#for destroying bludhaven to get to /him/)

[hopeworth]

i think bombing bludhaven again would fix nightwing

[yoakkemae]

<3

[gaywineauntsstuff]

I love Jason and dick being drinking buddies who love shit talking the rest of family but also

Sometimes

When I’m craving peak

I remember that their relationship is low key messyyyy

I mean from Jason’s side Dick is the ideal son who Bruce loves, Jason saw Bruce’s absolute grief when bludhaven was nuked as red hood. As Robin he was constantly and unfairly compared to Dick Grayson bc while Jason was great. He had a normal but sad ass life while being naturally gifted and brilliant, dick was training before he could crawl, Dick had never learned to stay still while also being naturally grifted and brilliant. Jason couldn’t do the things Dick could do at 12 bc dick had been training for 11 years by that point but neither he nor Bruce really gave himself that grace. Dick is proof of the concept of child heroes, while he is kinda like proof that children really shouldn’t be on the field. Dick became this well respected, important person. He got to grow from Robin whereas Jason is still burdened by his time in the pixie boots.

And from Dicks side? Dick got out, he LEFT Bruce’s shadow and when Bruce gave his mantle to some kid? He was nice about it! I mean he was too busy with his amazing girlfriend and his team to really become hung up on it! He gave the kid his number and his OG Robin suit and goes maybe we can form a relationship. And then the kid dies and Dick is destroyed, not only did his kid brother die, his kid brother DIED in HIS legacy. And the Jason comes back. Steals his suit, and begins killing people. Nearly gets Dick killed by the cops and spends so long trying to ruin Dicks solid reputation. Not only that? But in the suit father preformed in? With the name Clark Kent gave him??? One of the men he respects most in the world? WHICH he proceeds to do again?? With their Dead Dads costume? After all the SHIT he spewed about no one giving a damn about his death. About how Bruce and his crusade killed a child. And he goes and not only hurts Tim, the brother Dick worked SO hard to build a relationship with bc the last time he got out a Kid died. But also Damian, a literal 10 year old. Dick sends him to Arkham bc when he got sent to regular prison he killed hundreds of people? And sure now?? Jason’s working with the family sometimes? But if it was just a difference in morals Dick wouldn’t have that much of an issue? He’s friends with people who have differing moral codes! Hell he’s DATED people with different moral codes. But? Jason made their beef personal and now Dicks stuck with the knowledge that his younger brother DID a lot of that to HURT him specifically. Bruce was dead for a portion of this? Did that stop Jason from trying to ruin everything dicks ever believed in? Nope.

Like Dick has to exist knowing that he loves his brother and his brother very well could and would do what he did to him again.

[graysoncritic]

A (Negative) Analysis of Tom Taylor's Nightwing Run - Introduction

Introduction Who is Dick Grayson? What Went Wrong? Dick's Characterization What Went Wrong? Barbara Gordon What Went Wrong? Bludhaven (Part 1, Part 2) What Went Wrong? Melinda Lin Grayson What Went Wrong? Bea Bennett What Went Wrong? Villains Conclusion Bibliography

I want to start this essay by admitting I’m actually embarrassed by its length. Why did I spend so much time on something I dislike? The truth is, I did not begin this with the intention of creating such an extensive, formal study of the Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Nightwing run and how it reflects the wider problems with DC’s handling of one of their most iconic characters. I was just trying to organize the thoughts that came up during discussions with other Dick Grayson fans. Before I knew it, I had enough material, enough desire to challenge myself, and enough frustrations to vent to properly create this monstrosity.

I did not begin this Nightwing run determined to hate it. In fact, I was ready to love it. As Taylor promoted the run before the first issue was officially released, I was so excited for it. As I read short interviews where he discussed Heartless, I could not wait to have a new, incredible villain. Foolishly, I believed Taylor when he said he loved Dick Grayson. 

Needless to say, I was disappointed. Then frustrated. Then angry. The beginning of any story is a period where writer and reader form an indirect bond, and as the story progresses, so do the highs and the lows of said relationship. As such, a reader’s tolerance for negative factors will either increase or decrease depending on their experience up until that point.

In other words, if the writer fails to earn the reader’s trust and instead takes their attention for granted, even seemingly insignificant details become irritating in a way they would not be if presented in a better story. In such scenarios, the reader can no longer overlook those minor moments because there’s little good to balance them out with. It is a death by a thousand cuts. 

In the case of Taylor and Redondo’s run, along with those thousand cuts are also broken bones, internal bleeding, head trauma, and severed limbs. A weak plot, simplistic morality that undermines the story’s stated themes, and, most importantly, a careless disregard for Dick Grayson and everything he stands for utterly destroyed my enjoyment of this series. 

It is still too early to tell what sort of impact Taylor’s (as of time of writing, still unfinished) run will have on Dick Grayson’s future portrayals. But just because we cannot predict its long term significance, it does not mean we cannot critique it. Currently, we simply lack the benefit of hindsight. 

If this essay were to have a thesis, then it is this: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Nightwing not only fails to tell a compelling Nightwing story, but it also exemplifies a cynical, self-serving, and shallow approach to storytelling that prioritizes creating hollow viral moments to boost the creators’ own online popularity over crafting a good story, honoring the character in their care, and respecting his fans – fans who have, historically, often been women, queer folk, and other individuals who felt othered by a cisheteronormative patriarchal society. Taylor and Redondo’s thoughtless and superficial narrative not only undermine the socially progressive ideals they supposedly care for by propagating a cisheteronormative patriarchal worldview, but they also demonstrate a lack of love and understanding for the character in their care. At best, Taylor and Redondo have no interest in getting to know Dick Grayson, nor any respect for their predecessor and their contributions to this character. At worst, they despise Dick so much that they wish to reinvent him into something completely different, tossing away everything that was special to his fans in order to appeal to a readership that never cared about Dick Grayson. 

I structured this essay so that, hopefully, each part will build on the ones that came prior. Naturally, because all aspects of a story are interlaced, there will be overlaps between each of the sections. As it may have become obvious from this introduction, I’ll be focusing primarily on the writing of this run. That is not to say that I will not address the art, but writing is the field I know most about, and so it feels only fair to focus my critique on that. 

I hope that by the end of this essay, I will have successfully proved that this run’s mishandling of different narrative elements betray a cynical appropriation of progressive ideology and a disregard and disinterest in what makes Dick Grayson so special to so many people. This is an attitude that is present within DC Comics’ current ethos as a whole.

Now, who is this essay for? Honestly, it’s probably not for Tom Taylor fans. I do not believe I’ll be persuading anyone with my writing, and, to be quite honest, neither would I say I wish to do so. Taylor and Redondo’s run has won numerous awards and has many dedicated fans who adore it for what it is. If that is you, then I’m glad. I wish I could be among your numbers. I wish more than anything that I could love this story. But I do not, and I know many others agree with me, and it is to them, I think, that I’m speaking to. As Taylor’s run is praised to heaven and back, I needed a safe space to voice my thoughts. This essay became this safe space. And to others who also feel unseen by the constant praise this run is getting, I think this could speak to you, as well. To be cliche and cringe, this will hopefully let you know that you are not alone. 

Finally, I want to acknowledge some people whose thoughts greatly contributed to the creation of this essay. For around three years now I’ve been having wonderful interactions with other Dick Grayson’s fans, and those discussions were not only incredibly fun and cathartic, but also provided great insight into what needed to be included in this essay. My best friend especially gave me a space to vent when I got frustrated, and my original outline borrowed a lot from the messages I sent her, as well as notes I took for our discussions.  

I’ll also be directly quoting four different Dick Grayson fans (identified as Dick Grayson Fans A, B, and C in order to allow them to keep their anonymity). Their analyses were so critical to the formation of my thesis and for a lot of what will be addressed in this essay that I actually feel like they deserve co-credit in this essay. Dick Grayson Fan B especially deserves a shoutout in helping me track down a couple of pages used as supporting evidence, as I knew what pages I was looking for but was having a hard time remembering in which issue they were located. I’m quoting them with permission, and crediting their ideas and contributions whenever relevant. 

Now, without any further ado, let’s get started. 

[fancyfeathers]

Red Wine and Bullet Holes

Yandere!Villain/Crime Lord Jason Todd x Robin!Darling

Yandere!Batboys as Villains with Robin!Darlings AU Masterlist

T//W- torture, extreme death/murder, grief/mourning, drugging, implied brainwashing, implied r*pe/n*ncon, implied housewife kink

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who was never found stealing the Batmobile’s tires and never became Robin, who continued to paves his way in the world of crime because he learns stealing car parts won’t provide what he needs to survive forever. He leaned the mentality of kill or be killed, climbing his way through the crime world anyway he has to until he is the one on top.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who destroys most of the Penguin’s and Black Mask’s criminal empires, and he controls a majority of Gotham’s organized crime. He controls the drug industry, the black market, organ trafficking, all of that and more in the palm of his hand.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who meets his darling when he is at an upscale restaurant and club, making a deal with a potential partner from Bludhaven. His darling is there with one of her so called sisters, celebrating hey twenty first birthday.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who offers to buy her a drink while she is sitting at the bar with her sister, waiting for their table, and practically any other girl would have accepted…

“Ya… no thanks.”

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who has not experienced rejection in a very long time and can only watch as she orders herself a drink, telling the bartender to put it on her uncle’s tab who is paying for this little girl’s night out. Bruce Wayne.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who does get to talk to his darling and her sister at the bar, finding out her sister is the adopted daughters of Bruce Wayne and meanwhile she was his former ward when she was a minor.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who tries to flirt with his darling and she rejects him completely and right when the girls are called for their table, she leans over and whispers in his ear…

“Besides I doubt you would want to date a future lawyer with a moral code like mine given the… business you are in.”

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who is stunned as she gets up and walks away, he immediately asks one of his men with him to get information on her, everything they can find and have it on his desk before he gets back.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who reads everything about his darling, saying she could be a problem, but really deep down he is enamored by her. After all she is not Bruce Wayne’s biological niece, he was just a good friend of her father before he went mad, she is the daughter of Harvey Dent, Two Face. She is a law student at Gotham City University and commutes and has lived with her uncle since he took her and her younger sister in, he didn’t get to meet her biological sister at the bar due to her being too young.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who sends one or two of his men to spy on her, take videos of her discreetly and send them to him.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who gets butterflies in his stomach when he sees a video one of his men sent him of her punching a college boy who was harassing her, so hard in fact that if she put a little more weight behind it she would have taken out one of his teeth.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who meets his darling again when she is attempting to take down one of his shipments as the vigilante known as Phoenix, along with being accompanied by the current Robin. She would have succeeded if she didn’t see one of the men aiming a gun at Robin and she went running to push Robin out of the way, taking the bullet instead to the shoulder.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who lets Robin get away when his darling yells at her to run and get help. He has his darling gagged, tied up, and her wound is dealt with before he has her knocked out and thrown into the trunk, after all he can’t have her dying before he interrogates her.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who wants to interrogate her personally, he has a feeling in his gut about her, she just feels too familiar. That glare she has, he has seen it before.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who beats her to the point where even a solider would be spilling everything they know but instead she just spits her blood mixed saliva at his feet. Despite her hatred for him, she is just so pretty that he is sure that if she wasn’t such a pain that he would have her on his arm as a piece of arm candy… or maybe he can condition her into it.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who kisses her, and when she tries to fight back against him he breaks her arm mid kiss, but he just kisses away her tears and swallows her screams of pain as he grips her broken arm and continues having his fun.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who gets away with what he did to her by threatening to kill her when Batman shows up rescue her, he won’t actually kill her and the Batman knows this, but he won’t risk loosing her, so he lets him go to have her back, taking her back to the Batcave to get medical treatment.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd when he sees his darling in person again when she is out running errands, but she just happens to have a broken arm and a few stitches and when he asks what happened she just tells him that she was in a car accident, a drunk driver hit her. Despite her words he cannot shake the suspicion that she could be that vigilante he encountered just a few nights prior, but that couldn’t be, she was a college student.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who feels sick to his stomach when he watches the news to see his darling has died in an undisclosed accident, her grieving family wanting to keep it private. She has disappeared for a few months before hand, along with that the appearances of Phoenix have become less, but there was no way she could have been the vigilante, she was dead.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who attends the funeral, but watches from a distance, he does not want to upset any of her family with his presence, but after her burial he goes to her gravestone, absolutely covered in flowers, and he only adds to the pile with a bouquet of roses.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who in the following weeks cannot shake the suspicion that she could have been the vigilante, so just to soothe his thoughts he has one of his men run a test with some of the vigilante’s blood he got on a knife from interrogating her. After all it’s just to calm his mind and there is no way-

