#'no like i can get the riddler but mr. freeze just loved his wife' he's a scientist most of them have some degree of giftedness

[alinedreams]

Controversial Batman opinion: every relevant character in Batman, heroes and villains alike, is neurodivergent to some degree...

... Except for Alfred, who has to secretly make sure their neurodivergences don't clash too much. Yes, even the villains'.

[helpfandom]

Analysis on YANDERE PLATONIC TAS Batman Villains. Pt 1.

THIS IS NOT THE NEW ANIMATED SERIES. Strictly ONLY The Animated Series.

Villains:

MR. FREEZE

RIDDLER

CLAYFACE

POISON IVY

MAD HATTER

CATWOMAN

What I am using as the archtypes: https://www.tumblr.com/helpfandom/724022554446135296/types-of-yandere?source=share YANDERE_AUXILLARY made it!!!!

I find it so curious that people neglect Platonic as a yandere version, {not to say that I am a pioneer, no no no, but rather that people don't write about it as much as romantic.} And so, here is my analysis on various TAS Batman Villains. Of course, this is part one, as there are many TAS villains. I just need to get to them.

Also, side note. Thank you TAS writers for already making Mad Hatter a yandere so now I have less work to do.

Mr Freeze: Now, he is the yandere type of Obsessive, Overprotective, Clingy. He found something else to focus on, and it happened to be you. Reader would be more of the friendly type, more outgoing for Mr. Freeze to have such an obsession with them. He wouldn't stalk you as much, more so just an immediate kidnap the next time he sees you. Most likely catalyst for his yandere swap would be dealing with the loss of his wife. He lost his wife. He won't lose his kid too. Maybe Reader was there to help, or maybe he saw his wife in you. No matter what it was, as soon as there is an obsession, he wants to keep you. You're screwed as soon as it began. He's overprotective, constantly hovering over you. "I've lost too much. I won't lose the last thing of my wife, too!"

Riddler: Hmm... His yandere archetypes for platonic is... Possessive, Delusional, Sadistic, and Self-Indulgent. His egotistical personality, tied with an obsession with a kid who is unafraid to throw hostility back? Not a good pair for Gotham. In his mind, to not be afraid of him, or to throw hostility back at him, must mean that you like him. And with his intelligence, how could you not? His catalyst, well, there isn't really a catalyst per say, more so he was already obsessed with beating Batman and being intelligent, so why wouldn't he be obsessed with someone who can challenge him? He's more of a stalker type, only kidnapping when Batman and Robin get a little too close to you for his comfort. You're just like a little him, well you have to be taught by the best, most intelligent, and that's him. "Well well, my dear child. You seem to have escaped, but I'm sure you know that you won't be out for long..."

Clayface: He is... Clingy, Manipulative, Impulsive, and slightly Sadistic. He would be obsessed likely with a theatre kid, or someone who enjoys the fine arts {So an Art Kid, Band Kid, Choir Kid, etc.} He would see that and miss the days when he could do that, when he could act or enjoy the arts. Because he can transform his shape into anybody, he transforms himself into people close to you, of course he stalks them ahead of time so that he can properly assume their character, but he quickly kills them off so he can assume that role in your life. If it was a friend who had a crush on you, he enjoys watching the life leave their eyes. How dare they try to ruin your potential with their desires? He uses someone in a position of power, too. Likely a teacher, or if you have a director? Boom, suddenly you have the main role, or a solo, or you won the first place in an art competition. Who knows what kind of a catalyst would be there, all I can tell you is that BOOM! You're being kidnapped by someone you trusted deeply. You watch your former mentor's skin droop off of this, this person, who's kidnapping you, revealing a rocky, clay texture. Clayface. "Heya kid, you already slipped up and called your teacher Dad, so I know you can for me too. Here, would looking like them help?"

Poison Ivy: Her yandere archetypes are Overprotective, Clingy, and attempts to be Manipulative. Delusional, but yet Lucid; She has delusions about Reader, but not in the 'ah, yes. Reader loves me too.' She would be a little apprehensive at an uncaring Reader, after all, if you're not for plants, you must be against plants. For an uncaring Reader to work, Reader must be a plant lover. Poison Ivy would see this, and suddenly everything makes sense. She assumes that Reader puts up a fake persona so that Reader can care for plants in their free time, so that no one knows that Reader loves plants. She loves that about Reader, and that's why she gets obsessed. She wants to keep the only other plant lover in Gotham and protect them against the cold, cruel world. She would originally try a sporeling, but she misses the real you so that plan fails and that's why she would kidnap you. "Come here my Rosebud, the world is cruel. Let me be your mother, like Mother Earth."

Mad Hatter: His characteristics are Delusional, Self-Indulgent, Overprotective, and Clingy. Who truly knows why he started to care for you? Perhaps you reminded him of someone a little too much... Nevertheless, not what we are here to focus on. He would not be a stalkerish type, but he would delude himself into believing you love him like a father. He would not be afraid to use his mind control on you. As soon as he manages to get you under his control, you're screwed. You're gone from Gotham forever. He has been shown to be willing to do it before, with Alice. I think he would be willing to do it until he gets you to the safe house which looks a lot like one of the sets for Alice in Wonderland... He would be overprotective, scared that Batman would take away his kid, take away the few things in life he loves. "NO NO NO! Batman simply cannot take away my child too!"

Catwoman: She is Clingy, Manipulative, Impulsive. She has been shown to be someone with a ton of money, {Paying $10,000 dollars for a charity that she loves, a lot of money, period, but also for 1992} So I feel that she would be willing to use that against her kiddo, saying that it's okay for Reader to use her money, and then guilt tripping Reader {who, realistically, wouldn't give a shit, but I digress.} Into staying with her to pay off the debt. Her clingy and Impulsiveness is because of when she was involuntarily transformed into an animal, some things stayed the same, and now that she found her cub? Even Batman can't fight a wild animal for her kid. "Lioncub, why are you worried? Mommy's got enough money for the both of us."

[phantom-dc]

Dad Hood - part 14

Bruce was getting a weird feeling. He thought that with Jason coming clean about having a kid and with he misunderstanding about Jason being cloned cleared up that things would go back to normal. But the way his sons were acting told him that there was still something he didn’t know. It likely had something to do with Danny, but he wasn’t sure what. Danny was a sweet kid, always eager to help others and make new friends. Bruce had still no clue what Dick, Tim and Jason were hiding from him and it nagged at him. He was suspicious that it was something big, otherwise one of them would’ve ratted the others out by now. If not to him then to Duke, Steph or Cass. Even Alfred didn’t know what was going on, and there were times Bruce suspected him of being an all-knowing being only pretending to be human. Bruce decided to keep an close eye. It’s not like he could investigate the Joker case any further before J’ohn came back from Mars anyway.

‘Grandpa Bruce, is daddy’s doll dry yet?’

Bruce looked down. Danny was looking at him with big eyes, waiting for the paint on their self-made Red Hood action figure to dry. Checking it with his finger, Bruce found it had dried and was ready.

‘It seems he is, champ. Here you go, you can play all you want with him. Be careful not to break him, ok?’

After Bruce handed Danny the action figure, Danny got really excited. He immediately ran back to his other toys so he could play out the stories his uncle’s told him about. Though they were made child-friendly, of course. Danny immediately gathered the Batman, Nightwing and Red Robin toys. He even had a Mr. Freeze and Riddler toy. Mr. Freeze had no problem with his visage being used as long as a portion of the money went to his wife’s cure. Riddler had seen it as a contest with Batman, so his toy even came with pre-recorded riddles! Seeing Danny play with them, Bruce turned to the other people in the room.

‘Dang, Bruce. You’re really playing into the grandpa role, aren’t you?’

Jason smirked at Bruce. It was a good thing that there wasn’t much happening in Gotham. With things calm in the city, he could stay a bit longer and the family could bond. Jason couldn’t remember the last time things were like this. He started to wonder if he should tell everyone how Danny took care of his Lazarus problem… Nah, they would just ask more questions and he really didn’t want to put his Soul on display again. Never again.

‘You’re not going anywhere, Red Hood! We’ll skin you alive and turn you into a coffee table!’ Danny said, holding the Mr. Freeze toy.

Dick, Jason, Tim and Bruce looked at Danny. Where had he picked up that language? Sure, Jason wasn’t always able to watch what he said around Danny, but he never threatened to turn someone into furniture? Maybe he should try it though. He bet he could make it work, with his reputation and all.

‘You are going down! The Red Hood never loses! Pew pew!’ Danny was pretending the Red Hood toy could shoot lasers from his hands.

Dick thought it was adorable. Did Danny think Jason had laser guns? Did he see those in cartoons? Maybe Danny liked those sci fi cartoons that were popular nowadays. With all the glow-in-the-dark stars Danny put up in his room it was obvious that Danny loved space. He wonders if Danny had those stars in his old house.

‘I am the Question Mark, and you will question why you ever thought you could win!’ Danny was holding the Riddler toy, and for some reason putting up a mad-scientist voice.

Bruce was worried. What had Danny been through that he knew about stuff like this? The threats and the obvious mad-scientist. Did the person Danny was copying the voice off the same one as the person that tried to clone him? It made him think. After Jason had told him that Danny had adoptive parents out there, he had avoided the issue. He’d been too happy to have a new family member. But now? Would it be safe for Danny? He should investigate these ‘parents’, so he could decide if it would be safer for Danny to stay here. If he was going to stay, Bruce knew that he would be fine. Everyone loved Danny, and Jason was being a very good father-figure to him. Bruce could tell that Jason loved his son very much, and would do anything for him. Somewhere, deep down, Bruce wished he could say the same thing.

‘You’re defeated, Question-Mark-man! No evil people will harm the innocents while the Red Hood is here!’ Danny put the Red Hood toy’s foot on the Riddler toy, in a triumphant pose.

