#BUT one of the many reasons I like the Red Robin fight is because of that choice motif

[phantom-0-writer]

scene 5: to win a war, fight the battles

continuation of tim's arch nemesis

Tim had done his research. He was a Bat after all. Mr. Nolan was infamous for handing out the most difficult assignment right after midterm, weighing a heaping 40% of their final grade. Physics class had never been of much interest to Tim, he found it straightforward and elementary compared to the many projects he’s committed himself to as a Bat, and member of the Young Justice League. And it just so happened to be the only classes Tim shared with one Daniel James Fenton for the semester. 

While Tim’s fellow classmates groaned at the announcement Mr. Nolan made, Tim’s knew his fate for the next three weeks was decided. He’d stayed up extra late completing his last case, and had even let his finger break so he could be off patrol without suspicion. Only his pinky of course, but enough for it to count. Despite all of Tim’s meticulous preparation for the assignment, he could only find the requirements with the rest of his class. 

Tim had considered hacking into the system and finding all of Mr.Nolan’s notes for this assignment. The reason he hadn’t done it wasn’t because he couldn’t - the school’s firewalls were a joke - but because that would mean he was admitting that the only way he could beat Daniel James Fenton was to use underhanded tactics. And that was not a defeat Tim would take. 

Tim listened closely as Mr.Nolan explained how this semester’s project would consist of him and an assigned partner creating a model using any of the physics topics they had covered throughout the semester and present it on the due date. They had till the next class to submit a formal proposal of their topic. Simple enough. 

There was just one liability in Tim’s way now: the assigned partner. Normally Tim wouldn’t have been so worried, after all this class was for the advanced students in an already competitive school. But this time was different. This time Tim had a goal. He needed to annihilate Daniel. 

“The partners for this project will be on the screen, I suggest you all get comfortable because you’ll be seeing each other a lot for the remainder of the semester.” As the projector flickered to life it dawned the document that would make or break Tim’s future. 

There were 36 students in their class, a perfect even number. Discluding Tim there were 35 other students. Daniel was simply one- one- of the 35. There was a measly 3% chance they would be paired. 

And yet. 

And yet, there it was. Printed clearly in front of Tim’s eyes. 

Timothy Drake - Daniel Fenton

In a moment of insurgence, Tim raised his hand, “Sir, I would like to change partners.” There wasn’t anyone in particular Tim would rather be paired with, but he could not have his plans mutilated by such a catastrophe. 

Mr. Nolan raised a brow at Tim, “Is there a reason in particular, Mr. Drake?” 

Tim hesitated. He had no qualms with telling Mr.Nolan the reason, but if he were to say it in front of the whole class with Daniel present he would lose the element of surprise. “No, sir.” 

Mr. Nolan leaned back onto the podium, “Is there someone else you would prefer to work with then, Mr. Drake?”

In pure humiliation, “No, sir.” 

“Well I’m glad to see I’ve made a suitable match.” Mr.Nolan concluded with finality, “Any other questions, Mr. Drake?” 

“Are we graded individually or together?” Tim clung to his last tether of hope like a lifeline. 

Unequivocally and mercilessly Mr. Nolan crushed Tim’s very being. “Together.” Tim sunk into his seat. He had become his own worst enemy. Tim ignored the confused look Daniel sent him from the other side of the classroom, saving himself the disgrace. “Any other question?” Mr.Nolan asked the class. 

There was still a way for him to crush Daniel under his steel toed Red Robin boots. Tim would simply overpower Daniel with his superior skills and intellect, and make it unquestionably clear that it was Tim who had gotten them the perfect score. A year - 5 - 10 years from now this would be the memory that woke Daniel up in cold sweat in the middle of the night. 

Psychological warfare. Tim’s specialty.

Once Mr.Nolan gave them the signal to disperse into their groups Tim met Daniel halfway between the two ends of the room where they sat. 

“Uh, Tim, right?” Daniel asked with an awkward wanna-be polite smile. 

“Yes, nice to meet you.” Tim flashed a smile he had perfected at the years of gala’s and business meetings he’d attended. Disarming, and charming. The perfect set up to sweep the enemy from under their feet. “Daniel, I believe.” A casual show of power, usually brushed off as unintentional. It was fully intentional. 

“Danny’s fine.” He corrected with what must have been an attempt at an unassuming smile. Tim knew better, Danny would be ruthless in his attempt to permanently upsurge Tim from beautifully satiating first place. “So any ideas on what we should do our assignment on?”

Danny’s coup would not be successful for Tim had come prepared. “We could reconfigure an airplane for better aerodynamics.” Tim had gone through great lengths to research and develop that about a month ago for the Bat Plane, and if he dumbed it down slightly it should pass for a civilian. 

Danny considered the idea for a moment, with the barest head nod. Victory was in Tim’s grasp now. “We could change the wingspan and nose shape of it and then widen the back fins for a more acute directional accuracy.” He offered easily. Tim blinked, that was supposed to be his line, where he would prove his superiority with the knowledge he’d already acquired. Victory, it turned out, was like a handful of sand that would, despite all efforts, spill through his fingers. “It seems easy enough.” 

“Did you have any ideas?” Tim asked testingly, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Not really, but I thought it would be cool to try one of Tesla’s ideas. Nikola Tesla’s, I mean. The one off the top of my head is the thought camera.” Danny rambled with his hands. 

Tim may have admitted that he felt a bit inspired at the idea of mimicking and improving on one of Tesla’s ideas, if it hadn’t been proposed by Danny. “The thought camera?” Tim echoed incredulously, formulating the perfect eyebrow raise to show his distaste. 

Danny seemed undeterred, and was instead studying the rubric Mr.Nolan had left open on the board. “Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of that one either,” He said offhandedly, “I was just spitballing.” 

This would’ve been the perfect opening for Tim to intercede with the perfect idea. As a Bat, Tim of all people should know the importance of always being ready and well informed of any situation that may arise. Yet here he was, unprepared. Resiliently, Tim pulled out his phone and searched up potential suggestions. Danny peaked over to look as well. 

“The wireless energy transmitter seems like a good idea. If we proportionally scale it down we could have a fully functioning model.” Tim declared victoriously to his partner, who couldn't help but be on board with his amazing idea. 

Tim had already won the first battle, and the war would soon be over with Tim’s overwhelming conqueror of the first place position. 

Bouncing off of Tim’s original idea, the team had already procured a rough sketch of their model, and had designated a day to gather their supplies. 

--

Howard watched as his student’s chattering meshed into one indistinguishable sound. Howard through his past researching with other professionals in varying stages of their career, and teaching college students of various majors and life goals had become astute as discerning a person’s potential. He was aware his current students, now only between the ages of fifteen and nineteen, would not appreciate his sentiment on grading them on a scale of what he believed their personal best to be. Leading to his infamous profile through the halls of Gotham Academy.

Over his cumulative professional careers there was perhaps only a handful that Howard predicted to hold greatness. His visions always came to fruition as the sapling students of science and research once under his care, blossomed into leaders in their fields with headlining research papers under their name. And when Howard did find himself in the possessions of those saplings he made sure to nurture their growth as much as he could.

It just so happened this year Howard found himself with two. 

There was one who Howard had heard whispers of in the teacher’s lounge. Tim Drake always sat in class with a bored castover look, ready with the perfect answer when tested as if he were the one with the PhD. Tim completed all his assignments with a stern perfection, always unchallenged with the material no matter how difficult his peers seemed to find it. 

It only was Danny Fenton’s second year attending the Academy, and there were only a few that knew him as a student, but they were not stingy with their praises. In the first week of class Howard had found him unassuming, scribbling what Howard had assumed to be notes like his peers throughout class. He was swiftly corrected when Danny came to him, after class one day, frazzled over something in his book. Howard, always ready to help a student, welcomed him graciously. In the book Howard did not find scribbled notes of inertia and energy, but a diagram- more accurately a blueprint- of an archimedes engine applied for a re-designed drag car. 

Howard watched the first spark of intrigue be kindled between the two with deep satisfaction.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

I don’t think Jason has ever hated Tim

I recently revived my Jason Todd hyperfixation from its torpor and realized I had... Means and Ways of reading as many comics as I want for free, so I made the transition from Fanon Only to having read Lost Days, Under the Red Hood, Teen Titans #29 (where Jason fights and beats the tar out of Tim), Hush, Red Hood and the Outlaws (the majority of both runs), Red Robin: The Grail, Batman and Robin: Streets Run Red, Green Arrow #70 - #73 (where Jason kidnaps Mia), Battle for the Cowl, and a smattering of other bits and bobs, all within the last month.

I have come to the conclusion that the idea that Jason hated Tim before slowly learning to be okay with him is completely backwards.

Jason starts respecting Tim as a fellow combatant after basically their first meeting, and was sympathizing with him even before. Fandom talks a lot about how Jason repeatedly tried to kill Tim, but I think there’s a good argument to be made that actually Jason has never tried to kill Tim, and there’s a better argument that Jason has never tried to hurt Tim out of a dislike for him.

Tim is the one who feels viciously betrayed by Jason, hates his guts, and depending on if you blend in the New 52 either learns to begrudgingly like him or just stays hatin.

Obviously I need some proof here, since this goes completely against the grain of every relationship interpretation I’ve ever seen for them, so approximately seven miles of character analysis under the cut lmao

I’m gonna try to go in chronological order of the characters’ history here, which means we’re starting with Lost Days, and Jason’s first reaction to finding out there’s a new Robin:

This does not look like anger to me.

Lost Days is only six issues long, and this is the entirety of the pages devoted to Jason’s feelings on Tim. Jason succeeds in a plan that would have almost certainly killed Batman if Jason had gone through with it. Jason undeniably has Joker dead to rights at one point, but lets him go. Jason at no point in this story attempts to harm Tim at all.

Now for Hush.

Context for fanon only folks: this is where the “throat slitting” bit happens.

Context for a lot of confusion: I don’t know if Jason is the one who holds Tim hostage or not.

In the original Hush plot line this is only Clayface; Jason isn’t here at all. It was later retconned in Under the Red Hood that Jason was actually in this fight for... some amount of time. It’s highly unclear to me when they swap out. Probably because originally, they didn’t swap out. Oh well! In either case, it’s now canon that Jason coached Clayface on his acting, so for the purposes of this essay, Imma hold Jason responsible for the throat damages and the words said regardless of who did what!

Right off the bat: this is a hostage taking, not a murder. Yes, Clayson Jayface does nick Tim’s neck and absolutely makes the threat of murdering him to Batman, but it’s clearly a threat. Like, look at this panel:

He is talking a lot. This isn’t an attempt to kill Tim, it’s an attempt to screw with Batman. No matter who this is, they have every reason to expect that Batman will stop them before they do any permanent damage. Can you see that little, blurry, half-hidden line of red? Lets look at what the damage was later on:

The bleeding was stopped by a bit of cloth, some pressure, and he’ll need stitches eventually, but they can clearly wait, and Tim doesn’t seem alarmed. That’s enough to scar, and enough that it is perfectly reasonable for Tim to assume that he would have died if he hadn’t been rescued.

However, Jason being deeply protective of kids is a reasonably consistent character trait. “You really think I’m gonna bring the pain to a ten year old?” Even at Jason’s most villainous, he is willing to put himself in danger in order to protect his own sidekick Scarlet. I think it would be very out of character for him to have gone through with it. Combined with Jason’s later actions and the general fact that a hostage is pretty useless dead, I come to the conclusion that Jason was bluffing.

It is ambiguous though, and I admit that this is probably the weakest link in the “Jason never tried to kill him” chain.

