#as do spoiler black bat and somehow the fucking oracle

[starlooove]

I think it’d be funny if Damian was completely against graffiti at first until miles was like “oh ok….No it’s nothing I just didn’t think the Son of the Bat would let the GCPD tell him what to do. My mistake :/“ their first joint tag is a mural going around the gcpds main station involving various rogues and vigilantes from each of their cities.

[ma-du]

God, why would you drag me back to the Phantom.... Oh yeah. It's Little Baby Man's fault Lmao

ANYWAY

DP x DC Au, where Batman somehow dies and – to the delight and horror of the Joker and other villains and the Batfam – returns as the Guardian Ghost of Gotham, practically the Gothamite version – and adult and reasonably scarier, not least because he looks a lot like the Batman Who Laughs – of Danny Phantom. Which, come to think of it, isn't much different than when he was alive lmao

His main obsession is protecting Gotham, of course, and it's obvious that he haunts both the batcave and that poor long-suffering gargoyle where he used to perch to watch over the city and brooding.

He's kind of a spirit of justice and vengeance? Like, sort of like Ghost Rider, but without the whole devil and fallen angel and fire-destroying sinners and chains thing? He scares villains to the point where a good number of them shit themselves once or ten times, and duh, he may be dead after all, but he's still fucking Batman. And he will protect his fucking city, not even if he has to drag himself back from the afterlife to do so.

And of COURSE the city was going to be in chaos after his death, how the hell wouldn't it be? Batman died in front of everyone, there's a video or a billion of them, of what's left of his body being taken to the Justice Tower morgue by Superman on the internet, and apparently Bruce Wayne had a sudden stroke and ended up dying in the Wayne Mansion – not that those things are related, mind you. It turns out that, with the departure of Batman, villains like Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, Riddler, Bane, Scarecrow and etc etc etc take this as permission to start a war for absolute domination over the city. The Robins and Red Hood and Nightwing and Black Bat and Spoiler – even Agent A –and Signal and Oracle and the GPD and Commissioner Gordon can't keep up with demand, and even with the help of the League it's difficult because they can lock one of them back in Arkham, but soon another bad guy takes the place. They are desperate. They need Batman.

So they talk to Constantine and Zathana and every other member of the League and beyond, research until they scrape the bottom of the deep web with everything they don't have. Then they make the summoning circuit, place their sacrifices, perform the the chant and BAM! Batman.

Not entirely Batman, not entirely Bruce.

He comes back Other.

And he comes. By all the Ancients, he comes.

[ataviisms]

waylon’s feelings on the batkids (note that this is all based on headcanon with no comic evidence to support any of it)

dick grayson/robin 1/nightwing

when waylon met robin for the first time, his immediate thought was “why the fuck would you bring a kid into a fight? especially with me” because beating up a 9 year old was not ever on his list of things to do. the constant quipping was a little annoying; the acrobatics were even more annoying. seeing nightwing now makes waylon a little nostalgic in a way, like those early days were much simpler for everyone. the quips are still annoying but if he needed a vigilante’s help, he thinks nightwing would be the one to ask.

barbara gordon/batgirl 1/oracle

he knew she was a cop’s daughter right from the start. he didn’t know which cop (still doesn’t), but he could tell. he also recognized that, wherever she came from, she wasn’t exactly part of whatever batman and robin’s partnership was. she got involved with crimefighting on her own, and he respected that, in a way. seemed like the type of girl he definitely would have steered clear of in high school. he’s got no idea what joker did to her; just that one day she stopped showing up.

jason todd/robin 2/red hood

that kid was a fighter. waylon got the sense that they had a very similar upbringing, that they’d both had to survive in ways that no child should. it almost made him a little fond of the second robin. almost. he knows that kid became the red hood. that something happened. because red hood smells almost exactly like that kid used to, but just a little off. he appreciates that as long as he isn’t causing trouble, hood will leave him alone.

tim drake/robin 3/red robin

probably the robin that waylon likes the least. from a physical standpoint, he didn’t ever think much of the third robin. he was a little too pale and a little too thin, and waylon always felt like it wouldn’t take much effort to crush him. he did, however, recognize that kid was extremely smart. like smart on a terrifying level. and that intelligence alone made it preferable to try to avoid the kid altogether. he still avoids encountering red robin now.

cassandra cain/batgirl 2/orphan/black bat

the first time waylon fought the second batgirl, he thought she had powers of some kind. sure, the other batkids had gotten the upper hand against him a couple of times, mostly because they were faster or smarter. but this kid was different. she took him out physically, which is not something any kid should be capable of without a weapon or technological help. she scared him a little. she still kind of scares him now, so he tries to avoid her if possible. or, at the very least, tries to avoid fighting her.

stephanie brown/robin 4/spoiler

not gonna lie, he kind of liked the fourth robin. she was quippy like the first robin and spunky like the second. he only dealt with her a handful of times and hasn’t seen her since then, really. but if he had to pick a batkid he liked the most, it would probably be a pretty even tie between her and red hood.

damian wayne/robin 5

all he knows is that this one is definitely batman’s biological kid, and that this one is somehow totally feral. who the fuck gives a child a sword?

[luminescentauthor]

i brought more of my dumb “birds of prey accidentally adopt red hood, because jason deserves nice things” au!

i REALLY need to read more BoP comics because a) badass superhero women hell yeah and b) there are some characters here i don’t know much about (Lady Blackhawk, for example.) (Edit: I’m 19 issues in to BoP (1996). This is all I’ve been doing since I posted this. I’m loving it??? And it’s still only Black Canary and Oracle. Dinah is a way too oversexualized but I just got to watch Babs fuckin roast the Joker this is GREAT)

TEAM MEMBERS:

Oracle/Barbara "Babs" Gordon: Team Leader. Staying Oracle because disability representation, FUCK YOU DC. Take your magic cure and gtfo.

