying. I said…” He looks around confused, as if the rest of his sentence would reveal itself to him, “Gaara’s here, Sparky!” He announces instead.

“Kankurou,” Gaara nods at his brother, a small curve edging onto his mouth, “Shikako.”

“Gaara’s here, Theater Nerd,” she agrees with Kankurou solemnly.

“And Baki,” he adds.

“Yes, and Baki,” she repeats. They both laugh.

“The two of you can take care of these drunks,” Chiyo-baa-sama doesn’t ask, just states as fact.

“Kids these days just don’t know how to handle alcohol,” Ebizo-jii-sama shakes his head, “Though for a Leaf nin, I guess she did well enough.”

As the two Elders stand to leave, Chiyo-baa-sama affectionately slaps Kankurou upside the head and tugs on Shikako’s braid. “We’ll have training tomorrow morning, brat. As for you, Leaf, I’ll answer your questions then. If you show up, that is. But I’m sure you two can handle a measly hangover,” she cackles before leaving with her brother.

The first smidgeon of doom trickles through their inebriated minds. They turn to each other.

“We’re going to die for real, Sparky,” Kankurou whispers–or tries to, it ends up more like shouting.

Shikako hides behind her braid. Unsurprisingly, it is ineffective.

They laugh again.

“Please, Kazekage-sama, Baki-san,” the server says, desperate, as if it were his dying wish, “Please take them away.”

Impassive, Baki picks up his ex-student in a fireman’s carry, before disappearing in a blur of speed–combining Kankurou’s transportation with his punishment. Very efficient, Baki.

Shikako says as much. Gaara, thankfully, is far more gentle with her; the two of them sitting on a platform of sand, him carefully holding her so she doesn’t fall off.

By the time they get to her inn, she’s already halfway asleep. Thankfully, this isn’t the first time he’s put her to bed, and likely it won’t be the last.

“Stay,” Shikako mumbles, grabbing his sleeve. Her eyes are closed, so she doesn’t see Gaara hesitate. He doesn’t sleep, but he settles beside her soon enough.

~

A/N: So I was stuck in a car for about ten hours and wrote this on my phone. I only just got back to my laptop now.

Um… this was yet another attempt at properly filling @byebyebriar’s prompt that derailed itself from my original goal. This time, courtesy of Theater Nerd and Sparky’s drunken shenanigans and the Elders of Suna sadistic tendencies.

Also! Do I mean English “sake” as in purpose or do I mean Japanese “sake” as in the rice wine? WHO KNOWS? I certainly don’t.

Cross-Post: Richie Todd Wayne Goes To Paris, Brainstorm (2015-10-06)

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jacksgreysays:

A/N1: I guess I bit off more than I could chew for this story, it’s collapsed under it’s own weight. Rather, there’s too much set up for not enough plot in return. So below is the brainstorming/outlining/ranting of my thoughts regarding this fic. I dunno. Maybe I’ll come back to it, but probably not? I was a little overeager yesterday.

Again, Richie Todd Wayne is from @mgnemesi‘s babyfic verse.

Technically, this is a cross-post, only because when I thought I was going to write it I transcribed all of my thoughts onto an lj post for safekeeping.

So, original here. Dated 2015-10-06.

—

Because babyfic verse didn’t explicitly go the route of JayTim (though mgnemesi wanted to) and there was some consideration for JayKon, at least temporarily, my brain extrapolated and went–what if that’s because Tim leaves?

So it starts with the dysfunctional first impressions take two with baby– the fact that Jason trusts the baby with Damian of all people. And sure it’s actually because Jason and Damian have history, but to Tim it seems like “I would rather hand this baby over to a literal assassin than trust him with you.” And maybe Tim takes it as a remark on himself–I wasn’t really going to nerve strike him, but am I so suspicious/untrustworthy that you think I would do that to a baby?

And of course Alfred wants Richie to be raised in Wayne Manor, but Jason obviously has issues with the family. But this is even before Bruce has been brought back, so it’s only Dick and Damian in the Manor (because Tim has moved out–he’s not going to live with Damian)… so maybe it’s like. Jason is more comfortable in the Manor when Tim isn’t there–so Tim interprets it in a way that says, he is not trusted with the baby.

Since it is during the Red Robin arc, Tim is out of Gotham for the most part, anyway so it’s not a deliberate avoidance. During which, Jason and Richie are already pretty settled in the manor. Until he brings back Bruce.

Obviously it’s tense at first, but then it becomes clear that Jason’s not killing people because he’s got a baby! And, really, that’s all that Bruce wanted so it’s fine. So Bruce welcomes him back (never mind that it’s Bruce returning). Jason is also tense, but being a father has given him perspective–he’s not so angry or out of control–so they reconcile.

Meanwhile, Tim is like… they’re a happy family now. Without me. So he just jets. Since Bruce is back he doesn’t need to be Wayne Enterprise’s CEO/poster-boy. But he thrives when he’s necessary, so he tries to come up with more jobs he can fulfill.

So he starts with expansion of WE and Batman Inc into Canada, sees how everyone gets along without him. How quickly they are to take over/distribute his territory/patrols. How utterly unnecessary he is in Gotham.

Likewise he’s not needed with the Titans because they’re a Robin thing and he’s not Robin anymore. Sure they didn’t like him at first, but everyone collectively mellows out and begin to get along. Especially since they are JLA light. And while Tim never wants to be Batman, the others are still in line of succession and it just makes sense for Batman in training to be on a team with the other JLA in training.

So there’s really no need for him to go back (which he interprets as, he can’t go back).

While Tim interprets the family as not needing him, so he does other things elsewhere, the family interprets his actions as him being so swamped/busy. So they try to lessen his load. Like, Bruce took back the CEO position for WE because he thought Tim was being overworked–instead Tim saw it as, of course, I’m just a placeholder. Now I don’t have WE or Robin, I have to make a place for me. It’s a spiral. Everyone thinks he’s moved on from them, when in fact it’s Tim thinking I should leave before you kick me out.

