#but even long dc im like

[starry-bi-sky]

i need to get this out of my head before i continue clone^2 but danny being the first batkid. Like, standard procedure stuff: his parents and sister die, danny ends up with Vlad Masters. He drags him along to stereotypical galas and stuff; Danny is not having a good time.

He ends up going to one of the Wayne Galas being hosted ever since elusive Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Vlad is crowing about having this opportunity as he's been wanting to sink his claws into the company for a long while now. Danny is too busy grieving to care what he wants.

And like most Galas, once Vlad is done showing him off to the other socialites and the like, he disappears. Off to a dark corner, or to one of the many balconies; doesn't matter. There he runs into said star of the show, Bruce who is still young, has been Batman for at least a year at this point, but still getting used to all these damn people and socializing. He's stepped off to hide for a few minutes before stepping back into the shark tank.

And he runs into a kid with circles under his eyes and a dull gleam in them. Familiar, like looking into a mirror.

Danny tries to excuse himself, he hasn't stopped crying since his parents died and it's been months. He rubs his eyes and stands up, and stumbles over a half-hearted apology to Mister Wayne. Some of Vlad's etiquette lessons kicking in.

Bruce is awkward, but he softens. "That's alright, lad," he says, pulling up some of that Brucie Wayne confidence, "I was just coming out here to get some fresh air."

There's a little pressing; Bruce asks who he's here with, Danny says, voice quiet and grief-stricken, that he's with his godfather Vlad Masters. Bruce asks him if he knows where he is, and Danny tells him he does. Bruce offers to leave, Danny tells him to do whatever he wants.

It ends with Bruce staying, standing off to the side with Danny in silence. Neither of them say a word, and Danny eventually leaves first in that same silence.

Bruce looks into Vlad Masters after everything is over, his interest piqued. He finds news about him taking in Danny Fenton: he looks into Danny Fenton. He finds news articles about his parents' deaths, their occupations, everything he can get his hands on.

At the next gala, he sees Danny again. And he looks the same as ever: quiet like a ghost, just as pale, and full of grief. Bruce sits in silence with him again for nearly ten minutes before he strikes a conversation.

"Do you like to do anything?"

Nothing. Just silence.

Bruce isn't quite sure what to do: comfort is not his forte, and Danny doesn't know him. He's smart enough to know that. So he starts talking about other things; anything he can think of that Brucie Wayne might say, that also wasn't inappropriate for a kid to hear.

Danny says nothing the entire time, and is again the first to leave.

Bruce watches from a distance as he intercts with Vlad Masters; how Vlad Masters interacts with him. He doesn't like what he sees: Vlad Masters keeps a hand on Danny's shoulder like one would hold onto the collar of a dog. He parades him around like a trophy he won.

And there are moments, when someone gets too close or when someone tries to shake Danny's hand, of deep possessiveness that flints over Vlad Masters' eyes. Like a dragon guarding a horde.

He plays the act of doting godfather well: but Bruce knows a liar when he sees one. Like recognizes like.

Danny is dull-eyed and blank faced the entire time; he looks miserable.

So Bruce tries to host more parties; if only so that he can talk to Danny alone. Vlad seems all too happy to attend, toting Danny along like a ribbon, and on the dot every hour, Danny slips away to somewhere to hide. Bruce appears twenty minutes later.

"I was looking into your godfather's company," he says one night, trying to think of more things to say. Some nights all they do is sit in silence. "Some of my shareholders were thinking of partnering up--"

"Don't."

He stops. Danny hardly says a word to him, he doesn't even look at him -- he's sitting on the ground, his head in his knees. Like he's trying to hide from the world. But he's looking, blue eyes piercing up at Bruce.

Bruce tilts his head, practiced puppy-like. "Pardon?"

"Don't." Danny says, strongly. "Don't make any deals with Vlad."

It's the most words Danny's spoken to him, and there's a look in his eyes like a candle finding its spark. Something hard. Bruce presses further, "And why is that?"