Black Canary/Dinah Lance: Field Leader. If they lose comms or can't contact Oracle, or if they just really need someone on the ground giving out instructions. However, this happens like... Maybe once every five years. Generally, Oracle's bird's eye view is more advantageous, plus they have some of the best tech there is.

Huntress/Helena Bertinelli

Catwoman/Selina Kyle

Harley Quinn/Dr. Harleen "Harley" Quinzel

Poison Ivy/Dr. Pamela "Pam" Isley

Lady Blackhawk/Zinda Blake

Katana and Strix are both former members, they sometimes help with missions or just stop by to say hi.

Black Bat and Spoiler occasionally join the team for missions, and often hang out with Oracle. Bluebird, though retired, still occasionally hangs out with Oracle and the Batgirls. She’s very useful for tech/engineering consultation.

Batwoman also joins for missions and hangs out, just because Kate’s awesome.

Yeah I’m combining the Birds and Sirens, what about it. I want to watch these awesome ladies kick ass together.

Anyway, lots of hcs below!

Absolutely none of the Birds have any idea how this "we adopted Red Hood" thing happened at all, but it did. Jason has the least idea of any of them. However, he’s also attempted escape about 3 times and failed more dramatically each time and has officially given up on getting away.

There HAVE sometimes been dudes on the Birds of Prey canonically, so I'm not that out there with making Jason a sort-of member. But "sort-of" should be emphasized. Red Hood still more or less does his own thing. He's mostly just the team's annoying little brother.

Honestly I'm torn between two options: “FUCK YOU IM A FEMINIST ALL FEMALE TEAM I REFUSE TO MAKE HIM A FORMAL MEMBER” and “There's zillions of male-dominated superhero teams with a single token female and I'm inverting that for comedic purposes, but instead of him being a love interest he's just Really Really Annoying Little Brother”

When he does work with them, he's more likely to go undercover/infiltrate than anything else. Even if he is somehow compromised, people go "Red Hood found us!" not "the Birds of Prey found us!" which is useful.

I.e. Sometimes Barbara needs something done without an opponent linking it back to the team, so she'll just call Jason to take care of it.

BARBARA AND JASON SIBLING RELATIONSHIP

My ideal pre-Joker dynamic for them is Barbara constantly thinking “I love you but I am SO exasperated with you, you little shit” and Jason being the most annoying little brother EVER, and they basically just return to that

Somewhere in the background, Alfred is wiping away a single tear and Bruce is pretending he doesn’t care but his heart is swelling.)

Dick is the only member of the Batfam besides Bruce and Alfred who isn't confused as hell by how absolutely chaotic Babs and Jason's relationship is because when he visited he saw

Look, I understand that Barbara canonically can hold a hell of a grudge, but ALSO Barbara canonically recruited Ivy for the BoP. Yes, the situation with Jason is more personal, but I take the opinion that once Jason was doing better, Barbara would be willing to reconcile with him.

I should add that in my versions of the DCU, Jason only attacked Tim once, and it was primarily an attempt to bully/scare Tim out of being Robin. They fought and Jason wound up knocking him out in frustration, but there were no guns or knives involved. I'm in the "Jason Todd Does Not Hurt Children, Teen Titans #29 Is OOC, Canon Be Damned" party

Babs has a cat a la this brilliant art by @avataraandy just because I love the concept

If that link isn't working here's a reblog of the original

The cat is probably Selina's fault somehow tbh

Yes it sits on her keyboard all the time

I saw someone said it should be named Delphi and I really like that except I already named their base Delphi so??

Harley, Jason, and Barbara bonding over Joker-related trauma!!!

The Joker is never able to escape from Arkham for longer than two days anymore because the rest of the Birds of Prey will hunt him down and they will beat the shit out of him for what he did to those three

Sometimes those join in to three hunt him down too and then the asshole is completely screwed.

Everyone on this team is either chaotic or irresponsible and they keep enabling each other

Barbara on her own, or with the Batfamily? 100% responsible. More or less. Dinah on her own? Usually fine. Selina on her own? Meh, but probably fine. Probably.

With the others Birds? Nope. Harley and Jason are The Ultimate Enablers and that's the sole reason.

Bruce is going to die of a heart attack, seriously-

Dinah giving Jason a hard time about letting his emotions compromise his fighting ability and then training him (read: kicking his ass)

But also helping him overcome his trauma and counseling him because he deserves to heal

Dinah and Harley become the most unlikely duo in the name of forcing the rest of the team to confront their issues. It eventually backfires when Dinah tries to get Harley to confront her issues, and Harley fires straight back because really, everyone in this group has problems.

This is random but I love @apleye‘s siren designs so we're including those

The Birds of Prey's base is referred to as "Delphi" which is an "Oracle of Delphi" reference. It was Jason's idea. Barbara's immediate reaction was "that is so nerdy I love it."

One time the team actually winds up in Delphi for a mission and it screws with them the whole time.

Barbara is regret. She calls Jason to complain and he just tunes into their frequency and winds up laughing at them the entire instead of reading his book. He thinks it's hilarious. Barbara. Is. Regret.

Post-mission, they keep calling it Delphi and agree that if they end up anywhere near the real Delphi again, they'll instead call it "the base" until they're gone.

Jason cannot stop laughing.

The number of villains who have gone looking for Oracle on the actual island of Delphi is a little ridiculous. It's half the reason Babs agrees to keep the name. It's funny watching people run around.

Jason goes by “Phoenix” on those rare occasions he actually joins Birds of Prey missions for reasons other than recon. It was Babs’ idea. Came back from the dead, and all.

