#good parent janet drake

[cactusracoon]

I wanna go to bed so fucking bad right now. But no!! I have to live in fucking OHIO!! WHERE WE GET STUPID THUNDER STORMS THAT PUT US ON TORNADO WARNING!!! It's bot expected to stop till 5 in the fucking morning. I have school at 7 in the morning. So I'm sitting here at 12 am about to give you fanfic recs.

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These are mostly if not all Tim Drake centric

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This story is such a cute love story between Dick and Dana, Tim's step mother. I love myself a good rare pair. Dana adopts Tim after Jack dieds, she takes an interest in his gymnastics teacher Dick. She struggles with parenting Tim, he helps her through it. It's a great wholesome fic if your looking for some hurt/comfort light on the hurt. It's not finished though.

Another rare pair fic. This time it's between Talia, Bruce, and Janet. Not as wholesome as the last one but definitely a good one if you want hurt/comfort. Tim is Bruce's Bio son, Jack finds out and wants a divorce. Bruce is an awkward dad trying to parent 3 kids with one on the way. Janet is trying to survive living under the same roof as her exe husband with a drinking problem all while trying to keep Tim safe. Talia is just trying to get in Janet's pants and hating on Jack. Also not a finished book but it was updated in the last 2 months

Tim trying to not get caught smoking weed. That's the whole book. Stoner Tim is a very under used trope and I need more of it! Perfect fluffy book. This one is finished.

Yet another rare pair but this time it's cross Fandom. This one is Neal Caffrey x Bruce wayne. Neal and Bruce are dating, Bruce's kids find out. Neal and the white collar division now have to deal with the chaos of Bruce's far to many kids. Again a really good comfort book. This one is finished.

Tim's Uber hits Red Hood with his car. Now Tim feels like he owes Hood a favor. Then the Outlaws claim Tim as their child. Great hurt/comfort fic! Bit more on the angsty side. Deals alot with child Neglect but that's a given for a Tim drake centric fanfic. This one is also a finished fic.

[brucewaynehater101]

Android Tim Drake AU:

Drake Industries announced they had successfully created realistic-looking androids that passed the Turing Test (and harder versions of it). They were planning to release commercial models to the public within twenty years.

To go a step farther, the Drakes wanted to ensure no one was skeptical of the androids' abilities to pass as human. Thus, Janet and Jack Drake had a healthy "human" baby by the name of Timothy Jackson Drake. The only individuals aware of this are Tim, Janet, Jack, and a small handful of engineers bound with a fuck ton of NDAs. They planned to tell the public when Tim was eighteen.

While Janet and Jack Drake are aware of Tim's ability to mimic emotions, they do not believe him to be capable of actually feeling them. This leads to Tim's childhood being lonely and neglectful. He is a robot.

At first, Tim is incapable of consuming human foods or using his touch sense. They fix his touch sense by the time he is four (and thus Dick is his first hug), and the food by the time he is six. He is constantly undergoing repairs to allow him to mimic the growth pattern of a child. It's when he is nine that he finally gets pain sensors to discourage and alert him to damage.

Tim is, for all intents and purposes, legally a human. When Janet dies and Jack gets into a coma, Tim stops receiving "growth spurts." He remains the same size even after Jack wakes up from his coma.

When Tim becomes Robin, he does not disclose his status with Bruce, Dick, or anyone else. Given that his parents treat him like an object, a machine, and incapable of feelings, Tim doesn't want to be subjected to that by his heroes either.

Instead, he gaslights the hell out of the Bats, villains, and other heroes whenever he gets hit.

["Tim! You got flung into a building. You are getting a medical exam."

Tim narrows his eyes as his eyebrows raise in surprise. "Bruce.... what are you talking about?"

"I saw you get thrown into a building. You're not getting out of this."

Tim glances to the side and then back to his mentor. He carefully places a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "B... Maybe we should have Alfred check you over."

Bruce blinks in shock as his brows furrow. "What?"

Tim purses his lips and shakes his head in pity. "It's okay, B. We'll figure it out. Whatever is going on, we'll fix it."

