#and yes I do have to say that Thirteen's era actually revolved quite heavily around themes of faith and religion. and it treated religion

[fortes-fortuna-iogurtum]

man I really would love to see an (explicitly) religious companion on Doctor Who. esp one who's written in such a way as makes their faith relevant to the storylines and challenges and tests it but ultimately remains respectful and keeps the theme of it relevant within the specific science fiction setting that Doctor Who occupies. I personally just think that would be great.

[12freddofrogs]

An episode of my ideal Batfamily TV Show

Over the past few weeks I’ve been writing about how I’d make a Batfamily show. It got somewhat longer than I expected. I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about the dotpoint writing style, but at this point I’ve invested far too much effort not to start posting.

This is an extract from Chapter/Season One, aka the ‘Dick is Robin’ era. Specifically the ‘Dick is seventeen and starting to chafe under Bruce’s leadership, beginning to plan a move to Bludhaven’ era. The formatting doesn’t quite translate to tumblr, but the full chapter is available on AO3. Please check it out - other episodes include the time Batgirl accidentally told the internet Batman’s breath smells like pepperoni, has to frantically make sure he never finds out; a full-length flashback episode that draws paralles between how Dick met Bruce and how growing up changed their dynamics; Dick trying to work out the best way to invite Babs to prom; and a glimpse into what the general perspective of Bats are when Gotham City puts on a play about them. Lots of Batfamily fluff, and in the coming weeks another five seasons/chapters will be added to play around with character dynamics for everyone.

Season One, Episode Thirteen - Birdcage

One episode revolves around Dick Grayson, the billionaire ward of Bruce Wayne, getting kidnapped.

 Bruce is going frantic.

 He can’t even leave because he has a dozen police with him at all times. It’s clearly killing him that Batman can’t go.

Batgirl on the case, though.

Bruce is trying to whisper tips about the detective work into his phone without letting Detective Montoya see him. Batgirl grumbles that she knows what she’s doing.

Dick, meanwhile, is very bored.

He’s tied up on a chair, trying to entertain himself by untangling the knots. Whenever the kidnappers glance at him, he goes still again, not letting them realise his hands are free.

He makes it into a game, waving and pulling faces whenever they look away.

They don’t catch him at this, but when moving him to a new location, they put a blindfold on.

Naturally, Dick takes this off as part of his game. Just slightly, only barely enough that he can peek.

 It has the added bonus of letting him see the kidnapper’s faces once they remove their ski-masks.

Less of a bonus when one of them comes over and sees the hint of Dick’s iris peeking through a gap.

The one that finds it curses violently, and tries to pull it back to where it should be.

“Just take the whole thing off; it’s not worth it if he’s already seen our faces.”

The kidnappers call Bruce.

He’s sitting in the police precinct, waiting impatiently and frustrated that he can’t do anything.

 When he realises who it is he waves over Gordon, putting it on speaker phone.

 “I’m here. Where’s Dick — is he okay?” Bruce asks, an odd mix of frantic and controlled.

 “He’s fine. Have you got our money?”

  Gordon cuts in. “We want proof of life, first.”

  “Alright, fine.”

 Back in the warehouse, the phone is jammed to Dick’s ear. “Hi, Bruce.”

 “Dick! Are you okay? Have they hurt you?”

 “I’m fine.” Dick glares at the kidnappers.

“For the time being,” the lead kidnapper corrects, taking the phone back. “Have you got our money, Mr Wayne?”

  “Yes, yes,” Bruce’s voice comes over the phone. “I’ll send it through now, just don’t hurt Dick.”

 The kidnappers wait until their laptop announces that money has been paid into the account. The one sitting on the laptop nods at the one with the phone, while the third waits in the corner.

  “Well, it looks like that’s all come through,” the lead kidnapper says. “Which means I’m actually really sorry about this, Mr. Wayne.”

  Dick immediately stiffens. The boredom vanishes from his face.

 “See, if all had gone according to the plan, we would have handed him over now. But unfortunately, someone put the blindfold on him wrong, and he saw our faces.”

 Dick’s eyes widen as the man takes out a gun and hefts it at him. “Wait—”

 “Please understand, this is just protocol.”

The scene switches back to the precinct as a gunshot echoes.

 BANG!

“No!” Bruce jumps to his feet, so hard that he nearly overturns the table. 

Gordon goes white, and the rest of the police listening in look alarmed.

The phone keeps playing, sound of something crashing, a fight going on off-screen.

Shot changes back to the warehouse.

A bullet is embedded in the wall.

Dick is standing in the middle of three unconscious men, breathing heavily. “Please understand, this was just protocol,” he mutters venomously.

 He picks up the gun, unloading it before placing it safely on the table. Then he turns around to focus on the squawking phone.

  “Richard, are you there?”

  “Dick, Dick, talk to me!”

  “What is happening?”

 He almost takes it, before he pulls back, glances at the unconscious men around him.

Bruce at the precinct is still looking sick before a new voice hits the speakerphone.