And a lot of that mentality spills over. Once he establishes a team in Canada (as both Batman Inc. and JLA International, because he knows there are some metahumans and he does not discriminate, also, double the financing), he sees that they’re functioning well, that they can run without him. He’s unnecessary again [there’s definitely some influence from saccarines’ fic Correspondence].

He goes back to Gotham after establishing the Canadian team, sees how well they function without him, decides to go where he’s needed–i.e. establishing teams in Europe.

Europe does weird things to Tim–he broke a lot of laws there, it’s an older place, and the ways of world are different. Magic, not metahumans [Ladybug and Chat Noir?!]. The teams he assemble aren’t as wide-eyed innocent and stalwart as the North American teams. They’re darker, somehow–not that Gotham, world capital of the criminally insane isn’t dark as well, but the vigilante culture is so controlled by Bruce’s lofty standards that, in comparison, Tim’s European Batman Inc teams are more shades of gray and subtlety.

He’s pretty established as the voice/face of Batman Inc in Europe. London, Paris, Berlin, Athens (WE stimulates economy, Batman Inc protects the people). He’s not really the boss, but he has the most experience and he is the one who established them. He made them to function independently of him… mostly he floats between them, acting as an intermediary between HQs or them and mafia. He can’t get a foothold in Italy because the mafia are so established, but maybe he makes deals with them occasionally (more of that sketchy gray area). He probably does have some dealings with Ra’s al Ghul, but that’s really minimal to the story.

He very rarely goes back to Gotham–less and less frequently as time goes by–and definitely never the Manor when Jason and Richie are there. Because he doesn’t want Jason to feel like his home is unsafe, not realizing that the Manor should also be Tim’s home. He makes himself busy, makes himself necessary elsewhere. Avoids the entire family.

ANYWAY

Richie goes to Paris when he’s thirteen because he’s frustrated. When is he going to be Robin? Damian has officially become Batman and Richie was always going to be his Robin. He’s already had a lot of training because he literally was raised by all of the Batmen, Robins, Batgirls (Aunt Cass visits AT LEAST once a year, which is more than Tim does, because she’s not a neurotic mess of self esteem issues).

It’s been over a decade since Tim has come home/interacted with the family not in a professional capacity–either WE or BI [although, he did have Cass come over and help train his Europe teams].

Richie’s a little nervous around Tim because, with everyone else, his other “teachers” are just his family. He’s grown up with them–Aunt Stephanie was the one to buy him waffles before teaching him how to stitch a wound closed. His Dad taught him how to wire a bomb but still makes sure he doesn’t watch R-rated movies. But with Tim, it’s this stranger. And the thing is, they don’t really talk about him in the Manor. You don’t really talk about people unless they’re present in some way… maybe Richie grew up on stories of Red Robin/the third Robin (what, with Jay and Kon having had a thing a few years ago) but it’s not prevalent in his life. He’s a lingering ghost in the Manor, and even in the Titans Tower.

So Richie’s nervous, but Tim of course interprets that as “Oh, he hates me.” Because why wouldn’t he? As far as Tim knows, this is Richie, the son of Jason who hates his Replacement. The boy who’s in love with/going to be Robin of Damian, who hates his predecessor and literally tried to kill him.
But of course Jason doesn’t hate Tim, he’s just really fucking awkward around him. And… well, I don’t necessarily want it to also be DamiTim, but that is a possibility (and I’m always a sucker for DamiTim, or at least theoretically DamiTim–Tim is building Batman Inc, and Batman is now Damian. He’s building Damian’s empire).

But Richie has a crush on Damian… I want Richie to have a happy ending, but having your first love requited, especially when it’s for a man who will be your mentor/vigilante partner isn’t exactly going to lead to a happy ending for Richie… definitely one-sided Richie x Damian.

Richie is a good boy. He’s all of the hope of Robin within him. He is loved by his family and is all of their good traits. So when Tim is feeling low, saying that he can learn better from someone else, Richie replies with “They’re not you.”
Tim doesn’t think he’s part of the family, while Richie is the baby of the family. So there’s this gulf between them–the one who (thinks he) is unloved and the child who is most loved.

Richie is a lovable boy–and Tim doesn’t have any problem with training this boy. He’s going to be a Robin that Damian Wayne needs. That Damian Wayne wants. And Tim will do anything in his power to help make someone needed/wanted. Dick was also very lovable–loving and being loved, as was Jason whose love burned and was passionate and invited reciprocation, Stephanie loved easily, strongly, and it was easy to love her in turn, Damian of course would be loved. Tim thinks he wasn’t loveable–he loved but wasn’t loved in turn.

Training starts with undercover stuff, because it is the one thing that Tim is the best at amongst the family. It’s something that the European branches take pride in because they are more subtle, and it gives them a way to seem more than they are (each team is really three or four people, but each person has multiple identities so they seem larger), it’s their specialty. So at first Tim teaches Richie that, because he doesn’t know what else to do.
And after a week, Tim expects Richie to be bored and want to go home. Except, no Richie wants to stay, “I still have so much to learn from you.” And Tim’s just like… “Really? Like what? But… okay?” And he’s scrambling around trying to find what else to teach Richie–he doesn’t want to teach him the wrong thing, doesn’t want to ruin this Robin to be.

But he’s good at this. He basically raised Kon and Bart, he’s been training teams since he was a teenager himself, his self made job is to create and train teams to independence. He’s good at it. So long as Tim doesn’t get distracted by holding himself up to the ideal of Robin, he’s a really good teacher. He get’s more comfortable with Richie and vice versa, and then a month passes.

And Tim really doesn’t have anything else to teach him. But then they stumble upon this conflict. Because Tim thought he’d be gone after a week, and the family thought maybe a month but definitely after he’s done with training. Whereas Richie is like–I’m going to stay here forever, or at least until they let me be Robin.

At which point Tim is like… are you holding yourself hostage? And they discuss the philosophies of Robin. It’s something that Tim has been different about in regards to the role. With Dick it was “I want to help fight crime.” With Jason it was “I now have the power to do good.” With Stephanie, she was going to fight crime regardless, as Spoiler, but as Robin she’s Bat-sanctioned, Bat-trained, “I am getting the authority.” With Damian, Robin was a step to Batman–a Batman in training role.

