Footsteps in Amber

All right! So I've talked a bit about Footsteps in Amber over here, but I never actually said I was posting the first draft online!

SO! If you're interested in reading a roughly edited version of the book that I'm currently rewriting, then here's the link to both Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity!

I'll also be loredumping information on the world, creatures, gods, 'technology' and races!

I hope you find it interesting!

Today was an update day! Chapter 26- Kaz has gone live on both sites! In today's adventure, two nerds geek out about spells, and Tzedef quietly loses his mind over the potential military applications!

Update! Chapter 27- Acceptance, has gone live! Please enjoy as Tzedef finally starts on what appears to be the last leg of his journey to find the Ambered Castle!

considering the manor is completely massive and the only person who spends more than a few consecutive hours there at a time is probably Alfred, i think it would be funny if after the pit, Jason decides after everything he's been through that he can't be bothered to do the whole revenge thing, or sort out safe houses or get an apartment and instead just decides to kill the joker himself and just... secretly go home.

like, as long as he kept an ear out to make sure he wasn't eating in the dining room when Bruce comes down, he could probably get away with walking around without ever being caught. Alfred would find out, i assume, but i think knowing how complicated Jasons emotions towards Bruce are right now, he'd keep it quiet and just be happy that the one other person he trusts to leave alone in the kitchen is finally back. And then, of course, there's the kids.

Damian knew from the beginning. Not because he's especially observant, but because this is his big brother from the league and the first night he spent at the manor Jason crawled through his window in full Red Hood gear and told him not to snitch. Considering that in the league Jason once snuck up behind Ra's and shaved a strip of hair off the back of his head, Damian decides there's far stupider shit the guy could be doing and leaves it be.

Tim finds out next. admittedly, the only reason he finds out is because Jason thought he knew and just stopped attempting to avoid him. in reality, what happened was Tim, having not slept for three days and living off nothing but spite and coffee, accidentally walked in on Jason cooking in the middle of the night, and immediately wrote it off as a hallucination. Jason, seeing Tim find him in the manor and not react badly, decided that 'oh, the replacement must just be chill i guess' and mentally pencilled him in as another person in the building that he can be seen by. it came to a head when a few days later Damian was forced by Jason to invite Tim out with them on their weekly 'eat junk food and talk shit about the rest of the family' outings, since he was a part of the group now. Tim cries.

Dick only finds out because Tim and Damian keep forgetting that Jason isn't supposed to be talked about in public. there comes a point where Tim rips Dick's favourite sweater and when Dick confronts him about it, Tim panics and blurts out 'it wasn't me, must have been jason!', and upon seeing Dick's face, Damian smacks him and grumbles 'good job Drake, now we have to show him Todd or he'll cry again.'. Jason is not overly happy when he sneaks through his bedroom window after going out as Red Hood and finds a sobbing Dick sat on his bed, Tim staring at the ground looking very ashamed while Damian straight face points at Tim to make it clear that this was Not His Fault.

after realising literally everyone in the house sans Bruce knows he's there, Jason decides to just. stop hiding. the fact is that he wasn't trying that hard in the first place, and Bruce still didn't have a clue, so he kinda wants to see how long it takes the 'world's greatest detective' to realise his dead kid is just. back.

so he stops hiding. starts showing up for family meals, starts being more friendly with the bats as Red Hood, and they all wait to see what finally tips Bruce off.

they forget how fucking stupid this man can be.

because if Jason had gone up to Bruce and done some sort of dramatic or emotional reveal then sure, Bruce would be shocked. he'd freak out. but the fact is that Bruce has both Batman and Brucie Wayne to keep up with. He's barely paying attention to his own feet while walking, let alone the people around him.

so when Jason starts showing up and acting like nothings changed, and literally nobody else in the house acts like anything's different either? Bruce straight up forgets that Jason's supposed to be dead. His mind just registers 'oh there are his kids, fighting like usual', and forgets to take in whether or not those kids are SUPPOSED to be ALIVE.

