I've been seeing a lot of Discourse around outdoor cats that talks past one of the biggest problems addressing community cats/outdoor working cats so I thought I'd chime in with my two cents.

Many arguments I see just... don't think about the cats at all? Or don't consider the logistics of actually addressing the feral cat problem in a humane way. It's always about how outdoor cats shouldn't be outdoors, which is neither realistic nor helpful.

I used to volunteer at an municipal animal shelter in the USA that had a TNR program (Trap, Neuter, Return) and also adopted out community cats to local farms and businesses. Here's my side of the story.

"Your cat doesn't need to be outside" -- Yes, correct. Your domesticated (non-feral) house cat does not need to go outside at all. They can have a fully actualized life safely indoors. When I see this argument, proponents of indoor only cats are correct in most or all their arguments regarding this.

"Outdoor cats are the largest invasive species in the world, and decimate bird populations." -- This is also correct, and part of the reason why you can help by bringing your house cat indoors. Cats are the largest invasive species. Spay and Neuter your cats, bring them inside, and socialize them so they don't become feral.

"TNR doesn't work." -- False. Whether we like it or not, feral cats exist. We have two methods by which we can address the feral cat population -- decimating them (humanely euthanizing the whole colony) or TNR. For a long time, euthanasia was the preferred way to address the feral cat problem. Afterall, if the cats aren't there, doesn't that save the local wildlife population?

Except that we found, studying these colonies, that when a colony is wiped out, the cats of another colony will spread into their territory and continue to have kittens and the population of feral cats is neither controlled nor diminished.

Hence, TNR. What we found performing TNR on cat colonies was that this controlled the population of the colonies, allowing them to stay in their territory, which kept other colonies from spreading (especially colonies we hadn't performed TNR on yet). We at the shelter felt this was the most humane way to control the feral cat population and safely deflate their existence without dealing with the population blooms that euthanasia caused.

"What about kittens?" -- Kittens from these colonies were brought into the shelter, socialized, and fostered out until they could be adopted. Some of these semi-feral kittens needed special homes to be adopted into, but this was the best quality of life for these cats.

"What about cats that get missed during TNR?" -- We would return to the colony several times over a period of several years to perform TNR on the same colony. We mark cats that have been neutered by clipping their ear (this is done humanely, but is the most reliable way to tell if a cat has been neutered so the poor thing doesn't have to have surgery 3-4 times in their life). Also, during the TNR process the cats would be vaccinated to ensure disease did not spread from the colony (i.e. rabies). Still, even getting 60% of the colony TNR'd would dramatically reduce the number of kittens being added to the colony each year. This controlled the population by allowing the territory to naturally deflate in size over time, buying us time to address the larger feral cat problem.

"What if the colony was in an unsafe location?" -- There were two ways we addressed unsafe colony locations -- remember, we know that when the colony is removed, a new colony will move into its place, so we tried not to move the colony unless we really felt the cats or the public was unsafe -- one was to move the whole colony to a new location. Preferably someplace like a warehouse where we have an agreement with the owners of the warehouse. Some of the cats were even relocated to shelter grounds as our community cats. If the colony was small enough we would bring them into our Feral Cats room and adopt them out as community cats.

"What is a community cat?" -- The way the program worked, was that anyone who needed a working cat could apply to the program. These were often rural farmers or businesses with warehouses that needed rodent protection. We trained the farmers and businesses on how to acclimatize the cats to their new home, and as part of the agreement, they had to care for the cats (veterinary care, vaccinations, food and water). This gave businesses and farms an alternative to expensive and environmentally unfriendly rodent control, and also gave these feral cats good places to live out their natural lives.

"Can't you just adopt out feral cats?" -- No. Cats that have not been socialized around humans as kittens, or who have several generations of feral cat in them could not interact with humans in a way that did not cause them undue stress. This was not a humane way to handle feral cats. However, when a cat was brought into the feral cat room, they would be monitored for up to a week. If the cat displayed signs of being semi-social or fully social (hanging out outside of their den, allowing staff to pet them, showing interest in staff in the room), then we would either move the cat into the adoption room or place them in foster to be socialized before adoption. Feral cats who displayed signs of being able to live full and healthy lives with human companions were NOT adopted out as community cats. We also observed this behavior during TNRs and would do the same for those cats too.

