#this is NOT bad parent Bruce btw

[arkham-kn1ght]

At 15:43 of the 23rd of August, The Joker died; killed in broad daylight.

The Joker, who had been haunting Gotham City for years, terrorizing her citizens and killing myriads, was shot by a civilian — a mother.

In the busy avenue that connected the more civilized district to the filth of the city — Crime Alley — the rogue had made his appearance. People screamed, ran, shoving one another out of the way so they could escape faster.

A little girl, however, did not move, frozen in fear. The people passing by saw her and already grieved — she must have been six years old, that poor soul, rest in peace — nobody tried to save her.

The Joker was laughing amidst the chaos, talking and talking and talking because he couldn't care less that this was something inhumane and- a shot, a scream louder than anyone else's, echoed in the avenue.

And then another, and another and another — and the screaming never stopped, loud and angry and desperate; the vicious rage of a mother.

There was a red hole gaping in Joker's chest.

The monster fell, and the beast — the angel — that killed him ran ahead to her most precious, uncaring of the rapidly cooling body.

A mother, sobbing, held her daughter in her arms, her ear over her baby's heartbeat; she was alive and the Joker was dead.

From a distance, a boy — a teen, he wasn't even in his twenties — watched the scene. He, too paralyzed by fear to move (and oh god his bones ached and his fingers twisted and there was blood dripping and he was screaming for Bruce, please Dad! Please-!), watched it all happen.

A mother was hugging her kid; she got there in time, she slayed the monster for her.

A hand instinctively came up to brush against the side of his neck, the raised bumps of scarred skin welcoming his calloused fingers.

He walked away, too many what-ifs scattering around his already too damaged brain.

[yoonjae20]

Ric(hard) Fenton; Part 1

(Once again slightly inspired by @saltymarshmall0w 's prompt.)

Read on ao3.

Masterpost. Next.

“B, didn’t you promise us as you’d tell if there was a possibility of another secret child?” Tim asks as he stares at the black haired boy, who looks like he had been to hell and back to get here, with blue eyes — because of course, they are blue —  in front of the Manor’s door. 

He can’t help but feel unnerved by the way the boy evaded their security measures and how he hasn’t said a single word since Tim opened the door even when he can see the boy’s hands tremble.

“Yes?” Bruce's voice floats from further in the Manor, his barely audible gaunt drawing near.

“Then who the hell is this?” he asks just as the man turns the corner. He freezes at the sight of the kid, literally blue screening as he takes him in. 

“Actually he’s mine,” a too chipper voice announces and Tim nearly jumps out of skin as he turns to Dick.

The young man must see both Tim and Bruce doing the mental calculations in their heads because he interrupts before they can draw the wrong conclusions.

“If Bruce can go around adopting children, I can do the same.” Then he turns to the boy. “You can come in, Danny.” 

Tim is eerily reminded of a wary, frightened cat as the boy — Danny moves inside. His steps are too silent for a mere civilian. 

Bruce and Tim share a look and Tim knows that they are both asking themselves when Dick met the boy and why he never mentioned him with how familiar he acts around him as he easily tucks him into his side. 

Although neither of them wants to accept it, Dick has changed since the one year where he disappeared without a trace. He’d told them that he was shot leading to him to lose his memories and that he only retained his memories a few days before he came back, but Tim always had a feeling the older man was not telling the whole truth, hiding it behind an easy-going smile. He didn’t speak a single word about what happened during that year, claiming he didn’t remember much of it ever since his memories returned.

Not only that, but it had become even rarer than before that any of them would meet Dick at the manor (even Jason was at the Manor more often) — and when he was present he was always studying them with an intense stare as if he was searching for something in their expressions.

“Dick,” Bruce starts but the man waves him off.

“Later,” he says. “I need to see if I have any fresh clothes for Danny.”

Dick pulls the boy away and they head up the stairs. Tim gives it a minute before he follows, nodding at Bruce, who does the same. He hears them stop in the hallway and he pauses in his steps.

“What’s going on?” Tim hears the man's question and he sneaks closer when he can’t hear the boy’s response. He subtly uses his phone’s camera to peek around the corner. 

“What about Mom and Dad?” Dick asks in a hushed whisper and Tim knits his eyebrows together — confused about who his brother is talking about.

Danny winces with a pained expression.

“The GIW got them in custody for affiliating with and aiding an ectoplasmic entity,” he explains. “You are my only chance.”

“Jazz, Sam, Tucker?” Dick almost seems desperate and when the boy just shakes his head after each name, he runs a hand through his hair and curses. 

“And you are sure we can’t go to them?”

Tim can’t help but ask himself who they are talking about that Dick’s voice is so full of disdain. Danny vehemently shakes his head, eyes squeezed together like he is remembering something painful and when he speaks his voice is shaky.

“I don’t know what to do, Ric,” he says, clutching the top of his shirt like his heart is hurting and Tim’s eyebrows climb to the top of his hairline at the unusual nickname. “I can’t- I can’t do this alone…” 

“Fuck.” Dick takes a deep breath as he hugs Danny. “Okay. Yes, of course I’m coming with you, baby ghost. Just let me grab my things and then we’ll go on our way.” 

“You will not go anywhere.” 

Bruce steps in Dick’s path before Tim can stop him and he narrows his eyes at the pair. Danny flinches away from the man and Dick steps protectively in front of the boy.

Tim knows Bruce and Dick had their rough patches in the past but never like this. Never had Dick looked at Bruce like he was a threat. 

“I’m not in the mood, B,” Dick warns sharply. 

“And I’m not about to let you go off with someone that I haven’t vetted.”

Dick lets out a bitter huff of a laugh.

“Of course that’s the only thing you would focus on.” His voice is cold. “You’ll bulldoze your way through, and prod and condemn, not caring if you hurt someone innocent in the process as long as you can justify your actions. I don’t even know why I’m surprised at this point. It’s what happened to Jason after all.”

Bruce reels back like he’s been punched. 

“Now if that is all, I have to go save the people who actually treat me like family.”

This time nobody stops Dick as he leaves the house, Danny in tow. 

“Master Bruce, Master Tim,” Alfred’s voice tears Tim out of his trance and startles Bruce who froze in his spot. “Where is Master Dick?”

Dick trembles with barely suppressed fury as he leads Danny to his car.

He wanted to believe that Bruce was better — that he wouldn’t have led the Justice League on a hunt after a child, but the longer he is back in Gotham as Richard Grayson — the longer he is around who were supposed to be his “actual” family, the more he grows unsure about that fact. There is no easy trust between them — not the steadfast determination that no matter what happens, they’ll take his side. Not like the Fentons have. (It’s been barely 2 months and he misses being Ric Fenton — misses being Jack and Maddie’s son and Jazz and Danny’s older brother.)

Bruce has contingency plans about them for fuck’s sake. And while he understands that there might be situations where they would be on other sides — the time where he and the Teen Titans had to fight their mind controlled mentors comes to mind — it’s a scary thought. For the first time since ages — since Bruce had taken Robin away from him — he feels like he is on his own. 

Back then he had turned to Clark — to Superman. He was the one who gave him the name Nightwing but Dick is plagued by the nightmares he witnessed Danny having. He doesn’t think he can look at his uncle ever the same again. 

At the same time, he doesn’t know if Danny and him can do this alone. He glances at the boy as he drives out the gates to the manor — he looks incredibly drained. He’s even paler than usual and there’s a sheen of sweat over his whole body as he leans back in his seat, breaths shallow. 

As he drives through the streets of the Bowery a sudden thought comes to his mind. He tears the steering wheel around, tearing Danny out of his doze. He blinks at Dick, eyebrows knitted together when he sees that they are still in Gotham.

“Where are we going?” he asks and Dick gives him a smile that is all teeth.

“Just a little pit stop.”

Jason and Dick don’t talk much — or to be more precise they don’t talk about the important stuff. Not about the — ‘I broke down when I heard about your death and I blame myself for not being there’ or ‘I was sure you hated me and you were glad I was gone’. They barge into each other's apartments, spar or get drunk together and cling to each other when they are sure the other isn’t awake to witness it. It’s not quite healthy — but it’s something better than when Jason was still Robin.

So when the door to one of his safe houses gets slammed open, Jason isn’t concerned. He knows Dick had been off the past few weeks and had been expecting his visit for quite a while now. 

The look in Dick’s eyes is different this time around though. It’s not quite the mix of depression coupled with anger he normally expects — it’s something stronger — righteous fury.

“I need your help,” Dick demands before Jason can question what’s going on.

Jason knits his eyebrows together. 

“What about Bruce?”

There’s a dark look in the man’s eyes for a moment before it passes and that’s the moment Jason realizes that this something more serious than the usual spats he normally has with B. 

“You are the only one I can trust with this.”

He spins around on his heels and is out of the safe house before Jason can blink. Getting a bit impatient and angry about Dick not getting straight to the point and still expecting him to follow — Jason storms out. What he doesn’t expect is the passed out half-dead kid in the passenger seat. A tinge of green enters his vision as he glares at Dick.

