#Batman is not a good parent and is emotionally unavailable

[parsimonius]

psa to people: if you’re losing an argument and calling people babe and stupid and every other thing to be mocking because you are losing (whether you know it or not) you are actively getting laughed at. I won’t laugh in ur face, nor will I be rude, and instead informative, however you are being laughed at.

[farshootergotme]

https://www.tumblr.com/ruestheday/765956792656265216/one-of-the-biggest-lies-the-fandom-will-tell-you

Opinions on this post?

I'd say that I agree with what this person is saying. As much as I give Bruce shit for his parental skills (which are flawed and shouldn't be overlooked, don't get me wrong), we can say Alfred is partially one of the main reasons why Bruce is the way he is.

I won't say anything about "Alfred should've/could've taken Bruce to therapy" because then we gotta consider a lot of things about the decade when Alfred was introduced and his age in-universe, as Alfred might've not lived in a period in which therapy was widely accepted and even recommended. But I won't dwell too much on that.

Now, I don't think Alfred is necessarily an evil person, but he can be quite selfish and a coward when it comes to facing consequences (which he rarely gets, if ever).

When shit hits the fan, he's the first one to back out. Why should he be responsible? He's only a mere butler (until he goes and calls Bruce "his son").

He's always detached just enough from the situation that nobody will look at him when looking for someone to blame for a problem that Alfred was most likely involved in.

Bruce might be the Batman, but it's Alfred who works from the shadows and leaves the responsibility of his decisions to the rest.

Does he do this on purpose?

Hard to say. I think he's in a way aware of his cowardice and harmful tendencies, but he doesn't have an active intention of hurting others. However, lack of intention does not mean lack of action, and despite whatever he might feel or believe, he does many things that end up in someone's hurt and even death.

And don't many consider it, but to me it doesn't come as a surprise that Bruce is so emotionally constipated and an unavailable father when he never had someone to learn from about proper parental skills.

Bruce never knew where he stood with Alfred, and Alfred didn't help to make it clear. At first, Bruce was just his master. A responsibility left behind by his parents, but still with the authority to order around the person who's supposed to be his caretaker. And Alfred? We know how much of an enabler he is, but also how inconsistent he can be when it comes to letting Bruce get away with things. And how confusing that must've been for a child? To never have clear boundaries to respect, rules to follow and his behavior corrected.

Kids learn from habit and patterns, and I don't believe he'd see much of that with Alfred, who jumps from his role as a father to his position as a butler way too often for a young mind to fully comprehend. Add to that the fact Bruce already had a position as a rich kid, which would've led to even more people forgetting to set boundaries with him due to his influence.

Now it's not so weird to see him getting away with his toxic behavior towards his children instead of confronting his mistakes like a parent should, right? But I digress.

So, moving onto the next point: child soldiers.

The post you sent mentions Alfred's involvement in the later creation of Robins. But how can he normalize sending kids out there to fight a war that isn't theirs? Well, that's when you remember Alfred joined the army at quite a young age, and there he must've seen even younger kids working as soldiers. What are the chances he has a messed up view on what children should and shouldn't (have to) do?

Subconsciously, he must've internalized this idea of children fighting for their country, and when he saw Robin for the first time, it might've brought back that idea and so he allowed this child to fight for a city that was not even his yet. And then came Jason, then Tim, then Steph, Cass, Damian, Duke... They just kept coming, and Alfred kept pushing this idea.

Jason died? That's a shame, but war is unrelenting, and soldiers are expected to die. It doesn't mean the rest should stop fighting, right?

"Jason Todd, a good soldier".

On top of all that, Robin is good for Batman. Robin is the light Batman needs. Robin can help Bruce, his boy. His son. And who's Alfred if not a messed up man? He'll put the children at risk if it means helping the boy he failed to help before. And when he gets attached to said children, it'll be too late to try pull them out, and then they'll be just another repetition of what Batman came to be when he allowed Bruce to leave.

As for Julia Pennyworth, Alfred was separated from Marie—his then partner—due to war, and found out about Julia's existence only two years after she was born. Their relationship had been distant since then. Julia didn't know about Alfred, but he requested a friend to take care of her and kept sending money all the years to come after making his friend promise not to tell Julia about him, his real father. Why didn't he ever go to see her? That's because, according to Alfred, he was afraid to disrupt her life. But if I'm being honest, I think he also didn't feel ready for the responsibility. And when he became Bruce's guardian, he still was not ready, but Martha and Thomas were his friends, so there must've been a sense of responsibility and guilt influencing his decision.

To summarize, Alfred Pennyworth is an extremely flawed individual and he should not be absolved from any of his mistakes.

[hanihazeljade]

Three Settings

Christmas is around the corner and the manor is exceedingly overflowing of it's spirit, except Tim.

Part Five of Three Weeks

Prev - Three Events

Next - Three Videos

(CW: namecalling, explicit sexual intercourse, hatred of christmas, liquor)

Tim hates Christmas. 

It is a holiday that the Drake household never celebrates. Jack and Janet’s belief is that why do you need a holiday to spend with your family when you can do it whenever you can. Maybe it's because of the fact that their family cannot be together every Christmas as his parents are in their digs. 

So, Tim never really likes Christmas that well.  He never liked the idea of celebrating Christmas, he never did it with his parents and never in the house of Wayne's, and he basically used Christmas in Japan as a way to have a new guy in his bed, fucking his brains out.

So, seeing the Waynes to get some Christmas spirit in him. He wanted to roll his eyes at them but he, unfortunately, was trying to be civil with them. However, one more offer of decorating another tree, he has half his mind of jumping to the nearest window and breaking his leg so he won't be able to celebrate it. But he wanted to dance at Cass’ wedding, so that is a no.

It seems like the world's greatest detective family is a fucking idiot. Intellectually intelligent but emotionally unavailable. A fucking hypocrite he is. They can’t seem to comprehend that Timothy hates being around Christmas things  or just being around the vibe of Christmas.

