#It’s okay to not write all of the Batfam if you can’t focus on every member

[batarangsoundsdumb]

Do you have any fanfic recs? Cause I plowed through a lot but a lot I don’t really jive with. But your (correct) vision of the bats is what I’m looking for. You know Bruce is trying to be a dad and not ever hitting his kids. And everyone is like we hate each other for reasons but we also love each other.

Btw you literally make me grin. You’re truly funny and I just go on you blog and it makes my day better. Like the kind of smile you can’t smother and it just lasts for ages so thank you for every meme and joke and headcannon. They are so perfect

oh god you’re really putting a load on me here okay so good dad bruce wayne and overall good batfam stuff,,, also thanks so much! im really glad you like this stuff

Safe And Sound - watchingthestars13

this one is just,,, the cutest and i have read it like 20 times so far and it never fails to disappoint. it’s a 5+1 with times his kids called him dad and once he called himself dad. it has a hint of superbat, but that’s not the focus of the story.

Latchkey - goldkirk

okay this was one of the first tim drake centric works i read and it is the shit. (it also got me permanently imprinting on the first stupid nerd i saw) it’s about tim befriending jason and getting sucked into their family, while he’s trying not to get them to know he knows about their secret identities

Excelsior - jerseydevious

when i tell you you should read this im not kidding, it is one of my favourite batfam works and it’s just *chefs kiss* it’s incredibly well written and the characterisations are just beautiful and i love it so much. it’s about bruce buying damian a horse,,,, and then it all spirals from there.

Hummingbirds Under His Skin - jerseydevious

this,,, i just- dang this is a really good fic and i love it so very much. no explanation needed. bruce and dick have a little chit chat about being bisexual.

In For a Penny - cdelphiki

have you ever thought about how bruce must’ve been like 25 when damian was born? no? how damian was born when dick already lived with bruce? no? now have you ever thought about damian arriving at the manor as a baby? well now you do. it is,,, so cute and so angst, but so cute.

birds fly in every direction - distracted_dragon

is it obvious that i love tim drake yet? this is long, like 180.000-ish words but it is chockfull of shenanigans and angst and i love it so much. omg shit i just remembered @batfam-chaos is the author of this. i literally followed them bc of the fic and then i forgot they were the author omg. okay it’s about tim!! being very smart and researching vigilantes and then him befriending jason!

Emergency Contact - lurkinglurkerwholurks

if it’s not obvious i love tim yet,,,, ill eat my fucking hat. this is just a short cute fic about dad! bruce freaking the fuck out.

Disaster Zone - engmaresh

this is just hella cute and ridiculously fun. about bruce’s bathroom being terrorised by his kids, lots of big family shenanigans.

Pot, Meet Kettle - borntobemild

*screaming* i love stephanie brown!!!!!! (and tim drake) and stephanie brown and tim drake besties dynamic!!! it’s about tim and steph being bffs with shitty dads :( but i love it,,, read it now.

My own batfam works 

okay it’s probably weird to rec your own stuff, but i’m just putting out there that i am incapable of writing bad dad! bruce wayne so it definitely doesn’t have that.

[prettylittlebutterflie]

It All Started With A Break

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31840603

Okay, so I have fallen down the rabbit hole known as MariBat and I just can't stop all the ideas I have because of this and decided that enough is enough and I am doing it.

This is my very first fanfic - or any fic actually - but I hope you guys like it and be WARNED that some of you may find some part of this story that's similar with another and that may've been because I really liked the idea when I read it and wanna have a kinda similar thing here and the same goes with some trope of this fanfic in the future, but I'll do my best to keep it unique. I am also new to the DCU, but I'm doing research and planning to binge watch stuff and if you could please help this poor soul find a way to navigate and somehow get an idea on how that universe work (especially abt the batfam), I'll be forever grateful to thy savior.

This fic is canon until S4 Ep 1&2 (Truth & Lie) of MLU and as for the rest, I'll let you guys know.

So yeah, that's all. Enjoy and hope you guys like it. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

P.S. Sorry I kinda ranted, this is my first time actually posting smth so bear with me people

SYNOPSIS

It’s been four years ever since Hawkmoth, who now goes by the name Shadow Moth, began his reign of terror in Paris. Four years worth of akumas that have brought pain and suffering. Four years of no rest in controlling their emotions, afraid of what may come if they were controlled.

After four long years, the Miraculous Team can finally see a ray of light. Everything they have sacrificed for that one goal they all share is finally going to be repaid… Not.

Locating Hawkmoth was easier said than done, and the frustration is finally getting to them. With that, it was decided that they need a break from their hero lives — ok, maybe not. After all, Shadow Moth is proving himself to be a workaholic (like dude, don’t you have anything better to do than destroy everyone’s schedule?) — but anyways, it was clear. THEY. NEED. A. BREAK. Away from Paris. Away from Hawkmoth. Away from the frickin akumas.

So yeah, that’s how it was decided (more like forced) that they are going to America to relax, let loose, and have some fun. After all, who knows, maybe a break is all they need to get things to start getting better — or worse.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

PROLOGUE

“Alright. So, we are going to take a break—”

“For two months.”

“For two months. And because it’s supposed to be a break, that means—”

“No thinking of anything Moth related.”

“No thinking of anything Moth rela— Moth related?”

“You know, Hawkmoth, Red Moth, Shadow Moth, those Moths.”

“Right. Moths. Aside from Moths, it also means—’

“No thinking of akumas.”

“No thinking of akumas. For this entire break, we’re not going to think about—”

“Anything Miraculous related.”

“Anything Miraculous related. Alya, do you really need to do that every time I’m about to say it?”

“It’s because she knows you. We know you. It’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, how you always promise not to worry about something, especially anything Miraculous related, just to break it the moment anything related to it comes up. So, yes. She needs to say it and repeat it as much as possible for it to go through that head of yours.”

“Guys, I swear, I’m really going to follow through with this plan. I did agree that we need to unwind ourselves since we’re getting way too stressed and that won’t help us focus on our job.”

“Only after we bugged you about it. Get it? Bugged. Pfft—”

“Hey! Puns are my thing. And you shouldn’t be saying it like that. You’re making it ape-solutely obvious and that makes it not punny anymore”

“Dude, do you really have to do that? That’s so not paw-some. Pfft—”

“All puns aside, it is true that we had to convince you, Mari-hime, to agree on taking a break. Although I rarely take a break from fencing, my Mother and I are aware of the importance of having one and may I also remind you that you were the one who taught us that.”

“And that’s why I told you guys to go have one.”

“But you plus the kitty are the ones who need it the most. Remember what future-me said? About you two always leading us and how she— or rather I am the last one called upon? That means you guys are always gonna work while the rest of us may or may not be needed in some fights.”

“There is a 97.6% probability of you two showing up in fights.”

“Because we have to. It’s our responsibility as the one leading our team.”

“M’lady’s right. Besides, there were only the two of us in the beginning and with all the akumas, we just got used to it.”

“But that doesn’t mean you don’t need to rest. The music I’m hearing from both of you is filled with the stress you guys have and it doesn’t sound nice. Maybe you two unwinding will help make it more beautiful and even more powerful than before.”

“Fine. We’re all taking a break—”

“Especially you and Adrien.”

“Especially Adrien and I, for a month. Now, does anyone have any ideas on how we're gonna do that?”

“Ooh! Me, me! I have a competition coming up this summer break so I can’t really go anywhere too far since I have some training to do.”

“I’m sticking with the ape. Gotta keep an eye on him if I don’t want him messing up with the timeline. Plus, it’ll be pretty fun beating him up every time he asks for a challenge.”

“Hey!”

“The same goes for me. Someone has to make sure the correct time is recorded with not a single millisecond of it missed. Kwami knows how many times he messes it up whenever he does the recording himself.”

“Okay. So Kim, Alix, and Max will be staying in Paris. Are you guys sure that you’ll be able to take a break even if you’re in the city?”

“Yeah, we're fine. And I am totally beating you next time, little bunny.”

“Whatever. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming, y’know.”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, I have an internship in America this coming summer. The one at the Daily Planet. I just got the email and I was finally given an invite!”

“Really? Cool! Told you you’ll get it, babe!”

“Yeah! That’s really awesome, Alya! So I’m assuming you'll be accepting that?”

“You got it, girl! I mean, this is the Daily Planet we’re talkin’ about. I’ll learn so much about writing and journalism there, I’ve just got to take it.”

“So Alya’s going to America. Anyone else with plans outside of the country?”

“There will be an upcoming world-class fencing competition this summer and Mother and I have discussed my participation in it. It will be held in the States as well, specifically Gotham, two weeks before the end of the summer break. Maybe you should participate in it as well, Adrien. That way, you’ll have an excuse for your father to leave the country. I’m sure Mother will be happy to convince him as well to let you participate in it. That way, at the very least, I’ll have someone I know who’ll be an actual challenge.”

“Really? That actually sounds great! I’m sure Father would agree if your mother’s the one who suggested it. Thanks Kagami!”

“Okay. Kagami and hopefully Adrien will have a fencing competition in America too.”

“My Dad is having a tour in America right now. He’ll be having the last one at Metropolis during the summer break. He actually wants me to go with him, but I declined. It’ll be great if we all could go there and see it.”

“Dude, that’s so cool! Maybe you’ll even get to perform with your dad on stage. You did make that song with him that reached the record chart’s top. I’ve even made a playlist based on it.”

“Okay then, that makes Alya, Kagami, Adrien, and Luka going to the States. Chloe, do you also have plans to go there this summer? Maman said your mother was thinking of inviting you to be one of the models in an upcoming fashion show there.”

“She did mention something like that, but I wasn’t really paying attention to details once I found out that it’ll be outside of Paris. I’ll discuss it with her again then I can have my much needed vacation in the States.”

“So now that makes five of you going to America. Nino?”

“Well, I don’t really have any plans this summer. Just chill out and relax, y’know, make some playlist, listen to some music.”

“Ooh! How about you come with us, babe? That’ll be so cool and not all of us will be doing something most of the time while we’re there. You can just chill and relax there and maybe you could even study the kind of music they listen to and make a playlist out of it.”

“I would love to go, but I don’t think I really got the money for it. ‘Sides, my parents might not allow me to go out of the country.”

