#Jason has empty nest syndrome

[ghost-bxrd]

Prompt

Jason’s return to Gotham as the crime lord Red Hood is significantly hampered when he saves two kids from being trafficked and suddenly finds himself nagging the two to eat their vegetables and do homework on time and, dear lord, your names are Freeman and… Batson? Yeah that’s it, Jason is not waiting this one out until they’re both suddenly dressed in traffic light colors and swinging around the city with an overgrown furry.

Freddy and Billy are a bit confused by the flash adoption via menacing Gotham guy, but it certainly helps that he’s not threatening to send them into the system and that he cooks them meals every day . And also “Billy, I think he might be the new vigilante! That is so cool!” “… do you mean the new crime lord?” “Same thing! Isn’t the helmet awesome!?”

Batman and Robin are… not sure what to make of the new crime lord that, on one hand, keeps antagonizing them to no end, and on the other hand was recently spotted at a meeting with his lieutenants where two masked kids burst into the room to scream about the kitchen being on fire and pointing at each other yelling “It’s all his fault!”

[still-a-morosexual-help]

honestly tho om lucifer is such a comfort character

you know mammon's my all time all around favourite no contest but like

lucifer just hits different

he's so tired and he's so overworked and he loves his family so much it makes me sick he's willing to kill and die for them at any chance he made the misfits of the celestial realm his family despite being the perfect example of an angel himself he thinks his brothers are adorable he just wants them to have one quiet day

he's such a bastard he's arrogant and prideful and he'll willingly meow like a little kitty cat because his boybestfriend is sad

he's got daddy issues he's terrified he's traumatised his greatest fear is his father he spent years fighting a pointless war and never questioned his father about whether they ever even tried to find a way to end the war without just mindlessly trying to kill people who really aren't that different from them for a reason no one knows he's willing to be given piggyback rides by another high profile man in a public area

he's a dog person he's weak to puppy dog eyes from everyone he cares about he's constantly done with Mephisto's shit he gets jealous because one of his friends complimented their mutual friend's cookies

he's willing to villainize himself in the eyes of his family to keep them safe he's sadistic his first response to being cornered and scared is to kill anyone who's making him feel that way his love language with his brothers is being a little shit to them he's somehow connected to/the starting point of all the issues/trauma his brothers have he has empty nest syndrome even though all his brothers live at home he hasn't realised the extent to which his actions and words have fucked up his brothers and is constantly surprised and devastated by it when he realises

he has a son he pretends is his brother whom he only ever canonically acknowledged as his son twice which led to huge blowout fights one of his younger brothers bullies him into going to the pub with them once a week his son runs a club with his youngest brother dedicated solely to making his life miserable

he's sadistic he genuinely enjoys seeing people suffer he's so polite he'll allow himself to be poisoned by food he knows is bad he bought dinner for a whole restaurant because it was the owner's birthday he wore a silly outfit and worked at a themed restaurant as a favour for a friend he gets visibly more aroused when he's ordered around he insults his brothers but gets upset whenever an outsider does the same

he loves his human so much and he's so annoyed at them he's so frustrated with them he's so angry at them and he's so worried about them so protective of them so incredibly proud of them he has tried to kill them many many times

he's a borderline alcoholic he's immortal he's greying he gets migraines he forgets to eat and he sleeps at his desk he does the mom thing and orders takeout for his children when he goes out to eat without them he likes dad jokes his greatest wish is to visit a factory he likes good socks he's a grumpy old man

he's over 10 million years old he's an eldritch horror he's the personification of the sin of pride he needs glasses to read his childhood friend? ex-boyfriend? kind-of-brother? old coworker? brother in arms? calls him luci

he's a naggy paranoid perfectionist he removed the entire bathroom because one of his brothers forgot to clean it he had to literally be kidnapped to send him on a vacation he ripped out multiple sets of his own wings he doesn't like being seen shirtless he lectured jason voorhees about him not killing efficiently enough

he's a respected and recognised drag queen he believes love is love he's canonically so beautiful but no one ever makes a move on him because the whole realm thinks he's in a committed long term relationship he refuses to believe his best friend is in love with him despite multiple people saying so

he's the type of person you want to please the type of person you want to make proud the type of person you want on your side because you know no matter what he'll always have your back you're safe that as long as he's there everything will be okay the type of person you want to be held by while everything is falling down around you

he's even queer

[inthememetime]

Alfred finds and adopts three homeless teens while the whole of the Batclan is away, the three teens are of course The Fentons. Alfred on the other hand had been dealing with a bit of Empty Nest Syndrome and takes the trio in, so by the time the rest of the Batclan filters back there are three extra people in the Manor but the Fentons deliberately ghost the rest of the residents.

I love this for four reasons:

The potential for Alfred, who wishes Bruce would stop adopting small violent children, realizing that HE is the same.

You can't tell me Alfred, Danny, Dani, and Jazz won't be BFFs. Jazz is the only (mostly) sane person in this house besides him. Dani absolutely WILL spy and report on injuries in exchange for more of that casserole. Danny and Alfred have similar sarcastic wit.

"If we had a nickel for every billionaire with a secret identity we know, we would each have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot, but weird it happened twice."

The SHENANIGANS!!!!!

Shenanigans include:

At first, Alfred doesn't tell the Batfam because they're a family of detectives. Surely they'll notice. Over time, it becomes a contest of who can make them suspect the most without being found.

Alfred either playing it off or staring with a raised eyebrow when one of the Batfam asks why/if he's talking to himself.

Jazz can only be turned invisible in the nick of time so many times before somebody finds out about her. "It says here, Ms. Fenton, that you have a brother?" "Yes, Danny. He died. But don't worry, he got better!"

When Tim is forbidden caffeine for a week, Danny drinks his coffee super fast or Dani replaces it with chamomile tea with black food coloring.

Dani: "You know Dick, you really shouldn't do that."

Dick, after a moment of panic, realizing there's nothing in the room with him. "....God?"

Dani, realizing how much chaos she can cause: "yeah, that's me! God."

Danny and Dani take turns being human just to walk past open doors. They all look enough alike to Tim, Dick, Damien, and a young Jason in uncertain light that the rest of the fam has to do double takes.

When someone calls Constantine over as a favor, he takes 2 steps into the manner, says no, and RUNS.

"So I've heard the voice of God, and it sounds like a 14-year-old girl."

"....how hard did Bane hit you again?"

"God says Jason is the one who stole your book."

"...right ok."

Bruce decides he's gonna go be Batman while wounded. He snuck out, so Al calls his Secret Ghost Squad.

Batman is repeatedly interrupted (*cough* saved) by 2 OP glowing metas. Constantine will no longer cross Gotham's borders.

Danny: "You need more ectoplasm. You're a growing half-ghost."

Jason: *shoots the wall* "WHAT THE FUCK WHO WAS THAT?!"

Danny: would you believe it was God?

Jason: NO

Jason figures it out first because he's being parented by a dead guy. He actually doesn't mind that much because he gets to visit the GZ

Cass figures out second because she's observant.

