#bruce almost cried

[breesperez139]

So we know that both Jason and Danny have to be good or at the very least decent enough actors to get the lead roles right?

Just imagine the Wayne family’s reaction to Jason’s acting and almost having a heart attack every time he’s in his psychotic JD behavior. At first it’s all like “wtf is Jay doing onstage??” and “oh i am so blackmailing him for this” and they do but the whirlpool of emotions Jason puts them through is almost not worth it. But they’re Wayne’s so they just blackmail him even harder for it.

When Jason is singing Freeze Your Brain, he doesn’t really get into the song until the chorus. He gets even more passionate the moment Danny steps on stage which makes the show all the more mesmerizing. Batfam thinks this is Jason’s cry for help. Jay is just excited to sing with Danny. Like yah the lyrics are kind of relatable but Danny is right there and looks oh so very attractive in that skirt.

Danny and Jason were both nervous about Dead Girl Walking. Which is normal considering they don’t know each other. But then they start doing rehearsals and Danny looks at Jason like no one else matters and it quickly became Jason’s favorite song.

Logically the Wayne‘s know the gun Jason pulls out during Our Love Is God is fake but holy fuck the mini panic attack they had when they saw the gun is absolute gold. Not that anyone noticed but we know and that’s what matters.

At this point the Wayne’s start forgetting this is a show and truly believe Jason and Danny are in love during Seventeen. Who knows how long they’ve been rehearsing for this show. It’s not impossible to think Jason started and hid a relationship from them.

Duke and Barbara themselves never bothered looking into the cast or how they interacted with Jason. They just made sure he wasn’t caught so everything would go as planned. And while Duke and Danny are friends, Danny can keep a secret when he wants to, Duke knows this better than anyone.

Meant To Be Yours, Dead Girl Walking (Reprise), and I Am Damaged thoroughly convince the Gothamites attending the show that Jason and Danny will become the next rogue couple to debut. Jason and Danny are putting so much emotion into this show people are starting to believe they aren’t acting anymore.

The Wayne’s honest to god think Jason’s being influenced by the pit during these songs. Jason acting like JD gave everyone anxiety. They kept tensing and relaxing the entire show but these three songs were on another level. They wanted him to find a hobby (and they love that he found one) but why did he have to choose this musical.

That being said, Danny really shouldn’t be attracted to Jason while he’s singing about their toxic love and killing an entire high school population. Or while he’s counting down and banging on the door. Especially not while he’s counting down and banging on the door. He’s just glad he blushes in green making it look like he wants to puke instead of get railed against the door.

The show ends and the Wayne’s don’t know what to do. It’s all awkward and shit until Jason sees them and freezes up making the tension worse. Danny (who simply chooses to ignore the tension) starts laughing that’s quickly followed by Duke’s and Barbara’s. Jason looks at Danny in betrayal making Danny laugh even harder. The Wayne siblings (plus Steph) immediately start teasing Jason about his performance.

They still think Jason should see a therapist asap but they already knew that, that’s old news. Jason being a theater kid and performing the one character who shares his name, happens to prefer guns as his main weapon, and then dies in an explosion, is not.

Jason doesn’t know why he did it.

Maybe it was because of the alcohol in his system or maybe it was his subconscious still being salty about his family’s comments about him not having many hobbies.

He reads!

What’s wrong with reading!?

Sure, it was mainly about work now a days but that’s besides the point!

Apparently it wasn’t good enough to be counted as a ‘hobby’ by the others.

So when he was walking back from a bar on his night off and got hit in the face with flyer about auditions for the local theater group Mixed up Manhattan he stuffed it in his pocket and said “fuck it”.

Needless to say he was mildly confused when he woke up the next day to a call back for JD from Heathers the musical.

He was more confused when he found out his “Veronica” was being played by a dude.

Turns out Mixed up Manhattan was a group who did not care about gender as long as you could bring a character to life.

Now he was in too deep to back out, if he was going to act out a scene with someone. Than he was going to put his whole dick and balls into it.

