#Bruce is a good dad but he did and has made mistakes

[ruestheday]

one of the biggest lies the fandom will tell you is that alfred pennyworth is a good man.

he’s horrible. people just don’t realize he’s horrible because they’re all too focus on the superheros.

not many people in the fandom know this, but alfred literally has a daughter. her name is julia. why does no one know about julia? BECAUSE HE ABANDONED HER. it’s canon that he chose the waynes over his OWN CHILD. when she’s introduced in the comics she hates her dad because he abandoned her in england to raise a child that wasn’t even his.

the infamous jason “a good soldier” memorial? yeah, alfred did that. bruce wanted it taken down. alfred also left jason’s destroyed robin suit on display.

alfred is the reason tim is robin. dick and bruce are trapped by two-face and alfred just… gives tim a robin costume and sends him on his way. no formal training. no anything.

ever blame dick for damian becoming robin? wrong. it was alfred. dick was against it. alfred is the first one to give damian the robin costume, like he did to tim years before. dick did eventually choose damian as his robin, but that was while damian was ALREADY ROBIN. (he even tells tim that he doesn’t pick tim to be his robin because he considers tim to be an equal, not a sidekick, but i digress)

when bane breaks bruce’s back, alfred literally packs up and leaves. he travels. he just drops everything and goes to explore the world, until dick eventually hunts him back down.

it’s also a common theme that alfred couldn’t find the right balance between being a father figure and a butler, so he was constantly enabling bruce growing up (and still does) because technically bruce was his boss… even though he had custody of him.

edit: actually technically (in some runs) bruce’s uncle has custody of him but literally makes being absent an olympic sport But you get what i mean

edit two: fixed the spelling mistakes that text to speech tiktok made me aware of. u guys are fake for not telling me. anyways fuck ai content farm accs

[bats-and-the-birds]

The Batkids on being mistaken as Bruce's biological children.

Look, the Batkids have all been forced into various social gatherings, and enough of them share vague features with Bruce that some of the older members among Gotham's old money, or the younger ones that are out of the loop, sometimes mix up the facts.

Dick gets it from the very beginning. Old women pinch his cheeks, still tan from a life outside of Gotham's gloom, and tell him, Such a sweet little boy, and just like your father at your age. His hair used to stick up just like yours. Dick didn't like it at all. He bit the first person that told him he had Bruce's eyes, and stomped on the foot of an old politician that told him, With your father's height, I thought you'd be taller by now.

He laughs it off as an adult, but sometimes, it still eats at him. People still tell him that they thought he'd eventually be as tall as Bruce, or that he should be thankful for his inherited jaw line. It's not the comparison to Bruce that bothers him anymore, or even being mistaken as his son, but rather, the fact that he sometimes struggles to remember exactly where his features actually came from; parental faces turning fuzzy in his distant memory.

Jason thinks it's funny, the first time it happens. Mostly because it's his nose of all things. Your nose is bent, grumbled the old man sitting across from him at the gala, Just like your father's. Tough luck on the genetics. The man didn't realize the bent noses were because they'd both been broken in the past. Jason spent days after studying Bruce's face, trying to figure out if their noses really bent in the same way, and eventually came to the conclusion that, yeah, they really did. From that point on, each time either of them broke their nose, Jason would distantly think, Ah, damn, there goes the family resemblance.

As an adult, Jason takes care to make sure people don't often seen his face. The hood does a pretty good job of that. Besides, he doesn't move in circles where the mistake could be made anymore. Still, sometimes he looks in the mirror at the bump in his nose and thinks, Family resemblance. Yeah, right.

It happens less with Tim. Anyone that made the mistake with Jason and Dick also remembered Jack and Janet Drake. It's not until he's almost an adult that a new hire at Wayne Industries, some kid from out of town, sees him and Bruce in the office together and remarks, Oh, you two furrow your eyebrows in the same way when you think. My mom says that my dad and I do that too. We inherited it from my grandpa. Tim feels unsettled all day and makes a conscious effort to not to furrow his eyebrows anymore.

There's no mistake to make with Damian. At least, not the same one that can be made with the others. He's the blood son, and he's a perfect mix between Bruce and Talia. Of course, there's the well-meaning, if confused, adults that assume he's adopted like the others. He corrects them, swiftly, and sometimes aggressively.

There is one incident. It happens while Bruce is gone, after he's been staying with Grayson for a few months. He knew, of course, that people thought that Grayson looked like Bruce. He could even see the similarities. Superficially, of course. However, he never considered that Grayson looking like his father also meant that Grayson looked like him. Not until an old woman leaned over to him at a gala and said, You look just like your father when Mister Wayne first brought him out to these things. The hair, that disgruntled little frown. He hated these parties too. Couldn't ever sit still. Gosh, I really can't believe it's been long enough that he has a child of his own. It took Damian a while to realize what happened, and even then, he couldn't bring himself to tell her that he wasn't actually Grayson's son, or that he and Grayson weren't actually that far apart in age. He felt strangely guilty the rest of the night, and he never dared to tell Grayson about it.

It happened to Steph exactly once. Really, she doesn't look like Bruce at all. It was a man with exceptionally thick glasses, who actually told her that she reminded him of Martha Wayne. She's pretty sure he was just trying to be nice. She tries to forget about it. She never tells Bruce.

You have his eyes, is what Duke gets. Which confuses him, because, uh, no, he doesn't. Not even close like Dick's. He says as much to the woman that said it to him, and she squints her eyes at him and responds, No, you definitely do. Not in the shape or the color, but you look at things the same way he does. Duke thinks about that sometimes, and he swings back and forth between being annoyed and weirdly proud that he apparently looked at the world like Batman did.

People tell Cass that she has his smile. She beams with pride at that. After all, she learned it from him. She studied, closely, the way his mouth ticked up at the corners, both while he stretched the dazzling, fake smile across his face for the public, and the genuine, gentle smiles that he gave her while he helped tie her hair back or slip on her mask, and now she could replicate them both perfectly. She didn't like the fake one, but she knew it was necessary.

[sanguineterrain]

Your writing is so damn good, you execute every request perfectly 😭

Could you maybe write something where Dick's insecure partner wants to break up with him because their self-image is getting worse cause they feel they can't catch up to the Golden Boy reputation, superheroes, billionaires and so on?

hi, thanks for the request! I hope I did it justice :) a brief interlude from jaytodd before we return to our regularly scheduled program lol

dick grayson x gn!reader. low self esteem, an almost breakup, reader feeling insecure, threatened, sad. happy ending! 2.1k words

****

You've been tugging at your outfit for ten minutes. At this rate, you'll have to concede that this is as good as it's going to get.

"My love, you almost ready?"

You sigh and watch your reflection fold its arms.

"Yeah," you say softly. "'M ready."

The door opens. Your heart swoops.

Dick is beautiful, as usual. Your boyfriend can do a lot, including fill a suit. Both your and his outfits were tailor-made because that's one of the perks of being the son of a billionaire.

Over and over, you'd insisted you could wear off-the-rack, and over and over, Dick had said that was silly, that Bruce wouldn't mind.

And it's true that what you're wearing flatters you better than anything from Macy's or Marshall's would've. But you know it won't help tonight. Not in a room full of Gotham's elite.

"Just as I suspected," Dick says, immediately draping his arms over your hips. "You're gonna steal the show tonight."

He's lying.

That voice in your head has gotten louder recently, and you don't know how to turn it off.

You kiss him instead of responding. Dick enthusiastically reciprocates, always delighted when you touch him. You used to think it would be enough.

But ever since you found out that not only are you dating a billionaire philanthropist with a face that makes angels weep, but that said guy is also arguably the most beloved hero in Gotham, maybe second only to the Batman (who's his freaking dad?!), you've begun to have doubts.

You pull back. Dick's tie perfectly sets off his eyes. They're bright as they look at you.

"Everything okay?" he asks, brushing your cheek with his thumb.

"Uh-huh," you say, trying to smile. "Just nervous."

“Hey, it's alright. I'll be by your side all night. I'll save you from any and all small talk, promise." He winks. "And we can duck out early, get hot chocolate from that place you like. They won't care."

Dick's always doing that. Always catering to you. You're just some nobody who happened to stumble into the best relationship you’ve ever had with a golden god.

Dick never reminds you of that. That he could do better. He doesn't have to—you know it all on your own.

You swallow. “Okay. If you're sure. I... I would like to leave early, Gray."

“‘Course, baby,” Dick says, attaching his cuff links. "Anything you want."

You turn back to the mirror, wondering if you can reinvent your personality before you go and remind everyone what a mistake Dick Grayson has made in choosing you. 

****

The party is tasteful, though a little stuffy. You're only here because Dick is going to give a speech, and he asked you to come support him. And while you know it's better for him to go without you so you won't dull his shine, it seems Dick hasn't quite figured that out.  

You hold onto Dick’s arm as he makes his usual rounds. Dick doesn't enjoy these events, you know that, but he's fluid in his interactions. There is no doubt he’s Bruce Wayne’s prodigy. With his suit, his hair, his easy posture, Dick is almost unrecognizable from when you woke up with him this morning. 

He's in his element. All you can do is peer in and watch. 

Dick leans in and slips a hand around your waist after the fourth interaction with a donor. A donor who, again, acted like Dick may as well have been dragging around a coat rack with how intently they ignored you. Not that you give a shit about what the one percent have to say about you, except sometimes they say a lot of mean things, things you're pretty sure they don't let Dick overhear, and sometimes you start wondering if Dick is the only person who can't see truth in what they say, and sometimes—

“Hey.” Dick leans in to talk in your ear. He's warm and solid. You wish that was a comfort. “You okay?”

You're exhausted. 

“Uh-hmm.”

He is going to wake up one of these days and realize he can have it so much better. 

Dick moves like he's about to say more, pull you closer and permeate your senses with his gold.

“Dickie!” 

Sweet, tinkling laughter echoes across the room. The crowd parts for this new woman, an obvious socialite, dressed to the nines and gorgeous. 

Her dress matches Dick's tie. You feel sick.

When she reaches you two, she wastes no time grabbing Dick and kissing his cheek. He extricates himself from her, like he's done a million times before with everyone else who thinks they're entitled to a piece of Dick Grayson. He shoots you an apologetic look. You look away.

“My God, it’s been what, ten years?” she says. Then she sees you. “Oh! Where are my manners? I’m Caroline Banesbury, Duchess of Middlesworth. I heard the Dickie Grayson was going to be here, and I had to come.”

“Been a while,” Dick says, smiling blandly. “How are you, Caroline?”