Dick figures it out third by spraying 'God' with paint. He then realizes he attacked an invisible creature that can go through walls with no idea how to fight it.

Tim figures it out by deliberately putting salt in his coffee to see what would happen.

Damien finds Cujo. He is Upset that Cujo already has an owner. Danny tells Damien in exchange for Damien to stop yelling insults at him. (Dani calls him Weak for this, and tells Damien 15 minutes later because he thought she was calling HIM weak and had Opinions)

"Oh shit."

Steph bribes the 'house spirits' for prank help, and then tricks them. They tell her out of Respect.

Duke starts talking to himself about star output on his homework, gets stuck, and SpaceBoi helps. Duke's 10 minutes into stars actually being interesting for once before he realizes he's talking to a ghost.

Bruce has been introduced to them by Jazz. Alfred made her after the 4th sleepless night due to researching the surprise metas.

Dani: its cool dude, but now I have to go prank Tim. Bye!

Vlad shows up for a private meeting with Bruce Wayne. The ghosties reveal themselves in order to kick his ass.

Alfred is the only person who can get away with calling Danny 'Daniel' and Dani 'Danielle'. Anyone else has Serious Regrets.

The Joker breaks Alfred's leg in a bombing. He's never seen again. Danny, Dani, and Jazz are a little TOO innocent

[butcherlarry]

Weekly Fic Recs 56

Another week, another list! I also had another ask, but this time for sad Superbat.

Sad Superbat fic rec list

I normally don't do sad because I a simple woman who loves them some happy endings, but there were a few I recced. Check them out if you're interested!

But now, on to the rest of the list!

left behind by TheResurrectionist - Superbat, complete. Luthor wants an audience with the Justice League, but has to go through Bruce Wayne to do so. For some reason, Bruce's boyfriend, Clark Kent is there during this process. So much shenanigans and inside jokes ensue.

Werewolves Do Not Make Good Empty Nesters by dragonpyre - Batfam, wip. Werewolf, and Tim and Jason join the family early AU! Dick moved out and Bruce is experiencing empty nest syndrome :( Luckily, he found these two abandoned pups to make his nest less empty :)

Lessons Learned by justforthefanfiction - Cloisbat (is that a ship name?), wip. Batman brakes into the Kent's house to talk to Lois about a case. He catches them in a compromising position. Sexy times ensuee

A kindred bond by Nyszu - Superbat, wip. An update to the fic where Bruce gets kidnapped by evil!Supes, but is rescued by his Superman! A breakout at Arkham occurs, and Bruce goes to deal with it.

Get Low by leakypaintpen - Superbat, complete. Bruce spars with Clark after he returns from Warworld and has an "oh no he's hot AND competent" moment.

mission parameters by shipyrds - Superbat, complete. A reread for me! Bruce and Clark have to fake being married for a mission :)

tell all the truth (but tell it slant) by susiecarter - Superbat, complete. Another reread for me! Bruce and Clark start a fake relationship to explain why they are together all the time and to get the media off their back. Feelings and a lack of communication results in much shenanigans :) :) :) :)

Patchwork Pod by Ktkat9 - Superbat and Batfam, wip. More of the mer Bruce fic! Tim has gotten himself in quite the situation!

One day, fate knocked on the door by Speechless_since_1998 - Batfam, complete. Little Timmy travels to Bludhaven to convince Dick to be Robin again. He has a power point and everything! Dick has other concerns, like how this small child traveled to Bludhaven to give a presentation on why he should be Robin again. And why this small child knows he used to be Robin. Shenanigans ensue.

is it my fault? (we've been missing each other) by quidhitch - Batfam, complete. Bruce and Jason bonding times, before and after Jason's death.

The Only by pasdecoeur - Superbat, complete. Someone asked for sad Superbat fic recs, and this one one of the fics I had on the list. The tag the author has is correct, Superbat is fundamentally a tragedy.

Exit Strategy by smilebackwards - Batfam, complete. Tim prepares to leave the Batfam, because the obviously don't need him around anymore (obviously). Unfortunately for him, the rest of the family has a problem with this. Also featuring: bonding time with Damian.

DAMIAN WAYNE GOES TO THERAPY series by orpheusaki - Batfam, stories complete, but series is not. What the title says, Damian goes to therapy. Each story is him bonding with a member of the family, one story about him and Tim, and the other about him and Jason.

Happy Reading!

[fanaticalthings]

Bruce definitely suffers from empty nest syndrome despite the fact that his kids are like always with him.

I like to think that this paranoid, neurotic dad just doesn't want to believe his kids are getting older and always pretends they're still the small children they were when he first adopted them

Like that one scene in Despicable Me 3 when Gru's brother thinks his daughter is 14 and he angrily corrects him and states that "SHE'S TWELVE AND SHE'LL ALWAYS BE TWELVE"

Imagine Bruce having absolute meltdowns whenever someone brings up his kids ages:

Random gala guest: Your eldest has really grown up well! I'm sure he'll be having kids of his own soon!

Bruce, gripping extra tight on his champagne glass: He's too young to date.

Random gala guest: ?? Isn't he like twenty-

Bruce, unable to accept that Dick might one day start a family of his own and could forget him: He's. Too. Young.

———

Jason casually talking about how he actually graduated med school without the batfam knowing and has a whole med degree: And that's why I'm better than you, Bruce :)

Bruce, holding back tears because his last memory of Jason in school was right before he died and he was just starting highschool and damn he's really proud of Jason but on the other hand he never got to witness his son grow up and was never able to attend his highschool graduation and now he has to come to the realisation that Jason's a grown adult now: This is fine.

———

Tim: Wow I'm about to turn 18 soon, I wonder what I should do when I move out. Maybe travel the world?

Bruce, who still hasn't recovered from Dick and Jason moving out of the Manor even though they're practically there all the time now: How about you just never move out?

Tim: What? I was just-

Bruce, frantically: You can just be Robin again. Batman needs his robin which means you HAVE to live here forever.

Tim: Damian is rob-

Bruce: Well you can BOTH be Robin. Are we in agreement? Good. You're never leaving this house.

Tim:

———

Bruce bringing Damian a birthday cake: Happy 10th birthday, son :)

Damian: I'm thirtee-

Bruce: HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY, SON.

Poor Bruce just can't handle the thought of an empty nest.

After a while, the batkids just go along with it whenever they're around Bruce just to make him feel better lol

Gala guest: Oh wow! You've grown up so much since the last time I saw you! How old are you again?

Jason, grown ass adult, 6'0", built like a fucking tank with a voice that rivals, if not, surpasses Bruce's deep timber: I'm 15.

Bruce: :)

[castlesrp]

The Anderson Family

Dionysus : Vineyard Distillery Dynasty

The legacy of the Anderson family begins on the West Coast, beginning three generations ago with a dream of a vineyard that ended up scaling to a global enterprise that left the Anderson Distilleries as one of the leading wine and alcohol distilleries in North America. First Anderson (83) has since retired as president, handing over the reigns to his eldest and enjoying his golden years with his wife First Anderson (84). First Anderson (58) has taken over the family mantle, taking a very hands-on approach to try and prove himself, all the while grappling with the difficulty of spending his time split between California and New York City. First Anderson (58) has kept herself busy and avoided empty nest syndrome as their six children have moved out, volunteering her time as the President of the New York City Junior League.

