#bruce in general is very tragic

[dcxdpdabbles]

DCxDP fanfic idea: What's your Poison?

Jason Todd's life has always been hectic. Or is tragic the better word? It certainly felt like that was a better way to describe it. Life was bursts of happiness and love for as long as he could remember, but it was often too short and quickly overshadowed by everything he loved being twisted into his worst nightmares.

His mother's lullabies, which once soothed him to sleep, would turn into her humming as she came down from her high, staring with unseeing eyes.

Bruce's warm compliments for pulling off a tricky maneuver would scatter in the wind as he pulled the triggers on the scum of the city, and all he heard from his father figure were swears to bring him in.

His childhood adoration for swimming, the few things he liked when school was out, would drown him in his memories of the liquid green he hadn't stepped foot in a pool in years as an adult.

It was more of a surprise to find that reading still offered him comfort as if he were the same scared, poor little boy who would do anything to escape his reality. Maybe that's why he made it his mission to visit every bookstore in this godforsaken city.

Maybe the magic wasn't the same, and he didn't lose himself in the words, or his passion for it wasn't as all-consuming as it once was. But it was the one thing from his childhood life that hadn't managed to ruin.

This is why he chose to go to Ghost Zone, which opened near the heart of Gotham's nightlife —only three streets away from Ice Lounge—despite doubling as a bar.

It sold drinks alongside books, and the menu featured cocktails based on book characters. At the last meeting, one of the men in the Red Hood gang was talking about it—or rather, the pretty owner. The spitfire had been unwilling to strike a deal about protection money, but his boys knew better than to force the owner's hand.

Jason didn't like bars.

He went to them when his friends invited him out, but these places felt horrible. Either he found people who thought they were untouchable by the world and made terrible choices because of it, or he found people who were so broken by the world that the bottle was all they knew.

Just like his old man.

The idea of being anything like Willis Todd left such a bad taste in Jason's mouth that he had never touched alcohol in his life.

It wasn't the kind of preference people usually liked him having at a bar. He's had plenty of women grow offended that they couldn't tempt him into a drink, not to mention the men who were suddenly brave enough to mock him for it.

Drunks, in general, annoyed him. They were too loud. Too much. And most times, you had to babysit them like an overgrown toddler.

So going to a bar, even one doubling as a bookstore was going to be a pain. Still, Jason pushed through the door, letting it slam close behind him and sealing away the neon lights, thumping music, and the echoing laughter from nearby nightclubs.

Thankfully, the Ghost Zone didn't seem very busy. In fact, Jason could see that he was the only customer in the building.

The bar ran along the left side of the room, more like a traveler than anything modern. Tables and chairs were nearly lined up in front of it. A lone man was cleaning some glasses with a cloth, dressed in a pretty green vest over a long black sleeve and black slacks.

He glances at Jason with sky-blue eyes, shimming with gentle light. "Welcome,"

"Hello," He responds, walking to the bar and checking the menu. There wasn't anything listed for none-alcoholic, which made him grimace.

"Can I help you with anything?" the man asks, stepping in front of Jason and flashing a pearl-white smile. It, annoyingly, lacks any fake costumer service tilt to it, meaning this man was able to appear genuinely happy to serve people.

Those were the worst kinds of salesmen. They sucked someone dry of whatever coins they had before the client even knew what was happening.

Jason knew to be wary as he grunted, "I was told this was a bookstore."

The man didn't even blink as his smile grew. He placed a small menu on the bar counter between them while pointing his thumb to a nearby stairway. "Books are on the second floor. You're welcome to pick one up and read here so long as you buy a drink if you're not looking to buy an entire thing."

There it was. The catch.

Jason doesn't bother hiding a grimace as he waves a hand. "Nah, I'll just browse. If I see something I like, I'll buy it."

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything, " the man says softly, going back to his glasses without care. Jason notes that they resemble roses as the employee holds one to the light. It shimmers slightly, catching a ray that bounces back on the man's face, making him glow for a brief second.

Jason whips around, wondering why he is staring when he should be looking at books. He scurries up the stairway, not looking too deeply into it. On the second floor, he finds bookshelve after bookshelve lined and organized neatly.

Babs would adore how well-kept everything was. As he starts browsing, he hopes this trip wasn't a waste of time. There are titles and authors he's never heard of, not even a money grab of new releases. Even after pulling out his phone to check reviews, Jason discovers that not a single one of these books is sold anywhere else.

They are all exclusive publishers of Ghost Zone. This is odd because even if it's local authors, there are some reviews and proof of the author somewhere. Usually, the lack of anything would have alarmed him, but instead, it fills him with the desire to read every single copy.

Jason soon finds himself with a stack of books. After walking through the entire second floor twice to ensure he didn't miss anything else he may be interested in, Jason encounters a little sign written in neon green.

Please make a book purchase at the bar below.

As he stumbles his way down to the bar, he can't help but feel as if someone is watching him. He glances out of the corner of his eye and manages to catch what appears to be a shadow of a child running and disappearing into a wall.

Huh. The Ghost Zone is haunted.

Well, all of Gotham is haunted. Jason is from one of the most haunted places in Gotham, and the ghosts in Crime Alley are never nice, but they can never harm anyone if you don't acknowledge them. It was a rule to always pretend you didn't see anything, and like any good Crime Alley kid, Jason did just that.

"Have you found everything you were looking for?" the man asks with a smile once Jason places his stack on the bar. He quickly starts scanning them with a ray gun.

"I did," Jason mutters, looking everywhere but the man who seems to have started glowing under his flower lights. He was beautiful in an almost untouchable way.

His hair almost flashed white for a brief second as he reached for a bag for Jason's books. Man, it's been a while since his last date. He was starting to see things if he was that distracted by a pretty face.

"Hey, since you are my first customer to buy some books, I was wondering if you would like a free drink?" the man says, giving the books back to Jason. He leans on the counter a little, giving Jason an almost taunting grin. "Tell me, what's your poison?"

"I don't drink," Jason replies, bluntly stepping back but not because of the offer or the grin. That child made of shadows was watching them from the backroom. Jason did not like that it followed him.

The bartender smiles. "I promise it will taste better than anything you've ever had."

"No, thank you." Jason stays firm, eyes trained on the bartender, but words aimed at the shadow child.

"Pity." The man sighs, leaning back. The shadow child vanishes, allowing him to relax a little more. Whatever that was, it lost interest in him. "I could make you a mocktail?"

Jason thinks it over, then shrugs. "If it's free."

"Great. I'm Danny, by the way. Based on the novels you picked, I think I know just what to get you." Danny twirls a wine glass shaped like a rose in his hand, and Jason is suddenly hit with the urge to never leave as the man trains glowing green eyes on him. "Have a seat."

He drops his books at his feet, stumbling towards the bar stole in front of Danny.

It takes his family three days to realize he's gone missing and five for the Red Hood gang to notice, too. But Jason doesn't mind. After tasting the best thing that's ever touched his taste buds, he's having fun mixing drinks with Danny at Ghost Zone.

Danny, for his part, seems grateful to have Jason around. Apparently, Jason is keeping the ghosts away from Danny- that might have something to do with the Pits being anti-death liquified- and hired him on the spot after Jason drowned his drink and begged him for more.

