#also Barbara and dick had the convo

[starlooove]

How low can we fucking get y’all have me defending Bruce fucking Wayne

[excalisi]

it's a fun hc of mine that during dick's robin days, he went through the "omg i wish i had a cool secret language so i can have secret conversations with my friends" phase all kids go through. but one of his closest friends at the time also happened to be the batman, a guy with possibly the most bizarrely diverse arsenal of skills in the world. bruce sees the merit in the entire idea of a coded language to communicate rudimentary information when they can hear but not see each other. so why not make a code built on bird vocalizations? it's pretty much incomprehensible to anyone without a trained ear or comprehensive knowledge of birding and impossible to even passably mimic without proper training, so while the chances of interception are high, the chances of someone understanding it enough to interrupt during the middle of a bird-convo and feed false information are not.

it also, batman and robin come to realize, feeds into the "holy fuck our vigilantes are cryptids" idea. bird sounds that come from seemingly no determinable location (ventriloquism) come to mean batman and robin are nearby. to the goons of gotham, bird song becomes inextricably connected to getting your ass kicked by the dynamic duo. the real reason why criminals don't operate during the day is because they get skittish and jumpy about if the sounds of birds chirping are real birds or some masked vigilantes lying in wait to rock your shit, and it's just easier to commit crimes during the night when all the birds are asleep so you know for sure.

ornithologists have boards on their bedrooms dedicated to the bird-bats of gotham. they've written dissertations.

the bird language becomes a bit of a batfamily bonding connection. teaching each other how to do different clicks and whistles, making up slang so bruce and barbara can't complain of clogging up comms with non-mission relevant talk, searching up birds to associate them with different people, psychologically terrorizing the criminal populace of gotham by chirping at them...

how the bird code works is that there's a bird assigned to each one of gotham's major heavy hitter criminals and vigilantes, and a few assigned to heroes out of the city (by which i mean the ones the bats associate with often enough to have a sign to address by). the only birds i've got so far are the robin (for robin. self-explanatory) and the glistening-green tanager (for the joker). i only have one for the joker bc i wanted to reference this hc in one of my fics and so searched up green birds to find the most eye-searingly annoying-to-look-at green bird i could find, and the glistening-green tanager was the closest one to fit the bill.

[oatlystrawberryicecream]

Noticed that Jason’s loneliness shows itself when he trying to get in others’ heads. His interest in others’ capacity for the same kind of ruthlessness he’s grown into made me wonder how you think that would relate to the last ask you had about Batfam members who would reach out to him or understand him. For example, Barbara Gordon surrounds herself with people who keep her from going to dark waters. Do you think he would pick and prod at those vulnerabilities to bring her down to his level or do you think his respect for her would keep him from doing that? That interest is what I think would put others off him. Stephanie. Cassandra. Dick.

thank you for such an interesting question!

jason and loneliness: i think he has a strong preference for solitude and that he is actually pretty good about reaching out when he wants company. the ways he reaches out are often dramatic and unhinged, and he will lead with whatever indirect message he thinks will get his foot in the door before he reads the mood and determines if he is safe enough to open up. so it is a toss up whether he will get the companionship and support he wants. but he is good at starting the convo or conflict, whichever it turns out to be this time. he is like a cat that knocks your shit over and then when you scold them jumps on your lap and starts purring and making biscuits.

his enthusiasm at others’ capacity for darkness: everyone acts like jason is uniquely violent but he knows these people are no better than him. jason is discerning in his application of violence! i think regardless of whether he killed garzonas or not he learned what unintended consequences are from the aftermath (the dad’s revenge quest) and so he is pretty deliberate and calculating about that stuff now. all that being said the appeal in seeing other people act on their ruthlessness is to get it to click for them that they dont have anything over him. not everyone would have made the choice to kill captain nazi but everyone can feel ok about him being dead. jason would like for people to get off their high horse and admit it. he has always felt unfairly judged going back to being a kid taken off the streets and dropped into old money luxury, he can never shake the indignity of it, it is just for a different perceived flaw this time. plus like it speaks to the traumatized little boy who as a matter of survival needed to know how the people he was forced to rely on would respond in the worst case scenario. so of course he wants to be prepared for what level of danger he’ll see from them when the tides turn and he’s on the opposing side.

would he try to expose that dark tendency? maybe. i think if something arose that called the more upstanding comic book morality into question he would observe and take note. in some situations he will pointedly remark about how ineffective the dubiously legal vigilante shit is. he is a mouthy guy and his convictions are solid so he cant stop himself sometimes. he knows that not everyone is him and not everyone could live with the choices he has made but he doesn’t think that gives them a right to condemn him. it does not mean they can impose their perspective onto him or expect him to cede and conform for their sake.

for all that we love jason and connect to his story he is an off putting asshole at times. there is a part of him that wants to drag people over to where he is but i think he would rather keep them in his life than be right about them. for me a jason story doesn’t work if he has to constantly overcome his own worldview and ingrained morals to match up to what others want him to be. if it is gonna work i need more flexibility and open mindedness from bat adjacent people.

i dont have much in the way of specific character thoughts here other than he really does let his insecurity take a front seat when it comes to dick and ik it is an elseworld but in dc vs vampires when it was revealed dick was the vamp king jason’s reaction was very telling, also like brothers in blood.

