#fic: and then damian was the fourth Robin

[agoddamn]

Found myself reading some Batman/Justice League fanfic earlier and surprised myself with how much I don't like the new modern fic tropes.

Well, I guess "surprise myself" isn't the right term. I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone ever when I dislike a fandom thing.

But--I'm really not into the whole "literal Batfamily" thing where the Robins are Bruce's literal children who call him dad. This surprised me because I fucking loathed the previous era, the "good soldier" bullshit. Back in the scans_daily days (creaks in rocking chair) we were desperate for any straightforward affection between Bruce and anyone. (For reference, I dipped around when Damain was really becoming a thing.)

Somehow, though, the Wayne Family stuff feels...cheap.

I don't really know how to articulate it--full disclosure that I haven't actually been reading modern comics and it's entirely possible I've just missed everything good. What I've been seeing doesn't interest me enough to seek it out, though. I had really liked the messy complexity where the Bats all had their own fiddly specific beefs coexisting with great trust and fondness, the liminal space where Bruce Wayne was not precisely a father but not nothing like a father. Unrealistic as it is, I liked how the Robins got to have more agency than the standard child sidekick.

(Is thete_1 still around? I've had the thought, more than once, that the open affection of modern Wayne Family might instantly kill her--but then the modern sexless platonic nature would also instantly kill her)

And where'd that "B" thing come from? Is that JL movie shit? Cos that went from an occasional nickname of Dick's to something every single person in fic is doing now, from Tim to Clark.

I've also noticed that the female Batclan members are extremely file not found in the fic I happened across, too. (My God, comic book nerds glossing over female characters?! Say it ain't so!) Not exactly a surprise, but it's bizarrely consistent that the characters who can't be easily made into Bruce's sons are shuffled offstage. You don't know how many AUs I scrolled past that considered Damian a critical piece of the Batclan but not Barbara, much less Steph or Cass!

I want to be explicit that I do not give a shit what current canon is re: Steph's Robinicity. We all know it's made up and the points don't matter.

[luwritesomething]

DAMIAN WAYNE HEADCANONS !!!

ah, love of my life. this man right here got me years ago into learning more about the batfam and now here i am. you can say it’s kind of his fault. anyways,,, no one asked for this but my brain did. 

requests are open! hit that anon button and tell me your idea!

warnings: swearing, hadn’t been proof-read.

damian’s head is a MESS. don’t get me wrong, the guy is a little genius, but imagine the chaos of languages he has -- arab, english, chinese, i’m a hundred percent he knows russian, urdu is nanda parbat’s official language... 

because of this (^^) he just sometimes shuts down and stays silent. he can’t even think.

he loves all animals but he can’t handle insects. jason found out, and damian bribed him with a collectors special edition of classical books. nobody must know his weaknesses.

he writes in cursive, i have no clues but also no doubts.

words are difficult for him, that’s why he talks the way he does -- so professionally, like he is from another age. 

can stand tim (in small amounts) but no longer they will always have an intellectual rivalry -- it’s probably more from damian’s side rather than tim’s.

he still feels like he has to hide that he looks up to dick.

damian searched what fanfiction was. he’s scarred for life now. 

he’s straight up bored of paparazzi. he’ll go lady gaga on their ass and stare at the ones that are hidden in a bush trying to take pictures of him in secret.

also he will go full cole sprouse on the people trying to take pictures on him while he’s walking through gotham (this means he will snap pictures of the civilians before they snap a picture of him. camera duels, that’s the name)

listens to A LOT of music. everything his siblings listen to, he does too. classical music is his favorite, however. (also enjoys jazz).

taking care of his animals and his duties as robin are his favorite activities.

doesn’t understand social media, but still uses it. he’s too stubborn to admit he’s bad handling that.

too lazy to figure out how to cook, but if he tried in the slightest, he would be an amazing cook.

damian is an incredibly fast learner. it amazes the fuck out of bruce how many new things he can learn in just one day. 

he grows to be an actually very kind person, but his snarky remarks and dry humor never disappears.

likes the addams family. what a surprise.

doesn’t get horror/slasher movies. he keeps getting bored and doesn’t react to the jumpscares. jason says he is dead inside, which everyone agreed on.

they don’t know (^^) that damian is making a superhuman effort to not kick someone when the jumpscares occur because this little guy has his senses to the maximum all the time.

can’t be bothered unless someone is being ignorant or trashing about his family. he’s the only one that trashes about his family >:(

texts like a grandpa but at least he knoews what’s happening (most of the times)

like jason, damian has been kicked out of the wayne family chat numerous times.

has an elderly person soul except for when he’s fighting. then he’s a vicious little shit-

plays piano. no, i will not elaborate.

will correct your grammar in a condescending tone of voice.

“don’t patronaze me.” @ everyone.

has general knowledge about a shit ton of things. and since he doesn’t know how to properly socialize (canon) will spill those facts in order to start a conversation during galas.

has threatened the police -- 10/10 will do it again.

damian couldn’t care less about gossip but since he’s a good listener he always ends up knowing the tea about  E V E R Y T H I N G.

cocky bastard. that’s it, that’s all i’m saying.

he has no idea how to handle compliments. it still makes him freeze whenever someone says he’s cute or has pretty eyes.

“no.” (damian’s answer every time someone calls him cute).

believes in soulmates and in love at first sight, not as a superficial concept but as a ‘i’m clicking and mystically attracted to this person rewardless of their looks’.

reads A LOT.

never as much as jason, and also he doesn’t just read like narrative books -- he reads those thick books about how to do things, biographys, and studies about subjects he randomly knows about.

barely sleeps, if he ever does. 

sleep is for the weak™

(^^) proceeds to randomly fall asleep during patrols or family dinners.

acts like a brat but he actually isn’t -- it’s so complicated to explain, i hope someone just gets it.

at 17 he’s taller than dick and almost as tall as jason. suck it, @ everyone who mocked his height.

jon kent is his Best Friend™

(^^) damian told me himself.

he’s very handsome (canon lolz)

no but like, i mean, he will actually be one of those men you think ‘good fucking lord, he’s handsome’

damian thinks selina is cool.

has a lot of anger and frustration inside. it calms him down knowing jason also has problems like those because it makes him feel more... normal.

because normal is something damian would have liked to feel if he hadn’t been conceived to be perfect.

he would love six of crows -- would really like kaz brekker.

secretly enjoys the ya genre, will never admit it out loud.

[brucewaynehater101]

Inspired by "Jason adopts Tim" fics on AO3, prompts by puppetmaster13u & others on here and that one AO3 fic where because Bruce told Jason pre-death he can take whatever is his and Robin is his it's fair game to nab Tim and the AO3 News Article fic where Red Hood decides the best revenge is tricking the world into thinking he's the Third Robin's dad, some of your posts—

—and my love for inhuman folks

Jason resurrects and he isn't human anymore. Dealer's pick on what he is precisely but he has become much more wary of just how fragile the lives of humans are

How fragile his own life may still be

+ he's got trauma piled on top of his fresh instincts and confusion on what happened after his death

Thus when carving his place as Red Hood, he is more vigilant in making Crime Alley a place where people don't just survive, but live and maybe even thrive.

Putting down threats like predators for good in death. But doing so too much will get Batman breathing down his neck

So he takes some inspiration from Batman after his death and before Tim to inflict some fates worse than death, and rubs it in the Bat's face whenever they face of against each other. "It's not killing B"

He tries—and due to trauma—fails to bring himself to kill Joker. Which crushes him with every crime the Joker (that he in a fucked up sense allowed) commits onwards

Onto the next best thing, acquiring wealth and asking for public donations all over Gotham to build up a sufficient bounty on Joker's head to draw in the most competent killers of them all

Whoever can kill and bring the Joker's remains as evidence gets the money, and the bounty price builds up over time

He'll even add more to the bounty time to time

Jason overworks himself on his Crime Alley to the point his own men compare him to a more benevolent Batman, one who doesn't need an emotional support child

"Could you elaborate on that? I had to spend time out of Gotham for a time and don't know what happened during that span of time"

Batman gave Robin to another

But he didn't revoke Jason's ownership, did he?

Humans are oh so fragile

He knows from experience

In classic not-human logic, that makes the new Baby Bird his now, no? Especially with Batman so incompetent as to depend on him

Titans Tower is not found with Tim bloody and broken

Titans Tower is found without Timothy Drake, and countless leads implicating several yet all seemingly frame job dead-ends

Penguins and Red Hood and Luthor. Joker and Two-Face and beyond

Red Hood is found in a meeting room by his men with a Third Robin—the Robin the city owes guilt and more to—in the Crimelords arms

"B always said that I could take what's mine whenever I want, and he never said it never extended to his . . . My kid. He's mine now . . . "

Words spreads in Gotham City. It spreads indeed

It's fitting, it's fitting. Inheritor of another's name, this Robin, this Red Hood is

Joker Junior and every other tragedy only solidifies Jason's resolve to keep and care for the kid

It's funny. Jason has barely felt human since he woke up from death, since he started overworking himself for his people

Now, with a baby brother in his life? With somebody to care for under his roof? Those domestic times he swore were killed alongside the Second Robin?