[igotanidea]

Smooth criminal: AK!Jason x reader

part 1 : Somebody's watching me

part 2: Run baby, run

Yeah... I know it's been a while. Sorry guys. But here we are :)

***

They say that history repeats itself. That’s its merely a one big circle in which people get lost endlessly, not learning from the past mistakes, instead doing them all over again.

Like an Uroboros, forevermore biting his tail.

And that was how Y/N felt at the moment, shaking over the cup of tea Dick so generously offered her alongside with his hoodie. And even more kindly – not asking any questions of why she showed up at his apartment (or rather under it) in the middle of the night looking crazy.

She was back at the beginning. Back over Jason’s grave, sobbing and shaking while the memories of the news of him being gone forever haunted her mind.

Felt like all her efforts to forget and move on have come to nothing.

“Y/N…”

“No. No please I don’t want to talk Dick-“

“I was just gonna say you can stay here for as long as you like. I don’t know what got you so freaked out, but the Y/N I know – knew­ – was not the one to get scared over a spider or a mouse. So it must have been serious. Stay.” He grabbed and squeezed her hands reassuringly. “I’m serious.”

“No, no it’s too much to ask for—”

“Good thing you did not ask then.” Dick grinned “Cause I believe I offered It myself.”

“You really didn’t change a bit, Grayson. Same golden, sunshine boy.”

“And you’re still the same, not holding back girl. Woman. How long has it been exactly?”

“Two years.” She sighed

“Two years.” Dick sighed too, his eyes becoming a little blurry from the memories. “I missed you, you know. And not only me. So did Tim and Alfred and Damian and I’m sure even Bruce became a little more grumpy without your presence to challenge him.”

“He’s got enough criminals to keep him entertained I believe?”

“Oh, Y/N, criminals he can handle easily, they are no fun. But having a woman with a sharp mind? That’s something Bruce still needs a lot of training in.”

***

 It was shockingly easy to reconnect with Dick.

Or maybe not, given the fact he was always awfully friendly, keeping in touch even with his exes and even having considerably good relations with some villains.

Long story short, in a months’ time she was regularly back in his life and he was back in hers. And much to her surprise, this time it was not a constant reminder of the person she lost, neither filling the void, but rather a soft recollection that she was not the only one who felt the repercussions of Jason being gone.

If anything, after that time apart, it felt like Y/N and Dick’s relationship could finally move past the tragic events and bloom. Not in a romantic sense, because he had Barbara and was making plans in that area, but like a true, deep friendship, cemented with similar feelings.

And she even got the guts to meet with the rest of the batfamily, ditching those girls who left her alone at the party. Slowly, but steadily, she was getting back to her old, familiar self, dropping the act of a girl who wanted to be anything but the version she was when Jason was alive and with her.  She was not running from the past anymore, but rather embracing and accepting it. And that was the real healing.

Only that Jason was not gone.

Observing her carefully from the shadows, watching almost every step, be it himself or using his militia. With explicit orders given to not let her know they were there. He had bigger plans coming, and making the same mistake as before, by coming as close as to touch her, could never happen again. Even if somewhere deep inside, the very subdued part of him screamed for that. For the warmth he remembered and knew would come with tenderness and not pain.

She never gave him anything less but love and devotion.

If anything Jason was only cursing himself that he let her step into the Batman world again. That is was his reckless behavior that drove her back into the arms of people, who were nothing but bad news. Who would eventually end up hurting her too.

And he was going to protect his little, innocent princess from that.

So yes, he was watching.

Sending his goons when he knew she was walking back home from work late, to ensure no one would lay a finger on her.

Causing a commotion in the area that happened to be dangerous only so she would choose another way.

Sending her colleagues threat letters so they would drop the chase for the same promotion at work as her.

Beating up a guy who was trying to flirt with her when she was buying coffee-to-go at her favorite place.

Doing it all smoothly, like a professional he was.

Building up a way to execute his master plan that would keep her safe from any danger, real or hypothetical. Forever.

***

“She got home, boss. Safe and sound, not one hair out of place.” One of his militia officers reported to him

“Good.” Jason only grunted in response. One whole month and he was so close to the finale. The end was right in front of him and he had to hold himself back to not make a single rookie mistake that would derail his efforts.

“If I may, sir, why exactly are we wasting resources on some woman? She’s no one important, just a regular—”

“What did you say?”

If the sinister voice wasn’t enough to make the man stop his sentence, the iron grip on his throat did.

“I- I-“

“No one important? Huh? Was that what you said?” Jason mocked tightening fingers on the man's jugular. “Answer me!”

“I- I-“ he was struggling for air.

“Pathetic!” Jason threw him on the ground, retrieving the gun from his holster, pointing it at the man’s head.

“Please, don’t—”

“I should put a bullet in your head for talking about her like that and second one for questioning my plans.” The gun outlet was now pressing into the man’s temple. “You are doing what I tell you, you hear me? No questions. No doubts. You are here to serve me, unless-“ Jason put a little bit of pressure on the trigger.

“No! No please!”

“You’re a piece of shit.” Arkham Knight muttered, taking the gun away. “But I am feeling merciful today. We can’t have blood on the floor when Y/N arrives. Now go! Get out of my face before I change my mind! And you make sure everything is perfect because if not—” he  caressed the arms with a cruel glint in his eyes, enjoying the way his officer rushed out of the room, throwing commands left and right, halfway out the door.

“Soon, baby… Soon we’ll be back together…” Jason muttered to himself once he was finally alone.

He was so close to having everything he needed.

@vaniasagitaa @gone-batty-fics @astrelz @not-herexo @deans-spinster-witch @calicocat45 @princessbl0ss0m @rosieandthethorns @beingaturtlespiritually @grierpilots @killerwendigo @teenytinytunes

[galaxymagitech]

Both Bruce and Dick come from diasporas, and I’m kind of torn on how to engage with this.

On the one hand, you can go the sweet route. Bruce knows what it’s like to live in a diaspora, to have your culture whittled away over generations of loss, to struggle to engage with your culture after the death of your parents. He would try his utmost to help Dick preserve his Romani traditions. He would find Romani cultural groups in the area and coax Dick to meet them even though he’s grieving. Bruce wouldn’t stand for Dick losing his connection to his culture the way Bruce lost connection to his own.

But on the other hand, you can also go the tragic route. Canon Bruce has very much assimilated. He celebrates Christmas and has expressed a desire to be Christian, and hasn’t ever celebrated a Jewish holiday on panel (to my knowledge). Canonically, his mother celebrated Hanukkah, but Bruce seems to have no interest in being anything but the WASPy son of Thomas Wayne. And he knows that it’s safer this way. No one remembers that Martha Wayne was quietly Jewish. If Bruce assimilates, he avoids the antisemitism, the conspiracy theories, the danger. It’s easier that way. And Bruce wants what’s best for Dick (or at least, what he thinks is best). So I could also see him not actively trying to suppress Dick’s Romani heritage, but also not ever bringing it up and quietly sweeping it under the rug. And of course he knows that this is awful, but—he thinks he’s helping. Gotham’s upper crust is full of vultures, and Bruce thinks that if Dick follows in his footsteps, he’ll be safer that way.

