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erinwantstowrite · 2 months ago

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bear with me here because i'm gonna ramble about something i've been thinking about for a while... and i'm not complaining, i'm just noticing

sometimes i think we've leaned so far into the vigilante side of the batfam that we miss out on what really makes their characters: detective work. we need more mysteries in their lives that don't lead up to some big bad "we already know who's doing it" or an "end of the world" or "yet again: this fucking guy." we need more stuff where spy movie music plays in the background and dumb adventures that don't lead up to some huge grand event with a big name villain. the shock factor stops being shocking or interesting in any capacity if we're like "Gah! the Joker! ... Again!" or whatever

does that even make sense? like "yeah sure they're blowing up a building again and there's hostages. oh look they're gonna poison the water supply." these aren't bad and that's not what i'm getting at because obviously this is a classic for comics. you need to have characters/antagonists that show up more than once and who can make a story better by being in it. and i did say to bear with me- that's because im tired. so like i hope im getting this across the right way? it's just that sometimes i don't wanna see a huge explosion, i want these motherfuckers solving a regular murder or a disappearance or regular corruption in a local office without it being tied to a grand reveal like "actually this person knows you as a long lost relative" or "they were at that circus can you guess which night they went?" that kind of thing? if you get me? like... more of the small time stuff makes the big stuff important, it makes it stand out more. at some point, the format gets repetitive even if you're switching up the villains. you can make these situations/mysteries still fun to solve for the characters and fun to read for the audience if you do it right

the concept of a detective dressed as a bat and having a sidekick in traffic light colors is inherently goofy as hell??? but that is what is so charming about it??? i think we have lost the balance between them being silly while also being intelligent with important conversations that criticize the world as we see it and teach lessons and can go over dark topics. nowadays it's always end of the world problems or just straight up the most gruesome true crime you can think of?? or they can ONLY do the dark stuff and the criticism without offering a balance of the good in the world. or we keep coming back to the FUCKING JOKER-

like yes they are vigilantes and with that comes a different level of their work, but their brand should be a mix between a black and white detective film that can get very nitty gritty and a classic spy movie, that kind of thing. at the end of the day, it's what makes them so different from the superheroes. that's what appeals to me.

seeing them in the big superhero groups is fun, don't get me wrong. it's always funny to see them standing next to people who are so powerful they never really fit in with anyone but each other, who chose to step up and use their powers for good. the Bats' specialty is Gotham and yet here they are stopping a god or whatever. and they do stop the god or whatever, all the while being an important leader and strategist to their teammates. they're important to have in these cases. but if there's a world ending event every time i pick something up, it's not as fun

the fact that they are so very human and not fantastical is why i like reading them. it's what makes the joke of people, even Gotham citizens, theorizing about them being cryptids, funny. they're fucking weird but that's because they're detectives. people who love to solve mysteries usually have a fatal flaw of curiosity. they forget the bounds between social interactions sometimes because they're used to working through problems or being intertwined with partners that understand them. but they're very much human. so human that it hurts them in many ways. and idk i've just been thinking about it lately and idk what point i'm trying to get across actually

it's just that in my eyes that's how it really is for Batman- a black and white movie narrated by a very serious man who took up a job to help people, one that has a deeper commentary on the world and viewed outwardly as pessimistic but actually has a deep hope for his city and who tries to help even the people who have wronged others. He's a stationary man in the belief that him being a constant can serve to soothe others and help them move forward. He stays in the middle of the path so he can tell everyone what is up ahead. he blends into the Gotham rainy night to serve justice but in a way that saves both the victim and the perpetrator. (the way he tucks a Robin into his cape is the same he does for Gotham with his mere presence.) and his background is actually so important to his story and yet people still somehow gloss over the lesson from it? he lost his parents because of a man who was on the opposite end of the spectrum to where he was in life. and yet he chose to help the people like the man that killed his parents. he could have done anything else with his power and money, but he instead is choosing to bring as many people up with him as he can. He's Mr. Serious that no one else can get a read on. and yet he walks into a room and he's already piecing together your life and what you're going through because he thinks it matters. he comforts people who have lost something or someone or themselves. I picture Batman and I don't picture a man trying to save the world, I picture a detective walking around a crime scene and trying to save at least one person every time he puts on the cape. and he put on the cape and became a vigilante because then he could go out of the bounds of what laws have been set up- and specifically, Gotham has other people in power who are corrupt, keeping the system that way. that's why Batman being a billionare and throwing himself into helping people at the risk of his own life is so important. he knows that if you are alive, you have something or someone to lose, no matter who you are. the dude is a bleeding heart but he doesn't know how to express it, in fear that if he gets too close, if he moves down the path with them, he'll be lost again