the kids find it fucking fascinating. Jason can actually have conversations with Bruce at the dinner table, and Bruce doesn't even realise that this is a wild fucking thing to be happening. Tim starts laughing at him and Bruce gets confused, only making the poor kid laugh harder. Jason just can't believe he actually bothered putting effort into hiding when he first came back. Damian's respect for his father diminishes every day.

it becomes a game, to see how far it will go. at one point Dick straight up asks who was better as Robin, him or Jason, in an attempt to jog his memory, and Bruce without looking up from the batcomputer goes 'you were both equally good, stop trying to start competitions with your brother'. Dick throws his hands up in the air and Jason, who has been sat on top of his own fucking memorial case to watch this shit show for the past 20 minutes, slow claps.

it's only after like a month of this that half way through a casual family breakfast, Damian asks Jason to pass him the orange juice or something, and Bruce finally has the fucking moment of

he never lives it down.

Dream Lover (dp x dc)

The alarm on his cellphone rang and Danny groaned as a fumbled blindly to close it again.

“Wha’ izzit?” Came a sleepy voice at his back.

Danny rubbed his eyes as he sat up. Then, he turned towards the other man entangled in the sheets.

“Nothing, go back to sleep,” Danny said before dropping a kiss on the man’s forehead, displacing his white streak. The man muttered some unintelligible words as he wriggled around a bit before settling back down.

Danny gave him a fond look before a yawn forced his eyes closed. He slipped off the bed and padded down to the kitchen. With bleary eyes he put the coffee machine on and got the milk out of the fridge as he waited for the beans be ground.

The machine was way fancier than anything Danny had ever owned but his boyfriend liked good coffee and Danny liked making him happy. The breaker-hammer noise stopped indicating the coffee was done and the halfa sipped at it as he tried to figure out what that niggling feeling in the back of his mind was.

Before he could delve into it very far, he heard his boyfriend coming into their little kitchen.

“Did the noise wake you up?” Danny asked as the man wrapped his arms around the smaller man’s waist and buried his head in his back.

“Was already ‘wake,” the octopus masquerading as a human mumbled.

“Want some coffee?”

“Please.” His boyfriend pressed a kiss to his nape before staggering towards the kitchen chair and sagging into it.

”Good night?” Danny asked as he started the machine again.

“The usual,” the man said as he rubbed the sleep out of his face.

“Why are you up early?”

“Gotta fix up the bike.” The man yawned which made Danny yawn too. “It kept backfiring last night.”

Danny hummed as that niggling feeling came back at the mention of the motorcycle. There was something there…

“What about you?” The man said as he held his face in his palm.

“Nothing much,” Danny said as he refocused on the conversation. “I don’t have to go in today, so I’ll probably just study.”

“I made butternut pasta when I came back. There’s some left for lunch,” his boyfriend said as he grabbed a banana from their fruit bowl.

“You’ll be here for lunch?” Danny asked as the flow of coffee stopped and he took the cup away from the little shelf.

“Thanks,” the man said as he accepted the cup. “Probably.”

Danny nodded and he leaned on the counter as he looked into the distance. His eyes caught on a clock and again, that annoying sensation he was forgetting something tickled him.

Clock meant hours which meant seconds which meant sand trickling in an hourglass which meant time passing and Time meant-

“Everything ok?” Came the low tenor of his boyfriend.

Danny shook away the thought and smiled at him. “Just zoning out.”

Then the smaller man finished his cup before he put it in the sink. “Gonna go brush my teeth,” he said as he walked out of the kitchen

“You didn’t even eat!” Came the voice Corning from the other room.

“Not hungry,” sing-songed Danny as he grabbed his toothbrush.

As he put the paste on the brush his mind wandered a bit. He started brushing, in the back and made his way forward. He was up to his canine and he started on his fangs which had him frown. Fangs? Wait a minute.

