#also bruce would never actually tell the story to damian but he did tell it to both tim and jason

[cutebat]

You know what, fuck it. I'm going to write my own neglectful yandere batfamily cause everyone else is doing it, but I'm going to do it in a different way.

Yandere Batfam x Neglected, but Defiant Reader

Prologue (Diary Entry)

Warning(s): Mentions of yandere themes, neglect, emotional abuse, mentions of physical abuse, forcing to drop out, attempted guilt tripping, reader is just venting out her feelings

(I made this in the reader's POV to make the whole 'diary entry' thing more sense.)

~~~~~

July 22, 2024

It's funny when someone tells their story.

Only to be told back that it's unrealistic.

Almost as if they're afraid to believe it's real...

Oh, God, that sounded dark.

~~~~~

For everyone who doesn't know,

Bruce is a billionaire who's also a shitty dad

Dick is a dick, like actually

Jason uses his trauma to let all his frustrations on me

Tim is a delusional bitch

Cass was okay until she knocked me to the ground

Damian is just a thing who you want to burn to ashes

Alfred... I guess is just Alfred

~~~~~

I was basically raised as what people would call a 'black sheep'. Kind of like... actually, I don't need to explain all that.

Basically, I was adopted by the infamous Bruce Wayne when I was ten for whatever reason. After the first day of living with him and the family and giving me the new role of Batgirl, everyone just pretended as if I didn't exist.

I tried to interact with every one of them and all I got were "sorry, can't talk right now" and "can you shut up".

Like, WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO THEM?!

Is it because I'm prettier than all of them and had barely any trauma in my past? Seriously, why are people so jealous about these kinds of things?

Bruce really signed all that paperwork for nothing.

Of course, my little ten year old brain would think that if I tried to impress all of them with what I could do, maybe I could gain their attention.

So by the time I was twelve with my ten year old mindset goal in my head, I did nine different after school activities, won over fifteen awards for my achievements, and went out to patrol at least six nights a week.

And none of that worked! Those fuckers wouldn't even spare me a glance!

~~~~~

After a while, you don't see a point in trying your best.

I dropped out of most of the clubs I regret joining, I just laid back in my classes, and most of all...

I quit being Batgirl.

I didn't want to, but like I said, where's the point in that?

So with that, I just gave up on everything and just... stopped trying.

~~~~~

But then one year all of that almost changed?

For the first time ever, I found myself suddenly really pretty, and after a month I entered eighth grade, I was suddenly asked out by one guy, then two, and all the way up to ten!

It was like really cool!

The popular girls became my best friends, more guys would ask me out, and the teachers started pointing out that I was their favorite student, even the ones who weren't my teachers.

It felt like I was on top of everything. That I was special. The world is revolving around me.

Finally, I was in a place to build a great reputation.

And then life was like FUCK THAT!

~~~~~

After the first semester of eighth grade, Bruce was weirdly in my room and he said wanted to have a 'talk' with me.

So, during this talk, he was basically talking about the last three years of me being neglected by him and his family. To be honest, I forgot everything he told me, but honestly, I don't really care.

He also told the others about all this and now they suddenly feel bad which I don't give a shit about. But, I knew he was doing all this to guilt trip me, which was honestly so stupid.

Now, after he dropped that bomb, he told me that I had to drop out of school to do some "bonding time" with the others along with him and the people who actually cared about me didn't really matter at all!

I JUST GOT SETTLED IN!