So…Bruce understands some of what Dick’s going through. But how that comes out really depends on how hopeful he is—whether he wants to give Dick a better life or whether he’s just treading water and trying to keep his ward safe in the only way he knows how.

[deadsetobsessions]

Had a nightmare again, you know what that means!

Tw for gross nightmare flesh stuff?

——

Jason wakes up with blood on his hands. Neither of these two things are particularly new for him. It takes a moment for him to place what is so dizzying about the sight of spotted blood on pale hands.

Thin, pale, relatively unscarred hands. Bones protruded from breakable skin, washed out tan of a child that should have seen more sunlight.

The world spins for him at a dizzying rate, Jason at its epicenter trying to desperately catch up. Always trying to catch up and always failing, the child who had died. He brings his fingers to his face, training all thrown out of the window as bile rises to the back of his throat. For a moment, the blood on his hand turns into cut off curls of worms and flesh, things with too many spindly legs and backs curved in a distorted form of health. Small, curled octopus tentacles oozed out of his blood, splattering aimlessly at the far away floor. It sickens him, these blurry things. His breaths come in gasps as he panics in a body that is too small, too different.

“Jason?”

And suddenly, everything slams back into clear sobriety. Flesh horrors recede into clear blood, the floor becoming spotless as air rushed into his head.

A voice he hears only in his dreams, when he is torn asunder and the his closely guarded vulnerabilities are exposed.

“Mom?” He rasps out, voice high and ragged. It makes him strangle the words in his throat, wheezing into a full horrified stop. He doesn't sound like that.

“Oh, Jay, you’re bleeding! Willis!” His face is cradled and lifted, a hand pressing against his forehead. Jason’s glazed eyes locked onto a face he thought he’d never see again, past the one photo he still had of her.

“Mom?” He asks again, confused. Had he died again?

“Oh, hush, baby, you’ll be alright. Mama’s got you.”

Footfalls.

“Here, I brought a towel, sweetheart. Should we bring him to the clinic?”

“We might have to. Hopefully Dr. Leslie has an opening,” his mom answers, wiping at Jason’s face with a warm towel. That was Willis. His dad. The last Jason’s heard him sound this carefree was… too long. Jason’s head drooped, violent shivers shaking his frame as his fever spiked. He slips into unconsciousness, feeling the warmth of his mother scooping him to her chest.

It wasn’t so bad to die like this. He’d have preferred, and is literally taking this secret to the grave, his brothers and Bruce nearby. But this is good too.

——

So, it wasn’t a dream. He's holding a lollipop— those cheap ones every doctor's office has— and staring blankly at his hands. In the corner, with hushed whispers like he wouldn't catch the concerned glances cast his way, stood a younger Dr. Leslie and his parents. His parents, who last he knew, died in tragic ways. Relatively speaking to Gotham, they were regular deaths.

Hm. Jason fiddled with the wrapper of the lollipop. He's had his mental breaks before, but never has he felt so sane during one. Plus, the last thing he remembered was dying, again, and he's been trained to spot any holes in his memories.

The insane theory was fortunately out, though, considering he didn't feel the immediate urge to murder everyone in his vicinity. Jason’s been there. He’s left there with a mountain of bodies behind him too. So. Time travel. Alternate universe, maybe?

His mom comes over and picks him up, settling him on her hip. He curls into her, breathing in a scent he’s long forgotten but still knew. She smelt like home.

“Come on, Jay. Let’s go home, sweetheart.”

“Thank you, doctor,” his dad tries to shuffle some crumpled bills into Dr. Leslie’s hands, but Jason knew that was a losing battle. Dr. Leslie dodged the money with the grace of a woman who’s done it millions of times before.

“Oh, look at that. We’re having a free treatment for children day today. Our sponsors are very generous.” She said, with the tone that sounded peaceful. Jason knew better. That tone meant Bruce had better be generous or else. Jason had always wondered how many of her windows Bruce broke.

“What?”

“Isn’t that right, Connie?” Dr. Leslie looked at her receptionist.

“That’s right, Mr. Todd! Today is free treatment for kids day!” Lonnie lied through her teeth without skipping a beat. Respect. Jason buried his face in his mother’s neck.

“How are you feeling, baby?” His mom asked him, tugging strands of her blond hair from beneath his face so he could be there without irritation. Jason feels warm.

Figuratively and literally.

“Hot,” he complains.

“I know, sweetheart. It’ll get better soon, promise. Then we can go out for ice cream, hm?”

“Mmh.” As if. Jason remembered enough of this time period. They didn’t have money for luxuries like life cream. Poverty literally killed his family. He needs to—

Ooo, that’s the best idea he ever had in his entire life.

(In a different reality, Duck Grayson smacked his brother in the back of the head. “That’s the worst idea you ever had in your entire life!”

“What the fuck, Dickhead?! I didn’t even say anything!!” Jason punched Dick in the arm in retaliation.

“Huh. I don’t know why I did that.”)

He’s gonna rob the 1% blind!

“Khakkkk,” he coughed, feeling light headed.

Maybe after he recovered.

[puppyjt]

firmly believe all of jason's parents knew she was trans and it would be really funny if the only one who didn't was bruce.

willis and cathy knew easily. that was their baby girl and they loved her to the ends of the earth, they treated and cared for her like a girl even if it was never communicated.

sheila could probably figure it out, but she wouldn't realize what it actually was. it was more of a subconscious clock that said "you're different." it's undeterminable whether she would be supportive or not, i want to lean towards not particularly, but sheila was also performing illegal abortons so maybe she's more woke than i think.

talia knew it from the moment she met jason actually. she saw herself in jay and went yep, you're too tragic and doomed to be a boy. you're my daughter now.

ducra knew because. duh. she's all knowing.

(honourable mentions:

natalia also knew similarly to talia. just like, yeah you're just like me forreal. it took her a bit longer to realize but as she got to know jason she understood. and loved her unconditionally

harvey & two face knew instantly and couldn't understand how bruce didn't. they were fs supportive and two face has definitely accidentally dropped an "atta girl" on jason as both robin and red hood before she herself even realized she was trans.)

but bruce for the life of him CANNOT figure it out. jason could show up with a full face of makeup, several procedures having been done, in a dress and heels, and bruce would go "are you undercover or something?" bruce isn't stupid, obviously, he just hasn't had this experience before and doesn't realize the signs of jason being trans when she was young and now. he doesn't exactly have a normal gauge for what little boys are supposed to like. he was a traumatized barely verbal kid with violent tendencies, who had flamboyant colourful circus kid dick (with violent tendencies). his examples of boyhood were not very accurate/general!!!!

he would definitely go "Ohhhh, that makes sense" if someone told him, but no one ever has.

[jayladfanpage]

I think that because a lot of people don't read the original '80s comics this ends up getting lost in comic retcons, but a very important characteristic of Robin!Jason, that has been changed to better fit the narrative that he's a villain, is that Jason had unwavering and complete trust in Bruce and in the Batman mythos.

In the original comics he constantly looks to Bruce for guidance, orders, or generally Bruce's opinions. Jason does not, when he is Robin, at any point doubt Bruce's ability to save people or Bruce's kindness, and that is what makes under the Red Hood so tragic, because Jason never once even considered the possibility that Bruce didn't love him or wouldn't be there for him, and then Bruce proved him wrong. The reason why Jason was so heartbroken at the thought of there being a new Robin and at Joker still being alive is that there wasn't a single sliver of doubt in his heart when he died that Bruce was going to avenge him.