It was a 100% match

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who feels his head reeling at this revelation and also a need for revenge because he knows what killed her was something to do with her nightly activities.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who digs his nails into the criminal underworld to find out who did this and that is when he comes across a piece of camera film, he watches it and he can feel a surge of emotion rushing through him as he sees the Joker torturing her and there are months worth of footage. The ways she was tortured were things even his worse man would have never had done, he feels so incredibly hateful in that moment.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who has his men turn the city upside down in order to find the Joker and when they do Jason wants to do everything that the clown did to his darling, but he knows they don’t have the time so he does what he can in the short amount of time he has before either the police, Joker’s men, or the Batman shows up. When the Joker’s body is found it to so messed up that they can’t release any evidence to the public.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who still stays more violent than usual even with the clown gone because it’s not good enough, no one was there to save her or rescue her, not any of her sisters, or the Batman, and-

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who just shuts down when he sees his darling again, in her vigilante gear, catching a thief in the middle of the night. He was driving back to his penthouse when he caught a glimpse of her throwing the thief’s body to the cops before swinging off. There is no way she is alive, he saw her body at the funeral, she was dead.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who hunts down his darling and finally when his men drag her unconscious body into his penthouse he feels such relief when he unmasks her and it is indeed her. He shoots his men then and there when they ask if he wants her disposed of, how dare they suggest such a thing.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who had thoughts of kidnapping her and keeping her as his since the moment they met, he as a room all ready for her, dresses, expensive furs, shoes and jewelry that would cost a small fortune.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who undresses his darling and makes a bath for her, and he personally rolls up his sleeve and washes her unconscious body, getting all the sweat and blood off of her.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who towel dries her himself and brushes out her hair before carrying her to her bedroom and getting her dressed in a little red nightgown and tucking her into bed, treating her like a porcelain doll, or maybe a caged bird would be a better word to use given the cuffs on her wrists and her ankles, chaining her down to the bed, to keep her from running away and in this case hurting herself or getting herself killed again.

Yandere!Crime Lord Jason Todd who despite his darling’s hatred towards him and his criminal life begins hardcore conditioning her into a more docile role, because maybe as his spoiled housewife she won’t get herself killed. After all who would want to play hero when they are being kissed and held by an attractive man who hand feeds her chocolates from Paris, never mind that she is constantly drugged out of her mind, never quite lucid enough to fight against him, especially when he kisses her on the bed, one hand pulling her closer and the other hand going up her dress…

[hood-ex]

Could you talk about Blüdhaven being nuked? Pretty please? I'm new to the fandom and don't fully understand what happened with that.

Basically, there was an event that happened in the DC comic world called Infinite Crisis, and during this event, the former vice president-executive editor at DC (Dan DiDio) wanted to kill off Dick. And since Dick was going to die, Bludhaven wouldn't be needed anymore, or maybe they wanted to make a bigger impact with Dick's death by destroying it, so they decided to get rid of Dick and Bludhaven in one go. (Note that Dick didn't end up dying because DiDio's plan to kill Dick didn't go through.)

What this looked like is that Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) joined a group called the Society (aka the Secret Society of Super Villains). The Society worked for Alexander Luthor, and Alexander wanted to redivide the universe in order to find a new and perfect earth (go read Infinite Crisis #4 for more details).

The reason I mentioned Slade is because while things were starting to form for this Infinite Crisis event to take place, Slade was involved in Dick's life at this point. Dick was not working as Nightwing during this time, he was working for a mobster named Tommy Tevis as an enforcer because he felt like a huge failure and was full of self-loathing (the events that caused such a mindset within him is a whole other story).

The reason why Slade got involved in Dick's life is because Dick found out Slade was part of the Society, which messed up Dick's plans to join the Society undercover because Slade knew Dick's secret identity. Dick decided to get in contact with Slade to get information from him.

Slade got the message and appeared with his daughter Rose. If you're not aware, Slade has a long history with Dick that goes back to Dick's time with the Titans, so he knows Dick on a deeper level than some of Dick's other adversaries.

When Slade saw that Dick was working for mobsters, and when he listened to Dick's rant of self-loathing, he didn't believe Dick had actually packed up the hero gig and mentality, which meant he wouldn't divulge information he had to Dick. So he basically told Dick, "If you've really given up being a hero then train Rose. Teach her everything you know. Then we'll talk." Basically he wanted proof that Dick was an actual bad guy before divulging information to him.

Dick said okay and started to train Rose. While training with Dick, Rose started to learn things that leaned away from what Slade believed in. Slade didn't want Rose to be against him or to have a reason to leave his side (Rose was his only remaining living child, his two sons were killed previously). That's why when things eventually dissolved between Dick and Slade after Slade tried to use Dick to fool Superman, Dick struck a deal with Slade that he would stay away from Rose if Slade kept his cronies/the Society away from Bludhaven. Dick threatened that if Slade let someone from the Society meddle with Bludhaven, Dick would make sure Rose was poisoned by chronic idealism (thus turning her against Slade).

However, Slade turned on the deal and wanted the Society to target Bludhaven to hurt Dick. The Society then dropped a massive living chemical weapon on Bludhaven called Chemo. Chemo ended up killing 100,068 people in Bludhaven. Dick stayed in Bludhaven to try and help people despite being affected by the radiation, but he eventually collapsed and was rescued by Bruce.

In the aftermath of the Crisis, Captain Atom destroyed Bludhaven, wiping it off the map completely. Bludhaven couldn't be rebuilt because of the radiation poisoning. Dick then had to relocate to New York. Bludhaven has, of course, been restored in the main universe since then.

You can look at my previous post for the comic issues that include Chemo:

[nemesis-writer]

[Unwanted Ransom (Chapter 1)]

What was I made for?

TW: Mentions of Death, PTSD, ED, SH, Neglect

Masterlist

🎵Thumbs- Sabrina Carpenter🎵 🎵What was I made for?- Billie Ellish🎵

On my first day of staying here, I was excited to see if I had brothers.

Dick the oldest, supposed to be there for me, and pose as a role model right? WRONG, he instead leaves me on read when I text him. The fucker has enough guts to ignore me, and when he notices me, it's when I either get in trouble at school, or when his teamates talk to me. He had time to look after Bludhaven.

Tim, one of the family's detectives, doesn't find me interesting, and thinks of himself too big to talk to a lowlife like me. AND WE LIVE IN THE SAME FUCKING HOUSE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. With him, I have little to no memories. All he does is twiddle his thumbs, pretending I wasn't there.

Cass, Steph, Barb. I never really cared bout' them, all they do is talk shit about others, and play daddy's little girl. I was never daddy's little girl and I never complained. Not much to really talk about with them, I even learned ASL just for some light communication.

Jason, alright, I'mma be honest here. He was the closest thing I had to a brother, but he only came to the house at night for some food and rest. The best memory with him, was him taking me to school on the first day, I joined grade 5 class because I have an IQ of 190. Everything was great until he died, a part of me died with him.

Damian, the "golden apple" of this whole shit hole. This bitch thinks that he can do anything, because he is the bastard of Bruce Wayne, and Talia Al Ghul. He gets to train with Dick, while I watch them train to become a "hero". He bullied me even when I was a year older than him. Ughh, what a bitch. He was the reason I got the name Jinx, I was the bad luck of the family

Bruce, the man had the guts to adopt me and change my true name to a wayne. I was named Xerxes because it meant warrior, my dad never thought I was one. I'm not even allowed to call him dad.

Alfred, oh sweet innocent Alfred. I considered him as my father when my mother's "sperm donor", couldn't be there for me. He was there to teach me how to bake and cook, the best part was that he never admonished me for my bad behavior at school.

For 4 years I had lived with them, every night I had prayed for a miracle to happen. At night the same dream, every morning, the same nightmare. After the first 5 months of my stay, I started to avoid eating, because of depression.

And before I go to bed I looked for any blade I could, and locked myself in my bedrooom. I cut myself below the wrist, while keeping a first aid nearby. I never felt any pain from the wounds, but I felt the scar in my heart.

It's ironic how a whore with nothing, could love a child more, than a family that has everything. I always laughed at the idea, I never allowed myself to cry or show weakness. Bruce never knew how to deal with emotions anyway, so why cry?

I never cried, when Damian slashed my arm with a knife. Not when Barbara told me to go to hell, not when Tim destroyed the birthday present I made for him. And especially when Bruce called me a mistake. I only cried when Jason was murdered by the Joker.

I always thought crying was useless, so I worked hard. I got straight A's, I made friends, I enlisted for multiple sports when I turned 10. I even took up art just for the sake of fitting in.

But I will always be the Wayne pushed from the spotlight. Not even then, could I cry.

I just went to my dilapidated bedroom, God, it was ornamented with all of my awards and certificates. I started to pack my stuff, I even took the photo of me and my mother. There wasn't much to pack, all I got were hand me downs, and the dregs of my "beloved siblings."

At night, it was the perfect time to escape, with the villains on the loose, they had to take night shifts. So I slowly climbed out of my window and placed the note I had prepared for Alfred. And I prepared to go to the abyss that awaits me...

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

A/N Hiii... I got this idea from reading @acid-ixx, and @luludeluluramblings... I'm making a seperate part for the note Jennifer gave Alfred. HOPE U LUV THIS <333

[thevoidstaredback]

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

In Danny's defense, dying scared the hell out of him. Living in a house of ghost hunters was a bad idea, so he left. It didn't matter that they were family. He was a ghost living in a house of Ghost Hunters whose life's work was the very thing that killed him in the first place. He died turning on the portal his parents had spend nearly thirty years working on with two witnesses to his demise. The natural response was to destroy the portal and leave without telling anyone.

He didn't get to that point, though. The first few months after The Accident had been constant ghost attacks, one after another. Danny had tried t understand what was happening, but between his friends on some level denying his death, the ghosts attacking on sight, and the powers he was developing not getting themselves under control, he was reaching his breaking point.

On top of all of it, the portal destabilized.

No one had been in the lab, thank god, but the ghost portal collapsed in on itself. The running theory his parents had was that the ghost boy had been the one to break it. Danny's running theory was that the constant back and forth and overloaded the system. No new actually knew what had been the thing to turn it on in the first place, so no one could actually prove anything either way. At least, that's what Danny hoped.

Danny knew, in the deep recesses of his mind, what to do to get it working again. He knew what to do to keep it open if he so chose.

