#Bruce Wayne and his survivor’s guilt

[mikakuna]

you ever think about jason feeling guilty for being the only one in crime alley to make it out, to get adopted by a wealthy person. do you think he feels guilty for messing up his chance, a chance that any crime alley child could only dream of, by dying?

do you think about the guilt that must've coursed through him when he was younger, sitting at the wayne family table eating a single meal that could've fed other crime alley children for a month? how many sleepless nights must he have had, shifting from his luxurious new bed to the floor because he couldn't remember the last time one of the other children slept in actual beds?

do you think he felt guilty about going to one of the richest schools in gotham knowing that most of the crime alley children would never be able to even step foot in a school, too busy worrying about more important matters? he must've had those moments where he was so happy sitting in class because finally i can go to school and i love it i love it so much but then the regret suddenly hits and he remembers those teenagers who loved school and were so close to making it out, yet eventually they'd be spotted on street corners or running drugs.

the guilt must've weighed so heavy on his little shoulders.

[allthegothihopgirls]

dick grayson, who post-jason's death can't get over how it should have been him.

bruce's words of 'you were lucky' replaying in his head over and over and over until he's gone mad. he can't stop thinking about how it was all his own fault. he was the one who gave up the mantle, abandoned bruce, and let him take in a stray: a scrappy kid who was nothing before robin. unlike dick, a flying grayson; born to perform, destined to fly. dick should have been there to look over him at least.

he gets so caught up in the idea that he was ready for robin, and that it was something he could handle, but jason? he was never going to be ready, not fit for the lifestyle. dick convinces himself he knew what he was getting into, and it was his job to retain that mantle, never jason's. he was only hired because dick failed to fulfill his duty.

the whole thought process of "i was robin for almost 12 years, jason was robin for a fraction of that time. if i had stuck around for just a bit longer, it would have been me." that plagues him. the idea that he could have prevented jason's death if he had been the sacrifice himself. watching bruce break and forbid batman from another robin, dick KNOWS that if it had of been him, the cycle would have already been broken before it began. bruce would never adopt jason, and batman would be forever robin-less.

before he knows it, it's all spiralled into regretting ever creating robin in the first place. hating himself for the outlet he chose to cope with his parent's death, hating his nature to please and perform. regrets ever calling bruce 'dad' and letting him believe he could foster a safe environment for young orphans.

but yeah, dick who can never forgive the fact that it wasn't him.

i'd like to think the feeling dissipates over time, especially after jason's resurrection, when he mentions it to him, whether that be in passing, or an intentional conversation. he might not get total closure, but i think he'd leave at least knowing that he wasn't in fact ready for robin, no kid could ever be, it's a burden he should have never had to carry.

[thesulkycroissant]

I really wanted to like Heroes in Crisis. I did not. But one of the things that I intermittently think about and get angry about all over again is the idea that Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, and Steph all came to Sanctuary and the thing they wanted to talk about was their existence in comparison to each other. This is such a wild, outrageous waste of every single one of these characters and undermines their individual trauma in a bafflingly way. Like. Take your own project seriously, please.

[mkarchin713]

Danny doesn’t realize he has powers now.

I headcanon that he only noticed his phantom form in canon because Sam and Tucker pointed it out to him.

By the time Jack found him Danny had turned back to normal, not realizing he ever goned ghost in the first place. (The portal was also only on for a second before it blew up and Danny was too busy dying to notice)

Danny attributes all his ghost power issues to the injuries he sustained from his father.

‘That glass didn’t fall through his hands his hand was just weak from Jack stepping on it’

‘His body didn’t go through the floor he just tripped because his legs are weak from the last beating’

….

Also a hint of plot

Vlad is enraged. Not only did the love of his life, Maddie, die because Jack abandoned her after he found out he wasn’t man enough to satisfy the goddess that was Maddie, but the buffoon also had the nerve to abuse the only piece of Maddie that was left behind, Danny.

Vlad is now using everything in his power to find his missing godson.

This causes issues when the ghosts he sends to find Danny get a little … overzealous in their retrieval and inadvertently cause Danny to discover his ghost powers.

Now Vlad thinks a ghost is trying to keep him from his godson and things escalate.

Danny doesn’t want his biological father Bruce to find out he’s a monster who killed his family (survivor guilt and being raised by bigots talking) so hides his new powers. He also doesn’t want Batman to find out and arrest him for murdering his mom and sister (again survivors guilt)

DPXDC Prompt #59

Jack Fenton is a lot of things, a caring husband, a scientist, and even a dad! Or so he thought, until he finds out Maddie Cheated on him and Danny wasn’t really his, he knew the initial on the guy was B. W. but he didn’t know who that was. He got into a fight with her about it and he left for a couple days to clear his head.

Jazz, and Danny were in the basement along with their mom who was trying to get the portal activated. It wasn’t working and she was getting frustrated. Danny hates that his parents were fighting over him, he didn’t know who his real father was but he was a little curious. Jack and Maddie had always put their research above all else and he wished he had a normal family.

Danny goes into the hole where the portal is and trips on a wire, in a blinding light he dies and is brought back. Unfortunately the portal wasn’t quite ready without Jack helping and an explosion spreads out in the basement killing both Jazz and Maddie. Jack comes home to find only Danny alive. He resents the boy, of course he does Danny took away his only chance at normal.

Danny after a couple weeks of getting abused by the now alcoholic Jack, runs away to Gotham, he’s got to find Batman, he’s the worlds greatest detective, surely he can find who B. W. Is right?

[mogamuncher]

An exhaustive headcanon post about Bruce Wayne's unhealthy mentality.

trigger warning for: mentions C-PTSD, Survivor's Guilt, shitty dietary habits, insomnia, self-ableism, masking, workaholism, somewhat shady parenting, technically self-harm, and passive suicidal ideation.

Ok, so:

•Bruce def feels like he has to earn things. Like affection, respect, or just any form of a good thing happening to him.

•He earns his life, or so he says, but it's more like he's trying to earn the right to be alive, which is a wild thing to believe.

•Bruce is autistic as all hell, right? Diagnosed and everything, his parents used to pay for private treatment since the mental health system in Gotham is so ass. Well, after they died, Bruce just, doesn't do any of that anymore, he avoids therapists or psychologists like the plague, even ones outside of Arkham. He has a whole lot of Other Things™ outside of autism now, but he still refuses to go get proper help.

•Similarly, Bruce would rather die than to actually mention it to anyone. Like, yeah, as Brucie Wayne he's definitely masking hard (to the point where it's kinda upsetting and he gets overwhelmed), but like, he also doesn't tell shit to the whole rest of the Batfam, or the Justice League. The only person that knows that Bruce is autistic AND just generally mentally ill/traumatized, is fucking Alfred.

•This causes people to misunderstand him a lot, but part of him feels like that's more "deserved". Like, he thinks that he'd hate to be judged by his mental illness because he he dislikes the idea of his actions being justified retroactively of excused by his illnesses, not being self-aware enough to notice that this horrifically heightened sense of hyper-responsability about just fucking everything in his life is itself, a trauma response. Also, he's the world's biggest hypocrite, who famously believes that other rogues and people like Jason Todd need to be helped instead of killed or put down, going directly against his own attitude towards himself.

•He genuinely believes that whole "[insert mental illness here] is not an excuse to [insert a behavior or symptom of aforementioned mental illness here]", but like, only towards himself. To everyone else he rightfully thinks that stuff is bullshit.

•Bruce puts himself up to some crazy standards, actually. He works non-stop as both Brucie, Bruce, and Batman, always doing something, unable to stay still or even sleep. He skips meals, neglects his well-being, he puts everything on the line and expects himself to do it everyday, every hour, without fail, every single time.

•His kids think that he's neurotic, they're kinda right, the Justice League think he's too paranoid, they're right too, Gotham city thinks he's a saviour, it's true, the rogues think he's a monster, that's fair as well. Alfred? He just thinks Bruce is hurt, he's the most right of all.

•Part of this is a form of punishment, atonement for being alive, for surviving that fateful night when his parents didn't, for daring to go on with life when they're both sixteen feet under, for having the audacity to raise a family, the gall of having friends, the sheer nerve to even consider having a romantic relationship, when his parents couldn't even hug him. Not anymore. He's here, not them.

•And it kills him, because he saw it, saw them die, saw them gurgle on their own blood and sat with their bodies until the police arrived, this is what led him to become Batman, to mask as Brucie, to guide so many young people away from being like him as Bruce. So how dare he, how dare he be happy when they died? How dare he forget that alley, for even a second? How could he? Didn't he love them? Didn't he make a promise to live out the rest of his life in a mission to prevent events like this?

•It's like he's in a toxic relationship with two corpses, they're cold and their eyes follow him, he's hollow and blind to anything but them. Part of him would love to argue that his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne themselves, would prefer to see him happy and fulfilled. Another part of him remembers gunshots, blood spatter, and the sound of choked gurgling, and Bruce spirals all over again.

•Perhaps he's waiting for this life for kill him, finish the job that gun didn't do years ago, kill him like his parents, hurt him so deeply he can't recover, destroy him until he's repented for being so inherently horrible. Because he is, he knows he is, he's neurotic, paranoid, a saviour complex having monster, this is what he aimed for, he seeked out this outcome, just waiting to be put down like those before him.

•He's passionate about his cause, sure, but that's surface level. The front used to keep the image of an asshole neurotic paranoid man that has a saviour complex, instead of exposing the truth behind himself. Who he really is.

•A child, that's who he is, a kid reliving his worst bad day over and over and over again.

•He earns his life, he'd earned this.

[lumierexfics]

Chat Log Name : Fallen from the nest

Chat log description : Bruce Wayne gets the news that he never wants to hear from and from the person he hates to hear it from.

