#I have never touched a dc comic in my life

[deyostra-walos]

Is it just me or does every group of 4 protagonists have the same 4 personalities? I'm not pulling from a massive pool here but I feel like 3 different fandoms is more than coincidence

You have:

-the leader

-the red, angry one

-the smart one

-the wildcard

Then eventually there's a fifth and sixth member of the group that are just as important but at the same time aren't grouped with the other 4 quite as often as the main 4.

And we can't forget about the one that brought them all together in the first place.

[brionysea]

thinking about the robins and i kinda wanna cry..... so they all had a personal stake in it, right? i am operating off of knowledge from the fandom so things are literally just occurring to me as i piece together what canon actually looks like. bear with me

tim decided to Save Batman's Soul and dick was full of rage and determined to find his parents' killer, etc etc, so they all had Big Reasons for needing to become robin, but jason... he probably would have been fine without it?

there's no "darker road best left untravelled" here like there is with the others. it's pretty classist to assume he would have turned to crime or whatever when he didn't need to do that for survival anymore, so little baby jason todd would have been completely fine staying out of this whole lifestyle once he got adopted (and even if he wasn't i have no doubt he would have been okay one day; he's too stubborn not to survive). he could've finished school and gone to uni for english lit or something and been completely, 100% fine. bruce wouldn't object to one of his children not wanting to fight crime for once, jason still would have had a family either way

which means that... he just did it to help?

because no one else was willing to help crime alley and he couldn't leave his people on their own and he couldn't leave bruce on his own so of course it all comes down to what bruce is doing as batman with the rogues and how jason doesn't think it's actually helping anyone and jason becoming the kind of person he wishes was there for him in the past???? the kind who doesn't put a self-serving moral code above the safety and security of the people they're supposed to protect???

im. no wonder this is such a popular character. there's so much to say there. his personal stakes for being a vigilante are selfless empathy and wanting to protect the innocent and vulnerable? the personal is the selfless? wanting to help and protect is part of it for all of them but it's the whole thing for jason??? it's the POINT in and of itself???? what am i even supposed to do with that?

jason could have survived. he could have never gotten tangled up with bruce's war. but that would be turning his back on everything he stands for

jason had to be a casualty. he had to! there was enough empathy for the little guy there already but when it was him, when it was personal, that was enough of a push to bring the deeply fascinating ideological differences of what jason individually represents into light and contrast with bruce. he couldn't ignore it anymore, couldn't just be the lucky one in a million who got adopted by bruce wayne and stopped caring about all the unlucky ones. anything less than jason dying while trying to do things bruce's way would have been a complete and total disservice to his character

[i-yap]

MY FAVORITE IS DICK GRAYSON FORVER WILL BE DICK GRAYSON AND HERE IS WHY

DICK GRAYSON X Y/N ( FRUSTRATED ME EDITION)

- first of all , he is the hottest character in dc (literally the comics have written this line by line)

- he is the real one with communication issues. You think jason struggles with that? NO jason uses any chance to tell me people how much he suffered. But dick? He wears a smile, he hides everything he is feeling

- the only person who gets to see the real him is YOU. The stress, the pressure, the mommy daddy issues...cmon. and bruce prolly was the worst at raising grayson and learned from his mistakes for the rest

- dick is someone who tries to be happy. Who tries to have a normal life. Who tries not to let his issues affect him . But they do which is why he has so many fucked up relationships. But when he meets you he wants to keep you, he needs to keep you with him. So he tries yet again to open up, fix his issues, love you the way you truly deserve.

- AND let us all not pretend we are all not stressed asf in life. He is so joyful and bright and will almost never dull the mood. Car karaoke ? Done. Skinny dipping in some random lake you drive by? His suggestion. Amusement parks? He is excitedly pulling you to all the rides and WILL 100% WIN YOU THE BIGGEST TEDDY

- he is deep, he js in touch with his feelings and he knows how to take care of you. Idk abt u guys but I have issues . I want a man who gives you those words of affirmation, who makes it super obvious he likes you.

- he needs you just as much as jason or tim or damian do. He also never had genuine love, he also has been a soldier a leader the person responsible all his life. He needs yo hold you, he needs that peace and quiet away from everything he has to deal with . He wants someone he can come home to and just show how drained he is .

- he is so kind to the world but he WILL BURN IT FOR YOU . I refuse to believe any other opinion on this. No matter how big a hero this guy is...remember how he killed joker for jason? Someone he said he hated? Broke the no kill rule?? Yea imagine what he will do for you.

- and how dare u suggest he isn't jealous/ possessive. He gets so cranky..not insecure and u don't have to coddle him and avoid all other men ...but u do have to give him extra kisses

-HE IS THE REAL GREEN FLAG fuck the whole " a hero will sacrifice you for the world but a villain will burn the world for you" NOT HIM NO HE WILL KILL EVERYONE OKAY cuz how date anyone suggest taking you away from him after everything he has done for the world. You are his reward and you better remember that.

- slow waltzing in the kitchen while he sings you his favorite love song, giggling in a pretty cafe while sharing a piece of cake( he is feeding you the whole thing and will kiss you when u Ask why he isn't eating any himself) , getting tipsy and walking back home all sweet and drunk and in love. He is adventurous and wants to experience everything With you.

- best part, everyone around u will love him. I'm sorry but I like it when my bf is liked by the old ladies and my parents and my boss. He will make you the power couple, even if you aren't as "powerful". He is your biggest loudest supporter always. Always introducing you to ppl as if you cured world hunger , telling everyone just how smart and kind you are taking any opportunity to talk about You. And dancing with him at galas makes you feel like a princess

- he will get the best gifts, say the sweetest things, be the most supportive kind eyes only for you guy once he genuinely falls in love.

I love jason a lot too, and tim and bruce too. Like yes I daydream about all of them But I just hate how underrated my boy here is.

[phoenixkaptain]

DC is so silly because none of them can agree on what Batman’s motivation actually is.

Like, does this guy only care about Gotham City? Is he obsessed with keeping this one specific city safe? Is obsessed to the point that he’s willing to risk other people’s lives in the pursuit of justice?

Or, does he care about other people? Alfred, Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, even Selina. Is he obsessed with keeping his loved ones safe? Is he obsessed with keeping Gotham safe because he wants the people in Gotham to be safe?

Does he train Robin out of a desire for a soldier or a need to cling to a thread of humanity? Does he keep Alfred employed primarily because Alfred is good at keeping secrets or because he trusts Alfred to keep his secrets? Does he ever love any of the women he dates, Selina included, or does he see them as another part of his disguise?

What is Batman’s motivation? What is he feeling at any given time in a story? What keeps him going when the nights drag on endlessly? What makes him get out of bed? What makes him take care of himself so that he can take care of it? Is it Gotham, or is it the people in Gotham?

And honestly, the answer is all of the above. The writers don’t agree on the answer, so the answer is that all apply. Batman would die for Gotham, Batman would die for Robin, Batman would die for Alfred. Batman wants to protect Gotham more than anything. Batman finds that he wants to protect Robin and Alfred and those he loves even more than Gotham. Batman views Robin as a soldier to be kept at arm’s length. Batman views Robin as his son and loves him like a father would.

It affects everything that Batman touches, this inconclusive motivation. Batman views the Justice League as his friends, his family even. Batman never gets close to any members of the Justice League because he only views them as associates and nothing more.

Batman can be conceivably anything. His motivation can become anything. Because his motivation is set up and reset and reset and reset- his motivation, what he cares about, it can be basically whatever you want. Whatever the writers want.

And this is why you have people hate Batman because he’s cold and uncaring and nigh abusive. You have people who love Batman because he thaws for those he loves and is kind and caring. You have people who like Batman because he’s good with children. You have people who like Batman because he’s awkward and doesn’t even know how to hold a child.

All of these versions have been portrayed, and sometimes multiple versions are portrayed in the same comic line. Batman lets Robin tease him and misses Robin when they’re apart, but he also gets mad at Robin for something that he has to know isn’t Robin’s fault. Batman is cold and distant to Robin but also says he trusts Robin as much as he trusts himself. Batman doesn’t know what Tim’s family life is like because he doesn’t feel it’s important, as long as it doesn’t affect Tim’s work, and he also asks Tim to tell him about his family’s situation because he sees himself in Tim and wants to offer comfort.

These are all Batman, but are also not Batman. Because the writers want you to view Batman as whatever they’re portraying him as in that one specific comic. What is Batman like? Well, it depends on the comic issue, not the comic series.

I like to focus on Bruce having interests and cares outside of Gotham alone. I like writing him as having friends he trusts and kids he loves. Because this is more interesting to me than the Bruce who is cold and uncaring. But, I also understand that this isn’t the only way he’s portrayed. This is the way I perceive him, the way I read all of his comics and the reason why I can make excuses for his actions that others find objectionable or unforgivable.

My way of reading Bruce isn’t the right or wrong way to do so, because there is no wrong way to read Bruce’s character. He’s genuinely been portrayed as just about all the versions you can find. And of course people exaggerate, they worsen him or (in my case) make him better. Which isn’t wrong either.

Batman is both a loving and a distant father. Batman both cares only for Gotham and has interests beyond Gotham. Batman has no friends and a few close friends. Batman is serious and dark and brooding and Batman is silly and playful and pretending to be emotionless. The writers don’t agree, the fans don’t agree, no one agrees so Batman is a nebulous character of clear motives only when it suits the narrative he’s engaged in.

