#or Batman and THEN show and express his emotions and care for his kids?

[rhinexstone]

Personally I find it SO funny in Young Justice that Black Manta is actually a really good dad to Kaldur’ahm. Is he evil? Yes. But does he want his son to be an honest individual who owns up to his mistakes, whom he cherishes and goes to the literal ends of the earth to ensure the health and safety of? Also yes. It’s giving dare I say a more successful Dr Doofenshmirtz.

[luxaofhesperides]

a safe place to rest - duke

(part 3 of the harmless series)

Although he hears about the baby, Duke doesn't get to meet her for a few days.

He does meet someone else though: Danny.

"You need anything before I go?"

He doesn't want to leave Danny alone in the Hatch. Not out of mistrust or anything, but because he's sure that the moment he looks away, Danny's going to disappear again. It took so long just to convince him to take a moment to breathe, to rest and recover from whatever he's gone through.

There's a frantic sort of energy surrounding Danny that has his aura all messed up, which is the only reason Duke decided against letting anyone else know that he found Danny.

He got the basic rundown from the night shift, but he hadn't had time to look more into it before Danny was crashing into him during his day patrol, eyes wide and wild and looking like his world had just ended.

"You," Danny had gasped, "You're with—Batman? Please, take these." And he shoved a bag against Duke's chest.

He had to react fast to grab it, and then grab Danny when he all but collapsed against him.

Now, he sits on top of the spare bed Duke set up in the Hatch, pale and tired and quietly devastated. "I'm fine," he insists. "You don't need to do anything for me."

Duke frowns. "Uh, I absolutely do, you think I'm just gonna leave you to fend for yourself? Come on, man, that's not how I do things."

"You don't owe me anything."

"Obviously not. It's not about owing things. I'm doing this because you need help and I can give it."

"I can take care of myself," Danny says firmly, and Duke holds back a sigh. Yeah, this guy really is Batman's kid. Horrible self-care habits and all.

"You don't gotta, though. You get that, right? You can take one day off and just rely on me to take care of you until you're back on your feet."

"No."

Duke tries to shove his emotions down, to stay neutral and calm. This is a guy who came crashing into their lives, shoving a baby into Damian's arms, and then vanishing. This is a guy who's gone through way too much on his own. Of course he's not going to trust anyone. Duke knows well how heavy everything becomes when it feels like the world's against him. He can give Danny grace.

"Okay. Just so you know, I'm asking to be polite. I'm still going to grab some extra clothes for you, and a homemade meal, so you just stay here and get some sleep. We'll talk more when I get back from delivering all this to Batman." He lifts the bag Danny gave to him for emphasis, then pins the guy down with a hard stare. "You better be here when I get back, or I am going to have no one to show baby pictures to."

"…You're gonna check on Ellie?"

The clear concern and desperation in Danny's expression make him soften. "Yeah, man. I'll check on her and let you know how she's doing. That's why you gotta be here when I get back. Got it?"

Danny bites his lip, then nods slowly. "Yeah. Got it. Thank you."

"Get some sleep."

Duke pulls the door shut, setting the alarm system to quietly alert him if anyone goes in or out while he's not in the Hatch. There's a first aid kit on the table and some water bottles as well, but it's not going to be enough to really help Danny start to recover. Duke takes a moment to curse his past self for not better stocking his crash room for emergency visitors, but in his defense, he isn't in the habit of bringing anyone back to the Hatch, not even other Bats, when the Batcave is more suited for handling lots of people.

Well, it's something to work on in the future.

He doesn't get more than a few steps away when he hears the door opening behind him and looks back to see Danny poking his head out.

"Hey, before you go…"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Can you maybe not tell anyone I'm here? I'm assuming you know who I am, since you know Ellie."

"Yeah, your Batman's first lost kid, right? Trust me, I've heard of you."

Danny winces. "Great. Figures. I just really need to not deal with all of them right now, so if you could keep all this quiet…"

Duke looks him over, takes in the paleness of his skin, how worryingly thin he is, the dark half-moons stamped under his eyes, and promptly decides then and there that the rest of the world is going to have to go through him to even think about going near Danny. It's a complicated situation he's in and if he needs time to prepare himself for meeting everyone else, who Duke knows from personal experience can be a lot, then Duke is going to make sure he has all the time he needs.

"You got it man. They won't hear a thing about this from me. I'll lock everyone else out of here, too, so you can rest easy. They ain't getting in here to bother you while I'm still around."

"Thank you," Danny says again, sagging against the doorframe. "I'm��� I really need to sleep."

"Go crash," Duke says softly. "I can take care of things until you wake up."

Bruce is the only person in the Batcave when Duke arrives. He's bent over the Batcomputer, head in his hands, when Duke parks his motorcycle and heads for the stairs to meet him on the upper level. He keeps his footsteps purposefully loud so Bruce can track him as he makes his way over, Danny's bag slung over his shoulder.

"Rough night?" he asks, just to get the conversation started.

"Yes," Bruce sighs. "There have been a number of—changes."

"Oh. Good changes or bad changes?"

Bruce lifts his head as he considers the question, then rubs his temple. "Unclear. It's nice to see everyone working together for Ellie, but I'm—concerned."

"About what?"

"About Ellie. And everyone. And Danny."

Duke leans his weight against the desk and lets the bag drop off his shoulder, then holds it out to Bruce. "Well. I dunno if this will make things any better, but Danny threw this at me while I was on patrol. I took a quick look through it and, uh. It's kinda rough. It's what he went through and how Ellie was created."

Bruce snatches the bag from his hand and immediately begins rooting through it. "Is Danny—?"

"He vanished as soon as I grabbed the bag. I think he's got a few loose ends to tie up before he feels comfortable being here again."

"What did you think of him?"

Duke looks at Bruce, looks at the papers in his hands, and thinks of Danny. "I think he needs someone in his corner. I think we gotta lot to do to make the world safer for him and Ellie. I think he's been scared for a very long time."

Nothing in Bruce's expression changes, and there's no shift in his aura, his emotions tightly locked up as always. But Duke hasn't gotten this far without learning how to see the little things: Bruce's grip on the bag tightens, his feet shift farther apart, as though he's ready to leap up at a moment's notice, and his shoulders slump just slightly under the heavy weight of all the things he refuses to share.

Sighing, Duke tilts his head to look at Bruce more closely. "Why are you down here? It's the middle of the day."

"I'm researching."

A hand loosely gesturing to the large screen of the Batcomputer has Duke turning to see what Bruce has been so occupied with.

It's not case files, as he expected. It's not even research into Danny and what happened to him.

All that's there is PDFs upon PDFs of child psychology papers and essays on recovering from trauma and research on various methods to help children with failure to thrive and malnutrition and neglect.

There's also, in one window, different safety ratings of baby cribs.

Well. Let it be known that Bruce's love language is information.

"Cool. Have you spent any time with anyone since a baby got dropped in your lap?"

Bruce's silence is extremely telling.

Duke briefly considers trying to get Bruce to go upstairs, but he knows better than to pick a losing battle. Especially after he's handed him information on Danny.

At some point, Bruce will have to go upstairs, if only to eat. He's getting old, and his body can't quite keep going like it used to. Duke will let him deal with the consequences of his own actions, or lack of action, when that time comes. He's not a mediator or peace-keeper. Duke has other pressing matters to attend to.

Taking pictures of the baby for Danny is definitely more important than navigating the minefield of family tensions and miscommunications ever present with the Waynes.

Duke reaches out and claps a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "Don't get so caught up in getting all the pieces together that you forget to actually spend time with family. They're gonna need you now more than ever," he says, and waits until Bruce meets his eyes and gives a resolute nod before Duke stands and heads for the stairs that will take up him to the manor.

The sooner he gets back to Danny, the better.

Ellie is cute.

This isn't a surprise. Most babies are cute, and Ellie is no exception.

What Duke hadn't been expecting is how protective Damian is of her, or how everyone else orbits around the two, just on the edge of hovering. Damian's prickly personality is well known, so the rest of the Waynes have taken to acting like cats: always on the same floor, ready to pop in should they be needed, but otherwise out of sight.

"Thomas," Damian greets quietly. Ellie is asleep in the baby wrap keeping her secure against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. Damian lowers his paintbrush, turning to give Duke his full attention.

Duke takes a hesitant step into Damian's studio, then walks up to him once he isn't hissed at to leave.

"So this is our newest troublemaker, huh?" he says, looking down at Ellie. "How's she doing?"

She's so small. Her head has some black hair on it, but it barely covers her ears.

Damian lays his brush down on the easel. "She's doing much better now that she's getting regular meals and care. She still doesn't make much noise. It is… concerning."

The raw fear and care in his gaze is what makes the words tumble out of Duke's mouth. "I have some news about Danny."

If anyone deserves to know about him, it's his little brother.

Damian's gaze snaps up to Dukes, a fierce light in them, and his hands raise to hold Ellie tightly. "What is it?"

"He gave me a bag while I was patrolling, then left. I looked through it before giving it to B, and it's all… I only read the papers, not anything on the flashdrives, but Danny went through some awful shit. He was captured and experimented on by some group called NOVA. They had him for some time doing tests before he was put in isolation for acting out. And then he kinda… went into a death-like stasis. They did more tests and took some bio-material from him to try to figure out how he was surviving in stasis, and used that to make Ellie with the genes of one of the other captured metas. Danny was in stasis for around seven years."

Reading about it, learning about what Danny went through made Duke's stomach turn. It was like something out of a nightmare. Duke knows the fears metas have to live with; he carries it too, a weight he can never put down.

There's a reason civilian metas try to keep their powers a secret. Metas go for a high price on the black market, are at a higher risk of human trafficking, are seen as the best test subjects by unethical scientists wanting to find some way to replicate those powers in other people or in weapons.

Summarizing the horrors Danny had to experience leaves a bitter taste on his tongue. The silence in the studio stretches long enough for Duke to regret opening his mouth. Damian's still a teenager. He may have had a different upbringing and be able to stomach what most people can't, but this is still his brother. Anyone would be rattled hearing about this.

Then, without a word, Damian stands. He storms out of the studio, leaving Duke to catch the stool he was sitting on before it hits the ground and wakes Ellie.

When he goes to catch up with Damian, the kid is already walking into another room, tension in every line of his body.

"Richard," he snaps quietly, and Duke watches as Dick pops up from where he was lounging on the floor on one of the softest rugs in the manor.

"Dami? What's wrong?"

Damian doesn't answer, just unwraps the baby sling and carefully passes a still sleeping Ellie over to Dick.

"Damian," Dick tries again, his voice hardening, demanding an answer even as he adjust Ellie in his arms to make sure she can continue sleeping comfortably.

"I need to speak with Father," Damian answers shortly. "I will be gone for some time. I am entrusting her to you."

Dick glances at Duke, who tries not to look too stressed or tense. He doesn't think it works.

Reaching out, Dick puts a hand on Damian's head, managing to ruffle his hair for a few seconds before Damian steps away, batting at his hand with a scowl. "Alright," Dick says, "But I'm sending someone to get you for dinner if you're not back by then."

Damian nods, then turns on his heel and leaves for Bruce's office.

Neither of them move until they're sure that Damian is out of earshot.

"What was that about?" Dick asks, lowering himself down onto the rug again, one hand rubbing small circles against Ellie's back.

Duke sighs. "You'll find out soon. Just... chill for now and let me get some cute baby pictures."

Dick, as he finds out, is actually pretty good at helping Duke get the cutest pictures of Ellie.

And when Ellie blinks her little blue eyes open, Duke's heart melts and he understands how she's got everyone wrapped around her fingers.

NOVA, whatever remains of them, is going to regret ever hurting Danny and Ellie.

Danny is asleep when Duke returns. He sleeps through the night, and when Duke wakes up early the next morning to make sure he hasn't disappeared, Danny remains motionless in his bed.

Is he in stasis again? Duke wonders, panicked, as he rushes into his crash room and gently shakes Danny, trying to wake him up.

It takes a few tries before Danny lets out a soft noise in the back of his throat. He turns his face into the pillow, then abruptly tenses up and shoots out of bed. In a blink, Danny's on the other side of the room, flying up to the ceiling where Duke can't easily reach him.

Hands up, palms open, Duke says, "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. How're you feeling?"

Danny sucks in a few deep breaths before he slowly floats down to the floor. His eyes are still too wide and there's a faint tremble in his hands. "Fine," he answers blankly.

"Up for eating something? I did promise you food and baby pictures."

Unsurprisingly, it's the mention of Ellie that gets Danny moving and brings some light back to his eyes. He follows Duke out into the main room of the Hatch. There's not really a kitchen in here, but there is a fridge and a microwave, which is enough for now.

One of his workstations has been cleared off and now has chairs around it to turn it into a makeshift dining table. On it, Duke's left a tupperware of French toast, made the way he remembers his dad making them when he was a kid, and as well as a store-bought container of cut fruit.

It's not really a lot, but it's what he could do on a short notice.

Danny takes a seat, and Duke settles in on the other side of the table, pulling out his phone to flip through the many pictures he took of Ellie.

Duke keeps up a light commentary as Danny slowly eats, sharing little stories about the Waynes and all the nonsense they get up to. That turns into sharing stories about the stupid shit he and his friends gets into, followed by some of the weirdest things criminals have done to try to get away from him, including the one that said 'nuh-uh!' when Duke said carjacking is the lamest crime to commit in Gotham.

That story gets Danny to smile, and it takes way too much effort to keep from celebrating it.

All the while, Danny slowly looks through each photo of Ellie, making sure she's okay. He looks so fond and sad that it's breaking Duke's heart, and he swears to himself then and there that he's going to do whatever he can to reunite them.

"Don't you have hero things to do?" Danny asks. It's the first thing he's said since they both sat down.

Duke shrugs. "Nah, not right now. Gotham can wait. You're my priority right now."

"You don't have to—"

"Nope. If you don't want anyone else to know you're here, then you're gonna have to deal with me."

Danny squints at him. "You're both very chill and very stubborn."

"It's the only way I was able to survive working with the other Bats."

"They sound… interesting."

"You can say they're a hot mess," Duke laughs. "But hey, who isn't?" He watches as Danny pushes around the last half of the French toast around the tupperware and straightens up from where he was leaning on the table. "Want me to put that up for you? You can finish it later."

Danny looks down at his plate, then slowly nods. "Yeah. Sorry."

"No worries. You went through some shit. It's not surprising that you don't have much of an appetite." Duke reaches over the table to pop the lid back on the tupperware, then stands to put it in the fridge.

When he turns back, Danny is no longer visible.

Or, at least, his physical body isn't visible. Duke can still easily see his aura, a vibrant green that has streaks of white moving through it like a current of water, which leaves an outline of his body. Danny is also trying to sneak out of the Hatch.

"Oh," he says, "I didn't know you had invisibility. That's pretty cool. I can still see you, by the way."

Danny becomes visible again, glaring at Duke.

"That's such a Batman move," Duke grins, "I should have expected it."

"What was a Batman move?"

"Sneaking away as soon as I turned around. B does that all the time with the Commish. And everyone else, honestly. Though, to be fair, we all do it because we all learned from him. Yeah, you'll have no trouble fitting in with us."

"I don't think what I'm doing should count, since I'm using powers."

"Dude, watch this."

Duke makes sure Danny's looking at him, then bends the light around him to hide him from view. He can see the exact moment Danny realizes he's vanished when his eyes go wide and he takes a few steps closer.

"Signal?"

