#plus Dick should adopt Damian actually

[mintacle]

I really think Jason and Damian should get some good bonding time in. Because Jason knows a lot about being young and being blamed for being wrong in whatever way. For Jason it’s the victim-blaming and character assassination after his death, for Damian it’s a different kind of victim-blaming, failing to acknowledge his youth and the tragedy of his life so far and blaming him alone for the way he is without putting his “acting out” in context of two unloving parents and absolutely no freedom of self-determination in his life. 

I want to see Jason and Damian bonding as Jason being able to offer guidance and understanding to Damian as someone who is older and has been through much of the same or similar things. I want to see them bond for the sake of Jason to get to confront his younger self by proxy of Damian and have this conversation he wishes he could have with himself. I desperately want Jason to care for the current Robin. I desperately want them to both fight and bond over Bruce. The sheer anger of Damian that Bruce treated Jason like a true son, both of their loss that Bruce is not much of a father at all now to either. The ostrasizetion both still experience from the family. The way they’re both labelled as angry, irrational, impulsive. 

I just think a less critical adult figure is something that Damian actually really needs so he can get out of the strict black and white world view that the superhero/vigilante world often pushes. He needs someone who knows the pressure and what it means to be part of the Bats and someone who will see him as Damian in first line and not Damian al Ghul or Damian Wayne.

[teaboot]

Batman? As in extended batman universe, specifically batman, or movies batman? I'm going to die from the hilarity of /accidentally/ following another batman fan. Generally it's on purpose lol

I was actually absorbed into the Fandom by osmosis before I even touched any of the Canon material

Even now I've only seen the Affleck movies and the Battinson one, plus a couple cartoons and like. Four comics out of order

With next to zero evidence tho I have decided that

Dick Grayson has Eldest Daughter syndrome that, speaking as an Eldest Daughter (tm) really should be addressed in the lore somewhere before he goes on a drunken bender, gets a tramp stamp, kills a man, and has a full-on mental breakdown when the Repression Dam breaks

Stephany Brown radiates "angry teen girl needs a hug" energy imo but I feel like she might break my arms? I don't know anything about her except her dad sucks but honestly same boat, would hang

Timothy Drake cannot be the helpless boohoo I see a lot of, but somehow the cool, collected, hypercompentant, übermensch-tweenybopper look is kinda sadder, like seeing a twelve year old buying groceries at the store by themselves. I want to send his ass to normal kid summer camp

I don't know pretty much anything about Duke Thomas except that he's a meta whose parents might be alive but crazy. I can only conclude that he suffers from Black Character White Fandom syndrome. I headcanon that he had an embarrassing weeb phase in middle school because he feels like the kind of kid Who'd have gone through a phase of saying "ohaio" with peace signs as a baby tween. I have no evidence to support this

Cassandra Cain might be my favourite. I think she deserves to go on an angry, irrational rampage or two, as a treat. Aggretsuko vibes that I cannot explain. I bet her favourite colour is purple

Jason Todd is my guilty comfort character and I refuse to believe he kicked the shit out of a fifteen year old while wearing a legless adult onesie. I refuse. Also yeah as a huge angry-kid-book-nerd there is no way that pride and prejudice was his number one fave, my money is on the Percy Jackson series but that could just be me projecting

Damian Wayne is Autistic, personal subscription. Because I am too and I said so. Reminds me of my baby brother, but crankier. Like a tiny old man who doesn't want to be at bingo with the other folks at the senior center.

I feel like Alfred should be allowed to be wrong about something sometimes but I still love him. Give that grandpa a gun

Bruce Wayne strikes me as a man who should have put a lot more thought and study and personal therapy consults into the idea of adopting multiple highly capable highly traumatized children he's never met before before but fuck pobody's nerfect am I right. Bisexual

[trashland-llamas]

Leakage

Written as a part of the @extremetimedchallengeexchange 2024; Prompt was - Jason Todd (transgender, closeted) at a gala, bleeding thru his pants: i. uh. got stabbed?

Can also be found on AO3

[. . .]

Jason had decided to attend another one of Bruce’s splendid galas. Dressed in a burgundy dress shirt paired with a white pantsuit. Aware that it was risky with how irregular his period had become once starting testosterone.

But Dick had convinced him to match with the other robins, all wearing their signature color. Which was then further accented by the white.

Plus Jason didn’t really have any excuse, having kept his transition a secret since his adoption. Easier said than done when you live with the world’s best detectives.

So Jason bit his tongue and hid his misery behind a well placed smirk. ‘You’re not actually enjoying yourself are you?’ A green cane hit his foot. Stopping himself from snapping at the cane’s owner.

‘Is that so bad Damian?’ Jason turned around, noting how he had slicked back his hair for the event. ‘Oh, sorry that seeing you so sour-pussed all the time makes it disconcerting to see you happy,’ Damian quipped. To spite him, Jason flashed him a disingenuous smile. Fully exposing his teeth to the younger.

A hand clutched his lower stomach as he felt a sudden cramp. Not thinking much, that there’d only be some slight spotting in his boxers.

The duo’s conversation interrupted by a dutiful benefactor. Reminding Jason of the whole purpose behind these galas. To maintain the front that is Bruce Wayne as a public persona but to also show their gratitude as a family to the charities’ donors.

Disembarking, they start to make the rounds. Jason relied on his memorized script, personalized with a little improv. ‘It was nice seeing you again.’ Jason says to the ninth person whose name he doesn’t remember but vaguely knows their face.

Everything’s going smoothly until a guest shrieks in horror, confusing Jason. Until he looks down and sees the sea of red staining his pants. He’s hyperventilating when a warm hand grabs his wrist.

Meeting the bloodshot blue eyes of Tim Drake. ‘Are you injured?’ Is the first thing Tim asks, undoing Jason’s collar. ‘Uh, I was…stabbed?’ The uncertainty tells Tim that he’s lying. Not that it was anywhere close to a successful lie.

The air tense as Jason was still shaking like a leaf. ‘Please, Jay. Please let me help you,’ Tim pleads. Unable to piece together enough information to figure it out himself. Not wanting to invade Jason’s personal space anymore than he already was.

‘I’m on my period,’ comes his uncharacteristically meek answer. ‘I’m trans, been transitioning since before we met.’ Hearing a soft ‘oh,’ Jason chances a glance at his younger brother. ‘I haven’t had a period in years except for some spotting here and there.’

‘Why did you come to the gala if you weren’t feeling well?’ Tim had seen Jason suffer through the pain as often as he had seen him ditch a gala. ‘I didn’t know until sometime during. Thought I could make it through the night.’

‘Got any safe houses nearby?’ Tim decides to get him out of here, texting Damian a bullshit excuse as to why they left. Trusting him and Dick to be handle it. ‘Yea,’ Jason taps the directions into Tim’s phone.

Tim awkwardly watches from the doorframe as Jason rummages around. Chucking the pants in the trash, too exhausted to soak them in cold water. Then grabbing a pad, pair of boxer and some comfy clothes. ‘You can come in if you want.’ He calls to Tim before running off to the adjacent bathroom.

‘Anything I can do, Jay?’ Tim pipes up. ‘Uh, can you grab the electric blanket? Should be in the dresser, bottom drawer.’ Following his instructions, Jason exited. Sat under the covers, he guided Tim in placing it on his lower stomach.

‘Do you want me to stay?’ Jason nods at his question, laying his head on Tim’s shoulder. The duo quickly fell asleep, oblivious of the Wayne driving his way over.

[zahri-melitor]

Thinking again about the whole "Dick told Damian he would have adopted him" scenario and remembering how ridiculous this is:-

Firstly, Bruce would have had to be dead. Since Bruce became aware of Damian, Bruce has always been a fit parent in the eyes of the law; there's no evidence of any situations that would lead to Damian being removed from Bruce's custody, and in terms of what a social worker would care about, the worst that's going on is...Damian runs away on occasion, plus your standard set of vigilante bruises.

For Bruce not to have at least partial parental responsibility for Damian, some of the following elements would need to be in place: Damian has a birth certificate without Bruce's name on it; nobody has provided a DNA test showing that Bruce is Damian's father; someone has legal paperwork stating that Damian has two different, legal parents; Bruce has permanently relinquished custody of Damian; a parenting order has been made that says Bruce doesn't get custody or parental responsibility (whether by agreement or by court order). Aside from the fact we don't know what's on Damian's birth certificate, none of this is the case.

Damian is clearly in Bruce's custody, legally, from about Battle for the Cowl onwards, and has had visits to the household prior. This is because, as far as the public and the legal system is concerned, Tommy Elliot is currently 'Bruce Wayne' for any public appearances. Now you could have a (fun!) scenario where Damian needs a DNA test to prove his identity and since Tommy obviously would not match, the courts find Damian is not Bruce's biological child...but given Dick is literally also building his own forensic testing lab as part of Wayne Enterprises at that time, they'd obviously do it in house and use a sample Bruce had on file.

Bruce provides care, support, housing, paid supervision (Alfred), and so on for Damian whenever Damian is in his custody or in a Wayne household.