[necrotic-nephilim]

@profandomhopper i was going to reblog the original post this comment was left on but i felt it divorced itself from the original topic so much, you get your own post for giving me delightful permission to ramble about this. buckle in people this is long.

so, DC is a big fandom that expanses a lot of different types of content, and like anything, is subject to crossovers. the obvious ones like Marvel are for the reason of being a similar and equally popular superhero world, so it's easy to transpose the worlds onto each other and overlap the characters. both of these worlds deal with multiverses and endless, endless heroes. it makes sense and there's no real stretch to think Batman and Spider-Man could co-exist. i mean, there have been canon crossover comics. and even some more random crossovers like White Collar have pretty easy to trace origins, being an actor in WC was a popular Dick fancast back in the day so there was some bleeding over that led to a well-loved niche crossover space.

but Danny Phantom and Miraculous Ladybug are where it gets interesting. because at a surface, MLB sort of makes sense. it's a superhero world, you're following a teen girl superhero and sure the mechanics are pretty contained, but the crossover should make sense. but when you compare it to the crossover numbers of other superhero media like say My Hero Academia, Ladybug takes the *crown* with such a bizarre popularity. and of course, DP feels like it makes even less sense. sure, you *could* lump it into at the very least, superhero-adjacent media, but it's not a true hero world like MLB or DC is.

but, the thing to always understand about DC, *especially* the Batfamily (which is where the crossover content propagates the most) is this: a *very* good chunk of fans don't interact with the comics. i would venture to say even most Batfamily fans don't read the comics and actively talk about it. we've all read a very fandom big Batfam fanfic where the author's note mentions the writer has never touched a comic in their life. typically, these fans are either cobbling together their understanding from fandom content, or by frankensteining unrelated DC adaptations to understand each character. you take Bruce from Batman: TAS, you take Dick from the animated Young Justice, you take Jason from Batman: Under The Red Hood animated movie, you take Damian from the DCAMU Batman vs Robin, and you read some fandom metas to fill in the rest and well, you've got some sort of an understanding of these characters. read enough incorrect quotes, some genfic, a couple of character metas, and boom, you understand the Batfamily fandom enough to start creating your own content. and of course now. now you have Wayne Family Adventures so it's even *easier*. a pretty easy to pick up webtoon that's filling in all the gaps for you. but i've been in this fandom long enough to remember before we had WFA and even then, this was still a common, if not the most popular way, to ween yourself into the DC fandom space. you cherry-picked the canon you liked and then plunged into the depths of fanon.

i'm not here to make in depth commentary on if i think this is a good or bad thing. trust me i have that commentary in my head, but that would need it's own post. i'm very split on it and my feelings are complicated. my feelings on WFA are even *more* complicated. because oftentimes, the attitude expressed by these fans who are frankensteining this version of the Batfamily/DC world they have in their head is they don't *want* to read the comics. the comics don't contain the content they're after. and to an extent, i understand that. if you're looking for light-hearted vibes of the Batfamily all getting along and having the occasional hurt/comfort moments but in the end, they hug and make up, you're right. largely, you won't find that in canon. of course there are so many comics to recommend for Batfamily interactions, but you have to get specific. you'll find them interacting in small groups, Tim and Dick bonding here, Duke and Cass bonding there, but largely, the comics don't care to balance the ridiculously large cast they've given themselves. but fandom does. it's easy to toss them all in a blender and ignore the parts you don't like. the default argument to ignoring the comics or writing something OOC is always "well the comics are OOC and inconsistent too" which, while a flawed argument that massively misunderstand how comics work as a medium, isn't an entirely incorrect one. you could serve on a silver platter to these fans, an easy and accessible way to get into comics and they wouldn't be interested. it's not what they're here for. fandom is always character-driven above all else. it's driven by character relationships and dynamics. if someone wants to consume content where Tim idolized and stalked Jason as 'his Robin' and now is trying to help him rehabilitate and they're super complicated but have this long epic forgiveness arc, why *would* they read the comics? because they're sure as shit not going to find that dynamic in the comics. it's laughably OOC and not canon at all, but that doesn't matter. what matters is the sandbox. most Batfamily fans care *far* more about the sandbox canon gives them than the actual canon itself. feel how you feel about that, this really isn't being negative toward that attitude, but it is a common attitude.

so, you have Batfamily fans playing in the sandbox and building their own narrative. common fandom headcanons are so common, you could practically write a guide on how the fanon Batfamily works with how consistent people are about it. or you could just read WFA, which is practically the new manifesto of it. even now, with this sudden spike in people talking about canon accuracy and "actually this happening in the comics", they don't actually care about the comics, just what they can cherry-pick for fodder. (even if they rob it of so much context they're just as OOC as they were before. see specifically: the recent phenomena with Tim Drake going from the woobified weakest member of the Batfam who everyone needs to save constantly and he's the smart boy but he's also the one with a sad tragic neglectful past who gets overlooked being the way Batfamily fandom played with Tim for years. but recently, people seem to be pushing this idea of a ridiculously badass Tim, Tim who *totally* has a kill count because of his actions in RR (2009) if you take them completely out of context, Tim who bested Ra's and is even more badass than Jason and he's the 17 yr old CEO of Wayne Industries being cool and flawless it becoming the new fandom zeitgeist. neither of these versions of Tim are canon, and the second fundamentally misunderstands his arc in RR (2009) but the shift has undeniably happened and it's been fascinating to watch. the same thing happened with people suddenly deciding Jason isn't the "angry violent Robin", he was a sunshine sweet boy who was perfect as Robin. neither of these are true, but the second feels more transgressive and new to fandom from cherry-picked panels.) the point is largely, Batfamily fans would rather build their own canon than play with the actual canon.

and then, you have Danny Phantom. i'm not into DP and have no interest to get into it, but what i know about it via fandom osmosis is this: DP fans sort of also don't give a fuck about canon. once again, the canon of DP is a sandbox, not a rulebook. the concepts and the characters are the draw, not the plot itself. i've seen DP posts explaining characters who are essentially OCs, but have become so dominant in the fandom via fandom osmosis. there are concepts and ideas about how Danny's powers work and potential concepts with his ghost nature that either aren't in canon or only happened once in canon and fans decided to expand on that and doesn't care about it's own in-universe logic. i've seen a lot of DP fans also express they haven't seen the show and they don't have plans to see the show. because the show is just some children's cartoon with some inconsistencies and a simple plot, as you'd expect from CN. the show isn't the point. no one cares about it's plot, they care about it's characters. they care about pushing the concept of half ghost boy to a logical extreme and seeing what you can get out of that. can you make it weird and fucked up. how much can you highlight on his trauma and body horror. what identity crisis can you give him and how can you build his interactions with other characters in his world around that and also make those characters fun and unique on their own. sure, the skeleton of canon is there, but the meat lies all in the fanon.

Miraculous Ladybug also exists in this similar vein. the characters, the concepts, those hold intrigue. and not even mentioning the fact the original concept for this show was supposed to be aimed to an older audience, so you can see the bones of something a bit more mature and nuanced under this typical, villain of the week magical girl transformation show. the show itself is a bit shallow and that's not a *bad* thing, it's just the medium it exists within being aimed towards children. but the concepts of a teen girl who's basically a sort of chosen one, a boy who doesn't know his father is the big bad of the show, and their weird identity porn love... square thing. those dynamics are *so* complicated and such a fun sandbox to play in with character-driven fandom.

so, at the core, you have three fandoms that care more about the culturally accepted fanon than the canon, with a good chunk of people often not even consuming the original canon content. and well, DC is an *easy* world to transpose just about anything onto. a boy who's half ghost and fighting supernatural threats? that makes sense, DC has ghost heroes like Deadman already. a girl who has this magical item that gives her animal themed superpowers? i mean that's practically the same thing as Vixen's Totem so that one makes sense too. they fit in pretty easy, no needing to change the world to accommodate them. and of course, if you're a fan of *one* fandom where you don't care for the canon content and only like the fandom sandbox, chances are, you'll get drawn in pretty easily to another fandom with similar mechanics. if you can teach yourself the DP fandom rules/concepts, you can teach yourself the Batfamily fandom rules/concepts. and well, since there's so much crossover in fandom members, why not write the fanfiction? crossover fics will always exist, but with such a shared member base, you have a really big boom.

it's why the characters you see DP interact with in DC are *always* characters who are far more driven by fanon than canon. Danny and John Constantine is a *massive* concept. for people who don't read Hellblazer comics. my poor partner, @divine-dominion has lamented to me pretty often about finding DP content in the Hellblazer tag that is essentially turning Constantine into an OC. because whatever version of Constantine is being written about isn't one bit comics accurate, and really, isn't trying to be. and the same thing happens with Shazam. you watch Young Justice and understand him well enough, you get drawn in by the character concept that you just run with it. people put their favorite blorbos in the same place because hey, wouldn't ghost boy be pretty cool in a city like *Gotham*. how would Batman even react to him. and then, the shipping. because ages for the Batfamily can be easily hand-waved and moved around based on where you plop Danny into the timeline, you have your pick of the litter with him, and same with Ladybug. of course there are the most popular ships but largely, the world is your oyster.

i don't think this is the worst thing in the world for either fandom. it's not hard to filter out the crossover tags and scroll past content i don't like. and sure, i see the appeal of making your blorbos from two different places meet. i've got my drafts *full* of DC/MHA crossover ideas because well, i like them both and think that would be cool. i think my only gripe with it is when DP or MLB crossover content seeps it's way into the wrong tags. using the above example, if you're writing about Danny and Constantine but there's zero content of the actual Hellblazer comics, i don't think you need the Hellblazer tag, just the Constantine character tag. tbh i wish this extended onto Ao3 and people utilized fandom tags better. if you're writing Batfamily fanfiction that is very clearly and obviously WFA driven in characterization and concepts, i would far prefer those fics be tagged with the WFA fandom tag rather than the Batman (comics) fandom tag. because well, you're not writing about the Batman comics. and there's nothing wrong with that, but it helps if you don't confuse yourself for content striving to interact with canon more. (this especially extends to Young Justice, by the way. if you're writing for the Young Justice tv show please, please stop using the Young Justice (comics) fandom tag. i'm at my wit's end- /lh)

the whole thing is fascinating. i've got zero interest in entering DP or MLB as fandoms because that's not my speed, but witnessing it as an outsider is my favorite pastime. i see a *lot* of posts going around the DC x DP space that are helping explain to people who's who, what's what, and understanding the canon/fanon of both of these properties so others can better enter the space. which is not something you'd need in a fandom driven only by it's canon content, but it is sweet watching others try to help newbies enter the space. it's a very inviting fandom space, i think, whether you lament it's existence or not. they're just sitting in their corner with their blorbos, and i gotta respect that. the posts explaining the Batfamily to DP fans are always fun for me to read, even if i disagree with some of the characterizations in them because it helps shine a light on what the fans of this crossover regard as "important" enough about each fandom to be worth including those sorts of primers. very fascinating stuff.

