#death in the belfry

[weirdlookindog]

Andreas Gering (1892–1957) - Death in the Belfry / Peace Bells, 1916

ink, brown pen, watercolor, and white heightening on paper

[lazaruspiss]

Barbara: Jason. I've seen you in your old Robin costume. You don't have to hide anything from me.

Jason: Never liked that look...

Barbara: Well, whenever you want to talk, I'm here.

[goatsghost]

i just think it’d be funny if they dropped a gotham knights 2 video game and it starts with talia dropping 10-year-old damian off at their doorstep and fucking off again

[frownyalfred]

the idea of arkham patient bruce wayne has burrowed into the depths of my mind. this is SUCH a fascinating thought and changes so many things…how does the justice league fare without batman? how does alfred? i’d assume alfred is given bruce’s guardianship when he’s institutionalized, and i could even see him taking in the robins – finding and helping these children who remind him so much of his own boy, trying not to fail them as he failed bruce. how bruce himself does in arkham is so interesting to consider…is he kept on the same level of security as the real supervillains? is he moved there after Events? i can’t see him quietly or graciously accepting the kind of abuse towards patients that the guards and doctors like to heap on arkham’s inmates, or cheerfully putting up with attempts to “cure” him. prince of arkham brucie…so full of pain and anger and only getting angrier by the day, but full of love too, and despair that in gotham there’s almost nothing separating the mentally ill from the criminal element because in the eyes of the GCPD and the arkham psychiatrists being mentally ill is a crime unto itself…

on a somewhat lighter note, he still manages to drive the riddler batshit up the belfry just by existing. their intellectual cold war is the stuff of legend. whatever inciting thing bruce actually does to get himself admitted to arkham is negligible, in my mind he ends up staying there mostly because of the batman-level shenanigans and bullshit he gets up to once he’s inside. he’s not as violent as killer croc or joker, but he’s driven and brilliant and filled with the kind of vengeance that nothing short of complete lobotomy will take from him, and that makes him a completely different kind of impossible for the staff to keep under control. he can give jim gordon gray hairs by sitting quietly and doing nothing and that brings him all kinds of petty satisfaction

i love the superbat element to this too. i feel like with nothing else distracting him bruce could figure out Mild-Mannered Reporter Clark Kent in a much shorter period of time, and he’d totally keep clark in the dark about that while waxing poetic about how gotham deserves a hero to take care of her, not just abandon her to ruin (as the patients of arkham so often are) (as the city herself has been, because she’s only ever superman’s third thought, after metropolis and the world, and if the man of tomorrow doesn’t see the point in fighting for her than who else will bother?)

Arkham Prince Bruce Wayne??? I am obsessed. Obsessed. I imagine he’s in there because he wouldn’t stop killing people. Like the first few scenes of Batman Begins, where he’s convinced that shooting Chill will solve his problems…maybe the universe doesn’t stop him then. Maybe he never finds Ra’s. Maybe he starts going higher and higher up the chain of corruption, taking out the high profile politicians and businessmen he thinks have poisoned this city. Who were responsible for his parents’ deaths. They put him in Arkham because surely a man like that is insane. But is he?

Because yes, the two most important things he has are his brilliance and his care for the city. This Bruce Wayne doesn’t pretend, doesn’t dull himself for the benefit of the people around him. His care for Gotham is apparent in every word he speaks to Clark. And it’s his city, damn it. Even from in here.

[battymommastuff]

Of Songbirds and Phoenix

al Ghul!Batmom x Gotham Knights (CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM GOTHAM KNIGHTS!)

Prompt: After the death of Bruce Wayne, his wife had vanished from the city, and only returns when she knows her children are in danger.

When Wayne Manor blew up and Bruce Wayne had been pronounced dead, one of the biggest questions was the outcome of his wife. Y/n Wayne was at the manor the night it blew up, but her body had never been recovered. The wonderful investigators at GCPD brushed it off under the excuse that your body had been completely blown up. A bullshit reason, but they were too lazy to do an in depth investigation. Your family however, worried that your body had been buried under the rubble in the now destroyed batcave. 

Fortunately for them...everyone was wrong. Days leading up to your husband's death, he sent you away to investigate his latest case. The Court of Owls. A conspiracy theory that he believed to be true, and so he sent you overseas to investigate some other claims of this infamous cult. The conspiracy only detailed members from Gotham's wealthiest families, but he wanted to be thorough. Your investigation led you to your twin sister, Talia al Ghul. You figured out her plan at the same time that your children had, and you didn't hesitate on making your way back to Gotham. 

Talia's plan to take over Gotham had been foiled, all while you watched from a distance. It was Bruce's wish. He wanted his family to be able to take care of Gotham should he perish, and wanted them to have the chance to thrive. You granted that wish by watching your children from the shadows. They were trained well because several times they turned in your direction or almost caught you. 

Tonight, Bruce's wish wouldn't be met. You'd been stalking Robin since he left the Belfry. He was on a routine patrol. Take down the bad guys and protect the city. What he didn't notice were the several League of Shadow members tailing him. You noticed right away. They were using the same methods you were. Talia's doing no doubt. She wanted revenge, and would ambush your youngest son to get it. 

Robin had just finished the takedown of some Freaks when several puffs of smoke appeared all around him. He wasn't a stranger to an ambush from the league, but this was more than he was used to. Luckily he wasn't alone. Using his bo staff and sling shot, he quickly darted around taking down members of the League. However, it seemed that the more they took the...the more that appeared. 

"Get down, little bird!" A voice called out. Robin ducked down without hesitation and heard the sound of metal flying through the air then a scream of pain. Looking up, a shuriken was embedded in the chest of a league member. A female dropped down in front of Robin, wielding two beautiful katana's in her hands, "Talia?" He asked, in confusion. The figure turned towards him and he paled, "M-Mom?" 

"What the hell did you just say?" The voice of Red Hood spoke through the comms. Robin couldn't answer, all he could do was watch as you skillfully took down the League of Shadows members. When the last member went down, you sheathed your blades and made your way over to Robin, "Little bird? Are you injured?" You asked while kneeling down in front of him. His mask didn't have the white lenses so you saw how watery his eyes were, "M-Mom?" He whispered in disbelief. He'd been mouring you as well as Bruce for weeks now. Knowing that he wouldn't relax until you proved that he wasn't dreaming, you wrapped your arms around him. Robin collapsed against your chest with loud sobs escaping his chest. That was the confirmation that the rest of the team needed. You were alive. 

After calming down enough to drive, Robin drove you both back to the Belfry on the bike. He held your hand in a death grip from the moment you stepped off of the bike. Tim had been so torn up about losing his parental figures that he wasn't planning on letting you go anytime soon. The doors opened, and you hesitantly stepped in. There you saw what remained of your family. 

Dick looked like he wanted to cry and pass out at the same time

Alfred was holding back his tears behind a relieved smile

Barbara had a few tears slipping from her eyes, but kept trying to wipe them away. 

Jason was staring holes into the ground. He couldn't bring himself to look at you. 