Ps: I know Bruce loves Jason very much. Jason, in UTRH, does not know that.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

do you have any tips for writing realistic superheroes? A character like batman for instance

Writing Notes: Superhero Fiction

Superhero Fiction - a style of fiction that focuses on protagonists with superhuman capabilities.

Typically the superhero main character exists in a version of our present day world, only with carefully chosen fantastical alterations.

This produces a natural overlap with the genre known as urban fantasy, which combines fantastic worldbuilding with grounded gritty elements of today’s world.

Necessary Tropes

You generally need superpowers — although of course Batman got around without them. But then, some might say that his Crazy-Prepared abilities, superhuman level of easily accessible monetary wealth, and alleged company favouritism are superpowers in and of themselves...

At very least, then, we can say that you need characters who have abilities that are above and beyond those of most average people.

Even Badass Normal superheroes such as Batman and Iron Man still have such abilities as near-genius level deductive insight, martial arts skills and engineering genius that sets them apart from everyday civilians.

Superheroes also generally require the Secret Identity - a public superhero identity and a private civilian identity.

This is not uniform, however, and there's many superheroes who only have one (and even for those who have both, sometimes it's the civilian identity that's the mask, and the Superhero form is the real "them").

Costumes and code names are also iconic for the genre.

Common Plot Elements of Superhero Fiction

No two pieces of superhero fiction are quite the same, but many common elements connect the touchstones of the genre. Here are a few iconic superhero tropes:

An urban metropolis setting based on New York City. New York was America’s capital of culture and media during the Great Depression and World War II, just as comic books were surging to life. As such, many superhero comics were set in New York or in very close approximations such as Gotham City.

A superpower, often enabled by a specialized item. Superheroes can do things that ordinary humans cannot. Often these superpowers are made possible by fantastical items, such as Superman’s cape or Iron Man’s mechanized suit of armor. Not all superpowered items are clothing-related, but capes are a common element of superhero fiction.

A dramatic origin story. Writers of superhero fiction take pains to explain how their protagonists attained their powers and why they’ve chosen their path in life. Some superhero origin stories are tragic, like that of Bruce Wayne losing his parents before becoming Batman. Others are more circumstantial, like the story of Peter Parker being bitten by a radioactive spider and becoming Spider-Man.

A secret identity. Many superheroes lead dual lives in the everyday world, surrounded by people who never suspect their vigilante alter ego. Whether it’s Superman moonlighting as newspaper reporter Clark Kent, or Batman hiding behind the character of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, a superhero’s “normal” persona includes a carefully concocted mix of similarities and differences from their heroic alter ego.

A supervillain adversary. Superheroes have fantastical powers. So do their adversaries, who commonly categorized as supervillains. In some cases, supervillains are just as famous as the superheroes they fight. The Joker, Loki, and Magneto serve as examples. Some of the best superhero books feature adversaries that are in fact anti-heroes—misfits with a renegade ethos like Catwoman who thrive on misanthropic behavior. Just like the heroes, most of these bad guys also employ a secret identity. For instance, most of the time, Spider-Man’s nemesis the Green Goblin is industrialist Norman Osborn.

An iconic sidekick. A hero can rarely save humanity without some help. That’s why Batman has Robin and Captain America has Bucky Barnes.

A superhero story can take on many forms, including superhero novels, superhero movies, and the hallmark of the superhero genre, the comic book.

Many literary historians consider the Great Depression and World War II era to be the golden age of superhero comics. Audiences enjoyed their escapist plots, their strong moral ethos, and the books’ affordable cost.

The comic book boom continued into the Cold War era, which also spawned comic books’ close cousins, graphic novels.

Superhero filmmaking is now enjoying its own golden age, as the first two decades of the 21st century have been dominated by Hollywood blockbusters adapted from classic twentieth century comic books.

In one way or another, we've enjoyed stories about superheroes for centuries.

Tales about men and women blessed with extraordinary powers and abilities using those gifts to champion the innocent and battle the forces of darkness have circulated throughout mythology and literature since ancient times.

However, the idea of what we today think of as the superhero has its origins in the pulp magazines and comic strips of the 1930s, and its genesis with the 1938 debut of Superman, who over 80 years later remains in regular publication as a comic book as well as the subject of cartoons, films, TV shows, and more besides.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

You can find more tropes in this genre here to help you create your character. And more tips here that provides a guide on the common themes, possible subversions, and pitfalls when using these tropes. Hope this helps with your writing!

[malfiora]

More jaydick rambles because @normal-nightmare told me to:

I think the intimacy between Dick and Jason can't be overstated, regardless of if you ship them or not. Excluding Bruce and Barbara, these two have known each other the longest in the Batfam. More importantly, they've seen sides of each other that subsequent kids haven't. Going back to the OG timeline, Jason had met Dick as Robin, and then witnessed him retire and ultimately become Nightwing. On the flipside, Dick met Jason as a kid, gave him the costume, and then had to mourn him. None of the others got this side of them: even by the time Tim joins, Dick's identity as Nightwing and as a mentor/big brother figure had already solidified, and Jason comes back as a vengeful Red Hood, and it's just like that from that point on.

So I imagine that when Dick looks at Jason, he sees the eager thirteen year old trying so hard to be just like him. Jason looks at Dick and sees this cool older guy who believes in him for some strange reason. And there's just. So much fondness in that. (And guilt for my fellow angst lovers, hehehe.)

So hang onto that for this next part.

I haven't even come close to reading every single piece of Batfam media, and I doubt it's even possible. However, I still get confused when fans (and now even the characters themselves) claim that these two have a contentious relationship because...where is it? From what I read, they generally like each other and pretty quickly fall into a mentor/mentee (or older/younger brother) or partners dynamic. The two biggest examples of true conflict I've seen are Battle for the Cowl and the imposter Nightwing arc in Nightwing (1996). In Cowl, they are having a values-based conflict that resolves pretty quickly. It's not necessarily personal. And don't get me started on the imposter Nightwing thing (again).

Instead, let's consider that about a decade after Jason's debut and soon after his backstory was retconned, the Nightwing (1996) Year One arc featured a new rendition of Dick and Jason meeting for the first time. They go from fighting to partnering up in about five minutes and then very quickly settle into that older/younger dynamic:

(#105-106)

Keep in mind that about 20 issues later in this same series, adult Jason pops up pretending to be Nightwing and wanting to play dynamic duo with Dick (i.e. imposter Nightwing arc).

For my fellow shippers:

Anyway, due to the intimacy between these two that starts with this vertical dynamic, I can't help but think of them as entering a sort of erastes/eromenos relationship, akin to Apollo and Hyacinth. (And this myth is extremely fitting since Hyacinth dies tragically and Apollo is made to believe that it was his fault.) There's a mutual kind of awe and devotion that's just lovely.

[qcomicsy]

A thing that's rotating a lot in my mind about Bruce's relationship with his children is that very few times there was a huge fight or situation or moment that drove them apart, but generally the fact that it just started deteriorating with time. Specially with Dick.

When you get to see the 80's comics you start to get the signs of plain minor misunderstandings and conflicts that slowly beging to spiral more and more with external situations (and pressure) until we get to what we have today. And this is much more realistic and tragic than anything.

