#Bat meta

[spite-and-waffles]

FUCK YES STEPHANIE IS THE JASON THAT NEVER WAS PANDA YOU ARE THE HERO THIS FANDOM NEEDS BUT DOES NOT DESERVE PREACH THE GOSPEL OF STEPHANIE AMEN

[cheetahleopard]

I also think there's something to be said about Willis being a victim of the system- petty criminal has enough charges he's a felon when caught can't get a better job turns to more petty crime eventually dies in the system because it failed him - and how that plays into Jason's sense of morality. It's also why I'm so against this idea that Jason randomly kills whoever's in his way rather than the careful planning and research we see in for example UTRH or Lost Days. Like. He doesn't believe in the system. He has lost faith in the system in multiple ways and I think having his dad be abusive or hated by Jason is. Lacking. Because Willis who tried his best but was failed by the system that's supposed to help him and lacking the support to get out of the system fell victim to it... Well, that really fits when looking at Jason's ideology.

[gece-misin-nesin]

Kinda feel like people who are saying "But its not Bruce!!! It's Zur!!!!!" are lowkey missing the point. Let's be honest, even if Zur didn't exist I could STILL see Bruce doing the shit that he's doing right now. And for a characters who is supposed to be a compassionate and empathetic hero that, I feel, is a huge problem.

I don't need him to be a perfect parent, that would be unrealistic but the fact that he has been an abusive and even a monster of a father for years under many different authors is simply unacceptable.

[scarlethood]

it is so incredibly funny when writers try to retroactively make young jason a "bad kid" cause theyre worse than the og jim 'ill have him break the arms of ped*philes and then everyone will hate him' starlin and he just ends up as a Goob level unreliable narrator

jason's narration: i was a horrid person always lashing out in anger

the page: a friend tries to touch a cut on jasons cheek and he brushes her off telling her not to worry then she thanks him for beating up/driving off the people trying to hurt her

jason's narration: ive always been a selfish asshole criminal in the making

the page: jason swaped out live ammo for blanks so kids wouldnt get hurt, tries to own up to take the punishment, patches up the friend who took it instead and tells him off, the friend then reminds jason hes the only person who looked out for him and he was paying back that kindness

you're making him look like this!

[lapseinart]

When debating about whether something is canon or not especially in dc/Batman pick the one that’s more thematically compelling or creates literary/cinematic parallels

For example, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson being the same age when they respectively took a Robin under their (bat) wing has very little (none, circumstantial at best, zilch I can think of at the top of my head) textual evidence but is so fucking compelling because they’re both trying to keep a young (8-10 yo) boy from more murderous impulses while creating a part brotherly part fatherly relationship with said child and Dick Grayson is just trying to do right by the man who raised him while attempting to succeed/improve where his relationship with Bruce failed and this is basically what I built my personal Bat-timeline off of yeah

[spite-and-waffles]

He's the avatar of nihilistic, fakedeep edgelords and the privileged sociopathy that imagines itself as the underdog biting back. There's no human conflict in his character or moral nuance; pure evil is banal, shallow and simplistic; violence and shocksploitation is predictable and not at all the same thing as chaos. It's all just a self-perpetuating toxic wash cycle of the same shit over and over.

ur telling me batman (a hero whose power is like 65% fear 35% money) has a villain who is all about weaponizing fear and he’s not the main villain? ur telling me batman (man with a secret identity so strong that there are questions of who the real person is at the end of the day and whose entire creed is about stopping One Bad Day™️) has a villain who is his childhood friend that has physically separated his dual violent-nonviolent nature and is all about duality and chance and he’s not the main villain? ur telling me batman (man with strong ideas about the Right Way to stop crime and who emerged from the destruction of his own family structure) has a villain who is his undead son/former sidekick who he couldn’t save and now disagrees with the way to address crime in gotham and he’s not the main villain? ur shitting me about this clown guy right

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC Danny the Guy Who Won't Die

He lives in Gotham, and he is just A Guy. Nothing weird about him, he's just there to study/work/help Lady Gotham to lift her curse/on vacation with Sam. Point is, he is not there to cause trouble and there's no GIW on his tail. Just a dude living his (after)life.

