How DARE Tolkien omit in the final draft the information that the traditional hobbit marriage custom is to have unspoken vibes for years and then disappear without explanation for an indeterminate length of time!?
Idea and possible hot take? Magolor appears in the Forgotten Land disguised as an animal and joins the beast pack to spy on them, forwarding info to Kirby and also figuring out the mystery of why a dimensional portal appeared over Popstar in the first place.
All of the bat kids have a “bird call” whistle unique to them, used to sound off at a distance without comms when necessary. It lets Bruce and everyone else know where they are and that they’re okay. Bruce will whistle first and they all reply. If someone fails to, he heads towards their last known location. It’s very helpful when operating outside of Gotham in more wild areas.
I saw this and all I could think of was Bruce using his whistle, expecting to get a call back from Dick and Tim.
And a newly returned Red Hood literally cannot help himself and calls back, too.
Batman, Nightwing, and Robin nearly have heart attacks.
Oh god, I love this.
What if Jason does it out of habit, without thinking. It leaves his mouth and he’s instantly cursing himself for it, because fuck, too early!
Imagine the hunt afterwards.
The Bats keep looking around to discover who dared to use the whistle - who knew about it and made mockery of it!
But I like to think that the ones who reacted first were Dick and Bruce. They knew the whistle, they heard it in person. Tim had no idea what Jason’s call was, no one ever showed him or anyone after him. He was just on a mission, sounding off as normal, when the unknown sound came in and suddenly B was just… Just gone. Dick following right after, both ignoring the calls of the Robins, so angry that anyone would dare!
The hunt, however, comes to nothing. There’s no one there to be found.
For Bruce, it was like a bucket of ice, bringing back the worst flashbacks. For Dick it was infuriating and concerning. Who the fuck could know?! After all those years, who the hell would remember and mock them with it?
But they’ve heard it, right? They weren’t going crazy!
Tim and Steph are there to confirm that yeah, the whistle was real. And what the fuck, guys, the mission is bust now!
B goes home, out of sorts for the rest of the week. Damnit, he doesn’t need that distraction, not with a new player in Gotham, taking down criminals in bloody sprees. He has to focus. Can’t get dragged down into the memories he’d rather not relieve - even the good ones. He manages to get his head out of it.
Until it happens again.
Once Red Hood realizes the supposed ‘Worlds Greatest Detective’ didn’t catch his mistake, Jason is all too willing to use it against him. He ignores how much making his low-low-high-low call soothes something in him that’s dark and twisted and green.
He uses Bruce’s call a few times, when he’s fighting one of the other bats. And uses one of the other’s alarm call when he’s in a sticky situation to draw them away.
After all, you never ignore an alarm call.
During one of their fights, Bruce whistles for all his children, for his family, his flock, tells them get back, get away, get safe.
And he’s facing Red Hood as the haunting low-low-high-low note echoes across the roof.
Batman snarls as another part of him freezes in panic and another collapses under sheer weight of grief, “How do you know that?” He growls and yells, holding himself back from lunging just yet.
“When I said No More Dead Robins, what, you didn’t think I knew? Little robin red breast, all dressed up and buried!? What are you going to do to a dead man’s call?! Here I am, Batman! Tweet. Tweet. Tweet. Come and get me!” Then Red Hood is jumping off the roof, whistling all the way. Low-low-high-low.
Batman races after him. The whole night, with Red Hood keeping just one step ahead of him. At times, when Batman thinks he’s lost him, Jason’s call will echo out again, taunting him with everything it means he’s lost.
The half-second that Bruce takes to mourn is enough for the Red Hood to get away. Each. and Every. Time.
—
During their last fight, Jason doesn’t even bother to use the whistle. The broken look on B’s face says he’s already done it.
And then he baits him into the chase, into the fight, into confronting the Joker,… and Bruce won’t. He turns away.
Jason’s chest burns with heartache and anger more than from the broken ribs. But he knew this would happen didn’t he? How could he expect anything else from the man who didn’t avenge him?
So he lets himself give up. Lets the countdown go on the bomb. One more time. Just like it did before.
And Batman still saves the Joker first.
Something breaks in Jason’s chest, under all the weight of the building now sitting on top of him. And yet, buried under the rubble, suffocating and bleeding and bruised and broken from his father…
Jason whistles. Weak and broken. He whistles, just as he had in his coffin, low-low-high-low, and another high note for help. An alarm call. Every bat knows it. And B knows it’s his. He repeats it, licking his lips and struggling to breathe.
Low-low-high-low. High.
Low-low-high-low. High.
Low-low-high-low. High.
Because they’re never supposed to ignore an alarm call. A call for help.
Low-low-high-low. High….
He said no more dead robins.. but then again, he was already dead, wasn’t he?
Low-low-high-low. High.
The call echoes across Gotham. Lost to sirens and cars and people. Falling on the deaf ears of a broken father who’s always too late.
Okay so you know how after the defeat of the Alderking his siblings started using their magic less and that over the generations magic developed from a burning fire back to a small flame (because of ✨evolution✨y’know).
But that’s not the only reason why magic is not as strong as it used to be. When the Alderking stole some of the mighty Alder’s might, the balance of the world slipped a little bit. Over the centuries that imbalance grew. And with that imbalance still being there, magic couldn’t be as powerful as it used to be even if the fae still continued to use it.
Now listen. If somewhere in the future, after The Knights of the Alder takes place, the balance of the world would fully be restored, say by someone becoming the new Alder spirit and cutting the Alderking’s connection to the tree (just in theory) that would mean the magic could come back.
Rating: This chapter is rated T for Teen, any following chapters may change in rating
Warnings: Dave gets his own warning, brief mentions of abuse, wounds, medical treatment, shady people, explosions, dead bodies, and illusions to the Equalizer 2
Summary: You have been picked up by some government agent and taken to a remote location. This place has been roped off by police and no one else has been permitted to enter. It was just a storm. What could’ve happened to warrant this kind of reaction?
A/N: Welcome to the first Meeting Him prompt! Your adventure begins here where it all ended for your chosen man. More choices will come as my mutuals write to this, and if we get more writers, then more choices will come!
Ahhh shit this is making me smile so much! Dave York’s character is so great, and you’ve written him extremely well too Naomi! The story you have created… Oh my! I want more already and I’m going to have the absolute pleasure of writing my own andreading other’s interpretations! Cannot wait to see all of this unfold.
Darling! Look at your wicked sorcery of smarty pants skills!! Choose Your Own Adventure Game is fucking awesome!
