#crypid batman

[therandomfandomme]

Batman having a recording of a heartbeat softly play in his suit so that Superman thinks he has two hearts to throw him off his scent because he's paranoid, but then one day it breaks and Superman freaks out, because "Batman where did your other heartbeat go?!!?!" and Bruce panics and says: "I split into two," like he's some sort of cryptid and everyone goes ???, luckily he has Robin to introduce them to. It's not until much later when they all reveal their identities that they learn that it's not true and all the bats and birds that are running around were not parts that ripped free from Batman. Though not before the whole family has had a whole lot of fun creating nonsense rumors just to fuck with people.

[methoughtsphantom]

Danny adopts Jason and Dan kills the Joker au

Danny adopts Jason not because of the pit but because he sees how hard the guy goes after the Joker. At first Danny thinks nothing of it, but then Jason gets all the core vibes typical of wanting to avenge something. that would be fine except Jason is a bby ghost and the thing he wants to avenge is his own’s death. It’s a feeling Danny almost didn’t have to struggle with, being that a portal killed him (except it was the reason he immediately went to have beef with anyone that crossed the portal. They were essentially aided with the device that killed him and that made him feel… threatened? Frostbite didn’t explain it all that well) so yeah here’s Danny having a bit of a heart attack because the Red Hood is actively seeking to be in the same room as his murderer which baby ghosts are not allowed to what the fuck. He personally won’t do it, (cause he’s never killed someone) but he’s not above asking his older brother Dan to do it.

Danny: think of it as a favor I’m asking of u

Dan: it’s murder, that way surpasses a favor

Danny: 🥺 i’ll buy u a donut

Dan:

Dan: make it a half a dozen and you’re on

[papiliomame]

Ectoberweek 2023 Day 29: Masquerade

SPOILER FOR A GLITCH IN TIME!

I recently rewatched the endings of the anime "Durarara!!" and I was thinking that so many versions of Danny popped up throughout the years, it is time for a Danno-tower.

I limited myself to 15 versions and a few other AUs sprinkled here and there because 1) this artwork is already long enough and 2) there are so many AUs and different designs I would need much more time to draw them all.

Here is a list of what AUs are shown here in no particular order and if possible where I could manage to pinpoint the origin of the AU:

Human Danny(Canon)

Ghost Danny(Canon)

End of AGIT Dan Phantom ( A Glitch in Time graphic novel)

Ghost King Danny

DCxDP ( I just put Batman in there as a representative for the whole DC cast)

Crypid/Monster Danny

Spider Danno (dannypocalypse)

Full Hazmat Danny (Mask by @in-the-ghost-mode)

Disabled AU ( I think this post by @madametamma made this AU more known in the phandom on tumblr but I personally encountered this AU in Everything was White by @lexosaurus which the release of the first chapter predates the post)

Little Baby Man (@tourettesdog)

Clown Danny (@letswonderspirit)

Coffee Ghost Danny (@typo-art)

Winged Danny(@the-stove-is-on-fire)

Merman Danny (not sure about this one, but my guess it's from the "Mermay" art event which occur on several social media sites?)

Lab rat Danny

Team Halloween (@the-stove-is-on-fire and @healthysharkshealthyocean fic Ghost in the NYC and the comics)

Shared Cujostody AU(@duchi-nesten)

Wes and Kyle Weston(not sure where the origin is but @lexosaurus made a whole dossier about him here, there are also infos how Kyle Weston came to be)

Dani Masters( a variation of this is the Cheese Melt AU by @lilianade-comics)

I hope those are the correct, for everything else I couldn't really find where they originated from.

This idea was original for the "ten years" prompt but after some work I conclude this fits more the "masquerade" prompt, because AUs are kind of a masquerade to the canon.

[brucewaynehater101]

do you have any ideas and lore for cryptids batfam im curious what your take on batfam that are not human or batman is the only human (because batman character is being human) i once found a fic where the batfam (minus bruce and steph cause she wasnt there at the time and i cant remember if Alfred also ) got turned to vampires but still lived normally (i cant remember what the fic name is)

or like if batman was faking being not human what would your take on the idea be

Hmm... I made a post a long time ago about the various creatures I felt would fit each batfam member. If you're looking for cryptid batfam members being based on certain legends or creatures, there's quite a few that would fit each one.

A particularly interesting plot point could be pre-death Jason being human when Dick and Tim are not. Jason gets revived as a wraith, ghoul, zombie, Phoenix, or whatever and his feelings of insecurity/inferiority increase both with his new status and the fact that Tim and Dick are/were Robin as crypids/creatures. Lovely angst.

I find fics where the batfam pretends to be cryptids a delight. I enjoy the chaos, the shenanigans, the engineering, and the schemes. Let them terrify people :)

I prefer fics where the Bats are various types of cryptids/creatures/monsters. While the ones where they are the same are enjoyable, it brings extra when they aren't similar. This is particularly true when the author matches the creature to the batfam member (such as Tim being fae due to his nature of lying, tricking people, and somehow being super alluring [in a friendship like way but also romantic]).

There's two fics I can think of off the top of my head. One of them, the batkids are just creatures. Bruce is human and he adopts them and cherishes them. Each batkid is vastly different (Dick is a type of doll, Jason is part gargoyle/concrete, and Tim is an ancient statue the Drake's unearthed). It was cool seeing how Bruce handled them and their different needs (how each kid "healed" and "ate" was not the same).