Damian also specifically chooses during B&R09 that he wants to be in Wayne custody not in Talia's (after his back surgery) and everyone involved actually works to make that happen, including Talia (and preference of the child is something that's taken into account in terms of parenting orders).

And in any circumstance where Bruce is not considered to be a fit parent for Damian (due to, for instance, being dead), then Talia is still Damian's biological mother and the person who had parental responsibility and custody of Damian up until the age of 10. You'd need to prove that Damian should not be in Talia's custody and that the circumstances were such that she couldn't even have, say, supervised visits. Now whatever the DCU position on international assassins having custody of their children is, Talia, unlike Jade Nguyen, has never been charged or convicted of killing people, to my knowledge. She doesn't have a known criminal record.

To show Talia to be someone whose rights as a parent have been removed, you'd need something of the following: Talia would need to agree to give up all parental responsibility (which she has never done, see how often Talia drops in to 'sort things out' for Damian); Talia would need to be found by a court not to be a suitable parent for her child; Talia gets imprisoned for killing people and thus couldn't have custody of her kid; Damian has paperwork that says Talia isn't her mother/we have DNA evidence showing she isn't his mother.

For Dick to have any chance of adopting Damian, they would have needed for both Bruce and Talia to be legally dead, have had their parental rights removed, or have voluntarily relinquished their parental responsibility, to permit the adoption to occur.

This isn't a small thing. Bruce might have been 'dead' during that period but he was also legally alive in the eyes of the law. Talia has a legal existence in the US under her identity as Talia Head. For Damian to get adopted, he'd need both of them to sign that Dick could adopt him, or be in the custody of the State and have the State agree for Dick to adopt him.

There are scenarios where you could get to that point, particularly if Bruce had remained dead. But in the stories we have? As much as Dick thinks it might have been a nice thing to do, he absolutely could not have done it without a protracted legal fight (or agreement of both Bruce and Talia) and he'd probably lose that fight.

[khionefr0st]

im gonna put this here bc at this point this acc is just me screaming into the void and sometimes the void screams back

I’m gonna preface this with the fact that what anon did here is wrong even if what they say isn’t. Just stop barging into other people’s spaces, or going into their askbox/interacting with them when you know they disagree with you and trying to convince them of a different viewpoint in fandom.

Anyway, to the point - if the nature of two characters’ relationship hinges on technicalities like whether they call each other brother/sister in canon, or the batfam wiki, or their adoption papers by the same dude instead of the actual nature of their relationship, which for some of them, does not fit siblings at all, then you could hardly call them siblings, even by the standards of canon itself.

Like someone could just as easily make the argument that since Jason died, his adoption papers under Bruce are no longer valid. He isn’t any longer adopted by the same dude because those papers were never renewed – and they never had to be, because Jason was already pretty much an adult by the time he decided to show up in Gotham again. In the same comic where Bruce adopts Tim as his son, he admits that he didn’t adopt Dick as a son, but a ward. Does this make Jason and Dick any less of brothers? Does it make Dick any less of a son to Batman?

And some would respond to this with “well, technically-“ and it would be an argument about technicalities all over again, and it would still be the wrong damn basis for judging the nature of any character’s actual relationship.

Take Jason and Tim. They did not grow up together. On the contrary, Jason has done things to Tim that would drive any two people apart – and at that time, they barely had any connections to each other besides Jason’s resentment towards Tim, and Tim knowing Jason as Robin but never really knowing him. And then the reboot happened, and none of it was ever addressed properly. We didn’t get an arc where Jason apologized to Tim. Just a throwaway line in a N52 comic where Jason acknowledges that Tim is kind of similar to him, and he realized he wasn’t his enemy. They bond more in the N52 RHATO run, but none of it is especially in a familial way. At best, in canon, they’re amicable coworkers for the same dude, no matter how many times they call each other brother or how you argue that Bruce still has their adoption papers.

Same can be said about Tim and Damian – sure, they have the same dad. Does it make them siblings? Not by a long shot, because the nature of their relationship needs more development than mere technicalities for it to happen. And for the love of god please realize that having the same father figure does not make people tantamount to siblings.

Because that’s the problem with some of you – it’s that you force them into these boxes of typical nuclear family dynamics, like since this is the dad, all his kids are siblings, and because some of them share the same siblings, that means they all see each other as siblings! When the batfamily is a found family and fundamentally does not fit into conventional family relationships.

At best, the “batfamily is a traditionally nice, good, loving family” is a headcanon with surface-level canon content to support it (like WFA, or some moments in Nightwing). But looking at their actual, genuine interactions with each other in the past? The actual moments that relationships should be based on?

Some of them are hardly siblings, no matter how hard you try and force them to be.

Plus, Babs can definitely see Bruce as a father figure. She can definitely be a mother figure and/or a sister figure to Steph and Cass. This doesn’t mean she can’t date their sibling, Dick. Stephanie doesn’t have to be adopted by Bruce to see him as a father figure, and you can definitely think she does see a dad in Batman. Steph isn’t any less of a sister to Cass or Duke. Doesn’t mean she can’t be shipped with their brother, Tim. Doesn’t mean someone can’t reinterpret Steph and Cass’ relationship as a romantic one, either. Because, again, they do not fit conventional nuclear family dynamics.

The reason Tim doesn't have to accept Damian or Jason as his brother is because the fundamental difference that separates found families from nuclear families is that they are not born into the relationship - the relationship happens because they make it work. Their bonds are not forged by a link in blood - they are forged by choice, and with effort. Without those things there is no relationship, no matter how many parental figures or siblings you share.

So yes, Jason is still Bruce’s son, not because of any damn adoption papers or because he called his other kids bro/sis, but because Bruce loved him like a son and Jason loved him like a father, and they've both put in the time and commitment in the past to prove that to each other.

I’m not doing this to justify shipping, because the justification for that is do whatever the hell you want in fiction. I don’t care if you still see them as siblings and neither should anyone. Fiction is held to different standards than reality, and fanworks are held to different standards than canon. It is a waste of time to make it your business to form an opinion on what everyone personally ships and doesn’t ship in a spin-off of a universe that doesn’t exist.

I’m saying this because I need people to understand that happy, conventional batfamily is hardly canon. They are complex, and yes there is love and family to be found there, but their familial connections don't limit them. I think it’s a disservice to the narrative and the inherent versatility of their relationships to pretend like the batfamily is founded on traditional family dynamics. And yeah, also because “Actually, in canon-” has been used again and again to attack people who choose to make them have romantic connections instead of familial ones (including DickBabs and TimSteph shippers somehow), and half the time, like in the post above, they’re not even right because they ignore nuance and actual canon history for the sake of trivial and arbitrary criteria.

And even if it was canon, it’s not something you can weaponize against people who choose to see their relationships in a different way from you. Nothing is stopping anyone from rewriting canon either and choosing to say “Well in my headcanons and works they’re not related.” Canon or not, nobody has the authority to barge into that space and yell “Actually they’re siblings!” (And nobody has the authority either to barge into someone else’s askbox and say “No they aren’t!”) I promise you, it does not matter. If SPN, GoT and Greek Mythology didn't normalize incest some batfam slashfic between two members of a found family certainly isn't going to do it. Stay in spaces you’re comfortable with and do away with those you aren’t.

Last P.S. if you really want to read healthy and good canon family dynamics, read Flashfam.

[5-7-9]

My AU version of Bruce has a worse relationship with Dick than Jason. Actually, he has a really good relationship with Jason that’s better than Dick. Because Dick left Bruce for independence away from him, so clearly he should be angrier towards him. That entire aspect makes Bruce even more protective of his next adoption, that being Jason.

Also, my AU being split into 3 part. Part 1 only has Dick, then part 2 is all Jason. It’s funny because i dedicated the entire seasons to just Dick and Jason while Season 3 has to be shared with Tim Steph Cass Damian and Duke 😅 I think with Dick’s history getting a whole season makes sense, but Jason? I guess so. It messed with the timeline if anyone after the two children came along, so i had to settle for them being aged up.

Jason never gets that angsty whatever, if we’re going by “darker” “edgy” tactics then the vigilantism path he was on was already enough. …that means something about them 😰.

Plus, Batman chastising Jason for being cruel is such a hypocritical thing to say when Dick left Batman for being too cruel as well. Obvioisly, i don’t see Jason that way so that never happened, but for anyone else that believed that to be true has to be really ridiculous to not see the hypocrism.

[aethersea]

I am NOT going to write a longform dc comics fic because the three fics I’ve found with this particular premise are insufficiently satisfying, I am NOT, however my brain does not believe me and keeps trying to compile consistent characterizations for the batfamily

[tomboy014]

It seems like a lot of the DP/DC crossovers I’ve seen have Danny either secretly related to Bruce or Damian or Dick, and if he’s not directly related to one of them, Bats is at the ready with adoption papers.  But if it’s a fic where anyone is related, it’s one of the bats related to Danny, but I think there’s a better candidate.  May I present for the Phandom’s consideration:

Sam Manson.

Hear me out!

