#why are so many of stray/catlad aus of tim???

[shmooseee]

Jason stray/catlad au

[lookatthisdork]

Two-Face as a Dad AU

I’m a sucker for batkid-raised-by-a-villain origin stories, but there’s so many already in the Batfam canon that it’s easy to overlap with a canon origin. You already have Cluemaster, David Cain, Lady Shiva, and Talia (arguably you also have Willis Todd and Sheila Haywood); that covers the B-list Blackgate rogue, various iterations of League Assassins, and small time criminals. Still, there’s no A-list Batman rogue parents, particularly none of the Arkham regulars. It’s an easy opening for an AU, one I’ve seen a couple of times.

Thing is, it’s usually either the Joker or Catwoman that ends up the AU parent. Which is perfectly fine - I’ve written a Joker Jr thing too (Batman Beyond Return of the Joker is part of my childhood). The Joker is high stakes, high angst, highest potential for Drama and Generally Fucked Up Parenting. I would read the shit out of a Joker Jr. AU. On the flip side, Selina is such a stable rogue, she doesn’t always count as a rogue. She might actually, you know, Parent Responsibly while still raising a badass kid. Catlad/Stray AUs are a popular niche industry.

But sometimes, I want some variety. I think I saw a Tim-raised-by-Ivy AU once. And there was a Harley-raised-Jason oneshot (but the raising was implied and I maybe this was a fever dream). Can you imagine what one of the kids would be like if they were raised by Crane? (Terrifying, that’s what.) What about Riddler? Cobblepot?

I’ve been tossing around a “Harvey Dent is Tim’s dad” AU in my head and oh man, the potential.

Harvey, Janet and Tim hanging out with Bruce at Haly’s Circus that fateful day. Tiny Tim and Dick getting their picture taken with all of their parents, hale and whole.

By the time Robin is ready to debut, Harvey is already past the point of no return. Dick can’t afford to go easy on Two-Face, even if he still remembers him as the nice lawyer guy that had him out of Juvie within a day.

Janet moves away from the city, doesn’t visit Harvey in Arkham, but Tim sends letters every month after he learns how to write. He later adds photographs and small albums with little notes in the margins

Assuming he’s not on the streets (and sometimes even while he’s on the streets), Harvey writes back. Sometimes his letters are mini-novels written in ink and carefully numbered in case the pages end up out-of-order. And sometimes the letters are single pieces of notebook paper written in crayon. (Because the Arkham staff don’t always trust him with a sharp writing instrument.)

When Janet dies, her will leaves guardianship of Tim with Bruce unless he turns it down. It’s the version of the will Harvey drafted ages ago, the one that Bruce signed as a witness.

He’s still reeling from the loss of Jason, he knows he’s going to fuck this up, but it’s Harvey’s son and Bruce is going to do right by this one, damn it.

(Robin still happens. Bruce resists it all the way, but it still happens.)

DEALING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS IN A RESPONSIBLE AND RESPECTFUL MANNER.

Harvey getting some actual therapy and making actual progress with actually believable relapses.

Harvey written with an actual disorder instead of “lol comic MPD lol”

CONSISTENCY?? CAN IT BE DONE???

Tim dealing with the stigma of having a mentally-ill parent.

Tim worried about his own odds of mental illness.

ADDRESSING TIM’S CONCERNS ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS

ADDRESSING TIM’S DEPRESSION

Meditations on culpability, punishment and rehabilitation. If Harvey ever gets better, how do you address his past crimes?

Acknowledgment that mental illness is not something you should be locked up for a lifetime for, but being a mass-murdering fuckwad is (COUGHJOKERCOUGH).

The Vigilantes-With-Fucked-Up-Parents Club. Members include more than half the batfam, Conner Kent, Chris Kent, Rose Wilson, Raven, and many many more.

They have T-shirts! Membership cards! Socials! Bad jokes!

Bruce and Tim visiting Harvey in Arkham - sometimes together, sometimes solo.

Bruce aggressively avoiding “stealing” Harvey’s place as Tim’s dad while doing his best to Responsibly Parent. (It’s okay, Bruce. Tim can have two dads. Don’t stress over it.)

Harvey doesn’t get killed off for an easy resolution of parent-centered drama or to complete the orphan-batkid set.

(Why was Jack Drake killed in canon? What narrative purpose did it serve? Parent deaths are cheap.)

Honestly, I could go on about this all day. Jack Drake in (early) canon can be a better parent but often chooses not to. Harvey Dent, hypothetically, would choose to be a better parent but actually can’t. It would be an interesting reversal to see play out in a long-form fic.