#nighwing generator

[sagittarithealastorsimp]

i made a nightwing generator! the names are a bit.. wonky, (cough cough murderdeath the nightwing is that you), but here it is, its free to use, and im open to suggestions!

[sidyashchiy-na-plakhe]

I like your WoF headcanons but do you have any more unique ones cause I wanna know. Cause I like to think scavengers can learn magic but they reason many don't because when learning it it warps the body. That pre-scorching scavengers were somewhere in the industrial age because in the Guidebook during the scorching legend it said before the scorching scavengers filled the skies with smoke implying coal burning (or that's how I interpreted it).

I also like to headcanon more weather events like Tornados and the occasional hurricane taking place. Also that there are animals that we would consider extinct still being alive like mammoths, saber tooth tigers, and other extinct animals. I am trying to think of some religion for the tribes but the only thing I got rn is the Nighwings who see moonless nights as bad and evil as the moons aren't there to keep evil spirits away and when all three moons are dark their powers don't work for that time.

I love the headcanons about scavengers and the pre-Scorching time. Scavengers are so underrated by fans. There are so many ways they could be used in an interesting way in a story, even if it's mostly about dragons.

My personal favorite headcanon with scavengers is that they are the creators of dragons using animus magic. They literally live in a world where there are no creatures even similar to dragons, except for reptiles, which are the same as in our world. In general, I thought about this topic very deeply and it is worthy of a separate analysis.

I love your headcanons btw!

[kara-zor-els]

do you have any recommendations for dick and jason (together or separate, both is fine) comics for someone who’s just starting to read them? i have some knowledge of the characters and batfam and i’ve read several batman comics, but i never really got into the robins-after-they-were-robins comis so i’d like to start with dick and jason…thank you so much :)

I really don't think I'm the person to ask for this, as I'm both very new to comics and I haven't read a lot of batfam, but for Jason I'd safely recommend:

Batman: Hush (not essential, he shows up in a few issues towards the end and is then seemingly revealed to be clayface. I say seemingly because it was then retconed to have actually been him at the beginning. Iconic for introducing the white steak though)

Under The Red Hood (sometimes also known as Batman: Under The Hood)

Teen Titans vol.3 #29 (the famous Jason breaking into Titans Tower issue)

Red Hood: Lost Days

Nightwing: Brothers in blood (bad but it's where you get tentacle monster jason. Casually Comics on YouTube did a good review of those issues, which I would recommend)

He was also in countdown to final crisis, which I have not read yet but will probably get to once I decide to read final crisis.

I'm not too familiar with later appearances as the universe shifts into the New 52. This is where the Red Hood and the Outlaws (Roy and Starfire) era comes from, where Jason gets softened up a lot. I have not read it because I'm honestly not too interested in Lobdell's writing.

Then there is the rebirth run on RHATO (with Bizzaro and Artemis) which I heard is more readable? But still tragically written by Lobdell. However the last two issues are a self contained story by a different writer, which I'd recommend

In conclusion: read UTRH, Teen Titans #29 and Red Hood: Lost Days for pre Flashpoint Red Hood Jason and maybe check out RHATO rebirth for post Flashpoint Jason? @dailyjasontodd has a cohesive reading list for him.

Now as for Dick... his 90s nightwing run is generally considered a good starting point (I have read a few issues here and there), unless you want to start from the beginning of his nightwing career with the 80s new teen titans run. He also pops up in other batman-related comics (I'd personally recommend birds of prey (1999) but he only pops up sporadically. Issue #8 sets the base for his relationship with oracle!babs)) and eventually has a run as batman (with Damian as his robin) after Bruce "dies" in Final Crisis in Batman & Robin 2009 (I'm skipping a few events here). He then had a few nighwing runs during and after the n52 (and a run as Grayson). You can pick up the most recent nightwing run (Tom Taylor) as it's pretty beginners friendly (I mean I'm a beginner and I could follow it just fine) but it's honestly just kinda boring? The art looks great though, so at least there is that.

[maxine-drusilla-wayne]

YOU DONT LOVE HIM!

Barbara Gordon x fem!reader

Part 2!

Series: yes

Y’all when I was first making part to tumblr deleted it while in the middle😭

Warnings;betrayal,heartbreak,crying,joker mentions (later in series),slight stalking(later in the series) reads hides a secret,sadness,revenge😈

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

You were looking at the ceiling sobbing. You couldn’t believe it.

All the things you’d do….just so you could call her “mine.”

You couldn’t help but sob harder but trying to muffle it in the hotel pillows.

The things you did. You hope ,you were they’re favorite crime.

They all hated you….but still loved him? He had hurt her for years but they all still loved him no matter what he did!

How could they not believe you? How could Bruce kick you out without even getting your side of the moutherfucking story first?!

Oh that’s right….it’s nighwing

You were so depressed. You hated yourself! And you loved her so much! You should’ve know no matter what nightwing can do no wrong in they’re eyes.

But you had to stop sobbing and get up bc you didn’t want anyone to hear you and question you or go complain.

You got dressed and wore a black sexy outfit. Not to slutty. I mean nothing is! People just wanna show off they’re goddamn bodies!

You wore something like this

You decided to go to the nearest café to get some energy from spending most of the night crying.

“Oh my fucking god if I don’t get those backstabbing hoes out my fucking mind ima kill myself.”you said walking down to the café only 3 minutes from the hotel.

You walked in and sat down.

But immediately a bitch had to come up to you the second you sat down……literally only 5 seconds after you sat down.

“Hey my name is Chelsea,what can I do for you?!” She chirped generally happy which made you start taking a liking to her and she was very pretty.

“Umm can I just get a vanilla latte with caramel and and a glazed swirl donut please?” You asked with a smile.”of course coming right up!” She said and walked away.

Just then you saw someone walk in ,in the corner of your eye.

When you turn your head to fully face the person,you were completely shocked to the point where you had to stop a gasp.

Talia Al ghul…

Damian’s mother. What the hell is she doing here?! You immediately looked away but as you were turning she felt your gaze and turned her head towards you.

You saw her smirk in the corner of your eye but didn’t try to make it obvious that you noticed her when she walked in. She just sat down.

You had kept your cool to make sure she didn’t notice you panicking. Now you just wanted to get out and make sure she and or the league don’t follow.

It had been like that for five whole minutes.

“Hello ,here’s your latte and your donut!” Chelsea had came back and said but this time you noticed how she had looked you up and down with her eyes.

“Oh thank you so much!” You replied but just then you saw talia look back over at you. “You’re welcome!”then she left. You tried to ignore talias stare and just ate your food and drank your latte.

Since it was a spiral glaze donut ,it wasn’t sticky or made your hands sticky but you still whipped off your hands and used some hand sanitizer then made your way to the counter to pay and hurry to get tf outta there.

“Have a nice day!” You says handing in the money,paying your ten dollars and and thirty five cents to Chelsea. But she only took 3 dollars and ten cents.”you too!” She said with a smile and you just slightly titled your head smiling too.

Then walked out immediately. As soon as you got out you heard someone else come out and you couldn’t speed walk because then they would know you’re on to them.

You’re two minutes into the walk when someone comes up to you ,whispering in your ear.

“Well hello y/n~” talia says with a smirk.”well- hello they’re talia.” You replied nervously. She hummed and put her arm around your waist.but you knew the threatening was coming. “Well I just wanted to see why you’re not at that amazing mansion of your with my son. She said sounding scary at the end of her sentence.

You knew you could really be oversharing but as of right now you weren’t gonna hide anything or cared for all that matter.

“Because….one of his adopted brothers is a hoe who got me betrayed and kicked out with their fake asses.” You paused out of breath from walking. She looked intrigued. You? Not part of the family anymore? Oh she’s gonna make them her bitc-“what happened beloved?” She asked.

You stopped walking for a moment because of the nickname which had shocked you. You frowned for a second and tilted you’re head before walking again.

“Nightwing was always a hoe so once batgirl got back at him for the first time ever he flipped out and tried to get at me but I was I love with batgirl and didn’t like nightwing but once I told her she didn’t believe me and Batman kicked me out.” You spoke with tears threatening to fall.

“Oh sorry I forgot you already know all our names already.” You apologized.” It’s fine beloved but it seems as though boy wonder will always be the golden child.” She spoke “yeah.” You said almost breaking down right then and they’re as you came to the door of the hotel.

But she stopped you. By holding your arm with a firm grip.”listen. Obviously they don’t deserve someone as amazing ,as you. So let me help.” You turned around sniffling. “Help how?” You asked.

“Revenge.” She said with a smirk.”revenge?” You ask confused.”yes. I wanna make them sorry they ever let you go. But not only that I wanna make them suffer.”

You felt slightly overwhelmed but thankful that she generally cared. A nervous smile started trying to come at the end of your lips.

“Then…” she pushed a strained of hair out of your face and slightly cupped your cheek.”let’s make Gotham our bitch.”she said,her smirk growing wider.

You smirked and held her other hand.”ok let’s do it.” Was all you said.

@dilfwaynes here it is!

[teetkmost123]

Disney prince!Tim au.

Have any of you guys ever thought about Tim family tree being cursed by a fae?

Like they would have the most typical trails of a princess kind of thing.

It would be funny to see Janet being followed by a bunch of birds, singing to wishing well, like lovable types. And then she turned her back and held out a sword yelling at an old man who questioning her decision.

And just imagining her pet? (No, mascot? Close enough.) what would it even be? Probably something dramatic, like a dragon.