Another one has the batkids as more crytpid. Apparently, they are creatures that cause humans to feel so unsettled that they try to hurt or murder them. Bruce fights this instict to give the children love and care.

This fic is a neat one. Basically, the Bats died in various ways and came back to life as cryptids. It's been awhile since I read it, but def recommend

I tried finding those two other fics I mentioned, but a bit tired to go fic hunting.

If you're looking for a specific idea for cryptid batfam, let me know! Any dynamics? Want info on which creatures I think each Bat would be? Want angst?

[suzukiblu]

not necessarily related to Kofi, just rambling. I've been chewing on "how can Tim, who is smart enough to find Crypid!Batman, not have noticed that the other Robins turn into cryptids?!" And my answer is that each Robin, in this timeline, became Robin the year their character was first seen in the comics. So Dick would have been in 1940, Jason in 1983, and so on. there's a 6-year gap between Jason and Tim at minimum even if you don't adjust Tim to 2023. Which if you add in the "weird cryptid media powers to make people not notice that Brucie has been 35 for 80 years" might get Tim to not notice? Or the other Robins are "handling" being crypids like true batfam. As in not. "I'm fine, it's just my third busted rib this month. Yeah I'm human, I just drink a lot of alcohol and reuse my chemistry equipment for food. it's fine I cleaned it."

Steph and Tim, feral little gremlins that they are, don't notice a thing. Jason didn't have time to develop enough cryptid-ery to notice, but is gonna be REAL confused when Talia describes all the usual Lazarus Pit side effects to him and covers literally none of his "side effects". Dick just thinks civilians are weird, who CAN'T bend their spine into a perfect circle?? Maybe you should do some more stretches, Wally. Cass assumes everyone else already knows what's going on here and she just didn't have enough language to pick up on the explanation when being originally brought into the family, and Duke just thinks it's all meta-related.

Damian is . . . uh, probably terrifying, actually, maybe we just shouldn't examine cryptid!Damian too closely, lol.

[redtwomuch]

Try to remember all of the interesting Multiverses(Canon) and AUs(Fanfic) (I have a list)

Would love more ideas. I'm mostly a Bat fan (mostly Jason). So I'm interested in what other characters fandoms have as main AUs.

Feel free to talk my ear off. (Would actually love that)

Earth One (Silver age) Justice League

Earth Two (Golden age) Justice Society

Earth Three. Owlman

Thirty Eight. Hippolyta&Stephanie Trevor & Kara&Lara Lane-Kent

Fourty Two. JLA as Babys

Ninety Six. Nex Gen Heroes Lawless till Superman Comes Back. (ElseWorlds)

0 (New Earth) Merging of one&two.

3 Duela and her parents. FemDent Jokerz and Edward Nigma.

11 GenderSwap

12 Batman Beyond

16 Young Justice

51 B one man army kills all Villains after J dies.

SuperFriends Raise Robin

World where Jor, Lar, Marth, and Thomas live.

CW Arrowverse

Gotham

Young Justice Simulation World

Bruce Gets Kids Early/at a younger age

Reverse Robins

Jason Survives/Gets a Team

Jason has magic

Jason Stays with Talia

Kara arrives on Time

A Lot of Heroes Die and the Next Gen has to take over

More Kids (everyone is happy)

Speedforce is it's own World where a lot of people live/retire.

Bats are Metas/Crypids

Bats are not part of teams/wider community/unknown outside Gotham

Supers have weird powers they don't use in public

Next Gen

[wanderingghostz]

Batfam Monster AU Info

This post contains what I have so for in terms of each character, and is open to change.

I believe my questions are open, so if anyone has any, ask away, and I'll try to figure it out!

Bruce Wayne

In this AU, Bruce's backstory is pretty much the same as canon. I tried to think of what to make him, and had no idea. I didn't want him to be a vampire, because there are already so many Vampire!Batman Au's, which I love, but I wanted to do something different.

So Bruce Wayne is a human. His parents were still shot in crime alley, and he became batman same as canon. And as happens often, gets mistaken for a monster/crypid. This then Ieads to multiple children with various afflictions and curses tracking him down, and then him adopting and/or becoming their cool uncle.

he's tired, and wonders what choices lead him to this moment.

Barbara Gordon

Babs ended up getting bit as a teen -I haven't decided the hows and whys yet- and is transformed into a vampire.

she struggles with the changes and the new urges that come with the transformation, and upon remembering the rumors about the infamous batman, she decides to borrow her fathers batsignal and get some much needed advice.

Dick Grayson

Everyone in Gotham knows the tale of the fall of the flying graysons.

After Tony Zuccos sabotage of the trapeze, all three of the flying graysons fell to their deaths. Of course, as far as the public knows, two parents left their son behind.

A psychic of halys circus takes pity on the fallen boy, and uses all she has to give Richard a second chance at life. But she couldn't heal everything. All of his bones were crushed in the fall, and he was left with some less then ideal side affects.

she just hopes that playboy bruce wayne has the available facilities to give the boy the care he needs.

Jason Todd

Jason's Todd used to be a normal boy, or as normal as you can be when you are adopted by a billionare who moonlights as batman, who makes you his sidekick.

With big shoes to fill, he can be quite impulsive, and has made a couple on mistakes, the biggest of which gets him killed. You's all know what happens next, he comes back, in a body which sometimes falls apart of him, and a major grudge with a bat, and a score to settle with a clown.