It had never been his choice in the first place.

Danny had known it wasn't entirely safe for him when the house started to turn on him, but that had only been solidified when the portal had gone down, Jack and Maddie Fenton doubled down on hunting down the Ghost Boy. He was the only ghost left in Amity Park, so he was the only one the trackers would lock onto.

Six weeks before he turned fifteen, Danny left his home. He didn't tell Jazz or Tucker or Sam, and he most certainly didn't tell his parents. Quietly, he packed his things - only those of which that would be easy to carry - and left. He didn't bring his phone or laptop with him. He thought about leaving his wallet, but figured that'd be useful to him.

The last thing he did before leaving Amity Park was go to the police station and tell them he was leaving willingly. He refused to elaborate as to why. They didn't need to know that. He didn't tell them where he was going, either, just that he was leaving.

It was an accident that he ended up in Bludhaven. Four weeks of traveling had tired him out. His powers only making it worse. He was low on money and food, he'd been sleeping on benches and in alleyways, his clothes were all filthy, he hadn't showered in days- He was ready to collapse.

Bludhaven, from what he understood, had a much smaller homeless population that her mother city Gotham, but it was still a lot of people. Particularly homeless youth. Danny was just another kid in an alley when he'd finally collapsed.

It took three days of sleeping behind a dumpster before anyone noticed him. In that time, he'd only woken up once. Not having eaten in a while, he had no waste to expel, so his body had focused on keeping he rested before allowing him to wake up. That was when he'd realized the actual danger he was in.

He had no idea if human weapons could still work on him or not, and he was not trying to figure that out any time soon. So, before the group of armed guys who'd just come into the alleyway noticed him, Danny let the invisibility wash over him before he flew up and away.

On the rooftops is where he found the city's vigilante. He was dressed in a black suit with blue accents and a black domino mask. His weapon looked like a broken bo staff and was strapped to his back.

Danny was not inclined to meet this man, but he'd never seen another hero in action before! Sure, he knew they existed, but he'd never actually gone looking for any. No one in Amity had, actually. It was a peaceful place. Well, until he opened the portal on himself, but that was hardly his fault.

Sure, he wasn't going to meet him, but maybe following him around wouldn't hurt? As long as he didn't get caught, he should be fine. It was only for the night, anyway. He'd probably never see this man again after this.

At least, that was the plan until he accidentally followed the man home at three in the morning. In his defence, though, he didn't know that it was that early or that Nightwing - as he'd heard a few guys call him - was going home! Regardless, he was going to take this to the grave. He was going to leave Bludhaven come dawn and he was never going to tell anyone the he knows where Nightwing lives.

Again, that was his plan. Danny ended up falling asleep on the rooftop opposite the building Nightwing lived in. He slept through the day, only waking up when rush hour foot and road traffic got too loud to ignore. Just as he was getting ready to leave the rooftop, he spotted movement in Nightwing's apartment.

Now, he couldn't even begin to say what had made him stay, but he did. He sat back down and watched as Nightwing moved around his apartment.

It was messy, messier than he'd have expected, but he wasn't one to judge. What really caught his attention, though, was the uniform Nightwing was wearing. Now that begged the question as to why the hero - vigilante was probably the better term here - fought crime at all hours of the day. Why approach the problem both legally and less legally? Why align yourself both ways?

Danny was always a curious boy when something sparked his interest.

He was swift in his movements as he pulled out the binder of paper and scholork he'd taken with him. Opening up to the first blank page, Danny started to write.

He was a hero, whether people thought of him as such or not. He only ever wanted to help. Maybe he could help this guy. Maybe he'd feel some kind of accomplishment if he managed to help Nightwing.

Step one is to observe.

Part 2 Part 4

Tag List: @flame-343

I need to point out that I have gone off of the original prompt, if that wasn't already obvious. In the og prompt, Danny is an adult. In this one, as I continue my take on it, Danny is a child. I didn't mean for it to happen, but the words don't listen to me, I listen to them.

[brucewaynehater101]

semi sapient absolutely sentient eldritch gotham gets tetchy and sulky whenever tim leaves gotham because what if this is the time their little birdy doesn't come back? what if this is the time some other city sinks their claws into her birdy like that hussy central city threatens sometimes? they already nearly lost their Nightwing, their first Robin, to Bludhaven, and the League keeps trying to take their sweet Jason! And Gotham knows in some deep part of herself that if Tim left her for good, she couldn't blame him, but she'd miss him! she'd miss her little starlight who kept her from destroying herself, her little birdy who saved her son, her Bat, she'd miss the little birdy that loved her even when she was at her worst and she doesn't want him to go!

Gotham goes NUTS when she realizes that Ra's is being creepy about her birdy and almost, almost forces a boon on Tim so she can keep him close and keep Ra's away from her birdy

Kon has similar issues with Metropolis who has thoroughly claimed Superman and Metropolis noticed negative vibe Superman displayed towards Kon and the dehumanizing sort of attitude from its other chosen, Lex, and so Metropolis isn't too welcoming to Kon either

Bart didn't have a boon, Central, Keystone, and any other city in his future that could have offered him one were all either destroyed or twisted so that boons were a bad idea and Bart doesn't really want to be tied to any single place now either, just in case

Cassie may or may not have been offered a boon from Themyscira but she asked Tim how to politely decline

C4 WITH BOONS!!!

I particularly like the angle with Bart. Not only does he not trust it due to his experiences in the future, but he also doesn't want to be tied down. Bart is constantly on the go and traveling. A boon makes it difficult for him to leave for extended times (especially if YJ does space missions).

I also love sentient city beef. Let them bicker and hate each other (maybe some actually like each other). Regardless, they are all stuck to their city limits. They can't leave, but they can ask their favored to mess with other cities.

I'm kind of curious about the association of boons with heroes. I don't think GLs would have boons, but what about the rest? What if not having boons is another reason "Just Us" was formed and relied on each other? What if that was a trait ALL YJ members shared?

Perhaps Gotham is special in her boons and behaviors/responses, and the other cities are much more subtle in their boons/favor. Lots of possibilities

[zahri-melitor]

I am trying to fit this time line of self destruction on Dick's part together and seriously events seem to go like this:-

Nightwing #80-82 (June-Aug 2003): Slade turns up to harass Dick in Bludhaven, Dick is fired from the BPD.

Outsiders #1 (Aug 2003): Roy asks Dick to join Outsiders and promises that he doesn't need to be friends/family with the team. (Roy is unknowingly being fed targets by Slade)

Outsiders #5 (Dec 2003): Roy gets shot 5 times in the chest, Dick feels guilt over it and has to take full charge of the team.

Outsiders #6 (Jan 2004): The Outsiders have to allow the entire inhabitants of the Slab to break out and escape as the Slab is destroyed. The team are blamed in the media for this.

Nightwing #87 (Jan 2004): Babs tells Dick they need to take a break.

Nightwing #88 (Feb 2004): Haly's Circus burns down.

Nightwing #89 (March 2004): Dick's apartment building blows up killing all residents apart from Dick and Amygdala.

Nightwing #93 (July 2004): Dick turns away as Catalina shoots Blockbuster, Dick has a panic attack, Catalina comes to find Dick on the rooftop as he despairs and she sexually assaults Dick.

Nightwing #95 (Sep 2004): Catalina tries to pressure Dick into marrying her, is blocked by Bruce calling Dick to come back to Gotham due to War Games.

War Games (Oct-Dec 2004): Dick has to fight a gang war and is assigned by Bruce to work with Catalina through it as Dick hasn't spoken to Bruce about what happened. Dick ends up with a serious leg injury.

Outsiders #19-20 (Feb-Mar 2005): Lian is kidnapped by child slavers and rescued. (Arguably could take place prior to War Games)

Outsiders #20-22 (Mar-May 2005): Bruce revealed to be funding the Outsiders, Dick goes and yells at Bruce about this, Slade revealed to have been funneling information to Roy and pretending to be Batman. (Again cannot be long after War Games, probably before)

Nightwing #100 (Feb 2005): Dick and Babs officially break up, Dick walks away from being a superhero, Dick has not spoken to Bruce.

Teen Titans & Outsiders #24-25 (July-Aug 2005): Both teams have characters get controlled - Kon by Lex and Indigo by Brainiac 8, at the end of the storyline Dick quits. This has to be after Identity Crisis but must be not long after Nightwing #100 given Dick has not yet gone undercover. Also Dick has theoretically been hiding a leg injury and brace for a period here.

Outsiders #26 (Sep 2005): Dick has sex with Kory.

Nightwing #107 (June 2005): Dick is now undercover with the mob and has been for some time. MUST come after the events above.

Nightwing #112 (Nov 2005): Slade talks Dick into training Rose.

Nightwing #114 (Jan 2006): Roy turns up, mad, and argues with Dick to come back.

Nightwing #116: (March 2006): Bludhaven has gone boom. Thanks so much, Slade.

TL:DR; there's a whole chunk of Outsiders in 2005 that has to have happened approximately around War Games due to Dick's knee injury, and since Teen Titans spent six months of title hopping through time immediately prior, you can shift both titles for their crossover right up to very shortly after War Games/Identity Crisis in terms of 'Jack is dead but Dick's not yet undercover'.

Actually thinking about it more, it's even more complicated than that, because Teen Titans #20 suggests Outsiders #16 occurred after it, unless Kory's been simultaneously on both teams. I think I have to read this as Kory has been on both teams at the same time to make any of this make sense.

This results in Dick having broke up officially with Babs and then almost immediately had Bad Idea Sex with Kory (after also having been assaulted by Catalina at least once and potentially multiple times while he's in the daze where Catalina tries to convince him that they should get married).

(Seriously why is everyone in Outsiders having random sex with people who are a Very Bad Idea)

[charlietheepicwriter7]

Finally reading "Under the Red Hood" for my story, Dick Grayson V Gotham and some notes about what exactly happens here:

Jason's helmet really is a whole ass red circle with eyes, isn't it.

There's constant internal monologue about how much Batman cares about his kids. From Alfred and from Batman.

There's a whole ass woman who I have never seen referenced before called Onyx? Who's apparently the "only other hero allowed in the whole of gotham... other than catwoman".

Bruce recognizing Jason just based on how he fights and plans is beautiful, even if bruce doesn't believe it yet.

Superman's over here flirting with Bruce, going "we could have gotten tickets to the theater if you'd called ahead 😘😘" while bruce is traveling all over the world to figure out if his baby boy might be back from the dead.

Lowkey sad that Jason doesn't have the skunk stripe. I know it was fanon that occasionally became canon, but I still like it.

Wow, this Robin!Jason flashback is really giving us good views of the scaly panties, >:P

So, during the flashback, Bruce brings up the idea that Jason has a "mean streak" in comparison to how Dick was. But it's not that Jason was "mean" and Dick "nice"--Dick has a massive temper, even if canon rarely allows him to acknowledge it--but with Dick... Everytime he was Robin, I think he was still in the mindset of "performer". There was a bit more disconnect between him and the criminals of Gotham, because the fights were more like acts. Jason performs too, but he's very personal about it. This is his city, he's taking all these crimes personally and even when he's "performing" it's still Jason Todd, while Dick's Robin is more so a mask. IDK, this is just the vibes I'm picking up.

I really love the panels after Jason blows up the meth lab. The way the colors are... it makes Jason almost look like he's teared up? It's beautiful.

Oh great, Slade's here. No wonder this things so damn long

You know what, Slade? I'm on Black Mask's side here. A nazi and a hyena man? You can find better hired help on Craigslist.