Dick was the first one to walk towards you, "You're really here?" He asked so softly, you almost didn't hear him. He gently touched your face, hair and shoulders. If anyone had been mouring you harder than Tim, it was Dick. You'd raised him since he was eight years old. He dug through piles of rubble with his bare hands looking for you, and here you were. Completely unharmed. 

"I'm here, my songbird." Dick wrapped his arms around you, nearly crushing you against his chest. Tim let go of your hand to give you this moment with your oldest son. Dick was the leader of this team. Batman's chosen successor. The one who was supposed to be the strongest, and yet he fell apart once he hugged his mother. He didn't have to be the strongest with her. He could be that eight year old boy again. The one that ran to her whenever he had a nightmare. The one who would gush over him and mend all of his wounds from his time as Robin, "How are you here? We thought you died?" He asked, pulling away from you. 

"Bruce sent me away to investigate the Court. They originate here in Gotham, but he heard rumors of other sightings in the middle east as well as the UK. He wanted this to be as covert as possible. That's why he told Tim I left for a business trip for Wayne Enterprises. If the world thought I was dead, then I could continue my investigation from the shadows." You were an al Ghul by blood. You were raised as a killer and taught to use the shadows to your advantage. Before his death, Bruce made you swear to never take another life while with him. Now that he was gone...you had no one to keep the vow to. 

Alfred and Barbara joined Dick with several tear filled hugs and questions. Tim was glued to your side, only leaving to change out of his suit, "Why did you come back?" You turned away from Barbara to look over at Jason. His jaw was clenched, and his arms crossed over his chest, "You didn't bother to reach out after Bruce's death, so why bother now?" Everyone, but you had glares on their faces. 

"My phoenix, I wanted to reach out. The moment I heard of Bruce's death, I wanted nothing more than to be right here with you all. I stayed away as a promise to Bruce. I'm glad I did. You all did so much more than what I could have. I'm so proud of you all. Especially you, Jason." 

Watching this big brute of a man melt at the words from a woman much smaller than him was a funny sight. Jason visibly relaxed and you wrapped him up in a warm hug. He hugged you back tightly, and let out a shaky breath. 

"I missed you, Mom. So much."

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

!!!Author's Note!!

Sorry for going MIA for so long. I have been very busy, but I am hopefully going to be back in action soon. I've been working on a new series for this blog that I'm excited to present to you all! Enjoy this little imagine, and I hope to see you all very soon! <3 ~ Batty

[mydarlingbat]

Do you know how many times The Batman saved The Joker? If you do not know, then ignore this message pls.

So i actually been ask this question before, but I'll add a few more to the list. I'm just updating the list. Death of the family. Batman unhinged 13 #14 Batman gotham after midnight #6. Legends of the dark knight annual #1. Batman adventures continue #12. Batman the max. Arkham dreams #2. Batman confidential #11. batman ninja turtles 3 # 5. hitman #3. Batman The shadow #4 ( league of justice. Tales from the dark multiverse the death of Superman #1 ) Batman White knight present generations of Joker #6. Batman #353. Batman damned #3. Batman #7. Batman #1. Batman adventures #16. the Batman strikes #9. Batman fun house of evil. Batman death by design. The batman who laughs #1 the Batman who laughs # 2 Batman secrets. Batman cacophony #3. Legends of the dark Knight # 200. Batman legends of the dark Knight # 145. Batman Gotham Knights #73. Batman dredd / die laughing. The Joker mask. Batman Gotham adventures #31. Detective comics annual #5. Batman vs the punisher. Two face year one #2. Batman #544 Batman Arkham unhinged #29 #30 Batman unhinged # 28 Batman 1992 annual. Batman Arkham knight. Batman #649. Batman #719. Batman Europe #2 legends of the dark Knight #195 detective comics #1058 2024 ) catwoman #63. Legend of the dark Knight #16. Batman adventures #1. Batman adventures #3. Batman and catwoman #6. Batman adventures #30. Batman secrets #1. Batman 2016 #48. Batman the white knight #7. The spectre #51. Batman annual #1. Joker switch. Wonder woman #165 #167 elseworlds finest. Batman Gotham after midnight #8 Batman gotham adventures #31 dc super friends. Batman / Harley and ivy #1 Batman #146 Batman #37. The Joker last laugh #6. Batman last knight on earth. Legends of the dark knight #10 2012. Batman and Superman / world finest #11. Batman legends of the dark Knight. #50 batman Odyessy # 6 #2. injustice ground zero #6. Batman ego. Batman deadly duo #1 Joker devils advocate. Action comics. #719. Legends of the dark Knight 2020 #2 . Batman #139 2024. Batman brave and the bold #118. Batman 2016 #123. Batman adventures continue season two #7. Batman and Spiderman crossover. The fortress #1 Batman #16 The Batman animated series ( Christmas with JOKER ) ( the Phantasm ) The Jokers favor ) Harlequinade ) legends of the dark Knight #2 2023. Joker's Millions ) make 'em laugh and that's all I recall. Batman Arkham origins. Batman under the red hood. The dark Knight 2008 ) The Batman vs. Dracula. Batman Ninja. Scooby-Doo & Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2018) Batman telltale series # episode 5 Batman tomorrow the game. Gotham the series. the Batman series 2005 The Bat in the Belfry )( Rumors ) The Clayface of Tragedy (Part 2) The Metal Face of Comedy) Batman #66

I can't say them all, but he saved the Joker 77 times in comics. How many times he attempted to save the Joker 14 times in comics. 92 times i guess. Not including the movies and series, but all together 118 times i can recall. Thank you so much for asking though.

[crystalsofaequarin]

In the Kingdom of Aequarin, magic and technology go hand in hand with the use of beautiful luminous crystals.

The village of Shimmer Mist is a small town filled with necromancers and dark magic users. While the rest of Aequarin lives in relative comfort and peace, Shimmer Mist is a place few dare to venture.

You assume the role of a detective being tasked with uncovering the mystery behind an unusual string deaths plaguing your town.

You journey to the Capitol seeking aid for your investigation when you receive news of Lord Belfry, the mayor of Shimmer Mists' death. You are sent back with a group of companions to assist in your task to catch the murderer before they strike again.

Soon, you realize that beneath the surface of seemingly isolated deaths lies something far greater than anyone could have imagined. Just how deep does this mystery run? Will you be a good enough detective to solve it? The fate of Shimmer Mist, and maybe the entirety of Aequarin, lies in your hands.

Customizable MC.

Choose your clothing style

Romance and befriend your fellow companions.

Build unique relationships with companions.

Decided how you feel about the town and people of Shimmer Mist.

Choose your magic color and weapon.

Save your village...or don't?

DEMO

Celdrine Wynmire | The Healer (F)

Celdrine is a kind and joyful soul. She is rarely seen without a smile. She loves to help people and is the ultimate optimist.

Appearance: Long light green hair, blue green eyes. Lightly tanned skin with small freckles on her face.

5'5"

Magic/weapon: Yellow magic, uses an intricately crafted staff.

