#Batman deserves goodness just like everyone else does

[bonefall]

Voted for Bumble bc of course but also if you think Alex would not pspsps Bumble you are wrong. If they could communicate they would go to therapy together /s

If then could communicate they would go to therapy together

/GEN

Kyle/Green Lantern resurrects her but then he becomes convinced that she's not the same person she was before the incident, OR SOMETHING SOMETHING Black Lanterns aren't ACTUALLY bad they're just misunderstood Grim Reaper types, in either case Alex ends up breaking it off with Kyle because they've become very different people.

And then Bumble's there

And then they go to therapy or Alex adopts Bumble, and then uhhh Bumble's like one of the superpets. Like Krypto the Superdog. Free premise go forth and play with it if ur a DC fan

[luv-lock]

𓈒ㅤׂㅤ 𓇼 ࣪ PERFECT LIFE 𓈒ㅤׂㅤ⭒⠀

☆ ── 𝘗𝘈𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎 : Yandere Damian Wayne x Fem Reader

☆ ── HEADCANON : 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥?

☆ ── NOTE : 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺!

Marriage with Damian Wayne is not a fairytale—it’s an obsession disguised as devotion.

From the moment Damian slipped that ring onto your finger, he silently swore to himself that no force in the world—be it man, god, or monster—would ever take you away from him. You are his, and he is yours. Completely.

Damian is the kind of husband who worships you in his own intense, borderline overbearing way. He refers to you as "beloved" in private and "my wife" with a possessive pride when speaking to others. The word "you" leaves his lips like a prayer, filled with reverence and authority all at once.

He memorizes every single one of your habits and preferences. He knows how you take your coffee, the exact temperature you prefer for your showers, the kinds of books you gravitate toward, and even the way your breathing changes when you're upset. It’s all cataloged in his mind so he can anticipate your every need before you even voice it.

Damian rarely lets you out of his sight. Even when he's at Wayne Enterprises or patrolling Gotham as Batman, his mind is constantly on you. He has cameras in the house to check in on you, and you can bet he’s hacked your phone to keep tabs on your location. He tells himself it’s for your safety, but the truth is he can’t bear the thought of not knowing where you are.

You’ve noticed how Damian often hovers. At first, it felt sweet—your husband leaning against the kitchen counter, silently watching as you cook dinner. But after a while, you realize it’s less about affection and more about possessiveness. He watches you like a hawk, as if ensuring you’ll never slip away from him.

Damian is fiercely protective, to the point of paranoia. You’ve never had to lift a finger in defense because he handles every perceived threat with ruthless efficiency. Some guy at work who got a little too friendly? Fired and blacklisted within the week. A stranger who made you uncomfortable in public? Let’s just say they’ll think twice before crossing anyone again.

He insists on walking you everywhere, hand firmly clasped around yours. When you protest, he coolly reminds you, "The streets of Gotham are not safe, beloved. Allow me this privilege."

Damian is terrifyingly romantic in the most intense, Damian Wayne way possible. He fills your home with rare flowers imported from across the globe, but you’ll find out later he had the entire shipment rerouted because he didn’t want anyone else to have them. He writes poetry about you in Arabic, his handwriting bold and precise, and hides the pages in places he knows you’ll find them.

Arguments with Damian can be draining because he does not let go. He won’t shout or lose his temper, but he will dissect the situation until you either agree with him or admit defeat. And if you try to storm off mid-fight? Good luck. He’s faster, stronger, and determined not to let you leave unresolved.

His softer moments are almost disarming. You’ll catch him staring at you when you’re reading or brushing your hair, and he looks so boyish and in love that it takes your breath away.

Damian is obsessed with physical contact. Whether it’s his hand resting on the small of your back, his arm draped over your shoulders, or his fingers intertwined with yours, he’s always touching you. It’s both grounding for him and a subtle way to remind himself—and everyone else—that you’re his.

Your wardrobe slowly changes under Damian’s influence. He loves seeing you in luxurious silks and soft cashmere, claiming you deserve only the finest. He buys you dresses and jewelry that scream wealth and power, though he always insists that nothing could ever truly compare to your beauty.

He doesn’t tolerate secrets between you two—at all. If you’re upset, he’ll press and press until you spill your feelings, his voice gentle but firm. And if you ever lie to him? He’ll know instantly. He won’t get angry, but his silent disappointment will cut deeper than any words ever could.

Damian spoils you to the extreme, but there’s an undertone of control in it. He doesn’t say it outright, but you know he expects a certain level of reciprocation: your attention, your love, your time.

When he sleeps (if he sleeps), his arm is always around your waist. If you ever wake up in the middle of the night and try to leave the bed, he’ll instinctively pull you back, murmuring, “Stay with me, habibti.”

Despite his obsession, Damian loves you deeply and wholeheartedly. In his own way, he truly believes he’s doing what’s best for you—protecting you, cherishing you, making you feel adored. And in those quiet, tender moments when he presses a kiss to your forehead and whispers how much you mean to him, you can’t help but believe it too.

But deep down, you know: Damian doesn’t just love you. He owns you. And he will never let you go.

𝒍𝒖𝒗-𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌 ☆ 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚, 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒃𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔.

[timmydraker]

Tim who has never been good at understanding the words of Shakespeare and Dickens.

He can understand metaphors and knows about philosophy, but he’s always struggle to truely grasp the tragedy and helplessness so may of them hold. The idea of someone being doomed from the start, by the author and the narrative or maybe just the world they were set in, just doesn’t really make sense to him.

Part of him knows it’s because he was born with a vintage silver spoon placed delicately in his hands, but there’s more to it than that.

See, most of the bad things that have happened to Tim have either been consequences of his own action or the fact that his friends and colleagues all have the same dangerous job.

To him it just makes sense that bad things will happen and so he can just… prepare for it. He can do what he can to fix it or move onto something else and push away his own feelings because what else is he supposed to do?

So, no, things like Hamlet and Dorian don’t really click for him

At least… until he thinks about Jason.

Born in poverty with a world surrounding him that would not bother to care or offer help to him purely because of how he looks of his parents.

A mother who loves him endlessly, only to fall into the drugs she tried to protect him from.

Finding out that mother didn’t even give birth to him, but the father that never showed anything other than distain and cruelty was still his own.

Being given Robin, hated by the first one for a time, only to die in the suit by the hands of a mad man all because his real mother sold him out.

Waking up in a coffin, digging himself out and roaming around catatonic and the only thoughts he can actually process is that he must be a ghost.

Being taken by a league of killers, lied to and trick and tormented into thing a perfect weapon.

Realise his mentor, who he once thought the father he deserved to have, has failed him and let his killer free because of something as fickle as a moral compass.

Seeing that mentor seemingly replace him with a perfect rich kid who doesn’t swear or complain or sneak off without permission from what he can tell.

Having no real friends in that time.

Having no one to trust because everyone had an ulterior motive. Everyone uses him.

And through out it all, even with all the hate and the bitterness and injustice he had been faced with, his first course of action is to make the home he first had and the only one he will ever have… safer.

To protect the kids like him from becoming statistics and killers, from the pain he felt and the false promises of the Batman.

Jason keeps honesty and integrity, even when no one else offers it to him in return.

Tim can’t understand Macbeth or Antigone or Othello, can’t see why someone would write something so morbid just to try and entertain.

But he can understand, or at least try to understand, Jason Todd.

Because that is someone who had actually been hurt for no reason. Someone who had been tormented by the universe, by fates and coincidence, with no real lesson being taught other than the world hates him.

Sure Jason has Roy and Biz and Artemis and Kori, but what about a brother?

Dick tried, he still does, but he fails Jason over and over by trying to make him ‘better’.

Damian doesn’t really care too much, not out of malice but there’s just not much of a connection between them.

Cass tries, but Jason is always awkward around her and that’s not his fault, you can’t hide a thing from her.

Duke liked Jason a lot, but again, the newest Bat is trying hard to find his place in the world of vigilantes and can’t quite find it in himself to be too close to Jason’s violence.

But Tim…

He’s morals have always been held together by the simple fact of ‘it’s not really that approved of’ and not much else. He won’t kill, but unlike the others he is happy to leave a Rouge in a sinking ship and not feel a hint of guilt.

He adores Jason’s Robin, he knows to some extent how much he lost with that, and now he knows that Jason might not need much more than a few good things.

Small things, nothing that will trick him into thinking the world is apologising because it won’t, but enough to show him that Tim thinks he’s still worth something.

Tim won’t try convince him to become a better person or to stop killing, he might ask him to be a bit more rational and probably won’t be able to stop himself from giving tips on how to run his business, but he wouldn’t ask for his violent brother to change.

Because unlike everyone else, Tim knows that violence exist for good reason.

If it keeps his Jason alive, Tim will gladly hold onto his blood soaked hand.

[oatlystrawberryicecream]

the way that some people talk about jason and batman and the joker is so jarring to me because it relies on some unspoken assumptions that i will never buy into

1. the assumption that taking a life inevitably always makes the person who did it worse. killing someone isn’t always this earth shattering thing that harms the person who does it and fundamentally changes their outlook on things. i guess if you have never met a veteran or someone who survived an armed robbery or any number of other things you might make that mistake, but like some of the people who fought in wwii came home and were normal members of the community and the times that their bullets hit the mark were not necessarily the parts of the war that kept them up at night. these assumptions that once you kill you are wicked and have to feel bad and do this whole show of repentance are insidious. if you are gonna look at all this through the lens of christian morality you should at least be aware that that is what you are doing but you cant have just one character be wicked and unclean because of his actions when the bible says that everyone is wicked and unclean by our nature and all sins are equal. a lot of people object to that view but if thats how you see it batman and jason and the joker are all sinners and are all as bad as each other so at least be consistant about how you apply that moral framework.

2. the assumption that being robin or being taken in and trained by bruce means full agreement with and acceptance of every part of bruce’s personal philosophy on justice and morality. jason was a homeless child and even if all this was explicitly laid out for him he could not have agreed since he needed bruce as a matter of survival. bruce’s ideology is extremely important to him and he can teach it to his children all he wants but they are not beholden to it above all else the way he thinks they should be. jason has to live according to his own beliefs regardless of how unacceptable bruce finds it and it is unfair and hypocritical of bruce to get bent out of shape about it.

3. the assumption that killing is always bad. maybe i have listened to too many episodes of behind the bastards but some people will do significant and appalling damage to others no matter what unless they are dead. those people can’t be allowed to keep causing harm. it isn’t glorious and there is no honor about it but it is right and just that they be stopped. there is no reason to strive for purity or ideological high ground when you can provide a measure of safety and justice to victims and prevent future harm instead.