And Gotham, being Gotham, still finds a way to be annoying. There are mugging attempts, robbery, Rogues running around. Only Danny really doesn't want to deal with any of it.

Now there's a dilemma. If he uses his powers to fight, it will sooner or later come to Bats' attention. And if he fights as a human, it will also alert some of the Bats since he doesn't really do a great job at keeping his power levels low. Not to mention the fact he is really not enthusiastic about accidentally punching someone hard enough he sends them to a hospital.

What does he do instead? He pulls the 'I guess I'll die' act.

So every time he is attacked, he just plays dead. The mugger shot him in the chest? He falls down and stops breathing. Caught up in the middle of a Poison Ivy attack? Skewers himself on the vine and goes lax. Scarecrow's Fear Gas? Very dramatically chokes himself and plays a corpse. He makes sure to disappear before any ambulances arrive later, and it all goes well for a few months - he is just a casualty, who cares, really - until one day, he runs into that same mugger who shot him in the chest a while ago.

The man does a double take. Danny doesn't notice - he's been mugged so many times, who has the brain capacity to remember all of those fuckers. But the rumor goes out anyway.

A guy-who-won't-die. It's more of a city legend, really, and the Bats don't give it much thought since, well, it sounds stupid and not very important. A rumor of some man who was shot dead and then showed up like nothing happened? Yeah, it's probably because the mugger didn't check if he was actually dead. That happens. Maybe it wasn't even the same man, Gotham is a big city. If anything, hey, at least that was one less casualty? That's a good thing.

That is, until one day, they show up to Joker's hostage situation and witness the clown screaming at one of the hostages. He is so enraged he is shaking, spit flying out of his mouth, and, contrary to the usual Joker's evil sneers and maniacal laughter, he seems just... furious. But, like, the normal-human-level furious. The 'I just lost the last ounce of patience with you' furious.

"Don't you look away from me, you think I don't remember you?! Na-ah, I do. You were the one I drowned in the shark tank last week! And you were the one run through the chainsaw trap two weeks before that! And you were in the guillotine!!! I saw your fucking head get deattached from your body, how the fuck are you here again?!"

And the guy he is screaming at just looks at him, confused and incomprehensive.

"Um, I'm pretty sure I'd remember getting my head cut off, you know? So, err, wrong guy."

"Wrong guy my fucking ass-"

Joker is so distracted by his screaming match that it makes it almost too easy for the Bats to fight him down and drag to Arkham. Yet, a few of them get just a bit suspicious.

Now, imagine all the shenanigans when they try keeping a watch on Danny the Won't Die Guy.

[raynewolferune]

DC x DP Prompt: Bruce is bad at emoting but at least ghosts are empathic (too bad bat kids are not)

Was reading Twincognito on AO3 when I stumbled across this gem again:

~

" “Danny, Tim. I was just…checking in. Is everything alright?” Curse his inability to make meaningful conversation when it wasn’t a life or death situation.

They glanced at each other and shrugged.

Then Danny hauled himself out of the bed and walked over to Bruce.

Bruce tried not to let too much excitement show on his face. "

~

Now I really want to read a story where Bruce adopts Danny post Meta trafficking and is being his usual emotionally constipated self. His kids keep getting mad at him because he's treating their new meta brother who was trafficked poorly (generally being stilted in conversation with him, walking away hurriedly mid-conversation, avoiding Danny when he's feeling really awkward, etc). They think Bruce is discriminating against Danny for being a civilian, meta, dealer's pick, but really it's just Bruce being horribly socially awkward. Danny knows this because of ghost empathy and find the whole thing hilarious. The whole thing comes to a head with the Bat Kids staging an intervention in the Bat Cave.