But enough of that, was he angry with him? Is the hate there?

I argue no, and that really there’s no emotional investment in Tim at all. In terms of hard numbers the pages Jalay Toddface spends holding Tim hostage is 3 and the number he spends fighting Batman is 13 and the number of times he even so much as LOOKS at Tim is ZERO, like actually, literally ZERO TIMES. He does not spare poor Timmy a SINGLE GLANCE.

Now make a special note here because those three pages of no eye contact from someone who might not even be Jason are the ONLY times that Tim is called Pretender or Imposter.

I’m relying on this research done by Kiragecko: https://kiragecko.tumblr.com/post/128411908944/bat-sibling-interaction It only goes up to Battle for the Cowl, (as does this essay it turns out, I just don’t know how to bridge between that and the New 52) so it isn’t every interaction ever, but it’s still excellent research, go leave a like.

According to them: “Comments: Tim thinks about Jason a lot while he’s first training. He imagines the former Robins giving him pep talks, and uses them to fight off fear gas. When Jason comes back, though, Tim’s really nasty, especially in his head. Jason, however, is somewhat respectful. He usually calls Tim ‘Tim’, and seems to kind of like him. ‘Pretender’ and ‘Imposter’ are things that CLAYFACE said, not Jason.“

How many times are those said? Once. Each. That’s it. As a comment under the Jason and Tim post done by Kiragecko points out, “Replacement” doesn’t even get used.

Under the Red Hood is basically THE Jason Todd comic. To my memory he doesn’t interact with Tim in it. However, it does contain that aforementioned reconning! So we get to see his reasoning during this encounter.

And it very very clearly isn’t at all about Tim.

Moving on to Titans Tower, which is indisputably focused on Tim: When he fights Tim, he is absolutely violent and over the line, but he’s NOT out of his head. Jason is clearly very lucid and careful about what he’s doing.

Is he angry? Of course! He’s angry at the Titans who in his mind cared about him way less than their other members, and accepted a replacement robin as though his life, his whole flesh and blood self, was something that could be so easily forgotten and swapped out.

But I think it would be a mistake to assume that Jason’s at all mad that he isn’t Robin anymore.

A very interesting direct parallel to this fight is when Jason kidnaps Mia, Green Arrow’s sidekick Speedy, fights her, appeals to their commonalities and encourages her to solve crime his way rather than Green Arrow’s way.

In both scenarios Jason engineers a way to isolate a sidekick and attempts to teach them something through combat. He makes a direct appeal to them against their mentors, and seems genuine about what he’s saying. He also lets both of them live, and with Mia is honestly pretty damned polite about it all. At least, as polite as a guy can be about kidnapping you and encouraging you to try to kill him in your high school gym that he definitely should not know about.

The plain fact of the matter is that Jason knocked Tim out, had time to paint his whole ass name way up high on a wall, and did not kill him. This is the same Jason who just prior to that took out all of Tim’s allies non-lethally. The same Jason who kept Mia’s protector’s busy non-lethally. The same Jason who cuts Mia free and gives her weapons back and starts slow in their fighting to make sure he doesn’t hurt her too badly. The same Jason who seems to feel very strongly that killing, trafficking, or selling drugs to kids is an unforgivable offense and very clearly sees Tim as a kid.

Quite frankly, this reads not like a murder, and not like a jealous beatdown, but an attempt to convince Tim that he’s going to get himself killed and needs to get out while he still can. In Jason’s mind before they meet, Tim is purely A Robin, a kid who deserves better than to be put into danger against the same monsters over and over again until he finally slips up and dies.

Is this a hairbrained and back asswards way of doing that? Yes! But it does track for someone who tries to do all of his talking through his actions, which do speak louder than words, but unfortunately C-4 loudness is not actually a significant boon to nuanced communication.

If you want to put it in a less charitable way (and maybe we should, this is a bonkers asshole move on Jason’s part no matter how you slice it) then we can say Jason is testing Tim, trying to see if this one has what it takes to be better than he was, to survive where he couldn’t. Personally I think it’s a mix of both, and for this end of that emotional mess: Tim passes the test.

Jason leaves while talking about Tim in present tense, showing that he has every expectation of Tim being alive, and praises him in the process:

Did you know that the fun panel of Tim kicking Jason in the nuts is actually from the same comic run, about twenty or so issues later?

Did you know that the argument they were having starts with Dick and Tim wrestling with Jason and accusing him of a murder he did not commit, and in fact tried to save the victim from?

Did I mention yet that the death in question was of Duela Dent, aka the JOKER’S DAUGHTER, whom Jason caught attempting to hold a young woman hostage for ransom? And that Jason repeatedly shot her getaway balloon instead of her and then tried to save her life immediately afterwards despite the fact that she was going to let the hostage plummet to their death? And it is implied that part of the reason he’s so easy on her is because of “Once a Titan always a Titan” loyalty, with this being our first clue that Jason isn’t the one shooting at her anymore?

Did I also mention that he comes to her funeral in part to be around Donna (the starry leotard lady whose statue he smashed) because it’s nice to be around people who understand being displaced by their own death? And that the one who sticks up for him in this scene is Donna?

At risk of negating my own thesus here, I’d say it’s reasonable to think that maybe Jason feels rage-hate for Tim in this “kicked in the dick while Dick grins smugly” moment.

Lets go now to Robin #177 at the tail end of the 1993 to 2003 run - Bruce has “died” and Tim hasn’t yet gone on his epic quest to find him. Tim finds Jason unifying street gangs with the intent to bring them under control and solve the current crisis. He appeals to Tim for help with this, in fact he comes off as almost puppy dog eager to work with him, and seems really sad when he says fuck no.

This is one of the first fights in which Tim really holds his own against Jason, and I am very proud of him, yes :3

This gets Jason arrested. Then Tim actually goes through with a heavily modified, less violent version of Jason’s plan that Jason didn’t think could work. A few issues later, when Tim decides that he’s going to try to honor what Bruce would have wanted by springing Jason out of jail, Jason makes note of that.

Jason is pretty damned civil at their next meeting, even though Tim makes it pretty damned clear he doesn’t want him around.

And now... we have to talk about Battle for the Cowl.

I’ve seen it described as a masterclass in how NOT to write Jason Todd, due to it portraying him as being an absolutely off his rocker anger murder violence man. I am inclined to agree.

In this three issue comic Jason Todd has been dRiVeN mAd (in the most bullshit comic sense of that word) by Bruce’s will... telling him to go to therapy. Yeah. So uh, he dons a Batman suit to shoot people in AND pretends to be Black Mask so he can enslave a bunch of villains Amanda Waller style, and like it gets weird from there. It is an extremely jarring transition from that last scene to GUNS BAT HATE MAN.

He still does not hate Tim in it. I really, seriously thought I was going to have to make a lot of excuses for this portion but then the more I read of it the more vindicated I was cause let me repeat: One of the most unhinged with Bat hate and crazy juice versions of Jason ever put to print does not hate Tim at all.

Hell, he likes Tim! He compliments him!

And on top of that, even though he is MUCH more lethal against his fellow robins when they attack him - Jason straight up shoots a ten year old Damian in the chest. It’s fucked. - There is still evidence to suggest that Jason deliberately didn’t kill Tim when he had ample opportunity.

Jason first of all never hunts Tim down. I’ve heard Battle for the Cowl described as Jason tracking Tim down or kidnapping him or going after him to force him to Be His Robin, but that’s just not how it goes.

Instead he waits for Tim to come find his Batcave, disorients him, and goes for a ton of surface cuts. He only actually goes for a real body blow after Tim picks up a crowbar and beats Jason across the face with it a few times.

(Again, proud of you Timmy)

After the stabbing, Jason doesn’t just leave Tim there; this isn’t a matter of hurrying on before he could check. He’s seen dragging Tim off. When Nightwing later comes to rescue him, Dick is downright certain Jason is lying to him about Tim being dead because Jason is refusing to show him the body and Dick figures it’s because he knows there’s no body to show (if in part because he can’t let himself believe Tim is dead without hard proof).

Tim himself wonders about this, noting that the batterang was rusted and shattered on his armor.

Sure, Tim used playing possum to make his pulse slow to a near stop for a while, maybe that fooled Jason, but keep in mind that BRUCE taught Tim that skill, and if there’s one thing these comics have established, it’s that Jason is dangerous precisely because he is so intimately familiar with the techniques of the Bat. Jason even makes specific note of the fact that Tim being trained like Bruce and fighting like Bruce would be his downfall at the beginning of their fight.

The whole comic leaves me wondering just how much of what happened went completely according to Jason’s plan. I really would not put it passed him to engineer a ‘death in the family’ recreation for the next Batman in line! As much as I agree that this is garbage characterization for him in many many ways, I do think Jason makes a fantastic villain. I love to see him run rings around the Bats in some places, and make lemonade out of getting his ass kicked in others.

No matter how we interpret the stabbing here though, what does seem very clear to me is that Jason makes the Be My Robin offer to Tim first and foremost because he thinks pretty highly of Tim! He’s been rejected by Tim at least three times over but keeps holding a hand out for him. This does not seem like Tim hater reaction hours here!

Also that whole thing about kids being dragged into this vigilante life irresponsibly? Yeah that’s still there!

I have TRIED to find evidence that Jason hates Tim at like literally any point here. I have gone through the shit people point to. I have looked at the context around those and dug up more obscure interactions for second and third views. Everywhere I look I just see more instances of Jason complimenting Tim!! It’s driving me nuts!

The only conclusion that I can come to is that people read this stuff and just trust that Tim is right about Jason. Tim’s internal view waaay more closely resembles fandom interpretation. Tim assumes that Clayson Toddface would absolutely have killed him in cold blood, that Jason beat the shit out of him purely to prove he was stronger, that he’s a brute, a moron, an active danger to society, and that every bit of leniency given to him will result in betrayal and death.

I don’t have clearer proof for it, but I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Tim probably believes Jason has it out for him and holds him responsible for his replacement.

So yeah. As a fascinating reversal of my expectations going in: I don’t think Jason has ever hated Tim, but boy fuckin howdy has Tim HATED Jason.

[stephstars08]

You Broke Me First

Jason Todd x Reader

Warnings: ALL ANGST, Fighting, Alcohol Mentioned, Anxiety, Bar Fight, Mention of Sex, Cheating, Break Up, Adult Language, Jason Being Arrested, Mention of Weapons, Mention of Jason’s Dark Past, and Possible Grammar Errors. (Sorry if I forgot any!!!)

Summary: Y/N and Jason had been together for two years and everything was going good till Jason does the unthinkable that broke Y/N’s heart.

Inspired Song: You Broke Me First By Tate McRae

Word Count: 1,737

Author’s Note: Sorry that this was short. When I was writing this I thought it was going to be longer but I guess not. Also I definitely suggest you listen to the song before reading this since the plot his based off the song!

Y/N and Jason were that couple that everyone thought was going to last. But it didn’t due to one stupid and drunken night. Y/N is Barbara’s roommate and met Jason through Barbara since they have known each other for years.

At first Y/N just thought that Barbara knew Jason through her boyfriend Dick since Jason is his little brother but that changed when Y/N found out that Barbara is Gotham City’s Batgirl. After Jason and Dick gave Barbara permission to tell Y/N about them being Red Hood and Nightwing, Barbara told Y/N everything. She told her how Dick was the first Robin and then Jason became Robin after Dick became Nightwing. Barbara told her how she got shot by the Joker and was in a wheel chair for years till she was finally able to get surgery that would allow her to be able to walk again. Jason was a little nervous about Barbara telling Y/N about his history with the Joker but Y/N was fine with it. She didn’t view him as a dead man walking.