Tim Drake

Timothy Drake, heir to the drake fortune, and werewolf.

After his parents tick off the wrong person, who happens to be a werecreature. They end up being monster chow and there only son is transformed. With no parents and am uncontrollable curse, he lingers on Gotham rooftops watching his heros, Batman and the boy wonder.

After Robins death, realising the batman has no intensions of finding another robin, decides he knows how to fix both of their problems.

Cassandra Cain

when David Cain wanted to create the ultimate human weapon, inspired by mythology, he experimented with gene modification. He created a girl who shared the abilities of the nalusa falaya, a being known to melt into the shadows attacking hunters, giving them power to do evil to others.

After her first kill, she was found by Barbara Gordon after he reported being saved from a gunshot by a shadow.

Stephanie Brown

After discovering her fathers wizard heritage, and his plans for Gotham, begins experimenting in witchcraft, attempting to master the craft, so she can spoil -

"Get it, spoiler? Cuz I'm spoiling his plans?"

- eventually, word reached batman and his crew, everyone knows nothing escapes them, and she is busted by the boy wonder himself.

Damian al ghul-Wayne

After Bruce Waynes relationship with Talia al ghuIs crashed and burned upon discovering her father is that Al Ghul, the demonhead and carnivorous werewolf, he left unknowing his ex was expecting.

Only discovering this ten years later, after Talia delivers said baby to Wayne manor.

At least he has experience with werecreature children?

Duke Thomas

After the Thomas family was the victim of a joker attack, ending in both parents being in a permanently jokerised state, and their only son is killed, his spirit staying in Gotham.

He is trying to learn to live in this new state, with the assistance of the Wayne Clan, he just might make it.

[lazerswordweilder]

(Check the post itself not the reblogs I’ve made some changes)

Okay but Batman fic where he’s not actually human. He comes from a whole other planet of humanoids who have wings, the wings vary from swans to bats to parots to pidgons even to some more aqutic or zero-gravity looking ones! With other quirks that vary too, some people have markings, or skin tinted a specific colour, or scales, or those ears with feathers, or anthing else.

Batman was bat wings (duh) and black markings that are gnarled and dig into his flesh, almost like scars or wounds with orangeyred-gold instead of blood. They form lines around where his cowl is, his gloves are, his boots, his belt, on his thighs where the outside underpants are, and even a vaugely cirle shaped one where his bat symbol is.

He was orphaned and the Waynes found him, Martha (ever the rebellious) was like “Tomas I found and alien bird child, he’s ours now.” and Tomas is like “Okay.” and he becomes the dad who didn’t want a cat. Bruces wings are only little at this point so he can easily hide them in suits most of the time.

But they die of course, and Bruce freaks out so hard, and Alfred (who showed up when Bruce did and is secretly a bird elder making sure that the child survives with human, he’s like every crypid old man/wizard with all of the not explaining stuff and smirk) decides Bruce has had enough enrichment and brings him to his home planet and raises him as his second parent(s). Also Alfred had dove wings because he’s bruces angel and stuff, and also he keeps them really well groomed and regal, and his hair is white and has feathers in it, like water proof feathers that make his hair smooth, but that’s pretty much the only other change.

Roughly 50 human years later (which is when their species becomes teenagers lol) Bruce realizes that he is hell bent on revenge, and Alfred is like absolutely not, go to school you baby. So 80 years later Bruce graduates what was pretty much primary and intermediate school but better becasue it actually teaches you things (I speak from experience) Alfred is like, if you are so insistent you may go. But I’m coming with you.

So Bruce shows up, and wears a superhero suit (like all the other protectors did) that took inspiration from his own markings, and protends his wings are just a cape. All the meanwhile Alfred bullies Bruce into doing online schooling while he fightes crime, and that’s it, for like two years, that’s it. Then the Flying Graysons show up, their whole act is being bird folk who tie up their wings to do tricks that are actually dangerous. Not sure if I touched on this before but bird-folk live waaaaay longer than humans, so they raised Dick and taught him everything and so much more over about twenty or so years? That was about his infant to kid range (some people have theirs longer, occasionally shoter, he was always an early bloomer).

And then the Flying Graysons die because of it. And Dick refuses to wear hoodies to hide his wings because he doesn’t want to tie up his wings, even if they aren’t big enough to fly yet. And Bruce is like, okay, because of your trama we’ll make do with just quick stops everywhere, the police have worth things to deal with than reports of bird children at Walmart.

(Dick)Robin has robin wings of course, and specifically the yellow and black ones. His wings are built more for speed and zipping around rather than long flights or power which Bruces happen to be (bats wings have different used depending on the species). The black on the outside of his wings is a little too dark for shadows but over all don’t stand out much even when he’s in plain sight, they are useful for hiding. The yellow on the underside of his wings stands out howerever, barely anything in Gotham is such a vibrant yellow and he can often scare people by opening his wings wide if they’ve been in gloomy dark colours like the Gotham harbour for too long.

(Dick)Robins wings aren’t actually big enough/developed enough to fly yet and still have baby fluff but he’s just starting to fly by the end of his Robin years and almost all the baby fluff is gone. The wings go down to a bit longer start of his legs (the area below your but). For plot reasons there’s about a years gap between him being Robin and being Nightwing, lets say Jason showed up and took up the mantle of Robin and Dick decided to take a break from all the action and promptly becomes a police officer for only that year instead of keeping it as a job, the uniform was uncomfortable and hard on the wings you know?

