#steph is a child of nemesis

[yeagerbitchh]

my favorite thing ever when I start liking a new piece of media is thinking about who would the godly parents of the characters be

[mckinlily]

Imagine a world where Bruce Wayne did not become Batman. Instead, he is just a Normal Dude. Or as normal as a billionaire deeply dedicated philanthropy in a city as insane as Gotham can be.

Because make no mistake: just because Bruce is not Batman does not mean Gotham is not Gotham.

There are a few new players though—on the Rogues side.

Timothy Drake is the teen business tycoon of Drake Industries. Absent of the inspiration of Batman and the socialization and warmth of Dick Grayson, he is ruthless and logical to a fault in pursuit of his goals and just as viciously chaotic as the disaster little brother Jason knows.

In other words, he’s Gotham’s youngest supervillian. The only good news is his chosen nemesis is Lex Luthor. Maybe. Timothy doesn’t care much about collateral damage. It’s not his goal to harm civilians, but he certainly doesn’t include their safety as a priority in his convoluted schemes to mess with Luthor.

Talon is an undead murderer who slaughtered a huge swath the Gotham’s 1% five years ago and, despite being spotted many times since, has never been apprehended. He appears when he wants and disappears just as readily, and Gotham just has to accept there’s a killer stalking their streets and there’s nothing they can do about it. Sometimes Talon has been known to rescue people, especially, but it’s never clear how or why exactly Talon chooses who is victim verses aggressor. And the end is always brutal and bloody for those Talon deems aggressor.

Damian is still Bruce’s biological son and raised by Talia in the League of Assassins. But when he was left in Gotham and met his father, this Bruce was so baffled and thrown by a child assassin that Damian immediately takes as rejection and runs away. (He doesn’t even stay long enough for Bruce to be sure it wasn’t a hallucination or very strange dream).

Damian is almost immediately found and adopted by Talon, so now Gotham has TWO bird-themed killers liable to jump down on you from nowhere and for any reason.

Oh, and god help you if you so much as make Talon’s baby Owlet sad. If you’re lucky, it will be the last thing you do.

Barbara is an ordinary librarian…who can be hired as a mercenary hacker for the right price. The public isn’t afraid of her because they don’t know she exists. More than one politician or public figure has been ruined because of the blackmail she unearthed on them. But what side exactly is the police commissioner’s daughter on? And how much of Gotham does she have under thumb?

(Is she a secret ally and accessory to Timothy Drake’s many plots?)

Steph, thank god, is actually NOT a villain, super or otherwise. She’s the one vigilante attempting to help Gotham. Spoiler has connections among some of the caped community like Supergirl or Wonder Girl. But without Bat training or the police cooperation forged years ago by Batman, she’s mostly just striving to survive while taking on Gotham’s many, many gang. Make no mistake, she’s impressive. But desperate. Spoiler comes with guns and explosions. So. Many. Explosions. Gotham has never heard of the “no kill” rule. And likely never will.

(Cass also lives in Gotham. But no one will ever see her or even know she’s there.)

Jason….well. Baby Jason never stole any Batmobile tires and never was adopted by a strange but kind billionaire. He was never killed at 15.

He died in the winter before he turned 13.

And then one day, Adult Canon Jason gets thrown into this dimension. And somehow Gothan is WORSE?! How is that even possible? Also his siblings are running around being super villains and killing people? Bruce! Control your children!!

But this Bruce does not have children (he’s still mostly convinced Damian was a prank or hallucination). He is horrified by the idea of children fighting crime. He has absolutely no idea how to handle exceptionally talented chaos machines with too much passion and no sense of self preservation. And he’s frankly a little disturbed by Jason himself and his guns and refusal to “work within the system” and Jason nopes out of there so freaking fast.

Jason also, slowly, has to become okay with the realization that his siblings are not insane because they were made Robin. They became Robin because they were already insane. There was no way to create a normal human being out of any of them.

(Jason does not want to look too closely at what that says about him.)

In the end, Jason teams up with Steph. He connects her with Dick/Talon, who is more than happy to have a new Owlet to train and preen, and Damian only slightly stabs her. They manage to persuade/threaten Tim into caring enough to help get Jason back to his dimension with misuse of Drake Industry research equipment. Damian very much does stab Tim. Tim retaliates by locking Damian in an industrial freezer. Dick thinks they’re bonding. Jason introduces them to Babs, but frankly he has no idea what he’s hoping to achieve from this. Probably nothing good because Dick, despite being an under-socialized undead assassin with some weird mannerisms and ways of speaking, still manages to pull a woman way out his league like Barbie. And Babs seems to have no problem with the “murder” part that description.

Jason never realized how much Bruce’s strict moral code and “the Mission” were key to the rest of them becoming remotely positive influences in society. Or how little Bruce has to do with his siblings getting into dangerous, violent situation. He doesn’t like anything about it.

They work out how send Jason back, and he returns to his dimension with the feeling he’s just left Alternate Gotham to a gang of supervillains.

…at least they’re together?

And Talon Dick won’t let any of his new Owlets die and will rain bloody vengeance on anyone who tries. So that’s good. For them at least.

(Jason feels absurdly like he should be apologizing to this universe’s Bruce. Or. Someone. He doesn’t. But he feels like he should.)

Back at in his dimension and at the Batcave, Jason pauses and just stares at Batman for a very, very long time. Finally, he takes a deep breath and solemnly nods just once before taking off into the Manor for Alfred’s cookies.

Bruce has no idea what the fuck just happened.

[alittlesongbirdchirps]

Fake!Cryptid batfam au in which a small, real and young cryptid wants to be Bruce's apprentice since Batman is rumored to be a ( insert magical entity of your choice, but I personally prefer one in which they're like a Pantheon with everyone being different kind of spirits/supernatural beings). Bruce explains he is a human but the small cryptid isn't buying it and decides "dumbasses, I'll take care of them" since the child sees that the family normally doesn't take care of themselves (lack of sleep, brushing off wounds, etc) and becomes a medic for them.

Cut to said child pulling some medical shit that could only work with a magical being but somehow works on a batfam member too

Tim: "Doctor, what are you doing?"

Doctor -insert name- (small child): "Healing you"

Tim: "But you said this only worked on non-humans, and as far as I know–"

*wounds close*

Tim: "..."

Bruce: "..."

Basically everyone - Alfred (an immortal): "..."

And the baby is smiling smugly while they watch.

How, you may ask. Well...

Plot twist: Since Gotham is cursed and the power of faith is strong, the belief of them being non-humans transforms them into non-humans. Bonus points if Gothamites make offerings to the batfam

Alternatively, Gotham ended up making her knights stronger and be similar beings to her (optional, maybe a Lady Gotham manifestation?-)

ooooOO I frigging love this anon. It has a good plot, imagine Tim becomes part of the Chinese pantheon I would say something similar to Zhu Long — Dragon of Time and Season, because of the whole Bruce stuck in the Time Stream ordeal and Tim is the only one to rescue him and also he never seems to age; he also seems to never eats or sleeps, which Zhu long also doesn't.

I also Imagine this very young cryptid kid who keeps a semi-human form since they believe Bruce is doing the same and wants to be like him.

Healing Tim is the start of the revelation that they all suddenly changed somehow, and I like the idea of the power of faith being so strong it changes them; maybe it can be influenced or done by Lady Gotham blending the two ideas.

Immortal Alfred I love that so much. I wonder if he has always been immortal or maybe, when Bruce was a kid, he didn't want anyone else to leave him, believing, maybe even wishing so hard, that his only support system and that's how Alfred becomes immortal, which somehow no one's noticed at this point.

So we have down for what or whom he might become; now other members—oh boy, this list is gods and creatures I find similar to them, not who they are.

Bruce, I wanted him to have a more talked-about pantheon like Greek, so I chose Nemesis; Bruce is often referred to as handsome, a

Dick, I feel like he would be Romani because of the belief in the fandom that his heritage and he would be Bar o Devel, which is the name of the god of power and music.

Jason, I kind of went with Viking/Norse beliefs because of Jason's originally having red hair, which I love. I thought Höd would be a perfect fit, not just because of Hood, lol, but also because he died and came back to life as well.

Steph I thought the Celtic god Aengus Óg was a Celtic god of love, youth, poetry, and summer.