Just finished the fight, and I'm STILL on Black Mask's side. Slade, who the fuck are these losers!?

Yes, Jason baby, kill the nazi!

Jason got them Christmas presents! That's sweet!

Slade, why the FUCK were you here? Did you see Nightwing was in town and go "lol, this'll be funny"?

Black Mask really calling himself Daddy around Jason... wasn't a joke. Huh.

There are some very nice parallels after Jason reveals his identity to Bruce. Bruce was too late to stop Joker's bomb, he was too late to stop the bomb in the meth lab. Bruce was too late to stop his son from getting attacked by a supervillain, but Bruce was faster now, good job! And Bruce never killed his son's killer, and he won't kill Stephanie's killer either. It's like he keeps testing Bruce to see if he really has to go through with his plan with the Joker.

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if Jason's entire beef with Black Mask was because of his part in Stephanie Brown's death.

...I don't really like the idea of Jason calling himself a zombie after Joker did it.

Jason wiped the smile off his face, goddamn! (And don't think I didn't notice how similar Joker and Jason's laughs are, comic artists. Sure, maybe that's just how cackling laughter was drawn back then, but in literature, that smells like foiling).

...THIS is when Bludhaven gets destroyed!? Really???

Also, what is this depiction of Bludhaven just... being across a river? This feels unreasonably close, why hasn't Gotham just eaten Bludhaven at this point?

IT'S A NUKE???

THEY ARE LOOKING DIRECTLY AT IT, HOW ARE THEIR EYES NOT GETTING BURNT OUT OF THEIR HEADS

I'm just realizing how many explosives there are in this series. Between the bombs the Bats use, and the bombs Jason sets up, and... what happened to bludhaven. That, kids, is what we call a theme!

Bruce really is sympathetic in this. It's subtle, which is good, I don't think anyone would have appreciated the author blaring out "BATMAN IS IN THE RIGHT, HE'S THE BEST GUY, FUCK JASON."

And Jason is getting more and more unhinged as the fight progresses.

You know, it's occurring to me that this all could have been prevented if New Jersey had the death penalty. There's no way Joker could have gotten the insanity plea so many times if they could put him in the ground for good.

...I wonder if Batman votes to reinstate the death penalty?

"But why... why on God's earth--??! Is he still alive!!??" Is just... such a good reveal. Such a good line. No wonder we're all so fixated on this character, omg.

Oh. This is why Jason thinks Batman doesn't love him.

It's the lack of reciprocation. Jason sees "killing the Joker after he killed you" as an act of love. Batman cannot provide that act, so Jason sees that refusal as proof he is unloved.

The funniest Joker's ever been:

Oh, the batarang moment. Oh no.

Oh no oh no oh no

I still feel like resurrection via Superboy punching the universe hard is still a cop-out reason why Jason's alive, but the line "Until time decided to set things right." is speaking to me.

Oh god, the buried alive scene is brutal.

Okay, so Jason came back fully sane, he definitely knew what he was doing breaking out of the coffin, but his injuries that were unhealed and getting hit by a fucking car are what caused his catatonic state. He didn't just wake up not all there, that happened because no one was looking out for him.

Okay, so 6 months dead, about a... year in a coma. It says a year for his time catatonic on the streets, then a year with Talia, still catatonic... that's three and a half years, Jason really started being the Red Hood... like what, a few weeks after he got tossed in the Pits?

...I thought the pits were green. They look gold in my version of these comics, is that normal?

EW, WHY'D SHE KISS HIM

Also, there was no brainwashing this boy, Talia literally just said "you remain avenged" and it sent Jason on this whole murder spiral, she didn't do shit

Except kiss him. which, EW

Alright, good night everybody!

[junespriince]

Winged heart au (I remember Kyle)

Kyle: WALLACE RUDOLPH WEST I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!?

Wally, about to eat dinner: and there goes my peaceful dinner, what do you want Rayner. Hey Conner.

Conner: hey Wally, got any extra? Long patrol and Kyle wouldn't stop for dinner at least.

Wally: in the kitchen, help yourself dude.

Conner: thank you!

Kyle: I can't believe you asshole!

Wally: what can't you believe, that I'm pretty? That your art sucks? That you are lucky to have a friends and shouldn't annoy them when they're trying to live their civilian life.

Kyle: You're ugly, my art is to far above your understanding, and you're lucky to have me as a friend, but that's not it, you have a new annoying hero best friend! Nightwing of all people!!

Wally: I didn't ask for anything, I moved here because it was cheaper and my bios wouldn't step foot here!

Kyle: and you couldn't tell him to fuck off? You tell me too fuck off all the time!

Wally: I did! He didn't want too... Tho I did fed him so that could be the problem, cat woman did say something about the bats and birds being like strays.

Kyle: you got kidnapped by cat woman!?

Wally: it's Bludhaven! I get threatened to get stabbed on a daily basis here, getting kidnapped by villains is all you heros fault from using my windows as a front door!

Conner, eating: it's cheaper here.... How cheap?

Wally: for this two bedroom and two bath apartment, about 100 bucks a month, 67 bucks if you don't have a high paying job.

Conner:

Conner, taking a sticky note Nightwing wrote "call me handsome xxx-xxx-xxxx": look up apartments in Bludhaven area.

Kyle: forget about the apartment, I'm taking you back home so I can be the only person who annoys you!

Wally: Bart literally exists.

Kyle: THE ONLY PERSON WHO ANNOYS YOU THAT AIN'T FAMILY!

Wally: is uncle Hal and Ollie a joke to you?

Kyle: damnit boy I'm gonna strangle you.

Wally, turning back to eating: kinky, but not my type.

Dick, who was there the whole time: so who is your type?

Wally: black hair, blue eyes, could destroy me.... In blue.

Kyle: what the fuck, where did you come from!?

Dick and Wally: always been here.

Wally: do the rest of the bats and birds want to speak up or are you enjoying my suffering.

Jason: man, you ain't fun no more, why ain't you scared of us?

Wally: went away as well as my will to tolerate this bs. Grab a bowl I made a lot.

Duke: well... If you insist.... Please never go away.

Stephanie: definitely who else will feed us when Agent A leaves us.

Bruce: I can—

Batfam and Wally: don't.

Bruce, who burned down both the manor and Wallys first apartment: it was only two times....

Kyle:

Kyle: well then, I'm staying, because I'm not getting out annoying again! Never again!!

Wally: should have never asked for uncle Hal's help moving in here.

[ayamari-no-goshi]

You know… I honestly wonder how long it would take Bruce to notice if Jason just decided to cut ties and left without telling anyone.

With him already operating independently a great deal of the time and the tension between the two, I’m not sure if Bruce would notice anything. I mean, in the timeline before it switched to N-52, they lost track of him for 1-2 years after the events of Under the Red Hood, with the exception of him just popping up to cause problems in Bludhaven and Star City.

Yet, we also see Bruce keeping tabs on him to an extent in Rebirth after the issue Bruce nearly kills him and kicks him out of Gotham. Though arguably, Jason wasn’t exactly overtly hiding afterwards as he makes his way through the Midwest. But I doubt Bruce had any idea what Jason was doing when he found that compound while looking for clues about his father’s death prior to coming back to Gotham.

And yet, we also know that in RHatO (I’m pretty sure 2016 version), that Jason was being tortured for 1-3 months out of the country and none of the Bats came to help him.

I don’t know… I just feel like it would be something fun to explore. Because it really feels like this would be the conversation after 6-12 months:

Someone: you know, I haven’t heard from Jason for a while.

Someone else: I mean, it’s not like he comes around for social calls. He’s probably fine.

A while later, after getting reminded that no one had seen/heard from Jason:

Bruce checking the computer and verifying it’s been x amount of time since anyone heard from Jason: he’s probably fine. But I should probably try to find him. Maybe he had gotten into some trouble. Maybe he’s on a killing rampage again.

Mind you, I’m specifically talking about the mainline comic books. The relationship between Jason and the rest of the family isn’t great in the majority of them. First, it’s due to Jason’s own actions. But, even after Jason starts trying to redeem himself in their eyes, he often times becomes an annoyance and mostly metaphorical punching bag (sometimes it’s physical).

If we look at other media, that distance usually isn’t anywhere near as bad.

Edit: I forgot Bludhaven was destroyed during Brothers in Blood. Dick was in NYC

[graysoncritic]

A (Negative) Review of Tom Taylor's Nightwing Run - What Went Wrong? Barbara Gordon

Introduction Who is Dick Grayson? What Went Wrong? Dick's Characterization What Went Wrong? Barbara Gordon What Went Wrong? Bludhaven (Part 1, Part 2) What Went Wrong? Melinda Lin Grayson What Went Wrong? Bea Bennett What Went Wrong? Villains Conclusion Bibliography

Out of this entire essay, this was the section that I considered cutting entirely. After all, in the past there have been instances when Barbara Gordon and her romance with Dick Grayson have been weaponized by Taylor and his fans against his critics. 

The example that comes to mind was when Taylor and Redondo were criticized for not including Duke in a Nightwing cover that parodied The Brady Bunch.

(Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, illustrator. Battle for Bludhaven’s Heart Finale. Nightwing: Rebirth. 96, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022)

Personally, I believe that, while discussions of how Duke’s positioning in the Bat Family is warranted, the matter was blown out of proportion, and many of the attempts to cancel Taylor crossed the line into harassment (make no mistake, while I believe him to be a terrible writer, I do not wish him any ill-will). That being said, Taylor also escalated the matters when attempting to pin said negative comments onto DickKory shippers who did not like that he wrote DickBabs.

(While the original Tweet has since been deleted, the screenshot used is available in this tweet 

Neb | 🏳️‍🌈 [@NebsGoodTakes]. Twitter, 20 June 2022, https://twitter.com/NebsGoodTakes/status/1538939571789934593)

For this reason and this reason alone, I considered removing this part of the essay. While I have no idea if anyone will read this monstrosity, I did not want my arguments to be invalidated simply because I did not have a favorable opinion on the DickBabs.

However, after much consideration and numerous discussions with other Dick Grayson fans, I found that the subject of Barbara Gordon’s portrayal in this run (as well as in many recent DC media), and her romance with Dick perfectly embodies many of ideas I wish to explore in this essay — mainly, how shallow approaches to progress ideals create deeply problematic narratives that not only undermines the themes of a story, but they also destroy characterization.

I will start by once again stating that I do not believe this is a problem unique to Taylor’s writing. As I alluded to above, I believe DC’s modern portrayal of Babs does a great disservice to her wonderful, empowering, complex character. This is but the analysis of one of the stories she appears in. It is my hope to prove that in Taylor’s Nightwing, Barbara Gordon is not written as a woman with a strong sense of self and an internal life, but rather idealized girl whose existence revolves around the men in her life, and whose perfect yet shimmering depiction serves only to make her into the reader’s proxy-girlriend.   

Barbara Gordon in the late 90s and early 2000s was a mature and confident woman in her late-20s to early-30s. She had her own job, her own friends, team, villains, and the type of confidence that can only come with age and experience. She was serious while still having a sense of humor, pragmatic, and she knew exactly what she wanted for herself. 

(Gail, Simone, writer. Bennett, Joe; Barrows, Eddy, illustrator. Perfect Pitch: Part One. Birds of Prey. 87, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2005. pp. 22)

She was also flawed. She could get angry at people for little reason, she could be too cold or too straightforward without considering the other person’s feelings, she could be purposefully petty and selfish, she could get unreasonably jealous, she was impatient, she could be too proud to admit when she was wrong. It was all of these factors which allowed Barbara Gordon to be her own person — to be a fleshed out, well-rounded woman. 

