#ghoul!al ghul

[arachnesbich]

I'm seeing a lot of cryptid!batman/assumed to be cryptid!batman lately, but now I'm just thinking about someone other than Batman being a cryptid and he thinks They're Just Like That TM for one reason of another.

Like, the al Ghuls are actually ghouls, just to the left of human. (I headcanon the Adams family as ghouls, so if you see Adams family themes, its because they're who I base my idea of ghouls on) Also, I head canon that ghouls can't physically hurt or be hurt by the people they love, that's why they feel so comfortable with things like throwing knives at loved ones and adding poison to one another's food. It can even be seen as an act of love and affection.

Ras and Talia have a good relationship, in their own way, but from an outside perspective it looks like they're actively trying to kill each other. Bruce knows that they 'fight' constantly, throwing knives at each other in greeting and when they're back is turned, sneaking poison into each other's food, calling each other monstrous names. He just assumes that Ras and Talia are testing each other's vigilance, in a thinly veiled attempt to kill each other. They are assassins after all.

Any time it Bruce questions why she does the things she does, she answers something along the lines: "I'm a ghoul, this is what we do." but what Bruce hears is "I'm al Ghul, this is what we do." and it reinforces his assumptions that this is a raised-as-an-assassins thing.

-----

Talia: *info-dumping about where major arteries are located and sharing her 'studies' of all the ways she can paralyze someone*

Bruce, to himself: Either she's threatening me or this is the only way she know how to make conversation, because of the way she was raised...Hmm.

He is seduced either way.

-----

Eventually Bruce leaves to Gotham and becomes Batman and Talia doesn't tell him about Damian.

Bruce was never really able to understand her ghoulish needs, always insisting that she could leave the League and "do better." That's how their relationship inevitably came to an end, with him trying to humanize her (ugh). She knew that Bruce wouldn't change just because she was pregnant and she knew her son would have ghoulish needs that couldn't be compromised just because Bruce was uncomfortable.

So she decided to keep Damian to her herself until he's old enough to know what it means to be a ghoul and shows that he wants to meet his father.

[peculiardiction]

I've been WAITING for this!!

No one knows where the dying star goes

By @yeriminder

A gut wrenching, tear jerking, demon siblings au!! This is my @dpxdcbigbang ghouls and gangs colab+! I obvi did the art- a title page for that lovely fic above!! I'm a huge sucker for angst and demon sibs, so this was a hum-dinger of a fic that I wanted my grubby mits on!

Yeriminder (or kavekii, as I know them) was an absolute peach to work with!!

[fancyhandsbakery]

Someone insinuating that Damian is another "charity case" like his siblings.

Damian on the phone: Grandfather this is a matter of great importance.

Ra’s: I’m already breaking out the diamond door knobs, the dodo bird, and the tigers.

[maj-3k]

Bruce: Y.N do you have any contact to Talia?

Y.N: Why should I give you contact to my sister?

Bruce: I'm going to annoying her for a while.

Y.N:...

Y.N: Take paper and pen

[raindear-a]

Miss them?

[chaoswarfare]

~Tim ‘drake’ Drake~

Tim is a drake. Well, not a ‘Drake', Drake, but a drake. Let’s try that again- Tim Drake is a dragon. A scaly shapeshifting menace of a creature that terrorizes humans and burns villages. Not that he knew that from the beginning.

It all started when Janet and Jack Drake found an interesting rock at an archeological site, that seemed to be some sort of massive fossilized egg based on the tough pitted shell. True to their habit of hoarding interesting finds to themselves, they brought it home with them.

And then it hatched.

And the large wingless lizard turned into a baby.

Now, admitting that the baby wasn’t theirs would be a problem in the sense that they would have to admit that they’ve been stealing from dig sites for over a decade. Getting rid of the child wouldn’t be an option either, Janet’s always been squeamish about these sorts of things, and Jack wouldn’t want to upset her like that. So the only option left to them was to keep it and claim the child was theirs.

And thus, Tim the drake became Tim Drake. Irony at it’s finest if you’d ask him.

—————————-

It wasn’t easy growing up in a household where any adults would be out for months at a time, but Tim made do. It was hard for him, always turning around expecting someone to be there, and it always just being him all alone. He dove into his hobbies to take his mind off of it, learning to play the violin and piano at a frightening rate and picking up knowledge as fast as he could get his claws on it.

He particularly loved the ancient folktales of the dragons, whatever part of the world they were from. Feeling the shivers of his scales rattling underneath his skin as the mythical beasts fought to defend what was theirs. Even if it was rather disappointing when they lost.

Starting school was probably the first time Tim had ever been able to compare himself to the humans of his age.

It was horrible. The children attending his classes didn’t see things the same way. On top of that they weren’t as… well developed you could say. They were soft and fragile, and had trouble comprehending the simplest of things, that Tim has been aware of for years.

It didn’t take them long to move him up a few grades to better learn at his current level, but that didn’t help anything. While the children of the higher grades were much more mature than his former classmates, they detested having someone so much younger than them thriving in the class they thought was difficult. Tim didn’t make any friends there either.

The only solace for Tim was going out at night. It felt better being awake under the stars rather than the sun’s harsh light, and hopping between the roofs of Gotham felt so right being that high off the earth. Everything from the wind in his hair to the smell of the sky so high from the general smog of the lower city levels. It felt more like home that the Drake Manor ever did.

