#isn’t it cool they let me make this in Arkham

[youcalledmebabe]

webroe + guilty as sin?

the fic snippet

[porcelana-r0ta]

let the mourners come

Title: let the mourners come

Ao3 Link: Only available to Ao3 users

Word Count: 3045

Summary:

It started, as most things do with Danny Fenton, as a joke.

It ended, as most things do with Jazz Fenton, with things better than they were before.

xxXxx

When Danny finally gets a Twitter, it’s during Elon Musk’s shit show takeover. He’s able to secure a good Twitter handle thanks to people leaving en masse and fleeing to Tumblr. He knows about things that happen outside of Amity Park (he is terminally online rather than chronically, after all), but he still doesn’t think anything of using @TheJoker as his handle, even knowing about Gotham City’s clown troubles. It’s just going to be a shitpost account, anyway, one that dances in the chaos of Elon’s electronic graveyard. Nothing will come about him using @TheJoker when he’s merely posting things like, “Just grew a new row of teeth!!! very pointy but can’t go to the dentist anymore bc they might turn me in to the giw.”

So Danny honestly never foresaw The Actual Real Joker breaking out of Arkham Asylum all the way in Gotham City, New Jersey, and deciding to get a Twitter account to terrorize people online as well as offline. And he definitely never foresaw The Joker @’ing him on Twitter, demanding that Danny change his Twitter handle. But, well. Here he was. 

[Image Description: A screenshot of a Twitter reply chain, starting with the real Joker @'ing Danny's Twitter account, which uses TheJoker as his Twitter handle. The Joker, who has a verified account, demands that Danny "change your handle", and Danny replies with a simple "no" followed by red heart emoji. The Joker Tweets, "Kid you don't know who you're fucking with," to which Danny replies, "Ye I do ur some dude w/ poor fashion sense and lame jokes. Maybe try badjokesbyjeff bc originality is ugly on u" followed by a shrugging emoticon. The Joker responds, "Check your DMs." Danny then responds, "Perf [happy emoji surrounded by hearts] I've sent you a time and place. Can't wait to beat the shit out of another disgrace of a clown." Someone with the username "Gregg rulz ok" responds to Danny's last Tweet, "Bro is absolutely RATIOING the joker but the clown keeps responding [three skull emojis] embarrassing frfr too bad he's gonna die for realsies".

End ID]

Danny is quick to respond and then makes even quicker work of roasting The Joker. This soon results in The Joker DMing him his IP Address and a creative threat. Still, Danny isn’t about to cow to a clown with no respect for the art of clowning. He replies to the DM: 

Cool, meet me at the Nasty Burger parking lot in Amity Park IL on tuesday at 2am

The response from The Joker is quick:

Fourteen year olds are too confident these days

Danny rolls his eyes and ignores the influx of notifications from Twitter, and instead makes another Tweet.

Imagine beefing with someone over a Twitter handle lol acc so embarrassing for him

He blackens his screen and stretches in bed, letting his spine pop more than what is humanly possible. He runs his tongue over that second row of teeth, his lips curling into a grin. 

xxXxx

Gothamite Twitter is blowing up over The Joker’s social media beef with a faceless shitposting account. Jason, upon finding out about it, has a series of reactions: first, he looks up the shitposter and follows them. Then, he finds the actual chain between the poster and The Joker, and his vision goes vibrant green when he sees that The Joker’s profile picture is of the second Robin, beaten and swollen in an abandoned building in Ethiopia. 

When his vision clears and he can breathe without wanting to kill, he likes the shitposter’s replies, and he calls the Replacement to see if the other Bats know already.

“We know,” Tim says in lieu of a hello when the ringing cuts out. “We’re working on it.”

“What, you think anything’s gonna come of it?” But even as Jason asks, he already knows the answer. The Joker is unhinged and once he’s threatened something, he’ll follow up unless he comes up with a “funnier” option. 

Tim’s breath hitches, and he says, “I’ve hacked their DMs. Joker knows the kid’s IP address and sent it to him. He knows everything from that address alone.”

He pauses in the middle of suiting up, “Kid?”

He hears Tim swallow, “Yes, kid. He’s fifteen. And he gave The Joker a specific time and place to meet up to fight. In his own hometown.”

“Are— are you fucking kidding me?” 

“No. B is already calling Nightwing. We’re taking the Batwing to Illinois.”

“Jesus fuck. I’ll be there in twenty.”

“Hood, I—”

“Shut up, I’m already in my gear.” He hangs up without waiting for a response. 

He refreshes the Twitter feed and barks a laugh at the newest Tweet:

Jason Todd votes, and the Red Hood leaves his safe house. 

xxXxx

A commercial flight to Illinois takes around two and a half hours. In the Batwing, they get there in an hour, and don’t even have to worry about the drive from Chicago to a small speck of a town like Amity Park. They spend the quick flight learning everything they can about Daniel James Fenton, the owner of the Twitter account, and they can all sense the growing tension from (and between) Bruce and Jason.

But, well. Jason doesn’t care. Let them be uncomfortable. It doesn’t compare to being ripped back into life and finding out his dad didn’t even get justice for his death. 

When they reach town, it doesn’t take long to find the Fentons’ home. This is in part because Amity Park is a very navigable town, and because of the giant neon sign proclaiming FentonWorks on the side of the building. 

“Is that a blimp?” Dick asks. “Why don’t we have a blimp?” 

“Where would we keep it?” the Demon Brat counters practically. “Goliath takes up all of the Cave’s extra space.” 

Jason rolls his eyes and knows veins would be popping out of Bruce’s forehead if it weren’t for the cowl. 

“Let’s go,” Bruce says instead, and they all make their way to the house. 

Nightwing, predictably, goes for the front door approach. Jason rolls his eyes as he takes one of the second-story windows and finds his way downstairs.

He gets down at the same time that a redheaded girl answers the door and nearly slams it in Dick’s face. Jason has to suppress snickers at the sight. 

“Wait, wait, wait, are you Jazz Fenton? We need to talk to your brother!” 

“...We?” she asks, then tenses and turns around to see the rest of the Bats in the hall behind her. Dick takes the opportunity to step in completely, closing the door behind him. “Wha— what’s going on?”

“Where are your parents, Jazz?” Bruce makes every question sound like a demand. Jason rolls his eyes from behind his mask—way to put the teenager at ease, B.

“Why do you need to know?” Her voice has a defensive edge to it. “What do you want with Danny?” 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Nightwing comforts. “He didn’t do anything too bad, just said some dumb things online. It’s not his fault.” 

This relaxes her, and her shoulders begin un-hunching. “Oh, s-so what’d he do?”

“He foolishly challenged The Joker to a battle in a ‘Nasty Burger’ parking lot tonight.” 

“You could’ve had some more tact, Robin,” Nightwing scolds. But the Demon Spawn just crosses his arms. 

“He did what?” Jazz shrieks. “Like, The Joker from Gotham? That Joker?”

“Are there others?” Red Hood comments dryly. 

Her face goes through several different emotions—disbelief, rage, fear, and then rage again, “DANIEL JAMES FENTON! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!” 

There’s a thumping noise, and then frantic footsteps down the stairs. 

“Wha? Who died?” asks the figure of a tiny fifteen-year-old, smaller than even Jason had been when he was alone with The Joker. He’s tiny and lanky. Zero muscle definition. Eye bags to rival the Replacement’s. Something ripples in the Pit, deep and distinct, but he can’t name what causes it.

Oh, this kid is so dead. 

“Danny,” says Jazz calmly while Danny blinks uncomprehendingly at the heroes in their hallway. She is solemn when she says, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to kill you now.” 

“What did I do?” 

She stares at him, “Why have you scheduled a fight with The Joker?” 

“Oh, that.” He rubs the back of his neck, “Is he taking that seriously?”

“Of course he is, Danny! It’s The Joker! That’s what he does! He can’t differentiate between a joke and reality! He would tear off his own face for the bit!” 

“Oof,” is all Danny can muster. He digs his phone out and starts typing before Jazz yanks it out his hand. 

“You’re fucking TWEETING about this?” Jazz asks incredulously, and Hood’s hackles rise. She even reads the Tweet aloud, “‘Just found out @TheJ0ker is being fr about fighting me. Sad but i can take a clown.’”

“I was gonna add ‘i’ve done it b4,’ but like the letter and the number four. But yeah.” 

“You’re grounded forever.” Danny opens his mouth to protest, but the look Jazz cuts at him is so scathing that he shuts his mouth. Hood is reluctantly impressed—she had what could be cultivated into a fantastic Batglare. She pockets the phone, “You’re never getting this phone back. Taunting The Joker to Amity? Have you any brain cells? What if he brings Joker gas with him, huh? Or any of his goons? What if he starts hurting other people? Have you thought any of this through?” 

Danny’s face goes from tired to chastised, his lips drawing into a frown, especially at the mention of other people. 

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t think that he’d take it so seriously.”

“He sent you your IP Address.”

“I thought that was just a random string of numbers?”

“Oh my god,” Jazz despairs. “Oh my god. Grounded forever. See, I know you're lying to me. I know you're lying because Tucker, the nerdiest tech nerd to have ever been born, is your best friend.”

He rubs the back of his neck, “I tune him out?”

“You’re still lying to me?” Jazz scoffs and turns to Batman, “Do whatever you want with him. I’m not going to defend him from this.” 

“Hey!” complained her brother, but Batman just continued on, “Where are your parents?”

“They’re in Sweden for a science convention,” Jazz answers. “They left this morning.” 

Damn, Jason curses to himself. 

“Jazz, seriously. You’re not gonna let Batman kill me, right?” 

“Do you want to be cremated or buried, Danny?” Jazz asks blasély, and Danny gulps, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. 

“It’s my Twitter handle,” he mutters petulantly, and Jason can’t believe the gall of this kid. Or maybe stupidity. Audacity’s a good one, too. “If he wanted it, he should’ve gotten it first. And he gives clowns a bad name.” 

“Not the clown thing again.” Jazz digs her palms into her eyes, sighs, then turns to the heroes. “He has a whole clown thing ever since Circus Gothica came to town and robbed a bunch of jewelry stores.” 

Danny gestures wildly with his hands, as if demonizing clowns was the real problem and not the egomaniacal mass murderer who wanted to murder him for his Twitter handle, “Clowning is an art form, Jazz, and people like Freakshow and The Joker make a mockery of the very serious societal statements that clowns make!” 

All of the Bats very carefully Did Not look at Nightwing, who has made very similar rants on quiet patrols.

“You are never leaving this house again,” she says serenely. “And I’m unplugging the wifi router.”

“You would punish even yourself?”

“Oh, little brother. I would watch the world burn if it meant knocking sense into your thick skull.” 

“Okay, Christ,” Red Hood finally interrupted the siblings’ melodrama. An unyielding redheaded girl and a mouthy black-haired, blue-eyed boy? They’d fit in a little too well back at the Manor, so Jason needs to cut this shit out before Bruce’s bat-doption instincts start tingling. “Stop. Just… Christ. Stop. Is this how you always interact with each other?”

“Sometimes there’s explosions,” Danny pipes up, a cheeky grin on his face. 

Jazz doesn’t dispute it. 

Fucking hell. God damn it. I can’t. I just can’t. 

Batman doesn’t give anything away, “Robin and Red Robin will be staying here with you until Nightwing, Hood, and I apprehend The Joker. First, we’re going to check the perimeter.” 

“Oooh, I get to give the lab tour!” 

Lab?

“No lab. You’re grounded. You’ll only be in there for cleaning duty now.”

“Wh– hey! No fair!” 

“What’s this lab you two are talking about?” Red Robin asks before Jazz can rip into her brother again. 

She sighs, “Our parents’ lab. I’ll show you, but someone needs to stay with Danny.” 

“You act like I’m gonna run off and start World War III….”

“I wonder why,” she says sarcastically.

Batman nods to Robin, who nods back, and the rest of them follow Jazz out of the living room to a metal reinforced door. She types in a code—Jason catches the numbers 03-14-99. There’s an assenting beep, and she opens the door, flicking on the lights and leading them down into what is apparently a basement lab. 

A stone settles in Red Hood’s stomach, cold and heavy. 

The basement is large, likely the floor size of the entire building. There are several work tables, filled with miscellaneous blueprints and spare parts and weapons and tools. Against the farthest wall is another armored door, but what draws Hood’s—and the entire Batclan’s—attention is the south wall, where a circular hole in the wall was glowing a toxic Pit green. 

The stone shattered in his stomach, splintering into his body. Is it harder or easier to breathe? Jason can’t tell. 

“Wow,” says Nightwing. His voice is cheerful, but Jason can feel the stress beneath it. “Do I even want to know?” 

Wasn’t this supposed to just be typical Joker bullshit?

“Our parents are ectobiologists,” Jazz explains nonchalantly, walking further into the lab. “As in, ghost biologists.” She pauses at one of the work tables, picking up a green and white thermos. Pretty boring, considering the rest of their surroundings. 

“Ghosts.” Red Robin’s voice is carefully neutral. 

“Ghosts,” Jazz reaffirms. “I know. I thought they were crazy at first, too. But I can prove it, if you like.” Then, without waiting for a yes or no, she untwists the thermos, and there’s a bright flash of white, and a whole entire body sprouting out of it. 

“WHOO! I’M FREE!” cries the…being, pale and floating and lanky and entirely too big to have fit into a fucking thermos, of all the fucking things. “....And not in the Realms? Wait.” He stops stretching, descending to rest closer to the ground, but still hovering a few inches from the floor. He’s got green eyes and lifeless (ha) blond hair. He’s wearing a trenchcoat and a green skull necklace. Overall, he looks like the type of thug he’d arrest in the Bowery. 

