#On the former Robin aka Jason

[flamingpudding]

Triple Identity Crisis

Danny had a problem. If it was a big one, he couldn't tell yet but he was partially sure Clockwork was at fault for this. Or at least he wanted to blame his ghostly godparent who most likely just wanted to cause some chaos for entertainment with the pretext of helping Danny. Which was a very likely reason for why Danny had a problem right now.

As it was the former Fenton now Fenton-Wayne boy was pacing his room in the Manor trying to think what is next step should be, because as it was his 'new' family –Did new still apply if he was living with them for a little more than a year now? – knew him under three different Identities now. And to top it all off they were not aware that the three identities were all pretty much connected as one.

For one. His family, knew him as Danny, the space obsessed kid, who became a meta because of his ectobiology science obsessed parents and his teenager recklessness. A kid that was actually a genius if you gave him enough time for school and could make you anything out of a ancients be damed toaster. That was the Danny they mainly knew. The Kid they took in, let in on the family business and then chose, to the happiness of Alfred and dismay of some of his 'new' siblings, normal life over vigilante life.

Then they knew Phantom. A dead ghost hero that was helping the Justice League and Young Justice to help them deal with the aftermath of the huge fallout caused by the GIW, Guys in White or rather Ghost Investigation Ward. And while Danny didn't know he had apparently worked with nearly his entire family and that time he knew it now. Which was awkward because he had pretty much pestered one of his elder brothers about his condition until Red Hood, aka Jason, let Phantom help him. Ancient, things might get awkward if that secret is lifted. He had done a lot of things Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Orphan and Robin had scowled him for. Thankfully they only thought of him as a dead teen hero and didn't know what a Halfa was. So they didn't make the connection, and he had yet to meet Signal, aka Duke as Phantom.

Now came the third identity, which totally did not happen by his choice. After all officially he hadn't accepted the throne yet and would only get it once he was dead dead not half dead. To bad ancient texts don't care about formalities. So when trouble hit the fan really hard the Justice League Dark had the bright Idea of getting some other worldly help. Which in other words was summoning the Ghost King. Oh boy, was it fun to learn that way that Danny could get summoned against his will. Clockwork did not give him that warning when he told him about the future of his afterlife. But best of all? Oh he doesn't get summoned as Phantom which would have made things maybe a bit easier, oh no. Life wasn't easy. He got someone's in some as a super weird black-green mass of a formless eltrich body with sharp teeth, claws and glowing green eyes with no pupils or irises. Hell Danny even scared himself when he saw his own reflection in a window and he didn't have a single idea how to change his form.

Let it be known that Danny acted then on purpose like he didn't know a single person in that room he had been summoned in right out of his bed and that he wasn't staring at his adoptive father like he needed help who interpreted his stare as the ghost king sizing him up. And Danny knows this because Dick had a good laugh about that at the dinner table with the rest of his siblings.

Now a smart person would probably come clean to his family and explain to them the three identities they knew him under and how they are connected.

To bad Danny wasn't 'smart' when it came to things like that. No in his panic and newfound awkwardness of the situation of what he had done on separate occasions with his identity as Phantom AND Ghost King, he decided to keep acting like he didn't knew them personally like the truely does. Really how hard could that be? Besides he liked the way his family treated him now. He didn't want to get treated differently because he was half dead, or a Ghost King. He liked that his family was treating him as plain old Danny who had an obsession with space and was their quirkily little brother with powers.

So that gave him even more incentive to keep the act up. Even if it was hard at times, especially if he got summoned out of nowhere. It would be easier if he could get a hang of the duplication power. He even had played with the thought of getting one of his ghost rogues to help but his family was perceptive. Maybe not perceptive enough to realise that all three identities were one and the same person but they would notice if Danny acted just slightly different or if Phantom was more of then usually. But somehow he still managed to keep it up.

But it was the hard way that he learned, Danny was bad at doing the 'talking' and realized that maybe Jazz was right and he was going to slip up one day causing huge misunderstandings like right now.

He stared down at Batman and Nightwing in his Ghost King form. Red Hood had his guns pulled on him, Wonder Woman and Superman looked like they where going to try to pull back Batman any second now while Nightwing, maybe at first was going to try to calm down the bat but Danny was pretty sure the eldest bat kid was now fiercely glaring at him too. He was also pretty sure the only reason he didn't see Red Robin or Robin threaten him too was because their super friends were somehow holding them back. For their own or his safety he doesn't know at the moment.

Because apparently the Bats did not fear fighting otherworldly beings to protect one of their own.

"What did you just say about Danny Fentons death?!" Batman grunted out and Danny just knew his adoptive father was glaring at him. Ancients Danny cursed his brain to mouth filter right now. As he had the collective hero scene before him staring at his Ghost King form. Would this be a good or bad moment to come completely clean or maybe he should find some kind of philosophical bullshit of 'All things death belong to him'....

[solar-wing]

⚣ Remember 🥷🏻

⚣🥷🏻A/N → This was a bit of a challenge for me for some reason. Maybe it's because we still don't know how exactly Jason died or what he was like when he was on the team so I had to go off what we know about Jason already. Plus, the fact that he doesn't have his memories really got my creative juices flowing. I did not proofread thus like the others cause I'm trying to focus on finishing my other fics. Also, here it is again for you @acoustickitten Anyways... WARNINGS: Emotion & Angst, Mentions of Death, NSFW warnings included on Patreon NSFW Version Here👈🏽

⚣🥷🏻Summary → When Jason died, your world fell apart. You and he had a special bond that you didn't share with anyone else on the team. So, when the chance to be reunited with him came as an invitation to Ra's Ah Ghul's island, you quickly took the chance to be with your old teammate, friend, and crush. Only you didn't expect to find him different than you remembered.

⚣🥷🏻Words → 4.2k

REBLOGS and replies are greatly appreciated, please! 💛

⚣ ENJOY 🥷🏻

You were so glad you hadn’t given up.

When your previous team appeared on Infinity Island to rescue their friends, the Red Hooded Ninja battled with Nightwing, your old leader and friend. Ra’s ordered you to stay out of sight, as he didn’t want your former teammates to know you were here yet. Your mission was too important for them and yourself. So, you watched from one of the windows as your friends fought with your League allies.

Back in 2013, you had been recruited to the team by the Justice League when they discovered you on the streets of your city fighting crime with your meta-abilities. You could see into and read people’s thoughts, much like Miss Martian. Except your powers seemed to be stronger, seeing that you had the ability to control and enter someone’s mind at will and manipulate their thoughts. Along with flight force-field manipulations, you were quite the adversary. So when Batman, Captain Marvel/Shazam, and Black Canary showed up one day to offer you the chance to use your powers in a team environment, you figured, why not?

You were alone, having lost your family at a young age, and your adoptive family wasn’t much better, seeing you and your abilities as freaky. They just wanted to get whatever money they could off of you. So you accepted their offer and took on the mantle of ‘Psicon.’ Besides, living in the Cave was awesome. The Team was way more welcoming, and you felt like a part of a family for the first time, growing a special relationship with one of the members, Jason Todd, aka Robin.

Both of you and Jason had similar backgrounds and connected from that. The team often joked that the saying was true opposites attracted because you two couldn’t be more different from each other. Strong in your own rights, you were reserved, while he was outgoing. You thought with a slow, calculative mind, and he was impulsive. You were no pushover, but you mostly kept your thoughts to yourself, whereas he was very outspoken.

But, you found joy in your differences with each other. You shared similar interests and grew a strong bond. Over time, your feelings became less platonic and more romantic, which your friends loved to tease you for. Dick, Kid Flash, aka Wally, and Artemis mainly, before the latter two left the team for college. 

You hadn’t known if Jason felt the same towards you, but Dick encouraged you since the two had a special relationship, both being Batman’s sidekicks and sharing the mantle of Robin. Not at the same time, of course. When Dick picked up the mantle of Nightwing, Jason had become the new Robin.

You were planning to confess your feelings to Jason but never got the chance. 

A mission you weren’t on had gone left, and though you never found out what had went wrong, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened when everyone had returned except for Jason. Dick tried to comfort you as he felt your pain, along with Batman, but it did little to help. You were heartbroken. 

Jason was the only one who knew your history, as you hadn’t told anyone else. He knew some of your deepest secrets and insecurities had helped you through dark moments, and now he was gone. And it wasn’t just for you, as your friends and teammates had noticed your impact on him.

Maybe that’s why some had joked about how Jason held a soft spot for you. He was always nice to you, of course. But, he always had a level of sass and bluntness he’d give others but never towards you. Your friends, even Bruce, had mentioned how they saw that you’d tapped into a more gentle side of Jason none of them ever could see or would be allowed to see, at least.

So, no. Dick couldn’t understand where your pain. No one could. 

After that, a distance grew between you and the team since everyone refused to tell you what had happened. Then, in 2015 a little over a year later, Batman recruited a new Robin, Tim Drake, and you had fucking lost it at that point.

Furious at Bruce and Dick for being so willing to replace Jason, you went off on them, feeling they had dishonored him. Your teammates tried to calm you down, but your fury had been on a different level none of them had seen before. Even Conner was unsettled at the rage spilling off you, being considered the literal definition of anger issues himself. It was safe to say you had no relationship with Tim. While you weren’t hostile or bitter towards him, you had no incentive or want to build a friendship.

At some point, you received a mysterious envelope. Where it came from, you didn’t know, but what was inside it had your attention immediately. It was a letter asking for your aid in an important matter. And whoever wrote it apparently had particular need of your ‘talents.’ You were prepared to ignore it until you saw another note inside, only it wasn’t a note at all. It was a picture, a recent one.

Jason.

He was alive. You could tell cause he looked a bit older than the last time you saw him. Though, just by looking at the picture, you could see something was off. That usual egotistic but confident spark you always noticed in his eyes wasn’t there. Both the corners of his mouth were straight instead of one side upturned up a bit, leaving him with his natural smirk. 

In truth, his blank gaze at the camera caused an unsettled chill to go through you. It was as if you were looking at a ghost of Jason instead of an alive one.

But it was him.

He was alive somewhere, and after so long of only feeling hollow and numb where your heart should be, you felt it stirring in your chest again.

You didn’t know if the others knew, and you weren’t planning on telling them. You’d contemplated leaving the team for some time, and Tim’s recent addition only made that decision easier for you. So the next day, when everyone was asleep, you packed your clothes and disappeared that night, not saying goodbye to anyone.

That’s how you ended up with the League of Shadows and the Al-Ghul family on their island. When you saw Jason for the first time, you wanted to run to him, hug him, and sob into his shoulder. Part of you didn’t believe he was alive, needing hard proof of living flesh in front of your eyes. Truly enough, even looking at him, your mind still couldn’t believe he was there. He still had that strange blank look on his face, though. When you first entered the room, he stared at you, which creeped you out even more now that it was in person.

You found out Ra’s and his family were the ones who recovered Jason’s body and had used the infamous Lazarus Pits to revive him, and while the pit’s healing and life-restoring abilities did that, there were consequences. He explained that the Pit tampered with Jason’s mind, sending him into a feral and almost animalistic state, and though they tamed him, his mind was scattered, and memories were gone.

That’s where you came in. Your telepathic abilities had been recognized exceptionally for their strength, surpassing M’Gann’s powers. With your ability to enter and manipulate minds, Ra’s suspected you could restore Jason’s memories, bringing him back to himself.

At first, you were unsure since you didn’t know the consequences that could come if you tampered with his thoughts. When you’d voiced these concerns, Jason had turned his head to you, a curious gaze replacing his blank expression. Ra’s and Talia observed, speechless as he made his way to you, head tilting in confusion as he stared into your eyes. You didn’t move, watching his hand come up to your face and one of his fingers slowly caressing down your cheek.