4. the assumption that bruce didn’t have to answer to jason. parents have a duty to their children and it is my opinion that that duty does not end when the child dies. bruce adopted jason and made himself responsible and accountable for everything that happened to jason under his care. that responsibility was ignored over many instances. i am not going to detail the things that led to jason’s death here but it was not good or effective parenting. after jason’s death the disrespect starts pretty immediately with bruce compromising evidence of his murder in order to preserve his ability to continue as batman and continues with bruce getting rid of pretty much all traces of jason’s presence in his life. he is only spoken of as a mistake, a lost cause, or a cautionary tale and is assigned blame for his own death, a death that batman never bothered to fully investigate since he was buried next to the woman who led him into the trap. a new kid is endangered and the joker and batman both continue doing whatever they want as if jason’s life only matters for the way it affects them. bruce needs to answer for all of this, as his son jason has a right to expect more from his father. now the extent to which that extends can be debated but it is clear to me that jason deserved better from bruce.

conclusion: killing is accepted in society in certain circumstances, you may or may not agree with this but self defense laws and even things like jury nullification exist because people knew there should be some wiggle room since no one could have the full context of every situation that would ever arise. ending a life is not normal or ideal but it is not an unfathomably rare experience and it does not always weigh on the person who does it. bruce has never to my knowledge killed someone so he has no idea how he would actually respond but that still isn’t even what jason was asking him to do. all he had to do was be present and not move and he would have been the only parental figure who didn’t let jason down.

[silamander]

People who hate Joker and want to see him gone for good are so funny to me because they clearly don't understand why Joker is so important to the Batman mythos and why he's Batman's arch nemesis.

It's the duality that makes them interesting. And the fact that Joker is right in the sense that one bad day made the two of them who they are.

Joker is nihilism incarnate, he believes that life is one bad joke and that deep down everyone is capable of being just like him, they just have to be broken down to the point of no return. He believes it's humanity and the corrupt system it created that caused him to become who he is. So he doesn't feel bad about the horrible things he does because in his twisted mind it's all just a game, and it's what they deserve. Joker believes Batman is just as insane as he is, and he's not entirely wrong. To be the living embodiment of a strict form of justice and devoting your life to it is pretty insane. Bruce doesn't HAVE to be Batman, he's a billionaire, he can live his life any way he chooses, but he chooses to dedicate his life to his crusade.

I mean what is he? Stupid? (I'm so sorry)

But that's the thing. While Joker is the embodiment of nihilism and cynicism, Bruce is the exact opposite. Underneath the Batman persona, Bruce is a flawed, broken man who at his core is someone who doesn't want to see anyone suffer the way he's suffered, and doesn't want anyone to die if he can help prevent it. The reason he doesn't kill his worst enemies, as much as he really wants to, as insane as it is considering how it contradicts his goal of keeping Gotham safe when Arkham is quite literally a revolving door, isn't because he'd end up killing non-stop or some bullshit like that. No, the real reason is because of his parents death, Bruce believes in the absolute sacredness of human life. He believes that everyone deserves a chance to live, no matter how wicked. He believes that everyone can become a better person if they're willing to put in the work to do that, and deserves to at least try that and give them the help they need. And no matter how horrible, cursed, or doomed to forever be a city where crime will always run rampant Gotham is, Bruce never backs down on this belief, and will always fight for the people of Gotham. His one true superpower isn't his gadgets, or his money, or his plot armor, it's his empathy.

But Joker can't wrap his head around this. He's so deep into his own belief that everyone is just as insane as him but doesn't want to admit it, that he can't understand why he would save anyone of Gotham's rogues, especially himself, arguably the worst of them all. So Joker makes it his mission to break Batman, and drive him insane, to prove him wrong. To prove that no one is entirely good, and can be driven to the point of no return like he was, to go down a path of anarchy and mayhem. If he can push Gothams hero to insanity, then he can prove once and for all that he is right, and he'll have the last laugh.

The duality between them is one of the most interesting things I've ever seen (when it's written well, that is). Batman and Joker are two people who are so similar, yet they act in the complete opposite way. Joker kills anyone and everyone just for a laugh. He's a sadistic, narcissistic mass murderer who lacks any empathy for anyone and wants to see the world suffer the way he's suffered. Bruce will save anyone no matter how heinous their actions are, because he's a flawed, but well-intended man who believes everyone deserves a shot at redemption. He's a man who wants to prevent the suffering of others because if he couldn't save his parents, then he can at least try and save everyone else.

They're two sides of the same coin, and that's why they need each other.

[maxwell-grant]

do you have any favorite batman henchmen?

I put a lot of stock into how a Batman work tackles the resident henchmen and assistants and organization surrounding any specific Batrogue and how those intersect with each other so yes, absolutely I have Bat-henchman opinions, and favorites per villain. I'm gonna about pick about one or two among my favorites and name a few honorable mentions, with one exception and that's Rhino, Scarface's muscle. I know he's sort of a package deal with Mugsy, and Mugsy's pretty good too, but Rhino's the one I love.

I have a huge amount of fondness for Rhino and Rhino specifically because of his showing in "Read my Lips", as one of my favorite musical pieces for the series is the leitmotif that plays specifically for Rhino's moments in the opening heist and his brawl with Batman in the climax, and frankly he earns a top spot for me solely on the basis that he has his own theme and it's a banger on top of that. Scarface is exactly the kind of Bat-villain you want funny stereotypical cartoon gangsters attached to, and the big dumb grunt archetype is always more fun when paired with a proportionally much smaller partner or boss. And in Rhino's case, not only is he a titanically strong wall of muscle taking orders from a hand-held puppet dressed like a gangster, but cowering in fear when said puppet gets angry at him and relieved when reminded that he's too stupid to betray da boss. They made a lot with very little out of a bit character and it makes me love the episode so much more, and again, he has his own theme song and it opens the episode even, pretty hard to top that.

Penguin: My favorite overall has usually been Lark, specifically the version of her that was introduced in Tony Daniel's run. Like with Rhino and Scarface, the tiny funny-looking Oswald Cobblepot having a tall, intimidating lady chaffeur following him around makes for good contrast, and although I didn't like "Bullies" much at all, I really liked that scene of them being on friendly terms with each other, how much Penguin trusts her with his life and what he does. I like she is not abiding by any kind of formal dress code, like everyone else who tends to work at the Lounge, she's got almost like a punk thing that really contrasts with Oswald's own outfits and I always liked that, her individuality.

A more recent favorite would be Lili Kwan from Penguin: One Bad Day, someone who is far more marginalized than Oswald, and someone who was marginalized and pushed aside BY Oswald, but who joins up with him because he is the best lesser evil she is going to get and because they have enough in common that he can relate to her and respect her and ensure she is respected, but she pointedly does not mince words around him and does not entertain Oswald's delusions and self-loathing. She kinda demands Oswald to be the better class of criminal he paints himself as, to learn from his mistakes and earn having her by his side because "a king can't have illusions", and that's an incredibly interesting dynamic to me, this person with a vision of what Penguin and his empire should be like and in a position to have Penguin listen to her about it, not just muscle by his side but a voice in his ear pushing him to get his head in the game, be someone who deserves the loyalty he has from the underprivileged and the outcasts he claims to be a part of.

Honorable mentions would be the Red Triangle Gang from Batman Returns. I don't think they would really belong in any other version of the Penguin, and I have some very mixed feelings on Returns still, but I like the history they have with this Oswald and I like them in the movie proper, my favorite is the Poodle Lady for no real reason. I would also name the Kabuki Twins from The Batman cartoon, and Mr Decondor from The Batman Audio Adventures.

Joker: I gotta go with Bob the Goon, the Number One Guy. He is not even called Bob the Goon in the movie, he's just become so emblematic a figure for goons everywhere that he earns that name, Bob the Goon. See, I actually don't think the Joker should employ clowns in his gang, I think if you have more than one clown going around doing crimes, then they're not that special individually, I don't see the Joker surrounding himself with people who look or act even half as outlandish as himself, and that’s part of why Bob works for me, this comically ordinary schlub grunt who nevertheless endears himself to our sympathies for putting up with the Joker, being endlessly loyal to Napier before and after his accident. We like him in no small part because the Joker clearly likes this guy as much as he's capable of liking anyone on the planet, which is why it actually lands when the Joker guns him down just to vent. Rest in peace Bob, an example to low-lives everywhere.

If I had to name another favorite, and one I think works better on a reocurring basis, it would be Charlie Charleyhorse, from The Batman Audio Adventures. Charleyhorse has the mannerisms of a smooth-talking wise guy and is the guy who handles the day-to-day businesses of the Joker, sweet-talking recruits and negotiating deals and convincing rookies to eat poison and even hosting his broadcasts, and in contrast to the other villain sidekicks in the show who provide comedic contrast he is this very efficient, very charming and dangerous man, fully cognizant of the cruelty he's assisting and the man he works for. To me he feels like a very organic way of establishing how much more dangerous the Joker is compared to the other villains, that he runs his disorganized crime with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine, that behind all the chaos and mayhem there is an unfathomably brilliant mind at work and a smart, affable businessman to act as a conduit between that mind and the city, as if the Joker plucked the ghost of Jack Napier from his soul and found a sweet deal that lets them both happily exist.

Honorable mentions would be Prank, from The Batman cartoon. I think Joker gunning for his own Robin is an idea with legs (Harley never really counted in that regard), I really liked his design, a perfect combination of Robin aesthetics with a clown/jester motif, and I thought he had one of the more interesting set-ups for a "Joker corrupts people into extensions of him" story, definitely one of the better Joker episodes in that show. Other honorable mentions would be Jackanapes and Captain Clown from TAS, because the Joker getting unreasonably attached to a horrible giant clown android is a pretty funny concept to me.

Riddler: God, what a perfect character Miss Tuesday is. Pairing up the self-obsessed artist of crime with the harshest critic of all, the disinterested judgemental teenager, is such a perfect combo and it does so much to breathe new life into a very classic take on Riddler. The fact that she regularly stays in touch and coordinates stuff with other villain interns is amazing and part of the incredible worldbuilding The Batman Audio Adventures has in general. Miss Tuesday is this physical embodiment of ennui to deflate his cartwheeling histerics, manifesting every bit of self-awareness that the Riddler completely ignores, annoying him just as much as he annoys everyone else (her included).

It's punctuated by her being casually murderous to an extent that even surprises him, and the fact that she is just as smart as he is, so by the standards he lives his life by, he can't brush her off as another small-minded knuckle-dragging ignoramus like he does with everyone else, no, he can't tell himself that she simply doesn't understand what he is doing. She does understand him, she is just not that impressed by him, and Eddie will simply have to roll with the barbs and work harder if he is to prove himself. She is the closest The Riddler has to a conscience and thus her job is not to push him towards any kind of moral self-improvement or an approach to his work that doesn't involve murder and terrorism, but to dunk cold water on his head and call him cringe when he gets in too deep or for doing this instead of, like, making money off this crap or something.

The other candidate would be the Riddler's Followers from The Batman. They're not a concept I think would work for a more traditional version of The Riddler, but God they work SO well for that movie and that version of him, marking Eddie Nigma's transition from malajusted murderer into not just a supervillain with a city-destroying plot, not just the rise of supervillains as a thing Gotham is gonna have to deal with forever, but as a sickness aimed at the heart of the city, and a sickness that Batman is indirectly responsible for and that he must owe up to. I really like how The Riddler: Year One elaborates on them with "He doesn't trust people. But numbers never lie." His "henchmen" are numbers, numbers on a screen he never has to actually interact with, but can still send on to be proxies of him, embodiments of how much bigger this is than anything Batman could have imagined it being.