Cass since her Chinese heritage, I also picture her as Kuan Yin a Chinese goddess of mercy and compassion and one of Buddhism's most beloved

Duke, I don't know his race. I'm guessing African American because nothing comes up but meta-human; I don't know. Shango is a Yoruba god of thunder, lightning, and justice. 

Damien a lot of people say he is Arabic, so we are going with it. I would make him similar to Nasr, which is the Himyarites' deity of the vulture, whose name means "vulture" in Arabic.  Some scholars believe Nasr was a symbol of the sun,

I hope I answered this ask correctly. Thank you for asking XD

[ashoss]

i wanna jump in on the bat x pjo au! (absolutely obsessed with it btw… the jason and cass being kids of nemesis……… galaxy brain)

(and forgive me if youve already said in a prev maybe)

but do any of the kids have additional demigod powers? like beyond the good at battle, understands greek, stronger than the average bear etc but like how percy can create hurricanes :)

i might have gone over some of their powers in separate posts but ive never really gone into depth on any of them :)

i don’t really want to give them super strong powers (like nothing on the level as the Seven lol). i think them having small sway over things would be best. (btw im going through each cabin's abilities on the pjo wiki :D)

dick as a child of hermes has a bit of increased speed, im not sure how much though lol. definitely stealthier and can sense traps and different locks and stuff. hes probably also pretty persuasive.

babs- since she isn't a demigod but instead a blessed mortal is a bit different from all of them. @pooky-chan sent me a great ask about apollo and babs and her blessing which i thought was very yummy! so babs just finds it easier to find information and find connections between things a bit easier. as they put it apollo "greases the wheels".

jason and cass's powers would be similar to eachother, since theyre both nemesis kids. they both have tychokinesis (what ethan nakamura has on his wiki - so directly controlling "the likelihood of things good and bad things happening to individuals to even out supposed good luck and bad luck") they can sense when people want revenge/vengeance on something.

(theres actually not a lot to go based on for powers for the children of nemesis so im not all sure on it)

its mostly their legacy powers that stick out- cass as a hades legacy can sense death and can actually feel or see a soul leaving a body. she could probably talk to the dead but it causes a physical strain on her. while not as potent as nico's, she could faintly see someones life aura. she can also blend into the shadows easier. (she cant shadow travel or have actual control over the dead.) shes basically Nico Lite (tm) (i also like to think she unconsciously makes the temperature colder when shes around :))

and jason as an asclepius legacy would be able to tell at a glance if there is something medically wrong with someone and has pretty good medical knowledge. (basically jason is a godsend in the medbay). he does have healing powers, but he probably doesnt figure them out until after he's revived. i think it would be interesting if he could only heal other people and not himself :)))) (he also unconsciously heals people) ((also also to foil cass he probably makes the temperature a bit warmer. like how being healed feels warm :DD)

(tim im a little unsure on atm. hes def a child of aphrodite but i do also want to incorperate athena in there too. i dont know if i want him to be like,, 25% aphrodite or 25% athena - basically his parents were demigods- but im still debating a bit between that and child of Venus, as the roman equivalent of aphrodite has more warlike associations - i.e battle strategy... soooo) he has better emotional insight and can sense peoples emotions. he has a light form of charmspeak thats mostly more about sounding Intelligent more than actually influencing people (like an authority bias. people are more likely to listen to him because he sounds intelligent and he knows what he's talking about- ex: if tim were to suggest someone clean something up, they probably would because well, why else would he be suggesting it? he knows what needs to be done.) hes also pretty crafty and has some more strategic intelligence in addition to his bat training lol.

stephanie i think im set on being a child of Cardea (minor roman goddess of hinges). if thats the case, pooky-chan sent another ask where they went over how broad hinges really were. so steph could manipulate hinges and since so many different things contain hinges it could really be a pretty powerful ability.

however i do like child of veritas (roman goddess of truth). in this case she would basically be a human lie detector, and also people would probably feel the need to NOT lie to her.

damian i legit have no clue. hes the one i have the least ideas on lmao. because for him i would also have to go into the LoA and bruce's parents, and both i dont really have anything im set on yet :p. definitely something with magic from the al ghul side tho!

[ghost-bxrd]

Just saw the Percy Jason ship.

Now thinking of batkids as demigods.

Will take away the questionable aspects of Bruce letting kids fight crime, because demigod kids have no choice on fighting, what with being monster catnip...

Which would be the Olympian parents...

Dick being a Hermes kid? Got the whole lovable menace, way deadlier than he looks vibe...

Timmy Athena, of course.

Jason... maybe Hades? Devoted to family but with rather...questionable ideas about appropriate bonding? Strict ideas about punishment?

Alfred being a son of Hestia, the goddess of home and hearth...

Steph Dionysus' daughter... Cass as Ares' kid...

Dami can be Bruce's kid with Eris, goddess of vengeance...

There was a post a while ago where we brainstormed a little on the bats as demigods! With Dick being a son of Aphrodite and Jason a son of Nemesis, Thanatos, or Hades I think? And Bruce being an actual god hehe. But that’s all I can recall right now.

I love how everyone is in agreement that Timmy’s a child of Athena tho ksksks. And Cass as an Area kid who hates war and killing 🥺

Although I think we’d have to revise Alfred as either a devotee to Hestia, or a demigod/legacy of another god, because Hestia is a virgin goddess and doesn’t have any children if I remember correctly ✨

[britcision]

So two things are sitting side by side in my heart

1) Duke’s dramatic Riddler vigilante origin story of teaching himself riddles to try and stump the Riddler and save Gotham for some ungodly reason as a small child

2) Riddle Me Piss, a Travis bit on My Brother My Brother And Me where Travis goes to the darkest corner of the internet, Riddles.com, and brings us back the most fucked up and least coherent “riddles” imaginable

And I don’t know if both Travis McElroy and riddles.com were banned in Gotham during the Riddler’s reign

(Or the writers just did not know how fucking batshit the human race could get on riddles, which, lucky them)

But I need these two to combine, and I’m not sure how

Letter writing campaign from Duke to try and get Travis to take on the Riddler and save the city?

Riddler as a deep fan/nemesis of this bit in particular and it gets him hooked on the podcast?

Duke using it for inspiration for his own anti-Riddler crusade?

Duke finding it later on in his teen years and developing his own love/hate relationship to it?

Duke using it as an active weapon against the Riddler every time he comes across him?

There’s just so many options I just think Duke would like MBMBAM and the McElroys would remind him of his new found family and he would never let any of them live it down

(Dick’s a total Travis, he has wild middlest brother energy for an only child turned oldest sibling)

(Jason’s a Travis too)

(Tim’s a Justin somehow he turned into a 40 year old man at age 16 when Damian turned up)

(Steph is a Griffin and the only one who knows why these are all various forms of shade on their siblings but not on the McElroys)

(Damian’s also a Justin and cannot comprehend what this means and thus pretends he doesn’t care to know)

(Cass is a Griffin except she was not nerfed by IBS/anxiety combo and therefore achieved the full power that he cannot be allowed)

[arcxnumvitae]

You know, in a P.JO AU Zhaohui would absolutely (don't look Steph I'm sorry P.JO season/book 1 spoilers)

Zhaohui would absolutely pull a Luke move and side with Kronos to take down the gods.

I think he'd be a child of Nemesis, unclaimed though before the end of the Titan war.

[deadsetobsessions]

Clark was used to being, at the very least, respected by Bruce’s brood of birds.

Nightwing loved him as Robin, Red Hood and Red Robin was equally awed when they met him as Robins, and the current Robin… respected him on the field. Mostly.

So, whatever he’s done to receive Red Robin’s gimlet stare and blank face of immense disapproval, he needs to fix it. ASAP.

But what did he do wrong?

——

Tim Drake was a vigilante on a Mission. No, he was a Bat on a Mission. And that mission is to make Superman’s life as hellish as possible for as long as it took for the man to get his head out of his ass.

While Tim understands the violation that the man must have felt with Conner’s existence coming into life by his nemesis, it doesn’t excuse how the grown adult had been treating Connor, who is still not an adult. In fact, he’s practically a child!

And any good vigilante or person would take offense at a kid being treated badly!

