#shadow user reader

WARNINGS/TAGS + sfw, gender neutral o/c or reader insert, vague descriptions of violence.

A/N + was doing some research on abilities for this serious when i realized the severe lack of shadow abilities across the board and was so offended cause they would be such cool powers to explore and have so have this! enjoy!

★ the term most often used to describe her/him/them is 'mousey' ♥︎ in case that doesn't tell you enough about them, it's because she/he/they are so quiet and skittish ♥︎ walking jump-scare victim... even as she/he/they grow more comfortable around team members and leaguers, will still scream someone bumps into them

★ nightwing is very relieved to find out that fear suddenly fizzles away the moment a mission starts  ♥︎ just turns silent and her/his/their eyes stay open wide the whole time ♥︎ gives off the appearance of a creepy doll or mannequin ♥︎ jaime hates it so much poor boy was brought to tears first time around cause he was so upset by how she/he/they almost didn't blink once

★ ironically people are always intimidated by her/his/their appearance ♥︎ she/he/they could be really tall, thanks to chunky heeled shoes or even just being tall ♥︎ dark, shapeless and androgynous goth or styles (she/he/they would suit victorian-esque styles) ♥︎ PIERCINGS!!! she/he/they are covered in em!!!

★ beast boy loves her/him/them like she/he/they are siblings ♥︎ guys i know i'm always pairing the scary quiet person with the happiest bubbliest of people but shut up it's cute ♥︎ the dynamic is just little happy puppy dragging around this scary but whimpy doberman ♥︎ eventually gets dragged by another cheery member (impulse) into his little duo with blue beetle ♥︎ blue hates to admit it but he found her/him/them so creepy to begin with, he couldn't stand being around her/him/them cause she/he/they terrified him ♥︎ but after learning that she's/he's/they're just really quiet, end up getting along well ♥︎ is also an silent pair with superboy- words are rarely exchanged between the two but it just works and neither care enough to ask

★ there's a running theory in the team (and leaguers) that they're a vampire ♥︎ superman, flash and green lantern have a bet going as we speak

★ absolute weapon when it comes to undercover infiltration ♥︎ her/his/their ability of literally becoming a puddle of shadows and jumping from shadow to shadow of things around her/him/them makes it so she/he/they are difficult to catch when scoping out locations

★ shines brightest in dark environments ♥︎ she/he/they prefer joining missions at/past sunset ♥︎ if she/he/they have to do a morning missions, it takes her/him/them longer to scope out areas because it's harder to hide as a smoking shadow in broad daylight for obvious reasons

★ the longer she/he/they use their ability without becoming (what i've coined as) the shadow, it almost starts to take over her/his/their body ♥︎ always starts from her/his/their right eye ♥︎ when her/his/their pupil and sclera turn black, it starts spreading- up her/his/their cheekbone and forehead, across her/his/their nose bridge into her/his/their other eye, down her/his/their jaw and neck ♥︎ if left long enough, it will take over her/his/their body ♥︎ the shadows look pure nothingness on her/his/their face, leaving her/him/them with scary looking hollow parts of their body thanks to how dark and unreflective the shadow is, it also lets off a faint black smoke that adds to how menacing it looks

★ does her/his/their best to stay off the battlefield ♥︎ can ambush and take out guards or soldiers from the shadows with ease, but the moment she's/he's/they're put face to face with an villain? she/he/they want to die instantly ♥︎ she's/he's/they've just accepted the fact that she/he/they can't fight despite canary and nightwing trying to convince her/him/them otherwise because her/his/their shadows could be crazy powerful during a fight

★ worst comes to worst, she's/he's/they're stuck with no other option but to fight, she/he/they force the shadows to take over ♥︎ before she/he/they do, she/he/they have a couple of tricks she/he/they try first to buy some time ♥︎ if the person she's/he's/they're fighting hasn't actually seen them, morphs into the shadow of a leaguer she/he/they hope would scare them (used it on a riddler goon once as batman and they fainted) ♥︎ forcing the other into the shadows (works alright, best it can do is send someone into a state of shock for a while, worst it can stun someone for a couple of seconds) ♥︎ taking over someone using shadows (it's more extreme than the last, but the most she/he/they can do is control the person's body and try to keep them away from herself/himself/themselves until help arrives) ♥︎ last resort- let the shadows take her/him/them over and worry about the consequences later ♥︎ needs to get shocked or sedated out of that form

★ first character i think would fit in great in the season 2 team ♥︎ i know it's not obvious because all my work is season 1 characters but season 2 is actually my favourite (except when they put wally in the speed-force... can't believe he isn't out yet)  ♥︎ is a perfect fit for the second team

★ could very easily be blind on some level and most of the team wouldn't have a clue for ages ♥︎ teammates wouldn't realise it easily because she/he/they seem to navigate everything normally but that's because of how she/he/they use shadows to their advantage ♥︎ everything has a shadow one way or another, so she/he/they'd 'see' the world around her/him/them ♥︎ people start noticing when she's/he's/they're in a bright location because they seem to stumble, struggle to find things nearby, etc. ♥︎ would also be a cool concept if natural vs artificial lighting affected it- maybe LEDs make it harder to see vs the light from the sun or moon

★ in theory is such insane villain material but is too nice and jumpy