#steph duke and babs are also members

[adhd-winterfalcon]

dick grayson has scary dog privilege but it’s just his younger siblings

dick: hi :D !!

cass, jason, tim & damian: *behind him, glaring*

[whywouldisayprinter]

When you first look at the Batfam, you might be tempted to see a good old Classic Family structure but like single dad edition.

But if you're enlightened (like me) you see that none of them have a normal, nuclear relationship to all the other members.

[aalghul]

i don't even think duke and bruce have a strictly father/son relationship because they're a lot more like what bruce and tim were doing while bruce had temporary guardianship over him but that still keeps duke as a core member so im gonna keep pushing him in conversations that ignore him for no real reason lol

[star-steph06]

Mermaid au!!! So I decided to go with a big portrait and perhaps individual later if people are interested. Tell me why this took 13+ hours 😭😭

Jason: a selkie because I thought the idea was cute

Damian: a betta fish, bred for fighting/aggressive and originated in Asia

Dick: flying fish ofc

Duke: whale shark because I love them and I thought it fit well

Tim: dolphin because they’re intelligent debated on him being octopus so maybe I’ll do something for the individual

Cass: iridescent thresher shark. One of the more nicer sharks because sharks don’t really attack people but they’re scared of them that stuff.

Steph a jelly fish!!! 🤭🤭

Anyway I hope y’all like it! Let me know if you guys want individual or other members like Babs and Bruce or Alfred. Also do you have another platform I should join to show my art?? Should I start posting on TikTok?

[gaywineauntsstuff]

Broke: everyone fights over whose Batman’s favorite

Woke: everyone fights over whose Dicks favorite bc Dick isn’t an emotionally stunted loser (I shit talk Bruce so much but I love him, he’s just also a loser) and trying to get in the bats favor is like trying to catch sand in a sieve

————

Damian: obviously I’m Graysons favorite I was his Robin

Tim: dude I was the first Robin he trained and we still talk every day I am 100% the favorite

Steph: fuck you! You disappeared off the the face of the earth when he was Batman I was actually here I’m 100% the favorite everyone knows Wing loves me.

Jason: Dick willingly went to Gotham to spend time with me even when he was mad at Bruce. Has Dick ever been in Gotham when he was mad at Bruce for you guys? No? Didn’t think so?

Damian: ….

Steph:…

Tim: that’s because you sucked so much he thought you’d get blown up trying to have to bludhaven.

Jason: oi! Low blow, you can’t use a man’s death against him

Damian: shut up we’ve all died before

Steph: you literally said you were allowed to break Tim’s laptop bc you died b4

Jason: yeah it’s MY DEATH I can use it how I want

Tim: we really gonna call your 14yr old 4’7 self a man?

Cass: he helped me train when B rejected me I’m the favorite

Tim: you can’t be Dicks favorite you’re already Bab’s favorite those are the only 2 likable older members of the family. (They’ve decided Alfred doesn’t count since he’s legally not allowed to have favorites)

Dick: Duke is my favorite

Damian: what?

Tim: how?

Jason: this shit is rigged

Steph: What?? You barely spend time with him?

Duke who has been eating popcorn quietly this whole time:???

Dick: he doesnt steal my suit and murder people

Jason: …

Dick: or tell his friends I threatened to send him to Arkham when I told him to get therapy

Tim:…

Dick: or break into my apartment at 3am because he can’t communicate with his father

Damian:…

Dick: or make me believe he flatlined on the operating table

Steph: …

Dick: or tell me he can’t meet up for a bust because he’s too busy fighting Wonder Woman a hero we work with over text with no context and then go AWOL for 5 days

Cass:…

Dick: or overload his plate with 50 million things I will have to come in and help with

Everyone:

Steph: he started a cult tho??

Dick: was it before or after he was fostered bc if it was before it’s. Not. My. Problem.

Duke: I’m the favorite???

Dick: also I feel like if I died you’re the most likely to take over my duties and not go on a quest for vengeance or try to clone me or put me in the Lazarus pit.

Jason: ID NEVER PUT you in the Lazarus pit…. No comment on the rest tho.

Tim: ditto

Damian: meh you are superior to Todd and he’s relatively functional post the pit I don’t see the issue here.

Steph raising hand: I wouldn’t-

Dick: or help TIM do it

Steph lowering hand:

Dick: plus you have a parent so I don’t have to do 80% of the child rearing while giving Bruce credit

Duke still a little star stuck bc that’s nightwing: IM THE FAVORITE.

[haveihitanerve]

Headcanon that Bruce invents fake “nicknames’ for his kids on patrol- usually fictional characters- because he cant full name them when they’re in costume-

So just imagine for me, Nightwing flying through the air past your late night college class, winking and making funny faces to get yall to laugh- when you hear Batman’s rough growl thunder: “PHILLIP THOMAS SHIRLEY!!!” (because dick had a thing about Prince Phillip when he was younger, wanted to be him etc)

Or the Red Hood is like roughing up these gang members and almost shits his pants when Batman appears and goes- “Fitzwilliam Darcy Esquire!”