Online users : Batman/Bruce Wayne, Robin! Reader

‼️ CONTENT WARNINGS : Funeral practices, implied torture and viewing of death tape, Major character death, Survivor’s guilt, OOC! Bruce Wayne/Batman, Second/Third POV, Nicknames used for Reader (Chum).‼️

<< A03 link next >>

It was the only time you and him had an argument.

“You are not going patrolling tonight,” Bruce stated.

“Why?” You crossed your arms. “I am doing everything fine—“

“Is this fine?” He grabbed your hands, showing that they were bruised and bandaged up. “You’ve gotten more violent during patrol. You need to learn to not use these as often…”

“But you use them too,” you retorted.

“I know my limits,” he replied. “But you don’t know your limits. Understand that I’m doing this because I care about you, chum. I don’t want you to go down a path that you might regret.”

He hugged you as it was one of things that he could let himself feel like he’s doing a good job as a caretaker to you.

“I know it’s going to be hard but don’t stay up tonight.” He smiled. “You have a very important day tomorrow.”

He patted your head before leaving down the hallway—you stood there, watching him leave. You knew your limits, right? Besides it’s not like he would know if you decided to try going solo.

Your eyebrows knitted together, sitting in your desk chair. You got into your pajamas to sleep but something was running through your veins and the clicking of a pen echoed throughout your room as you caught a glimpse of your uniform peeking from the small gap of the closet.

You walked over and took it off the hanger; dressing yourself in the Robin uniform.

He paced back and forth—where did you go?He couldn’t find any of the tracker signals that he put in the uniform, his hands trembling while he fidgets with a batarang on your whereabouts.

He walked around in the manor opening the fridge but closing it back; you were missing on your birthday. It was supposed to be a happy day—he got you the things that you had been begging for.

To his nerves, nobody would say anything about where you went but only one thing was for certain—you left wearing your Robin uniform. It felt like the ground underneath him was slowly chipping away to control his emotions that he thought were locked away.

An odd occasion for Batman to be awake during the day but he couldn’t help it—he needed information and he had to force it out. But nothing was spilled as it felt like a secret that only they knew but didn’t want to tell him.

Bruce still held hope that you were just being upset at him for a couple days but you always came home. He continued to pace and pace more—it was piling up, you were gone for a month now. He sat on your bed, grabbing a folded cold blanket of yours; quelling his heart for a moment to breathe in the lingering remnants that he was able to salvage.

It was two years—two years since your disappearance, nothing swayed him from you being alive as a slight crack was forged when he heard about a caged bird in the abandoned wing of Arkham Asylum.

His boots crushed the broken glass, he saw a metal rusted utility table; rusted scissors, a stained scalpel, plier and a cold steel rod that held remains of something burnt. The room seemed to be ruins of an operating room—rusted and stained objects littered the cracked tile floor.

He looked around, seeing that the other doors were blocked by rubbles and seeing a turned over wheelchair that was stained with dried blood—he knelt down to get a sample, it registered to your blood type. He stood up—the notification of dings registered throughout the room, speckles of your blood were scattered over the whole room.

“Robin?” He called out the emptiness.

His voice echoed each step throughout the room. It only had a flickering lightbulb but it was obvious that nobody was there— the water droplets echoed in the room as he noticed a spare room.

He pushed open the door—silently pleading to anyone who would be listening to his begging to hear that it would be you; it wasn’t you rather a large purple and green present that had the doodle of a bat and read as For Bats’ eyes only. The room only had a makeshift cot with bits of barbed wire, crude crayon drawings of him, faded tally marks and he looked in the corner to see a chair with leather straps and a bucket which seemed to be filled with a rag.

He stood in the middle of the Batcave—his cowl was on his shoulders. He peeled the colorful wrapping paper; green with that familiar purple ribbon. It was a macabre present, seeing the camcorder with pieces of an armor from a suit that seemed to be stained—He pulled out the camcorder from the purple plastic straw.

He attached the camcorder to the bat computer, making sure the wires were in the correct spots. His eyes widened at the video, gloved hands didn’t want to press play; he saw you—you were tied bound by your wrists, bloodied. Despite his hands shaking, he pressed play as he heard your anguished whines that he knew by heart since he always made sure that you lived a life of comfort rather than misery. You were his ward, right?

The hot tears dribbled down his face, he stumbled towards the box while his trembling hands found the pieces of your suit—just tiny pieces, he found it; your chest plate that he always remembered that you were meticulously cleaning.

His reddened eyes stared back at the screen, he heard the clips of your scream—the clips of the slow hope dying from your voice.

“Who do you hate?” The familiar snarly voice asked.

“Batman,” you replied, roughly.

His heart aches underneath the layers of armor that are bleeding over you.

“What did…Chum,” he whispered to himself. “My child… my sweet child…”

The damaged chest plate slipped from his fingers—burning in his chest exploded throughout his body, his heart—his heart is dying filled with weights that made him fall to his knees. It echoed the gunshot that made itself home in your chest plate, he scrambled to tightly hug the chest plate; this was just a sick dream which he would wake from and you’d be in his arms with the familiar hint of the spark that made you.

He tightly shut his burning eyes—wanting to feel the warmth that you have, he opened them to see your chest plate stained with dirt and your dried blood. He stared up at the screen of the bat computer, seeing the final clip of you laying there. Your dead eyes staring up at the twinkling lightbulb that he had shined on you, he saw your lips move but he couldn’t hear the broken words—someone was screaming but it wasn’t you.

Bruce clutched your blanket—it still smelled of his Robin, he couldn’t part with it but he had to. He folded it in the casket—an empty casket with your burial clothes. He wanted a body to accompany the casket. Days before, He interrogated Joker but he only replied with laughter and a snarky remark while he stared and stood beside a basin filled with water and a rag to wipe a nonexistent body to bury in the wooden casket.

His reddened eyes watched them put the empty casket into the hearse—watching the hearse drive to the place where you would now rest despite never having a body in the casket. He turned around to hear the clammer of noisy cameras from behind the closed gates of the private plot.

These shoes crumbled upon the concrete pathway that the hearse took, it was getting harder to walk. He followed the hearse to the place where he could mourn for a moment—pulling on wooden handles to carefully lay the casket to rest. He stood beside the shovel, scooping the dirt and putting it in the six feet hole that wanted to consume any memory of the happiness that you offered him. He stared at the now covered hole and turned around expecting to see you tugging on his nerves about wanting to patrol alone again; he shouldn’t have let you go alone.

The world had been drained of its color—he felt alone again. He feel to his knees and his hand rested on the dirt, a hard gasp escaped his lips while his tears that he had held in were falling down his face.

Seven days felt similar to jabs in his bleeding heart, yet the meals that were placed in the kitchen from guests couldn’t soothe his pain. He couldn’t stomach the meals as it felt unfair—his watery eyes stared at the plate, sniffling and his suit was no longer smoothed and ironed rather it was wrinkled. He couldn’t take it off, it still had crumbs of the dirt from the burial. He needed his child back, just this once to say a proper goodbye to wipe away their tears before returning to the dirt that swallowed the coffin.

He sunk into the bed—there was no escape in the folds of the blankets that held no reminder of a child who would steal the blankets for their own greed. His voice was broken while limbs had been replaced with metal; it was somewhat comforting to just lay in the covers and hide from the world that had taken the people he loved from his arms. A belief that he could nurture his little bird and protect them while crime fighting and the pain stabbed his heart that had been ripped apart—he caused their death.

The protector of an entire city yet he failed to be a protector to the ward that he thought could fill the void except it left a void that was never ending and now felt similar to a skin rotting disease taking away his life day by day.

It was the first time in a month since he entered the Bat-cave as his legs trembled towards the miniature memorial dedicated to you, a Robin that was taken too young. He clutched his chest, his hand remained on the glass case that had the chest plate and pieces of your suit. This wasn’t here before, his heart was healing only to be ripped open again.

It had your name engraved in the bottom— A good soldier. Good soldier yet you were never a soldier in his eyes rather you were his little bird despite having rough edges; you were his child.

It was the first night, he wore the batsuit again as he got into the batmobile—pulling on the seatbelt to hear the familiar clip.

“Are you buckled, Robin?” He turned to the passenger seat; nobody responded back. “Oh…”

[swamiiyasssss]

Dragonfly In Red

Jason Todd + Vigilante!OfficeSiren!Reader

This Hood would never have thought he'd fell in love with a goddamn suit. Tall, dark and gorgeous, she was the wildest of his dreams. A dragonfly amongst the birds, the bats, standing out too much for his own liking.

The suit's got secrets; He intends to take it all for his own.

Dragonfly In Red by yasswami Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), Batman: Arkham - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Batman: Arkham (Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Jason Todd/Reader, Jason Todd/Original Female Character(s), Jason Todd/Original Character(s), minor Luke Fox/Reader Characters: Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Titus | Damian Wayne's Dog, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Stephanie Brown, Joker (DCU), Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Lucius Fox, Luke Fox, Arkham Asylum Inmates, Arkham Asylum Staff (DCU), Riddler (Batman 1966), Jim Gordon Additional Tags: Slow To Update, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Episode: s01e09 Enemies and Lovers, Lazy Sex, Hate Sex, NSFW, Smut, Angst, Heavy Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Death, Canonical Character Death, Vigilantism, Vigilante Reader, Blood and Violence, Psychological Horror, Psychological Torture, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Sex, Emotional Manipulation, Explicit Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Blood and Injury, Blood Kink, Blood As Lube, Recreational Drug Use, Bondage and Discipline, Chair Bondage, Non-Sexual Bondage, Body Horror, Body Worship, Corporate core, Office Sex, Police Officer Dick Grayson, Restraints, Angry Sex, Angry Kissing, Fake Character Death, Survivor Guilt, Power Imbalance, Power Play, Office SIREN reader, suits & bandages, whump, can u notice i got a thing for blood aha

Jason bares his teeth. “ I find a dragonfly, ensnared in my trap.”

