#jason might adopt him ngl

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Okay so we've done "Lazarus water is ghost booze", "Lazarus water is rotting ectoplasm", and even "Lazarus pit as spooky swimming pool" but consider:

Danny getting dunked in the pit waters and being contaminated with constant pit rage. He's destroying everything around him and his friends + sister+ clone must work around/ sabotage the JL, JLD and GIW in order to save Danny from them and get close enough to try to filter out the Lazarus water from his body using one of the Fenton Parents inventions.

The GIW keep interfering with the JL and JLD, hilariously insisting they have authority here and trying in vain to chase the heros off. Sometimes even actually fighting them. Or well, trying to at least.

Phantom doesn't exactly have the greatest reputation. Between the media blackout over Amity and what little that does get through painting him in a bad light thats not really a saprise.

Still, not everyone is convinced Phantom is a villian. Superman thinks Phantom is being mind controlled while most of the bats think the teenager was drugged and is on a rampage because of it.

Jason swears up and down that he felt the pit in that kid and he was swallowed up in pit rage the likes he had never seen before. Jason is determined to help this kid because if he can save this kid then maybe there's some hope for himself. Tim offers his help as well, suspicious of how similar Phantoms eyes are to someone suffering from the effects of the pit and at least partially convinced Jason is right.

It all culminates into Team Phantom saving Danny with the Justice Leages help and slapping the GIW all the way to thier new jail cells. Danny, after emptying his stomach contents into the ground, gets asked some medical questions, like his name and what day it was.

Turns out Danny thought it was the day everything started and had no memory of anything that happened while he was rampaging, which his friends and family thank thier lucky stars for. The boy can't handle much more trauma. Anywho, Danny gets placed in the watchtower medbay while they filter out any lingering L water and he's placed on an iv drip to replenish all the vitamins and hydration he lost while he was out of it.

Batman, Superman and others have all had talks with him, comforting him and actually listening to what he had to say. Something not many adults in dannys life did. Hood swiftly became friends with the kid and they bonded over being "Death Buddies" and Danny eventually told them about Vlad and Freakshow and his parents and how they all need to be stopped. He begged for leniency for his parents as they were genuinely insane and needed help.

Danny and his team get placed in a witness protection program of sorts and is visited by a lot of heros from time to time.

[theredcuyo]

Little Dick (like, between his teen rebellion and actual gremlin child fase) wants a little sibbling after having a little summer job of babysitting his neighboor, Tim

Convincing Bruce turns out easier than he thought, but Alfred is unfaced to his pleas and denies any chance, so he and B work out a plan

They don't have a real plan (Bruce didn't have a plan when he adopted Dick to begin with) but during Patrol a few nights later, Robin finds a kid looking for food in the trash, gives him five dollars to actually buy something nice, takes a good look at him and goes "Yeah, this is brother material"

And after the kid comes back, he wonders if the rest could buy medicine for his mom, who wasn't feeling good that morning and 'fell sleep very very deeply'

A bit of panic takes over Dick, and the worse is the truth unfortunately for this boy, but it doesn't take away the chance for him to quickly get a brand new older brother

Alfred can't stop them, the kid needs a family

By the way, his name is Jason, he's still processing what just happened, but someone is feeding him now, that's good

Two years later, is Jason who wants a baby brother, and it just SO happens that as of late, when he goes with his brother to babysit their neighboor (When he feels like Dick might need company but not Bruce's, they're arguing a lot as of late) he starts to notice weird things, like, who besides them is taking care of him?

The kid also has trouble speaking, he read in a book that if babys don't get enough talk done to them they have trouble learning to speak. The kid's eyes also get teary if you say something like 'Sorry, forgot you were there for a second' even on accident.

When he snoops around the house during Tim's (And Dick's) nap time, that by the way, was hard to do because Tim likes sleeping between both of them, literally baby brother material, and he finds documents that state he's not had anyone come look after him save for them in the weekends since a year and a half ago he knows they have to intervene

And if that gets him the baby brother he wanted that's just added price to getting justice done!

Tim never really felt like he wanted another sibbling, it could be nice if he had one, You know? One that could help him scape Dick's hug hours or one just so Jason would stop calling him a baby, but he knew better than to ask for anything.

Lucky for him, the league had him covered, and yeah, he wasn't exactly allowed to hack into their base, B said it could be dangerous, but he was curious of the possibility and if by chance he saw a little boy running around thanks to the security cameras, then it was good, wasn't it?

The league wasn't a place for a child to grow in, Batman, we have to intervene!

It wasn't just because he'd be the perfect little sibbling material, pfff, of course not...

Just look at him, this one comes trained already!

Yeah, Tim was happy.

|||

Dunno what i just did, but i do love those the kids get into the family earlier fics ngl

[pluckyredhead]

Ngl do you think the relationship between Arthur and Garth has anything to do with how often at the time adopted children were and are considered not as “real” as biological children? Especially because the whole nuclear family BS. Not saying that’s all of it but I think it plays a role

Oh, 100%. I mean, look at this:

Arthur is willing to kill Garth to save Aquababy, because Aquababy is his son...with the implicit corollary that Garth isn't. The kid he has raised since, like, age 8, who has been by his side and living in his house all these years, is just...a sidekick.