[briarmoon1015]

I think I’ve already confessed that I’m not a big birdflash fan, but there is something I really gotta point out because it’s bothering me.

I see a lot of people use specific comic panels to try and show how close these two characters are, but completely miss the whole point of the comic itself.

For example, I’ve seen a lot of people use panels from The Flash 1987 210, in which Wally reflects on his relationship with dick.

The problem with this is they are literally cutting out the next part of the page that explains that they have drifted apart

Wally is extremely different from dick, and once he takes up the flash mantle, it becomes clear that these two characters are on different paths. Wally wants to uphold the legacy of the flash, dick desperately wants to escape the legacy of Batman. Wally has a wife, three children, and a stable job. Dicks life changes at a moments notice, one minute he’s broke, one minute he’s rich, sometimes he has a job as a police officer, sometimes he’s dating one of his many red headed girlfriends, he’s the opposite of stable.

And that’s not to say the different characters can’t be friends or be together, but as this same comic shows, these two often struggle to understand one another once adults

Wally, after zoom caused his wife Linda to have a miscarriage, went to Hal as the spectre for help, which no one liked, including Dick. He is somewhat miffed Wally didn’t come to him, be he also sides with Bruce about how reckless and stupid the action was

He definitely empathizes with Wally’s situation, but he’s not really there to give support. Later on, dick does start to get the point, and the two take down gorilla grod. Dick apologies for his actions and both agree to stay in touch more. Obviously every good friendship is going to have some moments of tension and disagreement, but I think this really shows why Wally and Dick fell apart as adults.

And this really is the crux of why I’m personally not a big fan or birdflash. These two characters are inherently different and it’s so rare for me to see any birdflash content that acknowledges this. They can be together in a way that acknowledges and builds off of this, but it really hasn’t been done.

More importantly, I’ve noticed that to make burdflash work, a lot of fans completely erase Wally’s character to ignore these differences. His own goals, his own backstory, his own relationships, are just gone so he can be with dick. There is never any acknowledgment of the canon of Wally’s own motivations, such as living up to the flash mantle, or any mention of his connections to characters outside of Dick.

Even more so, I think erasing the presence of his wife and kids from his life so he can be with dick is really hard on the character. Linda is so essential in Wally’s life. She is the character in which speedsters learn the importance of having a lightning rod. She is the one to often push Wally to keep going. His kids redefined his life. He literally broke the source wall in order to keep them in his life. These are essential relationships that are just erased from Wally’s life.

As someone who truly prefers Wally over Dick, it hurts to see a potentially good pairing erase the good aspects of Wally like this. There is plenty of erasure done to other dc characters because of how popular the Bats are, and this ship, at least to me, is one of the worst examples. These characters are different, and often times it makes it hard for them to understand each other. Ignoring that issue doesn’t make the ship good in my eyes.

Anyways, I really don’t want to poop on birdflash as a whole. It is by no means a bad ship, I personally just don’t really like it. It has a lot of qualities that bother me. Despite all of this though, I do love seeing people’s art of it and I actually do think it can work a bit better when they are young and apart of the teen titans. I also know as a halbarry shipper I’m throwing rocks in a glass house lmao. But please ship what you like, I really don’t care, I just needed to shout into the void about my feelings around it :)

[o0opumpkino0o]

Here’s a Demon twins AU that I will never write. I feel like the best crossover fics are written by people who enjoy and have a good grasp on the shows/comics/whatever they are combining and my DC knowledge is severely lacking. So this will mostly be focused on Danny. Feel free to take inspiration and make whatever changes you want, if you feel like taking a swing at it. Originally, this was supposed to be a comedic prompt that took advantage of Danny having ghost powers. But that quickly changed. 

-I’m not the biggest fan of Ghost King!Danny so I’m not writing this with that in mind but if you like it then feel free to add it in. 

-I feel like this AU would work better with Danny and Damian as rivals or having a love/hate relationship but you do whatever you like best.  

-In this AU they are not identical twins. 

-While on a mission, Danyal and Damian were separated at age 5. Damian stayed with the league while Danyal was found by the Fenton’s. 

-Danyal was seriously injured during the mission and the Fenton’s thought it would be irresponsible to leave him on his own after patching him up. And any parents that allowed their child to get so grievously injured obviously shouldn’t be incharge of raising a kid. So they decide to adopt him. 

-The league assumes that Danyal was killed on the mission. Even though a body was never found, there weren’t reports of a child matching Danyal’s description in the surrounding cities or even states and a five year old can only go so far on his own, even one with League training. 

-Did Danyal want to leave the league? Did he want to stay and protect Damian/prove himself worthy of the title or heir? You decide! Either way he ends up living with the Fenton’s, has his accident at 14, and the Danny Phantom series continues as normal.

-Over the years of living with the Fenton’s Danny starts to lose touch with his league training. Some of the knowledge sticks with him, like what specific poisons can do, etc. But most of the physical training fades away. He was five when he was taken from the League, by the time he became half-ghost, he’d spent most of his life out of it. 

-He also starts to feel invincible after avoiding the League’s radar for so long. As long as he doesn’t bring too much attention to himself, there’s no way they could find him. They probably think he’s dead anyway. And even if someone from the League showed up in Amity Park, for whatever reason, what are the chances they’d even recognize him?? As long as he lays relatively low his past will never catch up with him. 

-At age 10/12/whatever age Damian was sent to live with Bruce, the “scandal” was broadcasted across national television. While Danny knew he and Damian were the sons of the Bat, he had no idea who Batman was. It did not take long for Danny to put 2 and 2 together. 

-Unfortunately for Danny, the broadcast was airing while he was with Sam and Tucker. Any training he had to hide his emotions eroded in the 5 to 7 years he was living in Amity. His friends, understandably, wanted to know why he suddenly started freaking out and weren’t going to take nothing for an answer. 

-While he could have lied, he wanted to trust his friends and told them everything. For the most part. He did leave out what the cult of assassins he was born into was called along with most of the names of the people in the League. And the parts where he was responsible, whether directly or indirectly, for the deaths of dozens of people. But, pretty much anything else was told.  

-Miraculously, they believed him and still wanted to be friends. Danny was sure Sam would have had an issue with him being raised to kill people for the first few years of his life. But she actually thought it was pretty cool! Mostly because he didn’t actually kill anyone himself, as far as she knew. Was he responsible for slipping some poison into a target's drink? Yes, but that couldn’t be proven. Did he and his brother lower the guard of targets with their ‘lost-children-trying-to-find-their-mommy’ routine so that another member could come in for the kill? Also yes, but he wasn’t directly responsible so it didn’t count. 

-Yes, Danny did mention that his father was Batman and that the newest addition to Bruce Wayne’s family was his twin brother. So that does mean that Sam and Tucker also know the identities of a good portion of the Bat’s and Bird’s. But Danny was young at the time, thought nothing could hurt him, and didn’t quite understand the severity of having a secret identity. Once he had his accident and became personally aware of the risks and consequences of that, the trio had a meeting and got rid of anything that might have had that secret in it. Old diaries, computer journals, text messages. Everything was burned or wiped. They agreed they would never mention that secret directly, especially once Vlad entered the picture. 

-Everything was as good as it could be until about two years after the accident. Casper High won a competition for the Juniors to tour Wayne Enterprises. The Fenton’s refused to let Danny skip on the opportunity. When else would they get the chance to measure Gotham’s ambient ectoplasm or pitch their inventions to Bruce Wayne himself? Danny tried to explain that Bruce probably wouldn’t even be present for the tour and that the TSA would confiscate any Fenton Tech his parents would try to make him bring. But they didn’t listen. 

-As nervous as he was, Danny insisted that everything would be fine. Bruce/Batman was a busy man, he probably had a case he was working on that was way more important than some stupid tour. Tim was CEO and was too important to be a part of a tour. It wouldn't make sense for anyone else in the flock to be there. Gotham itself was so big that the likelihood of him running into anyone was slim and, even if he did, he and Damian weren’t identical twins, any resemblance could be passed off as coincidence. And if he noticed any stares or double takes, well, it wasn’t like it was hard for him to get lost in a crowd.  

-Sam and Tucker weren’t confident in his defense and made sure he had enough makeup on to subtly hide his face shape and any notable facial features at a glance. 