First Holloway (55) has always been a bit of a wildfire radical in the family, which was why her father made her the Head of Brand Development and Innovation before his retirement. In this new role, she has worked to elevate the brand of Anderson Distilleries to new heights, including branching out into the new territory of legalized marijuana and partnering with First Holloway (54)’s chain of dispensary stores that have opened since legalization and the aid of First Lancaster (59) as legal counsel; this was met with distrust on both sides, as the Lancaster and Anderson families have had generations of rivalry with one another. They have four children, three of which are adopted, and have always kept an open door policy for their kids and any of their kid’s friends - if they’re going to drink, she’d rather they do it in the house.

A bit more gruff and pulled together than the rest of his siblings, First Anderson (52) has also branched the Anderson name into another venture as the owner and operator of Anderson Brewery in SoHo, happily married to First Anderson (52) with two children of their own. First Gallagher (50) may be the youngest, but she’s quite successful in her own right as the Director of International Expansion for Anderson Distilleries. Very business-focused and ambitious, she and First Gallagher (50) have their perfect nuclear family with one son and one daughter - painting the picture of the idyllic American Dream. Whether or not that's truly the case behind closed doors is another story.

First Anderson: 83 Years Old, Retired President of Anderson Distilleries, Steve Martin, Available + First Anderson: 84 Year Old, Open Occupation, Diane Keaton, Available

First Anderson: 58 Years Old, President of Anderson Distilleries, Ewan McGregor, Available + First Anderson: 58 Years Old, Junior League President, Gillian Anderson, Available ----- First Anderson: 31 Years Old, Open Occupation, Austin Butler, Available ----- First Anderson: 29 Years Old, Open Occupation, Tom Blyth, Available ----- First Anderson: 27 Years Old, Open Occupation, Harry Styles, Available ----- First Anderson: 23 Years Old, Open Occupation, Anya Taylor Joy, Available ----- First Anderson: 21 Years Old, Open Occupation, Kit Connor 1, Available * ----- First Anderson: 21 Years Old, Open Occupation, Kit Connor 2, Available * * Note: Anderson (21) and Anderson (21) are identical twins.

First Holloway: 55 Years Old, Head of Brand Development and Innovation of Anderson Distilleries, Kathryn Hahn, Available + First Holloway: 54 Years Old, Dispensary CEO, Jason Sudeikis, Available ----- First Holloway: 30 Years Old, Open Occupation, Simu Liu, Available * ----- First Holloway: 27 Years Old, Open Occupation, Tom Holland, Available ----- First Holloway: 25 Years Old, Open Occupation, Lana Condor, Available * ----- First Holloway: 24 Years Old, Open Occupation, Hailee Steinfeld, Available * * Note: Holloway (30), Holloway (25), and Holloway (24) are adopted

First Anderson: 52 Years Old, Owner and Head Brewer of Anderson Brewery, David Harbour, Available + First Anderson: 52 Years Old, Open Occupation, Christina Hendricks, Available ----- First Anderson: 26 Years Old, Open Occupation, Wolfgang Novogratz, Available ----- First Anderson: 21 Years Old, Open Occupation, Sadie Sink, Available

First Gallagher: 50 Years Old, Director of International Expansion of Anderson Brewery, Rosamund Pike, Available + First Gallagher: 50 Years Old, Open Occupation, John Krasinski, Available ----- First Gallagher: 28 Years Old, Open Occupation, Thomas Doherty, Available ----- First Gallagher: 26 Years Old, Open Occupation, Lili Reinhart, Available

[freedvmrouge]

MAGNIFICENT.

fandom: dc comics.

character(s): bruce wayne, jason todd, roy harper.

word count: 658.

tags & warnings: pov bruce wayne, parent bruce wayne, roy harper/jason todd, youtuber au, father-son relationship.

summary: bruce has empty nest syndrome and longingly watches jason and roy's new youtube video.

masterlist.

Bruce gets the notification just as he leaves for a lunch meeting. He's not exactly foaming at the mouth over the meeting, so he doesn't mind the quick detour. There's an empty conference room just two steps away. No one's going to be questioning Brucie Wayne for being a little late after all.

As he unlocks his phone, he expects a text from Selina or Alfred. There's likely some appointment or date he's missing, he supposes. But to his great pleasure, he finds a notification for a new YouTube video.

He rushes to click on it, barely even reading the title that teeters off from how long it is.

The first thing that loads is a scream that follows a close-up of Jason's face. The next moment, the shot is entirely submerged in water. Jason swims to the surface, hair wet but sporting an ear-to-ear grin.

Bruce feels himself smiling just the same.

"Get in here, Roy! Don't back out now!"

"I'm the cameraman!" Roy shouts from the top of the cliff Jason just jumped off of.

"I'm getting Roy to join me this weekend. Mark my words," Jason says conspiratorially to the camera.

The video jump cuts to Jason and Roy in their hotel room. Bruce immediately recognizes the view. He and Damian video-called while Jason was staying in this very room. This must be from three weeks ago. Jason was entirely mum about what he was doing in Croatia, however. "You'll have to watch our video," he teased.

Bruce can't say he's entirely happy about seeing his son do extreme sports. Much less that he's filming it all for content online. But he will admit that he's grateful that he gets to see Jason so carefree and enjoying his life to the fullest.

Maybe he'll even make a trip out to visit the boys' next destination. He'll say that it's completely by coincidence, of course. He's got a multitude of excuses to choose from. Bruce just... he just misses his son, and Jason and Roy aren't scheduled back in Gotham for another few months.

He and Oliver were more than happy to let the boys mess around the world and travel, expanding their horizons. Somehow, recording these videos for their families to watch ended up becoming a pretty popular YouTube thing for them. Roy's a magnificent filmmaker and Jason's got next to no fear with every new adventure they try.

Bruce sighs. He'd still like to see his son more often. Selina calls it 'empty nest syndrome', but he staunchly denies it. He'd just like to have a full house again rather than just a few kids coming in and out of the manor.

"I'll do that thing you like if you jump with me," Jason says with half-lidded eyes.

Roy laughs and pushes Jason's face away from him.

"Come on, babe. Our families watch these videos!"

"Hey," Jason shrugs. "You're the one editing these bad boys."

Jason sneaks in a quick peck before making his move. He wraps his arms around Roy from behind and pushes them both over the cliff. Bruce figures that Roy's screams alone would've caused a tsunami.

"The equipment!"

"They're waterproof!"

Bruce chuckles as he continues watching. He remains in awe over the drone shots over the ocean and beach. They play alongside Jason's clear narration over the b-rolls. It gives the video an almost professional television quality to it. Bruce might recommend some voice-acting work for Jason when he returns. He has some talent for it.