[newjenns]

Hi sol! I’ve been interested in reading some batman comics recently but there’s so many and I was wondering if you had any suggestions? Cause I literally have no idea where to start😭😭 the only batman media I’ve ever seen is The Batman which I absolutely loved RP put his whole batpussy into that performance but that’s a convo for another day

first rule of comics the comics are not real you simply pick and choose which storylines and characteristics you like and that becomes canon to you this is allowed bc in the 100+ years that characters like batman have existed there have been hundreds of different writers and several reboots making it impossible to find any true consistencies among them

if you want to learn about the most generally accepted fanon of the characters i recommend downloading the webtoon app and reading batman: wayne family adventures. it’ll introduce you to the characters, their dynamics, and some backstory for characters like jason todd and dick grayson

after that i would go on to the batman animated movies. i believe most of them are on hbo max but you can use soap2day as well. batman: under the red hood will give you jason’s backstory and his return in detail. son of batman and batman vs robin will introduce you to damian wayne. batman bad blood will finish that storyline. i haven’t watched batman the long halloween parts 1&2 but it’s an iconic batman storyline in the comics so i’ll also recommend it. i also haven’t watched batman and superman: battle of the super sons but i’m planning to ! it’ll be damian centric. dick grayson is also a secondary character in most of these movies. i don’t think tim drake shows up at all. 💔. other honorable mentions: justice league vs teen titans (damian wayne, bruce, dick grayson) and it’s sequel teen titans: judas contract. really fun watches, most of the characterization is consistent from the batfam centric movies. it’ll give u an idea of what they’re like with other dc characters

if you want to commit to the bit: young justice season 1 will show you a lot of what dick grayson is like during his robin days and season 2 introduces tim drake and barbara gordon (batgirl) as well as dick as nightwing. the only thing with young justice is that it’s almost like an alternate timeline and fanon doesn’t really acknowledge it, a lot of the characters don’t exist or are super different in the main comic timeline, but it’s the closest to what the teen titans dynamic is like on screen AND it’s the only more recent animated batfam media that has tim drake ☹️

i also want to mention justice league: doom and justice league: dark, i think they’re great movies that showcase bruce’s abilities as batman, as a leader, and how he’s viewed by outsiders BUT they’ll be hard to digest bc there’s sooo many dc characters it could be confusing for someone new. justice league dark: apokolips war is a sequel to the first jld movie and it includes dick and damian + follows the dynamics established in the other teen titans movies i mentioned though it’s not a direct sequel to them

if you have any questions pls PLSSSS lmk… i love talking about my little guys but it can be a lot and a bit intimidating … i will be your guiding light 🌟

[geekthefreakout]

When you said that Jason worships Barbara in your media post and it really made me think about how there is different kinds of worship and I’ll say that in my opinion Batman Eternal did it better than Three Jokers.

In BE, that worship was still there was it was more of a I see all of you and your flaws and I admire you which I feel like it’s something Barbara would struggle with. She always has to be in control and perfect and people depend on her. She sends people out like they are pieces on a chessboard and her leading a team like BoP means she has to make those hard decisions and you can see there are falling outs because of how she can be manipulative and etc even when she’s trying to do the right thing. I think BE there was a lot of qualities that they brought out in each other that made it really fun to read where as in Three Jokers it was a take but it didn’t hit the mark as well as BE but it also wasn’t like the worst writing ever that people are made it out to be. If Dick had written that letter to Babs people would have been swooning, but both stories lose points for not making Barbara Oracle.