And then it all came rushing back. Phantom. Ghosts. This was a dream which meant-

“Nocturn,” Danny said. Sure it had been a while since he dated anyone but this was a whole new level of single if Nocturn had resorted to creating the ideal boyfriend to trap him in a dream.

Danny walked back to the kitchen and stood in the door entrance and stared at his imaginary dream boyfriend. Said boyfriend turned his head around and lifted an inquiring eyebrow.

“You really are perfect,” Danny said.

“You say the sweetest things,” the dream-construct said and the corner of his eyes creased beautifully as he smiled.

Danny sighed wistfully before bending to kiss his cheek. “Until then, dream lover.”

With a snap the dream collapsed and the halfa opened his eyes to the green of the Infinite Realms with the ghost sensation on his lips.

Simultaneously, in one of his safe houses in Gotham, Jason’s eyes snapped open as his hand flew to his cheek.

It was the best sleep Jason had since death and he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Usually his dreams faded as he went about the morning - getting dressed, making breakfast, cleaning his guns - the routine was enough distraction that soft thoughts slipped back into the ether.

(Nightmares were a different matter, and were released on the punching bag hanging in the corner.)

Honestly it had been ages since a dream was so soothing. When sleep didn’t bring horrific memories it was commonly nonsensical fantasies.

But here he was, hours later, still feeling those lips linger on his cheek. Seeing that smile. Hearing laughter.

Danny planned on having a talk with Nocturn about these little things called ‘boundaries’ - namely ones concerning Danny’s relationship status and the existence (or non-existence rather) of the very hot lover who’d been plaguing Danny’s sleeping hours. But… he simply couldn’t seem or want to find the time for it. After all between last minute fights goodbye between him and his rogues-turned-friends, appointments with Frostbite and the ancients, packing for college, and convincing his parents to shut down the portal for good he was stretched pretty thin. And well, spending time with his dream lover was the most relaxed Danny had been in ages, even if it was fake. Of course it was fake. Danny didn’t deserve someone that good in reality. So… in the end Danny had never gotten to it, and he headed out for Gotham with college well-wishes and the burning memory of his dream lover’s lips on his own.

He arrived at his shitty new apartment at the grand hour of ten in the morning after driving through the night. (He’d planned to just teleport over, but Jazz had vetoed that plan pointing out how weird it would be if Danny simply appeared overnight. Which. Point.) So here Danny was in the distinctly non-tank vehicle Danny had bought, and his parents had only added a few weapons to.

Danny clambered out of his car, looked around and saw no neighbors, and promptly teleported all but one of his moving boxes into his apartment. He then took the last one out, locked the car, and sauntered into his beautifully cheap Crime Alley apartment. Yes that was really the name of the street. And yes somebody had probably been murdered in his apartment. But it was dirt cheap and Danny didn’t really have to worry about his own safety!! It’s all about the pros vs. cons baby.

Clicking the lock closed, Danny figured he would greet his neighbor(s?) another time. But for now - sleep and his dream boyfriend. Yanking his bare mattress out of the pile of boxes, Danny collapsed on to it.

“Home sweet home,” he sighed before Nocturn claimed him.

Danny blinked his eyes open blearily to the smell of coffee, and the sounds of gentle motown music drifting through their apartment. He stumbled out of bed and into their kitchen, heading straight for the broad back of his boyfriend. He head butted it in greeting, before resting his chin on one muscled shoulder.

“G’mornin,” he mumbled, inhaling the smell of breakfast-lunch.

“Good afternoon you mean,” his boyfriend replied with a laugh, “it’s nearly two sleepyhead”

“‘S the weekend,” Danny replied haughtily, “I can do what I want.” And he punctuated this sound argument by snatching his boyfriend’s coffee off the counter. His lover grunted in offense and made a grab for the coffee, but Danny was already gulping it down.

