#i might continue with duke and damian and babs

[haveihitanerve]

Gotham Protects Her Own

“Gotham protects her own.” Bruce had whispered to him once, in a, at the time, not so rare moment of affection, cradling dick to his chest as they looked over his city. Their city. Batman and Robin. Dick had believed him, of course, but he hadn’t really felt it. Not until he had stood at the bats side for the second year in a row, and his cape had fluttered. Dicks cape had never fluttered while he was standing. Running across the rooftops? Sure. Jumping over a chimney? Most definitely. But just standing still, no movement? It had never happened. Bruce’s did, from the very beginning Bruce’s cape had flown behind him, flapping with grace in the wind that was not there. But dicks hadn’t. But now… Bruce smiled down at him, pride lining every line in his face, before he took off across the roof, a challenge and a test at the same time. Dick chased after him, and for the first time since he had become Robin, he flew. His feet barely touched down, cushioned by the roofs, by shadows, and he laughed, wild and bright and free, and Bruce joined him, laugh deep and rich and full. Dick belonged to Gotham now, the city had laid her claim on him, and as Batman and Robin flew across the city, Dick could hear a new laugh join them, light and happy and feminine, delighted by their delight, their acceptance. Gotham protects her own, and Dick Grayson-Wayne, the first Robin, had earned that right, that protection, with his leaps and jokes and belief in Batman, in a belief in the city, in the belief that it could be better. 

Gotham protects her own. Catherine Todd had murmured to him once, late one night, a bruise blossoming on her cheek, eyes heavy from drugs. She was close to death, Jason could feel it practically wafting off her, and he didn't think much of her last words, a hazy drugged hallucination, slurred speech. But then she had passed and Jason had left, choosing the street over his father and then he had understood. People came looking for him, naturally, even his father ventured out, but shadows seemed to envelop him, the streets opened to his footfalls, and he always found a safe place to sleep, never waking with his things stolen or suddenly kidnapped. Jason could feel the city, his very lifeblood, could hear her music in her traffic, felt her song in the earthquakes. Gotham cradled him, sheltered him, and when the time came, pushed him to a left unattended Batmobile, tempting him to steal the tires. For the first time, Jason doubted his city, hated her for sending him into a trap. But then he became Robin, and Gotham squealed in delight, and Jason watched in awe as Bruce flew, as Gotham made his cloak billow, as she nurtured her prodigal son. Batman had gotten injured, once, badly enough that he had struggled with his grapple line, and it had snapped. Jason had screamed, lunging for him, but it was too late. Before he could cry over the dead body of his mentor, he found Bruce at the bottom of the building, not much worse for wear at all. Gotham had cradled him, shadows leaping to cushion his fall. Jason had laughed with glee, rushing Bruce home as quickly as possible, and something had brushed his cheek, a faint kiss against his forehead. Gotham protects her own and Jason Todd-Wayne, the second Robin, had been born into that right, that protection, and felt her city pound through his body like blood, feeding his soul. 

Gotham protects her own. Tim had seen the slogan on a Wayne Enterprise billboard once, when he had been seven, an ad campaign promoting insurance and helpful housing. It had become a sort of mantra for him, something he whispered under his breath every time his father made a snide comment about Tim lacking proper talent or social skills, after every call his parents declined, after every fight that had him biting his lip to stop the tears and debate running away. Gotham protects her own. Became his lifeline, his mantra, a promise of a better life. It wasn't anything he ever believed, until he finally worked up the courage to approach Bruce Wayne about the secret. Tim slipped on the Robin uniform for the first time… And something inside him settled. A woman's voice in the back of Tim’s head squealed. But as he raced over the rooftops, finally at Batman's side as he always dreamed to be instead of a few feet behind, snapping pictures, his cape dancing with the wind, his feet hardly touching down, that mantra, that false belief of hope, of a better life, became truth. Gotham protects her own, and Tim Drake-Wayne, the third Robin, had believed in that truth his whole life, wishing with every fiber of his being that she would protect him, and she finally had. 

