#father-son relationship of all time if dc could just remember that instead of making bruce edgelord god of the incels

[navree]

#Jason wants Bruce to prove himself (Shelia) wrong so bad.#Actions speak louder than words.#Hey does anyone remember how before aditf when Jason maybe maybe not killed a guy and their dad went after him for revenge.#And Bruce kinda insinuated that the fact that it ended with three more people dead was Jason's fault when he told him that it was#ONLY NATURAL for a father to do that for his son??? bcs I do#<- prev#yeoch ouch ueahg#ive never thought abt this but no you're so right#he trusted when his parent told him they loved him&that it was safe now#only for them to pull a gun on him and get him murdered#obviously he could never take bruce at just his word (especially w the ''not avenged'' and ''replaced'' on top of that)#and then bruce fails the test jason set up for him to prove his love/care so it's like. damn they're just fucked aren't they!#the love was there but it didn't change anything#<- AAA dghdjghd going insane sry

i think more people need to realize that the circumstances of how jason todd died would make him deeply untrusting of not only other people, not only himself and his own instincts, but specifically other people's proclamations of what they feel about/for him and how he reacts to that in turn

[littledead-ridinghood]

Jason’s final monologue in Under the Red Hood is so impactful and important because he’s being honest. His speech hinges on the fact that he’s being open and honest with his feelings on how the last few years affected him. I’ve seen many people argue that because Jason is an unreliable narrator at times, that means he is an unreliable narrator all the time, therefore nothing he says can be trusted. Unfortunately, this feeds into the “anything can be canon behavior for Jason because he’s written so inconsistent therefore I don’t care and besides fanon is better anyway so there” argument where actual consistent character traits often get ignored.  

While, yes, Jason can be an unreliable narrator, and while, yes, Jason is written incredibly inconsistently, this doesn’t mean there’s nothing consistent about him. I remember a couple of years back, some people were arguing how absurd it was for Jason’s opening line to be: “Bruce, I forgive you for not saving me” because it would be impossible for anyone, especially “someone like Jason” to not hold a grudge against a person for not making it in time. They couldn’t buy the fact that someone could concede like that. Of course, Jason is lying here, how could he not, in some part, blame Bruce? But this completely side-steps that Jason does that all the time, pre and post-death. Some of his last words were forgiving Shelia for murdering him and apologizing to Bruce for not being good enough. He doesn't blame Catherine for forcing him into the parental role for both him and her and Jason usually places Willis strictly in the “it’s complicated” box. He constantly takes the fall in his tumultuous relationship with Bruce like his apology letter to the man at the end of TFZ. It’s not out of character for Jason not to place the blame on Bruce, but rather forgive him and dictate his ire to where the real blame falls: the Joker. Again, he doesn’t even place the blame fully where it belongs because he doesn’t mention Shelia’s role. (yes, DC wants us to forget about her role in his murder. Especially in UtRH as can be seen in all the bad robin!Jason rhetoric, but that outer world meddling affects the inner story) 

It’s a cop-out to claim that because Jason is unreliable at times and inconsistent at others that means you can subscribe whatever meaning you want to his words and actions. He’s not his own character anymore, he’s an OC to fit you’re narrative which strips him of his story. By saying he’s actually lying(whether over if he forgives Bruce or so he can blame Bruce later on because “he needs something to be angry over”), it strips away the farther-son tragedy of this moment.

Jason is having a contained breakdown. He’s trying to keep it together, and that’s why when his voice breaks on “doing it because–because he took me away from you” and he starts crying, it’s impactful. He’s raw and alive and it’s still not enough to be seen. He has no point to soften the blow with “I forgive you.” He has no reason to lie about that when trying to get his father to see him. If it was just about the joker then Jason could’ve said “I blame you for not saving me and to redeem yourself, you have to kill the Joker.” But Jason Doesn’t ask him to kill the Joker but instead demands to know why he’s free without consequence, why he is still breathing.

If Jason wanted “to push his goalpost farther with Bruce,” he would prey on Bruce’s blaring guilt complex. It’s incredibly telling and significant of Jason's character that he doesn’t do that in this moment. Therefore, we can assume that if Jason had succeed in killing the joker, he still wouldn’t use that to guilt Bruce.

Jason instead talks about how much he loved Bruce–still loves Bruce–and how the man meant the world to him, and how he feels used because he thought he meant the same to Bruce. By saying he’s lying in this moment to trick and ruin Bruce, you are undercutting some of Jason’s most consistent behaviors: his desire to love and be loved, his desire to be a part of a family, his desire to be important to someone, and how he will put up with almost any and all maltreatment to get that connection.

Jason “pushing his goalpost” further highlights how many don’t understand his emotional distress tied to his murder and instead want to place him solely in the “completely delusion” category where his victimhood is undermined. It’s not about getting Bruce to kill, at the end of the day, the ultimatum was to kill Jason, not the Joker, it’s about wanting his father to understand what he needs to feel safe. That is Jason’s request. Not the clown. Him. He’d rather his father kill him with his own hand so he’s not forced to live on the same earth any longer with and share the same air as his murderer. What makes this as an ultimatum is that Jason fully believes that Bruce loves him too much, therefore, the man would never kill him allowing Jason to achieve his peace. Whether you agree with Jason’s methods or not is a different matter, but that is the tension in this contained scene.

Furthermore, a lot of meta lately says that if Bruce had let Jason kill the Joker then he would guilt Bruce by saying “why would you let me do that? You tainted my soul and hands!” which ignores: 

A. Jason’s actual legitimate reason for wanting the Joker dead. The former belief falls back on the “Jason is so delusion and dramatic!” trope, the “he’s not the right kind of victim” trope because he’s angry instead of submissive and “actually has no good reason to be angry, he’s just being difficult for the sake of.” It completely undercuts Jason’s actual trauma with getting no justice. Bruce preaches Judge and Jury, but Jason got neither. So many victims get neither, and Jason’s anger represents that. What gives Bruce the right to say Jason’s not allowed to play his own executioner in relation to his victimhood when he never got the morals and ideals that Bruce himself preaches so thoroughly? 

And B. more obviously, Jason killed in UtRH before their big confrontation? Famously, the duffle bag of right-hand mans’ heads. He killed in front of Bruce already as well? Captain Nazi? Like, also in lost days, which is a prequel to UtRH, he kills? What’s the actual argument here? Loosely, It reminds me how everyone wants to blame the entirety of Jason’s takeover on pit madness. This “you’ve tainted me” argument sounds as if Jason is not aware of his actions and traumas. Not to say he’s completely sane or not delusional at times throughout his publishing history, but to think Jason would be pissed at Bruce for letting him kill the Joker is to dismissively say “no, you don’t know what you need, but I do.” 

No, the Joker being dead won’t fix everything, but with the joker dead, it would literally be removing a real-life constant trigger of Jason’s. Yes, Jason is a synecdoche for victims, but he is also that himself: a single victim. Joker is a stand-in for everyone who’s ever gotten away with a vicious crime free of judicial step-in or failure, but he also is just that: Jason’s murderer. Yes, they both metaphorically represent something bigger in this scene, but on a fundamental level, the Joker is also just the person tormenting Jason and nothing more. By saying Jason doesn’t actually want what he wants stands in for saying victims are too wrapped up in their trauma to understand what’s causing it. It’s mitigating and demeaning how bad it actually was/is. Jason’s murder in comics still holds such power over the mythos today even though “everyone’s died. He’s not special” for a reason and it’s because his life is actively shown to be affected by it.

Jason has been shown to have PTSD-induced panic attacks around the joker (Lost Days), and about the joker (famously the rebirth issue where Jason hallucinates murder victim him), it’s not far off the say that whenever Joker commits a mass atrocity, that it affects Jason in some way. 

And we canonically know that it does! In Lost Days, Jason breaks down in tears in the streets over all the families that have been and will be destroyed by the Joker. So that Survivor's Guilt train of thought is canon for him: “those people are never coming back, I’m here and I’m not supposed to be, but they’ll never return”-esque

No, killing the Joker won’t fix all of Jason’s issues and trauma surrounding his murder, but that’s obvious. Yet, have you ever been in a bad relationship and part of the issue is literally just being around that person? The healing process starts when you step away. You can’t heal in the same environment that’s harming you. This goes hand in hand with how Jason will only begin to heal as a person when away from Bruce because he’s such a dominating, constant trigger in Jason’s life (again, proven in canon when Jason backs away from Gotham and the Bats). No, the joker being dead won’t fix everything, but it will allow the process to begin where Jason isn’t constantly rehashing his trauma every time the Joker escapes. Jason has tried to heal on his own except the clown keeps coming after him. Whether it’s him attempting to burn off his face or in his mind when Bruce physically drags his murder to the forefront of Jason’s thoughts shoving him into a breakdown over how he’s trying so hard to heal. Part of the reason it’s so hard for Jason to move on is because his trigger buttons are constantly being held down for extreme amounts of time. It’s not that he heard or saw something that brought him back to his murder, it’s that Jason is literally being held in a constant state of panic, grief, fear, and unsafety.

By saying Jason is looking for something to be angry over and he’d find that in Bruce if he let him kill the clown, it frames the moment as a winning vs losing moment that Jason will always lose no matter what. This is a faulty understanding of how healing works and is reminiscent of Three Jokers. You can’t win at healing like Geoff Johns tries to say Barabara did and Jason failed at. Healing is something you do with ups and downs. At the end of the day, it’s a son yelling at his father to help him. It’s not about winning or losing, joker tries to make it about that (“everyone still loses”), but that frames the interaction in a much pettier light. This strips the moment of both Jason and Bruce's raw, exposed wire in water, vulnerable emotions. This looking to be angry argument is also reminiscent of the fandom's love for pit madness which strips Jason of his righteousness. Jason has very understandable reasons to be angry. His life was stripped and stolen away from him. It’s like when people say Robin Jason had anger issues which completely ignores what he was angry over! He hated rapists and pedophiles and big, authoritative tough guys who beat on women! He wasn’t angry all the time over everything; he had very real, systematic issues that upset him in overwhelming ways. Boiling him down to “he needs to be angry” wipes Jason of his motivations.

Jason doesn’t plan for a future. Really, he never even thought Bruce would kill for him in the end. When he first came back, sure, he thought Bruce would kill the joker and make Jason “the last person he ever hurt”, but in their final confrontation, Jason just asks “why on God’s earth is he still alive?” and then ���I’m going to blow his deranged brains out and if you don’t like that you’ll have to kill me. Shoot me right in the face”: his ultimatum. In the confrontation, Jason doesn’t even believe he has a full claim to be upset over the Joker for just himself. He talks about Barabra being hurt by the clown and is pretty rescind to his murder in the fact that he says he was one of so many corpses filling dozens of graveyards made specifically by the Joker. Again, “last person he’d ever hurt,” Jason is fairly fine with being dead and doesn’t even think he deserves to be back, but because he wasn’t the last person the clown hurt he pushed that as his climax for why he’s angry. 

Really a better commentary focuses around “well, what does Jason think is going to happen after?” because Jason clearly doesn’t want to be alive. He sets up like four ways of suicide in his final scene. One of my mutuals a while ago posted their thoughts on what they wanted the after to be. They said they wanted to see a story where Jason killed Joker in this showdown. They believed he would probably enter this dissociated shock over the joker’s dead body, over the fact that it was just that easy, that it’s over. But, this fact would lead Jason to the realization that he doesn’t need Bruce to “save” him (i.e. protect him/keep him safe). This has literally been rotting in my head for months, you have no idea. And I truly see this as the outcome of the showdown if it had gone that way. Sure, Bruce didn’t stop him, but he also didn’t stand up to protect Jason from his murderer. Jason, just like in every other aspect of his entire life, had to protect himself. Once again, he has performed his own emotional labor, and that would probably break him away from Bruce’s chains. He got what he wanted and he didn’t need anyone else to do it for him. This interaction further shattering the heroic image he upheld Bruce to. I think that’s a much more realistic outcome based in Jason’s characterization rather than him throwing a fit over the fact the Joker’s dead therefore he has nothing else to be angry over when Jason is shown to be angry over a lot of other things as well.

[meara-eldestofthemall]

Bruce Holds Tim To An Impossible Standard And That Could Backfire Badly Someday.

There are parts of the Batfamily fandom that don’t understand why Tim Drake fans keep saying that Bruce holds Tim to a different standard than the others. To help solve this, let’s take a trip back to before the DC universe started to mess around with it’s continuity: Red Robin issue #26. 

That's where Tim has concocted a plan so the man who murdered his father would get himself killed. The caveat is the Digger Harkness wouldn't die if he made just one choice that didn't involve hurting innocent people.

Unfortunately, Captain Boomerang has the moral fortitude of Adolph Hitler.

Harkness was just about to dispatched by Victor Fries when Red Robin stepped in and prevented it.

He tells Harkness to run. The idiot again makes a spectacularly bad choice by fighting Red Robin instead of sensibly surrendering when he had the chance.

When the inevitable happens...

Tim does the right thing and saves Harkness despite the moron trolling him and despite definitely still wanting him dead. At the ripe old age of seventeen he made a mature, morally upright decision that most adults would struggle with.

Tim. Does. The. Right. Thing.

Batman-Dick sees the fight and supports Tim, telling him that it took a lot of courage to save Harkness when he could have just let him fall. It’s a good, healing moment between the two (after the stresses on their relationship from when Dick gave Robin to Damian). Dick, better than just about anyone else, knows how hard it is for Tim to not take a more personal vengeance. He knows how much Tim has lost and what it costs him to take the high road.

Batman-Bruce is hiding in the shadows. What does Bruce do?

Bruce tells Tim what he did wrong with no acknowledgement that while Tim may have definitely toed the line, he never actually crossed it. He leaves the poor kid with the implication that Tim is a failure in Bruce’s eyes. Tim isn’t allowed to be anything less than perfect in this moment. The clear message is that no matter what Tim has done in the past or what he may do in the future, he will never be good enough for Bruce.

Oh, and the no killing rule seems to apply to Tim differently than any of the others. Jason has actually killed people; a lot of people (remember the duffel bag full of severed heads?). Cass has been forced to kill. Damian was raised in an insane murder cult. He’s killed people and even tried to kill Tim a couple of times in the very recent past. Dick killed the Joker (Not that the Joker didn't deserve to die mind you but he was clinically dead until Batman revived him). Bruce has left people to die, like the KGBeast...

...yet he reserves the worst of his scorn along with the disappointed Dad routine for seventeen year old Tim. Yes, most fathers would be rightly alarmed at their son setting up someone to get himself killed, even a hardened reprobate like Digger Harkness. The correct move for a caring parent is to then get the kid into therapy not castigate him for saving the murderous criminal from death. At the very least Bruce should have tried to convince Tim to move back home since letting an unstable teen vigilantes live by themselves is a recipe for disaster.

But that's not what Bruce did. He expresses his displeasure and then leaves. The look on Tim's face tells you precisely how he feels about Bruce in that moment. He’s about a hair away from telling Bruce to take Gotham along with Batman’s rules and shove them up his I-am-vengeance-and-the-night black clad butt.

While Bruce can and has been an abusive bastard to all his sons, he's being particularly cruel to Tim here. Tim did the right thing. His own moral code held strong and he didn't kill Digger Harkness. He didn't even walk away and allow the man's bad karma to finally catch up with him as Bruce has done in the past. Bruce is clearly holding Tim to a standard he'd never impose on any of the others.

Why would Bruce do that?

While the rest of the family worries about Damian being lured back to the League to become the next Demon's Head, it's Tim they should be concerned about. Bruce certainly seems to have consider what could happen if Tim went full-on Supervillain. 

Tim Drake is the classic middle child. You know, the “good” one who almost never causes trouble, who is often over-shadowed by more needy siblings. Tim gets put on the back burner constantly and left to care for himself. Tim is capable and independent not because he necessarily wants to be but he has to be. This is the continuation of a pattern started by his parents. It’s also left him craving parental love and approval.

Has Bruce ever considered that all Ra’s has to do is figure that out, then give Tim some consistent paternal affection/attention to soften his resistance? That along with some well placed half-truths (”You don’t like the way the League is run? Then change it, Timothy. Be the leader someday and all will follow your rules and moral code.”) and voila, Ra’s has the perfect Heir. 

If Bruce’s reactions in Red Robin #26 are an attempt to forestall that, then he's doing it wrong - really, really wrong. If Bruce doesn’t stop holding Tim to impossible standards then he just might end up creating what he tells himself he’s trying to prevent. 

[stxleslyds]

What do you think about the theories that Jason was sexually abused as a child? Or even possibly while he was comatose after his resurrection?

Implications of this theory include his conversation with Mia (Speedy) and Bruce's message (Battle for the Cowl). In addition, when he was Robin he expressed what was then considered uncharacteristic rage towards the perpetrators of sex crimes.

Garzonas - unrepentant rapist who got no consequences

When a woman killed her sister's rapist and murderer (because Batman's evidence was not admissible in court), Batman said that she went too far with murder. Jason's disagreed with "Good riddance". Good for you, Jason.

His recklessness when dealing with a child sex trafficking ring.

I highly doubt that DC would ever confirm this theory. I would rather they leave it ambiguous because I don't trust them to not botch Jason... much less respectfully address the subject matter.

I have read so many thoughts on Jason that they're starting to blend together. So I apologize if you've already answered this before.

Hello friend! Aside from the fact that I took way too much time to answer your ask, this was also a hard question to come up with an answer to, I wanted to remain respectful of the subjects at hand even though I don’t second this headcanon. But before we keep going, let me put some trigger warnings in this post.

trigger warning: mentions of sexual abuse, child abuse, rape.

First, I would like to bring up these two concepts because I oftentimes mix them up when talking about these “ideas”.

Theory: a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something; an idea used to account for a situation or justify a course of action.

Headcanon: Headcanon generally refers to ideas held by fans of series that are not explicitly supported by sanctioned text or other media. Fans maintain the ideas in their heads, outside of the accepted canon.

I think the idea of Jason having been sexually abused at any point in his lifetime is a mix between a theory and a headcanon. Why I am saying this? Because as you have put in the ask, there has been instances where fandom has found pieces of information that they have considered the base of this idea.

So, if we say that there is a piece of text that might support that idea and they build from that to justify a course of action we would be looking at a theory. In this case Jason having been abused would the reason as to why he acts in that strong and violent way towards cases of sexual abuse/harassment.

In the other hand those pieces of text might not support that idea so fandom headcanons that idea in order to build another layer to a character, in this case Jason having been abused would also justify his actions towards certain criminals.

The “text” (panels, issues, mentions) are most of the time ambiguous, which makes readers have different perspectives in what is being written and what then is made into a theory or headcanon.

Personally, I don’t like this theory or headcanon for various reasons (which I will explain later in the post), and I have read and understood those moments mentioned as Jason just having survived Crime Alley as something general, I don’t think he suffered that kind of abuse but I think he was made aware of that type of behaviour every day that he spent alone in the streets and that why we saw Jason in Batman #408 saying that he had “graduated a long time ago from the streets of crime alley”.

Having said that, I do understand that some of the moments mentioned can be seen as ambiguous and that’s what leads people to theorize/headcanon that idea, because of that I would like to show the panels mentioned in your ask so everyone can read them and make up their own conclusions and then I will talk about the reasons why I don’t like this particular theory/headcanon.