Tim’s is- “William Sherlock Scott Holmes!!!!” sef explanatory i feel like

Damian is- “KIPPER CLIFFORD SHERMANN YELLER!!!” bc.. Dogs or smth… idk i needed it to be long

Steph is: “GEORGE THOMAS WASHINGTON!!!” bc… idk actually but it feels right

Babs is: “cockroach” and its only because shes always around no matter how much he dares to push her away and always comes back and also she pisses him off, but she calls him “mosquito” or just flat out “irritation,” “Oracle.” “yes irritation?” 

Cass is: Princess because he would never

Duke:... quite simply I think he just goes "DUKE!!!!" bc its generic enough and also... idk i feel like everyone in Gotham knows duke is signal.. like its not addressed everyone just knows...

[dcxdpdabbles]

Yo dabbles! Any chance we can get another chapter of Summoned Demon please?? I love the misunderstandings.

Bruce tracks down the demon to one of Joker's old hideouts, figuring that it would gravitate to locations where large amounts of violence and fear had been ingrained in the ground. He was already en route to the area when Babs had radioed in the encounter with the two other kidnapped male teenagers- Liam Ayton and Frederek Furey.

It seemed Frederek had fainted after the demon had fallen from the sky in front of them, bringing with it the unsettling feeling and horrific language. Raven had claimed that it was a familiar thing high-level demons did to humans- their very presence was uncanny enough, it set off every survival instinct in the human mind. There was no real reason to suspect a disguised high-level demon, but humans were still always able to sense that something was seriously wrong when one was near - the dread was almost always unbearable.

Bruce would have claimed that the demon they were chasing could only affect untrained people, but he had felt the unease himself back at the cave when the demon had made eye contact with him. The only one who seemed not to be overly affected by its presence was the young lady, Molly Evergreen, but John claimed it was because the girl had magic in her blood, even if she could not wield it.

Magic gave humans a slight shield.

On the other side of the scale, Frederek's blood was as closed off to magic as possible and thus made him highly vulnerable to the demon's presence. Worse, Frederek's reaction was far more extreme this time than when the demon was first summoned, which, according to Phantom Stranger and Madame Xanadu, only indicated that the demon was somehow getting stronger.

Madame Xanadu theorized that it was why the demon was visiting all his sacrifices - it was gaining power from them. Since it hadn't just taken them, it was also likely trying to see which among the offerings was the best deal. Right now, Frederek was the highest, due to the intense fear he reacted with.

Fear made the demons stronger.

They could use Frederek as bait, if it came down to it.

Unfortunately, this was the first time the boy had been out of his house since the kidnapping two days ago, and it had taken Liam hours to convince him to walk down the street for a simple ice cream.

At least that's what Liam reported as the paramedics looked over Frederek. Bruce couldn't ask Frederek to be the lure, not after the traumatic event had such a profound effect on him.

And Bruce was starting to suspect that the demon wasn't trying to be harmful. It could help that humans' natural instincts were put off by its aura. Bruce had felt that the demon acted too much like a scared child, even if every member of the Justice League Dark (plus Raven and Diana) all claimed that it was just trying to trick him.

Bruce was smart enough to know he was no expert in this field, so he had no right to doubt them, but... something just felt off about what it's done so far.

Duke was already on the scene, alongside Steph, getting interviews from the witnesses present. Like all witness reports, the significant events were similar, but a few details differed among them. There seemed to be two groups: one who claimed the demon boy had been scared away by the large crowd, and another who claimed the demon boy had left after it failed to take Federek's soul, having left due to boredom.

Bruce had latched onto the part where the demon had found a nearby poster- the kind of posters that people put up to remind kids to be careful while crossing the street, since the ice cream shop was so close to the elementary school, and pointed to the line "Call 911 if you have an emergancy!"

To him, it sounded like the demon had left because it had gotten what it wanted- medical assistance.

Pulling up to the old amusement park, Bruce jumped out of the Batmobile, programming it to find itself on standby in case he needed to make a quick getaway. The amusement park closed down long ago, but the owners never bothered to clean up, leaving behind half-crumpled rides and overgrown weeds as the only reminders. Bruce himself only visited the park once in its glory days - his parents had taken him there for his seventh birthday - but spent a lot of time here as a teenager.

As always, the Park felt unnerving; rumor had it that the reason the park owners had to close down was due to the large number of hauntings that plagued the business. As a teenager, Bruce would be dared by various classmates to spend the night; it was almost a rite of passage among Gothimantes to attempt to conquer the whole night. And even then, Bruce had felt something off about this place.

