#joker talks to himself

[prlssprfctn]

I've been brewing this post for far too long in my drafts, but I need more doomed!Bruce and Jason throughout universes. And it is not even always about the same Jaybin, dying in the warehouse scenarios!

Sometimes Jason is just a kid, who died in front of Batman, who maybe jumped in between Batman and the villain recklessly, to keep him safe, and whose blood stuck under Bruce's nails. His face haunts him in nightmares, still.

In other realities, Bruce meets Jason as a teen, and they never even get to become father and son officially - but they slowly get into each other's lives, until something awful happens, leaving a ghost of a smirking kid stroll behind Bruce's hunched figure for the rest of his life.

Or maybe it is one of these realities, where Jason crawls out of the Alley Crime himself, and manages to become famous in Gotham; the one, where he opens a charity fond, dedicated to people, who fight with the drug addiction. Bruce Wayne is sympathetic of a kid he meets during some of the events, and as they slowly start contacting each other more often, getting closer, he promises himself to protect him. Expect, Batman is late to save Jason Todd from the hands of yet another villain.

It could be the priest Jason Todd that meets bleeding out Batman on the stairs of the church, and who helps him out, for what he later pays with his life. Or they are not really vigilantes in any of these universes - just father and son.

And in some of these universes, they reconcile. In one of them, some of the medics connect the dots that a catatonic boy, who is covered in dirt, calling for his dad, for Bruce is Bruce's Wayne dead son, and try calling him. In another, LoA!Jason with his memory still being in a haze, crosses his path with Batman, before getting dipped in the Lazarus Pit.

But the point stands.

In all of them, Bruce Wayne is too late. In all of them, Bruce Wayne fails to save Jason Todd.

[bougiebutchbinch]

https://www.tumblr.com/bougiebutchbinch/781333558415556608/need-something-where-batman-and-joker-have-normal

Joker goes to steal something from Harley but instead of taking what her thought was a poison bomb ivy gave her he stole their special date night blend bath/air bomb.

Que him using it with Batman during a fight thinking it’s a usual ivy weapon but nope. Suddenly Batman is looking super yummy and it looks like he’s feeling the same.

*one night full of careless whisper and emptying the fridge of all the cream pies *cough*cough* and making the other kind *cough*cough*

Both wake up to that exact situation. And poor ivy and Harley spent there night looking for their date night surprise item.

I AM ROLLING AROUND IN THIS ON THE FLOOR. I AM EATING IT.

Yes, you understand me utterly.

This is even better if they haven't actually fucked - but they've both certainly thought about it, and presumed it would be a vicious, snarling thing, all bare teeth and grunts and blood

Instead they get Bruce gently tangling his fingers in Joker's hair and tugging back his head to mouth up the long line of his throat, tasting that ever-present acid on his skin

And both of them are HORRIFIED

[atalante241]

Batman’s no kill rule works for Batman when Batman is Bruce Wayne because that man’s impulse control is held together by spite. Every single time that he’s gotten superpowers of some sort he’s just become a straight up supervillain. If he started killing people intentionally and with drive his first meeting with the Justice League would be them arresting him and throwing him into supervillain-prison.

[amatus-jj]

okay guys i think the case just got solved, time to go home and rest

[rennitogatito]

trickster

[theredcuyo]

"Why would you do all of this for me even after all i did to you?!"

"Because i love you, the you that it's really behind all of it, the you that you fight not to show to the world but that i've seen before anyway"

Is such a raw line that i asure you, if it's present in a fic, not necessary letter by letter, but in sentiment, then that's a good fucking fic

Wheter platonic or romantic

[rafyki]

Episode 11 really showed Jack's growth

Okay, I know what you're gonna say: "but he lashed out at Joke! He threw him away again! He got so angry!". And like- yes he lashed out, yes he didn't stop to think, yes he got extremely angry. But that literally happened in the first ten minutes of the episode, alright? There's more than a hour after that, so please let's focus on everything else that happened too, and the fact that Jack acting like that literally only lasts for a short while (as I already said, everything happens extremely fast in this episode, if you really think about it he only stays made for less than a day, which is a perfectly valid period of time to need to sort through complicated feelings - hell, it's an incredibly short time, Jack got over himself extremely quickly).