“Hello, Johnny.” The man’s—ghost’s?—eyes flicker around each person in the room, his gaze becoming more and more confused and panicked as he takes in each Bat, before settling on Jazz Fenton. 

“Why are the fucking Bats here?” 

“The Joker’s coming to Amity,” she says. The ghost’s eyes widen. Jazz tilts her head, “How many ghosts would you say passed away in Gotham, Johnny?” 

As Jason and the Bats tense, this Johnny guy lets out a wicked laugh, “Oh, Doll, you have the best surprises. Why did we break up?” 

“You did try to have my body possessed. That ruins any good relationship.” 

“Man, but Kitty’ll love this. Thanks for letting me out of Soup Time, Doll.” He floats higher, “Any advice?” 

She throws him the phone she’d confiscated from Danny and he catches it easily, “Everything’s on here. Have fun.”

“What exactly are you planning?” Batman scowls. 

Johnny laughs, “Aww, don’t worry, Bats. Peace and love on Planet Earth, or whatever. We’ll make it quick.” Then, as the Bats leap into action as one, Johnny turns invisible, the Batarangs passing harmlessly through where he’d once been floating. 

“Where did he go?” Batman turns his scowl, angrier than ever, to Jazmin Fenton, who stares back unflinchingly. “He’s going to solve the problem.”

“You mean he’s going to kill The Joker.”

She shakes her head, “Oh, no. That’d just be asking for him to come back as a ghost. Could you imagine a Joker with powers like invisibility, intangibility, flight, and more? Johnny can be impulsive, but he’s smart. None of them will kill The Joker.” 

“Then what are they going to do?” Red Robin asks. 

“My parents are ectobiologists,” Jazz repeats from earlier. “But I am more of an anthro-ectopologist. I am concerned with the study of ectoplasmic beings’ societies and cultures. And while it is very ancient, there is protocol in the Infinite Realms—that is, where you go when you die, should you remain after death—to prosecute living criminals who have killed a certain number of Realms citizens. So you don’t have to worry about your moral code, Batman. The Joker will be tried by a much fairer court than Gotham can ever hope to have. No offense.” 

Jason stares at Jazz Fenton, who he’d pegged as the sane sibling. He’s not so sure now, but he can’t say he hates it.

“And how do we know it’s a fair trial?” Nightwing asks. 

She waves her hand, “Oh, as Gotham’s Knights, you’re key witnesses. I’m sure you’ll be summoned to testify. You will see then. And don’t worry about your secret identities—the dead don’t care much for that sort of thing.” 

“So if this is a ‘fair’ trial or whatever, The Joker’s going to be locked up forever?” Jason asks. “I mean, that’s the only option for shit like him.” 

Batman sends him a look, but he ignores it. 

“Well, there are several different punishments that could be deemed appropriate, but he’ll never be able to set foot in the mortal world again, yes.” 

Jason Todd grins, “Oh, I’m glad your brother’s stupid, kid.” 

She sighs, long-suffering, “Well, that makes one of us. Still, there’s more important things we should discuss now that you’re here.”

“More important than The Joker trying to kill your brother over a Twitter handle?” Red Robin asks doubtfully. 

Jazz smiles, sharp and dangerous, and asks, ”Have you ever heard of the Anti-Ecto Acts?” 

xxXxx

Several months later when Danny is finally un-grounded, he Tweets his last three Tweets before Twitter can become the foolishly named X: 

Imagine bullying the Joker so hard that it not only lands the Joker in ghost prison BUT it also leads to major law reform in the US lmao someone make the domino effect meme about this pls

Y’allre replying to me with thanks like i did anything other than be an internet troll. My sister literally manipulated local, federal, and interdimensional law so you should be thanking her. 

i just a babie 🥺🥺🥺

xxXxx

Thanks for reading! This is the whole fic, so pls do not ask for tags! Thank you :)

[thealtoduck]

Eye for an Eye

Tim Drake x Riddler Sidekick!Male Reader

Batfamily x Riddler Sidekick!Male Reader (kinda..)

Warnings: Superhero stuff

Riddler Sidekick!Male Reader: Masterlist

Summary: You get another visit in Arkham…

——

The door to your cell was thrown open revealing one of the Arkham guards. You threw an annoyed glance towards him. ”What?” you questioned. ”You have another visitor” the guard said making you confused. ”It’s past visiting hours” you stated but the guard came up towards you and cuffed your hands anyway.

He then led you out of your room and through the hallways of Arkham but he didn’t lead you to the visiting rooms, he led you out of the inmate section and towards the staff section of the Asylum.

You however didn’t question it as you were curious to see where he would lead you. Then he stopped you outside the warden’s office belonging too ”Jeremiah Arkham”. The guard knocked and there came a muted ”Come in” from the inside.

The warden was sitting at his desk but he wasn’t alone, Batman and the Red Hood were also waiting for your arrival. Where was Tim? Had they not managed to save him. ”Welcome Clue, have a seat?” the Warden Arkham said. You did as told. ”You’ve already met our guests, Batman and the Red Hood” the Warden stated.

”I brought you here because they are in need of help as Riddler seems to have taken a hostage” he explained. ”I already helped them they were here this morning” you said. Batman then spoke up ”The Riddler wasn’t where you thought he’d be we need you to help us track him down”.

”I can’t do that from here” you stated. ”We know, we’re bringing you with us” Batman explained. You turned to the Warden and asked curiously ”Really? You agreed to it?”. ”Of course, we need to do whatever we can to rescue that poor hostage” the Warden said.

”And… what do i get for my help?” you questioned. ”Clue, i will personally look to have your sentence shortened” the Warden offered. You nodded and said ”Alright, i’m in” with a satisfied smirk.

——

You, Batman and the Red Hood made your way out of the Asylum. Your hands were still cuffed to make sure you wouldn’t try anything. The two vigilantes led you to the Batmobile. They opened the door to the back seat for you.

You sat down in it and looked around the inside of the infamous Batmobile. As the other two entered you found yourself saying ”This isn’t as cool as i thought it’d be”. ”What were you expecting?” Red Hood questioned already annoyed by your presence.

”I don’t know, just something more exciting…” you told them, they didn’t respond. The three of you sat in silence as Batman started driving, leaving Arkham behind. ”So what’s the plan? Where do we start?”.

Bruce let out a sigh and said ”We did manage to find Riddler or at least a message from him, he demanded you in exhange for Tim or else he’d kill him”. ”So you- YOU lied to the warden, you didn’t need my help, you needed me for a trade” you realised.

Their silence told you that you were right. ”Damn Bats, freeing a criminal, what would the comissioner say?” you teased. The Batmobile eventually stopped outside a telephone booth. Batman and Red Hood got out, Red Hood opened the door for you and you got out.

”What are we doing here? Eddie dosen’t have a lair here” you questioned. ”We know, you’re giving him a call” Batman said pointing at the phone booth. ”He wanted to make sure we actually got you out before he revealed the location” Batman explained and handed you 50 cents and a note with a phone number written down on it.

You entered the phone booth, Red Hood squeezed himself in behind you, creating an uncomfortable closeness. You gave him a wondering look and he said ”Just so you and Riddler won’t plan anything”. You rolled your eyes and stated ”You’re lucky i won’t punch you, i didn’t even let him Tim stand this close to me and we were dating”.

You fed the 50 cents in to the payphone and tapped the number on the buttons, you held the headset to your ear as it dialed. Soon enough someone picked up. ”Batman! Is that you?” Eddie questioned. ”Wrong” you told him. ”Clue!” he exclaimed excitedly.

”I take it Batman got my message, tell him this riddle for to find my location ”I stand tall in the water surrounded by boats of all sizes, what am i?” Eddie said giddily, you rolled your eyes at the Riddle and said ”Come on Eddie, that’s the best one you can come up with, see you at the docks”.

”No you little- Batman was supposed to figure it out, don’t make me regret-” Eddie tantrumed as you hung up the phone. You and Red Hood exited the phonebooth, you turned to Batman and said ”He’s at the docks”.

The three of you got in to the Batmobile and Batman started speeding towards the docks.

——

You found Tim and Riddler waiting for the three of you at the docks. Tim’s body was battered as he was tied to a chair, a bomb strapped to the chair as well. Eddie stood a couple of feet away at the edge of the dock holding the detonator to the bomb, behind him in the water was a speedboat captained by Query and Echo, waiting for the two of you to be able to make a quick getaway.

”Welcome” Eddie said loudly. ”Thank you, Batman and Red Hood for reuniting me with my dear Clue” he tanked them mockingly. ”So here’s how this is gonna play out, Clue is gonna come over to me, we’ll boat away and leave you to rescue Robin, okay?” Eddie demanded madly.

Batman answered with a ”Alright”. Red Hood gave you a little push and you walked forward. You came closer towards the middle where Tim was sat, seeing him like this hurt. You knew you were meant to walk past him and join the Riddler in freedom but you still cared about Tim no matter everything that had happened between you.

You stopped in front of him and got down on your knees, Tim looked at you with a small smile. ”Uhm, what’s happening?! Clue, what are you doing?!” Eddie questioned confused but you ignored him. ”Are you okay?” you asked Tim brushing some hair out of his slightly bruised and dirtied face.

”I’ve been better” he answered humorously. ”Y/n, i’m sorry, i should’ve listened to you when i found Riddler’s plans instead of accusing you” Tim apologised. You cupped his cheeks and placed a kiss on his lips.

”It’s in the past” you uttered to him and remembered something. ”Hey, you know we never got to see that movie after the night at the motel, maybe we could see that together?” you suggested making Tim chuckle and say ”It’s a date”.

You gave Tim another kiss and stood up. ”Gotta go, my boat is waiting, don’t blow up while i’m gone” you said and walked to the Riddler. ”You’ve got some explaining to do” Eddie stated suspiciously from what he had just witnessed.

”Shut up Eddie” you muttered. ”Oh, that’s nice, i rescue you from Arkham and all i get is attitude, not even a thanks!” he ranted as the two of you climbed on board the boat and sat down behind Query and Echo. The boat then sped off, you spared Tim, Batman and Red Hood a glance as they faded in to the distance.

[redflagshipwriter]

Red Hot Ghouls Chapter 13 part 1/2

masterpost

The next patrol night, Jason’s shoulder was still a little sore from how hard Jack Fenton had pumped it to say goodbye after they’d gone ‘ghost chasing- not hunting!’ in the family van. The van and the family were both growing on him. He was going to really hate it if he had to arrest either of the Fenton kids. It might damage his relationship with Jack and Maddie.

“How was your trip?”

“Might have gotten adopted but I’m not sure why,” Jason said. He shot his grapple and aimed to get a good view of the neighborhood. He winced as it reeled him up. It was a quiet night and cool air buffeted him hard from the side. He didn’t expect trouble. He’d been seen, which was the main deterrent Crime Alley needed at this point. “Did a bit of journalism. Had an impromptu refresher on tactical driving.” He hit boots-first with relief and immediately rolled his shoulder.

“...You’re doing that shitty thing where you make it sound like you’re blowing me off with lies, but then later I find out it was all true and you make some jackass comment about being an honest guy,” Tim diagnosed. He sounded cranky about it, too.

Jason just shrugged. “Did Gotham miss me?” Horns honked in the distance. He looked in that direction on reflex; but no explosion or crash followed. He relaxed again.

“Not even a little bit. But something happened while you were in the air, actually, that might be relevant. Have time to watch?” A little red cursor appeared on the feed inside his helmet.

Jason retracted his grapple and settled in on the ledge like a gargoyle. “Go for it.” He rested his elbows on his knees and crouched. Then he redirected his focus from the real world around him to the little screen that Tim was hijacking.

“Yeah, you’ll like this,” Tim said under his breath. “Just a sec. No theory yet, but check this shit out.”

Jason grimaced preemptively.

The shared screen switched to an Arkham security camera, complete with logo in the bottom right hand corner. It showed a single occupancy low-security cell at night. A man was sleeping in the bed. The quality was crappy enough that Jason doubted he’d be able to identify the prisoner if they looked directly at the camera.

“That Waters?” he checked.

“Sure is.” A button clicked. “Here we go.”

It was hard to tell that the video was playing, aside from the seconds ticking by on the display. Jason resisted the urge to fidget. Tim had selected this part for a reason. Maybe that reason was to be a dick, but probably he was serious.

The screen went black. Then static. Then the feed started wavering across the screen in lines.

“Huh.” Jason lifted his eyebrows. “Not great quality.”

“Reminds me of the quality of Jasmine Fenton’s phone calls,” Tim muttered. “But hold on. It’s hard to see, but-”

Waters was sitting up in one frame. In the next, he was scrambling out of bed and to the floor to prostrate face down in front of absolutely nobody.

He had to make a dry comment. “Wonder why he’s in Arkham.”

Granted, Jason knew the guy was kinda right about the afterworld. But he really wasn’t conveying ‘I am a stable member of society who won’t try any more human sacrifices in a community center rental room.’

Jason squinted. “Does it look like he’s talking to you?”

“Sure does.” Tim sounded frustrated. “No sound, and there’s no chance of reading lips on this even if the angle was better.”

Jason checked the full view of the camera angle again with a sharp eye for any anomalies. Lots of people had special powers that let them go unseen. There was usually some kind of sign, though. A shadow? Something small on the floor that was disturbed? An indication that something moved because someone touched it?

If there was anyone in that room, they didn’t touch anything, and they didn’t stay long. Waters wrenched himself up and threw a fit, hitting the floor and pulling at his hair. Jason watched impassively, waiting to see how long it took for something to happen.

