#one day......one day he will become Bruce Wayne.

[haveihitanerve]

😭real- Bruce never wanted him to wear the cowl, and Dick never wanted the cowl. (well he did for like- a year or something when Batman was the coolest, but it died fast)

Terry deserves the cowl because he isn't a Robin, he was never a Robin, and he'll never be a Robin. Bruce didn't train him as a Robin.

The kids deserve to be who they are, who they were raised as underneath Batman, and deserve to expand past it, to grow and outgrow his shadow, to become their own heroes and grow wings and fly the coop.

He never wanted them to wear the cowl, he never wanted anyone to wear the cowl, Batman, Bruce, was supposed to do his mission and die alone, hopefully making the world a somewhat better place.

anyway i have a lot of thoughts and i hope one day i'll get to be like "back in my day Dick Grayson became Batman and Bruce was emotionally constipated with his kids" and my kids will laugh at me and hold their emotionally available and good dad Bruce Wayne to their chests.

Bruce Wayne grew up underneath Alfred Pennyworth and became Batman.

Dick Grayson grew up under Bruce Wayne and became Nightwing.

Nightwing is renowned by heroes, by fans, all over the world, even bad writers, he is shown in a good light, a beacon, an amazing person.

And people laugh, and ask “How the fuck did Dick Grayson become so amazing?”

Bruce. Bruce Wayne is the answer.

Dick Grayson is who Bruce Wayne would have become if he’d had a Bruce Wayne in his own life, as his own father. And yet people still try to say he’s an awful dad and a horrible person. Look at the facts. 

(and yeah, some kids are amazing people from shitty situations and shitty parents, but Dick becomes who he is because of Bruce, not in spite of him)

[junespriince]

Kyle: if I were a zombie, would you kill me? Wally: Nah, just keep you on a leash and treat you like a pet. As I take over the world and become its leader, you shall eat my enemies. Kyle: aw thanks dude Connor: ... scared to ask, but where am I at in this hypothetical? Wally: easy, the man to take my throne if I die or get killed, someone has to carry on my terror. Connor: Connor, eats his forkful of salad: Nice JL, looking at the new recruits: Bruce, putting Wally on the "Would turn into a villain for a cornchip" watchlist (made by tim): and, done.

[theyellowhedgehog]

The call of home [DRAFT]

2024 Fanfic Prompt Bingo : Mermaids

This is the draft of the fanfic prompt Mermaid, I feel this should also see sun light because it was written with a little different idea from Nothingness.

Summary

A universe where Bruce didn't become batman but a marine biologist. When he was just a university student, he rescued and recuperated a baby mer and hand it to the experts, this set his path to become a marine biologist specialised in the mermaids. From then on, he would rescue two more baby mers after that, Dick and Jason became his new family members. Some of Bruce's children are mer people. After Jason Todd's death, Bruce life plummeted but a human boy appeared and took his sorrow away. However, ever since Jason Todd returned alive and sane, Tim began to wonder if there's meaning in his actions at all.

Dick,Jason are merman. Tim is also one. He's just a little different.

Bruce wasn't at his best when Tim arrived at his doorstep, demanding him to get a hold of himself. Bruce was still grieving the loss of his son.

Jason was a beautiful mer, with red iridescent coloring on tails that transcend into green at the end of it. Even though, mers were protected creatures, people always find thrills to hunt them. The first victim was his son, Jason. hang on fishing pole where the world witness his death.

Mers were protected species, no one was allow to touch them whether they are friendly or not. Because people took advantage of it, rules like those are placed. When Bruce has interaction with mers without begin retributed, poachers decided to play.

Bruce sued anyone and everyone included, even though he won, his son will never come back to life.

A month after Jason's death, Tim inserted himself forcefully into the grieving father's life and aggressively drag him out of his wallowing hole. Bruce's first impression was Tim was a naive boy who think he can change a grieving person. Tim would sing whenever, he hang around Bruce and for some reason, it reminded of his children. Dick who left home and Jason who left too soon. Days by Days, whenever he spend time with Tim- whether on a walk or eating together, he would heal bit by bit.

Before he knew it, Tim has already worm his little self into Bruce's heart. Just when Bruce was healing and recovering, Jason came back. Angry and insane.

Jason's return shook the foundation Tim has painstakingly built for Bruce. Jason blamed Bruce for moving on forward and not bringing Justice for him. Just as sudden as he appear, Jason left. And Bruce was once a shell he was after Jason died. This time more depressed and broken.

This time again, Tim carefully drag Bruce out again. However, it was more difficult when Bruce look at Tim only to see the boy he used to replace Jason. Most of the recovery this time took place inside the house with Tim always sticking to Bruce always accompanyting him with humming.

When Bruce was a little bit better, Tim would drag him out into town. Seeing Bruce so guilty, Tim sugguest of strengthing and enforcing the law to be better at protecting the mermaid. This give Bruce Wayne a purpose that he bravely and proudly walked. Tim follow behind him with a smile.

-

Everymoment they share together, Bruce started to notice things that were Tim. When he wasn't looking at Tim with lens of Dick or Jason. He sees that Tim like pineapple. Tim is obsess with shiny objects. and he always sees Tim looking at the ocean longingly but he never approach her like he's scare of her.

Bruce petion for a stronger law protecting the mers were passed. When they were celebrating, a boy who called himself Bruce's blood son appeared. But he didn't come alone. He brought along dick and Jason. However, They came to Bruce with legs.

Dick explained that, the king has passes a law for mers to gain legs without cost to protect his people from the sea witches.Tim just hum and look off into a distance.

Bruce was surprised when he learned that Talia had a child in secret. He welcome his children in delight of a full family.

