#cass is in hong kong. again. for some reason

[mysterycitrus]

i think isolating the bats from their teams and external support systems is like….. functionally bad. like wdym red hood is on dicks speeddial but his actual soulmate donna troy isn’t. why is everyone in gotham. why do these people have no friends

[galaxymagitech]

Ways I have written/would write different Bats out of my fics because they’d be a liability to the plot:

Bruce

He’s on a Justice League mission in space

He’s undercover as Matches Malone and Cannot Be Contacted

He decided he’s a Loner and Doesn’t Need Family again

No one’s willing to open a comm channel to him because he’s currently on a mission with Selina

Barbara

She’s busy leading the Birds of Prey

She has the flu and you will bother her under penalty of death

Her father is in the hospital and she won’t leave his bedside

She refuses to get involved in Batfamily-Typical Emotional Repression

She’s currently elbow-deep in some government’s computer system, so no distractions allowed

Dick

He’s in Bludhaven and busy

He’s on a Titans mission in space

He’s fighting with Bruce and won’t return to Gotham for anything less than an emergency

He’s having his yearly mental breakdown, leave him alone

Cass

She’s in Hong Kong

She is off visiting or training with Lady Shiva

She’s on important Birds of Prey business

She’s hanging out with Barbara and/or Steph so you can’t bother her for anything short of an emergency

Jason

He’s away with the Outlaws

He refuses to be involved in anything

He’s currently a villain

He’s dead again for unexplained reasons, but don’t worry, he’ll be fine

Steph

People are still mad at her for faking her death and won’t contact her

She’s spending time with her mom, who is miraculously off work at this specific time

The other characters literally forgot she existed (it’s meta, okay?)

It’s midterm season at GothamU

Tim

He’s with the Teen Titans in space/California

He’s with Young Justice in space

His Dad wants to take him to a baseball game

He had a paranoid episode and went off the grid

Duke

He’s with his parents at the hospital

He’s living with his mom or his cousin so he’s not around

He’s sleeping because he’s on day shift

He’s hanging out/completing important work with We Are Robin

Damian

I’ve set things earlier in the timeline solely so that he’s still at the League of Assassins. Sorry Dami.

He’s at school

He’s off visiting Jon Kent and his family wants him to have a normal childhood so they won’t bother him

He’s on a mission with the Teen Titans

Kate

She’s too busy for this BS

It’s Rosh HaShanah or some other holiday that I spent 20 minutes researching calendar coincidences to confirm fell on that day of the week within the correct year

She’s on a date and if you bother her you’re homophobic

Alfred

He’s on vacation in England

He’s dead

And worst comes to worst, I can just give them broken ribs or a sprained ankle.

[ashoss]

a brief explanation and probably incomplete timeline of the batgirls bc i’ve seen a lot of people flip flop between their (mostly cass and stephs) names (i got a bit sidetracked with this.. whoops)

bette/betty kane: bat-girl, flamebird, hawkfire

the silver age batgirl. she was introduced along side kathy kane’s batwoman. these two would become kate and bette, the modern batwoman and flamebird/hawkfire

sometimes her run is mentioned, sometimes not, other times it’s a passing joke

young justice 1998 #21

she becomes flamebird and joins teen titans (titans west) for a bit. she sticks around as flamebird until kate kane's batwoman run (batwoman 2011)

kate trains her as plebe

batwoman (2011) #1

and then she becomes hawkfire under the DEO

batwoman (2011) #16, #17

i think dc forgot abt her lowkey

barbara gordon: batgirl, oracle

probably the batgirl you think of when you hear batgirl. she took bette’s place in 1967 and is still somehow stuck in the roll.

secret origins 1986 #20

she gets shot in the killing joke (1988), paralyzing her and leading her to become oracle.

batman chronicles #5

she goes back to batgirl around the n52, along with her own solo (batgirl 2011) and being sometimes batgirl sometimes oracle in batgirls 2022 which seems to be the grey area she’s still stuck in. (with her being batgirl in some of the modern nightwing stuff, but sometimes filling the oracle roll in dc and batman)

helena bertinelli: huntress, batgirl/the bat

she names herself batgirl (or more realistically The bat) during no mans land while bruce was gone. gotham needed a bat.

batman: shadow of the bat #83

however bruce does come back eventually. and lets her stick around but still doesnt fully trust her.

detective comics #732

barbara was actually unaware of it at first and has a very reasonable crash out bc ok bruce

batman: legends of the dark knight #120

she didn’t last long as batgirl, he takes her suit and gives it to cassandra in the same issue.

cassandra cain: batgirl, black bat, orphan, kasumi

takes over after helena and sticks around as batgirl until 2009

batman: legends of the dark knight #120

she mostly stays as batgirl during her run, except for a small run she had undercover in justice league: elite as an assassin named Kasumi. it falls right before war games in the timeline. during the bruce is dead era cass gives her suit to stephanie and she becomes batgirl. (same suit passed down from helena to cass to steph lmao. poor steph.)

batgirl 2009 #1

its in this era where the whole “cass in hong kong” bit starts up. shes there for a good chunk of the batgirl/red robin 2009 era.

red robin #17

at first she's there unnamed, and then taking on the black bat name during batman incorporated before she shows up again in red robin with that name.

batman incorporated #6

she doesnt stay black bat for too long, taking up the name orphan in batman and robin eternal (taking the name from david. for some reason).

batman and robin eternal #26

she was orphan for the rebirth era until she takes up the batgirl mantle again for batgirls 22 along with stephanie and barbara.

stephanie brown: spoiler, robin, batgirl

famously takes up the name spoiler to spoil her fathers crimes

detective comics #647

she stays as spoiler until around 2004 when war drums/war games happen and she takes up the robin mantle after tim retires.

robin 1993 #126

war games happens, she dies, comes back, and its revealed she didnt actually die!! leslie thompkins actually helped fake her death and she was in africa for a bit,,, but she is back to being spoiler after being fired and almost killed!

her relationship with the rest of the batfam is mostly strained during this time; tim, barbara and dick constantly telling her to get out of the line of duty however cass still entrusts her with her batgirl suit and the title. (batgirl 2009 #1)

batgirl 2009 #4

it would take her 4 issues to get her own suit tho. babs was very unsure of working with stephanie again esp with how she had died/almost died last time.

she stays batgirl until the n52, and then is back to spoiler during rebirth.

she stays as spoiler until joker war where both she and cass take the batgirl name again (batgirls 2022)

honourable mentions:

charlie gage radcliffe

birds of prey 1999 #99

a meta who called herself batgirl because "gotham needs a batgirl". she knows the identity of the birds of prey, calling them all by their first name. babs tries to keep her from being a vigilante by showing her images from stephanie's death in war games to which she listens. saying that she'll at least drop the batgirl mantle. so.

tiffany fox

batgirl: futures end

part of a ... league of batgirls? with stephanie and cassandra? while... babs is dosed with? bane venom>???? and becomes bête noire (the black beast).... ok. tbh tiffany as batgirl is the only good thing abt this comic

harley quinn

harley quinn 2000 #10

theres some contract on harley and ignoring the easier way of her just skipping town, she becomes batgirl!

if you ignore weird comments she makes towards tim its a pretty fun comic with some good interactions between tim, cass, dick and babs. esp since its with a cass pretty early in her batgirl run. its only issues 10 and 11 :P

anyway hope yall enjoyed :3

[casscainmainly]

Hi Hi! Um, I'm wondering if Tim and Cass are actually close in canon? I know they're both close to Steph (and Kon I guess), but I don't even really remember the two of them interacting very much, especially not one on one. Is there a comic where they're close or do people just headcanon them being closer because of Steph?

Hi!!! Tim & Cass are maybe not as close in canon as some fanon makes out, but it's definitely not a fanon-only thing!! Tim is inarguably the brother Cass is closest to (with Duke a runner-up). I made a post here about what Tim means to Cass which includes quite a lot of their one-on-one interactions, but for convenience here are some Tim-Cass essentials!!

Batgirl (2000) #18: Besides some interactions in NML, this is the start of their relationship and it's really nice! We get the iconic 'I grew' and the end sees them deciding to become friends :). This is before Cass + Steph have their first meaningful interaction so it's interesting for that reason too.

Batgirl (2000) #31-2: This is not actually important to Tim-Cass because, as you point out, they're not one-on-one here, but it is a fun crossover and you get Connor and Steph!! There's one moment where Steph calls Cass weird and Tim goes "Spoiler!" that I find really adorable so worth checking out.

Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood: The Tim-Cass comic of all time. These four issues are probably what most people imagine when they think of Tim and Cass, and for good reason! It's a great encapsulation of how much they respect each other and how fundamentally different they are. Also shows how Steph is an important part of their relationship to each other, even when she's not around.

Batman Allies: Secrets & Origins #1: An epilogue to Fresh Blood that has some really important insights into Tim & Cass' diverging views on Bruce. Once again we see that they care about each other, but the spectre of Stephanie (and Bruce honestly) continues to haunt their relationship. Actually chef's kiss really interesting this one is HIGHLY recommended!

Red Robin #17, 25: Besides Fresh Blood, #17 the most important issue in the Tim-Cass experience. At a time when Cass was shunted off to Hong Kong and Tim was isolating himself, it's lovely they kept a connection to each other. Tim giving Cass the Black Bat outfit + Cass accepting is highly meaningful, and this is definitely the highlight of the Black Bat era. Except for...

Gates of Gotham #1-5: This comic!!! AGH!!! Though it focuses more on Cass-Damian, this comic has lovely lovely Tim-Cass moments as well, and you can really see that Tim is the person Cass feels closest to in this moment.

I think that's all for pre-52 besides Batgirl (2008) where Tim defends Cass from Dick (don't really recommend it as a story in itself, but it's got some moments)! In Rebirth we also have Tynion's Detective Comics (2016), though Tim-Cass is really not a focus. Any one of these comics shows the strength of the Tim-Cass relationship - they aren't as close as Cass' relationships to Babs, Steph, Bruce/Tim's relationship to Dick, but they are definitely important to each other!

[zephyr-ro-emenki]

Random Batfam Headcanon's #6:

BATMAN BEYOND EDITION!

The reason why we never see any of the various other Batfam members by the time of Batman Beyond (including Batfam members like Carrie Kelley from the Dark Knight Returns) is that either a majority of them have passed on, or they were aged out into retirement earlier than Bruce Was.

The only 2 Batfam members we see in the future timeline of Batman Beyond are Babs and Tim, with Babs as the new police Commissioner and Tim having been taken over by the Joker. But what about everyone else?

Steph and Cass, after retiring from Vigilantism, moved to Hong Kong together and have spent their days as the Chinese Equivalent of the Wayne's to Gotham, Billionaire philanthropists who have up to 10 adopted (and Biological) kids (who some may or may not have decided to pursue Vigilantism).

Damian has tried reviving the Batman Mantle, but changing times had him abandoning the ways taught by Bruce on how to be Batman, and reverting to killing his Rogues, and this led Bruce to come out of his initial retirement as Batman when the Batfam was still connected to him, in order to stop Damian. During their conflict, a newer rogue was able to get the drop on Damian and Killed him, leading to Bruce in a spiral of Grief that pushed the rest of the Batfam away with a permanent wedge, to fully return to the Batman Mantle until his body physically couldn't handle it anymore like see at the beginning of Batman Beyond.

Dick is either living in Blüdhaven, Jump City, or Star City, with a different scenario for Star City compared to the others. If he lives in Blüdhaven or Jump City, then he spends his time in retirement teaching and mentoring the newer generations of the Titans, maybe even advancing to police Commissioner of Blüdhaven for a time if he kept up with his cop career. He spends his days with a loving family around him, keeping himself busy to pass the time and stopping himself from reaching out to Bruce again.

Duke has actually taken the Nightwing route and was for a time a Justice League Member, with the Signal becoming a nationwide hero as during the time he joined there were lots of League level threats taking place on the East Coast that he participated in. Once he retired as the Signal, he decided to settle down in Philadelphia, close enough to Jersey that he could make a day trip to Gotham, far enough away he won't have to deal with Gotham problems.