But anyways in the year or so Dicks wings got a little bigger and lost a lot of the black on the outside as well as the yellow turning golden and the feathers growing longer and staying as ‘sharp’ (sharp as in sharp, not fluffy or round, sharp and defined). It’s not too much of a change but he looks older, this is also unusually fast, he was one of those kids who got really big growth spurts at random, I imagine this hurts because the bones are growing (like growth spurts) so that would be another reason for him to take a break.

Anyways by the time he shows up as Nightwing his wings are almost down to the bend in his legs but not quite, they have black stripes almost but not obviously meant to be stripes because they’re not, and his bright poping yellow has turned to gold and it’s less bright but more smooth, but it’s only really noticeable if you have a picture of him when he was Robin and comapre.

By the time we get the buff Nightwing ratehr than the teenger-looking Nightwing which is probably about 5 or 6 years his wings have grown about 5 or so inches past the bends in his knees and there are small groups of black feathers in the fluff of his wings and on some of his longest feathers, they haven’t changed in about two years so he thinks they’re going to stay roughly like that. Also the yellow has changed obviously to gold, it isn’t bright anymore, and doesn’t clash with his suit anymore, he also keeps more gold in the suit instead of the black and blues he has in cannon.

(Jason had the more classic red and grey wings, grey on the outside, red on the inside, he also had red feather ears and a few other patches of feathers like at the base of his wings and back and his wrists, with yellow and green feathers dotted around the red of his wings that he grew out of with age, as well as the red becoming more saturated and the grey a little darker, patches of red feathers also apear on his skin all over his body looking alarmingly like splashes of blood)

Also of course Gordon gets these bird child reports and is validly concerned given his citys rouges, and after having Batman dodge the questions for about two hours, Gordon is like, okay the winged child is with the winged man, sure their different species, why not. Oh also both Bruce and Alfred absolutely refuse to let (Dick)Robin go around jumping off buildings, acrobatics? Yes. Actually dangerous stuff? Wait until you have wings to rely on then you can.

Barbara Gordon of course shows up, she immeditely becomes Orcale as instead of getting paralysed she just has no wings, as the daughter of Commisioner Gordon (or wife in a few comics but I’m pretty sure that’s not cannon anymore?) she’s human. She still does Batgirl stuff, but no solo missions, she has accepted this is just concern for someone without wings and is okay with it and still gets into the actions and villianous plots a lot, just less. Due to this she never gets paralysed by Joker.

Okay and then the Justice League show up, and Batman’s like ‘haha, yes, normal human things, I do those to.’ because he lost touch with normal humanity a long time ago and the bird people have a vastly different culture. And he gets seen through in minutes, litterally minutes, the invasion ends and they just all collectively turn to Batman and tell him he’s standing next to at least two aliens, a amazon warrior princess, and like seven other crazy things, and that there’s no need to pretend to be human.

So they all try to teach Batman more human stuff, while freaking out, because he has literally been living in a cave (it was under Wayne mansion which Alfred had somehow kept clean even now and everyone found it suiting and nice), not even beds or anythings, just pilllows a a blanket so the spikes aren’t sharp. But anyways, this leads to members like J’onn and Wonder Woman getting more acclimated to human culture as Batman needs help too and they cannot have who’s supposed to be the smartest of them all not knowing what elevators are.

They have days where the League (or just as many non-acclimated members can go and two or three acclimated members) just go to theme parks and stuff under their civillian idetities, and Bruce always wears dresses or big jumpers and sweat pants/skirts because there is no other way to hide his wings and it’s always really akward in situations like that time Green Lantern got into a fist fight becuase people were being homophobic to him for wearing a dress.

Not only does this help the non-acclimated members learn humanity, but it builds a lot of trust between the Justice League and everyone seems to consider the league a second family, everyone is trusted with everyone elses lives. Also they went to a convention one time and Bruce got so many compliments, Green arrow just stright up wore his normal outfit but without the bow and mask, and the hat not the hood.

[muffinsandstardust]

i know people are tired of "stop making the superman show about batman" but hear me out.

i want *jimmy olsen* to meet bruce wayne. when i saw this art I realized jimmy and bruce would be hilarious. i want jimmy to be the first one to say bruce=batman BUT I want him to do it in a jimmy fashion where he's like: "yeah bruce wayne is a vampire crypid who sold his soul to a demon in order to become one with the shadows and gain powers that rival superman."

bonus points if jimmy is referencing some obscure moment in the comics that did happen and gave bruce powers for a bit. bonus bonus if this did not happen to this bruce so he's just as confused.

[night-wilf]

Writing prompt 119:

Bruce is an odd father, his children can tell you that much. Though they are unaware of his patrols through the city under moonlight.

Meerly a crypid they consider to be a quirk of Gotham.

'Batman' is a forgien figure who not many have ever seen. Bruce is glad of this and protects his family/citizens from the monsters among them.

[dizzlypuzzled]

Tim had no idea where things had gone so wrong...so very wrong.

First off, now the entire League knew he was seeing someone, which is not what he wanted.

Batman had been trying to corner him since realizing that whoever he was seeing clearly had some kind of magic around him.