“Spectacular! Father just bought another castle. You should come and see it sometime.” She plucks a flute of champagne off of a passing tray and smiles behind the rim of the glass. 

“Dick and I go way back,” she says, gaze roving over him. “I hear you're transforming Blüdhaven. Taking a page out of Bruce's book, hm? You always had a big heart, Dickie.” 

She grabs his arm and links it with hers. You sigh and take a sip of your own drink. You half-wish Poison Ivy would come in and gas the room or something.

Dick clears his throat and maneuvers out of her grip once more, letting go of her with a light pat. He returns to you, snugly holding your shoulders.

"This is my partner," he says about you.

Caroline hums, looking over you. "I see. Pleasure."

You nod. She turns back to Dick.

“If I can be of any help to your project, you let me know,” she adds, glancing down at where her empty arm now hangs at her side. “Anything.” 

“That's generous of you, Carrie.” 

Dick and I go way back.

Oh. Right. You're stupid. They've dated. 

“We should have dinner,” she continues. “Catch up. I'm dying to know what Gotham's darling has been up to.”

“I feel sick,” you announce. 

Dick and Caroline turn to you. Caroline looks perplexed, like you've just said you like to chew concrete. 

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that,” she says, hardly sparing you a glance. "Perhaps you ought to lie down."

You feel Dick's eyes on you. If you don't leave soon, he'll know you're lying. Possibly the worst part about dating Batman's protégé.

Suddenly, leaving this hall is the most important thing you've ever had to do. You feel like you'll die if you don't.

Your feet start moving.

"Baby—"

Anyway, this is Caroline's chance. She can swoop in with her trust fund and while you think Dick can do way better than her—he can always do better—anyone is better than you. For Dick Grayson, who has been a master acrobat since he was a child, son of Batman, leader of the Titans, indubitably intelligent, capable, beautiful, the best goddamn guy you'll ever know—

You've lost your way. You're out of the gala, away from duchesses and doom. And you meant to get your coat but this hall that Bruce rented is enormous. You've no idea where you are. But you're alone.

Bruce must've known too, how unfit you are for his son. And why wouldn't he tell Dick? Unless Dick ignored him, because Dick, for all his smarts, is stupidly in love with you, thinks you're where he should put his heart, is certain you won't fumble and drop it.

Warm, callused fingers catch your wrist and you remember, suddenly, Dick telling you once, after you'd nearly stumbled into the street, that he'd never let you fall.

You meet his eyes. Why does he look at you like that? Who gave him the right to look at you like-like you—as if you could ever deserve—

"Hey," he says, squeezes your hand. "Hey, hey. What's going on?"

Dick Grayson is not a trusting man but he trusts you and good God, you're about to break him.

"I need to break up with you," you blurt.

"What?" he breathes. "What—why would you say that?"

You wish he'd give you the slip he gave everyone in that room, gently separate your arm from his hand. You never learned how to evade Dick's touch.

"Because it's true. Dick, please understand—"

"No, I'm trying to understand. Because yesterday—no, tonight, you were fine—"

"No, Dick, I wasn't fine! I haven't been fine in months!"

You wrench your arm away. He looks like you slapped him.

"You know anybody I talk to in there means nothing, right? You know that, honey." He's pleading.

You curl your fist into your eye. "It's more than that, Gray."

"Then tell me what the problem is," he says desperately. "Tell me and we'll fix it. I promise we can fix it."

"You can't!" you say, voice cracking. "You can't fix me."

Dick shakes his head. "I don't—"

"Why can't you let me break up with you with a little bit of dignity?" you ask. "Do you have to be better at this too?"

"I don't want to break up," he says, tugging at a handful of his hair. "This doesn't make sense. We're happy. You're happy, aren't you? Don't I make you happy?"

"Of course," you choke out. "Of course you make me happy. But you don't see I'm bad for you. You're wonderful and perfect and golden, Dick. And I'm a stain. I need to be scrubbed away."

"Wh—that's not true!"

"Everywhere we go, people see me with you and are immediately confused. I'm not a superhero, I'm not royalty, I'm not a socialite, and yet somehow I've managed to snag Gotham's darling. This is a mistake. I'm trying to do you a favor and wake you up!"

Dick's face is hard with anger. How could you have thought this would be easy?

"I don't need to be woken up! What is it that makes you think I have no agency over the people I choose to spend time with? Everyone I meet thinks they're entitled to touch me, demand me. Everyone but you. You, the person I chose to love, who I love everyday. Do you think you pulled the wool over my eyes and you're snapping me out of it? Is that what you really think?"

And isn't this the most puzzling thing? That he's not sad or gently accepting; Dick is mad.

"I just—" He runs a hand through his hair. "I don't mean to yell, but really, I can't bear it if you see me as some god on a pedestal, unattainable and inhuman, like everyone else sees me. I love you on purpose."

"You're so accomplished, though," you say weakly. "You're..." You wave your hand over him. "You're fucking Nightwing, D. You were Robin, you have superheroes for friends, Batman for a parent, you're beloved by, like, all of Jersey—"

"My love, you know those are just parts of me. You see all of me. You know me. And that's not a one-way privilege, okay? I'm so damn lucky to know you, to love you, to be with you, to fight with you. To fight for you. Knowing you isn't something I take for granted."

"But I'm boring," you say, tears spilling over. "Jesus Christ, Dick, I'm plain and untalented, barely a dime to my name, so painfully ordinary that—"

"Listen to me," he says, taking your face in his hands. "Flying around or shooting lasers out of your eyes, sure, it's cool, and it's helpful for taking down an alien dictator. But I don't need you to do any of that, honey. I don't need nor want you to be anyone but you. I wasn't tricked or swindled into loving you. We caught each other halfway, just like we were meant to."

You let him pull you into his arms, let him press your tear stains to his silk pocket square, let his hair fall around you.

His embrace is solid, firm, but when he inhales, his shoulders shake.

"Do you—" He swallows, throat against yours. "Do you still want to break up?"

His heart beats against your cheek.

"I'm just afraid you'll get tired of me," you whisper. "Bored. Annoyed."

"I won't," he whispers. "You're the least boring person ever. It's never boring to be loved."

You squeeze your eyes shut. Dick's warmth encloses you.

"No, I don't want to break up. I'm sorry."

He holds you tighter, and you realize you never had to match Dick's tie. Not when you've got his heart.

[incorrectbatfam]

Yoooo Gooners play videogames with batfam?

Can we get more of that?

[online Poker]

Bruce: I fold. Again.

Kate: Great, so we're both down. Guess it's just up to you, Selina.

Selina, taking a deep breath: Alright, we have two thousand dollars on the line. Be quiet so I can focus. I think I have a pretty good hand.

~ meanwhile ~

Rob: So Poker is just professional lying?

Gene: There is a certain bluffing element to it, yes. But it's more than—

Rob: I'm going all in. Take that, @kittycentral, whoever the hell you are.

———————

[livestreaming]

Dick: Welcome to our first citywide Mario Kart tournament. In just a little bit, we're gonna tweet a code for you all to join online.

Jason: I swear, if we get Rainbow Road—

Dick: Well now you've jinxed it.

~ meanwhile ~

Blaise, stoned out of his mind: Yooo that dude looks like Nightwing.

———————

[battle royale]

Cass: Stashed weapons. Need shelter.

Cass: *finds an empty shelter*

Cass: Mine now.

~ meanwhile ~

Kellin: Now that I've built a shelter, I need to arm myself.

Kellin: *finds a weapons stash*

Kellin: That works.

———————

[online trivia]

Host: Question ten: Where was salmon sushi invented?

Steph, typing: Japan.

Steph: This is too easy.

~ meanwhile ~

Molly: Seems like a trick question.

Molly, typing: USA.

Host: Incorrect! The correct answer is: Norway.

———————

[online chess]

Alfred: My opponent has left his queen wide open. Rookie mistake? Maybe. Or, perhaps, he is two steps ahead of me.

~ meanwhile ~

Otto: I'm naming these horses Bread and Bagel.

———————

[Minecraft]

Tim: Where'd these tracks come from?

Bruce, gently knocking: Son, it's getting late. You should head to bed.

Tim: Five more minutes, I promise.

~ meanwhile ~

Milo: *building tracks*

Rob, barging in: Alright, pipsqueak. Lights out.

Milo: The fuck are you, my dad? Loser.

———————

Barbara: Finally, my inventory expansion mod is complete. Figures I have to do the developer's job.

~ meanwhile ~

Mac: Guess who made a cheat code to steal from other people's inventory? It's the alpha version, but it should work well enough. It's not like I'm playing against Oracle or anything.

———————

[Discord voice call]

Duke: It's our turn to write the next campaign.

Booker: Seems like a problem for tomorrow.

Duke: Yeah. So anyway, what's your day job?

Booker: I go to Gotham U and I'm in a criminal internship program.

Duke: I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that.

———————

[Animal Crossing]

Damian: Who just called my island stupid? When I find the middle-aged, basement-dwelling, mouth-breathing, Reddit-moderating—

~ meanwhile ~

Jackie: Gunner, did you call my Animal Crossing friend stupid?

Gunner: Who cares? Dad says it's probably an old man still living with his mommy.

[seekingxanadu]

On the issue of Alfred being a bad dad to Bruce, of Alfred enabling Bruce's bad behaviors:

I think the problem is modern Batman writers made the mistake of making Alfred a father figure to Bruce. An elderly employee can call his much younger perhaps-about-to-die employer "son" but that doesn't make them father and son. So when they get cute with the "aw Alfred is Bruce's papa" narrative, they end up making Alfred's character worse. Alfred's most consistent take has been that he is an employee and it is most visible with or around his interactions with Dick. Alfred seems to think of Dick as Bruce's employee. Again, it is a mentality from the 30s-40s when it was very natural for rich men to collect strays - I'll give you room and board, you will earn your keep by working in my land/business; to Alfred, Dick becoming Robin was to support Bruce's Batman in the field.

But modern Batman writers have woobified Bruce. He's not just the 35-40 year old wealthy businessman, scion of an old wealthy family, who has collected vulnerable youngsters around him and offered them a safe place. In the 30s and 40s, a 35-40 year old man was expected to be mature and a familyman. In the 90s and after, a 35-40 year old wealthy man isn't expected to be that anymore. Then again, it was the period that started to de-age Bruce. Because Dick, his first ward, was already an adult now.