It was only fair for “Veronica” after all.

~~~~~

Danny was slightly surprised when he went back to callbacks and saw Drunk Dude in the group.

Danny found him silly and charming in the waiting room the other night but he was clearly intoxicated when he auditioned. Danny thought that the chances of seeing him again was very slim.

But there he was, looking a little bit out of his comfort zone.

Did he even remember auditioning?

As they were called up for a scene he flashed the other a smile and felt his core loosen with the other guy’s shoulders.

Turns out, Jason had some good singing chops.

~~~~~~~~

Jason Todd lands a lead in a musical.

The musical about death and sex.

His family must never know.

The second one of them finds out his life is over again.

They will go out of there way to embarrass Jason in front of Danny and there will go the whole dark and mysterious thing he has been trying to do.

[brie-annwyl]

YALL

BRUCE GETTING DE- AGED AND JUST BEING ATTACHED AT JASONS HIP

Jason trying to leave multiple times and Bruce is almost in tears like “are you leaving me? 😢” and Jason’s like fuckkkkkkkkkk.

Imagine baby Bruce being the only version of Bruce able to communicate, but because he’s a child he cannot read social cues that well. Dick and Jason get into an argument over something stupid and baby Bruce is like “is this my fault? I’m sorry. I love you.” And it will be the ONLY time they ever hear those 3 terms in the same conversation with their dad.

Baby Bruce would definitely be VERY physically affectionate. He’s always wanting to hold Jason’s hand or hug him and when Jason finally gets fed up and asks about why he’s being so affectionate.

“This is the only time you’ll let me love you.”

I WILL DIEEEEEEEE

WHY IS MY BRAIN DOING THIS TO MEEEEEEEEEE

[mikakuna]

i feel like jason constantly wearing a helmet has ruined his ability to control his facial expressions since he makes whatever faces he wants while in costume. but when he's out of it?

bruce says something audacious and jason will make the hardest stink face ever. tim tries to get smart with him? he's pulling a top-notch incredulous expression. someone creepy flirts with him and jason is immediately making the nastiest look of disgust that instantly makes everyone who was about to lay a move on him back up ten feet.

or sometimes it'll be harmless! batman tells red hood he did a good job after patrol and suddenly jason is looking up at him with sparkling wide eyes, lips parted, and the slightest tilt in his head like he can't believe his kinda-not-anymore dad just praised him. it's an adorable and, frankly, heartbreaking expression that makes bruce mentally clutch his chest.

[haveihitanerve]

What I believe the Bats would get as Tattoos-

Bruce: a vague outline sketch of Gotham skyline or just the word Gotham either on one of his pecs or one like his hip bone- or a ribbon of all his kids names along his arm or smth Dick: totally has a small bat symbol on his back/shoulder and otherwise a small Robin bird somewhere or a little circus tent as a nod to his two parental groups Jason: a small robin on his calf, otherwise a quote of smth like shakespeare or like “remember the little people” or smth. Idk. poetic Tim: has a bat symbol proudly tattooed somewhere and a robin- he earned that and he would totally get it permanently on himself. Also the place jason targets the most when beating him in hopes of marring his skin so it erases Steph: gets a small purple bat, just the faint outline of one. Otherwise has some random joke that she got at five am done by her best friend for the night in a crappy hotel room or smth. Or like sparklers. To remind her that theres light everywhere Cass: she only has temporary tattoos, will not let her skin be permanently touched it has too many scars. But always has bat tattooed everywhere and the symbols of her siblings.  Barbara: a small yellow/purple bat on her wrist otherwise like something stylish, a flower rose or smth Damian: when hes old enough gets the bat tattoo, otherwise remains untouched until he marries raven and then gets her name and a heart. 

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Going Out

Whether you loved, liked, were neutral, or outright hated today’s Step by Step episode, I want to talk about one of my most favorite (and poignant) moments of today’s episode.

This hand holding scene. 

But, wka, there are so many other scenes for you to focus on! You say. But, wka, there were multiple spicy scenes you need to do body language break down on. But, wka, last week you wrote a 20 page deep dive in to Pat’s psyche. Why are you hyperfixating on this four minute sequence???