Batman refused to believe it was death God like.

He refused.

Tim thought that would be the easy part, but now he's being trailed by his dad and Constantine as he tries to do his normal routine.

He sent a text to Danny.

Danny couldn't know about Red Robin right?

Danny was supposed to be completely normal. Someone Tim could go when everything seemed like so much.

Danny was supposed to be safe.

Now the entire Justice League was biting at the bottom to get just a look.

Danny was supposed to meet the family later in the week!! They had it all planned out and Alfred had been checking that everything nighttime related would be hidden.

And now...now Tim was having issues just trying to meet Danny before the get together that mow may or may not happen.

He slipped down an alley and noted the shadow of the Bat.

Bruce must be extra worried if he's not even trying to hide it.

Tim sighed and called Danny.

"Hello, this is your local undead crypid," Danny answered with a laugh making Tim relax.

Before he tensed.

Well, he did just get confirmation about Danny being something else.

In the most embarrassing way possible.

"Hey, so...I'm being stalked by some family members," Tim said unsure what else to sat.

Maybe Danny was something undead?!

Possibly.

Tim shook his head. He couldn't let those thoughts take root just yet.

He needed facts.

"Oh? I thought they agreed to wait?" Danny questioned and Tim could hear something on the other end.

"They did...but then...well..." Tim wasn't sure how you put it.

"Is that why Constantine is in town, I take it?" Danny questioned.

He seemed resigned in a way that Tim did not like.

Like he was waiting to be rejected.

"You...you know?" Tim asked looking up where he had a feeling B could hear them.

Or at least him.

"I know a lot, Tim," Danny whispered and Tim felt like saying the wrong thing now would chase Danny away.

He didn't want that.

"I've been there...done the same things. Part of why I came to Gotham. I had hoped to get away, then I met you, and just..." Danny trailed off.

Something sounded like it exploded in the back ground.

"Shit," Danny muttered. Tim swallowed.

He couldn't talk.

Danny knew....which means he knew all of them.

"Look. Come to mine for dinner...keep Constantine away cause that asshole is responsible for most of my headaches right now and I don't want to see him face to face yet. I'll explain...I'll explain all of it. Or at least what I know. I've come to learn that I don't actually know everything, but..." Danny trailed off.

He always rambled off when. He was nervous.

Tim...he just agreed on a time and looked up as Batman came down.

"He knows who we are?" B asked needing confirmation.

Tim nodded.

Aaaaaaah!

BRAIN DEAD PROMPT WITH SHENANIGANS!

So Danny is a walking source of death vibes. And things he touches gains that vibe. So much so magic users can make it visible like invisible ink under blacklight.

So when the meeting started all members of JL dark absolutely honed in on Tim who was just covered in death .

So they do their thing and like imprint of a kiss appears all over his face.

And batman narrows his eyes,

Constantine asks where the fuck did he find a death god to do it with

Tim in absolute mortification, can't decide if Danny is the death god or there is this invisible pervert death god who is just kissng him in his sleep.

[batvillainz]

The ideal batman is a sad wet creature with claws and a pointy, angular cape and the tallest ears u can slap on him stop drawing him like a dude in a costume bring back his crypid era

[esperata]

Time to start rounding up some of these plot bunnies again since my current posting is nearly complete. I know which stories will be next (two are nearing completion) but after that I still have a wealth of ideas to choose from.

1. @polgara6 helpfully gave me ideas for a continuation of my Arkham correspondence series so I will probably get drafting a cohesive plot outline for that.

2. My hopes to write more for The Batman 2004 riddlebird pairing has gelled nicely with a proposal from @schemingminor so that is more firmly settled.

3. I also figured out a viable direction to take a Lego riddlebird story so I’ve been able to draft a prompt sheet.

4. Various concepts are coming together for a crypid version with both hattercrow and riddlebird. Banshee, vampire etc with some gender HCs

5. On a similar theme is the selkie riddlebird prompt. Neither exactly have a plot to drive them yet.

6. At some point I will write the honeymoon story for my Forever Returns series. This should be quite fun to do.

7. Likewise another Batman 66 story which will be light hearted and probably not too long.

8. On an opposite note there is a very angsty idea clawing the inside of my brain which I think I’ll have to exorcise. Depending on I don’t know what it might find a happy resolution.

9. There are two possible sequels knocking about my mind too. For “Pax Penguina” and “Nobody Said It Was Going To Be Easy”. I’m unlikely to get to these any time soon.

10. Again, my ambition to write something for hattercrow in the Arkhamverse is on hold until I finish the game. Which I’m putting off doing because I don’t want to defeat Penguin 🤦

11. On a more positive note, I’m still excited about writing a match maker piece incorporating established hattercrow with oblivious riddlebird

12. Also, a fic examining Edward overcoming his vanity to accept Oswald’s weight. The world needs more body positivity.

13. Speaking of positivity, I’m also determined to write something where Ed helps Oswald with his dyslexia.

14. Rather adrift as a concept I also had it in mind to try my hand writing a gossip column style piece, following nygmobblepot. Not sure. Hesitant about my ability in this area.

15. Finally, and definitely not least, is my plan to write my No Man’s Land story with trans Oswald. Its just a big project so won’t be tackled for a while.

How do I still have so many plot bunnies?!?