As Robin:

Batman (1940) #422

In these panels we can see Jason as Robin jumping in to defend a woman that was being attacked by a man. There I only see Jason acting like a vigilante would, maybe he was hitting too hard or whatever but Batman has hit people as much as Jason was doing it this time around, plus I, personally, don’t see any kind of problem with Jason beating a man that was harassing and threatening a woman with death.

Right beside we have Jason being on the side of the woman that killed her sister’s attacker. He didn’t see any problem with that woman seeking justice for her sister on her own when the police, Batman and himself couldn’t get the job done.

Here I see Jason having a big problem with authorities and justice system, which is not something new, in Batman #408, Jason says very clearly that he doesn’t trust the system in Gotham (the police, social workers and such), and he was also shown in that comic talking very fondly about his mother and about how much he cared for her when she was at her worst. Let’s remember that Jason loved his mother, he took care of her and resented his father for being abusive towards her and even introducing her to drugs.

Instead understanding these panels as Jason having been abused himself, I see it more as Jason having a humongous understanding of how much women and others suffer in Gotham due to the justice system’s lack of action. I also see Jason as the kind of boy that respected all women and could not sit and do nothing when people were hitting and abusing women just like his father did to his mother.

Batman (1940) #424

This issue starts by saying that Jason jumps into action as soon as he hears someone scream but that he wasn’t going to be prepared to see what was happening. This is the issue where all of us meet Felipe Garzonas, the abuser and rapist of many women. At first Jason doesn’t know what Felipe was doing but after he and Batman “defeat” Felipe, he goes to the room where he finds Gloria in a bed badly hurt and scared. Jason is shocked when he first finds her and after hearing her story in the police station, he becomes more and more happy about the fact that by having caught Felipe, he and Batman would be able to offer some peace and justice to Gloria after he goes to jail, but that doesn’t happen.

They had all the evidence to put Felipe in jail and the police could easily see that Gloria was the victim but because Felipe had someone to back his made-up story up, he was able to not be arrested and jailed.

Jason once again is baffled at the lack of action by the police or simply justice not being able to be made in favour of the true victim. Batman even says that he has noticed that Jason “had become to emotionally invested with the case” which could favour either idea (Jason having suffered sexual abuse or not), in my case I see this once again as Jason not being able to remain calm after doing everything to keep that woman safe and the justice system not being able to do it themselves in a more permanent way (jail time, or whatever).

But that’s not all because Jason being too emotional with that case was brought up as a way to show that Jason couldn’t see that Felipe had been under the influence of drugs, which is something that Jason can see in people very well (do to experience with his mother and his training with Batman). So, Felipe is now a rapist, an abuser, he does drugs and he also has a market for it.

Because Felipe was allowed to go back to his “normal” life he had Gloria be killed, and he kept abusing drugs and women, when Jason finds Gloria’s dead body and that Batman still seems to abide the justice system he snaps. He goes alone to see Felipe and that’s were this iconic panel comes from. The moments before Jason made his first kill and felt no remorse about it. I know this is kinda soft topic because Jason was a teenager, but good for him, kill that bitch. Gotham doesn’t need more people like him.

Batman (1940) #226

This is the issue where Jason attacks the men that were involved with some very nasty stuff involving children. Batman narrates and says that him and Jason had been working on this case for three weeks. Jason jumps into action suddenly and “recklessly” even though Batman considered their investigation wasn’t over, he also says that he thinks that Jason had been “acting oddly” and that he was very “moody, resentful and reckless” and that that attitude could “get him killed”.

This could be used as to add more proof of the abuse idea but I actually see it as build up to Jason’s death, that happened two issues later. Let’s remember that Jason found out of his birth mother and was desperate to find and save her from Joker, because he was a good son but also because he didn’t feel like Bruce loved, cared or appreciated him anymore. Ever since Jason made it clear that he didn’t see the world and justice in the same way that Batman did back in issue #422, Jason and Bruce’s relationship suffered, they just couldn’t see eye to eye on some subjects and Bruce’s neglect or lack of care for what Jason believed in drove Jason to act the way he did in the case involving his mother and the Joker.

Jason obviously has major issues with kids being abused and put in dangerous situations, he as the Red Hood (Winick’s Red Hood) is the same, he really wants kids to be taken far away from drugs so they cannot be manipulated, used and abused by Gotham’s Drug Lords. Here I can see some of the same thing, Jason being protective of those kids and getting fed up with how much time he and Batman had to wait to do anything about the subject, along side it I bet Jason wasn’t seeing the police or the justice system doing anything about the whole thing so that could have probably fuelled his desperate attack of those horrible people.

As Batman/Red Hood:

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3

Battle for the Cowl… yeah I am going to be brutally honest about this, if anyone thinks that this is someway or somehow proof that Jason had been abused in the past then I think we have very different ways of thinking how survivors must be treated or written in comics and other media.

This to me is pure bad writing, this is some of the worst things I have seen being written in comics. Whether or not this implies Jason being abused or not, Bruce’s message is absolutely disgusting and not at all helpful, it is even worse when you realise that Dick, a canon sexual assault survivor, is the one playing the message to Jason even though Jason explicitly said that he didn’t want to hear it again. That Book, issue, page and panel are extremely badly written and is one of the most terrible Jason and Dick characterizations ever.

So, I don’t really care if this panel is supposed to offer support to that theory or headcanon, I really dislike that speech and if it is actually referencing Jason as being a survivor of child abuse, then Tony S. Daniel needs to make an apology from today to the day he dies.

“Of all my failures, you have been my biggest” “You were broken and I thought I could put the pieces back together. I thought I could do for you what could never be done for me. Make you whole” “What happened to you as a child… the terror, the pain, the horrors” “You needed repair and instead I gave you an outlet to act out on”

Absolute garbage writing. Me, as Bruce is number one hater, know that that speech is even out of character for Bruce. Listen, if Jason had been a victim of sexual assault or just being a kid living alone in Crime Alley, no one should leave a message like that, telling a victim that they were broken and needed fixing, what the hell? No, thank you, this issue proves nothing except that Battle for the Cowl was a mistake as a whole.

Green Arrow (2001) #72

Judd Winick is clever I will always say that, and while I do see why people think that Jason is making the “child abuse idea” canon I still think that the way that he talks is still fairly ambiguous if not just him playing mind games with Mia.

I know it sounds wrong, but hear me out, Winick, in this arc makes Batman say that Jason distracted him and Oliver just to take Mia as a “hostage” because that was Jason’s way to mess with him. This arc happens right after UtRH and Jason is a bit more unhinged than ever. But he doesn’t harm Mia, he just talks to her, he tries to make her see why he acts the way he does and to do that he talks about how much he sees of himself in her. Do I believe that Jason suffered the same things Mia did? No. Do I think that their past is similar? Yes.

But Jason doesn’t only use the fact that they have similar pasts to make Mia rebel against her “no killing ways” and Oliver like he did with Bruce, but he also brings up the fact that their past is incredibly different to the lives of Bruce and Oliver, and that those differences are of importance.

Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t see Jason bringing Mia’s past for anything other than manipulating her and kinda make her see Oliver in a negative light the way that he does Batman and Bruce. Jason was at a point in his life where all he wanted to do was deliver the same pain that he had gone through but he didn’t do it by physically harming anyone (Mia was left unscratched), he was just out there trying to play mind games so he could break more havoc in Batman’s name.

Mia’s past is just way too different to whatever we have seen in canon from Jason’s past. Maybe I am wrong, after all, I only read about Mia in that arc.

-

With all that having been said I think it’s pretty obvious that I just don’t think that Jason’ having been sexually abused as a child actually happened, and I also don’t like to think about his past in that way. His canon suffering could have made him act that violently against criminals involved with sexual attacks and drug-related crimes, but I also think that’s just how Jason was, he really disliked the justice system in Gotham and saw how much it failed to protect victims, so now that he had the training to help those who couldn’t do it for themselves, he tried his best to bring criminals to justice.

And when that didn’t work, he grew more and more frustrated with Batman’s methods which led him to be more unforgiving and violent.

I also don’t like the theory/headcanon as a whole because I think its one of those things that Fandom comes up with just for that extra angst factor in their favourite character’s story so they can make him suffer more and because of that no other Robin or character as a whole can ever understand his pain or whatever. In this fandom there is a lot of “competitive trauma” going on and I honestly dislike it a lot.

About Jason having been assaulted while he was in a coma, I don't really know, he was at a hospital for what I believe were six moths, maybe that idea comes from real life happenings but I have never thought of that happening in Jason's life and I would rather not give it much more thought.

Also, I believe that DC just like fandom would have never been able to handle the subject of Jason having been a sexual assault survivor with the respect and care that it actually needs. We have seen DC treat sexual harassment and abuse as nothing but a side plot or bringing it up in an extremely disturbing way. In Fandom some (very few) people end up glamorising or romanticising these subjects so, I don’t believe the comic world was or is ready to treat a backstory like this with the respect it needs.

Maybe I haven’t even treated the subject with the respect and care that it needs and if that’s the case then I am truly sorry.

I had never answered a question regarding this subject before and I really appreciate all the questions you send my way; they do make my brain happy. I am really sorry it took me this long to write an answer to you but I hope the post is good enough for all the time I made you wait!

I hope you have an amazing week!

[marisandini-chu-blog]

Bruce Wayne is a Simp for Bad Bitch

OmG I can’t believe I’m writing the obvious but the idea is in my head and I need a place to word vomit. 

Okay, so it occurred to me that Bruce has a more serious and intense relationship canonically with three women, as far as I know; Andrea Beaumont, Talia Al’ghul, and Selina Kyle. All of whom are the epitome of Bad Bitch with the capital B. (Yes, I’m ignoring Rachel Dawes from Nolanverse. The only thing I like about it is the Iconic Joker. No batman movie is good enough without the Batfam.) 

Why do I raise this point, you might ask? Well, that’s because I want to rant that Bruce, my boy, my man, my childhood comfort character is actually a SIMP?!?!

Like... I’m just... urgh.... okay... I am very vocal for a healthy relationship with commitment and based on mutual love and respect. So the fact that Bruce has only bad, iffy, or casual relationships really want to tear my hair out. And why my heart don’t want to ship with any of them, even though BatCat is one of my favorite pairing! 

I am a WonderBat shipper because I love watching them in JLAU as a kid and even though I’m not slash shipper unless it’s canon, SuperBat made much more sense to me. Heck even a threesome with the Trinity would have been healthier relationship rather than whatever Bruce had with the three of them and here’s why: 

You might not have heard of Andrea, but she’s canon from the Timmverse movie called Batman and the Mask of Phantasm which is A REALLY GREAT MOVIE. Totally recommend. One of the best Batman movie at all times (Yes, I say Batman movies not Batman Animated movies). Has great plot twist and good pacing. so Spoiler Alert! Andrea was Bruce’s fiancé, making her possibly Bruce’s first love, before his journey and possibly could have stop him from becoming Batman (I would say he’s a simp in this case, but he would have had a much more happier, healthy household so it’s not bad thing) if she hadn’t disappear for being a Mob Boss’ Daughter!!! 

I repeat, a mob boss’ daughter. 

And she came back only to be a mask avenging assassin that went toe-to-toe with Batman.

And she could have choose to stay with Bruce but she didn’t because she choose vengeance over him. Like.... Bats, you should stop with the “I am Vengeance” routine you’ve got going on because she does it better than you ngl. 

So she left and I cried at the end of that movie because trauma wasn’t enough, you put heartbreak after heartbreak to my boy. Thanks DC. 

Then there’s Fucking Talia Al’ghul which is a no brainer why she’s not Bad but BAD. Like, Talia groom Jason, supervise Damian’s harsh, brutal, and abusive training, control Damian through the implant spine to kill Dick, orders Damian execution before regretting it, DRUG BRUCE when CONCEIVING DAMIAN!!! And that’s only the top of my head. 

And if you want to blame it on Morrison’s writing, THAT’S FINE. We’ve bitched about Tom King’s writing enough to know it’s valid. 

But, BUT, bUt... it needs to be address that even before Morrison, Talia CHOOSE to stay in the League of Assassin. People can tell me that she’s a complex character that’s loyal to her father but love Bruce and that her upbringing makes her complicated or whatever. Nuh-uh. You don’t get to make Talia helpless when it suited you. Talia is a fucking Bad Bitch (TM). She’s been taught to do whatever the fuck she wants according to her belief and ideal. At some point, Talia knew she wanted to be in position of power in the League rather than staying with Bruce. 

But it’s canon that Talia, if I remember correctly, doesn’t like Gotham or Bruce’s mission. She thinks being a hero is beneath them or whatever. And doesn’t understand why Gotham is special to Bruce. So yeah, you might not agree how Morrisons write her. But do not fucking tell me she’s not a character who will not be willing to do what she thinks it’s necessary to get what she wants, including training her son as an assassin. I mean, she likes being the Demon’s Daughter in the league. She may not agree with her father but Talia wants to give Damien what she wants. Power.  

Talia loves Bruce. That’s a fact. He’s probably the only person that makes her feel like she’s a person instead of the Demon’s Daughter. Bruce has a knack for that. To make people want to be better, even just a little. Talia could have chosen him, if she wanted to. The fact that she helps him so much when fighting against her father numerous times is proof enough. 

I'm highly suspecting the reason she stays is because she knows Bruce would always forgive her (SIMP ALERT) unlike her father who would straight up stab her if she ever betrays him.

I’m not saying there’s no love for her son, I’m just saying if she even looks at the batfam funny than I will raise my flamethrower on that bitch’s face. Because you can’t rely on Bruce on that. That man would give bullshit excuse for her or want to handle her himself because your “history” with her makes you entitled.  

Aaaah, don’t you just love it when there’s a great villain you can hate on so much?

I'm not saying she can't be a good person. Pre-morisson made Talia more of an anti-hero. But I do like Talia "I'mma cut a bitch" al'ghul. It's just... I like ruthless Bad Bitch like her. Though preferably she could have balance it with more of her maternal side through Damian.

Okay, I’m getting off tangent. Now comes to my favorite girl. Catwoman. Selina Kyle. The famous ship of all Bruce’s relationship sans SuperBat. 

I... am conflicted the most about this. 

See, Selina is one of the few people who understands Bruce. Who was there when he needed a shoulder to rely on. Someone who doesn’t take Bruce’s shit, and one of the constant person in Bruce’s life. 

But not... constant enough. Which is a theme of her, even in her fursona... I, I mean PERSONA, PERSONA!!! 

Anyway, I love seeing these two broken people. One handles it with violence and vigilantism, the other through thieving with a Robinhood-esque thing going on. So of course they get each other. It always helps that they try to make each other better. Selina taught Bruce to be okay of being selfish of wanting to be happy, and Bruce believed there’s good in her that makes her feel she’s not a hopeless case, y’know? It’s even canon that in one universe, they’re married and have daughter, Helena Wayne. So... yeah? Happy end! (Until they died but that’s non issue here at the moment.) 

Then Tom King (Urgh, him again) wrote Bat proposing to Cat, and by the time they’re about to be married. Selina left him at the altar. 

So yeah. 

But then they get metaphysically? Figuratively? married after the Flashpoint which they turn Thomas Wayne into a villain (At least make him from alternate universe instead of timeline!!!) and kill Alfred (WhYYYYYY?! Bruce suffered enough why do you go kill both his fathers dammit!!! Let the goddamn butler rest in peace). And basically Selina and Bruce promise each other forever. Which is sweet. BatCat Forever, am I right??? 

Yeah, here’s the problem. (And I’m just nitpicking here, okay). For all Tom King’s character assassination of Bruce, he did Selina right in one thing. Which is the fact she doesn’t like being tied down by anything.

If Talia puts importance in power. Selina puts importance in freedom and her self-independence. 

I remember as a kid watching BTAS, that Selina didn’t want a relationship with batman if it meant changing who she is. So when Selina left the altar, I wasn’t surprise at the news. Then she actually agreed to marry him, only this time, she didn’t need a judge or a paper to make the marriage legit, y’know. And I thought, yeah that’s so her. 

But the thing is Bruce. Accepts. Her. Every. Single. Time. 

Without a single thought. She asked, “Do you still want to get married?” and he asked “When?” 

Even though it’s not the first that Cat leaves him hanging. 

Tell me he’s not a simp for that. 

It’s great that he accepts her for everything she is. But I’m conflicted because Selina stays static. She stays with the cat theme in the fact she doesn’t want to held back by anything. She takes what she wants. She loves who she loves. And no one was gonna change her. But then where’s the character growth? 

Is it regressive of me to think Selina should be ‘tied down’ or express commitment when she never has been tied down before even though she loves Bruce? 

Is it not-feminist of me to think Selina has to change herself for a man? 

I just don’t like the fact Bruce and Selina enables their masked persona. Their relationship is strongly base on their cat-and-mouse chase. They nicknamed each other “Bat” and “Cat” for God’s sake. Even though yes, it’s canon that “Batman” and “Catwoman” is their real selves and their civilian life is their masks. Heck, she didn’t go for the altar because she believed (though manipulated) that making Bruce happy would make Batman insufficient, or losing him entirely (Thank Tom King for that). 

That would be true, and stay true if not for one thing. Which is some thing what Bruce has that Selina doesn’t: 

The Batfam.

Bruce’s real identity isn’t just the Batman anymore. He has to be a single father with growing children he never plan to adopt but did anyway because they needed each other. He can’t use his batman persona to be a father at his house, but he will when training them to be his partner. His family became the strength to Bruce’s fight for Justice. 

Bruce is the Batman, but he’s not everything who he is. Selina is supposed to be part of the batfamily yet sadly, I haven’t read or watch anything that has her interact with them in a positive way or actually bond with them. Heck, when Alfred inform the proposal to the batfam they were shocked and thought it was a bad idea even (And they’ve known her for almost half their life by the way.) 

The fact that Tom King implied Bruce was never happy or wasn’t happy enough without marrying Cat when his Batfam should be the source of his pride and joy?! Apparently family means nothing to Batman. Woah DC, what a great message you’re sending here. 

I guess that’s why, I was a bit iffy when Selina “marriage” with Bruce isn’t official. Because she commits to the man but she doesn’t say she’ll commit to the family (though I suppose it could be imply or I just forget stuff). The batkids are grown up enough that they don’t really need a maternal figure, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need more emotionally available people in the family. And that I haven’t seen much of her taking effort to bond with the people that’s the most important to Bruce. 

It just makes her want to commit to Batman instead of Bruce Wayne, in my eyes I guess. 

So yeah, that’s why Wonderbat and Superbat makes more sense to me. Because they’ll make an effort to be THERE for the family and they’ll be just generally be a healthier relationships because, again, emotionally available so they might talk when they have a problem instead of running off the altar when you think a Happy Batman is Bad Batman. But no, DC have to make Bruce is a simp and his life edgy. 

Anyway, I might be wrong in some things because, you know. Canon becomes a blur to me after a while. 

[herstarburststories]

Batfam Headcanon: Pregnancy

✾ Request: Can I request a batfam headcanon? Batboys reactions when Kory says she’s pregnant of Mar’i. Btw love you page💕

✾ A/N: You teased me about dickkory, now you got a bible. That’s how it goes. Also, added Babs, Alfred and Bruce as bonus. And I’m glad you enjoy my work! Ps: I barely know Duke, tha’s why he doesn’t show up here.