(I think it's worth noting that Batman, who is not a good father, was once in a similar situation - Ra's al Ghul wanted him to pick whether Tim or Damian should die - and Bruce immediately chose himself. Arthur didn't even consider sacrificing himself for the boys. When you're a worse father than Batman, you know you've fucked up.)

I will say that in the early decades, comics only rarely explicitly referred to heroes and sidekicks as fathers and sons - you don't see it very often with Dick or Roy either. That's why all the sidekicks were wards and none of them were legally adopted. (Dick wasn't adopted until he was over 18; Roy never has been.) This was mostly to keep the heroes seeming young and fun instead of stodgy old dads.

But since the 70s on, Dick and Roy have been very frequently, explicitly stated to be Bruce and Ollie's sons, and the same is true for subsequent sidekicks: Jason was going to be adopted right away, Tim was going to be adopted whether he wanted it or not, Mia is clearly Ollie's daughter.

By contrast, I can only think of two times the Arthur/Garth dynamic has been described as paternal. The first is from Garth's debut:

HE IS SO TINY. Also I can't stop laughing at how Arthur's like "Fuck that noise." TERRIBLE.

I can't remember exactly when the other instance was, but I want to say it was Arthur calling Garth his son in like...the early 2000s? Maybe the Jurgens run? It would've had to have been before the 2003 run, because Garth was not putting up with Arthur's bullshit from 2003 on, and then the New 52 happened.

But yeah, they don't use those words for each other...basically ever. (Lorena and Jackson are also not Arthur's children. To be fair, Jackson has two very alive parents so Arthur being like "YOU ARE MY SON" would be weird and inappropriate.)

I think another factor, though, is that Arthur isn't just Garth's former mentor and guardian - he's his king. A lot of the time, Arthur has very cold, formal relationships with almost everyone in his life who isn't Mera (and sometimes even her) or a literal baby. There's a certain loyalty Garth owes Arthur - or at least both characters seem to feel Garth owes Arthur, whether or not you or I might agree with that - that has nothing at all to do with family.

We also don't really know the Atlantean norms around this sort of thing. Like, we can extrapolate things about Ollie and Roy's relationship that aren't written on the page, but do Atlanteans even have differentiations between ward, foster, and adoptee? Do they differentiate between adoptee and biological child?

And combining both of those ideas, Garth being considered Arthur's son might have political ramifications. Does that put him in the line of succession? The comics have been wildly inconsistent on this (Titans called him a prince this month and I yelled "EXPLAIN YOURSELF, TOM TAYLOR" at the page), but one could headcanon that Arthur has very deliberately avoided formally recognizing Garth as his son for political reasons. (Unless he has and that's why Garth is apparently a prince now, like he was in the Jurgens run but no other time in history. EXPLAIN BOTH OF YOURSELVES, TOM TAYLOR AND DAN JURGENS.)

Anyway yeah, I mostly think you're right that it's just anti-adoption prejudice, but there are some other factors that make this situation unique among the many, many mentor/sidekick relationships in comics.

[eldaryasharbinger]

I've updated Petronilla's bio and changed her family from the canon one to her being Faraize's daughter!! (still adopted)

more yapping below the cut!!

I got the idea while I was replaying MCL HSL, and remembered that Faraize had pink eyes! It technically doesn't matter since she's adopted anyways but I thought it was nice </3

Like they still somewhat look like they're related even though they're really not, one that doesn't know could assume that 'Nilla looks more like her mother...

I also think it ties nicely with everything I did for Petronilla already, since we don't get to hear much about the professors lives during HSL and since she was homeschooled it might make sense that no one ever heard about Faraize's daughter... He's also the history teacher and I believe that it is 100% history teacher behavior

I also think this could open the possibility for Thomas and Petronilla to have met at some point during childhood, they're the same age so during HSL she was a kid as well (I might take the time to make her child sprite cause it would be so cute... And maybe upgrade Faraize's sprite as well for a New Gen version 🤔)

Petronilla got the scar on her nose from falling from the swings at the playground, so imagine if Thomas was also at the playground when that happened and thought "what a silly girl..." just to never see her again, or maybe they even played together but again, never met for a second time

I also think that they both don't remember each other as adults, I do remember a few of the kids that I used to play with only once (like at the beach etc) but I definitely wouldn't be able to recognize them right now, I have no Idea what they looked like or what their name was, I only remember facts 😭🙏 (Since I "headcanon" Thomas as autistic as well I base these things off of my own experience 😔)

I've always liked Faraize so I feel like it's the right change, he brings me comfort and was one of my favorite characters from HSL, I'd love to drag him along and make him part of 'Nilla's story <3

I also think that he'd probably try to clumsily intimidate Jason to leave his daughter alone and, of course, fail 😭👍🏻

Also, 'Nilla ended up sharing some interests with my old Candy (Kilea, she ended up being my first oc and I've developed her as her own character ever since 2015, that's why I barely talk about my old Candy,,) and since I've always liked to pretend that she was Faraize's pupil, now I can say it's because her student reminded him of his daughter and hoped for her to grow up as nice of a person as Kilea was 😭😭🤲🏻💕

One thing is that we don't know Faraize's first name, I tried to ask Chinomiko on Instagram and this is what she said (which I had expected ngl haha!!)