and then he's met with someone who should be a complete opposite, but isn't at all, because they're two sides of the same coin. his partner in crime, his son, a boy that is nothing like the black and white world that he sees. and that's the point in his life where he first sees that potentially getting lost is worth the risk. Robin is color and passion that needs guidance to move forward, but can not do so unless the stationary man learns to move with him. the kid is loud and reckless and you'd think he's from a different genre from the detective but they aren't so different, really. not when you look close enough. Dick grew up moving from place to place and seeing the world, knowing so many different people from different cultures. He's been learning to fly and jump and embrace the free fall his entire life. He's clever and he's sharp, and he thrives in the action and adventure. it's that perspective that compliments the stationary man. one is steady and the other pushes. he's the same genre but a different generation. and Batman introducing him to the way of life he chose for himself was another way he could save someone. because let's be real for a second? Dick would have gone down a very dark path had he not had Bruce, who understood, who saw not just himself in the kid but also saw who the kid has been his entire life until now. he saw Dick's parents, he saw the family he had in the circus, he saw the joy he had in what his family was doing. he saw the grief and the fire and the color that Dick's world was made of. because to Bruce, it always matters. Dick had to come to terms with Bruce's perspective to help anyone who they come across, to always give more chances, and it kept Dick from losing his color

what gets me is that the man who lives in the black and white world can actually see many different shades of gray (because black and white always needs the medium), whereas the boy in a world of color and light can get so focused on the bright that he can become single minded. and yet the boy sees a world of color and delves deeper into the lives of the peolle they come across and can be much more open minded, and the man in the black and white world sometimes forgets the shades of grey are right there. they are just like each other. they can exist without the other, but do they want to? because the black and white can be built up into the colored image, like the inking and shadows drawn on a comic book page before the colors are added in. they meet in the middle to complete each other. Bruce has been passing the story over to the next generation for a long, long time, even before his story was complete. and just like with the first Robin, it was so for every Robin afterwards. they each color in the lines differently, but that's what makes Robin so special, so unique. they are an art style that branches into their own life, but can not forget where they started: tucked into Batman's cape and the inky black of his world

and so detective work really frames their hunanity to me. the mysteries they get their hands on, the glimpses into the lives of Gotham citizens that they swore to protect, it's fascinating. it's what makes their story stand out compared to the people who can lift trucks or cast spells or run around the world in seconds. so yeah ig that's what i'm trying to say? that i want to read more of that? in both canon and fanon. cause even the small time villains we see can be like. AWFUL people and it takes out the fun of their gimmicks. and if it were any other day this would be a more coherent post but alas, it is not any other day

#tldr: we need more filler episodes #/hj but also /srs #erinwantstowrite #batfam #batfam fanfic #batman #batman comics #canon and fanon #in my eyes #bruce wayne #dick grayson #it's like that quote #“if you want to write about the impact if war you do not write from the government's perspective #you write about a little girl's shoe in the rubble of her home.“#the smallest stories can have the biggest impacts on us #gotham is so fucking weird and can be really silly #while also being so dark #and you can have the big stuff happen too #idk im just thinking today #this might not make complete sense #but it's things like that that make their rules make more sense #like no you don't come to gotham because you aren't one of us and you might misunderstand my people #you catch bad guys #we try to save them #also this did in fact give me and alighterwood an au idea #and im going fucking bonkers over that #so #yayyy

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mismatchedtwins · 6 months ago

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Mismatched Twins AU - Take Three

The silence stretches; his words sink in.

Leo laughs in the face of the uncertainty and confusion, breaking the eye contact to focus on the wound. Adrenaline wakes him up, unleashing a dizzying heat that burns the slimy coating of uncertainty. “You- You are so right. So right. I do not believe you.”

The arm shifts as the turtle shrugs. “After the first few counterparts, you learn to just accept it.”

Leo isn’t going to touch that. “So do I get a real name, or-?”

“That is my real name.”

“No, really, I get it. Haha-! You know way too much about me and my family! The ones on the other side of that locked portal I can’t open, hilarious!” Leo hisses with a mock smile, flashing gritted teeth and trying not to give into the baited frustration.

There’s no way that this guy is pulling this while he’s an entire prison dimension away from the twin that he’s never going to help take over to the world, or the big brother he can’t properly apologize to, or his feisty baby brother that he’s never going to see grow up.

It’s twisted and demented on so many levels.