Red Hood/You. Dark & Explicit Themes. Mind the Tags.

[beware-of-pity]

Sins of the father(s) IV

Masterlist

Previous chapter - Next

Bruce Wayne (Battinson) x Reader

Crossposted on Ao3

Summary:

When the silver spoon feeds well, it is hard to accept that we cannot have what does not want to be taken… unless the person is unaware of it. Sometimes, it’s better to come forward with what is left unsaid, instead of watching others slip from one’s fingers. 

. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ🦇་༘࿐

Chapter IV: Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends (Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends)

Bruce felt guilty, as he often did. He carried the guilt of not being able to save his parents on that night in that dark alley, of being the sole survivor. People who knew him, close ones, like Alfred, Dory and you, knew that despite having his life spared, Bruce had not exactly survived that fate twilight. A changed man, he had come out of that crime scene, the ghost of a boy everyone knew he would never be again.

So much anger and guilt he internalised over his own existence that he can only let out when he fights the criminals he sees the face of the man who pointed that gun at him and his parents' faces.

But this, this was a new kind of guilt. Knowing that he had disappointed you, angered you because of the pain he was causing you, created a sting in his chest that he thought he would never feel.

He wanted, he truly did, to try to reach out during these past few days. When he had heard that you would host a luncheon with the members of the charity you managed in your father’s memory, he had wanted to go. Support you, be there for you, but to his dismay, he had to, of course, get hurt the night before on his patrol, ending with his entire torso bandaged and bedridden for two days. Alfred’s orders. He had wanted to send something, flowers, perhaps attached with a note filled with encouraging words, but in the limbo between sleep, which he had the opportunity to catch up on after so long, and those few moments he was awake, he had totally forgotten to ask Alfred to run this commission for him.

He wanted to beat himself up, his hands on the steering wheel of the Batmobile tightening around the leather as he gritted his teeth.

Idiot, what an absolute idiot he was. Could he ever do something right? In his entire life, was there something he was good at other than beating up criminals when blinded by his rage?

Cohesive arguments evaded him, his lack of emotional regulation truly getting to him. He prided himself on the idea that he had been able to control his emotions. But, there was something about you, something that drove him to believe he had not grown at all from when he was a young boy.

It’s like he returned to the boy he used to be, emotional and driven by his thoughts in all the wrong ways. Memories of a time he would rather forget in order to forge this new path forced him back right at the beginning. He could only imagine how hurt and angry you would truly be if you found out in just how much danger he was truly putting himself up to every night. What he could imagine, was the true disappointment you would then face him with. With other people, he could do as he pleased, be everything he wanted to be when you were not around, hiding behind someone he was not, but with you?

With you, he felt a sense of vulnerability; he could confide in you, and you would listen, try to comfort him, help him, and reassure him with sweet, shooting sweet nothings. You were like a rock, a pillar that he felt the need to rest upon, and it pained him just as much as it did you to push you away to keep you safe. The fear he felt at the thought of losing you to his foolishness was one he only felt once when he had lost his parents.

Women, he hated to admit, were kind of a mystery for him. He wasn’t well-versed in the art of love or such. The only time he thought himself somewhat in love was with a thrill-chasing street racer named Dorothy, better called Dex, which he had befriended during one of his summers back home from the boarding school you two attended. If he considered himself reckless now, he must have been a wild animal at seventeen when he would sneak out of the Wayne Tower with the first prototype of the bat mobile, racing strangers in the middle of the night, getting stopped by the cops as they pried upon young and reckless teenagers by hiding on a side road or in an alley, waiting for late-night joyriders breaking the speed limit….like him.

It was the first time he had come in such serious and close contact with a woman his age who wasn’t you.

Dex felt like a new adventure he was embarking on, especially during a time when he had begun to question himself about what he truly wanted in life, growing restless about his own reclusive behaviour. She was like a breath of fresh air, exactly like those fast and rushing drives he took about town. A summer he would remember well, even years down the line. A summer that he spent being the wild young man men his age would be, while you went on a leisure vacation about the Amalfi Coast with some other classmates you shared in common.

Dex was everything you were not, and you were everything Dex wasn’t, but he couldn’t lie and say he had not often tried to find you in Dex.

She was wild and reckless, just like he had been, and yet he tried at times to find your strictness and rationality in her. Dex brought out in him the thrill he had been seeking, the one he supposed every seventeen-year-old boy sought in the opposite sex, but his mind told him when to stop and not venture into those bad situations Dex eventually found herself, his mind doing so because you were not there to do so.

He spent his days on the phone with you, which were your nights because of the time difference, and his nights with Dex and their escapades with the group of people, mostly Dex’s friends, planned out for the night.

When you returned in September, practically glowing from the days spent under the warm sun of the Italian coast and asked about how he had spent his summer, he didn’t tell you about Dex or his newfound addiction to racing. Of course, minus those details, you told him he would have had more fun if he had just come with you all, to which he said he would next time….which he didn’t, but he had come to the Christmas party that was thrown that winter to compensate for knowing he would have to decline your offer again when you would later ask. Had it not been for you, he would have spent the entirety of it all standing awkwardly in an abandoned corner of the room.

He had felt foolish, embarrassed, with cheeks flushing a deep crimson, as you danced with him, a red Santa hat on his head, and you dressed as one of Santa’s helpers, just….a slightly more provocative helper. He averted the sight before him many times that night, usually by craning his head to the side or letting his eyes fall anywhere but your more than revealing cleavage…which he hated to admit he had thought about too many times the following days. Could he be blamed? He was a teenager engulfed in the flesh of youth. It wasn’t his fault you were practically all over him, and the fact that he had to carry you back to your room when you had gotten tipsy, complaining that your feet hurt because of the heels you wore, had not helped. He remembered the feel of your soft and warm skin against his shirt all too well, your soft snores that fanned his face as you slept the night away as he carried you, only after he had taken those darn heels off your feet. The Polaroid, taken by a girl he didn’t know, but he supposed you did, commemorated the night with its overall existence, immortalising the night into living memorabilia, instead of just his memory.

He thought he liked Dex, she made him feel speechless in her presence, like he didn’t know what to say, all his thoughts just vanishing, but you….everything he thought he felt for Dex just went with the wind when he first set his eyes on you again after so long.

He did not need this. He didn’t need old wounds and resurfacing emotions that would not help his vigilante work to resurface in the cold and passive man he had turned himself into.

Perhaps Vengeance didn’t….but as for Bruce, well….Bruce was another story.

Women liked him, and he liked them too, but over his early twenties, he never stayed too long to not form any attachments. The only constant one in his life had become you…

He didn’t want to admit it, but a part of him yearned for the comfort of your gentleness, which contrasted his cold and unwavering vigilante persona. It brought out in him a vulnerability he didn’t know he still possessed, one he hated feeling. He couldn’t allow himself any weakness, and you….you made him weak. He couldn’t afford to be weak, not when the worst time of the year was now upon him. In two days, it would be Halloween, and even though the news had predicted heavy rain, Bruce knew that a few drops of water would not stop the criminals from acting out or the streets from not being filled with people celebrating.

The nature of the city could not be stopped by anything, especially rain, which was why he needed to be out there, to fight against it and keep the innocent citizens wanting to only celebrate a fun and jolly holiday from getting in between the criminals’ plans and their own. 

He had thought about how to approach a possible reconciliation throughout the day after, though his mind shut everything down when he saw you on the TV beside Reál as you two walked out of the studio where the last debate between her and Mitchell had taken place in light of next week’s elections.

You smiled and waved at the cameras, who clamoured around you two to ask questions, to vulture deeper into the future that awaited this newfound coalition between the possible new Mayor of Gotham and the newest member of the City Council. Eloquently answering the questions as you went, you were able to evade them until you arrived at the car awaiting you before speeding off.

He had gone on his nightly patrol that night with an unusual sense of irrationality to him.

Robbery, theft, and assault were commonplace in the dark alleys of Gotham, yet that night, Bruce almost looked like he was seeking those things he hated most.

The next morning, the haze of the night had faded, but not the emotions he had carried from it. Tonight, more than ever, he needed ultimate concentration, and yet he almost found himself unable to do so. Frustrated by this, he spent most of the afternoon preparing for his patrol. Training, putting all he felt in the punches he delivered to the punching bag hanging in the Batcave. He had reduced his knuckles raw, almost frail to draw blood if he wanted, which he had to cover with bandages so as to not feel the discomfort of the sensitive skin rubbing against the leather of the gloves of his suit.

When he dipped his fingers in the black makeup he used to fill in the gaps that his mask could not, the coolness of the paste soothed his irritated skin, even as it stained him. As per routine, he went out first in incognito among the crowd dressed as the ‘Drifter’. The old, baggy and well-worn second-hand clothes he had thrifted came in hand when he wanted to blend among crowds, asserting the night, eyeing and studying his possible opponents. The clothes also hid the first layers of the bat suit he wore, the second layers, cape and mask, hiding in the backpack he carried on his back. He swerved the streets with his old bike, he obviously couldn’t go out and about with the Batmobile if he didn’t want to be recognised. He only ever took the car out when he truly needed it, for big cases, which had yet to come and had given him much time to work on it and its potency.

He had just turned one of the streets near Wayne Tower, speeding through the traffic, wanting to get out of the rich and industrial neighbour to head towards Dowton Island, the part of Gotham where criminals ran rampant since it included places like the Iceberg Lounge, under the watchful eyes of the Penguin and his associates, when he approached a sidewalk littered with cars and people hanging around the door of one those central stylised townhouses, surely a get together for the holiday.