“You’re already 18 and if your parents ever say no, just tell them that you want to really relax, without keeping your emotions in check and have the freedom to let it out. I’m sure they’ll understand and unlike my Father, they actually listen to you.”

“As for the money, I have some savings and if you want I can lend you some-”

“But-”

“Lend. I’m not just giving it to you. You will have to pay me back, alright? And if you try to say no again, I’m going to insist that you don’t pay me anymore.”

“You sure? You're the best! Thanks, Minette.”

“No problem. So now that makes six of them—”

“Seven.”

“What?”

“Seven. We’re including you.”

“Me? But Alya, I already got plans this summer.”

“Plans? What plans?”

“I was planning on working on my commissions this summer an— Guys, can you all stop rolling your eyes on me and no, Chloe. I don’t need you doing it again.”

“Girl! We all agreed that we’re going to take a break this summer. How does doing your commissions sound like a break to you?”

“You all got your own thing to do this summer and mine just happens to be those. Also, the break was for anything Miraculous related. My commissions don't exactly fall under that.”

“Nope. We actually all agreed that for you, commissions should be added to the list of things you get to take a break from.”

“Adrien! I thought you’re supposed to be my partner? So much for the two of us against the world.”

“He is still your partner alright. But also, as someone who truly cares about you, he decided that you really needed a break. And besides girl, this could be your chance!”

“Chance? What chance?”

“Your pen pal! Doesn’t he live in Gotham? You could go and finally meet him. Who knows? Maybe something might happen.”

“Ooh, he’s from there? That’s awesome! You should totally go meet him. Maybe you could even go on a date or two-”

“A date?! Kim, he’s just a frie-”

“You stop right there, Dupain-Cheng! It’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! All of us already had enough with Adrikins always calling you ‘just a friend’ when it’s pretty obvious how totally untrue that statement was. We don’t need you ending up just like him, thank you very much.”

“But he really is-”

“Yeah right. If he really is just a friend, then why do you guys stay up all night talking to each other? You always immediately check your phone whenever a notif comes up and you smile like a love-sick fool whenever you read his messages for you. And don’t get me started on the way you gush about him non-stop.”

“There is something beautiful in your music whenever you talk or even think about him.”

“Your smiles are much brighter compared to before the two of you got to know each other.”

“Markov and I also have a record of your heartbeat and we have observed your heart beating faster whenever we talk about this certain topic.”

“And it's been more than a year since you two have become pen pals. The two of you are now so close that it’s a wonder why you guys still haven’t video-called each other just because you insist for your first time seeing each other to be in person.”

“I think it’s rather romantic. They’ll look into each other’s eyes for the first time then BAM! They’re finally together. But I still plan on giving him a shovel talk the first chance I get. Can’t have him break my twin’s heart without him knowing I have the god of destruction on my side.”

“What do you mean shovel talk- I mean, what even gives you the idea that he thinks of me that way for you guys to assume that we’ll end up in… in that kind of relationship?”

“He’d be an idiot if he still hasn’t fallen in love with you.”

“Literally almost everyone I know had a crush on you or have you forgotten already that my boyfriend’s one of those people?”

“I know for a fact that that’s true since I’ve already admitted that one of my reasons why I began bullying you back then was because I had a crush on you.”

“I must admit, I think I also had the same feeling towards you at the beginning of our friendship until I really got to know Luka and you helped us get together.”

“Oh! There’s also that. Do you actually know just how many people you’ve helped get together, buginette? Alya’s even written an article about it at the Ladyblog of how you are also known as Paris’s own cupid and how all of the couples you’ve paired ended up living a happy life together.”

“Everyone’s been saying how Ladybug’s the next best person they can go to if they ever want to find love after Andre.”

“And yet every time you try to pair yourself with someone, the magic just doesn’t seem to work.”

“So we all decided that we’ll be Ladybug’s cupid and pair her up with the boy she just can’t seem to get off of her head.”

“Now, you coming or what? I won’t be taking the money you’ll be lending me if you say no. I’m only going with these dudes if you also come or else I’ll just end up getting bored when there’s no one who can go around the city with me.”

“...”

“““...”””

“Fine. You guys win—”

“““YES!”””

“So here’s the final plan for the break. Kim, Alix, and Max will be staying in Paris for Kim’s competition, while the rest of us will be going to America doing our own stuff—”

“With you finally meeting your pen pal.”

“Yes. Alright. I’ll go and meet my pen pal. And during the break, no thinking about anything miraculous related. If ever there’s an akuma, only those who’ll be needed will go. Max will bring us to the akuma’s location and if there is anything going on that we can’t be excused of or if the fight goes longer than expected, Alix will bring us back in time making it look like we just went to the toilets, the usuals. Any questions?”

“““Non.”””

“Good. Operation: Taking a Break is good to go.”

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Yay! Finally got to post it. So comments? What do you guys think and who do you think who is saying what? I know there will be new holders in S4, but I decided I’ll either make them a temp or they still don’t know the other’s identities bc of stuff, so yeah. Still thinking abt it. Adios (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31840603

[peppersonironi]

Duke Thomas/The Signal Fic Recs

This is for @capttain-emo who saw me reblog this wonderful rec list by @stories-from-the-batcave , and asked if I knew any more. (I highly recommend those, btw, I love all the fics on that list! Yes, that includes the one I wrote in there) Duke Thomas is my favorite Batfam member, so I have a bunch! Unfortunately, there isn’t as much Duke content out there as I’d hope - people just don’t seem to like him as much for some reason? It’s sad. So, there are gonna be a couple here written by me. Rest assured, I have way more Duke content on the way - including a WIP coming out this week! (Ao3 linked out at the top of my blog)

I love recommending Fics, so hit me up in my inbox if there’s a trope or character or relationship (platonic or not) that you’d really love to read! I also write fan fiction, and my requests are always open!

1. Siblings: The Truth of the Matter by Me!

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & his siblings

Duke had a strange family. Two of his siblings had been raised from birth to be assassins. One was born in a circus. One had been a crime lord for a time. Yet another was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company by the age of seventeen. All of them dressed up in spandex every night to punch bad guys.

So when he was woken up by icy water being splashed in his face, tied to a chair in nothing but his boxers, he wasn't surprised. Now, that's not to say he wasn't worried. Duke was definitely worried. Especially since it was these two.

AKA Duke gets tied up and questioned by his siblings, all while drugged with Truth Serum!

2. Bliss by Me!

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Damian

Duke walks in on a sleeping assassin child in need of comfort, and takes a chance. Brotherly bonding ensues!

3. An ever growing family of birds and bats by alicecrow6

Rating: General Audiences/Teen Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Damian

a series of Batkids Age Reversal fics where Damian comes first, then Harper, then Duke and so on.

4. look at me, all the things I can do by Aelig  

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Cass, Duke & Bruce

"Duke took a bite of his toast, gaze still on Bruce. His foster father was sipping at his coffee, eyebrows frowning. To an outsider, you would think he was reading the morning news on his tablet, like always; Duke knew better. Bruce's look was a little away from the screen, his lips downward.

It was almost funny, to watch Bruce internally panic."

OR: It's the morning, and Duke is going back to school for the first time since his injury.

5. The Batchair(s) Issue by NightFlier

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen w/ background ships Relationships: Duke & Cass, Duke & Steph, Steph/Cass Trio & Batfam

Duke Thomas feels like an outsider, and not just because he's part of the new Outsiders team roster. He's the newest member of the legendary Batclan and hasn't yet formed the close bonds that the others share. Not to mention, he's the only active Meta on the team. As if it wasn't hard enough to relate with people with such colorful, unique backgrounds.

But it's okay! Duke has a plan and it'll probably work for a while before crashing & burning. BatShenanigans ahead.

6. All That Glitters is Gold (Unfortunately) by IndefiniteIceCube

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Tim, Duke & Steph

The world is gold and Duke can't breathe.

He can't breathe.

He was sitting in AP World History just a minute ago.

Was it a minute ago? It seemed like a minute ago but it could have been hours because all he can focus on is that he can’t breathe. His lungs won’t fill and- and he’s trying he swears but he just. can’t. breathe.

And the gold—

-----

Duke's powers emerge.

It doesn't go well.

7. Be the Light that Helps Others See by Ace_Corvid @ace-corvid

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Batfam

Duke didn't really know what to expect from movie nights with the Bats.

He could only assume they approached this with the same determined intensity as they approached everything else. They were all so extra it was like their gauge for normal was completely broke. He wasn't really prepared for this.

And yet here he was. Surrounded.

(Alternatively; Batkid's have a movie night.)

8. I've Made a Million Mistakes by Sohotthateveryonedied

“Y’all need Jethuth.”

Rating: Teen Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Batfam

“Don’t worry,” Dick says, throwing his arm around Duke’s shoulders. “Everyone in this room has had their teeth knocked out at one point or another. It’s a rite of passage around here.”

“I don’t know how to tell you thith, but that doethn’t happen to normal people. We acthually prefer to keep our teeth, believe it or not.”

“Wait until you get your first major battle scar. Trust me, they’re cool.”

“Y’all need Jethuth.”

9. Children (All of Them) by TheFalconWarrior

Rating: Teen Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Batfam

In which Tim is not stupid but Jason might just be, Damian is furious, Dick kind of feels like he should be doing…something, Steph is ecstatic, and Duke wonders how long he can survive.

10. In the Dark of the Night by Aelig

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Jason, Batfam

"Duke was woken up by someone sliding into his bed. Someone big judging by how the mattress shifted.

Because Duke was a well-trained vigilante, his first reflex was obviously to kick whoever was being creepy right now and push them out of his bed.

It was only when the someone landed on the floor with a yelp that Duke realized that he was at Wayne Manor, which was incredibly secure – normally. He could recognize the voice, too."

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: none

OR: The Batfam and their way to deal with nightmares.

11. Welcome to the Family by angstyelephant

In which Duke Thomas goes back to the beginning.

12. Family-- by incorrectbatfam

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & batfam

“Your assignment over the weekend is to write a poem about your family.”

13. I'm Still Climbing(Even When the Rest Have Fallen) by anidear

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Dick, Duke & Damian

After his first exposure to the Fear Toxin, Dick checks in on Duke.

