#i’d add cass cain in the future..

[partashiolgy]

ok but vampire batfam au where bruce & alfred r the only!!! vampires in gotham for a time and alfred transformed bruce in 1939 when bruce is 27 because he felt so tight with grief when bruce was about to die to a mere mugger; bruce, overwhelmed with immortality, dedicates his life to protecting humanity and believes this to be the source of the vampire. bruce feeds on animals while alfred continues on humans. for a brief time, bruce resents alfred for what he’s done

it’s not til bruce allows dick grayson in the 1960s his life that he realizes what alfred must’ve felt; after years of resentment, it fades. dick watches, how bruce never eats at the table and how bruce never seems to be found during the day; alfred roams— in his older vampiric age, the sun has little effect on him— and eventually dick realizes what has transpired. it is when dick is 17 that he confronts the man, bruce fumbles for words before explaining his truth. dick, unsure of what to make of this, spends his last year of childhood in confusion and a mess of emotions. he moves into titan tower, changing his name and never writing or calling.

bruce finds and adopts a young jason todd in 1973 after the boy attempts to take the tires off his car. finding himself thoroughly amused, he takes the boy in despite how things happened last time. he lets himself love and care for the boy and even watches as dick gently creeps back into the family if just to befriend the boy. there is a strange air that surrounds them, bruce and dick. they do not speak much when he comes, but dick allows his affections if bruce were to touch his shoulder.

jason todd passes in 1976 in ethiopia after the heartfelt attempt at finding his mother. bruce finds him, on his last breaths and attempts to turn him. tasting human blood for the first time in forever, it being his sons and feeding the boy his own. bruce waits, and waits, but jason’s eyes do not open. his son has passed. it is this event that prompts bruce to offer immortality to dick; dick rejects, he says he does not ever want to be turned. bruce makes mental note.

it is in 1980— bruce did in fact end up transforming dick after his son almost bled out at an attack, causing another rift to form— that jason todd returns. and he looks the same as he did all those years ago, hauntingly 15. a child forever, but not a child all the same. he is much more powerful, almost as much as bruce, and bruce recognizes it of course; jason todd had drank the blood of al ghul.

his own blood, bruce realizes, had not taken so quick. he wonders how much more he must’ve needed to wait for jason to reanimate. for jason to be alive once more.

but idk. just thinking.

[hellyeahheroes]

Building Rose Wilson in D&D 5e

I kinda cannot find myself other things to do, especially as I decided to not do anything for April Fools this year because, well, how do you even top the nonsense that is happening. And feel like making one more of those, so let’s build another daughter of an assassin

Because I shamelessly lifted the template for writing these from Tulok the Barbarian, let’s start with defining some goals for this build. First of all, we need to be able to move and strike like a daughter of enhanced super-soldier with assassin training would. Second, we need to be able to see the future and use it to our advantage. Third, we need a sword striking like a weapon from the future. Finally, we need to be able to do all the acrobatic fighting in armor. Rose’s most popular costume is some weird-ass skintight chainmail, which is likely bad for the skin as hell. Don’t worry, if you’d rather have her indifferent, lighter outfit, I’ll leave a few alternatives to make that work too.

For Ability Scores, we’ll be using Standard Point Array, 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. If you or your DM prefers a point buy or rolling, use these as guidelines, just remember you need to have at least 13 in Charisma, Dexterity, and Intelligence, there is going to be some multi-classing here.

Strength: 10, we don’t need it but you are supposed to have at least somewhat enhanced strength.

Dexterity: 14, you’re extremely acrobatic and fast, enough to keep up with likes of Cass Cain or your asshole father.

Constitution: 12, you can take a hit and sadly we’ll be straying from higher hit dices this time.

Intelligence: 13, you are much smarter than some give you credit for. 

Wisdom: 8, you tried to challenge Big Barda to a fistfight, that’s the opposite of this ability score.

Charisma: 15, you may act aloof to people but if you can interrupt Wonder Girl and Supergirl romantic moment with a rocket launcher and not get pulverized, you know how to talk yourself out of trouble.

Race: It’s how D&D calls species! Sorry, Christoper Priest was about burst through the door to remind us Rose is Hmong, and that’s a serious quarantine breach. Anyway, I think she counts as a metahuman, which sounds a lot like Variant Human. If you have an issue with it, pick Half-Elf, but we’ll go with Human. Variant Humans get +1 to two Ability Scores, pick Charisma and Intelligence. You get one free skill proficiency, I’d go with Acrobatics, and one free language, pick something campaign relevant. Finally, you get a free feat. Human Determination allows you to add +1 to your Dexterity and once per long rest give your self an advantage on an ability check, attack roll or a saving throw.

Unarmored Rose: Redistribute +1s so that you have 16 in Charisma and Dexterity.

Background: I wasn’t exactly sure which one to pick, but Rose and her father share that weird thing in their outfits that make them look like pirates so why not, let’s go with that. Criminal and Soldier can also work if, but I like the idea too much. Pirate gains proficiency with Athletics and Perception, navigator’s tools and water vehicles and gain Bad Reputation, which lets you get away with minor offenses in a civilized settlement because people are afraid of you and won’t report it. Rose can be rude to people and get away with it after all.

Now to the meat of the building, character levels

1st Level: We’ll start as a Rogue, gaining proficiency in 4 skills - Intimidation, Deception, Stealth, and Persuasion - Thieve’s Cant secret language, Dexterity and Intelligence saving throws, thieve’s tools, simple weapons, short and longswords, rapiers, hand crossbows, and light armor. Moreover, you can gain expertise in two I’d recommend Acrobatics and Athletics - of those, doubling your Proficiency modifier for them.

Rogue’s also gain Sneak Attack, allowing you to add 1d6 to a ranged or melee attack made with a light or finesse weapon when you have an advantage to attack roll or another, not incapacitated, an enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it and you don’t have a disadvantage on the attack roll. Rapier is a finesse weapon and can easily be refluffled to serve as a stand-in for majority of swords Rose uses.

2nd Level: We’ll now take a quick dip into the Warlock to get you that sword.

Warlock gets an Otherworldly Patron. Hexblade has one forged with some sort of weapon of unknown origin that may be sentient. It has been sort of left ambiguous if Willow is a spirit possessing you or split personality caused by brain trauma, but whichever version you want you can work into this. As Hexblade you are Hex Warrior, gaining proficiency with Medium Armor, shields and martial weapons. Once every long rest you can pick a single weapon you are proficient with that isn’t two-handed and can use your Charisma in place of your Dexterity or Strength for attack and damage rolls made with it.

You also get Hexblade Curse, letting you once per short or long rest curse a single opponent within 30 feet from you that you can see as a bonus action. As long as the target is cursed, which is until a minute passes, either one of you dies or you are incapacitated, you add your Proficiency Bonus to damage rolls against it, crit against it on roll of 19 or 20, and if they die you regain hit points equal your Warlock Level + your Charisma modifier.

As a Warlock, you gain access to Spells. You know two cantrips and two spells and have a single spell slot you regain on short rest. Spells that require an attack roll do it with modifier equal your Charisma Modifier + your Proficiency Bonus, if your target needs to make a saving throw against your spell, Difficulty for it equals the sum of these two numbers +8.