Style: Frilly

ISFJ

Birthday: March 20th - Pisces

Carmine Garnet | The Knight (M)

Carmine is quite and serious. His loyalty can't be matched. Though he can be intimidating once you get to know him you see how much he is willing to do for the people of Aequarin and his fellow companions.

Appearance: Long fiery red hair. Fair skin and piercing green eyes.

6'2"

Magic/Weapon: Red magic uses a broad sword.

Style: Functional/Stylish

ISTJ

Birthday: January 2nd - Capricorn

Artemis Krane | The Scientist (M,F,NB)

Artemis is intelligent and can come off as cold or aloof. They always think with their head and never let emotion cloud their judgment... usually.

Appearance: Glasses and lavender eyes purple hair. F and NB Artemis have long hair usually pulled back. M Artemis has short to medium length slicked back hair.

M: 5'10"

F/NB: 5'7"

Magic/Weapon: Purple magic uses a lance.

Style: Travel/Comfort

INTJ

Birthday: November 18th - Scorpio

Kaelin Novus | The Merchant (M,F,NB)

Kaelin is a a former monster hunter turned merchant. They are fairly well known through the Kingdom and incredibly popular in the Capitol. They are charismatic and generally kind. They love a bit of gossip though.

Appearance: Medium brown skin, deep amber eyes. M and NB Kaelin have long locks. F Kaelin has long goddess braids.

M: 6'

F: 5'6"

NB: 5'9"

Magic/Weapon: blue magic uses long sword

Stlye: Elegant

ENFJ

Birthday: July 26th - Leo

Nym Solaris | The Watcher (F)

Nym was born with very little magic much to her families dismay. With the help of crystal bodily enhancements such as her left eye which has had a crystal lens implanted in it, Nym has exceeded everyone's expectations of her. Nym is very smart and reclusive, she can be quiet and a bit standoffish at first, but is a generally kind-hearted person.

Style: Functional stylish

ISTP

Birthday: September 13th - Virgo

[zahri-melitor]

Thinking about the shape of A Lonely Place of Living in relation to Tim's story and what Tynion was trying to do with it, and it's interesting to me, as I don't think it's his most successful story in terms of a narrative beyond re-establishing and re-centring a character, but he's once again playing with a lot of Tim's storylines and echoing various things (and not just ALPOD though obviously ALPOD, it's in the name).

Like you cannot get around that the story is about Gun Batman, because Gun Batman is right there. But the shape of how that works: it's a recapitulation of Red Robin themes. Because Tim's trapped, and Tim strategises a way to escape from his prison, and he has to cooperate with his enemy somewhat to achieve his goals, and as soon as he gets out the first thing he says to his family, to those he's closest to - is to warn them that Gun Batman is coming for them and particularly for Batwoman. It's SO Yost arc coded.

Gun Batman and Tim's discussions over whether the ends justify the means, and whether killing is acceptable echo through a lot of stories where Tim faces that and refuses to do so (The Young El and Dava arcs in Robin around #50 are always worth pointing out, because people don't know they're there, but of course also Red Robin #26 and trapping Captain Boomerang), but it's interesting here, as the story also establishes...if Tim doesn't even remember who Conner is, this Tim also may not remember having that fight with himself and redrawing that line, and then he gets to do it all over again.

And then we also get to do a Brother Eye aspect of the story, with the intertwined narrative of Bruce's paranoia, Tim's growing paranoia over the years, the echo between those all the way back for Tower of Babel when Tim tells his friends he'd never go so far as to have protocols like Bruce, but we know by 2010 he does have protocols as the life he's led has brought him to that, and what Brother Eye in itself says about Bruce's paranoia and that whole arc of Infinite Crisis and ongoing, about programming and about watching and observation and about control and about the overwriting of control of Brother Eye over the years (want to talk about OMACs and REMACs? there is stuff here to dig out about both) and about the similarities that exist between Bruce and Tim for Gun Batman to be able to exploit this faultline.

And also: you have Bruce's guilt threaded through all of this. Because the last 25 issues have been about Bruce mourning the loss of Tim in his heroic sacrifice, but interestingly in a way that is not like he mourns Jason and not like he mourns Damian, but in a way where he refuses to lose control.

In ALPOD the reason Tim approaches first Dick and then Alfred and then Bruce is because Bruce is losing control as he doesn't have a network. For Tynion's run, Bruce DOES have a network; and not only his family, he has all the other allies that Tim specifically recruited and anchored and befriended and he helped design and set up the Belfry for - a system that Tim sees as greater than himself and that he hopes can sustain things if he is selfish and steps away for his own purposes. But while it works, it's also shaky, because part of what made the post-Crisis Bat family and Gotham network function was Tim's presence as an anchor and a recruiter and a linchpin holding people together, and Tynion is saying things don't work as well without Tim's actual presence, and repeating the narrative that Tim learns over the years - he can't retire, he cannot step away, because when he tries to bad things happen.

Bruce can avoid losing his mind with grief because Tim built him a network (like he did while initially mourning Jason). But Bruce also doesn't allow himself to try to resurrect Tim after his sacrifice; whereas Bruce had to be talked through the 5 stages of grief by family members after Damian's death and then set out on a quest to alternately protect Damian's corpse/find ways to resurrect Damian (it ping ponged back and forth) when it was Damian who was dead.

And Bruce is so mad at himself when he realises that by allowing himself to process his grief like he did with Jason and live through having a dead son, every day, and remember his sacrifice...he's left Tim trapped, thinking people were searching for him and coming for him, when...they weren't. And he starts working to try and find Tim. Especially as Tim lived through Jason's death and Damian's death and Bruce's under-reaction to Dick's 'death' and he knows how Bruce reacted - and he's waiting for rescue. He could expect Bruce to come for him and storm the Gods themselves to get Tim back: because that's what Bruce so recently did for Damian.

Tim came looking for Bruce, because he didn't believe Bruce was dead. But Bruce didn't come looking for Tim, even though he's fought to resurrect another son, and realising that you haven't gone searching for the son who searched so hard for you when you were lost and believed dead? Yeah. Ouch.

And so Tim has to rescue himself and find his own way out - but he comes back still full of belief and forgiveness for Bruce. I also think there's something here in an inflection where Bruce gets the alert as they ARE now looking, and he storms into a hospital to get to Tim, as opposed to Jason's unknown, unrecognised resurrection and HIS hospital stay in Gotham.

The layers are there! There's a bunch of interesting themes! I just really wish it wasn't held together by Gun Batman. Though admittedly it's interesting to me that Tynion's version of Gun Batman posits that this is a universe where Damian was still Batman!666 and Tim had to kill him for it. AND that it can't be the future, because Gun Batman is being torn apart by the timeline, because of the changes made. He's not Tim's future. He's a nightmare, instead.

[harlotofupdog]

The Serpent and Thistle - Chapter Three

Hey, check out this dumb wonker harlot who can't even finish a picture in time to post, but here, have a lil sneak peek small version because who finishes stuff anyway? That would be weird and I am demonstrably not weird. Anyway, here's chapter 3 of pubby pubby jizzy jizz.

Summary: Aziraphale is a Met officer who transfers to a small village police station. Crowley is the local publican. They don't see eye to eye.