She still saw him as her loving and protective boyfriend. Well that was till Jason shattered her heart.

A big reason why everyone thought Y/N was the one for Jason was because they had been together for two years which is the longest and first real relationship that Jason had ever been in.

Everything went well till Jason did the worst thing her could’ve ever done.

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

Y/N was driving to Jason’s apartment on a Saturday morning after an anxious Friday night. Y/N and Jason were at her apartment when they got in a big and bad fight that made Jason storm out of the apartment. That had been the first fight between them. It all happened so fast that Y/N doesn’t even remember what the fight was even about. She kept trying to call him but no answer so she decided to just go to bed and talk to him the next day.

Y/N found a parking spot by Jason’s apartment building so she parked her car and turned the vehicle off. She grabbed her keys and put them in her coat pocket. After opening the driver seat door she pressed the button on the door to lock the car and got out. She shut the door and made her way inside the building. Y/N walked up the steps to the third floor.

When she got to Jason’s door she could feel her heart racing so she took a deep and calming breath and knocked on the door. Every second that passed she could feel her nerves pacing. As almost two minutes passed Jason hadn’t answered the door. She could’ve sworn that she saw his motorcycle parked outside. Before Y/N could knock on the door again the door opened to reveal not Jason but a girl with short bleach blonde hair.

Y/N just froze in her spot. She looked the girl up and down. The outfit the unknown girl was wearing was pretty revealing. She had on a tight crop top that showed her cleavage and her belly with an even tighter mini skirt that showed off her long legs. Her hair was a little messy. It looked liked she had just woken up.

“Y/N.” She heard Jason say appearing behind the unknown girl. Jason moved the girl to the side and took Y/N’s hand pulling her inside his apartment. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.” Jason told her letting go of her hand. He escorted the unknown girl out of his apartment and out the building. As Y/N waited for him she just stayed standing as so many thoughts ran through her head. When that girl opened the door she felt like someone just stabbed her in her heart.

When Jason walked back into the apartment he saw the hurt look in Y/N’s eyes. “Well, now I know why you didn’t answer your phone.” Y/N said in a hurtful tone. Jason let out a sigh as he closed his door. Before Jason could say anything Y/N spoke again. “Who is she?” Y/N asked him. “What?” Jason asked which immediately set her off. “Did I fucking stutter?” Y/N hissed. “Who the fuck is she?” Y/N asked again in a snappy tone. The hurt she was feeling quickly melted away and turned into anger. “She’s a girl I met at the bar I went to last night.” Jason told her. “But Y/N I was completely shit faced.” Jason added which made Y/N let out a scoff. “I don’t give a shit what you were! You had sex with another woman!” Y/N told him as hot tears started to fill her eyes. “I know it was fucking stupid but I promise it didn’t mean anything.” Jason told her as he watched the girl he loves heart break right in front of him.

He went to go touch her but she backed away from him. “Don’t fucking touch me!” Y/N hissed at him. “Y/N, please.” Jason pleaded as tear started to flood his blue eyes. Y/N shook her head as she used the back of her hand to wipe away some of her tears.

“We’re fucking done.” Y/N snapped and walked passed him and out of the apartment.

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

it’s been a couple weeks since Y/N broke up with Jason. He’s been trying to get in touch with her but she’s been ignoring him. She got a call in early morning hours from an unknown number so she answered it and it was Jason.

He needed her to use his money from his bank account to bail him out of jail. He had to call her since she’s the only one that knows his bank information. After he told her how much the bond was she hung up. Y/N got out of her bed and quietly left the apartment so she didn’t wake Barbara up.

Y/N went to a twenty four hour ATM and then went to the jail to bail Jason out. As Y/N drove him back to his apartment he told her what had happened that got him arrested. He got into a bar fight and the reason why he was in jail for hours was because they wanted him to sober up since when they arrested him he was wasted. Y/N just nodded her head. Right after she dropped him off at his apartment she drove back to her apartment and went right back to sleep.

Y/N woke up a little after eleven AM. When she walked into the living room she saw Barbara sitting on the couch watching the TV. “Hey sleepy head.” Barbara said as Y/N sat down on the couch next to her. Barbara could sense something was wrong. “What’s wrong?” Barbara asked her with concern in her voice. “I had to bail Jason out of jail at two in the morning.” Y/N told her with a tired sigh. “That’s not surprising.” Barbara said with a sigh as well. “Dick has been telling me that he’s been going through hell because of the break up.” Barbara added. “He did look so broken.” Y/N said as she stared out at the television. “And that’s not your fault.” Barbara told her which made her look away from the tv and at her.

“Jason did that to himself. He’s the one that is making him go through all this pain.” Barbara told her. “Yes, when Jason was with he was the happiest he’s ever been but he’s the one that fucked it up. You didn’t do it, he did it.” Barbara told her in a stern tone. She doesn’t want Y/N to feel guilty for what Jason is going through.

“He broke you first.” Barbara added. Y/N gave her a nod. She knew that everything Barbara had just told her was one hundred percent true.

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

It was now night time and Y/N was at the apartment by herself since Barbara is out doing her patrol as Batgirl. Y/N was laying on the couch watching a movie on the TV. It was a little after eight o’ clock and Y/N was still exhausted. But before she could decide to head into bed their was a knock on the door. She got up and walked over to the door. When she opened the door she saw Jason standing there.

“Hey.” Jason said in a soft tone. “What are you doing here?” Y/N asked him in a stern tone. “I wanted to thank you for bailing me out.” Jason told her. “And?” Y/N asked as she folded her arms over her chest knowing that their was more. “I also wanted to talk to you.” Jason told her which made her roll her eyes. “There is nothing to fucking talk about.” Y/N told him still using a stern tone.

She went to slam the door in his face but Jason stopped the door from closing and walked into the apartment. “Y/N, I’ve been a fucking wreck without you.” Jason told her. “And that’s not my problem!” Y/N told him turning back around to face him since after she went to close the door she started to walk back over to the couch.

“Jason, I still love you but I can’t forgive you for what you did.” Y/N told him. “And like I told you it’s the worst fucking thing I have ever done.” Jason said looking at her with a pleading look in his blue eyes. “Trust me I know that but you saying that isn’t going to fix it. It isn’t going to erase it.” Y/N told him with frustration in her voice.

“Maybe one day we can be friends but that’s it. You broke my trust and I just can’t give you another chance. I can’t force myself to do that.” Y/N told him. She was trying her best not to cry but she knew she was failing since she could feel the tears forming in her eyes. Jason was already shedding tears.

“You broke me first.” Y/N told him remembering what Barbara told her this morning. Jason gave her a nod knowing that she was right. “Yeah, I did.” Jason said. He turned around and walked out of the apartment.

He knew at that moment it was really over. There was nothing else he can say. Y/N took a deep breath to clam herself down. She wiped away her tears and walked over the door and shut it.

[fantastic-nonsense]

im soso curious, i need to know... why is tim a child of apollo? bless u for not going with fanon<3

[referencing how I decided who the Batfam's godly parents were in my PJO AU WIP]

People like to sort him into Athena because DC has spent the last few years emphasizing how smart he is and how he's better at the more “cerebral” and detective aspects of the job. But Tim’s most prominent pre-reboot traits are not actually his detective or tech skills: they’re his reckless, impulsive bravery, his ability to analyze and think very quickly on his feet in dangerous situations, and his "power of friendship" idealism.

He's a people person; it's one of his greatest strengths. Tim is like...physically incapable of going somewhere and not making at least one friend while he's there. Hell, when he ran off to travel the world on his "fuck you, I'll find Bruce on my own" trip he still managed to pick up his own little crew of assassin friends along the way. Making connections and talking to people and relying on others for help is how he successfully navigates being a hero, as he himself notes on multiple occasions:

"Did you think I was going to run all around the city, desperately trying to save everyone all by myself? I'm not Batman. I have friends." -Red Robin #12

Tim loves his family and friends, and losing so many people he's close to within such a small timespan sends him off the deep end in multiple ways (trying to clone Kon, fighting Dick to get the Lazarus water, isolating himself from everyone, fighting with Dick and running off to find proof that Bruce was alive on his own, etc).

At his core, Tim is an idealist who becomes a hero for no other reason than a) a broken man needs help and a broken family needs mending and b) if Dick won't go back to being Robin he might as well do it, because someone has to be Robin. He sees what will happen if Bruce stays on the path he's on and says "no. I'm not going to let that happen." He's a hero because someone has to help, and he's able and available to do so. He doesn't work on cold hard logic and facts. He works off of gut instinct and then uses his big brain to go find facts and logical conclusions that support those instincts.

Tim was never going to be an Athena child.

So I started thinking. At first, I wanted him to be a Hermes child; it seemed right to frame his parentage around being the child of the messenger of the gods given how he became Robin. But that's not really him, either. Apollo, within the scope of both classical mythology and the PJO-verse's depiction of him and his children, fits him better.

While modern culture tends to zero in a lot on Apollo's status as the god of music, poetry, and the arts (for good reason), Apollo in classical Greek mythology was first and foremost known as the god who (for lack of a better term) helps his people. He's the god of the sun, of light, of medicine and healing, of prophecy, of truth.

Tim comes into Bruce's life at a time when Bruce is at his absolute lowest point. Jason is dead. He's estranged from Dick. He's failing in his mission to save Gotham. He's highkey passively suicidal. And Tim takes it upon himself to fix that. And he does it by being a solid, bright, stable presence in Bruce's life and an extremely blunt, truthful messenger of the future he sees: Batman needs a Robin, and if Bruce doesn't have one he's going to die.

And I didn't abandon his intelligence in the calculations: Apollo is also the god of rational thinking, order, and knowledge, contrasting and working in harmony with Dionysus (the god of irrationality, chaos, and passion). He was also known to be the god whose job it was to interpret the will of Zeus to humankind, which I thought was appropriate for a boy who spends quite a lot of his time being the living communication translator between Bruce and everyone around him.

So. Apollo child.

............also I thought it was funny to make the god of youth the father of the boy DC refuses to allow to age.

[thealexanderfiles]

DCU from a Marvel fans limited perspective

recently i've accidently been sucked into the DCU universe, mostly Bat family, if i'm being honest, and although i've never watched a single movie/episode, this is what i have gathered from purely reading the occasional fanfiction/lots of tumblr posts

SPOILERS i guess

There are A LOT of batkids

Bruce Wayne adopts these motherfuckers like they're some kind of limited edition pokemon set

no one is actually sure how many there are but if you have black hair and blue eyes and live in gotham, Batman doesn't care if you've got parents or not. you're coming home with him

There appears to be five Robins and Batman goes though these children like a chainsmoker with a pack of cigarettes

people die a lot

Thats okay though because people come back to life a concerning amount as well

Jason Todd died and came back to life by being dumped in a pit of magical water

Damien Wayne is the only biological child of Bruce and he mentions this a lot

Dick Greyson was the first Robin and the first adoption and i think he and Bruce got in a fight and he left to become Nightwing

Jason Todd stole the Batmobile's wheels and became the second Robin. after he came back to life he became Red Hood

Tim Drake was not an orphan, he just fit Bruce's target demographic and was conveniently close (I mean come on, it's like express shipping) He is also some kind of super-genius. He was the third Robin but became Red Robin/Drake

Stephanie brown(?) was the fourth robin(?), not sure for how long. People get upset when other people forget. I think she's called Spoiler or something

Damien Wayne is the final Robin. Hes this assassins son and im pretty sure Talia dropped him off at the Wayne Manor and said, "I had him through the terrible twos, you get the teen years'

Not entirely sure if Tim runs Wayne enterprises

Brucie wayne is the funniest fucking thing i swear

He's so stupid

not sure is Tim, Dick and Jason follow Bruce's lead and become absolute airheads as well

Alfred is a butler

Alfred has guns

There's someone called Duke and Cass knocking around

The Justice League think Batman works alone

someone in the JL is allergic to the colour yellow

there is a concerning amount of Danny Phantom x DC crossover fics

sames goes for Miraculous

Tim Drake is Bi and for some reason people don't like that

internet is divided on whether of not Batman is a bad dad

#OnlyInGotham is a thing?