He shakes his head, swallowing the pain. “Comedic gold or whatever, but there’s no way in this or any other hell that I’m calling you that, so I’d prefer your real name.”

The turtle’s fingers drum against his thigh as Leo waits, determined to get up and leave- aching back or not- if this guy tries to press the inconsiderate and cruel narrative.

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Then stop being suck a jerk.” Leo accuses heatedly. His companion shrinks guiltily. The lack of denial otherwise boosts his confidence. “How are you even here?”

“I don’t- know where here is?” The turtle scuffs the ground with his heel. “I didn’t really come by choice.”

It suddenly dawns on Leo that he’s locked himself in a prison for the worst of the worst. He could very easily be assisting another ancient interplanetary mass murderer. But…

As much as the anger swirling in his gut wants to believe that, he can still picture the determination in his eyes as he drew the most deadly creature alive away from Leo’s position. There was no reason for him to save his life or return his sword for him to escape, especially when he had to know that he couldn’t beat him. Krang would have killed him if Leo hadn’t intervened. It was insane.

And he’s the reason that Leo’s not dead.

So, benefit of the doubt, for now.

“It’s some old dimension prison. Made for ugly mc violent back there.” Leo watches his face for any sign of recognition. “Impossible to get into. And out of.”

He chuckles, humorless. “Not for Aeons, I guess.”

“Is… That what you are?” Leo tries, cautiously. “An Eon?”

“Aeon.” The turtle corrects with the dry sound of someone who does it on a daily basis. “And no, I’m not. It’s an alien species. One in my city, hurting my family. It already hurt Splinter.” He pauses, quieting. “She wants to wipe out everything, and she’s using someone I care about to do it.”

Well, that makes two of them, only Leo solved that problem. “So… What are you doing here? Am I going to have to worry about an Eon problem here to-?”

Like he doesn’t have enough to deal with already.

“Aeon. And, I doubt it. She must’ve sent me here because I was getting through.” The turtle finally looks up. Any confidence is gone, leaving a meek uncertainty that makes it really hard for Leo to keep being mad at him. “They’re still in danger. My brothers. Everyone. I know it. I have to get home.”

The story is incredibly far-fetched. And way to similar to his own to not be some forged copy. Not a villain, but possibly a pathological liar.

“So remember that whole, no getting in or out, thing?” Leo asks. “Still true. Place is sealed tight. Nothing’s getting out of here.”

“I am.” He announces, like nothing could be more simple. The sun rises, pizza’s delicious, and this turtle is going to break out of the dimension that the strongest, scariest, most feared alien species in all the universe couldn’t break out of. “I have to.”

“It’s not possible.” He expresses. “It’s actually pretty impossible.”

“Just because no one has done it before doesn’t mean that it can’t be done.” The causal air has Leo shaking his head.

What is his luck lately?

He’s stuck in a dimensional prison with a turtle who has a terrible sense of humor, a suspicious amount of information, and no idea what kind of horror that he’s gotten himself into.

Can’t anything be easy? Doesn’t he deserve that much?

The turtle, who still can’t even look at his injury for more than two seconds, tries to claim. “I’m pretty much a pro at cracking the impossible by now.”

“Some things aren’t supposed to be cracked.” Leo unwraps his own wrist wraps as the turtle watches with a frown, struggling a bit to copy the trick with his sword. “And unless you know anything about ancient mystics, I doubt we’re breaking out anytime soon.”

“Interesting.” He mutters. “Is that what you did? With the blue light and the gateway? Magic?”

“Mystics.” Leo corrects, bringing the arm back within reach. “Geez, don’t you listen? It’s not the hard.”

The turtle opens and shuts his mouth, dumbfound by Leon’s obvious superiority. Sounds like someone needs to do better research. And he tried to call himself a Donatello. Please.

“But the Kraang don’t use… mystics.” The turtle continues. Leo’s heart skips a beat, brain catching up with the accent on the name. “They harness technology. Like the big guy’s suit.”

“Maybe they don’t use mystics, but they sure know how to take it.” Leo snaps as he begins wrapping the wound. “Stupid Krang and his stupid screams- eugh, that’s totally what he’s going to go for next. How did I not know that? That’s just what I need, to lose-”

“OW!” The turtle tears his arm back, clutching it to his chest. He quickly unwraps some of Leo’s admittedly tight work, leaving Leo’s hand blankly extended as he cradles it and pouts, “You always this aggressive with your patients?”

“No.” Leo states, dryly. “Just you.”

“Special treatment.” The turtle mutters. “Goody.”

