#Worlds Beyond Elseworlds

[afaimsarrowverse]

Das “Worlds”-Verse:

 Die meisten meiner Arrowverse-AUs bestehen aus mehreren Teilen, doch das Worlds-Verse war das erste großangelegte AU, das im Grunde nur eine Fic ist: „Worlds Beyond Elseworlds“. Wer diese Fic aber liest, wird schnell feststellen, dass es nicht mehr als eine Fic braucht – diese Fic umspannt alle Serien, lässt so gut wie alle Charaktere auftreten, gibt der Franchise ein Ende und gestaltet sie um.

„Worlds Beyond Elseworlds“ habe ich 2020 verfasst als Abgesang auf das Arrowverse. Damals ist die Franchise auf Grund von vielen Faktoren, die im RL zusammen kamen, praktisch ohne Vorwarnung gestorben. Ich konnte damals natürlich nicht wissen, dass sich der Tod des Arrowverses schleichend über zwei Jahre hinweg weiter hinziehen würde, bis 2022 der endgültige Todesstoß kommen würde, der kurz darauf gekoppelt mit dem Todesstoß für das gesammte DCTV noch einmal alles noch viel schlimmer abbrechen würde. Damals wusste ich, dass „Supergirl“ und „Black Lightning“ zu ende gehen würden, dass „Batwoman“ praktisch nicht mehr existieren wurde, und dass sich „The Flash“ sehr verändern würde und das nicht zum Guten. Aber ich konnte nicht ahnen, dass „Legends of Tomorrow“ mit einenCliffhangar (noch dazu diesem) enden würde, dass „Green Arrow and the Canaries“ wirklich niemals in Serie gehen würde, dass der Diggle-Green Lantern-Tease nirgendwo hin führen würde, wie schlecht „The Flash“ wirklich werden würde, und dass die neue Arrowverse-Serie „Superman& Lois“ aus dem Arrowverse hinaus geretconned werden würde und eine Staffel danach dann auch noch wegen Budget-Cuts alles verlieren würde, was sie ausmacht. Ironischerweise ist „World Beyond Elseworlds“ deswegen heute immer noch ein sehr passender Schwanengesang für das Arrowverse. Manche Passage im vorletzten Teil im Kampf gegen die Schicksalsgöttinnen sind heute noch passender und wahrer als sie es damals waren, manches kling beinahe prophetisch, es ist eine Herausforderung an die Zukunft von DC außerhalb der Comics, in der es nur noch um weiße heterosexuelle Männer namens Bruce and Clark gehen wird, die ab und an einen Ensemble Cast erklären dürfen wo es lang geht und daran, dass das nicht die Welt ist, in der wir leben wollen. Also ja, im Grunde ist „Worlds Beyond Elseworlds“ immer noch genauso wichtig wie die Fic 2020 war, im Grunde ist sie sogar noch wichtiger geworden, im Grunde ist sie heute das Ende, das wir uns für das Arrowverse gewünscht hätten anstelle von dem, das wir durch das Finale der 9. Staffel von „The Flash“ bekommen haben.

Bis zu dieser Fic hatte ich die Prämisse von Earth Prime immer abgelehnt. „Worlds Beyond Elseworlds“ war die erste Fic, in der ich Earth Prime akzeptiert aber eben auch repariert habe. Das Motto war: Wenn wir schon Earth Prime kriegen und alle Serien auf der selben Erde spielen, dann sollten die Dinge auch entsprechend ablaufen. Daher lautete die Devise: Crossover so weit das Auge reicht. Schon in „Elseworlds“ mischen die Legends mit, und während„Crisis on Infinite Earths“ haben wir mehr Szenen zwischen Charakteren aus verschiedenen Serien und dann eben auf Earth Prime reden die Charaktere miteinander und lösen zusammen Probleme. Und danach exitieren alle gemeinsam auf einer Erde. Sogar „Black Lightning“ kriegt ein Crossover, der Rest der Liga hilft Jefferson in der Staffel 3 Stoyline aus, in der das Sinn gemacht hätte. Und die Paragons stellen sich dann in der neuen Realität am Ende der 5. Staffel von „Legends of Tomorrow“ ebenfalls den Schicksalsgöttinnen.

Aber nicht nur Crossover unterscheiden Earth Prime in dieser Fic vom Canon. Teile der 6. Staffel von „The Flash“, der 5. Staffel von „Supergirl“ und der Backdoor Pilot von „Arrow“ wurden von mir extrem umgeschrieben, während ich bei „Legends of Tomorrow“ eher nur im kleinen Sinne Hand angelegt habe (etwa wenn Ray und Nora klar wird, dass sie keinen Grund hatten die Legends zu verlassen, oder Charlies Ausstieg aus dem Team keine fünf Minuten andauert), aber ich habe den Canon an sich verändert indem ich das Doppelgänger-Problem gelöst habe und Spectre-Oliver zu einem Zeitpunkt zurück gebracht habe, als es nicht danach aussah als ob das im Canon jemals passieren würde. Da diese Fic 2020 geschrieben wurde, musst ich den Mirror Verse-Arc und den Leviathan-Arc auch jeweils nach eigenen Gutdünken beenden, da ich keine Vorlage hatte (und ja, im Fall des Mirror-Verses ist es ähnlich aber auch anders als in meinem Sense8-AU-Verse).