There is also a plot. I hope.

Rating: E (E for Eventually)

CW/TW: I'm going to add a content warning here now rather than later, just so people are aware - there will be a couple of briefly mentioned deaths in later chapters of this story, but none of them are any of the characters that we know (including animals, of course). It is, in part, a cop story, so there will be a couple of slightly grim allusions, but we're not going into anything too rough in the story itself. I'll do specific CW/TW tags before the chapters in question, but I just wanted to foreshadow that now.

Special eternal thanks to u/Paperclip_Ninja who did an EXTRA SPECIAL last minute beta this weekend for me because I'm useless and hopeless. Thank you always sun-ox.

Excerpty boi:

Aziraphale looks up to where the vicar is pointing out the culprit, perched neatly atop the belfry. Harry, of course, does not look up. He is investigating the vicar’s trouser leg with benign interest, while PC Muriel Constable squints first at their notepad, and then at the church roof, as if the sum they were quite sure of does not add up in the end.

“I’m sure you’re very busy, officers—aren’t we all? But I thought I really should report it. You never know with these things,” says Vicar Brown cheerfully. He seems a nice enough man, although he stands just a little too close and is perhaps a little over familiar. As if to reinforce the point, the vicar claps a chummy hand on Aziraphale’s shoulder and leaves it there, fingers flexing slightly against the wool. It’s the sort of thing that would warrant a hand on his baton if he were walking the beat in south London. Here, though, it just makes him wince.

[peculiardiction]

Hello🤗❤️

I hope you are well🌹

Can you help me get my voice heard

and share my family's story?🙏🏻

Can you Reblog my pinned post from my blog or donate 5$?

By helping to reblog my story, you could

save a family from death and war.🌹

Thank you very much🌸

🕊️❤️🌹🙏🏻

I think what I'm gonna do with these is post them with a doodle so the get traction- I have no idea if this person's gfm is verified but tbh I don't really care. Good luck, love 🫶

Baby kon-el doodle for you all

Inspo photo below the cut

Me and @belfry-ghost both have baby au brainrot and enable eachother 🥺🫶 and this photo was WAY too cute hehe

[theredhoodedcryptid]

(MAJOR SPOILERS FOR GOTHAM KNIGHTS VIDEO GAME)

Ok, so I finished Gotham Knights, and here's my review.

I loved it! The story was amazing, and the plot twists! I totally did not expect Kane to be The Voice. And the Court of Owls!!! They're my all time favorite Batman villain/organization, so for them to be such a prominent villain made me undeniably happy. And the Labyrinth, it was so well done, I literally cried. The mind games and the way it hits you in the feels, it embodies the Court perfectly. The League of Shadow was well done as well.

The sibling bonding! I'm sad that only Dick, Babs, Jay, and Tim were there, but they did them so well! They showed Tim's insecurity and grief for losing Bruce, and I totally believe he's autistic. Dick struggled with whether to take up the cowl and whether he was good enough. Babs struggles through her own grief with her father's death. Jason grieves a father he barely got to know, and apparently the Lazarus pit gave him powers??? I'm all for it. And how Jay still struggles with the pit's effects, finally someone did my boy right.

But it's not all sadness and pain for the batkids. They bond, have fun and make fun of each other, true BatFam content.

I was spoiled for the end of the game, but even if I hadn't been I still felt the dread and realization that as we approached the Wayne cemetery that Talia was going to revive Bruce. That whole scene hit me in the feels and having to mourn Bruce a second time.

And Gotham city, I adored swinging/flying/driving around and patrolling. The subtle details like the fact that there is actually a Batman Musical in universe made me smile. The way citizens have differing opinions on vigilantes. I've never played a spider-man game, but I imagine they're pretty similar.

And the way Wayne Family Botanical Gardens was in ruins and not used, it made me so sad. How Bruce is buried next to his parents, how in the belfry he had the highest ranking score on the video game. I couldn't even bring myself to play it, if i removed Bruce from the leader board I would have felt so guilty and sad.

The graphics were amazing, the attention to detail made my artist heart excited and inspired, and I only ever experienced minor glitches, like the subtitles occasionally flashing, I've had way worse glitches in Skyrim or Knight of the Old Republic, so it really wasn't a big deal to me. I loved how both the end credits and Main Title adjust to whatever your heroes are wearing at the time. I haven't played multiplayer, nor do I plan to, so I can't give you a review on that.

This game was not only gorgeous and well thought out, but it actually made me feel with the characters. I would 100% recommend playing it. 100/10 would play again.

I'll be starting Arkham Knight soon, so stay tuned for that review. I've heard good things and I'm excited!

[a-sin-to-be-rin]

The Owl's Test: Dick's Version

Nightwing is trapped in the Court of Owls' not-so-fun house.

A Gotham Knights choose-your-own-adventure. Pick your favorite character to get whumped, or watch them all suffer :)

Jason's Version

Barbara's Version

Tim's Version

---

Dick wakes up coughing. He can still feel it - the knockout gas - closing off his throat. Choking his lungs. He coughs until his throat is raw and his lungs are aching. Then he takes a moment to collect himself, trying to make the room stop spinning. His mask shades the harsh, artificial light, but it still stings, each sense - sight, sound, touch, smell - like a hot dagger in his brain.

Mustering his strength, Dick pushes himself up, pausing for a moment as the world spins faster. He braces himself, then hops off the bench and takes in the room.

The first thing he notices, of course, is that he had not been lying on a bench. No, he’d been comfortably situated on a solid stone altar. It feels ancient and just a bit cultish, and Dick’s skin crawls at just the knowledge that someone had put him there.

The rest of the room is sparsely decorated. The stone walls and floor are grimy and vaguely green in color. Like the room itself feels the mystery gas hangover too.

Two owls guard the archway to a corridor. They’re worn with spiderwebs clinging to their wings. It must have been years since anyone used this room. Or at least since someone cleaned it.

“Ugh,” he mutters, stumbling forward. As an acrobat, the lack of balance is making him incredibly nervous. If someone were to attack him right now, he’d be a sitting duck. “What happened? And how did I get… wherever this is?”

The room spins just a bit more, no doubt a friendly warning for Dick to quit walking before he collapses. So Dick stops for a moment, tapping his comm.

“Belfry, you hear me?”

Nothing.

“Aaand I’m cut off.” He sighs.

Feeling a bit less wobbly, Dick jogs forward, making his way down the hall and around the corner. With the mystery drugs still pumping through his system, things are a bit blurrier than they should be, but that’s okay, because it’s just a tunnel. Dick doesn’t need to see the details of a hallw-

Spikes shoot out from the walls, crushing Dick’s bones and ripping through his muscles. He feels the excruciating sensation of being torn to shreds. And then nothing. He feels nothing. He feels…

Dizzy.

Wait, what?

Dick opens his eyes. He’s lying on the altar again, and he sits up in a panic. He feels his body for gaping wounds - for a missing heart and a shattered ribcage - but he finds no evidence of being impaled. His skin is fine. His suit is intact. Even though just moments before, Dick had died, he’s now very uncertain of the fact.