BECAUSE THE SOCIAL COMMENTARY TEE AND THE REST OF THE PRODUCTION TEAM IS GIVING HERE IS BEAUTIFUL, BRILLIANT, AND LOWKEY MAKING ME EMOTIONAL GODDAMMIT. 

As someone with strong, deeply rooted beliefs in empathy, in connection, in harm reduction, I can firmly and sincerely say there are people who I consider a part of my community, who I care for deeply, who are my friends who are homeless, who are drug users, or who are homeless drug users. And having worked in harm reduction before let me tell you how truly wonderful and enraging it is to provide people basic services and treat them with basic goddamn dignity and respect and how genuinely surprised, uncertain, or overjoyed my unhoused and/or drug using loved ones are to have someone who actually cares about them. 

SO, I present those pre-emptive thoughts and personal background as proof of concept for what I am about to glean from this whole scene. 

The scene transitions from flirting to community service when Jeng asks Pat if he wants to come with him to give food to the homeless, and I don’t remember this but @bengiyo did but this is something Jeng has been doing since Episode 1, and it shows in the reception Jeng receives when he arrives to this spot under the bridge.

The people who live here know Jeng, the people who live here like Jeng, he comes here often enough that he has established a rapport with their community and it is so so wonderful for me to see this nepo baby raised on rich bitch juice feeling comfortable and at ease with a group of people that society (at least Western society) almost always ignores, belittles, or downright dehumanizes. 

And if I wasn’t already impressed with how Jeng and Step by Step as a whole was handling its portrayal of cultivated relationships with unhoused people, Jeng takes this even further, when he hands the woman the rest of the food bags: 

Now, this is a brief scene and we don’t get a lot of information at all about the people who are living here, but in my mind, or rather the indication I have for this interaction is that Jeng has identified a community pillar, trusts that community member, and is recognizing and valuing the autonomy of the community to distribute the rest of the resources they have been given. 

Most everyone Jeng handed food to wandered off and went about their night, leaving Jeng and Pat alone to sit and talk. Under a bridge. With homeless people nearby. Rather than leave. This is SO IMPORTANT TO ME. It is SO SO SO important to me that Jeng and Pat don’t just show up, hand out food, and immediately return to Jeng’s fancy car to drive back to Jeng’s fancy condo but that they stay and they talk here under the bridge, maintaining a respectful distance since Jeng and the rest of the people in this scene do not appear to have built a strong enough relationship to join them directly, but sharing space nevertheless.

(I will not talk about barriers, I will not talk about barriers, I absolutely, positively will not talk about how Jeng has spent most of the show with a vertical line between him and Pat, and Put spent most of Episode 7 with vertical lines keeping him out of Pat’s world, and now that Pat and Jeng are an item, they are sitting together inside double barriers, boxing themselves in having a discussion on cruelty because they are still in the phase of their relationship where the two of them are in their own little world and hiding from the world at lar... FUCK I talked about the barriers) 

ANYWAY, I absolutely will not talk any more about the barriers and will instead begin my descent into madness in the form of The Proffering of the Hand. 

The build up to this moment starts when Jeng and Pat settle down to talk. They are sitting as close together as they can be without physically touching, they are openly flirting, they are making prolonged eye contact. Basically, they are being very obviously gooey, and the community member who appears to be the closest to Jeng (this is the person who hugged Jeng when he arrived) comes up to him and Pat, and points out the drawing that he made and the similarities he sees between that drawing and the two of them. 

The drawing is two stick figures of an undetermined gender (or if you want to read it this way, of a visually similar build [ie both people have triangle chests and short hair, no obvious breast tissue, no differentiation in color, they their faces are a little different but they are nearly identical] so you could call this a drawing of a same sex couple and it wouldn’t be wildly off-base, especially not with the original artist here telling Jeng and Pat they look like the drawing). For the sake of making me feel even stronger about my love for this scene, lets say this is a drawing of a same sex couple. 

Now the two lines this person says to Jeng and Pat are particularly striking to me: 

“This picture was drawn by me, you look the same” 

“It looks like us.”