-Danny was right about the TSA forbidding most of the Fenton’s tech on the plane, the only things they allowed were the fenton phones, the emf reader to monitor Gotham’s ambient ectoplasm levels, and some gas masks his parents made in case their trip was interrupted by one of Batman's rogue. Danny was able to sneak some things on board by phasing them past TSA beforehand, but the only things the trio brought with them was the thermos and a few disguised blasters, just in case. 

-The trip actually went pretty well, the hotel wasn’t in the wealthy part of the city, nor was it in Crime Alley. It was in a safe enough area where the students probably wouldn’t be at risk of being shot if they were to wander off. But far enough away that the elites wouldn’t get annoyed at some midwest tourists. 

-Danny was also right about Bruce and the others being too busy to run into him. It turns out most of the bats probably weren’t even in Gotham. According to the guide, Mr. Wayne and co were on a “family vacation” and weren’t expected to be back for another week, days after the student’s would return to Amity. 

-Of course it would be after Danny lowered his guard that things took a turn for the worse. They were just about to board their flight back. Everyone was lined up to go! Only for the terminal to start filling with fear gas as Scarecrow and, if you were to ask Danny, an excessive amount of goons entered the building. Danny had an idea what the Bat’s were focused on during their “vacation”

-Thankfully, the trio was prepared. So, while their classmates were unfortunately swept up in the chaos; Danny, Sam and Tucker were able to slip on their gas masks and find a place to come up with a plan. Even though Danny didn’t need to breathe, even in his human form. He still slipped on his mask to keep up appearances.

-It didn’t take long for the Bats to show up. Specifically Batman, Robin and Nightwing. Batman went after Crane while Nightwing and Robin took care of the henchmen. 

-Batman seemed to be pretty evenly matched with Crane but the goons managed to separate Robin and Nightwing. Both were starting to get overwhelmed with the number of goons they were fighting. 

-Danny couldn't continue to sit back and do nothing. He was a hero, he could do something to even things out. 

-Sam tried to convince him to leave it alone, that there were other heroes who could help but she knew it was hopeless. Tucker put a hand on Danny’s shoulder and told him to be careful before the two went off to find a better place to hide. They made sure they kept their Fenton Phones on in case Danny needed their help. 

-Danny found a place to transform, went invisible, and joined the fight.

-Danny tried to stay in between Nightwing and Robin, picking off goons in their blind spots. If the other two noticed anything off with the number of goons decreasing faster than they were fighting, it didn't show in their body language.

-Just as Danny thought he would be able to get out of this fight undetected, one of the henchmen was able to rip off Damian's gasmask. Nightwing hadn't noticed yet, in the middle of his own huddle of goons. Batman was still focused on Crane. Danny was the only one who could help.

-Time slowed. It was subtle but he could see his brother's shoulders rise and fall as his breathing was starting to speed up. The fear toxin was setting in. Danny did not spend the first 5 years of his life training to protect Damian just to fail now. 

-In an instant, he flew over to his brother. Knocking out the goons surrounding him, Danny loses his touch on his invisibility as he slipped the gas mask on to Damian’s face. He mentally pleads to every Ancient he knows that his brother won't recognize him. 

-Danny realizes that the domino masks the Bats and Birds wear doesn't give away much emotion wise. But he doesn't think Damian's eyes widen or anything along those lines. Maybe one thing will go Danny's way. After all, he’s in ghost form right now. What are the odds, after all this time, his brother would recognize him?

-”Akhi?” It came out more like a breath than a whisper. If Danny’s hearing wasn't so sensitive he wouldn't have heard it. 

-Well, fuck. Maybe if he bails out now everyone will chalk it up to a fear toxin hallucination. 

-He allowed himself to fade from view but stayed close in case any goons tried to take advantage of his brother's disoriented state. 

-Nightwing was finally able to break out of the goon huddle and come to Robin’s defense just in time for Batman to take down Crane.

-Danny took that as his cue to leave and found Sam and Tucker before anything worse could happen. 

-Once they were able to regroup, Danny quickly filled them in on what happened before Mr. Lancer ushered them away to be checked over by some medics while their plane was rescheduled. 

-It isn't until the trio are back at the hotel that Danny realizes he left his gas mask with Damian. 

-Bad news, Danny’s ghost form was caught on the airport’s security cameras before Tucker had the chance to try and delete it. Good news, the cameras being out of date added with Phantom’s ectoplasm means that the footage was too distorted to make out any discernible features. Bad news, the students of Casper High know full well it was Phantom, the ghost boy. And have no problem saying it to every reporter who comes across them. Good news, most people dismiss the ghost explanation as nonsense and assume its a meta trying to encroach on Batman’s territory. 

-Casper High ends up needing to stay in Gotham for a week longer than intended. Bruce Wayne returns from his ‘vacation’ a few days after the attack and offers to pay for the extra nights and any medical bills that students might have gotten as a result of the attack. 

-During that week, Danny can’t bring himself to sleep. He keeps on expecting his brother or one of the others to burst through the hotel window and whisk him away to an interrogation. Thoughts he’s managed to keep pushed down for years are suddenly rising back to the surface. This whole time Danny assumed that, since Damian’s been living with Father for years, Damian was out of the League. Everyone knows about Batman’s no killing rule, there is no way that Batman would let Damian continue his training. But what if that was all a ruse? What if Batman was working for the League but wanted to keep his own hands clean? What if they were going to send Danny back? What if they thought Danny was a spy or wanted revenge? What if they find out he’s half ghost and believe his parents research that all ghosts are evil?

-Sam and Tucker try to calm him down. It was just his ghost form that Damian saw, whose first thought when seeing your brother’s ghost was to assume he’s still alive and living a double life? Plus, for all Danny knew, his brother could have been reacting to the fear toxin instead of Danny himself. Danny appreciated their efforts but he was still on edge. 

-Instead, nothing happens. He can’t find anyone or anything out of the ordinary during his invisible perimeter checks. There’s no attempt to communicate with him. According to Tucker, no one has tried to gain access to Casper High’s student files. Danny’s parents haven’t mentioned that Bruce Wayne has shown any interest in their inventions during any of their phone calls. Nothing.

-He doesn’t know if he should be relieved or disappointed. Batman was supposed to be the world's greatest detective. How could he not look into all of the loose ends Danny left behind, no matter how unintentional it was? Sure, most people brushed off the ghost thing. But an entire class, from the most haunted city in America, saying their hometown hero came in to save the day is something to look into. Even if it’s just to find proof to write them off. He left behind a Fenton branded gas mask for Ancients sake! A new thought started to crop up. What if they didn’t care? What if Damian already explained everything? Maybe the bats knew about Damian’s long lost/dead brother and thought his sudden reappearance, alive or dead, wasn’t worth looking into? What if they- what if Damian- wanted nothing to do with him? Can Danny even be upset? It‘s not like he ever tried to get in contact. Maybe Damian thinks Danny wants nothing to do with him. Does Danny want his brother back in his life? Every time he thought about it, it was either too good to be true or his fantasies ended with Damian stabbing him through the chest. 

-Either way, they were able to board the plane with no issue. The plane landed and his parents picked him up with nothing of interest happening. His parents dropped him off at the house, they wanted to do a quick patrol since the ghost attacks have been rising the last few weeks. There were no surprise attacks in the living room or the kitchen. No signs of anyone in the Lab. (Or any signs of a ghost getting caught while he was gone, that was a relief.) Jazz’s room looked like it did the day she left for college. The house was completely clean. 

-Now there are a few different ways I think this could go. One, Damian is waiting for Danny in his bedroom, sees Danny phase into the room and immediately has a sword to his throat. Maybe Damian was able to get away from the Manor without having to give away too much information and takes it upon himself to look into his brother’s reappearance. Maybe Damian was forced to tell his family about his late brother. Does Damian miss Danyal? Does he feel betrayed that Danyal left? Maybe Damian told his family once they earned his trust when he first moved into the manor? It’s hard to say how this goes from here or how the DC characters react since I don’t know enough about them but if you want to add on to this, please do!

[snakeredbirdbatkatana]

OK so now I'm thinking about birthday's

And everyone in this fandom seems to know the 16th birthday from hell and I'm gonna touch on it

Growing up, I had pretty shitty parents. I know I haven't talked too much about it, but my father was the king of fucking up my birthday and whatever, and would never get me a gift like this man was incapable of practically, remembering my birthday.

But I want you to think about that for a moment Bruce Wayne, who, for all intensive purposes, was a father figure to Tim went out of his way to psychologically torture that poor child on his birthday, and it is like never brought up again like the angst potential of the entire family finding out is astronomical.

But also, do you know how fucked up it is to feel on your birthday the day that is supposed to be about you your father literally going out of his way to fuck it up. That's not something you forget that is a vivid memory. 

That shapes you for all of your life never mind the fact that time travel is a big thing in the DC universe. That was a perfectly tailored way to destroy Tim Drake and I mean I talk a lot of shit about Bruce Wayne but I almost feel like that's worse than a lot of shit he's done in my personal experience some shit sticks with you my most traumatic memories are not actually physically abusive in nature it's the psychological shit that fucks with you.

So RIP Tim Drake and his emotional well-being because every bit of paranoia, every bit of his personality, his lack of trust all can stem back to the 16th birthday from hell.

I love when we can literally dig to the cause and the cause of every contingency Tim Drake has ever fucking written. Is Bruce motherfucking Wayne.