Confused beyond comprehension, Dick stands up and laughs away the horror of what he thought was instant death. “And I’m back!” he calls out with a cheerful “ta-da” intonation. He moves past the owl statues, noticing a new picture decorating the blank walls.

“Wait… but I thought…” He stands in front of the picture - the picture of his bleeding, broken body, impaled on the spike trap - in disbelief. “That’s impossible. How am I still…?”

No time for questions. Now is the time for movement. Now is the time to get out of here.

Dick hurries ahead, taking care to drop down and crawl when he sees the (now very obvious) holes in the wall. The spikes shoot out as he steps on their pressure plates, but they go over his head.

“Inside of Gotham’s walls…” a sinister, echoing voice croons. Clear of the spikes, Dick jumps to his feet, but the speaker is nowhere to be found.

“Rule you one and all…” another voice calls.

Dick doesn’t wonder where the voices are coming from. Unless he can see the threat, it isn’t worth worrying about. Not under these circumstances. So he moves down the hall, not stopping until the threat does, in fact, make itself seen.

There’s a feral growl, like a bear gargling hex bolts. A dark, almost-human figure jumps out from the shadows and darts up the wall.

“What is that?” Feeling more than a little paranoid, Dick cautiously keeps going. He ducks under another spike trap, hoping to god that there isn’t a demon creature watching him from behind. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

“You are the Court now. And the Court… is you.” The voice is getting more than a little personal about the whole thing, and Dick has no interest in continuing the conversation.

A light flickers up ahead, shockingly warm compared to the harsh chill of the hall’s glow. Is it an exit? Or just a candle?

But the correct answer is neither. Dick isn’t lucky enough to find an exit so quickly, and the world isn’t random enough to provide him with a single candle in the middle of an underground cavern.

No, Dick is blessed with an antechamber filled with flamethrower traps. Which is just… just great. Really. He’s thrilled.

Dick scans the floor carefully. Certain stones are burned black from the trap’s flames, but other stones remain untouched. Hesitantly, Dick crosses the unburned stones and safely makes it to the other side of the room. He finds another hall and starts running. When will this hallway end?

“Give up. It would be so much easier,” the voice promises. But Dick stopped listening to it ages ago.

And then Dick runs headlong into a wall.

“Agh!” He rubs his (no-doubt bruised) forehead, squinting up at the dead end that should not have been there. He climbs to his feet (and man, it’s getting harder and harder to do that, almost like the energy is being sucked from his body) and turns around. He must have missed a turn.

Dick runs back through the halls, but rather than find the Flamethrower Room, he finds the Spinning Blades of Death Room. Which is just marginally better than the flame traps. At least Dick has practiced with spinning blades. Bruce set up that obstacle course often, and Dick would run through it constantly, always shooting to beat his high score. (But Barbara was always faster. Dick hated her for it back then. He still kind of resents her for it, but in a respectfully begrudging type of way.)

So in no time at all, Dick slips past the blades and into the next corridor. The lights are getting brighter, his head growing fuzzier. He stumbles, slowing down and pressing a fist against his headache.

“Robin was a mistake.”

Wait. That’s not the same voice as before. That’s…

God, that’s Bruce. That’s Bruce’s fuming baritone after a long, disastrous patrol. That’s Bruce’s fury after Dick messed up and someone got hurt. That’s-

That’s Bruce’s study.

Sure enough, there are two armchairs up ahead, flanking a decorative table with a gramophone on top. But it’s not just any gramophone. It’s Bruce’s.

… well, it’s Bruce’s dad’s, anyway. Bruce never let Dick forget that. Almost like he felt guilty for just using the gramophone.

Dick’s fingers brush the dust from the gramophone’s horn. A record spins on the turntable, but it’s coming out all wrong. Dick can remember the song, even if he doesn’t quite recall the words. He remembers sneaking down to Bruce’s study when his nightmares kept him awake. And Bruce would watch him carefully, motion him in, and sit him down in an armchair by the fire. Then he would put a record on - this record on - and sit with him until he was lulled to sleep, warm, soothed, and safe.

The juxtaposition of the same chairs, the same gramophone, the same song in this dank, unfamiliar environment makes Dick’s chest ache.

He can’t stand the sound, so he turns right and walks down the hall, the garbled lyrics haunting him as he goes. But the music cuts to a sharp halt by the loud, but distinct, thwump of flesh against stone. Dick can see someone… himself?... being dragged across the floor, limp as a corpse. But as Dick approaches, the person - him - disappears in a black cloud of smoke.

Just another hallucination.

Dick crawls under the next spike trap. When he stands up again, someone new is yelling from the ceiling.

“We’re losing too many lives!”

Commissioner Gordon?

Dick hurries ahead. He can see a spotlight in the next antechamber, the damning image of a bat - the Bat - slapped in the center of it. It sparks and hisses, and Dick’s vision begins to blur again. (What was in that gas??)

“The city is burning to the ground!” another voice screams, gunshots and sirens in the background.

When Dick comes close enough to touch the Bat Signal, it pops. The light cuts out abruptly.

“Where the hell is Batman??” a new voice asks frantically.

Dick swallows hard. He knows the answer. But the voice can’t hear him, so he doesn’t even try. He just keeps moving, running down the hall yet again.

“You said you’d be helpful. You said you wouldn’t slow me down.”

It’s Bruce again. But this time, he’s speaking directly into Dick’s ear. Except when Dick turns, it’s not Bruce. It’s himself, wearing a smooth white mask, predator eyes peering out through the slits.

“But you were wrong,” Bruce’s voice continues. “You’re a disappointment, Dick Grayson.”

Something is crackling in the distance. Interference of some kind. A different voice overlaps Bruce’s, and as Dick’s headache intensifies, he realizes just how much trouble he’s in.

“Presenting,” a loud voice shouts over the cheers of an audience, “the gruesome death of the Flying Graysons!”

Dick staggers forward. He has to keep moving. He can’t stay here. But if he keeps going, he’ll have to walk past… past…

Two motionless bodies are splayed across the floor. Their arms are stretching out towards each other, but they fall short, fingers just inches from touching. Dark red pools on the ground, soaking into their leotards and sinking into the sawdust.

“Mom?”

Her face is frozen in a scream, eyes desperate and cloying. Her hands aren’t warm. Not like they used to be. Her smile is gone. She’s forever memorialized in this state:

Pure and abject fear.

“Dad?”

His lip is curled up, jaw open. Like he was shouting something. His last words. His eyes bulge from his head, panic carved into the lines of his forehead.

“No,” Dick murmurs, heart beating so quickly that he can barely breathe. Heat pricks at his eyes. His every muscle is tensed, drawn tight with a childhood nightmare coming true.

(Again. It’s coming true again.)

“I don’t want to go through this again,” he breathes, but all he can hear are their screams. The collective gasp of the crowd. The tear-soaked, blood-stained, neverending seconds as he watches his parents fall to the ground, knowing that there is nothing he can do. Knowing that these are their last seconds alive, and they will spend them in terror.

