#okay also the fact that shes the only one other than Bruce that got to speak to jason face to face

[eyepatchdate]

*also* of note is that arkhamverse batman is shown to often like, do the mentor thing of 'youre not ready' or 'you could do better', critiquing nightwing and robin and i think we can assume he also did that to jason. Anyways. He never does this to barbara.

[solelifauna]

So this NOT to imply the writing is bad

But so far the Batfam fic as me genuinely shaking in anger , the fact that dick is convinced that y/n as to prove herself to be "worthy" genuinely got to me to the point I need a pallete cleanser

Could we please get a small drabble of reader growing close with one of the "outside" batfam members?

Like maybe Kate(batwoman) and Luke (batwing) because they are under used

Or hell, maybe to really grind the family gears, reader gets close to azrael

(you know Bruce would've able to do shit if reader got close with Kate, she would fucking eat him alive)

Hey, You're all good bro! I also just want to put out that my fic is based on an au! The portrayals of any characters in my fic are based off of their canon and fanon counterparts, just with my own twist. Since this is a darker universe/au, the Bats along with other heroes are going to be a lot more brutal and jaded.

Also love your idea bro. But, I'll do you one better. Constantine. Bruce absolutely can't stand him and the reader being friends with/getting along with him? Oh, that's bound to grind Bruce's gears. It would also be easier to meet Constantine too.

Let's just say one day the reader gets caught up in some Justice League Dark stuff that Constantine is trying to solve. She gets kidnapped by a cult that wants to use her as a sacrifice. I mean, she is a pretty huge target, being the daughter of a Billionaire after all. Anyways, shes kidnapped, nobody is coming to get her, not from her family at least. Long story short, Constantine arrives too late to stop the ritual, but things don't go according to plan for the cultists anyway. Turns out that the person sacrificed wouldn't be killed, but would instead become a vessel.

Great, now you have some old, eldrich being living rent-free in your mind. The being is old, donning the title "Keeper of Hell", but you'll just call it (they? him? her?), Adam. Yeah, Adam wasn't too happy with the name. When Constantine arrives, however, hes pleasantly surprised to find you alive. When he realizes that you, a 15-year-old, now carry the presence and power of an eldritch being older than Gotham itself, he groans while lighting up a cigarette. Looks like he'd have to deal with you now.

He checks over you making sure you have no internal and external injuries before explaining your situation. He feels a little sorry for you, but he is in no condition to train you. He asks around to other JL dark members, hoping to see if anyone is willing to help you control your new powers. He sighs again when nobody steps up to the plate, too busy with their own sidekicks and quests.

Reluctantly, he tells you he'd help you figure stuff out. And there begins the blossoming of the amazing "Grumpy old man and kid they didn't ask for" troupe. When you tell Constantine your name, he blanks, because of course he gets stuck with one of the bat's kids. However, based on your tone of voice when discussing your family (and the way you begged him not to let Bruce/Batman know of your predicament), he's guessing things aren't all too great between you all. Well, thats not his problem, his only job was to train you and make sure you don't end up accidentally killing someone.

Yeah...like that thought process is going to last. Training sessions start out bleak and professional, he's only doing a job. Then as time continues, he finds himself enjoying your company, your enthusiasm to learn and your rambunctious/sarcastic comebacks always have him fighting off a smile. It's been a while since he's had company like this. Soon, you're both going out on missions, and then ice cream breaks afterward. He lets you fall asleep on his shoulder, drooling all over his trench coat after particularly difficult missions and he can't bring himself to mind.

He's fond of you, although he never admits it out loud. It's okay though, because even though he's never said it out loud, his actions speak louder than words. You could feel his love and pride for you. Although he wasn't exactly your dad per se, he was still something to you, maybe the wine uncle? You don't know, and you don't particularly care to put a label on what Constantine was to you, you're just glad that he's there.

Shit hits the fan, however, when one day you decide to go on a solo mission. It's nothing crazy, just getting rid of some poltergeists and low-level demons and shades. Now, were you given permission to go on this mission alone? No, but in a normal teenage manner, you decide to go anyway. Everything was fine, you got rid of all the poltergeists in the area and even some of the shades too! It's all going well until you realize that the demon mentioned before was not as weak as you were told. You gulped when its blood red eyes turned to you.

"Well shit." Constantine was going to kill you.

It immediately lunges at you, you barely rolling out of its sharp claws. You hit it with a couple of spells, causing the demon to roar out in pain, burn marks now littering its side. Its tail whips at you, colliding with your stomach as you fly into a wall with a loud thud. You groan as you pick yourself up, clutching your ribs, each breath a jagged pain that ripples through your chest. Your arm is slick with blood, the gashes from the demon's claws burning as if its very essence were trying to sear your flesh. You grit your teeth and weave another spell, calling on Adam’s power to knock the demon back. This time, a burst of raw energy slams into it, shattering its leg with a sickening crack.

For a brief moment, you think it's over, ready to strike the final blow. But the demon’s leg snaps back into place, bone and flesh knitting together as if the injury had never happened.

“Of course,” you mutter under your breath. “Why would this be easy?”

The demon lunges again, and you’re just a split second too slow. Burning pain flares through your right arm as its claws tear into you, ripping through your flesh like paper. You scream, the sound involuntary, but you push through the pain, refusing to go down without a fight.

Drawing back, you unleash another spell, a sharp projectile of energy aimed at its neck. The demon flinches, letting out a low growl. That reaction—panic—gives you the first glimmer of hope. Its neck. That's its weak spot.

With renewed determination, you gather every ounce of strength you have left. The cuts across your body throb, and your arm feels like it’s on fire, but you push it all aside. You can do this. You have to do this.

You unleash a volley of cutting spells, each one aimed at the demon’s throat. It fights back viciously, throwing you around the room with a strength that makes your vision blur. Every hit you take feels like your bones are splintering, but you keep going. You keep attacking.

Finally, one of your spells strikes true.

The demon lets out a gurgling screech as your spell cuts deep into its neck. Blood—thick and dark—pours from the wound, and it claws at its own throat, choking. Its body spasms violently, and then, as if collapsing in on itself, it begins to disintegrate. In a few seconds, all that’s left is dust.

You stand there, panting, barely able to process the fact that you did it. You won. A grin spreads across your face, and despite the pain radiating from every part of your body, you let out a weak cheer.

But the celebration is short-lived.

Pain cuts through you like a knife, sharp and sudden, reminding you of just how battered you are. Blood is still oozing from the various gashes across your body, and your arm feels like it’s hanging by a thread. You stumble, nearly falling, but catch yourself at the last second.

“Crap… I’m bleeding out,” you mumble, wincing. “Whoops.”

With what little energy you have left, you remember the spell Constantine taught you, the one that would tether you to him no matter where you were. He warned you not to use it unless it was an emergency—and bleeding out from demon-inflicted wounds definitely qualifies.

You lift your shaking hand and cast the spell, a sluggish flick of your wrist sending out a ripple of energy. A portal forms, shimmering and unstable, but functional enough. Without much grace, you stumble through it, disappearing from the demon’s lair.

What you didn’t know, however, was that Constantine was currently in a Justice League meeting.

The first thing you feel is a sudden drop, like the ground beneath you has vanished. You barely register the sensation of falling before you crash, hard, onto something solid. Groaning, you blink through the haze of pain and find yourself sprawled across a massive table.

You can hear voices—muffled, alarmed—but the world is spinning too much for you to focus. All you know is that you're lying on something cold and hard, and you’re absolutely drenched in blood.

Forcing your eyes open, you see several figures standing around you, staring in shock. Your vision is blurry, but you can make out Superman’s cape and Wonder Woman’s armor. You try to process what's happening, but the pain in your arm and ribs keeps pulling you under.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow. Fuckkkk." You cry out.

Suddenly, the scent of smoke fills the air. You don't even have to look to know who it is. Constantine’s familiar trench coat brushes against your arm as he crouches beside you, cigarette dangling loosely from his lips. His eyes flicker with a dangerous mix of exasperation and barely concealed anger.

“What in the bloody fuck, kid?” he snaps, his tone harsher than usual, but the concern underlies his words.

You wince, the situation hitting you all at once. Crap. Now I've got to deal with this.

You muster a weak, sheepish grin, wincing as you turn your head to face him. “Heyyy Constantine, how are ya?”

His brow furrows deeper, and he’s clearly not amused. “What did you do?”

You swallow hard, trying to think of how to explain yourself without getting ripped to shreds—verbally or otherwise. “I—well, promise you won’t get mad?”

“Too late for that, kid. I’m already halfway there,” he growls, his eyes narrowing as he looks over your wounds. “Now get to it.”

You bite your lip, trying to find the least disastrous way to explain. “So… I sorta… mighta… gone on a solo demon-hunting mission,” you blurt out quickly, hoping he’d just move past it.

The way Constantine’s eyes widen, and the immediate twitch in his jaw tell you that he’s definitely not going to move past it.

“You did what?!” His voice rises as he stands up, rubbing a hand over his face. “Oh bloody— I thought I specifically told you not to go by yourself! And this is what happens!”

“Hey, well, I’m alive, aren’t I?” you say, grinning nervously, trying to play it off.

“That’s besides the point!” He throws his arms up, pacing as he takes a long drag from his cigarette. “Bloody hell, I should’ve known better with you kids. I swear, this is why I never—”

Just then, a dark, grim voice cuts through the chaos, and your heart nearly stops.

“Constantine,” Batman’s tone is low, authoritative. “Why is my daughter bleeding on our table?”

Oh no. No, no, no. Not now.

You freeze, your mind going blank as you feel the weight of Batman’s presence at the end of the table. You slowly, painfully turn your head to see him standing there, cape draped over his shoulders, his gaze icy and locked onto you. His usual stoic expression somehow looks even more intense.

“Ah… shit,” you mutter under your breath, groaning inwardly as you realize you’ve just landed yourself in the absolute worst situation imaginable. “I completely forgot he was still here.” Wait, did you say that out loud?

Constantine gives you a sidelong glance, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, kid, you did. And now we’ve got more than just your wounds to worry about, don’t we?” He sighs deeply, rubbing his temples, already anticipating the fallout.

Batman’s eyes narrow, arms crossed as he takes a step closer to you, his voice low and dangerous. “Care to explain yourself?”

You’re still bleeding, your head is pounding, and you’re pretty sure at least a few bones are broken, but none of that compares to the fear creeping up your spine as you look up at your father. Your mind races for an answer, but every excuse you can think of feels flimsy at best.

Constantine clears his throat, sensing the rising tension in the room. “Right. Let’s get her fixed up before this turns into an interrogation, yeah? Kid’s bleeding all over the place, and she’s already taken a beating. We’ll save the lecture for later.” He waves his hand, muttering something under his breath as he kneels beside you again.

The tension between Constantine and Batman lingers in the air, thick and heavy, but Batman finally relents. His eyes soften—slightly—as he watches Constantine work to stabilize your injuries with magic.

You can feel yourself growing weaker, the adrenaline finally wearing off as the pain becomes unbearable. Constantine mutters a healing spell, one that slows the bleeding and knits some of the less serious cuts together. It's not perfect, but it’s enough for now.

“I think it’s time to get you all fixed up, huh?” Constantine says softly, his earlier anger tempered by concern as he helps you sit up, his hand firm on your back to support you.

You nod weakly, not daring to meet Batman’s eyes again. You’re in deep trouble, but for now, at least, you’re still breathing. As Constantine gets ready to teleport you to a safer place to heal, you hear Batman’s voice, calm but steely.

“We’re not done here.”

And with that ominous promise hanging in the air, Constantine picks you up, and the world around you shifts once again.

Constantine gently carries you through the halls toward the Justice League’s med bay, muttering curses under his breath with every step. You could feel his frustration radiating off him, and now, in the quiet aftermath of the fight, guilt begins to settle in your chest. The adrenaline from the battle has worn off, and now you're left with the consequences of your reckless actions.

“Hey, Constantine… I—I’m sorry for not listening to you. I really am,” you say, your voice soft and heavy with regret.

He sighs, not looking at you, but his tone is stern. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m not mad at you, kid. You didn’t just ignore my warnings—you put yourself in danger. There are rules for a reason. What if you got seriously hurt and couldn’t cast a spell back to me? Even worse, what if you died or got possessed?”

His words hit you hard, and you wither under the weight of them. You know he’s right. All those rules and restrictions aren’t just him being overprotective or controlling, they’re because he cares. He’s seen the kind of darkness that can swallow people whole, and the thought of that happening to you terrifies him, even if he’ll never say it out loud.

By the time you reach the med bay, the guilt feels like it’s pressing down on you as much as the pain in your ribs. Constantine lowers you onto a cot, tucking you in with a gruff gentleness that only he could pull off. He sits down on the side of the bed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with a quick flick of his fingers, his eyes never leaving yours.

