#bird bats of gotham

[excalisi]

it's a fun hc of mine that during dick's robin days, he went through the "omg i wish i had a cool secret language so i can have secret conversations with my friends" phase all kids go through. but one of his closest friends at the time also happened to be the batman, a guy with possibly the most bizarrely diverse arsenal of skills in the world. bruce sees the merit in the entire idea of a coded language to communicate rudimentary information when they can hear but not see each other. so why not make a code built on bird vocalizations? it's pretty much incomprehensible to anyone without a trained ear or comprehensive knowledge of birding and impossible to even passably mimic without proper training, so while the chances of interception are high, the chances of someone understanding it enough to interrupt during the middle of a bird-convo and feed false information are not.

it also, batman and robin come to realize, feeds into the "holy fuck our vigilantes are cryptids" idea. bird sounds that come from seemingly no determinable location (ventriloquism) come to mean batman and robin are nearby. to the goons of gotham, bird song becomes inextricably connected to getting your ass kicked by the dynamic duo. the real reason why criminals don't operate during the day is because they get skittish and jumpy about if the sounds of birds chirping are real birds or some masked vigilantes lying in wait to rock your shit, and it's just easier to commit crimes during the night when all the birds are asleep so you know for sure.

ornithologists have boards on their bedrooms dedicated to the bird-bats of gotham. they've written dissertations.

the bird language becomes a bit of a batfamily bonding connection. teaching each other how to do different clicks and whistles, making up slang so bruce and barbara can't complain of clogging up comms with non-mission relevant talk, searching up birds to associate them with different people, psychologically terrorizing the criminal populace of gotham by chirping at them...

how the bird code works is that there's a bird assigned to each one of gotham's major heavy hitter criminals and vigilantes, and a few assigned to heroes out of the city (by which i mean the ones the bats associate with often enough to have a sign to address by). the only birds i've got so far are the robin (for robin. self-explanatory) and the glistening-green tanager (for the joker). i only have one for the joker bc i wanted to reference this hc in one of my fics and so searched up green birds to find the most eye-searingly annoying-to-look-at green bird i could find, and the glistening-green tanager was the closest one to fit the bill.

[frownyalfred]

one night in Gotham, there’s some sort of disruption, strange magic, or curse. all of the Batkids go down and come back up with powers that reflect their vigilante personas in some way. Dick can fly, Jason has super strength, Tim can read minds nearby, etc. they freak out, try out the powers a little, and decide to return home early from patrol because Bruce is gonna be pissed, right? he’s going to want to figure this out and study it. Duke is laughing his ass off all the way home (he got called for backup while they were processing) and enjoying a boost to his own powers.

they get home and Bruce isn’t in the Cave. he’s not in the Manor, and Alfred doesn’t know where he went. Duke gets a hit on the distant grounds, out by the lake. It’s Bruce, but not Bruce. whatever strange kickback of magic/power that gave them their new abilities is nothing compared to this.

Gotham has possessed Bruce, in every single way possible. he’s perched on a cliff overlooking Gotham, dressed only in sweatpants, uncaring of the cold. his eyes are sunken pits into Gotham’s foundations. his teeth are the gleam of bone. he is so beautiful and so terrible, all at once.

their new abilities, these powers, are a boon. they’ll take back Gotham from the night, as he foot soldiers. but they will never have Bruce — Bruce — ever again. that is the price.

[damian-navarro-art]

CASS! i haven’t shared here yet any of all the drawing i’ve done of her last months but you can check them out on my Instagram if you like ;) …. But in the other hand, here is the first time im sharing this, i madly love Cass <3

[flamingpudding]

Substitute City Ghost

Clockwork had a plan. Their young king needed to learn how to take care of people without the kind of hero like fighting he did in Amity Park. There was a lot to learn for the young halfa and his king classes could only cover so much. Thus he had found a plan that would give his king the perfect learning expirence while also helping out his recently new friend. Well not that new since his friend was quite an old ghost of their own. But he had only recently made direct contact with her.

Lady Gotham was an old and powerful ghost. Born from the beliefs of her city and strengthened by the once living and protecting it. But she was stretching herself thin. Managing her city, helping the dead find their way, looking out for the shades, and protecting the weaker entities, was already a lot of responsibilities for a city ghost. But Lady Gotham has added more to her plate, supporting those that protect her city. Mortals that she called her knights. Aiding them by controlling the shadows, guiding those that need help toward them, or the other way around, guiding her knights to those that needed help. She was strong, but even a ghost like her could grow exhausted. His friend needed rest and recharge. Surely Lady Gotham wouldn't say no if he invited her to a vacation to the Realms, and in that same invitation, he would direct his king to his new hands on training.

