#and dicks like oh that’s funny bc that’s what I call bruce

[bamboozled-distress]

headcanon that in the beginning when dick and Jason first met, dick was like ‘oh my names Richard but everyone calls me dick’ and out of respect and sincereness Jason is like ‘oh yeah everyone back home calls me cunt :)’

[punnifullife]

I thought long and hard (and overthinking) trying to tie teen titans 03 to the batfam stuff in my AU. I really wanted to connect the other robins, Dick turning into nightwing, and the relationship with Bruce into this. so below are a combo of rough sketches and written out ideas mixed together bc i couldn't finish this without ripping my hair out. Originally I had it come right after season 5 ending with the weird alien thing (which is what bb and rae are referencing to) but..... anyways:

This gets long so the rest will be under a cut:

just FYI on changes already: Robin's look is more dan mora/og costume. I love Dick in the yellow cape (and i always associate the black cape to Tim so hehe) Like i said the alien WAS gonna be the main bad guy since this comic will also about things changing. but i got too overwhelmed reading up on what the alien was and it was a dimensional being and yadda yadda so it was bare bones and barely even brought up as i lost interest in drawing things out. Continuation:

this is where i didnt feel like drawing a transition to tt packing/traveling to gotham.,.. so it jumps to the meeting:

yess bb jason!! In my AU, this is when dick and jason meet. Dick claims batman hasnt changed, but yet Dick keeps tabs on gotham to know about jason just as much as bruce is aware of the teen titans (and even tho Dick says "oh look, a replacement. the batman cant go without a robin". he knows that isn't really the case. he's just still hurting from their fall out. and NO he does not feel jealous or anything like that towards Jason.) I will say that's where the main drawings stopped. but the story continues! But mostly text bc drawing it out became tiring. So: they work together in an upcoming fight. Batman (and teen titans) call out to "robin" so there's funny miscommunication as which robin responds to what. Jason proves himself to Dick that he can be a robin. Bruce is his usual skeptical self and it drives Dick up a wall. Bruce eventually calls Dick out for being the same way though (altho this is more of egging on to push Dick to make some more changes. since bruce never wanted dick to be like him).

Dick: You don't know my teammates. Don't act like you do. Bruce: You're right. I don't know them. Nor do I trust them with my son. Dick: Why can't you trust MY judgement. Bruce goes back to working, ignoring the statement. And Dick comes to a realization to how Bruce shuts him out (like what he did to starfire earlier). This leads Dick to reveal his identity to his team because he DOES in fact trust them 100%. There's some closure from that and this would kinda be a turning point in terms of his angst/edgy phase as a robin. As he officially passes the mantle to Jason and where he becomes Nightwing.

team reaction to face reveal:

[clearnachopirate]

Terry and the batfam. Terry and the batfam. their dynamics have so much potential and i would LOVE to see it explored in any way at all

Terry and Dick: older brothers, trade stories of how they embarrass and get back at their younger brother(s), anger issue twins, "oh you were batman too??" "yeah, but its only bc one of my parents was murdered" "omg thats how i became robin no way"

Terry and Jason: the second most destructive duo, second only to terry and steph. not bc they fight or blow things up on patrol (thats tim and jasons thing) but bc anytime there a new gadget to try, terry will volunteer to use it, and jason will volunteer to 'spar' with terry to test it out. okay, maybe its bc they fight and blow stuff up, but its only ever in the batcave under supervision! "the tim from my dimension actually killed the joker" "no shit? did bruce stop me over there too?" "... about that--" sometimes they grab the others leather jacket by accident and both have given up on caring

Terry and Tim: terry "from the technological future" mcginnis and tim "designs loads of bat tech" drake talk shop, "my younger brother was made robin without my consent" club. tim listens to the works elcectro pop music ever and it just so happens to sound exactly like what they play at terrys favorite club. tim introduces him to (kon or bernard, take your pick) and they hit it off so well that they hang out without tim

Terry and Damian: ace the dog. terry invited damian to his AC island. both are bruce's bio kids and mamas boys. damian calling him "Terrance" and terry never recovering from it. terry knows damian from the future, kind of, and uses that knowledge to his advantage EVERY DAY

Terry and Duke: team "everyone thinks we're the normal one, they are wrong" they totally do movie marathons you cant tell me otherwise, their favorite thing to do is make bets abt the rest of the fam w cass. they never win against her. on any given day you can find them whispering about everyone else "duke, why the fuck were damian and tim staring each other down over breakfast" "hes mad dick said he can't poison him again" "what" "i know i thought they were over it by now"

Terry and Cass: cass sees him for the first time and sees that he rivals tim and dick in terms of being a mess and is determined to bond. terry hears about what she was trained for as a child and shrugs bc "i was supposed to be a second bruce, things change" cass will make him give her piggybacks when shes tired and terry has never dropped her

Terry and Stephanie: the most destructive duo. something happens to their braincells when they patrol together, buildings fall, bones break, civilians are crying, theres about ten minutes where everyone else thinks theyre both dead. they both are waiting at the cave for the others, terry is teching her how to make really shitty friendship bracelets (dana taught him, and stephanie is pretending she doesnt know how). they dont know why everyone else is so stressed "i texted you that we were fine, old man. steph and i just ran into black masks trafficing ring and took care of it-- why is dick crying?"

ALL of them have asked about the future before and the ONLY thing he ever reveals is out of context sayings and trends "yeah actually luigi and bowser have so much chemistry, well, i guess that movie isnt out yet huh" "???" (they think luigi and bowser are a cononical couple in the future and wonder where the world went so wrong) and (while interrogating smon) "watch out, you're not acting like the sigma you are, batman, try rizzing 'im up, then he'll talk."

him and bart meet (everyone tried to keep in from happening) and theyre from similar enough futures that when they talk, not a single person around them can follow it, they teach each other the different versions of different tik tok dances and terry goes back to the manor and teches them to steph, cass sees them do it once and has them memorized, duke thought it was funny, dick thought it was adorable (eventually they ALL know them, and it becomes an inside joke) tims prized possession is a video he got of damian doing the most dispassionate renegade the world has ever seen bc jon asked and he cant say no to him)

TL;DR:

terry mcginnis interacting w the other bat kids has a lot of potential for chaos and family bonding

[infpravenclaw5w4idkwhatelse]

Apparently its just in my brain rn but I wanted to make this list for me or for anyone out there who gets into editing before I do (pleas please please idk how to edit and unless I hyper fixate hard enough, I probably won’t take the time to learn lmao) but anyway this is a list of the Robins and songs (by Taylor Swift so there’s a theme and the list has a finite end) that I desperately need an edit of them with.

Stephanie brown- the man (literally can’t hear the song without thinking of her), mad woman (I can see this with interspersed scenes of her father, fighting villains specifically black mask, and Bruce)

Jason Todd- my tears ricochet (absolutely devastating w/ under the red hood, specifically comic version iykyk the difference between that and the movie), haunted (I need this with Bruce and dick and Tim’s reaction to his death), bigger than the whole sky (similar to haunted but more resigned? And still more about characters responding to his death but still His Death), who’s afraid of little old me (red hood transitional period. You see the vision? I know you do.) look what you made me do (obviously. I keep imagining him listening to this song while being the red hood and it’s great), the Great War (just. The imagery. There’s so much potential here. “maybe it’s the past that’s talking, screaming from the crypt, telling me to punish you for things you never did” with a cut to Batman and Joker would go so hard)

Dick Grayson (there’s really no order to this list is there? Lol anyway.)- never grow up (focused on his relationships with his siblings and then after the bridge with the “wish I’d never grown up” with flashbacks to him as Robin oh my god I’d cry), 22 (idk it feels very early Nightwing to me. I need a happy one for him bc he deserves it. Just an edit of him winning and being iconic), New Romantics (in that same vein, with the titans because it’d be fun), the story of us and I forgot that you existed (him and B fighting because I feel people ignore that they do fight quite often and IFTYE especially feels the right amount of petty and sincere for him, you know?), last but not least (can you tell I love him) Style (this and any love interest he repeatedly dates, I was thinking specifically Barbara but I could also see kory, I just think this song is fun for any relationship that gets rebooted in multiple formats)

Tim Drake- enchanted (as itty bitty Tim Drake or Robin, meeting them at galas and Knowing or just working with the bats in the beginning when he was star struck), mirrorball (“I can change everything about me to fit in” …yeah. This is more a fanon interpretation but I read a really interesting fic where Jason comes back and meets Tim and all he can see is his and dick’s Robin mannerisms in him, and can’t find anything that’s just Tim’s until he’s too tired to pretend anymore and it’s stuck with me) you’re losing me (this would be a sad one of people generally looking over or hating him, specifically Bruce calling him Jason, finding out dick made Damian Robin, Damian and Jason verbally attacking him, the events that led to Red Robin) Tis the damn season (for when Red Robin arc is over and he’s still angry but doesn’t know what else to do)

Damian Wayne: a place in this world (it’s not his aesthetic, but the themes of the song are very raised-in-the-league-trying-to-be-a-functioning-family-member), the best day (with him and Dick generally him getting to be a kid, I’m not crying you are), mean (I think the “swords and weapons that you use against me”would be funny with him drawing assorted weapons on people), Innocent (“your string of lights is still bright to me oh, who you are is not where you’ve been” oh my god. I just feel like he needs someone to mean this about him) exile (Talia leaving him, even if she meant to do it for his own good, having to recon with not being in the league anymore), this is me trying (I don’t have words for this one, it’s a vibe)

Bonus:

Anti-hero: you can give all of them different verses that fit best, but I think they’d all sing the song and feel like it was them and I’d love to see an edit of them to it.

Epiphany: Alfred. You don’t even have to listen to it, just look at the lyrics and you’ll Get It.

robin: this I see for both Jason and Dick, so probably split between them.

Mastermind: first off, shameless TimSteph shipper, not even necessarily romantically, it’s just that they’re soulmates and I don’t care what canon says; I know that because they told me personally. Anyway the song is from both of their perspectives. They both think they’re the mastermind

State of Grace: also TimSteph. Fight me.

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

Im getting into my dc batfam feels and I just want you to picture dc Kate during under the red hood she calls Bruce a pussy and shoots joker and Jason's like i consider that a marriage proposal I honestly picture Kate and robin!Jason being frenemies like omg you are so annoying but if anyone wants to hurt you they have to go through me vibes then when he comes back she gets protective even though he's literally a crime lord and like twice her size

God yes Kate is so fucking mad at Bruce about Jason's death. So what if Bats wanted to kill Joker? He didn't actually do it! Kate and Dick working together to find and kill him. Kate is very aware that this means she will no longer be welcome in Gotham. Worth it.