Jason smiled. It was nice to be his kids hero. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Bruce looked at him with a very proud look in his eyes.

‘Jason, I must say, I’m proud of you. You’re a good father.’

And then Danny phased the Riddler toy into the floor.

Bruce, Jason and Dick were looking at Danny. Danny, who had just phased a toy into the floor. Seeing the gears turning in Bruce’s head, Tim quickly scooped up the kid and left the room. As Bruce slowly turned to look at Jason and Dick, Jason decided to make the first move:

‘IT WAS DICK’S FAULT!’

Dick was shocked by that. They immediately started arguing. Dick accused Jason of throwing him under the bus. Jason accused Dick of leaving Danny alone in public. Dick threw back that Jason didn’t warn him about Danny being so much to handle. Jason asked why on Earth he told his 5-year old child that he puts people in the ground, this never would’ve-

‘ENOUGH!’

Bruce’s voice boomed through the room, silencing the 2 brothers. He was furious. His grandson was the reason the Joker was dead, and his own children tried to hide it from him! Bruce took a deep breath. Dick and Jason were looking guilty. Bruce was reminder of how they looked when they got into trouble as kids, but this was serious. The fight the two had did reveal a few things to Bruce.

‘So, Danny is a meta? And you, Dick, told him that bad people are to be buried alive?’

Dick didn’t look him in the eyes:

‘He wanted to know what Jason did for work, and I was overwhelmed and it just came out? I knew I messed up as soon as I said it, but Dany didn’t seem to care. I never thought he would-’

Bruce cut him off. He needed more information, not excuses.

‘Does Danny realize he killed someone?’

Jason said Danny didn’t, at least Jason thinks he didn’t. Danny never showed signs of that, but with all the things that Danny does do it might have slipped through. Jason still isn’t sure what things Danny tells him are real and what is a child’s interpretations. Bruce sighed. That was good, at least they didn’t have another trauma to deal with.

‘Ok, we can deal with this. But I do need to know what Danny can do before we can make plans for him. Is phase-shifting his only power?’

Jason looked at Dick with a strange look, that promised nothing good. He pulled out a tiny black notebook, scribbled something in it, claiming to be updating the list and handed it to Bruce.

Invisibility

Cryokinesis

Flight

Soul-pulling-out-powers???

Destructive scream

Super strength

(Flying) Superspeed

Photokineses

Shields

Doesn't need to breath (as often)?

Color changing (Camouflage? Different form?)

Phase-shifting

Bruce read it over. He looked at Jason.

‘Jason. This is like half the Justice League’s powers.’

Jason just nods. Dick tells him this is only what they’ve seen Danny do. They have no clue what else he can do. Danny’s memory is iffy, and couldn’t give them a list himself.

‘We need to figure out where Danny came from. We put this off long enough, but this amount of powers is concerning. I’m guessing you were hiding more form me, so the both of you need to come clean about everything.’

Jason sighed. He knew this was coming. He told Bruce everything. How Danny just showed up, to the Lazarus blood, to being cloned, to being younger than he should be and everything. By the end, Bruce had turned slightly pale. The three decided to use the Bat-computer to find out more.

When they got there, Tim was already working on Danny’s case. He managed to track Danny from the orphanage in Europe that Talia had left him at. There Danny had been adopted by a family called ‘the Fenton’s’, but he had lost sight of them after they moved to the US. No matter how hard Tim tried, he couldn’t find anything. It was almost like there was some sort off wall blocking all information. As much as he hated to admit it, Tim didn’t think that technology would help them much further. Bruce thought for a bit. If technology couldn’t help…

‘Good thing Constantine still owes me a favor, then.’

First - Previous - Next - AO3

[ultra-raging-ghost]

op the best thing your parents can do is get the divorce bless, im sorry about the fighting :( i get you it's the WORST but at least you got to play a cool game🔥🔥 now cmon spill some batjokes go go go

this is the FUNNIEST ask to get without context and i feel like im finally living up to the expectations of an ao3 author, also ty anon i was just super fucking stressed, i got an hour of sleep sunday night/monday morning and then when i was at my friends place i crashed really hard and slept for 14 hours straight and it really helped but anyway okay BATJOKES

okay so i played both seasons i dont have a pc myself but my friend does and they have both seasons and brooooo..... i played the vigilante joker route and i loved it

i sacrificed the FUCK out of catwoman im ngl.... my friend was so surprised but dude i was SO DOWN BAD FOR JOHN!!!!!! IDGAF !!! i was so down bad for john the whole time dude and at the end it was like "oh you were manipulating him into thinking you liked him to get info" NO!!!! I WANTED TO FUCK HIM!!!!!!!

when harley debuted i chose the option of asking john if he was in love with me AND HIS ASS SAID NO BUT ISTG HE WAS IN DENIAL!!! PURELY BECAUSE HE BELIEVED HARLEY TO BE HIS SOULMATE, SHE HIT HIM SHE DOESNT DESERVE HIM LIKE I DO !!!!!

like at some point with catwoman i chose something like against her for john and i was in the MINORITY like it was a 95%/5% Ratio and i was in the 5% and i do NOT regret that shit ‼

otherwise aside from my mental illness about batjokes i had a lot of unpopular opinions according to the peanut gallery (my irl who was watching me play it) like im ngl i gave up batman to keep alfred like HES OUR DAD???? THATS OUR DAD RIGHT THERE AND HIS POINTS WERE VALID, IMMA LISTEN TO HIM HES SMART IDK.....

Otherwise dude... i felt SO bad for harvey (2face)!!!!!! aside from his main storyline (i was very merciful and understanding with him, actually i saved him over catwoman in that one scene so his face didnt get fucked up just his arm in the fire) i read his file on the gotham news reports and dude..... like everything surrounding him is just SO SAD

Also i cannot say this enough tbh i side with mr. freeze every time.... i may be a sucker for romance but that man was trying his hardest to save his wife and from what ive seen he does that in every iteration of batman, like he becomes a villain and gets into illegal shit because his wifes sick and idk man..... like even if he is a villain i really empathize with him??? in the playthrough i offered to keep his wife safe and alive and i took mercy on him when he got infected with the virus and i froze him, like i have confidence in him idk.... i know he probably died bc it turned out the reason the riddler survived was because of the cure that also made him go insane but like my fingers are CROSSED!!!!!

also will say the only thing id change was i was kinda iffy about taking that selfie with john at the funeral, like i didnt do it but idk..... afterwards i thought abt taking that back like dude i NEVER WRONGED that man!!!!!! he was my POOKIE!!!!!! and i lowkey feel like him going crazy in the vigilante route was pushed for by the writers bc it felt a lil.... idk..... like forced but i get it its part of the story line......./silly

my friend played the villain!joker route and from what ive heard its EVEN GAYER and they let me watch them play the last 15 minutes of the villain route so i could see how differently they handled selina and that doll scene was kinda.... idkkkk 👀 like heyyyyy/f

i also heard theres a line from harley in the villain joker route about how he could never get over me and how john always liked me better than her which was SO satisfying because i made batman so jealous over her and john hanging out like im ngl i was so up harleys ass in s2

OH OH other thing id change, i wouldnt sip from harleys slushie, i didnt understand why she was offering it to me but now that i know i wouldnt take it ngl, making john jealous was not worth that slushie !!!!!

uhhh thats all, ty anon :D

[batmanrogues-scenarios]

Gimmie perfect gifts for and from Rouges. Your choice. I just want to know what would they want to get and what would they love to give xD

Sorry it will be so late but it's too good to not use as Christmas request. But because of that have all the Rogues. Hope this is a fair trade

Gifts for Rogues and from Them.

Riddler

Get

I feel like he never really got anything for Christmas so just getting something will make him happy

In the budget? Mug saving #1 Genius

Yes, he is that easie

Give

First of all he would make it a scavenger hunt

Second, it's gonna be something big

Puts their face on a billboard with their greatest accomplishment

Hacks radios to play their favorite songs

Scarecrow

Get

Won't admit it but Jack Skellington and Sally costumes for both of them

This movie was best thing to happen on Christmas

Give

He doesn't know much about presents so might try to sew them something; maybe little Scarecrow plush

Mad Hatter

Get

Hand made hat or a special tea party

It doesn't have to be expensive it just has to have heart

Give

Would go for Alice costume but this is what he wants not S/O so starts asking around their friends of what Y/N likes

Will give them something related to their favorite series, probably some sort of merch

Penguin

Two-Face

Get

It's gonna be cheesy but Harvey would love to get a tie, Gilda used to give him one in an old fashioned way and he misses it

Harv has plans in bed

Give

Romantic dinner and necklace

Get

This man can have whatever he wants so getting him a present is tricky.

I think something simple and hand made will melt his heart like scarf

Give

Everything. He will get his chick whatever they want.

Black Mask

Get

Probably surprise in bed, if you know what I mean

Give

Similar to Penguin, he can get them everything

Most likely will get them the most beautiful mask, with gems

Mr Freeze

Get

His wife-

Nah, it would be Christmas miracle but he knows to not expect that

Custom-made snowglobe with them all in it, it would make him cry

Give

A big ice sculpture of S/O showing their most beautiful parts

Joker

Get

Batmobile, he will be head over heels to annoy him at Christmas

Give

I can't imagine him giving gifts but might do something with a bang

Explodes some building and there will be fireworks for S/O and he bought some chocolate or scarf

Music Meister

Get

Write him your own song he would be head over heels

Give

100 % will do flash mob for them

Harley Quinn

Get

Hand decorated hammer, she would hit so many stuff!

Give

Would rob a mall and grab everything that is expensive or cute looking giving it to S/O

Poison Ivy

Get

Isn't picky, romantic evening would be enough

Give

Would grow them garden in the room with every color, with a beautiful smell

Catwoman

Get

Pearls or diamonds would be nice

Give

Also probably some jewelry

[toothybat]

Cover art, Batman, Robin, Batman again, Joker, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, Penguin, Riddler, + bonus baby jokes

Remember when the lead singer from My Chemical Romance — Gerard Way — came this close to making a Batman comic for DC?

