#dick sends tim to Arkham

[pixiatn]

Dp x dc prompt cause I'm bored

So we all know the classic angst trope in Tim Drake fics where Dick wants/wanted to put Tim in Arkham bc he thinks Tims crazy and a danger to himself/the family for thinking Bruce was still alive. Dick actually does that here, bro puts Tim in Arkham

While wrongfully stuck in Arkham Tim finds himself befriending 3 fellow inmates who seem a lot less intense than most Arkham inmates. Classic "what're you in for" conversation (doesn't really matter how or why the everlasting trio got in Arkham, maybe they're antiheros, maybe they're just treating it like an elaborate escape room, who knows) and when Tim tells a semi-less detailed version of his scenario and his fellow inmates are just like "aw what, that's bogus >:0" and "bro thats not even that crazy of a theory 😒"

Next thing Tim knows his new friends are like "we'll help u find ur dad bro :)" (Tims lowkey glad his new meta friends offered to help cause his first choice was the LoA and that probably wouldn't have ended well) and they plan their breakout, which lucky for them Joker and a bunch of rogues break out a week later and they sneak away in the frey

[casscainmainly]

Reading Red Robin after having heard all the fanon takes is hilarious. It's like, oh. That didn't happen. That person didn't say that. That person did say that, but it meant something totally different in context. That happened, but it wasn't as big a deal as people say. That didn't happen. That person didn't say that. Again and again every issue it's actually so funny.

[cologona]

Jason’s angst is always going to be about Bruce and Batman I’m sorry but the other batboys don’t factor in nearly as much as fanon likes to think it does.

[azurendays]

I fight myself everyday not to be a rude. I’m fighting so hard

[gaywineauntsstuff]

Broke: everyone fights over whose Batman’s favorite

Woke: everyone fights over whose Dicks favorite bc Dick isn’t an emotionally stunted loser (I shit talk Bruce so much but I love him, he’s just also a loser) and trying to get in the bats favor is like trying to catch sand in a sieve

————

Damian: obviously I’m Graysons favorite I was his Robin

Tim: dude I was the first Robin he trained and we still talk every day I am 100% the favorite

Steph: fuck you! You disappeared off the the face of the earth when he was Batman I was actually here I’m 100% the favorite everyone knows Wing loves me.

Jason: Dick willingly went to Gotham to spend time with me even when he was mad at Bruce. Has Dick ever been in Gotham when he was mad at Bruce for you guys? No? Didn’t think so?

Damian: ….

Steph:…

Tim: that’s because you sucked so much he thought you’d get blown up trying to have to bludhaven.

Jason: oi! Low blow, you can’t use a man’s death against him

Damian: shut up we’ve all died before

Steph: you literally said you were allowed to break Tim’s laptop bc you died b4

Jason: yeah it’s MY DEATH I can use it how I want

Tim: we really gonna call your 14yr old 4’7 self a man?

Cass: he helped me train when B rejected me I’m the favorite

Tim: you can’t be Dicks favorite you’re already Bab’s favorite those are the only 2 likable older members of the family. (They’ve decided Alfred doesn’t count since he’s legally not allowed to have favorites)

Dick: Duke is my favorite

Damian: what?

Tim: how?

Jason: this shit is rigged

Steph: What?? You barely spend time with him?

Duke who has been eating popcorn quietly this whole time:???

Dick: he doesnt steal my suit and murder people

Jason: …

Dick: or tell his friends I threatened to send him to Arkham when I told him to get therapy

Tim:…

Dick: or break into my apartment at 3am because he can’t communicate with his father

Damian:…

Dick: or make me believe he flatlined on the operating table

Steph: …

Dick: or tell me he can’t meet up for a bust because he’s too busy fighting Wonder Woman a hero we work with over text with no context and then go AWOL for 5 days

Cass:…

Dick: or overload his plate with 50 million things I will have to come in and help with

Everyone:

Steph: he started a cult tho??

Dick: was it before or after he was fostered bc if it was before it’s. Not. My. Problem.

Duke: I’m the favorite???

Dick: also I feel like if I died you’re the most likely to take over my duties and not go on a quest for vengeance or try to clone me or put me in the Lazarus pit.

Jason: ID NEVER PUT you in the Lazarus pit…. No comment on the rest tho.

Tim: ditto

Damian: meh you are superior to Todd and he’s relatively functional post the pit I don’t see the issue here.

Steph raising hand: I wouldn’t-

Dick: or help TIM do it

Steph lowering hand:

Dick: plus you have a parent so I don’t have to do 80% of the child rearing while giving Bruce credit

Duke still a little star stuck bc that’s nightwing: IM THE FAVORITE.

[gaywineauntsstuff]

No listen there are exactly 4 flavors of dc fan

Fan 1; most canon content consumed in Wayne family adventures, lives in fanon stereotypes and tumblr reblogs, usually only reads fanfiction to get their content fix

Fan 2; has never looked at fanon content in their lives, has somehow managed to literally every comic book you’ve never heard of. Is violently pissed at the fladerization of their fave. (For some reason hates Jason Todd)

Fan 3; likes fanon and canon but they cannot touch. On. The. Plate. Good and separate like me when I have anything with mashed potatoes or sauce. Sure Dick can be a little naive in Fanon but if he needs help working a computer in canon they will riot or if people T h I n k their fanon is canon. (Low key also will ignore fanon they disagree with)

Fan 4; can’t tell the difference and/or substitutes the cooler one. Canon is a subway sandwich and Fanon are the excess toppings. They honest to god would not be able to tell you which idea they got from the comics vs Reddit vs a tumblr shit post. Sometimes fanon bleeds over and someone might read nothing butt nightwing and think it’s good who knows? (High key will ignore the canon they disagree with)

Anyway tag yourself

My love of fandom and its ability to recreate works completely .vs. my absolute hatred for most fandom Nightwing interpretations. FIGHT

[xan-izme]

𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞𝐬

Prologue

Part 1

Your mother was a beautiful kind and dangerous woman. In short. She was a Falcone. And for young Bruce, being with her was a thrill. Being Batman gave him a thrill, but your mother was a different kind of thrill.

Till she got pregnant. And the thrill was gone.

Your mother kept you of course. Counting the days till she gets to hold you in her arms. And when she finally got to hold you, to feel you close and hear your sweet little voice. The rest of the Falcone men decided that your mother wasn't ready to take care of you. So, they forced you out of her arms and sent you to Bruce.

Bruce held you once. And immediately passed you to Alfred. He was too young to become a father. (Never mind the fact he was already acting as a father to two boys)

He didn't have time to play daddy. Deep down Bruce did come to care for you over the years and attempted to try and hold you. But then Jason died, Dick distanced himself. Holding you, an innocent little thing, felt wrong.