(Dixon, Chuck, writer. Leonardi, Rick, illustrator. The Gun. Birds of Prey. 39, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2002. pp. 16)

Babs’ life did not revolve around Dick. Yes, she loved him, but she still had some interiority. She had a life outside of Dick Grayson, outside of Bludhaven, outside of Batman, and outside of Oracle. She had her own goals, her own dreams, her own likes and dislikes that worked independently of the men around her. She had her own history that informed her decisions, she had both positive and negative relationships with other women and those relationships were not dependent on her connections with Dick or Bruce. 

(Gail, Simone, writer. Timm, Bruce; Lopez, David; Melo, Adriana, illustrators. A Wakeful Time. Birds of Prey. 86, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2005. pp. 02)

By comparison, Taylor’s Barbara is not a woman, but a girl. She is very young and very immature. If Dick is written like a young man who just left home and is experiencing adulthood for the first time, then Babs is written as his girlfriend who is still in college and does not have concrete plans for her future. 

Note that when referring to Taylor’s Babs, I mainly characterize her through her relationship with Dick. That was intentional. While writing this essay, I struggled to think of Barbara having any meaningful interactions with characters who were not Dick or Dick’s friends, the Titans. I also struggled to think of her doing something for herself rather than for Dick and the Titans. I struggled to define her goals independent of Dick, I struggled to describe the plans she has for her future that do not revolve around her relationship with Dick, and I struggled to give an account of what she does in her spare time when she is not helping Dick, Nightwing, the Titans, or Batman. That is because everything in Barbara Gordon’s life, as written by Taylor, is constructed around Dick (As many may know, it is really hard to prove a negative. How can I get supporting evidence from the comics that Babs does not have a life outside of Dick Grayson when my argument comes from those factors not existing? For this, though I hate to do so, I’m afraid I’ll have to rely on the reader’s familiarity with the run being discussed).

Barbara is a constant presence in Taylor’s Nightwing run. She is a secondary protagonist, and she is often portraying helping Dick Grayson behind the scenes,

(Taylor, Tom, illustrator. Redondo, Bruno The Battle for Bludhaven’s Heart Part Two. Nightwing: Rebirth. 93, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022 pp)

Helping Nightwing as Oracle,

(Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, illustrator Leaping into the Light Part 4. Nightwing: Rebirth. 81, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2021. pp 19)

Or fighting by Nightwing’s side as Batgirl.

(Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, illustrator. You are Nightwing. Nightwing: Rebirth. 105, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2023. pp. 05)

She is always present, she is always doing something… But all of that is in the service of the men around her rather than for herself.

As Dick Grayson Fan A pointed out during a discussion, “Modern Babsgirl is forced to be perfect at everything. She's never allowed postcrisis Babs' edges, her flaws and intrinsic motivations. Taylor's Babsgirl is designed to be the perfect girlfriend for his blank self insert Nightwing. There's no meat to her bones, she's just shimmer and gloss.” (The subject of Babs came up when DC announced the lineup for Birds of Prey (2023) and Babs was not included on the roster.)

In other words, Babs as portrayed in Taylor’s run lacks any bite, edge, and maturity that would make her feel like a woman with her own sense of self and with a life that is not dependent on her boyfriend. Babs’ portrayal is a shallow girlboss-type of feminism, where though Babs is powerful and intelligent, she is not allowed to be a real person for she serves no purpose other than to be the perfect, understanding, badass girlfriend.

As a result, Dick and Barbara’s relationship becomes hollow. Because Babs lacks interiority, individuality, and agency, she becomes a flat character. This, in turn, makes it so it is hard to understand why Dick and Barbara are together other than for the fact that DC mandates it. The over reliance on the childhood friends-to-lovers trope only increases this hollowness rather than fleshing out their relationship. While Taylor includes flashbacks of Dick and Babs as friends when children, growing up together as teenagers, and fighting together as Robin and Batgirl, those instances feel removed from their individual histories. These moments exist in isolation, removed from the context of the rest of their lives, be it together or separately.

(Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, illustrator The Battle for Bludhaven’s Heart. Nightwing: Rebirth. 92, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022. pp 06 - 07)

DC currently treats Dick and Babs as a foregone conclusion. As a result, Taylor does not make an effort to get his readers on board with the relationship because he assumes that they should already support it. Dick and Babs are portrayed as getting along great, never having had any conflict, tension, or disagreements. This idealized romance would not necessarily be a problem if it didn’t come at the expense of developing Dick and Barbara as individuals outside of their relationship. They are not one being, but two separate people coming together. They should be written as such, but in trying to create the perfect relationship, Taylor robs Dick and Babs of their identity outside of their romance. 

Not only does this inseparability that Taylor attempts to portray as “charming” destroy Dick and Babs’ individuality, it can also be downright insulting. In #106 Taylor infantilizes Dick when making it so Babs needs to be the one to wake him up so he can start his work as Nightwing. 

As I mentioned previously, Dick is known for his toxic perfectionism, his obsessive tendencies that often come at the cost of his health. Making Dick laze around in bed while people need his help and having his girlfriend tell him to get ready for the day, as if she was his mother and he was a teenager who did not want to go to school in the morning, is not only out of character, it also diminishes Dick’s competence. It makes it seem like he cannot function as a responsible adult without Babs being there to hold his hand through everyday difficulties. 

Not only that, the scene also plays into incredibly sexist dynamics where women are expected to carry the domestic labor in a relationship — the man cannot keep track of his own schedule, and so it becomes the woman’s responsibility to attend to his needs. What was intended to be a “cute” scene portrays Dick as being immature and irresponsible, and portrays Babs spend her time keeping track of an adult man’s responsibilities.

(Taylor, Tom, writer. Byrne, Stephen, illustrator. The Crew of the Crossed Part One. Nightwing: Rebirth. 106, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2023. pp 08)

This unhealthy codependency further insults Dick when, in #107, Babs demands Dick come back home as he is about to help his ex, Bea. Rather than believing Dick’s capability as a vigilante who has been operating in the field for far longer than she has, Babs shows her complete lack of faith in Dick’s ability to get anything done by himself by telling him that she “wants him home now.” 

(Taylor, Tom; Byrne, Stephen The Crew of the Crossed Part Two. Nightwing: Rebirth. 107  e-book ed. DC Comics, 2023. pp. 19)

This is a great contrast to Nightwing (1996) #66, where Babs encouraged Dick’s independence and had full trust in his abilities to take on such difficult challenges on his own. When Lockhaven goes up in flames, Babs trusts Dick to be able to handle the situation by himself, even though she also knows that Dick’s mind is greatly preoccupied with Bruce and the murder of Vesper Fairchild. Indeed, in the next issue (not part of Murderer/Fugitive, but happening simultaneously to it), Dick does handle the Lockhaven fire by himself, without requiring any assistance, before returning to Gotham to help with the investigation that should clear Bruce’s name.

(Dixon, Chuck, writer. Burchett, Rick, illustrator. The Unusual Suspects. Nightwing. 66, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2002. pp 18 - 19)

This healthy separation and this unconditional trust not only portrayed Dick and Babs as both trusting each other’s abilities as heroes — Dick did not worry about Babs’ capability of taking care of herself, and Babs knew Dick could handle his own — it also portrayed them as being more secure in their relationship. They were individuals first. They had their own independent lives and personalities outside of their romance. They trusted the other’s ability to win on their own and handle their own cases without help. And that, in turn, made it so that they could stand on their own, and so that their relationship did not feel so vulnerable.

That being said, it wasn’t as if previous depictions of Dick and Babs didn’t present them with hardships, or demonstrated how, at times, they could bring out the worst in each other. As much as they could compliment one another, Dick and Babs could also disagree, get into arguments, and even fights. That is because they were individuals first, with their own opinions, preferred way of doing things, and their own background that would sometimes come in conflict.

Taylor avoids having meaningful conflicts in his story. While this negatively affects his narrative in a myriad of ways, the lack of the conflict in the plot also affects the relationship between Dick and Babs. It is fine to have a wholesome, sweet romance, so long as it is balanced with a plot containing other forms of tension. This way, the relationship can be a safe harbor for the main characters, the one space in their lives where they can be safe, and the one source of strength they can draw upon when facing the challenges ahead. By balancing a conflict-filled plot with a wholesome romance, the stakes of the plot feel higher while the romance feels sweeter. They foil one another to create a cohesive and unified story.

In Taylor’s Nightwing, all major plot beats take a backseat to the sitcom-like relationship between Dick and Babs. The lack of conflict in the plot and the lack of conflict in the romance makes it so everything is stagnant.

I do believe that Taylor thought he was writing a “Will-they-won’t-they” style romance in the beginning of his run. In Nightwing #95, for example, Batwoman implies that the reason Dick and Babs aren’t together is because Dick and Babs are scared of crossing that line. 

(Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno The Battle for Bludhaven’s Heart Part Four. Nightwing: Rebirth. 95, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022. pp 17)

Wally also played into that idea when, in #91, he pointed out that Dick and Babs were already together and just needed to make it official.

(Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, illustrator. Get Grayson Act Three. Nightwing: Rebirth. 91, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022. pp 19)

More than that, I believe Taylor attempted to make a commentary on comics imposing needless conflicts in relationships to keep two characters apart. In Taylor’s view, Dick and Babs were always in love, always meant to be together, and never had a complicated history that prevented them from rekindling their romance when Dick is trying to regain some control over his life after recovering his memories. This shows a lack of understanding as to why Dick and Babs often break up and does a disservice to both their characters.

Now, to explain this, I’ll borrow heavily from a private discussion I had with a Dick Grayson Fan A once distinguishing the difference between external and internal conflicts in a romantic plot. While we were not talking Dick and Barbara then, much of what we said still applies to their relationship.

External conflicts, as the name suggests, involve external forces that keep the couple from being able to develop their relationship despite their mutual feelings for each other. This is the case with a romance like Clark and Lois. Given Babs’ laugh at Dick’s condescendingly sexist claim that Babs shouldn’t be with him because it is too dangerous (as if he doesn’t know very well that Babs can easily take care of herself), it seemed that Taylor believed that this was the conflict that has been keeping Dick and Babs apart. And so, with one panel, he dismissed the idea that external forces could keep Dick and Babs apart because they are able to face their enemies together.

(Taylor, Tom, writer. Redondo, Bruno, illustrator Battle for Bludhaven’s Heart Finale. Nightwing: Rebirth. 96, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2022. pp. 17 - 18)

But in the past, what broke Dick and Babs up were not external conflicts, but internal ones. If external conflicts are created due to external forces, internal conflicts preventing a couple from being together come from the characters not yet being who they need to be in order to be happy together. This can be due to a clash of personalities, worldviews, needs, wants, or goals. To prove my point, I want to look at Dick and Bab’s break up in Nightwing (1996) #87 and the Nightwing Annual #02. (I’ll be honest in saying that it pains me to cite Nightwing Annual #02 in this essay, for I absolutely detest it. I believe Dick is written incredibly out of character and it, quite frankly, captures one of my major problems with how some writers choose to depict DickBabs. In trying to prop Babs up, Dick gets knocked down and ridiculed, and often burdened with the full responsibility as to why Dick and Babs haven’t been able to get together due to timing and Dick’s immaturity. As such, writers make it so Dick and Dick alone must change in order to become a partner worthy of Babs. They greatly mischaracterize him, fault the failures of Dick and Babs’ relationships on those mischaracterizations, and then portray Babs as the patient woman waiting for her immature soulmate to grow up. This is both an insult to Dick’s character and a propagation of sexist tropes where a woman must put her life on hold in order for the man to “catch up” to her maturely. Not only that, it unfairly requires that only one party makes changes for another. It is not Dick and Babs that must change for each other, but Dick who must change for Babs.)