Blade Ward is a Cantrip that until the end of your next turn grants you resistance against bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. Your HP will not be something to write home about, spoiler warning.

Booming Blade lets you attack as a part of casting a spell, on a hit your target takes damage as from normal attack but if they willingly move until the start of your next turn they take 1d8 thunder damage. 

Hex lets you curse one creature you can see with 90 feet, making you deal it extra 1d6 necrotic damage when you hit it with an attack and grants it disadvantage on all checks for one Ability Score of your choice. It is a concentration spell and lasts up to 1 hour and if your target dies early, you can just move it to another target as a bonus action on your next turn.

Shield is cast as a reaction when you are hit by an attack or Magic Missile, allowing you to add +5 to your AC until your next turn, including against the attack or Magic Missile that caused you to cast it. Play it as you being hit was just your vision and you managed to avoid the damage.

3rd Level: Back to the Rogue now, 2nd Level Rogue gets Cunning Action, allowing you to take Dash, disengage or Hide as a bonus action or use said bonus action to Aim, giving you an advantage on next attack as long as you don’t move during this turn.

4th Level: 3rd Level Rogue bumps their Sneak Attack to 2d6 and gets to choose Roguish Archetype. Swashbuckler gains rakish audacity, letting you add your Charisma bonus to your initiative rolls and use Sneak Attack if you are within 5 feet of an opponent and no other creature is within 5 feet of you and you don’t have a disadvantage on the attack roll. You also gain Fancy Footwork, meaning if you make a melee attack against a creature, it cannot make opportunity attacks against you until the end of your turn. So if your dad drugged another heroine to fight you, you can strike her, don’t even need to hit, and then just slip past her to stab Slade next turn. And if you hit her with Booming Blade she cannot even chase you without taking more damage.

Have I mentioned your dad sucks?

5th Level: 4th Level Rogue gets an Ability Score Improvement, but we’ll go with a feat - Medium Armor Master lets you increase your Dexterity by 1, increases maximum bonus from Dexterity to AC you gain in Medium Armor from 2 to 3 and removes disadvantage Medium Armor imposes on Stealth checks. Rose’s iconic suit is some weird skintight chain shirt or scale armor, but you can even pick up Half-Plate for a total of 18 AC, 20 with a shield, if you want.

Unarmored Rose: Take the feat we will be taking when Rose hits Rogue 8 

6th Level: 5th Level Rogue gains Uncanny Dodge, letting you use your reaction to halve damage against you when you are hit by an attack. Again, play it as you seeing the vision of attack and using that to be able to avoid it. Also, your Sneak Attack increases to 3d6.

7th Level: One more detour, time to start messing with the fate some more. No, not with Doctor Fate, that would be lethal. Anyway, 1st Level Wizard gets a Spellbook with 3 Cantrips and 6 1st Level Spells and 2 1st level Spell Slots. The Save DC and Spell Attack rolls are like Warlock’s but use Intelligence instead of Charisma. Wizard and Warlock count their spell slots separately but you can use one class spell slots to cast spells you know from the other class. Wizard recovers them on a long rest but Arcane Recovery lets you once per day on a short rest recover a number of spell slots equal half of your Wizard level, rounded up.

Friends lets you for the duration gain advantage on all Charisma checks against one creature, but once it ends it is aware what you did and gets angry at you. The fact this is a cantrip explains some things about few of Rose’s relationships.

Message lets you send a small message to another creature and get a short reply. You can use it as a team communicator for rest of the Titans.

Shocking Grasp is a paralyzer, letting you make a meele spell attack against a single target to deal it 2d8 lightning damage (it scales as most damage-dealing cantrips) and making it unable to take reactions until start of it’s next turn.

Cause Fear is a vial of fear toxin you stole from Scarecrow that forces a target to make a Wisdom Saving throw or be frightened of you for the duration or until it akes a saving throw on one of its turns. Doesn’t work on constructs or undead. Honestly, it would be much better as a Warlock Spell but I wanted to get Shield faster, feel free to switch the two around.

Disguise Self is your holographic projector that lets you alert your looks to make you look like another humanoid in the same size category and having the same array of limbs.If fails under closer scrutiny as it is an illusion.

Feather Fall lets you slow down the fall of you and up to five creatures within rage and if those affected reach the ground before the spell ends, they take no damage. I guess it’s your parachute.

Fog Cloud is a fog grenade, obscuring heavily everything within the area for up to 1 hour or until wind disperses it. Use it to retreat if things go badly.

Protection from Evil and Good gives all aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey fiends and undead disadvantage on attack rolls against you (or someone else you use it on), makes you immune to being charmed or frightened by them or, if you already were, grants advantage on saving throws to break out of it. I don’t know if Granny Goddess counts as a celestial but this could be pretty useful against mind control stuff done by Hellfire Club or when Blackest Night falls from the sky again.

Sleep allows you to roll 5d8, add the results and then put to sleep creatures in the spell’s rage of your choice, starting with the one who has the least amount of HP, are put to sleep until the combined HP of creatures you put down this way equals the sum of your rolls. Sleeping gas, a friend of any human fighting superheroes and supervillains on regular basis.

8th Level: 2nd Level Wizard gets an extra Spell Slot and gets to choose a School. School of Divination grants you Portent - after finishing a long rest you roll 2 d20s and write down the results. Until next long rest, you can use these rolls in place of an attack roll, saving throw or an ability check made by you or a creature you can see. The downsides are you have only two of them, each is of single-use, if you don’t spend them they’re lost, you need to declare you use them before the dice is rolled, and you can only do it once per turn. But these are extremely powerful and let Rose act in accordance of visions she sees. Hell, it can easily be played in line with how Doctor Villain theorized her powers work

Pretty much how it is working.

9th Level: So now that made these detours, let’s go back to Rogue for some more fighting prowess and better skills. 6th Level Rogue gains Expertise in two more skills, I’d go with Intimidation and Persuasion.

10th Level: 7th Level Rogue gains Evasion, letting you take no damage instead of half damage if you succeded on Dexterity Saving Throw against all spells and effects that ask of one. Your sneak attack increases to 4d6.

11th Level: 8th Level Rogue gets an Ability Score Improvement, but we’ll instead take one last feat - Lucky gives you 3 luck points per long rest that you can spend to roll one additional die on an attack roll, ability score or saving throw and choose which result is used. You can also spend them when a creature attacks you to roll a d20 and decide which roll the attacker is using.

Unarmored Rose: Spend the rest of your Ability Score Increases to round up first your Charisma and then Dexterity.

12th Level: 9th Level Swashbuckler gains Panache, letting you make a Persuasion check against target’s Insight - if they fall nonhostile creature is charmed by you for one minute and hostile one gains disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you and cannot make opportunity attack against a creature other than you for 1 minute or until you are more than 60 feet apart or another ally hits them with an attack or a spell. Also, your Sneak Attack increases do 5d6.

13th Level: 10th Level Rogue gets an Ability Score improvement, time to invest into Charisma.

14th Level: 11th Level Rogue you gain a Reliable Talent - whenever you roll for a skill you are proficient with, you treat rolls below 10 as 10. And your Sneak Attack increases to 6d6.

15th Level: 12th Level Rogue gets another Ability Score Improvement, round up your Charisma.