Then the Joker took it over, and the feeling not only intensified, but the amusement park grew increasingly dangerous due to the living conditions. No one bothers coming in here now, even with the Joker behind bars.

Bruce glances around, searching for any clues of the demon, feeling eyes prickling him from all corners of the amusement park. The Waynes and Kanes weren't ones for magic, but he had trained his body to increase its awareness of the paranormal just in case.

He would never have the gift like Ms. Molly, but he knew multiple eyes were on him. From where, from whom, were questions beyond his reach, but Bruce knew they were there.

Though he also knew that they weren't strong enough to physically affect the living world, and thus, he didn't need to worry about them. He did notice that the feeling was far more intense from the direction of the amusement park, in the same way he could sense multiple wolves hiding in the woods.

Bruce turned his head in that direction, noticing that a few of the weeds had been crushed in that area. Moving over, he crouches low, running his hand against the concrete, finding different shades of dirt than those of the surroundings lingering on the cracked, grey ground.

These were the fresh tracks, and they led all the way to the Fun House, where he sensed the strongest feeling of forboding.

The demon was inside. He narrows his eyes in thought, considering the laughing clown head. His hand hovers over his magic flair- a stone strapped to his belt that, when he tapped four times, would send out a signal to all the stones connected to the runes engraved into it.

Raven had handed them over to the team when they all split up to cover more ground. Apparent Demons may affect regular communications, as devices suddenly malfunction in their presence, as Babs proved when all the street cameras in areas where they suspected the demon was present started to glitch.

All Bruce had to do was call backup, and the Justice League Dark would be here in the snap of a finger. They would be able to capture the demon and put it back in a cage within an hour (If they caught it before it got back to its full power)

Bruce thought about the blurry videos of the demon—the boy—waiting in the police interrogation room, sipping water and waiting patiently. The way it fought to get Frederek medical attention. It had multiple chances to steal those poor sacrificial kids the cultist took, but did nothing but attempt to speak to them.

Mostly Bruce thought about the way the demon-the boy- looked when he realized he as in a cage inside the Batcave.

His wide eyes, which may have made Bruce feel like he was on the verge of madness, could not hide the way the demon had now appeared as a lost little boy, now that he was able to process the scene without his emotions or first instincts getting in the way.

Bruce's hand fell to his side as he strode over to the Funhouse carefully. He might be a fool, but he became Batman to protect children from the darkness of this city, and not being human wouldn't stop him from keeping his promise as Batman.

The feeling of foreboding increased with each step he took. The temperature was dropping the closer he got to the Funhouse, almost as if he stepped into a walk-in refrigerator. He was grateful that he had had the foresight to make his suit equipped for the temperature drop after the many fights with Freeze, even if he felt more and more spirits becoming aware of him.

Eventually, he found himself in front of the door, pushing it open slowly. The old thing creaked loudly, almost jarring with the way it echoed in the otherwise silent amusement park. The feeling of danger, fear, and death blew out of the doorway as if those were clouds of smoke.

Bruce clamped down on every ounce of his training to prevent himself from reacting to the avalanche of survival instincts screaming at him to run. Instead, he forced himself to focus his gaze inside and found the demon sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, scribbling on the ground with a piece of burned charcoal.

Behind him were smoldering barrels - he had set them on fire to make his writing utensil, it seemed.

His face was smeared with black stains, alongside his hands and clothes, but he didn't seem to care as he carefully studied a propped-up book near his knee. Bruce remained where he was, watching the demon flip through the page, seemingly unaware he was there.

Oddly, the demon squinted at the pages as if he could make heads or tails of it, glancing over his shoulders, and speaking in that familiarly unnervering language of his to the empty spaces. Then he carefully wrote on the floor, squinting even harder, sticking out his tongue as he concentrated.

The action was so human that Bruce knew he had made the right choice, not calling the others.

The demon's handwriting was atrocious, scraping against the stone floor in loud scraping sounds, as he unevently formed the letters. Bruce felt like he was watching a toddler trying desperately to learn to write.

The demon just finished his last letter before his head snapped up, and he locked eyes with Bruce's mask lens. At once, the green of its eyes invaded his mind as screaming started up in the far corners of Bruce's mind. His instincts weren't just screaming anymore, they were howling, begging, ripping themselves apart just to get away from the demon.

Just as he was about to take a step back, Bruce willed everything he had ever learned from the Tibetan monks to help him break out of the fear-induced gaze, forcing his body to uncoil and glance down at the words.

They were upside down, so with careful, slightly sluggy steps, Bruce walked forward. It feels a lot like he was walking through honey, but he keeps his eyes down, away from the demon-child's until he crotches down in front of the black marks, and they turn into wobbly writing he can read.