“What I’m trying to say, kid,” he starts, exhaling a cloud of smoke, “is that I care. I care about you, I care about what happens to you. I don’t want—” He pauses, his voice softening. “I don’t want to ever have to find your body one day. So please, from now on, let me know before you do something stupid like this.”

His words hang in the air, raw and unfiltered. You nod, trying to process it all, and then something clicks in your mind. Wait… did he just say let him know?

“Let you know? Does this mean—” Your eyes widen as realization hits you. “Does this mean I can go on solo missions?”

Constantine lets out a resigned sigh. “Yes, yes, you can start going on solo missions—”

“Hell yeah!” you exclaim, sitting up a little too quickly. Pain shoots through your ribs, but you can’t help the excitement bubbling inside you.

“—but, only the ones I sanction and authorize,” Constantine finishes, cutting through your excitement with a stern look. You deflate a little at his words, but it’s still a victory in your book.

Without thinking, you throw your arms around him, ignoring the sharp pain it causes in your ribs. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise I won’t let you down!”

He chuckles, patting your back awkwardly before pulling away. “Yeah, yeah, I know you won’t. Now, lay back down and get some rest. You still have dark and brooding to deal with.” He gestures toward the direction of the meeting room, clearly dreading the inevitable confrontation with Batman. “And by extension, I do too,” he adds with a heavy sigh.

You groan, sinking back into the cot, the exhaustion finally catching up with you. “I don’t know why he even cares. If he did, he would’ve figured this out ages ago.”

Constantine glances at you, his expression softening for a moment. He takes a long drag of his cigarette before speaking. “He cares, kid. He just… doesn’t always show it the way you want him to. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel it.”

You scoff, though part of you knows he’s right. “Yeah, well, doesn’t feel like it.”

Constantine stands, taking one last drag of his cigarette before flicking it into a nearby ashtray. “Doesn’t matter how it feels right now. The Bat’s going to want answers, and if I know him, he’s going to want to have a very long talk with you. You’re not out of the woods yet.”

You wince at the thought of the upcoming conversation, knowing that Batman’s interrogation will be thorough and far less forgiving than Constantine’s.

“Great,” you mutter, closing your eyes and sinking deeper into the cot. “Just what I need.”

Constantine gives you a small, almost affectionate smile before turning to leave. “Get some rest, kid. You’ve earned it. I’ll deal with the big bad Bat for now.”

And with that, he walks out, leaving you alone in the med bay. As much as you’re dreading what’s to come, you can’t help but feel a sense of relief. Despite the pain and the mistakes you made, you know that Constantine’s got your back. And, maybe, just maybe, Batman does too, even if it’s buried under a mountain of brooding and silence.

For now, though, you let the exhaustion pull you under, trusting that everything else can wait until tomorrow.

-

As you rest, your body finally succumbing to the exhaustion, your breathing evens out and your mind drifts into sleep. The med bay is quiet, sterile, but the tension in the air lingers, waiting for the inevitable. Eventually, a dark, caped figure glides into the room silently, his form casting long shadows across the walls.

Batman—no, Bruce—stands over you, his sharp eyes tracing every bruise, every cut that mars your face. His jaw clenches as a million thoughts swirl in his head, none of them offering any comfort.

What the hell happened to you? Why are you and Constantine so close? How did you even know Constantine? How much had he missed—how little attention had he been paying—to not notice any of this?

Bruce sighs, a deep and frustrated sound. He removes his cowl, setting it on the side table with a weary hand. Without it, he seems less intimidating, less imposing. He stares down at you, seeing the cuts and bruises marking your skin, but what hits him harder is the way your face, in sleep, is still so achingly young. You're his daughter, and yet it feels like you're a stranger to him now.

How did you get so far away?

He knows the answer. The fault lies with him, with the choices he made, the excuses he repeated to himself—telling himself he was too busy, telling himself he would check in later. Later never came, though, and the space between you widened, until it wasn't just him you were drifting away from, but your brothers too.

Bruce noticed the way your brothers treated you, the harsh words, the cold shoulders. He saw the distance, but he justified it, telling himself it was sibling rivalry or something that would pass. He didn't step in. And now, as he looks at you lying there, bruised and battered from a fight he wasn’t even aware of, the reality sinks in: he has no excuse.

With a heavy sigh, Bruce reaches out, his rough but careful hand carding gently through your hair. The gesture is tender, hesitant, as if he's not sure whether he has the right to touch you like this anymore. But as his fingers comb through your hair, you stir in your sleep, a quiet murmur escaping your lips as you unconsciously lean into his touch. It's such a sweet, innocent moment, and for a brief second, Bruce allows himself to feel the warmth of it.

But the moment is fleeting.

He feels the presence before he sees it, the unmistakable smell of cigarette smoke filling the room. His jaw tightens as his hand stills. He doesn’t turn right away, but his voice cuts through the silence.

“Constantine,” Bruce says, his tone gruff even without the cowl to disguise it.

Constantine steps into the room more fully, leaning against the wall, a half-smoked cigarette between his lips. He regards Bruce with that same nonchalance he carries everywhere, though there's a flicker of something else in his eyes—something more cautious.

"Thought you’d still be brooding over in the corner," Constantine says, taking a drag of his cigarette. His eyes drift to you, lying peacefully on the cot. “Didn’t expect to see this version of you.”

Bruce doesn’t respond right away. He pulls his hand back from your hair, his gaze hardening. "What happened?" The question is direct, but underneath it, Constantine can hear the concern, the frustration Bruce doesn't voice aloud.

"She went off on her own," Constantine mutters, taking another drag before blowing out a cloud of smoke. "Went after a demon. Got roughed up pretty bad, but she handled it in the end. Strong kid. Stubborn too. Wonder where she gets that from, eh?"

Bruce's eyes narrow. "And you let her?"

"Let her?" Constantine laughs, a short, sharp sound. "Mate, I didn’t let her. She went behind my back, just like she’s gone behind yours for who knows how long. Difference is, I’m the one she actually came back to.”

That lands like a punch to Bruce's gut. He doesn’t react visibly, but Constantine can see the tension in his posture.

"I didn't know she was…" Bruce starts, then stops, shaking his head. The words feel inadequate. "I didn't know she was involved with this stuff, i didn't even know she was a meta. Or that she knew you."

"Yeah, well, she found her way to me," Constantine says with a shrug, stubbing out his cigarette on the wall. “And she's not a meta by the way, she's a vessel for some eldritch being"

A vague expression of surprise appears on Bruce's face.

"I don't blame you, mate. I was surprised to find her alive afterwards. Not just anyone survives that kind of transformation, she's strong.”

Bruce crosses his arms, his gaze flickering between you and Constantine. “I know she’s strong.”

“Do you?” Constantine raises an eyebrow, the challenge clear in his tone. “Because she’s been running herself ragged trying to prove it. To you. To herself. And, hell, maybe to me too, but at least I see it.”

There’s silence for a moment. Bruce clenches his jaw, turning to look at you again, sleeping soundly despite the tension in the room. He knew Constantine was right. You'd been pushing yourself, fighting to show that you didn’t need them—that you were strong enough on your own. And he had let you. He'd let you because he didn't even care to notice.

Constantine sighs, sensing the weight of the silence. “Look, I didn’t come here to throw stones. But you’ve got to get your shit together with her. She’s tough, but she’s still a kid, and she’s your kid. She needs you.”

Bruce doesn’t answer, but his silence speaks volumes. He watches you, the soft rise and fall of your chest, and feels the regret gnawing at him.

“I’ll handle it,” Bruce finally says, though the words feel hollow.

Constantine gives him a long look, then nods. “You better. Because if you don’t, she’ll be right back with me..”

With that, Constantine pushes off the wall, flicking away the last of his cigarette. “I’ll check in on her later. Try not to fuck this up, mate.” And with one last glance at you, Constantine leaves, the tension in the room ebbing with him.

Bruce remains, standing over you, his mind a whirlwind of regret, guilt, and the desire to fix what’s been broken for far too long. He leans down, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead—something he hasn’t done in what feels like years—before stepping back, pulling the chair beside your bed to sit vigil over you.

He’s still not sure how to bridge the gap, but for now, he stays. It’s a start.

Well, thats all folks! I really enjoyed writing this au, so thanks for the idea! Maybe ill even make a pt. 2 to this? Who knows? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.

[grahambaham]

Controversial opinion, especially for any Jason Todd fans out there (I'm one of them), but I completely understand why the fans in, the 80' I think, voted to kill him off. Hear me out, okay?

Jason was at first a literal Dick Grayson copy, was legit given his backstory and personality with the name being the only change. And for a while that was all they knew about and, rightfully so, hated about him. Now I'm not sure whether he was given the whole Alley kid who tried to steal Batman's tire story before or after his death but either way, in those fans' minds, Jason Todd was just a boring replica of Dick Grayson and no one liked him. If I was alive and a fan back then, I honestly would have done the same thing.

WHICH IS WHY I HAVE SUCH A HUGE PROBLEM WITH THE WRITERS DOING TO JASON THE EXACT SAME THING THAT GOT HIM KILLED OFF BEFORE!!!

Jason immediately after getting brought back to life was a villain. He wasn't misguided, he wasn't an antihero, my man was a Villain with a capital V. He didn't protect workings girls or children from any drugs or anything, he just made one off hand comment to a guy not to sell to kids and that's it. One of his only interactions with any prostitutes is to mock her for her past and decisions that led to her becoming one. Bruce did not abuse him or attack him unfairly. Jason had not only tried to kill Joker or other horrible villains, he killed anyone whether they were rapists, or robbers, or petty fucking thieves and he didn't do it for justice or whatever the fuck but because he was angry and taking it out on everyone he could get his hands on. He stopped Batman from going after Nightwing after Bludhaven blew up with him in it. He blew up a school. He beat up Tim in his little Robin panties and was a fucking villain.

I love Jason. But I love him as the messed up asshole he is. Not as some misguided wittle antihero. Which is why I despise the fact that the fandom latched onto the completely inaccurate version of him, because the writers of DC had started writing him the way the fandom wanted and he is now irreversibly ruined. Aside from the already mentioned stuff, they made him into a copy of Dick Grayson (for the second fucking time) and Helena Bertinelli.

Helena is the one protecting women and children, the antihero that often uses violent force. She's the one with the reluctant sibling relationship with Tim. Jason was not Tim's Robin by the way, Dick was. Tim does not like Jason one fucking bit and spends most of their forced interactions roasting him so bad he has to buy burn salves. Also her personality was taken and given to Jason in some ways too, like her manner of speech and stuff, but I'm willing to let that slide as accidental.

From Dick Grayson, they mostly took his relationships, romantic and platonic. Jason slept with Barbara and Kori both, which aside from just being dumb as hell is also weird and creepy because Jason is six years younger than them at least and they knew him as a fourteen year old when they were at least twenty, and they would never date someone so much younger than them, they aren't fucking creeps. Then they took Starfire and Arsenal and made them forget their own lives to join Jason's little antihero team (neither of them are antiheroes what the fuck) and act like the sun shines out of Jason's ass and he's their leader or some shit when they would never follow him before that, especially Roy who has led so many other teams and does not deserve that shit. Some fans also ship him and Jason, which is both creepy and character assassination for Roy's entire character more than him being friends with Jason and in the Outlaws already is.

Also, Pit Madness is not a thing you fucking brainless losers. Stop trying to justify and erase the flaws that make him an interesting character. His anger has always been due to the trauma of being tortured and dying and the misguided feeling of betrayal he felt for Bruce. He was unwell and taking his problems out on others. So, repeat after me: PIT MADNESS IS NOT A REAL THING!!!

Thank you for reading <3

[batsythoughts]

And last, but certainly not least, in the Yandere! Baby Trapping series, Tim Drake!

Warnings: Possessive tendencies, manipulative behavior and actions, dubious consent, forced pregnancy (obviously)

Smut under the cut. Minors please do not interact with this post.