Tim watched by as the family laughs and became whole. Tim looked out the raging ocean, is if she was sad her children were leaving her. He would go back to comfort her, but he knew she wouldn't accept any comfort from someone who abandoned her.

If it was any other day, Tim would accompany Bruce in his study room as Bruce work. But now, he was looking over the platform as Bruce play with his children in the underground cave. Tim would sit on a bench and look deeply into the water. He closed his eyes and were at peace with the sound of water splashing around, when his senses became alert and jump off the bench. Barely missing the sea water that almost hit him.

He saw Jason smirking under the peer with eyes looking at him mockingly. When their eyes met, Jason's teasing eyes changed to worried when he saw fear in Tim's eyes. Before he could have a chance of any say, Tim was already running up the stairs.

Tim bumps into Alfred on the way, the butler held the boy as he hyperventing.

"My boy, what's wrong." but Tim couldn't answer as he's trying to control his breathing. He fell limply into Alfred's arm and confessed, "I am afraid to die."

alfred wanted to asked more but decided not to when he saw Tim wsn't willing to share anymore than that. The dynamic in the house shifted that day.

ususally where Tim would be with Bruce all day, he now accompany Allfred. With Damian throwing a hissy fit whenever, tim enter the same room as Bruce, Tim decided it is better to be with Alfred.

although Mers are immune to the cold waters, Bruce was only human. So, after many days of staying in the water, Beuce fell sick. Bruce was an absolute asshole and menace when he is sick. He pissed off Dick and Jason both on the second day of his fever rage. Damian was prohabited to enter the room to prevent the fatching the cold. Therefore, only Alfred and Tim go back and forth the room.

It was Tim's turn to deliver dinner to the sick man. alfred cooked a delicious chicken poridge for him to take upstair. When Tim entered the room, he saw Bruce was miserablely lying on his bed. The man's eyes shot open whenhe heard the door click open. Bruce eyes were red and tired. The man was coughing non stop through three days.

"Here, Alfred made poridge." Tim place it on the small table bside the bed. Tim stood by awarkly as he took in Bruce's miserable form.

When Bruce said nothing, Tim turn his heel to leave. When he reach the door a horuse voice called out to him, "You don't sing as much anymore." Tim turned to see Bruce looking at him.

"Are you returning to the ocean?" B=the sick man asked.

Tim just stood there, no surprised that Bruce knew at all. "I cannot return."

Bruce laughed, "You can go back, Tim. I am getting better now." Tim just looked at Bruce for a while and turned away to hide his ugly face. "Okay."

"Remeber to visit me sometimes, okay?"

Tim aswered with an small okay as he gently shut the door.

-

It was the forth day that his fever break, and Bruce returned to being his normal self. The boys also came back after hearing the fever broke. It was quiet when they return home to only find, Bruce and alfred. Tim was nowhere to be found.

Dick asked in confusion, "Where's Tim?"

Damian sneer in answer. Bruce just shot him a look and give a real answer. "Tim decided to return to his home."

Jason shot up confused, "Oh, i thought he lives here?"

Bruce smiles, "He's always welcome to stay, but I guess he miss the ocean."

"The ocean?" Jason and Dick give eachother look of confusion. Dick up in shock, "Tim's a mer?"

All of them, even Damian, looked at Bruce for confirmation. Burce just raised a brow, amused at the antics, "He is. It never cross your mind?"

Damian was the one who asked the first question, "Father, if he's a mer. Why does he have legs?"

"I guess he has the same magic locket as Dick and Jason." Both Dick and Jason looked more horrified as Bruce spoke.

"When did you say Tim started to appear on land?" Dick asked hesitantly.

"2 years ago, why?" Bruce asked confused.

"The officaial magic to have legs were passed only 6 months ago. Anythiing beofre that is illegal" Jason looked at Bruce as the man started to catch on the meaning of the word.

Bruce was the first one to run out of the house with the other following behind.

He run along the shore to look for any glimps of Tim but he got no luck.

"TIMM!!" Bruce scream for his lost boy. Nothing answer back his desprate called.

The sun was already setting, and the sea is bashing the rock wall with fury. Jason looked at his desprate father worriedly, "Dad, maybe he's just walking around town. We should check the city."

but instead of moving away form the shroe, bruce asekd, "what would happen if he go back to the sea?"

Dick and Jason glances at each other. "We do not know. But we do know that any thing before the land lsw was passed, the witches use crule and unhumanly methods to give ther mers human legs for an exchange of something."

No one made a sound. The only sound was 't Bruce desprately trying to muffel his cries of losing a another son. "What did he exchange to get legs?"

"His inheritance." a small voice answered.

All of the head turned to a boy standing up the stair from the shore. Tim slowly walk down to Bruce.

"He exchange his home to comfort a hurting human."

"Tim," Bruce pulled the lost boy into a crushing hug. "Never do that again."

Tim shrug, "I couldn't even if I want to. There's nothing left for me to exchange." Tim smiled when he saw Bruce glaring at him.

The lost boy hums and he escape Bruce hug and walk to the edge where the water almost touch his feet.

"Do you want to know what would happen if I touch the sea?"

"No," Bruce asnwered without a hesitation and pull him back to his side, away from the wet sand .

Tim ignore Bruce answer but stay compliance beside Bruce. "I would turned to seafoam because I lost any value I had of my home."

All the faces turned terrified.

"The one whom abandon the ocean cannot be forgiven. He would return to nothingness if he step into her territory ever again. It was a price for a pair of human legs."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

See 2024 Fanfic Prompt Bingo Post for my other bingo fics.