So DC needed to make Batman younger and at least, deflect the idea of Bruce being a parental figure to a 20 year old man. So we started getting Alfred being Papa to Bruce, of Bruce and Alfred forming a family unit blurring lines of parent and employee. BUT Bruce was also the vanity projection of these Batman writers - they don't listen to their papas, so why would Bruce. Bruce was not Alfred's son, Alfred should know his place as employee. So we get Alfred written as just loyal employee who looks at Batman's allies as people serving Bruce. If Jason gets "a good soldier" plaque, Tim and Damian got Robin suits to just go backup Master Bruce already. And Dick?

Dick is a curious case with Alfred. Alfred clearly cares for Dick like a son. There is more familial closeness between Dick and Alfred than between Jason, Tim, and Alfred. Alfred has known Dick since he came to the manor as an 8 year old. It's a boy Alfred can claim to have raised- or at least, fed, cleaned, housed, medicated. Alfred knows Dick has Master Bruce's back in the field. In this regard, Dick is Alfred's extension. Alfred serves Master Bruce in his civilian life, Dick serves Master Bruce in the field. To be clear, I am assuming Alfred's thought process. Not Bruce's or Dick's. Sometimes, it feels like Alfred considers Dick another Wayne servant, equal to Alfred's rank.

All this rambling to say, I think Alfred is used as excuse to limit any blame that Bruce deserves for his bad decisions.

Just like some writers and stans make Dick apologise for Bruce's violence against him; we are now using Alfred as smokescreen to excuse Bruce's actions.

I am, by no stretch, saying Alfred is blameless. But Alfred is an employee, an old man probably very possessive of the Wayne scion who had only Alfred along during his growing years, and he is standoffish as any butler.

This is also why the idea of Bat "family" is so flawed. They are not a family. They are a clan of allies. They are a disparate set of individuals operating under the Wayne umbrella. Alfred is not Bruce's papa. Dick and Jason are not brothers. Their time in Wayne manor did not even overlap. Same with Damian and Jason, Damian and Tim. Damian and Dick mirror Dick and Bruce of 20 years ago and those two dynamics are that of a familial unit (though Bruce breaks the tie with Dick multiple times).

[yall-batman-fanfic]

The Riddler’s Mistake: The Wrong Kid for Ransom | Bruce Wayne/Batman x OC!Magician

Synopsis: Straight out of Arkham, Riddler is in need of a little cash to get back to his feet, and what better way to do that fast than a crime? But when he joined this small and ambitious – and idiotic – crime group, he realized they were the stupidest criminals in the world.

It was done. They were now in international waters with the biggest payday in their lives. Riddler wouldn’t admit this but at first he thought these idiots were really idiots but they had a sound plan. Kidnap one of Gotham’s elite kids for ransom then bring that kid to international waters before Batman can get them. Not only is the GCPD out of jurisdiction but it would take Batman time to figure out where they were, especially when Riddler set out a little “treasure hunt” for the vigilante to go around Gotham to look for the missing kid. 

“I can’t believe this, it worked!” One of the men – who Riddler calls Bozzo 1 – pumped his fist in the air.

“This is it — we’re gonna be fucking rich with this one!” Said Bozzo 2.

“Yeah, yeah, but remember,” Riddler got out of the speedboat’s helm to see their captive. They never really told him who it was, he just went with the whole idea for the cash. “I get fifty percent since those are my riddles we used, my resources, and this is my boat.” 

The boat he stole from the harbor.

“Whoah! We agreed to split it twenty-five each!” said Bozzo 3.

“Well, that was before you made me do all those riddles.”

They got out their guns and pointed at him.

Riddler raised his brow and then raised his hand to show a clicker. “You don’t want to do that.”

A bomb. He knew they would go against it so he planted something on their little getaway boat. Or he made them think he did. These criminals weren’t even the real deal, they’re just washed up employees who got tired of doing the same shit everyday. They left their work, their families in hopes of getting easy cash so they can go to the Bahamas or something. They weren’t real villains. They weren’t real criminals. They weren’t even close to the levels of Penguin, that sly crook! And They were way way out of his league too. The only reason why the Riddler even took this job was because he knew it was just going to be an easy steal to get all the money from them once they got it from the rich family they kidnapped the kid from. 

Who is this kid anyway? And why are they so quiet?

“Fine,” Bozo 1 muttered, putting down his gun. “We’d still have enough to get out of here.”

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Riddler tossed the clicker and caught it, almost giving the three a heart attack. “Now, who is this we got here – oh no…”

Pulling down the sack, Riddler was met by the sight of a little girl around the ages of seven or eight. She had long black hair and deep brown eyes, and a face that every Gothamite knew ever since her parents finally allowed the press to take pictures of her. 

Valerie Willow Pryor-Wayne.

Gotham’s Princess.

The only daughter of Bruce Wayne and Vivian Pryor-Wayne.

The daughter of Batman and that witch!

Unable to believe what he saw, Riddler pulled up the sack on her head again, hoping it was just the all-nighters messing with him, and pulled it back down.

Yup, that is Valerie Pryor-Wayne right there. And she did not look happy.

“Mr. Riddler,” Valerie greeted him with a passive tone.

“Hi there, Princess, give me one minute,” said Riddler.

“You have three before my Mom and Dad finds out where I am.”

“Do you have a  —”

“She’s lyin’! We threw that tracking bracelet in the sewers,” said Bozzo 2. “Wayne’s fucking psychotic to put that on his daughter.”

“And he has a  good reason to!” Riddler snapped. The raising of his voice made Valerie flinch. If this kid cries, they were dead.

Valerie pouted, glaring at him. “My Dad’s going to kick your asses, that is before my Mom does.”

“What she gon’ do? Hit me with a book?” Laughed Bozzo 2.

“My Mom’s going to send you to Hell.”

Riddler gulped at that one. He’s seen Hell and that was thanks to Vivian Pryor who threatened to put him in an eternal waking – a dream within a dream, never to be escaped – in the shape of Hell if he ever told anyone about Batman’s identity, and he does not want that.

“That’s it! We’re taking her back,” Riddler was about to lift the kid off the ground but he was met by the Bozzos’ guns.

“You chickening out, Riddler?’ said Bozzo 3.

“No, I’m doing you three a favor. You do not want to mess with the Waynes,” Riddler faced them, hiding Valerie behind him. 

“He’s chickening out!” Bozzo 2 laughed. “You can leave, but she stays.”

They were adamant in getting their money, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it but Riddler couldn’t face these three. He wasn’t a fighter, he was a criminal who does cyber-crimes, that’s why he has henchmen to do the punching! He can swim back to shore but he doubt Valerie would survive the cold. 

No, they won’t hurt her, they just want the money, he thought. 

Better save his ass first before he gets the crowbar in this one.

“Your parents are gonna get you kid, so hold on tight,” Riddler said and jumped off the boat, swimming back to shore.

“I know!” Valerie called out. “I’ll make sure too tell them about this too!”

“Send a good word to your Mom for me!” 

~*~

Vivian was livid. It was the first time Dick or any of them saw her this angry and upset. It happened in the middle of the day, the kidnapping. Valerie and her classmates were on a school trip to the children’s museum when a car suddenly stopped and nabbed her before anyone could register what was happening. 

When the Waynes were informed of the incident, Vivian and Bruce were beyond reason. Furious was not the word to describe what the two had on their faces and the way they said that they will look for their daughter and get her back one way or another. While the GCPD were confused on what the Waynes would do and went on with their own process of looking for Valerie Wayne, the Batfamily were on the move. 

After getting the call, the entire support system of Batman appeared at the Cave and were met by the sight of security cameras searching for Valerie and the men who nabbed her, and Vivian using her magic to look for her daughter. She had to go to the bottom of the cave as the glow of her magic intensified with her anger. 

The first lead they got was with the tracker that Bruce placed on Valerie, they followed its location to the servers  where they faced Killer Croc, and found no one. Just the discarded tracker.

Vivian cried in relief when it wasn’t her Valerie found in the sewers. After years in Gotham, she knew that when a body is found in a sewer that person is no longer alive. 

So, back to the drawing board they go where Batman saw a couple of Riddlers plastered on the city for him to solve.

“It can’t be the Riddler, right?” said Dick. “He’s too smart to even think about messing with Val.”

“I agree,” said Bruce. “But I’m not  ruling anything out. Red Hood, anything to report?”

Jason, who was going around the underworld of Gotham, replied, “Nothing. They haven’t seen anyone. Not even the Maronis nor the Falcones know.”

“Falcone won’t touch her,” said Bruce. “He respects the family too much with what my father did for him back then. Keep looking.”

“I know, I know.”

“Father,” Damian spoke in their comms. “More Riddles in Chinatown. And they’re getting sloppy.”

“Not like Riddler at all,” Dick mused. “An intruder?”

He and Bruce paused in their research when the Bat Computer showed an alert of someone getting in the Cave from the docks. Before any of them could go to it, Vivian appeared, no longer glowing bright nor in her Phoenix form, with someone floating beside her and was getting salt water all over the floor.

“Eddie,” Vivian greeted the Riddler who floated beside her.

“Hey, Professor!” Riddler greeted. “Looking good! Just so you know, your light was seen from outside the cave. It could attract unwanted guests, such as moi.”

Vivian dropped him to the ground, not in the mood for his games. 

“What is this, Nygma?!” Batman bellowed.

“Hold on, hold on! Before you throw your ten-ton fist at my face!” Riddler held his hands up. “I know where your daughter is!”

“So, it was you,” Nightwing glared at him.

“I DIDN’T KNOW THEY WERE GOING TO TAKE HER!” Riddler exclaimed. “Come, I would never touch a hair on that little Princess!”

“What is this game?” 

“I needed some fast cash to get on my feet,” Nygma began.

“You mean to establish yourself again after escaping Arkham,” Batman corrected him.

“And I ran into these idiots who have no criminal background but for petty theft, and a plan that came straight out of the movies. I only joined them because I knew I can easily get all of it once the job is done.”

“You just needed someone to do the heavy lifting,” said Nightwing.

“Exactly!” Riddler snapped his finger at him. “They never told who it was they were taking! They just wanted a good pay day and I didn’t care who! I swear! I only found out once we were in international waters and I opened the sack —”

“They put my little girl in a sack?!” Vivian exclaimed, her eyes glowing gold in fury.

“Again, not my plan. I jumped the moment I realized who it was they kidnapped, okay?”

“Why didn’t you bring her with you?!” Dick grabbed Nygma by his shirt.

“Because I had no chance in beating those meat-heads, and I doubt your kid can swim!”

“We gave her lessons,” said Batman.

“Well, good for her! But I doubt she’ll survive hypothermia! I barely did!”