“Psi…con.”

It was your turn to be speechless. You felt tears come to your eyes and shut them, attempting to hold yourself together. It was too much. Clenching your fists at your side, you choked on a gasp as you forced yourself not to cry. Even Talia felt a bit emotional at the sight of your grief, though she didn’t show it, remaining poised as ever.

“Ah, it would seem your presence has already triggered a spark in his mind. You two must have had a significant connection for him to recall your name.” Ra’s pointed out, eyeing you with an intrigued look.

It didn’t take much convincing after that.

“I’ll do it.” You stated with no hesitation in your voice.

That same smile Ra’s held when you agreed was the same one on his face now in 2019 as you and Talia holding baby Damian had come out just in time to see the Bio-Ship flying off to hear Jason uttering “Gray…son” in a slow, and almost zombie-like speech.

You had begun to lose hope. Jason, now the Sensei’s Red-Hooded Ninja, was trained as a guard and protector. He was no longer of a feral and animalistic sense of mind but more of a living, mindless zombie, understanding and taking directions well. However, the sessions he had with you were not making much progress. 

Every time you’d gotten close to having a breakthrough or found what you thought was a crack in the haze around his mind when working, you got shut out. It was as if something was trying to keep you from getting to Jason’s inner mind and releasing his memories, and you didn’t think there would be much you could do anymore, as nothing seemed to be working.

So, expectedly, you felt your heart pause and your body still when you heard him. Barely feeling like you could move, tears had once again come to your eyes at hearing the first word in the four years you’d worked in healing Jason’s mind.

“Ah, your memory is finally returning. Excellent.” Ra’s said before he turned in your direction, nodding for you to come to his side. “Your work is starting to pay off. I’m aware of your frustrations in this quest, but tonight has proven your efforts are not in vain. I want you to continue your sessions more frequently. This could be the start of him fully regaining his mind.” You nodded your head before turning back to walk inside, Jason trailing behind you from Ra’s order.

He followed you to your room, where you went inside and rummaged through your drawers before finding the desired items. You turned to see him standing in the middle of the room, the red glow from his robotic eye mask bright in the moonlight from your window.

“Please, sit.” You asked.

In your sessions with him, you always spoke with a gentle tone. You didn’t want to command or order him around like the others. You communicated with Jason as you always had before, hoping it’d bring familiarity and comfort. Over time, it seemed to work. Jason notably sought you out whenever something distressed him. For whatever reason unbeknownst to you, this had pleased Ra’s.

Even if you were having little success restoring Jason’s mind, Ra’s had noted that while everyone else had Jason’s obedience, you held something more precious, his loyalty and trust.

Tonight, you hoped you’d found what you needed to achieve that first and ultimate objective. When your old teammates showed up, and you watched Nightwing and Jason battle, it reminded you of the old days before he had died. You three goofing around in the control room during sparring and training.

After hearing him utter Nightwing’s name and thinking back to the first time he uttered your old superhero name, it hit you like a ton of bricks. 

Those moments were all triggers for Jason. Things that evoked emotion and nostalgia from him, like when someone smells a dish their grandparent used to make when they were a kid or hearing a song that reminded them of a special moment. 

It made you remember a comment Jason once made about how when you talked, it calmed him. He said how he found your voice relaxing and that he could just listen to you speak about whatever, and it would bring him peace. Not really knowing what he meant by it, you remembered very well how it made you feel and how it still makes you to this day.

Thinking back to the night you came to the island, you realized Jason hearing your voice had been his first trigger, which helped him remember your retired name. Fighting with Dick brought back the nostalgic feeling of when he used to spar with him in the control room, helping him remember his name.

So, you intended to create more triggers. Whatever prevented you from fully accessing Jason’s mind and releasing his memories was obviously weak to emotional pulls. Those pulls could come from anything that held a feeling of significance or nostalgia in his memories.

Grabbing what you needed, you joined Jason on the ground, crossing your legs before placing everything in front of him. You had a small collection of Jason’s things he’d given you or stuff you had borrowed from him and forgotten to give back. You had some of his favorite books, old batarangs, and even one of his eye masks from his Robin costume.

He looked at everything on the ground, picking some things up and observing them before placing them back down.

You’d tried this tactic before, but with your discovery, you figured maybe there was something you needed to do or say to help spark something. Jason thumbed through some books and messed with the Batarang a little, but you had to be careful since you weren’t sure if it was one of the ones that could explode.

When he picked up the eye mask from the Robin costume, his head tilted while looking at it before turning to you and holding it between his hands, making you grin at his adorable confusion.

“It’s your old mask. It goes over your eyes. Here, I’ll show you.” You explained, holding your hand out, allowing him to place it in your hand.

You brought it up to your face and put it on before showing him, “See? Like the one you have on, it goes over your eyes.” You said.

Jason stared back at you before he looked down and pointed at the space next to you. Realizing what he was asking, you nodded, “Yeah, you can sit next to me.” You expressed, patting the spot next to you

He got up before moving to the spot and placed himself back down before turning to look at having to tilt his head down slightly. He pointed to the mask on your face, silently asking for it. When you took it off and handed it to him, he just looked down at it, turning it to study it from all different directions.

“Do you want me to help you put it on?” You offered.

He turned his head to you, that glowing robotic mask staring at you before you saw him slowly nod. Turning your body to face him a bit more, you reached your hands up slowly, “May I?” You asked, referring to his current eyewear.

He paused for a moment before nodding. Gently placing your hands on the sides of his head, you grabbed the mask and lifted it from his face, able to see his blue-green eyes, taking time to enjoy them since it was rare you ever got to see them. He rarely removed his mask, and only when you were doing intensive work with your telepathic powers on him did he sometimes remove it.

You were caught in his gaze as well as he was with yours. For a moment, it felt like you were back in 2013 before everything had gone wrong, and it was just you and Jason, staying up at night talking about anything and everything that came to your mind. The memories brought some tears to your eyes, and you were shocked to feel a finger come up to one of them. Jason was looking down at you, and though he mostly still held a blank expression, you could see underneath a bit of concern etched into his gaze.

“I’m okay.” You assured, or at least attempted to.

Wiping your eyes with the sleeves of your robes, you gave him a quick smile, which seemed to relax him. You hadn’t even noticed he was tense.

He turned back to look at the mask before slowly placing it on his face. A bit smaller now since he’s grown, it was like you were looking at him as the day you last saw him. You loved how his hair was still slightly curled over his forehead with the mask, not being able to notice it as much when he wore his ninja hood.

You raised your hand slowly to his face, pressing your palm against his ear. Whether or not he snuggled into your hand was totally not important and did not cause swooning in your gut.

Alright, you’re a liar. But you’ve been through a lot these past few years. You’re allowed to have this moment.

“Okay, Jason. We’re going to do what we do in every single session. But, this time. I’m going to project some of my memories into you. Is that okay?” You asked. Consent is key.

He nodded his head after a moment, training his eyes on you as you closed yours. He kept focusing on you while you channeled your memories into your hands to pass on to him. Eventually, he closed his eyes, welcoming your power into his head.

There were flashes of different moments from your past, all relating to you and him. Some were moments of you guys training together in the sparring room with Dick. There were times of you two together on missions, and one particular memory when Jason’s big mouth got you both into a less-than-desirable situation once again. But he managed to get you out of the sticky mess by using said big mouth again. That memory always brought a smile to your face. You remembered being so mad at him and then laughing at it like madmen when you returned to the Cave.

In each of these memories, Jason was wearing the mask. It was a part of his identity. Not just as Robin, Batman’s sidekick, but as Jason Todd. The boy who just wanted someone to care about him.

Suddenly, your head flooded with more memories, some you recognized as not your own. In your physical body, you could feel Jason tensing in front of you, shouting out in pain. It was working!

You managed to unlock part of Jason’s memories. Concentrating, you could see some of these moments from his past. And to your shock, they all seemed to involve—you. You saw the first day you’d met the team and Jason for the first time. You’d thought he was an obnoxious little twat, emphasis on the little since you were taller than him at that point, and you had voiced this thought as well. Over time, he caught up with you. And now, he’s got a few inches over you.

“Did this nobody just call me a little twat?”

That wasn’t your voice, nor was it your words. You did call Jason a twat that day, but you’d never call yourself a nobody.

You caught another memory of when you and he were with the team fighting against Dr. Ivo and Amazo. That fight left many bruises on your body since Ivo had decided to make some upgrades. When Amazo managed to get your powers and use them against you, it’d trapped you in your thoughts, torturing you with some of your worst memories. Jason pulled out of there while the others had managed to distract it long enough and eventually take it down. He’d overheard some of what you were crying out about and decided not to push.

When you had returned to the Cave, Jason followed you outside to get some air and think for a moment. You had warmed up to each other a little, and Jason had started telling you about his background and how he came to be Batman’s sidekick. After some contemplation, you told him about your past and how the Justice League found you. He had made a joke saying all you needed was the staircase and a letter from a white owl, and you could be the next Harry Potter.

You punched him in the arm for that joke,

“Hmm, kid’s not as bad as I thought he was. Packs a punch too.”

It took you a minute to realize, but you eventually got it.

These were Jason’s thoughts from those memories you were witnessing, his own inner dialogue. It was interesting to see some of the moments he found precious, things you had never even thought about before or remembered at the very least. And now, you were hearing it from his point of view. You used to always make a joke with him that you’d pay big money to know what he was thinking about sometimes.

“If he knew what I was thinking, I’m sure he’d either smack me or punch me, maybe both. Wouldn’t do anything except make him hotter.”

Pardon? Can we rewind that last part?

Did Jason call you hot? Like hot, as in attractive hot? Or, hot as in, ‘Ah! This bitch is burning. Get them away from me,’ hot?

Looking at Jason’s other memories with you, you could also feel some of his emotions from those precise moments. You felt annoyance from earlier thoughts, typically around the earlier parts of your relationship. Amusement at times when you and he would get into a silly argument. Or when you went on one of your excited rants about something. The further you got along in his mind, the more you felt his feelings change, becoming more intense. Curiosity turning into fondness. Admiration becomes the urge to protect.

A particular memory had caught your mental attention. One that you recognized was about a week before the mission that would ultimately lead to the end of Jason’s life. Dick and Jason were at their house, Wayne Manor, and they were talking while working in the Batcave.

“So, how’s everything between you and Zatanna?” Jason asked while practicing his kicks and punches on one of the training dummies.

“It’s good. She’s still a little upset over Nabu’s refusal to release her father’s body for no more than an hour, but she makes do with it.” Dick said, turning to face him from whatever he was doing on the Bat-Computer.

Things had gone quiet for a moment, Dick looking a little smug before he spoke up, “So, you and Y/N?” He smirked.

You felt a clench in your chest and didn’t know if that came from Jason or yourself.

“Shut up,” Jason said.

“I’m just saying, you two seemed to have gotten really close over the last few months. You’re actually considerate and somewhat respectful when you’re around him too.” Dick commented.

“Fuck you, and again. Shut up.” Jason responded.

Somehow, you could feel the small smile that formed on his face.

“You want my advice—”

“No.”

“Tell him how you feel and ask him out,” Dick continued, ignoring Jason. “And I’d do it soon. You didn’t hear this from me, but I’ve heard someone else on the team has eyes for Y/N too. So, if I were you, I’d hurry up and take my chances. You never know how long you have until it’s too late.”

An unpleasant toil in your stomach blossomed at that sentence, but you felt curiosity at the same time. You just didn't know if one or both feelings belonged to you or Jason. You did wonder who harbored feelings for you on the team though.