He started taking his camera out with him to shoot photos of the skyline and trying to capture the joy of flying across the rooftops. That’s when he first saw the Bats. They were out very nearly every night, doing the exact same things he was doing, and fighting the dangers of their territory while they were at it! Tim knew he would learn a lot following them on their patrols.

So that’s exactly what he did.

He didn’t put the pieces together until he saw Robin do a quadruple somersault, and realized that he was Dick Greyson. It was easy enough to figure out who Batman was after that. All it really meant to Tim though was Bruce Wayne was a much better ‘prince’ of the city than he had thought previously. Every gala he went to where the two were at he watched them interact with the rest of the 1% who attended the galas. His parents even had him shake hands with them once!

It really upset him when the first Robin split from Batman when they started fighting, but then Jason became Robin afterwards. Tim was overjoyed. Dick may have been a wonderful Robin, but he was different than Jason. Jason was kind and witty in ways he wasn’t, and was clearly a born Gothamite. It made him feel that much more relatable.

——————

It hadn’t really set in before now how dangerous following them could be. Sure, before there would be an occasional bullet whizzing past his hiding spots, or a thug would get just a bit too close, but the thing that really cemented it was dangling by the scruff of his neck being held by Batman of all people.

He had raced after Robin too fast to try and get a better action shot of him swinging on his grapple, and just about flew off the edge of the building. It still didn’t feel scary to Tim, the falling that is, he’d fallen from higher up with only some bruising to show for his troubles, but Batman clearly thought differently.

The terror of being caught in someone else’s territory was causing Tim to panic just a little, and Bruce’s deep raspy growl wasn’t helping him at all. He wriggled and kicked at the arm holding him as he was lectured, and eventually got fed up and pulled himself up and sank his teeth into Batman’s gauntleted arm. The shock of his teeth going right through his armor caused him to drop tim(a measly three stories), and he was back on his feet and sprinting away before Batman could get his wits about him.

———————-

The nights after they kept looking for Tim. Tim kept hiding, only coming out for the best pictures. Who knew if Batman would be man at him after all.

Eventually the search died down though, and the usual routine fell into place. Tim chasing them with the camera, The Bats taking down criminals, and Then all of them returning to their homes, with none of them realizing Tim lived just down the street.

They kept going to the galas and Tim even became friends a bit with Jason, albeit in the way people just talk to each other out of a shared hatred for large events. Tim’s parents come home and leave barely a week later, and Tim fights the urge to ask to go with them. They won’t say yes.

Then the unthinkable happened. Robin disappeared.

At first Tim thought it was the same kind of spat that Bruce and Dick used to get into with the increasing level of violence Batman put on criminals. And then the news broke about Jason’s death. They were never truly friends or even met in any memorable capacity(for Jason), but Tim couldn’t imagine the boy not in his life patrolling the gotham skyline and grumpily sulking around the buffet tables at galas.

Batman continued to get worse and worse and Tim didn’t know what to do except try and get the Justice League to realize what was happening in Gotham. He called and called and left so many hundreds of messages and letters and emails, until they told him to stop trying to contact them. With them cut off, Tim turned to Bludhaven to try and convince Dick to take up being nightwing again. He didn’t want anything to do with it either.

That night tim lost control of his form with the extent of his emotions for the first time in years.

With no no other options left, he walked the mile-and-a-half trek to the Wayne Manor to talk to Bruce himself. It took a lot of convincing, but he finally allowed Tim to help him, even just as a temporary Robin. Tim could do that. Just until Bruce got back on his feet and no longer.

He didn’t treat Tim like either of the other Robins, but that was fine. He wasn’t part of the family after all, no matter how often he stayed over, or Alfred made food for the both of them instead of just Bruce. Dick was over a lot to see him, and Tim figured this was his way of missing Jason. Just like being Robin for Batman was Tim’s.

——————————

Tim didn’t know what set it off, and told him something was wrong.

Nothing seemed wrong in the tower, even if it was quiet since none of the rest of his team was in there, there was nothing out of place and no odd smells in the air, but something was setting off his instincts anyway.

His eyes flicked back to track a shadow for a moment before it disappeared back down the hallway. The lights flickered and went off right at that moment, and Tim realized something must be seriously wrong.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly as his daylight filters receded into his eyelids and he tried not to breathe too loudly in case he missed something vital. Tim finally gave up on whatever the threat was coming to him and set off down the pitch black hallway. Every single footstep echoed creepily and he would shudder if he wasn’t able to tell exactly where the sounds were coming from.

He wandered towards the stairs to get down to the zeta tubes, but froze when he heard a single breath that wasn’t his own. Before he had time to process it, Red Hood was already on him and had him in a headlock that was rapidly cutting off his air.

“You really think you’re tough shit, huh replacement?” The modulated voice ground out far too loud next to his ear. Tim struggled and kicked, but couldn’t wriggle his fingers between the Hood’s arm and his neck. He didn’t stop struggling even when he felt a blade rest against his neck, or when Hood kept talking about something or other. He could feel the burning in his core creeping its way up his throat and had to get free.

suddenly a line of pain opened up on his neck, and he hit the ground in a pile. Red Hood didn’t wait to make sure he wasn’t bleeding out before he started beating Tim up where he was lying on the floor. Tim watched in horror as he took off his helmet and revealed the face underneath it. That was Jason, the same Jason who Tim used to follow around obsessively, and idolized before he died. And now he was here, back, to oust Tim from the territory he stole and reclaim his spot.