"Mr. Wayne," he pauses the video as his head snaps to the door opening. "You have a lunch meeting with Mr. Kord."

"Of course, I'll be a minute. Thank you."

Checking the video's runtime, he decides that he can watch the rest of it on the way home. In the meantime, he sends Jason a message asking him where he'll be next week. Maybe he'll even take one of the other kids with him.

[dc-sideblog]

“Average superhero has ten sidekicks” factoid is a statistical error. Average superhero actually has two sidekicks over the course of their lifetime. Empty Nest Syndrome Batman, who live in a cave and trains 25 protégés every single day, is an outlier adn should not have been included in the data

Behold version 2.0! I included a line for grand-bats this time. If I am missing anyone, PLEASE tell me. Every data point makes this graph that much funnier. Also if I’m way off on any years, I wanna be accurate

For anyone who didn’t see the first version, the big red bar blocking out one column is the year Bruce was dead, and the blue line marks when he retired.

[id: a line graph with the Y axis labeled “Number of Batkids” and numbered 0-27, and the X axis labeled Bruce Wayne’s Age and numbered 22-66. The column year 42-43 is filled in red. There is a blue line on year 55. There are two separate lines of data graphed on this. The first is yellow and has the data points (25, 1) Dick Grayson, Bette Kane (27, 2) , Barbara Gordon (29,3), BJ Wayne (30,4), Lance Bruner (33,5), Lance dies (33,4), Jason Todd (34,5), Jason dies (37,4), Carrie Kelley (38,5), Tim Drake (38,6), Stephanie Brown (38,7), Cassandra Cain (40,8), Jason Todd again (40,9), Cullen Row and Harper Row (41,11), Damian Wayne (42,12), Luke Fox (43,13), Duke Thomas (44,14), Jarro (44,15), Helena Wayne (45,16), Alina Shelley (45,17), Maps Mizoguchi (46,18), Composite Superman-Batman (47,19), Alysia Yeoh (47,20), Elissa Prince-Wayne (48, 21), Tiffany Fox (50, 22), Athanasia al Ghul (55,23), and Terry and Matt McGinnis (58,25). The other line of data is blue and takes off from (35,0). Its data points are Mar’i Grayson (42,1), Jake Grayson (45,2), Tyler (46,3), and Clark Wayne (56,4).]

[toadstool32]

im delirious i just had a GREAT idea this requires having terminal homestuck brain and also liking the idea of batman being fucked up in a funny way. putting this under a read more bc i want u to choose to ruin ur day

ok so like are your familiar with spicyyetis davekat halloween special? well i hope you are now.

ok now are u familiar with bruce wayne? are you familiar of his habit of accidentally acquiring kids left and right and also his perfect mental health?

ok now are you seeing what im seeing

im thinkiong like years in the future like im p sure there was a panel of bruce telling stories to one of his grandchildren like it was very cute right hand on im pulling up the panel

Batman Lost #1 a tie in for dark knights metal

do you see that those are kids , little children running around the manor with an old man bruce just chilling in his murder mystery office, this is the best thing i have ever seen.

so like ideally bruce would have a very happy life retired and with all the rest of the bats taking over in crime fighting n shit and his sons and daughters however many he gets are gonna fill the place with kids eventually bc picking up strays is like, a bat requirement u know, however, im not thinking in a positive way or even a coherent way.

back to YM&O did u see old man dave hoarding kids in a very lonely mansion bc of his fear that the kids are one day gonna be the nly thing that will remind him of the loev of his life or whatever yeah you see where im goin with this.

like i can see it perfectly in my minds eye bruce trying to cope with yknow life and stuff n finally accepting that hes not a one man show and maybe as he gets older hes like alright i gotta, take care of myself? and no matter how much my kids may hate me at times and try to shot me i know they love me and they would be Very Sad if they had to bury me, like , again i mean and so hes like well now im old and trying out this taking care of myself now what and hes like oh i know ill take care of the kids and then at the start dick is like weird but ok better late than never!!! i guess!! but oh wait actuyally sorry old man i cant hang out but u can hang out with timmy and damian ok bye have fun and at this point evryone is like almost thirty and are like trying to subtly get away from bruce bc they were raised independently and also theyre grownups damnit (cass is a treasure so she hangs out but also she knows whats up its chill) and then it expands to the other kids like he starts trying to act as this doting old fatherly figure (hes goin senile its what is HAPPENING) and its not until dick is like haha have u heard jason just got kids following him around thats cute and bruce is like YES THATS IT like he gets hardcore empty nest syndrome except the nest was always kinda full u know? thi pile of leaves and bird shit is gonna overflow,anyway like a few months later dick comes back and theres Horrors tm in Manor bc bruce definition of kid isnt constrained by like, species,(do you think jarro would want more siblings?)

so like the house is packed with kids, all sorts of kids, some arent even kids, some are straight up science experiments and bruce is like I Love My Family :) alfred has been dead for over 30 years and yet bruce finds the way to drag his ghost back to the house so they can coo at the kids together (alfred look at my new daughter isnt she cute yes master bruces shes quite charming what will all the eyes, yes youre right she is) jarro is having fun having siblings but he still tries to win bruces attention , cass is almost encouraging bruce to get more kids (i want a new sister) tim and damian are scared but in different ways jason went there once and said Not My problem (hes also scared) barbara doesnt know the extent of the problem and is just amused the titrans know and dick is the last to know (but only bc i find it funny) if u ask what about duke i dont wanna inflict this hell on him he scaped early amen also the justice league either enables him or is subtly trying to stop him (it is. not working)

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Busted?

by MyPride

Bruce had noticed that Damian had become more affable, socializing much more than usual at the charity evenings, and it was not uncommon to see him surrounded by beautiful young girls who seemed to hang on his every word, and Bruce, he admitted, couldn't help but wonder if any of them were interested in or dating his son. Damian had never exactly given the impression that he wanted to jump headlong into a relationship, but there was no question that he seemed very comfortable when he was around them. [...] "I was thinking about watching a movie tonight, how do you want your pizza, son?" Bruce asked him quickly, and Damian stopped his run only to look over the doorframe and give him a quick glance. "I'm not eating at home. I'm going out." Bruce gasped. Did he really hear what he heard? "You're going out? What do you mean, you're going out?" "What I said. Don't wait for me, Father." "Wait, Damian, what-!"

Words: 1717, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman (Comics)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Damian Wayne, Jonathan Samuel Kent

Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne

Additional Tags: My english is bad as always, What-If, Naturally aged Jon, Slice of Life, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship/Love, Fluff and Humor, Bruce has the empty nest syndrome, Damian is just as big as Jason, muscular, Parenthood, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent, Fluff, Attempt at Humor, May I write 2023, Facebook: Non solo Sherlock - gruppo eventi multifandom

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/47132929

[fantastic-nonsense]

I really want to emphasize the slightly ridiculous timeline of Bruce taking in children and how funny this has the potential to be re:Dick being the eldest, because I think it's really important that people understand that Bruce basically only has Dick around for like...11-12 years. Dick formally moves out when he's around 19 or 20, and roughly six months to a year later, Bruce picks Jason up. Dick and Jason never live in the same house at the same time, and three years later, Jason dies. So he gets 2 kids over a 15 (ish) year period, which doesn't sound too ridiculous, right?