All I said was "FUCK YOU" and just stormed out of my room with the only thing that I took was my diary that I had for quite a while that I never used before.

~~~~~

So, yeah. I'm currently in the attic, venting my feelings all out on this stupid glitter diary with a random pen that I found on the ground.

But whatever.

It doesn't matter.

Nothing matters...

My life is just a game.

A sick, hopeless game.

[a1307s]

Ice Pop

(Jason Todd Smut)

[Art is not mine! Credit to Crow Kid]

Requested by: dogma0325

Keys:

Y/N: Your Name

Word Count: 4262

Warnings and/or Pre-notes:

Cursing

Semi-public sex

Oral (female receiving)

Fingering

Degrading

Begging

Creampie

———————————————————————

     "Lady Wayne?" Alfred calls, pulling my attention away from the case file I've been looking over for Bruce.

     "Hm?" I hum out, glancing at Alfred across the kitchen before turning back to my work.

     "I made ice pops for the boys and you. Would you mind giving them out for me so I can start dinner?"

     "Why'd you make ice pops?" I ask, getting up and heading towards Alfred. Sat on a tray in front of him are big ice cubs packed full of different fruits, each with a popsicle sticking out the bottom.

     "You guys do not drink enough water so I'm hoping this will help."

"We drink plenty of water," I answer back, picking up the tray.

     Alfred sighs, turning his attention to me. A deep frown is present on his face making his aging stand out even more on his face. "Lady Wayne, please tell me you don't actually think that."

     "Of course not," I tell him, following it with a laugh. None of us are good at taking care of ourselves in any way, much less in our water intake.

     I walk out of the kitchen, popsicle tray in tow as I head towards the second story of the manor. It doesn't take long to run into one of the boys. Damian is doing God knows what on the staircase. He's prancing around the steps, his katana in hand as he swishes it around. "What's up, Short Stack?" I poke at him, making sure to leave plenty of room between us.

     "Practicing inclined swordsmanship," Dami answers, following it with a click of his tongue.

     "That makes complete sense," I lie between my teeth. What is up with this kid? "Maybe let's not play with swords on the stairs though," I tell him, holding out one of the ice pops.

     Damian takes the pop, pairing it with another tongue click. "I'm a trained assassin. I think I'll be fine practicing on the stairs."

     I hum before hopping up the stairs, passing him on the way. "A trained pain in the ass too," I mumble to myself once he's out of earshot. I walk down the hallway, stopping outside Dick's room. I gently knock, which is responded to quickly with the door swinging open.

     "Hello!"

     "Hello Y/N," Richard answers, glancing down at the tray in my hands. "Did you make popsicles?"

     "Alfred made us ice pops. He says we don't drink enough water," I explain, holding out another pop.

     "Hey, Tim?" He asks, ducking his head back into his room. "Do you want a popsicle?"

     "Fuck ya!" Tim answers, quickly joining us at the door frame. "Thank you, Y/N," the younger boy says, taking a treat from the tray before disappearing back into the bedroom.

     "Thank you," Dick repeats, also taking an ice pop before disappearing too.

     That was pretty easy. I thought it would be more of a struggle to find everyone. With the manor being so big and the cave downstairs being even bigger, sometimes it's a struggle to find people. Maybe I'll get lucky, and Jason will be in his room too. I let the thought push me toward Jay's room. Once outside, just like Dick's room, I knock. Unlike Dick's room, I don't get an answer. "Jason," I call, knocking on the door again. There is no answer, so I decide to peek inside. The room is empty, with no sign of Jason at all.

     Maybe I'll get lucky, and he'll be in the bat-cave. If not, then he just won't get an icicle. I make the short walk down the hallway to Bruce's study. Once again, I knock just in case. You never know if Bruce has a business partner in there or if they're work or league-related so it's best to be prepared. After a few seconds, the study door opens, and Bruce's grizzly bear form takes up the space. "I brought you a snack!" I chirp, raising the tray some.

     "Thank you for the ice-pop," Bruce says, a soft smile covering his face as he picks out which one he wants. "Jason is down in the cave if you want to give him his or I can take it down."

     "No, I'll take it down. I'm soaking in my break time from the Riddler case."

     Bruce chuckles some before stepping aside so I can walk through. I squeeze through the gap, making sure not to drop the last two popsicles. The older man closes the door behind me before sitting back down at his desk. I take my time walking through the room towards the clock, looking over all the bookcases pilled full of books. I mess with the clock, getting it to unlock as I look over some of the titles. I need to come snoop through here for a good read once I finish my book.

     The clock pops some as it swings open, the old wood worn and stressed from constant use. I slip through, making sure to close it behind me in case Bruce gets a visitor. The cave echoes as I walk down the metal stairs, my slippers sliding a bit as I walk. You'd figure by now I'd wear shoes with more traction, so I don't slip on the constantly soaked floors. Oh well.

     "Jason!" I yell, walking down the last few stairs before standing steadily on the cave floor which is also soaked. Go figure. Who'd guess that a cave in the 'rainy city' of Gotham would always be wet and cold?

     "Y/N!" Jason yells back, his voice echoing some off the walls.

     I turn my head in the direction of his voice. Jason is tucked under one of the bat-cycles, working away on who knows what. He's always tinkering on something; The bikes, the bat-mobile, the bat-plane, something. I make a quick - but careful - pace towards the makeshift garage where all the bikes are stored. The 'garage' is more so a fancy shed than a garage. The left of it is stocked full of motorcycles. The right on the other hand is Jason's work bench that's always packed full of tools and different parts. The front of the shed - other than the door - is a wall of glass windows. You can see the left from the computer but it's harder to see the right. It's even harder considering the bat-mobile is usually parked in front of the windows on this side, like it is today.

     "I brought you an ice pop," I tell him, setting the tray on the workbench before leaning against it. The edge of the bench digs into my back a bit but it's worth getting the pressure off my feet. For once it's not overflowing with random shit.

     "Did you?" Jay asks, shifting some to get out from under the bike before deciding not to. He pulls on something, causing the metal to clink against the floor. "That's not good," he mumbles to himself more so than to me.

     "Probably not," I answer back, crossing my arms over my chest and smiling some.

     "Ya, ya, ya," he grumbles, sliding himself out before shifting to a sitting position. His eyes glance over me before settling back towards the bike.

     Ever since the failed mission last week Richard swears there's been tension between Jason and me. On my last mission, I got shot a few times which has benched me from on-field missions. It's part of the reason I've been looking over case files for Bruce. Jason swooped in and played hero, which ended in a feverish kiss. We've both ignored it; not because of me though. I keep trying to talk about it, but he just brushes it off. Since it doesn't seem like he cares much I've settled on it just being heat from the 'you almost died' moment. It's nothing more than that, a misstep that happened because emotions were high. Though Richard swears up and down that, we like each other. Maybe so, but Dick likes drama so he can be a pot-stirrer sometimes.

     I watch Jason tinker a bit more, making sure not to stare at his shoulders too long. Jason is an asshole most of the time, but even assholes can look good when their mouths aren't running. Especially tall assholes with a physique that reviles Bruce's. "Are you going to eat an ice pop?" I ask, glancing towards the computer stored in the cave. I can't see much of it, but I can see the top of someone's head, probably Tim's or Bruce's.

     "Are you going to harass me about it until I say yes?"

     "On behalf of Alfred, yes."

     Jason half sighs, and half chuckles before standing up. "Well, I can't say no to Alfred," he says, walking towards me. Jay stops in front of me, less than an inch between us as he reaches behind us to grab a popsicle off the tray. A mixed smell of leather and oil rolls off of him, filling me up with fuzzy warmth. "Is the other one for you?" He asks, pulling his arms back in front of us, both ice-pops in his hands.

     "Mmhmm," I hum, glancing down at his hands. I am not petite by any means of the word, but I feel small when around Jason. Anyone would feel small around the brick of a man.

     Jay hums back, popping his treat into his mouth before holding mine out to me. I should be an asshole and push him to acknowledge the kiss. The thought rolls around my head for a second as my eyes flicker from Jay's face to his hand. I bend my head down some, taking the pop into my mouth as he still holds it. I make a show of it, wrapping my hand around his wrist as I slide down some. I keep a hold of the pop, loosening his grip on it before lifting my head back up; the icicle still wrapped up in my lips.

     Hood's jaw is set tight, eyes drinking me in for a couple of seconds before he turns on his heels and walks away from me. Ya, Richard is definitely wrong. I push the event out of my head, focusing on the stuff I've been reading about Riddler, figuring the new environment will help my thought process. I roll over the information, absorbing the melting ice, occasionally pulling it out of my mouth so my teeth don't get too cold. The curse of having sensitive teeth. The room is mostly quiet, though, occasionally Jay drops something, cutting through the silence and causing Tim to pipe up and ask if we're okay.

     Maybe I should recommend checking out some of Riddler's old hideouts. He's on the run again after attacking one of the Joker's men. I don't see him finding a new hideout on such short notice. Maybe he's staying with Two-Face, they're pretty close. Though I think Bruce already checked out-

     "Can you stop that?" Jay asks sharply, pulling me out of my thought process.

     I pull the ice out of my mouth again, causing it to pop louder than I meant to. "Can I stop what?"

     "That," he hisses, eyes throwing daggers at me. "You're being annoying."

     "Oh, I'm sorry," I mumble, going back to my treat but making sure to be as quiet as possible as I enjoy it. I wonder if the Riddler just fled town? Probably not, if he hasn't before, I don't see him doing it now. Maybe we should just interrogate Two-Face about it. Even if Bruce cleared all of Two-Face's hideouts, that doesn't mean he doesn't know where his buddy is.

     "Y/N," Jason husks out, his voice a lot closer to me than it was before. I look up from the floor to be met with Jason once again barely an inch away. "You should go back upstairs."

     "Why?" I ask around the ice-pop, cranking my neck some to look into Jay's eyes.

     He rolls his jaw some, his eyes hard as they stare down at mine. "You're being a distraction," Jason finally answers, taking the popsicle out of my mouth and throwing it on the workbench. "Go upstairs."

     "Hey! You just ruined my treat," I whine, dropping my hands to my hips as I glare at the taller ex-robin.

     He rolls his eyes, starting to walk away as he mumbles to himself, "Maybe I wouldn't have ruined it if you did that to my-" The sentence is cut off as Jay sits back down on the floor.

If I did that to his what?... Oh... Oh... No, I did not... I didn't get into Jay's head. I mean, I teased a bit, but I didn't think it was that bad. I barely did anything. Well, unless me 'annoying' him wasn't normal annoyance and was that kind of annoyance instead. Was it?

     I hum, pushing myself off the workbench, and start heading towards the door so I can test my theory. "Maybe if you'd ask like a big boy I would," I mumble as I slide past Jason, quickly slipping out the door after the words are out. I leave the door open, giving me the chance to sneak a peek at how he's reacting. Jay's head shoots up at my words, his eyes glancing from my descending form and the project in front of him.

     "Y/N," he calls, quickly climbing to his feet and chasing after me. His big hands wrap around my shoulders, pulling me back. "What did you say?" he asks, shifting himself so I'm trapped between him and the bat-mobile.

     "What did you say?" I repeat, shoving my hands into the back pockets of my pants.

     Jason stands there, hands still heavy on my shoulders as he stares down at me. "I... didn't say shit," he finally pushes out, taking a quick glance at my lips before staring back at my face.

     "I didn't say anything either then."

     Silence falls between us, the only sound being Tim tapping away at the computer and occasional yaps from the bats hanging from the ceiling. "You... you are a fucking tease," Jay finally whispers, his fingers featherily light as they skip down my arms.

     "How am I tease?" I ask, making sure to sound cocky. I'm finally going to get him to talk about the kiss. I win.

     "Sitting there blowing a popsicle... Looking at me with doe eyes..." Jay's hands jump from my arms to my waist, still light as they dance across the waistband of my jeans. "Spending the last week walking around with almost nothing on. Pretending it's so there's easier access to your bandages," he mumbles, his fingers working at undoing my pants.

     "Jay, I was just trying to get you to talk about - Oh!" My words are cut off by a soft moan as Hood dances his fingers across my clothed pussy. My hand falls back to his wrist, wrapping my fingers around it tighter than I did earlier as the other one slides around his shoulders to latch onto the back of his neck.

     "Oh?" He repeats pupils dilated, hiding some of the green as he watches my reactions. His fingers are still light as they circle my clit, down to my hole, before circling back up again. My legs close some, the feeling of Jason's forearm muscles being pressed into my thighs. "You know, since bringing you back to the cave, seeing how cute you looked all bandaged up and planted in that hospital bed-" he starts, tilting his head down and whispering in my ear, "- all I've thought about is how amazing it would be to serve you. Living on my knees so I can please you. It must be so painful to get yourself off with five bullet holes littering your stomach. Tell me, can you bend enough to finger yourself, Baby?"

     "Jay-"

     "I asked a question," he says, shifting his head over so that our noses are gently pressed together. "Yes-" he starts, sliding his fingers under the right side of my panties, "-or no?" Hood finishes, switching his touches to the left side of my underwear.

     "No," I breathe out, releasing his wrist to join my hand on his neck alongside the other one.

     "Hmm," he hums out, placing a quick peck on my lips before lifting his head again. Jay drops his hand from my pussy, wrapping both of them around my thighs to lift me. I whine from the lack of friction, getting a chuckle out of him. He's careful not to press against my stomach, avoiding causing pain to flower from my healing wounds. Jay's lips are light as they slide over my neck and his hands heavy as they set me down on the hood of the car.

     "Jason you can't, we can't-"

     "I can, you just have to let me," he mumbles, sliding his hands to my back and dipping down my pants. His hands are warm as he pushes my pants off of me, and gentle as he lifts me to pull them down my legs before discarding them to the ground. "Let me taste you, please?" Jay whispers, placing a kiss behind my ear before trailing down my jaw and neck again.