This is bliss

Jason feels a weight off his chest when his Merry Men sends a message that the Joker is dead, and the bounty has been sent to the killer

When Jason discovers the Fourth Robin, too dead and revived? when he finds her alive at all? Girl is getting snatched and doted on, especially if he finds her after she's had her baby

And I wouldn't be surprised if he tracked down her kid so she could have raise her baby herself and provided all the resources and support nessecery for it

[Daughter and grandchild acquired!]

When Damian comes and the Robin mantle is passed down onto him— yoinked by Jason again!

Damian is fuming because he wasn't told that this was part of being Robin!

=======

"If you're right that Batman is trapped in the timestream, that everyone is wrong about him being dead, before presenting this to the Justice League I think this should be a family discussion.

"Because I know otherwise I'd do everything in my power to let him die for real. Ensure nobody is the wiser that Bat could've been saved.

"And at least one of the Bats will disagree with me. And this is a scenario where everybody needs to have their input accounted for."

Oooh! All of this is fantastic, but I especially love the end.

The end combines a healthier approach to the BruceQuest with a trope I love: leaving Bruce in the timestream because fuck that guy. Regardless of what they decide, I'm glad Jason at least indicated it was an option.

I wonder where Dick and Cass are in all of this. I'm also curious about how Jason would react to the We Are Robins movement. Does he adopt every Robin or just those acknowledged by Batman?

[rubydubydoo122]

In every universe Jason Peter Todd dies young. It’s a fate sealed across the multiverse. Maybe he could hope that there’s one universe where he doesn’t. aka, Jason, Dick, and Bruce go multiverse hopping, and are not having a fun time. (Ps, when I started writing this fic I hced Jason as Latino, but I don't really believe in that hc anymore, so just a heads up if you don't like that hc)

TRIGGER WARNING -> Child Death (it's Jason)

Currently, they were standing in front of a Palace. And they were definitely sent back to Medieval times, but not really because the clothing didn’t really match up with the architecture, and the weapons.

Oh, there was also a strong sense of magic, so probably more Dungeons and Dragons vibes. Sick.

Dick took a couple breaths, clenching his fists and releasing them. “Our money’s gonna be useless here. And we should probably get different clothes so we blend in more, but we can’t get those things because we don’t have money.”

So they were going to ignore the fact that the cashier’s name was Jack White. Like… Jack Oswald White. Like the Joker. 

To be fair, Jack White is a common name. Jason tucked the comic books into a hidden pocket in his jacket, “We should go deeper in.”

“But this universe’s Bruce is probably in the Castle.”

“It’s a Palace. Castles have defense structures. We can collect gossip from the maids.” 

Dick raised an eyebrow, “Gossip?”

“Yeah. How else are we supposed to get information on the Royal family? Use a computer?” 

So they went deeper into the palace, sticking to the shadows, and listening to people. 

Kal-El was the current King, but before that it was Jor-El, and before that it was Thomas Wayne. Bruce still has prince status, but he– he didn’t abdicate his claim to the throne, because he was fourth in line– Clark, Kon, Jon, and then Bruce, but Something something, the Els were gods, better if they had the throne, blah blah blah. So it was more like the Els were ruling because the people thought very highly of them. 

Dick frowned, “Does that mean he’s Uncle Kal, not Uncle Clark?”

“Just call him, your Majesty .”

The Els practically adopted Bruce after Martha and Thomas died, which made all three of them frown, because what about Alfred? There was something about all the Robins– guess there weren’t secret identities here either– being back together in the palace for the first time in a while . That also implied that Royal Bruce had already adopted all– if not most–of them.

Jason snorted, “Dick, do you think you go by Knightwing?”

“I’m pretty sure we all just go by Rob– Oh fuck you.”

Apparently, Dick was usually traveling around, helping whoever needed help along the way. Cass was in Themyscira, (Which, lucky Jason wishes he could go to Themyscira) but came back that morning, with Diana. Tim had been undercover in an enemy kingdom. Damian and Duke had been staying at the palace.

Then, Jason felt an energy. It wasn’t a bad energy, like an Untitled or a bad vibe from someone. No. It actually felt really familiar. 

He could feel the energy calling to him. Not luring him in a malicious way, but in a guiding way. He knew it was his energy, but it felt so much stronger. It was so much stronger than his own. 

They came to a courtyard, where Steph and Cass were sparring with each other, Jon and Damian were seated in front of Dick as he did some flips, Tim and Kon were climbing a tree, and Duke and Jay were sat crisscrossed in a corner with blindfolds over their eyes. Though, Jay was grinning while Duke was frowning.

“ Jason… I’m tired of this.” Duke whined. He was really young. Maybe, 9? “Aren’t you supposed to be teaching me?”

“I can not teach you, only guide.” Jay backhanded Duke.

“ Ow! What was that for? ”

“I am trying to guide you through foresight. Obviously, you didn’t see that coming.” Duke tried to hit Jay back, but Jay shifted just out of the way so he wouldn’t get hit, “I saw that coming days ago.”

Duke straightened a bit, “Really?”

“No, it was just predictable. I can only see bigger things, remember?”

Dick (his brother) immediately turned to him from where they were hiding, and whispered “Can you read the future?” 

Jason made a so-so gesture, “Not often.”

Dick frowned and looked like he was going to say something, when Cass stopped sparring and looked straight at them.

“Hold it Cass, it’s part of Duke’s training.” Jay also turned to face Jason, even though he had his blindfold, and grinned, “Alright, Duke. Your way of seeing into the future is different from mine. The way I can do it is through space, and astral projection. Your powers work by…” Jason trailed off so that Duke could finish the sentence.

“Changing light.” Duke chewed at the side of his cheek, “But how does that relate to me being able to see into the future?”

Jay took off his blindfold, “There was light yesterday, there is light today, there will be light tomorrow.”

“I hate it when you speak all cryptic.” Duke huffed and crossed his arms. “You’re like an old man trapped inside– Oh! Oh! Wait! You mean I can see the light of tomorrow, today!”

“Or, like, a couple seconds from now, right now , but yes.” 

“Then why am I wearing a blindfold?” Jay let out a snort, while Duke ripped off his blindfold and swatted Jay with it, “You’re an a–” Duke cut himself off as his eyes flashed golden, and turned to face Jason, Dick, and Bruce.

Jason raised his hands and entered the courtyard, “Hello. We come from a different world, by the way. It’s kinda in the future, but it’s not this future…” He looked over to Jay, “Was that our cue? We didn’t really have time to plan this all out.” 

“Yup. You guys are right on time.” Something… resigned flashed over Jay’s face, though was quickly covered up with a welcoming smile. 

Cass to Jay worry clear on her face, “There’s that look again.”

“I’ve got all kinds of looks.” Jay made a silly face, but immediately stopped when Cass gave him a don’t do that look. “Don’t worry. If it was important, I’d tell you.”

Cass visibly softened for a second, before placing her hand on her hips, “You better.”

Jay looked at his brother Dick, “I already told Bruce and Uncle Kal that we’d have guests.” 

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“That’s because you’re here right now. And you know Bruce would probably put them in the dungeon if I didn’t warn him beforehand.”

“I’ll put you in the dungeon.”

Jay opened his mouth like he was about to shout something, but Dick quickly covered it with his hand. Jay then bit Dick’s hand, “I wasn’t even going to tattle.”

Cass snickered, “Lies.”

Jay gasped, “You’re supposed to take my side. I’ve known you for longer.”

“Quality over quantity.” Cass shrugged. Though, she was smiling in a playful way.

“Wait, how long have you guys known each other?”

Jay threw an arm over Cass’s shoulder, “Since birth. We’re practically twins.”

“We’re not twins. I’m older.” Cass shoved Jay away, but then frowned, “Are we not close in your world?”

Honestly, Jason was surprised they were in this one.

…It was probably because Jay didn’t kill. That always seemed to be the main issue between Jason and his Cass. Initially, Cass absolutely despised Jason for killing. If anything, her lines were even harsher than Bruce’s when it came to that, and because Jason knew she hated him for killing, he just… stayed away. 

Then, one night after patrol, he walked into his safehouse to see her waiting for him. She told him why she didn’t kill. How she saw every life as valuable. She asked him why he killed. 

At first he said because the people he killed deserved it. And that he didn’t think the same way as Cass did. That some people deserve to die because they are scum.

But she didn’t believe it. Because she said that she saw him seconds before Jason had killed someone. She said his body language looked like he was convincing himself to kill. So she asked him again, why did he kill?

He had to think about it for a moment, but eventually he said ‘Because the people I kill have made victims. And those victims deserve peace. Peace that I can give them.’  

Then she nodded, and looked at him like she was looking through his soul, ‘Because you haven’t been given that peace.’ And then she just left.

Since then, it’s been better between the two of them, but Cass was still the person he got along with the least out of the whole…team. And Jason didn’t get along with a lot of them. There was Tim– which he seemed really close with in the fourth universe, and the Wings universe. He didn’t really get along with Damian– but the kid seemed to adore him in the last universe. Even Dick seemed a lot closer to Jason in the Wings universe. Maybe if he had never died he wouldn’t be alone.