Timothy is an amazing human being who practised patience and meditation but he once again has his limits. So, he escaped to the comfort of his room, as the Christmas jingles echoing throughout the hallway of the manor. This is the worst. He wished that he could just sneaked out and go to the clubs in the Diamond District and have someone to fuck his worries for a while, after all it’s been a while since he got laid back in Japan.

But then again, why can't he do it here? He is a well functioning adult, has a good income and anyone can’t say shit about him bedding anyone. After all Bruce had bed women as the same number of the days of the year, Richard has also had his fair share of laying some women in his bed to please. Jason may have died virgin but definitely likes to have a taste of Richard’s leftovers and maybe some original taste to himself. Damian may look rigid but Gazette saw him going home with some models. And Tim is a healthy man, he has needs. He was not the same stuck-up Robin that they know.

So he gets up from laying down and starts cleaning himself well. He has guys to woo to satiate his needs. 

He has some worries that he will get caught but he remembered that it is near Christmas Eve, the Christmas related crimes are on the top, so therefore all hands on the deck, even Alfred. So he just whooshed to the front door, and he was gone to the Diamond District.

He turned on the radio on his phone to listen to some news as to who is the main rogue for the night and it looks like Ivy and Harley are having a date and Mr. Freeze is doing a scene from Frozen. With that he knew to avoid Robinson Park and the Cherry Hills. He took a cab to take him to some club in Diamond District,  after all, Richard will probably patrol around the Robinson Park, Jason will continue his route to the Crime Alley, Cass and Steph will be trying to find where the two love birds to stop their date, the only vigilantes he could meet is Batman and Grackle, Damian new mantle for now.

But it is not like they would stop by the rich ass bar when there are major rogues out loose. Tim would rather not risk it to choose a run down bar. After all, he is a delicate maiden.

The bar he chooses is filled with different men, as it is a gay bar. Some are ogling him not so subtly and he knows, after all he wore one of Steph’s see through blouse and the tightest jeans that he had. His hair was styled to a calculated messy bun and his body was adorned in different accessories. And his makeup that makes his blue eyes popped so much more and the lip oil he applied to make his lips so juicy.

He is getting drinks left and right but he the one that he fancies are some stuck up assholes, so much for his type, that probably doesn’t do shit in bed. But of course, he got one. There is a tall, buff man with tattoos lingering on his skin. The man’s gaze is as sharp as a viper waiting to plunge on its prey and Tim is feeling things for himself.

Not wasting any more time, Tim strikes up a conversation to the guy, “Hey handsome, nice tats.” he said as he walked closer to the man.

The man eagerly put his hands on Tim’s waist and put Tim on his lap as Tim squealed flirtingly, “Would you want to explore more of my ink?” He said as he tightened the grip on his waist and Tim was loving the grip.

Tim giggled, “Then may I know the name, first?” he asked cheekily.

The man smirked at Tim’s coy display of naiveness, “Name’s Nathan, baby. How ‘bout you, angel?”

“Mine is Timothy, but angel works just fine too.” Timothy said as he closed their distance and kissed the guy, passionately and hard. They were going with it like a man discovering an oasis in the middle of dessert. Both of them groped each other until they separated to catch some breath.

“My place or yours?” Nathan asked, as he grinds his hard on to Tim’s ass.

Tim giggled as he rocked back, “Yours, just visiting here.” He said as he can feel the package beneath him.

Nathan chuckled, “Poor little angel, visiting a family in this wicked city.” Having a family in this godforsaken city when you already escaped is such a pain.

Tim rolled his eyes at such remarks, “Let’s not talk about them when we could be going to your place right now.” he said as he pouted as if upset that someone is talking about his ‘family’.

Nathan just quirk his brow, Gotham has a lot of kids that don't have a good relationship with their family, and he was just here for some pretty boys, not to settle with someone. “Eager little vixen you are, angel.” he redirects the topic to the beautiful man in front of him, after all, he doesn’t want to let this angel go just because he is curious about things that he doesn’t care about.

It seems like the pretty angel took it, as he caressed his biceps, “Well, I need to be if I want a strong man to handle me.”

“Then shall we get out of here, huh?” 

++++++

Tim left Nathan’s apartment at 10 in the morning. Nathan is a beast in bed, one of his best sex in his life. The morning sex is a plus and he will never complain about the surprises staying over. His horny self is now satiated.

However, his good mood was once thrown outside of the window as he went back to Wayne Manor. He was not expecting such commotion in this early morning. He was about to leave them to argue some more but Damian saw him.

“Timothy! You are finally home.” With Damian’s declaration of his presence, everyone went to him and they definitely all can see the bruises and bites of Nathan through the see through blouse. Honestly he likes those marks of possession.

Steph reacts first after seeing her blouse that was gifted by Cass, “Is that my blouse?”

Jason saw all the dark marks behind the see through blouse, “What is that?!” he reacted. 

“Why do you smell like sex?” Richard asks as he wants to hug Tim but he rather not as he smells the strong smell of intercourse. “Tim you did not hook up, right?!”

“It’s hickeys, Jason.” Tim rolled his eyes, everyone was acting like a virgin. “And I did hook up with someone, they are very good at bed.” he smirked at them, and he saw each of them have a shocked expression, especially Grayson. But he never expected the words coming out of Richard’s mouth.

“Stop whoring around Tim, this isn’t like you!”

A slap cracked in the atmosphere. Tim was also shocked that he slapped Dick Grayson across his face, but his anger was far more superior than his shock.

“So what? I changed, Richard, just in case you still haven’t noticed. I am not like who I was seven years ago, because now? I love myself, I know my value without pleasing anybody. I know who I am. So what, if I am sleeping around with different guys each week? You never heard jackshit about me when you are preening with your gaggle of redheads.” He said as he went back to the front door, but got held back by Damian.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Tim pulls his arm away from the tight grip of Damian, “Away from you, if your feeble detective brain couldn’t recognise what I am gonna do, Damian.” 