Anyway, lemme go in order, because I'm not just talking about his relationship with Joke here, but about everything else too.

There are two main things about Jack's character arc (well, more than two, but I wanna focus on these ones now): first, his tendency to hold grudges and be hard on forgiveness and, second, the fact that he never stands up to power and powerful people in an active way (I'll explain better what I mean later).

As for the first, I made a whole other post about it, so I'm not gonna repeat everything again, but let's see how in this episode he got to the end of his growth in this aspect.

He's extremely mad at the start of the episode (rightfully so), so much that he goes on a rampage (we love to see it, tbh), even though he should know that it wouldn't end well.

When he wakes up, he's still mad - of course he is, he didn't have time to think and process everything yet, given that he was beaten unconscious until now. He gets mad at Grandma when she mentions Joke, and then he lashes out at Save and Hope. It's understandable.

But then? Then it only takes Hope saying this for him to calm down and put things into perspective

I think it's important to point out that here it's only been maybe a few hours since the hospital scene. And here, Jack finally has time to think.

This it when he finally stops and thinks and realizes that he was wrong, that he didn't have any right to be mad at Save or Hope (or, well, he does, but how should also be able to understand their positions, because he's been there too), because they're all in the same situation in the end; and he realizes that Joke only did what he did for him. This is the moment when he finally has time to think and realize he was wrong (both about Save and about Joke), realize that he doesn't want to lose Joke, that he misses him.

Let's not forget that the start of Jack's character growth was to learn to forgive. And here, he shows that he's finally able to do this.

He works together with Save and Hope, he trusts them. Why didn't he call Joke to join them then? Well, I think he probably wanted things to calm down first so that after that he would have the time to actually talk to Joke. He didn't have the time to do that in the end, and that's the tragic thing.

But we know that's what he planned to do, because that's exaclty what he says.

Anyway, let's move on or this will become way too long lmao

It's not only in terms of learning to forgive that Jack grew. It's also in the way he finally decides to actively act to oppose Boss.

I mean, Jack was caught in Boss' web of power since he was young, and he's had to deal with the fact that he couldn't escape it, couldn't defeat it, for years. And so, he always submitted to Boss, in a way.

Yes, when he was a debt collector he went against him, in secret (and sacrificing himself and his own money), until Boss found out and Jack had to bow his head againt before him. When Gradma was in the hospital, he let himself in Boss' grasp again and even when Joke and Grandma slapped some sense into him his way to oppose Boss was to simply tell him he didn't want to marry Rose anymore, but was still willing to work for him; now, we know that that only worked because Joke had stolen the ring. What would have happened if Joke hadn't done that? Boss would have refused, of course, and Jack would have had bowed his head again.

Until now, Jack's actions were often passive, a result of him having no choice. Even when he played the ladder game against Lompran, that wasn't a real choice.

Not now, though. In this episode, Jack finally realizes that he can't keep doing it, that he needs to fight back for real. And this is the first time that Jack realizes that he can't always do the morally correct thing if he wants to defeat people like Boss.

Jack has always had really solid morals, and he's always lived by the fact that he needs to be better - better than the corrupted people in power who use them and look down on them. And that means he can't accept theft as a valid way to fix things, even if it would be justifiable and it would make things easier. But he can't do that, because that would mean that he's just as bad as them. Poor people are always expected to do the right thing.

Until now. Because now Jack has finally realized that he can't play it fair against people like them, he understood how that world works, and he realized that he needs to play following their game's rules.

He's learned the power game's rules and he's ready to play.

And that's what he does. He's able to take advantage of Lompran's greed and use it for his own ends, and he's not afraid of risking his own or Save's life - because he knows at this point that they can't play it safe anymore.

He played the game but he also kept his morals, because he still didn't do it for himself; he played their game but he's still better than them

Jack has mostly been a passive force until now, but in this episode he's finally the active force - he's the one with the plan, the one who takes the lead. (Joke, on the other had, has always been the active force of the show, and in this episode he's the passive one, but I'll make another post about this another day)

And I think this will be obvious in next episode too, when he'll (finally!) get a gun and do everything that's needed to save Joke and everyone else from Boss.