You couldn’t dwell on it any longer though when you were tackled to the ground, forced back to reality. Opening your eyes, you saw Jason on top of you, looking at you with another feral look, only it wasn’t the same as the one he had when you first arrived on the island. This one was wild but in an attractive way. His sea-like colored eyes staring back at you but with a darker look. It had you on edge but also ☀️feeling very hot with how he pinned your arms to the ground.

“I… l-lo– love … y-you.”

Your entire body froze as his head fell against your shoulder. Feeling his chest move against push against your back with his breathing, you could only turn your head slightly to stare at his before he turned to face you. The dark haze in his eyes was now gone, and his blue-green ears were staring back at you with the same adoration you’d always seen before whenever he looked your way.

He remembered you.

☀️ | DC Masterlist | ☀️

☀️ } Masterlists | ☀️

[fractualized]

Today in "I know we bust on comics a lot around here but there are still plenty of comics worth your time," I think Robin Lives is off to a promising start!

Also, I have to say, I found myself comparing it to Three Jokers. For one thing, it seems like much more of an examination of trauma than Three Jokers was purported to be. For another, while Three Jokers had me doubting that Geoff Johns really read The Killing Joke, Robin Lives feels like JM DeMatteis gives a crap about what actually happened in "Death in the Family."

But my petty grudges aside, here's what I liked about Robin Lives #1, with lots of spoilers. (And images of child murder and such, obviously.)

Unless there are shenanigans later, Joker definitely dies on the very first page.

Falls at Bruce's feet. Aw. :(

So this presents to us an instant mystery! Was Bruce responsible? Or was it Jason? Someone else entirely? Looks like the answer will be in three more issues. For now, we flash back to the aftermath of Jason's near-death.

DeMatteis deals with Joker's infamous ambassadorship by simply… taking it away. Which is pretty funny to me.

"Honestly, we were coming off a pretty wild party when we made that decision. Who knows what we were thinking? Hahaha, no hard feelings, right— What's that gas??"

I should note the narration in the purple box, which starts before this scene. Halfway through the issue, we learn that this story is being narrated by Dr. Saraswati Dev (aka Sara), a trauma doctor that Bruce hires for Jason. As we read what happens in this deviation from canon, she examines how we should view people who do such terrible things when their own lives and actions are affected by mental illness, their own trauma, and so on. It's an admittedly blunt story-telling tactic, spelling out the nuance for the reader, but I don't mind it, and it tells us that this version of Jason's story won't end cleanly.

Sara also clearly knows much more about Batman and his sidekicks than the average civilian, which raises the question of how she gets so involved in their lives. I'm hoping it's not because she becomes a love interest… but then again if that's presented as one of Bruce's screwed up mistakes, that has potential!

Anyway, as reviewed in a previous post, Joker was uneasy about killing Jason from the start, and that doesn't change in this version. When Bruce rescues the Iranian representatives, Joker tries to downplay what he did.

Hee hee, "Batsy-boo."

Joker can't escape for long, though.

And I have to pause here to note that this scene is reminiscent of the climax in the "Going Sane" storyline, which DeMatteis also wrote.

[Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #68]

There are differences in the scenarios, of course, but the other thing about "Going Sane" is that Joker/Joseph repeatedly refers to the urge to return to his former self as drowning.

[Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #66]

So in Robin Lives, it adds an extra kick when Bruce overturns Joker's boat and then stands by as Joker drowns.

Oh god that feeling when your secret fears come to fruition

But don't worry!

This is all an interesting variation "Death in the Family." Then, in his grief, Bruce was constantly fluctuating on if he was going to kill Joker, and his eventual attempt was trapping Joker in a crashing helicopter. In Robin Lives, he seems ambivalent too, again engineering the circumstances for Joker to die but not being an entirely active participant, and also not angry at Clark for rescuing him. (Speaking of which, Clark sure as heck didn't rescue Joker from the original helicopter incident. I guess he's ambivalent in his own way!)

So Joker is returned to Arkham Asylum, where Bruce talks to the current director, Dr. Benjamin Stoner (who evidently really was the director at the time but also a literal agent of chaos??? OK I guess I'll keep that in mind). Stoner pushes back on Bruce's assessment of the Joker.

At the time, Bruce vanishes, but as we see in the narration when Bruce faildads hard with a recovering Jason, he later seems to reflect on Stoner's words along with Jason's.

Jason appears at the start of the issue in the hospital, but we finally get into it with him in the second half. He keeps withdrawing from Bruce and Alfred, so Dick appears to provide some emotional support.

The page already notes that, no, this chat is not going to be enough to get Jason back to baseline. But it's also darkly hilarious that Dick thought it would be, especially keeping in mind that the implication is that this is the only time Dick comes over, and it's after Jason has been listless for some time. It's almost like this whole family is bad at feelings.

But Bruce does finally hire a professional, our narrator.

Of course, Jason overhears their discussion and thinks Bruce is planning to send him away.

Ouch.

Jason decides to prove that he's totally fine, actually, by saving a gala from Scarecrow by himself. Did you guess that he gets hit with fear toxin? Because yeah, they always get hit with fear toxin!

Oh my god he just wanted his mom to save him 😭

OH GOD FOR A SECOND I FORGOT IT WAS FEAR TOXIN

I should take a second to jump back and note that Jason imagining Joker getting one right between the eyes, just like we saw at the start, feels like a solid indication that in the end, he will definitely be Joker's killer... but, well, you really don't know until it happens.

So Jason is out of commission, but before Scarecrow can kidnap him for interrogation, Batman finally shows up. Bruce beats the everloving crap out of Crane, obviously still consumed with anger about what happened in Ethiopia. The freaking cops have to ask him to stop.

And then the final page is just more of the saddest of sadtimes.

I do love that first narrative detail in the top panel. Bruce is feeling angry and guilty but also humiliated and ashamed. He knows Jason is a vulnerable kid who needs help, but as always, Jason also represents Bruce's personal failures. He couldn't get Jason to do exactly as he was told. He couldn't protect Jason from harm. He couldn't maintain the image of Batman as invulnerable, not with this terrified boy shaking on the ground. Bruce does not have control.

It's very human, and it's a key ingredient in whatever disaster is to come. Even if we didn't have Sara's final questions in the last two panels, we can already tell that Bruce is going to continue to make not-great choices.

I've already ordered #2, and I'm looking forward to reading what DeMatteis has in store in the next three issues. Barbara has to make an appearance, right? And she'd be a great candidate for the shooter...

[alchamy34]

JayBabs makes more sense and here's why:

Since I made a post about wonderbat, I feel like I should explain my second favorite ship in DC. That is villain/anti hero Red Hood with Batman's most loyal sidekick with and without the wheelchair Batgirl/Oracle.

These two are actually popular like Zutara (Zuko x Katara) and I'll say why.

This ship is more than the classic bad boy x goodie two shoes.

Jason Todd aka the second robin is the most emotional, as I realized current Robin's Lazarus tournament comic. He's got serious trauma, I don't really need to say why...but to uncultured individuals I will.

Jay was already brutal yet cocky before being beaten up with a crowbar by the Joker and then blowing him. He was resurrected and became super messed up. And a murderer. Rocking the biker alternate outfit of the original red hood turned clown prince. Deadly, terrifying and cold blooded. He ain't the former Robin you'd mess with.

Barbara Gordon aka the first modern batgirl aka one of DC'S best disabled superheroes. Smart, kind, agile and vigilant. She is awesome, and I love most of her versions, but not the killing joke movie and batman the animated series. And not batman beyond.

Babs is a tough yet gentle feminist. This redhead is the perfect role model. The daughter of Commissioner Gordon, skilled fighter with diverse forms and a photographic memory. Was still cool while in the wheel chair as the bat family and birds of prey hacking weapon.

So the obvious reason for this ship is that they can relate to each other because of Joker. And that they can both be hot headed. Jason acts differently to Barbara unlike with the other members of bat clan. Barbara can actually change him. Jason is good for Babs. He's there for her, will kill anyone who hurts her.

Not to mention Jaybabs fanfics are more steamy than a lot of DickBabs stuff. I like jaybabs because of its potential. And its hilarious on certain platforms.

Its sometimes enemies to lovers, friends to lovers or fluffy banter. I'd be lying if I said I don't read the steamy content. They're good for each other.

[punkeropercyjackson]

HM How do i put this.So people often think 'punk' and 'asshole' are synomyous and this causes problems when it comes to character interpretations(and irl too ofc but that's for a future post).Now i'm not saying you can't be punk and an asshole because that would be absolutely stupid and just incorrect but the latter does not make the former and you shouldn't force anyone to when they're not even if they're fictional since how you treat characters who're part of a group reflects how you think of the irl one

I'm gonna use the example that prompted this post:Spiderpunk aka Hobie Brown.Hobie is often characterized as mean-spirited and perverted because he's explicitly meant as the embodiment of black punks but the thing is,in the actual movie and og comics,Hobs is an incredibly sweet and gentle person and if you think i'm being ridicilous for saying that about the dude who kills fascists and runs his mouth all the time,consider that direct action is not an act of cruelty but kindness towards oppressed people by helping them have a safer world and that Hobie's only actually rude to authority figures and with everyone else he's just goofy.He's also pretty open with how much he loves his friends and always has their backs and i find it very odd how often he gets assumed to be an extremely sexual person when there were never even any under the radar adult jokes about or by him and the smoker headcanon for him is baseless too and pretty obviously only happens for sex appeal

And that's a general problem with both canonical and popularly headcanon punk characters-Most fandom members think punk is 1.Exclusively male and 2.Inherently made to make yourself attractive.There's nothing wrong with finding punk men super hot but there IS a lot wrong is assigning punkhood to them with that intention alone,especially often the characters are not only just EdgyTM but also straight up fascists(Hp and Marauders Flop Era 'kinnies',please touch grass)

This leads to defanging of punk female characters.Katara is a classic example and Zuko is a rich boy with weird biases he's very open about that didn't fade until adulthood while Katara is an eco-terrorist who reclaims girlhood for herself by being anti-traditionalist and feminine in her own way yet Zuko is always the punk of the Gaang in aus.Stephanie Brown and not a girl but Duke Thomas are a poor woman who grew up friendless and abused by her dad and had a drug addict mom so she became a vigilante at 14 to help people like her and is implied to be a metalhead and a black boy who grew up getting kicked out schools and in and out of foster homes and joined a gang of crime fighters respectively but Stephanie is called scene instead(cause pastel punks don't exist right /s)and Duke is turned a meek black boyloser stereotype so that Jason Todd can be the punk Batkid instead,which is certainly......a choice seeing as Under The Red Hood is basically about him doing freestyle death penalty and is not actively an activist even if he does enjoy helping people and does whenever he has the opportunity to by narrative.Very important sidenote is that Stephanie and Duke are often entierly erased from Batman fan content despite being Jason's Batgirl and Robin and i think you can guess why(that obviously the coolest Batkid has to be the fan favorite white boy /s x2)

And i feel the need to include this one due to my url and that is Percy Jackson.Percy is representation for audhd and dyslexic people who can never mask and got bullied and abused for it but remained kind against all world's cruelty and choose to help others since they wanted the world to be like that to them as a kid instead but they ALSO aren't a pussy about it so they openly stand up to corrupted people and refuse to be like them no matter how hard they try to get them to and they openly hate them for what they're like and they act like a parental figure to younger minorities.Their creator stated he never inteded Percy as being bisexual and has no interest in it but he also said he'd be happy and supportive of Percy being played by a poc one day and within the books Percy is extremely transfem-coded so obviously the fandom pops several blood vessels when literally any of this is aknowledged because they read the wrong books and wanted a white male power fantasy in ancient greek gays flavor

You can be super nice and punk because punk is a subculture,not an entire personality type.And i hate to break it to edgecases on here but being super mean to people without a justified reason because you think it's cool or finding irresistibly hot on others is one of the most normal things you can do

[laufire]

14. orpheus/eurydis/jayeddie 👀

This one needs some backstory ^^U

Jayeddie is the ship portmanteau of Jason Todd and Eddie Bloomberg, aka Kid Devil/Red Devil. Eddie was the sidekick of Blue Devil, a reluctant superhero, former stuntman fused to a demon suit (comics xD), later reincarnated into a demon (???).

