#His parents just couldn't understand why he wasn't interested in Bruce or the nice young sons of other wealthy Gothamites

[masquenoire]

Thinking back on Roman’s upbringing, it’s never not wildly funny to me how his parents thought he wouldn’t be interested in girls as he was growing up. His father’s company was famous for working with glamorous models in order to promote their cosmetics and other luxurious products, hiring only the best from America and even other countries. Mrs. Sionis: Oh, you’re finally interested in all the things a young lady your age should be interested in! That’s better than all those creepy masks you insist on collecting... Roman, blatantly ogling at all the models in their company brochures: Mmm. 👀

[batmanfruitloops]

Alright, onto the Joker, given he's very important to this au and diverges the most from cannon typical.

The biggest difference is that first; he's a hero in this alongside Batman, and two; he's autistic. I know there have been some versions that the community autism claims in DC's official content, such as "Batman: The Enemy Within", (anything else?)

I know that Bruce has autism as well sometimes, but given that I don't have autism myself and identify with my own version of Bruce, he's not on the spectrum. That said, Fluffy, my friend who I share this blog with, is autistic, so she's my best example for Joker's behaviors. I'll still try my best to adapt anything if it seems wrong, but it is a spectrum, and I feel alright with what I have so far.

My biggest inspiration for my version of the Joker is the one from "Batman: The Enemy Within", and is also the reason I remembered just how much I love Batman and wanted things to turn out for the better. I found the idea of you being able to help the Joker instead of just letting him be hurt and descend into madness, especially since clowns are meant to be fun and silly! He's by no means perfect, but I found the character development so intruiging.

That was a very long intro, but it's necessary to properly explain Joker as a whole.

The Joker was originally born with the name Arthur to his parents, the Flecks. They didn't treat him very well for being autistic, as well as his own personal beliefs. He loved old movies and circuses, especially the clowns, from a young age. They found that strange. Even more so when he had an interest in wearing makeup. Men can't do that, absolutely not. John also really liked red lipstick specifically, but his mother found the color whoorish and beat him for wearing it, more than just for getting into her makeup. Arthur also couldn't understand why he couldn't like both girls and boys, since they're both nice and attractive. Needless to say he stopped bringing it up after he got in trouble for that too.

Arthur also used to visit Cobblepot park to get away from his parents and be outside. While there, he became friends with Eddie, and they began to visit more often to see one another.

However, when Arthur turned 16, his parents decided that they were tired of dealing with him. After Arthur returned home from school, his parents were waiting for him on the porch. Confused, he asked what was going on, and his father told him to get into the car. Arthur listened, but the knot in his stomach grew as he realized they were driving closer and closer to Arkham. When they parked, he begged and tried to run, but his father grabbed his wrist and yelled at him worse than he ever had. This wasn't a choice. The staff were waiting, and Arthur was promptly handed over to them, and into more tight grips.

Having given the Arkham staff enough money, Arthur was affectively a Fleck no more, instead referred to as John Doe. It became clear pretty quickly that John wasn't going to leave, and the staff had no sympathy for his pleas. Over the next 9 years, John got used to the harsh environment of Arkham. Getting beat up by inmates and staff, not being taken seriously, and still not being given a reason for not being allowed to leave besides "poor behavior" for participating in fights to defend himself. Some of the staff was a bit nicer and offered to give him some kind of reward for behaving well. He chose to have them dye his hair green, since it's his favorite color. Soon after this, John is finally released because he's an adult and the staff has no real reason to keep him there anymore.

It's at about this point that the au starts, since Bruce meeting John is crucial to the beginning.

This one was much longer than Bruce's. His will probably end up being the shortest. I also tried to word things are carefully as possible, but I would appreciate any comments or tags on if I should flag this with any content warnings. And again, I can answer any questions if this was at all confusing.

- Sarsee