I need help. I am a child, and I've been kidnapped by cultists. I just want to go home. I'm scared.

Bruce glances up at the child, only to find the demon has scrambled to a corner of the room, pressing himself desperately against the wall, staring at him with evident fear on his young face. It was almost as if Batman were the demon appearing in front of a young human.

Good heavens, how did he ever doubt that fear was a lie?

"You're safe now. I swear to you." He says in the steadiest voice he can muster while holding out a hand to help the boy off the ground. "You're safe."

The demon's green eyes flicker to the space near Bruce's right, before he uncoils a little. Hesitantly, the boy climbs to his feet, slowly getting closer to him. He opens his mouth, letting out that horrid sound hissing again, and Bruce hears his mother's scream behind his eyes as well as screams of strangers, but he refuses to react.

He can control when his heart stops; he can also force it to slow down and keep himself calm. The boy kept looking to the right, as if seeking comfort from it - must be a ghost of a human soul.

Suddenly, the boy launches himself at Bruce, grabbing onto him with a gasping cry, hiding his face in the Bat Symbol. Bruce wraps his arms around the boy, feeling his heart clench.

"You're safe." He repeats softly.

For a minor second, in the corner of his eye, Bruce swears he sees the outline of a man and a woman. The woman's face is half hidden behind a hand; he can't make out her other features, but the man's self-satisfied smirk is familiar.

The pair is gone as quickly as they came, but Bruce swears he just saw Tom Wayne, his great-grandfather's younger brother. He was one of Bruce's first cold cases that he solved as Batman, and sometimes he swore his great-great-uncle liked to follow him around Gotham when he patrols.

But he was never sure, after all, Bruce doesn't have the natural talent to sense the paranormal. Just his human survival instincts ramped up to their highest degree on command. All those times he felt his Tom around could have just been his mind playing tricks on him due to the side effects of anxiety that came with forcing his body to ramp up said instincts.

The nearby book fell over, and Bruce realized it was a dictionary by the brief flash of the cover before it slid right in front of him, open wide.

The first word he sees is "Storge"

[oncillabrigade]

Consider:

The Bats all have personalized ring tones for one another, but everyone has both a civilian and a Bat ring tone. The civilian ones are chaos, with everyone choosing whatever they want for their various family members and friends. BUT! Everyone has a single Bat tone that all other team members use for them.

The catch? Bruce forbid them from choosing their own Bat ring tones because he proposed this plan back in Dick's Robin days and he IMMEDIATELY picked "Toxic." The choice was not well received.

Bruce: Dick, I will not be alerted to the fact that you're in danger by some Britney Spears song.

Dick: First of all, it is not some Britney song, it is the Britney song. That song finally won her a Grammy.

Bruce: *sighs*

Dick: Second of all, it won't tell you when I'm in danger... it'll tell you when Robin is.

Bruce:

Bruce: I'm taking the Walkman out of the Robin kit.

Dick: *offended gasp*

(Yes, Dick is old enough for a Walkman. No, you will not change my mind. Yes, the Tim-and-on siblings all find that hilarious. Yes, Jason has to be VERY careful not to mention that he borrowed that Walkman for years because he was uncomfortable taking expensive electronics out and about with him.)

Anyway!

Dick then proposes a slew of other songs for the whole team to use, all of which are pop culture references, e.g. the Scrubs theme because they're not Superman and also they're a dysfunctional family of coworkers; the theme from the Godfather because "let's be honest, B, we are basically our own mafia"; "Where is My Mind" by the Pixies because lol identity shenanigans, etc. The list is endless. Bruce spends weeks groaning every time his son texts him.

Eventually, they compromise on the version of "The Entertainer" from The Sting because they're hiding in plain sight to enact a mission defending good people in a hard world. Bruce, Dick, and Alfred are all so pleased with this that they each take a different section of the song as their ring tone.

Then Barbara becomes Batgirl, so she gets a section... and then Jason becomes Robin and gets one, too... and then Tim, then Steph, and then Cass is taken in, and... uh oh. That's a lot of people for one song.

But it's family tradition! They can't stop now. That would be so unfair to the new kids, B!

So they start using alternate arrangements of the song. Bruce has mellowed slightly on the "no choosing your own" thing. As long as it's a version of "The Entertainer" (within reason) he'll allow it.

Tim retroactively changes his ring tone to a weird groove-ska arrangement Bart randomly sent him on YouTube because have you met Tim Drake? Of course he went for hilarious obscurity. (Bruce grits his teeth and approves it after lots of prompting from Dick and Alfred). Steph makes it her mission to find a weirder one (Bruce agrees because he's too tired to deal with accusations of favoritism).

Cass creates her own arrangement on theremin because apparently she knows how to play the theremin. No one is sure why. Upon inquiry, she just says, "spooky noises are fun," but does not elaborate further even when she's asked to do so. A Batgirl's gotta have her secrets—Babs taught her that.