Honorable mentions would be the classic duo of Query and Echo, and much like Bob, we gotta bring up his henchgirl Molly from the Batman 66 pilot two-parter, who tragically died by falling into the Batcave's nuclear reactor. "What a way to go-go".

Two-Face: It's common for Two-Face to have twin sets of named thugs but I can't say any of them have ever been particularly memorable to me, but one that does stick out to me is Benny from Long Shadows. I'm of the opinion that if any Batman villain should be establishing a working relationship with a henchman/assistant, if any Batman villain really needs to be depicted putting in the work as far as convincing people to work for him, it should be Two-Face, the former widely-beloved District Attorney/politician turned crimelord who somehow stays a dominant player in the Gotham underworld despite everything stacked against him (his face, his reputation, his past being public record, the coin-based decisions, etc). I think Two-Face needs to be some degree of charismatic and conversational and convincing, he's someone with more tangential history in this world than the other villains and should be willing and able to engage with people at any level, even if, and especially if, he's going to betray or save them at the flip of a coin, and the closest anyone's ever come to capturing that for me has been Benny, this guy who's willing to question Two-Face's decisions and is smart and sensible and generally pleasant enough that Two-Face lets him do it (with some limits, of course) and lets him in on what he's planning. Being drawn by Mark Bagley, who can convey a lot of expression and personality on any character, is definitely a bonus.

Scarecrow: Not so much of a henchmen since this was technically a villain team-up, but Scream Queen as she was featured in that Brave and the Bold segment has literally nothing in common with comics Scream Queen as debuted in Scare Tactics to the point she is a new character in every way. I like comics Scream Queen quite a lot, and I wouldn't want her to be any kind of underling to Scarecrow, but BATB Scream Queen is a very cool design and concept and in general I think Scarecrow could stand to have some cool and inventive henchmen, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing BATB Scream Queen turn up again so long as she had a different name. I'm also extremely partial to the Strawmen and the idea of him employing former students and offering them teaching exercises mid-crime.

Bane: There's really only one form of Bane henchmen that matter and it's Bird, Zombie and Trogg, the Fabulous Five to his Doc Savage (I always felt like there could be two more members to actually make them five, I know it doesn't have to be an exact reference but). I like them as they are in regular canon but my favorite depiction of them so far has been in the Batman 66 comic by Jeff Parker, which retrofits Bane to fit the 66 aesthetic and tone by further emphasizing his lucha motif, and having his Fabulous Three all dress up in distinct masks of their own referencing existing iconic luchadore characters.

Black Mask: I think the False Face Society is one of the more interesting parts of Black Mask's concept and it really doesn't come up enough, and when it does it gets folded into just being a name for his gangster lackeys instead of the weird cult aspect it acquired when it was folded into his character, I'd like to see that stuff get folded back in.

Hugo Strange: Honestly I love all of Hugo's varied forms of henchmen over the years, all of them have their place in the grand tapestry of his designs (I'm not too big on Sanjay from Batman and the Monster Men, there is stuff to like about their dynamic but I don't think the pulp racial manservant is a thing deserving of the charming throwback treatment). The gangsters from his debut, the androids/mannequins, Night Scourge, the TYGER guards/troopers from Arkham City, the mind-controlled villains and inmates from his Deathstroke arc, and of course the Monster Men. I do prefer the horrific body horror kaijus from Night of the Monster Men, but I also like the mutated giants, especially when they dress up in oversized trenchcoats and slouch hats.

There are a few others but I'm lastly gonna say Mr.Freeze and his polar bears Notchka and Shaka, from Batman and Mr.Freeze: Subzero. I'm not opposed to Mr.Freeze having regular henchmen, or even ice-themed henchmen like in Batman and Robin, there are ways to have it make sense, but the polar bears I think have this sort of almost innocent fairytale logic to them that just fits Mr.Freeze and his imagery a lot better, abstract guardians of the concept of the arctic that Mr.Freeze claims dominion over. Even at their most benign, you can't extricate human henchmen from the inherent brutality of their profession, but when it's trained animals defending a master, it's easier to find innocence and sympathy, traits that fit well with Mr.Freeze. If there's anything in that movie I remember, it's the bittersweet ending where they walk off into a blizzard together, his sole two companions into this new life he's cursed with.

Does it really make any sense for Mr.Freeze's established skillset and character for him to have a duo of trained polar bears on call to do crimes with, the way Penguin and Catwoman have their own trained animals? No. Is it corny? Arguably yes. Do I think it's cool? Is it a cool image? Very much so, and when it comes to Batman, that tends to be the final word in things.

[incorrectbatfam]

Batfam’s Father’s Day plans

(also on Ao3)

"Morning, Bruce."

The way Stephanie says that instantly makes him look up. She traces her socked toe on the right angles of the tile, looking down. 

"Morning, Steph." Bruce puts his coffee down. "Something wrong?"

"Huh?" She perks up in realization. "No, not at all. I actually just have something for you. I stopped by Walgreens on patrol last night 'cause I ran out of antiseptic, and I saw something that reminded me of you." 

She hands him a dark blue greeting card with a cartoon fruit bat and Comic Sans text reading: You drive me batty, but I love you.

"Get it? 'Cause it's a bat, and you're the Batman." She scratches the back of her neck. "Not trying to make it weird or anything, you're just a cool mentor and whatnot. But also, it's nice to have someone who you can mess around with. My old man was always talking business even when he was at home—you kinda do that too, but in a good way 'cause anything's better than being a D-list villain, y'know. Plus, unlike him, you're working on striking a balance. Sometimes you even have a sense of humor." She chuckles awkwardly. "Anyway, I'm going on a jog. Text me if you need anything." 

Before he processes her rambling, she grabs a granola bar and races out the door. He opens the card and out falls out a handful of purple confetti plus an ever-rare two-dollar bill. Smiling, he brushes the confetti up and puts it in his shirt pocket. 

Bruce checks his watch. Everyone else is already out, except for Cass. She was out late last night on that Clayface mission, but even she should be up by this time. He fixes her a bowl of cereal with the package instructions and brings it upstairs. 

"Cass?" He knocks. "Are you up yet? It's past 9:30."

He hears the duvet crunch like a candy wrapper as she shuffles around. A moment later, the door swings open as a messy-haired Cass yawns. 

"I'll leave this up here for you," he says, putting the bowl on the dresser. "Any big plans today?"

She shakes her head. "Write reports. And relax."

"Well, you deserve a break. Great job on the stakeout, Princess." He plants a quick kiss on her forehead. 

"Love," she says.

"Huh?"

"Favorite thing you do. Love."

He laughs softly. "I try. Now go get dressed."

The rest of the day goes by like any other. Despite it being Sunday, he still has a meeting scheduled with some Singaporean investors on their timezone. By eleven, he and some other executives are gathered around the long conference table as the video call drones on, and it's not until over an hour later that they're finally let out. Bruce loosens his tie and Tim does the same, sighing in relief and exhaustion. 

Bruce asks, "Did you have lunch yet?"

"Oh, I forgot that's a thing," Tim says, stretching. "Hey, remember that ice cream place on 32nd?"

"You want ice cream for lunch?"

"I'd break your no killing rule for their M&M cookie sundae, okay?" he says. "Besides, remember when you took my friends and I there even though we massively bombed our first off-world fight? I might still be a massive perfectionist but that made me get a little more comfortable with failing. Anyway, I thought it'd be cool to stroll down memory lane—and have junk food as a meal without Alfred knowing. Unless you're busy, which I totally get."

"Not at all," Bruce replies, putting an arm around Tim's shoulders. "Duke and Damian will be at the arcade all day and I don't have any urgent side business." 

And so, instead of calling Alfred for a ride, they journey through the Gotham subways with Tim's camera capturing the Grammy-worthy saga of a billionaire CEO battling a common turnstyle. They get a few side-glances in the sparse train car, but besides a teenager asking for Tim's autograph, the civilians leave them alone. Pretty soon, they're at a 1950s-themed ice cream parlor, where the waitress slides their orders down the long chromium bar. 

"Why do they call it a banana split?" Bruce asks, grabbing the cocoa powder shaker. 

Tim pauses mid-bite of his cookie. "...Because they split the banana in half?"

"Really?"

He moves the whipped cream aside to reveal the cut banana in Bruce's dish. 

"How would it sound if I said I never noticed that?"

He smirks. "That's why I'm the brains of this operation."

"Indeed you are." Bruce ruffles his hair. "Though this head of yours could use some shampoo." 

"Will saying I love you get me a free pass out of it?"

"No." He laughs. "But I love you too, son."

Alfred catches on to their little dessert escapade and picks them up from the parlor, though not without commenting on the strawberry stain on Bruce's jacket. As Tim plugs his music into the car, Bruce takes the time to listen to the voicemails he got during their lunch break. 

"Hiya Bruce," Clark's voice plays. "I hope today's going swell for you. I just want you to know that I'm glad I can call you my pard'ner." Bruce snickers at the country twang.

Next is Diana. "Bruce, I apologize if I must keep this brief since I have a curator's convention today. However, I wish to tell you that you are an invaluable teammate and even more remarkable friend."

"Hey Batman, I gave you a shoutout to the Central City press for your help taking down Weather Wizard," Barry says. "Also, thanks for letting me borrow your communicator. I can always count on you to be overprepared. Have a good one!"

"Bats, tell your kid to quit taking my yogurt from the fridge." Ah, good old Hal. "Also, today's all about guys like you, so... yeah. I admit, you could be worse." 

Finally, there's one from Zatanna. "Afternoon, Bruce! I'd tell you in person if I wasn't caught up in Kahndaq, but I hope today is extra special for you. I know how much the birds mean to you, and I know they're gonna treat you well."

(There's also one from Ollie, but he's just asking if he can use the communicator after Barry. In the background, Dinah is is clearly ordering food.) 

After dropping Tim and Alfred home and switching to a more discreet vehicle, Bruce makes his way to pick two of his other kids up from the arcade. 

"Did you guys have fun?" Bruce asks as they climb in.

"We decimated every game," Damian says, "and won you the finest specimen as a trophy."

He plops a five-foot Snorlax into the front seat and buckles the seatbelt.

"This is for me?" Bruce asks. 

"Tt, who else would it be for?"

"I didn't win as many tickets," Duke says, "but I also got you a spider ring and a Chinese finger trap." He puts them in the cupholder.

"Why are you giving me all your prizes?"

"Again, who else would we give them to?" Damian asks.

Duke says, "I think what he means is that you do a lot for us, so this is a thanks from us."

As silly as it might seem, Bruce is genuinely touched. 

Pre-patrol dinner is a quiet affair, with Kate stopping by because she apparently forgot to go grocery shopping. She takes a fingerling potato off his plate. 

"Um, you're welcome?" he says. 

"Bruce, we're family. It's what we do." She takes a bite. 

He takes a piece of asparagus from her. "I wish all of us were here, though. Too bad Dick and Jason have that Penguin stakeout. Hopefully they're being safe."

"Even if things go wrong, they were taught by the best. You should trust them more." Selina gets up and places a peck on his cheek before going to get a drink. 

"I do," he mumbles into his meal. "It's the world I don't trust." 