I don't have any ideas so it would be nice to hear your suggestions! I could make a poll with some of the names and let the community decide what we should name Faraize :D!! I don't want to pick one that might confuse others, so I thought it would be nice to choose one together<3

I actually like the way "Francis Faraize" sounds, but after checking I remembered that's Nathaniel's father's name so idk how we all feel about that,,

[yonemurishiroku]

In New Rome, a strict selection of babies is carried out — only healthy and strong children who have inherited only the best from their parents.

And the rest of the children, who are sickly and have not received divine powers, are sent to a special adoption system in the mortal world…

And now, after three years of a happy marriage, Jason Alexander Grace and Penelope Amaryllis Jackson learn the good news — they are expecting their first child.

Nobody even remembers about the selection, but why? it is crystal clear that their child will be strong and healthy.

They had absolutely healthy and strong triplets — two beautiful boys and a wonderful girl, blessed with the golden curls of their proud father and the sea eyes of their happy mother.

Aurelius Elmo, Adrian Emilius and Ennia Amara.

But after giving birth, the nurse brings only Aurelia and Ennia to the mother and father.

Next, a disheveled and angry Reina flies into Penelope's room.

Oh no.

Adrian Emilius Grace-Jackson did not qualify.

They are trying to return the child with all their might, Frank, Hazel, Reina, Penelope and Jason themselves literally put pressure on the senators with their authority, but they are adamant — the ancient law issued by Jupiter himself, thanks to which Rome is still alive, is the same for everyone.

A tiny boy with blond hair and green eyes, nameless Adrian Emilius, is sent for adoption.

Sally and Paul are desperately trying to find their grandson, but the boy was adopted too quickly by a rich couple from another country.

After going through tears, tantrums and other severe torments, Jason and Penelope come to terms with the loss of Adrian ... they will love and remember him until the last day of their lives.

Time passes, the wound on the souls of Jason and Penelope does not heal, but becomes covered with a crust.

Aurie Elmy and Eni Ama grow up to be great children, then one by one they have three more children — two girls and a boy, now Penelope is pregnant, there will be two boys.

The Grace-Jackson family is beautiful, perfect and happy.

Until one day Ennia Amara finds a magazine with a photo of the French model Adrian Emilius Agrest, who is a spitting image of the girl herself and her brother, and Aurelius Elmo finds documents about the first pregnancy and childbirth of their mother Penelope ... she had not twins, but triplets ... there was another boy…

Ngl the first half sounds like the start of a dark deep humanity's-value-focus manga and if it was me I would have made Adrian an antagonist just for the family drama.

[theamazingmaddyas]

I've been reading Riordanverse fanfictions for a while, and writing them for a while to, and realized that I've read a lot of different Leo pairings. Ironically, I'm not actually the biggest fan of any Leo ship, because personally I think Leo's aro/ace, and has no attraction whatsoever (I could write essay after essay about why, but that's not the point right now). However, thinking back on all the Leo fics I've accidently read over the years (or purposefully, if the main ship or the plot intrigued me enough that I could put aside my preconcieved biases) got me thinking about whether I think Leo would be in a qpr with the characters who others ship him with. So, here's that:

Disclaimer, I'm not dissing on any ships here, ship what you want unless it's actively harmful! These are just my opinions on if I think Leo would be in a qpr with a character, because I really struggle to see him dating in my own head

Calypso — Maybe

Now, I've written Caleo before, when I was much younger and had the need to make every single fic I write canon compliant (still have this urge too, since I use fanfiction as an extension of canon works, which is why I rarely write AUs though I have) but in recent years, I just can't get myself to write them anymore, so my canon compliant fics have them breaking up pretty soon after TON for my sanity. As for them in a QPR, I've written it before (see Self-Discovery on ao3 by TheAmazingMaddy) (actually it might be on Wattpad too, but I can't remember, same name) (Double checked, it is also there) and that was such a fun fic for me to write! However, in the future I see them more as business partners and close friends than queer platonic partners. If you've read my Solangelo future fic Surprise! you'd know in that fic Leo and Calypso have their mechanic shop that they talk about in HOH, but Calypso has her own girlfriend (Sapphic a-spec Calypso is my new favorite thing) and Leo is living his life with his adoptive children, Madalena and Aidan, and they're content. (I won't go into any more details about this dynamic because I'd probably cap the word limit if I try, but if anyone wants elaboration, feel free to ask)