“So, you jumped the boat and came here to straighten things out with us that you had nothing to do with,” Dick concluded.

“YES! Exactly! Now, if you please, let me go and I promise I’ll let you g on your merry way to get back the little Princess.”

“Where is she, Nygma?!” Vivian grabbed him by his shirt.

“A couple of clicks away from Gotham waters,” answered Riddler.

“You’re coming with us,” Batman declared. “Robin, we found her,,” he spoke in his comms. “Inform Commissioner Gordon to meet us at Miagani Island harbor.”

“Understood, Father,” Robin replied.

Grabbing Nygma and cuffing him using the Bat-cuffs, Batman led the man and the rest of his family to the Bat-Jet which he piloted to the direction that Nygma told him. 

And Valerie was right, it didn’t take her family until morning to find her.

~*~

“Shit! The Bat’s here!” Bozzo 2 exclaimed.

“The Riddler must have ratted us out!” Bozzo 1 started firing his gun at the jet, but to no avail. Nightwing was the first to go down, jumping on the criminals without breaking a sweat, followed by Batman who held nothing back in knocking them down, even if it meant concussing them with his punches and slamming them to the boat. 

“Val’s not here,” said Nightwing.

Batman grabbed one of the men. “WHERE IS SHE?!” He exclaimed.

With the best he could, Bozzo 2 said, “There,” and pointed at the door of the double deck speedboat. 

Releasing him, Batman and Nightwing kicked down the door and were met by a man holding an AK-47. They ducked before they got shot by his firing. 

“Viv,” Batman called for her.

Without hesitation, Vivian put Riddler to sleep and jumped out of the autopilot jet and used her magic to stop the bullets firing at their direction and then twisted the gun that exploded in his hand. 

“Val!” Vivian ran inside and was met by a horrific sight.

“Mommy,” Valerie sobbed and tried to stay calm as she wore a bomb vest. This time, it was a bluff. Riddler said he scared those three to think he used the C4 to rig the boat but they found out and used it on the girl instead to send a message to the GCPD, probably, based on the lights and the video camera that was set up.

Cutting the broadcast, Batman ran to his daughter’s side and tried to calm her cries.

“It’s okay, sweety,” he wiped her tears and pulled down his cowl. 

“Dad, I wanna go home,” Valerie sniffled.

“We will, but stay still,” Batman said and tried to figure out what the trigger was in this vest. 

“Batman, this is bad,” Nightwing pointed to the direction of the guy knocked out on the ground after the shock of pain finally came through. The man had the trigger taped to his hand and his finger taped to the button that was pushed. “What sick fuck are then?” 

“Dick!” Valerie sobbed.

“Sorry, kiddo, we’ll get you out of here. We’ve disarmed many bombs before.”

As Batman and Nightwing dealt with removing the bomb, as carefully as they could from Valerie, Vivian kept by her daughter’s side and tried to calm her down by holding her hand. When they saw the clasp of the belt, they carefully guided Valerie to remove the vest. Once removed, the girl threw herself to her mother while Batman and Nightwing disposed of the thing by throwing it in the ocean, then releasing the trigger so it would finally be over.

Batman covered his wife and daughter from the salt water that rained down after the explosion, and held them tight.

“Were you scared?” Batman asked Valerie.

Valerie shook her head. “I wasn’t, but then they put the bomb on me…”

“I know, sweety,” Vivian kissed her cheek. 

“Can I sleep in your room tonight?”’

“You can, and I’m not letting you go all night.”

“GCPD’s on their way,” said Nightwing, “But this is international waters, Batman.”

“We’ll bring this back to their jurisdiction. Tell Gordon we have what they’re looking for,” said Batman.

~*~

They were met by the GCPD halfway to Gotham, where the police can operate. Batman handed Vivian and Valerie to Gordon, and when asked how Vivian was there, Nightwing only said: “She asked us for help with the search, and demanded to come along.” That was enough for Gordon to let it slide and take the mother and daughter under his wing and be driven back to the GCPD.

For the three kidnappers, they were taken into custody of the GCPD, but before they were brought to the precinct, they were taken to the hospital.

“Didn’t hold back on that one, Bats?” Bullock commented when he saw the broken faces of the men.

Batman didn’t reply.

For the Riddler, they had him shipped back to Arkham, which Batman oversaw personally.

~*~

“You help them find their kid and this is how they repay you,” Riddler muttered as he laid in his bed with Killer Croc as his new cellmate. 

“What are you talking about now?” Croc sighed.

“Nothing!” Riddler exclaimed.

“Nygma!” Officer Debronsky opened his cell. “You got a visitor!”

A visitor for him? Riddler thought. Curious, he got out of bed and followed the protocol with the cuffs and the patting, and the escort to booth where his visitors were. Upon sitting down, he was met by the last people expected to see. 

Vivian and Valerie Wayne sitting on the metal seat, holding the telephone, while Bruce Wayne standing behind them as a guard.

“What a surprise,” Riddler began. 

“I told them what you told me to say,” said Valerie.

“Really?” He smirked. “Am I getting out early then?”

“No,” Bruce and Vivian answered.

“I tried,” Valerie shrugged. 

“Ah, well, adults always ruin the fun.”

“Eddie,” Vivian began. “I want to thank you for helping us find Val.”

“Well, I’ll take that. You don’t always get a thank you from the Waynes!” Riddler laughed.

“Also,” Vivian gestured to the officer beside him. “Val got you something as a thank you.”

The officer placed a paper bag before him. Reaching in, he was met by a book of riddles and some chocolate for him to enjoy.

“I hope you liked it, Mr. Riddler,” Valerie said.

“I doubt they’re any good but I’ll try to enjoy it.”

Valerie smiled. “Bye, Mr. Riddler! Don’t escape Arkham this time!”

The family said their goodbye and left. As Riddler was escorted back to his cell, he tossed aside the chocolate on his bed and opened the book to see the first riddle. 

Oh, that sly kid. 

She left a bunny paperclip between the pages.

[frogaroundandfindout]

Dick catches the tail end of Tim’s fight with boomerang and praises him for doing the right thing despite their past.

Bruce was there the whole time and tells Tim that he made one good choice after a whole list of wrong ones. Tim says this is just who he is now because of what his dad did and what Bruce taught him—by example or mistake. Bruce says that Tim saved boomerang today but asks what he’ll do tomorrow. Tim has no answer and Bruce leaves (Red Robin #26)

[doraambrose]

I see this alot in fanon and I think jason Todd's parents are completely misunderstood.

Disclaimer: I am not a victim of parents with drug abuse nor have a I ever done drugs. I sympathize and emphasize with people who struggle with drug abuse as there are many reasons to get into it and it's very hard on your body to get clean, I will link help organizations below. This does mean that I can be a little ignorant to the struggles so if I say anything offensive or wrong, please call me out and educate me so I don't make the same mistake

Jason's family has been retconned so many times, it's hard to keep it straight. But this is my headcannon based on what I've seen:

1. I feel like a lot of people write Willis Todd to be this awful abusive scumbag who hated his kid and his wife. If you are talking about young justice or arkhamverse, this canonically true, but I think that's far from the truth in the main universe, prime or whatever it's called. In batman 411, jason is clearly distraught by Willis' death and does try to avenge him by lashing out at Two face. We also can't forget about the incident with the penguin that led to the worst Bruce and jason characterization before gotham war. And that's because of one rhato issue where jason finally reads willis' letters (a truly heartbreaking issue: rhato rebirth 23)

I believe that Willis wasn't a bad dad. Not a good dad, but not an awful abusive one. I 100% believe he has never abused his family in this universe. And you know what, he wasn't a great person. He was a drug dealer and then a henchmen. But he CARED. He cared about his family. He tried so hard to provide for Catherine and Jason for their medical bills, food, shelter. He just had a poor upbringing and some real shit luck, trying to survive in poverty in Gotham city.

2. Catherine has been written in fanon to be a perfect caring mother who was nothing but a victim. I believe that she wasn't as good of a mother and a person as people make her out to be. And we haven't seen everything, but I believe this because she seems selfish. She seems to put herself and her drug addiction before her family, doesn't seem to even try to get clean or take care of jason or provide. Look at these panels:

She neglected Jason. He had to go out and put his life on the line day after day when it should've been the other way around. Jason was a kid. And don't get me wrong, she probably loved jason and had good intentions, no, she definitely loved him, or else jason wouldn't canonically think as highly of her and take care of her the way he did, but she wasn't perfect and I don't think she was as good of a mother as she's made out to be.

3. Canonically, jason seems to really care for Catherine, but not Willis. I have a theory about that. For why he thinks so highly of catherine: I've never had a parent who suffered from drug abuse, but I do have a parent who suffered from a lot of mental health issues like depression, diagnosed, and I feel like bpd, though it was never diagnosed. When things were bad, they were BAD. I witnessed a lot. But when things were good, things were REALLY GOOD. I feel like when Catherine would come off the drug haze, things were like that. She probably took care of him during those times and was loving and all that. Catherine is the one parent figure Jason has to hold onto (because of all the shit with Bruce, Sheila, etc.). He forcibly removes the bad shit she's done and hangs onto the good things she's done because she really did care about him and in life, it seems harder to hate your mom than your dad (from what i have heard when i did research on this from friends). I've done that for years, and idk if I'm explaining it right, but I think that's the best way I can. For why he doesn't love willis: I think up until he read the notes, he didn't have the full picture. From his perspective, willis leaves to do crime and then eventually gets caught and left forever. I think he blamed willis for making jason become "the man of the house" and have all this extra responsibility. Willis also strikes me as the type of parent who has trouble expressing feelings, so jason probably rarely, if ever, heard "I love you" from his dad. Willis also strikes me as the person who would believe that he needs to make his son stronger in order to survive, and there are a lot of parents like that, especially parents from a low income household or a history of poverty.

In conclusion, both parents were FAR from perfect parents, but they're not as evil or as innocent as people write them in fanon. They're just...people. fanon likes to write comic people as black or white, innocent or abusive, but in reality, It's a gray area. Willis had his flaws, I hc him as one of those old fashioned kind of dads who wants his son to be tough and strong and isn't good with sharing his feelings, but does truly care about his family and NEVER was abusive. Catherine was a mother who definitely cared about her family, but wasn't an innocent victim and had her own flaws.

Anyway, thank you for coming to my Ted talk

[phoenixyfriend]

[squints at the MCU] Tony Stark has displayed more ability to weather interrogation and torture than Steve Rogers.

This is "(displayed more)(ability)," not "(displayed)(more ability)," to be clear.