Except then his adoption tendencies accelerate, because he picks up Tim and Cass within 2 years of each other (and Steph came as a package deal with both of them) and then finds out about Damian 2-3 years after that. Then we've got Duke, who (when you vaguely fit together timelines) enters stage left about 2-3 years after Damian.

So after a 15-year period with two kids, Bruce manages to pick up 4 1/2 others (counting Steph) within the 7-8 years afterwards. The sheer missed comedic potential of Dick being a grown-ass adult and then his dad decides to adopt a pack of kids within 5 years of him moving out is incredible. Dick went from being essentially an only child for his entire life to being eldest of 6, only one of which he's ever actually lived in the same house with, all because Bruce got Empty Nest Syndrome and went "well I raised one child to adulthood successfully. What's another 5 or 6 at the same time?"

[aalghul]

I firmly believe that if Jason had lived and still been Robin when Steph came along Bruce would’ve tried his “go home” spiel and Jason would’ve been like “lmao Bruce this girl is great! Bruce we have to keep her. Bruce I promise I’ll never ask for anything else in my entire life (lie) I’m old enough for my own sidekick please I promise I’ll take her for walks and everything!” And Bruce would cave because he could never deny Robin!Jason anything really

YOU’RE SO RIGHT. Bruce was such a sucker for Robin Jason and Stephanie would basically be a mini, blonde Jason with even more sass. He would adore her. Much of the shit Stephanie put up with from Bruce in main timeline just wouldn’t happen. Jason doesn’t die = no awful, borderline mentally abusive Batman. He would train her after his standard “this isn’t safe, blah blah” speech (but even that wouldn’t be long since he literally recruited Jason to be Robin).

Dick pulls up, while Bruce is on a business trip, for his and Jason’s monthly trip and there’s a new kid opening the door and demanding he take her for a ride on his bike. Cue him ranting to Alfred about Bruce stealing children to cure his empty nest syndrome. But he still revels in teaching his acrobatic moves to a gymnast.

Alfred, though still hating the vigilante nonsense, would enjoy feeding another kid that has no shortage of appreciation for his food. Also, Steph and Alfred would have snarky banter. I know it.

Batman and Robin and Robin’s Robin. But really, Steph definitely would’ve become Robin if Jason grew out of it in a year or so.

[bluegarners]

Unpopular Opinion for a Dick Grayson fan here:

I overall prefer The Judas Contract route for how Dick transitions from Robin to Nightwing; for me it’s a perfect culmination of self reflection, a chance to branch out of Batman’s shadow and character development that the character had been going through since the Bronze Age. What makes it work though is that in that version, it’s his choice to do so and his decision, not anyone else’s, especially not Bruce’s . Speaking of whom, it actually can work into Jason Todd being a street orphan that Batman found and get him very quickly into the Robin mantle angle since you can interpret it as say Bruce going through a mid life crisis that started since Dick was college age but blooming full time once Dick chooses becoming Nightwing. Therefore, if you want the drama of Batman giving Jason the mantle without Dick’s prior knowledge and him trying to recapture that charm when Dick was Robin only to find out Jason was a completely person to approach when f giving the mantle, The Judas Contract can still work like that

heya paladin!

i actually do like the nightwing origin from the judas contract too! i think it's in character for dick to make his own decision to leave, as he was never *technically* bound to gotham or batman. robin was his and his alone (at least at that time) and he could do whatever he wanted with that role. maybe he wouldn't be able to separate himself completely from bruce, but he could definitely make the choice to remove himself from batman's side and go off on his own to do what he wants to. dick wanted experience, he wanted to see beyond the borders set for him!

bruce having empty nest syndrome makes me cackle though kajsnksjskdfj

while i do enjoy the angst that comes from being kicked out and replaced quickly after, i think it makes sense for both bruce and dick to have a somewhat mutual understanding that, well, dick is an adult and has had enough experience to make his own, well-thought out decisions on how to go about with his life

[odos-bucket]

In Which Each of Bruce’s Kids Come Out to Him

and then he comes out to them

Dick

They’re working on opposite sides of the coffee table in one of the manor’s more habitable sitting room’s. It’s become a regular part of their weekday routine: Bruce finishes up whatever office work he has to do, while Dick does his homework, and talks about his day. Usually there are snacks involved. A parenting book Bruce had read recommended trying to get their work done together. It’s a good way to keep connected with their increasingly busy schedules.

“So anyways…” Dick’s story is starting to slow down a little bit, and the shift in tone has Bruce glancing up from his paperwork. “I should probably tell you, since, well, everyone knows at school now.” His voice is still conversational, and relaxed, but a little distracted.

Bruce shifts him his full attention.

“See, what happened was Cameron Josephs in my third period biology class came to school with nail polish on today, which I noticed with my clever detective skills, and promptly dismissed as unimportant, and everyone else noticed with their nosy pre-teen skills, and promptly lost their shi- I mean, minds over. And that was Mrs. Horton’s class, and she has absolutely no control over her students, so it sort of became this whole big thing. Kids were making fun of him, and other kids were yelling at them to knock it off, and he was just trying to do his work, but the rest of the class got into a big fight. And then Brad Cormick- he’s on my basketball team- made a homophobic joke, and we were sitting at the same table, and I could tell that he wanted me to laugh at it. So I told him to shut up, and said that I was bisexual, not that any of it really had anything to do with anything else that was going on, but it did get him to shut up, which was good. Except that I think it may have been because I have more friends than Cameron does, which is totally unfair, and everyone should just be nice to everyone else no matter what, but also I guess not really the point… The point is, yeah, I’m bi. Oh, also frog dissection got moved to tomorrow because one kid threw up.”

Dick takes a deep breath (finally) and a long sip of his juice, before immediately returning to doodling athletic stick figures in the margins of his algebra homework.

Bruce studies him for a moment, trying to figure out what kind of response is expected of him, what would be helpful for Dick to hear. He’s really not very good at this kind of thing.

He’s saved from the risk of putting his foot in his mouth when the science class story continues.

“Are frogs really that gross? I don’t think they are. But I guess our basement is filled with guano, so maybe my tolerance is heightened by regular exposure to the substance most frequently equated with insanity.”

Dick hadn’t seemed nervous before coming out, or relieved after. And if he’s not going to make it into a big deal then neither is Bruce, even if a part of him feels pleasantly warmed by the casual show of trust.

Jason

Bruce loves picking up his kids from school. It’s not something that his schedule allows him to do very often, and Jason- as Dick had been before him- always seems pleasantly surprised to see him. It’s a little thing in the grand scheme, but it’s just nice, normal. And he would never say it out loud- he’s not sure why, he knows he should- but he cherishes the little bit of extra time spent with his boys.

But today Jason isn’t happy to see him.