Both of these lines are said by the artist. You can interpret that “it looks like us” line however you want to, but baby that’s queer to me. 

The artist walks away, leaving Jeng smiling softly to himself, thinking about it for approximately three seconds and then proffering his hand. 

Now, Jeng and Pat have not…how you say….been particularly careful about maintaining appropriate distances from each other anywhere since they started jumping each other for sport, but the touches they give to each other in the workplace are secret, are hidden. Hands held between them on the computer in a cubicle where no one can see, arms pressed up against each other so they can be mistaken for just being cramped, footsie under the table away from prying eyes. 

Here, now, is the first time since they got together that Jeng overtly, publicly extends a hand to Pat in a move that cannot be mistaken as anything but romantic. Pat is, rightfully all things considered, a little apprehensive. 

“What is it?” he asks “It’s like the picture that he drew,” with a smile and a soft nod to his hand.

Pat’s brow furrows, he looks to his right, where the people they visited are sitting, he looks to the left his eyes scanning for any other potential witnesses. Pat, who has been the person consistently approaching this relationship with the most caution, is initially hesitant to take Jeng’s hand; Is initially hesitant to confirm their relationship to one another with other people around. 

“No, people will see”

“No one will see” Jeng says, and I want to make it clear here that this is not a situation where Jeng is saying that the unhoused folks sitting nearby aren’t people. 

I interpret it more as there is no one around who would be unsafe for us to be visible to. 

Pat takes Jeng’s hand. Right here, out in the open, with people around him, he takes Pat’s hand in his outside of their houses, outside of Jeng’s car, outside. Outside. OUTSIDE. 

So why is this such a monumental occasion for me? 

I feel like I always say this, so eventually I have to make it happen, that I need to familiarize myself more with Thai social issues, because  I don’t know much about Thai homelessness, and which populations of people are disproportionately represented there. So when I saw this scene, the only way I could approach it was with a Western lens. And  I am comfortable running with my thoughts here using that Western lens because Pat references American homelessness in his conversion with Jeng. 

Which means, dear readers…

The first thing that came to mind for me when Jeng and Pat were visibly queer here was the disproportionate rates of homelessness in the queer community in the United States. 

Let me give you some quick (and very unfun) stats about homelessness and queerness in the United States:

40% of homeless youth are queer

Queer youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-queer youth 

In one survey, researchers found: 

8% of transgender adults surveyed had experienced homelessness in the past 12 months

3% of cisgender queer adults surveyed had experienced homelessness in the past 12 months 

1% of cisgender heterosexual adults surveyed had experienced homelessness in the past 12 months. 

All this to say, that there are close ties between queer people and homelessness. 

And there is something extremely, extremely powerful in Tee and co. recognizing and affirming that queer people can be safer sharing space with homeless people than they might be sharing space with salarymen at a corporate office. 

For a number of reasons, Pat and Jeng cannot come out at the office, even if that closet is glass. In huge part because a boss and subordinate relationship is a gross imbalance of power, but also because homophobia is rampant in that office. We saw it all the way in the beginning of the show, when Pat was asked if he was a top or bottom. We see it now, when Pat is overhearing his colleagues, his coworkers, that spent the beginning of his time at this office exploiting him to do their labor, saying awful, gross, disgusting shit about him and to him. 

“I didn’t think he’d be working on his knees” 

“Lick until you get your bonus”  These are things Pat is seeing, Pat is hearing in this place full of “people contributing to the betterment of society”, people who have stable housing, and cash to spare, and food to eat. People who aren’t looked down upon by society, people who reflect society’s current ideals and mindsets. The other queer people in the office clocked Jeng immediately, but Pat didn’t and neither did any of the straight employees in the office until Pat and Jeng started hanging around

each other more unable to turn off their heart eyes. Because Jeng is in a position of power, he dresses in traditionally professional clothing every day. Collared shirt of mild color, suit, tie, brown loafers. Compare him to Chot or Pat and you can see how Jeng blends in as straight to people who aren’t trained to clock that shit. Look at Jeng when he’s out of the office and hanging out around Pat, he is in denim, he is in white tank tops, he is wearing a chain. Jeng is putting armor on when he goes to the office. Pat and Chot don’t have that luxury. 