[captain-krow-drozdov]

Danny Is An Alternate Version Of Ra's Al Ghul And Flash Already Called Dibs On Adopting Him

Danny In All His Sleep Deprived Slightly Scuffed Up From A Fight Glory Is On His Way To Clockworks Tower To Hopefully Get A Nap And Maybe Some Homework Done When A Natural Portal Opens Up In Front Of Him And Proceeds To Unceremoniously Drop Him In The DC Verse Just Outside Of Central City Before Promptly Closing Leaving A Tired Danny Behind In A Run Down Abandoned Parking Lot.

It's Times Like This When Danny Regrets Putting Off Learning How To Make His Own Portals, Cause Now He Is Very Much Stuck For The Foreseeable Future And He Has No Idea Where Or When He Is. Luckily For Him However Central City Isn't Too Far Away, Unlucky For Him However Is That Once In The City He Realizes This Isn't His Dimension. He's Pretty Sure He'd Remember Something Called The Justice League.

So What Do You Do When Supernatural Bullshit Fails You? You Fall Back On Your Mad Scientist Roots And You Make A Portal Gun. So That's Exactly What Danny Plans To Do.

Unfortunately Staying Alive And Building Questionably Safe Portal Technology Requires Money And Supplies, So He Ends Up Wandering From City To City Doing Odd Jobs/Fixing Up Busted Tech For Cash Or Unwanted Electronics For His "Operation: Get Home" Needs. This Obviously Ends In A Few Superhero Encounter Shenanigans.

Though He Always Ends Up Back Near Central City, Both On The Off Chance The Natural Portal Will Open Up Again And Because Out Of All The Superheroes That Apparently Exist In This Universe The Speedsters Are His Favorite (Red Robin Is Solidly His Second Favorite Ever Since The Gotham Vigilante Gave Him A Large Coffee Filled With Enough Caffeine To Kill A Man).

Unbeknownst To Danny However Is That Every Hero/Vigilante He Has Encountered Has Come To At Least One Of The Following Conclusions; 1. Run Away Meta Who Is In Desperate Need Of A Good Meal/Adoption Bait. 2. Possibly Red Robin/Tim Drake Clone 3. A Good Kid But Could Possibly Be A Future Rouge If Left Unsupervised. 4. Did Bats Get A New Kid And Why Is He Here?

All Flash Knows Is That He Saw The Kid First And Therefore Has Dibs. Suck It Bruce.

Fast-forward A Few Months And Danny Gets Hurt During A Rogue Attack While Trying To Help Some Civilians Get To Safety (Old Hero Habits Die Hard (Ha Die Hard) And All That Jazz) And He Nopes Out Once Everyone Is Safe And When The Paramedics Are Busy With Other People Unaware He Left A Blood Sample Behind.

One DNA Test Brought To You By Paranoid Bat Concerns Of A Possible Red Robin Clone Later And They Find Out That Dannys DNA Matches One Ra's Al Ghul.

They Now Think Danny Is An Escaped Ra's Al Ghul Clone.

Memes For The Vibes:

[spite-and-waffles]

Kevin Conroy agrees with you.

I don't know if this is a hot take? But there's something that bugs me about a lot of Batman performances: the dichotomy of his Bruce and Batman voices.

Now, hear me out. Batman absolutely should have a completely different voice from Bruce. Bruce is neurotic enough to develop two completely different idiolects for his identities. Anything to throw people off the scent, right?

However! Actors usually make the choice for Bruce to be the "natural" voice and Batman to be some sort of growling affectation. I personally think it would be better for Bruce to be the fake sounding voice and Batman to be his more natural speaking voice.

Imagine, Batman with a naturally deep and resonant voice that carries a lot of authority but very little emotion. Meanwhile, Bruce's voice is very Mid-Atlantic old money playboy with an almost breathy, ditzy quality. It's all emotion! No thoughts! Just enthusiasm and good natured smiles!