The spark flutters, and flushes out. Danny blinks like he's coming out of a trance, and slumps back into himself. "Just don't."

Bruce stares at him, thoughtful, before looking away. "Alright. I won't."

And they fall back into silence.

Danny, when he leaves, turns to look at Bruce, "I mean it." He says; soft like he's telling a secret, "Don't make any deals with him. Don't be alone with him. Don't work with him."

He's scampered away before Bruce can question him further.

(He never planned on working with Vlad Masters and his company; he's done his research. He's seen the misfortune. But nothing ever leads back to him. There's no evidence of anything. But Danny knows something.)

At their next meeting, Danny starts the conversation. It's new, and it's welcomed. He says, cutting through their five minute quiet, that he likes stars. And he doesn't like that he can't see them in Gotham.

Bruce hums in interest, and Danny continues talking. It's as if floodgates had been opened, and as Bruce takes a sip of his wine, it tastes like victory.

("Tucker told me once--") ("Tucker?") ("Oh-- uh, one of my best friends. He's a tech geek. We haven't talked in a while.")

(Danny shut down in his grief -- his friends are worried, but can't reach him. When he goes back to the manor with Vlad, he fishes out his phone and sends them a message.)

(They are ecstatic to hear from him.)

It all culminates until one day, when Danny is leaving to go back inside, that Bruce speaks up. "You know," He says, leaning against the railing. "The manor has many rooms; plenty of space for a guest."

The implication there, hidden between the lines. And Danny is smart, he looks at Bruce with a sharp glean in his eyes, and he nods. "Good to know."

The next time they see each other, Danny has something in his hands. "Can you hold onto something for me?" He asks.

When Bruce agrees, Danny places a pearl into his palm. or, at least, it's something that looks like a pearl. Because it's cold to the touch; sinking into Bruce's white silk gloves with ease and shimmering like an opal. It moves a little as it settles into his hand, and the moves like its full of liquid.

Bruce has never seen anything like it before, but he does know this; it's not human. "What is it?" He asks, and Danny looks uncomfortable.

"I can't tell you that." He says, shifting on his foot like he's scared of someone seeing it. "But please be careful with it. Treat it like it's extremely fragile."

When Bruce gets home, he puts it in an empty ring box and hides the box in the cave. He tries researching into what it is. he can't find anything concrete.

Everything comes to a head one day when Danny appears at the manor's doorstep one evening, soaking wet in the rain, and bleeding from the side.

[kaidatheghostdragon]

Dani x Jason Prompt

(Because i dont see enough of these two together. Also, this is another prompt i found in my fic files that i never did anything with.)

While Danny is in Amity Park protecting the ghost portal, Dani explores the world. Danny might be powerful enough to put down any threat, even Ancients, but she isn't as lucky. Her best defense against Vlad or the GIW is to never be in the same place two days in a row. Not to say she isn't powerful in her own right - she's yet to meet a ghost in her travels that she couldn't utterly crush, and even if she had, she's got the most loyal dog in both this world and the next to have her six.

Dani has discovered a great deal of beauty throughout the world in her few short years of life, but also unfathomable evil and undescribable corruption. She does what she can in every place she passes through, her ghost powers the ultimate cheat code for investigation and subterfuge, bringing to light the things that once hid in the dark.

But while scoping out yet another child trafficking ring, she crosses paths with a spirit of vengeance. At least, that's the only explanation she can come up with for how he's able to turn his shock and horror into pure rage at the flip of a dime.

Until she realizes that he's a baby halfa. If he doesn't learn how to mediate his emotions, he's going to burn out one of his halves.

Maybe she can help him stabilize into a proper spirit of justice and keep him from following the path that Vlad went down - oh shit, he doesn't even know that he's undead. Well, this is going to be a project and a half. But Dani is nothing if not resourceful - she's more than willing to put in the work if it means making an ally of the fourth known halfa.