But with Tim, he stepped up to be Robin because someone needed to step up to be Robin. Robin needs to exist as a complementary role to Batman–regardless of who fills the suit or what comes after.

It helps Richie understand Tim. Because it’s about being whatever Batman needs. And that’s why Tim is so messed up, because when he had Robin taken away from him he took that as a sign that he was not needed. Whereas Richie is raised with all these people, constantly reassuring him that he’s loved and that he doesn’t have to join the family business. And if he doesn’t he knows he will still be loved. His place is solid in the family, and that’s something that Tim doesn’t realize about family.

Tim tells him to go home. Don’t be so eager to be Robin right now. Or rather, be the Robin that they need. Right now Damian doesn’t need someone to fight beside him. He doesn’t need a Robin on the streets, he needs someone who will be there for him. It’s his first year as Batman and he needs to establish himself as a hero in his own right before he becomes a mentor, he needs time. So maybe what he needs from Richie is to give him that time… and Richie accepts that. He’s not as desperate to be Robin, he’s patient.

But Richie personally still needs to learn. Which Tim acknowledges as true. After all, Tim did a training trip with Shiva and so maybe Richie needs something similar. So Time is like… how much time do you have until school? Another month? Well for this month, you’ll be operating in Europe. It’ll be a taste of what it’s like to be an operative. Then the adventures of Richie Todd Wayne as Egg. And afterwards, Richie goes home, settled and stronger. Ready for Robin, but willing to wait.

… Except he bonded with Tim, and he knows how lonely Tim is, how unsure of his place in the family is. So he wants to bring him home (which is, basically what Alfred was trying to do from the start by sending Richie to Tim)… so Richie pulls a Parent Trap for Jason and Tim… or something like that.

—

A/N2: Uh… so yeah. I actually did all of brainstorming verbally in an hour long voice recording while I was stuck in traffic. There was a lot of cussing… and me yelling out OBLIGATORY TIM FEELS like… six times. Basically… I had a lot of feelings yesterday.

OH NO! So I was delving into the Miraculous Ladybug wiki (as I am wont to do when getting sucked into new fandoms) and I stumbled upon the Quantic Kids aka the original superhero team concept before the creators settled on the idea of the kwami and having only a Ladybug and Chat Noir duo.

Mostly, I saw the three/four “abandoned” characters and mourned because they had pretty cool character designs. In particular, I really liked Sparrow and how “normal human trying to fight crime without magic/superpowers” he looked. As in, a perfect candidate for Batman Inc–even his superhero name is thematic.

Basically, given that Mercury is a speedster, there is a Kid Mime with (most likely) telepathy power, and Melodie whose outfit and weapon frankly look super badass, I figure the “abandoned” Quantic Kids members would be almost a blast from the past for Tim; a lot of Young Justice vibes. It probably explains why he’s more fond of the team and prefers his Paris apartment even though–numbering at six with Chat Noir and Ladybug included–their team would be the largest and wouldn’t need Tim as an auxiliary, part-time member.

I mean, I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I were to revisit Richie Todd Wayne Goes To Paris it would definitely be a DCU x Quantic Kids crossover sort of thing more than it’s original DCU with some Miraculous Ladybug cameos. Like, Richie would be an outsider POV for the team, and they would be an outsider POV for the whole Wayne family drama thing.

Aiko in Canon (the Revenge of Uzushio remix) (2015-11-25)

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A/N1: No doubt this will be jossed when @electraposts puts up Part 13 of the Aiko in Canon tumblr-only spin-off of her Deja Vu and Dreams series. But I couldn’t help myself…

Anyway, this is heavily based off the recent Part 12, so read that first.

~

Over thirty years ago, Kirigakure utterly destroyed Uzushiogakure.

It was a pre-emptive strike to ensure Kiri’s survival. Uzushio was a small country and yet, in comparison to Mizu, had greater prosperity, longevity, and skills. An entire clan of fuinjutsu experts was a dangerous thing, a weapon only sheathed at the whims of people known for being led by their emotions.

It was nothing personal, it had to be done.

There are very few shinobi in Mizu who actually remember the Fall of Uzushio, fewer still who actually took part–the lifespan of a Kiri-nin is short and, unlike Konoha, fifty years is a near impossible achievement. And yet, when an Uzumaki rains destruction on their village, the forces of Kiri are not surprised. Actually, they’re rather… blasé about the whole two bijuu unleashed upon the village thing.

They know a lot about holding grudges, more so about enacting revenge–the types of missions given to Kiri are far more bloodthirsty than their continental counterparts. Uzumaki is only doing what an avenger is expected to do, and quite thoroughly at that. Really, the only question is why it took her so long.

—

Utakata knew that no one could really be that dumb. But it still stings that he fell for it anyway.

For all that he’s a missing-nin of Kiri, he was still once a Kiri-nin. He learned of their history as much as any other shinobi. He had already figured out that Aiko was an Uzumaki who time-travelled, dropped decades after the complete slaughter of her people, he has experienced her cunning schemes first-hand, and she had allowed him to see her vulnerability over her lost comrades.

He should have known that something like this was brewing.

But instead he was blinded–by his own jealousy, perhaps, or his dislike of the Yondaime Mizukage, or his desperation not to be left alone again–and went along with what he thought was her hare-brained plot to instigate a regime change by bringing an assassin directly to the center of Kirigakure.

One rogue shinobi and two missing-nin, one of them a jinchuuriki, directly confronting the Mizukage who himself is a jinchuuriki? Of course there would be mass chaos and destruction.

Now Aiko has the Sanbi, she’s clearly asserted her dominance over Kiri’s strongest shinobi even without the bijuu’s aid–everything about this absolute clusterfuck of a venture seems to have worked out pretty well for her.

And perhaps that was her plan from the start.

No one could really be that dumb, Utakata thinks, but even after all Aiko has put him through, he will still stand by her.

—

The Godaime Mizukage is not a Kiri-nin, something which is explicitly stated from the very beginning. She is an Uzumaki, a rogue shinobi with no heritage but that of a fallen land.