Bruce is so confused and concerned he doesn't ask Tim to get a medical check and agrees to be checked over instead.]

Tim becomes an expert at repairing himself because he can't explain to the engineers (most of who were let go after Janet died) how he got damaged. He spends a lot of nights alone in his room turning off his pain sensors (which isn't an automatic process and is difficult to reach)in order to fix the mangled hand, the gaping gash, the crooked foot, etc.

Kon, and conversely YJ, are the first to find out about his status (darn x-ray vision and super hearing). This encourages Tim to create artificial sounds within himself to fool Superman when they first meet. This also forces Tim to wear a long-sleeved uniform and a hood to hide from x-ray vision.

Tim finds comradery with Red Tornado.

When Jack wakes up from his coma, he originally treats Tim as he did before: an object. Dana, though, changes this. Jack can't explain why he treats his "son" that way and slowly morphs into becoming a good father.

It starts as only occurring when Dana is in the room and ends with a very bitter and antagonistic Jack when she leaves. He is initially disturbed by how much Tim is "faking" emotions, particularly because Tim learned to conceal his emotions from his parents as a coping mechanism (not that Jack knows this).

As they start spending more and more time together, Jack begins accepting the idea that Tim is capable of emotions. He starts caring and loving the kid as his own.

Because of this, Jack becomes fearful for Tim. When he learns that Tim is Robin, he is both jealous of Bruce's relationship with Tim and absolutely terrified for his son (what happens if people find out that Tim is an android? How would they treat him? Tim told Jack the Waynes don't know about his status. What if Tim gets injured too badly during a mission and they find out?)

This is why Jack initially forbids Tim from being Robin. There is way too much at stake for Tim if he continues (even though, theoretically, Tim can't die. Jack can keep saves of Tim and import him into a new body if necessary. They both don't want to do this, however, because Tim's body is his. It would feel weird and wrong to put him in another one).

While Tim is prohibited from being Robin, Jack bankrupts his company in the process of getting Tim rights. He bribes the hell out of judges, law makers, etc. to subtly put I'm rights for androids. He wants Tim to have full access to his inheritance, to freedom, and to everything humans can do. He doesn't want Tim to be without it.

Tim doesn't understand why Drake Industries is going under and is pissed at Jack for preventing him from being Robin. Robin is everything to Tim. It allows him to be treated as human. It connects him to so many people.

It's only afterwards, when Tim is finally allowed to be Robin again (and Jack has ensured he did everything he could for now for Tim's rights), that Tim fully understands how much Jack loves and cares for him.

Then Jack dies.

Tim is able to hide the fact that he's an android up until a Red Helmet asshole breaks into the Tower. While YJ whisk him away before the Bats can find out, Jason knows. Jason found out.

[fanfic-obsessed]

Smitten

I had this idea for a JayTim that I want to share. 

Obviously there is no canon here, for the record. 

In addition we have a version of Jack and Janet Drake that do love their son, they just have a really bad grasp on age appropriate supervision and activities. They honestly believe that a nine year old can be left alone with only a periodic check from a housekeeper (Also they are aware that Tim leaves the premises almost every night with a camera, they also believe this is a reasonable activity).  Like the very embodiment ‘they’re confused, but they got spirit’. Believe me when I say this will be relevant later.

We are also bringing Jason and Tim’s ages just a hair closer together. This starts with Jason being 14 and Tim being 13, at the annual holiday Wanye Gala. This particular time Jack, Janet, and Tim are in attendance. 

It starts with some boorish rich asshole, a little too drunk and being stupid about it, making an insulting comment about Janet Drake, heard by Tim. Now Tim loves his mother, and does not appreciate this man who insulted her. 

Thirteen year old Tim verbally eviscerates this man, his voice an icy even tone that everyone around recognized from Tim’s mother Janet. Tim’s diatribe of insults and threats leverages this man's secrets, his fears, and insecurities that he didn't even realize he had.  Ten minutes in, this man begins to cry. Just the complete, public, destruction of a middle aged rich drunk by a tiny thirteen year old.  The Drake family proceeds to exit after Tim winds down, never looking back (it was later in the evening anyway).