Tim cried out as Jason stomped on his fingers and the scales under the bruised skin ground together with a sound like bones snapping.

And then Jason.

Kicked him.

Down.

The.

Stairs.

It bruised his outside skin terribly, and the false nerves still sent his brain the same pain signals. Tim groaned from his place on the floor, and shrieked as a gunshot went off and a bullet buried itself under the skin of his thigh as the wound bled sluggishly. The damned thing had ricocheted up underneath his scales and his brain was fuzzy with the agony of it. It was so much worse that any damage to his human skin.

Jason hovers around for just a few minutes, smearing something on the walls, and then takes his leave without another word to Tim. Maybe he thought he had passed out. Figures he would think Tim is that weak.

As soon as the sounds disappear, Tim digs into the bullet wound and allows two of his claws to slice through the skin of his fingers to use as tweezers. His vision keeps flashing with white throughout the whole process, and as soon as the bullet plinks onto the ground, Tim really does pass out.

And then he wakes up in the Batcave, with Leslie Thompkins hovering over him, Waiting to grill him for answers as to how he has smooth midnight blue scales underneath his skin.

—————————-

Tim stayed in Doc. Thompkin’s care for three more days, in which he had to explain his suspicions about his origins. She was a good listener and only noted down the important medical issues in his folder of nothing else. She kept Bruce mostly out of the medical wing past the report of what happened, and put away any of his medical records as soon as any of the family walked in.

Alfred worried as good as the best of them, offering Tim soup and drinks and obviously trying to take his mind off the fact that Jason was back. Tim appreciated the attention anyway, most of the time he just came over to patrol and then went back to the Drake Manor. He sobered quickly at the thought that Jason wanted his spot back.

He knows logically how he would feel if someone came out of nowhere and stole what was his, so he can’t even be truly mad about it since he understands where he’s coming from a bit. For some reason, though, Bruce and Dick don’t see it the same way. Tim just didn’t get why they were so upset about it, as soon as Jason got what he wanted or Bruce put an end to it, it would all be over. That’s how it’s supposed to work.

Maybe Tim was just the one confused. The dynamics of the Wayne family seem so different than what he’s used to after all. The Drakes would never treat him this kindly- especially if he was injured. This kind of coddling would be unheard of, and they would get frustrated and leave for another dig within a few days.

Bruce and Alfred and Dick and now Cass and Stephanie- they weren’t like that. They hovered and wouldn’t let him go on patrol until it was safe and Jason was caught, and they cared! they cared so much about Tim’s safety and health and he wasn’t even a part of their family, he was just placeholding until a new Robin could be chosen.

He can’t help but wonder how they would react if they knew.

—————————-

Red Hood ended up probationally re-joining the Batclan and Tim was suddenly almost murdered a lot less. He knew that would happen when he finally got told by Bruce that he wouldn’t be getting the Joker’s head on a stick or whatever it was he was so set on.

However now Bruce has brought home his blood son from where he’s been living with the League of Assassins.

Damian was loud and obnoxious about how ‘he is the only blood son’ and ‘the rest of you are only placeholders and not worthy of Father’s attention’ which may be true in Tim’s case, but it’s entirely unfair to say that to the others, who are in fact Waynes, whether Damian likes it or not.

And he seems to be leaning heavily towards ‘not’ based on how he’s begun to take it out on Tim. He sets traps and Outright attacks him during training, and if Tim’s senses weren’t as good as they were then he definitely would have succeeded in killing him in his sleep one night. He’s even been thrown off the dinosaur and the railing of the cave.

Damian will just. Not. Quit.

It was fine, everything was still fine until Bruce disappeared. He was gone. Everyone was convinced that he was gone for good. Red Hood disappeared back to Crime Alley, Cass left for Hong Kong, even Dick took up the mantle of Batman and gave Robin away from Tim to give to Damian to appease him.

But Tim could still smell him. Bruce’s scent floated around in odd places, seemingly from nowhere. And whenever Tim brought up Bruce being potentially alive it just upset everyone more and more, until Dick outright threatened to put him in Arkham.

And then Tim struck out on his own. Partially to find Bruce.

Partially because he knows where he’s not wanted.

————————

About two months three days and eleven hours into his journey, Tim starts to get an unbearable itch whenever he’s in his human form. Whenever he even thinks of staying in his false skin, even for a minute his scales itch like they’ve got termites underneath them.

And so he hunkers down in a cave and waits for it to pass.

Soon the itching comes back, on his shoulder blades and down his spine the itch settles into what feels like his bones, and he takes to rubbing on the stone walls of the cave to get rid of the godforsaken itch, even just for a moment.

After what could only have been days of unbearable suffering at the hands of the itching, the skin of his back splits upon, and gives his new wings the chance to open fully for the first time. He cranes his neck back as he fans them, catching the air and drying the skin of the clear slime that they had burst from. Tim’s surprised to be proud of his wings that he didn’t know he would have, the way the blues catch the sunlight from the opening of the cave when the scales are angled just so.

He wished he could show them to Bruce.

The thought surprised him as he crouched in the cold cave on the mountainside, and he couldn’t help but wince at the knowledge that Bruce would probably chase him out of the city.