The circus band plays its jaunty tune, almost in victory, and Dick breaks away from his parents on the floor. He stumbles backwards, and they disappear in a puff of white smoke, leaving behind two white owl masks and the bloodstain that they could never wash away. The crowd laughs, growing manic and frenzied and amused.

Dick sprints down the hall (whether it’s the left or the right, he neither knows nor cares), sliding under the next spike trap. He needs to get away, to get away, to get away, to get away, to-

A door.

Dick can’t even laugh in relief. He feels none of it. He just runs all the faster, even as the door moves further and further out of reach, like he’s running on the world’s cruelest hamster wheel.

“No escape…” a distorted voice calls. “No escape…”

Dick catches up with the door and yanks on it, but it zips out of his hands, disappearing even further down the corridor. He moves faster. Possibly faster than he’s ever run before.

“Accept your fate!”

He gets to the door again, but this time, he doesn’t waste precious seconds pulling on the handle. Instead, he rams the door with his shoulder. Once. Twice. Th-

The door gives in, and Dick spills out on the floor. There’s a deafening SLAM as the door shuts behind him.

Dick takes a second. Pants. Squeezes his eyes shut and opens them again. The lights are warmer. The walls don’t twist and decay like the others did. He must be out of that nightmare zone.

Dick takes one last breath before climbing to his feet and trying to move on. What happened in the labyrinth can stay in the labyrinth.

“That sucked.”

And that’s all he’ll say on the matter.

Jason's Version

Barbara's Version

Tim's Version

[theresattrpgforthat]

Found your blog by chance, seems like a very cool concept!

ʕっ• ᴥ • ʔっ🫖🍵

I wonder if you have played Warhammer Fantasy RPG, and if you have any thoughts on it, or who you would recommend it to bonus question, any rules light one session RPGs with ready example scenarios you'd recommend?

Hello there! I do not have any experience with Warhammer in any of its forms, unfortunately. The closes I’ve gotten to experiencing anything Warhammer is the actual play episodes hosted on Fandible. I’ll post links to each of their episodes below.

Only War | Black Crusade | Age of Sigmar | The Black, the Grey & the Skaven | Wrath & Glory

Now, let’s see if I can do anything about the second half of your request!

Theme: Rules-Light Single Sessions.

A Complicated Profession, by Always Checkers Publishing.

A Complicated Profession is a light-hearted sci-fi TTRPG for 3 to 5 players. It's a one-shot that usually lasts a few sessions. What do bounty hunters do when the galaxy no longer needs them? In this game, they start new careers hosting intergalactic cruises!

Reunite your disbanded crew of jaded sidekicks, shabby droids and shady accomplices. Then pick a hosting role and start a new life together. 

While it may last a little longer than one session, I’m really excited about A Complicated Profession, as my game group will be playing it in about a month or so! Character creation is something of a fill-it-in mad-libs style process, which I can foresee being pretty quick and easy to set up. The tone of the game is really lighthearted as well, which I think is a great thing to look for when playing one-shots, especially if you’re playing games with folks you don’t know very well. I I don’t know game doesn’t have a predetermined scenario, but the focus of the game itself is pretty narrow, so I think it would be pretty easy to figure out what kinds of obstacles your retired bounty hunters will be up to.

Never & More, by Small Stories.

You are the newest recruits of The Society of Ushers, an occult secret society. Your mission is to prove yourself to your superiors, master the rituals required to move up a rung, and learn how to talk to ravens. Your direct superior and teacher, the Belfry-Devil, has finally deemed you suitable to circulate by yourselves amongst greater society, trusting you to remain faithful to the Ushers in the face of attempted poaching, targeted seduction, and superior parties.

This is a simple example of the kinds of games that exist in the Lasers-and-Feelings family of games, all designed around the concept of two core stats that tell us about your characters’ strengths and weaknesses. Many L&F games come with a few quick steps to create your character, a specific setting or mission, and a series of roll tables to help the GM construct a threat and series of obstacles. If you like rules-light games that are quick to read and occult settings, you might want to check out this game.

For Moria, by Luis Lasbelin.

With the Balrog dead, the hope of retaking Moria is more alive than ever. Thousands of dwarves gather from the great fortresses hidden beneath the mountains with the sole purpose of fighting to reclaim the once great dwarven stronghold.

For Moria uses the Breathless game system for games of terror and tension.

Breathless games are meant to put your characters in heavily dangerous situations, with resources that are guaranteed to run out. Because of this, I think they are a good fit for one-shot games, because there’s always the chance that your character meets some kind of doom. Because this game is about dwarves retaking Moria now that the Balrog is dead, I’d say that the setting does a lot of heavy lifting, assuming your characters are familiar with Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Definitely worth checking out.

Wolf Head, by A.C. Luke.

The King is just. Rather than execute you, he cursed you with the head of a wolf. Instead of death, you were exiled to be hunted for the rest of your days.

But now, the King needs you, or someone like you. There is a great crisis threatening the realm. If you were to solve it, he would remove the curse, pardon you of your crimes. What would you be willing to do for absolution?

WOLF HEAD is a dark fantasy tabletop role-playing game about medieval fable and what you will, and won't, do to be let back into the fold. Players take on the roles of wolves, criminals cursed with a wolf head and banished from society. You have become defined by your crimes—did you commit murder, foment revolution, speak heresy, or love the wrong person? And will what you did help or hinder you in clawing back what they took from you?

Wolf Head looks to have the capacity to be either a one-shot or take place over a large campaign. The game is meant to be zero-prep, which means that you can get a game up and running in no time, and the structure of quests means that you can start a one-shot with a specific quest that ends the session once it’s been accomplished. I don’t own this game, so I’m not sure if it comes with pre-written scenarios, but if it doesn’t, I’m expecting some tools to help you create your own quest pretty quickly.

Escape from Dino Island, by Sam Tung & Sam Roberts.

Escape from Dino Island is a thrilling adventure game about intrepid heroes trapped on an island overrun with creatures from a lost age—dinosaurs!

Players take on the role of everyday people who are brave and competent, but also in over their head. The game is designed to help you create the kind of stories that are full of action and suspense, but in which fighting is rarely a good option. Will you escape with your life? And what kind of person will you become in your quest to survive? There’s only one way to find out…

As a one-shot PbtA game, Escape from Dino Island starts you with a pretty tight premise: you’re trapped on an island populated with dinosaurs. Your characters all have different strengths that can help them get off the island, but one thing you have very little of is time. This is another story-first kind of game, but unlike other PbtA games, which require multiple sessions to tease out all of your character conflicts, Escape from Dino Island is meant to be played in one sitting, which means that any advancements available to your characters are expected to show up before the end of the first session.

Operation: Final Monarch, by poor students.

Operation Final Monarch is a one-page Tabletop RPG for 4-6 players. One player will act as the GM, providing obstacles, portraying passengers, and describing the Watchful Luftrahmer. You play as Infiltrators, spies from the fallen countries around Arstarkan. Your final mission is to kill Aleksander Von Korte.