I can never not stop hating on Canon Bruce Wayne I don't care if we have him, hugging Tim in one comic

That man is a piece of shit and I will stand by that statement 

[setare7x]

I need ALL the young justice lore😭 I have never touched a dc comic in my life but I really want to start reading the YJ ones because (at least wha I heard about them) they are so much chaos and I desperately need that in my life

[farshootergotme]

Oh you and your friend make some interesting points about why Bruce adopting Dick so late in his life was a problem. It’s something writers clearly didn’t take into account when the trying to make this scene work while also not letting go of the not being adopted thing plot line while also trying to have their cake too by having Dick and Bruce makeup and finally having Dick be adopted by Bruce.

I know the writer writing Protugal wanted it to be a touching moment between the two of them. But the problem is it isn’t about what Dick wants and it written in a way where Bruce while has good intention offering him the adoption papers, he doesn’t own up to the fact he caused this issue in the first place if I am remembering correctly although I will have double check and reread that scene so take my statement with a grain of salt. Poor communication is truly the worst emery of them all and cough comic book writers loving to hammer in unnecessary drama and conflict even if makes no bloody sense at times or take into account how it effect the characters going forward. 

The thing about what is a good Batman writer is not necessarily if they nail Bruce Wayne and Batman as a whole but rather if they care about Robin as a concept or even like characters Dick Grayson in general. Same goes to Nightwing writers as well you can absolutely love Dick Grayson but do you actually understand Bruce Wayne as a character and are you willing to explore that aspect of their relationship Ie father/son. (Then again some of Nightwing writers do him so bloody dirty it’s honestly mind boggling to me.)

Another thing to think about is how most modern day writers and even some of older best writers from back in day of Batman is that they refuse to let him be wrong or admit he has messed up. Like my god, I like Bruce as character I really do but it’s so frustrating to see how he is treated in modern books like my god just stop the drama already with his family, I’m tired of Batman being regressed to his younger less mature self mentality and acts like he has learned nothing. Why is it so hard to just let him be a flawed but well meaning dad who yes messes up sometimes but is willing to get better and grow as a person because at the end of the day he truly cares about his children.

My problem with Richard getting adopted as an adult is well mainly with how it was handled. It never about what Dick wants if it was the writers would have made Bruce apologise for his failing as a father to him and make it so it’s up to Richard if he decides to forgive him or not because let’s be honest Bruce hurt his eldest son by his selfish actions but Bruce should also just be honest with him about he has always seen him as a son maybe not at first but it grew into that overtime and that he was wrong for assuming how Dick felt about being adopted and should have done sooner in fact he should have done around the same time as Jason. Again he should have done the minute or at least offered it when he and Dick had a heart to heart in the Marv wolf man run at Donna wedding but I don’t know. You know what amusing about his run is before this story was made he refer to Dick as Bruce adopted child early in his run which is an interesting thing to think about or maybe I misremember and it was a different writer altogether. OvO’)

Or maybe we can just skip all the stupid drama of adopting or no adopting bs and just have Bruce adopt Richard as a young teen which gives Dick enough time to think about it and probably change his mind. It also gives them time to bond as father and son, now I am not asking for Bruce to be a perfect father figure mistakes will happen as he learns what it means to be a father figure to Dick. Like come on give me fun and compassionate Batman please I miss him like geez why are the writers afraid to just let Bruce grow and move on from his past to some extent. 

Another to get off my chest with DC is well isn’t time to just retire the whole ward thing because it not really used anymore and might as well change to Dick being a foster child because that is what he is. Like the 2004 cartoon The Batman made this change to just that. Like I get Ward is historically important to Richard but I don’t know. Another thing I wish for is just to let Dick be adopted earlier at this point because the drama of not being adopted is just hurting both Dick and Bruce as characters at this point. 

When you could instead be focusing on why Dick wanting space and independence from Bruce like how his parenting style can be quite old fashioned the strict yet overprotective father figure and how he shows his love through his actions rather then his words. You could also explore how Bruce being a dad with a mental health issue aka ptsd, being kind of a control freak and suffer from self loathing issues and how he thinks he never be a good enough parent to his adopted soon. Effects Dick development and how Dick felt like over-coddled and suppressed by Bruce being overprotective and at times being super critical of his decisions as a young teen and young adult.

Honestly what frustrating about Tom Tyler run of Nightwing is that the scene with Dick and Bruce in the bat cave is so good but the problem is it is not earned because Tom Tyler hasn’t really taken the time to explore Dick’s and Bruce’s relationship as father and son or having the balls to actually explore the nuances of it and gasp let Dick call Bruce out on where he has hurt him and that Bruce needing to take responsibility for his actions as father. 

This is why I hate when people say they aren’t father and son or god damn family because one it makes it out Bruce actions aren’t as bad because they’re just “coworkers/partners” which just gross to me and also takes away Richard agency and why he repels so heavily against Bruce and why he is so upset about not being adopted you can’t just sit there and tell me they’re not family because it’s simply not true because this effects Richard heavily because in his mind he thought he wasn’t good enough to be Bruce’s son and felt replaced. Literally Eldest feeling replaced by the new baby sibling coded right there.

Another thing, I feel people will have come and accept about superhero comics mostly by Marvel and DC is well they’re kinda like fairy tales in a way, writers giving their own spin and takes on the world and the characters that function within it. They only things that keep them connected is how characters themselves and if they develop and grows carries over or sticks within that part of the lore. I also feel that writers are afraid to take big risks like changing how Dick Grayson became Nightwing even though they’re already one or two versions where it doesn’t lead to him fighting with Bruce and getting fired.

Now I am not saying ignore canon completely but I feel you’re at the mercy of the writers or eras of comic book runs and I think people should pick the writers they like rather try to stitch all these different takes and continuities together. Then again, I guess it doesn’t help that most media has Batman alone and completely disregard the concept of Robin or his found family in general and that honestly such a shame because Robin aka Dick Grayson is the reason Batman comics stayed alive for so alive for so long, hell he was created even before blooming Alfred.

Which leads to final point this whole thing about Dick Grayson not being adopted, has made so that is all is ever talked about. Who Dick Grayson the character like what are his goals who he is like yes he relationship with his father figure is important as it what lead him to this pathway and wether he likes or not he can quite similar to Bruce in terms of his beliefs and parts of his personality but also what about his friends the titans or his journey into adulthood and he finds himself that’s more interesting to me. Modern writers what are you doing with Richard he has so much potential and yet it feels like they have no idea on what they want to do with. No more Tony Zuuco no more changing to his backstory leave it alone please it’s fine how it is there is no reason to make it more complicated and by doing that you take away how the parallel between Bruce and Dick backstories 👏👏👏Hot take I know. 

Also, there is nothing wrong with wanting to write Dick and Bruce patching up their relationship as father and son, I love Bruce being a good dad that is trying to best despite being mentally ill himself. But keep in mind how you go about writing Bruce and make sure he faces consequences for his decisions and actions as a parental figure to  Dick Grayson and his other children. 

Oh wow sorry for making another kinda essay in your ask box again. 😅 (Hmm, I could talk about how Dick parents and his lifestyle at the circus effect his personality and how his flaws were already there before Bruce took him in but that probably for another time ha ha.

Anyway, that is enough of my rambles and inner never ending thought of this complicated father and son duo.

Hey, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I personally can agree with a lot that you're saying.

The problem when it comes to writing Dick and Bruce is that their characters are so old that many of the things from the earliest comics would be very different if one wants to write them in a more modern era. But many writers seem to choose to keep things (despite also changing things that are actually alright and should be left alone, but, oh, well...)

I mean, I don't think the drama of Bruce not being able to adopt is all that bad. For example, in one of the origins, there was woman, Sister Mary, who took care of Dick during his time at the orphanage. She mentions doubting Bruce's capabilities as a father because of his reputation as a womanizer, but that she was convinced she'd be good for Dick after talking with him in private.

They could still use this conflict in modern era and how his image as the playboy billionaire could influence the jury's decision to only give him custody of Dick as his new guardian rather than his adoptive father. Plus (I don't remember if it was in the same origin or not) Dick at the beginning wasn't fully ready to have a 'replacement' for his dad, so Bruce would respect that and accept the responsibility as his guardian.

However, here's where I'd say that they screw up; they let the years pass, no mention of adoption whatsoever (despite both clearly growing to see each other as father and son, respectively) and they just leave it at that until, check this out! Jason is adopted! I would assume now the jury is okay with letting him adopt a child because he's proven himself by taking care of Dick all these years. But, yeah, actually, back to Dick, what about him, then?

I don't believe for a second nobody would bring up the adoption issues. Like, if not Bruce or Dick (maybe because they're both afraid of being rejected by the other if they bring it up) why not Alfred? He's not shy about voicing his thoughts to Bruce, and I'm sure he could convince him to have a chat with Dick about a possible adoption because Dick is only getting older and one day it'll be too late to ask.

(Except not apparently because DC wrote Bruce asking a Dick in his early twenty's if he can adopt him which is definitely not late at all! Not to mention they had the first real conversation about adoption years ago, but Bruce just ignored Dick clears desires to be adopted and only brought it up when he thought it was the right time because why make a father that cares also about his son's emotions, am I right?

It just feels like a cheap compensation for all the years they (specially Dick) waited to become an official family. So what if the bond is more important? Maybe Dick wanted the reassurance that no matter what he would still be Bruce's family without meaning the end of their relationship everytime he left the manor to make a life for himself, is that so wrong?)