She stands upright before the bodies of the dead, no doubt vindicated with having avenged her clan. And yet, she is not without mercy. Impossibly, miraculously, she revives the corpses; they are restored as if death had never touched them.

It’s a stroke of brilliance, Mei thinks, anger controlled but simmering. History is written by the winners and there is only one obvious winner in this situation. It doesn’t matter if Uzumaki is the reason why they died in the first place, there is no faster way to earn someone’s loyalty than literally being their source of life.

~

A/N2: I’ve always kind of wondered about Uzushiogakure (and their fall) and figure that as their closest neighbors/the likely cause of their destruction, Kirigakure would have a very strange perspective on a time-traveling Uzumaki becoming their leader via destroying a large majority of their village.

Also, electraposts, if you would like me to make changes or take this down, I totally understand and would be willing to do so. Just let me know.

Untitled DCU fic remix drabble (2015-11-12)

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A girl named Janet can inspire an army, enchant a king, start a war.

The woman named Janet will build an empire, destroy her enemies, and end the war.

—

Theirs is an arrested dance, a stalemated game, pushes and no pulls, takes and no gives.

Offers are not made out of generosity, but thinly veiled traps; aid is provided only for future leverage.

They know better than to trust. Theirs is a relationship of fascination and competition, there is no room for love.

But this time, when one requests, the other does not reject immediately.

—

Madness is in his blood, something he inherited from his mother, which she inherited from her father, and so on and so forth. But obsession? That, he learned–the only lesson from his father.

Madness and obsession, the building blocks to success. Or, at least, the foundation of his success.

The foundation he will pass on to his child.

–

“You will see, beloved, our legacies deserve an heir who will bring greatness to both. Our heir will be–”

“A daughter. A daughter named Janet.”

~

A/N: A super tiny drabble inspired by @bluethursday’s ficlet “Grandfather Must Die” in which Ra’s propositions Tim (again) for a child and Tim refuses (again). But I wondered… what if this time he said yes.

I just really enjoyed the imagery bluethursday invoked when describing the nonexistent daughter. And given my Janet Drake feels I’m just like… hells yeah Tim would name his daughter Janet.

Dreaming of S(ilence), a DoS remix drabble (2015-10-24)

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It’s a week of tension and hesitance. A week of no senjutsu. A week of no nighttime sessions of calm and quiet and dark. The strange thing about fighting with Gaara–arguing, more like, given the lack of action. Though, given the lack of words, does arguing work either?–is the absence.

Shikako has never considered their relationship–whatever it might be–as something loud, something full and bursting with energy. It’s not butterflies in her belly or fire in her blood; not screaming and laughing and crying, noise and desperation and passion.

It’s trust and peace and contentment. It’s the feel of fingers gently running through her unbound hair, a line of warmth along her side matching shoulder to shoulder and knee to knee. It’s sharing breaths and sharing space and thinking, yes I like you here you can stay, because she never had to say it. (And maybe it’s just a little bit butterflies in her belly, too).

So yes, their relationship is more silence than not. But there are different kinds of silence and she hates whatever type this one is, this suffocating silence that’s been pressing down on her the past week.

—

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Kankurou mutters in disbelief when Shikako utterly fails to even retaliate during their spar. All she’s been doing is dodging which–okay, agility practice for Karasu was helpful the first few days, but by day nine it gets pretty boring–isn’t how he wants to spend the rest of their time. “You’re not even trying anymore!” He complains.

Her expression twists–somehow both indignant and apologetic at once–before she sighs, lungs and frustration deflating, leaving her looking kind of… wilted.

Kankurou gives a sigh of his own–exasperated, because this is ridiculous–before saying, “This has gone on for way too long, Sparky. Normally I want nothing to with whatever is between the two of you but something is obviously wrong.”

Rather than take the invitation, Shikako looks away, but Kankurou really can’t take it anymore. His sparring partner may as well be as lifeless as the puppet he wields.

“I can’t believe I have to be the one to tell a Leaf nin to talk about their feelings, but come on. If you don’t talk to me, then talk to someone. It doesn’t have to be Gaara, but I don’t know why you’d go to Ebizo-jiisama for advice on your love life.”

Shikako snorts, before smacking a hand over her face to ineffectively muffle the laughter that follows.

Kankurou smirks with success.

—

Shikako goes to Gaara’s office, sits on the very comfortable couch, and waits. She waits for a very long time. He knows she’s there, obviously, his pale green gaze glancing at her between the meetings Jinzo schedules for him, but he doesn’t acknowledge her otherwise.

Then again, he also doesn’t make her leave even when Councilor Odo bristles at her presence and demands he do so. Instead, Gaara stares blankly until the councilor remembers just who he’s addressing and stammers apologies. Oddly enough, Jinzo–who hates Odo only slightly less than the Hyuuga who shredded his chakra coils–is the one who comes to the rescue and redirects the conversation.

Anyway, he knows she’s waiting for him, but of course their relationship isn’t more important than the livelihood of his village, and so he continues with his duties as Kazekage. It’s fine. She has a notebook to keep her occupied, and when Jinzo brings refreshments for Gaara, he sets a second tray in front of her as well.

The hours march on in a different sort of silence–for all that he spends them talking to a multitude of people–until finally the meetings peter out and even Jinzo goes home for the night. It’s likely there will be an incident of some sort that requires the Kazekage, but until then, Gaara’s attention is hers.

~

A/N: So, okay, this was inspired by @byebyebriar’s prompt but it doesn’t actually fill it because the first part was supposed to lead in one direction but went in another so I guess this drabble is just a bonus… or more like the set up to the prompt. I WILL fill that prompt, byebyebriar, because it is a great one and I can picture what I want to do with it so perfectly, but until then I hope you enjoy this.

Also, Jinzo the Suna paperwork nin (and Councilor Odo?) is from witchbreaker’s fic, the aptly titled Paper Work.

Dreaming of S(tarlight), a DoS remix drabble (2015-10-18)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

They won.

Shikako breathes, body trembling from a lack of chakra, but at least she’s still standing.