When you were eight. You had tantrums. Night terrors. terribly scared of the dark. Thunderstorms especially. Gotham famous for its long dark nights and loud thunderstorms. Bruce, too busy with his new sidekick, Tim. Didn't have time to comfort you. No matter how heartbreaking your scrams for him were. Crying for him, so he can save you from whatever nightmare you have woken from.

But only Alfred occasionally Dick, would come and save you.

Bruce would give you toys, new dresses as a form of apology. He wouldn't give it to you directly. But have Alfred give it to you or leave it in your room when asleep. But no matter how many new toys he gives you. Those nightmares just never stopped.

Due to the neglect. Your mother was able to meet with you secretly. As years passed, she was able to steal you away when Alfred wasn't hovering around you. Take you to shop and give you whatever you wanted. Holding you in her arms and not wanting to let go.

Slowly, your mother was gaining the favor of some of the Falcones. To let her have you back. To welcome you back into the Falcone family. Once she gets the whole family to agree. She can make a case of child neglect against Bruce Wayne and take her sweet Babygirl back.

But when you were ten. Your powers began to kick in. You told Bruce, hoping your father would help you. Help you understand. Bruce, told you to keep it a secret. And to tell no one else.

Having a kid who was a meta was the last thing he needed at the moment. Trying to re-connect with Jason who still had deep hate for him instead focusing on his first-born child who was struggling to understand.

You felt like a freak.

And it wasn't long till you lost control of your powers. To keep it short. You accidently killed a few other kids with your powers. It was an accident. You swore. You see you would have just been left off. Your a kid. It was an accident. But most of all your a Wayne. But one of the kids you killed was a Falcone.

And Bruce couldn't risk you getting killed. He cared about you. Just not as much as he should. So, to avoid the wrath of the Falcone's. Bruce had to claim you were mentally ill. Sending you to Arkham. Only for a few months. That's what he said to you. That's what he promised.

You did your six months in Arkham. Six months turned to eight. Eight months turned to ten. Ten months turned to two years. Then finally, you were taken out from your cell. Lead by two prison guards. They said you had a visitor. You assumed it was another reporter. But was proven wrong when you see Bruce on the other side of the thick glass. You were shocked but happy to see your father.

"Daddy." You spoke softly as you slowly smile, putting your hand on the glass. Bruce hesitates to put his hand on the glass, once he does, he focused back to you. Your eyes stared at him with so much love and hope.

". . . Your case. . . the court decided you're, too unstable to attend court, so. . ." Bruce didn't look at you as he spoke. So, he couldn't see the smile on your face fade. Confusion taking over.

"But. . . I did my six months. . . I-I've been here for a year! Daddy, please I didn't do it on purpose!" You were on the edge of crying.

"I promise. I'll get you out of here as soon as I can." Bruce wanted to try and console you. But that was harder due to the glass between you two. He reaches out his hand to the glass once more. But the loud buzz that queued it was time for you to get back to your cell.

"Please Daddy don't let them take me!" You cried, putting both hands on the glass. You were in full despair. Bruce didn't know what to do. He can take the risk from the Falcones and get you out with a snap of his fingers. Or he can make it easy for everyone but you and wait till you serve your time.

". . . I'm sorry" Bruce can see you falling deeper and deeper into dispare.

Guards burst from the doors and had to forcefully take you away.

"No- No! Daddy please! DADDY!" Your screamed louder as the guards took you away, reaching out to Bruce who just stood there. And did nothing. As always.

Seven years later.

No one ever visited you again. Well, no one from the Waynes. But your mother visited you every week. Her visits where the only reason you kept saine.

Arkham isn't all fun and games. Obviously. You were immitted into Arkham's fucked version of rehabilitation. You started hearing things after your first month in Arkham.

. . .

You sent letters almost every day to the Wayne manor. But never got any back. None from Bruce. None from Dick. You and Tim weren't close. So, you didn't expect anything from him. Alfred prefers to call you. Wanting to hear your voice to make sure you were not lying to him when he asks of your wellbeing.

You stopped sending letters to Bruce a few months ago. Not like he'll respond anyway. You don't need Bruce. You have your mother. And she's all you'll need. She's your world now, your reason to keep living this pointless life. And once you're out, Mama promised to give you a big hug. Which you so desperately needed.

🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸

"𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚢. . . 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚖𝚎?"

[fandom-hoard]

Obligatory reminder that Dick Grayson did not ever even consider sending Tim to Arkham

This is what he said-

He wanted Tim to talk to a therapist. One from Metropolis no less, so not even Arkham adjacent in any way.

And for more context here, these are the other things Dick said (EDIT 09/29/24: I failed to actually add these photos last time, and sure over a year later might be too late? But um, yeah, I went back to my photos from the day I posted this and this is what I meant to add. For context, the following panels came BEFORE it became a physical fight.)-

I’m not saying Tim was wholly in the wrong for not explaining himself or anything like that. And I understand that sometimes it’s fun to woobify Timbo a bit by writing fics and things were everyone was against him during this time and all of that. I get that.

But I also want everyone to know that Dick did not ever canonically do that.

Dick did not do everything right by any means, but he never wanted to send his little brother to Arkham. That is purely fanon.

[umbrellajam]

#nice world is like 'oh we've saved u from that uncommunicative world full of assholes- don't u want to stay here and talk about ur feelings'#and i want tim to be like 'No! im an uncommunicative asshole! i wanna go home!' (tags via @nikrei)

GOD. YES. if canon Tim ended up in a touchy-feely universe he would immediately break out into hives and throw himself out the nearest window even if he had to crash through glass to do it.

or alternatively, break out into hives but suppress his urge to run screaming because that would be Highly Suspicious so he would Lie Lie Lie with a smile on his face, trying to figure out the dynamics in this world on the fly so he could collect information and allies and resources in order to FLEE HOME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

he would not tell the Stepford Bats a single damn thing about himself or his universe if he could avoid it, would find them exactly as creepy as they would find him, and would leap back into his own universe with a 'THANK CHRIST' at the earliest opportunity/convenient portal.

one of those "Tim gets sent to another world where everyone is a lot more emotionally intelligent and affectionate" fics, except he finds it so unnerving and hates it so much he goes out of his way to start fights and get them mad at each other before he leaves, and when he gets home damian stabs him and he's like "oh thank GOD everyone is normal here"

[clownzaf]

The only ones who know about Joker Junior are Bruce, Dick, Alfred and Barbara.

Tim never found it on himself to tell anyone because he know that if he simply as touch that thought with the tip of his fingers it will never stop until swallow him whole.

So no one who wasn’t in the family at that moment know about Tim. No one knows why Tim has to sit back when the Joker is out of Arkham either. Jason once asked Bruce and he explained that due to the lack of spleen even a little bit of anything weird the Joker wants to play with could kill him, so Jason never asked again.