Featuring:

Dani and jason are about the same age (16-17ish)

They run into each other during jason's LoA-sponsored world tour, investigating the same trafficking ring

Cujo is there too

Dani totally helps with the crime lord grand plan, but also wrestles jason down from the more messed up family drama stuff he did, like attacking tim, and knocks some sense into him and finds a better solution for dealing with the joker

[shower-phantom-ideas]

Seeing a lot of de-aged Danny in Gothem posts floating around and I love it

100% here for little shit Danny being a “fuck around and find out” child

I like to think of him as detective conan style with full memories and brain power jam packed into the body of a smol bean.

Let him get spotted by The Batman and just fully throw the man for a loop cause holy fuck not tiny little child could think of this wtf.

Like Danny isnt even as big as he was when he was six. No. Now hes like the size of a small for their age six year old. Shortest in the kindergarten kinda sized.

“Wow what a smart 4year old you got there” actually MiSs hes six and a half.

Let him be so hard for Bruce to catch but also so smart. Bruce can see him taking apart a smartphone and re wiring a microwave. Hes a little genius! Danny normally is an engineering genius but now hes just so very cute and smol. But he doesn’t wanna be babied. So sir he demands respect.

Anyway cut to like three months later and hes the head maintenance guy at the watchtower. Everyone learns that hes not to be messed with too. Some just respect him out the gate cause The Batman is bringing him in and they don’t wanna be fired. Others learn the hard way that this fucking toddler (hes seven now thank you very much) can fix a teleported that they hardly understand.

I also like to think Danny uses it to his advantage as much as he can. “But im just seven mister pwease don’t make me fill out paper work 🥺” but it doesn’t work in The Batman cause hes apparently the worlds greatest detective and knows this one isnt actually seven. Danny put in so much work trying to keep Bruce in the dark (thats a lie he didn’t do shit to protect his identity) but the knight saw through him pretty early on. Like a week after Danny moved in with him. Though I did take him a bout a month to get him to do even that.

[introspectivememories]

obsessed with the idea of timbern baby. like it starts in the cult and bear finds this kid, literal child, in the cult and y'know he may be a depressed and suicidal bastard but he's not so far gone that he's just gonna ignore a literal child (let's call him luka) in the pain cult. and bear's been rising through the ranks, so he smuggles luka out and tells (read: lectures) him to stay out. except this is the first time anyone's ever really cared about luka, so luka just latches onto bear.

eventually bear starts letting luka stay over at his apartment bc whoever was taking care of the luka before clearly doesn't care if he was left unsupervised enough to join a pain cult. so it becomes this kind of family unit. bear wakes up, wakes luka up, drops luka off at school, then goes to class, comes home and makes some food so luka has smth to eat after school, fucks around with the cult for a few hours, and then goes home and tries to avoid luka's concerned glances. wash, rinse, repeat.

and this is going well for a good few years and then senior year of college, everything goes into overdrive. bear who has risen through the ranks of the cult has been chosen for the sacrifice and yeah, luka will be sad when he dies or whatever but he's got money set aside for luka. luka can live on without him.

and then tim comes back into his life. tim drake from high school. his tim drake. darla's tim drake. their tim drake. who likes skateboarding and photography and is maybe a little too serious about mario kart. tim drake comes back and for a brief, weightless, moment, bear thinks he can do this. he can do this life thing and want to live. he can take care of luka and watch him graduate and be friends with tim again. he can stop blowing off the people at school who want to be friends with him. he can live again.

and then, like he does with everything, he ruins it. luka sees him off on the night of his "not-date" with tim drake with a teasing shout of "don't put out on the first date dad!" bear whacks him upside the head. the not-date goes really well right up until the fucking cult kidnaps him and preps him over the course of the next few days for the sacrifice. as he greets the pain like an old friend, all he thinks in between the haze of getting whipped is that luka must be going out of his mind with worry. and then they have him strapped to the altar and he lets the wine they're practically waterboarding him with take him away. his leader raises the knife and bear relaxes. this is where he was always meant to be. he has no other purpose than to be the vessel. it's not like he meant much anyway.