“Um… no, but I haven’t known you since birth. With time we’ve gotten closer.” Which, technically was true, but it was a half lie.

If Cass picked up on it she chose not to say anything.

“Well that sucks. Anywho, I wanna talk to Giant Jason.” Jay grabbed his hand and dragged Jason out of the courtyard, out of earshot from everyone else. 

“Won’t the Kryptonians still be able to hear us?”

“Kon and Jon’s powers haven’t come in yet. And Uncle Kal won’t eavesdrop unless we shout.” Long gone was the Jay who was happy and joking around with his siblings, as he pressed a palm to Jason’s sternum and closed his eyes. “Ok, good. You’re also a master of the All-Blades. Yours are a lot more powerful than mine.” he could see relief flood into Jay.

“Kid, I’m pretty sure you’re a lot more skilled than I am.” Obviously if he was helping Duke with his precognition, Jay looked at All –the past, present, and future– better than Jason was. And he was pretty sure that Jay astral projected for Jason to find him.

Jay shook his head with a smile that made him look much older than he actually was, “You have a lot more soul than I do. Kinda like you have two.” they started walking farther away from the courtyard, “Have you seen what happens next?”

Jason scratched the back of his neck, “Um, no. I only look at All when I have a chance to sit down and meditate." He doesn’t do it often. It makes him a bit unhinged for the next couple weeks after he does it. The last time he looked at All had been right after Bruce’s disappearance, and he almost killed Tim and Damian. Jason may be the lone human able to master the art without going insane, but… he kinda does, every time he tries.

“A group of Untitleds are going to invade the palace looking for Duke in fifteen minutes. It’s too much for me to take on.” 

Jason almost stopped in his tracks, does he know he dies? “I’ll fight beside you. Should we get Duke someplace safe? All of your siblings, actually.”

Jay’s eyes darted around the room, probably looking at all possibilities, “No. They’ll be safest where they are. The Untitled will appear at the Eastern entrance. We’ll get to them before the alarm sounds, and then they’ll come rushing, which will give us enough time to slay most of them.”

Jason nodded, as they continued to speed off in silence. “So, if you knew Cass from birth, but you also have trained with the All-Caste… What's the timeline?” It was meant as a distraction, but also, Jason was really just curious.

“My father was a mercenary, and he learned from Lady Shiva. So I knew Cass from when I was younger, but it was more like we were acquaintances. After my father died, Essence found me and brought me to the Acres of All and I was there for two normal years. I left once for a.. It wasn’t a mission, because I was nine, but Ducra sent me out to get familiar with the feel of magic outside of the Acres of All. I found Cass on the run, and I decided to stick with her. I’m sure Ducra knew this would happen. 

"We were on the streets together for three years. We also met Duke out there during our later years. We were kinda a little family of our own. Bruce caught me stealing from him, Cass helped me get away. Then Bruce found us helping people out of a burning building and decided to take us in. I go back to the Acres of All every once in a while, but usually I stick to home base. What about you?” 

They had gotten to a set of double doors, so Jason assumed they were at the Eastern entrance. “Hmm, well, I was also living on the streets by the time I was nine. Bruce also caught me stealing from him, but took me in after I helped him stop crime school. I think my Papi also knew Lady Shiva, but I didn’t know he knew her until I was 15. Then I died, but I came back to life. Talia brought me to the Ducra, and I learned under her for six normal months, but then I–” Ice slid down his spine, making the hairs on his arm stand up and his stomach twist. 

They both summoned their blades.

And the doors opened.

And they attacked

There was something so oddly natural about fighting alongside this version of himself. It felt almost as natural as fighting alongside Bruce.

 It could just be because Jay knew how Jason fought because he saw All and, despite this version of him being from a universe that was vastly different from his own, Jason still knew how he fought. The blend of a martial stance and a street brawl stance. The combination of flashy acrobatics he’d learned from Dick and the practical dodges and rolls. The mix of the analytical eye from Bruce and the intuition he had gained over the years.

“ Where is the son of Gnomon?” the Untitled hissed in unison.

Jason landed a kick on top of an Untitled’s knee, launching himself up to get a good opening for a stab, “An Omen? Didn’t realize omens could have children.” Obviously, Jason knew who Gnomon was. He remembers Duke, pft, duking it out with him a while ago. 

But this Duke was still young. And if these things kept coming after him… he needed someone to protect him. And yeah, they had Superman, but Superman and magic don’t mix.

Jay needed to stay alive . 

Jason jumped on the Untitled Jay was currently fighting and sunk his blades into its shoulders, catching a glance at Jay.

He– he was translucent. Which was not good. “Kid, take a breather!”

Jason was sure he could take the rest of the Untitled. There were only five left. He could take them. Jason could take them. Duke needed Jay. Jason could take them. 

He willed the blades to change form– into knives– and threw them, hitting one in the ear and one in the heart. 

Jay’s eyes widened like he realized something and whipped his head around to the door, where the rest of his family were prepped with swords and armor, rushing out to help. Jay turned back and narrowed his eyes at the Untitled in front of him. 

“Jay! Stop! I’ve got them!”

There were three Untitled left. Two near Jason, but he wouldn’t be able to get to the last one. Not while fighting these two. Not before Jay.

Jason summoned his blades back to his hands and he slashed an Untitled across the thigh.

Jay closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, before gripping his swords harder. “It’s me or my family. I can’t have that happen.” He looked back and locked eyes with Duke, “ Shine for as long as you live, Don’t be sad about anything,” Jay looked away and lifted his chin towards the Untitled, “For life is short, And time will demand its due.” Then he charged.

And as Jay’s blade sunk into the heart of the Untitled, the blade started to dim until it evaporated into thin air. And then his hand faded away, followed by his arm, then head, then chest, until nothing was left.

Jason slit the neck of the last Untitled.

The silence.

The silence felt too loud. 

Until, “Where’d– where’d Jason go?” From Stephanie, voice wavering.

Duke frowned, eyes glowing golden, “What are you talking about? He’s right there!”

Tim blinked a couple times, but it didn’t cover the fact that his eyes were glossy, “Duke–”

“He’s right there! I can see him! Cass, you can see him, right?” Duke looked to the spot Jay used to be in back to Cass, “Cass?”

Cass looked at the spot Jay had disappeared from and shook her head no , once. Then twice. Her blank expression crumpled into pure grief as she fled back into the Palace.

“No!” Duke glared at everyone, “He’s right there! I can see him! Why can’t you guys see him ?” His eyes flickered from gold to brown, back to gold then back to brown, leaving the kid confused, “He’s– he was– he was right there!” He closed his eyes tight , and then opened them, “He was right there ! Where’d he go? Jason? Jason!” He ran over to where Jay was last standing, “JASON!!! ” Duke spun around in a circle trying to figure out where Jay went, but he couldn’t find him. He couldn’t find him.

Duke balled his hands into fists as his breathing began to speed up.

Then–an ear piercing scream.

And everything around them got brighter and brighter and brighter. They couldn’t tell what was Duke’s doing, but they also knew it was time to leave.

[maccreadysbaby]

A Hundred Ways to Become a Wayne

batfamily + oc insert

tw: none

wanna read more? here’s the table of contents!

want to read the first fic in the hundred days series so you understand what’s going on here? here it is!

a little bentley + tim and bentley + damian action ain’t never killed nobody (seriously dami and bentley might be my favorite pair to write atm)

part two

❝ METAHUMAN PROBLEMS ❞

MONDAY — JULY 27 — 9:46PM

BENTLEY PADDED BACK DOWN TO THE BATCAVE WITH PUPPY-DOG-EYES AND PUPPETEER CHARM AT THE READY TO ASK TIM FOR HELP WITH THE PHONE. He was in a Red Robin t-shirt and pajama pants that used to be Tim’s (just for good measure), and his red hair was floppy and wet from his shower, to assure maximum cuteness. Getting Tim away from that computer was more a job for, like, Batman himself than Bentley, but he didn’t intend to fail.

It was pitch black outside now, and Dick had left for Bludhaven a few hours ago. Jason hadn’t been at the Manor for the past couple days, Duke was out with Steph and Cass doing some community service or something for school, Damian was in the training room, and Bentley had a solid excuse for needing Tim’s help.

He walked into the Batcave with the phone clasped ever-so-tightly between his hands to ensure its safety. Damian was still in the training room, now throwing knives at a dummy. Bentley saw him land five square in the dummy’s chest in a span of three seconds through the windows.

Tim was still at the computer. There was a fourth cup of coffee there now, steaming next to him like Alfred had just brought it down. The papers had been shuffled around, and it looked like more had been added to the massive pile. There were a bunch of files pulled up all over the Batcomputer with information and photos of villains they’d fought recently. Tim was staring between the screen and pages like he had been the whole time.

Bentley drifted up to the left side of Tim’s chair, glancing between all the different villain faces on the screen. “Hey.”

Tim didn’t even glance up from his papers. “Hey, Bentley.”

Bentley stood there for a moment, reading some of the information on the screen before he continued: “Whatcha working on?”