Jason is unique in that he never fully retired, just moved and aged out of the active field jobs. Red Hood decided to move his operations out of Gotham and into New York amidst a great migration of New Yorker's to Gotham for development projects. There, he settled down in the most destute neighborhood at the time (Queens) and made it his mission to fix it up, keep it safe, and raise its status to being a safe neighborhood. He turned an Anti-Hero identity, who some still thought to be a crime boss, into a philanthropist identity synonymous with change and the improvement of the neighborhood. He's retired from active fights unless some of his men try to overthrow him from command, but he's settled down with a family of his own, a wife he met while in New York at a book store, and has kids of his own.

Carrie Kelley was Robin for a while alongside Bruce, and was Even Damian's Robin after Bruce stepped down, but she stepped down from the Robin roll in her Mid-20's after Bruce was forced to retire because of his age catching up to him. She went on to become a teacher, and still stopped by from time to time around the holidays to check up on Bruce alongside Babs. But when Terry Became Batman, she stopped coming around as often as she thought she wasn't needed anymore. She hasn't settled down yet, and the fact that she has been using her teachers salary to secretly build up her own Batsuit means she's been considering returning to Vigilantism alongside Terry as an older mentor on the field, making a mantle of her own so that she can continue soaring through the skies as a Hero.

[anyknotrants]

Prompt: Broken bullet

words: 1615

warning: mentioned torture, implied/referenced panic attack, Jason and his amazing coping mechanisms

Jason wore a broken bullet around his neck. 

Not just any bullet, no, it was the first and only bullet he fired when he went into the Titan Tower to kill Robin. 

He knew it was bit fucked up- okay, a lot fucked up, but he was a Bat, did you expect him to deal with his emotions in a normal way? 

It just- it reminded him of that day. It reminded him of the way he almost killed, and brutally tortured, an innocent kid. 

Because that’s what Tim was in the end, an innocent kid that just wanted to help.

It reminded him to keep himself in check, it reminded him what happens when he slips, when the green clouds his mind. 

But it was supposed to be secret. Jason was not stupid, he knew this was about the worst way to cope, but he couldn’t help it. It was supposed to be a secret, it was by design, that even if someone was the bullet, they wouldn’t know it to be the one from the Titan Tower. It was just impossible. 

So of course Tim figured it out. 

Jason still had no idea how. 

It was a slow night, one of the rare nights when the even rarer blue moon was visible, which was a surprise on its own. 

Jason, Tim and Duke were the only ones taking care of Gotham right now. Bruce was with Clark for some unknown reason (something about the moon??), Dick was in space with Wally on a mission or whatever, Steph and Cass were in Hong Kong (trying to find a cure for some flower disease (???)) and Damian also who knows where. (Jason would know, if he bothered to check, but he didn’t)

As the night ended, both Red Robin and Red Hood retreated back to the Cave.

“Alright boys, that’ll be all from me, I'll alert you if there would be some emergency, but until then, Oracle signing out, good night.” A voice came from the cave speakers, and not a second later, a click that indicated that Babs was, in fact, signing off. 

Jason parked his bike —making a mental note to himself to look over it and clean it later— tossed his helmet on one of the benches, and all but melted into one of the couches. This night may have been quiet, but the last three sure as hell haven’t. 

“So…” Tim started, sitting in front of the Batcomputer, clicking away at the keyboard. “Any new jewelry or accessory that you’ve acquired?” he asked, still not looking at him. 

Now that had Jason’s mind kicking up again. Because as nonchalant as he tried to sound, there were obvious strains in his tone, and his posture. And the question was also really specific. 

He wondered for a moment if this was about the wedding band he had from Roy —when they eloped in Vegas, black out drunk, after Jason left Gotham after the Tower incident— but no, that couldn’t be it, that was months old news, one that his family already knew. 

“What are you on about, Timbit?” he asked, going for a lighter tone, and only seeing Tim tense up more. 

“Oh, I don’t know, any used weaponry? A broken bullet, perhaps? One that you couldn’ve used… I don’t know, in a fit of rage?” Tim’s voice was getting darker by the second. 

Jason’t blood freezed in his veins. He couldn’t- could he? No, there was no way he would— right? How would he even know? No, this had to be a mistake.

“What are you talking about?” Deny, deny, deny. That seemed to be the safest route here. He sat up on the couch, as Tim turned to face him, slowly. His mask was gone, and there was nothing short of pure anger and hurt in his eyes. Jason wondered for a second if he hadn't taken a dip in the Pit. 

“So— you mean to tell you you are not wearing a bullet that you fired at me in the Tower around your neck?” 

Jason's heart stopped. 

How did– how did he— he wasn’t ever supposed to— 

“What— How did you—”

“So it’s true!” Tim shouted, all but jumping from the chair, but still keeping his distance. 

“No-” 

“So you just casually wear a bullet that could have very well killed me, when you broke into the Tower? When you broke into one of the only safe places I had, when you tortured me?!”

“If you just listened–”

“NO! you wanted a reminder, didn’t you? A reminder that I’m only alive because you CHOSE TO LET ME LIVE!!?!”

“YOU—!” Jason roared right back, green nudging at the corners of his vision. He took a step towards Tim- and immediately stopped. 

Because Tim flinched. He flinched away from him, even though Jason was still a good few feet away. He flinched, and only now did Jason notice the slight shake over his whole body. 

The green melted away faster than it ever appeared. 

Because Tim was scared. 

Tim was afraid of him. 

Jason really, really fucked up. 

The silence in the cave was overwhelming. 

Jason took a step back. Loud enough that it was heard, but not loud enough to evoke any more memories— nightmares, that he already has. 

He kept his hands where Tim could see them, and started walking backwards, until he hit a wall. Even as the younger teen glared daggers at him for doing so, his posture relaxed, even if the slightest bit. 

He slid back down the wall, now sitting on the floor, a good 8 feet away. Slowly, as slowly as he could, he reached for one of his more visible knives, keeping the other hand still up. Tim tensed slightly again, but not by that much, after all, whatever was Jason about to do he could fight off the knife easily enough. 

But that didn’t happen. No, Jason unsheathe the knife, leveled it to the ground, and slid it over the floor towards Tim.

The young boy could only stare, as the cold metal clanged at his feet. He dared to look down, losing sight of Jason for a moment, but when he looked up again, Jason was already sending another one. 

Tim was confused for a second, scared, but by the third dagger, he realized what Jason was doing. 

He was disarming himself. 

He was disarming himself, to Tim, even though Tim just shoved some rather alarming and violent behaviour. 

He was disarming himself for Tim.

By the time Jason worked himself up to pass over his last gun as well, Tim had a sizable pile of various weaponry at his feet. 

They both knew that Jason had more than that. All of them always had more than that, he didn’t think anyone in this family ever went without at least a batarang anywhere, but the message was clear. 

Jason disarmed himself, gave his weapons to Tim, so the teen could feel safer. And the worst part? It was working. 

They stayed in silence,  Jason slumped against the wall, his eyes avoiding Tim for a moment. Tim’s gaze never left him. 

“....it does serve as a reminder.” Jason broke the silence, startling Tim a bit. He did not expect him to speak so soon. Sill, the admittance from Jason left a bitter taste in Tim’s mouth. He thought they were getting better, That Jason cared, but all this time– 

“But not for the reason you think.” Tim’s eyes snapped back to Jason, not even realizing he let his gaze fall, wide, still scared blue eyes meeting ble-green ones. Come on Tim, you can do better than that, and— no, those tears better stay in. 

When Tim didn’t respond, Jason took that as his cue to continue, averting his eyes yet again, fiddling with the zipper on his jacket’s sleeve. 

“It serves as a reminder, but not— well yes, it reminds me of how I almost killed you, how I almost killed an innocent kid–” There was a growl growing in Jason’s chest, begging to be let out. Jason took a deep breath. Don’t scare the kid. Don’t make him run again. 

“It reminds me what happens when I lose control, it reminds me why I shouldn't.” He choked back a sob. Damn, emotional conversations were hard. No wonder Bruce didn’t like them. 

“It helps keep the Pit at bay, because every time I look at it, I remember. I remember the kid that looked up to me that I beated up. I remember my baby brother, who I tortured, who’s trust in anyone I shattered. I remember—” Jason’s words were spilling faster and faster, giving the speedster’s run for their money, but once he started, he just kept going—

His words were suddenly cut off, when an object the size of a human child collided with him.

Jason looked down. 

No, not an object. A kid. 

A kid who was sobbing into his chest, clutching him like a lifeline. 

Jason wasn't sure what to do. The kid never hugged him on his own. Sure, there were the half-hugs, and group hugs (courtesy of Dick) but he never— he never….

Jason wrapped his hands around Tim’s stupidly small body, keeping his touch gentle, not wanting to hurt, or to trigger Tim. 

Only when Tim pressed himself even closer to him —which, wow, Jason was not sure if that was possible— did Jason tighten his drip, all but squeezing the life out of him. 

Jason didn’t know when tears started falling from his eyes as well, or when both of them stopped. 

He just sat on the Cave’s floor, holding his little brother in his arms.

(not my proudest work (far from it) but it could be worse)

[ultimate-marysue]

I'm here to bring you another: How to respectfully get rid of Cass Cain when you don't want to write her in a particular fic.

Guys, it's your fic! You don't have to mention Cass if you don't want to/if you feel like you don't know her character enough for that. If you want to write her ooc because you really like her fanom version, you're also free to do that. I'm personally not going to read it, and I would urge you to identify possible stereotypes because fanom tends to twist female and poc characters in very specific ways and I think we're all better when we recognize the biases in our stories.

That being said, if you simply don't know shit about Cass but you want to signal to the people reading your fic "hey, I know she exists, I'm not erasing her existence" there are options:

If your fic happens during the whole "Bruce is dead" arc (Dick as Batman, Red Robin run) or soon after: that's when Cass was in Hong Kong.

If your fic happens before No Man's Land: Cass wasn't introduced yet.

In general, if your fic happens during any specified canon event: you can look up what she was doing for that. Most of the time she's running parallel to other characters (like how she was helping during War Games and trying to find Stephanie, but not necessarily stopping to have a heart to heart with Tim. They have one when they both move to Bludhaven after Steph's death tho)

If your fic happens during an unspecified time that doesn't fall easily into any arc: she's not in Hong Kong. Please, if you're just trying to get her out of your fic respectfully, don't just randomly send her to Hong Kong. Here are some options:

She's with the Birds of Prey. This is also a great excuse to not have Babs/have Babs be busy.

She's having her own adventure with Steph. Two Batgirls with one stone! More people should be writing those adventures instead of using them as an excuse to not write about the girls, but oh well!

If it's distinctly New 52: she's with the outsiders, this is also a way to not have Duke on the roster while acknowledging his existence.

She's tracking down Shiva and having her own main character moment elsewhere with mama.

She's just doing something else. She's working on a different case than the fic's main characters. You can actually get rid of any Bat-character that's not on your fic this way because that's what DC goes for most of the time. They are doing something else and we don't see them unless it's relevant or to pop in and say hi.

Again, there's nothing wrong with simply not mentioning a character you don't know how to write. DC does it all the time, so the most accurate thing is using the characters you actually want to use and maybe drop a mention of "yeah this other character is unavailable because of reasons". There are things wrong with certain ooc depictions of the only female POC character in the family, but hey, I'm just a post! I can't force you to read Batgirl 2000 (though I'm sure you would enjoy it, it's great). The thing about fandom is I can't police you, all I can do is offer alternatives for those who are looking for them (you're doing amazing sweetie) and not read fics I know I'm going to dislike.

TLDR: if you're looking for alternatives to excuse Cass out of the plot and you have heard about how she's no longer in Hong Kong: here's a list! To anyone else: scroll past and read Batgirl 2000.

[id10t-error-f-ck]

I like to think that all of Bruce's kids have inherited the adoption gene.

It's most obvious with Damian and his dragon horde of pets.

But like there's Dick with the Titans, you can't tell me that with him being undoubtedly the oldest or at the very least the most experienced that he doesn't dad at them very hard constantly,

Tim with the Young Justice with possible co parents of Kon, Bart, and or Bernard(Mostly Bernard though, he's the only one that can count as actual adult supervision between those four), that's all I need to say about that I think,

Babs has the Birds of Pray that I'm sure she mother hens hard,

I'm sure Cass has a group in Hong Kong that she mentors, parents, too,

I'm sure Duke was mother hening most of the younger, and probably some of the older, kids in the We Are Robins movement and still does with the ones he's still in contact with,

And they all foster. Between the ages of 18 at the earliest and like... 28 at the lastest, they all have gone through what it takes to at the very least get their emergency foster license.