(Dick and Kate and New Robin Tim hunting down the Joker for Jason???? Dick and Kate looking at each other over Tim's head like wtf did we become this feral creature's parents?. Dick and Kate in their "I'm too young to die but too old to eat off the kids menu, what a stupid age I am!" era. Jason has someone set up a meeting with "the people who killed the Joker" and it's his childhood crush, his not-brother, and his replacement?!?!?! What the fuck. No, seriously, guys, what the fuck?? Jason reveals his identity out of shock more than anything and is suddenly at the bottom of a very weepy puppy pile)

Can also see Kate buying an apartment building in or just outside of crime alley because of Jason and the desire to look out for his neighborhood in his honor.

It takes waaaay too long for Jason to reveal he's Red Hood to her, mostly because she keeps trying to kill him with extreme prejudice. Like, he gets that's Joker's pre-joker name, right? Is this some kind of sick joke? Gets to the point where he pays Poison Ivy to drug her and dump her at one of his safe houses bc he a dramatic ass hoe

Potential for Kate to think she's dreaming or hallucinating Jason amd she pokes him and screams when he's solid which startles jason into screaming at her. I'm a fan of people screaming at each other for no reason.

as bbs they are TOOOOO much alike. They're enamored with the magic/awesomeness of being a superhero, they are the second of their name, both are birds, they're book nerds. Kate doesn't have a lot of fellow rich people friends so I think she'd take to Jason right away, I can see her giving him gala tips etc. I can see them liking each other as civilians and hating each other as superheroes because they are TOO alike which is kind of funny which is frenemies territory. Like god another bird themed superhero??? Getcha own thing. They get kidnapped from a gala and that's when they learn each other's superhero identity? Maybe???

BUT they always laugh at each other's bird jokes in solidarity

Kate was Jason's first kiss. Bbys holding hands!!!! Jaybin is SO bashful and SO respectful of her boundaries ahhhhh I'm dying

I saw a post about how there's a memorial to the second Robin on a rooftop in crime alley because they know he was one of theirs and I am OBSESSED with Kate tending to it with other residents of the area once she moves to Gotham (Kate moving to Gotham is her version of when a cat stares at you and then knocks your glass of water over. Bruce doesn't think she should be here? Oh he doesn't? How interesting. Unfortunately, all of her fucks have been promised to other issues so she has none for you, Brucie)

Kate is who Jason calls after the batarang to the neck incident. He texts her an SOS and she keeps it together to get jason bandaged up and in bed and then she breaks into the Manor and starts screaming and throwing things at bruce. Would she have been able to enter the Manor normally? Yes. Breaking in was to make a POINT. The point was FUCK YOU BRUCE. (VERY funny if this causes a falling out between Bruce and Ollie because the Hawkeyes are pissed at Batman and the arrow heroes have to stand in solidarity? Maybe prompting Ollie and Roy to patch up their relationship because Arrow Heroes. Honestly it's giving WWI vibes. Like, I got no beef with you but my boo does so fuck you.)

Goddddd I love jason and Kate so much

[jugsjules]

Help I’m being consumed by the thought of an AU where instead of being taken in by Bruce Wayne, all the batkids are adopted by Scott and Barda Free:

•Dick gets to keep doing acrobatics as a day job as a kid

•His act includes a lot of Barda just huckin him way up high in the air

•When people ask if that’s safe they go “Its fine, it’s enrichment for him”

•When his little 9 year old self goes “Barda I have to go after Tony Zucco” she goes “I have seen first hand what becomes of children taught violence from too young an age. No learning how to uppercut until you are at least 10.”

•He keeps trying to sneak out anyway but Scott catches him and it becomes an increasingly elaborate game this is how Robin the vigilante is born

•Barda just comes home with Jason out of the blue, grinning and saying “He bit me” while Jason dangles from her giant arms looking like o//o

•He still dies but so does the fucking Joker so when he comes back his trauma takes the form of guilt over not being able to get out in time, like he failed Scott by not being clever enough

•He also still becomes a drug lord about it bc I just think that era is funny

•Tim starts as his normal Dick Grayson’s Number One Fan self but then Scott lets him tinker with Fourth World tech and it’s all over. He’s never leaving. Young Justice is gonna access to bootleg Boom Tubes Tim made in his bedroom someday and no one is gonna be ready

•Jack never dies, he just thinks Tim has a mentor for his son’s tinkering hobby that’ll be great for a future college engineering major or something. When he finds Tim’s Robin costume he just goes “Son you could have told me you wanted to join the Mr Miracle act, I’m fine with it as long as it doesn’t interfere with school” and Tim goes “……..yes.”

•When Cass turns up in Gotham Barbara just calls the Frees like “Hey I got another one for you but I get her on weekends”

•When Barda learns Cass’ story she’s like “oh no she’s just like me fr” and when she sees Cass beat the shit out of a room full of grown men she goes “fuck yes she’s just like me fr”

•She teaches Cass how to pick up and throw her brothers it’s therapeutic

•Cass brings home Damian out of the blue signing “he stabbed me :)” bc she’s just like her mom fr

•Scott and Barda leave for like two hours and when they come back the news is talking about some kind of robin themed child gang and Duke is sitting in the living room going “i can explain” while Jason goes “no he can’t he’s fucking nuts we’re keeping him”

This is all I got for now

[mepposprincess]

Submitting in 15 and 74 for the ask game,, (:

[ @juugahusband ]

YAAAYYY THANK U !

f/os ask game

NUMBER CHOSEN: 15

F/O CHOSEN: Haruto Asuka !

Okay this one doesn't have deep deep lore but my s/i is ya know, director for mankai bc I love when games give me an easy way to insert myself !!

Anyways ! Yeah me and haruto do not get along at first it's a lot of bickering hehe, different companies and all that! However! We have to work together eventually and get closer !!!!! And well. Goes crazy from there

Hehe I call him Haruru and he fucking hates it but it's CUTE idc

Basically, I'm annoying and he deals with me 🤷

NUMBER CHOSEN: 74

F/O CHOSEN: Jason Todd !

So this one is going to be super interesting bc my s/i is actually also an oc! I made Drew before I started making full of s/is, so they were quite literally just ocs but still. Exactly like me LMAO

Buckle up lads there is so much lore here but for times sake I'm gonna be giving a general rundown rather than discussing differing lore depending on which comic run we're talking about.

Drew and Jason are actually childhood friends! .. and also once fought against each other it's fine!

Basically Drew was given up for adoption as a baby due to mysterious powers she seemed to have, and a woman who heard about this took her in and raised her to essentially be a villain.

See Drew is capable of mimicking just about anything as long as she is able to see or hear it. People's voices, movements, actions, even other people's powers though to a much lesser degree. Nothing she replicates there would end up being as strong but it is still possible so long as she sees it happen. So of course being raised in the wrong hands she basically did anything her "mother" desired her to, telling the child that she was in the right and anyone who tried to stop her were villains attempting to break their family apart.

Eventually this all comes to a head, and she's stopped by Bruce and Jason, and Drew realizes what's been going on this whole time they are able to finally break through to her.

She ends up being taken in and raised by Dick's friend El (@eijihino 's oc !!!) and becomes best friends with Jason! She even makes them friendship bracelets that Jason reluctantly wore despite how cutesy it was lol

But uh. Then the bad thing happens and oh. Oh boy. That sure is fucked! And things go wrong. Jason's death fucked up Drew BAD and even though she keeps moving forward, it became incredibly hard for her to.

Then of course there's his eventual comeback, where Drew actually realizes pretty quickly it's him because well. He still has their friendship bracelet, causing ANOTHER breakdown but it's fine it's fine eventually things are mostly okay !

Boy does it still take a few good years after that though for the two to actually end up together they both have a lot of issues to work through, but even before then, their friendship quickly goes back into place once the two actually talk again.

It's also funny because the two enjoy so many antics and banter and they frequently annoy each other in light hearted silly ways. I adore them so much I've had Drew for such a long time and she always will mean the world to me.

And I Adore Jason so so so SOOOOOO much y'all don't even know !!! But yeah uh.. wow this was long.

[gautierprotectionsquad]

My live reactions while listening to Batman: Unburied

Listening to Batman Unburied. It’s SO good. Bruce Wayne is a forensic pathologist and his parents are alive and he’s trying to catch a cannibal called the Harvester except it’s all in his head. Back in the real world Bruce Wayne is “dead” and Barbara is the real main character other than Bruce. Batman is not batdad in this, which is fine, but it’s weird that Barbara is a character but Dick is not.

WAIT FUCKING WAIT IS THAT JUSTIN MCELROY? THE MCELROYS ARE IN BATMAN UNBURIED?? WHAT???

I’m loving DC deciding to put Riddler in more stuff instead of the Joker. Joker’s overused.

Why did riddler saying “it’s mr.nigma” sound like he introduced himself as Mr.Ligma lol.

“Ace has mostly stayed by the window waiting for master bruce.” Awww Ace.

LOVING riddler in this. He’s so funny. Also loving that this is Barbara focused. And they got a diverse cast. 

So Bruce was actually getting better and healing from his parents death only to feel super guilty when he realized it and decided to push everyone away. Unburied has been reminding me of BTAS. Bits and pieces of things happening here have happened in BTAS before. The forgetting he’s batman, the psych evaluation with a lightshow,referencing gray ghost, living in an alt reality in his head where his parents were still alive, and now Batman feeling guilty he’s moving on from his parent’s murder while dating vicki.

There’s griffin and travis on Ep 4!

The conversation between bruce and his parents at the beginning of ep 5 OH MY GOD! YAY! I love this; it’s SOOOO good!

So Hugo Strange is the real villain! Now Bruce gets to beat up the Mcelboys.

Ep 6 riddler. dude. He’s so silly. “Ah hoy hoy! You need me on the fairway. You need me for luck. But once you have me, you’re well and truly fucked.” Silly man! I love the riddler in this! “The improbable jawline beneath the cowl.” this man truly did play riddler gay (and we wouldn’t have it any other way.) i love riddler in this SO MUCH.

WHOA TWIST! RIDDLER DIDN’T STAB GORDON! 

“This city and its cartoon bullshit”.

Strange is DEAD? Did his own guy kill him?! The cannibal dude? No, not that? Strange isn’t behind everything?

WOAH batman’s doing the thing his subconscious Brucie does. HOLY…REALLY?! Is that new or has this batman always done that?

So it’s MadHatter? No, not him either.

Something about batman villains cursing is so funny.

BATMAN APOLOGIZED? Like it was nothing!

Dude! Connecting cannibalism with eating the body of christ. 

Wow they’re bringing in all the villains except joker here. There’s ivy!

He doesn’t know ivy’s name?

This is a new backstory for her i think. Her dad makes bioweapons? And he fucking tested them on her! That’s so fucked up! Wow this guy sucks so bad, he even killed his wife bc she cared about her daughter.

She had a girlfriend named Alex in college in this! neat. (i think this ivy and stiefvater’s swamp thing would get along) uh oh i think something bad is going to happen to Alex. Ok she’s fine she just didn’t like Ivy killed a guy. Ivy can’t kiss anyone in this universe. Huh.

So bc bruce tried to protect this tree, that’s what led to ivy and strange working together.