[dickgraysonsptsd]

Do you know what's up with all the fanart and fics and stuff that show Jason super close and Brotherly with Damian/Tim/Cass/Steph? Because not to be a Dick Grayson biased guy, but it really does seem like some backwards level misogyny taking people who have complex and important relationships with dick (especially Damian??????????) And being like nahhhhhh Dicks just the fun older bro lol he can't and doesn't have complex relationships with these guys but Jason who lower class and was tragically murdered does :D the Jason and Tim stuff Especially because Tim fucking hates Jason in canon and yet every 4th batman related fanart that pops up is them being closer than close brothers and Dick just a background character. I do understand people have biases and fave characters, but at this point, it seems people are doing this just to push dick out the way or undermine his importance, literally backwards misogyny fridging dick (and Barbara and steph) so Jason and cass get to play house and have that hug they absolutely had in canon

so i think a lot of this comes from what i understand to be a huge influx of new fans to batfandom during the pandemic, most of whom were primarily interested in fanon depictions of the characters. they got into the bats through fanfic or wfa or tiktoks or whatever and while some people then got into comics, tv shows, etc from there, plenty stayed in the "fanon universe" corner of fandom.

jason is especially popular among these types of fans, which led to them making more fanworks of him that got more new fans interested in him, and so on. this is is fine! i'm glad people have their biases and their faves because i certainly do too, we need lots of people with different faves for a diverse ecosystem!

unfortunately a lot of the things they say they like about red hood jason (good big brother, protective of and respectful towards survivors and sex workers, caring, compassionate, engages with his community, wants to improve his city, fights openly with bruce but is capable of reconciling with him, etc) are literally just dick's traits given to jason for the sake of softening jason's very abrasive and antagonistic post-crisis character (and anything set in/around utrh is necessarily based in post-crisis!). even jason's relationships that they say they like, such as his n52+ friendships with roy or kory, are... dick's. and fans of roy or kory generally hate how they're portrayed in relation to jason because their characters have to be warped to force them into relationships with him.

and now that these fanon-focused fans have built a version of jason that they love which happens to overlap heavily with dick, they have to do something else with dick. which is usually, as you pointed out, assigning him a shallow personality or pushing him into the background of fanworks in some way. he has to be mindlessly supportive of daddy bruce, cheerful, ditzy, a crybaby, etc to simplify him out of his normal central role in the lives of characters like tim, damian, bruce, etc (it's interesting that he's often loaded with stereotypically Annoying Feminine Traits in comparison to jason being made a "strong but soft" masculine man... hm...).

the only mainstream comics canon that i'm aware of with meaningful basis for any other bats being closer to jason than to dick is n52, which has a really funny full page spread of tim going "wow.. i've never had a brother before... not like jason my beloved... <333" while laying next to jason on the ground. otherwise this whole "jason is the real big brother who all the bats love" thing is pure fanon.

now like. as to motivation for this. i think the vast majority of jason fans don't hate dick and don't have any ill intent towards his character or his fans. i feel you because as a dick obsessive i also get frustrated with all of this, but i seriously don't think most people who do this have any intent beyond having fun with their toys. and i don't think the fanon jason fans are really thinking about canon dick or jason to begin with for the most part--they're essentially playing with dolls shaped like the bat characters. and they're having fun with it so.... good for them *said through clenched teeth*

basically i think it all comes from a pretty harmless place but it's annoying as fuck and FEELS targeted lmao.

now, not speaking as a dick grayson superfan anymore--the shit that steph and cass get in particular to bend them into people who would looooove jason and embrace him as part of the batfamily is ABSURD. i can't imagine being a cass superfan in this society. as if CASSANDRA CAIN would give jason a hug and go "big brother <3" when jason has repeatedly desecrated the batsymbol (which is how cass would see it, as desecration!!!). jason had the option to not kill and he chose to kill because he wanted to. cass would beat his ass.

i am especiallyyyy peeved when i see "steph and jason would be besties because they're both from poor families :D" takes because like. first of all, weird to reduce them to "the poor robins." and very weird to try for a "both of their dads were villains/henchmen" angle too because red hood jason has killed plenty of criminals who left kids just like steph behind. second, steph would not tolerate post-crisis jason. jason tormented tim and then--EDIT: GANG I MISREMEMBERED THIS jason is not the one who shot damian in the spine. however i still firmly believe steph would beat his ass.

(i do personally think an element of misogyny/homophobia is involved in how readily people will strip dick of his personality and relationships and give them to the more traditionally masculine jason, who has no "questionable" relationships with men and whose relationship with bruce is "pure" and straightforwardly familial, but i don't have the spoons to put that into words rn. but i feel you. but it's also a complicated thing to talk about without sounding like i'm talking over misogyny towards actual female characters. you know)

[butterflywordsmith]

There's actually so much potential for Black Bruce Wayne

So canonically his family has been around Gotham since at least the Revolutionary War.

I'm imagining the Waynes and the Kanes being part of like the first free families of color. This gives them time to amass wealth and basically establish themselves as part of the black upper echelon. For a long time, they were still kept seperate from many white circles and they fought tooth and nail to create paths to generational wealth for other black families despite constant sabotage from the other families as well as the government until sometime after the civil rights movement where it became very clear that they were there to stay and they would never back down. Throughout all of this Thomas Wayne did, in fact, become a successful and renowned doctor.

But these families do have secrets, don't they?

It takes a lot to keep the careful balance of peace in Gotham- between politicians, the corrupt GCPD, the elite families and of course... the organized crime syndicates.

Which makes it all the more tragic when Thomas and Martha Wayne are gunned down in front of their very young son, Bruce Wayne, who is now orphaned. Adding to the controversy is that their will leaves him in the care of their butler, Alfred Pennyworth.

I think this is the spark that would drive Bruce to grow up and wonder what Gotham is really like outside of the safety of Wayne Manor. While he's transforming himself into the ultimate crime fighter and navigating the corporate world and in between adopting several children as a single father, he also has to contend with the change he wants so desperately for the citizens of Gotham and the respectability politics and the expectation of Black Excellence that his civilian persona can't ever fully escape. Especially since he insists on the Brucie Wayne persona to distract the authorities from the fact he is the Dark Knight.

I also think this would make his relationships with Lucius Fox and Amanda Waller so much more compelling as people within the community who are also in positions of power and up against a structure which consistently has tried to force them all out.

Then there's the matter of the Rogues, many of whom wonder whose side hes actually on.

For the batkids I would actually keep Dick as a Romani character and Tim would still be white. Cass and Steph could also stay roughly the same and obviously I wouldn't change Duke's background.

I would, however, prefer Jason to also be black in this AU because it would add so many layers to the dynamic and history between him and Bruce and the differences between them prior to meeting each other and the tension after Jason's return from the dead.

I also think it would be incredibly interesting to see a mixed Damian Wayne (black, arab, chinese) discover what it means to be black in America for the first time. It wasn't that it was never brought up in the League, only that it didn't matter as much as it does in the U.S. and having Bruce help him navigate that would also be interesting in addition to Damian also getting to just be a kid at home which COULD be an allegory -_-

These are my thoughts for now. I may expand on this later but I just think it would be neat one day much as it might piss some people off. It's an AU.