 “Batman, the phone’s still going.” The voice sounds muffled, as if whoever’s speaking is halfway across the room. “Could you maybe get it… nope, heaven forbid you ever talk to anyone. Fine, I’ll do it.” The voice clears up as the phone is picked up. “Heya, this is Robin. Yes, that Robin. Don’t worry, Grayson’s safe.”

  Bruce lets out a long slow breath, and needs to clutch at the desk to remain standing. Colour begins to return to his face.

 Gordon takes the phone. “Hi, Robin. Gordon here. Can we talk to Richard?”

  Camera changes back to Dick, holding the phone.

 “Heya, Commish!” ‘Robin’ says it cheerier than would be natural, his voice slightly higher than usual. “Sure thing, just give me a second. The kid’s, um, throwing up. But you know the first attempted murder’s always the hardest.”

  “No rush,” Gordon says in the precinct, checking with his eyes to see if Bruce is okay with that. Bruce nods. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  “Nothing special, really,” Robin says, grimacing despite his cheery tone. “Batman and I tracked down these guys, and right on time. Stepped in before it could get ugly. We’ll leave them tied up for you at the scene.”

  He reaches for his belt, realises he’s not wearing it, and goes for the rope that had attached him to the chair.

  “Okay. Where are you?” Gordon’s voice is mildly scratchy — the signal isn’t great.

 The question makes Dick freeze. He glances at the window, and can only see that they’re several storeys above the ground.

 The shot changes back to the station as ‘Robin’ stumbles for an answer. “We are… hold on, one second I’m talking … just a minute… okay, fine, here.” There’s a stumble of movement as if the phone was being passed from hand to hand, and then a new voice comes on.

  “Bruce?” The ‘Dick Grayson’ voice is quieter than ‘Robin’, soft and very shaken and not as high pitched. “Are you there?”

 “I’m here, Dickie,” Bruce says immediately. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m — I’m fine. Robin and Batman got here just in time.” Dick’s voice hesitates. In the warehouse, he’s struggling to tie up one of the men who’s semi-conscious. “Robin was so cool when he broke in, he just took the guy out like that!”

In the precinct, Bruce can’t help but roll his eyes. But he’s smiling nonetheless.

Dick moves onto tying up next kidnapper, holding the phone at arm’s length. “You weren’t too bad yourself with that flip out of the way, kid,” he says as Robin. “Where did you learn to do that?”

 Switches back to ‘Dick’. “The circus.’

 ‘Robin’: “Well, nothing beats Bat training, but that was pretty cool.”

Batgirl bursts in through the window.

 She lands on the ground in a perfect spring, and then pauses to notice the unconscious men.

“Di—”

  Dick shakes his head frantically, striking one hand across his throat. “Hey, Batgirl!” he says gleefully, his voice contrasting with his expression. “Sorry, I can’t talk right now. I’m on the phone with the Commish, talking about how me and Batman saved Grayson.”

“Right.” Batgirl nods once, relaxing against the wall. “Sorry I’m late.”

“No sweat. Batman and Robin are capable of doing this ourselves.” He winces when Batgirl raises an eyebrow. “Sorry Commish, gotta go, we’ll drop the Grayson kid off for you on the ground.”

He hangs up.

“ ‘Batman and Robin are capable of doing this ourselves’?”

“I know, I know, don’t mock me.” Dick rubs his hand over his forehead. “It was the first thing I thought of.”

They decide Batgirl should deliver Dick back to safety.

Batgirl takes the phone back, texts an address to the precinct, and hangs up.

They finish locking up the criminals, and then wait at the window until they see a patrol car approaching.

“Alright. Let’s go.” Batgirl opens the window and holds out her arms to Dick.

“What – what are you doing?”

 “Well, you can’t exactly swing down yourself, Boy Wonder.”

“Oh. Right.”

Dick is awkward about pressing himself so close into Batgirl, wrapping his arms around her neck securely. “Is this okay? Am I hurting you?”

Batgirl doesn’t even answer, just wraps one arm around his back and then other to her grappling hook.

 They swing out the window. Dick gasps and clutches tighter without entirely meaning to.

They land behind the police car.

“Wow, that is terrifying when it’s not your line,” Dick whispers in her ear.

“Go on.” Batgirl pushes him forward to the police rushing towards them.

Dick obligingly untangles himself from her and sprints towards them, collapsing theatrically to whimper when he reaches the patrol.

Bruce arrives later in Gordon’s car.

Dick is sitting in the patrol vehicle, a shock blanket draped around his shoulders when he sees his guardian.

He jumps up and runs forward, hugging Bruce.

Bruce hugs him back.

Later, they’re driving back home.

It’s the first time the two have been alone since Dick got kidnapped.

“In all honesty. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sure. I’m fine,” Dick says dismissively. There’s no sign of the fact he’d been crying moments before he got into the seat.

“Good. I’m glad.” Bruce hesitates. “I was… worried, when I heard that gun go off.”

“Didn’t think I could handle it?” Dick challenges.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

Dick’s jaw tenses, but he relaxes into the chair, finally safe. “Yeah. I know.”

Full Fic Available on AO3.