[batgeance]

god bruce fucking hates talking to wayne execs and financial advisors

[bet-on-me-13]

Uncle Vlad

So! Vlad Masters, Maddie Walker, and Jack Fenton were a group of friends that studied together at Gotham University. They all studied the Effects of Ectoplasm of the world around them, from how it affected Space-time to how it affected the Flora of the world.

But they had another friend, one who was interested on how Ectoplasm affected Human Beings before they died, rather than after. He was a Med Student, and he wanted to see if there were any Medicinal applications to Ectoplasm.

His name was Thomas Wayne.

Thomas was actually great friends with the Trio, and eventually they became a Quartet. He was just as crazy as them, although he hid it better, and he loved to get into stupid shenanigans with them.

Unfortunately that all came to an end when Vlad got was put in the Hospital by a Lab Accident. He refused to see any of them, but Thomas managed to convince him to let him study how the Ectoplasm was affecting his Body to hopefully find a Cure. He was the most skilled Ecto-Biologist they had after all.

Thomas never managed to find a Cure, but he did manage to maintain his friendship with Vlad, even after Jack and Maddie got married and moved away to Illinois. He felt bad that their friend group fell apart like that, but with all their lives changing it was inevitable. Thomas himself was planning on proposing to his girlfriend Martha soon.

When Vlad moved away to Wisconsin after recovering from his Accident, he stayed in contact with Thomas as thanks for all the help he gave in trying to find a Cure. Unlike Jack and Maddie who moved away without even trying to say goodbye, Thomas stuck around and stayed his friend.

He even became the Godfather to his son, Bruce. He later got a Letter from Jack and Maddie naming him the Godfather of their own son, Daniel, but he didn't really care as much. Bruce was an adorable little boy, and incredibly intelligent, he got that from his Father obviously.

Or course, then That Day happened. Thomas and his wife were Shot by a mugger and poor Bruce was left without his parents. Vlad tried to take him in, but was rejected on the grounds that he was still "Too frail to get out of his House".

He stayed in Contact with Bruce, but it became harder as time went on. From both the revelation that Daniel Fenton was a Halfa like him, and the fact that Bruce was traveling so much, he didn't have much of a chance to contact him. He needed to split his attention, and Daniel took a lot more than expected.

He hoped Bruce would stay a good kid, Daniel gave him too many headaches already.

...

A few years later, Bruce Wayne became the Batman.

[puppetmaster13u]

 Danny and his haunt are more than a little distressed to find out that Pariah Dark can’t be destroyed and can only be sealed away due to being the Ancient of Darkness. Danny is worried about someone trying to wake him up again, while his friends are more worried about the ghost going after the newborn Ancient of Space again. 

 They scour libraries, search high and low in both the Ghost Zone and the living world for a solution before finally just asking Clockwork. 

 And well, they feel like just a bit of idiots but also elated. 

 Because if Danny can become the new embodiment of space, then what’s to stop them from giving the power of darkness to someone else that’s not Pariah Dark? 

 They make a list of requirements, ask both ghosts and living friends. There’s nothing in their world, no one quite right, but what about other worlds? The realms are supposedly infinite right? So there had to be someone out there. 

 And while it takes a long, long time, they eventually find one when a small bloodied ghost of greens, golds, and reds comes forth shyly, eyes burning with determination. He speaks of heroes and villains- far more than their own world- of a city cloaked in shadow and of a single man trying to help despite it seeming impossible. 

 Who better to become the new Dark besides the dark knight himself after all? 

[violent138]

I love the idea that Bruce takes the Batfam on hikes outside of Gotham, and puts up with the arguing over who goes in what car, packs everyone's favourite snacks, will race with the other car if enough passengers in his egg him on. Bruce generally stays ridicuously quiet while the kids jabber enough to alert everything living in the woods near them but will weigh in once the kids debate who's strong enough to wrestle a bear, chime in on unsolved hiker cases, build fires, and carry anyone that gets tired, all while sneaking awful pictures of them.

[littlefankingdom]

Dick: The Titans don't want me to be their leader. :(

Bruce *who already has put in the Justice League plans and systems that if anything happens to him, Dick becomes the leader, even tho Batman isn't the unique leader of the JL*: Making mistakes is an important part of growing up.

[valengory1234]

While I love the storyline where Alfred was there from day one and helped raise Bruce, I think the original where he’s just some guy who shows up one day and Bruce and Dick just have to cope is extremely funny

[benbamboozled]

I would actually kind of like the “becomes a doctor and takes over Leslie’s clinic” story…for Damian.

NOT because I think it would be ~ethical~ or idk whatever-the-fuck.

I just really love the concept of Damian having this “I HAVE A BIG IMPORTANT DESTINY” backstory/lineage/bloodline …

…SON OF THE BAT, and all that jazz…

But when he connects with Gotham and the people in it—because Batman should be connected to the people he’s protecting—Damian realizes that he doesn’t actually WANT “his” destiny.

And it’s not about rejecting Batman or his father or his mother or anything like that, but instead about taking what he’s learned and what they’ve given him and shaping it to fit himself.

[ufonaut]

This is not heroism, this is sabotage. You can help save tomorrow. Instead, you’re still trying to stop two bullets in the past.

Batman - One Bad Day: Ra’s Al Ghul (2023) #1

(Tom Taylor, Ivan Reis)

[everwalldigan]

To anyone who thinks Bruce has a clear and consistent favourite child I raise you this: it is infinitely funnier for Bruce to have a complicated and elaborate “ranking” system of his kids that only he’s privy to.