The bats and birds knew something was different about Gotham lately. It was strange and slightly unsettling. The change felt like it had just happened overnight. They were suspicious, wondering if they were sensing one of their rogues planning something big. Jason and Duke appeared to sense it the most.

At first, it didn't appear to be too big of a problem, but then strange things started to happen. Their rogues started tripping over, seemingly nothing. And if that wasn't enough it appeared like their rogues were a whole lot more inattentive to their surroundings. Now the Bats and birds were good at sneaking, but they had human limits. Yet there were times they snuck up on them like they weren't even seen.

Dick swore that one of the goons had stared at him and didn't see him, even though he had tried to pull the tap their shoulder and greet them before punching them act. The guy had turned around and stared at him before looking around like no one was even there until he punched the guy anyway.

And that wasn't even the weirdest part. Bullets, throwing knives or anything aimed and thrown at them never hit their marks. Not for the lag of them dodging but for the things they were sure they shouldn't have been able to react in time for. Tim espacially had pointed out that a bullet should have hit him once but it never even graced him. Yet when he checked the place after the arrest. There had been a clear bullet hole in the wall where he had been.

They weren't sure if it was a blessing or a curse. They had even tried to get a member of the Justice League Dark to look into it. But strangely enough Constantine had refused to even set foot into Gotham for once, and even insisted that the other do not either.

To say that Batman was not amused would have been a very big understatement. The man was brooding. And of course Dick had to jinx them too. The eldest bat kid had to mention that it at least wasn't getting worse.

And don't you know it. It got worse. Like weirdly alarming strangely worse.

Because, how else would you define it when you're in the middle of a briefing with your patrol partner for the night when suddenly a Lazarus Pit look alike portal opens below your feed swallowed you up and the freaking drops you into the middle of a crime scene or mugging.

It was only thanks to their training that they were able to react quickly enough after a bound of disorientation. But fuck did that gave them all a good damn heart attacks when that happened the first time to Damian of all people.

Something was definitely wrong with their city. Thankfully they had some sort of hint, because the first time the Pit portal happened to Duke, he claimed that he saw a white haired figure right before it had swallowed him hole and spit him out at a bank robbery.

Danny was honestly believing he was doing a good job as substitute city spirit while Lady Gotham was enjoying her vacation. Sure , he still had trouble with some things, but he was sure he was getting the hang of the whole supporting the cities vigilantes gig Lady Gotham had going on. The whole managing the shades and the dead spirits was still up in the air, though. But at least he had figured out a way easier way to guide the vigilantes towards the once that needed help.

Now he just needed to figure out what was wrong with that one guy in the red helmet and he was sure that both Clockwork and Lady Gotham would be proud of him and how he had managed her city during her vacation.

[bluerosefox]

Over Tea

A sudden chill sweeps through Gotham, almost like Mr. Freeze had just attacked only thing was the man was currently locked away in Arkham, and was felt by all. And talked by all via word of mouth and on social media as well.

The clouds and smog that covered their dark city shifted and swirled, a rumble beginning deep inside them as the weather turned from smoggy to rain and thunder with no real warning. The strangest thing was the green glow that could be seen when thunder rumbled inside the gray clouds.

Then like a candle being blown out, the rumbling stopped, the rain ended, and the clouds parted all over Gotham.

For the first time in a while Gotham had a clear sky and it felt... it felt like something heavy had been lifted off the city.

It was this sudden shift and the all felt chill that had set off alerts for Batman and his family. Since early morning since the first change and shift happened he was in front of the Batcomputer trying to narrow down where it started.

After hours of searching with the help of Red Robin, Oracle and strangely enough Red Hood, they managed to narrow down where the odd power had been coming from.

Was still coming from, only very low.

The old and abandoned observatory tower.

-x-x-

"More ecto-tea Lady Gotham?" Danny asked, his hand waving towards the steaming pot nearby.

The woman smiled lightly, her dark painted lips curling up to show her sharp fangs for a moment before saying "No but thank you Young Kingling though I would like more cookies if you don't mind. Now where were we?"

Danny nodded towards her and signaled towards a maid skeleton ghost who walked forward with a tray of cookies. The maid swiftly placed a few more cookies on the spirit embodiment of Gotham plate before bowing and stepping away.