Gotham protects her own. David Cain had warned her once, telling her great stories of the city with air of midnight black, of water a putrid green, and of a people a hardy and tough. It hadn't been a compliment, just another obstacle she would need to overcome to fulfill her future missions. She had believed him, of course, but… she had never truly known what it meant. Not until she had stumbled into the city, hurt, bleeding, afraid, and she had felt that… otherworldly power. Reaching for her. Its tendrils soft and kind, like a mother, shadows stretching across her, shielding her, as the League prowled the streets. It wasn't until she saw him. The Bat. And his little Bird, brutal efficiency and yet mercy in every action, wasn't until she saw how Gotham cradled them, lifted them, helped them to fly. Gotham had been more accepting to her than she had thought. Maybe because she hadn't hurt her children. Maybe because she knew her pain. Maybe because Cass had been so afraid. But whatever the reason, when Cassandra Cain-Wayne took to the streets, a proud, blazing Bat on her chest, her cape billowing behind her, Gotham sang. 

“Gotham protects her own!” Arthur Brown had screamed once. It had been in a fit of rage, followed by the sounds of windows crashing and tables smashing against the wall. He had been angry, livid even, the sound of his footsteps heavy and hard on the floor as he stormed around, pissed that Batman was unreachable for him, untouchable, protected by the city he claimed to do the same to. Steph knew the truth in the words, had been protected by them her whole life, finding a window open right when her father got home, the closet door unlocked miraculously after her father had locked her up, alleyways opening for her to escape through when bigger kids picked on her, or the cops chased her. And it happened now, as Arthur Brown came storming for her, rage and malice and every evil intention written across his features. Steph could feel that tug, that indescribable feeling of home, and she took a step back, melting into the shadows as she fled, fled her home, fled her father, fled his wrath and everything wrong with the world. She settled on the roof, the way she always did when he got like this, and waited, as she always did. For it to end. For him to stop. It was that night that she saw him for the first time. Steph had heard of him, of course, the Batman was infamous throughout Gotham by now, but she had never seen him in person. Never watched his work. It was at Bethany’s house. Bethany’s father, Vincent, was screaming again. The way Arthur was. But Gotham, Gotham didn't protect Bethany the way she did Steph. Or maybe Bethany just didn't listen. But Batman.. Batman listened. Batman protected. Steph watched, wide eyed, as he jumped through the window, as he grabbed Vincent by the throat and slammed him against the wall, snarling in his face. Steph watched, hands clutching her teddy, wondering whether she would rather risk her father than this demon. But he stopped. Paused. Threw Vincent to the ground in disgust, unconscious, and turned to Bethany. Beth had stopped moving, the way she always did when Vincent got the way he did, dissociating so she wouldn't feel his hands on her. Steph didn't think it worked, but it was something. Batman bent down, gentle, slowly, a few feet away, extending a hand to Beth. Steph couldn't hear what he said, couldn't see his face, but Beth blinked at him. She blinked, and she walked closer, slowly. And Batman… Batman held her, held her until she was crying, held her through her tears and wiped her eyes and rubbed her back, held her until she was asleep without nightmares, and carried her to bed, tucking her in gently. Steph didn't know how long she sat there, watching as he cared for this little girl, forgoing the Bat Symbol in the sky, and his anger, for her. Gotham protects her own, Steph swore as she watched him drop from the window the same night, flitting away on shadows only she could see. Gotham protects her own, and she would protect Gotham. She would mold herself after the Bat, and help. 

[casscainmainly]

Do you read comic book fanfic? If you do, what are some of your favorites?

I know a lot of it is extremely dubious and not related to canon, but every once in a while, you come across AMAZING rarepair fics or roleswap AUs or something that are made with lots of love for canon and are very compelling, so I was wondering if you had recs.

You're so right, some fics are absolutely incredible!! I'm not a big fic reader, but here are some I've really enjoyed!

I've recced this before but I love love love @shobogan's Cass fics. Volving is my favourite, it takes place right after Batgirl (2000) and it's REALLY good! But all of their fics are worth a read!

to be buried alive by @blackbatcass is a masterpiece. A Reborn-era retelling that imagines if Cass and Dick had shared the Batman mantle! If you like Dick, Cass, the Reborn era, Damian, or just amazing writing, I highly highly recommend!

@luvo27 has this really excellent Steph and Bruce series, we could have had anything else, exploring their relationship as Robin and Batman! There's 2 works and they're both amazing, the second one in particular is such a gutwrencher. I cried... (I also cried in the first two recs so. I cry a lot. But they ALL deserved my tears!!)

signal, n. a divine act by britishparty is SOOO GOOD. An AU where Duke's powers manifest in a halo, and he tries to figure out what it's supposed to mean. The use of canon in this hits SO hard like this is lowkey required Duke fic reading.

heavy is the crown by @stephmainly is a StephCass sports AU where Steph is a reporter and Cass is a pro athlete!! 1 out of 2 chapters has been published but it's so so fun and the StephCass dynamic is so chef's kiss perfect, go read it!!