Tim and you had been together since the third year of high school

You both had been close friends before deciding to officially start dating

Bruce and Alfred felt like it was a good idea with the fact that when you would stay over at night, Tim would actually get a few hours sleep

You had even been encouraged to stay over more often went you both got older as Tim would take better care of himself with you around

No one even mentioned when you unofficially moved in fully during the last couple of months before graduation

There had only been a few hiccups in the whole relationship, but it wasn't due to disagreements or miscommunication

It all started a few months after you both began dating and nervously went to Alfred about a strange rash you seemed to be developing

He quickly took you and Tim to a discreet health clinic with a doctor that he knew that Bruce trusted with his own sexual well being

It didn't take long for the doctor to get a few test ran before telling them to come back in a few days when the results would come in

Enter the embarrassment a few days later when going back to be told it was an allergic reaction to the latex or spermicide of the condoms

You quickly got a prescription for birth control that she believed would be okay for you to take

Cue one of the most awkward car rides to the pharmacy before going back to the manor

Alfred didn't lecture either of you for having sex, he merely explained he was glad you both tried taking precautions which only seemed to be more embarrassing

The next few weeks of being on the medicine proved to almost be worse as you got multiple side effects that were more harmful than Tim wanted you to go through

That lead to changing to a different prescription from the doctor, which you would be better for some time before getting a different set of side effects

It was a constant cycle of you being sick and relying on Tim for assistance with your health as you got medication after medication for years

Tim made sure you had appointments every few months that he made sure to go with you to also get himself tested with you for any infections

You both currently sat in the room as the doctor came in to listen to the issues you had with the most recent batch she ordered you to take

She waited until you were done talking before suggesting a new medicine that passed its trial runs with almost no complications to the people that had tested it

You gave her a hesitant nod while saying that you would give it a try

The doctor smile while writing on her clipboard and saying she would get it sent in right away

Before you both left, your doctor said she was going on an extended leave for about 7 months to spend time her wife and their new baby so she wouldn't be able to do the next regular check up that you all did every 3 months

You both nodded in understanding and wishing them all well before leaving to head to the store to get a few snacks

Tim made sure to grab plenty of your favorites as you quietly mumbled about some plans that you wanted to do for the weekend

You leaned into him with each step until you finally went to the counter to pay when he heard some quiet laughter nearby

The two of you saw a couple of boys you both had graduated with nudging each other whine making obscure gestures

They looked back over at you and Tim and began laughing louder than before as they point at him

Tim glares over at them while holding you closer before turning back to quickly pay to get you out of there

After finally getting back to the manor, Tim took you to his room so you both could get some rest

You got settled on the bed with Tim laying beside you when a tired cry sounded from your lips

You latched onto Tim as tears began to fall down your face while saying that you were tired of constantly being sick

He rubbed your back in an act of comfort while kissing the top of your head

"I know, sweetie. Hopefully this time things will work out for the better. And if it doesn't... then we can stop if you want to."

He continued holding you to his chest until you drifted into a fitful sleep

He waited until he was certain you were asleep before pulling out his phone to look at the weather

He gave a long sigh when he saw that a thunderstorm that would last for a majority of the night was still in the forecast

The distance sound of thunder made him look at the window then at you as he bit his lip

Tim turned his attention back to his phone as he went to a program he made that was linked to the computer system of the pharmacy you went to

He saw the new prescription was still pending to go through

He looked at the new medication that was labeled on his screen for a moment before he deleted it from the system

He scowled as he began pulling up different profiles of other people getting new medication and swapping what they were getting to something that works just as effectively with minimal side effects

He even went through people that have some of the same birth controls that were the worst for you and replacing it with some better ones that seemed to work out for many other people

He knew it was wrong to mess with such personal information of random strangers, but Tim couldn't risk anyone noticing only your prescription was changed

After doing all of the changes, Tim went back to your profile as he hesitated for a moment before inputting a fertility enhancer as a replacement

He had figured that maybe flushing your body of all the hormone blockage it had been going through and getting your regular hormones might help you for a little while before starting the new medicine

His thumb hovered over the button on his screen as he debated his mind on if he should actually go through with the plan

The moment he felt your body shiver as you gave a small whine, his resolve became absolute as he touched the screen to set the timer to go off in 2 hours to turn off the pharmacy's power for a few minutes for the program to change all the prescriptions he had fixed when the power did return

He set his phone aside as the storm quickly approached the city with incredible intensity in the thunder and flashes of lightning through the window

Tim sighed as he held you close while deciding to get some rest before you both would be called down for dinner

He kissed your forehead before making himself comfortable

"I'm gonna try and fix this for you. I'm gonna make you get better. I promise you."

The storm was a bit worse than what was originally reported as it did cause multiple parts of the city to lose power

Tim was grateful for that so he didn't need to worry about it being odd that the pharmacy was the only place that blacked out during the storm

You had gotten your regular reminder that your prescription would be ready to pick up tomorrow afternoon during breakfast

Tim quickly said he would get it for you so you could get some time rest as your body cleared out the current dosage you were taking

You gave him a soft thanks while taking his hand into yours with a squeeze

The next day, Tim was patiently waiting in the somewhat long line as the techs frantically worked on getting the rush taken care of

When it was finally Tim's turn, he gave them your name as the tech searched the computer before going back to get the bag

He took the bag and payed before heading back to the manor

He didn't have to look far to see you laying down in his room with a wet washcloth resting on your forehead

Setting the bag on the counter, he sat on the edge of the bed while asking if you needed him to get you anything

You shook your head while sitting up and reaching out for the medicine and the water bottle that was sitting close to it

Tim watched as you simply took the first dose without even bothering to glance at the papers with all the warnings on it

He smiled as you laid back down before getting into the bed beside you to pull up a movie that you both would watch until you both ended up taking a nap

The first week didn't have much of a change with your body still adjusting to being off the last birth control

The next few weeks after that had been slightly better. You still occasionally got nauseous but you were getting more energy along with regaining your appetite as you slowly got better and stronger

Tim wouldn't forget the huge smile you had when you carried a laundry basket with your clothes up the stairs and into his room on your own after a month of the change

Everyone in the family was happy that you were beginning to feel better and had found a 'birth control' that was 'working' for you

Tim couldn't help but love seeing you become the person that he fell in love with all over again

He began to enjoy having you so full of life again that he felt bad that when your doctor came back from vacation, you would have to change medicines again when she realized the screw up

But he decided to just enjoy spending this time with you for however long your good health would last

About three months into the extended relief he gave you, Tim was stumbling back into his room after a long patrol

He tried being quiet when getting into the bed, but couldn't hold in a small groan when laying on his side

You gave a small noise while opening an eye and smiling at Tim while leaning closer to him to ask if everything was alright

He grinned in return while giving a small nod and saying that it had just been a rough night

You listened to his every word with a tired smile until you leaned into to place your lips to his cheek

He couldn't hold back the smile as he kissed the tip of your nose in return

The soft kisses continued for a few moments before finally joining in a proper kiss

It only lasted a few seconds before pulling away to stare into each other's eyes

You moved your hands to hold onto him while going back in for another kiss

Tim couldn't help returning the affection as he pulled you closer by your waist

He began thinking about ending the whole interaction right there, to let it just be a wholesome moment between lovers

He was still worried about your health and the strain your body had went through for so long

You pulled away from the kiss before he could as one hand went to carefully grasp the hair at the base of his neck

You look into his eyes as your chest rose and fell with each breath you took

"Tim, I... I want you. Please."

Tim felt his heart race at how desperate you sounded for him

It had been so long since you had been so eager to initiate sex, hell it had been such a long time since you wanted to have sex in general

And you looked at him with those eyes he just couldn't say no to

It's not like your body had completely washed out the birth control of your system yet, right? The fertility pills were just to help aid the process for you.

Tim gave a nod as he quickly began pushing his clothes out of the way while helping you do the same

He lips trailed along your upper chest as you gently tugged at his hair with a raspy moan

One of his hands moved down to softly apply pressure to your clit as he carefully circled it under his fingers

He began sucking on the skin of your collarbone as he worked on making sure you would be ready for him

After a minute of playing with you, he slide his fingers down to begin gently fingering you in order to stretch you out

Tim listened to the blissful noises you let out as he added a second finger while using his thumb to continue stimulating your clit

You held onto him tighter as he kept pushing you close to the first orgasm you had in a long time

The soft, long whine you gave when he finally brought you to orgasm was the most beautiful sound that Tim had ever heard

He lifted his head up to watch your expression as you slowly calm down from the high

He didn't even push the interaction further as he simply watched you with a grin as your thighs lightly twitched against his hand

Though you weren't satisfied as you pulled him closer while eagerly finding his lips

He groaned as he lifted your leg up to rest over his as he grinds his cock against your thigh for a couple moments

Tim bit his lip when he eventually lined up to push each inch of his cock in slowly until your hips were flush together

He closed his eyes while sitting still to take a moment to calm down from how good he felt to be inside you again

You both stayed still for a moment as fingers simply glided over skin as a way to reconnect for an intimacy that had long been forgotten

Tim took a deep breath as he rolled his hips to finally begin moving

You both moaned at the friction that came with the movement as Tim wrapped an arm around your lower back

You pull him closer as you begin kissing him again as your fingers get tangled in his hair

He smiled as he continued to gently thrust into you with all the love he had

He panted between each kiss as his nails lightly dug into the skin of your hip

"I love you... so much baby... you feel so good around me..."

Tim took a deep breath to try and calm his body down when he began to get close to his release

He tried holding on for a little longer, but he couldn't help it when you clenched down on him as you pushed back against him

Tim let out a stuttered grunt as he came inside of you with a small shudder, wasting no time to move his fingers back to your clit

He rubbed it with quick, precise motions until your body shuddered while leaning into his hold

The room was filled with gasps for air as you both came down from the bliss

He was about to pull out when you shook your head while keeping a hold on him

"Please, just stay with me. Please, Tim."

He wanted to argue that he needed to get you cleaned up before falling asleep

But the soft pleading of your voice as you already began to drift back off made Tim smile with a nod

He ran his hand along the skin of your leg as he thought to himself about the entire situation

While it wasn't completely likely your body had cleared all the hormone blockers of the birth control out, if you did happen to get pregnant it wouldn't be the worse thing

You both had lived the vows that were always taken when anyone got married

Tim was there through the sickness for you until would be healthy again

You celebrated with him for the best of his life and supported him in the worst times

Besides, the thought of you holding a tiny mixture of him and you as they gave him a toothless smile stirred something in Tim

As he began to fall asleep, he gave you one last kiss while he dreamed for what your future could potentially become one day

The next few weeks had continued to shower you with good health as you helped Alfred around the manor and would go out on dates with Tim to do things around the city

Tim enjoyed seeing you so energetic to do anything with him now

You were even dragging him away from his responsibilities at times to have sex like you would when in high school

It was even better in Tim's opinion since you would spend time with him instead of going out to see anyone else

About a month after your doctor came back from her leave, Tim noticed you getting sick a couple of mornings each week

He saw the concern that radiated off of you after the fourth time you woke up and rushing to the bathroom

He quickly made you an appointment while telling you to rest for the day to get your energy up

"Just in case something is wrong. But I'm sure everything will turn out okay."

The day of your appointment, Tim made sure to bring along your new 'birth control' for the doctor to see just like she always requested that you did

When getting to the examination room, the doctor came in with a smile while greeting you both before asking if everything had been working out okay

You nodded while saying the new medicine had worked very well until a couple of weeks ago

Tim handed her the prescription while saying that he didn't understand why you had gotten the recent side effects so late

The doctor took the medicine into her hand to look it over when her face suddenly lost the calm touch

Panic filled her voice while asking if you had been taking it everyday since last seeing her all those months ago

You both nodded as she quickly said you would have to have a quick test to make sure everything was okay

You became nervous while following her out of the room and returning a few minutes later

Tim held your hand as he did his best to not act like he knew what was happening

It was another 15 minutes until the doctor came back in with a guarded expression as she sat down in front of you

She stumbled over her words while saying that there had been a glitch a few months back in the system of the pharmacy you used that changed around people's meds

She cleared her throat before saying you were one of the people effected and you had been taking a extremely strong fertility enhancer

You tightened your grip on Tim's hand as you begin to ask her for answers that Tim already knew

She looked down as she gave the news that you were about 3 weeks pregnant

You began fidgeting around as you looked at Tim with terrified eyes

He quickly pulled you into a firm hug as you quickly got told your options and how soon you would need to make a decision

You began to cry at all the sudden information, so Tim quickly said you both were leaving so you could calm down to think about this rationally

The ride back was quick as Tim helped you get out of the car to head to his room so you could be alone to think for awhile

Bruce and Alfred almost stopped to ask you what was wrong, but a quick look from Tim made them wait until he was alone to tell them the news

He helped get you to the bed and settled you down while cupping your cheek so you would look into his eyes

"I need you to think about what you want to about this. It needs to be the choice that you want, and you'll need some time to think about it. And I will be with you every step of the way with whatever you choose."