She is not the type who would marry for love, but definitely would marry out of spice because she heard one too many stories about true love.

And the manor would be near the forest, like damn close and shit.

Tim would be cursed as well and probably just started collecting strays as soon as he walk. The moment he have the manor at his hand he turns it into a fucking zoo, and somehow (I don’t know how) got a bunch of street kids to taking care of them when he not there.

The little thing probably has most people wrap around his pinky, luring a bunch of crazy to worry about a adorable little kid running on top of Gotham’s roof tops.

Remember when I said the manor going to be near the forest? Because my friends, on a sunny weekend, he just brings home a white horse, literally walked in the forest, walking out with a house following him.

I like to think he will be about 17 at the time, having a picnic with the family, and just like:

“I’m going for a walk.” Tim slowly walking around and into the forest after receiving some nods from his family.

“Be careful.” Dick said, not looking away from his food.

*5 minutes later *

“I’m back.”

“Oh great, wait replacement what the f-“ Jason cursed out.

“Drake! What on ear- Where do you en find the-“ Damian quickly follows.

“Tim.” Bruce groans. “Why is there a horse behind you?”

“She just keeps following me. What am I supposed to do?” Tim just blink. “And besides, this not the first one, my mother would let me keep her anyway.”

_______

Imagining Tim being followed by crowds, Red Robin being followed too. And he just carrying on with life, fully aware of the little birds.

That scene where Tim got kicked out of the window, instead of Nighwing come to the recuse, the crowds just swiped in,save Tim and attack Ra. It’d be a lovely sight to see.

And I could get creative too, adding power for him, like healings hair, ice magic, magic in general and shit. It’ll be fun.

[spock-smokes-weed]

So what your opinion about the fact the Batman fired dick/ tell him he can’t be a robin anymore ?( can you plz tell me the name of the comic)

Alright so the situation surrounding Dick being fired from Robin is ehhhhh confusing to say the least. I’ve seen it be told in very different ways, and in some stories Dick’s the one who quit.

There’s the two that I’m the most familiar with is the original one after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and then the one told in Nightwing Year One. If you’re familiar with comic history at all, CIE was DC’s first “reboot” and it kinda served as a way to tweak things and make things a big more coherent. This is where we get the backstory of Jason being a street rat (his og one was just a repacked Dick Grayson backstory) and the backfill of how Dick became Nighwing. The 80s in general was a big turning point for comics, and CIE was  definitely the one of the biggest for DC.

So in Batman #416, the issue where Dick first meets Jason, this is how the breakup is  described.

Dick gets hurt and Bruce freaks and decides that heroing isn’t worth losing Dick so he fires him. Dick obviously feeling betrayed by this decides to leave the manor entirely and this drives a massive wedge between them. I feel like this kinda messy explanation was just a way to explain why Dick had become Nightwing, because pre-CIE he and Jason were both Robin at the same time.

This is the more well known version and the version I like the most since it shows both how deeply Bruce cares about his kids, but also how controlling he can be and doesn’t always take other people’s feelings into account.

This is the one from Nightwing Year One

Dick is late to helping Bruce take down Clayface because he was off chilling with the Titans, and Bruce freaks and says if Dick can’t give him his soul written in blood then he can’t be Robin. He also kicks him out of the house which is something Bruce didn’t do in the og story because he wasn’t firing Dick as his son.

I don’t like this version became it makes Bruce seem completely heartless and like an insane controlling monster. I like Nightwing Year One over all but how Bruce was written was one of the parts I hated.

When about talked about it in passing in modern comics, the explanation that’s always consistent is that towards the end of Dick’s time as Robin, he and Bruce kept butting heads and Bruce got more and more controlling, culminating in the moment where Dick got fired. This left a lasting scar on their relationship that didn’t fully heal until the first few years of Tim’s time as Robin.

I personally think Bruce’s biggest fuck up was the way he fired Dick from Robin. I think he learned a lot from that moment and how deeply he hurt Dick, because moving forward he’s a lot better at handling problems when it came to Jason, Tim, and Cass.

[slightly-nerdy-rambles]

Robstar Week Day 6: The Start of Forever (Prompt: Wedding Bells)

I love weddings. They’re just these big, happy, fun parties! So for this prompt I ended up going full self-indulgent mess and just sort of jumped in with very little plan... and I think what little plan I had didn’t even make it into the fic, whoops. The end result is less a single cohesive story than it is a series of events meant to evoke a sort of snapshot of these dorks’ wedding, and I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

(Note: You’re going to see a certain character here whose presence would make the Royal Family Verse go very differently, as I’ve had pointed out to me. Rest assured that I have not forgotten him in that ‘verse, and simply have different plans for him there than I do here.)

The Start of Forever

Penguin was really not having a good day.

It should have been an easy heist, or at least a relatively low-risk one. The Bat’s brat was getting married halfway across the country, which meant the whole posse was out for a couple days. And, sure, he’d made the mistake of getting cocky while Batman was away before, but this thing was a big deal – something about alien royalty, he hadn’t been keeping track of the specifics – and the way he figured, the only buddies of the big guy who wouldn’t also be there were the small-fry or the newbies of the Justice League. Still formidable to common criminals, of course, but to veterans who’d been dealing with the Bat himself for years? His gang could handle it.

But now here he was, his thugs already captured, his trick umbrella wrecked, and fleeing for what was beginning to feel uncomfortably like his very life. He could hear footsteps behind him, and he knew it was only a matter of time before –

There was the lasso. Before he could even try to dodge it, he was bound up tight and thrown flat on his face.

Penguin glared at his captor as she stepped into view, calmly looping up the other end of the rope bound to him. “Aren’t you supposed to be at a wedding?” he grumbled.

Wonder Woman gave him a flat look. “This was the only way to convince my colleague it was safe to go. I was watching the ceremony live, and I’d like to get back to that, so let’s get this over with.”

With one hand, she pulled him up by the loop of rope around his torso and glared deeply into his eyes. “Where are you hiding the loot?”

********

“Yeah, I really can’t help but feel sorry for anyone who tries to mess with Gotham right now,” Wonder Girl said, pausing to take a drink from her glass. “Di might be tough in the field, but she loves a good wedding. I’m kind of surprised she even volunteered to city-sit.”

Batwoman chuckled and leaned back in her chair. “Part of me kind of hopes a supervillain shows up there, if one hasn’t already. Not only would it make a great story, but it would prove the old man right about not leaving the city vulnerable and Wonder Woman won’t have to be mad at him.”

The two women shared a good laugh at that, before settling in to watch events around them. The wedding was a very… unique affair, which was inevitable when one considered the couple in question. Starfire was still technically Tamaranean royalty, after all; her marriage to a prominent hero (or rather, another prominent hero) meant too much for relations between her home planet and Earth to host it under the privacy of civilian identities.

Not that most of the Titans Network weren’t used to going around in uniform off-duty, but it made things interesting when fancy tuxedos and dresses were paired with the masks. The resulting “badass masquerade” feel of the party was oddly suited to both the many superheroes and the handful of boisterous Tamaranean dignitaries that had managed to attend.

Across one very active dance floor, over at the head table, Beast Boy and Cyborg were starting up a chant. They’d already had all their silverware taken away after one too many rounds of “tapping the glass to make the bride and groom kiss,” but this had only slowed them down for about twenty seconds.

Amidst an increasingly disruptive chorus of “Do it, do it, do it,” Raven leaned over to Starfire’s side. “They’re going to keep doing that until you give in,” she muttered.

Nightwing looked over from her other side and pointed out, “If we do, it’ll only encourage them.”

Raven shrugged. “Your call.”

Starfire just smiled and turned toward her husband. (Her husband! X’hal, that sounded good.) “I believe it all depends on whether we want to,” she declared, right before leaning forward to give him a quick peck on the mouth. His half of the table promptly erupted into cheers.

“Mmm.” Nightwing gave her that goofy little smile that never got old, and then stood up and held out a hand to her.

“Come on, let’s head back to the dance floor before they start up again.” His smile widened as he added, “As much as I enjoy kissing you, I’d rather do it on our own terms.”

Starfire laughed a little as she accepted his offer, and together they made their way into the throng.

As befitting its hosts, the wedding reception was a mixed bag of American and Tamaranean traditions. In a general sense, there was plenty of overlap – good food, energetic music, and a whole lot of dancing. But it was still worth noting when the couple made their way past several tables of casually chatting guests only to come across a traditional Feasting table sprawled over with several Tamaraneans (and one specially-invited reporter who’d wanted to sample the local flavor of the royal half of the wedding).

The free-for-all had died down significantly by now, but one youth had planted himself cross-legged in the middle of the table and was munching happily – and completely in leu of a fork – on a slice of wedding cake. He perked up upon seeing Starfire, and promptly flew over to her.

“Sister!” he chirped, still clutching his cake. “This Earth dessert is very good! Do you think I can bring some back home after this?”

Starfire smiled good-naturedly and shared a knowing look with her husband. “You might have a hard time getting a wedding cake, but a normal one shouldn’t be a problem,” she said. “I can even give you a recipe Cyborg and I came up with that uses Tamaranean ingredients, if you would like.”

“Why don’t you join us when you’re done?” Nighwing offered. “Star says you’re pretty impressive on the dance floor, and I don’t think you two have had much family time yet.”