“What the hell is going on?”

The story Dick tells as they speed on the highway leaves Jason reeling. If the man’s tone wasn’t carefully monotone as he spoke about Ghosts and an entire town being shifted to a different dimension, Jason would have already declared that Dick finally snapped. He wants to question why he lied to the rest about losing his memories about the year he went missing, but the desperate look he sends him and the way his hands shake on the steering wheel hold him back. It’s only the boy’s quiet snores that have Jason’s volume not climbing above a hiss.

“Are you sure this all happened? That this is real?”

“I was there, Jay,” Dick’s tone leaves no arguments. “I almost watched Danny die, again — fighting Pariah Dark. I would have never forgiven myself if another of my brothers…” He gulps and shakes his head. “I was there this time. I should have made a difference and once again I was helpless”. He slams a fist against the radio, cursing when it turns on, blaring loud music. 

He quickly turns the volume down and both of them wait with bated breath as Danny stirs in his seat, before he goes limp again. Dick lets out a deep sigh.

“How do you think I felt once I realized the situation?” Dick questions. “I was in the middle of nowhere with no recollection of who I was. If the Fentons hadn’t found me-” He shakes his head. “Next I know I’m watching a kid fight fucking Ghosts twice his side and getting thrown around like a ragdoll like it’s a normal Tuesday. That shouldn’t happen Jay, it just shouldn’t.”

Jason stays silent.

“And worst of all, I still knew how to fight,” Dick barrels on. “But no matter how much I tried to help Danny and teach him, it was useless because it wasn’t humans or even metas he was up against. How could my moves counter beings that can fly and go intangible and invisible at will?”

Jason still can’t fathom why Dick hid this from them all — but he knows enough to understand why he needs his help. 

“So what’s the plan?”

Dick shoots him a relieved smile.

“We still have 12 hours of driving ahead of us,” Dick glances at Danny. “I’m reckoning he’s gonna be out cold for at least half of it if not more. I need you to switch with me after half of the drive so I can get a power nap in, then I’ll take over again.”

“Not trusting me with the car?” Jason teases.

“Show me your drivers license and maybe I’ll reconsider.”

They start bickering, and for a moment Jason can convince himself that this is a normal road trip.

Jason’s at the wheel when the boy wakes up. Dick is out cold and despite the man’s protests Jason can drive normally if he wants to. There’s no reason the man has to over exhaust himself.

They had tossed their phones once they crossed the border to Illinois and Dick had withdrawn a couple of thousand bucks. Jason had questioned why they hadn’t done sooner if they wanted to keep Bruce off their trail, but the man told him he’s not the one he is worried about. Considering what Dick told him about the elusive GIW, Jason can harbor a guess on who he is talking about. It’s after that, that Jason wrangled him into another nap — Dick was in no condition to drive any further. 

“Ric?” Danny questions sleepily as he sits up and Jason keeps an eye on him out of the corner of his eyes.

“He’s asleep,” Jason answers and it’s only because he’s used to Damian that he blocks the instinctual kick as the boy realizes he’s not alone. 

“I can see that Dick kept you sharp” Jason huffs out a laugh. “I’m Jason, in case he didn’t mention me.”

Danny blinks at him and shifts so he is sitting cross legged. He knits his eyebrows together, clearly thinking.

“You were the pit stop?” he questions.

“Apparently.” Jason shrugs. “Great work, by the way. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Dick this pissed.”

The boy frowns, gnawing at his lips as he stares out the window.

“You’ve died too, haven't you?”

Jason suppresses his initial reaction to snap at the boy. Instead he grits his teeth as he stares straight ahead, the road blurring together. 

“And?”

“Ric shouldn’t have let you come.”

He grips the steering wheel until his knuckles are deadly white, green hazing his vision. 

“They’ll cut you open too.”

It takes the wind out of his anger and he lets out a curse. The brakes screech as he stops at the side of the road, nearly catapulting them forward with the force of it. Jason finally turns to look at Danny properly. The boy peels down his t-shirt to reveal a gnarly, ugly red Y-shaped scar as he gulps.

“Ric doesn’t know,” he says as he releases the hem of his shirt, covering the scar once more. “I haven’t told him.”

“Then why me?” Jason’s voice rises without his consent.

“Because you’ll get it,” the boy murmurs. “How it feels to die.”

The boy leans back, turning away from Jason to look at the corn field.

“How it haunts you.”

Jason wants to puke and he lets his forehead fall onto the steering wheel.

“Fuck,” he says emotionally and the boy laughs — broken and hysterical. Jason doesn’t comment on the tears streaming down Danny’s face.

Jason starts up the car again, leading the car back on the road.

“Next time Dick asks for my help, I’ll send him to hell.”

Jason hides a smile when the boy snorts at that. 

Dick comes to himself as they are about to cross the border into Amity Park. Jason and Danny are quietly talking and he wipes away a little bit of drool as he sits up. It’s dark outside and Danny directs Jason as they enter the city. He leans forward as he enters the conversation.

“You’ll think the GIW’s detectors will sense us?”

Danny glances at Jason, before he turns his attention to Dick.

“We should be fine for a few hours at least as long as I don’t have to turn ghost,” he says. “Half of the town is liminal at this point so you and Jason shouldn’t raise any alarms either. They had too many false alarms in the months since you left.”

Jason looks at Dick strangely once they park where they can hide for the night.

“Since when did you have contact with Lazarus Pits?”

“Never,” Dick retorts. “But living above a portal to the Infinite Realms for a year will do the trick.”

Jason's face scrunches up.

“Who the hell builds a portal in their own basement?” 

Both Dick and Danny snort. 

“Gotta love Mom and Dad,” the boy says as Dick nods in agreement. “Only they are insane enough.”

Dick makes a face.

“I could do without reanimated meatloaf for the rest of my life though.”

“Don’t remind me,” Danny shudders.

Jason stares at them in bafflement. 

“You do know how crazy that sounds?”

“Crazier than Ghosts?” Danny questions with a smirk and Jason pinches the bridge of his nose, shaking his head

“To give it to Mom and Dad they did stop storing samples in the fridge after we lectured them about it,” Dick adds. At Jason's aghast face he just shrugs. “They are passionate about their work.” 

“Insane, absolutely insane,” the man mutters and Dick suppresses a smile.

It had taken him a bit to get used to the Fenton's and their flavor of insanity and chaos. At first he had been worried about them being neglectful at best, but it turns out that they just needed someone to remind them when they got into “hyperfixation” mode. He and Jazz had to stage an intervention and both Maddie and Jack were embarrassed once they realized they took it too far. Dick doesn’t know who is worse — them or Tim when he’s awake for more than three days. 

He was very relieved when his initial hunch didn’t turn out to be true after Danny revealed himself as Phantom to his parents. They did a whole 180 on their research, focusing on learning about the intricacies of the Infinite Realms, their culture and even politics instead — resigning from their high positions in the GIW. That’s when the trouble really started. 

Dick hadn’t lied about getting amnesia after he was shot and it was also true that his memories had only returned — thanks to Frostbite — two months ago. But the only reason he went back to Gotham had been to get Danny help (the longer they waited the worse the situation with the GIW became) — to find out if the Justice League could be trusted. Once he heard what happened with Freakshow and the Reality Gauntlet (and had the memories to properly realize what that meant) he had been horrified. He had given himself a deadline to — if need be, confront the Justice League by the time Danny’s birthday came around and find out the truth. (He had desperately hoped that this was all a misunderstanding, but Bruce’s words still taste bitter on his tongue.)

Dick knows bringing Jason along was a risk — considering Danny’s theory that the Lazarus Pit were corrupted ectoplasm, but they need the manpower to get through the GIW’s defenses. Even if he’s scared shitless about what they’ll do to Jason when they find out just how liminal he is. He knows this is a death mission. But it doesn’t have to be for Jason.

“We need to establish some ground rules,” Dick says reluctantly and Jason narrows his eyes at the wording.

“If we get captured, I want you to save yourself, Jason.” Jason scoffs and Dick raises a hand, silencing his retort before it can come. “I’m the sole reason you got involved in the first place. Me and Danny may be willing to die for them, but I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself for something that isn’t even your problem to deal with.”

“If you think I’m gonna agree to those, you are more than stupid than I thought Dick,” Jason’s voice is scathing. “It started being my problem when you came to me for help and we drove for 12 straight hours to get there. If you say those people are your family — then they are mine as well.”

His lips perk into a smirk.

“Besides, I want to meet the people that might be even more batshit insane than B and got you to call them Mom and Dad.”

Dick flushes slightly — the Fenton’s had always insisted on him calling them Mom and Dad and he doesn’t know when the titles became genuine. Even with his memories restored, Ric Fenton feels more alive  — more loved — than Richard Grayson ever did. 

Danny just shrugs as he leans back, arms crossed behind his neck and feet rested on top of the glove box. 

“I guess I have not only two sisters but two older brothers now,” he adds cheekily. 

“Brat.” 