Obv he chooses vicki. He can always catch the bad-people later.

AH fuck! Batman is compromised! AH what a cliffhanger right before the last episode.

“Leaping lords, gray ghost!” GRAY GHOST HAS HIS OWN ROBIN??? NAMES POLTERGEIST!!??!? AAAHH!

“You chose a world where we were disappointed in you” OOF

OUGH there’s Bruce feeling guilty he’s moving on from his parent’s death! In his own words! “It’s not just about you anymore. I LIKE it.” YES YES YES YES. “we don’t have to be the first thing you think about when you wake up” T_T

NOO ALFRED’S BEEN COMPROMISED! 

“I have something you don’t. I have a dog.” LOL

YOU CAN’T KILL OFF ISLEY!

Bruce apologizes AND TELLS ALFRED HE LOVED HIM!!!!!

The final message of unburied: ACAB.

Looks like ivy’s still alive. And she got back together with her ex.

Why does bruce interrupting riddler’s dinner sound like a date and flirting?!

overall review: 10/10

[cleromancy]

i really hate that jason telling dick he killed tim was in bftc bc that could have been so good but instead it was bftc

extended bitching under the cut 🤪

wait actually FIRST OF ALL i just want to say that if jason genuinely believed he straight up killed tim with a single rusty old batarang that broke in a really unfortunate way that would be so funny. like oh my god bruce did you replace me with a child made of actual GLASS?

anyway lmao. like. obviously i reject the entire premise of bftc and the execution of literally everything was so completely borked but its so annoying that there are these seeds of ideas i really *like* like dick lying about what was in bruces will and bruces message for jason being so awful and triggering that jasons just like OKAY NAUGHTY CITIZENS ITS MURDER TIME and ckfkcilfkcpckc honestly tim hitting jason with a crowbar........... theres a lot of fucking potential!!

but first of all dick purposely triggering jason wjth bruces farewell message a *second time* and then after jason falls seemingly to his death being like why didnt jason take my hand 😢 why the fuck do you think Richard. (sorry dick i dont actually blame you for the choices you made when fucking tony daniel was writing you)

bc like dick reaching out offering jason a hand in a way that jason would be unable to accept would have been good too except like actually i wouldn't fucking take dicks hand either in that moment

anyway like the tim thing made no sense and also *if* you want me to believe bruce trained tim to have a physiological rxn that makes him flatline in order to appear dead in response to certain physical stimuli. like *if* you want me to go along with that. Jason would fucking know about it (and for that matter so would dick) and also that pokes a hole in the concept bc if dick knew that bruce had repeatedly made Tim flatline to train his body to automatically do it i think bruce would have died a long fucking time ago. or dick would have done SOMETHING to put a stop to it imo bc that crosses a very clear line

but i just wish it had been like. yeah jasons lying to dick and dick simultaneously does and doesnt believe him instead of the bullshit that happened bc [character rant redacted i dont feel like typing it right this minute]it could have been like so tragic and good bc it would be like. 1) obviously mirroring the joker doing the same thing b4 dick beat him to death and 2) a really tragic thing from jason to fucking lie to dick, who has no evidence to the contrary, bc he wants dick to not believe him

and its like thats why i want jason to reject dicks hand yk. bc he self sabotaged and now he thinks dicks lying about thinking he has the potential to be better or whatever. and instead it reads like dick purposely aired out bruce calling him a failure & broken and going on and on about how giving jason the best years of his life was a *mistake*

anyway im bored of complaining now (for the moment) so ill stop but god damn i really just wish his comic were good instead of bad

wait one final note. like i said earlier i reject the entire premise of bftc bc by necessity it ends with dick in the cowl and cass isnt even there. and well if cass *was* there why the F<UCK would dick get the cowl ykwim... that said i do think like if the comic had made a point that damian needs robin and cass is not in a position to be batman *to* him that could feasibly lead to cass being like "ok 👍 i dont want to look at you anymore tho so I'm going to travel around the world for a few years" (/months in universe). but obviously that is not fjckkng in the comic. also alfred giving damian the suit was so bogus I'm glad everyone pretends dickie did it xjdkcnoxck (i maintain if there was a robin suit in damians size it had to have been dicks idea anyway)

[fanonimus]

Remember, you asked.

First, you misunderstand the batfamily's concept, or what fanon made them to be (canon is a lil shit we don't like bc its inconsistent.) I would not call them brutal, in the slightest. "Brutal" means savage, uncontrolled violence, which you could say is true to the batfamily, but they are not "brutal" as a family unit, and rarely brutal as individuals. The violence is more often than not stricktly neccesary.

The batfamily is inherently human, a huge family made by choice, with flaws, grief and anger coating every bond, because of the line of work they are in. They are different, yet they still find comfort and familiarity in each other. You can call them toxic, because they are in canon, but the fandom had managed to make something better, something functioning out of it.

The batfamily heals each other, and they offer a place of healing for others.

But then, why DP? You asked.

First, there is the obvious joke we should adress, the adoption bait Danny is. Black hair, blue eyes, trauma is basically Bruce waynes exact adoption type.

Second, Danny has a broken homelife, as much as people want to overlook it. Jack and Maddie are not good parents, fixated on their job, neglecting their kid. Because it is neglect, even if they love him.

Oh look! A sudden point that comes up! Paralells.

Danny's relationship with his parents brings a paralell to Tim's relationship with his own. The Fentons and the Drakes both love their son, but their job is always more important. They were not fit for parenthood, and they have no clue what to do with a child.

And lets not forget that Danny died a pretty traumatic death, which realistically would cause a fourteen year old biig ptsd, which I feel like is not properly explored in the show (shocker). And then he is brought back by this green goo (more on ectoplasm later), which brings us our second paralell, which is Jason Todd. Jason also died a traumatic dead at age fourten, and then was brought back to consciousness by green goo.

So, you have a teenage vigilante with black hair, blue eyes who had to die to gain his powers, is super traumatised, and hunted by his own parents, also has a creepy old man who wants to make him his sucsessor.

Yeah that is another paralel to Tim, and surprisingly Dick. (Slade when I cach you...)

I dunno about you, but Danny just fits into this little found family thing they have going on.

But what about Jass, I hear you asking.

Jass was also neglected, and then forced to take on a third parental role when Danny was born. Her love for psychology is not an accident, she wants to provide the best life for her brother, and emotional growth can only be supported by an emotionally mature person.

Add that to the fact that her brother technically died at fourteen, and you get a pretty good gist about how much trauma she herself might be repressing, which is an amazing point of discusion in any media.

Now onto the worldbuilding, and why DP adds so much to the DCU.

First, lets address the elephant in the blog, green goo. The lazarus pitts make so much sense as contaminated ectoplasm, it's not even funny. Ectoplasm is what ghosts are made out of, its what gives them life, what helps them heal. So it would make sense that it would assist with bringing back a person, but really wrong. It's dirty with age, and death, that's why it works as it does. It's an excellent plot drive, with Danny hellping Jason overcome the effects of this horrid thing inside him, and it also gives us an exciting premise of Jason being somewhat an opposite of Danny. Fully dead, and fully alive, not some half this half that. Jason is not just a ghost possessing his own body, he's him, he's still one, body and soul, even if he died.

Second, the GIW (Guys In White/Ghost Investigation Ward) and the AEA (Anty Ecto Acts).

The AEA goes against Meta Protection Laws, dehumanizing ectoplasmic beings and taking away every right denizens (residents of the infinite realms/ghost zone, more on that later) would deserve as sentient beings.

This brings in a tension point for the justice leauge and the gowernment, makind for stellar drama. Also a tension point for Damian and Jason, who are considered Ectoplasmic beings (lazarus pit).

The GIW are the enforcers basically. They experiment on denizens, they are a government organization, and such.

The implications of the Infinite realms, and how it fits.

As we know, the DCU is a multiverse, with a lot of different universes, The ghost zone, or Infinite realms, depending on who you ask, is basically the veins of the universe, and the ectoplasm is its blood. There, it fitts nicely, I am not going into politics bc that is really author dependent.

All in all, the two just fits together so perfectly, it would have been strange not to decide a crosover is due.

This is all I have right now, if I missed something, feel free to tell me.

I genuinely want to know where DC×DP got started. Who looked at this brutal, angry, violent family and said "you know who would go great with this? An overrated nickelodeon cartoon about ghosts" like ?????

[batarangsoundsdumb]

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

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

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

Safe And Sound - watchingthestars13

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

Latchkey - goldkirk

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

Excelsior - jerseydevious

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

Hummingbirds Under His Skin - jerseydevious

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

In For a Penny - cdelphiki

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

birds fly in every direction - distracted_dragon

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

Emergency Contact - lurkinglurkerwholurks

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

Disaster Zone - engmaresh

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

Pot, Meet Kettle - borntobemild

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

My own batfam works 

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

[robinrequiems]

This has probably already been asked, but accidental secret dating? Idk I like the idea of them not even hiding it. Like, the few times they tried to verbally come out, something happens so they just give up and let them figure it out themselves. Except they don't for an embarrassingly long time for a family of detectives, which they both find extremely funny

-🖍

CRAYON! IT HAS NOT BEEN DONE BY I! let’s do it

• honestly: Damian and jon just acted the same when they started dating

• jon had already been touchy. so if Jon was a bit extra touchy? oh well! jon had just started forehead kissing him, sometimes cheek kissing him. never on the lips bc Damian only liked it in private

• so when dick hinted to damian that he should give someone a chance and maybe they will be the one, Damian laughed.

Damian: what??

Dick: I’m just saying! it doesn’t hurt to try! even if you aren’t interested in it, jt can reaffirm it for you

Damian: but I’m already dat..

Dick, getting a phone call: oh I gotta take this, talk later, okay?

Damian: umm okay

• damian has tried to tell his brothers

• so many times, jon has tried to tell him too, it didn’t work so they just. gave up

• they didn’t really hide it, their family just didn’t pay enough attention

• they also forgot their families didn’t know when they accidentally revealed it by kissing on New Years

• jon and dames had been dating since late December of the year prior, so they had been dating for a little over a year

• their families should have realized since damian actusllt openly cared for jon and even tried to kill for jon because someone tried to hurt him

• lois and Clark didn’t expect anything. Clark should have.

• kon thought he noticed something, but Tim called him a himbo so he dropped it

• plus it’s not totally their dumb detective brains not working, they are also barely around since damian doesn’t really need to be taken care of 24/7, tims & kon out w/ YJ, dick in ‘haven, jason w/ outlaws, stephanie out trying to finish uni, cass in Hong Kong, bruce w/ uh crime? idk, lois has her job to focus on too, & Clark is busy saving the world like a loser

• it’s not that they are dumb, it’s just that they aren’t around that much to realize the changes, dick was surprised when damians wardrobe & style just completely changed

• they’re busy being heroes & living their lives, but they probably shouldn’t have brushed Damian & jon off and let them explain

[robinofgothamcity]

♡ prompt: "you accidentally get sent into the future and see how you both turn out.”