14. The cat and the newcomer by Fleur_de_Violette

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Alfred the Cat

Duke always found people talking to their pets about their problems silly. And yet here he was.

15. Duke-napped by NightOwl1600

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Bruce, Duke & batfam

The others don’t really bother Duke with his business. They all care about him, he knows, but outside of the vigilante business, they don’t really care to ask aside from the typical “How was school?” or “Can you buy me some chilidogs after you’re done with whatever you’re doing?” So he’s a bit concerned if they’ll even notice when he’s been kidnapped as Duke Thomas, Bruce Wayne’s newest ward. But he’s not about to panic; as the others seem to be so determined that traumatizing new experiences are part of Bat-initiation.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family freaks out because “Did anyone go over the do’s and don’ts of getting kidnapped with Duke?!”

16. Nightmare/Hallucination by FearfulKitten @fearfulkittenwrites

Rating: Teen Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Jason

Duke found himself staring at the ceiling again. His heart was no longer racing, but he wouldn’t exactly say that he was calm either. This is the moment after the end of a race you lost, when all of the adrenaline is starting to wear off and the hopelessness sets in. That’s it. You’re out of the competition, buddy.

Except that this isn’t a race, and Duke hasn’t just lost his spot for the finals. He had simply lost sleep.

17. Jason Todd, Big Brother Part 8792 by Gemini_00

Rating: General Audiences Category: Other Relationships: Duke & Jason, Duke & Damian

Robin and the Signal sneak along the Outlaws mission in order to steal a bazooka and hang out with Kori. Jason has to deal with two little brothers and feeding a team of outlaws. He's putting this on Bruce's credit

18. "What's wrong? What's happening?" By FearfulKitten @fearfulkittenwrites

Rating: General Audiences Category: Other Relationships: Duke & Tim

Duke runs into trouble during his daytime patrol, and ends up needing some back up. The resident over-productive insomniac bat picks up the call.

(A little bit of and Duke interaction for a nice tumblr Anon :) I hope you like it!)

19. Nightmares by FearfulKitten @fearfulkittenwrites

Rating: Teen Category: Other Relationships: Duke & Dick

Filling the nightmare square on my bingo card with the help of an anon on tumblr who asked for a fic where Duke has a nightmare and asks for the help of one of the older batboys!

"Duke checked the time again. Two minutes had passed.

Time was ticking too slowly. He was tired, but sitting alone in the dark was definitely not a good idea right now.

He’d have to ask for help."

20. Brothers in Arms by TheFalconWarrior

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Batfam

...possibly against each other. Batkid prank wars are the worst.

Duke is learning. Tim is evil. So is Damian. Dick is embarrassing. Jason is dramatic. Steph is brave. Babs is all-knowing. Cass wants in. Alfred is a little amused, and Bruce is so. Tired.

21. First rule of Robin, right? By ALzzza

Rating: Teen Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Damian,Duke & Dick

"Nothing’s going to hurt you—you got that, nothing.”

Duke doesn’t have anything better to do but it’s not like that matters. Hell, he’d drop everything and run—always in time to catch this little bird.

Or, Damian’s Been Having Nightmares, Duke To The Rescue—Dick Always With The Reassurance

22. Duke's Diary by fiery_day

 Rating: Teen Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Batfam,Duke & Dick

This is a couple of journal entries by Duke as he learns to become Signal. He relates his thoughts on the batfamily and aspects of the vigilante life he now leads.

23. Significance of a Gala by nxttime

Rating: Teen Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Batfam,Duke & Jason, Duke & Tim

This year’s Wayne Gala would be Duke’s first, and he had no clue how to feel about it.

 25. The cloud that looks after each other by Batmango

Rating: Teen Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Bruce, Duke & Goliath

Duke wakes up the Bat cave after a fight with the Joker.

For MashpotatoeQueen5 as a thanks for using so many of my prompt in the excellent January Jot-Downs.

Prompt: a hurt comfort after an injury/illness? Or just cuddles. I love me some cuddles.

26. The One You’ll Know By by Redrikki

Rating: Teen Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Bruce, Bruce & Alfred

After losing his memory, Bruce asked Alfred not to tell him about his vigilante life, but he's beginning to think his butler left a few other things out. Like, say, his kids.

27. Duke Thomas Hates Bullies by Gemini_00

Rating: Unrated Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Steph, Duke & Tim, Duke & Bruce, Duke & Damian

Everyone loves that Duke Thomas isn't like all those other crazy Waynes. Everyone loves that the Signal isn't trying to get himself killed. Duke may not see Bruce as his dad, but he is definitely part of the bat family. and nobody is going to bully his family. Or, Duke Thomas Kicks Ass.

28. batman is dancing to fortnight and this might as well happen because vigilante life is already so *Goddamn* weird (Duke Thomas: A Memoir) by MashpotatoeQueen5

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Bruce, Duke & Batfam

You may not have time to unpack all that, but Duke Thomas does.

(He doesn't get it either.)

(He loves his new crazy family nonetheless.)

29. In a World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Kind by RedHoodie1723

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Bruce, Duke & Batfam

Day Six of Batfam Week 2020: Take Your Child To Work Day

It was Duke's first time visiting Wayne Enterprises, and he couldn't help but be intrigued by the Martha Wayne Foundation.

30. You’re My Brother by blackpercy

Rating: General Audiences Category: Gen Relationships: Duke & Dick

Duke's missing his parents a lot and Dick comes in to help his little brother.

And that’s it for the list! I hope you enjoy these thirty works! Once again, send me an ask if you have requests for fics, recs, or if you have general questions!

[fancyfade]

barbara gordon, bruce wayne, stephanie brown

tysm for asks ^_^

Barbara

How I feel about this character

I really love babs. It is not her only attribute, but her being a disabled superhero who acknowledges she does more as a disabled woman than she did as an able bodied woman and her life is different but maybe even better now is so important to me

I like that she genuinely learns from her mistakes and works to make things right and also like it's not easy -- when she wrongs huntress, it takes like an entire fukcing plotline or two for huntress to consider working with her again, and babs had to be like "yeah that was unequivocably wrong on my part"

I like when we see her anger or protectiveness poking through, like when she gives huntress permission to use lethal force (she says something like "do whatever is necessary") to protect tim in jokers last laugh

i love her confidence and sureness in her skills

also her kicking ass and don't forget that even in a WC she kicks ass

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Dick atm but I could see getting into Dinah as well, I just haven't put a ton of thought into the latter

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Barbara and Cass or Barbara and Dinah

My unpopular opinion about this character

not unpopular with the right people but unfortunately still too unpopular with many people but: Magicuring babs was the shittiest decision dc ever made (Okay one of them -- they have a lot of competition for shitty decisions) and they handled her way more sexist and treated her more as a victim of her joker when she was AB than they ever did when she was disabled

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

unmagicure her

Bruce

lmao poor bruce. I'm gonna try to think of something positive to say about you

How I feel about this character

Okay when Bruce is being well written he is a compelling character. When he is not continuously reliving the same three plotlines over and over again and he is allowed to try to be a dad to his kids (even if he messes up) it is way more compelling than whatever the fuck is going on right now

I feel like when he is a very principled but still flawed and human dude who wants to save people from ever experiencing what he did before and prevent the kids he adopts from being alone to deal with their grief that is good.

However in canon he is often not well written, he’s just a black hole that sucks down other characters and a power fantasy for boring dudes

All the people I ship romantically with this character

no one. i'm sorry bruce you need to get your shit in order before you inflict yourself on a woman

(I don’t retcon out his romantic relationships, but they’re not like “My favorite ship” thing. They’re just there. I think most about hsi and Talia’s interactions because of my focus on Damian/ the al ghul side of things. I write him and Talia as having a romantic relationship in the past but I think by time the present rolls around Bruce would be too resentful of Talia for how she raised Damian and I think Talia would have like... “outgrown” bruce? Like he represented freedom and everything outside the league and a good genuinely nice person at the time but she’s not a young adult who hasn’t had much experience outside a cult of assassins anymore)

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Bruce should just live with his family in a big house so i'm gonna say everyone.

My unpopular opinion about this character

okay so canon wise: Bruce's love interest plots are boring, all of bruce's GFs are better than he is in every single way and don't deserve to be dragged down by him, and the idea that he needs a female love interest to be happy is so heteronormative and goes against the entire appeal of the batfam

fanon: I understand why people want a purely "bruce is a good dad" characterization of him, but you would have to re-write so many other character reactions that I can't get behind it. Bruce wants to be a good dad, but he is often a shitty dad. When I write him I keep most of his mistakes canon (the ones that involve just being bad at interactions, prioritizing the mission or something else more, or being thoughtless, not the ones that involve him being cruel or downright abusive)

Specifically: any time any of his kids gets reasonably stressed or alienated from him and makes decisions based on that, if you retcon him to always having been the perfect dad it just makes them look kind of irrational and is always tearing them down to prop him up

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

don't forget to let the batfam be competent around him? They should not be nerfed so he can save the day. yes i am thinking of that shitty detective comics comic i read recently where everyone was like... taken out instantly by hush's goons

also, since there is no retcon for what's going on with damian: the other characters calling out Bruce on how he failed damian in nearly every way and his dumb plan got alfred killed and left Damian with that guilt and also calling him out for every time he ever hit his kids.

Stephanie

   How I feel about this character

I like her a decent amount. She’s not on my faves list but she’s definitely a character I appreciate reading. I especially liked when we got to see her anger and complicated feelings towards her dad (she was glad he was dead, ran away from home because her mom kept trying to comfort her) and I like her stubborness. I like how she just decided “my dad is doing bad shit and i’m the only one who can help stop him” and then went to try to stop him.

I also like how she is the first Batfam member who tries to treat Damian like a kid

(Dick didn’t do it before Steph did but I don’t think that’s a failure on his part, I’m pretty sure if he tried to treat Damian like a kid at that point he would scare Damian off)

   All the people I ship romantically with this character

I’m not sure TBH I haven’t thought of it much. I found her interactions with Tim cute when I read them sometimes

   My non-romantic OTP for this character

Steph + cass kicking ass.