16th Level: 13th Level Swashbuckler can execute an Elegant Maneuver to, as a bonus action gain an advantage on the next Acrobatics or Athletics check you’ll make during the same turn. And your Sneak attack rises up to 7d6.

17th Level: 14th Level Rogue gains Blindsense, which lets you discern the location of hidden or invisible creatures near you.

18th Level: 15th Level Rogue gains Slippery Mind, which means proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. Which is good if Slade tries to gaslight you into his new bullshit again. Your Sneak Attack increases to 8d6. Also, your dad sucks, have I mentioned that?

19th Level: 16th Level Rogue gets our las Ability Score Improvement, increase your Constitution for better Hit Points and Concentration, remember your HP increases also retroactively.

20th Level: Our capstone is the final ability of Swashbuckler, Master Duelist, which lets you reroll an attack roll with an advantage if you miss it once per long rest. And your Sneak Attack increases to 9d6

Overview: Rose Wilson is a Swashbuckler Rogue 17/School of Divination Wizard 2/Hexblade Warlock 1. Let us see how good this build is:

Pros: First of all you are incredibly hard to hit or hurt in general, with AC around 18 or 20 and multiple ways to reduce the damage or turn a hit into a miss - Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, Shield, Portent, Lucky. Second, you have a lot of ways to screw with your own dice, making them do what you want through a combination of luck and foresight. There is a reason why Lucky Divination Wizard is seen as one of the most powerful things in the game and you add to this Reliable Talent, Master Duelist, Elegant Maneuver, Friends, Hex and Hexblade Curse. Third, with Hex, Hexblade Curse, Booming Blade and Sneak Attack you can deal huge damage, especially with your increased crit chance. You are also very  Finally, you are incredibly mobile for someone in a half-plate, which will catch many opponents off-guard.

Cons: Your HP is decent but nothing to write home about, few hits will drop you into the danger area of Power Word: Kill easily. Your sword may be enhanced but is not magical so unless DM gives you a magical weapon a lot of enemies will be able to resit your damage or simply be immune to it. A lot of your abilities compete over your use of reaction or bonus action as well, making them somewhat redundant. Finally, your Intelligence and Constitution are not that good and it’s gonna hurt some of your spell rolls, especially concentration. Also, if you abuse your future-seeing powers too much DM will hate you.

Overall, however, you are a very good party member, fitting as both a skill monkey and damage-per-turn and even a small-part controller or defender in a pinch with power to bend dice to your will. Sweep into the battlefield, hit hard, move out and have the opponent have to go through Superboy to hit you back. Just remember that you work better as a part of a team so maybe don’t antagonize party members too much. Except if you’re on a team with Slade.

Your dad sucks.

Alternatives: 

If you don’t like the whole Willow thing and don’t feel like refluffing and fixing it, skip Hexblade level for one more of Rogue, you’ll gain Elusive, ensuring no attack against you is made with an advantage.

If your Ability Scores are so high you can get an extra feat, consider either Defensive Duelist, which lets you use your reaction to add your Proficiency bonus to your AC when a creature hits you with a melee attack. Or, if you play Half-Elf Rose, Elven Accuracy for +1 to either Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma and an ability to roll an additional dice when you make an attack roll with advantage using any of these 4 Abilities.

- Admin

[amarits]

why did you leave cass out of common people when she's bruce's kid too?

As @chaseha-wing would say, Cass is in every scene, she’s just so quiet you don’t notice her. 

Seriously though, Cass has been a debate since before I even started writing Common People. There have been versions of it that I discussed with @kyrianne that she was in (especially the one where they’re all metas). I still might find a way to include her. I’ve thought about having her in the sequel (if I ever get around to writing it). To answer your question though, here are the reasons why Cass hasn’t been in Common People: 

Her father seems like an essential part of her story to me. Her abuse, the way she was raised to be ‘the perfect warrior’, the reasons she can’t speak. I’ve tried really hard to keep all of the kids’ basic stories intact while also making them Bruce’s bio kids, and I just don’t think I could do that for Cass without David Cain. Now that doesn’t mean I couldn’t find a way around it. Maybe Lady Shiva gave her to David Cain without him being her father. Maybe he kidnapped her. Maybe it’s a stepfather situation. I just find her a little harder to smoothly fit into the premise of the story than the others.

I felt a little like I was starting to stretch suspension of disbelief. Four kids with different mothers is already a lot. It’s enough that when they find out about Damian, Jason asks Bruce if they need to teach him how to use condoms. It’s enough that there’s an ongoing joke that Bruce is actually the father of all the kids in Gotham. I've thought a lot about the timeline here and Bruce’s relationships with the various mothers. I figure Bruce and Mary probably had an on and off relationship because of her traveling with the circus. Maybe Jason’s mom was a rebound when Bruce and Mary finally broke up for good. Definitely not anything serious. Bruce and Janet made sense societally but their personalities clashed and they were together less than a year. Talia and Bruce can have pretty much the same exact relationship they have in canon. It’s a lot, but it kind of works timeline-wise. Add Cass in though, especially her nebulous age and who her mom is, and what the heck has Bruce been up to? She’s very close to Jason’s age. Was she before Jason? Between Jason and Tim? There’s already only a two-year age difference between them. That’s just... awkward. Also with her showing up later in life, that makes three out of five of Bruce’s kids that were surprises that he didn’t know about for most of their lives. It’s just a bit much.

One of the main things I wanted to do with Common People is explore the culture clash of poverty and exorbitant wealth, and Cass muddles that a bit. Dick may have lived his first 9 years with the circus, but he always knew he had money, and he’s had no problem with spending Bruce’s money since moving into the manor. Maybe he doesn’t feel the need to have a ton of stuff, but cool gadgets? Fancy car? He’s all about it. Tim grew up always having money and has never experienced any form of poverty. He’s never even met a poor person. And then of course there’s Bruce. Even Roy I’ve made more of the fucked-up rich kid (he’s also Ollie’s bio kid for those who didn’t realize). The way Jason interacts with all of these people is meant to further his understanding of wealth, his recognition of the humanity of rich people, the way he thinks about money in general. Jason has stepped into a world he doesn’t understand at all, and everyone I’ve included I’ve done so to help him move forward and better understand who he is and who he’s going to become. And I just... don’t see how Cass fits in that? It’s not that I couldn’t have come up with fun interactions for Jason and Cass. I enjoy their relationship a lot in other fics. I just feel like, for this fic, building a relationship with her would take away from the major themes. That’s why, if I were to include her, I’d do so in the sequel. 

Those are the main reasons, I think. I do feel bad for not including her. People ask about her a lot. I just think, at least for Common People, it makes for a better story to leave her out. Maybe she’ll find a place in future stories though. 

[kc-meets-dc]

Okay, folks, you all knew this was coming...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

SO GOOD!!! OH, MY GOD!!! THAT WAS SO GOOD!!!

*deep breath* Okay. Now that that’s out of my system, time for the usual recap. Also, since this post is extremely long, you may skip down to the very bottom to find a tl;dr version of my predictions for season four based on what we saw here.

These last three episodes were AMAZING!!! And boy did they keep me on my toes! Even though it wasn’t the first of the three, I’d like to start this recap with episode 25, aka Goddammit, Will You Stop Horsing Around, Grandon, And Finally Freaking Confirm Or Deny Whether Or Not My Son Is Dead?????