(I know fiction’s depiction of torture is famously propagandafied, but in this case, it’s not about torture for information so much as physical traumas shown on screen.)

(Anyway, have a rant I did on discord the other day.)

It's not really so much about "resisted the urge to hand over information" as "survived a truly harrowing experience and still came out of it trying to do good."

Tony's very first movie involves getting repeatedly drowned while in constant pain from bomb injuries as a civilian contractor, and I… don't think I can remember anything even a little similar with Steve

I don't think he's ever been captured for long before breaking out? All his injuries are in active battle, not torture.

Like... Steve went through something horrible with the ice and losing Bucky, nobody can argue that. But I think it's very telling, sometimes, that movie Steve, especially 2012 movie Steve, is completely unaware of the absolute nightmare that Tony experienced in his solo movies.

I have so many feelings about Tony Stark being the epitome of "guy who was raised and manipulated into being a bad person by someone he trusted, and (after a horrible experience) attempts to be a better person, constantly and consistently, even if he sometimes fucks up in the execution."

And the way that some fics elide his experiences in cleaning up other people's messes (first Obadiah's, then Howard's) and how that doubtlessly compounded his many neuroses from fixing messes that he did actually create himself is just

I have a lot of feelings

And am also feeling a little bitter and salty about how Tony Stark's MCU incarnation reportedly took some inspo from Elon Musk... and a little petty and satisfied about just how drastically we've all be shown that Musk can never live up to the idea of 'billionaire with inherited wealth who actually, without hesitation, risks his own life to save millions' that he tried to use PR to achieve in the media with 'my electric cars are gonna save the world' stunts about things he didn't actually have a hand in inventing

I'm just reading some fics I really enjoyed when I was still in the YA fandom, and there was a reference to a line Steve said in the movies and I started thinking (again) about how frequently fans take lines from Steve or Sam about Tony as gospel, because they haven't seen Tony's movies, and the lines from the star spangled boys are contextually meant to show that they don't know jackshit about Tony or his life, because they are directly contradicted by multiple prior films.

Also like... how often Steve's traumas get explored (in fic) in a way that Tony's just... don't? At most, his issues about Howard get explored, but that's it.

There's this moment in CACW that people take as Accurate and it infuriates me.

Tony Stark: [Back in the cell.] Just look. Because that is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes. [He shows a holographic image of Doctor Broussard.] Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong. Sam Wilson: That's a first.

Which, like... it's a bad movie. Obviously. But also

That line is immediately followed by Tony revealing that he's here to help the others and is sabotaging the security to make sure Ross can't take advantage, and yet fanfic still uses Sam's quote to promote anti-Tony agendas!

And 'Tony admits he fucked up' is. Like. Listen to me

Tony's first solo movie is fixing Obadiah's machinations. *

His second solo movie is fixing his Dad's fuckup.

His first team movie is fixing Thor's mistakes.

His third solo movie is fixing something that is only tangentially his fault.

It's not until AoU that the fuck-up is really his and his alone (well, not counting Bruce), and even then, even then, a massive portion of the blame is narratively laid at Wanda's feet!

And only then do we get this man, who has spent five movies seeing what happens when people don't take responsibility for their actions, or have anyone riding them to be ethical, who has criticized himself for neither having that oversight nor providing that oversight for people who snuck shit under his nose, that is when we get Tony weighing in on the side of "most countries on the planet are agreeing with this and it's for a reason, please work with me here, maybe we can get some of it rolled back to be less authoritarian and more reasonable."

* and removing himself from the military industrial complex he was raised and groomed to be in, but that's a system and not an individual act or a set 'villain'

Or as @firebirdeternal put it:

I would say that his first solo movie does have a large element of fixing his own mistakes too, it's just that his "mistake" was Trusting the Wrong Person and not taking personal responsibility for how his actions are affecting the world. (Which, he immediately does upon coming back from being captured? "We're going to immediately stop making weapons, because it's making the world worse" and then when Obadiah cuts him out of the company he goes "Oh. Okay no that didn't work, have to personally fix all this then.") and yeah it's just Tony have plenty of reasons to be on the side of "Someone needs to have oversight over this"

IM1 is such a good exploration of someone in privilege saying "this stops now" in a situation where they do have control because they have been confronted with their mistakes in a way that's unavoidable

It's also like, a great example of the fantasy of the Super Hero. Because Tony Stark, the businessman, even with all his wealth and knowledge, isn't able to stop the systemic harm being caused by His Own Company. One person isn't able to do that, even with the best of intentions. It isn't until he becomes something else, something more, a Super Hero, that he's able to make any kind of meaningful change on his own. Like IM1 is just a phenomenal movie. It understood it's subject material so incredibly well.

And people skip it and then take Steve and Sam at their word about Tony's strength of character and moral convictions and I scream.

THIS MAN FLEW A NUKE INTO A WORMHOLE WITH THE FULL EXPECTATION THAT HE WAS GOING TO DIE

Yeah, like, that Jump on the Grenade mentality is something that he and Steve actually literally share.

They both had 'jump on the explosive to save people' moments in their introductory movies.

I find so much more strength and inspiration in stories like Thor and Tony, where they are inherently fuck-ups and were shitty people and they are trying so damn hard to be better, which is more Tony than Thor really, but both of them and their first movies are just. I find that more inspiring than Steve or T'Challa or any other hero who was already a good person and just Became Great.

Tell me about the person who has to struggle to find that moral choice. Tell me about Natasha dragging herself from her oceans of blood and Tony fighting the government over whether they have the rights to use weapons he's created and about Thor having to reckon with his family's power being born of imperialistic ravaging of other cultures.

I want to hear about the people for whom being good is hard and a choice they don't have to make, but then they make it anyway.

Also I stand by "I am Iron Man. [infinity snap]" being the most amazing bookend the MCU could have done and probably the best part of the Endgame.

[redsray]

i have recently been brainrotting about a batkids racing au. all of them have either shitty home-lives or have had their home-lives taken away and all turn to the concepts of semi-legal street racing as an outlet. in the process, they meet people perhaps in the same boat-- perhaps a family.

Dick

around 21, has been racing since he was 15

likes riding smaller cars. the tighter fit the better. if it's not sleek and swervy he doesn't want it.

had caring parents who he travelled the world with by car, but they died in a car crash when he was 11. due to lack of living relatives, he was in the foster system for 4 years before Barry (Allen) took him in. he never saw Barry as a father, however, and was never officially adopted. basically Wally's roommate and Bart's older brother figure in a way.

Wally introduced him to the street racing world, and despite being very very reluctant at first (car crash trauma), Wally showed him all the good parts of it and he's loved it ever since

experienced racer, everyone there loves him and he's well known as one of the top racers

Jason

20, been racing since 17

he generally prefers driving motorcycles but make no mistake he will shred you no matter what racing vehicle you give him (he's competitive.) in terms of street/car racing he will go for anything with powerful acceleration.

his dad was a mechanic and Jason would sometimes help him out with car repairs when he was younger, although his dad would sometimes drop a bit too much workload on him and not really care for his well-being

mom was a recovering drug addict, cared for Jay but couldn't be around much due to both rehab and hospital visits

his dad was later arrested for underground drug dealing, dying in prison and his mom died of overdose. at 13, he was in the foster system for more or less a year before he ran, living on the streets for 3 more years, doing odd jobs.

at 16, he met Roy, who later (at 17) introduced him to street racing. Jason always had a knack for cars and with his natural talent he won quite a few of his first races, earning money from the betting pools and has been basically splitting rent and crashing with Roy ever since.

absolute MENACE of a racer. showed up at some point and basically showed most people up. can and will judge your car model. might steal your tires for the funsies.

Tim

18, new to the racing scene (been racing since 17) but knows A LOT about it through his own love for motorsports (he definitely has car posters in his room)

will drive any car. literally. he will just love it if you give him a car. in fact, give him a broken one so that he can make it BETTER than everyone else's.

lovely and wealthy parents, but they aren't around much. they honestly try their best, but when you're an only child in a big house it can get boring and lonely. he loves his parents and his mom was the one who first showed him motorsports when she was working on a business deal with a motorsport company (Tim got his first free car poster that day)

definitely takes pictures of cool cars he sees

as soon as he found out about the street racing ring in Gotham he immediately snuck in (age 15)

he would come practically every night he could and made friends with the younger racers (bart, cassie, kon) (they 100% would go to him for geeky car tech tips)

one time bart was sick for a race and cassie and kon asked tim to step in for him on the team, tim did-- he performed so naturally well that he caught the attention of other racers, decided to stay with the YJ team permanently

commonly referred to as a rising star, a prodigy in the racing scene

Damian

15, literally raised into motorsports. god knows when he drove his first car. he started officially racing in the street ring only recently, but already has a reputation as one of the best

preference for aerodynamic cars. the sleeker the better for him.

commonly underestimated by new racers

bruce is still his bio dad, he literally funds most the betting pools and co-runs the street racing ring under the guise of a totally normal auto repair store

hella competitive, will do everything to outshine you especially if you look down on him

LOVES painting on his car. like everyone customises theirs to a certain point but Damian will sit there for hours just painting on it.

does NOT care for the betting pools, if he wins he will just put all the money right back in. he just wants to win and beat you LMAO

[trekkele]

I recently saw the post about Jason and Cass not having to get along, and how that adds to their dynamic.

So I was wondering, are there any other interesting facts/headcanons about relationships in the Batfam?

Your own or some you simply stumbled across?

Because what frustrates me is the absolute lack of nuance in relationships in a lot of in most of Batfam centric fan-works.

The extent to which people write Bruce as either an absolute peace of shit, or as someone who will kiss his kids feet and beg them for the slightest bit of attention

(this being the supposedly "good" parenting- which… No? That ain’t it)

Because something I find incredibly compelling about their dynamics is the absolute loyalty Bruce often on the receiving end of.

Even when they are on terrible terms, if Bruce calls, they answer. (Usually, of course there are exceptions)

Some interesting facts/ideas about their relationships I saw were;

Dick hating Jason back when he was Robin. (Because they all a bit possessive of the Bat/insecure about their place at his side)

Tim not being Jasons fan even before the murder attempt (I read somewhere that DICK was the Robin Tim admired, and that made much more sense to me)

Cass and Dick having a tense relationship because Cass can read and understand Bruce so well, when Dick was the one who knew him best for so long.