I went through his twitter where he released all the art, and compiled all the tweets with info about it. More under the cut!

About The concept art: "Cover art to an approved DC comics proposal for a “Vertigo” Batman limited series. Never got to write it. Sadface.” “Each one took about 3 hours to produce. I would do about 2 a day. Weeks of making notes and planning though, pulling ref”

The comic proposal: “6 issues. All one word titles. First issue is “Rats” “So theres no confusion-there’s are from a comic I pitched to DC the year Gab and I won the Eisner. Drawn prior to CW or DXD, at home in LA.“

Why it never got produced: “Just got busy is all. Dan and Ian at DC were crazy supportive of the project but my life took a different turn at the time” “They wanna put it out I just never have time to write it! I think it’s been approved for 5 years haha” [5 years as of June 2013]

Batman “He has ESP, can turn into a bat, and can see into the future, but only he knows about these powers” “the inside of the cape has a massive drawing of a magical kingdom that he made up, like his version of Heaven” “He only eats rats” Bruce Wayne: “Never got around to him. He’s pretty basic, though. I guess the biggest change is his mental hospital buzz cut”

Robin “This is Dick” “He’s more subdued because he’s the only person in the book that isn’t nuts” “He even has his bird medal from BP, or should if its not on the drawing”

Joker “Joker was also the youngest character in the book, about 19. A year or two younger than Robin.” “Touch me I’m sick” “I love that he just wears little white ninja slippers!”

Mr. Freeze “I’m Mr. Freeze! I like to dress up as my dead wife in armor I sculpted out of scrap-metal from her car accident!”

Two-Face “The Two Face was supposed to get a re-do. My least fav. Outfit is great though, since he’s a cop.”

NOT PICTURED Alfred “...he’s the leader of the Order of Hecate. Homeless knights that live under Gotham, who adopt Batman at 30 yrs old” “But whatevs, I suppose he could just be a butler and everyone could show up to work wearing the same clothes for 50 years.”

Catwoman and Harley Quinn “There was no Harley in the book. And Catwoman was very strange.” “Can’t find the Catwoman but let’s just say she’s very “Grey Gardens””

DC also released some Batman and Joker figurines based on these designs!

[thessalian]

Thess vs The Batman

One of the things I love about watching generations of people in a very rapidly changing world is their approaches to certain types of media. It’s really telling, to me, of what we’re going through and what the general mood is in terms of changing it. Best example? Batman.

Nobody I knew looked very hard at Batman and his rogue’s gallery of villains when I was a kid. They were cool, sure, but they were villains. We followed the narrative and were pretty much okay with that. These days, though? We’re looking at our deluxe suite of mental health problems and our coping mechanisms for same, and we’re looking at a world where the wealthy could help but don’t, and we’re putting it all together and we go, “So ... why doesn’t Batman do something more constructive than beat them up and put them in a particularly shitty high-security prison masquerading as a mental health care facility?”

Because, seriously. If Arkham was run worth a damn, Joker could never have got his claws into Harleen because the psychiatric staff would have regular evaluations and his attempts to groom her would not have got far enough to plunge her into that abusive relationship. If the patients/prisoners had more in the way of enrichment, they probably wouldn’t escape so often. Let the Riddler have a YouTube channel. If we had to have Harleen become Harley Quinn, let her have her radio show, along with Poison Ivy and Killer Croc. Hell, build the studios for such right in Arhkam - still under heavy guard, but something for them to do beyond stare at the fucking wall. Hell, you could start a whole radio show and podcast hub just with the villains; let them play their favourite music. Let them run D&D sessions. (Imagine Critical Role but with Batman’s Rogues’ Gallery. Imagine Penguin working through his issues about his appearance by playing a super-charismatic bard, and Killer Croc playing a dragonborn in a world where the only response to face made of scales is “That’s cool”. Imagine the Riddler running his own take on the Tomb of Annihilation. Imagine the Scarecrow running the Ravenloft module in his own inimitable style. Probably with therapists watching to make sure it stays on the healthy side, and also to act as referree when someone like the Joker inevitably becomes That Guy, but still, it’d be hilarious.)

Mr Freeze? Bruce Wayne is rich - let him fund the research he needs to do to save his wife or people like her. We’ve seen enough situations where cures for rare diseases have been announced but then disappear because it’s “not profitable”, but even if the cure never really sees the open market, the research alone would give a great deal of insight into related diseases and benefit the scientific community. And we already know that there are some situations in which Bruce Wayne will look at a bunch of goons and be like, “Come work for me; I pay better and I don’t get violent”. Why doesn’t he set up something like we saw in Gordon Behind Bars and teach some of the less violent inmates to cook so they can get jobs on release? Hell, given Joker’s elaborate use of colour, so long as you were really careful about the ingredients he was using, you could probably end up with him as the next Amaury Guichon (imagine Joker as The Fucking Chocolate Guy; I dare you).

We don’t just want Batman to beat up the villains and keep Gotham safe anymore. Now we want him to change Gotham so the villains just become really weird people living their lives. I mean, we still have views about evil, but we’re more likely to go after Lex Luthor than we are most of Batman’s villains. We see enough of “Wealthy asshole wants world domination” and we want that crushed. When we see people with significant mental health problems acting out, we try to fix it. And we do it through superheroes, same as we ever did.

And as for Batman himself? We write fanfic about his Bruce Wayne life. We write about his being a parent. About his coming out as bi. About his taking on Walmart. About his fixing the injustices we see every day, because he is the only hero who can. Not because he’s The Batman, but because he’s a dude with mental health issues, fathomless compassion, and all the fucking money. Hell, we do the same to Tony Stark, more or less; just less often.

This is why we need fanfic. We’re never going to see any of these rehabilitation ideas in comics because there’s too much need to leave loopholes to return to a status quo. We who are sick to the back teeth of the status quo need someplace where we can actually have the heroes we need and deserve.

[redhoodieone]

Fucking Perfect

A/N: Hey, y’all!!! Here’s another fic that was actually a request from @jasontoddslut. I hope you all enjoy!

WARNINGS: Language, violence, and smut!

It wasn’t that late. With a DVD and a large free pepperoni pizza in hand (the pizza was actually a “thank you” from a local pizza owner after Jason saved his life), Jason couldn’t help but keep smiling underneath his red helmet as he drove to his and Danielle’s home. They were supposed to have a night in; no distractions, no interruptions, and no patrolling, for him at least.

But Bruce had called him for help last minute around 9:00 because Joker decided to break out of Arkham Asylum with every other inmate, from Harley Quinn to Scarecrow. To say the mission was bizarre as hell wouldn’t be exaggerating. Jason and Dick laughed their asses off the entire night because it was like a high school reunion for all of Gotham’s villains. Even Bruce couldn’t help but grin a little when he saw the Riddler and Penguin link arms and skip down the street behind Bane, Two Face, Mr. Freeze, and Killer Croc.

It was one hilarious but memorable sight.

But now all Jason could think about was getting back home to Danielle as he speeds down the streets on his bike from Arkham while holding the box of pizza and DVD. Just thinking about a hot shower, cuddling with Danielle on the couch under a fluffy blanket, and just falling asleep in the comfort of their home makes him consider giving up the vigilante life sometimes.

He wondered what his life would be like not being everyone’s hero.

No more subtle or dangerous injuries. Staying in bed the entire night. Having the ability to go here and there and do everything normal like others. Maybe even settling down somewhere in the countryside, where he can finally retain his own property, perhaps build himself his own auto salvage business where he’ll specialize in fixing and rebuilding expensive, fast cars and bikes.

Having something to call his own has always been a secret dream of his. Only Y/N knows all that.

Jason could just see it now: waking up early to see the beautiful sunrise from the safety on the ground, arm wrapped protectively around his wife, who would be pregnant with their child...

He initially tenses up at that particular thought. Jason has never even spoken about his desire to have kids. Hell, he has always boasted about hating kids; often complaining about them being bratty, loud, and just being unbearable little shits.

Jason even pretends to despise Dick and Barbara’s five-year-old son, Tommy, just because he enjoys pissing them off. But in all honesty, Jason loves his nephew and knows damn well that if anything were to happen to Tommy...Jason would fucking kill them in a heartbeat.

Fuck, even Barbara gets on Jason’s ass about when he’s finally going to settle down and have kids of his own. She and Dick make the normal, perfect life look easy. They were brave and strong enough to walk away from the vigilante life, only promising Bruce that they’ll help him every now and then and only for big emergencies.

Jason couldn’t believe it at first. Dick and Barbara just happily moved to a safe, typical suburban but luxurious home far away from Gotham. They made it look so effortless and picture-perfect.

With Dick and Barbara gone, all Jason has is Tim and Damian around. Which isn’t much considering they have their own lives.

And Jason used to have Y/N, his best friend.

Before Jason’s thoughts could consume him more, he pulls up to the private parking garage at his penthouse. After he parks his bike, he climbs off and removes his red helmet; quickly inhaling air after sweating so much. Holding the helmet underneath his left arm, he carries the pizza and DVD and heads to the elevator.

He sighs heavily; his back hurts like fuck after being thrown around a lot from Killer Croc. He wonders if it would be completely sexist or just entirely fucked up if he asks Danielle for a backrub.

We’ve been together for two years. She knows my line of work, and if she really loves me, she’ll give me an all-body massage...and besides...this is the first time I’m asking for one anyways, he thinks to himself.

The elevator dings and opens for him; revealing the private floor that is his, courtesy of Bruce. If it weren’t for Bruce, Jason wouldn’t have the luxury of such a private and quiet place to call home. Bruce owns the entire building, mostly business associates and employees live and stay here anyways.