I’ll admit I have lost a little (A veeeeeery little) amount of hope that Wally’s still alive somewhere. Thank God for that ending, though! There is still hope. But also, did anyone else pick up on the serious gay vibe Zatanna was giving off in the last two episodes? I know a lot of people are going to say her “Artemis, you know I love you” line was out of friendship. But, then again, this is Tumblr. When it comes to people being in lesbians with each other, we all kinda hope for the best here. And I have spent many an hour, a day, a week, a month, 525,600 minutes (You get the point) of my life analyzing whether or not people have romantic intentions or attractions in TV shows and movies. And, folks, I can say without a doubt that that “I love you” really meant “I love you.” And combine that with the fact that Artemis seems to finally have closure over Wally...

I think Snaibsel has a real shot at becoming canon next season. It’s either that or Zatanna is really Rocket’s significant other who we still know NOTHING about. Seriously, why is that? Why can’t we get a serious confirm or deny out of Grandon about even something this small? I highly doubt answering the question of whether or not Rocket is married to a woman would really “spoil” anything. In fact, it would probably get MORE people to watch the show because of the representation. So, yeah. We may be able to add two, possibly three depending on how Artemis feels, people to the LGBT characters list in Young Justice. On another note, I like to think that Will has also finally moved on. While he may not be in love with Artemis (Thank God!!!), I believe that him blowing out the candle in that final scene means that he has finally moved on from Cheshire, given that the first candle going out seemed to symbolize Artemis moving on from Wally, and now Will will finally start looking for someone else.

Then there’s episode 24, which all I can say about is TAKE THAT, GRANNY, YOU OLD BAG!!! Oh, and the same goes to Lex Luthor in episode 26, btw. Also, yeah, I guarantee you that Bart and Ed are a couple. Int he X-Pit, Ed’s first instinct wasn’t to save Jaime who was clearly suffering the most. It was to save Bart! Add that to the animation sequence that I can only assume was supposed to be a cheek kiss that was edited out because the crew severely underestimated Tumblr’s ability to see and analyze everything that ever happens in a show even when it happens at superspeed and thought they wouldn’t need to waste extra animation money on adding it in *inhales after such a long spiel* plus the fact that he was so concerned over Bart’s safety in Elder Wisdom, and you’ve got yourselves one can of 100% certified canon Goldpulse (Or Zetaflash or Bartuardo. Seriously, when are we all going to agree on one single ship name for those two? Which should definitely be #goldpulse, btw).

Also, go Vic for finally accepting who he is! He even went back to school and befriended Cisco, who I guarantee we’ll be seeing next season as Vibe! Honestly, my only real complaint about that episode is that the rest of The Outsiders didn’t get too much screentime in that or any of the other episodes released today besides Cyborg and Beast Boy. Same goes to Batman Inc, which I’m hoping we’ll be seeing more of next season. i.e. the totally mishandled and underused Cass Cain, Stephanie Brown, Cissie King-Jones, and, for the second season in a row, (Goddammit, Grandon!) Tim Drake.

Actually, I’m kinda betting that the so-called “core group of characters” that next season is supposed to be centered around will actually consist of the ORIGINAL Young Justice characters from the comics. Namely, Superboy, Impulse (I know he’s named Kid Flash now, but you get it), Tim Drake’s Robin, Wonder Girl, and maaaaaaaaybe Arrowette. Still not really sure if she’ll be featured more, or if they’ll switch her out for Spoiler to add some relationship drama to Cassie and Tim who I guess are still a couple??? But yeah, I think that might be the direction the next season is going.

Finally, that brings us to episode 26, and I have four words for you that perfectly describe my feelings about it: LONG LIVE THE LEGION!!! Legion of Superheroes was one of my absolute favorite shows growing up, so I am SO HYPED that they’re doing them next season! My guess is that the story will be that The Outsiders were the precursors to the 31st century’s Legion of Superheroes. i.e. a public team of meta teens who fight for good and people like them. I wonder which Legion characters they’ll include. Most likely it’ll be Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad for sure, but then they’ll probably also throw in Cosmic Boy and maybe a few others. I need to do some digging on which Legionnaires were most important in the comics. Plus, with the Legion here now, we’ll probably also get Supergirl since she plays a big role in their story, and she could also play a big role in The Light’s plans to serve as another, better Superman copy that they can use to destroy The Team,  The Outsiders, and the League.

Then you’ve got Fred Bugg openly revealing who he is to his classmates, which is AMAZING! And we’ve finally gotten a good twist on the Judas Contract storyline! Assuming she isn’t dead by the time it happens, I really hope we’ll be able to see more of Terra acting as a hero in season four! And I’m really excited to see what Brion will be like as a villain!

Which finally brings us to predictions. What will happen next in Young Justice? My guess is that the next season will be focused on the Legion of Superheroes coming to present day to fulfill a mission similar to Bart’s original mission in season two, but on a much larger scale. I’m guessing that they’re trying to prevent Vandal Savage, The Light, and/or Darkseid from taking over the galaxy in a way that could potentially alter time to change the future the Legion knows and comes from.

Secondly, I’m guessing that the next time jump will not be nearly as long as I originally anticipated. Actually, I’m guessing that there will be NO TIME JUMP AT ALL. Since the season didn’t end on the 4th of July or New Year’s, my guess is that the writers are throwing out the original formula for how they structure each season, meaning there’s a good chance this coming season will pick up right where season three left off.

Also most likely coming next season, we’ll have the Jason Todd storyline to deal with, we’ll have Artemis trying to discover new love (Possibly with Zatanna, or the other most likely option would be Icicle Jr since the two of them were actually married in the comics), and with the addition of characters from the 31st century to the series, we just might be seeing the Reverse Flash and Inertia, which could introduce us to the concept of the Speed Force, which will in turn finally lead to bringing Wally back from the dead. However, if Wally isn’t brought back by the end of next season, there’s pretty much a 100% chance we’ll never be getting him back at all.

So, to sum up my thoughts and theories: new characters we should be seeing next season include the Legion of Superheroes, Supergirl, and Reverse Flash, the season’s main focused characters will most likely be the original Young Justice team from the comics, and if we don’t get Wally back next season we won’t get him back at all. That’s all for now, folks. As always, stay whelmed, feel the aster, and have a very crash rest of your day!

[writersblocktango]

Fan-Casting the Batfam

So DC Titans has me super pumped and hopeful for the future of DC’s favorite family. In my opinion, they absolutely nailed casting Dick and I have great aspirations for their casting of Jason. But who else will fill in our favorites?? Here’s how I imagine it.

To remind you here’s Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson and Curran Walters as Jason Todd.

So there are our first two batsons, but what about the Bat himself? Now, I’m still holding out for Titans to unite with the DCEU, but should that not happen, I envision either Jason O’Mara or Thomas Gibson playing the caped crusader. They’re both exceptional intense actors and have both already voiced Batman in the cartoons. Who could be more perfect?

Next we have to cast the first of the Batgirls. Certainly no damsel in distress, Barabara “Babs” Gordon joined Batman’s side soon after Dick’s departure in the comics as the kickass sidekick Batgirl and later became her own heroine known as Oracle. Smart, driven, and fiery I see her being played by a quippy and quick-tongued Carson Young.