And it just makes Bruce look so bad when someone comes up with the excuse that "Dick didn't want to be adopted so Bruce was only respecting his wishes". Well, of fucking course he didn't want to get a new father a few weeks after he saw his dad's bloody corpse laying on the floor of the circus! But years later? When he's already learnt to deal with the grief and has found a new family in these two older men that chose to take care of him? What excuse does Bruce have then to not have ever brought it up again? The only 'excuse' I could think of is that he was insecure that he wouldn't be a good father to Dick (or as good as Jhon Grayson) or, as I mentioned before, afraid of being rejected. But this isn't just about him!! And as the adult in the situation he needs to save those feelings for later and communicate with Dick first without coming to any assumptions. What will change from the current relationship, anyway? Other than the security that Bruce can't just get rid of Dick whenever he wants since he's just his guardian and he can pass the responsibility to anyone else which sounds a lot more like a plus to me than a negative change.

And Bruce himself said "it doesn't really change anything" when he gave Dick the papers, so it really was a non-issue since the beginning.

I get he can have doubts and insecurities, but when it's between putting your feelings first or the ones of the child you're raising, I think the decision should come pretty easily. (Not to Bruce, apparently)

So, yeah, if DC really wanted, they could just change the early years again (we know they can, they've done it enough times already) and make Dick Bruce's officially adopted son during his Robin years and fix the whole issue very easily.

Now, I wanted to address the part about Bruce's parenting and DC not letting him develop and grow as both a character and a father, but I don't want to make this too long and you already said enough about the topic, so I'll leave it at that.

(also, would definitely love to hear about your thoughts on Dick's upbringing at the circus and how his issues began from his early childhood and not everything was for Bruce's influence. I have my own thoughts about that and it'd be great to discuss them with you)

[that-one-kiddo-in-the-back]

The Harley Quinn show is amazing... probably.

Okay, so when I was in like middle school, I was a huge DC fan. I'm not as much anymore as I've dedicated my life to Star Wars. Now, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are my favorite femfatile villains and have been the lesbian couple Gotham really didn't want, but the LGBTQ fans needed. Both have been abused by the men in their lives and found companionship with each other. Now let see how Lily sees it.

So Lily isn't a fan of the DC universe. Mainly, her problem stems from batman saying that she stopped caring about batman when it became something dark and edgy and used the dark knight as an example of it getting too dark, which if you're gonna blame something for a franchise for getting to dark don't use the dark knight. The batman franchise has been a dark thing way before 2008. Batman, in the 85 years he's been around, has always had a dark streak. All of the villains are crazy patients with a killer clown running around a corrupted city and the main hero becoming who he is after the death of his parents. If you want to blame something for how Batman is now. Blame the dudes in charge in 1939.

Now, Harley Quinn has been the Jokers "girlfriend" ever since her first appearance in 1992. With them being an off and on relationship. Lily says that the abuse Harley goes through with the joker is never really touched upon, which is both true and not. Everyone in comics and shows knows that Harley is in an unhealthy relationship, and all have asked why she stays. It's not that it's not touched upon. it's more of everyone knowing she's not gonna leave him, no matter what he does to her. To everyone around her, they know Harley doesn't want to leave the joker, so why bother convincing her. Like Lily said, you can't help someone who doesn't want it.

Lily starts talking about Ivy and how dispirit the fact that she's a doctor (most of the villains are doctors in their own field) she sexualized except for The Batman where she's just a teenager. Then she talks about clayface being a D list villain who's now a struggling actor (he always was). While she's talking about other characters, her straw man is constantly asking Lily what she thinks of Harley Quinn herself and spoiler alert she doesn't like Harley. What a surprise.

She claims that Harley's character is boring and is only centered around the love between her and Ivy and the abuse between her and the Joker now that might be true for the show which is pretty lame if you don't want to read her comics but what makes me mad is that Lily thinks that Harley being a stand alone villain never made sense because she has no evil goal like Ivy or the penguin but the Joker also doesn't have a goal either. A villain doesn't need to have a goal to do evil things, and Harley is no different. Harley Quinn is straight up crazy thanks to the chemical dunk and has HPD (Histrionic Personally Disorder), meaning she does things for attention. She doesn't need to have a goal in mind to cause trouble, and personally, I think the scariest villains are the ones who start shit just because they could.

Lily then goes on to say that Harley is only a villain because of the people she's dating, then brings up how Harley was the Jokers therapist but threw it away because of

"Bog standard fangirl hybristophilia"

Harley was fucking manipulated by the Joker to see if he could make her fall in love with him not because she had a thing for bad boys. I have not seen the Harley Quinn show, so please tell me that's not what the writers wrote in for her backstory.

I try to watch the whole video, but her saying that a victim of manipulation and abuse did this to herself because she had Bonnie and Clyde syndrome pissed me off so much that I couldn't finish it. All I can say is that Lily really has a problem with victim characters, and we've seen it time and time again from her hating Hunter to Catra, how she's willing to end friendship to save her own mental health and completely forgetting that the person who is reaching out probably has no one else to go to. Lily has no empathy, but I didn't need to tell you that.

[tismtron]

Prompt thesis: you want to spend quality time with your boyfriend Pete, but his friends already made plans to hang out that night..so he brings you with him to the club meeting.

Warnings: slow intro, sfw to nsfw build up,

You and Pete have been a thing for a while now, just on the down low. The both of you met at Pete’s comic shop; Pete being a regular with the club of goons that seem to be led by Bill; You worked as a cashier for minimum wage and get harassed by dorky men on the regular.

You’ve became accustomed to the regular “do you even know who Wolverine is? Have you ever opened a comic book?” And the occasional “name five Star Wars characters, I bet you haven’t even seen two sequels.”

You weren’t surprised by these comments. it was mostly expected, but you’d think these men would be nicer to you since you’re probably the only women they’ll ever touch in their lives by giving back their change on their overpriced purchases. Not like you would say these things out loud, because that would be mean, and Joe would snap at you even if he completely agrees with you.

But when you were checking out the club’s purchases and one by one of the same old “Don’t you dare put my damn sky walker figure in the same bag as his variant DC comics.” And “Does the 20% off count for the fantasy cards and RP board games in the back?” They all finished their purchase until one of the other members comes out from the back of the store. “You guys go ahead, I’ll pay and catch up.” His Brooklyn accent was heavier than the rest of the groups. Two of them nodded and waited outside the store as they tore into their bags.

You were left alone with him. How he treated you put you to shock. He was decent towards you, though his purchases of horror pinups and creep comics were something it’s not anything you’re unfamiliar to. He was sort of sweet. His small talk and his personality enticed you and wanted you to talk to him more, before he walked away you slipped your phone number with the receipt in hopes of talking to him again. You don’t know how long waiting by the phone until you got a call back.

Now you two were suppose to have a movie date, but now he was being nagged at a familiar face with caramel brunette air and acne covered skin. Pete decided to bring you because he wanted to spend time with you, but also told you it would piss off his friends even more if you came, and that’s what he wanted.

Walking to his friend’s house with your fingers intertwined with Pete’s, he goes in and leads you to his friend’s basement. Its took you a second to realize this wasn’t a secret tunnel to your shitting job until you heard three grown men fighting about Star Wars.

“Fuck you Bill, The Acolyte movie was a dog shit movie!” Screamed a big man you remember seeing numerous times, but never actually talked to. His glasses held on for dear life as he kept deprecating on a Star Wars movie you haven’t seen. “Not only was everything brutally predictable, but any mystery dangled for the audience was answered almost immediately OR dragged out too long, which became an afterthought to the audience because of bad pacing buck.” The blonde lectured on to the brunette some more. “Whatever fuck let’s just get the club meeting started when-who the fuck is that.” All eyes turn to you as your foot hit the bottom of the stairs.

You were never scared nor intimidated by these men before but now you feel like a deer in headlights. You’re now in the house in a basement surrounded by three men. You grip on Pete’s sleeve like your last vice and look at him with a silent look in your eyes.

Pete still stood un-phased and almost bored as he stated,”I told you I had plans tonight, so I brought my plans with me since you wanted me to be here so fucking bad.” He put heavy attitude in the last part of his explanation while walking over to the table and you following behind him trying you best not to make it seem obvious you were using him as a human shield.

“Fine just this one time, just remember the rule.” Bill said as he pointed a finger at Pete just to to scoff back at him and sit at the table. You look to find a seat but before just as you were looking at are Pete grabbed your wrist and pulled you on his lap. You couldn’t look up but you knew that they were all looking at you. God do they recognize you? Or are they just shocked to have a girl down here.

Bill went on about stuff they did last week and his findings of stuff he bought that you know you have checked out for him at Joe’s. Then who you now know as Josh showed his comics and collectible exclusives that you know was from joes too, then Jerry, oh god have to recognize you there’s no way.

Then sealing your fate Josh spoke. ”Don’t you work at Joe’s as a cashier?” You’re so fucking cooked.

To be continued (maybe)

[dailycass-cain]

Birds of Prey #13 ends the "second arc" of the series aka the Birds finding out who was targeting Babs. Was it a rewarding finish? What about the Cass and Spirit World?

Well, here are my thoughts on the issue.

So I'm just gonna start off with the negative stuff I have to say about the issue. #1 being I was a bit disappointed at the entire resolution of it all. It is not so much how the Birds got free from the world hoping, but more about how the arc's villain, Maia was dealt with.

She just leaves and-- I guess she goes back into the portal? I mean that's what the characters say she did but it's never really implied on the pages.

In that regard, I felt a little meh on there being no real resolution. The Birds are free and all, but Maia isn't really beaten. She could still target Babs or do something else to make the Birds' lives hard.