Jason playfully shoves Danny and Dick gapes at the fond tone in his voice. 

“How?” he stammers — they should barely know each other. “When?”

Jason tucks Danny into his side, angle a bit awkward, but grinning as he ruffles his hair.

“You missed a lot, sleeping beauty,” Jason jests and Dick groans.

“I was only asleep for 1 hour!” he bemoans. 

“Two,” Danny corrects and Dick glares at him, raising a finger.

“Don’t you two dare gang up on me!”

“This is sweet revenge for when you and Jazz teamed up against me,” Danny grins.

“We were literally trying to help you!” Dick complains, shoving Danny’s face away as the boy cackles, Jason watching on with amusement.

Dick might have to leave Ric Fenton behind for good now that his two worlds have collided, but maybe he can still be Richard “Dick” Grayson-Fenton instead.  

[amaranthdahlia]

kdch family au art dump 🔥🔥

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #59

Jack Fenton is a lot of things, a caring husband, a scientist, and even a dad! Or so he thought, until he finds out Maddie Cheated on him and Danny wasn’t really his, he knew the initial on the guy was B. W. but he didn’t know who that was. He got into a fight with her about it and he left for a couple days to clear his head.

Jazz, and Danny were in the basement along with their mom who was trying to get the portal activated. It wasn’t working and she was getting frustrated. Danny hates that his parents were fighting over him, he didn’t know who his real father was but he was a little curious. Jack and Maddie had always put their research above all else and he wished he had a normal family.

Danny goes into the hole where the portal is and trips on a wire, in a blinding light he dies and is brought back. Unfortunately the portal wasn’t quite ready without Jack helping and an explosion spreads out in the basement killing both Jazz and Maddie. Jack comes home to find only Danny alive. He resents the boy, of course he does Danny took away his only chance at normal.

Danny after a couple weeks of getting abused by the now alcoholic Jack, runs away to Gotham, he’s got to find Batman, he’s the worlds greatest detective, surely he can find who B. W. Is right?

[robintherobiner]

dont use my post to spread thy opinion. be brave. use thy own words. thou hath the ability to type, thou should use it.

Hate when I read a 'bad-parent-bruce-wayne' fic and all the kids immediately start hating him and leave the manor the second they find out, especially if he's only a bad parent to one of them because thats not how it works

They'd probably be outraged, yes, but they're all terribly loyal to Bruce. I think they'd be confused, in denial, maybe even aggressive in their defensiveness. They'd comfort their sibling, of course they would. They'd be angry at Bruce, yelling and cussing. But they'd probably also ask questions. They'd try to assure themselves that no, Bruce would never do that, not without a good reason too!

Please remember that a majority of the batfam had terrible parents, which means they're far more likely to forgive Bruce because he's 'not as bad'. Please remember that a person doesn't just change their opinion of a loved one within seconds, no matter how cruel they turn out to be. Please remember that, canonically, Bruce is a terrible parent, and his children have never really stayed angry at him, despite the man definitely deserving it.

I want more fanfics where they show the realistic back-and-forth that people have when they find out their parents are bad. Show the denial, the anger, the victim-blaming, and then the inevitable acceptance of being hurt and the process of moving on.

I want more fanfics where some siblings go non-contact and others visit on weekends and others have daily calls and none of them shit on each other for having different reactions, because it's valid to still want to see your dad, even if he's a bad person, just as its valid to want to change your name and never see him again.

[the-fyre-flie]

A Dad!Batman and Shazam au oneshot for this one commenter in particular and also me because I love this concept, hehe! Also I physically cannot keed writing this on tumblr so like if this does well I'll move it to AO3 and write some more Batfam&Shazam...

@spiritdancer9000

This is INCREDIBLY long btw...

-

Bruce didn't know when it started. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment in time he started treating Shazam differently than the other heros, but at one point or another, he began treating the young man like... one of his own kids. Billy was just a kid himself, but it wasn't like he was inexperienced or powerless. The boy didn't need Bruce's parenting. Yet, the big bad Batman had a soft spot for him.

Bruce adjusted his cowl slightly as he stood from the rubble, grunting in pain as he pushed a large chunk of fallen building out of the way. This fight against a hypnotized Superman was going very poorly. His kryptonite had been sent into the bay, and he was still waiting on one of his various robins or ex robins to answer his distress call and show up with backup. Until that happened, he had to call in Shazam to help contain the alien. Their similar powers meant that while the rest of the Justice League was busy with off planet matters, Billy was the best option to take down Clark. Or at least keep him from causing more destruction. With how many times Clark gets hypnotized or brainwashed, this situation wasn't new or important enough to call back anyone from their missions. They just had to make do and figure out how to break the hypnosis.

"Shazam, can you redirect Superman to the west side of the city? Nightwing will be coming from that direction." For a man heavily bruised, stressed, and in the middle of grappling up to get as close as he could to the dueling supers, Bruce's voice was surprisingly gentle when he spoke to Billy. He almost never raised his voice at the magic infused boy, even in the middle of fights. Tho, once again, Bruce felt like he had to parent Billy. The kid was taking a beating, and he needed a level-headed adult to trust and rely on. Bruce had to be that figure, lest Billy panic, and begin letting Clark cause more damage than necessary.

"I can! I just gotta-!" Billy let out an 'oof' as he was interrupted by Superman landing a sharp hit on his jaw, sending him flying back. The sound was brutal, a loud crack followed by an even louder thud as concrete crumbled around Shazam, the hero leaving a Shazam-shaped crater in the exterior of a building. He groaned as he regained his bearings, floating to Batmans side as Superman prepared a second attack. "Okay, maybe I need a little help..."

Bruce would have chastised the boy for getting distracted for letting Superman get in a blow. That answering was less important than just doing in a moment like that. Instead, he just... let it go. Which is so very unlike him. With any other hero, including his own brood of bats and birds, he would have chewed them out for not reacting properly. With Billy, he didn't even blink, instead focusing on what to do next.

"Grab his cape and get him as close to the outskirts of the west side as possible. I'll keep him distracted."

Shazam flew into action, not one to question Batmans plans. Grabbing onto the cap, Superman immediately shifted to try and grab at the young hero. Only for Batman to begin... threatening Superman? Billy wasn't exactly sure why Batman decided that was the best way to keep the Kyrptonian distracted, but it was working somehow. The more Batman spoke about Lois and Jonathan and all the horrible ways he could take out Clark's family, the more scared rather than aggressive Clark became. For a man of steel, Superman bent easily. Within half a minute, they were touching down in the city limits, Superman not even fighting back anymore, seemingly spiraling, head in hands.

"Why did you say all that stuff to him, mister Batman?" Shazam asked, letting go of the man's cape and joining Bruce's side. As they spoke, Nightwing pulled up, his bike screeching as he came to a sudden stop. He was waving a small thermos looking thing back and forth before tossing it to Batman, disappearing again before he could even be questioned.

"Superman, at his core, is a gentle giant and family man. Threatening or insulting his family makes him depressed. As any father would become if someone like me threatened his son the way I did. I'll apologize to him when he's back in his right mind." Bruce stated gruffly as he unsealed the thermos and waved it under Clark's nose like smelling salts. Usually, he would have been far less gentle with Clark. The alien man could take it. But he couldn't bring himself to he overly violent in front of Shazam.

As the kryptonite was held in front of Clark, he finally snapped out of hypnosis, groggily looking up at Bruce. He squinted a bit, groaned, and stood. Of course, he apologized and offered to help with whatever damage he caused, but Bruce simply dismissed him, telling him to go rest and recover properly.

Sat in a local diner, Bruce watched as Billy stuffed his face with food. They both changed out of their hero persona's, and Billy had been ready to go do whatever orphaned kids do in this day and age, but Bruce had insisted on treating him to food. Bruce watched as the boy rambled and ate, talking about some show he had seen recently. Every time Billy opened his mouth, Bruce was reminded of just how young he was. Just how innocent and alone in the world he was. Bruce nodded and sipped his coffee, Billy almost flinging his waffles as he spoke, the enthusiasm almost contagious. Almost.

"Do you need a place to stay?

Bruce had blurted it out before he even had time to think about the implications. He, Bruce Wayne, THE Batman, had blurted something out. In front of him, Billy was staring, wide-eyed, fork of waffles held up mid bite. It was a long moment of silence before Billy spoke.

"...yes?"

The Wayne manor was quiet. A vast empty building, the echos of their footsteps loud as they made their way through the halls. Billy had to jog to keep up with Bruce's long strides, his sneakers squeaking against the perfectly polished wood floors. As Bruce turned a corner, Billy skidded after him, nearly bumping into a large, scarred man.

"B, why is there a new kid? I thought we all agreed you reached your adoption limit." His voice was almost as gruffs as Bruce's, the scars along his jaw and brow shifting when he spoke. Bruce sighed and placed a hand on Billy's shoulder.

"Jason, this is Billy. He's a... coworker. Billy needs a place to stay. I'm not adopting him." Bruce replied, the man named Jason crouching to match Billy's eye height. He offered a hand, Billy carefully accepting it. They shook before Jason stood, smiling as he walked off.