When Jason starts working with his family again, he pays an aspiring music producer within Red Hood's ranks to create a minor key remix of the original Robin II ring tone. His siblings (minus Cass) are VERY jealous he has his own personalized arrangement. Dick, Tim, and Steph end up paying this goon who owns Garage Band to do ones for them, too. Duke does the same when he joins the team.

Meanwhile, in a fit of little brotherly pique, Damian steals Tim's original ring tone. He hopes to rub salt in the Robin replacement wounds. He fails! Tim finds it beyond funny that Damian's ring tone is groove-ska. So Damian quietly pays the amateur producer to make him one that's cooler than Tim's. He pays a ludicrous amount, though, because Steph paid for one cooler than Jason's and Tim paid for one cooler than Steph's.

(Dick wanted one cooler than Jason's too, but he had $63.02 in his bank account at the time and Bruce flat out refused to use the Batbudget on "a super cool ring tone that's better than Jay's." Eventually, Dick just paid himself for an averagely cool one. In installments.)

At this point, the Bats have single-handedly given this fledgling producer enough money to quit being a goon and start an indie music studio. His first customers are mostly superheroes from out of town who like what the Bats have going on and want their own team ring tones. Harley and Ivy get in on that action, too.

Then, as word spreads, every local crook/henchperson with a side band (there are many) flocks to the studio to have their stuff produced by one of their own. Gotham rogues suddenly have an unemployment problem, while the city finds itself with a flourishing indie music scene that puts Metropolis' to shame. The entire state of New Jersey is celebrating the dual victory.

Dick has never been so glad someone doesn't like Britney Spears' magnum opus.

[thegremlininyourcloset]

The thing about Stephanie Brown is that she’s fundamentally similar to so many other members of the Batfamily, and in such a way that it frequently backfires horrendously on her

@fictfrenzy @themoonwitch-mustspeak

Like.

Bruce? She shares his dogged drive and refusal to stay down.

Babs? Babs is the only other person who even comes CLOSE to being as self-made as Steph is. Also, being ferociously competent & being underestimated.

Dick? Humor as a coping mechanism, optimism in the face of bad situations, hiding it all behind a smile,“This is fine” when nothing is fine

Cass? Complicated relationships with parents, wanting to be better than the people who raised you, guilt all of the time always

Jason? That’s her funhouse mirror twin right there. They are everything the other could have been.

Tim? A feeling of responsibility, of duty, of “nobody else will do this but me”, living in the shadow of another

Duke? That deep anger that comes from seeing injustice, feeling like the odd one out, a refusal to comply with authority. BEING THE UNDERDOG AND SUCCEEDING ANYWAY!!!

Damian? A desire to prove yourself. Running from your past, but never being able to escape it.

[about-faces]

Saw a post from a Nightwing fan that was like “oh my god there’s someone out there who seriously would like to see Two-Face in the BatFam, WTF?! After what he did to Dick?! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

….

…

… Anyway, here’s why I think Harvey Dent should be in the BatFam.

For starters, I think it would be a wonderful way to incorporate Bruce’s long-standing love for Harvey in a situation where he gets to interact with a variety of young people who either have personal beefs with Harvey and/or have little sympathy/reason to care about him. We’ve already seen the potential of Harvey and Jason interacting and how fantastic that was for both characters.

I want to see Harvey (specifically a Harvey whose good side gets to be present and distinct, if not in complete control for the time being) interact with Dick, who hates him and—like some of his fans—completely disregards Harvey’s history of mental illness and internal struggles to overcome Scarvey. Extra points if they incorporate the Robin: Year One origin with Dick being beaten by Two-Face (which is not currently canon, btw), something that Harvey would never have done if he was in his right mind or even in control at the time. He was subsumed by his worst side to the point that Two-Face outright genuinely considered Harvey “dead,” but Dick neither knows nor cares about that, and I’d like to see that explored outside of a typical hero/villain environment.

I want to see Harvey interact with Damian and Cass, who each might have his own opinions about Bruce’s ongoing belief in someone’s inherent goodness, heroism, and worth, no matter how much blood is on one’s hands or how they were raised.

I want to see Cass and Steph both reckon with Harvey’s own history of abuse at a father’s hands, and how one tries to struggle against the cycles of violence. Is Harvey a victim of how he was raised, or is he a monster for not overcoming his trauma like they did? I want know if the compassion Cass extended to Clayface could also apply to Harvey. I want to know if either woman would have any empathy for Harvey, or condemn him as being reprehensible and irredeemable.

I want Babs to have a backstory where she, as a kid, knew and liked Harvey, and the two bonded over having alcoholic fathers, something which no one can understand if they haven’t experienced it.