"But aren't cats bad hunters?" -- Compared to other species, cats are not the most effective form of rodent control. This is true. However, you have to understand that feral cats exist. There is no "undo" button we can push to stop them from existing. We have to deal with the problem we have right now, which is to safely and humanely decrease the number of feral cats in our communities. And yes, we do that by using cats as rodent control in the community.

"What can I do?" -- Stop saying community cats shouldn't exist. That's not helpful and doesn't solve the problem we have. Bring your cat indoors. Spay and neuter your cats. Adopt from shelters. Volunteer with a TNR team. Support TNR efforts in your community. Recognize that those of us actively dealing with the community/feral problem are trying to do what is in the best interest of our communities and the animals we love. We aren't sitting over here saying these cats should exist -- a feral cat will not have the same quality of life as one that is indoors with a family -- but we have to address the problem in practical terms. We don't have the moral high ground to just do nothing while pontificating solutions that have no basis in actuality.

And yes, it's okay to celebrate community cats. If your local farm has a couple of working cats, that means that farm is helping participate in the safe deflation of the feral cat population. Don't shame a farm or business for using community cats. We're all doing the best we can to solve the problem that we have.

Okay, you need to make sure you play this game at some point. Maybe not today or anything, because you’ll need about thirty minutes and a serious willingness to understand how it works, but - it’s so worth it. It’s basically an answer to our occasional frustration - why do assholes always come out on top? - and the beautiful thing about it is that not only does it explain how that happens, but also how we can change it.

“In the short run, the game defines the players. But in the long run, it’s us players who define the game.”

This is fascinating if you’re into math or sociology or computer programming or all of the above.

Everyone, everywhere, without exception, should play this thing through.

Don’t check just this - check out all of Nicky Case’s work. They’re a brilliant creator and I heavily recommend checking out at least one of their projects.  Their website can be found here.

Parable of the Polygons - an interactive experiment that shows how tiny individual biases can collectively cause segregation on a massive scale.

To Build a Better Ballot - an interactive experiment that shows the alternatives to the voting systems we currently use and how they can be more representative and democratic, along with their faults.

Coming Out Simulator - a short interactive story/novel about coming out, based off of Case’s own experiences. Not one I’ve played myself but still one I can recommend.

Loopy - a very simple but useful tool to show how systems interact with each other and how things can self-propagate.

We Become What We Behold - “ a game about news cycles, vicious cycles, infinite cycles.“ A short five-minute game about news and media. Warnings for violence, blood, death and stress.

OH MY GOD THIS IS FRICKING AMAIZNG WOW WOW WOW WOW YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS YES INTELLECT 

My favorite Nicky Case work is How To Remember Anything Forever-Ish.

Their other stuff is great and honestly probably more meaningful. This one is just the one that’s had the most impact for my daily life.

Dead On Main DPxDC Fic Recs 3

I enjoy reading a Dead On Main fic every once in a while, so I decided to make a fic rec list for some of them! They are in no particular order. I did not rec any of my own fics.

[Link to Dead on Main Fic Recs 1]

[Link to Dead on Main Fic Recs 2]

[Link to Dead on Main Fic Recs 4]

This is Explicit! So you have been warned! But uh. Jason wrecks Danny, if you know what I mean. ;) Be careful with the second chapter, and read the notes and tags!

2.[Funeral Rites] by BumblingBeesAndWillowTrees

Danny and Jason get drunk and get married

3. [Summoning Soulmates] by Animefangirl1221

Danny gets transported into his soulmate's body at an extremely inconvenient time.

4. [Burning the Candle and Both Ends] by NightShiftShenanigans

This one is angsty but so, so good. Danny and Jason are dating, and something pulls their relationship apart. They have to fight to put it back together again

5. [A Day in the Life of Two Dead Men] by Bewitched_Forest

Some cute shenanigans in the life of Jason and Danny while they date.