He stopped on the side, watching the scene unfold before him, hiding behind a car on the opposite side of the road where the people were making their way inside the house. Fancy dresses, well-pressed suits, gelled and combed hair, shimmering jewels, polished shoes, masks of all kinds. Animals, doll-like ones, some painted and patterned like that Venetian carnival one you once brought him back to your trip there —it all screamed opulence.

Or shamelessness thought Bruce. They care not but for themselves, selfish people who have too much money to their name that they can count on or know what to do with. He watched from behind his full-face visor as another car came through the corner to stop just in front of the steps of the house. A man nearby brightened up at the sight and rushed towards the door of the vintage vehicle to help whoever was inside out of it. A feminine, manicured and well-cared-for hand, adorned by rings and bracelets, reaches out to grab into the one the man has just offered, closing its fingers around it.

Bruce’s eyes track the woman who steps out of the car; her back turned to him, but even with the fancy dress and all, he could still recognise you from anywhere.

Just like the others, it seems like you, too, had taken to dressing to what appeared to be the theme for this party. A black, trimmed, velvet dress, covered with a medieval cape, adorned with a shining, feathered, high collar. The mask, feathered and well-adorned, hid a good part of your face and gave away the animal you were dressed as. A raven, he supposed you fit the part, looking sumptuous and imperial like the bird, the train of your dress, feathered like the bird's tail, created a perfect illusion as you walked. In your gothic costume, you fit right into the art deco modernized stylization of the city. He wondered if the dress was part of some high-brand old collection, perhaps from the 1920s, they had lent you for the occasion. 

Like a doll, he mused, unconsciously, a sense of admiration in his thought

You always had an affinity for such social events, despite how you often complain about how many you were invited to. You were the social butterfly, even when you too were younger, the one frequently pulling him alongside you to wherever you went and looking at you, all dolled up. It’s not that you enjoyed being around people, but you had been conditioned since an early age into understanding that being part of an inner circle befitting your station would do you more good than bad. Your mother was a known socialite back in her younger days,just as his mother had been to a degree, and your father took more good from it than anyone expected, especially during his political campaigns.

Your mother had been a much-needed asset in gaining much of his popularity, reaching places of interest for your father’s cause, which, despite his intellect, he found himself a stranger to. She rouped people with her charms and wit, endearing them to her friendliness, especially other politicians and regimental wives. It seemed that for you, the apple had not fallen far from the tree. You implemented the best traits of both your parents on occasions like these, but even Bruce knew that you possessed both of their bad ones, too, just like he did. He sometimes asked himself where he got his temper, not remembering either of his parents’ possessing one themselves. Or maybe he had just been too young to take notice.

As if sensing being looked at, you turned to look in the direction you felt those eyes glaring holes at the back of your head, unknowingly meeting his, hidden away by the visor of his helmet.

He watched your brows furrow in confusion at who he could possibly be and for a man of his appearance to hang around such a neighbourhood when he did not seem to belong in it. Unknowingly to him, Bruce’s grip on the grips rubber of his bike’s handlebars. Your eyes narrow, slating as if to get a better look at him, for the stranger he presented himself as, to understand if you knew him, almost intrusively analysing him with your eyes as if you could look beyond and under his disguise. But before you could do more than that, the hand of the man who had helped you out of your vehicle, slithering on the small of your back, startled you out of your contemplative state.

Good, old Johnny, your date for tonight. Your friendship went back to your days in boarding school, and though for you he was just a friend, you always knew he wanted something more from you. He wasn’t exactly subtle in that regard, with his long glances and touchy hands. Too touchy and intrusive for your tastes. Bruce had noticed too how you didn’t seem all that reciprocant to his touch, the skin under your dress almost flinching out of reflex from the contact of his hand.

Your attention turned back to Johhny, leaving Bruce, not that you knew it was him, behind your forgotten thoughts. You had a dinner to attend, after all.

You smile politely to Johnny, who, in turn, beams down at you as you two begin to walk to the door of the house, his hand almost leading you there.

The display before him left Bruce completely blank, his insides churning, a burning ache filling his chest. When had he begun to wish to be the one at your side, the one whose hand was the one guiding you around as it rested around your waist? Was this mere jealousy? And, even so, he was confused about what he was jealous of. Was it just his protectiveness? He had often taken a sort of watchful eye over you; maybe it was his worry pulling at him to shove Johnny out of the way like he used to when they were young boys. He did know the man, after all, as he often drolled over you and trailed like a lost puppy whenever you two went, back in the days. Johnny knew very well to keep his act when Bruce was around, relegating to watching from afar rather than approaching.  Perhaps it was an understanding between men; they did seem to understand each other better than others after all, but Johnny had come to understand very well what Bruce’s eyes were implying most times. His dislike, his distaste, his lack of composure and demeanour were truly frightening in his eyes. Which was why he did not want you anywhere near him, wanting to protect you from men like Johnny as much as he could.

And now, busier than ever before, with his mind and thoughts divided between his personal and private life, it seemed that Johnny thought that with his noticeable absence, he could finally rise to the challenge.

Craven vermin.

Not being able to bear the sight any longer and what it fueled in him, Bruce lifts his feet off the ground and speeds off in the night. Going to dispel his emotions in the only way he knew.

Beating criminals.

He had found his perfect scapegoat in a gang that had seemed to round a lone stranger who had gotten off on the deserted platform of the train station. Eight skull-faced gang members against a defenceless man, and for what? The thrill of the chase? The want of fear in their opponent? Or was it because he had been an easy target? After all, how could one defend himself against eight men, clearly stronger than him in physics?

He had stopped them just before they could have caused more than necessary damage, for it seemed that whatever they were doing was a sort of initiation ritual for the newest and youngest entry of their group, who, in all fairness, did not seem too thrilled to be there or be part of what was going down, as he fled the scene after he had put the other seven down.

His movements had been fast and brutal, leaving no room for counterattacks or opposition from his opponents. He had snapped the arm of one, who presented himself as the leader of this organised fiasco and tased the neck of another, a scene he would revisit once he returned to the cave and pulled his recording contact lenses out of his eyes. The scene, he was sure, would be haunting as he watched the man fall and convulse on the ground. He had taken hits, too, but through his rage, he had bounced back every time. His terrifying skill kept the impacts of them from landing as if almost on auto-pilot, he proceeded to break off the others surrounding him like a machine.

Only when the station fell into the silence of the night once more, broken only by the gentle pitter patter of the rain, had his eye noticed the reflection on the wet ground. The bat signal, shining bright, in the sky.

Bruce looked up, wondering just how long it's been there, having lost all composure and awareness of his surroundings.

He could truly get in a rage when he wanted, couldn’t he? He just didn’t want to admit what it was that caused it.

He had met with Gordon, in the abandoned and unfinished skyscraper they utilised as their secret hideout, where he had been told the unimaginable.

Mitchell was dead.

He had been let in in the study where the body was found only because Gordon had made it so after he faced opposition from Officer Martinez. Were it for the line of cops filling the hall of the now gone Mayor’s manor, he surely would not have gotten that far within the first step of his boots near the property.

It had been a gruesome sight. Mitchell’s head was wrapped in grey duct tape, with red, angry letters spelling out ‘NO MORE LIES’. The sight entirely reminded him of what you had told him in your last conversation about them. His head had been mashed, but most of the blood he had lost had come from his severed thumb, cut when he was still alive, seeing the ecchymosis that had formed around the wound. Whoever the Killer was, they had made quite the showcase in sending the message they wanted.

Corruption and lies, corruption that had yet to be revealed as to what kind. No one believed Mitchell to be an innocent man, after all, no one had such a rise to power ethically and conventionally. There was something about Mitchell that both you and Bruce had suspected not to be genuine. It always rubbed you the wrong way how he had seemingly just been able to take over the city in such an easy way after your father was killed. Perhaps it was the bitterness in you, not yet over how your father could just be replaced by such an incompetent man, which you were right about, seeing as to how he had driven Gotham into becoming a cesspool in less than twenty years and three mandates as Mayor of the city. Bruce did often wonder just why he kept on being elected, again, and again, and again.

But to be deserving of such death? It made Bruce wonder as to what the killer was aware of that others were not.

Perhaps, he’ll get to find out soon.

AN: Finally entering the film's territory. We'll be following the events of the movie from now on, just prolonging them slightly to tell more of the story, but the storyline will remain the same. A week of pure chaos to write, yeppi. Also, I recently read the novella called 'Before the Batman: An Original Movie Novel' which is kind of supposed to be a companion prequel novel to the movie. It is not canon, Matt Reeves has not written or said that what's written in the story is canon to his universe, and even though, I, myself did not find it to be a particularly compelling read, I wanted to incorporate certain aspects I liked about it in this story. If you're not familiar with the events of the novel, the Batman Wiki has pages for every character and event in it, so be sure to check it out if you want to know more about what I talk about in the first half of the chapter.

[kore-arts]

The Grayson was not the only one who was destined for the Courts Machinations

The Drakes long since had been lower owls. Janet being the only one to truly rise by offering one thing

The child of her womb. One that would have clubs in the afternoon of disguised training. A experiment on a aware Talon who would not just be a weapon. But the eyes and mind sharp enough to tear apart the Rats of Gotham.

Tim spent his days unaware, alone except for his aloof tutors and many checkups by doctors for his chronic illness. He personally thought he was just Meta with his more bird-like tendencies.

His nights spent following the Bats and birds and taking beautiful pictures of his muses in action. nights spent reading books of the history and myths about his city. His parents always did encourage his photography of the scenery and people of Gotham.

Then a Robin lay dead. Batman cruel and cold. Dick Grayson staring at his golden blue eyes with sorrow and confusion of why a child would choose to do something like this. why Tim Drake would attempt to be the reins of The Bat.