“Where?”

“That, I believe, is none of your business.” And the door was slammed shut.

++++++

A knock in the middle of the supposedly peaceful Saturday in her apartment woke her up. She doesn’t know who in their right mind knocks on her door, on the weekend, that she knew, to wake her up before the sun starts setting down?

She opened the door and was surprised to see Timothy Drake, the man that she knew to rather sleep until the sun was halfway down if he had a choice, standing outside of her apartment, and asked, “Hey Tam. Mind if I stay over?” with a miserable face and anger was still lingering in his eyes. But Tam just let Tim in, by opening her door wider.

Tim plopped down the couch and wanted to scream as Tam went to her bathroom to freshen up and have a mind to look after Tim. 

When she finished, she finally looked at Tim properly. Tim’s hair that was normally was in such perfection but now there strays. The smell of sex and the hickeys were also a dead give away that Tim had a nice night. And honestly, Tam was jealous. She could also have the best night of her life if just a certain baldie just stops pushing her. But enough of Prudence, she has a Timothy to babysit. 

Tam sat beside him and asked, “What happened?” because Tim is obviously not fine and would not ask any unnecessary questions regarding his feelings when it was so obvious.

Tim just sighed loudly, and screamed in the pillow he had on his lap. And once he was done, he raised his head and finally responded, “Just got called a whore, nothing more.” His answer was muffled by the pillow as his head was still buried on it. 

‘Whore?’ Tam thought to herself as she thought of all the people around Tim,“By who?” It cannot be within the family of Waynes as each of the Waynes have a notorious long notch to their bedpost.

But alas, Tim destroyed her thoughts, “The second whore himself, Dick Grayson.”

Tam was taken aback, after all, Richie Wayne is next to Brucie Wayne in the most notches. He was like Brucie but in moderation. “Wow. Didn’t he have like a harem of ginger fuckers?” She told Tim as she had been so active in the capes scene.

And with that Tim explodes, as he finally has someone to know how he actually feels! “He told me to stop whoring around! Like I am making money by getting fucked by those guys, well maybe I should. Just to pissed him off more.” Tim said as if he was thinking of going back with a bunch of dollars in his hand as if he just finished a night being a stripper. That was a nice thought, maybe he would do that.

Tam pat Tim’s shoulder, “Petty, but how about let’s drink our asses tonight? It’s Sunday tomorrow.” she proposed to Tim as she knows Tim just went to the bar to hook up but not to drink and she has some strong beer and no one can blame her. She is a hardworking woman under the Wayne Enterprise, with scandals far deeper than the Mariana Trench.

Tim had a thought for a while and he didn't have any to lose, so he agreed. “Sure.” Maybe he can use the hangover as an excuse not to celebrate Christmas.

Tam stood up, “I’ll order some chicken and pizza, and some fries too.” and went back to her room to get her phone. But she quickly came back throwing clothes at Tim, “Wear this, I don’t want to have a reminder that you got laid before me.”

[sister-lucifer]

what’s wrong with you based on your favorite batman villain

(don’t take these too seriously)

(sequel to this post)

The Riddler: Holy shit shut the fuck up for two seconds PLEASE. i know you have a touch of the tism and crave to derail every conversation to talk about your special interest but no one else is having fun. this is why you don’t have any friends. You also have a very niche and the second most expensive taste in clothing so you only have like 3 outfits to mix and match. You either dress like you’re going to the Met Gala or like a dad on vacation, no in between

The Penguin: STOP FUCKING IMPULSE BUYING!!! YOU HAVE TOO MANY TRINKETS!!! YOU DONT NEED IT JUST BECAUSE ITS PRETTY!!!! You have the most expensive taste in clothing, especially victorian undergarments, and spend an embarrassing amount of money to dress like a vampire. And stop being so hard on your body. It might not always be the perfect image of what you want, but it’s doing its best, even if you have to help it out a bit.

Harley Quinn: Sweetheart, I promise you are more than just your sex appeal. I know you grew up around misogyny and were raised to be a housewife but you’re free now!! Well…you would be if you stopped picking the shittiest men. A relationship does not define you, stop settling for assholes because you feel ashamed for being single. Have you tried dating a woman? No, seriously, try it. You deserve it

The Joker: Stop using your humor to deflect from your trauma, i bet your back hurts from carrying the weight of being the funniest person in your friend group. You’re a big time maximalist who spends an hour picking out a hundred accessories to wear and wind up being late because you couldn’t choose which kandi bracelets were best for the occasion. You’re still holding on to the last shreds of your teenage edgelord phase. Also clean your damn room and throw away those old drink cans, nasty ass

Catwoman: How does it feel to be the sexiest person in the room at any given time? Not good, I bet, since you struggle to make friends because of how often they wind up to only be after your body. Sorry you can’t catch a break. You’re probably still carrying money saving habits you got from your parents when you were a kid even though you don’t need to now. Also please try wearing a color besides black, it’s almost summer, you’re gonna die of heatstroke. Nice eyeliner though

Poison Ivy: Dude, so many people are crushing on you rn, how do you not see this?! You’re so hot but soooo emotionally unavailable, christ. A boy in middle school said something uncomfortable to you once which was then reinforced by the misogynistic micro aggressions you were subject to as a teenager and it’s kinda tainted your entire view of the male gender, which is fair but also kinda sucks.