Gotham is like an australian NYC

the Riddler is a not funny, less aggressive version of the Joker

apparently Alcatraz and Arkham are different prisons but thats on me

there's a whole group of superheroes out there, each have strong powers and they decide to leave the most dangerous city to the member that has no powers and dresses up as an anthropomorphic bat and runs around the city causing copious amounts of property damage with his children

there is a girl called barbra? Gordon

there is a criminally small amount of content for the girls

for some reason people ship the bat kids together, ike, anytime you have to remind yourself 'its TECHNICALLY not incest is Not Good'

Clark Kent is running round acting as if his reading glasses are the only thing standing between a normal life and CHAOS and the worst thing is that he is right

i am a MCU fan and i was SO sure that Deadpool was MCU but now i'm not so sure

Fandom likes to have this troupe that Bruce wayne doesn't believe batman exists when obviously the superior troupe is that Gotham is pretty sure they are exes

teen titans and young justice are a thing but i cant figure out which robin is who.

Damien Wayne has enough animals to open a zoo

who tf in the batfam are metas?????

Batman has definetely used the Tired Dad voice on villains and the Brucie Wayne voice on the JL

Bruce Wayne has contingency plans if someone discovers his contingency plans

THERES A PLACE CALLED THE FUCKING BAT BURGER???????

it took 2 robins until batman realized that a small child running around in a vest top and speedos was not the greatest idea

Someone needs to tell me, like right now what's going on, where to start and what to read. bc rn im LIVING on chaotic fics

[orchidsangel]

Recently imagined Jason and y/n, his ex, meeting again after a few years. Still obviously caring about each other. Eating cake alone at the apartment and awaiting the New Year together. Not wanting to say that this is the least lonely, however sad-looking, night they've experienced since they split up.

(jumping off a cliff bc i missed the glaring "new year" part of this and was like "i'll get to this later" so sorry beloved, also this got more angsty than i intended.)

Exes to lovers with Jason is always in the back of my mind somewhere, eating away at my sanity. Just the idea that he loved you so hard he had to let you go, knowing the life he lived wasn't suitable for you. You told him you didn't mind, that he was so important to you that you could put aside the constant worry that would sit in your stomach like a rock every time he was off being Red Hood. You said it was fine, but he saw the way bags appeared under your eyes after too many nights of staying up for him, how you forgot to eat when he went too long without contacting you, and how the tears would slip past your lashes when you were patching him up.

At the end of it all, you had begged him to stay, telling him over and over how much you loved him. It killed him to tell you that that was the reason why it was ending, because you loved him too hard, and you were neglecting yourself because of it. He was sick, wondering if he'd made the wrong decision, wondering if this would only make things worse for you. So, despite the fresh ache in his heart, he still watched out for you, determined to make sure you thrived without him, and thrive you did.

It felt like it had been ages since the last time he saw you that couldn't be mistaken for stalking. Watching you from rooftops and alleyways, rushing fights to make sure he could see if you got home safely and intervene if there were any threats. It became routine for him to hang up his helmet at night once he knew you were safe in the confines of the apartment you once shared. What wasn't routine was you knocking on his apartment door at exactly eleven forty-seven pm on New Year's Eve with a sad-looking store-bought cake in your hands and an even sadder look on your face.

"I know we're not together anymore, but…"

Splitting a whole cake between the two of you on New Year's Eve instead of having a typical dinner had been your tradition for years. Jason took it very seriously, planning the cake in advance for weeks, testing different flavors, even going as far as calling you once in the middle of a fight, asking if you preferred chantilly or sponge. It was stupid to most people you told, but to you and Jason, it was the perfect way to end the year. Now, you stand before him, holding a cake that could never compare to the decadent black forest cake he had made the last time you'd spent New Year's together.

You look down at the cake and then back up at him, the familiar gleam of water in your eyes. He takes the container in one hand and uses the other to pull the door open more so you can come in. It had been a while since you'd been there last, but everything was the same. A wall with an extensive collection of weapons, a stack of books that only collected dust when he was gone for long periods of time, and a framed picture of Jason and Bruce from his robin days.

"How'd you know where to find me?"

"Lucky guess."

Not a lucky guess, the first place you'd told him you loved him.

He roots around a drawer, pulling out two forks and handing one to you. Silence hangs in the air, several year's worth of unspoken feelings lingering with nowhere to go but up. he pops the lid off the container and gestures for you to take the first bite, another tradition that came with his hours of cake-making; he'd always insist on you having the first taste so you could give feedback and you only ever had positive things to say. Now, the weak taste of vanilla paired with a dry crumb, and your mouth turns downward into a frown.

"I don't think it's that bad."

"You'll eat anything."

"True."

No, it wasn't that bad. In fact, before you'd met Jason, this was something you probably would've treated yourself to when life decided to be good to you, but he had spoiled you, given you so much more than you even knew was out there, and it wasn't all material.

Three minutes to New Year's now, and approximately six bites taken out of the cake, five from Jason, and you're ready to part ways again with you leaving him this time. There's still time to make a run for it and ring in the new year without the baggage of your ex hanging over you; there's still time to pretend your world wasn't shattered when he left.

"Why are you here? Why not spend New Year's with your friends?"

"Friends?"

"The people I always see you with when I-"

"Watch me?"

"Am on patrol."

"Right."

"Why aren't you with them?"

"Not friends, coworkers."

"You're with them all the time."

"Workplace comradery."

"So, friends."

Thirty seconds now, and the words you still haven't said are on the tip of your tongue and in the back of your mind, egging you on to admit the feelings you've been sitting on for what feels like forever. He beats you to it.

"Please come back to me."

"I'm not the one who left."

Fireworks go off outside, signifying the beginning of a new year, and you and Jason stand across from each other. Physically, only the kitchen island stands between you two, but emotionally, you're still miles apart. You can't hear in his words how much he needs you back in his life, how hard it is for him every night to not climb in through your window and find his spot in the bed you'd shared like he'd done so many times before; and he can't hear in your words how the wound he left in your heart never healed, how it never even started to, and how through him leaving, you found out that time doesn't heal all things.

[funkylittlebidiot]

leap of faith

It's happened again - sleeping in the afternoon means i get creative in the evening. Here's a thing.

The Bats wouldn’t make it in time, Tim knew as he scrambled through the door leading onto the roof of Wayne Enterprises. He’d known it the second he’d hit the panic button right before his doors burst open, spilling tactical gear-clad goons into his office.

He’d also known instantly this wasn’t a situation worth the risk of playing Timothy Drake-Wayne, so he’d chucked the Manila folder he’d been holding out like a batarang.

It wasn’t particularly effective, but it was instinct, as much as ducking for cover behind his mahogany desk in the same move. Thank god Bruce had made it bullet resistant - there’s no feature more practical in a desk. Especially in Gotham.

Of course, that’s when a bullet pierced through the wood anyway and almost knicked his shoulder. It only took a moment to take in the projectile, a bullet shaped like an arrowhead the size of a thumb, lodged into the wood with the tip coated in a green crystalline sheen.

It’s only then that Tim had begun to panic.

There were many reasons why criminals might attack Timothy Drake-Wayne - money, leverage, petty grudge, a slip in his identity or a social faux-pass were all possibilities that easily swam to his mind. There wasn’t a single reason he could think of that they would attack Timothy Drake-Wayne with kryptonite.

And Tim was an inventive guy, if he did say so himself.

Breathing going slightly funny, but forcing that to the side, he took stock of his options. The bats wouldn’t make it in time, he didn’t have his own suit and weapons, and there was no way in hell he was going to call to Kon for help. Not with kryptonite in play.

If he could he’d text Kon he was craving Belgian chocolate so he’d get as far away from WE as possible.

Anyway, think.

Tim waited for the first goon to round the desk and point his gun at his head, and purposefully fumbled a bit as he grabbed the gun and twisted in a move he’d mastered at twelve years old. He might not be able to afford playing civilian, but he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity of being underestimated.

They took it as a lucky shot - a rich boy taking a defense class is only common sense in a city like Gotham - but it still left one out of six attackers on the floor with a dislocated shoulder. The gun he’d twisted out of his arm was used to knock aside another, before breaking the nose of the assailant.

There were still four guns on him - five if the guy got over his broken nose - and the space was too cramped a battle ground. Tim was used to fighting the open space of city streets, or the occasional indoors he’d been able to case beforehand, swooping in with full control of the situation. Situations where he’d had his suit.

His dark slacks and white button down wouldn’t hold back as much as an open-palmed slap, and with his missing spleen he was too high-maintenance to be a kidnappee.

He had to get out of the office.

Tim jumped over his desk, clearly surprising his assailants as he used the same move to kick out with his feet. They dodged, but their movement had cleared out a path to the roof access stairs hidden behind a set of doors resembling a build-in closet.

It was a useful feature - both for the CEO with the private helipad on the roof and the vigilante needing to sneak out of the office during city emergencies.

Tim ran up the stairs now, grateful they hadn’t managed to get a hit in yet, but hyper-aware he wasn’t actually running towards something, and burst out into the April chill. The helipad was empty because he hadn’t thought to schedule an emergency evacuation today, but the feel of cold air against his skin was soothing. It made him feel more like Robin - Red Robin, whatever - standing high on a roof, in control of his surroundings once more.

They would have to follow him up. They would need to come through the door one by one. And Tim still had the gun.

Of course he couldn’t actually use it. He didn’t know how lethal the unfamiliar weapon would be.

Besides, the thought of shooting rounds of kryptonite made him ill.

The door bust open, followed by two guns with men attached stepping out onto the concrete. They moved quickly, swarming out like a trained SWAT team, which made his stomach flutter nervously. He’d only seen the six, five now were left.

But he didn’t know how high up they went. How many had been needed to get the six of them up to the top floor of Wayne Enterprises in the first place? How many more were downstairs?

Tim fought the urge to take his eyes off the men in front of him to sweep the surrounding roofs for snipers.

The previous comfort had left him, feeling exposed with his back turned to the skyline, his button-down catching the wind like a white flag.

“You’re trapped,” one of the men called, voice amplified to be heard over the roar of the wind. “Surrender and we’ll take you quietly.”

Tim frowned.

“What do you want?” He yelled back, playing along as his thoughts ran ahead, calculating his options. “Money?”

“Leverage.” The second guy on the left called out. “You’ll be fine as long as you play along.”

“What do I have to do?” His heart was racing in his chest, fearing the answer but also determined it wouldn’t be a problem. If they ask him for Superboy it’s an easy response.

“Just get back down, open your computer, and set up a -“

Tim already wasn’t listening anymore, ears rushing with relief as he threw down the gun and started running.

It was a stupid coincidence - the kryptonite just an extra precaution or a new trend on the streets of Gotham or whatever. They didn’t want Conner. Which meant there probably wasn’t a sophisticated contingency set up for if he were to show up - no hidden snipers in the surrounding buildings (at least none expecting Superboy), no Cadmus technology, nothing.

Still, he made sure to wait until he’d dropped at least 30 stories to finally yell out a slightly strangled - Superboy!