"Still here," Duke reassures. "Haven't moved an inch." Then he releases his grip on the light around his head, a fun little trick he figured out a few years ago that makes it look like he's a floating, decapitated head. The goons always love that one.

Danny looks at his head. Looks at his invisible body. Then looks back to his head. "That is freaky," he says, a slow smile dawning across his face. "I can do that too."

And sure enough, Danny's body becomes invisible, save for the outline of it in his aura, and now there's just two floating heads in the Hatch.

He's not sure who cracks first, but in no time, they're laughing like everything's alright. Danny's expression brightens and suddenly he's years younger, all the stress falling off his shoulders in the face of their mirth. Like this, he could be any other guy in one of Duke's classes, talking nonsense just to pass the time, quick to laugh and without a care in the world.

This is what he wants for Danny.

This ease, this calm, this lightness in his heart: Duke will keep them safe for Danny.

If nothing else, Duke can be a safe place to land for another meta who needs, more than anything, someone willing to be there for him.

(masterpost for all parts)

[gunnrblze]

Random Logan Walker hc’s ≧◡≦

➤chronic eye roller. eyes probably strain from how often he rolls them cause he’s soooo sassy

➤either comes off as quite silly goofy, or silent and menacing. 😹👍🏻 or🧍🏼‍♂️😐

➤doesn’t have a buzzed head like Hesh, just a short choppy trim underneath his mask

➤sandy/dirty blonde hair^

➤skateboarded as a kid with Hesh, and has impeccable balance because of it. Could probably do that rope walking stuff (tightrope? idk what it’s called)

➤his favorite person on the team aside from Hesh is actually Merrick. Looks up to/admires him a lot

➤was into/likes photography and can actually take pretty great photos, but most of them got destroyed when ODIN hit

➤smiles wide. big ole grin type of dude

➤definitely was a mamas boy. Elias has said that Logan reminds him of their mother, and I think they were very very close

➤the type that weirdly doesn’t smell all that bad when he sweats, very neutral odor lol

➤could write a dissertation on why Batman is the best superhero of all time (Hesh heavily disagrees and thinks it’s Superman, many arguments have occurred)

➤bisexual

➤didn’t necessarily want to go military and probably wouldn’t of, had ODIN and all that not happened the way it did

➤a crier, in the sense that he’s not afraid to show his emotions. was raised to express himself and told the importance of not bottling his emotions up. he does sometimes struggle with letting himself though, mainly around other people

➤despite his love/care for Riley, he is mainly a cat person

➤sci fi enjoyer

[umbrellacam]

Reading A Lonely Place of Dying is so interesting in so many ways, but the question I'm still rotating in my mind is about Dick, and specifically why he ends up smiling and soft-advocating for Tim to be Bruce's Robin, after he had his morality crisis over young heroes with Jason's death.

So when he finds out about Jason's death, Dick feels guilty over giving Jason his Robin costume and not being there when he died:

New Teen Titans #55

To the extent that, later in the same issue, he unilaterally fires 15-year-old Danny Chase from the Titans, over Donna and Kory's objections, citing what happened to Jason. He even expresses doubt over his own young age when he became Robin, wondering whether that was a mistake:

New Teen Titans #55

However, when Dick visits Bruce in Gotham to both express his condolences over Jason's death and also confront him over not telling Dick about it, he explicitly rejects Bruce's implication of blame:

New Teen Titans #55

And later, when the Gargoyle is mentally torturing him over his past failures to the Titans, to Bruce, and Jason, Dick breaks through his self-blame issues and firmly asserts that there was nothing he could have done to prevent Jason's death.

Secret Origins (Vol. 2) #3

But understanding his lack of blame logically isn't the same as being totally past it, as it's part of Dick's larger cycle of guilt, as he acknowledges to his therapist:

The New Titans #57

So how does Dick get from here, still wrestling with guilt and feeling ambivalent about the idea of young heroes as a whole, to the end of A Lonely Place of Dying, where he smiles and basically urges Bruce to give Tim a chance to become Robin?

Like, yes, Dick then spends the entirety of Batman: Year Three worried about Bruce's tenuous mental state after Jason's death, reaching out to him in the midst of Batman's reckless, violent spiral, trying to both express care and to call his mentor and hero back to his foundations of crime-fighting through careful detective work, not through brutality - and getting rejected by Bruce over and over. Even while being proud of Dick's methods and the hero he's grown into, Bruce just can't seem to pull himself out of his own morass of self-destruction. Dick eventually has to leave him to it, though he clearly hasn't stopped worrying about Bruce by the start of ALPoD.

Yes, Tim impresses Dick multiple times over the course of ALPoD. First at the circus with his reflexes and his quick thinking (apparently almost as much as he irritates and baffles Dick with his stubborn evasiveness and pushy presumption, lol this total gremlin). Then at Wayne Manor when Tim goes through his deduction of Batman's and Robin's identities, although this one is more an implication through Dick's decision to show Tim the Cave immediately afterward, and Alfred's words to Tim.

Batman #441

And yet Alfred's sentiment here is immediately contradicted when Tim insistently pushes the Robin costume at Dick, and Dick gets pissed off, saying that, "When Jason died, he took Robin with him. And no matter how much anybody may want it - you can't bring back the dead."

The New Titans #61

How does Dick go from this to accepting Tim as the new potential Robin all of two issues later!! This boy's emotions are so mixed up, lol.

I feel like while Dick is clearly angered by Tim's presumptions, kind of baffled and creeped-out by the sort of parasocial fixation Tim has on both Bruce/Batman and Dick/Robin, below the surface he's also genuinely absorbing Tim's driving love and care for them both. Like, he's way too ticked off to show it or even think of it consciously at the moment - and it's hard to process!! despite that day at Haly's Circus tying them together a decade ago, this kid is a rando, it's out of nowhere, it's wild to be confronted with!! - but on some level he has to be touched by Tim's care and passion for their legacy. He wouldn't make his heel-turn later and smile at Tim so approvingly otherwise.

Like, Dick wants Bruce to have a partner that cares for him that much, that forces him to care for himself in a way that he clearly hasn't been since Jason's death. And Dick is both afraid and aware that he can't fill that role anymore - that he can try to stand beside Batman as Nightwing and support him that way, but he can't stand behind Bruce in his protective shadow again, can't cramp himself back into Robin.

So even as Dick is making line-faces at this bizarre kid pushing himself at them, talking about Jason and Dick and Bruce and what Batman needs like he knows better than Dick, UGH… Dick is also considering… is maybe moved a bit by that star-bright conviction and overflowing love in the face of all the doubts that seem to plague both Bruce and Dick lately… is maybe hoping, seeing a possible light in the dark. Not on a conscious level, perhaps, but it's maybe churning below the surface with everything else Dick is thinking about.

Anyway, Dick still tracks Batman down and tries being a supportive partner as Nightwing, even going "I'm here. Always," when Batman finally brings himself to admit that he needs help. Only to IMMEDIATELY run face-first into Bruce's control issues and post-Jason-disregarding-orders trauma - "You're not with the Titans now. If you want to be with me, you follow my orders. Now do as I say." (The New Titans #61) Oof, instant I'm-NIGHTWING-not-ROBIN friction, but Dick swallows it for now.

Then Two-Face blows up a building on top of both of them, and Tim (and Alfred!) have to rescue them both. By the time that they've been dug out, Alfred and Dick are both praising Tim's potential to a very baffled and alarmed, verging on angry, Batman lol. Dick and Alfred then grin at each other while young Tim struggles against his intimidation and argues the tremendously (and understandably!) reluctant Batman to a standstill.

Batman #442

As they drive away afterward (Bruce, Dick and Tim in the Batmobile to track down Two-Face - using the tracker Tim planted on him, good job Timmy!! - and Alfred toward home in a separate car), we get the following thought-bubbles:

Bruce: Even if he's right, I don't want another partner. Dick: Bruce, for once, think with your heart, not with cold logic. Tim: He doesn't want me, but he hasn't said no. So just do your best… Alfred: …One way or another, the rest will take care of itself.

Batman #442

"Think with your heart, not with cold logic" - so does Dick's line here mean that this is what he himself is doing at this point? Setting aside his logic, his fears and reservations about young heroes, about Jason's death, about putting another young boy in the Robin costume - because Tim joining them, maybe becoming Bruce's new partner, feels right? Because everything that Tim has shown of himself so far means the kid deserves a chance, at least? Because Bruce's caution after Jason's death would mean that he'll make sure to 'do it right this time'? Because Tim's passion and conviction could be what Batman needs, and - maybe as much if not more than that - could be something that deserves to be nurtured into something great, despite Dick's own (and Bruce's) fears?

Because Dick has to be wrestling with and at least quelling (if not fully letting go of) his fears about the risks to young heroes in these issues, it doesn't make sense for him to be okay with Tim as Robin otherwise. And it can't all be about what use Tim could be to Bruce - the leash he could put on Batman's out of control behavior. That's far too selfish and manipulative as a sole motive for Dick Grayson; especially after Jason, he wouldn't encourage a kid to jump into the meat-grinder of vigilantism solely to save Bruce or preserve the legacy of Batman & Robin.

I feel like Dick has to also be seeing something in Tim here, his potential, his determination, the good that he can and wants desperately to do, that Dick has to respect, has to think deserves a shot. When Alfred goes, "The boy should be a politician!" and Dick replies, "He'd do more good with Bruce," (Batman #442; panels above), it does feel like he's thinking of the difference Tim himself could make in the world. Dick has to be remembering why he himself could not be put off from the vigilante life when he was even younger than Tim, why Jason also went out there and did his best every night. To help people, in a way that mattered.

Anyway, Tim also puts in a good showing when they confront Two-Face, despite giving Bruce a near heart-attack over this strange unfamiliar boy wearing his son's uniform when Tim briefly appears to have been crushed - only for him to have saved himself and warned Batman and Nightwing of danger through his quick thinking.

Afterward, Alfred and Dick both advocate for Tim, so Dick is clearly pulling for Tim to be given a chance. Dick's smile here, my heart.

Batman #442

I still wish they'd been a little more explicit with the turn of Dick's mindset here, but at the same time I guess it's pretty effective as show-not-tell!

All in all, I feel like ALPoD was very effective storytelling, well done Marv, hugely enjoyable read, and I can't wait to read more.

[kheta]

Rok Soo Wayne??? Wayne Rok Soo???

Don't have much to say to this just: Tim Drake and Kim Rok Soo would hate each other, on account of being the same sort of control freak, over-planning, under-sharing asshole. And I was thinking about them hating each other but causing the same brand of unmitigated, morally dubious chaos and then I thought to my self.... Huh... Rok Soo is a dark haired orphan with a tragic back story, a love for money and a tendency towards costumed vigilantism. And then: Bruce Wayne adopts KRS??? And yeah it could be Bruce adopts lil kid KRS who is still too smart for his own good, but is a weedy little shit who can't fight to save his own life and cares so much about people. Rok Soo who can't emote for shit but proves, in ways that baffle emotionally incompetent Bruce to his core, that he still loves and cares for people deeply, beyond what he can express. Like lil baby Rok Soo who knows Bruce is Batman, who doesn't hide from this knowledge but also very firmly keeps himself away from the nightlife because his brand of self-preservation is usually pretty good. (Until it really, really isn't...) Rok Soo who schemes and has dollar signs for eyes and who indulges in the one form of love Bruce is 100% comfortable showing and utilising (Gift Giving|| Get that bag Rok Soo!) Very cute dynamic, I admit. But I think it just. Would be 100% better if KRS was adopted but also still like. A full grown adult. Because Buff Bruce and Buff Rok Soo giving Brucie puppy eyes for some more money? And Bruce thinking he's finally got a child who won't give him a heart attack, just for Rok Soo to set bombs off with Red Robin bc someone was being a bit too creepy about Damian in their presence. And Rok Soo looking like the tankest of tanks, but still being the weakest in the BatFam because like...He trained to survive, these fuckers relish in this chaos. Idk man I just think it would be a funny, cute lil thing.

[confused-wanderer]

Fanfic writers, please show Jason and Dick’s turmoil towards Bruce. It doesn’t matter if the writings fluff or angst, I just want to see realistic repercussions of their time with Bruce.

Obviously, he was not the best father by a long shot. Hell, he never even knew how to parent, teach or take care of children, he just wanted to help. But the road to hell is usually paved by good intentions.

Bruce would’ve fucked up a LOT with Dick, never knowing when to be cautious or straightforward, kind or angry, especially to someone who’s suffered almost exactly like he had. Someone who’s seen his parents die, his world shatter and now is filled with vengeance and trauma. Someone who needs his attention, even on stupid matters while he’s going through his own battles of staring out as batman.

With Jason, he must’ve had a whole NEW problem. Jason’s experience on the streets, his niche triggers and responses to some mundane activities or phrases, Dick’s hatred towards him and Jason while also trying to make sure this one doesn’t get himself killed. With fear and frustration comes anger, and cold logic so I’m pretty sure there must’ve been a few instances to say the least where Bruce retorts with something out of anger or trying to get Jason to realise just how serious things are, only realising too late how much it affected him.

I want their hesitation and fear portrayed. How Dick hesitates to tell Bruce something about a topic that was sensitive when he was younger. The way he holds his breath, waiting for the onslaught of lectures and scoldings, or how he laments on something like “God I’m so careless how could I have missed that?” Which would have previously been met with “You are no detective, you need to do better, this could cost you your life.” But instead hears “it’s okay, we all make mistakes. You’ll get it next time, maybe a few practice rounds would help.”

How Jason gives up hopes of communicating with Bruce at all after the arguments they’d had in his childhood over everything and nothing. How nowadays he doesn’t speak much at all, and always answers in curt sentences, thinking Bruce would not have the time, care about unimportant details or not approve of activities. It’s why he hesitates on the edge of a panic attack or needs help to call Bruce, always keeping it as the last resort. But instead of hearing “I always told you to be careful” or “You could’ve avoided this..” he hears “How does it feel chum? I know it hurts, but how can I help?”

Because when Tim came, let’s be honest he saw Robin as a job. He didn’t give a flying fuck and thus remained relatively unaffected by Bruce. Not to mention with two robins, and Tim being Tim, Bruce could never really pick on things to actually hurt him. In time, sure he gradually saw Bruce as a father figure and they got closer, he still has a lesser fear and knowledge of Bruce’s behaviour.

Just a fic which shows Bruce trying, changing and not realising just how some things he did or said fucked up his children. How he tries to understand why, for the life of him, Dick never really talks about what’s really bothering him, or how he can help, or really anything about his life that he genuinely enjoys. Bruce lives for conversations with Jason, and keeps trying to remain upbeat and patient while he prompts conversations every time because he doesn’t understand why Jason has become just as quiet, if not more than how talkative and expressive he was as Robin.

Shit happened, and there’s nothing he can do to fix that, he knows that. But he doesn’t know what actions or words of his are actually ingrained in their minds. He doesn’t remember the emotional extent of how bad some things seemed. He might remember being strict with Dick, but he doesn’t remember how he had once told Dick that he would never feel the happiness like he did with his parents before when the kid had come crying to him on the anniversary of his parents shooting saying how much it hurts. He recalls being harsh with Jason when he had done incredibly reckless things trying to find his biological mother. He doesn’t remember telling Jason that maybe it’s a good thing that his mother doesn’t want to see him.

All I’m saying- Give me a fic in which through something, supervillain, mental breakdown - something that makes Bruce have that moment of realisation of how, no matter his intentions, feelings or context, he’s responsible for their fear of him. I want to see how he reacts to this revelation, his moments of panic, guilt and horror when he realises just how badly he fucked up. How he desperate starts trying to change himself, how he slowly tries to start building relations and starts being more patient, caring and considerate..because he truly loves his children, and he misses them.