He uses a different identity because Red Hood and the Birds of Prey being separate entities works in their favor. Like I mentioned above, sometimes they need to avoid something being linked to the team, and Hood is useful for that.

Literally nobody realizes Phoenix and Red Hood are the same person because Red Hood is loud and brash and uses guns, whereas Phoenix is significantly less intimidating and doesn't really use weapons, mostly hand-to-hand. Red Hood wears combat boots, cargo pants, body armor, and a leather jacket; Phoenix wears something more like a loose bodysuit with a hood that looks more like the Orphan costume or League of Assassins gear. There's a full cloth facemask and goggles to hide his face and hair.

The Bats are alarmed to realize that Jason, who usually stomps around in combat boots, is completely silent when he wears anything that isn't heavy boots with reinforced metal soles.

Jason can be silent in the boots if he wants to be, it's just a lot of effort.

PRE-CRISIS REFERENCE! Natalia Knight (not Natalia Mitternatch; two different characters) sometimes shows up to a) mother Jason and b) occasionally work with the team. Kate is initially deeply suspicious given that Knight is the original Nocturna and the second Nocturna violated Kate, but then Knight turns out to be perfectly friendly. She's a villain but decent person who mostly just steals things and is against killing, but has proven willing to cross that line to protect her loved ones.

You can read @coolgirl​'s post summarizing her shared history with Jason here!

To quote another post of mine: Poison Ivy is an ecoterroist and not a seductress goddammit! Let her be a skilled biochemist and botanist! Let her be nerdy! Let her wear pants and flannel and straw hats like the farm girl she is at heart! Let her go from “destroy humanity” to “destroy factories that are illegally dumping waste and sure Batman doesn’t love it but she’s not actually killing much of anyone and they were ILLEGALLY dumping waste so he’s going to focus on bigger problems”! Let her be morally gray instead of evil from the get-go because she has totally understandable motives!

HARLIVY!!

They're sapphos and they're in love and there's nothing anyone can do about it

Any of the rest of the team will fight anyone who makes a comment about it

Pam owns so many flannels. Harley steals them all the time. She's not the only member of the team that does so. Pam Flannels are The Best.

"Harles I love you but please stop stealing my shirts-"

Similarly, if anyone is dumb enough to make an ableist comment about Babs, the team will find out and they will fuck that person up. Usually the other Bats join in.

Jason jokingly calls Selina mom once and Selina cries. Jason is taken aback, but also touched that it means that much to her.

Selina spends most of her spare time reverse Indiana-Jones-ing artifacts, returning them to their proper cultures. Barbara helps.

Pam and Harley spend a lot of time blowing up factories dumping illegal waste.

Harley Quinn and Red Hood sometimes beat up abusers together, while Barbara gets the evidence to get them locked away.

Bruce is so, so tired. This team is going to be the death of him.

Selina loves him dearly, and is nonetheless totally okay with that.

[cryptids-and-muses]

I had a weird and/or awesome idea for a bat family story.

I don’t think I’m gonna actually write it but I felt like sharing the outline and ideas for the story. This is a mix of a few continuities because I do what I want, and have trouble keeping everything straight. Feel free to add stuff or make suggestions. Now strap in cause I have some thoughts.

So this guy in Gotham is experimenting with transdimensional technology. Oracle discovers what he’s doing and how dangerous it is so she sends the bat family after him. Nightwing, Red Hood, Spoiler, Red Robin, Black Bat, and Robin go after this guy but he sets off a machine and transports them to a different dimension. The main difference of this dimension is that the Graysons never died which set off quite the chain of events, but our heroes don’t know that yet. Cut to this universe’s Batman finding a gaggle of people ranging from early teens to their twenties dressed in weird costumes smoking in a crater. Not to mention a few of them have bats on their chest. This Batman never had a partner outside of Alfred so when they try to explain who they are it doesn’t go great because Batman can’t even imagine working with one kid let alone six. Then he starts to realize a few of these people seem familiar.

In this universe, Dick would have lived with his parents a bit longer but would have eventually been taken by the Court of Owls to become their Grey Son and new talon. Bruce recognizes him after a while because he’s fought him before. It takes a little because he acts drastically different from his unfeeling counterpart in this universe but Bruce probably figures it out after seeing him do some acrobatics, or hears one of the others call him ‘Grayson.’ The realization is pretty jarring for Bruce and it’s really unsettling to see the cold soulless assassin he knows so full of life. He doesn’t tell the bat family that he knows his universe’s Grayson, because that's totally something Batman would do and fun plot stuff later.

He doesn’t know who Jason is AT ALL. He still meets him the same way in this universe but doesn’t take him in. There’s no role of Robin to fill and he has no idea how to care for a child. Bruce does send him to the wayward school for boys but doesn’t really check up on him after that. The whole event becomes a sort of weird story like “remember that one kid who tried to steal tires off the batmobile?” What happens Jason afterward is harder to figure out. Maybe he became a low-level street criminal or a gang leader or ended up in jail. I can’t quite figure it out. What Batman does know is that the boy he meets is using the Joker’s old alias, carries a lot of guns, and looks like he won’t hesitate to use them. None of which is painting a very good picture. This could lead to a cool moment where Bruce, unaware of Jason’s Tragic Backstory™ and fragile truce with his family (Jason is gonna be a lot closer with his siblings in this au), yells at him for this and the others defend him.