The only exception to this being Jason.

Jason, who is legally dead, doesn't get back to Gotham until he's at the youngest 18, is dealling with Pit madness and his feelings with his family, trying to make Gothan's 'slums'(Crime Alley, the Narrows, the Docks, so on and so forth) better, taunting the fuck out of Roman and the other crime bosses but mostly Roman, and dealling with the shit that the Outlaws get themselves into on a regular basis, he hasn't had time to:

1. Legally rise from the dead like the vampire he pretends to be-

2. Finish high school, I don't know if that's a requirement for fostering but I'm assuming that it is,

3. And go through whatever it is that he has to do to get the emergency foster licence

But once he does that he doesn't stop at just the emergency license like some of the others have. He gets his none emergency and long term licenses too.

And (based off a fic I read and if I can find it again I'll link it or something) at some point he's forced to stay in Gotham for a while, I think the Outlaws were taking a break because after saving the world- again -Jason was captured by the JL and put on what is essentially house arrest but it's the whole of Gotham and he just can't kill again before his 'house arrest' is over otherwise he gets a worse punishment which I think was getting imprisoned somewhere by either the JL or the Lantern Corps, and has started to fix up and remodeling one of his much more run down safe houses because it's winter in Gotham and it's cold because it's Gotham but also New Jersey.

He's still going out as Red Hood obviously when he finds kids getting kicked out of a unused wear house by someone's goons. So him being a petty bat that he is even if he refuses to admit it, he kicks the goons out, letting the kids go back in so they're out of of the direct weather, and then buys the wear house from it's owner under one of his fake ID's. He proceeds to get word to all the homeless kids within the Alley that it's a safe place they can go until they can find somewhere better.

Over time he has essentially made a orphanage in all but name, because it is full of kids of all ages below 18 who don't have a family to care for them for one reason or another, he's making sure the kids are safe regularly, has found a couple ways to get them food at least once a day, and it's still technically a wear house.

Then when he's on speaking terms with Tim again Jace(I don't know why but I for some reason seem to think on top of his many other nicknames Jace would also be one) gets his help in getting these orphanages that one of them had been trying to get opened actually open with Tim being extremely thorough when vetting the staff so the kids now have a warm building with actual beds to sleep in that they slowly move to and our of the wear house as they see that the ones who do go don't just suddenly disappear and seem actually happy.

Long story short-

Jason goes further than all of his family in the fact that he has his emergency, non emergency, and long term foster licensed(I know at least one of those is an actual thing), has made at least orphanage, and(because of another fix I read) has actual, purposely and accidentally, adpoted kids(one he help the mother get to a doctor only for her to die in child birth and he gets mistaken for the father, one is a kid that he found on the street and treated like a stray cat, one is a young girl he stop a guy from perving or something on and she just decided to stay with him as she slowly start to trust him).

Fics:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7601896/chapters/17300497

Jason Todd: The Not-So-Outlaw - Complete, 46 chapters, 195,252 words

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50478853/chapters/127533853

Adopting a New Plan - Complete, 6 chapters, 98,864 words

(If the links don't work let me know and I'll try linking them again)

Bruce: Who is that?

Dick: A kid I met in Bludhaven.

Jason: Oh god, not you too.

Damian, whispering: Are we sure Richard isn't my biological brother?

Tim, also whispering: Yes... Maybe?

Jason, joining the conversation: The adoption gene got transferred through osmosis

Bruce: Where did you get them?

Dick: I was on patrol and they wanted to show me some flips.

Bruce: So they're an acrobat?

Dick: Yeah!

Bruce: Alfred!

Dick: Huh?

Alfred: I shall reinforce all the chandeliers.

Dick: Wait that's not necessary!

Everyone else: ???

Dick: Seriously they're only staying with me a couple days.

Bruce: DAYS?! Alfred order the newest chandeliers.

Alfred: Right away, Master Bruce.

[rainbowfoxes]

I can normally deal with people not reading the comics, because not everyone has the means to or even the desire to, and that's okay! The cartoons and a lot of the shows are great, and I can typically adjust to the different continuities being referenced quick enough.

But the one thing that gets me every time in fics written by people who aren't familiar with the comics is the timeline. It is always incredibly wonky and all over the place and just. Incorrect. Sometimes it makes me laugh, sometimes it makes me 🙃, and others I have to leave right now immediately.

So in the interest of saving myself (and perhaps others) a ???? reaction in the future, here is a (very) rough and non-exhaustive order of events for the Bat Clan. The time between these events are variable, but this is the general order of things.

Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered

Bruce goes on his training trip

Bruce comes back and begins his whole I Am The Night shtick

The Grayson family is murdered

Bruce fosters Dick

Dick debuts as Robin

Justice League/ Super Friends/ whatever group is formed

Dick forms the Teen Titans with Donna, Garth, Roy, and Wally.

Dick leaves Gotham (either for college, or because of an argument with Bruce)

Sometimes more Titans things happen. They also break up at some point

Raven forms the second iteration of the Teen Titans to fight her father. The team is comprised of Dick, Raven, Donna, Wally, Kori, Gar, and Vic.

Jason steals the tires off the Batmobile, thwarts his own grandmother's attempts at robbing a museum, and is adopted by Bruce. He is also made Robin - Note that oftentimes Dick is still Robin at this time as well.

Babs gets shot by the Joker for her dad and Bruce's man pain. She becomes Oracle as a result.

Jason and Bruce have a fight, and Jason goes to find his biological mother.

Jason is betrayed by his supposed mother and murdered by the Joker.

Tim shows up and does his "Batman needs Robin" Thing.

Jason crawls himself out of his grave and promptly gets hit by a car. Don't worry, we'll check in with him later.

Tim's mom is murdered and his father left in a coma that he eventually recovers from.

Knightfall happens - Bane breaks Bruce's back, Jean-Paul Valley is Batman for a minute and so is Dick.

Contagion happens - some dumbass releases a super plague on the city but it's okay because they make a vaccine that everyone gets because it's 1996 and no one has given Jenny McCarthy the opportunity to start the Anti-Vax movement yet.

Legacy happens - It's break through cases this time but don't worry, they fix it because this is comic books and people have two braincells to rub together.

Dick goes to Blüdhaven!!! This is the big one for me tbh. Please stop putting him in the Blüd while Jason is alive, I beg of you. You're killing me.

Cataclysm happens - a massive earthquake hits Gotham, and it is Very Bad. The US government decides to abandon the city and kill anyone trying to leave or enter after a certain date. Because that's an entirely reasonable thing to do. This leads to.....

No Mans Land - the approximate year that the city was cut off from the rest of the country. Lots of shit happens during this time - Cassandra Cain debuts, Stephanie Brown has her baby, Tim goes to boarding school, Sarah Essen-Gordon dies. If there is the only one comic book arc you read, please let it be this one.

Bruce is framed for the murder of Vesper Fairchild - not really important in the grand scheme of things but I love Vesper and you should too.

Hush happens - basically Tommy Elliot has Problems and also Jason shows up but not really but yest really (hi thank you retcons). It's a thing. Read the wikipedia page it's actually very helpful.

Tim's dad finds out that he's Robin and forces him to retire.

The next couple of things happen right on top of each other so - Blockbuster sets fire to Haly's circus and blows up Dick's apartment building and a bunch of other bad things. Tarantula kills Blockbuster and rapes Dick while he's in shock.

Immediately afterwards War Games starts - Steph starts a gang war to prove her worth to Bruce, gets murdered but not really by Black Mask, it's a whole thing.

Side bar - why did no one warn me about Black Mask killing Orpheus - a Black vigilante - and then impersonating him with full Blackface? Everyone talks about what he did to Steph but I really think we need to talk about what he did to Orpheus. Also if you haven't read War Games yet, here are some accurate trigger warnings for it: blackface, sexualized murder of a teenaged girl, a school shooting where a child dies.

Tim comes back as Robin.

Under the Red Hood happens - Jason comes back to Gotham, kills some guys, tries to kill Tim, does his whole Thing. You've probably seen the movie but I also recommend you read the comics it's v good and every time I read Jason's final speech I start crying.

Damian shows up

Final Crisis happens and Bruce "dies" aka gets lost in time, so the boys duke it out over who gets to be Batman. Tim goes on his murder mystery tour. Jason goes to prison but not before adopting a weird little girl named Sasha. Dick is left with Batman.

Oops turns out Steph isn't dead she's back and she's Batgirl now and low-key co-parenting Damian with Dick. It's very cute.

Cass is off being Black Bat in Hong Kong and I miss her.

Bruce comes back, Tim is Vindicated, Jason escapes prison and rides off into the sunset with Sasha to go Cause Problems on Purpose. Dick steps down from Batman. Damian continues to be a murder baby and I love him.

And that's not nearly everything but close enough for fic writing purposes up until Flashpoint. I definitely missed things, so feel free to add on. I also again beg you - please stop putting Dick in the Blüd when Jason is still alive, it makes my blood pressure spike every time I see it. You're killing me guys. Pls.

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Ch. 28: Summer Changes (School)

AO3

Prev

A week after the Disney movie marathon, Marinette was finally back on patrol. No thanks to her dad though. If it was up to him, she’d probably never patrol again. Luckily for her, (unluckily for him) her brothers were adamant on her coming back to the field. Which led to her current problem. Hanging upside down from a gargoyle near Wayne Enterprises.

“Ukht, what have you done?” Damian asks, and though she can’t see his face, she can tell by his voice that he’s exasperated. Join the club, she thinks, at least you’re not upside down.

“Why do you automatically think I did something?” She asks, trying desperately to turn around so that she can talk to him. It was really awkward talking to someone when you couldn’t see them but you knew they were near you.

“Because you are the one hanging upside down,” Damian says flatly. She huffs.

“It’s not like I want to be, Robin. It just kind of happened,” She says.

“And how exactly did it happen? I have never seen your yoyo betray you like that before. Not even in the videos when you were still very new.” Damian says, and she swears he’s smirking. He’s definitely laughing at her on the inside, and as much as she wants to be frustrated, she can’t. It wasn’t easy amusing her little brother (unless you were an animal) so she wasn’t about to ruin it.

“Hood made a bet relating to this exact gargoyle and I’d never been this way before and I just, I don’t know. Somehow I misjudged where my yoyo was going and next thing I know, I’m tied up and Hood is gone.” She says, sighing.

“Where did he go?” Damian asks.

“Over here so I could record the dumbass trying to untie herself.” Jason says with a snort, she manages to turn just enough so she can see him and stick her tongue out at him. He chuckles. “You’re the one who somehow tied herself up with a magic string, I’m just getting the proof so I can show Wonder Woman.” He says and Marinette’s jaw drops.

“You wouldn’t dare!” She screams, struggling against her yoyo, finally able to get the string to loosen slightly.

“Oh, I’d dare.” Jason says and Marinette just knows he has a huge smirk underneath his stupid helmet.

“But Wonder Woman is the coolest person ever and she can’t see me like this!” Marinette complains, trying not to grin when she feels the string start to move the way she needs it to. She ignores Jason’s next remark, instead focusing on the string and- yes! She free falls for a moment, laughing at her brothers’ panic before she swoops up and jerks Jason’s phone away from him.

“You little shit!” He calls after her, starting to chase her.

“You’ll get it back once I delete the videos!” She calls back, laughing as she continues swinging through Gotham, a warm feeling in her chest as she looks over the city that has quickly become her second home.

---

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” A voice screams, making Marinette jump out of bed with a yelp. She clutches her hand over her heart, glaring at her oldest brother.

“Are you trying to make sure I don’t make it past my fifteenth birthday?” She asks with a huff. Dick just grins.

“Happy birthday kiddo! I can’t believe you’re already fifteen!” He exclaims, picking her up in a giant hug. She wants to complain, ask him to let her down, but it’s nice, so instead she returns the hug the best she can. Until she glances out the window.

“Richard Grayson.” She says in a tone she usually reserves for enemies. She feels him stiffen, the hug turning into more of a restraint than a cuddle.

“Yes?” He says.

“Did you honestly wake me up, before the sun, because it’s my birthday?” She asks.

“Yes?” He says, his voice cracking slightly. She purses her lips and lets out a long sigh.