Jason Grace — Very likely

As aforementioned, I mainly write canon-compliant fics post TOA, so I'd probably never write this myself, but out of everyone on this list, Jason is by far the most likely candidate. Valgrace is by far the Leo ship content I see the most, as I've read a lot of aus that include it, mainly for the Solangelo content ngl. But, back to the qpr stuff, I definitely see them being queer platonic partners, as they're friendship is already solid. (Note; I can also totally see Jason having a onesided crush on Leo, which I know is definitely not a popular hc as most fics have Leo as the one down bad, but I also have reasons for this I can elaborate if even one person asks, or if I feel like I'll explode if I don't say it)

Jason Grace & Piper McLean — Likely enough

Disclaimer, I was raised without any knowledge on polyamory, and still have very little knowledge on it, as I struggle comprehending attraction to one person, much less more than one, but just because I don't understand it, doesn't mean I don't support everyone, and am willing to try and learn from more coherent sources

I just wanted to put a disclaimer before this one, as it's the only poly ship on this list, and I'm honestly afraid I'll say something ignorant and offensive, when that's not my intention at all. I'm not 100% sure how poly qprs would work, but I don't see why it wouldn't work? I mean, I haven't read anything on poly qprs, but I haven't consumed much poly content in general, and am being forthright when I say I am ignorant. That being said, the Lost Trio has some of my favorite friendship dynamics, so I see it as likely enough they could be in a poly qpr. Piper, obviously, is romantically dating Shel though, as they are one of my favorite underrated ships. I adore them, and wish we could get some more content on them and their meeting.

Drew Tanaka— Definitely Not

This one is because I very recently read a Solangelo fic that had background Leo/Drew mentions, and I didn't read the compliant story about them the author had written but I still decided to add it. Personally, I can't see it. Don't get me wrong, I love the Drew redemption arcs that a lot of Drew fics have, and I've even written Aro Drew myself for Aro Week 2024 (Aro Allo Drew to be specific) but I really can't see Leo and Drew working. Friends? Possibly, I'm not 100% sure, I could see Drew getting annoyed with him too fast for them to be around each other for more than 5 minutes at a time. QPP? Definitely not in my head.

Austin Lake— Maybe? I honestly can't tell, but the idea has merit

If anyone has read my Apollo Cabin fics, or my Ace 2023 and Aro 2024 oneshot collections, they'd know not only am I a bonafide expert in all things Aro/Ace Leo, but I am also a bonafide expert in all things Aro/Ace Austin, crazy how things work out, huh? Now, does me hcing them both as aromantic and asexual (both leaning more towards repulsed because self-projection? I don't know them)make them a good candidate for a qpr? I honestly don't know. The merit for this one comes from the fact that I can see Leo building or fixing instruments for Austin to play, and I think that's sweet. Austin plays the Valdezinator now, I don't make the rules.

Connor Stoll— Possible, but the world might come to an end if it happens

Leo and Connor are both such chaotic energies that combining them might be detrimental to the human and mythological worlds alike. They'd get along fantastically, so them being in a qpr is not out of the question, it's just the pranks that they'd come up with if they were together often would be the thing of nightmares. When I read them together in a fic, I was honestly scared for the well-being of the camp. They scare me together a bit.

Laurel Victor- No

Okay, admit time, the tagged Leo/Laurel fic I've read was written by me... Now, you're probably thinking why did I write this? The answer is simple, it was the fic First Dates in my Aro Week 2024 oneshot collection, where Jason and Piper set Leo up with a blind date with Laurel that goes pretty badly to try and take his mind off the Argo II building process and him feeling like a 3rd wheel (Because obviously Leo has no attraction towards her), but I feel obligated to add it to this list because I mean I have reread my own works before? I'm just saying it would go really badly because Laurel and Leo are both all energy all the time but in completely different, and butting heads kinda way.

You know, I probably have read more, but these are the ones I remember (mainly because the fics I read ages ago had some really memorable parts, that even if I probably would never find them again, it's forever altered my brain chemistry) at the moment. I'd love to hear if people have read or written other Leo ships, that they'd like me to rate the qpr-ability of!

[ashfly]

shhh shhh don't mind me just saying what I've heard on the grapevine (tumblr) Uh, Pre-crisis / pre-52, or maybe it was a comic called Crisis-52 and this is referring to before then BUT - Jason's origin changes! So pre-crisis-52 (I'm too tired to remember what it actually was so ignore the incorrectedness) Jason was a redhead, either in the circus or something else that gave him a really similar origin, and then dyed his hair black and threw on the robin suit for reasons (but also didn't like being Robin, I think - like there was something about him understanding the burden and 'knowing' that he didn't quite measure up to Dick, but dyed his hair to make him look like the original because that was what people needed). He also got described as 'sweet', a lot, I think. also I might've broken the question mark button on my keyboard and I need to sleep but I can try to finish this before Post-crisis-52 or whatever, his origin swaps! He becomes - The Todd. Or, rather, the baby with black hair whose mother overdoses, ngl I don't actually remember all of his dad's stuff besides him going to prison, dying, maybe not actually being dead, etc., etc., so I'm not messing with that BUT - Jason ends up as a feral street child, steals the batmobile's tires, hits Batman with a tire iron, I think there's a storyline with a boy's home / orphanage that was actually a criminal recruitment center but I'm not sure if that's canon to all following universes or only a couple, Jason ends up being adopted. Very different Jasons, and there might be a few later storylines with Jason with redhair but yeah. Not sure if redhair Jason has the whole Red Hood thing or not, I haven't looked into the split enough, but people usually think of tire-iron child with the guts to steal from The Bat when picture early Red Hood. I think. anyways g'night