✾ Disclaimer: Main relationship is Dick Grayson x Koriand’r. Mentions of Tim x Steph and Tim x Kon (kind of?). Check my Fandoms’ liist to see which Ships I’ll write for.

                                                  ━─┈ ✧

Dick Grayson

I'm gonna use unpublished Nightwing #30 here: he and Kory had sex when he was getting ready for the agente stuff.

Once Agent 37 is off the deal, they end up finding each other again. A bit before Dick gets shoot.

And then, as usually it is between the acrobat and the alien princess, they do it again. 

Over and over again.

She gets pregnant and finds out by the time Dick is amnesic.

Don't @ me DC would do that.

Kory flies towards Bludhaven & talks to him. It's not exactly successful. As he had said to Babs before, he didn't want his memories back. Ric was happy without Dick's conscience.

But Starfire isn't asking for her; it's about him, of course. He should be himself, he worked very hard through years to become who he truly was. But mostly, she begged him to come back because of a new addition to their lives.

Pregnant alien!!

At first, Ric Grayson doesn't believe it. Actually, part of him is aware that's true, he can feel it in the change inside his heart when he saw her; something similar to shame and adoration and excitement at once. Kory moved, talked, and seemed like someone he could love, be completely crazy about.

But he wasn't a father!

Koriand'r leaves, and Grayson is by himself again. Without his Gotham or Titans affiliates.

And, for the first time, there is no comfort in that.

He could tell she wasn't lying. Even though a part of his treacherous new mind tried to convince him otherwise.

Grayson's mind didn't know any gorgeous alien, let alone a pregnant with his child alien.

Yet, Dick felt like he had her in his veins. Just like he did with Bruce, Damian, Barbara, Donna, and the others. Tickles behind his skin, a red alarm for a memory that was long lost. But the sensation of keeping it somewhere remained inside him.

Although, when it came to the redhead princess, the warmth inside him was more intense.

Dick was going to be a father. He didn't even know his whole self and would be needed to take care of someone else. Someone small, part of him, and the legacy of the Flying Grayson's. Besides, he didn't even actually remember the mother of his kid.

didn't even remember making the kid.

He calls Bruce. Telling him to bring the antidote that Barbara was keeping if he wanted his memories back.

Not for him, not because it was the right thing, not because of everyone who claimed to love him cried for Dick to do that. Not even because of familiar senses holding into him every time he interacted with someone from his past.

But because he was going to be a father.

This decision was for his child.

When Bruce, Babs, and Damian ask why, he doesn't answer.

He remembers now, and he needs to find Kory.

It's scary, exciting, and the biggest surprise she ever gave to him-- even more scandalous than the day she fell on earth and kissed him.

A dad! He would be a dad!

Jason Todd

It all started off as an unusual ordinary day; 

Roy got himself in trouble, Jason went to help him and the little problem became a bigger situation. Roy called Kory and a few minutes later, the situation was replaced by dust and fire smell. No one died, but it was enough to make the villains leave.

In the middle of ''What the fuck they wanted?" & "Who were they?" wonders, the original Outlaws heard a familiar motorcycle's noise which made Jason huff, Roy arch eyebrows and Kory confused. 

Dick Grayson was there.

He was hysterical, blue eyes flaming with worry and relief towards Kory. Between their couple discussion and the others attempt to understand what was going on 

Were they back together? Did dick know about the outlaws' way and was sticking his nose where it didn't belong? Did the titans need kory urgently? 

Until 'pregnant' left Dick's lips, being followed by Kory's chaotic scream of "Just because I am pregnant, it does not mean I can not fight!"

Roy just had to get closer to them and explain that it would make no good to go through stressful situations, especially if he got it right. 

A deep breath would be taken, and then Dick would apologize to Kory, saying he was just really scared for both of them. She'd look at her Outlaw friends and curve the corner of her lips-- that Kory smile that translate into 'I've seen hell and chose to use its flames to warm up the cold places of my heart.'

‘’Jason, Roy. . . I am expecting a baby.’’

Meanwhile, Jason was taking off his helmet and glaring at his friends with a perplexed look on his face. Also, a slightly desire of punching Dick. Last time he had heard of their relationship, it was about both of them avoiding each other, his older brother telling him to take care of Kory and Jason calling Dick an idiot. Yeah, he had to have a chat with him later.

For now, Roy was pulling him and Kory into a group hug.

Almost felt like their old times together.

Roy: Outlaw baby!!  /  Dick: Excuse me?

Tim Drake

Okay, okay. First of all, he wasn't planning on seeing any member of his family for a quite while. Not that Tim didn't want to, he was just really running out of time. Being Young Justice's leader was a full time job, and he wanted to be excellent at it.

But things don't always pass by as they were settle to. Therefore, when a disaster happens and Conner, of all people, gets hurt, Tim is in a delicate state of mind.

Drake is smart. He knows it isn't just about Conner. It's all the small things he's been keeping since Gotham.

Not enough sleep, but a certain amount of coffee to make his hands shake when it's late enough for the sun to come out weakly. His relationship with Steph is growing with disagreements from both lives; heroic and urban. His best friend is hurt because he analyzed too much a situation instead of telling his team what to do, so they made their independent choices. A dumb mistake, the kind that Batman would be disappointed of. Tim himself was biting his own neck about it. How could he be a leader? He should be better than that.

And then, he made a call. Because of all things he might be and might not be, he wasn't Batman.

Tim had friends, and a brother that would know what he was going through.

And he knew how to ask for help sometimes.

Dick comes by as fast as possible. They go to the roof and talk it out.

"Remember that they aren't just your team, Tim," He would say, a tranquil smile on his face. It's so similar to how he explained his relationship with the Titans when Drake was still Robin years ago. "They are your family. It's impossible for you not to be affected when they get hurt or something goes wrong. But they are alive. They still trust you. They believe, and need you. You need to give yourself some credit, and do your best for them."

OF COURSE Tim is stubborn about that because Dick is Dick and he basically grew with the Titans, it wasn't the same thing. He didn't have his older brother's skills to command, communicate, etc.

It was scary.

"Yet, Tim, a lot of things are scary. But you have to keep going. For who needs saving. For yourself. For the people you love."

His tone is too sentimental, even for Dick's big brother moments.

"You need to find something to fight for. That's how you keep going, even when you make mistakes. Good news, you already have it. "

Tim: Yeah, I think so. . . You came back to the Titans? I still have access to the computers.

Dick: Yeah, no. Kind if. It's complicated.

Tim: "Complicated? Like. . . Alien kind of complication?"

Dick: "You should know about that, huh?"

BLUSHING, STUTTERING TIM. Cutting it because I already mentioned Steph, but I couldn't miss this opportunity ok.

Dick just laughs about it.

"Starfire isn't complicated, but yeah. We are still deciding if we will keep in the Titans or if we are going to Bludhaven for now."

"It sounds serious, even permanent."

"As permanent as a baby can be."

HHSHHSUSJJSIUSIE

BABY?

IS SHE PREGNANT??

Yeah, Tim was pretty wake, and shaking, and his brain felt like burning right now.

OH MY-- DICK

He was going to be a FATHER.

"YOU ARE GONNA BE A PARENT!"

But then, Dick was the older one and the best with kids.

"WAIT, SHE WILL BE HALF ALIEN. An hybrid. In nature, two different but similar species can procreate, but their kid can't have kids. Do you think--"

"Tim, calm down. Can you at least give me congratulations before talking about my unborn child's probable infertility?"

Damian Wayne

He knew Kory and Dick had been seeing each other again.

Therefore, making one of them notice his presence before showing up was necessary.

He didn't want to accidentally see profanity between his brother figure and his team's current leader, thank you.

After an obvious noise, he got in Dick's apartment.

As expected, Starfire was there.

She was standing up, and Grayson and looking at her tearful, while holding her belly.

It wasn't possible.

Grayson wouldn't be that irresponsible, would he?

Of course he would.

" So, I supposed Starfire either has a deadly bellyache, or you two are procreating. "

He is mildly fearing that Dick won't have much time for him, but that's a matter for another time.

BONUS!

Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth

Dick visits the manor with Kory someday.

He had to give the news or Batman would end up knowing anyway.

Honestly, it wasn't about that. He actually wanted to tell Bruce about his baby.

Alfred was there when they exchanged greetings, politely as usual.

‘'We are having a baby.'’

Listen, Bruce knows how to keep his emotions under his skin, but his eldest son being a father?

This must be the most real expression he has showed in years, and it's full of emotions; he is content, and surprised, and worried.

Some would say that Alfred was tearfully, but kept his posture. Master Bruce really made it. Obstacles, of course, even more than necessary at times. Yet, he was going to be a grandfather, and master Dick was becoming a father.

Gotham had a sunny day for once.

Barbara Gordon 

If it's not Kory and Babs' baby, she will be aunt Babs

Something happens, help becomes needed.

Nightwing shows up in the middle of the combat, he was in Gotham to talk to Bruce & Alfred & Damian, anyway.

Batman dispersed him, though.

And Batgirl was confused by Batman's choice, especially after listening to his explanation:

"Nightwing, this is more dangerous than our usual job. I will take Robin and Batgirl. You have more urgent thinks to be taken care of. "

The dynamic duo leaves and there is just two long time friends. 

It doesn't take a half second for Barbara to notice Dick hiding something.

Sigh, sigh, sigh.

"All right, Dick Grayson. What did you do?"

"Apparently, a baby."

????????????

"He has been ditching me since he learned about Kory's pregnancy."

"KORY'S WHAT!?"

"You didn't even tell me you two were back together!"

"You lost your virginity to an attractive alien and now she is pregnant with your child. That is. . . Surprising."

"I am really happy for you, Dick."

"Thank you, Babs. . . You know what? Maybe it's time to actually introduce you to Kory."

Communicator ringing.

"After I take care of something. Go home, dad."

[heartless-error]

Broken, not perfect, but together. - Chapter 10

Fandom: DC comics, Batman

Pairings: Jonathan Kent x Damian Wayne (JonDami) & Jason Todd x Timothy Drake (JayTim)

Rating/Tags: Family feels, hurt/comfort, mental health issues, running away, unresolved romantic tension

Other(s) links: AO3

Broken.

The Batfamily was broken.

It was six years ago, and they had barely stood together since then, trying to stand up despite guilt and regret.

Damian  was sure there was nothing to save, not after losing something that he  didn’t know he cared about. But when a new opportunity to get back what  they had lost appeared, he cannot help to doubt as his past decisions  haunt him again.

If you love somebody, set them free. But you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

Chapter Summary: He knew he wasn't a good father, he had always knew. But he was trying, like always. And he knew he couldn't get rid of all his mistakes too, but at least he wasn't alone facing them. He had Clark, he always had Clark, even commiting the same mistakes.

Chapter 10

 Six years ago

 Contrary to what many people seemed to think, Bruce didn’t always have everything under control.

 He was trying, what was different. With all his strength, every day, with all the means and knowledge he had. Even if it was never enough, over and over again. The key was in that, in trying. It didn’t matter how many doubts were around him, how many problems arose against him or how much they tried to stop him, he had to keep trying, to solve it, showing a calm and in control facade so others didn’t know how much his mistakes or indecision haunted him in every step he took.

 Bruce knew there was no need to do it, to be so controlling or to bury his insecurities so deeply and hidden from anyone who dared to look. But he also knew where those problems came from, everything that had fed them, and what brought them to light.

The desire to control even what he couldn’t born in him from the moment in which the sound of the lifeless bodies of his parents resounded in that alley, that fateful night, and since then he lived with it. That desire to watch, intervene, and always be prepared for the worst grew as he did too, and became the man, the supposed hero, he’s now. And it was when those closest to him suffered or were injured by his decisions or failures, which reaffirmed more and more in his being.

 That feeling, that need, was like a vine with thorns. Pointy, infinite, dangerous, and sturdy, rooted within him without any limit, pressing and suffocating him everywhere, ready to hang him. It scratched his scars so that he would always remember them, suffocated his mind so that he would never forget it, and strangled his soul and that of those around him, because it was a double-edged sword where the line of protecting or controlling was easily blurred.

He couldn't get rid of it either, because then, what would be left of him? He was Batman. Batman. The one who always had a plan, a contingency, who stood out for his critical sense and his mind, what always had another alternative. He was the one whom the others looked at when they were trapped in a situation with no way out, the one who kept calm in extreme situations, the one who was able to save the day or the world thanks to his control.

 He couldn't lose that, but it's not like he wanted to, or knew how, either. So, doing his best was all that was left. Keep calm, control. He tries it.

 He tried but the manor was quiet. He knew it wasn’t something unexpected after what happened three nights ago, but it kept worrying him because it was as if everything had turned off suddenly.

Damian's firm, light footsteps were no longer heard in the hallways, his youngest son hadn’t left his room since that night, he had also refused to receive anyone and was recovering from his sprained ankle. The soft Richard’s laugh had also vanished, he was like a ghost, he knew that he walked around the corridors from time to time because he couldn’t bear the confinement, but he was impossible to detect. Alfred's courtesy couldn’t be seen either, he knew that the man was not only angry, but that he respected his desire to be alone right now. The presence of his daughter, Cassandra, was also lying much in need, as much as she was silent in itself, her stay was always appreciated. Stephanie's jokes had been replaced by cautious and angry looks upon learning what happened. Barbara hadn't even deigned to answer him when he asked for a certain favor the night before. Timothy and Jason had fallen into complete silence, nothing unexpected.

 It was afternoon, but Bruce was in his office in the manor, thinking about how the place he had managed to fill with laughs, footsteps, and life over the years was now as empty and silent as when Thomas and Martha Wayne died.

He hadn't moved much, from the big chair in front of the expensive office desk, because he was still thoughtful and analyzing the argument that had happened in the cave three days before.

 Bruce knew he wasn’t a good father. Like all of him, he was trying, but he was very aware of reality. If someone asked him about the mistakes he had made regarding his children, he could list each and every one of them by heart, classify them by different categories, and then recite them out loud almost without thinking. This, obviously, was because he had them in his mind and insanely at all times and, of course, feed again those cravings for control that dominated him. The fear of losing them was too much, he couldn’t bear it, and that led him back to enter that infinite cycle that dominated his life.

The more he loved his children, the more he needed to protect them. That, in one way or another, involved controlling them and their environment, and the more he tried to do it, the more damage he did directly or indirectly. He always ended up failing, making mistakes. And these mistakes were present again, trying not to be repeated for then commit others instead.

 He was also aware that most of his children hadn’t had an easy life. Everyone came to him as children whose circumstances had been difficult and unfavorable. He couldn’t be responsible for the trauma or abuse that others had done to them, he just helped to mitigate it, give them the happy, healthy home they deserved and tried to change things where possible. But at the end of the day, the adult who took responsibility for them was him, and definitely had made mistakes.

 The worst and what tormented him most at the moment, is that if he listed those mistakes and removed the most obvious and indisputable of the list -how, for example, involve all of them in their crime crusade - most of them involved Tim and Jason in some way or another.

 That certainly didn’t help him.

 If he initially wouldn’t have been so hurt by Dick's departure to the Titans, perhaps he would have considered not controlling Jason the way he did when he adopted him or making the same mistakes as with his first child. If he hadn't been so convinced that the wounded but brave boy from the Bowery, needed Robin, he might not have felt like he needed to fill his older brother's shoes and run away later. If he had made it to Ethiopia in time, to the warehouse, Jason wouldn’t have died. If Jason hadn't died, he wouldn't have fallen into the spiral of self-destruction that Tim had to save him from, and he wouldn’t have turned him into Robin. If he hadn't turned Tim into Robin, maybe his parents were still alive, maybe he would have had a normal and happy life. If Tim had a normal life, Jason wouldn’t have risen with so much hatred and resentment towards them and wouldn’t have tried to kill him. If he hadn’t "died" later, Tim wouldn’t have lost another person, nor fallen into the same self-destruction from which no one could save him now.

 If... If not...

 There were so many events that he could have changed, and others not. So many mistakes, so many things could have been better. Everything turned in his head and had harassed him for three days. His bad decisions, the possibilities, the memories, all of that filled him with guilt and uncertainty, blamed him that it didn’t matter how human he was, how much he felt, because his mistakes always had more weight and consequences in the people he loved, whatever he did.

He remembered the despair he felt while holding Jason's corpse, bloody and broken as the warehouse burned and collapsed around him. The fear that ran through him when he helped to trait Tim's wounds after Red Hood's beating him up at the Titans' tower too, knowing who had done it. He remembered the disappointment and pain that Jason's spiteful words provoked him when he was ready to kill the Joker. Also, the understanding of Tim's tears after his father's death.

 They were his sons. His sons. He felt and suffered more for them than for himself, and for the fact that because of his own crusade their lives have been so affected.

They had big hearts, unshakable will, and unmatched bravery. A potential within them that drove them to help others innately, to fight with everything they owned. It was that light, that ability, why they were Robin.

 However, that didn’t take away the fact that his field-acquired wounds, both emotional and physical, could affect them on a deeper level than they could think. Endangering themselves, the other, and the rest of them with that hidden relationship that was revealed three nights ago.

 Jason was the brave and fighting boy from the streets who decided to fight the crime he experienced firsthand. But the trauma related to the abuse, the streets, and his own death was still very entrenched inside him, shaping his decisions both inside and outside his vigilant life. The Lazarus Pit had made him violent and angry, a killer who lost control when one of his triggers of said trauma appeared, including the bats themselves. As much as he had improved his control, they still had no guarantee that the Pit Rage would appear at any time and become a threat for all of them again.

Tim, the sweet little Tim, was still the smart and kind boy who threw away all opportunity to live a normal wealthy child life to become an extraordinary hero, someone who cared for and saved people in a selfless and sacrificed way. But the experiences that came along with that decision were not as kind as he was, and while Tim gave his all, without contemplation, in exchange he lost family, friends and stability. Bruce was not stupid, he recognizes a severe depression when he saw it, and although no one knows what happened to his third child during the time he was lost in time -or what he had to do to get him out- it had to be bad enough for Timothy became the lifeless emotionless shadow which was now.

 “You’ve been years without knowing anything from us!” Jason said three nights ago.

 It wasn't true, but it wasn't false either. He couldn't deny it with the same force as Richard did, because as much as he would like to say that both of them were still integrated in the family, it wasn’t true. They hadn't been in a long time, and they couldn't run away from it.

For him, it was always easier to treat Jason as if he had been a fallen soldier in battle because doing it as the son he left to die was too painful, it kept shaking him to the depths of his existence, perhaps that was why he hadn’t been able to integrate him among them again, in addition to all the history resulting from those events. He couldn't ignore his morality and methods, destructive and totally different from his. Neither the numerous attempts to harm him or the rest of the family, especially Tim. There was the fact that Red Hood operated in Gotham apart from the Outlaws, yes, but they hardly worked together or cooperated. They had their territories very defined, but he could barely catch a glimpse of Red Hood without twisting things, neither Jason. He knew that sometimes he was in the cave or the manor, but he always made sure not to see him and not stay long unless it was necessary.

For his part, Timothy, after he returned from his "death" and accepted Damian as Robin, he adopted the Red Robin alias and seemed to disappear entirely. He claimed to be in favor of carving out his own name as a hero, but he was elusive, smart, and determined. He went to live alone, to work with the Titans or at WE. It didn’t matter how many calls they made, how many emergencies or meetings would be held. Tim barely stepped on the manor, he didn’t stop to talk about anything other than the vigilant job, and long periods passed without seeing him. He hid his wounds very carefully and his habits began to be dangerous for him. They knew enough to realize that he was trying too hard and something was going very wrong but reaching out to help him without scaring him in the process was hard, complicated.