     "But Tim's in the cave," I whine, shoving my hands into his hair and letting my fingers get tangled in it.

     "So?" He asks, sliding his hands under my shirt, hooking his thumbs on the hum to push it up as his hands rise.

     "Ow, fuck don't do that," I hiss when Jay slides over one of my wounds.

     "I'm sorry," he murmurs, pushing my shirt over my head and letting it fall onto the hood of the car. Once my shirt is off, Jason's mouth is instantly attached to me. He makes quick work, sucking and kissing any skin he comes in contact with as his hands slide back down to my thighs. The chillness of the car aids in the need that's building. My thighs are peeled apart, and my panties are soon descending my legs as well.

     "I cannot wait until you're better."

     "Why is that?" I ask, my fingers tugging on his hair as his fingers ghost over my clit.

     "I want to hear you sucking on me like you did that popsicle," Jason says, stealing another quick kiss before he falls to his knees. "Take your bra off," he orders, glancing up at me before looking back at my cunt, "I want to see your tits as I enjoy your pussy."

     Reluctantly, I remove my hands from his hair, unclasping my bra and tossing it on top of my pants before planting them back on his head. Jay's eyes stay locked on my tits as he makes long, slow licks over my clit. His hands are rough as they grip my thighs, stopping me from locking them around his head. "You taste so good," he whispers, poking his tongue into my pussy before latching his mouth around my clit.

     Jason enjoys himself, watching my boobs move around as he sucks and licks at me. It doesn't take long for the knot in my stomach to tighten and soon enough I release onto Hood's tongue. He hums happily to himself, taking his time licking my mess up. "Bruce is going to be pissed when he sees the mess you left on his car," he teases, followed by a soft chuckle.

     "Jay," I whine, tugging on his hair to try and get him to crawl up my body.

     "Y/N," he whines back, further teasing me but doing as I want. "You're acting like a whiney little thing. What happened to the badass that teased me with a popsicle? Not so badass anymore, huh?" His fingers dip into me, curling occasionally before he pulls them back out of me. "Are you a needy brat? The spoiled Wayne baby that's not used to being told no?" Jay's fingers speed up their pumping as he degrades me, kisses being littered across me as he speaks.

     "Jason, please," I whine again, dropping my hands to his waist to try and pull him closer to me.

     "Please what, baby? What do you want?"

     "Please?" I try again, drawing out the word.

     "'Maybe if you'd ask like a big girl I would' give you what you want," he says, throwing my words back in my face.

     "Fuck me, Jay," I mumble, working my hands at his belt and pants to try and undo them. I do manage to get them undone and waste no time sliding my hand in. I softly paw at his dick, impatiently waiting to hear him make the noises he's been forcing out of me.

     "What a needy little thing. Less than ten minutes ago you were oh so worried about Tim seeing us and now look at you. You're naked propped up on a car, begging me to fuck you as you give me a handy. It turns you on, doesn't it? It turns you on knowing at any second someone could see me filling your pussy." I hate to admit it but he's not wrong and he knows it, which makes it even worse.

     Jason chuckles a bit as he pulls his fingers out of me. I pout at the emptiness left inside me, which gets me a deep, slow kiss from the anti-hero. "Don't pout baby, I'll fill you back up in no time," he promises, wrapping his arms around my legs again to lift me. Jay props me back on my feet before turning me around and bending me over the hood of the car, being careful not to push the metal into my bandages.

     The cold metal sends shivers through me and causes my nipples to harden almost painfully. In no time his fingers are sliding back into me, continuing to gently push me towards my orgasm. The jingling of Jay's belt fills the space between before his fingers are lost, and his tip is pressed against my hole to mess with me. He gently pushes his head against me, pulling back before it goes in. "You're teasing," I finally whine, shimming my hips back when he places his tip against me again.

     Jay chuckles but lets me get the extra inch from my movements. "You teased first," he reminds me, placing his hands on my hips. The roughness feels nice against my smooth skin as he tightens his grasp. He uses his hands to keep me in place as he slides the rest of the way in. The stretching sends continual waves of pleasure through me, rewarding Jay with a soft moan. His hair softly tickles me as he leans down to litter my back with kisses, using them to fill in the time he's given me to adjust.

     After a minute, Jason slowly pulls out before bottoming out in me again. His pace stays slow and soft as he uses me. The zipper of his pants rubs against my thighs every time our hips clash. "Jay, I need more," I whimper, trying to buck my hips back but his hands stop me from doing it.

     "You don't need more, you want more," he answers, a smirk forming in his kisses. Despite the teasing, Jay gives in, keeping his pace slow but thrusting into me harder. I can feel myself tightening around him and his thrusts getting sloppier. "You're such a fucking tease," he mumbles as his pace quickens. "Filling my work room and my head with the sounds of you slurping and sucking away on your stupid treat."

     "Jay-" I say, trying to get his attention as he thrusts push me closer to the car's grill than I'd like.

     "I know, baby," he mumbles against my shoulder before pressing a kiss to it. Jason's hands slip from my hips to my stomach, gently cupping my wounds and making sure not to add any pressure to them. "I'm so fucking close," he murmurs, his thrusts still inching me up the hood. His hands bump into the front of the car, adding slight pressure to my stomach before he adjusts his placement.

     Jason's thrusts gentle a bit as he slips one of his hands down to my clit, starting to rub circles into it. Mews fall out of me, mixing with Jay's heavy breathing. "I'm sorry," he mumbles against my ear as he pulls me back by my waist, shoving himself as far in as he can. His fingers keep circling my clit as he fills my womb. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," he murmurs once my release comes and I tighten around him still tucked into me.

     We stay like this, Jason buried into me, his hands rubbing circles into my hips as he litters kisses across my back and I still hunch over the bat-mobile, my legs threatening to give out from under me if we don't move soon. "So, about our kiss the other day?"

     Jay lets out a deep laugh, smashing another kiss into my shoulder blade before slowly pulling out of me. The mix of our juices leaks down my legs, Jason's fingers rubbing it around my thighs. "Maybe we should worry about cleaning you and the Bat's car before we discuss that and this." Touché Hood.

[ijustthinkhesneat]

I feel compelled to expand upon the previous fae/folklore! Batboys headcanons:

-Bruce is just a straight up normal human. I think this provides a great opportunity for angst because unlike his immortal? children Bruce does age and it terrifies them. And Bruce is young he’s in his early 30s but like his knees will crack a little or his back is slightly stiff after a bad patrol and it just sends them into a spiral because they cannot fathom their dad not being around forever. I can definitely imagine them trying to strong arm Bruce into becoming some flavor of unaging. You could go super dark or just more generally emotional angst but damn the possibilities.

-Cass is giving me shadow person. Very cryptid of her. I’m not sure that I have a clear backstory for her worked out yet. Either magic gone wrong or she’s another flavor of undead like Jason and Tim. I like to imagine she just hovers over people at night to be creepy.

-Originally I wanted to say Duke was a Will-o-the-wisp. But I’m not really sure it fits, especially since he’s primarily active during the day. Then it hit me. Mothman. My lamplight boy is a moth creature. I like the idea of him hiding his little antenna under a beany and wearing sunglasses. The wings would be difficult. But my boy is creative.

- I think Steph and Barbara are also human like Bruce they just are extra bad ass.

-Coming back to life as a magical creature warps peoples memories and emotions from both the trauma and changing into something not human. Tim is significantly less effected than Jason, at least outwardly, because he was only a toddler when he died so he didn’t have many memories or experiences to draw from, but Jason was super volatile. His memories surrounding Willis became even more dark while his memories of his mother sort of glossed over her absentee parenting and drug use. Jason can’t help but struggle with associating the negative learned experience he had with his first paternal figure with Bruce. Jason ends up going to live with Talia for a while because he doesn’t want to feel that way about his dad anymore.

-Basically I think Jason, at least mentally, is the most human of Bruce’s kids besides Damian because he actually lived a life as a human, where as Tim changed so young that he doesn’t really know how to be anything but his extremely disturbing self.

-I think Gotham just has major ‘I do not see it’ energy. Like The Batfamily? Demons from hell. The Wayne’s? Hot neurodivergent people. Did you see Dick Grayson unhinge his jaw like a fucking snake at a gala? No you didn’t he just has a really big smile. Jason Todd??? Has scales??? Nope actually he just developed early onset Eczema and he’s really self conscious about it how dare you! Tim Drake sucking the blood of the himbo blonde boy? Everyone knows Tim and Bernard are total freaks. Cassandra Cain is your sleep paralysis demon? Honestly fair.

-It’s totally a coincidence that strange misfortune befalls anyone who threatens the Wayne’s!

-Clark is Bruce’s favorite man to sleep on so he gets a pass. I don’t know why but a midwestern spin on the story of princess kaguya lives in my head rent free. Like Martha Kent is just shucking corn and then boom baby in the corn. We call that children of the corn. I still love to imagine him being like so perfect that it’s high key alien, but his little sharp nails and fangies! Maybe even slightly pointy ears. And like Clark fully thinks he is human, like his parents don’t tell him humans can’t fly until he’s in kindergarten, and even then they just tell him he is special and learned super fast and shouldn’t embarrass the other kids and Clark is such a Good BoyTM that he just never uses his powers in public cause he doesn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Like bro doesn’t learn he is adopted until he is about to go to college, he is just straight up clueless.

-Clark learns Dick is a Fae creature when Batman brings Robin to the Watchtower cause he couldn’t get a baby sitter and Alfred doing some spooky shit like dusting the mausoleum. Like Batman just slinking around but there is this super colorful child with him. And then Dick turns and smiles and it’s just so wrong, like his mouth just stretching his face like some horror movie shit. Clark almost shots himself cause like what the fuck. Bruce told Dick to just ‘be himself’ so like he just thinks he’s being friendly. Despite being creepy as all hell Clark kinda thinks Dick is super adorable. Like was he spider crawling around the floor with all his limbs bent the wrong way while Bruce and Clark were talking? Yeah but then he just tugged on Bruce’s cape to ask for a juice box, like that’s a baby.

-Jason freaked him out in a different way. Since Jason is undead he doesn’t have a heartbeat and doesn’t need to breath so when he isn’t moving he makes literally zero noise. When he first met Clark he was just watching him from around corners and behind stair banisters and Clark was convinced he was losing his mind and hallucinating the kid from the Grudge. Then Bruce is just like “Oh you met Jason! He’s so sweet, just a little shy. He’s my second oldest! I think he likes you though.” And then a little grey blue slightly webbed hand just reaches around the corner to give a little wave and boom Clark would kill for him.

-Tim is similar in that Clark has trouble pinpointing his location because of a lack of normal bodily functions, but Tim has no idea what a boundary is. So like at first he’s a shy little toddler and then that night he’s crawling all over Clark and pranking him nonstop.

-Damian is a baby but like Clark looked in his eyes and just felt like this infant could see his past present and future and was judging him heavily. Clark was relieved cause at least he had a heartbeat.

-Cass lives to fuck with Clark. She’s Jason’s age but not only has no heartbeat and doesn’t breath, when she is in shadow form he can’t see her with X-ray vision. She can literally make herself undetectable to Superman. He learns this one night sleeping in a guest room at the manor. He gets the feeling he is being watched but can’t find anyone. Then right when he relaxes her arm shoots out from the darkness under his bed and grabs his leg. Clark screams so loud it cracks the window. And then just nearly silent muffled laughter as the arm retreats into the darkness. He X-Ray visions but nothing is there. He demands to stay in Bruce’s room after that. Bruce is just like “Oh that was just Cass. She likes playing practical jokes, she is my little princess!”

[stealingyourbones]

You know, the civilian Bruce au is so funny to me, just because of the whole situation with Talia.

Like can you imagine:

Bruce: *acts like a himbo*

Talia: Well I can't just not fuck him now can I?

I think Damian was created by taking Bruce's DNA?

Ra's: Who's DNA did you take to make this baby?

Talia:...

Ra's: WHOSE DNA-

Just imagine Damian leaving to go live with his father and expecting him to be this powerful warrior or something and instead getting this rich himbo.

Damian: I'm the blood son, so I will be the one to inherit his legacy!

Tim...you wanna be a doctor that bad?

Damian: What

Like, his father doesn't know about his children's vigilantism, he doesn't even know that Talia was an assassin from the league, he doesn't even know what the league is. Mother why?

If he wants to be a vigilante as well he has to listen to his adoptive brothers, which really grates him. He also has to keep it from Bruce, which he really doesn't get.

Bruce just keeps accidentally guilt tripping Damian into a normal child.

Bruce: I'm just so glad our family is getting along. I just don't what I would do if you didn't like your brothers 🥹

Damian, who is definitely not getting along with his brothers:...yeah...

Do you think he'd inherit his mother's taste in men?

Jon: *does something stupid*

Damian, near tears: I think I get it now mother, I'm sorry I kink shamed you.

Okokok I getchu, but I also need to add here that Bruce’s parents were certainly not normal and He certainly isnt normal. His parents read motherfuckin The Veldt by Ray Bradbury to him as a BEDTIME STORY!!

The Story in Summary: the Hadley family, two kids and their mom and dad, live in this automated home that can do anything for them. It can cook, clean, wash the kids, put them to bed, anything household work like you can imagine, it can do.

Kids have a VR Room called The Nursery. The Nursery is stuck visually showing an African landscape (w/ lions eating dead carcasses in the background and people screaming). They call a Psychologist for answers of this landscape. Psychologist tells them to turn off the house. The Hadley’s agree. They doubt their parenting abilities but this guy helped reassure them that doing this will help their issues. The kids protest heavily but the parents’s resolve is firm. They tell their kids they can visit The Nursery one last time.