And as a result, Pat and Jeng can only be out and open at home. Until now. Until this moment.

Step by Step definitively established in this one scene, in under FOUR MINUTES that Jeng and Pat, two queer men were made to feel comfortable enough and free enough in this place in this space around people who are often villainized, who are often deprived of human rights, people who are often seen as deserving of their poverty and the treatment they get from others as a result, people who are frequently spoken about as being a negative impact on society (WHICH IS BULLSHIT BY THE WAY HOLY FU- *I am forcibly removed from my pedestal*) because queer people are often villainized, deprived of human rights, seen as deserving of the terrible treatment that they get, and are frequently spoken about as being a negative impact on society. 

And considering the statistics on how many homeless youth are queer, there is something to be said for the way the person who appears the youngest, or who at least is acting the youngest, is the person who initiates the interaction that signals to Jeng that they are safe here. That helps Jeng and Pat realize they can engage in a public display of affection here amongst people who understand. 

And that is one hell of a fucking statement to make if I do say so myself. 

Side Note 1: I was already leaning towards this show being a For, By, and About Queers show. This scene solidified that for me. 

Side Note 2: I am thinking about the BL trope of the BL Bridge, I think this was something that @absolutebl wrote about once, but please correct me if I am wrong. If you are new to BL or otherwise unfamiliar with the trope, it is essentially just a repeated theme in multiple BL shows where one of the couples kisses in front of famous bridges in Bangkok. It is notable that in a show like this that is For, By, and About Queers (and boy do I have more thoughts on when and where and how the connection between Jeng and Pat deepens over the last couple episodes in relation to the workplace and homophobia (see @bengiyo’s quick thoughts which will hopefully become bigger thoughts on queer people and corporate culture)) that Jeng and Pat’s first openly public display of affection happens not on the surface, not lit up by bridge lights, not where the whole world can see them. But underneath a bridge, hidden away with the rest of the people that society has shunned, looked down upon, dehumanized, ignored, and failed to support. 

(tagging @neuroticbookworm who is waiting patiently and @waitmyturtles because if I know one person on this website who is gonna add something incredible to a discussion of homelessness in this scene, it's gonna be my bestie.)

[stardatez3ro]

measure of a man ran me over with its car killed my friends and family buried me alive and spit on my grave

[angry-nightwing]

The best episode of the Batman Animated series is 100% Heart of Ice purely because of Batman catching a cold from fighting Mr Freeze and spending the rest of the episode sniffling and coughing and eating chicken soup

[sundry-whovengerslocked]

guys I'm crying this website is the best crackship generator

just put in a bunch of characters from your favorite fandoms and watch the chaos unfold

(my favorite is the one where Catwoman recognized Batman sneaking up on her because he was wearing high heels)

[basalting]

thinking about damian and bugs.... the first time he ever saw tim or bruce catch a spider and let them out a window.... alfred showing him all the worms on the garden path after the rain.... duke going to the park with him to look for beetles.... bruce taking him to a butterfly house!!!! UGH i know he loves bugs

[magentagalaxies]

the number of times i have cried over an old man in the past twenty four hours is not FAIR (/lighthearted but also this is definitely because i'm so stressed)

[astorianyxkings]

Dick Grayson is a hyperfixation I'll never get over and him being prepared to be the next Batman is something I physically can't get over. Let's get into it.

Dick's filled in for Batman before, whenever Bruce needed to make a public appearance or when Vicki Vale starts her whole "never seen Mr Wayne and Batman at the same time" thing. And you know he's pretty good at filling in for Batman, criminals and villains can't really tell the difference when he does, but the Bats can, because Dick is Dick and they know him.

But this was different. Bruce was gone (dead, maimed, lost to the world, take your pick) and Dick picked up the mantle. And at first no one really batted and eye, he's been in the suit hundreds of times by now, this isn't gonna be very different.