Tim placed a soft kiss to your forehead before getting up and walking out the door

He had a faint smile as he closed the door before heading downstairs

He knew what he was doing by leaving you alone in his room to think

He had you surrounded by memories of your connection with him while you were emotional for the seriousness of the choice you would make

As he got back downstairs, he informed Bruce and Alfred of the situation you were in because of the 'glitch' at the pharmacy

They both remain silent for a moment until asking what was going to happen

Tim said he was giving you time to think about what you wanted to do with the baby

The older men nodded in understanding while saying that they would help however they could for you and him

He waited for you in the kitchen while baking some of your favorite cookies to make you feel better after deciding on the correct path to go down

It was a little over 2 hours until you finally came walking down from his room

He saw the tear stains on your cheeks as you stared at him as you seemed to shrink into yourself

You couldn't even look up from the floor as softly spoke to him

"I don't want to get rid of it. The idea of it just... it feels wrong to think about."

Tim slowly went over to hold you to his chest while saying that he understood and would help you begin getting things taken care of

He lead you over to the cookies before telling you that the rest of the family would help you out in any way that you would need

He rested his head against yours as you hesitantly began to eat a couple as he had a miniature smirk on his face

The next few weeks, you had continued to occasionally get sick due to the rise in your hormones, but you were happy about the prospect of having a baby

But Tim helped make sure you ate enough for you and the baby so you would be healthy enough

He had bought multiple books to learn how to help you during the pregnancy and for the first year of the baby's life

Even made sure you had regular doctors appointments to make sure the baby's development was on the right track

He even made sure that you got plenty of photos to show the development to put in a scrapbook for you child when they were older

Currently you both were out shopping for new maternity clothes and a couple things for the baby

Tim watched you look through a rack of maternity shirts as you casual drank a smoothie that you had been craving that whole morning

After you had picked out a few outfits that you liked, the sound of your name being called caught the attention of both of you

Tim saw a couple of people you had been friends with come up to you with surprised expression

They looked at the cart Tim was pushing to see the clothes, a few blankets, and a small stuffed animal

You started a small conversation with them as they congratulated you while saying that you looked so much healthier than in school

You thanked them while smiling over at Tim and saying you both were very excited and that he was learning everything he could to help you to his best ability

He gave a bashful grin to the praise from you while giving a small shrug

Your friends eventually said goodbye before going off to finish their shopping

Tim grinned while still following you around the store as you grabbed a few more items until finally going to check out

You both watched the cashier carefully bag the items while telling you both to have a nice day

Tim put the bags into the car after he made sure you were settled into the passenger seat

After he got into the driver's seat, he took your hand to press a soft kiss to the knuckles

You smiled at him while leaning your head back before softly asking if he would drive to go get fries from a specific restaurant on the other side of town

Tim smiled as he kissed your knuckles again before starting the engine

"Honey, everything I do is to give you the best that you deserve. Why would I stop doing that now?"

[suzukiblu]

Thank-you sentences for Drakel behind the cut; "a pocketful of Kons". (( chrono || non-chrono ))

Bruce turns down a side hall and heads for the metal door at the end of it. He still hasn’t said a word since they got here aside from the comment about codenames, and continues in the fine Bat-tradition of not telling them a single friggin’ thing they might need to know as he taps two fingers against the keypad next to the door. It slides open silent and smooth, and Tim tries not to wince as Stud keeps chattering excitedly at Cat and Star and Red while flitting back and forth between Star and Red, Cat still lounging casually in his arms and all three of them seeming entertained by him. 

Tim really, really wishes he understood what the hell was going on there. 

“What the hell,” a baffled-sounding voice says from the other side of the doors, and a Pocket squeaks in surprise. Tim can’t see past Bruce filling up the doorway, but the voice sounded like Green Arrow’s. 

“Bats, please explain why you have a Superman Pocket now,” Green Lantern’s voice says, and Stud startles and looks through the doorway himself, given he’s got a better vantage point than Tim does. “Which literally no one is surprised that you do, for the record, just that it took this long.” 

“They’re not mine,” Bruce replies matter-of-factly as he sweeps through the door, and Tim can finally see past him. The room ahead looks like a meeting room, and it’s mostly dominated by the large circular table in the center of it where Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and the Flash are all sitting with their respective Pockets. “Where’s Wonder Woman? I need to speak with her. The rest of you too.” 

“No idea,” Lantern answers with a matter-of-fact shrug, his Saffie peering curiously at Stud from his shoulder and chittering inquisitively. “She was here this morning, but some friend of hers called and needed her for something in Gateway, so she switched off monitor duty with Hawkwoman and headed back planetside.” 

“I think Canary said something about her calling something in earlier?” Arrow says, scratching at his jaw as he glances towards his Singsong, who’s leaning forward curiously too and making melodic little crooning noises at Stud. “But she didn’t talk to her herself and we were more concerned with digging through the news on that whole bizarre mess in Metropolis, so I don’t actually know what–oh, okay, so you brought up half the belfry today, huh.” 

“Well, only the half of us,” Dick says with a grin, Flash appearing in front of him in an electric rush and the two of them knocking fists lightly in greeting as Flash’s Charger chirps a greeting of her own and peers up assessingly at Stud. Stud jumps like he was startled by the suddenness of Flash’s appearance–which, also weird, Tim thinks, repressing a frown again. Flash can’t have been going that fast outside a combat or crisis situation that Stud’s own superspeed wouldn’t clock him. Though in retrospect . . . 

Does Stud actually have Superman’s powerset? He’s been flying, obviously, and he’s clearly more than strong enough to carry another Pocket around without even noticing their weight, but that’s not actually all that much, in terms of superpowers. Flight and enhanced strength are pretty basic ones, in fact, and Stud hasn’t even shown particularly impressive levels of either. 

Shapeshifting is less basic, but whether Stud has that or not is a whole different question anyway. 

Tim . . . probably should not have assumed that Stud would have Superman’s powerset, come to think. Or definitely should not have assumed Stud would have Superman’s powerset, more like. 

“Is the guy yours, man?” Flash asks skeptically, and Dick snorts. 

“Yeah, no, Red’s still annoyed over Star popping up, don’t think she’d forgive me getting a third Pocket,” he says wryly. “Robin woke up to him about six and a half hours ago.” 

Flash–pauses. Pauses for what is a very noticeable length of time, coming from a speedster. So do Green Arrow and Green Lantern. 

“That is a whole-ass adult man,” Flash says frankly, visibly raising an eyebrow even behind his cowl, and Stud looks briefly conflicted but then just scowls at him. “So, respectfully: what the hell?” 

“Yeah, we’re still figuring that out,” Dick says with a sigh and a shrug. Charger twitters up at Stud, who startles again and then abruptly abandons Cat on his shoulder and zips back behind Tim and–hides, again, for lack of a better word, same as he did when she and Star and Red were sitting down at the table and expecting him to come over and sit with them. Given that Charger is just as pretty as–well, not Star, because Starfire is in a whole league of her own, frankly–but is at least as pretty as Cat and Red, it’s still not a reaction Tim actually understands. 

Though there’s a lot of things about Stud that Tim doesn’t understand so far, obviously. 

[artbyblastweave]

Finished up Batman Beyond today. As much as I liked it, one thing that did jump out at me over the course of the show was that Dana Tan was basically an unreconstructed instance of "The Superhero's Girlfriend-" a love interest who's present in the narrative mainly to create tension between the demands of the superhero lifestyle and the loved one who's in the dark, but who has very little agency or role in the story beyond that, indeed, very little else you can have them do if you want to preserve that. The episode in which I believe she got the most focus, she spent most of it running for her life from a Rat Guy through the sewers.

There's a post about Spider-Man doing the rounds, which posits that part of why Mary Jane won out over Spidey's other long-term love interests was that because she wasn't originally intended to win, she had room to develop traits and dynamics beyond "superhero's put-upon girlfriend-"in fact, she had to, in order to present a plausible temptation away from whoever Spidey was quote-unquote "supposed" to be dating. I'm not a comprehensive Spidey reader, so I'm not going to go to the mattress for that read until I've read some more- but I do think there's some meat to that dynamic in general because of this show. Melanie Walker only shows up in three episodes and already she's got a ridiculously tangled family dynamic thrown into the mix, torn loyalties, the need to keep her head above water financially no matter what other goals she has, a cool hoverboard. Max Gibson's got an actual give-and-take back-and-forth with Terry and Bruce, the added interesting complication that she's trying to prybar her way even further into the game than either of them want her to but it's not like they have a way to make her leave. Dana is.... pissed that Terry is spending so much time with Mr. Wayne. Again. I mean, she's got a job to do, she clocks in at the start of each episode and does it.

This sort of harkens back to Invincible, where a major tenet of the first quarter of the book was that for logistical and ethical reasons, a superhero's dating pool is realistically limited to other players of the game- other people deep enough in the cape lifestyle that they can keep up and relate. Otherwise, your partner is going to spend most of the relationship stuck on the outside looking in, and even if they're nominally okay with the situation it's going to suck. Arguably, Amber in the comic fell into the pit of visibly existing mainly to demonstrate this, reproducing the dynamic they were critiquing. The show did a lot of legwork trying to make her more of an actively agentic character, but when the entire point is that a character in her position would have extremely limited agency there's only so much you can do to patch that. Then Eve rolls in, and it turns out you can do the exact same relationship beats about chronic unavailability, lack of communication and the like, but with a partner who's equally capable of showing up to all the big set piece fights and gorily eviscerating people in her own unique ways- a character who's consistently around in the story for reasons other than that she's dating the hero. You don't have to pick!

This got longer than I thought it was going to be. I do want to round out by saying that this sort of aligns neatly with something else that I've noticed- namely that a lot of post-10s cartoons also appear to have noticed this, and either hang back from biting off more than they can chew by committing to a romance subplot for their leads, or if there is a romance subplot they really aggressively commit to making sure the love interest approaches deuteragonist status in terms of airtime and agency. Hell, Steven Universe left the exact status of Steven and Connie's relationship ambiguous, and it still had a lot to say about the civilian girlfriend freezeout trope. Again- date other players!

[spider-jaysart]

Okay soooo, first time I'm doing something like this, but I wanna introduce a fave oc of mines today that I've been working on for a longtime now :)

Her name is Nadja Al Ghul-Wayne-Kent and she's a Damijon kid

(Click for better quality)

@camo-wolf @paladin-of-nerd-fandom65

The name Nadja means "hope" in Arabic. My very dear friend @theredheaded-stuff was the one who helped me pick it. And her hero name is Super Canyon, which is inspired by the Canyon Wren bird

(More under the cut)

(Edited some stuff on this post now btw)

Backstory:

After being inspired by the story of how Kon was created, a secret group of no good scientists, who just love causing chaos with many of their inventions, decided one day to create a mixed clone of both Damian and Jon, thinking they can do better than Lex did, so they collected both of the boys DNA's after one of their recent battles in public and got to work. Once their experiment was supposed to be done, they saw that their machine had actually created a baby girl instead of a grown, powerful clone like they had wanted, so they were ready to dispose of her as a failed subject, but were suddenly stopped just on time by Damian and Jon who broke into the place and kicked their butts after finding out that a recently committed crime they were investigating was caused by them. When they were done, the boys found Nadja and were surprised to find out she's a clone related to them both. They decided to take her with them and made her their daughter to raise together after that.

Personality:

She's helpful, stubborn, is as intelligent as Damian is, friendly but also tough when she needs to be, observant, sometimes a little too honest about things but doesn't always mean it as rude, courageous (a trait that can be pretty helpful sometimes, but also get her into really big trouble during dangerous situations too), a prankster, and very protective of others, especially her loved ones

Abilities and skills:

She has the usual Kryptonian abilities, which are flying, super strength, superhearing, superspeed, superbreath, ice breath, invulnerablity, x-ray vision, and laser vision that's purple instead of the usual red (because Lois has purple eyes, so it's something unique that was passed onto her that way). Sometimes they don't always work though and can accidentally get out of hand too since she's still growing and learning, but Jon aways tries his best to help her get better at using and controlling them. Nadja also uses many concentrating tips from Damian too for improvement, like meditating for example and other things like that, and he helps her practice them

And because she's half Kryptonian, she also has a couple of unlocked special abilities of her own too, which is invisiblity, the ability to phase through walls and objects, plus the power to also transfer the heat of her laser vision into the palm of her hands to burn who or whatever she touches and she can also let it absorb her whole body too if she wants, which makes her even more untouchable and at the same time lets her release a strong fiery blast around herself onto enemies or incoming threats (her body glows completely purple whenever she does this and if it's just her hands, the same happens to them too). Nadja hasn't been able to properly master these special powers yet though, only one of them, which is the invisiblity one

For skills, thanks to teachings from Damian, plus Talia whenever she visits her, Nadja knows how to use a sword and fight well in combat in case her powers aren't working the way she urgently needs them to during patrols and missions

Random facts:

She calls Damian Baba and Jon Dad.

She calls Clark "Grampops" and Bruce "Grampbats". For Talia, she calls her "Grandmother" and for Lois, she calls her "Grandmama".