The worship that Dick has for Babs and the one Jason has for Babs is worth exploring as well because they both do it in very different ways. Dick has that worship of Babs where he doesn’t really want to hear that she can do anything wrong (I’m thinking of a certain convo between Dick and another character about her) and Jason has that worship where he kind of does know what she is capable of doing but there is no judgment there. And Dick does this to several characters where he puts them on a pedestal like he did with Kory and Roy and when they don’t conform to his idea then…

Jason is also such a wild character because like his characterization drastically changes based on the writer but like I hate characterizations that make him completely evil because evil is boring and we are talking about hero comics here. Like they should inspire hope and still have room for stories that aren’t just black and white. After all isn’t the whole point of hero comics is to inspire people to do good despite? I’m thinking about when Jason died and he spend those last minutes trying to save his mother despite the betrayal. Yes he can come back and do not good things but I would rather read about a character moving forward and growing then just staying in one place forever and never learning or changing.

Barbara also is an interesting character like the first time she saw someone wearing the batgirl costume after TKJ she was looking at them through the lens of a gun. Despite not liking guns, after TKJ we have seen her use guns more than one occasion. Guns are an interesting subject to explore with Jason and Barbara because guns are a weapon that aren’t as personal as a knife. You don’t have to be close to someone to use it and can detach yourself from it.

Platonically or romantically (imo) it would be nice to see more exploration of these two that isn’t just fitting them into a nuclear family unit.

Speaking of nuclear family, I would much rather see fandom explore the relationship between Barbara’s actual brothers than the batkids being consider siblings. Like if a whole fanon thing can be made out of the batfamily’s dynamic then fandom can definitely find a way to play with the Gordon family and the brothers that have been erased by DC editorial. Bring back middle child Babs!

I agree that Batman Eternal did it better than Three Jokers, but I don't reread it as often because that book is a bit bloated at times, while Three Jokers is short and sweet (and I happen to have it in hardcover).

I wish they would bring back Babs' brothers too. Once in a while they bring back James Jr. for a hot second, then he disappears again.

What you said about different kinds of worship is really interesting! I think Jason has this kind of hero worship going for Babs.

[codenamed-queenie]

#BatsInQuarantine

I am going insane. So I poured my restlessness into one long and very detailed post and got super into it. Please enjoy this hot mess.

The Justice League, being the well-meaning virus-proof Super Friends that they are, took one good look at the news, one good look at their non-powered friends Ollie, Bruce, and their families, and collectively decided that these normal humans must be Protected At All Costs.

Now, keep in mind, Bruce is never one to roll over when it comes to being benched. 

However, he understands the importance of social distancing. He knows he needs to set a good example for his kids, and keep up appearances as Gotham’s Most Responsible Multi-Billionaire. 

So. Quarantine it is. 

But how are his kids handling it?

Dick - 

100% on board in the beginning. Gotta do the Responsible Thing. Gotta set a Good Example. Besides, guys, this is gonna be Fun. Quality Family Time is always a Must.

He lasted 2 days. 

Then he started to get twitchy. 

And as everyone knows? A Trapped Dick Grayson is a Feral Dick Grayson.

He bounces off the walls.

Literally.

“I have to climb.” 

“Dick, no.”  

“I have to climb everything.”

Has scaled the manor 16 times already. Has climbed the chandelier. The banister. Bruce. The roof. The Cave. Anything in the house that’s been bolted down and especially anything that hasn’t. 

Duke found him clinging to the wall 10 ft off the ground like Spiderman and screamed so loud it shattered glass. 

Desperate for news of the outside. 

He thrives off of it like a starving man. 

Was the one to suggest he and Barbara take a break to Social Distance from each other (”Sorry, babe, kissing spreads germs”) and experienced Instant Regret(TM) approximately 5 minutes after. 

The Family has labelled him a Flight Risk Level 1 (Most likely to say f**k it and make a break for the outside world)

Jason - 

Accidentally got trapped inside the manor with the others when Bruce called Shutdown. If he had his way, he’d be chilling in his favorite safe-house right now, binging The Witcher with Roy and Artemis, and not worrying about finding a stray brother in his sock drawer.

But he’s nothing if not an opportunist. 

The way he sees it, Jason has 3 options:

Self Improvement

Self Isolation (See Duke, Cass, and Damian)

Descension Into Madness (See Dick and Steph)

And, well, he always wanted to try a few things. Now he’s got the free time to do it.

So he settles on baking. 

Alfred’s got enough food and raw ingredients stored up to feed an army. (Not because he’s a Panic-Buying-Hoarder in times like these. But because he’s a Panic-Buying-Hoarder all the time. Just try feeding 11+ teenagers sometime.)

Uses recipes he finds off Google.

His first few attempts are, in a word, ‘tragic’.

Alfred slips him a few of his recipe cards, and Jason suddenly starts seeing Results. 

Turns out he’s pretty good at this baking thing once he gets the hang of it. 

Hope everyone’s okay eating nothing but pie, macaroons, biscuits, and whatever else Jason whips up. 

Cause that’s gonna be the only food left by the time he’s done. 