He gets up on shaky legs, without letting Leo finish, and puts a few steps between them. He gets about one loop around his arm before his attention is drawn away. To what, who knows, but now he’s staring out into the blacks and grays of what’s probably the sky? like it’s the most interesting thing that he’s ever seen.

Blood loss is getting this guy good.

“Heeey, buddy.” Leo snaps a few times and the turtle blinks dazedly.

He looks over and Leo coaxes, “You might want to come sit down.”

“But it’s debris.” The turtle announces, voice high with the eager tint of discovery. Leo blocks out the image of his twin’s sleepy grin as he literally drags him out of bed at three in the morning. “Floating debris!”

“That’s great and all, but you’re not looking too good.’’

The turtle holds up a finger and then picks up a rock from the ground. He throws it into the distance and then ducks down with his hands over his head like a totally sane person. When nothing happens, he opens one eyes, then the other, and then stands with a disappointed sort of, “Oh.”

“How sad,” Leo pacifies carelessly. “Second’s up. C’mere.”

“Everything else is dead. Can physics die?” The turtle asks and then plows through before he gets an answer, “No, no, NO, it’s another dimension with its own properties with its own massive, freaky Kraang and I just need to figure it out. JUST like dimension X. But not.” He looks to the closest edge. “Bad idea to walk off the side?”

“Horrible idea.” Leo’s a frustrating mixture of baffled and amused. Despite every urge to stay grumpy, he can’t help the humor that stirs in his chest. “No, wait, mind chaaange. Go for it. Totally a good idea. Best idea, in fact. Couldn’t be better.”

“Hmm.” The turtle looks at him with these big, debating eyes and then takes a few steps forward and a laugh punches out of Leo ‘cause holy guacamole, he actually just convinced this guy to walk off a cliff. “Wai-wai-wai-wait! Guy! No!”

He’s snickering when the turtle turns back with the most puzzled look, like he has no idea why Leo’s preventing him from launching himself into the black nothingness of the void. “Kidding! Guy, do not do that.”

“I was going to get a head start,” The turtle grumbles as if that should make all the difference. Leo sits up when he doesn’t stop his trek, morbidly curious to see if he’s about to throw himself off the edge. Unfortunately, hot lightning bites down his spine and blurs his vision. He winces, letting his head fall back with a heavy exhale.

He lets his eyes shut, opening them when the pain fades. His heart skips a beat, eyes widening when he realizes that the turtle has disappeared. Eugh boy.

“…Guy?” He reluctantly forces himself to his feet, slow, this time. He grabs his blade and ignores every inch of him that bites and burns. “You better not have gone splat because that’s the last thing that I want to see today.” Leo reaches the edge, slinging his odachi and falling heavily to his knees before peeking over. “I’ve got enough nightmare fuel to last a-AAGGH.”

He shrieks as something grabs his arm and drags him over the side.

He expects to go flying, but his feet somehow manage to find purchase and now he’s simply standing and screaming. His scream slowly tampers off as the turtle stares at him with an eye ridge raised in judgement. Leo wheezes in air, confused, “Wha-?”

“I was thinking.” The turtle muses, cupping his chin and stepping away. “If he’s equipped with a suit, then that stands to reason that they use technology. So there has to be some variation of ship around here somewhere. Or a Kraang base.”

Leo stares at him. He stares back expectantly.

“I think all that’s in here is death and rocks.” Leo rubs his chest with a light wince. Man, he hates standing. And breathing.

But since air is entering his lungs anyway… “Also are we upside down right now? Is this not blowing your mind? Because I feel like you’re not acknowledging how mind blowing this is.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” The turtle admits, ignoring Leo’s mock whisper of “what is your life?” as he adds, “I bet I can find a portal out of here if I just-”

“Guy, you are clearly not paying attention.” Leo folds his hands and points his fingers tips at the stranger. “This is a million-year-old Krang prison. We are prisoners. The only way out is a key that my brothers have, and they’re destroying it and never, ever, ever, ever, eeeeveeerrr-” He draws the word out nice and long to ignore the fear dawning in brown eyes, “-opening this place up ‘cause otherwise Mr. Nightmare Incarnate back there is going to destroy everything.”

As much as the blantant horror has the writhing guilt making him want to throw himself off the edge for utterly ruining someone else’s day, he’s relieved that he’s finally getting through to him.

“You- you mean…” Something changes as he scans Leo’s face, overcome by disbelief. “They just… Left you here?”

And, hey, when it’s said out loud it does sound awful enough that a new physical ache thuds in tune with his heartbeat.