So one day—When Dick is in Bludhaven, Alfred is out doing Alfred-things and Bruce on a JL meeting—Damian decides to do the ultimate prank.

Dye Tim’s hair Joker green.

Tim’s a public figure who need to maintain his perfect image in front of the public, and Joked is the most hated villain of all times, Tim will be desperate trying to change it and will probably go bald. So yeah, Damian founds it funny.

So he dyes Tim’s hair green during the night and then goes to continue with his life.

When they’re eating breakfast the next morning they just hear a heart clenching scream followed by a laugh so loud it can be heard all the way to the kitchen.

It sounds so much like the Joker’s that everyone just starts running to Tim’s room in panic. Thinking that maybe this is the day Joker decided to use his knowledge in the batfam identities to eliminate them.

What they found is equally horrifying.

Timothy Jackson Drake is on the floor, hair horribly familiar green, tears flowing down his face and a laugh that sounds so much like the clown’s that everyone has to make a double take of the room to make sure he really isn’t here.

His body spams every now and then, as if he were being electrified, and his hands were grabbing his hair so hard it some strands of it were falling off.

Duke tries to get close but as soon as he took one step Tim started throwing things at him, so they closed the door and decided to call for help.

When the manor’s emergency beacon starts beeping in the middle of a JL meeting Bruce almost flies to the zeta tube to make sure his family is alright.

When they explain everything and he gets to see his son—or everything that was left after that monster put his hands on him— all Bruce can say is.

“It’s good to see you again Junior.”

The kids will never understand why Bruce decided that sending his kid— who was clearly having a Joker related episode (One that they don’t understand either)— to live one week with HARLEY FUCKING QUINN and poison ivy was a good idea.

But that’s ok. It was theirs to understand and it wasn’t Bruce story to tell.

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Lucky it's not Worse (part 4)

First part | Masterpost | previous part|

Betad by mossycobblestonewrites! Thank you

------

Batman has had a very hard... time, he wasn't honestly sure exactly how long it had been since Jason died. Since he'd lost his mind to the point the neighbor's child took it upon himself to play adult and keep Batman from falling apart. Of course, Tim had turned out to be a good kid in need of a home, and Bruce was glad to have him now, but that didn't touch his hurt and shame for his behaviour. And then Red Hood showed up.

The new rogue had an absolutely meteoric rise in power in Crime Alley, taking over the drug trade and forming a very organized gang before Bruce even had time to really register the threat. His rise had been bloody and thorough as he brought nearly all of organized crime in Gotham under his heel, with the help of his loyal second in command, Hyena.

Batman had thought that this headache couldn't get any worse, and then he found out who was under the Red Hood. Jason Todd, his son, back from the dead and so deeply changed, so angry about his death, and his life. Bruce... hadn't reacted well, honestly, he understood why Jason wanted to be avenged and they had wanted to avenge him. In the heat of the moment Dick had nearly killed the Joker, and so had Bruce really, if Clark hadn't held him back...

But in the heat of the moment, Bruce hadn't chosen his son. He had hurt Jason, again, to save the Joker, and it hadn't even worked. It had only been a few months later when Hyena had killed the Joker and brought Jason his head. Bruce had watched Jason declare his love for Hyena, before turning on Batman and Robin again. He wanted to help Jason, he really did, but he was afraid it was far too late.

The only thing that was giving him even an ounce of hope was that Red Hood had agreed to meet them tonight. Well, meet him. Bruce had refused to bring Tim and put him in that sort of danger, though he was sure that the third Robin had followed him anyway and was around here somewhere. Batman stood on a roof, waiting for Red Hood to come join him.

There was the sound of an impact beside Bruce and he turned towards it, expecting to see Red Hood and... displeased, to say the least, to see it wasn't him. Hyena stood on the other side of the roof, green eyes practically glowing over the muzzle he wore to hide the lower half of his face.

Bruce didn't know how to feel about Hyena. He knew that in his day-to-day life, the man was known as Fox, but Bruce couldn't find any mention of the name before he showed up in Gotham and started working for Red Hood. He knew Fox was a fake name too, but he couldn't find any hint of the man before he went by it. It was driving Batman crazy especially since Fox was so close to Jason. Was he to blame for the violent methods Jason was using now? A part of Bruce desperately wanted to believe this wasn't really his son's fault, at least not entirely.

"Hyena," Bruce greeted warily. "Where's Red hood, he agreed-"

"He agreed to hear you out," Hyena interrupted, sitting down on the raised edge of the building and crossing one leg over the other. "But something came up, I'm his eyes and ears when he isn't there, and I'm wearing a wire so he can listen in now or later. Whenever he's ready to."

"I don't want to talk to You," Batman growled and Hyena shrugged, posture relaxed and confident. He clearly wasn't intimidated at all by Batman, it was... disconcerting.

"Well then, that's just too bad, because he's not ready to see you until I give the go-ahead that you're not going to hurt him again." Hyena raised his chin defiantly, staring Batman down accusatory. "Since I was the one who stitched his throat back up after you slit it open," He said in an accusing snarl. Bruce suppressed his flinch.

"I'm not going to hurt him," Bruce said softly.

"Oh? You're not?" Hyena asked, cocking his head to the side, "Just going to arrest him and send him to Arkham then? Because he can't possibly know what he's doing? Anyone who doesn't follow your exact morals must be criminally insane!"

"Killing people Is a crime," Bruce said, puffing himself up indignantly and refusing to wilt when met with Hyena's manic laughter.

"It's the only way to stop Some People," he said, pushing himself up again, sauntering a little closer to Bruce. "If you really want us to stop, you know how~, you nearly 'stopped' Red Hood once already."

"I'm not going to hurt him, or you," Bruce said firmly and he could have sworn Hyena looked disappointed.

"Well that's just too bad," he sighed, slumping back a little, "What, exactly did you want then?"

"I wanted to apologize," Bruce said, though it felt like pulling teeth to say as much to Hyena. "And to try and agree to a... truce. From what I've heard things have been better in Crime Alley. If we can come to an agreement-"

"The only agreement we want is for you to agree to stay the hell out of Our territory," Hyena snarled, his eyes flashing an unnatural green, "And out of our business. Red Hood is done with you, you couldn't give him what he needed anyway. You leave us alone, and we'll leave you alone, that's the truce."

"You can't expect us to just allow the crimes you are committing! The drugs, and the murder-"

"They were happening anyway. You could never get a handle on organized crime," Hyena said with a dismissive wave. "If you want any sort of relationship with your son you're going to have to accept what he's Chosen to do with his life. He's making his home a better place, and I for one, support him and Whatever he believes needs to be done."

"Even if it's-"

"Whatever needs to be done," Hyena repeated, staring him down. "There is No limit to what I would do for him."