6. [Our Empty Graves] by suomifae

This one starts out swinging with the angst and has Jason rescuing Danny.

7. [Wail of the Silent] by Katlover98

Danny comes to deal with a ghost in pain, AKA Jason Todd who has lost his voice after Bruce save the Joker.

8. [A Lover's Lament] by DisillusionedDanny

The angst in this one guys. It's so good though!!!! I love how Dis interwove Jason's past lives into it all. <3

9. [Marriage, Who?] by DeathlySilent13

Jason saves Damian from a ritual, falling into it instead. Turns out... he's married now? Or maybe not.

10. [When You Accidentally Kill a Clown] by SchalensitzBucket

Danny kills the Joker, and Jason is immediately smitten. They keep running into each other, and things go from there.

When I was in the hospital, they gave me a big bracelet that said ALLERGY, but like. I'm allergic to bees. Were they going to prescribe me bees in there.

So there's a medication called hyaluronidase. It's used to make other medications absorb better, because it makes the cell wall more permeable.

One common usage is to make local anesthetic more effective during surgery, for instance. It's used in a number of injected medications.

Bee stings contain an enzyme very similar to this medication, so sometimes, people with bee allergies have an allergic reaction to hyaluronidase.

This is called cross-reactivity, where your body mistakes something for the thing it's actually allergic to, and has an allergic reaction anyway. For instance, sometimes people with latex allergies also are allergic to bananas and other fruits. They don't actually contain latex, but there are some similar proteins.

Apparently, hyraluronidase used in humans is derived from one of four sources: sheep testicles, cow testicles, cow testicles again, and GMO hamster ovaries.

tl;dr: They won't inject you with bees, but they might inject you with purified cow testicle juice, and your body might say 'eh, cow balls are BASICALLY bees' and try to kill you anyway.

The world is full of such beauty and wonder. Thank you for that sentence.

via @indiarosecrawford

𝑓ₒᵣ ⲕᵢ𝑛𝑔 ₐ𝑛𝑑 𝑐ₒ𝑡𝑡ₐ𝑔ₑ

First of all, this is genius and the sound must be on. I have a lot of comments. This was a LOT of work. Not just the animation... but the lovely and adorable handmade creatures themselves. The staging and gathering of the miniatures used, all of it. A labor of love. I am so happy to Reblog and I hope more enjoy it. Thank you so much for sharing, pretty much reset my day.

@zuppizup

This is so sweet 🥹

My Human is Not

Written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly

Art by Sonny Liew

Star Trek: Waypoint Special #1

High Res Version

I’m at 5 what about you?

I’m at 18. A very, very firm 18.

I Have Found A Solution!

So, obviously classic wizard robes aren’t wheelchair friendly. (Alright, admittedly this isn’t common knowledge and also this definitely isn’t a problem for most but listen, this is a problem for me and I’m pleased to present a solution for it nonetheless.)

The issue is in the sleeves and the length of the robes. The traditional trumpet style allows them to get snagged, dirty, and caught in the wheels.

This is distinctly not an issue with other mobility aids such as canes and crutches, these wizards are fine to carry on with their trumpet sleeves simply rolled up if needed.

Now, one solution might simply to shorten the sleeves and hem to be out of the way, but that looks rather silly so I won’t do that. Instead I propose the more elegant design of a hanging sleeve to maintain that flowy magical feel while allowing for better range of motion.

Honestly I just love the look of hanging sleeves in general and think more people should appreciate them, wheelchair user or not.

In conclusion…

sam and brennan’s greatest weaknesses (respectively)

(transcript under the cut)

Keep reading

The squealed “pleaaaase” sounded straight out of Invader Zim

late night thoughts

Phantom, the newest addition to the Justice League, pulls Wonder Woman aside.

He has...a strange request.

He's nervous, flustered, fading in and out of the visible spectrum. It's clear that what he's about to ask of her is important to him, and even though she has an uncomfortable voice in the back of her head telling her this young hero is about to ask her out, she resolves to listen before she jumps to conclusions.