Jason, standing off to one side next to Dick, falls immediately and completely in love. Smitten through and through.  The first words out of his mouth, after the Drakes leave, is ‘We’re going to get married on that boy’s 18th birthday’.  This was heard by just about everyone present. Jason did not even know Tim’s name yet.

By the next morning Jason has used the BatComputer to discover that his future spouse is named Timothy Drake, he lives next door, and that he is 14 months younger than Jason.  At breakfast Jason very seriously, though a touch maniacally, tells Bruce that he would be marrying Tim when Tim turned 18, and that before that point they would be telling Tim about their ‘nightlife’ on the grounds that “we should not start our marriage off with secrets”. Jason magnanimously told Bruce that he had until Tim was 17 to get his feelings under control about the reveal (to give a full year before the wedding, in case Tim needed an adjustment period or Jason needed to win him back).  

Bruce is already very tired. 

Jason finds any occasion to seek out Tim Drake, to get to know his future spouse (the entire time Jason Mantra-having gotten some good advice from Alfred about becoming friends with and maybe dating Tim before anything else-is ‘Don’t start talking about the wedding, don’t start talking about the wedding’). Also every piece of romantic knowledge/flirting knowledge that Jason has comes from the regency era/Victorian era romances he reads. 

Tim, for his part, believes that Jason (Tim’s Robin and crush) has figured out that Tim knows Robin’s identity and is trying to subtly figure out how much Tim knows and what he is going to do about it; but for some reason Jason is not asking directly and Tim is enjoying getting closer to the other boy, so he does not admit to what he knows. 

This leads to some painfully stilted conversations and weird interactions, but every so often both will forget to be awkward and it becomes clear, whenever they actually act naturally, that they are very well matched. 

To the Gotham Elites, this is the best entertainment in years. Between Bruce Wayne’s ‘Brucie’ act and Dick’s feral behavior growing up, Jason’s bookish politeness makes him the ‘best behaved’ Wayne and honestly the most well liked one. Combined that with how sweet he is acting with Tim and  that this all started with Tim defending his mother, well this is the love story of the ages, happening right in front of them. 

Bruce and the Drakes are already fielding requests for invitations to the wedding. On a slightly more creepy note they are also receiving offers to be a surrogate for the boy’s to ‘continue the bloodline’ when the time comes. 

Bruce is honestly wondering if everyone forgot that Jason is adopted. Dick comes to Gotham more often, because he is also finding this immensely entertaining. 

A few months in, this leads to Batman, Nightwing, and Robin finding Tim taking pictures on a rooftop in the Bowery.  In Tim’s rush to apologize (he is starting to feel a bit guilty about his picture taking pictures of the Bats now that he has an actual relationship-where he believes that they know he knows who they are-instead of a parasocial relationship) it becomes clear that Tim knows their civilian identities and that they did not know that Tim knew their civilian identities. 

Tim gives his explanation (a quadruple flip that only a few people in the world can do and connecting the dots from there). Jason immediately blurts out ‘Go on a date with me?’ and is quite proud that he kept the ‘Marry me?’ behind his teeth (The earliest they could get married in New Jersey is 17, and only with parental consent. Jason had 4 years to convince the Drakes to let him marry their son, 5 if they don’t like him). Tim turns bright red and squeaks out a ‘Yes’. 

The next gala they enter holding hands.  Dick is quickly sought after by the Elite for gossip. Dick confirms that Tim and Jason are now dating, and that Jason insisted on a chaperone for their dates (Jason is still working off the regency/victorian era romantic relationships) so that nothing would ‘besmirch Tim’s honor’.  There is an entire crowd of cooing Gothamites around Dick as they discuss how these two got even more adorable, all the while watching Jason and Tim surreptitiously. 

At some point Bruce has to have a very surreal conversation with Jack and Janet Drake about when it is appropriate to leave one's children alone and for how long and at what ages. Jack and Janet, upon being convinced that they should not leave their 13 year old alone for weeks or months at a time, rearrange their future plans so that one of them is almost always home (and on the few occasions that they would have to Tim by himself, Tim would stay with the Waynes).