Oh, wait, no, there go her knees.

At least she’s still conscious.

Through her wavering vision she can see the pink of Sakura’s hair, bending over the prone bodies of Naruto and Sasuke. They’re beaten and bruised and bloody, but they’re alive. They’re all alive.

And they won.

She breathes.

—

The light from far away stars are years, centuries, millennia old; signals from a past that no longer exist.

—

“Shikako,” someone says, slowly stepping towards her.

She senses it more than she hears–eardrums blown from the percussive waves of explosions–but she recognizes it all the same.

Warmth and calm and safety.

She says nothing, can’t say anything, just focuses on breathing–inhale, exhale–we won, we’re alive, we won, we’re alive.

He doesn’t repeat himself, doesn’t reach out to touch her, doesn’t cradle her into a cocoon of sand. She can’t be seen as weak here. Not here, in front of these strangers made allies. Not now, when victory could so easily edge one way or another into war or peace.

He steps closer and waits and that is enough.

—

The stars are always shining, but it’s only when the sun goes down that they can finally be seen.

—

She breathes and she shakes and slowly, carefully, she stands.

She is not the jinchuuriki of the strongest bijuu. She is not the last wielder of an unstoppable bloodline. She is not the reincarnation of two mythical brothers.

But she is as much of a sage as her teammates. She is the embodiment of shadows. She has refused death time and time again. She was born Shikako Nara but she has always been more than that.

She is a living, breathing, impossibility.

She stands–because they are alive and they have won, but that doesn’t mean it’s over–and she speaks.

—

What is the sun but the nearest and brightest star?

—

(omake)

“That was well said,” Kakashi-sensei says, as she is finally wrangled into a field medic’s tent by a wild-eyed Sakura.

She looks over at him, is so selfishly glad that this specific death is one that she prevented, and shoots him a lop-sided grin, “Yay, chakra exhaustion buddies,” she cheers, tiredly.

“No, not yay!” Sakura scolds, slapping a paralysis tag on Shikako so her chakra doesn’t deplete itself entirely with detrimental shivering. Shikako hates it–despite having had a hand in creating it, or maybe because of that.

“Maa, she’s such a bad influence, don’t you think Sakura-chan?” Kakashi grins back, getting a paralysis tag slapped on him as well for good measure.

“Please, stop talking,” Sakura requests because the tags don’t cover all movements and speaking was deemed a necessary function. But she has mastered Tsunade’s civilly threatening bedside manner, and so both of the conscious members of Team Seven shut up.

For a few moments, anyway.

“Writing your own future, huh?” Kakashi quotes, unable to keep the pride out of his voice.

Shikako blushes–or would blush, if she had enough blood in her body to do so, before smiling shyly at her sensei.

“Do you know what you’ll write in yours?” He asks, and she feels a giggle bubble out of her.

“I can honestly say, I have no idea what the future holds.”

~

A/N: … I’ve been wanting to do this drabble for a long time. I’ve been saving those little italicized snippets for a while, but I’m afraid I haven’t done the idea in my head justice with this :/

And I know, that ending totally doesn’t match the rest of it–hence, the omake–but it was immediately related to the earlier parts and I didn’t think it should be it’s own separate post.

Mastermind (The Mother Knows Best Remix), brainstorm (2015-10-14)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

rahndom:

jacksgreysays:

rahndom:

jacksgreysays:

This really won’t make sense if you don’t read @rahndom‘s Mastermind.

So the last chapter has the Young Justice swoop in to save both of the Drakes’ lives–though they are hospitalized–and there is a Janet-Tim mother-son bonding moment. Very sweet and everything. And I always want to know more about Janet Drake and figure that the woman who told her toddler that he can be anything so long as he put his mind to it, would be very supportive of her son as the vigilante named Mastermind.

So I was thinking some more about this universe and had some world-building/brainstorm-y thoughts about what I would like to read in a Janet POV continuation/remix of the fic.

The main one being–why does Janet, immediately upon waking up post-Haiti, decide to divorce Jack? And in answer to that I figured, well, what if most of the time, his parents were gone separately?

Like, Janet goes off somewhere for business and would assume that Jack would stay at home. And she’d say, oh, I’ll be back in three weeks. Then, two and a half weeks later Jack is like, Tim can stay at home by himself for three days, there’s a dig I would like to go to, I’ll be back in a month. Except then Janet calls and is like–I have to extend my stay for another six weeks–not knowing that Jack has already left for his own trip. Etc. etc. I mean, neglect is neglect, but at least this way it kind of explains Janet’s complete 180 in that last chapter.

Because it wasn’t really a complete 180. I figure it was probably something like… Jack was the one who wanted a kid and Janet didn’t really, but of course when she had Tim she loved him–but she still wasn’t ready to be a mother. As opposed to Jack who, even after Tim was born, still liked the idea of a son more than actually having a son. So hence Janet wanting to divorce Jack and stay in Gotham. Because the entire time she thought Jack was staying at home with Tim and finding out that he wasn’t–to the point that Tim became a teenaged vigilante with all his spare time–made her realize that she cannot stay married to this man who is a terrible husband and father.

And then everything else was just in line with what Tim can do and the idea that a lot of what makes Tim Mastermind is actually stuff he got from Janet. Including annoying the crap out of Bruce Wayne.

So of course she’s going to stick up for Catwoman as her son’s godmother. Retroactively claiming friendship with Selina Kyle–why of course, Bruce, Selina and I have been friends forever. It’s shameful that you’ve forgotten. It must be that dreadful alcoholism of yours, it’s practically pickled your brain.

But then she figures maybe it’s not enough. And while she adores Selina, well, Catwoman is a thief, and thieves don’t fight. They run. As Mastermind, Tim may not have the luxury to run, so he’ll need a little extra… something. Thankfully, the Obeah Man thing happens way before Infinite Crisis (which, is the thereabouts of when Blue Beetle dies) so that means that Ted Kord is still alive. That last chapter also mentions Jaime as part of the team even though he doesn’t become Blue Beetle until after Ted Kord dies but… uh… maybe his timeline is a little sped up (like Damian’s).