The parents talk about the kids a bit more before going into The Nursery to collect the kids. They are met with a pride of lions. The screams they heard in The Nursery before is reminiscent as the ones they are currently making as the Lions tear into them.

The psychologist goes to check on the kids. They are in the Nursery having tea. It’s still the African Savanna. Lions are feasting on two bodies far in the distance.

The psychologist realizes what has been done. A child offers him tea like nothing is wrong.

That’s the story. Its a very shitty summary but its the best I could do with my current brain functionality. But can you imagine why I think that’s a Not Normal Parenting Tactic for the average child?

I have the personal belief that Bruce’s parents were quite eccentric and a tad on the strange side. You dont grow up stewing in your own grief and then decide to become a vigilante crime fighter after a traumatic event with a regular upbringing.

All I’m saying is that if you’re going the Civilian!Bruce route, he’s absolutely protective of his kids, but his personality would still have some similarities to the OG Bruce Wayne. Still enjoys working out and maybe this time he actually gets those copious amounts of injuries doing eccentric Rich people sports and getting hurt from trying to pull off wild as hell stunts.

He isn’t a man who doesn’t do anything when he’s in the line of fire. He still has learned self defense and knows damn well how to fight and fight back, just not to the degree of a vigilante.

I’m unsure how to fully characterize a Bruce who his parent’s death never consumed his entire being and made him into Batman but this man certainly will pretend to be a himbo in front of the press. He might not have that playboy guise anymore because normally its a way to hide his Batman identity. He certainly doesn’t have the Batcave but you bet your ass that this man HAS tried to go spelunking in the caves below his house.

Idk that’s all I got for this but its just me adding on with my thoughts. Bruce unknowingly keeping the boys grounded in normal life actives in a way that means more for the boys than Bruce would ever understand or realize is some good shit.

[writing-with-my-teeth]

Capeless Crusaders Against Lex Luthor

Summary: Lex Luthor's Public Enemy #1 has always been Superman. He never thought that Bruce Wayne and his gaggle of misfit children could be worse.

This story features Bruce, Dick, Steph, Damian, and a bonus Red Hood. Let me know if anyone wants a part 2 with Tim, Duke, Babs, and Cass.

Word count: 3k

Potential TW: I tried to pick the most cartoonishly evil thing that Lex could support, so this fic does mention the activity of dwarf tossing.

Another day, another gala.

Lex's lip curled. He hid it behind the lip of the champagne glass in his hand.

You know, he was just thinking that he might actually enjoy the night. Galas were such tedious affairs, but half of the attendees tonight were Lex's business partners. The other half were old school friends.

Unfortunately, anyone that had gone to school with Lex and Oliver Queen—the host of tonight's party—had also gone to school with Bruce Wayne, and his unfortunate yacht accident two weeks ago hadn't stopped him from attending, though Lex had desperately hoped it would. Of course, the moment he waltzed into the room, a good hour and a half late and already heavily intoxicated, by the looks of him, Lex lost the spotlight.

Nevertheless, the night was salvageable. There were no media vultures in attendance. The only reporter on the list was that mild-mannered Daily Planet employee. Lex didn't remember his name (Connor O'Connell, maybe?) but he did remember the scathing cost-benefit analysis of Superman that he'd written three months ago.

Lex would be delighted to pick his brain more on his thoughts about Superman.

Unfortunately, as soon as he waved the man over, a tremendous splash sounded across the room. The reporter's head whipped around, nearly losing his thick-rimmed spectacles in the process.

Lex closed his eyes and counted to ten for patience.

Bruce Wayne was—yes, he was in the fountain.

It was hard to tell whether he was swimming or drowning.

Lex hoped it was the latter. Unfortunately, the sentiment wasn't a common one. Old Mrs. Crawer pretended to faint into her young bodyguard's arms (she did that at least once per gala) and Jack Drake went so far as to shout for someone to help. A couple people nodded their heads, looking sufficiently concerned, but nobody seemed invested in ruining their clothes by jumping in after Wayne.

It was the reporter that stepped up. He folded his notebook and pen in the jacket of his suit, handed it off to the nearest waiter, and stepped up to the lip of the fountain. Loudly, he said, "Mr. Wayne, are you okay?"

Wayne's head popped out of the water. He slicked his hair back to the admiring gasps of unsatisfied society ladies and whispered something to the reporter that made him shake his head. Then, louder, he announced, "Felt a little stuffy in here. Thought I'd shake things up." His voice was slurred and his eyes bright. He was so intoxicated. Lex could hardly wait for the reporter to flame him in the papers tomorrow.

"I'm surprised he's so eager to get into the water considering his recent yacht debacle," Lex sniffed, but nobody heard the cutting remark.

It was Oliver Queen that finally cajoled Wayne out of the fountain with the promise of more shrimp and cocktails. The man staggered sopping wet around the ballroom, laughing about his own stupidity and using the reporter as a support whenever he stumbled. If he wasn't the center of attention before, he certainly was now, with the soaking wet see-through white dress shirt clinging to every curve of muscle on his body. Why, exactly, did Bruce Wayne feel the need to bodybuild when he sat in an office all day? Lex would never understand the foolish rich.

"Brucie," Lex said when the pair stumbled within earshot. "Why don't you give Caden a break and sit down?"

"Who?"

Lex forced a laugh and the reporter joined in after a pause. Fine. If Wayne wouldn't let the reporter go, then he would conduct his business while ignoring the man. He did that enough during board meetings with Wayne Enterprises, after all.

The next morning, Lex stared at the newspaper in disbelief. Wayne's dip in the fountain was splashed—literally—all over the front page, and his stilted conversation with the reporter had barely made page 3, hardly bigger than a footnote.

Fucking Wayne.

---

"License and registration, please!" the disgustingly cheery cop all but sang. It was four in the morning, but he was practically beaming. And he was beaming his flashlight directly into Lex's eyes. He couldn't see anything around it.

"What seems to be the problem, officer?" Lex asked, handing the papers over.

"Suspicious behavior," replied the cop. "Mr. Luthor, what are you doing in Blüdhaven at four a.m.?"

"What suspicious behavior?" Lex questioned.

The officer lowered his flashlight, but its dark shadow was seared into Lex's vision right where the cop's face should be. "Mr. Lauren, are you avoiding the question?"

"It's Luthor, actually, and no, of course not," Lex sighed, rubbing his face. He was exhausted. "I was on a business trip. Our meeting ended late. Now, what suspicious behavior are you talking about? I used my turn signal before switching lanes, I've been within five miles of the speed limit the entire drive, and as far as I'm aware, there's no driving curfew in Blüdhaven."

"Yes," said the officer. From what Lex could see of his features, he was frowning. "All of that is extremely suspicious behavior in Blüdhaven. Besides, you're driving a Luthor Cybertruck, which suggests you suffer from lapses of temporary insanity. Do you consent to a quick search of your vehicle?"

"Not without a warrant," Lex sighed. "Look, officer, I'm from Central City. Us citizens follow the law there. I can assure you, I just want to go home."

The officer hesitated. Lex considered bribing him, but couldn't tell if the man had a bodycam on.

"Well, all right," said the officer finally. "I'll let you go with a warning."

"Thank you, officer," Lex said. "Thank you for keeping your city safe."

"All in a night's work!" the officer said cheerfully. "Have a good one, Mr. Lantern."

"Luthor," Lex grumbled, but the officer was already ambling away, whistling cheerfully. "Lapses of temporary insanity?" That officer was the one whistling at four a.m. Luthor Cybertrucks were pinnacles of human technological innovation!

Twenty minutes later, another cop pulled him over. Lex had his papers in hand by the time the officer said, "License and registration, please!"

It was the same idiot cop from before. Lex closed his eyes and said, "Really?"

"Excuse me?"

"You just pulled me over. Nothing about my driving has changed since then."

"Did I?" the officer mused. "I'm not sure if I recall."

"I can assure you that you did," Lex said through gritted teeth. "I can assure you, Officer—" He squinted at the man's name badge— "Grayson, I just want to return to my home in Central City."

"I'll let you off with a warning," said Officer Grayson. "Don't let it happen again, okay?"

Lex had the sinking feeling that it would happen again, and he was right. He figured it out by the next time the officer pulled him over: Grayson was the name of Bruce Wayne's first adoptee, the circus one. Apparently, idiocy was inheritable through adoption.

This time, Officer Grayson tripped on his way to Lex's window, and Lex stiffened at the sound of glass crunching. He closed his eyes and counted to ten, which maybe wasn't the best thing to do, because the first thing Officer Grayson did was poke his shoulder and ask, "Sir, have you fallen asleep behind the wheel?"

Lex stared at him.

Officer Grayson stared back, utterly serious.

"Did you just shatter my brake light?"

"No, I don't think so," Grayson said airily, then launched into the same spiel from the last two traffic stops.

Lex gripped the steering wheel because if he didn't, he might punch the man. When Grayson was done, he asked tightly, "What do normal Blüdhaven citizens drive like?"

"Excuse me?"

"What is unsuspicious behavior for driving in this wretched city?"

"I would never encourage someone to break the law," said Officer Grayson seriously. "You're driving perfectly, sir. It's just quite unusual for this area, so I wanted to make sure you're not hiding anything nefarious in your car. Do you consent to a search?"

"No, I do not," Lex said through gritted teeth, "I just want to get home. As I've told you two times before."

"Have you?"

"Yes," Lex snapped. "You have."

"Oh." Officer Grayson scratched his head. "Sorry about that. Carry on, then." He handed Lex's paperwork back.

Lex waited until Grayson pulled away and drove off before starting to drive himself. If it was so suspicious to drive close to the speed limit, then he would drive ten miles over. As long as he stayed behind the officer—

"Oh, come on!" Not ten minutes later, blue-and-red lights flashed in his rearview mirror. "How did he get behind me?" Lex had been so careful not to pass anyone!

"License and registration, please! It'll be a ticket today, unfortunately; I clocked you going seventy-seven in a sixty-five zone. Also, did you know that one of your brake lights is out?"

Lex would be having words with Wayne about allowing his children out of that ridiculous manor he called a home.

---

Lex wasn't the fondest of children, but he could appreciate them as the future of technological innovations. That was why he appeared as a guest at the end of the tour LexCorp hosted for students enrolled in Gotham University. Hopefully the poor children would realize how much better life was outside of that depressing city.

"And as a special treat for you all, LexCorp's CEO, Lex Luthor himself, has taken some time out of his very busy day to answer a few of your questions!" the perky guide announced.

Lex pasted on a smile for the crowd, who didn't look very impressed. Students looked more and more tired every year, he'd noticed. Lex tried not to take their lack of enthusiasm personally.

"It's a pleasure to meet the sharpest upcoming minds in the industry," he said. "As CEO of LexCorp, I personally oversee—"

A hand shot up. Lex blinked but quickly recovered. He would have time to finish his speech in a few minutes. "Yes?" He pointed to the hand's owner, a young woman with bright yellow hair. She was dressed in purple from head-to-toe, even her socks and the scrunchie holding her hair away from her face. Something about her seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it...

"Hi, Mr. Luthor," she said. "I read online that you support dwarf tossing. Is that true? If so, why?"

Immediately the group's energy shifted. Eyes darted between the blonde and Lex, obviously hanging onto every word.

The tour guide shot a terrified glance at Lex, who couldn't have been more taken aback. Every attendee should have had their student IDs checked, so she couldn't be a reporter.

"Excuse me?" he finally managed to say.

"Dwarf tossing," the blonde repeated. "I saw in an article a couple years ago that you opposed actions against the sport, and I was just interested in why you did that."

"If we could stick to questions related to the tour," the guide said desperately.

The blonde's hand shot into the air.

"Anyone else?" the guide asked.

Everyone else in the tour seemed too interested in the blonde's next question to ask one of their own.

Lex suppressed a sigh and pointed to her.

"Yes, hi," she said. "Mr. Luthor, why is the password to your computer system your birthday? That seems like a security issue just waiting to happen."

"Excuse me?"

She pushed through the crowd of students to the keypad in front of a door that read 'KEEP OUT: EXPERIMENTATION IN PROGRESS' and typed in the code.

The door swooshed open.

"See?" the blonde propped a hand on her hip and flipped her hair over her shoulder, and all of a sudden Lex knew exactly why she was familiar. She'd been at Wayne's last foundation gala, dressed in the same shade of purple, on the arm of Janet Drake's lovechild with Bruce Wayne. Lex didn't remember the sickly-pale boy's name. Thomas, maybe?

"Please shut that door this instant," the guide spluttered.

The blonde shrugged and typed the code in backwards, prompting the doors to close. "I'm just saying, for a so-called tech genius, your password was pretty easy to figure out."

Lex's tongue unstuck from the roof of his mouth. "And how, may I ask, did you sleuth that out?"

"It was my second guess," she said. "I mean, come on. It's pretty egotistical. Better than if my first guess had been right, though."

"And what was your first guess?"

"The date of Superman's first save. You're pretty obsessed with him."

"Okay!" the tour guide said shrilly. "I think that concludes the tour for today. Thank you all for attending!" She ushered the group of university students out of the room. The blonde was the last to leave, holding eye contact with Lex all the way out the door.

What was wrong with the children that hung around Bruce Wayne? Lex made a mental note to check the man for any kind of radiation he might emit. There was no such thing as radiation that made people stupider, right?

---

Wayne's youngest was the only one in the entire family to possess any shred of sense, Lex had discovered.

It grated on him to appeal to a child for grant funding, but LexCorp needed Wayne Enterprise's cooperation to petition the FDA to pass LexCorp Brand kibble. Pet food was a criminally underutilized industry, in Lex's opinion. He could already see LexCorp monopolizing the industry in the future.

Instead of Bruce Wayne, Lucius Fox, or even the seventeen year old Drake-Wayne lovechild that had served as CEO for a little under a year, they had sent Wayne's eleven year old son. He didn't fit into any of the HAZMAT suits they had in stock, so Lex had to entertain the boy while his assistant did a hasty tailoring job. All the while, the boy's brooding bodyguard stood over his shoulder, glaring so hard that his assistant's hands shook.

God knew what hell the child would raise if she poked him with a pin.

