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I genuinely don't think all the Batkids should be calling Bruce dad all the time so here the only instances I think would be valid and in character for them to call him dad:

Dick Grayson: Dick had a father who he loved dearly so I do not think he would call Bruce dad so freely (Bruce very much respects him for that). It's only later on when he matures does Dick expand what "dad" can mean to him to include both Bruce and his father. After that, he saves dad for big moments between them, when he wants Bruce to really retain something and know he means it 100%. He'll never say Bruce is his "dad" when with around others, but he doesn't correct any assumption about it. Too complicated.

Barbara Gordon: Never. She respects him as her first mentor. But does think she is smarter than him. And is probably right about that.

Jason Todd: Jason has mixed feelings about Willis (because the writers keep changing his background. Anyways). When he's younger, he very much antagonizes Willis and it makes him lean on Bruce even more as a father. Back then, Jason would sometimes hesitantly call Bruce "dad." However, after the Lazarus pit and his return to Gotham, every time he uses "dad," its sarcastic and meant to hurt. When he starts becoming an ally again, he still uses it sarcastically as he pleases. He will only ever use it seriously in extreme life or death situations, and even then, it may still be somewhat sarcastic. Other than that, he may on occasion use it during the rare moments when he is trying to make sure Damian does not take Bruce's criticism so hard. Along the lines of "don't worry. Dad is just an asshole."

Tim Drake: Tim prefers to think of himself as an unpaid intern and doesn't think he will EVER find a reason to call Bruce dad. The word holds too much weight after what happened during his Robin run and to Jack. But he does know that Bruce sees him as a son of sorts, and he doesn't mind it. He does know he sees Bruce as family, and Bruce does fill a lot of the fatherly roles in his life. When he's younger, he will refer to Bruce as his mentor. But as he gets older, much like Dick, he expands what "dad" can mean to him and will refer to Bruce as his sort-of father around others. But never to Bruce's face.

Stephanie Brown: Probably never. Her dad sucked. But Bruce sucked in a very different way, one that arguably hurt more, especially with what happened during her start of vigilanting and Robin run. What happens then taints her view of him forever. While their relationship does heal and move on from that, at best he is the okay boss she had during her part time job turned reluctant acquaintance. She didnt need a dad then, and she doesnt need one now. She can take of herself, and if she cant, Babs and Cass have her back. If she does call him dad, it's EXTREMELY sarcastically. But she knows it won't be as impactful as when Jason does it sarcastically, so she probably won't.

Cassandra Cain: She sees Bruce first and foremost as Batman, and that's the side of him that she likes and admires best. It doesn't completely register to her that over the course of their relationship, he is becoming a father-figure to her, especially when her only reference for fatherhood is David Cain. Bruce is more hands-off with her (maybe because of what happened with Stephanie, maybe because he doesn't really know how to handle a daughter), but he offers support when he can and respects her boundaries more than he has any of the others. It's only when someone else points it out first that Cass has to do some introspection about who Bruce is to her and how she sees him. It's a slow development but she does eventually call Bruce dad occasionally. And when she does it's very much welcomed.

Damian: Father, always. Dad...eh. Damian grew up calling him fahter, and he isn't going to change for sentimentality or cultural difference or whatever else you'd like to call it. But while he doesn't call him dad, throughout the course of their relationship the weight of the word father gains more importance. He's the only one that calls Bruce that, and in turn, Bruce only responds to "father" when it's Damian. It becomes their word and that makes it more special than dad ever could be.

Duke Thomas: Never. Ever. He has a dad he is waiting for and doesnt need another. He does accept that Bruce is a mentor of sorts, but he has more clarity on how Bruce impacts his life and how many issues this guy has. He's the student that will be there when Bruce needs taking care of, and Bruce does act as a role model to him, but he will never call Bruce dad.

Jarro: Constantly. All the time.

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duke should have cool hair accessories. in his twists. charms and beads and the like.

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Do y'all think Bruce gives Duke Juneneeth off

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Duke Thomas is a Gravity Falls fan. He solved all the codes and riddles himself as he watched it, making very accurate predictions, and owns both Journal 3 and The Book of Bill. Stephanie is also a big fan.