“Dad has a no killing rule.” She says, and suddenly she’s back on the ground.

“Oh would you look at the time, Mar’i needs another bedtime story loveyousomuchgottagobye.” Dick rushes out, practically sprinting out of her room. She just smiles and shakes her head. She’d learned intimidation tactics from Jason and Damian, who both claimed her size made her an easy target against bad guys. They were right, of course, so she was fine with a few extra lessons. Seems they were working. Deciding to call her Maman and Papa since she’s already awake, she frowns as it goes straight to voicemail. It would be nearly eleven in Paris, so the bakery shouldn’t be too busy. She quickly checks the Akuma Alert App to make sure she hadn’t missed anything while she slept. Nothing. So why weren’t they answering? She had assumed they would be waiting for her call since it was the first birthday she’d spent without them. Sighing, she lays back down on her bed, closing her eyes and trying to fall back asleep.

As she lays there, she frowns as a realization hits her. This was the anniversary of her birth mother’s death. Her mood instantly sours and her stomach churns. It was the first year that she could do something about it, the first year she could visit her grave. Quickly making a decision, Marinette throws on a pair of black leggings and an oversized black hoodie. Hopefully no one would spot her.

“Kaalki.” Marinette calls out quietly, not wanting to wake Tikki (who had somehow slept through Dick’s intrusion).

“Oooo, Guardian, are we sneaking out?” They ask, an amused smile on their face. Marinette frowns.

“Yes, but it’s for a good reason.” She says, and Kaalki snorts.

“Whatever the reason, I’m happy to be of assistance.” They reassure her. Marinette smiles and calls the transformation, opening a portal in the cemetery where her birth mother is buried. Her Maman had taken her once, right after telling her she was adopted. It was extremely hard to avoid being akumatized that day, and Marinette steels herself before dropping Kaalki’s transformation. Today would probably be even harder. Pulling the hood over her head to try and hide her identity, she glances around the cemetery, unsurprised to see the small place empty. Despite its small size, it was well taken care of, with beautiful trees adding shade and creating a melancholy feeling. Taking a deep breath, she walks over to the tombstone in the far corner, underneath the Willow tree. Bridgette Le. Died July 9th. Marinette barely notices the tears that start to form as she sits down, tucking her knees into her chest.

“Hi Mama. I-I’m sorry I haven’t really been by to see you much. Did you know I’ve been spending the summer with Dad? Sometimes, I wonder if you would’ve been okay with that. None of us really know why you left, why you didn’t tell him. I’m not blaming you, I just wonder if you would’ve been okay with me knowing him.” She talks, though she knows she’ll never hear a response. And she tries to pretend that fact doesn’t hurt her. “I have brothers. Four of them. They’re all great in their own ways, but they all also make me want to rip my hair out. Three of them are older, Damian’s younger than me. He kinda acts like a big brother at times though. And I have a big sister, Cass. She doesn’t say much, but she’s awesome. She’s in Hong Kong right now, so most of our conversations have been video calls. I have a niece, too.” Marinette stops, wiping furiously at her eyes. She didn't want to cry. At all. But knowing her birth mother would never be able to be part of her life, would never know any of these people like she did- it was hard.

“Guardian, please breathe.” Kaalki says, floating up to sit in front of Marinette’s face. Marinette blinks at the Kwami before listening to them. If they were worried, then Marinette was more lost in her head than she originally thought.

“And today’s my birthday. I was excited at first, and then I remembered the other thing that this day was. Remembered that it’s also the day you-” Marinette pauses, and grits her teeth. “I am so sorry, Mama. I am so sorry that I caused your death.” She chokes out, dropping her head onto her knees, trying to suppress the sobs threatening to break out of her chest.

“We need to go. Marinette, we need to go.” Kaalki urges, patting her cheek urgently. Marinette calls the transformation and falls through a portal, closing it quickly to keep the butterfly that was surely after her from following. She definitely didn’t need to test how far the victim had to be to be akumatized. The second she lands, she lets the transformation drop and the sobs break out.

“Shit Pixie.” Jason curses, and suddenly she’s wrapped in a warm hug, sobs tearing through her as she continues to apologize.

---

Jason Todd had been through a lot of weird shit. Waking up in a pool of green water after being fucking murdered by the Joker, was weird. Emotional baby sister falling through a portal into the room and sobbing? Also weird. But also heartbreaking. He grabs onto her and just holds her, desperately trying to give her some type of comfort.

“Shhhh, it’s okay Pix. I got you.” He mumbles, holding her close. Damian rushes in, sword drawn, face scrunched up when he sees them. Jason shakes his head, this wasn’t something that they could fix with a sword. He wasn’t exactly sure why his baby sister was crying so hard, but he had caught a couple of muffled apologies, so whatever it was, he didn’t think it was something that he (or Damian) could kill. Or, rather, maim, since she was against murdering people that were against her for some reason.

“Has anyone seen Mars, she’s not in her room-” Replacement starts, freezing as he walks into the room.

“Excellent situational awareness, Drake.” Damian mutters, glaring at him. Jason shoots both of them a glare, now was not the time to be fighting. Especially since the kid’s other parents were on their way to celebrate her birthday. If they showed up and she was sobbing, they’d take her home and never let them see her again. And Jason was NOT going to let that happen.

“Anyone know if M’s decided to not kill me yet?” Dick asks, walking into the room with a huge grin that falls the second he sees what’s happening. Jason resists the urge to roll his eyes. Apparently none of his brothers could read a fucking room. Instead of staying at the edge of the room like Damian and Tim, Dick walks over.

“Hey kiddo, it’s okay. We’re here.” He says softly. The kid pulls away from him, though he can tell it’s a little reluctantly, before launching herself at Dick, her sobs starting to die down. Jason lets out a short huff, running his fingers through his hair as he tries to think of what could have set her off. There were no akuma alarms, but she fell out of a portal. Which means she was out of the manor when she got upset. He watches as Dick pats her hair gently and whispers to her. God, he’s such a dad. Then again, he’s been mother henning him and their other brothers for years, so it’s not really a surprise.

“I’m sorry guys.” Marinette says suddenly, her voice small as she stays hidden in Dick’s arms.

“No need to apologize, Pixie Pop.” Jason reassures her. She finally pulls away from Dick and Jason’s heart, honest to god breaks at the broken look on her face.

“She died in childbirth, you know.” She whispers, and suddenly it makes sense. Why she was sitting there sobbing on her birthday, why she’d fallen out of a portal.

“That is not your fault.” Damian says firmly, walking over and standing face to face with Marinette, something Jason knew annoyed the girl. Damian was two years younger, but a little taller than her. She didn’t seem to mind now, though.

“But it was. If I hadn’t been born-” She starts and Jason frowns at the thought.

“The world would be a much shittier place.” He says with finality, not leaving room for her to argue. “Pix, you’re amazing, and the world would really suck without you. Never be sorry you were born.” Jason says firmly, stumbling slightly when she launches herself at him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

“Thank you Jay.” She mumbles, and he can tell she’s crying again, but this time it’s not sobs, so he thinks it’s fine.

“Come on, let’s all watch a movie.” Repla- Tim suggests and Jason raises an eyebrow at the idea, briefly wondering what kind of movie he’d pick. They all pile on the giant sectional that Bruce had bought specifically for impromptu movie nights as Tim sticks the DVD in. Jason just snorts as the title card for “The Addams Family” comes on, settling back in the couch, ready to watch one of the greatest movies ever.

---

“Thank you again for flying us out here for her birthday.” Sabine says, smiling at him. Bruce returns the smile and nods.

“Of course, thank you for letting her spend the summer here. I know she’s appreciated the break from her classmates.” He says, his smile quickly fading at the confused look on both Sabine and Tom’s faces.

“What do you mean?” Tom asks.

“Marinette hasn’t told you?” Bruce asks, suddenly regretting bringing it up. Why hadn’t she said anything? They were her parents too. Sure, she’d made it clear they couldn’t know about Ladybug, but her class wasn’t a hero problem. They were a civilian problem.

“We knew that she wasn’t hanging out with them as often, and that she didn’t talk about her class as much as she used to. We just assumed that she was busy.” Sabine says, her face a mixture of sadness and anger.

“My apologies, I assumed she’d talked to you.” Bruce says, feeling as if he had crossed a line. Would they be mad at him, for her telling him something she hadn’t told them?

“She’s always looking out for others first,” Tom finally sighs, a tired smile on his face. “She probably thought she was saving us from being akumatized.” Bruce’ jaw clenches. Had Marinette really suffered in silence to avoid being forced to fight her parents?

“We can continue this conversation later, right now we should focus on her birthday.” Sabine says, placing a hand on Tom’s arm. He nods and Bruce makes a note to talk to the two about the possibility of her switching schools.

“She’s probably in her room.” Bruce says, leading the two towards the stairs.

“Actually, Master Bruce, the children are all in the informal sitting room. I believe they snuck down to have a movie night after Master Dick woke Miss Marinette to wish her a happy birthday.” Alfred says, Bruce watches his face and knows that’s not all, but doesn’t press. It had to be something that he couldn’t talk about in front of the Dupain Cheng’s.

“Of course they did. Thank you, Alfred. Alfred, this is Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain, Marinette’s parents. Tom, Sabine, this is Alfred Pennyworth. He’s the man who raised me.” Bruce says, smiling at him. The three exchange pleasantries and soon Bruce is leading the two to the sitting room. He pushes the door open gently, careful not to let it slam. He spots a sword on the floor near Damian and quickly grabs it, moving it away. If he was woken up suddenly, he would still panic and attempt to fight his way out.

“She looks so peaceful.” Sabine whispers, and Bruce smiles, a genuine smile, he didn’t have to fake a smile when most of his children were together and safe and happy. Or, quiet, at least. It was rare.

“I’ve found them like this several times.” Bruce admits, pulling out his phone to show the two all of the pictures he’d taken of the kids piled together sleeping. Sabine and Tom smile widely at the pictures and Bruce quickly sends them their favorites.

“B, I swear to god, I can sense you in here. Let us sleep.” Jason mumbles grumpily.

“Sorry Jason, Marinette’s parents are here so it’s time to get up.” Bruce says, amused at the way his son’s hair was attempting to defy gravity. Jason looked around sleepily, waved lazily at Sabine and Tom, and then collapsed back on the couch. Bruce sighs. “Would the two of you like to have a cup of coffee while we give them a few more minutes to sleep?” He offers.

“That would be lovely.” Sabine says, and Bruce leads the two to the kitchen, hoping Tim (who had sat straight up after Jason flopped down) would take the hint and wake up the others.

---

Marinette sighs happily as everyone sits down at the table for dinner. The day had been amazing, despite the rough start. And her Dad had even flown her Maman and Papa out to spend the day with her. They couldn’t stay for long, they had the bakery to run after all, but it was still nice to see them. Marinette glances at the end of the table where a place was set, but no one sat.

“What’s with the extra plate?” Jason asks, turning to Alfred who was sitting in the chair next to it instead of his regular seat.

“It is for Miss Le.” He says, and she can almost feel everyone freeze. Her throat tightens, but she still smiles at him with watery eyes.

“Thank you, Alfred.” She says quietly. He nods.

“You are quite welcome, Miss.” He says. She clears her throat and looks back at her Maman, noticing that her smile was also a little sad. It had been all day, but Marinette was certain it wasn’t anything to worry about. Bridgette had been close with her Maman, surely she was just mourning her today, openly for the first time in a long time.

---

Marinette groans at whoever is trying to wake her up.

“Five more minutes.” She mutters, burrowing deeper under the covers. It was summer break, why wouldn’t anyone let her sleep?

“Come on sweetheart, your Papa and I want to talk to you and Bruce.” Her Maman says, and she immediately sits up. Was she in trouble? Had her Maman figured out the whole Batman thing? Had she figured out the Ladybug thing?

“Uh, okay.” She says, sliding out of bed and stepping into slippers. She wasn’t sure how serious the conversation was, but since her Maman didn’t stop her from walking out of the room in her pajamas, she relaxed slightly. It couldn’t be that serious, right? She follows her Maman into her Dad’s study, glancing wearily at the clock in the corner. Her Maman was often too observant. Hopefully she didn’t notice anything odd about the clock. They all sit in silence for an entire minute until Marinette can’t handle it anymore.

“Am I in trouble?” She asks hesitantly, looking between her parents’ faces.