Alfred and Bruce having a slightly more complicated relationship (I‘m so sick of 'perfect Alfred makes no mistakes' I swear. If Alfred had been as good a parent as everyone pretends (in comics or fandom) Bruce would at least be a SLIGHTLY more well adjusted individual)

Sorry for the rambling- I kinda got away from what I was asking 😅

So yeah, anyone else you feel has a more difficult relationship than fandom would have you believe?

All the kids with the justice league, and specifically Clark.

No listen hear me out, Bruce’s big possibly life changing injuries? They happen with the league most of the time, because thats when he’s fighting a minor god or a sentient star or whatever. But thats also when all his allies are super powered people, thats when he should be safest. Instead he keeps coming back from league missions with close calls and broken bones.

And Clark especially, what do you mean your best friend is Superman and your arm broke in the three places on that last mission. Where was he??

Alfred and Clark having a 😒 relationship is always fun too, because while kids wont see it or realize it Clark has absolutely witnessed how Alfred parents Bruce and how … less then ideal it can be.

Kate and Alfred, because of backstory reasons (did Alfred do nothing to keep the Kanes in contact with Bruce?? Why??) and also because it would be funny.

Cass and Jason is a good one and it makes so much more sense then the usual “cass loves her big little brother uwu” because i think what Cass would love about Jason would be stealing his weapons and hiding them and watching him lose his mind. Stop bringing guns into her dads house he doesnt like them and its his house.

I think. Oh this is going to be a hot take. I think Bruce resents when Tim tries to patronize or parent him. You know exactly what i mean right, that very specific flavor of infantilization you see in Tim-and-Bruce fics where Tim is a genius brilliant boi and Bruce is just led around by the nose? Hate it and i think Bruce hates it and knows exactly when Tim is trying it. Does he look like Jack Drake?? No?? Good because he was getting worried. (Bruce loves Tim. He loves how much Tim cares. He does not love how Tim thinks caring means permission to run his life).

Another hot take, i dont think Alfred and Jason got along as well as they did until after Jason resurrected. I think baby Jason treated Alfred the way Alfred treated him, so more like two people living in the same space who mutually respect each other them like grandparents. I think Jasons death and his anger at Bruce and Dick made him want/need a neutral person to project his happy memories onto, and Alfred was that person.

Duke being wary of Jason and Red Hood - because he remembers how many people lost people to Red Hood when he first arrived, and i dont care what comics told you there is no way he did what he did without collateral damage.

Damian and Dick should have a messy, complicated, resentful relationship. Damian wanted his father, no matter how good a replacement you write Dick as that isnt what he wanted. Dick also wanted his dad, and he didnt want to be Batman or a parent or any of it, and the fact that Bruce was actually alive and if hed only moved faster, if the JL had only been smarter, if someone had been paying attention, he never would have had to do any of it. And im going to he so honest right now the way fandom writes their “good” relationship is so bad sometimes. I hesitate to use the word toxic because yaknow its been done to death but seriously.

Anyways i think i hit enough hornets nests here, but will leave with, good parenting does not always look like you think it should. Allowing your children to violate your boundaries, always taking full responsibility for mutual miscommunications and misunderstandings, and never letting them suffer consequences for actions they take is just setting them up for failure.

[astorianyxkings]

You guys ever think about how Bruce feels when one of the batlings call him Dad? Or refer to him as their dad? Or how he feels when he steps into a fatherly role for a bat?

I mean yeah its mostly done in public, Dick has always called Bruce Dad or refer to him as his father since he was old enough to go to galas. And yeah at first the word felt like nails scraping down a chalk board because Bruce isn't worth being a dad, not in his head at least. He was still in his twenties, and Dick already had a dad. One who loved him. But he tolerates the word anyway, because its just to keep up appearing right?

Nowadays, having repaired their severed relationship, Bruce wants to hear the word. He misses it but he doesn't dare ask. But when he reveals that he officially adopted Dick and he hugs him and says "I love you Dad." Bruce can't help but cry, sob quietly as he clutches his son in his arms. "I don't want to replace your father." He says, begging his voice to not waver, it doesn't listen. "You're not," Dick responds, "You're just standing on the same level as him. My dads and my mom. My parents."

When Barbara becomes Batgirl Bruce is terrified. He knows the kind of sick freaks out there, who ogle her in her Batgirl suit. It makes his blood boil the way any father's would. Except he isn't her father. She has Jim for that. And even if she's dating Dick, Bruce can't seem to figure out why he's treating her like this, why he's keeping her patrol limited, why he's texting Commissioner Gordon in panic whenever she's late. Jim laughs and says its like they're co parents and something in Bruce's heart jabs.

When she's paralyzed by the Joker Bruce isn't sure what to do. He pays her medical bills and has a back and forth with Jim, "Its my fault he found out she was Batgirl!", "He didn't, he did it because she's a Gordon! It's my fault!". Bruce crues over her in the comatose state, apologizing over and over, its his fault, his minds been made up. When she becomes Oracle there's nothing he wouldn't do to accommodate her. Barbara may not legally be his daughter, but she kind of it his first daughter.

When Jason comes around and starts calling Bruce dad at galas, he's more comfortable around the word. He can be a dad to Jason, Jason didn't get to have a good dad but Bruce bought a parenting book (What to Expect when Moving from Raising One Kid to Two) and he's handling it. But then he dies and Bruce is met with the guilt of knowing that he failed his son. Because even though Dick was his ward and first born, Jason was the first one he was okay with referring to as a son.

And then he came back and Bruce is no longer dad. He's B or Old Man. Its better than "the asshole who let me die" so he'll take what he can get. Except once at a gala Jason has a bit of a Freudian slip and refers to Bruce as his dad and he leaves the room to burst into tears. Jason doesn't hate him and while he's grateful part of his mind knows he should. He deserves to be hated, Jason is just too much of a good person to do it. But it doesn't matter, Jason's still his son and his heart still stutters whenever he's reminded of that. Jason is his son, his boy.

When he meets Tim, Bruce is scared all over again. He doesn't want to be Tim's dad. Tim already has a dad—and in Bruce's self loathing mind, a neglectful father is still better than whatever impersonation of a dad he could be. But Tim is stubborn, he latches on and somewhere along the lines after his emancipation, Bruce realizes that he's Tim's dad. And he wants to be Tim's dad. And he won't fail Tim the way he did Dick or Jason, he made too many mistakes with them.

Tim sometimes feels out of place. Bruce doesn't know why, he belongs into their family (cult as Jason says affectionately) and Bruce will always remind him of that. Tim is his son and Bruce will never get over that, he gets to see this boy grow up to be great. And maybe when Tim's sleep deprived he calls Bruce dad, but thats between him, Tim and the tear stained pillow on Bruce's bed.

And then there's Steph. Stephanie Brown forced her way into the Batfamily by dating Tim and even after they broke up, she's not leaving. And Bruce doesn't want her to. She's made it clear she doesn't want to be a Wayne officially, she's fine just being Steph. Except, Bruce kind of thinks Steph is like his daughter too. She's not just some random girl he finds overly bubbly, her bubbliness reminds him if Dick, her street smarts remind him of Jason. But despite that Steph is so unique. And even if she has a dad, Bruce can't help it. He personally decorated a room at the manor for her, had it painted purple and everything. Steph might not be a Wayne by name, but she is in everything else. And Bruce is kind of okay with that.

And then there's the two kids who refer to him as their dad all the time.

Cassandra Cain becomes Cassandra Wayne and she never looks back. She rarely speaks, she's content with sign language and you best believe the rest of the family learns it to communicate with her comfortably. But something in Bruce's heart flutters when she refers to him as Dad. When she signs about one of her dance recitals, Don't forget dad! Or when she's bragging and boasting at a gala about him, My dad's not like that! He's really nice!

And then there's Damian. He couldn't run away from being his father if he wanted to. Which he doesn't. Damian called him Father, rather stiffly for the first two years together. But then one day he's talking to Jon and Bruce isn't trying to eavesdrop but he's not perfect do he does and he hears Damian refer to him as Baba and he almost trips over his own feet. Damian, ever the observer, notices him immediately and then he's suddenly calling him Baba more often, Baba I'm going to walk Titus or Baba, Grayson is trying to hug me again. Doesn't matter the context, hearing Damian utter the endearment makes his heart melt every damn time.

But when Duke rolls around, heartbroken and unfairly orphaned, Bruce is terrified all over again. He's not ready to force Duke into accepting him as a father, Duke has a dad. Bruce doesn't want to replace him. But Duke, much like Tim, latches on. He needs a father. He needs one to guide him, to help him forge his own path. And Bruce can't help himself. He's a father. He's Dukes father.

Bruce being a dad but hating himself for it while loving his kids but hating that he's forced to be their dad because the world was cruel to them.

[zahri-melitor]

Ask game for Oliver Queen, I have been curious about your thoughts on him for ages! 2, 5, 14, 20

I do have a lot of thoughts on Ollie, actually. He sort of falls into the same category as Arthur for me, where I find him incredibly infuriating at times but I do like him and his setting.

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

The thing is, I go back and forth on my feelings about Ollie all the time. I've read some absolute terrible behaviour from him, because he's exactly the sort of socialist-leaning white guy who tends to frame everything through his own viewpoint and is oblivious to intersectional issues until someone challenges him on them and makes them unavoidable for Ollie to consider. He is so very often written as the sort of dinosaur from the labour movement I know so well who is fully committed to its ideals but doesn't think of his own at home hypocrisies.

But by god, how he tries. If there is one ultimate redeemable aspect to Ollie it's when he's challenged on an issue and he realises he's been wrong about it, he makes an effort.

It's actually what I think drives a lot of the good dad/bad dad narrative over Ollie, because he is fundamentally bad at being a parent and makes so many mistakes over the years. But he also loves his kids deeply and works on his problems (once he realises he has them). He tries again. And it's in his willingness to make that effort and try again that the relationships improve, and why people see him as a good parent.

Now if he would at any point aim that self-reflection at his relationship with Dinah properly I would be extremely grateful. It's been decades and he takes her for granted far too much.

5. My favorite ship of them

...probably Ollie/Shado, actually, because it's interestingly toxic. They have issues. It's ridiculously complex given the layers of nonsense built into it by various reboots. I desperately want Robert and Emiko to exist in the same continuity because it's just hilarious to me in terms of the drama it would cause.

I also like it because nobody tries to pretend they're perfect for each other.

14. Best storyline they had

This is where I have to say I do need to sit down and read larger chunks of Ollie's runs. Because I've read a bunch of his stuff from various sections of the timeline between COIE and the present, but mostly in single arcs here and there.