“Response time isn’t too bad,” he remarked. Two orderlies appeared outside of the cell and began trying to talk Waters down.

“Over two minutes,” Tim said judgmentally.

Jason rolled his eyes, because he lived in the real fucking world where that was a short amount of time to notice and reach a cell at night. On the screen, Waters started to respond to whatever was being said. He uncurled from his ball on the floor. He gradually got up. He nodded a few times. The rest of the clip seemed utterly unremarkable and Jason had to assume they were only watching it to be certain they were thorough.

When it was finally over Jason leaned back and contemplated the night sky. “You think that Jasmine Fenton is connected?” he had to ask.

“She did look up when his cell transfer would be and this happened half a day later, the last night before he got moved. I can’t think of how she’d be connected, unless you believe- well.” Tim cleared his throat. “I looked up the Fentons. They say they’re, uh.” He sounded embarrassed just to say it.

Jason could have cut in at any time with ‘ectobiologists?’ Instead, he sat back and enjoyed how uncomfortable his shitty little foster brother was about mad science. Bit rich, coming from the mental breakdown cloning guy. But hey, free schadenfreude source.

Tim sighed so hard it sent static across the feed. Jason turned on the recording function just in time to capture Tim say, “They’re ghost hunters. Ecobiologists. Hey, you sack of-”

Jason ended the recording. “Imma trim that,” he muttered to himself, and saved the file where Tim couldn’t access it. “Gonna be my ringtone for you,” he lied cheerfully. He could think of much better uses for ‘they’re ghost hunters.’

But in the interest of fairness-

“They’re not ghost hunters,” Jason clarified. “They’re ghost chasers, now. Like storm chasers.”

“Wow,” Tim muttered. “I’ll take that note down for my diary.

Jason stood up and ignored the sarcasm. “You’re theorizing that there might have been a ghost in that cell?”

[confused-wanderer]

How would Jason react, or even know about Bruce nearly killing the joker?

He doesn’t hear it from Damian, Dick nor Barbara. It’s only when a few years have passed and relations between Bruce and him slowly start cooling that he starts being able to return to the Manor more often without feeling pangs of guilt, longing, nostalgia and overall the Lazarus Pit screaming to be let out.

However, he isn’t dumb. Whenever he complains to Tim about how Tim’s been treated better and loved more than he was, he’s quick to notice how Tim’s jaw tenses, with fingers spastic as if they wanted to curl into fists. Nor does he miss what Tim whispers under his breath twenty minutes later.

If only you knew..

Bruce keeps trying to make amends, tries engaging with him face to face before a few bullets got the message across and he retreated. But Jason could still feel him waiting, hovering, for the signal to light up and let him know he was needed.

He could go to hell though.. Every single time he looked at Bruce he felt safe, followed by fierce anger burning through his veins. He hated that he felt at ease when Bruce entered. Hated that he almost fell back into their old banter. Hated that he missed him. Hated that he still trusted him.

Hated that he still loved him.

One night, after giving Bruce the cold shoulder the entire time and watching in satisfaction as Bruce’s shoulder slumped in defeat, he felt the sudden need to comfort him. He’s the batman, he chided himself. If he could get over your death, he can get over this.

Standing out on the balcony, he never spoke to the presence already there.

“Master Jason..”

“Hey Alfred, it’s pretty cold out you sure you’d be fine?”

“I’ve faced worse winters.”

Jason sighed. That old man always had an air of expectancy around him, just like when he was robin, like a mother waiting for their child to tell them what they did wrong.

“What do you want?”

“I want to know what the bloody hell you think you’re doing?”

That caught Jason’s attention. Hatred and stoic ness quickly melted and all he could do was stare at him in shock.

“Why are you tormenting him?”

“Are you fucking kidding me??-“ “Language master Jason.”

“Alfred. You were there.”

“There was nothing master Bruce could do to save you-”

“I DONT CARE ABOUT THAT ALFRED! He-“

Shoulders slumped, he looked down.

“He replaced me.” Jason whispered. “He didn’t even wait till my body was cold he just fucking went ahead and replaced me. Even after knowing I died, he still put another child in that suit, MY suit! And then, HE DIDNT EVEN AVENGE ME!! He just took Joker back to Arkham, which is basically just like a vacation for him, and LEFT. After all these-”

A shivering cold current of electricity ran through his body and he could feel the Lazarus Pit rising, making his body grow colder by the second.

“After all this time.. he never did anything.” Jason muttered. “So yeah, not only was knowing I was dead for four years a slap to the face.. but to come back home to find another kid in my room and business as usual? As if I never existed? That just made me realise I didn’t matter.”

CLINK

The tea cup in Alfred’s hands was shaking, and a wave of concern overtook Jason. He was about to reach a hand out to steady it when Alfred put the cup down, sighed and looked at the moon.

“Master Bruce never gave Robin to Tim. I did.”

“.. Come again?”

“I gave it to him myself. After you died.. he was a shell of himself. He started pushing himself more, brutalising criminals to the point of hospitalisation. After you died.. a big part of him did too. He refused to be around people, friends, to be happy, to eat. He was punishing himself for your death by refusing to live. And I never forgot you either my boy.. Every night for months I stood by the windows, staying awake and looking outside..hoping to catch a glimpse of you. For the first time in my life I prayed for you to be beaten and bruised, but alive. Locked myself in your room, in your memories, as if standing over your bed was guarding you even in death..Master Bruce missed you so much he played tapes of your missions, just to hear your laugh.”

The older man shook his head and refused to look at him.

“He rejected Tim, but I couldn’t watch him destroy himself. I’d already lost one son..” Alfred paused, looking at Jason with such fondness and pain. “ I wasn’t going to lose another.”

A long pause lingered in the air, and Jason could hear his heart racing as it processed what he’d heard.

“As for Joker,” Jason looked up, and saw the most terrifying scowl he’d ever seen before, with eyes filled with hatred and a craving for retribution.

“Jason Bruce almost killed him too. Like you said, I was there. I was always there. He had chas- hunted Joker down, torturing him slowly and violently until the air was thick with his screams. How every bone was shattered, with so much blood you couldn’t even tell the tiles underneath were white.”

Alfred closed his eyes, and Jason couldn’t help feel that though he was remembering the scene, he was also reveling in it. “His body shattered, smile gone replaced with pain and the howls of misery that he emitted that night.. alas-”

“He didn’t kill him.”

Alfred’s eyes bore into his, and reflected the darkness of the shimmering sky.

“You’re not hearing me. He damn well nearly did. There are things worse than death in this world and Bruce made sure to make Joker feel every single.one. But Superman.. heard him. He heard the roars of fury and grief, and stopped him. All while Bruce stood over the broken body of what once was human. All while muttering your name over and over again, like it was a prayer that kept him grounded. With every hit he took, with every ounce of pain he delivered, he did it with your name on his lips.”

They both just stood there.. shadows in fading moonlight as the noises of life started waking the world with their song.

“Unfortunately, his voice was recorded on one of those surveillance cameras. Tim wiped it, but we kept one copy.. and though the footage is corrupted, the sound is crystal clear.”

Alfred hesitated, before gently cupping Jason’s hands and placing a cold weight on them.

“I hope you never hear it..my boy. I’d rather you burnt it. But if you want to hear the raw truth.. I wanted you to have proof.”

Sunlight burst through the horizon, and with it came the dawn of a new time.

Jason heard the tape as soon as he left.

And burnt it right after.

Alfred was right.

All he had heard were the guttural cries of a broken man..

A father, grieving for his son.

Jason finding out Dick killed joker post:

[mysterycitrus]

You’ve talked about how fandom treats jtodd & dick, so what are your thoughts on how fandom treats dick & tim?

There’s this post that’s asking about people’s batfamily hot takes, and I was scrolling through the reblogs bc I love drama. One of the “hot takes” was calling dick a bad brother bc of the bruce lost in time comic era. Specifically saying that fandom excuses dick’s shitty behavior towards Tim bc his dad (Bruce) died and because of the stress of taking care of the city by himself. While Tim was hurting because of the deaths of Kon, Bart, Jack, Steph, and Donna (idk why they included Donna as Tim’s grief and not Dick’s??) and therefore Tim’s & Dick’s hurt and stress aren’t the same. According to this person, Tim was going through it and Dick was making it worse.

Now, I’m not going to claim I know how everything went down since I haven’t read those comics yet, but this feels like a gross misunderstanding of the arc.

From what I’ve seen, fandom tends to invalidate and villainize Dick during this time in favor of Tim. Dick is not being excused, in fact he’s being blamed for things that are either not his fault or just made up in order to whump Tim. Idk that “hot take” just rubbed me the wrong way because of how one-sided it was, and I guess it made me wonder about your thoughts about Dick & Tim since I tend to agree with your opinions lmao

fundamentally the issue is this — dick grayson existing and being a good person is an obstacle for fanon angst. dick grayson being a good brother means that jtodd can’t just slot into his pre-existing relationships with tim and cass and damian. dick grayson being a good friends means that he’s close with the titans and the league because he’s competent and trusted. dick grayson being kind means that he didn’t abandon tim, he was literally trying to keep everything together after bruce’s death.

not to try and make it a grief olympics but as much as people talk about everyone tim has lost (and i think they must have been talking about dana winters in that post?) people seem to forget that dick’s city just got nuked + the fallout of nightwing 93 + donna dying + jade dying + the titans falling apart + he was just locked in arkham himself. like… his dad has just died, he’s had to fight off his brother who’d just tried to kill both tim and damian and been given custody over a kid who doesn’t trust him

red robin 2009 has done irreversible harm to tim drakes character. people using that as the starting point for reading about him is bad. it’s a comic about a grief spiral, and it isn’t an amazing depiction of him either. but even then, people just seem to love straight up fabricating what’s in it.

dick tells tim that therapy might be a good idea. tim tells dick that he’s leaving because he trusts dick to let him do what he needs to do. even at his lowest point, dick is who he trusts most. those takes that’re like “tim drake was at his lowest point and then jtodd sees him and realises that he’s cool actually and they bond #jasontoddisagoodbrother #dickgraysonisabadbrother etc” because they like to posit that dick threatened to throw tim in arkham are so silly

that’s even ignoring how people just straight up lie about damian’s actions and how weird everyone is about ra’s al ghul. no, tim isn’t the only one he refers to as detective aside from bruce. no, tim isn’t one step away from being a mass murderer. no, damian didn’t try to kill tim— he was reacting to tim being suspicious of him. tim was beefing with a ten year old. why are u being so mean to the ten year old? (We Know Why)

ur right — it is extremely one-sided. im not one to pretend that canon is flawless by any means, but acting as though fanon is better just because someone online came up with it is also stupid. there are many many racist undertones with how jtodd and tim are interpreted, both separately and with each other. a lot of it is yaoi baiting dynamics, that a lot of fans don’t seem to want to admit. i won’t comment on how white people writing jtodd as latino and tim as asian can be Bad but like…. it’s all tied up together. people want these two characters to have suffered the most, because that justifies everything fans want them to do. they want them to be wronged. they want their idea of justice in their name

[jasonstodger]

Could u write a fluff/angst piece where Jason breaks into the wrong house or something but ends up staying & bonds with the reader over having scars and shared trauma?

jkajskajksja YES YES YES! Thank you for the ask, anon <3

"UNCORRUPT ME"

pairing: Jason Todd x ungendered!reader

summary: non-graphic smut | scars | referenced child abuse | trauma bonding | awkwardness

word count: 1.9k

“What are you doing in my room?”

The figure stares at you, their face masked, void of emotion. Unreadable. 

“You didn’t lock the window,” he says. His voice is rich and deep, and so, so rough it almost burns. “You… are not who I expected to see.”

You stare at them nervously. You’re sat up in your bed, your dorm a dingy, dark envelope of self-pity. Those searching white lenses trail over you, lingering on the many thick, deep white scars, jagged and cruel, that litter your stomach and ribs like rivers of silver over your skin.

“What do you want? I have no money. I’m a student.” Your voice is eerily calm, your heart beating uncomfortably in your chest as the figure takes a heavy step towards you.

“I’m not here for money,” comes the thick reply. His boots slide across your floor again. “What happened to you?”

You swallow, thick and uncomfortable, wetting your lips. You can’t see the man’s eyes beneath his mask. It’s unsettling: “My father tried to kill me 6 years ago. He stabbed me 34 times.”

Your voice is quiet and void of emotion as you repeat the tragedy that continues to haunt you. The figure regards you silently.

“Why did he try to kill you?”

“Who are you?” You ask, little louder than a whisper.

“I’m…” he hesitates. “Jason Todd.”

You rub your sleep-tired eyes, looking at him through the darkness. “Aren’t you dead?”

“I was. But I’m better now,” he says again in his low timbre. He approaches cautiously, scanning the scars on your body. “Your father isn’t here now, is he?”

“He’s in Arkham. They fried his brains.”

“I see.” He continues to stare at you, and you can almost feel his palpable need to take your pain away. “You don’t have anyone with you tonight?”

You stare at him silently, your cheek twitching at the irony of his words. “No one wants to go home with the chick who’s dad sliced her up.”

Silence. And then:

“I’d go home with you.”

You grin wrlyly, but there is no happiness there. “The man who broke into my dorm says he’d go home with me. Tell me why that doesn’t fill me with comfort?”

“Because I broke into your dorm.”

“Bingo.”

He creeps closer. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Okay,” you whisper, watching him closely.

“... Can I kiss you?”

His mask is lit by the moonlight as he kneels down in front of you, the hard edges of the helmet glistening. Your eyes soften, heart skipping a beat.