Bruce found himself at a loss for words. Hyena could be lying, but he looked so sincere and serious. He was probably still enabling Jason's behaviour, but the hope Bruce had that Hyena was the one leading and manipulating Jason was dying a slow death. Another thing was still bothering him though. It was the way Hyena snarled, and the way his eyes glowed. When he laughed it echoed a little too, like there was a modulator but he was pretty sure it wasn't. Something was Off with Hyena.

"So, do you agree to our terms?" Hyena asked after the silence had trailed on for too long.

"I want to see Red Hood," Bruce said instead and Hyena cocked his head to the side again, looking him over.

"I'll see if he'd be willing to meet you," he sighed reluctantly.

"Alone."

"No." The denial was abrupt and immediate. Bruce did Not like it.

"That's not up to you!" Bruce growled in his most threatening 'Batman voice'.

"He is my boyfriend, My Beloved, My World! I will Not let you hurt him again!" Hyena insisted, and there was that echo again as emotion made his voice lose some of its humanity. His eyes were glowing green again as well, this time it was obvious.

Bruce stared back at him consideringly and hummed, nodding slowly. "Alright, I still want to see him," He repeated. “Even if you insist on being there.”

Hyena stared at him, then nodded slowly. "I'll talk to Hood, maybe.” He agreed, though he sounded far from convinced. “Is there anything else?" He asked, clearly exasperated.

"Hm," Bruce sounded a negative, shaking his head slightly.

"Alright, then I've got things to do," Hyena said with an insincere and mocking salute before loping over to the side of the building and vaulting over the edge, returning to Crime Alley.

Bruce only had to wait a couple minutes before he heard a grapple and Robin landed next to him. He sighed softly at Tim, who was entirely unapologetic for coming along without permission.

"So that was weird, huh?" He said with a defiant little grin.

"Hm. I think we need to call Constantine."

-----------

Constantine hated it when the Bats called him. They did it very rarely, and when they did, it meant something had gone horribly wrong. Usually, they should have called him in ages ago, but were either insisting they could handle it themselves or didn't think the problem was supernatural. So when he got a call saying he needed to come to Gotham A.S.A.P, John felt like a bowling ball had been dropped into his gut, and dropped everything to go. As much as he wanted to avoid it, avoidance would just make things worse.

He portalled to the bat cave and immediately felt that something was off, though he didn’t know what it was at first. His supernatural senses were tingling, though not in a way that indicated an imminent threat or anything. He couldn’t be sure of course, but he trusted his gut. 

Batman turned towards him nodding at him in greeting, and beckoned for him to come closer to the giant computer they had in this weird cave. “There is a new masked player in Gotham,” Batman started, and Constantine nodded.

“Red Hood? I’ve heard about him.” He didn’t understand why Batman twitched slightly at the mention.

“Yes, but it’s not him I’m talking about. It’s his partner, known as Hyena. We know almost nothing about him, but we do know he has some sort of meta or magic abilities. We believe he has the potential to be even more of a threat than he first appears, and that he might be the true head of operations for Red Hood’s gang,” Bruce said opening the file on Hyena, showing a young man with black and white hair, a muzzle, and a brown, beige, and red costume that looked to be inspired by Harley Quinn and Catwoman. 

There was something wrong with the man, the way his eyes reflected the light in the still Batman had paused on. Then he hit play and the video showed Hyena looking directly at the camera, his eyes flashed fully green for just a moment before the recording turned to static. That was what the human eye would see at least, Constantine could see the burst of power that had broken the electronics, it was definitely magic. “It didn’t just take out the camera. The street lights and just about every appliance on the block shorted out as well,” Batman explained. 

“Huh, do you have anything of his?” Constantine asked. Batman scowled, shaking his head. That was weird, Bats were usually really good at getting samples from people. Hyena must be really careful with his DNA.

“Alright, I’ll try Scrying then,” Constantine sighed, digging in his pockets for the things he’d need to set up the spell. “Alright, this should show us a bit more about him,” Constantine said as Batman came closer to watch him activate the spell.

But it did not work as it was intended to, in fact, something happened that Constantine had never seen before. The spell blew up. And not just a little, the blast of green energy knocked Constantine back flat on his ass, leaving him gaping at the place the spell circle had been, now a scorched patch on the floor still crackling with vivid green energy. 

“What does that mean?” Batman growled, snapping Constantine out of his daze. 

He leapt up to his feet with an indignant yelp, “What that means, is that Hyena is something you should not be messing with! With that sort of power coming through just a Scrying spell if that thing is keeping to Crime Alley and only killing a few people you’re damn lucky!” He insisted furiously, only to receive a disbelieving hum from Batman.

“You haven’t seen him. The spell could have failed for a different reason,” He stated, as if he knew anything at all about magic!

“Ohh, no! I have done this spell hundreds of times! If it failed, it just wouldn’t have shown anything. It worked, and the amount of power that came through shorted the spell!” Constantine reiterated with growing frustration, pointing accusingly at Batman, “Leave it alone!” 

“Hyena is causing problems in my city, I will not leave it alone. What can you tell me about him? What is he?” Batman asked stubbornly. 

“Absolutely fuck all! The spell has never reacted like that, and I don’t know the energy signature. Besides Powerful, I know nothing about them!” 

“Hm. He and Hood agreed to meet me tonight. You will be coming with me,” Batman decided. It wasn’t a question, but Constantine made an X motion with his hands anyway. 

“Nooo, no no no! Absolutely not! I’m not going anywhere near this!” Constantine denied immediately, but the stubborn set of Batman’s jaw said that he was not getting out of this, not without serious consequences. 

“Hm,” Batman sounded, staring Constantine down, who tried to withstand, truly he did! But, well, the devil he knew was better than the devil he didn’t.

“Fine!” Constantine threw his hands up in the air furiously. “I’ll go, but if we die it’s your fault!”