Judging by the frightened look on her face, she knew that her job was at stake. Wayne's lawyers were a nightmare to deal with. Lex would rather fight Superman without Kryptonite than face them in court over Wayne's darling prince suffering from a pinprick under Lex's supervision.

Unlike the rest of the Waynes, this boy did not speak much. He looked at everyone with a shrewd, suspicious glare, looking so much like his bodyguard that Lex almost wondered if they were related.

Lex didn't get the feeling that the child approved of him, but he wasn't particularly concerned with a child's opinion. As long as the child was smart enough to realize the financial benefits of Wayne Enterprises partnering with LexCorp—and wasn't that sad, relying on a child's judgment to make a business deal—then they could all go their separate ways as soon as the day was over.

"Are you sure that you don't want a suit of your own?" Lex asked. "Like I said, the technology used to infuse each piece of kibble with the proper nutrients for a growing dog can be—"

"I'll be fine," the bodyguard said in a gravelly voice.

"All the same, there is some radiation—"

"A little radiation never killed me," he said. His mouth twisted in a wry smile, like he'd just said an inside joke.

The child looked at him sharply.

"Well, be careful to stay far away from the machine, then," said Lex, too fed up to argue much. He was growing quite sick of dealing with Wayne and his children. "The slightest miscalibration could shut it down."

"I'll be careful."

Lex's assistant gasped. She'd pricked the Wayne brat with a pin, and she looked up with a trembling lip, but the child didn't even react. He just said, "Continue so we may get this over with."

Lex internally echoed the sentiment.

Once the HAZMAT suit had finally been tailored to roughly fit the boy, they were ready to enter the room. "Please stay back from the machine," he reminded the bodyguard. "Any miscalibration could be catastrophic. Even something as fine as a speck of dirt could interfere with the gears." He had already sunk two million dollars into this project.

Nearly as soon as he spoke the words, the beautifully running kibble machine ground to a halt. Lights blared red.

"What on Earth is going on?" Lex demanded.

It took a minute to diagnose the issue, but finally one of his scientists said, "A cat hair," and held the offending material up for everyone to see.

"Cat hair?" Lex repeated. "How on earth did a cat hair get in here?" Every employee was thoroughly decontaminated before entering the room.

The bodyguard.

Lex rounded on him, ready to take out his annoyance, but a small meow stopped him in his tracks.

Wayne's youngest held a cat in his arms, looking severely unamused.

He hadn't been holding a cat a second ago.

"Where did you get that?" Lex demanded.

The boy didn't blink. "Alfred has been recently suffering from separation anxiety. I could not leave her at home."

"If it makes you feel better," added the bodyguard, "we wouldn't have approved this anyway. We just came as a formality."

All Lex could do was seethe as the pair walked out of the testing room, leaving him with a team of panicked scientists and a two million dollar piece of technology ruined.

---

"What do you mean, you didn't pick up the shipment?" Lex growled into the phone. He'd been trying to replenish his stock of Kryptonite for months, but every source apart from Gotham had dried up. That, too, was increasingly impossible to organize shipments from.

"Sorry, boss," said the goon over the phone. "The Red Hood's been blocking us at every opportunity. I think he's stockpiling it or something."

"Who?" Lex demanded.

"One of Gotham's crime lords. But he kinda sorta works with the Bat now, so—"

Lex hung up the phone and rubbed his forehead. He was getting a headache.

Maybe Lex should ask Batman for a share of his Kryptonite supply. He knew the vigilante had some, and he couldn't be more of a headache to work with than Bruce fucking Wayne and his children.

[incorrectbatfam]

Can Bruce read his gremlins a bedtime story?

Once upon a time—

Ugh, no. Go back and try again.

Jason, let the man read.

Not when it sounds like that. It's Sleeping Beauty. A fucking five-year-old can do it.

Alright, starting over. Once upon a time, there lived a princess in a castle.

Where else would she live?

I get what you're saying. Where was I? Right. When she was born—

Can we go back for a second? What kind of castle are we talking about?

Not again.

A good story has detail, Cass. Now give me the layout. Is it more mid-century or a little earlier? What fortifications do they have? Do the floor plans allow for guards to covertly sneak around? Are they prioritizing enemy intimidation or civilian—

Mid-to-late-century, reinforced walls with hidden cannons and watchtowers, they have underground tunnels, and civilian trust because their only enemy is Maleficent. As I was saying—

What's their contingency plan?

Tim!

The story is the contingency plan, you wet sack of hamburger meat.

Wow, spoiler alert.

Someone called?

I thought you went home?

And miss this trainwreck? As if. Too bad Tumblr doesn't have more colors because Duke would love this.

Huh?

It's a fourth wall thing. Don't worry, I've been working on my impression of him.

Let's see it.

Please don't.

"My name is Duke. I cry at Lord of the Rings."

In his defense, Frodo and Sam have a beautiful friendship.

Back to the story. When she was born, her parents threw a grand jubilee where all the kingdom and its fairies was invited. The fairies all arrived with presents—

You think they would have a baby shower before the baby is born, right? What, the first few days they're just going without diapers?

This was the Middle Ages. They believed in leeching the humors out for a common cold.

Also, you can throw showers after the kid arrives. Our own dad did it.

At least you weren't the guinea pig. Try explaining to a bunch of important rich people who brought gifts that actually, there is no baby, it's me and I don't need diapers or footie pajamas.

Says the guy wearing a Kid Flash onesie.

Says the one in a Superboy shirt and conspiracy theory pants. Pick a side.

I have two hands and I'm not ashamed.

Okay, there's a lot to unpack there—

Jason married Roy!

What?!?

It's for tax benefits. Not all of us can own a multi-billion-dollar corporation.

Your name's on the will.

Yeah but I'm never gonna get it 'cause Bruce isn't gonna die long enough for me to use it.

What do you mean?

He's talking about the retcons. You should ask Duke, he can see into other dimensions.

Ooh.

Ahem, I believe Father was telling us a story. I speed-read it so I know they all die at the end, but I'd like to hear your delivery.

Damian, you're reading this morning's obituaries.

Same thing.

Truelove'skissbrokethespellandtheylivedhappilyeveraftertheend. Terrible job everyone, now lights out.

[snakeredbirdbatkatana]

(Opinions Guys Idk)

Bruce Wayne has been a father for over ten years.

He's delt with any issue children vomiting on his shoes runny noses tears he's got you.

He's also buried his children been covered in their blood helped calm down panic attacks. He might not be the best but he's always tried.

There is however one tiny thing that he can say he's never prepared for no amount of contingencies ever can make him ready.

Any form of high society interaction with Tim.

Watching his third son with a smirk that's deadly convincing the richest to give practically all they have to him.

Manipulating board members, blackmailing politicians.

He looks so much like his mother.

Bruce sees his other children they look uncomfortable he once watched Stephanie yell at Tim that she doesn't understand him that he's horrible for doing it.

Jason calling him a rich prick which he was grounded for not that it has ever stopped his second son.

Another gala happened tonight the entire family was present and now watching once again all of his children even sweet Dickie lecturing Tim.

"Seriously Timmy it's just a little much don't you think"

"Boy Wonder that was disgusting who taught you to act like that"

"Timbers I'm all for fucking with people but what the fuck"

He sees the heartbreak painting Red Robin's face he can feel his own reflect it.

His tiny little sweetheart who learned at his mothers knee, his baby boy who works so hard for the company. Who's done tremendous things the only one of them to actually get the respect of the people of Gotham he can't watch it.

"That's enough," Growls out of him.

All of his children freeze looking at him Damian who has remained quiet looking at his brother with nothing but respect turns hurt masked.

"Your brother did amazing tonight, in a way this was an oversight on my part none of you were specifically trained how to act around the Gotham elite. Tim was raised by Janet Drake who was known as the dragon of Gotham".

They start to shift confusion practically pouring out of them.

He looks straight at Tim as he walks forward placing his hand on his shoulder.

" I might not alway agree with how your mother raised you I wish she did a lot differently sweetheart."

A sharp smile begins to paint both Tim's and Damian's faces.

They understand that he is speaking to both of them the only two to really understand.

"But she raised you to know that power that you hold to be able to rule which isn't something I could your siblings are wrong." He turns to glare especially at Stephanie and Jason.

"I'm not saying what you did is right morally it can be questionable however you both know what to do in situations like that experience that none of your siblings could ever have."

He breathes knowing he might anger his children throwing in their faces that they weren't born with silver spoons they have to fight and claw to be where they are.

"This is both Damian and Tim's territory neither are going into crime alley or the narrows and telling you what to do. You don't get to complain about how they were raised or how they handle situations you have no prior knowledge of." He sees that at least Dick is understanding a light entering his eyes

----------------

So this is the beggining of a story kinda talking about the difference between how Damian and Tim were raised compared to everyone else.

This was something me and a mutual have been working on but we are disagreeing about it.

They think it's fine I don't know.

Could I get opinions because I personally think it is fascinating how Tim is raised versus others not in a negative or positive.

However I think the way we have done some of it mind you this is almost a twenty chapter fanfiction. Might be slightly not good.

I wanted to explain how Tim and Damian would have an advantage their mother raised badass sons who know how powerful they can be.

They were raised rich and with the world at their fingertips but I think we made it sounds very bashy I need thoughts please let me know.

This is only not even a chapter but I wanted to give something of reference.

I think the privilege is slightly too heavy handed and it makes it sounds like the Rich are better idk. 

[dickheadcanons]

Your brain is literally gynormous. Do you think Damian's and Dick's relationship is paternal? Because, as someone who has actually had to raise their sibling (do not recommend) it looks more like a guy that had too much in his plate trying to be the best caregiver he could, but not really being a parent, if that makes sense. I feel like the idea of him wanting to adopt him feels like kind of a retcon, couldn't really see it in the og run. But of course, it could be because it's not exactly the same as my experience (abusive father, incapable mother, yknow the drill). What do you think? All your posts are so good.

Also while you're at it, what do you think of Dick as a parent? Some elseworlds have played with the concept, and main continuity did something too with Olivia but T*m Tayl*r fucked that up too. I also wonder how Damian would be as a dad, but I don't think I've ever seen any stories with it.

omg anon thank you and thank you for asking!! this is literally one of my favorite topics!! i was thinking about making a post on this and now you gave me the excuse for it!!

Long story short, I don't think that “parental” is a binary thing. I mean, I know several bio-parents who are just guys with too much on their plates, trying to be the best they can, you know? And people can see parent figures in all kinds of relationships that aren’t blood or traditional moms/dads, especially with people who didn't know each other from birth. There are a million ways to be parented, and a million ways to act as a parent.

The way I think about it is, is Dick Damain's John Grayson? No, I don't think so.

But is Dick Damian's Bruce Wayne? Yes. Totally. Absolutely.

More under the cut bc I have a lot of thoughts.

I think to talk about Dick and Damian, we have to start with Dick and Bruce. So much about Dick and Damian is a reflection of the original Dynamic Duo, and I think that's very much the case with this element as well. From the start of their very long comic history, Dick and Bruce have been dancing around their relationship. We get early comics that say they're "like" father and son, we have Bruce saying he couldn't care about Dick more than if he was Bruce's son, but we also have places where they call each other their best friends, where they act more like brothers, etc etc.

When it comes to who our parents are, I think there is the responsibility, and the result. Certain people have the responsibility, the duty, to be our parents, and sometimes (because death or illness or being shitty people), they aren't able to meet those responsibilities. That never removes the responsibility; they don't stop being the parent. But they aren't able to create the result of us becoming good stable adults. That's where other people can step in, where the parental figure appears, and those are the people that we actually point to when we say "they made me the person I am today."

In fandom, we see a lot of Dick not wanting Bruce to replace his father, of him asking not to be adopted. I think this is a fine characterization that works with who Dick is, but Bruce is actually the one to say that he is not going to replace Dick's father. He says it completely unprompted, too. This is withholding the responsibility of being Dick's parent from Bruce, keeping him at a distance and reserving it as an honor for someone who can't hold it anymore, even as Bruce demands responsibility for literally everything else about Dick.

And I think that it's very telling of what Bruce's idea of a father is. The thing about having a dead parent at a young age is that the person of your parents is still tangled in the role of parent in your life; Mom is mom, not Martha, and because she's dead, the image of both Martha and "mom" is frozen. For Bruce, the relationship of father and son is frozen in the relationship of specifically his father and him. Of course Bruce is not Dick's father; Bruce himself is so different from what his conception of a father is. And as a fellow son, for Bruce, someone who just got back from 7 years abroad studying to be Batman, for whom the nearly 20 year old wound is still fresh, the idea of even wanting another father doesn't make sense, particularly for a boy that Bruce identifies with so hard that he becomes the third person ever to know who Batman is.

This looming memory is even worse when it's Dick's turn to be Batman. While Bruce looks at Dick and sees the memory of his own loss, the shadow of his own grief, Dick is looking at Damian and seeing Bruce. Dick knows very well who Damian lost; Dick is grieving what Damian lost more than Damian is. Bruce couldn't conceive of replacing a father, but Dick is struggling to imagining himself replacing Bruce at his job, much less who he was in his personal relationships.

But even if Damian isn't Dick's responsibility, Dick doesn't hesitate to care about Damian's future. "Who's going to save him if we don't?" At the start of the DickBats era, Dick isn't looking at Damian as a family member, really. He's looking at Damian as a victim, abet a very involved, very dangerous one. It's how Bruce looked at Dick too, before he had any reason to know that this kid would become something more to him. But, like Bruce, what Dick does to save Damian is bring him into the thing that is most precious to him; Batman. The mission. Saving people. A way to live in the world.