#2 is a nitpick but Xanthe and Constantine just don't interact with Cass at all. I get it, given she wasn't with them until after getting Cela out. And man the comic got crowded. But zero interaction left me 😞. Not even Xanthe seeing Barda which I kind of wanted to see.

This is kind of a "hope" with the new Cass series is that well if this series does do well, I kind of want to see Cass interact with these characters (and new ones).

Like how is it we've seen her meet Richard Dragon? Or seeing Bronze Tiger again in Cass's life?

We're just getting Oynx and Grace in the next arc. Both have some strong ties to Cass that I'm REALLY curious where writer Kelly Thompson goes (sides the Barda stuff).

I'm rambling so back to the issue itself.

The final nitpick is a real nitpick. Cass was just called Cass at the intro. While Babs got the Batgirl/Oracle combo bit.

Come on DC… we've got two Batgirls in this issue. Just throw us a little bone here.

So I'm done focusing on the negatives so let's talk the positives now: the Cass and Cass/Cela portions are probably the strongest bits of the entire issue.

Like, the way Cass figures out how to end the loop and get Maia to open a portal and them to escape was quite genius. She a smart small bat.

Using the Spirit World proxy to "summon" her dead sisters was a nice touch to freak Maia the heck out. It also is a nice way to touch on last issue's cliffhanger with what Xanthe was feeling.

Same goes for all the Cass/Cela interaction. Like, Cass being Cass always is an open heart to anyone, and Cela has that and other things that Cass can relate too.

Again their interaction was the highlight of the issue as you could feel Cela's hope in seeing her fallen sisters and wanting to stay in "Spirit World". Or that she left Cass, and left on the downer note with her.

In all honesty, I kind of hope we see Cela again and she isn't lost like Christine or Harper in lost female "friends" that Cass strikes up with and it's completely ignored by others.

There is potential here with Cela in that she could try and find the real Spirit World, and there's an adventure with Xanthe to be ringed in with.

Besides the stuff involving Shiva and Spirit World too.

But that's more to the point I said prior. Just see more of these connections.

This was still a fun issue with the problems. There was still more good I had than the bad. But there was a bit more compared to prior outings.

Still, the art by Gavin Guiday and coloring by Jordie Bellaire were nice.

For Bellaire's coloring did a nice job homaging the prior coloring by Sebastian Chang (colorist on Spirit World) making the colors pop. Just felt so short in this variant. I guess it just makes me want to see that place again.

So yeah, the arc concluded but it does feel kind of rushed. I don't mind it given next we get Oynx and Grace Choi.

But there is a few things I hope Kelly gives us more stuff with like Mirai Maps.

A friend said they felt Mirai Maps felt "there" and we got nothing (other than answers to her tech). I agree we do need more on Mirai Maps more so why'd she stick around.

As for Cass? Yeah, it's obvious which character Kelly does favor most given Cass steals the show again. Though I'll admit she is kind of outshining Dinah a bit too much. But I digress we got Dinah's characterization in Kelly's side story that same week.

So, here's to the next arc and whatever we get with Dinah in Green Arrow! Just wish she had another series to read. I feel like there's one but nope just Green Arrow and Birds of Prey. A real pity.

[cheeserobin]

Suren Darga deserved better 2.0

clarification: this post is resubmitted because I had already touched this same topic in Spanish, everything is original.

WARNING: English is not my first language, I am sorry for any spelling mistakes that may appear below.

Any DC fan or Damian fan knows the joke about DC forgetting their friends, which is sadly funny. Luckily that's what we ( the fandom ) are here for, to not let characters with potential be forgotten thanks to evil editors.

Now what happened to Suren Darga?. I'm not kidding when I say that the kid seems to have been left in a giant void for everyone after his last appearance, because his wiki the only thing it says about him is this:

"Suren Darga is the son of Den Darga and the prince of the Lu'un Darga."

And I'm not exaggerating

And they also put him as “Supervillain”, ok.

Suren was forgotten and I have a feeling that wasn't the idea mainly, not only because he has a whole interesting past that should have been seen but also his team, trio or whatever he may have had with Maya and Damian looked so…real. They were going to be even if it was allies and great friends.

Plus after his end of the world disaster, showing his very fucked up daddy issues and receiving possibly the most painful punch in the face of his life.

He was to have a long, but sincere arc of redemption.

And let's not forget that Suren at the time helped Damian's development as much as Damian helped Suren's development. He and Maya changed for the better thanks to the fifth Robin in that same comic.

Maya was going to follow her father's path of blood, having Damian as her first victim as revenge. Luckily for both of them, Damian proved that he changed and that she could do it too, preventing her from getting her hands dirty like her father and becoming his older sister.

And I think Suren goes one step further. Maya herself says: “Man, you guys have so much in common”.

Suren was going to do the end of the world to give honor to his family, but also for the infinite and pure love of a child that he had for his father, but Robin knowing that feeling of hunger for affection and family understanding stopped him making him see that there are simply shitty parents who do more harm than good. That he knew what that was like and that he should let go of that toxic environment before he became something worse. They were so alike that Robin just couldn't leave him alone.

In short, I apply the “AMIGA DATE CUENTA” (FRIEND BE AWARE).

And I think for Damian's development it felt good for him to help these characters who were in a dark place like he once was to realize that he really became a better person who wanted to help others unconditionally. that that R of redemption in his chest was for something and worth his effort.

But this does not end happily for Suren. We never knew if he really moved away from the shadow of his family and to forge his own story or if he is still in contact with his only friends until now and if we go further, is he still alive? The worst part of this is that the writers/publishers would have no excuse to leave him behind saying “He's not an interesting character” since his origin story, coming back from the dead which could have caused him another trauma and conflict and his VERY GENIUS connection with magic do make him interesting, VERY interesting.

But DC doesn't agree with that, so the last we have of this kid is this panel of him smiling going on a new adventure, an adventure we never saw come to light.

“It NEVER ends” how funny.

[dccomicsbracket]

Motivations:

Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle)

My man has no idea what's going on throughout his entire movie. He's possessed by a homicidal bug from outer space. He is the official successor of a guy who REALLY wanted to be possessed by the outer space bug but couldn't get it past management and just decided to fake it till he made it with his billionaire budget. His family loves him. His suit is iconic. Sometimes his little outer space bug just goes "hey lil mama lemme whisper in your ear" and then it forcibly takes control of his body and tries to murder people. But also it loves him <3 I think he deserves to win, personally The writers were like "What if the teen superhero had parents that were alive and loving and not criminals" and proceeded to make the most wholesome guy. He power of friendship-ed a homicidal murder ai into being good. His darkest power fantasy is becoming a dentist. Lex Luthor tried and failed to turn him evil so hard he killed him about it, because that was easier. Also his costume kicks so much ass that the main thing that changes about it between redesigns is the eye colour. It's just that good. the 2006-2009 blue beetle run is not only my favorite dc comic, but one of my favorite comics period. it flips so many typical superhero tropes on their heads and does it well. jaime is an incredibly kind and well-written character and his relationship with his family and friends is so touching. Jaime is the perfect blend of goofy and sad, street-level and cosmic, kind and flawed. He was forced into becoming a hero by the weight of a legacy he didn't even know existed and a presence in his mind that would have him become a weapon. Before he even figured out his powers, he was hauled into space by established superheroes to deal with a Crisis and then left for dead for a year while his loved ones mourned him. His primary guides for his first solo were the hostile AI fused to his spine, a mercenary biker who only stuck around to see if he had to kill Jaime, and his normal parents. His greatest power fantasy was becoming a dentist because the power he already has over people's lives was crushing him. And yet, through all of that, his family and his culture and the mundane reality of being a teenager in El Paso were enough to keep him grounded. Read Blue Beetle 2006 and you will understand why Jaime is my son.

Conner Kent/Kon-El (Superboy)

Most 90s person ever, to the point that in the Reign of the Supermen movie they establish that he was basically raised on sitcoms from that era and has at least somewhat based his mannerisms on the characters. All of that mess serves to distract from a compelling story about a kid with identity struggles who has been constantly exploited by the adults in his life. He is a good friend (even basically being the mom friend in Young Justice '98) and I'll never stop being mad about how much they changed him in the TV show. His solo shows a lot of toxic elements of child stardom and how kids are taken advantage of. He doesn't have a name beyond Superboy for a decent portion of his solo until Superman gives him his name, Kon-El. I just like him a lot.

[cookeybg]

Autumn's Loss of Petals - Chapter 6

Title: Autumn's Loss of Petals

Various POVs : Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Jay Nakamura

Tags: Angst, Loss of love, amnesia, brotherly love, familial love, will add more if relevant, Hanahaki Disease

WARNING - This chapter contains graphic depictions of death/suicide/murder. This might be a bit of a spoiler, but I rather not trigger anyone.

Obviously, I do not own any of the rights to any of the DC comics, animated cartoons or movies and I am not getting paid to write this. This is purely for my enjoyment :)

Note: I will be experimenting with different POV's for this fic, but they will all be Damian-centric.