Next comes another fan-favorite member of the Batfam: Timothy Drake, Robin III. Now there was originally a huge campaign for Ryan Potter to play Tim, but for obvious reasons (hello Beastboy) that won’t be happening. But who will fill that spot? Tim is a genius and one of the first people to ever discover the identities of Batman and Robin I, and after the [[SPOILER] death of Jason Todd 😭], Tim approaches Bruce and asks to become the next Robin, realizing how much Batman needs Robin. Most importantly, Tim has to be wickedly smart and full of a dark dry sense of humor. He also struggles with severe anxiety, depression, and sleep deprivation, as well as a run in the comic books where he’s turned into a broken minion of the Joker, so whoever plays him will have to add a great deal of depth and nuance to the character. I imagine Cameron Boyce, Israel Broussard, or Froy Gutierrez as being equal to the task, and while I can see each of them bringing something special to the role I would admittedly like to see Israel Broussard (pictured center) take on the cowl most of all.

After Tim came Cassandra Cain, expert martial artist and all around lethal weapon. Raised with limited human contact with the sole intent of being formed into the worlds greatest assassin, she becomes a ward of Babs, at the behest of Bruce Wayne, after saving the life of Babs’ father, Commissioner Gordon. Cassandra soon becomes trained as the next Batgirl and later becomes her own interpretation, Black Bat. Cass is often quiet and somewhat aloof, not having a childhood, friends, or family before. Her portrayal will rely largely on physicality and body language. Depending on what age she’s meant to be portrayed as I can see Lana Condor, Arden Cho, or Jamie Chung taking on the role.

After Cassandra, the next person to join the Batfam was Stephanie Brown. Daughter of a Gotham criminal and villain, Cluemaster, Stephanie donned the alter ego of Spoiler to patrol and stop her father’s schemes. Deciding she likes her life as a crime fighter she continues patrolling and begins to connect with Robin III, Tim Drake. Later, at a point when Tim is away, she even dons the Robin suit basically demanding her way to Batman’s side as the first female Robin, and still fights even after Bruce demands she give it up. Stephanie embodies the perfect balance of style, joy, enthusiasm, fire, whit, and confidence. That being said, I imagine her as being played by Hunter King or Ellie Fanning.

Next we have the youngest member of the Batfam and another fan-fave, Damian Wayne. The only biological child of Bruce Wayne, Damian was born from an ill-advised tryst between Batman and, sometimes enemy/sometimes lover, Talia Al Ghul. Raised as the inheriting leader of the League of Assassins and only deposited at his father’s front door around age 10, it’s fair to say Damian has some pretty serious issues. He struggles with morality, compassion, self-control, boundaries and authority, but hey growing up is hard. It’s also important to note that for a while, after [[SPOILER]the supposed death of Bruce Wayne], Damian serves as a sidekick and almost as a son to Dick. Depending on what age they decide to go with I’d like to see Damian played by Robert Daniel Sloan, Ethan Andrew Castro, or Aidan Gallagher.

Later, after Damian mellows out a bit, Batman takes on another sidekick: Duke Thomas. One of the latest additions to the Batfam, Duke is one of many in Gotham to take up the role of Robin in the year that Batman goes missing. Bruce later brings Duke into the fray integrating him into Wayne Interprises during the day, and training him to patrol as the hero The Signal by night. While I can imagine lots of people bringing this well-meaning justice seeker to life, my favorite for the role is Alfred Enoch.

And finally, last but not least, we have the latest edition to the Batfam Harper Row aka Bluebird. A punkie Gotham engineering student, Harper feels eternally grateful to Batman after he protects her brother and herself from being assaulted in the streets. But how can he show this gratitude? By suiting up and joining him on the streets as the crime fighter Bluebird of course! Known for her purple hair and being a bit of a wild card, Harper is brilliant and talented but volatile, and effortlessly cool. I’d love to see her played by someone equally as awesome such as: Victoria Justice, Paris Berelc, or Sydney Park.

*BONUS ROUND*

We’ve already seen Wonder Girl, Donna Troy, in Titans and a few members of the Bat Family, but what about the Superman family? If we’re expanding the DC Universe and possibly setting up Young Justice they’re essential, so here are my casting ideas for Conner “Kon-El” Kent and Jonathan Kent.

Max Lloyd Jones as Connor Kent and Noah Schnapp as Jon Kent.

[thefuriousstarlightstudent]

Tada. A new fic. It’s a little... long winded, I guess. Hopefully y’all like it!!!!

Link to Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17746232

The boy and girl before him are both silent and staring at him. The girl glares and steps in front of the boy. The girl can't be older than fifteen. The boy is probably no more than six.

"It's okay," he says. "I'm not here to hurt you."

The boy and girl share a look and take a step back. Bruce sighs deeply. He's obviously not making any progress. The girl and boy both look Asian, though the boy's skin is darker. They could be siblings despite not sharing similar features. They certainly act like it.

Maybe they don't understand English? Then again, both seemed to understand him, just not trust him.

"Robin," Bruce says. "Come down, please."

There's a slight noise behind him. The girl and Boy's eyes go from Bruce to a point behind him. A moment later, Bruce feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Want me to talk to them?" Tim asks.

Bruce nods. "I'll take care of calling the police and collecting the files." Because if there's one thing Bruce is trying to avoid, it's scaring children. That they don't seem to recognize him… it's worrying. Almost everyone - especially kids and teens - know Batman and Robin are the good guys. Hopefully, Tim has better luck with them than he did.

"Hi," Tim says brightly. "I'm Robin." They don't change how they regard him, wary and scared. Especially the girl. She looks almost ready to jump him if he tries to move any closer. He holds his hands up and takes a step back, sitting on the ground. "What are your names?"

The girl's eyes flicker to the younger boy, who's staring at Tim intently. She looks back at Tim and nods slowly. Somehow, Tim can tell it's not to him.

"Dami," the younger boy says, speech heavily accented. "Cass," he adds after a moment, nodding towards the girl.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tim asks. "In this warehouse, I mean? It's not exactly a comfortable place to sleep."

The girl, Cass, blinks then looks at the boy, Dami. for what, Tim's not sure. Dami looks up at her and starts speaking rapidly in an unfamiliar language. The girl responds in the same language, slower, but she responds. Then both of them sit down on the ground, Cass first, drawing Dami into her lap and hugging him tightly.

"Running," Cass says, also accented, though hers is different than Dami's. "Hiding too. Lots of hiding."

"From who?" Tim asks gently. "Batman and I can help if you want. Why are they after you?"

"Whom," Cass says absently, looking down at Dami again and playing with his hair. "You're supposed to say whom."

Tim blinks and leans back a little, bemused.

"Father," the girl continues. "We're hiding from him. And running. Both. He wants us to listen to him. He's bad."

Tim listens to her carefully. Dami closes his eyes and leans against her. Now that he's looking, now that her words have given him a clue, there are signs of abuse everywhere. They must be siblings, Tim decides, with the way she treats Dami. Probably different mother's though, especially since they look so different from each other and she mentioned their father as if he was both of theirs.

"What's your dad's name? If I have it, Batman and I can make sure he goes to jail. You could live with your mother if you want," Tim says. "We can find some safe family members for you two to live with."

"No," Dami says sharply, eyes shooting open. "No. There is no one else. No one safe."

"There has to be," Tim argues. "There always is. I promise Batman and I can find them."