Well, even if Connor was forty, Tim would still feel the same way. His best friend is his best friend. Tim knows himself well enough to admit he is kind of intense and extremely protective of the people he gives his trust to. Ride or die? No, he’s ride, get revenge, and then die. Only Tim and Connor’s other, cherished, friends can hurt his feelings without fear of retaliation.

So when Superman failed to step up to his adult status, Tim Drake went nuclear. First, neutralize Superman’s allies. Fortunately, this is the easiest part of the entire operation. Unfortunately, this included Bruce. Oh well, Bruce should have picked better friends. Tim shrugged and sent a message to his fans and mentor.

RR: If you help Superman or try to stop me, I’ll tell Alfred exactly how many minutes you spent not resting after the last Arkham Breakout got contained and [img. 32] [blackmail 14. pdf] B-man: …Understood.

That’s one down.

RR: Wonder Woman. Can I interest you in a collector item originating from the first world war that currently legally belongs to Drake Industries? W-W: In exchange for my silence, no doubt. RR: It'll be delivered on Wednesday. I'm sure you'll have no time to visit the watch tower.

That's two of the main ones that would defend Superman. By the end of the week, Tim had blackmailed, bribed, and casually distracted everybody that could be in the watch tower next Wednesday, save for Superman. Tim strolled into the cave, locked eyes with the rest of his siblings and Bruce as he cracked open the encryption lock on the kryptonite container and plucked a sizable chunk out of the reinforced safe. He smiled politely at Dick, who stopped in his tracks, and strolled right back out.

"... You know, I don't want to get in between that." Dick muttered.

"Agreed." Damian crossed his arms, looking uneasy.

"That's the smile he gave me when he went to fuck up a gang that mugged Benard. The crime rates went down for a good half a year after that." Steph grimaced.

"I'm sure Supes deserved whatever Timbit's got in store for him. I'm not risking my hide for him." Jason went back to cleaning his guns.

Bruce simply sighed. He couldn't say anything, having been threatened into compliance ages ago. He mentally wished Clark good luck and may his gods have mercy on him, because Tim sure as hell won't.

RR: got the ok

RR: ready?

Cassieeee: Yeah, Bart's got the stuff.

RR: kryptonite secured. Kon?

Cassieeee: Jaime's distracting him

For the rest of the week, he needled and glared at Superman. Tim made sure Superman's existence on the Watch Tower was as miserable as it could be, starting with cold coffee that never heated no mater how much Superman lasered the liquid. Let it be said that Tim gave the man adequate warning.

At meetings:

"Regardless of Superman's less than adequate report-" Tim would say, reveling in the blatant insult because the man's an accredited reporter.

Or, when the League spoke with the present members of Young Justice, they'd do the opposite of Tim's heavy murder glare and ignore Superman the best they can.

With Zatanna's help, he'd concealed his presence from Superman's senses and stalked him around Metropolis for the remainder of the week, perching on the top of his headboard when Clark woke up, appearing behind him during meetings or casual conversations only to glare him.

Tim thought about shredding the man's personal life... but that would be a step too far. He's not a villain. Yet.

And when Wednesday came, Tim, flanked by a blood thirsty Cassie and a coldly cheery Bart, equipped his new kryptonite knuckle rings and stepped into the transporter. Clark was about to be on the receiving end of the most patient Robin. Only fools disturbed a dozing dragon, but Clark was an idiot and Tim is nothing but a full blooded Drake.

——

"What made you change your mind?" Dinah asked Clark. The man had been going to therapy more often, and had been interacting with Superboy more. He tried to check his tone.

Clark held a hand to his cheek. "Red Robin's reckoning," he muttered in a haze. Clark refused to elaborate, even as he glanced around warily.

Dinah stared at Clark. What the hell was he looking for? No one's here.

I love the idea of Tim being openly pissed at Clark for Conner's sake and just scaring the shit out of superman

[just-an-aussie-fandom-hermit]

( 2/2 ) i mean if i recall correctly didn't bruce take them in to provide homes for them after they lost their parents & often tried to talk them out of crime fighting even though a lot of them would go off & fight crime on their own accord ( whether he allowed it or not) ?

Anon you’re absolutely right!

(This is a long one so be warned).

He didn’t adopt/mentor the kids with the sole purpose of turning them into child soldiers or abusing them at all. His abusive and neglectful behaviour stands in stark contrast to his personality and moral code; most of these kids came from horrific backgrounds, so he would make himself as welcoming as possible to allow these kids to be kids, like they deserve to be. Vigilantism is their way of taking their life into their own hands and making change. His behaviour is nothing short of contradictory and I despise the various writers who made him that way.

I don’t have any sources/comic panels prepared but I want to answer this anyway:

Dick Grayson had just seen his parents die, and was filled with vengeance — he would have gone after Tony Zucco anyway, better to do it on Bruce’s terms. Also, he had spent several nights in a juvenile centre after his parents died (that’s where he ended up) and was beaten up brutally on basically his first night there. Bruce knew he wouldn’t survive, let alone thrive in the system, so he took him in. Robin was initially meant to be a temporary thing, to take down Zucco as well as his coworkers/superiors in the mob. After an encounter with the Joker in which Dick is bedridden, Bruce fires Dick from being Robin for his own safety. He later becomes Nightwing after going through a personality crisis and wondering who he was without Robin.

Barbara Gordon? She was going to be a crime fighter anyway — like Stephanie (we’ll get back to her) she made her own suit and went out on her own accord. Her dad is the police comissioner, but she recognised that the system wasn’t working — because of the mob, political corruption, police inadequacy and criminal conduct (which was/is the norm anyway), all that wonderful stuff — and felt that she had to do something. Bruce is vehemently against this but after a while he realises “oh god, she’s not going to stop,” and decides that, like Dick, it’s better for Babs to do the vigilante thing on his terms, because he’d spent years training for this, and Barbara was a child/teen.

Jason Todd lived on the streets after he stopped living with his abusive father (Willis) and his deceased, drug addicted mother (Catherine). He just saw a kid who had it extremely rough (homeless, formerly abused), and thought “I already have one child under my care, I can care for another, that’s reasonable.” Making him Robin was not only a constructive outlet for his anger, but also not Bruce’s intention at all. He may have met Jason as Batman, but he did not force the mantle of Robin onto him.

Tim Drake had already been BatWatch for years and had figured out who the Bats actually were. After Jason died, Tim saw how broken, angry and violent Bruce had become and he knew it was only a matter of time before something gave. He literally blackmailed his way into becoming Robin (via Dick, now Nightwing) because “Batman needs a Robin,” and he decided “I might as well be that Robin.” Bruce was incredibly resistant, because his son had just been murdered, and he doesn’t want that to happen to any other child — and he brushes Tim off for a while. When he does become Robin, it’s reluctant. He takes him in not just to him Robin but also because his parents are horribly neglectful (hence why he had so much free time as a child to be BatWatch and such) and only ever showed serious interest in his life while they were grooming him to be CEO of their company or when they felt Bruce was a threat to their parental authority (rightfully so.)

Stephanie Brown’s dad is Cluemaster, a minor villain who thought himself the nemesis of the Riddler (Nigma paid this guy no mind,) and left clues at his crime scenes in a similar manner to Riddler. As such her home life was tumultuous if not outright abusive and neglectful. Her mother (Crystal) is a drug user so she doesn’t spend a lot of time in the house. She created her own identity (Spoiler) to “spoil” her father’s plans and clues so Batman could take him and his buddies down. She comes into contact with Tim (ie. throws a brick at him) and works with the Bats so she wouldn’t get herself killed doing it alone.

Cassandra Cain is the daughter of two of the greatest assassins in the world (David Cain and Lady Shiva) and was never taught any form of spoken or written language. Instead, she learned to read body language and micro-expressions, all so she could become the best possible bodyguard for Ra’s al Ghul (head of the League of Shadows) and an excellent assassin. This backfired, and she ran away after witnessing/committing her first assassination and saw the pain and terror in her target — she spent several years on the run before Bruce found her and took her in. Fighting was all she knew, and she wanted to do the “good” fighting (vigilantism/working with the Justice League) instead of being an assassin. It was a way to reclaim her childhood and to help her create an identity of her own, separate from the League of Shadows.