and then, robin is bursting onto the scene and punching the leaders in the face and somewhere in between kicking ass and taking names, bear realizes he wants to live. like for real, for real. he wants to wake up tomorrow. he doesn't actively want to die. he wants to see luka walk the stage at his high school graduation. he wants to hear tim drake laugh one more time. so he lets robin save him and then goes home and lets luka sob and fuss over him as bear promises to be a better parent.

and that's it he thinks. he definitely scared tim off with the whole getting kidnapped and being part of a cult thing. it's okay, he tells himself, at least you got tim back for a little while. but then tim is showing up at his door like a week later and he wants to go on a proper date?? like an actual date. bear is overjoyed but wary. tim drake is tim drake-wayne and bear is bernard dowd who has been consistently fucking up his life since his best friend got shot and died in high school. he figures that this thing between them will last maybe what, 4 months, before tim realizes he can do better.

except it lasts long than 4 months. it goes on for almost a year before bear realizes that tim is here to stay. well, fuck, now he has to tell his boyfriend that he has a kid. lord knows, luka wants to meet him too. so he texts tim one day, can we talk? and tim shows up at the cafe nervous and panicky. and bear just fucking blurts it out. i've got a kid. he says.

what? tim replies. i've got a kid. like a kid i'm raising. like a son. he says. so you're not breaking up with me? tim asks slowly. what? no! and so he explains the whole situation and tim just laughs a little hysterically and goes how does this happen twice? except now tim wants to meet his kid. so bear brings him over and to put it gently, it's a fuckin disaster. luka hates tim. tim spends the next year trying to get into luka's good graces. it only works when bear gets kidnappped for umpteenth time and tim spends the two weeks bear is missing for, taking care of luka and spending lots of his considerable fortune getting bear back.

[foolsocracy]

What intrigues you about Garth so much?

Also thank you for showing him much needed love

This is a good question because honestly, i'm not even sure what got me into him in the first place. I spent around 4 months getting into DC and mostly sticking to the bats, then boom. Garth.

I think he hits a lot of notes for me that I like in a character, and honestly he's fun to read when he shows up in comics. He really means well and is a sensitive do-gooder, but can also have a bit of a temper and strong beliefs that he will defend. He also does a good job of rounding out any cast or ensemble they throw him in, which I appreciate. Plus magic! I love magic.

Of course I'm a sucker for a tragic backstory with some magical elements. Merman Lancelot I will love u forever. Abandoned, left for dead prince with latent, insanely powerful abilities only unlocked after being Put Through It? what's not to love.

Personally I also think its insane that there has been nothing done with the fact that he lived on his own and stayed alive from infancy to ~8-10 years old. HELLO thats a gold mine. idk I think about that aspect of his character and his relationship with Aquababy a lot. I think its sweet that even though he has nothing to work off of with no parents to speak of (to his knowledge) and being scared of getting replaced by the blood son, he still loves and takes care of that little baby.

I also love that one issue of titans 1999 where he leads the team. He's a capable, compassionate guy who's good at what he does. DC why did u take it all away..... bring him home

[skitskatdacat63]

His bullfighting days aren't over quite yet.

+

[1-800-luvmail]

✎ being friends with booster gold

"sooo... what are you reading anyways?" michael asks, taking a seat on the couch.

he's a professional personal space invader at this point— not like he realizes he's always sort of doing it around you. his shoulder presses into yours, blue eyes peering at the pages of your book.

it looks... well, interesting would be the nice description. the honest description in his eyes? that would be: long and tedious to read.

he wonders why you enjoy things like philosophy. or how things like this can get you on passionate (and occasionally very angry) spiels. he assumes it's the time period difference. an information era— big books, long rants, heated debates. your type of fun.

not like michael minds all that much. he personally loves to talk— so even if you don't really have the same topics floating around in your brain space, he totally gets it.