♡ pairing: dick grayson (anyverse / nightwing) x fem reader

♡ lyric inspiration: “I said that’s life and as funny as it may seem, some people get their kicks stomping on a dream but I don’t let it get me down cause this fine old world keeps spinning around.” 

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / again like what I said with my Jason fic, you don’t necessarily use the TITANS universe to imagine this fic. i just used this version of dick for no reason. 

“god, this is the last time I do any kind of work with ANY OF YOU!” you yelled at Dick as he bit on his inner cheek. all of you had been fighting off a bunch of crooks and at first, you thought it was okay.....that was until one of the crooks pulled out his hidden magical abilities, “at the very least, we could’ve called Klarion for help!” 

Damian gave you a look as if what you were saying was stupid, “I’M JUST SAYING! WE’RE ALL FUCKING HUMAN AND ZATANNA ISN’T EVEN IN THE COUNTRY TO HELP!” you yelled back. 

Dick was trying to remain calm as he hadn’t seen one of the criminals approaching him. he was too busy charging one that was heading towards you. you; however, had saw them out of the corner of you eye and practically sped to Dick which is what the criminal wanted. 

he wanted you and Dick out of the way in order to get Damian trapped. as you and Dick had passed each other with the notion to save each other, the crook pulled out a gadget that opened up a portal. 

“NIGHTWING!” “( YOUR HERO NAME )!” 

+

the two of you went to grab each other but it was too late. you and Dick had gotten sucked into the portal as you let out a piercing yell. Dick tried grabbing you, hoping that wherever the two of you landed, he would get the hardest impact. 

soon enough, both you and Nightwing collided with the ground. you instantly shot up, preparing to fight whoever was around. Dick had took in the surrounding and whispered that the two of you were safe. 

“where the hell are we?” you asked, trying not to panic, “we need to find another portal back. Damian is on his own!” you fidgeted with your fingers as Dick waved you off. 

“if anything, Damian might be more in his element,” he whispered, “you forget how Damian grew up. I think he’ll be fine. he probably already called Bruce or one of the boys.” you tried to figure out how the hell Dick was so calm about the situation. 

Dick took off his mask as you followed along, “I think are biggest issue might be trying to figure out what year he took us too. I can’t imagine he took us in the past so we might just be in the future,” Dick explained. 

both of you walked down the hill that you had landed on and saw you were in Bludhaven, “I think we’re in your home territory,” you murmured. Dick sighed in relief. he was more relieved that both of you landed in his hometown because had you landed in Gotham, he felt like that would’ve landed you in more trouble with the Bat, “I didn’t think Bludhaven was this ran down,” you told Dick. 

���hey!” he exclaimed, “it isn’t as bad as it looks!” you giggled trying not to catch attention from anyone. the two of you made it down the hill when the realization hit you. Bludhaven had snow falling all over the town and you nor Dick were even mildly dressed in clothes to handle the cold. 

“do you have clothes in your apartment? it’s freezing out here!” you exclaimed. Dick gave you the side eye, “I do but if we landed in the future, my future self might be there. we can run into a store and get clothes there.” 

“and do you have cash? bc if you’re carrying a debit card, that would be really weird to see a transaction from the future,” you replied. Dick took out his wallet and pulled out a crisp 100, “I stand defeated,” you murmured. Dick rolled his eyes as the two of you saw a department store at the corner of the street. 

before you could pull in, you heard someone scream you hero name, “hey! those are sick cosplays!” they said running up to you. you gave him a confused look before realizing, you had to pretend that you weren’t actually yourself, “thanks! it took a lot of work,” you tried to say. 

“I bet. it looks super realistic too! ever since she stopped fighting, it’s been super weird not seeing ( your hero name ) around.” you stood confused, wondering what he meant by that, “oh! you’re supposed to be Nightwing! that’s awesome! do you think I can get a picture!” he asked. 

you looked to Dick who just shrugged and agreed. the two of you smiled for the photo as he scanned it, “thanks! I swear, you look exactly like her too! but clearly that can’t be right since the actual ( your hero name ) is pregnant allegedly!” he said as he turned around to leave. 

“pregnant?” you yelled, holding onto Dick who was laughing hysterically, “it’s not fucking funny! I’m pregnant in whatever year this is!” you yelled. Dick could see the panic in your eyes, “he never said it was actually true. he said it was alleged that you were,” Dick tried to emphasize. 

you walked into the department store, which ended up being a Target, and ran to the women’s section, wanting to get out of your hero costume as soon as possible. once you and Dick grabbed the clothes, he quickly paid for it before the two of you darted to the bathrooms to get dressed. 

you managed to come out faster than Dick as you held onto your costume by hand. with curiosity plaguing your mind, you saw a magazine and looked at the date. 

December 22, 2024.

you sighed in relief. the two of you had only gone three years into the future which was a good thing....right?

“we’re three years into the future,” you told Dick. he nodded as you walked outside, “we can check if future you is actually home and if he’s not, you making some portal to get us back home!” you threatened. 

“at this rate, I would’ve preferred if Damian would’ve been the one to come along,” Dick retorted. you pushed him to street, making him stumble over his feet, “say some snark shit again and see where that gets you,” you told him, “plus, you think I want to get stuck in the future with you? I would have preferred Jason if we’re going to be honest. at least he would’ve been more entertaining to be around.” 

Dick remained quiet, not knowing how to respond. 

the two of you had a weird relationship with each other. at times, the two of you got along, to the point where some thought the two of you were together while other times, you practically hated his guts. no one knew why the relationship was this way but his heart felt a pang as you confessed that you would have rather been here with Jason than him. 

“way to kill a mood,” Dick said. you rolled your eyes, “you literally just said you’d rather be with Damian! don’t blame me for this shit. plus, if it wasn’t Damian, I’m sure you would wanted Starfire next,” you added on. 

Dick looked at you stunned, “what makes you say that?” he asked. you rolled your eyes, “please, it’s not hard to tell that you and Star have a thing for each other,” you said, this time more quietly than before. Dick didn’t know how to respond but quickly for him, he didn’t have to. the two of you had arrived to where lived or at least hope he still lived there. 

the house wasn’t big, not in the slightest; however, it was big enough for him on his own. the two of you looked inside of the window and saw that someone was facing their back towards it. 

“whose that?” you asked Dick. he shrugged, half of him annoyed at you and the other half not knowing who it actually was. the two of you remained looking at the person, hoping they turned around so you could get a look, “it looks like you if I’m going to be honest,” Dick replied. 

you sighed, “I don’t think it is but sure,” your statement was quickly taken back as the person finally turned around. it was in fact you...fully pregnant and opening up the window. you let out a piercing scream as Dick quickly covered your mouth, trying not to get caught. 

“can you shut the hell up?” he whisper screamed, “you’re going to get us caught!” he continued. you took his hand off your mouth, “do that shit again and you’ll be dead before you can even see your future self,” you threatened, “plus! that’s me! pregnant as fuck!” 

Dick tried not to laugh at your last statement but couldn’t, “if you’re pregnant, I wonder whose kid it is and why the hell you’re even at my place,” he wondered, “it’s probably yours,” you joked, making the both of you laugh quietly. 

you remained looking through the window, watching as you stood up and got different things from a box. you were whispered things you couldn’t exactly heart but one thing you did notice was the huge ring on your left finger. 

you whipped your head to look at Dick as his eyes widened. his future self had walked into the living room, giving you a peck on the cheek before bending down and kissing your stomach, “hey bubba! treating your creator well?” he asked. 

both you and Dick looked at each other speechless as you put two and two together. you were pregnant....with Dick’s child, “you better because your mom might kill me if you’re giving her a hard time,” he joked before placing a kiss on your lips, “we should eat before John gets hungry and your dad thinks we ditched out on the plans,” you mentioned. 

“John?” you whispered to yourself, wondering why the hell you named your future kid John, “John was my fathers name, you know, before he passed,” Dick confessed. your eyes widened, “oh, is it?” you murmured back, not knowing what to say. 

the two of you walked closer the door as you noticed your belly again. it was bigger than you realized as Dick had to help you down the stairs. you watched yourself get into Dick’s are as you were struggling to put the belt around you. eventually, Dick drove away and left the two of you alone again. 

the air was thick with silence as you had no idea what to say, “parents huh?” Dick asked with a chuckle of nervousness, “yup....and you’re the dad,” you added on. Dick nodded as you sat on the curb with your hands on your knees, “and you’re the mom,” he replied. 

you let out a laugh of disbelief as you couldn’t make up anything to say, “crazy right? I think we’re married too,” you finally looked at Dick as he stared at you, almost lovingly, “is there an issue with that?” he asked as seriously as possible. you shook your head no, “nope. just weird that we were the ones that ended up married and having kids together,” you said. 

Dick slowly grabbed your hand and held it softly. 

“I mean it could be weirder...it could have been Jason or Tim,” he said out loud. you shrugged, “I mean, that would have weird too,” you played with Dick’s fingers and bit your lip, “I guess we should try and find our way back? we wouldn’t want to change the future,” you gave Dick a hopeful look. 

he nodded as he helped you up but without hesitation, he pulled you in for a searing kiss, “I’ve been meaning to do that for a while now,” he whispered as he put his hand on your cheek and caressed it softly with his thumb. 

a few seconds later, both of you saw a portal opening with Damian screeching from the other side of it, “COME ON YOU BUNCH OF IDIOTS!” he yelled dramatically. you laughed, looking to Dick, “you heard the boy, let’s get the future started,” Dick nodded grabbing your hand and stepping into the portal. 

[starry-bi-sky]

This DOES make my clone brain go brrrrr. The Graysons and the Fentons being distantly related is SO funny to me because the entire time I was writing this au I was literally just thinking "Every Damian needs a Dick Grayson" and thinking about how I made bby Damian and Danny like, parallels to Dick and Damian the entire time.

It's ALSO so funny to me because i'm just picturing Tim and Bruce getting back to the cave, and while Bruce is informing the family about "hey, so apparently there's a DAMIAN clone running around", Tim is doing a deep dive google search into the Fenton Family and while he's looking over their family tree (bc of course he does, he's gotta touch all bases and the Danny guy looked similar enough to Dick that he had to do a double-take) he finds the branch that leads out to the Grayson family. And i'm just picturing the conversation going something as followed:

Tim: holy shit, Dick Dick: what? why am I being swore at? Tim: come see this! The family that clone Damian is staying with is related to your family! Dick: what!?

and that relation could be a very good opportunity and excuse for the wayne family to get acquainted with the fentons. Dick could use an excuse that he was just trying that new trend of doing a DNA test and seeing who the extended family was, and the Fentons were just close enough relatives that he wanted to introduce himself.

(he shows up at the door one morning and it doesnt matter which fenton kid answers the door, its gonna get slammed back into his face upon sighting of him. I like to imagine its Jazz)

(...and then the door is promptly reopened a few minutes later after a very quick, not-that-quiet, back-and-forth from the other side.)