He doesn’t like metas after all, so why would he want a dragon shifter meta anywhere near his city. Tim shook his head and test flapped his wings a couple times to gauge how they caught the air.

It’s time to find his Bruce.

——————————

Tim found flying to be his new favorite thing.

The night winds carried him farther and faster than any vehicle could before in the direction he caught Bruce’s scent, hiding as plain old Tim at dig sites and grabbing any evidence he could.

Because Bruce was alive, and he was trapped in time.

Tim had already found several clues in different eras and time periods that could only be Bruce letting him know where he was. Even after so long, on some of them he could still catch some of his scent.

Everything was going alright until he caught the attention of Ra’s Al Ghul, Damian’s grandfather. The old bastard has been hiding out in Nanda Parbat for decades, commanding assassinations all over the world. And now he’s noticed Tim, and potentially what he is as well. At least given the assassins he sent to retrieve him, to discuss information about Bruce.

And Tim can’t refuse for that.

———————————-

Ra’s is almost a good host, despite definitely having him drugged on the way there.

Tim woke up in what he presumed would be his room, complete with clothes in the closet and servants waiting on his needs. Ra’s called for him immediately after he woke up, and as he walked behind the assassin sent to fetch him, he couldn’t help but notice the growing unease he felt as he grew closer to Ra’s guest area. There was a strange heavy smell that lingered in his nostrils, and he fought the urge to growl as the warmth in his belly built up to be stiflingly hot.

Tim realized why as soon as he was deposited in what could only be a throne room. The decorations all sparkled and smelled of what Tim immediately recognized as gold, and the tapestries and carpets were of the highest quality he had ever seen. They were nothing to the huge deep forest green dragon lounging on the throne.

Tim hadn’t exactly spent much time looking at his true form in the mirror, but he knew for certain that Ra’s looked very different from him. He had a heavy crest over his eyes for one that Tim lacked, and he had two pairs of horns, one of which swooped out behind his head and the other curled behind his ears, and his head was much boxier of a shape, but had a regal curve to his snout regardless. disregarding all of that, he was almost four times Tim’s size.

He was incredibly dangerous.

Ra’s let his head drift from side to side like a snake getting ready to strike as he watched Tim, before lounging back on his throne as if Tim wasn’t truly worth his time.

“Well? It’s considered rude among our kind to address one another in disguise, little Robin.” Ra’s hissed and flicked his tail at Tim in disdain. “Did your dam never even teach you proper etiquette?”

Tim shuddered as he tried to make sense of what was going on, heaving breaths as he locked eyes with the massive beast across the room from him.

“Ah, she didn’t. I presume that you’ve never met her then. Don’t worry little Robin,” Ra’s rumbled “This will prove to be very educational.”

And then Tim fainted.

————————

The next months he spent learning from Ra’s what it meant to be a dragon, how all the weird impulses and oddities he’d had over the years was his instincts, and he was never truly human in the first place. It took tim a very long time to grow used to being in another dragon’s territory without any immediate risk of being chased out, but ra’s assured him that was normal.

With every month Tim spent out in Nanda Parbat learning about his true form and instincts and what all that means, he grew to miss the Wayne’s more and more. Bruce was still out there and he had to get him back to Gotham where he belongs.

One night tim sneaks out of the temple and is halfway back across the alps before Ras even notices.

Soon, with the evidence that hes collected on his quest he finally reaches gotham to deliver everything they need to get bruce back to the league. He doesn’t stop in gotham, but flies directly to the zeta tubes in the tower and summons his second skin just to zeta up to the watchtower and deliver his information.

But they already knew.

Throughout all the time he had been gone they had also been collecting the information and they were very nearly where tim himself was at when he brought his evidence back. Downcast, Tim returned to Gotham to see how the Wayne's were doing.

It felt odd after all this time to travel the human way. He’s gotten so used to flying everywhere that it seems ridiculously inconvenient now that he has to hide his form again.

He's suddenly drawn back to the fact that Bruce and the others have no idea that he’s a dragon. the imaginings of the looks of horror on their faces as he sheds his skin takes over his mind. He can’t do that to them. can’t let them cast him out like that. Tim makes up his mind about it one last time

He won’t tell them.

it’s for the best.

—————————

Tim makes it back to the manor at the same time that dick and Damian leave for patrol, just missing them. entirely purposely on his part, but he's not ready to face them before alfred. to his shock, Cass is back in the manor, her stuff is right where it used to be in her room, and there’s even evidence of Jason having been around lately.

Tim doesn’t know what to think about the fact that everyone seems to have moved on without him and Bruce there with them. It hurts because they’re his people and they don’t need or want time there.

Turning a corner to go back to the room he used to spend the night in, he realizes downcastedly that it seems to have been repurposed as an art studio of some kind. his scales itch under his skin at the idea that they wanted him gone so much that they would actively erase every trace of him from the house.

Tim decides it’s not worth it before anyone gets back from patrol, he sneaks back out the way he came in and sulks all the way back to drake manor, empty as always where he can brood and be himself.

A place that he could never do at the house he considers home.

A house that has very visibly stated that it wants him gone. Tim wouldn’t be surprised if they changed out all his gear and even changed the zeta in the cave to keep him out at this point either, tears starting to prick at the edges of his vision.

It’s not home.

It’s not home it's not home it's not home anymore.

They replaced him.