[batvillainz]

Wait i had the funniest thought : Scenes from Batman 66 / other campier versions redrawn in the 90's super grim crypid batman with tall ears style

[snowdandelion]

Fantasist writing.

NaNoWriMo Day #2

[masterlist]

Prompt found here

=============‹«⟨·•★•·⟩»›=============

The thing about being the half-ghost protector of a small Midwestern city whose rogues gallery consists of both the inhabitants of a parallel dimension intrinsically linked to the "living" one as well as goons from the government, is that you tend to get a bit lonely. There's never any representation for him or others like him among the well known heroes of the world, he's really got no one to model how he should fight his city's crime. Sure, Superman has a lot of powers that are similar to his own, but he's a beloved alien not a hated eldritch entity. And sure, Danny loves knowing there's other sentient life out there, but when the government is one of his rogues, it's kinda hard to look up to government approved heroes.

Though Captain Marvel was pretty cool, not gonna lie.

But his point was, as far as Danny knew, he was the only eldritch being/cryptid to have taken up heroics, ever, and that… that hurts sometimes, that he was the only one out of a rather large cast of possible "other" beings in the world to decide that protecting others was worth more than his own potential safety. He was both the frontrunner and the sacrificial lamb. If he succeeded in changing the narrative, in convincing humanity that supernatural beings and entities couldn't be defined by a few really well known bad nuts, then others would publicly fly his banner, but if he didn't, if he failed, then, well, no ectoplasmic skin off their metaphorical noses, y'know? It was isolating.

Danny honestly expected the rest of his existence would be defined by that loneliness, by being the only hero to be of a supernatural flavor others were actively terrified of. Until, that is, Sam and Tucker nearly broke his bedroom door down one Sunday morning, breathless and beaming, which was so out of character for Sam that Danny was kinda expecting his ghost sense to go off signaling she was being overshadowed. But no, she wasn't. She was genuinely excited about something, enough to act like the daughter her parents wished she was, not the down-to-earth goth beauty they actually had.

"Woah, guys, what's up?" Danny asked, sitting up from his sprawled out position on his bed. Tuck shut and locked his door while Sam pulled her phone out and showed it to him. He stared at the screen in shock for a few minutes as his friends got their breathing under control. "Is… is that… is that what I think it is?"

Sam nodded, grinning like a loon. "Tuck double checked everything. There's multiple cases with enough correlation between them, buried deep enough in the web, that for it all to be one big hoax or just a huge coincidence would be functionally impossible. This is real, Danny. You're not alone anymore." On her phone was a website, which looked like a newspaper of some sort, with a headline reading, "The Cryptid Known as Batman Strikes Again! Twoface Back in Arkham!" It was posted just last week. Danny took Sam's phone and looked through the open tabs. There were articles and blog posts and Reddit pages and YouTube channels dedicated to what seemed to be a whole clan of cryptids who made Gotham City their home. All of them praised the elusive clan. Thanked them for protecting them. For saving them.

Danny started tearing up. He couldn't help it. Here was proof that what he was doing wasn't all for nothing. It was possible to be a hero loved by those he protected while being a member of the supernatural, part-time though his membership may be.

It was at that point that fourteen year old Danny "Phantom" Fenton decided the entity called "Batman" was his hero, his idol, the being he looked up to most of all. His method of fighting crime was a tad too violent for Danny, but his style was perfect. He couldn't change who or what he was, not without some serious side effects, but if "Batman" and their clan could turn the public's favor to their side despite being so obviously not human, something even literal aliens didn't attempt to do, then screw it, Danny was going to do the same thing. He would embrace his ghostliness as Phantom, instead of trying to pretend he was still human in that form. Maybe that was his problem, anyway? Could others tell he was pretending to still be human as Phantom? It didn't really matter at the moment, but it would be interesting to test that going forward…

=============‹«⟨·•★•·⟩»›=============

In the end, a year and a half is all it took for everything to completely fall apart. Danny would say he was surprised, but honestly, he'd seen this coming as far back as that incident with Pariah Dark, which ended with him ascending the ghostly throne. The way Amity Park reacted to that whole ordeal was rather telling. Although a number of the younger crowd had started shifting their views of Phantom, too many of the adults still saw him as a threat and vilified him, even after he saved all of reality.

Living in Amity Park had quickly become too dangerous for him and his team—Sam, Tucker, and Jazz—, but while Jazz was fairly easily able to get custody of Danny and get the two of them away from the boiling cauldron of tension, Sam and Tucker didn't have that option. His core protested leaving members of his fright behind in such a hazardous situation, but with no idea how things would go down where Jazz and Danny were running to, they had to leave them for the time being. If everything went to plan, then Jazz would call the rest of their fright to them.

Thankfully, with him being the ghost king now, his ghostly rogues had cut back on their attacks on his haunt during the past year, instead scheduling time with Jazz to teach him more about ghost culture, as well as other supernatural beings and their cultures. Due to these lessons, Danny, Sam, and Tucker would often debate what kind of beings Batman's clan had and how many beings the clan contained instead of finishing their homework.

Batman was obviously an entity loosely tied to shadows that had ascended to minor divinity over the past few years, while Robin had to be some sort of fey being, considering their eternally youthful appearance. This theory was backed by Robin's ability to mimic the voices of seemingly anyone. Raven, the next oldest member of Batman's clan, had to be eldritch in origin, though it was interesting that they claimed a name so closely related to death and prophecy. Danny and his friends couldn't quite agree on what kind of eldritch being Raven was, just that they were one.