Jason walks to the door and opens it; is actually quite stunned that it’s unlocked. Mostly because he’s OCD about that, even if this floor and this entire building is private, Jason still likes to take precaution.

The guy fucking grew up on the streets and has seen and done bad things. Really bad. But he’s not like that anymore. Oh, no he’s not. Now, Jason lives by his new principles, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a badass anymore or is violent by nature. He is still Jason Todd.

Stepping inside his penthouse, Jason kicks the front door shut with his heavy boot and sets the pizza and DVD on the entryway table. He puts his helmet back on and quickly pulls a gun from his thigh holster. Jason takes this seriously, just as with any mission or recon.

He quietly goes down the hallway, immediately notices their bedroom door is cracked open and a light is on. He raises his gun and says...

Fuck it. I’m going in with my gun. Hope this all ends well with no blood.

Jason kicks open the bedroom door and has the most fucked up, perfect view of his girlfriend, Danielle, in bed with another man; a man who is on top of her, fucking her underneath the covers, IN THEIR BED!!!!!

Danielle gasps in surprise. “Jason! What-what are you doing home so early?!” she panics. She sits up and pushes the man off of her. Her tits are on display, after the blanket falls from her chest.

The male brunette is shocked at seeing Jason. The naked man uses the sheet to hide his lower body. Jason thinks this guy is a fucking tool. He’s shaking badly, and he’s sputtering like an idiot.

“Oh, oh God! This is Jason? You’re with fucking Red Hood? Oh, my God...OH, MY GOD! This guy is gonna kill me, Dani! He-he has a fucking gun in his hand! I’m gonna fucking die!” the man cries out.

“SHUT YOUR GODDAMN FUCKING MOUTH, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Jason yells from underneath his helmet. The voice changer that’s built into his helmet makes him sound more dark...even demonic. But Jason could care less about anything and everything right now. All he can think about is beating the shit out of this guy. “WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?!”

Danielle runs a hand through her messy long red hair, and sniffles. She’s actually...crying?

“This is Paul-”

“Don’t fucking tell him my name! Jesus Christ! Are you trying to get me killed?!”

Jason aims his gun and shoots near Paul’s head. The loud, piercing sound fills the room. The bullet hits the wall, but nonetheless scares the shit out of Paul.

Paul covers his eyes and cries. “Of fuck...please don’t kill me. Oh God, please don’t...”

Jason removes his helmet in anger and throws it down. His green eyes are already red-rimmed. He won’t admit he’s crying...God no...his allergies must be acting up.

“So, what the fuck, Dani? You’re seriously sleeping with someone else?” Jason asks, rhetorically of course. “In our house...underneath our covers...in our bed?!”

“Jason, please. I-I didn’t want you to find out this way,” Dani says.

“But you wanted me to find out?” Jason snaps, suddenly moves closer to the bed. Paul moves backwards away from him. “You wanted me to find out, but just not this way? JESUS CHRIST, DANI! What the fuck were you thinking?! Why the hell would you do this to me, after everything we’ve fucking been through!”

“Because you weren’t here! You weren’t here tonight!” Dani yells.

“What the hell does that mean? You decided to cheat on me because I WASN’T HERE TONIGHT?!”

Paul slowly stands up with the sheet. “Maybe I should leave...” he mumbles.

“How about I show you the way out, BUDDY?!” Jason spits out. He grabs Paul’s throat and drags him across the bedroom.

“DON’T HURT HIM! PLEASE DON’T HURT HIM, JASON!” Dani cries out.

Jason was seeing red. He couldn’t see or think straight at all. With a huff, Jason slams Paul down to the floor and drops down to beat the fucking shit out of Paul. His fist keeps coming down hard and fast, and he definitely ignores Paul crying, pleading for him to stop. Jason even ignores the sight of a lot of blood and bones cracking underneath his punches.

“STOP IT! JASON, STOP HURTING HIM, PLEASE!” Dani screams in horror, pulling Jason back by grabbing his leather jacket.

When Jason finally stops, he realizes Paul’s face is almost disfigured because of the blood and swelling, but he doesn’t care. At all.

Jason shoves Dani away from him and glares down at Paul. “Here’s what’s going to happen, Paul. You’re not going to open your fucking mouth. You’re not going to tell anyone about my home. You’re not going to tell anyone about me. Your injuries? You’re going to tell everyone you got your pansy, white ass jumped in an alley and that you obviously lost the fight. And you’re going to walk out of here naked. You’re not going to look at Dani, not talk to her, not even think about her, you’re just going leave. NOW.”

“B-but what about my-my clothes?” Paul stutters.

Jason quickly collects all of Paul’s clothes and opens his bedroom window. He pulls out his lighter and lights the clothes on fire. Jason drops them over the railing. “You don’t need them. After fucking my girlfriend in my home and in my bed, you bet your homewrecking sweet ass that you’ll be walking home in nothing but shame and remorse. Now, get the fuck out of my house before I break your legs next.”

“Yes sir. I’m sorry, sir. No one will ever know about this,” Paul rambles on as he struggles to stand up. Once he does, he quickly leaves the bedroom but not before mumbling. “Why couldn’t she date Green Lantern or-or Batman. Wait! Not Batman! Anyone but Batman and Red Hood!”

As the front door slams shut, Jason turns to face his naked girlfriend, Dani. He feels his chest tighten, causing a pain he hasn’t felt since he was a kid and lost his mother and home. He wants to cry in front of her, maybe even scream at her, but all the anger he felt before is gone now. Jason’s only left with a sense of sadness and he doesn’t even know what to do about it.

The silence is killing them. He’s no fool. He can see she’s trying to hold herself together but is failing immensely because she’s looking up at him with those sad, puppy dog eyes.

But a thought quickly crosses his mind: only Y/N’s puppy dog eyes make him give into her. Every time. Y/N’s Y/C/E eyes weakens him, and he always wants to please her when she looks at him.

But Dani’s eyes don’t. There’s no sense of comfort and warmth in them like Y/N’s.

“I’m...I’m so sorry, Jay,” Dani begins.

“Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that anymore,” Jason interrupts angrily. He doesn’t even know why she’s apologizing. He knows he can’t forgive her. He won’t forgive her.

Dani scoffs. “You can’t seriously be pissed off at me. You’ve fucking cheated before. You’ve slept around like Bruce does. You can’t fucking hold this against me! I gave you a chance!”

“You’re forgetting that I used to do that!” Jason yells. He runs a hand through his messy dark hair and growls under his breath. He needs someone to calm him down. He needs someone to tell him everything’s going to be all right. He needs the comfort and warmth only one person has: Y/N. Jason realizes he needs her now more than ever, and that scares him a bit. “I haven’t done any of that shit since we’ve been together. The second I realized that I was in love with you, I changed. I changed because I wanted to be with you! And you bringing up my past to try to justify your actions is fucking wrong, Dani.”

“Cry me a fucking river, Jason,” Dani spits out.

“Nope. Not this time. Get the fuck out of my house.”

Dani doesn’t put up a fight. She gets dressed, packs a bag of her things, and tells Jason she’ll be back for the rest later. She does glance at him one last time before she walks out though.

“The thing is...I needed my boyfriend, not a hero.”

The door slams shut, leaving Jason frozen in place. The silence is deadly; he can feel his thoughts racing and screaming loud in his head.

He needs Y/N.

Jason needs his best friend.

Tears force themselves out his eyes as he calls Y/N.

“Hello?”

Jason pauses, and he wonders if he’s making a mistake. Maybe she won’t come. He hasn’t been a particularly good friend to her lately. “Y/N, I need you. I...need you, please...”

“I’m on my way.”

Jason knew he was in deep shit after he finished off a new bottle of whiskey before Y/N came over. He couldn’t help himself. After he hanged up with her, he ripped off his costume and stripped down to nothing but his white Calvin Klein boxer briefs. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, even after lowering the thermostat to 62 degrees.

Perhaps the end of his real first serious relationship was suffocating him mentally and physically. He’s never lived with a girlfriend before either.

He was about to open a new bottle of whiskey just as the front door opens and closes.

“Jason?” Y/N calls out.

Jason whips around fast and grins. He’s buzzed, but not quite drunk yet. “Y/N!”

Y/N is stunned to see Jason in nothing but his underwear as he runs to her and embraces her hard. She stumbles back a bit, but he captures her easily to steady her and holds her tightly to his chest.

“You’re soaked...and cold,”

“It’s raining outside like it always does,” Y/N giggles and gently pushes Jason back a bit. “Let me take off my coat and get warmed up.”

Jason allows her, watches intently when Y/N takes off her raincoat. She’s wearing her black and red plaid pajama pants and a Metallica t-shirt he’s positive she stole from him. She kicks off her booties and displays her light blue fuzzy socks he adores.

Jason knew Y/N had to have been in bed when he called, but she came anyway. She always comes to him because she’s always there for him.

She’s always been here for me, hasn’t she? Why haven’t I seen it before? He thinks to himself.

Y/N smiles softly and reaches a hand out to Jason. He takes it, almost hypnotized by how he does anything she wants. She leads them to the couch, but not before she sees the pizza box and DVD on the entryway table. She raises an eyebrow at him.

“That...was my failed attempt at romance tonight,” Jason admits sheepishly.

Y/N shakes her head, but still smiles. “It doesn’t have to go to waste. We can eat the pizza and watch the movie, right? I mean...only if you want to, of course,” she says.

“Only with you, sweetheart.”

Y/N releases his hand and quickly grabs the pizza and movie. She meets him in the living room where Jason’s already sitting down. She smiles and puts the DVD on. But before she sits beside him, she heads over to the kitchen. She returns with two cans of soda and napkins.

Jason looks down when her soft, small hand reaches out to him...only to take away the unopened bottle of whiskey. “No more tonight...please.”