Duke Thomas? He joined and later lead the We Are Robin movement to defend Gotham in Bruce’s abscence (‘Batman: Endgame’ I think is the storyline). I’m not as familiar with his story but he creates his own vigilante identity, The Signal, after his parents went insane (thanks Joker). He went into foster care while police search for his parents, and did generally did not have a Good Time. At this time, Bruce’s memory of being Batman had been erased, and it was Duke’s sense of justice and need to help others that set him on the course to become Batman again. He was never a Robin, and he works mostly in the daytimes, but Duke Thomas became a Bat of his own accord. Bruce simply brought The Signal under the cape and gave him a support network just as he had done for Babs and Steph (the other self-made vigelantes).

Damian Wayne. Biological son of Bruce and Talia al Ghul. In the current continuity he’s the product of a sexual assault, but either way, his purpose is to become the heir to the League of Assassins and their international criminal empire and shadow governments — he’s a manufactured soldier (hence why you might come across a lot of “test-tube baby” jokes, because he was grown mostly in an artificial womb.) Talia drops him off in Gotham in order to help Damian escape from Ra’s, and Bruce makes him Robin to give him an outlet for his anger and violence — in a non-homicidal fashion. Like Cass, all he knew was fighting and violence, but becoming Robin was a way for him to not only reclaim his lost childhood but also create an identity other than the killing machine he was intended to be.

Harper Row is another child from an abusive household — emancipating herself and her brother Colin from their father, Harper’s skill with engineering gives her the means to become a vigilante (Taser Girl?? I believe). Bluebird is her vigilante alias under Batman (her hair is a magnificent shade of blue) but is currently inactive, focusing on her career and education. Again i’m not super familiar with her character, but that’s the gist.

The important take-away is that these kids chose to become who they are — Bruce didn’t just pick them off the street like “you’re a Robin now have fun sweetie :)”, making them a Bat/Robin was simply a means to help these kids.

[miss-choco-chips]

Twisted soulmates

BIG Thank you to @iphoenixrising who let me babble on chat about this idea, and to @the-sky-is-a-lie who is an awesome sweetheart and read and edited this for me (THANK YOU!)

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

Tim has three names on one wrist. His soulmates. Tim has one name on the other wrist. His nemesis.

...or are they?

Tim gets his first mark the night the Graysons fell, ‘Richard John Grayson’ forever tattooed on him, the otherwise unblemished white skin of his left wrist almost shining in contrast to the new addition.

Young, he might be, but not stupid; never stupid. Neither of his parents would approve of a circus artist, perfect as he may be in Tim’s wide opened eyes, so he had to be smart about this. His mind hasn’t stopped whirling since the little touch that burned Dick’s name on him and vice versa, all kind of plans on how to broach the subject with the adults, how to make Dick like him beyond the promised love of a soulmate, every possibility dancing through his eyes, while his parents look for their seats at the stands none the wiser.

He's planning on asking his mom to stay after the show, so he might properly introduce himself to this marvelous trapezist, maybe proclaim an interest in the training - anything that could improve his overall abilities was a good thing in Janet’s eyes, and having her on board would be enough to force his father to accept. He’s excited at the prospect, and a part of him thinks Dick, up the trapeze getting ready for his act, feels the same. That he could feel, through the bond that snapped in place when the other kid first touched him, an echo of his own happiness, a joy at finding, so soon in life, something as beautiful as this. 

He’s going to stay after the show. He’ll talk to Dick, introduce himself properly, be as mature as possible- Dick wouldn’t want a dumb kid as his soulmate. Maybe even make friends with this wonderful boy that can fly and is destined to love him.

(Love him, him, him. He can’t wrap his head around this strange concept of being on the receiving end of something strong and wonderful. He might cry.)

Then the tragedy occurs, and  Tim's too traumatized to think about doing anything about it. He can't pester a grieving boy with this. They are kids after all, and it’s not like their bond is going anywhere. 

(I don’t want to wait, please don’t forget about me, please love me.)

---.---

Dick has just been adopted, his entire worldview had changed, adding a soulmate to care about would be just too mean of him. Tim can take care of himself, even when sometimes, after his parents left for yet another trip, he yearns for someone to hold his hand after a nightmare. To brush his hair back and hug him.

But that’s just the child in him. He doesn’t need it to live, it’s just a silly comfort thing to wish for, like the baby blanket his mother had made the servants take away once Tim turned four. So he keeps quiet. He waits. 

Dick’s name is on his left wrist, after all. He is his soulmate.

----.----

He gets his second mark years later, when the Batcave’s security is breached and some strange men attack Bruce. The giant penny is too tall, but he still get a good look at the man below it, and something in his gut twists. It all makes sense a few minutes later, when Bruce is fighting someone else and the man in green robes pushes Tim aside, holding him hostage to get the Batman’s cooperation. 

The skin on his wrist, the one that doesn't have Dick's promised love tattooed on it, burns. He doesn’t dare look down, aware of how taking your eyes from the predator in the room could mean instant death. He doesn’t need to, anyway; he already knows.

Tim’s pretty sure this is his nemesis, because no way he'd be destined to hate Dick and love this criminal, and they are on opposite wrists. So… getting away is the first step on his ‘do not interact with this terrorist until I’m significantly better at defending myself’ plan. Easy peasy.

He catches the side glance the man shoots him, because of course he also felt the burn, and there’s curiosity there. Something akin to amusement, which, Tim can get behind, he’s also seeing the irony of this, the utterly ridiculousness of him being important enough in the grand scheme of things to warrant being tattooed on this man’s skin.

There’s also possessiveness there, which isn’t fun at all. Stranger danger, his mind screams at him.

His nemesis shouldn’t be possessive of him, unless he has a really fucked up view of his enemies, in a ‘their death is mine, and mine only’ way. Because this is his nemesis, there's no doubt in his mind of that. 

Dick is on his other wrist, after all, and he is his soulmate.

----.----

Bruce goes mental when he finds out later, and almost blows a gasket. Ra’s, as Tim later finds out his nemesis is called, is suddenly one upping the Joker on Batman’s high priority enemies list, which means only a glimpse of him anywhere near the city borders would warrant a call to Superman, Bruce’s ultimate last resort. That’s how big this is.

Young Justice has split feelings on the matter. Cissie and Cassie, ever the bloodthirsty ones in Tim’s humble opinion, suggest tracking the man down before he can get to their leader, and taking him out of the game. Probably permanently. Kon seems torn, half with the girls, half with Bart, who finds the whole thing amusing and exciting. Ra’s Al Ghul, one of the most dangerous enemies the Justice League ever faced, and little old Robin is his fated enemy. Not Superman, not Wonder Woman, not Batman himself; just their Rob. That, according to the speedster, is so, so, so crash. The rest of the team, if they have opinions, keep them to themselves. It takes a while to calm the room down and focus on their mission of the day, but he eventually succeeds.

Dick, on his part, comes back from where he was brooding with the Titans after a fight with his mentor to fret over Tim, and everything is right in the world. 

He isn't afraid of Ra's. He has his new family, new friends, and soulmate.

----.----

There’s something on his pillow when he gets back from the weekend with his friends. 

A perfect rose, white as snow, thorns so sharp Tim knows they would pierce skin if touched. Not that he would be so stupid as to do it, not when foes like Ivy existed.

But… there’s a ribbon, and it sends ice through his veins. A red ribbon, tied at the stem’s exact center. A flower with a ribbon, the universal symbol of soulmates.

He’s pretty sure Dick’s back in San Francisco. Which leaves...

No.

He squares his shoulders and searches in his bag for his Robin gauntlets, protecting his hands with them as he disposes of the rose.

His right hand stings a little through the entire process.

----.----

When he gets his third mark, he's honestly surprised. As well as on the edge of unconsciousness from blood loss.

The blood flooding his airways is his, and the building that he believed was his safe place would never feel like that again. His knocked out friends litter the hallways, the bo staff he tried to use to defend himself long lost to the fight, as this man, his hero, his Robin, his apparent Soulmate, tries to kill him.

(Their eyes meet and they feel it at the same time, the twist in their stomachs, which is what stops Jason's blade. Tim’s hand raises up, weakly, and carefully brushes against the one holding the knife. It burns, and everything goes black for a minute.) 

(Jason stops breathing. He has the Joker on one hand, and was markless on the other until now, so this runt has to be his soulmate. No way it's the deranged clown. Which means he almost....)

