Beth4LC

Fanfic writer of roving obsessions, most recently Batfam and Superman & Lois. Beth4LC on AO3.

[beth4lc]

Jason watches the Lego Batman movie and keeps humming “everything is awesome”

Hahaha this is great. That song is such an earworm, too, it would be stuck in literally everyone's head all the time!

[beth4lc]

Will there be more Roy and Lian?

Thanks for so many updates!

Ooo yes, I definitely want to bring Roy and Lian back soon! I just need to figure out what the story will be. I had planned to include Roy in the story I am currently drafting, actually, but I decided against it because Things Happen and poor Roy already has to sit with the guilt of Jason's broken arm; he doesn't need any more catastrophes!

[beth4lc]

fic where jason has to outwardly be like “i refuse to accept this cigarette!!” even though what he really wants to say is givemethatcigaretterightnow-

Hahaha okay but even if Jason might think he wants the cigarette, he actually can't handle smoking anymore! In Muscle Memory, he realizes it makes him feel sick. And with where the series currently is, he's barely been exposed to cigarette smoke at all, so the connection he used to have to it has really faded away.

Of course, he would absolutely feel weird about that when he becomes a teenager and some of his friends start smoking and/or vaping and he doesn't feel that compulsion at all! I love playing with the idea that Jason's actually growing up very sheltered this time around. Aside from the childhood vigilantism, of course. 🤪

And, I don't know if people caught it, but this is why Bruce was so against the idea of Gordon smoking around Jason as Sparrow in Word on the Street. He's determined to keep Jason from ever starting up this time around, and he's willing to do whatever it takes!

[beth4lc]

ALTERNATIVELY: imagining a fic where jason’s asked by his friends at school “hey, jason, what was your mom like?” and jason having an internal silent meltdown because he did not remember what the cover backstory was for this question, and he had not thought about how he was gonna bluff his way through this one - and he had not thought about sheila and catherine like this in years! and the whole time he’s sweating profusely because he’s simultaneously outrageously self-conscious about how he’s being perceived right now (the Classic Childhood Experience of being an acutely socially-anxious 9 year old).

Okay, I keep meaning to dig deeper into Jason's feelings about his mom! Mostly Catherine because that's who actually counts for that. For whatever reason, I can't figure out how to shape all the different feelings and stuff into a fic!

I like your suggestion of someone asking him about her, because he wouldn't want to lie about her, but he has to at least a little. And his feelings about Catherine are going to be more fragile with him as a kid; he can't bury them under a pile of unhealthy coping mechanisms anymore.

There's this little part of my writer brain that wants to put some kind of spin on all of this rather than just straight-up grief and maybe that's partly what's making me stuck.

It would be good to have Ethan be the one to ask Jason because he's already done a bit of asking about Jason's past, so the precedent is there. (and I'm toying with the idea of Ethan finding out about Jason's de-aging, so this would be a good path to get there...)

[beth4lc]

keep thinking about a fic exploring jason’s first childhood compared to his second childhood. like. him sitting and suddenly thinking to himself, the first time i was nine, i watched the cops arrest my dad for stealing, even though he’d been stealing cuz we couldn’t afford our fucking rent, and now i’m nine again, and my reality is totally different, i don’t know how to feel about this. and then silently having a freakout.

This is such an important theme for the Soft series! I totally agree with what you're saying, but right now I like treating it as a recurring theme rather than one stand alone fic. These kinds of feelings have definitely popped up for Jason during Birthday Boy and in Rich Kid Problems, and probably in other fics that I'm not thinking of right away.

It's this constant thing nagging at him, reminding him that his childhood is extremely different and that he's going to grow up as a very different person than before as a result of it. I think it'll for sure pop up in future fics, too, so keep an eye out!

[beth4lc]

Jason as Sparrow

Putting my unrefined drawing skills to work so people can get an idea of what I'm envisioning for Soft AU Jason's vigilante uniform. I like the idea of it being very Red Hood inspired, but with a few key changes.

[beth4lc]

What if Jason becomes addicted to a phone game and Bruce needs to start setting rules?

AHH! Okay, this idea has actually been sitting on my ideas list for forever now! I keep pushing it off to write other stuff. 😅

But I do really like it, and I think it'd be good to explore. Jason's got a little kid brain which is not nearly as good at self control as an adult one, and those mobile games know exactly how to hook people in!

Plus, Jason's unrestricted access to his phone is one of the few hold-overs from his adult independence and it always makes for such good angst to dig into that.

One of these days I'll get to it, I'm sure!

[beth4lc]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Burying a sigh, Jim shrugged. “Not much. But I got a, uh, tip that said I should request a meeting tonight. I thought you might have something for me.”

“A tip,” Batman echoed.

Jim held his gaze steady. Maybe he’d been the one to light the signal, but he sure as hell wasn’t the organizer of this little meeting; that was squarely on the Bats. And Batman had to know where this particular message came from.

Then, a voice piped up. “Was it Oracle?”

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Gotham City Residents & Jason Todd Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Jim Gordon (DCU) Additional Tags: Original Character(s), Batfamily (DCU), Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Age Regression/De-Aging, Kid Jason Todd, Vigilante Jason Todd, POV Outsider Series: Part 54 of Soft Summary:

It's official, Gotham has a new vigilante. As Jason settles into his new identity as Sparrow, he makes an unforgettable impression in all sorts of ways.

[beth4lc]

I think your Google search history bc of Soft is hilarious. Like I’m just imagining what the FBI person watching you search things up will say

Oh, yes, this is the plight of all fanfic writers! Most of my searches are pretty bland, though. My most recent one was "cost of a happy meal", and you are free to speculate on how that will come in! And then a lot of it is me checking if something is a Canadian thing or if it's also in the US. 😅

The one questionable search I did not end up doing was related to alcohol tolerance in children for Privilege, which is the story when Jason thoughtlessly downs Dick's cocktail at a charity gala.