And Be Made Anew by @teleportationmagic is GOD-TIER. A mission gone wrong forces Babs to choose between Steph and Cass, and she chooses Cass. The fallout from this is breathtaking, and the characterisation for Babs and Cass is FLAWLESS. It's unfinished but it's so so so good it's already worth it!!

Moonlight Musings by Scribe_By_Night is a TaiCass fic and it's so GOOD. It really captures Cass' feelings for Tai'Darshan, and their dynamic is sooo interesting. This is unfinished and hasn't been updated in around 2 years but A GIRL CAN DREAM OKAY. I actually created an AO3 account to comment on this fic 😭. If you read and enjoy this, please leave a comment too so maybe the author might continue it one day!

If you want fic recs from people who read more fics than me and whose opinions I wholeheartedly trust, @getthembees and @aingeal98 have some great fic recs (mostly Cass-centric)! For Duke, check out @himejoshiangels' Duke Thomas fic rec list (which is where I read signal, n. a divine act and my life changed forever so the whole list has a thumbs up from me). I hope you enjoy these fics, they all deserve heaps of love!!!

[bi-bats]

18 + jaytim for the drabble ask? or any prompt you wish you were sent!

Wow it's SUCH a good thing that I kept a note that had all the actual prompts in them 😂 Thank you for waiting so patiently for this!!! And if you're on ao3 please reply with your link so I can gift it to you! I hope you enjoy 💚

Prompt: This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you’ve ever had. Of course I’m in.

Keep reading on ao3 or below the cut:

“Okay. Our target will be entering the theater with his date sometime between 5:28 and 5:42. Research indicates that he likes to be in the theater long enough to see all the previews, and his date likes to have time to acquire snacks. I’ve seen the movie three times already, so even though the tickets say the movie starts at 6, it’s actually going to start at 6:14, and lights will go down for previews at 5:55. We’re going to enter the theater at 5:54 — question?”

“What if I want popcorn?” Jason asks, lowering his hand back down into his lap. 

Tim scoffs and rolls his eyes, turning his attention back to the map of the theater. “I’m not answering that—”

“—We’re going to sit through a two hour movie that you’ve already seen three times, I want snacks.”

Tim’s lips press into a thin line as he glares at Jason. 

Jason raises an eyebrow at him, and the standoff continues as Tim assesses his opponent.

The air between them is so tense, it’s sort of surprising that a tumbleweed doesn’t blow right through the nest. 

Tim breaks first, with a sigh and a roll of his eyes. “Fine, after a cost-benefit analysis in which the cost is adding time to buy snacks and the benefit is you not intentionally sabotaging our mission, I have determined it is in my best interest to add time for us to buy snacks.”

“The cost is also the actual snacks, you know,” Jason adds. 

Tim very graciously decides not to throw his laser pointer at him. 

“Focus up, Jason, this is a mission.” 

Jason scoffs and kicks his feet up onto the coffee table, looking incredibly bored, but he nods at Tim and redirects his attention to the map of the theater.

“We will be entering the theater at 5:54. You’re going to laugh at something I say right as the lights are going down, so that I can shush you and draw the target’s attention. Then we’re going to find our seats, which are here—” Tim points the laser at a pair of seats two rows in front of the seat with a target drawn neatly on it, “—so that he sees us, but doesn’t have time to corner us. After we sit, you’ll put your arm around me — what is it now, Jason?” Tim sighs at Jason’s raised hand. 

“Why don’t we just tell them we’re dating?” 

Jason thinks he sees Tim’s eye twitch. 

“Are you insane?” 

“Are you? Look at this fucking plan, Tim.” Jason waves a hand at the map of the theater. “You saw the Barbie movie three times for this, and you’re going to see it a fourth.” 

“This is Dick’s eleventh time seeing it.”

“He’s Dick.” 

“Yeah, but it’s worth it! And I actually think you’ll really like it too, it has excellent commentary on—”

“—Not the point, baby,” Jason interrupts, shaking his head. 

Tim scoffs, getting that tilt to his mouth that only comes out when he’s really irritated. 

“So what, you wanted to sit them all down and tell them?”

“Ugh, no!” Jason huffs. “I figured we could just, like. I don’t know. Kiss after a briefing or something.” 