Her best friend is her same age Cousin Dick II, the Son of her much older Cousin Jake Grayson and his Wife Meredith Robinson. In the Batfamily (besides Damian), she's close with all her Aunt and Uncles. And for the Al Ghul's, she also gets excited whenever she visits Talia and Ra's. And while she definitely also gets along a lot with her other relatives who are in the Superfamily, the person she's most closest to there (besides Jon ofc) is Kon, due to them both being created as clones meant for evil but turned out good instead, which got them to bond even more as Uncle and Niece.

Her voice sounds like Clementine's from Telltales the walking dead games, but specifically the version of it from season 2 for the tween age she's in right now.

She has messy hair like Jon when she lets it loose. Jon is the one who always has to brush her hair whenever it gets tangled up, since the steel strength of it is just too difficult for Damian to actually handle himself.

Nadja laughs at Damian's jokes all the time since she gets his dark humor and he loves that. They always laugh a lot about it together but when Jon's around, they're Iike "You wouldn't get it" and he gets all offended.

Jon passed his love for noodles onto Najda and Damian's usually like "That's not healthy!!" And tries cooking her vegetarian meals more often or healthy ones that Talia would used to make him back when he was a kid, just so that Najda will eat real food lol. Najda also really loves the meals that comes from Damian's culture too and gets happy whenever he makes them for dinner.

For nicknames, Jon will sometimes call her "Sweetpea", "Sugar cookie", and "Tootsie pops", while Damian calls her "Habibti", "Thamin" (meaning "precious" in Arabic), and "Galbi" (which means "my heart" in Arabic)

Damian matches his outfits with Nadja all the time just like Talia would always used to do with him when he was a little kid. He does this with Jon included too and they take pictures together.

When making her hero suit, Damian was the one who helped Nadja out in drawing the designs and brainstormed ideas with her. When she had finally found one she liked and was ready to make it, Damian and Jon could've helped her sew it and everything, but they didn't have many materials that she could use or a sewing machine either, only a regular sewing kit that they use to fix up their own suits whenever they get damaged, so they let her make it with Ma's help instead at her place when they visit her and Pa again, since she actually owned a machine and also had a sewing room filled with many useful materials. When asked, Ma didn't mind letting Nadja use her stuff at all and was instead delighted about it since it would just give them the chance to spend time with eachother while doing one of her favorite hobbies together.

And next time, while having their usual Mother and Son days out together, Talia helped Damian pick out the sarong skirt for Nadja while hanging around stores, since they thought it would be nice for her to have one. Jon was the one who bought Nadja the red sneakers while shopping together with Kathy, since it reminded him of Kathy's old purple, rainbow ones, but with a twist of red thrown onto it, which also reminded him a lot of his favorite old ones that he used to always wear as a kid too. Dick and Cyborg helped her insert digital tech into her cuffs, which lets out hologram screens that let her know whenever she's over using her powers since she's still mastering them and it does plenty of other useful things for her too.

Najda was also given a mask to go with her suit at first too since she thinks it's annoying to wear glasses in her regular life everyday, but then it got lost during a fight and some villains saw her face, so she was still forced to go with the glasses route in the end anyways.

As adults, Jon's a scientist and Damian's a veterinarian. Najda likes visiting both of her Dads at their day jobs after school and doing her homework there while they work. She always promises to behave and not get in the way and if she has no work to do, she'll help them out too, which they appreciate. She also loves watching what they do and let's them happily explain their favorite stuff about the job to her. She knows a lot about taking care of animals and science because of this.

Nadja loves music and making it too. She even thinks about playing rock music for a living when she grows up. Damian and Jon support her in this and buy her the instruments she needs and they also listen to her songs when she wants to show it off to them. Because of them being in a band themselves back when they were kids, Damian, Jon, Chris, and Jake give her lessons sometimes on how to better play her instruments.

Civilians and especially interviewers always question about how they had Nadja and just assume that she's adopted or assume that just because she looks more like Damian, she's probably from a secret ex girlfriend he had before being with Jon. The last one annoys both Damian and Jon so much, especially Jon since Nadja is actually his kid too and he gets jealous at the thought of the ridiculous idea. Both him and Damian hate these rumors and just want everyone to mind their own business.

[duskdog]

Wondering, vaguely, if Steph's age had any influence on how Bruce viewed/interacted with her.

She was 15 when he met her, and would have been 16-extremely-close-to-17 (I am personally a "Steph was 17" truther because the timeline doesn't actually work otherwise; I would call the 16 an error, but it's what's stated in canon, so...) when she became Robin and died. That's significantly different than Dick and Damian, who came to Bruce quite young, and even Tim and Jason, who were a little older but still not as old as Steph when they first came under Bruce's wing. (I think it's important to remember that, until adulthood, even just a couple of years can make an enormous difference in development and how a child views/interacts with adults. 16 can potentially be very different than 13.)

I imagine there must be a difference between working with a Robin who is literally a child, and one who's very nearly an adult. Particularly Steph, who had been parentified from a fairly young age and very likely felt much older than her actual years at times.

Honestly, we'll probably never know for sure because their time together as Batman and Robin was so short... and because of the other, bigger factors that influenced their relationship: namely the fact that she was disposable to him as Robin (not as in "he was okay with her dying", but as in "he was only using her as Robin to achieve a goal and wasn't at all concerned with her feelings or well-being in that respect"). And of course, her gender, because that would also have influenced how they interacted, regardless of whether either of them wanted it to or not.

More interestingly, though, is the method by which Steph became Robin. She and Tim were the only "proactive" Robins -- the ones who came to Bruce with knowledge/intent, rather than being children he chose to take in and eventually mentor (and Damian, who was raised for the mantle, but from Bruce's perspective just sort of got dropped on his doorstep). And Steph is the only Robin who had any experience operating as a vigilante prior to her time as Robin. Even before she became Spoiler, she already had knowledge and understanding of the world of masks and capes thanks to her father's shenanigans.

We know that Bruce is very stubborn and often single-minded, himself. Love him or hate him, I don't think many people would deny that he very much always expects to be the smartest and most capable person in the room. (After all, he often is.) He frequently clashes with his peers, and often refuses outside help, particularly when it comes to his own "territory".

The Robins have historically been different, because they're his. He inherently has a position of power over them due to their ages and his position as guardian/mentor/teacher. (Please note that I don't intend "position of power" to be negative in this case -- I intend it the same way that I'd say any parent or teacher is in a position of power over a child under their care.) He's the one in charge. He's the one doing the training. He's the one supplying the gear. And they're young. Psychologically, this is a very different dynamic than Batman interacting with, say, Green Arrow (using them as parallels because they are both normal human "just trained our bodies and minds to do amazing shit" heroes).

But Steph comes into this mantle as very-nearly a grown woman -- someone who has cared for her mother like a parent at times, someone who has taken responsibility for her father's crimes onto herself, someone who has had an actual literal baby and had to make the extremely adult choice about what would be best for that baby and for herself. She has never depended on Bruce Wayne for food or shelter or affection. She has never depended on him for training (he did train her for a while, and she was happy about it, but remember -- he approached her -- and when he ghosted her, she actively sought out training elsewhere, so she knows he's clearly not the only game in town). She started as Spoiler with nothing but her own homemade costume and gear she cobbled together, and she continued as Spoiler on her own in defiance of him. He definitely had power over her in a way -- that is, influencing how other Gotham vigilantes thought of her and treated her, to the point of trying to directly forbid Cass from interacting with her -- but not in the way of a father over a daughter, or an adult over a child, or even a hero over a sidekick (until she became Robin). Steph made Spoiler all by herself. And she stayed Spoiler mostly by herself, without much support (what support she did get was shaky and/or didn't last). And she came to Bruce and put herself forward as Robin, as a nearly-17-year-old who was already psychologically an adult in at least some ways.

That has to have a real impact on how they would interact. Steph is frequently described as stubborn and defiant as Robin, but she's operating as sort-of an adult with her own independence and agency in a way that the other Robins were not when they first became Robin. Meanwhile, Bruce is used to dealing with new Robins as children/fledglings. The initial Batman-and-Robin-as-partners growing pains for each of the other three Robins up until that point would have had a very, very different tone than that same growing pains period for Bruce and Steph.

Which is sort of a shame, because I think they would have eventually realized that they have a lot in common. And that even some of their differences could have actually been good for their partnership. (For instance, when Steph realized she had been chattering in his ear all night back during her first mentorship and was mortified, and Bruce basically told her it's fine, keep talking, he sort of liked it? I think he actually meant that.)

[trexiejan]

My opinion : Babs was deaged to be with Dick.

Okay so I've seen so many dickbabs shippers try to deny that Barbara was deaged to fit Dick for the purpose of defending dickbabs or make them look better i guess. They keep saying that wasn't the reason why she was deaged. they always point to the 1st time she got deaged.

like why are they so upset when they see people say that. I wonder if they care more about the ship than barbara as an individual character.

cuz if they truly liked Barbara separately from Dickbabs maybe all the anti-dickbabs comments wouldn't be an issue for them. 🤷‍♀️

anyway i'm going to explain why it's true.

here's the thing :

Barbara was deaged more than once.

Crisis on Infinite Earths wasn't the only time she was deaged, she got deaged again in other books/continuites.

So The real question is where did they deage her to be the same age as Dick to make them work not when was she first deaged. (we all know it's always in dickbabs comics where she's written as the same age as dick, i wonder why)

The 1st time she was deaged was in Crisis on Infinite Earths, it was so Jim could be younger but they only decreased her age slightly because she's still written as older than Dick, here is a panel from Secret Origins #20 that was published in 1986 exactly 1 year after she was deaged in Crisis on infinite earths (1985) she said Dick is too young for her and that batman is always the one on her mind. So Dickbabs during this time still has a big age gap so they're still unable to work.

The 2nd time or 3rd time she was deaged is in dickbabs comics where she was finally made the same age as Dick so dickbabs can finally work as romantic pairing. 

Instead of being older she's now written as a part of Dick's generation.

From a congresswoman to someone who went to highschool prom with Dick.

Even Tom Taylor wrote them as childhood sweethearts so he can portray them as soulmates in his comics. a huge wtf moment for me because Babs wasn't originally this young when she first met Dick 😭

pls She had a PHD, has been working as a librarian and congresswoman when dick was still a young boy in gotham.

Barbara is now written as a part of his generation and his one true love since day 1. (from an independent congresswoman to Dick's childhood sweetheart and girlfriend who revolves around him)

Before Dickbabs couldn't work because of their age gap but now they can work. thanks to dickbabs comics deaging barbara again and this time for the sole purpose of reducing Babs into Dick's love interest.

So Just because she wasn't deaged to be with Dick in her 1st deaging doesn't mean she wasn't deaged to be with Dick in her 2nd or 3rd deaging 🙃

Dickbabs shippers can deny it all they want but at the end of the day dickbabs wouldn't have worked out if she wasn't deaged to be the same age as dick.

and even if they're right, let's say for the sake of their argument they're right that babs wasn't deaged to be with dick, it still doesn't change the fact that dickbabs is weird.

Regardless if Babs was deaged to be with Dick or not, It's still weird to see Dick being put in a relationship with a woman who was originally a congresswoman when he was still in highschool.  

It's like deaging Batman into a teenager (like let's say it's because they want to make Bruce appealing to teenagers) but years later they decided to give him a love interest who is also a teenager as part of the new batman stories.

So even though his deaging has nothing to do with women or shipping in the first place, it's still weird to suddenly see Batman in a relationship with women who are a part of dick's generation knowing he was originally much older than them.

Like Bruce/Raven or Bruce/Starfire suddenly becoming a thing 🤢 No amount of deaging would be able to justify those pairings.

The same happened to Barbara she was originally a part of Batman and Superman's generation.

for goodness sake she dated Superman!!!! She was so much older than Dick.

Also remember when Dickbabs was originally a pedo-like ship and it was so controversial and hated the same way Brucebabs was hated today? Because Barbara the adult woman is kissing minor grayson but now she's fully making out and having sex with minor grayson in dickbabs comics.

The reason why Dickbabs fans don't want people talking about this is because they care more about making dickbabs look good than barbara's independence. They don't care that Barbara lost her independence, her phd, her solo careers, her librarian and congresswoman job because of dickbabs shipping.

They don't view Barbara as a character seperate from dick. Barbara is trapped in this relationship because of people like them. They don't fight for Barbara's independence. The only thing they want from her is to be the girlfriend of Dick and nothing else. It is so hard for them to let Barbara Gordon be independent and not just “Nightwings girlfriend."

Barbara's real enemy is the dickbabs ship. Before, she is able to stand on her own, but now she's nothing more than just a love interest who can't live without dick and too dependent on him and his solo books to exist.