Bruce pulls up to the curb, and only has to scan the crowd of teenagers for a few seconds before spotting him. He’s on a bench with another student, their shoulders pressed together despite wide swaths of free space available on either side of them. Jason’s pointing out something in a textbook, while the other boy plays with his free hand.

Bruce pulls slightly to the side to let another car drive around him, figuring he’ll give Jason a few minutes to finish up, and notice that Bruce is there, rather than call out and risk embarrassing him.

It’s not even a full minute before they make eye contact across the lot, and immediately something in Jason’s expression changes. His eyes go wide and startled, his posture suddenly tightened. In one fast motion he shuts his book with both hands, muttering something to his friend as he practically throws himself off the bench.

Now feeling on high alert, Bruce sweeps an intense gaze over the school yard for anything that could have upset his son. He doesn’t manage to spot anything before Jason arrives at the car and pulls himself into the backseat (where he never sits, unless the front is already occupied). He starts talking before Bruce can ask what’s wrong.

“That wasn’t what it looked like!”

Bruce frowns, and looks over both Jason and the area in front of the school in an attempt to identify something that isn’t like how it looks.

“He just-“ Jason flinches, seemingly realizing something wrong with whatever he’d been about to say, and cuts himself off with a sharp breath. “I mean-“

Feeling lost is by no means a new part of parenthood for Bruce, and he’s sure it’s something he’ll experience many more times going forward. But, god, he really hates not understanding what’s going on, not knowing what to do, and he doubts that he’ll ever get used to it.

“Jason,” he tries. “Slow down.”

“Yes, sir,” Jason answers automatically. “Sorry.”

It’s been over a year since Jason’s called him ‘sir’ and the sudden reintroduction of the honorific sends a cold chill down Bruce’s spine. For a second they just stare at each other, with what Bruce is pretty sure are matching expressions of partially concealed horror.

“Jason,” he says more quietly.

“I know,” Jason interrupts. “I’m sorry. Please-“ He stops himself, covering his mouth before he can finish the thought, and then just as quickly lowering the hand back to his lap.

Another silence follows, short but harrowing. Then finally Bruce makes a rare admission

“I have no idea what’s happening right now.”

Jason stares at him, and the wider his eyes get the younger he looks, and the more Bruce wants to scoop him up into his arms. But he just waits, and tries not to look too expectant.

“I-I was holding hands with Derek,” Jason breaths out.

“…Alright?” He’s heard that name before. Jason doesn’t have as many friends at school as Dick had, so they’re a little easier to keep track of, even if Bruce has only ever met any of them in passing. “Is this someone you’re worried I’ll embarrass you in front of?” He asks after a brief pause.

Jason keeps staring at him, expression crinkling as his breathing grows erratic.

Bruce finds himself automatically exaggerating his own inhales and exhales, resting the side of one hand against his sternum, to remind Jason of some of their breathing exercises.

“That’s it, chum,” he says as he sees it slowly begin to work. “Everything’s okay.” For all he knows- or doesn’t know- right now it might not even be true, but dammit for his kid he will make everything okay.

“Everything’s okay,” Jason obediently echoes.

Bruce takes his hand off his chest, and starts to reach towards him. But Jason flinches away from him, not as violently as he had back when they were still new to each others’ lives, but it’s enough to make Bruce feel sick. He can practically feel the wrongness of it squeezing his heart into shards as he slowly withdraws his arm back into the front seat. He had truly thought that they had gotten past this.

“I’m sorry, Jay,” he says softly, a small concession to the part of himself that wants to beg his son’s forgiveness for whatever he’s done to make him afraid. “I’m so sorry.”

Jason’s not looking at him anymore. His head is down, and his gaze is fixed on his knees.

Bruce hesitates.

“I’ll never hurt you.” It’s a reassurance he had thought they were past the point of needing, but if they aren’t he’ll say it as many times as he has to. “Never.”

“Are you mad?”

“Is there something particular that I’m supposed to be mad about?” Bruce asks carefully.

“... That I was holding hands with a guy,” Jason elaborates, after a steadying breath.

Oh, Bruce is an idiot. What kind of detective is he if he can’t even- He cuts himself off, realizing he can’t wait too long to respond to that.

“Of course not. That’s what this is about?”

“I never meant for you to find out,” is the response he gets. And doesn’t that just hurt like hell to hear?

“That you like boys?” Bruce confirms.

“And girls, both. But I didn’t know what you’d think, so I figured if I couldn’t be sure it was better to keep it to myself.”

Bruce closes his eyes, taking a second to calm his own breathing.

“I never want you to feel like that,” he says. “About anything. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear. I love you, Jaylad, that isn’t contingent on anything.”

I wish I could have protected you from whatever it was that made you feel like this was something you had to hide. He doesn’t say it.

Jason is finally looking at him again, gaze thoughtful and careful. A long moment passes, before he surprises- and momentarily terrifies- Bruce by getting out of the car. But before he can react to that, Jason’s climbing into the passenger seat, and after a second of hesitation, leaning into Bruce’s side.

“Okay,” he says quietly, sounding a little choked up.

Bruce puts an arm around his shoulders. The closeness is a balm after the pain of having his son flinch away from him.

Tim

Tim isn’t supposed to come over today. His parents are in town, and Bruce had made a point of hiding his reluctance when he’d given Robin the week off, chastising himself for the empty nest syndrome he has no right to be experiencing- at least in regards to this particular child.

So he’s surprised when he hears Alfred’s throat clear, and looks up to see both Alfred and Tim lingering in the doorway to his office. It would be odd to see him here at this time of day even if they had been planning to go on patrol; sunset is still a few hours off.

Bruce immediately has a bad feeling. He knows it’s commonplace for the Drakes to disappear unexpectedly partway through whatever length of time they were meant to be spending at home. As Batman it’s made his life easier numerous times. As a parent it’s beyond his comprehension. If he still had his boys at home- but he can’t think about that, not without breaking down, and if Tim’s just been abandoned that’s the last thing he needs.

As he approaches the door, Alfred’s pointed look, and Tim’s vacant expression confirm that he’s right to be concerned.

“Tim.” He keeps his voice neutral. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

He picks up on Alfred’s glare a fraction of a second too late to realize that he’s said the wrong thing.

“I’m sorry.” There’s something miserable in Tim’s voice, that makes Bruce want to bundle him up in a blanket. Before he can assure him that he has nothing to apologize for, Alfred cuts in.

“I told Master Tim that he’s welcome to stay with us for as long as he needs.”

Bruce nods automatically, looking down at Tim, who’s glassy expression looks a million miles away.

“Tim,” he says gently, eventually drawing the boy’s gaze, but feeling disconcerted by how delayed the response is.

Alfred leaves with a comment about putting a kettle on for tea, closing the door firmly but softly behind him. The sound it makes as it pulls all the way shut still makes Tim twitch.

“Do you want to sit down?” Bruce offers.

Tim stumbles a bit on his way to the couch. He’s so out of it; He won’t be patrolling tonight, even if his schedule’s suddenly open for it. Bruce sits down on the other side.