No that’s not right, he was the one that replaced someone else, and now that he’s back there’s no more need for Tim to hang around, he’s outlived his usefulness. He’s come to terms with the fact that his parents never wanted him either, so with a heavy heart he starts packing his bags to go back to nanda parbat to be either the manipulator that at least understands how it feels to be tim

It's time to go back to the demon's lair.

————————

Dick catches him on the way out of Drake Manor to tell him they’re getting Bruce back and he was vital to the mission.

He claims to have missed Tim a lot along with the rest of the family, but Tim struggles to believe in his words with Damian scowling like a little demon behind him. Tim tries to explain that he’s just getting out of their hair when Red Hood pulls up on his motorcycle asking if they’ve found Tim and then stops dead when he sees him. it’s like they actually missed him

Tim hesitates for just a moment before pushing his way out of the hug and turning away. He has unfinished business with rad and he can’t let this stop him no matter how much he wants to stay. At the very least he will be returning this time and he tells them that before he goes and boards the bus to take him to the airport for appearances sake.

On the plane he glances out the window and wonders if they’ll still miss him the same once Bruce is back or if they’ll just discard him again once there’s no longer a place missing in the family.

Tim still doesn’t know.

—————————-

After getting back to Nanda Parbat to face down Ra’s he’s greeted with a frantic swarm of servants dragging him down the hall away from where he can hear terrifying roars and snarls and crashes coming from.

It could only be Ra’s, and Tim realized he was right when he walks into the stone room containing the lazarus pits and Ra’s is thrashing and howling in rage. Rage at Tim for thinking he could leave without his permission, or that he would take his hospitality for granted like that.

Ra’s had gone completely mad once he realized Tim was gone and couldn’t be calmed down until they had found him again. Tim had had enough of this

Ra’s had treated him nothing but coldly and contemptuously since he had requested he come to nanda parbat, and tim was boiling with enough rage to raise the temperature around him.

Ra’s seemed to notice this and only got more angry at tim, and he lunged at the smaller dragon without warning to fling him by the neck into a nearby wall, tim staggered to his feet and threw himself at ras, using his small side to his advantage as he scrabbled over the larger dragon leaving deep bites and scratches as he went, and just as ras lunged towards him with open jaws as he was tossed from his back, tim finally opened his jaws and let loose the flame he had been holding back for the last 16 years. It stuck to the sides of Ra’s face and ate away at the scales and flesh like some sort of potent acid as he shrieked and writhed in agony as Tim watched.

Figured he didn’t know that Tim could do that.

Serves him right.

Tim watched until the bleached white bones showed through more than flesh and then left, the lazarus pits couldn’t repair that kind of damage and he knew it. Tim figured it was time to pack up and go home.

It was time to try and be with his family again.

———————

Two days after Bruce was returned they got the news of Ra’s death. Talia had been the one to step up to become Demon’s head instead of Damian, and she filled the role better than Ra’s ever had.

Damian wasn’t handling it nearly as well and Tim kept finding him listless about what to do now that he wouldn’t be the demon head, until he started really pursuing a life with the Waynes.

Nobody else knew what had happened at Nanda Parbat, nobody else was in the base at the point of Ra’s death, except Tim And Ra’s and Ra’s had killed most everyone that had known about tim and who he was.

Bruce was actually glad to have Tim back and thankful about how he had helped get him out of the time stream.

The others never got over being happy that Tim was back either, even Damian grew to actually seem to like his company after a while. alfred told him that it was because they all actually considered him part of the family, which only drew him deeper into the family circle the more often they would repeat it to him.

Everything was good, everyone was together, and Tim was happy.

They still didn’t know about him and Bruce was still adamant about not allowing metas in the city. Sometimes when a meta rogue would slip into the city Bruce would go out to take care of them personally just to reinforce the assumption that metas weren’t safe in Gotham. That meant Tim wasn’t safe in gotham either

But that was fine. He didn’t have to tell them and they didn’t have to know. everything would work out in the end, even if tim has to hide in his skin the remainder of their natural lives. He has forever after all.

And Tim is great at lying.

[rapz-rites]

I’ve been watching Spy X Family lately and Damian Desmond reminds me of Damian Wayne. THEY EVEN HAVE THE SAME FIRST NAME. The way he acts is how I think Wayne would act. If you watch it you’d understand. 😱

[holy-obsession-batman]

Alright folk I got too many Batfam prompts

[ghoulscoutcookies]

Talia

[moonlit-ocs]

Leila Wayne-al Ghūl

Layla - Derek and the Dominos

um…duh? really though, i find that this song plays through her love interests’ heads. whether its wally or roy or some other redhead

Who Is She ? - I Monster

ooooh she wears so many masks. the mysterious assassin and vigilante of gotham are her main ones, which i feel leads the song so well. but there is this drop in the song at “somewhere across the sea of time” where i like to imagine her entire life pass by and all those different masks. from her as a child training with the league, to an assassin, her as batgirl, demonspawn, a student, the ghoul rebrand, a billionaire’s daughter, party girl, the wayne enterprises exec, galas, the ceo as her hair greys and when the song ends on “immortal she, return to me” i see her as old, wearing green robes with her family sword and leading the league of shadows after a lifetime of fighting them

Safari - The Breeders

this specifically i relate to arkham knight jason todd and their sibling bond, her mourning him while he’s planning on destroying her city and getting back at bruce. but he still longs to see her again and misses her and he’s ashamed of himself. he wonders if he could follow through once he sees his sister again. if she would even accept him—love him—knowing what he planned to do.