The following few seconds, as he continued to fall, his heart sinking into his stomach, he was forced to question the decision of leaping before making sure Kon was actually paying attention.

Then, only fifteen stories below that, he collided with a familiar body, strong arms wrapping around him as his momentum careened to a halt. Tim clung on instinctively, air leaving his lungs with a sigh as his arms came up around Kon’s neck in a tight hug, the tiptoes of his leather shoes awkwardly fitting their usual holds on Kon’s feet. This sure was easier in his Robin suit, but that thought quickly left his head as he was surrounded by the warmth of Conner. His thin white shirt had been terrible at keeping out the chill of the drop, the wind tugging at it incessantly, but against Conner it allowed him to actually feel the arms wrapped around his back, the hands pressed against his side like pools of heat.

Tim smiled into the crook of Kon’s neck, before forcing his brain to focus back on the situation as he could feel Superboy tense with anger, shifting to fly back up to take in the scene. He pressed a quick kiss into the soft skin under his jaw, hoping to soothe.

“Do not engage,” he spoke into Kon’s ear, though he knew he’d be able to hear perfectly even if Tim couldn’t catch his own voice over the sound of the wind. “They have kryptonite weapons.”

Kon tightened his grip and shifted like he wanted to take his chances, but Tim tugged at his hair until he looked down and Tim was finally able to meet his eyes.

The sight was heaven-send, but the slow curls of panic were still swirling in his gut, telling him to get those eyes as far away as possible.

“Let’s go home. Please.”

Kon swallowed but nodded, tightening his grip before they were swept away by the wind.

As soon as they came to a halt and Tim couldn’t see the city gray of Gotham anymore, his heart finally un-clenched. He went boneless as their feet touched the ground, and Kon’s grip on him softened into a proper hug.

“Thank god you’re okay.” Tim breathed into Kon’s hair, causing Kon to pull back and meet his eyes with a furious gaze.

“Me?” He ground out, hands tightening on Tim’s hips. “I’m not the one pushed off the top of a building!”

“I’m fine! I wasn’t even pushed - I jumped!”

“You- jumped.” He looked like he was short-circuiting, which might have been funny if Tim hadn’t cared that he was clearly upset. “Tim!”

“Yeah.”

“Why would you do that?!”

“Because I needed to call for help but I wasn’t going to do that anywhere near where they could get a good shot at you!”

“So you jumped?! From a skyscraper!”

“No, I jumped into your arms!”

“What if I hadn’t heard you!”

“Then I would have been upset.”

“You would have -“

Tim kissed him before he could short-circuit some more, which luckily did help him reboot and focus on what’s important - wrapping his arms around Tim’s hips again and pulling him closer, pressing their chests together as Tim moaned against Kon’s mouth.

He wanted to walk Kon back, push him against a wall before dragging him into his bedroom to thank him properly for being his knight in leather jacket - which is when he realized they were no where near his apartment OR the tower.

They were on a forest-lined stretch of road, a familiar iron gate to Tim’s back.

He pulled back, accusatory, mentally rearranging his gratitude into punishment instead, as he glared at Kon. “I told you to take me home!”

“I did!” Kon sounded way too smug, clearly pleased Tim was suffering in his own right. “They were almost at the tower when I got there. Cass told me to get you home or else - and I’m more scared of her then I am of you.”

“If I get murdered by the Spawn you’re going to feel so guilty.” Tim murmured, crossing his arms against the hollow feeling of dread in his stomach as he stared up at the manor. Cass was there. Bruce was alive.

He could deal for half an hour.

That would have to be enough.

Kon’s arm fell like a comforting weight around his waist as he came to stand beside him, squeezing softly. “I’m just a shout away.”

[qcomicsy]

Hi

Can you recommend me Bat-family comics to read? Which ones do you like?

Heyyyy

I would love it!

DISCLAIMER Keep it in mind I'm a casual reader so my recs might not be the most "this is every issue they are together" or the longer ones!

Let's go!

Nightwing Annual (2021)

Dick & Jason focused

This is one of my favorites ones, it focuses both on Dick's and Jason's relationship as Nightwing and Robin and Nightwing and Redhood.

The dialogue is great, it has both it's really funny bits but also it's really wholesome ones too and it's full of heartwarming moments.

I absolutely adore the way they handled Jason's Robin and acknowledges his violent tendencies without judging him for it.

He's not portrayed as overly violent and reckless, but as a normal teenager having normal reactions given the things he had to deal in his past.

My only criticism is Jason still using that damn crowbar and how they kept drawing Jason shorter the Nightwing for some reason. I think it was to accentuate the "younger brother" feelings so I forgive the artist.

But it's pretty funny.

He looks like short king

Robin & Batman

Dick and Bruce focused

Oh this one, this one it's so good, so good that almost got me crying on main. It's really beautiful, I wasn't the happiest about how Bruce behaved in the comic but it sat in a fine line between Batdad and Bruce being a terrible father/person.

He is too hard on Robin, but it does show how he is trying.

The art is goddamn beautiful, it has this watercolor look and Dick looks adorable on it.

It also goes deep in Dick's feelings about being Robin and what the whole jig means to him, it respects Dick's relationship with Bruce but without forgetting the love and the moments he had with his biological parents.

It's just really, really beautiful a goddamn gem between the many mistakes DC made with them two over those years.

For Tim and Dick I really recomend

Batman Prodigal (1997)

Note: The whole Kightfell series is great for a Bruce, Dick and Tim read. But for the Batfam feelings you can just focus on the prodigal parts.

Dick & Tim focused

The only thing you have to know to catch up is:

1. Bane broke Bruce's back and dignity, so he couldn't still be Batman.

2. Bruce found this guy called Jean Paul to fill for him.

3. Jean Paul is really fond of punishment and violence and the good ol' catholic guilt and goes a little bit too rogue as Batman for everyone's liking.

4. Bruce takes the mantle from Jean Paul and Nightwing fills in as the new Batman.

I wouldn't call exactly brotherly, because Tim wasn't adopted yet in the timeline this was published but they have their moments.

New talent show case DC #2017

Duke and Jason focused

This is also a favorite. It's a short story (unfortunately) but every single panel is worth it.

It's basically Jason and Duke bonding moment between fighting some baddies and trying to clown each other on the way. 10/10 will always recommend.

Robin War

Jason & Duke & Tim & Damian

This one I've read recently (thanks for the asks people send to me y'all are fucking great) and it's a fucking gem!

It shows a lot their chemistry on the battlefield and how fucking insufferable they are around each other. It also shows how Duke fits as a glove in this family of misfits even before he was an "official member".

Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual (2016)

Another Dick and Jason focused!

Oh this one is a blast! It's also short but so goddamn worth it.

Basically Jason and the Outlaws take a gig in a circus to track a Russian bad guy (gotta love how comic books have unresolved beef with Russians until this day) and well it's a circus so how can you not call Dick Grayson?

It's so goddamn funny and it has no right to be, it still very close in the timeline where Dick and Jason were definitely not in good terms, so their interaction it's all so awkward it's a joy really.

We also got a flashback from Dick and younger Jason as Robin and even the flashback is goddamn hilarious, I had such a good time reading it that it's a must read!

Now If you're here for the angst and general feeling's™

I would highly recomend.

- Nightwing Year One (Dick & Bruce)

- Death in the Family (Jason & Bruce & Dick)

- Red Robin (Tim & Dick / Tim & Damian / minor Tim & Cass / Minor Bruce & Tim)

Note: They don't interact much in this run but when they do it hurts. It also can help you understand the beef between Tim and Damian better.

- DCeased (Damian & Steph / minor Damian & Jason)

Note: It's one of the many, many DC aus but this one it's 'pretty' good (it's decent). Definitely not Batfam focused but it has one one of my favorite Damian & Steph and Damian & Jason moments. It's also one of my favorites interpretations of Damian, he gets so sweet and mature over the years that passes in the comic and his reencounter with Jason rewrote my entirety brain chemistry.

Also unfortunately it's the only time we get to see Damian and Jon growing up together :')

- DC vs Vampires ( Batfam (except Duke because the author is a coward) specially Tim & Damian / Tim & Bruce / Dick & Almost everybody )

Note: Okay this one is a fucking car ride, a rollercoaster if you will. And it's ANOTHER DC au but with yeah VAMPIRES so buckle-up.

It has major Batfam moments in the beginning and one of my favorites Damian and Tim interactions ( I'm going to reblog this with photos because Tumblr is homophobic and isn't letting me add more photos in this shit >:( ). Then it goes hard on betrayal (trying not to add spoilers) and feelings so get ready for that.

I unfortunately haven't finished (casual reader remember that) but the much I've read was really, really good.

It gets very silly very quickly as anything made with vampires generally get (unfortunately they butchered a lot of characters in the process) but if you go head empty no thoughts you're going to get a lot of fun and maybe cry a little if that gets to you.

So this is it. I'm sure it has more of it, and oh I'm sure I forgot a lot of it but those are the one's I could get from the top of my head, so I hope you and all of the people who want to follow it have fun!

Also if someone has more recommendations feel free to add on the Reblogs, I'm sure I will eat it up anyway.

[ghostadjacentfae]

Okay so I’ve got a bit of a kinda sorta really specific af idea that I am 90% I’ll never get to despite loving to bits so imma throw it to the wild and maybe some of you will like parts of it too. Okay? Okay. 

Basic version: DP x DC prompt where Danny’s gotten deaged as part of another bid for the power of Ghost King. The title that Danny now is heir to. Jazz takes the now like 4-to-8 year old Danny, who barely remembers anything besides Jazz Good and Vlad Bad, and flees to Gotham to find help from somebody that Vlad won’t expect them to seek out help from. To leave Danny with while she goes into the Ghost Zone herself to look for help/a solution.

Longer one where I’ve gone a little very insane: 

DP x DC prompt where Vlad’s deaged Danny as part of another bid for the power of Ghost King. The title that Danny now has/is heir to. Either reveal gone wrong when trying to explain because how do they hide this or no reveal at all, just Jazz grabbing her even-littler-than-usual brother and booking it because there’s no time to explain if they’re to keep Danny way from Vlad. Couldn't go into the zone bc for as many allies as Danny has there, there's also so many enemies that could intercept them before they could reach those allies to inform that help is needed (and who knows, maybe the parent's Fenton removed access to their portal from their kiddos for some reason). Danny is still halfa obvs but he doesn’t remember any details about anything. Jazz is Home. Creepy vampire man Bad. Furries in black with masks Do Good (and Jazzy tells him to trust them so he will). Clowns Very Bad. 

 In Gotham, Jazz doesn't try the keeping low thing. Well she does; not using anything besides cash and fake names, ancients what she wouldn’t do for a shower but places want credit cards goddamnit, to not bring attention on them from Vlad. Maybe she’s got a burner to get updates from Sam and Tucker on, about the status of Amity or if they’ve gotten anywhere on their end of the search for a solution, but they all know Vlad is watching them so they don’t know where she and Danny are or what she’s doing. Which is that she goes out at night looking for the bats and birds on purpose to get help for her brother, making waves in the rumour mill but staying hidden during the day. It takes a while; longer than they have time for really and she gets more stupidly desperate. Danny’s with her for every stupid stunt, usually hidden for safety but never so far that she can’t get to him if in seconds if it turns out they’ve gotten tracked down. She won’t run the risk of leaving him in their safe house of the day without her to come back and find him gone.