Batman probably recognizes Spoiler first. Stephanie would have still gone after her father and created the spoiler persona, even without the inspiration of Robin. However, she wouldn’t have anyone to train her and Batman would be actively discouraging her from going out as Spoiler. That’s not going to stop Steph from being Spoiler but she probably doesn’t operate on a large scale like she does as part of the batfamily. Not only does she have to avoid villains in this universe but also Batman because he doesn’t think she should get involved in vigilante work and tries to stop her when he can. So he sees this version of Steph in a higher tech version of her Spoiler costume and is just so exhausted.

Tim still totally knows who Batman is in this universe. He may not have had Robin to compare to the Grayson’s acrobatics but he would have figured it out somehow. That's where a lot of the similarities end though. Tim would still live with his parents (who are alive) and never really get involved with Batman directly. He became a vigilante because Batman needed a Robin, but here the role of Robin never existed. Tim probably still takes pictures of Batman and that hero worship never really went away. He’s also still an amazing detective even without any formal training. Bruce knows of Tim but doesn't figure out how much he knows, or that Red Robin is an alternate version of him.

Bruce also doesn't know who Cassandra is because he never met her. Her origin stays pretty much the same except she never joins the batfamily. She’d just be out on the streets doing her own thing, on the run from David Cain.

Now with Damian, things get interesting. Another slight change I’d like to make to the universe the batfamily land in is that Damian never left the League of Assasins. Damian has met and fought Batman on a few occasions but Bruse doesn’t know that Damian is his son. Partly because Damian keeps part of his face covered so he can’t see the resemblance. When he meets Robin he has a feeling he’s familiar but can’t quite place it. He realizes this is Talia’s son a little after he recognizes Grayson. Then there's the really intense exchange of “You’re Damian Al Ghul” “No I’m Damian Wayne!” This is extremely shocking for Bruce because of the realization that he has a son. That son is in the League of Assassins! His mother is Talia al Ghul! He has met said son and didn’t even know it! It sets off all sorts of emotions.

As for the actual story, aside from just the general shenanigans of Bruce interacting with the children of his alternate self and trying to get them home, I was thinking that it would start with the alternate universe’s Tim. In this universe Tim is still a genius detective, he’s just not as good because he doesn’t have the training. So he would start poking around in Gotham and discover a huge conspiracy linked to the Court of Owls and decided to figure out just how powerful they are and how deep the conspiracy runs. Cause investigating an all-powerful organization completely on his own with no training is the type of stuff Tim does Batman or no Batman. He only recently discovered the court and is still investigating it when the batfamily show up so Batman isn’t aware Tim knows about the Court or that he’s been looking into them. The Court finds out about Tim’s investigation and send Talon to kill him. The bat family then have to protect this universe’s Tim from Talon, who is Dick. This causes a lot of angst, drama, and family bonding as the batfamily figure out how this universe is different from theirs. I’d love for the other members of the batfamily to get roped into the story somehow too but I’m not sure how. I feel like this story has a lot of potencail and couldn’t just leave it in my head. 

Random Funny Stuff for this au

Dick named a lot of the equipment and stuff Batman uses so in this universe things would probably be named very differently.

Tim: We’ll need to use the bat computer.

Alt Bruce: The what computer?

Tim: You know? The large computer set up in the cave?

Alt Bruce: Yeah but you called it the bat computer.

Tim: Well what do you call it?

Alt Bruce: The computer.

Tim: …..that just feels wrong.

Damian: Yes I know this part of the cave. This is where we keep Batcow.

Alt Bruce: Where you keep what?!

Alt Barbra: My name is Detective Barbra Gordon. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t arrest you all right now.

Jason: Looks like Babs is a Badass in every universe.

Dick: Did you expect any less?

Jason: Honestly? No.

Alt Jim Gordon: *Sees the batfamily* Oh dear god they’re multiplying.

During the Talon fight

Talon: I am the Grey Son of Gotham.

Stephanie: Dick, sweetie, I know you like wordplay but this is low even for you. Get some better material.

Jason: Damn Goldie! When you go dark you don’t fuck around!

Tim: I thought if one of my siblings was going to kill me it’d be Robin. But not you Nightwing, never you.

Dick: I appreciate the attempt at humor but can we please focus.

Alt Bruce: I think my alternate self has a problem with adoption.

Jason: THAT'S WHAT WE KEEP SAYING!!!!

Alt Damian: I heard the bat was working with new warriors but looking at you now I doubt you are even worthy to die by my blade.

*Entire batfamily is silent for a moment before bursting into uncontrollable laughter*

Damian: Do I really sound like that?

Tim: He’s even worse than when the brat first showed up! I didn’t even think that was possible!

[sqoiler]

⭐

time slip! i’m gonna do what i did for spoilerverse and put the whole fic under the cut and comment on it. have fun :)

for a while now, maybe even a few years, i’ve been thinking about how steph started being robin at the oldest age (besides maybe duke) and how perhaps, if the robins got together, she would be looked to as the leader as she’s the oldest, and how surreal that would be for her as robin, who probably knows/suspects bruce is only keeping her as bait for tim, who probably realizes that she has low amounts of experience and such. i just thought it’d be interesting, and one day i actually sat down and wrote the thing. 

There is a time vortex, and a malfunction, and in the end there are six people on top of the Wayne Enterprises building.

They look at each other in shock and take in the matching outfits, the red and yellow and green. All of them have some idea what’s going on, who they’re seeing, except the youngest (who is really the oldest).

don’t remember what i was thinking when i decided not to explicitly name the robins in this fic, besides the fact that when i write i distinguish between someone being in costume vs not in costume by using their codename or real name

“Wait,” he says, his eyes wide. “There are more Robins?”

i think baby dick was too startled to be pissed, but if he were older he would’ve been angry about there being more robins...it is his mantel, after all

“There must’ve been something that altered time,” says the third Robin, who is clever. He is not yet wearing the red and black costume of mourning, and when he looks at the group around him, he only knows the second and first Robins by name. “It’s the only explanation.”

if tim HAD known steph, he never would’ve let her be in charge. also i think he would’ve been angry that she was robin. 