Barbara - 

Self-quarantined with her dad. 

They’ve been binge-watching classic black and white movies together.

It’s a fun time, but she’s started to get a little antsy. Loving her dad and wanting to be around him 24/7 are, understandably, mutually exclusive. 

Calls the manor to video-chat every day.

For her sanity just as much as theirs. 

Gives everyone little challenges to film on their phones and send in. She makes compilations of everyone’s submissions so they can all watch and laugh together. 

Bonus points for Creativity

One comp shows the family trying to drop Mentos into coke bottles. 

Dick did a handstand, and dropped his Mento from the second story balcony. 

Tim did it wearing the Batman cowl. The soda exploded into his face, and the rest of the video is just Bruce’s Shrieking.

Stephanie tried it, but the bottle tipped. Everyone on camera screamed as the bottle rocketed through the front window. 

She spends most of her calls having one-on-one convos with Dick.

They’ve come up with little code phrases so they can be Cheesy even with family members lurking in the background. 

She thinks the way he clings to the monitor is cute. 

Almost like he’s giving her a hug through the screen. 

(It’s easier than letting herself worry about his mental state, at least)

Tim -

Oh this boy.

Freaked out for the first five minutes before he decided ‘hey wait, Bruce is letting me stay in my pajamas all day? Noice.’ 

Now he’s just vibing.

The rest of his family is Low-Key shielding him.

He Has No Spleen, you see.

Steph: “Someone could cough on him and he could die!”

He just goes about his day, playing Animal Crossing like there’s no tomorrow, tinkering on projects, taking naps, etc. Living his best life.

Meanwhile there’s always someone lurking behind him, keeping watch, keeping him safe. 

Dick sneezed within 5 feet of Tim once (the fact that he was on top of the dusty bookshelf Tim was perusing is irrelevant)

Jason still full-body tackled him the second Tim’s back was turned. 

No one with any symptoms--

Like, any symptoms. They don’t even have to be Corona-related.

--is allowed within 10 feet of Tim. 

Tim has been wandering the manor for weeks, now, without seeing another human being. 

(He sees Dick on the ceiling sometimes, but that doesn’t really count)

He’s been trying increasingly drastic pranks and shenanigans to draw someone, anyone, out. 

But it doesn’t matter how many times he steals Damian’s sword, or sets fire to Jason’s brownie bites.

Nobody wants to risk it. 

Cass - 

No one has seen her since quarantine started.

Everyone is approximately 87% sure she’s somewhere in the manor though

Because she does eat the meals Alfred leaves out for her.

Or at least someone does, at any rate. 

(Jason and Santa top the running suspects list)

Santa was Steph’s suggestion. For some reason it snowballed. 

It’s assumed that Cass misunderstood the meaning of ‘social distancing’ and took it too far. 

But no one knows for sure. 

She is Tim’s Guardian Angel. 

People who so much as clear their throats a little too loudly anywhere near him suddenly wake up on a different floor of the house four hours later. 

Duke came closest to spotting her while he was up in the attic. 

Either that, or there’s another Creepy Sister everyone forgot to tell him about living up there.

She is silent, and watchful, sticking to the shadows, but she does leave the occasional note out to brighten her siblings’ day. 

Things like ‘helo i love u’ and ‘hop u ar ok’  mostly. 

She is bound and determined to protect her family from this invisible threat, no matter the cost. 

Steph - 

Like Dick, she was Super Pumped at first. 

(Just kind of showed up at Wayne Manor before quarantine was enacted. The original purpose of her visit is unclear, but regardless, she’s Trapped.)

Also Like Dick, her descent into madness was swift.

She is impossible to pin down. 

Not like Cass or Damian, who’ve stayed off the grid, and are therefore Untraceable. 

No. She’s impossible to pin down, because she never stops moving. 

Switches seamlessly between Zumba on top of the Giant Dinosaur in the Batcave, and furiously knitting Alfred (the Cat) a sweater with a pair of Tim’s used chopsticks. 

Braided everyone’s hair while they were asleep.

Even Bruce’s. 

She tried to do Tim’s, but somehow blacked out and regained consciousness in the attic. 

When she woke up with a scream and a furiously twitching eye, she startled Duke out of his Makeshift Fort he built out of old cardboard boxes and antique furniture. He’s had to resort to finding a new hiding place. 

Sometimes, on the rare occasions she does sit still, staring off into the distance, she’ll suddenly start laughing hysterically. This may last between thirty seconds and thirty minutes, depending entirely on how long it’s been since she’s knitted a cat sweater or done cartwheels through every room in the house.

Blew up the greenhouse out back, somehow.