I might be basic and say I did very much enjoy Quiver. It's famous for a reason, plus it did absolutely bizarre things to Stanley and his Monster for no reason at all, which amuses me in terms of how complex it made the lore and also depresses me as it means people overlook earlier versions of their story.

20. A weird headcanon

A weird headcanon for Ollie? hmmm. Given everything around his history and backstory as a character, in terms of being a Batman expy from creation, he does actually feel like he's in a constant competition with Bruce, a competition where he thinks he's losing on so many metrics. It means that he centres himself in the aspects where he thinks he has an edge on Bruce and puffs up them, and denigrates all the ways he feels inferior to Bruce.

It's what drives so much of his relationship with Bruce over the years, on so many teams, and he would actually really have an easier time if their kids weren't such good friends. Because. He cannot escape the comparisons.

I also have this elaborate backstory for how Bruce specifically asked Ollie to look out for and care for Cass on her very first 'adult' team during Justice League Elite, and he looked at her and saw how she was hiding so much of herself to play Kasumi that he felt protective of her.

Which is why he pivoted so hard in Batman & the Outsiders to mistrusting her after the evil arc, because all he heard about it were the community gossip, so he thought she had been playing him in JLE and he missed finding out that the issue had been that she'd been drugged by Slade. And Cass can tell that he no longer trusts her and wants to look out for her, and reacts to that.

[pinkrose787]

Amnesia Branch AU Chapter 6!

Sorry this took so long! I hope y'all enjoy! :D

Ao3 Link:

Chapter 6:

Viva has never seen Poppy this distraught. She’s sobbing. Holding on tightly to an old plush glowbug. “He broke up with me, Viva,” she manages to speak through her sobs. “I can’t believe it. He broke up with me!”

Poppy starts crying harder. Viva pulls her into a hug, which seems to help. While her cries don’t lessen, she clings to Viva like a koala.

This is the only thing that she can do to comfort her sister. Really, it’s the only way to comfort her that she knows. She only recently started to learn how to deal with her own negative emotions, much less someone else’s.

Viva wants to march over to the hospital and give Branch a piece of her mind. Yes, he does have amnesia. But that doesn’t give him a good excuse to hurt her little sister like this.

Confronting Branch would only upset Poppy more. So, Viva sits on the bed with her comforting her the best she can. “It’s gonna be okay, Poppy. He’ll realize that he’s made the dumbest mistake of his life soon.”

“I don’t think he will,” Poppy says with a hoarse voice.

“Of course, he will. You were like the best girlfriend ever to him. He’ll be begging to have you take him back soon.” 

Poppy sighs. She pulls away from the hug. The tears have stopped. If only for the moment. There’s still two lines running down her face. “He won’t. Not after what happened after the reunion with his brothers.”

Viva takes a tissue and wipes away Poppy’s tears. She has been so busy comforting Poppy that she hasn’t had time to talk to Clay about the reunion. If it went badly then Clay is probably really upset about it. But he has his brothers to comfort him. Poppy takes the priority for Viva. Sisters before misters, as they say. 

“What happened?” Viva asks.

Poppy picks the glowbug plush back up and holds it close to herself. She sighs. “I don’t know what happened in there. But it was bad. Bruce and Clay said they didn’t want to be around Branch anymore. And then they left.”

“Woah. Woah. Woah… What? Clay did what now?” Hopefully, Poppy mixed up the name of which ever brother left. But then again, she didn’t. She would never confuse one member of BroZone for another.

“He left with Bruce.” She clutches the glowbug plush tight.

“Are you sure they left? Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Clay wouldn’t abandon Branch again.” Viva hopes that it is a misunderstanding. She can’t think of a single good reason why Clay would leave.

Poppy sniffles. “Mh-hm. They said that they didn’t want to be around Branch anymore. That being around Branch would only hurt him.” She takes a deep shuddering breath. “But they’re wrong. Leaving Branch hurts him more than them staying ever could.”

Rage starts to bubble up in Viva. It’s taking all her self-control not to march over and give Clay a piece of her mind. But she can’t. Staying and comforting Poppy is her number one priority right now.

“Well, I wouldn’t worry too much. They’ll realize that they’re wrong soon.” If they don’t come to their senses very soon, Viva is going to make them.

Poppy sighs. “I hope your right.” She leans against Viva. “For Branch’s sake.”

As much as Viva cares for Branch, given that he’s both her little sister’s boyfriend and her boyfriend’s little brother, she’s getting tired of hearing about how he’s doing. His wellbeing isn’t her concern here. “I know you’re worried about how Branch is, but what about you?”

Poppy blinks a couple of times. “What about me?”

“You’ve been a total wreck these last couple of days. And despite that, you’ve been running around trying to help out wherever you can.” She pulls Poppy into a hug. “Don’t forget to help yourself out too.”

Poppy lets out a yawn. “I know, but I have to. Branch won’t have anyone if I don’t.”

“That’s not true. He still has John Dory and Floyd.” She hugs Poppy a bit tighter. “And you’re not alone either. You have your friends, dad, and of course me. I’m sticking to your side through this whole thing. Whenever you feel tired, I’ll be here for you!”

Poppy smiles a bit. That’s good. Viva feels like she hasn’t seen her smiling much over the last couple of days. “I know.”

Viva lets go of the hug. “You should get some rest now.”

“I’m not that tired,” she yawns.

Her yawn betrays her. She’s on the edge of falling asleep. “Yes, you are. Now, lay down and get some sleep.”

Poppy lays down on the bed. “Alright, but I’m not going to fall asleep.”

It takes only a few seconds for Poppy to start snoring. This is the first time she’s fallen asleep since Branch ended up in the hospital. She deserves this rest.

While she sleeps, Viva climbs out of bed. There’s somethings that she needs to do.

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

The bunker is divided in two. On one side of the bunker is Bruce and Clay. On the other side is Floyd and John Dory. After the events of this morning, the brothers argued for hours upon hours.

Right now, there’s an unsteady truce between the two sides. Not one borne from an understanding of the other side, but rather from an exhaustion that has over-taken all of them after fighting all day.

Clay lies in his bed and stares at the ceiling. Today did not go as he expected it to. At all.

He knew Branch would be angry at them. There wasn’t any doubt about that. What he didn’t expect was the sheer depth of his rage. How easily he could come up with the ways that they had hurt him, and how easy it was for them to hurt him again.

There had always been a guilt deep within Clay about never going back for Branch. It only deepened when Branch and Poppy explained to him what he used to be like before they all reunited. Through the whole explanation, the two of them kept making jokes about what he used to be like.

If someone couldn’t hear the conversation, they would think that they were talking about what happened on a vacation, not a horrible period in Branch’s life. To them, it was all ancient history. To Clay, it felt like it was actually happening. And now, it actually is.

The guilt threatens to consume him. Branch was the most innocent out of all of them. He was a baby. He never did anything wrong to any of them. Hell, he never got the chance to. Yet he was the one that suffered the most from the band’s break-up.

He should have gone back before the escape from the Troll Tree. He thought about going over to visit Branch and Grandma all the time. It wouldn’t have been too hard. Clay still lived in the tree post-breakup. It would have taken him less than twenty minutes to walk over there.

But he didn’t. Despite how easily he could have, he didn’t.

He was too scared that going back there would he would be pulled back to who he was before the breakup. Shoved back into the dreaded role of fun boy.  

His cowardice caused his baby brother’s life to be ruined.

Branch deserved to have what Clay and the other brothers had growing up. He should have been raised by their parents alongside his brothers. One big happy family like they used to be. That opportunity got taken from him when he was just an egg.

If their parents had never been eaten, things would have turned out differently. Clay can see what could have been so clearly in his mind.

The breakup of BroZone was inevitable, but it wouldn’t have happened as soon as it did. They would have kept performing for a few more years. This time it would be fun. Without the stress of their parents’ death, John Dory wouldn’t feel the need to shove everyone into specific roles. Each brother could be who they wanted to be.

When it did come time for the breakup, it wouldn’t have been from an explosive fight. Instead, the popularity of the band would have waned, and the brothers would all decide that they wanted to do something different.

They would all live in Pop Village, even after the break-up. Each brother would have their own pod, except Branch who’d live with their parents as he would be too young to live on his own.

Despite being a former member of the of the most popular boy bands in all of Pop Village, Branch would be like any other kid. He would go to school, make friends, be a troll scout. He wouldn’t spend all his time hiding in fear of Bergens or of other trolls.

Clay’s daydream of what could have been stops when Branch is a child. It’s hard for him to imagine what Branch would be like as an adult, especially after today. His entire life was shaped by the trauma of losing everyone he loved at such a young age.

Even before the breakup, he was still an anxious child. His doctor theorized that Branch might have heard his parents’ screams when they were being take, traumatizing him while he was still an egg. That and none of the brothers were in the best place mentally when he hatched. All of them were still reeling from their parents’ death.

Still, he can see the image of Branch as a child with his vibrant blue colors playing with all of the other children. A giant smile plastered on his face. The way he should have been, but never got the chance to be.

There’s a loud knock at the door. Clay doesn’t answer it. It’s probably Floyd or John Dory, rested and ready to start the argument all over again. How do they not get that they shouldn’t be around Branch right now? Why do they not see that their presence hurts Branch?

There’s a louder knock. “I don’t want to talk to either of you. Go away,” Clay says loudly.

“Clay, open the door.”

Clay shoots up. That’s Viva’s voice, and wow does she sound mad. He rushes over and opens the door. “Hey Viva… What’s up?” He tries to sound nonchalant, but isn’t successful.

Viva looks like she’s ready to kill him. Oh God, Poppy must have told her about what happened today. “Did you really abandon Branch again?”

Clay puts up his arms as though he’s preparing for Viva to lunge at him. With the way she’s looking at him, she actually might. “Well, no. No! I didn’t! What I said was that Branch needs space from us.”

She steps into Clay’s room. Her expression unchanged. “Was it that Branch needed space or that you couldn’t handle being around him?”

His heart is pounding in his chest. She’s never been this mad at him. He doesn’t understand why though. “Us being around him wasn’t good for him. And it’s not like I moved far away. I’m still here.”

“He broke up with Poppy because of you,” Viva says bluntly.

Ah, that’s why she’s so mad. Floyd and John Dory told him about the break-up and how distraught Poppy was about it. “How is that my fault?”

“Because if you hadn’t left,” She pokes him in the chest. Her voice starts to rise. “Then he wouldn’t have gone all abandonment issue crazy and break-up with her!”

“That’s still not my fault. If me leaving was enough for him to break up with her, then he probably was going to do it anyway!”