“Of course,” the fifth Robin huffs, exasperated. Unlike his brother, he recognizes everyone except the sixth, and he wishes he didn’t. Under his mask, his eyes rocket skyward. “Just my luck to be stuck with you imbeciles.”

“Awfully judgemental, aren’t you?” the third Robin notes.

“I have a 4.0 GPA,” the second Robin says. “I don’t think I’m stupid.”

All of the Robins stare at him. This is unexpected.

@ bruce post-jason’s death: talk about your son more!!! tim and steph know NOTHING about him and all damian & duke know is red hood!

“Okay, I’ll admit I don’t know what’s going on,” the sixth Robin says. “I’m barely even a real Robin, I’ve only met Batman like...twice.”

“Why are you in the costume, then?” the fourth Robin asks, her arms crossed. She’s afraid, a little, and nervous to be in the presence of all these other Robins. She doesn’t like that she’s the only girl.

“It’s complicated,” the sixth Robin says. The other Robin accepts that at face value.

“How do we know the order?” the second Robin asks. “I mean, I know I’m second, and he’s first.” He points at the first Robin. “And apparently, after us you guys put on some real pants.”

“It’s a traditional acrobatic outfit,” the first Robin protests, and the second says, “I know, I’m just yanking your chain.”

“I’m the third,” the third says.

“I’m next,” the fourth says, tossing her ponytail and trying to be brave. She knows the first and third Robins, although not this young.

“I suppose I am forced to admit I am not the last Robin,” the fifth one says, glaring at the sixth, who shrugs and says, “Again, I’m not like, a real Robin.”

“What purpose did that exercise serve?” the fifth Robin hisses.

“Well, we need a leader,” the second Robin says. “But I guess it doesn’t matter who’s technically oldest, just who’s actually oldest.”

imagine if they asked dick to be in charge cause he’s “technically” oldest. he’s eleven.

“Why should the oldest--” the fifth Robin starts to protest, but all of these Robins are young, and to young people, the oldest is in charge.

They look at each other.

“Don’t look at me,” the sixth Robin says.

“I’m eleven,” the first Robin says. The fifth blinks.

“I’m twelve,” he admits, staring at his mentor as if just realizing that the first Robin is a child.

“Thirteen,” the third says. “But I’m almost fourteen.”

“And I’m actually fourteen,” the second Robin admits easily. The ones after him wince at this casual admittance of his age, at the reveal of this ticking time bomb they know will go off only too soon.

😬

The fourth Robin’s eyes widen. Oh no, she thinks. Oh no.

The others are looking at her expectantly, and she clears her throat.

“I’m sixteen,” she whispers, her voice hollow, and the others nod.

“I’m only fifteen, anyway,” the sixth Robin says, evidently relieved, and the second one says, “Girl Robin is in charge, then.”

“I beg of you to reconsider,” the fifth Robin says, and something in the way his voice snarls makes the fourth Robin’s fists clench. She looks around at them, determined. They are all looking to her.

steph: freaked out but always determined to annoy damian, even when she doesn’t know him yet

“Fine,” she says. “I’ll be in charge. Our first order of business is to figure out who’s timeline we’re really in. The easiest way would be to ask Oracle.”

“Who’s Oracle?” the first Robin asks, eyes wide.

“Don’t worry about that,” the fourth Robin says. “Everyone who can, try to get in touch.”

She touches her own ear, and the third and fifth mimic the gesture.

duke doesn’t have a comm yet, otherwise he also would’ve called oracle, because i do what i want with canon, and that includes keeping babs as oracle

Oracle does not answer any of them.

“Okay,” the fourth Robin says. “Let’s find a newspaper. What year is it?”

She points to the first Robin.

“2005,” he says. She points to the second.

“2012,” he says.

“2014,” the third Robin says.

“2017,” the fifth says.

“2018,” the sixth says. The fourth nods.

“Alright,” she says. “And I’m from 2015. Everyone remember? Okay. Let’s go find a newspaper.”

i didn’t want to go into it, but i feel like both tim and damian might’ve freaked out, since they both just found out that the person who is robin right after them is robin literally next year, so something *happens* to them to make them not robin. luckily for tim and damian in specific, but it’s not death or injury preventing either of them from being robin, and in fact damian is STILL robin when duke becomes robin. 

They leap from the rooftop together. The fourth Robin watches the sixth, since he said he’s new, but he has a grapple, and he can use it. They don’t go straight down, just away from Wayne Towers, and towards somewhere they can be inconspicuous. The fourth Robin is aware that she’s in the lead, and she realizes they could just go back to the Manor, that would solve their problem of what year it was.

But no, instead she casts her gaze instinctively to the spot in the sky where the signal gleams, and it’s not there. She falters and stops at the next rooftop.

i feel like when you’re patroling under the bat, you like to look at the batsignal. makes u feel safe.

“This isn’t a newspaper,” the fifth Robin snarks once everyone else has stopped.

“Was the signal on?” she asks, and the others exchange a look. “Answer me!”

“Yes,” the third says.

“Yes,” the second says.

“Yes,” the sixth says.

“Yes,” the first says.

“Yes,” the fifth admits.

“Look,” the fourth says, and she points at the sky where the signal isn’t. “Someone turned it off. No matter what year we’re in, someone turned it off.”

The others exchange looks, although none of them know each other, not as Robin, anyway. The fourth Robin remembers that she does know the third Robin, but she thinks she’s the only exception.

“We’re going to GCPD,” she says. “We have to see why they turned the signal off.”