the thing about the Robins and the DC comics is that Dick debuted in like, the 60's or something so every Robin has been through writers who get them down just so fucking spot on

but also writers who super don't so the fandom just has to pick and choose and scrape for any morsel of good content out there, and even worse is that sometimes good moment come from bad runs

It's also canon at times (from my understanding) that Jason's a redhead who died his hair black to look like Dick, but that rarely gets used even though you would think he would stop dying his hair after falling out with Bruce OTL

(sorry for this ask this was a little more of a vent, but the agonies of being a DC fan who has like 70 years of comics to sort through man... good luck though!)

yeah i kinda picked that up lmao. lucky me, i've got lots of experience in fandoms with pick-and-choose canon lmao. downside is i tend to deep dive into media to learn all the ins and outs- i don't like just plain not knowing shit abt the lore- which is. y'know kinda difficult with how the comics are. i didn't know that abt redhead jason tho!! tbh i kinda dig that skdfbgk. i agree it doesn't make sense tho lmao. i love it when characters dye their hair black it's like okay emo🖤

and ur fine, i'm sure i'm gonna be in the exact same spot in like. 2 weeks tops dskjfgbjk

[kayadrake123]

I low-key wanna see how the batfam would act with a deadpool!reader as their s/o. Like I’m really interested.

Dick would be torn between his morals and his s/o because like, he doesn’t want them killing people?? But like they’re also doing it with good intentions and the people they’re killing are bad people??? So he’s like really confused but nonetheless is super attracted to them and finds them fucking hilarious. He will however vomit if he sees the violent ways in which the reader kills the bad guys. (Chopping someone’s head off and it lands right by his feet?? NO THANK YOU)

Tim would be all over the place with this one. Cause like he understands the extent of anger and disgust it takes to actually want to kill a bad guy. Like he’s been there. But sometimes I feel like he gets iffy with the reader when they kill cause like, man still follows his adoptive daddy’s no-killing code and he’s a bit emo so??? Probably a lot of ups and downs in their relationship ngl cause man REALLY loves his s/o but hates that they put him in a position where Bruce is nagging him about reader’s control and morals and yada yada yada

Jason fucking loves them. No ifs and no buts, he fucking loves them. He’s on that whole wave of “if I’m not killing these motherfuckers, at least one of us is”. Like he’ll defend reader till he dies. He does however hate the dangerous situations they put themselves into, even though they can’t die. It genuinely makes him feel sick when he sees some bad guy stab a knife into his s/o’s head like *gag*

Older!Damian at first thought their tactics were questionable…but the more he got to know them he started to become a little less peeved about them. When he’s finally in a relationship with them he does try and get them to stop killing, might throw them into jail a few times but only for a little bit (getting some Bruce and Selina vibes hehehe kind of) but overall he genuinely loves them and will fight any motherfucker who tries to arrest them or something similar to that (I’m looking at you Bruce, like Damian will fight you bro)

Duke is…man he’s kind of amazed. Sure yeah it’s pretty disgusting to see his s/o cut off someone’s head, but hey they look badass doing it! He’s like super supportive, but like Damian will constantly try to get the reader to stop killing by offering alternative ways. He’s down bad for reader like BRO. They do sometimes get into fights over reader’s methods but he will never think about throwing them in jail or something.

Should I write it??? Like make headcanons? With even more characters in the Batfam like Cass and Steph and Babs even?? Hmm…I’m genuinely considering it. Let me know :))

Edit: SOMEONE (not me) SHOULD DEFINITELY WRITE IT PLSSS

[aalghul]

Didn’t the new 52 also weirdly insert Talia into Jason’s pre-Bruce story?

Yup! RHATO #25 and it was a certified mess, as expected of the N52. Talia was included in Jason's pre-Bruce backstory during Zero Year. If you know anything about the N52 timeline, you know it does not make sense in a single way. Jason was 10-11 when he was adopted post-crisis, but in Zero Year he has got to be at least 15-16. Talia's role in his story is insulting to her and you can tell by the fact that Jason (untrained, a child) lands a hit on her. She's entirely unaffected by it but this is Talia. Jason in his prime, after he's trained and mastered everything, might not be able to do even that. Talia is the deadliest woman in the DC universe. Anyways. On one side, Jason's annoying friend is making him join the Red Hood gang, on the other, Talia is there hunting an Untitled (enemies of the All-Caste,). After her and Jason meet, he sees he attempt an All-Caste move and fail, and then he gets it right on his first strike at an Untitled. This one I actually understand because Jason's literally the only human to be able to use All-Caste techniques, and Ducra's told Talia this before.