Next

[erinwantstowrite]

people underestimate how close tim and dick are and it is driving me NUTS

you get me oh my god,,, alighterwood and i talk about this ALL the time

like, i do love the dynamics between jason and damian and the rest of the bats!! do not get me wrong, i think they have lots of potential and the writers did us dirty in some cases. it's fun to explore them. however, tim and dick's brother relationship is so impactful to the entire story between them that it's insane no one talks about it more? or practically no one??

tim learned their identities through dick grayson, robin, not batman. he looks up to both of them but robin was his hero. when jason died and tim knew something needed to be done, he went to dick first above all else (technically, he went back to the circus). he trusted that nightwing (his robin) would be able to do something about it. he wasn't aware of just how deep dick and bruce's fight went but he knew who to go to about it. dick brought him back to the manor and tim became robin because of it. he was involved in tim's time as robin, he was the person that tim could go to about his insecurities, he was the one that tim went to about his relationship/family/friendship/life problems. he learned how to be the hero he is because of dick (and bruce, but this is about him and dick).

they were brothers before jason came back, before damian, before tim even met steph, etc. when tim was, in fact, going a little crazy (even if he was RIGHT, that doesn't mean he wasn't losing his mind at least a little bit, Tim Stans) about bruce being alive, dick was WORRIED about him!! because that's his brother!! he didn't threaten to send tim to arkham, he wasn't even the one who planned to give damian robin!! dick picked up the batman mantle because he felt there was no other choice (do not get me started on how gotham does not actually need BATMAN, but his spirit) and with that came the responsibility of looking after BOTH of his brothers. brothers. not children. dick can do a lot of things but he is not infallible. it was a shitty situation and it does not soley reside on his shoulders. tim had a right to feel hurt that no one was listening to him, but... y'all. he dropped out of school, he was kind of going off the deep end with how many other people died in his life around that time (his BEST FRIENDS) so of course dick was like "hey dude..."

tim is the closest to dick in the family, he looks up to dick as if he IS infallible in a lot of ways. that's his BIG BROTHER and also his personal hero. his favorite person. and dick cares about him just as much

can you tell alighterwood and i have such strong feelings about this?

[incorrectbatfam]

Bruce broke his foot (again) and now someone needs to fill in as Batman. Who's donning the cowl and who's making calls to get off the planet so they don't have to do it?

Bruce: Casting calls are now live.

Duke, nervously getting onstage: Hi.

*microphone squeaks*

Duke: M-my name is Duke Thomas and I'm auditioning for the role of Batman.

Bruce: Show me what you got.

Duke: *clears his throat*

Duke, reading from a script: "Stop right there, Joker! Your days of evildoing have come to a—"

Duke: Actually, I have some notes. From a writer's standpoint, this reads less like the Dark Knight and more like a 60s sitcom.

Bruce: Next!

Selina: What better person to be Batman than the woman who has him wrapped around her finger?

Bruce: You know that's not how it works.

Selina: I've been practicing my quick change so I can be both of us in one fight. Come on, Bat. Can't bend the rules for the love of your life?

Bruce: I love you, but next!

Tim: I'm auditioning for the non-dictator Batman.

Bruce: Not taking any chances. Next!

Cassandra: *flips onstage in a series of elaborate acrobatics*

Cassandra: *beats the training dummy*

Bruce: Impressive. Now, I'll give you a scenario and you act it out as if you're Batman, okay?

Cassandra: *nods*

Bruce: A lost child walks up to you. What's the first thing you say?

Cassandra: You will make an excellent Robin.

Bruce: Yes—I mean, no. No. Next person, please.

Dick: I don't get why I have to audition. I mean, I was Batman.

Bruce: Hm, you're right. Let's give someone else a turn. Next!

Jason, in an improvised costume: I am the darkness. I am the night. I am...

Jason: *whips out guns*

*BANG BANG BANG*

Bruce: Next!

Stephanie: Can I try out?

Bruce: Sure, why not. Let's say you're negotiating a hostage situation. What do you say?

Stephanie: I'll give you Bruce Wayne's credit card if you let these people go.

Bruce: Next!

Barbara: I have programmed an advanced speaker system that will project your grunt from every gargoyle in the city.

Bruce: Grunting doesn't send people to Arkham. Next!

Damian: *walks in*

Bruce: No.

Bruce: Last one left is Kate.

Kate: Don't look at me, I'm just trying to find my keys.

Bruce, groaning: Patrol's in an hour. How am I gonna find a replacement?

Alfred: Master Bruce, perhaps I can substitute for you on the field.

Bruce: Thanks for offering, but I can't let you put yourself in danger like that.

Alfred: Then might I suggest, as Ms. Kyle said, bending one of your rules?

Bruce: Hm...

[later]

Joker: With a push of a button, I'm going to send this entire street sky high!

Clark dressed as Batman: Not if I can help it.

Joker: What is this, some sort of flying device?

Clark: Some changes were made.

Joker: Like what?

Diana, dressed as Batman: Like this.

Diana: *lassoes the Joker*

Joker: There's two of you?!?

Ollie, dressed as Batman, perched on a gargoyle: A little more than that.

Dinah, dressed as Batman: And we have some new tricks up our sleeve. Like this.

Dinah: *screams*

Arthur, dressed as Batman, bursting from the sewer: And this.

Arthur: *catches Joker in a whirlpool*

Hal, dressed as Batman, pointing his ring: And this.

Hal: *traps Joker in a ball*

J'onn, dressed as Batman: May I?

Zatanna, dressed as Batman: I want in too.

Hal: Okay, all of us on the count of three.

Everyone: *bounces Joker back to Arkham*

Barry, dressed as Batman: *runs in late*

Barry: Aw man, I missed it!

[suzukiblu]

NaNoWriMo fic, day one: obligatory sugar daddy Tim/sugar baby Kon AU.

Tim Drake had absolutely no intentions of ever becoming anyone's sugar daddy when he met Superboy.

This would have worked out better for him if Superboy had ever had an actual legal identity or an actual legal guardian or just . . . literally anything whatsoever in life. Ever. At all.

Just a bank account, even.

"You're working for Cadmus," Tim says slowly. "Cadmus, as in the lab that stole Superman's body and cloned him without his consent. Cadmus, which you had to break out of so they couldn't put mind control code words in your head."

"Yeah," Superboy replies like that's not literally insane. Tim stares at him.

"Why?" he asks incredulously.

"Food and shelter?" Superboy shrugs. "And I mean, I dunno, where else am I gonna go?"

Tim is not okay with this situation.

"What did Superman say?" he says.

"Just to like, keep an eye on things," Superboy says with another shrug. "Make sure they're not up to anything shifty."

Tim stares at him.

"Superman," he says. "Told you to just . . . 'keep an eye on' the dubiously ethical cloning lab. The specific dubiously ethical cloning lab that tried to put mind control code words in your head. Specifically."

"Yeah," Superboy confirms.

Alright, Tim is actually even less okay with this situation than he thought, apparently. Like, impressively less.

"Okay," he says. It is absolutely no kind of okay in any way whatsoever, of course, but he doesn't want to put Superboy on the defensive. That'd make effectively interrogating him a lot harder, for one thing. Cooperative subjects are best in these situations. "What are they paying you?"

"I mean, like, they gave me my own room and they're feeding me and whatever, so I don't really need much money," Superboy says. "There's a discretionary fund I can use if I need to go on an undercover mission or anything like that? But I'm not really the undercover type anyway."

"Sure," Tim says. So . . . no way for Superboy to save up to move out and get an out-of-lab life, then. Great. That's not fucked-up or crazy or horrible at all. "Do you like it there?"