“What about the newspapers?” the first Robin asks. “We still don’t know what year it is.”

“If the person who messed with time turned off the signal, than we can confront them,” the fourth Robin says.

“There could be a newspaper on the way, anyway,” the second Robin reasons.

“Or something else to clue us in,” the third says.

“Exactly,” the fourth Robin says. “Let’s go.”

Surprisingly, the others don’t really argue, and the fourth Robin leads the way.

In front of the Batsignal, there are six shapes. They are standing in a perfect circle, the same distance apart. One is shorter than the others. The fourth Robin squints at them from her spot behind the signal, the others crowded around her.

“Which is which?” the sixth Robin whispers.

The fourth Robin gets up and goes to the back of the signal. The others follow her, even the stubborn fifth Robin.

She signals, and the second Robin flips the switch and turns the light on.

The six Batmen turn, five dropping into a matching fighting position and the sixth into a different one.

batman!dick, watching the bruces drop into the same fighting stance: hahaha what the fuck

“You all had better be time-displaced Batmen, otherwise we’re gonna be really mad ,” the fourth Robin calls, flipping herself up to stand on top of the signal. The second and third Robins point the light at the Batmen instead of the sky.

in my head, whatever the robins were doing with the signals was super badass. don’t know if that came across too well, though.

“Spoiler?” the Batman who seems to be in charge says. He must be the oldest, although the fourth Robin thinks it’s weird that he would call her Spoiler when she’s not that anymore.

robin!steph thinks she’s given up spoiler forever, which i think is kind of sad, somehow. of course, she also hasn’t thought about the fact that she’s obviously not robin in the future, so she must be *someone*, but maybe she thinks in the future she’s dead? i don’t know.

“Wrong,” she says, crossing her arms. She’s behind the light, and they can’t see her. “Boys, be ready.”

“How many are there?” in-charge Batman says.

“Six,” another Batman says. Even from here, the fourth Robin can tell he’s a younger one. “There’s six of us, why wouldn’t there be six of them.”

“Chum,” a different Batman says, holding out his hand. “Come here.” The fourth Robin hears movement behind her and she holds out a hand.

this batman speaking is dick’s batman. he’s the only one who’s 100% sure of which sidekick of his is in the shadows, because he only has one sidekick.

“We don’t know that this isn’t a trick,” she says. “How do we know you’re who you say you are?”

“Do you want your secret identities?” the different-Batman says. The other Batmen glare at him.

“Come on, Rob,” the third Robin says. “We should be able to identify our own Batmen.”

we always hear dick or tim being called “rob”, and there was something about the idea of steph being called it that i thought was really cute.

“The Batmen could certainly identify their own Robins,” the second Robin says. The fourth Robin sees four of the six Batmen flinch at the sound of his voice. “I mean, come on, we all have different costumes.”

batman #1: who is speaking

batman #2: oh yay, jason!

batman #3 & 4: oh my god my son...alive again

batman #5 & 6: oh a BABY......an infant......................untouched by death...

“Ours are the same,” the first says, gesturing at the second. The fourth Robin looks away from them and back to the Batmen.

“I already know my Batman,” the fifth Robin drawls. “I am fairly sure this isn’t a trick.”

damian honey that’s cheating yours is the only batman that’s not bruce. speaking of that, though, how are you, emotionally? to you your dad is dead and look, there’s five of him, one of them confirming that your father will return from the dead!

“Are you saying there’s six Robins back there?” the different-Batman says, sounding like he might laugh. There’s something familiar about him, the fourth Robin decides. Definitely not Bruce, but familiar.

should batman!dick remember this encounter, and as a matter of fact should bruces’ 2-6 remember this encounter? yes. do they? absolutely not.

“Hm,” one of the Batmen says.

“There’s more than one Robin?” a Batman asks, and the fourth Robin knows which one that is.

bruce #1: what the fuucckkk

“I mean, they seem time-displaced,” she says, and the fifth Robin scoffs.

“To hell with this,” he says, and he breaks out of the gaggle below the signal and steps into the light, heading straight for the different-Batman.

“Language,” the different-Batman says, laughing for real this time, and the fourth Robin wonders why he would be different but the sixth Batman is still Bruce.

“Fine,” she says. “Find your Batman, or whatever.”

The others listen to her, and leave the shadows. One of the Batmen puts his hand on the sixth Robin’s shoulder and guides him away. The first Batman permits the first Robin to hug him.

The various Batman stare at the second Robin, except the one who claims him as the correct time. The second Robin doesn’t seem to notice.

The last two Batmen stare at the third Robin, and the fourth feels a little sick. They’re only one year different, after all, and she knows she wasn’t the first choice of a Robin.

She jumps from the signal but stays near it, watching their showdown and staying by herself.

“What’s going on?” the sixth Robin asks her, dragging his Batman behind him.

“He hates me,” she says, gesturing.

“I mean….you’re Robin, aren’t you? He probably doesn’t hate you,” the sixth Robin says.

“I made him make me Robin,” the fourth Robin says. “He didn’t chose me.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” the sixth Batman says unexpectedly. “I had a lot of issues, back then.”

“And you don’t still?” the fourth Robin asks him, raising her eyebrow.

“A fair point,” the sixth Batman says, and Robin’s mouth drops. He never agrees with her! “Close your mouth, Robin.”

this single conversation was probably more validating for steph than her entire robin run. because bruce kinda sucks.

She does, and she looks back at the Tim Trio. The third Robin seems to have claimed his Batman, and the other one is kind of watching her talk to the sixth Batman and Robin.

“You were always one of the best,” the sixth Batman says, his voice soft and weirdly tender.

LET!! BRUCE!! COMPLIMENT!! STEPH!!!