She's glad she did.

"Can...can you put a grave for me in Themyscira? I know it's just for women, but it's the safest place I can think of for it! I just...I don't have a grave, and Clockwork says it's starting to stunt my growth as a Ghost, and I have too many enemies on American soil, so. It's okay if you say no, though, I'll figure something out, it's fine."

Diana lets him ramble to the end, already knowing what her answer is going to be.

"We would be honored to host your grave, Phantom. Do you have any remains I can take home? Do you require a funeral service?"

Phantom looks...he looks beyond grateful. Close to tears.

"No, no remains. A symbolic grave is fine, it just. It has to have my real name on it, my mortal one." He says, looking hesitant. "Please don't reach out to my family, Wonder Woman. They don't know."

With that, he hands over a small slip of paper, torn from a notebook and clearly folded one too many times.

She takes it as though he were entrusting her with the rarest diamond in the world. She wants to, but she does not ask how they could not notice the death of someone so very bright.

Instead she nods, tucking the paper away.

Phantom will get a grand grave, one worthy of a friend to the Crown of Themyscira. She will ensure it.

The reblogs! Read the reblogs!

The reblogs make me cry man!

To include someone in your culture is like a bracing them, welcoming them. You tell them that they are yours and part of your family. The Amazons including him in their culture for death is like claiming him as their son.

But the flowers hit different! To cross cultures for someone is telling them they they are worth it and that you are theirs. By leaving him flowers, the Amazons are like claiming them to be his, sisters and mothers.

Also, to vear of topic, the flowers hit me different. In my culture, flowers for graves help the deceased guide their way, to us and to the afterlife. I hope they also light candles because candles are supposed to light the way of the souls and keep them warm on their way

Omg I LOVE IT!!!!

All that’s coming up for me in response fic-wise is the following:

Imaginary Friend Shikako

“Good news!” Inoichi said, rather forcibly cheerily.

Shikaku turned his head to give his friend a flat stare. “Nine Academy students, mostly heirs or back-up heirs, conspired to help my child eat fellow Konoha citizens. I’ll settle for non-terrible news.”

“Her target accuracy has apparently been phenomenal. She must be naturally sending intent in some way we haven’t yet been able to train for, because from what we’ve been able to discover, her natural targets really do exclusively consist of now-verified threats to Shikamaru. And it’s an urge, but not a compulsion. Unless she encounters a threat as serious councilman Danzo, she’s perfectly able to be satiated elsewhere. I have all the information to show to the Hokage that she just needs to be… redirected. This whole thing can be solved by a few early missions. …As soon as someone manages to give Shikamaru exposure to external threats without becoming internal threats themselves.”

…”This is what, day two of no sleep for you and cup twelve of coffee?”

“Like you’re any better right now. The Hokage wants this swept under the rug, which works in our favor. But he can’t do that until I’ve given him all the information he needs to know what exactly needs to be swept.”

“Like the fact that I’m probably going to be personally supervising regular hunting trips outside the village until Shikamaru graduates?”

“Exactly.”

-

(It strikes me that the Jashin cult is doomed.)

Hmm. To prevent her from being overpowered on missions, I think her hunger is more rare than just threat to Shikamaru. I think there must be an evil-sensing component as well. There’s just a lot more overlap between “threat” and “evil” when the people threats to her clearly pre-teen brother.

<3<3<3<3<3

Oh Inoichi, he really has to put up with so much whenever we go buck wild with Shikako shenanigans :)

I definitely agree that Shikako is sensing "evil" more than "threat" and I'm going to throw this little thing at you in return:

"He's seven," Itachi says, his usual monotone made even flatter out of pointed disbelief.

"They are seven," Shisui corrects, because given what they witnessed, he's not going to let even his favorite cousin disrespect the weird Nara entity that lives in their clan heir's shadow. "And plus, what were you doing when you were seven?"

Itachi hums, rescinding his objection.