"We were just about to discuss the sentience of the Court of Owls." Danny said as he lightly tapped the large almost mountain of paperwork on the table they were sitting at, floating high above the floor as shooting stars and planets drifted around them. Many ghosts floated around as well, servants that had sworn their loyalty to the Young King, and were preparing things like snacks and drinks for two powerful beings in the room as they discussed business. Nearby doors and windows though were ghostly knights that stood tall and alert, making sure no interlopers interrupted the meeting taking place and ready to defend not only Lady Gotham but their King.

"Ah yes them." Lady Gotham grimaced as she took a drink of her ecto-tea. "That will take some time for us to discuss, they've been running around unchecked for to long and even with my limited abilities to hinder them has been less than ideal."

"You, Lady G, were deeply cursed for many, many years and I just broke most of it." Danny cut in quickly, he was not about to let this wonderful and powerful city spirit blame herself for something out of her hands "Due to said curse you couldn't do much so please don't go blaming yourself. Its mostly broken now, so you can freely start healing yourself and your city self now that jerk demon that cursed you is in Walker's prison for his crimes."

Lady Gotham grew silent for a moment, her dark eyes staring deeply at the young King but then warmly smiled, well as warm as she could seeing how she was Gotham itself. "You reminded me of my Knight, Young King, treating me like this. Not afraid to point out the truth and facts."

Danny gave a light laugh as he took a hold of one of the cookies on his plate and gave a bite "I'll take that as a compliment Lady Gotham. Now about those Court of Owls...."

[havendance]

Requested by @averyho, here you go!

Robin III: Cry of the Huntress #1-6 — This is the big one and the beginning of theirrelationship

Showcase ‘94 #5, Robin #6, and Showcase ‘94 #6 — This is a three part crossover storyline

Helena and Tim have some brief interactions in Robin #17 as part of the War of the Dragons crossover (Detective Comics 685, Robin 17, Detective Comics 686)

She also pops in and out of Batman: Contagion, it’s sequel event Batman: Legacy in a vague teaming up with Batman & co way. I will specifically call out Batman: Shadow of the Bat #53 for having a like, two page Tim and Helena scene which is important. To me.

Detective Comics #703 — This one-shot has a Tim and Helena B-plot where they talk about how she stands

Robin #34 — Tim and Helena encounter each other as teacher and student

Robin Annual #6 — they team up and dress up as cowboys. Essential reading.

Everything after this is more scraps, sadly

They’re both in Batman: Outlaws, but I can’t say I recommend Batman: Outlaws any and also I don’t remember if they interacted much in it.

Tim plays a minor role in Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood, vouching for Helena in issue #3 and shows up to bother her in issue #5. (Though honestly you should read Cry for Blood because it’s just good)

No wait, I lied. Read Joker: Last Laugh #5 and Robin #95 for the time that Huntress discovered Robin’s ‘dead’ body. (And you can also read Last Laugh #6 I guess if you want Dick beating the Joker to death, but there’s not really and Tim & Helena in it despite them both appearing)

Gotham Knights #38-40 — More scraps here, but there are some nice little bits and the storyline’s enjoyable enough. (even if it never gets followed up on ever… I’m not sore grumble grumble)

Batman/Superman #5 — There are a couple fun panels for them in here.

Yeah, sadly, I think that’s all I got.

[little-pondhead]

Danny moved to Gotham.

Freakshow is touring in Gotham.

Freakshow knows Danny is in Gotham.

Danny knows Freakshow is still after him.

Danny's faith in heroes has been shattered.

Danny turns to the only person powerful enough to run Freakshow out of town, hopefully for good.

Danny turns to the Joker for help.

The Joker is looking for a new punching bag sidekick after Harley Quinn left him.

Danny is just the perfect person to be shaped by the Joker's hands.

Danny becomes the new Joker Junior.

[batcavescolony]

*Comic bats+rogues get dropped into Gotham tv show universe*

Batman: *on tv* to all my rogues, you have 30 minutes to meet us in Robinson Park, or I send the kids after you. If you can't get to the park in 30min you're all smart enough to find a way.

Voice from the back: WHICH ONES.

Batman: Hmmmm, All of them?

Voice from the back: ...DOES ROBIN HAVE HIS SWORD?

Batman: yes

*a few colorfully dressed people part from the crowd towards Robinson Park*

[puppetmaster13u]

So Anyway I Started Another Cryptid Batfam Au

Yeaah, they were human, and might've been the first vigilantes before the JL formed. Might've gotten caught by some mad scientist cultists. Might've gotten gene spliced a bit, but shhh. Don't worry about it :) They're fine. Absolutely Fine. This is Fine.