The story continues like usual, his cold chest warm from the praise he got from Lady Shiva during his accidental training with her. His smile bright with each case and villain take down.

Bruce was aware that his new bird was unusual, but the court had not shown up yet. So he accepted the clawed boy who's eyes sees what most couldn't. How the bruises and scratches faded within a hour. How he could already move in almost inhuman ways only for Dick to cackle and show Tim how to more.

He didn't dare get close. He never wanted another Robin, dead child, son or Vigilante within his crusade.

He regrets that the night The Drake family Dies. Tim being taken on a trip with his parents finally, a expedition to a Athens temple. Janet Drake being the only survivor but laying in a Coma funded by Bruce Wayne out of guilt.

He regrets that when he sees the heartbreak of the two Supers who hear Tim's heart stop. He regrets when he sees how much Tim was important to so many hero's.

Talon Drake is Always Awake when frozen. He Remembers it all.

[ailithnight]

After this chapter, I will no longer be doing a taglist. Sorry folks, there's just too many of y'all and I'm on mobile. Please subscribe on AO3 for updates, or follow the tag A King in Arkham.

A King in Arkham

Chapter 4

AO3 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Danny. I understand you don't want to go with your godfather. Is there a reason for that?

Can't go with Vlad!

If you know something we don't about him, you need to tell us. Otherwise he will win custody.

It's.. He'll.. he'll make me.. turn me.. his fault!

What's his fault, Danny?

His fault. All his. All.. My.. no, my fault. It's all my fault...

Danny?

IT'S MY FAULT! I KILLED THEM! ALL DEAD! Because of me...

Now Danny, I'm sure that's not true. What happened at the Nasty Burger-

I made it happen.

Corporate negligence-

He knew. I knew. Dan knew what would happen. Dan made it happen. He knew the sauce was gonna blow. He knew Lancer would arrange the meeting there. He cheated. He lured them there. He bound them up so they couldn't escape and ran the time out until they exploded! Dan did that and Dan was me, so I did that.

Daniel...?

I murdered them. I murdered everyone. 

Da-

IT'S ALL MY FAU- *static*

.

Tim started talking after the audio cut to static.

"What you just heard is the last, partially recovered therapy session of Danny's in Chicago. The cameras were beyond salvaging. No one except Danny knows what happened after the audio cuts. What is known is that nearby witnesses heard what they claim sounded like a 'screaming moan' coming from the therapy room. When doctors and staff went to check; the therapist Mrs. Alders was slumped against the wall, appearing to have been forcefully pushed, with minor head trauma. Danny was curled up on the other side of the room, panicking and muttering about a Dan.

While Mrs. Alders mostly recovered from the incident, she does not know how she ended up slammed against the wall. Once this audio was recovered, it was turned over to the police. Given the severity of the... confession... in conjunction with the apparent assault, the courts decided to move Danny to an asylum for the criminally insane." Tim paused in the debrief, letting the information sink in. After a moment, Duke raised his hand. Jason scoffed at the action.

"This ain't kindergarten kid, say your bit."

"I just, that explains why an asylum in general. But why Arkham?" Tim nodded, pulling up a picture of a document.

"Kid's godfather, business tycoon and multimillionaire, Vlad Masters. Insisted that if his godson should have to go to an asylum, he'll go to the- and I quote- 'Best in the country.' Made a deal with the state that he'll foot the bill while he continues fighting for custody. Apparently didn't do his research enough to know that 'Best Known' and 'Best' are not the same." Bruce had the next question.

"So, Master's doesn't have custody yet?"

"Nope." Tim popped his 'p', pulling up more documents. Investigative reports. "Given Danny's reactions to him, CPS started investigating. Found a lot of shady shit. Narcissism, anger issues, control issues, coercion tactics. 

One agent said he tried to bribe her with a rather large sum of money, which she might have taken if she wasn't well enough off from a family inheritance and mostly doing this work for the kids. Of course, same agent also said he had 'Rancid vibes' and 'tried to posses' her, but her 'Grammy's necklace protected her' so her credibility was deemed iffy.

Still, there's enough there that it's unlikely Masters will be able to gain custody any time soon. So if Gotham's favorite serial adopter with a good track record for helping troubled kids, Brucie Wayne, were to step in..." Tim's smirk is infectious and makes its way around the table. Bruce's lips twitch ver briefly into a fond smile, before dropping back into a frown.

"What do you make of the... confession?" Jason doesn't even try to hold in his groan.

"Seriously, B? It was survivor's guilt or some kind of psychotic episode or something." Damian frowns.

"I would not discredit him so quickly, Hood. After all, his ghosts are real apparently."

"Hnn." Bruce gets that look on his face. The almost constipated frown that means he is going to have to do something unpleasant like host a gala or attend a business meeting or, "I will have to call Constantine to verify what the entity we are dealing with is." 

Jason lets out a gleeful snort. "Have fun with that one, B. In the mean time can I go break our kid out yet or what?"

"Actually, Hood," Jason turns a glare on Tim, who is once again holding his hands up placatingly. "That still leaves us with the issue of making him an escapee and you an accomplice."

"Well fuckin Brucie Wayne can't exactly just walk up to Arkham and ask if they've got any blue eyed black haired boys for him to adopt."

"Not exactly what I'm suggesting here."  Batman sighs.

"What are you suggesting." Tim pulls out a case he had tucked under the desk, a truly devious smirk painted across his face.

"Just a little temporary theft. Only long enough to put the kid's face on the news for Brucie to stumble across." He opens the case, sliding it over to Jason. Inside, a replica of a relic from Tim's own past; resized to fit his bigger, broader brother. "You remember Red X, don't you?" 

The green that had been tinting Jason's vision the whole meeting finally subsides, giving way to wicked mirth.

"Oh, hell yes." 

Batman sighs.

.

"You don't get it do you? I'm still here. I still exist. That means you still turn into me."

Another night, another nightmare of a memory jolting Danny back into the waking world. His chest is tight, a high whine suppressing itself in the back of his throat. Danny's eyes dart around his room, searching for the shadowy void of his most frequent visitor. But Spectra isn't there tonight. She hasn't come back since she was seen by Banana Bat. 

It's strange. Danny had gotten used to waking up with her there, towering over him, shadowy clawed hand resting somewhere on his body as she feasted on his misery. He didn't mind, really. He had plenty to give and she didn't even rough him up too bad. Just enough to keep the psyches concerned. The last 3 days without her presence had been... not lonely. Danny was already lonely. But emptier. Like the one good thing his continued existence was doing for someone had been ripped away.

Truly, Danny felt he had nothing left in this world. Nothing to give, nothing to gain. But he couldn't die. Couldn't unleash full ghost Phantom on the world again. That's what created Dan. No, this was what he had to give. All he had to give. To stay human so that Dan never becomes ghost.  To live, as the least burden he could be, so that Dan never died. 

Clockwork must have known what would happen if Danny fully died. That must be why he spared him. The Observants sentenced Danny to death. But Clockwork was smarter. He sentenced Danny to life. And really, it's such a small price to pay for the sins of his other self. 

Despite what the others say, Arkham isn't hell. The only issue Danny's had was the clown and that's not really anyone's fault. It's just, Danny looked at the Joker and he saw Freakshow. And he saw that stupid staff. And he heard that grating laugh. And all he could think about was how that was the only thing that could still turn him into Dan. If the clown took control again. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't! Not becoming a Dan, not becoming a problem; that's all he could do now! He couldn't he couldn't he couldn't...

Danny was broken out of his spiraling thoughts by the now familiar buzzing echoing clanging sound of another break out. He closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. Then, suddenly, he was lifted up, hoisted onto someone's shoulders in a fireman's carry. 

"Damn kid, do you weigh anything?" 

Danny's eyes flew open, his body subconsciously tensed for a fight Danny wouldn't actually fight. The voice, clearly modulated, sounded high and breezy. His head turned to look at the person now forcefully evicting him from his room. Black body suit. White mask. Red slashes in a stylized X. Built like his Dad... Danny had no idea who this was.

For a moment, Danny felt a twinge of fear. He had no idea who this was. They obviously weren't with Arkham. They had just stolen him from his room and, holy shit they were flying now. No. Not flying, grappling. And running. Moving very fast towards the exit. With Danny. For unknown reasons. 

Holy shit, someone was kidnapping a teenager from an insane asylum. That, probably wasn't good. Any normal or sane person would be scared for their health and wellbeing. But, well... Danny was hardly normal. And sane was becoming increasingly questionable. 

And this guy, well he didn't trigger Danny's ghost sense. No chilly breath escaping his mouth. So he was human, not a ghost. It's not like a human could kill Danny. Not with his ghostly healing factor. Sure, they could make his life a living hell. Beat him, violate him, enslave him. But a human couldn't turn him into Dan so... Danny doesn't think he really cares. 

"Um, why are you carrying me?"

"Taking you out of here." 

"Clearly, I meant why?"

"Owe someone a favor." That was mildly concerning. Danny could think of one person who would stoop to this.

"Did Vlad send you?"

"Master's? Nope. He couldn't afford my services."

"Oh. Okay." As long as it wasn't Vlad. They were almost to the main gate now. There was screaming behind them, now. Danny loomed behind them as the person grappled up the wall and vaulted them over. Danny caught the barest glimpse of the twink in a burlap sack mask striding out the door, leaving a noxious cloud in his wake.

Then they're gone, grappling to then moving across rooftops. It's not a bad feeling. Kinda fun even. Flying as a ghost was nice. Really nice. But different from this. Gravity literally didn't touch you if you didn't want it too. But this? Danny could feel the pull of the earth, the force of every swing. Gravity was still there, exerting its influence, but they were defying it. 