Anyway. Janet is all for plausible deniability, so she just has Drake Industries begin dealing with KORD Industries… and if that means that Ted Kord interacts with her son, well, if Tim can appoint himself a godmother surely she can choose a godfather. And if Blue Beetle happens to train Mastermind in the ways of non-metahuman vigilante skills/gadgets, well, that has nothing to do with their companies, does it? And it certainly is no business of Wayne Enterprises, butt out, Bruce.

As a bonus, since anywhere Ted Kord goes, Michael Carter goes, she basically gets two godfathers for the price of one. Which is especially great since it’s canon that Batman is ridiculously irritated by Booster Gold’s existence. It makes Booster helping to train Mastermind just absolutely hilarious to Janet (and me).

And I have some other thoughts–like… if Janet had gone to school with Lex as a teenager/child, well of course she’s going to recognize Kon, and similarly annoy the crap out of Lex. Mostly by sort of adopting Kon–because she’s been meaning to get Tim a bodyguard, it might as well be someone he likes. And then whenever she interacts with Lex she’s just so ruthless–“The darling boy is so lucky to favor his other parent’s genes, goodness knows your shoddy business practices are better off not being passed down to the next generation.” and “Oh, I’m sorry Lex, I can’t hear you over the sound of Lex Corp stock prices plummeting.” Hehehe…

Like, I would want this to take over the actual fic, but be more like a… supplemental reading sort of thing.

Sorry, all of my Tim feelings spill over into Janet feelings so… :/

Although… I may actually write this? In a drabble-y choppy way. For now, though, here’s the brainstorm.

I would love to see what you can come up with in my humble AU, sweetie. While I am not well versed in the Ted/Michael dinamics I do have a headcanon in which Janet and Lex were schoolmates (academic rivals in Lex’s opinion, forced acquaintances in Janet’s) and of couse she’s gonna tease Alex (”Please Janet, we’ve gone over this for decades, call me Lex!”) the moment she takes one look at Kon and sees that stuborn chin on him. 

As for her divorce request, canon-wise, she and Jack were having troubles by the time Haiti happened, a part of me wants to believe  that she took one look at her son’s face (bruised, scratched and so terribly sad) and decided it was not worth it following her asshole of a husband around the globe to salvage a marriage that forced her away from her child. 

She loves Tim, he is hers and he needs to come first for once at least in her book, if Jack wants to move away and find himself, fuck him, she is staying. 

Also, she is going to troll Bruce so hard when she notices her baby boy has captured the heart of Brucie’s little monster, Damian is an adorable little cookie that knows perfection when he sees it – of course Tim is perfect, he is her son – and she will encourage their interactions as much as she can if only to see Bruce squirm. 

OMG! I meant  “I would NOT want this to take over the actual fic, but be more like a… supplemental reading sort of thing.” (ugh seriously of all the freaking typos I could inflict, I’m so sorry. Without the not it sounds so arrogant, I didn’t mean to sound like some kind of idea thief)

But, hi! Hello! I’m a big fan of your fic–I’m such a sucker for Tim Drake and his many heartbreaking adventures, and you’re probably the reason why I ship DamiTim.

I just super love the idea that Janet knows about everyone’s superhero/villain secret identity shenanigans but never outrightly says it. Probably because she grew up with those dweebs and is just like–”Alex, surely all this melodrama would be solved if you just propositioned the alien. It’s starting to get embarrassing–and I knew you in the 80s.” or “Bruce, running around in spandex doesn’t make you the bigger man. Far from it, in fact.”

Thankfully, her son knows better. If he’s going to be a vigilante, he’s at least going to be one that is both practically and fashionably dressed.

I actually don’t know that much about the Blue Beetle/Booster Gold storyline, either, but I figure that there aren’t too many non-metahuman vigilantes that aren’t also Bat-sanctioned/funded. So it was either BB+BG, who are independent of Batman and also have the added benefit of annoying the bejeezus out of Bruce, or… well… one of the assassins/mercenaries like Shiva or Deathstroke. Which… I mean, that would be pretty interesting, too.

Janet could easily hire Deathstroke to teach her son–unless Slade Wilson is also someone that Janet has had past experience with and she leverages some kind of blackmail against him so he will train Tim. (And, obligatory Janet trashtalk: “Orange and black scales, Slade? Need I say more?”)

As for Shiva, well, now I’m not saying Janet possibly did her a favor on the wrong side of the law a few years ago, but I do think that if such a thing did happen then it would definitely make sense for Shiva to repay her by training Tim. Just saying.

((I guess there’s also Green Arrow, but I figure that in Janet’s eyes Oliver Queen is even less tolerable than Bruce Wayne)).

Also, hell yeah Janet is going to encourage DamiTim. She believes in multi-tasking and not only will that give Bruce an aneurysm, but it will also neatly tie up the whole Wayne Enterprises vs Drake Industries thing, and confuse Ra’s al Ghul (who she considers a mild but persistent pest in her international business dealings).

You are making me blush so hard, dearest. I’m so glad you like my work (and are shamelessly tempting me to drable). 

To be quite honest when I wrote Janet into the story without leting her die it was because I really wanted to see Tim surrounded by women and how different his vigilantism could evolve without Bruce’s sausage fest.

When he asked Kon and Bart for a year before becoming part  of them, I think he met Lady Shiva (as canon) and she trained him, he lives with Catwoman who usually teaches him what he needs to know, and now his mother who will be wheel-chair bound for a while will be his oracle (methinks). 

As for the heroes and villains, yes, Brucie, Ollie, Alex (Harvey) and Janet went to school together, I imagine she used to tease Alex and Bruce (and maybe even Harvey) by saying Ollie was better than them, and to her, he was, so uncomplicated, that man.. much easier to deal with. .. and you know what?

I think I wanna drable now.

I blame you for everything that comes out of this. :’D

OMG! I read this latest chapter and I absolutely loved it! Janet totally just owning the floor without having to move an inch. *sighs* I want to be her when I grow up

I am honored to accept that blame 😀

Mastermind (The Mother Knows Best Remix), brainstorm (2015-10-14)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

rahndom:

jacksgreysays:

This really won’t make sense if you don’t read @rahndom‘s Mastermind.