   My unpopular opinion about this character

I don’t like it when people try to simplify her to just preppy, and I really don’t get people who praise the pregnancy plotline considering how it just demonized all the other female characters who weren’t steph to prop up the author’s agenda

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

I think there never should have been a retcon where Bruce said that he knew she was not dead all along. This is just boring “Bruce can never be wrong” shit and like okay so? you let Cass (who had very few friends even close to being peers) and Tim (who was losing friends and family right and left at this point) believe that she was dead for however long so you could what? Say “I told you so”?

in my headcanon that was purely him trying to cover his own ass

[starkatana]

All You Need to Know

Jason Todd X Female Reader

WordCount: 2813 (it’s long!~)

Summary: Jason proposes to you and you two have a smaller wedding with the BatFam in attendance at your Vegas wedding.

Author’s note: So, here begins my various one-shots of Jason Todd/Red Hood x Reader//y/n AKA my current obsession. I may compile all of them into chronological order once everything is done. I just really wanted to write and post something. I just have too many WIP’s right now that I need to focus on.

They aren’t exact ages. This is just a world that I made using these characters because I can. In this AU, Jason has died and come back to life. You two broke up and you dated Peter Parker (Spider-Man) for a little bit. At this point, you and Jason are 24-ish?

You are a dancer who works at a dance studio.

Sorry if its a little out of character, this is just based on my knowledge that tumblr has given me.

I used this post from fandomneeds!

Jason’s vows is the song: All You Need to Know by Gryffin

Hope you enjoy!

Jason scratched his head and crumpled up the vows he was working on.

“Ugh.”

Roy peeked into Jay’s room, “Having a hard time?” He cocked a sarcastic smile at his best friend.

“Fuck. Every time I try to write something it seems just so stupid and cookie cutter.”

“Aren’t those what vows are? Just telling the person you want to spend the rest of your life with them sickness and in health blah blah.”

“Yeah.” Jason shrugged, “I have basic vows for the Gotham wedding, but for the wedding this weekend, I just want them to be different and less like everything else.”

“Well, what do you want to say?”

“Exactly.”

Roy laughed. “You’ve read a million books you’re telling me that you can’t string the most romantic scenes and moments together?”

Jason sat back in the chair.

“What does she need to know? What are you confessing in front of the hardest people you need to impress? Me and the rest of your siblings.”

“It's not for you guys. It’s for us.”

“Then what do you want to tell her?”

Jason sat back in his chair with his hand behind his head, remembering the evening he asked you to marry him.

It happened to be a night that you and Jason didn’t have patrol, so you two made a date night out of it. The two of you are sitting in a booth at your favorite local diner. You two managed to keep it a secret from everyone else in the Batfam so they wouldn’t just show up and surprise you two. It’s late at night and you two had been there so often that the wait staff had your orders memorized. He was sitting across from you with his arms outstretched over the back of the booth as he listened to you talk with a half-smirk on his face.

You were sitting back in your booth just going on about your students from the dance studio. He loved how passionate you were about your job and how much you cared for other people. You two had been through so much, even when he had been an ass to you. You somehow took him back after everything he said and put you through. He was grateful for that. Life made sense with you.

“Hello? Earth to Jason.” You were waving your hand in his face snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“Are you even listening?”

“Yeah! You were saying how you had to help some of your kids with their science and math homework and how you don’t miss science and math homework. Then you told me about the puppies you saw on your way to work today. And no, I still don’t think getting a dog is a good idea.”

“Okay, so you were listening,” you chuckle, “Sorry you just looked zoned out. I thought I was just rambling.”

“No.” Jason sits up leaning forward in the booth putting his hands on the table. “I like listening to you talk.”

You smile and instinctively lean into him as he takes on of your hands and with the other, you stir your milkshake. He gently rubs over your thumb. Basking in the comfortable silence and the background noise of the diner. Still holding his hand you sit back in the booth and close your eyes. If only every night could be this comfortable.

“Y/n.”

“Hm?” You respond without opening your eyes. He squeezes your hand.

“Will you marry me?”

You open an eye and take a peek at him. He was still sitting across the table from you. He hadn’t moved and was looking right at you.

He couldn’t possibly be serious. You chuckle. “Shut up.” You respond closing your eyes again.

“No, I’m serious.”

You take your hand back and sit up in the booth and stare at him half confused and half suspicious. You narrowed your eyes trying to gauge his reaction. Almost expecting him to go “Haha. Gotcha.” Or “I’m kidding.” You don’t know why he’d joke like that but you don’t know why he’d be asking you to marry him.

Marriage was something you two talked about but it was also something you two would just let happen when it felt most comfortable. You knew you wanted to be with him and he with you. So, you weren’t sure why you thought he was kidding.

“I know I don’t have a ring and I know I’m not down on one knee but I want to spend the rest of my life with you and after everything that happened I know you’re the one I want to spend my life with. I’m planning to get you a ring but I wanted to get you something with my money, not Bruce’s.  I couldn’t wait to ask you.”

“Jay....”

“Do you want me to get on one knee? I will if you want.” he begins to stand up.

“No.” You grab his hand and set him back down, “No it’s okay. I’d love to marry you. I’ll happily marry you. No ring needed. No need to get on one knee.”

He squeezes your hand.

“Should we just run away?” He teased.

“And have Roy be our witness and third wheel forever?”

“And always.”

You two share a kiss across the table.

“I got it.”

You two decided to elope to Vegas. You two were going to have a real wedding soon where paparazzi would be “invited” your mom would be there and all your business colleagues, Wayne enterprises, socialites, and other Gotham elite it would be a wedding for everyone. But you and Jason wanted a smaller ceremony for the two of you first. What started small as in you, Jay, and Roy. Turned into a Batkid affair. So you, Jason, Roy, Dick, Duke, Tim, Damian, Cas, Steph, and Babs all flew out to Vegas. Your first day in Vegas while everyone was out walking around together around the Vegas strip. You and Jason decided on a small stage space close to the end of the “Venetian” river.

It was Vegas wedding day. Roy stood beside Jason. They weren’t wearing tuxes but they were dressed nicer. Jason had on black pinstriped pants, a red button-up with the sleeves rolled up with a black-tie done loosely with a black vest on. Roy had on black dress pants with a yellow dress shirt rolled up like Jason’s and unbuttoned near the top with suspenders on.

The two of them were making small talk, to help calm Jason’s nerves. The plan was for him and Roy to be there with the photographer before the impromptu wedding. Then the rest of the family would appear shortly after. Jason had his hands in his pant’s pockets and laughed at Roy’s joke.

“You’re in a good mood.”

“It’s not every day, I get to marry my best friend.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t let you cheat on y/n with me.”

Jason rolled his eyes at Roy. When Roy gave him a big smile and pointed behind Jay.

Jason turned around and Dick was leading the train of the Batfam. Jason tried to look past them all to get a glimpse of you, but they had you perfectly hidden behind them.

At this point, the passersby that were minding their own business began to stop and hang around, some kept minding their own business, while others were interested in the show. Dick greeted Jason first, he patted his shoulder, “Congrats, Little Wing.” Jason gave his brother a light punch in the arm and Dick moved aside. Following Dick was Tim who also gave him congratulations. Then there is Duke, where the two shared a hug. Cass was after and gave him a fake one-two punch in the gut followed by a hug. Next was Steph and then Babs, who he shared a hug with both of them.

“You’re in for a treat.” Steph teased.

Babs blew Jason a kiss and the two stood next to Cas.

Jason looked over at his family to the side of him. A lot has happened and they stood by him through it all. To have them all here, he was grateful. Then everyone looked over to where they came in. Little Damien, who is now 13 much more mature than the 8-year-old you had originally met. Damien loved you and thought of you as a big sister.

You planned to walk down the aisle yourself, but when Damien asked if he could give you away to Jason who were you to deny him.

You always knew Damien thought highly of you but one day after you and Jason had gotten back together after your hiatus apart. Damien lectured you left and right about how if Todd is ever a dick to you again he’d take care of Todd himself.

“Not if I handled him myself first.” You joked with Damien.

“Good.”

Then one day, you’ll never forget you were looking for Damien, but couldn’t find him in the manor. You walked outside onto the manor’s patio where Dick and Jason were sitting.

“Hey, do you know where Damian is?” you ask taking a seat next to Jason, “I can’t find him.”

“Yeah,” Dick nods, “Hold on, I got this.” He clears his throat. ���DAMIAN! JASON IS BULLYING Y/N!!!”

Jason shook his head and looked at Dick, “Wait, what?!”

“Goddammit!”

You and Jason looked around and then up as Dick nodded proudly. Damien opened the window from the second floor in the manor and jumped out of it with a fighting stick. “TODD!”

Jason gets up from where he’s sitting and quickly runs out of the way, “GAAHH!!!”

You look over at Dick who nods and is giving you two thumbs up.

Back to the wedding:

Jason’s jaw dropped and he couldn’t believe that he was so lucky to have you. You were in a short spaghetti strap lacy white dress it hugged your body and your curves it had a slight v neck to it but wasn’t revealing. You wore your hair down nothing too fancy, just some soft waves and a baby’s breath crown on your head with your hair resting on your left shoulder.

You had a small light pink and black bouquet. Your shoes were a metallic white pearl shoe with skinny heel with a buckle around the ankle. It took everything in Jason not to just run over to you, sweep you off your feet and shower you in kisses. He was the happiest and luckiest man alive. The photographer was snapping pictures like crazy. When you left Alfred just asked for some pictures of the wedding, if Alfred wanted photos he was going to get them. No questions asked.

Roy nudged Jason. Jason nudged him back and couldn’t take his eyes off of you.

Damien walked you up to Jason.

“Thanks, Dami.” And you two shared a hug.

Damien turned around and glared at Jason. “Todd.”

“Demon spawn.” He cracks Damian a half-smile.

“Don’t mess this up, again.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.”

Damian nods and steps aside letting Jason know that he’s approved of you two together again. You give Damien your bouquet. He walks over next to Babs and Steph. Jason offered you his hand. You take it and he leans into you as he helps you up, “You look absolutely gorgeous.” He stands up straight as you two take each other’s hands.

“Everyone is staring at us.”