“Better than Tim?” she asks instead of addressing that, grinning.

“Go to your own Batman,” the sixth Batman says.

“That’s not a no,” the fourth Robin sing-songs, but she listens anyway, and goes over to the only Batman by himself.

“Fifth Batman is staring at second Robin still,” she says. “Embarrassing.”

“Actually, he’s looking at you,” her Batman says, and when the fourth Robin turns to see if that’s true, the fifth Batman has changed his gaze to look at the first Robin, instead. Some dots attempt to connect in Robin’s head, but she ignores them because that makes no sense.

steph knows cass should be batman instead of dick, but she refuses to think about the implications of dick, of all people, being batman.

“Sure he was,” she says instead. “Whatever. Let’s go home.”

dick was, indeed, looking at steph. he knows her currently as batgirl and never saw her as robin....he noticed that she was in charge and was kind of puzzling things out, regarding his opinion of her.

The sixth Batman is in charge of the Batmen, since he’s oldest, and the Robins follow their Batmen. The Time-Turner is from 2018, but accidentally transported them all back to 2005. He apologizes profusely upon seeing six Batmen and Robins, and everyone goes back home.

tbh i got to this paragraph and was like “wait fuck how did the time travel happen” and then i very quickly made a villain and very quickly brought them home. you’ll notice, when i write, i do my very best to avoid writing fight scenes. 

After Steph’s shower, she goes out into the cave in leggings and a t-shirt so someone can drive her back home.

“Why don’t you stay tonight,” Bruce says, also freshly showered, and Steph blinks after him. He only lets her stay if she’s injured!

“Sure!” she says, and she follows him up into the Manor and to the hall with all the bedrooms. Before she goes into the guest room that she always uses, he clears his throat.

“What you did today,” Bruce starts. “I mean. You were in charge?”

“Yes,” she says slowly. “They wanted the oldest to be in charge. It was Jason’s idea.”

Bruce flinches at the mention of his dead son, and then reaches out a hand to put on her shoulder.

“I’m...proud of you,” he says, his voice a little strangled, and she stares at him, wide-eyed, until he releases her and goes to his own room, shutting the door firmly behind him.

[screams]

gonna be real with you guys, i wrote...half? more than half? of this fic but in batman!dick’s perspective, cause i thought it’d be #neat to read. sad thing is, i don’t remember what doc i started writing it on, and i don’t remember why i stopped, though i must’ve had a reason.

[coolgirl]

how do i start reading about the batkids i’m really overwhelmed help

fuck it if I know… probably the smartest way to tackle it is to follow this list, which pretty much covers the vital Batman related arcs. PERSONALLY, I don’t care about reading about all the batkids, I just picked my favorite ones and just.. read everything I could about them (and lucky for me my favorite batkids don’t have thousands and thousands of comics so ! yay!) here’s some reading orders I made (except for the Damian one)

Jason Todd

Stephanie Brown

Cassandra Cain

Damian Wayne

Duke Thomas

Okay so, if u wanna read it in some kind of order, heres a bit of a general chronological-ish list thats probably innacurate bc i haven’t read all of these and the ones i did read was.. a long time ago. anyways, i hope this is useful, and again, imo its not necessary to read everything in order, but this might help to know a bit whats the timeline of some major events i guess? also i’m definitely going to be editing this post as people point out the mistakes rip! 

(the batkids i added to this timeline are the ones that have active roles in rebirth atm, Dick, Barbara, Jason, Helena, Tim, Stephanie, Cass, Damian, Duke, and the basics of Azrael, Kate, and Luke because i love them)

Dick’s time as Robin (that i have no clue how it goes but uuuh read Robin Year One / The Long Halloween / Dark Victory / The New Teen Titans up until #53)

Batgirl: Year One  

Birth of the Demon and Son of the Demon (here’s the original comic about Damian getting conceived)

Jason time as Robin (post crisis) stop before death in the family

Nightwing: Year One 

Batgirl Special #1 - The Last Batgirl Story 

unfortunately… you gotta at least know a bit of what the killing joke is about

NOW read death in the family… two blows one after the other, If you’re reading the trade that includes a lonely place of dying DON’T read that yet

now you can read the rest of the new teen titans up to #59

now A Lovely Place of Dying, which is Tim’s introduction. 

rest of ntt if u wanna

NOW for oracle!barbara you can either read the suicide squad comics as a whole, which includes little hints of her coming back, or you can skip to  issues #48 and #49. Then The Batman Chronicles #5.

Huntress Vol. 1 - Helena Bertinelli’s introduction

NOW! Steph’s introduction happened on Detective Comics #618

Stephanie’s list, if you’re following the whole list stop at Robin #70 (Tim’s solo is really good to know about them)

Azrael vol. 1: Fallen Angel - Azrael’s introduction

Batman: Knightfall - you know the infamous pic of bane snapping batman’s back like a stick? here it is.

Nightwing (1996)

Young Justice (1998) (NOT the one based on the tv show)

Birds of Prey i would say.. up to #7 

Batman: No Man’s Land

now it’s Cass Time!  Batman #567 was her introduction, and Detective Comics #734 n Legends of the Dark Knight #120 are vital to her story.

Batman & Huntress: A Cry for Blood / Huntress: Year One

Titans (1999)  

Batman Gotham Knights (2000-2006) is a good comic for batfam interactions

Rest of Birds of Prey ig

Teen Titans (2003)

Batman: Hush

Batgirl Volume 1 up to #52

War Games (when Stephanie dies rip)

rest of Batgirl

Batman Lost Days / Batman: Under the Red Hood 

Robin #172-174 (2008) steph comes back!!