By the way, Jack and Janet love Jason, they can see how much he makes their son happy and are glad to support the relationship.  

Now I see this continuing one of two ways. 

The first way is that this derails Ethiopia. Jason still fights with Batman, but runs to Janet Drake (who is home) and Tim.  He does not discover that Catherine is not his mother until later, but is not missing parental influences and does some digging but does not go to meet Sheila. Tim becomes Oracle’s apprentice.

Alternately, it does not derail Ethiopia. Janet and Jack, on one of the few business trips that required both of them, is woken up by a call from an inconsolable Tim who tells them Jason has been killed by the Joker (both Jack and Janet having been let in on the secret at some point). Janet immediately hires Deathstroke and Talia Al Ghul to kill the Joker (Janet contemplated having them bring the Joker to her, so she could do it and make sure he understood why-he killed her future son in law and made her son cry- but realized that the why would never actually matter to Joker) and paid extra to make it look like natural causes (to lessen the attention on the bastard).  Two weeks after Jason Todd’s funeral, the Joker dropped dead of an apparent heart attack, there was not even enough time to get him back in Arkham. 

The Gotham Elite treat Tim like a bereaved widow, despite Jason never getting to have the ‘let’s get married when we are old enough’ talk with him. Jack Drake gets to have his own surreal talk with Bruce Wayne about accepting help, and therapy, after Jason’s death.  Tim picks up the Robin mantle to feel closer to Jason, and to distract himself from grief. 

Jason (Now 17) is brought back and Talia does find him. In this she does have good intentions (She knows that Damian is going to need to be sent to his father eventually, and hopes that helping Jason will endear Talia to Bruce enough that she can still see her son), plus a connection to Janet Drake and the knowledge that Janet had the Joker killed for Jason. So as soon as Jason’s madness ebbs enough to travel she brings him straight to Janet Drake's door. By then enough time has passed that it is three days before Tim’s 17th birthday.   

Jante takes one look at Jason and goes ‘Hmm, I was wondering what we were getting Tim for his birthday this year’.

[scintillyyy]

the thing about transforming jack & janet to be worse than they are in canon is that as a hypothetical i do think it can be interesting if it's done thoughtfully (despite all my normal bitching) (i would also be more interested if there was a lot more dick & tim in this scenario but i digress) (also, why doesn't mandated reporter dana ever get hit with the bad parent stick. i love her, but also. share the love here!! if you're gonna transform parents worse, let's at least remember *all* the parents to transform them.) and listen, sometimes people want their specific blorbos in angsty overwrought situations. i get it, i truly do, actually.

unfortunately. tim drake fic without there having to be a line making sure to mention that he was neglected & his mom didn't want to spend time with him is a needle in a haystack. like. even if the fic in question has no reason to be bringing them up. like they have nothing to do with anything there. but there they are, being bad parents. even if they're dead & tim has to be sad and angsty about them it's always a made up "that one time janet didn't want to spend time with her son", not like. you know. the time she got poisoned to death when tim was only 13. or the time tim tried to pull a boomerang out of his dad's chest with his bare hands. and that ubiquitousness of them sucking in 1 particular way that *always without fail* has to be mentioned even if they're dead and not the focus of the fic is what gets tiring (especially when there is genuinely a ton of canon based angst and happenings that are super interesting to explore or could be used instead for angst with literally no change to the fic that you never ever see in favor of "janet's a misogynistic caricature of a refrigerator mother"), not that people want to imagine and explore scenarios where they suck a little worse.

[galaxymagitech]

Identity Crisis Thoughts

I read Identity Crisis, which is the 4-comic arc where Tim’s dad goes into a coma and his mom dies. Here are some interesting things I found:

Trivia/Fun Facts

Tim is part of the Sherlock Holmes society, and receives their bulletin. He uses a TV in the Batcave to watch Basil Rathborne’s Sherlock Holmes.

Jack and Janet have a personal secretary named Jeremy that they use as a go-between even when sitting a couple feet away from each other.

Jack and Janet call each other darling when they’re getting along.

Drake Industries does indeed have a policy not to pay ransom for any employee.