She decided on Bats rather than Supers or others bc an overshadowed superhero??? Bad. The bats and birds are either Entities not unlike she and Danny are (liminal!jazz agenda my beloved (honestly most of amity park but that’s not quite relevant here)) and thus immune, or they're very trained regular people. Those can still pack a punch but it's not something she can't fight against if they can’t actually be trusted. Not something she hasn't already fought against in the months she’s been in Team Phantom. Not something she hasn’t already fought against while making her escape with Danny.

Leaving Danny with them is going to take every ounce of trust she can muster.

She finds Red Robin or Nightwing first I think and gives the most bare bones of an explanation. Doesn't mention deaged, simply at-risk heir to The Throne Of Infinity and there's a bid for the crown right now by a man that’ll be another tyrant, and "by the ancients, you need to protect him. I'm the best he's got right now but I can't keep him safe and find our allies". That they aren’t metas but there’s too much to explain. "Maybe Danny will explain if he can but just. It'd be so much simpler if we had super powers. Wouldn't have to worry about enemies overshadowing anyone to get them to shoot us if we were all just metas." 

She’s got a bag of Tech, just whatever she and Danny could grab and Go. And a third of it lost when Jazz dropped half of hers in order to pick up Danny to run faster. Think nearly finished schematics, a blaster or two, one Specter Deflector, what may or may not just be a toaster, and crammed into his bug-bag. Or school backpack. A corner of the bag is green with dried ectoplasm from a broken vial that got shattered in the mad dash. 

(I’m a little attached to it being Tim she leaves Danny with. Maybe he tries to pawn him off on one of his brothers, but Danny's already like, imprinted on him. Very "YOU promised Jazz to keep me safe. Jazz left me with YOU >:C" y’know? Or cuz she stressed so very much that he cannot be left without someone guarding him, and bats don't exactly want identity reveal he can't really be left in the cave under the watch of Agent A since Alfred needs to do other things, he gets handed around a little bit between them as heroes only and it's just Timmy's bad luck that he really likes this clever snarky little bean 's the one stuck with Danny on the occasion that plot happens. I just like Tim & Danny time.)

I'm thinking plot tool of Jazz with one of Wulf's claws? As a thing that lets her get into the Zone without portal access or the speeder after finding a Bat to leave Danny with. But no control of where she'll show up, hence not using it when their parents portal wouldn’t work. It Works Like That™ because I Say So™, tho if you have a less mystery McGuffin reliant idea this is by no means obligatory. Just an excuse on a silver platter.

Also tiny Danny, barely awake, trying to grab Jazz and saying not to go cuz it's dangerous/he needs her, only for his hand to go intangible through her. Did I mention yet that he doesn’t have control of his powers?

And of course, Vlad tracks Danny down. 

And he’s big bad.

[roobylavender]

hmm this may interest you, do you have thoughts on this subject matter character-wise or in a meta sense?:

https://www.tumblr.com/thecruellestmonth/740875315694501888/batman-turning-points-3-batman-under-the-red

personally i'm not a fan of bruce's disavowal of fatherhood much for the same reasons that i'm not a fan of his installing the good soldier plaque. these to me are both writing choices driven more by writers' desire to explore theoretical concepts than they are driven by a character study of bruce himself. the concept of robin as an occupation inherently equivalent to child abuse is interesting. the concept of wondering what right a father has to children he has adopted towards that end is interesting. that being said, exploring the former concept didn't necessarily demand eliminating robin altogether. exploring the latter concept didn't necessarily demand bruce completely disavowing himself of any accountability. and ultimately both writing choices ignore that a core aspect of bruce's relationships with the robins was wanting to be a good parent, or at the least a good guardian. certainly something more than a mere ally or friend. he took responsibility for these children because he wanted to help guide them towards a certain path in life where they would no longer be ruled by their trauma the way he was and is by his. allowing them to become robin to that end was obv more than questionable, but all too many writers forget and even go so far as to ignore that bruce knew that. he was well aware of his status as an enabler and he eventually hated himself for it deeply. he felt perpetually guilty and reluctant to ask dick for any support once the latter became an adult bc he didn't want to sanction and (in his mind) effectively require dick to do something that would endanger his life on his own orders. he could realistically never stop dick from pursuing vigilantism, but he could at least refuse to ask dick for that commitment any longer so that dick had complete freedom to make his own choices as to the matter. regardless, bruce had to live with the guilt of having enabled the existence of robin to begin with, and he intended to live with that guilt. it was his closest friend and his primary means of survival

if anything, that to me is precisely why his disavowal of fatherhood doesn't make sense. bruce is a poor communicator and he has a tendency to take upon all burdens at the expense of his loved ones feeling like he no longer values them or their support, but that doesn't negate the fact that he's quite hyperaware of his flaws. he's a far more relentless critic of himself than he is of others, and that stems as much from self-righteousness as it does guilt. he's supposed to be better. he's supposed to set an example. he's supposed to do the right thing. he's supposed to save the whole city even if he's only one person. and so on and so forth. bruce is possessive of highly unrealistic expectations for himself bc he's a ridiculously emotional person trying to tell himself to act like a robot. he repeatedly sets himself up for failure and then when he inevitably fails he kicks himself down like a dog. he is essentially a walking man-child simply because he cares too much and that often leads him to make stupid, emotionally driven choices: like taking random children into his home and teaching them how to channel their emotions through fighting crime, because if it worked for him it might work for them too, esp when they've got the added benefit of his supervision and well-intended (albeit awkward) companionship

all of bruce's circumstances and internalizations and traumas point to him taking what i would term excessive ownership of his crimes. he's a self-made pity puddle because he thinks everything is his fault. dick barely having a life outside of vigilantism is his fault. dick nearly falling to his death is his fault. jason failing to properly process his parental trauma is his fault. jason getting blown up by the joker is his fault. i simply cannot imagine a world where bruce isolates himself from caring or from taking the blame because doing the latter has been his modus operandi for so long. it makes more sense for bruce to disavow fatherhood in the specific context of not wanting to take the place that john and mary or willis and catherine will always occupy; it makes less sense for bruce to disavow fatherhood in the specific context of raising and loving dick and jason as if they were his own. it's very much a you don't have to call me dad but when i call you "chum" i mean "son" situation. he's never one to burden others intentionally (although we obv know this rarely plays out the way he wants it to), rather he intentionally burdens himself. that's precisely what knightfall as an arc is stellar at depicting, regardless of the fact that it coincides with the existence of the good soldier plaque. bruce in the aftermath of jason's death has to blame himself excessively because it's the only way he knows how to cope. i've never understood depictions of his grief with an emphasis on jason's share of the blame bc not only is it classist towards jason, it's also inconsistent with bruce's own character and tendency to believe that every bad thing that happens is his fault. it's why i'm not really a fan of gotham knights #43-45. a death in the family makes it clear that bruce blames himself for not allowing jason to have the space and time to process his trauma properly before throwing him into the suit. allowing him to have hope never even comes into the picture

and i'm not sure if anyone has ever considered this, but the disavowal of fatherhood really confuses me when you remember tim exists. why is bruce's disavowal with regards to jason even necessary when the crux of tim's entry into the mythos is precisely the fact that he isn't someone over whom bruce can similarly exercise responsibility and ownership.. it's far more interesting to explore the tightrope bruce walks with that partnership because he's easily in a place to deny responsibility and yet obv he ultimately can't because despite whatever reluctance he expressed initially, he eventually gave in. the tone of the grant/brefoygle run also helps with depicting that dilemma. we're not primarily privy to the bruce of old anymore, who while quiet and awkward nonetheless expressed a capacity for caretaking. there are remnants of that of course (esp after tim's mother dies). but the bruce of the 90s is more imperious and domineering because he's been hardened by trauma. he delivers grand speeches about vigilantism and justice. he sends tim across the pond because he needs proper training. the fact that they're neighbors and get burgers together sometimes doesn't detract from the physical divide present there because tim is ultimately someone else's son and possessive of a life entirely divorced of what he does in the mask. he can walk away without preamble in a way that dick (at least until adulthood) and jason never could. plenty of writers recognized that and personally i believe it's what made the 90s robin run interesting to read, but i also believe writers retroactively projected the necessity of an emotionally distant bruce to that narrative onto the bruce of old. it was progressively rewritten to be a constant rather than a development in the wake of a highly transgressive event. and unfortunately that's tainted every interaction and/or recollection that he has with/of jason afterward

[nxnarui]

Introducing my DoL PC, Evelyn the Two-faced.

I've been playing this game for a while and this character of mine has been in my head for quite some time.

I'm kinda aiming for a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" vibe to her. She is seen as an ideal student and a holy child by others.

I've put quite some effort into grinding her stats to fit what I have envisioned for her. I'm gonna write down here her story.

"She is like an angel, but remember that demons can shapeshift."

Evelyn lives in the orphanage with a strong will to fight, when she was 18 she had problems paying off her debts to Bailey, so she took many jobs such as working for the cafe and taking shifts from the office building, but none of these are enough to get by the week. So she resorted to knocking at the doors of Danube Street to get more cash to pay off those weekly debts. But ended up being r//ed in the process, being molested in the bus all the time. She tried fighting back but it was never enough because of her weak physique. Every morning she was tired and if it wasn't for her friend Robin, she wouldn't have the energy to go to school. She would often get bullied by Whitney most of the time, but when she fought back once to him she gained the motivation to work out. As time passed, she worked out most of the time, sometimes neglecting her studies and having low grades. She started talking to Sydney while she studied to gain more understanding of her subjects, and she found out Whitney also picked on him. She had more reason to gain motivation, the bus wasn't any different but this gave her the motivation to work out till she reached the peak physique she desired.

The more she exercised the more she got r//ed, she was always in Harper's office because of pushing herself every day trying to keep working out, studying, and socializing at the same time. She went to the asylum once because of all the trauma she endured from all those circumstances. She went back in again because she couldn't pay off her debt to Bailey and was sold off to Eden. She felt like she had no hope for herself, she was soiled. Every inch of her body was touched by strangers. She vents these problems to Sydney, who she has the last hope for. Something in her decided to corrupt this pure and innocent man, so she did. She joined the temple to break the vows of the Temple with him. Her whole life changed when she met him, she had more control over herself, learned how to fight back, learned how to take care of herself, and prayed and prayed to gain grace for the church. But all of this is a facade, she's only here for Sydney. Her grades went up, and so did her popularity. Everyone thought she was very cool. Whitney tried intervening in this popularity but the more control she has over herself the more she wants to corrupt everyone else. Make them her dogs, obeying her every move. She wants to do this to Whitney especially, as time passes she becomes a worse bully than Whitney. Even if people send her to detention, Leighton always wonders why she's there. Even if they scream for help, no one will come to their aid.

"Her big red lips are filled with lies."

Here's what she looks like in game!

Also she's not entirely evil, she still has kindness inside her, she just doesn't see the world as a nice place anymore. And all you need is to survive, and she doesn't want to be prey anymore.

[internetgiraffekid1673]

Did you know you can move onto other brainrots and STILL be stuck brainrotting on the old thing too? My brain is a decaying piece of wood that has become an essential breeding ground for several species of rot. One of them is still the BatFam variety, so onto the next member!

Initial traces of Carrie Kelley, my child! Be honest, how many of you who have seen the Nightwing and Red Hood posts thought that I was doing Tim next? Well HA! Joke’s on you, I make the rules here! I have a very specific order in my head, and I will stick to that order!

Carrie is technically an elseworld’s Robin from The Dark Knight Returns, but Robin is my favorite superhero, and anyone who has been Robin will get my attention (yes Robin. Not Batman or Nightwing or any of the individual characters who have been Robins. Robin as a hero, regardless of who it is, is my favorite). At this point, she’s actually graduated to Catgirl and then her own iteration of Batwoman, but in my head, she’s the same age as Damian or younger, so she gets to stay Robin in my art for a bit.