Circa 1985, Blue Devil #19 was published.

"pen-pal wonder" añsdlfkjasdf.

The comic shows various Kid Devil misadventures. The last one shows that he's pen-pals with Robin; they write back and forth talking about the cases they're struggling with, and realise they're connected. Jason flies to Los Angeles, and they deal with them, parting as friends.

Now, technically, this happened "pre-crisis", aka, with a previous and quite different version of Jason. It wouldn't be canon for post-crisis Jason (aka the one who stole the Batmobile's tires, was murdered, resurrected, etc.). EXCEPT this is a panel from Teen Titans vol. 3 #42, in 2007!

(Geoff Johns knew about this obscure as fuck fact but could not be bothered to portray Jason's Teen Titans appearances with any accuracy rme)

This means Eddie is the only peer robin!Jason knew and was friends with in his time. He's also like, the only person from his past that gives him any grace, as seen here (I'm not saying Jason makes it easy for the others lol, but it's worth-noting!).

Aaaaand they never reunite or have their friendship mentioned again. Ofc.

Now, this issue of Titans also tells us about how Eddie went from regular human sidekick to gaining his own devil-like powers.

To gain them, he basically makes a deal with the devil: if his trust on his mentor Blue Devil is broken, when he reaches the age of 20, his soul will go to Neron, serving him. Eddie takes the deal because, even if often he doesn't like Blue Devil, he's confident he can always trust him.

That's the moment Neron reveals that Blue Devil is indirectly guilty of Eddie's aunt's death (his only caretaker as a kid), and knowingly kept that information from Eddie. Which means Eddie is doomed!

I only know information about Eddie after this second-hand: he gets free from his deal by losing his powers a couple of times (?), at one point he meets a future, soulless version of himself...

My point is, the combination of that past friendship that against all odds he still remembers fondly + the devil's bargain gave me an idea about Jason helping Eddie with his deal/freeing him from Hell. It's in its embryo stage, and I want to read more Eddie comics first, but I'm excited about this one.

ask me about my wips!

[sassylittlecanary]

Cynicism and God Complexes: Thoughts on Batman v Superman

There’s good stuff about this movie. Clark and Bruce are especially well cast, some of the costumes are pretty, Wonder Woman is there, etc. But as for the rest? I just rewatched this film, and here’s my two cents.

Bruce's Characterization

I appreciate how the beginning shows Bruce’s compassion for people (especially kids), but then it’s … not really relevant ever again? What Batman does to the sex traffickers is certainly satisfying, but it's also more in line with Huntress or Red Hood’s tactics (which comics!Bruce hates). So, by making him more like Frank Miller’s Batman (aka the Punisher in a cape -- seriously, The Dark Knight Returns had horrendous characterization and we should not be basing movies on it), it erases everything about his character that defines him as Batman, which is VERY relevant in comics batfam dynamics. Furthermore, there's the moment when the media is criticizing the bat brand, and Bruce says, "They’re criminals, Alfred — they’ve always been criminals. Nothing’s changed.” This is not who Bruce is! This is not his mindset! Where is the Bruce Wayne who gets a former villain a job at Wayne Enterprises and works toward reform and doesn't see anyone as a lost cause?

There's also the question of the dead Robin (not that you can really tell it’s a Robin costume because it's freaking BROWN) who is probably Jason Todd, which makes Bruce's characterization here even more implausible. Bruce didn’t kill his arch nemesis (who’s still alive and played by Jared Leto) who tortured and murdered his teenage son, but sure, he’ll kill Superman happily!! I call BS.

Clark's Characterization

This film is all about fear of Superman, and this is best personified by Bruce and Alfred's perspective — that Kal-El is a god coming down from the sky who could reign terror on the earth and answers to no one. Sure, they’re unreliable narrators, but this narrative still ruined many people’s perceptions of Superman. Despite scenes showing Clark’s kindness, fear of Superman (plus the idea that we SHOULD be afraid of him) is woven throughout the entire film. The entire point of the Knightmare sequences is fear of Superman. Even if they’re simply meant to demonstrate Bruce’s paranoia, they still serve to instill fear of Superman in the audience as well. (Also the Knightmare sequences are literally just Injustice ripoffs and I HATE IT. Literally the worst thing to take inspiration from for a Superman movie.) It's noteworthy that Superman's first appearance shows him looking scary and imposing. That's the image many people remembered.

Also, the core of Clark's character is that he cares about people. He does literally everything in his power to protect them. The idea of him allowing (or causing) destruction to befall innocents just so he can save Lois is ludicrous. Actually, the (heavily Injustice inspired) idea throughout the DCEU that Clark prioritizes Lois over other innocent people is awful. Clark cares about all of humanity — whom he lives among and is not isolated from  — not just Lois. (Also, while I love the tenderness in their relationship, it's just not a Lois & Clark relationship. Where is the banter? The flirtation? These two are cute together, but they were also made into a very generic couple.)

Additionally, I hate Superman as a Christ figure, and I hate the "he's a god among mortals!!" narrative. Y'all. This is post-Crisis. John Byrne got rid of that. We've moved past this.

The Villain

I hate Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. I get that he’s Luthor Jr, but still. He’s kinda just playing the Joker without makeup. He’s just pathetic and annoying and I cringe when he’s on screen. It's honestly embarrassing that every other actor who has played Lex Luthor was both more menacing and more compelling. 

The Tone

Beyond a doubt, this movie's fatal flaw is how bleak and cynical it is. The tone, the characterization, the very premise, and even the color scheme are so cynical. It takes all the fun and meaning out of the genre. Thanks for turning these inspiring and beloved characters into another sad soulless action movie!! Love you Zack 😘

Also, the beginning bothers me. Bruce doesn't like Clark because of all the violence he causes -- except comics!Clark cares about protecting civilians. It's just that Zack Snyder followed the 2010s action flick trend of adding tons of gratuitous, gritty violence, and now BvS is reckoning not with the characters' actions, but with Snyder's directorial choices from Man of Steel. Which is lame and I hate it.

Snyder's choices in general just bother me. He literally took one of the brightest, most colorful, most fun genres ever and was like “Actually, what if everything was DARK and BROWN and SAD.” And you know what? I do not vibe with that. Not everything has to be Game of Thrones.

Honestly, all this cynicism and moralizing would've been more suited to an Authority film than one about the DC Trinity.  I don’t WANT a dark and realistic take on Superman and how people might view him. I don’t want a movie where Superman is put on trial or burned in effigy! I want a movie where Superman saves people and brings joy and hope to the world. I want my kind and inspirational beacon of hope. I want the hero whom children adore and adults admire. Give me a real superhero movie, not a hopeless grimdark action movie with superhero characters.

[disniq]

Season 1, Episode 2, “Hawk and Dove”.

Joy.

We are introduced to Hawk, AKA Hank Hall, who is already captured and being tortured! Listen, I don’t often side with torturers, but he probably deserved it.

Dove, AKA Dawn Granger, saves his ass and then we get a gratuitous bathroom shot because Alan Ritchson is hot, and also to show that the superhero life fucks you up, kids.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really understand what their plan is here? They’re taking out arms dealers and stealing the money for themselves until they have enough to “retire”. Dude, you’re both in your 30s, just get a normal fucking job that isn’t destroying your body and mind, maybe?

(This is a recurring theme with these two. They talk about quitting, one of them goes back on it, they fight, they make up, they talk about quitting… It’s a whole thing.)

Dawn is so pretty, fuck me.

She rescued him and plays nurse afterwards? Dawn, honey, he does not deserve you. He can't even fuck.

Flashback time, and Dickie-boy is hanging out with the Bad Kids against Batman’s orders. (I say “Kids”. All of these people are in their twenties at least. And, also. This is four years ago, but in s2 they say the og Deathstroke stuff is four years ago. Don't think to hard about the Titans timeline, good lord.)

DO LIKE; the fight choreography here! Dick is all flippy acrobat but Hawk and Dove are like pro fucking wrestling lol.

DO NOT LIKE; this weird fucking love triangle, and I use the term “love” extremely loosely. Poly supremacy man, you all have bird names and a shit ton of fucking issues, you could all be each others problems instead of inflicting yourselves on others <3

(oh my god, I’ve only just hit the titlecard. This episode is *so* long)

(Or maybe it's just that I find it incredibly boring.)

I'm sure that's not relevent

Dick is taking Rachel to Hank and Dawn, so he calls Alfred for some money to… pay them to keep her?

(on a related note, there is such a frustrating interesting dissonance between what we are told and what we are shown in this show. We are told Dick has a rep for being great with kids, but he doesn’t really know what Rachel should be eating or watching at her age, and he tries to get rid of her the second he can. Rachel says she’s not a kid, and then the very next scene is her sprawled out on the bed surrounded by snacks. Rachel says she can tell when people are lying, but her "Mom" was lying to her her whole life?)

I’m trying really hard not to get too bitter too quickly here, but god the difference between how Dick treats an upset Rachel to how he later treats an upset Jason makes my heart hurt :(((

Oh, The Family are fucking creepy okay. It’s the heteronormativity.

Dick is a terrible fucking liar, omg.

Rachel: You’re gonna leave me too, aren’t you? Dick: Dick: Dick: Dick: No.

Dick introduces Rachel to Dawn, Rachel gets a little sneak peak of their former sex life as a treat. Awkward.

Ahaaaa

“I’m outta the life,” Dick says, like he didn’t put the Robin suit back on like. A day ago. (another tell vs show)

I do love when people say Dick’s name like the insult.

(Unfortunately, it’s Hank being an insecure macho fuck over Dawn “Sure, I cheated on you with him before, but it’s not like I’d do it again how dare you not believe me” Granger. They’re so unhealthy, fuck. And the manufactured melodrama is so bleugh.)

The Family ambush and torture Amy, and she somehow tells them where Dick is despite him literally never telling her. Because plot.

Astute readers may have noticed I'm not a big fan of Hank but idk folks, I just think maybe it’s a little tasteless to make a “pants off” joke (TWICE) about a character that has long term trauma from repeated childhood sexual assault :/

Okay, fuck, Dick is already making me work for that body count list.

OKAY.

He castrates the torture guy, stabs another guy in the eye with a birdarang and drops a guy from the ceiling. I’m pretty sure they’d all live, if be permanently disabled. BUT. The last guy, he throat punches and then hits in the head so hard with his own gun that there’s a huge fucking blood splatter on the window, so I am counting that as a half-kill.

I’m OuT oF tHe LiFe - Dick Grayson (definitely not wearing the Robin suit again. Nope.)

Ah, more meledorama.

Rachel finds the money and Dick’s custody arrangement letter. She is not happy about it. She shows Hank, who isn’t ever happy about anything.

And then The Family show up to kidnap Rachel, so problem solved I guess?

[More Titans Rewatch here :D]

[dailycass-cain]

Fare Thee Well Batman: Urban Legends

Batman: Urban Legends ended this week sadly with #23. So in memorial, I'm going to talk about this series as a whole, what I truly enjoyed most about it, and of course, talk about Cass within this series.

I'm really sad to see this series go. It was a comic that allowed a MASSIVE amount of Batman stories to be told here by creatives who probably wouldn't get the chance elsewhere on other Batman comics these days.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold appears to be filling the void (come May), but it feels more like more major talents trying their hands at stories there. Not clear risks as we saw here.