"You'll probably eat your words by the end of the day. Welcome to the family, Billy."

"What does he mean?" Billy questioned as he continued following after Bruce, brow furrowed as he struggled to match Bruce's pace. Gosh... how did a man so big move so fast?

"Jaylad is just joking around. Don't worry about it." Bruce shook his head as he led Billy down a hall, the sounds of a few boys yelling and video game sound effects getting louder. When they came to a door, Bruce pushed it open, revealing a large game room/theater. A huge TV, a pool table, shelves full of books and board games, and a trio of boys sat on the couch in front of the screen, two of them holding controllers while the third did his best to get in the way.

"Move, Grayson! I need to win and show Thomas that he can never defeat me!" The smallest boy shouted, trying to push the young man out of the way.

"Keep distracting him, Dick! I'm almost there!" The other boy grinned madly as he leaned around Dicks side to get a better view of the screen, his character seemingly ahead of the others in whatever racing game they were playing. After a few more moments of shouting, the race ended, and the boys became a loud tangle of limbs and arguments. Accusations of cheating were thrown around, followed by claims of it being fair game, only to suddenly stop when they noticed Bruce and Billy.

"This is Damian, Dick, and Duke. my youngest, oldest, and most recent." Bruce spoke, and Billy offered a small wave. Why did Bruce have so many kids? HOW did Bruce have so many kids? Why is Damian the only one who looks like him? Is this what Jason meant by Bruce adopting him?

"Another one? Duke hasn't even had time to bask in his newness. He's still got New Adoptee Smell." Dick laughed a bit as he returned Billy's wave, Duke rolling his eyes from beside him.

"Billy isn't being adopted. He just needs a place to stay, and the manor has rooms." Bruce once again corrected. But as Bruce talked with Dick and Duke, Billy couldn't help by shiver at the feeling of someone glaring at him. Damian hasn't taken his eyes off Billy, his stare cold and hard and very judgmental. Yup... that one was %100 Bruce's kids.

"Billy? Let's go." Bruce's voice pulled the boys from the staring contest, Billy quickly following after the man as he left to show him more rooms. When they came to a new door, Bruce gestured for Billy to enter. Inside was a large room, a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, pretty much what you'd expect from a rich family with extra rooms.

"You can stay here as long as you'd like. We have plenty of space, food, etc. With your powers, you can be from here to Faucet in under 2 minutes, so any travel should be fine." Bruce was trying very hard to see like he didn't care too much, that this was all kindness done for a coworker, and not because he desperately felt responsible for the child stood in front of him. Billy was so young, about the same age as Damian, and the kid had nothing. Of course, Bruce had to step up.

"Thanks, Mr Wayne. I... are you certain?"

"Just Bruce is fine. And yes."

[pneumaticshift]

Hiiii I wonder if you take batman justice league requests? If so:

Yk those "Batman gets de aged in front of the JLA" fics? Well let me raise you one:

A meeting with the JLAs primary benefactor, Bruce Wayne, goes wrong when a magician (of some sort) attacks, and so they find themselves with a Bruce Wayne who is 20 years (or so) younger than he should be.

Anf they're all like "who is this angry emo teen and what happened to the flirty bimbo that was just here."

It would be even funnier if Bruce hears about a Batman and just goes "yes that's obviously me only i could pull that off" because he's been daydreaming about bat-themed escapades since his teen years

bonus points if he immediately recognises Green Arrow ("i told you to cut off that fugly beard ages ago, Ollie,") and starts fangirling over Hal ;)

I love your Best Laid Plans series btw! You're such a great writer. This is genuinely the only series I've been actively obsessed with in a good WHILE.

Love,

Anon who probably will return to annoy you.

First of all, thank you!! 💚 Compliments like this really mean a lot to me, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the series. 

And yes! I do take Justice League requests! I tried to get all your ideas crammed in there. It’s not as shippy as I was gonna make it (I wrote too much lol), but I sprinkled a smidge of a hint in there. Just a whisper. A gentle nudge. A wink from across the room. Hope you like it! 

———

It turned out that young Bruce Wayne was feral 

Not in the way rich kids thought they were when they slummed it for a summer. That faux-rebellion that came with backpacking through Europe with their parent’s black card, or spending a weekend at some overpriced retreat to find themselves.

This was actual feral. The kind of feral where he had dirt under his fingernails and wide eyes that looked for exits before they looked at people. The kind of feral where he knew exactly where to jam a shiv between Ollie’s ribs to make it count.  

Which, as it turned out, was currently very relevant information.

“This is fine,” Ollie choked out.

Ollie was a liar.

His face was turning an alarming shade of purple, which clashed spectacularly with the green of his costume. There was an arn locked too-tightly around his neck and there was, of all things, a homemade shiv pressed against the vulnerable stretch of his throat. 

It all started in Gotham, because that’s where most bad things happened. Some charity auction that had featured a plethora of ancient artefacts from exceedingly questionable sources. And because Gothamites had the distinct inability to leave cursed objects where they belonged, it was only a matter of time before one of the objects went wild. 

No one could quite agree on what triggered it. Hal was pretty sure it was the plump statue of an old eldritch matron, Diana swore it was the ancient scroll of indistinguishable language, and Ollie was confident the auctioneer had muttered something that sounded just enough like an incantation. Whatever it was — and they had already contacted some magic users to find out — the end result had been the same. 

Brucie Wayne. Handsome, vapid, as sharp as a marshmallow, had finished in a puff of old magic. And in his place…

Well, something that very much wasn’t like the Brucie the world knew and loved. Barefoot. Wild-eyed. Unkempt hair falling into his eyes and a patchy beard that was trying itself best, but wasn’t quite past puberty enough to be full. He took three very menacing steps forward before he dropped unconscious. Hard. Because he had been standing on stage at the time and had straight up fallen off when his senses failed him. 

Clark Kent and Oliver Queen, two guests in attendance, had been the only two that had not been herded out by the League when they answered the call for aid. They helped keep the peace, assuring the good people of Gotham that yes, everything was fine, no need to panic, they’re all in good hands.

And in return, those same good people of Gotham had just sneered, ordered the League to take care of their beloved Brucie, and then spat on them for not being Batman. Because this city was the worst. 

Now, instead of waking up all confused and docile and flirtatiously grateful for the assistance — you know, like the Brucie Wayne they had all met before — they had come to realise that there had been a lot of misinformation about what Bruce Wayne got up to in his youth. 

Twenty years younger than the man they read about in the tabloids, he had immediately reverted to something neolithic. He produced a goddamn shiv from his waistband and launched himself with the kind of fight-or-flight response that suggested he had a lot of experience choosing fight.

Ollie had been the closest. Which was unfortunate for Ollie. 

He was taken by surprise, and that was fair enough. Absolutely nobody in the room could have expected this level of violence from a man who, as far as the world was concerned, spent his formative years travelling the hotspots of the world to partake in the traditional aforementioned rich kid mission to find himself. 

Hal was the first to step up. “You wanna drop Robin Hood before I drop you, kid?” he said, clearly considering that maybe this was the moment to introduce Gotham’s favorite trust fund baby to the concept of a green energy muzzle.

“Easy, easy,” Clark tried, deliberately stepping in front of Hal. “No one's gonna hurt you. We just want to help."

Young Bruce did not look convinced. And maybe that was fair. From his perspective, he’d just woken up in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by people he didn’t know. He was being threatened by a man in a glowing green onesie, and coddled by one with his underpants over the top of his outerpants. 

“Who the hell are you people?” he snapped. 

“We are the Justice League,” Diana said, smiling gently. “We mean you no harm, my young friend. You’ve been in an accident and we’re here to help you.” She raised a placating hand. Calm, but not condescending. They probably should have let her deal with it from the beginning. “You may keep your weapon, if you’d like. But I’d ask you to release our friend. On my honour, we are not your enemy.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes and he scanned Diana in the same way a soldier would, and she let him look. She stayed still, perfectly patient, while Bruce flickered over her stance, her posture, her weapons, the slight in weight that meant she was ready. Not aggressive, just prepared.

Then his eyes moved to Clark, to Hal, to Barry, and back again. Something about them, or about Diana at least,  must have registered as safe, because after a tense moment, Bruce’s grip on Ollie loosened. Which of course Oliver immediately took advantage of. 

He took a deep, careful breath and stepped away with all the forced casualness of a man who definitely did not just get overwhelmed by an eighteen-year-old, barefooted, trust fund baby. His neck absolutely wasn’t throbbing, and he definitely wasn’t resisting the urge to rub at it petulantly. Nope, everything was fine. 

So fine, in fact, that he joined the League’s line, crossed his arms and straightened his shoulders like he hadn’t just been manhandled by someone whose primary tabloid reputation was for shirtless boat parties.