 Maybe for all that and more, his sons didn’t trust him enough to reveal what was going on between them, that they were dating. He didn't blame them, he really deserved it, because he couldn't figure it out either. He also deserved they were angry with him and his opinion on the matter.

 They could get mad at him, hate him, or yell at him. But he really believed that he had reason to say that relationship was something that should be discussed or thought more carefully.

Relationships on the field were dangerous, he knew it personally, and he still remembered the discomfort that had plagued the team when Barbara and Dick broke up so many years ago, not to mention Tim and Stephanie too. And he also remembers the serious injuries Jason inflicted on Tim, how much Red Hood lost control around him, and how little Tim has always valued himself and his injuries.

 Jason's problems along with Timothy's emotional state were not a good combination at all. It wasn’t. It didn't matter how they looked at it, nor how many years will pass. Their story was too rough, there was too much torment, too much tension between them. They themselves were not in a position to have such a relationship with anyone, much less with the other. And if he already doubted the red team itself -despite its efficiency- he also couldn't help but doubt this.

 He couldn't leave them to destroy each other, he couldn't. He knew that was how it would end, and the simple possibility that it might happen made his cravings for control beg him to take the reins of everything again, to fix all this and do it now.

 However, he had already been too carried away by that feeling to know that it wasn’t a good idea to follow it. So, before he could do anything, he received a call. A call that lasted for hours, most of the night, where he got another perspective on the matter and helped him to decide and ask that favor from Barbara that he hadn't heard from yet.

 Despite knowing there would be no response yet, he couldn't help but check his phone again to make sure, eager to be able to do something about it instead of sitting for hours in that office evaluating and planning the best course of action.

 He was just going to think about that when a few firm touches on the window caught his attention, causing him to straighten and look at the window on his left suspiciously.

 Even though he had told him that he didn't need him to come, there he was, his call.

 Frowning, Bruce got up from his seat and went to the window to open it wide, looking at Clark Kent, who floated in front of him in his civilian clothes as if it were the most normal thing in Gotham in the middle of the afternoon.

Holding back a sigh, he opened the window and stepped aside to let him in, trying to decide what to say first.

 He was debating between a "What the hell are you doing here?" or "I specifically told you not to come here.” before the Super raised his hand and talked.

 “When was the last time you slept?” He asked, looking at him closely.

 Not even a "Hello, how are you?" before starting to enter the matter. It wasn’t necessary, they had already overcome that phase of their relationship for a long time. What's more, Clark didn't have to ask how he was doing, he already knew it, he knew it very well.

It had been him who had finished calling after the discussion in the cave with Tim and Jason because he knew that something happened to him only by his heartbeat. It's not like he could have hidden it from him, because not only would he have found out sooner or later, but because he already did, and he was his best friend, so he finished telling him everything. They talked too much, and the call lasted for hours, with both locked in their offices for more privacy and with Clark insisting on going to see him.

 He said there was no need, but he had ignored it, as always.

 “That’s not relevant.” He replied, frowning further.

 To Clark, that was the fragrant confirmation that -indeed- he hadn’t slept for three days. In his defense, Bruce would say he was too busy thinking about other things to allow himself a little rest. What's more, he wouldn't even have done it if he tried.

Every time he closed his eyes he listened to Tim's choked sobs and his weak voice begging him to leave them alone.

 Clark wasn't going to know that, but didn’t seem to like his answer at all, because he crossed his arms and looked at him the way he always did when he had no idea what to do with him.

 For a moment, Bruce had the slight hope that Clark would let him go, but it was Kent. So, when he grabbed his arm and dragged him onto the couch in the office to make him sit down with him, he wasn't even surprised. He just rolled his eyes and reminded himself that trying to fight Superman for this was not worth it, because he already knew the result, he had tried too many times. So, he ended up sitting next to him on the sofa and sighing heavily.

 “Sleep.” Clark said simply and shrugged. As if it were that easy.

 “I don't think it works that way, Kent.” He replied with a snort.

 Clark looked at him again disapprovingly a few seconds, then his annoyance softened, and his look turned into one of pure concern.

 “Rest, please.” He asked softly. “I know you, and I know there have been rough days, but it wouldn’t be better like this.”

 After a moment of silence, Bruce decided not to answer that and instead leaned on the sofa to look at the ceiling in silence, closing later his eyes and completely ignoring the tug on his chest that Clark's concern caused him.

That seemed to be an acceptable move for the Kryptonian, because then they were completely silent, together. Bruce could feel the warmth of the other's body, sitting too close. Also, how he tried not to move too much so as not to distract him or disturb his rest, which didn’t help much because he couldn’t rest by himself, but the effort was appreciated.

 He didn't keep track of how long they were quiet and just being aware of each other's presence, but Bruce found himself breaking that peace after a few minutes without even hesitate.

 “Why are you here?” He asked without changing his position.

 He felt Clark stir in his seat and his bluish gaze fixed on him.

 “I wanted to see how you were.” He replied directly. “Do I need something more to see you?”

 Again, he remained silent, that tug on his chest appearing again. However, unlike a few minutes ago, this time he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at him too, meeting his face closer to his than he had originally thought.

 He didn't look away, neither did Clark. They just looked at each other intently and waited for the other to say something. A tension already known between them leaked into the room.

 If someone had told Bruce years ago that Superman would be his most supportive person in his life, who he would trust the most, maybe he would have laughed, a lot. Now, he would have no choice but to agree and say thanks for it.

Because if it hadn't been for that call and those hours of conversation, things would have been much worse, and the situation would have only exploded after he had done something crazy. It was Clark who helped him see that it wasn’t necessary to carry the burdens of his mistakes alone, but that it was easier to do it together. It made it lighter. It was Clark who told him that even Superman made mistakes, everyone did, and the thing was learning to live with them and fix them after all, but don't let them dictate your life. And, above all, it was Clark who convinced him not to take hasty actions and try to clarify things with Tim and Jason without emotions clouding his judgment.

 It was Clark, it was always Clark. The one who managed to make him reason, the one who broke each and every one of his barriers with ease, the one who gave him hope, the one who saw beyond the calculating and calm façade he showed. Clark, always Clark.

 “My son was here yesterday.” The Super ended up saying in a whisper, they were close enough to hear it.

 “I know.” Bruce answered.

 He always knew when Jonathan showed up at the manor to visit Damian. This time he even thanked him, because he didn’t know the state of his younger son, but he did know that Superboy could cheer him up. As much as he broke Gotham's “no meta” rules and the limits set by his parents, he decided to let it be.

 “And you were okay with that?” Clark asked, more curious than annoyed.

 “Yes.”

 “Why?”

 “What do you think?”

 His answer made that tension, known but unsolvable, grow even more. Clark swallowed hard and Bruce didn't look away.

 The truth is that they would have had to be very blind not to have realized that their sons were in love for a long time and hopelessly they were going to end up together. After all, it was something that had been happening and developing in front of them since they made them team as children, and what they also had avoided talking at all cost.

 If Bruce at this time wasn't so worried about what had happened with Tim and Jason and how to solve it, maybe he could stop to think about how unfair he and Clark were being not wanting to recognize the feelings that their sons had on the other.

 They would like to; they would really like to. But admit that would openly lead to mention Conner's fixation with Timothy, which would lead to the conclusion of that, for some reason, always has existed a connection/fixing between the Supers and the Bats. And to admit this fixation would mean declaring that it really exists, along with that... Something, between them.

 There was something. Something between Bruce and Clark which didn’t want to admit, speak, or recognize. They've been ignoring it for years and had always worked like this, they had no reason to bring it to light, nor act on it. However, recognizing the situation of their sons not only will make it much more real, if not that -in some way- impossible.

That doesn't make sense because it was already impossible anyway. Clark was married to Lois, Bruce was dating Selina, they have been best friends since the League was founded, and their children were going to end up together, so there was no way they could... What?

 Do what? To say what?

 There was nothing to do, nothing to say. It wouldn't do any good because it was too late. No matter how much they tried to ignore it, it was something that hung over their heads and the moment it arrived they had to impose their sons' happiness on theirs, because that was how it worked, that’s what it meant to be a dad.

Although maybe that's why they didn't want to admit it, maybe that's why they tried to postpone all that until they could no longer, because they knew that the moment their children spoke for themselves, the decision of both of them was made, and it was like closing a door definitively that they had never dared to cross, but whose existence knew.

 But that wasn’t the important thing at the moment. The important thing was Tim, Jason, their relationship, making sure they were safe and secure, and waiting until Oracle managed to contact them in order to see them. But that was a matter of time, he just had to wait.

 So, ready for it, Bruce turned away from Clark, snorted wearily, settled back on the couch, and closed his eyes to get some sleep after three days without rest.

And if Clark's hand held his in the process, was something between them and no one else.

 ~0.0~

 When he woke up, he was alone.

 The office was dark, it was already night, the window was closed, and Bruce was lying on the couch.

There was no sign of Clark, but before thinking about how he had taken advantage of the fact that he had fallen asleep to accommodate him and leave without saying anything, he focused on the light of the flashing notification from his phone that he had been waiting all day.

 "Don’t thank me. Say hi to Hood before the patrol.” Barbara's text said.

 She had done it; she had granted his request and had been successful. Oracle had managed to locate the red team to take them to the Cave and sort things out. To have a conversation about it without surprises or threats, just leaving the cards on the table at once. There were situations and secrets in the family that could no longer be ignored more, and this was one of them.

 Bruce didn’t have time to be surprised that it was precisely Jason who agreed to attend that appointment, because he realized that he should head there. It was time to prepare for the patrol and it was better not to make anyone wait this time. He was determined to make his position clear and protect his sons, as necessary.

 He was halfway to the cave entrance when a loud sound made his world stop and a jolt of terror prick him.

 Bang!

 He breathed for a second, and then, recognizing the sound as a shot, he went through the entrance and down into the cave as fast as possible. Everything in a pure ingrained instinct that he had acquired after so many years in the crusade against crime, which tightened his muscles and contracted his bones.

 With his heart hammering hard and thousands of possibilities and explanations piercing his mind, when he arrived at the cave precisely the least expected received him.

 The vision of Dick Grayson, gun in hand, with Jason Todd bleeding out on the floor, made him realize that everything had gone too far.

 There was no longer a solution.

[batsupes-love]

My DC Fanfics

Ancient Age - Joker x Batman. Omegaverse.  WIP -  Rated: Explicit Summary: Memories of ancient days long since passed are triggered. Memories one man doesn't want to remember and that confuses another. Memories stir of long ago when monarchies did reign before that of a lovers woe his wrath unable to contain did the blood of enemies flow his anguished cry full of disdain for they'd dealt a fatal blow and so he grew beyond insane Shining in the Dark - Joker x Batman. Elseworld AU. Omegaverse. WIP -  Rated: Explicit   Summary: Bruce Wayne, too, has survived the world after a missile attack though he was buried alive - unknowingly - by one of his superfriends that doesn't stop him from his quest. Simply survive and learn all that he can about his new world despite the pain of loss. However, there is the little thing niggling at him. If there are no Omega's who survived, a protandrous individual like himself might just wind up in trouble he never imagined he would. His Unsettling Demands - Joker x Batman. WIP -  Rated: Explicit   Summary: Bruce Wayne gets a disturbing call from the new director of Arkham Asylum in regards to The Joker. When The Joker makes his demands known, what lengths is Bruce Wayne really willing to go to, to ensure The Joker does not escape? Voyeuristic Gals - Ivy x Harley. COMPLETE Rated: Explicit Summary: Poison Ivy and her lover Harley Quinn have stolen some very private videos featuring The Joker and Bruce Wayne|Batman. The two lovely ladies delight in each other's bodies while watching and commenting on the rather risque video footage. Unsettling Urges - Lex Luthor x Superman. WIP -  Rated: Explicit   Summary: Superman, after a minor argument with his friend Batman at Nightwing's twentieth birthday party he returns to Metropolis with Lex Luthor on his mind in a way which confounds him. Then overhearing a strange conversation he decides to pay his arch-nemesis a visit, and follow through on his Gotham friends out of the blue suggestion. Unsettling Riddle - Riddler x Nightwing. WIP -  Rated: Explicit   Summary: After helping out with renovations at Arkham Asylum, where The Riddler helped keep him from injury, he's decided to offer a hand in friendship, or... is it more? Unsettling Shores - Black Manta x Aquaman. WIP -  Rated: Explicit   Summary: After a late evening meeting with the Justice League and the 'strange' events that took place there, Aquaman decides to take refuge on a small deserted beach and give himself some time alone having been aroused thanks to the 'display' of a certain pair of couples that just didn't seem able to keep their hands off of each other. Though his interest isn't in them they did set off something. Unsettling Pursuit - Lobo x Kon-El. WIP Rated: Explicit   Summary: Conner goes for a flight after getting an eyeful of his friend Dick Grayson and The Riddler during one of their role-play sessions. He's feeling a bit embarrassed and just wondering about the Kryptonian side of his biology when the space traveling bounty hunter who rides a space-hog descends from the sky to speak with him. Is Lobo hitting on him!? Cruise Calamity Capers - Batman x Superman. COMPLETE -  Rated: Explicit   Summary: When a new owner purchased The Daily Planet, Clark Kent is sent on a five-day cruise. It wouldn't be so bad if an Alpha hadn't been booked into the same cabin as him while he's nearing his heat. And not just any Alpha, but a well-known playboy. But Clark finds he's not as terrible as he thought. Unfortunately, there happen to be trouble afoot and more secrets than that of hiding an omega status.

Caught by Surprise - Batman x Superman. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit   Summary: Clark has been married for some years now. But his spouse doesn't know he's Superman and decides to punish him. Which makes things awkward at the Watchtower when it's just him and Batman's turn for Monitor duty. You’re My Destiny - Batman x Superman. Sequel to Loved You to the Last. WIP Rated: Summary: Clark Kent didn't have a soulmate, or at least he didn't think so, because he didn't have a soul mark. The humans of Earth were born with their soul marks. He hadn't been. None of his relationships lasted. Humans wanted their soulmates.Bruce Wayne was born without a soul mark. He thought it was because the Universe knew what would happen to his parents and so he didn't deserve one for not being able to save them. But then one day a mark appeared. Instead of being elated, he cursed the Universe for its bad joke. Loved You to the Last - Batman x Superman. COMPLETE - Rated: T Summary: Clark Kent loved Bruce Wayne. It was a Universal Truth. Except for as long as the Earth's Sun was Yellow, Clark could not die. But Bruce was never far from Clark's thoughts throughout the eons he lived until finally the sun turned Red. Take My Hand - Batman x Superman. COMPLETE - Rated: T Summary: Before the horrid evening in which Thomas and Martha Wayne lost their lives, their son Bruce was told of a decision his father had made which would change the course of part of his life. And so began his yearly summer vacation at a farm in Kansas. Brighter Than Gold - Batman x Superman. COMPLETE - Rated: T Summary:  Even though they're now engaged, Bruce still has some reservations. Clark isn't too happy about this and asks some difficult questions. To Dream Again - Batman x Superman. Omegaverse. WIP - Rated: Explicit Summary: Lois has just dropped a bombshell on Clark after five years of marriage and the miracle that is their son, Jon. Unable to stand the thought of going to their apartment even during his week off of work, he visits Wayne Manor where Jon is being babysat by the Wayne family and his elder adopted siblings. A Sky Full of Stars - Omegaverse. WIP - Rated:  Summary: The King of Krypton and his family find themselves in dire circumstances as one of their top Generals turns on them and orders an assassination. Only the King's brother may be able to help keep the young prince's safe by leaving the lands of Krypton for those outside the veil. Gotham, one of Earth's great kingdom's soon faces a tragedy of it's own and it's two young princes will have to learn how to deal with the nightmares the traumatic scene instilled in them. But can they let it go, or will the thirst for vengeance be all that keeps them going? Feel Again - Batman x Superman WIP - Rated: Summary: Superman is visited by his future self who asks him the impossible. Of course, he decides to go along with it, until he doesn't. His path takes a very different direction than that of his other self, or even what his other self had planned. Will he manage to befriend Batman, or just make things worse? Ultraman’s Dilemma - Owlman x Ultraman. WIP - Rated: Explicit   Summary: Ultraman had no idea what was happening, until he did, and then he was filled with rage. Not that he could do anything about that rage. Of course Owlman had to take advantage of his weakness. And there was only one way Ultraman could think of to get back at the bastard. Mine Tonight - Batman x Superman. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit   Summary: Superman is tired of denying his feelings for Batman. It doesn't matter that they don't know each others identities. When he makes up his mind to confront Batman with his needs, he finds Batman has found some incriminating evidence. I’m in Love with an Angel - Batman x Superman. WIP - Summary: Clark can't believe that Bruce is being taken away from him. Again. However a chance is soon offered to him that will keep him in Bruce's life. But he learns some unexpected details along the way. Legend of Valors Echo - Batman x Superman. WIP - Summary: Clark Kent has entered the game, Legend of Valors Echo, and one of it's long time players who preferred to do just about everything alone needs help with a quest. Paranormal Phenomena Investigators - Bruce Wayne x Clark Kent. WIP - Summary: Bruce Wayne, a doctor who works for a government agency has just been assigned a new partner after years of not having one. Just, why did it have to be someone with eccentric beliefs?Clark Kent has no idea about who, or what he is. He's just a rookie at a government agency who just happens to be interested in all things not of the Earth. Potential Disaster Averted - Bruce Wayne x Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: M Summary:  Bruce wakes up and discovers he's not alone. But it's who is in his bed that has him wondering what happened. Invisible Chains - Bruce Wayne x Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: E for Explicit Summary: With Jonathan "Pa" Kent gone, they can't make the payments to the bank. But the bank is now owned by a notorious mafia family. The boss of which is visiting the Kent family farm household and when Clark walks in, things spiral out of control from there. Written for Superbat Week 2020 Day 7 Prompt, Mafia AU. Taking Chances - Bruce Wayne x Clark Kent. COMPLETE -  Rated:  Summary: One hero decides it's time to take another chance on love. Another hero is the target of his heart. Written for Superbat Week 2020 Day 6 Prompt, Blindfold All of You - Bruce Wayne x Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary: Co-written with Leo_Our_Queen. Clark has been hiding something and Bruce is determined to get to the bottom of it. But once Bruce learns what it is, he just can't help himself from invading Clark's privacy. The whole ordeal leads to serious confrontation but an understanding revelation. Written for Superbat Week 2020 Day 5 Prompt, Free Day.

Backward in Time - Bruce Wayne x Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: T Summary: Batman finds himself two years into the past. Before one awful eventful day. What will happen to his determination to put an end to the alien threat as new lessons are learned? Written for Superbat Week 2020 Day 4 Prompt, Time Travel.

Only For Master - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary: They do not fall to their knees for a villain, only for their master. Together he and Master thwart the villain and reassert their roles in the privacy of one of their lairs. Written for Superbat Week 2020 Day 3 Prompt, On your knees.

Cutting the Red Tape - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: T Summary: Bruce Wayne, in order to cut through some red tape is in need of a relationship, but no one he currently knows seems suitable. That is until he bumps into someone who may be just the ticket. Written for Superbat Week 2020, Day 2 Prompt - Fake Dating.