And oh yeah! Good (or at least neutral) Fenton parents was what I had in mind for the au, at least as a base form. Also because, like, imo it didn't matter to me how neglectful the Fenton couple could be, there was no way they weren't gonna notice the tiny, angry child trying to escape their house all the time. Plus, bby Damian still needed to eat and use the bathroom. Danny didn't keep him secret for too long, and the Fenton parents are eccentric enough that I think they would've accepted him into the family. Of course, prompting that Danny explained himself first.

The identity shenanigans though?? Incredible. Hilarious. 10/10 for scooby-doo "being chased by the bad guy through multiple different rooms in a single hallway" levels of tomfoolery. Jazz and the Parents are side eyeing each other HARD just silently going "do YOU know? do you know I know? do you know that I know that you know?" it's ridiculous, its hilarious. Baby Damian is oblivious to it on multiple different accounts of 1) not knowing english (but is currently learning) 2) already knowing that Danny is Phantom on account of being thats how they met and 3) having more things to be worried about

And also the Fenton parents figuring out that Danny is Phantom only after they become aware of Damian's existence because Damian holds up a tubberware container full of jellied ectoplasm and calls it "laeazir" to them one day, and then they later see him calling Danny "laeazir", multiple times, and they connect the dots that way. Because why on earth is this small child calling their son ectoplasm?

(cue that earth shattering realization and a really panicked late night conversation about wtf to do now because their son was half-dead and the very ghost they'd very publicly scorned and threatened.)

You hit the nail on the head btw with the Bruce thing! Like, those were the main 3 big things I'd thought of for him to do for the au. I think he'd really most likely consider that the LoA were doing the long con, and then find out later through careful investigation that Damian was an escaped clone making a life for himself. And I think he'd be really confused about it, because like, the LoA could've sent anyone to do a long con into the Fenton Family and through different means, but instead they used a Damian clone to act as an adoptive son? Like first off and importantly: why the damian clone, he would've thought Ras would have different plans for him, and second off: why an adopted son? Why was that the final option, and how? Adoption had to be a personal choice the Fentons made, it couldn't be influenced from outside factors. He'd have a lot of questions and after a bunch of investigation would he end up with the answer: there was no long con, bby damian escaped and made a new life for himself.

The fatherhood inadequency part is perfect, i have no additional thoughts. Its perfect.

Dani/Ellie not appearing was kinda accidental LMAO. Literally the entire time I was writing I was thinking that there should be a part dedicated to when Danny introduces Ellie and Damian, I just couldn't find a part where I thought fit lmaooo. The quad-spiderman meme is so hilarious though, and it also brings up SO many questions about Danny that 'being a Fenton' couldn't answer (if they don't know he's phantom) and that is: why the fuck were you cloned???

Speaking of that eventual meet up, I keep picturing the first time Danny and Damian visit the Waynes after the Wayne Family find a plausible way to become aware of bby Damian's existence without revealing their vigilante status. Like, first off, Danny is being so protective over his lil Dami, the first thing he says to Bruce Wayne is;

"we're not giving up custody."

because ofc his first thought would be "bruce wayne may want lil damian in his own family. there's not a chance in hell that's happening." so its the very first thing he makes known is that, no, Bruce Wayne may not take in his little brother. he doesn't care that they're biologically related, he has the legal adoption papers and if this goes to court he'll abso-fucking-lutely enlist the help of Vlad to take him down.

(Vlad Master's favorite pastime other than harassing the Fentons is taking down other rich ceos. It's like the hunger games for this man without the actual murder or dystopian-dictatorian society to go with it. Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne are on his battleships sink list.)

OG Damian in this au is around like, 13, in my head, because that seems like a reasonable age for him to not murder clone damian on sight but also having him still be a grouch. His brothers try and encourage him to get along with his little mini me while Danny is talking to Bruce and they both awkwardly stare at each other for like, at least five or ten minutes before og Damian says something.

(what gets them to start bonding is through sparring via swords. bby Dami loves Danny he does, but Danny doesn't know jack shit about the sword and bby Dami wants to use his sword again. They do have this little thing going on though where while they're doing some actual hand-to-hand sparring where Danny quizzes Damian on his english, and then eventually they'll swap and Damian will quiz Danny on his arabic.)

i also firmly believe that baby Damian knows that Bruce and his family are vigilantes, and if they jeopardize his spot in the Fenton family and try and take him away he will tattletale on them to Danny. And Danny would no holds barred show up in the cave or the watchtower and threaten Bruce six ways to sunday.

i have many thoughts about danny and damian's time in wayne manor and how they interact in front of the wayne family but this is already long as fuck so i'll cut it now.

I saw a post a few months ago (and damn was it really months? In PLURAL?) that was a cracky dpxdc au where the LOS were making Damian clones but the clones kept getting snatched by ghost portals and dropped into Danny’s lap and Danny just goes “ok ig this is my life now” and takes care of each one until he has his own mini army of Damian Clones.

And I remembered it a few days ago, and now I've been thinking about it again. Because I love clone aus (see: clone danny au, the 'danny is thomas wayne' au) because it itches the part of my mind that loves exploring personhood and the exploration of identity and what it means to be clone.

(What do you do when nothing about you is unique? When your face, your eyes, your hands, your hair, your voice, all the way down to your heart, all belong to someone else?)

(When it comes to nature vs nurture what of you came from your environment and your experiences, and what of you was already programmed into you from the DNA that made you?)

(What do you do to make it unique? What do you do to make you unique?)

And if I could remember who made that post I'd @ them right now because it was their original post that inspired this, but I'm just thinking of if the au only had One Singular Damian clone that fell into Danny's life.

(a read more because im apparently incapable of making posts that are less than 1k words...)

One Damian who knew he was a clone and knew that he was to either bring the original back to base or kill him to take his place, who was being trained the same way but kept getting compared to his original over and over again. Like an older sibling who you can never match up to. Who is still a child who craves adult affection and validation and praise, and can't get it because nothing about him is original.

One Damian who, at six years old, in a twist of fate is sucked through a swirling portal and lands in Amity Park, directly on top of, in front of, or in line of sight of one Daniel Fenton, half-ghost extraordinaire and local hero.

What happens next?

Well, for one, Danny recognizes him immediately. He would recognize the face of Damian Wayne anywhere because his best friend was ranting about him all week about Damian Wayne's environmental stuff he does.

And for two, he would recognize that the Damian Wayne in front of him was not Damian Wayne. Because Damian Wayne was a teenager. And the Damian Wayne in front of him is a child. Six years old.

Getting this not-Damian but also-Damian to go along with Danny is not, not an easy task. The tiny Damian is aggressive, regal, and at this point in time, six years old, barely understanding english. He also has a sword.

It takes all day and a google translator to get this Tiny Damian to finally agree to go home with Danny. It's a miracle. Seriously. A tried and true miracle. And its also only when Danny has to fight a ghost does he finally agree, saying something in arabic that Danny doesn't understand.

Danny flies them both home, carrying Tiny Damian like a koala. The ensuing conversation in his room is not any better. It is tiring, long, and exhausting. Tiny Damian is six years old, and every single thing he says when Danny asks where he came from is met with a poorly translated "that's classified".

Danny keeps an eye on the news. There are no reports of Damian Wayne going missing, in fact he's been rather public. Bruce Wayne is not one to lie about his children going missing, and Damian's secretive behavior and young age draws Danny to one conclusion: Damian is a clone.

He doesn't know why Damian Wayne is being cloned. Frankly he doesn't really wanna know, because whatever organization that did it doesn't seem too pure-of-heart if tiny-Damian's immediate attempt of murder when they first met is of any indication. But he's too busy taking care of his city, that he doesn't have time to deal with whatever shady business Tiny-Damian was produced from.

In the end though, he decides that this Tiny-Damian is not going back to whatever place he came from. Tiny Damian disagrees. It is a long, nebulous problem of Damian trying to run away, Danny catching him, and Danny pulling him back home.

In that time, Danny downloads a language app and starts learning Arabic so that they can talk to each other properly. Damian slowly, slowly, starts picking up English.

In that time, Danny also has to inform his friends and his sister about Damian. Tiny Damian is not a fan of this. That is another argument they have. Tiny Damian does not like Sam or Tucker for a long, long while. He only really "listens" to Danny, citing something in arabic that Danny still cannot understand, but has a repeated use of the word "lieazir". It's the only word that Danny can catch in a sentence immediately, because its what little Damian calls Danny.

Tiny Damian, in that front, is very interested in Danny's powers and in his parents work. He finds tubberware of ectoplasm in the fridge once while they're down in the kitchen and calls it something with the word lieazir in it. The other word is something that Danny later learns means water in arabic.

It makes him feel even more uneasy of whatever place little Damian came from.

It takes weeks for little Damian to finally give up on escaping, and then a few weeks more for him to almost entirely lose his spunk. Danny isn't sure what started it. It was as if he'd been flipped with an off-switch.

(Damian had been so confident that the League would go looking for him after his disappearance. He was wrong, and he is crushed. He is still a child, alone, in a country very big and very busy, where nobody understands what he's saying. He feels powerless, helpless.)

(The lazarus boy who calls himself Danyal is nice to him in a way the league has never been, and he's making an effort to learn Damian's language. But he leaves for hours at a time and Damian doesn't have much else to do but wait in this house for him to come back.)

(He tried leaving, many many times, but he doesn't understand the street signs, the roads, the people. He doesn't know where he is, and he feels scared in a way that he's not felt in the League. Danny finds him every single time, hours later when Damian is lost somewhere in Amity Park)

(And he never yells at him. Never. The first time this happens, Damian puffs himself up and prepares himself for this strange lazarus boy to yell at him. Damian feels like he's tripped on the last step of the stairs when Danyal doesn't yell at him.)

(He can tell he's frustrated by the tone of his voice, but when Danyal lays eyes on him he just looks relieved. He gets scolded on the flight home, but Damian doesn't understand any of it other than Danyal just sounds worried. Not angry. He gets a proper scolding once they get back, with Danyal typing into the google translator and playing it for Damian to hear.)

(This happens every single time until Damian finally agrees to stop running away.)

It's with Jazz's help that Danny finally realizes that Damian was depressed. It's with her help again that Danny tries helping with it. It's like trying to get a stray cat to trust him. And with everything else they've done, it takes a long time.

And it is so, so worth it when it all works out.

Tiny Damian doesn't really like Sam, or Tucker, but he likes Danny. And he finally starts calling him his name. His full name, but his name nonetheless. Danny doesn't bother correcting him. He's not looking a gift horse in the mouth. And it's endearing hearing Damian call him Danyal.

Damian in this time, also begins to take more initiative into learning English. And they teach each other words they know. Danny buys flash cards and writes the english alphabet on them, and then finds a book on arabic to teach himself and Damian. Sam and Tucker and Jazz start learning as well.