Everyone has agreed not to talk about it.

Some people were built to handle prolonged time inside their homes.

Stephanie Brown is not that way.

Damian - 

Damian Wayne Cannot Be Contained.

At least not inside the house. 

He took off thirty-six hours into quarantine. 

Thanks to the security equipment around the borders of the Wayne Estate, he can’t escape the grounds. 

(He’s tried and failed multiple times. Jason and Bruce have a running bet on how many times the perimeter alarms will go off per day.)

(Jason is winning.)

He wanders the grounds with Titus as his only companion. 

The two of them run laps, practice drills, and find ways to occupy their time. 

No one’s entirely sure what those ways are. 

In fact, nobody knows exactly where Damian is at any given time. 

Only that he is Out There. 

And he’s the best security system Wayne Manor’s ever had. 

So far, he’s stopped five groups of civilians scaling the perimeter walls before the lasers and electric nets even have a chance to deploy.

They were trying to break in and steal supplies. 

(Even ones they already had in surplus. Like Toilet Paper.)

He’s also stopped Dick from escaping twelve (12) times.

Drags him back by his shirt collar and deposits him on the welcome mat. 

Usually with a note for Alfred/Jason, requesting more fruit tarts. 

Duke - 

Did not leave the attic for two weeks. 

Then Steph discovered his hiding spot (read: was dumped there by Cassandra) which forced him to relocate to the basement. 

Yes, it turns out Wayne Manor does have a basement. 

This was a surprise to Duke, who always thought that the Batcave was Bruce Wayne’s basement. 

Alfred keeps him supplied with all the necessities:

i.e. food, magazines, assorted pastries from Jason’s latest batch, usually straight out of the oven.

Duke also snagged the Manor’s Alexa. 

She has become a sort of ‘Wilson’ to Duke’s ‘Chuck Noland’.

She is his only comfort. His only ally. 

He’s determined to wait out this quarantine, doing his best to avoid the others. 

Duke has seen these people under pressure. 

He knows exactly what he’s dealing with. 

Duke: “Alexa is the only motherf****r in this madhouse I ever respected.”

*offended butler noises from the other room*

Duke: “And also Alfred.”

[duketectivecomics]

Hey I was wondering if you know the official order of bruce gaining all the kids including harper, Barbara, and stephanie? I know its Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian but where does the other 3 and duke and cass fall in? Tia!!

So I’m gonna assume that you mean the order in which they get adopted, since finding First Appearances is one of the easier things to google for any character. (Getting First Appearance issues afterall is part of the reason some comics retain their value, so it’s usually well documented when a character first shows up. Side note: DCUguide is an excellent resource if you’re looking to comb through appearances for characters, although I’d also recommend asking for reading lists from other fans, since usually those have been curated down to essential storylines only)

I tried to provide actual issue #s where I could, but a lot of the time in comics, it’s usually something that’s dropped or hinted around or casually mentioned rather than outright boldly stated.

Also some of these characters span DECADES and their histories change depending on continuity. So I tried to account for that where I could.

But also canon is fake and everyone in fandom cherry-picks anyways so yknow. Keep THAT in mind too.

Before we dive into this, I wanna have a quick convo on what Legal Guardianship vs Adoption is.

While guardianship includes some of the same responsibilities as adoption, it also comes with a few key differences, such as allowing any living parents (also possibly any living relatives) to contest the guardianship. Adoption would make the child fully and solely the potential parent’s responsibility, and would nullify any legal ‘say’ that the biological parents may have. Also of note, is that  guardianship does not allow the child in question a claim to inheritance unless the guardian specifically wills it to them, as there is again, a bit more of distance that is placed between the child and guardian, as more of a mentorship is expected to take hold. One way to look at it is that adoption is permanent (& usually a longer drawn out process bc of that), while guardianship can be more legally flexible.

With that out of the way, let’s start~

Dick: pre-flashpoint/52, it’s stated often that Dick was actually Bruce’s ward, that Bruce has legal guardianship over Dick. I know this is a nitpick and doesn’t matter bc it’s usually retconned/ignored in favor of Dick being adopted. But I think it’s a fascinating point of potential contention nonetheless. especially given the historical reason, that it was absolutely unheard of at the time for a single man to adopt a child, but no one would bat at eye if he was taking Dick in out of a sense of altruism & duty. Contract this with decades later, when he DOES appear to adopt Jason outright, which puts some friction in place between Dick & Bruce. and well, you’ve got a whole story & conflict to explore right there.