For a tiny moment, Danny felt the ghost of a smile on his lips. The good feeling was fleeting, like all his feelings these days. But it was there and it was enough to shock a small "Oh." from Danny.

"Oh what, runt?"

"Nothing, just. Never grappled before. S'nice."

"Oh." It was such a soft thing, Danny once more found himself pondering the intentions of his kidnapper. 

"Do I get to know where we're going?"

"Safe house for the night. I'm your baby sitter."

"And tomorrow?"

"We'll see."

"...Okay."

.

The next morning, Vicki Vale stumbles across the story of her career (so far) sitting dazed and confused in her office. A prepubescent boy in an oversized Arkham uniform? The day after a breakout where Scarecrow and only one other inmate escaped? Oh this is bound to sell.

Okay, I know the show pretty heavily implies that Teen Titans Robin us Dick.

But

What if it was Tim?

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Survivors guilt

by MevFizzah1yippee You knew harm, you knew hurt. From the day you were born to now, it has been the only thing that has consistently been in your life. It's what you knew, what you were used to, but then you were brought into a new world. It stopped for a while, the pain, the numbness. You were getting better, but now, with your little brother gone, you felt it creep back. With him gone, there's no reason to keep the promises. It's not like he kept his. Will Bruce find out? Will your family finally notice? Words: 186, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, DCU Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con Categories: Other Characters: Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Joker (DCU) Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Reader, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Reader, Jason Todd & Reader Additional Tags: Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Batfamily is a Mess (DCU), Batfamily Angst (DCU), Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Angst and Feels, Teen Angst, Past Child Abuse, Child Abandonment, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, Underage Smoking, Child Death, No beta reader, we die like Jason Todd, Self-Esteem Issues, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Self-Worth Issues, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Non-Consensual Touching, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, first fic here, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags May Change, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Step-siblings, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Good Sibling Jason Todd, but not for long..., cus he's dead!!, AFAB reader - Freeform, fem reader - Freeform, !!NO INCEST!!, !!NO BATCEST!! via https://ift.tt/wR4t9q5

[sidecharactersdomatter]

Thoughts I had during TGCF S2 Ep 6

Previously on TGCF…

This is gonna be epic!!!

Cw: Past homicide

-That’s Yong’An in its heyday 

-Sparrows

-Fang Xin

-It’s Qianqiu’s assistant from Eps 1-2!

-Young Qianqiu is literally me in my Freshman year of High School during the first semester

-His butterfly shaped mask

-Writing the Laozi 10 times has the energy of making a kid stay in class and write a sentence over and over on the chalkboard till they’ve learned their lesson (Literally every Simpsons opening)

-He doubled it

-Imagine if Piandao talked to Sokka like that when beginning his sword training

-Man wonder who voices Young!Qianqiu?

-I mean the move could also get you hurt if you’re careless

-This is the Ancient Chinese version of the trolley problem, same analogy though

-I like to think this advice was taught to Zuko and Sokka when they were learning swordsmanship

-See, trolley problem esque

-Good advice to not intervene

-More dead bodies

-Oh no and that was his Dad

-That’s when the survivor’s guilt set in

-I can see why Xie Lian and Hua Cheng are perfect for each other, they both have a freaking high kill count

-Just like when Bruce Wayne lost his parents

-What did he say?

-He’s not a monster

-That was during his second ascenscion

-That’s gonna be a bad outcome

-“I wish to be stripped of my divinity” Literally every fangirl’s brain drifted to something else when he said that.  Just look at Kictor and Stitch

-Doesn’t seem like he earned it at all

-He just wants to get out of the drama

-If there was a modern AU, you know Shi Qingxuan would make an awesome and wealthy defense attorney

-There’s the Amongus quote

-Dang no answer

-There’s Prosecutor Pei Ming, that’s a good nickname.

-He made a solid point

-That’s the result of the Fang Xin trial with XL on house arrest and a restraining order from Taihua

-He made another enemy

-Aaaa pickle jar, better believe it Qingxuan

-How is she going to get air???

-That upset Qingxuan, Feng Xin, and Mu Qing

-The interior looks hollow in Xie Lian’s palace

-That’s coming out of Qingxuan’s pockets

-He deserves the apology hun

-He’s doing it, he’s doing the iconic old time Put your head between your arms against a flat surface like a Disney Princess!

-He still has the dice

-It’s snake eyes!

-Hi Mu Qing

-Stick it to Jun Wu, Mu Qing

-I know right, it did NOT seem like a healing spell at all

-Wonder if I can conceptualize a similar healing potion for TOH MTC…?

-You just had to ask him that didn’t you?

-Hi Feng Xin

-A guest who invited himself inside

-Welp he really was honest

-Seriously, Mu Qing you couldn’t have felt bad for his house arrest

-Xie Lian’s trying to mediate again

-Mu Qing’s response had bite to it

-One Punch!!!

-Fist Fight!  Fist Fight!

-“You’re a hypocrite, you’ve always looked down on me, but you’re not better than I am!!!”  Oh my gods, Lucien Dodge freaking delivered!!!

-“Enough…” Oh man, Xie Lian’s emotions

-The Junior Officials witnessing the Generals fisticuffs:

Feng Xin!  Feng Xin!  Feng Xin!

Mu Qing!  Mu Qing!  Mu Qing!

-“Did it really have to come to violence?” Yeah it pretty much did. - Iroh, dragon of the West, the Waterbending scroll

-Mu Qing: Fine I’ll break your face

Feng Xin: Not if I break yours first!  It’s too late to beg for mercy!  

That’s what I translated to the best of my skills during Xie Lian’s internal monologue

-He’s like a parent that’s disappointed with his two kids constantly at odd

-Don’t worry, hon what’s really gonna help them is Couples’ therapy, and I’d hate to be that therapist

-A dramatic sound effect!

-I can’t wait to write the Gaang’s reaction to the Wraith Butterflies

-That was a cool shield spell

-I love how the butterflies are easily dodging Xie Lian, but are charging toward Mu Qing and Feng Xin to scare the sh*t outta them

-He’s gonna hold one of the butterflies, he’s holding one of the butterflies, yeah too late man AND HE’S NUZZLING THE WINGTIPS WITH HIS NOSE Cue keyboard smash! WAE TESDHGFYFJ. RYGJ GUFTDRSSDFAEGRRESVGTGTRS DFGSTRWG EIEEEIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!! I always love this joke, no matter how old it’s gonna get in my reaction posts.

-Yeah he’s just going

-The real reason this episode took so long to air last year was that the animators had to get the waist snatch scene past censorship to spite their censor companies for not having Xie Lian fall into Hua Cheng’s lap in Eps 4-5.

-Xie Lian: Hello Again, Literally me: HAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! (This is the exact same noise Eleanor Shellstrop made when she was gifted a Shrimp Dispenser in The Good Place)

-They’re just backing up

-You two had one job!  Looking at you Feng Xin and Mu Qing!  I see ya

-He’s just tugging his sleeve as they’re walking

-Man, it’s like Hua Cheng took Little John’s advice from Robin Hood 1973 to “Climb the palace walls.  *Tosses out Gross Carrot* Sweep him off his feet, carry him off in style.” - Little John, Disney Robin Hood (1973) (Best Disney film hands down, freaking fight me if you dare)

-That must’ve hurt his ears

-Y’all had one job

-Feng Xin is just worried

-*Hua Cheng has entered the chat*  Like a goat!

-The subtle eye contact and expression he shared with Xie Lian!

-Some of the 33 gods he defeated are also in the chat

-That shook the veils

-Won’t that be pain in his mind?

-Looks like he saved you yeah

-A flashback from Ep 5!

-Touchstarved!  Touchstarved!  (Try prying this headcanon from my cold dead grip!)

-And here you’re about to see Howard Wang’s best performance in the series so far

-Best apology I’ve ever heard in media

-It healed that fast

-Petition to have James Cheek voice an iconic lead character in a Shakespeare play?

-Aw, they were actually both at fault for what happened

-You can actually feel Hua Cheng’s Shame

-E Ming: Noooo…. You hurt him!  I hurt him!  We hurt him! AAAHHH!  *sobs*

Season 2 has fed us once more!  I’m still busy with writing the Scrap Immortal and the Avatar.  For writing inspiration, I’ll be busy rewatching Avatar:  The Last Airbender

[ao3feed-irondadspiderson]

Two Universes both out of reach

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61370512 by MiddayStar_gazer Peter Parker was once confident in spider-mans abilities. But Spider-man failed, one too many times. he failed the people he loved and lost them along the way. So, when death finally came knocking, he was excited to see his friends and family again. finally get to see his father and mother, uncle Ben, Tony. But with the help of his Parker luck, death was drowned out by a strange green liquid that filled his throat and burned his eyes. Or, Peter ends up seeking Death out after having to dig himself after digging himself out of a grave with the wrong name on it. After a couple minutes of internal crisis, he realizes 3 bad things- 1. He's not dead 2. Strange was up to some Strange things and worst of all 3. He's in Jersey as well as in a city with the weirdest name, Gotham. Words: 1447, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Batman - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: Multi Characters: Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Duke Thomas, Tim Drake (DCU) Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Dick Grayson & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Jason Todd, Batfamily Members (DCU) & Peter Parker, Tim Drake (DCU) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Duke Thomas, Stephanie Brown & Peter Parker, Cassandra Cain & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Stephen Strange, Peter Parker & Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Post-Movie: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Peter Parker Acts Like a Spider, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Has Issues, Survivors Guilt, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter Parker has attitude to spare, Protective Jason Todd, Protective Dick Grayson, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne Has Too Many Kids, Daimian is obsessed with knives, Protective Alfred Pennyworth, Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Lazarus Pit Side Effects (DCU) read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/61370512

[aboutzatanna]

I noticed that Zatanna described herself as having a flaw that makes her “fall for losers.”

