Bruce, high on pain meds: i need to- you all have to listen. you deserve to know. You’re all old enough now.
Dick: this is gonna be good
Tim, grinning: what do we need to know?
Bruce: one of you is adopted,
The kids:
Bruce, tearing up: and im SO sorry, but i just- i can’t remember who-!
Jason, gleefully: I’LL REMIND YOU- *mouth covered by Dick*
Bruce: *sobs and then passes out*
The kids:
Jason, shoving Dick off him: GET- off me! wake him up we have to tell him it’s Damian
Damian: ME!?
Jason, looking for somebody else to fuck with now Bruce is down: you look the least like him- I mean come on, those twig arms,
Jason, pointing at a passed out Bruce: you are NOT the father.
Steph: *chokes on a wheeze*
Damian, incredulous: are you- DUKES BLACK
Duke: what and you’re white? don’t fucking start this shit kid
Damian, drawing his katana: i will not have my inheritence questioned like this-
Duke, warningly: *starts glowing*
Jason: *starts filming*
Dick: oh god… Bruce is gonna wake up to Damian in the hospital. what are we gonna tell him?
Tim, eating popcorn: i dunno about you but i’m gonna tell him he got high and started a race war to see how much he panics.
in the background, Duke: *shoots Damian into the side of the wall*
Damian: *leaps back with a war cry*
Jason, looking at his phone: oh you think telling him is gonna make him panic? i’m saying it on twitter and letting him find out through WE getting boycotted
Dick:
Dick: arguably worse than trying to make him kill the joker but ok
Tim: now hold up man i work there too-
Bruce is working at the McDonalds in the Wayne Enterprises cafeteria as he’s trying to uncover corruption.
Tim is working at the Taco Bell because the show Undercover Boss sounded fun
Jason is working at the Starbucks because he’s trying to poach employees from Bruce, but doesnt want to do any actual business stuff.
Duke is working at the Burger King because this is literally just his job.
Damian (and Jon stacked on top of Damian to make them seem like adults) is working in the Popeyes as Dick hopes this will make him connect with people more (it will not).
Dick is working at the Smoothie King because he honestly just got lost and this is more fun than his real job.
None of them have noticed.
Eddie decides that he can’t stand another second of Steve Harrington looking like the saddest wettest puppy left out in the rain after he got beat up and had to quit basketball. He’s going to do something about it.
Steve, realizing that he’s suddenly being followed around by a bunch of weird nerds, is like, “No, stop it! I don’t need any more nerds trying to get me to join their club.”
“You already have nerds recruiting you?”
drawing things my teenage self would eat tf up
Are there place that surprised you as you read your first draft? - Why do you suppose that is? - Is there material there you'd like to expand?
What are the character really doing in this story? - Might they have issues you haven't explored fully yet?
Look to the places that drag. - These might be scenes where you have avoided dealing with something deeper. - What are the characters really thinking in these places? - What are their passions, frustrations, and desires?
Imagine alternative plotlines. - How might your plot be different if ti headed off on another tangent from various points in the story? - You don't have to follow them, but they might suggest other streams that can flow into the main plot.
Does you story play out naturally in three acts?
Is there an immediate disturbance to the Lead's world?
Does the first doorway of no return occur before the one-fifth mark?
Are the stakes being raised sufficiently?
Does the second doorway of no return put the Lead on the path to the climax?
Does the rhythm of the sotyr match your intent? If this is an action novel, does the plot move relentlessly forward? If this is a character-driven novel, do the scenes delve deeply enough?
Are there strongly motivated characters?
Have coincidence been established?
Is something happeing immediately at the beginning? Did you establish a person in a setting with a problem, onfronted with change or threat?
Is the timeline logical?
Is the story too predictable in terms of sequence? Should it be rearranged?
Is the character memorable? Compelling? Enough to carry a reader all the way through the plot?
A lead character has to jump off the page. Does yours?
Does this character avoid cliches? Is he capable of surprising us?
What's unique about the character?
Is the character's objective strong enough?
How does the character grow over the course of the story?
How does the character demonstrate inner strength?
Is your oppositing character interesting?
Is he fully realized, not just a cardboard cutout?
Is he justified (at least in his own mind) in his actions?
Is he believable?
Is he strong as or stronger than the Lead?
Is the conflcit between the Lead and opposition crucial for both?
Why can't they just walk away? What holds them together?
Are the big scenes big enough? Surprising enough? Can you make them more original, unanticipated, and draw them out for all they are worth?
Is there enough conflict in the scenes?
What is the least memorable scene? Cut it!
What else can be cut in order to move the story relentlessly forward?
Does the climactic scene come too fast (through a writer fatigue)? Can you make it more, write it for all it's worth?
Does we need a new minor subplot to build up a saggin midsection?
What is their purpose in the plot?
Are they unique and colorful?
Are you hooking the reader from the beginning?
Are suspenseful scenes drawn out for the ultimate tension?