“Everyone is staring at you.” Jason gestured, down to what you were wearing, giving you an ‘it’s definitely not me, it’s you’ kind of look.  You smiled at him as you moved your hair out of your face and then take his hands again. He couldn’t stop smiling as much as he couldn’t take his eyes off of you. Looking at you like this was like falling in love all over again. This was happening.

“Hello, friends and family.” Roy began, “We are gathered here for the marriage of our beloved Y/f/n/   y/m/n   y/l/n and our shit-eating boy, Jason Peter Todd.”

Everyone chuckles at Roy and Jay playfully flips him off.

“Now, the couple would like to say their vows.”

“Jason Peter Todd.” You began, “Where do I even begin with you. With us? Since my first day at Gotham Academy when you kept spilling coffee on me. We’ve unfortunately been best friends since. You’ve been my first choice always since we’ve met and since I’ve been with you I’ve never safer. From the highs and the lows you’ve been with me through it all.” You wipe one of your eyes, “I couldn’t imagine going through life with anyone else except for you. So, take me as I am because I have already taken you. I promise to always be by your side through anything the world may throw at us. I’ll protect you through it all.”

He brings your hands to his lips and kisses them.

“I guess it’s my turn.” He rolls his shoulders back while he stands up straight with your hands still in his. “Y/n.”

He looks around him, his brothers, and his sisters. The crowd that had gathered during your ceremony. The perfect weather and the beautiful bride he has. You were breathtaking. Looking at you, his heart skipped a beat.

Every. Single. Time.

He takes a deep breath before beginning.

“I’ll keep it as simple as I can.” He bites his lip, “Shit.” He wipes his eye. “How’d you do this without balling?” he joked.

You chuckle, “It was hard.”

“Ok,” he gives your hands another squeeze, “Y/n, you don't have to listen carefully, because I will tell you a thousand times. With your hands in mine, look at this thing we found. I have everything I need and I promise to give you everything you will ever need because you make me not want to die.”

You let out a chuckle and Roy rolled his eyes. Before you and Jason would say ‘I love you’ that’s what you’d say to each other, when you first started dating and when you guys got back together.

You’d be leaving the safe house for dance practice and Jason called after you, “Y/n!”

“What?”

He’d tilt his head and give you a soft smile, “you make me not want to die.”

You crack a smile and flip him off as he flips you off in return. You continue walking away and Jason can’t help but keep his eyes glued on you as you left.

“You two have the weirdest relationship.” Roy pretended to be disgusted.

“When you get sad like you do sometimes. Anything you feel. Put it all on me. All of your thoughts, I want everything. I’m letting you know, I’m going to be around.”

It had been months since you and Peter broke up and since you have decided not to take Jason back. You opened your eyes and started to cry. He was standing in front of you. “What happened to us?” You ask wiping away your tears.

He goes to step towards you and you back away making yourself smaller.

“Y/n.” He hesitates and puts his arms back to his side.

You don’t look at him.

“I’m sorry.” You look at him. Now he was crying, “I was wrong. You were right and I shouldn’t have done the things that I did but I did and I hurt you and I’m sorry. I don’t want to be apart from you anymore. I’m better with you than I am without you.”

“Jason...” you feel your chest tighten as more tears begin to fall.

“All I want to do is love you and if you don’t want to be with me. At least let me be around...again. I miss my best friend.”

You get on your tiptoes and wrap your arms around his neck. Where he wraps his arms around your body in a tight embrace.

“I never stopped loving you.” You cried. “I’m so scared and lost I don’t know what I want.” You begin to hiccup and Jason rubs your back.

“I’m so sorry, y/n. Sincerely. I promise I won’t ever be the reason you cry again.”

“I'll lift you when you're feeling low. I'll hold you when the night gets cold. Your fears and your thoughts, give me all of it. You'll never have to be alone and that's all you need to know.”

You wipe away your tears.

“I’m sorry.” Jason apologized.

You shook your head no, “Good tears.” He smiles at you and you both look over at Roy who smiling at them softly. He nods and breaks the silence: “Jason Peter Todd, you may kiss your bride.”

Jason cups your face as he pulls you in for a passionate kiss on the lips as the audience that has since gathered clapped and cheered but not louder than his and your family only a few steps away.

[iggy-of-fans]

Daminette AU idea part 5

Firstly, I have no idea how to tag properly, so if I missed you or the tag didn't work properly, I'm really sorry. Secondly, I'm so sorry this took so long, my day got busy and I've never been good in fight scenes, but there's no way I'm not writing one because that's what you deserve! And lastly, after this I think there should only be a couple more parts. So here's to part 5 of 7!

When it Rains

From the start the heroes knew they were at a disadvantage. The League of Shadows members were all trained to escape and bond, Bane alone would take several people to take down. Scarecrow was already starting to release his fear toxin, making it near impossible for some heroes to get within fighting distance of him. The robots are immune to heat vision and ice breath. On top of everything it seems Luther found out about the message Max and Nino sent and is keeping them behind in his tower. Their plan goes out the window quickly. The Assassins hold a grudge and they focus and flush out the batfam, forcing Robin to abandon Guardian Angel early in the fight. Red Robin went back to the cave to get a few vials of nerve toxin to subdue Bane and hopefully some of the others. As it stands, they don't have much that will hold the highly trained assassins anyways, Wonder Woman's rope being one of the few things forces her to leave active battle for prison guard duty. Nightwing watches as Beast Boy, who was left alone by Raven falls to the fear Toxin and some robots.

"second chance". Nightwing jumps from the building he's taken vantage from, pulling Beast Boy out of the way of wave of Robots. Beastboy is barely lucid anymore, fear toxin coursing through every corner of his mind. Nightwing comms Oracle to send someone for rounding up those too badly hurt or incapable of continuing battle. He goes back to scanning the battle "what am I missing? I see everyone…. Except Robin….. And… Raven?" he sees a flash of navy Cape and sees Raven crouching on the far side of an alley, watching a fight within… "what is she doing?" 

Now Raven had just wanted to give Robin a chance to grow up a little bit. For him to come into himself and be a little more open about himself with others. She missed her window it seemed, when the Parisian whore worked her way into the picture. Did Robin not realize she was only using him? Who the hell would believe that story? Besides, Raven could sense that she was impure. Tainted by the blonde wanting his classmate back. Being magical had its advantages, as she thought back to the Gala. She'd been hurt that Robin had brushed her off so casually, his eyes never straying from the temptress. Raven had been so patient, waiting for her opening, making sure to always be "less annoying than the banshees he deals with at school", always there for him when he was around. She knew she just had foster that bit of "I don't dislike you" into an "I love you". She'd been close, she knew. She also knew that it was a risk going up to him in the gala. She'd dressed to the nines in a long white dress that brought out her hair and eye colour, put the slightest touch makeup to make her less pale. Only for him to not ever look at her. She'd been furious. And when the alert came and everyone scrambled to get changed, she just magiced her usual fight clothes on in a corner. So she knew that Robin had the black cat ring that the Parisians wanted. And she made it easy on the teens, sending the message to Luther that he'd been betrayed and that Robin had the cat ring and the whore had the earnings and to separate  the two of them. She'd get the ring herself, and the girl would be easy to overrun from there. So when the battle started she simply walked away in the chaos, biding her time until Robin was completely isolated. The Parisian had said he would include her in his wish, to end up with Robin as hers. It was a win/win in her eyes. So when Robin's katana got knocked away, she grabbed it and ran towards the whore, knowing that a confused Robin was taking off after her as well. 

Nightwing watched, horrified as Raven plunged his brother's katana through Guardian Angel's back, disappearing quickly for GA to turn around to the wide, terrified eyes of Robin. No! Robin ran to her, crying out, and just held her, trying to explain even as her life faded with nothing but hurt and betrayal in her eyes. Raven swooped in a second later, ripping the earnings from her and running towards the back of the siege, where the two teens waited. "second chance" Nightwing barely managed to choke out. 

The battle was not in their favour thus far. Superman couldn't get a handle on the robots. These were obviously specifically created to counter his son, cousin and himself. How had Lex managed that? If that wasn't enough, Superboy had been hit with the fear toxin. And while it didn't affect them as strongly, his son was now shooting blind, and Superman could see the Flash working his way through the throngs, trying to get the heroes out of the way of the rogue laser beams. His son would surely be traumatized from the amount of casualties he was witnessing. With Wonder Woman guarding prisoners, Nightwing for some reason staying above the fight, only intervening when things get a little too close, and Red Robin doing calculations on the side, only occasionally swinging his staff to intercept and Raven being no where in immediate sight, and several people being taken out by fear toxins or Bane… things were definitely not in their favour. He decided to take his son down to metabolize the toxin without further injuring anyone, and then landed and did some floor work, taking out soldiers and assassins. It was only because he'd decided to land that he saw Raven going for Guardian Angel with a Katana. He shot forward immediately, intercepting the sword and knocking her out. Guardian Angel looked back, shock evident on her face as she looked at a hero she had trusted. "Thank God! I didn't think I'd reach her in time!" Nightwing called, landing beside them. Guardian Angel made an OH face. Before frowning. "Why would she turn on us? Or go for me?" she asked. "She has a crush on Robin" Nightwing shrugged. Starfire had filled him in during one of their chats. Guardian Angel frowned and looked sad, but Robin snorted and glared. "She's known me for years. Why go after me when I'm taken?" 

"She was biding her time, letting you" grow up"" Nightwing said. 

"I was never going to change unless I had a reason to." 

The comms cracked to life, "I'm sorry Guardian Angel. The Miraculous you entrusted to me is gone" Wonder Woman stated. While they were distracted, the Assassins had over powered her, taking the earings. 

"Dammit! Nightwing, we need a second chance!" 

"I can't! I have to refuel!" 

"Damn! Okay… Think, what do we have that can end this quickly? Red Robin, Oracle, what will take out the robots? Heat doesn't work, neither does crushing them" 

"We've been analyzing them, they're ridiculously easy to kill with some water in the right pocket. They're just difficult to reach." Red Robin stated. He'd joined the fray for real, moving his staff much faster than ever before, able to deflect bullets. 

"Okay, I have something for that. Nightwing, refuel and get ready just in case. Red Robin, I need to do something for me too. Here's the plan everybody" Guardian Angel would let them feel like their victory was close. But this was far from over. 