He can’t help but nod his head. She’s right, he’s had enough to drink. He can’t numb his feelings and thoughts anymore. That’s why when Jason starts crying, he doesn’t feel embarrassment or anything. Y/N’s seen him at his best and worst; and she’s still here no matter what.

The movie is playing, but they’re not watching it. Jason can’t even hear it. When he looks up to see why, he can only see Y/N looking at him.

She doesn’t ask why he’s crying. Jason knows Y/N’s caring nature is all about comfort and understanding. That’s why he doesn’t move or say anything when she scoots closer to hug him. The second she wraps her arms around his neck, he cries freely. He embraces her; allows her scent of cinnamon and sandalwood calm him down.

Jesus Christ...has she always smelled so good? Fuck...this perfume is making me hard right now. Jason shamelessly thinks to himself.

“It’s okay, Jay. What you’re feeling right now, it’s not forever. You won’t feel like this again anytime soon. I promise,” Y/N whispers. She runs her hand through his hair. “I’ll always be here for you. Always and forever.”

Jason opens his eyes and pulls back to see Y/N. Clarity finally hits him. His heart beats faster when he looks down to her soft lips and back up to those puppy dog eyes, that he loves so much. She looks back at him with the same intensity, he wonders if she recognizes what he’s just realized.

“You’ve always been mine, haven’t you?” Jason whispers.

Y/N smiles as she runs both her hands up and down Jason’s chest. “It took you long enough to see it,” she answers.

“I’m a fucking idiot,” he says, nodding his head in agreement.

“No, no you just made a mistake and now you’re going to give me what we both deserve,” Y/N says softly.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Jason finally kisses Y/N. He wanted to slam his lips against hers, but he knew she deserved better than that. He takes his time and allows their mouths to move together, so they can really feel each other. But the second Y/N opens her mouth for more, Jason can’t say no and deny her that.

He tastes her as thoroughly as he can, but he wants more. He pulls away and asks her with his eyes. When she nods her head, he gently pushes her back onto the couch and climbs on top of her so their pelvis’ touch appropriately.

“I would take you to my bed, but I have to burn it because it’s seriously fucked up, doll,” Jason says in between his kisses. “Another man’s cum is stained all over my blankets...in case that’s not clear enough, Dani cheated on me.”

Y/N caresses Jason’s cheek and gently smiles at him. He was expecting her to cuss about Dani or get uncomfortable about talking about what happened, but Y/N did neither of those things. Her eyes said it all.

“It’s okay,” Y/N whispers. She leans up a bit to kiss him. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Jason closes his eyes and sighs. Y/N was here, and she’s not going anywhere. And that’s all his heart needs to move forward.

When he opens his eyes, Y/N sits up a bit to take off her t-shirt. She’s braless. Jason’s sharp intake of breath is evident when he can’t take his emerald, green eyes off her perfect tits. Jason helps her remove her pajama pants, along with her panties and socks.

His cock is painfully hard in his underwear. Seeing Y/N’s naked body underneath his is giving him all sorts of naughty ideas, but he knows what he really needs right now.

Y/N knows, too. She bites her bottom lip and pushes down Jason’s underwear, revealing his hard cock. She briefly takes in how thick his dick is and how delicious the precum is smeared across the head.

“I promise I’ll take my time learning what you taste like and what makes you cum. I just...I just need to feel...” Jason struggles out, but when Y/N touches his chest, he inhales deeply. “I need to feel warm. I need to feel...you.”

Y/N nods and looks deep into Jason’s eyes. “Feel me, Jay. I want you to feel all of me.”

Jason bravely pushes his cock inside Y/N’s pussy. He closes his eyes and breathes hard. She was everything he was hoping for. He loved the way her walls were tight, warm, and wet. He lowers his forehead to hers and he bathes in the way she moans. Jason pulls back a bit to look down at her; he smiles at the way she bites her bottom lip and throws her head back.

“Fuck...Jay move, please,” Y/N moans.

He’s more than thrilled to do her request, especially when she moans out his nickname only she can call him.

Jason moves his hips. His cock shifts in and out of her steadily before he thrusts deeper. Y/N wraps her arms around him and meets his thrusts so his cock can hit her g-spot. Jason was proud at that moment for having a cock shaped well enough to hit Y/N’s g-spot; he desperately wants to make her cum so hard.

“Oh, fuck...you feel so good, princess. Do you like taking my cock like this?” Jason moans out.

Y/N moans and wraps her legs around Jason’s waist. “Y-yes! Your cock is so big. Please go harder. I-I want to cum!” Y/N cries out.

“Fuck yeah, I’ll fuck you harder! I want you to cum with me! I want to feel you cum on this big cock!” he’s panting, he’s giving her everything she wants.

Jason fucks her harder, slams his hips against Y/N’s body. He’s already on the verge of cumming, but he can’t help it. Y/N’s moans are affecting him. Her tight heat is hitting him harder than ever. He knows this’ll be over any second, but he promised her he’ll take his time when they do it again...maybe for round two tonight.

He lowers a hand to rub her engorged clit as he thrusts faster. He’s so close. He’s so close to a hot release and he wants her to cum with him.

“Cum with me, princess. I want to feel you cum so hard,” Jason pants out, his thrusts are crazy and uneven.

Y/N raises her hips so Jason thrusts five times to make her orgasm. She cries out his name. She cums hard and all over his cock. Her walls tighten around him, and she’s sure her body goes into shock. When Y/N looks up with lustful, hazy eyes, she sees Jason’s face contorted in amazement at her.

More than satisfied, Y/N pinches her own nipples and bites her bottom lip. She wants Jason to cum now.

“Cum in me, Jay. Fill me up with your hot, delicious cum. Mmm...I can’t wait to taste it. I want to suck your big, hard cock next,” Y/N says seductively.

Jason’s face adorably scrunches up as his release hits him. He thrusts a few more times, cumming hard like she did, spurting every drop of his cum inside her. His moans drive her wild. He breathes heavily and continues to ride out his orgasm until he has nothing left to spill inside.

He pulls out and drops beside her, but quickly holds her so she doesn’t fall off the couch.

Because just imagine getting a concussion after having an orgasm.

Y/N hums in the afterglow of sex with Jason. She rests her head on his chest as he rubs her back. He kisses her forehead softly. He feels more than okay now but knows there will be plenty to talk about after the sexy haze fades.

Thoughts of living in the countryside flash into his mind. Watching that sunrise, with Y/N’s in his arms, and she’s carrying their child in her womb.

That perfect life appears real now. His dream doesn’t seem impossible to achieve. With Y/N there, everything seems possible.

“Are you okay now?” Y/N asks softly.

Jason grins and looks down at her. He doesn’t quite know what to say but figures he should try.

“With you in my arms, I’m fucking perfect, princess.”

[mysticmlynn3]

Instrument HCs || Gotham Rogues

Idk, just one day I thought "hm, you know what? *gives the rogues some music talent*"

Jonathan Crane | Scarecrow

Guitar

No doubt he would've listened to some Johnny Cash and other country singers over the radio, so as a teenager he collected enough money to get his own guitar, and he still has that guitar.

He doesn't play it often, as he's more concentrated on his work with fear toxins than anything else, but when he decides to take it out and play a song, he's in his own world, in rare peace.

Edward Nygma | The Riddler

Violin & Electric Guitar

His mother forced him to play all sorts of fancy instruments as a kid, including a violin. He doesn't take much amusement in playing it, thanks to his mother, but sometimes he whips it out to play a little tune.

But with the electric guitar? He only plays that when he's in his basement aka mechanic mode, so ya better plug in your ears because he's gonna go ham on that thing and he's not holding back! Poor Echo and Query.

Jervis Tetch | Mad Hatter

Violin & Flute

Unlike Edward, Jervis loves playing violins, it's practically his favorite instrument! He plays it regularly too, knows a couple songs to play when he's in the mood.

He's a big fairy-tale geek, so he's heard of the tale of Pied Piper and how the music of his flute lures children away from their homes. Jervis hopes he can combine his mind-controlling devices and his flute to do something like that, only not involving children and more of the citizens of Gotham.

Harleen Quinzel | Harley Quinn

Xylophone 

It's not a violin or a guitar, but it's easy for Harley. Plus ya gotta admit xylophones have nice tunes too.

Pamela Isley | Poison Ivy

Harp

It's such a relaxing instrument, it fits Ivy's aesthetic, plus her plant children love it too, they 'sing' along with the harp.

Selina Kyle | Catwoman

I can't imagine her playing an instrument, but maybe a tambourine suits her.

Jack Napier | The Joker

Harmonica & Calliope

You know, he isn't too bad on the harmonica, he actually plays very well on it. When you're in Arkham Asylum yet again, you gotta have some tunes while you're in isolation.

A calliope is like a piano but it uses steam to play, it's what circuses use for their music, and y'know, Joker? Circus? Oh well, I tried!

Harvey Dent | Two Face

Cello & Piano

He doesn't play them often, but like Jonathan: When he does he's in his own little world, ignoring the current reality of the world he's living in, memories of his wife and daughter are thrown in as well.

Oswald Cobblepot | Penguin

Piano

It's something he learned to play as a child, used to play it to his mother, the only one that cared for him. Sometimes he stands up from his seat to play a song for everyone in the Iceberg Lounge, with Harvey's singing thrown in the mix.

Eduardo Dorrance | Bane

Drums

At least with drums, strong drums, Bane can go absolute ham on them. Bane and his drums with Edward and his electric guitar? Ohhh boy.

Waylon Jones | Killer Croc

Banjo & Trumpet

He's from New Orleans, you can't tell me he hasn't learned how to play a banjo and trumpet in his spare time. Probably found some while scavenging in the sewers and self-taught himself.

Victor Fries | Mr. Freeze

Piano

I can imagine Victor played some love songs on the piano for Nora before she fell ill, and he still does. Even if Nora can't hear her favorite songs on the piano, Victor continues to still play for his frozen bride.