Picture this: Batman, dosed with truth serum, gets asked as a gag from one of the goons holding him captive who his favourite bat-vigilante is and instead of giving a straight answer, he launches into this whole explanation about the ranking system and who’s in the current lead, who’s hanging behind, etc. At some point (this is a mystery to everyone involved) a whiteboard appears and he starts explaining his system like he’s a football coach before an important match. Out of nowhere he starts pulling out little cardboard cutouts of his kids and pins them to the board. At some point the red string comes out.

Jason hasn’t killed someone in a week? Automatically promoted to favourite. Tim hasn’t caused an international incident in the past month? Puts him a few points ahead that keep decreasing the longer he refuses real sleep (20 minute power naps don’t count Tim! Says powernap inventor Bruce Wayne). Cass gave him a hug this morning and wished him a good day? Favourite until he gets a call from dick telling him (without shouting!!!!) that he’ll be there for this week’s Sunday dinner. Duke accidentally scratches the Batmobile? Demoted to the “in trouble” zone (which, honestly, that’s where his kids spend most of the time in😭). Damian did not attempt to free all the animals in the zoo they visited? Favourite. Until Bruce found out he was just trying to conceal the cat hidden in his room that Bruce explicitly forbade him from keeping.

Dick arrives at the family dinner with a busted shoulder and a bruise the size of Texas on his face? Gets demoted so far down that even azraeil scores higher than him. He’s in the “in trouble” zone for a constant month after that. Oh one of them survived an almost death? Favourite for at least the next week. At least. Multiple people survive an almost death? EVERYONES the favourite. The least favourite is the growing grey hairs on his head.

The end of day results are decided by who bothers to wish him goodnight and if all of them have fucked up in some way the past week then Jon (Kent) becomes the automatic favourite until someone cracks a joke that Bruce actually finds funny.

The favourite child changes daily, hourly even, and his kids are aware this system exists and keep trying to crack the code but he always Knows and just smirks smugly.

[sweetteaanddragons]

I have been thinking lately about a universe where Bruce Wayne killed the Joker.

I want to be clear here, since there are so many longstanding debates on this topic: I do not think Bruce Wayne should kill the Joker. I have just been wondering what would happen if the circumstances aligned in such a way that he did.

And to be clear on a related, yet slightly different topic: when I say I have been wondering about what if Bruce Wayne killed the Joker, I do not mean as the Batman. I mean Bruce "Brucie" Wayne.

Maybe it's kind of an accident? Like, he definitely did intend to hit the Joker, but he's Brucie right now, so he's trying not to look like he knows what he's doing while still doing enough damage to keep the Joker from killing someone, and meanwhile the Joker makes just the wrong move and -

And here we are. Brucie just killed the Joker.

Bruce's reaction here is one thing; he has his one rule for a reason, he's just broken it, he's determined to turn himself in -

His family's reaction is a whole different story. How does Cass feel about this?

How does Jason? Bruce has killed the Joker, just like he wanted, but it wasn't for him, not really, and -

And meanwhile, this happens in front of, say, a gala full of people, so now all of Gotham gets to react to it too.

Average Gothamite, seeing the words BRUCE WAYNE, JOKER, and KILLED in the same headline: OH, NO.

Average Gothamite, once they've processed the order those words are actually in: . . . I did not have that on this year's bingo card.

The city's most famous mass murderer has just been publicly killed by the city's biggest employer/philanthropist/source of tabloid harmless nonsense! Three days before Brucie was making tabloid headlines by tripping into a fountain and somehow losing his shirt in the process! Two weeks before, the newspaper was running a retrospective on the Wayne murders and what donation Brucie was making to help the families of victims this year! The article mentioned how one of his adopted sons had also tragically become a murder victim!

Now this has happened, and Bruce is having a breakdown over breaking his one rule, and the rest of Gotham just assumes that this is because poor Brucie thinks this somehow makes him like the man who killed his parents. They send a huge outpouring of support his way. This in no way helps Bruce's actual breakdown.

Ninety percent of Gotham is sure Brucie didn't actually mean to kill the Joker, and pretty much a hundred percent of them support him whether he meant to do it or not. No one wants to have anything to do with prosecuting this mess. Bruce is trying to make it as clear as possible that he will fully cooperate with the justice system and meanwhile an entire gala full of people is suddenly acting like they could in no way have possibly witnessed events that took place ten feet in front of their faces. Did Bruce kill the Joker? Is the officer sure? That doesn't seem like him. Maybe the Joker just tripped on his own. Marble floors, you know. Very slippery.

[sleepingdiaryzzz]

"DAD!"

Bruce sighed at the familiar call, instantly recognizing the voice. It was you, the child he never intended to have, thrust into his life by forces beyond his control. He still wasn't ready for this—wasn't ready to be a father.

In the early days, you’d tried calling him "father" or "dad," hoping for a connection. But he’d ignore you every time, barely acknowledging the title. Frustrated, you’d started calling him "Mr. Wayne" out of spite. And to your surprise, he responded. Since then, you'd settled into calling him as if he were just another public figure, like some distant acquaintance. You learned quickly that Bruce Wayne didn't want to be publicly labeled as your father, that he wasn’t comfortable with the label at all.

But now, hearing that word—"Dad"—from you in public, his irritation rose. He’d told you ages ago not to call him that outside the manor. Yet, there was also a sliver of satisfaction; he finally had a reason to confront you over it, something he’d oddly wanted since you’d moved in.

Turning around to find you, Bruce stopped short. There you were, arms around Harvey Dent, laughing in a way that sent a pang through him. It was the kind of bright, easy laughter he’d never heard from you in his presence. The warmth in your eyes, the carefree lightness in your smile—it all seemed reserved for Dent, a scene that felt oddly father-child-like.