Jason runs away (this is Jason, his wrist claims, not the mysterious Red Hood any longer) and Tim patches himself up, does damage control with his friends, calls Batman. His heart is beating twice as fast as usual, but he tries to be logical; Jason is on the same wrist as Dick, who is his soulmate, and opposite to Ra's, who's most likely his nemesis. Ergo, Jason's gotta be his soulmate. 

His confused, probably traumatized, totally not in his right mind soulmate.

He's gotta be patient and wait. Jason surely will get better, will come back to Tim, will fix this mistake he almost made, will... will love him.

Dick is his soulmate, and calls him ‘little brother’, which hurts, but he says it with such warmth that it soothes the ache. Dick loves him. 

Jason will, too, someday.

----.----

A few weeks later, he wakes up in the middle of the night, conscious of the feeling of being watched from the shadows of his room. 

There’s the teddy bear Steph won for him at the fair some months ago, sitting on the chair near his bed where he last put it, but… odd. There’s something about it that’s not quite normal, something that wasn’t there when he went to sleep half an hour ago.

It took him less than a minute to spot it, which would still be shameful if Bruce ever found out, but he sees the unusual shine in the bear’s eye and groans, more tired than rightfully angry, feeling like the moody teenager he never actually was.

A hidden camera. This was the fifth of the year, what the hell?

Pissed off, he gets up and takes the scissors he leaves by his bedside (can’t exactly go to sleep with a birdarang there, his dad might check on him at night and freak out, but sleeping without a weapon in easy reach just makes him uncomfortable) and makes quick work of the bear, getting the device out with as minimal damage to the plushie as possible. He’ll fix it later.

Beyond done, one hand opens the window with more strength than absolutely necessary, the other flying back to gather momentum and throw the thing right at the supposedly empty shadow on the roof of the building across the street. He’s not surprised when a dark gloved hand catches it, the rest of the body still perfectly concealed by the night. Fucking ninja.

No words needed, he slams the window shut again and grumbles his way to his desk, turning on his lamp. He’s not falling asleep again tonight, so might as well work on some cases.

----.----

His fourth mark is both exciting and like a bucket of cold water. 

It's a fucking kid.

Is this how Dick felt when he first got Tim's mark? No wonder he avoided talking about the subject, this was uncomfortable as fuck. Granted, it didn't necessarily have to be a romantic soulmate, platonic soulmates were a thing too, but... still. Awkward.

Even worse because the kid didn't have another mark and, as Tim was his first, was convinced he had to be his fated nemesis. No matter how hard Tim tried to explain the opposite; after the heart stilling moment where he extended his hand for a shake and was slapped away, thus providing the skin to skin contact needed for the bond to form, the brat was sure it was nothing but a ruse to get him to lower his defenses or something. God this kid was fucked up. 

So. In short. There were two of his soulmates trying to kill him. Great. 

But... Dick was on the same wrist as them. Dick loved him. Dick was his soulmate. So Damian... Damian had to be, as well. Maybe he'd grow out if his hate, maybe it was just a phase. 

Maybe.

----.----

His mother and father were dead. Steph was dead. His two best friends were dead.

Tim was numb, going through the motions but not really feeling anything. His only source of emotion, nowadays, was his constant rage at Damian, and the adrenaline while fighting a bad guy. 

He barely slept. He couldn’t remember the last time he properly ate. The manor wasn’t comforting enough with the little assassin roaming around for him to get any shut eye, and how could Tim be sure he wasn’t going to poison his food?

Sleeping in safe houses seemed the smarter move, even when they weren’t really safe at all, judging by the ‘gifts’ that kept appearing every time he turned his back. Food - sealed and untempered with - files on whatever case he was working on, a brand of turkish coffee that he would gladly down even if it contained poison…

Flowers, hundreds of them, all white in color, tiny red ribbons tying their stems.

Tim shivered at the meaning, but no longer minded the feeling of eyes on him while he slept. Looking for hidden cameras was too much effort to be worth it, as long as there were none in the bathroom and his walk in closet. He couldn’t care less, these days. 

----.----

Jason tried to kill him. Again. In the middle of a Pit Episode, even after all Tim had done to help him, to mend their relationship.

Damian was even worse, abusing Tim any way he could, any time he got the chance to get away with it. And it was a startlingly large amount of times, considering their family should be more attentive to attempted murder. None of Tim's effort to bond ever bore fruit.

But he's still convinced they are his soulmates, so he's gotta be patient. They have to be. 

Because Dick is his soulmate, and they share a wrist.

Because Dick...

----.----

Dick betrayed him. In the worst possible way, in the most vulnerable moment of his life. When Tim needed him the most.

Jason tried to kill him. 

Damian tried to kill him.

Dick betrayed him (which was, arguably, worse).

Dick was his soulmate. Jason was his soulmate. Damian was his soulmate.

They had to be.

----.----

His quest for Batman would’ve been a lonely affair, if not for the honeyed voice whispering in his ear. The silent eyes he felt on his skin wherever he went, more heavy than his three assassin escorts’ stares.

What a crazy world it was, where Tim’s nemesis believed in him, while his first soulmate, the one he loved almost his entire life, claimed delusion. Where his nemesis sent his people to keep him alive, to keep others out of his way, while his other two sought his death.

What a crazy world indeed.

----.----

-I think we need to talk, Timothy. About this bond we share.

-I’m listening.

Timothy, he said, but it didn’t sound like his name at all. 

In his mind, it echoed something scary, something that made him shiver and tense. 

It sounded like Mine.

----.----

Ra's al Ghul was probably his soulmate. 

He's gotta be. Because there's no way Tim's fated to love three people that are just going to break his heart again and again and again.

When he goes to the League for help looking for Bruce, he steels himself in place when Ra's’ voice in his ear makes him want to flinch. He grits his teeth at the viper like words murmured in soft tones. Makes himself accept when Ra's offers to train him in the ninja arts after he successfully brought his mentor back. Clenches his fists when he's asked to dinner in a dimly lit French restaurant.

Ra's didn't retaliate when Tim blew up half his bases. He kept giving Tim pointers and praises. Seeking his company.

So he breathes in. 

He forgave Damian for being a killer, Jason for being one, too. He surely can find it in himself to forgive his actual soulmate for being a criminal. 

In time.

Right?

...Right?

----.----

Something dark and victorious twists in Ra’s chest when the Detective doesn’t flinch away from his touch, and silently accepts the white rose and red ribbon he presents before guiding him deep into the restaurant. There’s acceptance in Timothy’s eyes, reluctant but hopeful, even if he stirs away from any ‘dangerous’ topics of conversation and very firmly drops a drug test pill in his glass of water the second the waitress turns her back on them. 

Ra’s doesn’t comment on it, merely mirrors the act on his own wine (one could never be too sure, not when an enemy as interesting as this is seated across from him) before raising it for a toast. Not that the Detective was aware of the reason.

He’s got a lot to celebrate. 

Deceiving this one wasn’t easy, after all.

----.----

Later that night, alone in his room, Tim turns in the bed, his back to the cameras on the far end of the room. The movement is slow, lazy, following his usual sleeping patterns. A clumsy hand pats the mattress, blindly looking for a pillow and dragging it to his chest, face hidden by its softness. He goes lax again, peaceful and oblivious to the world around him to any lingering eye.

Once he’s sure there’s no way anyone could see him, Tim lets a slow, dangerous smile creep on his face, his heartbeat thundering in his chest, adrenaline pumping through his veins, feeling so alive it’s almost painful after all the numbness.

Ra’s was looking so smug, like the cat that got the canary. Oh, he tried to hide it, but Tim had made it his life's mission since he was twelve to understand the man to his truest essence, to be able to read him as one would a book, and practice had taught him how to play him like a cheap kazoo.

He probably shouldn’t smile, safe as he is in hiding his face in the pillow, but he can’t help it.

Deceiving Ra’s, soulmate or not, wasn’t easy.

[crystal-moon-101]

Decided to make my own designs for the Batboys! 

I tried my best to make them all different, in both costume and causal, because sometimes they can look eerily similar in the comics. Along with some headcanons/jokes around them I have.

-Dick Grayson-

I had a little fun with his ethnicity, since it’s often a little confusing in the comics. His father’s side is almost entirely Romanian, though his Great Grandmother (Amelia) was a caucasian woman from Gotham City. On the other hand, his mother is half Romani and half Irish, both maternal Grandparents being travellers. So Dicke is a bit of a mixed boy, cross that with a circus background and being the Great Grandchild of a Talon and you get some chaos!