Just as Taylor uses Dick and Babs’ shared history to bring them together, their breakup explores how shared history can make being together so difficult. 

In Devin Grayson’s run, their shared history can be painful to Babs. Not because she doesn’t look back on their time growing up together fondly, but because it was such a happy time in her life that it makes her feel bitter about what she lost. While she is incredible as Oracle, she is still frustrated that she can't be Batgirl anymore. The past, no matter how good, is a reminder of what she can no longer be, and Babs wants to move forward. So Dick bringing up their time as Robin and Batgirl, however fondly, is painful for it makes her feel like they are stuck in the past they shared rather than moving forward together.

(Grayson, Devin, writer. Zitcher, Path, illustrator The Calm Before. Nightwing. 86, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2003. pp 21 - 22)

But to Dick, the past you share with someone is what makes your relationship in the present special. The past informs the present and the future. Dick, much like Bruce, doesn’t move forward by disconnecting himself from the past. His parents are part of his past. So is Robin. His childhood with Bruce. The past is something good to Dick, even when it's also so filled with pain. Dick is not shackled by his past the way Bruce is because he does not see it as something that needs to hold him back. You can move forward while still embracing who you once were and honoring the legacy you carry on your shoulders. The past informed who Dick is now, the relationships he has, and the person he wants to be. The past is where much of what he loves exists. So when he brings up their shared history when talking to Babs, he is not doing it because he loved Batgirl but cannot love Oracle, and he is not doing so because he is just focused on who they were then and not who they are now; he does it it's because to Dick, there's no such distinction between Batgirl and Oracle. They are both Babs, and he loves both of them. 

(Grayson, Devin, writer. Zitcher, Patch, illustrator. Snowball. Nightwing. 87, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2003. pp 16)

The way Babs copes with trauma is by divorcing herself from the hurt, by letting go of who she was and embracing who she wants to be. Dick, on the other hand, merges who he was then with who he is now. He doesn't see those people as separate entities, but rather as extensions of him. And that makes sense when you consider that Babs' main trauma relates to something that was taken away from her, and for Dick, the only way he can remain connected to his parents is through the past. It's a great example of incompatibility. Neither one is "at fault" for how they view this issue, neither of them is more correct than the other. They are just different. They care for each other, but the way they understand and interact with the world prevents them from being happy together at this moment. For that to work, internal change is needed. 

In portraying Dick and Barbara as complex individuals first, who have different attitudes towards looking back at the past and looking forward to the future, Grayson managed to make their relationship feel real. There’s a weight to their breakup, you can see why they care for each other and why this decision is painful and not taken lightly. They love each other, but they are not in a place where they can be themselves and be happy together yet. It is not danger that keeps them apart — it is the very same differences which they admire most about each other which pushes them away. 

In Nightwing Annual #02, we see other reasons why Dick and Babs failed to come together so often. These included Babs being scared of Dick eventually leaving her due to tensions between Dick and Bruce

(Andreyko, Marc, writer. Bennett, Joe, illustrator Hero’s Journey. Nightwing Annual. 2, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2007. pp 22 - 23)

Timing,

(Andreyko, Marc, writer. Bennett, Joe, illustrator Hero’s Journey. Nightwing Annual. 2, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2007. pp 25)

And, perhaps most importantly, the way in which Dick devalues his own life. 

(Andreyko, Marc, writer. Bennett, Joe, illustrator Hero’s Journey. Nightwing Annual. 2, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2007. pp 37 - 38)

This is something Grayson also alludes to during her run, when she often portrays Babs being both worried and frustrated at Dick’s tendencies to push himself too far.

(Grayson, Devin, writer. Zitcher, Patch, illustrator Snowball. Nightwing. 87, e-book ed. DC Comics, 2003. pp 13)

In both Grayson’s run and the aftermath of Infinite Crisis, the toxic perfectionism referred to many times during this essay led Babs to break off their relationship despite their mutual love. 

Having lost the mobility of her legs due to the Joker, Babs sees her life as Oracle as a second chance, and one which she will use to its fullest by putting herself first. It makes sense, then, that she sees Dick’s self-sacrificing tendencies and his desire for approval as both concerning and irritating. As Dick constantly puts himself in near-death scenarios for even the smallest of things, Babs decides that she would rather wait for a time when Dick learns to value himself more rather than to continue in a relationship where she is the only one who cares about whether Dick lives or dies. 

Whether this is the right solution to their relationship is up for debate. Personally, it irks me that stories will often frame this as Dick having to mature to be with Babs and not place an equal burden on Babs having to learn to accept that this is just who Dick is. But that is irrelevant to this discussion, for what matters is that there have been plenty of reasons why Dick and Babs did not work out in the past, and those are almost always rooted in who they are as individuals struggling to perfectly fit together as a unit. Dick and Babs have a messy history, both as individual characters with their own stories, and together as friends and romantic interests. They are two different people who, although their morals align, approach life differently. The development in their romance, then, comes with how willing they are to change for the other, and how willing they are to accept the things that cannot — and should not — be changed. It is about a balance of give and take, and when Babs and Dick broke up in the past, it was because they were not able to find that balance. It is because they, as individuals, clashed. As Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns and Cesar Alfonso Marino put in their essay analyzing Dick’s portrayal in the Batman Family (1975-1978) series, Dick and Babs will often find themselves in “point[s] of inflection which marks that both heroes must go their separate ways to avoid further tensions (developed by sexual attraction and/or problems about leadership).” (Pagnoni Berns, Fernando Gabriel and Marino, Cesar Alfonso “Outlining the Future Robin: The Seventies in the Batman Family.”Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder: Scholars and Creators on 75 years of Robin, Nightwing, and Batman edited by Kristen L. Geaman, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015, pp. 32)

In other words, it was about interior conflicts, not exterior ones.

When taking this into consideration, one can see how Taylor’s portrayal of Dick and Babs’ relationship is not only incredibly hollow, but incredibly cynical. Because Taylor removed Dick’s self-destructive, toxic perfectionism, that is no longer a point of friction in their relationship. Because Babs is no longer the pragmatic woman who doses out tough love, that is also no longer a point of friction in their relationship. But as a result, Dick and Babs are no longer themselves, and their relationship is no longer representative of their shared history. Instead, we are left with an insulting and purposeful misrepresentation of their past relationship, with Taylor displaying a blatant disrespect and disregard for anything his predecessors contributed to these characters. Dick and Babs were never apart because of danger. Dick would never condescend to Barbara in this manner, and Barbara would never let something so trivial go unchallenged or get in the way of what she wants. What got in their way was a matter of compatibility. They may compliment each other in the field, be great friends, get along well, but in previous attempts to make their relationship work, they found that they were simply too different to share a life together, their goals did not align, and their approaches to life did not work together. Getting and staying together was not a matter of external factors, but rather whether they could do the difficult internal work necessary to make their romance last. 

I want to make it clear that I actually love the childhood-friends-to-lovers trope. But what makes friends-to-lovers interesting is the fact that it creates inherently messy romances. If you two characters who have loved each other for so long, then they naturally have a history. They have seen each other at their best and at their worst. Yet, insecurities, timing, and compatibility keep them from being able to get their happily-ever-after. That creates a messiness that adds weight and meaning to the relationship. Seeing them overcome these challenges, become better individuals, and then finally come together is what makes the narrative so effective.

Dick’s and Babs’ romance, as currently portrayed, lacks that weight. Taylor and DC want that history, that “true love” aspect of their relationship without acknowledging the complications that come from having lived so many years in close proximity. In other words, they want the appearance of a long shared history without acknowledging the contents of said history. This robs both Dick and Babs of their individual personalities and backstories, for it is there where the source of their conflicts lie. All of the things that make them interesting individuals are sacrificed for the heteronormative DickBabs amalgamation. There is no Dick Grayson. There is no Barbara Gordon. There is only a happy, wholesome, smiling couple of nothingness — as it was put earlier it is all “shimmer, gloss, and no substance.”

And this does not affect only them.  

In making Dick and Babs inseparable, Babs has become heavily involved with the Titans. This leads to the majority of Babs’s interactions in the current canon to be with Dick’s friends. And because, once more, Taylor skirts away from conflict, that means that all of Dick’s friends have become Babs’ friends. However, by making Babs friends with all of Dick’s female friends, Taylor created a shallow girlboss feminist narrative where all of these women’s individual personhoods are reduced their relationship to one man. He does not take into account who they are, only their gender and their mutual connection to Dick. In trying to do a girl-boss feminist empowerment, Taylor instead creates a deeply misogynistic narrative. 

Kory and Babs, for example, should be allowed to dislike each other despite being on the same team. They are, after all, supposedly fully realized women with their own personalities, values, and goals. Their existence is not dependent on Dick Grayson or their romance with him. Real world women dislike one another for various reasons that are unrelated to men. Male characters often hate each other without it being because of a woman. So why can’t the same be true for female characters? 

To attempt to make Kory and Babs friends simply to undermine expectations because one of them is Dick’s ex and the other one is Dick’s girlfriend is not empowering. It sacrifices characterization for the purposes of subversion.To think of the dynamic between these two characters in terms of their relationship with Dick reduces their existence to a man by implying that the only possible reason they could dislike one another is because of said man. It is not due to different value systems (which would be incredibly reasonable given their different background and cultures), it is not because their personalities clash (as they are two different people), it is not because their likes and dislikes may contradict (once more, because they are two different people). All the things that would make them realized individuals with agency are ignored in favor of focusing on their relationship with Dick. 

Babs is a cisgender, straight, middle-class white woman from New Jersey. Kory is a warrior Princess from a different galaxy. It would not be unreasonable to expect their opinions to conflict when their backgrounds, upbringings, and experiences also differ. After all, those are things that shape our value system, dictating our perspectives. 

Having different values or different ways to express your opinion does not mean that one is right and the other is wrong. It does not mean one is superior to the other. It only means they are different. Diverse. To believe one must be correct and the other must be wrong is to fall into the traps of ethnocentrism. By making Kory and Babs values indistinguishable, the story implies that there is only one correct way to interact with the world. This eliminates diverse perspectives in favor of a monolithic one. The fact that Kory's culture is the one that is ignored so that they are compatible with Babs implies that Babs – the cisgender, straight, middle-class white woman from New Jersey – is the one whose culture and world views are correct and, therefore, superior.

Dick’s relationship platonic relationship with Donna is also devalued and watered down in favor of Dick and Barbara’s romance. Because Dick and Barbara are depicted as having been each other’s best friends since childhood — when, in reality, Dick was closer to Donna during his preteen and teenage years, and Donna is often portrayed as his best friend — Donna’s place in Dick’s life is replaced by Babs. Babs must be everything to Dick — his true love, his longest childhood friend, his one female best friend. 

This creates a narrative in which Dick cannot have a significant interaction with another woman without it being a threat to his relationship with Babs. Needless to say, this is an incredibly heteronormative worldview which implies that men and women who are not related cannot share deep and significant platonic intimacy without some underlying romantic tension. So naturally, Donna cannot he Dick’s longest friend, his best friend, because in the heteronormative world portrayed in Taylor’s run, that would mean that she is a rival to Babs.