"It's okay," Superboy says, shrugging again. "Better than literally everybody in Hawaii yelling at me every time they see my face, yeah?"

Tim wants to set the world on fire, but he's trying really hard not to go supervillain before he's thirty and he'd hate to throw out all that hard work.

"They just let me do whatever, mostly," Superboy adds. "They don't really care as long as I'm around when they need me."

He'll go supervillain as soon as Bruce dies, Tim promises himself. Just–he'll give his share of the eulogy at the funeral and then he'll blow up three-fourths of Arkham and the entire GCPD while Commissioner Gordon is on his lunch break. He can time that out, that'll be easy. And then he'll go and personally murder the Joker with the very specific combination of a rusty crowbar and a shrapnel bomb, and then he'll just . . . well, he'll just go with the flow from there, he figures. Do whatever feels natural.

Seriously, the world as it is does not deserve to exist. It really just does not.

Tim figures he can probably convince the rest of Young Justice to tag along for the whole supervillain thing and hopefully Dick and Steph and Barbara too, and ideally also Alfred, in the unfortunately likely event that he outlives Bruce. He's got time to lay the groundwork with them all and all, and also everything really is awful and horrible and really does deserve to burn.

"Are they sending you to school or anything? Or tutoring you?" Tim asks with what little scraps of hope he has left. Higher education would be . . . well, something, at least. And actually it probably wouldn't hurt for Superboy to learn a bit more about genetic engineering from the same place he got genetically engineered, just in case anything goes wrong with his DNA again. Cadmus should at least be good for that much, right?

"Ew, no, thank fuck," Superboy says, making a face. "Like I said, they mostly let me do whatever until something needs punched."

So . . . no furthered education or learning any usable job skills or making real money or literally anything that could, again, lead to Superboy ever getting any kind of an actual out-of-lab life established.

Great.

Just great.

"I see," Tim says.

"It's a pretty sweet gig, considering," Superboy says, and grins brightly at him. It's a very nice grin. Normally being faced with that particular grin would make Tim need to beat down the highly unprofessional urge to kiss it.

Right now, though, he's a little bit more concerned with the fact that his teammate is just . . . living in and working for a fucking lab. As a matter of course. Just as a thing.

And Superman of all people thinks that's . . . fine, for some reason? Like, normal and ethical and okay? Somehow? In some way?

What the actual fuck, Tim thinks to himself.

"You said Superman told you to keep an eye on things?" he asks.

"Yeah," Superboy says, his grin widening. "He took me to his fortress and asked me to do it there. Showed me around a bit, too."

"That sounds really interesting," Tim says, wondering in vague disbelief if that means Superman had never taken Superboy to the Fortress of Solitude before. He must've, right? And just . . . inexplicably not shown Superboy around then.

Yeah. Sure.

"It was awesome!" Superboy says with more enthusiasm than Tim's seen from him since they met Nina Dowd's . . . endowments, seemingly forgetting the need to be "cool" for long enough to lean forward in his seat and outright beam at him. Tim is gonna need a minute to recover from the sight of that expression, probably. "It's seriously freaking freezing up there, but there's so much cool shit in the place. Like, from all over the universe, but from Krypton, even! The only thing I'd ever seen from Krypton before was kryptonite!"

Tim considers moving up his supervillain timeline after all. Like. Just possibly. Just a little.

Maybe he can convince Bruce to take an early retirement off-planet and just go from there.

What the hell is wrong with Superman?

"Oh, wow, really?" Tim says, simultaneously pretending he didn't already know what Superman has in his fortress and trying not to be screamingly obvious about the internal calculations he's running on figuring out how to weaponize red sunlight. Or like, maybe he could look into learning some magic. That's technically an option. Probably more time-consuming and harder to hide the process of, though. Still, it's on the table.

"Yeah. He showed me some of it. Told me some stories and stuff, even," Superboy says, and that excited grin turns just a little bit shy and soft and somehow even more distracting than usual. He ducks his head just a little, and then that soft grin is more like a soft smile, and Tim suffers. "And I, uh–and he gave me something, too."

"What did he give you?" Tim asks, praying to God that the answer is "an emergency contact number" or "an allowance that can cover a semi-decent Metropolis apartment" or "an offer to live literally anywhere but Cadmus, including in the thirtieth century or on a hostile alien planet or inside an active volcano". He's technically an atheist, so the praying thing is probably moot, but times of desperation are times of desperation.

"A name," Superboy says, and his smile widens helplessly. "Like, you know, a real one."

Tim might hate Superman, he thinks. That might actually be a thing now.

Yeah, he's definitely going supervillain after Bruce dies and doesn't need an emotional support sidekick anymore. Better start stocking up on the kryptonite.

"That's great," he says with a very carefully not-forced smile of his own instead of anything more along the lines of "wait, you've been alive and active as a superhero for all this time and no one ever actually named you?!" Superboy would probably take it the wrong way, not in the least because that genuinely never actually occurred to him as being a thing before. Like–he really did just assume Superboy was keeping a lid on whatever his real name was for personal reasons or Superman reasons or something. "Are you allowed to tell me it, or is that a no-go?"

"Oh, yeah," Superboy says with a sheepish laugh, rubbing at his arm. "It's like, a Kryptonian name? Not like a secret identity one. It's, uh, Kon-El."

Of course it's not even a damn secret identity, Tim thinks in absolute frustration and abject loathing. Of course not! Why would it be?! Fuck forbid!

"I like it," he says, because he lies to Batman and therefore there is no fucking way that he's going to let Superboy–Kon–see any sign whatsoever of the metaphorical 9.9 on the Richter scale that is currently happening in his psyche. "It suits you."

"You think?" Kon grins all the wider. Tim can't even calm down enough to want to kiss him, except in the sense that he always wants to kiss him.

"I do," he says, and smiles at him again.

Kon smiles back.

Tim hates everything. All the things. There is nothing that Tim doesn't hate right now, except maybe Alfred's snickerdoodles because he might be having a nervous breakdown but he's not, like, criminally insane or whatever.

Yet.

"Yeah, it's kinda cool," Kon says, straightening up in his seat and then leaning back, clearing his throat and slipping his sunglasses back on like they're not in a literal cave right now. Tim doesn't call him on it, because he has a supervillain timeline to work out and that's much more important.

Also because the teammate he has an inadvisable crush on is in a much, much shittier situation than he ever realized and he has to reconcile that with his worldview and also his opinion of Superman. Tim doesn't especially idolize the man except in the sense of knowing he's one of the greatest heroes on Earth and a very, very good man that Bruce thinks incredibly highly of, one of the best men on the League and maybe even on the planet, but . . .

But if he's such a good man, then why the hell is Kon living in a lab that tried to mind-control him and why has he only just seen the Fortress of Solitude for the first time?