As he puts on his cowl, he asks Barbara for an update on the evening. So far, Duke is handling a carjacking, the girls are preoccupied with a strip mall hostage situation, Damian is patrolling Metropolis with Jon, and Kate is kicking off her shift with a car chase against Two-Face. Tim and Selina are staying back to catch up on some overdue reports, but other than that, the cave is quiet. 

"Before you go," Barbara says, "my dad was cleaning out the attic and found something you might like."

From her bag, she pulls out a blue mug that says: World's Okayest Dad.

"My brother got it for him a long time ago, but... you know. It's all yours now, if you want it." 

He takes it, running his thumb along the words. 

"It suits you," she says before turning back to relay something to Stephanie. 

The route laid out for him tonight gives him the perfect opportunity to swing by and check on two of his boys. He lands on the rooftop silently, where Nightwing and Red Hood have already set up camp. Evidently, they don't notice him as they keep going with their conversation.

"Did you get dropped on your head as a baby?" Jason asks. "Sour cream and Greek yogurt are not the same thing."

"They totally are, change my mind." Dick glances through his binoculars. "No sign of Cobblepot yet."

A moment goes by as Jason not-so-covertly steals some of his brother's patrol snacks. 

"So how'd family therapy go yesterday?" Jason asks. "Did the old bat finally show an emotion?"

"It was pretty insightful, at least on my part." Dick lowers his binoculars. "I think I realized where Bruce's persistence comes from. It's annoying as hell, but I think that's how he maintains hope. And who knows, maybe it's his love language."

Jason scoffs. 

"I'm serious," he says. "I know none of us are stellar at this family thing, but we care about each other. You can't deny that. We just gotta... refine how we express it." 

"Count me out."

"Jaybird."

"Codenames, Dickhead."

Dick snickers. "You love us, admit it. All of us."

Jason mutters a string of curses under his breath before saying, "If you tell him, I'm filling your mattress with sour cream."

Bruce smiles and leaps to the next building. 

At the end of the night, Bruce finds Alfred brewing tea in the kitchen and takes the kettle from him. 

"I got this," he says. "Why don't you go relax in the living room? I think they added your favorite detective movie to Netflix." 

"This is a pleasant surprise." Alfred raises an eyebrow. "What brought it on?"

"It's Father's Day, of course," he replies, pouring the cups of tea. "You know you've always been a second dad to me."

"You made that clear with last year's breakfast surprise," Alfred says. "Care to join me?"

"Always," Bruce says. "By the way, do the kids seem different to you today?"

[tjlnn22]

An Analyis of the Ending of "The Killing Joke"

This scene is one I've wanted to get my thoughts written out on for a while and one of the most interesting in all of DC comics from how important it is to understanding both the characters of Batman and the Joker.

So, this scene is the finale of the oneshot comic "The Killing Joke" By Alan Moore, and is directly preceeded by Batman once again foiling the Joker's evil plan, beating him both verbally and physically before then kicking him to the ground to seemingly knock him out.

For what then follows, I will post the full comic pages so you can absorb the scene first.

Ah, the infamous cutaway that leaves the ending so open to interpretation. But what exactly does all of this mean? Well, I'll give my interpretation:

The scene starts in the same way as many other fights between Batman and Joker have concluded. Joker gets defeated, Batman saves the day, the clown prince of crime will get chucked back into Arkham until he inevitably breaks out once again, and then they'll do the whole thing over. "You know, I think you and I are destined to do this forever", that's how their story always goes. However, this time things are different.

This time, Batman doesn't beat Joker senseless, even though cosnidering what Joker spent that evening doing to his friends and family, he would richly deserve a good beating by anyone's estimation. Joker expects that of Batman as well, and he accepts the beating and re-imprisonment that he's sure is coming his way, because that's how it's always been. And yet instead, this time Batman chooses to talk with him. He tells Joker the facts of the situation, that despite everything, he actually doesn't WANT to hurt him, and knows that if they keep going down their current path, one of them will eventually kill the other. Batman knows it, and he knows that Joker knows it too, and he doesn't want that to be the case, because above everything else Batman values preserving human life as a goal equal to and often greater than stopping crime. He doesn't want to kill Joker, it would go against everything he stands for, but he knows with every encounter they share that possibiltiy grows more and more likely.

In a similar fashion, the Joker doesn't actually want to kill Batman either. Despite how he may play the part of wanting otherwise, the entire story of the comic up until this point has been about Joker trying to prove a point to Batman. That deep down, everyone can become him, that all it takes is one bad day to turn even the most moral man alive into the Joker. whether this is because Joker genuinely believes this, or it is meant to simply justify and excuse who he himself became from his own tragedy, is never really confirmed, though it is most likely a bit of both.

Either way, we see that Joker is not happy at all by Batman attempting to talk to him instead of beating him. In fact, he's practically sulking. Now, is this due to the fact that his big plan just failed, sure, at least partly. However, there is something else going on as well. All of Joker's plans fail sooner or later, this is no exception. It's something he expects despite coming up with a new one every week. This time though, he genuinely looks depressed, and this is in part due to Batman breaking the magic of their routine. By speaking to him like anyone else, by reaching out to Joker, Batman is attempting to fundamentally change their relationship forever. Batman wants it to end, he doesn't want to keep fighting Joker until it kills one of them, he wants Joker to stop. But Joker doesn't want to stop, he doesn't want Batman to die or stop chasing him because the relationship he has with Batman is all he has left. He has no real friends, no goals outside of plans to mess with Batman more, he has nothing outside of his role as Batman's arch enemy, and he knows it.

And yet, despite all that, when Batman genuinely reaches out to him, appeals to the fact that their lives were both heavily affected by past tragedies and offers Joker help to try and move past that, to be better, even after all the atrocities he's committed, despite all that... Joker actually seems to consider his offer. We can see this by his hesitation, and the fact that he doesn't just laugh it off right away or make fun of Batman as he would any other time.

This time, Joker seems to consider the offer, and turns dead serious in a moment that is probably the most normal display of genuine human emotion we get from him, and he tells Batman that he's sorry. Joker genuinely apologizes for not being able to take Batman up on his offer, looking like he's about to cry as he declares that it's far too late for him to take any offer Batman could give him.

The question is, why? Why is this time so different, why does Joker seem to actually consider Batman's offer and reject it in such a human manner? Well, I truly believe the answer is clearly seen in the joke that the conversation with Batman reminds him of. I will go through it line by line and give my interpretation.

"See, there were these two guys locked in a lunatic asylum" I think this obviously is referring to Batman and Joker. They are the characters of this joke/story, the conversation between them reminded Joker of this joke (or he just came up with it on the spot to suit their situation, but regardless) and they are also the only two characters in the panel where that line is said. In this case, the 'asylum' in question would be their rivalry, their roles as Batman and Joker and everything that comes along with that. Makes sense, none of the things either of them do in those roles are things that normal, sane people do, and both of them were traumatized in their lives by horrible events and spiraled into becoming the Batman and Joker because of it.

"And one night, one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum anymore, they decide they're going to escape." This is a clear metaphor for ending their roles as Batman and Joker, perhaps just for that particular rivalry or all together. Escaping the asylum means returning to the normal, happy lives they had before their trauma. Batman has already stated he wants to end his fighting with Joker, however the fact that both men in the story wish to leave the asylum together implies that Joker also secretly wants that too, which is very interesting as we go on.

"So like, they get up onto the roof, and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight, stretching to freedom." Given that Joker is looking at the moon shining over Gotham as he says this, I think it's clear that the 'freedom' here is living a normal human life the same way all the civilians of Gotham try to every day. It's about having a chance to be better, to do better and make something of your life everyday beyond the endless cycle that he and Batman are trapped in with each other. As long as that cycle exists, they can never truly be free, even though the Joker can break out of Arkham whenever he wants and do practically whatever he wants until Batman stops him. Their rivalry prevents either of them from ever being free.

"Now the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daredn't make the leap. Y'see, y'see he's afraid of falling." This is where we see Joker differentiate himself and Batman in the story, and how their situations in life currently exist. Batman is the first guy who is able to escape the asylum and return to the city fairly easily, whenever he desires. This is because that, unlike Joker, Batman has his life as Bruce Wayne to live and fall back onto. He has many friends and a large family both adopted and biological who rely on him and give him something good and happy to live for. He can leave the asylum because he sees the light on the other side, he has hope and knowledge that things will turn out alright if he does. But Joker does not. Joker doesn't have another life to live, no family and no friends to fall back on and lift him up. All his life consists of is the asylum and Batman, the other man right along with him. He knows nothing else, and so it seems impossible for him to ever jump across to the other side and join Batman in freedom.

However, it goes beyond that. Joker isn't scared to leave the asylum because it's all he knows, in fact he's just as eager to leave it with Batman. What he is afraid of though, is FALLING as he jumps across. What does falling mean in this case? Well since escaping the asylum would mean ditching the roles of Batman and Joker and returning to a normal life, falling would be failing to do just that, failing so hard that it sends him plummeting right back down, either to death or to being left alone and away from the safety of the asylum and more importantly the companionship of Batman. if he falls but Batman doesn't, he'll be left lost and alone, pointless and forgotten, and that's what Joker fears by leaving the asylum.

"So then the first guy has an idea. He says 'Hey! I have my flashlight with me! I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk across the beam and join me!" This part of the metaphor I believe is meant to represent Batman's offer of help to the Joker, the therapy/rehabilitation that's intended to help him get better. In this case though, the help is being represented by something that has little actual effect. You can't walk across a beam of light to cross over to another building, in the joke it's only meant to stop the second guy's fear of falling. It isn't actually a real bridge to freedom, just an illusion of one that Joker thinks Batman is giving him.

However, than we get to the punchline.

"B-but the second guy shakes his head. He suh-says, he says, 'wh-what do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was halfway across!"

And here we get the real reason why Joker can't take Batman's offer, why he can't join him in freedom outside of the asylum. It isn't because he doesn't think the help Batman is offering him would work. The beam of light not being a real bridge to walk across isn't the problem in his eyes. The problem, is that believes that if he tried to walk across it, Batman would shut it off and let him fall. Because what Joker is truly scared of, isn't that the help Batman's offering him wouldn't work, he's scared that the help might actually have a chance at working, that he may have a way to get out of the asylum for good, but that Batman will give up on him before he reaches the other side.

He's afraid that the only person in the world who genuinely cares about him and wants to help him, will end up giving up on him and forgetting him if he tries to get better. We can see that in the way Joker delivers the punchline, turned around to stare directly into Batman's face with a disturbed, crushing smile of realization on his face while the symbol of freedom that is Gotham, bathed in the light of the moon sits directly behind him, just out of reach. He's accusing/telling Batman of why he's afraid, that he could never trust him enough to actually try and rehabilitate him, and he's laughing because he knows there's no way out of this.

And Batman, once the joke finally hits him, realizes the exact same thing. He knows then that Joker will never actually be able to be helped, there is nothing he can do for him because Joker will never trust him enough to let himself be helped. There is no way out of this for them now that Batman's final appeal to peace has been turned down by a man to broken to realize it was his way to a better life, a free life.