The Scarecrow: Daddy issues, daddy issues everywhere. He was scary as fuck, wasn’t he? Your fear was valid. You really love to analyze people which wouldn’t be an issue if you could actually be subtle about it. Stop staring, you creep. Also, that flannel doesn’t look as good as you think it does, you look like a depressed lumberjack. Like please just buy a cardigan. Halloween is your favorite holiday and you get really annoying about it around mid august. And remember to brush your fuckin hair for gods sake

The Mad Hatter: You get like…reeeeaaaally weird about your crushes, man. Like whatever you’re doing it’s not normal. You can just talk to them, you know. You have the weirdest sexual interests but they’re more so hyper specific and niche than gross or unsettling. That’s better, I guess? You gotta leave your headspace and live in reality for a bit, man. I know it kinda sucks, but there are real people here! Also you’re short. Gross

[vechter]

was re-reading some pjo today and thought of youuu

due to our shared love for pjo i was thinkingg, what do you think the batfam’s fatal flaws would be? OOH or maybe even their godly parents. i always see basic answers like jason’s would be hades bc he came back from the dead but also i wanted to know what you would think on any of these 🩷

hi ivy <3

i have a few thoughts on this but i think the most interesting part of it is the similarity in the fatal flaws, and consequently the mindsets of bruce, cass and dick + how differently they can manifest:

for bruce- it would probably be his self-loathing that manifests as that desperate dedication to being batman, utterly subsumed in the role. he canonically doesn't think he's a good person and any life that he does not/cannot save- he takes it as a personal failure. and then he goes on a bender where he's emotionally abrasive and unavailable, lashing out at those around him while being wildly neglectful of anything and everything else, even his physical health (not even gonna touch mental health lmao).

it's somewhat similar for cass- she cannot forgive herself for her childhood so there's an unhealthy degree of self-loathing. but, that same childhood also manifests as her sheer perfectionism. she has immense faith in her skills (as she should!) but what she thinks she should and can do are not always perfectly congruent. in her eyes, her ability to see all means that she should be able to save everyone! and when she can't (bc no one person can be held to that kind of responsibility), she cannot forgive herself.

similarly, for dick- unlike cass, his childhood was joyful and warm but even as a kid, he was performing insanely dangerous stunts as an aerialist. mistakes meant debilitating injury and the possibility of death. this kind of thinking only worsened as robin at bruce's side. dick also has an insane level of perfectionism. but it manifests differently for him- he feels like he has to be the safety net for everyone. it is both his biggest strength and downfall bc while he saves as many people as he can, he's often burnt out. his own demands of himself, compounded with bruce's demands of him often leave him unhappy.

so, for all three of them- there's a really wonderful interplay of perfectionism, self-loathing and pretty often, absolutism- they all are prone to thinking they're the best person to handle a dangerous situation and they're all incredibly stubborn in this belief. and for all three of them, it manifests as that incredibly abrasive and annoying bat-brand control-freakism: cass will simply knock out steph if she thinks steph can't handle a situation, bruce will create surveillance networks that will end up being used against him, dick will manipulate his friends into doing what he wants so he can keep their moves contained. it's frustrating but it's often coming from a place where they all want so deeply, to do the right thing- saving/helping those who need it. in their eyes, if they can take steps that will guarantee success, why shouldn't they? and not only is it incredibly frustrating for their loved ones but it often ends up hurting them, too!

like dick once said- it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you (get help, freak!)

[analviel]

I think, that of all the kids that could've gone after Jason's death, Tim was the only one Bruce wouldn't have broken. I mean, pre-Jason's death, Bruce was a cool father. He wasn't the best but no one is and you'll always find fault in his parenting skills but he wasn't bad. He was a good father to Jason, speaking strictly before Jason's murder at the hands of Joker. But then he died and Bruce shut down, becoming almost completely emotionally unavailable borderline abusive.

And you see it in fanon a lot, how Tim came practically searching for a dad, but that is so far from how it actually was. Tim expected absolutely nothing from Bruce other than Tim providing help -hell, when his parents were held hostage, I don't remember where he'd even expected Bruce to save them (I mean they were in Haiti and it was a situation in itself). Tim's not going to search for something he already has. And because Tim didn't expect anything, he was never disappointed about not receiving because Tim didn't want to make Bruce proud, he just didn't want to disappoint him, he didn't want to be fired because then he'd failed. Because it honestly all went a lot better than one could've expected and there's no guarantee of there being a second chance to help, to try again, if he flunks this. Because Batman lost a Robin and a son. And you know what Tim did? He went to track down Dick because he is a Robin and a son.

If Cass came right after Jason died, for example taking Tim completely out of the pucture. I mean, kid who had an abusive dad and is practically a killing machine by herself and has killed and decided she didn't want that so she ran away to the streets, and not to mention that there was a time Bruce briefly suspected Shiva was Jason's mom- yeah, no, Bruce wouldn't trust himself with that and would either completely and utterly shut her out, or pressure her.

Steph? Um, see how that already happened. Steph was the more musically inclined incarnation of Jason in Bruce's eyes. Without Tim to buffer between them, it would've been even worse -if that could've somehow gone worse.

Damian?..... I don't really want to contemplate that since his welcome in canon was already disastrous, they would've killed each other, honestly, by accident or not. Feral Bruce is not at all compatible with feral child.

And also, who else would've thought to track down Dick first before proceeding.

Honestly, that's why I got so irritated with that thing about Tim supposedly wanting to be Robin. He may possibly have wanted to be Robin (in the same sense that he wanted to be a college student and not like in a fairy sense -which I still think was the case), but it did not exceed his common sense of not purposefully seeking out danger for glory (it was even an arc), trading his relatively peaceful and safe life for one of thrill and where teenagers get beaten and blown up to death, not without dire reason enough for him to go out of his way and completely upset his life, everything he's known until that moment -including that heroes do their thing and if he had any path he wanted to take that's outside of outright fantasy, it was following after Bruce Wayne Rich Philanthropist.

Regardless of wants and want nots, wanting to be Robin absolutely did not factor in the decision to put on the mask. At that instant, Batman just needed a Robin.