Wildfire grinned and nodded, but as he returned to the table, Starfire lifted a few inches off the ground and swung around to face Nightwing. That was another Tamaranean tradition – for the happy couple to fully embrace their rapturous joy by spending as much time in the air as possible – and one she was all too happy to indulge. A little impish smile crossed her face as she pulled him out to the center of the reception hall.

Oh, but he did look fetching. They had opted to dress in the wedding wear of each other’s cultures, and as much as she loved her lacy wedding gown, she loved even more how well it paired with the long, loose white sleeves and classic armored accents of his suit. Even his mask had been altered for the occasion – narrower and sleeker than normal, with a dark silver replacing the usual black edges and tiny flared accents at the corners.

“I must admit, I do not at all mind you having to wear such a handsome mask on a day like today,” she thought out loud, pulling close to him as the two began to move in beat with the music. Then, leaning in and speaking in a voice too low for anyone but him to hear, she added, “I wouldn’t mind if you continue to wear it tonight, either.”

Nightwing smirked at that, resting a hand on the back of her neck and pressing his forehead against hers as he twirled her around the dance floor. “Sorry Your Highness, but I fully intend to see you properly for our wedding night.” He considered that train of thought for a moment. “Although we might be able to bring it on the honeymoon.”

Starfire held back a snort of laughter, instead schooling her face into a mock pout. “It is less fun when you refuse to be flustered.”

A little smile crept into the edge of her expression. “And this is a poor time to start calling me ‘Highness.’ You’re technically a prince now.”

Nightwing’s smile broadened. “I still can’t quite get over the thought of that. Please feel free to remind me whenever you like.”

Now Starfire did laugh. Rising a little higher from the floor, she wrapped both arms around his waist and looked to him with a silent question.

Her husband (and thinking that was still absolutely delightful) knew her well – he just smiled again and secured both arms behind her shoulders in answer, allowing her to lift him off the ground with her. Together, they joined the flighted guests that twirled whimsically high above the rest of the party, sharing in the joy of their union for both their worlds to see.

[heartless-error]

Broken, not perfect, but together. - Chapter 7

Fandom: DC comics, Batman

Pairings: Jonathan Kent x Damian Wayne (JonDami) & Jason Todd x Timothy Drake (JayTim)

Rating: Family feels, hurt/comfort, mental health issues, running away, relationship reveal

Other(s) links: AO3

Broken.

The Batfamily was broken.

It was six years ago, and they had barely stood together since then, trying to stand up despite guilt and regret.

Damian was sure there was nothing to save, not after losing something that he didn’t know he cared about. But when a new opportunity to get back what they had lost appeared, he cannot help to doubt as his past decisions haunt him again.

If you love somebody, set them free. But you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

Chapter Summary: That night, for a single moment, he thought that was good and everything would change. It did, but not in the way he wanted, because it wasn't that easy.

Chapter 7

 Six years ago

 When Nighwing and Robin returned to the cave after patrol, Red Hood’s bike was already there.

 In the usual darkness and humidity atmosphere of the cave, Damian looked at the vehicle bored like always, already used to Red Hood visits without warning and even expecting an annoying welcome from him. It didn’t come, but he knew that the slight tension in Nightwing’s shoulders was not only because of the stroke of luck that any thug had managed to give him tonight, but because unlike him, he was still slightly on guard when Todd appeared around them.

 However, they couldn’t see him anywhere. And while that might be alarming to Dick, Damian found it a relief not to have to suffer in his flesh how irritating the second Robin could be.

 “Shall we go to medbay, little D?” Asked Dick Grayson in that gentile tone that he hated so much in these situations.

 “It’s not necessary.”

 It really wasn’t. The discomfort he felt in his left ankle after landing badly during the fight was banal and didn’t need to be attended at all. A couple of days off would be enough, even less. He wasn’t that weak.

 “It will only be a moment, come on.” The older insisted. “Then we can rest, I’m sure Alfred has done something to us.”

 “Tt.”

 “At least we have to bandage that ankle.”

 “My ankle is fine.”

 The patrol had been fairly quiet, except for the little fight with Riddle and some of his thugs at the end of it, where Nightwing had been bruised a little and Robin had fallen awry at some point. In the end they had won, unsurprisingly, and Batman told them to return to the base while he was finishing the work alongside the GCPD.

He knew it wasn’t just because they were done for tonight, but to make sure their wounds weren’t serious. And they weren’t, a couple of punches in the face and a sprained ankle are like a starter for either of them, seriously, Damian had gotten worse injuries by playing hide and seek with Todd and Brown. But no matter how much he repeated this to his father and Grayson, he knew the last would drag him to the medbay as soon as they arrived, even if it was to apply an ointment as if he were still a child who didn’t know how to take care of himself.

 He was 16 and had only stumbled on the edge of a building. Calm down.

 “Grayson, I repeat that it’s not necessary.” He said again annoyed, even though the other one had already started to push him towards the medbay. “I am in perfect condition.”

 “You are limping.” He replied in a serious reproach. “If I won’t check you up Alfred will do it, what do you prefer?”

 Damian rolled his eyes, he shouldn’t abuse his weakness for Pennyworth in that way, nor to point out his innocent and banal limp, which was jus annoying. Grayson was not always going to get away with everything, although this time he was going to do it, seeing how he was dragged to that part of the cave without being able to resist. Sometimes it’s better to know when to surrender.

 He noticed how the older had not only examined him, but also his surroundings, with that slight tension increasing as they moved. Surely, he was trying to determine Todd’s location to keep an eye on him in that way Dick denied he did.

 “He’s with Drake, like always.” Damian though with boredom.

 It was very hard not to question Grayson’s detective skills when he didn’t seem to know -or rather want to accept- that the only reason Todd put a foot into the cave or any territory of the bats, was Drake. That, and maybe when he didn’t have a choice.

Although the silence was unexpected, since Red Hood made sure to be noticed in the place with the aim of ruin everyone night with his shrill false laughs, his harsh words full of sarcasm, his complaints, insults, and meaningless nicknames.  It didn’t take much thought to conclude that he would be with Red Robin somewhere. When Drake deigned to also appear there after patrol -generally when he didn’t have many options either- it wasn’t unusual for him to accompany or take him there, which explained the bike. The “red team” was a very annoying pack that sometimes shown to reaffirm that, indeed, the black sheep of the family had come together to… Well, do whatever they do when they are together.

 The last could variate from sharing cases and information between them, to having a heated debate about which Star Wars movie is the best. It depends of the day, but Damian generally preferred to be cautious in knowing where they were and what they were doing since that time he got into that debate and they joined forces to try to hang him upside down in one of the manor’s chandeliers.

 “What movie do you want to see later?” Dick asked, giving him a friendly pat on his back.

 “None.” He replied impassively. Although remembering about the chandelier episode made him wants to see Return of the Jedi.

 “Come on, Dami!” The other complained. “I have to go back to Bludhaven tomorrow, can’t we have brothers time?”

 “No.”

 “Ouch.”

 “I can’t.” He just explained it so that he would never have to hear that complaint, not worthy of an adult man. “I’m meeting someone.”

 He knew exactly what Dick was thinking from the way he raised his eyebrows and looked at him more intently. Needless to say, he didn’t like it, least of all when his eyes began to shine with amusement, as if he was about to insinuate something. The worst part of having older siblings was precisely this.

 “Oh?” He cooed. “With whom?”

 “Jonathan.” He hastened to say so that he wouldn’t have to bear one more of his questions. “I said him I’d call after patrol.”

 His time to see Jonathan had been reduced since he entered Gotham High, but they had been calling and they could last hours.

On the other hand, he knew what his older brother had assumed. Since he turned 14 approx. it looked like he and his father had been watching him closely to determine when to gave him that talk. They were like hawks waiting for prey outside the burrow, every time they thought they could give way to that moment, their eyes sparkled and the discomfort along with nervousness flooded them. The first few times it was fun, but when your father seems about to collapse because you invited a classmate home, stops. It was annoying and totally unnecessary and, to be honest, he prefer to sleep three weeks on Todd’s moldy sofa rather than having to go through the talk with any of them.

 “Oh, I see.”

 Dick’s curiosity dissipated in a second as he shrugged, totally agree that he had put his best friend up for that night and relaxing because it wasn’t a girl, or whatever he thought.

In one way or another, both his father and Grayson always ceased those alarmed looks and attempts to give him the talk when he mentioned his plans with Jonathan. They didn’t seem to find suspicious the fact that the super was the only person he allowed such proximity, or hold hands, or he called him almost every night, or even he escaped some of them to sleep at his home. No, for them it wasn’t an indicator that they were missing something important, they just let their guard down, let it pass and believed there was nothing else.

 Very naive on his part.

 “You can invite others to your movie night.” He hinted with a huff, quite irritated, already approaching to the medbay.

 Both knew who he meant by “others”. Damian was aware that as vigilant as he was at first, Grayson missed his other siblings, despite the fact their relationship hadn’t been the same for years.

You could tell from the way he looked sad when he had to be on guard around Todd, when Drake refused to trust him with anything personal or even the nostalgic, sorry smile that crossed his face when he suggested that as opened the medbay door.

 “I don’t think they could, they sure are bus-”

 He didn’t finish the sentence, because when they entered at the room the scene inside stunned them and paralyzed everything in an extremely uncomfortable and heavy silence, almost suffocating them.