Tim hummed, flipping a paper over. “There’s been a massive influx of new metahuman villains in and around Gotham. I’m trying to find whether or not they’re coming from the same place. Maybe working for the same person,” He muttered, then tapped a key on the Batcomputer. All of the villain photos went away, and civilians replaced them. “And I’m looking into the disappearance of several different Gotham citizens that have vanished over the past month. All completely gone without a trace.”

Bentley’s eyes flicked across the screen. Being a Metahuman meant all these supervillains had literal superpowers — no wonder patrol had been tougher than usual recently. “Do you think they could be-“

“No,” Tim shook his head. “Metahumans are all born or endowed with the same genetic traits. None of the missing people have them.”

“How do you know?” Bentley murmured, leaning closer. 

Tim shrugged. “Medical files, military history, school records. We have access to a lot of stuff here, and none of them have the genetic information of a metahuman. So I’m working with two completely unrelated, very strange occurrences.” 

Bentley hummed again. “Guess what?”

Tim finally glanced over at him, and Bentley nearly frowned at how tired his eyes looked. “What?”

“Bruce got me a phone,” He stated, holding the little green device up so Tim could see it. “I was gonna ask if you would help me set it up.”

Tim rubbed his eyes with his pointer finger and thumb. “Did Dick already go home?”

“Yeah. And Duke is still gone. Bruce said you’d be way better help than him,” Bentley explained quietly. “Please? I don’t think it’ll take super long.”

“Why don’t you ask Damian?”

Bentley glanced up, past Tim, into the training room just in time to see Damian throw a knife at the dummy so hard the blade came out the back of its head.

Bentley screwed his face up, and Tim chuckled. “Yeah, me too,” He sucked in a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, you got me. Just tell Bruce to be a bit more stealthy in his attempts to make me come upstairs next time. He is the Batman, after all.”

Bentley nodded sheepishly, and Tim pushed the chair out from under the desk and stretched his legs. He grabbed the coffee mug and chugged the whole thing in just a few seconds. “You might want to plug it up for a few minutes before we start messing with it. Where’s the charger?”

“In my room,” 

“Brilliant. I guess that’s our next stop,” He stated. He stood up and scooped Bentley off the floor, who squeaked in surprise. Thankfully the death grip he had on his phone didn’t let up as Tim lifted him up to sit on his shoulders.

“What are you doing?!” He exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Tim’s neck tightly from behind so he wouldn’t fall off backwards. 

“You don’t have to choke me, I’m not gonna drop you,” He stated. He was holding onto Bentley’s legs but it didn’t feel secure in the slightest.

Bentley loosened his arms. A little. “Sorry.”

“No worries,” 

Bentley glanced back at the training room just in time to see Damian throw a knife. It missed.

Damian never misses.

He didn’t get to watch any longer, though, because Tim made for the stairs and Bentley had no choice but to go with him. He had to duck under all the doorways back into the Manor, and going up the stairs was borderline terrifying, but they made it to his room without any casualties. Tim dropped him backwards on the bed with a flop.

“Okay, let’s see what this thing can do,” He stated, plopping down next to Bentley on the mattress. He’d already plugged the wire into the wall earlier, and he plugged the phone into it. It was just long enough to reach the mattress without being too tight. 

They shimmied up to the headboard and stared at the screen for probably a couple hours. Tim handled all the fancy stuff, like setting up the memory and an email address and fiddling with the settings. He organized his Home Screen nicely and taught him how to use the most important apps. (Which just ended up being messages, making calls, the camera, Google, and maps.)

Then he gave it to Bentley and let him download cool games and other stuff. (Even games he had to buy, which he’d been hesitant about, but Tim assured him it was okay.) He made sure to sit extra close to him and sort of use him as a pillow so he couldn’t move.

By the time they had actually finished, Bentley was playing a game called subway surfers, and Tim was asleep in a strange little ball next to him.

Mission success.

After he was sure Tim was sleeping, he wiggled out of the comforter and climbed out of bed. He left his phone on the nightstand and flicked his bedroom lights off, leaving the bathroom ones on for a little visibility, and closed the door softly as he returned to the hallway.

The Manor was quiet now. Damian’s bedroom door was still open, which meant he wasn’t inside. Duke, Cass, and Steph hadn’t returned, because Bentley would definitely be able to hear them, and he wasn’t sure where Bruce was. So he floated back down to the cave to check if Damian was still there. 

He was. Bentley could hear the knives landing before he even turned the corner to see the training room. It was nearly ten, which meant they’d be leaving for patrol sooner rather than later. 

Damian was doing the same thing he’d been doing for hours — sticking knives to the dummy. He didn’t even look up when Bentley entered the room, just threw the final knife in his hand, and it landed in the artificial man’s face with a dull thud.

The knife was still planted in the padded wall where he’d missed earlier.

Bentley, satisfied that Damian didn’t have any knives left, drifted over to the one sticking out of the wall. “Damian?”

“Yes?”

Bentley carefully grabbed the hilt of the knife and pulled it out of the wall, blinking at his own reflection in the blade. “Are you okay?”

The quiet thumps of Damian pulling the rest of his knives out of the dummy made Bentley turn. He watched him rhythmically wiggle the hilts up and down until they shimmied out. 

“I am fine. I have no reason not to be,” Damian replied flatly. Bentley took a few steps forward and handed him the knife (hilt first, like Jason had taught him in the kitchen) and Damian took it. He momentarily thought about reminding him that last time he told Bentley he was fine he ended up passing out cold in the floor of the library. But Damian was holding about eight knives and he didn’t want to bother him about it.

“Are you sure?” Was what he said instead.

“Positive,” He replied.

Bentley hummed, moving off to the side incase Damian was going to throw them again. To his surprise, the assassin grabbed a little fabric holder off of the bench and began putting them away.

“Are you nervous for patrol? Dick told me it’s been harder lately, with all the new villains popping up,” Bentley tried again. 

He thought he might’ve heard Damian scoff. “Tt. Of course not.”

So he decided it was time to stop talking about it. He drummed his fingers on his pajama pants and stood in silence for a few moments as Damian strapped the knives into place.

“Do you think you could teach me how to do that?” He finally muttered. Damian glanced over at him, his greenish eyes dancing across his face for a moment.

“Throw knives?”

Bentley shrugged. “Yeah. I think it’s pretty cool.”

Damian blinked for a moment, folding up the little fabric knife holder. “I can attempt. I was young when I learned — I do not remember all of the specific instructions. I simply know how to do it.”

Before Bentley could think better of it, he inquired: “How young?”

Damian slid the pack of knives away in a large rack used for storing their practice weapons. “Four or five, I believe.”

Bentley said nothing. He could hardly dress himself when he was four, and Damian was already learning how to throw knives in combat?

He had lots of questions about the League of Assassins, but he decided it would be best not to ask them. Maybe Jason would answer a few. He was older when he was in the League, after all, and wasn’t born into it. He didn’t know how differently his and Damian’s experiences had been. Maybe he’d just keep the questions to himself, actually.

“Todd might be a better teacher than me,” Damian continued with a quiet sigh. “But I will teach you if you’d like me to.”

Bentley nodded. “I would.”

Damian made his way to the dummy and began moving it back into the corner near the rack. “Looks like you managed to get Drake away from the Batcomputer. That’s not an easy feat, given his extraordinary amount of stubbornness when it comes to staring at that screen.”

Bentley snickered a little. “I basically had to lay across him to make him stay still enough to go to sleep, but yeah. He’s in my room.”

Damian made a tt again. “He seems to like you.”

Bentley blinked a couple of times, unsure how to respond. He’d been living in the house Tim spent most of his time in for about ten months now, literally right across the hall, so he’d hope he liked him.

“Yeah,” Is all Bentley said. He had no clue where Damian was going with that, but apparently neither did he, because he didn’t say anything else about it.

“Are you going to see if Gordon will let you sit in on patrol tonight?” He asked as he positioned the dummy next to the others and gathered his water and phone off the bench. Bentley shrugged.

“Probably. I really like to listen,” He replied. Damian hummed in response.

They fell silent again for a few moments. Bentley had no clue what to talk about. Apparently Damian didn’t either. So Bentley just dragged himself back up the stairs with him, not entirely convinced he was fine, but staying quiet nonetheless.

—

dedicated to @sassenashsworld 💚

—

tag list! (If you want me to remove or add you, ask in comments!)

@fleur-alise @sarcopterygiian @cademygod

[quotidian-oblivion]

Fic Stats Game

Got tagged by @uncertainwallflower for this game and THANKS SO MUCH!!

Rules: Give us links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most bookmarks, fourth most comments, fifth most words, and fic with the least amount of words.

Most hits

My School’s Local Mafia Boss

I think the title really explains it all? But anyway:

Jason knew that attending a rich ass school was going to be the toughest and most mind-grating thing ever. His beliefs were confirmed when he got cornered by bullies on his first day. The only thing he was surprised about was that it took them so long to find the school's new street rat. Just as he's about to be punched, a fucking 10 year old (he's actually 12) steps in and... starts threatening the bullies? And they actually listen?? What the fuck???

And that isn't the only surprise that's waiting for him.