I know saying someone is the Batman to their Robin is like, a joke at this point. Something unbelievably cheesy. But you google "iconic duos" and Batman and Robin are one of the first responses. There's a reason for the joke. So imagine you are Robin, and your Batman is dead. And you have to go and find a new partner. Dick making Damian his Robin is heavy, just as heavy to me as adoption papers. Bruce made Dick his partner without any idea of what that meant. Dick, and the audience, had 70 years of expectation on what Dick and Damian could be. Dick making Damian Robin was a very specific claim, far stronger imo than just claiming him as a son would have been.

Because, to be honest (and speak to your other question), I don't think Dick thinks a lot about being a parent. I don't really think it's that important to him. Dick is a leader, a mentor, he deals with a ton of teenagers and kids through his vigilante work, he goes to Tim's sidekick parent's meetings and takes Jason skiing and more than that, he's also young. He's in his 20s. He should be at the club. I think he probably thinks he'll have kids in an abstract way, but it's not something he's looking for, consciously or unconsciously. He's not searching for connection, or to fix his mistakes or his past, the things that lead Bruce to adopting sidekicks. He'd be a great dad, and I think we see him being pretty good with his Elseworlds kids, but Dick is a very practical person, and him taking a kid in (vs finding somewhere else they can go) is not really the practical choice.

Except for one kid. There's just been one kid with legitimately no where else to go, where Dick is truly the only option, because going home meant only bad things for him. Dick made Damian part of his family in the ways that mattered to them both in that moment. With their lives, adoption doesn't really make a huge material difference on custody (if Damian wanted to leave, Dick couldn't have stopped him; Damian has access to basically unlimited money and can feed and clothe and wash himself. and possibly already has a phd.), and Dick wanted Damian to choose, anyway. If I recall correctly, Dick says he didn't think about taking Damian with him until Bruce comes back. He thought about taking Damian with him, thought that Damian might be better with Dick (his partner!!!!) than even with Bruce, his dad, the person Dick loves so much, only in the face of them being separated.

Meanwhile Damian, for all his blustering about how Dick needs to "earn" his respect, warms up to Dick startlingly quickly. For Damian, who had never known a father, who in his initial run hadn't even known his mother for more than two years, whose other male family is Ra’s al Ghul, his father is Batman. Even in Tomasi's kinder depiction of Damian's childhood, Damian only knows the Bat. And when he meets Bruce, the first thing he expresses is disappointment. Bruce the man is underwhelming and then goes and dies. So much for the mythic hero!

And then he meets Dick. Who manages to teach Damian something, who doesn't discount his skills even when he's wrong. Who proves that he is better at being Batman than Damian, and shows that he wants Damian around. And, even more importantly, who doesn't die. Dick is stable in a world constantly in flux. Damian screws up a lot in that run, and he leaves for long stretches of it, but Dick is always there when he gets back. There's no blame here, but the truth is that Dick is the one who stays.

Bruce was Damian's father, but what does that mean to someone whose never met a father at all? Bruce might have tried to connect with Damian before he died, but he doesn’t do it in a way that works. He doesn’t give Damian trust, he doesn’t encourage him in the ways Damian finds important…the first person to do that is Dick. Dick gives Damian responsibility, makes him part of the team. It could be argued that Damian didn’t deserve it, but we’re not talking about deserving. We’re talking about what worked. It sounds like as good an idea as making a tiny 8 year old acrobat a sidekick, but it undeniably worked for both Damian and Dick. Does that mean that either of these relationships were parental in the way that we think of it in the real world, in the way that a child psychologist would say is good and healthy? I have no idea. But they are the most parental in the absence of any other parents, and I think that means a lot.

Unfortunately, we don't get to actually see the dissolution of Dick and Damian's partnership. DC conveniently skips over showing us Bruce coming back and Dick becoming Nightwing again; preNew 52, Dick is still Batman with Damian even when Bruce returns, and in the New 52, he's been Batman "Before" and we don't really see the end, just a vague aftermath. But if it did take that kind of change to make them realize their relationship had a flavor of "parent and child", had the makings of something like a father and son, well, they'd just be following in the original Batman's footprints.

[roobylavender]

this is a general point but one thing i find to be really frustrating from non-talia fans is the automatic condescension and assumption of unintelligence as if talia fans are idiots who believe morrison is the only writer who has ever been racist to her and like we don't dwell on the issues in her writing across history wholesale because we tend to know it like the back of our hand. obv morrison is the most prevalent writer in talia discourse bc their work has been the most damning for her. there's no erasing what they did to her character bc dc will never erase damian's existence nor will they ever be willing to change his origins to account for her original characterization bc he's the more popular character by miles

but that's not to say that these discussions about other racist stereotypes and misogyny attributed to her portrayals from other writers aren't prevalent within talia fan circles. the above post is only one example of the assumptions made about her fans (although it's a common accusation) but i honestly find it quite laughable bc any talia fan who is dedicated to understanding her history and maintaining her character integrity is well aware that dixon's work on her in the 90s and early 00s is nothing short of terrible. it is her most prominent dragon lady portrayal prior to morrison's and you would be hard pressed to find a talia fan who actually enjoys any of those portrayals or believes they did her character any service. the thing op and so many others seem to ignore is that writers from tower of babel and onward more or less forgot about these arcs or talia's part in them bc her impact was so inconsequential. there's not even a hint of the talia who was power hungry to be her father's heir or sexually assaulted by bane in the portrayals written by waid and early 00s superman comics (although you can obv argue about whether ignorance of her trauma from the bane arc was a good thing). so ofc we don't complain about it as much bc it didn't have any long lasting effects on her character (unless you want to count her portrayal in the dark knight rises, but i think even that was egregious enough for the most wormbrained fans to recognize it was a disservice to her)

and i am always incredibly fascinated by the number of people who like to dress up the o'neil era the way op did bc it's an immediate tell for who's actually read her comics and who hasn't. there's certainly things to be said about the al ghuls and the fu manchu stereotypes o'neil and adams drew from to create the daddy-daughter duo, but no one who criticizes their holistic portrayals here ever seems to actually understand the nature of their crimes in this era or that this is perhaps the most tame ra's has ever been before writers in the 80s and 90s took his ecofascism to new heights. the ra's of the 70s is highly suspicious and wealthy and entitled, but most of his crimes are so vague and far flung they can't even be categorized as anything concrete. half the time he's fighting for control over the league more than he is actually making strides in ecofascism, which is what writers like mike w. barr more specifically dedicated themselves to portraying. it's also notable that one of the last stories o'neil wrote for the al ghuls in this era featured ra's and bruce cooperating to save the entire planet from a deadly chemical. ra's was an ecofascist at origins but very few people seem to understand or care that he was built with standards for himself and didn't believe in mass murdering humanity despite all of its crimes against the earth. that's a nuance that writers seem to have lost over the years and obv the every day batman fan isn't going to care about them lol

even beyond the ra's portrayal though it's interesting how talia gets tied so closely into his alleged "crimes" from this era bc unless her father is under threat or imprisoned talia doesn't play much of an active role in his criminal plotting at all. if anything that's a criticism talia fans have of o'neil's work bc while she's portrayed to be incredibly intelligent and possessive of a unique concept of loyalty, her role during this era doesn't really go beyond the bounds of henchwoman or on some occasions bystander. but the highlight of these portrayals is that in the rare moments that she is an active player, it's always to do the right thing and protect an innocent. talia is very staunchly anti murder and only inclined towards the act when people she cares about are threatened (like in her very first portrayal where she shot darrk to protect bruce, and even then, you can tell that murder wasn't her intent, and the man may have survived had he not fallen onto the train tracks; there is also her almost-murder of a man in daughter of the demon when she believes he's killed ra's, but once bruce tells her ra's is actually alive she relents. you can criticize her for that still if you're inclined to but the notable thing about it is that talia is not driven to murder as a prerogative unless extremes present themselves). o'neil explicitly designates her as a pacifist who is only chained to ra's out of a slavish devotion which other writers obv build on in later decades to help her ultimately evolve out of the role. but all too often non-talia fans take the bond girl ambience and surface matter of these stories to designate her as an entitled, heartless war criminal bc that's already the way they have of her from modern work, projected back onto work from the past. there's no room to see the nuances in her writing in earlier comics bc her future has already damned her

this is personally why i think paying attention to writers when building a concept of character history is so impt. swaths of issues get jumbled together to act as one conglomerate on a character but there's a plethora of nuances and shifts in tone and portrayal to notice when the work of different writers is distinguished from each other and analyzed. and that holds esp true for non-white characters whose trajectory can shift so suddenly bc of the biases of a writer

[rottonbear]

Analysis of knight terrors: nightwing

***** note *****

i didnt read the whole series, and prefer each character is independent than the others, which means what, for example, superman said in his series does not related to batman's.

***** ***** *****

The main topic of knight terrors is the deepest terror of the character, such as batgirl is too reliant on computer, scarecrow is everything.

As a resident scare expert, scarecrow said, "I think it's your fears we should be scared of, nightwing."

so, what's nightwing's biggest fear?

Base on the scarecrow and oracle, insomnia turns people to their special variant and what they fear most.

Nightwing didnt finish his transforment in the story, but base on his hands and arms, it seems to be a creature like a bird.

a blue bird, horror version of course.

in western culture, blue bird means hope. and in other cultures, beside hope, bird also mean power, and freedom. if we take the first statement, nightwing means hope, power and freedom. if we take the second, he afraid to it.

why does nightwing fear to hope?

there is a communicate between nightwing with robin (damian) in nightwing vol. 4 #20

"when your dad came back, there was a moment I thought it would be better for you if you stayed with me."

"but then i thought i was too young. too untethered. i thought i might not be able to handle the responsibility."

he afraids of the responsibility which comes from when he was called to be the hope.

a blue bird borns to be hope, no need and cant forced to.

though dick did a really good job when bruce out, during bruce back, he is the son again. he is still the little bird enjoys soaring free most.

cause of his really great jobs with titans, in bludheaven, sometimes in gotham, and siblingship with other batfamily, people easy to forget he is also a son.

he is the eldest, he becomes a superhero just like bruce, but he is still a son.

when he is free, he is the hope of the family, when he takes responsibility, he is the batman.

he is the hope, but you cant tell him TO BE the hope. that's still too heavy to him.

this is never a shame to a kid just want to be a kid when their parents is there. it just proves how much love that the kid was given from his man, and also an evidence shows he is really see bruce as his father, a figure that can rely on, and learn from.

then, why scarecrow said they should be scared of nightwing's fear?

in the very beginning of the story, nightiwng lose his memory, and insomnia tried to bring it back to make him weak. however even nightwing remembers what happen, his first reaction was finding a way out to make sure what actually happen but to accept. he even can care what happen to batgirl. just like the TRUTH didnt bother him at all.

insomnia's power didnt work on him like the others.

cause of failure, insomnia tried harder, which make the situation also. and insomnia's failure also mean nightwing's fear is an unknown.

nothing horrible than an unknown (actually, he does fear, he just knows how to handle them so well)

During nightwing's transforment, Insomnia tried five things to stimulate him.

one, killing batman, cause of too shock, nightwing lost the memory

two, john and mary.

I dont think batgirl is one of them, they more like trap in the same dream or space, such as stephanie and cassandra.

three, tony zucco.

fourth, the circus.

fifth, the fire (happened before new52, nightwing #88)

this is how nightwing reply.

To his parents,

"I've had nightmares like this before."

"Never so vivid...so real."

They are too real, he cant control himself tried to feel them again, and in the next second, they turned dust.

after that, he said "you're in my mind."

he sad but didnt fooled

he knows clearly his parents were gone, and never came back. just like he said in many series,

"I wouldn't trade being your partner for anything." batman superman world's world's finest #6

"I miss my parents with my whole heart, Batman, I do. But I wouldn't trade this for the world." batman gotham knights

"you know exactly who I'm the son of." pre new52 nightwing #100

About three to five.

Insomnia said "Naturally. His (Zucco) face still haunts you, after all.", "Maybe we should turn up the heat in here. What do you say?"

Nightwing "You think I haven't lived this a thousand times?", "This is no longer my nightmare..."

here show clearly how nightwing deals with his fear.

face it, until it not a bother anymore.

it is also the reason why he is so special in the batfamily. when there is something bothers him, he talks (self talking is also a kind of talking) and asks for help (Bruce also mentions this in nightwing #100) but keep it aside, or let it drive him.

He didnt step in the darkness and be a part of it, he fight hard until the dawn comes.