“No.”

“I understand,” he says lowly. He continues to stare at you, the mask making it impossible to see any subtle facial changes. But his voice grows gentle. “Would you… let me stay with you tonight?”

“Why?” you whisper, voice shaky.

“You look lonely.”

“I’m used to it.”

“Just because you’re used to it doesn’t make it okay,” he says softly. 

“I could say the same to you about breaking into people’s homes.”

He tilts his head. “Maybe,” he decrees, and he motions to the spot on the your bed beside you. “May I?”

You stare at him for a moment, trying to decipher him. “... okay.”

He shuffles under the covers, not touching you. For a while, you both lie there in silence.

“My name’s y/n,” you say suddenly, gently. 

“I’m Jason,” he replies.

“Yeah… you’ve said that.”

“Oh. Sorry.” He looks at you, trying to find the right thing to say and do. 

Your voice becomes quiet. “It’s okay,” Your legs touch, and you swallow. “Do you have scars, Jason?”

“Yes.” His voice is low, and he keeps his gaze low too. Like he can’t bring himself to look at you.

“Cool.”

“Is it cool? I guess… it’s cool how similar we are. We’re both people broken by the world.”

You don’t reply for a moment, sinking into the bed. You can feel him beside you. It’s strangely comfortable, despite knowing nothing about him. But you can understand that he’s also damaged goods… Just like you. He reaches out, fingertips touching your arm: “We don’t have to talk, if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t mind talking,” you say quietly. “It’s a good distraction.”

He appraises you. “Can I ask you something?”

“Okay.”

“Why’d you let me stay?”

You glance at him, his face obscured by the dark and his mask. “I think I was hoping you’d finish the job,” you admit, quiet and vulnerable.

“I’m not here to do that. I’m not supposed to be here at all.”

“That’s alright,” you whisper. 

He pauses, thinking about his next words. “Have you ever wanted to get back at the person that hurt you?”

“I think about killing my dad everyday,” you admit, and your pinkies brush gently against each other.

“Would it make you happy, y/n? If you did?”

“No…”

“Why not?”

“It wouldn’t change anything. I’d still be scarred.”

“Yeah…” he turns his body in your direction, moving a little closer. You turn your head to face him. “Can I hold you tonight? I… I’d like to feel what it’s like to hold someone again.

“Okay,” you whisper, a little emotional.

He rolls over and pulls you into a warm embrace. He holds you, not wanting to let go. His body radiates heat, and he rests his head against yours. Your hair brushes his skin, and he closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. 

In that moment, you’re both content.

You wrap your arms around him, pressing into his warmth as you, too, close your eyes. “This is nice.”

“You feel good,” he whispers into your hair, his hand caressing your face gently.

You smile, small and sad. “So do you.”

He shifts his body, moving even closer to you. His hips move against yours gently. It’s like nothing in the world matters except that your skin is touching his. Your breathing becomes a little ragged, and you both stay like that for a few moments, just breathing and touching.

You cradle his jaw in your hand, tracing the grooves of his mask, moving to take it off: “Can I?”

“... sure.”

You gently peel off his mask, revealing his face. You stare at him in the dingy lighting, and your fingers brush over the ‘J’ scar carved into his cheek. His breathing speeds up a little bit. Scars are a reminder of when a person is at their weakest. To be allowed to touch them by someone just as damaged as you… so tender and sweet… it feels like blasphemy. 

“You’re very beautiful,” you say quietly.

“So are you,” he whispers back, his hand moving to touch the long scars on your chest. Your breath hitches, almost inaudible.  He moves his fingers back and forth, tracing the ragged lines of raised skin, watching you to see how you react. Your heart races under his hand. “You’re so soft… can I… can I do more?”

You swallow. “If you’d like.”

His body moves against yours, and you press yourselves together, your breaths becoming laboured. His hand moves from the scars on your chest, down towards your hips. You rut against each other, clothed and urgent.

You can feel his body pressed against yours, and it’s like the weight of the world is leaving you. You feel alive for the first time in a long time. And you want to make him feel the same way. Your hand reaches beneath his clothes, feeling the heat and tension building between you. 

He lets out a shaky gasp, your bodies moving slowly against each other. You can feel him, and he can feel you. You both breathe harder and harder, your breaths catching in your throats, as your eyes stare into each other’s souls. 

You can feel everything. Every heartbeat, every sigh, every breath, every twitch and moan. And you know he can feel it too, as your bodies begin to move faster, harder. The two of you are together in that moment, and the world shrinks away.

You move with more urgency, writhing against each other like testy teens. Bodies move as one, your hands searching for every sensitive and intimate spot. There is no more doubt or fear or anger. Just two broken individuals finding each other in the night.

The heat and sweat of your bodies mingles - two shattered and lonely souls finding something less than love in each other, just for a moment. Your heart beats in your ears. 

He breathes quietly against your neck, moaning lowly with each move you make, and his free hand tangles at the back of your head, holding you against his skin as the pressure builds between you.

“Jason,” you moan quietly into his throat. Just for the while, you feel whole. He presses against you, desperately, breath catching in his throat, louder and more needy with each grunt and muffled whine.

Everything else disappears, and the world falls away.

There’s only the two of you - two people alone in the dark, broken and damaged, finding each other and trying to fix what’s left. 

When you finish, you don’t cry out. There is a sharp exhale, and a tightening of muscles. Jason shudders as he grips you tightly, and he holds you, his body sliding against you for a few seconds longer, before he slowly pulls away. Neither of you say anything for a moment as you pant and try to catch your breath. 

The silence is interrupted only by your breathing, soft and quick breaths as you lie still in each other’s arms. You can feel his heart beating beating hard against your own chest, as if it’s still trying to keep up with the rush. 

You’re not sure what to say, staring at him with lidded eyes. “That was… nice.”

He nods his head. You’re not sure if nice covers it, because right now you feel more alive than you have in years. But you don’t say this. You’re not used to feeling this way. 

You don’t want to ruin it.

“You should probably go to sleep,” Jason says quietly.

“Will you still be here when I wake up?” you ask gently, knowing the answer already.

“No. I have to go,” he whispers. The answer is more brutal thant you’d expected. He tries to smile at you, but it feels like a lie. “I’m sorry.”

“I thought so,” you say, choked.

“I…” he searches for something to say, taking your hand in his and caressing your skin with his thumb. “I want to stay with you. For a moment longer.”

“I don’t want to fall asleep,” you admit quietly.

“Can I ask you one last thing?” 

“Yes.”

He caresses your face gently with his hand. “Can I… kiss you? Before I go?”

You swallow, leaning closer. “I… yes.”

And he does. He kisses you passionately, like that moment means everything. Like he doesn’t want tonight to end. He closes his eyes and lives in your lips, enchanted by your breath on his skin. There’s a moment, there, when you almost forget who are, where you are: You lose yourself in him.

“I’m glad you decided to break into my dorm,” you whisper as your lips part, bittersweet. You sound fragile.

“Me too.” He looks at you, wishing he could stay. But you know he can’t. “I should go.”

You nod silently, and he gets up slowly, regrettably. He watches you as he backs away. 

“Bye, Jason,” you say quietly, staring at him from your bed.

“Goodbye, y/n. I… I won’t forget you. Thank you.”

[adhdnursegoat]

Assault on Arkham

cw: blindfolds, bondage, asphyxiation, meant to be gn but term "good girl" is used. Will correct title card soon.

word count: 1.4k

The room is enveloped in a soft glow from the bedside candles, their flickering light casting a gentle warmth over the space. Edward in front of you, his demeanor a rare blend of intensity and affection. He’s meticulously prepared for the night, making sure that you are completely on board with your… festivities.

You’re seated on the edge of the bed, your heart racing with excitement and nervousness. Kneeling in front of you, Edward's eyes seem to darken as he takes your hands in his. There's something almost ceremonial about the way he places himself at your feet, his posture not one of submission, but of care. His fingers are deft and sure in smoothing slow circles on the backs of your hands, grounding you both.

"Are you sure about this?" he asks again, his voice a low, soothing murmur. His eyes never leave yours, searching for any flicker of doubt. When you nod, biting your lip before whispering your trust, his expression softens, just a fraction, before the familiar, self-assured smile reappears.

"Good," he murmurs, his lips pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. It’s a moment of tenderness, one that makes your heart skip a beat. “I’ll take care of you.” His nuzzle against your cheek is almost affectionate—almost—but there is always an edge to Edward. He thrives in control, yet here he gives you a semblance of it, letting you set the boundaries that he will carefully toe.

When he pulls back, you can't help the little pout that forms on your lips. His eyes crinkle in response, deepening the lines and his smile widening. Without breaking eye contact, he reaches beside you to retrieve the violet tie. The material catches the candlelight, glistening like a serpent’s skin.

"Tell me your safeword," he demands softly, the authority in his tone making your stomach tighten.

“Nashton,” you purr, knowing exactly how that name would roll off your tongue.

With a glint in his eyes, a smirk curls up on his lips; it’s a look of wicked delight. He pulls the tie taut, the silky material sliding between his fingers with an almost hypnotic grace.

“You’re a little minx, you know that?” he teases, voice dropping to a husky whisper as he brings the tie to your eyes. His movements are precise as he ties it around your head, the fabric firm yet gentle, a perfect symbol for his affection. Vision obscured, the world fades into darkness, but your other senses flare to life. The warmth of his body hovers near you, the rustle of his clothing as he shifts drawing you deeper into the moment. You tremble, anticipation coiling tight inside you, your breath catching.

Giddy, you giggle softly. "I figured it should be something to get your attention..."

“Well, it certainly will…” he responds, voice husky and low. “Hands.”

Without a moment's hesitation, you extend your wrists, your skin already tingling in anticipation of his touch. His fingers glide over your skin, slow and deliberate, as he begins to wrap the rope around them. The cool, smooth nylon teases your senses, a sharp contrast to the warmth that radiates between the two of you. Each movement is deliberate, controlled, as he layers the rope with a methodical precision that makes your breath hitch. There's no rush, no carelessness—just the perfect balance of restraint and release.

The pressure increases, firm but never too tight, the sensation of being held without being trapped. His every motion speaks of care, of knowledge, of a lover who understands exactly how far to push you without crossing the line. This isn’t captivity—it’s an embrace. The kind that holds you steady while coaxing every ounce of surrender from you, inch by inch.

"Comfortable?" he murmurs, his voice dripping with a subtle challenge, daring you to admit what he already knows. He wants to hear it, to revel in the control that you’ve willingly offered him, knowing exactly how much it excites you.

"Yes..." you breathe, the word coming out in a soft, shaky exhale. The sensation of the rope encircling your wrists sends a delicious thrill through your body. The trust between you pulses, an unspoken promise that binds you together in this intimate dance. Here, in this moment, you are equals—partners in a dangerous, exhilarating game of control and surrender.

His breath ghosts over the curve of your neck, tantalizing and hot, as his presence looms closer. You can feel the smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, even though you can’t see it. The warmth of his body presses against yours, searing through your clothes, each touch stoking the anticipation that crackles between you. Your heart hammers wildly in your chest, the rhythm of it matching the throbbing pulse of desire coursing through you.

“Good girl,” he murmurs again, his voice thick with velvet seduction, winding itself around you like a binding spell. The words alone send shivers down your spine, but it's the way his lips graze the shell of your ear—so close, so agonizingly near—that sets your pulse racing. The sensation is electric, both too much and not nearly enough, leaving you teetering on the precipice of desire, caught between the overwhelming craving for more and the unbearable restraint he’s teasing you with.

His hands slide from your wrists, their coolness contrasting with the heat radiating from your skin, igniting every nerve as they make the slow journey upward. His touch is featherlight, almost ghostly, as if he knows exactly how to leave you aching for more, straining toward him with every breath. The deliberate drag of his fingers along your arms is maddening, sending sparks through your body, each one a promise of what’s yet to come. His fingertips glide across your skin, tracing the contours of your muscles, mapping the rhythm of your shudders and the way you tremble beneath his touch. Every inch of you reacts, every fiber of your being tuned to him, to the control he exerts and the exquisite torment he’s putting you through.

There’s a hunger in his hands, a need that pulses through his fingertips as if he’s marking you, staking his claim with every teasing, lingering stroke. And just when you think he might finally grant you the contact you so desperately crave, his hands hover, millimeters from your neck. The heat of his palms sears the space between you, but he holds back, the distance driving you mad with want, with anticipation. It’s an ache that intensifies with every passing second, your body screaming for the touch that remains just out of reach.

"Remember," he purrs, his voice low, dangerous, vibrating with dark intent. The sound of it alone sets your skin aflame, your breath catching in your throat. He’s savoring this, savoring you—the way you respond, the way your body betrays your need. Then, with agonizing precision, he curls his long fingers around your neck, his grip firm but measured, a perfect balance of restraint and control. Both of you are hyperaware of the vital structures beneath his hands, the pulse thrumming just beneath your skin, the fragile column of your throat beneath his palms. “You can stop this any time you want.”

His fingers interlock behind your neck, palms pressing gently against your carotids. The pressure increases with each passing moment, just enough to make your heart race, attempting to shunt more blood to a threatened, vital part of your body. The sensation of his thumbs tracing your trachea is maddening—so soft, so delicate as he gifts you the ability to breathe. He could stop your breath with a single adjustment of his grip, pop your airway with a sudden, forceful squeeze but instead, he toys with the line between pleasure and power, between fear and trust.

“Just say the word,” he rasps, and his grip tightens, just a fraction, enough to make your pulse flutter wildly beneath his fingers. The paradox of control and tenderness floods you with heat.