“Cold-hearted menace”

“You love me for my air-conditioner like qualities”

“Mmm. I do love my personal ac unit” his lover murmured, switching off the stove and turning to Danny. Danny snorted and pulled his boyfriend closer to him, burying his head in his burning neck. He nipped at warm skin and swayed them gently to the beat of the radio.

“I love you too,” he murmured into his boyfriends neck. “I never want to wake up when I’m with you.”

“…wake up?” His boyfriend asked, pulling back from Danny’s hold in order to stare at his face. “You mean… you’ve been dreaming of us too?”

And just like that the dream shattered, leaving Danny jolting awake in his new apartment with several questions for Nocturn.

Can people dream of each other if they’ve never met?

It was the only thought Jason had as he went about his normal day routines.

Sure, he’d met a few metas and aliens that had telepathy and could send you images, thoughts, and emotions. Even have full blown conversations long distance. But this felt different.

His dream lover wasn’t someone he’d met before in real life. Jason knew the theory that your brain saves images of people you’ve seen before to act as background “actors” in your dreams, but he was certain he’d never even passed this guy on the street before. He would have felt it.

Because he knew that ice core. He knew it.

Except he’d never heard of cores before dreaming of _____.

And that was another problem. He didn’t know his boyfriend’s name. Every time he went to think or say it, it just wasn’t there. A blank space in his mind. But he had so much other information.

He knew his dream man was studying mechanical engineering… but didn’t know his name. He had two sisters - one older, one younger, who was also a clone. How could he know favorite foods, which movies he quoted most, and the way his skin tasted after a shower but not know his name?!

Jason felt like he was going mad.

Because it was _____ who taught him about cores, and how they formed when you died. It was _____ who explained the different types and what powers that might grant a person. Jason had told him about studying with the All Blades, and how summoning magic swords made of fire felt right. Felt more real than a gun in his hand. And _____ had nodded along like having access to magic swords was a normal life skill. It was part of why they got along so well. They understood each others’ bullshit half-lives.

Except none of this had really happened.

It hadn’t even been part of the dream scenes themselves, just the background knowledge dreams came with. The kind of thing that if you tried to describe the dream to someone else, you’d have to give a hour of background explanation for a two minute scene to make sense, before realizing the dream didn’t make sense anyway.

It felt like he’d known _____ forever, but as he focused on what was and wasn’t actual dream moments, Jason realized he’d only dreamt of this man four times over the course of the last two weeks.

He grabbed a notebook and started writing everything he remembered. Then he started writing things he didn’t know and would need to find or ask outright. Name, city, school - anything that could help track him down.

If this guy was real - was truly out there in the world somewhere - Jason was going to find him. He had to.

He woke up with a weight on his chest, and soft hair tickling his chin. They we laying in bed together. His lover resting an ear just below Jason’s sternum. Listening to the heartbeat.

It was something he did when he was stressed.

Jason moved slowly, not wanting to startle him, and started dragging fingertips gently up and down the smaller man’s back. Tense muscles relaxed.

“Are you real?” came a whisper so quiet it almost wasn’t there.

“Yeah,” Jason breathed. “Are you?”

“Yeah.”

“How is this hap- ”

“Stop.”

Jason went still. His heart rate picked up, which he was sure got noticed. Was his dream boyfriend going to break up with him before they ever met? Because if both of them were real people and not just figments of sleep what did that imply? Was this morally wrong? How much of the things they’d shared were considered consensual? How could this continue without some serious rules being set? But if the moment ended every time they looked at it too close then how -

“Ung, I can feel you overthinking. Knock it off.”

Jason snorted. He’d heard those words dozens of times before. But he hadn’t. Not really.

“I just want…” he continued, “I just wanna be held. For a while. Is that… okay?”

Jason didn’t hesitate to fully wrap his arms around the man of his dreams, twisting so they were both laying on their sides, legs tangling together. He breathed in the familiar scent of soft hair, and enjoyed being held close in return.

“It’s okay,” Jason said.