"It's easy reconnaissance and bodyguard duty: if it weren't for the facts that it's the Jounin Commander's kids and that we're technically going outside Land of Fire, this wouldn't even be an ANBU mission," Shisui adds, not because Itachi needs convincing--they're ANBU, they take whatever mission is thrown at them--but as a gentle reminder.

Whatever Shikako Nara may be, she did the entire Uchiha clan a favor. Shisui and Itachi especially benefited from her actions that day. If the two of them have to babysit her and her brother on what is essentially her grocery shopping for the rest of their lives, Shisui is going to do so gladly.

And plus, it certainly wouldn't hurt the reintegration of the clan back into the village if the two of them are protecting the Nara clan heir. Heirs? Maybe Shisui should ask them about it during the trip to Wave.

It's one sketchy businessman on a small island just barely off of Land of Fire's coast. One civilian man, quick and clean eating for Shikako Nara, and they're done. How complicated could it be?

~

A/N: And then it turns out, Gatou had already recruited an army of bandits to terrorize Wave--although maybe he hasn't yet killed Kaiza? But Gatou has definitely done some messed up stuff already with help of said bandits--so Shikako just goes !!!! YAY I'M GOING TO EAT ALL OF THEM!!! :):):) While the boys try, with varying levels of reluctance, to hold her back.

My thought process was, well, we can't throw literal seven year old Shikamaru and Shikako at major villains, but there are some non-shinobi villains that are "evil" but not too much "threat"

And I know I'm messing with the timeline a little too much, but maybe Zabuza (and Haku?) who were about to negotiate on the Mist Rebellion's behalf, just kind of walk into this eldritch shadow carnage--well, maybe not carnage, Shikako is a neat eater :) -- and just turn around to go back to Mei with a solid NOPE and also WHAT the hell is Konoha up to. Although, Haku may be in the stage of his life where he's comforted by this? Like, oh, I'm not alone. Other children also kill angry mobs with elemental abilities :)

Some thoughts on how the “Danzo getting eaten” and “it’s not like Shikamaru can get in trouble,” might come about: (edited to fix errors)

Iruka didn’t happen to be paying attention to the conversation between Councilman Danzo and the two older Uchiha boys -he had enough to pay attention to just keeping an eye on the thirty-plus Academy students in his care- but took note that the interaction was happening, because it was what Shikamaru had been watching silently for an unbroken ninety seconds, distaste and trepidation slowly making their way across his face as his knees locked and he started gripping the tree. The boy wasn’t even paying attention to the usual game of “what can we get Shikako to eat,” he kept organizing for his friends.

“Is there something you want to add, child?” Danzo asked, a bit too sharply to be appropriate for addressing an academy student.

When Shikamaru was silent, Danzo took another step forward, made a thump of his cane, and raised an eyebrow.

Shikamaru leaned his torso back while keeping his feet planted, like he was afraid of which direction he’d go in once he started moving.

He spoke like it was a struggle, like he was trying to hold something back.

“All this time… she’s been looking for evil. You should stay away from me. Your energy…”

Danzo took a step forward. “Don’t interfere in conversations between your superiors, Nara. If you’d rather mumble nonsense to me than acknowledge your error, I’ll be taking you to your father and making your clan take responsibility for correcting your deficiencies.”

Shikamaru made a small motion with his hand. A small, childish move. But Shinobi are trained to watch hands, and so Iruka saw clearly the superstitions gesture some civilians used to ward off evil.

So did Danzo.

The councilman was across the Academy grounds in a flash, hand on Shikamaru’s arm as if to yank him up-

And then Danzo was suddenly slumped over, prone on the ground, and Shikamaru’s shadow was very dark.

-and then Danzo was upright as if he never fallen, reaching towards Shikamaru once more now with killing intent in the air, ignoring the Uchiha (and the usual Hyuuga escort to pick up Hinata) staring in horror at something in Danzos face only they could see-

And then Danzo crossed a deep shadow, and he was prone again.

Dead.

“Uh,” Shikamaru said. “I did warn him?”

THAT FIEND!!! HE TOUCHED SHIKAMARU!!! DEATH FOREVER TO HIM!!!