“Are they gone again?” He asks, trusting fully that the vaguely worded question will be completely understood.

There’s a worrying delay before Tim shakes his head, giving Bruce ample time to wish for Alfred back before he can register the response enough to be surprised by it.

“So...“ he begins uncertainly, before being cut off.

“I’m sorry,” Tim says again. “I don’t mean to be a bother.”

“You aren’t a bother, Tim.”

The- admittedly somewhat monotone- assurance just gets him a shrug.

“Can you tell me what happened?” He tries.

“Do I have to?” Tim asks after a long silence. “Can’t I just stay here?”

Bruce frowns.

“Of course you can stay here. But I think I really need to know what’s going on.”

Tim stares at him, eyes shining, mouth opening and closing several times before he speaks.

“Can I- Alfred says I can tell you something, and you won’t get mad?”

“Well, that depends on what it is,” Bruce says, thinking back on every time a robin has had something to tell him, but first wanted confirmation that he wouldn’t be angry.

Tim seems to shrink at his words, his breath catching audibly as he curls in on himself. Fuck, Bruce is bad at this.

“What do you have to tell me?” He asks.

“Well now I don’t know if I want to!” It almost comes out as a yell, strained by the sound of held back tears, and Bruce is a little taken aback.

“I’ll probably find out at some point,” he reasons.

There’s a beat of silence, and then Tim chokes on something that sounds like a suppressed sob.

No, no, no no. This isn’t supposed to happen. Bruce reaches out for him in an awkward and hastily aborted movement.

“I can’t,” Tim says after a minutes, tears streaking over his pale cheeks. “If you don’t-“ His voice catches. “I need you to let me stay here.”

Bruce’s heart hurts as he scooches a little closer, reaching out to rest a hand- hopefully not too awkwardly- on Tim’s shoulder.

“Of course you can stay here,” he reiterates. “I told you you could stay here. Even if I’m mad at you you can stay here. If you-“ He searches for a moment. “-Took the batmobile out on a joyride, and drove it into the harbor, I’ll be mad at you, but you’ll still have a place here. One will never have anything to do with the other.”

Tim makes a noise that’s over too quickly for Bruce to be able to tell if it had been a laugh, or just more crying.

“Did Jason do that?” He asks in a hoarse voice.

“Dick,” Bruce corrects.

This time Tim definitely snorts, which has Bruce smiling in spite of himself.

“Did you do something worse than that?” He asks.

It’s meant to be a joke, but Tim makes an unhappy face at the question.

“I- no!” He says, defensive, but confident. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Bruce gives his shoulder a squeeze before releasing it.

“Then why would I be mad at you?”

The humor that had begun to make its way into Tim’s expression disappears again, and Bruce curses himself.

“Mom and Dad were mad,” he says quietly.

Bruce scowls. He tries pretty hard not to let his dislike of Jack and Janet show around Tim- though he’s long suspected the young detective can tell- but it’s harder to hide sometimes than others.

“You said they were still home,” he remembers. “Tim, did they kick you out?” He does his best to keep the anger out of his voice.

And then he finds himself doing his best to keep the anger off of his face when it takes Tim a moment to answer the question.

“I don’t think forever,” he says uncertainly. “Just- They said they needed time to think about it, to d-decide what to do.”

The slight stutter puts him over the age, and fury starts to trickle into Bruce’s voice.

“To think about what?” He demands. Hell, that place is more Tim’s home than it is theirs. They have absolutely no right to ask him to leave! And where the hell do they expect him to go? Bruce forces himself to clench his jaw, and take deep breaths.

“...I’m gay,” Tim finally says.

Bruce stares at him for the second that it takes for the words to register, and connect back to the rest of the conversation.

“That’s it?”

He’s wincing at himself before the question is all the way out of his mouth, immediately convinced that he’s said the wrong thing again. But then, to his immense relief, he realizes that Tim has started laughing. It isn’t deep, or sustained. His voice is still a little weak, and his eyes are still a little red. But he’s definitely laughing, and Bruce realizes vaguely that a robin laughing is still his favorite sound in the world.

“That’s it,” Tim confirms, on the tail end of his laugh.

“Oh, Tim.”

Bruce doesn’t give himself a chance to second guess the motion before he pulls the boy into a hug, satisfied that it was the right course of action when he feels Tim melt against him.

“Of course I’m not mad, of course I’m not mad,” he repeats like a mantra. “I’m sorry I let you think I would be. You’re right, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

A few seconds pass, and he realizes there’s a wet patch at his shoulder where Tim’s face is buried. Bruce freezes, totally unsure of what he’s done wrong this time.

“I’m sorry,” Tim breaths out. “I- thank you. Thank you! I don’t know what I would have done if- I- I don’t want to be alone!”

“Not alone,” Bruce promises. “You’re not alone. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

Tim presses closer, and Bruce takes it as a cue to tighten his hold.

Alfred finds them like that a few minutes later, Tim curled up in his arms, while Bruce cycles through reassurances. The look they exchange is enough to confirm that they’re both thinking the same thing: this kid is ours.

Cass

One day Cass hangs a little pride flag up on her door. Later in the week when she catches Bruce glancing at it, she comes up to him, gives the flag a meaningful nod, before just saying, “Girls!” in a happy voice, giving him a hug, and disappearing down the hall.

Damian

Bruce can identify every member of his family by their knock, but Damian’s is particularly distinctive. Not just because it tends to come from a lower part of the door, but because Damian has cultivated a strong knock, the way businessmen cultivate a strong handshake. It’s a very confident and determined sound, that he often finds himself stifling a smile at, knowing that that isn’t at all the intended reaction.

“Come in,” he calls, and there’s no pause before Damian strides into his office, confident as ever. When he speaks however, the undercurrents of his voice tell a different story.

“Father, there is something I wish to discuss with you.” There are a few hesitations, that don’t quite manage to turn into stutters in his voice, ones it’s unlikely anyone outside of their family would notice.

Bruce doesn’t comment on them, just nods for Damian to sit down and continue.

His legs don’t fully reach the floor. Something else that Bruce has learned not to let himself smile at.

“Grayson says…” he begins confidently, before trailing off.

Bruce just raises an eyebrow for him to continue, not feeling like he has enough information to put anything together from at the moment.

“Richard says,” Damian continues more carefully. “He came out to you as bisexual when he was around my age?”

Bruce nods. He has a feeling that he knows where this is going this time.

“He did.”

“He said that you were okay with it?”

Bruce nods again.

“Dick is my son. My love for him isn’t conditional, certainly not on that. There’s nothing wrong with not being straight.”

Damian had broached the topic using Dick as a proxy, so Bruce had followed his lead and assumed that Damian would know to automatically apply the assurance to himself. But Damian’s face just falls into a puzzled frown.

“So why…” he begins, before changing track. “Richard isn’t your biological son.”

Bruce frowns back.

“Damian, you know that doesn’t make a difference to me. I don’t love your siblings any less because they’re not-”

“I know,” Damian cuts in. “It isn’t about loving us differently.” He says it very matter of factly. “I have the ability to carry on your bloodline, whereas they do not.”