His grip tightened unconsciously, fingers curling around the grass he’d been holding. Harvey looked back at you with an almost fatherly pride, and it stung in a way Bruce couldn’t have anticipated. In that moment, the crowd faded around him, and all he could focus on was the two of you, bonded in a way he hadn’t managed to be with you.

Your laughter rang in his ears like a melody he’d never noticed before, something beautiful and elusive. And for the first time, Bruce felt something new—a desire to be the one to make you laugh like that, a yearning to hear it directed at him. He wanted all of it for himself.

Bruce’s hands clenched involuntarily, his fingers digging into his palms. He told himself that he was better than Dent in every way that mattered—stronger, more capable, more disciplined. But in this, seeing how effortlessly Dent could make you feel safe and valued, he felt an unsettling flicker of doubt. Bruce could face any enemy, any challenge, but standing here, watching someone else make you feel what he couldn’t, he felt almost... inadequate.

The feeling was absurd. Jealousy wasn’t supposed to affect him; he’d trained himself to be above such things. But he couldn’t stop the bitterness gnawing at him as he watched Dent with you, a man whose easy warmth contrasted so painfully with Bruce’s own guarded nature. It stung to realize that, for all his power and reputation, he was losing you to his own friend. Dent looked at you with pride and affection, the kind that came naturally to him—and Bruce hated that Dent could offer you what he hadn’t even known you needed.

And then, through the murmur of the crowd, your voice rang out again—“Dad!”—directed at Dent, not him. Something twisted painfully in Bruce’s chest, his vision blurring as he watched you lean into Dent’s embrace, trusting and relaxed. The sight was a punch to his pride, yes, but more than that, it was a revelation of all he’d pushed away, all the moments he’d let slip by because he hadn’t wanted to be vulnerable.

For the first time, Bruce felt an unfamiliar desperation creep in, a fear he’d never faced even in the darkest moments of his life. Losing you to Dent seemed almost absurd, yet it was becoming a reality before his eyes. He was starting to see the damage his own indifference had caused, each unspoken word and dismissed gesture now cutting him deeper than he would ever admit aloud.

If only he’d turned around that first time you called him "Dada." If only he’d been there, shown you warmth instead of distance. Now someone else was in the place he’d abandoned, and he feared—truly feared—that you were already too far out of his reach to bring back.

(A/n: feel free to use this idea to make a story! Though you needa tag me too😼)

[avayarising]

There was a flash of white light from the small sphere cupped against Jason’s chest, and suddenly the blue-green glowing globe was a blue-green glowing humanoid kid, with a black outfit and a shock of white hair, sitting trembling in Jason’s lap. The kid looked round for a moment at the stunned faces around the dining table, and then turned and buried its face in Jason’s shoulder. Jason’s arms came up around the kid immediately and he started murmuring reassurances that didn’t quite cover Tim’s triumphant whisper, “I was right!”

There was nothing else but a shocked silence from the rest of the table as Jason rubbed his hands gently over the sobbing kid’s back. “It’s all right, you’re all right, you’re safe, I’m here, I’ve got you,” he murmured over and over, until the trembling began to calm and the arms loosened a little. “Got a name I can call you? – Danny? Thank you, Danny. You’re doing so good. You’re safe here with me and my family. We’ll all protect you, I promise.”

The kid – Danny – looked up and around with bright green eyes at the word ‘family’. He looked like he was somewhere between Tim and Damian in age, and he had faint green tear tracks on his cheeks. No-one mentioned it.

Jason gave a weak chuckle. “Yeah, this is my family.” He lifted one hand from Danny’s back to indicate the various people around the table, in turn. “This is my dad Bruce, my brother Dick, my other brother Tim,” (“Hi Danny,” said Tim gently) “my sister Cass,” (Cass waved, smiling kindly) “and my littlest brother Damian,” (Damian gave a stiff nod). “That’s my grandpa, Alfred,” (Alfred bowed, “Welcome to our home”) “and I’m Jason, do you remember?”

“I… I think so?” Danny whispered hesitantly. “You read me stories?” he added.

“Yeah, kid, I did.” Jason smiled, tightening his arms around Danny again. “It’s good to see you up and talking. Here,” he turned Danny round to face the table. “You hungry? Anything here you fancy eating?”

Danny glanced over the table, then shook his head and turned back to Jason. “I – what if – The Guys in White, they…”

“They’re going down,” Jason promised. “As hard and as fast as we can manage it.”

Bruce managed to shake off the dual shock of a ball turning into a child at his dining table and Jason freely calling him his dad. He dropped out of his seat and crouched before Danny. “I promise you,” he confirmed, “you are safe here, and we are working to catch the people who did this to you. When you’re ready, anything you can tell us will help,” – Danny shrank back a little, and Jason tensed – “but only when you’re ready. For now, just rest and recover. Let us protect you and take care of you. And do eat something, if you can,” he added, with a smile that crinkled his eyes, not his mouth. “If you can’t eat our food, we’ll try and find you something you can eat. Alfred will be very disappointed if he can’t feed you anything.”

“Indeed, sir,” said Alfred. “And that goes for the rest of you as well,” he added, glaring at the abandoned plates. “I did not make all this food for you to ignore it in favour of staring at our guest.”

There were sheepish apologies, and everyone turned back to their food. Jason coaxed Danny, still sitting in his lap, into eating several forkfuls of mashed potato, some roast chicken, and, in due course, rather a lot of apple crumble with custard. By the end of it all, Danny was drooping.

“Right, kid, let’s get you into a bed,” said Jason.