I thought this part was funny ngl. Talia's just doing her think and Jason's "strong woman to idolize" senses are going off. Make no mistake, though, this issue ends with Jason's asshole friend calling her his girlfriend, so the kiss on the cheek Talia gives Jason at the end is kind of ruined too. I found it interesting that Talia calls Ducra something of a mother to her. They've got like three pages total together, but I have headcanons on their relationship.

I also liked Talia showing that she cares about this random kid. I love fated family in general, so this meeting wouldn't bother me so much if it didn't suck in every way lol.

So that's that. This issue ends in Talia telling Ra's she wasn't good enough to do it, but this random white boy was. Woohoo.

[bigskydreaming]

I'd love to hear about either "how to save the world or die trying" or "an architect in his house of cards" they both sound like a+++ concepts...also your titles are mega cool ☆☆☆

I'll add more about How To Save A World separately, but first.....

So "The Architect in His House of Cards" is the one-shot I've mentioned before about the various OG Titans and Lilith giving Bruce their....opinions, on his estrangement from Dick and refusal to reach out to him, especially after adopting Jason. Ngl, though Wally, Donna, Roy, Garth and Lilith all get a solo scene with Bruce, its largely Lilith focused (with Garth getting the next longest scene) because I have been stanning Lilith for as long as I can remember and I'm not about to stop now that I've started getting other people interested in her ahfslkhfalkfhalkfhla. That doesn't sound like a thing that my 'loves being enabled' ass would do. Nah.

So yeah, that fic is basically what it says on the tin, and there's some snippets of Lilith's scene with Bruce here: https://bigskydreaming.tumblr.com/post/662170697734537216/bigskydreaming-from-a-one-shot-im-working-on-set

But some more, because why not:

“See, there you go again with that adorable thing you do,” Lilith sighed. “And by adorable, I mean I’m lying, and its actually tedious and could you stop, please.”

She rolled her eyes at whatever expression his features slipped into then, and waved a hand lazily. “Oh, don’t worry, you’re not special. You all do it. Every last one of our parents and mentors are just as guilty of this as you. We have a standing Friday night bitch session where we all take a turn with the mic. Well, all of us except Raven, but only because who wants to follow the girl whose Daddy invented being evil? That’s just awkward for everyone.”

“And what is it that I’m doing, then?” 

“I’m so glad you asked.” She smiled brightly. “Its that thing where you all look at us and just see reflections of yourselves, echoes of your own journeys. Like we’re all just You 2.0 and following in your footsteps and thus will never have the insights you have from walking the same path as us....only first, and further. Problem is....we’re not on the same paths. And we never have been.”

She leaned forward in her seat, elbows on her knees and hands clasped together between them.

“Because where you went home to your bed the night your parents died, Dick went and spent the next thirty days living in Hell. When Mr. Queen was getting his college orientation packet, Roy had already kicked a drug habit, fathered a child, and assumed sole responsibility as her caretaker. Wonder Woman’s origins are detailed on sacred scrolls, whereas Donna had to go door to door seeking clues to hers, and most of those have turned out to be lies anyway. Garth and Aquaman might have both been cast out as children for the color of their eyes, but his Royal Arseness was raised in a lighthouse while Garth’s childhood is more accurately described as what if the Little Mermaid had been raised in the wild by sharks. The biggest decision facing the first Flash upon graduating high school was what major to declare, where Wally’s already had to grapple with his mortality and weigh the value his own life holds for him versus the lives he could save via the powers that almost prematurely aged him to death.”

The psychic held up a hand forestalling any response and hastened to add: 

“Understand, I’m not trying to devalue your own experiences there. They were of course formative and launched each of you onto paths that have taken you to no shortage of places. I’m simply saying.....devaluing our own experiences - our experience in general - is exactly what you do every time you all look at us and see only our placement in life’s journey relative to your own. Ignoring the fact that none of us started from the same points as you did. That some of us had considerable head-starts in areas you did not, just as you did in areas we have not. You project yourselves into our shoes based on who you were when you were our ages, how far you’d dipped your toes into various life experiences at that point, when the actual truth is none of you have ever stood where we stand now. That many of us have already been submerged so deeply in those same experiences we’ve almost drowned multiple times over. And yet here we are, proof positive that clearly at some point, we already learned for ourselves how to swim, and we do not all owe that to your advice and guidance. Certainly not the guidance you think is born of understanding what it’s like to be where we’re at now, when the reality is you have no actual idea of what that is and your insights are not so much insightful as they are presumptive.”

She quirked her lips into a wry smile as he absorbed that, and cast her head forward so that her red hair cascaded down in front of her face and obscured the glint of her slate-gray eyes behind its curtain.