I want to see if Duke has any feelings about a once-good man who was transformed into something he does not want to be, much in the way his own parents were victims of Gotham’s monsters.

I want Tim to better understand Harvey’s psyche, to see if he still thinks that Harvey is someone who “chooses” to become Two-Face again after every redemption attempt.

I want more interactions between Harvey and Jason, acknowledging them as twin symbols of Bruce’s failure who both became murderous mob bosses. How many orphans has Jason created? Why is Jason welcomed back in but not Harvey? Is it because Harvey nearly beat a Robin to death, just like Damian did with Tim? Is it okay to excuse/forgive a brainwashed child but not a severely mentally ill adult who had no control over his worst side? Why or why not?

I want to know which BatFam members would even notice all the ways that Bruce and Harvey are so similar, mirrors to each other with Harvey being the one who lost everything, including his own identity and sanity. I want to know what their takeaways would be, or if they’d even care. I want to know if any of them would realize that Bruce could easily fall like Harvey without the love and support they provide as a family, which Harvey lacks?

Remember A Lonely Place of Dying? Harvey without Gilda and Batman without Robin, both evenly matched in a mutually-suicidal death spiral, broken only when Tim emerged in Bruce’s life? Would Tim draw those parallels? Would any of them? Would it even matter?

Because not all of the BatFam can or should have empathy for Harvey. No family, not even the BatFam, should end every disagreement with Full-House-style hugs and apologies. Sometimes you just hate or don’t even care about other family members, and that’s fine! But I still want to see those relationships explored and hashed out within the context of family.

On top of it all, I want some acknowledgement that Harvey was Bruce’s first and only ally back in Batman: Year One before Gordon came around to Bruce’s side. That Harvey was the ONLY person in Gotham trying to fight against the forces of the mob and cops alike before Bruce returned and Jim rolled into town. That he, as Batman’s ally and the youngest DA in Gotham history, was the original Boy Wonder of Gotham City. That Bruce’s failure to save Harvey has hung over each and every one of his relationships and connections in the BatFam.

Finally, I want to see Harvey in the BatFam because I want to know that, no matter what you’ve done or become, there will still be some people out there who are holding out for you to come back. That you may not be forgiven by all or even most of them, but you’re still worthy of love. And even if/when Harvey loses his battle with himself again, I want some of the BatFam to react with sympathy, some having changed their perceptions about the man they only knew as Two-Face. That maybe, occasionally, the criminals they fight aren’t monsters but just broken people, lost to some combination of circumstance, upbringing, mental illness, and personal choices. I want to see them reckon with that. I think that would be important.

And okay yeah sure I’d also like to see Harvey take them all out for pizza and games at Chuck E Cheese’s or something like that. I just think that’d be neat.

Anyway. I hope that all makes more sense now for anyone still wondering. I’ll finish up with proof that Harvey being in the BatFam has actually been touched on in comics, from the gatefold cover of Hush (that’s Harvey, not Hush, with the bandages), DC Future State, and DC Bombsells.

So there’s a fuzzy sort of precedent for Harvey fitting in with the BatFam. I just hope someone at DC will eventually share my vision, even if some BatFam fans never will.

[brucewaynehater101]

Imagine Tim holding Brucequest over the Justice League & even Dick & Jason's heads 💀💀💀💀

Heck Tim holding the Timestream incident over Bruce's head because Tim was the only person to actually do anything to save him

((Damian gets a pass because 1. He's a KID whose cult leading gramps was involved, how about No?))

((And 2. The priority for him at the time should have been unlearning the cult teachings of the LOA))

((and also all his other siblings. Alfred too since he has a job dammit))

Tw: Violence

I love petty Tim Drake so much. He deserves to be able to hold his trauma over the people who caused it.

Jason takes the last cookie? "You might as well take me back to Titan's Tower and slit my throat again."

Dick tells Tim he needs to go to bed? "Oh. I see how it is. I thought we talked about you questioning my judgements again, but I see I was wrong."

Alfred lectures Tim about his health? "Now you're concerned about my health? You should have thought about that before putting my mental health in peril for my sixteenth birthday."

Bruce is concerned with Tim's workload? "Maybe the next time you want me to take on less work you'll write a fucking letter instead of spreading vague clues no one else believes is actually from you."

As for Damian? They exchange verbal barbs for fun and take notes from each other. It confuses the hell out of the others because do they hate each other, or are they bonding?

Steph and Tim like to get into screaming fights with each other in public. It's never about their actual fights, but they like how Gotham reacts to it (bonus points if they end up in the news).

Tim and Babs try to sabotage each other's unimportant technology. That fifth tablet Babs hardly uses? Bam! Tim's made it so it plays music whenever it's on and the music can't be turned off.

Cass and Tim just make faces at each other. Bruce has been confused as hell when one of them randomly shouts in outrage due to the other twitching their eyelids wrong.