“Mr. Wayne,” Clark started, stepping forward. Bruce didn’t look at him. His gaze was firmly locked onto Oliver with a stare so scrutinising that it could’ve burnt. He was really looking now, like he’d only just registered Ollie as a person rather than an obstacle. “You’ve been hit by… Well, we’re not sure what exactly. We’ve contacted a few people who can help, but from what we know already, we think you’ve—”

“I’ve been sent to the future,” Bruce said flatly. There was a crack in his voice that could have been nervousness covered up by the entirely blank way he stared at them. 

There was a long pause as the League collectively processed that particular statement. Hal looked at Barry. Barry looked at Clark. Clark looked at Diana. And Diana beamed brightly like she always suspected that Bruce Wayne had more than two brain cells to rub together and had finally been handed the means to prove it. 

“Okay, hold on now,” Hal said. “How the hell is that your first conclusion? You wake up in an unfamiliar room, surrounded by people you don’t know, and instead of assuming kidnapping or drug-induced hallucination or even just being really, really drunk, your first thought is time travel?”

Bruce’s eyes drifted over to Hal’s face, then lower to the logo on his suit and the ring on his finger. “Yeah.” He cocked his head. “Are you a Green Lantern?”

Hal blinked. “Uh, yeah?

The kid kept his eyes on Hal for a moment as he processed that while everyone else tried to make sense of his insane deductive skills. “We’re not saying you’re wrong,” Barry said, “but how did you even know? I mean, time travel isn’t exactly the default assumption.”

Bruce looked away from Hal and instead swept his gaze over the room. His eyes landed on a sleek, modern console with a WayneTech insignia embossed on the side. He jerked his chin towards it like someone who had just found undeniable proof that the world was, in fact, very stupid and he was the only one paying attention.

“That model doesn’t exist yet,” he said. “The closest working prototype was three years away from launch when I left Gotham. All the WayneTech in this room uses materials that aren’t aren’t widely available yet. It’s all too streamlined. Things like this only exist in concept journals.” 

“But that could mean anything,” Clark said, but he was eyeing the WayneTech like he was trying to remember what it looked like twenty years ago. 

“And you,” Bruce continued, snapping back to Oliver.

Ollie straightened up instinctively. “Me? What about me?”

“You have a goatee.”

“Uh. Yeah?”

The kid’s expression darkened with such absolute disappointment that it was almost tangible. Like he was cataloguing every single one of Ollie’s life choices and finding them completely lacking. Bruce shook his head slowly. “You had so much potential.”

Ollie made a noise of offense. "Listen, you little punk, I—” He exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his perfectly respectable facial hair. “You don’t know me.”

“Of course I do, I’m not blind,” Bruce muttered. He seemed to be accepting of the situation enough to have dropped his defensive hand without letting go of the shiv. “Judging by your age, I’d say I’ve gone forward between twenty and twenty-five years. Judging by your facial hair, you’ve clearly not experience any mental development beyond—”

“You wanna go, kid?”

Bruce, with the unkempt wildman hair of someone who had been travelling rough for over a year, flicked his bangs out of his face like a little teenage bitch. “As if you could kick my ass, Queen.”

Oliver didn’t choke on air, but it was a very near thing. He kept his composure, sucked in a sharp inhale, and said, "What did you just call me?"

“Your name?”

"That is not public information!"

Bruce blinked. "Okay?"

"Okay!?" Ollie’s voice went slightly high-pitched. "How do you know that!? Does the adult version of you know?”

“Probably.”

"You’d have to ask him when he’s back to normal,” Clark said, but he was looking at Bruce with the very specific grimace of a man who didn't want to say too much just in case the kid would somehow be able to divine his identity too. Clark dealt with Bruce Wayne a lot as a reporter, he couldn’t risk it.

"Oh my God." Ollie scrubbed a hand down his face. "He’s known all this time, hasn’t he?”

Apparently, young Bruce had decided that Ollie was no longer worth his time. His assessment had been made, his conclusion reached (disappointment) and so had moved on. He barely even looked at Clark. His inner Gotham survival instincts had automatically detected Metropolis all over him and deemed him irrelevant. Diana and Barry got a slightly longer look. A tilt of his head as he clocked Diana’s armour and the lasso, and a thoughtful hum at Barry’s full-body suit clearly designed for speed. 

But it was Hal, somehow, that got his full attention. Bruce stared at him, at the glowing logo on his chest, and made no moves to make it subtle. 

“Hey, kiddo,” Hal bit out. “You keep looking at me like that, I’m gonna start thinking you got a crush."

Because young Bruce Wayne had the mental fortitude of a brick wall, apparently (which was insane, because this man was supposed to be peak himbo), he didn’t rise to the bait. He just stayed quiet, almost like he had something to say but was uncertain on how to bring it up. 

Hal had the ego the size of one of his jets and he’d seen this kind of look before. Usually on the kids who looked up to heroes and didn’t see any of the bad things that came with being someone who wielded extraordinary power. Usually on the fans. The kind of fans who had posters and encyclopaedic knowledge and way too much enthusiasm for whatever it was they were into. 

But the difference was, little Bruce wasn’t some starstruck kid who wanted an autograph. This was the intense, calculating scrutiny of someone who had just been confronted with a living, breathing legend they weren’t prepared to meet. For the first time since he’d de-aged, Bruce actually looked like a teenager.

“The suit is different,” Bruce noted, almost awkwardly. 

Hal grinned. He might have been the greatest Green Lantern, but he wasn’t the first. It had been a while since someone actually knew about Alan Scott. “Yeah,” he said, glancing down at the glowing emblem on his chest. “Different Lantern, different look. You a fan?”

Bruce hesitated, which was honestly adorable, because for all his I’ve been in a fight and I know exactly where to stab a man energy, he was still just a teenager. And, apparently, the idea of being caught liking something was so deeply offensive to him that he had to physically restrain himself from reacting. He recovered fast. Way too fast for a kid his age. The brief flicker of something genuine was gone in an instant, replaced with careful neutrality that was vaguely familiar. 

“I respect it,” he said stiffly, like he was dictating a press release rather than responding like a normal human being. “Green Lantern was the first hero I ever read about.”

 “So, you are a fan.”

Bruce blushed. Not completely, he didn’t flush completely red and start steaming at the ears, but his ears peppered a pale pink. He briefly looked away before snapping his gaze right back to stave off weakness. 

“I’m—” He stopped, exhaled through his nose, then squared his shoulders like he was preparing for war. “He protected Gotham when no one else would. When no one could.” His fingers flexed slightly, like he was gripping at something that wasn’t there. “That matters.”

Hal, still gleefully processing the fact that this angry version of Bruce Wayne had absolutely been a Green Lantern fanboy at some point in his life, let himself enjoy it for a second longer before Clark cleared his throat.

“Speaking of Gotham,” he said carefully, glancing at the others, “we should probably contact Batman. He’ll want to know what’s going on here, since Bruce is technically his problem.”

Having controlled his expression enough to stop blushing, Bruce had deliberately turned himself away from everyone and was now examining Hal’s ring. (Like a fanboy.) “What can Spooky do?” Hal asked. “He’s just gonna be pissed that we took the kid out of the city. Let's just get it fixed and let him know later.”

“He’ll need to know if there are cursed artefacts being circulated,” Diana said. “And I imagine that time displacement is not the only thing he will need to worry about.”

Ollie nodded. “Yeah, this has gotta be more than just temporal problems,” he said, frowning in Bruce’s general direction. “He’s nothing like Bruce Wayne. I’m thinking there’s been a universe switcheroo.”

“Multiversal doppelganger,” Barry agreed.

Bruce didn’t respond to those allegations, but he did say, “This Batman person operates Gotham?”

“Yeah,” Hal replied. “After your Green Lantern left, someone had to pick up the slack. Spooky gets real pissy if anyone else steps in on his turf. You’ve probably met him. Well, you will. In about twenty years or so.”

“Mm. No. He won’t be available right now,” Bruce said decidedly. He looked up. “I have a friend who can do magic. She’ll be able to help, assuming my future self is still in contact with her.”

Diana cocked her head at Bruce. “Why would you assume he would be unavailable?” she asked. 

“I’d think that would be obvious,” he replied. He looked at the blank expressions around him and rolled his eyes. “Think about it. If this person is as territorial as you say, then he would have already been aware of whatever was happening in Gotham. And if not, then news would have already spread and he would have contacted you all to confirm it. This is assuming you’re all a part of the same team, of course. With the amount of WayneTech around, Gotham definitely has a lot of input in your work, so I imagine you’ve got to be working with her vigilante.”

“That’s very astute.”

“If Batman is not here, then he’s either ignoring the issue, or he’s indisposed. I’m inclined to believe the latter.” Bruce looked at Oliver. “Did you ever wonder why I dropped out of school to go travelling?”

“I figured you were still grieving and needed time to yourself.”

Bruce bristled a little, almost like he didn’t expect to be called out on that. “I left because Gotham needed me to,” he said. 

He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to. The pieces were all there. Scattered, sure, but if they were smart enough to put on their capes the right way around, then they were smart enough to figure it out. Hell, he had managed to figure it out, and he’d only been in this future for about twenty minutes. 