Adrien smirked in victory when the familiar earnings landed in his hand. Halfway there. Half the heroes were taken out of the fight, and those still standing were weakened and injured. He admitted, it had been a clever trick to switch Miraculi. But he hadn't seen the new costume and immediately knew she was faking somehow. It took a while to find out that the real Ladybug miraculous was with Wonder Woman. But the assassins had of course reported a bright red thing flashing around her once in a while. Maybe if she'd been transformed she would've been unstoppable. But she wasn't and Ladybug had miscalculated. And now he held half of the answer to all his problems in his hands. He looked over to his left, where Marinette stood as always at his side. She smiled brilliantly at him, eyes bright. "I'll hold you in my arms by tonight, Princess" he whispered to her, wanting so badly to cup her cheek, but knowing his hand would go right through her. He hated Ladybug with a passion. He considered transforming and joining the fray, but he had an insider that knew where the black cat was and would be bringing it to him soon enough. Really, Ladybug should know that he knows her best. Her silly tricks don't work on him. Finally he heard over the comms from Bane. 

"I have Robin." Excellent. 

"Bring me the ring!" he barked at Bane. 

"He doesn't have one" ugh, incompetent baffoon! 

"Just bring all of him, I'll carve it out of his flesh if I have to!" 

The end is finally here. He would get his wish and bring his love back to life and make the world perfect, just for them. 

Cliffhanger?

As Guardian Angel issued orders, the heroes that were left scrambled around. She certainly had a presence to her. A comm was snatched from Scarecrow, who'd finally been taken down by the Flash, who was able to metabolize the toxin quickly enough to not be affected. And then the plan came to life. 

Alya watched as Robin was carried over, kicking and screaming still to Adrien and herself. When he stood in front of the shorter blonde teen he spat in his eyes and kicked up into his face before Bane retrained him more completely. 

"It's too bad I promised that chick she could have you. Once my wish is complete, people like you will be absolutely useless" Adrien stated. The world would be perfect for his Princess. Alya smirked as she started taking off layers of costume to see where the ring was, starting with his gloves. She admitted, she was enjoying this part. She knew that Adrien would wish Nino to be her perfect boyfriend, but Nino had betrayed them today, and she was allowed to look, right? When the left glove came she saw it and grabbed for it. 

"Cataclysm" Robin muttered, making it impossible to take off without disintegrating. 

"Che, using my own old trick? How pathetic. You know I only have to wait five minutes before I can take it off anyways" Adrien scoffed. Robin smirked. 

"Except my time limit is much longer than five minutes, you Rapist scum" Robin growled out. Adrien scowled, but Marinette put her hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

"He isn't more powerful than you my love. He's bluffing" her voice whispered to him. He nodded and smirked. 

"Well, we'll see about that, won't we? I just have to wait out your transformation. Let's go, we'll take him with us and kill him on the way" Adrien ordered. Robin became slightly paler, his smirk fell and he glared. 

"Coward" he spat. 

"I'm taking what's rightfully mine and making the world a better place. No need to make it perfect for everyone. Don't worry, you'll have your pretty Raven girlfriend. In hell" he said, walking towards a helicopter, away from the carnage behind him. As he was walking he was hit from the side by a baton, breaking his rib cage and throwing him into the side of a building. When he didn't get up, Alya rushed to his side, checking on him. He would never fully recover from that hit. His head was bleeding profusely, his side looked slightly caved in, and his arm was awkwardly bent. 

"Let's see how much you like drowning, with no help in sight" Guardian Angel whispered, "Water Dragon." 

Her form disappeared and the street started flooding, short-circuiting the robots, washing away the rest of the toxin and cleaning the streets from blood. Alya scrambled to keep afloat, barely holding Adrien up with her. The flood didn't get high, nor did it last long, but it was enough to make her tired. When the water receded, Bane was captured in Wonder Woman's lasso, the assassins captured and surrounded by Superman, boy and girl. Scarecrow was knocked out and tied up by Batman. The robots all dead. Alya made to grab the Miraculous to transform, only for her hand to fall through smoke. Robin landed beside Guardian Angel, pushing down the hood of his costume and revealing the orange ears of the fox miraculous. Red Robin landed beside him, two black triangles barely showing in his dark hair. Guardian Angel picked held up her hand and Tikki flew from inside the building that Adrien was knocked into with the earnings in hand. 

"It's over Alya. You need to learn that consequences really do exist" Guardian Angel said. The police GCP decided that moment to swarm the street , piling the criminals into reinforced vehicles. 

To be Continued…. 

PS: I know I'm late posting this, but I realized late that I really don't know the Justice League nearly as well as I wish I did. I also readily admit that I downloaded the Justice League soundtrack to write this (it did work in my favour a bit).

Happy Monday!

@thatrandomfandomsgirl @lunar-wolf-warrior @zazzlejazzle @zebrabaker @constancestruggle @unabashedbookworm @ginamarie1512 @mindfulmagics @bitterheart12224 @captainmac6 @blue-peach14 @enduskdragon @multishipper1needshalp @abrx2002 @bookreader20003 @mooshoon @artxyra @spicybelladonna @northernbluetongue @kuroko26 @mystery-5-5 @2sunchild2 @iwantswifttoblessmysoul @zelladane @ellerahs @thedarkwhiteangel @resignedcatservant @scribblinggraveyard @alexzandria-747 @nyctamaximoff @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @sapphiraazure2708 @tinybrie @dudet

@throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen

[bigskydreaming]

Why do You dislike Scott Snyder? I mean I have my reasons.. like a lot of the Court of Owls stuff, his convoluted plots, making Dick a punching bag for the broody bats, horrible at writing the family as a family he literally wrote Death of the Family I mean....*kill bill sirens* ... Also the ''son of a Damian'' line from Black Mirror etc. But I'm curious if you have more reasons since I'm pretty new and I'm told that he likes Dick and wanted to write Dick focused books and I don't.. buy it.

LOL yeah, all of that for sure, and I mean.....tbh, I don’t pay enough attention to his interviews and stuff to even be aware that he’s said that about liking Dick and wanting to write Dick-centric books, but I’m with you on that....not necessarily meaning anything.

God knows I’ve lost track of how many fic writers in this fandom swear up and down they love Dick Grayson and yet I avoid their stories with extreme energy, lmao, because I’ve read enough of their takes on DG that I’m like hmmm, yeah, we are not the same, lol. I mean, there’s a certain couple fic writers who just are like....DETERMINED to mention Danny Chase every single time I make a post about why I’m annoyed by the focus on Dick’s allegedly infamous temper. And its always the exact same song on repeat, they’re like “OH-HO, so apparently you don’t remember the time Dick choked Danny, a literal CHILD, just because Danny had the nerve to tell him Jason died, cuz like, I do, and it was AWFUL and Danny could have died TOO y’know, that’s how mad Dick was.” 

And then I just kinda stare at these words that apparently mean things, and enter a fugue state where an unknown amount of time passes and by the end of it I feel 80 million epochs older, and its like....no, I absolutely do remember that time when Dick grabbed Danny by the shirt and yelled in his face because he just found out his brother died and Danny said “what’s the big deal, its not like it doesn’t happen all the time” and this was absolutely not an awesome and fun scene for anyone, no matter how understandable Dick’s upset was at the time. BUT, I also happen to remember, since y’know, it was in that literal exact same issue, how then Dick went to see Bruce, and due to BRUCE’S upset about Jason’s death, Bruce literally punched his remaining son to the ground, screams about how it was all Dick’s fault, and kicks him out of the house Dick grew up in and tells him to leave his keys with Alfred. 

And its like......the very same people who LOVE to throw around references to Danny Chase in order to puff up the claims about Dick Grayson being volatile and extreme and having a Dangerous Temper like, flat out REFUSE to ever even ACKNOWLEDGE that scene with Dick and Bruce, from the literal exact same issue, because they at the same time claim that THIS was bad writing and OOC and Bruce would never.....but apparently, the writing from ten pages before it was just fine and completely accurate and Dick absolutely would not only ever, he would always, and thus Dick’s Legendary Dangerous Temper is canon and its why Dick can’t have nice things or people being nice to him in these writers’ stories, its too Dangerous, he might get mad I guess.

And each time this comes up on this site, I’m always like....hey, science side of tumblr, is it possible that insisting on vilifying Dick for his reaction to someone in the wake of Jason’s death whilst simultaneously refusing to acknowledge the scene of Bruce’s reaction to Dick is canon or in-character despite existing in the exact same issue and written by the exact same writer.....like....could this be one of those double standards I’m always going on about? And isn’t it in fact reasonable to question just how much or how little someone actually means it when they say they love a character but want that character flogged in the middle of the town square for a Bad Reaction to something that also prompted a Bad Reaction from another character but this character, they’ll like, throw themselves in front of a moving train if it keeps someone from daring to even suggest that THEIR reaction was canon and in-character and might potentially say something damning about their temper or behavior with friends or family?

*heaves endless sigh of endlessness*

Sorry, that example was right there on the tip of my brain today because like....I literally just saw another post around this oft-deceased and resurrected and killed to death again dead horse like, five minutes ago and then came to dip into my ask box for the first time today and it was like.....destiny. Assuming destiny has some free time to kill and nothing better to do, which, I mean, hey, everyone’s allowed a hobby is all I’m saying.

LOL sooooooooooo, ANYWHO, its just like.....ugh, I’m so over being expected to take at face value any writers, whether professional or fan, saying “oh but I love this character or that character, and due to that being my preface to everything else I say or do in regards to this character, you have zero basis for claiming that you do not like or trust my depiction of this character because ummm, read much? I literally JUST said, I love them though? Wow. Insert scoffs of incredulity here, I don’t even know how to talk to someone who thinks I don’t like a character I claimed I like just because literally everything else I say or do about them paints an opposing picture to the contrary.”

LMAO. Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. But yeah, like, I think EVERY canon Batfam writer has made a similar claim in recent years about pretty much every Batfam character, and at a certain point it starts to be like....okay, if all of you are telling the truth here, shouldn’t we see more canon evidence of like....these characters that you’re writing, like....actually even LIKING each other? At what point are we allowed to question the legitimacy of you saying oh I totes love this character, that’s why I write their family as abusing them, that’s just love, baby, that’s what it looks like.