Batman didn't need a Robin to do things, Batman needed Robin to do things the right way.

Think about it, if Bruce just ever implied a you're a bad son, well, yeah, no I'm not your son. You're a bad partner, I'm the only one you got, I mean unless you've got someone else under those wings. How do you think Cass or Damian would've reacted to that? And just that general power imbalance between a parent who provides all emotional and physical needs of a child. Tim wasn't Bruce's dependant, nor did either of them saw it like that. Tim didn't need or want anything from Bruce and that's just perfect because there's nothing Bruce can give him.

Tim was supposed to be just the cover/back-up/partner in the field. He's taking the share of the Robin side of labour, while Dick is presumably taking the Son side of it.

This is not at all indicative to how it would develop later, which is an entirely different matter, when Tim is a lot more vulnerable and -if he'd even listened to the councillor- needed a stable support system in these trying times. Said support system that was dropping like flies or he had trouble maintaining a constant contact due to missions and life in general.

[princessozera]

Lucifer/Mammon/Levi/Satan Belphie/Barb as the BatFam

Full disclosure, my DC knowledge is limited to the videogames, some comics, YouTube videos, and the tumblr fandom. While I have seen every DC movie, desperately hoping for a crumb of good live action content, I to this day, mostly ignore it. I got the idea from @devildomlibrary  !

Also, please keep in mind that these are horribly watered down versions of who these characters are.

Lucifer as Bruce Wayne (Batman)

Default but reliable, emotionally unavailable leader/parental figure

Paranoid, deeply cares about family even if not obvious at first glance/ goes about showing it in the worst ways possible

Trauma that they believe they must carry the burden themselves

Blame themselves for death of a loved one (Lillith/Jason)

Mammon (Dick Grayson)

Jovial, easy to get along with in most cases

people have strong opinions on them either way

Overprotective and worry about their family (even if Mammon tries not to be on the nose about it)

Best self control in the family but does have deep seated issues

Ass/model/ probably a stripper at some point

Leviathan as Tim Drake (Red Robin/ 3rd Robin)

Anxiety and sleep issues

Really smart and amazing with research/organization/technology

Caffeinated like a mf, most likely hasn’t slept in a solid day or two

People tend to underestimate or oversimplify them but you put them in their element and you remember who they really are

Satan as Jason Todd (Red Hood/ 2nd robin)

Anger issues and strong as hell

Issues with the father figure for either real or imagined grievances

Will not hesitate to murder

Book nerd, especially soft for classic literature

Absolutely talks to their furniture but can be quiet for days at a time

Draws in chaotic forces/friends to themselves and tends to be the most responsible of said group

Belphegor as Damian Wayne (most recent Robin -in most cases-)

Stabby

very murderous past, trying to get past it

Family issues af

very creative, strong silent type

Barbatos as Alfred Pennyworth

Can and will beat up Superman

Omnipotent, overworked, needs more love butler

accidentally became family because the person they care for has abandonment issues

I didn’t know enough about the others in the batfam to match them up with an OM character 😶

(kind of how I imagined it though: Beel gives more superman vibes than anything, Dia gives me a mix of Barbra gordon/Cassandra cain vibes, Solomon as Terry McGinnis, Simeon gives me Duke thomas vibes IDK why. And I was going to put Luke as Bat-Cow and Asmo as Stephanie Brown)

[ufonaut]

Why do you hate Alfred?

at this point im convinced i’m supposed to just have an alfred hate manifesto on my about page just to save time! a cursory search of “hate alfred” on my blog reveals ten results and at least two explanations but i’m gonna copy & paste here what i said more recently:

“[he’s an] emotionally unavailable parent figure to a kid that’s having every emotion known to man. alfred can so easily be seen as the reason bruce is so extraordinarily closed off, like, sure, we all always joke about that but why is he like that, really? for all intents and purposes, martha & thomas were very warm and open people? well, alfred isn’t. the same alfred who raised bruce and was there for him in a physical capacity alone

not a single thing ever written about alfred ever actually manages to make us think he wanted to be there for bruce. it always reads like bruce is an inconvenience that pressed pause on his life and alfred is just such a good person that he decided to take care of this orphan kid……..like. the first step in fixing this would be to at least have him stop caling bruce “master bruce” because otherwise the distance there cant and wont ever be breached.”

additionally, i can see “alfred secretly has guns stashed around the manor and doesn’t tell bruce until after he uses them” becoming a trope (telltale batman and now in the newest batman’s grave issue, twice is already one too many) and i really want everyone writing that kinda stuff or even agreeing with it to take a long hard look at how that comes across and why alfred holds little regard for bruce feeling unsafe in his own home

there ya have it folks!

[iphoenixrising]

Itd be so fucked up if dick accepts it as the new normal, especially if Barbara picked up on it hard. Like she finally gives up on trying to make dick see that this is the mask Tim's parents made him put on and just starts reaching for others to try and help break it once again, the titans already broke it but now babs and jason(after being filled in on why this happened) and maybe even Bruce, the emotionally constipated man himself is working (1/?)

(2/?) On trying to get Tim to open up again. Wow itd be fucked if most of the family is working on helping Tim but dick is being stubborn saying “he just grew up.” “its fine, hes just an adult now” “hes not ‘emotionally unavailable’, he just has a stronger hold on his emotions now” just basically in denial of Tim hurting and being closed off to /him/. Because dicks his brother, why would he be closed off to his own brother? This went a bit long but now I kinda want a fic where

(3/3)dick denies he did anything wrong and refuses to believe so. Even if the evidence is right there. Even if its undeniable. He just doesnt want to admit he hurt someone he loves, and by continuing to deny it hes cause even more harm

**

You know babe, I’ve done some pretty angsty shit with regards to Dick and Tim’s relationship. I think characters like Bruce and Dick and Tim and Jay, not to mention the rest of the DC universe are at the mercy of bad writers and made well by the good ones, so you can put a spin on pretty much any character that will probably line up with cannon somewhere. Throw in the different animated runs and television adaptations and it’s really no wonder a lot of people don’t really know how crucial Tim Drake is to the evolution of the Batman mythos :D

(None of them had pants for fuck’s sake before Tim Drake’s Robin! @meara-eldestofthemall has some great exposition on some of this, so check out our Bat-Gran’s blog.)