Notice that “loser” isn’t the same as “bad boy.”

She doesn’t like Bad Boys, she likes Losers. (According to Grant Morrison, anyway.)

But if we take this self-description as accurate, I feel like this can contextualize what she sees in the likes of Barry Allen, John Constantine, Bruce Wayne, her former manager, and that one guy from the Detroit Era Justice League of America.

How do you think she may understand “loser” in way that makes sense of these seemingly disparate attractions?

What do you think could be the source of this “flaw” based on her history?

I think it’s possible that to Zatanna, “loser” isn’t about being generally unsuccessful in life, it’s about striving despite a lack of success.

You have to actually try and fail at something to be a loser.

I think it’s a deep respect for men who can live in the space of being knocked down.

A respect for tripping and falling and rebounding with grace.

Might come from a the fact that it’s a kind of strength doesn’t allow for herself as a perfectionist stage performer.

Well, the panel itself is from Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison where Zatanna is attending therapy after royally screwing up by accidentally summoning an other-dimensional entity and also getting a group of fellow magicians killed whilst on an excursion to another dimension leaving her as the only survivor.

I don't think anyone has the best assessment of themselves when they are feeling extremely depressed and guilty.

You're correct in that if you look at her romantic history that most of the guys aren't losers (Batman, Barry Allen, Jeffery Sloan, Dale Gunn) but it is also obvious she has dated plenty of guys off screen and likely many she regretted dating:

Source: Zatanna: Everyday Magic

And also guys who couldn't handle her lifestyle:

Source: Zatanna: Everyday Magic

Maybe Hal Cook

And while she clearly craves a happy, fulfilling stable relationship, its also elusive because the world of magic is dangerous and has already taken away so many of her loved ones:

Source: Zatanna: Everyday Magic

If you look at her life; her mom disappeared when she was a baby, her dad went missing when she was barely out of her teen and she had to search for him herself, then she found out her mom was live only for said mom to die and her dad also died later on sacrificing herself for her.

It makes sense that someone like that would suffer from abandonment issues, be afraid of getting too close to someone, maybe even isolate herself from good people in life to keep them from getting hurt.

I remember there was a character named Ron in the Zatanna: Come Together mini series. I remember initially not liking the Ron character but upon re-reads realized that he is an okay dude, just not compatible with Zee and the relationship fell apart because Zatanna did not want to open up:

She hooks up with Joshua, the son of her mentor, Marsha in the series.

Marsha died whilst working with her coven and Zatanna to stop the Eldritch Abomination. And although the above panels show that Joshua still had affection for Zee and did not blame her, Zatanna's response "but it can be good with time" comes off as if she has already begun to push him away. Because of her guilt over Marsha plus not wanting to hurt him. Joshua didn't appear after this series which is a shame because I think he's one of the better love interests she's had. Plus his mom was a witch so there is an opportunity for him to have learned magic on his own. No good reason for him to be in limbo other than writers not remembering his existence.

[msfcatlover]

Reverse!Robins/Titans Timeline

Still trying to pin this down. Not bothering with time intervals, just order of events.

(Gee, can you tell which parts of this team I’m still ironing out, and which ones I’ve put the most thought into?)

Batman: Zero Year

Joker debuts. (Duke’s parents caught in one of the attacks)

Duke starts patrolling/searching for his parents.

After running into Duke several times, Bruce makes Duke his crime-fighting partner to both train & keep an eye on him. Duke chooses the name “Moonbeam.”

Yara Flor becomes Wonder Girl. Bruce & Diana encourage their proteges to become friends, so that they have someone their own age who understands their vigilante problems to talk to.

Connor Hawke reunites with his father, and becomes Marksman (Green Arrow’s first sidekick.) Connor is also encouraged to join this friend group.

(Clark occasionally asks the teens to babysit his son Jon, when the adults are busy.)

Damian shows up in Gotham, making a huge splash & overturning the Batfam status quo. After killing a few criminals, Damian is forbidden from patrolling until he proves himself trustworthy.

(Damian does not join the group, but the others know about him because Duke complains. Damian does become friends with Jon after a little while.)

A ship crashes while the JL is busy. The teens go to investigate it, finding a single survivor who turns out to have speedster powers & complete amnesia. They use the Batcomputer to trace the ship, trying to help their new friend.

Damian sneaks onboard the shuttle the teens “borrow” to follow their trace, still trying to prove himself.

This team finds an illegal alien market and breaks it up, rescuing Pam in the process.

Upon return to Earth, the JL commends the kids for their work. A new team is formed with Yara as their leader, and named the “Teen Titans.” The lineup is:

Wonder Girl (Yara Flor)

Moonbeam (Duke Thomas)

Marksman (Connor Hawke)

Kid Flash (Bartholomew “Tolly” Taurus)

Menagerie (Pamela “Pam” Merlo)

Damian does not get to be part of the team, deemed too young, but he has proven himself enough to officially join Batman & Moonbeam on the streets. He goes by “Shadow.”

Arthur Curry asks if his protege, Kaldur'ahm, can join the Titans. Aqualad is added to the lineup.

Pam’s sister, Sonja, tries to get in contact. Whole arc occurs of Pam struggling with her own transformation and the two of them reuniting.

Chimera (Ra'ut L'lwer) joins the Titans.

Yara’s arc where she’s manipulated by Eros & Hera happens here.

Jon becomes Superboy, and joins the Titans.

Damian joins the Titans.

Tolly’s past comes to light, throwing his relationships with everyone in the community into chaos. The team barely manages to pull themselves together in time to mount a defense and keep him from being punished for the crimes of a life that was not his. 

Tolly still feels the need to pull away from the Titans a little out of guilt over what he’s done (especially to Pam.)

Barry Allen dies, and Tolly becomes the Flash.

Yara is at this point over 20, and feeling out of place at the head of the team. She starts to pull back a bit, trying to figure out where her life is going next.

Cassandra Cain is adopted by Bruce Wayne. Duke is the only one who can train against her, as his precognition lets him just about keep up with her body-reading abilities. They bond, and he introduces her to the team.

Spoiler debuts in Gotham. Batman tells her to go home.

Damian decides to make Spoiler his apprentice.

Anima (Courtney Mason) joins the Titans.

Yara announces she’s officially stepping down as leader of the Titans. Duke steps up, announcing his own change of name to “The Signal,” and officially passing his mantle to his little sister, Cassandra.

Anima & Chimera manage to figure out how to free Pamela from her swarm. Duke’s first official mission as team leader is facilitating this.

Pam leaves the Titans for a normal life with her sister. Many tears are shed.

[I’m just double-checking my current lineup.]

The Signal (Duke Thomas)

Marksman (Connor Hawke)

Aqualad (Jackson Hyde/Kaldur’ahm)

Chimera (Ra'ut L'lwer) 

Superboy (Jonathan Kent/Jon-El)

Shadow (Damian Wayne)

Moonbeam (Cassandra Wayne)

Anima (Courtney Mason)

Steph’s mom goes to rehab. Bruce fosters Steph in the meantime, and this is how she discovers their identities.

Damage (Grant Emerson) joins the Titans as community service, after his powers manifest by going completely haywire.

(Yara decides going by “Wonder Girl” is undermining her attempts to be an independent adult hero. She changes her name to “Diadem.”)

Damian introduces Steph to the team. Spoiler becomes a Titan.

Chimera announces she’s going independent and leaves the team.

Just like in canon, Grant’s trauma catches up with him and he has to step down from hero work. Connor takes Grant under his wing formally and they both leave the team.

Emiko Queen takes Connor’s place on the team, going by the name “Red Arrow.”

Duke is too overwhelmed by being Gotham’s only daytime hero and running the team, as well as feeling guilty for not giving Grant more support. He goes independent, leaving the team.

Jon & Damian step up as co-leaders of the Titans.

Roundhouse (William Wu) & Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) join the Titans.

Anima is stranded in another dimension on a mission with the team, in a dramatic act of self-sacrifice to ensure everyone else can make it home. Everyone is very upset, but they comfort themselves knowing she’s still out there being a hero, just... somewhere else.

After a lot of introspection, Aqualad decides to dedicate himself full-time to his studies & duties in Atlantis, and steps down from the team.

[Double-checking the lineup]

Superboy (Jonathan Kent)

Shadow (Damian Wayne)

Moonbeam (Cassandra Wayne)

Spoiler (Stephanie Brown)

Red Arrow (Emiko Queen)

Roundhouse (William Wu)

Blue Beetle (Jamie Reyes)

Damian & Jon decide to go independant together, becoming Bluhaven’s new superheroes as Nightwing & Flamebird. Damian formally passes his mantle to Steph in private before they announce the change to the team.

Steph & Cass take over as co-leaders.

Steph meets Tim at school, and they become fast friends. After a couple months of being study buddies, they start dating.

Jon introduces his adoptive younger siblings, the Super-Twins, to the team.

Vaporlock (Natasha Irons) joins the team.

Atom (Ray Palmer) is de-aged. He temporarily joins the team until he can recover his memories.

Argent (Antonia Monetti), Static (Virgil Hawkins), & Power Girl (Tanya Spears) join the team.

Atom goes back to normal and leaves.

Cass takes on Tim as her apprentice after catching him following the Bats around Gotham. Steph is a bit thrown by this discovery, but training together only stengthens her & Tim’s relationship.

Until Cass decides Tim’s ready to follow them on patrol (if not fight anyone yet,) and gives Tim the Spoiler mantle without asking, assuming it’s just a placeholder name and not realizing it has any special meaning to Steph.

(This is the beginning of the end, though they don’t realize it yet.)

Steph feels betrayed by the theft of her old identity and it compounds with her initial uneasiness over Tim befriending/dating her without telling her he knew their identities. She tries to put it aside for the good of the city, but can’t.