Viva gets into Clay’s face. He can feel her breath on his face. “He wouldn’t have even thought about breaking up with her if you stayed!”

He refuses to stand down. After all, why should he? He didn’t do anything wrong. “Yes, he would have! He’s my brother! I know more about him than you do!”

“Clearly you don’t if you think that running away is going to help him!”

“What do you know?”

Viva’s brow furrows. Immediately, Clay knows he messed up. “I know a lot okay!” She backs Clay against a wall. “I know that I have regretted not going out and finding Poppy every single day of my life! And I know that if she lost her memory that I would be still be there for her like you should still be there for Branch!”

Clay breaths deeply. “That’s different,” he says quietly, “She wouldn’t be depressed like Branch is. And when you reunite with her she wouldn’t be angry. In fact, she’d be happy. Do you know why? Because you didn’t hurt her like I hurt Branch.”

“I did hurt her!” Viva’s voice cracks from shouting. “I missed out on her entire life, because I was too scared to leave the Hole’N’Fun!”

He hates the fact that she blames herself for what happened. No matter how many times him or Poppy have tried to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault, nothing gets through to her.

Floyd rushes over to Clay’s door. “What’s going on? I hear shouting!”

Oh thank goodness, Floyd’s here. He’s always been good at defusing situations like this. “Hey, Floyd… Could you help me out here?” Clay asks.

Floyd takes a quick look at Clay and then looks at Viva. “Nope. Not getting involved.” He turns and walks away.

There’s more frantic footsteps heading towards Clay’s room. Bruce and John Dory show up at Clay’s door. “Viva’s mad at Clay,” Floyd says to them.

“Oh, I am not dealing with that.” John Dory turns around. “Good luck, Clay. You’re going to need it.” He walks away.  

“Me neither,” Bruce says.

Viva looks away from Clay for the first time since she came over. She zips over to Bruce, blocking his path. “No, you are not going anywhere. You need to call Brandy right now.”

“What?” Bruce looks confused. He glances at Clay as if he has any explanation, but Clay’s just as confused as he is. “Why would I need to talk her?”

“I had a conversation with her earlier about what happened today.” Viva crosses her arms.

A look of pure horror crosses Bruce’s face. He must be feeling a thousand times more fear than Clay has through this whole conversation. “You tattled on me to my wife?” he says quietly.

“I simply told her what happened today. She’s pretty angry. I wouldn’t keep her waiting.”

“Oh no.” Bruce races out of the room. Heading straight in the direction of the holophone.

Now, it’s back to being just Clay and Viva. There is no chance that John Dory and Floyd are going to back Clay up here. The two of them probably think that Clay deserves what he’s getting. Bruce, though being on his side, is too busy talking to his wife. He’s completely alone in this conversation.

He braces for Viva to start shouting at him again. But she doesn’t.

Instead, she lets out a sigh. “I don’t get it, Clay. I really don’t. Back when we were co-leaders, you told me that you regretted not going back for Branch every single day of your life.”

Her voice is so quiet and dejected. It’s such as stark change from the loud energetic voice that Clay’s used to, but not one he’s unfamiliar with. “And after you reunited, you told me that you wanted to make it up to him. That you were going to be there for him when he needed you, no matter what.”

She looks him straight in the eyes. He can see that tears have begun welling in them. “So, what changed? Why are you so ready to leave him behind again? Why won’t you stay like you should?”

Clay is quiet. He can’t think of anything to say. The reasons that were once so solid in his mind, now seem like nothing but pathetic excuses.

“You’re wrong, Clay. Branch does need you. And I think you know that deep down too.”

Clay doesn’t respond. He’s still unable to find his words.

Viva sighs and turns away from him. “I can’t stay any longer. Poppy is devastated right now and unlike you, I am not going to leave my sister when she needs me the most.”

Before she leaves, she looks back at Clay one last time, “Come find me, when you decide to be the brother to Branch that you wanted to be.”

[rayshippouuchiha]

Okay. So you and one other person said they liked it and that's apparently enough for me to share. Now there's around 800 words instead of 200

So, have this tidbit of "Gotham's friendly neighborhood assassin"

It had been a quiet night. It was cold and humid out, fairly unpleasant. There was fog cloaking the tops of the buildings, and silence clung to the dark corners. It made for a quiet patrol, any suspicious sound carrying far. It had seemed like a good night to give Robin a bit more freedom, let him roam without Batman hovering over his shoulder.

It had been a mistake. Robin had been rushed by enemies while he was too far from him to give him immediate aid. His kid had had to run, getting farther and farther out. It’s been at least ten minutes since then and he has lost communication (Unacceptable. He’ll need to fix whatever caused the malfunction. Later) so he’s had to track his kid the old fashioned way. He follows the trail to an abandoned building. There's a few unconscious men laying about. Robin is ahead, having been forced down this hallway. Past that door.

There are no sounds of struggle coming from the other side, but that's not necessarily good. He moves carefully. Silent. Opens the door as quietly as he can, tries to see what’s happening without alerting anyone to his presence

Then he has to stop. Reassess.

Relief wars with confusion at what he sees.

All the henchmen lie on the floor, unconscious. All but one.

Robin is standing on his own two feet, keeping still of his own free will. There's a bundle of steel needles in his hands, long and sharp and sturdy, and a look in his eyes that he gets when he intends to learn as fast as you can teach him.

There is a man standing beside him. Dressed in casual clothes, except for the lower half of his face hidden under a simple surgical mask. Tall and broad and pale. Black haired. Unknown. The last conscious goon is in the man's hand, shirtless and with several long, steel needles protruding from his skin. The man is holding him aloft by a firm grip on the back of his neck, keeping him up on his tiptoes with no apparent effort.

The only sign the goon is conscious is his quiet, hopeless sniffling. He hangs limp otherwise but Batman doesn't realize why until the man points whit his free hand at the goon's arm.

"So, you know how it hurts like a bitch when you hit your elbow just wrong?"

Pressure points. The needles are stuck in pressure points.

Robin nods, eager.

"That's because there's an important nerve" the man taps his finger "right here".

He sounds friendly. He's using a person as a prop.

"Now, go on. Find it" he encourages. "You did great with the other ones".

Batman's Robin preens at the praise and separates a needle from his bundle. The goon sniffles harder.

"That's enough!"

Robin startles and turns around when he speaks. His face twists in a guilty grimace, like he just realized what he was doing.

The man does not startle. He just says "Is playtime over already?" without missing a beat. The goon is unceremoniously dropped to the floor, like a puppet with its strings cut loose. He lands just as haphazardly, without moving a muscle away from the awkward position he ended up in. Bruce doubts he would move even if he could. There's something about the man's casual disregard that speaks of danger. Gotham's people know a threat when they see one. Not that the man was being subtle about it.

Robin avoids Batman's eyes at the sound of the body hitting the floor, uncertainty clear on the line of his shoulders.

The man sees. He turns to Batman without an ounce of fear, his limbs relaxed and his eyes amused.

"No need to get so worked up, Dad Bat". He crouches down, retrieving a needle from the goons shoulder. His fingers mark the depth of the wound on the length of the weapon when he holds it up for Bruce to see.

"Senbon are only fatal if you're truly good with them, '' he explains. His tone turns ever so slightly mocking. "Wasn't teaching your kid anything you wouldn't approve of".

The man throws his needle (senbon?) for Robin to catch and goes for the door, showing no sign of apprehension at having to walk past him, shoulders almost touching.

"Stop". Bruce's hand shoots out, grabbing the man by the arm. He allows himself to be stopped, looking him in the eye despite de cowl's lenses.

"Let the boy keep the things, will you? Children need their toys". Bruce does not deign that with an answer.

"Who are you?"

The man hums, amused.

"I'm sure you'll find out, eventually"

And then he just leaves. Shakes Bruce's hand out of his arm and walks through the door without hurry. He's no longer in the hallway when Bruce tries to follow

(that's about it, the rest I have is random ideas and half scenes. Also. I realized just now I have to clean up when I use real and code names. It has to make some sort of sense)

Oh oh this is fantastic

[vintagerobin]

Agreed, I had a lot of issues with GW. One being the characters (esp Jason) two being the dialogue, three being the premise of the War, four being the vague annoyance I have at another DC event, 5 being everything else that I can't remember and don't care to look back on. 

I'm not sure if Bruce apologized initially, maybe that's why people were mad? Or maybe they were mad at him abandoning ship and letting Nightwing deal with what remained of the family (again, my memory may not be correct, I can't find the issue it's driving me crazy). Regardless, point is there were consequences, he realized he was wrong and made amends. 

Also, I don't know about you or anybody, but personally I think that in the event of a mental break after significant trauma, while there should be consequences, there is also the insanity defense for a reason. They can only be held culpable up to a point. Not excusing or defending his actions, just, my sibling has schizophrenia and while their actions during their episodes sometimes piss me off because they do shitty things, I'm also not too hard on them and try to be forgiving because I know it's awful and I know they're trying. Everyone says he purposely made Zur so therefore everything he does is squarely on Bruce, which is true, but also he purposely made Zur because he was traumatized after Hurt/Milo (RIP/I Am a Gun respectively) hijacked his brain. He didn't do it out of malice, it was out of fear.

The Good Dad/Bad Dad shit drives me batty, pun intended. I feel like, after the initial Good Bat Dad storm subsided and people realized that Batman is not always a good father, they blew off to the opposite end of the spectrum and now believe that Bruce is a Bad Bat Dad all the time (because that's how relationships work, especially parenthood, and you are permanently stuck in one side of that dichotomy forever) and that means that he is irredeemable and any and all punishments should be bestowed upon him because he deserves it. 

God I'm so embarrassed for defending rich boy.  What has my life come to. He's not even my fav

Agreed with you on all of these points. The idea that Bruce should be culpable for Zur because he "made Zur" is - kind of funny to me? Personal responsibility when you have DID is a very complicated thing. It isn't that one alter or part is responsible for another, regardless of whether they're the "original" or not. It's that all must learn to be collectively accountable as a group.

Bruce is culpable for Zur's actions because they share a body and life, and actually I think it's interesting that Zur himself also considers himself responsible for Bruce's and Batman's actions (or inactions) and that's one of his motivations in what he does. Their internal back and forth over who or what's to blame and who's more responsible and trying to "fix" each other's mistakes is really interesting.

Anyway. I think you hit the forgiveness issue on the head with "I know they're trying". Imo it's really clear that's why the others are willing to forgive him at all, it's obvious to them that he IS trying. And yeah it's really frustrating when he's just reduced to "Good Dad" or "Bad Dad" like. It's just not that simple.