Batman: Batman and Son He (Damian) is here babette

Batgirl volume 2 (2008-2009) and  Batman and the Outsiders (2009) are good cass comics up to #14

Robin/Spoiler Special (2008) 

Batman R.I.P. 

Final Crisis

Batman: Last Rites

battle for the cowl SUCKS the only important thing to know is that Dick is Batman now

Batman & Robin (2011) up to #12

Batwoman: Elegy 

Batgirl (2009) up to #14

The Black Mirror is a really good bats dick story.. or so i’ve been told

Red Robin

Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #1-4 

Batman and robin from #13 to #14

Batman: Return of Bruce wayne #5-6

Batman and Robin #15-16

Batman:The Return 

Batman INC. (2011)

everything else in Batman and Robin, and Batgirl

Gates of Gotham #1-5 (2011) 

OK NOW.. N52. So new 52 was the reboot and it basically just took everything i just mentioned and threw it out of a fucking window. Changes: Barbara is Batgirl again, Cass and Stephanie didnt exist in this timeline for like four years, somehow Jason isnt such a dick, i think Damian didn’t get so fucked over, and uuuh i have no clue what happened with Dick and Tim but i think their whole story with their teams (teen titans / titans / young justice) got incredibly fucked over. Almost every single member of the Batfam (that didn’t get booted from this contuinity) got either a solo or a team book, which are. super good to start, reading order be dammed, but the batfam went through a lot of shit (court of owls, the joker, bruce kinda died, jim gordon became batman, bruce didnt remember anything, dick kinda died and got exposed but came back as a spy, damian died, bruce lost his mind, they kinda went to hell, damian came back, dozens of robins ran around, etc etc etc) so im gonna try to order it as best as i can T__T

Batman, Vol. 4 (Secret City) / DC Comics: Zero Year / Batman, Vol. 5 (Dark City)- Okay so, this wasnt the starting storyline for New 52 but its basically the basis of the batfam and co and introduces Duke and Harper so it’s kinda vital.

Ok so here you can start reading the first volume of.. any of the titles lol. Red Hood and the Outlaws / Batgirl / Batwing / Nightwing / Batman and Robin / Teen Titans

Batman: The Night Of The Owls  

Batwoman (2011-2015) 

Batman INC up to #6 - im gonna be honest this run fucking sucks but uh important stuff happens here

Nightwing / Red Hood and the Outlaws / Batgirl / Batman and Robin / Batwing / Teen Titans Vol. 2 (approx the issue #9 of all these runs were included in the Night of the Owls crossover)

Death Of The Family - this one.. bad.. but ig its important

Nightwing / Red Hood and the Outlaws / Batgirl / Batman and Robin /  Batwing / Teen Titans Vol. 3

Batman INC #7-8 - okay so. Damian’s death. 

Requiem / Batman and Robin: Requiem - the aftermath of Damian’s death. The first one isn’t collected afaik so i liked you to a reading order if you’re interested 

Nightwing / Red Hood and the Outlaws / Batgirl / Batwing / Titans Vol. 4 (here’s Luke Fox’s introduction!)

Forever Evil - the one where shit happens to Dick that i think leads to Grayson and all that spy bs

Yeah.. Grayson now (vol 1-2) - Helena gets re-introduced here!

Red Hood and the Outlaws / Batgirl / Batwing / Teen Titans Vol. 5

Batman Eternal - where Steph gets re-introduced

Batman and Robin: Robin Rises

Batman Endgame (Batman #35 -#36, Batman Annual #3, Batman #37- #39) - Duke is back!!

Grayson Vol 3 

Superheavy (Batman #41-44 / Detective Comics #41-46) - ok so Bruce is gone and now Jim Gordon is Batman.. just nod and smile

Ok so now, Red Hood and the Outlaws and Batgirl don’t get involved in any big storylines anymore, and Teen Titans started from #1 again. 

Teen Titans Vol. 1-2

We are Robin Vol 1 

Batman and Robin Eternal - where Cass gets re-introduced 

Robin: Son of Batman Vol. 1

Red Hood/Arsenal Vol. 1

Robin War 

Grayson Vol 4

Teen Titans Vol. 3-4

Red Hood/Arsenal Vol.2

We Are Robin Vol. 2

Robin Son of Batman Vol. 2 

Super Heavy Part 2 (Detective Comics #47-52 / Batman #47-52 )

OKAY SO. Rebirth is a continuation of New 52, but with some changes bc almost every single damn character got.. lets say nerfed, and people didnt like it so they’re slowly bringing back some elements from pre 52. Here basically just read whatever whenever unless you wanna get into like. the metal event. then i would recommend you to start off the bat with that to get it out of the way as some comics have tie ins. Then heres where the kids appear

All-Star Batman (2016-2017): Bruce and Duke 

Batgirl (2016): Barbara and sometimes Dick

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey (2016): Barbara, Dick, and Helena

Batman (2016): originally Bruce and Duke but now its the Batman and Catwoman show

(if you’re interested in Duke i would say to read those two first as it explains where his character stands on Rebirth)

Batman and the Signal (2017): pretty self explanatory

Batman/Shadow (2017): Damian appears sometimes but.. i heard Bruce is a dick to him here so fuck it

Batwoman (2017): Kate and Julia 

Detective Comics (2016): Cassandra, Azrael, Kate, Tim, and Stephanie

Nightwing (2016): Dick, and sometimes Damian and Helena. 

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016): Just Jason except for the annual that had Dick too

Teen Titans (2016): Damian.. baby boy leads a team

Titans (2016): Dick

Super Sons (2017): Damian team sup with Jon Kent (Superman’s kid)

and finaaally.. some elseworld stories (basically aus) that have cute batkids interactions

Tiny Titans (2008-2015)

Lil’ Gotham (2013-2014)