“Are you sure?” he asked, snuggling closer despite the question.

“I’m sure I want to never let you go.”

He felt the smile against his shoulder.

“Sap.”

Jason couldn’t help but tilt his chin down enough to kiss his lover’s forehead. Then he smirked, and whispered a line from a movie he knew would be recognized:

“Can I keep you?”

The shoulders wrapped in his arms lurched with a huff of laughter, warm breath on his skin before the next line of the movie was spoken.

“Casper? Close the window. It’s cold.”

“That’s just you, lover boy.”

They both chuckled, then relaxed further, realizing the desire to stay was mutual. It was strange circumstances, but magic swords and science-made ghosts were real, so why not go with it?

Jason woke up with peace in his heart, and a blaze in his core. They’d just held each other in silence for what felt like hours. Taking and giving comfort.

It was okay that he couldn’t ask direct questions. He knew now those would end the dream prematurely. But it was okay. Everything was going to be okay because they knew the other was real - was out there somewhere to find. Waiting. Still wanting each other despite meeting in dreams.

But there was no rush.

They’d see each other again soon.

Jason had been off for a month and Dick was going to find out why.

It’s not that Jason had been acting strange, or out of character. He didn’t think his giant of a little brother was possessed or compromised. It’s just…

He wasn’t as angry? He seemed calmer?

*wanders back in, munching on cheese fed by contents on the fic*

Right, uh, yeah?

"So your brother huh?" It was said in amusement and understanding only shared by someone who also had an over protective but kind older sibling can have.

"Yeah, he... He's trying to, I don't know... Fix? That's not the right word but he's trying to fix things I guess." Jason groaned from the couch, arm over eyes.

You, a heroic paladin have successfully slain a fearsome dragon. But the dragon warns you that death is but a door, and dragons don’t die, they reincarnate. You paid it no mind….until your son was born with golden, slitted eyes.

curious friends and family: hey why does your kid have golden eyes

paladin who for sure fucked the dragon instead of killing it, thinking fast: dragons uh. reincarnate. surprised you didn’t know about that. it’s a common fact that i definitely did not make up. no further questions

Shang Qinghua tops because Mobei has always made him do all the work and that's not about to change

I just realized that there's a Star Wars Time Loop concept with GREAT hilarity potential that I don't think I've seen anyone attempting in a fic.

PALPATINE BEING THE ONE STUCK IN A LOOP THAT WON'T END UNTIL HE LOSES.

I mean you know how eventually there's always that one point where the trapped person gets driven completely NUTS? Imagine how SATISFYING that part would be when it's dear old Sheev that keeps getting to the precipice of all he's ever wanted getting realized, only to get it snatched away again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And ag-♾️

Imagine the impotent fury. The inevitable Rage Ranting. The eventual moments where his careful facade starts fraying around the edges and one of his carefully crafted spider-web strands... slips.

A time loop where instead of needing to win one time, he needs to win, and keep winning and the MOMENT he loses, just ONCE - the loop will end.

My good sir I had a mortgage before any of those characters were published 💀

I know who exactly three of these people are. When I was a kid I wanted to be a Herald of Valdemar.

I wanted to be Menolly with her entire Faire of fire lizards.

I wanted to be a Starfleet officer.

I wanted to be Dirk Pitt.

i wanted to be indiana jones

I wanted to be Han Solo.

I wanted to be Raven from the Teen Titans animated series

Probably Alec Ramsey from The Black Stallion series

I wanted to be Alanna, from the Lioness Rampant Quartet

Jazz has no idea why Red Hood thinks he smells anything but delicious, but there’s a very reckless and dubiously-ethical part of her that would be willing to prove it to him. Not that she would, obviously, because that would be, again, incredibly unethical and highly inappropriate and also a total dick move. 

She just could, that’s all. Just if it came up or whatever. 

“Well, it’s not,” she says, mildly put out by whatever’s going on here, and Red Hood growls. His scent blockers continue to be useless. Just–absolutely useless, yes. 