“With all due respect of the very same nature we’d like to receive from you, Mr. Wayne.....I have beheld the minds of gods. I have seen into the souls of demons. I have watched the world die in my dreams and known I’ll watch it again while awake if I do not personally take steps to change the events of my visions, and I know truths about men’s hearts that would make even you shudder to learn. I am only nineteen.”

“And every single one of my teammates can make similar claims. Now, if you truly have so much trouble reconciling that with the box you’ve built around us in your mind? Might I suggest you loosen the pursestrings of your considerable mental resources, splurge a little....and invest in a bigger box.”

[marisandini-chu-blog]

Bruce Wayne is a Simp for Bad Bitch

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

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

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

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

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

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

I repeat, a mob boss’ daughter. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I... am conflicted the most about this. 

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

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

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

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

So yeah. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tell me he’s not a simp for that. 

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

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

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

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

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

The Batfam.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[fanfics-only-for-me]

Call of the Void (Part 1)

Word Count: 1704

This is gonna be hella boring chapter cause I really just wanted to set the scene  I’m half done the next chapter so expect that soon.  This is my first time actually writing anything so some advice will be great ngl <3 

How are the Titans going to handle the reluctant new stray Dick picked up and what exactly is she running from?  Rose doesn't exist and Jeremiah is dead. Everything in the show is the same up to when they find Rose on the telly. Imma just swap her with y/n cause I'm a narcissist. Y/N is 18 nearly 19.  Don't @ me cause i know this is hella shite. Readers bi but I’m not certain if she’s gonna be romantically involved with anyone yet.

Coffee Drops

Dick's been trying to get Rachel to come out of her shell for the past few months.  Knowing about Rachel's struggle fitting in with her peers at school and the recent events surrounding her family, both biological and adopted, Dick deemed a routine would be best.  It would be a way for Rachel to feel at ease, and comfortable.  When Dick was initially adopted by Bruce back when he was young and struggling with his own family stress so to speak, he found that once he fell into an established pattern of behaviour, his mind would settle too.  Thus a routine was swiftly established.

The day would begin with light training as a group and then a small rest, a bit more training and finally breakfast.  During this early morning rest period, Garfield would head off to his room and play whatever game he was currently obsessed with.  Lately, it was some platform based game, Dick even gave it a go once but never got invested, perhaps he was a bit too old for this sort of stuff, either way, gaming definitely wasn't for him.  It wasn't for Rachel either.  She tried playing with Garfield one morning but as soon as her character died; she left leaving Garfield and the console alone.  Dick didn't like having Rachel alone for too long but he didn't want it to seem obvious and push her away. 

God knows what Jason does during his downtime, and judging by what was found on the batcomputer, Dick doesn't want to know. 

Thus birthed their new routine: every morning they'd head off to get coffee together, changing shops every couple days due to Dick's paranoia-fueled habits, Rachel is still a missing person after all.  Dick began to enjoy these coffee trips with Rachel.  He doubted he would ever have kids of his own, especially after Dawn and himself ended.  He did enjoy this feeling though; being Rachel's confidant and support, her father-figure so to speak.  He felt the same towards Garfield but not as intense as with Rachel.  

It was on one of these coffee trips that he noticed something strange.  They were at a new coffee shop, the place had a retro yet Cool Kidz vibe to it, filled with guitars, records, and exclusively old looking wooden furniture abundant with those circle stains you only get if your coffee cup leaks a bit.  

"Got a triple venti mocha for Rochelle and a small coffee for Dirk" 

"Dick"

"Excuse me?"  

"Oh, uh... never mind."  Dick grabbed the two drinks from the counter feeling a fair bit uncomfortable with the barrister's annoyed gaze directed at him. 

"Here", Dick said handing the mocha to Rachel.

"Nice." laughed Rachel before heading towards the sugars with Dick following close behind.

"So have you put any thought into our name?" asked Rachel taking a sip of her drink

"What do you mean?"

"Ugh," Rachel grunted placing her drink on the small counter. 

"Well, you, Hawk, Dawn, and Donna were the Titans," she reasoned reaching for the sugar jar and tilting the sweet crystals into her drink, "So, what are we? The New Titans? Titans 2.0?"

"Titans: The Next Generation?" Dick jokingly offered.

"You're not helping" dismissed Rachel as she finally placed the sugar back down.

"Look, Rach, it doesn't matter what you're called.  It matter's what you do.  We're training for whatever's next." he reassured her.

"There's never a shortage of people out there who wanna screw things up for the rest of us." he continued, "You know what they say, 'All it takes for evil to succeed-"

"-is good men and women to do nothing." Rachel interrupted after licking the stir and throwing it in the bin.  She's heard the same speech from Dick countless times by now.  It seemed as though this little motivational speech of his was more so for himself than anyone else.  To convince himself that this wasn't for nothing; he wasn't chasing the shadow of his own past glory, but instead carving a new, brighter path for his current family.

"That's right."  said Dick turning to leave, "Good men and women not doing nothing."

"You could put that on a t-shirt, Dick," Rachel muttered following after him.