Oh, Tim’s eye is definitely twitching. 

“In the Batcave. Where we can be locked in?” 

“Oh, fine, yeah. I see that, alright. After a mission, before the briefing, then?” 

“So you want to be interrogated publicly.” 

“We can run!” Jason scoffs.

“From Dick, Damian, Stephanie, Cass, Duke, Babs, and Bruce?” 

“Well, Duke might not be there, we might have a chance if—”

“—Cass.” 

In the following silence, Tim crosses his arms over his chest and raises an eyebrow at Jason. 

“Fine. Fine!” Jason sighs, “Not that. One at a time, then?” 

“You want to have the same conversation six times?” 

“Why does everyone think I hate talking about feelings?” 

“Because you do hate talking about feelings,” Tim says, looking slightly amused. 

“I value my privacy, there’s a difference. Plus, in this family, you give an inch and they take a mile.”

“Fine. Let me walk you through what happens if we don’t do my plan.”

Oh, here we go, Jason thinks as he spots that one look in Tim’s eye that he gets whenever he’s setting a trap.

“Where do you suggest we start?” 

“Oh god, Bruce last.” 

“Fine, give me the order you would want to do it in.” 

Jason tilts his head to the side for a second, before settling on: “Duke, Cass, Dick, Steph, Damian, Bruce.” 

Tim opens his mouth, a glimmer in his eyes, and Jason adds, “Actually, switch Steph and Dick.” 

If anything, that malicious look in his eyes only gets worse. 

“Okay, fine. Starting with Duke is smart. Since he has the whole ghost vision thing, he probably already knows. He’ll have some questions, and he’ll probably tease us a little, but it shouldn’t be totally unbearable, right?” 

Jason winces.

“Next, Cass. She definitely already knows, but she’s been waiting for us to tell her because either she’s being kind, or because she’s also waiting for the opportunity to tease us. But again, we can take getting teased by Cass.

“Now, switching Steph and Dick. Either way, we’ve already fallen into a trap, because Steph will be offended if we tell Dick first, and Dick will be offended if we tell Steph first, and either way, both of them will be offended that we told Duke and Cass before them. Steph already knows we were sleeping together—”

“—What?”

“Oh, yeah, I told her ages ago,” Tim says, swiping a hand through the air like he can just wave away Jason’s surprise. “So us dating probably won’t be news, strictly speaking. But she’s going to squeal and hug us and be excited and so happy for us—” he drops his voice back down from the higher pitched tone he’s been using to mock his best friend, “—until she finds out that we’ve been hiding it from her for three months, and then this is going to be an actual, physical fight.”

“No, it won’t,” Jason scoffs, kicking at the coffee table. 

“Jason,” Tim says, crossing his arms over his chest. “She hit me in the face with a brick the day we met. She is going to punch you, and it is going to hurt.”

It wouldn’t hurt that much, Jason thinks. But he knows better than to try and stop Tim now that he’s really going, so he keeps his mouth shut and lets his head fall to rest on the back of the couch.

“Now, Dick. He’s going to be so emotional. He’s going to be so happy for us he could cry, and he might, and he’s also going to be indignant that we didn’t tell him first. And once he gets past that, he is going to have a thousand questions, some of which are going to be invasive and personal and deeply uncomfortable. And he’s not going to understand that they are invasive and personal and deeply uncomfortable! It’s going to be an interrogation, Jason. One where he asks us about our sex life.”

Jason refuses to wince at that. He does sigh, if only to voice his displeasure with everything about this situation. 

Well. Everything except getting to date Tim.

That’s been pretty great.

“And if we ever escape Dick, then we’ll have Damian. He does care about us and he will find a way to shovel talk both of us, but he probably won’t care that we waited so long to tell him. He is definitely going to be mad that he was the last to know, though. Actually, no one is going to be happy about not being the first to know. But revisiting shovel talks, Bruce.”

“Hey, I’m actually dying to see the look on his face when he finds out,” Jason says, a malicious grin pulling across his face. “That vein in his forehead is going to pop out, it’ll be funny.” 

“Oh?” Tim raises an eyebrow, stepping towards the coffee table. His palms press to the table as he leans down to look Jason in the eyes. 

The whole thing would probably be as intimidating as he was going for to someone who hadn’t seen imprint of bedsheets pressed into the side of his face this morning as he tripped on the sheets getting out of bed. 