And he finally understood that the world isn't black and white and that sometime you need to do something "bad" to fight back, both for youself and for others. And that that doesn't mean you're a bad person.

[facethemuses]

joker 2021 being a comic that is forever haunted by the legacy and memory of james gordon jr, a comic that was the last appearance of julia pennyworth in the mainline canon.

the children of his greatest allies suffer the pain batman is spared, or something like that.

julia hunting down bane to try and free herself from alfred's memory. the daughter forgotten hunting a monter. and james gordon jr being twisted and broken by the joker dying and being thought to never be able to return. the son who they can't forget who was hunted by a monster.

[the-batblog]

Re: your stray!Battinson fic concept

Sign and Signifier

Anonymous

The younger of the two of them wouldn't be dissuaded, and there really wasn't time to go into all the ways this was a horrible idea. They needed answers from the Joker and the two of them were there, now, at the Asylum.

Bruce - the elder - watched his younger self observing the long halls and security procedures, attempting to conceal his interest with indifference. Bruce knew himself. This was curiosity. And worry.

If you had told him back then how the landscape of Gotham would change in the next twenty years, he would never have believed it. He knew perfectly well that his younger self was doubting it all, despite the evidence, that everything had become progressively ridiculous and uncanny and impossibly brutal.

Seeing this younger Batman, the raw terror and anger he was filled with, only now could he appreciate the change the decades had brought about. He could see what Alfred saw.

Finally they reached the last cell, the last security measure. The guards weren't even prepared to question why there were two versions of Batman passing through the weapons scanner, which screamed in blinking frustration.

One, heavy with age and muscle and armour, the time and experience of fighting. The other, utterly foreign, lean, tense, the skin on his exposed jaw unlined and smooth and soft with youth.

The guards barely looked up. This was hardly the weirdest thing they'd ever seen, after all.

Bruce turned to him, this younger version of himself. From what he had said, he was barely a year into it all. He hadn't met him yet. He didn't know what any of it would really be like.

‘You won't wait here?’ He already knew the answer.

The young man shook his head, mirroring the stubborn line of his own lips, with fewer creases and stubble.

‘Fine. Then you'll follow my instructions. You do not speak to him. You do not answer him. You do not acknowledge him.’

He saw the faint frown of a question across his younger self's brow. He continued without answering.

‘You're going to be afraid.’

His younger self's eyes widened in offended fury, jaw set.

‘I'm you,’ Bruce reminded him. ‘You are going to enter that room and fear what you see and hear in there, and you cannot show him. If you can't keep a poker face with him, you leave. Do not give him a damn thing to work with. He -’

Loves the anger.

There were too many questions which would follow that. Too much explaining. There is a murderous clown with a psychosexual obsession towards Batman beyond that door. Take him seriously. That was too much to convey in time they did not have tonight.

Bruce shook his head.

‘Trust me,’ he said. ‘I know how he thinks. Don't speak to him.’

He held his own gaze.

The younger of them nodded at last, a stiff, resistant thing.

‘Fine.’

Finally, they stepped into what the Asylum had recently termed "a conference cell". It was a tactful way of describing a room where the patient was sealed behind bullet resistant glass for the doctors to interview them.

In the orange jumpsuit he wore when in residence, the Joker sat against a wall, and jumped to his feet in greeting.

‘Bats, baby! To what do I owe the pleasure?’

‘The deliveries for the Sionis plant - who was funding them?’

‘Oh, come on, no “nice to see you too, how's that fractured rib healing?” Thanks for that by the way - and the -’

He froze mid-step, and Bruce saw green eyes widen and glance behind him with fascination.

‘Bats, is my infamously weird mind playing tricks on me, or is there a little shadow right behind you?’

Bruce could actually hear the other Batman stiffen immediately on being acknowledged.

He stepped to one side of Bruce, and looked at Bruce, not speaking. Finally, he looked back to Joker and met his gaze, holding it without blinking.

When Bruce had told him not to show fear, he hadn't meant ���lock eyes with him in direct challenge”.

‘The Sionis payments, Joker, who were you working with in November?’ Bruce repeated.

Joker hadn't looked away from the younger Batman.

‘That is not one of your birds, Bats.’