 Tim and Jason parted from the deep, slow kiss they were sharing almost immediately, their sharps eyes shining and staring at them in a mixture of surprise and dread. They hadn’t been quick enough to disguise his actions, nor would they have been out of the question when Todd was still between the other’s legs and squeezing his hips tightly while Drake sat on the bed holding onto his shoulders.

 They were silent, he didn’t remember have never lived such an awkward moment in the cave. They were all looking at each other intently and with an oppressive tension flooding the room, threatening to crush them apart. Each one analyzing the others and on guard as ever, waiting for anyone to attack at the slightest movement.

Damian couldn’t locate the expressions in conflict of the others, they were a mixture of mistrust, suspicion and courage, the latter being the one wining as they recovered from the initial surprise of being discovered and began to raise their defenses little by little. Tim showed coldness and control, while Jason bristled completely. On the other hand, Dick had remained still as a statue beside him, barely breathing, he couldn’t glimpse his expression.

 He was still too, not knowing how to proceed, but somehow while a part of him was irritated and disappointed (because he knew Drake and Todd were smarter than that and knew how to hide better, what are they doing here?), another felt… calm? He couldn’t determine what emotions should he face right now, but there was a concern in his mind that had been there before entering the room. This had grown stronger and twisted in an unpleasant way when Grayson didn’t seem to react the way Damian knew he should by telling him he was meeting with Jonathan, but now…

He looked at Jason, then at Tim, at Jason, at Tim, at Jason, at Tim again. He noticed how they held each other, how easy they pressed their bodies together and how naturally they seemed to hug; He remembered that calm kiss he had just witnessed, how they seemed to treasure it; Remembered Tim wearing shirts and sweatshirts twice his size, Jason leaving patrol early because he had “a babybird to take care”, the two eating chillidogs on the rooftops, healing each other’s wounds, the smiles, the looks. Both in general.

 Damian felt something finally fit inside him.

 Beyond understanding better, the relationship of those two, it was as if he had also understood and accepted something of himself. Something that had always been there, but had kept locked up, misunderstood, barely visualized, that when seeing them together had deciphered at the end.

It had always been as if he was envious of them, but not at the same time, and without knowing why. But now, seeing them, he felt like he wanted that, no, he knew he wanted that, but not exactly, and somehow made him happy to admit it to himself for once. He was relieved, as if everything made sense now. Tim and Jason, he and Jon. No more confusion, no more doubts.

 Seeing them together, so closely, confirming his suspicions, was like proof of what he could have. That he really could have it, it could happen, and it was fine, he wasn’t alone, he wasn’t the only one. As much as Grayson and his father only became alert when they saw him with a girl, or as much as his mother and grandfather wanted a blood heir with a worthy woman, his brothers could understand what he felt and not judge him, not that he thought the others could do it, but the slight pressure and bitterness that left their expectations was not easy to carry.

But now that he thought about it, both of them never had, they never did that. Tim sided with them when their parents scolded him and Superboy for sneaking into each other’s rooms without permission, making them even accept that it was good for their hero partnership, winking secretly at them at the end; Jason sometimes invite them to food whenever they were on patrol and then leave them alone; and they both did react as they should when they heard something from both of them, but they seemed as reluctant as Damian to give or receive the talk.

 A slight smile began to form on his lips, realizing how much this helped him. This could change everything.

 It did, but not in the way he thought. It wasn’t that easy.

 “W-What’s going on here?”

 Nightwing’s puzzled voice broke the silence, further aggravating the atmosphere and making the relief Damian had begun to feel wobble, his little smile fading immediately.

Drake tensed in his seat, Jason frowned further, but they parted to face them properly. Although that didn’t seem to appease Grayson, judging by the rigidity of his posture, as if he were about to attack.

 “We had a complication on patrol.” Drake reported with the same professionalism as ever, completely ignoring the real question. “I was hurt, and we came to treat it, we’re already done.”

 That explained their presence in the medbay, why he was sitting on the bed, and the gauze and medical material scattered around them, recently used. But at the same time didn’t give any sense about why they were there when they had closer safe houses, why the cave system hasn’t given any notice of their presence and why they were trying to sneak around.  Drake was already dressed, his suit hiding any injuries he had come to treat in secret, surely the silence and kisses were useful and more adequate to treat someone while Alfred wasn’t around.

 “No.” Grayson denied, clearly that wasn’t what he wanted to know. “T-The other thing… Were you kissing?”

 That question asked in a suspicious tone was a direct statement that they had been seen, and he didn’t mean to let it go and pretend he hadn’t see nothing as much as they wanted to, which they didn’t seem to like. Neither Damian because it made look like they were doing something wrong. And they didn’t, right?

 “Yeah. So what?” Jason answered directly. It was probably the best; they couldn’t lie when they had two witnesses after all.

 “What do you mean “so what”?” Dick replied, his initial surprise turning to a slight reproach. “What the hell-?”

 “It’s none of your fucking business.” Todd declared fiercely, wanting to cut everything. “Drop it.”

 Of course, he was talking to Dick Grayson, a bat. He was an expert in stick his nose in everything and was stubborn to insufferable levels, he wasn’t going to drop this.

 “It is! S-Since when does this happen?”

 The last one already had an angry tone, close to a growl, a scolding. It made that feeling of calm that Damian treasured fade away to become a rough and insecure one, growing more and more as Grayson’s anger.

He didn’t even know what to say, at any other time he would have said something. But right now, with emotions flooding him, he knew if he opened his mouth he would agree with Todd and Drake, because is not their business. But if he said it, he was sure he would be sent to his room like a 10-year-old boy who forgot to brush his teeth after dinner.

 “Drop it, Dick.” Said Drake, shifting on the bed and ready to leave. “We’re leaving.”

 “Tim, please answer my question!”

 “You don’t want to know.” He said coldly.

 “Why I-”

 “Ya don’t give a shit, Dickface.” Hood interrupted him. “But you’re going to start a drama either way.”

 “And how do you want me to react?” Grayson replied, pointing at them, exasperated, as if he saw something the others didn’t.

 He could partly understand his reaction, it was an unusual revelation and how he had thought before entering the room, Dick’s relationship with them was broken to some levels almost irreparable. He barely saw them, knew something about his actual lives, meet them beyond patrols and missions, could rarely glimpse them from afar and had no chance to interact with them, so the initial shock might have been expected.

 “Just leave us alone, dammit!” Said Jason, his angry increased.

 “I can’t! You’re siblings!”

 That statement shook even him, and it seemed like a slap on the face for the other two.

In theory Grayson was right, but at the same time he was lacking. Legally, on paper, Drake and Todd were brothers, both adopted by Bruce Wayne, that’s right. But to tell the truth, the legal way was not so important in this case, since according to some papers Todd was dead and Drake has a lost uncle who took care of him before. They hadn’t grown up together, nor lived together, they had never even met duly before Todd’s resurrection, they had never seen each other as family, it was a fact.

 “It’s not-“ Tim began to explain, before being interrupted again.

 “And he tried to kill you”

 That accusation, sad and heavy as it would have been said, was like another slap, which again, even reached him. Because if they really started to argue who had tried to kill whom years ago, the argument would last all night, But no doubt it was Jason who was most affected by that, if the way his eyes burned with rage and his expression twisted was an indication. To tell the truth, it’s a miracle he didn’t attack Grayson for real.

 “Fuck you!” He attacked resentfully. “It was years ago, asshole!”

 “So what?” Dick returned his previous words, also letting his emotions dominate him. “Jason, you are still a murderer!”

 It was obvious from the way he said it and spat out the words he hadn’t thought much about the consequences of saying them, maybe he didn’t really think that. He was simply angry, nervous, confused by what he had discovered, and all of that clouded his judgement. But knowing that didn’t stop Damian’s throat from closing, and Tim dropped his façade to scold the oldest in an alarmed whisper.

By now it was common knowledge that even if Red Hood sometimes left the rubber bullets to use the reals, the blood shed was from people who couldn’t even be considered one for the atrocities they had committed. But that remained in a gray and diffuse line of morality that some bats still didn’t approve.

 “What the fuck are you saying?!”

 “I’m saying we can’t trust you!” Dick attacked again. People assumed Grayson was Wayne family’s ray of sunshine, but it was because they had never seen him angry. “You don’t seem to want to change, not to mention the pit influence. You’re dangerous!”

 “I’m already over it!” Hearing Jason saying this with fury, but without fight physically with someone at this point, it could be a real clue about how much Jason could restrain himself.

 “That was before or after trying to kill Tim for the sixth time?”

 “Why don’t you just shut the fuck up?!”

 “Because this it’s not okay!” He said pointing at the other two. “It can’t be healthy!”

 He was wrong. Damian knew it, but he couldn’t say it, why he couldn’t say it? The unpleasant feeling had grown bigger and bigger, now was crushing him, stopping him from speaking. He was just watching the other two arguing as if this was a tennis match.

 “Are you going to lecture us about it? You?” Jason said wryly, laughing out loud. “Sorry. I can’t speak I-fuck-up-all-my-relationships-because-I’m-a-selfish-shit.”

 “Listen to me…” Grayson sighed, lowering his tone to a calmer one, just like when he speaks to any victim or an altered civilian. “I love both of you, I’m saying this for your sake.”

 “Bullshit.”

 “I am your brother and I know either of you are… Unstable, much less to have any type of relationship with the other.”

 Damian almost protested, but his reply died in his throat. Because this was another thing Grayson might be right about if he didn’t lack information or common reasoning.