Ich sage oft, dass „Worlds Beyond Elseworlds“ meine große Olivarry/Kanvers-Fic ist, was bis zu einem gewissen Grad auch stimmt, aber nicht heißt, dass beide Pairing immer wichtig sind und beide zusammen enden. Wenn man es genau nimmt, dann sind die Endgames Westhallen, Kanvers und Lauriver. Aber das ist auch recht so, denn in „Worlds Beyond Elsesworlds“ geht es auch um das Überwinden von Tragödien, darum die Kraft zu finden weiter zu machen und einen Weg zu finden als sein wahres authentisches Selbst zu leben und so zu leben wie es einem glücklich macht. Deswegen habe ich mehr Zeit als jemals zuvor in die Olicity-Beziehung investiert, nur um zu erklären warum sie nicht mehr funktioniert. Und deswegen gibt es in dieser Fic Irivarry und Westhallen und das zweite gewinnt am Ende, weil Oliver zu etwas anderem geworden ist (und ehrlich gesagt Barry und Iris besseres verdient haben). Bei der Olivarry Beziehung war es mir immer wichtig, dass ich Westallen nicht unterlaufe und Mia auch nicht aus der Existenz lösche, deswegen musst es immer schlecht enden. Trotzdem ist Barry Olivers wahre Liebe in dieser Fic. Kara und Kate haben mehr Glück. Ganz im Sinne von, wenn wir Karamel nicht haben können, dann wollen wir wenigstens Kanvers, ermögliche ich Kara und Mon-El hier einen Abschluss, der es ihr wiederum ermöglicht sich auf neue Liebe einzulassen, die nicht William ist (das haben die Autoren schon richtig erkannt), sondern eben die Person, an der sie seit Mon-Els Verlust am meisten interessiert war: Kate. Die wiederum muss erst mal einsehen, dass sie und Sophie nicht zusammenpassen und ist dann offen für Kara.

In dieser Fic habe ich übrigens einige Pairings eingebaut, die ich ansonsten nie geschrieben habe wie etwa Monwinn (wie gesagt, wenn wir Karamel nicht haben können…) und Dinah Drake/Oliver und eben auch Irivarry. Bei den Legends haben wir mehr oder weniger indirekt die Ende Season 5-Endgame-Pairings (Avalance, Darhkatom, Steelhacker und Hellstar) und anders als im Canon haben Ralph und Sue ein Happy End.

 Außerdem gibt es ein Crossover mit „Stargirl“ als das Multiversum neu entdeckt wird und eine sehr sehr andere Version von „Superman & Lois“ mit Crossover mit „Superman Returns“. Dass Mia und Kate starke fähige Frauen sind wir hier nicht vergessen sondern betont, manch verloren geglaubter Charakter taucht wieder auf, und letztlich, ja, wie gesagt, ist „Worlds Beyond Elseworlds“ die Version des Arroverses die wir im Zuge von „Crisis on Infinite Earths“ hätten bekommen sollen, mit einer kurzen Olivarry-Romanze zuvor ausgehend von den Ereignissen von „Elseworlds“.

Übrigens ist der Titel dieser Fic noch so etwas, das heute dank James Gunns Ankündigung(en) eine viel tiefere Bedeutung hat als damals als ich ihn erfunden habe. Damals bezog er sich auf den Inhalt der Fic, heute bedeutet er so viel mehr, in mehr als nur einer Hinsicht.

 Nun auf jeden Fall war ich auf diese sehr umfangreiche und inhaltlich sehr umfassende Fic immer sehr stolz. Und für mich persönlich wird „Worlds Beyond Elseworlds“ immer zu meinen besten Arrowverse-Fics zählen, was ja auch so sein sollte, denn immerhin war sie ja als Abschied gedacht. Woher hätte ich ahnen sollen wie viele weiter Abschiede ich später noch verfassen würde?

 https://www.fanfiktion.de/s/5f2e6edb00000b7b13dcb16b/1/Worlds-Beyond-Elseworlds

 https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13665930/1/Worlds-Beyond-Elseworlds

 https://archiveofourown.org/works/34098835/chapters/84829564

[bronson2099]

Batober day 32 - Ascend (again)

I scrapped my original version of this and made a different piece from day 31. This one I remade and then colored digitally.

[soleminisanction]

Once again got a bee in my bonnet to spend a night doing obscure fandom research to make a point, so. For all those people who keep making the annoying, "Tim keeps '''stealing'' other peoples' names" comments -- have a table.

EDIT: Updated version with some mistakes corrected.

Everyone with a check mark has used that codename at some point in DC's 80+ year continuity -- Elseworlds and alternate dimensions/timelines count, adaptations (movies, video games, cartoons, etc.) don't unless they've got comic book tie-ins, and neither do in-universe dream sequences/illusions/fantasies/other narrative elements that are objectively "not real" within the boundaries of the fiction.

A purple marker indicates an element that only applies in Elseworlds or alternate timelines. Yellow is for the originator of the legacy title. Star symbol is for borderline cases/extenuating circumstances/it's open to interpretation (with some further elaboration below).

The "other" column is just there to account for people who've held lesser or non-legacy titles, like Renegade, Wingman, Arkham Knight, Drake, Redbird, Talon, Deadman, Black Bat, Orphan and Catwoman.

Point being: the people who have actually gone through the most legacy titles in this family are Dick, Babs and Jason, tied with 5 each (again, not counting "other;" if we counted those separately Dick would've had by far the most). Tim is tied with Steph AND Helena Wayne, so unless you're whining about them "stealing other peoples' names" you're just wrong, and they're all only one higher than Damian, Carrie and Bruce.

This is a legacy family that passes their codenames up and down the inheritance line. It's what they do. It's not a legitimate criticism to level at one character and not the others. Please get over it.

---

Further elaboration on some of the lesser known/niche cases:

- Bruce uses the Robin ID in Superman & Batman: Generations, as well as the pre-Crisis Detective Comics #226 story.

- In the second half of Thrillkiller ‘62, Babs cuts her hair and dons the Robin costume worn by her deceased partner Dick to get revenge on his killer; however the only name ever used for her in the series is Batgirl

- Cassandra was a member of the Robins orphan gang from Dark Knights of Steel.

- Duke was a member of the We Are Robins gang, as well as the aforementioned DKS orphan gang, and has appeared as Robin in a couple of Elseworlds, including I believe a White Knight spin-off.

- Cass was Batwoman in one of the versions of the Titans Tomorrow, as was Bette Kane, depending on changes to the timeline.

- Babs is Batwoman in the Batman ‘66 comics and in the 1980 story “The Secret Origin of Bruce (Superman) Wayne”

- Earth-3 Steph is Batwoman in Young Justice 2019.

- Helena Wayne is Batwoman in the possible future story Last Rites

- Tim is a member of the Batgirls vigilante/little league baseball team in the DC Bombshells universe, as is Cullen Row. Some call them the “Batboys” instead. I call those people cowards.

- Helena Bertinelli wore the costume that would later become Cass’s signature Batgirl look during No Man’s Land. However, she was more often referred to as “The Bat” and her Batgirl status is up to individual interpretation.