Yep, knew it would be this one. I'm so proud of it

Second most kudos

Sometimes You Have To Find Your Own Genes

Timothy Jackson Drake just wants peace. So far, it’s going well with his time as Robin and hanging out with Batman and Nightwing while the occasional messy, violent visits from his parents. But when a certain someone comes back from the dead and reveals the secret he was honing and hiding for most of his life... well, it basically all goes to shit.

The multichap fics have the most stats cuz... they're multichaps. They appear in the filters more often

Third most bookmarks

Phone Alarms

"Just imagine Jason recording Batman angrily yelling "Nightwing!" then setting it as the sound of Dick's phone alarm so in the next morning when it goes off he flips the fuck out"

Saw the prompt on Pinterest. Wrote this in one setting.

I'm actually really proud of this one, might reread it

Fourth most comments

Can You Deduce Where I Am Now?

As soon as he woke up after coming back from Titans Tower, the second Dick and Bruce stepped into the room, Tim had eagerly told them that Jason was alive and that he was Red Hood! They didn’t believe him, blaming it on lack of sleep and the haze being shot brought, but Tim was sure he saw Jason. Older, bigger, with a white streak in his fringe, but still Jason.

OR

Tim goes out to find Jason to bring his big brother back home. Jason... Jason has other matters to ponder on before deciding to come back.

I love this fic!! I went through like three or four different plots before writing it right before posting it (i write everything before posting). And then Cyg came in and beta-ed it so that was fun!

Fifth most words

Let Them Be Siblings

After the Waynes burst through his door and whisk him away from his parents and their harsh belting, their plane blows up, leaving Tim an orphan. Living in the manor is getting a little suffocating because no one seems to understand that he still loves his parents. They expect him to just “get over” his grief and—

Tim can’t stay anymore. So he runs away. And meets two very interesting people.

Least words

Regarding The Workings Of A Zoo

Damian collecting a series of increasingly non-domesticated animals and naming them after his siblings.

A drabble for 105 subscribers on ao3 and 100 followers on Tumblr!

This is 886 words i cant write small stuff, i keep blabbering

No pressure at all tags: @sardonic-sprite @tristicorde @wakkoroni @foursixtwonineoh-pieces-of-lego

[disillusioneddanny]

Fic Stats Game

Rules: Give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

I was tagged to do this by both @nikki-pondtheauthor and @halfagone! Thanks for the tag friends <3333

Fic with the Most Hits

Ah, Sunflower  (DpxDc)

Danyal Al Ghul faked his death to give his younger brother a better life and to give himself the life that he always wanted. Damian Al Ghul was happy to learn his older brother was dead. No longer did he have to live under his shadow. As the years go by, though, this changes for both of them. Danny Fenton never got the life he always wanted. Damian Wayne has realized he will never see his brother again. That is, until the bats summon the Ghost King and soon two sunflowers finally start to grow the way they were meant to.

Second Most Kudos

Holding Me Now in Hand (DPxDC)

After Tim Drake tells his family about his new insane chemistry teacher, Dick Grayson decides to do some investigation himself. What he wasn't expecting was to instantly fall in love with the chaotic science teacher. Danny had managed to make a new life for himself in this new dimension as a science teacher at Gotham Academy. He had a fulfilling life, teaching the kids of Gotham how to survive on the streets and then at night protecting the bats who roamed the streets. Now, to make things even better, he had somehow caught the attention of Dick Grayson. If Danny had to be honest, his life was going pretty great for him. Now he just needed the other shoe to drop.

Third Most Comments

Mesmeric Revelation (DPxDC)

Danny couldn’t stop the future. That much was true. Despite not cheating on his CAT and doing every single thing by the book to make sure that this future was not a reality, it had happened anyway. The nasty burger had blown up. His parents, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, they were all in the building when it happened. With his friends and family dead, Danny goes to the only place he thinks is safe. The infinite realms. As Danny attempts to move on from the tragedy he manages to get summoned by cultists, build a new family for himself and even find love. Not all in that exact order. Tim Drake thought getting kidnapped by cultists was probably the most annoying thing to have ever happened to him. Little did he know it would also be the best thing to ever happen.

Fourth Most Bookmarks

Mesmeric Revelation (DpxDC)

Fifth Most Words

Cat's Cradle (57,234 words) (DpxDC)

After Danny's sister throws him into the portal for his own safety, the halfa feels lost, alone, and without a haunt. That is, until Clockwork gives him a new purpose. Somehow this new purpose thrusts Danny into his new life as the protégé of one Catwoman and the new pain in the ass for a certain sword wielding Robin. Damian Wayne didn't know what to think about the new Catboy that was following behind Catwoman. On one hand, he was a nuisance that caused him nothing but grief. On the other, he was charming and made Damian smile like no other.

Fic with the Least Words

Doodles on the Palms of Our Hands (1,438 words) (DPXDC)

Damian and Danny get ready for Danny to meet Damian's family for the first time. First, they share a tender moment between the two of them.

I will tag @halfblackwolfdemon @susiron @gilbirda @gremlin-bot @bewitched-forest feel free to ignore this :)))

[guesst]

❔❔❔❔❔❔

ask game ❔choose a random wip and talk about it (x6)

well if you insist on 6 whole wips heeheehee

okay first off

because we both like dc i have one (1) single dc wip which is a fairytale au and i cooked it up it quite a while ago with [redacted] in eeby deeby. i started writing it somewhere *rummages in folder* well it’s been quite a while, but i like it a lot still because it ended up fusing a bunch of fairytales together. for example, bruce is the beast from beauty and the beast, dick is snow white — although obviously with no romance: instead it’s his arriving at the ‘beast’s’ house for shelter from the evil huntsman (that guy who killed his parents) and i was planning on some sort of sleeping beauty-goldilocks fusion for jason where he joins bruce and co. just by breaking in and finding the perfect lunch n bed and later falls under a sleeping curse. with jason it also ties in a lot with tim because tim plays a rapunzel in this au — guarded by the same witch that puts the sleeping curse on jason for breaking into his tower. as you can see there is a trend of jason breaking into places and witches putting curses on people. incidentally talia is also a witch and damian is red riding hood. if i did decide to put duke in — though i dont know about him much, so it might be hard — i’d say maybe he’s the goose girl? (because of the ‘we are robin’ thing) or maybe cinderella? it would be interesting either way. anyway thats about the extent of my plan, though ive written a lot less (its just bruces origin story and dick arriving at bruce’s house :p)

here’s a snippet to get you through the rest of this rant

secondly

PURSON FIC PURSON FIC PURSON FIC

im not going to spend a lot of time talking about this one. im pretty sure it’s a character fic. i just spend a lot of time trying to figure out how purson thinks and acts and feels especially in the earlier arcs of iruma. somehow i feel like there’s not enough knowledge in my brain of him and so it feels like he’s too serious and its fun trying to balance his snark and aversion to attention. this wip’s meant to span the manga up until the music festival arc (so, until probably season 4 of iruma?) and yet i havent figured out what im going to write about the harvest festival. on the other hand i started this fic purely because i wanted a reason to write purson making friends with a caretaker that lets him onto the roof so he can become pixie. caretaker has become an oc with a whole backstory, which will probably mever show up in canon, but im still attached to her. yeah

and THIRDLY

iruma again! it’s an amnesia fic!

this one is for panda’s prompt for an ask game which they sent in last year. as you can tell, it is taking a long time. however, i love it a lot because i get to write iruma pre-canon-development (considering he hasnt got any of his memories!!) interacting with azz and clara who are simultaneously attempting to seem like normal humans, and have become his coworkers somehow, and who keep making ‘secretive’ comments about iruma which seem really suspicious to iruma because he keeps hearing them out of context. i have absolutely no clue how to end it, but it’s a lot of fun :D

FOURTH

these speeches are getting shorter and shorter arent they. hm.

OK WHATEVER this one’s iruma again (promise its the last one) nd this time it’s a rarepair that afaik nobody has written! although it’s platomci and not romantic. anyway it’s a childhood friends au with kiriwo amy and urara valac and kiriwo gets to become friends with urara valac because they run into each other a lot — i havent written much for it, again, but i did try outlining and formatting the outline slightly differently and it’s worked pretty well so far, actually! i think the part im most looking forward to writing is the part where kiriwo realises he’s properly stuck with the valacs, and that he doesnt actually care, nor does he really want to see them despair properly. so he grows pretty differently to canon, because canonically, afaik kiriwo’s only proper friend was the one childhood friend whise bracelet he destroys and after that its just demons who dont give a shit because hes too weak. so it’s fun exploring how that would change if he had people like the valacs who are strange and different, and also really caring.

hhhh next is number 5

number five isnt a fic it’s the choose your own adventure ive rambled about a few times. im terms of the routes the mc could take ive changed up the dragons route and also added one called the bakery route, which ive also been thinking of taking back out. let me backtrack a little in case you forgot. the premise is that mc is a kid and has been prophesised to defeat the great dragon. however when the great dragon rises mc is still a little Kid. now the player can make one of two choices: choose to escape this situation (which lends itself to human and orc found families) or choose to fight the dragon (high risk of death but there is a chance you can make friends woth the dragon) . so i added two new characters that might be p important in the dragon route: bel and caelan! bel short for belesis. he’s mc’s village friend and caelan is his sister and they’re both a bit older and more streetwise than mc. and also! i changed up the setting a little bit so it’s hotter and more deserty. when mc discovers the Forest where the great dragon lives they are going to be very shocked at the Wet

FINALLY NUMBER 6 LAST ONE

league theatre troupe au. this is an imaginary wip but its so stupid funny i want to write it so bad. i am planning to when i get the time also do not fear. if u didnt read the conversation it’s that shigaraki talks like shakespeare because afo lived longer than everyone thought (like, since the middle ages) and when he got his face pumched in his brain reverted to shakespeare talk. now when shigaraki got kidnapped by afo at a young age he also started speaking liek afo. this spreads to the league of villaims. everyone now thinks the lov is a theatre troupe and applauds them whenever they appear. they are legally licensed to use quirks in public because everyome thinks they are performing. stain is a big fan and so is present mic. all might asks for shiggy’s autograph at one point. shiggy calls him a knave.