Condor was an interesting being to debate, as the name also had strong ties with death, as well as rebirth. Sam thought that meant Condor was a Phoenix that wanted to stay on theme with the rest of the clan, while Tuck thought Condor was some kind of zombie. Jazz was actually the one to propose Condor may have been a lich, which honestly kind of made sense. Condor was known to have looser morals than the others in the clan, which fit with the general idea of how liches come into being, especially if those they killed came back as undead servants like some rumors claimed.

Around the same time Condor showed up, whisperings of a being named Oracle started showing up within the forums Tuck had hacked. While there was no confirmed record of appearance for her, there were multiple accounts of the other members of the bat clan sending words of thanks to her, so she might have been the actual spirit of the Oracle of Delphi, which would be so cool.

Ibis was definitely some sort of trickster spirit, possibly even a kitsune. With their tendency to dance around an opponent until victory was assured and their tenuous grasp on the humanoid form, they couldn't really be anything else. Black Bat had to be another entity loosely tied to shadows, though they seemed more eldritch than Batman was. Starling could literally only be a banshee, what with her death shrieks every time she attacked. Weirdly enough, Signal seemed to already have a supernatural theory attached to them, said theory being that they were the bat signal given sentience and humanoid form, though Danny thought they might be more of a vengeful spirit.

There were likely others, those not as well known or even ever seen. There always were. For Danny's fright, that was Ellie, who was constantly on the move, especially now that she'd mastered teleportation and portal making. While most of his former ghostly rogues knew of Ellie, the only humans that knew of her were members of his fright and Valerie.

At the time, spitballing ideas about the members of the bat clan in Gotham was just all fun and games, a way to practice the knowledge they were learning in a more practical and entertaining way than just bookwork. Now, though, Danny couldn't be more grateful they had spent so much time on those debates, countless nights they stayed up late trawling through the deep web to stay up to date on the latest on Gotham's guardian deity and his clan. Because they had such solid guesses on what beings made up the bat clan, they'd be able to appeal for sanctuary in a more appropriate manner than if they had no clue at all.

As his and Jazz's bus drew closer to Gotham on the horizon, Danny anxiously checked that the duffle with their offerings was still secured. He hoped the bats liked their gifts; they had barely any concrete info on any of the more public members, let alone the lesser known ones. He wasn't sure what they'd do if Batman refused their appeal; with the schematics to rebuild the Fenton portal within easy access of the GIW, they couldn't risk hiding out in the Infinite Realms for fear of drawing Danny's subjects into a fruitless war.

Please, he prayed to Gotham's guardian deity, please don't turn us away. You're our last hope.

=============‹«⟨·•★•·⟩»›=============

As Bruce was getting ready for patrol that night, he felt the creeping rise of anticipation. Something was going to happen tonight, something extraordinary. He just wasn't sure if it was going to be a good thing or not. Like usual.

For the past year and a half, Bruce had noticed an odd trend. Whenever something big was going to happen, something that would affect the entirety of his city, he'd feel antsy all day, right up until whatever was going to happen happened. It certainly helped cut down on the number of times they'd been caught with their metaphorical pants around their knees, but not being able to tell if the nebulous something was going to be good or not was annoying. Though, to be fair, there weren't a lot of good things that had happened since he started noticing his new sense.

"Listen up," he sighed as he stalked over to the conference table in the cave. "Something's going to happen tonight, something big. As usual, that's all the information I have, so you know the drill; if you see anything unusual, call it in." Bruce looked over his brood of children, most of them adults in their own right by now. Goodness, the years have flown by fast. "Try to stick relatively close to each other tonight, please. I want to be able to watch each other's backs in case whatever it is manages to get the drop on us."

Dick nodded with a grin. "You got it, B," he said, slinging an arm over Damian's shoulder. "C'mon, baby bird, let's run through our stretches one last time before heading out, yeah?"

"Tt, it is Todd who needs those stretches most, was he not the one to strain his knee last week?"

"You listen here, you little—"

"He's not wrong, Jay. You sure you don't want my stretch routine? It'd do you wonders, y'know."

"You mean your torture routine, Replacement? How you can get your body into some of those shapes and still call it stretching, I'll never know—"

Bruce shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips. He wasn't quite sure when that change had happened, but he'd be forever grateful it had. It pained him when his sons fought each other.

A small hand came to rest on his shoulder, drawing him out of his thoughts. He glanced down at his daughter and smiled at her look of concern. "I'm alright," he reassured her, "just thinking."

Cass looked at him thoughtfully before nodding. "It will be alright. Tonight will be good. We will stay safe. You stay safe, too?"

Bruce was nodding before she finished speaking. "Of course. We should head out, any longer and Stephanie will try banshee striking the first shady person she sees," he said, an amused glint in his eye as Steph cried out in indignation from over by the batmobile.

An hour into patrol, and Bruce's anticipation skyrocketed. Whatever was happening tonight was happening soon. "Everyone, check-in."

"Raven here, checking in, all clear here." Dick.

"This is Condor, everything's normal on my end." Jason.

"Robin, checking in, nothing is out of place." Damian.

"Starling here! Just some run-of-the-mill muggers, currently crying for daddy!" Steph.

"Black Bat. Clear." Cass.