[calvincell]

I’ve been making my way through my 3rd re-listen of the incredible podcast - Batman: The Audio Adventures & just appreciating once more not only how terrifically written it is by showrunner Dennis McNicholas but also incredibly well acted by all of the amazing cast. For any unaware, the podcast is an audio fiction blend of comedy & superhero drama that was previously only an exclusive for HBO MAX subscribers back in 2021 but now both released seasons are freely available on literally every podcast app including on MAX’s own YT Channel itself, no subscription required.

In particular, I love the Harvey Dent moment we get in Season 1 - Episode 6 - “The Whale of Damocles”:

I have to first off praise the inspired creative choice the series makes to give Two-Face the dynamic that his personas are essentially like constantly bickering twin brothers - arguing, name calling & posturing but still inseparable at the end of the day.

In the scene in question, Harvey’s binary obsession has allowed The Penguin to easily lure Dent to his favorite pier on the Gotham Wharf, Pier 2, to prevent a planted bomb from destroying it. Batman arrives soon after as Dent’s desperate search brings him to the most perilous part of the pier. Batman is so earnestly trying to appeal to Harvey to stop that he almost can’t prevent slipping into his Bruce Wayne voice when we then get an excellent memorable moment (@ ~31:50) where we get a glimpse at the tortorus psychosis Harvey is living through:

Harvey gives this tragic peek into his mind as he extols the awe-inspiring & nightmarish gospel he shares with his violent other half. It’s not only a very well written torrent of mad thoughts but also brilliantly & emotionally performed by Harvey/Two-Face’s VA: Ike Barinholtz. Batinholtz truly makes Harvey sound simultaneously mesmerized, terrified & sorrowful - on the verge of tears as he tells his former friend about the completely fractured way he views the world now & Batman’s actor Jeffrey Wright matches it with his desperate pleas to Harvey’s true self colored by the unflinching compassion he has for Dent.

For how invested the show is in genuinely trying to revive a bit of the Adam West era charm and fun camp & IMO successfully making the show legitimately funny, I believe it’s also equally in touch with the aspects of the franchise exemplified in shows like BTAS ie the darkness of the setting & emotionally resonant tragedy of both Batman himself and the different members within his rogues gallery. The show is not just sharp on a comedic level but also earnestly intriguing & engaging dramatically as well.

I have no doubt sung this show’s praises before but I don’t plan to stop anytime soon because I truly believe that the series is a must listen for every fan of Batman, superheroes & audio fiction/audio dramas generally. From top to bottom, the series is a brilliant production and stands to me personally as amongst the best content within the umbrella of DC Comics at least within the last decade.

[iliadicjasontodd]

Hello! 👋 I just wanted to know what your Tim Drake WIP was about if you'd like to yap. You had some thoughts on his character in general and I'd be happy to hear them! What are the issues in canon and what nuances you'd like other people to consider. Thank you!

Hi!! I've been thinking about this ask for days I'm thrilled with it tbh!!

So, from my notes on the WIP, tentatively entitled too much will cause damage:

keep the basis. the wealth, the parents, the genius intellect and the thrusting himself into the role of robin. he thinks little of it. jason in his memory is an unobtrusive, quiet, and mostly unremarkable- if disruptive due to others’ reactions to his class and race- when they crossed into each others’ vicinity in high society and in school, and jason served his purpose until he’d clearly fumbled and outlived it. because robin is a job and a role and tim simply believes he can fill it best. Bruce never entirely forgives this trespass and it weighs over their relationship and, assuming steph and cass and damian still come in in this verse, does colour his ability to trust that jason’s worth is not somehow being degraded by their presence and his ability to trust that he himself does not actually view children as somehow fulfilling a utilitarian role. anyway, tim is driven by a belief in his own self-worth and invulnerability and a fundamental desire to exercise that self-worth in order to mold what he can of the time he lives in in his own image; he has a gd complex, in other words. he wants to be robin because he desires more strength- he desires to be chosen (and so he will never truly be satisfied with having taken the role himself, even if he does get satisfaction from taking and winning things). i enjoy the idea of this cold and irritating and mostly uncompassionate child putting himself in a position that eventually does push him to gain a desire for selflessness, and a desire to not be the best but to be good, even though it never comes naturally to him. he learns from bruce, he learns from dick, and he learns from jason, who, while not literally, does haunt him throughout his robin run as tim learns about him in bits and pieces, at first on accident, and later on purpose. i would keep his mission to find bruce and his altercation with the league of assassins but just have him be absolutely bodied. just fucking destroyed, trying to fix something he doesn’t fix anyway: bruce comes back on his own, and in the course of this he learns the real manner of jason’s death, learns the fact that jason did not die from mistakes tim is simply better than him for not making, and when steph “dies” in part due to bruce and tim’s treatment of her, most of his beliefs about himself crumble under the weight of all of this, and he is forced to build himself back up, but he is never going to be the naturally nice, hopeful, altruistic Robin through his nature. so he puts in the effort to discard as much of himself to fit the role he so naïvely took, believing it was suited for him, that it was his when it wasn’t, but he made a commitment. basically, i want him to be a tragic figure. he will lose little externally- his parents won’t die, he gets the job of his dreams, friends and status- but internally he won’t be at all unscathed or unchanged. i want him striving for this very imperfect goodness, faltering, and then trying again anyway. i want a statement in inherited wealth and main character syndrome, and on the choice to be compassionate and selfless when that does not come easily and must be chosen again and again. i want him cold and egocentric and entitled enough that when he feels guilt, true guilt, it’s nearly, nearly a novel feeling, and it changes him. I want him to have come from a place of devaluing and stepping over the still-warm corpse of a dead boy and i want that to haunt his entire narrative inescapably like an original sin.

Very long. But basically the idea behind this was, for me, turning Tim into something that could be, for me, and for many of the people I know who take issue with him as he is, satisfactory. The goal is to span his Robin days through Jason's revival and Bruce's 'death'. I'm aware he will not fully or even very much resemble the canon Tim Drake because the idea is to take the groundwork and adjust. Because, tbh, the groundwork lain is something that I could find really interesting, but the way he is written and his existence in and of itself is something I find difficult to swallow.

under the cut because I got caught up in the joy of talking shit about Tim Drake:

You asked about my issues with Tim in canon and I have panels from his Robin run that I criticised him for in DMs and other panels saved here and there that I might reblog this and add later but it's almost 2 am now and I have class in like 8 hours, so for now we'll take my word. Basically, Tim was created to be the quintessential perfect unproblematic Robin after Jason was killed basically for-- existing while poor. For having poor parents, for coming from a poor area of Gotham, for having been homeless, for being traumatised by any of this. But not Tim, no. Tim can be equal to Bruce, of course, in a way Jason never could! Tim is everything Robin should be- he is wealthy, and he is white, and he has normal high school problems. Never mind that he cannot pack his own bag, that he has beef with an eleven year old, that he will eventually steal Jason's mantle- not Robin, but Red Robin. He's the best Robin! Tim is a genius and he is a disciplined hero and he goes to beat up Asian people in Paris.