Except it is. Because even in the cave, there's no smiles, no quips, puns or jokes to make them groan, no stories about things he remembers doing as Robin when dealing with a certain villain. There's none of the Nightwing left in him. There's just Batman now. And you know they thought things wouldn't be so bad, they thought they could laugh with him, talk about how he's "like the old man now, huh Goldie?" but they can't.

Because seeing him in the Batsuit looks right and that feels so damn wrong. This isn't who he is, this isn't what he wants. Nightwing may be like Batman in theory but ask anyone who's fought them both, they're different entities. One of them still has hope.

And it's borderline freaky because he even acts like him. The JLA and their teams love to tease the Bats about how they all have the same mannerisms, like a creepy bat cult. But this is weird because Dick's acting exactly like Bruce, like he's freaking possesses by him.

He sits the way Bruce would, he stands in the shadows the way he would, he fires his weapons the way Bruce would. He has the goddam gravelly bat-voice down the way Bruce perfected it. He is Batman, and it's so wrong.

It's also a moment of realization for them, because even though they're all fast learners, they can't perfect being Bruce the way he does. This isn't something he perfected over weeks or months, this had to be in practice for years.

For years Dick Grayson trained himself to not only embody his own persona as Robin and then Nightwing, but to also be the ultimate clone of Batman. It makes their skin crawl, Dick was the eldest, he was the first Robin. Jason liked to say that Bruce may have been the ring leader but Dick started the cult. But this? His ability to be Batman, to turn himself into Bruce? Into their father so easily? It's a transition that sets them all on edge.

The Bats are quite that first night on patrol. Damian's with Dick because duh Batman and Robin. But the baby bat keeps shifting, his eyes darting back from the streets they're watching to Batman's shadow in the corner of his eyes. Because he feels like throwing up. He's partnered with Nightwing before, and secretly he loves it because Nightwing in Blüdhaven is like breathing in fresh air after Batman in Gotham. But now Nightwing is Batman and like always, Batman dominates all. So he remains silent, silently wishing and praying Dick will crack a joke once they're alone, make him laugh the way only his eldest brother could.

The rest of the Bats are shocked when Dick's voice comes across the comms. Because he sounds just like Bruce and he isn't asking for help or suggesting what they do, he's telling them where to go, how to handle something and where he wants them to reconvene. And yeah Dick's a great leader, by now they've all either seen him with The Titans or worked with them before. But this is different, he's a hasn't got that Nightwing charm on.

Oracle's hands shake as she types back at the cave. She knows better than anyone how much Dick hates this. He's prepared for it since he was like nine when Bruce took him in but he still hates it. No son ever wants to truly be his father, and Dick never wanted to be Bruce and he's long since stopped wanting to be Batman. The cowl comes with a price he hated to bear.

When they return to the cave, everyone kind of lingers. Usually, once they've given their reports, everyone goes their separate ways. Tim and Steoh have to get back to college, Duke and Damian head upstairs, Cass and Babs leave to help Cass pack for wherever she's going, Jason and Dick head back out, one to Park Row, the other to Blüdhaven. But instead of that they all kind of linger in the cave, they're expecting Dick to break character by now, to say something so unbelievably ridiculous that they can't all help but laugh along with him. He does no such thing.

Instead he takes off the cowl, confirming that he's not their dad but rather their brother, and sits at the computer to work through the open cases Bruce left. When he dismisses them and they all leave, Kate and Luke hang back. They too, know how much he hates this. How much he wants nothing more that to scream and break down. They linger for about a half an hour, finally leaving when Dick says he's going back to Blüdhaven. Thank the gods he isn't staying here, they don't think they could leave him alone if he did.

When Dick gets back to Blüdhaven, he scrubs himself down after the Gotham patrol and finally puts on his suit. Its the later half of 4am almost 5, but he doesn't care. He needs this. So he goes on patrol, he flips and flies in the sky, as the gods had always intended for him and he makes stupid jokes when he takes down the criminals who thought they got away when he didn't patrol around 2am as usual.

The next morning, the Bats all let out sighs of relief when they see Nightwing's blurry figure on the online news articles. They never wanted him to give up who he was for Batman. Bruce, emotionally constipated as he is, never wanted them to give up themselves for his mantle.