That's probably the one thing I enjoyed so much about this comic. That it gave new avenues for creators and characters (we got a freaking multi-part Ace story in this! ACE!) to be seen.  Even for twenty-three issues, the book saw spinoffs. Because of this comic, we got Batman Beyond: Neo-Year and Sword of Azrael. Along with ongoings such as... Deathstroke Inc, W.I.L.D.C.A.T.s, Tim Drake: Robin, and Batgirls. Who knows? Maybe we'll see concepts near the end sprout fruit later?

For Cass, it was nice seeing the character have a clear presence in the book both in use via the Bat Family (and I'll always be grateful for artists slipping her in 🙏)...

Along with appearing in various stories (she appeared in cameos when Oracle, Lady Shiva, and the BoP). Though, my personal favorites favorite appearances would have to be...

The holiday issue in #10 which was an inspired choice of the Batgirls being the Ghosts of Christmas. Though, I almost wish Steph got her old Batgirl costume as Cass and Babs had gotten theirs with the former appearing as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Along with the first CANON call out to Cass being adopted into the Wayne Family since-- 2009! It does have a few questionable moments, but I can't fault writer Tini Howard for going with that above and Cass's actual gift to Dick for the holiday season being SOO in character.

Likewise, artist Christian Duce's two variants of Cass (the ghost and real) were exceptional. Just a fun little story.

"Wild Card" in #5 while the ending never truly gave us any payoff in the main Batgirls series (or anywhere else sadly with Ryan Wilder).  The story by Marguerite Bennett and drawn by Sweeney Boo still has an exceptionally cute opening with Cass/Steph.

Sadly I just don't think the payoff in the end with Wilder was worth it (as well the character hasn't been seen since this issue). Which again, is the flaw of the book. Concepts are given and taken away.

#9 was probably the best main canon story of Cass we got in the series as whole with it being both the setup to Batgirls but really it just gave us the gift of Alyssa Wong writing Cass again (first writing the character in DC: the Doom & the Damned #1).

Wong just GETS the character of Cass and it was an absolute treat just seeing Cass be Cass. Where she's allowed to be in her element and see things you wish you saw more of.

Like in this issue working with Batwoman. Yes, it would've been nice to see a story of them mending, but still seeing them teaming up is a treat into itself.

Likewise, Wong hammering the idea that Cass was fully Batgirl again as many times they could on the panel.

Put Wong's stellar writing with exceptional art by Vasco Georgiev? 

*chef's kiss* 

 But the story I think I'll be forever grateful Batman: Urban Legends giving the character of Cass was #7 aka "Hunter... or Hunted" by Guillaume Singelin.

The story is probably the best single-issue story in the entire series and one of the best stories of the entire volume (I think the only ones that could surpass it is the opening six-issue arc "Cheer" with Jason/Bruce and "Dark Knight of Soul" with Azrael.

The story is just stellar from top to bottom giving Singelin the canvas to layer a gorgeously drawn and action-packed short story that starred Cass.

It's one of the best modern Cass stories and one that I reread now and again. Just to take in Singelin's style and just the utterly breathtaking action. I'm glad DC gave him another Batgirl (Steph) in the secondary tale in DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #1.

But man the one with Cass in #7?

So again thank you to all the creators who were in this book and thank you for the wonderful stories you gave us.

They shall not be forgotten. 🙏🙏🙏

Nor the idea of Batman: Urban Legends which I think is an idea that should be continued or carried on another day (online via DC Infinite service perhaps?)

If not then the book should be remembered for what it tried and at times did succeed at. To that...

[franticvampirereads]

Thank you for answering my ask....If you don't mind me asking (again), can I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Thanks....

I don’t mind at all! Thanks for the ask 😊

1. Kel from The Protector of the Small series. She’s always been a role model for me. She’s kind, she’s a badass, and she’s trying to make a difference for everyone.

2. Murderbot from The Murderbot Diaries. I love Murderbot because they are just so freaking relatable. They are anxious, kind of antisocial, and really just want to be left alone to watch their shows in peace.

3. Rune and Brand from The Tarot Sequence. I love the ragtag family that they created for themselves.

4. En and Ichii from the Fangs manga. I love them just because.

5. Tim Drake (aka Red Robin) from DC comics. I don’t know what it is about him, but he’s my favorite of the former Robin’s.

6. Jason Todd (aka Red Hood) from DC comics. Another favorite of the former Robin’s. I’m not sure what it is about him in particular, but I love him. Maybe it’s his love for reading?

7. Shizuma and Minato from the Therapy Game manga. They are idiots in love and I love them!

8. Mac from MacGyver (2016). Mac is so funny and relatable.

9. Troy and Harris from the Game Changers series. They are so freaking cute! Their book is very cozy and I loved getting to see them form a really strong connection before deciding to take the next step.

10. Mitch and Cody from the Stick Side series. I love that they have this almost queer platonic relationship thing going on. They are so much more than best friends. And I love that they are there for each other through thick and thin.

Thanks again for the ask! This was fun!

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

the why and the how they don't matter (focus on now)

by cryingpepperz When Dick comes home for some brotherly bonding, Jason places their movie options on shuffle, along with the ratings. How was he supposed to know Dick could get flashbacks from a damn horror movie? - (OR: the cat's out of the bag, Dick is just disappointed he had to break the nice TV screen while doing it. AKA where Jason - finally - finds out his big brother is a Talon.) Words: 5040, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 1 of cag's talon Dick Grayson series Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: Gen Characters: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth (mentioned) - Character Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Dick Grayson is a Talon, Former Talon Dick Grayson, Family Secrets, dick "hm now how do i tell them" grayson, no beta we die like robins, Good Older Sibling Dick Grayson, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent, he is my guy is just sleep deprived, Horror Movies, Light Swearing, Body Horror, Jason Todd is Robin, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Court of Owls, we love some scrawny lil brother jason dont we all?, BAMF Dick Grayson via https://ift.tt/zpCPAhQ

[goldengirl20]

Issue One: No Requiem In This Cold City

Wayne Manor

The orphan's home was located outside Gotham City in the community of Crest Hill in Bristol Township. The massive building had all the amenities one would expect of a billionaire's residence. Walking in you'd be greeted by the Wayne's trusted butler Alfred Pennyworth standing in the main stairway. If you'd be in luck, you'd get to see the more than just the spacious ballroom; the giant kitchen, personal bedrooms, luxurious bathrooms, a private gym, study and cinema...

And underneath the orphans's feet, sitting on the sofa in the well-equipped library, would've been a giant tunnel system. Until a few years ago, it still was one. Now it was a giant cave for his alter ego; The Batman.

Cruel yaps, violent snaps of bullets and busy bustling of the Gotham streets were far away from Wayne Manor. The only thing that disturbed the odd peace, of turning pages, scribbles on paper and the crackling of the fireplace was Dick's rhythmic tapping of a pen on a hardwood table.

Bruce's eyes glossed over him to the other young man sitting in front of the fireplace. In the dark light, Dick and Jason looked almost identical: jet black hair, muscular backs and the same look on their faces when they're hard at work: squeezed blue eyes, jaw set tight with rhythmic breaths coming out their noses. But looking closer, the two seemed to share more dissimilarities each passing second. Dick was older, but Jason was taller. Dicks hair laid in wild curls on his head. Jason's hair was cut merciless short, that everyone could see the scar connecting to his lips to his ear. Jason's blue eyes were light as the sky. Dick's deep like the ocean. He could've gone on forever.

The nights have been serene for Gotham. It made Bruce Wayne a billionaire, philanthropist and part-time vigilante, more nervous than calm. It didn't help that half of his family was out of town. Duke Thomas, aka Signal and Cassandra Cain, Batgirl were on the other side of the earth, working on a particular hard case. Selina Kyle, his Catwoman, was nearby, working on her own agenda. But he didn't feel like contacting her. Stephanie, Spoiler, insisted on watching Gotham alone today. "Don't stress, I won't make a mess!" she said with a wink. Bruce only accepted it with a grumble.

Bruce would never admit it out loud, but he was glad to have a free night. Free from galas, criminals or pumped up on fear gas, just for one night. And ever since Damian... Life hasn't been easy in Wayne Manor.

The thought that his son, his son, was no longer here made the air shallow. His scratchy cashmere turtleneck closed around his throat. The room seemed to shrink, and he was big and so heavy. Moving seemed impossible.

"Breathe, Bruce," he thought. "It's nothing but breathing. Come on."

Years of meditation and breathing techniques had nothing on grief.

Losing another son was left over paint drops on the hundred-year-old floors of the manor. Fights between brothers over who'd get to choose the music on a car ride. A vacant room filled with reminders of him. It was the unfinished homework still laying on his desk. Having to explain why he couldn't go home again. A katana losing its edge. It was the first snowman they build together, a cat curling up in his lap, the vacant seat at dinner.

Death was knowing they'll be no more comfort in things that once were so precious. Beautiful memories corrupted by pain. Death was all those years ago, a pearl necklace splattering broken over the alley. Death was the smell of fresh earth in the rain, a casket lowered seven feet below. Damian was dea- TSCHK!

The thunderous sound of porcelain breaking into thousands of pieces startled him out of his thoughts.

The new youngest bat, Theodosia, - the current—er, former Robin, slumped over her book with eyes half closed. Her mug that once held fresh coffee filled to the brim, laid at her feet in tiny bits, but didn't seem to bother her at all.

Dick was at her side in seconds. "You okay, T?" Dick asked worried, already bending to collect the biggest pieces.

Her tired eyes looked at the mess on the floor. Bruce could see them widen as she realized that she was responsible for the chaos. Her dark hair fell into her face, as she aided Dick. "Yeah," she muttered, "Sorry."

Dick laid the broken pieces on the table. He breathed through his teeth. One shard had caught in his index finger. With a quick movement, Thea helped him pull out the piece. Immediately, the cut began to bleed. Thick red drops ran down his finger onto his palm.

"Leave it, you two," Jason called, his voice echoing. Carefully placing a bookmark in his book, before jogging out of the library. "I'll get the broom. And Alfred." "Ouch," Dick laughed. He put his finger into his mouth and sucked the blood out of the cut. He looked like a vampire, desperate for a drop of his life essence. Bruce almost smiled at the absurdity of his thought.

Blood was an everyday occurrence. Bloody noses during training, fingers swollen red from swinging through half of Gotham, bleeding hearts after love.

"Sorry, sorry," Thea said, all weariness washed away.

"It's okay, it can happen." Dick shrugged, now inspecting the tiny wound. 

Jason came back with a broom in his hand with Alfred, trim and sporting his signature thin moustache, in tow. Alfred, already confronted with all kinds of situation, took a deep breath, straitening his back as he spoke in his dry British accent. "Oh dear, that was the third cup this month..."

Thea blushed before she stammered an apology.

"Oh, do not worry, Miss Drake," He winked. "Now come with Master Grayson. Let's take care of your fatal wound." Dick followed the trusted butler with quick steps, but not without sending Bruce a cheeky smile first. The heavy door squeaked as they walked out.

"Let me," Thea said to Jason, her hand already pulling on the broom. "This is my mess." Jason lifted the broom out of her reach. "No." "Come on now."

"Nope."

"Don't be annoying."

It was a funny picture; Jason Todd hovered over Thea Drake, at least two heads taller, twice her size in muscle, ominous and powerful. She tilted her head and looked up at him. As if it were yesterday, Bruce could remember when Jason came back. Driven by hate and revenge, he was out for blood. One of his victims along the way was Thea; she ended up a wretched bloody plump after crossing his way. Bruce pictured her laying on the floor. A floor full of shards, blood, used batarangs. Hair a mess, clutching her wounds, coughing up blood but standing her ground. The signature Robin "R", that she worked tooth and nail for, stripped from her chest.