[wormsin]

It's Never Over, Until it's Over

Chapter 10 - Madly, Madly Alone

Bruce is wearing a black ball gown and he feels exceedingly uncomfortable in it, both vulnerable in the revealing satin and grotesque. His scarred, heavy body is all brute strength and graceless violence. A weapon. There is no armor between the people of Gotham and his monstrous form; no barrier to belay Gotham's ravenous spirit.

She calls him to dance. She always does.

● ✖ ● ✖ ● ✖ ● ✖ ● ✖ ●

After falling into a horrifying trap set by the Joker, Dick and Bruce have to hold themselves together to finish the case—and keep the others from finding out what happened.

⇣ ⇣ ⇣ tags ⇣ ⇣ ⇣

☻ rating: E

☻ fandoms: Batman (comics), Nightwing (comics)

☻ relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson/Joker, Joker/Bruce Wayne

☻ characters: Leslie Thompkins, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Jason Todd

☻ additional tags: gang rape, fuck or die, sex pollen, rape aftermath, rape recovery, past underage rape, post-traumatic stress disorder, whump, case fic, mystery, Dick’s canonical rapes, Joker loves Bruce Wayne, victim blaming, unreliable narrators, POV Dick Grayson, POV Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson is a BAMF, Dick Grayson is Not Okay, Joker breaks the fourth wall, Bruce Wayne is Trying, mutual non-con, no beta we die like robins, hurt/comfort, Bruce Wayne Has Mental Health Issues, to put it fucking lightly

[ao3feed-brucedick]

It's Never Over, Until it's Over

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/jA2wv1S

by wormsin

"Now pay attention, Bird Hole. This is important. You're my test audience and I gotta know how this bit lands. Time to turn this on its head. Topsy-turvy, Whore Wonder. I'll make him understand... Say cheese, baby!"

● ✖ ● ✖ ● ✖ ● ✖ ● ✖ ●

At this point, Dick knows how to handle being raped. He just wants to make sure that Bruce gets help, and doesn't hate himself forever. It really sucks, but Dick will be alright.

He has to be alright.

Words: 5575, Chapters: 1/18, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con

Categories: M/M

Characters: Leslie Thompkins, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Jason Todd

Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson/Joker (DCU), Joker (DCU)/Bruce Wayne

Additional Tags: Gang Rape, Fuck Or Die, Sex Pollen, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Past Underage Rape, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Whump, Case Fic, Dick's canonical rapes, Joker (DCU) Loves Bruce Wayne, Victim Blaming, Unreliable Narrator, POV Dick Grayson, POV Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson is a BAMF, Dick Grayson is Not Okay, Joker breaks the fourth wall, Bruce Wayne is Trying, Mystery, Mutual Non-Con, no beta we die like robins, Hurt/Comfort

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/jA2wv1S

[androxys]

7/21 WIP Census

The other casualty of my deleting the old sideblog was losing my old WIP census, where I categorized all my current WIPs. That’s changed since I posted it, as Works in Progress tend to change, so I’m going to do another one (to avoid actually working on any of them). Here are their titles, brief descriptions, and opening lines.

Ken and Barbie: The sequel to Can’t Prove It! Now with 100% more Babs

“A city away, sequestered in her Clocktower, Barbara Gordon could only stare in dumbfounded shock, her brain screaming even if her mouth had seemingly ceased to work.”

The Town O’Mallow: Tim and Bernard go on a vacation that turns hellish. Huntress is sent to bail them out.

“’Blessed art thou among women, and... shit,’ Helena whispered.”

Mapping it Out: Okay this is just Timber fluff where the boys have a date night and Bernard wonders what intimacy would look like with Tim. It maaaay be two part and the second part may be them having sex for the first time. I’m not sure.

“’In here.’ His voice carried through the door to his bedroom. Bernard had a hand on the doorknob before the rest of Tim’s sentence carried through. ‘But I’m a little--’ Bernard turned the knob, opening the door. ‘Naked.’“

Stupid Games, Stupid Prizes: A citizen’s brigade is campaigning to remodel a Frank Lloyd Wright building back to its original state... which would remove the wheelchair ramps from the entrance. Like hell, Barbara Gordon thinks.

“ The Gotham Clocktower did not, when considering the entirety of the Gotham skyline, particularly stick out. Originally a relatively squat, rectangular building, the Clocktower had never been one of Old Gotham’s architectural marvels, like the nearby Wayne Tower, which cast a famously long shadow down the twisting boulevards and little alleys of downtown.”

The Word: I reread Final Crisis recently and found myself deeply frustrated by how much the plot meanders, and how I thought such a good Fourth World story was being spun into too many directions to make it a Crisis. So I’m reworking to focus more on the Fourth World stuff and less on, like, Superman’s cosmic dimension journey against the Vampire Monitors.

“It has been said before, and so too again shall it be revealed. As etched in the fire, scripted by the hand of the Source, there came a time when the New Gods died!”

Pearls of Great Price: The second chapter to my Welcome to Nightvale/Batman crossover fic. This one’s from Robin’s point of view while Bruce is being interviewed, showing what was happening at the Landfill.

“ Robin crouched on a rooftop, surveying the town. He missed the tall spires and perpetual chill of Gotham.”

Ghost Dragon: My most active WIP! This is a four (maybe five or six though, depending) chapter fic crossing over Miraculous Ladybug and Batman, particularly the Batman: Reborn era with Dick!Batman and Damian as Robin. Dick and Damian find themselves in Paris, ostensibly for a Wayne Foundation engagement but really so Dick can find Tim and bring him home. If Gotham heroes come to Paris, however, so too can Gotham villains, requiring Ladybug and Chat Noir’s help. Two chapters are already out, and I’m working on the third.

“Marinette wasn’t sure her heart was still beating as the dark shadow of the Batman fell over her and Chat Noir.”

Christmas in June: This one is about Bruce bailing on people he loves because he thinks that not spending a dinner with them here and there is less important than The Mission, because by following The Mission he’s keeping them safe and protecting them. He hopes it makes up from all the times he’s failed them, but he’s not convinced it does.

“’And you’re sure you don’t need any help?’ ‘No, Dad,’ Barbara said, holding the phone up to her ear with her shoulder as she leafed through her cookbook. ‘That’s kind of the whole point.’“

Hauntingly Familiar: Originally, this was part of three interconnected fics: an involved civilian POV, the Batfam’s POV, and an outsider POV who bumps into the other main plot while following his own. It all got too bloated and weighty, so I trimmed it to just the Bat POV and went from there. A random undergrad claims that there’s something afoot with the Court of Owls, which Batman would be more interested in if his mob informants didn’t keep turning up dead. Rumors can wait, he thinks.

“Matches Malone wasn’t being stood up for a date. That was impossible, for at least three reasons.”

---

I think that’s all of them! Normally I would put a post like this under a read more, but I’m actually quite proud of all of these and hope by putting them out there I’ll feel the fire a bit more to actually finish them all.

(Edit: It seems that the bullet point formatting just... isn’t working. Never change, tumblr. Forgive weird formatting, it just is what it is.)

[incorrectbatfam]

if the batfam wrote fanfiction, which fandom(s) would they write about, who's writing one-shots and who's writing multi-chaptered fics, and who's works has the most reads?

Dick: 19k Percy Jackson crack WIP on indefinite hiatus

Jason: 150k Pride and Prejudice university AU that’s better than some novels

Tim: Young Justice author insert shipping himself with Superboy and bashing Red Robin

Damian: fourth-wall-breaking satirical commentary on toxic fandom culture

Duke: 500k LOTR/Star Wars crossover one-shot series with new updates every week

Cullen: 200k Destiel fix-it that the entire fandom accepts as their new canon

Stephanie: whatever it is no one can read it because it’s filled with random author’s notes

Cassandra: My Immortal

Barbara: Doctor Who social media AU that also doubles as character studies

Harper: Bumblebee x Optimus Prime [REDACTED]

Carrie: you know those fanfics where you can tell a thirteen-year-old wrote them?