So the last chapter has the Young Justice swoop in to save both of the Drakes’ lives–though they are hospitalized–and there is a Janet-Tim mother-son bonding moment. Very sweet and everything. And I always want to know more about Janet Drake and figure that the woman who told her toddler that he can be anything so long as he put his mind to it, would be very supportive of her son as the vigilante named Mastermind.

So I was thinking some more about this universe and had some world-building/brainstorm-y thoughts about what I would like to read in a Janet POV continuation/remix of the fic.

The main one being–why does Janet, immediately upon waking up post-Haiti, decide to divorce Jack? And in answer to that I figured, well, what if most of the time, his parents were gone separately?

Like, Janet goes off somewhere for business and would assume that Jack would stay at home. And she’d say, oh, I’ll be back in three weeks. Then, two and a half weeks later Jack is like, Tim can stay at home by himself for three days, there’s a dig I would like to go to, I’ll be back in a month. Except then Janet calls and is like–I have to extend my stay for another six weeks–not knowing that Jack has already left for his own trip. Etc. etc. I mean, neglect is neglect, but at least this way it kind of explains Janet’s complete 180 in that last chapter.

Because it wasn’t really a complete 180. I figure it was probably something like… Jack was the one who wanted a kid and Janet didn’t really, but of course when she had Tim she loved him–but she still wasn’t ready to be a mother. As opposed to Jack who, even after Tim was born, still liked the idea of a son more than actually having a son. So hence Janet wanting to divorce Jack and stay in Gotham. Because the entire time she thought Jack was staying at home with Tim and finding out that he wasn’t–to the point that Tim became a teenaged vigilante with all his spare time–made her realize that she cannot stay married to this man who is a terrible husband and father.

And then everything else was just in line with what Tim can do and the idea that a lot of what makes Tim Mastermind is actually stuff he got from Janet. Including annoying the crap out of Bruce Wayne.

So of course she’s going to stick up for Catwoman as her son’s godmother. Retroactively claiming friendship with Selina Kyle–why of course, Bruce, Selina and I have been friends forever. It’s shameful that you’ve forgotten. It must be that dreadful alcoholism of yours, it’s practically pickled your brain.

But then she figures maybe it’s not enough. And while she adores Selina, well, Catwoman is a thief, and thieves don’t fight. They run. As Mastermind, Tim may not have the luxury to run, so he’ll need a little extra… something. Thankfully, the Obeah Man thing happens way before Infinite Crisis (which, is the thereabouts of when Blue Beetle dies) so that means that Ted Kord is still alive. That last chapter also mentions Jaime as part of the team even though he doesn’t become Blue Beetle until after Ted Kord dies but… uh… maybe his timeline is a little sped up (like Damian’s).

Anyway. Janet is all for plausible deniability, so she just has Drake Industries begin dealing with KORD Industries… and if that means that Ted Kord interacts with her son, well, if Tim can appoint himself a godmother surely she can choose a godfather. And if Blue Beetle happens to train Mastermind in the ways of non-metahuman vigilante skills/gadgets, well, that has nothing to do with their companies, does it? And it certainly is no business of Wayne Enterprises, butt out, Bruce.

As a bonus, since anywhere Ted Kord goes, Michael Carter goes, she basically gets two godfathers for the price of one. Which is especially great since it’s canon that Batman is ridiculously irritated by Booster Gold’s existence. It makes Booster helping to train Mastermind just absolutely hilarious to Janet (and me).

And I have some other thoughts–like… if Janet had gone to school with Lex as a teenager/child, well of course she’s going to recognize Kon, and similarly annoy the crap out of Lex. Mostly by sort of adopting Kon–because she’s been meaning to get Tim a bodyguard, it might as well be someone he likes. And then whenever she interacts with Lex she’s just so ruthless–“The darling boy is so lucky to favor his other parent’s genes, goodness knows your shoddy business practices are better off not being passed down to the next generation.” and “Oh, I’m sorry Lex, I can’t hear you over the sound of Lex Corp stock prices plummeting.” Hehehe…

Like, I would want this to take over the actual fic, but be more like a… supplemental reading sort of thing.

Sorry, all of my Tim feelings spill over into Janet feelings so… :/

Although… I may actually write this? In a drabble-y choppy way. For now, though, here’s the brainstorm.

I would love to see what you can come up with in my humble AU, sweetie. While I am not well versed in the Ted/Michael dinamics I do have a headcanon in which Janet and Lex were schoolmates (academic rivals in Lex’s opinion, forced acquaintances in Janet’s) and of couse she’s gonna tease Alex (”Please Janet, we’ve gone over this for decades, call me Lex!”) the moment she takes one look at Kon and sees that stuborn chin on him. 

As for her divorce request, canon-wise, she and Jack were having troubles by the time Haiti happened, a part of me wants to believe  that she took one look at her son’s face (bruised, scratched and so terribly sad) and decided it was not worth it following her asshole of a husband around the globe to salvage a marriage that forced her away from her child. 

She loves Tim, he is hers and he needs to come first for once at least in her book, if Jack wants to move away and find himself, fuck him, she is staying. 

Also, she is going to troll Bruce so hard when she notices her baby boy has captured the heart of Brucie’s little monster, Damian is an adorable little cookie that knows perfection when he sees it – of course Tim is perfect, he is her son – and she will encourage their interactions as much as she can if only to see Bruce squirm. 

OMG! I meant  “I would NOT want this to take over the actual fic, but be more like a… supplemental reading sort of thing.” (ugh seriously of all the freaking typos I could inflict, I’m so sorry. Without the not it sounds so arrogant, I didn’t mean to sound like some kind of idea thief)

But, hi! Hello! I’m a big fan of your fic–I’m such a sucker for Tim Drake and his many heartbreaking adventures, and you’re probably the reason why I ship DamiTim.