"Do you think you're that good now?"

No hesitation. "Yes."

Jason might never get over the Robin title being stripped from him and given to a random girl, not even three months after his death. But Thea deserved Robin. And she got it taken away too. Now they're both older, stronger and smarter. Maybe even a little taller. He didn't like to admit that. And there was something like shared respect between the two.

Jason put his hand on her tense shoulder and his face softened into a warm smile.

"Thea, let me do it. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Thea seemed startled and touched at the same time. She would've been ready to argue some more, and Bruce caught himself thinking; "Maybe therapy does help..."

Finally, she gave in, stepping aside. "Okay, but I'm going to get another cup. And make sure Dick didn't bleed out."

"How many did you have already?" Suspicion was laced in Jason's voice as he swept. The porcelain clicked as it touched.

Thea hurried past Bruce, avoiding Jason's judgement. Bruce noticed that she was wearing a black t-shirt with a familiar red "S" emblem printed on it. Like her brothers, she had blue eyes. But they always seemed to know what he was thinking, always ready to crack the lock behind any closed door. And being there by his side whenever he called.

"Hey, Bruce," Jason called.

No answer.

Batman made the way free. Robin followed without question. Like always...

"Bruce?" he repeated.

Bruce's voice was hollow. "I'm going out."

"In this weather?"

But Bruce was already gone.

Gotham City

The city's relentless. Bustling streets, silent walkers, giant illuminated screens lighting up the night. Towers build up to the sky and higher. But tonight, only ghosts and insane people were out haunting. Amid broken cobblestone, cracks in the walls and the polluted sky were Batman and Robin swinging from building to building. The snow rained relentlessly against Robin's skin, but the constant movement kept her warm enough to continue. Under the red, green and yellow armor Alfred had put hot pockets.  It was still too freezing for her to enjoy their patrol. On normal days she'd backflip in the air, jumping with glee from house to house. Tonight, the grappling hook launcher felt heavy in her hands. She forced herself to shoot straight and let herself float against gravity. Her dark hair tousled wild by the wind, a reminder to make an appointment at the hairdresser soon. Vigilante activities and beautiful hair, unfortunately, did not go together, no matter what Nightwing gave her for products.

In front of her was the dark shadow, making the way. Robin followed. It was hard to see, not only thanks to the smog but the snowflakes, turning the world around her into a wonder like ice fantasy.

Just as they passed Wayne Tower, a massive constructure shooting into the sky, she heard the familiar crackle of a line being switched on.

"Tschk- Oracle here- tschk." Robin let herself land on the nearest gargoyle. The stone under her gloved hands felt cold and slippery. She held tight grip onto his hoarse neck before answering: "Robin here."

Her own voice felt distant to her, like she was speaking underwater. Damn these Gotham winters.

Oracle- once Batgirl, always Barbara Gordon-, cleared her throat: "I thought you and Batman had a night off."

Oracle had a budding voice and could deliver even the scariest things with calm and patience. This ability helped overcome many buildings panic attacks or confused heroes in unknown sections of the city. Robin wouldn't know what to do without her own personal GPS and planner. "Change of plans," Robin said. "Crime never sleeps. And so do we." She could hear the older woman chuckle on the other end of the line. "You seem to be the only two people out in Gotham tonight. It's freezing." The wind howled and tugged at Robin's cape to carry on. "What's up?" Robin asked, one hand on her ear monitor. Oracle clicked her tongue jokingly "Seeming and being are two different things. But there's some action going on near the Gotham main station. Care to check it out?" "Let me guess: Freeze's guys?" "Yazeeh." "Who would've thought, in this weather? He's such a summer guy." Robin joked flatly. "It's his natural habitat." Robin sighted and looked down. Gotham was covered in snow. Fog danced around and she couldn't see Batman anymore.

"Tell Batman, I'm taking a detour. Can you follow me through? I can't see shit." Barbara cleared her throat: "Language, kiddo." "I'm a full-grown adult." Robin protested. "Well, you'll always be our baby bird." "That's true." The voice of Stephanie suddenly chimed in from Barbara's end of the line. "Spoiler? Are you at the clocktower?"" "Yup," she said, and Robin could hear a smile in her voice. "But barely. I'm busy shivering." "Mhm," Stephanie said, taking a sip. "Bab's made me hot chocolate." "Lucky you." "Hey, I've been the one freezing my ass of for the last three hours for nothing!" She spoke. "The only thing I did was almost beat up someone trying to get into their own frozen car. Twice. And then I slipped, and I can totally feel my piss turning into ice right now." "Too much information, Steph," Oracle sighted, trying to cover her laugh.

"Anyways you're close; I see you're at the old church. Hop down and just go straight." "Thanks," Robin said. "Save me some of that hot chocolate." "Dream on, girl wonder." she laughed. "Spoiler, OUT."

Gotham Main Train Station The city felt like it died out after the temperature hit zero. The only sign that people ever live here were the giant Christmas decorations lighting up the whole main center. Blinking and sparkling illuminating the night. It would've been a short commune to the train station if it was not snowing dogs, so she took her time. But Robin liked avoiding broken bones. She had already had a fair share of them. It's not like a bunch of thugs could do that much damage in that short time.

Robin was wrong. Five minutes was a lot of time. By the time she arrived on the iced train rails, Mr. Freeze's thugs turned a train into Elsa's own personal home. Before they could do any more damage, a few silent takedowns later, interrogated one which only led to a teary apology, and dropped them off at the nearest police station in the span of half a hour.

The lights were on in the police station but there was only one sleepy police officer at the desk. He didn't even look up when Robin threw the criminals at his feet. The heaters were set to the minimum, but it felt heavenly. A yawn escaped out of her mouth. Her nose felt runny, and she could feel a bruise forming on her knee, from when she accidentally hit ice instead of her target. Before Robin got back on her way, she slammed the freeze gun on the cop's desk. At last, startled awake, his eyes swung wildly back and forth. Robin cleared her throat, crossed her arms and tried to suppress a smile as she shook her head in disappointment. He jolted up immediately, getting to work.

It reminded her of simpler times, when she just getting started her run as Robin. Her clothes were brighter and not that padded. But times changed. People died and came back. Became strangers. Wounds bled, new alliances were made, and more bad guys were put behind bars. It was a kick. It was pure adrenaline, not knowing when you've run out of your last batarang or the grapple gun not finding its target.

Maybe death only came when you've stopped pulling your punches. 

Maybe that's why Damian wasn't here anymore.

The man she tried to interrogate managed to ram her as the policeman dragged the criminals out of the entrance area. Her left shoulder started to tingle from the sensation. "Stupid, I need to focus."

Then she turned around and performed a roundhouse kick that would make any karate master proud. The man slugged down to the ground. A satisfied rush went through her. The thugs followed the policeman without any further complaints.

Bright light suddenly shone through the dirty windows behind the desk. In two steps she stood in front of it. Between all the clouds, buildings and mist she could make out a bright light. The Batsignal.

Heck, maybe in some messed up reality she might even live to grow old. A life with no jumping from skyscrapers and dodging punches.

But then Robin tried to imagine a Gotham without Bruce as Batman and realized that she couldn't.

GCPD Finally her feet hit the top of the GCPD. Batman was already standing in front of the Batsignal with another figure. Robin could feel her skin heat up, the warmth of it, felt almost too overbearing. The light casted his shadow into a terrific giant light illusion that would scare any little kid.

The commissioner, held a cup in his hand with the words: "Gotham's best dad" printed on it, was already deeply invested in the conversation with the Bat. Robin was sure that Barbara gifted it to him the past easter. They had been shopping together, making fun of ridiculous sayings printed on random items in the dollar store. Barbara thought it would make a great gift. Robin even considered getting Bruce "World's okayest father" mug too, but refrained in the end.

Her boots crackled in the snow as she hopped over to the two men. The shoe prints she left behind poked little bats into the snow. Gordon shut the light off and Robin almost complained, as the fresh wind blew relentlessly against her.

"-be careful," Commissioner James Gordon warned. "The streets are harsher in the winter." "Oh, we know." Robin said going along the conversation with a smile. "We survived enough of them." Commissioner Gordon looked at her with a look Robin could not interpret. Normally there was a mixture of pride, acknowledgment and protection, she'd dare to say. With that clenched jaw his hand was a cigarette, that he took sporadic drags from. Didn't Barbara tell them that he quit in the summer? Jim looked like he'd been trought the ringer. He who always looked clean cut, had an unshaven beard and Robin could make out brown spill on his white linen shirt. He'd soon start to bald if he didn't take some time off. Robin took a half step back. She liked to avoid getting hit by father figures. So far, she hadn't been that successful.

Batman must've noticed James unusual behavior too.

"Why did you call us, Commissioner?" Gordon looked sick, as if the next words might strangle him. "It's the Joker. He broke out of Blackgate." He lifted his head to the sky, inspecting the hidden stars. Snowflakes turned into little water drops on his glasses.

Robin turned her head to Batman. Just for a split second, panic. Then it was gone. Straight faced and still; the perfect picture of tranquility, Batman asked only one thing: "How?"

Robin wanted to call out his name. His real name. "Bruce. No. Not again." But she didn't. Robin stood frozen as the air around her got thinner.

This was bad. Ra's Al Ghoul, Scarecrow, Two-Face kind of bad. 

Arkham Asylum was located near Wayne Manor, while the island that housed Blackgate Prison was positioned at the other side of Gotham. Since the last riot in Arkham, the building has been left in an uninhabitable state. No construction company agreed to undertake the reconstruction so far. Now Arkham was empty, except for a few homeless junkies seeking refuge from winter. That meant the Joker was running wild in the city.

"He blackmailed his psychiatrists. Poor bastard's dead now." Robin tried to turn her grimace into a smile: "Well, we can't all be Harley Quinn's." The commissioner didn't need to say, "You're joking at a time like this?" His face said enough. With shaky fingers he took a breath from his cigarette. The cold, fear and age all accounted. "The GCPD are checking all his old hideouts and looking for new ones. Questioning old accomplices. Do you know where he might be?" "No." Batman admitted. "I'll get back to you, once we find out." "Okay. And I thought I would get one Christmas season off-." Gordon shook his head and after blowing out his cigarette smoke. "Just when my little girl wants to take me to the Wayne Gala tomorrow..."

The smell of his cigarette reminded Thea of past Christmases, spend with her mother and father. Her father and she would decorate the tree, as her mother sat at the fireplace, looking into the fire, smoking a cigarette. With the star in her small hands, her father would lift her up by the waist. As her mother crushedthe cigarette in the ashtray, Thea put the star on the top of the tree. The smell of Davidoff's classics was burnt into her nose to this day.

Batman signed Robin to go.

Without question Robin jumped up on the ledge and stood up straight on it. One harsh wind would send her flying into the abyss. Robin put her gloved fingers in a V formation and took a drag from her imaginary cigarette. She exhaled and a breath steam rose between her opened lips, smiling. "Those kill you, you 'kno?" Then she let herself drop into the darkness.

Batman heard the familiar clang as Robin's grapple gun found its target. He was ready to follow her example.

"Batman-" Gordon called, his back already turned back to the door. The Bat looked at him. And now he could see it, even from this angle, there, in Gordon's eyes: Pure anguish. "He's different this time. I don't know what it is, but it sure ain't good for us." "What do you mean?" the Batman asked "He didn't kill anyone beside the psychiatrist." The Bat lifted his head in surprise.

"My guess;" Gordon sighted. "The Joker wants people be there, to be alive for what he plans. He wants them to see."