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List of people Duke would fight on sight (cuz I was bored)

Gnomon: cuz his shity dad tried to make him join him by giving him an unwilling army of Meta teenagers and for being an absent father

Ishmael: cuz he literally tortured him, Duke ain't never letting that slide

Riddler: because Duke literally trained himself to fight him when he was nine

Joker: do I even need to explain myself on this one? He literally jokerised his mama, that's enough to make anyone want to fight him on sight

David Cain: because he hurt his favorite sister ( Cass) and his favorite aunty (it's Shiva)

Karma: he gave Duke massive PTSD (Duke then proceeded to jump him with the help of Cass)

Victor Zsasz : he slashed him across the chest when he was just starting as a vigilante

Hal Jordan/green lantern: he's still salty about getting picked up like a kitten after he dropped kicked him in their first interaction

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Do you have any ships for Duke Thomas?

Yes!!!! Off the bat I love Dizzy (Duke/Izzy)!! I really love how he warmed up to her before he warmed up to any other WAR member (in WAR #5), and he seeks her out first after he finds his parents in #9:

THEY'RE SO CUTE!! I know people also like Rixo x Duke and I think that's SUPER cute as well, though I love the angst that comes with Riko's one-sided crush so I'm partial to Riko liking Duke but Duke not liking her back. However I'm also open to RikoDukeIzzy poly couple supreme, or WAR polycule (Riko/Dax/Dre/Izzy/Duke). ALSO DRE/DUKE. They have such a fun dynamic and they'd be sniping at each other all the time, the romantic tension is REAL.

But now for more crack ships/people Duke has barely or never interacted with 😭😭. Some Duke fans like Duke/Virgil (Static), which I find really fun!! I personally like the SUPERIOR Birdflash (Duke/Ace West) even if I have no idea if that would work or not 😭. Also, @cer-rata recently put me onto Duke/Bao Pham (Clownhunter), they have intriguing parallels omg I'm spinning them around in my head.

This is all I can think of for now, but I'm always on the hunt for new Duke ships because I think he deserve all the love in the world!! Duke/Izzy is my number 1 for now, they match each other's energies and they have the most moments by virtue of being canon 😭. My pipe dream ship though is Birdflash 💖.

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You haven't talked about Duke Thomas in a while so here's your excuse

Well thank you because I did finish my canon Duke read (have to specify canon because I did not get to a lot of Elseworlds 😭) so here are my unnecessary opinions on EVERY SINGLE DUKE THING I'VE READ SO FAR!! Under a cut because this is going to be super long (do not click unless you want to read a whole bunch of yapping):

New 52

Zero Year: I love me some Snyder but what on earth was going on 😭 I didn't really process the plot at all tbh because it was so. like just stuff happening. DUKE WAS GREAT THOUGH PEAK OUT THE GATE!!! Also Snyder writes a really good Alfred, like between this and Absolute Alfred his Alfred always slaps.

Endgame: Even more incomprehensible than Zero Year like I have no clue if I liked or disliked it. WAY too much Joker for my taste (this read put Joker in my top 10 most read characters 😭😭😭 WHY SNYDER WHYYYY)

We Are Robin: PEAK

Batman and Robin: Eternal: This is awful and ableist overall, but it DOES have the most interesting Dick and Duke interaction outside Robin War. It's the only time we see Dick discomfited by the idea of We Are Robin!!!

Superheavy: I can't get on board with Robo!Jim I'm sorry 😭 but Duke PEAK moments here. I miss Snyder writing him omg, the train scene is the SCENE OF ALL TIME!!!

Rebirth

Batman: Rebirth: Fine but I'm NEVER forgiving them for writing Duke's transition to Signal and giving NO REASON ugh whatever. Duke is driven by such concrete ideals it makes no sense why they didn't clarify WHAT made him agree to Bruce's offer

Batman (2016) #1-6: GARBAGE HORRIBLE EVIL. Why is he stuck in the cave??? Why is he future married to Claire Clover???? Why does Bruce only refer to him as "Mr. Thomas" and call himself Duke's teacher?????? Tom King you will pay

All-Star Batman: PEAKKKK PEAK OF ALL TIME SO PEAK. Actually wild this was running concurrently to TK's Batman it's SO much better Duke-wise. Absolute best Bruce-Duke relationship ever, NOTHING has come close. And CURSED WHEEL TOO!!! THE biggest delight for me in this readthrough by a huge margin!!!!