This is absolutely coming straight out of my "Bruce is neurodivergent" HC. A lot of us have a natural speaking voice that sounds off to others and a performative "public" voice that we've learned to use with people we don't know very well to put them more at ease. So, it's completely possible for Bruce's natural speaking voice to be a bit more flat and his words to be more fact based in a way that would make neurotypical people nervous. And, being Bruce, he would have absolutely studied other people's voice and behavior so that he could mimic it in public.

However, masking like that is very brain resource intensive, so it would have been an easy choice to drop that for Batman. This would also mean that in private, when it's just him and the family, he also uses the "Batman" voice because that's just what he sounds like when he's not trying.

This would also lead to hilarity when Bruce does crack jokes or tease people by intentionally using his Brucie voice when they're not expecting it. Like, imagine Batman, looking Flash straight in the eye as he shows up late to a team meeting FUCKING AGAIN, and saying, "You know, old chap, for The Fastest Man Alive, you certainly know how to take your dear sweet time." IMAGINE!

TLDR: Batman is the real voice and Bruce is fake and it kind of bugs me when actors do the opposite.

[spite-and-waffles]

I always wonder whether Batfam fans really get just how fucking rich the Waynes are. Like of course we shy away from thinking about the fact that we're talking Musk and Bezos money, and focus on how Bruce funds the freaking Watchtower and has what is functionally a high-tech military base and lab and the world's most expensive vehicles. But this is the one time you don't have to factor in the implications of wealth-hoarding, so there's nothing preventing y'all from understanding exactly how much money we're talking about here.

For instance, there doesn't seem to be any concept of how palatial Wayne Manor is, simply going by the outer facades of it that appear in the comics and movies. Or how decadent the lifestyles that accompany that kind of ancestral home. Alfred couldn't run that place on his own even if he had super powers, which is why even the movies occasionally show a rotating probably-temporary staff in the background. The house probably has like 3 hundred-foot pools. Their garden is a protected heritage park.

The Waynes are 10x richer than Crazy Rich Asians. They buy and wear the jewelry worth hundreds of millions that belonged to royalty. They own private islands. The art in the house alone is worth more than the GDP of a small country. They went to school with like every US President since Teddy Roosevelt and still think the Rockefellers are new money. They're personal friends with Beyonce and can get her to perform at private parties. They can rent out an entire three-star Michelin restaurant and fly out to one for every date. They have top-line penthouse apartments in every major city in the world. They can buy a luxury sportscar instead of hiring a vehicle anywhere they visit and then just toss the keys to the nearest person on their way out (Arab royalty is known for this appearently. There's been some very lucky parking valets in the UAE iirc).

Bruce is as rich as Ra's Al Ghul, regularly make social calls to heads of state and his family has a history of being king-makers. Every one of Bruce's children, from Dick to Jason to Cass, is poised to inherit one of the largest and most powerful empires in the world. That means every time Bruce adopts an orphan off god-knows-where, the entire global elite is thrown into consternation and horror. Even Tim is barely acceptable to these people because he doesn't have the pedigree. I don't follow the reboot comics so Idk if Duke is adopted, but it would be so fucking funny if he was because they'd react a lot like the British establishment did to Meghan Markle (except the family and WE would have Duke's back completely). As for Damian, the fact that he's not white would get him snubbed if everyone who's anyone didn't 100% know who Ra's Al Ghul is. And they're fucking terrified because, for maximum hilarity, they probably figure that Bruce doesn't.

I just find it incredibly fucking funny when I'm reading fics that the writers can only imagine Bruce and the kids's civilian privileges extend only to "big house", "a lot of cars" and "Gotham famous". Lol. Lmao even.

...

Edit: Explanation for people justifiably skeptical that Bruce could be rich as Ra's (scroll down)

[sakuravalelp]

The Dance Academy isn't a gang- DC X DP Prompt

Inspired by this prompt

Clockwork suggests to Danny, who's been the king of the infinite realms for 6 years now, that he should take sometime off in a mortal realm. He doesn't feel like going back to his own dimension (you choose the reason), so Clockwork suggest another dimension where he thinks Danny might have fun.