The Batcave has a library, which includes a book called “Myriopoda of the World”. The library has a glass ceiling, where you can see the cave and bats—I think Jason would appreciate this.

Tim describes doing electronic detective work as similar to meditating.

Tim appears to have a room/PJs at Wayne Manor.

Characterization Notes

Tim: Tim is able to compartmentalize and focus well, working on a case even as he fears for his parents lives, but still gets angry when the situation is fraught. He’s resentful of Bruce for hiding information and not giving his parents’ case his full attention, and screams at him for a few panels—even punching Jason’s memorial, at which point he abruptly calms down. He is also upset about his parents arguing, and says that if it makes them argue less he wants them to stay away for months. Overall, though, he’s cheerful and friendly, even offering to discuss philosophy with Anarky. He displays a lot of skill with hacking/computers and can catch Anarky despite not being far into his training. Tim looks at Jason’s memorial a lot and aspires to be as good as him.

Jack and Janet Drake: Jack and Janet have a fraught relationship with each other, but do care when the situation gets tough. Jack Drake talks like your typical entitled rich guy. They aren’t the best parents to Tim, but they clearly feel affection, sending him a postcard signed “Love, Mom & Dad”. However, they rarely call him and are often wishy-washy on their return date. When scared they’re going to die, Jack tells Janet, “Think of Tim—how he must be feeling. Poor kid must be worried sick!” Janet pretty much agrees that they took Tim for granted. Bruce is aware of Tim’s parents’ absences, and reassures Tim that they care about him.

Bruce: Overall gives “very loving but emotionally constipated” vibes. He wears his costume and cowl in the Manor to talk to Tim, which Tim views as Bruce not wanting to show his real emotions. Bruce states in his internal monologue that he finds it difficult to “be natural” with Tim due to fear. However, he comforts Tim multiple times, and although he foists him off on Alfred to work on a case, he apologizes later. He offers to take the day off to be with Tim while waiting for news about his parents, and hugs him while delivering bad news. When Tim gets angry about Bruce hiding information, Bruce just tells him to “get it out” and calmly lets him shout. He also smiles at Tim watching Sherlock Holmes in the Batcave instead of being mad at the waste of time.

[gretahayes]

there's a world out there where haiti never happens, and tim's parents get their divorce but are both allergic to spending any time with their son still and keep traveling, so in a few arcs and a series of comic events, tim gets left in the primary custody of That Nice Bruce Wayne Guy, Isn't It Great He's Always There To Look After Tim When Disaster Strikes And They're Not Around? while they globetrot and occasionally visit. and it's so funny to me.

[qqquib]

tim drakes parents are good and bad. that’s possible! in case you were wondering :)

[chocor0se]

i just thought of a twin tim au so here we go:

On fateful day in July, Jack and Janet Drake gave birth to their only son Timothy Jackson Drake, and their only daughter Tiffany Janet Drake. Also known as Tim and Tiff.

When the couple found out they were having twins, Janet was already well into labor. They were already fine with one baby, as they only needed one heir to Drake Industries and since Tim was born first and a boy he would be great for the role, so they didn’t exactly need Tiffany.

But, as Janet and Jack looked at both of their children, they knew they couldn’t put her up for adoption.

Of course, despite the couple being intelligent enough to run a company while simultaneously going on archeological excavations, they weren’t very wise. So when Jack had one, very strange idea, Janet was swept with it immediately.

Tim would be their son in public, and attend all the galas and be groomed to be their heir, and Tiff would be the daughter no one would know of. She would go to a different school, and not be subjected to the intricacies of high society, and only be the Drake daughter once she went inside the safety of the manor.

The Drake family would stay very close, despite the parents frequent travels outside of the country, and Tim and Tiff Drake would stay like this for a very long time.

Growing older, Tim and Tiff would realize that this way of living probably wasn’t necessary, but neither of them had a big problem with it so they never brought it up.

Tiff and Tim would be thick as thieves, and would become fascinated with Batman and Robin together, learning the vigilante’s identities once they saw Robin do the quadruple somersault, something they once saw Dick Grayson do when they were young.