Perhaps it is for this reason that Melinda was revealed to be Dick’s sister so soon into her introduction. If Melinda and Dick were not related but were still meant to interact with each other, that would create a bond that some might see as romantic or sexual. So by presenting Melinda as Dick’s biological sibling within moments of the two first interacting, Taylor strips Melinda of any romantic or sexual appeal. In this heteronormative world, only by being related can Dick and Melinda share intimacy without threatening Babs’ position in Dick’s life. 

Needless to say, this heteronormative worldview which only allows for the relationship between non-biologically related men and women to be seen through lenses of romance and sex is also a misogynistic, male-centric worldview. In this story, women are not treated as people and are instead perceived solely through their relationship to Dick Grayson.

[lemiko0]

Why must you be the reason of my suffering?

MASTERLIST (I think this will be a oneshot, not really planning on making another part)

So, like I got bored and decided to make this. Yes, I'm still working on my other fanfics but I'm post pointing the blue lock one since idk what to do with it but the series for the bat family one is still in progress, I'm like halfway down with it.

3k+ words

Summary: You and Jason where like love birds before he died like a loser L.

TW: broken bones, Omega verse, implied sexual contact, and abuse

It was a rainy, cold night the air smelled wet, and the streets were filled with puddles. But the vibe wasn't gloomy like how Gotham usually is. Jason or should I say robin was there talking to you about how Bruce was being... well Bruce. You giggled every once in a while, when you talked to Jason. You guys got along really well considering you both are 12. Jason joined the bat family 3 months before you and you only joined since your parents got killed in a conflict between batman and the joker. You were taken in because you and Jason were already friends in school plus it was easy to find out who Jason was. And you had powers... Not like meta human powers but you had the ability to see a person's feeling, meaning that you can tell if someone was lying, very easily.

Another thing was you were quite strong despite being an omega. Honestly even if you weren't a fully developed pup your fighting abilities were almost on par with Bruce's. You were also a vigilante, saving people left and right (I'll leave your hero name up to you). So obviously you and Jason got along like two peas in a pod. It was obvious you guys were mates. Well, I mean even if you two were under Bruce's care you didn't see him as a father and you weren't really interested in having a different father figure who wasn't your real father. So, the way you got into the Bat family's pack was through Jason. You and Jason went everywhere together. Jason was in the kitchen? Would you look at that so are you! Jason is in his room sleeping? Well, that's weird you are too!

You guys would always go on dates after school! You'd hangout at a park for hours or go somewhere to eat. But it was a routine every day after school you guys would walk out together and go on long walks, Then Walk to the manor and usually you guys would arrive around 5 and then eat dinner together. Then do homework in your guy's shared room.

You two were inseparable always together. That's how it was until you guys hit the age 15. You guys were left home alone. Bruce was on a mission, Dick was in Bludhaven, and Alfred was taking a long-needed break. Well, let's just say, when you and Jason were home alone your first heat began. Which didn't end well. You guys were banned from being home alone ever again. But everything was fine, until Jason died. It was a cold day, and your stomach was acting up so instead of doing homework as usual you went to sleep early but when you woke up Jason wasn't in the room. You get up and go to the Batcave, Jason wasn't there but Alfred was and he explained that Jason fell into a trap set by the joker and that Bruce was on his way to save him.

You were stressed out, worried and waiting. An hour passes and Bruce walks into the bat cave with Jason's dead body... Everything stopped, your heart was beating loudly. How...? How did you let this happen you asked over and over again. You screamed and bawled your eyes out at the horror of seeing his dead body. You fell to ground crying, terrified. Bruce just looked at you with pity, while Alfred put his hand on your shoulder.

You got up and completely lost your mind destroying everything in sight. You punched a vase until the broken shards cut open your fist. You couldn't take it. Jason? Out of everyone? Well, let's just say you probably wouldn't be alive if Alfred didn't stop you and released his calming beta pheromones. Bruce grabbed you and pulled you into a hug as you broke down. For weeks you were stuck in a room with no windows or anything that you could use to harm yourself. You fell into a deep depression. Luckily Barbara would be there to comfort you.

Betas are always comforting Omegas when omegas are going through a hard time. Betas have pheromones that calm down omegas when they're stressed out. In the past, history shows that when something traumatized happens to an omega or alpha, betas usually comfort them. Which helps a lot in packs.

You were a mess, crying your eyes out, ripping your hair out, even screaming until you lost your voice, hitting yourself, biting yourself, anything that came to mind. Alfred, Bruce, Barbara, Dick, and Luke took turns looking after you to make sure nothing bad would happen to you. You'd sleep for hours a day cuddling with whoever was watching over you.

You were so mentally unwell that when you were taken to his funeral you had to be next to Bruce to make sure you didn't do anything. You cried your eyes out at seeing Jason in a casket. Everyone else there (Alfred, Bruce, Luke, Barbara and Dick) tried to comfort you but nothing would work.

After Jason's death, you were stuck in that room. You kept getting morning sickness. Alfred feared that you were pregnant with Jason's pup, so you took a pregnancy test. Well, long story short, you were pregnant with Jason's pup. Didn't make anything better. Dick was arguing with Bruce a lot, and even though you were in a different room, you could still hear them. "Look at *reader*! They can barely feed themself! What makes you think they'd be okay with Tim?" Dick yelled. "Tim...? You swear you've heard that name before." You wondered what Dick meant with what he said.

...

...

Then it hit...

Did Bruce replace Jason with another robin...?

You got stressed... releasing pheromones uncontrollably he wouldn't do that... would he? Dick walked in after smelling your overwhelming pheromones. He bent down next to you hugging you. "Did Bruce replace him already...?" You asked as you started to shake. Dick didn't reply as he continued to hug you. Bruce looked into the room making eye contact with you before turning away and walking away. That's all you need to know before bursting into tears. For 9 months you were still under supervision after all losing your mate is very hard especially when your pregnant with their pup. But after your pup was born you were finally allowed out of that room. You absolutely loved your pup he was so adorable; you couldn't give him up for adoption.

You became obsessed with your pup who looked exactly like Jason. You gave up being a vigilante and dedicated yourself to taking care of your pup who you named Jared. You became distant from Bruce since he took in another robin named Tim, as if Jason didn't matter at all. You couldn't stay in the Wayne manor for any longer because everywhere you went, you just thought about Jason, so you left. Got an apartment, a job and got support from Dick and Barbara when you needed help moving your stuff. And life wasn't very hard anymore.

You'd drop Jared off at daycare, work, then pickup Jared and play with him. It was like that for 6 years.

Some new family members were introduced to the family like Cassandra, Stephine, Tim, and Damion. But you didn't really talk to them, but you did respect them and occasionally when you went to the manor, you'd have small conversations with them, but you weren't exactly close with them.

"Look what I made!" Jared said while giving you a drawing of you and him.

You smiled grabbing the paper. You ruffled his hair gently "Wanna go to the park pup?" You ask smiling. "Yes!" Jared said jumping up and down. He loved to go to the park especially when school was over. It was winter break, and it was getting pretty dark, but you weren't worried about criminals.

You and Jared stayed at the park for a while before hearing police officers arresting a criminal; your son, intrigued wanted to go and see what was happening so you went to the crime scene with him. There was Batman and what seemed to be a drug dealer getting arrested. Your son absolutely loved superheroes "Look it's Batman!" He said excited. You smiled at him before hearing a gunshot, you instantly covered your sons' eyes. The drug dealer was snipped, you looked up seeing a guy with a red mask on the roof with a sniper. You grab your son walking away as batman went to chase after him. "What happened?" your son asked trying to move your hand from his eyes. "Nothing pup don't worry about it... say... would you wanna go with your aunts and uncles?" You asked smiling

"Yes!" Jared exclaimed, he loved Alfred's sweets and thought Tim and Cassandra were so cool. You arrive at the manor knocking on the door. Damion answers the door and glares at you "Hey Robby I need to go do something can you tell Alfred to watch over Jared?" You ask before ruffling his hair and walking away "Thanks!" you said smiling.

You arrive to your apartment and do research on this new guy. Apparently, his name was Red hood and he killed criminals. You don't know why you were so intrigued on finding out who he is, but you are. You notice that he aimed for underground criminals. You text Alfred that you'd bring some of Jared's stuff and that something important came up so you couldn't take care of Jared for a bit. You get up and pack Jared's favorite toys, and books you also make a list of food, Jared likes and how he likes to eat them for example; his sandwiches can't have the crust he absolutely hates the crust, no sugar after 5pm, he loves to drink homemade smoothies made from strawberries, prefers chocolate milk in a bottle, and how he hates pork and packaged food.

You weren't sure how long you'd be gone but you guessed you'd be gone a while. You drop off his stuff at the manor but before you leave Tim stops you. "What are you doing?" He asked, your heart stopped for a moment "Something popped up at work I can't take care of Jared" That didn't seem to convince Tim enough... Almost like he knew you were up to no good. He nodded before walking away. you sighed relieved he didn't question you any further.

For the next 2 days, you spent your time researching about Red Hood, seeing what his next move would be. You suspected his next victims would be these crime lords doing sketchy business in a warehouse. You put on your old costume and scent blockers before leaving off to the warehouse. You find a hiding place on the 3rd floor of the warehouse watching the crime lords talk to each other before Red Hood walks in and shoots them one by one, killing them all. You quietly watched from above, not knowing if you should knock out Red Hood and take him to your apartment for investigation, but your thoughts were caught off when he made direct eye contact with you. Shit he saw you, you quickly looked away, hiding yourself. After a moment, you look back down before getting hit with a bat, causing you to black out.

You wake up tied to a chair, your mask is off, and your scent blockers were removed. Infront of you was Red Hood "Thought you were sneaky, weren't you?" He asked looking at you. You didn't reply, your head was pounding... "Not very talkative huh? That's okay didn't expect you to be talkative" he said before grabbing your finger breaking it, you yelped in pain but calmed down. "Who are you?" you asked ignoring the pain in your hand. He looked at you and ignored you before putting a knife against your wrist before gently carving the initial J. You whimpered but managed to control your pheromones from going everywhere.

Your wrist started to bleed, dirtying your costume. You could also sense that Red Hood had scent blockers since you couldn't smell his pheromones. He pulled down your collar to see your scent glands. He must have been able to tell you had a kid from looking at them. "So, you got a kid?" He muttered, sounding disappointed before leaving.

about 4 days past of tormenting and occasionally doing harm but he tended to only doing small cuts and nothing very harmful, he also gave you food regularly so that you weren't starving. But for some unknown reason him being around you gave you comfort...

BACK WITH BATFAMILY

after 2 days of no contact Bruce and Barbara went to check up on you going to your home and finding out you're not there, then going to your job only to find out you haven't been at your job at all. Bruce and Barbara go to your house looking through your stuff. Bruce is freaking out, and Barbara is looking through your room. Your room is way too small for you and Jared. How did Bruce not notice this? Barbara starts to look through your drawers before finding a computer hidden under some clothes. She opens the computer, and the first thing she sees is articles about Red Hood. Oh no... "BRUCE," she yells.