“Of course not, we just- We noticed how different you are.” Her Maman says and Marientte frowns, furrowing her eyebrows. Different? She was different?

“How?” She asks.

“You’re happier than I’ve seen you in months honey. Your smile reaches your eyes, you talk freely, you seem peaceful.” Her Maman says softly, and Marinette blinks in surprise. Had she really been so easy to read in Paris? Had her parents really been able to tell? She’d wanted to hide it from them, not let them see how everything was piling on her, crushing her. She didn’t want to worry them.

“What do you- how-” She stumbles over her words, trying to figure out where she messed up.

“We didn’t know why until we talked to Bruce.” Her Papa says and she turns to glare at her Dad, feeling a little betrayed. He holds up his hands in surrender.

“Marinette, you didn’t tell me not to tell them about your class.” He reminds her, and she huffs.

“Guess we can cross mind reader off the list of things you can do.” She mumbles, making her Papa snort.

“It wasn’t just that though. We’d seen how restrained you had become, how you never went out with friends and you stopped talking about them.” Her Maman says softly. Marinette grits her teeth, hugging herself to try and hold herself together.

“I didn’t want to worry you.” She says, her voice barely audible. That wasn’t the main reason though. She didn’t want to fight her parents, and if they knew everything going on with Lila, they’d definitely be akumatized. She couldn’t fight them. Not if she could help it.

“What would you say about transferring schools?” Her Maman asks suddenly, and Marinette jerks her head up, looking at her with wide eyes. Transfer schools? It would be great, amazing, fantastic, but- but her classmates would still come to the bakery. Still give her the same odd looks they’d been giving her since they found out that she’s a Wayne.

“What school?” She asks, because yes, that makes a difference. Chloe had transferred schools not long ago, and Marinette did not want to trade Lila for Chloe. She’d rather not deal with either of them, if she was being honest.

“Gotham Academy.” Her Maman says, and Marinette feels lucky that she wasn’t drinking anything, because she would have definitely done a spit take. Gotham Academy? As in, live in Gotham year round? What-

“Are you giving me up?” She asks, suddenly hurt. Her Maman’s eyes widen and her Papa pulls her into a giant hug.

“Of course not honey.” He says, rubbing her back gently and squeezing her lightly.

“We asked Bruce if he thought Gotham Academy would be a good school for you. He offered to let you fly home some weekends, and any of the breaks you want. Or to fly us out here if you have time off school. You don’t have to say yes, and you don’t have to make a decision right now.” Her Maman reassures her as her Papa lets her go. Marinette turns to look at her Dad, his face unreadable.

“Would you really be okay with that?” She asks, and he nods.

“We all just want you to be happy, Marinette. Wherever that may be. And we’re all willing to work together to do that.” He says and she smiles, letting out a soft sigh.

“I- I’d need to think about it a little more,” She says, running through the idea in her head. It seemed perfect, besides the whole ‘bouncing back to Paris for attacks’ thing. But she’d been doing it all summer, it had been fine so far. And maybe, maybe, Hawkmoth would even be defeated by the end of summer. No matter what, things were changing and Marinette was trying her best to keep up.

Next

Tag list:  @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @laurcad123 @waiting247 @jayjayspixiepop @mizzy-pop @jjmjjktth @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @nerd-nowandforever @tazanna-blythe @jaybird-and-co @jumpingjoy82 @lady-bee-fechin @corporeal-terrestrial

[sohotthateveryonedied]

Hiii!! I really love your tumblr posts and I'm pretty new to the Batfam (meaning I have only read fics and textposts about them, no comics) and I wanted to ask about the year Bruce/Batman gets "lost in time". I know general things of what the kids have been doing–Dick became batman and fired Tim from robin, giving it to Damian, everyone thinking Tim was crazy for believing Bruce was alive, (don't really know what Jason was up to though, was he still murderous towards Tim? Does the pit still affect him? Also I have no idea about Cass and Duke, were they introduced at this point??) Anyways, my real question was why was Bruce lost in time, what villain put him there? And how did he get out? And how long was he "dead"? Was Bruce in another reality or like just asleep the whole time? Oh! And how soon did this happen after Damian got introduced to the family–a couple months?

I'm so sorry this is so long, but I hope you answer and thank you!!

(I’m going to try and cover all my bases here by going into how exactly Bruce “died,” what went down during the Battle For the Cowl, what the Batkids did while Bruce was gone, and how Bruce came back. Hopefully it all makes sense?? We’ll see how it goes lmao.)

Part 1 - What Happened to Bruce:

So there was this event called Final Crisis (which I won’t go completely into since it would make this post a million times longer than it already is), but the bottom line is that Darkseid wants to overthrow reality and release his Anti-Life Equation, which would overthrow the whole planet and turn everyone into slaves. (If you’re interested in knowing more about the storyline, here’s a Reddit thread that explains it WAY better than I could.) 

What I CAN tell you is that during his final confrontation with Darkseid, Bruce is hit by an Omega Beam and turned into a burnt chicken nugget killed. Poor guy.

Final Crisis #6

Clark and Diana bring the body back to the Batcave and break the news to the Batfamily. Batman #687 covers a good portion of the aftermath such as Bruce’s funeral, the Batfamily grieving, and Dick coming to terms with his new responsibility of becoming Batman.

Batman #687

Part 2 - Battle For the Cowl: 

Musical chairs time, fellas! After word gets out that Batman is gone, Gotham erupts into chaos. Dick doesn’t want to take over the mantle, Tim needs Dick to take over the mantle, and Jason says “fuck it” and takes over the mantle himself because somebody around here has to. He becomes this murderous psychopathic Batman and starts taking out criminals with deadly force because someone’s gotta do the job, so it might as well be him.

Batman: Battle For the Cowl #1

(Okay honestly, this series had some pretty bad characterization overall, which sucks since it’s such an important storyline. Jason is portrayed as this violent psychopath, which...okay, he was kind of insane after the Pit and all, but not to this degree. Personally, I choose to owe the bad characterization to Bruce’s death because as much as Jason resents Bruce for all he’s done, he does still love him and losing him would be devastating, which would exacerbate his already fragile mental health. As for Damian, this happens roughly three years after his first appearance, so we can assume it’s been a few months since he first joined the family. He’s still relatively new at this point, so nobody knows how to write him yet. He ends up being depicted as if his main two personality traits are Bratty and Assassin-Child and that’s it. It’s all just a mess.)

Anyway, Tim tells Dick to become Batman and stop Jason’s reign of terror. Dick says no, so Tim follows Jason’s lead by saying “fuck it” and putting on the cowl himself. He goes to confront Jason, which ends in Jason beating the crap out of him (again) and leaving him for dead after Tim declines his offer to become Jason’s Robin. Dick goes to save Tim and ends up fighting Jason. 

Battle For the Cowl #3

Dick wins, Jason disappears, Tim is fine, and Dick finally gets his head out of his ass and becomes Batman. 

Part 3 - What Happens to Each Batkid While Bruce is “Dead”?:

Dick: 

As I said, Dick becomes the new Batman a month after Bruce’s death. He’s got big shoes to fill, and it takes some time for him to get used to his new role. He and Damian end up flipping around the classic Batman and Robin dynamic, with Batman now as the fun counterpart to Robin’s edginess. Dick, Damian, and Alfred relocate to the penthouse above the Wayne Foundation building, operating out of a secret Bat-Bunker in the basement.

Batman #688

Jason: 

After Battle For the Cowl, Jason is still batshit insane and determined to make Dick’s already stressful life even harder by becoming a supervillain with an ugly costume and an even uglier hairstyle. (I know it’s just because the artist sucked, but still. Jason is horrifying to look at during this time.) He mostly just gets on Dick’s nerves by running around Gotham with his new sidekick Scarlet and killing criminals as Batman and Robin wannabes. Eventually, Dick has Jason committed to Arkham Asylum and he hangs out there until Bruce returns.

Batman and Robin (2009) #5

Tim: 

Tim...doesn’t do great after Bruce’s death, mentally. Dick makes Damian Robin, his reasoning being that Robin is more of a sidekick and he sees Tim as his equal. By making Damian Robin, Dick hopes that it will give him the stability he needs to keep him from straying back toward the “bad” side. (It’s the right move ultimately, although his execution was pretty messed up since he didn’t discuss it with Tim beforehand, but he’s allowed to make mistakes. Dick’s father just died and now he’s in charge of picking up the pieces of their broken family. It’s a lot to handle.) 

Long story short, Tim has a breakdown, realizes that Bruce is alive, dons the Red Robin identity, and cuts ties with his family to travel the world in search of proof. It’s a rough time. 

Red Robin #1

Damian: 

Our little guy becomes Robin! So proud of him! As I explained earlier, Dick makes Damian his Robin with the assumption that it will keep him out of trouble, and he’s right on that account. He mentors Damian, teaching him how to channel his violent instincts into something productive, and it works! Slowly but surely, Damian makes the transition from bratty assassin to actual hero!

Batman and Robin (2009) #22

Cass:

Duke sadly was not introduced at this point in time, so he missed out on all the pandemonium. Cass, however, has been Batgirl for years by now, but she got kind of pushed aside by the writers after Bruce’s death. Bruce disappears shortly after adopting Cass, but once he was “dead,” the writers sort of moved Cass around for a while, not quite knowing what to do with her. First she was with the Outsiders. Then they got disbanded and Cass tried forming a new network of heroes to take over for Batman if needed. Then she helped out in said network during Battle for the Cowl, taking care of a newly ravaged Gotham. Then Cass gave the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie Brown after she became disillusioned with the role, thanks to the loss of her father and mentor. Then Cass picked up and moved to Hong Kong to “follow Bruce’s plans” by continuing whatever work he had set up for her there. It was all very vague and confusing, and Cass more or less got swept under the rug during this time. Thanks, writers.

Batgirl (2009) #1

Part 4 - How Bruce Came Back: 

When the Blackest Night storyline happens, the Justice League realizes that the corpse buried under Bruce’s grave is apparently not the real one and that he’s actually alive out there somewhere! How wild is that! This is further proven by Dick after he places Bruce’s body in a Lazarus Pit to revive, which has the same result because it’s very clearly Not Bruce and they should have listened to Tim from the start.

Batman and Robin (2009) #9

Anyway, what actually happened is that the Omega Beams that Darkseid shot at Bruce didn’t kill him, but rather blasted him back through time to the prehistoric era with his memories wiped. The Omega Energy inside of Bruce ends up catapulting him through various time periods, which is all part of Darkseid’s plan. With each time-hop, Bruce builds up more Omega Energy in his body which, when he gets back to his original time period, will be unleashed and destroy everything.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

It’s been a little under two years since Final Crisis, though in-universe it’s uncertain exactly how long Bruce has been “dead.” We can assume it’s been a year, give or take. The way he comes back is too scientific and complicated for me to understand, so uhhhh the bottom line is that Tim and a few Leaguers save Bruce at the Vanishing Point and the day is saved! Hooray! 

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6

(If you want to read about how it actually goes down, then I seriously recommend reading Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. It’s only six issues, so it’s a quick read and it explains the situation far better than I ever could.)

Bruce eventually reunites with his family after spying on them for a period of time as Insider to see what has changed in his absence:

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home

After that, things quickly settle back into their new normal. Dick and Damian stay on as Batman and Robin. Bruce goes back to being Batman as well, with him handling Batman Incorporated business and Dick continuing as Gotham’s defender. Tim keeps the Red Robin outfit, Steph stays on as Batgirl, and Cass becomes Black Bat. Jason stays in Arkham for a while before filing an appeal to be moved to a regular prison. He kills 82 inmates in less than a week and gets transferred back to Arkham, which he promptly escapes from. It’s a ride, I tell ya.

Aaaaand that’s about it! I hope this answered all of your questions!

[autisticcassandracain]

I have many thoughts on the weird phenomena in the DC fandom and the Batfam fandom specifically where probably the majority of people just straight up. haven’t interacted with the source material. and almost all of those thoughts can be summarized as ‘lmao that’s weird and mildly concerning’.

and because I’m annoying I will list them all here right now <3

1. To preface this post, I mean, obviously, comics are inaccessible as all hell, both in the disability kind of way and the ‘you need to understand the concept of hypertime to fully comprehend the DC timeline’ kind of way. Because of this, even if you don’t have a disability that prevents you from reading comics, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to look at the amount of comics you need to read to have even a base understanding of a character and go ‘no thanks <3′ and just enjoy fanart and fanfic in a vacuum. Ultimately, this is fandom, this is supposed to be fun, it doesn’t really matter.