"No," Cass agrees, gently pulling Dami towards her again, turning him around and hugging him. He relaxes immediately. "There's nowhere we'll be safe. We have to keep going. Keep running."

"We can stop him," Tim says emphatically. "I promise."

"No you can't," Cass says sadly. "No one can. He is… he doesn't ever stop."

"Relentless," Dami offers, looking up at Cass.

"Thank you," she says. "He is relentless."

"I bet I'm more relentless. I could protect you. I wouldn't let him get you two again," Tim says.

He feels like they've been going in circles during this whole confrontation. He just knows he's supposed to help them. It's not even about being Robin, a hero, that makes him want to help them so bad. It's something else, something deeper. He can't even explain it. He's sure they need him, and what's more, he thinks he's going to need them.

They don't look like they believe him. Or more probably, they believe he believes what he's saying, not that he'll actually be able to follow through.

"Listen, have you ever heard of the Batcave?"

"Robin, what are they doing here?" Bruce growls at him.

Tim smiles. "I found out who's after them. Their father. David Cain," Tim says instead of answering Bruce's question. "I figured that warranted the Batcave."

Bruce looks at the two carefully. Cass glares back at him defiantly. She's holding Dami's hand tightly. Both look ready to bolt.

"They stay down here. No name. Get Oracle on the case. Find out more."

Tim salutes lazily. "Yes, sir."

Bruce turns around sharply, cape whipping behind him, and heads… somewhere. Probably to do more work. Whatever. Tim's got other things to do. Including finding out more about why they're so scared of their father. Granted, David Cain is a renowned assassin, so that's probably part of the reason. Also, abuse signs from earlier. At best, he abused them. At worst, he was training them.

"Follow me. I'll get you some better clothes," he says, gesturing. "What you're wearing doesn't look very warm, and lord knows this cave isn't warm either."

They share a look before following him into what Tim's named the 'disguise room'. Called that because of how many things they have for disguise. Tim would go so far as to say it's more stocked than Bruce's actual wardrobe.

Tim browses the clothes for a few moments before pulling out a huge t-shirt and sweater. He grabs fuzzy sweatpants and sock too, tossing the pile to Cass. She has her hands out to catch them before he tossed them, he notices, filing it away for future reference.

"You can change in there," he offers, pointing towards a small dressing area behind a curtain.

He looks for something for Dami next but has much less luck. At least Cass is about his height (which isn't saying something. Tim is short), but finding anything to fit Dami is going to be a challenge. He's tiny. Finally, Tim finds a small pair of grey sweatpants and a neon green sweater. Dick's from his first year as Robin, probably. They're still too big, but they should work.

"Once Cass is done you can change back there," Tim says, handing the clothes to Dami.

Dami nods and looks back at the curtain.

"Cass is your big sister, huh," Tim says. "She seems like a pretty cool big sister. You're lucky to have her."

"She's the best," Dami agrees. "She's always trying to protect me even when I don't need protecting though."

Tim laughs. "I know the feeling, Dami."

They wait in silence another minute before Cass emerges. The sweater she's wearing practically drowns her, but she looks warm. Dami quickly slides around her and behind the curtain.

"Better?" Tim asks, grinning.

"Yes," she agrees. "Warmer. Thank you, Robin."

"You're welcome, Cass. Always happy to help," he says. "Now, what can you tell me about David Cain?"

Cass looks at him, not in the eyes, but she looks at his whole body for a few moments before relaxing fully. "You do not want to talk around Dami, just in case."

"He's only a kid."

"Yes, he is. Thank you. He knows everything, but I do not like making him… remember it again. Think about it."

Tim remains silent. It's not the type of thank you that needs an answer.

"He is my… our father. He never talked to me. Only fought. Shot me. Two if I flinched. Dami came when he was little, but not as little as I'd been when he got me," she says. "I was a baby when he started training me. Dami was bigger. I think Dami's mother didn't want him training as a baby."

Tim feels sick to his stomach. Cass is only a year or two older than him. Dami is probably only six. He knows David Cain is bad, he never thought David Cain is a monster.

"Dami is very smart. He says it was to make me the best. I wouldn't have to talk. I would know what people were thinking or going to do. So would Dami. I couldn't let that happen to Dami. We stayed a little, then ran. We've been running for a long time now." Cass sighs. "I think I'm too tired to run anymore. I just want Dami safe."

"I know," Tim says. "We'll keep him safe, both of you safe. I promise. We'll even get David Cain to leave you alone for good. Both of you."

"That's good. Is there a place to sleep?"

"Yeah, I'll show you," Tim says. Dami's just emerged from behind the curtain, looking adorable in the outfit he's wearing. The fact that it's slightly too big just makes it more adorable. Tim has to try hard not to coo. He thinks both Cass and Dami somehow know what he's thinking anyway because Cass covers a smile with her hand and Dami scowls at him. "They won't be warm since it's just some beds in the med wing of the cave, but I can get you some blankets."

"We'll share a bed," Dami says. "So I can protect her in case he finds us. We won't need any extra blankets either."

Now Tim really wants to coo. That is just too cute for words. Again, they seem to know what he's thinking. His body language must give it away. Tim can't help but be a little impressed David Cain managed to teach them to read body language so well, even though the methods were horrible and abusive.

"Okay then," Tim says. Well then, here's the medical wing. Feel free to sleep. It's pretty late. I'll probably have to ask you guys more questions in the morning though, so I am sorry about that."

"It is okay," Cass says. "It will help keep us safe."

Dami looks at Tim with eyes much more serious and dark than a childs' should ever have the right to be. It's sad. Something about the way Dami looks at Tim is familiar too. But he can't put his finger on it for the life of him.

Oh well. It'll just be another mystery for tomorrow.

"Tim, are they settled?"

"Yuppers, B," Tim says. "I questioned the older one, Cass, just so you know, a bit though. Apparently, David Cain was training her to be able to read body language like a language, though she didn't tell me in so many words. He didn't talk to her ever."

Bruce makes a noise that's somewhere between a grunt and a groan. Obviously, it means he can't believe someone could do that to their own children.

"Also Dami has a different mother, either that or Cass doesn't know who her mother is, which would make it possible they share the same one. Dami didn't start that same training until he was a toddler at least, I suspect older though. She ran away to protect him. Both of them read body language amazingly well though, so I think they stayed with him for at least a year before escaping. I think Dami was also fluent in English and at least one other language that I haven't identified. He seems to be the one to have taught her to speak English and another language they used to communicate with each other at first."

"Anything else?" Bruce asks (ie: growls). "Ages? Full names?"

"No," Tim says. "They seemed tired. I'm letting them sleep. I think Cass is fourteen or fifteen though. Dami is probably about six."

Bruce nods. "I make note of that. You'll question them in the morning."

"Of course," Tim agrees. It has less to do with Bruce not wanting to and more to do with the fact that Tim is better with kids and teens, being a teen himself. Tim also thinks it makes Bruce uncomfortable, just teens in general. They remind him too much of Jason.

"Go to bed, Tim," Bruce says. "You can stay in a guest room if you want tonight since your parents are gone."

"Um, I don't have any spare clothes. I think I'll just head home. It's not like it's that far. Thanks for the offer though, B."

"Get home safe."