The fact that Todd was a crazy with very violent tendencies was not a secret, but it was true he had improved a lot in controlling himself and the pit rage over time; And regarding Tim, his severe depression and anxiety were also not a secret, you only have to have eyes, but like Jason, he seemed to deal with it better, especially with the right support and setting. The image of them Grayson was relying on to judge the whole thing was not only old but distorted on his part.

 “You have no fucking idea, so do us all a favor and stop talking.” Jason sentenced, more defensive than ever.

 “I know-“ Dick tried to keep explaining.

 “You don’t know anything, Dick.” Said Tim, again in that icy and sharper tone. “Nothing.”

 Somehow, Tim’s harsh coldness seemed to affect him much more, causing him to shake his head and look at them stunned, as if he couldn’t understand why they didn’t listen to him or understand what he wanted to say when he supposedly wanted to protect them.

 Damian had no doubt that was Grayson’s goal, after all, to protect them, from themselves and each other. But didn’t he realize it wasn’t necessary? Robin had been around those nights when Red Hood didn’t use real bullets or refused to be lethal, when Red Robin was persuaded to go to sleep or rest, and during some breakfast without capes after. He could say that part of Garyson’s reasoning was based in past events that had lost value today.

 They should have, right? Because if not, what about him?

 Swallowing the lump in his throat and wanting to ignore that unpleasant and accusatory feelings that flooded him, he tried to speak at last, when another voice, much lower than his and already known, knocked them all down.

 “What’s going on here?”

 All of the Robins straightened up instantly, glancing at the door where Batman himself were standing impassively and firmly. No one had noticed his presence, nor how long he had been there. A defeated sigh and murmured curses were heard, the heated and aggressive atmosphere that surrounded them turned again in an uncomfortable and distressing silence. Damian felt he might start to sweat.

 Nobody moved, each of them carefully evaluating his options. Drake, despite his position on the bed, looked at the exits they would have available if they were too fast; Todd raised his head and looked at them defiantly, still close to Tim in an obstinate posture.

He didn’t blame them, if Grayson had reacted like that, being as stubborn as he was, his father was not going to be better.

 This wasn’t going to end well.

 “What’s going on?” Again, Batman asked with authority, making everyone shudder.

 They were too used to responding to that voice immediately. And he supposed it wasn’t pleasant to come back and find half of your kids yelling at each other, but Drake and Todd didn’t move, and Damian didn’t want to either, but he felt he should. He had been in conflict since he opened that door and saw his supposed older brother’s reaction to something he considered good.

 “Father- ”

 “Red Hood and Red Robin are compromised.” In the end, it was Nightwing who spoke, cutting off his chance to stop this.

 The first in fall apart, as always.

 The silence followed that was tense and suffocating again. The seconds Batman took to answer seemed like hours, and during that time Damian couldn’t help but wonder if Dick had referred to Tim and Jason as Red Hood and Red Robin because if he put the vigilante’s identities before his brother’s it was easy for him to behave like an asshole who doesn’t listen.

 “I see.”

 He doesn’t. Surely, he was as surprised as them, but trying not to show it. Supposedly he was the best detective in the world, but he had not been able to realize what was happening between his pupils until now.

 “For how long?”

 Silence.

 The last question was directed at the involved, but none of them seemed to want to give any details.

 Even Damian’s stomach was churning at this, and he didn’t blame Todd for frowning any further, because this interrogation made no sense, even to him, and even though it wasn’t the first time he doubted his father and brother’s actions, it was the first one in which he strongly disagreed.

 “I’m done.” Jason ended up saying before the second question were made. “We’re leaving.”

 Nodding, Tim leaned against the side of the bed and stood up, ready to follow him toward the exit, which was cut off by the other vigilantes. However, the following words stopped then in their steps.

 “No. Red Robin stays.”  The dark knight declared. “Red Hood is leaving.”

 Both looked at him astonished. Nightwing lowered his head.

 “What?” Tim asked, surely his head setting up a plan already.

 “You are hurt and compromised.” He told them directly, they weren’t even going to wonder how he had found out everything. “We will examine you and discuss the details of this matter tomorrow.”

 He said the last looking at Tim and the medical supplies were used earlier, but the way they reacted, as if they were going to knock them off at any moment, didn’t say anything good. Tim stepped back and Jason and covered him with his height, trying to attract the attention to him.

 “Don’t even dream about it, Bats.” The taller one growled. “We are leaving.”

 “Guys…” Dick pleaded.

“You can’t retain me.” Tim said firmly. He was right, there was no way to contain him in a place against his will, because he would end up destroying the place and turned it into ashes just to get out.

 “You shouldn’t worry unless you have something to hide.”

 The implication of those words made Damian almost yell at him with fury, angry at his father for real for the first time in his life.

 “What are you implying?” Tim asked, more puzzled at each moment. The initial defenses he had built in front of them at the beginning seemed to break down more and more, and it wasn’t a worth thing to see.

 “Hood has shown violent tendencies towards you for years, which he continues to direct towards others. Your mental health is unstable as well as a suspicious effort to hide your wounds for a long time.” Batman said impassively, agreeing with Nightwing. “We know how to recognize the symptoms of a potential abusive relationship, and since you don’t want to cooperate, we can’t let you go before we obtain more details.”

 Damian wanted to throw up.

 “How can you think something like that?” Said Tim seriously, his icy anger seeping into every word.

 The question rather was “How can you think something like that of us?” Because if someone here was aware of what an abusive relationship was and its consequences, was Jason, whom his violent father beat him after having knocked his mother up. Red Hood was feared among abusers for a reason, or he was the only one who knew that? Also, Tim had always had an unhealthy tendency to hide his wounds, even before he became Robin. The fact his father was relating everything to reach that conclusion and pretending he was objective, was even offensive.

 “I haven’t assumed anything.” He tried to reason, though there was no way to believe him. “But this information is sudden and suspicious, we need to have evidence and facts beyond your words to determine what to do.”

 With evidence, he was referring to Tim, and what he thought he was hiding under his suit. Which he didn’t seem very willing to share judging the way he walked a few steps away, determined.

 “You already have.” Jason replied. “And it doesn’t matter what we tell you, you’re going to assume and do whatever you want. As always, it’s your fucking style.”

 “Your background is not the best.” His father answered. It was amazing how he was treating the whole thing like a daily mission, rather than a revealed relationship. “You are not objective and your reaction to this only gives us more reasons to reaffirm it has to end.”

 Unfortunately, he was right about one thing. The firmly way of refusing to show Tim’s wounds or being examined, however exaggerated, was a proof that there was something they didn’t want them to see.

However, because the way Todd faced them, it seemed to want to protect him from it, it indicated more that it was something caused by someone else. What’s more, the simple idea Todd could hurt Drake again, after knowing the truth of their current relationship, shook him inside.

 “Your reasons are bullshit.”

 “Little wing, you’re not helping…” Said Dick, thinking he would calm him.

 “Don’t call me that!” Jason shouted enraged. At this point, it was such a win he didn’t resort to violence. And how did his father and Grayson not noticed how much Todd improved when he could perfectly shoot them for this years ago?

 “We do it for the good of both of you.” Bruce said again, really convinced.

 “You want to force us to break up!”

 “Please, Tim, just let us check up tonight’s wound at least.” Dick said then, focusing in the other, taking a step closer to them.

 “Get away!” Jason shouted defensively, making him stand still.

 “We are worried!” The first Robin said.

 “You are being irresponsible and a danger to yourself and others in the field.” Batman declared again in that authoritative voice they were supposed to obey.

 “You two can stick your concern and the field in your asses.” Todd spat scornfully. “Do you even listen to yourself when you speak?”

 “I’m yours-”

 Neither was sure what Bruce was going to say exactly, but whatever it was they wouldn’t have been pleased under these circumstances.

Despite this, Damian didn’t even have time to think about it, or that or anything in general, because while they were still arguing, he instinctively focused on Drake, who had quietly retreated to lean on the edge of the bed and remained in an unusual silence with his head down, without apparent intention to intervene.

 “You’re nothing!” Jason cut Bruce up again. “Just a fucking hypocrite, you say we are a danger out there, but when it comes to you and Catwoman isn’t?”

 “Jason!” Dick exclaimed.

 Tim was vert quiet. Too much, right from the start, especially when his sharp sarcasm was what he used to stand out the most when he was deep in an argument. But now, even with Selina Kyle being mentioned, she hadn’t even flinched.

Damian swallowed, tried to ignore the screams around him, and looked at Tim carefully, still lying down on the mattress’s side and having raised a hand to rest on his forehead. Something was off.

 “What, hypocrite number 2? Do you want me to remind all the dangers you had in the field?” Jason continued, his anger more than palpable and lashing out at everything he had. Even if he couldn’t attack physically, he’s still fearsome. “You are just making excuses, but I repeat you’re nothing for us now, you cannot tell us what to do.”

 “Enough.” Bruce said sternly. “Leave. It’s impossible to reason with you in this state.”

 Damian looked at Tim more closely. The way he cringed on the mattress and struggled to hide his presence in the background, as if he wanted to be unnoticed; His hand on his face didn’t move, but his breathing was heavy, his posture didn’t indicate that he was suffering any pain or discomfort; His head was down, he couldn’t catch his expression, couldn’t see his eyes, but there was something…

 “Stop it.” Damian whispered in realization.

 “I’m not going to move! You never gave a shit about us, and suddenly this?”

 “Jason, that’s not true.” Dick complained, exasperated.