Why didn't he have a real name?

"So do we call you Kon or Kon-El now?" Tim asks, which is a bit of a senseless question but also at least a bit of a distraction. He wants to say this whole situation is a horrible idea, who the FUCK convinced you this situation was a good idea?!, but there is no possible way that Kon would respond well to that. Ever.

Also, Kon had a point. Where else is he gonna go?

Clearly not the Fortress of Solitude.

Seriously, would it be that hard for Superman to give him a room there? At least a place to stay sometimes, so he wasn't exclusively relying on the mind-control cloning lab for food and shelter and basic comforts?

"I think just Kon?" Kon says, frowning consideringly. "'El' is like Superman's last name, I guess? So I think just Kon."

"Makes sense," Tim says, internally seething. Superman gave him the "El" name but not a secret identity? A name from a dead civilization with a bit of sentimental value, maybe, but nothing usable on this planet? Fuck, you'd think Kon didn't already know his secre–

. . . Kon doesn't know Superman's secret identity, does he.

Tim had thought he was lying, when he'd said that stuff about Superman not having one, before. Thought it was supposed to be a cover or a misdirection or something. But Kon actually thinks that, doesn't he. And Superman has just . . . kept letting him think that.

Becoming a supervillain actually might be an underreaction, in retrospect.

"Just Kon sounds less formal anyway," Tim says instead of so just in theory, do you think tactile telekinesis could trigger a heart attack or stroke in a full-blooded Kryptonian, if you could REALLY concentrate on doing it? like not FATALLY, just dehabilitatingly?, because he still has some groundwork to do before they get that far into potential supervillainy. There's steps to the plan. The steps need to be followed. They're very important steps. "You don't want Bart full-naming you every time he's looking for the remote."

"Like he'd even bother, it's faster for him to turn the living room upside-down than actually ask anyway," Kon says with a laugh, dropping his head back on his neck. Tim has some thoughts about climbing into his lap and figuring out if the TTK makes him hickey-proof, and then buries them. Not appropriate. Not professional. Just not.

. . . technically, if Kon wanted a hickey, he could just let his TTK down and ask for–

Tim buries his thoughts deeper.

Much, much deeper.

"Point," he says. "So what time does Cadmus expect you back?"

"Dude, it's a job, not a boarding school," Kon says, giving him an amused look. "I don't have a curfew."

Tim, technically, hasn't followed his own curfew any way but accidentally once in his entire life, but for god's sake, is Cadmus even pretending to be raising a teenager or are they really just being that flagrant about ignoring all the child labor laws they so clearly do not give a fuck about? Like, there must be something illegal about this. There has to be.

If there's not, Tim will be adding "burn down Project Cadmus" to his list of supervillain plans to set up in advance. In red pen. Underlined.

Twice.

God, why is the world like this. Why are people like this?

"I guess that'd be convenient," Tim says, internally ranking various methods of combustion. "Though I guess it depends on the cafeteria hours, too."

"It's whatever, I can always eat later," Kon replies with a shrug. "I think I've still got a couple protein bars in my room anyway."

"Just protein bars?" Tim asks, mentally upping the amount of explosives he was considering going with. Cadmus is going to be a crater by the time he's done with it. "Don't you need more calories than that?"

". . . well, sort of," Kon says, folding his arms and looking very briefly embarrassed. "Superman doesn't have to eat, apparently, but, uh, guess I'm not Kryptonian enough for that. Actually I kinda need to eat more than normal humans, it's weird. Like. A lot more."

"I'm ordering pizza," Tim says, upping his mental explosives count again. "What do you want on it?"

"We're the only ones here," Kon says, looking puzzled.

"More pizza for us, then," Tim says.

[gaywineauntsstuff]

See one of my favorite things about fanon is that Dick is like a normal dude outside of nightwing like genuinely he’s normal person who isn’t that extreme canonically. He loves his family but he needs space with them and doesn’t want to be a carbon copy of his father.

He follows Bruce is moral compass while also being more lenient on some crimes. He canonically values life and protecting the sanctity over it than actually stopping crime and has a very strong moral compass that exceeds “well it’s the law”. Dick canonically thinks that Corrupt police officials are worse than criminals and became a cop to weed them out the same way he did the mob. And has bad blood with the BPD despite working for them.

He has genuine reservations about trusting Jason for obvious reasons even if you don’t like Dicks run as Batman where Jason was flat out the worst or like stealing the Nightwing suit in New York in brothers and blood. While still being able to work with and like him.

He is supportive of Tim while still being frustrated at taking on more work bc he knows Tim does too much and will need help.

He loves Damian but steps away from that relationship because unlike Bruce at his age he’s emotionally mature enough to realize he cannot be a parent for the kid. A role model sure! A big sibling, yeah. But not a parent.

He didn’t want Steph as spoiler, Robin or batgirl bc she wasn’t well trained but neither did literally anyone else. Once she and him started working together they had a decent relationship.

Dick and Cass have a strong relationship and he helped Babs with her when Bruce was being an asshole while still not stepping into a parent role bc he’s in his mid 20s and not going to do that actually.

And Dick believes Duke is going to become a big leader in the hero world and sees his potential despite not agreeing with the we are Robin thing.

And the fanon goes 1 of 3 ways

he’s fully uninvolved, doesn’t like the bats, has cut them off after trying to send Tim to Arkham, and abusing/ mistreating or co-signing the mistreatment of Jason. All his relationships with everyone except Damian have been erased. He ruined Tim’s trust, hated young!jason, has never spoken to Steph or duke and Cass doesn’t like him because she’s on babs side or in Hong Kong.

Or

Literally Bruce Wayne’s lapdog, says yes to everything with the worst case of battered women’s syndrome you’ve ever seen. Jason must stand up for him and protect him from the big bad bat/ the bats cut him off aswell after abandoning the bat movement (more rare but I’ve seen it). He doesn’t have critical thinking and his morals are identical to Batman’s and he refuses to question them. Will call the police on a homeless man stealing food bc it’s illegal. And has never tried to rehabilitate anyone including his friends, abandoned Roy and Kory bc of moral differences. He’s still a cop and doesn’t understand the nuance that Jason, Tim, Steph and Duke do.

Or

Dumb himbo, doesn’t know nothing except smile and nod. Pretty face, no brain. Has had one thought and it’s the fact he misses his siblings and needs his cereal oh wait was that two thoughts? He forgot how to count lmao. Babs or Tim will roll their eyes and do stuff for him bc he’s so dumb and sweet like a puppy who has had a lobotomy. :( doesn’t even have a college degree dumb silly teehee. Worst liar you’ve ever met everyone can see right through him hehe. He’s loves Bruce and calls him Dad 24/7 and uses nicknames for everyone.