"Maybe I should," Dick scoffed, reaching the door and holding it open for her.

Dick got caught for a minute in the doorway as a few others took the opportunity to slip through the generously opened door.  After a few of those awkward smile things and some "you're welcomes" later, Dick finally got away from the door and headed towards Rachel.  The car was a few meters away from the shop's entrance, parked beside a ‘50′ speed limit sign.  Once Dick clicked the doors open Rachel immediately plonked herself down in the passenger's side spilling a bit of her mocha on the concrete below.  Dick's eyes glanced at the drops splattering on the ground before taking a step towards the driver's side door. 

It took a second for his mind to process what his eye's caught, but when it did, Dick looked back down towards the coffee drops.  Working as a detective for a number of years, Dick could easily pick out the small puddle of blood on the concrete.  Dick ran over last nights news in his head, no shoot-outs or other violence that could explain how it got here.  It definitely wasn't old, less than 12 hours judging by the still red pigment yet it wasn't fresh seeing as it wasn't disturbed by the early morning foot traffic meaning it had to of dried before rush hour.  It happened last night.  Looking around the area for anything that might help explain things, Dick noticed the blood on the signpost next to him.  It was quite low down, a few smudges of blood on the pole resting near his knee.  Bending down to have a closer look, Dick noticed the small groves; definitely a hand print.

"Dick?" called Rachel, leaning out of the now rolled down window.

"One minute, I'm just checking something."

Dick quickly gave a once over on the ground surrounding him, checking to see if there was some sort of trail hinting towards the injured person's route.  9 am on a weekday: the street was crowded.  He could barely see the ground but even so, Dick thought he should at least see something, the start of a trail at least.  They probably got into a car Dick concluded straightening up. 

'This is a busy enough street with a lot of businesses,' Dick reasoned with himself looking up towards the buildings CCTV cameras, 'a lot of them would have caught something.'

"Dick?" Rachel queried again.

"Coming," Dick said hopping into the car before pulling out onto the street.

"What were you looking at?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know yet, maybe nothing," Dick replied, "Maybe something, I'll double check when we get home."

Rachel rolled her eye's a bit at the "home" part but seemed satisfied nonetheless.

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Once they got back to the Tower, Dick and Rachel walked together towards the training room.  Rachel was supposed to continue training with the others and Dick needed to pass by the training room to get to the computers.

"Fuck man!" shouted Jason. 

They're fighting again.

"You said don't hold back." defended Garfield.

"What were you fucking doing?  I was fucking blindfolded" continued Jason.

"You said, 'Don't hold back.'" Garfield quoted rather annoyed as Rachel and Dick came round the corner.  

"Should I get the hose?" joked Rachel prancing over towards Gar.

"What's going on?" Dick asked the two.

"We did what you said, the blindfold thing, and then he went nuts on me." complained Jason.  

"He said 'Don't hold back.'" Gar quoted for the third time that minute.

"Then why do we even learn to fight like this, man?" Jason complained again.

Dick knew that Jason wasn't settling into the tower like the other two but unlike Garfield and Rachel, Jason was here to train.  

Jason didn't like the Titans tower, he thought it would be more intense like with Rachel's father but this assumption was quickly cut down.  Training in some way or another every day and never actually going out and using what he learnt only caused his anger to boil with no escape for the steam except through his words.  Verbally fighting and arguing at the slightest irritation was his only outlet so he did it every chance he got.

"Hey, it's idiotic." continued Jason heading closer to Dick, "We have eyes."

"In battle, anything can be taken from you." Dick addressed the group stepping forward. 

"You're hands," Dick accentuated this by twisting the fake sword from Jason's hand.

"You're feet..," Dick stabbed the training mat between Gar's feet.

"And you're eyes." Dick was now looking down the dull edge of the wooden sword towards Rachel's face. 

"No matter what is taken, you must be able to keep fighting." Dick lowered the sword and turned towards the other two, "And win. All right get changed, I'll be busy for a few hours so no attack scenarios this morning.  Go have breakfast."

"Yo, look, it's been three months man," Jason said to Dick, "When do I get to go back to Gotham City?"

"Bruce doesn't think you're ready, and neither do I" Dick explained, "Look, man, you blew your privileges."

"What?"

"The Batmobile joyrides, the motorcycle on the staircase." Dick continued.

"I was practising my tactical manoeuvres." Jason tried to reason.

"And those websites you bookmarked?  You know that's not what the batcomputer's used for."

The two argued back and forth before Dick tried a different approach.

"Okay, look, here's the thing," Dick began, "I could actually use some help with the others.  They don't have the experience you have."

"Yeah. Yeah, for sure."

"Have you notice how they sort of look up to you?  Follow your lead?" Dick asked,"When you're on point, they're on point.  When you're not?"

"It's true" Jason smirked.

"They need your leadership, Jason... I'm not Robin anymore.  You are." Dick patted Jason Shoulder as he began heading off towards the tech room. 

"Hey wait," called Jason, "If I'm Robin...Who are you?"

"That's a good question."

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