Bruce and Sam have a lot in common.  They both

Have black hair

Have eyes in the same color family (Bruce and Sam’s parents are blue, Sam’s are purple)

Are both goth

Come from inherited, generational wealth

Are Jewish

Are intelligent and athletic

Will aggressively fight for causes and the change they want to see

And of course, they both fight superpowered entities that should be beyond their capabilities to handle as normal humans.

The timing also works out for Martha and Ida to be sisters.  Out of ease, the kids use the titles of Aunt and Uncle for Bruce, Pamela and Jeremy even though they’re actually cousins. They don’t really see each other that often, mostly for holidays and big events like graduations or Sam’s bat mitzvah. Every so often, they all get together for more formal galas and charity events.

Plus, it makes it so much funnier if these are the “cousins” Sam refuses to babysit.  Can you blame her?  Would you want to be in charge of keeping Tim and Damian from killing each other?  Plus, the interactions between them and the way they relate would be great!

Bruce (43), Dick (26), Jason (21), Cass (19), Steph and Tim (18), Duke (15-16?), Damian (10), Sam (14)

Dick:  Is the perky ball of sunshine Pamela wishes Sam could be, and she get compared to him a lot.  Sam can’t stand him.  Dick has never seen Sam when her mother isn’t around, so his impression of her is she’s moody and surly.  Doesn’t like being in the middle of their fights or getting his cheeks pinched by Pam every time he comes over.

Jason:  Pamela can’t stand him.  Due to whatever cover story they made up to cover up Jason’s death and return, Pamela is now convinced that he’s some delinquent who’ll wind up a criminal (she’s not entirely wrong?).  Such a shame since he was so sweet as a kid.  His death is what started Sam’s interest in the occult.  Sam’s favorite cousin.  She loves that he’s actually a giant dork and bookworm behind the cool, tough-guy façade.  He keeps Sam well supplied in combat boots.  If they both disappear at a function in Amity Park, they’re probably hanging out at the Skulk n Lurk. 

Tim:  Another problem child according to Pam.  He’s the one who introduced Sam to videogames and Doomed.  Tim changed the Manson’s home theater set-up so they can play videogames on the big screen whenever the Wayne’s come over.  Will go out of his way to piss Pamela off.

Steph and Cass:  Steph doesn’t always come over when the rest of the Wayne’s do, but when she does, she sticks to Cass.  Big sister vibes from them both, scarily insightful, and good listeners.  They’re cool.

Damian:  They have the most shared interests, so you’d think they’d get along, but neither can stand the others’ attitude.  It’s a case of like repelling like.  Sam helped him figure out what kind of vegetarian he wanted to be and gave him a bunch of her favorite recipes.  If the two of them disappear while at Wayne Manor, you can usually find them hanging out with Batcow.

Duke:  The newest addition to the family, Sam is aware of him, but they haven’t met yet.

Part 2

[batpham-discord-highlights]

DALV Energy Drink

 I

there is a popular energy drink that becomes all the rage everywhere even Gotham. Tim out of curiosity of its claims takes it. And starts to feel really energize and stronger.

but overtime he starts to have weird side effects. strength he knows is impossible for him, knowing for certain his hand should not have passed through his mug.

turns out the energy drink is called Spectacular... it’s actually connected to specter... as Spect is in different font.

upon analysis the drink has something similar to pit water in it. uwu and you see where this is going kek

also 100% Vlad's idea =w= if he can’t have the only halfa like him he'll make more.

Danny just finding this out the same time as Tim.

ok just plopping a mini-idea plot kek

 Gh

It’s not 100% like sunset overdrive but def love it like I do

 L

Is one of the side effects mood swings?

 I

strong emotions yes

 L

Yeah, Tim should try to figure it out without telling his family because ‘embarrassing’

 Go

Question, would the rest of the batfam try it?

R

Jason, no. He's against energy drinks on principal. Plus, the stuff is rank.

Damian, also no. he'd never drink something as plebian as an energy drink.

 Gh

Dick is a maybe

R

Dick, maybe? But he doesn't like the way it makes him feel, so he only tries it once

Bruce, absolutely no.

Alfred would have a conniption if he found any energy drinks in the house

Gi

Cass would try

R

She would

Gi

Duke too, he doesn’t have an opinion on energy drinks, but likes the taste of some and is willing to try

R

Then she'd make a face at the taste and never touch it again

Duke drinks it too, but it doesn't affect him because of his powers

Gi

he doesn’t have fast metabolism in his skillset

i mean in canon

Healing ability: it has been discovered that Duke's powers allow him to heal rapidly in dire situations.

he has this

R

Hmm…

Gi

fanon we can do whatever

R

Maybe his rapid healing repairs the damage the ectoplasm does before it can take root

Gi

you have a point there

R

Like, you know the radium girls?

Gi

yeah

R

Ectoplasm is like that, except with DNA instead of bone

So, Duke's healing factor keeps the ectoplasm from changing his DNA

Gi

he is the only one that can drink it without consequences

Go

Can I just say I still want someone to trick Jason into drinking it and he ends up falling through a chair?

If we go with the ectoplasm = lazarus pit, it’d be like a temp boost for him

Gi

especially if the ectoplasm in the drinks is purer

S

Imagine Jason starts drinking it and it helps filter out the lazarus water from his system and replace it with cleaner ectoplasm

Gi

yeah, this ⬆️

R

Lol, I can see Jason scowling, plugging his nose and chugging the stuff. It nasty but damn it if it isn't effective

Go

Bruce is in the corner trying to figure out why his kids are experimenting with it

 I  

Yes

Also, low key imagine after all is said n done jazz keeps the rest of the drinks, /stored away for emergency uses...

 Go

It’s a nice little thing for Danny

 I  

Or jokingly, Vlad is allowed to legally sell it with proper warning labels...

Yess it’s a good pick me up for Danny

 Go

Unless that says not suitable for human consumption, then no

 I  

Can see Tim having a hard time stopping.

 Go

Probably

Gi

halfa Tim?

H

oooh halfa Tim

 Go

If they get Jason hooked on it, you could have both

Him and Tim

Gi

👀

H

Tim not noticing he's a ghost now and standing in the kitchen making coffee when someone else walks in and double takes

even better if ghost Jason was the one to walk in and he's freaking out

and freaks out more seeing ghost Tim

Gi

ghost Jason falls through the floor in shock

H

gets stuck waist deep in the ground and starts yelling

 I  

Yesss  

Danny now constant contact because A he likes these guys and B he wants to help them

Gi

Danny adopts the silly new halfas

under his wing

 I  

Vlad got fucked. He succeeded and failed lol because they just band with Danny XD

H

Vlad: YES IT WORKED

Danny: mine now

Vlad: NO NO NO

I  

Can mix in where Tim n Danny swapped their villains wanting them kind of XD

Ooo they now have to keep making the drinks but remove like the caffeine and abundance of sugar… more "healthy" for back up reserves.. Alfred overseeing this. His n Jazz's idea, since they have 3 halfas and 4 if Danielle shows

Gi

i like this

H

Dani probably got a power boost from the standard drink

 Go

This feels like it’d be so much fun to read

H

it does

Gi

now, someone has to actually write it

-----

Note: It’s being written here.

[bitimdrake]

Could I ask for a timeline for Jason Todd's Red Hood actions? Like when did UtRH, Seeing Red, Brothers in Blood, Attack on Titan's Tower all take place compared to each other/ other comic events?

Oh absolutely! Jason's timeline after coming back post-crisis is actually pretty straight forward. Here is every single issue he has a significant appearance in:

Red Hood: Lost Days was published later, but recounts the time between Jason coming back from the dead and returning to Gotham. (Batman Annual #25 also does this, but that one goes all the way through Hush and is included in Under the Hood, so for best reading order it should be later.)

Then Jason shows up in Batman: Hush specifically in Batman #617-618. At the time this is revealed to actually be Clayface, but later it will be revealed to actually actually be Jason.

A lot happens in between this and his next appearance. Dick's struggles in Bludhaven hit their peak. Young Justice and the Titans both split up, and the 2003 Teen Titans and Outsiders form. Tim is forced to quit Robin by his dad; Stephanie becomes Robin and then Bruce fires her. And then finally War Games and Identity Crisis happen right before Jason's return, leaving Stephanie and Jack Drake dead, every vigilante except Bruce leaving Gotham (Cass and Tim to Bludhaven; Dick initially to Detroit; Babs and the Birds of Prey initially to Metropolis), and Black Mask getting massive control over Gotham's underbelly.

Then Under the Hood begins with Batman #635-641, #645-647. At some point in here, insert Batman Annual #25, explaining Jason's past. In the middle of UtRH--after he's revealed his identity to Bruce, but before the dramatic end--Jason heads over to San Francisco to beat up Tim in Teen Titans vol 3 #29. At this point, Infinite Crisis has begun. Bruce is going from one earth shattering crisis to the next when UtRH hits its final confrontation in Batman #648-650. This occurs at literally the same time Bludhaven is destroyed.

At the end of this story, Jason either dies just before the universe is rewritten, or is seriously injured and flees. Either way, he is gone for awhile. Infinite Crisis ends; the day is saved; Bruce, Dick, and Tim go on a trip around the world; and the DC universe jumps forward with One Year Later.