Tim likes confusing and horrifying Duke by telling him fun facts about the family. He'll tell them in the most damning way to watch the chaos. "The scar on Jason's neck is from Bruce choosing the Joker over Jason."

And that is Tim taking it easy on the Bats because he loves and cares about them (and because it's funny).

The JL?

Red Robin terrifies all of the members who doubted him. The terror doubles when they see him happily chatting with YJ or the Bats. The version of Tim the JL gets is a scarily competent and cold persona. They thought he lost the ability to smile until Red Hood (and who let a crime lord into the Watchtower???) grabbed Red Robin a peace offering Zesti.

[violent138]

I feel like the Bats are pretty territorial about their "I know a guy" people. Babs doesn't share her contacts with Bruce, who doesn't share his with anyone; then Dick and Tim clear out massive swathes of the board, and Damian is fiercely against his contacts being the contacts of members of his family (and has let someone get two words in before taking over the call and demanding an explanation for this betrayal). Cass doesn't get it until someone offers to call one of her friends, and then her feathers get ruffled, and that phone is out of Tim's hand before he can finish the sentence. Steph rolls her eyes when Bruce says he also knows that person, and replies "well they don't like you". Jason despises his goons getting chummy with "the enemy" and will threaten to sever ties over even his pizza delivery guys getting shared. Duke meets with his contacts at the Hatch and refuses to even mention their names and will go invisible if anyone tries guessing who it is.

[sams-batblog]

Batfamily Just Dance Head Cannons! 🕺💃

Bruce: Technically good at the game. He's incredibly stiff and awkward, but he hits the beats perfectly. This enrages Jason and Damian.

Dick: Effortlessly good. He puts on whole performances when he plays. Sometimes he does too well, and the game doesn't score. Whenever this happens he stops playing to pout for a few rounds before coming back.

Barbara: She enjoys playing with the others, but doesn't really care what her score is. Since 99% of Just Dance games use a handheld motion sensor controller, she can still play even while sitting. She finds it amusing how competitive some of the others get, and will sometimes get really good at the game just to beat them.

Cass: Also very good at the game. She doesn't go nearly as all out as Dick, and thus usually scores better than him.

Jason: Loudly complains about how stupid he thinks the game is, but will always join when the family plays. He is also very competitive, and has a tendency to rage quit. Like Dick, he usually comes back and keeps playing eventually. He is actually pretty good at the game.

Tim: He doesn't really care about the game, and just lazily waves his arm around. Of course this means he usually scores really well, and he loves how angry that makes the others.

Steph: Steph enjoys playing, even though she isn't very good at it. She doesn't care about her score, and will inevitably devolve into sabotaging the others. Anything from standing in front of the screen to yoinking their controllers. And yet somehow she still scores pretty well.

Duke: Similar to Babs, he's just happy to be there. He isn't very good at the game, but he also gets distracted watching the more competitive members argue while playing.

Damian: Begrudgingly agrees to play, and ends up really enjoying it. He's incredibly competitive, and refuses to admit how much fun he's having. He gets very vocal while playing, yelling insults at everyone the whole time.

All in all, a very loud and chaotic event lol.

This was really fun to write so if anyone maybe wants to send come asks in a similar vein that would be cool 👉👈

[casscainmainly]

hey. I was just wondering what Barbara's and Duke's relationship is like in comics. I want to remember if they've interacted, but I can't remember something from the top of my head quickly.

I think they don't interact at all 😭😭😭. They are probably featured in group scenes/have spoken once or twice, or maybe they've interacted in a comic I haven't read, but yeah they have next to no interactions (even less than Duke + Steph & Duke + Kate).

I love them both to death but honestly I cannot see them being close. Duke values honesty and people being upfront; Babs is decidedly not that, and Duke would I think really dislike her manipulations (see his reaction to possible manipulation by Bruce in Batman & The Signal). Duke would also (possibly unfairly) associate Babs with Jim and Dick, both of whom he has various reasons for disliking. As for Babs, she'd group Duke with Damian as additions to the family she is not going to think about much. Of course they would respect each other in the field, but I cannot imagine them hanging out on their own time. They have drastically different circles of Batfam members they like.

Also Babs is fairly protective of younger heroes (see her + Cass in Batgirl (2000)) in a way that would chafe heavily with Duke. Actually Cass, whom they both love, is the perfect example of why they wouldn't get along. In Batgirl (2000), Babs is constantly trying to get Cass to value her life, to not fight Shiva, to slow down + take a breath. By contrast, Duke in Batman and The Outsiders is like 'Cass let's disobey Batman and strike out with Shiva' 24/7 😭😭😭. In B&TO Duke is very much pro-rogue action, and encourages Cass to do so as well. They're kind of opposites in the way they view youth agency (which makes sense given their ages + experiences), so I think they'd clash with that. But canonically we know next to nothing, so anyone's free to make their own interpretations!