 The discussion continued; his words weren’t heard.

 “You’ve been years without knowing anything from us!”

 “It’s not like that!”

 “Stop it.” Damian repeated, this time a little louder.

 “No? You only want to play the perfect family when you need us in the fucking crusade.”

 “What? No!”

 “Of course not! After all, you’re the golden child, who has not been discarded as trash.” He said to Grayson feigning a compassionate tone. “But it’s all a lie, like him, all you know is how to discard the unworthy toys after they fail.”

 That broke Damian inside, and made Tim gasp.

 “STOP IT!”

 That scream was what finally ended it all.

 Damian didn’t know he was going to scream so loudly, but all he was certain was that he felt like he was going to explode at any moment, and he didn’t like seeing Drake cry. Because he had never seen him shed a single tear, never, ever. Despise everything he had done to him, everything he had said, everything he knew he had lived through. Not once, until now. The implication that all of this could get him reach that point made him want to scream at his brother and father non-stop, a sense of need of protection had arisen him without realizing it.

 The argument was instantly finished, leaving behind shaky breaths, the natural sound of the cave behind them, and Tim’s almost silent sobs, which he struggled to hide as if his life depended on it.

 He could feel the confusion and guilt of everyone in waves, as well as the indecision of not knowing what to do or how to continue this. Neither seemed to want to change their minds, some wanted to leave and be together, and others wanted them to stay and break up. Grayson seemed to be restraining himself so as not run where the third Robin was and comfort him, also moderating himself because Todd hadn’t moved yet from his place, covering the smallest vigilante even if everything in him indicated how much he wanted to turn around and calm him.

 Damian shook his head, almost defeated. Too many emotions flooding him in the moment, none of them good. Some things said in the argument resonated strongly in his mind, causing the confidence he had built at the beginning of the night to collapse like a sandcastle. He couldn’t even let go of the fact he had frozen from the start, like he was a beginner on his first mission, unable to react. He wanted to refute so many things, all of them, to tell them half of what they thought was not true, what they wanted to do wasn’t the right thing even if they think otherwise.

 “Robin, to your room.”

 That order cut the silence like a sharp knife.

 “No.” He instantly refused.

 He couldn’t go, not like that. They couldn’t leave him out of this like he was still a child.

 “Robin.” Batman repeated more seriously than ever, as if giving him an ultimatum.

 He didn’t move.

 At least he didn’t plan to do it. He wanted to say many things, everything he hadn’t been able to during the argument. What they knew, what they didn’t, where they were wrong, what they had made wrong, good and the bad decisions.

But then, he raised his look and his eyes met with Tim’s across the room, watery and red, but shining in determination. His hand on the mattress that he could see form his position moved, giving him Titan’s own directions to communicate with him in secret.

 “It’s okay. Go. I’m sorry.”

 He looked at Jason, who still impassive, narrowed his eyes at him.

 For some reason, they didn’t want him to get involved.

 Damian took a step, then another, another and yet another, his ankle throbbing in pain, but ignored it. Before he knew it, he was running into the manor, straight to his room, wearing Robin’s uniform despite Alfred’s strict policy and ignoring the pain in his joint, because there were things that hurt him more right now.

Even the loud slamming of the door didn’t help to clear his mind, as he was still assimilating the facts and claims he had heard down there. He leaned his back against the door and tried to breathe deeply, but he couldn’t, he was drowning, he was sinking, everything hurt, he didn’t feel his ankle. Damian ended up sitting on the floor with the weight of the words increasing more and more on him.

 “He tried to kill you.” “You’re a murderer.” “We cannot trust you.” “Dangerous.” “Not okay.” “Can’t be healthy.”

 Beyond the sound of his heavy breathing, the pounding of his heart and Grayson’s voice running through him and hammering his head, he heard the predetermined melody of his phone, ringing near him.

 “Abusive relationship.” “It has to end.” “Irresponsible.” “A danger in the field.”

 His phone continued to ring. He knew who it was, he had promised to call him after all. Just like the other nights.

 “Play the perfect family.” “Just like him.” “Throw away the unworthy toys.”

 He ignored that call and the following ones. Just shrugged on himself and didn’t move until next morning.

 By then his brothers were already gone.

[thepartyresponsible]

here’s the first fic for inbox cleaning week! i’ve received a few separate prompts for deadpool and dc crossover fics, but i’ve never actually had any luck writing them. i think the problem is that i was trying to throw wade wilson at jason todd, and that’s a molotov cocktail, not a love story.

so here’s deadpool falling absolutely in love with dick grayson. it’s ridiculous and fluffy and shockingly low on violence.

Word comes through the various superhero backchannels that Batman’s got himself murdered again. Or kidnapped. Stolen, dimension-hopped, married. Whatever. The point is, the Dark Knight is brooding in a better place. Or a worse place. A different place, definitely. That much, Wade knows, is true.

A power vacuum in Gotham is never a good thing. The local villains go wild in Bat’s absence, and it’s not the fun kind of wild with foam parties and naked dancing and drunken mistakes. It’s the kind of wild with blood in the streets and monsters rising from the sewers and terrible deaths played out to the soundtrack of mad laughter.

That kind of thing spreads, is the problem. It’s infectious. What starts in Gotham will spread to New York, and Wade doesn’t wanna deal with Gotham bullshit in New York. He doesn’t want New York to feel like it has to one-up Gotham’s weirdness. New York is weird enough.

So Wade, a concerned good-hearted citizen, a real man of the people, swings by Gotham to check up on things.

He expects to see Robin, if he’s lucky. Or maybe Batgirl. Red Hood, if things get especially spicy.

The last he heard, Nightwing was over in Bludhaven, so he doesn’t expect to see him at all.

It’s hard to tell, honestly, if Wade would’ve been prepared to see him if he’d had some kind of warning. It is not at all hard to tell if he’s prepared to see him unexpectedly. The only hard thing is him. Specifically, it’s his dick. Immediately.

It’s not his fault. Nighwing comes back-flipping into a street brawl like he’s qualifying for the Russian women’s gymnastics team. He’s lean and muscular and beautiful, wearing something blessedly skintight, and Wade thinks the entire world stops on its axis, stretches out time, just so he can stare, open-mouthed, at the shape of Nightwing’s ass as it spins under the murky glow of Gotham’s streetlights.

“Holy shit,” Wade says, when Nightwing kicks off a wall, knocks a man unconscious with his thighs, and then does a full twist in the air before hitting the sidewalk in a perfect three-point superhero landing.

“Oh my God,” Wade says, barely breathing. “Do that again. I missed my chance to shove a twenty in your utility belt.”

“Deadpool?” Nightwing stands up, rising from the busted concrete like Aphrodite from the sea. There’s a chorus of angels singing in Wade’s head; he doesn’t know Latin, but he thinks it’s a cherubic cover of Baby Got Back. “What are you doing here?”

“Fighting the good fight,” Wade says, staring helplessly at the bulge of muscle under all that sinful spandex.

Nightwing’s head tilts to the side. “The good fight?”

“Trying not to jizz in my pants,” he clarifies.  

It’s not his best first impression. But at least it’s an honest one.

Nightwing makes him promise not to kill anyone within Gotham city limits, and Wade feels like that’s a perfectly reasonable ask, because he was prepared to offer up three kidneys, half his teeth, and all his childbearing years.

He has a bit of trouble early on. Deathless crime fighting falls outside his general oeuvre, and there’s a whole caper two days in where a guy drops dead of a heart attack, and Wade spends twelve hours desperately hauling the body from one dumpsite to another, trying to find one the Bats don’t know about. But all in all, he does alright, and Nightwing takes him on a romantic picnic a week into his stay to celebrate.

“Is this a date?” Wade asks, as he kicks his heels over the side of the building, biting happily into the cheeseburger Nightwing handed him out of a takeout bag. “Because I’m not really that kinda girl, but we can totally do butt stuff on the first date if you want to. It’s just that you’re so gentlemanly and svelte. You’re completely overwhelming my natural modesty.”

“Svelte,” Nightwing says, laughing. He takes all of Wade’s flirting in stride, and Wade honestly can’t tell if it’s because he’s not interested or because he gets hit on so much and so often that he thinks it’s just how people talk to each other.

Last night, Wade slapped him on the ass in a last-ditch effort to clarify his intentions, and Nightwing just ass-slapped him back and then yelled “Good game!” over his shoulder as he executed a perfect double tuck off a fire escape.

“Bluebird,” Wade says, with a heavy, wistful sigh. “You’re breaking my heart.”

Nightwing looks over at him. He’s got a smear of ketchup right before his bottom lip, and his jawline makes Wade want to lick him from his chin to his ear.

Well, and everywhere else, too.

“You’re a funny guy, Deadpool,” Nightwing tells him. “When Batman comes back and runs you out of Gotham, you’re welcome to take sanctuary in Bludhaven.”

And isn’t that the perfect metaphor for the pair of them? Nightwing, human embodiment of grace and goodwill, ushering Wade, sack of sin in human skin, into a place of sacred safety?

“Okay,” Wade says. “But only if I get to show up in a nun costume and confess my sins on my knees.”

Nightwing nearly chokes on his food. When he looks up at Wade again, he’s smiling, wide and cheerful, a little crooked. He reaches over, pats Wade on the knee, and his fingers must slip on the way back, because they run halfway up Wade’s thigh before he pulls them away.

“Whatever makes you comfortable,” he says.