And so, knowing now how their story will end, Batman does the one thing that Joker always wanted from him, and breaks his role as Batman for just a moment. He shares in a final laugh with Joker as he puts his hands on his shoulders, up by Joker's neck, and the two laugh and laugh together until the scene cuts away and their laughter cuts off equally as quick.

Now, did Batman kill Joker here? The single question everyone tends to ask when they read this scene. Now, canonically we know that, no, Batman does not kill him, Joker returns again and again after this, but in this case I do fully believe that the creator of this comic, Alan Moore (the same man who wrote Watchmen), did likely intend for that to be the ending. The fact that the scene opens with Batman acknowledging that their relationship will end in death, and that the only way out of that is for Joker to accept his proposal I think seals the intent of the ending pretty well. Joker Can't accept his proposal, because the trust between them that would be necessary for that is something that could never truly be built up as they exist in their roles as Batman and Joker. They both know this, and so Batman ends their relationship and breaks his one rule by freeing Joker the only way left it is possible to free him, in death.

So, as much as I personally think that having Batman kill at all is a fundamental no no that you just can't do with his character because it goes against everything he stands for, I think this as an intended ending by Alan Moore to the relationship of Batman and Joker works very well. It is one of many endings in across many comics. Is it my favourite? No, though I would put it in my top three. however, I do think that this is the meaning that Moore was trying to convey in this scene, and I truly believe he does a beautiful job at conveying it!

[wanderingmind867]

Okay, there's only two batmen I adore: Diedrich Bader and Adam West. Both of those men understood the role to a tee. Nobody else gets it. Batman can be sad, and he can he allowed his moments of brooding, but he's fundamentally a good man, and that shows in his words and actions. He's always going to be there for his friends when the going gets tough. He's not a bad man. Nobody since 1985/1986 seems to understand that Batman works better when he actually cares!

Batman cares about his allies. Adam West nailed the kind, subtle complexities of Bruce Wayne. The way that him and burt ward really feel like a father and son... it's touching. Adam West just seems like a genuinely good guy, and I feel it in his performance. I feel like he would've been just the most pleasant man to talk to. Considering most of his roles late in life involved him playing batman parodies or self parodies, he clearly had a very humble and accepting personality. He accepted the bad hand fate dealt him (being typecast as batman), and he he made it work. He was practically a saint for doing that. He deserved so much better!

And Diedrich Bader...well, he just has a similar feel to him. Diedrich Bader's Batman isn't as likely to speak all his emotions, but he jokes around while fighting, treats all his allies like his friends, and generally has a pleasant internal monologue. He may not always show he cares (since he is still kind of quiet and reserved sometimes), but he also just feels like someone you can look up to. There's a feeling of deep soul imbued in his acting. You really feel the heart coming through.

But besides these two, no other actors seem to understand what being Batman should mean. Batman is about hope. He's just a detective with no powers, but he's a kind man who inspires hope and faith in those he protects. He shouldn't be scary. He shouldn't be violent. He shouldn't be anything overly dark. He should be a good (if somewhat reserved) man, who does the best he can to protect his city. He should dress in grey and blue. He should have weird gadgets and fun weapons. He should show his kind side, and not dress like he wants to intimidate everyone.

[starvcives]

and top 5 dick & bruce moments <3

vechh you know me and you know how much i LOVE this question!! i'd take literally any excuse to talk about them.. there's just soo much to choose from so i was dying while doing thiss. the one's id choose are pretty generic but i love them all the same::

that moment from obsidian age when faith tells dick about what bruce said to her. dick being so surprised that she assumed bruce was his father and even more surpised at what made her think that way? u are both freaks. the fact that bruce can so casually say this to anyone else but never actually say it to dick's face.. they r CURSED. also dick's expressions!! genuinely jla obsidian age is such a foundational nightwing comic.

"The only time I ever feel pride is when I look at Nightwing. Sometimes I think he's the only thing I ever did right."

their wholee argument during prodigal. love it when they ream each other out, or more likely, dick reams bruce out while bruce stands there because everything he does has a reason dick, and he has a good explanation!! but also because they are soo unwell. bruce thinking dick would never wanna be batman because he has already built nightwing for himself-- which is so much better! bruce truly believes that nightwing is an essential part of the hero community. he believes in dick's ability to lead and inspire. he also believes he doesn't have any right to be a subject of that ability. he doesn't think he deserves dick's loyalty and he outright says this in gotham knights. dick has already done so much for him, how could bruce call him back, especially for this.

robin 13 u will forever be known for this..

"I didn't have the right to call you back."

"The right? I'd die for you bruce."

obviously, just copy pasting the entire comic of bloodborne here. bruce leaving flowers at the graysons' grave every year.. alfred saying he's never missed the occasion so it's obvious something's gone wrong. the flashback... "i dodged the bullet, robin. i always do. okay?" dick setting off alone to find bruce in the middle of the cold harsh weather with nothing but a heartbeat monitor.. SCREAM.

another over used one but also one that altered my brain chemistry. that one panel from infinite crisis. I KNOW IT'S EVERYWHERE-- but that's because it is one of the most insane and fundamental changes that re-routed comic history! alternate superman telling bruce that everyone on this earth is a worse version of everyone on earth-2. telling batman that they should be overwritten, it's only for the best after all. AND WHAT DOES BRUCE SAY??

"And what about Dick Grayson?"

"Yes?"

"Is he a better man on your Earth than he is on mine?"

yeah. bruce's faith in dick transcends alternate realities. the world could be on fire and the incorruptable could become corrupted but bruce wayne can not doubt dick grayson. bruce just casually judges the potential of an entire world by the standards of dick grayson. if the dick grayson on this earth is still a good person then it is still worth saving.

last but not least, a bit of a controversial one, but that scene in forever evil where dick is strapped to the bomb and it's about to go off and he tells bruce to leave him just like bruce has told him many times before. BUT BRUCE CAN'T. he says that the only way they are getting out of this is together as if there aren't like 3 other people in that room with them lmaoo- if dick grayson dies then bruce might as well die too because there is no reality in which he can live without him. his son, his brother, his best friend, his saving grace, his boy OUGH. and then we get the whole spyral fight scene yada yada and it's like a knife cut clean through your heart. one of the first dick & bruce scenes I read and one that will always hold a lot of weight in how I view them.

please bear with me i cant find the panels rn

bonus:: sooo much good robin dick and bruce content coming out omgg -> batman and robin: year one, world's finest

and then there's year one: batman/scarecrow, batman and robin 2021 and i can not reiterate this enough BLOODBORNE!!!

there r also so many single issues of comics i can name but that's a whole list for another time

[scintillyyy]

i find such a radical "dixon hasn't written anything good and is personally responsible for all the conservative agenda in comics of 90s" opinion in fandom quite funny.

like if he hadn't made such a right turn, now everyone would say about him "well yeah his works haven't aged so well and sometimes he wrote crap, but there were good stories too!" as about many other comic writers.

yea Don't get me wrong there is a lot that that man derserves to get called out for and taken to task for. but mmm i do think that because he took such a vocal, public descent into some truly atrocious behavior and opinions he does become the easy target to place all the blame onto. and while he deserves plenty of blame himself, you do see that some far beloved writers have some of the same issues he does in their writing that they often get a pretty hefty pass for in comparison. he is treated as if his writing *has* to be somehow worse than everyone else as far as issues like sexism or racism or classism, when his is honestly not even the most sexist work coming out of dc comics or comics in general in that era (were there better? yes. were there much worse? ....absolutely yes) and issues of racism and classism were very present even in other writers that were politically opposite him (alan grant in rite of passage comes to mind, but even if you look outside of batbooks you're going to find those things. sometimes done better than batbooks, sometimes done worse than batbooks)

and listen. it's easy to want to attribute every rancid opinion to him because of his current day views, but when you look at only the bad things, you miss that he also may have had some views in his works that you may actually agree with--i was discussing in the comment of my last ask and i re-read the story this morning (electric city, detective comics #644-646) and it does make me agree, but in a lot of his works he does end up kind of coming across as staunchly anti-death penalty in a lot of his batman work despite being pro-prison as punitive punishment. and it's like. he is catholic apparently and that's kind of common view in catholics especially of his generation--that prison as punishment is deserved for the wicked, but that the death penalty is ultimately a moral wrong. and it's like. well i know i agree a lot with his feelings on the death penalty that shines through while disagreeing with a lot of other things in his work. i think sometimes even if the person is abhorrent you can't just attribute only the bad things to him. even a broken clock is right twice a day. and even working clocks get off-tempo sometimes. i think sometimes dixon deserves most of the blame. sometimes that blame deserves to be spread around a little bit.

[somefanficrecomendations]

April Monthly Recap

I’m back! I took some time off to finish out the semester and get my life back in order and I’m finally able to post again. I’ve barely had time to post about fics, let alone read them, so this month’s recap is a month late. But hey, better late than never?

BATMAN

Plato's Allegory of the Batcave by hppjmxrgosg (gen), 2k, Dick Grayson Character Study “So who do you think was the angstiest Robin?” Stephanie asked. In which Dick Grayson contemplates what Robin meant to him, what it means to everyone else, and how he has to reconcile the two. OR I get my filthy hands on one (1) Dick Grayson and shake him until a character analysis falls out.

Hat Off to the Bats by dietpudding (gen), 6k, Crack Treated Seriously "I've identified a pattern in the frequency of Mad Hatter's previous breakouts. Data shows he's more likely to stay put after he scores a new hat." "Go on." Steph perks up in her seat. Now that she knows to look for it, she can easily spot the manic twink to his eye that Tim gets whenever he's about to act a little unhinged. "I like where this is going." Tim's lips twist into a mischievous grin. "How comfortable are we with ghostwriting a heist?" "Extremely comfortable," Steph replies with an equally roguish smirk.

Ad Infinitum; Modified by familiarities (twistsandturns) (gen), 8k, Time Loop Tim is hunched over his computer, bouncing between a report for B (Batman, not Bruce) and a spreadsheet for B (Bruce, not Batman) when Jason stumbles into the cave. If it weren’t for the fact that Jason had been in a somewhat good mood lately, Tim probably would have been a little more concerned about this fact. Still, it’s weird when, instead of ignoring Tim’s existence like he usually does, Jason walks over to him directly and says, “I'm in a time loop and I don't know why. Fix it."

IRIS Log #1548 by deadchannelradio (gen), 8k, Paperwork, Humor (01:25) Red Hood: (Mild static) (Out of breath, slurred) You motherfuckers. Put some fuckin- (01:25) Batman: (Shaking) Red Hood- (01:25) Red Hood: Shut up. Put some fucking respect. On my name. Start fucking copying me. I just got thrown fucking. Um. 40 feet. Into a fucking uh. What's it. Ditch. I'm still fucking conscious. (01:25) Batman: Red Hood, do not move, we're en route- (01:25) Red Hood: What'll I win if I stand up. (01:25) Batman: (Loud) Do not stand up.

Shark Week by heartslogos  (gen), 2k, AU-Mermaid "Do you have a tail? That'd be cool." Bart says, "If you had a tail. Could we give you a sea-shell bra?"