“That ability isn’t an obligation,” Bruce says, wondering why his kids never seem to be able to just worry about normal things. “And it’s certainly not something that you need to be thinking about at thirteen years old.”

Damian nods slowly, staring down at the desk with a look of intense concentration, before slowly raising his gaze to Bruce.

“Mother and Grandfather said that you wouldn’t like it, if I wasn’t interested in girls,” he says quietly.

Bruce sighs. of-fucking-course they did. He gets up from his chair, and moves around the desk to kneel in front of Damian.

“Well they’re wrong,” he says simply. “And they had no right to lead you to believe that it would make any difference to me. Just like I don’t love your siblings any less, my love for you is no more conditional. Understand?”

It takes a moment, but Damian nods.

“All right. In which case, I suppose... I’m gay.”

“And I’m proud of you,” Bruce says, before pulling his son into a hug.

Bruce

Bruce looks at his assembled family, and begins to feel a strange sense of trepidation tickling at the edge of his consciousness.

They’re all here. Trying to get the whole family together all at once is like pulling teeth. But he told them it was important, and they all came. There have been plenty of points over the course of the years when that wouldn’t have happened. And even though they’ve all been pretty settled with each other for a while now, he never wants to take for granted having his whole family together- not that he thinks the part of him that only seems to settle when he has all of his children within arm’s reach would let him.

The comfort of having them all be together is overwhelming, but the trepidation is still there, just like it probably always will be any time he manages to round up the courage for anything resembling feelings talk.

They’re all in one of the living rooms, sprawled in a comfortable half circle across various couches and chairs.

“There’s something I wanted to tell you all,” Bruce starts to say.

“Are you dying?” Stephanie asks casually.

Beside her, Cass freezes, looking horrified.

“I’m not dying,” Bruce says quickly.

At the same time Steph rubs a hand up and down Cass’s arm and assures her she was kidding.

“Not like he’d tell us if he was,” Dick says.

He knows it’s meant to be a joke, just like Stephanie’s question had been, but it still sends a chill through him. Mostly because he can’t say for sure that Dick is totally wrong; it’s the kind of thing he easily could have kept to himself. But then he sees the uncertain frown that Damian is giving him, and Cass’s wide, anxious eyes, and decides that he has to be wrong.

“I’m not dying,” he repeats, reaching out for Tim who’s sitting closest to him, and who’s been staring very intently at the floor since the topic came up.

Tim leans into the touch without shifting his position.

“And I would tell you,” he adds seriously, feeling absolutely wracked with guilt over the fact that up until this moment he doesn’t know if he would’ve been able to claim that with any certainty.

“I swear, if there’s anything wrong with me, all of you will know as soon as possible.” By the time it comes out of his mouth, he knows he means it with total certainty.

“I think we’re all pretty tuned into the fact that there’s something wrong with you,” Jason offers, and the tension in the room breaks.

Bruce smiles despite himself. That was agonizing. Compared to that getting on with the conversation he’d previously been so apprehensive to have will be a relief.

“What did you want to tell us?” Duke asks.

“It can be… difficult for me to articulate what it means to me whenever one of you trusts me enough to share something about yourself. I thought that I owed it to all of you to return the favor, and share a… recent discovery of mine.” He stumbles through it as awkwardly as he’d expected to.

“This is weird,” Stephanie stage whispers.

“I’m bisexual,” Bruce admits.

“Bruce!” Dick says excitedly.

“Unacceptable,” Jason cuts in. “We already have enough of that nonsense in this house!”

Tim kicks him in the side.

“Well, seeing as it’s an option, I for one prefer the idea of you pursuing romantic entanglements that bear no risk of resulting in pregnancy.”

“Noted, Damian.”

“I’m happy for you, B,” Tim says. “It can be hard figuring yourself out.”

“Thank you, Tim.”

“Is that it?” Duke asks. “I mean, not that it’s not a big deal- and I’m happy for you too by the way- it’s just that most of our family meetings involve addressing some kind of crisis.”

“That’s it,” Bruce admits.

“Perhaps- seeing as we’re all here anyways- we could take this opportunity to have dinner together as a family for once,” Alfred offers.

[flashfuture]

Okay so I’m gonna post some screecaps of an older comic from 1981 that has so many batdad feels it kills me. Batman vol 1 #340.

So for a bit of context. This is pre Crisis on Infinite Earths. In Batman #217 Dick Grayson moved out for college and Bruce and Alfred moved into the city penthouse. Dick lasts about a semester or you know eleven years in college before he drops out. He returns to Gotham in Batman #330. At this point Talia Al Ghul is hanging around and to say Bruce and Dick aren’t getting along at this point is a bit of an understatement.  

Dick went off and solved some of his own crimes and actually was a part of a circus for a little bit. 

So here we find ourselves with, Batman #340. 

Bruce really will not let this college thing go. Which just I’m thinking of Jason never getting to finish high school, Tim dropping out, and every other kid either never starting or never finishing. Dick must be seething after literal years of this treatment. 

Is that how it works? I thought you stopped being a ward at 18. Ah well different times different laws. 

Back when Bruce knew how to pronounce the L word. Actually he seems perfectly fine telling everyone he loves his kids except his kids themselves. 

Love the empty nest syndrome. They wanted to move Bruce into the city and this was their reason and they’re sticking to it which I appreciate. Stop retconning him to be a bad dad. 

[freedvmrouge]

MASTERLIST.

fandoms: dc comics, marvel, hades game

prompt. fandom. chara.

PACK. dc comics. jason todd. —  pov jason todd, jason todd has ptsd, flashbacks, panic attack. jason smells smoke from a pack of cigs for the first time post-resurrection.

HEAT. dc comics. jason todd, koriand'r. —  pov jason todd, rhato 2011. beginning of rhato where jason washes up on kori's island.

MYTH/FABLE. dc comics. jason todd, bruce wayne. —  pov jason todd, post-doom that came to gotham, child trafficking (implied), prostitution (implied), homelessness. jason's being chased by child traffickers and takes cover in an abandoned apartment building.

MAGNIFICENT. dc comics. bruce wayne, jason todd, roy harper. —  pov bruce wayne, parent bruce wayne, roy harper/jason todd, youtuber au, father-son relationship. bruce has empty nest syndrome and longingly watches jason and roy's new youtube video.

INJURY. marvel. moon knight, soldier. —  pov marc spector, moon knight (2021-2023), existential dread. marc comes back to midnight mission (is. 25) after a brutal battle and gets patched up by soldier.

ANTICIPATION. dc comics. slade wilson, jason todd. —  pov slade wilson, jason todd/slade wilson, omegaverse, alpha slade wilson, omega jason todd, pregnant jason todd, mates. slade tries to do some work while his cuddly omega monopolizes his right arm.

KNITTING AND SEWING. dc comics. kon el/conner kent. —  pov kon el, college au-ish. kon is trying to catch up on his college projects when he gets a notification of martha's upcoming birthday and shifts focus.

bingo card.