Notes:

Nightwing, Golden Boy, Gray Son Of Gotham, Pretty Boy, Acrobatic, Den Mother, The OG, Big Wing

5′10

Is the family’s Big Brother, yet pretty much fills the mother roll too

No, like, seriously. He can do mother things, like slapping the back of your head at the right angle, pulling your ear to get you to behave or crossing his arms and counting to three to make you do something!

Looks good in every photo taken of his, without even trying most of the time...(Pisses Jason off)

Favourite film would be ‘The Greatest Showman’

Literally became Deathstroke’s nemesis at the age 10

Villians either hate him or love him, no in-betweens

Doesn’t understand why villains keep trying to recruit him!

Seems like he knows what he’s doing, but 90% of the time he is winging it

Always a shoulder to cry on

Wiser than what most would think

But still a dumbass plenty of times

Master at anything to do with Emotions, like reading other people’s feelings or expertly hiding his own

Tired 24/7 but doesn’t show it

Just really wants to make people happy...

Never play twister with

Some consider Dick to be one of the scariest bat family members...there have just been moments where he’s snapped, and it’s never pretty in the end...doesn’t happen often, but that makes it scarier 

That being said, he often ends up the med bay the most, risking himself almost too often. Some say that even death is attracted to him...

-Jason Todd-

He’s pretty much a full-blooded Caucasian American Boiiiiii! Both his parents were Gotham people, his father even part of the gang problem that is still going on.

Notes:

Red Hood, Street Boy, Marksman, ‘Zombie’, Mr Muscle, Red Alert!, Little Wing 

6′2 (Making him the tallest...until Damian grows)

Banned from half of Gotham’s bars, because he keeps getting into drunken fights

Likes to flick hair into place every single time he removes his helmet (Makes him feel cool...)

Takes no bullshit...

Horny or angry, sometimes both

Swings both ways

Stalks his brothers whenever they go on dates

Never ask him for dating advice...

Will give your kids his own version of ‘The Talk’

Most villains hate him

Secretly likes James Bonds

Never play Nerf guns with

Least sneaky of the bats (He likes to burst on in scenes with finesse)

Thinks he can rival with Dick’s good looks

‘Cool guys don’t look at explosions, they start them’ - Jason Todd, at some point

Will throw a brick at anyone that hurts his brothers

Can cook a mean steak~

Swears 24/7

Dyslexic 

-Tim Drake-

Much like Jason, Tim is Caucasian. However, his father is from America, while his mother comes from England, so he has a slight British accent. 

Notes:

Red Robin, Detective, Nerddddd, Mister Sarcastic, Mr IQ, IT, Wayne Interpres Heir, Little Bird

5′7 (Will be the smallest when Damian is older)

Coffee Addict 

Must always have a plan

Even planned out his first date for Steph for months

The family’s IT

‘Five more minutesssss’

Easily gets sick

Always looking for approval

Shy yet witty and easily annoyed

Tired of Ra’s crap

Must be forced off his laptop to sleep

Too many alarms on his phone

Never play monopoly with (or Scrabble for that matter)

Despite how smart he is, he can be oblivious with emotions

Hopeless at flirting

Will do petty things if someone annoys his brothers

Secret Weeb

Squad with Steph and Cass

Works well as a leader for younger heroes

-Damian Wayne-

Half Caucasian American from his father’s side and half Arabic from his mother’s side. Born supposedly to be the heir to the A Guls, he definitely has family issues...

Notes:

Robin, Little Shit, Wayne Jr, Mini Bat, Demon Spawn, A Gul Child, Demon Head, Baby Bird

4′5 (Will grow to be 6′5, making him the tallest. That is, until his body decides to finally grow...)

Likes to brag about being Dick Grayson’s first and only Robin

Still sometimes wishes he could be Dick’s partner...

Grumpy little bean

Will bite you

Speaks like he’s 20

Animal lover and vegetarian (Keeps bringing strays into the manor)

Mini Bruce

Secretly has a thing for blondes

Pretends he doesn’t care, but will stab anyone who hurts his family

Has been compared to a cat

Will often try to fight his own battles

Never play Snap with

Desperately wants to prove he can be a good hero (And person...)

Likes to think he’s regal and classy...

Has almost always cried only around Dick

Always likes to remind everyone who his parentage is

Secretly really likes Disney films...they just seem pleasant, alright?

Likes to make unnerving and vague threats towards Tim (He rarely ever does it in the end, just likes to mess with his brother)

Always gives envious glares all around

Will start fights with people three times his size

Don’t look him in the eyes

[jasontoddiefor]

If the batkids had to be put in HalfBlood Cabins where would they fit and why?

OOOH YES. This was difficult.

Dick: Child of Apollo! Not because of his sunny disposition, but because he’s frankly speaking terrifying. It’s hard to pin down one defining trait for Dick, but I think with him soaring through the sky is with impeccable aim fits Apollo very well. People a drawn to him, he’s a bright light amongst the darkness.

Barbara: Child of Ares. What I admire the most about Babs is how she keeps fighting and never gives up. She keeps the batfam and her own teams going, let’s them continue fighting. Athena would be a good fit too, but I like to push Babs a little more in the war direction. If we’d go with Roman gods, Mars would probs be a better fit for her.

Jason: Child of Tyche. I thought about it and the irony of Jason being the child of the goddess of luck just fit too well. Because, in the end, he had the best luck in terrible situations. He survived on the streets and god adopted, became a hero and then he died. Is it good or bad fortune that he was revived? That he keeps on living despite everything?

Tim: Child of Athena. Tim’s a smart one, heavy on the strategic side of things. When he became Robin, he didn’t expect it to be his entire life, he’d planned to fill a gap for as long as needed. He plans and calculates, and sure he’s an utter dumbass sometimes too, but I think he’d fit the best with the Athena kids.

Steph: Child of Nemesis. I picked Nemesis because i think it fits well with Steph’s constant ups and down narratively. She got into the hero business because she wanted her father locked up again and Steph’s always had a vindictive streak.

Cass: Child of Aphrodite. Weird choice, I know. But I really like the concept of charmspeak and I think it fits Cassandra well. She doesn’t say much, but when she does, you better listen. Besides, beauty started the most terrifying wars and watching Cassandra fight is its own art form.

Duke: Child of Hermes. I originally wanted to go with Apollo, but that just seemed to obvious so Hermes it is. Duke, with no training whatsoever, joins a teenage vigilante gang and keeps making it out of dangerous situation. What I remember about Duke’s first arc is how he’s struggling to find a place to belong, and searching for his parents. He’s always on the move, traveling, and doesn’t settle.

Damian: Child of Nike. While his constant need to be the best is just how he was raised, bits of it are also just a part of who he is. He learns how to manage it with time, to think of victory not just as battles won, but also joy brought to others.

If you wanna read a really cool PJO crossover, I rec @darkmagyk’s fanfic Sons of Wisdom!

[littleeyesofpallas]

I don’t usually dwell on American cape comic shenanigans too much, because it’s a fast and loose kind of writing that doesn’t really play well with being scrutinized or really thought about at all, at least any longer than it takes to get through a page, but man... this whole Tynion IV Batman thing is still rubbing me the wrong way...  and what bugs me is how it’s definitely not all “bad,” and in fact a lot of the build up is great, but then the resolutions (or lack there of) are massive let downs, but then also he keeps skirting by with these loose ends that feel like they weren’t forgotten but that they might get picked up later.  It would almost suggest he has a real big picture planned as a through line across multiple stories...

So, when Tynion took over with issue 86 and Their Dark Designs, he actually provided a great premise: In the aftermath of City of Bane and Alfred Pennyworth’s death, Bruce muses over his apparent old habit of sketching himself little snapshots of an idealized Gotham he holds in his head.  We have a clear establishment of the theme of Design, and also the idea that Bruce has an end game in mind.  He’s not just reacting to crime as it happens, he has a long term plan.  This is a genuinely good angle to have for a Batman story.

To build on this, we learn that Lucius is working on some new tech for Bruce and he specifically marvels at how far Bruce’s war on crime has escalated.  The bat-gear hasn’t just been getting more sophisticated over the years, its development is beginning to outpace its practical applications.