(They both attended Haly’s Circus with their parents, as the Drake’s knew that they probably wouldn’t be recognized there. Dick doesn’t recognize Tim after because he only remembers the twins as a whole)

But one day, tragedy struck the Drake household when the twins were waiting on their parents to come home from a flight. There was an accident.

Jack and Janet never returned home that day, leaving their children behind.

Timothy Drake was put into the care of a nearby foster parent, Bruce Wayne. But as no one else knew of Tiffany Drake’s existence, she would be left behind. The Drake’s secret never to be shared with the public.

But, Tim Drake wasn’t going to leave behind his sister so easily.

After moving into Wayne Manor, Tim Drake would sneak Tiffany in, and she would live there in secret.

Now, the twins must keep Tiffany hidden from the World’s Greatest Detective and his family, or else she would be sent away (at least that’s what they think) while simultaneously coping with their grief and navigating this new life that they’ve found themselves in.

[necrotic-nephilim]

I started in DC by reading fanfics, but as I began to read actual comics, I started to be unable to read the actual fanfic that got me into it in the first place because it's so out of character.

But there are still some stories that I love to read because I love the found family trope so much, even if it isn't really accurate to the source material.

As a comics purist (sometimes), are there tropes that you like enough that you'll still enjoy a fic even if it's not accurate to canon?

oh my god this is SUCH a fun question. bc while i started with the comics, there were certain characters and/or character dynamics where i was exposed to the fanon before the canon (just bc it's hard to read everything when you start out just to read some fanfic) and so i've definitely experienced the fanon to canon transition. (*especially* with Jason Todd. i had only read 80s/90s stuff where he was already dead or the New-52 bc that was on-going when i got into comics and man. the fanon misunderstandings i had about him before i got frustrated and sat down to read all his pre-Flashpoint stuff were absolutely bonkers.) and aside from that, whilst i tend to prefer canon over fanon, i'm not past giving fanon its flowers for occasionally having really interesting insights. occasionally. so some of my fanon "guilty pleasure" tropes would probably be

Morally Grey Tim Drake - this is one where if you try to back it up with canon, i *will* get salty about it. of everyone in the Batfam aside from maybe Bruce and Cass, Tim has the *most* black and white morals. often his internal conflicts are routed in such an inability to compromise his moral views and it can cause him to clash with other characters. he's *very* stiff and rigid in his beliefs and is *rare* to compromise in even the smallest ways. i mean, DC has repeatedly used Tim Drake of Tomorrow/Savior/Gun Batman!Tim for a reason. it's to demonstrate that of everyone, Tim *cannot* have his morals compromised. there's no grey area for him. he's zero or a hundred, so if he tips over the edge of "too far" he tips *all the way*, and doing so is one of his worst fears, how he could go "too far" if he let himself. a couple panels out of context from Red Robin (2009) (which was a grief spiral for Tim to begin with) don't change that. now that said. if it's done *right*, i sort of love Tim being morally grey in fanfic. it takes a specific flavor for me, and it's incredibly important to include that mental spiral along with it, of him struggling to justify it. i don't have any interest in "Tim Drake is loosy goosy with Bruce's morals and has the highest kill count and no one knows teehee" bc it doesn't play with the interesting parts of making Tim morally grey, which are fracturing his psyche. but all in all, i think it's fun to put Tim in a morally grey area and i will read it in fanfic and i enjoy writing it a lot

Joker Junior!Tim Drake - i've not written it on this account (yet) but on my main ao3 account one of my biggest fics surrounds this concept. this is one of those "well *technically* it's canon but only in a specific very divorced from the comics universe and would not work at all in the main timeline" so, i categorize it as fanon in that 95% of fics exploring the concept are not doing so within the Batman Beyond universe, but the main timeline. i just love it. I'll take any excuse to whump Tim, but this concept is so fun. psychologically breaking Tim will always be my favorite pastime. there are so many ways to explore the long-term effects this could have on him, how it could affect the Batfam. i'm not a fan of it being used as a "gotcha" to Jason or Babs' trauma with the Joker to paint Tim as the Ultimate Victim, but it is fun to see how their relationships would be affected by being mutual victims of him. (i have a vague JayTim idea where TIm fully retires from being Robin after being Joker Junior and killing the Joker, making Steph Robin for most of his typical Robin era and Jason still tracks him down out of curiosity bc he wants to know what happened and all. very underbaked but i've got thoughts.)