"I'll stop him."

The wind whistled. "Better be. And-" Gordon turned around, the Bat already gone. "God, I hate it when he does that."

Back in the Batcave

Thea sat in Batman's chair which was in front of his computer. The Batcomputer could literally find any information and do just about anything, including DNA analysis and tracking down people all over the planet. One of the most advanced technological systems in the entire world. Together with Barbara she had already spent some fascinating hours until Batman chased them away. Now Barbara had built her own system in the clock tower and supported them from there. That didn't stop Thea from tinkering when no one was around- which was rare. Either Nightwing was arguing with Batman, Red Hood was working on his motorcycle, Alfred, bless his soul, pouring fresh tea as Spoiler was returning with information or Catwoman trying to steal it. Thea tried to ignore the fact that Catwoman was just retrieving forgotten items from another hot night with her lover. In the past, it wasn't even possible when Duke, Cassandra, Kate, Helena, and to her surprise, even Harley Quinn and other comrades, strutted in and out the cave.

Thea couldn't feel her toes. Her entire body felt like it was dipped into a pool filled with ice and then shot by Mr. Freeze's gun. The Dark Knight's headquarters even had one. With his wealth, Bruce had equipped the Batcave with modern technology necessary for a command center for an entire army. Several suits that they needed from time to time were stored all around. Multiple spares were in a lower level of the cave. There had been occasions where Damian stole all of their equipment, when Bruce told him that "No, we can't adopt the entire animal shelter."

It was pure chaos that night. Bruce had to drive to the nearest safe house, dressed only in his nightgown.

The freeze gun was behind a thick transparent wall, displayed like all other trophies Batman collected during his adventures. She never took Bruce as an emotional hoarder, but he did like to keep some memorabilia.

The giant penny on the wall. Thea looked through older files at the beginning of her first Robin run. Joe Coyne was fixated on pennies. Early in his criminal career, he even looted a cash register filled with pennies. He soon grew to appreciate the symbol of his failure and specialized in crimes involving pennies. Of course, he was eventually defeated by Batman, who kept the giant penny in as a memento.

In front of the penny, was Thea's least favorite item. The joker's yellow teeth distorted in a gleeful grin looked down on her. His pasty face was as white as the giant card it was printed on. She didn't want to think about him.

Her eyes wandered to Deathstroke's sword. A shiver trailed down her back as she remembered Dick's scar. It was on his belly, a deep straight line. Phantom pain spread through her as she tried to push back the memory of Dick's usual tan skin tunring ghostly white, like her own. Crimson's red blood was all over him, staining his Nightwing suit. Thea held his hand as Alfred stitched him back together. She had to wash her hands multiple times to get the dried blood out of her nails.

The mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex has already frightened many a visitor. Dick always told a different story when asked how they got him. Once Batman fought alone in a theme park called "Dinosaur Island". Another time Dick was there, but the park was not. Thea was not sure how she trusted Dick in that regard.

With frozen fingers Thea tried to pry off her ice brimmed shoes. The lace's felt like icicles: too hard to budge and she considered dropping into bed with her entire suit on. So caught up in her efforts, she didn't even hear Alfred whisk down the stairs to the cave.

"Tea, Miss Drake?" He asked, putting down the tray on the desk, filled with high technology and irreplaceable gadgets. "Something stronger?" She asked jokingly, still pulling on the strings of her shoes. Alfred went down on one knee, slapping Thea's hand away and started to untie her shoes. "No." He said as he pulled a shoe off. "Then I'll take the tea." She let out in a satisfied sigh. "Two sugars, no milk?" The other was off now. "You know me, Alfred." The butler stood up and placed her shoes on the tinker table. "Will you join us for supper, after your shower?" "You cooked? But it's one am.?" Alfred sighted. "Miss Drake, must I remind you that any attempt at getting you "bats" to bed at a responsible time is impossible?" Thea laughed and nodded. "You're right. I'll be there in a second."

The second turned into half an hour under the shower. The warm water felt good on her aching bones. With dripping wet hair, she made her way into the dining hall. Once there was only Bruce, Thea and occasionally Dick coming over to eat. Now that their family had evolved and decided to take in their meals in the dining hall, all having their unofficial assigned seating. There used to be a bit of banter who was allowed to sit right and left next to Bruce who sat at the head of the table. Damian and Cassandra occupied that space once. Now both seats were empty.

Thea was not fond of picking up fights with thirteen-year-old or a one-sided conversation with Cass. But their absence was surprising striking. She didn't expect it to puzzle her, when Damien wasn't eating away her last cereal at breakfast or Cassandra wasn't leaving lost hair behind in the shower. It was annoying, yes, but now she ached for that kind of normalcy and routine of bickering and arguing. 

The ghosts of Wayne Manor were here to haunt, not comfort.

Bruce sat already at his place, starring at the soup like it was a riddle. Steam rose from his soup as he stirred it with his spoon. The aroma of vegetable broth hung in the air. Thea's stomach grumbled. Seeing Bruce came as a surprise. He hadn't had a meal with them since a well...

Thea walked over to him, each of her steps felt like walking into a certain death. Somehow her fingers started to feel ice cold again and she started to fumble with Damien's seat as she stood behind it. The wood under her fingers felt lived in, like it has been used for years. Under her index finger she could feel a cut. It must've been from when Damian tried to stab Jason with a butter knife.

"Hey," Thea said. Bruce's eyes darting from his soup to her hands and face.

"Not a word about the Joker," he ordered. "Especially not to Jason."

Thea stopped rubbing the hollow cut. She tiled her head, eyebrows furrowing in the process of asking: "Why?"

"He killed his psychiatrist."

"Yes?" Thea asked and felt stupid as the one-word question left her mouth. "Do you know who he is?"

"Thea," he said, his look unreadable. "That man was Jason's psychiatrist."

All alarm bells were ringing in her head. "Both Jason and the Joker had the same psychiatrist? That's allowed?" Or rather; "How did you allow that?" she wanted to ask, but held her tongue.

"I didn't know."

Thea let out a scoff. "The Batman didn't know?"

"I'll deal with it, Thea."

"You knew," she realized, letting the chair go. "You knew that the Joker would break out."

"Yes," he sighted in defeat. "He always does."

His words were a slap to the face. Thea retreated. She didn't need to know why he didn't tell her. Why he didn't tell them. But it still hurt. More than a punch.

"Why did you allow it?" her voice was a harsh whisper.

Her right hand clenched into a fist. Bruce eyes darkened, and she wanted to retreat, give up the mantle and never speak to Batman ever again. But she didn't. So she stared back. Four blue eyes in a battle of trying to figure the other out. 

Thea could not explain it. Looking at him, out of his cowl, always seemed... off.

Of course, Bruce was a human with emotions and skin, but as the Batman... it was like he wasn't even real, by normal standards. When he would start to mix Batman and Bruce, the chills building under skin could not be stopped. With him behind the mask, she could pretend the world had a mask on too.

Black and white, good and bad, alive and dead. Taking it off, felt like betrayal to everything she did, justifying it behind spandex and bloody noses. Gotham could be saved with bruised fists. Not justice by the book.

Thea was surprised by the intensity of her voice. "It's not just about you when it's about-, when it's him. It's personal for all of us."

"You-," Bruce began, but shut his eyes taking a deep breath. "You don't understand him, you don't get the Joker. Not like I do."

Thea hated that weird pseudo relationship always lurching between the Joker and the Bat. It never failed to make her skin crawl. No matter how many hours she spent analyzing old cases concerning the Joker, the things he did... to friends, colleagues, strangers, to his family... words couldn't convey the disgust he felt for just having to look at that decaying man. And the smell- the smell he carried.

"Talk to me." She almost begged. Talk, please. Anything. Anything. Just talk to me. I need to know. I have to know. "I'm your Robin. I trust you," she said. "You need to trust me too."

Thea wished he never muttered these words.

"Damian was Robin too."

Thea could see grey streaks growing in his jet-black hair. His eyes were no longer only covered by dark eyebags but fine lines too. Once fresh scars were now mere white lines on his skin, reminders of victorious fights. Thea needs to catch her breath every time she thought of Bruce's naked back. Between the defined muscles was years of abuse. Harsh angry lines, puncture points and healed scars between the fresh ones. Each one like a cut to her own body, reminders of how she should be there to deflect them. She wanted to reach out, take them from him and add them to her own collection of hurt.

"I'm not Damian." I'm not dead. "And I don't plan on being."

But now he was glancing at her with that look on his face, something between condescending and pity. Thea wanted to scream the words: "After everything?" Am I still not good enough?

"He'll be back in Arkham by Christmas." he said. "I promise." Bruce shook his head, turning away and suddenly he seemed just so... old. And so, the knife twisted a little deeper.

Before Thea could open her mouth again, shuffling of feet was heard from the open door. Three voices, two men and one woman were involved in a heated conversation.

"He fell," Jason stated.

"Into your knife?" Stephanie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dick seemed unconvinced too: "Twenty times?"

"It was years ago. And no, only twelve times." Jason shrugged and walked into the room. "You guys are hypocrites!"

Dick looked at Stephanie with a "can you believe this guy?" face but sat down at his seat. He looked at Thea and then at her clenched shaking fist. His blue eyes narrowed and then jumped to Bruce.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, more demanding than anything else.

His eyes weren't blue like the ones of Bruce and Thea. Something mischievous was always blinking in that ocean of iris. There were hundreds of times when those eyes grounded, encouraged and fought with her. She wouldn't trade them for the world.

Stephanie's and Jason's head's shot up too. Thea could almost hear the circuits moving in their heads. Stephanie and Jason exchanged side glances while Dick's nostrils flared up. Man, lying to the world's best detectives was demanding. Bruce gave Thea once of those looks, that she knew she could not ignore.

"Nothing." Bruce and Thea said almost immediately and at the same time.

"We're just debating about who's taking over Condiment King," she lied with enough conviction to surprise even herself. "He's going on crazy rampage."

"Nope," Steph said, raising her hands immediately in front of her body. "Not me, nu-hu."

Jason was fast to chime in: "I'm allergic to mayonnaise."

"You're lactose intolerant?" Stephanie asked.

"No," he admitted. "Only to assholes who decide it's a good idea to shot people with it. I mean, just use bullets like every other normal person."

"I don't really consider shooting people "normal" Jason," Dick crossed his arms, "And well, I took him out last time-"

"Then the stench of ketchup hasn't washed out of your suit yet, great!" Thea said. "Thanks Dick, you're the best!"

"What? No, that wasn't a-"

"We love you!" Steph chimed in.

"Amazing Grayson!" Jason hollered unenthusiastic; his hands cusped into a megaphone at his mouth. "Whop-whop."

Bruce clapped once and the entire room went still. "Then that's settled. Who's ready for dinner?"

Thea hoped that they were convinced. Dick was already chatting up a different subject. Stephanie opened her mouth to counter. Just Jason looked between Thea and Bruce with a raised eyebrow. Then Dick nudged him, and an unsure smile spread on his lips as he joined the conversation. Maybe they all knew that there was something brewing in the air and just wanted to protect the peace.

Thea would tell them. Just not tonight. Neither at tomorrow's gala nor Christmas Eve. When it was all over. Then maybe she just wouldn't have to say anything. Thea just hoped that this was a case that the Batman could solve fast enough.

____________________________________

Sources:

Wayne Manor Location: https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Crest_Hill

Jason freshly back from the dead, beating up Robin Tim ("Do you think you're that good now?" / "Yes."): Teen Titans Volume 3, Issue 29, Dec 2005

Bustling streets, silent walkers: Reference to Taylor Swift "Champagne Problems" (Original Lyrics: (Original Lyrics: You booked the night train for a reason /

So you could sit there in this hurt /Bustling crowds or silent sleepers /You're not sure which is worse)

"World's okayest father" mug: Canon in Webtoon, Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #2 Written by CRC Payne, art from Rhett Bloom a.k.a.