Bruce quickly walks in and sees the articles before taking the computer. He starts looking through it until finding files on your computer about Red Hood. He looks through your files and sees plans to get Red Hood. He comes across a video. "If you're seeing this and I'm not home or at work after a couple of days of this recording, something probably happened to me... Well, the plan is to follow Red Hood into a warehouse that has a drug transaction happening that I'm 70% sure he's going to... And I'll probably take him into questioning, I don't know why I'm so interested in him, but I am and I'm recording this video because I have a horrible feeling, but if anything happens tell Jared I love him." -END-

This made Bruce fear for the worse before punching the wall. "Let's go..." Bruce tells Barbara before taking the computer with him before going to the Batcave. When he arrived, he alerted everyone to go to the Batcave for an important meeting. When everyone arrived he said the news "*reader* is missing."

...

...

"What...?" Dick asked first

everyone looks towards his direction

"You're joking right?..." Dick asked, everyone could tell he was pissed by the change in his pheromones.

"No, I'm not" Bruce said

"So why are we waiting? we should start looking for them" Damion interrupted

"Well, I need Damion and Tim to go with me to the last place *reader* was at."

before they could continue their conversation, Jared walked into the Batcave where everyone was. "What happened...? Why is mama missing?" Jared said sniffling everyone went quiet before Luke went up to him "Mama is okay... they just went on a quick vacation..." Luke tried to reassure "Liar liar!" Jared cried "It's written all over your face! You guys are liars! What happened to mama!" Jared screamed. Alfred went up to him before putting an hand on Jared's back "It's okay pup mama will be here soon, Batman is going to save them" Alfred said comforting Jared. Jared wiped his tears before crying even more "I want mama!" he cried. Alfred picked him up before taking him upstairs.

everyone looked at each other before Bruce, Tim, and Damion went into the bat mobile.

When they arrived to the warehouse Tim instantly hacked into the security system trying to find footage of you, while Bruce and Damion went to look for clues. They found dead bodies of drug dealers and blood splattered everywhere. "Batman!" Tim yelled, Bruce and Damion quickly ran towards Tim.

Tim pulled up the footage of you being kidnapped.

Let's just say they didn't have mercy on red hood.

BACK WITH YOU

THUMP

You looked up, looking around the room, wondering where the sound came from.

THUMP

It was coming from outside.

You struggled again, and your wrist turned red from the rubbing against the rope. You loosened the rope being able to slip your hand out. With your free hand your able to free yourself. You walk towards the noise opening the door to see Red Hood bleeding on the floor. You look at him before going on your knees.

You pull off his mask with the hand that wasn't broken

...

You stepped back in shock, falling

Jason was on the floor bleeding

No... No... Your hallucinating... You have to be... Jason's dead... You haven't taken your pills! That must be it! He's dead he's dead he's not real, you're going insane, your insane, this isn't real.

It's not real

it isn't real

can't you hear me? It's not real.

Why is it loud

it's hot

it's loud

it's unbearable

why can't you move

what's happening

why does your throat burn

hey, can you hear me?

Hello?

Are you alright?

reader

it's me

It's me Cassandra.

Cassandra...?

Cass...

"Cassandra..?"

You looked up seeing Cassandra.

"Yes, it's me." she said while releasing comforting pheromones.

"What... what happened?" You asked before looking behind Cassandra seeing Jason being carried by Bruce and Barbara.

It was real

you're not going insane

how

how

how is he

how is he alive

no.

It's not real

It's a ghost

why does your throat hurt so much.

why is it loud

are you

are you screaming...?

THUD

everything faded to black.

You woke up.

But in your bed at the manor...

Your body was exhausted, you looked down and saw Jared snuggled up to your side, sleeping. You got up slowly, what happened? Your head was pounding. You got up from the bed slowly trying to not wake up Jared. You walked to the door slowly before slowly trying to open the door.

"Mama...?"

You heard a little voice call out.

You turned around seeing Jared sitting up in bed with his hair all messy. You smiled before going back to grab him. "I'm here" You reassured before picking him up as he snuggled against you.

You remembered what happened yesterday.

Red Hood was Jason.

You needed answers so you quickly went downstairs to the Batcave with Jared in your arms. Everyone was there, gathering around the old room you were kept in. You looked at the window. Jason was sitting in a chair tied up. Everyone looked at you, while tears started to pour down. You gave Jared to Alfred as you quickly went towards the door the lead to the room Jason was in. Before you could go in you were stopped, by Stephine. "Are you sure you want this? y/n" You stared at her; everyone was looking at you.

"I'm not sure but I need to hear him, to know this is real, to know he's actually alive." You said before going into the room. There he was, staring at you. You paused for a moment before getting interrupted "Are you just going to stand there?" He asked while tapping his foot. you went up to him before hugging him, tightly.

perhaps everything would be okay.

...

Yeah cliffhanger... mb

I might make another part depending on how much support I get on this fanfic.

NEXT FANFIC IDEA: vampire batfamily x reader :3

[maxwell-grant]

"porous and easy-to-transplant like Spidey's villains" is it just me does Marvel have more of these guys than DC? Like we can just have random buff list villains go after a a variety of different characters?

Oh yes, Marvel absolutely has the advantage when it comes to rogues gallery transplants, it's not even a contest. That's in large part because Marvel existed as a shared universe from the get-go: DC didn't quite jump on that wagon for a while. For most of the Silver Age, there was little to no cross-pollination between Superman and Batman, the existence of the Justice League not really mattering in their titles, where as Marvel was crossover town from day one. They each offer different kinds of narrative real state for their villains to exist in.

The DCU's defining figures, Superman and Batman, live in opposite cities with opposite tones and opposite casts and everybody else has to occupy the space between their two extremes, and most of the other bigger heroes have their own cities: your Star Cities and Central Cities and Hub Cities and Bludhavens and whatnot. Thus most of their villains and villain casts are centralized, and sometimes they even have formal agreements about this kind of stuff. There's almost like a Venture Bros-esque union thing going on sometimes in the DCU where most of their popular villains and heroes are fairly exclusive to one another, with characters like Killer Frost, Gentleman Ghost and Solomon Grundy who transcend this being mostly such due to their heroes being more absorbed and integrated into ensembles than their own adventures.

The major exceptions for these tend to be villains specifically made or set to menace the entire universe, like Superboy Prime or Perpetua or, Amanda Waller this month I guess, and Event Villains are kind of their own thing (and mostly not very good). DC doesn't have a Doctor Doom, in the sense of a big great iconic villain for the whole universe and specific heroes in it who also can and will fight anyone and it will pretty much always be great no matter who he's fighting. They try to make cosmic baddies like Brainiac into those kinds of figures and it never works as well, it always just makes them too generic, there's no spark to the ensuing dynamic. Vandal Savage is probably the closest to one that works and, love the guy, but he's sporadically great and simply not up to the standard this requires.

Marvel, in turn, has been in the business of regularly loaning out bad guys, maybe ever since Sandman joined up the Frightful Four? He wasn't just a one-off thing like that time Daredevil and Doctor Doom swapped bodies and fought, no he was regularly showing up as a villain in F4, in a new costume even. Marvel already started with all of their major defining characters living in the same sandbox, everybody is within a few blocks away from each other most of the time, and so everybody is everybody's problem most of the time, it's the bastardverse and they are all crammed together, and it's not terribly surprising why they fight all the goddamn time. All the major Marvel villains are shooting to rule the same city/planet and destroy more or less the same people and therefore they kinda have to be on a first-name basis with each other, and all the middle-leaguer/second-stringer baddies are getting beaten up by the same people in the same city. Reverse-Flash and Joker going after anyone other than their respective arch-enemies feels fake and perfunctory, but guys like Ultron and Norman Osborn, who also have specific arch-enemies, can transit between individual problems for different heroes and larger-scale problems for everybody just fine. A DC hero will rarely be in Lex Luthor's line of sight unless they are specifically doing something that will piss him off, where as if you are a Marvel hero, it's a fact that sometimes you'll just randomly orbit Wilson Fisk's business and thus you gotta dodge gunfire for it that day.

This especially applies for the smaller-scale villains, not too strongly attached to the hero they may have started out with to the point they become ensemble villains, the ones that easily and eventually become someone else's problem. Your Mr. Hydes and Absorbing Men and Arcades and High Evolutionaries and whatnot, Spider-Man is stuffed with these. Sometimes these characters will click so well with specific heroes they'll achieve wholly different kinds of stardom or characterization (Kingpin in Miller's Daredevil, Brain Drain and Kraven in Squirrel Girl, etc), and sometimes they'll graduate into the position of supporting character or even main character. The peak example of this is Taskmaster, because while the likes of Loki and Venom can claim greater stardom, they did so by becoming anti-heroes and are generally still attached at hip to their heroes of origin, where as Taskmaster is a midcard villain to the bone and it's extremely easy to forget he was an Avengers villain at first, he is just fully A Guy in his own right who will go anywhere and menace anyone for the right price (except Moon Knight, because he is too scary), he'll scale up and down and be everyone's problem until he's not being paid to do so and then it's cool. DC doesn't really have an equivalent to him (they kinda try with Deathstroke but, pfft, please, that guy is a diehard obsessive Teen Titans villain and that's not even the more embarassing thing about him). They have countless midcarders just picking dust within their respective rogues galleries that could easily be migrated elsewhere.

But on the other hand, Marvel doesn't quite have what you'd call a Legion of Doom/Injustice League, in the sense of being able to pair all of it's biggest villains from the biggest corners of the world together in a team-up and have it work. There's been attempts over the years to make things like the Masters of Evil and the Cabal land as such and they never really stuck, the closest you get to an iconic Big Villain Team is the likes of the Sinister Six and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, groups tailored to menace specific heroes or hero teams, or things like The Black Order and the Dark Avengers, ultimately extensions of bigger villains (the Thunderbolts are their own thing). Maybe it's because Marvel doesn't really have a major concentrated dominant heroic force on the level of the Justice League that would demand all their villains to put everything aside to try and stop it (although DC can't really justify the Legion of Doom/Injustice League as an ongoing thing most of the time, they don't exist as a regular thing). It might be a mismatch of priorities, that it doesn't have a Lex Luthor as a a clear-cut Union Chief to properly call in and command other arch-enemies who would be willing to pay union dues and work together to better destroy the specific guys they individually hate. Marvel's major villains are a clutch of arch-bastards all trying to be king of the world who hate each other as much, if not more, as they hate their heroes and the only one who could rise above them to the top leadership position is Doctor Doom, who has no need to be leading or participating in something like this. Loki had to put on a whole charade of pretending to be subservient to each of them in order to pull off the gathering he did in Acts of Vengeance, and that only worked once.

Another obvious immediate answer for why is that, as Acts of Vengeance and other stories have shown time and time again, you kinda can't gather all of Marvel's biggest villains in one place and not include the Red Skull, and thus other villains jumping over themselves to murder him the second he walks into the room. But they've done attempts without him or a significant Nazi villain in the room, and they still largely didn't land. It might be overall that, the point of the Legion of Doom is to force all the separate characters and domains of the DCU to join forces to oppose it and that's why they have to be a threat to the Justice League, with none of it's villains exactly meeting that standard on their own, but Marvel's heroes are already all crammed together in cliques on the same places and fighting/putting differences aside to tackle bigger threats all the time, and so there's not really a point of forcing that through a especially big villain gathering.

There isn't really a unity among the Marvel heroes comparable to the one that demands Lex Luthor to call in all the other arch-enemies to try and break, and the one time Norman Osborn attempted to call in one at the height of his power, it was repeteadly emphasized how stupid he was to expect to be able to gather and control and command said people (and when Namor tried to revive the Cabal for the sake of succeeding where the Illuminati failed, things went even worse for him). In the end, Marvel is just too chaotic for the villains to exist in a centralized ruling body like that, if the heroes can't agree on anything why would their villains be any different.