- Dick didn’t originate the Nightwing name, it started with Clark in the Silver Age.

- Steph has never been Nightwing. The panel where she appears in the costume is a Black Mercy illusion that happens only in her own mind. It’s a dream sequence.

- Barbara was Nightwing in the Smallville Season 11 comics.

- Terry was briefly Nightwing in volume 4 of Batman Beyond.

- Damian briefly became Nightwing after accidentally killing Dick in the Injustice series.

- Dick is Oracle in the “Eight Wonders of the World” version of Earth 2 (aka the Black Superman dimension)

[evilminji]

Sooooo.....

Like? We can all agree, that, all other factors aside? Given the life he's lived and the personality he has? The sheer NONSENSE he's been exposed too (from rays to oozes to powders to magics etc) AND the by definition unfinishable nature of his Life's Work/Obsession?

If Batman lived in a world connected to Danny Phantom's Zone in any way... he's DEFINITELY becoming a Realms Ghost.

Like? It's not even a "possibly" here. It's an inevitability. He HAS to protect just one more person. HAS to solve one more case. HAS to protect his kids one last time. He HAS Too, HAS Too, HAS Too.

He's Batman.

It's etched into his soul. The man's ghost will literally REFORM in that outfit. Batman with a glow. Batman the protection spirit. Kindness and grief and an eternity of "I have to save just one more."

He's not going to get to die peacefully or rest quietly. It would go against his nature.

But! Why is this relevant? Because of the Elseworld stories. Those AUs. The Multi-Verse at large. They ALL... Have Batman.

Consider: Ember McClain. Rocker. Remember that name. Yes, in some worlds she makes it big. But? Tragedy and betrayal in others. Death. Do you think the Ember's of those worlds are fine with passing on silently? Shrugging and being forgotten just because some other Ember got there first?

No. They are Ember. SHE is Ember.

Just as Clockwork is Time.

What makes a Realms Ghost different then someone like Deadman? Than a Shade? A poltergeist? Your average spook?

They are only themselves.

Singular.

Small.

A tiny little fraction, of a fraction, of a part, of a small bitty droplet, if even that. You only get one soul. But! You share it. There are many "You"s. Like the universe itself, exploding out, to live, to experience, BE, and then collapsing back together in the end. Running together like rainwater in the cracks of Realitys. Seeping back into one piece, one person, in the place between places.

It's why one forgets silly things like Names and Pasts. You had so, so many. All of them were yours. Made you. Shaped you. But are not why you refuse to let go. Why you still EXSIST. Outside of Creation and Rebirth, beyond any gods you could possibly recognize. Refined to your truest SELF.

Yet... you might still be Alive. You know that you ARE. Time exists for the living. To balance beginnings, middles, and ends. Why do you care? They aren't you yet. They will be. All of you will eventually come together. You'll become something... MORE.

Ancient.

The wisdom and complexity of a complete Being. More a Person then your average soul. Like giant stars compared to a barely burning dwarves. You know, assuming you don't give up first. Most give up. It takes a certain sort of patience, after all. A LOT of timeless time. Kinda sucks.

Yet! We consider The Bat. Persistence and Stubborn Hope made manifest. Compassion born of terrible grief. Dead. Again and again and again. Dead for those who needed him. Who hated him. Who cursed or forgot or lamented him. In every imaginable age, a story played out the same. Ending the same.

Himself instead of another.

Himself FOR the others.

Himself because none other could.

Sacrifice and Sacrifice and Sacrifice. Desperation to save. Worlds burning and cities falling. Waking up, reaching out, to shield sons and daughters that are not there. That live because he does not. Dragging himself through the stubborn walls of world after world, like a haunting final curse, upon those who harmed his family, his city. His world.

A wraith. Gothams final curse upon those who damn her.

What must it be like? To keep saying good bye? To drag your aching soul, fuller and fuller of terrible memories, across the fields of jagged glass that are portals you tear, to world's on fire. Just to save friends and family. Enemies and strangers. All of whom, must in the end... bury you anyway.

Because you must kill the hope in their eyes. Must die before them again. Because you can not stay and they can not come with you. Or worse... they can, and will soon.

Sitting on fields of battle where you tried. Gave all your spirit could muster. But... it's over now. And all you can offer is the knowledge is that they should not be afraid. You will carry them home.

And are there? Nightwings and Robins and all manner of other family, waiting back in the Zone? In a Manor where Pennyworth lives eternal? Do they also hurt and fight to save their friends? Each new piece of them coming with some great tragedy that they must put right?

Do they give Walker and the Observants migraines? Probably.

Imagine, though: Time travel added to the mix. Dying in the future. Your son managing to turn everything back to before the world ended. The Ghost King is suddenly a Baby again. Every one is freaking out. "Oh no! The king!" Blah blah blah.

But you and your family are more concerned about the world ending threat that kills a part of you. So is the baby ghost king, when you tell him. You show up in your own Cave, freak yourself out. Team up time. Though you ARE growing concerned by the Baby Kings self-neglectful behaviors. Hey, Me, are you seeing this?

.......he.... you know, he COULD use more Parental Oversight. He's a good kid. Seems lonely though. Underfed. ("BRUCE, NO." "Hmmm.")

@hdgnj @stealingyourbones @the-witchhunter @cyrwrites

[monst]

LOVEE your tim fics🩷🩷 i keep coming back to read them again 🥹 if its okay can i ask if youre planning anything else for him?

Aww Thank you! That really means a lot!  And it’s more than okay to ask! Eeeekkk I’m like obsessed with Tim so there’s so much I have planned for him. I try to hold myself back cause I don’t wanna be stingy and hog the tags >.<

Ahhh okay okay I’m just really excited! Right, so imma separate this into two categories Sfw & nsfw(Under cut)

WC- 800 

Sfw: 

Tim drake General hc’s: We’re sitting at 2.3k words for this so I’m tryna cut this down. 

A couple of cute date fics: Sort of like “Go for a drive” and “Watching the sunset” Ex: Watching movies in the car (Drive up movie theater), Skateboarding, and slushies (Some graffiti)  Gala shit, Maybe some sports stuff cause he’s low-key sporty (Multifacited this one, probably why I like him so much lol) Magic shenanigans while play their version of D&D (Kinda like that one Gravity falls episode, gotta bring in my witch boy Klarion) Mostly fluff

Another edition of ‘High Ramblings about Tim Drake’: I mean I typed it out and I figured I might as well post it- just general ideas on what DC can do with his character. Hypothetical story arcs, his position in Gotham, his age and alias, etc. 