Night of the Monster Men: Duke makes a joke and I was like 'omg Tom King writing Duke with personality??' and I scrolled up and it was a different writer. Anyway fun crossover! Duke is quite nice in this, and we get cool Steph & Cass moments (I think this was their first Batfam crossover in years!!!)

Batman (2016) Annual #1: The briefest Duke bit ever but he looks GOOD and I love the way the Bruce-Duke dialogue is written!!

I Am Bane: If see that Batburger scene one more time I'm going to send TK hate mail. That man cannot write Duke to save his LIFE

Detective Comics #952: Just a cameo but pretty neat! The only major (canon) Duke-Kate interaction I think, so worth it for that.

Dark Days: The Forge / The Casting: There's just way too much going on in both 😭 I did not really enjoy this, the Duke stuff is perfectly fine but this is suuuuper skippable just read a summary or something

Batman (2016) #33: Tom King REALLY wants you to know Duke isn't Robin 😒

Role Call: Cute! Tony Patrick's hit or miss for me, this is a pretty good one though

Batman & The Signal: On the subject of Tony Patrick... sigh. This has some neat Duke moments (I'M SORRY MOM!!!), but there's a LOT I dislike too. The Robin -> Signal transition isn't handled that well, it feels too dismissive of WAR. Also the writing of Riko and Izzy SUCKS omg. Riko this isn't you... But on the whole a solid Duke story, and very important to understanding him!

Detective Comics #982: Duke only cameos in this one but I love it! Reading this issue through Duke goggles is lovely, there's no better issue to demonstrate how Bruce and Duke's ideals fit together!

Detective Comics #983-987: The WORST surprise on this list. There's a few good Bruce-Duke moments but the narrative is a retread of better Batman stories, Karma is boring, and some of the characterisation is baffling. Sadly makes Outsiders worse in retrospect😔 The redeeming factor here is the Babs-Cass snippet... Hill is a REAL one for that

The Unexpected #4: Y'know what I did enjoy this. The only Helena-Duke interaction ever and it's fun!! I love how Duke is sort of famous, like yeah that's the SIGNAL!!! 🫶🫶🫶

Detective Comics #990, 992: LOVED this but mostly because this story is peak BatGordonHarvey. Also #990 references All-Star Batman!!! Not an integral Duke read BUT a great read overall.

Detective Comics #1000: Tom King strikes again (overall also not THAT great a read. a slog if I'm being honest)

Gotham Nights #8: PEAKKK. A lovely story that captures Duke's energy and personality really well!! A hidden gem for sure!!!!!

Batman & The Outsiders: I like the version I invented in my head

Dark Nights: Death Metal Robin King: Help why was this my favourite Tony Patrick story 😭 I feel like this REALLY captured Duke's themes of future, home, and hope. Weirdly enough this is now one of my fav Duke stories 😭😭😭

Infinite Frontier

Batman: The Secret Files: The Signal: I've made my hatred for this one pretty clear. Patrick does NOT know how to write the WAR kids 😔 and the story just feels so half-baked. I don't think I'll ever get over Riko calling Duke a diversity hire, I get the message but SHE WOULD NOT SAY THAT??? Also GET DRE OUT OF ARKHAM

Batman: Urban Legends #8-9: Was not expecting to like this one as much as I did!! It's a charming story and I like how Thomas focuses a lot on Duke's future selves!

Batman: Urban Legends #18-19: It's fine... I feel like this could've been executed way better. The way it doesn't make THAT big a deal of Duke's mom being healed, or them getting back together, annoys me. It's worse because we still haven't really had a follow up!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO DOUG THOMAS???

Gotham War: Don't get me wrong this is horrible for Duke and Cass, but it was entertaining 😭😭 Zdarsky was putting Bruce THROUGH it. Idk if it was good but it was fun!!!

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths: Fine for Duke, but Wonder Woman kicks BUTT in this. I love how much this event focuses on her!!