But he’s a professional, so he carries on like Jason hasn’t noticed the intimidation isn’t working. 

“It’ll be funny? It’ll be funny when Bruce handles it by telling us we need to break up because he doesn’t have any time to process what it means for us and not what it means for the mission?” 

“He’s not going to do that, Tim.” 

Tim narrows his eyes at Jason.

“Are you sure?” 

Suddenly, Jason’s throat feels a little dry. 

“Okay, fine,” he concedes. “B doesn’t always respond well to emotional situations under pressure. But he won’t demand we break up—”

“—No?” Tim interrupts. “Then what, we’ll get a lecture on how we’re endangering ourselves and each other and everyone else with our feelings?”

“We won’t—”

“Even if we don’t, you think Dick’s interrogation was going to be bad? That’ll be the warm-up for Bruce. He’ll take each of us into his office alone and ask a million questions, and if, if he approves, it’ll still be exhausting and uncomfortable and—”

“Okay, okay!” Jason stops him, putting his hands up in surrender. The motion makes that one look ripple through Tim’s eyes that he gets whenever he wins, the one that’s always a little bit of a turn on when it’s not Jason who’s lost. “You made your point. We’re not going to tell them all individually.” 

“And you still want to tell them all together? You want to handle all of those reactions at once?” 

“Not really,” Jason sighs. 

“Okay. In that case, hear my plan out: We let Dick see us on a date. He starts to suspect that it’s a date, and he follows us. We get dinner after the movie and let him follow us, and then you take me home, and we let him see us kissing through the window. He won’t interrupt because then he would have to admit he was spying on us, and he won’t want to walk in on us, but that’s key, because it gives him time to process it. And because he’s a horrible gossip, he’s going to tell everyone for us. And he’s also going to tell everyone to keep it quiet and not say anything to us, because he doesn’t want us to know it came from him. And that is going to give everyone else time to process it. And eventually Dick is going to get sick of trying to subtly ask us questions and he’s just going to blurt out a question about whether or not we’re actually dating, and we’ll say yes, and then he’ll be so smug about having ‘figured it out’ that he won’t ask half of the questions he would have if we’d sprung it on him, and by then he’ll have figured out that he doesn’t actually want to know the answers to those questions.” 

“One flaw in your plan.” 

“No, there isn’t,” Tim scoffs.

“Everyone’s going to be mad we hid it for this long anyways.” 

“But we did hide it for this long, so it’s a little too late to avoid that. And if anyone gets mad, we just tell them that we were worried that they weren’t going to accept us and that’s why we didn’t tell them, and then they’ll stop being mad because it won’t look good for them.”

“That’s kind of manipulative, Tim.” 

Tim shrugs at him. “And? Look, are you in or not?” 

“So, your plan is to let Dick see us on a date at the Barbie movie and then let him follow us home so he can see us kiss?” 

“Yes. Weren’t you listening?” 

Jason sighs and rubs his thumb and forefinger against his eyes. “This is the stupidest plan you’ve ever had—”

“—Hey!—” 

“—but yes, I’m in.” 

“That’s more like it. But for the record, it’s not stupid. It’s incredibly well thought out.” The little red dot of the laser pointer circles around the map of the theater, as if Tim’s proving his point. 

“That’s what makes this so stupid, baby. This is way too much work. You saw that movie three times for this.” 

“You’re going to want to see it again, too, Jason. I promise.” 

“Wait, wait, one last question, though.” 

Tim sighs, “Yes?” 

“We are actually going to fuck after Dick sees us kiss, right?” 

Jason ducks just in time to dodge the laser pointer soaring over his head as he cackles at Tim. 

“You’re lucky I love you,” Tim scoffs, rolling his eyes. 

The last of Jason’s laughter dies down as he fishes the laser pointer out from behind the couch and tosses it back to Tim.

“Every day, baby. Aw, don’t pout, come on. You can walk me through your plan again, if you want.”

“Fine. Now pay attention, and hold all your questions until the end, please.” 

They make it about as far in to the plan as they did last time when Jason raises his hand again. 

“Yes, Jason, what now?” Tim asks. 

Jason smirks, mischievous and playful. 

“What kind of snacks are we getting?” 

[zyhkoo]

☆ you bewitched me

Jason Todd x GN!singer

Jason knew that he should keep his distance, but he cant help but fall of Gotham’s most beloved singer. part 1

Jason was currently on patrol with Nightwing, jumping and running between rooftops.