[louff4tw]

"I bet it’s been a long time since someone genuinely told Bruce they loved him. That’s so sad"

WHY DO YOU RIP OUT MY HEART AND STOMP ON IT LIKE THIS???

#I swear the only one that loved Bruce was Tim

Can you expand on this, if you don't mind?? I love Bruce and Tim stuff, but there's almost nothing in the fandom unfortunately.

I rip others hearts out cause it ripped mine out!

When I first realized this it broke me. Bruce never got the help or comfort he needed growing up after his parents died. Alfred like I said in the original didn’t feel it was his place. And Bruce most likely spent a LOT of time alone. Stewing in his emotions. Never letting himself move forward from their death cause it was so traumatizing. And he’s a genius. He has great memory. He can’t even forget.

What he needed was for Alfred to hug him. Tell him he loved him. And that everything was gonna be okay along with therapy. But he didn’t. Alfred kept his distance. He was there but not really THERE if that makes sense. I can picture Bruce self destructing heavily during his teen years and when he originally runs away to train I bet part of him didn’t even want to go back to that big cold house.

Bruce doesn’t blame Alfred for this but I know it’s a regret of Alfred’s. It’s in a comic somewhere where it’s showing him catching young Bruce/Dick crying and in the Bruce side he’s left along. And with Dick he goes and comforts him and in his thoughts says he won’t make the same mistake twice.

Bruce and Alfred will make sure Dick doesn’t turn out like Bruce. Broken.

And I don’t doubt Dick loved Bruce but he carrys a lot of guilt with that cause he feels like he’s replacing his dad. It’s probably part of the reason he left. Bruce tried to get Dick to stop being Robin cause he was shot. So he left and became Nightwing. And for the longest time refused to even see why Bruce did that. Or even talk to him

Jason tho is completely different. He didn’t have much to begin with. He literally lived a fairy tale rescue of being Robin. He’s probably one of the ones that loved Bruce the most and thought Robin was magic, but when he died everything change. He suffered a severe trauma himself and became angry (people say he was the angry Robin but that was actually Dick) like Dick he refused to see why Bruce didn’t kill the Joker (tho I don’t think anyone told him Bruce tried) that if Bruce kills the joker he knows it won’t end with the Joker. Bruce is mentally unstable and Bruce knows that. And even in the iterations where he somewhat comes back. He’s still off with Bruce. While treating Alfred like he’s the only good thing there and why he comes back,

Damian I can understand why he never said it. It’s probably never been said to him. Same with Jason in a way. But much worse also. He was trained not to feel and it’s because of Dick (cause Batman was missing) that he is as open as he is. Cause Dick wanted to be more emotionally available then Bruce. So he sorta teaches that to Damian. And I’m happy about that cause it needed to happen. Damian tho will always prefer Dick to Bruce for that same reason. Cause Bruce has trouble expressing it due to his upbringing and Dick technically had the best childhood till he was 8 so more stable then the rest. Damian after Bruce returned once said he wished Bruce was still Dead. Cause Dick went back to Bludhaven and he had trouble communicating with Bruce.

Tim is different then the rest. They all were taken in and became Robin. I’m not gonna say he let them cause we all know Bruce actually had no say in that. Tim didn’t even initially want to approach Bruce. He came to Dick and tried to say Bruce was self destructing and Dick who was also grieving denied helping in that matter. So Tim took things into his own hands. He wanted to help Bruce and Save him from himself before he became someone he was not. A villain. Cause he was heading that way.

He basically kicked the front door in and was like “bitch it’s a intervention” and he sorta forced his way in and helped Bruce. He saved him and made him want to live again.

A lot of people say Tim got the worst version of Bruce. How Bruce never cared about Tim. How Bruce was way to hard on Tim. And they need to Remember. Tim came to Bruce. Bruce literally didn’t want him around at first cause he was grieving. That Bruce only pushed Tim away at first cause he was terrified. Tim didn’t want to be adopted so he even made up a fake uncle and hired a actor. Despite the fact Tim actually did want to be taken in. He was just scared. And Bruce was hard on him cause he literally watched one of his kids died. So he wanted to make sure Tim was prepared. I don’t believe Tim would have said he loved him out loud. But. I do believe he is the one that loves Bruce the most (platonically I should clarify for the weirdos out there) and Bruce loves him to. He saved Bruce. TWICE! Once from himself and once from Time.

I accidentally clicked the font thing on mobile oops.

And Bruce won’t pick favourites and he’s happy to have them all in his Life (but there will always be a special bond between him and Bruce) especially cause they are so alike in intelligence

But it sucks that no one (not count the ladies he’s been with ) has told him they loved him in any complicity even tho they do but will show it to Alfred. Who is the reason Bruce is so damaged. And don’t get me wrong I love Alfred but Damn. I can picture the first time Alfred says it to Bruce. He’s badly hurt. They aren’t sure he’s gonna make it and he whispers it to Bruce.

I do know one person who will be the one to say it and mean it. Superman. He has canonically said it to Bruce in the comics! More then Bruce’s own family

And I’m gonna leave you off on some pet peeves of mine in the fandom

When people say Bruce made child soldiers even tho he literally has tried to stop each and every one of them. He wasn’t even the one who made Damian Robin.

When Dick was like “you made me Robin and I hate you for it” and then goes “you tried to stop me from being Robin and I hate you for it” LIKE MAKE UP YOUR MIND!

The “everyone shits on Bruce train” like. That’s not funny. It’s shitty af and people who find it funny have daddy issues

The “I wonder who Batman wants to take over for him when he retires” no one. When he told Diana that he took Dick in so he wouldn’t be like him. He meant it. Batman is a symbol that somethings wrong and broken. He knows his kids are better then him in many ways

People who act like Duke isn’t just as unhinged

That Bruce picks a favourite. He really doesn’t he loves them all equally. And people who act like Cass is the only one he cares about

Bruce/Barbara shippers and Batfam shippers

Those are some of my personal pet peeves

[dotthings]

The premiere of Gotham Knights was highly enjoyable as a tv show, plus being a batfamily fan I've got some tasty layers to unpack. This show clearly was crafted by people who have thought a lot about the batfamily characters and there are some really intriguing analogues, parallels, and echoes in the mix.

The gravitas centerpiece here really is Misha's portrayal of Harvey and he's showing what spn fans have known for years, how good Misha is at putting humanity on screen, opening himself up raw to it, and this time a character far more facile and fluid in his expressing of emotions (and knowing where this goes, far more volatile too). There's a genuine goodness and gentleness and sense of justice in Harvey that's going to make what's coming all that much more painful. Misha's showing both the compassion and the "hard charging" sense of command. I'm all tingly.

Another thought on Harvey and his roles: There's no Alfred in GK and there being no Jim Gordon either and the loss of both makes it a much darker AU to me. (And Cressida is not filling the hole no Alfred leaves). Who is bringing the notes that I would expect from Jim Gordon or from Alfred Pennyworth is Harvey Dent. Harvey, like Jim, one of the few decent people in a corrupt Gotham system, and a corrupted GCPD, who loves Bruce, and they worked together in their hopes for a better Gotham. Harvey's giving Turner emotional support, filling the Alfred role, Harvey's similar to Jim Gordon, a decent person trying to hold back the flood, and logistically Harvey might also wind up fulfilling the Jim Gordon role for the new batkids, a contact inside who can help them.

Carrie Kelley knows how to make an entrance. "He called me his little robin." She saved Batman, literally, Robins also save Bruce emotionally, so he's not doing this alone, and Carrie acted in that role too. They clearly were close, she is another adopted kid. I'm hoping we'll get to learn more about that relationship. How she became his eyes and ears. I LOVE HER. She is my favorite of the kids so far, although I think all the batkids are appealing. And like some other Robins, she vigilantes without becoming what Bruce became, without living in shadows. She doesn't seem eaten by the darkness. By whatever drives her to do this. Which may be why Bruce let her in and trained her. He needed the light by his side.

That line where Carrie tells Turner that Bruce said Turner was his hero caught at my heart. Bruce didn't want Turner to go down his path into the shadows. It seems this Bruce was scared of the darkness in himself. And maybe was scared of it taking over Turner because his parents were murdered, like Bruce's were. Turner has a little bit of echo for Dick Grayson--Dick uses the shadows, he doesn't live there like his adopted father does. Bruce shielded Turner to try to protect that light, similarly to how Bruce admired and was drawn to that aspect of Dick. There's a sad irony but also a hopeful note in the fact that despite Bruce's efforts, Turner won't be able to escape the bat legacy after all, however Turner is imo going to follow Dick's path. So even as he takes on the role of the vigilante, he's not going to let the darkness swallow him up the way Bruce feared it would if he brought Turner into the batcave. Why was Bruce so afraid of Turner letting the darkness eat him, maybe because Turner's background is so similar to his own. He projected onto Turner and feared Turner becoming exactly like him.

The pace and fight scenes moved along at a very good clip and I'm loving the gothic feel of it and the set decoration. The belfry is every bit as beautiful as I hoped.

Harper doing anything to protect her brother, and Cullen being very capable of taking care of himself and everyone else. I'm loving the Row siblings.

Duela is really really FUN. I expected to like her and I do. Also Harley Quinn exists in this world, presumably she's not dead like the Joker. No idea if Harley would ever get released to appear in GK but I am immensely intrigued by Duela's resentment of Harley while she's a bit like her. More hard-bitten, less idealistic. Even after she ditches Joker and chooses to be, well, more good than she was, if not exactly no longer villainous, Harley still has an idealism. Duela's outlook on the world is darker than Harley's.

[th3sp4rr0w]

Day Five

A03 Link <- Starts at Chapter/Day One for those just joining us :))

Prompts For Day Five Hostage/Kidnapping/Held at Gunpoint

Alt. Prompt For Day Five; Blackmail

Prompts Used For Day Five; All

Tw; Kidnapping, Guns, Injury, Blood, Violence

Chapter under the cut!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

“Hello, little birdie,” Joker sneered, aiming his pistol at Robin.

Without thinking, he tugged Sheila behind him. “Joker,” he greeted neutrally, and he was proud of himself when it came out even.

He began laughing. Robin fought the urge to cover his ears as everything seeped in.

Batman didn’t know he was doing this. If he reached for his emergency button right now, on the inseam of his boot, Joker would kill him. If he reached for his com unit, Joker would kill him. Batman was on a stake out and wouldn’t check in with him for at least another hour, more likely longer than that. He’d never faced the Joker by himself before.

He’d always dreamed of it, back when he was watching kids who were around his age then disappear from the streets when Joker was out and never coming home. After he became Robin he imagined the day Batman let him do it solo, when he could truly stand up to the clown and do something cool, like kick his face so hard his jaw snapped. Instead, he listened to the manic laughter, staring down the barrel of the gun, trying to protect Sheila who was-

Who had pulled out a gun.

“No!” he yelled. “He’s not worth shooting! Get behind me, I can-”

“Do nothing,” Joker interrupted. “Oh, poor birdie. You haven’t figured it out yet, have you?” The voice dripped with condescension and malice.

“Know what?” Jason Robin asked, a sinking feeling overwhelming him. He knew.

As Joker smiled and Sheila refused to look him in the eye, he knew. As Joker opened his grotesque maw to seal his fate, the red flags had sewn themselves together to paint the picture he had refused to acknowledge until it was too late. It was just confirmation of something he’d already known, deep down, nearly the minute he and Sheila had begun emailing.

“Oh, you stupid, stupid bird. She called me here.” He laughed.

She didn’t love him. She didn’t care about him. She knew what happened to his twin. She had been working with the Joker. She ran from Gotham because she was targeting poor families with sick kids for sick experiments and got caught.

He was an idiot. He should’ve asked Bruce what was going on. He should’ve told Dick, or Alfred, or somebody other than his little baby bird about what was going on.

He knew he should’ve stuttered out something like, “No! She’d never do that!” but at this point it’d be more of a formality than anything he actually believed. He could’ve asked something like, “How could you?!” but that also felt like more of a performance.

He looked over his shoulder, trying to catch her gaze. She pointedly looked anywhere but at him. He only had one question.

“What really happened to my brothers?”

The Joker looked at him and grated on his ears once more. “Now, little birdie, why would I-“

“Not you!” Jason ROBIN snapped out. He fully turned around to face her. “She knows. You know!” he yelled. She finally looked at him, bored. “You know what happened, don’t you?! What happened to them?!”

The silence was suffocating. His dwindling hope wished she would show some remorse. Maybe cry. Apologize. He had hoped she would show some reaction, begging for it whether it be genuine and apologetic, pleading him for his forgiveness, or something else entirely. He had almost expected her to turn with a sadistic grin, all teeth and bitter emotions. Spout something about how she couldn’t possibly deal with them. He already shouldn’t love her, just based on this alone; he craved a reason he couldn’t . Hurting him wasn’t enough. He hated himself for it, but he almost hoped she did something to them.

She smoothed her face into a blank expression, looking at him like he was just another kid asking stupid questions. That was almost worse than anything he could’ve come up with on his own. The Joker’s insipid noises grated his ears as he nodded towards her. She spoke.

“Dan choked. Willis was watching him and he let our little boy die. Danny, well... I couldn’t take him with me like I’d planned. A friend had a sickly baby boy born a few days before you two. I was babysitting one day so they could go to an event. He passed away in his cot that night and, well, they looked enough alike. They even shared a name. The only other one in the house was the sister, and she was in bed. It was easy.”

The sickening realization hit him with that maddening cackle ringing out in his ears. It sounded like a bad sitcom that relied on laugh tracks to try and convince you it was entertaining.

Joker said something. He could tell from the way the man’s mouth moved, but all he could hear was the manufactured laughter coming out like rotted peels. Sheila looked like she might actually feel something, anything, but it quickly smoothed over into a carefully blank expression.

“Why would you do this to us?” his voice was soft.

“I had no choice. Your brothers were out of my control, and you, well... if you ran off to Batman, you’d find I’ve been taking a big cut out of the cash myself. Couldn’t have you ruining that for me, could I?”

He was such an idiot . He knew not to trust her! Alfred was going to be so disappointed…

One of Joker’s white vans peeled into the parking lot and stopped abruptly near them. Joker looked at him for a moment and, before he knew it, the Joker’s arm was moving. He heard the shot ring loud in his ears, and suddenly he was on the ground. He heard someone screaming in pain with manic laughter in the background.

“There, now my little birdie can’t fly away,” he heard a giggle, then- “Where do ya think you’re goin’, blondie?”

Sheila turned around from where she’d been walking away. She kept cool despite the gun that was now trained on her instead of the little boy she’d lured here. “Home. I want to watch my shows and go to bed.”

Joker’s smile widened. “You’re comin’ with us. Our payment still isn’t in, though I like the little gift you’ve given us in the meantime.”

He kicked Jason in the knee he’d just shot. Jason’s hand went to his belt. If he could just...

“Don’t think so, bucko,” the man who’d been driving said as he grabbed Ja... Robin’s wrist.

He looked up to see three pairs of eyes trained on him. So much for that plan.

“Tie him up,” Joker said eventually. “We’ll take him to the fun house, yeah?”

He gestured to Sheila, motioning her into the van. “Come on, doll, you too,” he added, looking her up and down.