Father, there's something wrong with Timothy: Aftermath of Joker Junior, Mostly from Damian’s pov. This one is more of an Elseworlds au since I didn’t want it to be the Batman Beyond version. Anon requested the batfam’s reaction to his relapse so it’s canon adjacent? (Not an x reader) Thriller/Horror. 

Executive Tim: Anon req. Yandere Tim Drake. He’s already got a killer migraine and Tam’s replacement already screwed up. Screwed up may be a bit harsh but with the week he’s had he wasn’t feeling quite charitable. The mix-up with one of their outside distributors has Tim calling different vendors. Multiple calls later and he swears if he gets transferred to a different department one more goddamn time he’s going to- “Hello you’ve reached (Your name) how can I help you?” - Employee poaching lol, Unhealthy power dynamics, Gratuitous abuse of power.

Around the world: Series in no particular order. I hc that he’s learned to make the most of his time with his partner. (Past relationships failing due to not spending any time together) So even if you're not a vigilante he takes you with him on missions if you're also free and down. Needs to do a stakeout? Going undercover? Trailing a suspect? Or just general boots to the ground investigating? He’s asking if you’d like to tag along. However, anything that involves him in the mask or anything that involves physical combat is off the table. You walk into his apartment and see Tim's bitchy face and he just asks you “You wanna go to Switzerland?”

Old friend: Some call it being at the wrong place at the wrong time others prefer to call it fate. Honestly, he never pondered fatalism. But the joker was dead and there were no leads. Whoever had done it didn't leave anything behind nor did they announce it. It had to be fate. After all, this was the kind of death the psychotic clown would have despised. It’s been two weeks and the blame game had already been played. Solid alibis. He was told not to investigate. So he was in some dingy laundromat with Ives; catching up with old friends to curb his need to investigate. But he recognized the employee refilling the quarters “(Name?)” - Mystery, suggestive themes, smoking, gang affiliations, Hypocrite Tim Drake

Not your typical office romance: Multi-chapter, your company sends you as part of a team to initiate building reforms in Gotham. As a result, your introduced to your new colleague for this project Tim Drake from Wayne’s R&D department. You're eager to get to work, but your flakey coworker is halting progress. Your polite facade comes crumbling down due to massive misunderstandings. Lots of antagonism, Bitchy Reader

Nsfw:

Escalation 2: This one is mostly done just need to edit. You found a way to play off not seeing the snap but my boy is shameless. And you may have started something you'll lose at.... There is now a part three in the works..... Fml but fucking screaming at how much it well escalates 😆

Deal with the devil: Dark! Tim drake (Borderline Yandere) Hmm. This one is fucked; He should have left you to your fate. You knew better than to go investigate that cave alone but that’s just who you were, reckless, fickle, unburdened, hardheaded. He didn’t know whether he hated you or if he was just deeply envious. But even so, he couldn’t just leave you alone, not when you actually used the emergency beacon he gave you. Not when you actually kept it. He should have expected that it was Ra’s Al Ghul’s doing, he should have ignored his words, he should have but a snake seduced Eve in the Garden of Eden, and wasn’t Ra’s a devil? 

Five minutes: Oral fixation reader, Tim’s playing Apex (Octane or Horizon main) with some old friends but you really need him in your mouth. Subspace. Why Apex? Because everything I know about it has been involuntary. 

Vacation: Sort of a spin-off of Across the World. This series involves trips around the states and the world. He’s a vigilante but he’s also a very public figure that still needs to attend certain social events. Ex: Ski trips(This one* mhm), Weekend Conferences, or just a vacation. (Cases might align with an event)

Indecent: You come up to his office while he’s busy. But you came up looking too distracting how on earth is he supposed to concentrate? Spoiler he doesn’t. (SneakPeek)

Boudoir pics: Cute flirty pictures of each other that's what this was supposed to be.

Impatient: The fact that your boyfriend could so easily hold you down was very hot. But you're so over it, if he didn't stop teasing you were going to die! Tim x M. Reader

Lastly: he has like two days in the upcoming kinktober event.  Maybe an add to possibility ft Poison Ivy

  A/N: My undiagnosed ADHD won’t let me write things in order so that’s the reason why most of my stuff takes a while and/or sits in my drafts for ages (Ex: I have Bruce Hc’s that have been done for weeks…) Also, thanks for the ask! I had all of these all over the place this def helped me organize it all. 

[burritowitch]

If DC let me write An Elseworld this is what it would be:

its set in the future, like far future once all the original bats are gone but theyve all left their marks on gotham. Batman beyond kind of. Terry is appointed as batman by bruces final breaths, hes got two robins (matt and carrie kelley), theres some other 'future' characters here too like the robin from white knight because i love women (shes red hood here), max gibson as oracle, and theyre all alone in the world. because bruce was never around to introduce them to the league, they dont have the leagues help. its 2080 and they are teenagers against a gotham city that has become even worse than before and hasnt had a batman in 30 years. none of them are trained. its a fight to survive and to carry on the legacies that have been placed upon their shoulders

[triscribeaucollection]

Slowly losing my mind, there are now six whole stories I want to write that involve dropping people from future timelines/alternate universes into the DCAU, mostly specifically between Justice League Unlimited seasons one and two, but I can't settle on which I want to write fiiiiirst

Within the shared universe:

-Batman Beyond's Justice League comes back in time for an unintended visit, the usual handful plus a few of my OCs, including a new Amazon princess aka Bruce/Diana's grown daughter, who argues with Terry incessantly but she will dropkick the first person who says anything disparaging about the next Bat, that's her psuedo little brother thank you very much (and also her half-sibling but shhh they don't know that yet)

-I've got this very convoluted AU for a Batman Beyond Nightstar that I won't bother explaining all of right now, but I want to take that iteration of a 14yo Mar'iand'r Grayson from the future and toss her waaay back to Batman: The Animated Series, when her dad is still Robin and her grandpa hasn't really socialized with any other heroes yet, and this poor kid is not well versed in the past that's now suddenly the future, but as long as she's stuck with this much younger and smaller version of her family she is Going to Do Her Best to make sure things work okay