The sudden rockiness between Steph & Cass bleeds over into the Titans. When the team meets Tim, it becomes clear something about his apprenticeship with Cass is what has lead to the rift, though none of the Bats will clarify.

Emiko introduces her own apprentice, Mia Dearden, the second Marksman.

Steph & Tim have a really nasty breakup.

Steph has the same death she suffered in War Games.

The entire Batfamily are left reeling.

Tim gets fired.

Cass struggles to go on as both Moonbeam & the leader of the Titans, when she’s supposed to be part of a matched set. She ends up quitting both, and the team completely falls apart.

Cass puts together a new costume, made originally from old Batman suits, and gains the street name “Black Bat.” (She didn’t choose it, it was given to her; Batman has the yellow belt & circle, where Cass’s suit has neither. So which Bat is attacking? “The black bat.”)

Tim gives the family until after Steph’s funeral before dropping by (to argue his case, but if that doesn’t work, to pick up his stuff.) He sees Steph’s memorial, and is furious that Bruce would reduce Steph’s legacy to that.

After weeks of arguing, Tim throws on his own version of the Shadow costume (back to Damian’s original black, but the cloak is lined with Steph’s signature purple) and eventually forces his way into the role, refusing to let Steph’s dream die with her.

Damian is incensed by the whole mess that’s happening with Tim. That’s his mantle Tim is taking, and Damian’s still wracked with guilt that Steph died, blaming himself for not training her thoroughly enough. Damian demands that before Tim ever goes out as Shadow, Tim has to go to Bludhaven every weekend to train with Damian. 

The training is absolutely brutal, but Tim refuses to give up. Eventually, Duke finds out about it and goes to ream Damian out for taking things so far (and Jon, for not having already given Damian this same lecture.) Duke essentially tells Damian that Damian’s no better than the people who originally hurt Damian and storms out.

Duke tells Tim he doesn’t have to go back the next weekend. Tim shows up anyway. Damian stares blankly for a few seconds, then takes a very confused Tim out for ice cream.

(Damian spends years trying to be better, to make up for what he’s done, but he never manages to get over that double-dose of guilt. He veers hard in the other direction, being incredibly supportive whenever they’re around eachother, but also avoids Tim whenever Damian can justify it to himself, because it just... eats at Damian.)

Tim also pulls the Titans back together. Or, more accurately, he pulls Vaporlock, Marksman, and Blue Beetle back together, before he ends up recruiting... well, basically the Young Justice lineup to be his new team.

Tim’s parents die. Tim tries the whole fake uncle thing, but Damian rats him out.

(Somewhere in there, Tim ends up on Ra’s al Ghul’s radar.)

Jason tries to steal the Batmobile’s tires.

Jason manages to convince the family to let him help. They offer him Moonbeam, but Jason doesn’t want to be Moonbeam. First of all, Jason can’t do any of that weird precog stuff Duke & Cass have going on; second, Jason’s personal hero was always the Shadow with the Crime Alley accent.

Tim gives Jason Spoiler instead (Tim himself thinking Spoiler is a training-wheel mantle, but more importantly, it was Steph’s.)

During a public event, Tim is shot by an assassin who took a contract from Ra’s. Laying in the hospital, Tim all but begs Bruce to go out on patrol and Jason to put on the Shadow costume, not wanting Tim’s injury to be the reason their identities got outed.

Tim’s spine was clipped by the bullet. While he’s not completely paralyzed, he’ll never be able to walk unassisted again, and even with mobility aids, Tim suffers from chronic pain thanks to the nerve damage.

(Tim finds a get well card from Ra’s, inviting Tim for a dip in the Lazarus pit whenever Tim’s ready to admit he “needs” it. Tim borrows Jason’s lighter and burns the note. Only Tim & Jason ever know about it.)

Tim becomes Oracle.

When Jason joins the Titans, it’s assumed he’ll be their new leader, as Shadow and/or Moonbeam have always been one of the leaders of the Titans. He also suffers a lot from the comparison to his predecessors, and with how people perceive the speed at which he took up Tim’s mantle.

Jason does win that place and prove himself as a leader, but it is a rough ride to get there.

[Jason’s Titans lineup]

Inherited from Tim:

Wonder Girl (Cassandra Sandsmark)

Impulse (Bart Allen)

Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz)

Joined while Jason was Spoiler:

Red Devil (Edward Bloomberg)

Ravager (Rose Wilson)

DC (Daniel Chase)

(Yes, Danny thinks hero names are stupid and only ever used one to fake his own death. But, frankly, Danny used his real name as his spy code name, which makes him mocking everyone else for having hero names just… so goddam insufferable. I’m cutting the middle ground here; it’s not a full-on alias, but it’s not just shouting his real name in a high-stakes/arguably undercover situation.)

Joined under Jason’s leadership:

Beast Boy (Garfield Logan)

Raven (Rachel Roth)

Cyborg (Victor Stone)

Halo (Gabrielle Doe)

Risk (Cody Driscoll)

Redwing (Carrie Levine)

Prester (Jonathan Levine)

(I found a pair of twins I both know & like better than Jade & Obsidian. Seriously, John & Carrie are the best part of the entire Team Titans fiasco, and given we do see some overlap between the timelines, I’ve no idea why they got wiped from reality but fucking Mirage didn’t.)

Steph comes back to life. 

Cue the Lost Days/Red Hood arcs.

Steph does try to scare Jason out of being a hero with the fight at the Tower. She shows up in her Death Mask costume and frames it as a fair duel--“More fair than any other rogue will give you.”--to prove that non-powered (non-ninja) kids like them can only meet a nasty end. The fight doesn’t stay “fair” long, as Steph fights dirty to make her point, and throws both her own history & Jason’s insecurities into his face. Jason adapts, but doesn’t win, eventually left reeling by the reveal of Steph’s identity.

The fight is interrupted by Eddie, who gets back early from an off-planet mission and therefore was not factored into Steph’s contingencies for the other Titans. Steph escapes by first holding Jason in front of her with a knife to his throat, then driving the knife into his thigh, forcing Eddie to choose between going after her and keeping Jason from bleeding out.

Red Devil stays behind to cauterize the wound, and Death Mask gets away.

.

After that, the chronology gets a lot more muddled.

Steph reunites with the family after saving Jason from the Joker.

Bruce takes in Dick after Dick’s parents die, but it’s a very rough transition. Then Bruce dies, leading to the family falling apart all over again, Jason getting the Red Robin (”Bluejay”) arc, Cass becoming Batman, and Dick becoming her Moonbeam.

When Bruce comes back, Bluejay joins the Signal as a daytime hero.

When Bruce can eventually no longer be Batman and Cass steps up again, she’ll offer Jason Black Bat if he wants it. He accepts, and everyone assumes Dick will be Bluejay when Dick graduates from being Moonbeam.

When Dick grows up, his final hero identity will be Robin.

[dangerousdan-dan]

UNO REVERSE!! Now I'm curious who 10 of your faves are! Also I hope you're having a great day as well :)

Hi, friend!! Thank you <3

I'll follow your example and make two lists as well xD they're in no particular order, and I'll add my random thoughts just because.

1. Selina Kyle (DC) - not to be dramatic, but I can't explain my love for her without writing a full essay. She consumes my every thought.

2. Cassandra Cain (DC) - MY GIRL!! SHE MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!!!! THE ONE WHO IS ALL!!!

3. Billie Lurk (Dishonored) - *chewing glass* the conflict between her loyalty and her ambition drives me insane

4. Sevika (Arcane) - THE ULTIMATE REBEL!!! plus, have you seen her????? I would let her destroy me.

5. Sophie Hatter (Howl's Moving Castle) - grumpy queen ✨✨✨

6. Arista Essendon (Riyria) - a chaotic magic gremlin, that's her

7. Éowyn (LOTR) - THE ICONIC SHIELDMAIDEN OF ROHAN!!!! I adore her.

8. Elena Fisher (Uncharted) - a badass reporter and adventurer. She and Lois Lane would get along like a house on fire

9. Ada Wong (Resident Evil) - now that I think about it, Selina and her have a lot in common... which could mean nothing...

10. Big Barda (DC) - she appears just ONCE in JLU, but that was enough for me to create an attachment to her when I was a kid, and it got worse when I started reading comics

1. Daud (Dishonored) - my beloved bastard, my favorite piece of shit

2. Damian Wayne (DC) - HE'S MY BOY, HE'S EVERYTHING TO ME. He loves his pets, he's trying his best, and I'll defend him till the day I die.

3. Hadrian Blackwater (Riyria) - he's a golden retriever of a man with a big-ass sword, why wouldn't I love him??

4. Bilbo Baggings (LOTR) - a brave little hobbit who misses his couch and his books more than anything in the world. He's just like me fr.

5. Viktor (Arcane) - I relate to him a little too much. Let's leave it at that.

6. Bruce Wayne (DC) - listen, I know this one's controversial, okay? But I can't lie and say he doesn't have a special place in my heart since I watched BTAS and JLU when I was a kid. I hate him, but I can't help but love him as well.

7. Hellboy (Hellboy) - what if the bringer of doom had a heart of gold??? What if the one destined to end the universe loved pancakes and wanted to do good instead???

8. John Constantine (Vertigo. I don't really care about DC's John) - he's a clever bastard and I want to put him in a labyrinth full of traps and offer him cheese

9. Leon S. Kennedy (Resident Evil) - I find his chronic survivor guilt very charming... also, I love his one-liners and his ability to say dorky jokes in the worst of situations.

10. Kurt Wagner (X-Men) - he teleports!!! he jokes, he's a natural show man, and he's the nicest guy around!!!!

*Bonus character!!! Asterion, aka the Minotaur. Yes, the mythological creature. You can blame Borges for this one.