Ancients, he smells so good. What is she even supposed to do about how good this omega smells? 

Maybe offer to walk him home, or at least offer him her jacket so he has enough alpha scent on him that no one bothers him on his way back to his den. Although he’s a crime lord–or a vigilante? one or the other, whatever–who’s built like a truck, so that probably isn’t really a concern, she supposes. 

Then again, some people seriously do have no sense of decorum. 

Or survival instincts. 

Dani, tired and with her powers acting up, is cornered in an alley in Gotham by a couple of thugs. She lies to get out of the situation. It works...far better than she expected.

"Come at me if you're willing to deal with my dad!"

"...Okay kid, I'll bite. Who's yer dad?"

"The Red Hood you big dumb butt."

"That's cute. Listen, kid, you can't just lie about something like-"

"-And who the fuck said she was lying?" Comes a mechanical rasp from the fire escape above them.

Dani isn't sure how it got from the Red Hood beating the shit out of those thugs to her being in one of the Red Hood's safehouses, eating some of the best food she's had in forever.

I decided to make svsss sticker pack I also drew 2 stickers with moshang for this pack but I’m not in the mood to show them now x)

This machine kills AI

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“You know, for a monarchy, the King doesn’t seem to play much of a role in your affairs.”

“Well, It’s embarrassing to admit, but we’ve rather lost track of them.”

“Lost track of them?”

“Quite so. We know we have a monarch, but we don’t know who they are or where they reside.”

“… okay, you’re going to have to run that by me again.“

“To be blunt, the last King had something of a roving eye. While we’re reasonably certain one of his numerous illegitimate offspring has inherited the divine mantle, we’re not sure which one – if, indeed, it’s even one we know about.”

“Can’t you just, you know, pick one?“

“Heavens, no. Our monarch rules by divine right. The land is bound to them. Its prosperity and weather reflect their health and moods. The sacred bond is clearly responding to something, so we can rest assured that a living monarch exists, but none of the candidates we’ve tested have panned out.”

“So, the rain of opera-singing fish last Tuesday…?“

“Wherever our current King or Queen is, they’re evidently having a fantastic time.”

Love this.

"I hired him with a bag of hot cheetos."

"You...hired who?" Joker asked, looking around.

"My bodyguard from my hometown. I hired him." The hostage said, actually sounding bored.

"...There's no one here but you and me, kiddo, and-"

"You and I, actually. His name is Phantom, and he's here right now. Bye."

Then the kid disappeared. Literally. Him, and the bomb he'd been strapped to.

Change a single letter and change the word game

I want to play a game with you all.

You have to make a new word by changing only one letter of the last word.

Dirt

Dart

Dark

bark

Lark

Lurk

Lure

Sure

Surf

Serf

Self

Fenton parents make an invention to reverse a ghost's evil impulses!" It actually brings a ghost's instincts forward. The effects last about two weeks.

The Fentons are in Gotham when they get the chance to use it on Phantom.

Good news: it happens near the Bats, so he's quickly rescued.

Bad news: baby ghost instinct wants parents and turned human to get reassurance. That did not happen and now Red Hood has a crying, keening teenager shaped leech.

Hood immediately discards whatever the fuck those scientists are saying because he just saw them fully attacking a child. From what they were saying, their own child. They attacked their own child. Viciously. He he's not even fighting back, he just looks confused and desperate.

Everything tinges green as his arms flex, reaching for another gun. The kid's head whips towards him, and as soon as he makes eye contact he runs towards Hood. It's not the first time a kid has hid behind him, but he barely has time to raise his gun before skinny(little. tiny. child. this is a child) arms wrap around him.

He can't fight with the kid latched on so puts the safety back on and looks down to try and remove him but he makes eye contact again. Both their eyes flash green and then the kid is bawling.

Fuck

He probably has to leave the rest of the fight to the others