Diana watched him with knowing eyes like she had figured it out the moment he turned up as this angry ball of vengeance instead of the delicate heir with a silver spoon up his butt. The others took a little longer to catch up, but they’d get there eventually. Clark’s expression was already beginning to change to one of wild disbelief, while Ollie had gone completely blank like he was struggling to compute. 

Before anyone could say anything, before the trampling elephant in the room could be addressed with the appropriate amount of what the actual hell, before someone (most likely Hal) said something incredibly obnoxious, the air rippled and the deus ex machina descended. 

Magic, thick and tangible, swept through the room like the universe itself let out a sigh of relief, and Zatanna Zatara stepped into existence with the kind of exasperation of someone who had been called far too often to deal with the League’s magical problems. She scanned the room without saying anything before her gaze landed on Bruce. Barefoot, feral, still holding a shiv like it was an extension of his hand. She sighed. 

“Of course it would be you,” she said, but she was smiling as she said it. 

“Can you fix this?” Clark asked without taking his eyes off Bruce. 

“Yeah,” Zatanna nodded. 

“And it’s actually gonna be the Bruce from this universe, right?” Ollie put in, unnerved. “We’re not gonna get a whole different Wayne? Because he’s implied something really big and I don’t think I can mentally take it if it’s true.”

“Oh, he’ll be the same Bruce Wayne, alright.” She turned back to the kid, lowering her voice slightly. “Maybe you’ll just know him a little better now.

Bruce didn’t react, but the air shifted around him, like he knew exactly what she meant and didn’t particularly appreciate it. Then, with a flick of her fingers and a gentle incantation, the world twisted with a shimmer of glowing energy, reality bending in on itself— And just like that, they were gone.

An incredibly weighted, knowing silence settled over the Watchtower. For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Hal clapped his hands together and turned to the others with the slow, self-satisfied grin of someone who just found out something hilarious. 

“So.” He raised an eyebrow. “That was Batman, right?”

[blackbirdsblackberries]

The idea that a yandere ends up unintentionally tormenting the object of their affection because they don’t know that that their darling and the person who’s badmouthing them are the same person is a delicious take!

Personally if the batfams actions resulted in actual expulsion or reader having to move to escape harassment they wouldn’t waste any time in revealing their civilian identity and being like:

“Nice to know y’all hate me as much as I hate myself :), thanks for getting me kicked out of school btw :), I’m leaving this shithole city and never coming back hope you’re happy because I sure am! :) :) :)”

and everyone is scrambling to undo the damage because :

oh shit, they knew our identities?!

oh shit, Arachne is reader?!?

oh shit, we’ve been harassing Arachne and got her kicked out of school and now she has to leave?!?!???

OH SHIT-

(the number of smiley faces is directly proportional to how close they are to snapping like a twig )

Immediate panic followed by Bruce trying to buy your forgiveness 💓

Look! You got back into the school! You don't need to move now right? Right?

You hate yourself? That's not very healthy. Bruce is willing to talk to you about it, Dick is basically the therapist of the family, Jason hates himself too, Tim did a mini course in psychology, Damian was taught how to be confident in your skill, Steph knows what it's like, Duke is always there to help - did you know his parents were attacked by Joker gas? Do you feel bad? You're basically leaving him like his parents!! (Disproportionate), and Cass can read body language so she can help!

[incorrectbatfam]

Gen Alpha Damian and Jon are funny, but I really feel bad for Dick and Clark, they're the sweetest boomer here

If Damian and Jon are Gen Alpha then that means Dick is older Gen Z and Clark is a millennial. So it'd be more like:

[Gen Alpha parent support group]

Clark: I can't understand these kids nowadays. Back in the day, the only things you had to keep track of were MySpace and AOL. BTW my parents didn't let me have them until I was almost 18 and even then it was only for an hour a day on our dial-up. Now I see Jon stopping in the middle of dinner to snap his BeReal or whatever before I got him to put his phone away but it's like... what happened? Where did the time go.

Dick: Facts, I vibe so hard with that. No cap, last night Damian was highkey shading me by saying I got too much Boomer energy to look like a snack and I deadass almost threw hands with a literal fetus before I had a galaxy brain moment and instead spilled the tea about his weeb stan finsta to my bestie Jason who made a kidsona burner to lurk and lemme tell you he ate and left no crumbs.

Clark: *runs out the room crying*

Bruce:

Bruce: All in favor of raising the group's age minimum?

[bluerosefox]

The (Not) Normal One...

So

I LOVE the stories where Danny is deaged and later found by one of the bats and taken in as a son or he's Bruce's bio son and is either Damian's twin or half brother or little/big brother BUT I don't see a lot of reborn/reincarnated Danny into the batfamily (I can think of two but one of them he is Dick's son?clone?somewhat clone? And the other is an amazing story where Danny is reborn as Jazz and Jason's kid and I love it to bits)

So let's change that a bit and have some fun.

Here's the idea

Danny, either from finally aging to his death (it was slow and long aging but he is still partly human too don't forget that) or dying at the hands of GIW (or by his parents if we go the Bad!Fentons route), is reborn into the batfamily.

He could either be Bruce and Selina's kid after they finally tie the knot, or be a one more attempt by Ra's or Talia to get the heir they want but is immediately found out when Tim notices certain labs active and they find baby Danny. OR Danny can be an oops baby to Bruce's one night stands OR one of the batboys baby. EITHER WAY, Danny is reborn into the family from the start.

And he has his memories. (He has little hints of his powers btw, they dont fully come in until his 14th bday)

And his new family all swear to give him a proper and happy childhood (as best as they can seeing how it's Gotham)

Only I want Danny milking being a baby then toddler/kid and later a teen for all its worth. He's going to enjoy this new life with everything he gots.

Like imagine the chaos and shenanigans he gets into as a toddler. He's the king of hide-and-seek. He uses his tears to get away from whoever annoys him. He's mastered the puppy dog look to get away with things (it holds no effect on Alfred though, man is immune to all tricks).

But then of course there's the... odd things that happen around him. Sometimes they catch him talking to no one. Sometimes they spot a ball or a toy rolling to Danny despite him not touching it. Sometimes they think they see or hear someone in the room with Danny only to go busting in to find nothing. (One time someone busted his nursery door down they heard on his baby/toddler monitor the distorted voice of a woman singing him a lullaby (it was Martha who was soothing him to sleep after a tiny nightmare, boy was Bruce not ready for one of his kids to hum the tune in the morning)).

Danny asking for an extra drink and the newspaper after Bruce is done before he runs off to one of the many sitting rooms the manor has. There he leaves the drink and the newspaper near a chair, hops into another chair nearby and chats to someone (they all think its his imaginary friend but that honestly doesn't explain why the drink seems to slowly disappear without anyone touching it. (btw its Thomas, Danny is talking to they like chatting in the morning)

OR when Danny gives hints to cases his family is working on, how he knows? No one knows. Sometimes they chalk it up to a kid randomly saying stuff or seeing it from a different simple outlook but sometimes it seems a little too on the nose and they think Danny might know about their night jobs... (He does know, but he gets some info from Lady Gotham who visits him and gives him little hints to pass onto her fav Knights)

Basically what I want is a reborn Danny trying to get a decent childhood/teenage years before his powers kick in full swing, his family trying the same but they got no idea about the powers (maybe), and ghosts like to visit Danny. The shenanigans that follow will be amazing.

[i-yap]

Fights btw tim and y/n

warning- a little yandere

bro is the perfect teenage love type of boyfriend but ofc we all have our issues.

he is a stalker, like full blown cameras, drones , stalking your socials and prolly even has your browser history. he tends to get obsessive and struggles to understand boundaries. he means well but if you rlly love your privacy you may need to give him a strict talking to. but this does mean he gets you the perfect gifts( ur entire shopping cart)

he overanalyzes a lot. that + the fact he doesn't sleep+ lives on caffeine and aderaline+ mommy daddy issues+ you being the best thing that ever happened to him...yea he overthinks everything. " why did she leave my hand, wait is it sweaty? her brow also twitched, she is texting someone one, is it a he? the corners of lips turned up at a degree of 10 degrees..SHE LIKES SOME OTHER GUY" yes he his detective skills sort of fail in this case.

he has a bit of tunnel vision, so he sometimes misses the big picture. he is also a little impulsive . while this isn't always a problem , he does end u insulting your friends without first hearing the whole story, or take some action without considering all factors. you always have to calm you hyper asf bf and tell him to take a second to breathe before jumping right into action.

he worries about u a lot, if you have a bad habit he is trying every trick in the book to get you to leave it and may become helicopter parent like even if u don't wanna leave that habit. this prolyl did cause a major fight at some point

he struggles to give you the time you deserve( same a dick and bruce tbf) and he puts so much pressure on himself ( as a robin and as ur bf) that he just cracks really often . and u have to remind him that its okay if he isn't perfect, he is yours and you wont change that for the world

[dragonpyre]

PLEASE elaborate on those ideas (preferable dc but if you want to also talk abt the 911 ones absolutely go for it!!!)