Tim nods, waves once, and throws a jacket over his Robin uniform. He'll change out of it at home. Then it'll be right back to the Batcave in the morning to talk to Cass and Dami again.

When Tim arrives back in the morning, Cass and Dami are both awake and in the middle of the Batcave eating breakfast. Alfred must have sent it down to them via Bruce, either that or he put a mask on. Bruce isn't in sight, but Tim's sure he's lurking somewhere.

"Hey," Tim says. He's not wearing his uniform since he's not going out until tonight. He's just dressed in jeans and a hoodie with the addition of sunglasses. He probably looks way less intimidating to them without the 25lb body armor.

"Hello," Cass says, looking at him. Dami turns away from Cass and nods at him before looking at Cass again with adoration.

"So, B and I are working on everything. We'll keep you guys safe. I just wanted to ask a few questions, if that's okay?"

"It is okay," Cass tells him, smiling slightly.

"Great. Well, how old are you guys? Do you know?" he asks.

"Fifteen," Cass says. "Dami is seven, right Dami?"

"Yes," Dami says. "December was my birthday. Cass' is in January."

"We always had 'gifts' from him, on birthday's," Cass says without much emotion like it's a fact and not something terrible that happened to them. "Missions, special training. Things like that. Staking out his targets so we could kill them when we were older."

"Okay," Tim says. "And are your full names Dami and Cass? Or something else?" Tim asks because he can't make himself think about their childhood further. It's just… awful. Tim knows his childhood has kinda sucked so far, but at least his parents didn't train him to kill people.

"Cassandra and Damian. I like Cass better. He likes Dami."

"No, I don't," Dami snaps, shoving her slightly and scowling. "I prefer Damian."

"Only I get to call him Dami," Cass says, whispering loudly like it's some sort of secret. Damian scowls more at her.

"Do you guys want anything while Batman and I track him down?" Tim asks, smiling slightly at their antics.

Damian leans into Cass' side.

"A cat. Dami wants a cat."

"Um, I'll see what I can do?" Tim offers because there is no way Bruce will let Tim bring them a cat.

"Thank you," Cass says. "For helping us."

Damian and Cass stay in the Batcave for two weeks. In that time he and Bruce have no luck tracking down David Cain. It means it's probably safe for them to be out and about occasionally, but not often. And they need to go back to the Batcave after.

Somehow - Tim's not sure how - Cass manages to get a cat for Damian, who promptly names it Cassandra Robin. Tim's flattered, he is. He's pretty sure Bruce finds it adorable. He's also fairly sure Bruce plans on adopting them; Tim's seen the papers. Now Bruce just needs to tell them.

Bruce approaches them when Tim's busy with homework. He's in the cave because Cass is a cool person and Damian makes Tim wish he had a little brother. Or a family that cared, really. Either would be nice. Anyway, he's in the cave with them, but not really interacting. They're playing with Cassandra Robin. (Damian insists they call her by her full name at all times.)

Vaguely, Tim hears Bruce start talking to them. He hears Bruce mention that he's telling them his name and automatically starts paying full attention to the conversation but staying quiet and out of it. Then it happens. Bruce Wayne, he says. He adds that Robin will share his identity if he wishes. Then he asks them the big question he's been working up to.

"Would you like to stay with me? For good."

Tim looks up now and watches Cass and Damian, who seem to be having a whole conversation with body language. Tim definitely isn't anywhere near as good at reading body language as Cass and Damian are, but he likes to think he's okay. Better than Bruce, at least.

"Will we be safe?" Cass finally asks.

"I will always do my best to keep you safe," Bruce promises. "Both of you. Even if he tries to get you, I'll stop him. Robin and I will keep looking for him too."

"May I keep Cassandra Robin?" Damian asks, sounding young and confused. It's probably the most age-appropriate response Tim's ever seen him have.

"Of course," Bruce says. "You may."

"Okay," Cass says. "Okay. We will stay with you. Thank you, Mr. Wayne."

"You can call me Bruce," Bruce says.

"Thank you, Bruce," Cass repeats. "Thank you."

"Why don't we head upstairs to my house. I'll let you choose rooms for yourselves," Bruce says. They start to follow Bruce, but at the last minute, Damian turns back.

"Are you coming, Robin?"

Tim looks up, surprised to see the three of them waiting for him expectantly.

"Yeah, yeah I am. And my name is Tim, Timothy Drake, but I prefer Tim," he says, hopping up and running to join them.

The media is in a frenzy once they get wind of adoption rumors. Tim doesn't know how many tabloid stories he reads in the next few days, but it's a lot. There's a lot of mention of Jason and what happened to him. Speculation that being adopted by Bruce Wayne will put these new children in harm's way, paint targets on their backs and they'll meet the same fate as Jason.

Tim visits every day after school still. Damian refuses to call him anything other than Timothy, though Tim suspects it has less to do with being rude and more to do with the fact that Damian is just an incredibly strange child, even for being raised by an assassin.

Dick comes back exactly one week after the first tabloid article appears. He storms into the Batcave, probably expecting to have Bruce telling him it's a lie or possibly Tim. Instead, he sees two new kids, a teen girl and a little boy playing with a kitten and Tim.

"Hey, Dick," Tim says sheepishly, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck. "How are you?"

"So it's true?" Dick asks, ignoring Tim's question. "When did this happen?"

"Like a week ago," Tim says placatingly. He doesn't want Cass and Damian's first experience with who's going to be their older brother to be yelling.

"He didn't want you to be sad or think he was replacing you or Jason," Cass says calmly. "He loves you too much to hurt you."

Dick freezes and the anger seems to deflate as suddenly as it appeared.

"I guess I should know your names if I'm going to be your big brother," Dick says. "And the cat's name. How'd you convince Bruce to let you get one anyway?"

"I'm Cass. That's Dami."

"-an," Damian says sharply. "Damian. My cat's name is Cassandra Robin. She will be referred to as such. No silly nicknames."

"Well, I'm Dick Grayson. Bruce's first… acquisition. Tim is the third."

"Why doesn't Tim live here then?" Cass asks, turning to him. Tim folds in on himself. "Oh. I understand. Nevermind."

"So, how did Bruce find you two?"

"They were in a warehouse we were busting," Tim says. "Hiding from their father."

"David Cain," Cass says. "Tim promised to help us. He is trying to find David Cain."

"We haven't found him yet, but we won't let him get them again," Tim finishes. Damian nods in agreement and drags Cassandra Robin into his lap. She seems content to be pet repeatedly. Spoiled thing. "I'm still not sure how Cass managed to get Bruce to let them keep Cassandra Robin though."

"A mystery for the ages, huh?" Dick asks, smiling.

And Tim knows now that they'll be okay.

Two months after Cass and Damian are officially adopted David Cain appears in Gotham. He's technically on a job to assassinate a powerful politician, but it's obvious he only took it as an excuse to try and get Cass and Damian back.

Cass sneaks out. She takes spare parts of Tim's extra Robin uniform and a cowl from Bruce's uniform. Tim only notice her when David Cain is about to kill him and she pushes Tim out of the way.

"No."

David Cain laughs. "What are you doing, telling me no? You know I'm not just going to stop, darling daughter. If you come, I won't hurt Damian."

"Yes, you will," Cass whispers tremulously, staring at a point behind David Cain. In the end, it's an anti-climactic death. A cop shooting him while he's distracted.