Here's the only part where things get a little contradictory. Flashbacks in Outsiders vol 3 #44-46, Annual #1 show Jason helping Dick and the Outsiders with some information back during that skipped year. This was retroactively inserted though, and Outsider's timeline is pretty at odds with all the Bat-books/52's claims on what Dick did over that year--not to mention the emotional arcs conflicting wildly with what comes next:

At the end of the year jump, some cameos from Jason in World War II #1, #4 lead into Brothers in Blood, Nightwing #118-122, part of the One Year Later event, where Jason dons the Nightwing suit to commit murder and ruin Dick's life. (Meanwhile, Cass is in the terrible evil!Cass arc, and Tim is adopted.)

Again, Jason vanishes for a while, next popping up in Seeing Red, Green Arrow vol 3 #69-72, with Bruce, Ollie, and Mia. (At some point around here, could be before or after, Damian is first introduced, though he doesn't stick around.)

At this point is when DC tried to make him a main character in Countdown. This was intended to be the dramatic lead in to Final Crisis, only it wasn't that at all and nothing here matters ever again. But to be thorough, Jason witnesses Duela Dent's death in Countdown #51-48 [note: issue numbers run backwards], gets questioned about it in Teen Titans vol 3 #47 (the first time he, Dick, and Tim all appear together!), then Countdown #47, and Amazons Attack #2 where he starts to join up with Donna. He remains a major player from Countdown #46-1, plus a bunch of tie-ins I never read, as he, Donna, Kyle Rayner, and Bob the Monitor go on a trip through the multiverse.

Most of this matters not in the slightest. There is only one exception: one of the earths they visit has a similar history, but with a Bruce who did kill the Joker after Jason's death, and then promptly went off the deep end. (Which I desperately wish we could have had more follow-up on.) Said alt!Batman gives Jason the Red Robin suit, which he uses all the way back to the normal earth, before dropping in a dumpster. This is the suit Tim will eventually wear.

Events that occurred while he was gone include The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, Steph's return, Cass's return to the good side, and the formation of a new Titans team with Dick. Shortly after is Batman RIP, where Bruce vanishes. After RIP is also when Damian stays in Gotham.

(TIMELINE NOTE: the official timeline of Batman and Final Crisis says that FC happened immediately after RIP, meaning Bruce was missing for less than one night before he went off to die. This contradicts every other Bat-book there is, all of which heavily implied or else outright stated that Bruce was mysteriously missing for a significant period before he was known to be dead. I use the latter version, and sort accordingly. If you prefer the former, then Final Crisis should be placed here.)

While Batman is missing, Jason pops up again, this time with Tim in Robin #177, #182, where he gets sent to jail, and then Tim breaks him out. This will turn out to be an incredibly horrible idea. After this is when I place Final Crisis and Bruce's actual "death." Following which, Tim brings Jason to the cave to see Bruce's final message to him in Robin #183.

Then he loses it. Cue Battle for the Cowl. Jason's major appearances here are in the central three issues, but he shows up briefly in a few of the tie-ins. In order, Battle for the Cowl #1 and Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight #3, then Battle for the Cowl #2, BftC: The Underground #1, concluding in Battle for the Cowl #3. Once again, Jason ends the arc by seemingly dying, but of course will reappear later.

In the meantime, Dick becomes Batman, Damian becomes Robin, Tim becomes Red Robin and leaves the country, Cass also leaves the country, and Steph becomes Batgirl. We are in the Batman Reborn era.

Jason's final appearances are with Batman!Dick and Robin!Damian, in Batman and Robin #4-6, where he is again sent to prison, before breaking out in Batman and Robin #23-25, and flying off into the sunset with his new sidekick, Scarlet.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Okay so I saw this post earlier about how the Battle for the Cowl should have been between Cass and Jason (I can’t find it; if anyone knows what it is sorry), and yk it make so much more sense than what happens in canon!! Neither Dick nor Tim want to be Batman - they’ve both been shown to want to make their own path and being Batman stresses them out like crazy. Having either of them fight for it makes no sense. Steph and Babs have their own thing, they have no desire to take the mantle, and Damian is like 10, so?? HE might think he’s ready to be Batman but no one would let him.

Anyway so I’m just gonna say Duke’s already been adopted into the Batfam here (bc I love him) and that Tim and Steph were Robins together because I like it better. And so Bruce dies right? So there’s no Batman. Dick’s chilling in Bludhaven with no desire to be Batman, no one in Gotham wants to be Batman... sans Cass and Jason.

Plus it would be like a moral conflict too - Cass is so against killing, even moreso than Bruce, because of her past and what she was forced to do, while Jason believes there are people you just can’t leave alive. And are either of them right? We don’t know. They both would want at least the role Batman has in protecting the city, though they’d do it in very different ways. And Cass would obviously win because she never loses, but I feel like seeing them battle it out would be so fun bc Jason is brutal, yeah, but he’s also smart as fuck - seeing him trying to figure out Cass’s weaknesses and use them against her and seeing Cass use her own experience and superior abilities against him.

What’s everyone else doing? Dick’s probably stressing the fuck out because two of his siblings are trying to kill each other in Gotham shit- but after a while of getting yelled at he decides to just leave them to it. Damian probably goes with him and is his sidekick like in canon when he was Batman, but given he’s still Nightwing here Damian’s not Robin. Maybe he could be Flamebird - to complete with the story Dick got Nightwing from. I like to think Steph winds up chilling with them too, because I love her bond with Damian (she’s literally the closest to him after Dick and they have such a annoying older sister-bratty younger brother bond and no one does anything with it??) and since I think she’s meant to be the next Nightwing (right?? Am I reading the wrong things??) I’d love to see her have a sibling bond with Dick as well.

Ig Tim has more time to like... obsess over bring Bruce back to life or whatever he did? I genuinely forgot how he did that aside from that “I’m not Batman; I have friends” (Tim my guy icon), so he can probably be doing that while he and Duke and Barbra all continue being vigilantes and protecting people in the middle of Jason and Cass’s fighting. Barbra has better things to be doing - yeah she cares about Jason and Cass both and she probably yells at them to sort it out, but they’re both old enough to figure shit out. Duke is also stressed out but he has more important things going on rn. I feel like Tim wouldn’t care.

Tim and Steph would probably become Spoiler and Red Robin (he named himself after a fast food place does this guy live under a rock) bc no Batman = no Robin. I guess you could go the Steph Batgirl route but I like the Spoiler costume better so I’m sticking with it.

Actually, I kind of don’t want Bruce to come back now. Like how did he even come back in canon what did Tim even do.

[mischiefandspirits]

Bernard Figures It Out

Was reading through all the comments on @frostbittenbucky's post and all I could think of was that it was Bernard talking to Tim. Then I got to thinking...

"I've connected the two dots."

"You didn't connect shit."

"I've connected them."

Bernard figures out Tim's a superhero... sort of.

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

Tim fidgetted nervously as he waited on the front porch of his boyfriend’s house. Bernard had sounded so serious when he’d called during Tim’s lunch to ask him to come over after work so they could talk about something.

Which Tim had done, after spending an entire board meeting just going over the past week trying to figure out what he’d done.

The only thing he could think of was that he’d ducked out halfway through their lunch date on Wednesday to give Duke some backup, but Bernard had seemed understanding when Tim explained there was an emergency at GRC Labs. It couldn’t have been a tipping point, either, since Tim had managed to only flake on three other dates over the past few months they’d been dating. Kate had been happy to cover for him as often as she could “out of queer solidarity” when she found out Tim was dating a boy for the first time and Tim had managed to trick Bruce into covering a few actual Wayne Enterprises emergencies for him when they came up.

There had to be a reason Bernard was breaking up with him, though. Had he missed something? He definitely wasn’t forgetting an important day. He was good with days and Tam was even better, so she would have reminded him on the off chance that he had forgotten.

What was he missing?

Bernard was smiling when he opened the door, but there was a nervous energy to it that had Tim’s stomach sinking. “Hey, Tim.”

“Hey.” Tim gave his own nervous smile then slipped inside.

They went into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Tim frowned when Bernard grabbed a manila folder off the coffee table. Crud, had he screwed up enough that Bernard had had to make a list? He knew he was new to dating a guy, but he hadn’t thought he’d done that bad. He’d really been trying, especially with how his and Stephanie’s relationship had fallen apart at the end. “What -”

“Just let me speak, Tim,” Bernard said, waiting for Tim’s nod. “Okay, so you know Clark Kent, right?”

Tim blinked as Bernard opened the folder to show a picture of Clark. It looked like one of the employee pictures from the Planet’s website, with his dorky “I’m just a humble country boy” smile and the golden globe from their roof photoshopped in as the background. “Uh, yeah? I think so. He works for the Daily Planet, right? I think he’s worked at a few of Bruce’s events. Not a lot of outside reporters are willing to come to Gotham.”

“Exactly!” Bernard said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Tim.

“What?”

He pulled out the picture to show the next page was an article titled, “DAILY PLANET REPORTER… BATMAN!?”