His younger self tensed his jaw in response, just a fraction, a muscle twitch, a tell, a characteristic something of Batman.

Joker's eyes widened still further, smile slowly blooming.

‘Don't they say, that if you live long enough, you see the same eyes in different faces?’ he said ponderously.

‘Joker,’ Bruce growled.

‘And just how old are you, little Bat?’ Joker asked, a rumble under his smile, a leaning towards him, as though the glass was no barrier at all.

‘One or two years? Oh, Bats, you were so darling as a baby. Not that I have a single complaint about the present day, perfected article, but… oh, Bats, you were a twink!’

The younger Batman flinched in discomfort, jaw visibly grinding. He looked up - for there was still one more year of height to develop for him, and heavy, thicker soled boots to switch to - at Bruce in query.

‘Been playing with time-travel, Bats? Or is this your doing, little one?’

‘The Sionis payments.’ Bruce repeated.

‘I don't understand.’ His younger self spoke, against Bruce's advice, ‘he's just a clown.’

[Shared anonymously bc I don't post public fic for personal reasons, and I'm not confident I write Joker well, but I appreciated the prompt and getting some practice in!]

HE'S JUST A CLOWN, HA!

Oh my gosh, thank you so, so much for writing this! Glad I could give you the opportunity because this is great and I had a blast reading it and I'm sure other people will, too!

stray!Bruce

[clark-supes-kent]

"Hi! You come to gotham often? "

@joking-with-a-crowbar

"Oh!"

"Uh, haha, nope! I rarely go to Gotham unless it's for business purposes!"

[nobrain-onlysteven]

No thoughts just Interlude IV based on Under the Hood mixed with Arkham Knight with Red Hood vs Batman and the dead kid they’re talking about is Jason, and throughout the song, Bruce slowly realizes that Red Hood actually is Jason, although not the same one he once knew.

Red Hood to Batman about the old Jason:

[loud-whistling-yes]

nobody touch me i just read kj encore and SO NO ONE'S GONNA FUCKING TALK ABOUT HACHI COMPETING WITH JOKER TO BECOME A THIEF???????

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Tbh I get why people like to discuss Bruce's reaction to what happened to Tim in Return of The Joker but like, I swear Barbara's reaction never gets talked about much.

[royalich]

replaying mass effect and my love for Joker is making me vibrate

[squwhims]

Breaking news, team!!!

My best friend of 18 years is a confirmed Kris girlie now. Last night, we were having a phone call, and I let her yap about BTS of all things (she is not a big bts fan anymore. She was just reminiscing), and I picked my BTS bias (based on looks alone because I have willingly listened to one BTS song before in my life) and to balance out our conversation, she let me yap about Joker Out a little bit.

During Spring and summer, I made tour outfit rating videos specifically for her, but she hasn't watched all of them yet because istg she is busier than an emergency room doctor, but last night she got around to watching my video about the Damon Baker photoshoot.

(Idk why she had a stroke writing that?? The power of Kris tbh.)

And at the end of the video, I included a mini game to guess what zodiac sign everyone is because she loves zodiac signs,

She guessed Kris right! (Bonded to him already)

And then she tried to guess everyones age order,

I told her three of them met as teens in high school and that Kris is about to turn 25. Queen could not believe that Jure was the second oldest.

[drrandombear]

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ THE BITCH IS BACK ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡  (A moment of appreciation for the drip of Riddler's goons- they look awesome)

GORDON!!!! HES HERE!!! Love that they're bringing in characters that they were blocked from using before. Also a pretty smooth introduction all things considered.

Riddler being Batman's "Guardian Angel" very nice. I do really like it when Riddler seems to have full control / partial control over the city. Guy in the chair Riddler is where hes at his best. (Also him calling Batman and Yin "Detectives" love that he still remembers her being a huge thorn in his side even if he most likely cant remember her name the narcissistic bitch♡)

This is horrifying. I love all the good shots we get of people being Joker gassed but this one really stood out to me of this goon collapsing Infront of the "camera". (also another moment of appreciation for the kickass Riddler goon look- why doesn't the man himself look more like these guys)

Yin being the one to fuck up the Riddlers plans yet again. Yes queen get his ass.

Gordon looks so cool. Its the coat but like still. Also love how this episode lights him.