But also, Shikamaru DID warn him to stay away and then Danzo literally touched him which is exactly the opposite. I feel like there are laws protecting bloodlimit users from, well, man slaughter if it's a clearly defined accident or the other party instigated a basic biological reaction.

And the Nara affinity for shadows isn't NOT a bloodlimit? Since it is a genetic predisposition for an ability? Or, like, maybe the argument is that Shikamaru (and Shikako) are an evolution of the Nara affinity that makes it the first of the bloodlimit?

And if anything, given his obvious one(?) Sharingan theft, it could be argued that Danzo's actions were a precursor to (further) bloodline theft which both the Uchiha and the Hyuuga (who have been previous victims to bloodline theft) would definitely confirm as witnesses.

And, you know, all the Academy students (who ARE heirs or back-up heirs and who all ALREADY play the "what can we get Shikako to eat" game) who will definitely vouch for their friend who is not imaginary, which they've BEEN saying to the Academy teachers. Like, honestly, THEY DID NOTHING WRONG.

But I do have to:

~

The first and only time Shikaku brings his children to meet with the Hokage, he spends the entire time so focused on the deep, dark shadow that is his daughter, that he barely listens to what is said. He responds correctly--it's not too hard, given mostly what the Hokage wants to say is to keep everything quiet, keep the peace, don't mess with the status quo, same thing as always--and whatever he doesn't catch, he's sure Inoichi will remind him later.

Mostly he watched as Shikako wavered, both literally and figuratively. She had stretched along the ground towards the Hokage, then stopped and retreated into Shikamaru's shadow. Then she did it again, this time circling around the office before heading towards the Hokage, only to stop once more and pull back. Again and again, as if she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to eat him.

And the thing is, yes, Shikaku had imbued enough chakra in his own shadow in order to intercept his daughter if she had made that decision. But as the meeting went on and her indecisiveness bounced her back and forth, he found himself more uncertain if he would do it. Or, well, no. He would do it. To not would be treason, and he promised Chouza and Inoichi that he would give them at least three days' heads up if he were going to do so. But he found himself more reluctant to do so.

On the one hand, he supposes it's good that Shikako hadn't rushed straight for the Hokage--unlike with the late Danzo, who Shikamaru had said she would have eaten immediately if he hadn't held her back (for which he feels guilty, never mind that Shikako had been too satisfied to hold the initial hesitance against him)--because that must mean something. But that fact that she kept considering it and only stopped because Shikaku had immediately picked up Shikamaru and bodily carried both of his children out of there is... worrying to say the least.

Home, at least, is less harrowing. For some given value of it. Now that Shikako's choice of sustenance has been confirmed, Yoshino has decided to make up for lost time by using her connections with T&I to get dossiers of the various non-classified enemies of Konoha. She has taken to reading those out loud to the twins and watching Shikako's reactions for who to assign as the next target for her "grocery shopping missions" with the Uchiha cousins. At night, Yoshino reads them the bingo book as if it were a bedtime story. Or, maybe for Shikako, it is more like a cookbook, or a menu.

Regardless, normally Shikaku doesn't have to worry about politics at home, except as soon as they enter the house, Shikamaru faithfully translates:

"Shikako says she would have eaten him, but she didn't want to give you and Inoichi-oji even more paperwork, and she says she has at least four more years before he expires. Also, she says he's more useful alive as bait for an even bigger meal."

... well... at least he can give Chouza and Inoichi more than three days' heads up.

~

A/N: What would you like to name this 'verse dona?

Ooh!! I love this fic you added!! Hm, as for a name, “Shikamaru and his (Actually Quite Hungry) Non-Imaginary Sister”? Because this ‘verse is really about two big changes, Shikako’s revpusly assumed imaginary-ness and her appetite, and that way what’s inside the parenthesis could be changed for any future variant of the non-imaginary sister.

Also Shikaku and Yoshino are so, so good in this. It’s lovely and I love them.

(Edit: my title turned out to be too hard for me to easily remember, so how about the “Hungry Sister ‘verse” instead?)

Check Yes (to go on a date with a dead guy)

Chapter 1

The expectant smiles froze on his siblings’ faces.