Additionally, we get a weird kind of distraction of a B-plot with various master assassins convening in Gotham under a singular organized job, but among them the spotlight falls on Deathstroke.  Does Tynion talk about Deathstroke being one of the classic anti-batmen?  Does he talk about Deathstroke’s healing factor?  No.  He talks about Deathstroke’s augmented brain processing faster than Bruce can keep up with (a trait most authors tend to overlook with Slade); this means his only means of competing with Slade is to have a plan that puts him down before his super fast brain can think of a way out, because implicitly he will out think Batman given time, and if they’re both whittled down to adapting to one another in the moment, Slade wins.

Again, our theme is Master plans/Designs/end games.

Enter the heretofore unmentioned legendary, nigh mythical, Gotham villain named The Designer has reemerged after an indistinct time missing from the criminal underworld.  His claim to fame is planning 20 steps ahead, outpacing his adversary’s planning to snub any and all resistance utterly and completely.  

He’s brought up because he once mentored Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, and Joker in their early days(and in their 90s era outfits as a clever reference) and apparently the master plans he devised with each of them that were never enacted have been queued up by “someone.”  Designer is back, but he’s supposed to be dead; In a painfully uninteresting, cliche “twist” Joker was too KuHrAaZzY to handle and Designer turned on him rather than finish his tutelage, and in the ensuing firefight the 4 Gotham rogues killed the legendary Designer.

So, there are a lot of fun questions this raises, like who the apparent new Designer is, what his plan is, and what he wants...

Bruce has another run in with Slade and launches into an awkward, kinda whiny rant where he tells Slade that if only super villains hadn’t wasted so much of his time escalating the arms race of powers and gadgets and gimmicks, that he could have fixed Gotham years ago.  So, here we are again, this idea of plans, of reactionary escalation, and of the absolute need for a master plan that snubs the opposition before they can react and learn.  Batman beats Slade, of course, which just goes to show what we’re always meant to assume from Batman anyway, that he already had Slade beat from the get go.  He had a plan; Batman always has a plan.

So this is super cool!  It took us kind of a plodding 6 out of 9 issues of this story to get here, but this is a good place!  We know Batman has a master plan for Gotham, we know from what we’ve heard about plans/Designs as a theme that means he’s already got all his villains accounted for, and that he’s just going through the motions: turning the wheels to make the machine work.  It’s only a matter of time, now.

I’ll be honest, my thought at first when I was reading these?  I thought The Designer was Batman, or some part of Batman’s plan.  That he’d resurrected this mythical villain as part of his own master plan, to perhaps trick all his biggest adversaries to go all in on a singular massive criminal enterprise that Bruce had already designed from the get go to fail, and to take them all down with it once and for all.  It fit the profiles, and it felt like the natural direction this all was headed...

But then it was just The Joker.  Designer really was dead, Joker brought him back, stole his master plan and pulled it off himself.  He stole Batman’s money and gadgets, and took over Gotham (again).  That’s it.  It was a 9 issue/4 month long fucking prologue to Joker War.  And more importantly... NONE of these themes paid off, even a little...  And to be fair, if these had turned into something to be addressed and resolved in Joker War, I might have been okay with it...  But they weren’t...

Also there’s a (would be)great little moment towards the end here where we learn that The Designer’s original nemesis, a master detective whom he crushed and humiliated, once taught Bruce “how to lose.”  And this went nowhere.  But it could have been super interesting, because what exactly does that even mean?  Does it mean learning to accept loss and move on?  Does it mean letting the opponent’s plan succeed because if they put everything into the one plan, then it means they never actually had a follow through, so now the board is wiped clean and everyone’s back to square 1?  What exactly was the point of bringing back the Designer’s legacy if we just learned that the real Designer wasn’t even the master mind of this whole story?

So then we meander into Joker War, curiosity still piqued, but expectations drastically lowered...

Joker has all Batman’s gadgets: that’s actually kind of cool.  I like the idea of Joker having infinite resources and Batman being the one working underground.  It’s kind of been done before in pieces, but never quite as explicit as this.  It’s not genius, but its a solid premise.  Joker goes on a meta-rant about people watching “the classics” over and over, and audiences being content to see the same old story, provided it’s done right.  (A bold called shot, Tynion.)  

And we glimpse the mysterious future Batsuit that apparently Bruce doesn’t remember designing.  It’s kind of a throwback to the gray and blue look of the silver age Batman, when comics were a little more cheery and goofy and child friendly.  It’s a nice commentary on the idea that Bruce wants to make Gotham into a better place, not where he doesn’t need to be Batman, but where he can be a less grim Batman.  It speaks to Bruce’s character, his vision for Gotham, and Tynion’s nostalgia that is now being strongly established as a driving force of these stories...

Joker’s plan involves paying Gothamites, in the middle of this citywide takeover by clown gangs, to attend screenings of Zorro, at which point he’ll kill them walking out of the theaters.  Batman shows up at one theater, fights some Joker zombie things, get gassed, gets rescued by Harley and given an antidote that induces a hallucination chat with Alfred.

Laughably, in this talk Bruce admits “I failed...” when talking about letting Alfred die and letting Joker take over the city but then hallucination Alfred talks Bruce OUT of it.  So whatever it was Bruce learned about losing from the old detective, this apparently wasn’t it; this was the wrong kind of losing.

Joker mentions part of his plan was to make a new generation of heroes and villains with the massive shared trauma of the theater killings.  We’d been seeing bits of Clown Killer, but that’s it.  He actually seems pretty cool, but he wasn’t really doing much more than cameo in this.  No new villains* actually, not until the epilogue gives us the anti-hero GhostMaker.

*correction: there are a few retroactively established villains who are new to publication, but no new villains born out of the actual Joker War scenario.

The whole Batfam shows up to wrestle clowns.  For some reason Tynion or DC editorial in general went to GREAT lengths to contrive Dick being back in the old Nightwing outfit, Tim being Robin again, Cass and Steph being Batgirls, Babs being Oracle, and Damian having renounced the Robin title for this...  They don’t do jack shit; They wrestle clown goons in the background.

Yet, again one of Joker’s stupid genius plans ends with a fist fight between a highly trained martial artist and a guy in a purple suit and we’re expected to be excited about this.  Harley shows up to trick Bruce into leaving Joker to die, but of course he survives anyway...

So there are a few themes here that got heinously underutilized...  Joker’s super into this self-aware thing about this being just another Batman-v-Joker affair, and about recreating Batman’s origin, and we see this play out on the other side with the weird walk back on the Batfam’s costumes.  But we know Joker will lose, so ostensibly the bottom line here should be that, no, actually... doing the same old thing isn’t enough, and people aren’t as predictable as Joker thinks.

But if we’re acknowledging this idea that Batman-v-Joker is a thing that happens in cycles and it’s always kind of the same thing, and people are sick of it, then you know what one undeniable fact of continuity flies in the face of that?  That no matter how many times we reboot the universe and repeat this whole song and dance, Batman keeps accumulating more sidekicks.  I’d have loved if this whole thing had just climaxed with Joker “winning” in his over elaborate 1v1 grudge match only to have half a dozen extra bats bust in and kick his ass.

But more over, Batman NEVER had any sort of plan in this...  The whole lead up in Their Dark Designs, which took LONGER to set up Joker War than Joker War actually lasted, was about Bruce having this Design for Gotham...  And Joker War goes out of its way to remind us of this lingering concept, and doesn’t actually do anything with it, but tries to still dangle it over us, like... “oh no, we didn’t forget it, it’s just for later!”  And like, I’m still kind of on board for it, but less and less so the more this shit drags out without any satisfying benchmarks along the way.  And it’s just super frustrating to want to give Tynion credit for the genuinely good set up he seems to have here... Except is it still a “good setup” of it ends up not actually setting anything up?  or if what it sets up turns out to be disappointing and bad??

It’s just really bizarre to me that I honestly kind of desperately want to like Tynion’s Batman (Clearly I’m having a fucking field day digging my teeth into it) but in spite of the good that’s there, and the clear forethought that appears to have gone into it, he keeps tripping himself up somehow.