Barbara: Usually dons the Batgirl cowl after Dick becomes Robin (the only exception to that was The Batman (2004) cartoon and it was absolutely galaxy brain of them honestly) She has her own Dad though (idk if y’all know him? Jim Gordon? Yknow? The Commissioner?) so she doesn’t get adopted. She’s considered a core batfam member mostly in the sense that she’s been there so long and esp as she makes herself absolutely essential when she becomes Oracle. She has never, and will likely never be adopted by Bruce (bc again. W h e n is that gonna come up? When Jim dies? L m f a o)

Jason: pre-crisis it’s assumed from the go I guess? I could only find slight confirmation and ended up finding more info that there was a custody battle and that Bruce would won Jason back officially in Detective Comics #548. post-crisis, Jason’s history is redone, though & I remember his adoption being touched on, but could not for the life of me find a particular issue. N52/Rebirth it’s simply assumed from the go as far as I’m aware.

Tim: Batman #654. This was after his father died, though he’d been Robin at this point for at least a decade. For n52/Rebirth as far as I can tell he’s also been outright adopted by Bruce (though I think he’s parents were still alive but in Witness Protection? Idk. I haven’t read at all for Tim’s history there so take that with a heavy grain of salt)

Steph: another one who is not adopted (Crystal Brown is very much alive and taking care of Steph (barring the time Leslie Thompkins squirreled her away after faking Stephs death BUT)) She does show up pretty soon on Tim’s tail when he starts as Robin. Again, she’s considered a staple of the family because of how long she’s been involved with them. I like to think of her like Kimmy in Full House. She’s a Good Friend who’s Constantly Showing Up and is one of the family through mutual agreement on everyone’s part.

Cass: Batgirl (2008) #6, though like Tim, Cass had been Batgirl for nearly a decade at that point in continuity. She’s shown and stated many times that she considers Bruce a father/father figure and likewise that Babs, who had been mentoring her, was the closest she has to a mother. In n52/Rebirth, I have yet to see or hear about official adoption for her, but again. We usually ignore canon on that part anyways. I mean they made her into Orphan so uhhhh. Not super great yknow?

Damian: since he is biologically Bruce’s, it’s never really addressed as far as I’m aware (I have yet to read Damian’s appearances Altho he’s next on my Robin list). I personally think it’d be interesting to explore the fact that he was likely born outside of the country and what that means for Bruce gaining legal custody & whether or not Talia would contest that? I’m sure there’s probably SOME thinkpieces about it out there, but I’ll search for them on my own time eventually

And now we’re getting to *drum roll* Harper and Duke!

Harper: her appearances are mostly kept to the n52 runs, though with Tynion returning to Detective, it’s likely she’s coming back into Rebirth soon. She’s a unique case where, due to her abusive home life, she emancipated herself and took her brother, Cullen, with her. Neither she nor her brother were adopted by Bruce, and as far as I’m aware/understand, they’re fine with it that way. I know Stephanie was living with them at some point (it’s dropped in Batman & Robin: Eternal at least?), so I certainly think it would have been nice if DC also brought them into the fold like Steph. Just a couple of kids who are Really Good Friends with the family and continue to insert themselves in batfam business lmao

Duke: I actually addressed this fairly recently here! Duke’s guardianship (bc like Dick, Duke is not outright adopted by Bruce, likely to afford Duke’s parents the opportunity to regain custody should they recover from Joker’s toxin) its a little more up in the air at this point in Batman & The Outsiders. Since Bruce is very clearly taking both him and Cass away on globetrotting adventures. It would make things EASIER ofc if he is under Bruce’s guardianship. But given that it’s not really addressed, it’s led most of fandom to simply assume it instead. And really? Considering that DC themselves probably doesn’t realize that they’ve written themselves into this corner, it probably won’t be fully addressed or recognized anyways.

So to answer your first question actually: Babs, Steph, and Harper? Not adopted, likely never will be, but they ARE interspersed fairly regularly in the line-up. Everyone else? Varying degrees of being under Bruce’s guardianship if not outright adopted.

We’re all happy that they’re here, though!!! And we love and appreciate them ALL.

[m00nslippers]

So I watched Young Justice Season 3, episodes 4-6...

The three Roys and Dick episode is just...oh my god, the best thing ever? Like, Will with Dad-bod running a security company with a super derivative and dumb name (Bowhunters security, really?) saying shit like the “The clipboard doesn’t lie!” and the hilarious music, cuts to Will being melodramatic about security, and Will calling out Dick for jumping around missions like a lost lamb and belike “I already got Artemis and Lian, I don’t need a third daughter, get Halo a place to live, DICK,” I just...you need to watch this episode. It’s a gift. It’s amazing. Everything about it.