When situations get risky you gamble with danger and can always push your luck to try to succeed in any situation. Be careful not to roll a 1 though, as a devastating consequence will soon follow. Use can also use your leverage over the passengers of the Watchful Luftrahmer, asking them questions they don’t want to answer or enacting your special abilities. When it all comes crashing down you will have to reveal your secrets to the other players. What do you really think about them? Are you secretly in love or hold a seed of resentment?

I keep an eye on one-page rpgs because they tend to be good candidates for single-session play. With only a few rules and not much room for character advancement, these games focus on giving you the basic premise of the game and the tools you have to play through it. Operation: Final Monarch gives your a very specific goal - assassinate Alexander Von Korte. You’re given a bottle setting to play this in as well - on Alexander’s blimp. I’m really interested in this game because it knows exactly what kind of experience it wants to give you, and it’s succinct and well laid out, which means that learning how to play isn’t that hard at all!

All Hands on Deck, by Alice V.

A gm-less, storytelling, Descended From the Queen game for three to six people about  a ship, its crew, and the sea they sail on. It is a game about the relationships between those people, about relying on each other, about being an individual in a team.

I wanted to spotlight a Descended from the Queen game because these games have a very unique mode of gameplay, which makes them really good for one-shot play. These games usually consist of a series of prompts attached to a regular playing card deck. Each turn consists of pulling a card from the deck, and answering the prompt related to it. Descended from the Queen games tend to be rather introspective, focusing on relationships and the ways they can affect our perceptions of events. The scenarios are also tied to each individual game, so in All Hands on Deck, the scenario involves a ships’ crew on a voyage, and the conflicts that may exist between different members due to the relationships they have to the Captain and each-other.

This Ship Is No Mother, by Thomas Manuel.

This Ship Is No Mother is a game about people in space, working jobs that are probably going to get them killed. Inspired by movies like Alien and games like Mothership and Dread, this is for fans of tension, creepy-crawlies, and general horror. Mechanically, it's a card-based Forged in the Dark game, first in the series of games currently called the Cardsharp Sonata.

In this game, players start with a full deck of cards and as you play, that deck will run down. When the deck ends, there is a climactic moment of panic as one of the characters is going to do something stupid and get themselves (and maybe everyone else) killed.

I got a chance to play this game with the creator last year and it really delivered! This Ship Is No Mother was originally designed as a way to run Mothership scenarios using a narrative system, with a time limit built in due to the fact that it uses cards instead of dice. You’ll use cards as resources, and since there’s only so many in the deck, you’ll run out of them one way or another. If you like suspense and alien horror, this is definitely worth checking out.

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Koboldly Go, by CoffeeSnake Studios.

Lady Blackbird, by John Harper.

Something is Wrong With the Chickens, by Elliot Davis.

The Great Soul Train Robbery, by Cloven Pine Games.

Faewater, by A Smouldering Lighthouse.

[thebisexualdogdad]

Hello love, can I get stephanie brown x GN! Reader who is Oliver Queens and Dinah Lance's kid.

Thank you!

Stephanie Brown x GN!reader

● you meet Stephanie when your parents send you to Gotham to investigate Bruce Wayne aka Batman's death

● you save the knights from a battle with the talon sending an arrow that explodes and temporarily blinds him, allowing them to escape

● Carrie "where the hell did that come from??"

● Stephanie "I don't know but I don't think we should stick around and find out"

● Harper jumps into the drivers seat of the van and Turner opens the back door where you're just chilling

● "the Gotham Knights I presume? We need to talk"

● you explain who you are and why you're in Gotham as they drive back to the belfry

● and back at the belfry they tell you about the court of owls and how they set them up to take the fall for Bruce's death

● Cullen immediately notices you and Stephanie can't keep your eyes off each other

● Turner offers to let you stay with them at the belfry but you've already got a penthouse you're renting using your father's money, if you're going to be staying in Gotham for a while why not do it in style

● you don't tell them that though, you still don't fully trust some of them, one is the jokers daughter after all

● when you're gone Cullen teases Stephanie about the heart eyes she was giving you

● Cullen "So Y/N… they were cute… and totally into you"

● Stephanie "we are not talking about my love life right now"

● you keep your parents updated on everything you learn while you and the knights try to unravel the secret society ruling Gotham

● Oliver "this court of owls seem dangerous, do you need backup? Connor can be there by morning"

● "how can I learn to be on my own when you're always sending my older brother to play babysitter"

● Dinah "that's not what your father meant, Connor just has a few more years experience on you and could help you and what are they calling themselves? The Gotham knights?"

● "I've got this mom, they certainly aren't the justice league but the knights are smart, especially Stephanie"

● Dinah "Oh? Tell me more about this Stephanie, is she cute?"

● "I'm hanging up now"

● over the next few weeks you and Stephanie get close

● you teach her how to fight

● she's actually pretty good at it, she just needed to take the time to learn the basics

● the first time she wins during a sparring session you end up on your back with her on top of you

● you're just staring at each other breathing heavily

● you think she's about to kiss you when Cullen accidently interrupts

● "who wants pizza- oops sorry, pizza can wait"

● and once again he teases Stephanie for what he saw

● Cullen "you were about to kiss!"

● Turner "who was about to kiss?"

● Cullen "Stephanie and Y/N"

● Stephanie "we were not! We were just sparring!"

● Duela "Oh is that what those grunting noises were? I Thought you two were finally releasing all your pent up sexual frustration"

● Stephanie "I hate all of you"

● she takes you to all her favorite places in Gotham

● from the best restaurants to hidden spots that overlook the entire city

● her parents would be so mad if they found out she was riding around on the back of your motorcycle and that gives her an extra thrill

● eventually she feels comfortable enough with you to open up to you about her moms addiction

● "my uncle Roy struggled with addiction, he's been sober for a few years now but he went though some rough times when I was a kid, he stayed with us when my parents were helping him get clean"

● Stephanie feels like a weight is lifted being able to finally talk about this with someone

● you get hurt during a run in with the court and end up telling the knights about your penthouse because it's closer than the belfry and you need medical attention as soon as possible

● Stephanie is stitching you up while the others are in awe of the luxury home you're staying in

● Duela "are you serious! You've been staying here this entire time and you still made us sleep on wooden benches in that shithole belfry!"

● "well sorry I didn't know if I could trust you guys when we first met"

● Harper yelling from the bathroom "guys! The water pressure in this shower is amazing!"

● meanwhile Cullen is raiding the kitchen for snacks

● everyone finds a place to sleep for the night in the various beds and couches while you and Stephanie go out on the balcony to talk

● "how are you feeling?"

● "all good, it's not the worst injury I've ever endured, you see this scar on my shoulder? My brother once switched out my arrows for boomerang arrows during training, my mom was pissed but my dad found it hilarious"

● "do you miss Star City?"

● "I miss my family but there are certain things here in Gotham that I can't find back home"

● "like what?"