Nightbright Brothel - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary: One member of the Justice League thinks there's something shady with the latest brothel to popup on the outskirts of their city. What they learn is something unexpected and they're not sure if they like this new information or not. Day 1 of Superbat Week 2020 - Day 1 - A/B/O

For Your Sake - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary: I helped Leo write a portion of this. It was so fun working with them. Batman has discovered something affecting the health and wellbeing of Clark and seeks answers to help him. The knowledge he gains leads to him giving into instincts he may otherwise have tried to ignore. Got You in My Sights - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. WIP - Rated: Explicit Summary: Omega's have gone extinct upon the Earth, but one may wonder if that is truly the case and if it is, why? But no matter how one lonely Alpha tries to find a reason for it, and even a cure, he's got other responsibilities. His mission. And one of his missions is to see to it that a certain extra-terrestrial wasn't going to become a problem once it came to light that there was one among them. Close Enough to Kryptonian - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary: Kal-El was sent on a diplomatic mission to Earth. He hadn't expected to receive the call he had, or to go into heat while away from home. Written with JusticePlague who did the majority of the writing. Temptation at the Gala - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary: This was written for the Batsupes Secret Valentines Exchange event of 2021.1. Prompt: DCEU: BVS - Bruce and Clark bang in an empty room at Luthor's gala *Rating of Fic Preferred: * Explicit Up to Four Deal-Breakers: Bottom Bruce, choking, deepthroating I especially enjoy: Daddy kink, d/s dynamics, mirror sex, rough sex Reward for a Good Man - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary: Clark's day was horrific, but he hadn't expected to meet someone with some integrity at the place he'd wound up. Child From Another Universe - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Teen Summary: I was a Batsupes Secret Valentines Exchange pinch-hitter for the following prompt.12. Prompt: There‘s a child that looks suspiciously like them and the kid says they fled from a universe where their parents died and now need a new home???? Rating of Fic Preferred: any and all! I enjoy whatever! Up to Four Deal-Breakers: I especially enjoy: fluff, seeing my favourite characters cry, bruce and clark actually being able to show feelings..... (if you decide to go for smut, I do enjoy some of the more harmless/usual kinks. Bondage, spanking, daddy, stuff like that. Generally stuff that makes people feel /safe/ and /loved/, too, by giving them attention.)There is also the addition of the Bottom Clark 2021 prompt for Day 54 which is "Grief". Good End to a Bad Day - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Mature Summary: After a soul-wrenching search and rescue due to a natural disaster, Superman overhears something he wasn't meant to. One Dark Valentine Night - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Teen Summary: Clark wished he'd known at the beginning of Bruce's visit. When Idiots Give Flowers - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary: Clark just wanted revenge, how did it end up like this?Or:That time an idiot gives another idiot flowers in the most annoying way possible. So the other Idiot must get revenge and it blows up in his face. Written with JusticePlague. Concerned and Caring - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Teen Summary: Batman watched in horror as Superman plummeted from the sky, and is determined to help in regards to recovery. Not Really a Boyscout - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary: Clark flustered Bruce. Bruce couldn't ever let Arthur win. Really, they had Barry to thank. JusticePlague wrote the majority of this one. It Started as a Simple Netflix ‘n’ Chill Date - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Teen Summary: Batman watched in horror as Superman plummeted from the sky, and is determined to help in regards to recovery. Happy Ironing - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Teen Summary:  Bruce has a rather important reason to take a break from being Batman. He has to do something while hiding at home. At least Clark is there, when he's not called out on a mission himself. Romantic Date Plans Gone Wrong - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary:   Like it says on the tin, any romantic plans Bruce and Clark have had of late have just gone wrong for one reason, or another. That doesn't stop them from trying again of course. Hot Coffee Break - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary:   During Bruce Wayne's coffee break a surprise visitor drops on by and things get a bit out of hand. There's also the surprise news his visitor can't wait to tell him. Love at Second Attempted Murder - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Teen Summary:   Batman and Superman have a problem with each other. It takes an inopportune moment due to worrisome news for them to learn that neither is as bad as they seem. Consummation - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary:   Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent begin their new lives together. Shooting Stars - Jonathan ‘Pa’ Kent/Martha Kent COMPLETE - Rated: Gen Summary:  The night the Kent’s dream came true. Caw Rok - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary:   When Superman starts hearing strange things the closer Samhain approaches, he speaks with the league and Batman decides that the two of them should investigate. Little do they know what tests they'll be put through. If they fail they may forever be trapped, or worse, lose their very lives. What Has to be Done - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary:   When they meet a discovery is made that may just keep the people safe, though it is not without its cost. Gotham’s Lost Hope - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. WIP - Rated: Explicit Summary:    Gotham, a living entity decides to give their most favorite a gift, only for that gift to be lost and with it the hope of the city. Moonlight - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Mature Summary:   Underneath the Moonlight a pair of lovers meet. Trapped - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Mature Summary:   Superman is trapped by his arch-nemesis. It's up to someone else to save him from whatever plans said arch-nemesis has in mind. Proposal on Ice - Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent. COMPLETE - Rated: Mature Summary:   Clark is nervous at the ice rink, because he has an important question to ask, but that doesn't mean he'll get the answer he seeks, does it? After I Win - Darkseid/Suprman. WIP - Rated: Explicit Summary: Darkseid sets his eyes not on Earth, but on its mightiest guardian, Superman. A Superseid fic. Engulphed - Batman/Suprman. COMPLETE - Rated: Explicit Summary:  Clark tries to hide in the Fortress of Solitude when things get a bit strange, but they only get weirder. Luckily for him there's someone willing to stick it out with him despite any oddity he might find he has.

[hufflepuff-ravenclaw-reviews]

Titans Season 2

So I wouldn't exactly say that Titans season 2 was bad, exactly. But I felt like it kind of meandered through a bunch of different plot points without actually seeming to go anywhere?

And I was thinking about the constant “five years ago” backstory episodes, and I was like “But they make sense”. So it's not like things felt... unnecessary, by any means. However, I felt like the plot kind of zig-zagged around a lot different points, zipped back to a couple different backstory episodes, rerouted back to the present for something completely different, and then... somehow managed to wind up at episode thirteen (the last of the season).

We left off in season one with Rachel's demon father literally being brought to the human world, and all hope seemingly lost.

However, the entire subplot of resolving this barely lasted for five minutes, when all way said and done. Most of the first episode was just these darker timelines in which every one of Rachel's new-found friends and adoptive family sunk into evil ways. But not to worry, because Rachel was able to just talk to them and remind them of how much she means to them.

And then she stopped her father. Somehow. I can't swear that Princess Celestia didn't show up and preach about the power of friendship.

It was such a huge build-up in the first season, and the fact that it was resolved so quickly in the first episode of season two is honestly the first of many let-downs, I felt.

Following this, Dick is adamant that he take the new kids to San Francisco, where, with Bruce's permission, he's going to start up the Titans again.

Back in the day, it was Robin, Hawk and Dove, Wondergirl, and Aqualad. You might remember that we've met all of these characters from the first season... except for Aqualad.

And if you're wondering if he died... bingo. You win a prize of a depressing episode in which we're introduced to his character and his budding romance with Donna Troy... only to have him be murdered by a man named Slade Wilson.

This asshole was the entire reason why the original Titans broke up. See, following Aqualad's murder, Dick got it into his head that he could befriend Slade's son, Jericho. And the others were on board with this, because their friend was killed. But when they actually got to know Jericho, they all felt bad.

Until they find out that Jericho has “body snatching” powers, and can “possess” other people so long as he has initial eye-contact with them. And then suddenly, they tell him everything and even make him an official member of the team.

And that's all fine and dandy, but Slade is upset over this and murders his son. Because reasons.

And all of these memories suddenly being brought to the surface because of Slade's reappearance cause a break in Dick's already fragile psyche and he starts to have intense hallucinations in which Bruce Wayne follows him around and offers advice. It got old after a while.

Eventually, it reached a point with Dick this season that he went out and punched a security guard at the airport just so that he could be locked in jail. And this subplot dragged on forever, and never seemed to actually go anywhere.

But eventually, Dick made nice with the suit maker who seems to supply all of the suits for all of the heroes. Bruce had already designed the Nightwing costume for Dick, although this didn't make an appearance until the final episode.

Kori does have a lot of interesting developments this season, but a lot of them are seemingly being put on the backburner for the next season. She goes off for a while to help Donna do crime-stopping stuff, and ends up getting “kidnapped” by a guard from her homeplanet... Who also is a former lover of hers. He tells her that it's time to go home and rule, but Kori decides to go to California and help Rachel instead.

Eventually, her lover is taken over by her sister, Blackfire's mind-controlling jelly-thing, and Kori ends up needing to kill him in order to help stop her sister.

And then... that's it. Kori's duties are literally never brought up again for the rest of the season. Or the fact that Blackfire killed her entire family and seemingly started some sort of war on the planet. Kori can't even be bothered to tell Blackfire that she would prefer to stay on earth. Just... okay, this is a thing that's happening. BUT TITANS. Ugh.

There is a little teaser of Blackfire taking over some random lady at the very end of the last episode. But, as I said. Season three material.

Hank and Dawn... exist. That's pretty much the only thing that I can say about their characters this season. They simultaniously don't want to do crime-fighting anymore, yet refuse to actually walk away. Hank eventually pushes Dawn away to the point where he suggests that they should break up. And then he goes off the deep-end and starts doing hard-core drugs.

Anything that happened with them this entire season could have literally been cut out, and I doubt that the overall plot would have changed much.

I feel like the same could probably go for Donna as well. Although she had two exciting parts. One with her lover dying. Which... felt weird and forced and I honestly couldn't care either way about Aqualad's relationship with Wondergirl.

And then Donna herself died. Which was just so random and seemingly out of the blue. Especially because they'd just gone done taking down a mind-controlled Superboy (I will get to him in a second), and she had a full-powered fight with him. And then she'd killed by a ferris wheel falling on her.

And then Rachel says that she's going to go with the other ladies and probably learn how to better control her powers for next season. I don't know, and at that point, it all just seemed like characters moving around without having any actual motive.

And then there's Jason Todd. His plot basically revolves around Slade giving Jason PTSD, and then Jason fucking Slade's daughter, Rose.

When the season started, and it became clear that Jason was going to be on the team as the official Robin (leaving Dick to take over the role as Nightwing), I had really hoped for some decent character development from him. But instead, all we get is thirsty asshole with daddy and authority issues. Moving on.

And speaking of Rose... I felt like her character was given the proverbial shaft. She has an interesting character of being the daughter of a villain, but wanting to break away from her father after coming to understand a few things about found family.

She realized that she had healing powers, and told her father. He then trained her, and used her to further his own goals. Meaning to get vengeance on the Titans for using Jericho to get to him. But after having spent some time with Jason, Rose decides not to have anything to do with her father at all.

In the end, Rose and Nightwing team up and take down Slade. Which is something that the original Titans said that they'd struggled with “the first time around”. So how is it that “circus boy” and “girl who can heal herself” can do what actual super-powered Wondergirl, with the help of Robin, Hawk, and Dove failed to do?

All in all, the take down of Slade coupled with the destruction of Rachel's father is leaving a sour taste in my mouth. Don't get all excited over things like the build-up of villains, because the show will probably let you down in this regard.

And then there's Rachel. So much time in the first season was devoted to building up her character and everything, that it was honestly kind of disappointing that she seemed to take a back-seat in the second season. There was too much going on.

On top of a pointless side story where Rachel ran away from Donna and beat up some girl's father. It went nowhere, none of this was explained, and it was almost like the development of Donna, Dawn, and Hank.

Finally, the introduction of Superboy. For those not familiar with DC lore, Superboy is a science experiment to basically make an mpreg baby between Lex Luthor and Superman. He's got all of Superman's powers, and all of Lex's intelligence. However, the thing that comes out from the CADMUS lab is as innocent as a newborn baby... which makes him insanely dangerous.

There was a really long and honestly kind of tedious episode where he escaped from the lab with Krypto the Superdog, and how the project lead came to find him.

And then he went off and saved Jason from falling to his death, thanks to Slade. Only to be shot with kryptonite bullets for his trouble.

When Connor wakes up from this shooting, it's to find that Gar is the only one remaining at Titan's Tower, the others having taken off because of REASONS. However, Gar is certain that teaching Connor how to do proper hero stuff, that it'll make the other Titans want to come back. But circles around to Connor's innocence, he goes off and attacks a bunch of police officers.

This results in CADMUS breaking into Titan's Tower. Once the leader sees what Gar can do, they take him, too.

They then brainwash both of them to follow orders without objection. For Gar, this means transforming into a tiger whenever classical music is played, and killing anybody who is nearby.

This comes to a head after the others have taken down Slade. Gar attacks a street carnival, and Superboy is sent in to “stop” him. However, all of this was a ploy of CADMUS in order to convince people to buy Superboy for millions of dollars.

Rachel is somehow able to un-brainwash Gar simply through THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP. And Dick is able to get to Connor again, using nothing but talking. AND THEN EVERYBODY SANG AND THERE WERE MAGICAL BIRDS AND A UNICORN SHOWED UP. /sarcasm

Overall, this season wasn't bad. It was trying REALLY hard to be good, I felt. But I also felt like it was trying to do too much in just thirteen episodes.

[bigskydreaming]

Hi! I'm new to your blog but found a few posts that were about a JayTom ship, and I was wondering who Tom was? And also you've mentioned in a couple of posts the idea of Jason having a lineup of Titans in his age range and you talked about the Ray and Damage in one. Do you have a whole lineup in mind for them and if so, is there a post on that somewhere?

LOL man, I really need to start pulling all my posts about JayTom and Jay’s lineup of Titans together for some kind of a masterlist, so thanks for the reminder haha. Like, I saw this ask and thought of various posts to point you towards but ugh, I don’t know where any of them are.

Anyway, so. The Tom of JayTom. Aka my ideal ship for Robin!Jason in the series of one-shots about an AU where Jason doesn’t go to Ethiopia in ADITF and thus never dies, that’s kinda grown out of that of a one-shot I started as a writing commission a couple months ago, if anyone else remembers that….the one that was like ‘what if Jason called Dick after the Garzonas incident and Dick sided with Jason’…that one. 

Which then snowballed into ‘well, then I could give Jason his own lineup of Titans who are in the same age range as like a younger gen learning from Dick’s generations of Titans but still older than Tim’s generation of YJ and then eventual Titans.’

Sigh. Oh, me. Right! So! Anyway! Tom in JayTom is Thomas Bronson, the son of JSA member Ted Grant, aka Wildcat. 

Tom and Jason have never ever interacted in canon as far as I know, as I don’t think Tom’s ever appeared outside of JSA and Jason never appeared in that book either before or after his death. BUT by the magic of winging it and Canon Has Not Definitively Contradicted Me, I think the two of them are feasibly in the same age range, so I’m going with them both being fifteen when they meet here.

Tom’s a scrappy, street smart, attitude throwing teenager with daddy issues of his own, lol, thanks to Ted’s general non-existence in his life, for most of it….and he’s also tiny, like, 5′6″ and 135 lbs even at the end of his teenage years. LMAO, I honestly don’t remember, but I think that might be the whole basis of this ship for me, or where it originated. Like, I happened across Tom’s stats as listed on one of the DC wiki sites, and was like, lol oh, he and Robin!Jason could be pint-sized punks together! And then from there, I had the inevitable thought “okay but now make them gay” and then from there I fell into my usual trap of “oh no, it was supposed to be a joke but now I’m taking it seriously and seriously pondering how it could seriously work.”

And then from there it consumed my brain and devoured my life. I swear, it was Dick/Kyle all over again. Ugh, my brain is so problematic.

So anyway, this is Tom:

He’s a werepanther, he can shapeshift into a panther form to fight, which brings up an interesting facet of his character and something I think could be really fun to play off Jason and his own issues…because Tom hates fighting. HATES it. Will run from a fight at any given opportunity rather than engage….but its not because he’s a coward, or doesn’t have heroic instincts of his own, and its not even because he’s not GOOD at fighting.

Its that he’s scared of himself, and scared of hurting whoever he’s fighting…at least more than he means to. Because he has trouble controlling his shift when in fights. His panther form just comes out in response to his own amped up levels of aggression. The fight or flight response for him is actually more like “flight or turn into a raging whirlwind of clawed and fanged fury that can’t stop won’t stop until he’s definitively won his fight….which by extension, usually means his opponent is currently bleeding out on the ground from a few dozen deep claw marks because Panther!Tom’s claws and fangs are SHARP.”

Now pair this fear of his own power with Tom’s natural belligerence and problems with authority at certain points in his life, AND his desire to follow in his hero father’s footsteps as well as his resentment and giving himself grief every time he realizes he even has that desire, because he doesn’t owe his deadbeat dad shit and can’t stand that he nevertheless admires him in a lot of ways and still feels a desire to prove himself to him…

Then pair him up with Jason during his Robin years, going through similar issues and emotions as well as a comparable dynamic with Bruce as him not dying in Ethiopia nevertheless changes nothing about the two of them likely clashing more and more over their views on how to deal with criminals and the appropriate levels of aggression when dealing with them….

And that right there, IMO, is super strong potential for a dynamic couple with a lot in common and yet occasional clashes of their own due to different opinions on which direction to go in so as to address those shared issues…but who likely would never hesitate for a second before backing each other up and presenting a united front against anyone else who tried to give one or the other shit for any reason whatsoever.

Also, I have vastly amused myself with the thought (and the occasional post here and there) of Ted and Bruce continually glowering at each other and blaming each other’s son for being a bad influence on their son, who has never done anything wrong in their life ever, CLEARLY (even if Bruce had actually just grounded Jason the day before. Whatever. Ted doesn’t need to know that).

Anyway, so that’s the JayTom I reference now and then. I’ve always maintained that Jason could really benefit from having a stronger support system of friends distinct to him and not sharing similar dynamics with any of his siblings, so then I was like, well if Jay doesn’t die, and I have him and Dick closer in this AU than they’re usually written as being, plausibly Jason would spend a lot of time at the Tower to get away from Bruce and his own fights with him. 

With Dick being more than able to relate to trouble dealing with Bruce and thus happy to lend a sympathetic ear….and eventually maybe express to Bruce that it might do them both some good for Jason to make more friends his own age and have some normal routines that took him out of the house and Gotham enough that he and Bruce don’t constantly feel like they’re breathing down each other’s necks and keeping tension a constant thing between them. A little space now and then could benefit them both, give them chances to cool off after their fights and actually MISS each other before readdressing the issues.

So then I could see the Titans kinda sending out invitations/recruiting various teen heroes around Jason’s age that they’d all maybe had their eyes on for awhile as kids who could benefit from the same kind of team unity/group support that helped them so much when they were that age just a few years ago themselves.

Which leads me to where I am now which is….I still haven’t settled on a solid lineup, because I came up with too many choices, lol. Basically, my parameters were I wanted characters who could feasibly be said to be in the same age range as Jason and Tom, and didn’t have super strong associations with any other characters that would create any kind of conflict with them being on a Titans team at this point in the timeline instead. And because I’m all about my thematics, I wanted them all to have certain root issues in common that they could all bond over and actually, y’know, support each other with and through. 