-There exists a background character in the Elseworlds comic of Kingdom Come confirmed to be the daughter of Supergirl and Brainiac-5, and I have thoughts about this kid, I want to make a DCAU version of her to be yoinked from the 31st century back a thousand years to meet her Uncle Kal-El, BUT with a friend with a mystery background and this one is sad, guys, I made myself cry at work thinking about ultimate sacrifices and failing to save someone at the last moment and honoring the memory of those who are gone but not forgotten

Then from *alternate* universes, I've got the newest brainrot of picking up 22yo Clark with Lois and Jimmy from My Adventures with Superman to gently deposit in this world, and let all three of them squeak over the differences (older Clark! Plus Kara! The whole League!) and this includes a moment of Jimmy seeing this more mature Superman and immediately going "Ohhh no, nononono, you are not allowed to get BIGGER and BEEFIER! I am putting my foot down!" to the general amusement of everyone else nearby.

Not quite as shiny but just as funny is the thought of nabbing Jon Kent from the comics and tossing him across the path of DCAU Lois Lane, give her a chance to shine while getting the kid in touch with someone who can help send him home, only to find out Oh Hey there are a bunch of other superhero kids who came along with him, including a rather prickly Robin who demands "Where have you been, Kent?" which causes Lois to bluescreen for a minute (cue Clark somewhere off screen going 'oh I'm in danger')

And then, I want to go back and do a re-write of my old Young Justice S1 dropped into JLU S2 fic, my skills have improved a fair amount over the past, oh, six-ish years, and there are some different ways I'd handle various introductions. Not to mention I think I'd actually include an ending, this time, instead of losing steam over a plot I didn't really vibe with and leaving the whole thing unfinished...

Just. The DCAU, folks. I'm stuck ping-ponging between ideas that I sadly don't have the energy to work on right now, but eventually that will change and then WATCH OUT

[redtwomuch]

Try to remember all of the interesting Multiverses(Canon) and AUs(Fanfic) (I have a list)

Would love more ideas. I'm mostly a Bat fan (mostly Jason). So I'm interested in what other characters fandoms have as main AUs.

Feel free to talk my ear off. (Would actually love that)

Earth One (Silver age) Justice League

Earth Two (Golden age) Justice Society

Earth Three. Owlman

Thirty Eight. Hippolyta&Stephanie Trevor & Kara&Lara Lane-Kent

Fourty Two. JLA as Babys

Ninety Six. Nex Gen Heroes Lawless till Superman Comes Back. (ElseWorlds)

0 (New Earth) Merging of one&two.

3 Duela and her parents. FemDent Jokerz and Edward Nigma.

11 GenderSwap

12 Batman Beyond

16 Young Justice

51 B one man army kills all Villains after J dies.

SuperFriends Raise Robin

World where Jor, Lar, Marth, and Thomas live.

CW Arrowverse

Gotham

Young Justice Simulation World

Bruce Gets Kids Early/at a younger age

Reverse Robins

Jason Survives/Gets a Team

Jason has magic

Jason Stays with Talia

Kara arrives on Time

A Lot of Heroes Die and the Next Gen has to take over

More Kids (everyone is happy)

Speedforce is it's own World where a lot of people live/retire.

Bats are Metas/Crypids

Bats are not part of teams/wider community/unknown outside Gotham

Supers have weird powers they don't use in public

Next Gen

[zahri-melitor]

New(ish) Comics:

Batman #153: for one glorious second I wondered: is that Joe Public?!???? And then I came back down to reality. But it was a fun second.

Also I am definitely getting the Batman: Family vibes from this that some other people mentioned.

DC All In Special #1: I’ve got to say, for a supposedly ‘we invited everyone’ list of characters for Justice League Unlimited, I knew who they all were and it’s mostly people who have pretty regular appearances (plus Firestorm and Doctor Fate). Practically everyone on page here has starred in a title within the last two years! There were deeper cut appearances in Task Force VII!

Otherwise…apparently Darkseid bonding with the Spectre created the Absolute Universe? Sure. I don’t think this needed an explanation beyond ‘it’s an Elseworld’ but you do you.

Birds of Prey #14: I love how comfy Babs looks in this art (and how Cass clearly got fashion tips from Selina for this).

Onyx and Grace are a fun pair up together.

More seriously though: this feels like more of a post-Crisis style BOP mission. Not quite a Dixon one, but edging into it. I’m tentatively excited.

Shazam! #16: Look who’s here! Who could it be who has bright green speech boxes and an inflated personal ego? That’s right! It’s time for Mister Mind! (I don’t like the new artist sorry)

The Nice House by the Sea #3: the entanglement of the pasts of the two houses becomes even more complex!

The Warlord #70: we find out we are over 100 years into the future and the world has been poisoned by toxic waste and global warming! Much of humanity has moved into the Hollow Earth to escape! The people who took over Skartaris are now starting to recolonise the outer planet. It’s all very dystopian oil-crisis.

[roux36prod]

MAD QUEEN

- A Five Nights at Freddy’s Elseworld -

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The incident that should have killed Elizabeth Afton in 1980 when she was 8 only crippled her left arm beyond repair. She lived, and eventually grew up to inherit her father’s company, Afton Robotics Inc., and continue his monstrous legacy.

With her father, now Springtrap, she searches for the spirit of her little brother Evan to bring him home, but her twin brother Michael refuses to let that happen.

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Some things canon to this Elseworld:

Michael and Elizabeth (Lizzy) are twins in this AU. She initially dies in 1980 at 8 years old, and Michael is 10-ish in 1983, when Evan dies. (Recycled idea from Freddy & Friends, my main FNAF AU)

It’s partially inspired by the old theory that Elizabeth was speaking through the Fredbear plush to Evan in the FNAF 4 ending, promising “I will put you back together.” Because of this, it is Lizzy’s goal to fulfill her’s and her father’s desires and bring Evan back from the dead.

William trains her to be the next head of Afton Robotics, and she continued his legacy after he was spring-locked. They concluded their experiments and completed his new body years ago, and now they’re on the search for his spirit, nowhere to be found. He’s hiding from them.