[aingeal98]

Before we knew which batfam member would be cameoing in this batgirl issues the 3 options that made logical sense to me were Babs, Duke or Steph. All three either have thematic ties to Cass and Shiva or in Duke's case was literally There for one of their storylines.

Initially my number one hope was Babs but after reading this issue I'm fully convinced that Steph was the best option. The dream Cass had was all about getting her to feel safe enough to open up about how Shiva really makes her feel. Throwing Babs in the mix wouldn't drive that, it would instead add another layer to the parental drama and conflict Cass is feeling instead of giving Cass the chance to resolve her specific issues with Shiva by acknowledging how they correlate to her issues with herself. The Babs layer to these issues is definitely fun to discuss and analyse but for this specific dream and the emotional journey they were trying to take Cass on, they didn't need her other mom. They needed someone who could represent understanding and lack of judgement. Which leaves Steph and Duke as better options.

I would have been happy with either but I do think Steph specifically was the best choice, not just because of how in character it is for Cass to hallucinate her as a spiritual guide but also how their past connecting over parental issues combined with Cass's monologue this issue highlights once again the unfair standard Cass holds herself to.

Steph was raised in a house with a criminal father and yet Cass's mind frames her as this gentle and Good figure, a hero despite her biological ties. Cass meanwhile, can't escape her own. She is forever doomed even when standing face to face with someone she sees as completely good despite also having a villain parent. Cass's superiority inferiority complex is so juicy and that's not a layer we could have gotten without Steph and all their history.

[sxnshxnxxnddxxsxxs]

Duke Thomas headcannons becuase please just write him as a black boy:

the first time there’s a summer rain at night after he moves into Wayne Manor Duke sets up the speakers and the floodlights and lives out his 00’s rnb music video dreams

after that Alfred will sometimes drive him around in the back of one of the cars when it rains at night because he doesn’t want his latest grandson to get hypothermia but understands that it is very important to live out 00’s rnb music video dreams

Duke teaches Cass the Usher watch this thing and originally they only use it to tell each other that they’re gonna do some dumb shit but then Cass decides she really likes it and uses it more than the actual sign [ref]

Duke and Cass have a theme song because they are besties and that theme song is black and yellow by Wiz Khalifa whenever it plays they drop everything to rap to each other and if anyone turns it off before it finishes they start it again even louder it becomes a great distraction technique for other batfamily members. they chose the song because of their uniforms but the first time a civilian sees how enthusiastic they are about the song they draw a different conclusion and they find it so funny that they definitely have to keep it as their theme song from now on

Duke lives a no shoes in the house life no matter who’s house it is or what everyone else is doing

He also keeps his Signal uniform exclusively in the batcave because no uniforms in the Manor seems like the natural extension for no outside clothes in bed

Duke sneaks scotch bonnets into the Manor kitchen generally timed with the occasions that Jason is around and in the mood to cook. Dinner those nights feature running eyes and noses from Bruce Tim and Steph along with all the milk in the Manor finishing. It’s great entertainment for Duke Cass Damian Jason and Dick

Duke has locs he lowkey thinks about bleaching the ends to match the aesthetic of his uniform but he’s unsure of if it will make him to conspicuous

When he first moved to the Manor he got pooled into the schedule to pick up hair shop (beauty supply store) supplies with the Fox’s because they’re all way too busy of people to be driving out of the way individually so it only made sense to add Duke to that. He and Tam also timetable his retwist appointments with her hair appointments for the same time

Duke is an instigator Jason and Tim will be having a petty squabble that is about to fizzle out but then Duke walks past them and just whispers a quick “if I were you I wouldn’t have that” and then an hour later a priceless vase is broken there’s holes in the wall and Tim and Jason have matching black eyes. Duke considers it a public service to provide Babs with entertainment for when Oracle hours a slow she agrees and doesn’t snitch on just how much shit Duke starts so he can get away with even more

Duke joins Jason and Alfred’s book club and the first book he picks is Beloved because like they’re in this big old gothic manor respect the aesthetic

One time Bruce walks passed Duke on ft to his friends and he’s performing “Wisdom” and Bruce thinks it’s something Duke came up with himself and is trying to be a supportive dad and is like “that’s great son” with a really strained smile and Duke just sticks to the bit like “you really think so?” bruce even more pained “yeah it’s amazing” [ref]

He also has exclusively satin pillowcases and gives everyone in the Manor a set because it’s good for the hair and therefore a good use of Bruce’s rich people money

Duke upon realising that he was gonna be adopted by a bunch of crime fighting pseudofurries and was going to join them in the crime fighting said this some white people shit and that’s why he chose Signal rather than some bioluminescent bird