"kant." you reply simply, shifting a little to get some space away from the blond currently breathing down your neck as you try to enjoy what was supposed to be your free time.

he pauses, brow furrowing. for a moment, you perk up at his expression. he's thinking. hard. maybe he's familiar with it. or maybe he has an opinion on kant's theories—

"...why do you have the book then?"

[mainalias]

recent descent into DC fandom and how do comic fans stay sane??

I am just going to read some batman to see if I like it > oh there’s a lot of it where do I start > reads a bunch of golden age batman and also other detective comics anthology prints, hope hazard you will always be famous TO ME > ok that was interesting and culturally informative but not GOOD so what now > there’s a lot of online reading orders that are contradictory so I’m going to make a spreadsheet of all the various batman and batman adjacent publications with info re: who’s them, when they were punished, issue count, continuity, etc > many hours later this was arguably a huge waste of time but I come away with both a better understanding of how comics are published and the knowledge that there’s no way I can read ALL of these which there’s like 4000 issues and I’m sure I’m missing stuff > am released from the vague compulsion to read everything with the confirmation that that is not possible, inner peace is temporarily achieved and I got to make a spreadsheet all is well

I settle in and read a bunch of batman, things are looking up, oh but I kind of want to read crisis on infinite earths since it reset the modern continuity and is pretty significant and not that long, and i’m curious about all of monitor’s cameo appearances pre-crisis appearances in the literal years leading up to this event so let’s look at those wow comics are pretty well planned, oh but doesn’t barry allen the iconic flash notoriously die in this and then miraculously stay dead for 20+ years? maybe i’ll read some silver age flash so I have emotional context for his death, okay so the reverse flash eobalde thawne has killed barry’s long time love interest and wife iris west allen and barry has demanded that green lantern hal jordan resurrect her and he has refused and now they are fighting and this is a big deal because they’ve been friends for decades of comic publication

tl;dr i was trying to read some modern batman comics and i am currently reading 1960s green lantern

[pup-pee]

so i have a problem & its called rereading this fic i just quickly doodled these 2 thingss but ill prolly make an actual piece bc i think about this a lot

sunshine. falling.

u can decide which part of the convo theyre on kfjsdh

gift 4 @radioactive-earthshine

HERES THE FIC AGAIN BC I REALIZE THE LINK MIGHT NOT LINK? ignore mefjksdh\

((idk y the quality is so badfjsdgf BUT THE DIALOUGE WAS CUTE OK ik part of it was from superboy & the ravers (#7) but just ok just))

this is like a couple weeks old @ this point idk y i never posted it

[chepib3]

big fan of when bruce tries to help others and he just ruins everything My poor wife that doesn't know how to communicate yes he will jump to conclusions and make decisons for you to sneakily control your life but please forgive him he's trying to show how much he loves you

[zefforuins]

Batman (1940) #426 // Batman: Arkham Knight (2015) - Arkham Knight Audio File #2 // Batman (1940) #650

[starry-bi-sky]

for clone Danny, Clone Damian

I give you

Edit Clone Talia as somehow Girlfriend of Danny, just think of the comedy

nah brO BECAUSE LITERALLY I HAVE THOUGHT BOUT THAT. Literally since the conception of Clone Danny, I have thought about it. If only for, as you said, the COMEDY of it all. Plus I love writing romance.

Literally my motto for my aus is: A) is it plausible, B) is it FUNNY (and a secret third option C) is it ANGSTY)

Clone Talia would be an offshoot au of Clone^2 because idk how she'd fit into the original timeline, bUT, she'd exist. And to avoid confusion I'll call her Nasra - I thought about Tameka (which means twin) but I like Nasra better. "Talia and Nasra" just flows so nicely doesn't it?