2. That said, it’s VERY weird to me that the majority of this fandom just straight up hasn’t interacted with the source material, and moreover, that it’s considered rude to tell people that they should do so. It’s especially weird considering the amount of fanon-only fans I’ve seen who straight up have a superiority complex over canon. The idea that it’s gatekeeping to tell fans of something to actually interact with canon is just. so weird, and a fundamental misunderstanding of what ‘gatekeeping’ actually entails. 

3. But honestly I’m less interested in discussing the ways in which canon and fanon fans should interact with each other (personally, I think it would be helpful to create separate tags of some kind, but that’d require quite a big overhaul of the current fandom state) than in figuring out how this actually happened in the first place. On the one hand, it’s obvious; long-running superhero comics the way DC writes them have made themselves so thoroughly inaccessible that most people are simply too daunted to even try. Most media has a cohesive beginning and end (or at least, a planned end somewhere). Comics just... don’t.

But I do think it says something that, even among people who are clearly interested in the characters (since they have, you know, entire blogs about them), the effort to get into comics just seems to be too much to even bother. This really doesn’t bode well for the future of DC Comics. Obviously, I am no expert on anything at all ever, but I’d personally be surprised if DC survives beyond the few decades, at least in its current form/without a big overhaul.

4. But on the other hand, I don’t think the confusing state of DC Comics is the only thing to blame here. Fandom has a well-known problem with reducing any character down to archetypes to more easily ship and write fic/make content with. This problem is particularly prominent in fanfic, which, if you read enough of it, you’ll eventually start seeing not just the same tropes and trends, but essentially the same fics over and over again. And not just within the same fandom; everywhere, or every large fandom, at least. 

Fanon Batfam is entirely built on a bunch of those tropes; insecure/depressed sadboy Tim, team mom with optional hidden trauma/emotional problems Dick, bad boy with a heart of gold + sadboy combo Jason, abused sadboy Damian/angry easily-villified-for-fic-reasons monster Damian, good dad Bruce for found family fic and bad dad Bruce for angst fic, etc. This all culminates in a found family dynamic that’s generic and malleable to whatever fic the writer wants to write.

(This isn’t getting into the ship fic, which I avoid like the plague because the vast majority of it is incest, but I’d bet real actual money that the tropes in those fics fall under what is often preferred by the Migratory Slash Fandom.)

By having a decent excuse not to get into canon (the inaccessibility of comics) and a, by now, well-established fanon fandom, many fans feel free to use the batfam fandom as essentially an excuse to write whatever fic with reduced archetypes and tropes they personally feel the itch to write, without having to bother with even consuming a canon. This is compounded by the fact that canon itself is often contradictory and frankly bad, meaning that whatever interpretation of a character you want/need to go for your fic is at least theoretically backed up by canon (for example, you can just as easily cast Bruce as an abusive shithole dad who his kids need to get away from as a loving father figure who cares deeply for his children), which you can always use as a defense if people question your characterization.

5. This focus on fandom trends and tropes over actual creativity or care for the characters is also visible in the way bigotry manifests in this fandom; namely, in literally the exact way you’d expect. The female characters and characters of colour are shuffled to the side, non-existent, vilified, and/or reduced to harmful stereotypes. 

Barbara is probably the one I saw the most often in fanfic, but usually just as ‘Dick’s girlfriend’, and even then, she was often vilified for Dick angst (especially in fics about examining Dick’s trauma from his canon sexual assault; Kori also often gets the short end of the stick in those). After that, probably Stephanie, who fanon fans don’t really seem to know what to do with, so she’s basically just there as comic relief waffle girl, most of the time, though sometimes she can be used to either further Tim angst or further vilify Tim, whatever the fic calls for. Cass has gotten included more in batfam fics as of late, likely in response to critiques of fandom racism for leaving her out, but again, it’s clear people don’t actually know what to do with her. She’s often reduced to a racist stereotype of a quite, stoic therapist for whatever guy du jour needs it. That, or she’s in Hong Kong and just not there. Duke especially gets left in the dust in fandom, usually just being non-existent, but when he’s there, he’s almost always nothing more than the straight man for the actual fun characters to play off of. Talia probably has it the worst, though, and almost universally gets vilified by fanon stans in order to write sadboy Damian.

All of this is extremely predictable behaviour and falls entirely in line with general fandom misogyny and racism; ignoring or vilifying women and characters of colour, or using them as very minor characters at best. The only two characters of colour who aren’t regularly left out of fic are Dick and Damian, who are both also conveniently the two characters most often drawn and written in a whitewashed manner. In addition, there’s a real trend of demonizing Damian in fanon fics where he isn’t written as an abused sadboy, which I’d argue is in no small part due to fandom racism, considering Damian’s behaviour is in no way as bad as Jason’s, who doesn’t get anywhere close to the same demonization and gets woobiefied instead. I also find it convenient that Damian is probably the batboy who receives the most vilification in fic, when he’s the most obviously non-white of the batboys they’re willing to acknowledge.

Fandom often cries for more diversity in canon, only to ignore the diversity already there and focus on the same generic white guys. The batfam fandom is a brilliant example of this.

Which is not to say that fandom racism and misogyny isn’t present in the canon parts of the fandom (and canon itself); it absolutely 100% is. But I’ve found that canon fans are also more likely to like and care about at least one of the characters I’ve listed as ignored/vilified, and are willing to create and consume content for them, whereas fanon fans... aren’t, really. I’ve never seen a fan of fanon Cass the way I’ve seen fans of fanon Dick, for example. Obviously, this could just be by coincidence, or I’ve just surrounded myself with people like that, but it’s been a trend I noticed. Racism and misogyny is present in every part of this fandom and should be addressed as such, but I feel like it manifests the most blatantly in the fanon parts of this fandom. 

(I’d also recommend the articles Migratory Slash Fandom’s Focus and Beige Blank Slates, which expand more on the type of fandom racism I think is especially prominent in the batfam fandom, as well as literally every article in the What Fandom Racism Looks Like series.)

6. All this leads me to conclude that the majority of fanon fans don’t actually like the characters all that much; they’re convenient excuses for them to participate in fandom. Which I also think is, in no small part, a reason why so many of them react so negatively to being told to pick up a comic; they came to this fandom specifically to consume it as a fandom, because they wanted the fandom experience without having to consume a canon. 

This is not a phenomena unique to the batfam fandom (again, see the Migratory Slash Fandom), but it does fascinate me. While fandom is often said to be an experience focusing on transformative art, I think it’s also safe to say that, especially as fandom has become more mainstream, an increasing amount of people are looking to it less as a way to engage with their favourite pieces of media, and more as a type of media in and of itself. I think the reasons for this are similar to the reasons mass media entertainment like the MCU are so popular; you gain a lot of enjoyment out of it with very little risk involved. 

By consuming the same fics of the same characters (or the same archetypes) over and over again, you are rarely at risk of being challenged or even disappointed. It’s often very clear right from the start whether or not a fic will appeal to you, and if it isn’t, it’s easy to just look for another one. It requires less emotional investment than most other types of media, even ‘popcorn media’ like the MCU - or, yes, DC Comics. It’s safe, it’s enjoyable, it’s comforting, like McDonalds, but just like McDonalds, it’s ultimately bland and unsubstantial. 

7, TL;DR. Ultimately, I don’t think it’s like, wrong to enjoy the fanon version of the batfam without wanting to engage with canon, and I certainly don’t think it’s okay to harrass people over it. But I do think it’s in large part based on a desire to interact with fandom rather than other pieces of media because people are scared of being let down by those pieces of media (or worse, just uninterested in actually thinking), which is mildly concerning. 

[mickylikesstuff]

Status: Online: Chapter 1: Midori no Akuma

Next

Masterlist  

AO3  

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Tokyo, Japan

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Steam is released after a man exits the shower, He is clad in a black turtleneck and high-end sweat pants with a towel on his head drying off his dark hair.

Damian Wayne gazes to the horizon from the top floor. The young man gazes at the tall buildings and busy streets filled with cars and hurried people. They are staying at Tokyo’s top apartments with windows looking at the clean bustling city.

His intoxicating green eyes drifted towards the gaming set up where the updated Nerve Gear is all wired and installed.

The only thing left is for him to log on to the reset beta testing account that he used before the full release of the game.

He was only worried about his Physical body since he will be left abandon and vulnerable. He is at ease though since Cassandra was with him for his first day. Her trips in Hong-Kong are done now that she is handling Japan. She was in the living room watching a ballet in the living room giving him a couple of orange slices. She can communicate now at best in the most efficient way possible.

“Are you worried?”

Damian nodded. Before his sister arrived, Father’s other associates in the Justice League of Japan arrived to assist him in the Beta-testing centers. Observing and taking notes on the technologies Nerve Gear and Cardinal System that is used.

Months ago, The Waynes are invited to be part of an investment in a gaming system that differs from the VR systems and promotes the game to them. The Nerve Gear technologies are used in the Japanese and US armies training but it is insufficient to train and exercise for muscle memory. After a friendly competition, Damian-who-never-loses, wins naturally for the reason to be wielding the katana all his life. Damian Wayne is offered to be part of the Closed Beta-testers before releasing the game.

He finished chatting with his family. Grayson’s Spawns, Mari and Jake are excited to see him logging on the game, they are very attentive students and knows how to deal with Damian’s pets. Todd, Thomas, and Drake have their greeting and congratulations on getting the game. Grayson still mothering him even after having two spawns, as always reminding him to eat and sleep after all the work in the nerve gear. Father is supporting him to have his work in the beta-testing in research purposes for the W.E. It's Grayson’s reaction that worries concern him since both he and Father announced that Damian has allowed getting in the game Grayson excused himself to talk to Bruce.

After their own talk, Richard invites Damian to his room to have a conversation. Richard has experienced in some way end himself with his Team in the same situation years ago, He warns Damian to be cautious about his thoughts and memories. Damian argues that things have changed since then, technology is now improving and that is the reason for him to go to make sure that the game is safe. And still, Grayson wishes him to understand that killing within the Game has its own moral issues after the death of his own team without even knowing that it was not real. He wishes Daman to be safe and he will not get in the way of his baby brother’s decisions.

Now that 3 months of Bug reporting, suggestions, and adjustments and also reports to the company and his family. He has the chance to see the world of Aincard again.

NCP glitching, Mobs spawning in random locations, Incomplete buildings. He felt like a spectator that helps out a god to correct its task.

Booting things up upon his computer, which is connected to the Nerve Gear on his bed.

Cass is right beside him, the woman now with one hand holding his hand while the other is holding a phone that is now on video chat with the whole family in it. With their screams and incoherent shouting. Todd even dared to speak of finding a special someone in the game. He will get back at him later. Once he logs off of course.

Lying down with the helmet situated in his head, He relaxed his muscles and closed his eyes. The last thing he needed to do is the voice activation code to the Starting program.

“Link Start!”

Damian declared as his consciousness has entered the Game.

Flashes of colors flying upon him and General Booting systems are prepared and online.

<Touch> … (OK)

<Sight>… (OK)

<Hearing>… (OK)

Loading … 100%

Loading…

Complete

SWORD ART ONLINE

In the Blue customization room, he entered the codes and password.

He will not admit but he did miss the world of Aincrad. With all its glory and beauty that comes with it. He is welcomed first in the Character Creation Center. The USB that is connected now in the system contains his old account that is reset back to level one but the settings and customizations are the same as before for his preferences.

As before he chooses his Avatar to be alike as what a mixture of Thomas, Todd, Grayson, and Drake is. Stern Blue eyes, Long Black Hair, a scar on his left cheek, and a large yet slender body built (The Wayne Traits). His language settings are in Japanese and English combined.

And the last thing he needs to do is to have a good Username. Now that Dick’s warning is ingrained in him. He has to give himself a proper name. Green Dragon is a good one that he used before. Annoyance came through him when it was declared was taken both in Japanese and English. Then he just typed again without a thought. Akuma.

Damian paused; his eyes furrowed as the name reminds him of the terrorist attacks that happened in France years ago. A shiver came down to his body as the memory of a demonic-looking butterfly came after him, luckily it was captured in a magical jar by a French Catwoman look-alike. She was … enchanting to say the least.