[singledadkuroo]

I’m seeing someone talk about this on my dash so here’s where I stand on ‘batfam sorted into PJO cabins’:

Bruce and Cass are both children of Hades but obviously do not have a sibling dynamic, he’s her adoptive father and one of very few demigods to make it to middle age

Dick and Jason are both children of Aphrodite. They kinda met in a similar vein to how Annabeth met Luke and Talia and didn’t even know they were like, ‘blood’ brothers or whatever until they both got to camp and were claimed at the same time. They’re very close and protective of each other. Jason has charmspeak (which in my mind is not solely an attraction thing), Dick does not, which means Jason gets away with alllll kinds of shit and Dick is pretty ‘wtf’ about if

Talia is a daughter of Nemesis so Damian is therefore a grandchild of two gods and has an interesting power bracket I haven’t fully figured out yet, stay tuned

Babs and Duke are both oracles. Babs for obvious reasons and Duke because I thought his canon meta ability would be done the most justice in the role of an oracle. I don’t even think there can be two at the same time per PJO rules but IDGAF

Selina and Steph are both children of Hermes, Tim is a child of Athena (hesitantly), Luke is a child of Hephaestus, Jean Paul and Kate are both children of Ares, Alfred is a normal person sick of the nonsense, and that’s it I guess

[sunhighriptide]

Okay, I'm going to add to this and do my own version. With a bit of detail.

Gotham is strangely attractive to many dieties, and beings connected to one pantheon attract others of their kind.

Bruce is a son of Hades and Martha Kane. His loathing of death makes this interesting. This is also where he gets his ability to disappear into the shadows. And his supernatural durability. He has no idea he is a demigod. He just thinks all these weird things that keep happening are normal in Gotham. He attracts the bizzare and unusual.

Kate is a daughter of Ares. That means she is technically not Bruce's cousin, but oh well. They are still related on the godly side. She is super good at combat and battle planning. She is also a little supernaturally strong. I think her father did visit her at some point, probably when she was kicked out of the army, to tell her he was proud and the people he kicked her out were dumb little shits.

Dick is a son of Aphrodite and John Grayson. His mom was fully aware of this. Aphrodite had courted John before, impressed by his acrobatic skills and easily captivating charm, but he had turned her down because he was in love with Mary. They desperately wanted a kid. They prayed to multiple gods for help, and Aphrodite was so taken with their love that she made a baby with John Athena style. Dick has a natural charm bordering on supernatural he isn't even aware of. People are helplessly attracted to him and want to listen when he speaks. Aphrodite is incredibly proud of him, and she coos over all his relationships but also judges them all. She feels protective of him but is also not good with time or reality. After his parents died, Tony Zucco and his associates were cursed. Not one of them went on a good date or found a fulfilling relationship after that. In fact, all of them would now desperately desire love, but no one would ever find them attractive again. His parentage is also half the reason all his relationships are so passionate but messy. Dick is entirely unaware of his parentage, but I think Raven has guessed.

Barbara's mother is Themis. Jim has no idea. He thinks she was just a lawyer who died. Themis is the divine arbitrator of justice and associated with oracles. She is also nearly impossible to hide from.

Jason. Jason is difficult to place. If I had to pick one of the main twelve, I'd pick Zeus. He just has the vibes of a lot of power he doesn't realize he has, and he has the spirit and strength. I also like the idea of him being a son of Hemera, who is day. Just the idea fits with baby Jason very much. And with Nyx being his grandma, I imagine he connects with her in the lazarus pit and then chooses to follow the path of Nemesis. But I don't see him as the son of Nemesis outright. He doesn't start off with revenge or retribution being close to what he cares about. I could totally see him accidentally connecting with all of his aunts and uncles while in the league and back in Gotham, and he is unintentionally wreaking all kinds of divine havoc. He just switches between primordial dieties that he unknowingly calls on.

Helena is probably a daughter of Nemesis. The goddess of justice and divine retribution. This makes her Jason's cousin, and when he comes back, kind of an honorary sibling.

Tim is probably an Athena kid. Athena kids have way too much on their mind. Athena kids can never be still or stop trying to make improvements. Athena kids don't sleep. Athena kids get obsessive. His dad probably used to be less of a prick, but he was never warm. I imagine he wanted an heir and perhaps purposefully tried to attract Athena's attention or was pleased by it when it came. This is a big reason why his mother does not care about him. Athena is severely displeased with his father's failure to raise him and subtly steers him towards Dick and Bruce, two semi-competant demigods in the area.

Steph is a child of Dionysus. She is probably both relieved and conflicted when she discovers this. She has a complicated relationship with Cluemaster, and discovering he isn't her biological father would tilt her worldview quite violently. I imagine Dionysus reaching out when she has that near death experience after being Robin. He tells her he loves the Spoiler costume. Purple is also his favorite color. They develop a hesitant relationship after that. She is great at causing chaos, her energy is infectious, and she can get a party started with hardly any effort. For someone who doesn't really drink, she is an insanely good mixologist.

Cass is either the daughter of Ares or Guan Yu. Argument for the latter is that it is nice to have some variation in pantheons. Guan Yu is a Chinese and Daoist war god. However, he is a symbol of peace, and uses violence only when necessary. He is also known for bravery and high pain tolerence, which makes sense for Cass. None of that feels right for Shiva, however, so we are going to stick with Ares. Cass is one of his favorite children. It never occurs to him to inform Kate and Cass that they are half sisters. Kate will probably figure it out eventually. Cass will be thrilled.

Damian. We'll come back to this, because both his parents are very important and spoken for. Which means Talia must be a demigod instead.

Talia and Nyssa both have different mothers. I looked for a slavic goddess for Nyssa, but I could not find one that fit. I decided to jump over to Norse Mythology and made her mother one of the wave maidens, divine forces of the sea. It might be more useful to her if she spent more time at see, but they were also spirits of adventure and conquest.

For Talia, I jumped back over to Greek. Her mother was apparently Chinese and Arabic? But Nanda Parbat moves around, so whatever. I kind of wanted to give her a Kemmetic/Egyptian mother. I considered Heptet, goddess of renewal and ressurection, I think, but I went for Anat, who I am more familiar with. She was worshiped across West Asia as well as in Egypt, represents war, warriors, and hunting. She is a very intense divine force, and whatever she goes after, she accomplishes. I also briefly considered Bast, but I couldn't see her going for Ra's.

This means Damian is descended from the Greek and Egyptian Pantheons. A grandson of Hades and Anat. Which makes him, if anything, more powerful than his parents. Maybe the hunting part also has to do with his animal attachment? I think Bast would like him a lot though, and he would develop a relationship with her and Sehkmet. (Like a professional patron/follower relationship.) But also a little bit adoptable.

Duke I could totally see as a child of Apollo. Partial origin of his light powers. Meta gene plus god blood.

Harper is either Apollo or Hermes, you guys can figure that out. Apollo would make her Duke's half-sibling.

Luke has undeniable Hephaestus vibes, but his dad is clearly Lucius Fox. And also I am running out of steam here.

Selina is a child of Mercury, but has rejected him and follows the cult of Bast. This is the thing thay originally endears Damian to her.

That's all for now?

Oh wait. Yeah.

Alfred is a god. He hasn't told anyone. But he also hasn't aged in the last fourty years. So that's kind of on them. Probably a minor one? Not sure. He is the only one who fully understands what is going on.

Prompt:

Demigods edition!

Dick — son of Zeus or Aphrodite

Jason — son of Hades or Thanatos

Tim —son of Athena

Steph — daughter of Hermes

Duke — son of Apollo

And Bruce is a god who pretends to be human and accidentally keeps adopting demigod children, regardless of which deity he’s pissing off by doing so.

[makeup-wonder-woman]

The Batfam as Demigods

I’m still taking requests (Just not for the Batboys, they have a TON), but while I’m waiting for my first class of the year to start, I’m thinking of what a Batboy Demigod AU would be like...

Alfred- Oracle? Maybe a Centaur like Chiron

 Bruce- child of Zeus / Director of Camp w/Mr. D, learning to take care of Camp do Mr. D can leave

Dick- Satyr, so child of Pan

Jason- child of Ares

Tim-  child of Hephaestus

Damian- child of Nemesis

Cass- child of Hades

Steph-  child of Aphrodite also a quarter wood nymph

Babs- child of Athena

Kate- Huntress of Artemis

Reader- child of…. ???

What Olympian would you be the child of?