Tim knows he should try to stop the bleeding, try to keep him alive, but he can't bring himself to, or at least not more than a token effort. Cass is already gone. Tim can hear her talking to Bruce through the comms.

"Why did you do that to them?" Tim asks because this is the only time he might get an answer. "To your kids?"

David Cain laughs wetly and smiles. His teeth are red.

"My kids? What a joke. Only Cassandra is my kid. Damian is, well, Maybe you'll find out someday."

And then he dies.

Tim can't get those last words out of his mind. Cass and Bruce are yelling at each other on the drive home. Tim sits in the back and thinks. If only Cass was David Cain's child, who's son is Damian? Was he just a kid who was kidnapped? Is that why (according to Cass) he'd been able to speak and taught her to talk after they escaped? That's almost more horrifying that him being David Cain's son.

And what's more, does Damian know? Who his real family is? If they gave him up or if he was kidnapped? Should Tim mention anything?

He doesn't think he should.

So he doesn't.

Cass wins the fight and ends up being the new Batgirl. Tim is inordinately proud of her. Damian begs to go out too. Tim promises him that he can be Robin when he's older.

Later that day Tim gets the news about his parents.

He moves in with Bruce.

Jason appears. Alive.

As soon as Damian finds out he hides in his room for a few days. Only Cass and Cassandra Robin are allowed in.

Jason tries to kill Tim.

Cass stops him, and like always, she knows just what to say to make Jason happier.

Somehow Jason comes back to the Batcave with them.

Jason is alive again, well, legally now, when Tim's dad wakes up.

Tim moves out and into a condo.

His dad remarries.

Tim likes Dana. He doesn't think she knows what to think of him. Tim, who's too smart and too short and too strange. Tim who has a girlfriend but always spends time with Cass and has her over just as much as Stephanie. Tim who hates sports but somehow still works out every morning in the garage and then by going for a run.

At first, Dana joins him for those. She stops after not being able to keep up with him. Later, she suggests he try out for track. Tim explains he doesn't really like sports.

Then his dad and Dana find out he's Robin.

And it's the end of an age.

Tim gives Damian Robin. Damian is only ten, but he's ready.

He doesn't like being a civilian, but he lives with it. He still keeps up the same work out routine. When his dad confronts him, Tim tells him it's not because he's still Robin. He tells him that it helps to relax him. It's not a lie, but it's not the whole truth.

Then his dad dies while Dana's pregnant and she breaks down. Tim goes back to the Manor. Bruce adopts him. Tim hyphenates his name. He becomes Red Robin because he needs to. Everyone starts to die. Bruce dies. But at least… at least Tim has his family. Dick takes over as Batman because Batman can't just disappear.

Before Tim leaves to find Bruce - because he can't be dead - he finds Damian breaking down in his room.

"He was my father," Damian says quietly. The tears are still falling, but silently now. "My real father. I never told him. My mother is Talia al Ghul. She wanted me trained by the best and gave me to David Cain when I was four. Cass saved me and we ran until we met him."

"It's okay, Damian," Tim says. "I promise I'll find Bruce."

"He's dead though," Damian says. "But if anyone can do the impossible and bring him back, it's you."

"Thanks, Dami."

"-an. It's Damian," Damian replies automatically.

Tim cracks a smile.

"Thanks, Damian."

[lookatthisdork]

Cass finding out Jason her twin brother

Anon, you have excellent taste. That said, writing this was like pulling teeth. Three days of nothing and then an hour of just typing whatever popped into my mind. Hopefully that’s not too apparent in the final product.

“It’s funny, really. All that effort. The blood, the time, the subterfuge. And for what?” Shiva waves a careless hand, encompassing both them and the people they failed to save. “You’re still here, two children busy holding each other back, following after a shadow of a man.”

There’s something about the way she says the last sentence - she doesn’t tense at all, but her voice loses some of the surety it had before. The words mean something to her. Something important.

Cass has no idea what significance “children” might have beyond the obvious. Jason would know, but he’s still frozen to her right.

“Maybe I should kill one of you. It would be a mercy. One would finally grow up while the other would rest.”

Cassandra doesn’t do anything as obvious as step in front of Jason - simply hiding him from view will do nothing, and she can’t afford Shiva taking the movement as an invitation to act.

(”Mercy,” “grow up,” “rest.” Shiva is seeing something of someone else when she looks at the two of them. Who? Was there someone before her and Jason?)

“But which one? Should I choose based on ability? Or based on motivation? You have your father’s eyes, boy. If I killed your sister, how far would you go?”

That finally breaks through the shock, and Jason moves. He’s never used guns outside of the shooting range before - certainly never in the field - but his aim is impeccable for a quick-draw with a piece he grabbed off of a mugger earlier that night. Shiva side-steps the burst of three shots, leaving the bullets to impact the wall exactly where her shoulder had been.

“Your father’s eyes and your father’s aim. Aren’t you lucky?”

Then it’s Cassandra moving instead, even if the odds are against her, because no. “They’re not Cain’s eyes,” she says even as she’s dodging Shiva’s knife-hand, coming in to kick out her knees, missing and having to roll away from another strike. 

Behind her, the gun barks again. The bullet is just shy of grazing Shiva’s side.

“They’re not Cain’s eyes,” Cassandra says. It’s hard to focus on the right words without loosing focus on the fight. She takes two hits to the chest, but she needs to finish the thought. “They’re Jason’s eyes. He’s always had better eyes.”

And I’m not just talking about shooting, she adds in her head. You know that, right, Jason? “Eyes are the window to the soul.” Someone wrote that. I don’t remember who, but you read it to me, taught me to read it back to you.

You’re better than Cain. You’re good in a way he’ll never be. 

I didn’t want you to doubt. I didn’t want you to look at me yourself and see him. Blood doesn’t matter. What matters is you.

You’re my brother. That hasn’t changed, right?

Jason can’t read body language well enough (yet) to pick up even a fraction of her internal dialog. Still, the fact that Shiva’s leg sweep is interrupted by a shot to the knee - it feels like agreement. They’ll have to talk later, but Cassandra feels justified smiling as her fist finally makes contact.

This was going to be longer, but honestly I’d have to write a whole fic to do this prompt proper justice and I am way too unpracticed right now to make a good long fic.

Friendly reminder: Shiva had a sister named Carolyn that David Cain killed to help Shiva realize her “true potential”, whether she wanted to or not. Parallels! Recurring themes! Me trying to be clever! 

Background: in this AU, Cass meets Jason early (shortly before or after Catherine Todd dies), and the two are close by the time Batman enters the picture. I imagine that in the iconic tire-stealing scene happening with Cass  knocking the goddamn Batman out from behind and Jason low-key flipping out because oh my god, unconscious vigilante in an alley, it’s not like two twelve-year olds are strong enough to drag him to an inconspicuous spot before escaping, and they can’t leave Batman alone in an alley.

(Cass suspects Jason’s identity from the beginning, which means I’m kind of cheating with the prompt. Haha oops.)

I might revisit this AU in the future. I feel like having Cass and Jason be twins and introducing them at Jason’s canon entrypoint opens up some cool possibilities with Death in the Family, Bruce Wayne Murderer/Fugitive, and the Robin + Batgirl handovers.