Kate: 7.5k Harlivy fluff one-shot

Alfred: Johnlock but it’s based on the original Sherlock Holmes books

Bruce: doesn’t post but is notorious for lurking in the Justice League tag

[pocketramblr]

I wish you would write a fic where Slade tried to mess with the current Robin, except that it's Jon who is doing a favor to Damian and pretending to be him.

This is such a funny idea I love it

Damian knows that Clark has covered for his father a couple times before- he fits in the batsuit, and there was that day on the yacht when Deathstroke was dumb enough to try a contract on Brucie.

So, he figures Jon could do the same thing for him when needed. Jon is younger but about the same hight in the lifted boots, and if he keeps the hood up to shade his face and doesn't talk much, the differences shouldn't be too noticable.

Except Jon does talk, and everyone native to Gotham is unnerved by how upbeat he is all of a sudden. Those who are less familiar, though, don't think much of it- Slade really was only familiar with the first and third Robin, and if people in town are saying the current one is happier this week, Slade is willing to assume it's because the Bat is out of town and Nightwing is around more.

Now, why is Slade messing with this Robin now? Oh, let's use that weird time where Talia was all "you know maybe Damian's father is actually Slade instead of Bruce" as the starting point. And now that Dick had successfully "stolen" 3/3 of Slade's other kids from him, he's more than happy to return the favor with Dick's Robin and maybe get a fourth kid.

At least, more than willing, until "Robin" seems to have absolutely inherited "Bruce's" ability to shatter any swords that try to swing at him...

[nightwingbb]

guess who’s back!! new navigating life fic is now posted!!

Jon doesn’t know what to do. He’s Jonathan Kent right now, a Met U junior who wears oversized flannels and clunky glasses and doesn’t know how to walk without tripping over his own two feet. He’s not the Son of Superman who's been saving the world since the fourth grade.

He chances a look at Damian and sees the hesitation in his eyes and in his body language. He doesn’t know what to do either, Jon realizes.

Because right now he isn’t Robin, and Jon isn’t Superboy. They’re Jonathan Kent and Damian Wayne.

Or: Damian and Jon run into a super big problem while out as civilians.

[bigskydreaming]

Hello, hello, tis I, your friendly neighborhood ‘dude who is obsessed with people making jokes and insults out of Dick’s name’ back with another episode of Why No But Seriously Why!

In today’s episode, we’re going to focus on the fanon of the swear jar. That thing ordained by Alfred that makes many an appearance in fics and headcanons....including ones that also show Jason and/or others calling Dick a Dickhead and other things all willy nilly and suchlike and forthwith.

How does this track, asketh I? Does Alfred provide exemption clauses for making fun of your brother, to the others? Does Alfred not consider making crude insults out of the name Dick to be a swear? Does Alfred, a born Brit, hailing from the land of the “We’ve Been Calling Richards ‘Dicks’ For Longer Than The Rest Of You Have Been Calling Them Rich’s,” not consider the fascination with making penis jokes out of the name of a child he’s helped raised from the age of EIGHT to be uncultured, crass and frankly unacceptable in any house he resides in?

I’m just saying, does it really make sense, and is the risk of pulling readers out of your story if they’re NOT amused by the jokes made of his name really worth whatever it is you feel is added to a story BY making the same old jokes about Dick’s name?

As I’ve said many times before....Dick Grayson? Fictional character. Has no feelings that actually need protecting....OUTSIDE of fiction. Making jokes about his name from beyond the fourth wall, just people commenting on a fictional character’s name? Go wild, go crazy, have a freaking Bacchanalia. Truly does not matter, if you ask me.

But IN universe? IN fiction? Totally different story, because look what those jokes require or make assumptions out of:

1) That Dick truly has no protective or defensive feelings whatsoever about his childhood nickname, and genuinely feels nothing about people habitually taking his choice to keep it as an invitation to insult or mock him.

1b) That Dick doesn’t in any way ever perceive peoples’ insistence on associating his name MORE with the insults and penis jokes than they do with it just being a name, to in any way be a slight against his beloved parents, of the “well they should have known better than to call him that” variety.

1c) That Dick has no negative feelings whatsoever about the fact that even his close friends and family regard his name as being no more worthy of respect or being ‘offlimits’ than the average Gothammite or public citizen might regard it, despite the fact that his close friends and family are perfectly aware of the public’s history of looking down on Dick for his origins and thus you’d think would WANT to appear different than them in Dick’s eyes.

1d) That Dick has never at any point expressed anger, frustration or bitterness that he can’t even have his name respected without even loved ones superimposing their own associations on top of it, no matter what it means to HIM.

2) That Alfred truly has no opinions whatsoever of the other charges in his care disrespecting Dick’s name and its origins stemming from his first parents.

2b) That Alfred has never expressed this opinion to any of them or made his displeasure about such jokes known.

2c) That Alfred doesn’t find it disappointing that the rest of the family and associated friends and allies seem disinclined to separate themselves from the general public’s opinions of Dick’s name by regarding it with a little more respect as at least a sign that they regard Dick himself with a little more respect than the general public.

3) That Jason or none of Dick’s other friends or family have never taken the initiative to wonder for themselves how Dick might actually feel about the frequent jokes or insults, and if shockingly, he might not actually be fond of them.

3b) That Jason or Dick’s other friends or family have chosen not to care or respect the opinions of Dick and/or Alfred or anyone else who states or suggests that these jokes or insults aren’t welcome.

4) That none of Dick’s other friends, be they Titans, or Uncle Clark, or siblings like Cass or Damian or frankly anyone, ever speak up in defense of Dick’s name and suggest that there’s a significant lack of respect around it and thus around him, that they personally take a very dim view of. (Even when Jason’s best friends include Dick’s former fianceé and own longtime BFF).

5) That nobody has ever bothered to think that only EVER being addressed by some form of insult by even his own siblings might possibly have a slightly demoralizing effect on someone’s self-esteem over time.

5b) That nobody has ever bothered to think that making sexual jokes about his name and thus innately sexualizing Dick from even his earliest days in Gotham, when coupled with the hyper-sexualized stereotypes people often apply to Romani individuals and further coupled with the suggestive rumors surrounding Bruce’s reasons for taking in a young boy, might possibly have contributed over time to Dick having an extremely skewed view of himself as an innately sexualized being no matter what he actually did in terms of sexual behavior.

I mean.....there’s more. If I felt like it.

But the point is......there’s a LOT of implicit assumptions that creep in alongside the seemingly harmless jokes and insults surrounding Dick’s name, the second you start to really focus in on how it might appear from his POV....IF you include even just the possibility that he DOESN’T like it.

EDIT: Also, lots of people have pointed out that its just sibling culture to make fun of a sibling in ways that you wouldn’t be okay with someone outside the family making the same jokes. And this is absolutely true! BUT. My issue here and why I don’t think the Dickhead jokes fall under this umbrella, is because I can say in my experience being from a blended family, and from what I’ve discussed in the past with other kids from blended families....there are ‘rules’ about this sort of thing, when you have adopted siblings, and the one near-universal truth that I’ve always found is that anything that stems from an adopted sibling’s first family, the one you do NOT share with them, is absolutely off limits. You mock them for something that originated outside your family, you’re the asshole, because at that point, you’re literally no different from outsiders to your current family making fun of that sibling. That ‘joke’ is not YOURS to make or share in, if you do not have the history with the thing you’re basing the joke on, that your sibling has with it. Shared history is the entire basis of siblings being able to mock each other while still citing solidarity against outsiders, and in adopted families, there absolutely are elements of each others’ lives that YOU are the outsider to, and it absolutely falls on you to respect that just as you’d want your sibling to respect the same of you in turn. If Jason absolutely would not be okay with Dick or anyone else making jokes about Catherine or his life with her, he should not be okay with making jokes about Dick’s name, circus origins, or other aspects of his life that stem from or call back to his time with his first family. The same holds true of all the others as well.

The other aspect of this name-calling not falling under the excuse-umbrella of just being typical sibling culture is its entirely one-sided. Show me the tendency where Dick responds to these everpresent jokes or insults by even light-heartedly calling Jason and the others insults like Hey Asshole, or Dumbass or anything like that. When things are entirely one-way, the impression given is not that of a camaraderie of back-and-forth. It becomes just one person or multiple people punching down in a way they feel confident from experience the other person will NOT respond in kind, which gives them an outlet for venting frustration, resentment or aggravation which risks them nothing, because they KNOW Dick won’t retaliate, and at that point that exchange becomes something very different from a general sibling back-and-forth....because there’s no ‘back.’ What you end up with at that point is literally just hostility, no matter if more mild than other cases, and a situation where one sibling is simply taking ADVANTAGE of the opportunity afforded by another sibling’s good nature and refusal to engage in hurt feelings even while you feel free to cause those feelings in them. And that’s just not a good look. Its just not. And even if you find those exchanges humorous yourself as a writer or a reader, you might want to keep in mind that to plenty of other readers, its making even the characters you like and INTEND to be liked, just....come across as kinda not cool assholes instead.

END OF EDIT.

And here’s the other point:

Its not really about his name, and never has been.