I did two traces here because, unlike other Batfam characters, Carrie is in so few comics that I can’t just FIND a perfect, full body action pose from an angle that I like. The first trace is by far the most popular and easy to find picture of her, but it has her hair blowing around in the wind. This is a Problem, you see, because Carrie’s hair is a special challenge for me. In The Dark Knight Returns, she has this very distinctive hair shape that I do not like looking at OR drawing. So I knew the pose I used for my reference was going to need to be a pose where I could update her hairstyle. But, I also needed a full body, and that first photo is iconic, so two for the price of one again.

Stylization time! Carrie was honestly really easy to stylize, her hair is just a bit of a nightmare for me. I finally got a handle on it after the complete project, but it took a WHILE! Anyway, I more or less just lifted her updated hairstyle from her Batwoman costume and some cosplayers. And no, I’m not giving her pants. Damian and Tim are edgy Robins, they can have pants. Dick, Jason, and Carrie are not edgy Robins, so they get short shorts. I did give up on coloring her sleeves green. Too much of one color for me to effectively handle when her gloves overlap her sleeves. Also, I need to draw more characters with capes. They’re so fun to draw!

Characterization pose! In the comics, Carrie wears her goggles as a civilian too. I interpret this as her needing glasses, so I gave her regular glasses instead because wearing the same distinctive goggles you wear as a superhero is maybe not the best way to keep your identity secret. Comics Carrie has like one friend that you don’t see after she puts on the costume, and her parents don’t remember they have a kid, so it’s not like she has a whole lot of people to be hiding her identity from, but it’s the thought that counts. Schoolmates and random civilians and nosy reporters and all that.

I put her in a Girl Scout uniform for her civvy outfit because I think that it’s important to her character. The whole reason Batman took her on was because she was 1) crazy/traumatized/determined enough to buy herself a Robin costume, fight petty crime on her own, and follow him into dangerous situations and 2) used her Girl Scout first aid training to save batman’s life and splint his arm after he got his sh*t rocked in an ill-advised fight. I figured a salute, even if it’s a bit of a sassy one, was a good pose for her not just because of this, but also because The Dark Knight Returns is a very depressing comic, and so Batman calls her “good soldier.”

If you saw the first two posts, you may notice that I did not trace the hero text for this one, and that I used the same font for both names. This is because 1) I didn’t feel like the regular Robin font with the spiky R fits Carrie’s vibe, but she doesn’t have any comics covers of her own I can steal from and 2) I feel like Carrie’s personality is the same as Robin and Carrie. Unlike with almost everyone else, there’s no posturing, no distinction, no divide there. So the same font works for both personas.

Nightwing Edition

Red Hood Edition

[flubnuggetpurple]

Dove Cameron’s Alchemical album is so fucking bat coded I feel like a conspiracy theorist.

(This went off the rails at one point, so WARNING: vague mentions of sexual assault and being drugged without consent)

First song: Lethal Woman.

Cass, all over, right? The bridge is “she walks like a saint, floats like an angel, sharp like a knife under the table”

c o m e o n

Second song: Still.

“Man on the screen, they only see whatever you want them to see” and “Supernova self-erasing, hourglass is always draining”

Could be either Tim or Bruce, but I lean toward Tim because of “how dare you, dare me to love you, if you jump I will too” because whenever Tim decides he loves someone, he’s the ride or die, ends of the earth type, even if they don’t even know who he is. A) how and why he became Robin in the first place, B) The Cloning Thing, C) an argument could be made for the Captain Boomerang thing (but now that I think of it, I think I’m mostly basing this off fanon oh well ontotgenextone).

Song Three: Breakfast.

I will admit out the gate that this one’s a reach, so I’m just going to leave Selina here.

Song Four: Sand.

For this I’m thinking Tim or Jason, for different reasons.

For Tim;

“I saw the end when we began, you couldn’t love the way I can, I tried to bargain with the stars, for more than half your heart but you have more pieces of me than the dessert has sand, and I have less pieces of you than I could hold in my hand” and “our love’s misaligned, ‘cause you’re on my mind every night, I stretch out the time, and now I know why.”

I’m just making it obvious I read the Red Robin run, aren’t I?

For Jason:

“What's worse, being wanted but not loved, or loved but not wanted? What's worse, hearing what you wanna hear, or hearing what's honest?” And “What hurts, is the one thing that you wanna do, is the one thing that you shouldn’t do”

Pre-death Jason, but like, right after the Garzonas thing.

Song five: White Glove.

Okay hear me out.

This is part one of the Dick Grayson saga; the persona he shows to the public. This is Richie Wayne. This is every honeypot mission he went on too young, every woman he’s had to seduce for information (it’s one hundred percent happened before don’t fight me) every source of sexual trauma (that one I’m ninety percent sure is canon) that keeps him up at night.

And this guy’s been a vigilante for over twenty years, he can absolutely recognize drugs by sight, smell, and how they feel when he’s too late to notice something slipped in his drink. He’s felt nearly every strain of fear toxin and every one of Ivy’s pollens. If anyone knows their drugs it’s pretty boy Richie Wayne and Robin.

Song six: God’s Game

This one I’m definitely taking some lines out of context, but for Jason, “Just a boy with a man's face, playin' God's game” is when he’s taking over Crime Alley, pit-mad and trigger happy. “I prepare with so much care, I was runnin', it was stunnin', I am desperate from delusions, not much of a solution, never knowin' what the truth is, oh, God” is when hid plans start to fall apart, when Bruce slits his throat with a batarang, when eventually the pit-madness eventually starts to wear off and he realizes what all he did to Tim, who was a child at the time, not to mention Robin.

He nearly became what the Joker was to him to the next Robin, and I feel like at some point that would occur to him.

Song seven: Boyfriend.

(…Admittedly, I don’t think this one has any grounding in canon and if it does, feel free to educate me.)

So, obviously I could mention Kate Kane at this point, but I know basically nothing about her, so instead I’m going to talk about Steph.

So Steph has definitely had some shitty experiences with guys, right? Like, her dad to begin with, but also the guy who got her pregnant (at like fourteen? Maybe I’m just sheltered, but I don’t think anything about that relationship was heathy—again, I haven’t read many of the comics, so correct me if I’m wrong), then Tim, which, I love him as a character, but didn’t he date her in the mask for like, months, and I have some vague recollections of some dickish things he said (i know i know i need to read more comics)—whatever. Men are shitty.

I have a scene in my head. Like, Steph’s in college, at a bar with friends or something, maybe it’s an under cover op, idk, and there’s this girl she’s been lowkey watching all night. She doesn’t quite know why, but she just keeps catching her eye, and okay, it’s not like she’s never questioned her sexuality, she knows Cass. There have been Extensive conversations with Babs on the subject.

Anyway, so at some point, there’s obviously some sort of argument between the girl and the guy she came with and the girl’s crying, and Steph just Can’t Handle That.

She goes up to her, comforts her, makes a new friend, listens to the whole story.

And at some point, she has the thought.

“I could be a better boyfriend than him.”

She doesn’t necessarily do anything about it that night, but now that she’s had the thought, it won’t leave her alone.

Yeah. So. Maybe I’ll write that story later.

Song eight (last song): FRAGILE THINGS.

Dick Grayson part two; So your mentor (dad) just died, leaving you an angry murder child, another one hanging on by a thread after losing eighty percent of his support system, a grieving butler (grandfather), and a mantle the size of the Most Dangerous City in America. Any direction you move is going to hurt someone, and one kid is more likely to snap and murder people than the other, and hey, if you have to be Batman anyway, might as well let your brilliant kid brother be Nightwing, right? Except, whoops, you forgot to mention that last part and now Timmy thinks you just replaced him without telling him and fuck you knew you were forgetting something and now there’s a goddamned imposter Bruce and—

“Love is like a house of fragile things, where hearts can be broken as easy as antiques, and now there’s glass all shattered at my feet, what we built together, you left in smithereens.”

Anyway. This got kind of incoherent (or maybe it was from the start?)

I accidentally added a poll at the bottom and can’t figure out how to remove it, so.

[kindlingkeen]

i am so sorry for the long ask but i am always thinking about bruce’s line in detective comics #790 before the 🤢 victim blaming “he loved cars and girls and getting into fights… neapolitan ice cream and the color green… and most of all the thrill of being robin.” i have turned over every part of this line in my head for ages but here is one aspect

girls: pre crisis? during robin days he did have a gf for a bit named rena, essence and isabel in rhato, rose wilson, idk about red hood: the hill. but even with non romantic relationships he has sasha and duela and kori and artemis and talia (ignoring you know what) and the no longer canon natalia knight motherhood thing vs like roy and bizarro as the guys he hangs out with outside of bats and he even points it out “i feel closer to that big white lump of clay than, well, any guy ive ever known. yeah i knew roy and dick since i was young. but since ive been back? from the dead? hes the first guy friend ive made.” talking about bizarro in rhato and i dont put too much stock in rhato but he really does seem to consistently get along better with women. i dont fully think it is that he finds them less threatening cuz in task force z he was happy to hold his own against multiple bat boys but the second cass showed up he was like oh shit shes scary, plus like sheila is the reason he died and you would think that her betrayal would be a huge part of any ptsd or trust issues he no doubt has. but he also has that line after he and artemis kiss where he says something to the effect that it was a good kiss for a girl and that just… what do you mean by that jason? because you have spent the past lord knows how many issues (with the same writer) kissing isabel and looking back somewhat fondly on your time with essence and while readers can think you have very little chemistry with them the story being told is that all that was cool and good and within the norm for you. so like what does that line in your narration mean jason? if it isnt something you are into than why have you been going around kissing women in multiple instances jason?

Okay, so Jason’s line (“But it was nice. For a girl.” in reference to his kiss with Artemis) comes from Red Hood: Outlaw #41:

Which is actually him remembering events that occurred in Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #25:

Here, Jason asks Artemis what she thinks of their kiss, and Artemis says, “It was okay, for a boy.”

Honestly, my (somewhat boring) interpretation of the line in RHO #41 is that Jason is referring tongue in cheek back to Artemis’ quip in RHATO #25. I don’t think it was actually meant to be commentary on his sexuality.

That said, imo, Jason Todd doesn’t really seem like the kind of person who would feel the need to limit their sexuality to artificially constructed binary categories of gender … YMMV 😏

[igotanidea]

Ego: Jason Todd x fem!reader

A/N: since I fu**** up with naming my fem!OC Cheshire, despite the fact that there is already a character named like this in DC (check this A/N) and have to do some adjustment, this is a story of her transition. Future stories in this Jason x fem!reader verse will be referring to her with the new name (unless stated otherwise).

***

„I think we have a problem.”

“What do you mean “we”? Y/N raised an eyebrow at Jason who entered “her” room in the manor with a bit concerned look. It was Friday afternoon and she was hoping to get some well-deserved rest after whole week of hard work and give herself up to reading, but apparently her boyfriend made different plans.

“You’re right. It’s mostly “you” situation.” He smirked coming closer and sitting on the edge of the bed, eyeing her with that teasing glint in his eyes.

“What are you talking about, Jay?” she rolled her eyes and looked at him, getting more and more annoyed with every second “I’m trying to read. So make your point.”

“You’re not gonna like it.” he warned

“Oh, come on, Jay!”

“Apparently, Roy got himself a girl.”

“So?” Y/N frowned “why should I care? Why do you care?”

“Because apparently she calls herself Cheshire.”

“She calls herself…. “ the girl repeated absentmindedly before it hit her “Wait. What?”