And like it’s total flanderization

He has some of these traits sure, (more rigid moral compass, more willing to work with other heroes and delegate though this one literally only became a thing during Tom kings run and maybe a little bit after Donna died, in the current canon he went to Uni for business and dropped out, he’s not as good on the tech side as oracle)

But they’re just so exaggerated and I firmly believe it’s bc the rest of the bats are so extra. Like Tim trying to clone his dead bestie 99 times.

Jason goodness gracious I’ve been bamboozled let me try and kill the penguin on live tv

Damian my mother literally tore my spine out

. Duke let’s start a cult that’s something that isn’t dumb and won’t get us murdered.

And Dick is just there like… yeah fuck okay.

Like he’s still unhinged even for a superhero but he’s just objectively more hinged than all of his siblings like you’re telling me if TIM got the talon ancestry storyline shit wouldn’t have hit the fan??? The mother fucker who at age like 13 broke in Nightwing and starfire’s house, memorized all their schedules bc he’s the most insane stalker you’ve ever met. You’re lying and we both know it.

And everyone thinks their fave is the sane won and you are all just wrong I fear. I have already slandered Tim so I’ll do the rest for funsies

“Oh babs is the only sane one”

Bby Barbara is such a stalker with a need for control someone stole her tech and turned Gotham into a police state. If she decided that she wanted to go dictator she has a WHOLE setup for it. She’s also unhinged

“Jason just needs to get away from the bats then he’s the only sane one who the others go to for protection”

Yall Jason’s 2 biggest teams were

An Amazon, and a kryptonian

An arrow and an alien (also some times an Amazon)

So the league big three knock off and a titans knock off

He has also slept with his dad’s ex and 2 of his brother’s exes. Let’s not pretend that he’s being dragged back into the bat family, bro never left.

He wears a bat on his chest

He has a helmet with explosives in it… when he died in an explosion and fought with a crowbar when it was one of the major reasons he died. Let’s not talk about his whole thing with scarlet but the Morrison run had some weird characterization.

“Damian-“ no actually you can’t even start with Mr let’s go to Lazarus island. Let me adopt a giant bat monster bc my abusive childhood means I slaughtered his entire race. No actually I will not allow it. The fucker is unhinged and I love him.

“Steph” - you know what she is also my fave so everything she has ever done is justified and she has the best batgirl run and also her and Damian are hilarious. (She’s also the best female bat hands down I prefer her to both Cass and Babs for so many reasons I will not get into)

In summary this isn’t actually a criticism I find it hilarious plz keep going my darling fanon fanfic writers

[rewrittenwrongs]

Having thoughts about the League of Assassins. It’s pretty common among them to form hierchy/ranking around who’s a better fighter and who beat/killed who. I can’t remember if it’s canon but I like the idea that to prove your teacher has taught you all they have to teach you must kill them (not sure how that applies to history/math/whatever but. Moving on.) Working off of that idea, a lot of assassins in the organisation would already respect Tim for causing the death/defeat of the Council of Spiders; assassins that are so skilled they kill other assassins for fun. Him then TRICKING RA’S AL GHUL AND BLOWING UP (almost??) ALL OF HIS BASES, AND THEN OUTSMARTING HIM AGAIN WHEN HE TRIES TO DESTROY EVERYTHING BATMAN HAS BUILT, I feel like it’s reasonable to assume a lot of them would’ve decided Tim is the bigger threat or at least proved himself very formidable and a large threat. I imagine a lot of them would’ve sought him out in Gotham and pledged loyalty to him (kind of like Minions seeking out the evilest leader thanks for that thought brain), maybe doing full on traditional rituals to prove the transferring of their loyalty, like blood oaths or ritual spars idk, maybe giving him gifts or displaying their skills so he accepts them as allies rather than being disrespected and killing or maiming them since that’s the standard they expect in the League.

And Tim is uh. Very confused. Very surprised. And also trying hard not to show it. He accepts all the gifts and pledges and shit, because he sure as fuck ain’t gonna turn them back to Ra’s, but after that he doesn’t really know what to do with them. He hires a bunch of them at Wayne Enterprise and Drake Industries, tasks a bunch of them with working for Red Hood on the down low, maybe sends a couple on undercover missions to Arkham Asylum so they start treating inmates as actual human beings and stop using shock therapy or something, and makes sure to write them all up fair contracts and great pay with good work bonuses and plenty of leave, and makes sure most or all of them start going to therapy. The assassins love their new leader and would do practically anything for him.

But anyway, all that aside. I’ve had those thoughts in my head for more than a month. Something that just recently occurred to me is Mara al Ghul. Damian’s cousin. Another child raised by the League of Assassins, only this one never left.

Until, that is, she watches this freshly-immunocompromised vigilante arguably outsmart her grandfather twice, and decides he is the bigger threat, actually, I want to be on his good side when he takes over the world.

So now Tim is being forced into basically adopting this feral child, who’s only experience in American society was undercover missions to kill people, who thinks decapitated heads are reasonable gifts, who’s introduction to Tim was something batshit insane like dumping the Joker’s head in his lap because the Joker is Gotham’s most dangerous rogue and of course Tim will appreciate having him gone. But even with a well crafted facade she can tell Tim is unnerved and horrified, so she must be doing something wrong. Maybe it was because the Joker is Batman’s enemy and not Tim’s specifically? But Tim doesn’t have any arch nemesis aside from maybe Ra’s who she obviously can’t kill, so she does more research into Tim’s life and background and finds out Captain Boomerang killed his father so next she brings Tim HIS head and she can already tell he’s much more pleased this time. But there’s still that edge of unsettlement and wariness, and he’s acting so strange around her, so she digs deeper and finds out about the Titans Tower incident but Tim sent all these other assassins to work for red hood so they must be on good terms, and then she finds out about all the bad blood between him and Damian and Dick so she starts trying to kill them next, starting with Damian obviously (a mix of jealousy over him leaving the league and a good amount of cousin rivalry/cain instinct), but Tim stops the fight and tells her to stand down and now she’s scared that he’s going to punish her and Ra’s’ punishments were always so harsh and perhaps this time she can’t quite fight down the urge to hide.

Meanwhile, Tim is being dragged through a parent arc kicking and screaming, the bats are wondering why the hell there are suddenly so many assassins only after they scare off Ra’s, Jason is more or less vibing because he thinks the assassins are from Talia and the Joker’s dead so of course he’s ecstatic (even tho he wishes he knew who did it so he can thank them), Dick and Damian are still reeling from learning Bruce is alive/getting him back from the time stream when all of a sudden this masked child comes out of nowhere mid patrol and attacks Damian, and isn’t backing down even though Dick arrived quickly but when Red Robin arrives and yells stop she’s already three rooftops away by the time he’s done speaking. Everyone is tired and doesn’t know what the hell is going on except mayybe Oracle.