And then when Danny knows enough arabic and Damian knows enough english, and Damian trusts Danny, Damian tells him he's a clone. It's a quiet moment, late at night when Danny takes Damian up to the ops center to look at what stars they could see through the light pollution.

It'd be very easy for Danny to tell him, "I know. I could tell from the start.". He doesn't, it's not the time nor the place, and Danny's matured enough to know when to open his mouth and when to keep it shut. He lets Damian, almost seven now, tell him that he's a clone of Damian Wayne. Lets him tell him why he was made, what his purpose was.

(Danny will need a minute later to process the fact that Damian Wayne originally came from some kind of... assassin league with an obsession with immortality. But he's focused on Damian.)

In the end, he puts an arm around Damian Wayne's clone and pulls him into his side. Thanks him for trusting him, it must've been hard to tell him, that he's brave for being able to. And if he wants to, they can find a way to get into contact with the Waynes and let Wayne know about him.

Damian hides his face in Danny's ribs and holds him tight, and tells him he doesn't want to. Danny leaves it at that.

Perhaps it would be more morally ethical to alert Damian Wayne that there was a clone of him running around, that his... uh, grandfather was making clones of him. Hell, Danny would have liked it. But little Damian has asked him not to say anything, and little Damian needs someone to rely on; someone he can trust.

And in the end, its not that hard of a decision to make. Danny knows little Damian more than he knows Damian Wayne, and while Danny likes to think he's a good person, he knows he's not a great one. Nor a perfect one. He cares more about someone he knows than someone he doesn't.

If Sam tries to argue with him about it, then Danny will just double down. If Damian doesn't want to tell Wayne about his existence, then it's not their place to say otherwise.

There's a lot more to talk about over Damian's cloning, like what he wants to do moving forward. But that's a long conversation not meant to be one taken late at night. Little Damian is falling asleep at his side, seemingly much more relaxed than he did before, and Danny wasn't gonna ruin that.

And later he's right, it is a long conversation, and a slow one. Talking with Jazz about it helps him figure out what to do moving forward, and their best bet is to let Damian figure out what he wants to do. So he sits Damian down at the dinner table the next morning and tells him before breakfast that he doesn't need to be Damian Wayne.

He doesn't need to learn all the same things Damian Wayne did. He doesn't need to do anything that Damian Wayne does. And little Damian is seven, and he's smart, but Danny still has to word it in a way that's not too complex for him to realize.

And in the end, what he says essentially boils down to "You are not Damian Wayne, you are just you. Don't be anyone else but you." and it'll take more time to drill that into his mind when all he's ever heard and learned from is that he was a copy of Damian Wayne, and he must act like Damian Wayne. But it'll happen.

It's a hard task when Danny's the only person Damian really trusts and he can't be by his side all the time, but he starts to warm up to the rest of Danny's family. The Fenton parents know of him, it's hard to keep a six year old child a secret for as long as Danny did without eventually having to come clean about it. His parents, much to Danny's relief, are very welcoming to Damian.

Damian figures out what he likes. Slowly. He's six years old, almost seven, and nobody expects of him to figure out who he is immediately. No child knows who they are right off the bat. So like any child he begins to explore. His english is better but still rough, and he struggles to read said language, but the Fenton family are happy to help even if Damian learns words that no normal seven year old does. (Many of them scientific.)

Damian realizes he likes stars, even if said interest is influenced by the association to Danny. Danny is all too delighted to tell him all about them, and in the process takes him flying out somewhere where the light pollution doesn't reach and showing him where constellations are.

Damian is six-almost-seven, so he doesn't find all of them, but Danny helps him figure out the easier ones. He tells him the scientific facts behind them, and then tells him about the mythos of the constellations. Later on they make their own constellations and make up stories about what they are.

(Damian adores Danny out of anyone else in the Fenton Family. The name Danyal turns to Dany. If anyone asks, Daniel Fenton is Damian's big brother.)

(He still refers to Jazz as Jazmine, and Danny's parents as Mrs. and Mr. Fenton.)

He realizes that, like his original, he loves animals, and he becomes vegetarian too. Sam is smug and Tucker is disappointed, but Damian doesn't super care about their opinions. ...he's getting better at liking them, even if he thinks Manson is a bit snobby and Foley is too much at times.

Its inevitable that the conversation of school comes into play. Damian can't stay home all day and he needs proper schooling. So after a long talk with Damian, they agree to send him to elementary school.

...And before they can do that the Fenton Family goes through with legally adopting Damian into the family as Damian Fenton. It takes convincing to get the administration to enroll him into the first grade without a proper schooling background.

(On his adoption form, Damian asks to change his birthday to the day he met Danny. Perhaps its not the most responsible thing to agree to, but Danny wants Damian to find himself. And its not like they know when his actual birthday was.)

And despite where he learned it from, Damian quite likes sparring. And he quite likes sparring with Danny in particular. Danny makes it fun, something that was foreign in his old league training, and Danny never hurts him. It's a lot like roughhousing.

Danny tells Damian how he got his powers, and how his parents don't know. Damian wakes up late at night to Danny sneaking out of the room (their house is not big enough to give Damian an individual room, and Danny agreed to share his) to go fight ghosts.

It's upsetting. Damian knows that Danny gets injured in those fights, even if Danny never comes home until after those injuries have been fixed up. He wants to help, and he voices it, and Danny shoots him down.

It becomes an argument, something that has happened less and less over the months.

Damian is experienced.

Damian is a child.

Damian knows how to fight.

Damian is mortal and fragile. He is a tiny, squishy human boy and the people Danny fights are ghosts who are near-indestructible. Who are intimately acquainted with death but also do not remember that humans are capable of it. Especially when they're fighting.

Damian says that Batman's rogues are capable of the same thing, that he lets his Robins help him fight.

And Danny says he is not Batman and he will not allow Damian to fight ghosts with him. Those ghosts will kill him and it will hurt. Dying hurts in a way that is terrifying and unimaginable and he will not risk Damian experiencing it. Not even Sam and Tucker help him in his fights most of the time, they are not able to. Not in the way Danny can.

Damian doesn't talk to him all day the following morning, but Danny does not budge on his decision. Damian tries to follow him out the next night, and Danny catches him and takes him back. Over, and over, and over again.

Until finally he gets intercepted by Skulker while taking Damian back home and is forced to fight him in front of Damian. (If it had been his choice, he would not have let Damian see it at all.)

It's not pretty. Skulker has new weapons, weapons that hurt, a lot. Danny is stuck between trying to take him down and trying to protect Damian from Skulker's attacks at him and from all the debris being created from the fight. It's with Damian's quick thinking and fast feet that finally helps Danny take Skulker out. But Danny is badly injured in the aftermath.

He doesn't have time to take Damian home and get medical attention. So he takes Damian with him to wherever he has his supplies stashed. He doesn't call Sam or Tucker or Jazz, and has to stitch himself up alone, with Damian watching.

Damian is quiet the entire time, he feels awful. Danny's not mad at him -- well, he is. But not because he had to protect him. He's just tired, and a little disappointed in him. Damian doesn't sneak out again. But he still feels helpless.

Danny tells him that that is why he doesn't want Damian to help him. Ghosts, his ghosts, are hard to fight. They are powerful, and his 'rogues' are mean. They will not care that Damian is a mortal child, if he picks a fight with them, they will fight back. And Damian is not immune to certain ghost powers like Danny is.

Damian is silent. He wants to help. But Danny is right: he is a squishy, mortal, living child. There is not much he can do to help Danny. Not without any gear to do it. Not without any powers to do it. He wants to help. He cannot.

Damian, almost-seven-years old, begins to cry. It is the last thing Danny was expecting, and for a moment he is at a loss of what to do.

Damian reaches for him -- in the Fenton family, physical affection is expected. Damian is getting used to it, but Danny is the only one he likes touching him -- and then stops, cringing away like he only just remembered that Danny was hurt.

He only cries harder.

Danny meets him halfway and pulls him into his arms, situating Damian between his knees from where he's sitting. Through his tears, Damian says he wants to help. He wants to help. He doesn't want Danny to get hurt anymore. He doesn't want Danny to fight ghosts alone anymore. He's scared that Danny will stop coming back.

Danny doesn't have anything to say to reassure him. Can't say anything to reassure him. It'll all just be lies. He's not going to stop fighting ghosts, he can't. He's not going to stop getting hurt, he can't. He's not going to bring Damian with him, he can't. He'd never be able to live with himself.

"I'll always come back." He says though, because that is something he can promise. Whether dead or alive, he'll come back.

When the tears finally stop, Damian doesn't say anything again. He sniffles, and presses his ear to Danny's chest, listening to the steady, slow heartbeat. If he puts his ear to his sternum and strains his ear, Damian would almost hear the low hum of Danny's ghost core, like a small dwarf sun.

"If you die, I'll drag you to the Lazarus pools myself." Damian mumbles eventually, his voice sleep-full. It's spoken in arabic, and Danny only understands half of it.

He laughs quietly, and smoothes his hand over Damian's hair. He hasn't had a haircut since he arrived, it's gotten long and there are curls beginning to form. "Okay."

Damian falls asleep shortly after, and with much consideration to his own injuries and Damian's sleeping form, Danny flies them back home.

It's hard to say, but not much changes in routine afterwards. Damian hovers close to Danny, more than usual. Danny still goes out at night, he still stitches himself up before going back, he still goes back home where Damian is waiting worriedly for him. Damian doesn't like falling asleep without knowing Danny is there.

Now the hard question is: when does little Damian finally meet the Waynes for the first time? There's plenty of ways to go about it, both easy and hard. Perhaps we go this way:

The Fenton family are visiting Maddie's sister in Arkansas. And Damian is dragging Danny around through the surrounding forest. It's his first time being in a forest this large since he moved in with the Fentons. Safe to say he is delighted by all of the nature, and he's dragging Danny along with him.

Danny likes the peace and quiet it gives him, he's found that he enjoys the rural area more than he likes the city. He's happy to let Damian point out every plant he recognizes, even if some of it is in arabic.

They walk around all day until Damian gets tired, and then at night when the sky is clear Danny and him go look at the stars. It's peaceful at first.

On the third day of their visit, Damian drags Danny out far from the house. It's slightly worrying, but Danny can always fly them back if it gets too late.

It's in the woods that Danny and Damian stray much too far from Alicia's house, and from there in the early evening that they run into Batman and Red Robin, both of them in rough 'just got out of a fight' shape.

Safe to say, it was the last thing any of them expected to run into. Damian and Danny had stopped at a small crik to rest, and the two vigilantes came through the tree line on the other side.

It was... quite the staring contest.

Damian, now seven years old at this point, forgot to mention that the Waynes were vigilantes when he told Danny he was a clone. But he was told that Batman was his original's father.

Before anyone can say anything, little Damian wraps his arms tight around Danny's middle and stares Batman and Red Robin down. His sharp edges have softened around the Fentons. But he makes no exceptions to anyone else outside of Danny's immediate social circle.