A wave of relief washed over Tim and he placed his face in his hands. “Were you up all night on the hero conspiracy boards again?”

“No. I mean, I found this on a board and was up all night thinking about it, but I found it reasonably early.”

“One in the morning isn’t reasonable, Bernard.”

“Says the guy who’s always wide awake when I call to infodump.”

“Touché.” Tim leaned against Bernard and gave him a smile. “So tell me, why is some reporter from Metropolis from all places Batman.”

“First of all, living in Metropolis is the perfect cover. Everyone assumes Batman would live in Gotham, no one would consider he could be from anywhere else. Metropolis is outside the GMA, but close enough that the commute is still possible.”

“But it’s Metropolis.”

“And who would think Gotham’s Dark Knight lives in the sunshine capital? Plus, I hear he disappears a lot on the job. There’s gotta be a reason for it!”

Tim made a note to let Clark know he needs to cut back on the disappearing act some since people are catching on.

“And have you seen the guy? He is swol AF, babe.”

“Please don’t call me babe while you’re talking about how hot another guy is.” Especially Tim’s honorary uncle.

“You know I prefer twinks.”

“BERNARD!”

“I’m just saying,” he continued, ignoring Tim’s shout. “The guy is definitely hiding something! Besides, Kent is an investigative reporter. He’s gotta know a lot about cases and the underground and detective work.”

Not as much as he likes people to think, but more than he likes people to know Superman does, Tim mused. “But what about the other vigilantes?”

“Well, Kent has a cousin…” Bernard flipped through a folder and pulled out a picture of Kara. It looked like a screenshot of her interviewing Lena for CatCo. “She’s obviously the latest Batgirl. Look at her hair. And the first Batgirl and the current Batwoman were obviously Lois Lane, the red hair is just a wig. Did you see how she kicked butt at that last event she went to? She’s not as subtle as Kent. That means their son is the latest Robin. He’s exactly the right size.”

Oh, Damian better not hear about this, Tim cackled internally. His youngest brother hated being reminded that Jon was the same height as him despite their two years age difference. Damian definitely took after Talia when it came to body type, no matter what he said.

“And Kent also has a brother.” This time he pulled out a picture of Kon. The clone must have been caught by a reporter out shopping with Ma since he was carrying some paper bags and glaring at whoever was behind the camera. “At least, he’s supposedly Kent’s brother, but he was a teenager when he first showed up with the Kents. A lot of people think he’s actually Kent’s son, that Kent got a girl pregnant when they were teenagers and something happened to the mom so Kent had to take him in. Now the Kents are trying to hide it by saying the two are brothers.”

That was… scarily accurate actually. Especially given Luthor and Clark were close friends at the time that Kon would have theoretically been born.

“And that beef would explain why the younger Kent brother went all crime lord on Gotham for a while before reconnecting with the family.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, Kent Jr.’s got the perfect build for Red Hood.”

Tim bit back a comment on how Kon was shorter than Jason by a good foot. Timothy Drake-Wayne should not know that. Add Jason to the list of people who can’t hear this theory.

“And then there’s this girl,” Bernard picked up a picture of Lois, Jon, and Natasha Irons walking down the street together. “No one’s sure exactly who she is, but she’s been spotted with the Kents a few times. I think the cover story is that she’s Jon’s babysitter.”

“And the actual story?”

“She’s Black Bat, obviously. That’s why she wears a mask that fully covers her face. She doesn’t want to stand out as the only African American Bat.”

“Isn’t Signal also Black?”

“Yeah, but he works in the daytime so he’s already a standout.”

“And who is Signal in this? And what about Nightwing and Red Robin?”

“Well, Nightwing’s just a Blüd who came to Gotham. He doesn’t count.”

Ouch. Sorry, Dick.

“And Red Robin is obviously an older Robin, the one who was Robin when we were kids. Kent wanted to keep him on, and I don’t blame him. As for Signal, he’s got the same backstory as all the other Robins Kent picked up, he just went the Signal route because he didn’t fit the usual Robin mold.”

“Because the female Robin fit the mold,” Tim snorted. Robin Mold, as if he and his brothers were even the same ethnicity. Or even had the same hair color. Jason dyes his hair, Dick’s is brown-black, Tim’s is pure black, and Damian’s is more a dark brown and it’s only getting lighter as he gets older.

“She didn’t, that’s the point. Kent tried to give breaking the Robin mold a chance by letting his cousin have a go at it, but he realized it just didn’t work so she went back to being Spoiler and he got a new Robin.”

Not touching that with a ten-foot pole. “Right, and where does he get the usual Robins? Please tell me you’re not back on the secret government orphanages theory.”

“No, no, no. Kent travels sometimes for his job, right? And a lot of the time he’s going to places that have been hit by disasters or major crimes. So he’ll take in some of the displaced children to train as his robins.”

Tim pressed his face back into his hands.

“You see it, right?”

Honestly, Tim was just wondering how his boyfriend could be so close, and yet so far off. “How would Kent even afford taking care of a bunch of secret -- possibly illegally acquired -- children without anyone noticing?”

“Simple. Bruce Wayne is funding him.”

“Bernard, I love you, but what the heck?” Tim blushed and looked up as he realized what he’d said, but Bernard didn’t seem to notice as he steamrolled ahead.

“It’d also explain how he can afford all the gear and how he’d be able to travel to Gotham or anywhere else Batman goes without anyone noticing. He probably has a secret Batplane or something.”

“Why would Bruce do that?”

“Because Wayne cares about Gotham, everyone knows that, and this way he can make sure someone’s taking care of the city without anyone putting two and two together.”

“And two plus two is?”

Bernard gave him a hard look. “I’m not stupid, Tim. Bruce Wayne is obviously Superman. His face is right there.”

Oh, the others are going to love this! Too bad I can’t tell Damian or Jason. Jason especially would have loved this. “Right. Bruce is Superman.”

“He is. Superman is known for being nice and Bruce Wayne’s basically all that’s keeping the city running at this point. That’s nice as hell.”

Oh my god.

“And Wayne does charity for the victims of cataclysms, doesn't he? I bet he first saves people from them as Superman and then builds them new homes for free.”

Oh my god! Why am I not recording this!?

“And the Wayne’s were rich enough to hide the fact they adopted an alien baby.”

Tim raised an eyebrow. “If you’re about to tell me this is why Bruce’s parents got killed, you might want to stop while you’re ahead.”

“It’d make sense. There’re all sorts of unanswered questions about their deaths,” Bernard muttered under his breath, flipping through the folder. He pulled out another picture of Kara. This time she was in full Supergirl attire with a bus held overhead. “So if Wayne is Superman, then that’d mean your ex-girlfriend could be Supergirl. They look a lot alike and it’d explain how she got involved with you all.”

“Bernard, she has a human dad. You know, Cluemaster. The supervillain.”

“Yeah, her dad. But we don’t know anything about her mom!”

“Let me guess…”

Bernard pulled out a picture of Karen. She and Helena were suited up and talking to a group of cops, two goons held over each of Karen’s shoulders. “Her mom could be Power Girl! Some makeup and a wig and she could look just like Crystal Brown! And Damian Wayne is obviously the new Superboy! That’s why his background is such a mystery, right? He had to stay a secret until he could control his alien superpowers. That’s why he’s always so mean. It’s a cover since everyone knows Superboy is super sweet!”

Sure, when he’s not helping Damian pull pranks or using his adorable powers to put the blame on Kon and I. “No, Bernard. Damian and Steph are just very human hellspawn. And Bruce and Crystal are human too. I can’t believe you called me over here just to tell me you think Superman is both Batman’s sugar daddy and my adoptive dad.”

“Well, that’s not exactly why I called you over,” Bernard admitted, the nervous energy coming back. He grabbed Tim’s hands. “Tim -”

Tim’s stomach sank. “You are breaking up with me!”

“What? No! I don’t want to break up!”

“Why are you acting all nervous and serious then!?” Tim asked, pulling his hands away to throw them up in the air.

Bernard shook the folder. “Because I’m trying to tell you I figured out you’re Superboy!”

Tim’s brain blue-screened and his hands slowly dropped. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I know you’re Superboy. The older one, obviously. By the way, you and Damian really need to figure out separate names.”

Forget Jason and Damian, Kon can never find out about this. He’d never let me live it down. “Bernard, you called me a twink five minutes ago. Su-” Shoot, I can not risk getting Kon’s attention! “The older one might not be as big as Superman, but he’s not a twink.”

“Well, yeah, that’s the shapeshifting at work.”

“The what?”

“Obviously you Kryptonians can shapeshift. Why else would you look so much like humans?”

… Why do Kryptonians look so much like humans? Was there some - Wait, no! Break into the Fortress of Solitude for research later! Reassure your boyfriend that you’re not an alien now! “Bernard -”

“And that explains why your step-mom was so hot.”

“Gross.”

“She and your dad were actors hired by Luthor so you could have a normal life! But now Bruce has custody so he adopted you.”

“No.”

“That’s why you and your dad were so weird with each other when I met him.”