DC Power 2024: I wasn't too hot on this one. This is the only time Harper and Duke are together and they don't even talk?? This story retreads a LOT of other Duke stories, including Thomas' own (better) Urban Legends #8-9. The anthology as a whole is really good though!!

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #10: Another hidden gem!! it's not revolutionary, but Duke's dialogue is super fun and there are some GREAT character beats here. Deserves a follow up!!!

DC Rise of the Power Company: Lovely!! I like this anthology as a whole, but Duke's personality really does shine through in his story! A good cleanser to the Duke drought.

DC Power Company: Recharged: More a Jace story than anything, but Duke gets some nice moments! Clearly meant to be a bigger story though. WHERE IS THE FOLLOW-UP DC??? WHERE????

Elseworlds (that I got to):

Batman and Robin: Future's End: Fine (Dukebin!) but I find his suit ugly :(((

Future State: The Next Batman: DUKE THOMASSS. The best of Brandon Thomas' Duke, I really love him as a symbol of rebellion and hope!!! The Outsiders back-ups are REALLY good please check them out. As for the main story... I like Jace, but this introduction does really weird things to other members of the Fox fam that I don't like. Like it fridges Tam AGAIN. DC will pay for what they did to Tamara Fox 💔💔💔💔

To me the highlights of Duke are We Are Robin, Snyder's Batman run, All-Star Batman, Gotham Nights #8, Dark Nights: Death Metal Robin King, Future State: The Next Batman, Batman: Urban Legends #8-9, Batman: The Brave and the Bold #10, and DC Rise of the Power Company! That's not all his important reads or all the good ones but they are the ones that brought me the most joy. Anyway thank you for this ask and I hope that's enough Duke talking to your liking 😭😭

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So…a couple interesting (in my opinion) Duke Thomas panels from the Bloom storyline (I am attempting to read through all of his appearances before Duke Thomas Week in July).

This is how Duke got recruited by Bruce for real, apparently. He’s with his parents, who he’s been told are incurable, and crying. And then Bruce just shows up and is like “I have an offer for you.” Next time we see Duke (Batman Rebirth) he’s training, running comms in the cave, and attending formal events at Wayne Manor. Still, this is a really funny way to phrase “Do you want to be my foster son, crazy genius kid who I keep running into?”

And then…this one. “Robin doesn’t need a Batman.” And again the emphasis on family and community solving problems together. Which I think is becoming a central part of my interpretation of Duke.

Also, he was a finalist for a genius grant at age 12. Just throwing that out there. Like, he acts like a teenage boy because he is one, but…he’s a genius, just like all the Robins. All the Robins are geniuses, and yes, that includes Steph. I will die on this hill.

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This was Alfred's reaction to Bruce wanting to become Batman again after regaining his memories.

The memories that were regained by Duke going in front of a train.

in short I'm telling you that Alfred would loathe Duke with ever iota of his being & prolly treated him like shit when others weren't watching before he died.

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Yooooo back again with a Happy Father's Day for the one & only king that is Doug Thomas, you may not have been Duke's father by blood but how care about that, you were one of the best things that happened to Duke & are part of the reason he is the man he is today. DC may have forgotten you as a way to push their Bat Dad agenda but me & all the other Duke fans will never ever let you be forgotten.

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birds of prey week: day three ♦ favorite inter-team relationship 

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anyway 

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Damian being named after one of the patron saints of physicians…

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If you ask me, this above all else is the reason Bruce treated Stephanie the way he did. Stephanie's unassuming earnestness has a way of disarming people. She tends to worm her way into their hearts and coax them into opening up no matter how hard they resist just like she did with Cass and Damian. It's practically her superpower. Bruce spends a little time with her and finds himself trusting her with parts of himself he's never trusted anyone with before, he realizes she's got him lowering emotional walls he puts a lot of care into building between him and everyone around him and that, more than anything else, scares the shit out of him.

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The Al Ghul’s civilian/cover surname being “Head” is despicable okay. Like no wonder Talia joined Ra’s. If I went through all of med school only to be called “Dr. Head” all day I too would become an assassin if it meant getting to use my objectively cool real name again.

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Study Night photo

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Hi hello I'm not dead I just didn't post art for nearly 3 weeks bc I took an anxious break from this app and then immediately got sick afterwards <3 so here's the backlog