Her green lenses covered her cat-eye slits wears a green and black costume all the while she wields a multi-purpose baton. The Family ends up assisting the heroine since her partner’s identity is compromised by the terrorist.  His brothers teased him endlessly for having his own Catwoman. Don’t blame him for admiring a woman (Ahem-a crush-Ahem).

Damian types again…

Midori no Akuma.

In the memory of the retired heroine, he uses it. Just to have a little confidence. Damian watches with his breath hitched hoping that name is accepted.

Midori no Akuma

…

…

…

Username Accepted

Proceed (O) (X)

[O]

A Flash of Blinding White light washed over him as he seems to be floating off the blue room.

His Avatar is now welcomed to the Teleportation Plaza. Where people filled the streets in Town of the Beginning Players like him, 10,000 people wandering around and talking to their peers and forming squads. It is overwhelming to see a sea of people from the previous 500 beta-testers that played the game.

His light green shirt and pants have now appeared in a sea of red, blue, yellow, and other greens.

He tested out his senses. His sight and hearing are alright. Flexing his hands and arms are satisfactory. He can even feel the texture of the clothes he is wearing now. The heat of the sun and the morning breeze brush against his skin. The pavement he walked is made of stone and the sound of his footsteps is heading towards his location.

Akuma is heading to his favorite tower to climb upon and perch to look to its viewpoint. Years being Robin does make things easy for him in terms of mapping and planning about the [Origin Planes]. The ex-assassin also takes note of the areas of the [Frenzy Boars], [Stinging Bees], and newly introduced spawns [Feral Wolves] and [Wild Horses]. It became his ideal to add animals that are capable of transport to gain a [Beast Tamer] title. And no, it is not because of him being home-sick from all his pets.

Back to business.

In the beta-testing, five other fellow beta-testers are provided their account numbers for him to memorize and invite them all to a group chat. It was ideal for them to gain information about new updates and announcements. They all agreed on it, and Akuma is fond of his new allies. They gain his trust in such a small amount of time and now they are forming a team alliance.

“Hn, it seems I have to complete the group chat now.”

He immediately types to the friend list all the beta testers that he hung out associate with. The likes of Kirito, Argo, Lavender, Coper, and Diavel. they all accept the invitations except Kirito.

“Hm, It seems the kid is busy in his errands.” Akuma thought as the first message pops up.

{Beta-Chat is Now Online}

<Argo is online>

<Lavender is online>

<Coper is online>

<Diavel is online>

<Akuma no Midori is Online>

Lavender: Um Guys, who is Akuma-san?

Coper: Eh? Hello

Lavender: Hi Coper! You are the guy from the Beta-test, right?

Coper: Yeah, So?

Lavender: It's Me! Lavender!

Diavel: Hahaha so we are all beta testers here in the Chat?

Argo: It seems so.

Argo: If my guess is right then Akuma- kun was previously Dragon.

Argo: Am I right?

Midori no Akuma: Correct as always Argo.

Coper: wait a sec. You’re Dragon!?

Lavender: HI! Dragon-kun, oh wait Akuma-san.

Lavender: Hi! Argo

Lavender: Hi! Diavel

Midori no Akuma: I Was Dragon, call me Akuma from now on. Since someone took MY last username.

Midori no Akuma: Call me Akuma instead.

Midori no Akuma: Hello to you too Lavender

Diavel: hello 2 u 2, my fellow demon~  : D

Diavel: hehe~

Coper: Whoa someone stole your name! Not cool dude!

Argo: Yes Coper, it is unappropriated if it is a beta-tester who took it, but if it is a newbie. Well, what are the chances of having such a common name to be used anyway?

Lavender: I Agree with Argo, it’s a good thing I got to keep mine though. Whew!

Diavel: Meh. Devil was taken in the Beta-testing so I changed the spelling instead. Lol

Coper: Mood, well minus the “O”.

Agro: Oy cud yah change the stupid name! Akuma!

[Midori no Akuma Change Chat name to Akuma]

Akuma: Satisfied?

Argo: Very

Coper: Mu~, why does he always get the Badass usernames?

<Kirito is Online>

Kirito: Hello?

Argo: Kirito, it’s about time you got here

Kirito: Sorry, I was training some newbies and showing them around.

Diavel: that’s fine it's not that urgent though.

Coper: Mu~, Who’s the lucky student?

Kirito: Some guy Klein, a Hardcore player, waited 3 days in line to get the game with his squad.

Lavender: OMG! 3 Days!

Kirito: Yep… and he got himself hit in the nuts by a Frenzy Boar

Coper:  Pft!Hahahahaha

Diavel: Hahahaha

Argo: Hehe.

Lavender: Uff. That gotta hurt.

Akuma: Amusing, I assume that this Klein is a Newbie?

Kirito: Yes, and an aspiring Katana weapon user too.

Akuma: Your warning is now heeded.

Coper: Guys I OTG, Level grinding, and stuff. Chat with yah later!

<Coper is Offline>

Lavender: Me to I invited a friend with me gonna show her around. Maybe I’ll introduce you to her soon. See yah!

<Lavender is Offline >

Diavel: Nice to see you again Kirito, Good Luck with Klein. TTFN.

<Diavel is Offline>

Argo: If you need help, You Know Where to find me

Akuma: Not everyone knows where to find you

Kirito: Exactly

Argo: :)

<Argo is Offline>

Kirito: Hey Drago Akuma-sensei? I just want to thank you. Yeah, know about everything.

Akuma: …

Akuma: You earned it. Now go on you have a nutjob to teach.

Kirito:  Yes Sir! Bye!

<Kirito is Offline>

<Akuma is Offline>

Akuma smiled from the tower he climbed while chatting with the BT. Loving the view and finishing mapping out the [Origin Plains] and across him. He can see a Red and a Blue figure that seems to be Kirito in the Frenzy Boar fields.  Akuma hummed in satisfaction and excitement.

"Well, here we go, "

Damian Midori no Akuma launches himself off the tower and begins to hunt down the hidden loots he remembers. And off he is at a good start, on one sunny day in Aincrad. Soaring down like a Fallen Angel.

Masterlist   AO3   Next

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[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 14: Death

ao3

part 2, part 3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

Marinette stands in the same spot Tim had probably been however long ago, and starts talking.

“I'm sorry I didn't come earlier, but I just heard.” She let out a bitter chuckle, “They called me halfway through my first class and said that my grandfather was on the phone and that there was a family emergency. It took me a second to realise they were talking about Alfred, even though we all think of him that way, he would never introduce himself as such. Not unless it meant they wouldn’t let him speak to me otherwise. That probably should have been the first of many indicators that something was wrong. And then I actually spoke to Alfred and I don't really think I registered what he said at first.” She smiled sadly, " how could I? I still don't know if it was that I didn't want to believe him or genuinely didn't think there was a possibility he was speaking the truth. "

She fell silent then, a lone tear slowly making its way down her cheek, “when I walked into the cave, I was expecting Cass, Dick and Tim to be preparing for patrol, not Dick lecturing a little kid in a Robin suit. Were you even planning on telling me I had a little brother or were you waiting for one of the others to tell me first?”

She's crying she realises dimly as tears trace their way down her face.

“Who’s apparently Talia al Ghul’s son. He launched himself at me with his katana, screaming, “there’s an intruder in the cave Grayson,” she makes a crying laughing sound, “under any other circumstances it would have probably been funny, but I just stared at Dick in horror and Dick had to grab Damian back by the cape. Said something to him and he stormed off. I just continued to stare. Dick in the Bat suit, was not something I thought I’d ever see again. He’s gonna break y’know, with you gone. The whole family has fallen apart, Cass left for Hong Kong, handing the mantle of Batgirl to Stephanie, I don’t even know what’s going on with Jay, Alfred’s keeping it together but that’s just Alfred, Babs is probably the most level headed right now and Tim-”

She broke off into a sigh, “well, I’m worried about him. Apparently, I witnessed the after effects of Dick giving the Robin mantle to Damian without telling him. That clearly didn’t go well. I have no idea what he was thinking doing that without talking to Tim beforehand, I get his reasoning, I really do but that was a shitty thing to do. I can’t even begin to imagine how he feels-”

She breaks off again a sob escaping her, “Dick sorta caught me up on the things I missed, and I looked through the cave footage, and I’m not the least shocked about Tim’s reaction. I had to call Cassie Sandsmark and Steph to have some idea of what happened, it’s still very vague but it’s all I know. But, the two of them were clear on one thing, he’s leaving to continue his search. Because Dick didn’t believe him, told him they’d put him in Arkham. Honestly, I’m not even sure how it devolved into this mess.”

She sits down facing the grave and after a considerable pause continues, “I’m staying. Mr. Bug can take care of Paris. Dick’s going to need help. They’ve moved out of the Manor, using the penthouse instead. Probably too many painful memories for Alfred and Dick. And I don’t know about Damian. Dick’s signed himself up for a lot with him. I can’t leave him to take care of both Damian and Gotham alone. You might’ve managed it but you’re not exactly a model of mental health either. Maybe me being here will help with Damian’s mindset of being the Batman’s sole heir since he’s the blood son. Doubt Talia told him about the biological daughter. Afterall he had no idea who I was.”

She curls in on herself, sobbing freely, “It isn’t fair. I know Death isn’t fair not that Life is either but I can’t help but feel angry by the unfairness of it all. We still need you. Every single one of us, even if we might never get the chance to tell it to your face.”

"I still need you," she whispers, her voice breaking.

She stops, perhaps her father’s allergy to processing emotions was genetic, “I read Tim’s research or whatever little he had. I think he’s right. I hope he’s right. However, I doubt that he knows for sure either. But I need him to be right. I need you to be back. I need whatever corpse that has been buried in the ground here to be a fake or a clone or, or something,” her voice getting more desperate as she continues, “You can’t be dead. I need my dad.”

She sits there for a little longer, letting out all the tears. Eventually she stands up, pulling herself together and wiping away her tears. Leaving the cemetery hoping her brother’s right and her father’s lost in time.

[peppersonironi]

How I Picture a Batfam Age Reversal

I’m going to write this as a fic (And I want to go on into a young justice world where dick forms the team and his siblings are protective) but here is the outline in bullet points in case anyone is interested. Please note this is VERY first draft.

Ages (At end) & Order:

Damian- 24

Duke- 21

Stephanie- 20

Tim- 21

Cassandra- 19

Jason- 19

Barbara- 15

Dick- 13

Damian is Ten when he is sent to live w/ his father. Bruce is 30.

They don’t really work well together at first. But Selina, Alfred, and Clark somehow get it through Bruce’s thick skull that he has to care for this child.

Damian keeps sneaking out on patrol, against B’s wishes. Eventually, he let’s Damian join and tells him to choose a name (Not what we meant, Bruce!)

Damian wants to go for something like Shadow, or Demon, but Bruce puts his foot down. He says that Damian shouldn’t try to be darkness.

Damian is pouting in the gardens when he finds a wounded robin. It’s wing is broken. He demands that the animal should be taken to a shelter, and carries it in his hand the whole way there.

The bird makes it, and Damian demands to be called Robin. He designs his suit, going slightly more colorful. “I might be called Robin, but I am NOT wearing brown, Pennyworth.”

Bruce introduces him to Superboy (Jon, note: less age dif) and the pair are close friends.

He is Robin for a little over seven years before he begins to fight with Bruce about being allowed to patrol alone, and being his own hero. (basically what happened w/ Dick).

Damian leaves Gotham, opting to claim Bludhaven. Jon joins him. He suggests they call each other Nightwing and Flamebird. Damian thinks it’s a bit childish, but he can’t say no to Jon. They’re costumes are here. (done by @hyperactive-lectiophile! Fantastic job!)

They eventually realize they’re in love w/ each other, all while trying to figure their lives  out. Damian briefly tries to join the police. He hates it. Eventually, he enrolls in BH college for a major in Art and a minor in business.

Later in Gotham, the We Are Robin/Robin War stuff happens. Long story short, Duke is adopted. 

Damian is angry to find out he has a new brother, goes to Gotham to yell at Bruce, but then meets Duke. They bond, and are close siblings. Damian makes his father promise to not adopt any more strays.