On this note, Android Theory is partially canon here, but not in its entirety. They’ve built an android body for Evan so that they can “revive” him, but they need his soul to do so. So no, there is no android Evan running around.

She never kills anyone directly, but I imagine she either reopens Circus Baby’s Pizza World or creates the Twisted ones for experimentation (or both). One thing’s for sure: she’s just as psychotic as her father. That’s why Evan doesn’t want to be found. He knows they’re monsters.

GoldenDuo is for sure canon to this, but in a different way. Instead of the two spirits inhabiting Golden Freddy, Evan isn’t tethered to any specific character (not even Shadow Freddy). However, Evan tends to cling to Cassidy because she’s his friend, and Cassidy protects him from the rest of his family, including Michael (though she still has an ego that only a child can have).

Michael has a… complicated relationship with his family. William and Lizzy are convinced that he hates them, just like he hated Evan, but they never saw—they refused to see—that he loved Evan as much as anyone else in that family. He wants to love them too, but they won’t let him. They hate him.

Michael does NOT get scooped in this AU. Because Elizabeth is still alive, there is no reason for Michael to be sent to Sister Location.

Elizabeth doesn’t hate Circus Baby for what happened because she knows it was an accident. It was supposed to be anyone else, and she was unlucky enough to be the one kid that was alone. Michael has some distaste from her not seeing it the same way with him.

Evan used to hate Michael, but Charlie (The Puppet) eventually helped him realize that Michael was a good person, and wanted to help Evan more than anything in the world. So Evan revealed himself to Michael, and they both worked together to put an end to his father’s sick game.

Lastly, this is NOT canon to Freddy & Friends (my main FNAF AU). This is a sort of “what if” on the OG FNAF timeline, with a few of my own takes in there (with the help of a friend). If you wanna do something with this—make fan art, fanfics, animations—go right on ahead. This was just me writing these ideas down and seeing how they flow.

Be sure to give credit if you do anything with it, though.

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MORE INFORMATION + ISOLATED SKETCHES UNDER THE CUT

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Canon Event - The Night of the Fire:

March 16, 2007, Michael sets fire to an Afton Robotics warehouse where Springtrap and Evan’s new body are being kept, but not without interference from Elizabeth. She almost kills him, holding him at gunpoint, but she realizes that she has some semblance of a heart after all. They both escape the burning building together.

Michael and Elizabeth have a heart to heart outside as they watch the building burn: Elizabeth learns that Michael never hated them. He’s always loved them, and wanted nothing more than to be her brother, but they refused him; it was easier to believe that he meant to kill Evan than to believe it was an accident. Learning this, Elizabeth’s view of Michael shifted into something kinder.

Springtrap (who escaped the fire before it got bad) meets them back there. Michael tells them both that Evan doesn’t want to be found. He saw what their father did, and was horrified. Evan sees them as monsters. Elizabeth realizes that it’s true, but Springtrap starts laughing with pure joy, now that he knows that Golden Freddy was the only suit in the room when he did what he did. He now knows how to find Evan now but, Elizabeth finally realizes how much of a monster her father is.

William doesn’t actually care about what Evan wants, and he never did. He only cared about how Evan made him feel—Evan was his favorite child, and he only gave the twins attention when they were useful. William only cares about himself, and it’s only now that Elizabeth sees that. All she ever was to him was a tool to help him get what he wants.

Elizabeth on the other hand DOES care about Evan. He was her brother, and she loved playing with him. He was the light of the family, and the twins knew that better than anyone. Her whole plan for him hinged on him never having to learn what she and her father did to bring him back, but he knew the whole time. She was heartbroken, ashamed of what she had done—what she became in order to please her father.

Springtrap and Michael start fighting, just like they used to. But this time, it’s the last straw. Elizabeth tries to stop him, but Springtrap backhands her across the cheek, and he throws Michael back into the fire as the building explodes, forcing Elizabeth to watch her brother scream in pain as the fire begins to consume him. Filled with rage, she punches Springtrap in the face, shattering the prosthetic arm that he made for her. Springtrap abandons her, coming to realize that he no longer needs her.

Michael would have been dead if Evan didn’t convince Cassidy to save him. Michael had severe third degree burns across most of his body, but he survived. Afterwards, Mike is treated by a nurse friend of Elizabeth’s (gay?) in her home because Michael hates hospitals (they bring back bad memories).

Michael and Elizabeth now work together to bring their father down once and for all, helping the other spirits find their happiest day.

Isolated sketches:

Original Sketch from March 18, 2022:

[distort-opia]

The joker has many names in many stories, but how did you (in your opinion or point of view) reveal the "true" origin of the villain and I loved it and I want you to do the same with the "true" name of the joker, please 🙏

Thank you, glad you had fun with my previous Joker-related meta! Oof, Joker's "true" name... That's a very thorny issue.

First of all, there's a canon name for Prime Earth Joker right now, and a canon origin. You guessed it, it's The Killing Joke one. This wasn't really surprising to me when it came out, the TKJ origin has been referenced as canon multiple times at this point; it's only the last name that remained a mystery. But then they revealed his name to be "Jack Oswald White":

Flashpoint Beyond #5

I'm pretty sure we all agree that the only good part of that is "Jack". Don't know why the hell they went for "Oswald" (let Penguin have the monopoly on that goddammit!), but "White" is not that much of a surprise, it's just... a bit boring. Basically, Joker's had "White" attributed to him before in the Arkham games, he used it as an alias.

The fan-favorite (and my own, actually) name for Joker is actually "Jack Napier". It's got a long history... First used in Tim Burton's Batman (1989), it then got adopted by Batman: The Animated Series, The Batman (2004) and multiple other adaptations, like the Black Label Batman: White Knight comic-- which is just the most famous recently, but Joker's been named "Jack Napier" in so many other Elseworld and alternate universe DC comics. However, the name has popped up in comics closer to main continuity too. Joker himself used it as an alias in the New 52, in Red Hood and the Outsiders; but more importantly...