Danny's arm automatically goes around Damian's shoulders, and he looks between both Red and Batman uneasily. If they were here then it meant that there was something unsafe nearby. Danny did not fight the living, and he wasn't going to put Damian in the crosshairs of anything that does.

"Should... should we leave?" He asks, brows knotted together with a frown. He stands. "Is there something going on nearby?"

Batman suddenly grunts, and looks at him. "It's been handled." He says, and his voice is gruffer than Danny imagined it. Lower. Danny is not all that comfortable with that answer.

"Do you guys live nearby?" Red Robin asks, and Danny can't help but notice that he keeps looking at Damian. Warily. In fact, so is Batman.

He pushes Damian behind him slightly, and Damian's grip tightens on him. "Not... exactly." He says, his eyes narrowing slightly. "My family's visiting my Aunt and my brother wanted to explore since it's his first time out of the city, I guess we wandered too far away if we're running into you."

There's no visible indication of whether or not both Bats reacted to him calling Damian his brother. But he can all but feel little Damian preen at the title, it makes Danny's mouth twitch into a smile as his hand finds Damian's hair.

"Would we be able to go back with you?" Red Robin asks, startling both Danny and seemingly Batman, who looks at him instantly.

"Red Robin." He growls out, and Red Robin throws Batman a look of annoyance.

"We are lost, B. They jammed the comms and our trackers back there and it hasn't come back on yet, his aunt may have the signal we need to let the others know where we are."

They end up walking back with Danny and Damian. It's silent, and awkward, and Danny has Damian walking on his opposite side so he's not near the vigilantes. Red Robin is fiddling with a phone but still can't get a signal.

Batman is silently brooding.

Red eventually gives up and shoves the phone into a pocket on his belt, then turns to make conversation with Danny. "I never thanked you for letting us walk with you. Thanks, by the way."

Danny blinks at him, and smiles awkwardly. "No problem, man," he says, "I'm uh, Danny." He glances down at Damian, who looks up at him with big green eyes, and Damian nods quietly.

He looks back at Red Robin, and says, "This is my little brother, Damian." And Damian peers over his side and glares at Red Robin -- and Batman, who looks over when Danny says his name.

"He looks like Damian Wayne," Red Robin notes, head tilting like he's inspecting him.

Danny huffs dryly, "We get that a lot."

Red Robin smiles at him, its a tilted thing. It makes Danny uneasy. "Where did you say you were from?"

"I didn't," Danny says bluntly, and he really doesn't want to tell them where he's from. Not when Red Robin was acting strange, but they're vigilantes and notorious for their detective skills. If he's suspicious, they'll look into him. "But I'm from Amity Park."

Damian in that moment, peers around Danny again and scowls at Red Robin. Full on scowls at him, as if it were the first months when he met Danny. "You're being nosy." He sneers, his hand squeezing Danny's.

"Damian," Danny hisses, suppressing a smile. Damian jumps like he's been startled, and looks up at him with big green eyes. "He's just being curious."

(He lets his smile slip through briefly, just to let Damian know he's not that upset. A tension leaves his little brother's shoulders.)

"But he is." Damian continues, a whine leaking into his voice. Danny jabs him in the ribs with his fingers, and Damian jumps, swatting away his hand with a squeak.

"Would you rather have us walk in dead silence, Dames?" He goes for Damian's ribs again, a grin stretching across his face as Damian jumps back again and swats his hand. "Hm? Hm? We could just walk in awkward silence for the entire trip back, I know you just love awkward silence, little brother."

(It's funny, saying little brother always sounds so uncomfortable when he reads it in books and watches it on tv. But Jazz always makes it sound so natural when she does it, and Danny finds that he sounds the same too.)

Damian continues to bat away his hands, but it's not enough to prevent him from squealing with laughter when Danny gets a good hold on him and starts tickling him. Danny's grin only gets bigger, and he swoops Damian up with his arm and holds him like a football.

"Is that it? Huh? Me, you, and two vigilantes walking back to Aunt Alicia's cabin in complete, utter silence." He says, "You won't get to hear any of my amazing jokes."

Damian's wriggling, trying to pound on Danny's ribs, he's giggling uncontrollably. It's the best sound Danny's ever heard. "Your jokes are awful! Laeazir! Put me down!" He cries, grinning from ear to ear.

(From the side, both Red Robin and Batman tense up.)

Danny chuckles, and through a short series of flips, has Damian sitting on his shoulders. "I will not. You're sitting up in air jail for insulting my hilarious jokes."

Damian tugs on his hair in revenge, harrumphing at him but making no move to get down. Danny squeezes his ankles playfully, and looks back to Batman and Red Robin.

Both vigilantes look at him like he's grown a second head.

....Red Robin looks at him like he's grown a second head. Batman just stares, and then looks away. Danny tilts his head at them, his smile waning. "You guys look like you've seen a ghost or something."

(Damian tugs on his hair again. A silent boo at him.)

Red Robin jerks, "Oh, sorry." He says, not sounding all that sorry. "It's just... I've lost count to how many times I've saved Damian Wayne from the occasional kidnapping and he's always been very... serious. It's just weird seeing a kid that looks like him be... not serious."

From his shoulders he feels Damian hide his smile in his hair, that's another thing they can put on their "Things That Damian Does That Damian Wayne Does Not" list. It started as a joke, but it's been surprisingly helpful for when Damian is questioning himself.

However, Danny is not a fan of the comparison, and he smiles widely, perhaps a tad passive-aggressive. "It's a good thing that my Damian isn't Damian Wayne then." He says, giving him the slight stink eye.

Red Robin picks up on it quickly, and nods.

The rest of the way is spent in idle conversation. It's oddly casual, even if most of the conversation is Danny talking about himself. It's annoying, but he unfortunately understands the reason. Secret identities and all that.

Damian interjects a few times, some parts to talk to Danny, and other parts to throw shade at Batman and Red Robin. Mostly Red Robin, who seems begrudgingly used to it.

("I'm surprised you haven't asked me much about myself." Red Robin says at one point into the conversation. Over his shoulder Batman glares at Red Robin. "A lot of civilians do when they're able."

Danny stares at him. "You're a vigilante." He says, frowning, "Isn't it superhero 101 that you don't ask superheroes for their secret identity?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Huh. Well, no. I'm not gonna ask you about yourself. I quite like talking all about me.")

When they finally reach the cabin, it's late into the night and Danny has moved Damian from his shoulders to his front in a koala-like carry. Damian's fast asleep with his head on Danny's shoulder.

His family was also frantically searching for him, and Jazz sees him first. She immediately turns behind her and yells "I FOUND HIM!". And then sprints over to him, his parents thundering not too far behind.

Both vigilantes are subsequently ignored as Jazz dotes over him and Danny, and soon enough so is his mom and dad. They're all talking all at once, asking him where he was, they were worried sick, did he know how late it was.

He shushes all of them, loudly. And whispers that Damian is sleeping. His family then immediately quiet themselves, and go back to yelling at him in a more appropriate manner.

"Me and Damian walked too far by accident." Danny finally says when he can get a word in, and then he jabs his thumb in Red Robin and Batman's direction. "We also found two superheroes who need assistance."

The speed of which his family all snap their heads over to the direction he's pointing is almost comical. As is all of their expressions of shock.

His mother is the first to regain her senses, and she sighs at him. She sighs! "Only you, Danny." She says, and Jazz snorts into her arm.

[perperam]

OKAY I saw your Instagram post things and I just want to know what are your headcanons for that universe?? Is there any specific AU you imagine the Instagram AUs happening in or do you have specific rules for your own ideal version or

somehow, surprisingly, you're not the only one to ask this !!

okay so funny story at first I literally just drew the instagram things bc I thought yeah harley would be so loved by all of internet generation gen z college kids (as an internet gen z recently graduated undergrad myself)

but then as I made the posts more and more intricate with the comments and stuff it kinda...grew into something bigger? like they actually have a particular AU for them now!! so that's fun

here's what I'm thinkin I want in my social media AU:

world building wise:

neither of them are really "heroes" but they aren't outright supervillains either—like they're anti-heroes that dont give a shit about corporate & capitalist culture

aka they can, have, and will continue to steal from big market names and threaten CEOs, but will also pool money to pay small business and support local folks

much like the vibes of the harley quinn animated series, harley and the rest are literally Just People and go to coffee shops and just hang out in public (the fuck is GCPD gonna do for them drinking coffee, send em to Arkham??)

this makes them really well liked by Gotham's general public

also because ivy has and will kill rapists and bad men on sight and harley has on more than one occasion been linked to crimes where abusers have mysteriously turned up dead or beat to a pulp with a blunt object suspiciously shaped like a bat or sledgehammer

there's this specific tattoo shop harley really likes that she goes to whenever she wants a new piece done, and because of her instagram they've become the most popular place in Gotham, in fact if you go there on any given day you have a 25% chance of seeing harley

also I wasn't kidding when I said harley really would have her own psychiatry clinic and continue to treat people (mostly college kids and criminals) for free because harley says fuck the US health care system and helping others would be really fulfilling to her

harley advertising on her instagram story: hey yall I'll be having a trauma processing session tonight at my clinic please stop by if you want to make an appointment or listen to my lecture

oh also harley has a podcast and the episodes vary from "workout routine" to "breaking the glass ceiling of female supervillains and the male gaze in crime" to "why stealing is sometimes okay" to "studying for the mcat and quick tips" to "perhaps marx was right" to random tangents that go on and on and on

pam on the other hand is not only a feared ex-supervillain but now a revered member of Gotham's city-revitalization planning committee

in between heists for rare floral specimen she plans climate protests and tree-planting events and in general does her damn best to try and bring some sort of green to Gotham in a "legal fashion" (a news source once said this and ivy almost killed the news anchor on the fucking spot from how much rage pumped through her veins in that moment)

characters & dynamics wise:

harley and ivy have been living together and literally married for like, a year now by this point

selina is over so often she might as well be living at their apartment

the gotham city sirens and the batkids are besties!! as they should be (this used to stress bruce out to no end but after the third family dinner dick planned with "aunty harls and pam" he had to eventually give up)

in fact jason and harley often get involved in stupid shenanigans and dick is almost always there with them and literal seconds from being implicated in their scheme somehow

jason is often at harley and ivy’s apartment and can greatly relate to harley in many different ways (from growing up in a crime riddled neighborhood to having intense trauma courtesy of the joker and ivy finds it endearing that he trusts harley enough to let people in (and there is a visible, tangible change in him after he starts getting closer to harley, everyone can feel how much happier he becomes)

harley and ivy are 28 and 32 respectively but because ivy literally has the interests and name of a 90 year old everyone just teases her by calling her "grandma pamela"

the batkids refer to them as aunty harley and aunty (sometimes grandma) ivy and ivy fights every time for a different name but just gave up sometime after tim joined in

ivy and tim get along really well, surprisingly

also alfred literally loves pam because she helps the plants in bruce's neglected green house thrive and ivy really enjoys his company because he's on the same wave length as her and "knows when to shut the fuck up and just bask in the quiet unlike literally all other men"