Idk WHY there's a clone of Talia running around -- maybe the LoA made her, maybe n unknown organization who hates Batman and knows he has romantic ties to Talia, and started making a clone of her to fuck with him and then she got nabbed by a portal when she was still Danny's age and in the middle of training. She might be like Connor (??) and have memories and thus her training is more proficient than baby Dames.

Either way, regardless of how she was made, I think it's hilarious if she, much like baby Dames, immediately attacks Danny on sight. She falls into his city and Danny only has a moment to go "goddammit not agaIN" before he's fending off a very confused, very violent Nasra. Fortunately he's able to actually try and talk to her and be at least somewhat successful -- Nasra knows english. although even if she didn't, Danny would still be somewhat successful since he knows Arabic.

Also Bruce and Danny are the battinson bat because i think that is also hilarious and 'wet rat' is STILL the perfect energy for Danny as Phantom - especially in the early days when he's running around in all but jeans and a hoodie. (and god watch me go on a rant in a separate post about his outfit and reasonings for being Phantom when he has no powers later on because it makes me go FERAL. and his active choice to look as inhuman and ghost-like through his behavior as phantom and the decision to wear such a creepy mask as possible)

(like seriously, imagine walking home late at night while danny was still in his early vigilante days (and even now when he's got damian and a better suit) and seeing a skinny figure in the shadows with sunken in black-and-glowing-green eyes, and a bone white, skull-like face, crouched on all fours like a wild animal about to pounce. THAT is the level of creepiness I was going for for clone danny)

In my head, Sam offers to house Nasra and Nasra stays with her. SAm is able to convince her parents to let her stay, or she pulls a Danny and just straight up smuggles her in and her parents are none the wiser. I also think it's funny if they have unspoken BEEF with each other. Only to later become like sisters. Nasra teaches Sam the martial arts she knows, and also Danny joins in too with Damian because goddamn he needs it even IF he's learning stuff from his mom (as per the most recent snippet post I made).

OH AND DAMIAN AND NASRA. I think it's equally as funny if they ALSO have beef with each other. Nasra is a clone of his mother (of whom he might have complicated views on due to being a clone but still is his mother) and Damian is a clone of Nasra's "son". This beef largely starts from Damian's own refusal to want to share his Danny with another clone, especially with a clone of his MOTHER.

Danny and Nasra don't become lovers for a good, long while I think. They're besties first before they even consider the idea of dating -- not only just because of the whole "uhhh our counterparts dated so it'd feel kinda weird and forced if we dated" and also because Nasra, with her newfound freedom, is busy trying to figure out herself.

A big theme here in clone^2: discovering your identity and who you are as a person when the only thing you own that's unique is your name (which isn't even the case for Damian), and figuring out if your choices are your own or because you're a clone and its something your original would have done. Nature vs Nurture and the illusion of choice and whether it really is one or not.

Also Nasra also becomes a vigilante. Danny appreciates the help but is also tearing out his hair because what the fuck is up with these assassins and becoming vigilantes?! Nasra goes by "Nesha". She's similar to Red Huntress at first where she kinda does her own thing, but is lowkey forced to team up with Danny about it because she doesn't have any proper ghost hunting equipment with her.

And then a duo becomes a trio, and Danny is spending more time with her. And they steadily become friends. Very snarky friends who are very bratty to each other, but friends. Damian still doesn't like her so Danny spends extra time during patrol keeping the two of them from making insults at each other.

"Nesha please stop fighting with a nine year old. Wraith, quit insulting Nesha."

Nasra also uses like, weaponry as Nesha which exasperates Danny a little because why are you using swords??? They're already dead its not gonna kill them,,,, If you cut off their heads its just gonna piss em off, its re-attachable. Let him ghost-proof it first too. But well, its still gonna HURT he supposes. He's still a little exasperated.