Lights Out - Mindless Self Indulgence

disclaimer: yes he very much is a POS we do not support him. anyways i think this captures leila’s more brutal side, and leila is not a batbrat! she tries to follow bruce’s rules, but she was still raised by assassins for some time and still agrees with their ways to a degree. but she builds a reputation as a vigilante, and foes fear her greatly because she carries deadlier weapons and causes more damage and pain. she just calculates much more carefully. bruce doesn’t like that she thinks she can be the judge and jury, but she refrains from being the executioner for his comfort.

Pa Pa Power - Dead Man’s Bones

this is such a gotham ass song it almost doesn’t belong here but i relate leila with gotham so heavily compared to my other OCs. only time she’s not a gothamite is in the YJ timeline but other than that shes a gotham girly. i like thinking of arkham knight!leila and the gotham evac here, so a bit of jason and also bruce and dick and tim and barbara but imagine the streets burning from below where riots prevail and shes stuck on saving the city and her family from certain doom. NOW IMAGINE THE DLC WITH RA’S AND NYSSA AND IT BEING HER CHOICE look it up that game is a masterpiece.

Me and the Devil - Soap&Skin

leila has a lot of ethical dilemmas. of course she returns to the league several times. she’s the oldest grandchild, if not the only child in some storylines. and ra’s sees her potential despite his reluctance to let a woman take over. he wants her on his side. he’s ashamed that she’s turned her back on them and taken up with the scum of gotham, but when she returns to the league she is treated like royalty and it feels so wrong to her. being beside ra’s is painful for her, but sometimes she needs to prove to herself that she made the right decision protecting gotham and in some cases, the world. building a reputation with the assassins does help her in the long run.

Cities In Dust - Siouxsie and the Banshees

gotham vs shadows thats all i will say

She’s Lost Control - Joy Division

leila has a weakness that comes from her brush with death—the lasting effects of the lazarus pit. i think this song captures the feeling of her mind slipping when she starts to experience her episodes. confused, manic, unpredictable. shes lost control (again)

I’m Just a Shadow - SHEL

well…leila is a shadow. shes no savior. she can’t change what she was raised to be and she wrestles with redemption and the fact that she’s destined to lead the league of shadows. she doesn’t want to lose her way and leave the batfamily, but every road leads back to the assassins.

as good a reason - Paris Paloma

i imagine leila meeting the “woman with red lips” being talia/biological mother warning her against ra’s and her struggle for power and obedience, then leila meeting the “young girl with bright eyes” being stephanie brown warning her against either cluemaster or bruce wayne and to push back, using her own experience against ra’s, bruce, and many rogues to help steph

[leila]

[puppetlover2]

Wanna know something dumb? When I was little I thought the Scooby-Doo character Vincent Van Ghoul and the Batman character Ra's Al Ghul were the same character. Somehow it never occurred to my young brain that they had different names and looked completely different. It was like the only thing that registered to me was the last part of their names.

So because of that I grew up thinking that it was kinda funny that the man who led the League of Assassins was also buddy buddy with Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne.

[ghostboidanny]

In a dpxdc demon twins AU, I think Damian would be Pissed that Danny's ghost name is Phantom = Fenton, when he could have gone with Ghoul = al Ghul

Danny Ghoul is so much better and cooler than Phantom! Absolutely no other reason for his anger!

[natalieh0490]

Dc/Dp Prompt - Ritual Sacrifice and Consequences

Danny Fenton and Damien al ghoul are full brothers and raised together. Danny is five years older and is the perfect heir. He believes in everything that Ra’s tells him just like Damien, but sometimes he breaks the rules in order to be a good brother in secret. However, one day Danny goes on a mission and doesn’t return. When Damien asks what happened to his brother, Ra’s tells him that Danny’s name is to never be mentioned again. He failed and is to never be remembered. Damien goes on to continue his life as normal, but the pressure that he was under to never mention Danny after his failure and how everyone acted like he never existed made it so he never mentioned Danny to his father.

What happened to Danny was far more complex than failing a simple mission. In fact, he never went on a mission at all. You see, several centuries ago when Ra’s al Ghoul was young he made a deal with Pariah Dark. He would provide Pariah Dark with souls of the people he valued most to feed upon and in return Pariah Dark would grant Ra’s a Lazarus pit for as long as that person was supposed to have lived before they were cut short far to early. Ra’s al Ghoul doesn’t truly care about anyone so he was happy about this deal, but it was a little annoying at times to lose assets. This time it was Danny’s turn to be the sacrifice. Danny fought hard, but he was only ten while Ra’s was ancient. So Ra’s won, giving Danny a mortal wound before tossing him into the Lazarus for him to sink into its unending depths while he refilled and tainted it with his lifeblood. However, Danny did manage to leave Ra’s with a facial scar to remember him and this betrayal by. Because Danny refused to be separated from his precious little brother without a fight even though he failed at the end.