When Bruce is either revived, wakes us or returns from whatever hell he's been in, the Bats hug him a little tighter, but its his second eldest who lingers. Jason stays in the cave when the rest of them filters out, Dick tried to stay, but eventually left when Jason promised not to cause an argument. "You can't do this again, Old Man." Jason says, he sounds so exhausted so hurt that Bruce wants to hug him. But that action would result in him getting shot so he refrains. "I don't plan to," Bruce responds, "But even without me, you all managed to keep your heads on straight."

"Because of him." Jason responds, he doesn't need to clarify who, they all know who's the one aside from Alfred making sure they stay in touch, stay a family. "You can't do this to him ever again." Jason finishes and Bruce nods, placing a hand on his son's shoulder, "I won't."

And if Bruce does managed to catch a stray tear falling from Jason's blue-green eyes, that's no one's business but his.

“The Batkids probably gave Dick so much shit when he first put on the Batsuit.” No. The Batkids all saw Dick in Bruce’s suit and all secretly felt nauseous about how wrong it looked. How wrong it felt.

[theredcuyo]

Bruce tries to figure out why his kids tend to fall asleep when they're under his cape, because it's been happening since Dick was Robin and twice with Jason could be a coincidence, but it's still happening by the time Damian arrives, so there has to be something there

It's the weight? They do like they weighted blankets, but that doesn't seem to be it

He's doing experiments, anything but asking, really-

And it's not like they'd actually tell him that the real reason it's not the cape itself, but the fact that to be covered by it they're being carried by him

They're being hold by their dad, and can hide into the little darkness that it makes, making a little warm, safe, comfortable place because of the man who's wearing the cape

Most of the kids cried upon realizing this, they hadn't felt like that in a long time, or ever before

But since then, it was always a nice thing for them, no matter how big they got

Dick had tried to forget about it when he fought with Bruce, but the first time he had to be carried around after patrol together again, it was still there

Jason had almost actually forgotten when he came back, and by the time he was in good terms with B, he definitely was too big for it, right? Wrong, when they got attacked with fear gas and he was the last to be able to get out of it, he found himself in that same old warm place

Tim felt wrong about it at first, not his place, like everything, he remainded himself, but as time went on, he found himself craving for it sometimes, to an embarassing point where Bruce will just start opening his cape to him every. Night. Not that Tim will say no to it. Bruce does that to him, it's almost a routine by now

Cass and Damian have always liked to hide in there for "surprise factor" but if they stay in for longer, and Bruce knows they'll doze off, it's not a problem either

It gets a bit hard when it happens at the same time though

It was one of the first things they all did when Bruce was back from the time stream, a nice way to process the idea that he was back with them-

[scarletackrmn]

Bruce when seeing Dick’s parents die or whenever someone brings up his parent’s death:

[emotional-piece-of-meat]

Tim & Damian: *do the siblings bounding aka fights with their feet while minding their own business*

Bruce, randomly entering the room: Did you two do the thing I told you to do?

Tim, having no idea what they needed to do: pff, obviously.

Damian, also having no idea what they needed to do: we wouldn't let you down, father.

Bruce: good.

Bruce: *stands like a dad in complete silence for a while and then leaves them panicking about the task they forgot about*

Literally in the next room.

Dick, hanging from the chandelier: why don't you ever clarify their task?

Jason, suspiciously peacefully reading in the corner: yeah, just remind them what they need to do.

Bruce, with his fucked up sense of humour: Oh, they didn't have any task, I'm just messing with them.

Dick, having flashbacks of how he and Jason were losing their shit every single time, trying to remember what they need to do: that's... Pure evil...

Jason, remembering that one time he almost cried because he thought he was a failure and Bruce was going to disown him: YOU MOTHERFUCKER!

[gay-dorito-dust]

Would they or would they not catch you…

Dick: yes. 100% yes but he’s -no pun intended- a little bit of a teasing dick about it.