(The same way I think Dick’s generation of Titans actually has certain distinct themes and issues that almost all of them share and can relate to in varying ways, which I think has a lot to do with how quickly and fully they all bonded and why they created such lasting friendships and teams between them. But that’s a whole other post, lol.)

So the central shared issues I decided to focus on for Jason’s age group of Titans were: teen/young heroes from abusive homes or runaways, ones with issues and fears stemming from and regarding their own powers or tempers, etc, and misfits who were regarded warily by other or older heroes and considered potentially able to end up on either side of the hero/villain line in the sand.

Which Dick’s generation of Titans, which of course includes Raven, Kory, etc, would not be in agreement with that last part, and thus be all the more likely to recruit these specific teen heroes and be like nyah, nyah, watch how with our help and oh yeah, SUPPORT, they all become the best damn heroes that ever did heroically hero. Suck it, JLA-holes!

(And then Donna would be like, not you Diana, you know we’re cool, its just I gotta do the team solidarity thing and Dick, Garth and Roy are still being Displeased with their mentors/dads at the moment, and also we’re all kinda ticked you guys stole Wally. Btw, we’re stealing the new Green Lantern kid, because Revenge and stuff. He’s ours now, you snooze, you lose).

 So, Jason’s lineup of Titans will consist of some of the following, I’m just not 100% sure which yet, because I have to whittle down the list.

1) Jason (nominally mentored by Dick, but the latter just calls it an excuse for brother bonding time and neither of them make much reference ever to having any kind of actual mentor/protégé relationship like I see the rest of Jay’s lineup having. Plus, Jason unique from the rest already has a mentor in Bruce anyway, so his situation and reasons for being part of this team aren’t quite the same from the others, especially as one of my reasons for this AU was always addressing the issues I have with Bruce’s parenting before the canon event point of Jason’s death, and like…..so like, Bruce does get better once Dick calls out some of his shit with Jason based on his own experiences with Bruce and then later Jason returns the favor by calling out Bruce for taking Dick for granted and no longer putting in the same effort connecting with his eldest and being an actual PARENT to him like he used to).

2) Tom Bronson/Tomcat (who else would act as his personal mentor other than Gar aka Beast Boy aka Changeling, the shapeshifter extraordinaire?)

3) Grant Emerson/Damage (recruited by Roy and his personal protégéand likely BFFs with Jason IMO, as I think their temperaments are complete opposites but Grant’s the kind of kid who would roll his eyes and dolefully follow his troublemaking best friend Jay into likely danger, because his power to blow things up really comes in handy with the kind of scrapes Jason gets himself into and this in turn is a really handy thing to point out in the aftermath of pulling Jason’s butt out of a scrape and then gloating but in the totally mature and “I’m much too nice to actually be gloating, you must be mistaken about what’s happening here” manner in which I see that going down. And in terms of the parameters I mentioned, Grant grew up bounced around abusive foster homes, is watched like a hawk by various groups and heroes because of the huge catastrophic potential of his powers, which he has his own fears about, and also he has no idea who his parents are either, and I imagine him and Jason going on a ‘find out who our real parents are roadtrip’ after graduation or something).

4) Ray Terrill/The Ray (potentially recruited by Kory and her personal protégé. He was briefly a member of Tim’s Young Justice team, but part of the reason he was never that close with the other members was he was a little bit older, just a couple years or so, but enough to put him squarely in Jason’s age range. Also comes from an abusive home, and spent the majority of his childhood living in complete darkness because his asshole uncle told him he had the same powers as his father which meant sunlight would be harmful to him and make him dangerous to be around. When in reality, like his dad, Ray’s powers are fueled by sunlight and he’s like a living solar battery, keeping him afraid to leave the dark was just meant to keep him passive and powerless. Even knowing his uncle lied now, Ray still has long had fears about his own powers, unable to totally shake the fears his uncle instilled in him).

5) Todd Rice/Obsidian (potentially recruited by Raven and her personal protégé. He and his twin sister Jenny-Lynn Hayden are probably a bit older than the rest of this team, but their ages aren’t definitively linked to any points in the DC timeline, so there’s no real conflict between handwaving them as aged down to be right around the same ages as the others. Todd and Jenny-Lynn are the twin children of original Green Lantern Alan Scott aka Sentinel, and the DC villainness Thorn. They grew up in separate foster homes though with Alan unaware of their existence for most of their childhoods. Todd’s childhood was notoriously rough, with him having several abusive foster parents. He’s canonically gay and mentally ill/neurodivergent, which several of his foster homes targeted him for. In addition, his shadow powers are tied to a dark dimension that’s said to prey on his mental state and led to occasional times where he’s been a villain briefly, and at all times his powers are regarded fearfully by most people and with him shunned and avoided because of them. All of which I think makes Raven an ideal mentor for him).

6) Jenny-Lynn Hayden/Jade (Todd’s twin sister, even though they didn’t grow up together for the most part. Honestly, she doesn’t share in a lot of the issues the rest of the team prospects do, and had a relatively good childhood before her powers developed and she found her brother and they started operating as heroes together. But upon learning who her brother and dad are, she’s always been committed to growing closer with them, so I think anywhere Todd goes in this AU, she’d definitely follow, and its not like the team can’t benefit from a heavy hitter like her, let alone more girls. Not totally sure who I picture as most mentoring her in specific, probably because I don’t see her as being recruited per se, so much as just going with Todd when recruited….but I’m thinking maybe Garth, actually. Garth has a lot of range and versatility with his powers and magic, which makes him ideal for mentoring someone who not only has the same powers as a Green Lantern, limited only by her imagination…..but who also might benefit from being mentored by someone who ISN’T a Green Lantern because she doesn’t share their traditional weaknesses and thus she’d be best off training with someone whose own techniques and instincts aren’t geared around weaknesses that are literally irrelevant to her powerset).

7) Courtney Mason/Anima (A metahuman runaway who was almost sacrificed by a cult before her powers kicked in….she’s also right in the same age range as Ray, Grant and Jason, and has briefly been a member of a couple Titans lineups but never for long and usually only for big event stories. But she fits the runaway/rough home environment parameter as well as fear of her own powers….she absorbs life energy from people and animals and can potentially kill them by draining too much. She also has a separate power that’s basically a connection to an other-dimensional spirit called the Animus that she can summon forth and unleash on her enemies. I’m thinking she’d make a good recruit/protégé for Jericho actually, for a number of reasons).

8) Cynthia Reynolds/Fantasia (? Maybe? Not sure yet. Not her actual codename, but her actual codename is a slur, so I’m def gonna make up a new one, I just haven’t 100% settled on what it is yet. Suck it, DC. She’s most known for being a member of Justice League Detroit along with Steel, Vibe and the Ray, but she’s the right age range to end up recruited to be a Titan here instead, like Ray. Also is a runaway from an abusive home, and often deals with mistrust and suspicion due to her illusion powers. Perfect recruit/protégé for Lilith, IMO).

9) Cisco Ramone/Vibe (Also created as a teenage hero to be part of the Justice League Detroit lineup, which makes him the right age range and he’s another runaway. The nature of his powers makes him a good fit to be a recruit/protégéof Mal Duncan/Herald).

10) Amy Allen/Bombshell (Totally self-indulgent on my part given that I basically would ignore the vast majority of her storylines and writing, which I think suck. She was in the Titans stories revolving around Tim’s generation of the team, but she was always stated to be a few years older than the rest, like in her late teens when the majority were probably sixteen, so I think she’s a good fit for this age range. Also had a crappy home life and parents, and her powers are hugely destructive in certain applications…she basically has the same powerset as Captain Atom, though she’s never had any kind of official mentor or sidekick relationship with him. Also, I think Captain Atom is an asshat and a dillhole and he sucks, but I do like his powers, so reinterpreting Amy as a character who doesn’t suck and playing around with her powers instead is solid decision making on my part and renders Captain Atom irrelevant now. I think I shall kill him. Because I can do that. Anyway, I think she doesn’t need him as a mentor but could make a good recruit/protégé for Leonid/Red Star).

11) Carla Moretti/Cinder (Odd choice, given that she’s only ever really been used as a villainous member of Deathstroke’s anti-Titans team and was easily in her twenties at the time. Pyrokinetic who happily makes bonfires out of her enemies but written with zero attempts at nuance, like a total one note villain framed as having long since abandoned her own humanity….which bugged the crap out of me, as she was given a super angsty backstory of childhood sexual abuse and that’s just ‘why she’s like this’ and I have a deep seeded loathing for asshole writers writing survivors as villains and just blaming their casual homicidal ways on their abuse while serving up said villains to just be punching bags or dominoes for the heroes to knock down on their way to the Boss Fight. So I do have inclinations towards making an actual Titan out of her, like with Amy, because surprise surprise, both these characters being written shittily and one note was the work of the same writer, shocking. So I’d just handwave her down to the right age range and have her recruited/mentored by Donna, probably…more due to me thinking Donna would be the best person to help her deal with stuff because she’s mastered the art of avoiding avoidance via having Dick Grayson as a BFF. So with them its not really because Carla needs mentoring with her powers specifically. Idk, Carla anyway you slice it I think has a lot of rage, and Donna knows what to do with that. Written right, Donna’s not a character who judges or shames a victim or survivor for being angry…she gets angry with them, and helps them find options for what to do with that now.) 

12) Hero Cruz (Lesser known Titan, has a device called the Dial H device that lets him turn into a different hero with different powers depending on the setting he puts it on. Basically Ben 10, but Hero came first. Doesn’t really fit most of the parameters, other than being around the right age range, and not even sure who would make a good mentor for him though I wanna say Vic, but not totally decided yet. Mostly I just like him and think he’s underused, so whatever).

There’s also a few other candidates that I have mostly ruled out but not totally. I thought about using the aged up version of Chris Kent, and just introduce him earlier than he showed up in canon. And then Kara/Supergirl could be his mentor because I kinda handwave her into Dick’s generation of Titans anyway, even though it was the alien Matrix version of Linda Danvers that was the only Supergirl ever on the team. Whatever. She should have been a Titan all along anyway. But also Chris would fit the team well as he had an abusive childhood as well, at his dad General Zod’s hands, and again, I just like the character. 

Thought of including Virgil Hawkins/Static too, even though I think he’s closer to Tim’s age range. And again, just another character I’m a fan of and think is underused, but he would definitely be an odd man out in this group because like….he comes from a happy, healthy, loving home and family, and he loves his powers. So he would constantly be just like nodding his head along while his teammates talk and like ugh that sucks, but 10/10 absolutely can not relate, my parents are awesome.  Same with Natasha Irons/Steel, who really would have to be handwaved to even be in the right age range, and again has a happy loving home environment and a superhero uncle of her own so its not like she needs a Titan mentor…..but I kinda wanna see Karen Beecher/Bumblebee take her under her wing anyway, and have them be science nerds together.

Also pretty much the only reason I ruled out Connor Hawke too, as he doesn’t really match the rest of the team in any of the parameters except for feasibly being right at the upper edge of the same age range. But again, I just love the character. 

So I’m probably gonna end up throwing at least one of these other characters in there anyway, lol. I do know myself).

Anyway. So that’s Jason’s lineup of Titans, or at least the candidates as they exist bouncing around in my head now. Also, they’re pretty much Team “Everyone is Gay Except For When They’re Bi.” Which, granted, is basically how I view Dick’s generation of Titans, but with them I have to be like Make It So, in my brain, whereas with this group like….canon’s actually done the work for me for the most part lol. Ray is gay, Todd Rice is gay, Courtney is bi, Hero is gay. And I can’t actually find anything confirmed Tom was stated to be gay somewhere in canon, but I SWEAR he was, like, ugh this is bugging me.

But anyway. That’s that about all of that.

[scottspizzatours]

Nicole Russell of Last Dragon Pizza in Rockaway, NY

The most unique pizzeria in NYC just might be Last Dragon Pizza. It’s not a sit-down restaurant, but a pickup only location in the Rockaways. Word of mouth handles all their marketing and all the pizza is made by one person: Nicole Russell. 

How and why did you start Last Dragon Pizza? I started making pizza for fun (or as I jokingly say, greed) in 2013. I've always been a pretty good baker. My family would come to me to buy fresh baked bread all the time. My sister and I love pizza. I started my obsession with pizza slices in high school. I would go to my favorite pizzeria, Gino's Pizza in Far Rockaway, everyday after school. Most of the old pizzerias I grew up on changed ownership and the pizza quality suffered. I started experimenting with dough for fun. In 2012, my home was affected by Hurricane Sandy and my sister was diagnosed with cancer. Making pizza was my only relief -- the only thing that was bringing me joy during a very trying period in my life. One day I offered my pizza to construction workers and to my surprise they loved it. They came back the next day and that's how I started selling pizza.

Where did you learn how to make pizza? I learned how to make pizza by watching various videos on YouTube.  My dough recipe and process for making homemade pizza at 500-600 degrees came with a lot of trial and error. I experimented with a lot with various flours from 00 to basic bread flours until I found a formula that made me happy. I worked hard to a pizza product that I actually enjoyed -- that I felt was up-to-par with the pizzerias I loved. My taste influences are a combination of NY street slices, my favorite, Patsy's, and Neopolitan pizza from the now defunct Pulino’s NYC.

You have a unique business model, with no real storefront or food truck. Can you explain how you operate and how the system works? Last Dragon Pizza is an online word-of-mouth pizza service in the Rockaways, specializing in ethnic, globally-inspired toppings; combining pizza with all the great cuisine melting pot that is NYC: Great subs like philly cheesesteaks, West Indian food, Indian Food, etc. We offer Tandoori, Jerk Chicken, Asian BBQ, Philly Cheesesteak, to name a few. Referrals order online on our website and the Rockaway pickup location is given upon order completion.

Why did you decide to name your pizza business after a 1985 movie about martial arts? As afore mentioned, my sister is a HUGE reason why I actually started making pizza.  It was to create a more communal relationship in our home as she was going through her chemotherapy. Making and eating pizza became a distraction to not think about all that was going on in both of our lives. Eight years my senior, My sister Joan took me to see the movie The Last Dragon as a young girl right here in Rockaway at a movie theater that is now gone.  

The Rockaway community is comprised of a lot of 2nd, 3rd, and/or 4th generation home owners; nostalgic for the good ol' days of our beloved beach community. Rockaway used to be a recreational playground with Playland amusement park, 80's arcades, double feature movie theaters, etc. My sister, her friends and I walked 3 miles to the movie theater to see The Last Dragon at Surfside Cinemas when it came out and to date it is our favorite movie!  And, there's a line in the movie where Bruce Leroy's father, the owner of a mom and pop pizzeria named Daddy Green’s Pizza, says to his son, Richie, people used to think I was crazy -- a black man opening a pizza shop."

True fans of the movie remember Daddy Green’s pizza vividly. So my friends would jokingly refer to me as Daddy Green’s Pizza, which spawned the notion of naming it after the movie and dedicating pizza pies to various scenes of the movie.

Also, the protagonist in the movie is a martial artist on a quest to find the 'higher level’ and so am I! I am on a quest to mastering the art of pizza making, too.  

So you see it's a combination of Rockaway nostalgia, an ode to fun times shared growing up with my sister and paying homage to the greatest movie of all times! :-) The pizzas are names after characters and memorable scenes in the movie:

The GLO - Plain Cheese The Laura Charles - Margherita Daddy Greens - Veggie/Vegan Pizza Kiss Mi' Converse - Jerk Chicken 7Th Heaven - Tandoori Chicken SukiYaki Hot Suki Sue - Asian BBQ Sho' Nuff! - Philly Chesse Steak Ninja Phu-Leez - Custom A La Carte Bruce Leroy - Plain Cheese Sicilian

The Rockaway community whole-hearted embraced Last Dragon Pizza from day one and I think it was because of the timing. As a community we were all healing from Hurricane Sandy and the mystery of a non disclosed location on the peninsula was an adventure and discovery for most. Now, all of my customers are like family to me. And now, thousands customers later, I pretty much every single person who have picked up me.

Why did you end up making pizza instead of any other dish? I love pizza and  I was obsessed with making the best pizza I could imagine.  

What’s your favorite thing about making pizza? I love making the dough. Kneading dough by hand is truly a meditative process.  It's soothing to me.

What has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned since you started Last Dragon Pizza? I learned so much over the last 4 years.  I've learned that the foodie culture is no joke!  Folks will travel near and far for good food, especially good pizza!  Last Dragon Pizza has become a NYC vacation bucket list for many; someone once took a roundtrip Uber from Manhattan to Far Rockaway (30 miles) to pick up pizza from us. I currently ship frozen pizza to nationwide to folks from Queens Village, Staten Island, the Bronx  for those that don't wanna make the trek to Far Rockaway), to San Francisco, DC, Wyoming and Texas.

I've learned that overall, people are good natured. The search for good pizza is one commonality we all share and brings us closer as a community. #PizzaNation! :-)

Finally, the greatest lesson I've learned business wise is to stay consistent. Theres a lot of hard work and dedication behind pizza making in particular. It's not for the faint of heart. I've been able to leap over certain the barriers to entry in the pizza industry because I was a multi-media designer before hand, specializing in web/graphic design development and social media marketing. It's not easy, managing everything from inventory, social media, retention, sales, etc. AND making a great pizza product on top of that. But,  it's worth it because I'm doing what I love.

What’s next for Last Dragon Pizza? Short term, we are focused on food service and retail, From inception, I always envision Last Dragon Pizza as a frozen product available world-wide to anyone who wants to try it.  So, retail is the end goal. Opening a brick and mortar was never a  thought. However, as the business continues to grow, one day I hope we can open a flag-ship location somewhere. Where? Not sure.

Visit the Last Dragon Pizza website for more info!

*This post is part of a month-long series featuring women in the pizza industry in honor of Women’s History Month!

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

What was wrong with the annual people ( some Jason fans) are saying it was pretty good?

This is a fairly complicated issue of context and characterization, so I’m going to do my best to answer as fully as possible. 

As a single event, the annual is no better or worse than I would have expected, but put into the proper context, it becomes pretty infuriating. To understand that context, we’re going to have to go back to 2011, the beginning of the n52.

A brief recap: We are currently living in a comic renaissance, but back in 2011, comic sales in general were low. DC responded to the loss of profit by rebooting its entire universe, hoping that the reboot would simplify the timeline and make it more accessible for new readers. The resulting universe, the New 52, crashed and burned by 2015 for a variety of reasons, some of which we’re about to address. 

At the very beginning of the n52, all the titles got an issue #0 which either restated or rewrote the origin stories of the characters. The relevant titles for this discussion are Red Hood and the Outlaws and Teen Titans, which deal with Jason and Tim respectively. Both #0 issues were written by the author of the annual that came out today, Scott Lobdell. That’s the important bit.

Lobdell rewrote both backstories, meaning that Jason and Tim have different origins in the n52 than they did before 2011. 

A quick summary of Jason’s (post-flashpoint) origin story (1985-2011): Both Jason’s father and adoptive mother died, leaving him to fend for himself on the streets. As part of the “fending for himself” thing, Jason tried to steal the wheels off of the batmobile, but Bruce caught him, temporarily sent him to boarding school, fostered him, and then adopted him as his son. While he was living with Bruce, Jason became the second Robin.

In 1986, during an arc called A Death in the Family, Jason discovered that his birth mother was still alive. His attempt to find her led to a series of events that ended with Jason’s death at the hands of the Joker. 