DC really needs to get Barbara some actual character building that doesn't involve Nightwing whatsoever but it's hard to do that when she won't even stop chasing Dick nonstop like a dog in his solo books and thinking about him 24/7 because of writers like tom taylor who is always busy making babs' entire personality all about dick than writing solo babs stories.

Dickbabs is unnecessary and disservice to her character, it does nothing for her independence. She is forever demoted to Dick's love interest unless they free her from this ship.

poor babs she deserves better than people who only want to associate her with dick 24/7.

[starsurfacemortalkombat]

Gala Problems - CG Selina Kyle w/ Regressor Bruce Wayne

TW: Really light cursing (Crap)

I don't know if it's triggering, but there's talk of diet restrictions? Because Batman's Batman, and his body needs to be in top condition, yada yada. So I'll put it in here incase that makes anyone iffy.

Link to Fic: Gala Problems

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

None of the Wayne's truly liked going to Gala's.

They were loud, crowded. Fancy Gala's meant fancy (or restrictive, as Damian claimed) suits. Fake smiles, too many people touching, and the food way always a hit or miss.

Fortunately for them, Bruce really needed only one plus one when he got invited to an event.

Unfortunally for Bruce, he still had to go.

Luckily, however, this time his plus one was his girlfriend, Selina. They had been going steady, thankfully. A few hiccups here or there, but nothing big or terrible. And for once in a long while, the Dark Knight felt more peaceful than he had in a small while.

Still, Bruce zoned out as some rich prick rambled about . . . something- He wasn't actually paying attention. He knew he should, especially if it was Wayne Enterprise related

. . . But he wanted to go home.

He had been at this event for almost four hours! His usual nice suit no longer felt as nice anymore. He wanted something comfy. The food was eh, but he kinda wanted something else? Like apple slices!

. . . Crap, was he regressing? And at a Gala of all places?! 

No, no, he was fine. Just peachy! 

Sure he felt a bit fuzzy, and he'd love nothing more than to go home and watch Gray Ghost. Maybe he could tell Alfred about how yucky some of the food here was? . . . Uh, how unappetizing some of the food was.

Suddenly the man laughed, playfully hitting Bruce's shoulder, "Those were the days, huh? Well, I need to see some potential clients. I'll see you around, Bruce!"

Bruce gave a nod and a wave as the man walked off. He would have said bye back . . . But he wasn't even fully sure what they spoke about.

"He took forever," Selina scoffed, eyeing her boyfriend. ". . . You look out of it."

"Do I?" Bruce tried to cover it up with a smile. "Well it has been a long night-"

"Right, of course, long night," Selina rolled her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I have no clue what you mean," Bruce tried to brush her off. "Did you see the dessert table? I think Jason would have enjoyed it . . . Don't give me that look."

Bruce didn't like the look Selina gave him, or how she crossed her arms. It made him feel small, tiny. Clearly she didn't believe him. And clearly, she was waiting for him to speak about what was wrong. 

But Bruce was never a man to voice many things. So he also crossed his arms in reply, and the two glared at each other.

"Are you going to stay silent all night?" Selina sighed, putting a hand on her hip. "Or are you going to tell me what's going on? Because somethings clearly wrong, Darling."

. . . . Dirty cheap move, sweet nicknames.

". . . Wanna go home, Kitty," Bruce whispered, looking at the ground.

He didn't like calling Selina 'normal' caregiver nicknames when he was small, even if both her and Alfred insisted any nickname was normal. It felt . . . wrong, calling her 'Mama' or 'Mommy'. That title slipped away long ago. And while Selina might have adored the nicknames themselves, she didn't like how iffy Bruce got saying them.

Plus, Kitty was cuter anyways.

Selina's eyes widened, "Oh Baby . . ." She grabbed his hands, looking around. There were still many people, although none that came to bother them, yet.

Still, publicity was key.

And leaving an event before it ended wouldn't look the best . . .

"Do you think we can stay for another ten minutes?" Selina asked quietly, gently squeezing his hands. "Then we can scramble away from this silly party, okay?"

Bruce grimaced, he hated being small in public. He would always be afraid that someone, anyone, would pick up on the fact that he regressed.

He rarely ever regressed in public. Maybe once or twice, where he quickly ran home.

He was Batman, the Dark Knight himself. . . Who might have regressed the moment he walked into the Batcave after a bad night- But that only happened three times! 

But right now, he was Brucie Wayne. And if the press found out that he used age regression? 

. . . He didn't want to think of those headlines.

Still, he reluctantly nodded, ". . . O'kay."

Selina smiled, "Good boy. I know, I wanna go home too. But in about ten minutes we'll hit the four hour mark and then we can blow this joint."

But ten minutes seemed like so long! Bruce held back the want to stomp his foot and huff. They were in public after all, he couldn't be too pouty, yet.

Selina grabbed his arm, leading him towards the tables filled with food. Some of it was . . . there. Not healthy enough for Bruce's taste. Or perhaps Alfred just spoiled him with his cooking.

Still, there was the dessert table, which Selina made a b-line to.

"Look at all these sweets!" she said in a semi hushed tone. "Which ones should we try before we go? Hmm, such a tough decision, don't you think? I don't know which to choose!"

Selina was amazing at distraction tactics.

Bruce looked at all the tiny, bite sized cakes and finger foods. Normally he didn't tread near this kind of table. But tonight was an exception, he guessed.

He glanced around, just to make sure no one was watching or two close by, before smiling widely.

"Everything!" he whispered excitedly.

"Everything?" Selina gave a quiet laugh. "Someone's going to get a tummy ache if they eat all of that. How about we only choose a few?"

Bruce pouted, but looked again at all the yummy snacks. None of them compared to Alfie's snacks, but it all did look good. Better than the boring foods at the other tables.

He pointed to a mini cupcake, looking at Selina, almost for permission.

"Good pick, looks tasty," Selina smiled, handing Bruce the treat.

Bruce happily took the cupcake, immanently putting half in his mouth. Selina chuckled slightly at the scene. She wanted nothing more than to ruffle his hair, but they were still at the Gala, and Bruce needed to look presentable.

"Thank yew, Kitty," he managed through the mouthful.

Alfred would have a field day if he saw that, talking with his mouth full.

"You're very welcome darling," Selina smiled. She reached out and wiped the bit of frosting that got on his face. "Such a messy boy."

She side eyed as another man walked over, probably one of Bruce's many bushiness partners. He had a smile on his face . . . Selina didn't quite like it.

Bruce quickly shoved the reach of the mini cupcake in his mouth, quickly wiping his hands with a nearby napkin. He was really hoping no more social interactions tonight. He knew they should have left earlier!

"Bruce! There you are, I was hoping to catch you tonight!" the man laughed, holding out his hand for a handshake. "I assume you caught my email?"

Alfred had warned Bruce about several businessmen at the Gala tonight. If Bruce had anything to go by the silly little name tag on his suit, this was the one that was the most persistent. Always trying to get some kind of 'partnership' from Wayne Enterprises. Which really just mean he wanted to use Bruce for his money. He thought Tim had dealt with him, the partnership didn't look very promising.

Selina noticed as Bruce tensed, almost glaring at her. She gave a sheepish smile, putting a hand on his back, gently running her hand up and down. She hoped it would soothe him a bit . . . Which it did.

"Ah, yes of course," Bruce nodded, giving the man the best handshake he could muster up. "Caught me at a poor time, I was just about to head back to the manor."

"Oh?" the man raised an eyebrow. "I was hoping we could have a conversation actually-"

"Unfortunately, as my boyfriend said, he's had quite a long week, and he's just exhausted. We were just about to leave," Selina stepped in,

"But-!"

Selina's glare made him shut up,

"Well- That's a shame," the business man quickly chuckled, seeming now a bit nervous. "Are you sure your alright there, Mr. Wayne? I mean, you usually spend a bit more time partying. Barely seen you with any drinks tonight!"

Bruce gave an annoyed smile. He didn't want to deal with people right now.

He wanted to go home, curl up in a nice blanket, and maybe have Kitty play with his hair. He could practically feel himself slipping!

"Fine," he mustered out. "Just tired."

Before the man could speak again, Selina grabbed Bruce's arm, giving another smile, "Well, we have to get going now. Have a good day."

Selina didn't care to look at the businessman's face as she dragged Bruce away and out of the building. She didn't bother to stop for anyone that tried to grab their attention, b-lining to the car.

". . . That was rude," Bruce pouted as they stopped in front of it, Selina already grabbing his keys. "Leavin' like that . ."

Selina huffed, "That man was insufferable. And you were in distress! We need to get you home, poor thing."

Bruce pouted a bit more, he didn't like leaving things unfinished. Especially when it came to his business . . .

But Selina's concerned tone and the little petname at the end made him decide it was better to just not argue.

. . . Another dirty cheap trick.

Selina carefully helped Bruce get into the passenger side, buckling him in, ". . . How about we get some McDonalds for the ride home?"

Normally Bruce was so strict about his diet, which made sense really. When competing against men like Superman or the Flash, who basically had super genetics, diet was important to being Batman.

Even little Bruce was a bit strict about what he ate, although a little less so. He gravitated towards things like fruit, which there was nothing wrong about that, but wouldn't turn down Alfred's cookies . . . or ten.

Still, Selina was sure he could coax him.

Bruce let out a quite hum, thinking. McDonald's sounded great right now. He'd probably regret it later, but right now? That didn't matter one bit! Big Bruce's problem after all!

". . . Can we get a toy too?" he asked quietly as Selina got into the car.

Selina smiled, turning on the car and starting to drive, "What if we go to Bat Burger instead? You could get a Batmite! Some Robin nuggets, a toy, some fries. How does that sound?"

Bruce seemed excited by the idea. Normally, Bruce didn't care much about the whole Bat Burger thing. Sure it was . . . there.

But his kids liked it. And more importantly, little Bruce liked it.

He fiddled with the cuffs on his suit, ".  . . Can we get some apple slices too? Please?"

"Of course, Handsome. We can get you some apple slices too, I bet they're very yummy, aren't they? Anything else you want?" Selina asked. "Chocolate milk? Apple juice?"

Bruce thought about it, shaking his head, "No thank you."

". . . I'll get you an apple juice," Selina promised, earning a small huff.

She pulled into the drive thru, coming to a stop. Luckily, there was almost no one in line, and they got their order done quickly, ordering something for herself too.

Selina handed the happy meal to Bruce, setting her own food on his lap, driving back to the manor.

. . . But he didn't open it. Just letting it sit on his lap.

"Something wrong, Kit?" Selina frowned.

". . . Alfie says it's not proper to eat on the car ride home," Bruce quietly insisted. "Wait till we get home. Eat at the table."

Selina had to suppress a small laugh at his insistence.

She gave a soft smile, "I doubt one time would be such a crime. Besides, Alfred isn't here right now. Kitty will take full responsibility if Alfred gets all huffy about it. So there's no need to worry, okay?"

Bruce shifted slightly in his seat, looking a bit upset. He didn't have many rules when he was small . . . He wasn't even sure if no eating in the car was a rule for when he was regressed. it was a rule when he was a kid, and none of his kids were encouraged to do so either.

Sure, Alfred never lectured him or got too upset with little Bruce. Mostly because Bruce couldn't handle certain tones when tiny. But he was rarely bad on purpose . . . Unless it was a bad regression night- But Alfred never got upset at those either! In fact he tried very hard to make sure he didn't snap at Bruce on those nights, no matter how stubborn or fussy the Dark Knight was.

"I won't tell," Selina promised. "No Alfie, or Clark, no anyone else, I promise. It'll be our little secret, okay?"

". . . Pinky promise?" he asked quietly.

Selina coulnd't help but smile more at Bruce's question. Pinky promise? he was too cute sometimes.

It was nice, seeing him act more like this. She hadn't been Bruce's caregiver for very long. Technically that role mostly applied to Alfred. But Bruce's regression . . . Well, she was glad he was more worried about pinky promises and being naughty than helping her baby stop spiraling.

It saddened her, really. 

She stuck out her pinky, "Pinky promise. And once we get back, I'll help you put on your comfy clothes, and then we can have a special night just for you. I'm sure you'd love to watch some Gray Ghost, right Sweetheart."

Bruce perked up at the idea. He loved that show! Both little and big- He could talk about it for hours if he could.

He hesitated, but linked his pinky with Selina's. Selina was telling the truth, and she wasn't going to tell on him. He immanently opened his happy meal.

He didn't eat . . . a lot. Only a fry or two.

But he quickly grabbed his toy, smiling at it, "Look! 'S Batwoman."

"Cousin Kane?" Selina asked, receiving a happy nod. "You'll have to show her it later, I'm sure she'd love to see a picture of it."

Bruce smiled at the thought, showing off his new toy.

They quickly arrived back to the manor, and Selina insisted on helping Bruce unbuckle, much to his pout. He might have been small, but he could very easily get out himself!