Jason blinked, still shaking off the disorientation of the green twisting blur that always came when he took his turn with tHe RitUaL. “What?” he said. It came out defensive. Usually they were all laughing by this point.

Dick reached out and took the post-it off his forehead. “We may have misunderstood this sacrificial thing.” He frowned at the note.

Jason tore it away and flipped it around to read it.

“...Please stop the bridal sacrifices,” he read, voice instantly trembling with the need to laugh. Holy shit. “Proposal is kinda forward. But if you really want, I’d totally go on a date with you. Check yes or no. Danny.” There were two smiley faces after the name and a scribbled drawing of a human looking guy with tall hair.

Red Valentine 2024 DP X DC

Stories by pairing:

Danny/ Jason

Hot Ghouls in Your Area

Ch 1

Ch 2

Ch 3

Check Yes (to go on a date with a dead guy)

Ch 1 and 2

Ch 3

Danny/ Damian

Young Lovers Shot by Cupid ( he is wanted for questioning)

Ch 1

S̶̤̋̉t̸o̶̝̍r̵̛͠m̸̠͌͝

They escaped. Batman dragged Damian's frozen body away from the Lazarus Pit and through the tunnels as Danyal's screams-sobs-wails echoed behind them. Eventually the sound ebbed away and they emerged to the surface.

A debrief was demanded from everyone; even Todd was in the Cave. Damian trembled, his only sign of distress, his mind stuck on Danyal's face, his brother's voice rebounding around his head.

Father's debrief had been rough. Damian could barely explain what happened, why he was drawn to the waters, why Danyal wanted to drown him. He'd only explained the Danyal was someone he'd killed while with the League, and Father was the only one to doubt his explanation.

Damian took the first opportunity to escape to the showers. Stripping down, Damian turned the faucet and the bathroom lit up bright green.

He flinched away, and when he opened his eyes, the water was just water. A stone sunk into his stomach.

The next day, while Father was consulting with Justice League Dark, Grayson and Drake returned to the caves for their own investigation of the Pits. And while they found the cavern--found by tracking the batarang Father threw--it was desert dry. There was no sign of Lazarus Water, nor did it look like it had ever been there.

That night, as Damian was washing his face before bed, he filled the sink basin with water. He turned away for one second, but when he looked back, he almost dipped his face under the green slime oozing out the spout. He bolted, and when he returned with a startled Father, the water had returned to normal.

Grayson insisted on taking him out for lunch the following day, citing that Damian needed a "break." Damian was furious, but allowed it; Justice League Dark was visiting the cave to discuss the... incident, and Damian wanted to interrogate them. He... he needed to know if that was really Danyal or not. If his sweet brother could have been twisted after his murder into that monster, that Siren crooning at him to choose to die.

He'd never contemplated the fate of his brother's immortal soul before. Had he done this to him? Could Damian had avoided this by killing him honorably, instead of cowardly poisoning Danyal so he'd pass away in his sleep?

Damian allowed Grayson order for him. He wasn't hungry. The clouds above swirled ominously as he followed Grayson to a nearby awning with a picnic bench underneath.

Grayson took a bite of his gyro. "So? How have you been coping these past few days?"

"I'm not an invalid, Grayson," Damian hissed, glaring. "I'm fine."

A frozen breath brushed across his ear. "Ĺ̶̥̲̪̀̐ỉ̷̢̜̚a̴̧͖͛r̶̺̫̾͗̃͜,̶͕̐" Danyal whispered in his ear.

Grayson didn't notice or hear Danyal's voice. "You see, I don't believe you. One of your dead League friends is supernaturally gunning for you, Dami; it's normal to feel out of sorts."

Damian scoffed. "Nothing about this situation is normal."

He looked down at his food and sighed. "Yeah, that's for sure. I'm sorry, Damian. I wish this wasn't happening to you."

"And I wish the creature would just attack already," Damian griped. "It's the waiting that will kill me, not that fake."

Like someone had been listening, the sky opened up and it rained green throughout Gotham.

Late night thoughts