A brief summary of Lobdell’s re-write: Jason’s father and mother (the birth and adoptive mothers conflated) died. He met Bruce while he was trying to steal prescription drugs from Leslie’s clinic. Bruce fostered him until Jason discovered that his mother, who he thought had died of a drug overdose, was still alive. His attempt to find her led to a series of events that ended with Jason’s death at the hands of the Joker.

The second half of the issue is told from the Joker’s point of view. Joker claims that he engineered Jason’s entire career as Robin by putting him into Batman’s path, arranging the fake-death and return of Jason’s mother, and finally killing him.

None of that is strictly necessary to the context of the annual, except where it proves that Lobdell doesn’t hesitate to dramatically alter characterization. The Joker-engineered origin has been retconned by Lobdell himself since that time, as part of the Rebirth soft-reboot, so it doesn’t really factor in anymore.

The truly relevant issue is Teen Titans #0 (2011), which completely rewrites Tim’s origin story.

A brief summary of Tim’s pre-n52 origin (1989-2011): When he was a small child, Tim visited Haly’s circus with his family. He met Dick and Dick’s parents and then witnessed the parents’ deaths. Years later, Tim saw Robin (Dick) perform the same signature move that he had performed that night at Haly’s, and from that fact, Tim was able to extrapolate both Batman and Robin’s secret identities. 

Tim didn’t come forward with his knowledge until after Jason’s death. He noticed that Batman was acting erratically and correctly guessed the cause of Bruce’s behavior (grief over Jason’s death). Tim became so worried about Bruce that he approached Dick and asked him to go back to Bruce and become Robin again. Dick declined to do so, because that chapter of his life was over. Since Tim was convinced that Bruce would not recover without Robin by his side, Tim volunteered to take the position himself. His birth parents were still alive at the time, but both died during his Robin tenure. After their deaths, Bruce adopted Tim as his son.

Some things to keep in mind about this origin story

The entire thing is based in Tim and Dick’s relationship. Dick was Tim’s #1 hero and inspiration from the time they met at the circus until the day the n52 took effect. Tim and Dick’s relationship was well-developed and longstanding, and it played a very important role in Tim’s introduction to vigilantism and general character development.

The thing that makes Tim special among comic book characters is that he figured out Batman and Robin’s secret identities by himself. Like Bruce, Tim has always been written as The Detective, the one that figures things out.

A brief summary of Tim’s n52 origin (2011), written by Scott Lobdell: After Jason’s death, Tim, a child who had previously been uninterested in Batman, noticed a change in behavior. Curiosity aroused, Tim tried to uncover Batman’s secret identity, but was unable to do so; Bruce was aware of Tim and his attempts, so he foiled them accordingly. Eventually, Tim gave up and decided to pursue hacktivism instead. He stole money from the Penguin and donated it. Penguin found out and ordered a hit on Tim’s house. Tim and his parents almost died, but Bruce showed up and saved the day.

After their near-deaths, Tim’s parents chose to go into witness protection, while encouraging Tim to stay behind and fulfill a greater purpose with Bruce. After Bruce began to foster Tim, he revealed that he was Batman, and Tim became Red Robin (not Robin, because he didn’t want to disrespect Jason’s memory).

Some things to notice

Lobdell’s origin for Tim completely bypasses Dick, who doesn’t factor into the story at all. As a result, Tim and Dick have no apparent relationship in the n52. That fact is reflected in their characterizations post-reboot. They barely know each other at all.

In this version, Tim did not do the thing that previously defined him: discovering Batman’s secret identity. By eliminating the Dick-Tim relationship, Lobdell removed the circumstances that led to the reveal (Haly’s circus, signature move, discovery that Dick was Robin, deduction that if Dick was Robin, Bruce must be Batman).

Teen Titans #0 has not, unlike RHATO #0, been retconned, so Tim in both the n52 and Rebirth still has the origin story that Lobdell wrote. It would be hard to overstate the difference between preboot Tim’s characterization and n52/rebirth Tim’s characterization, and that comes down to TT #0. In rewriting Tim’s origin (and then writing Tim’s series until he was removed from the title) Lobdell removed everything that made Tim unique or likable among the batfamily. Every relationship that had been deep and well-established disappeared, and since Lobdell had control of both TT and RHATO at the time, he was able to dramatically change Tim and Jason’s interactions and relationship. That’s a separate subject that I won’t address just now.

So. Back to the annual:

In 2011, Lobdell deleted the iconic scene where Tim sees Dick perform at Haly’s Circus– the scene that directly led to Tim’s discovery of Batman’s secret identity and his subsequent incorporation into the batfamily– from Tim’s origin, thereby flattening a previously dynamic character to the width of a sheet of paper. Today, he stuck that same scene– again, the one that belongs to Tim– into Jason’s origin, specifically as a means to develop Dick and Jason’s relationship. Remember that Lobdell, the same author, previously cut out Dick and Tim’s relationship entirely.

In that context, the annual is incredibly frustrating. Inside the DC universe it’s totally possible that both Tim and Jason saw Dick perform when they were all children. It’s not that it couldn’t logically happen, because it could. The issue is that a single author deleted the scene from one character, greatly to the detriment of that character’s history and characterization, and casually tacked it on to another character’s story. 

[g-on-ef]

Why the bad things Happen to the good people

Fandom: Super Sons, DC Batman, DC Superman

Parings: Damijon, Birdflash, TimKon, JayRoy, BatCat, Clark/Lois, BluePulse 

Characters: Damian Wayne, Jon Kent, Wally West, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Connor Kent, Jason Todd, Roy Harper, Bruce Wayne, Seline Kyle, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jaime Reyes, Bart West

{Inspired by Empire's song Good People. The words in italic are part of the song.

A/N: So this is a two part story that I wrote because I was bored and wanted to try something new, now fair warnings this story is rated E for graphic displays of violence, murdering, character death, and sexual content {that will be show in flashbacks in the next chapter}, I should also mention that this story will have mpreg just because I want it ^^ anywhore enjoy this story and let me know if I should update the second part tomorrow. Also to those who sent me prompts I plan on posting them tomorrow so be on the look out for that. Okay now on with the show ^^

Summary: Instead of Clark killing Lois and their baby he accidently kills Damian, as well as his unborn Granddaughter. Heartbroken and full of range Jon decides that the world no longer needs the Justice League instead it needs new heroes’ ones who aren't afraid to cross the line. Jason was right you can't defeat crime you can only control it. He and a new team take over and show the so call heroes how easy it is for the good guys to win when they are no longer playing by the rules

 Sometimes it's hard to pray, sometimes it's hard to keep your faith when it's always being tested, you try to stay strong, you continue believing that everything you've done was worth your sacrifice and continue living in a fantasy world, but reality keeps crashing in, finding ways to destroy the illusions that your heart has created to fool your mind making you see the world for what it really is, and then you realize, you are no longer a kid living in a fantasy dream, that the real world is full of dangers, and death is always taking something from you even when you work on the side of good and do good deeds the world still finds a way to punish you.

 Sometimes it's hard to stay grateful, you wanted to be a hero, but no ever told you the price you had to pay was the death of a love one. No one warned you of the consequences, the sacrifices you had to make. The people you would lose.

 It's painful, hurts so bad you put on a mask of ferocity to show the world show them that despite what it threw at you, you are still the man of steel, the strongest warrior to ever exist, after all you not only killed your grandfather who claimed to be the strongest man alive but you brought fear into the ones who once protected the Earth and were once known as Gods. The ones responsible for the death of your family, your soul's mate. Because you never want them to see you break, never want them to see that despite being the strongest man alive you're still a broken boy.

Crying for help. Begging the heavens to return what was once yours.

 Sometimes it's hard to breathe You rule the world with an iron fist, despite the fact that you feel like you are drowning in your thoughts, you feel like the darkness is trying to claw it's way up to drag you to the abyss and keep you as it's prisoner. You are tired of living with Demons because they are always inviting more and with Demons come the ghosts, the ones that have chained you to the past and refuse to set you free. Sometimes you don't want to be free because the demons, the ghosts, they may haunt your future but they still bring you memories of the past and you are okay with that.

It's hard to keep goin' He remembers, he'll always remember, the day that ruined his life but also changed it.

Jon remembers the message from his father, remembers the dreaded look that clouded his father's eyes as he told him that his father-his birth father-his was still alive.

He remembers how terrified he looked to not only know his biological father is alive but that he is an evil man who wants to destroy the earth.

He remembers it all.

After the meeting with both the Justice League and the Teen Titans Jon decided now was a good time to head back home, despite his father, Batman, and Wonder Woman wanting to speak to him, the young hybrid wanted to leave the Watchtower and go home.

Entering the coordinates to his safe house Jon was teleported back home before either of the big three could talk to him.

When he arrived the first thing he did was headed for his room, once inside he saw his beautiful husband sleeping in their bed.

Damian Wayne-Kent was everything Jon wanted and more. When they were younger the two hated each other hell Jon was certain that they would kill each other, if it weren't for their parents they probably would.

As the years passed on the two's mutual hate slowly turned to mutual respect to trusting one another, to a strong friendship to them falling in love and getting married and starting a family together.

The marriage was a secret, just like their relationship kept from everyone except their brothers. They were the only ones who knew about their relationship and marriage.

"You're being creepy,"

Jon was startled to hear the velvet sound of his husband, he watched as his angel got up from bed; he then grabbed a shirt that was on the floor and put it on.

If Jon had to guess it was his especially since it was a little longer than his body. Damian walked over to his beloved before he wrapped his arms around his neck. Jon responded by wrapping his own arms around Damian's waist and pulled him closer to his body. Enjoying this peaceful moment that they rarely had.

Both Jon and Damian jumped a little when they felt a little kick between them.

They pulled back a little making Jon laugh as he placed his hand on Damian's stomach.

"Looks like she's an active one, isn't she?"

Damian rolled his eyes fondly as he placed his own hands on top of Jon's.

"She's been keeping me up all night, not to mention she's always craving chicken!"

Jon had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing.

"She wants chicken?"

"Yes, and cheeseburgers, beef, tacos, and meat! She wants meat Kent! I'm just glad that she doesn't want pork,"

Jon chuckled a little, he knew his husband was 100% vegetarian and refused to eat pork since he was Arabic. Still he decided to less Damian's burden a little.

He bend down and kissed his belly before whispering,

"Hello Amiera, it's daddy. I hope you had a good day with Baba, now I know baba has weird eating habits," this earned him a smack from his husband making Jon laugh.

"But you need to try to be a little easy on him okay? He maybe a strong and powerful person but he's not use to carrying a half kryptonian baby so please be gentle with him,"

The kicking stopped making Jon look up to his angel who just laughed as he bend down and kissed Jon's forehead.

"You are such a sap,"

He then placed a hand on top of Jon’s who smiled softly at their joined hands.

"And you are gonna be a daddy's little girl,"

Jon laughed as he brought Damian’s hand to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss before his oceanic eyes met Damian’s emerald jewels.

"I love you, forever and always,"

"And way pass eternity,"

The two kissed one another enjoying their moment of peace before it all came crashing down.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 "Kill him, he's your enemy," Clark heard the whisper and he had to agree this man, this creature was going to kill Jon, Lois, everyone he cared about. He would not let that happen.

He heard a voice, telling him to stop, begging him not to, but he ignore it he kept attacking the enemy trying to defeat it. It wasn't until someone punched him hard in the jaw that he finally came to reality.

Clark shook his head to clear the fog that had cloud it, slowly the fog was lifting as he crashed down to reality looking up he saw in horror as his son cradled the battered body of his best friend's son.

He looked around him to see Bruce, Dick, Jason, Kon and Tim as well as the entire Justice League with the Teen Titans staring in horror as the youngest robin was clinging to life. His son, slowly cupping his cheek and whipping off the blood that was covering his face.

"Damian, oh my, you're gonna be fine okay, you’re gonna be fine," Jon said trying hard not to show weakness but finding it hard to do as he held onto his husband's body, as he moved his hands from his cheek to the top of his tummy, his heart broke when he felt a flat stomach. He felt his heart breaking as he could feel his husband’s bloody hand covering his own.

"Jo-Jon..."

"Yes?"

Damian tried to reach for his face with his free hand but it was taking all his strength to reach for him Jon grabbed his hand and placed it on his face he turned his face and kissed it, ignoring the blood that was on it. Trying his best to comfort his beloved.

"Our...our baby...I can't, can't feel our baby, where is my baby? Where is our baby," his voice cracked at the end, despite his heart rate slowing down Jon could hear it speeding up a little a sign of pure panic that Damian was feeling, Jon closed his eyes as tears fell from his eyes, becoming a part of Damian's own tears and mixing in with his blood.

"I'm sorry Dami, I'm so sorry, I couldn't protect you or our baby,"

Damian’s emerald green eyes met his blue ones a heartbreaking sob escaped his lips, he could feel himself slowly slipping away, this wasn’t supposed to happen, he wasn’t supposed to die again. He was supposed to live with Jon and their baby, he didn’t want to die, not now not like this. He didn’t want to leave Jon, he needed to stay, to at least have the chance to tell him how much he loved him and how he shouldn’t blame his father for what’s happened. Jon needed to know, needed to understand that he didn’t blame Clark, that he only hopped that Jon didn’t either.

"Jon I, I" whatever Damian was going to say will never be known to Jon because in that moment, that horrible heart breaking moment Damian Wayne-Kent was gone.

“Dami? Dami, please open your eyes please Damian don’t leave me!” the boy of steel shouted as he shook Damian’s corpse.

Jon listen carefully to Damian’s heartbeat, praying to every God out there that his angel was alive, that this was some cruel joke that the League was playing on him and Damian would open his eyes again and Jon will have the chance to see those jade eyes once again.

“Damian please, open your eyes please don’t leave me. I’ll do it, I’ll give up being Super-boy, I’ll, I’ll stop fighting crime and putting my life in danger anything you want but please, I’m begging you DON’T LEAVE ME!” Jon begged to Damian’s corpse.

It never happened, Damian’s eyes did not open, the League did nothing but watch as Jonathan Kent, son of Superman, boy of steel broke down and cried at the lost of not only his beloved Damian, but their daughter as well.

“Bruce…what…what did I do?” Clark stared as his little boy held onto the corpse of his best friend crying his poor heart out.

“The Joker, he…he drugged you, tried to get you to kill Lois and your daughter but…but Damian…he…he,”

The fog that clouded his mind was slowly disappearing clearing his head of any confusion that he was currently feeling, memories of past events creeped their way as pieces of the missing puzzle were slowly putting themselves together creating the image of Clark being poison and attacking Damian as he tried to defend Lois and Martha.

He saw how he fought Damian, attacking him; he remembers Damian’s pleas to stop to not attack his belly, which he didn’t understand why but when he said it Clark attacked it, showing his stomach no mercy.

Clark felt sick to his stomach as he watched his son and their friends trying to stop him but he was able to stop them, he sees his son trying to get to Damian but Clark stops him by freezing him, he sees it all, his body attacking everything and anything that was protecting Damian it wasn’t until his boy punched him with brass knuckles that contain Kryptonite that he finally stopped attacking Damian. But it was too late, Damian Wayne was already clinging to life trying hard not to fall into Death’s embrace, for the second time in his life.

“Oh my God Bruce, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…I…I,”

Bruce didn’t know what to say, he wanted to be mad, he wanted to yell and hurt Clark in any way but he didn’t, he couldn’t. Damian died protecting Lois and Martha, he gave his life protecting Jon’s mother and little sister, Damian was willing to do anything to protect them. Even at the cost of his own life.

Yes it broke his heart and crushed his spirit to lose his son but he had to remember that Damian was a hero, willing to sacrifice anything and everything for those he cared about.

“It’s okay Clark Damian gave his life to protect your family, I know that Damian wouldn’t want you to blame yourself, that he-“

“Don’t,” Jon growled as he continued to hold onto the body of his dead husband his hand resting on top of his once round belly, where his little princess once rested in.

“What?” Bruce asked looking at the son of Superman.

“Don’t you dare speak his name!” Jon yelled as he glared at not only Batman and Superman but the entire Justice League as well.

How could Bruce be so calm about this? Clark killed Damian and instead of being pissed he was calm? Did he not care for Damian? Did he not care that his own flesh and blood was dead?

Jon mentally slapped himself, of course Bruce didn’t care, if he did he would feel the same anger that he was feeling, but who was he fooling? Bruce was never a father to Damian, Dick was Damian’s father, Dick was the one who was there for Damian when he needed him. Glaring at Bruce the boy of steel said,

“You never cared about him! He was nothing but a nocuous to you! You have no right to say what Damian would want or wouldn’t want! You never even gave a damn about him so SHUT THE FUCK UP! And keep Damian’s name out of your mouth.

“Jon don’t-“

“And you,”

Jon glared at the man he once worshipped, the one he idolized and wished he grew up to be like him; a hero, a father, a loving husband. Now Jon wanted nothing more than to end his life.

“You killed him, you killed my HUSBAND AND MY DAUGHTER!”

“I did what?” Clark asked praying to God that his misunderstood his son, that what Jon said was a case of a misunderstanding and he was just hearing things, that he was not only responsible for the death of Damian who was Jon’s husband-which he had no knowledge of-but the death of his grandchild.

“You killed my family, you…you…MURDER!”

In a split-second Jon was on top of his so call father and punching him as hard as he could. Clark could easily push him off hell he could have easily stop his son’s attack but didn’t because it wasn’t Jon hitting him that was breaking his heart and stopping him from defending himself but the words that he threw at him that were cutting deeper than any knife could and hurting him more than any physical attack ever could.

“Murder! You killed the love of my life! My husband! MY DAUGHTER! You took away my family! Robbed them of their lives! Rot in hell you piece of shit! I hate you. I. Hate. You!”

The boy of steel continue to attack his father showing him no mercy, he wanted him to hurt, to feel the pain and suffering that Jon was currently feeling.

Damian…his beloved was gone, and so was their baby; the only reminder he had left of Damian, both gone

Jon was pulled off his murderous father by Kon and Jason, despite being strong enough to break from their hold on him he chose not to, instead he glared at his father, Clark had never seen such hatred from anyone. None of his enemies have ever gave him such a dark and murderous look at least not the one that made him fear for his life.

Jon shrugged off Kon’s and Jason’s hold as he went over to Damian’s body, he picked his husband’s body as he turned to face not only his father but his mother and little sister.

“Your dead to me Super-Man,” Jon took to the sky ignoring the cries of Batman telling him to bring back Damian.

[tessatechaitea]

New Titans #111

The mystery is who thought sending Arsenal into space was a good idea and also who shit his pants?