Batcave Trophies:

Batman Chronicles stories in issue #8 ("Secrets of the Batcave: Dinosaur Island") and issue #19 ("The Penny Plunderers").

The giant penny: World's Finest v1 #30 (1947)

The Joker Card: Detective Comics #114

The T- Rex: Batman v1 #35 (1946) 

Deathstroke's Sword: Detective Comics Vol 1 710 ( #710 ,  The Death Lottery, Part Three: Heart of Ice), changed for the sake of the story

[b-rainlet]

Hear me out: TimDami fic where Tim gets exposed to truth serum and absolutely books it whenever Damian so much as breathes near him

[fantastic-nonsense]

While you are digging into batfam lore, could you perhaps help explain what the batkids' legal names all are? Fanfiction has messed me all up. Did any of them actually legally take Wayne as their last name? I see it most often with Tim (i.e. Timothy Drake-Wayne) and Cass (i.e. Cassandra Wayne) but I haven't read any comics that I recall that actually called them that.

Sure! A quick rundown of who's actually part of the Wayne family:

Wayne family: Dick, Jason, Tim, and Cass were all legally adopted at one point or another in the post-Crisis universe (post-reboot is....complicated. Dick, Jason, and Tim are all once again adopted after a long series of retcons; Cass's status is still unknown). Damian is Bruce's biological son.

NOT Wayne family: Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Helena Bertinelli, any members of the Fox family (Luke, Tam, Tiffany, Jace, etc), Harper Row, etc.

Duke is a complicated case; he was Bruce's temporary foster son for a year before moving in with his cousin Jay, who now has custody of him. He's...sort of considered Wayne family, in that at least Jason and Tim consider him to be sort of their brother, but he wasn't adopted and no longer lives with Bruce.

Other: Kate and Bette Kane, who are Bruce's cousins and part of the Kane family.

As for legal last names and who actually calls themselves Waynes:

Damian's legal last name is Wayne. The al Ghuls tend to call him "Damian al Ghul" when he's with them, but legally his last name is Wayne; it's also the name Damian goes by UNLESS he's specifically attempting to leverage the al Ghul name amongst his family or the League of Assassins.

Dick continues to go by and think of himself as "Richard John Grayson" even after being adopted, though he explicitly calls himself Bruce's adopted son in several arcs after his adoption happens. You can take your pick of reasons why this might be (and there's quite a few to choose from, mostly connected to Dick's love for his bio parents and already being an established adult when Bruce adopted him), but Grayson was and remains his legal last name.

Jason canonically remained "Jason Peter Todd" after his adoption, per his death certificate:

Jason's death certificate, naming him as "Jason Peter Todd." -Batman Annual #25 (2006)

He was also "Jason Todd" to the general public; it's what people call him when they talk about him both before and after his death. The Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth comic (specifically RHATO #33) confirms that this is the case in the post-Flashpoint universe as well. However, there's a pretty reasonable canon foundation to assume that had Jason's adoption not happened in the 80s and had writers not wanted to complicate things, he probably would have chosen to hyphenate and become Jason Todd-Wayne, based largely on a) Jason's relationship with Willis Todd and b) Bruce and Jason's relationship before his death.

We simply don't know what Cass did. Cass was adopted off-panel in the vague period in between Batman RIP and Final Crisis, but Bruce's death threw everything up into the air; Cass was then promptly put on a bus and shipped out to Hong Kong for the duration of the Reborn era, and since she shows up in a grand total of 8 comics during that time we just don't get enough information to make a judgement call about her last name. Her two appearances in Tim's Red Robin book still call her Cassandra Cain, but it's unclear whether Fabian Nicieza, the writer, even knew her adoption had happened:

"Cassandra Cain, former Batgirl, remains one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet..." /// "Cassandra Cain, aka The Black Bat, Hong Kong operative for Batman, Inc." -Red Robin #17 & #25

Since Cass never had much of a public identity to speak of in the first place (and for a long time didn't even want one), it's super ambiguous what her legal status is and what last name she holds post-adoption. It's pretty reasonable to assume she becomes Cassandra Wayne, though, and it's also my personal preference. Though her relationship with David Cain is complicated, she doesn't hold much attachment to him as a father; likewise, there's really no reason for her not to take on the Wayne name given her attachment to Bruce.

Tim is the complicated one here, mostly because his adoption was such A Production™. Tim was formally adopted about a year in-universe after the events of Identity Crisis (when Tim’s dad was killed by Captain Boomerang). The adoption was pretty high-profile; Tim and Bruce even sat for an interview about it:

From 2007-2011, he's called Tim Drake and Tim Wayne (and occasionally Tim Drake-Wayne) pretty interchangably depending on the writer and situation. His legal name is probably Tim Drake-Wayne, though it's actually ambiguous. He tends to go by Tim Wayne in public while usually referring to himself as Tim Drake in private:

"And by the way, it's Wayne when I want a favor or a table at Bartese, and it's Drake when I look in the mirror." -Red Robin #15

"A question for Mr. Wayne--" /// "Reporting live from the reopening of the Newton Community Gym where Tim Wayne is about to address the crowd." -Red Robin #14 and 15

Post-Flashpoint, that adoption was erased and Bruce and Tim’s relationship was very strained; in the Rebirth era, his adoption was implied to be canon again in both Tynion’s Detective Comics run and King's Batman run, but we didn’t get confirmation until Infinite Frontier and Urban Legends, where Tim is once again explicitly adopted and occasionally called Tim Wayne, though he still mostly goes by and is referred to as Tim Drake:

"But just to be clear--we're not splitting the bill, Tim Wayne." -Urban Legends #4

"...and then Mr. Wayne just adopted you? Awful generous of him." -Urban Legends #4

Tim is also the only one regularly referred to in public as "Bruce's adopted son." Most of the time they're referred to as "Bruce Wayne's wards," so whether the adoptions are public knowledge or not is questionable, but their status as his wards and foster kids is not. Though they largely never lived in the Manor at the same time, they've all attended various public functions as Bruce's kids and acted on Bruce's behalf in various capacities while in the public eye.

tl;dr Tim is canonically the only one who takes the last name "Wayne" upon being adopted; he generally continues to refer to himself as Tim Drake, but canon calls him "Tim Drake," "Tim Drake-Wayne," and "Tim Wayne" pretty interchangably afterwards. Dick doesn't change his name and canonically Jason didn't either, though you could make a case that he might have hyphenated had his adoption been written in the modern era. We don't see Cass enough after her adoption to know either way; however, her existing canon relationships with Bruce and her biological family heavily support and/or imply that she probably became Cassandra Wayne.

[lacrimosathedark]

I have made quite clear how much I adore Jason Peter Todd, despite how frequently he is written terribly. RHATO is Not Good, but pre-Flashpoint was...chaotic for his characterization to say the least.

HOWEVER!

I wish to give my fellow Jaybird lovers some stable ground if they’re looking for decent and consistent Red Hood characterization post-resurrection.

[Fuck you Battle For the Cowl that was a shitshow]

Most people cite the Under the Hood storyline as the best work about Jason. That story was written by Judd Winick. So, here’s a list of stories involving The Boy written by Judd Winick, with short summaries so you know what you’re getting into! And some images because I can’t not.

Batman Vol 1 629: This is not actually Jason, but a Scarecrow hallucination Bruce has, but it still characterizes both Bruce and Tim’s thoughts about Jason and his potential return. It takes place pretty smack-dab between Hush and Under the Hood.

I appreciate the Hush outfit with the white streak. Excellent.

(also Tim looks like a baby and I just want to give him hugs)

Batman Vol 1 635-641 aka Under the Hood Vol 1 Batman Vol 1 645-650 and Annual 25 aka Under the Hood Vol 2 No description necessary; if you know Jason, you know how this goes.

Green Arrow Vol 3 69-72: Red Hood comes to Star City and decides to have a talk with current Speedy, Green Arrow’s sidekick, Mia Dearden.

Contains this gem:

I love him so much he’s such a dramatic bitch.

He changed the scoreboards what the fuck--

And this oof

Outsiders Vol 3 44-46 and Annual 1: Jason provides the Outsiders, specifically Dick and Roy, with intel exonerating Black Lightning/Jefferson Pierce from murder he thought he committed. Jason’s not the center of this story, but I like it a lot.

For my fellow Harper family lovers, 45 has a lot of cute Roy and Lian too, including this part that rips my heart out.

Lian is my angel and I would die for her.

For my fellow Gays, these also have the start of the relationship between Anissa Pierce and Grace Choi

also includes this dumbfuckery:

He’s a dork and I love him.

Batman and Robin (2009) Vol 1 23-25: Red Hood reluctantly teams up with Dickie-Batman and Brat Wonder Robin to save his kidnapped former sidekick, Scarlet.

Please excuse some of the art bullshit; yes, it has ginger Jason, and yes the covers use the dumb pill helmet design. But for the record, he doesn’t actually wear the pill helmet thank fuck, and the hair thing was more for continuity. They were established during Grant Morrison’s run as writer because they don’t do their goddamn homework enough to know ginger Jay is not canon Post-Crisis! Or that even then he chose to dye his hair black! (Yes I’m bitter that’s how they fucked over Talia too UGH)

At least his costume is fixed; it combines the dumb supervillain-y costume with his old biker-y look, and tbh I think it’s really cool. Aside from the bright red guns that look like toys.

Not that that lasts because this is one of if not the last appearance of Jay before the reboot! Thanks, Barry.

[small edit cuz I just can’t with this man]

He’s also a little shit throughout the whole thing. It is his mission to annoy Dick and Damian and it’s great.

BOI--

[end small edit!]

He also gets stripped for...reasons. If you’re interested. I wasn’t, but I know some of yall are nasties (/affectionate) so here’s that.

Red Hood: The Lost Days: Goes more into detail about Jason’s experience between his death and his big return to Gotham. So! Much! Trauma!

Also where this image comes from:

He really said that. So uh...yeah.

He has always been a snarky dorky bastard and I love him very much.

[EDIT ADDITION Thank you @someoneimsure​]

Robin 80th Anniversary 100 Page Super Spectacular: Jason’s story is called “More Time”, which is a story with Robin Jason and Red Hood Jason have a parallel story giving Bruce a gift on his birthday. Specifically, fixing his father’s old watch.

I love him. LOOK AT THIS BABY

(He’s talking about the watch but that literally could be said about Jason and ow my fucking HEART--)

Look at this. God I just...sometimes Jason just fills my heart with love and it’s too much. He’s a good boy!

Unfortunately, he and Steph share the space of only having one story which is bullshit. Timmy and Dami both get two, which is totally fair. But Dickie gets four. Rude. Sharing is caring, Dickiebird.

[END EDIT Thank you :33]

FOR NOTE

Things with Jason NOT written by Judd Winick Pre-Flashpoint that are major (but personally I think kinda suck) are Battle for the Cowl, Countdown, and his weird murdery Nightwing phase.

Jason Todd, everybody.

[astranne]

Whose Jason?

-🪶

jason… jason is the most perfect human being on earth. well, of the fictional ones

jason todd, street rat, second robin of batman, red hood, crime lord and anti-hero, former assassin and all time batman annoyer :D

he got killed by the joker, came back and could be seen as a zombie, tried to kill his replacement, the third robin, and bashed some skulls aka killed them.

he has magic swords too. and thunder thighs. thunder thighs-

here are some pictures of jason

here are some links to awesome jason fanart <33

link // link // link // link // link

jason todd‘s thunder thighs -> click here