DCU

myself and this body that they stuck me in by misspickman Superboy, (multi), 14k, Non-Binary Kon-El “Oh,” Bart says with a hint of surprise in his voice. “You look so pretty.” “I look like a girl,” he rebuts. He's not sure why he's even continuing this conversation. Bart, blissfully unaware of Kon's internal crisis, shrugs and says, “Well, I think you'd make a lovely girl.”

The Outlaws’ Guide to Parenting by Flowerparrish Pod Collabs (Flowerparrish), kbirb pods (kbirb), Opalsong (Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd), 4k, 40 mins, Podfic, Texting Roy: so you know how I had that fling with Chershire for a month or two a couple years ago? Roy: apparently the condom broke Kori: You have a child! Jason: of fucking course we're keeping her

SHERLOCK

The Least of All Possible Mistakes by rageprufrock (Multi), 118k, Female!Gregory Lestrade If ever a people deserved tasering, it’s Holmeses.

[darkcrowprincess]

Batfamily: what I think about each robin

(I'm only going to mention my thoughts on the robins that I have the most information about. Most of my knowledge comes from wiki, cartoons, movies, wayne family adventures and fanfiction. This is how I personally see them)

Dick Grayson: He is the performer robin, watch as flies through the air with ease. He's pure loyalty and deserves his own category as a hero. He is the blue print on which the legacy of robin is built on. He stands toe to toe with batman and grows to be better than him because he can be both darkness and light.

Jason Todd: The rebel robin. Just bravery and guts man. The bravest and boldest of the robins. Even when he is filled with so much fear, trauma and rage. With all the bad things that happen to him he still cares. Cares too much at times but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. That doesn't change the fact that he's so good. So good even with all the blood on his hands. Even with all the anger and violence. Jason still cares so much. You can obviously tell which ones my favorite. So I'm probably bias when it comes to him.

Tim Drake: Robin of compassion. The very essence of his robin is that he chose this. Batman needed a robin, no one else was there so he stepped up. Even if he started out with no training and no one wanted him there he became robin because batman and gotham needed one. Yes Tim is incredibly intelligent and cunning. But everything he's based on his his empathy and compassion for others.

Damian Wayne: Honestly I don't understand his reasons to be robin. I don't understand him. His robin being a legacy thing and being trained to fight from a young age. It's like they wanted to created a surprise robin that was related to batman that happened to be super violent and raised by assassins. Like the complete opposite of the other robins. Why does Damian even want to be robin? Because of his family? Because of his parents? Does Damian even like fighting or is that just something ingrained in him because of how he was raised? Damian is not my favorite robin but I do like parts of his character. Like when he loves animals and how he tries to bond with his siblings. I get why he is the way he is. But he's just again not my favorite.

Duke Thomas: I desperately want to know more about him. His powers sound really cool. His origins as well. I just really want a Duke Thomas movie or cartoon. He seems really sweet in wayne family adventures comics.

Stephanie Brown: Has to be my least favorite of the robins in general. Probably will get me a lot of hate for disliking her. I do not get her. Her character feels all over the place to me. She reminds me a lot of Annabeth from Percy Jackson series books and I don't like her much either. I'm probably being unfair. But it's my opinion. I feel bad for not liking her because everyone seems to love her, but I just don't get the hype.

And that's it, I know there's probably a few more robins I'm not mentioning. Especially someone name Carrie. But I don't know a lot about her. But yeah those or my thoughts on the robins. You can probably tell Jason and Tim are my favorite robins. Dick gets a category of his own because again he's Dick Grayson. I'll probably talk more later about Cass and Barbara once I watch more stuff with them. A separate post to add with Batwoman because they seem really cool.

(Don't like don't read. Post hate and I'll block you!)

[ultimate-marysue]

Jason's Civilian Identity Headcanons ranked according to me, myself and I:

Reveals his identity to fuck with the rest of the Batfam: I could see it for his villain era, and honestly it's the worst thing he could do to Batman, but I just don't see it. He still wants to help people and eliminating all Gotham vigilantes goes against that. 1.5/10

Rejoins the Waynes: It's not so much that I don't think it can happen, just that it would be very hard to justify. You can explain it away, but it would call a lot of attention to him and I don't think he wants that. Still good for fluff fics and it can be a fun concept 5/10

Psychologists/psychiatrist: the idea of any bat deciding to actually help the people at Arkham get the therapy they need is Wonderful, I just don't think Jason would be the best option for it. His whole thing is that some people aren't worth redeeming/don't want to be redeemed and need to be permanently taken out to avoid the death of innocents. I would love to see psychologist Jason, but much like the above I don't think it fits him. 5.5/10

Theatre actor: listen, this one's just silly. Got nothing to add, it's silly and I love it as a concept. Personally, outside of everything else, I think Jason would get stage fright, but in theory I love this. 6.5/10

Remains legally dead just for funsies: honestly, Jason weaponizing being dead to get out of doing shit is comedy gold. It's not the most elaborate, but it's a staple for a reason 7/10

EMT/firefighter: listen, is it sustainable to be a first responder and also a vigilante? Probably not, that's why I see this option more for Dick/Cass...but the flavor is so good. Sometimes a headcanon is just: he'd look good while doing it. 8/10

School counselor: I just think that Jason taking the "heal your inner child" thing too literally is both funny and fitting. Anytime he suspects there's something wrong going on, he investigates the families as the Red Hood. The principal doesn't know how he does it, but respects the shit out of him. 8.5/10

Librarian: now we're getting into the excellent stuff. He could use the money he steals to open a super aesthetic bookshop with a program for kids from low-income houses. Personally I see him more like a public library clerk giving recommendations and extremely knowledgeable in all the programs the library offers for free. 9/10

Mechanic: this one just fits so well. He has the knowledge already, he enjoys it, and it would be really easy to get into. It's giving working class hero, it's giving return to your roots but in your own terms. All his older colleagues are baffled at how he knows so much stuff about so many different models and vehicles. Plus, I do headcanon Jason as either gay or trans or both and I find very funny the idea of this group of traditional macho guys becoming the world's strongest allies. 9.5/10

English teacher: perfection. Jason goes back to college, gets his degree and starts teaching at Gotham's public school. I just know he would be so good with the kids, getting them interested in learning and going the extra mile for them. To me this option is for a Jason that's been doing some healing, a Jason that believes he deserves to have a normal life. He could also teach at college and be a meme amongst students. I think it would help him a lot to have a gaggle of teens treating him like he's this endearing but utterly boring teacher. Realizing you're not a violent monster but that, in fact, everyone sees you as just some guy. 10/10

Bonus occupation: PTA Dad Jason. Give me over involved dad Jason fighting with Deborah because "no, actually it may be your kid's fault". Both parents and teachers simultaneously love and fear him because he's invested in his kid's education and that means he wants what's best for them. He will shut down coddling parents and he will harshly criticize shitty teachers. He has a way to make things happen for the school and everyone is half convinced he's in the mafia for it. Just, domestic good dad Jason. +10000

[spider-jaysart]

Character ask: Damian Wayne (duh!)

@venetiangoldroz

Lolll

1. How I feel about this character:

Small boy!! Very intelligent, has a good heart that he usually tries not to show off too often but it is always there with him, sweet animal lover, and is a cool, crazy, weird kid that I love so much lmao

2. All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Jon Kent

3. My non romantic otp for this character:

Jon Kent

4. My unpopular opinion for this character:

Some fans don't like that Damian is a fan of Dinah Lance as a singer, but I personally like it lol. I don't like how silly he was made to be about it though, like singing one of the songs out loud in public for example, because he would never actually do that all lmaooo, he would keep that to ONLY himself lol. Also, I'm hearing now that it was actually a crush he was having on her, which I hate. Like, yes, he's an adult in that specific comic, but I'm tired of DC making him fall for almost every female and older woman that he interacts with, like just let him be normal about them already!!! I just like him being a fan of her music and that's it

5. One thing I wish would happen/had happen with this character in canon:

Not just one thing, cause I'mma list them all here

Start getting the respect he deserves after so much😤, cause like he literally changed himself and went through so much development for years now, but it's still not enough for DC writers or even some fans!! Like, just what do you want from him anymore????? He's been trying so much for too long now!!

For writers to stop treating him like he's nothing but evil, because he's not!! He's just a kid who grew up with a kind of life that's VERY different from everyone else's and was just taught ever since from a really young age to see things in other ways because of that. He does have a heart, it's the reason why he's made so much effort to become the person and hero he is today now and has left the whole League life behind. And about him being a tough person, that's just literally his dang personality, it's not something that adds to him being "evil" at all either

For DC to also just let him choose and make his own path as a hero when he grows up. He shouldn't become the next Batman by force or go through with becoming head of the Loa either, one of the big parts about his character is about discovering who HE actually is and figuring out what he really wants for himself instead, so he deserves to make his own choices by his own will. He should also become a vetinarian when it comes to getting a career

Stop with the white washing and start consistently representing his Arab side more, just like how the artist Gleb Melnikov did very boldly and also wonderfully in Robin 2021 when drawing him

And another one for the writers is to also stop making him crush on older woman!!!! PLEASE!! Just cut it out already!!! This entire thing has been going on ever since he was just 10 years old and nothing about it has ever been "cute!" or whatever they think of it as! It's just freaking weird and I don't understand why DC writers keep doing that to him! He's just a kid, not a grown man, so treat him like it!!! And stop deaging woman who were also already much older just to be with him and stop setting him up with his own female family members too! That one's already happened twice now (Mar'i and Cassandra) and now I'm scared that the writers of the second Supersons movie are gonna push that into there too with Cassandra AGAIN and ruin the film that way, which I really HOPE that doesn't happen AT ALL!😖

Let him have an actual relationship with his Mother instead of keeping them distant so much! Damian deserves to have her in his life too, not just Bruce as his Father, and she also deserves to have him in hers as well. Despite how things may be, they really love eachother a lot and it's not fair that they don't get to be as close as they were before, which is also really heartbreaking to think about honestly

Damian should also get to have a relationship with Respawn too that can develop into a sibling one at some point if ever he ever does appear again in the future

Never let him act like a normal person, let him forever be his weird, strange self, because that's literally one of the biggest things that MAKES HIM DAMIAN and I love him for it lol. Batman and Robin 2023 tried to change this about him in it's protayal and I hated it, it felt like some imposter, which just frustrated me a lot and made some things boring too. This goes for other kinds of mischaracterizations that were done to him too, like Gotham War as the most recent example, which was a big time failure at doing it well in a different way. Writers need to learn how to get to know him better first before actually writing him in their stories, deciding how he will react and treat things that happen in said story and it's plot. Here's something else much better too, he needs to start getting writers who actually like/love, respect, and actually understand him!

I think that's all for now loll but Thank you for the ask, @venetiangoldroz !! Sorry about the little delay btw, but I enjoyed answering this!!!

[ficforyourart]

superman x batman // regrets

Based on this art by Umikochanart on Instagram.

Umikochanart has a no reposting her art policy, so please go check out the link above, it's SOOOOO delicious 👌

SUMMARY: After years of working side by side and denying their feelings, Clark and Bruce finally get together. Bruce wonders if he should have regrets, and Clark promises that even if Bruce regrets him, after tonight, he sure as hell won't forget him.