So, I can see where Dick could be more oblivious to the effect all the bullshit Tim dealt with in his last year as Robin and his first year in a new name. He’s completely unaware. It wouldn’t be a shock to think he might have gone through the same kind of separation from Bruce when he was forced to give up the mask. He wasn’t a side kick anymore after he lost Robin, so growing into his own name not under the shadow of the Bat took some work. 

Just because he came back (because of Tim at first) doesn’t mean Tim’s going to come back, and they really shouldn’t make him.

You could even argue it’s Dick being so stubborn about it because he really doesn’t want to think to hard about how it’s because of his choices back then that started it all. Dick doesn’t want the blame because did Bruce really ever take any?

(Nope)

He doesn’t want to admit he could have done it differently to save Tim some of the abruptness of it, could have at least told him before Dami just rolled up out in the suit. Could have prepared him for it better maybe. 

Dick could justify it to himself that Dami was more in need at the time, and it was either give him something to fight for or watch him go back to Talia and Ra’s and be one of the bad guys they have to take down someday.

He put the most pressing need first, and he doesn’t have any regrets with bringing Dami closer into the family even if the price was driving Tim out.

[tragiceyes]

Another Jaydick headcanon

...because I’m useless as a fic writer at the moment. But I still have so many thoughts.

This one is about i s s u e s.

Of course Jason and Dick both have major i s s u e s. One doesn’t exactly become a crime fighting vigilante without a hefty serving of i s s u e s.

But just how do these issues manifest in their relationship?

Nobody asked, but I’m here to talk about it anyway!

Dick’s inferiority complex. Every Robin has an inferiority complex to some extent. Dick’s afraid of not being good enough in Bruce’s eyes. Jason’s insecure about never measuring up to Dick’s example. Tim’s role is constantly haunted by ghost of his predecessor. Damian thinks he won’t be loved by his father unless he's the perfect Robin. But let’s talk about Dick’s inferiority complex, specifically. Everyone thinks Dick is perfect. He seems infallible from the outside. The Titans depend on his leadership, and his friends (specifically talking about Roy and Wally here) constantly describe him as someone who never makes mistakes. This, understandably, puts a heck of a lot of pressure on Dick. Especially considering his role leading a team of superheroes as a young boy with no superpowers. Dick has to go above and beyond to prove his place, because his peers have extraordinary abilities.

This, of course, means that Dick has probably developed pretty severe anxiety by the time he’s an adult. There’s always been a lot of pressure to perform in Dick’s life, but the addition of his guardian’s impossible standards means that Dick is constantly trying to achieve the impossible. And when he inevitably fails (because nobody’s perfect) he’s pretty hard on himself. He isolates himself. He suffers in silence.

Dick needs more than steady, supportive love, he needs reassurance. He needs to be told that he’s loved and cherished, even and especially when he’s messed up. Unfortunately for him, the person he needs that from is

Emotionally unavailable Jason Todd. And who can blame the guy? His parents were too busy fighting and using drugs to notice him much. When he loses them he transitions to constantly being denied affection and attention from Bruce. When he tries to meet and bond with his birth mother, she sells him out to the Joker and gets him beaten to death. Then when comes back, there’s a new Robin, and as far as he’s concerned nobody gave a single fuck he died! You really have to feel for Jason here. Perhaps things would have been different if Jason had been resurrected before Tim joined the ranks of sidekick-dom. But poor Jason just sees Batman and Nightwing (and even Alfred) just going about their business. It’s like nobody even knew he was gone. And it stung to see the affection Nightwing feels for the new Robin, when Jason had tried so hard to get to know him and been met with icy indifference.

Jason was seen as a “bad kid” for acting out, as all children do when they’re suffering. But Jason never gets a chance to outgrow these habits, and he’s never offered the love and reassurance he needs to realize that he doesn’t have to misbehave to get attention. So, as an adult, he’s still liable to “act out.” Because to him, negative attention is just as worthwhile as positive attention. And he wants to punish them. He wants to punish his family (especially Bruce) for rejecting him.

Jason’s just a kid saying “I hate you!” Poor bby.

Okay, so back to the Jaydick angle.

His prickly nature hides the truth, which is that Jason craves love and acceptance more than almost anybody, but he can’t let himself be vulnerable because he doesn’t want to be hurt again. Dick’s affection is like a drug to him. Once he’s had it, he needs it, and he hates himself for needing it so much.

And he can’t tell Dick that he appreciates it, because Jason remembers how it felt to be spurned by Dick, and he isn’t going to give Dick the opportunity to do it again.

So what happens? Dick loves Jason. He hugs Jason, kisses Jason, cuddles Jason, and tells Jason how much he cherishes him. And Jason responds with...

Nothing. He begrudgingly accepts the affection he secretly craves, but offers none in return. He doesn’t randomly hug Dick, or kiss him unexpectedly, or cuddle up to him when they wake up in the mornings. He initiates plenty of sex because of course he does, but withholds all other forms of intimacy.

This hurts Dick deeply, because he needs that reassurance that he’s loved. So Dick feels neglected by Jason, but Jason won’t let himself get (visibly) attached because he can’t stand the thought of Dick leaving him. He can’t tell Dick how much he loves him, because nobody ever loves him back enough wait now I’m crying send help. So he proceeds to shoot himself in the foot by distancing himself from Dick because he doesn’t want Dick to know just how much he needs him.

So everyone loses. Of course they break up.