about the batman's part, analyze with the speech of him and scarecrow,

"I wont forget what happened here, crane."

"I know you wont. becauce a part of you liked it."

"that time you got to kill daddy."

"Darkness is a part of us."

"the thin margin between dread and desire..."

"tonight you tasted it. and it let you wanting more."

after dick real awaked, he didnt deny anything.

"bad dreams are only dreams."

"but some of them stay with us."

"...I'll be thinking about this one for a long time."

so, why does nightwing want to kill batman?

I think it is the visualize of his anger about bruce. in his subconscious, he afraids one day he will lose control.

Father and son issue is a canon topic in whatever creation.

the first one is the hardest.

and adoptive ever makes this more complicated.

Dick is bruce's first son, first partner, tons of things that even the world's greatest detective can find the correct answers, further may be there is no correct answer actullty.

Bruce is dick's second father, there is also alfred, before being part of wayne family, dick already knew whats a good father should be, and there must be sometimes he compared john with bruce, even he never told bruce or alfred face to face.

in nightwing #89, bruce admitted to clark, "i ve made so many mistakes with dick and look how he turned out."

In Nightwing #100, nightwing showed his understanding to bruce.

"You were young, you were driven, and you were grieving. and you put all that aside to take in a kid who lost everything in an instant."

However, understanding doesnt mean forgiving. Dick didnt show his anger because he cares and knows bruce hv been do his best in the past.

just like he said to jon in world's finest sons part two, "I know how hard it is." and in his 2022 annual

alfred "but surely not without a break."

dick "it's for my own good, alfred."

jon "where'd you learn to be such a good teacher?"

nightwing "I learned it from batman."

one of the most touching thing between bruce and dick is the countless understanding and forgiving.

A heartwarming and realist relationship is not filled with love, but hate and love exist at the same time, and love is always the choice with no doubt.

A son defeats his father meaning a real and full grow up.

so do nightwing and batman.

they argued, they fought, they separated, but never apart.

just like what the end of the story showed us, after the dummy broke down. countless bats fly through the sky. bruce always be the guy who saves dick in the very darkness. even there is full of heartbroke and tear, no matter how hard it is, the bat always guides his little blue bird home, the bat cant light the road, but his little bird do. when they are being gather, their world is bright by hope, and none of them will lost anymore.

To the Dynamic Duo

from nightwing fear stage

comment

i pretty love this story. i think it takes batman and nightwing relationship to a different level, may be just my overthinking :D

[damianbugs]

hi <3 since ive already obsessively reread your works i dont know how many times i think it's time for me to branch out and find some other batfam stuff too (im still a loyal reader tho dw bestie) i was wondering if you had any batfam authors you personally love and / or are inspired by! or maybe your top 5 batfam fics? if you don't mind sharing it ofc! thank u have a swag day and thank u for putting out such amazing amazing work into the world that offers me (personally) so much comfort :)

hello !! thank you so much for reading my works and i hope you will continue to enjoy them <3 i am so glad they bring you as much comfort reading as they do for me when writing !! and YES OF COURSE there is simply nothing i love more than recommending batfam fics that have me going absolutely crazy insane.

i previously did a top 5 batfam fic recs, and so here are my, uh, other top 5 batfam fics? everything is at the top of my list at this point.

+ these are in no particular order !!

MY TOP 5 BATFAM FICS (AGAIN) ON AO3 !

Cold Hard Want by AudreyCritter

“Are you happy?”

“I...I’m getting there.”

A follow-up to DC Rebirth Batman #35, in which Bruce recovers from being stabbed in the back and Damian considers the elusive nature of happiness.

MY NOTES: i might have read this fic a dozen times and everytime i do i am always so amazed by it. i have a soft spot for fics that move alongside actual comic canon, and so this was a lovely follow up to that original story (though you do not need to be familiar with it to enjoy this fic). damian is such a complicated character but at the end of the day, he is a child — and i think this handled his tumultuous relationship with bruce, dick and selina(!!) really well.

White Christmas by LemonadeGarden

Jason's been in the manor for a few months now. Bruce is a pretty cool guy, sure, but he's not exactly sure what to expect from him.

And then they go to Siberia in the winter on a case. It goes horribly wrong, and then pretty well.

MY NOTES: personally i think it is always the perfect time of year for a christmas fic that isn't actually about christmas. now, not only do all the best tropes meet in this fic (cuddling for warmth, sick fic, comfort after nightmares - to name a few) BUT this is also about robin jason todd. the little boy of all time. wonderful fic.

all the other rooms are a party tonight (and you never got an invitation) by irnan

(You will need an ao3 account to access this fic)!

The major difference between Gotham before Bruce left to set up Batman, Inc and Gotham after he comes back is that his children are grown-ups. Well, except for Damian.

Still, four out of five's an overwhelming majority.

MY NOTES: there is something so healing about this fic. bruce is rather pathetic (said fondly) in the way troubled middle aged men become when they finally realise their life is only in consequence of the people who exist around them. the dynamic between cass and bruce and dick and bruce in this is one of my favourites. the latter is very carefully weaved into the entire story, even when pertaining the other characters. a great take on bruce!

Have I Told You About Minnie? by Hinn_Raven

After you’ve known Matches Malone long enough, you get used to him telling you about his kids. Not that his kids know about it.

MY NOTES: oh this is such a fun one!! stephanie and bruce is such a wonderful dynamic and something about bruce creating an entirely new persona as a subconscious excuse to gloat about his children is just too funny. really sweet!

i want you to remember me by zxrysky

Bruce really needs to get rid of his saviour complex. Not all of them are the same as that poor boy who had to watch his parents get murdered in a dark alleyway; not all of them need to be saved.

Jason is perfectly fine where he is. Some capital would be great, but otherwise, he’s fine. He’s fine.

He doesn’t need to be saved again.

“No thanks,” Jason mutters, and pushes the papers away.

MY NOTES: this one hits you when you least expect it. it is so funny, so sweet and it hurts. jason todd you are so ridiculously complicated and tragic. also my favourite kind of time travel, kind-of-time-travel! little jason receives all of older jason's memories and his meeting with bruce and journey to robin is different, but some things are just destiny i suppose. so lovely.

as for inspirations or favourite authors, i have to say it might just be everyone i have ever read a fic from so i can not pick out anyone right now. the writers featured on this list are also phenomenal and some have written other amazing and loved batfam fics you should definitely check out!

hope you enjoy these anon and thank you again <3

[zahri-melitor]

New(ish) Comics:

Batman & Robin #5: I liked how much of this story was based at school. I disliked the teacher suggesting Damian should be attending college classes. NO! Bruce is right! This is a socialisation exercise! #KeepDamianInSchool2024!

Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #4: This is still so fascinating, as I know so little. Riley Rossmo drawing Art Deco was not something I thought I needed but it’s fascinating.

Outsiders #3: I'm...conflicted about this. Did I like Luke and Duke spending some time together? Sure. Do I think we needed ANOTHER book currently infested with 1000 different universe versions of Batman? No. For a comic that's trying really really hard to claim it's not about Bruce and it's about getting away from Bruce (why is your team called Outsiders then??) there is a lot of Bruce showing up.

The fish-headed Batwoman was amusing, though.

Speed Force #3: I am starting to feel like this is a comic I need to come back and read once I’ve read Teen Titans Academy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to see the formation of more social groups (and Ace and Jaime together was a lovely bro moment), but I’m begging people to stop pitching particularly Kory, Donna, Raven and Gar as hanging out or in social spaces with the teens. I know DC have done it way too many times over the years now but it never, ever makes sense. Still enjoying this series is aware of what’s going on in other titles, though.

DC’s How to Lose a Guy Gardner in 10 Days: this was a MIX. The Barry/Iris one was light and insubstantial (but very Flash). I think, funnily enough, my favourite bits were Vicky Vale dating Guy Gardner for an article (hah), the Heart of the Ocean ripoff in the Booster story, and the John Constantine story swerving rapidly into reminding you you were reading Hellblazer right on the last page.

The most frustrating parts of this, to my eye:

Unwillingness to properly commit to anything other than a heterosexual couple (Constantine got the closest but wouldn't show anything)

Seriously. You had EIGHT stories and only one of them was not a guy and a girl?

Okay fine Diana got asked out by both men and women but she actually wasn't interested in dating any of them so I'm not counting it.

Steph and Cass randomly running around the back of the Dick/Babs story. Either this is about Dick and Babs, so focus on THEM, or give in and stop queerbaiting Steph and Cass. Honestly for many reasons I think actually putting them together would be a terrible thing for both characters, but clearly DC likes the speculation (but not enough to DO anything about it).

Traya's still MIA since 2010 apparently. Thanks, Red Tornado.

The Warlord #34: this week in Skartaris Travis Morgan acquires the Hellfire sword from a village of dwarfs. The sword apparently makes him invulnerable to magic. He also reunites with Machiste and Mariah after getting magically transported to where they were by the sword. Machiste and Mariah finally get to tell Travis they're dating. However they get stuck in the far past, while the sword whisks Travis back to the present day.

One of the dwarfs is named Mongo Ironhand. He likes summoning and drinking martinis. (Really)

[wesavegotham]

The only thing fanon Tim gets right these days is the inferiority complex. Nothing else. I mean Tim was retconned to meet fanon Tim in the New 52 reboot. Tim as an asshole Jock who only cares about himself was never his character until some fans decided BTAS (which Only used Tim in name, the character was clearly Jason Todd, the writers later admitted it was supposed to be Jason but Warner Brothers said no). Sadly somehow it seems the comic writers decided that was the way to go with reboot Tim and it got worse from there. I wish they did something like that with actual good takes on Damian, but DC is too racist for something like that.

Tldr: Fanon ruins canon is a very true statement in comics.

Tim sure is in a difficult spot these days. I mean, I do believe Tynion when he says he's a huge Tim Drake fanboy, but if I remember correctly a lot of people weren't that happy with his Tim being such a super genius and making him Bruce's sidekick again.

Actually, a lot of DC's current writers say Tim is their favorite Robin. Yet still none of them seem to have a solid plan for what to do with him. From what I hear on social media Tim's fans aren't sure either what they really want Tim's direction to be. There is probably at least one reddit threat about that question once a week.

Reminds me a bit of the Young Justice show, where I saw countless posts demanding that Tim should be given a bigger role, but I don't recall anyone ever specifying what exactly they wanted this role to be.

It's similar in comics right now. He had a solo that ran for about 200 issues, right? Is there nothing in those 200 issues you could use to give him a exciting new storyline? A new hero identity build from what he experienced in those adventures? There has to be something there, right? And if not, what was he doing that whole time?

Tim's inferiority complex is actually one of the reasons I have a hard time enjoying his stories. For me it's hard to like a character who constantly talks or thinks about how bad he feels about himself while seemingly everyone around him keeps tripping over their feet to praise him and talk about how he's the greatest and he's often proven right and shown as succeeding. Especially when characters who actually have it bad don't get the same treatment.

I mean, if I had to call one of the batkids a mary sue it would be Tim. Tim fans writing Tim have made him into one. Which is of course also very limiting, since good stories usually start with a serious problem and character developement is hard when you barely have any serious character flaws to begin with. No, "I don't like myself, even if everyone tells me I'm great" is not an actual character flaw.

[yvtro]

tell us about one of your jason wips 👀

i will tell you about one of my wips that is a bit uncharacteristic for me. lots of my drafts are reworking canon, or post-canon stories focusing on healing, but this one is more of a legitimate AU that focuses on parent-child relationships, and wherein jay is mostly a stable person already, living outside of gotham, with bruce never learning that he came back. the working title is rewind.

for the background, it is quite similar to the setting from my black out days fanfic. i was mostly interested in clashing together 'son of the demon,' and 'lost days,' while also keeping damian's character (as a plot device more than anything else, because he was brought up very differently than in canon). so, tldr, talia planned to give up the child for adoption -> ra's found out about it and she had to stay in the league with the baby -> a couple years later jason enters the picture -> they live in nanda parbat together for a while -> they manage to move.

in rewind the action starts in metropolis. talia is working for lexcorp. jason is a university student and au damian is around 10. talia's absent a lot, and jay is mostly in charge of the household, which he doesn't mind, because after the all caste training he decided to focus on himself (he still engages in vigilantism sometimes, but he doesn't have any particular persona and it's not his priority.)

the whole conflict of the story arises from the fact that damian was used to talia being around all the time when they were in the league, and doesn't understand why she prioritises her work now. and i always thought it was extremely interesting how understanding and sympathetic jason was in canon towards his mother figures (which does not translate to his attitude towards bruce); so jay doesn't get at all what damian's problem is. talia is her own person after all, not just a parent, and she spent years in an actual cult. and it's them that kept her there. did she even want to have kids? this much he tells his therapist over the phone. and damian, unfortunately, overhears it.

next thing jason knows damian is gone and there's only a message left saying that well, since their mother clearly has other things to do and didn't ever want him, he's on his way to find his father.

which gives jay a very bad sense of deja vu. he was in a situation like that before and looking for his other (potential, bio) parent did not end well for him. and talia is on a business trip (less lexcorp-bussiness and more taking-down-big-oil-bussiness, undercover) so he's alone with this situation. he gets on his way to gotham, for the first time in years, but it turns out damian is not there. he needs help finding him anyway, so he will have to work with the bats (and reveal that he's alive. awkward).