[t4tbruharvey]

Yeahhh exactly like there's villains that can work really well when you ground them and make them dark and serious (mostly the mad scientist-y ones) but why do that to the one guy who's whole thing is based in theatre and artsncrafts ksbbf? But yeah, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the rogues, honestly, if you do feel up for sharing them!!Doesn't matter if it's in a reply or separate, I'm just honestly really curious because your takes (as far as I've seen them) are really good and it's always fun to see other people's interpretations of well known characters like that imo ! And jabndkd aww it's sweet that you'd want to hear them but..well I..have a LOT of thoughts on some of the rogues - from what imo their designs should be like, to their general vibes, to..entire storylines, for some of them - so that probably would be too much for one ask, but if you do want to hear about aspects of that or my thoughts on specific rogues I could try to summarize javdvs....for now though, maybe general thoughts on the rogues gallery:

I feel like there's basically 2 types of rogues: the ones whose villainy is owed in big part to their childhood trauma, bad circumstances or other pain or tragedy- and the rogues whose villainy stems from their privilege. The first type are the ones that should really be treated with nuance, because imo those are mainly the ones that mirror aspects of Bruce's own personality, and are also the ones that fall into the 'Batman tries to get his villains help because he wants them to be better people' category, the villains in that category all are or were victims themselves whereas the second category are villains like Hugo Strange or Falcone and Maroni who are villains because they can get away with it due to their already established positions of power, the ones that are or represent perpetrators and upholders of issues like ableism or classism. The first type of rogues imo are all people that could've been good or at least decent or harmless if they hadn't gone through it™️ or if their circumstances had been better, while the second type chose to be evil despite (or because of?) already having a comparatively good life or growing up in privilege (ofc the second type of villains also can have tragic backstories but imo they don't need tragedy to be the way they are, because they're rich/white/men who're already in positions of power, like...they'd most likely just be bad people either way lmao)...So that's imo the main 2 types of rogues (ofc there's also rogues that are somewhere in between, like Penguin, but most of them can be sorted into one of those two categories I think). And then ofc the first type of villains - the ones formed by tragedy/circumstances - imo can also be separated into more sub categories as well - the ones whose motivations/goals have some kind of greater moral to them (like TwoFace w justice and Poison Ivy w environmentalism), the ones who are amoral/whose motivations are entirely selfish (like Riddler w his need for attention or Scarecrow w his need to master fear), the ones whose motivations can be just kinda vague (like Catwoman who sometimes just likes stealing and other times has good motives for it) and the ones who aren't particularly motivated by morals (at least not in a 'they're doing this for society' reasons) but also aren't just amoral (like Mr. Freeze trying to save his wife or Killer Croc wanting to be treated as human). But no matter where their motivations fall on a morality scale I feel like these are all the kind of villains who might not have become villains if it weren't for their trauma or circumstances, so those are the ones for whom it makes sense that Batman would try to get them to reform, bc in another lifetime they could've been neutral, decent or even good people, if that makes sense? And so while imo the 'villains formed by privilege' can (and should) be as horrible as need be to really hammer in the fact that classism,ableism,etc etc sucks, imo there should be some limits as to how bad the 'tragic' villains get, because they're the ones that Bruce's whole 'trying to reform instead of just punish' thing is built around so if they are too vile and horrible then Batman trying to save them would seem futile or stupid (like the whole 'why doesn't Bruce just kill the J*ker' argument, because yeah it does come off as weird that Bruce wouldn't just try to stop a guy whose bodycount is in the high thousands no matter what he has to do to stop him, at this point) . Also ofc this doesn't mean that I think that those villains should be tame - for some of them I think it's actually narratively important that they aren't too 'soft' - I just mean that there should be a balance and nuance, so that no one can argue Bruce is stupid for having hope in the rogues' ability to reform and become better people, y'know?

Uh and yeah this was long but I hope it made sense jacvsbdbd...also yes to Sugar/Spice/Harvey/TwoFace being a good team because they understand and respect eachother, we love a good teamwork!

OH MAN i mean i'll share my thoughts if you share yours 100% i am SO intrigued by 'entire storylines' bc ur so smart anon... but also i'll share my thoughts in like another post at some point bc it'll get rlly long really quickly. THAT SAID. your take on the rogues gallery being split in 2 is EXACTLY it. like yeah, those are the two camps of villains in the batman universe!! i do think that while some of the tragic rogues did HAVE some kind of societal privilege and that can be fun to play around with, most of them didn't and that's part of why they're so sympathetic as opposed to ppl like strange and falcone who are just out for power, and almost in a way scarier bc guys like that exist in the real world? like doctors who abuse their patients and lobbyists are a thing, whereas someone like the fucking riddler isn't. the tragic rogues can (and should!) be scary but in a different way that feels more dramatic i guess?

by which i mean like. the burton films (and especially batman returns) were good bc you had the sillier tragic villains (catwoman and penguin) but also the corrupt businessmen (shreck or whatever his name was) which gave it a range that could be both escapism and reflect the real world. reevesverse closed the gap a bit (in a good way!) whereas the nolanverse tried to make the campy tragic villains realistic and failed horribly. tdk joker is like, a threat, i guess? but he doesn't really feel like one, nor is he particularly sinister (to me. i know ppl love him but literally to me he feels like a tumblr user)... anyway all this to say that having the distinction allows batman to both have sympathy for his enemies AND push against real world evil, in a kind of idealistic movie way? like @kalelraejepsen said that batman is a working class fantasy of a billionaire, which applies here a bit

anyway <3 i will share rogues thoughts At Some Point i promise <3

[archived-zombbean]

How I Got Into Batman

So I got into Batman on accident. See my wife (then girlfriend) @she-a-nice had been BEGGING me to watch the show, play the game, etc. and I refused for the longest time (my loss I know right?).

Anyhow, we’re in game stop and she pulls out the “Batman Arkham Asylum” game, and she’s like, “Look! It’s on sale for $XX! If worse comes to worse it’s not like you’ll be wasting money! Just give it a try and if you don’t like it I’ll stop bothering you about it!”

So I caved. I bought the game, let out the most annoyed sigh (I was easily upset before I started my Bipolar meds, I regret how immature I used to be) and we went home. I pop the game in, let it download, and drank some tea while I waited. After it finished downloading, my adventure began.

Opening up to the Asylum, right away I’ll be honest- I hated batman. The only version I ever knew of him was BTAS and this version didn’t sit right with me. He was so mean and cruel that it just made me really upset. The joker reminded me of the one I did know a little bit about, so that wasn’t so bad (learned later it was the same actor so whoot!)

Saw sexy Harley Quinn, but hated her outfit so much. GOD I HATED THAT OUTFIT. WHAT WAS THE POINT? SHE DIDN’T LOOK LIKE A HARLEQUIN AT ALL???

Again, I went into this game with a sour attitude and I tried to hide it. My wife is sitting on the edge of her seat watching me play cause she was so excited to see the game. She had stars in her eyes. She didn’t play video games. She was afraid too and would much rather watch me play them instead. So I bit my lip and kept playing. Seeing her happy and enjoying the game meant more to me than all the things that was annoying me about the game. Admittedly... the combat was pretty good for it’s time, and after playing the absolute disaster combat of Assassin’s Creed 1, it was a nice change of pace.

I do remember being quite fond of Killer Croc’s design, and hoping I would see him again. I’ll get into that bit, a little later.

So I’m playing the game, and I get to the part where you just get to/ past the medical facility? It’s been a long time since I played so I can’t remember exactly where... but... that’s when my opinion of the game started to change. I’m in an elevator and I come out to see people going fucking batshit crazy in a sealed off room, and this gremlin of a bastard scurry in the background. I have no idea that this guy is about to become my favorite character.

My wife, knowing my favorite character archetype, just fucking grins as wide as she can. I love horror. Anything horror related, video games, movies, etc... it’s always been my favorite!

Mind you, I have no idea whom this character is or what he does, but the music turns unsettling and I can feel my pulse quicken. It has all the atmosphere of a horror game. Batman’s eyes are glowing red, and the beat of the music is still heavy in my ears. The voices are starting to echo, and there’s a buncha really silent hill like bullshit happening.

I go through the morgue scene and I’m just fucking... floored? When the fuck did this game decide to be a horror game??? Like?? I started to LOVE it.

My wife is now in a fit of giggles, and I’m like, “Why are you laughing you hate horror?”

She just grins, “Oh... you’ll see! I just know you’re gonna love it!”

Okay... sure. So I keep going.

Cue Batman unzipping the bag and this guy with a bag on his head that reminds me of el salvadore from fucking resident evil 4 pops up, and he’s just cackling like a motherfucking maniac. His voice is AMAZING. The ambiance is frightening. He’s got fucking NEEDLES on his hands (Trypanophobia? Yeah I know her. That’s my fear.)

“Who is this dude?” I ask my wife.

As the sequence ends for the nightmare world I see the words pop up on my screen:

Character Bio Unlocked- Scarecrow

“Who the fuck is scarecrow?” I’m lost. That was literally my favorite sequence so far.

My wife looks like the cat that caught the fucking canary, “That’s Jonathan Crane~ He’s the scarecrow and he’s the master of fear!”

Okay. So she’s fucking right. I fucking love this character. I keep playing. Dude’s gotta show up again right? I never actually kicked his ass...

So I keep playing the game and I see a few other small things that start to pique my interest. It’s not longer a chore trying to play the game. I’m genuinely interested. I’m waiting for this asshole with a paper bag on his head to pop up again.

Que me getting to the next portion of the game where this SOAB shows up. I’m literally grinning from ear to ear. Is the scene beforehand sad? Yeah a little. But I’ve heard the same damn sob story for batman by fans so much that honestly... I... kinda don’t care? It’s hard to feel bad when every movie with batman includes his parents dying.