Danny investigates the dimension, and finds it is a dimension where some humans, who are called meta-humans, develop powers, mostly during their childhood. Danny knows how tiring and alienating it is to grow with powers that one have to hide. He wishes to give this kids a safe space to experiment with their powers, but not as a weapon, just as part of themself.

He chooses to create a dance academy, because dancing is something in which you use your body and express yourself. It would be an excellent way to encourage this kids to use their powers while enjoying themself. He decides to open the dance academy in Gotham, were it seems metas may feel more pressure to keep themself hidden. With his ability to see and feel the differences in soul it's easy to identify metas, so he starts scouting kids for the academy.

Of course convincing the kids that it's just a a dance academy that wants to create a save space for metas, instead is of a trafficking ring, is difficult. But once he gets the first couple kids in, slowly more come too.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bruce is worried about the new possible meta gang that it's forming on Gotham, and sends Duke undercover.

It's hasn't been long since Duke joined the bats, and this is his first official undercover mission. He's excited at the start, feeling proud that he's been trusted with an independent job, but then he finds out that the "gang" it's just a dance academy. He's a little disappointed, thinking that this job is more of a probation thing than anything, since there isn't anything suspicious.

The bats tell him to stay in the dance academy, because maybe the dance thing is just a cover up and they'll reveal their real motives when he's actually accepted in the group. And Duke takes it as them wanting him to have a meta support system. See? He's learning to understand how the bats show love to each other!

Duke finds himself enjoying being in a dance group. It's a lot of fun. Danny it's fantastic, he has a lot of powers and isn't scare to show them. Which makes everyone in the group feel so much safer to use their own.

Danny encourages them to integrate their powers in their dance. It's freeing. Their powers are treated as a normal part of them, and not as this exotic ability that has to be controlled. It's such a safe space that all of them have gotten used to using their powers for day to day stuff when in the dance studio. It all feels so casual because no one bats an eye to it. There's no talk about how they should try to do things "normally," or limit their use of their power.

Danny: "Why would you? That's your normal, and this place is safe for you to just be you."

Duke realizes a bit late that the bats were actually suspicious of the group, and that his placement there wasn't really a probation. He's glad to know he was actually trusted with a job, but, he had really thought that every time they had asked about his day with the group was because they were interested in how he was doing. That they were showing love and interest in him in that evasive ways the bats did, and it kinda suck to know it wasn't the case. It also meant that he had to confront their family in their clear meta-discrimination.

"Would you have been so suspicious if it wasn't a meta group? No. Other than them all being metas there wasn't anything off. No proof of fights, no proof of robberies, no proof of trafficking, nothing.

There's no proof of anything other than a group of teens dancing, and you know that because you checked it out before sending me.

Like, I don't blame you for checking it, I'm not naive, but you were so sure it was a gang, just because they were metas. That's fucked up guys."

[scarlethood]

getting real tired of b*tfam stans writing talia like 'it's canon that shes a kind compassionate person trapped in a cycle of abuse but it's also canon she's an evil racial stereotype who's a child abuser and rapist sooo I'll split the difference and make her an evil racial stereotype who's a child abuser and rapist but she's so guilty about it 🤪'

*EXTREMELY LOUD BUZZER* you see how you actually just picked the worst most racist characterization right? right??

[spite-and-waffles]

Idk, I think some of us, when we say "slandered by the narrative", mean that their canonical character consistency and complexity keeps being flattened and warped to service more popular characters. But others just mean "this writing doesn't match the version of the character I've built up in my head, so obviously the writers hate him."

They also don't account for the fact that this "slander" is sometimes simply the fact that just because they project onto the cis het white male archetype doesn't mean the character is or has ever been written to appeal to any but other cis het white men. Sometimes you have to confront the fact that you're eating at a table that was never meant for you.