Can any information be delayed? This creates tension in the reader, always a good thing.
Are there enough surprises?
Are character-reaction scenes deep and interesting?
Read chapter ending for read-on prompts
Are there places you can replace describing how a character feels with actions?
Do I use visual, sensory-laden words?
Dialogue is almost always strengthened by cutting words within the lines.
In dialogue, be fair to both sides. Don't give one character all the good lines.
Greate dialogue surprises the reader and creates tension. View it like a game, where the players are trying to outfox each other.
Can you get more conflict into dialogue, even emong allies?
If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸
*camera starts recording. A shadow appears on screen, and in the abyss where a face would be stars twinkle on the other side of a black hole. They wave at you.*
Hi everyone, my name’s Andy (they/them). I am the ghost of-
*lights flicker, not because of anything paranormal but bc someone broke in off camera and started chucking salt everywhere and tripped over the lights* not that kind of ghost, god fucking damn it not aGAIN-
*camera glitches. The lighting is fixed. The only human thing about the Void is their frustration. The nebulas floating across their form manage to convey the utmost annoyance.*
Hi. I’m the Void, or the Abyss, and you can call me Andy. I’m the ghost of universes that once were. *squints at someone off camera, celestial orbits clearly raising a frying pan just off frame* if you mention the multiverse I swear to god-
*camera glitches*
So yeah, I’m travelling around, dipping into different stories and fixing them up, trying to give them a happier ending, y’know?
*if the Void had eyes, they would be sad. Instead, there is only the constant drift of broken planets and colliding stars.*
I’ve seen so many things end badly for the people, or characters, involved, I want to try and make it a little bit better, one story at a time. Like the Good Place, except in the found family sense and not in the making me bawl my fucking EYES out at the end-
*camera glitches*
-just a silly little nerdy cosmic mess trying to have fun. I hope if you are interested, check out my blog for talking about my stories, to the writing process, to just generally fun things to talk about. I hope if you do put some faith in this Not-Universe, you enjoy reading or chatting, and that it makes you smile. If you do, come talk to me! I’m always looking to meet new people whenever I drop in on another world.
Even if you don’t say anything, have fun, and remember: you are never alone, even if you can’t see all the stars surrounding you.
*The sweet moment is interrupted by the thumping footsteps of a large animal of some kind, and something knocks into the camera, sending it to the floor as the Void, meteors flying, tries to shoo the beast*
Sorry, Ghost gets a little over excited when he meets a new friend- Ghost, quit slobbering all over me you oversized bread basket-
*camera glitches to a close up of a very ruffled Void, dwarf planets askew and stardust swirling as they hurry to say farewell* Ok, enjoy! Bye!
*camera cuts*
Dick: “Either Cass or Jason, though I’m leaning more towards Cass, Bruce has always been a girl dad”
Jason: “Cass, that’s his daughter”
Tim: “Jason. … Did I answer that to quickly? If it’s any consolation I think Dick has a chance.”
Cass: *sign for bat and then sun* “Duke, he’s special”
Steph: “I’m not one of his kids so I don’t know why I’m here, but I’d say Tim or Cass cause they’re my favorites. I would include Duke in this list but he wronged me” *checks watch* “12 hours ago.”
Duke: “Probably Dick, but neither of them know it cause they’re blind when it comes to eachother. I also think Cass, but I think everyone else is going to say Cass so I’m trying to give us a higher chance of getting it right.”
Damian: “Richard or myself, but I believe Cassandra would be a promising candidate.”
—|—
Bruce: “Who ever is making me worried or aggravated the least at the given moment I’m asked. Right now it’s Dick because he’s been in New York for two weeks with the titans. Jason would also be in the running but he blew up a building ten days ago for no reason. They’ve all done something they shouldn’t have in the last forty eight hours.”
fic where steve already knows he's bi but robin keeps trying to tell him. steve's known he's had a crush on eddie for months at this point but today just happens to be the day where eddie walks in during a slow shift at family video and robin looks up at the perfect moment to catch steve's soft, dopey smile.
and in that moment, robin connects the dots. the music in steve's car being just love songs on loop. steve walking into work in a lovesick haze. steve going out of his way to work his schedule so he could always be the one to pick the kids up from hellfire.
oh.
oh.
eddie ducks into the horror section, and robin throws her full body weight towards steve, who yelps not unlike a stray cat.
"you like eddie," robin hisses.
"yeah, no shit!" steve reaches for the collar of his polo like he's clutching imaginary pearls. "jesus christ, robin, what the fuck."
ignoring him, robin continues. "no, steve," she says, soft look on her face, "you like like him."
steve frowns, nodding slowly. "i-i know that, robin. we're not in third grade anymore, you can say 'crush', it's not going to give you cooties," he says, frown falling to reveal a teasing look.
"wait, what?"
"robin, did you...?"
they stare at each other intensely for what could perhaps be aeons.
"YOU NEVER TOLD ME-"
"I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU-"