“No way.” He scoffs, smile wide. “I dragged big and mean in here. It’s their job to keep him from getting out.”

The turtle frowns, and Leo recognizes the emotion for what it is: pity.

“But what about you?”

“It’s not about me.” His hand hovers over the belt where his picture sits tucked safely away. “It’s about the world. The universe! Some things are just a lil’ bigger than me.” He chuckles, weak, and keeps a steady watch on the nothing behind the turtle. “They know that.”

The turtle sighs, “There are those days…”

Leo gives him a curious look and his eyes harden, “Which is exactly why I have to get back.”

The turtle looks up and Leo lets his body sag dramatically in disbelief. Which, yeah, it hurt, but what was this guy’s problem? “Guy, you are a really bad listener! Seriously bad! The worst! We’re-”

“TRAPPED! YES!” He whirls. “MY EARS WORK VERY WELL!”

The shift between level-headed and hysterically shrill has Leo both disturbed, impressed, and slightly fearful for his life.

The turtle runs a hand down his face and then kicks at the ground with a vengeful force. Before Leo can decide if he should poke the bear- er, turtle, he’s rambling, “I understand perfectly. I mean, it makes perfect sense! Why shouldn’t the impossibility powerful immortal alien know about a dimensional prison and how to send me to it? Why wouldn’t I get STUCK in here with a creep who likes beating turtles and a turtle who wants to be beaten?”

Leo raises a hand but doesn’t wait to be called on, “I wouldn’t say I-”

“Then WHY are you so against me finding a WAY OUT?!”

Leo’s mouth opens but no words leave. He swallows thickly, blood mingled with spit, and the turtle scowls, “I HAVE to get home. Maybe YOU don’t, but MY brothers need… Me.”

His eyes fall to the ground, energy gone. “They need me, and they all think I’m…”

The turtle doesn’t finish, something raw and dense fogging the air, and then he’s looking back at Leo. Firm. Determined.

“I have to get home.” He decides as Leo tries to recover from the empathic whiplash that he’s being subjected to. “Without me, they probably would do something stupid like locking themselves in a prison dimension with no known back door.”

“Stupid-!” Leo finally finds his voice, only to wince at the sudden wave of too much air in crushed lungs. The turtle pulls out his grapple. “If I have to create a back door, then so be it. I can’t sit around and wait for that giant Krang to hunt me down and finish me off. Not when they need me.”

He looks at Leo, “You seem to know way more about this place than I do. We’d stand a better chance together. If you can get me to my dimension, then I believe I can take you home. If there’s no way out, so be it. I’d rather die trying than lazy.”

“It’s not lazy. It’s rational.” Leo shakes a hand at his side. “You don’t know what I know. If Krang finds you…”

“So I won’t let him.” The turtle bites before he groans, “Look, I won’t stand in your way if you want to sit and wait, but I have places to be. So are you coming or not?

Leo knows the right answer. He’s aching and bruised and cracked in more ways than one. He wasn’t stupid when he dragged Krang in here and he’s not going to be stupid and merely trust that this turtle who knows nothing about mystics is actually going to make it anywhere but back under Krang’s brutal fist.

On the same token- he’s about to leave. He’s about to leave Leo alone to suffer in the expanding dark and echoing silence surrounded by obliteration and death just so Leo can live a few extra hours of misery before Krang inevitably finds him and finishes him off.

He’s probably the only reason that Leo even survived this long…

But. Um. Maybe… Maybe going is what Master Leonardo would do. He’d give this guy a helping hand. Right? The guy’s weird, and probably a stalker, but he’s clearly desperate. It’d be, heroic, of Leo.

It wouldn’t be Leo being selfish. That would him staying.

He’s be being… Selfless. This way. So.

“A’right, guy.” Leo announces as he strolls forward, pretending not to notice him stiffen as he grabs his elbow and points to the loose bandage. “I’ll give you my invaluable company, but only if you stop refusing Dr. Leon M.D.’s treatment. Can’t be your wing man if you’re walking around clipping your own wings.”

“…Deal.” The turtle agrees after a blank stare at his arm, like the fact that green scales were painted scarlet had never crossed his mind.

Leo peels the bandage off. “Great. So sit down.”

The turtle looks at his grapple. “But-”

“Ah-ah-ah!” He tsks. “Sit.”

“Do I really have t-”

Leo shoves the turtle, who yelps as he hits the ground. He points downward like a disapproving master over a naughty dog. “Sit.”

The turtle grimaces, “Fine.”

He grins. “Good boy.”

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