And MMM i'm sorry lmao im so focused on Nasra becoming her own person than the actual romance aspect of it all. Nasra cuts her hair short for the same/similar reasons that Danny keeps his long - to try and gain a semblance of autonomy and identity that's away from their original. Danny has his alternative rock-kinda geeky look and Nasra's got, from influence from Sam, a more alternative fashion style. Although she still leans into being feminine, which is a good challenge to Sam's belief that feminity = bad, and gets her to unlearn those bad habits since her new adoptive sister is feminine while still being an unapologetic badass.

And ykw I think Nasra gets into rollerblading and loves it. She rollerblades constantly. Damian is furious because skating is his thing (even if what he gets later on is a skateboard - skater boy damian ftw. i can see him wearing flannels and graphic tees as a teenager. very grungy/skater aesthetic. He also has a much more relaxed and teen-y speech pattern compared to DW's more formal way of talking. He also spray paints as his form of artistic medium.) and he refuses to have Nasra be a copy of him.

They will sort out their differences eventually. LMao.

Anyways they eventually do get together, but not before Danny finally has his run in with Mister Wayne. Which, they only meet because Danny starts destabilizing, and thus needs Bruce Wayne's DNA to help stabilize himself. Which that meeting in and of itself is pretty chaotic on its own, but then add clone Damian and Nasra? Bruce needs coffee.. or alcohol.

Because picture this: its late at night, you're on patrol with the rest of your family. It's like, two in the morning. You suddenly get a call in from your butler, Alfred, informing you that not one, not two, but THREE children -- two of them in their late teens and the other one not even ten yet -- showed up on your doorstep. One of them is unconscious. They are all clones.

The girl and the boy are twins - and are clones of YOU - and the girl isn't even technically YOUR clone she's a clone of your clone - and also this clone of you is your college friends' kid. And then the youngest boy is a clone of your youngest SON. Bruce is running across rooftops when he gets this call and does a literal 180 degree turn and touches the ground because he basically did a figure skating turn, and sprints back towards the manor because what the fuck? He needs to check this out.

And then half a day later a clone of your fucking ex shows up on your doorstep demanding to see the clone of you - the boy that is, not the girl - and then immediately gets into a verbal lashing with the clone of your son. Like what a fucking DAY. Your kids are equally as baffled but also laughing their asses off -- except your bio son, who is very unhappy about this turn of events and keeps getting the stink eye from his clone.

Like??? I'd quit right then and there.

While Danny recovers he's staying in Wayne manor and Damian is very reportedly not leaving his side. Ellie has to leave to help take care of Amity Park with RH, and then Nasra is also very determinedly not leaving his side either. This is her friend dammit. The first thing she does when he becomes lucid is insult him, and he insults her back - they're bantering. It's how they flirt later on. None of the Bats know how to deal with this situation.

[apopcornkernel]

batman: track and field au

author's note: i just miss track and field varsity even though i wasnt even that good... and ive been thinking about batman track and field au for FOREVER. so today i wrote a bit 📝

things u need to know: bruce is not batman. he's a coach at a school where the rest of the justice league teaches. yes, they're still the justice league. and yes, his robins still end up as vigilantes. jason is 15 in this; the joker hasn't gotten to him yet. also i added some characters ahead of the timeline bc i love them :/

Jason stumbles over from the finish line, grinning and sweat-drenched. And then his face screws up in sudden distress, and he promptly wobbles and collapses onto the hot stadium mat.

A half-formed sound of alarm—

Bruce leaps over the bleacher railing and sprints.

A poor, well-meaning race official gets there first, but Bruce shoulders him roughly aside and crouches by Jason. Jason has turned on his side, holding his right knee tight to his chest and making little pained gasps.

It tears at his heart. “Jason,” Bruce says.

Jason’s eyes are screwed shut, and he says nothing, but one of his hands reach blindly in Bruce’s direction and Bruce grasps it tightly.