“We were weird because he’d just gotten out of a coma not long before to find that his wife was dead so he decided to actually be a dad for once in his life, but overcompensated and became a helicopter parent to a kid who was mostly on his own for his entire life!” Tim blurted out. “I am not an alien, Bernard!”

“Well, not technically since you were cloned from Superman on Earth.”

“Oh my god! You were just talking about Steph being Supergirl! Why would I date my dad’s cousin?”

Bernard blinked. “Supergirl and Superman are cousins?”

Right, Timothy Drake-Wayne wasn’t supposed to know that. “I thought they’d said something like that before, yeah. Are people seriously saying I’m Superboy on the internet?”

“NO! No, I swear I would have led with that if I thought your identity was compromised. A few people have mentioned Wayne and Damian, but not you or Steph or Jason.”

“Wh-Jason!? You think Jason was an alien too!”

“No, not exactly, but a few times when I’ve visited I swear I’ve seen a guy in the manor who looks like Jason. It’s just been out of the corner of my eye and he’s gone whenever I look so I’ve always thought it was just Dick or Bruce or some picture of Jason that my mind was playing tricks with, but it makes sense now that I know Wayne is Superman. He must have been able to heal Jason with alien tech, but couldn’t say anything because that would give away that he’s Superman.”

Damn it Jason! And damn it Bernard! I’m dating the smartest moron in the world! “Bruce did not bring Jason back with alien technology and none of us are aliens!”

“It’s okay, Tim. I won’t tell anyone.”

Tim grabbed Bernard by the jacket and pulled him into a kiss. When he started to feel lightheaded, he pulled back, “Could someone whose skin is as solid as stone kiss like that?”

Bernard blinked dazedly at him for a moment. “How do you know what Superboy’s skin feels like?”

Tim screamed internally. “He’s saved me from a kidnapping before.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I can get you the police report if you want.”

“Huh… And the others?”

“Not Supers. I can stab Damian the next time we’re at the manor if that’ll prove none of us are aliens.” He’d rather stab Jason, but that would probably only confirm to Bernard that Bruce used alien technology to bring him back.

“You probably shouldn’t stab your brother if he isn’t an alien.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “I won’t stab him anywhere deadly.”

“That’s not the point,” Bernard said slowly.

“He’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.”

“So do you believe I’m not an alien now?” Tim huffed, letting go of Bernard’s jacket.

The blond’s eyes dipped down to Tim’s lips. “If I say no, will you kiss me like that again?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Tim said, but he kissed him anyway.

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

“Okay, but I still say Clark Kent is definitely Batman.”

“Sure, Bernard.”

[squishneedsahero]

Family First

Awesomest of Them All 2.0

Part 10 of 13

Word Count: 1963

Batman x Batmom!Reader

You know what the bat family needs? Someone to pull them together and give them all the love they deserve. Who better to do that than you? An author rising to stardom in Gotham who catches the eye of a billionaire with your standoffish attitude at a huge social gathering. You are yourself and never pretend to be more or less than that. Plus you're the most stubborn person in the world, refusing to let good things go without reason.

This is a rewrite of my story Awesomest of Them All, I wanted to see how much I've improved over 3 years.

You leaned against Bruce's chest as he sat at the desk in the Bat-Cave working on the the computer on who knows what, at this point it was easier to not ask unless it seemed to be upsetting him. You weren't paying any attention to what he was doing, you were busy trying to come up with the plan as to how you would be able to get to know Damian since he seemed to try and avoid you every way he could. He had been down here helping Bruce until you came down then he suddenly had to go upstairs for some unknown reason and hadn't come back. As you sit in his lap you tilt your head so that you can look at his face.

You just sit there taking in all his features like you hadn't already see his face a million times. Eventually he pauses long enough to look down at you a soft smile on his lips. You smile back and sit up just enough to cup his cheek and give him a kiss. "What's going on with you my love?" he asks.

"What do you mean? Am I not allowed to hang out with you?"

"Thats not what I meant," he presses kiss to your forehead, "you're being unusually quiet for yourself. Is there something on your mind you'd like to talk about?"

"Mmm," you hum and sit up to face him, one leg on either side of his body, "actually there is." You have a serious look come onto your face, "Damian is definitely your child. He is so so so stubborn," you say kissing him with every 'so' with a short laugh as you finish.

"Is there a reason thats bothering you?"

"Yes. He is so stubborn that the only way I know would work for me to get through to him is by arguing with him, like I did when a certain someone tried to break up with me," you say with a pointed look at him while wrapping an arm over his shoulders and pulling yourself closer to him.

"You really meant it when you said that you wouldn't be letting that go anytime soon, huh? How many years have we been married now?"

You smirk at him and say, "only six, and you should have known I keep my promises," you kiss him again. "The reason it's bothering me though is because I don't want to argue with him and make feel like I'm going to treat him how he was while he was with the league."

"Well, my dear," he began as he wrapped his arms around your waist and hugged you tighter against him, "I don't think you, or anything you do could be ever confused for anything similar to what the league does or treated him," a kiss on your lips. "But I understand your worry, i warned you it'll take him some time to get adjusted-"

"I know, I know, but don't you dare tell me to be patient. I've been with you this long after all, I know it takes patience but you saw him leave the room as soon as he saw me. If he doesn't give me even the chance I can't use patience to help him on his way," you state simply.

"Do you have any ideas for how you'd like to try and fix that? I can tell you've been think about it a lot," as he says this one of his hands travels up your back, and he begins to gently trace your spine with his fingers, while his other arm remains where it is to keep you close to him.

"Actually, I do, pause for effect," you say out loud, "how do you feel about taking a break from this for about a week?" You ask tilting your head back just enough to gesture towards what he'd been working on before.

"I guess things are slow enough right now and the GCPD seems to have it covered it wouldn't be that big of a deal, why?"

"Well, I figured if we went on a vacation to a cabin in the woods it would be harder for him to hide from me. Especially if we get the other kids to come and we have family time, at your request," you say giving him a look, "at least tell Damian that it's something you want because we both know he wouldn't listen if it was me asking."

"Very well, y/n my love, that sounds like something we could manage to work out," he gives you one more kiss before returning to work as you settle in his lap gain.

A little over a week later you were holding your husband's hand as you, him and your three boys and three girls took a walkthrough the forrest, as the sun was beginning to set.

"You ever wonder," you muse, "if theres a reason people began telling those creepy stories about the woods? Because with everything else life has thrown at us I personally would not be surprised is there was an axe murdering ghost with a hook for a hand that haunted these woods and took it out on couples because his girl friend dumped him and he died from a being a little bitch who can't take no for an answer."

"Tt."

"I thought we were trying to have a nice quiet vacation mom, without axe murderer ghosts," Dick cuts in with a laugh.

"We are, but I'm a writer who's family is always in danger and you're expecting me to not think about the possibility of.m being killed by ghosts?" You retort to your eldest son.

"Is this going to be one of those mom lessons?" Dick sighs as he tilts his head back like a little kid.

You laugh, "sure, since you seem so excited about the idea of ghosts being one of those mom lessons." You pause a moment and think, looking at Bruce who had his arm around you, "what's that thing you always say? About the no surprises?"

"If you're prepared no situation will surprise you when it arrises," Bruce finishes the statement for you.

"Alright, so that. You need to be prepared so axe murdering ghosts don't kill you." Another pause, "it might just be a dumb thought but if I know all of you, and I do, my guess is all of you have thought of at least one way to try and take down a ghost if one suddenly appeared."

You raise an eyebrow and look at each of your kids, adopted or not, as though challenging them to tell you their thoughts on the matter. But before any of them can answer you turn to Damian, "what about you Damian? I'm sure with your many talents you'd be able to easily take down a ghost. How would you do it?"

"Tt," he sounds off but stays quiet, you watch him and you can see in the way he purses his lips and scrunches his eyebrows a little that he's thinking. He's so much like Bruce, if he wasn't then you'd have no idea how to read him. You want so badly to give him a hug, as you see nothing but a little Bruce in front of you, but know that isn't his thing so you keep your distance.

Finally he comes up with his answer to your question, "there are plenty of couples here so I wouldn't have to worry about the ghost coming after me, so I would just have to leave and the ghost would go after one of you fools."

You smile and laugh gently, "That works, I'd be more than happy to distract the ghost so each of you can get away safely."

He gives you a suspicious look, as if he thought you would leave him for dead. But you move on, asking Tim how he would fight a ghost and letting Damian think what he wants too about your answer.

It's almost midnight and you're sitting on the deck of the cabin you had rented sipping some hot chocolate and reading a book. The kids were playing video games together inside and Bruce had fallen asleep on the other half of the oversized chair you were on and was leaning across your lap as one of your hands absentmindedly ran through his hair.

When you hear the cabin door open and close quietly behind you glance up from your book to see Damian coming outside. He has a stoic look on his face and he takes a place in the seat across from you. You give him a soft smile and resume reading your book.

"Tt."

You look up again and he's just watching you, you smile reassuringly at him.

After another few minutes, you hear him ask quietly, "Why would you say that earlier? You would clearly be killed by the ghost and stand the least chance of surviving."