I will admit, a lot of my annoyance with tim stems from his fanon interpretation, which betrays a lot of misogyny and classism, ableism and racism in the fandom, which obviously shouldn't be a surprise. But yeah, in short- in fanon, he often replaces Barbara as a coder or technological genius or genius point blank, often replaces Jason as having experienced homelessness, food insecurity, and even death or torture at the Joker's hands; the amount of fanfiction I have read in which some form of the phrase "Jason suffered, but Tim had it so much worse," has been unironically uttered- often by Jason himself!-in some fucked up trauma olympics that everyone will bend over backwards to have their favourite rich boy win somehow even though no one else was really trying to play is ludicrous. In these cases, Barbara's own Joker-related trauma is hardly ever even brought up. In every case, Jason must repent endlessly for the unforgivable sin- not of murder and desecration and attempted patricide or any of that, no, but of kind of beating up his sort-of brother that's like a year and a half younger than him at most. Tim was neglected, no one loved him, he is neurodivergent and a minor. He is a little helpless child with glass bones and paper skin.

Basically, I think Tim is a deeply flawed character who actually starts from a point in the narrative rich in potential: Bruce has just lost his son, Gotham is going darker by the issue, and the Batman symbol is more haunted than ever, and Robin is never meant to fly again- after all, it's difficult to use wings six feet under. Tim is positioned as different from Jason in every way, which canon used to turn him into some prejudiced cardboard cutout teenaged hero but could be used to make him effectively an extremely particular boy who, for all intents and purposes, is still rather singular to this moment, and could be used to examine being Robin and growing up through an entirely novel (to Batman, at this time) angle. Blood had to be spilled to make space for Tim in the story; I just want to see what happens if I take that and run with it.

[lorbanery]

I just need to talk about Dick Grayson and Jon Kent's relationship for a minute

Just 'cause I keep seeing people file it under the typical Super-Bats dichotomy (Bruce and Clark, Tim and Kon, Jason and Bizarro, Damian and Jon)

BUT

Have you considered: Dick is the Superman to Jon's Robin?

Just

Just listen

There's the obvious justification that's just "Dick is much older than Jon", sure. But there's more nuance here.

Dick is different people to different generations of heroes.

To his own generation he's the responsible best friend everyone knows they can rely on, but also know better than to think of him as superhuman because they've all seen him at his worst (and by worst I don't just mean "most depressed" I mean most "shouting at his four year old niece" bitchy asshole).

I'm skipping Jason because he doesn't have his own generation he just kind of awkwardly pilfers people from Dick's and Tim's until they'd willingly shank Batman for him.

To Tim's generation he's a legend who they quickly realized is actually almost as out-of-touch as the first gen heroes. They're like a big queer friend group and he's the one kid's kind of square straight older brother. He's cool, he's supportive, he's always willing to drive them places, covers for them when they ditch class or are out past curfew, and he WILL throw down with anyone's homophobic parents; but he always has a lecture ready about underage drinking and while he laughs along with their "I'm too gay for this" jokes, you can tell he doesn't really get them. At least he's always excited for Pride. He buys himself a new "ally" shirt every year.

(Disclaimer: Previous paragraph was meant merely as a demonstrative metaphor and not to express any definitive opinion on Dick Grayson's sexuality. @ DC Comics let that boy be bi)

But to Damian's generation? Dick Grayson is a parental figure. When Damian and Jon were first starting out their superhero careers, Dick was not only acting as Batman, but as Damian's guardian, two roles most people, in-universe, expected him to be in permanently. And for Jon Dick wasn't just his friend's dad; when Clark had to leave Earth, forcing Jon to step into the role of Superman, and Jon expressed concern over being up to the job, Clark specifically told Jon to seek out Dick.

Because Jon, of course, was a teenager facing down not only the responsibility of being a superhero, but of bearing the weight of being a famous figure of hope. Something Dick had already done as the first Robin, and had helped at least a little two other teenagers navigate.

Now, I'm going to take a little tangent here to explain why Dick is the Clark in this situation.

When we talk about Dick's tragic backstory, a lot of little details change from retelling to retelling; but the one thing that stays consistent is the fact that Bruce took him in because Dick reminded him of himself. They both watched their parents get murdered at a young age (sometimes the exact same age, depending on the retelling); neither of them had any immediate family to take them in; both of them were only children who suddenly found themselves with the burden of being the sole carrier of their family's significant legacy. But that's pretty much where the similarities end.

Bruce was raised in a wealthy family, in a mansion in a major metropolitan city where his family had deep roots all the way back to its founding. Dick was raised by a very much working class family that lived out of a trailer/wagon/train most of, if not the entire year, traveling all across the country and/or globe. If they had a permanent residence anywhere, it was probably one of the suburbs around Tampa that were historically the off-season homes for circus performers (at least that's where I would put it).

Bruce was able to stay in his childhood home with a guardian who'd known him his whole life, who knew his family history and legacy. He was able to step into his family's legacy when he grew up and even expand it well beyond what his parents did.

Dick had to leave not only the circus he grew up in, he had to leave behind the entire community and culture and ended up being raised in a world that was completely different from it. Raised by a man who certainly respected his family and their history, but didn't know much about it or what their hopes and expectations had been for Dick.

While the path that eventually led him to becoming Batman began, for Bruce, that night when his parents were murdered, he didn't actually start seriously working towards and mentally taking on that responsibility until he was much older. In some cases he was in high school, in some not until after he graduated. But he taught himself and learned how to be a hero as an adult. He was in his twenties when he was taking the responsibility of other people's lives onto his own shoulders; when he was learning how to be most effective; when he was learning in real time the consequences of doing something wrong.

Dick started training and/or working as Robin the moment he became a permanent member of the Wayne household. He was anywhere between roughly 8 and 16, depending on the retelling, but in every version he was very a child or teenager taking on that responsibility of other people's lives, learning in real time the consequences of doing something wrong. He was trying to navigate school and a social life while feeling that responsibility for other people's safety and having this huge secret he couldn't talk about. He was given these special skills from his birth family's legacy that his adoptive parent warned him to hide from people lest they guess his secret. He had this overdeveloped strength and fighting skills that meant he had to consciously hold back when he fought bullies in school.

But while that doesn't describe Bruce, it does describe someone else in Dick's life: Clark. He lost his parents at a very young age leading him to be raised in a completely different culture and world by his adoptive parents. They respected his birth family and their culture, but knew nothing about them. They were a working class family, who lived in a small town. He developed his powers when he was just a kid. They were a part of his family legacy that his adoptive parents encouraged him to hide to keep his secret. They created a sense of responsibility in him at a young age to use them to help and protect people. They made it so that he had to hold back when he fought bullies in school. He had to learn how to navigate school and a social life while feeling that responsibility, while having this huge secret, and learning the consequences of doing something wrong when he was trying to protect people.

Clark related to Dick as a kid/teenager in ways that Bruce never really could. Clark understood a lot of the struggles Dick was facing, the weight on his shoulders. That's one of the many reasons he was, typically, very friendly and supportive of Dick; why he treated him as a respected colleague ; why he was always happy to spend time with and chat with Dick, even when Bruce wasn't around. He became a second trusted mentor to Dick, someone who understood what it was like to dedicate your entire life to protecting people; to spending your entire life as someone potentially dangerous to normal people; to being removed from your family legacy and their culture and taking up that of your adoptive family instead.