I'm going to be evil and list every single one of them (all of these are Jason Todd btw)

Vamp Jason. He a lil guy (like 12) and doesn't realize he was turned into a baby vamp until like four months later when all the blood in his body starts to die off and he has nothing to replace it with. Cue frantic worry from his newly adopted family.

Selkie au. Bruce keeps Jason's pelt after he dies, which does fucked up things to Jason when he comes back without it.

Shifter au. to survive the streets, Jason stays in his shifted form. Dick, being like 15 or smth, sees a lil puppy and goes "aw, baby <3" and accidentally kidnaps a child. It's cool though, he's fine with it.

Emergency foster placement. Since Bruce is regestered as a foster parent, in theory he could foster an emergency placement. Well, this nine year old kid just lost his mom, and his dad's in jail. Free baby.

Banshee Jason. During UtRH, Bludhaven gets nuked or whatever. Jason, being a banshee, can feel the mass amount of death happening fairly close by and it's not a good time for anyone.

Kid Jason saves Batman from drowning after a massive moral dilemma.

Lab rat Jason. Ra's likes human experimentation, and now he has free test subject thanks to weird resurrection.

Bruce hires Slade to kill the Joker.

Amnesia Jason number who fucking knows. Fresh out of the pit Jason has literally no memories and Talia just goes "ok fine. new son. whatever". But Jason being dramatic and a teenager eventually figures out he's connected to Bruce somehow and decides to hunt him down with a sword instead of like. calling the guy.

Jason and Cass twins!!!!! Fresh from abandoning her dad, Cass finds a boy who looks eerily familiar and decides to stick with him. They're inseparable now.

Jason has Laz Pit powers. This one's my white whale. I wanna write it so bad but the motivation just isn't there. Basically Ra's commissions/hires a bunch of pregnant women to inject Lazarus juice into themselves to see if it will affect their growing fetus. His goal is to make a self healing fetus for ~mysterious reasons~. Only baby to survive to full term is Jason. Sheila drops him off at the league, gets paid, and leaves. Bruce witnesses all that while training there and is like "hey wtf". So with Talia's help, they manage to sneak both himself and the baby out with no one noticing. Eventually Bruce notices that Jason can heal from any injury in a matter of moments, thanks to the fucked up science done to him in utero. Blah blah blah, years pass, he adopts Dick, and so on. Then Talia shows up one day with a warning that her father is suspicious and then the real plot begins >:3.

Shoved through a portal. Dick and Jason get shoved through a portal by Bruce as their dimension is collapsing and they end up somewhere completely foreign and on their own. Angst. Sadness. Grief. Maybe they're in the MCU now, idk.

The Lazarus Pit regrew Jason's wisdom teeth and now he needs to get them extracted again.

Catalina Flores is Jason's mom via time travel. Yes, Dick is his dad.

Really dark shit I wont put in this cuz massive dead dove. But let's just say Sionis does smth REALLY fucked up during UtRH and that's how Bruce finds out about Jason.

Jason gets migraines. He doesn't know they're migraines cuz he never had them before dying so he thinks a wizard cursed him.

Jason gets drunk, gets arrested, gets ID'd as the dead Jason Todd, and Bruce has to pick him up from the drunk tank. Jason barfs on Bruce's shoes.

[bonnibelerm]

Spoilers obviously

I gotta rant about this super bad but I absolutely HATE THOSE TIM DRAKE FANS. Like I love Tim as a character I really do & he used to be my favorite DC character too but I’m talking about those fans that make everybody in the Batfamily hate and abuse Tim and Tim getting sexually assaulted by Ra’s (which is actually very stereotypical and even racist) and, this is gonna be kinda invalid, but knows NOTHING about the characters around Tim. I’m not saying that you need to know all the characters but I’m saying that if you’re gonna include them in a fanfic at least do some research please. And sometimes they mischaracterize Tim HIMSELF. Like I thought that was your favorite character I thought you read all his comics where did you get the idea that he’s a sleep deprived depressed coffee addict that doesn’t know how to socialize. Now I can’t tell how people should characterize Tim since I’m not done reading the 90s Robin comics but even I know for a fact that he’s probably not all those things that people make him up to be. And the core 4 characterization is just…NO Kon’s whole personality isn’t being Tim’s boyfriend and worrying about him and having sooooo much Superboy shirts for Tim to wear (which implies that most people use TT 2003 Kon/white boy Kon characterization which says a lot) And NO Cassie isn’t the “tired mother” of the group NO her character isn’t about being the only female in the group. And Bart is NOT Tim and Kon’s love child no he isn’t an innocent social butterfly baby please like. I’m saying it again, you do NOT need to know ALL the characters and their traits. But if you don’t know ANYTHING about them, at least do a BIT research before you even include them in a fanfic. I don’t even wanna get to Batfamily but…Since WHEN was Jason Tim’s robin??? Since when did Bruce abused Tim?? Since when did Jack and Janet Drake ACTIVELY abused Tim and hit him?? This one is an actual question btw. I know that Jack pulled a gun to Bruce (?) but I’m not sure if Jack and Janet actually abused Tim other than neglecting him but I remember before his death Jack was trying to be a better parent to Tim. If Tim fans only read Red Robin, then they probably know that Tim loves his dad and he even had a flashback of his dad and him hanging out together.

this is NOT against all Tim fans by the way. This is specifically towards those who did all that thingies and probably only read Red Robin and WFA. (This isn’t against those comics too.)

[the-fyre-flie]

So... people hating on Justice League × RWBY, the two cross-over movies for DC and RWBY, has to be blown out of proportions or a joke... right? Cuz these movies are great. At least, in my opinion. They're fun and a bit stupid and incredibly entertaining for me, who's a fan of both DC (my current biggest fixation) and RWBY (my friend likes it so I must like it too) (Link to the movies at the bottom btw!)

Sure, I'll relent they're a little boring at times, and they completely butcher both DC and RWBY characters sometimes, but like... I finished watching a review by The Judgemental Critter (who I love btw and I think their opinions are pretty agreeable most of the time! No hate to them at all!) but a lot of the points just... don't make sense to me?

More Yappage Below

The animation and models being bad was said a lot, and while I can agree in some places like Weiss' weird skirt, saying the hands and faces look weird just... doesn't feel right? They look fine to me? I'm a 3D artist, I make thumbnails and promotional art for youtubers as a job and animate as a hobby, and the models look more than okay. The proportions are a bit wonky, but RWBYs animation has always been wonky. Calling the lowered framerate lazy and ugly also bugged me, cuz like... lowering the framerate to showcase sudden motions or lame actions is REALLY common. It isn't lazy, it's saving resources for moments you care about... like the fights. RWBY and DC both love their big flashy fights. Why would they waste time animating Blake picking a lock? RWBY itself is 90% fightscenes, so on top of that, why are you against big drawn-out fights?

I do agree that some of the designs suck specifically the heroes... I really really hate Bruce's Remnant costume being all black and gray. It's a personal pet peeve of mine when Batman isn't allowed color because I feel like it's antithetical to his entire character if he's all dark. Bruce needs to have some color, some light, or else he risks slipping right into the darkness that is Gotham. The same reason Robin is so brightly colored. It represents his hope for the city. So seeing all black/grey Batman with no color AND no cowl shape language bugged me. Anyways, here's my redesign, lol. Includes real bat ears, a half mask, and blue and yellow splashes! Nothing major!

The way they didn't really include Cyborg, Vixen, or Flash in the story for 70% of it bugged me too, but trying to say the Teen Titans would be better irked me slightly Sure, they might relate better as teens, but a major part of the story's conflict is Ruby being young and struggling to control her team because it's easy for people to overlook her or ignore what she has to say while Clark feels all that confidance from normally being an adult dude running an adult team. The JL being adults turned into teens puts them into a unique position where, unlike with the Teen Titans or Young Justice back home, they they have no real power or leverage over RWBY or JNPR. This is a conflict for both sets of people, and simply wanting "better character moments" feels like a cheap way to just nitpick. Especially when you also claim you dislike how much standing around and exposition there is. If Raven of all people showed up to brood, she would have to explain why she's so broody, which is just more loredumps you stated you didn't like. The movies over explaining of Semblance and Dust would have been way worse they were also forced to explain every DC heros past. This movie is very clearly targeting DC fans who have some knowledge on RWBY but are not super into the series. Note how the movies never once explain Batman, Superman, Vixen, Flash, or Cyborgs powers, and the time they spent vaugly talking about Wonder Womans it's turned into a trauma dump between Blake and Diana? They expect you to already know their stories. They way Clark and Bruce talk about their parents but not his planet is simplified down for RWBY fans because DC fans are expected to know this stuff.