. . . But this once, perhaps he could let himself be helped and babied. Just a bit.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Uuuuh, I got really into DC lately.

Other requests will be done soon, I promise!!!

[yeetus-feetus]

Okay but what about Bruce ends up taking all the little kids to a gala with him because none of his kids want to go and they'll only escape anyway if he drags them there.

He's got baby Helena on his hip and Lizzie clinging to his side even dropping on adult conversations. Lian and Mar'i are sucking up to the older ladies so they can con sweet treats and hard candy from them. Jake and Ellie (Stephanie's daughter whom I named Elizabeth way before I knew about Diana's daughter) are colouring at a table together quietly.

And Bruce can't stop talking about his babies and grandbabies. And he's showing all the other rich socialites cute little photos and everyone's just gushing over how cute they are.

And they all look so adorable in their little outfits too!! Dressing them all up and taking photos at the gala and just gloating over how these kids are the best kids, even better than all the other socialites kids/grandkids.

And obviously this won't last long, soon the little ones will be whining about how boring the galas are and Bruce will have to find new people to drag along with him. But I definitely think Lian and Mar'i will keep coming for as long as they can milk the adorable little girl acts to fill their pockets with treats.

Dick is probably a little disappointed at Mar'i but it's not like he didn't do the exact same thing himself so he'd be a hypocrite for telling her off. Jason and Roy just high five Lian with a laugh and ask her to share the goods she collected with them.

Also like Bruce going to their school or sports things whenever he can get the time to do so. He's one of those mom types that are convinced their kids are the best in the play or on the soccer field and he gets really bitchy about other mums who do the exact same thing.

And obviously Bruce pays for all there school fees to get them into good education. He spoils the little ones absolutely rotten.

Like the kids at school will be like "oh yeah my grandparents gave me $500 for Christmas so I could choose whatever I wanted". And Jake is like "yeah well my grandpop got me a real motorbike and a phone!"

Holy hell does Dick parental lock the shit out of that phone btw. He also knows Bruce has a tracker on it because he's paranoid about the little ones getting hurt or something. Which is contradictory to the fact he got the kid an actual kid-sized motorcycle. Dick is not happy. Kori thinks it's awesome.

Also like, of you wanted you can also add Tim's baby clones in here too. A little Bart clone and a little Kon clone causing chaos everywhere they go. Bruce loves his grandbabies despite everything but damn those little boys really wear him out running circles around him.

[frownyalfred]

tl;dr: what's your opinion on posting roleplay replies on ao3?

i know they are frowned upon on ao3, at least that's what i've seen so far, which i can understand... to some extend. they are allowed in the archive, yes, but they also clock tags and it's annoying to read something you don't understand without the other replies and further context. they are tolerated, but i get the sentiment.

here's the thing... i rarely write for myself. i enjoy writing with others and building something together, and sometimes i create pieces i'd love to share. like, recently i have written a reply for someone that explores two different bruce's; one that has helena wayne/the huntress as his biological daughter, one that doesn't, how she got cursed into another universe, and how one deals with losing his child, while the other tries to re-order his life in order to make her fit. it's something beautiful that works on it's own, something i am very fond and proud of, but i'm torn on wether i should post it or not.

i could've kept the fact it's from roleplay a secret, but that also feels shit, lmao. i could keep it to tumblr, but no one would read what i put out -- let's be real, tumblr works very different compared to ao3. so i thought i'd give reaching out to one of my favorite authors a chance.

sorry for the lenght, feel no need to answer.

Hmm. I guess I haven't given it a ton of thought before now. I don't usually engage in roleplay myself, but I absolutely view it as a legitimate version of creation. Just because it's created a certain way doesn't mean it doesn't belong on ao3 -- it's an archive for transformative works, not just cookie-cutter fic formats.

I would say, err on the side of caution and tag as much as you're comfortable (tagging things after the required ao3 warnings is always optional, I want to reiterate, but sometimes additional tags help readers a lot). Make sure it's clear what the structure of the work is, if possible, but don't do yourself a disservice by making roleplay a dirty word, if you use it.

I don't think you're "clogging" up the tag, any more than the person writing 139/250 50 word individual fics haha. There will always be floods of content in various tags, and people who throw shitfits about that need to grow up. Unless someone is breaking the ao3 TOS, everything else is "etiquette" and that truly is nebulous and subjective, even if people will insist it isn't.

As for the missing context and replies -- I think that's something you can get creative with, if you want. But also, if you never fill in those blanks or provide that context, that's okay too. It's an archive, not a site where you have to actively promote your fic and make it the most appealing it can be to the largest group of people.

A final note on context though: I've found that the roleplay chunks I do come across in the wild look a lot like dialogue planning I do for some fics! If you ever want to turn them into a traditional fic structure, I don't think you're very far off at all. But only if you wanted! As I said above, I think what you have is 100% legitimate and should stand on its own on ao3.

[cephalog0d]

Okay, but like. There's the whole joke about Bruce recruiting children to be his sidekicks, but honestly there's only really one that fits that.

And it's Jason. And the whole story there is, frankly, unhinged. Aaaaand then he died.

(I'm specifically talking about "first post-crisis origin stories" here because Jason and Dick, in particular, have both had multiple major retcons and revisions over the years, and some of them dramatically change how things happened.)

Like okay. Going backwards, you've got Duke who joined/led a whole Robin-based gang at a time when Bruce wasn't even Batman. You've got Damian and Cass, who were both literally born into the world of masks and capes and heroes and villains, so they weren't ever really not going to be part of it. Steph might have taken inspiration from previous heroes but she made her own identity and repeatedly refused to stop involving herself in the vigilante lifestyle. Tim, obviously, basically strong-armed Batman into letting him be Robin, despite Batman's protests.

Dick's a little more complicated just because there's so many versions, because that's what 80 years of comics and multiple universe reboots will do, and there's kind of a general trend that earlier pre-crisis versions were more of Batman being like "hello, child, would you like to be my sidekick" and later versions have leaned harder and harder into the idea that Dick was absolutely going to do this anyway, regardless of what Batman had to say about it. But even in the first post-crisis version, the flashback in Batman Year 3, Dick says he wants to find a way to keep people like that from hurting others again. When Alfred questions Bruce's offer to train him, Bruce says that Dick should learn to do things the right way if he's going to do it. It's not hard to extrapolate that, much like later versions of the origin story, Dick was going to get himself into this one way or another. (Batman (1940) #437)

And then there's Jason. Whose backstory has also had a lot of (sometimes major) revisions over the years (remember when his adoption was, like, some kind of Joker-originated long con? Fucken Nu52, man). But the original post-crisis version is pretty straightforward. Steals Batman's tires, gets caught and sent to Ma Gunn's Secret Criminal School, intervenes when Batman goes to investigate, immediately gets offered the chance to be Robin based entirely on that.

Which is itself kind of unhinged. That Bruce saw this kid who was living on his own stealing tires and went "Hey you would make a good Robin" as his very first instinct.

But if you've never read Jason's post-crisis origin, or it's been a while, it's honestly even more unhinged than that because that arc starts with Dick getting "fired" as Robin specifically for the reason that he got shot by Joker and Bruce freaked out about how the Robin identity has too many enemies and therefore Dick, a legal adult with approximately a decade of training and experience, should not use the identity anymore.

(And it's specifically about the Robin identity, in this version, because when Dick says he's not going to stop the crime fighting thing Bruce's response is basically "I know and I didn't expect you to". Honestly I could also say a lot about this version of the Robin/Nightwing transition vs. later ones and how this one definitely feels like the Heavy Hand of DC Editorial in the fact that they had no contact for so long afterwards, because the interaction really doesn't feel like it warrants that in this case compared to some later versions, but that's a whole other too-long ramble.) (Batman (1940) #408)

And then a few weeks later Bruce turns around and picks up a random kid, a literal child, and goes "Hey you would make a good Robin!"

And I think a lot about how fucking wild that is. And it's not like the people writing just didn't notice. Dick's big argument with Bruce when he finally comes back to Gotham and meets Jason isn't about the fact that Bruce took in another kid, or even necessarily about Dick feeling proprietary over the Robin identity, the thing he's angry about is that Bruce said it was too dangerous for him, an adult, someone who has trained with Batman for a decade and was already highly physically trained before that for his whole life, to be Robin, and now Bruce has turned around and painted that target onto some random new kid. He pushes, repeatedly, trying to get Bruce to justify himself and this absolutely irresponsible decision, and Bruce gives a lot of answers about how Jason was on a bad path and needed this outlet and eventually just admits that he missed having a partner. (Batman (1940) #416)

And like. Dick's right, is the thing. He is 1000% in the right in this argument. If he can't be Robin anymore because of the danger, how in the hell is it anything like a good idea to hand it over to someone way younger, way less trained, way less experienced, and expect that that wouldn't end in tragedy?

And then it did.

And yeah, Bruce, it is kinda a lot of your fault.

[artemismoorea03]

DPxDC Writing Prompt Idea

I have no idea if this has been done before but I just had this idea so if it has been done feel free to ignore this but I gotta share this.

So, I always see these prompts of different characters being related to different DC characters. For example I've seen some where people say that Tucker is related to Lucius Fox. Dash is related to Harley Quinn. Jack being related to Bruce Wayne. Danny related to Tim/Damian/Dick or any of the other Batfam but one I haven't seen before is one that I feel could be easily used.

Maddie Fenton is related to Jim Gordon.

Now, I've never seen this or even heard people talking about it and I can kind of understand why. Maddie is shown to have a sister but like - hear me out anyways.

Maddie has a cousin, she has met him a couple of times as a kid and only once as an adult when Danny was around 7. There wasn't any real reason for it, just a Family Reunion and an excuse to spend time as a family, something she often forgot to do when she was so determined to get the Ghost Portal open.

Her cousin is Jim and his daughter is a good ten years older than Danny. She had heard that Jim was quickly rising in rank in Gotham City and that his daughter - despite the occasional odd truancy issues - had her head on straight. Jazz also adored the older girl and followed her around the entire reunion, looking almost like Barbara's little sister.

Danny got closer to Jim than his daughter though, and started talking about things that he probably shouldn't have. After all, what 7 year old has a filter? What 7 year old knows not to mention the fact that sometimes their food attacks them or that Jazz is learning how to cook because sometimes mom and dad forget to feed them because their research is important. The more Danny talks the more concerned Jim gets, but he's also conflicted.

This is his cousin, the same cousin who the time Danny fell and scraped his knee peppered kisses on each and every one of his freckles on his face and danced with him until the pain stopped and then patched him up and danced with him again. This is family. He's sure that Danny is just... making things sound bigger than they are, as children do - at least he hopes that's the case.

But on the off chance that there is something going on he slips Jazz and Danny both his number and gives his cousin the same number in case anything came up.

As the years go on though Jim starts to see more red flags. Small things at first - Jazz asking how to change the batteries in a fire alarm. Danny calling to ask if pot-lids could be stuck in the microwave to cover rice. Basic questions that could be asked to a parent or a parent should be doing for their kids anyways. But whenever Jim asked about this the answer was the same.

"Mom and Dad are busy in the lab."

This continued for years until a call from Jazz one night seven years after he'd met them for the first time. She was crying and sobbing, her voice shaking as she tries to get the words out.

"Danny had an accident. Mom and dad aren't home, what do I do?"

Jim was 900 miles away, he had no way to get to them. No way to get him to them. So he did what he could and instructed her to hang up with him and call for an ambulance. Jazz was scared though, she didn't trust the doctors but thankfully Danny's voice could be heard.

The relief Jazz had when her brother woke up was enough to make Jim feel like he was going to throw up. The call ended shortly after that but he made sure to call a few days later and ask his cousin how Danny was doing.

"Danny? He's just fine!"

"That's good. He healed from the accident then?"

"What accident- oh, Jack no, that goes to the right - your other right. Jim, sorry I have to go. We can talk about this later, okay?"

Jim was appalled. Jazz had called him in tears, hyperventilating and Danny had been unconscious - Jazz though he was dead - and their parents didn't have any idea?

It was a little over a year later that he got another call. Just as frantic, just as scared, but much worse.

Danny was all but screaming in the back ground, voices were telling him to holds still and that they knew it hurt but he was bleeding out and he needed to hold still. Terrified, hurt, betrayed voices. Jazz again explained the situation, this time eerily calm.

"I can't go into details over the phone but we're coming to Gotham City to seek Asylum against a law that will get Danny killed. We need you to keep Batman off of our tails until Danny is healed. We'll handle everything from there."

"Healed? Healed from what?" Why did these calls always happen during work. "Jazz, what is happening? You have to give me something if I'm going to protect you guys."