Wade finds Red Hood in a shoot-out, and the pair of them go through some genuine gymnastics to get the whole thing calmed down without murdering anyone. Wade gets shot five times toward the end, when he gets bored of all the tireless back-and-forth and hops out from behind cover to go chase down the last guy. One of the bullets nicks his spine, so he ends up lying on the floor, face mashed into a growing puddle of blood, waiting for that to heal, but Red Hood’s a real sweetheart and comes along to drag him bodily to a dry patch.

“Hey, Red,” Wade says, when he can finally roll over under his own steam. “First of all, great color scheme.”

“Thanks.” He doesn’t sound like he means it. He’s doing some Florence Nightingale cosplay routine on the criminals, patching them up while they lie there unconscious or bat at him weakly, cursing the whole time.

“Second of all, about Nightwing.” Wade pushes himself up on his elbows, tries to move his feet. They don’t respond, so he leans back, settles in to wait a little longer. “What’s he like? What’s he into? Flowers? Wine? Fellatio?”

Red Hood’s head swivels his direction. There’s a long pause. His hands move suddenly, and the trafficker on the ground underneath him screams.

“Yikes,” Wade says.

Red Hood ignores him and goes back to work. Wade watches as he takes a marker out of some unseen pocket in his suit and writes TOURNIQUET 1:21 AM on the criminal’s forehead. When he stands up, his pants stretch over his prodigious thighs, and Wade hears angels signing again, but they’re a little half-hearted about it.

A minute or so later, Wade climbs shakily to his feet and stretches while his nerves get their shit together. “I mean it,” he says, walking across the warehouse. “Nightwing. I’m trying to woo him. Got any tips?”

“You could fuck off,” Red Hood says, off-hand.

“Novel approach,” Wade says. “Don’t see how it’s gonna help.”

“It’s gonna help me.” Red Hood surveys the bloody scene, hands on his hips. He points directly at a pale man in the corner, whose leg is so badly broken than his toes are somehow pointing directly behind him. “You’d better not fucking go into shock. EMS is five minutes out. You’re alive when they get here, or I’ll kick your ass.”

“Yeah,” Wade says. “Me too.”

Red Hood shakes his head and stalks out of the building. Wade follows at his heels. All these Bats have really amazing asses. He wonders what their workout routines look like.

“How many squats do you do?” Wade asks. “I mean, hourly. What’re we talking? Two hundred?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Red Hood ducks into an alley, and Wade ducks right along beside him.

“Nothing. I’m just curious about those thighs.”

Red Hood lets Wade follow him all the way up the fire escape, but then he turns around, blocks his path, and stares at him through the eyes of the helmet. “Stop following me. I promised not to kill anyone in Gotham, but you can’t die.”

Wade blinks at him. “What’s that mean?”

“It means,” Red Hood says, leaning in, “that I can do anything I want to you. Won’t kill you, right? And I’m in a real bitch of a dry spell.”

“Jesus, Red,” Wade says, clutching at nonexistent pearls, “did you mean that to sound as sexual as it did?”

Red Hood makes a low, disgusted noise. “Aren’t you panting after Nightwing?”

“Sure,” Wade says. He swallows, shakes his head a little. If Red Hood is the scintillating demon in skimpy red lingerie, Nightwing is the beautiful angel in white lace, and he’s trying to be good here. He’s trying to orient himself, dick-first, toward the side of light and beauty. “But, hey, I’m a flexible guy. Listen. If you put on a domino mask, maybe spray paint that red bat blue, we could have something.”

Red Hood visibly recoils. “I’m gonna throw up,” he announces.

“Yeah,” Wade says, nodding. “A lot of my romances start that way.”

Red Robin won’t give him any advice, either. He won’t even talk to him. He scampers away into darkness every time Wade so much as gets close.

He corners him, finally, when Red Robin’s in the middle of doing something complicated with what appears to be an actual, no-shit time bomb. There’s a digital timer counting down and everything. It looks like something out of a 90’s movie.

“Hey,” he says. “Sorry. I can see you’re busy. But if you had to seduce Nightwing in five minutes or less, how would you do it?”

“Are you serious?” Red Robin points empathetically at the bomb. “I’m working.”

“Yeah,” Wade says. “I see that.” He glances at the timer. “Looks like you’ve got at least thirty seconds to answer the question.”

Red Robin make a series of persecuted noises. “I can’t believe he was serious,” he says, when he’s done.

Wade feels a flutter in his chest. It could be the chalupas he fished out of the dumpster four blocks back, but he thinks maybe it’s love instead. “Who? Nightwing? Was he talking about me?”

“No, Red Hood. He mentioned your weird crush in the group text.”

Wade gasps. “I made the Bats’ group text? Batman’s gonna see my name?”

Red Robin peers up at him. It’s hard to tell, given how much of his face is covered, but he looks pained. “Nightwing likes redheads,” he says. “Busty redheads.”

Wade thinks it over. “I can get surgery,” he decides. “And a wig.”

“Oh my God,” Red Robin says, and severs a wire.

They don’t blow up. That’s probably more important for Red Robin than it is for Wade.

Wade gives him a companionable slap on the back. “Hey, look at you, kid. You’re doing great.”

The look Red Robin directs his way is bleak. “Honestly, I was kind of hoping for a quick death.”

The smallest Bat doesn’t speak to him at all. He just comes at Wade with a sword. It’s maybe the single most adorable thing Wade’s ever seen.

“Look at you!” Wade coos, as they dodge and spin, blades clashing against each other. “You’re so cute and angry, oh my God!”

Robin shrieks something shrill and then tries to take his head off.

Nightwing and Red Hood arrive to break things up before the fight can get out of control. Wade loses a couple fingers in the brawl, but he manages to keep Robin from getting nicked even the littlest bit. He gives the kid a jaunty wave as Red Hood hauls him away in a fireman’s carry.

“You’re doing great, sweetie!” he yells. “I’m so proud of you!”

Robin flips him off with both hands, and Wade honestly tears up a little.

“Kids, huh?” he says, knocking his shoulder into Nightwing’s. “They’re the future.”

Nightwing runs a hand down his face. He seems embarrassed. “I’m so sorry,” he says. “Red Hood made a joke about protecting my virtue, and Robin didn’t get the humor.”

Wade nods sympathetically. “They’re very literal at that age.”

“Yeah,” Nightwing says, sighing heavily. “God, that’s embarrassing.”

Wade checks on his hand. The last three fingers of his left hand are just tiny little spurs of skin and bone, re-growing as he waits.

Nightwing breathes in sharp across his teeth. “He cut off your fingers?”

“Yeah.” Wade shrugs. “He’s a scrappy little thing, huh? But they’ll grow back.”

“I’ll have a talk with him,” Nightwing says. His hands land on his hips. He sounds deeply aggrieved on Wade’s behalf. Those butterflies come back, and Wade hasn’t eaten since he stole a box of Fruit Loops this morning, so he knows it’s not indigestion this time.

He nudges Nightwing with his shoulder again. “You could kiss it better,” he offers, with blind, desperate optimism.

Nightwing turns to stare at him. His eyes are an unreadable white behind his domino mask, but his mouth is twisting up into a dubious smile. “You want me to kiss your bloody stumps?”

Wade swallows. “Can I, uh.” He stops, swallows again. “Can I pick another stump for you to put in your mouth?”

Nightwing snorts and then shakes his head. His smile is breathtaking. Or would be, if Wade hadn’t snuck a quick glance down at his ass while Nightwing had his eyes closed. As it stands, Wade doesn’t have any breath left to take.

“Let me buy you dinner,” Nightwing says. “To make up for Robin.”

“Oh,” Wade says, perking up. “A second date, huh? Can we do it without the gargoyle chaperones this time? No offense, but they’re a real buzzkill.”

Nightwing shifts beside him. He makes a low, thoughtful noise in the back of his throat. “We can do it at my place,” he offers.

“Jesus, baby blue,” Wade says, “I can’t deal with the innuendo anymore. You gotta cut it out. I’m gonna ruin my pants.”

Nightwing grins, smug and crooked, and reaches up to scratch at the back of his neck. He’d seem almost shy, except Wade can’t believe for a second that a man who’d willingly leave the house in that outfit has a single spare ounce of modesty left in him.

“Who says it’s innuendo?” Nightwing asks. He glances up at him, sidelong through the domino mask, and Wade’s heart swoops, spins, and settles into the pit of his stomach. “Maybe it was just an offer.”

Wade wonders if he’s hallucinating. Maybe that tiny little Robin drugged him somehow.

“What?” he asks, turning to face him straight on. “What was that, Bluebird? Sorry, I hallucinated.”

Nightwing laughs. He’s still smiling, bright and friendly. “Come on, Deadpool. Let me buy you dinner. We can take it back to my place.”

“Maybe you’re hallucinating.” Wade steps closer, checks Nightwing over from the top of his artfully messy hair to the tread of his boots. “Did that little demon get you? Hit you on the head? Stab you with a needle, dose you up?”

“Hm, maybe.” Nightwing doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by how close Wade is. His voice is a little lower, though, dropping into bedroom range. “Maybe you’d better check.”

Wade stares, open-mouthed.

Nightwing shakes his head a little, still smiling, and then he reaches down and takes Wade’s hand, knots their fingers together, and tugs him toward the door. “You coming?” he asks.

“God,” Wade says, stumbling after him, ready to follow him to hell and back, right through the worst parts of Gotham. “God, not yet. But I’m really close.”