Stephanie Brown wants to stop her Father, so she sews up a costume and goes out as Batgirl. Bruce is apprehensive at first, but his family basically yells at him to train the poor girl before she gets hurt.

He does, and after Steph meets Damian, who she absolutely adores (He loves her too. The way she pisses his father off is legendary), Stephanie decides she wants to be Robin. Batgirl was good for dealing with her father, but she wants to belong to this new family, and, w/ Damian’s blessing, she makes a new costume.

Unfortunately, after a while, Stephanie is killed by Black Mask (her death is faked, like in the comics, but the Fam doesn’t know)

Enter Tim Drake. Batman has been going crazy over grief, and not even Nightwing, Catwoman (this is SOOOO batcat, btw) or The Signal can calm him down. Tim steps right up, and demands to be robin.

Damian and Bruce fight over this. Surprisingly, Damian is the one who thinks Tim should be given a chance. He sees how his father has been acting. Damian knows that Tim must be brilliant to figure out their identities, and thinks that should count for something. Duke takes his side, knowing that it takes guts to talk to batman, and be willing to join him. Bruce, meanwhile, is a constant chant of “no more dead robins”. After a while, and lots of arguing, Tim takes his place as Robin. They redesign the suit, and he takes his place as robin.

It’s little while after this that Stephanie comes back. Tim offers Robin back, but Stephanie declines. They talk and grow closer. At one point they talk about Stephanie’s new moniker. She says she doesn’t want to be Batgirl either. She wants something new. Tim suggests Spoiler (Bad pun turned brilliant idea?).

Cassandra Cain arrives on the scene next. She saves the commissioner’s life (like No Man’s Land, minus No Man’s Land), and Stephanie immediately imprints on this tiny assassin child (So do the rest of the family, but Steph claims the fourteen-year old first. She and Bruce fight over custody.). She offers Cass Batgirl. Gotham gained a new vigilante, and Bruce Wayne adopted a new child. (Faster than the comics, I KNOW. But Cass deserves happiness)

Everyone loves their new sister, and everyone spoils her. Duke is the one to take her to a ballet the first time. She immediately begs to be put into lessons.

Somewhere in here Tim’s mom dies and his dad is in a coma. Bruce takes him in.

Eventually, Bruce decides to offer Tim Red Robin, hoping to avoid the strife he had with Damian. (Like in the comics, Bruce was going to give Jason Red Robin)

Tim is unsure of this, and puts off deciding. Then little Jason Peter Todd decides to jack the tires of the batmobile and is immediately taken in.

Everyone is captivated by the tiniest addition to their family, but it's also at this time that Jack Drake finds out about Robin and forces Tim to quit. Tim gives Jason his blessing to become Robin.

Everyone pitches in on helping train the newest Robin. Damian teaches the kid things he learned from the league (non-lethal things, since Damian loves this kid), Duke teaches him escrima fighting, Stephanie (Much to Bruce’s dismay) has a full seminar of the delicacies of glitter bomb making. Tim teaches the kid hacking, when he can get away from his dad. 

Unfortunately, when Jason has been Robin for almost a year, he is killed by the Joker.

The family is torn apart by greif. But this time around, Bruce has a much larger support system. All of them lean on each other.

The only time that Damian ever broke his no-kill rule while living with his father was to kill the Joker. He hunted and murdered the clown, sparing Harley. He had been friends with Quinzel since he was Robin, and knew how the Joker treated her. Harley became the batfam’s honorary aunt after this.

Bruce was too emotionally tired to fight with Damian over his actions, so no one said anything. Eventually, Bruce and Damian did argue. Damian refused to apologize,, though he did promise his father to never kill again. Their relationship was strained for a while, but they worked through it.

Less than a year later, Jack Drake dies, and Tim comes back onto the vigilante scene. He refuses to become Robin, however, choosing to take Bruce up on his offer and become Red Robin. He designs his own suit, and the world seems to slowly become normal. Or some semblance of it.

One night, the circus is in town and the whole family (except Alfred) is home. Duke, Tim, and Steph drag Bruce, Cass, and Damian to go see it.

It is on this night that Dick Grayson’s parents fall to their death. Dick is sent to live in juvi, meanwhile Bruce tries to adopt Dick. He succeeds, and the manor once again has a bright young child running through it’s halls.

Dick figures out the secret identities of his family and instantly demands to be allowed out. He wants to take down Zucko, and won’t settle for every single member hunting for him. Dick wants to take down his parent’s murdered himself. He tries to sneak out multiple times, but is always stopped.

Damian talks to Dick (They are extremely close) and explains the origins of Robin. He says that the mantle was born out of a want to distance himself from the revenge and violence of the league. Dick cries when he learns this and says that his own parents used to call him Robin. He suggests that the mantle is more than a personal need. Robin is Family.

Damian almost immediately demands that Dick be trained and help catch Zucko. Bruce is confused, as before, Damian was strongly against letting a nine-year-old fight crime. Damian explains (after much cajoling. He might be more emotionally open and healthy than when he first arrived in the manor, but the kid is still constipated) what Dick had said, and that Damian understands the kid’s need for direction. “When I first came here, I needed Robin. I might not have known it, but I did. Richard needs Robin now, as well.”

The family took sides on the issue, but eventually Dick (with the aid of his puppy-dog-eyes™) won everyone over. He got his own Robin costume, and they caught Zucko.

Dick refused to stop being Robin, and so Gotham gained a new bird.

Dick was Robin for almost two years when The Red Hood made his appearance in Gotham. No one knew what he wanted, as he didn’t seem to do much beyond killing criminals. They thought he was a vigilante at first, but then he began to take over the criminal underbelly of Gotham, regulating crime. On top of that, Red Hood targeted Robin. Attacking the boy wonder when no one else was around. After the red helmeted rogue let loose a few hints about the league of shadows, Damian interrogated his mother, who explained the identity of The Red Hood, and how she had set him on Gotham.

As soon as the family figured out the newcomer’s identity, and the reason he was alive Damian tracked him down. He knew how to deal with pit rage from his childhood, and brought the lost bird back to the nest.

The family was whole for the first time in years. Jason was still angry and resentful, but he had his family back. Jason was grateful for Damian taking revenge for him, and they were once again close. 

Slowly, Jason let everyone back in, including Bruce. Dick is wary at first of this new older brother, but the little chicken nugget quickly warms up to Jason, and even convinces him to teach him how to shoot a gun (In secret, of course, Dami and Bruce would blow a gasket). Jason couldn’t resist the kid. It was physically impossible.

A year later, Cass decides to pursue dance as her career. She gets a job with the Hong Kong Ballet company. She moves there, and decides to take a new moniker: Black Bat. Her family is so proud of her, but they miss her dearly. Duke visits often, bringing new back to the family.

The absence of Batgirl is filled after a while by Barbara Gordan. She makes her own costume and starts going out. Once again, Stephanie Brown adopts a smol bean (Well, not legally. The commissioner is still alive) and outfits her with a more Gotham-friendly suit and weaponry (I.e. heavy kevlar and leather)

Babs is taken whole-heartedly into the fold, and is made an honorary sister.

[latinotimdrake]

sure! I don't have time to get into everyone right now, but I can definitely talk a lot about the (bat)girls.

Barbara Gordon is the character pretty much everyone thinks of as the first Batgirl. she's not actually one of Batman's kids; she's the daughter of Jim Gordon (sometimes adopted, sometimes his niece- her exact parentage has gotten complicated over the years). She was Batgirl around the same time that Dick Grayson was Robin (the first Robin). in her original backstory, she was already an adult when she became Batgirl. she had a phd! she was a librarian! Subsequent reboots made her younger, closer to Dick in age. She eventually retired from being Batgirl... and then she was shot through the spine by the Joker in The Killing Joke, which was published in 1988.

(The Killing Joke is infamous for a lot of reasons and could be a whole other post of its own.)

Barbara was paralyzed from the waist down. Shortly after this, comics writers Kim Yale and John Ostrander decided to bring her back as a disabled hero. Babs became a full-time wheelchair user and the superhero Oracle, using her skills in library science, computer programming, and her connections in the hero community to act as an information broker and communications expert. Barbara would continue to operate as Oracle through the 90s and 2000s, until 2011 when the new 52 reboot made her Batgirl again. Every Barbara fan I've ever talked to hates this reboot for erasing Babs' disability and regressing her to an identity she had already grown out of. She is now kind of Batgirl and kind of Oracle, sometimes written as disabled and sometimes not, and she still lacks a lot of the character development she got in the 90s and 2000s.

Part of that development was mentoring Cassandra Cain, who showed up in Gotham when it was a post-apocalyptic war zone during the No Man's Land event. Cassandra was the daughter of two assassins and raised to be the perfect weapon by her father. To that end, he raised her without any exposure to any kind of language, so she would learn to read body language as her "first language". Despite this, Cassandra realized as a child that killing was wrong and escaped her father. She wandered the world for a while before reaching Gotham at 17, where she met Barbara and Jim Gordon and took on the mantle of Batgirl (with Babs' blessing). Babs also named her.

Cassandra's training as a child made her one of the best martial artists in the DC universe. She can see how a person is going to move before they do it and her reflexes are incredibly fast. Multiple people have mistaken her for a metahuman when seeing her fight, but she doesn't actually have powers; she's just that good. Her early experiences with death also gave her a rock-solid commitment to preserving life and upholding justice, almost stronger than Bruce. She looks up to Batman a lot, but she doesn't always do what he says; if she thinks he's made the wrong call, she'll tell him! and possibly beat him up, if she thinks that needs doing.

Cass was the first Batgirl to get a solo series: Batgirl (2000). it's really good, and if you're going to read any comic book I would recommend that one. After that, she didn't get a lot to do in the comics; she was banished to Hong Kong as part of Batman Incorporated for a while, briefly came back to Gotham as Black Bat, and then got erased in the new 52 reboot. Currently she's back as Batgirl in the new Birds of Prey series.

[image: two panels from Batgirl (2000) #14. Batman tells Cassandra, "It's your cave? I've had it set up for some time, but Oracle insisted on keeping you with her. I know about your conversation. I'm glad you want to use your identity. It makes you a more effective weapon." end description.]

(Apparently I only have panels of Cass.)

Stephanie Brown is interesting because she didn't start out as Batgirl. She started as Spoiler, the daughter of a Gotham villain who was out to spoil his plans. She was a supporting character for Robin (Tim Drake), and one of his love interests. She also became a supporting character in Batgirl and got really close with Cassandra. After Tim quit being Robin for a while, Stephanie got to become Robin! and then she was immediately killed off very brutally. She was dead for a while, and then revealed to actually be alive; this was after Cassandra had stopped being Batgirl, so Stephanie got to take the mantle.

While Steph probably knows Tim and Cass the best of anyone, she was Batgirl at the same that Damian was Robin (and Dick Grayson was Batman). I can't speak for other fans but I kind of see her as "their" Batgirl, way more than Bruce; Bruce would know her better as Spoiler or Robin. Steph has one of the more fraught relationships with Bruce. She's not his kid, and he never treated her very well while she was working with him. Steph also got erased in the new 52; most recently, she was Batgirl again in the Batgirls series that just ended. (Unless she's popped up somewhere else? I'm not caught up on new comics.)

okay one more. Harper Row was never officially Batgirl, but she is a batkid and a girl! After DC rebooted all of their comics for the New 52 (still wild that they did that) the writers on Batman were officially forbidden from using Cassandra or Stephanie in any story. so writer Scott Snyder created a new teen girl supporting character as a replacement. Harper Row was a teenager who was emancipated from her abusive dad, working as an electrician in Gotham to support herself and her younger brother Cullen. She stumbled across a cloaking device Batman had installed in the electrical grid and used it to track him. Batman also rescued her and Cullen from a homophobic hate crime, which further inspired her to help him out.

Harper eventually started operating as the hero Bluebird, in a kind of team with Steph and Cass (when they came back from the editorial wars). She's not as popular as either of them, though, and doesn't really have her own niche in the batfamily, so she and Cullen don't pop up as much. I think she last appeared in the Punchline series? I'm not reading it to find out though. Sorry guys.

this got really long. hopefully it's a good introduction!

Can someone mentally ill about the bat-children (DC) just info dump at me for a bit about the girls and anyone who isn't Jason or Damian? Not because I don't like them, I just Know them, ya know? There are 5 kids and I only know 2 of them. Halp.