That's why, when Dick finds himself in situations where his life is drastically changing, one of his first stops is always Metropolis. That's why, when his life drastically changes and he doesn't come to Metropolis, Clark comes to check in on him. And Clark doesn't always have good advice to share to help Dick find his way. But he has enough similar life experience that it makes him pretty much the only mentor figure in Dick's life that Dick can really talk to who best understands him and his unique struggles.

Back to Jon.

When Jon was forced to become Superman, he was worried about how to be Superman. How to take on that kind of responsibility when he was so young. Clark sent him to Dick not just because he had a unique perspective on what Superman needs to be as someone who's been a fan, a colleague, and a friend; not just because he could teach Jon how to fight and protect himself and others even without his powers; not just because he's an excellent teacher. But because no other non-super has as much experience navigating the complex life of being a high profile kid superhero.

And Dick taught him. He trained him, and he told him about his father and his legacy, about who Superman was to the people who cared about him and worked with him.

And well after Dick's gone back to being Nightwing, even when he's not a constant fixture in Damian's life anymore, even when he's off in Bludhaven, when Jon finds himself struggling to navigate a new situation as a superhero, one of the first things he does is seek out Dick. Dick doesn't always have good advice to give him, but he does have similar experiences that help him understand Jon and his unique struggles.

[confusedhummingbird]

Why do DickBabs fans always bring up this pregnancy theory? Like, I remember they once speculated that Babs was pregnant just because she felt nauseous during an issue of Tom Taylor’s run (obviously, he wanted to tease that possibility, too). It’s like what the other anon said — if DC really wanted them married, they would’ve already done it during Taylor’s run. He would’ve loved to write their wedding. If they didn’t even take that step, imagine giving them a baby.

Even if this supposed Babs pregnancy happens, it would likely come with some tragic storyline, like a miscarriage or something dramatic. Having a baby would completely disrupt the structure of the Bat-Family — they’d finally have to age up Batman and Damian over time (which the editorial absolutely dreads).

Like you said, as long as Dick is under the Batman editorial, he’s never going to have a child with any woman he’s with. I’d even say that, even outside of the Batman editorial, they still wouldn’t give him a child anytime soon.

I guess because like many they want Dick and Barbara to be parents, which I mean I can't fault them for because my whole canon has Dick and Kory as parents but that's just it. It's my canon because I know even if by some miracle Dick and Kory got back together and stayed together, there is very little chance of DC ever allowing Dick to be a father in the main universe. This was already shown with Pre Flashpoint canon where every other member of the Fab 5 had a kid at one point, except for Dick. And the worst part is this isn't because of Dick himself or that he wouldn't be a good father, we see with Elseworld stories and just his interactions with kids in general he'd be a great father. No it's because he's Bruce's kid and DC aren't about to let their biggest book become old and a Grandfather. That's why even though Batman should be around 45 minimum given the ages of his kids, he's still in that age limbo where they refuse to let him be canonically 40. As long as Dick is connected to the Batfamily which probably is gonna be forever unfortunately, he's never gonna be a dad because they'll never let Bruce be a grandfather.

[cairoscene]

do you have any fic recs? (anything w tim joins the batfam early or ghostbat or anything in general tbh!)

hello i absolutely do! i'm going to try to give a good scattering of different fics and hope one of these is new to you/what you're looking for.

for "tim joins the bat family early" these are some of my favorites:

5 Times Tim Spends the Night at Wayne Manor + 1 Time He Comes Home by motleyfam. this fic is inspired by Latchkey by goldkirk and birds fly in every direction by distracted_dragon, and all three are really excellent fics and great entries into this particular tag. all three of these fics are ones i turn to when i want prime hurt/comfort tim pangs with plenty of family fluff and shenanigans.

Brother Wanted by Vamillepudding. i read this one early on in fandom and i still laugh when i think about it. premise is that jason mistakenly answers tim's advert for a brother and ends up with tim paying him to be his brother. it's full of a very precocious and lonely tim trying his hardest to keep jason around, while jason is desperately trying to figure out how to get this kid adopted before he runs out of money. truly a delightful fic.

Like a Hinge, Like a Wing by Ultrageekatlarge. cw for child abuse and peril, so mind the tags but imo this is a work of art. genuinely one of the best paced and well-written fics out there. i suppose it's technically not tim joining the family early but rather an AU where jason never died, so tim never had the chance to replace him; instead he finds himself under the care of a horrible uncle after his parents die, and in desperation, he turns to the only person who can help: batman.

the Surveillance series by smilebackwards. cheating again bc technically this is just an AU where jason didn't die and tim is a civilian, so it's got the flavor of a different joining-the-family dynamic, plus added timkon delightfulness. this is my go-to for highly competent and extremely lonely tim drake content.

as for ghostbat, it's an extremely small tag, but it's got some excellent fics:

Miscommunication by OkayAristotle. pretty sure this is the first fic in the ghostbat tag, and somehow it got them prefect right from the start. the petty banter and ease with which they interact is phenomenal.

break me shake me devastate me by pendulum_north. some great angst with a small helping of comfort! as well as just a good overall look at the more tragic side to ghostbat.

i used to waste my time dreaming of being alive (now i only waste it dreaming of you) by nygmamale. bed-sharing! pining! banter! angst! there's something about how they both go out of their way to spite the other in this fic that really gets me.

The First Warm Thing by Noknowname. absolutely aching ghostbat domesticity and old men being gross and in love.

and i'll throw in a few of my other favorite random DC fics just for the heck of it:

A Meditation on Railroading by eggmacguffin. this remains one of my all-time favorite fics. tim gets stranded and chooses to freight-hop his way back to gotham, and guess who ends up on the same train? "baby wipes jason" is still spoken with reverent and hushed tones in my groupchat regularly.

Stargazer by lemonadegarden. my favorite comfort reread jason fic. jason breaks his leg and gets stuck at the manor while recuperating. honestly it's rare to find a fic that really lets jason feel as young as he is. i think he's 19 in this fic and he feels so very lost and young and hurt in a way that really heals me.

Overcoming Our Antecedents by Batbirdies. jason gets temporarily de-aged, and bruce has feelings about it. one of my cornerstone jason and bruce fics, mostly bc it contextualizes bruce and jason's relationship pre-jason's death in a way a feel many fics don't bother with. it's really really heartwarming.

The Jingle Jangle Morning by audreycritter. robin-era dick goes on a field trip and bruce has emotions. i think about this fic all the time tbh. it really sells bruce as a young, committed, and sweet father who really just wants to make sure dick is okay.

Tap Out by coyote_nebula. jason gets poisoned. oopsie. this whole series is excellent but i love this one for the way it builds up jason as a brother and a son, and the flashbacks to jason's early days after he was adopted by bruce. i truly wish there were more fics about newly adopted jason but what this fic offers scratches that itch for me.

buy back the secrets by sundiscus. in case you haven't heard this is the Timkon Fic of All Time. a 5+1 of times kon saved tim drake that has everything. identity shenanigans! tim and bruce pangs! kon and clark pangs! tim being extremely competent and extremely lonely! kon being extremely lonely and also pretty competent. this is technically a wip so i hope you'll forgive me for reccing it but it's really great and also totally worth it bc fer is absolutely 100% going to deliver and it's just. very good.