You stick a finger in your book to mark your place and look up at him. Theres a soft look on your facd as you look at him to answer his question. "Damian, that's what a mother does. Even if she knows she won't survive she will do anything to protect her family," you say without a single hesitation.

"Mother said you were only here because of father's money. But earlier you said you'd sacrifice yourself for us to get away, even me."

You raise an eyebrow slightly and smile gently at him, "I did say that Damian, and I meant every word of it, it doesn't matter to me if we are blood or not. The moment you decided you were staying with your father, you became my son too and that means I'm going to do whatever I can to keep you safe."

He nods slightly and leans back in his seat and looks away from you. You think the conversation is over until he speaks again, "y/n, why would you do that?"

"Any mother's child should come first it is as simple as that," you say and he nods once more before standing and going back inside.

As soon as he's gone a huge smile breaks across your face, that was the longest conversation you'd had with him and your week long vacation was almost up. You had been beginning to worry that you plan wasn't going to work but now you felt your heart swell with even more love for the small boy.

You move to pick your book back up but you're interrupted by a kiss on your neck, which was the only spot Bruce could conveniently reach without moving from his comfortable position.

"You heard that didn't you?" you say more than ask.

"Yes, and it seems like your patience is beginning to work," he says a soft smile on his lips and you can't help but give him a peck on the forehead.

When you all arrive home from your vacation Damian is no longer intentionally avoiding you. He doesn't speak to you still but he at least stays in the same room as you. It's not much but its a step in the right direction.

While you had been on your way home the evening before there had been some odd reports coming in from around Gotham. There was another Vigilante in town, but this one was different from your husband, they killed to reach their goal. The GCPD had given him the nick name of Redhood, seeing as he was only ever seen with a red helmet on that covered his face. And Bruce was determined to find out why he was killing everyone who got in his way so needlessly not caring how many fatalities there were.

[aimless-imagines-for-fun]

Bunny Ears

Pairing :: older/adult!Damian Wayne x fem!Reader

Warnings :: none, except embarassment

Word Count :: 956

Summary :: You got Damian to wear bunny ears. 

A/N :: I got a Damain Fluff request from @yourcatcoffeeaddictfan​. I hope you enjoy!

Image created by me on ArtBreeder

“Pretty please?” You begged Damian.

He stared at you with a blank face, still unable to believe what you were asking for.

You held one of his hands with both of yours, giving him a large puppy-eyed look. You were hoping if you tried hard enough, he’d cave and give in.

“(Y/N)-”

“It won’t be for very long, I promise! We’ll be done before dinner.”

Damian pinched the bridge of his nose, a long sigh leaving him. “Fine.”

You squealed with joy, jumping onto him and engulfing him in a large hug.

-

Though you had promised him it wouldn’t take long, you two found yourself seated at the dinner table with everyone, painfully quiet, except for you, and their gaze fixed on Damian. No one paid attention to your story about how you and your brother managed to get stuck in a hidden room at your grandparent’s house. Each one had their attention set on Damian, who was wearing a black and red striped shirt with white bunny ears. Quite the contrast to your pastel pink hoodie and pink bunny ears.

“And then, they finally realized the key to the room was in my grandma’s old jewelry box,” You finished, taking another spoon full of pasta.

Jason nodded, pretending to care before he spoke. “So wild, can’t believe they didn’t think of that first,” He said as if he was listening. “Hey, Damian, why are you dressed like that?”

Damian glared at Jason, jaw clenching because he knew the second you left he’d be bombarded by his older adopted brothers.

“(Y/N) asked me to take pictures with her and film some short videos.”

“Pictures?” Jason raised a brow.

A small frown appeared on Tim’s face. “You threw my camera at me when I asked you to take a picture of me and Steph…”

“Because I was busy then.”

“Hold on, what type of videos?” Dick butted in.

“Just some cute little couples videos to random audios I like,” You explained.

You looked over at Bruce, the only one who wasn’t blatantly staring at Damian and instead actually eating his food.

“Sorry if this seems a bit distracting for the dinner table Mr. W,” You gestured to the bunny ears and your cute makeup. “I would’ve done this at my place, but my roommate is having a small gathering of friends and they can be just a bit… noisy at times.”

Bruce shook his head. “It’s perfectly fine (Y/N). Plus, if you didn’t we would’ve never gotten to see Damian wear another color besides black,” He said with a small smirk.

You giggled, nodding in agreement. “Honestly, I was shocked to find out Dames really only had black in his closet. There was only one white shirt, but that’s for formal events only!” You teased. You hugged his arm, a small smile on your face as you looked at him. “But I didn’t mind buying him this new shirt. Especially since I got him a few other things too.”

“You did?” The three other men asked in sync, perking up in their seats.

“Yup! I left them all my house though since I only brought the stuff I needed for tonight.”

Each of them visibly shrunk back in disappointment.

Damian let out a small cough, clearing his throat and grabbing everyone’s attention. “Thank you for the dinner, but, I think we’ll be excusing ourselves from the table now. (Y/N) had a rather long list of photo poses and videos she wanted to do before she had to head back home.”

He stood up, grabbing your hand and dragging you away before you could say a word. He rushed you to his room, slamming and locking the door behind you.

“Damian, we don’t have a lot, we nearly finished everything right before dinner,” You started, but stopped when you saw how upset he looked.

Knowing he was upset, your lips curved downward as you approached him. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“They’re going to tear me apart after seeing me in these ridiculous bunny ears.”

“Who cares?” You wrapped your arms around his chest, burying your face in his chest. “I think you look cute.”

With your face in his chest, you couldn’t see the faint blush on his face. “They’ll mock me for weeks.”

“If any one of them tries,” You turned your head up to look at him, “I’ll ‘accidentally’ slip and hit them. That’s what I did when my siblings made fun of me.”

Damian let out a soft chuckle. “You really don’t care what others think, do you?”

You shook your head, a large grin on your face. “Nope! Why should I when all that matters is that I’m having fun and look cute?”

You tugged him down for a quick peck on the lips before pulling away. You walked over to your bag, pulling out a small polaroid camera.

“Let’s just take one more picture and then we’ll call it a night. ‘Kay?”

“I thought you had more you wanted-”

Damian was silenced by your lips once again, this time a kiss lasting far longer than the one before. One of his hands rested on your cheek and the other fell to your waist, while you only had one hand flat on his chest.

Snap!

You each pulled apart, Damian’s brows furrowing while he watched you take the photo the polaroid had just printed. 

“For you.” You held the picture out for him.

He stared, still confused, until you started pulling your hand away after a minute.

“If you don’t want it-”

“No, it’s mine,” He said quickly before grabbing the photo.

You couldn’t help but laugh, reaching up and taking the bunny ears off of him. “That’s what I thought.”

[zahri-melitor]

Okay so I'm now 4 volumes into Gail Simone's Batgirl, and hmmmm, I really want to talk about issues #17-26.

Now look this is still quite depressing Barbara. I'm still frustrated at some of the changes, but I think Simone finally managed to pull the strings together more coherently here?

Like, I do not care about James Gordon Jr. Wow do I not find him a compelling villain. I also, just quietly, think he loses something in the potential depths of his character by the "everyone is one biological family" Gordon retcon for New 52, because I think there's a compelling additional layer available in the baby sociopath being the biological child of Jim and Barbara Eileen, while Barbara is the adopted daughter/niece, and the levels of awareness of different family members over how James Jr reacted to Barbara's arrival and his jealousy of her, that I think actually did get teased out somewhat in The Black Mirror and are now are no longer here.

Barbara Eileen here also continues to have almost no personality or motivations, but that's par for course for Barbara Eileen. Always a cipher.

I do find the contrasts set up by this third version of Ventriloquist and her brother with Barbara and James Jnr to be interesting, with the mirroring of which sibling is jealous of the other, and in their sociopath way has turned their sibling into a puppet of their desires. I actually find it more interesting in terms of the fact Ventriloquist is used for this, because the second Ventriloquist, Peyton Riley, sort of achieves the same reflection on the surrounding narrative in Dini's 'Tec run, only in that one Peyton is reflected in Dini's exploration of the upper echelons of Gotham society and its mob connections. It's just interesting to see a character type used twice in fairly close succession simply as a mirror like this.

The story however, and particularly certain elements of it, made me smile quite a bit, as Simone was reaching back into both the classic Bat storytelling set ups and themes she's used before, so I was enjoying the narrative echoes to preboot she had sprinkled through this.

I actually ended up enjoying the Barbara/Ricky Gutierrez storyline, even if it was set up for pathos. It felt like a rerun of Helena/Josh from Birds of Prey, in that Barbara started the dates because she felt sorry for Ricky, but it was interesting in that Babs did indeed reflect on both of their disabilities through the relationship, and I thought they were cute together. Completely set Jim up for the angst moments though.

Then there's the cowl revelations. I'm still very unsure if I like Barbara just outright telling Barbara Eileen about being Batgirl, while having such a harder time telling Jim. Jim's totally repressing and lying to himself over the whole situation (which is classic Jim Gordon re costumes) but it's weird having the two of them back in 'absolutely don't know' land rather than it being an unspoken secret that Jim's fully aware of. I did like that Simone pulled the "Barbara removes her cowl as Jim turns his back" move though. Babs is the primary character after Bruce who should be allowed that motif (plus maybe Dick), because it's about the layers of trust and belief.