Personally, I’d like to see more of us at least using qualifiers? I mean, I do say I don’t hate Tim, or Bruce, or any of these characters, but I get how people could be dubious about that and be all, umm, you rant about them a lot, because like...yeah. Fair. That’s a valid critique. SO its a lot more accurate for me to be like, I love 90s Tim and I just have become increasingly less enchanted with the character over the past twenty years since then, enough so that my knee-jerk reactionism to people bashing Dick’s character BECAUSE of what Dick did or didn’t do to Tim in their eyes, is like.....disinclined to view the situation or his character these days through 90s-Tim rose-colored glasses. 

Similarly, I truly don’t hate Bruce, at least not when he’s not being written as physically and emotionally abusive and/or just plain neglectful, BUT I absolutely despise the abuse apologism rampant in most fandoms, but particularly in this one, where people will make like Cirque-de-Soilei contortionists in order to prove that Bruce beating this kid or that kid isn’t actually abuse, its cuz they made him do it....rather than people just being like, no, that’s abuse right there on the page and I don’t stand for it or stan that Batman, so I have zero desire to defend that scene or his actions there from his perspective, and am totally fine with taking a seat when someone speaks up about how much they hate what Bruce did to his kid there in that scene and how it affects their read of the characters as a whole.

Its like....that too, is a thing you can do, instead of just.....trying to explain why Bruce isn’t abusive see, because what happened there wasn’t actually abuse, since it couldn’t have been, because Bruce isn’t abusive, see, he would Never.

And yet so rarely do people actually do that, and we have people literally championing themselves as members of the Good Dad Bruce Protection Squad when the frank reality is there CAN BE NO GUARANTEE of him ever and always being a Good Dad, when like....his characterization, ultimately, is dependent on how he’s written by canon writers who ARE NOT US. Which makes that desire to see him as just a good dad and nothing but a good dad always, like....not quite as understandable as it otherwise might be, and instead just kinda....willful, an admission that a lot of fans in this fandom will just flat out ignore all evidence to the contrary of this stated claim about what Bruce inherently IS, when inherently all he is happens to be a character who manifests whatever those in creative control of him choose to manifest via him. Like.....there are ways to go about that kinda thing, its just....that isn’t it. Something like “Proud member of the Keep Bruce Wayne a Good Dad Squad’ or something along those lines? I’d have ZERO issue with, because that’s ACTIONABLE, not WILLFUL. It posits not that Bruce simply IS this way and there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it, but rather that just because he isn’t this way in some instances, that doesn’t mean we have to agree with it or condone that interpretation of him, y’know?

But people are like....unwilling to make that distinction or hold that nuance a lot of the times, so my dislike of Bruce as he’s written in certain ways or by certain writers like....grows and evolves and mutates into Godzilla rampaging through downtown New York, until its understandable that people reading my blog intermittently and who don’t follow everything I say on the subject are like.....”Bold of you to claim you like lizards in this one post when I have here nine other posts where you’re just like, FEAR the murderous monster-lizard destroying New York for it is Dangerous and Fearsome. Cuz one of these things is not like the others, bud.”  

*Shrugs* Anyway, all of that’s just my allergy to Staying on Topic, so make of it what you will, hopefully you get what I mean though even if you don’t have like, the requisite Kalen-Garbled-Nonsense Secret Decoder Ring. Back to Snyder though....yeah, he can claim he likes Dick all he wants, because y’know what, Tynion says the same thing and its been well established by moi that my fondest wish for Tynion is that he be kept far, far away from Dick’s character whenever possible. And I’m pretty sure Tom King claims he loves all these characters and we’re all like HAHAHHAHA and we know Lobdell insists he loves Jason Todd and its like wow how curious then that hardly any other Jason Todd stans love you.

The ironic thing about my random bouts of ugh Snyder in a lot of posts however, is that......tbh, its not even his depiction of Dick that makes me dislike him as much as I do? LMAO. I mean, I’m not a fan of it personally, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned, but I don’t like a lot most canon writers’ depiction of Dick these days and haven’t for years. The thing I really dislike Snyder for, personally, is his depiction of Damian.

Its just.....its very Not Good, a lot of the time. Oh, there are moments here and there, but you could claim that for any writer, really, but for the most part, like.....ooof, I haven’t read Snyder’s work on Damian recently enough to really cite specific moments off the top of my head, because I’ve been avoiding anywhere he’s writing Damian for awhile now BECAUSE of it, but....a LOT of the ‘demon brat’ shit in regards to Damian comes from Snyder’s work, and like, I’m always kinda like “hey is making Demon anything the go-to nickname for a kid of Arab descent who is already compared to a terrorist enough as it is like....really the best we can do” to begin with, and Snyder absolutely 100% does not help with that.

To be fair, its not remotely like its all just on him, the stuff that has had a lot of us complaining for years about the blood son crap and the insistence on acting like there’s this stark divide between Bruce and Damian and the rest of the Bat siblings, I mean, see: Tom King again, its just. Ugh, okay, Im gonna have to get back to this in the near future with actually sourced gripes about why I think Snyder’s Damian in particular is absolute crap and could he just not, though. Because it really is my chief complaint with him, like I was never gonna be a fan of his in general just because he’s someone who's like DARK MULTIVERSE BATMAN FUCK YEAH and I’m someone who’s like DARK MULTIVERSE BATMAN UGH FUCK WHY.....lol....BUT like I mention in other posts.....its not like he’s incapable of doing decent stuff or that he’s never written anything I like, because ironically, he IS the biggest canon backer of Duke Thomas and pretty much single-handedly responsible for Duke retaining as much of a presence as he has in recent years instead of just appearing and blipping out of existence like a one-hit wonder, and that can’t be overlooked or considered inconsequential.

That just also kinda makes it all the more annoying that his Damian is so very.....objectionable to me, but yeah. Anyway, that’s the curious case of my very mixed feelings on Scott Snyder, with a side dish of generalized “lol oh, so you do in fact love this character? Well magically all my criticisms of your take on them have now disappeared!”

[incoherentbabblings]

As someone who loves the timsteph relationship i hate what new 52 robbed us of. Tim had previously been a dick to Steph by telling her to never be a hero again and Steph had been a dick to Tim by faking her death and lying to him but they still obviously cared about each other and i feel like they would have gotten back together if new 52 hadnt happened

Oh for sure!

I’ve always been on the fence with their interactions when Steph came back because on the one hand it’s just plain bad writing in that, Steph had no reason to follow through on Batman’s bizarre plan to make Tim a better Robin.  She had nothing to prove to Bruce since she’d survived being tortured for god know’s how long and still came back to help people once she’d healed.  She even asks Bruce if she’s welcome back and Bruce affirms yes ‘if you want it’.  And then she notices straight away that Tim is acting and behaving far more coldly and assigns herself her the mission of basically bringing joy back into his life.

So even though ‘she was hiding in Africa and lied to everyone about it’ there were ways round it where you could address it but also remember that the poor girl had been through a lot and I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to disappear.  The fact that she realised she wouldn’t ever be able to stop helping people and she needed to go back to Gotham I feel is really important to her character and something her and Tim (and the batfam in general) have in common, like a chronic need to protect people.  It’s an important part of her character which people tend to ignore for wanting to spite her dad or Bruce or any of the people who doubted her.

Tim’s behaviour is also really cold and annoying to read but I think it’s just showing that he was shutting down emotionally and just that he was terrified for Steph.  I wish they’d more of a big deal of why Tim was a bit shifty around Bruce after War Games, after all Bruce didn’t let Stephanie and Tim talk to each other while she was Robin, he hid that Stephanie had been kidnapped as long as he could and he stopped Tim from being with her when she was dying (EVEN THOUGH she was asking after him.  She was terrified he hated her and yes Bruce reassures her that Tim adores her always has always will she should have had a moment with Tim, to hear it from him.  She just deserved better.  Every part of those arcs. She deserved better).  Bruce massively bungled how much the two were reliant on each other but dead dad and dead best friend meant she got lost in the shuffle and was just one of many dead loved ones.  Which is bad writing and bad editorial for a character that was fridged to make Bruce and Tim sad.  But we all know that.    

Moving to when she came back, their conversation on the rooftop after Battle for the Cowl has Tim inform Steph that a) he’s leaving Gotham b) he wants her to stop wearing the costume because c) he’s scared for her and of her actions.  So it’s pretty ‘this is us done for real’. And yet they are drawn doing this

Which is part of why they had such an interesting dynamic because their body language is always having them stand close together with lots of hand holding and face smushing.  Which you normally don’t do with an ex or someone you don’t trust.  One of the first posts I made about these two was showing how often they are drawn with their hands reaching out to the other during their batgirl and red robin run.  It’s near constant in the batgirl issue and crops up a few times in red robin too.

Also all throughout his RR solo Tim’s gutted that he feels like he can’t trust her anymore until he grows up a little and is like yeah I was wrong actually she’s doing so well and meanwhile she’s doing her own thing trying to cement down why she can’t ever stop doing what she does and it’s not to spite her dad anymore and it’s not so she can maybe on the off chance run across Tim anymore.  At the same time, I think Miller wrote during their crossover that Tim and Steph’s relationship is one which he describes as “comfort and familiarity” hence why Steph stopped them getting back together at that moment.  She was in a transition stage in her life and needed to focus on grounding herself before she could ‘fall back in’ with Tim, and I think Tim understood that.  Also he was dating Tam so he shouldn’t have tried it in the first place but Tim is forever dating Ariana/Zo/Tam/Cassie and then smooching Steph and realising oh no that one that one I like that one more and usually Steph is like lol ok sure I like you too.

By the end of their respective runs you have Steph in a very good place whereas Tim’s work at building himself back from the ground up is shaken in that final issue with him essentially trying to murder his father’s murderer, and Bruce’s response to his actions makes Tim sort of… shut down again, after everything he put himself through to convince others that Bruce wasn’t dead.   Tim’s growth came mostly from re-connecting with Dick and Cass, Stephanie, and the Titans.