"... My parents cut Danny open, Jim. They cut him open and he's hurt bad. Myself, Danny, and two of our friends are on our way to you now." Jim felt like his jaw hit the floor then snapped back up so hard it gave him whiplash as he sank back in his chair. "Before you ask; no. Hospitals aren't an option. Danny isn't a meta and they weren't violating any laws when they cut him open. Which is why we need you to keep Batman away from us for as long as possible. What... what Danny is shouldn't exist and if anybody gets a hold of him they'll cut him back open, turn him into a super weapon, or destroy him."

"Then why call me. I'm a police commissioner. What makes you sure you can trust me?"

"I'm not. Neither are the others with us but the only thing Danny has said since we saved him is 'Go to Jim'. We're following his lead on this. So... I'm trusting Danny, who has his full trust in you, Jim. Don't let him down."

[gloriousburden]

Hey, you don't have to apologize at all! <3 We all have our lives. Also, it is up to you to decide when you wish to answer or if you wish to answer some asks at all! This is supposed to be your space, so def take all the time you need!

I'm happy that I helped you put some thoughts into words, too! And like always, I agree w all you say!! Also, for the Sylvie shapeshifting part — there's a post on it (if I find it I'll send it to you), and sadly, it is true. I didn't connect the dots before, but now it makes further sense with how they use her character, too. It is stated multiple times in the series by Mobius, and in general they kept highlighting the fact that she's a female counterpart. I shouldn't be surprised, but I always am in the end 😔

And another point you made — for Ragnarok, I saw your rb and. Man. When I tell you my jaw DROPPED at that scene — like ... It's awful. I hope that we won't have that one day, even if that feels far away. None of you deserve this. Putting such lines is very harmful, because (other than the fact that it's just straight up disrespectful, racist and ignorant) while the film itself is fictional, it still has influence in real life and people could take that and think it would be fine, to belittle and mock others. I've learned about your culture and am still learning, and with everything that has transpired, things like this make everything worse. It's so widespread, too, the misinformation. Of course, the best weapon to this is to be respectful, open, informed, and curious about everything, but still, such lines should not be accepted at all. You have already stated it very well. Thank you for that.

Sorry you had to see that, Thor would never. Bruce either, that cannot be Bruce, I revoke him ... Oh, and I'm definitely up for listening to your points on this. I'm very curious about it. I'd also love to learn more about your culture!

(Including your other ask here as well)

Hey! I checked out a few of her posts about it. Is this it? [Link]

In all honesty, I’m not too sure about the shape-shifting thing. But… I assume her being able to shape-shift as well as the enchanting stuff would’ve made her too “OP” (not that they really care about that) and not “distinctive” enough from Loki lol. As for her being strictly female and not fluid… man, I don’t know. I guess they wanted to focus on female rep (which they’re not really good at either) instead. They already see Loki as male, so they treated both of them as only being female/male with the ‘Sex:Fluid’ thing being an afterthought to “please” fans. Basically:

‘OKAY SHUT UP YOU’VE GOT IT! WE THREW IN A FILE SAYING HIS SEX IS FLUID DURING THE CREDITS, BUT HE IS SHOCKED WHEN A FEMALE VARIATION OF HIM SHOWS UP! Uh… it totally wasn’t an afterthought or anything, haha…”

🤦🏻‍♀️ so stupid.

Female counterpart… the writing and handling of Sylvie being female felt misogynistic to me. Okay so Loki cannot call her out on her own flaws (because how dare a female character have flaws), but also she’s automatically stronger and is so “badass”, but also she has no depth and there was little thought put into her backstory. I can straight up say that as a female that I do not want to see robotic female characters with absolutely no depth, and no flaws! Instead of them correcting the misogynistic mistakes they’ve made in the past with making a strong female character, they make her robot like because I guess that’s easier than giving a female character depth.

I feel like a good example of a well written female character is Mikasa from Attack on Titan. She is strong, but also has depth. She loves Eren, but has a personality and motives outside of that. She has weaknesses, and is not immune to struggling. She’s one of my favorite female characters, and I think more should be written like her. Anime/Manga are notoriously BAD at handling female characters, but in Attack on Titan (though there are still flaws of course), they feel real. They aren’t just there for fan service, or just to shut up female audiences with no actual care put into any part of it.

Lol sorry I deleted the RB Because I felt no one saw it, but thank you so much for reading it!

[Link] for context.

I really do appreciate you taking the time to learn about my people, and our culture. Thank you for seeing us for who we are, outside of all the hatred. It truly does mean a lot, as I’ve been discriminated against throughout my life.

I also want to point out that the joke isn’t JUST beyond disrespectful to my OWN culture, but it is disrespectful to any other culture that’s cultural clothing includes headscarves. So many people who proudly wear their headscarves (and any other cultural clothing for that matter) are targeted in hate crimes and It’s just really gross to me that they chose to mock them. It fuels hatred and ignorance. It alienates people.

A lot of people when talking about anti Roma racism mainly talk about the G word (Gypsy), but there are more important things to me than that. Like the fact that Roma children are ethnically targeted in hate crimes by non Roma ADULTS and AUTHORITY FIGURES throughout Europe, but primarily in the Balkans where a lot of us reside/have ties to.

Politicians openly spew hatred against us, with little to no repercussions. They want my people to assimilate, but when they attempt to, they are mocked and just overall treated like garbage. There’s no winning. They want them to strip themselves of our culture. Of our traditions.

I will not get into it on here a whole lot as it is absolutely vile, but my people were targeted during the Holocaust and experimented on in horrific ways. How were they targeted? Nazi scientists studied our features, and how we dressed.

That’s why jokes about how we look or how we present ourselves really are not funny. It reflects real life.

I believe I said this in so many words on the OG post, but the weirdest part to me of all of it is how little sense it makes for Bruce to make that joke to Thor. Like it was just Mark Ruffalo going out of his way to be hateful towards us once again. Thor doesn’t pay much mind to the joke if you watch the scene.

It’s funny because Thor (after his banishment), has almost always been respectful towards other groups of people from what I can remember at the top of my head.

He was respectful towards humans when he was casted out to Midgard, and he CLEARLY tolerates them to a certain extent if he’s willingly in a relationship with one, as well as willingly associate with them (The Avengers.)

‘You can’t kill an entire race..’

‘You think yourself above them?’

Thor is supposed to be open minded for an Asgardian, so.. this really was just Mark Ruffalo and his racism again. And I know he portrays himself as being aware of and deeply caring about social issues, but I guess that awareness and care excludes Roma. That’s what makes it worse. What also makes it worse is the MCU’s history of racism against us. A lot of people have talked about this on here, but the white washing of MCU Wanda/Pietro. As well as Joss Whedon’s racism towards us.

Thank you for the ask! Once again, feel more than welcome to send another any time 😁

[zahri-melitor]

New(ish) Comics:

Birds of Prey #13: That was a clever use of Cass to finish the storyline. Kelly Thompson's generated enough good will from me at this point that yeah, I'd consider her as one of the strongest Birds of Prey writers since Dixon and Simone, though Sean McKeever probably still edges her out (McKeever had a stronger lead in though to work from, and so many people barely distinguish his work from Simone's).

I'm interested to see where Thompson takes them from here. I certainly still have quibbles (I would love to see a commitment to using Barbara as Oracle only appear on page; I do think Thompson is having way too much fun trying to play with ALL the characters and needs to focus a bit more on the ones she has already), but I'm never disappointed by the title? I enjoy myself.

Batman #152: I've got to say, as someone who has also played around with Darkseid powers, I enjoyed that Bruce acknowledged on page that Omega Beams do weird shit on occasion, revolving around what Darkseid wants, and that Bruce would in fact be cautious of them in ways other people are not. I'm not sure as a story it accomplishes a lot as an an Absolute Power tie-in (mostly I think it's just keeping Bruce out of the way while other characters get focus in the main titles), but I did appreciate the use of the Batman #79 callback to the Beach Holiday Of Explicitly Taking Time For Ourselves While The Children Are Dealing With Drama, because Bruce and Selina and holidays at the beach and on cruises is a long running theme together and I never hate seeing it pop up.

Putting the Birds of Prey Absolute Power set up into the back of this made sense in terms of comics pricing and keeping the number of event comics contained, but also probably needed to be better signalled. Read this AFTER BOP #13.

The Boy Wonder #5: and Juni Ba caps his story off.

This was sweet! In the spectrum of non-canonical or dubiously-canonical retellings of origin stories, I think this straddled the line pretty well, particularly in how it was explicitly pitched as a story someone was telling. Some of the resolution in the final issue was a bit pat for me (in terms of we all moved forward and solved things), but the focus stayed where it needed to be (on Damian and Damian's connections), and plenty of the implications were significantly creepier than Smol Damian here realised.

This would sit happily beside the Demon Trilogy as a quasi-canonical Al Ghul story. I think Dennis O'Neil would have appreciated it.

DC's I Know What You Did Last Crisis #1:

Honestly my opening thought on this was 'why did anyone offer Dan DiDio a writing slot'? Because, I've read a bunch of DiDio's work, and part of the situation with him at DC has always been that he's a mediocre writer that wouldn't rate a title if he hadn't already been working in editorial/management. His credits don't actually contain any stories and titles that people are big fans of, and a lot of his work was done collaboratively with stronger writers (if you're writing with Keith Giffen, I suspect Giffen is handling a lot of the actual plotting work and charm).

Okay rant out of the way:

Batgirl-COIE story: I don't mind this, but I feel like if I were going to pitch a Barbara story at this point I'd want it more in communication with Barbara Randall Kesel's work. I'd have Barbara acknowledge the Krypto stuffed dog and maybe bond with the kid over "I had a teddy called Supergirl". Also, this is...very early for 'Waylon likes kids'. Like, decades too early. Croc's characterisation feels far later than when this story is set.

Dr Light-Millennium: It's not bad as a horror piece, but as a few other people have noted, I feel it wastes the aspect of 'the Manhunters are hidden among us' inherent in their portrayal in the event. Nice moment spent with a few characters who don't get much page time though.

Birds of Prey-Final Night: this very much feels like a missing tie in! Which we didn't get, because BOP had the Manhunt mini instead during that period. Ashley Allen has a good grasp on the time frame and events going on for this. My one quibble is having Dinah working in Gotham here, as Barbara still was focusing on world-roaming problems at this point over local ones, but otherwise, it slotted in very nicely.

JSA-Zero Hour: This is fine. I will say the quip about "the number of Bat-people" for Zero Hour feels a bit thin. You mean, Batman, Nightwing, Robin, ... Huntress and Spoiler? Steph has barely had her second ever storyline, the only person in Gotham who trusts Helena is Tim, JPV is busy dealing with having been insane, and Dick's been home for five minutes. They literally just finished a multi-year event about how Bruce didn't have the support he needed.

Nightwing-Infinite Crisis: it's just sad and pathetic that Dan DiDio remains so mad that his staff rebelled and wouldn't let him kill Dick Grayson. It was almost two decades ago. Why are you still having a tantrum about this publicly? It's not even worth addressing the characterisation, as it's just an attempted take-that that makes him look worse.

Scarecrow-Blackest Night: ...if you're going to set something at the Monarch Theatre maybe take 5 seconds to check the wiki about what was happening with the location around the time of the story. It was not a functioning movie theatre, folks, and we're just prior to The Carpenter's Tale. I dunno. This one felt like a waste of the setting.

Lex Luthor-Final Crisis: look I don't enjoy Final Crisis, but this is incredibly set during Final Crisis. This feels like pretty solid Lex characterisation and introspection, and I'm sure he hates that he's hallucinating a Superman to talk down to.

Midnighter-Flashpoint: I dunno, the characterisation feels off for both Pyg and Midnighter. It's fine, but I would have preferred another story that really felt like a missing backup from an event.

My general overarching opinion? Most of the writers could have used a bit closer attention to context for their stories, if you're playing "this is set during". That's something people can check.

The Warlord #66: I just checked and we are so close to halfway through volume 1 of the Warlord! They simply do not commission 133 issue runs plus annuals of random conspiracy titles anymore. Anyway this week in Skartaris Mongo Ironhand remains the worst. Also Mariah and Mikola finally get to talk to each other and Mariah tells her lost werewolf fencing instructor lover that she's actually now got the hots for an ex-gladiator with a spiked mace for a fist. (Oh, Skartaris)

There is tragically very little discussion of communism. Get back to preaching about the benefits of communism, Mariah!

Also we fight a demon (who transformed from the Gollum creature like...30 issues earlier), Mariah tricks him into stabbing himself in the eyesocket with a trick sword, Jennifer defeats him with magic, they throw the magic book the demon was using into a volcano vent to destroy it, and the men are largely all useless.

Thank you, that has been our back in pre-history LOTR rip off of the week.