However, instead of being delivered to Pariah Dark like all of the sacrifices before him, he was intercepted by Clockwork. Clockwork ended up catching on to the deal between Ra’s al Ghoul and Pariah Dark during the last sacrifice who was Nyssa al Ghoul, who he managed to save before she was completely consumed. Because of those, Clockwork was ready to intervene before Danny truly died and Pariah Dark could consume his soul and become strong enough to escape the sarcophagus of forever sleep. Danny was grateful to be saved, and then demanded to be returned to this brothers side at once in order to protect him from their twisted family. But, Clockwork refused because the would be interfering in the timeline in a way that would make things worse. Damien al Ghoul Wayne was meant to be the only blood child of Bruce and Talia, and the best timeline possible would result from that remaining that way. Also, Danny was needed elsewhere, because while the timeline didn’t need/was actively hurt by Daniel al ghul, it needed Danny Fenton. Then before Danny could react, Clockwork wiped Daniel al Ghoul min from existence and then filled his mind with memories of being Danny Fenton.

There are two choices here. Either their already was a Danny Fenton who was supposed to live the life of cannon Danny Fenton, but didn’t mange to survive long enough and got replaced. Or there never was a Danny Fenton, but Clockwork knew that the Fenton parents lacking attempts at safety would result in another hafta eventually, and he placed Daniel al ghouls there and made everyone believe the Fentons always had two children because the timeline needed a halfa hero. Whichever method, when the newly minted Danny Fenton arrived in Amity Park, clockwork manipulated everyone’s minds to make it seem like he had either always been there, or had never died

So Danny and those close to him know something is off, but they don’t notice something is truly wrong until he becomes a halfa. If he replaced someone else it is obvious that he suddenly had new interests, but nobody cared really to notice. But something being off becomes really obvious when Danny becomes a halfa and has to deal with fighting ghosts and ghost hunters because he knows how to fight without knowing how he learning. The experience also started the slow process of him getting his stolen memories back. Sam and Tucker may start to become uneasy around Danny due to how viciously he fights in what seems like a fun situation where they get to play heroes because they are kids who don’t understand the danger they are in yet. Jazz is more supportive and is willing to believe Danny when he says something is off about his place in Amity when absolutely no one else will believe him and helps him to investigate. Ellie and Danny see each other as siblings, and because of that Danny encourage Ellie to run away from Amity, subconsciously thinking of Damien and wanting to protect her from the dangers of Amity because she is still extremely naive/innocent because it made her easier to control.

No one contacted the Justice League because Amity is a small town that doesn’t have much exposure to the Justice league in the first place. Also, the attacks from both the ghost hunters and ghosts escalated slowly, like boiling a frog, so no one noticed how truest dangerous things were getting until it was too late. This happened over a course of six years and started when Danny was fourteen. Then, out of nowhere, when the GIW had enough information they stopped acting incompetent and inflicted a devastating blow on Amity Park managed to capture many ghosts included Danny. After this brutal loss, the experiments that happened as a result exposed Danny as a ghost to his “parents” and exposed him as being Daniel al Ghoul resulting in him being abandoned and tortured by them. This experimentation lasted for several months to a year before a successful rescue. Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and Ellie ended up staging a rescue that ended up being a success, but in the process they also find out the truth about Danny. Sam and Tucker are horrified about his part of being an assassin whether it was willing or not and abandon him in their horror. Because after all they were taught that taking a life was the worst thing you could do no matter what. Meanwhile, Ellie doesn’t care cause he is still her original and Jazz still sees him as her little brother. In the massive fight that occurs, Jazz becomes a shadow-cored halfa and manages to use shadow travel to teleport Ellie, Danny, and Jazz away to safety.

When they arrive at their new location they decide that there is no point in preventing the war that the Anti-Ecto Acts have been trying to trigger for so long anymore. The humans have gone to far, and their is no way to keep both sides safe anymore with the horrors the GIW has show that is willing to do with full approval from the US government and seeming approval of the Justice League and the UN. So they decided that if the humans really want this war this badly they won’t stand in the way anymore.

After, they make that decision Danny asks if they can go confront Ra’s al Ghoul, his grandfather, for what he did to him. Yes, it was clockwork who erased his mind, but is was Ra’s who sacrificed him and he wants revenge. It is also unlikely the the would succeed at getting revenge on an ancient, even though he will never trust that ancient again. At this point Danny is a mix of two full lives and it hurts and he hopes that this will help, and if it doesn’t it will at least feel good. So he confronts his grandfather and finds his reasons stupid and shortsighted and kills him in his rage because he stole his life for such a selfish reason. And then he decides that he is too broken to be allowed to interact with Damien. He would be safer with their father and without him in his life, so the three of them return to the ghost zone to join the preparations for war with the humans.

Meanwhile, Damien has been morning his brother a lot these past 10 years. Things have gone for the bats the same as canon, and they are just as dysfunctional as ever. One day during one of Jason and Bruce’s arguments over the Joker and Jason’s death, Damien has an out of character meltdown. He reveals the existence of Danny and wonders if Danny would hate him the way Jason hates Bruce for failing to avenge him. He tells this to Alfred, because the bats are allergic to emotions and Alfred drove them away so he could comfort Damien properly. But the bats spied on the conversation cause they are the bats.

Bruce decides to go confront Ra’s over the son he would never get to meet, but when he arrives he has been brutally ripped to shreds and is barely recognizable as human, and the Lazarus pit is gone like it has never existed. He calls in the Justice league Dark and they say it is the work of the Infinite Realms and a very bad sign. Then, they start getting report of different eldritch beings going on rampages across the worlds that are unable to be hit or hurt and have the weirds rants from being to being that make no sense.

The war has begun.