I get through that portion and I eventually wind up at the third portion. I swear to fucking god I was SO SCARED when I thought my game restarted and I lost all my progress. Turns out it was another fucking game sequence. Touche Mr. Scarecrow, touche.... Long story short I got through that sequence and I’m floored by how good the game actually is. God my wife is so happy. It makes the experience all the better.

Did I mention she’s a hard core Riddler fan? Did I also forget to mention she’s the one that found all the- and I quote, “Shineys (Riddler Trophies)” and solved all his riddles? Cause I sure as fuck didn’t know the answers. Dude got super pissed every time she found something, and it was HILARIOUS.

I got to Croc’s section of the game, and I’ll admit I was a bit off put and sad to see him take Crane into the water and out of view. Knowing he’s a cannibal, I thought for sure that would be the last I ever saw of my fave (Imagine how excited I was for Arkham Knight, and how disappointed I was in the end? LE SIGH.) To be fair tho, Croc’s portion of the game had me sitting on the edge of my seat a lot since it was dead silent, and followed up with an orchestra of music when he popped up.

By the end of the whole game I was relatively happy. The story was pretty shitty, won’t lie, but the characters were enjoyable, the play style was fun, and I got to learn a lot about some characters! I even surprised my wife by saying I wanted to buy the next game in the series!

Lucky for me? That game had just come out a week prior. So of course I bought that bitch and binge played it for my sweet, and wonderful wife. Of course I also fell in love with another character- Mr. Freeze, and of course I still thank her for getting me into the series.

Sometimes she’ll tease me and talk about how I was so reluctant to try something new that she’d known I would enjoy, and ever since I’ve made sure to give series she’s suggested a chance!

[bigfan-fanfic]

Darkside Bakes 2 (GenderNeutral!Reader Batman Headcanons)

You’re still in shock over it

It’s SO much money that the Riddler gave you.

Is it okay to spend? Are you a criminal now? Will you have to spend your days committing baked goods-themed crimes until the Bat takes you down?

Lots of thoughts and worries in your brain. It’s baking, you probably haven’t slept for a little bit.

And then comes the little smile as you start counting the cash

You could work with this.

The next day, Riddler sends you a puzzle box. It takes you a while, but since it’s relatively easy, he really must want you to get it open. When you do, it’s a slip of paper

On it is an order for more three more lemon drizzle coffee cakes, for an event he is holding.

And hey, Riddler is a criminal, but he is a criminal who is paying money for your bakes, so who cares?

Let’s do this.

Riddler’s using your cakes as the food at a small meeting of villains. Alliances against the Dark Knight and whatnot.

Mistake.

Penguin takes a massive slice of coffee cake because he wants the entire dot of the question mark design. This infuriates the Joker, who wanted the dot on that cake, not the other ones. 

Mr. Freeze takes a whole cake for himself, as does Bane, although Bane shares with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn.

So the Joker is angry at Penguin and just puts his face into the cake, taking a big lumpy bite.

And then he screams his head off

Because it is SOOOO good!

He grabs Penguin and force-feeds him a bite, making sure to choke him with crumble.

And suddenly Oswald Cobblepot can’t bring himself to be angry

Because the most beautiful thing he has ever tasted has just slid down his gullet.

Ivy sheds a single tear for the plant material consumed in the flour for the cake, but also because it is so conflicting because it tastes so good. She wonders if the Riddler can bake without plants.

And Harley gets out her hammer and demands the recipe

And that’s how your shop (still the Little Gotham Bakery) gets mentioned.

The next day Mr. Freeze comes in and requests a box of iced donuts because of course he does.

Which, luckily. you have in stock.

You wisely do not heat them up a little, but instead chill them.

They’re cake-style donuts, so they can stand the cold a little better.

Freeze nods his approval. “My wife used to love these,” he murmurs. “Even if she would claim she hated herself after eating them.”

You do not respond, and Freeze lays a large diamond on the counter before rethinking, putting a wad of cash on the counter and taking the diamond with him.

And then the next day you are dealing with a customer and suddenly he goes a little loopy and sits down while sniffing deeply.

And Poison Ivy walks in and asks for something without plant material.

It’s kind of an opposite-vegan challenge for you, but you work on making a flourless meat pie using no vegetable oil.

It’s a little dry, but Ivy claims to love the taste.

She says something about plants reclaiming the Earth, and how you shall be head chef for the plant army when the revolution comes

You aren’t really listening.

She pays and goes, and you go back to dealing with the customer, offering him a glass of water and a free pastry to help get the pheromones out of his system.

And a few weeks after that. Oswald Cobblepot stride in, banging his cane against your nice floors, and looks you in the eye through his monocle.

“‘ello, luv.” he says, looking up at you. “I’ve ‘eard some wondrous things about this establishment, and I came to see if they were true.”

You ask what he would like.

“Somefink simple, luv. Get me a slice of cheescake.”

So you do. You wonder whether or not he’ll appreciate your classic graham cracker crust or not. You’ve forgotten how they make cheesecake wherever Penguin’s from.

But he does. He appreciates the heck out of it.

He gives you a serious look. “’Little Gotham Bakery,’ eh? Sounds a little small for what you’ve got ‘ere. D’you do catering?”

You tell him you’re considering new names, and that you do indeed cater.

And that’s how you are booked to provide the aperitifs and desserts at the first Iceberg Lounge event of gala season.

Which is where you first came into contact with the other side of Gotham’s war on crime... 

[prisonraised]

Anonymous said:

HELLO! Hope you're doing well! I was just wondering what were your thoughts on how Bane feels about the other rogues and what do you think are some of his weaknesses o v o ! Stay well!

Weaknesses first since he doesn’t have many: 

-cut off his supply to venom while also being stronger than he is, or having life saving tools like the ones in batman’s utility belt -just. be a child. or someone he thinks is truly innocent.  -honestly he’s human and although he has a high resistance to them, like REAL high cause he’s used to chemicals running through his body, just fuckin use as much knock out gas or darts that are needed to bring him down.  -when in doubt, aim for the balls. 

ROGUES HE RESPECTS: 

Talia al Ghul- Even without my verse with @belovedbrxnette​ where they’re actually together, Bane holds Talia with the highest regard, and thinks she’s much stronger and smarter than her father. He will always be in love with her due to the way she commands herself, and has and would again gladly work on her side.

Riddler- At first, Bane thought that he was just some idiot spouting nonsense, and even tried to get him killed with venom injections. But then he got to know about how smart Ed really was, and now holds a high respect for him due to the way they can engage in a battle of wits.

Penguin- Mun doesn’t know much about Penguin other than Gotham and a few comics, but Bane does like the aspect of rising from nothing to claim power and able to hold it so well. He would rather do business with Penguin than to destroy him. 

Mr. Freeze- I mean. What rogues DOESN’T respect him???? He’s literally just a good hearted man that wants to revive his wife and got screwed over okay !! Bane would never target him and would definitely be on his side if ever they worked together 

Sirens- What can I say, Bane just likes women that can kick his ass and Selina, Ivy, and Harley are each extremely strong and resilient. He respects all of them. 

Mad Hatter- Bane respects anyone that is so well read! And they can talk about Alice in Wonderland all day, not to mention mind control is such a nice art and must take a genius to pull it off so well. 

ROGUES HE HATES:

Ra’s al Ghul- He backed out of letting him marry Talia, and Bane even devotes a whole ass section of his life just to hunting down lazarus pits in order to spite him. 

Joker- For being the nemesis of Batman he sure is just a pathetic man in Bane’s eyes. He’s so scrawny and his whole shtick is telling bad jokes? Bane does not like him, not to mention he claims that Gotham is his and he’ll be damned again if he lets a clown have the city. 

Scarecrow- Fear is something that Bane thinks he completely rid himself of and he just isnt into the idea of a guy going around making people live out their fears so easily. He thinks it’s too easy and if Scarecrow really wanted to do some harm he’d bring in actual scenarios instead of hallucinations. 

Two-Face- Bane has a bias towards anyone in the legal system. He hates them. And even if he isn’t in the court anymore, his whole ideals are based around judgement and Bane does not like that one bit. It doesn’t help Two-Face’s case that Harvey is so close to Bruce, who he knows to be Batman.

Killer Croc- Usually he respects someone who’s strong, but Croc wasn’t able to beat him in a fight so fuck this guy. He broke both his arms just to prove who the better fighter was. 

[redarro]

hey rate Gotham's villains for most to least bangable.

ooooooh boy well this will not be an exhaustive list but I will try my best

also this list is v nsfw 

Poison Ivy: Raw Chaotic Sexy. Literally no villain more attractive or fuckable. She has it all: smart, funny, sexy, lesbian. The full package. Would let raw 10/10

Red Hood: I’m counting him even though he’s an ~antihero~ or whatever, he’s still sexy. Would fuck Jason Todd. Every time. I’m love him with my whole heart. But we all knew that. Moving on..

Ra’s al Ghul: every version of him can get it. I know he runs a league of assassins or whtvr but like that’s kinda hot. He has a sword (automatically hot), smart, and has money. What more do you want.

Two-Face: dunno why I think I would fuck a lawyer but here we are….even with half his body burnt it’s still a decision I would make yknow? Harvey Dent could definitely get in most renditions I could imagine.

Killer Croc: anyone who isn’t a coward Knows that Waylon Jones can like…get it. He’s funny, charming; the kind of guy who takes me to a nice dinner before going to pound town. Any respectable monster fucker understands me. Sure, he has killed people, but like who hasn’t? He’s very fuckable. 

Mr. Freeze: he’s chilly but the Gotham version of him is unnecessarily ripped and that’s some content I can get behind. Worried he cries about his dead wife after sex, but I am still down to clown.