It felt very wrong to be searching up how much alcohol it'd take to get a small child drunk, and I also hope that there wouldn't be a clear answer anyway because who would seriously be doing studies on that?? In the end, I decided to keep the drink as a cocktail because those have varying amounts of alcohol in them and so it could be whatever would work.

[beth4lc]

Jay can sttart taking naps when heading out so he can stay up🥹

Aw yes he absolutely should do that! Now, the question is... Did he start doing this on his own, or did Alfred/Bruce/someone have to convince him? If he did start napping on his own, he'd definitely try to hide it because he'd be worried about people thinking he's too young to go on patrol after all. If it was someone else's idea, it would take a lot of work before Jason would go along with it!

[beth4lc]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

“Master Jason, if you don’t stand still, I won’t be able to make the correct adjustments.” Alfred did his level best to pin Master Jason down as he tacked the temporary cape into place, but it was an uphill battle, even after the admonishment.

“Sorry, Alfie. It’s just— really cool. I like how swishy you made it.”

“Hm. Well, after all these years, I have something of a handle on it.” With the fabric finally in place, Alfred released his hold of the squirmy, overexcited boy.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd Characters: Jason Todd, Alfred Pennyworth, Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Batfamily (DCU), Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Kid Jason Todd, Vigilante Jason Todd, Secret Identity Series: Part 53 of Soft Summary:

After a long wait, Jason is finally ready to head out into Gotham as a vigilante with the rest of his family. Well... he's almost ready. There's just one thing he needs to figure out first.

[beth4lc]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

“So, then, that’s when Babs said that Cass needed to take the rest of the night off. And then I said she should come over here!”

“I guess it’s all the same germs, huh?” Tim asked as he leaned back in his chair.

From the laptop screen, Jason shrugged with a sheepish grin. “Yeah but it’s— Well, it’s not totally my fault. Cass is the one who’s always hugging me.”

“Sure.”

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne Characters: Jason Todd, Tim Drake (DCU), Bruce Wayne, Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Batfamily (DCU), Domestic Batfamily (DCU), Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Sickfic, Sick Jason Todd, The family that shares germs together stays together, Kid Jason Todd, Cute Jason Todd, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Family Fluff Series: Part 52 of Soft Summary:

Jason gets sick, which is a pretty common (and crummy) thing that happens when you're a kid. This time, though, he realizes something new during his illness. Something that can actually maybe help some of the people in his family.

[beth4lc]

Idea: maybe in pathways seniors do that walking thorugh the halls when younger kids are watching but with Duke and Jason!

That is cute! In the current timeline, Duke will be graduating next school year so I'm definitely going to be keeping this in mind. 💜

[beth4lc]

Someone (Bruce) is going on a date and Jason gets upset

Aww poor kiddo Jason doesn't want to give up his dad! I think there's definitely a story to be told there, although I haven't been able to find the time to develop it yet! I'm too distracted giving everyone headcolds. 🤪

[beth4lc]

What if Jason gets in serious fight with someone?

Maybe Damian goes too hard on him during training/sparing?

Like, a fight with a sibling or something? I'd have to figure out what would lead to that happening since Jason is so cemented as the baby of the family at this point. No one's going to want to fight him like that!

He could definitely get into a bad fight once he's out working as a vigilante, though, and there would be a lot of stuff to work through with that.

[beth4lc]

Tim flicked the TV off. “That’s probably enough for tonight, huh?” Jason snapped his head up. “Wait, what? Why?” “Well, it’s getting kinda late—” “It’s only nine o’clock!” A whine started to sneak into Jason’s voice, and Tim braced himself. So much for doing this subtly. “Sure, but… you know, if you’re feeling a bit tired…” Jason’s face twisted. “No! I’m not tired! I wanna stay up with you!”

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne Characters: Jason Todd, Tim Drake (DCU), Bruce Wayne, Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Batfamily (DCU), Domestic Batfamily (DCU), Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Sickfic, Sick Jason Todd, The family that shares germs together stays together, Kid Jason Todd, Cute Jason Todd, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Family Fluff Series: Part 52 of Soft Summary:

Jason gets sick, which is a pretty common (and crummy) thing that happens when you're a kid. This time, though, he realizes something new during his illness. Something that can actually maybe help some of the people in his family.

[beth4lc]

Soft AU Jason's Vigilante Name

Okay, zero promises I will follow these results, but I am curious to know what readers think about Jason's potential vigilante name. I listed some of my personal favourites in this poll, but not every single one of them, plus I'm sure there are more out there. Feel free to chime in with others in the comments!

Jason's codename should be...

Flamebird

Red Wing

Shadow

Sparrow

Other (I'll comment my idea)

Voting ended onMay 24

Some more info under the cut:

Flamebird: Okay, it's right there for the taking. Flamebird is the counterpart to Nightwing in Kryptonian legend and so it would fit with Jason taking it on as a way to be closer to Dick. Plus, he could have a fire-inspired uniform, which I think an eight-year-old kid would be super excited about.

Red Wing: As in Red-winged Blackbird. Because I do like maybe sticking to the bird theme and look at this beauty! Again, thinking of the uniform potential, this would be good inspiration.

Shadow: Because Jason is so little and will be attached to at least one of the other team members at all times, I think this would be a fun name. He'd be totally invisible to the criminal element and then, before they've realized it, this kid drops down on them and takes them out. 🖤

Sparrow: Another good bird name, imo. And just look at this one in the pic! Talk about a uniform an eight-year-old could get behind! I'm imagining one of those mohawk helmets or something that could mimic the plumage on this bird's head. 😂