The goon ripped Robin’s gloves off his hands and tied his wrists behind his back in tight knots. As it happened, he did his best to remember the training Batman had given him, flexing his muscles as best as he could to make them loose when he relaxed them. Even relaxed, they cut into his wrists.

The goon roughly grabbed his hair, turning his head from side to side. He ripped the com unit from his ear roughly, causing him to bite his tongue to hold back a swear. He didn’t want to give these people the satisfaction.

The man picked Robin up by his hair and threw him into the back of the van. His knee hit against the metal of the floor, causing him to hiss. He felt a gentle hand against his cheek.

“Jason-”

“Don’t touch me.”

“Jason, please-”

“Shut up, Sheila.”

“I am your mother-”

“You’re not shit to me,” he spat, finally looking at her face. “You didn’t do shit for me. You didn’t do shit for my brothers-”

“I did everything I could-”

“ I told you to shut the fuck up ,” he hissed. “You didn’t do shit for me, you weren’t there. You sold me out to the fucking Joker.” His voice didn’t shake, and he was proud of that as he regarded her with the same frigidness she’d adopted. “And it’s Robin in uniform. If we want to survive this, it’s Robin.”

“We’re not going to die, Jason,” Sheila denied.

“He’s going to try to kill me. It’s his ultimate fantasy to break the Bat enough to kill, and he thinks killing me would do the trick,” Robin stated. “And you’ve already crossed someone once. He won’t trust you not to do it again. Either shut the fuck up or call me Robin, because you’re fucking stupid if you think he won’t kill you, too.”

“If that was true, why didn’t he just shoot you?”

Robin grimaced. “It’d be too easy. He wants to play his game first. We’re like toys to him; he’ll play with us until we break, then he’ll cast us aside.”

The ride was silent after that.

He thought about the emergency button in his boot. He didn’t trust Sheila to try to press it, not after this stunt, so he tried to shimmy his boot off and into his hand. Unfortunately, Bruce had designed the damn thing too well. It hadn’t even budged, and the button was bump-proof after one too many awkward conversations with Dick. Robin cursed under his breath.

He tried to do something, anything, as he lay there on the floor. This was bad. This was so, so bad. He tried to think of something, quick, but nothing came to mind as the van sped through the streets.

When they got to the warehouse, Robin decided his tactic.

The van doors opened and Robin glared at his captors. He knew they couldn’t see from behind his back, but the gesture he made was like a calming balm on his soul. He could see Sheila stand to her feet the best she could out of the corner of his eye.

“Now, now, look what we have here,” Joker said as he giggled. Robin hated fighting this guy for that reason the most, he thinks. He’s never letting Nightwing watch his shit sitcoms ever again.

“What we got, boss?” the goon asked besides him.

Joker fell back. Jason watched as he raised the gun to his head and hooked Sheila’s foot with his own, pulling her leg out from under her. She lost balance and fell just as the shot rang out. The bullet went through the man’s skull, whizzed through where Sheila’s head would’ve been if Robin hadn’t pulled her down and shattered the windshield behind them. Blood and brain matter spattered them both. The body hung in the air like that for just a few moments before falling, slamming against the door of the van and sliding down in a heap of limbs.

“A red robin!” he giggled.

Robin took a breath, doing his best not to show a reaction. His ears rung.

“Oh come on, nothing? That was some of my best material,” he huffed. He grabbed Robin’s shoulder, dragging him out of the van and towards a warehouse. “Blondie! In front of me!”

Sheila walked briskly ahead of them. Her face was stoic.

Fucking bitch.

He limped to the warehouse as Joker stood behind him with the gun to his back.

He knew if he tried to fight, he’d only get Sheila killed. Even if she hadn’t spotted the danger yet, he knew Joker was like a viper, just waiting for the right moment to strike. As loathe as he was to say it, he couldn’t leave her behind. His best bet was to wait for the Bat.

It was unlikely, but he hoped the com unit had busted when the goon had thrown it, sending an automatic emergency signal to the Bat. That would likely cause him to investigate and find his gloves or tire marks or something-

“Faster, birdie,” the clown shoved him forwards a little, “Unless you wanna end up like our friend back there.”

Batman would’ve been able to save the guy. Batman wouldn’t have gotten captured. He wished Batman was here right now.

Jason did as he was told, walking faster. It felt like a death march. No, Batman was coming; Robin just has to stay strong for a while longer. If he had full use of his leg, he might be able to take care of it himself. Nightwing might be the better acrobatic, but he’d still been trained by all of the bats before him.

He put too much weight on his knee and nearly crumpled. He could hear Joker’s manic voice behind him, mocking him.

Staying strong to wait for rescue meant that he had more time than usual to take in his surroundings. Other than the Joker and Sheila, they were alone. Joker raised the pistol he carried above his head. He bore the butt of the gun down against his skull, kicking his injured knee as he fell to the floor. Robin fought not to cry out.

There were crates lining the warehouse. There were several different prototypes for only god knows what, and he could smell gas from somewhere. He hoped he was wrong, but he could’ve sworn he saw wires coming out of the back wall earlier. There was a row of blunt objects in front of them. Joker walked up to them and grabbed the crowbar from the lineup.

Sheila went over to the stack of crates and sat down.

Joker raised an arm, yammering some nonsense about how he was a naughty bird and needed to be punished. He swung, hitting Jason in the cheekbone first. He heard the crack.

He focused his energy on not crying out. This was the best way to prolong Joker’s torture and save them.

He looked over at Sheila to try and distract himself. She calmly reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette and matchbox. The Joker kept swinging. She put the cigarette between her lips. Joker was laughing as he brought the weapon down again. She lit the match, bringing it up to her mouth.

“Come on, Birdie,” he taunted, “What would the big ol’ Bat say?”

He swung harder. She took a drag, watching the smoke billow from her mouth and up in the air. She hadn’t once looked away.

Each hit felt like, well, getting smacked with a crowbar. He heard snaps. The Joker had aimed at his leg at one point, and Robin prayed he hadn’t broken the emergency button so Batman could track it.

He thought about all the red flags he’d ignored. All the times he’d almost told Bruce what was going on and didn’t. He wished he’d told Alfred he loved him more often. He wished he had said a more heartfelt “goodbye” to Dick before he left for his mission instead of saying he'd be glad to have the manor to himself the next few weekends. He wished he took his phone to text his little baby bird.

He wished he’d told Bruce he loved the little zebra plush he’d given him instead of just nodding-

The crowbar hit his stomach and that was it. He’d stayed strong as long as he could.

“Papa!” he cried out.

The Joker paused. “Oh, well, well, well, well, welllll,” he started, dragging out his last word, “What’s this about, bird brains? Missing Daddy, are we?”

Jason whimpered.

“Do it again,” the voice was cruel, all malice and hatred. He brought the crowbar down hard on Jason’s head.

“Papa,” he sobbed. “Help, please, help me...”

The Joker laughed again before bringing it down once more.

Jason cried out louder.

“Awe, you seein’ this, Blondie?” he asked, grin on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees her nod. Jason chokes on his sob as the guilt from the last couple weeks boiled over.

He crouched down next to Jason, “D’awww, don’t worry, birdie, we’re not done playin’,” he mocked. He could see his own blood on the man’s face.

His wrists burned from the rope. The lens from his left eye was missing and the right was completely shattered and fragmented. The hearing in his left ear was weird and he couldn’t discern if that was because the goon from earlier had ripped his com out or if it was because Joker had hit him there. There was blood everywhere.

“Care for a smoke?” he heard Sheila offer.

Joker turned to her with disgust, “Those things’ll kill ya,” he said, then cackled.

He left them to debate while he arched his back as far as it would go. At this point, he just wanted to get out himself. If he could protect Sheila, great, if not, well... he could pretend to be fine with it, he thought.

His finger just barely caught the edge of the pocket on his belt. He could feel the blood that had pooled there, refusing to sink into the nearly soak-proof fabric. He opened it silently and brushed his fingertips to the contents. Band aids. He tried again on the other side. Lollipops. He went for the next closest pocket, staring at the Joker and Sheila as they chatted away like they were anywhere but here. He grabbed the side of it and pulled up, barely managing to unlatch the snap.

The wing ding. Why Batman let the 9 yr old pick the name for every one of his contraptions, he’ll never understand, but in this moment he’s so glad that the old man had a lapse in judgment so big as to let him carry around what were essentially projectable razor blades. He slid one out carefully and started working at the ropes. Sheila made eye contact with him for just a second.

He froze. He waited to see if she’d rat him out, but she continued her sentence without falter, looking back at the clown.

He didn’t stop to contemplate why she’d done that. He continued to cut through the thick rope.

He finally got through the ropes, sparing a glance back at the duo. He knew he couldn’t run away like this, but he could probably stall for a little more time.

The first thing he did was check the inseam of his boot. The emergency button was intact. He pressed it. Even if the com had broken, it wouldn’t hurt to press the button. Maybe Bruce would understand the need for more urgency and get here faster.

With shaking hands, he grasped the wing ding. It was a miracle he didn’t cut himself on it by accident with the amount of blood soaking its surface.

He threw it at the Joker.

The projectile hit the man’s cheek, causing a deep cut. The man cursed, cupping his cheek and spun around. There was nothing human about his expression.

“Oh, you little... Fine, you want Uncle Joker to play with you?” he muttered darkly.

He grabbed a handful of bloody hair, dragging the boy upwards to meet his face.

He could smell his rancid breath and an undercurrent of something acidic. “Let’s play!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

After his frankly insane nightmare, Danny was feeling drained.

He slept again that night, for one, and almost didn’t bother getting up when his ghost sense went off. He did, of course, and helped the Red Huntress kick some ghostly butt.

Tucker and Sam, however, had noticed and were confronting him.

The Black Dahlia

You know why we’re doing this, right?

Ghost Boy Because you hate me?

The Pharaoh

No dude, we’re concerned.

Ghost Boy Well stop? What if there’s a ghost during the day? Red’s only active at night

The Black Dahlia

We’ll text her??

Ghost Boy … Sam We’re not supposed to know

The Black Dahlia

You dated her, remember?

We’re friends now

The Pharaoh

You’re friends?

The Black Dahlia

Shut up

Tell you what ghostie

Ghost Boy What Also dont call me that

The Black Dahlia

Take a break for the day, just 24 hours

OR

We tell Jazz you were lying about getting hurt and got dunked in cursed kool-aid

Your choice

Ghost Boy You wouldnt dare

The Pharaoh

Already have screen shots of everything ready to send

Ghost Boy … I hate you both

The Black Dahlia

Love you too!!

The Pharaoh

Care about you, man

So, yeah, he was pretty much screwed. He sighed, stirring some of the shredded cheese they’d managed to salvage into his microwave mac n’ cheese cup. Once upon a time, he’d have cut up hotdogs in this, but after one too many times of a certain food group trying to eat you back, you tend not to eat it anymore.

He supposed he had to act like a normal human being today.

His ghost sense bubbled in his chest. He didn’t turn his head in time and the breath from his lungs froze the food in his hand. Danny mourned for a moment before cutting his losses, tossing it in the trash and updating his friends.

Ghost Boy My sense just went off

The Black Dahlia

Contacting Red

Ghost Boy Be a lot easier if I dealt with it myself

The Pharaoh

Stfu

Corner of Maple and Elm

The Black Dahlia

K

Ghost Boy Thought you were hacking the GIW, not the citys cams??

The Pharaoh

I did both <3

Ghost Boy Omfg

He smiled slightly as he texted his friends. Even if they were annoying sometimes, he knew they had his best interest at heart... most of the time.

He knew they were probably going to be busy the rest of the day, Tucker (apparently) looking at the city’s cameras to make sure nothing was going wrong and Sam had to leave soon to get a dress fitted for a gala her parents were dragging her to. Something about how Bruce Wayne adopted another kid that he was apparently super protective of? Hadn’t even hosted a gala for him yet? Though that was mostly because every time they tried, a supervillain trashed the place the night before. It was freaky. Sam was certain the same was to be said about this one, but her parents were insistent.

Speaking of parents...

Shouts and clangs could be heard from the basement. He could hear something heavy being dropped onto the floor. There was nearly no possible way for him to make it past them without getting caught. He... might be able to convince Jazz to let him go to the library with her for her study group.

He’d gotten the rest of his work done last night, prepped and in his bag for Monday. That sounded like a normal teen activity to do. He could see if they had any more Jane Austen there since he’d finished Jazz’s copies already.

He ran up the stairs to find Jazz packing her bag and on call with one of her tutoring students.

“Yes, we had geography homework.... Yes, I know that’s a weak area.... Mhm.... Hang- hey, hang on a sec, my little brother’s staring at me,” Jazz pulled the receiver away from her mouth, “What?”

“Can I go with you?

Jazz kept her eyes on him and pulled the phone back up. “Would you be alright if my brother crashes our session?... Perfect. Danny, go get ready,” she shoo’d him out, “Bring your stuff, I’ll look over your homework for you!” she called as he booked it out of her room.

He went into his room, picking up his bag. He grabbed his phone charger (he had no idea how long they’d be there, sue him), and double checked to make sure he had a pen.

He went down the stairs, stopping in the kitchen to fill the water bottle Sam had given him for... ugh, Christmas. He only used it because she was nice and got him something. That, and it had little ghosts on it and said “Boo, Witch”. He loved it.

He didn’t care what kind of truce there was, he hated Christmas.

He decided to wait for Jazz in the car.

It was... weird. Just going to the library like a regular teenager would. Good weird, though.

He opened the door, sliding into the front seat. He texted Jazz, telling her he was already in the car. She sent him a thumbs up.

He crossed his legs on the seat before putting on his seatbelt. Jazz hated it when he did this, but it was comfortable. He scrolled on his phone, unsure of what else to do.

He smiled to himself. He was going to the library . He was going to the library, he was going to go over his homework with his big sister, and then he was going to check out a book. He was... excited. Maybe he had taken it for granted so often he hadn’t known what he missed, or maybe he was too busy to notice it before, but he missed this feeling.

Jazz slid into the driver’s seat, scolded him for the way he was sitting, and began driving.

It was a surprisingly peaceful drive. The ghost attack was on the other side of town, so they completely avoided all the action.

It was surreal. He still couldn’t believe it was happening. They got to the library without incident.

They walked through the doors where Jazz lead Danny to a study room, where the kid she was tutoring was already waiting.

“Hey, Jazz, hey lil’ dude,” he greeted with a lazy wave.

“Hey, Kip,” Jazz greeted.

“Hi,” Danny said, waving back. “I’m Danny,” he said, extending his hand.

Kip smiled easily and took his hand, “I’m Kip. Heard you were crashing today, what’s up? Your friends busy or something?”

“I got grounded for punching someone’s tooth out,” he said cheerily. Kip laughed as Jazz flushed.

“Daniel James!” she scolded and turned to the other boy. “I’m so sorry about him, he’s-”

“He’s cool,” he amended, “I heard about it is all. That one kid was friends with my little sister, she needed something to wake her up to how shit her friends are.”

“Who’s your sister?” Danny asked.

“Star Franks, why? You know her?”

Danny shuddered. “Yeah, I do. She faked dating my friend awhile back,” he started.

“Oh, god,” he muttered, “She does that a lot. She was dating this girl and the other kids in her shitty group decided that homophobia was cool I guess? And they told them they could stay together, but only if they got fake boyfriends. Apparently there’s a gay kid on the football team as well? Kwan or something? That she fake dated for awhile,” he went on.

“Okay, guys, let’s get work done first, then we can gossip,” Jazz jumped in. “Though, we should really talk about that later,” she said.

“Oh I plan to,” Kip laughed. “So, what you got, lil’ man?”

Danny grabbed all the papers he had in his bag, handing them to Jazz. “I’ve got my work done, I kind of only tagged along to check out the books they have here,” he admitted.

“That’s cool,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get Star here since they have a surprisingly killer LGBTQ section, but she said it wouldn’t be good for her ‘socials’...? Whatever that means?”

“Knowing what I know about Dash and Kwan, I’m surprised a single one of them can read, honestly,” Danny said seriously.

Kip covered his mouth with his hand as he wheezed.

“Be nice. Alright, it looks like you’re good here,” Jazz mumbled, “Did you have any questions? Did you struggle at all with the math?”

Danny shook his head, “Not really. I did pretty good with it, and it wasn’t too hard. Can I go now?”

Jazz sighed. “Fine. Don’t destroy the place, and text me if you don’t remember what room we’re in.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he turned to Kip, “It was nice meeting you!”

“Nice meeting you too, lil’ man!” he said. “You should come over for more sessions, you’re a riot!”

“That’s exactly why he doesn’t come to my tutoring sessions,” Jazz teased.

Danny snorted, closing the door as he left.

He wandered around for a while before finding the classics section. He ran his finger against the spines of the books, finding what he was looking for rather quickly.

He picked up copies of Sense and Sensibility and Emma before heading to the check-out.

He greeted the woman behind the desk, who looked at him for a moment. “Hi, sweetheart, what can I do for you today?” she asked, not unkindly.

“I just want to check these out, please,” he said politely.

“Alright, can I get a name?”

“Daniel Fenton,” he said immediately. She looked at him.

“Fenton?” she echoed.

“I know,” he said immediately, “I promise I will be keeping these in my bag unless I’m reading them. They will not get within 10 feet of my parents,” he promised, remembering the fallen library books through the years that Jazz tried to bring in. It truly was amazing how many small fires his father started every week.

She laughed, “No, hon, that’s not what I meant. I used to help babysit you and Jazz when you were babies,” she said. “You just... wow, you reminded me of a friend we had years ago for a second. You look just like her.”

Danny cocked his head. “I’m sorry?”

She shook her head lightly, “Don’t worry about it, dear. Let me see those a sec?”

Danny handed them over for her to scan.

“All right, there you go, sweetie. Wow, Austen isn’t something I see a lot of kids your age checking out,” she commented.

Danny huffed, only slightly dramatic. “I was grounded recently, Jazz had a copy of Pride and Prejudice , and I was bored. I picked it up and now-”

“You can’t stop reading?” she guessed.

“I can’t stop reading!” he said, slightly exasperated. She laughed at him.

“Well, we’re always here if you want to read more,” she promised, “And there are always free bookmarks on the table over there if you’re interested,” she added, pointing to the aforementioned table.

“All right, thank you, miss,” he replied politely. “I’d better go before Jazz thinks I’m burning the place down or something.”

She hummed in amusement, “Wouldn’t want that. You have a nice day and tell your parents I said hi!”

“Will do, have a nice day!” he called over his shoulder.

He decided not to go back up to the study room, afraid of distracting Jazz and Kip. Instead, he wandered around until he found a cozy little spot hidden away from the rest. It was labeled “The Quiet Room” and had a quaint little set up.

He sat in a rocking chair, bringing his legs up onto it to sit crisscross apple-sauce style. He moved his torso gently back and forth to subtly rock the chair as he opened Emma first.

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich...”

He was immediately just as invested as he had been with Pride and Prejudice . He felt he could read for hours.

Ooo, he knew this was going to be good. The audacity of this woman! She’d never worked a day in her life and yet here she was, thinking she can just meddle in other’s affairs? He could see the heads rolling now.

Emma may be an adult, but she acted like a spoiled child.

He kept reading, making little noises as he did so whenever things got good. The peace of the room made it easy to breeze through the words and hang on to every one of them, watching as Emma made a fool of herself. It was highly entertaining.

He grimaced at some parts. Emma really didn’t have self-awareness, did she? For one who makes such bold claims as she did, she truly had no emotional maturity. Emotionally secure people don’t go around meddling in other’s business-

He needs to stop hanging around Jazz.

He yawned, his mouth dry. He decided it was probably around time he went back to Jazz in person, anyways.

He got up and out of the comfortable chair, making his way towards the exit. He walked around for a bit before spotting the white rooms, looking through the little windows of each before spotting where Jazz sat with Kip. He turned the knob.

“Hey, lil’ man!” Kip greeted as they turned towards him. “You find what you were lookin’ for?”

“Yeah!” he said and held up his prizes.

“Austen, huh?” he commented. “Isn’t that the same chick that wrote that one book Mrs. Dean is always on about?”

“ Pride and Prejudice , yeah,” Jazz said. “He borrowed my copy last week and breezed right through it. Said it was like gossiping with a friend,” she said fondly.

Kip lit up with realization. “Oh my god, you’re right! Maybe I should read the book.”

“You haven’t read it yet?” Jazz asked, confused.

“Nope, read the first couple pages and thought it was boring. But viewing it as gossiping...”

“Do I want to know how you wrote your essay? Don’t answer that,” Jazz muttered. “If you want, I have a personal copy, or I’m sure Danny can show you where he got his books from.”

“Right on,” Kip said easily. His phone chimed a moment later. “Oh, shoot, okay I gotta go,” he said.

“Already? We still have 20 minutes!” Jazz exclaimed.

Kip looked at her, guilty, “I know, but Maria’s bringing the baby to the hospital. She spiked a fever last night and it reached 103 a few minutes ago. Maria’s picking me up so we can go together,” he said.

“What if you guys clean up here and meet me in the lobby? I can go grab a copy of the book,” he offered.

Kip looked at Danny, touched, “You’d do that, dude? Thank you so much,” he said sincerely.

“No problem, man,” he said, grabbing his bag and water bottle so Jazz wouldn’t have to, “Good luck with your kid. This must be really scary,” he said.

“It is. She was a huge change, and we didn’t do everything we were supposed to,” he admitted. “We’re just trying to do right by her now.”

“That’s all you can do, Kip. Learn from your past and make better choices for your future,” Jazz said as she grabbed papers. “Okay, so this is due...”

Danny left, running slightly to the classics section. He found it easily, scanning the shelves for the book. He spotted it, scooped it up and turned to leave when-

“Fenton?” he heard a soft voice ask.

“Uh, hey, Star,” he said awkwardly.

“Hey. Didn’t know you were into... classics,” she said lamely.

They looked at each other a few more moments.

“Yeah,” he replied awkwardly. “Well, I gotta run, so-”

“Do you know where my brother is,” she asked, in a rush.

“Um, he’s supposed to be meeting me in the lobby, actually-”

“Okay. Okay, I... he wanted to show me something. I guess. And I was rude but-”

“Star, I really gotta run,” he said, “Kip has an emergency and he asked me to grab this for him.”

“Oh,” she said.

He felt bad for her. “If you follow me, I can show you a cool room I found and we can wander around together if you want.”

Star smiled, “That sounds nice, actually.”

“Cool.”

Danny started walking, Star following close behind. They made it to the lobby as Jazz and Kip were bounding down the stairs.

“I found it!” Danny called over to them.

“Sweet. Thanks again, lil’... Star? What are you doin’ here?”

“I, uh, well...” she stammered.

“She wanted to apologize for earlier,” Danny jumped in. “She mentioned you had something to show her earlier, and I told her you had an emergency,” he handed the book to Kip for him to check out. “I also offered to show her around, help her pick out a book and show her the room I found earlier,” he added.

Kip smiled at them. “Thank you,” he said softly.

He checked out the book as a car pulled up in the parking lot. He ran out, waving goodbye.

“So,” Jazz started, “You want me to stick around, or pick you up later?”

Danny turned to Star, “You mind if she joins in? She has more recommendations than I do,” he admitted.

Star giggled for a second. “Sure, I don’t mind.”

Danny smiled to himself for a moment. He let Jazz lead them through the library, pointing out certain books to them. He occasionally made his own comments, about how the movie was good or that he heard good things about that one.

Jazz ended up with Tom Sawyer , Star with Red, White, and Royal Blue . They sat in the quiet room as they read, Danny in the chair, Star on the couch and Jazz at the desk.

Turns out, being a normal teen for the day was the best idea his friends ever had.

He was never going to tell them that, though.

Although...

He was going to have to tag along with Jazz more often. He may not be able to do whole days like this, but maybe he could spare a few hours every weekend. This was too nice not to do that.

He’d had too much fun today.

[therejectkat]

There go my heroes…

I’ve been trying to find the right words to say about these tragic passings. It’s hard. I imagine a lot of people these past few weeks have had a similar dilemma trying to formulate their thoughts, trying to express their grief for these two huge losses.

Now, I think it’s my turn.

Growing up, & I imagine a few people will relate, I was bullied. I was made fun of for my weight, my love of reading (I’m not kidding) & my love of things that, when I was a kid, most girls didn’t like. This included the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, wrestling, & certain TV shows. Included in that regard was Batman: The Animated Series (& later Batman Beyond) & Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (& several later versions, of course).

Let’s start with Batman. I watched a LOT of BTAS & Batman Beyond growing up. I’m amazed I didn’t drive my mother crazy with it, honestly. I probably wouldn’t have cared regardless, given how deep my love for the shows ran. Obviously I loved the stories, the fight scenes, & the characters but, of course, the standout of the show was Kevin Conroy’s incredible performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne. He gave the character emotion & depth that made his portrayal of the Dark Knight the all-time best. Most will agree that Conroy’s Batman is one of the best, and that includes myself. His repeated portrayals of Batman were all amazing, but that original performance remains the greatest in my eyes. It helped shaped my childhood & made me feel better when I was having a bad day. It also helped me become braver when it came to dealing with my bullies. I will be eternally grateful for that.

Now for the Green Ranger. Well, also the White Ranger, the Red Ranger (twice) & the Black Ranger. To say that Jason David Frank was the definitive Power Ranger is a hell of an understatement. He’s a legend in the Power Ranger franchise & for damn good reason. His love for the franchise & its fans was clear, as he always seemed so happy to meet fans & hear about their own love for the Rangers. I first was introduced to JDF’s Tommy Oliver on MMPR as a kid, & he instantly became my favorite Ranger (besides Kimberly, the Pink Ranger). I watched the following series that he was in until I fell off the Ranger train for a while. Until Dino Thunder started airing on Jetix (oof, there’s a throwback). I couldn’t believe that Tommy was back as a school teacher & mentor to the new Rangers, but it was awesome to see him back. Of course, it only got better when he became the Black Dino Ranger. I was so happy my favorite character was back & kicking butt again, & I watched Dino Thunder repeatedly because of it. I always loved how strong Tommy was, & it encouraged me to be stronger too. When I lost my grandmother & cousin back in 2010 & 2011, respectively, I found myself rewatching Power Rangers, because I felt I needed to draw from their strength to help me feel better. Of course, I mostly drew from Tommy’s strength & it helped a lot. Just like with Conroy’s Batman helping me, I will be eternally grateful for JDF’s Tommy helping me too.

Sadly, I never got the chance to meet JDF or Kevin Conroy, so I never got to tell them about how much their characters helped me. Now is my chance. Gentlemen, thank you so much for helping shape my childhood. You helped make me feel better on bad days, you helped me deal with my grief when I lost my loved ones, & you helped me become a better person. No words will ever be able to fully describe how grateful I am for everything you did for me & many, many others. Rest easy, both of you. You will never be forgotten.

RIP Kevin Conroy - 11/30/1955 - 11/10/2022 🖤💛

RIP Jason David Frank - 9/4/1973 - 11/19/2022 💚🤍♥️♥️🖤

[britcision]

See this is one of those things that’s really interesting to me, because yeah, comic depictions of Batman are just all over the place? He either has all the compassion in the world or none at all

And I do think there’s a more interesting road that DC will just never take - the middle ground

Where Bruce cares, intensely, more than he is ever given credit for, but sometimes he gets it wrong.

Where because of his experiences, his trauma and the way he chose to respond to it, he hurts someone he loves

Because let’s be honest, Bruce has all the empathy in the world, but the man needs more therapy. His emotional regulation always seems to lean to stoic rather than expressive, and the Robins?

They’re the light to his shadow for a reason. Fucking all expressive little babies, slowly learning stoic from him

I think a run where Bruce does have a hard time saying aloud that he loves his kids, but tries to show them every day would be interesting. Sometimes kids literally need to hear it to believe it

Sometimes it isn’t til you’re older that you appreciate the way your dad was always there to help with a problem, to teach you to change your oil, learn to drive, the way he’d always put down what he was working on for you

I don’t think the choices should be between runs where Bruce is fucking awful to the kids or runs where he’s perfect and never makes a mistake

I think a run where Bruce gets to grow and heal and the kids heal along with him, where he does fuck up but never from a place of malice, and he always wants to fix it even if he struggles with how, would be amazing

Cuz we have a hero who’s supposed to be perfect; Superman’s right there, and Batman’s the hero who explicitly believes people deserve unlimited chances to change and grow

A run where he gets to do the same would be very fucking satisfying to me

And then I’d actually read a full comic series

I am. So fucking tired of Batman being portrayed as a bad parent and a toxic person. And it’s so goddamn widespread. Fuck, it might be as bad as the whole “Superman being a kindhearted Boy Scout is boring” take.

I get it, the man’s not exactly stable, he watched his parents get murdered in front of him and spent years of his life training to fight crime dressed like a giant scary bat, of course he’s not perfect.

But to say that Bruce Wayne isn’t caring, isn’t empathetic, to call him abusive…it just misses the point of who the character is to me.

Why do you think he fights crime? Yes, part of it is because he’s bitter and sad because his parents were cruelly ripped from him as a child, and he’s lashing out against the corruption of his city. It’s arguably the focus of his earlier years. But he learns to become more than that. He learns to bring hope, a chance to be better.

Harleen Quinzel is the Joker’s right hand lady, but she’s also a victim of an abusive relationship and a woman with a surprisingly strong moral compass and a love for animals, and wants to get better.

Harvey Dent is a man who will decide someone’s fate on a coin toss(and a pretty inaccurate depiction of DID), but he’s also Bruce’s close friend who clearly needs help learning to live with his condition, rather than try to get rid of it, and someone who he still goes out of his way to visit, even after everything.

Victor Fries is a cold, emotionless man who will callously discard allies and blame them for being careless, but he’s also a man who’s either lashing out because he had the love of his life taken from him, or just desperate to make sure she isn’t taken from him, and is willing to do anything just to guarantee her survival.

Even the Joker, arguably one of the most morally bankrupt characters in all of fiction, is someone that Batman has offered a chance to. After the guy shoots the daughter of his friend, a girl he cared for like she was his own kid, and paralyzes her from the waist down, he tells the Joker that he doesn’t want to hurt him. He wants to get him help. He looks at this monster who has taken countless lives and says “You don’t have to be alone.”

For fuck’s sake, he sat with Joe Chill in his last moments so that he wouldn’t be alone. Joe Chill, the man who murdered his parents, who took so much from him, the person responsible for all of the misery and suffering he’s gone through. And he sits with the man to comfort him while dies.

And you’re gonna tell me the man who did that would abuse his kids?

That he’d hold up the young man whose death was his greatest failure, the boy he grieved, and say this?

That he’d look his goddamn son in the eyes and say this to him?

Why the FUCK do you think he took in Dick Grayson in the first place? It wasn’t because he saw the kid and thought “Ah. A potential soldier.”, it was because he saw a boy experiencing the same heartbreaking loss he had so many years ago, and wanted to make sure he didn’t end up as bitter and miserable as he was.

Why do you think he smiled when Tim Drake presented him a broken watch for Father’s Day? Because he was just happy to see the boy alive and safe.

DAMIAN LITERALLY POINTED AT A COW AND SAID “I’m keeping her. She’s Bat-Cow.” AND BRUCE JUST WENT WITH IT. DIDN’T EVEN NEED TO ARGUE WHY BRUCE SHOULD LET HIM KEEP HER. HE SAID “this cow is my pet now” AND BRUCE SAID “alright, bet”.

The thing about Batman is that he wants to make sure nobody else ends up feeling the way he does. That’s not just about stopping a mugger so a boy’s parents aren’t gunned down. It’s about giving his loved ones the support and care that he couldn’t have, because it was taken from him. It’s about comforting someone who just went through a traumatic experience and letting them know that they’re going to be okay. It’s about going to someone locked away in a cell who thinks that they’re a lost cause and a burden to society and telling them that he wants to help them get better. It’s about EMPATHY.

That’s what makes him a HERO. He’s meant to inspire us, to show us that we can have that same empathy for others around us, that we can turn our suffering into hope for a better future.

I just wish more people at DC would start recognizing that. But I might as well follow that example myself. Maybe through this struggle of having to see this hero mistreat the people around him and act like a grade-A jackass, people will start to recognize that missing empathy, and slowly but surely, it might come back. After all, what is this post, if not trying to bring attention to the matter in the hopes of fixing it?

[celestialnxva]

The Only Exceptions

Bruce Wayne/Batfamily x Reader

Summary: The famous Batman was known for being an intimidating, cold, and calculating vigilante with questionable morals. One day, the Justice League finds out that there were exceptions to that fact. Those exceptions were his spouse and his family.

Tags: fluff, comfort fic tbh, Bruce being kinda submissive but not in an 18+ way.

WC: 2k+ words.

batman masterlist. | main masterlist.

If the Justice League was absolutely sure about anything, it was that Batman was not a nice guy. He was a team player, sure, but he was either quiet or absolutely cold towards any attempt of conversation with him. He was paranoid, unable to connect with others, and too afraid to get attached to anyone (according to Diana’s attempt at flirting with him). They just learned to accept that their friend was an acquaintance, at best.

Still, Clark and the others liked him. He was a valuable member and considered him as a friend, even if he had his reservations. They were sympathetic towards his attempts to stay at a distance from them, and understood that he was someone that was always used to working alone. They couldn’t fault him on that, at the end of the day.

Despite this fact, though, they couldn’t help but wonder what his interactions with his sidekicks were like. Was he kind to them? They didn’t believe that Batman would actively do anything to hurt his sidekicks, but did he treat them the same way as he did with the members of the Justice League? They couldn’t figure it out for themselves. However, these questions will finally be answered for them when they come to Batman’s manor for a celebration of their one year anniversary as a group.

Batman was reluctant to agree on their plan in coming over to his place, but he understood that his batcave could protect them from any enemies or destruction they could bring if they ever lost control of themselves at the celebration. They had superpowers, after all. Being in his home meant that the Justice League could not only see how Batman interacts with his sidekicks, but also see how he lives his life, on a personal level. It was a show of trust from Batman, and they all were grateful that he did care about them, to a certain degree. This was typical of Batman: a man who did not express his emotions verbally, but through his silent actions and loyalty.

When they all arrived at the batcave, they all turned to Bruce for his next instructions.

“Thanks for having us, Bruce,” Clark said with his signature, charming smile. Batman stared back at him with a stoic expression before he swiftly turned around and made his way through the entrance of the batcave. “Come with me,” he said. “Alfred has prepared some snacks for everyone.”

Typical of Wally, he enthusiastically sprinted past Bruce and into the batcave, so he could get ‘first dibs’ on Alfred’s food. From what he had tasted of Alfred’s cooking, Wally felt the need to talk to the chef himself and get his secrets on how he makes his food so delicious.

As he did so, the other members followed obediently behind the Bat and took their time to look around the batcave in awe. They knew that Bruce was rich, but the vastness of the batcave that was filled with all sorts of knick-knacks and equipment only further proved this fact. How Bruce could afford it all, they would never know. Despite everyone looking at the impressive cave, Clark did not care too much about his surroundings and nudged his best friend’s (he had self-proclaimed Batman to be) arm instead. Typical of Bruce, he did not respond, and Clark chuckled in return.

“Will we get to meet your kids? Your kids must be around,” he teased playfully, as he secretly loved the fact that his best friend’s sidekicks were his children. To his surprise, though, Bruce did not correct him as he usually did when he teased him about it. Instead, he shrugged. “They’re home. They wanted to meet you guys.” His eye twitched. “They’re big fans.”

Clark was elated to hear that Bruce’s kids liked him. He has always wanted kids, and he only hoped that one day, Bruce would trust him enough to ask him to be like their uncle. All of these ideas were only dreams, for now, but Clark innocently believed that he was well on his way to making those dreams come true.

Bruce, on the other hand, was still as stoic and emotionless as he always was in their presence while his friends talked around him. Diana was hoping that she would finally see him relax in his own home, but she could tell that he was on guard, especially with her. She felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment from the reason why, and she only hoped that Bruce would one day get over her previous attempts at flirting with him. She had to repair that trust somehow, so she decided to try at casual conversation with him again.

“Bruce, we would love to meet them. Where are they now?” she asked innocently, hoping that Bruce wouldn’t catch onto her embarrassment. He, of course, did notice, but he made no note that he had done so when he finally guided them towards where Alfred stood with Wally smothering his face in a slice of Alfred’s signature pie. J’onn was not interested in eating anything, since he did not see any food that he liked, but John was starving. He decided against his better judgment and made his way to the table to join Wally in his feasting. Diana and Clark stayed behind and stood by Bruce to observe Wally’s amusing behavior from afar. They were all entertained by Alfred’s scolding and Wally’s apologetic nature to notice some of Batman’s sidekicks making their way down into the batcave.

“I see that The Flash has good taste in food,” Dick joked as he too observed Wally getting another slice of Alfred’s pie. Jason had grumbled, murmuring something about Wally finishing the entire pie before he could have a taste. All the while, Bruce turned around to see Tim walking side-by-side with Duke and Stephanie, deep in conversation. Clark had busied himself in excitedly introducing himself to the others while Bruce had tried to figure out where the rest of his family was. Feeling a bit too paranoid that they were in danger, he turned to the others present with a worried look on his face that was so unfamiliar to see in the Justice League’s eyes.

“Where is Damian and Cassandra?” he asked cautiously. Jason rolled his eyes at Bruce's clear worry and readied himself to explain where they were before he heard the elevator door open at the top of the batcave’s stairs. With a quiet sigh of relief, Bruce watched Cassandra and Damian bring down more pies and food to the chaotic party. “Don’t run,” he chastised them when they started to run towards him, and like usual, they ignored his doting.

Damian tried not to show his excitement, but he did turn to Bruce and Diana with a faint smile on his face. “Hi father,” he greeted before he nodded his head towards Diana’s direction in his own reserved greeting. He held out the plate of food towards her.

“Here, have this. Hope you have a good time tonight,” he mumbled grumpily. Bruce did his best not to scold his child in front of Diana and opted instead to let out a deep sigh of resignation. Before he could ask where their parent was, Cassandra decided to join the group conversation by running into Bruce’s arms to give him a loving embrace.

'I missed you, dad!' she seemed to express silently, causing the masked crusader to blush faintly from her loving actions in front of Diana. Diana, meanwhile, was quite amused at his softer interactions with his children. She supposed that was another reason as to why she really liked him. She was amused and felt happy in her company, until Damien's words stunned her into silence.

“Father, Nini said that they’ll be coming down soon,” he told his father before he left with Cass to greet her favorite hero, Hawkgirl. Bruce tensed up when he felt Diana freeze in her place. He, of course, did not disclose to anyone of his spouse’s existence, but she now felt incredibly embarrassed that she decided to flirt with him in the past. She smiled at him nervously with clear confusion in her eyes, wanting to know what was going on and why he did not tell her about his spouse. But before he could explain himself, he heard a ding of the elevator, announcing his spouse's presence.

Finally, he was home.

Diana took in the sight of you and the radiance of your appearance. When she took a good look at you, she decided that your bright smile was her favorite part about you. You seemed to brighten up even the darkest pits of the Batcave. She smiled fondly at you because she now understood why Bruce married you. He deserved happiness, and she was glad that he could share that with you.

You wheeled your way over to the now stunned Justice League (most likely stunned due the fact that they found out just now that Bruce has a spouse), and held out your own homemade cooking.

“Hello, everyone! Welcome to Wayne— er. I mean, Batman’s Batcave!” you announced awkwardly, with your smile morphing to a more sheepish one. You rubbed the back of your neck nervously as you continued to make your way towards your excited children and a silent Bruce. “My name is (y/n) Wayne, but you can just call me ‘Mx. Wayne.’ It’s a pleasure to m–!”

But before you could finish your sentence, your secretly loving husband had managed to make his way towards you as quick as he could, and completely took you off guard by kneeling down and clinging onto you as tight as he could, immediately wrapping his arms protectively around you. Your eyes widened in surprise at his sudden change of mood while your children groaned at the disgusting sight of their father being clingy again. The Justice League, on the other hand, watched in pure confusion as their usually stoic and emotionless friend had become so emotional, so… affectionate and clingy in front of their eyes.

“Bruce,” you whispered under your breath nervously while focusing your eyesight towards the top of his cowl. You would have to settle for looking at the top of his cowl, since he hid his face into the crook of your neck. Though he was always this way towards you, he had never been like this in front of other people. You rubbed his back with your free hand to gently coax him off you. “Honey, people are watching.”

“Don’t care, “ he mumbled into your warm skin as he pushed his body carefully against your seated body. He was quite literally smothering you with affection, and you had to admit that you absolutely lived for it. Clark tried to ease the tension in the room by clearing his throat, which caused you to focus your attention on your guests.

“Dick, love, can you take this and put it on the table? I think your father has a bad case of neediness tonight,” you said apologetically. Your eldest chuckled at your words and walked over to take the plate in your hand with a wide grin. “Sure, Nini; just make sure to explain to these people why dad is always so affectionate with us.”

“I’m not affectionate,” Bruce grumbled under his breath as he snuggled his face further into your warm skin and relaxed under your gentle touch.

You rolled your eyes at your child’s words and the giggles from your other children; and you tried to wheel yourself over to where the rest of Bruce’s friends were standing in shock. You were, however, finding it difficult to do so when a giant bat is clinging onto you and your moving wheelchair for dear life. At some point, you gave up and just continued to dote on your husband shyly.

“You’ll have to forgive my husband,” you said quietly while running your fingers up and down the top of his cowl. “He gets quite clingy when he’s away for so long on his missions with you guys.”

Bruce continued to hold you close, but his lips started to kiss up and down your neck and collarbone. His eyes slipped shut as he relaxed in your loving arms. “I want kisses, honey,” he whispered to you with an unmistakable (though barely noticeable) whine. You swear that your husband can be such a big baby sometimes.

With a soft chuckle from your lips, you turned your face to the side and kissed the top of his cowl lovingly. Deciding to dote on him like you usually do, you kissed the little ears that stuck up on his cowl that made him resemble the figure of a bat. You always found it cute that Bruce was this strong man, yet he took the time to add these ears to his costume. The dedication to his craft was what you always loved about him.

Plus, it was adorable.

As you placed tiny kisses on his ear flaps over and over again, you felt him make a soft noise in his chest, chuckling breathlessly at the wonderful feeling. He lived for your doting and he loved coming home to it when he had late nights on patrol. Because of this mission, he had been away for far too long from all of this happiness. He couldn't wait much longer to be in your arms again, even if it had to be done in front of his colleagues.

If this situation could not get any more embarrassing for you, John walked over to where the other members of the Justice League were huddled at and joined them in watching this sweet interaction. Deciding to tease the Dark Knight, John spoke up so he could hear him.

“How cute, Batman. Who knew you had it in you? And you got yourself married to a cute person like Mx. Wayne too? You sure are a lucky guy, aren’t you,” he said with a smirk.

Seeming to trigger something in the vigilante, your husband removed himself from your arms and stood back up to stalk his way angrily towards John with irritation clear in his eyes. But before he could do so, you reached out to grab onto his wrist. John watched as his stern eyes softened into more affectionate ones when he turned to look at you apologetically. You smiled up at him with the same radiant smile that he fell in love with, and he just couldn’t help but go back into your arms, wanting to seek refuge in your love once more. Maybe for tonight, he will ignore John’s inquisitive quips, if that's what it took to spend time with you again.

Speaking of which...

“Sorry, everyone,” he called out to them while his eyes were lovingly staring into yours. “You’ll have to continue having this party without me. Feel free to make yourselves at home and meet my kids, but,” he paused and caressed your cheek with a gentleness that they were all very unfamiliar with. “Right now, I need to catch up with my partner for a while,” he declared in finality before he pulled you into a loving kiss. The last thing they saw was their masked friend playfully pushing you back upstairs.

Knowing that their friend deserved some quality time with his spouse, they all made their way to his children with their own soft smiles on their faces. Even though Batman was typically cold towards them, they now knew that you and your children were the only exceptions.

——

general taglist: @venomsvl @v0idl1nq

[batfam-slash]

Bruce

Tim’s first real proper crush is on Bruce.

How could it not be?

Tim is a skinny awkward kid and Bruce sees potential in him. Bruce wants to teach him and support him and nurture him. Bruce is handsome and strong and although he’s not the best at showing his emotions, he can be warm when he wants to be.

Tim knows nothing will ever come of it; it’s just a stupid teenage crush and it will fade in time.

“I know that look,” Dick says teasingly as he watches Tim watch Bruce lift weights in the Wayne Manor gym. “Been there, done that.” He lowers his voice a little. “Still doing that.”

Dick never brings it up again though, and Tim’s crush eventually does fade, but there will always be a tiny ember burning there for Bruce.

*****

Dick

Tim figures he must not really have a specific type, because when he’s sixteen and he has a crush on Dick, he can’t help but think how different Dick is to Bruce.

Dick is affectionate and warm all the time; he has no problems expressing himself and doing so in an articulate way. He’s kind and funny and Tim had always just seen the older man as a role model; the kind of man Tim wanted to be, but that seems to have spiralled into something else.

But Dick only has eyes for Bruce.

And how could Tim ever compete with The Batman?

But Tim can still fantasise and dream.

“Didn’t realise you wanted a piece of that, replacement,” Jason says to him one day when he catches Tim staring at Dick’s ass from afar as they work on a case in the Batcave.

Tim blushes and averts his gaze.

“Yeah, me too,” Jason admits. “Once upon a time. But that ass belongs to B now.”

Tim is happy for Dick. He’s happy that Dick can be with the man he loves and Bruce can have a calming presence in his life to keep him sane.

They’re both happy and Tim is happy for them.

*****

Jason

Tim’s crush on Jason is perhaps the most terrifying, because it’s the only one where he thinks something might actually happen.

Jason is close to him in age and isn’t madly in love with anyone else (to Tim’s knowledge). They’ve developed an oddly flirtatious relationship ever since Jason re affiliated himself with the family, but Tim isn’t sure if that’s just Jason being Jason.

The more Tim has got to know Jason, the more he’s come to like him. Jason loves to read and likes puzzles and is very good at cooking. He’s surprisingly good at self care too, and constantly reminds Tim to eat and sleep and bathe.

Plus, he’s hot.

Tim must spend most of his time with Jason just drooling over his broad chest and muscular biceps and thick thighs-

“For God’s sake, Drake,” Damian sighs when Tim gets distracted during sparring by Jason working out shirtless over the other side of the room. “You’ll be a liability to us all if you keep this up. Go over there and do whatever you need to do to Todd to get it out of your system.”

Tim doesn’t need to be told twice.

And as he presses himself up against Jason’s broad sweaty naked chest and pushes himself onto his toes to press his lips against Jason’s, Tim can’t quite believe he has Damian Wayne to thank for this.

*****

Damian

Tim is not as oblivious as Bruce and Dick had been.

He can tell when a teenager has an unrequited crush on him.

Damian never does anything about it of course. Tim is with Jason and Damian must feel the same way Tim did at that age; he knows nothing will ever come of it so there’s no point acknowledging it.

But Tim wishes there were something he could do to make Damian feel less awkward about it.

“The best thing to do is nothing,” Jason advises him. “The poor kid will be mortified if you tell him you know he’s crushing on you.”

So Tim doesn’t actively do anything about it, but he tries to be as kind as possible to the boy.

“You don’t need to humor me, you know,” Damian tells him while they’re getting ready to go to one of Bruce’s gala events, and strangely there’s no irritation in his voice. “You really don’t. I know you’re with Todd and I can handle a few teenage hormones. I’m not weak.”

Tim smiles softly. “I never thought you were. But you know I love you in my own way, right?”

Tim doesn’t miss the way Damian looks away from him, his eyes shining.

Oh, to be young and rejected again.

But Tim finds his own way to indulge Damian.

Jason has never been one for dancing, so when they arrive at the gala Tim clings to Damian’s arm and asks him to dance. Damian’s face burns red but he agrees, and Jason just looks amused by the whole thing.

They must spend nearly an hour on the dance floor together, and Tim actually finds it really enjoyable. Damian must do as well, because he’s smilier and chattier than usual, and it feels like the most bonding time they’ve ever had together.

Afterwards, when their feet are aching and they’re getting hungry, Damian escorts Tim back to his boyfriend.

“You look really nice tonight, Timothy,” Damian says, and there’s no time for Tim to respond because Jason is there wrapping an arm around his waist.

“You’ve got some moves, kid,” Jason says to Damian, sounding impressed. “Both on the dance floor and when it comes to wooing the pretty ones.”

Jason winks at Tim.

Damian clears his throat, blushing. “Yes, well. Have an enjoyable evening.”

He gives both of them a smile before disappearing to find Bruce and Dick.

“That smile must have been for you,” Jason laughs. “Because he sure as hell hasn’t ever smiled at me like that before. You think he’s gonna be okay?”

“Mm,” Tim says confidently, pulling Jason down into a kiss. “Well he’s doing a lot better than me and I turned out just fine.”

[nightcolorz]

Poorly describing my versions of the Gotham rogues:

Joker: “yolo” in its most dangerous form, def is writing a slow burn enemies to loves fic about him and Batman. Gay and homophobic 💯 The other rogues don’t invite him to pride celebrations anymore cause he’ll keep calling people slurs “as a joke”. Him and Edward have longterm beef, like schoolgirl levels of petty drama.

Harley Quinn: would describe herself as a “girlboss” unironically while committing heinous crimes. tweeted “clowns aren’t funny” after breaking up with Joker (ended up causing a huge scandal). The OG “I can fix him” girl. Is sort of the rogues free underground therapist (god knows they need it) cause they can’t get professional help without being sent to Arkham.

Poison Ivy: Breaking News: Cottagecore lesbian commits mass murder cause her plant wilted. She’s what republicans think environmentalists are. Would get in a fist fight with that vegan teacher cause “plants have feelings too”. Has beef with most of the male rogues, supports ‘kill all men’ without realizing it’s a joke (she prefers ‘kill all humans’ but figured she had to downgrade because the Gotham city sirens are humans technically).

Cat Woman: “OH NO! It appears I’ve gotten stuck backwards in the bank vault step-Bat 😏😏😏😏😏😏, looks like I’m not stealing any more diamonds today 😰😩”. Mad respect for Selina, she just wants diamonds and bat dick, no tragic backstory or complex motivations needed. I personally like to headcanon her as wearing a straight up cat costume (ears and a tail like a true furry) cause it’s way funnier to imagine a sophisticated rich woman dressing up as a cat to steal shit than whatever bullshit DCs up to these days. Trans catgirl supremacy 💎👍

Scarecrow: That one guy who gets angry at people because “Halloween costumes are meant to be scary 🤬😡😑😒”. Doesn’t even attempt to express emotions, is the human embodiement of this emoji: 😐. His presence is more jarring than threatening, his intimidation levels are somehow underwhelming and overwhelming at the same time. The other rogues have collectively decided that he’s asexual under no assumption other than that they don’t want to imagine Jonathan having sex. Overtime Jonathan has become basically fearless (he smokes his own fear gas like vape just to feel something). Jonathan and Harley became good friends when they both worked in Arkham, their dynamic is surprisingly wholesome.

The Riddler: Didn’t get hugged enough as a child and is now making it everyone’s problem. Would hold a bank hostage to show Batman his third grade spelling bee medal. Is the only autistic rogue that gets accommodations in Arkham because he won’t stop bugging the guards. FTM trans ofc (his names Edward Nygma for Christ's sake). He ran away from home at seventeen and faked his own death (his deadname is legally dead lmao). Uses the terms “alpha, beta, and omega male” unironically.

Two Face: “Yeah, I mean, I didn’t wanna blow up the orphanage either, but Y’know the coin said-” The other rogues talk to Harvey as if he’s constantly at his breaking point, which is half true. Harv is a stone cold mf, he’s the rock that’s holding Two Face together tbh. Edward calls Harvey and Harv Jekyll and Hyde cause he’s that original. All the rogues have at least a sneaking suspicion that Bruce Wayne is batman and use Harvey as their little primary source (being ex besties and everything), until they find out Selina and Bruce are a thing of course. No matter how much evidence he’s faced with Harvey will never accept Bruce Wayne is batmam, he’s not ready to consider that one of the only positive people in his life has been duking it out with him this whole time.

Penguin: He’s the rest of the rogues chill gay gangster uncle I don’t make the rules. The iceberg lounge is like the Batman villain equivalent of The Central Perk from friends (aka: its their default place to hangout). Oswald always makes a fuss about them not making reservations ahead of them but at this point it’s just performative. Everyone’s 99% sure Oswald and Edward fucked at some point (Edward always makes a show of flustering Oswald when he needs a loan). Ossie always takes care of the others belongings when they’re in Arkham (he has a special place in his heart for Jonathan‘s crows).

The Mad Hatter: I love Jervis lmao he just really likes Alice in Wonderland and that’s a valid ass villain motivation 👍. One of the smartest rogues but doesn’t get enough credit because of how childish he is. He dresses in kids clothes, not just because he wants to but because he’s small af and can’t fit in shit. In public while the rogues are undercover Jervis usually wears a beanie or a baseball cap (he’d get spotted instantly if he wore his usual, but on bad days Jervis can’t bear to be without a hat). Jonathan and Jervis play chess a lot together in Arkham, and frequently engage in intellectual discussion, Edward tends to be a piss baby when Jon encourages him to do the same, he’s not ready to accept the reality that Jervis can match his intelligence.

Killer Croc: Waylon has a surprising amount in common with Jonathan, they share southern solidarity. He doesn’t travel out of the sewer often so the rogues will occasionally come to visit Waylon there (Edward always makes sure to complain loudly about the smell). Will show immense affection and loyalty to anyone who treats him as human (poor guy just needs a friend ☹️).

Mr Freeze: Literally just dead inside, someone give this poor bastard a hug. Victor stands as the most awkward rogue, he‘s sorta like the odd one out. The other rogues don’t interact with him that often because he’s sort of a party pooper. He’s the straight friend on thin ice, haha get it. Mr Freeze is my sisters favorite Batman villain because she thought the ice puns were funny in Batman in Robin, little does she know I’m embarrassing myself on tumblr in her glory.

Music Meister: So many of the Gotham rogues have horrible childhood trauma and Music Meister is just like “people bullied me for being a theater kid 😩😭💔😔”. In all honesty he’s iconic, in my au universe thingy I have him join the dork squad latter on and he sticks out like a sore thumb for a bit. I feel like him and Jervis would really hit it off though (mind control buddies, ha), although Jervis would always get him to sing Alice in Wonderland songs. In Arkham they have him wear a dog collar thingy and zap him when he sings, he gets bullied for that lol. anyways I’m sure I could make more of these, but it’s 2:20 am and my mind went blank. If y’all liked this I could always put more au headcanons out (I have A LOT)

[greetings-humans]

Oh man this turned into a rant, sorry for this op, definitely not what you must have expected for responses to your cute battinson-dick scenes (which are so good btw)

This is what I imagine younger 20s just-taken-in-Dick Bruce was like!! Yes, Bad Dad Bruce is interesting and there's a lot of supporting evidence and potential, but in the beginning, Bruce Wayne was great with Dick! Not as in, he knew what to do- he did not. Great as in, he tried.

I firmly believe that after Dick and B started fighting, Bruce started being more of an asshole because: a) he couldn't communicate properly with Dick, and b) he was unwilling to make compromises. Then Jason comes in and Bruce is mostly really good with Jason, but he still doesn't know how to work with Dick anymore, and Dick is done filling in the blanks for Bruce. We also know that Bruce didn't quite trust/talk with Jason as much as Jason needed him to (i.e. benching him as Robin and not communicating properly about what that meant for Jason (aka no Jason, not being robin doesn't mean I'll kick you out) which led to, you know, Ethiopia). This is another point toward Bruce not knowing how to compromise or communicate properly, which is something that I assume traumatized teenagers would really benefit from.

I really think they could have started getting over this in time, all three of them (which Alfred would have really liked) but then Jason died. And Bruce got extremely fucked up over it (justifiably, mind you, his son died) which also leads to him fucking up his relationship with Dick even more, which is not justifiable but there is a reason why, at the very least. Grief often makes you lash out, but Bruce never apologized and never took into account the fact that Dick was grieving, too. So naturally, Dick distanced himself even more from Bruce. Wasn't he in New York with the Titans when Tim was attempting to get him to come back to Gotham and B?

And then comes Tim. Now, I don't know as much about Tim as Robin as I would like, but I think that by the time Tim approached Bruce, he (B) was really becoming a very different person than he used to be. This fits timeline-wise because, by the time Tim came along, Bruce was firmly into his 30s and well over his 20s, which probably made him all the more aware of how young Robins are and how dangerous it all is. And, as I keep saying, Bruce Wayne cannot compromise or communicate with people easily or (in a lot of cases) successfully. So the man Tim gets to know is someone who isn't as caring (or at least doesn't show it) as early/mid 20s Bruce was and who is even more averse to children joining his cause. When Tim does convince him, Bruce is much more mission-oriented than before, almost like he's distancing himself from emotional aspects of it all. And then it all snowballs into a mess that includes a lot of Bad Dad Bruce content.

I really do think that he didn't start as a Bad Dad, that somewhere along the way he just didn't process properly (a chronic Batman issue, as we all know), and ka-boom. Next thing you know more than half (if not all) of his kids don't particularly like him (if they don't outright hate him, that is). The problem with Bruce Wayne is that he cannot regulate and express his emotions. When he gets caught up in this loop of despair, self-loathing, and blaming himself, his go-to response is anger or keeping busy to avoid thinking about the problem.

When Dick wanted to be more independent, Bruce's (over)protectiveness got translated into control for control's sake and selfishness. The problem is that Dick, by then, had been acting as a Bruce-Wayne translator for years and it is very natural that in his late teens and early 20s, he decided to stop "doing all the work" for his relationship with Bruce. And I don't believe that Bruce did nothing for all those years to cultivate a healthy-ish relationship with Dick, but just because he did something good and (at least vaguely) healthy doesn't mean he gets a pass for all the other shitty things he did.

Also, when Jason was getting increasingly violent (according to Bruce, at least), Bruce's fear for him (the I don't want you to do something you will regret type, imo) led to benching Robin, which had happened before with Dick, as well. Only Jason is not Dick and their different personalities, backstories, and traumas mean that what Dick (who had never had to fear getting kicked out by his parents, they seemed to have supported and cared for him) mostly disregarded, Jason (who before living in the streets on his own and hearing all sorts of stories from kicked out kids, grew up with Catherine(drug addict) and Willis(abusive iirc), both of whom had no stable income as far as I'm aware to say the least) took as an indication that he was close to getting kicked out.

There so many more things I can say about this but this is already a lot-

I GIVE YOU a totally real list of viral photos of Battinson with his newly adopted son, Dick Grayson, that took Gotham by storm

Bruce crossing the street with a rosy-cheeked Dick Grayson dutifully holding his hand, Dick somehow found the camera and is waving to it excitedly (this is the first ever photo of them together)

Dick balanced perfectly at the top (and I mean on top) of a jungle gym while Bruce looks stressed out of his mind, pleading for Dick to get down before he hurts himself

Dick doing the exact same thing a month later but this time Bruce looks completely unfazed, sipping a coffee like it’s just a normal Tuesday (the photos are regularly paired together as a popular meme template in Gotham)

A selfie of Bruce and Dick making stupid faces at the camera that Dick turned into his class for one of those “About Me” posters you make in 3rd grade

Dick asleep in Bruce’s arms after a fancy dinner party, they’re wearing matching suits, Bruce is kissing his forehead :(

Bruce and Dick propped up against a wall, sharing a packet of fruit snacks in an empty room next to the charity gala they’re supposed to be attending

A plethora of photos of Dick climbing on top of Bruce at inopportune moments (à la this post)

Including a press conference.

And an investors’ meeting (bring your kid to work day)

Bruce standing outside of Gotham Elementary holding Dick in his arms with matching scowls on their faces. A mother and her son have been cropped out after the boy shoved Dick, and the mother refused to make him apologize. (It almost got physical. The mom has since quit the PTA.)

Bruce and Dick wearing matching sunglasses on the Gotham pier, Bruce is sipping another coffee while Dick eats from a comically large ice cream cone. A second photo shows Dick offering some to Bruce, which he accepts

Bruce retying Dick’s tie in the middle of another charity gala (for the children’s hospital)

Dick doing a cartwheel in the park while Bruce looks at him with the fondest look humanly possible

Bruce and Dick in a convenience store at 10pm (on a Friday) wearing matching oversized Nirvana shirts and pajama pants, it looks like they’re having a movie marathon (it’s Grey Ghost reruns <3)

pspspspsps @bruciemilf

[makeste]

but I just feel too tired to be fighting

this is a follow-up post to what I said in my recap the other day about this arc being the Deku Angst arc, as opposed to the Villain Hunt arc or the Deku SIXQUIRKS Exhibition arc. I feel like the fandom discussion tends to focus on the flashier parts of the chapters -- the sexy villains and the new quirk reveals and the Shindous -- each week, and so the quieter emotional beats sometimes get overlooked, especially since the character arc here is playing out in little bits and pieces over time rather than all at once.

this has always been a very reactionary fandom, and there’s a tendency to judge the chapters week to week without ever going back to look at how they all fit into the big picture. so I figured I would try to attempt that, and basically go chapter by chapter here to look at what exactly Horikoshi is setting up and how it all fits together.

so let’s start with the end of chapter 306, which is when the arc officially kicks off. specifically with the very last page:

this is imo one of the best pages Horikoshi has ever drawn. I got the sense that this was a scene he’d had in his mind’s eye for quite a long time, and that he was excited to finally get to this part of the story. it’s extremely effective as both a chapter-ender, and an arc-opener. like, look at this:

it establishes the initial premise of the new arc -- the world is in chaos, and Deku is now seemingly on his own

it leaves the readers with a number of questions. why did Deku leave U.A.?? is he really on his own now?? why does he look so beat-up and exhausted?? what is he up to?? what is the world like now that all these villains have been unleashed and the heroes have been decimated?? and most importantly of all, what the fuck is going to happen next??

it pays homage to some of Horikoshi’s comic book influences -- Batman in particular

it dramatically hits us with that “THE FINAL ACT BEGINS” and lets us know that shit is getting real now

that’s some good shit. so much so that I think people tended to overlook the other notable thing about this page amidst all of the initial excitement and discussion and speculation about where the series was headed. and that is the fact that the final panel in this chapter is NOT the panel of Deku standing above the city. the very last panel, the one that this chapter actually ends on, is instead the close-up of Deku’s face. his face, which is covered in shadow; and his eyes, which have dark circles under them and are prominently missing the usual flecks of light that give him his signature “sunny optimistic shounen protagonist” look.

not to mention this last line here, which is a call back to the very first time we saw the 14-year-old Deku way back in chapter one.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Horikoshi chose to throw this reference in. nor is it a coincidence that THIS is the scene he actually chose to end the chapter on. what this does is show us the drastic shift in Deku’s emotional state of mind, and his attitude towards being a hero. he’s gone from being thrilled and excited to being jaded and exhausted. he’s matured, but at a great cost. it’s always been his dream to be a hero, but “be careful what you wish for” is a popular adage for a reason. and right now he looks the furthest thing from happy.

and this is the emotional beat that Horikoshi chooses to end the chapter on. this is the panel that closes out the War arc, and begins the final act. to me the message could not be clearer -- this arc will be about the exploration of Deku’s character, and his struggle as he tries to live up to the expectations that have been placed on him as the Last Holder of OFA and quite possibly the World’s Only Hope.

it’s a character arc that builds on a lot of the things we’ve already learned about Deku over the course of the series, such as the fact that he is reckless, and that he focuses on others often at the expense of himself. but more importantly, it’s an arc that finally expands on the dark side of what has up until now been a net positive for Deku -- the power of OFA. up until this point, despite its ups and downs, it’s been a boon for Deku overall and has allowed him to pursue his dream. but now we’re finally reaching the point where the monkey’s paw part of the OFA blessing/curse finally starts to come into play. OFA gives Deku more power than he could have ever dreamed of, but it also comes with a built-in destiny that he can’t opt out of whether he likes it or not. AFO is on the loose and out there trying to destroy the world. and now everyone has pinned their hopes on this sixteen-year-old kid, and the question of whether or not the sixteen-year-old kid is ready is apparently not one that anyone feels inclined to ask (possibly because they’re afraid that the answer might be “no”).

he doesn’t have a choice in the matter. he has to do it, because there’s no one else who can. that’s the kind of pressure that is on Deku now.

and on that note, we begin the Deku Angst arc.

chapter 307

this in hindsight was mostly just a set-up chapter to better establish the current state of the BnHA world at large (spoilers: it’s not good), while also providing an answer for one of the big initial questions of the arc -- namely, “what happened to all of those villains that AFO released from Tartarus?” these are important things to touch on, but the pacing could definitely have been better, and the bulk of the chapter was dedicated to providing fanservice to all of the Shindou fans who spammed the most recent popularity poll (which, whatever lol). anyway, so this was the sole chapter thus far with absolutely no Deku development. thankfully the arc picks up from there.

chapter 308

on to the next one! this was the one and only chapter thus far which I think actually qualifies as an “exhibition fight.” this was definitely all about showing off Deku’s current powerset, as well as introducing us to another of the SIXQUIRKS. however, there was Deku development here as well, most notably in this scene:

this is the scene that got a lot of people speculating that this arc was going to focus on Deku hunting down all of the old villains. but I think people got so caught up in that speculation that they overlooked what this scene tells us about Deku’s mindset. and yes, there is new information being revealed here, and it’s not just a rehash of the stuff we already knew. like yes, we know that Deku was shaken up by the recent encounters with Dabi and Tomura, and we know that made him start questioning why villains become villains in the first place, and all that good stuff, and that’s great. however, there are two additional important things that this scene helps establish for us.

the upcoming battle with TomurAFO is weighing heavily on Deku’s mind. this is something that will become a recurring theme in this arc. Deku is thinking about this constantly. the question of what to do when he finally encounters TomurAFO again is knocking incessantly at the back of his mind, and this won’t be the last time it comes up.

Deku is using these villain encounters as test runs. can Tomura be redeemed?? is he just being stupid and naïve?? or is this really something worth attempting?? the interesting thing about this is that Deku’s resolve to save people is usually so strong and unwavering that it’s more than enough to overcome any doubts that he might have. but this time it seems like the repeated objections posed by the Vestiges and Gran Torino have really gotten to him. it’s possible I’m just reading way too much into things, but to me it really feels like Deku’s recent attempts at Talk no Jutsu were meant to do more than just show his growing awareness that the line between heroes and villains is thinner than he once imagined. they’re also serving as trial runs for the real test, when it finally comes. if he can “save” even a villain like Muscular, there’s hope for him being able to save Tomura as well. and so that moment when Muscular rejects him out of hand is all the more disappointing to him, even if it wasn’t really unexpected. basically it wasn’t the answer that he had been hoping for.

aside from those little notes though, like I said, this was unquestionably an exhibition fight first and foremost. which is fine; we needed to establish where Deku is currently in terms of strength, and it was also just fun to see him kick some ass, ngl. in terms of story purpose this chapter was similar to 219, which showed us how Shouto and Katsuki had powered up after getting their provisional licenses. people who don’t care about those characters might argue that these fights weren’t necessary, but as someone who stans all three characters hard, I would disagree! but anyways, moving on.

chapter 309

in contrast to the previous chapter, this chapter focuses more on establishing Deku’s current mental state, as opposed to his physical state. and this is what we learn:

(1) Deku is ~technically~ being shadowed/accompanied by All Might and the Hawksquad (but in practice he’s avoiding them).

(2) it was Deku’s own decision to leave U.A., and he did it because he didn’t want anyone else getting hurt in order to protect him.

and finally, (3) Deku’s game plan is to stop Tomura and All for One before they reach full power.

this last part is very important, because it means there’s a countdown in effect. as far as Deku is concerned, there’s only a finite amount of time before TomurAFO becomes unstoppable. which means that he’s not only under “gotta get stronger” pressure, but time pressure as well. he doesn’t have the luxury of taking his time and training in safety. he’s being rushed now; this is do-or-die.

this chapter is also the first in this arc in which we get to see Deku’s expressions without the hood covering up his face, and what we see is very telling. as previously stated, the light is gone from Deku’s eyes. he keeps his expressions very neutral, and the only time we even see a hint of a smile is when he hugs his mom in the flashback, and it’s clear from the dialogue (“it’s okay, I’ll come home to you”) that he’s doing it for her sake in order to comfort her.

but aside from that, this is very much not the Deku we’ve grown accustomed to. this is the chapter that really establishes his current mental state imo. above all else, he’s afraid that more people will get hurt because of him, and so he’s distancing himself from everyone around him. and he’s also morbidly preoccupied with the inevitability of having to face TomurAFO again, and soon. the chapter ends on the flashback of Gran giving him his cape, and telling Deku that “killing can be another way to save someone.” there’s a lot on this kid’s mind, to say the least.

chapter 310

this chapter opens with a gang of civilians who are trying to open fire on a nice fox lady whose only crime was walking around in the rain at night. Deku intervenes to save her, and it’s the first time in this arc that we see anything close to the “old” Deku, who just wanted to save people with a smile.

but it’s bittersweet, because all the lady can talk about is how scared she was, and how horrible everything is right now. and so Deku, who feels responsible in a lot of ways for everything that’s happened, just feels that much more pressure to somehow make things right again.

there’s also this extra throwaway line which is especially heartbreaking:

“I can’t afford to be around anyone.” fucking ouch. just reinforcing once more how incredibly isolated Deku is right now -- not by choice, but because he feels like it’s not safe to let anyone else get close to him. and so he’s out here running around this dystopian cityscape in the middle of the night in the pouring rain all on his own, and neglecting himself to the point where All Might practically has to force a bento on him.

but does he complain? of course not. because his focus is never on himself. instead, when he settles down to eat, his thoughts immediately drift back to, guess who...

it’s that time pressure once again. “unless I draw out One for All’s full power, I can’t stop any of this.” it’s just nonstop, I have to get stronger, I’m running out of time, I have to do better, and constantly thinking about that inevitable confrontation.

Deku is a thinker, you guys. and when left to his own devices he will overthink, every time. his mind will run in endless loops while he mentally works his way through all of the possibilities. and that’s one of his greatest strengths, don’t get me wrong, but at a time like this it’s also one of his greatest weaknesses. it’s just so fucking easy for him to get stuck in his own head, in his endless rambling thoughts and analyses. and without anyone else there to help distract him, or help him focus, he’s become fixated on his mission, and it’s slowly consuming him.

this, incidentally, is also the chapter in which we finally see Two and Three’s faces, and learn why Two in particular is so reluctant to lend his power to Deku. he appears to be the lone holdout at this point, so stay tuned on that, because I don’t doubt this will wind up being crucial to Deku’s future development, however it winds up playing out.

chapter 311

this chapter flips back to the Hawksquad for the first half, so we get a brief respite from the ongoing Dekuangst. right before we switch back though, we do get confirmation of something we had pretty much already guessed:

like, that much was already apparent based on what we’d seen (the bags under his eyes; the fact that he refused to sit still in any one place for very long even at night), but it’s always nice to get the official confirmation so that people can’t dispute it lol. so yeah, Deku isn’t sleeping much. and not eating much either, if all he’s getting is the occasional bento from Dadmight. so basically not taking care of himself at all, huge shocker there. but this is something that’s important enough to the story that Horikoshi took the time to point it out in the dialogue, in addition to all of the visual clues we’d already gotten.

and just in case we needed to drive that point in any further, this chapter ends with the appearance of Lady Nagant! like yeah, no shit Deku isn’t getting much sleep, what with him having to fend off racist civilians and hired assassins every five fucking minutes. smdh. can he live??

chapter 312

so this is the chapter that properly introduces Lady Nagant, who maaaay or may not be one of the primary antagonists of this arc?? like, it’s really unclear right now tbh, but she gets hyped up by Hawks and AFO, and has a flashback and a mysterious past and a weird trump card (where did you go, Overhaul) and all that good shit, so yeah? one can hope at any rate.

but anyway. so to his credit, Deku’s first thought is to retreat, but he quickly abandons that plan once he figures out Nagant’s location. this is played off like a logical strategic decision at first, but the subsequent chapter quickly makes it clear that Deku’s decision to take the fight to Nagant is less rational than he might have you think.

chapter 313

so yeah. last but not least, the most recent chapter, in which Deku’s real reason for targeting Lady soon becomes apparent:

what’s more, it quickly becomes clear that he miscalculated and probably would have been better off following Hawks’s advice, seeing as he promptly gets himself shot, and subsequently realizes that AFO gave Nagant an extra quirk, something he hadn’t taken into account. but instead of cutting his losses and running at this point, he doubles down instead and not only breaks out Smokescreen, but also the Third’s quirk which he has never even used before.

it’s worth noting that both En and the Third start telling him to chill at this point, and warn him that what he’s attempting is too dangerous. but tbh if they were expecting him to listen, they haven’t been reading the same arc I’ve been reading. once again, Horikoshi makes it clear that Deku has one thing and one thing only on his mind right now.

of course. once again it all comes back to this. hunt down AFO. it doesn’t matter that he’s exhausted. it doesn’t matter that he’s just been shot twice. it doesn’t matter that Hawks, despite knowing what Deku was capable of with his OFA abilities, specifically warned him away from this one person only. it doesn’t matter that even the Vestiges are trying to tell him you’re going too fast and you’re trying to do too much and it’s too dangerous.

he just doesn’t care. long story short, the only thing that matters to Deku right now is tracking down and defeating TomurAFO. and as the person who knows him best once so aptly put it, “he doesn’t take himself into account.” and therein lies the major challenge of this arc.

and so this is where we’re currently at now. and this has been a very long post, but if nothing else, I hope I was able to get this one point across: there is absolutely no way that Deku will be able to defeat TomurAFO as he is now. not a chance in hell. somehow he’s managed the uncommon feat of waging a war of attrition against himself, which is really quite an accomplishment. he’s not taking care of himself, and he’s refusing to listen to sound advice from the people surrounding him, and is trying to skip ahead to the final boss battle before he’s ready, because the guilt and pressure from feeling responsible for the current situation are eating him up. the only way that the world can go back to normal is if he can defeat AFO; therefore he has to do it as soon as possible, because time is running out and everyone is counting on him. this is who Deku is. and this is what inevitably happens when his saving mentality is taken to extremes, and left unchecked.

anyway so to wrap up this post now, I do think this arc is a lot more cohesive than it’s gotten credit for thus far, and Deku is the glue holding it all together. I for one am loving the exploration of his character and all the subtle little angsty touches as we build up to the big moment, whenever it finally comes. just keep in mind though that if his decisions right now seem reckless and short-sighted, it’s because they’re supposed to seem that way, because Deku is not in a good mental state right now. the cracks are finally showing in our perfect protagonist, just like everyone has been wanting this whole time. he is just a kid. he is doing his best. he is trying far too hard to do his best, and it is hurting him so badly, but he doesn’t even realize. this arc is not an endorsement of the Angsty Nomad Hero lifestyle, lol. it’s the exact fucking opposite, and I think it’s being wildly misinterpreted with all of the emphasis on “oh look at that, he mastered another quirk with no effort”, as opposed to “oh look at that, he is shutting down emotionally and is a few more missed nights of sleep away from a complete and total breakdown.”

tl;dr the overarching storyline of this arc is all about Deku slowly falling apart due to his trauma from Jakku, and the subsequent pressure that was put on him by the Vestiges with their whole “GUESS WHAT, YOU’RE THE LAST USER OF OFA, THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S ALL ON YOU BUDDY” pep talk. and mark my words, things are not going to go according to plan. something is going to go terribly wrong here. whether it’s something happening to All Might, or AFO setting up a trap for him, either way Deku is being set up to fail in a major way. unless of course, someone (or a group of someones) manages to intervene first, and possibly stage an intervention or something. it’s what he needs right now, but idk if Horikoshi is going to make it that easy.

anyway, but in other words, the point of this arc is not to show how much stronger Deku has gotten and how he doesn’t even need his friends anymore. it’s the exact opposite -- the point of this arc is to show that Deku needs his friends now more than ever. that in spite of OFA and all of its mystical trappings and fancy SIXQUIRKS, Deku can’t do this alone. he needs his friends. that’s the core message. and right now, we are at the “I can get by on my own” part of the story. and the part we are all waiting for, but which is coming -- I guarantee it is coming, you guys -- is “the thing is, you don’t have to.”

and that shit is going to slap hard you guys. and I for one can’t wait. but until then, enjoy the angst.