I think I want babs and dinah to be dating bc have you seen their chemistry and dick and kori to be dating bc again have you seen their chemistry but I'm kinda torn and in between and idk

bud and lou are great cuddle bugs and ivy secretly loves it but pretends she hates it to harley's face bc a girl's gotta save some semblance of dignity right

details:

harley has adhd and you can't convince me, someone with adhd, otherwise

harley has both shitty tattoos that she gets for no other reason other than that it's funny or that she hyperfixates on them super hard for half a second and suddenly there's art on her again and ivy's just ?? when she gets home. she also really meaningful tattoos that she has multiple consultations about

she had two ribcage tattoos before the joker, got three tattoos commemorating him during their (highly abusive) relationship which she immediately covered with new ink upon leaving him, and gets a lot of patchwork style tattoos down her arms and thighs

she has a giant flower tattoo going down her entire spine and it's ivy's favorite thing ever

ivy actually also has a (singular) tattoo and it's a diamond with a stem and leaves as if it were a flower

it's still very much a work in progress but since multiple people have asked me about this I thought I'll dump all my thoughts here

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

DOTTIE’S BATFAM FIC RECS

hi!! so, no one asked for this but,,, I wanted to make one anyway! I really love the batfam a lot and I see a lot of ppl in the fandom wishing it was easier to find good fics. this is by no means all of them but they are some of my faves, generally not too fanon-y! all fics are gen/family fluff with little to no ships (which are not bat/cest). 

feel free to message/ask me about triggers if you’re unsure!! and lmk if I forgot to tag anyone ❤️

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Homecoming by Ionaperidot / @iowriteswords on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10966704/chapters/24414906

Summary: “Your son’s grave. It’s been disturbed.” In which people actually notice when Jason breaks out of his grave, and Bruce finds him before Talia does.

My thoughts: Bruce’s voice in this is seriously perfect, plus Dick, Jason, and Tim are great as well!! This fic honestly helps inform me of my Tim characterization!

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The Wound Begins To Bleed by audreycritter / @audreycritter on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13295661

Summary: Now that Tim’s moved back to the manor, he just wants a few afternoons a week without Damian around. Funny how getting that was the catalyst for him becoming a better big brother.

My Thoughts: it makes me emotional okay it GETS me right in my HEART!!! both Dami and Tim are so so so good I can’t rec this enough

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just hold a smile by RecklessWriter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22777705

Summary: That's the thing about smiles, Dick thinks. If you flash the right one, no one knows there's something more going on inside. Five times Dick faked a smile and one time someone saw through it.

My Thoughts: Dick & others, including Tim and Cass. Dick is really good at hiding his feelings from others, and I love how in this fic, a lot of times, he’s hiding them to “protect” whoever it is

(more under the cut!)

life, if well lived by CaptainOzone

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18378512

Summary: Jason wakes up from a time-travel mishap to find Thomas and Martha Wayne hovering over him. Just another day in the life, right? ...Not quite.

My Thoughts: this one had me crying like a baby!!! the characterization is great and I love CO’s Thomas and Martha

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one shot, two shots in the night by discowing / @dykewing on tumblr, @/wlwdiscowing on twitter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18871864/chapters/44792710

Summary: The New York Times ✓ @nytimes · 4h

“A Shot in the Dark” remains on our bestseller list for the fourth week in a row! Read our review of @brucewayne’s tell-all memoir here: nyti.ms/3Fs9k2E

My Thoughts: TALK ABT MAKING ME CRY. this gets me every time, and it’s absolutely worth ALL of the rereads. such a great Bruce.

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The View From Jade by lowflyingfruit

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11329791/chapters/25359972

Summary: Being transported to the past is not the sort of thing one normally expects. But this having happened, and with no easy way back, Jason's determined to make the most of it. Though the Bat still stalks Gotham's streets, the city's crime is run by the mobs instead of the rogues. There's no Joker yet. There's no Robin. Maybe there shouldn't be.

My Thoughts: Jason & Dick, and also Bruce somewhere in there too. this is SO! GOOD! I absolutely love Jason’s voice, and Dick is so in character. plus Bruce and Alfred are awesome as well!!!

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The Birds Who Smile by Raberba girl / @raberbagirl on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972324/chapters/29656290

Summary: "Dark Nights: Metal" AU where Bruce adopts three of the Robins who once belonged to the Batman Who Laughs.

My Thoughts: I think this was the first fic that introduced me to Duke, actually! and while there are a LOT of characters involved, they’re all pretty great and realistic. they have their moments to shine and it’s,,, *chef’s kiss*

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The Thing about Apples and Trees by Cdelphiki / @cdelphiki on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22192747

Summary: When Jason agreed to let Bruce adopt him, he thought that meant Jason felt happy and safe in Bruce's home. But when Jason's nightmares only increased, and his panic attacks and meltdowns started happening more often, Bruce was at a complete loss for what to do. But then, Jason finally opened up to him, and he was able to quell some of Jason's worse fears. Perhaps a midnight chat and a few hugs wouldn't fix everything, but it was a step in the right direction.

My Thoughts: this is part of a series but might be okay to read on it’s own? tho really I suggest the entire series, it’s amazing. but this fic specifically has great kid Jason characterization (and also made me cry, I think!)

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Kitten by lurkinglurkerwholurks / @lurkinglurkerwholurks on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18194294

Summary: Bruce opened his mouth, prepared to give the unemotional, no-nonsense explanation he had cobbled together between his walk to the car and now. Instead, his mouth went dry and nothing came out.

“Bruce?”

Bruce was saved from answering by the thin cry that cut through the silence. He winced, then reached back with one hand to shush the dimpled, kicking legs.

“Bruce, tell me I did not just hear what I thought I heard.”

My Thoughts: so so so cute! plus the gangs all here!!!

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Yes Ma’am by lurkinglurkerwholurks

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22004695

Summary: Jason had shuffled into the bedroom and had just finished pulling his shirt over his head when he paused, arms still trapped in the fabric. A pair of eyes glowed at him from the bed, reflecting the dim light from the hall.

My Thoughts: I also have to include this one bc it was a gift to me, and it’s so cute & angsty & just dkjsfsdjkhfksjah I love it so much

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The D-Word by AutumnHobbit / @autumnhobbit on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9597686

Summary: "See, Tim?" Jason called over his shoulder sardonically. "Dad agrees with me."

He turned back to his food for a moment before the thought suddenly occurred to him that the Cave had gone near silent. He cautiously glanced back at the others. Alfred was still working away at stitching Tim up. Tim looked a little pale and sweaty, but he was glancing over at Jason with a look that was a mixture of concern and confusion. Bruce was standing stock-still, seemingly staring off into space.

My Thoughts: I constantly reread this when I want funny and then heart breaking Jason & Bruce feels. I always know what’s coming and it STILL GETS ME

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baby wonder by drakefeathers / @drakefeathers on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1887807

Summary: (baby!damian AU) Bruce dies, Dick becomes Batman. But the Damian that Talia leaves in his care isn’t a ten-year-old warrior, he’s a ten-month-old baby.

My Thoughts: oh my goddd this is so good, it hurts but it’s SO CUTE at the same time??? ugh dskjfhkjsadhf

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a hat fashioned from tin foil by discowing

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14356020

Summary: nightwang @karakurachou – 8 hours ago

jason todd is alive and faked his death so he could become robin: a conspiracy theory thread

Batfam conspiracy theories meet social media.

My Thoughts: !!!!!!! so good!!!! seriously one of the best social media fics I’ve ever read.

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Bet Your Bottom Dollar by jerseydevious / @jerseydevious on tumblr and twitter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17971160/chapters/42447017

Summary: Dick's been having kind of a hard time, recently. When it boils over, Bruce is there for him.

My Thoughts: I reread this one a LOT when I need Dick & Bruce feels

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Metanoia by AlannaOfRoses / @alannaofroses on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943249

Summary: Jason's bleeding out, Dick's overtired, and a half-serious offer turns into their new normal. Sometimes you just need somebody else around.

My Thoughts: this one was also a gift to me!! it’s got amazing brotherly bonding and it made me laugh a LOT

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a hundred miles through the desert by acrobats

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18197330/chapters/43045388

Summary: Finding himself nearly three decades into the past hadn't been part of Jason's plans for the day, but he could manage. Having no idea how he got there, no clear path home and a recently orphaned Bruce Wayne determined to drag Jason into his search for his parents' killer - that might be a little more complicated.

My Thoughts: ughhh this is such good Jason content (and such amazing Jason voice, too) I adore it

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oh, where do I begin? by LazuliQuetzal / @lazuliquetzal on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21988693

Summary: “No, no, nothing’s wrong,” Jason says. “We’re a-okay. Just peachy. Good times.”

“Oh,” Duke says, lamely, working himself out of crisis mode. There’s an awkward silence for a moment before he speaks up again. “Why did you call?”

“Right, right," Jason mumbles, which seemed a little out of character to Duke. His sort-of wayward brother was generally intimidating, even when he wasn't trying to be. "Uh, Dick said that you had a guinea pig when you were younger. How do you take care of a guinea pig?”

_____

AKA, not-exactly accidental guinea pig acquisition

My Thoughts: this was ALSO a gift to me but it’s so funny and sweet and there’s amazing Duke & Jason bonding so I absolutely must rec it

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Latchkey by goldkirk / @goldkirk on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21672928/chapters/51685639

Summary: or, How Tim Drake Found A Family, Became A Photojournalist, Learned To Love Coffee, and Grew Up, not necessarily in that order.

Tim Drake is thirteen, runs the famous BatWatch blog that has spiraled hilariously out of control, has absentee parents that suit his purposes just fine, is training himself to run the streets at night, and is doing absolutely peachy, thank you.

Alfred and Jason disagree, and get Dick and Bruce involved in figuring out their weird nextdoor neighbor kid’s life. Everything goes uphill from there.

My Thoughts: this is SO GOOOOD the Tim feels are amazing!!! the family interactions!!! everything! sdkjfhsjdfhksdhfajh

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Blood in the Water by MishaBerry

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12734052/chapters/29037474

Summary: We all do stupid things when we are lonely, and in faraway lands, we hardly expect the consequences to follow us. Bruce certainly never thought twice about an American woman in Jaipur after one night with her. He hardly expected to see her ever again.

The universe, on the other hand, had different ideas, and the tides of time and chance brought Tim Drake to Bruce's life over and over again.

My Thoughts: this one is more AU than a lot of the others on here but it’s a lot of fun!! it has Tim & Damian & Jason feels, plus the rest of the family on a smaller scale

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so these are just SOME, and honestly you should go and check out other works done by all of these authors!! also would like to suggest reading the fics of @renecdote , @caramelmachete , @redtruthed , @rredarrow , and @schweeeppess !!!