His name is simply emblematic of how EASY it is for people to fall into the trap of just....choosing to overlook Dick’s POV entirely, the second its pitted against other characters and what they might gain from their POV....even if that ‘gain’ is as simple and basic as the slight moment of humor Jason gets from making a joke or mocking insult out of Dick’s name.

Here, let me present this another way:

Every single person alive has SOMETHING they get defensive or protective about. SOMETHING that they’re like no, this is offlimits to people, this is not for their consumption, their entertainment, its not for THEM to take and twist into something other than what it is for ME, because its MINE. This is basic human nature. EVERYONE has this feeling about SOMETHING that’s particular to them.

And with Dick, most of the things that we’re generally given to view him being protective or defensive about are either almost more about other people than him - such as being protective of his family members - or else, they’re things that he’s not ALLOWED to be purely defensive or say, territorial about.

Like for instance, the name Robin.

Think about how Robin is pretty much one of the ONLY things Dick is largely deemed to be defensive or proprietary about.....BUT how that’s also largely used NOT to have him wholly in the right for feeling that way.....but to put him in conflict with the other Robins, given that they also have strong feelings about the name regardless of its origins, and its not solely Dick’s anymore.

Now here’s my question:

If for example, you go with the take that Robin was Dick’s mother’s name for him, and that’s why Dick is so protective and defensive of that name.....why would he be any LESS protective or defensive about his mother AND father’s OTHER name for him....given that the only possible reason for him TO stick with the name Dick all throughout adulthood, is that its the form of his name they referred to him by, and thus, clearly, it DOES carry emotional significance for him?

See what I’m saying?

Why is it, that the only time so many people see Dick laying a claim to something, being defensive or protective of something that’s HIS, standing up for HIMSELF.....is when the waters are murky, when its not a clear cut case of him being wholly in the right, when it pits Dick against someone else and says both are at least somewhat valid?

Why is it so RARE to see people imagine Dick putting his foot down in defense of himself, in defense of something that’s HIS.....where its 100% crystal clear that he has every right and reason in the world to feel this way, where there’s no doubt whatsoever that he’s on the correct side of thinking “this is mine and I get to say this”?

Even about something as simple and basic as his own name?

And why is it the only time we seem to see people sticking up for Dick or weighing in on his behalf, its in the case of extreme actions like him having been raped or abused? Why are there hardly any stories of people looking at alleged family and friends bitching about Dick or heaping insults on him or his capabilities and saying hey, he’s been doing this while most of us were sitting in middle school detention, you could show him some respect? Why do none of the people who value and respect Dick so highly ever seem to weigh in like THAT in stories?

My challenge, should you choose to accept it, is just to look at the above list of possible reasons why Dick might not be thrilled about how people use his name....and just IMAGINE what it would look like, if Dick just said to another character....”Hey. Could you cut that out. I would appreciate it if you didn’t do that.” Even just “I really don’t like that.”

How does a scene like that go? One where Dick is wholly and completely justified in putting his foot down, in feeling that someone is overstepping or paying him an insult or a disservice?

We hear all the time in fandom about how in the name of ‘humanizing’ Dick and ‘making him more relatable’ some people focus overly much on emphasizing his flaws, his alleged temper, his secretiveness, etc.

I’d like to argue that flaws are not actually the only staple of humanity. Risking making a character more dislikable is not actually the only way to make them feel more human or relatable. THIS is another way to do that. Make them defensive, proprietary, territorial, even prickly.....but with REASON. With CAUSE. With JUSTIFICATION. Because people are ALLOWED to be, when people are being a - all irony intended - total dick to them.

And there is a long, LONG history in fanfics, of people being exactly that to Dick, and him just....smiling.

EXCEPT for when his choice NOT to smile, and to actually take offense and push back......pits him against another character but with the other character usually being granted just as much right and reason to not give way.

So? I’m saying you have right here a perfect example of how to flip the script on that. To make it abundantly clear that Dick has just as much right to put his foot down with even people who love and care about him and say hey, you’re doing something I don’t like, that in fact even hurts me, and I want you to stop.

Why not use it? Why does there always seem to need to be an ARGUMENT about whether or not Dick is in the right to feel wronged in some way.....when its so abundantly clear that he’s given no shortage of reasons for that in practically every other fic?

And consider.....if you’ve never previously entertained the idea that Dick might take offense to how people treat his name, or feel defensive about it......what else might you be overlooking that he could feel that way about, and is there any reason why you think you tend not to view Dick as being defensive of HIMSELF and things that are uniquely his?

*Shrugs* Just food for thought, mayhaps.

[sweet-sammy-kisses]

Broken Bonds

For whumptober2021 and @iphoenixrising whose robinpile soulmate fic inspired this story.  Day 1: Bound Fandom: Batman Pairing: Robinpile (Tim/Dick/Jason/Damian) Warnings: More hurt than comfort, not a happy ending for robinpile  Rating: Teen Summary: This is why he is here to fully reject and seal off his part of the bond. To fully reject his soulmates, he had to for he was slowly killing himself by holding out hope that someday they would see him as he sees them. That they would be thrilled to find out he was the missing part of their souls but that was nothing but a pipe dream. Jason and Damian would never accept him and Dick, while he would be happy, he would never bond with Tim unless his other two soulmates agreed to the bond. You can also read it on AO3

Tim was bound to them in a one-sided bond. He had known it the moment his blood was spilled by Jason. 

The moment Damian tried to kill him.

The moment Dick turned his back on him when he needed him the most.

What hurt most was as he watched the three of them grow close while his bond with them remained closed off broken and unwanted. Just like he is. This is why he is here to fully reject and seal off his part of the bond. To fully reject his soulmates, he had to for he was slowly killing himself by holding out hope that someday they would see him as he sees them. That they would be thrilled to find out he was the missing part of their souls but that was nothing but a pipe dream. Jason and Damian would never accept him and Dick, while he would be happy, he would never bond with Tim unless his other two soulmates agreed to the bond.

"Are you certain about this? Once it is done it cannot be undone." Raven asks her friend.

Swallowing Tim gave a swift nod even as he fought back the tears, "I am certain. I can't keep living like this." 

Raven wasn't surprised that was Tim's decision she had seen the pain of the broken bond was giving him and her heart ached for him. "Very well. Know that we shall be here for you and help you in every way that we can." She promised as she cupped Tim's cheek.

Flashing her a watery smile Tim covered her hand with his. "I know you will be. I am lucky to have such wonderful friends as you."

'Dick, I hope you realize what you have lost this day.' Raven thought as she began chanting.

+******+

In Gotham

Dick was in high spirits as he had just spent the day with Jason and Damian, nothing could bring his mood down, well as long as he ignored the little voice that whisper it would have been better if Tim had been with them. 

Suddenly a feeling of coldness, of loss, of emptiness overcame him that Dick found himself clinging to the doorframe a glance around should Jason and Damian in a similar state as him. It seemed like forever for the feeling to fade but Dick couldn't escape the hallow feeling that now had a place in his soul.

"What the fuck was that?" Jason demand to know.

Dick doesn't know why but he was sure when he looked at them and declared, "Something has happened to Tim."

"You happened to Tim." A new voice growled.

Turning around they knew they were out of it when Kon and Bart appeared without them knowing, until Cass appeared beside them, "I let them in."

"We need to see Tim." Dick didn't know why but the hollow feeling in his chest was telling him he needed to see Tim.

Kon looked completely unimpressed as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh so you now care about Tim. It's only been six months since he has last seen any of you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jason demanded, his hand twitching at his side where his gun would be.

"Tim was the fourth of your bond. He was your missing soulmate." Bart informed them.

Shock filled the three of them, they knew they had been missing someone but they couldn't figure out who.

"You keep saying was," Damian spoke up, he had matured in the last few years and he realized that he hadn't treated Timothy with the respect he deserves it had taken him a while to realize that he had been jealous of the other Robin, the one that managed to impress his grandfather and become his father's light when he needed to be saved from the darkness.

"Tim asked Raven in helping him fully reject and break the bond. That feeling you felt is what Tim has been feeling all this time." Kon bluntly told them. "And you will stay away from Tim until he has healed and he reaches out to you. Expect for Cass, she is always welcomed at the Tower."

Cass flashed her brother sad eyes, "You hurt Tim. Now you feeling his pain." Turning she faced Kon, "Take me to him."

Bart and Kon knew better than to mess with Cass.

Once they were gone Dick began pacing around the room, "We messed up big time. There has to be a way to fix this."

Jason's eyes were full of pain as he placed his hands on Dick's shoulders, "Some things can't be fixed no matter how much you wish them to be. I am afraid this is one of those times."

Damian never one to back down from a challenge shook his head, "Timothy is part of our soul we must prove to him that we love him and wish for him to be a part of our relationship. We must prove ourselves to him and see if we can all grow to love one another without the pull of our bond."

Dick smiled at Damian, "Sounds like a plan Lil D."

+*****+

Titians Tower

Curled up in a puppy pile with his best friends Tim began to doze off as Raven and Cass ran their fingers through his hair. He didn't know what would happen next when he saw his former soulmates again all he knows is that he will not be alone he has his friends with him.