● "like you"

● Stephanie smiles and she kisses you

● Star City already had its fair share of archers, maybe your parents would let you stick around Gotham a little while longer after you were done with your mission

[noxxytocin]

—for Gothic Fantasy Fest by @thewritingheirsofslytherin 🐍

Pairing: Sebastian Sallow x Ominis Gaunt/Sebinis

Summary:

Ominis Gaunt, blind since birth and scorned by his village, lives in the shadows of both tragedy and cruelty in Belfry Hollow. His only comfort—Sebastian Sallow, the friend who saved him from a deadly fire years ago. But when a blood-red harvest moon rises and a vicious werewolf begins terrorizing the village, Ominis and Sebastian are thrust into a nightmare.

Ominis Gaunt was a lad of unremarkable origins, aged eighteen, dwelling in a cottage in the equally unremarkable village of Belfry Hollow. His existence, marked by its ordinariness, was singularly distinguished by his affliction— blindness, which, in a twist of irony, rendered him, indeed, remarkable...albeit in a rather unfortunate and pitiable sense.

As a boy, he had learned, with bitter clarity, that a gluttonous beast prowled beneath every polished facade of man.

Humanity wore civility like a hole-covered coat.

For years, the villagers, with their customary inclination towards unkind sobriquets, bestowed upon Ominis the epithet “Moon Eyes.”—how fitting, he thought, that they should ascribe to him the very thing he had never known.

Did they, he wondered, even perceive the biting irony that he, whose eyes had never glimpsed the light of the moon, should be so named?

They could not fathom the depths of the void he inhabited, nor did they care to. In their seeing eyes, he was simply the blind boy of Belfry Hollow, a fixture of the village, no different than the well-worn cobblestones beneath their feet they pissed on and sullied with their drunken filth or the crumbling spire of the church where they mouthed hollow prayers.

"The Lord is my shepherd," they'd say, the greedy wolves—always wanting.

There were no green pastures nor still waters here. The Lord, blind as he, led these beasts through paths of fire, flames licking at their heels as they carved their own valley of death. He carried no staff to guide them, only hands stained with blood—a red he forced himself to believe was another substance.

But wolves knew red…

Read the rest on A03

[itsscromp]

Jason Todd with a reader who has similar trauma from the Joker? The reader really looks up to him and wants to know how he copes with all of the pain

(I really love your writing, it's hard to find platonic X reader writers out here! 💞)

Jason Todd/Red Hood x reader platonic

Aww that's and an amazing idea anon and double awwww that means so much to me that you love my writing, I hope you enjoy this one anon :D. word count:1.1K

It's been about a month since Bruce died, but from grief, you, Tim, Dick, Barbara and Jason help continue to keep Gotham City safe as the Gotham knights. But even with this newfound family, there was one bit that Jason continued to struggle with, his past. His death at the hands of the Joker still haunts him to this day, the events replaying in his mind and taking a toll on him. But you always help him see the light when it seems too far away. He was forever grateful to have a friend like you.

But not to Jason's knowledge, you were also affected by the clown prince of crime. When you were only 7 years old, your dad was murdered by him. It was horrifying, to this day you can't think of him without seeing him in your head and also hearing that horrific laugh.

It plagued you no matter where you went, but for the sake of the others especially Jason, you never told them anything, you didn't even tell Bruce before he died.

One night out on patrol, you and Jason were investigating a crime scene that had Harley Quinn written all over it. you thought you could handle it. It was just a crime scene.

"Y/n how's it looking from over there??" Jason asked you as he scanned the footprints to find her.

"I think I got something but I need a bit more time to figure out what chemical it is"

"More than likely it'll be his laughing gas"

Hearing laughing gas sent shivers down your spine, but right now you needed to focus, you needed to find the chemical so you can be able to trace it.

After which you finally detected it.

"Red hood I got it"

"Awesome, your detective work is getting a lot better"

"I could say the same for your less destructive habits" You smirked under the mask.

"Oh come on man that only happened once... Twice"

You snickered as you both got on your bat cycles following the trail back to where it would lead into the abandoned chemical plant where both he and she were born. This night just keeps getting better and better for you.

Grappling into a nearby vent the two then entered inside. Making they're way inside finally. They then find the people Harley has kidnapped.

"Be sharp y/n, she can be very very unpredictable" Jason warned

"G...Got it" You couldn't help but stutter as you continued through the plant.

Now normally Jason would let this slide, but from the tone of your voice and stutter, he knew something was wrong. And come on he's your best friend how could he not see when something is wrong with you. You always looked out for him, when you both head back to the belfry. he was gonna help you.

You both then started to hear scared voices and a cackling giggle from the one and only.

"Play nice boys, or you're gonna meet the same fate as your friends did." She swung her electric mallet just barely touching their faces as a warning.

"You won't get away with this Harley"

"Oh, won't I now ??" She smirked as she began to do shit talk them and tell them her plan.

You and Jason got to the ground as quietly as you could. sneaking to where the kidnapped police officers were. With a nod from Jason, you then lunged at Harley and began to fight her. While she was distracted, Jason then freed the officers and got them out safely and quickly before coming back to you and finishing Harley off.

"You little bat brats !!!"

"It's over Harley, you're going back to Arkham one way or another" Jason cracked his knuckles.

"I'll be sure to put you down 6 feet under and make sure your friend doesn't revive you this time !!!" she cackled as she swung her mallet at you before you quickly dodged it. The cackle triggered you, the memories were flooding back. The sight, the sounds, Him...

Jason saw you were distressed even if you put up a fight, but right now you two needed to finish Harley off quickly. So Jason took out his non-lethal stun bullets and loaded them up, shooting Harley a few times, tasering her to the ground. It was over, Harley's reign of terror was over.

The police came and arrested her, taking her back to Arkham Asylum. You and Jason's job was done. But riding back to the belfry, Jason knew he had to ask you. So once you both settled down, changing into your pyjamas for the night...

"Y/n I need to ask you something, What happened back at the plant ??"

"It's... It's nothing Jason"

He placed a hand on your shoulder gently and turned you around. He wanted to help you.

"I may not be good with this kind of stuff... but you can talk to me. You know that right ??"

You looked down on the floor, you knew what he was talking about. About why you seemed distressed fighting Harley... Your stutter...

"When... When I was 7..."

Jason listened attentively.

"My dad... was murdered, by Joker... All my life... was overshadowed by him. Even one mention of his name triggers me into seeing everything again... How do you do it Jason ??"

"What do you mean ??"

"How do you deal with it... the pain ?? how do you keep yourself in check when hearing his name"

Jason never really thought about it too much, this was the man who killed him, but after that, he never thought much. he does sometimes but not even every mention triggers him. He could see the desperation for an answer in your eyes. Like a lost dog out in the streets.

"Y/n... I know It's hard. believe me, I know, But the way I cope with it is that I have and I don't usually say this in front of the others, an amazing support system. People who guide me when I feel lost, people who pick me up when I fall down. Y/n, you're my best friend, I want to help..."

You couldn't help but feel tears brim as you hugged Jason tightly, the one person out of the entire bat family gets you. He really does, He doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around you, keeping you safe and secure.

"I'm always here for you y/n, always"

This meant more than you could ever feel. To have someone who could pick you up when you fall down, to guide you into the light when things get tough. It will continue to get tough, But you always had your best friend to back you up.

Taglist: @callofdudes