READ ON AO3.

Or read below the cut. This fic is explicit.

You’ve made a mistake.

A truth? An accusation?

No, just an errant thought swimming in his mind alongside a hundred other shadows. His thoughts are made of ghosts, most of them unforgiving, and all of them are at war with his heart. His fingers drum lightly against the flesh of his scarred thigh—anything to latch onto. Bruce hones his senses in the present, lest he get lost in all the reasons against this.

The sliver of moonlight through the dark curtains turn his pale flesh silver, he’ll need to fix that before his next appearance. He’s spent too much time on the streets, too much time under the cowl. He hasn’t seen the sun in—

A body stirs beside him, beneath lush blue sheets that still smell of rose, bergamot, lychee and cedarwood. It wasn’t his assessment. Obviously, Clark would—

You know better, Bruce.

His eyes flicker to the sleeping figure.

That man (?) has been by his side for years.

That man (?) has seen everything—every break, every bend, every crack in his pursuit of justice. He has seen Bruce at his worst, and held him on the precipice of his anger.

Bruce’s shrowds himself in darkness. He hides himself from the world for their sake. He stands in the shadow cast by this man; how dare he—how dare he try to eclipse the sun.

You’ll lose focus. You’re worse when you’re happy.

His lip curls, as if trying to bare his teeth against himself. Is that true? At all? Does his brand of justice require pain? But he isn’t in pain. Since the moment he stopped fighting Superman and allowed them to become the World’s Finest, he’s been good. Really good.

You knew he liked you.

And you know he deserves better.

If they pursue this, there is a chance that Clark will put him before everyone else. His idealism and romantic soul will want to keep the love that he found. Bruce already knows Clark confers with his heart, listening to its traitorous confessions even when he schools every other part of himself. They trade secrets against his will, and it is damning.

Leave him, leave him, leave him—

“Bruce.” Clark’s voice cuts through his thoughts. “What’s wrong?”

Bruce prefers keeping his problems to himself, especially when he’s out of the suit. The rules are diferent here. Fuck, there are no rules. He should have thought of that. Clark can tell when he lies, so he settles for a half-truth. “Just… Thinking.”

“About what?”

He doesn’t answer and the silence is long enough for Clark to start worrying. (He always worries after a couple of beats.)

“You’re angry, I can tell…” The drumming of Bruce’s fingers are what woke him. Such an unconscious gesture, such a stupid miscalculation. “You regret it, don’t you? What we did?”

“Clark—” Bruce grips his chair as he’s pulled closer to the bed with ease, unable to come up with another half-lie to placate his decent farmboy.

“Don’t you?”

(Clark had been so happy, smiling into his kisses and holding him tenderly. He’d acted like Bruce had given him the whole world when it was already his. What can he give the man who has everything? Bruce is just… Bruce.

He can give him the truth.)

Clark’s hands slip beneath his silk robe, holding him with so much love, and skirting higher and higher across the flesh of his thigh. His fingers dance across the scripture of his scars, knowing each of their stories. (The good, the bad and the ugly.) His gaze is soft and wistful, but he can see the small glimmer of hurt. The touch cuts through the tangle of Bruce’s thoughts.

“You’re right,” Bruce sighs. “I am angry.” He leans close. “Because I don’t regret it, even though I should. I should be ashamed. I was selfish.”

“Bruce,” Clark breathes.

“And here you are in my bed, and I want you to stay.”

His gray eyes search those bright ones for something that will bring him back to reality, but all he finds are clear skies and sunny days. All he sees are fond memories soaring through clouds as he’d instinctively gripped Clark too hard on their first flight, or that time when he’d saved a shy, young reporter from the grasps of conniving billonaires and their hateful politics.

“And… are you going to let me?”

Bruce huffs softly. Of course, Clark would know the dichotomy of his wants and his actions. He bridges the distance, until only a breath lingers between them. He thumbs Clark’s pink lip, tugging it into a deeper pout.

To give Clark a straight answer would be simple, but Bruce is not a simple man. He is meticulous as he is passionate; he loves as thoroughly as he guards his emotions. He is an embarassing cluster of contradictions, and he would be a fool to push away someone who wants him despite all of this. He devours Clark’s lips with a kiss, like a dying man’s final breath.

Clark’s fingers dig into the flesh of his ass, lifting him from his armchair and onto him where he can feel his erection nestled against his. His tongue slips into Clark’s mouth, drinking in the taste of him. Their relationship is a push and pull, even in bed. Clark doesn’t need to breathe, but Bruce dares to try and keep up with him.

He pulls back with a gasp, grinding his ass against Clark’s hardness to elicit a moan from him. Bruce guides Clark’s hand to his stubbled cheek so that he can nuzzle it affectionately, kissing his smooth palm while never breaking the gaze upon his lover. He kisses up to Clark’s fingertips before taking his index in his mouth, sucking deeply until it hits the back of his throat. He hollows his cheeks, still teasing Clark with the roll of his hips.

Clark smiles—fuck, that beautiful brilliant thing—and Bruce knows he’s made the right decision. The smile is equal parts happy and mischievous, as he takes the lead, finger fucking Bruce’s mouth. He adds two more fingers, toying with Bruce’s tongue in a way that leaves his lips and chin glistening with saliva.

“You can regret having me,” Clark looks up to him in the moonlight. “But you’ll never forget me.”

It’s a promise.

Cold, wet fingers nudge Bruce’s furled hole. He leans forward to give Clark more access, but that only encourages him to feign a trust, making the tip of his cock skirt against Bruce. The tease makes him shiver, riddling his skin with gooseflesh and sending sparks of arousal to erection.

“Yeah, you like that?” Clark turns his head so he can kiss Bruce’s graying temple. His voice drops low and sultry, a tone reserved only for him. He pauses, nipping at the lobe of his ear, letting his tongue curl around it before saying, “Daddy.”

‘Daddy’ sends an unexpected bolt of electricity straight through him, all the way down to his toes.

The finger circling his hole pushes past the yielding ring of muscle, pliable from the night’s earlier activities. It sets off an explosion of stars behind Bruce’s eyes, little bursts of unfiltered pleasure. When they had been desperate, passionate and tender before, this is ecstasy in the making.

“You’re still wet in here.” Clark purrs.

The way Clark can switch between the pliable, well-meaning farmboy and whatever this is sets Bruce alight. He’s not one to give up control, but the way Clark holds him, fingers twined in his hair to support him and encourage him to just take what’s being given. This is home, this is safety.

“I shouldn't have let you clean up. I should've left you full of my cum.” Clark hums his laughter as he pushes his finger all the way in, and pulls it all the way back out. Bruce moans, long and drawn out. “But I did like the shower though! It was nice holding you.”

“Clark.”

“I’m just clarifying.”

“Clarify later, fuck now.”

“Hmmm, I never said I’d fuck you.”

The way the curse rolls of Clark’s tongue, no longer a Boy Scout, fills Bruce’s mind with a hundred filthy ideas, and only half of them include any physical touching. Sex, like most things in life, is a mind game. Bruce opens his mouth to argue, but a second finger penetrates him.

“Hnnng, Clark,” Bruce moans. The sound shifts into a wine when the fingers gently scissor his hole, stretching him wider and holding him there until he can feel the cool outside air.

“Clark, Clark,” his hips rock more fervently, seeking friction that Clark won’t allow him. The hand in his hair has long changed guards, kneading the mound of his ass cheek instead and holding Bruce in place when he tries to take control of his own orgasm.

Clark starts moving his fingers again, three inside Bruce this time. “I wonder how much I can fit in here,” he hums, pleasantly, as if he wasn’t trying to stuff half his hand up Bruce’s ass. “A lot, I bet.”

Clark’s musings are equal parts arousing, and equal parts annoying. He balances the fact that he’s fingering Bruce with sweet words, and when he doesn’t have his hands on Bruce, he switches back to that filthy tongue.

“Tell me what you want, Daddy.”

The power play is jarring. Bruce isn’t the one in power, not right now and not this time—a stark contrast to their first time. They’ve had trysts in the back of the Javelin, and stolen kisses on rooftops in moments of fear, desperation and weakness. (It’s the only way Bruce can justify what he took from Clark.) He’d been generous in bed. He was patient and loving. Clark had been sweet. A terrible romantic.

“You,” Bruce grunts, trapped between a rock and a hard (on).

“Hm. Now, beg.”

Bruce glares at Clark. He doesn’t beg. There are personas he has crafted that would beg. Brucie would spread his legs and hold open his own asswhole white inviting Clark to make a meal out of him, but that’s not the game they’re playing tonight. No capes, no cowls—just them.

Their relationship as always been a push and pull.

He moves quickly, and suddenly, hooking his leg behind one of Clark’s knees and shifting his weight in the other direction. Bruce inverses their positions, regaining control despite being beneath the closest thing to a god the world has seen.

“Be a good boy, and fuck me. I want your cock deep inside me.” Bruce takes Clark’s hand, the one that had been groping his ass and presses it against the base of his abdomen. “I want to feel you here.” He hooks his arm around Clark’s neck and pulls him close. “I want you to fill me up until your little heart can’t take it anymore.”

(Clark, as always, exists in two states around Bruce: obviously in love, and concerned for his well-being.)

The Kryptonian considers this proposal. His touch slips from Bruce's stomach to his cock, tracing him from base to tip so lightly Bruce aches for more. He shifts his attention lower, fondling his oft-neglected balls. Clark rolls them between his fingers, until shivers run through Bruce's spine.

Clark finally responds in kind by skirting slowly over his perineum and finally thrusting his fingers roughly into Bruce, drawing a breathless grunt from him once, twice, three more times. He dances the line between pleasure, and just a hint of discomfort, but never pain. Just enough to surprise Bruce and stop his mind from machinating.

It’s not enough, Bruce realizes. Fingers are not the same.

Except, when they crook and press directly against his prostate, milking Bruce for all he's worth. (How much is he worth?)

“Fuck me, please,” Bruce finally yields. “Please, baby. Ah!”

Clark stops. He looks down at Bruce, and Bruce knows it’s not enough.

“That’s not what you said you wanted.”

“I. Want. You. Inside. Me.”

Really, there aren’t that many more ways to put it. Bruce wants to be used, thoroughly, by this beautiful man he has taken too damn long to love. It’s the perfect dichotomy.

“I'm in your bed.” Clark says slowly, his tone reminescent of whenever Bruce needs to be guided through a concussion (or through one of those darker nights when he needs something—anything—to anchor him here). “What do you want from me?”

The answer barrages against Bruce’s mental barriers, the ones that keep his emotions at bay. He searches Clark’s expression in hopes of finding a way out. Another lie slipped in the darkness of tonight? Just a little one for misdirection? Something to buy more time—

Clark withdraws his fingers, and Bruce’s soft moan laments their departure. His cockhead takes their place, kissing Bruce’s hole and nudges its entrance.