It’s a reminder, a reassurance, but also a promise.

You know the safeword.

But you won’t have to use it.

[makethatelevenrings]

Stress Relief // B. Wayne x gn!reader

Requested? Yes!

Warnings: smut, 18+ ONLY. don’t sleep with your boss, folks. unless you’re married. but even then...you’re playing with fire.

Summary: Bruce is stressed as hell. You offer to help.

“Good morning, Mr. Wayne.”

His handsome face greeted you, his blue eyes tinged with amusement despite the boredom that painted his features. His full lips twisted up into a smirk as you approached the desk. Frustration ran through his shoulders, his muscles tense and his jaw clenched. He had a long night thanks to an Arkham breakout, but they had contained all of the Rogues. Bruce was, of course, frustrated by the fact that his added security measures on the asylum hadn’t prevented more havoc and destruction on the city.

And Bruce was forced to be a CEO today.

He was tired, stressed, and grumpy beyond belief. Which meant your job wasn’t just being his secretary for the day. You needed to get him to relax just a little bit before he broke another pen and you spent your afternoon mopping up ink.

“Good morning,” he said tightly. “What’s on the agenda for the day?”

“Your next meeting isn’t for another three hours so that gives you plenty of time to review budget reports for this quarter. Mr. Fox wanted me to remind you that he needs your signature on these by the end of the day.”

Bruce grunted in response and glared at the stack of papers you laid on his desk. Sighing, you stepped back from his desk and crossed your arms over your chest.

“Alright, you big oaf. It’s time to stop moping.”

One of his eyebrows raised and he tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. Your lips twitched up into a smirk and you shook your head.

“You’re angry and that’s distracting you. You need to relax, Bruce. I know that’s close to impossible for you, but at least make an effort.”

“How can I relax right now?” he snapped. You shrugged and turned your back to him. You strode over to the door to his office and glanced over your shoulder at him as you reached out and snapped the lock shut, keeping out anyone who might want to enter. Slowly, you turned on the balls of your feet and leaned back against the door.

“I have an idea, sir,” you hummed. Bruce leaned back in his chair, his eyes darkening as he figured out your plan. You slowly approached him and he turned in his chair as you came around to his side of the desk.

Your knees hit the cool tile floor of his office and you came face to face with the tent in his woolen slacks. Tentatively, you slid your fingers around the zipper and pulled it down. Bruce reached out, his fingers brushing along your jaw in delicate strokes as you glanced up at him from under your lashes. His breath hitched at the sight of your innocent gaze contrasting with the way you unbuttoned his pants and tugged down his briefs, letting his dick spring free.

“Let me help you relax, sir,” you murmured. His hand slid to the back of your neck and he tugged you closer, your lips ghosting over his shaft. You licked a solid stripe on the underside of his cock and he hissed in pleasure, his eyes falling shut.

Pressing a kiss to the tip, your next move was to take the head of his cock between your lips. You hooked one hand around his ankle for leverage and rested your other hand on his thigh, feeling the strong muscle flex and tighten under the thick fabric of his pants.

Bobbing your head up and down, you quickly gained a rhythm and an inch each time you went down. Your throat relaxed as you took him into your mouth and you only gagged slightly once his thick cock hit the back of your throat. The tightening of your hot mouth around him caused Bruce to thrust up into your mouth and you welcomed it with a moan.

Spit and drool pooled in your cheeks and dripped down your lips. You hollowed your cheeks and sucked him tighter. A surge of pride filled your chest at his low, choked out moan. Bruce Wayne was always a man in control, except when it came to you.

His balls tightened up and you readied yourself just in time for his cum to coat your throat. The salty taste of him would be ingrained on your tongue and in your mind for the rest of the day. You pulled yourself off his cock with a wet pop and swollen lips. Bruce grabbed your jaw and pulled you in for a bruising kiss.

“Feel better, sir?” you panted when he pulled away.

“You certainly motivated me to get through this work quickly, sweetheart,” he growled. Bruce tucked himself back into his briefs and did up his pants as you stood up on shaky legs. He caught you by your waist as you stumbled slightly and pulled you into his lap, your chest flush against his.

“Thank you,” Bruce murmured.

“It’s my job.”

“I’m pretty sure HR would disagree,” he muttered. You snickered and patted his chest where a thin silver band dangled from a chain necklace he wore, resting perfectly over his heart.

“Good thing they’ll never know. Now, c’mon. Get to it, Mr. Wayne.” You stood up and straightened out your clothes. “Because I have it on good authority that the house will be completely empty when we get home tonight.”

He groaned and buried his head in his hands. “You’re evil.”

“Oh, you knew what you were getting into when you married me, Wayne. Too late to back out now.”

He watched as you unlocked his door and headed out to man your desk in front of his office. Warmth flooded through his chest as he thought about the small, dainty ring that rested on your left hand. He had a few secrets from the world and you were by far the most precious.

Tag list: @someoneimsure​ @perpetual-fangirl900​ @visagebrise​ @alexxavicry​

[skye707]

Okay, hear me out. How would the Riddlers feel about finding fanfics of themselves, particularly the romantic ones, maybe even the insert-y(?) ones

Well, some of these losers already read them, so there's that.

Unburied - Oooh, that’s weird you’re writing fiction about him! Kinda joking, kinda not. He doesn’t get it. Why not just get out there and get it irl? I guess not everyone can be as romantic as him.

ZY - Of course, the common people want more of him than he can possibly provide on a daily basis. However, the works are going to need to be submitted through his quality control database so he can approve them. Can’t have just anyone writing who knows what about him.

Dano - He reads them. Every night before he sleeps. They make him feel powerful.

YJ - People write WHAT about him??? I mean- of course they do! He’s uh…no he doesn’t know how to handle this. There are people who think he’s cool enough to make romance novels about?

Gotham - Huh. While that should feel like a serious invasion of his personal privacy, the Riddler in him is dying for the attention. So, I guess he’s cool with it? But don’t think you know him based on someone else’s fictional work, please and thank you.

BTAA - Finally, someone who’s willing to ghostwrite his biography! So, here are the hours you can come in- and congratulations you are now writing his 36 chapter autobiography because he liked how to described him in a oneshot.

Arkham - They’re doing WHAT???! The people think they can make a fool of him?? AGAIN??? No, this will not be tolerated. Let him see the author…well, I suppose he could take a quick look (to degrade it of course) and…hm, well he IS quite handsome, isn’t he, heh.

BTAS - How interesting. He’ll take a quick peek, get a few chuckles, but overall the thought of people writing and reading about his romantic escapades isn’t something he’s particularly fond of. Not that it can’t be fun for others, but he won’t go looking for them.

Telltale - The morons he inhabits this planets with truly have nothing better to do with their time than make up romantic bedtime stories about him? This is why humanity is in a downward spiral toward calamity. Perhaps he should motivate these people toward more intellectual endeavors…

[finniestoncrane]

i get more unhinged every time i request something but here i go again. arkham riddler is busy so if you wanna get off, he’s not helping.

no this isn’t because i want to grind on riddlers thigh what makes you think that

Back to the Grind

Arkham!Riddler x GN!Reader, word count: 530 ok yeah this is a hot concept and i think i've done something similar before and i'll do something similar again because i want him to ignore me??? also i felt so big brained with this title lmao 💚🔧 request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: grinding, masturbation kinda, free use a lil bit, kinda mean eddie but in a very good and hot way

You were a detriment to the cause, a distraction he had resolved to ignore until he had completed his latest machine. And much to your irritation, he seemed more than capable of pretending you didn’t exist. Of ignoring your touch, your breathy whines in his ear, your pleading and begging as you flaunted your body in front of him, on top of him.

Sitting in his lap, you stroked at his cheek, letting your fingertips graze over the skin, his stubble prickling you, the heat building in your stomach prickling the rest of your body. Your finger left his cheek to trace down his jaw line, angular and firm, following it to his chin where you flitted up, tapping against his lip.

With a quick, harsh movement, Edward pushed your hand away. It was rough, callous even. With a shocked pout, you made a move to wrap your arms around his neck, but he gripped your wrists hard. As his cool, grey eyes looked deep into yours there was no need for him to speak for you to know you were playing a dangerous game. His eyebrows, narrowed, eyes hooded by them as he scowled at you.

Not to be put off so quickly, especially when you were in such desperate, fervent heat, you planted your feet on the floor, your body resting entirely on one of his thighs. Rolling your hips, your chest struck his. Despite your gasp, the slightest touch enough to have you reeling, Eddie remained silent, shifting his torso to the side to look beyond you at his work, concentration unbroken.

A mewling whine echoed around the work room as you began to ride his leg, bucking your hips forward, enjoying the friction, the way the firm muscle held steady against the pressure of your body grinding down on it.

“Please… Eddie… just let me-”

You moaned, almost squealing, as he clasped his free hand around your mouth, holding it fast to your face, gripping behind your ears with his thumb and fingers to keep you from struggling out of the grip, as though you would dare.

Trying to catch his gaze, to show him how much you liked it, the commanding, domineering side of him, you could only see his efforts to ignore you, his attention solely on his work, which he now worked on just as precisely with only one hand.

His complete disinterest, the way in which he could disregard you so wholly and still have you, reaching the precipice of orgasm, thankful that he would let you use him, rut against him like a pathetic, desperate dog, brought your orgasm crashing over you. Easing back, your hips bucking slower until you had stopped, settling further out from him, admiring bashfully the stain on his pants from your spilled arousal, you looked away from him.

Finally, deciding that you might be worth his time, he gripped your chin and brought your eyes to meet his.

“Are you finished now?”

You nodded, and with a quick drop of his leg, he sent you tumbling to the floor, where you looked up at him, cheeks flushed, ever the martyr to your lust and desires for him.

[metawatts]

Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen Part One

I've been workshopping this review for a week it is 9 fucking pages but anyway: It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!

Table of Contents

#1. Introduction: Not for DC Fans

#2. Starting off: “The Good-

#3. Propping Up RWBY over the Justice League

#4. The Texas Character Massacre

#5. Oh boy lets talk about the writing

#6. Other General Notes: -The Bad, and The Ugly”

#7. Final Scores!!

TL:DR- They better not make the 'part 2'. Let's get into it.

#1. Introduction: Not for DC Fans

Let’s get this out of the way: this is a movie made for RWBY fans. It’s made for people who are familiar with RWBY, with the characters, with the worldbuilding, and it’s made with the idea that the people watching are RWBY fans, with DC fans as the backburner. The first reason why I think this? The DC characters get a lot more exposition on who and what they are, while the RWBY characters get to exist and be ‘cool’.

The second reason? This movie is, lets face it, mean-spirited towards DC. And yeah whatever, a DC comic writer wrote this, but to be fair with the state of comics nowadays that says absolutely nothing about respect given to the characters that are popular and well-known (hint: it’s not RWBY). This movie is drenched in schoolyard meanness. It’s all about pointing and laughing at the DC characters. Our introductory scene to this film involves Superman being systematically humiliated in his first scene (unable to use his powers, having his hero codename be mocked, etc.), and that sets the tone.

Meanwhile, the RWBY characters are introduced with action set pieces and knowing about the world they are in. The DC characters are the ones who are comedic relief, who need to be ‘taken down a peg’, who must struggle and prove themselves to RWBY to get the ‘honour’ of working with them, while RWBY doesn’t have to struggle and instead gets to just be ‘cool’. And that’s detrimental to the RWBY characters as well too, by the way, so don’t think I’m being unfair. No one in this film has a character arc, except Jessica, supposedly, and Batman, unfortunately, and you would think that coming off the back of volume 9, often called the ‘character development’ volume, people would be complaining that RWBY and JNR are quite flat, in how they progress through the film.

Basically: The RWBY characters are set dressing; the Justice League are punching bags. With that as our thesis, let’s review this movie. (warning for spoilers)

#2. Starting Off: “The Good-

Now, I won’t pretend this movie was enjoyable for me by any means, but I’m not unreasonable, it had its positives. Four, specifically.

The first one is obvious: the Spectacle Fight Scenes. This movie had a bunch of fights packed away in it, and the overall quality of them was on the whole, in the higher tier of rwby’s Maya fight scenes. Bar a few bits of wonkiness and the general writing surrounding the fights, they were fun. A particular shout-out to my favourite one at the end, Hacked!Flash vs Everyone, that one was fun and fast and highly enjoyable.

Number 2: Batman’s semblance. I’ll fully admit that I’m pretty sure my enjoyment of this power implementation was purely because I like Batman: Arkham Asylum, and this is literally just ripped right from that down to the aesthetics, but, well- I like Batman: Arkham Asylum, and therefore I like Bruce’s Detective Vision semblance and how it was used pretty creatively compared to most other semblances.

Third times the charm: Superman was my shining light, my beacon of hope in this film. He was kind, he was polite, he was supportive and brave and friendly and also, surprisingly for RWBY, managed to do all this without being spineless, he was willing to stand up for himself when he thought he was being treated unfairly (at least, 80% of the time). I wouldn’t even normally consider myself a massive Superman fan, I like when he’s well-written and I notice when he isn’t, but this movie had me actively rooting for any time where he was on screen, he was my absolute highlight in this film, love him even if his fit is fuckin ATROCIOUS. (and his voice acting was, by and large, one of the strongest performances, beyond Kilg%re and Hacked!Barry, who were just clearly having a delightful time villain monologuing)

Number four: the idea of Grimm absorbing dust. It’s a brilliant idea that really ups the stakes in RWBY fights, considering dust is their go-to offensive weapon and literally powers all their bullets, and, amazingly, it was also a cool idea that was carried throughout most of the film. Every Grimm in this film had the ability, more or less, and they used it often and to great effect. Very nicely implemented.