the whole point of the story is that jason now has to confront that everything he wants damian to understand about talia is something he should understand about bruce. he can't really say "well your mom is a person and she has certain responsibilities that come with her dedication to making the world a better place, so it's unfair to hate her because of that, she still loves you very much even if she can't meet your every need" and then turn around and go: "fuck you, bruce. batman sucks, you're selfish and you didn't do this one very specific thing i imagined you should do if you actually loved me."

i have lots to work out when it comes to this wip though, for example i'm not sure if jay should first try to contact the bats undercover, or if he would be panicked enough to just knock on the manor's door in a MetU hoodie being like "where's the child. please tell me the child is here." but i'm hoping it will come together soon because it's been cooking for a long time.

[bigskydreaming]

The boy who refused to die, the boy who refused to stay dead, and the boy who refused to see it all end? Now we just need ones for Steph and Damian.

Hmmm, have to think on this.

My gut thought for Steph is something along the lines of 'the girl who refused to stay silent' because of the correlations between 'saying spoilers' to foil her father the Cluemaster's plans, and also because there's the refusal to let others have the last word in whether she got to be Spoiler, got to be Robin, got to remain a vigilante after Bruce told her she was fired, not to mention the way this would play into her not dying (or remaining dead) when Black Mask killed her.

I'm not totally sure I'm happy with this though as refused to stay silent does go hand in hand with the boy who refused to stay dead, like they parallel each other very closely and potentially make them less distinct - BUT I do see Jason and Steph as having a lot of commonalities in their character and story arcs, and also I'm always arguing that the Robins don't all actually NEED to be wholly unique or distinct and the very things that make them all Robin or lend themselves to their being Robin make a case for how much all of them overlap to some degree or another.

I'd have to think on that some more, because I think that COULD work but also, alternatively maybe something along the lines of 'the girl who refused to be someone else's message' (just phrased in a more pithy way) could work well for Steph. She wasn't Robin to be Bruce's replacement for Tim no matter what he viewed that as, she didn't exist to be the cautionary tale War Games tried to reframe her as, etc, etc. Like one thing Steph has never been is a passive participant.

I do think I like the latter better, I just need to think of a better encapsulation of that idea, and how to make it into the same kind of parable-style narrative as I did Dick, Jason and Tim in that post.

As for Damian, again I'd have to work on the phrasing, but I think it'd be something along the lines of 'the boy who refused to let someone else choose'....like, Damian's big theme is he is the determiner of his own destiny, he lays his life's trajectory, no one else. He literally came into the world laden with so many different peoples' expectations for who he was and what he should be like or do just by virtue of the legacies he embodied at birth, he had so many people throughout his life try to choose for him, tell him who he had to be, what his pre-existing actions or his destiny made him versus what he could become by his own choices....

For Damian, the summation of who-he-is-as-Robin, IMO, is as Robin, he claimed for himself the wings he needed to disembark from the course others laid for him and chart his own path through life. Where just as Dick used Robin to keep from being tethered to one single city, one single place and point in time when before he'd flown all across the world and in the aftermath of his parents' murder others tried to cage him to just Gotham and say who he was now was the sum of his existence and how everyone would ever see him now, that who he’d been before no longer had meaning....Damian used Robin to keep from being tethered to one single trajectory, one destiny, not even detaching from one specific route onto another specific one, but rather just making Robin his springboard freeing him from being bound to any SINGLE direction, period.

As Robin, Damian found space and breathing room to not even have to know DEFINITIVELY who and what he was by that point in his life, but gained a greater awareness, a permissiveness from himself TO himself to just....not have all the answers yet. To know that he had room still to grow, that he didn't have to settle on anything definite for the rest of his life. That who he was now didn't have to be an anchor weighing him in place from that point on but he-as-Robin was free to still keep to the skies and not feel any need to touch down anywhere until he'd flown far enough and long enough that he was comfortable putting his feet down and making a stand somewhere by HIS choice, with intent.

So that's the general shape of what I'd imagine for Steph and Damian in the context of that post, compared to the boy who refused to die, the boy who refused to dead, and the boy who refused to let it all end. Those just need a little workshopping to find a more condensed and vivid imagery comparable to the others.

[ciboriaadastra]

🔥khoa and/or talia

I can do both! :3 under a cut because I talk too much

Talia my lovely <3

Preface: I won't get into the violent racism of the Morrison retcon and any characterization that builds upon it or the orientalism in pre-Morrison canon because those are obvious popular opinions people should be against. Anti-racism is not a hot take, basically. And there are people on this website who have already talked about this better than I can with the insight of being directly targeted.

Talia shouldn't be the focus of man pain or the target of blame for it, because—aside from the fact that this is lazy, misogynistic writing—she actually has little to none to do with the source of angst for those characters (namely, Bruce and Damian). Fanfic writers are extremely annoying about this.

I cannot read a regular batcentric fanfic that involves Talia, because she is always utilized to be a source of angst when at best she's a vehicle for it and it becomes quite clear this is the writer's way of dumping their misgivings about Talia, either as a potshot at her in a different shipfic or the fanfic's premise is [Character] stands around and yells at Talia for a thousand words.

The angst for Bruce and Damian specifically has less to do with her as a person and more to do with the theme of loss (abandonment trauma, loss of childhood, loss of control in your life, etc.) for which she happens to be a key character in facilitating the events that allow its exploration. Considering that loss is a major theme in her story, it's only natural that characters who are tied to her development experience a form of loss in relation to her.

Neither of them should hold any grudge or contempt towards her over their own pain, because she did not do anything to them that would warrant it; people who think that they should overblow the effect of her actions vs. the effect of the status quo they all operate in. Bruce has abandonment trauma because he developed it after an unalterable traumatic childhood event. It will always be unsafe for Damian to grow up existing as a part of the al-Ghul bloodline just as it was unsafe for Talia. Bruce's issues are internal, Damian's are systemic. It's hardly Talia's fault (especially not solely hers) that these issues rear their heads and strike.

Could they irrationally blame her for their problems? I guess, but most people aren't coming from a perspective where they would purposefully have characters behave irrationally for the realism after which they may check themselves (or be checked by someone else); most are rationalizing the irrational because they would behave that uncharitably to others. And its the misogyny.

Idk. I think Talia's a great character when you don't constantly have a bitch in your ear telling you she's a horrible mother and that she's an example of Bruce having terrible taste in women. My house is open for MILF lovers and women enjoyers.

Talia should have friends who have nothing to do with the Batfamily (or being adjacent to it) and don't know anything about her family or the League of Assassins.

Pretty self-explanatory, but I think it's not enough for her to have friends in the League, friends in fellow assassins, or friends in the bat-network, because it still creates a space where Talia is looked down upon by somebody for factors outside of her control or for not being the kind of woman they think she ought to be.

I also think she should be at the club.

She's transfem because I said so.

The transgender narrative, if you would.

Speaking on a meta level, it's about how trans women and transfeminine people are treated as if everything is their fault (indicted on false, bigoted narratives for things they would never do), having such a small network due to being isolated from a healthy source of community, being a target of fetishization, a constant trend of loneliness due to these factors outside of their control.

It's also about Talia leaving men (manhood) behind to discover who she is as a woman. The transition from an old life to a new one that provides a better sense of power and control over oneself than what existed in the old life. The transgenderisms in the concept of death and rebirth, a theme associated with the al-Ghuls as guardians of the Lazarus Pits.

I know transfem hcs are not popular (especially for canon female characters), so this isn't meant to be a hot take...I just haven't seen anyone else consider transfem Talia before. At least not outside of t4t Brutalia, which is often mostly about making transmasc Bruce make sense in the overarching story (Damian) than it is about both of them having trans narratives/themes. That is a problem more generalized to tmasc4tfem hcs than it is specifically a Brutalia problem, in that usually the transfem character's transfemininity is treated as an afterthought.

Though that last bit is not as annoying as people who reinvent the test tube eugenics baby backstory for Damian because the idea of Talia being trans is so beyond them for some reason. Like...why is eugenics more plausible than transfemininity to you? That's weird!

Minhkhoa you are so... *punches wall*

People who see zero value in his character just because he occupies the same archetype Two-Face represents (childhood friend turned foe) are needlessly obstinate.

The excuse is essentially that they don't want to read about a concept that is like a pre-existing concept but with a different perspective/spin on it. Which is an odd opinion to have when you're reading Big Two cape comics and you are constantly reading new perspectives/spins on the same concept, because an end does not and will not exist for them. And it may in part have something to do with Harvey's canonical whiteness vs. Minhkhoa undeniably being a SEAsian man.

Idk. It's strange to me, because Harvey and Minhkhoa exist in different periods in Bruce's life that do not overlap. Harvey and Bruce went to school together when they were little and reunited when Bruce returned to Gotham. Minhkhoa occupies a specific timespan between Bruce's highschool years and his return to Gotham. Harvey is not present during Fear State when Minhkhoa breaks the truce. When Bruce seeks out Harvey during Gotham Nocturne, Minhkhoa has long left Gotham to train Clownhunter.

In addition, the reasons they are important to Bruce's character are different. Harvey's deal is that Bruce cannot be so personally removed from the politics of Gotham and the plight of the average Gothamite and still think he can make a meaningful difference. Bruce was oblivious to Harvey's personal struggles, so all the help Bruce tried to give him generally did more harm in the grand scheme of things.

Minhkhoa on the other hand encapsulates one of the overarching themes introduced in BTK: think bigger. Bruce is not maximizing his potential to help the world; he's focused on a dinky rotting city off the coast of mainland New Jersey, a small state in the imperial core. He could renounce his status and generational wealth to commit himself to taking down criminal/capitalist empires all over the world exploiting people in countries in the Global South, to no longer be of the exploitative class and instead become an avenging angel for the exploited. Bruce is a one cause, one dedication type of person. Which isn't bad, just different. The point is not who is more right but to contrast different approaches to vigilantism and to critique a different aspect of what makes Bruce's status as a wealthy, ruling class American an obstacle to his efforts to reduce crime.

I hate fanon interpretations of Minhkhoa </3

If I was paid $100 to wallop people with a wooden baseball bat every time they said the word "psychopath" as a legitimate description of him, regurgitated ableist stereotypes around AsPD and personality disorders in general, or elected to flat out erase the struggles Minhkhoa had since his childhood despite it being an important aspect of his backstory and characterization simply because the concept of a person who struggles with low empathy is deeply uncomfortable to them; I would have enough money for a down payment on a house.

I've talked at length about this to you before here last year, but it still holds up. You'd think it'd be hard to fuck up the characterization of a character who only has like...three points of complexity...but then you will always be surprised.

I'm also :/ at the growing trend of Minhkhoa getting sucked into the fanon Batfamily vortex of doom. It will not end well for him.

I don't like the Wight Witch being added to Minhkhoa's lore. She should be her own independent character.

This is part of a bigger issue with Minhkhoa's characterization in which other DC writers strip important things from what Tynion established and adding relationships that don't provide his character with any meaningful development to make up for it. The singular L I've seen Ram V take when writing Asian characters.

I like Rhea Sinha. Her story is interesting and engaging on its own. I don't think Minhkhoa (and Bruce by extension) needed to be part of it. You could replace them with any other men and it'd still be compelling. For once in my fandom life, I want my blorbo (Minhkhoa) out of the good story.

It's also that this is a pattern of women being linked to Minhkhoa just as in-universe proof he exists outside of Bruce. You see this with Angelbreaker as well when she makes a comment during the Shadow War arc about Minhkhoa just wanting her to be his Catwoman. Which was extremely corny. You can have Minhkhoa attempt to emulate Bruce for the parts of himself that he believes is lacking or to outdo Bruce in ways he thinks Bruce could have been better without trying to make them 1:1 in every single way possible, else he just comes across as goofy and like he has no principles of his own besides spite for a man who dumped his ass 20-some years ago. Like...I get he's obsessed with Bruce to an embarrassing degree, but why do women have to deal with his mess?

I'd rather comic writers create characters who are just made to flesh out Minhkhoa's existing lore (at least what can be made cohesive of it) than create characters who are clearly supposed to have their own stories who just get linked to him just to be linked, if that makes sense. Like how Alfred exists to explain who raised Bruce when his parents were murdered and who helped Bruce in his early Batman years and who is there to help Bruce when he's too injured to retreat to the Batcave on his own. Flat and static characters have a place in media.