But anyway, they have wings now. And talons. And a lot of other things they have to adjust to and might straight up not have a civilian identity for a while- becomes more than a bit of social recluses while they figure this shit out.

So anyway, I haven't finished drawing or designing them, if I ever will, so have what each is based off of. There's a lot of robins. :) Also have how old everyone is at the start of the story. (Timelines are a fake thing that never make sense)

Bruce- Black Drongo (31 years old)

Kate- Scarlet Robin (31 years old)

Barbara- Red Backed Scrub Robin (16 years old)

Dick- Blue Fronted Robin (15 year old)

Cass- Hooded Robin (12 years old)

Jason- Red Capped Robin (12 years old)

Steph- Pink Robin (10 years old)

Tim- Collared Bush Robin (10 years old)

Duke- White Starred Robin (10 years old)

Damian- Olive Backed Forest Robin (8 years old)

Jarro- Rose Robin (4 year old equivalent)

Terry- Black Robin (4 years old)

Helena- Bagobo Robin (1 year old)

Matt- Norfolk Robin (1 year old)

[armed-with-a-waffle-iron]

Something people who haven't read Helena Bertinelli don't get is Helena's relationship with killing. She has never killed or tried to kill because she thought executing someone fixes the world.

Huntress: Year One #4

Even initially, it was always about honour or closure or vengeance or survival, and she saw herself as pretty much damned to hell, even says it in Huntress: Year One. And she grows too, and soon leaves that murderous intent in her past though her feelings about killing remain way more nuanced than say Bruce's.

[coloredsnowo]

[excalisi]

Idk if anyone has said this already or you saw it yourself but you had that HC about the bird that could be joker and there's also this bird: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-hooded_tanager

i feel like this could be jason, honestly. the bats assign him a bird after that "woah decapitated heads stuffed in a duffle bag uh oh" ordeal, and the decision was pretty much solely determined by the red hood name. jason likes his bird bc it has no real connection to the joker, not even as a call passed down as a mantle the way the robin one is (joker's red hood era was during bruce’s early days, before robin and therefore before the bird code system). the red-hooded tanager isn't even really a tanager, so there isn't even the relation of being in the same taxonomic group; it's technically a cardinal.

after the reveal when tensions aren't so high tho, i think someone (dick, maybe?) would give jason an obscenely neon yellow jacket as a gag gift. and that he'd gleefully incorporate it into his daily wardrobe, enjoying the way people almost refuse to acknowledge he's wearing it at all in order to resolve the cognitive dissonance. no one's going to tell the extremely dangerous crime lord that his jacket looks like something straight out the closet of haikyuu's sakusa kiyoomi except painted with the vomit of some person obsessed with radioactive bananas. they all want to live, thank you very much

[frownyalfred]

sending a prayer out for the goon who thought making fun of teenage Robin’s first voice crack while in the immediate vicinity of Batman was a good idea

[damian-navarro-art]

Cass & Maps

Almost done with my little 7 page story I’ve been doing for Mia and Cass, I’m really having the most fun i’ve ever have, I.. hope you will like them :)

(This is just a little sneak peek on Black & White! All the pages are gonna be full color, it’s just that I was taking the chance to post these since the “noir” vibe kinda fits as well into the story 😅 but im probably gonna be posting my lineart version too after all the pages, idk , i will see!)

My Batman & Robin <3

[batfambrainrotbeloved]

Based on a comment on my fic-

The fic- "The Drakes Spoiled Brat (im sorry dad)"

Check my other posts for more info, but link below

[tortellinisposts]

hello and here is some more bats birds and spiders stuff I’ve worked on while binging spider man films.

ALSO !! dustin biology stuff blow cause ye

After getting bitten, the stripes humans have became partially visible due to the body changing to meet the needs of the new dna introduced.

Their bones, joints and muscles have changed due to the different species clashing, causing them to develop something akin to hyper mobility syndrome. Prolonged flexibility without adequate medications and stretching causes joint and muscle pain.

Dustin requires twice as much food as the average human due to their body processing food at a faster rate to keep up with energy demands and to maintain the body’s temperatures.

They have a particular like for protein and fruit. They often enjoy drinking fruit juice frequently and eat rare meat, mostly for the blood. They also have a taste for nectar.

Their social behaviours cause them to prefer living in a large family and they often seek out physical contact.

Dustin’s fangs can produce venom. It’s largely harmless and only sedates.