Bruce reaching out to Jim about losing a son was also..huuurgh. Amazingly timed as Jim was newly aware of the loss, and it was interesting to see this framed via Damian's death for once, rather than Jason's. The Requiem issue was really well tied into actual plot around James fucking Jr, and Jim calling Barbara to tell her, and the way that blurs the lines, and then Babs calling Dick and Dick not wanting to talk, followed by Dick calling Babs after James Jr falls and Babs not wanting to talk... it reminded me very much of their simultaneous "I'm sorry for the breakup" phonecalls from preboot.

Also Jim taking Babs down to the gun range at GCPD and making sure she could still shoot, and Babs' trauma around that, and the way it's couched so neither of them are quite sure what the other knows, and exactly why Jim feels he needs to know Barbara can defend herself...

Anyway. It's all still very dark and angsty, but in a chewy way, the villains were less groanworthy than Knightfall was, and I finally feel like Simone's hit her stride in this new universe, and in how to layer in storytelling that's referential back to older comics while those references not being needed to understand what's going on.

[miss-choco-chips]

F’coffee

-.-.-.-.-.-

Honestly. What did Bruce even think would happen? He should have known better.

Tim wasn’t Dick, indoctrinated from a young age to be a good, somewhat (when convenient) obedient son. Tim only went along with Bruce’s shit because, more often than not, it aligned with what he himself wanted. He also wasn’t Damian, so easily manipulable when one knew which buttons to push. And he certainly wasn’t Jason, who would sink his own ship to kill the captain.

So, when Tim and Bruce fought, and his adopted father decided to pull the ‘you live under my roof and work in my company, so I’m the boss all the way through’ card, well…

Yeah. Tim wasn’t going to take that lying down. He had a childhood of zero authority figures to obey and an overabundance of sass, plus a complete lack of fucks to give.

It was bound to go down like this.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

And, well. Tim had money. Like, an absurd amount of money. Even before being adopted by playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne, Tim had his own no small fortune stashed away, a couple of properties gathering dust, two trust funds and more antique cars that he knew what to do with. So he could just… burn through that money, or sell the cars, or make a living of renting the buildings he owned, and he would barely even scratch the surface of his deep wealth.

But it wasn’t about being able to live comfortably with minimum effort. Tim was trying to prove a point here. What point, fuck if he knew. But a point.

So here he was, on the other end of the wooden counter, a cute red cap falling over his eye as he looked dead into his friend’s eyes.

“Tim. Tim, you’re rich. Why are you working in a coffee shop?”

Seeing as Kon and Cassie were currently too busy being shocked, Tim shrugged and went back to cleaning the cup in his hands.

It was a plastic cup. It didn’t need cleaning, he could just toss it away. But it was his favorite plastic cup, and he was gonna save it as a family heirloom forever.

(The fact that the pretty customer from the morning shift had drawn cute little doodles all over it had nothing to do with it’s worth.)

“Teenage rebellion”, he finally said, carefully putting his treasure away.

“You are twenty.”

“Time is a social construct and I’m but a slinky falling down an endless flight of stairs.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Your face doesn’t make any sense. How is it so symmetrical? It defies nature.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

“What can I get for you?”

“I'll have a mocha caramel latte-chino, made with skim milk, no whipped cream.”

“Bart, no.”

“Please put that in a grande cup”

“I’m begging you, don’t do it.”

“But use the same amount of coffee that you'd put into a tall.”

“I’m warning you, you don’t want to do this.”

“That way there's about an inch of extra room on top.”

“I wish you had an extra inch so I could look straight into your eyes when I murder you.”

“To stir in my own nutmeg without spilling any coffee at all.”

“You’re dead to me. Also, I AM going to make you that drink and you WILL finish it or so help me God.”

“What do you want, Kon?”

“To not be here when Tim’s looking like he’s planning both our unsolved murders.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

When Kon entered the shop, the messenger bag slung over his shoulder bumping against his hip as he rushed in to get his caffeine intake before his evening classes, he wasn’t surprised at the scene.

Cassie being there was a given, since there was always at least one of them there at all times, supporting Tim in this ‘independence’ thing he was dead set on trying. Kon himself had his Tim Shift later that day, after his creative writing course. Bart had probably just left, considering the amount of empty cake platters littering the counter.

Tim being face down in said counter, uncaring about the mess, was also old news. The dude barely ever seemed to leave (Kon was almost completely sure he actually owned the place, since he’d never seen any sort of manager and Tim’s hours seemed to work around his weird sleep patterns all too perfectly), and distraught was his general state of being, so. Normal day as far as he could see.

Still, he had to ask. “What is it today?”

Cassie, eyes never leaving her magazine, chin resting in one hand as the other one scratched at Tim’s scalp, snorted.

“A cute boy started working in the tattoo place next door. He came in for a morning fix, when Tim was barely awake, and he said something stupid, so he’s been having an existencial crisis ever since.”

“I said ‘you too’, Kon. He said ‘thanks for the coffee, I’ll enjoy it!’ and I said ‘you too’. What is wrong with me?”

Kon snorts a little. Tim doesn’t seem to be very interested in doing his actual work, so he just jumps over the counter and starts working the machines himself.

“You know that’s a question you can only ask your therapist, Tim, but if you need to know, I’d say you’re highly sleep deprived and a dysfunctional bi?”

At that, Tim does turn to look at him. There’s some cake frosting clinging to his eyelashes, and his hair is a mess. It looks cute, to be completely honest, and Kon has to leave his unfinished latte on the side so he can hug the little shit.

“Aw, don’t pout, Timbo. I’m sure he thought you were cute. Just try to sleep a bit more tonight, so when he comes back tomorrow you’ll be a little more alert and won’t embarrass yourself.”

“What do you mean, when he comes back?”

“I mean, if he works next door, he’ll probably get his morning coffees here all the time, right?”

That seemed to drive Tim back into the distraught spiral. He smashed his head back into the counter, making dying whale noises until Cassie’s hand returned to his scalp.

Kon privately thinks Tim’s life is starting to sound like fanfiction. He wonders which type of background character he would be, in it.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The shop is called F’coffee. That’s why Cassie is convinced Tim is the actual owner; no one else would really think that’s a proper name for a serious establishment. Kon isn’t convinced all the way yet, but with Bart on her side and Tim staying silent on the subject, it is just a matter of time until she convinces him it’s totally okay for him to do his gym routine there. She thinks, with Tim being his own boss, no one would tell him to stop it, and it would help his friend’s business to bloom with new customers.

The place's general aesthetic is exactly what you would expect, with old wooden tables, comfy chairs, potted plants hanging from the walls and tall windows just a little bit stained. The smell is constantly of the strongest brew Tim has, Death Coffee (which he’s actually not legally allowed to sell, so he keeps it for himself), and just setting a foot in makes her feel instantly awake. It's also always warm, and the sweets on display look mouth watering no matter your personal preferences.

In short, it looks like something out of a movie. It’s a tad too perfect for her friend, but she thinks it also fits his obsessive need for perfection.

Except for the board. Oh, the board. Cassie loves it more than life itself.

Tim has divided the drinks in categories. And made up names for all of them.

“Yes, hello! I’d like to order a grande, iced, sugar-free vanilla Latte, with soy milk, but I can’t seem to find it in your menu…”

Tim’s dead eyes turn to Cassie for a second, before facing his customer again.

“You’re probably looking into the Normal People section”, he points out, before raising his hand to signal a bit to the left. “There you have the Pain In The Ass selection. There’s nothing just like you asked, but you have the It’s Britney Bitch beverage, which is almost exactly the same except I’ll add a middle finger drawing in the cup and charge you extra for emotional damages. Also, we’re out of soy milk.”

Or…

“Hey, good morning! I’d like to order…”

Tim raised a hand, stopping the chirpy, good looking young man dead in his tracks.

“Don’t tell me, I know what you need. I’ll just go ahead and prepare it.”

“But you don’t even know what I/”

“You’ll have a Cougar Bait. It has cacao cream, a strawberry pucker and some grenadine seeds. I think it's fitting, for you.”

And also…

“Hey, hum… Sorry, I just have to ask… what’s on the ‘Barista’s heart’ drink?”

“Cacao powder, almond milk and espresso. Also some organic coconut ash, that gives it the blacker-than-night color, that’s just a shade lighter than my soul.”

“...noted.”

Cassie snorts into her cup of Jack it up (coffee that tastes just like a Jack Daniel’s; having Tim working here has opened up her eyes to the possibilities), watching as Tim makes his own usual.

“What’s in that one?” She asks, out of curiosity, when she’s sure there’s no other customer close by.

“Six espresso shots.”

She waits for a second. Tim finishes the drink, carefully handling the dark liquid inside his favorite plastic cup.

“...okay, and?”

“And that 's it.”

“Tim, that-- that would kill you?”

“Duh. Why did you think it was called The Last Sip?”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-