Also, the VR tech stuff is mentioned/shown in every episode, obviously it’s part of a bigger plot and someone is going to try and take people over with it somehow. It was stolen by Brick, Artemis and Halo ran into a Gonk clone using it, and Black Spider killed a guy playing with it and we see Barb playing with it.

Speaking of Barb, confirmed Oracle in wheel chair.

Guy who showed up to talk to Dick about Brion, Forager and Halo (I was confused about who he’s supposed to be, someone from a previous season I guess), mentioned leading joker to Mount Justice accidentally via brainwashing before when he was part of the Young Justice. Not sure if this is when it happened to Barbara or how Jason ‘died’.

And speaking of Jason OH MY GOD JASON IS CONFIRMED! He’s being kept by Ra’s and Talia with baby Damian! And he did a classic Red Hood move where he flipped over forager and planted a bomb on his back and it was freaking awesome! And Jason was totally beating Dick for a second there, he kicked him in the gut. FINALLY MY BABY JAY IS GETTING THE RECOGNITION HE DESERVES FOR BEING A BADASS. Someone turn that bomb-plant flip into a gif please.

If that is the only time we see him I’m going to cry. What I’m hoping happens is Dick belike, “I guess we’re going after the League of Shadows now to get Brion’s sister, R.I.P. me,” and Ra’s is all, “I’m pissed at them, here take my Red Hooded ninja that is totally not your brother Jason Todd to help you.” And there is a whole episode of Jason and Dick working together and Dick not knowing his identity and then his hood/mask gets knocked off at the end and Dick gasps and is all, “My brother Jason!” then Jay says, “Who dis? He sounds sexy.”

Halo dies again for like the third time. This better not keep being a thing because it’s really messed up. But her talk with Brion about wanting a secret identity and to be called violet is adorable. He called her violet and she’s like, “No, I’m violet at home!” I am starting to like her a lot and Brion is growing on me. Forager is already a sweet cinnamon roll. The apples scene was also awesome.

Conner calling out Dick on complaining about the new kids running off to Infinity Island when he specifically told them not to was hilarious. And Conner framing it like he’s the one who saved them when it was Dick doing it with Cadmus is funny.

Dick being like, “No! I don’t want to lead another team! Why you make me do this?” so full of shit, you’ve just been going to all your friends trying to make them come on missions with you Dick. You love teams, idiot. Leading a bunch of morons is your natural state of being, get over it.  And he says, “I hate being a grown up!” like he actually is a grown up, yeah right.

Also, when Conner said they’d had the bio-ship to live in for five minutes and they’d already made a mess, such a dad thing to say. Also I like the running joke that Wolf just acts like an old dog and sleeps all the time even though he’s a giant whatever that used to fight crime.

Tara is Terra. Somehow I didn’t see that coming until the giant rock killed a dude. I am an idiot.

Seeing M’gann transform into her White Martian self was pretty awesome, like that is something she would have never done in the previous seasons. She’s grown a lot.

Also, I’m not a big Barbara fan, but she was there and there was a little Barb/Dick and it was cute. Apparently she’s into VR games. I need Barb and the batboys playing Beat Saber right now.

And speaking of bat boys, in the awesome all-harper all-the-time episode, Roy used the term ‘bats’ to collectively describe the Gotham vigilantes. The fandom term has been legitimized.

And Will going, “This is his fault! Where is Dick!” with such emphasis was hilarious. Actually everything Will says and does is the best. This is a fact.

At the end of the episode he was dispensing advice and Dick says, “You were right,” was Will is all, “Of course I’m right, I’m older and wiser,” and Dick is like, “You’re a clone, you’re the youngest guy here!” then Will says, “Hey, I’m older than Jim!” And then Jim (biggest clone) is all, “And I’m prettier!” Best convo ever.

I cannot say this too much, best episode ever.

Dr. Jase is staying in Luthor Grande Hotel. Luthor owns a fancy Hotel. Just pointing that out. Make of it what you will.

Oh yeah and we saw Zatanna, but that was like the least exciting thing about these episodes, for real.

Like I don’t want to say this was the best day of my life, but it kind of felt like it for a second there? These three episode were the best 20/10, the wait was worth it for this season, I love this so, so much!

[hwestil]

Gotham Finale

I finally had time to watch & this is pretty much what I yelled at the TV as I did:

These actors must be having a blast getting to go wild

Okay but who took the time to spray paint “Gordon has the rage” all over the lockers lmao

Alfred’s faith in Bruce’s strength ;3;

Harvey: Yes, I’m blamin’ it on the butler!

Holy shit Strange has run straight into Fish Mooney. I have a fanfic plot in the works that starts this way…

Ed needs to stfu monologuing at the window. Barbara why don’t you just destroy this dude.