(Final tiny shout-out: the Justice League’s superhero outfits in their own world, that we regrettably only see in a few flashback images, looked GOOD. I wish they kept them instead of getting the outfits in the film proper)

But alas, this film really did have a lot more negatives than positives, so lets get into the first big flaw, and the one I would consider the movie’s biggest failing:

#3. Propping Up RWBY over the Justice League

I mentioned it in the intro, but this movie is consistent in how it utterly devalues the Justice League characters and does everything in its power to showcase RWBY and JNR as ‘better’ in every way. Now, the argument is that this is intentional, seeing as the villain deliberately nerfed the JL characters into being teenagers to weaken them. To which case I point at probably what is probably the most referenced episode of the Justice League cartoon in regards to this movie, the one where they’re turned into literal children, appropriately named ‘Kid Stuff’, and I’ll also point out the lesser known episode of Justice League Action called ‘Trick or Threat’, which had the added bonus of wiping the JL character’s memories of being superheroes.

Now, why am I bringing these up? Its because both of these episodes had the same villain idea as this movie: de-age the Justice League to weaken them, and both of these episodes also did something that the movie failed to do: keep the characters in-character and acting their age, and treat them with respect. I’ll get to the character issues in the next section, but the idea of treating characters respectfully is not done in this film.

Superman, as stated prior, is nerfed, his name is made fun of, he’s talked down to constantly, he’s insulted, he’s distrusted, and not just by team RWBY. But he is not the only one. Wonder Woman has a mishap when trying to get the hang of her new abilities and Blake and Yang laugh at her. Flash, Vixen, Cyborg, and Green Lantern spar against JNR and despite still maintaining most of their adult memories beyond the immediate, and supposedly their skills minus powers, end up on the defensive. Against JNR, not even against the main team RWBY or against Pyrrha. They are outclassed by the side-character team. Batman, the hand-to-hand specialist, is outclassed by Weiss in close-quarters and then a few random SDC guards, Wonder Woman and Superman mostly escape unscathed, beyond the new drawbacks of their semblances, but it’s telling that most of the fight scenes are more focused on the cool things RWBY and JNR do instead of the JL characters (bar the Big Three). Cyborg’s biggest combat moment that’s given any narrative weight is him powering up Nora. Vixen doesn’t even get a moment, and Flash’s only moments come when he’s being the Villain and not Flash. The JL characters are supporting characters in a movie that’s supposed to be about teamwork.

Second point: they really hype Grimm up as scary, even stating ‘Grimm aren’t like your normal monsters, they’re soulless beings that only care about destroying and killing’. And it’s treated as a big moment of internal revelation and horror for the Justice League. Let me say that again, the fact that monsters only care about destroying things, is played as horrifying. For the Justice League. The guys who faced down, canonically in this film: Vandal Savage, an immortal sadistic genius who literally just wants to destroy the world consistently, and Brainiac, a hyper-intelligent alien android who’s goals range from ‘destroyed krypton in some continuities’ to ‘hobbies include horrifically mind controlling people to do evil and shrinking Actual Cities for his snow-globe collection’.

But yes. Grimm are scary now. These are the same Grimm that basically act as cannon fodder in all of RWBY’s actual run time, bar one-offs, and exist just to give the protagonists something they can guilt-free rip their way through to show off. Those Grimm. Those are the scary ones now, supposedly. Despite this artificial attempt to make RWBY seem more badass then the league for fighting monsters, the Grimm are still cannon fodder, the movie doesn’t stray that far from RWBY’s conventions.

Finally, there’s a consistent running theme that ties into the leadership qualities of Ruby vs Clark, but mostly ends up as ‘the Justice League try to come up with ideas and plans, and team RWBY and JNR yell at them for daring to tell them what to do’. Most particularly, it’s Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman who actually spark Team RWBY into realising that there’s a problem that needs solving. It’s them that comes up with 90% of the plans, and its them that put their money where their mouth is on being not only a good team and smart heroes, but also as friends (more on that later). But instead, whenever they come up with good ideas, it’s shut down, mostly by Nora, and also Yang, as ‘I’m not going to listen to you/don’t tell us what to do/you’re not the boss of me’.

There’s a very big sense of undeserved ego there, especially since the RWBY characters haven’t actually given a reason why they shouldn’t listen beyond general contrariness. But also, it’s a sentiment that does not work on a battlefield, and it does not work in a movie that tries to have a theme of ‘coming together’. Mostly because in a standard plotline about ‘working together’, the disagreements usually require resolving, or meeting in the middle. There is none of that here. The Justice League just bends the knee and goes with being mistreated by teenagers who have not shown their chops as heroes, but it’s still given the ending of ‘we’re all friends now’. The first of many character assassinations throughout this film.

#4. The Texas Character Massacre

This one’s a doozy. No one escapes. Not even Superman, who is almost entirely spared, even he gets a dose of a ‘RWBY Heroic Speech that is just Empty Token Hero Stuff’ (AKA the thing that’s been plaguing Ruby since vol4). But I’ve used Superman already a lot, and he’s probably the least egregious of what happens here, so let’s get into the meat of this topic.

Everyone and their mom on twitter has been commenting about how Batman does not feel like Batman in this. And it’s true. Batman, the self-admitted ‘I haven’t been a kid since I was eight’, the man who is so obsessed with Gotham City it will one day kill him, the man who, even if in this continuity is not a father of 4-8+ adopted children, still has Alfred who he would die for and would die for him, the man who in the current comics run of RWBY in the DC universe says with his mouth ‘I don’t want this semblance, relying on it is detrimental in the long-term’. This Batman. Wants to ditch Gotham because he has wings and powers now.

‘Batman getting powers’ is not new ground, by the way, but the absolute moping this version of Batman does is not only annoying and actively unlikable, it also makes no sense. In the span of ten seconds, in the same conversation, he goes from ‘I want to go home’ to ‘I want to stay where I have powers’. This isn’t presented as a conflict of interest either, by the way. He just completely switches his mind because Weiss said ‘hey stay here’. There’s no consistency, there’s no internal character motivation, it felt like they just wanted to have one character conflicted about leaving HoloRemnant and decided just to throw a dart at a board without caring who it fit. So yes, Batman? Massacred.

Wonder Woman also got severely screwed over too. I had this in my notes that Wonder Woman only acted in character when she was reuniting with the rest of the Justice League and was allowed to show kindness and compassion. The rest of the time, Wonder Woman, a character defined by her love for the world (and was created to showcase feminine power, btw), is a Strong Female Character, and I do mean that in the Negative Way. She’s literally got a Batman Growl on her voice for 99% of her lines, she talks about how tough she is, about the ‘warrior’s life’, and she’s the first character to get violent in a situation. Yes, even beating out Yang ‘punch first, talk later’ Xiao Long. This feels like a parody of Wonder Woman written by someone who read the Whedon Wonder Woman script and took ‘some crazy strong bitch in a tiara’ as their entire central concept for the character. It’s not a Wonder Woman who believes in anything, she’s just a sidekick for the bees to prop themselves up with as ‘warriors’. I could write a million thinkpieces on what makes Wonder Woman an excellent hero character, but all I’ll say is this film’s Wonder Woman would not count.

Green Lantern will get her own post on how this movie handled her so fucking badly because that would balloon this review to a massive size when it’s already a Longk Boi, but suffice to say: she was whitewashed, her anxiety was mishandled, and fucking HELL I miss Simon Baz, why are we erasing Jessica’s friendship with Simon for some screentime-sucking white boy. (Racism and islamophobia, the answer is racism and islamophobia)

Cyborg, Flash, and Vixen all aren’t really characters in this movie as much as they are there to fill out the cast, but suffice to say, they were handled badly. Flash was at his most interesting when being visibly possessed by the villain because beyond that he was just entirely forgettable to the point that you will not notice he has been written out of a fight scene until Vixen goes ‘where’s Flash’. Vixen herself literally is the most sidelined of all the characters in this film, she doesn’t even get a Cool Action Moment, and has just two character traits: Sassy and Vaguely Animalistic Sometimes, not just because she’s a faunus, but her first scene we’re introduced to her sniffing a paper plane for what is literally the only ‘plot point’ she’s involved in, namely, that Flash ‘smells wrong’. And Cyborg. Man, Cyborg. They literally handed the hacking plotline to Weiss with the excuse of ‘the tech here is weird’ and instead shoved Cyborg into some weird jealousy triangle where he was so disrespected by Ren and Nora that even his goodbye to them is met with disdain. Cyborg and Vixen deserve so much better, guys.

Now, onto team RWBY and JNR. Remember how I said they were flat characters? Yeah, this bit’s gonna be a bit shorter. Ruby had probably the most ‘characterisation’ in the film, in that they literally just took volume 9’s idea of ‘Ruby has self-doubts’, slapped it on her, explored nothing, and then Clark gave her a quick Friendship Speech and she’s all smiley again. Weiss has a bit of flirting with Batman, suddenly gained hacking abilities out of nowhere, and is mainly the ‘nice but snobby’ archetype she’s been in main RWBY for ages. Actually, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Jaune all mainly exist to serve plot points in some way. Weiss and her little storyline with Batman is just designed to reveal the villain, Jaune is there to push Jessica’s storyline of getting her powers back by Literally Curing Her Panic Attacks, and Blake and Yang? Well, they get Wonder Woman to the places she needs to visit, first Beacon, then Atlas, and then Vale again. Oh, and they have Moments. Your mileage may vary on if that’s good or not, it’s mainly superfluous to the film overall. Ren and Nora don’t actually contribute anything, beyond Ren being jealous of Cyborg and Nora, and Nora getting mad at both of them for being overly protective (I think it’s meant to be pushback against misogyny but. It’s poorly handled).

Actually, I lie. Blake does have at least one big thing of characterisation. But I’m going to put it in the next section, because it’s more of a writing problem. The final other characters in the film are Kilg%re, our villain, who is laughable, and the simulated versions of Glynda, Kali, Jacques, Ozpin/Oscar, and Pyrrha. All of whom are there just to… show that it’s a simulation, or something. They don’t do anything beyond Pyrrha being so obviously a trap for Jaune and Jessica that of course only Jaune ignoring Jessica’s common sense could have made it worse. Now, Onwards!!

#5. Oh boy lets talk about the writing

So. The Faunus racism plotline. Listen. It’s bad. We all know its bad. I’m not going into it because there are a million people smarter then me who already have done elaborate and well-thought analyses on why its bad. Can we just accept the Faunus plotline is horrendous and go from there? Okay? Okay.

So: Blake introduces the concept of faunus by describing her own race as ‘humans with ears or a tail’. As I saw someone else put it when the movie dropped, ‘people don’t describe themselves as a white person with darker skin’. Anyway, the faunus plotline. It’s not really touched on in this film beyond Jacques being racist towards Bruce and Blake being generally weird about it, and the idea that ‘the animal-themed superheroes are faunus now’, but it’s a plotline that RWBY will never escape and therefore must be mentioned as having some impact.

So lets talk about the actual racism in the movie and mention how the black woman is a Sassy Side Character, the two men of colour are shoved into a jealousy plotline over a white girl (again, reiterating: Weiss and Bruce have the hacking plotline), and the Latina girl has a white boy solve her mental illness for her after her character design was whitewashed. While I don’t think it’s intentionally racist, it is a bit of a pattern for all of RWBY’s stuff that characters of colour are either written off, villainised, or sidelined. I also want to mention: Oscar shows up in this literally just to get slammed hard into a pillar by Wonder Woman. They really can’t go five minutes without beating up this kid). This movie is not kind to the characters of colour, whether its by Actively Fucking Whitewashing Them or by just making them non-characters, and it’s just, unfortunately, exactly what was expected from a piece of RWBY media.

The mention of Oscar above reminded me: the simulation characters are… handled oddly. Ozpin is the most obviously fake, even before he starts glitching between his old self and Ozpin. But what’s strange is that out of all the simulations, Jacques of all characters has the most personality of them. Kali was always a side character, Glynda just creates exposition and sets up a fight scene, Ozpin isn’t even given a character he’s just Creepy Hologram, and Pyrrha has about one minute of ‘no wait its totally me’ before she goes The Most Evil (sidenote, they keep bringing Pyrrha back just to be evil, I hope that’s not another pattern). It’s just… strange. The way the whole villain thing in this film works is strange. Which leads me to:

Kilg%re. When I found out who the villain of this film was I went on the mother of all rants on discord. And I will post it here for posterity, just so you know exactly what the gut reaction was.

As for why this reveal sucks: well. I mean, first of all, if you introduce the concept of your surprise villain as a joke earlier in the film, which they did, then it doesn’t really make them feel all that villainous. Sure enough, it gave Kilg%re a chip on the shoulder in his villain monologue, where he was whining about being ‘the one who finally trapped the Justice League’ (bestie they’re a superhero team from comics, they get trapped once a week and twice on Sundays, you’re not special, babe, sorry). And a character desperately yelling at the screen that ‘no I’m really cool trust me’ is not… fun. It’s just sort of awkward. Sorry, Kilg%re, they treated you badly. Also, they didn’t reveal the second villain on Remnant’s side beyond saying ‘he’, even when setting this during the Vol7 Montage, so I guess that’s a mystery for the next movie, if it’s ever made (personally I’m hoping for Dr Merlot, why not).