So the GIW, Fentons, and other ghost hunters get to the Justice league and convince them that the ghosts are not sentient/sapient and all that can be done is extermination. But as they follow that path, the war gets worse and worse instead of better. Members of the Justice league also slowly begin to catch on that something else is going on here than what they are being told. They decide to capture/summon one to get the other sides perspective, and then they realize the truth. And then they try to stop the war the only way it truest can be stopped. By proving the humans and the ghosts can live in peace. After they get rid of the GIW and the ghost hunters and the Fentons, they summon the halfa. They do this because they need a halfa to end the war. The ghost royalty can only make choices about the ghost realm. Halfas get to make choices about the relationship between the two realms. They end up summoning Danny.

Luckily for Danny. Only Jason is there when they do so. They are trying to get on his good side to get him to end the fighting. They end up having a discussion and they agree to end the fight as long as the humans stop their hunting. Then Danny slips up and reveals that he is Damien’s older brother, so Damien comes running from where the bats were hiding in case Danny ending up being malevolent and demanded he return home at once and explain what he has been up to all this time. Danny explains everything after a bit of hesitation and expects to be rejected but instead the is welcomed home by his father and siblings, and those siblings say that his clone and adopted sister are welcome. So he gets Jazz and Ellie and the three of them move to Wayne manor somewhat cautiously. Then the two groups learn how to be a family through their multitude of issues cautious.

Also, halfa can never be rulers of the ghost zone because they are to alive, but pariah dark isn’t the king during the war either because he is too evil.

If anyone writes something with this please credit me and provide me a link in the comments so I can read it.

Thanks.

[acapelladitty]

Whats your most favorite character to write and why!!! Please and thank you :)

Honestly? My favourite character to write can depend on my personal mood at the time! Sometimes I prefer a goofier, lighter toned character and other times I much prefer someone with gravitas or a very distinct speech pattern that I can get my teeth into. Favourites include:

Jonathan Crane. Old faithful. He's probably my GOAT. My all-timer. I love his stilted speech and how easily he slips between cold professionalism and targeted cruelty, all the while maintaining some control over his words.

Pamela Isley. There's something so much fun in writing Ivy and I'm sad that I don't do it more often. Her haughtiness and refusal to allow people to speak down to her is thrilling.

Karl Heisenberg. He's rough and ready with that odd stilt to his speech which makes it really fun to write dialogue for. Plus he has big tits. Always a winner.

Cooper Howard/The Ghoul. A new entry to the list! I adore writing for his accent and I love his filthy mouth. Writing swearing and insults is always a joy and he allows me to develop that in his specific voice.

These were the first four to spring to mind but I also love characters like Riddler (an obvious choice but he's similar to Crane) and Catwoman etc are a joy to write. Even folks like Ras Al Ghul who I write sparingly has a really FUN vocal cadence that I love to play with xx

[raindear-a]

I miss my cold-blooded boy

[jonmyblaze]

My personal rough BAT fam timeline

Bruce Wayne was nine when he witnessed his parents was shot, he was 18 when he traveled the world (he grew up with other former JSA Masters teaching him in America but he was 18 when he went on a world adventure by himself)

He was 19 when he returned and when he first became "Batman. "

--------

Katherine Kane was in her late twenties when her husband was murdered in front of her and her daughter Bette, she remembered hearing stories of her late eldest sister Martha being murdered by Gotham but she had left way before katherine even knew enough about Martha.

------

Dick Grayson would be 9 years old when he was first taken in as a ward by eligible bachelor and Playboy Bruce Wayne celebrating his 21st birthday.

he spent 3 years training supervised with Batman.

Robin would be 12 when he was first allowed to go on patrol alone. Robin would be named after his mother's nickname for him seeing as he was born on the 1st of spring the Grayson's Little Robin.

Bette Kane and Catherine Kane became became bat girl and batwoman, when Betty was 11 (she's only a half a year younger than dick).

Barbara Gordon would be 20 when she first joined the scene as batgirl(she is roughly halfway between Bruce and Dick's age)

Time jump

At age 15 dick would form The Titans with some of his fellow peers Donna, Roy Garth, Wally. (In New York City)

At 18 he would leave the nest and recreate the Teen Titans dubbing the new Teen Titans

(and West Coast would have their own Titans made by Betty called "Titan's West Coast" in jump City

At 19 dick would be kidnapped by the al ghul family after he met a name Talia Al ghoul in meds class

At age 20 he will drop out of college.

At 21 dick would become Nightwing for the first time. Inspired by his "uncle" Clark, Bette following in her cousin's footsteps would become flame bird

Jason Todd would be taking in (12)

and later become Robin (at 13)

More at part 2

&---------------&

This is the first age the gold and silver age of the bat family.

Notable additions I had

The kanes being more prominent, Betty and Dick remaining having their friendship.(also simplifying the Kane's family tree for Bette)

Catherine was way too young to even raise Bruce but Alfred was also dubbed Bruce's godfather and first in line for Bruce's custody should his parents die.

Keeping the pre crisis origin of Barbara being younger than Bruce but older than dick but still an adult able to go to college for bachelor's degree..

Jason Todd having less than a year to convince Bruce to send him on to patrol.

Keeping the origin that Talia first met dick at college for med school (she's probably way older but they were in the same class as she took college a little later)

And I haven't even gotten to Tim yet.

Look out for part two