Dick breaks up with Jason, because Jason’s just not that into him.

Jason is devastated, but can’t let it show.

Until one night when they run into each other on a rooftop and ugly words are exchanged because Jason has so much anger and can’t control himself and Dick is raring for a fight because how dare Jason treat him so poorly he deserves better and they start to wrestle on the rooftop and Jason punches Dick soooo much harder than he needs to and Dick can’t believe he thought this guy cared about him and just yells “What the hell is wrong with you, Jason?!” and Jason just screams, “YOU ARE WHAT’S WRONG. I LOVE YOU, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!” Omg guys Jason expressed himself and now they’re making out and rolling around on the rooftop.

Ok I’m done.

For now.

[mytherapistthinksiamfunny]

Remember The Titans and Black Lives Matter

I learned American History from Hollywood films and pop culture during the Bush Administration. 

My 6th grade teacher was horrified to see my potential wasting away on the frivolity of Based on True Event sport blockbusters and Remakes of Dystopian Nightmares, Sarcastic Teeny Bop Melodramas. 

Or, worse, the Hippy Dippy Nonsense genres that encouraged the youth to remain ignorant Sheeple With A Death Wish like Jackass or Gossip Girl

Despite how that sounds, he wasn’t a condescending prick. He was a good man with very high standards for media that he came off as a snob. Because he was. A snob. With so much nerd rage. That’s what made us bond.

You see, I’m a snob too. I had to be. I am the daughter of immigrants. And I grew up during the Bush Administration. 

I grew up during a time of Prop 187, El Nino, El Morro, Thalia Y Tomy Motola y el secuestro, Pasale Paisano, anti-Cuba sentiment, Fake News, Columbine, Hanging Chads, 9/11/01, Pseudo-Fascism, WMDs, Jingoism, Patriot Acts, They’re Gonna Follow Us Home, Shakira, Katrina, George W Bush Hates White People Kanye Scandal, Militia, NRA Guantanamo, Dixie Chicks, A Day Without A Mexican, Selena the Movie, El CHupacabra, End of the American Dream, Once In A Lifetime Breaking News TRL Britney Once In A Lifetime Civil Unrest Breaking News Breaking News Narco Corridos Breaking News Miramax Breaking News Anthrax Breaking News Marylin Manson, Las Hijas De Juarez, Eugenio Derbez, La Escuelita,  Los Tigeres Del Norte, Los Tucanes De Tijuana, Napster, Metallica Some Kind of Monster, Bono, Apple, Pixar, MySpace, AIM, new tech every 6 months, cell phones, Reggeaton, Walter Mercado Primer Impacto, American Idol,

To boot, I am the daughter of immigrants. Who were hyper-Catholic. And narcissists. And abusive. And alcoholics. Who were allergic to stability, progress, open-mindedness, or anything conducive to raising children in a global crisis. 

So I had to be selective about the media that I consumed. Because my mother was a Batman Villain, my paternal-figure was a reluctant father unwilling to abandon his fuckboi ways for his family, and my brother and I were left to our own devices to figure out how to raise ourselves and our parents. We sucked at it. And years later we are paying for trying.

So, while navigating the highs and lows of our own puberty-induced hormonal roller coaster, we had to think quick and raise our 2nd-adolescence shit show of a parental unit.

We were parentalized. I didn’t know it at the time, but that is what happened to us.

What I did know at the time is that I needed to figure out how to live. Come up with a division of labor within the family unit and ensure that everyone played their role. You know, like the mother typically does.

And in order to play my role, I had to be studious of this different culture. Not just American culture. Not just teen culture. Not just Mexican culture. But all of them. Somehow, I had to find a way to navigate life. Since the age of 9 years old.

It’s exhausting having to be the adult of the house. I did not have a chance to be a child. Or matter to anyone. So I learned to matter to myself.

I learned not to trust anyone to be part of my support system because the people who were supposed to show me what that looked like were emotionally unavailable. And they stubbornly refused to divorce because that would mean they had failed their culture and religion and would be ostracized from the communities made of individuals they hated but stubbornly worked to impress and fit into.

And that meant that I befriended a strange array of really awesome people who made me feel seen and heard and understood. Like this Santa Clause-looking white dude with a motorcycle fetish and a kind touch with prepubescent girls with culture shock and daddy issues. Best of all, he was genuine. And sweet. And not at all inappropriate with children. That’s not sarcasm. He was not inappropriate with me or anyone else that I knew of. He truly was a great teacher.

Which is why I tried to keep in touch with him long after 6th grade. He was a computer nerd and introduced me to the wonder of the internet. And internet humor. And being opinionated. He was my Big Guy Bow Tie.

His opinion meant so much to me and I wanted to please him so badly.

And not once did he cross a line that would make it harder for me to thrive and move past the other trauma I was being exposed to. 

How sad that I feel compelled to reiterated that he never diddled me. Sad for his reputation and sad that I have come to terms with how vulnerable I was to predators. 

He was a real one.

I knew that my feelings were not normal in the broader sense of the word. But I understood that it was all I had to work with�� and make magic with it. So I figured out that I would have to be very guarded and selective with my time, effort, and social circle. Which often meant I was the smart young adult in a group of what I thought were sophisticated adults but were really ghost of my future if I did not get past my daddy issues in a healthy way.

By the time I got to high school, I was the weird kid

I had no idea how I got there. But I had to figure out how to follow my passion without wasting my potential.

My passion is art. Specifically, music. But in general? Art. Books, Poetry. Knowledge.

And because that wasn’t complicated enough: I was discovering my own sexuality. 

And the first born first generation Mexican American with hyper Catholic parents.

I may as well have come out as a supporter of the Axis of Evil

They would never understand that I was ACTUALLY part of the Axis of Awesome

They would not understand. It would be lost in translation

So I had to learn to be silent with my truth. Forever hiding in the shadows and wondering when my life might begin

It began when I learned that the library was my escape. That I could learn about anything I wanted with very basic tools and that my ingenuity would get me far

But what does any of this have to do with Remember The Titans? Or Black Lives Matter?