On the flipside of villains being written badly, this film also has romance written badly. It’s just jealousy and love triangles, jealousy and love triangles. Not even interesting love triangles either, just ‘character A shows interest in character B, which makes character C get really possessive and (in all but one case) mean to B’. The As: Cyborg, Yang, Bruce. The Bs: Nora, Diana, Weiss. The Cs: Ren, Blake, Diana (again). It’s not cute, and it’s especially not cute when it’s repeated three times in the same film. It’s just boring.

Finally: and this is the thing that truly, genuinely, made me want to write this whole thing because of how rage inducing it is, is this monologue given to us by Blake:

"They sound lucky. They've never had to worry they were gonna die just from going to school. To train like your life, or worse, your friends' lives depend on it. To have to live with the fact that there's a real chance you're gonna lose them. They had a childhood."

Lets count it down, people!!

Superman: literally an allegory for illegal immigrants, refugee orphans (an alien who was adopted and raised in America after his home was made unsafe) and in many case Jewish people, what with all the Moses Allegory. Had to hide the fact that he was an alien all his life, starting from childhood.

Batman: watched his parents get gunned down in front of him at age 8. This is so integral an event that it is a fulcrum point not only of his character, but also of most of the main Dc Universe that Bruce’s Parents Die.

Flash: his mother was murdered in front of him by a time-travelling speedster and his father was arrested for it. Barry grew up with the stigma of having a murderer for a father who he is generally seen as visiting constantly in jail.

Cyborg: he is a disabled black man whose father fused him with alien technology to keep him alive after a near-death experience that also completely replaced 90% of his body and meant he had to give up on his dreams of being a sports star. Usually also has a dead mom around there too.

Green Lantern: a Latina woman who had a decent childhood by most accounts in the comics, but had the unfortunate luck of witnessing gangsters hiding a body while out hiking with her friends. Watched her friends get gunned down around her, spent the next four years extremely agoraphobic to the point of never leaving her apartment because of her trauma and the fear that the gangsters would finish the job. Family’s alive, but that was only the start of the ‘Jessica Has A Bad Time’ train.

Vixen: Mari’s backstory is a bit more nebulous as long as the main points of ‘was born in an African village, got the tantu totem, moved to America and became a superhero and usually also a model’ is met, but she also tends to have a dead mom or dead parents floating around too most of the time, whether that’s by poachers, warlords, or some other awful human-caused tragedy.

Wonder Woman: raised on an island that was in comics literally called 'Paradise Island' by her loving mother, trained with all her Amazon family to become a warrior, the island is explicitly protected from all of the evil of Man’s World by magic, and willingly chose to leave to go do good and protect people.

So we have one princess raised on a paradisal island ethnostate with loving, caring parents telling another princess raised on a paradisal island ethnostate with loving caring parents that ‘yeah your friends have horrific backstories, but they were lucky because they didn’t do what we did and WILLINGLY sign up for a job as a monster killer where we get four years of training and preparation and also are paid well for our actions instead of freelance vigilante work for charity, so if you think about it, us RWBY kids are the real victims/warriors here’.

Just in case anyone was wondering why I think Wonder Woman’s OOC in this film.

Oh also this monologue is an allegory for gun violence and school shootings, as confirmed by the writer in this article and I am including the quote for posterity and also so people can’t say I made it up: https://animemojo.com/other/exclusive-interview-with-justice-league-x-rwby-super-heroes-huntsmen-writer-meghan-fitzmartin-a14773#gs.w1iou8

“These kids are warriors and these RWBY kids are a really good look at what we’re putting a lot of kids through today. There’s a statistic I saw recently that said 1-in-5 kids will die in gun violence in America. That sucks. That’s the level of warrior stuff we’re putting our kids through and it’s a good example of what’s happening to this current generation. I wanted to make a point of saying, ‘What does that do to us?’ Looking into the leadership or what these characters go through, it’s interesting to see what they have to give up to give future generations a chance. I think that resonates a lot with kids today.” - Meghan Fitzmartin

Just. In case anyone else wants to be angry about this with me. Hey, RWBY, you can’t have the actual tagline of your show be ‘it’s also a gun’ and then go ‘gun violence is bad tho’ because oh man then your main characters look like real monsters for all the times they pull guns on people (such as all the unarmed civilians or people who they pulled guns on first who then pulled out their own guns in self-defence). Also, if this is one of the themes of the movie, then this is also the only time it’s touched on. The concept of ‘being a warrior’ becomes instantly watered down to mean ‘badass fighter’ and not ‘person carrying constant fear of death by rising gun violence’, so it’s also a really shallow use of an actually serious theme, which is par for the course with RWBY but is also still very annoying when it happens.

#6. Other General Notes: - the Bad, and the Ugly”

The music in this film was very weak. No hate to the composer but it’s barely noticeable and doesn’t really have anything of note. Normally I find a lot of DC stuff has decent music and RWBY in particular is praised for it. This was disappointing, audio-wise

The designs: Listen, RWY and JNR were fine, the Beacon designs are serviceable even if they aren’t my favourites overall. But anyway, lets rank the Justice League, best to worst!

#1. Vixen: even, somehow, in the world that is RWBY modelling, Vixen slays. She simply cannot look bad, ever. The focus on black and orange contrast instead of a million eye-searing colours, the sleekness of the jumpsuit, the fact that it’s not overly complicated, and that she actually has hair with curls in it? If not for the tail and the fact that it is literally just Harriet’s model, top points. You cannot keep a bad bitch down.

#2. Cyborg: Listen. It could have been worse. It could have been. So much worse.

#3. Wonder Woman: girlypop’s gonna cut someone on that chin, and her arm muscles look like braided bread. The ponytail would be passable if not for the way they modelled her hair tendrils, and the outfit… also could have been worse.

#4. Superman: The babyface and the way his hair is plastered to his head does not work, but I like how expressive his eyes are. The outfit is an atrocity to god but they all are from this point so at least his boots are cute and the whole denim jeans and denim jacket would work if they didn’t have that massive gold S on the shirt or the Fake Cape.

#5. Batman: ugly as sin. He has No Hood, Cowl, or Mask, his hair is bad, the scar on the eyebrow is the one cool thing, his outfit is awful, and when it’s folded up it looks like Weiss is swinging around an empty pizza box. Gotta say, at least the ears in the comic were kinda cute, the bat wings are just bland in comparison.

#6. Flash: Sir your zipper is in the shape of a zigzag and it’s very cringefail of you. The one redeeming feature is the visor but like, the hair? No. The scarf? No. The way they placed the colours on his outfit? Yikes. Throw the whole man out, Kilg%re did.

#7. Green Lantern: they put her in a blender with Ben 10 and hit ‘emulsify’ (this is insulting to Ben 10 which I am very sorry for, Ben 10 didn’t deserve this but then again neither did Jess). Her long curly hair is gone, her melanin is gone, her cute jumpsuit is gone, her brown eyes are GONE like I had my issues with the comic designs but at least it was a design and not just Ugly Bad Wrong.  

Final note: they really want us to believe that Batman beat up a guy and stole his tuxedo to blend in but during the entire time he was changing out of his hero costume and into a suit he somehow didn’t notice a pair of big honking WINGS on his back. Yeah right.

#7. Final Scores!!!

Plot: 2/10

Characters: -100/10

Spectacle Fights: 4/10

Themes: 1/10

Overall score, not including the points for ‘characters’: 2.5/10

Do NOT make another fucking movie with this premise. (I will write up Jessica's personal meta in the future, keep an eye out).

[msfcatlover]

OKAY THIS IS A BIG ONE, just answer the ones you want to :D

DC (preferably Batman or Green Arrow or Superfam but actually everything) - games, comics, movies, books, fandom

what is your (can be more than one each category):

favourite fan AU

favourite headcanon

favourite female character

favourite male character

favourite comic

favourite canon AU (you know all these Future State and Kingdom Come and Injustice and Arkham verse and all that!!!)

favourite ship (IF you have one, otherwise the ones you can tolerate)

favourite death (if the character died more than in one universe or more than once, specify which death)

favourite powerset

favourite resurrection (LOL, same with #8)

favourite AU villain/antagonist (those who aren't villains but you imagine would be cool villains in your opinion)

favourite canon villan/antagonist (if characters like Jason or Talia then specify which plotlines/comics)

favourite DC loser.

sorry for bad English!!!! have a good day/night

Oh boy, that’s… that’s actually really hard for me. I have a hard time picking favorites, because I generally love things for very different reasons. I know much more clearly what I dislike when I see it; enjoying things is sorta my default state, y’know?

Like, take the AU question. I’d be hard pressed to tell you whether a good Reverse Robins setup was something I liked better than, say, @jube-art’s Superfam/Batfam role-swap (which, if you haven’t seen it, go check it out!)

I’m also working my way through canon chronologically, and am still in the early/mid-90s, so there’s a lot of characters I haven’t officially gotten to, and a lot of stories I haven’t gotten the chance to really dig into yet. (I made it to Knightfall, realized I hadn’t put any of the buildup to that arc in my comic library, and decided to go back and read Barbara’s time with the Suicide Squad instead.) I don’t feel comfortable planting a flag on this until… oh, at least until ~2006, probably. (Which, given just how many books/characters suddenly got added in the 90s, will probably take a while.)

(There are also lots of characters who have so much potential in their backstory/power set, but who never got to use them to their full potential. Or who only had the cool parts of their backstory tacked on as an obvious retcon in the process of writing them out of the story, because the fans were vocally upset about them, meaning they never got the exploration any of those story ideas deserved.) (I have a special level of ire for power sets that are really cool on a surface level, but where the creators added just one power too many to stop them from being fully interesting. For example, Menagerie’s bugs having mind control properties overcomplicates her too much, in my opinion. Or—if you’ll let me hop over to Marvel—a character like Alpha who has all the “standard” superpowers, but only one at a time? What makes that interesting is having to choose between being super-strong or invulnerable or super-fast (etc.) therefore this character should not have ranged attack options built into said power set; it disincentivizes him from ever getting up-close with enemies, forcing the writer to choose between having the character be stupid or having the character never use the interesting elements of their powers. (…I mean, Alpha being stupid is kinda the point of his plot, but you see what I’m getting at, right?))

I will say, I adored Jason’s post-Crisis Robin run (in both Batman series, though for very different reasons) and so far very little has brought me as much joy as reading DC’s Detective Comics from that time period! And those few pages of Dan Mora’s B&W cyberpunk short that went around recently had me absolutely frothing with excitement for the possibilities that verse holds. And Jason being Tim’s Robin brings me endless joy, which neither canon nor jerkfaces will take from me.

(Aaaaaaaand while shipping isn’t the catharsis I come to comics for (thank gods, basically every canon ship I’ve witnessed thus far has been awful in motion even when their potential is off the charts,) I can actually blame DCEU SuperBat for getting me into this whole mess in the first place. Blame @susiecarter, whose fics I found immediately after watching someone do a deep-dive analysis of everything that went wrong with BvS, which I paused when I thought, “Huh, these are actually all really good points… I bet fanfiction has done this exact story, but with much better execution, recognizable characterization, and probably a hell of a lot gayer. Let’s go check.”)

[thealtoduck]

Graveyard

Tim Drake x Riddler Sidekick!Male Reader (Indirect)

Batfam x Riddler Sidekick!Male Reader

Warnings: none…

Tim Drake x Riddler Sidekick!Male Reader: Masterlist

Summary: You’re back in arkham and get a unexpected visit…

——

Arkham wasn’t that bad… Sure the food was shit… the bathrooms were shit… the people were also kind off shit… nevermind Arkham is shit. But you managed to make it work for you, somehow…

Your bedroom was kind of cool, you had decorated it using a green sharpie, it was now very much giving ”insane-person-core”. Question marks, riddles, clues, semi-threatening messages to the staff were spread all over the walls. It was cozy.

You had also made friends with Waylon Jones aka Killer Croc, your ”next bedroom neighbour”, meaning that most inmates weren’t dumb enough to mess with you knowing it could lead to them getting their skull cracked open like an egg.

You and Croc spent most days in front of the tv watching whatever crap was on. Until one day your routine was broken, one evening when the two of you were watching some dumb reality show a guard came up to you saying ”You have visitors”.

”Tell them to go fuck themselves” you told him knowing it wasn’t anyone you wanted to see. But the guard just grabbed you roughly by the arm pulling you up from the couch, making Croc growl at him. ”Don’t worry Croc, i’ll be back” you said unenthusiatically and was led away by the guard.

You were taken in to an interrogation room, where you sat down at the table as they locked you in. Then the visitors door opened and in stepped a familiar caped crusader also followed by one of his sidekicks. It was Batman and the Red Hood.

Looks like Tim didn’t want to come and see you.

Batman came and sat down by table right across from you and Red Hood leaned against the wall behind him. ”We need your help” Batman said in his deep voice. You raised your eye brows curiously.

”The Riddler has taken a hostage” he told you. ”So… what does that have to do with me? I haven’t spoken to him since i was locked up in here” you said truthfully. ”We need to know where he might have taken the hostage, do you know any more of Riddler’s secret hideouts?” Batman questioned.

You stayed silent for a while. ”Why should i help you? What do i get?” you asked. Batman then said irritated ”Clue, this isn’t a game!”. ”To me it is” you stated with a devilish smirk. Red Hood walked over and leaned against the table and spoke up saying threatiningly ”How about you answer our questions and we don’t let the name ”Y/n L/n” slip to the GCPD?”.

”Oh i think it’s in your best interest not to do that, wouldn’t you agree, Mr Wayne?” you said sneakily giving Batman a look, he was doing his best to hide his shock but you could tell he was pissed. ”Relax, i won’t tell if you don’t” you informed him, feeling satisfied with yourself.