“I need you to say it.” Clark bribes Bruce with kisses along his jaw, across his lips towards his ear and back again. He shallowly fucks his lover, just barely entering him and pulling out. “What do you want me to do? Come on, Daddy.���

He can’t—

It’s wrong—

Anger rears its head, baring its teeth against arousal. Bruce wants this, and he wants Clark, but this is too much. His heart, his body and his mind pull in different directions. He has to prioritize—

“Bruce,” Clark coos, stroking his cheek. “Look at me. I mean it.”

The touch helps. Bruce stills, looking at Clark. Adoration and affection colour his handsome features, along with a gentle flush on his cheeks.

“We can just have sex. I was just trying something. Sorry, I should’ve proposed it to you first.”

“If you’re trying to calm me down, talking about proposals is not helping.”

“You know what I mean. Do you want me to stop talking?” The request is so gentle, as if it really doesn’t matter to Clark how they do this. (It doesn’t, as long as Clark gets to be with Bruce.)

“No. It’s good. You’re good. I just—”

“I know.”

Clark always knows.

“I want to try.”

“Then, try,” Clark encourages. He starts kissing Bruce. Little pecks at first, then the kisses bloom into something deeper, more giving. He lavishes Bruce with his mouth, sucking at his bottom lip and nibbling it. He kisses his jaw again, but gets distracted by that favourite spot on Bruce’s neck that makes him cry out just so. There will bruises tomorrow—nothing he can’t cover up.

Clark’s patience is what finally pushes him over the edge, turning trying into doing.

“I want you to stay.”

“What was that?” Clark whispers against his earlobe, as if he didn’t hear.

“I want you to stay.” Bruce says, louder now. “Stay with me. Please,” he begs.

Clark sheaths himself inside Bruce in a single sudden motion. It catches Bruce by surprise, and he cries out. His back arches into the rush of pleasure, and his vision is dotted with a kaleidoscope of colour. He can’t control the way his hips buck, riding the waves of ecstacy that overcome him.

“Ah, ah, Clark, fuck.”

“You’re good, you’re so good.” Gentle fingers card through Bruce’s hair as Clark waits Bruce out. He doesn’t want to overstimulate him. Not now, not yet, and maybe not this time at all. “I’m going to move now,” he promises, but not before placing his hand back over the taut, scarred muscles of Bruce’s abdomen. If he presses just so, he can feel himself inside Bruce. “Come if you need to.”

It's the last warning before Clark withdraws himself and his hips snap against the flesh of Bruce's ass, pounding into him with strength. Bruce's hole swallows Clark's whole.

“Daddy, you feel so fucking good.”

Fuck. Bruce isn't going to last long at all. Not if Clark keeps talking like that. He clenches around Clark, earning him grunts of approval.

“I want to mark your insides. I want to cum so deep inside you, the next time Brucie spreads his legs for anyone else, they'll know you're mine,” Clark growls into Bruce's ear. “What do you think about that?”

“Yes, fuck, yes.”

The pressure inside of him keeps mounting. ‘Making love' had been a slow and steady climb, but being launched ass first into a world of ecstasy. He's there, he's right there, just a little bit more and—

“On second thought, don't come. Wait until I tell you to.”

Bruce's mind scrambles to slide a dam between himself and his mounting orgasm. It's not too late, it's not too late. There has never been a challenge he has not risen to meet, so he fights to hold on. He trashes against Clark, fingers curling against the unyielding and unbruising skin of his shoulder. He needs—he needs Clark to slow down.

Wait, wait, waitwaitwait, his inner thoughts spiral.

Clark is relentless; he is cruel when he wants to be, angling himself so he doesn't quite hit that glorious spot inside Bruce.

His rhythm becomes frayed, the most obvious tell that he's close, and Bruce isn't sure he can hold back. Coming without each other? Preposterous.

Clack bucks into him, and when he finally comes to a slow, heat begins to flood Bruce from the inside.

He came.

The only relief is the momentary stillness so Bruce can gather himself—so he can wrangle his arousal and try to temper it. Except, Clark is still hard.

Clark is still hard, and Bruce hasn't come yet.

“Wait—” Bruce's eyes widen as realization dawns on him.

“Yeah,” is all Clark gives him as he starts fucking him again with equal punishing measure.

“Clark!”

The best Bruce can do is hold on for dear life. Through sheer determination, he manages to hold back. There are moments where bliss overtakes him, and he thinks he's let go, but his cock remains erect, bouncing against his taut abdomen. The only wetness is the glisten of precome, and nothing more.

“Hnng, please. Please, ah,” he begs in clipped grunts and moans. Clark silences him by hooking his thumb in his mouth and pulling on the inside of his cheek. Saliva dribbles down his lip, his chin and his neck as Clark keeps fucking him. Still, permission never comes. Bruce never comes.

Clark releases his mouth and reaches down between them. A clever grin emphasizes his breathtaking features, and reveals his intentions.

“Clark, don't! Clark!”

Clark repeats the motion, sliding his thumb into Bruce alongside his cock. Gently, now, he tugs on that tight ring. He fucks Bruce. He opens Bruce up a little more. It burns, but not in a painful way. The element of surprise is far more dangerous, tearing Bruce's focus away from not coming.

Clark shifts his weight onto Bruce now; Clark thrust directly onto Bruce's prostate, and Bruce moves against him, fucking himself against this monument (perfection) of a man. He swears, he swears Clark is vibrating inside of him, ever so slightly.

He can't take it—He can't take it. It's finally happening, he's going to—

“You're leaking.”

Bruce doesn't hear anything else, except the rush of blood inside his head. His body lights up like fireworks, and his hips trust and thrust in the rhythm of his release. His cock spurts two solid pumps of come, followed by a third and fourth weak dribble drawn out by Clark's still rocking rhythm.

Little by little, he floats back to reality. The burst of stars behind his eyes are replaced by the canopy of his bed, and his limbs that were once taut-bowstrings bracing themselves against the inevitable orgasm are now heavy and languid. Shit, he's sore, he's really sore.

“Clark,” Bruce grunts, pawing at those dark curls. “Enough.”

The thrusts are barely there, a lazy tease from an all-too-playful lover. He didn't feel Clark come inside him a second time, but his erection feels softer inside him.

“I feel full,” Bruce complains and the cock inside him twitches with interest. “Clark.”

“I know,” hums the boy scout as he kisses Bruce's nose.

Clark pulls out. He leans forward, kisses the inside of Bruce's thigh tenderly and gazes into Bruce curiously. He scoops up the excess cum and carefully pushes it back into Bruce.

“Clark,” Bruce warns. “What are you doing?

“What can I say,” the Boy Scout beams. “You're finger lickin' good.”

“I—” Bruce furrows his brows. “I hate you.”

“Mhm. Sure, you do.”

Clark stretches out over Bruce to kiss him quickly on the lips, before settling back between his legs. He mouths at Bruce's soft cock, gently suckling at its tip and tasting the leftover salty-sweet of Bruce's orgasm. He's kinder now. “I know,” he says before Bruce can complain again. “I'm not trying to start anything. Promise.”

Bruce's eyes never leave Clark, not when his exploration moves to the cloudy white splatters across his belly and his chest. Clark kisses him, and he grumbles in turn, half-annoyed and quietly impressed. The image of Clark dipping his tongue into his cum and lapping it up slowly, purposefully is forevermore burned into his memory. He tongues between his own fingers, too, tasting himself and Bruce.

“Stay here. I'll clean you up.” Clark smiles after he's done, innocuous as ever.

“I don't need—”

“I'll pout. I'll follow you around all week pouting until the others start asking questions.”

Bruce groans and lays his head back down. Whatever Clark wants, he can have. That's the rule, isn't it? Anything to preserve that lightness—that joy.

When Clark returns, he starts meticulously and delicately cleaning Bruce up. The moist washcloth is jarring and cool compared to Clark. Bruce flinches when the fabric is pressed against his used hole. He knows he should relax, but the concept is terribly foreign to him.

“Stop, you don't have to do that.”

“I know, but this is for me. Please?” He looks up at Bruce through those thick lashes, using his powers for (no) good.

“Fine.” And Bruce has no choice but to lay there and take it. His mind wanders, as it always does, and he finds himself glaring at the ceiling.

Clark sighs. “What's wrong?”

“What was that?” Bruce says, without missing a beat.

“I said what's—”

“No, I meant,” he stops and props himself up on his shoulders, looking at Clark through the lens of his framed and spread legs. “Earlier. The swearing, the dirty talk, the ‘Daddy' stuff. Where the hell did that come from?”

Clark sits back on his heels. He tilts his head curiously, a golden retriever thinking real hard about something.

“You think too much, so you needed a distraction. I know you like the sound of my voice,” he says, grinning. “I just needed to guide your focus. You're also very controlling. I just thought… maybe if you felt safe enough with me, you might just let go and enjoy the ride. So, thank you.”

Bruce withholds his commentary. He hasn't gotten all the answers. “And the daddy stuff?”

“Oh, I dunno. I was just trying stuff. I had a hunch.”

“You had a hunch. You? A guy who says ‘fudge' instead of fuck?”

“There are levels to me, Bruce! I have depth!”

“That's what you say about six layer dip, not double penetrating me with your fingers and your dick.” Bruce rolls his eyes. “What else do you have in mind?”

“I'll make you a list.”

“A list.”

“Mhm, a list and we can talk all about it,” Clark hums and climbs up next to Bruce. He pulls his old man into his arms and kisses his graying temple. “You know, since I'm not going anywhere, we have all the time in the world.”

***

The Manor is vast, but it is a home, filled with sweet scents and the bustle of life. On most days, the liveliness is provided by a single determined butler who wakes at the crack of dawn—so around the time that Bruce slithers into bed, if he makes it out of the cave at all—and cooks the most ridiculous breakfasts. You know the kind: plenty of food stacked on a homely dining table enough to feed an army by a working mother, only for every remember of the family to run out of the house with a single slice of buttered toast and a sip of orange juice. Truly, the pinnacle of all television families. After all, what is Alfred's life if not a sitcom?

Bruce makes his way down the stairs, shuffling into the kitchen, yawing and rubbing his eyes. It's not the smell of food that gets him—Alfred cooks every day and it makes no difference—it's the singing that lured him out of his beauty sleep.

“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” Clark hums with his embarrassingly old mp3 player in one hand and flipping pancakes with the other. “Seven days a week… Night after night, I'll be loving you right.” He wiggles his bum (in Bruce's silk pyjama pants—the top is an old Gotham University t-shirt), enjoying himself a little too much in someone else's kitchen. He's not being loud at all. It's the strangeness (the joy?) that summoned both of them.

“What is going on?” Bruce asks.

“I haven't quite decided yet,” Alfred answers. The older man has his hands knitted formally behind his back and he stands straight with all the British propriety in the world.

“What does that mean?”

“Either you've stumbled into finally having some sense in your good old age, or something terrible is about to happen. Either way, I'm on Master Clark's side.” Alfred turns and gives Bruce one of those perfunctory smiles, the ones he gives when he's only half-joking. “And I do say, it's so kind of you to give me the day,” he glances at Clark. “Nay, the week off.”

Alfred leaves with a parting, encouraging, squeeze of Bruce's shoulder.

“What is happening?”

Who knew happiness would feel so unfamiliar? Bruce doesn't hate it. Not today, at least.