I just super love the idea that Janet knows about everyone’s superhero/villain secret identity shenanigans but never outrightly says it. Probably because she grew up with those dweebs and is just like–”Alex, surely all this melodrama would be solved if you just propositioned the alien. It’s starting to get embarrassing–and I knew you in the 80s.” or “Bruce, running around in spandex doesn’t make you the bigger man. Far from it, in fact.”

Thankfully, her son knows better. If he’s going to be a vigilante, he’s at least going to be one that is both practically and fashionably dressed.

I actually don’t know that much about the Blue Beetle/Booster Gold storyline, either, but I figure that there aren’t too many non-metahuman vigilantes that aren’t also Bat-sanctioned/funded. So it was either BB+BG, who are independent of Batman and also have the added benefit of annoying the bejeezus out of Bruce, or… well… one of the assassins/mercenaries like Shiva or Deathstroke. Which… I mean, that would be pretty interesting, too.

Janet could easily hire Deathstroke to teach her son–unless Slade Wilson is also someone that Janet has had past experience with and she leverages some kind of blackmail against him so he will train Tim. (And, obligatory Janet trashtalk: “Orange and black scales, Slade? Need I say more?”)

As for Shiva, well, now I’m not saying Janet possibly did her a favor on the wrong side of the law a few years ago, but I do think that if such a thing did happen then it would definitely make sense for Shiva to repay her by training Tim. Just saying.

((I guess there’s also Green Arrow, but I figure that in Janet’s eyes Oliver Queen is even less tolerable than Bruce Wayne)).

Also, hell yeah Janet is going to encourage DamiTim. She believes in multi-tasking and not only will that give Bruce an aneurysm, but it will also neatly tie up the whole Wayne Enterprises vs Drake Industries thing, and confuse Ra’s al Ghul (who she considers a mild but persistent pest in her international business dealings).

Mastermind (The Mother Knows Best Remix), brainstorm (2015-10-14)

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

This really won’t make sense if you don’t read @rahndom‘s Mastermind.

So the last chapter has the Young Justice swoop in to save both of the Drakes’ lives–though they are hospitalized–and there is a Janet-Tim mother-son bonding moment. Very sweet and everything. And I always want to know more about Janet Drake and figure that the woman who told her toddler that he can be anything so long as he put his mind to it, would be very supportive of her son as the vigilante named Mastermind.

So I was thinking some more about this universe and had some world-building/brainstorm-y thoughts about what I would like to read in a Janet POV continuation/remix of the fic.

The main one being–why does Janet, immediately upon waking up post-Haiti, decide to divorce Jack? And in answer to that I figured, well, what if most of the time, his parents were gone separately?

Like, Janet goes off somewhere for business and would assume that Jack would stay at home. And she’d say, oh, I’ll be back in three weeks. Then, two and a half weeks later Jack is like, Tim can stay at home by himself for three days, there’s a dig I would like to go to, I’ll be back in a month. Except then Janet calls and is like–I have to extend my stay for another six weeks–not knowing that Jack has already left for his own trip. Etc. etc. I mean, neglect is neglect, but at least this way it kind of explains Janet’s complete 180 in that last chapter.

Because it wasn’t really a complete 180. I figure it was probably something like… Jack was the one who wanted a kid and Janet didn’t really, but of course when she had Tim she loved him–but she still wasn’t ready to be a mother. As opposed to Jack who, even after Tim was born, still liked the idea of a son more than actually having a son. So hence Janet wanting to divorce Jack and stay in Gotham. Because the entire time she thought Jack was staying at home with Tim and finding out that he wasn’t–to the point that Tim became a teenaged vigilante with all his spare time–made her realize that she cannot stay married to this man who is a terrible husband and father.

And then everything else was just in line with what Tim can do and the idea that a lot of what makes Tim Mastermind is actually stuff he got from Janet. Including annoying the crap out of Bruce Wayne.

So of course she’s going to stick up for Catwoman as her son’s godmother. Retroactively claiming friendship with Selina Kyle–why of course, Bruce, Selina and I have been friends forever. It’s shameful that you’ve forgotten. It must be that dreadful alcoholism of yours, it’s practically pickled your brain.

But then she figures maybe it’s not enough. And while she adores Selina, well, Catwoman is a thief, and thieves don’t fight. They run. As Mastermind, Tim may not have the luxury to run, so he’ll need a little extra… something. Thankfully, the Obeah Man thing happens way before Infinite Crisis (which, is the thereabouts of when Blue Beetle dies) so that means that Ted Kord is still alive. That last chapter also mentions Jaime as part of the team even though he doesn’t become Blue Beetle until after Ted Kord dies but… uh… maybe his timeline is a little sped up (like Damian’s).

Anyway. Janet is all for plausible deniability, so she just has Drake Industries begin dealing with KORD Industries… and if that means that Ted Kord interacts with her son, well, if Tim can appoint himself a godmother surely she can choose a godfather. And if Blue Beetle happens to train Mastermind in the ways of non-metahuman vigilante skills/gadgets, well, that has nothing to do with their companies, does it? And it certainly is no business of Wayne Enterprises, butt out, Bruce.

As a bonus, since anywhere Ted Kord goes, Michael Carter goes, she basically gets two godfathers for the price of one. Which is especially great since it’s canon that Batman is ridiculously irritated by Booster Gold’s existence. It makes Booster helping to train Mastermind just absolutely hilarious to Janet (and me).

And I have some other thoughts–like… if Janet had gone to school with Lex as a teenager/child, well of course she’s going to recognize Kon, and similarly annoy the crap out of Lex. Mostly by sort of adopting Kon–because she’s been meaning to get Tim a bodyguard, it might as well be someone he likes. And then whenever she interacts with Lex she’s just so ruthless–“The darling boy is so lucky to favor his other parent’s genes, goodness knows your shoddy business practices are better off not being passed down to the next generation.” and “Oh, I’m sorry Lex, I can’t hear you over the sound of Lex Corp stock prices plummeting.” Hehehe…

Like, I would not want this to take over the actual fic, but be more like a… supplemental reading sort of thing.

Sorry, all of my Tim feelings spill over into Janet feelings so… :/

Although… I may actually write this? In a drabble-y choppy way. For now, though, here’s the brainstorm.