Arkham Asylum: Madness

Tough to say how canon this comic is, but it's heavily implied Joker's surname is "Napier". And since it's been canonized Joker's kid would've been a boy, "Milton" was probably his name (if you follow Falls the Shadow, my Joker-centric fic, you're probably familiar). But most recently, and having the most weight, they showed that the Joker equivalent of one of the Dark Multiverses was named "Jack Napier":

Tales of the Dark Multiverse -- Batman: Hush

So... it's a bit of a mess. It's been made official that his name was "Jack Oswald White" (maybe they want to do something with the initials JOW??), but the name people have been using for him for years is "Jack Napier". More generally though, you'll find that even comics that never give him a last name use "Jack" (like Batman: Gotham Knights #54, or Batman: Three Jokers, or the name of Jokester, the good Joker of Earth-3).

...And alright, I can't help myself. I'll go ahead and rant about a pet theory of mine, since I think Zdarsky intentionally tried to fit this all into an explanation. He tried to do something about Joker being people with different names and even different genders (like Martha Wayne) across worlds. But everything from here on is a spoiler for the main Batman run, so I'll put it all under the cut.

In case you're not familiar with the plot of The Bat-Man of Gotham, basically Bruce got thrown into another Universe in which Batman didn't exist. Here he found a guy called Darwin Halliday or Red Mask, who never became Joker, but wanted to. He'd glimpsed into the Multiverse with a chemical, and as a result created a machine that allowed one to travel the numerous Universes. In their final confrontation, Bruce and Red Mask both get hurled across the Multiverse by the machine, and here's an interesting panel from a world (clearly Burton's Batman movie world) Bruce encounters:

Batman (2016) #135

They have Bruce see his name, and the name "Jack Napier" on panel. Meanwhile, the "sane" Joker Bruce is chasing is named "Darwin Halliday". Then there's freaking "Jack Oswald White" for Prime Earth, an existing alternate called "Jack Napier" in a Dark Multiverse, and don't even get me started on freaking "Alby", another potential Joker name from Detective Comics (2016) #1000.

Bruce however, in Zdarsky's story and not only, only has himself. All the Universes he hops through have "Bruce Wayne" as the connection, even when Bruce isn't Batman (like in Batman Beyond). Is Bruce the only one to be Batman? Of course not, different others have carried the mantle (like Dick Grayson, Jean-Paul Valley, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, James Gordon etc.). But I'm not trying to refer to worlds in which Bruce Wayne was Batman and then something happened to him and he was succeeded/replaced; I'm trying to refer to worlds in which someone else became Batman from the start. Those are quite rare, but they almost always have a Wayne: Thomas Wayne, or Helena Wayne. Even Owlman, the "evil" counterpart, is Bruce's brother.

Of course, the connection linking the Bruce Waynes is meant to be there so that the "infection" of Zur-en-Arrh can take place across the Multiverse. But then how exactly is Red Mask finding each Universe to jump into, right? How is he connecting mentally to all the Jokers, if the Jokers are different people and not the same as for Bruce? Why is it that whenever a Wayne becomes a Batman, someone becomes a Joker? Well...

Batman (2016) #135

So. Red Mask was following Batman, the one who's existence directly lead to Jack going insane and becoming Joker. Wherever there was a Batman, Red Mask precipitated the creation of a Joker... who wasn't always the same person. Just the person who needed a "push" into becoming it, hence explaining why Joker is different individuals. "Joker" is pretty much the cosmic curse following Batman, his inevitable shadow. (Not only that, depending on the moment Red Mask arrived, he also brought back the existing Jokers from the dead or made them worse.)

Now. Do I like this explanation? Not really, I think it sucks to unravel Joker's character so much and take away all his mystery, all the cool alternate interpretations. Not only that, but this explanation essentially takes away agency from Joker's character and attributes it to freaking... Multiverse shenanigans. However, I did appreciate Zdarsky's effort to give the whole thing some meaning. You don't see that frequently in comics. And in a way, it's so insanely soulmates-as-a-curse for Batman and Joker. They're so tied together it's impossible to unravel them.

[nfcomics]

BATMAN GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT THE KRYPTONIAN AGE no.1 (of 12) • cover art • Francesco Mattina [June 2024]

The new era of Elseworlds kicks off with the return of its crown jewel, the mysterious and gothic world originated by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola! When a mysterious meteor falls on the wide-open plains of the Midwest, it will unleash a chain of events that find Gotham's bizarre Batman contending with not just the twin threats of the Catwoman and a mysterious international assassin but also the emergence of superhuman beings beyond all comprehension! This sequel series expands the 19th-century DC Universe beyond the confines of Gotham City, showcasing bold new visions of once-familiar heroes... Do not miss it!

(W) Andy Diggle (A) Leandro Fernandez (CA) Francesco Mattina

[lazlolullaby]

justifying a "failed timeline" aka: let's give Batman Beyond a distinct event that sets it apart from the DC multiverse

So. As we all know. Comics are nuts. They are constantly shifting timelines and labels. They created Elseworlds and alternate timelines to deal with that, to sort and return to it if they wanted to.

Technically the DCAU world is Earth-12, a world set decades in the future from the world we follow. The current Batman Beyond run of comics is set there. It's also inside the "cartoon rim" a group of worlds that are/are close enough to the animated series and animated movies.

The designation "12" has been used multiple times so just be aware when you are researching.

But Batman Beyond has this different tone that the original shows have, even Justice League Unlimited never really dove into. Batman is isolated, Bruce Wayne is in a dusty manor, the Justice League is short about 20 members at least...the list goes on.

tl;dr: Batman Beyond world is so cyberpunk, desolate, and isolated because in the Near-Apocalypse of '09, Wonder Woman dies.

At the time of Batman Beyond in the DCAU, they didn't have the rights to portray Wonder Woman. Instead they used Big Barda in their Justice League episode (which, happily, was proof of concept for the Justice League series) . They only got her in the Justice League series proper. And if the DCAU is a connected universe...what happened to Diana?

(yes I know she shows up in the follow up comics. But again - alternate timelines.)

so. speaking of alternate universes. Earth 50, the Justice Lord universe as seen in JL s2 eps11 and 12 "A Better World".

Wasn't it implied in Justice League that the Flash's death caused the Justice Lords to take over the world? That Flash's personality and interactions with the League prevents them from going too far? Stopping them from becoming too serious?

I submit to the Fandom that the main divergence point of the DCAU (or at least, post JLU into Batman Beyond) timeline is Wonder Woman's death. Presumably in this "near apocalypse of '09", which was mentioned in s3 ep 4 "Out of the Past" but not followed up on.