Catwoman: Selina Kyle is really hot but also furry so :/

Deadshot: mmmmm yes. Floyd is attractive, loves his family, and has a good sense of humor. Excellent one night stand however I worry that he is the type to get emotionally attached so idk

Bane: relatively sexy, big muscles. Smart, a good match, but not as good as some of the others on the list. Slightly worried he might break my back when blowing it out

Harley Quinn: not really my type? I dunno we both love Ivy and honestly that’s our only common ground. Just, not my type ig?

Victor Zsasz: I mean……….

Scarecrow: A part of me almost put him higher on the list bc there is a part of me that’s like “yeah, I’d fuck scarecrow” but then I thought about the fear toxin situation but then I still was like “yeah, I’d fuck scarecrow” so I’m putting him down here out of sheer cowardice.

Riddler: depends. I refuse to elaborate.

Mad Hatter: He has potential but depends on the version. Some versions I’m down others I’m not. It’s flexible.

Clayface: no fuckable. Too much clay in orifices I don’t wanna think about. But also he would be a good pal? I support him getting laid, just as long as it isn’t me.

Ventriloquist: no thank you?

Black Mask: poisoned my food supply and killed my son. Unfuckable. Disgusting. Sometimes funny, but not fuckable.

Penguin: all versions of Penguin are oily and fucking disgusting. Danny Devito Penguin can stay but he’s on thin ice

Joker: die.

[dykehulk]

gotham rogues ranked by how much i would like to see them getting a redemption arc

1. harley - i know shes already gotten a redemption arc and i just wanna say that she deserves it. hello this woman has fully gone through it

2. ivy - poison ivy has a phd and really likes plants and those are two qualities of my ideal girlfriend.

3. two face - i’m uncomfortable with harvey’s narrative arc conflating his facial scarring with his villainy and i would welcome a redemption arc to make the harmful tropes associated with him a little less present but this is a joke post so i’ll say i just think his 2 sided suits are super neat

4. anarky - hello can we overthrow the government yet? no? can lonnie machin overthrow batman yet? no? ok how about the government?

5. bane - he could definitely bench press me. he could probably bench press god. thats cool

6. killer croc - hes a big fun sewer man. i love crocodiles. yeah he eats people sometimes but who doesn’t have a few flaws?

7. solomon grundy - born on a monday, christened on tuesday, married on wednesday...it’s a nice rhyme ok. i like rhymes

8. mr freeze - i like his helmet and his wife is hot, that’s really all the justification i’ve got for this one

9. riddler - i like the concept of a funny man who says funny things while committing crimes and isnt the joker, but i’ve seen enough people posting about the gotham tv show to know that he is an anime boy

10. scarecrow - not only is he an anime boy, he is komaeda. i’m not sure why people seem to like him so much

11. penguin - boo. i hate his fashion sense, he should be taking notes from harvey dents looks. i mean mr dent is giving us a half scarlet suit and cobblepot is still out here with his boring old black suits? grow up.

12. zsasz - whats his thing? he’s a serial killer? lame and unoriginal, and the concept of an in-universe true crime following is going to haunt my dreams. also sounds weirdly similar to the questions real name and i dont care for that

13. black mask - this isnt a question of whether or not i like him i just don’t think he could ever make a particularly good hero/antihero. that said, i don’t like him.

14. anyone else. dear god literally anyone else

15. the joker

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of May 1st, 2019

Best of this Week: Deathstroke #43: The Terminus Agenda pt. 4 - Christopher Priest, Carlo Pagulayan, Sergio Davila, Pop Mhan, Jeromy Cox and Willie Schubert

And thus Damian Wayne follows the rest of his family into the pit of despair

The saga between Deathstroke and Damian’s Titans is still a fairly recent one. Starting back when Damian was kidnapped by Deathstroke to lure out Batman, to the Lazarus Agenda when he took Kid Flash’s speed to save his first child, to stealing Kid Flash away from Damian to form his Defiance to team and who can forget the ridiculous gambit that took place in Deathstroke vs. Batman, which called Damian’s blood into question. Damian has many a reason to hate Deathstroke, but his plan to have final confrontation with the assassin might have left him in ruins.

The villains in Damian’s secret prison have escaped, thanks to Deathstroke breaking their restraints, and Damian is caught in the crossfire. Damian manages to make his escape underneath the floorboards and gets away WITH Deathstroke’s help, suffering some shrapnel damage in the escape and possibly injuring his eye. Deathstroke confronts him and asks why things are so personal with the kid, before Damian tells him to go to hell. Kid Flash, Crush and Red Arrow are left to deal with the escapees.

Atomic Skull, Black Mask, Gizmo, Onomatopoeia and Brother Blood stood no chance and allowed Kid Flash to go look for Damian and confront him about everything. We learn that despite everything, it really boils down to whatever the issue is between Damian and Batman and how Deathstroke ruffling Damian’s hair at the end of Deathstroke vs. Batman acted as the trigger for it. This Teen Titans relaunch came as a result of Damian, Red Arrow and Kid Flash no longer wanting to do things the way that their mentors did and Damian’s reasoning is never explicitly given, though it appears he wanted to bring back some of the more darker aspects of himself.

Damian is known for being a petulant, petty and ridiculous child, but the amount of fury such a small act causes him is insane. Earlier in the book, we had a flashback of Damian being called worthless during a training session with his mother because he was weak or had too much of his father's heart. As he takes his leave of Kid Flash to find Swerve, another escaped villain, we get another reveal in the form of Swerve realizing that Damian had poisoned all of the villains with a toxin that would kill them after prolonged exposure to outside oxygen, but lacked the will to go through with it. He was trying to stop Deathstroke from killing them because of what he did.

Damian finally confronts Deathstroke on the roof of the team’s base and Deathstroke thinks he has Damian all figured out. Damian, above anything, just wants to feel loved and accepted. He tried Batman’s way and all it left him with was rage and the never ending feeling of weakness and abandonment because Batman’s mission never stops. Deathstroke ruffling his hair was probably the closest thing to affection that Damian’s had in a little while with Batman currently dealing with Bane’s machinations in his series. Damian wanted that feeling again and subconsciously rationalized that if he could become his stronger, more brutal self again, then he might be accepted.

He then levels a gun at Deathstroke, but is unable to pull the trigger. Deathstroke comments that he only tried to fix Damian, but Batman ruined him before taking an arrow to the head and falling into a heap on the ground.

While the above explanation given is only my interpretation, I think it’s a very strong one. Rebirth has not been exactly kind to Damian, not to anyone in the Batfamily for that matter. Damian turned thirteen and was targeted to either die or lead the League of Assassins. He found out that he would be killed in the future by his best friend, Jon Kent. He finds himself at odds with anyone he finds himself on a team with because of his brutal and secretive nature. Hell, he even almost dies again in the pages of Nightwing.

As much as Damian pushes his friends and family away, he still has feelings. He wants friends, he wants his dad to acknowledge him more than just a stern hug every now and again, he wants something that he can hold on to, which is why I think he’s trying his best for Djinn. She too has a horrible history of pain and death, same with Deathstroke, but his path is just getting ever more dark.

---------------------------------------------------

Tom King has a penchant for doing the most with very little.

Runner Up: Batman #70 - Tom King, Mikel Janin, Jorge Fornes, Jordie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles

Several issues of his Batman story have taken place in one location or even in one single room in some cases, this is one of the former and somehow also mirrors issue #19 of the I Am Bane arc, which saw the titular villain breaking into Arkham in an attempt to get Psycho Pirate back from Batman after he had broken into Santa Prisca to kidnap him.

Batman, waking up from his series of horrible and almost mind breaking nightmares, is furious. Finding the Riddler in front of him, mid-riddle, he knees the idiot in the face and gives him the answer in a sort of punny manner. He passes Calendar Man who offers no resistance, but notes that neither he nor Bane will stop trying to destroy each other and just lays down on the ground.

Batman makes his way through the asylum, having a monologue directed at Bane while taking down Hush, Blight, Mad Hatter, Zsasz and who I hope is a copycat Man-Bat (or his wife). He mocks Bane for thinking that he could take down Batman with nightmares when HE IS THE NIGHTMARE. It’s very edgy and hokey, but I love it.

One thing of note is just how much fun Janin seems to be having with drawing Batman just beating the asses of the villains. He draws Batman with a cold, calculated fury, but still makes him look amazingly cool. He has a penchant for making Batman seem so much larger and more imposing than his foes, even when he’s placed in the background of shots. I also love that he seems to portray Batman as being left-handed, not really a big deal, but Batman throws most of his punches in this issue with his left hand.

Speaking of him being imposing and striking fear into the hearts of the guilty - at some point he confronts Mr. Freeze and makes him think about all of the other times that Freeze has had him at the business end of his Freeze gun. He makes him think about how, no matter what, Batman found a way out. Freeze, likely still traumatized from the events of Cold Days, just allows himself to get punched in the face.

We get a cutaway to Bane talking to Arnold Wesker, The Ventriloquist, and laughing about how Batman is playing right into his schemes and Batman faces off against Scarecrow. Doctor Crane is easily defeated in an amazing few pages tinted with the green of his Fear Gas as Batman appears behind him.

Batman appears to be reaching something of a breaking point as, after defeating Solomon Grundy and Amygdala, he laughs heartily, more than you’d expect or hope. Jorge Fornes takes over the art for the rest of the issue  as Batman threatens Bane through Two Face, telling him that he’ll be back with a crew to take down Bane just like Bane tried to take him down and Maxie Zeus quotes Dante’s Inferno and says “All hope abandon, ye who enter here.” Signaling that Batman has entered his own personal hell in his confrontation with Bane.

This book was stunning and continues to build toward this amazing, one hundred issue story about Bane. Not only is it pushing Batman to the limit even farther than he ever has, it’s driving Bane to be even more calculating, brutal. It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before or will again and with City of Bane coming in five issues and Thomas Wayne trying to convince Bruce to give up being Batman in the intervening issues, we’re in for a good few months of awesome Batman storytelling.