“You were terrific, chum.” He squeezes, and feels the tremor that goes through his son. “Stretch your leg out for me.”

Jason shakes his head. “Hurts—”

“I know. I know. Please, Jay.”

It’s slow, and excruciating, but between the two of them they manage to get Jason sitting up, his leg extended straight against the ground. One hand of Bruce’s presses down firmly on the knee, and the other pushes his foot to flex, the metal spikes of Jason’s shoes digging hard into the callused flesh of Bruce’s palm. Jason leans back on his hands, spread flat against the ground, head tilted up to open, cloudless sky, exhaling drawn-out, shaky breaths.

The speakers blare out the next events—second call for Male C’s 400-meter hurdles, and third call for Female B’s high jump. The left side of the crowd begins clapping on beat for their star javelin thrower as she rocks back on her feet, once, twice, and begins bounding forward. Bruce makes a displeased noise. He hopes his throwers remember to pay attention.

A mosquito buzzes by Bruce’s ear and he shakes his head sharply to drive it away. The sweat has been beading at his hairline all throughout, and now it rolls torturously slow down his face. As his hands are otherwise occupied, he makes no move to wipe it, and does his best to ignore the unpleasant sensation.

At last, Jason’s breathing evens out. He tugs his leg gingerly away from Bruce’s hold, cheeks flushed with exertion and, doubtless, embarrassment. “Thanks.”

Bruce sits back on his haunches and wipes the sweat off his face. “Ready to stand?”

Jason raises a hand, wincing as he tests the muscles of his leg. “One sec.”

Bruce nods shortly. Jason safe, his attention wanders over to the bleachers. Tim, thank God, is dragging Damian away from the high railing. Dick and Cass are eating lunch with much avidity—Dick’s best event, high jump, had just ended before Jason’s, and Cass seems to have just returned from shot put. Duke and Stephanie are nowhere in sight, and for a moment Bruce is alarmed, but then he spots them at the stage and relaxes. Duke must have won his high jump—he stands on the highest podium, and even from here Bruce can tell he’s grinning—and Stephanie is clicking away on the school camera next to the official photographer.

As he watches Stephanie turn the camera backward and attempt to take a selfie with Duke, there’s a tap on his thigh. Bruce extends his hand without looking and grasps the hand that interlocks with his, pulling Jason up with ease.

Bruce glances at Jason, and notes how he squints against the glaring afternoon. “Remember to reapply your sunscreen when you get back.”

Jason rolls his eyes. “Not everyone is ghost-white like you.”

“You do not have to be ghost-white to get skin cancer.”

Jason grumbles, but when Bruce raises an imperious eyebrow at him, he raises his hands in surrender. “Fine. Whatever you say, boss.”

“Good. And, Jay...” Bruce reaches out, tentative, and puts a hand on his shoulder. “I meant it. You did terrific.”

Jason beams, bright enough to outshine the day, and something in Bruce’s chest uncurls into warmth.

[mamawasatesttube]

does dc have like. any adult butch women? at all? the closest example i can think of is karsta wor-ul but she's not a recurring character and that's like. literally it. surely im forgetting some... onyx maybe counts... but like dc still always draws women so feminine like they Have to have form-fitting clothes and big boobs and full faces of makeup it's hard to actually call any of them butch designs. (not that women with big boobs or form-fitting clothes can't be butch but like in terms of character designs clearly made by straight men you know?)

[introspectivememories]

god i know i said i was tired of making eveerything sad but just imagine timber those first few months of reconnecting and they're both drunk on tim's boat, laying on the deck staring up at the stars and bear turns over to look at tim, his eyes are sad and wet, and he reaches out to touch tim's face as if to make sure tim is really there and not an illusion and tim whispers, "bear?" and bernard smiles a little brokenly and goes, "so how long do i have you for this time?"

[ufonaut]

My ring’s verified she’s telling the truth.

Alan Scott in Justice Society of America (2022) #3