On that note... Bruce was never debating leaving Gotham behind. It's pretty obvious in the movies. When Weiss offers for him to stay, he never responded. When Diana brought it up to him, his top priority is helping more, but he doesn't specify if he means Remnant or Gotham. As dumb as someone might think "they've been turned into teens" is as a point, it's very much an important plot point for Bruce. When he was a teen, he was the only man of the Wayne household, training to be Batman, still dealing with his grief over his parents. He truly never got to be a real teen. This is also the first time he's had real actual powers (at least in this very messy canon), and it's important to him, and it's clouding some of his judgment as a teen. But him liking having powers is not him willing to ditch Gotham. As soon as he was back on Earth, he was in Gotham, helping. There was never a debate. It was him dealing with the fact that he felt inferior. Literally, it's hormones and anxiety about not doing enough as Batman without powers. Is it a little goofy that Batman is insecure? Yes. Is it him abandoning his code? No.

Tho I do hate how he pretends his father literally didn't become batman in an alternate reality. Like Come on Bruce, Thomas was willing to throw down the same way you are, you did not "let go of their expectations".

More Bruce rant, his Semblance is very clearly not heat vision. It's Detective Vision (as named by the wiki). In the first showcase of his Semblance, he's not seeing the heat off Weiss or the electrical wire. It's noting the most important features of the room and how to escape. This is showcased more in the fight with Kilg%re!Barry, where his Semblance specifically notes the Morse Code and translated it. It's just super investigation powers. Which is lame... but it's not heat vision. I felt like I had to correct that.

I'd like to end this rant here even tho I said a lot more in dms to my friend... I feel bad just... 'responding' to someone who will never see it or care about my opinions. I really do like Judgmentals judgments (lol) 90% of the time, but I also feel really passionately about these particular movies, seeing as it combine me and my friends' two favorite things. It feels very close to home in a way, I guess. I hope people go and watch the movies and enjoy them!

I've linked both parts here to Internet Archive! The rips are a little weird in quality (very dark for some reason?) But they are the full movies!

Part 1

Part 2

[whomst-doth-art]

Remember how I said I had two tron aus? Well the other one is the batfam!!

This au was the original cause of the tron hyperfixation.

First up is Nightwing!!

I had a lot of fun designing his suit and translating it into the tron style :)

Word and lore dump below

I feel like Dick would be a blue program, not just because that fits his canonical colors (because not all of them will) but because I can see him as a security program

For those who are unaware of the tron lore, each program (personified computer programs) type is assigned a different color and depending on the version of tron the colors will have different meanings.

If you want to know the specifics I recommend checking out the wiki.

For my lore I have mostly used the original 1989 film and Legacy with a little bit of the other stuff mixed in when convenient.

Anyway! Back to Nightwing.

I can also see him being an ISO or Isomorphic Algorithm (a race of programs made by the grid rather than the developers of the game).

His parents, instead of being murdered by Zucco would have been killed by whomever the Clu 2 equivalent is in this au (if you’ve got ideas on who this should be, please let me know. Maybe Zucco is Clu who knows).

In Tron legacy—I think— it is established that Clu 2 (big bad) Purged and murdered all the ISOs and therefore would make sense for Dick’s parents to have been murdered.

His parents were still performers and still died in front of him, do not worry your bb still has all his trauma intact.

Dick would either dual wield identity disks (as pictured) or I just found out about how the Rods from the Tron 2.0 video game can be split apart with electricity much like his escrima sticks.

I’m open to either idea but am leaning towards the dual wield id disks, mainly because of the scenes with the Rizzler—WHICH IS SUCH A DUMB NAME WITH MODERN SLANG! “Oh who are you?” “I’m the ~Rizzler~” NO YOU’RE SOME WANNABE FUCK BOY—

Ahem, anyway the Rizzler using two disks in legacy is fucking cool!

Bruce is a User (a real person that went to the Grid) btw. I will explain more later.

That’s all I got for today’s rambles! But trust me when I say I have a thought about this a lot!! I’ve got notes, like a nerd.

Edit: ITS THE RINZLER NOT THE RIZZLER I GOT IT WRONG!!! SHIT UHHHHHHH… OOPS

[sundove88]

The Maestro in The Hat: Three Wheel Drive

Happy Balanniversary, everyone! Here’s a transcript from my Cat in The Hat AU for BWW!

You can find the Casting Here.

Link to Original Scene

Btw, Kuro and Shiro belong to me, Madame Prim belongs to @kayssweetdreams

Lance: Alright, soldiers, our bougies are in range, commence search and destroy!

Leo: What?!

Balan: Search and rescue! We meant search and rescue, c’mon! (Laughs)

Emma: Can’t believe we weren’t invited to that party.

Lance: Hey! You’re a lone wolf. Live alone, die alone.

Attilio: Hey. Can we please get Kuro and Shiro?

Balan: Can we please get the Tim? Can we please get the Negati?

(Madame Prim pulls up in her car)

Lucy: Oh no.

Cal: Aw man!

Prim: Hello, Kuro and Shiro, Goodbye, brats! (Picks them up) Not so tough now, are ya? (Laughs and gets back in the car, then floors it)

Kuro and Shiro: *Frantic squeaking*

Haoyu: We’re dead! We’re never gonna get those doors shut! And we’re all gonna get shipped off to Prim, Proper, Perfection!

Balan: Why don’t we take me and Lance’s car?

Jose: Ya have a car?

Lance: Yeah, sure!

(Beep, beep!)

(A car pulls onto the driveway)

Eis: Wow.

Bruce: Simply incredible.

Balan: Oh, that’s just the dust cover. (Pulls it off) Here she is- the Super Luxurious Omnidirectional Whatchamajigger! Or S-L-O-W for short.

Iben: S-L-O-W?

Balan: Yeah, SLOW!

Lance: It’s better than the last name we had: Super Hydraulic Instantaneous Transporter.

Leo: Oh, you mean S-H-I-

Jose: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Balan: Quick! To the SLOW!

(They all get in)

Lance: Buckle up, humans. We’re on a mission to get that Tim and Negati and we will not rest until we find them and destroy them.

Yuri: Rescue them!

Balan: Rescue them, of course we meant rescue them, whatever. Remember, everyone. There’s nothing faster than SLOW. That’s backwards, it makes no sense! Look at ya!

Lance: Ok, here we go. GPS, check!

Balan: DVD, CD, Check!

Lance: Someone from Czechoslovakia is a… Czech! (Laughs)

Balan: Siren!

Sana: Wait, Siren?

(The car starts and they all take off)

All: Whoaaaaaaaaa!!

Balan: Let’s gooooo!!

(They take off down the streets of suburban Timeville)

Balan: Whoahohohohoho! Hi there, how are ya?! (Laughs)

(The vehicle does a few donuts in the middle of the street)

Everyone Else: Whoooaaaaahhh!! BAL!!

Prim: *Singsong* I’m sending those brats awaaaaaay!

(Kuro squeezes lemon juice into her food)

Prim: OUGH!! AUGH!! (Smells the food) AGH!!! I can’t believe you went to the bathroom on my food! Wait till those parents get a load of you! (Laugh)

Balan: There they are!

Haoyu: Red light, red light, red light, red light, RED LIGHT!!!!

Everyone: *Screaming*

(They make the turn in time)

Eis: Someone else should drive!

Balan: Alright, you win! Lion, you drive!

(He gives Leo the wheel)

Leo: You serious?

Lance: We dunno. A little voice inside of us is saying “This is a bad idea!”

Balan: But we can barely hear that little voice, because an even louder little voice is screaming “LET THE TWELVE YEAR OLD DRIVE!!!” Now punch it!!

(Leo absolutely floors it)

Leo: THIS IS AWESOME!!!!

(Balan throws up into a puke bag)

Everyone: 0-0

Emma: I wanna drive!

Lance: We think that’s a great idea!

(He manifests a wheel for Emma)

Fiona: Wait! Two people can’t drive at the same time!

Lance: You’re right…

Balan: WE SHOULD ALL DRIVE!

(More wheels are manifested for everyone else)

(The car starts doing donuts… IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!)

Everyone: WHOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

Leo: BAL!!

Lucy: Where are the brakes?!

Balan: We’ll get them!

(They pull out the brake)

Balan: We think there’s something wrong with your brakes. When’s the last time you had them checked?

Humans: 😱😱😱

Lance: Bad brake!!

(Throws it out the window)

(They drive straight into the streets of downtown Timeville)

All: Whoaaaaaaahhhh!!!

Leo: Aaaahhhh!! Leeeeooo!!

Bruce: Wrong way street, Wrong way street, wrong way street, Wrong way street!!

(HONK!!)

(They’re all approaching Truck Kun)

All: *Screaming*

Balan: Hey! Rhode Island license plate! You never see those.

All: *Go back to screaming as they drive past Truck Kun*

Balan and Lance: *Meditating*

(CRASH!!!!)

(FFWEEEEEEEEEE!!!)

Balan: Airbag. Standard.

Everyone: 0-0 (They all look like they’ve been through hell and back)

Haoyu: Haaah… Haaah… I think… I wet… my pants!

Leo: Can we do it again?!

Everyone Else: NO!!!!