This explains why Diana never shows up to talk with Bruce. That the Future Justice League is so small compared to the ranks in their self titled show. Once their heaviest hitter was gone, it broke the trust in keeping them together. The lack of magic in the world. The loss of heroes that actually don't have trauma, that just want to help. The lack of Truth, the reliance on lies and masks to make a difference.

anyway: Fandom Homework/Class discussion:

What would the DC universe look like if we kill off one of the Seven Founding Justice League Members? That is Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, and The Flash (we did that one, but you can redo it if you want.)

What does each of the Core 7 bring to the team? What do they guard against? How does the team fall apart without their input?

And if you have a super team you like, i.e. Teen Titans, Young Justice, Avengers, ThunderCats, the Gaang, etc. Use your creative muscles to push them around and see what makes them tick. It is fun. It will hurt.

(bonus points if you reference Community s3 ep 4: Remedial Chaos Theory. All those relationships collide so beautifully in that ep.)

Thank you.

[usedpidemo]

2 10 39 pls

2. Anything that you'd like to write but feel like you're unable to?

So many. Where do I begin...

I feel like I'll never write another Annyeongz. Even Yujin or Wonyoung individually. There's so much good out there that I feel like it's not a productive time sink to throw another one out there. Part three (yes, it's meant to be a trilogy) is something that requires so much special care and effort on my end. I want it to be among my, if not the best work I produced. It's so tough. I missed out on getting concert tickets for their show, and that didn't help at all—made it worse even—but that's beside the point.

Same thing with Twice. Plenty of good, no need to add something in that mix. I really do want to write Sana and Nayeon (esp after the Waterbomb announcement).

Non-smut wise, there's that Pokémon!AU thing that stresses me out too. I don't want it to be overtly edgy like Insurgence or Reborn, but definitely a bit more on the maturer side of things storywise. Not to mention everything else aka the Pokémon aspect of it.

I'm also just lacking in ideas overall right now, so don't be surprised if it takes a while for something new to come out.

10. Top three favorite fic tropes.

Elseworld stories. Especially in a world with preexisting rich lore and history aside from the canon plot and the main characters that's hinted at, but never explored beyond brief mentions in passing or overlooked texts.

Time loops. I like Groundhog Day and 50 First Dates. Imagine having to relieve the same day over and over. Don't we already do that?

Enemy mine/The only one to defeat you is me. Hero and villain team up to fight a greater threat? Pure cinema every single time.

39. Wildest AU scenario you have written?

Smut-wise, probably one of the fan x idol fics. Hopefully I'll add to that list. But in actuality, it has to be the idol x Pokémon!AU thing where I want to make a fan game/rom hack out of it. You know how in almost every main series title, you, the protagonist and savior of the world is like 10 years old? I kind of want to explore a concept where that idea is normalized. Most of the strongest trainers in a region are those kids. I'm probably gonna look like a tinfoil hat man, but it also reflects on the idol industry, how they always want to scout and debut young talent in favor of veterans and older aspirants because they are more popular and have longer shelf life as performers. It's a WIP, but maybe when I actually invest into it, I want to see that idea realized in some shape or form.

[artbyblastweave]

So for Christmas (Merry Christmas) I got this self-published anthology of superhero vs zombies short stories (helpfully titled Superheroes vs Zombies. Possibly the other way around, I don’t have it in front of me.) For the most part it wasn’t good. I mainly wanted to see why it wouldn’t be good. If you want, like, a competent and involved examination of Superheroes vs Zombies, one where editors got involved, Ex-Heroes is right there.

That said. One of the two (count em, two) actually good stories concerned a former supervillain with a Valefor-type powerset defending the town he retired to from a zombie outbreak- by mind-jacking eight or nine local toughs into forming a competent, fearless firing line instead of running for the hills. A Khepri light situation. The other one concerned a trio of battered street-level heroes attempting to defend a refugee convoy from an infected teleporter who keeps dropping mobs of zombies on them whenever they have to stop the convoy.

I mean, not high art! But they’re both solid short-piece concepts, zombie stories that you basically couldn’t tell without involving superheroes. And they both illustrate one of the core difficulties of trying to write a Superhero Vs. Zombie piece, which I’ve discussed before; half the fun of pitting superheroes against zombies, conceptually, is that you’re swinging a necrotic bat at a setting where the precedent is that the heroes always save the day, and then.... very much not having that happen. And then you run into the difficulty of actually establishing that precedent within the story proper, establishing a classic cape setting just to annihilate it, and if you do a remotely good job of it, you end up thinking to yourself, “Jeez, what a waste of a cape setting.” 

These two stories mostly dodged this problem by being hyperspecific vignettes that imply a larger (dare I say Wormlike) cape setting but don’t do a ton to flesh it out beyond the immediate situation. The way Ex-Heroes dodged it was by having the superhero setting get cut off at the knees by the zombie apocalypse, a setting that could have ballooned to the scale of Marvel or DC smothered in its crib (while the cast is still manageable.) And the third thing you can do is just do a zombie elseworld with an established setting. This is what most of them do.

So, if I was gonna do an original superhero zombie thing, I think step one is that I’d make it a book of loosely interconnected vignettes, like World War Z, or like this book if all the stories were good instead of just two of them, and I think that would allow me to bridge the worldbuilding gap, mostly focusing on extremely specific situations but clearly implying the skeleton of the larger, “classical” superhero setting. I think step two is that instead of writing original fiction, someone should just write a bunch of fanfiction vignettes about the Worm setting undergoing a zombie apocalypse. That’s right, this was a Worm post the entire time. Specifically we should cajole @crazydreamercycle into doing this. He writes good fucked-up OC parahumans vignettes. Or Foxtail-Lavender (not sure what her name is on here) because she actually did write that one Vista-centric zombie AU, Waif. 

[smashpages]

Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age by Andy Diggle and Leandro Fernandez expands the mysterious and gothic world created by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola beyond the confines of Gotham City, introducing DC’s greatest heroes as they come together for the first time to form a 19th-century Justice League. As they unite against the greatest threat the world has ever known, they will learn their world’s secret Kryptonian history.

Coming from DC in 2024 as part of their relaunched Elseworlds line