If your superhero team needs spacesuits to survive in space, maybe send a different team of heroes on the space mission. It just makes more sense to leave Batman and Aquaman on Earth while Superman and Supergirl solve all of the space crime. I couldn't think of any other heroes that could survive in space. Hell, I'm not even sure if we're currently in an era where Superman is allowed to survive in space. Remember when DC thought it would be a good idea to reduce his powers so that even Superman had to wear oxygen when in space? Although even a Superman who can survive in the vacuum of space retains considerable plot problems. Sure, he can survive in space if he's within range of a yellow sun because that's how he gets his powers. Or was it simply that he lost his powers under a red sun and was just fine under any other sun? The 1986 Who's Who doesn't clear things up as it just says that Superman's Kryptonian cells act like solar batteries under a yellow sun. It doesn't distinctly say that the red sun weakens him so I guess he just grows weaker away from a yellow sun as his cell battery drains. Then again, I'm sure things changed after The Man of Steel series. And then again after Millennium. And then again after Zero Year. And then again after Infinite Crisis. And then again after The New 52. And then again after Rebirth. And then again after Doomsday Clock. And then again after whatever the fuck Bendis is doing. Why the fuck am I talking about Superman?! I'm not even sure he knows the New Titans exist! As I begin reading the first page of this comic book that shows Kory once again dressed in fraying threads, I remember that I already ranted about sending the Titans into space! In comic books, sometimes your last hope truly is the last hope. Nobody in the 90s wanted to have to rely on the Titans to rescue them. The Terraist's satellite blasts the Brazilian rain forest as a means to get Brazil to stop razing their rain forests. I suppose it's a pretty good plan because if the forests are burned to the ground, Brazil won't be able to burn the forests to the ground. Reporters all over the world are asking the tough question: "Will governments give in to the Terraist's demands that they stop destroying the Earth before the Terraist destroys the Earth?!" My guess is that they won't because the Terraist's plan is fucking ridiculous. I wonder if the Terraist is also a landlord? "If you won't put up smoke detectors, I'm going to burn the fucking house to the ground. You have three hours!" To save the world, the New Not-So-Teen-Anymore Titans have all crowded aboard some kind of space rocket.

The way Erlich is gripping that throttle and reaching for a wedge of cheese on the dash makes me horny.

You might have noticed Gar sitting in the back thinking while everybody else crowds around the controls in what I'm assuming violates several safety regulations. Gar's grieving his boring friend Cyborg. Red Star notices because Gar has made sure to do the contemplative hand on the chin while looking at an unfixed point in the distance pose. Nobody else notices because, I'm assuming, they're capitalists. It's a touching scene of a friend mourning the loss of another friend that isn't actually touching at all. But it does highlight Gar's mullet! I'm not making fun of Gar's mullet at all. There was a time when we, as a society, accepted the mullet as a valid hair style. But then enough people began making fun of it that everybody had to back off and pretend that it wasn't a valid aesthetic. Maybe it had just too broad a base of people who generally wore the hairstyle. I mean, if you saw somebody with a mullet from afar, how were you supposed to know whether they were a working class butt rocker, a hockey player, or a lesbian? Red Star brings up how the Titans have lost many friends.

Those friends are Terra (not a friend but a mole), Dick Grayson (not lost), and Starfire (also not lost). Would it have killed him to actually think about Jericho, Raven, and Danny Chase?!

Marv Wolfman intrudes on the fiction, musing about how this comic book is still fucking selling, with the line, "Sometimes I wonder why we're still even here." Me too, Marv! I was 22 and still buying this shit! Although there really was a time in my life where one of my main existential dreads was dying before seeing how different comic book stories ended. Imagine being so naive as to think any of these fucking things would ever have an actual ending! Red Star says, "If we gave up, then our friends will have died in vain," without ever once thinking about one of their actual dead friends. Also without acknowledging that their friends died in vain. Maybe they wouldn't have died in vain if the Titans looked at their deaths and thought, "You know what? We aren't fucking helping anybody! Jericho was killed not saving the world but battling his father. Raven was killed not saving the world but being consumed by her familial darkness. Maybe we should stop fooling ourselves into thinking we're helping the world rather than harming it and just hang up our capes! That would be a fitting tribute to our dead friends!" Garth interrupts the emotional stuff by pointing out that the Terraist's space station just launched a missile at them. I'm glad Garth, the undersea hero, is pulling his weight up in space by observing shit. The scene shifts to the Terraist's satellite where I discover I'm not entirely sure if the bad guy is named The Terraist or Teraizer. What I am sure of is that his right-hand man is named "James." The Terraist states that public reaction is still on their side and I have no idea how that's possible. He's burning the fucking rain forests in an effort to save the rain forests. How the hell is anybody supporting this...oh fuck. I just remembered Donald Trump is president and the Republicans are burning this entire country to the ground in order to line their own pockets. Never mind. I totally buy it. While Starfire flies toward the space station, she philosophizes about freedom. She's all, "It's ain't free, bitches! Some motherfuckers are going to have to die!" I'm not sure what this story has to do with freedom. It's more about saving the world from the most wrong-minded ecoterrorists to ever threaten to chop down the tree they're hugging. Maybe she's still hung up on her relationship with Dick and how she was never free while with him because he of his constant moralizing. Meanwhile back in the burning rain forest, Dick Grayson comes to terms with his father/son relationship with Batman. Is this the exact moment Dick Grayson began to become a compelling character? Is this when he truly becomes Batman's equal? Instead of the whining brat trying to distance himself from Batman, he finally embraces what Batman represents and what Bruce taught him, both as a son and sidekick. I fucking hated Dick Grayson for so long because of this comic book, because Marv Wolfman needed to concentrate on the drama of teens rebelling against their parents and/or parental figures. But this might be the moment Dick matures. Which didn't mean I was ready to like the ungrateful turd. But I can see this as the experience needed before I could begin to change my mind about him. Also, it probably helped when Dick began being written by writers other than Marv Wolfman. The Terraist blasts Starfire into unconsciousness so it's up to Red Star to save her. Mostly because none of the other Titans have any real helpful super powers. I mean, Garth might try to summon a dolphin, or Roy might shoot an arrow with a rope tied to it, or Gar might transform into a space bunny rabbit. But mostly that shit would just waste time.

Look. I don't need my comic books to absolutely adhere to believable scientific standards, but what the fuck is Kory breathing?

The Titans invade the space station and defeat The Terraist as he inevitably winds up revealing that he's not interested in saving the world at all. He just wants cash. And since most of the world supported his terrible scheme, Starfire uses his camera link to the world to scold everybody on Earth. That probably won't help the Titans' reputation. Although she scolds them while practically naked, so my guess is not many people turned off the broadcast. New Titans #111 Rating: D. The Terraist concocted this entire plan to make money. Why couldn't he be happy with the billions of dollars he apparently already had?! I'm fairly certain you can't build a space station of death while employing dozens of trained killers without having a pretty hefty bank account. It would make more sense if he did care about the environment even if his plan was completely contrary to helping the environment. Anyway, I hope the Titans decide to take care of his cat. That cat didn't choose to be owned by a huge dickhead.

[geektified]

New Post has been published on http://www.geektified.com/2017/05/07/comic-book-review-nightwing-20-nightwing-must-die-finale/

Comic Book Review: Nightwing #20, "Nightwing Must Die, Finale"

By: Jerry Montgomery May 6, 2017

  Nightwing #20 “Nightwing Must Die, Finale”

  Written by: Tim Seeley Artwork by: Javier Fernandez

Nightwing #20 and it’s final chapter of the “Nightwing Must Die” story arc is just that, the end of a 5 part story. Before I go on, I’ll have to introduce some of it’s major players along the way. This is the Rebirth universe of DC so all characters have been reinvented of a sort. If you’ve got any knowledge the Rebirth event and consequences of “The Button” discovery in the Batcave, you know that 10 years time has been set back for the entire DC universe. That means that 10 years have been erased from every character. Therefore, all versions…pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, Flashpoint and New 52 are gone. Whatever or whomever is responsible has erased all knowledge from all, though a few characters are aware of previous realities. Batman, the Flash, Kid Flash and now Superman, know that something isn’t right.

  Way back in Nightwing #16, the “Nightwing Must Die” story arc began. Damian Wayne, the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul and grandson of Ras Al Ghul, is the current Robin. Damien is brash, argumentative at times and more violent and capable than any of the other Robins. What can you expect, having been trained by the League of Assassins and then getting dropped into the lap of his father, Batman? He’s not happy with Nightwing’s online popularity, even more so that he’s referred to as the first and best Robin and way annoyed with the assumption that he will be Batman one day. So, off to Bludhaven, that rank and rough city that Nightwing operates out of, a jealous Damien (give him a break, he’s only 10 years old!) goes. Also, Nightwing’s relationship with his girlfriend, Shawn Tsang, the reformed villainess, Defacer gets a little more complicated when she tells him she’s late (As in “that time of the month”, late.). Shawn is kidnapped by an unseen assailant later in the book and the now cadaverous looking Deathwing dispatches a gang of robbers with extreme prejudice. Dick and Damien agree to work together in solving this one, just like old times.

Issue #17 finds our heroes in Paris, France, where the clues have led them. It was revealed that Deathwing was behind the abduction of Shawn. Who is Deathwing? He is the future Nightwing, more violent and ruthless. Given the memories of the real Dick Grayson, Deathwing is uncertain of what his real name is, only that is the corrupted version of the original. Here, he looks like a walking corpse, dressed in the New 52 costume of Nightwing. Naturally, Nightwing and Damien find Deathwing ir us it the other way around? Anyway, the fighting commences within some empty catacombs and Damien gets locked in an empty tomb. Nightwing is slashed across the forehead with an odd-looking dagger and as the first drop of blood hits the ground, he begins to hallucinate all versions of himself across the multiverses. What’s up with that knife? How could it do that? Deathwing is ready to deliver the final blow to Nightwing but is interrupted by Robin…but not any Robin we know. Odd-Robin begins to battle Deathwing and by this time, Damien has freed himself and joins the fray. Nightwing gathers his wits and he and Damien proceed to beat their doubles. It is then that odd-Robin reveals that both he and Deathwing are Dollotrons. The products of Professor Pyg, the mad surgeon that wears a pig mask and uses unconventional instruments to adhere doll masks to his mind altered creations. But where is Shawn?

  Nightwing #18 opens up with Dick and Damien busting into Professor Pyg’s hideout, some abandoned foundry to save Shawn. Deathwing convinces Dollotron Robin free him from his bonds and then promptly kills him for his troubles. Damien and Dick defeat Professor Pyg and free Shawn but cant help but wonder how he has created such complicated Dollotrons. It is then that the Professor reveals a powerful player that has been pulling the strings all along. One that he has been creating these “imperfect” Dollotrons for. While Dick reunites with Shawn, Deathwing separates Damien from them and kidnaps him. As for that powerful person behind the scenes? Its Dr. Simon Hurt and Deathwing has delivered Damien right to him.

Who is Dr. Hurt? Well, he has claimed to be everything from Thomas Wayne, ancestor of Bruce and Damien from the 1700’s, to an actual demon to a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. He’s been called many things, black sheep, satanist…even the Devil himself. He features prominently in issue #19 of Nightwing and his plan is to sacrifice Damien at dawn as part of some blood ritual. Dick and Shawn have followed the clues to Egypt to save Damian. Here it’s revealed the true power of that mystical dagger in which Nightwing was slashed with. Rather than showing all versions of a person, it instead reveals all possible versions, of course, all evil. After the near death of Shawn, the severe beating and stabbbing of Deathwing with that magic dagger, Nightwing confronts Dr. Hurt, who has apparently already sacrificed Damien and falls through the floor right into…hell.

  So, issue #20 and the finale of the “Nightwing Must Die” story arc wraps it all up but is certainly setting up something big for the future…something wicked this way comes. Deathwing finally gets some clarity and insight into who he is and why even though he cannot remember who he is with the help of Shawn. Nightwing too ,while under the effects of the “Nothing Blade, is able to come to grips with what makes him different from Batman and what part of the Batman legacy is his to pass on. This realization is the breakthrough which allows him to defeat Dr. Hurt. Hurt, in the throes of defeat, reveals that he is afraid, as powerful and evil as he is, of something that’s coming and Deathwing performs an act of redemption for the pain he had on others with mysterious results. Damian, Shawn and Dick return to Bludhaven where Shawn finally addresses her pregnancy issue of is she or isn’t she? and Damien hashes it out with Dick to forge a new alliance of teamwork and friendship.

    The Verdict: At this point in time, it would most definitely be helpful to have read some of the previous issues to fully understand what’s going on in this one. I like the reintroduction of some of DC’s obscure characters from the past, brought in to be more than just an interim fill in between other story arcs. Also good is a possible tie in with the Batman cross-title event, “Dark Nights: Metal” coming with a chance of Dr. Hurts reappearance and something big. Building on Rebirth, this summer event is planned to push characters beyond their potential to a place where their courage is tested and persevere in the face of evil as Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo reunite to further transform the DC universe. If you’re a fan of any of the Batman titles, you really can’t go wrong with Nightwing.

[victoriousscarf]

for the meme: Jason Todd and Slade Wilson

Jason: First impression

Okay I’m reaching back to 2008 for this but I’m pretty sure the first time I ran into Jason was Hush because I read Hush really early. I remember it being my introduction to a lot of characters (including Dick as Nightwing) which is both great because it covers like Batman’s entire rouge gallery and crew but is also awful because it covers everyone and that gets confusing fast hah.

So my introduction to him was Bruce’s overwhelming guilt and rage over his death. That’s a pretty strong impression. I also know I read Under the Red Hood fairly early and liked it enough to get the animated movie the instant it came out. But I don’t remember really LOVING Jason at that stage. Like I liked him but he wasn’t someone I was so into. I’m pretty sure the first time I ever wrote him was Find the Sun. I had Dick and Tim in the first story I ever wrote but I’m pretty sure Jason wasn’t in it.

Impression now

God I can not with this compassionate broken and angry child. He’s brash yet kind, too messed up by his own tenderness and driven to extremes by his anger. Someone hug this boy.Favorite moment

Damn I don’t know. I mean the end of Under the Red Hood when Bludhaven is nuked and he fights Bruce anyway creates this really interesting triangle between Bruce Jason and Dick and tho Dick isn’t there he’s still so much a presence of the screen, the favored son vs the one who messed up and died and Bruce’s panic while finally facing this ghost. I don’t know if I can say it’s my favorite but it fucks me up to this day. I also like him fucking with Black Mask that always gives me a kick. And I really love him first meeting Dick back as Robin (the post zero hour one, not Nightwing Year One).Idea for a storyI’m sure variations have been done but I’d love more about him dealing with the Lazarus pit and how that continues to effect him. Unpopular opinionI really don’t like new 52? Like I’m all for Jason having actual friends and there’s some good in Red Hood and the Outlaws but like that’s never where i go first. Like Roy and Kor almost always are Dicks friends first. I wish Jason had been allowed to keep growing in the pre 52 with maybe some more links to Donna and Kyle and building a life post all the things he had done instead of scrapping the slate back and making him WAY less angry or brutal. Like, I’m glad new 52 reframes his compassion but I really like his compassion held in tenuous balance with his rage. (I feel starved for truly angry characters okay that aren’t just assholes). Pre 52 had some major issues with him too but tbh I’m more in Under the Red Hood territory than Red Hood and the Outlaws. Favorite relationshipYou gonna make me say it??? Really? Okay fine I’m totally into him and Dick. And I don’t just mean I really like making them kiss: I am so fascinated by the possibilities of their relationship in canon: favored son vs second son, and how Jason’s idolization of Dick turns to rage contrasted with Dicks behavior toward Jason starting as Robin, changing to his guilt and missing Jason so much turning to complete disregard for Jason when he comes back which directly contradicts Dicks entire reaction the whole time Jason was dead. Dreaming about him, getting into fights with Bruce, and perhaps most importantly beating the Joker to death with a crowbar when he mocks him about not remembering Jason’s name. (Sure it got fixed almost instantly but like mocking Jason’s death drove Dick, guilt complex almost fell apart when he let someone else kill Blockbuster Dick, to actually /kill the Joker/ which makes him the only member of the batfam who actually avenged his murder at any point??? Does Jason even /know/?) Add on legacy issues (when Dick disappears for a year Jason takes up the Nightwing suit too) and like yeah I’m fucking here man. I mean I love Bruce and Jason and the pain between them, and Jason and Tim starting with rage and moving to actually being friends but like the miasma of whatever the fuck is between Dick and Jason keeps dragging me back. (Come home brother is the only page I want to keep from Battle for the Cowl)

Favorite headcanon

Jason is acting president of all Robin’s have a crush on Dick Grayson club. They’re still trying to figure out where Duke lands but Steph is a member, tho she got the least of it since her stint as Robin covered Dicks mental breakdown era.

Slade:First impression

Damn I don’t remember. I’m fairly certain I ran into him in the teen Titans before anywhere else and he’s always interested me but I can’t quite remember which issue I found him in first. I know I spent a lot of time tracking down Judas Contract since it was out of print at the time and I have like a really early printing tpb from the 80s as a result. And even more time finding the issue where he just strolls into Dicks apartment to tell him he’s in Bludhaven because that issue never was collected in trade, so I was checking every comic store I could find and their back issues.

Impression now

I’m really disappointed he’s become more of a generic villain in a lot of DCs media. Like I loved him under Wolfram, when he was a Merc with an honor code and snarky outlook who was as likely to tutor the Titans as attack them. He almost became an ally a few times. And like I haven’t dug into his post new 52 comics that much but he just seems so bland and like oh ho ho he’s such a badass and that’s all that matters!!! So like I’m still attached to the character I just haven’t paid much attention to his recent canon.

Favorite moment

Hmmm… I mean I really like the time he allies with the Titans and the old squad was just side eying him the whole time while the newcomers where sorta more like eh? Is he so bad? And then Dick rode a goddamn nuke because why not.

But honestly it’s probably him and Dick standing outside the abondoned Titans tower, fighting over their guilt over Joeys death. It’s showcases both of their emotional pain, Dicks temper, and Slade’s strange capacity for compassion.

Idea for a story

Can I have another 80 stories set in Flashpoint with him as a pirate???

Honestly I’d be really here for an actual nuanced story exploring his relationship with his kids. Too often it gets reduced to hate or them being too much like their father and that’s not what I want.

Or! Considering I have no idea what the fuck is happening with DC right now but I just read that Superman and Lois from pre and post new 52 just got combined and have memories from both universes combined Slade dealing with his kids and Dick and sure throw Ollie in here too. The fact he’s both not met Grayson and has spend years intimately knowing Dick and the workings of his mind would be a trip and could be fun, plus his more complicated relationship with Joey and Rose pre new 52. Also Ollie would have a shit of a time figuring out his two lives (as he’s a set of characters that changed by far the most with the new 52) and why not throw Slade at him again too for old times sake? (Hey asshole remember when I crashed your wedding? I’m not even–actually yeah yeah I do you ASSHOLE)

Unpopular opinion

I have no idea??? I honestly don’t know what’s popular and what isn’t with him. So far no one’s bitched at me with anything to do with Slade.

Favorite relationship

While I’m totally here for the respectful turned to hateful rivalry between Slade and Dick (and honestly that’s another relationship that’s been stripped from Dick that drives me MAD) my favorite is actually Slade’s relationship with his kids. He’s distant, moves on a scale as simply a neglectful and not great dad to full on abusive and using his kids for his own ends (like for sure sticking kryptonite in Roses eye is a great idea!!!! But that was also at the height of Slade loosing his morals and mind). But as much as he wasn’t there for Grant, it was Grant’s foolish death and Slade’s pride that sent him on a collision course with the Titans. His guilt over Joey, first with his muteness and later for killing his own son, the fact that as terrible as he was to Rose he wants the person he respects possibly the most (Dick) to take care of his kids, especially her. The fact that when he looks at Rose the emotion the black lanterns see is love. The fact his entire plot in Flashpoint was his quest to save his daughter as the world goes pear shaped into apocalypse. Slade loves his kids he’s just a terrible fucking father and I love it.

Favorite headcanon

He still respects Dick despite everything they’ve done to each other.