Renegade/Apprentice of Slade!Dick Grayson - this is another one where yes, this happened *sort of* in canon, but i highly doubt most people writing Renegate!Dick have read or are actually pulling from Nightwing: Renegade. it's just an exploration fo the concept fo Dick being Slade's apprentice and i will always eat it up in any capacity. whether Dick grows up with Slade from a young age, or chooses Slade for whatever reason later in life. it's not anything that works in canon bc it compromises Dick morally (similar to the above with Tim) and therefore will always come across incredibly fanon in most fics. but i can't say i don't enjoy it. it's fun to make Dick a little morally fucked up and see what you can make him under Slade's tutelage.

Jason & Damian Meeting in the League -there's no world where i believe this could work in the canon comics. (maybe in the Young Justice cartoon i suppose, but even then i think it's iffy) i would go as far to say it's wildly unrealistic. i don't see a world where Ra's would let Jason anywhere *near* Damian, bc Jason was Talia's pet project that he didn't approve of. that all said, there's something very interesting about how they *could've* met and them potentially bonding during that timeframe. them being somewhat brotherly during this time because Jason sees Bruce in Damian and sort of latches onto the kid and Damian is full of wonder hearing real stories about Batman and Robin, then that getting violently ripped away by Jason leaving the League is fun to me. it's fun how that could affect them within the Batfam and all. it's super fanon to me, but i do not care. i will eat it up

Bad Dad Clark Kent/Good Dad Lex Luthor - i will admit as a late, i've been less and less kind to this particular fanon bc of everything i've argued with people about, *this* one seems the most pervasive as misunderstood fanon. i don't mind when fanon exists, my gripe is when ppl try to claim it's canon. and the *arguments* i've had over this with people who can never seem to cite an actual comic are... frustrating. but that said, i think there is something fun to this strictly in fanon. the duality of who you expect to accept Kon and who you expect to hurt him being flipped is just sort of fun for the occasional guilty pleasure fic. it can make Kon's internal conflict a bit more interesting. the same goes for the Jon favoritism from Clark, it's not a canon thing (and i rlly wish ppl understood how complicated the timeline of Kon and Jon is and any distance from Clark toward Kon isn't malice, it's that Kon is from a timeline that Clark does not remember in the current canon so Clark just straight up doesn't know the poor kid.) but it's sort of fun to give Kon that complex of being overlooked and forgotten sometimes. making Kon just a *bit* more Luthor than Kent will *always* appeal to me in fanfic, especially if he *knows* it's wrong but craves approval from anyone who will give it.

Good Dad Bruce Wayne - i'll die on the hill Bruce is canonically a shitty father. maybe not to the extreme some people write him as, but he's not great at it. that said, i enjoy it in fanfiction. sometimes, i just want silly fluff or hurt/comfort where Bruce finally gets it right and manages to comfort whatever Batkid is in the fic. one of my favorite fics of all time is hinged on Bruce being a good dad, so i think it's just fun to explore how good the relationships *could* be, if Bruce was slightly less of an asshole. i usually prefer him as an asshole, but there are times i want low stakes nonsense.

Gotham Rogues Having Soft Spots for Robin(s) - just about every Rogue in Gotham has done something absolutely irredeemable, and most of them don't like or care about anyone in the Batfamily. but if there's a fic where one of the Robins inexplicably is sort of close with a Rogue and they have a cute silly relationship out of it? I'll eat it up i fear. Steph and the Riddler are besties? I'll believe it. Tim and Scarecrow get along pretty well? give me ten of these. Rogues protecting Robins just hits a spot. the unexpected nature of the relationship, as well as the fact they see each other regularly, can make a lot of good fodder.

[arrowheadedbitch]

I do not have a problem.