I actually don't give a shit about people enjoying problematique characters or whatever, I love my fair share of homicidal loonies, but if you start trying to justify why your meow meow is actually a really misunderstood person being maliciously slandered by the narrative itself rather than just accepting that they kinda suck I will sincerely think you're a clown. just enjoy the shitbag for what they are.

[timmydraker]

CW:

Tim Drake whose a Meta but doesn’t know it.

Everyone knows that Tim Drake or Red Robin is one of the smartest people in Gotham and maybe on earth. He’s known as a great detective by everyone, even Ra and kind of Joker.

Some people even say he’s better than Batman on that front.

Tim single handedly figured out multiple cures for all of Poison Ivy’s toxins and gasses, as well as a faster cure for Fear.

He solves Riddles little riddles so well that Riddle refuses to fight him because the sassy Robin ruins his fun.

There have been several times he has figured out the identity of various heroes and villains within just a few hours of knowing them, making him technically know more than Batman about secret identities. (Except Captain Marvel’s, that still manages to allude him.)

He’s memorised hundreds of articles, books and cases with just a single once over.

Any maths problem put in forbid him can be solved either instantly or within ten minutes.

It’s just common knowledge that he’s unnaturally smart.

What people don’t realise is that it is literally unnatural.

Tim is a Meta with the abilities of perfect memory and advanced intellect so high that it’s basically super-intelligence, exceeding all known living forces on earth.

The problem?

Tim figured out he was a Meta when he was three and promptly filed away the information to the point that he cannot relearn it.

He bitterly brainwashed himself into ignorance.

[umbrellacam]

ok sorry I just have to yell about this real quick -

Nightwing (Vol. 2) #139 - The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, part 6 Dick: "I let you make the choice for yourself...because I knew you'd make the right one."

Dick didn't know shit, lmao!! "Because I knew you'd make the right one" my ass lol.

Let's rewind two minutes shall we:

Dick: "Tim... Listen... There are no easy answers... But you have the right to make the choice for yourself." || Dick (internal narration): "No-win. If I stop him, I don't trust him. If he goes through with it, I shouldn't have trusted him. C'mon, Tim..."

He doesn't know what choice Tim is going to make, whether his grief will overcome him and he'll take the Lazarus water or not, and has in fact been physically fighting Tim this entire issue to stop him by force. But ultimately he knows it's Tim's right to choose for himself, and decides to hope, and have faith in his brother.

And he has that faith rewarded, and reaffirms it afterward, despite the fact that he wasn't sure.

And paralleling that moment of "yes of course I knew you had it":

Red Robin (2009) #12 Dick: "How'd you know? How did you know I'd be there to save you?" || Tim: "You're my brother, Dick. You'll always be there for me."

TIM DIDN'T KNOW SHIIIIIIIIT HGKLJDKFLSD

At least not consciously! Being caught by Dick is certainly not something he planned for, as he seems to be trying to imply.

Again, rewind:

Tim (internal narration): "I did it. I saved the people he loved. I saved everything he worked so hard to build. No compromises. He won't say anything, he never does. But I know. I know that Bruce will be proud of me. Not a bad day." || Tim: (in the midst of pASSING TF OUT) || Dick: (swoops in and catches him)

Tim may not have actually known that Dick would be there. But that catch... A falling Tim being caught by Dick is a motif that occurs over and over and over across the years of their relationship. Why do I feel like there's a part of Tim, faint as he faded out, and much stronger when he woke up, that went, "Oh, it's Dick - of course if it was anyone, I knew it would be Dick"?

After their conflicts and miscommunications in this arc, after Tim sweeping back into town and explaining not a single thing as he races to thwart Ra's, despite Dick's frustrated pleas, after cutting Dick off with a simple, "Batman...trust me," and Dick's responding, "Of course"....

Tim feeling like he knew, even if he didn't know, or plan, or expect. Because that's his brother. And choosing to express that trust, after Dick chose to trust him...

Just. Dick and Tim. Verbally reaffirming their faith in each other, even after in-the-moment doubts. BROTHERS. My emotions.