Alfred led them upstairs to the bedroom next to Cass’s and opposite Tim’s, with a newly-made bed and a fresh towel. Neither Alfred nor Jason was quite sure how or even if the black suit came off, and the kid was almost asleep now anyway, so Jason tucked him into bed as he was. The kid curled up on his side and Jason stroked his white hair.

After a few minutes, Cass slipped in and sat on the bed beside Jason, and laid her hand gently on Danny’s shoulder. Danny didn’t stir, though he was still glowing faintly.

“I will watch him,” said Cass. “You go and talk to them.”

Jason didn’t want to leave Danny.

“You need to talk to them,” insisted Cass, and she was usually right, even if he didn’t like it, so Jason got up.

“You’ll call me if anything happens?”

“At once,” said Cass solemnly, and Jason crept out of the room, turning back in the doorway for one last look. Cass was already lying down next to Danny, and had taken over hair-stroking duties. Jason closed the door gently behind him.

Tim and Dick and Bruce were standing a little further down the hallway, talking in low voices. “– made a presentation,” Tim was saying as Jason approached. “I was going to show it to you tonight, but it doesn’t seem necessary any more.”

“We’ll watch it anyway,” Dick said reassuringly.

“Summarise it,” ordered Bruce.

Tim glanced at Jason, cheeks slightly red. “OK, so. I heard Jason a few times in the library, talking to the core or reading to it. And there wasn’t anyone else around and I figured, he wouldn’t do it if he didn’t think someone was listening. So I was trying to figure out why Jason thought there was a person in the core, and I analysed the cowl footage. When the machine came on – this is all in the slides – there was an irregular noise, above the range of human hearing, and when I modulated the frequency down it sounded like –“

“Screaming,” Jason said heavily. “A kid screaming. You didn’t hear it? You didn't feel it?” Bruce shook his head slowly and Jason stared at him for a long moment, mouth open. “You didn’t – you didn’t know?”

Bruce didn’t answer, and Jason’s face crumpled. “Oh,” he said. “But I thought –” and then his face hardened into flat anger. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought.”

He pushed past them towards the staircase, and Dick whimpered.

“Jason. Jason, no,” cried Bruce, and Jason halted; perhaps because he wanted Bruce to say he did trust him, perhaps because he didn’t want to go far from Danny.

“Listen to me, Jason,” Bruce said urgently to Jason’s back. “You’re right, I didn’t know the core was a person. But I did know that it was important, and that it was valuable, and that it needed to be kept safe. And I gave it to you in part because I could see that you knew it was important – better than me as it turns out. And knowing what I know now, I would make exactly the same decision again.”

Jason turned round, and Bruce stepped gently forward to put a hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t see it, but you did, and you did exactly what was needed. And now that child is safe and recovering because of your dedicated care. You have a big heart, Jaylad. You always did. And I am so” – he paused and hitched his breath – “so, so proud of you.”

Jason crumpled into his father’s arms.

Jason was acting strange.

Bruce was worried. It had started when the batfam investigated the hideout of a new gang in Gotham. They had attacked Jason earlier that week with strange weapons, so Batman, Nightwing and Red Hood followed them to a warehouse. They saw the men in white suits with the weapons, several vans and some sort of powersource they called a core. Batman and Nightwing were making a plan when one of the men activated the machine housing the core.

Suddenly Red Hood had gone ballistic! He attacked them recklessly, with much more force than neccesary. Nightwing had to sto him from beating one of them to death! Batman was furious. They left the men for commisioner Gordon and took some evidence to the cave. When they arrived, Jason looked shaken. Bruce wanted to scold him, but the look on Jason's face made him pause. He needed to focus on the case, but he knew he couldn't bring Jason along. So he 'benched' Jason. Thats what the Robins called it, anyway. But someone needed to guard the evidence, they had no idea what this power core even was.

He expected Jason to protest. To insult him to complain. But when Bruce told Jason to look after the core, he instead looked suprised. Really? Jason had asked. Then Jason had told Bruce he could count on him. Red flag number 1. This had confused Bruce, but if it kept Jason from following then it was fine.

Then Jason had started carrying the core everywhere. He held it in his hand, close to his chest. He stayed in the manor, wich was red flag number 2. Damian had caught him talking to the thing numerous times. Alfred had heard Jason in the library, reading a children's book out loud. Tim noticed whenever they discussed the gang of men in white suits that Jason would leave, instead of listening. Dick had even caught Jason singing softly to it! Too many red flags to count.

Bruce was worried about him. He was starting to worry about mind control! But when he had tried to confront Jason, he had cut him off. Jason told Bruce that he knew he had messed up at the warehouse, that he had gone too far. So he was really happy that Bruce had trusted him with this. After that Bruce had been too stunned to say anything about it. But they knew the problem had to be adressed. During dinner, the whole family where going to discuss this matter with Jason.

That was before the core transformed into a glowing, white haired child.

[bloomeng]

This is my official Batfam Magical Girl AU Masterpost (everyone clapped)

(image updated: 9/21/24)

I’m going to do a brief overview and then go into more details for those interested.

Bruce being from old money (and apparently being connected to Camelot) inherited a mysterious mineral with unknown properties. In its raw form it’s very unassuming, but when cut like gemstones and added to accessories it can be harnessed into a tool. By altering the mineral into a wearable item it allows the magic within to be channeled. The magic of the mineral connects with its wielder to create an outfit and (typically) a weapon. These outfits do not grant the wearer special abilities outside of the transformation and the weapon, but when worn the wearer is granted (what is basically) hammerspace and a nearly impenetrable outfit. The uniform granted is not something they can alter the appearance of but will change gradually overtime to reflect how the wielder has grown.