Well... everything.

Because in addition to my parents being old fashioned and abusive, they were also closet racists. I had to teach myself not to ingrain their prejudices as I trusted them to keep me alive. I had to walk a very fine line between Daddy’s Girl and Daddy Issues. A fine line between Mommy’s Little Princess and Mother Knows Best and No The Fuck You Don’t.

And I managed to do that with the renaissance of black content creators in the early 2000s. Remember the Titans was a favorite of mine. 

Little did I know

I was teaching myself to experience different cultures without appropriating them. I found what I was into and I immersed myself in it.

But I hid it. I silenced my opinions and tried to keep the peace. For the sake of my family.

That did not work. Shocking.

But I was left with the realization that even though my effort was wasted with my nuclear war of a family, I learned valuable lessons that I taught myself. Including that Black Lives Matter, anyone who has trouble acknowledging that needs to grow the fuck up and learn something cause we’re running out of time and ain’t nobody got time for ignorance an fear with a mad man in the white house.

And I don’t want to miss out on my life simply because I come from dysfunction and am constantly playing catch-up to understand what normal is and how to achieve it

I am not alone in this. I come from a generation of American children who learned to cope with complex issues of race, politics, satire, drugs, over-medication. self-medication, financial irresponsibility, weaponized faith and ignorance. It was the dawn of the age of the Basket of Deplorables. And Millenials were caught in the crossfire. I was caught. And I learned. Black. Lives. Matter. Women have voices and opinions that matter and a feminine point of view is crucial to the success of any business endeavor. I taught myself feminism and  committed to its intersectionality before I knew it may be a word the dictionary I owned was missing. I learned that words matter because language has power. I tasted the crispness of that juicy apple from the tree of knowledge. And I wanted to marinate in its juices until i was good and goddamn ready to be tasted and known myself.

Oh yeah, I learned my Daddy Issues manifest themselves in a need to sexually please emotionally unavailable men.

So I chose as wisely as I could. You know, what with the inmates running the asylum 

But my god am I into drummers! And linebackers! And Cheating Ass Marine  Motherfuckers With Secret Families in Portland who Ghost a Bitch Just When She’s About to Fall!!!

My picker is off. I learned that phrase from Loveline. Another resource in my quest to exist in my natural state

Having to twist myself into a pretzel to please the un-pleasable was unsuccessful. 

So I stopped and focused on my real family. My chosen family. Those who care if I live, die, have food and rent money, and ask me to text them when I get home so they know I am safe. Those people. My people. I go hard for them. And they are various heights, weight-classes, political affiliations, complexions. because I learned that black lives matter. As well as Asian American Lives. And Migrant Lives. And Femme Lives. And LGBTQIA+ Lives. In essence, ALL LIVES MATTER INCLUDING BLACK LIVES. Because life is too hard in it’s natural state to be excluding people from We The People. Because the America I Still Believe in does not allow for any of this maga shit to stand

Because we need to be allies for each other against the real danger to this country. 

Internalized Systemic Racism and how it has been exploited to separate the working classes in a strict divide down socio-economic boundaries that are not easily crossable. This phenomenon is often called a glass ceiling. Minorities are particularly affected. But that doesn’t mean that all white people are to blame or responsible or immune. You see, I’ve read the Handmaid’s Tale. 

And while everyone is looking at the Scarlet Robe of the Handmaids and the Serene Teal of the Wives, no one looks at the EconoWives. Wife Trash, I suppose.

Much like the Titans’ football season. High school seniors in a recently-desegregated town. Sounds like the plot of a Disney movie or a Based On True Events TV movie

Gee... I can’t imagine why I related to this...

But I did and I learned from it. I learned that it takes effort to make a champion. And it is not accomplished alone. And while the odds may be ever against you

You have to decide what matters to you. And if that is football, you listen to your brothers on the team and keep your circle small.

And if that is closet-cases that fear for their safety when outed

And if that is a mother at 9 years old because that is how old you were when you realized you were more emotionally intelligent than your own pathetic excuse for a mother who is really a batman villain who you will later turn into if you don’t watch out for the stalker tendencies now and your fuckboi father who still cheats on your mother because this is a pity marriage that neither of them are ready to end even though everyone would be better off, especially your brother who is a precious little squish but being psychologically handicapped by the Stephen King Novel raising him and who is so much like you but you won’t know that for several years because you’re just a child and what do you know what normal is or is not supposed to feel like...

Then that’s just what the fuck it means.

My therapist asked me how I’m doing in 2020 with my depression and the isolation and what I think about the protests.

Like if the logic behind the protests was up for debate. Or if it was a political statement rather than a statement of human compassion and empathy to say that 

Black

Lives

Matter.

I guess she hasn’t seen Remember the Titans

[business-as-usual-bats]

Tim: hey dick check it out, I found my old journal!

Tim [reading]: bad news, jason is back from the dead and tried to kill me... he used to be my hero but now he hates me and murders people

Good news, jason is alive! Maybe he and bruce can make up and be a family again!

Bad news, my dad died. I'm officially an orphan

Good news, Bruce adopted me!

Bad news, Bruce is usually emotionally unavailable

Good news, that's how my parents were so I'm used to it!

Bad news, conner died... and Stephanie... and Bart

Good news, at least Dick is still here!

Bad news, Bruce disappeared. Dick *replaced* me with the demon brat. He doesn't believe me when i say Batman isn't dead, he thinks I'm crazy... I'm starting to think maybe i am

Good news, well i... i can't think of any good news... but there must be something, right? There's still something to be happy about, there has to be...

Tim [chuckling nervously]: this is a little darker than i remember

Dick: stop and let me hug you for eternity