Where's—? "Ibis here. B, I think I found the source of your feeling. Sending Oracle my coordinates now." Tim.

"Understood. En route now. Do not engage without backup, understood?" Bruce demanded, taking off toward the beacon indicating Tim's location.

"I'll try, B, but I get the impression they know I'm here."

The anticipation rose again. Whoever Tim was watching definitely knew he was there. "We'll hurry."

=============‹«⟨·•★•·⟩»›=============

Tim clung to the gargoyle overlooking one of the many rooftop shrines to the Bats and the Birds. There, sitting cross-legged about a foot in the air next to the shrine, was a glowing teenaged boy with snow bright hair and Lazarus Pit green eyes. He was wearing a black and silver armored suit, similar to the suits he and his siblings wore, with a flowing cape that blended into the night hung from his shoulders and a greenish black crown floating just above his head. In his lap was a black, gray, and green duffle bag that looked to be rather full, and in his hand was a beat up looking photograph. He couldn't make out what it was a photo of from this angle, but he'd recognize a well-loved photograph anywhere.

"In position, IIbis, you may initiate contact." Bruce said over comms. Tim didn't bother acknowledging he heard and instead carefully unwound himself from his hiding place in the shadows. Carefully, he danced down the side of the building he was on, contorting himself into inhuman looking positions as he went, until he could silently drop onto the roof with the shrine. He slowly slunk forward, keeping low and accentuating his curiosity. That was the key, here, he really was curious about this kid. That was what sold IIbis as something other, something not human.

Tim was about five feet from the shrine when wide, glowing green eyes suddenly found his own, covered though they might be. Tim froze, holding the slightly exaggerated pose he'd found himself in, crouched and arched in a way that screamed wary curiosity. Cautiously, he rolled his head to the side and chirped slightly.

"You really do exist," the kid breathed in awe before he shook himself and straightened, grabbing the duffle from his lap before letting his feet meet the rooftop. "Hi, um, I was wondering if I could possibly meet with your clan leader, Batman?"

Tim stared at the kid for a long moment as Bruce silently made his way to the shadows of the shrine. At Bruce's signal, a soft tap on the comm, Tim shifted and rolled and contorted until he was standing in a much more human-like fashion, then purposefully turned only his head to look directly where Bruce's beacon said he was. The kid whipped his head around right as Bruce seemingly melted out of the shadows, his size and sheer presence seemingly dwarfing the kid, who sucked in a surprised breath but barely moved an inch. Impressive.

"Yes?" Bruce growled softly, not the unpleasant, gravelly growl reserved for criminals, but the warm, gentle rumble reserved for kids and victims.

The kid's awe only grew more pronounced, but somehow he still managed to pull himself together enough to speak. "H-hi, my name's Phantom, I'm not sure if you've heard of me or not. I'd like to ask for sanctuary for myself and my fright-mates. Our previous haunt has become rather hostile towards us, and I'm not strong enough to keep them safe. Um, I've got some gifts for you and your clan, I wasn't sure how large your clan was, so I'm sorry if I offend you or anything with the lack of gifts for everyone. M-may I pull them out?" He asked, lifting the duffle slightly to indicate what he meant.

Bruce was silent as he waited for the rest of the bats and birds to form a loose circle around Phantom, stances mostly non-threatening, and stepped forward into the glow coming from the kid. At this point, the kid's awe was nearly palpable, glancing at as many of them as he could but always facing Bruce and not moving more than his eyes.

After a further moment, Bruce tilted his head slightly and nodded, causing the kid to outright beam.

"Right! Well, first, for yourself, I have a set of ghost steel batarangs, enchanted to return to their case once they leave a hundred yard radius. They're tied specifically to the case, so you can lend them to someone else, but it's recommended you be the only one to use them for the first ten uses in live combat. Next, for Black Bat, a cloak made by the best undead tailors this side of eternity. Made from the shadows themselves, whoever wears it becomes functionally invisible in low light conditions and beyond. I was also told it grants slight shadow manipulation, as well. For Robin, a shape shifting sword from the fey realms themselves, fitting for a changeling child. All curses and tricks were totally removed, as we weren't certain you wouldn't share it with some of your clan mates, and we didn't want to accidently cause any problems that could have been averted—" Phantom kept going, pulling something from the bag, naming who it was for, and explaining a little about it, before putting it back in the bag and moving on. But what drew Tim's attention, time and time again, was the fact that Phantom seemed to be under the impression they were actually members of the supernatural—he all but called Tim a kitsune, and definitely implied Damian was a changeling! It was both amusing the kid honestly thought they were members of the supernatural, and rather concerning at the same time. They were all human, weren't they? They were method acting every time they suited up, heck, Tim was nothing more than a self trained contortionist that could mimic a few bird calls and knew a bit of self defense. Why did this kid, who was possibly an actual ghost, think they were supernaturally inclined? Were they really that good at method acting? Or was there something more to it than that?

=============‹«⟨·•★•·⟩»›=============

Hey, guys! I literally stayed up working on this until midnight, so already in pushing my self proclaimed boundaries (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）I had so much help from my friends on the @batpham-discord-highlights discord server, I'll look into tagging everyone that helped in the morning when I'm not struggling to stay awake (⁠´⁠-⁠﹏⁠-⁠`⁠；⁠) I hope you enjoyed this long fic, guys, cuz I was NOT expecting to write 3,266 words today! Good night, good morning, good day!