[milkshakeworm]

being the only normal tim drake fan out there is so hard cus this person is so right

people who like tim dont like him at all, they just like the idea of him and thats why thers this narrative around tim fans that we are the absolute worse which is true but also its not cus i dont want it to b you feel me? like i LOVE tim but the way some of you need to pick up a comic and close ao3... all this misinformation haunts me

i will make comic guides i will provide with free sources to read them i will do everything to free my boy off this horrible misscharacterized prison because tim drake is an awesome character, hes well written and has a good canon story damn it!! free him!!!!

[oifaaa]

This feeling when you look through "Jason needs a hug" and "Damian needs a hug" tags on ao3 and the only thing you find is tim f*cking drake-centric fics when he's portrayed as uwu poor victim uwu no one loves me uwu while Jason or Damian are this crazy psychopaths who want to kill/maim/injure poor little kitten timmy. Ugh.

I've honestly just given up it's too much effort to try to find a fic that includes Tim that doesn't have the mention of what a pathetic little sad sack of a boy he is so now I just exclude him all together when I'm searching for fics which really is a shame bc I do love that boy but I can't handle how he is portrayed in a majority of fics

[starlooove]

No bc fuck tim but it really really bothers me how people ignore his growth like he used to be an asshole and I’ll give tim Stans one thing: now he’s so so so stale but what I disagree with is that this staleness is bc nobody likes him like it’s in fact the exact opposite where everyone likes him so much they dont want to do anything. Even when it’s him surface level challenging Bruce it’s when everyone else is doing it too; but he’s still the backbone of the fam! Etc. and it’s so irritating bc him gaining more compassion and empathy even for people he doesn’t fw is so fun to watch and that’s why the captain boomerang thing was so out of character! (Not in a from the author way but in a tim wouldn’t do that and he and Bruce both knew it which is why it went down like it did. Same way dick killing joker was ooc; not in fanon sense but in a he would hate himself forever for this sense) and speaking of that it’s such an interesting mirror to Bruce who genuinely believes that everyone can grow vs Tim’s it doesn’t matter if they grow it’s not my decision to make like it’s the same but it’s not AND WITH CASS’ IT DOESNT MATTER IF THEY CHOOSE NOT TO GROW I WONT DO IT! like ugh. And anyways even when people acknowledge it they boil it down to “Janet and Jack taught him that the capitalist pigs that they are” like no. This is who tim was. Tim was the kind of guy who’d blame a dead kid for dying. That’s ok. Also Janet and Jack? Please reread anything involving them that’s not a fic like Jack had anger issues and they were both aloof at worst like relax.

[loreoftheforgotten]

i talked on twt about how i don’t think that the drakes were good parents and how their relationship with tim is very complex and i interpret it based on my own family and how i grew up and they did not like that at all

but yeah the drakes loved tim but neglect is still a form of abuse and sending your kid to boarding school while you travel the world is not the greatest parenting technique

[thevoidisscreamingbackatyou]

tim is neurodivergent, i think that's pretty easy to see

but where would he get it from?

jack and janet drake, ofc!

so honestly personal hcs for me are that jack is masking autistic/bipolar and janet is anxiety/depression, but if yall have your own opinions, pls do let me know im always intrigued

[azol-otl]

List of random headcanons I made because I genuinely love how Doug and Elaine Thomas were tied to Bruce’s early years as Batman and think that more supporting cast should be tangentially connected to one another:

Thomas Wayne, despite being a surgeon and therefore NOT in charge of delivering babies, has delivered exactly one child. A miss Crystal Brown who decided she didn’t give a damn if he was a surgeon, she was coming out now.

The reason Willis had Shiva in his contacts is because they’re actually half-siblings. There is no real angst behind it, their dad was just a ho. They were pretty sure they had dozens of siblings out there but never got around to searching for them before their lives fell apart.

Just like her son Tim imprinted on Dick Grayson, Janet Drake had a massive crush on Jim Gordon.

Talia met William Cobb once. His decision to steal his son and send him to the Haly’s to create a lineage of talons specifically to spite the Crownes helped Talia decide to pretend to have a miscarriage to avoid a similar situation happening with Damian and the al Ghuls. The irony of what happens later is not lost on her.

Catherine used to live in the border between Burnley and Park Row and had babysat for the Montoyas a few times.