[startellers-wings-of-fire-corner]

Wings of Fire Music Inspiration

Hey everyone! Thought I’d pop back on for a quick little post. My process of writing head cannons and doing artwork are heavily inspired by music. I’m going to go ahead and list my playlists for each tribe and some others for plot-lines. Probably will reference them further on down the line. I’m sure many of you will not share my taste in music and that’s cool. But, in case any of you were curious or will be curious, here is all the music I use as inspiration for my works. And this is a quick post that I had a little time to do between my projects. I’m halfway done with two and soon will be able to get back to my regular artwork and writings. I will probably keep this up to date as more tracks are added.

I will link as many of these as I can to the actual songs on Youtube. If they are not linked, then there isn’t a video for it. You’ll have to find them on your own. :-(

If you are interested in my other projects (Steven Universe related, CGI and animation) follow me on my Stream of Distracted Thought blog.

Anyway, here is my playlists!

(Hope you like instrumental music!)

Wing of Fire Main Themes:

Wings of Fire by Dirk Elhert

Dragonland by Thomas Bergersen

Welcome to Your Fantasy by Future World Music

 First Arc Main Theme:

We Are by Epic Music VN

Other First Arc Music:

Escape from the Summer Palace: Battle for Skyrim by Boris Mihajlovic

Clay: A Hero Will Rise by Future World Music

Starflight: Brave (Cover) By Peter Hollens

Sunny: I Won’t Give Up (Cover) By Peter Hollens

Sunny Also: The Hero in Your Heart by Thomas Bergersen

Glory: Heart of Fire by Valentin Wiest

The SandWing Queens: Rex Imperium by Immediate Music

The Abandoned Battlefield: Tears of War by Sub Pub Music

Second Arc Main Theme:

Dangerous by Two Steps from Hell

Other Second Arc Music:

Moonwatcher: Remember me Forever by Claudie Mackula

Peril: See the World Burn by Goran Dragas

Kinkajou: Ants vs. Bugs by Sub Pub Music

 Due to their advanced nature in science and engineering, I wanted something that sounded big and sweeping for Ancient NightWings. I like a synthetic feel to the music to reflect this.

Ancient NightWings Theme:

Child of the Machine by Anitti Martkainen

Darkstalker and Clearsight:

Under Your Spell by The Birthday Massacre

Counterpane by The Birthday Massacre

Hear Me by Sons of Pythagoras

Tales of Moonlight by Valentin Wiest

Legend of the Night by Valentin Wiest

Buy the Stars by Marina and the Diamonds

I Remember by Les Friction

Prince Arctic and Foeslayer:

Rewrite the Stars by Zac Efron

Father the Lord by Max Music

Whiteout

Immanuel by Tony Anderson

 My current NighWing head cannon is that they take after Roman/Greek culture. However, due to their widely perceived intelligence in science and engineering, I choose music that has metal instruments in them or what sounds like that. Even Moonwatcher’s and Deathbringer’s themes possess these sorts of sounds.

NightWing Theme (Current):

Styx Theater by Valentin Wiest

NightWing Assorted Music:

Escape the Volcano: Temen Oblak (Dark Clouds) by Christopher Tin

I See Fire by Ed Sheeran (But I prefer the cover by Peter Hollens)

Queen Battlewinner’s Theme: The Frail by Two Steps from Hell

Deathbringer’s Theme: Emperor’s Assassin by Two Steps from Hell

 Due to their very rigid and inflexible culture, I associate IceWings with male chanting, giving the illusion of militaristic unity.

IceWing Theme:

Full Sail by Demented Sound Mafia

IceWing Assorted Music:

We are Lions by Chasing Mirrors

Land of Ice Creatures by Gothic Storm Music

 I head cannon that SeaWings take after Polynesian culture. However, most of their music has a single singer or has a fantasy feel. And A Tale of Sea Dragons just fits magnificently well.

SeaWing Theme:

A Tale of Sea Dragons by Marcus Warner

SeaWing Assorted music:

Dharma by Chasing Mirrors

Ocean Palace by Anitti Martkainen

We Bring the Tides by Mitchell Broom

Lullaby of the Siren by Audiomachine

 I head cannon that SandWings take after Aboriginal culture. Their music is both the hardest to find and the most interesting. Finding instrumental music with Digeridoos in it is rare.

SandWing Theme:

The Wild Tribe by Tartalo Music

SandWing Assorted Music:

Outback by Sub Pub Music

Tribal by Trevor Crookston

Middle East Rave by Freeplay Music

Tonestep by Adele & Zalem

 I picture RainWings taking after the jungle tribes and people of the Congo in Africa. Because of this I have chosen music distinctly African. And theirs by far is some of my favorites.

RainWing Theme:

Iza Ngomso (Come Tomorrow) by Christopher Tin

Assorted RainWing Music:

Waloyo Yamoni (We Overcome the Wind) by Christopher Tin

Inspirational Africa by Matthew L. Fisher

 As I’ve stated previously, I picture SkyWings taking after Celtic culture. So, the music I pick for them tends to be Celtic as well. I also associate them with a single, female voice. (Reflected in their mother goddess.)

SkyWing Theme:

A Warrior’s Fate by Anitti Martkainen

SkyWing Assorted Music:

Steel for Humans by Percival And Marcin Przybylowicz

Fierce Deity by Valentin Wiest

Rise of a Kingdom by BrunuhVille

Symphony of the Forest by Anitti Martkainen

Celtic Warrior by Damiano Baldoni

 I head cannon that MudWings take after Native American Culture. (Though which tribal nation I’m not sure of yet.) Wooden flutes are the unifying feature that I look for in their music.

MudWing Theme:

Vale of a Thousand Rivers by Anitti Martkainen

MudWing Assorted Music:

Dear You by David Chappell

Awakening the Forest by Anitti Martkainen

Colors by J.T. Peterson

  Arc Three:

Generalized Pantala Music:

Due to the wild nature of Pantala, I decided to go with unified chanting for all of the tribes.

General Arc Themes

Oracle by Kari Sigurdsson

One Million Voices by Thomas Bergersen

Pamtseo by Blakus (Breath of Evil’s Theme)

For the SilkWings, I wanted something that was sad, reflecting the enslavement of their tribe.

SilkWing Main Theme

Black Opium by Select Tracks (Likely to be the SilkWing main theme.)

The HiveWings are honestly the hardest tribe of the new arc to decide on music for. They are rather generic compared to the LeafWings and SilkWings when it comes to their tribe history and culture. So I chose a sweeping chanting song for their theme, reflecting their pride as the victorious tribe as well as keeping with the over all theme of the other tribes.

HiveWing Main Theme

Exile of the Mountain Queen by Matthijs Kieboom

LeafWing Main Theme

(Undecided)

Undone by Tommee Profitt (Sundew’s Theme)

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Which do you think is more important to the franchise teenage age/high school era Spider-Man(even though he was only in high school for the first 28 issues) or adult Spider-Man(the way he's been for most of the franchise)?

It is vitally important that Peter Parker become a hero as a high school teenager but equally vitally important that he never remain there statically.

Equally you should not leave him stagnate as an adult either.

Spider-Man’s character and all the marvel characters were DESIGNED in such a way wherein, you can pause them in one status quo for awhile or slow down a bit but never truly stop the journey at one place indefinitely

Which isn’t advocating for stuff like Superior or Parker industries.

Peter and the Marvel characters were created with characetr development and progress in mind.

Reed and Sue are dating. Reed and Sue get engaged. Reed and Sue ge married. Reed and Sue get pregnant. Reed and Sue have a baby. Reed and Sue’s baby becomes a toddler, then a child, then a pre-teen, etc.

The X-Men are teenagers with Scott and Jean having a thing for one another. The X-Men graduate. Scott and Jean hook up. The X-Men mature and strike out on their own. Cyclops forms a new band of X-Men. Xavier created the next generation of mutant students, the New Mutants. They grow up and become X-Force.

Peter Parker is a teenager in high school living with Aunt May and has no friends sans his girlfriend Betty brant. Peter Parker graduates and goes to college after breaking up with Betty. Peter gains a new social circle of friends falls in love for the first time with Gwen and moves out of May’s house. Peter get his own place and experiences bereavment and new love with MJ. Peter leaves college and experiences his first bad relationship with Felicia. Peter and MJ fall in lvoe again and get married. Peter and MJ expect their first child. 

The Marvel characters literally do not FUNCTION properly if you try to maintain a default setting for them or else take them off on temporary tangents intended to return them to default square One eventually.

They HAVE to be allowed to (at whatever pace) move forward in a positive, organic progression. 

That’s part of what i adore about Spider-Man. It’s not that I can pick up late 20 year old married Spider-Man and say this is just inherently awesome. It’s that I know the journey we’ve been on to get us here. I can look at the lonely teenager from the first page of Amazing Fantasy #15 and see how far he’s come and follow that development across the stories.

It is not a dissimilar phenomenon to say Game of Thrones, Dragon Ball or Harry Potter, Digimon and Breaking Bad and the popularity of those franchises. 

It’s not so much the coming of age aspects so much as just the progression, development and transformation of the characters.

It is also why i think Dick Grayson is so immensly popular.

Having him just show up as Nighwing is meaningless or at least less meaningful if you don’t know he was once a circus acrobat orphan Bruce Wayne took in and made Robin the Boy Wonder now turned Adult defender of the night.