“Yeah……”  

“But that’s my name!”

“I know, kitten.”

“So what, am I just supposed to give it up!?”

“Do you want to?’

“Of course not!”

“So?” he teased

“So? So what?”

“Are you gonna give up or fight?” he smirked

“Jason Peter Todd. Is this one of your post-pit episodes? You are not making any sense in what you are saying right now.”

“How about a little confrontation with the imposter?”

“If she was really first than that would mean I am the imposter.” She sighed and run a hand through her hair and took a deep breath. She was angry about this lapping, but she was also far more reasonable than Jason in her action and knew fighting over something like vigilante name would lead to nothing good. Hence the initial conflict between Tim and Damian when it came to their Robin alter-ego.

“Come on Y/N. You said you didn’t want to give it up.” Jason looked at her, surprise and worry mixed on his face. “Hey, look at me. Are you all right?”

 “I don’t know, Jace. It’s just ….. unexpected. And awkward. And I’m ashamed.”

“Babe…..” he reached for her hands and squeezed them reassuringly “you did nothing wrong. It’s not like you know all the vigilantes on the whole world.”

“Of course not. But this send my confidence to the abyss. I thought I was renowned in the whole world. That everyone heard about me.” (of course she was using irony.)

“You’re so cute, you know.” Jayson smiled and kissed her nose, making her snort “and since you used the word “abyss” I wonder, what are you reading?”

“Irrelevant.” she put the book out of his reach. “You know your best friend could have said something about it.”

“We don’t really share deep details about our personal life, you know. At least, not anymore.”

“Not anymore?”

“He got tired of me talking about you all the time so we had to make some ground rules to avoid bloodbath.”

“You talk about me, huh?” she moved closer to him “I wonder what words do you use, Red?”

“Teasing, unpredictable, sarcastic, stubborn….” he whispered closing the gap between them even more, brushing his lips over hers lightly.

“Mhm. All true….” She purred, her eyes focusing on his lips, her hand traveling up his arm and shoulder, resting on his neck, playing with the hair at the nape “Anything more, baby?”

“Smart. And so freaking beautiful…..” he leaned to her, almost, almost capturing her lips in his, but she pushed on his chest before anything happened.

“Nuh, uh. No can do Jaybird. After all, you said it yourself, we have a problem. No making out until we fix it.”

“I’m not pushing on making out. There are so many different things…..”

“JASON!”

 “Look on the bright side, Y/N. This family has a track record of going through name changing. It validates you as a member of the Waynes.” he shrugged and grinned playfully.

“That’s not really the way I wished to be validated.” She groaned in defeat, burying her head in the pillow. “Besides, to me it’s a sign of being unstable. I mean look at yourself……”

***

“How about whiskers?”

“I refuse to be named after some cat food.” She scoffed angrily. “it’s not even the best available on the market. You’re getting sloppy with your suggestions.”

“At least I got any. You only lay here and complain.”

“Nope. I lay here and look pretty. Don’t tell me you don’t appreciate it.” She grinned stretching her back, exposing a bit of her belly.”

“I won’t take that bait, you little vixen.”

“Your loss.” She twirled a strand of hair around her finger “are there any more famous cats we know about?”

“Puss in boots…..”

“Don’t you dare!”

“How about you call yourself pussy?” he teased with the widest smile on his face and widened eyes

“One thing for sure, you’re not gonna enjoy it for a long time, Jaybird.”

“What?! Y/N!”

“Consider this a punishment.”

“Now, I’m being punished for getting creative.” He pouted dramatically “Thine eyes I love and they as pitying me, knowing thy heart torment me with disdain….”

“Don’t use Shakespeare against me!”

***

“Do you insist on having a name related to a cat?” Dick spoke through the comms. Of course with all the nosy sibling in the manor, no secrets could be kept and soon enough everyone joined the game of inventing name

“Can’t you just focus on the patrol Nightwing?”

“Come on, I’m trying to be helpful here.”

“I was trying to and she punished me in the worst way possible”

“Shut up, Red!” Y/N cut him off before he could spill the bean of their intimate life

“Could you guys stop it?” Damian hissed “It’s disgusting…..”

“Aren’t you an expert on the animals, Robin?” Steph pointed “shouldn’t you be the most creative?”

“I just wish it never came out like this. Listen you all…..” a couple hits and groans echoed through the comms as Y/N fought an assaulter “you only make it worse.”

“I have to agree with her on this one.”

“How can you Oracle?”

“I can. First of all, you should focus on the mission, no distractions, Nightwing…..”

“I am focused!” judging by the sounds he was using his escrima sticks on another men.

“And secondly, all of your ideas are just …. stupid.”

“Now I’m offended” Dick scoffed

“Ask me if I care. Now, Red and ….” Babs hesitated, not sure how to refer to Y/N after all the name drama “… you know who, are waiting for you in the shed, go help them.”

“On it, Oracle!”

*** “ I don’t appreciate this silent treatment from you.”

“Well, you talk for both of us, Red.” Y/N muttered, moving silently through the shed “the point of this patrol was to get in, gather the intel and get out. Without unnecessary noise, so you might wanna cut out on words.”

“Are you scared, Cheshire? Oh, wait, you’re not one anymore…..”

“I hate you.”

“We both know that’s not true, honey.”

“Hello you two.” Dick came out of nowhere “still reviewing options?”

“She keeps rejecting all of my propositions.”

“I don’t blame her. After all, your second vigilante name was not even original. I’m fairly more creative in this area.”

“Then why don’t you come up with something acceptable?”   

“I’m never patrolling with you two again. I’d rather work with Damian or Cass.” Y/N hissed and moved out of the boys sight, ready to finish this mission by herself if needed.

“Well, well, well, look who came to pay me a visit?”

“Hello there, Needle.” she grinned upon seeing the person they were looking for “so wonderful to see you again. How was your Arkham breakout? Was it fifth time this month? You are getting predictable.”

“Not much more predictable than your mind games, Cheshire.”

“Not Cheshire anymore…..” she muttered, getting angry but not letting this emotion cloud her judgement.

“Huh?” Needle furrowed his eyebrows

“Nevermind. I’m still figuring it  out myself.” she shook her head “Do we do it the easy way or…..?”

“Oh, dear girl. You know I don’t abstain from a good fight. And good is not with you.”

“Scared I will get inside your head?”

“Ego.”

“What?” this time she frowned

“You don’t play with heads. Your very skillful at playing with ego.”

Then it struck her. Ego. That was the name for her. No matter how she hated it, Needle was right. That was what she was always aiming at. Finding insecurities, choosing good words to mess with people’s inside.

“Y/N!” Jason’s voice brought her back to reality. Only then she realized she just froze at the spot with blurry eyes fixed in the space. If it wasn’t for Red (who accidentally used her real name) she would be knocked out by the villain coming right at her “Come on, what is wrong with you?! MOVE!”

“I see you did not come alone, Y/N.” Needle giggled “it’s so good to see some things doesn’t change. You still need bodyguards. Come on, Nightwing. Don’t be shy! Come out to play!”

“Long time no see.” Dick stepped up front

“Really?” Needle tapped his chin “What day is today?”

“Friday.”

“So, it’s barely been two days. Miss me much?”

“Extremely.” Y/N rolled her eyes “If you don’t want to play why don’t you tell your minders to come out as well.”

“You hurt me, Y/N. You assume I’m not here by myself.”

“And I’m right, am I not?’

“Of course you are. You always are.”

“You heard that, Red?” the girl turned towards Jayson “I am always right. You might wanna remember that.”

“Mhm, sure, noted. Now, you mind using your fists to fight?”

“Combat’s not my style. But sure I can fight. “ she shrugged “I go right.”

“I hate you.”

“Do you really?” she grinned and moved to strike back Needle’s backup. “We’ll discuss it later”

***

“Why did you freeze?” he asked some time later, after they completed the mission and returned to the manor to exchange information with the rest of the team. As usual, after the reporting, it was time to patch each other up and Jason used that to interrogate his girlfriend.

“I did not. I ….. restrained from attacking.”

“Bullshit. You froze like a deer in the headlights. You could have gotten hurt.”

“I’m sorry, you do realize you are dressing my cuts at the very moment?”

“It could have been worse. And you know I can’t have that. Y/N” he cupped her cheek making her look at him “Why? Tell me so I know how to avoid you getting yourself killed in the future.”

“Because of his words.” She sighed

“I don’t get it. You are not the one to fall for words. If anything, it’s the other way round. Are you losing your skills?”

“Shut up.” She muttered trying to yank free but he did not let her “He actually gave me an idea for new name.”

“Really?” Jay raised an eyebrow “and what may that be?”

“Ego. He said I was playing with ego and as much as I hate to admit it, it fits me more than Cheshire.”

“So no more kitten?”

“No.”

“That is disappointing. How am I supposed to call you when we are alone then?” he pouted

“Guess you will have to figure it out, Jaybird” she smiled pecking his lips lightly “I wonder how creative you can get…..”

“You should know I can come up with dozen of ideas…..”

“Great. Because your punishment is still on….”

“Y/N!”

“Mhm, I remember. Good luck getting creative Jace.”

“When this is over, I will get my payback on you.”

“Counting on it.” she smirked

[damianbugs]

For the ask game, #3 for Jason Todd??

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

now i do want to preface this by saying my least favourite canon thing about jason isn't entirely jason's fault, and can be better explained of writers just doing whatever the fuck they want or using him as a device to extrapolate a very simplified view of another character (usually bruce) (more on that later). unfortunately however, since it's a character trend that has been repeated so many times, and the question is specifically about canon, it is a big part of his character.

and so my least favourite canon thing about jason is that... he's still around. what i mean by that is: time and time again, the story sets up a problem, a conflict, one that puts jason at odds with batman and/or gotham (two things that are connected whether you like it not) — and then a massive fight. a huge fallout. hurtful words are exchanged, a couple fists, maybe an exploding building or two.

you think woah, that was harsh and unhealthy, surely we won't see them hanging out with each other anytime soon.

then, it happens again.

next story, next conflict, next fight. jason usually gets the short end of the stick, because a batman who loses to his "greatest failure" is not a batman editorial want to sell, and also because in a lineup of characters were the worth of their existence is based on the moral conjugation with other characters, its very easy and usually not a emotional problem to kick the odd one out. red hood is cool enough to fight batman and really mean it, but not cool enough to win the actual battle.

it's come to the point where just the leak of jason in a new bat story makes me roll my eyes. even today, with the leaks of batman #145, all i could think was well, here we go again i guess.

so the most irritating thing is that jason still kicks around with the batfam. if you ask me, this unfixable break between him and bruce should have been established in Under the Red Hood (i have a really long essay post about that... somewhere tumblr tags will not allow me to find). if not then, then Battle for The Cowl (as horrendous of a story that it was) should have solidified the conflict between him and the others. it's because jason is still a character with (alleged) bonds to batman and nightwing etc, that dc gives us repetitive moments like the ones in Rhato, Batman and Robin (2011), Gotham War etc.

his character has remained annoyingly stagnant for this reason. he can't ever be a character cool enough to win the battle if he's always used as the Batman Your No Kill Rule Sucks also You Made Me This Way and I Do What You Can't (proceeds to not do anything all that different) conversational piece.

i don't say all this without some irrational hope that one say someone who actually likes Jason Todd enough to think about his character in any emotional capacity takes over. i do however say this with the acceptance that the one tweet that said "Nothing fans say about Jason Todd was actually ever written on a piece of paper published by Dc comics" was very correct.

to end happily, Red Hood: The Hill is his solo series away from the others! so! here's to hoping!