YES MADAM

Say what you will about flip phones, Gordon turning his face into his as he talks to Lee was really sensual in a great way????

Fucking lmao Strange’s mmmmhmmmm when he agrees only he can cure the virus

That was a real convenient door for Freeze to hide in

The real James Gordon lol c'mon. He’s infected that’s all, it doesn’t reveal a true self…

Strange being confronted with his angry creations and OSWALD!!!!!!

“You made them what they are and then abandoned them.” Sounds a bit accusatory, Os. Do you count yourself among them in a way, I wonder?

Mooney forgave Oswald and made him a partner hmmm I don’t trust it

Oswald gets his revenge on Strange!!! FINALLY!

Awwww Harvey’s loyalty to Jim is really touching

“I love you Master Bruce” I’m not crying it’s just raining on my face ;___;

Fish gently touching Penguin’s face… I mean, she obviously instilled in him some kind of latent loyalty with her compulsion power (?!?!), but I’m into it

Asldjsl;jdgsksh I LOOK AWAY FOR ONE SECOND AND JIM IS IMPALING FISH WITH A KATANA WTF THE FUCK

oh damn her dying wish………

NO HIS RAGE AT JIM NOOOO….. my shipper heart denies Oswald losing the dregs of his crush on Jim this way ;____;

Penguin calling Jim a monster, Jim agrees, choking Oswald, Harvey saves him, knocking Jim out. It’s come so far for Oswald to see Jim as the monster instead of a good man (but Oswald on the whole has taken so much shit from Jim it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for him to break)

Damn damn damn meanwhile the antidote’s busted and now Strange has all his bargaining chips back

Ra’s al ghul looks amazing

Don’t you dare blame anything on Alfred you brainwashed child

Don’t you dare kill your second dad!!!!! And Bruce’s FACE as he’s struggling ;_____; SCREAMING BUT BUT BUT HE ACTUALLY?!?! W-WHAT?!?!

WELL but the Lazarus pit is also right there? Is he gonna come back wrong tho?

Gordon and Harvey have Penguin hostage and plan to use him against Ed to get Tetch?!?

Wow so Harvey is against turning Penguin over but the plan itself is Jim’s? ;o; (Jim what ever happened to Oswald being part of your unit? :( :( )

How many times? HOW MANY TIMES is it gonna be Jim dragging a scrabbling Oswald along as he begs Jim not to do something?? Handcuffed to the radiator, left in Arkham, ransomed to Ed… :(

“And after that, what do you care what happens?” that’s the sound of my heart absolutely breaking

Oswald’s sassy wave as he drives off in the cop car tho lol

jfc Jim just taking the blood he needs i didn’t suspect that

I swear to GOD if Ed beats Penguin I’m gonna riot

Jim you fuckin idiot

Can’t deal with how dumb the convo between Bruce & Selina was. Or did you mean: How to Not Effectively Communicate 101

Don’t give in Jim god fuckin damn it

UHHHHH PENGUIN NEVER THREW A TANTRUM ABOUT JIM BEING A DICK SO…. I hate Ed so much. He brings out the worst in Oswald. which I’m glad that Oswald himself now recognizes

Okay how could Jim ever be elected to anything, ever be trusted by the public ever again when people have seen him throwing Harvey around the train station, face all messed up and gross, screaming “This is who I am!!”?

Harvey is such a bro (I understand Harvey/Jim completely now)

Still bored by Jim/Lee

Well. That’s Butch down.

Are they–? Redoing this scene at the docks AGAIN?

he removed the bullets HE REMOVED THE BULLETS and the pin I KNEW THAT WAS SUSPICIOUS I’m so happy with how this played out. Oswald outmaneuvered Ed. \o/ and Ivy finally showed up too

Course that ice statue will probably melt in the future and then Riddler will be back barf but at least Oswald’s back in the nightclub game \o/ (tho honestly how was his disappearance and return explained to Gotham at large lol)

Annnnd Barbara’s dead now too. I’ve been waiting for Tabby to finally take her out! Plus she’s got herself a nice new apprentice.

Holy shit Butch is alive and gonna be some kind of zombie?? (based on that real name)

I like how Lee apparently doesn’t even give a shit about Mario anymore? lmao

Harvey & Jim back to being buddy cops and we end the season with Bruce engaging in amateur bat vigilantism. Good End.

[starlooove]

The whole made up “tim is seen/treated as an employee by everyone’” thing is funny vs just how much Steph and spoiler as an identity got disrespected by literally everybody. Like not even hated just the casual disrespect for her is soooo