This mineral will henceforth be known as Arcanium. It operates on Kryptonite logic in that it’s— allegedly— super rare but also shows up whenever the plot needs it. (I’m aware it shares a name with a card game, but I wanted my Kryptonite spoof)

Martha Wayne unknowingly started the cycle by turning— what she thought was a rare gemstone�� into a brooch. She died shortly after having it made and Alfred held onto it in her memory. Like canon Bruce goes on his journey of self-exploration to train. When he comes back he enacts his plan the way he does in Batman: Year One, where he goes out in basically just make-up, and it goes poorly. He wanders his manor trying to formulate a strategy and is drawn to his parent’s room and finds his mother’s brooch. Cue the first magical girl transformation. From there he alters the brooch to fit his bat aesthetic and the Batman Brooch is born.

Dick comes into his life the same way as canon. Bruce takes him in as a ward, Dick tries to track down Zucco on his own, etc. Bruce decides to use the other raw sample of Arcanium to turn into a second magical artifact. He lets Dick pick the theme, and thus the Robin Pendant is born. The rest is history.

(Before I continue I want to warn that I’m making shit up as I go, so some of this is subject to change as I move forward.)

The Robin Pendant is passed down from Robin to Robin. Each Robin got their own unique look while using it. Following canon, Dick and Bruce have their falling out and Dick gives up the Robin Pendant in a moment of anger. In this au I think Dick, not having the pendant to fall back on, tries to lead a vigilante-free life, but of course falls back into it. During a fight he somehow manages to stumble across Arcanium in its raw form. Recognizing it he takes it with him. Like Nightwing: Year One he has his conversation with Superman and decides to become his own hero. Using his knowledge of Arcanium from his years with Bruce he creates his own magical artifact and becomes Nightwing.

This is a good place to interject that I’m not changing any of their hero names. I was asked about it a couple times due to the caption, “Red Bow & Sailor Nightwing” on my Dick and Jason designs. It was just a silly caption, because I didn’t want to simply state “Jason and Dick Magical Girl au.” But being serious, I don’t really see a reason to change their names, with the exception of maybe Red Hood, seeing as I didn’t give him a red hood. My au operates on Sailor Moon logic where despite the lack of masks no one recognizes them, and it’s just vaguely explained by magic. I think it would be funny if Bruce chose to wear a mask anyway because he’s that paranoid, but we’ll see when I actually design him. Anyway point is Red Hood is lacking a red hood, maybe he secretly has a red hood on his jacket or maybe he really does go by Red Bow, I’ll leave that up to interpretation.

Arcanium does not just accidentally appear. At the end of the day it’s still a mineral and it’s not sentient, but the magic has an element of “the wand chooses the user.” It’s not so much a “chosen one thing,” so much as the magic can sense intention. It doesn’t care about the morality of the user, the magic is more seeking a symbiotic connection. (Meaning yes rogues can in fact wield artifacts.) Simply put, it wants a host that will be able to wield it. In its raw form the magic is dormant but it seeks to be… not dormant, so when it finds those who actually have the potential to create an artifact and use it, it reveals itself. It was not a coincidence that Martha had the inclination to have the brooch made, it was not a coincidence that Bruce was drawn to his parent’s room, and it was not a coincidence that Dick found Arcanium in the alleyway.

Each of the Bats have their origin moments with their own magical artifacts. I don’t have the whole timeline down, but I will say there was a lot of drama between Tim and Damian, because Tim was forced to hand over the pendant. Even though he technically relinquished it, emotionally the connection wasn’t severed. No one was sure if the transition would work, but Arcanium responds to whoever needs it more and therefore who will use it more. Like canon, Tim is having an awful time during that era. On top of all of it he’s had his title stripped from him and he can’t even argue because if it wasn’t the right move the pendant wouldn’t have responded to Damian. Dick tries to comfort him by telling him that Arcanium will appear for him when he’s ready, but Tim is furious and impatient. So like a well-adjusted person he decides he’s going to engineer his own magical artifact artificially. It goes as well as his attempt to clone Kon does. It’s not until Tim starts to get back on his feet that Arcanium presents itself to him. My thinking is that while Arcanium finds its users when they need it most, Tim’s case is abnormal. His acquisition of the pendant was unconventional from the start since he showed up and demanded to take on the Robin role. Arcanium is drawn to individuals who will actually use its properties. Tim tends to rely more on his own detective work, which renders the pendant’s properties pretty moot. Especially when he’s going off the deep end, he becomes a hermit meaning a) he wouldn’t really need/use Arcanium’s properties and b) he inadvertently limited his own chances of stumbling across it “in the wild.”

In a similar vein I believe Barbara’s journey is abnormal in that she forged her own Batgirl artifact that operates a little differently than the others, seeing as she made it without Bruce’s influence. After the accident she shelved it, maybe she passed it down to Cass, but eventually she gets it back. She created the Oracle identity without it, and for a long time the Batgirl artifact is something she avoids using, until she gets the idea to combine it with her computer to create a magic computer… sort of. She gets a uniform that is basically connected to the computer.

Going back to Damian needing the Robin Pendant more, its reaction to his acquisition was unique. As I mentioned previously the suits typically provide a weapon, well Damian is the exception. Unlike all the other Robin’s Damian didn’t need more weapons in his life, what he needed was guidance. For the first time the pendant granted Damian a magical animal guardian, which is how he gets Alfred the Cat in this au. Despite being an animal lover Damian is extremely pissed at this development. He wanted dual swords or a scarier animal at least. He can’t formally communicate with Alfred the Cat but he understands him intrinsically, though Alfred the Cat seems to be able to understand human speech somewhat. Only Damian seems to be able to truly understand Alfred the Cat. (Cue the antics of his siblings trying to figure out what the cat means or trying to control him in any capacity.) Besides being an animal, Alfred the Cat is also unique in that he doesn’t dissipate when Damian isn’t in uniform the way that the weapons do. Like the weapons he can be summoned by the pendant, but he seems to have existed prior to the pendant’s creation. (I’m toying with the idea that while in uniform, the cat would also get some sort of uniform.)