So I guess if I’d had my way what would have been the best way for these two to find their way back to each other would have been post Bat Inc when Steph gets back from England and Tim has a proper sit down with Bruce and Dick and is like ‘the past two years have been really hard and I think I’m getting there but need a bit more help’ and like… put himself together first.  I kinda like to read Steph and Tim’s final interactions during their crossover as a sort of ‘wait for me a bit longer okay?’ line of thought.  Steph doesn’t say ‘I’m not doing this with you anymore’, she says ‘This isn’t good for me right now’ which just goes to show how emotionally intelligent she is, especially regarding herself by the mid point of her batgirl run.  Tim needed to work on his own crap first before they could meet halfway.  

Anyway I really recommend Sorry I Bruced You by quipquipquip which is how I headcanon them growing back together.  Steph did a lot of hard work looking at why and how she was going to be a hero after being physically and emotionally wrecked by her torture.  Tim had started to do so but stumbled at the end of Red Robin, and I think he needed to do a bit more work on himself.  Ultimately it wasn’t Stephanie’s job to make him a lighter person.  It would have been nice for them reuniting to be a ‘look how far we’ve come apart and yet I still at the end of the day want to sit and talk with you on your mum’s old couch because you’re warm, safe, gentle and alive’.

But HEY thanks reboot for dropping all that and wiping Steph from existence and breaking Tim away from what made him that gentle boy in the first place.  Don’t get me wrong I actually really love the way Tynion wrote them together but to like properly love it you have to read it with all of their pre-War Games interactions in mind which is an understandable but still not great cut off point. I’ve always wanted Tim and Stephanie to be the one couple of the batfam who just kind of do their own thing and live in their own bubble and get on with their own lives whilst the rest of the batfam romantic relationships are more than welcome to be full blown melodrama any given day of the week.  And I think DC sees it that way?  The number of hints in other universes where Tim pops up in the future tend to imply Steph is a presence too (Batman Beyond, Nightwing New Order, Tom King’s Batman Annual… the exception is the original Batman of Tomorrow Arcs, where Steph was dead and LOOK HOW THAT TURNED OUT FOR EVERYONE and in even in Tynion’s run where she isn’t dead in the future BatTim is like…haunted by her disapproval, she really is his anchor when given the chance to be) and this has gone on long enough look what you’ve done anon(!!!)

[cdelphiki]

Fanfic writer asks: 1, 2, 5 (link it maybe), 7, 11, 12, 13, 20-23, 25, 28. Also, do you think fics should be fully written before the writer starts the publishing process? Why or why not?

Oooh, thanks for the asks.   Let’s see:

1. How old were you when you first started writing fanficiton?

It was earlier this year, just about a week before my birthday so technically I was 25.  

2. What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favorite if you write for more than one?

So far I’ve only published in the Batman fandom.  I’ve written in the MCU fandom and not published because they are still too drafty. (A Peter & Tony and a crossover between Batman and Avengers).  The batfam is my favorite, for sure.  Just love those kids.  

5. If you had to choose a favorite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why?

Life Happens, for sure.    I only have three long stories so far, and then kind of that little side fic to Life Happens, but out of the three I prefer this story.  The Missing Piece was my intro into FanFiction writing.  I had only ever written original works, so it was this nice transition to writing characters I did not make up.  Cracked Foundation was some random story that popped into my mind when I was working through the plot for Life Happens, actually, and was more of a distraction to me than actual story I loved and worked hard on. There’s a lot about it I really dislike.  Actually, I wrote all 20k words for that story in the span of a couple evenings, which probably contributes to my dislike for it.  Life Happens has been my baby for months now, and I’ve still not lost interest.  So yeah. 

7. When is your preferred time to write? 

Friday evenings, Saturdays, and Sunday early afternoon/evenings.  It kind of sucks because that’s also the time friends like to hang out, and I can’t do both. So really, I try to squeeze it in whenever I can.  Usually evening/night time is when I do the best work, though. 

11. Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

Yes!  I added 800 words to a chapter of Life Happens based on feedback that it ended too abruptly and moved too quickly.  I have never and will never change the ending of a story, however, because people are mad at me that I didn’t write the story they wanted.  I will, however, write fan-service alternate endings.  (hint hint wink wink)

In my original work, I have also done major rewrites based on criticism.  That’s how writing works.  You get feedback and you respond how you see fit.  

12. Who is your favorite character to write for and why?

Uh, wow, that’s difficult.  I freaking love Damian to pieces.  Adore that stupid little brat.  But Tim now has a special spot in my heart because I’ve been stuck in his head so long, and Jason is so damn funny.  I think my favorite relationship to write is Tim & Damian, and that’s about as close to answering the question as I can get, because I can’t really pick between the three.  

13. Who is your least favorite character to write for and why?

Dick, probably.  Just because I haven’t quite figured him out.  Reading character studies on him has helped a ton, but I just never feel like I hit the mark well with him.  I still love him and would put him above all the other characters in the Batman fandom (excluding Bruce, I’d put him squarely between the three other boys and Dick).  I tend to just avoid characters I don’t know.  

20. Are there any stories you wished you’d ended differently?

Hmm.  Not so far.  

21. Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire?  What is it about them you admire?

Oh, this goes so against my shyness.  Eek. I can’t really order them.  Looking at my user subscriptions, I’m subscribed to ten people within the fandom, and they are audreycritter, autumnhobbit, bandgeek18, dawnseternallight, dreamersmyth27, fishfingersandjellybabies, lemonadegarden, lowflyingfruit, raberba_girl, and wingfeathers.

Okay, and I’ll just pick a couple to say why I love them so much, but I really do love all these writers.  I’m very likely to read whatever they post within the fandom, unless it’s just a ship I really cannot stand.  (sorry heh)  

With LemonadeGarden, I love the way her stories feel like a dance when you read them, swaying back and forth between dialogue and exposition and whatnot.  They are almost dreamlike they are so graceful.

Audreycritter was author of the first fanfic I ever read, and it’s what drew me into FanFiction in the first place.  I had been searching for a book about Damian Wayne, because while I love comics, I really wanted that inner dialogue and longer story, and came across Let There Be a Bruise on google. I was actually away at training for work, and I remember spending every single free moment I had reading through one shots on my phone after.  I was so entranced.  Audrey does Damian’s character justice and I love that about her.   

22. Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it.

Yes.  All of them.  There are aspects of all my stories I cringe at, even my current WIPs.  It’s just how I am with any form of art I do.  

23. Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

It varies.  I have ADHD and sometimes listening to music helps me tune the world out and focus, and other times I get really caught up in the music and start paying attention to it instead.  Just depends on the day, what my mood is, and what kind of music I put on.  

25. Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

Yes.  I’ve cried a couple times writing Life Happens.  By cry, I mean I teared up pretty heavily.  I did so many times while plotting it out, too.  Some of my whumptober fics have had the same effect on me.  I’m weird and love when that happens.  

28. What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction?

I can’t really think of anything, to be honest. I’ve only been writing FanFiction since March.  Maybe that Tumblr is such a great place to read about the various characters and learn more about what makes them tick.  

And finally, do you think fics should be fully written before the writer starts the publishing process? Why or why not?

I have done both ways and I see the pros and cons of each.  For me, the comments are what drive me and keep me motivated, so with my longer two works there is no way I would have found the ability to focus and stay driven to finish out the story if I didn’t have someone there reminding me that they want to read what happens next.  

But, when you write the entire thing out first, you can make sure the entire story flows well, nothing is mismatched, and the beginning and end lend themselves to each other.  So yeah.  Also, you don’t give the audience 10 chapters and get right to the climax then quit and leave every hanging forever.  I know we’ve all read stories like that.  

I don’t see an issue with writing chapter by chapter, as long as you keep in mind that it’s perfectly okay to go backward in the story and edit.  In ‘real’ fiction, authors are constantly revising earlier chapters to fit with how the story went, so there’s nothing wrong with doing so in fanficiton, even if you’ve already ‘published’ it.  

[rassilon-imprimatur]

#IVE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE #IM ACTUALLY GOING TO CRY #CASSANDRA MY CHILD I LOVE YOU SO MUCH #PLEASE TAKE CARE OF HER BRUCE #CASS #BRUCE #I REALLY NEED TO READ ALL THE GOTHAM KNIGHTS ISSUES RELEVANT TO CASS AND STEPH

@2ndbluebird I can’t recommend the whole Gotham Knights series after #32 (I have a lot of bad opinions about Scott Beatty’s Batfam writing), but Devin Grayson’s initial run is such an underrated set of comics. This bit with Cass is just a taste of the super good stuff in it. She launched the series and helmed it until issue 32 and in my opinion it is some of the best character work done for the Batfamily in the entire pre-Hush era. It mostly forgoes big arcs and interconnected issues and just focuses on small, everydaynight adventures and problems for everyone. Bruce, Dick, Tim, Cass, Steph, Alfred, Babs, Leslie. Some great interpretations of classic villains, too (Grayson remains one of my favorite Poison Ivy and Scarecrow writers). 

Steph and Cass don’t get a whole lot of spotlight (most of the focus is on Bruce and Dick), but when they do, it’s magic. And I think a huge part of that is how Devin writes Bruce. One of the big things I hate about this era is that while Bruce was being written okay in Detective Comics and Batman itself, Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty were saturating every other trace of the Family with BatcockdickSuperemo, from Robin and Nightwing to Birds of Prey. (which is actually, to my shame, a big reason I can’t read most of Steph’s stuff). Grayson, by contrast, gives us such a raw, human, good Bruce. He has a fair share of asshole moments... and they are always called out, and shown really to be him panicking through his fear of loss and inability to understand how people work. And then, my gosh, the run has some of the kindest things Bruce has ever done (and few newer fans will ever know, since this run has been so long overshadowed). When Cass and Steph are given that to bounce off of... gaahh!!! 😍

It does has its fair share of problems worth warning about. Devin Grayson is the first writer to make Dick canonically Romani (great!!!!) but then proceeds to use the word for that sort of thing we really shouldn’t be using (not great!!!!). It also gets bogged down towards the end of her run once the whole Murderer/Fugitive storyline takes over everything (god I hate that story), but there are still unrelated issues where Grayson’s character work shines (I could message you a rough guide if you care enough). 

Yeah, idk, it’s a lowkey favorite of mine.