Word Count: 2, 150

Table of Contents

Chapter 6 - Damian

Damian watched the strong back of his father typing on the Bat-computer, he wore gray slacks with a black turtleneck. If one looked closely Bruce’s muscled physique had grown more wiry, the fat associated with youth long gone, fine wrinkles had deepened and he had silver at the temples. Long years of fighting the never ending mission had left him with back pain and a weak heart which led him into retirement three years ago. These days he watched over Damian, Timothy, and Cassandra while they wore the Batman mantle on patrols, each taking turns when needed. He still sat in front of the giant monitors working on case files, the cave still filled with his presence, his shadow still soaked into the stone walls. Thankfully, Gotham had greatly improved in the the last near decade leaving the family to assemble when there were world ending threats or huge catastrophes that the Gotham police couldn't handle. Dick along with Barbara had nearly rooted all corruption out of the police force and with Dick's retirement of the Nightwing persona it gave him more time to focus on work and his family. At the moment Cass was off-world with the Justice League leaving Tim to do the brunt of the patrolling, with the added strain of being CEO for both Drake and Wayne enterprises, he had also temporarily moved back into the manor. Damian hated that Tim had taken over the mantle while he had been recovering, it was bad enough that they shared it (even though it was nice to have a life out of vigilantism). He squared his shoulders, clasped both hands behind his back and took a deep breath, in his periphery he noticed Tim walking up to them. "Father, I am ready to resume patrols." Damian announced. "Are you sure you are feeling well enough for it?" Bruce asked, his voice had become more gravely with age. "Yes, all my wounds are healed and I have already returned to school. I am ready to resume my duties." Bruce mulled over Damian's answer, he rubbed his chin feeling stubble already growing, "It's only been a month since your operation, I feel that you should take more time." "I am only asking out of respect, father." Damian's green eyes were steely. "I want to go home." Tim said. Both men turned to look at Tim, he was wearing baggy sweats and a shirt that looked like it had seen better days. His eyes were purple rimmed, his unwashed hair stood stiffly on end and he had what looked like drool staining his cheek. "Have some pride Timothy." Damian grimaced at his appearance, "I pity Bernard." “We both know you’re going to let him go on patrol.” Tim turned to Bruce, ignoring his little brother. Damian bristled at Tim’s blatant disrespect, but kept quiet since Tim had sided with him. He settled to glare at him. His glare deepened when he noticed Tim’s lip twitch in humor. "He will need back up." Bruce acquiesced. "I will be fine, I have not slacked off in training." Damian argued. "Do it for me then, it will set me at ease." Bruce said softly. He had learned that a softer touch worked best with Damian. Damian stared at his father for a couple seconds before he relaxed his shoulders, "tt, fine," he mumbled. "Not it," Tim raised his mug of coffee up in the air, "but I'll be on call if you need me. I'm going home." Bruce grabbed his chin in thought, Damian didn't care who met him for patrol, he had already walked away to get ready.

Damian balanced on the windowsill of the apartment he came to investigate, he took in his surroundings the only light coming from the hallway. The place looked well lived in, the remains of a meal on the table, dirty dishes in the sink, a blanket draped over the back of the couch, everything seemed normal. He hopped in, his landing soundless, he could hear the noise of a television coming from the hallway, the sound muffled. He stepped into the kitchen, a thin layer of dust covered the counter and table, and a half eaten piece of toast was green with mold. A heavy, familiar scent tinged the air. “It looks like she was planning to come back home.” Bruce’s voice sounded in his ear. “Possible kidnapping.” Damian murmured. He walked towards the lit hallway with silent careful steps, even though he doubted there was anyone that could hear him. To the left of him an open door showed him the bathroom, to the right the noise of the television grew clearer and so did the scent. He stopped before moving closer, this part was never easy, no matter how used to it he was. He took a deep breath, cringing from the thought of what he was breathing in. He reached a black gloved hand towards the door knob and twisted it, the sickly sweet stench of decay assaulted his senses causing him to pause at the entrance. The light of the television illuminated the bodies on the bed across from it. Reaching into his utility belt he took out a flashlight to investigate the room. The curtains from the only window in the room fluttered weakly which explained the mass of flies that swarmed the bodies of a man and a woman. The woman had been placed on her side, facing the man, if it wasn't for her severe state of decomposition she might have looked peaceful as if resting alongside the male. She was surrounded by a ring of wilted flowers. The man looked like he had died in pain, one arm splayed over the side of the bed, legs bent awkwardly, mouth wide open. He was facing the woman, his other hand extending towards her face but never touching her, never breaching the border of flowers. “I think we found Kelly.” Damian said. “She’s been dead longer than the male. Who is he?” Bruce asked. Damian stepped closer staring at the maggots that crawled under their skin, spilling from their noses, mouths, and eyes. He walked around to the side of the male, patting his pants and gingerly dug out his wallet. The movement jostled the flies, some too large to take flight, their black hairy engorged bodies flopping back down almost immediately. He looked at the ID, Noah Simon, it read. His straight nose and brown eyes were completely indistinguishable from the swollen, crawling mass in front of him. “Found one of our suspects.” Damian said. “Yes, he seems indisposed.” Bruce responded, his voice displeased, “most likely the murder and then committed suicide.” “Hrn.” Damian agreed. “Try to find any files Kelly could have hidden.” Bruce said. Damian put Noah’s wallet back in his pocket, setting the flies to buzz with the movement. He stepped back to survey the room for any indication of where a person absconding with blackmail would hide their proof. The crunch of something underfoot caught his attention. Crouching down he examined the crushed debris. It looked like plant matter, he moved the light towards the bed and noticed a trail of it leading to the man's dangling arm. On closer inspection, Noah had been clutching something. Taking out a pair of tweezers, he carefully plucked some of the plant matter from the loose grip. A small, wilted, bell shaped, six petaled flower came loose. The same type of flowers encircling Kelly.

“He was very particular about those flowers.” Bruce said. He nodded, took out a plastic bag from his utility belt, placed the flower within it, zipped it and stored it away for later inspection. His light caught on a disturbed floorboard, the files must be there, typical. Not wanting to touch the bodily fluid that dripped from the bed, he used a batarang to wedge it open. He reached in and took out a manila folder, the pages within stained and wet, but still legible. He slowly rifled through it making sure the cowl recorded every page thoroughly. Once done he placed everything back the way he found it so that police could properly investigate. “We found what we were looking for. Police ETA ten minutes, get out of there.” Bruce ordered, Damian stood, his light falling over the decomposing bodies, the maggots crawled, falling over and landing on the bed to continue moving to wherever led them to more food. He swallowed despite himself, he didn't mind death, it was what came after the body started to decompose that put him on edge. Noah's mouth was wide open, his face tilted to the side, Damian walked closer to see an object preventing the maggots from fully spilling out. There were more flowers in his mouth, a cluster of them. A hot prickling sensation crept up the back of his neck, his finger tips turned to ice and his chest felt incredibly empty regardless of the fact that his heart hammered against his chest as if it were trying to escape. He lifted the hand not holding the flashlight to his mouth and instantly regretted it, the sour scent of rotting fluid made him hyper aware of the situation he was in. He was going to have to disinfect his whole suit, he was going to have to bleach his skin, he should have known better than to do such a thing. He gagged, he gripped his light harder, a ringing in his ears robbed him of his sense of hearing. He backed away until he bumped into the windowsill. With shaky hands he lifted the window wide open his legs propelled him out without his volition. Flies bounced off him, hitting his face, enhancing the nausea he felt. He freefalled for a second before his grappling hook caught on the adjacent building and hauled himself over the lip of it. He landed heavily on his knees.

He vomited. He felt suffocated, he couldn't breathe. He avoided wiping his mouth with his gloved hand and used his forearm. Distantly he could hear his father's voice but it was overwhelming so he pulled the cowl off and threw it to the side. He bent forward until his head hit the cold gravel.

Hanahaki disease, the man had died from the same thing that had nearly killed him. Love. Love, the pain, had drove him to do the unspeakable. Had killed not only its host but the object of his obsession. That could have been Damian. He could have been in the same situation, could have done the same thing. With his already bloody hands he could have done much worse, been the type of monster to break what he loved, to force it to submit and then kill them both because it was not easy, if not impossible, to force another being to love you back. Especially someone like him. He stayed huddled on the gravel floor until the ringing of his ears subsided and his breathing settled. Damian forced himself to stand, shame replaced the panic, he needed to grab the cowl and tell his father he was fine. Before he could bend and pick up his cowl a gust of wind flapped his cape around him nearly throwing him off the rooftop. Strong hands grabbed his arms on either side, locking him in place. "Dami!" Jon cried, "what's wrong?" His eyes glowed blue as he scanned him, Jon was momentarily startled at being able to see through Damian’s suit, Batman normally wore the lead lined version, "You're heart rate skyrocketed and you puked!" "I'm fine." Damian choked out, struggling to free himself from the Kryptonian. "Your cowl is on the floor, Bruce sounds frantic," Jon looked at him with worry, "you are not fine!" "Let go of me Superman." Damian said weakly. Jon watched him a bit more, his eyes boring into him. Damian eyes were determined, tired, a bit watery but he masked the weakness well. Jon did not let go, instead he started to say something when a bullet hit the floor at Jon's feet. Jon moved further away and held Damian closer, enveloping him in a tight protective hug. Jon’s hold filled him with a sense of calm that surprised him. It felt good to be hugged, Jon was warm, the point where their chest touched, even through his armor, eased the painful beat of his heart. Damian went slightly limp in Jon’s arms, a small sigh escaped him. "He said, let go!" Redhood's modulated voice echoed. Jon looked in Jason's direction, red eyes glowing dangerously in the night. "No." Jon stated firmly. "Don't make me use my kryptonite bullets, dip shit." "No!" Jon took off, faster than anyone could stop him, still holding Damian in his arms. Damian briefly heard the sound of bullets, but he closed his eyes enjoying Jon’s strong arms wrapped around him. His chest warm.

Trying to improve my writing, so I hope this chapter is an improvement from the others. I am honestly not sure, but I do like it a bit more.

Edit: fixed the chapter discrepancy, changed it to chapter 6, how it should have been.