He will catch you but then act as though he’s going to drop you by loosening his grip, making you scream out of surprise and cling onto him tighter, all the while beaming that bright and beautiful smile of his as though he wasn’t about to willingly let you fall flat on your ass on multiple occasions.

‘I fucking hate you!’ You whined, smacking Dick on the bicep.

‘Oh do you now?’ Dick inquires as he slowly begins to losses his grip on you, smirking.

‘Did I say hate you? I meant love you, a lot! Please don’t drop me.’ You cried as you tightened your grip on his neck whilst struggling to keep your feet from touching the floor. ‘Awww I love you too gorgeous.’ Dick coos as he pressed kisses into your face as you could only glare at the cheeky bastard.

You hate him sometimes but you weren’t going to complain about the affection you were being given. So you guess you’ll suffer for now.

Side note: he might even try and see if you can catch him. 💀

Jason: He will catch you but makes it a big deal whenever he can. He loves holding you in his arms.

He could keep you in his arms forever if he could but knew that he can’t, so he settles for going about his day carrying you throughout the apartment instead.

‘You can put down any day now.’ You’d tell him but that only makes Jason tighten his grip on you as he moved in his makeshift library for a book to read.

‘No.’ He simply replied, scouring the many book titles in front of him in the hopes that one might speak to him. You pout. ‘What do you mean no?’ Jason then looks at you and says. ‘No means no. As in no I will not put you down because I do as I like and will not be told otherwise, so the cutie currently in my arms has to deal with it.’ He then smiles as he presses a kiss to your forehead before looking back towards the bookshelves.

You end up falling asleep in his arms and Jason couldn’t help but smile at how cute you were, even if you did look like the living dead.

Damian: says no but will in fact catch you without hesitation.

However if you do try to tease him about it, then he will drop you without a second thought. ‘You can catch yourself next time.’ He would say as he walks away, leaving you with a bruised ass. Titus -who saw the whole thing- would come up to you to make sure you weren’t genuinely hurt and encourage you to get up by nudging you with his head.

Don’t test him because he will do it and then act like the whole thing didn’t happen if you were to bring it up.

‘Dick.’ You’d say as you stood up.

‘I heard that.’ He’d call back, his voice echoing off the walls. ‘You were meant to.’ You reply. ‘And at least Titus came to check up on me to see if I wasn’t hurt.’ You’d add while scratching Titus behind the ear.

Needless to say you were more cautious when choosing Damian to catch you. However he does apologise for dropping you on your ass by gifting you something he himself drew by hand; He secretly doesn’t like it when you’re upset with him and will do anything to rectify it.

What a sweetheart.

Bruce: he’s too use to you pulling this type of shit that it’s basically muscle memory for him to catch you as you’re running towards him, all with a straight face mind you.

Be grateful because he risked a much needed bowl of Mulligatawny soup just to catch you in his arms, but then again the kisses you bombard his cheek is more than reward enough, a small almost missable smile appears on his lips as he then proceeds to carry you for the rest of the day as “punishment.”

( this only occurs when Bruce is feeling particularly affectionate or playful)

Much to your batkids -Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Duke, Cass and Steph- dismay. They’d want to use this as blackmail, but they know that it will backfire as you’ll probably hang the photo on a wall somewhere in the manor, reminding them of how disgustingly their parents can be when given the opportunity.

[dead-girl-tells-stories]

*Danny and a Batfam member having a friendly chat at a cafe. They've known each other for a few months now*

Batfam member: "You know, you actually kinda look like B with a few minor differences. Prime adoption bait. Hope you're not another secret love child of his." *laughs*

Danny: *Starts sweating bullets because he is in fact, Bruce's kid but from a different dimension where instead of being a himbo billionaire, he's a himbo ghost hunter named Jack who almost killed him before he got here .* "Haha, you don't say?"

Batfam member: *Clocks in on sudden shift in mood* "Please tell me you're not."

Danny: "So do you want the short and funny story, or the long and sad one? Yes, there's a right answer."

Batfam member: *crying because they can never have a normal sibling*

Danny: Also, do you believe in ghosts?

Batfam member: *cries even more*