”We’re through here” Batman said annoyed as he stood up and walked towards the door followed by Red Hood. ”Tell Tim i said ”hi”” you said teasingly after them. You expected them to keep walking but Batman turned back around and said ”Tim is the one Riddler has taken”.

This made your smirk falter and you looked up at the two vigilantes, they turned to walk away but you stopped them saying loudly ”I might have a guess where Eddie has taken him”. The two turned back around and re-entered the interrogation room. ”Where?” Batman questioned.

”Got a pen and paper?” you asked. Red Hood brought in a piece of paper and a pen and you scribbled down an adress on it. ”Don’t let Eddie know i gave this to you” you instructed them. ”Alright” Batman agreed. ”And… make sure Tim is safe… okay?” you said softly. ”We will” Batman said and he and Red Hood left.

You were then escorted back to Arkham’s common area where you re-joined Killer Croc at the tv, he was now watching a national geographic special on crocodiles. You sat down beside him on the couch and he asked ”Who was the visitor?”.

”Some true crime weirdo” you lied. Croc let out a low growl in disgust. As you both watched the documentary a thought struck you, ”Croc, can i ask you something?”. ”Yeah” Croc said in his deep raspy voice.

”How do you know you’re a crocodile and not an alligator?”

[op-sys-chaos]

Okay, I’m now imagining that it works a bit like possession or DID. Until Damian is powerful enough to live in his own body (which will likely take a year, according to Frostbite), Damian (who I’m gonna say is currently 14) needs to live in Danny’s body.

The batfam, meanwhile, is panicking bc Dami’s missing.

So imagine the chaos when Danny lets Damian be in charge when they go to his home and Damian just shows up in Danny’s body like “Hello family, it is me, Damian.” They’d be so freaked out lmao.

Danny also has a life (I’m thinking college or some shit?) so during the day Danny is in charge and does classes and homework and at night Damian is in charge and gets to spend time with his family. (I’m also thinking the two can communicate mentally and watch what the other does but only the person in charge can give control to the other one, they can’t forcibly take charge.) Damian doesn’t need to go to school anyway, he’s canonically way ahead of his peers, so they tell people he’s taking a long vacation to go backpacking with his mom bc she missed him and wanted some quality time together. (Jon Kent knows though so the besties still get to hang out don’t worry.)

He’s not used to Danny’s body and not cleared for Robin duty yet, so he’s still manning comms when one night, an all-hands-on-deck situation happens. Danny, who’s been mostly silent besides the snarky commentary that Damian secretly enjoys, pipes up and says “let me take charge.”

“Danny, it’s an Arkham breakout of literally every single rogue and there’s a Justice League off world mission so Batman is busy. This is not the time for you to be in charge. I must help my family.”

“I can help. Let me do this. I promise it’ll be okay.”

“Danny, you cannot help-“

“If Danny says he can help, let him try,” Alfred chimes in from behind Damian. “He is an interdimensional entity, yes? I would bet that he has at least some powers or combat capability.”

“I have both,” Danny chimed in. “I’ve fought gods, I can handle a clown and a scarecrow. Hell, I bet fear toxin isn’t even close to the level of the Nightmare Dimension” [that’s what fright knight’s thing called right? -b] “so I should be fine. Trust me.”

And Damian does.

And Danny proceeds to clean up the Arkham breakout in about half an hour. He grabs every single rogue and just carts them back to Arkham, making them and himself intangible so they can’t hurt anyone. The batfamily just cleans up the goons.

Danny gets a spot on patrol after that, and starts teaching Damian how to use their shared body’s powers in case he needs them. When Damian eventually gets his own body back, he’s very adept at using his new abilities from the get go because he’s already used Danny’s so much.

The JL recruits Danny the second he and Damian are separate. Considering it means he gets to work in space, Danny is cool with it. Plus it means he can still visit the batfamily, who he now is considered a member of. (He’s got honorary status like Steph but only bc his parents are still alive. The second they die that boy is getting speed-adopted.)

de aged core Damian

The league of assassins is approached by a ghost or ancient being deciding to wreak havoc. They give them some sort of immortality key or power boost.

they do not know if they are able to trust this being so they decide to try it out on someone else.

They use Damien who is living with his father at this point. They kidnap him and inject him with a lot of the power( natural ectoplasm) that is being given to them.  already liminal Damien who grew up around the Lazarus pit and depending on Canon might even have used it, is Kickstarted to get halfa powers.

Everything that's going on ends up with him reverting to a core state. the League of Assassins, not realizing what this is, are a little bit concerned that they may have duped them; they try to summon a high powerful being from whatever the dimension it's from which is the ghost Zone. 

They end up getting Danny. 

Danny recognizes Damian's being reverted into a core state and panics, making a deal to take it. He takes Damien to frostbite who basically tells him that he's a baby halfa and if he wants the person to live or at least half live he needs to have a host body. Danny, thinking of all the halfa an existence realizes the only real person who can do that is him.

[thevindicativevordan]

Why isn't Nightwing a bigger deal? He has all of Batman's skills and Superman's faith in humanity and is arguably the most beloved hero in the DCU, but most people seem to know him either as the leader of the N̶o̶t̶ ̶J̶L̶ Teen Ttians or just Robin.

Thank you for asking me about Nightwing, I've been wanting to write a piece about him for a while now. The short version is that everyone who claims Dick becoming Nightwing was him "moving out of Batman's shadow and becoming his own man" is completely wrong.

Dick Grayson is a fantastic character, someone who saved Bruce Wayne in-universe both by forcing Batman to grow up a bit, and the countless times he saved Batman's life as his partner whether as Robin or Nightwing. Dick saved Batman in the real world as well, hard to believe but Batman was actually in danger of being cancelled due to poor sales early on. Enter Robin, a young daredevil audience stand in the creators hoped would get kids interested in reading Batman. And it worked! Sales on Batman doubled once Robin showed up which is crazy to think about, but Dick Grayson has always been a popular character. Cartoons like Teen Titans, Batman: The Animated Series, and The Batman only helped grow his audience.

Character-wise, Dick Grayson really does fill a number of crucial roles in the DCU. For Batman, Dick is proof that Batman is a positive force. Meeting Batman helped change Dick for the better, helped him heal after his parents died. With Dick, Batman can take comfort in knowing that yes, he has made a difference in the world for at least one orphan boy, which is all he wanted when he lost his parents himself. To the wider DCU, Dick is a friendly face who convinces others that Batman is competent and not a complete asshole. He took this kid in, trained him to be one of the best heroes the DCU has seen, and did it all out of the kindness of his heart. That someone like Dick can confront the evils of Gotham and not break means there's still hope for that city. As Robin, Dick has led the Titans and is an icon in his own right as The Sidekick, the original, the one every other Robin is built around copying or contrasting. The one all other superhero sidekicks are drawing on as a basis. As Robin Dick Grayson is very much on Batman's level.

Just not as Nightwing. As Nightwing, Dick has been a second rate Daredevil which means he's a third rate Batman (fully prepared to get hate for this but I've read and enjoyed the Miller and Bendis DD runs so I feel entitled to my opinion). A typical Nightwing run tends to go like this: Moving to Bludhaven (which is Gotham... but WORSE!), Dick Grayson usually enrolls in a pointless job we don't care about in order to provide some meaningless soap opera drama that doesn't go anywhere. Patrolling the city as Nightwing, he fights a variety of bad guys who are usually rather lame and unthreatening, with his big bad being a Kingpin knockoff called Blockbuster. Villains are fought, long running plotlines are set up, then everything is abandoned because it's Batfamily event time, and Dick has to run back to Gotham in order to play sidekick again. Usually his involvement is completely superfluous and it would've been better if the writer had gotten to opt out. By the time we finally get back to Nightwing's solo plotlines, the audience has usually ceased to care and the run gets cut short.

That's how Nightwing has been since the New 52 at least. Anyone who thinks that's "becoming their own man" is out of their mind. Dick is so thoroughly in Batman's shadow that he got shot in the head and spent a longer time as "Ric" which everyone fucking hated and sold like shit, than he did as Agent Grayson which was extremely well-received. Reiterating: Ric went on longer than Grayson because of a fucking Batman plotpoint Tom King wanted where Bruce was sad and cut off from the Batfamily because of Dick getting shot. Not just calling out King either, how many times was Kyle Higgins Nightwing run derailed because of Scott Snyder's crossovers? Or how about that entire run getting dumped to the side because Johns wanted to out Dick during Forever Evil, a Justice League/Lex Luthor story? DC has repeatedly made their contempt for Nightwing clear, he's Batman's sidekick still in their eyes, and he serves whatever story role the Batman writer wants.

Hell his best stories tend to have been the ones where he's not Nightwing. He was Robin in a good chunk of the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans run. Morrison really showcased his depth as a character when they wrote him as Batman, their time with Dick under the cowl was actually one of the first Batman runs I ever read, and no Nightwing run has ever matched it in terms of quality in my humble opinion. Scott Snyder's work with DickBats also was a high point for the character, showing Dick as competent and examining his relationship with Gotham and the Gordons. King and Seeley gave him one of the best comic runs with Grayson, a series where he wasn't even a "superhero" technically! When it comes to actual pre-New 52 Nightwing runs that are highly recommended where he *is* Nightwing, there's Chuck Dixon and uhhhhhhh... Tomasi's brief run before Dick became Batman? It's not exactly an overwhelming list.

Look there has been good work done with Nightwing, I'm not claiming there hasn't been. Tim Seeley wrote a great run with Nightwing Rebirth. Seeley fleshed out Dick's Rogues Gallery with cool new ones like Raptor, he brought back old foes like Dr. Hurt (why oh why couldn't you have brought back Flamingo too?), he gave Dick's world some character it solely needed. Bludhaven under Seeley is pretty much the only time I've really felt like it lived up to being Dick's city.

The problem with fictional cities is you have to put in the work to give them the character of real cities. You have to make the cities feel like characters in their own right. Gotham is the best example of this, it's a character all it's own, one that tells you a lot about Batman and his cast. In contrast Bludhaven is usually one of the worst. Any place that wants to claim to be worse than the city that is built over the gate to hell and gets wrecked every other month by the Arkham freaks has to really put in the work to compete. Simply put, Bludhaven typically fails utterly. There's nothing about it that makes you really buy it's worse than Gotham, I mean does anyone really think Nightwing's Rogues wouldn't get their lunches eaten by Batman's? No, no one genuinely buys that. When Bludhaven claims to be worse, it just comes across as tryhard, an attribute that does end up telling you about Nightwing in unintentional ways.

So Seeley didn't do that. Instead he created a city built for a hero like Dick Grayson. Someone who is bright and flashy, but does have an element of darkness to him. Someone who loves the spotlight, but often uses it to obscure. Seeley turned Bludhaven into Las Vegas, and that was the fucking best concept for Bludhaven I have ever seen, it makes so much sense. Las Vegas is the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and isn't that the perfect city for a hero who got their start working in the circus? Isn't the aesthetics of the gleaming casinos, the glamorous sex appeal of the performers, and the spectacle of the shows, all being used to cover up the seediness of mob bosses meeting backstage perfect for Nightwing? It's so utterly unlike New York City, yet Las Vegas is still dangerous, it's got a crime culture all it's own. Seeley used it to great effect, as did Humphries during his brief run, and I will always be pissed that DC didn't continue to use it. That should have stuck around and been the definitive look for Bludhaven.

How Seeley's take on Bludhaven was treated feels like a small scale version of how Nightwing in general gets treated. Whenever creators pitched ideas for him, if editorial thought there was potential to break big, they asked for those ideas to be repurposed for Batman instead. Anything big or good gets repurposed for Batman or tossed to the side so Nightwing can go back to his default: having irrelevant adventures in a city that is supposedly worse than Gotham but can't live up to it. Just like how Nightwing is supposedly better than Batman but never gets to show it. Goddamn it's so frustrating seeing his potential get wasted like that.

The Nightwing book should be one of DC's most ambitious books in terms of storytelling. You can go from traditional superhero stories, to romantic soap opera, to spy stories, to crime noir, to horror, to cosmic adventures, and ALL of them would fit because Nightwing is someone who has a foot in both Gotham and Metropolis. He's got friends everywhere on every team, and has been a hero longer than most Leaguers have at this point. No reason DC should still be afraid to let him loose and insisting on hewing close to what Dixon established almost over 30 years ago is only holding him back. At the very least get him some better Rogues, why the hell didn't he get to keep Professor Pyg? That's Dick's villain not Bruce's! Bullshit that they didn't let Dick keep him. Hopefully Flamingo comes back, with a slight revamp I think he'd make a great reoccurring Nightwing Rogue.

Luckily it does look somewhat like Nightwing fans have reason to be optimistic. While Taylor isn't to my taste, DC clearly views him as a "big" writer, and that they put him on Nightwing says a lot. Taylor has been selling well so far, so hopefully he gets to tell his story, hilarious that even he lampshaded having to write Dick running over to Gotham for another tie-in after Taylor's big opening arc was all about Dick committing himself and his money to Bludhaven. Scott Snyder is apparently working on a Black Label Nightwing book which will explore how he's a different detective than Bruce. The Gotham Knights video game has him as one of the main stars, and while Titans is... controversial, it's one of the most popular streaming shows and Dick is the main character. There's a lot of content coming that features him in the starring role, and that will only help his star rise further.

For the first time in, well, ever it feels like DC may be serious about elevating him. Time will tell if it pays off, but I for one choose to be optimistic that the 2020s will be a turning point for Dick Grayson where Nightwing becomes hugely popular in his own right. Not just as Batman's sidekick.