Before I get into Duke and his abnormalities, I want to address the Speedsters in this au. It’ll make sense after.

So the Flash. I want to say I don’t know if I will get around to creating full designs for them. I do have plans for Bart and maybe Wally, but I have determined how I want their mechanics to operate in the context of the au. Not all the heroes in this au are “magical girls,” in fact I’ve made the executive decision that you have to be human to wield an artifact. Arcanium may have magic in it, but it doesn’t grant its user magical abilities beyond the uniform itself. The speedsters retain their canon origins, hit by lighting blah blah blah, only with one key difference: they had Arcanium on them when they were hit. Instead of engineering an artifact Arcanium fused with their bodies granting them powers. I want to keep the magic transformation aspect (because it’s not a magical girl au without it), so instead of using a physical artifact as a channel for their powers, it’s instead the act of transforming that serves as a gateway to their speed abilities.

To me it was always important to maintain Batman’s identity of not having super powers and having to rely on engineering, which is why the Batfam have to physically build their artifacts. In a similar way I wanted to retain the integrity of the Flash’s identity of being meta but also still human. Which brings me back to Duke. I know in canon that Duke inherited his abilities, but for the sake of the au I’ve decide that he either had an accident when he was young in which traces of Arcanium fused with him or his parents had it in them and he inherited it from them, but regardless it’s less potent, but operates similar to the Speedsters. For years he couldn’t fully transform or use his powers and it wasn’t until— with Bruce’s guidance— he was able to create an artifact that allowed him to channel his abilities and transform. Even though he is a meta I wanted him to still have some of those Batfam qualities in there.

But what about the Superfam? They’re not human so how do their transformations work? The answer is simple: They’re not “magical girls.” At least not real ones, they’re faking. They’re not human (Kon and Jon are technically half human but they still get their abilities from their Kryptonian DNA), and thus cannot forge a connection with Arcanium. Truthfully I’m about to get silly— even sillier than this au already is— but I have decided that Clark is a fake artifact wielder. I like the idea that Batman has been operating longer than Superman has, so when Clark decided to become a hero in his own right his only example of how to style himself was from the bat themed vigilante, who might as well be a cryptid, operating out of Gotham. Only blurry pictures of him existed, so Clark designed his outfit based on his Kryptonian origins and Batman’s aesthetics. He had no idea about the existence of Arcanium or how it worked. This is also why Kon’s design looks so much like his canon outfit with a few magical girl elements (and definitely not because I think the lines in his canon suit already lend themselves well to a magical girl aesthetic and didn’t want to change much). Later when he gets to know Batman more he learns about the transformations, to which he panics and invents his own transformation using Kryptonian tech (ex: MAWS’s transformation). For years Bruce goes crazy trying to figure out Arcanium’s effects on aliens and if it grants them abilities on top of the ones they’re born with, and if Clark has plans to use it as a weapon, and how he managed to forge the connection in the first place— Clark comes clean as a fake once they reveal their identities to each other.

Side tangent but I find it hilarious that Green Lanterns are— by technicality— already “magical girls,” considering they’re granted magical accessories that give them powers and transform their clothing. Hal is very clear with the JL that he is nothing like Batman and constantly feels the need to assert that he is not a magical artifact wielder. The non-human members of the team still lump them together anyway.

Things I haven’t figured out:

- what each of the batfam’s weapons are

- what each of the magical artifacts are

- what to refer to magical artifact wielders as

Stepping outside the canon(?) lore of the au for a minute, obviously I’m redesigning DC characters using inspiration from a genre, because that’s what “magical girl” is. It’s a genre. This is why I refer to it in quotes and don’t call them magical boys, because I am always referring to it as a genre, which isn’t a gendered thing. However, in universe they wouldn’t call themselves magical anything, the same way the characters of Sailor Moon don’t refer to themselves as magical girls, but rather Sailor Scouts. As of right now I’m sort of just referring to them as artifact wielders, but I feel like Bruce would come up with a better name. On a similar note, throughout this whole thing I’ve been referring to Arcanium in it’s wearable state as an artifact. I don’t know if that’s the best term, but I can’t think of anything better for the generalized form of Arcanium outside of it’s raw state. For now I guess it will be “artifacts” and “artifact wielders.”

- how the wonderfam fits into this

I really can’t think of a reason why Wonder Woman would be a “magical girl” in this au. She was born with abilities, she’s not human, and I can’t see her altering her uniform to match the aesthetic. A transformation would just be a waste of time for her. I could to see maybe Cassie or Donna wanting to match with their respective teams, and perhaps maybe that’s why they would alter their uniforms? All I know is I want see Tim, Kon, Bart and Cassie as a matching “magical girl set.”

Fin… for now.

[I’m just going to put this here preemptively, because I’ve gotten messages about turning my au into fics or tiktok skits. You’re free to use this lore HOWEVER you MUST credit me not just for the designs but for the creation of the lore. I’ve put a lot of time and thought into this and I love that people love it, so I just ask for recognition. If you want to make something that’s inspired by my designs or loosely based on my au, just a simple credit for the inspiration is fine. You’re free to change things this is just how my own au operates. Regardless I would prefer to be tagged so that people can find me but also because I’d love to see other’s work.]

Current designs: