#pennyworth spoilers

[dotthings]

Just watched episode 9 of Pennyworth S3 and having thoughts about generational trauma, Alfred's arc, the Waynes, and Batman.

Alfred and Wayne children. I'm not sure what Samantha's future holds, if Bruce had a big sister, where is she. But Samantha's trust in Alfred and Alfred's protectiveness of Samantha, Alfred comforting Samantha and telling her the story of the lion and the mouse "like your hair pin" -- and I think Samantha picked up on Alfred's code. Ran to him not just because she's scared. Because she understood Alfred needed her hair pin. They speak each other's language. This being followed by Alfred's confession that he does want to be a father.

How Bruce winds up an only child, and what happened that we don't know about Alfred's own child, I am trying not to think about--these characters being stalked by tragedy. Or maybe this show is an entire alt timeline AU.

Which means Samantha might become the bat. I have no idea.

But even if it's an alt timeline. We're seeing Alfred's arc towards becoming a better version of himself. He hasn't escaped the cycle of violence just yet but we're seeing more and more the compassionate, patient, nurturing person older Alfred is. Who cared for the Wayne family, and then raised Thomas and Martha's son, and then cared for all the Robins. Alfred gave all his kids comfort and support and is instrumental in Batman being able to go out there and save people.

And Alfred not being like his father.

While Thomas is falling deeper into generational trauma. Paying for his father's sins and resorting to violence, and then so does Martha. Even if they are doing it for the right reasons (as Alfred has as well). The failings of Thomas' father sends Thomas down a dark path. While Alfred is going farther and farther from the legacy of his own father's extremism and violence.

Maybe Thomas and Martha will develop towards better versions of themselves.

But Thomas killing his father in an alley. Thomas and Martha in the future will be killed in an alley. Damn.

And the Wayne child. Batman. What this series points towards is that Batman in fact escapes the generational trauma. Because while Batman utilizes some violence, Batman doesn't kill. The Wayne child will use the fortune to try to better Gotham as well as being Batman. Repairing the history of Wayne fortune corruption. Doing things for the good of an entire city. And refuses to use a gun, or a knife.

It just makes so much sense there's generational violence and traumas in the Wayne line, it's more than just child goes over the edge grieving for their dead parents.

Why does Batman do what they do? So it never has to happen to anyone else.

Alfred already has a lot of blood on his hands that can't wash off but we can see him changing and we know the good person he becomes.

Also Bet Sykes!!! Yes!!!! I didn't think she was actually dead, glad I was right.

Lucius Fox is so appalled by everything but keeps on going calmly through the madness and has no idea how much more nuts his life is going to get later.

[thefriendlyneighborhoodace]

sometimes i think about how funny it would be if bruce had a slight english accent as a result of alfred being the only adult in his life for most of his formative years. that or he just says british slang instead of english.

this either drives his children insane, or they think it’s the most hilarious thing ever.

__________________________

Bruce: Can you pass the chips?

Dick: Sure, B. *passes over the potato chips*

Bruce: No, the chips.

Dick: ???? … yeah? here?

Bruce: NO! THE CHIPS! *gesturing wildly for the french fries*

Damian: Father, are you having a stroke?

———

Batman: Alright, this mission is very important. It is imperative that everything goes to schedule. (shh-edule)

*red robin and red hood snicker*

Batman: *glare* As I was saying, it all must go to shh-edule…

RR & RH : *uproariously laughter *

Batman: *harsher glare* Is something funny?

RR: Oh nothing, B, don’t worry.

RH: Absolutely nothing wrong, “left-tenant”

RR & RH: *dying of laughter *

———

Bruce: *reaching the end of a long rant about responsibility and making sure you are keeping yourself and others safe* And what do you have to say for yourself??

Duke: … You sound like Alfred…

Bruce: *horrified look over coming him* … what

Cass: *furious nodding*

*Some time later, after B has been fished out of Gotham Harbor, which he jumped into after declaring that he “couldn’t turn into his father”*

Alfred: *reaching the end of a long rant about responsibility and making sure you are keeping yourself and others safe* And what do you have to say for yourself??

Bruce: *white as a sheet* … Sorry Alfie…

*Steph is heard furiously cackling in the background*

_______________________

anyways i just thought this was fun

[lilsoupboiii]

Even more of my personal favorite panels from s2 of Batman: Wayne Family Adventures

[jesterraconteuse]

You don't understand there's a part of me that wants Alfred Pennyworth to never age but there's another part that's like

As Alfred grows older his body grows tired and everyone notices. And for Bruce that's his surrogate father. For everyone else that's Grandpa. Immediately there's a secret boot camp in the Batcave for everyone to start learning how to better care for themselves. Selina Kyle assisting of course.

There's already disability accommodations for Barbara so they just need to tweak and add some stuff. They've learned from her needs and start researching on how to care for the elderly for Alfred specifically.

On paper he's still a butler but really everyone (who lives or stays for a long time in Wayne manor) makes sure they learn how to do the hardwork for themselves. Most of his job is just to be there for them honestly. They insist on doing things for themselves.

But Alfred is Alfred. So he knows what's going on. And he's so deeply proud of them. He doesn't let him do anything he insists he can or wants do himself. He's still his own person after all, and they gradually learn his boundaries and patterns.

Bruce keeps paying him but not in a way you'd pay a butler usually. More in a way where you'd send money to your retired parents.

Do you see my vision?

[thebibliosphere]

I'm still not that far ahead, but I need you to know Alfred claims to have coined the phrase "no shit, Sherlock" from his days in MI5.

Also, someone has kidnapped him and is forcing him to relive his early days in MI5. He's just realized it's not dramatic enough to be a Batman villain, so his only logical conclusion is that MI5 is tying up loose ends and is about to rub him out after they gain access to his memories.

He's also just realized they don't know he's essentially Batman's father and grandfather to several highly competent vigilantes whose mental health and moral compasses are hanging on by a thread--that thread being Alfred--which, lmaaaaao. lol, even.

MI5 is about to get wiped out.

The blast radius is going to be visible from space.

I haven't gotten far, but I love that the Pennyworth comics (based on the show) start with Alfred literally dangling someone off the top of the Eiffel Tower by their toes for information.

Starting off as we mean to go on, I see.

[pinkiemachine]

When Batman is in one of his real bad moods and he says something to his kids that we both know Wonder Woman will make him regret.™️

[incorrectbatfam]

Can we get the event that caused the driver ejector button to be removed?

Bruce: You should've called me. You should've done ANYTHING other than—

Bruce: *keeps lecturing*

Robin!Dick: *ejects him*

———————

Bruce: How are you liking the Batmobile, chum?

Robin!Jason: It's awesome! What's this button do?

Bruce: No don't that's—

Bruce: *gets ejected*

———————

Robin!Tim: Can I change the radio station?

Bruce: Sure.

Tim: *fumbles around in the dark*

Tim: *hits eject*

*Batmobile automatically comes to a stop*

Bruce: *walks over and gets back in*

Tim: ...My bad.

———————

Robin!Steph: I'm sick of this guy.

Steph: *ejects Bruce*

———————

Bruce and Cass: *on a long drive*

Cass: I'm bored.

Cass: *hits the button*

———————

Damian: Father, may I drive the Batmobile?

Bruce: No, you're too young.

Damian: *hovers his finger over the button*

Bruce: Don't even think about it.

Damian: Tt, I was merely joking.

Bruce: Hng.

Damian:

Damian: *ejects him*

Damian: Element of surprise.

———————

Bruce: Oracle, coordinates?

Barbara: Sending them over.

Bruce: These directions will take too long. I know a shortcut.

Barbara: I'm looking at the traffic cams and you really shouldn't—

Bruce: I know what I'm doing.

Barbara: *remotely ejects him*

Barbara: Jackass.

———————

Bruce: Before you drive the Batmobile yourself, you need to familiarize yourself with the controls. That's the emergency light button, that's the Bluetooth connection, and these two are for the cupholders.

Duke: What about this big red one?

Bruce: *sighs*

Bruce: *gets ejected*

Duke: He's got to start labeling these.

———————

Bruce: Good news, everyone. We got a new Batmobile.

Alfred: What was wrong with the old one?

Bruce: *eye twitches*

[dc-comics-enjoyer]

The Batkids doing something considered rebellious and Bruce is unimpressed because "been there, done that" headcanon :

Damian runs away and sleeps under a bridge at some point -> Bruce did it at nine years old.

Tim gets piercings (bonus : Kon pierced him) -> Bruce had his nipples pierced by Minkhoa back in the days.

Jason gets home smelling of weed -> Bruce didn't only taste foreign food around the world when he was training...

Steph gets a mohawk -> Bruce had a bright pink mohawk at some point to piss Alfred off.

Dick anonymously starts an OF -> Bruce may or may not have leaked his own sextapes (yes, multiple) for "legitimate Batman-related" reasons.

Cass accidentally joins a cult -> Bruce and Minkhoa competitively founded a cult to see who would get to be the ultimate guru.

Duke finds himself in custody for whatever silly reason really -> Bruce went to prison (more than once) (in different countries) (for terrible motives) (he's still blacklisted in some of those countries)

[why-i-love-comics]

Nightwing #111 (2024)

written by Tom Taylor art by Sami Basri, Vicente Cifuentes, & Adriano Lucas

[gffa]

Bruce not wanting to dance at random with people just vying for his attention because DANCING WAS SOMETHING HE DID WITH HIS MOM excuse me I'm going to go fling myself into the sun.

[star--bird]

Which social media platform I think each Batfam member uses the most:

Alfred: Facebook (may be controversial but he probably keeps up with people on their, maybe former classmates or relatives)

Bruce: Instagram (again, controversial, he should be a Facebook user, but he is also a billionaire playboy philanthropist, and billionaire playboy philanthropists don't use Facebook)

Dick: Instagram (like the millennial he is, his page resembles the song "White Woman's Instagram" )

Jason: Tumblr (was familiar with it before he died, but has one of those blogs that has never liked, followed, or posted anything with a default avatar and theme)

Tim: Reddit (is the top contributor on several true crime subreddits)

Steph: Instagram (mainly posts memes and purposely poorly taken photos of events she attends and places she has visited)

Cass: TikTok (uses it to learn ballet. Idk if TikTok has a ballet teaching community but I assume they do. If they don't, Cass has found videos from a single person who posts lessons and follows them exclusively)

Duke: Tumblr (has one blog he uses for everything that changes content based on his current interest)

Damian: Twitter (like the 14 year old boy he is)

[batfamhastwitter]

Part 18! They're so oblivious its paining me, and I'm the one writing it!

Prev ~ Beginning ~ Next

[myrefugeblog]

This episode fucking hurts, but look at them 💜

There is nothing wrong and everyone is happy.

[garpen]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALFRED AND JASON

🎂🥳🪅🎁🍰🎊🎉✨🧁🎂🥳🪅🎁🍰🎊🎉🧁🎂🥳🪅🎁🍰🎊🎉✨🧁🎂🥳🪅🎁🍰🎊

<<Part 42<< Master List >>TBC>>

[the-thing-inside-your-closet]

Who Started The Fire?

From the prompts list:

“That’s my emotional support entity of questionable moral standing.”

Batman stared down the two teens standing before him. The boy was pointedly looking anywhere but the Bat’s face, finding more interest in the dirt and gravel crunching under his shoes. Meanwhile, the girl stood with her arms crossed, head held high, meeting Batman’s gaze with a defiant glare that wouldn’t be out of place on any of his own children’s faces.

Behind them lay the smoking remains of what was once a warehouse that had been used as a front for a weapons smuggling operation that the bats had collectively spent the past few weeks investigating. Although their investigation had taken longer than anticipated thanks to this group’s rather impressive security, they had been so close to a breakthrough…when the place had gone up in an inferno.

When the Gotham vigilantes had first arrived on the scene the fire had been so intense that they’d had to put in their gas masks to avoid any inhaling any of the thick black smoke from not only the fire, but also whatever chemicals may have potentially been within the building that would have been released into the air.

Batman’s initial hypothesis had been that the group had become aware of their investigation and burned the place to avoid any evidence being discovered while they moved locations. However, that theory had been shelved when Red Hood had announced the presence of charred bodies amongst the rubble, and evidence of explosives having been used in multiple area where the building’s structure had been the weakest. Whoever had been inside had not had any warning of the blaze that had swallowed the building too fast for them to get to safety, and with the structure being compromised from the explosions all exists had been blocked, preventing the inhabitant’s escape. Red Hood and Nightwing had been discussing potential suspects as Batman and Red Robin searched for any evidence that could have survived the destruction, when a clattering sound followed by the sound of voices hushing each other had altered all of the on scene bats to the presence of possibly several unknowns.

The two teens had been apprehended quickly and ushered to the side, far enough away from the scene of the fire to avoid them overhearing details of the investigation and to prevent any potential tampering. Accidental or otherwise. The teens had been stubborn in their refusal to answer any of the bat’s questions to their presence. Nobody knew why they were there, where they had come from, and they had even refused to disclose their names. Oracle, unfortunately, was sick with the flu and had been gently ordered to rest by Agent A. Batman was nevertheless confident that they would be able to discover their identities quickly either once they had returned to the cave or if they could get the kids to talk.

He would have asked Red Hood to speak with the teens, he was the best with kids. And if caught up in anything illegal they often seemed to respond better to him due to his more ambiguous morals and reputation for ensuring kid’s safety. Both from rouges and in some cases, the rest of the bats and birds. But he had been needed in Crime Ally after he had been alerted to a gunfight breaking out between two gangs who had been more hostile and antagonistic in recent months. Nightwing had accompanied him, and Spoiler had diverted from her patrol route to assist. That left Batman and Red Robin behind to deal with both the police and the frustratingly stubborn teens.

Batman resisted the urge to punch the bridge of his nose as yet another question was blatantly ignored by both kids. The boy had begun fiddling with the sleeved of his letterman jacket and the girl had taken to checking her manicured nails for any dirt or imperfections.

Just as he was about to turn the questioning over to one of the on scene police officers, a writhing mass of shadow had emerged from the girl’s shadow. Two tendrils of black smoke reached out to wrap themselves around the wrists and hands of both teens, who had in turn glanced down at their hands and smiled.

“We’re fine,” the boy had muttered quietly, “no need to worry.”

“What is that?” Batman asked, eyeing the mass with a cautious suspicion. He wanted to believe it wasn’t hostile given the kids reactions to it. But this was Gotham.

The girl shot him another glare, one hand on her hip while the other remained in the hold of whatever the shadowy mass was.

“That sir,” she spat out the first word with such venom to her tone that Batman almost flinched, “is our emotional support entity of questionable moral standing.”

[thebibliosphere]

... that's how the show ends?

--[Spoilers]--

They nuked London. Like, straight up nuked it. There is no more London in this version of the DC universe. Fucking Hell. They don't do anything by halves, do they?

Hang on. I just looked it up, and the Pennyworth timeline is supposed to be in the same universe as the Gotham show timeline*?

Fucksake. Here I was, blaming James Gordon for being an entity of chaos irradiating the city with his Main Character Energy (MCE), and all this time, he was a casualty of the greater mushroom cloud hovering over Alfred like a tear in the fabric of the universe.

--- [Spoilers]---

*according to Danny Cannon who wrote and produced for both, though there are several inconsistencies that don't add up.

Like Alfred in Gotham not knowing Lucius Fox despite working with him in Pennyworth for the govt. (This would mean Lucius also got drastically de-aged at some point and lost his memories, and Alfred is merely pretending not to know about Thomas working for the CIA -- or maybe he also got his memory wiped in whatever event de-aged Lucius.)

That and the whole, y'know, Thomas and Martha Wayne working for the CIA and England falling briefly into a civil war following WW2, which is never mentioned in Gotham, not once. Though fair cop to them, Gotham's almost perpetually in a state of civil war in the streets, so maybe they just think that's a normal Tuesday.

Maybe it's more fair to say they're parallel timelines that share several similarities than the same timeline.