“You seem pretty hyper today” Nightwing commented as he landed beside Jason on the edge of a building.

Jason rolled his eyes under his helmet.

Dick often teased him whenever he was in a particularly good mood. And today, he was very much in a good mood.

“Shut up” he retorted back at him. “I’m just on a good roll today, is all.

“Are you going to go see your girlfriend again after patrol?” Dick asked, grinning as he eyed Jason’s happy demeanor.

Jason glanced over at Dick. He had to resist the urge to just smack the grin right off his face.

“None of your business” Jason grumbled, keeping his eyes focused on the city below.

“Who’s your girlfriend?” you peeked from behind.

Jason whirled around, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest.

His eyes widened as he saw you standing behind him. His mind was going crazy wondering how in the world you’d snuck up on him like that.

Meanwhile Dick was just laughing maniacally beside him, completely amused by Jason’s reaction to your surprise appearance.

Jason had to resist the urge to glare at Dick.

He focused his eyes on you, who was looking at him with a cheeky grin.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Was on patrol and wanted to see you boys.” you answered.

Dick chuckled again. “You just wanted to see this one” he said, gesturing at Jason.

Jason was about to snap at Dick but managed to hold himself back.

“Oh,” you frowned, “guilty as charged.” you joked back.

Jason could feel his cheeks heat up a bit as you admitted it.

He glanced over at Dick to see if he was going to say anything and thankfully he didn’t.

He turned back to you, trying to act casual. “You couldn’t have waited until we got back to the Bat-Cave?” he asked, crossing his arms.

You crossed your arms “Came all the way to find at least one of you then you want me out?” you huffed “Okay, I see.”

Jason couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at your little act.

“Don’t put words in my mouth” he said, a bit amused. “I didn’t say I wanted you out, I just said that you could’ve waited instead of sneaking up on me” he replied.

Dick was watching the whole interaction and found it absolutely hilarious. He could clearly see that Jason was trying so hard to act like his usual grumpy self, but failing miserably.

Jason glanced over at Dick who was clearly trying to hold back another laugh. He was getting fed up with how amused he was getting by the whole situation.

He let out a small huff before looking back at you. “Look, you’re here already so you might as well just hang out with us until patrol’s done” he said.

You unfolded your arms “Sweet.” you moved to look at the city down below.

Jason kept his eyes on you as you walked closer to the edge.

He kept a close eye on you, as usual, making sure you didn’t accidentally do anything stupid.

Jason had no doubt that you were a great vigilante. He had seen firsthand how strong and smart you were during patrols.

But there was also another side of you that Jason adored just as much.

He loved watching you perform.

He didn’t know how you managed to perform in front of large crowds or how you were able to do it so confidently and effortlessly.

He couldn’t relate to that at all, he hated having the spotlight on him.

But you? You were completely in your element while you were on stage.

The bat-family was gathered together in the audience, watching as you performed on stage.

Steph and Duke were fangirling over you, while Babs and Cass were all smiles and singing along to the songs they knew. Tim was tapping along to the beat while Dick enthusiastically sang along to the lyrics.

Even Damian was somewhat enjoying the show, even if he was trying hard to hide it.

Jason’s eyes were still glued to you as you continued performing.

He felt a slight nudge and he glanced over at Dick.

“What?” he grumbled.

“Earth to Jason,” Dick said with a smirk. “You’re completely drooling!”

Jason quickly snapped out of it and realized he’s been openly staring at you this whole time.

He felt his cheeks heat up as he quickly looked away.

“I’m not drooling” he mumbled.

Dick heard this time and time again.

“Yeah, and you’re not in love with her either, right?”

Jason rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath.

He knew Dick already knew about his feelings for you (almost everyone did), but he still hated dealing with his teasing. But at the same time he didn’t mind.

“Shut up.” he hissed.

You tapped your mic then strummed your guitar “Okay, I haven’t released this song on any platforms. But I figured I’m going to sing it here first before I release it.” you told the crowd.

The crowd cheered as you announced a new unreleased song.

As you strummed your guitar, Jason recognized it a bit. As you sang, he definitely knew where this came from.

He knew this song, you had sung it to him before.

He felt his heart thump in his chest as he listened to you sing, singing the very same lyrics you sang to him in the privacy of your apartment.

Jason couldn’t believe you were actually singing the song you sung to him all those months ago.

The memory of your late night singing session in your apartment was still fresh in his mind. He could still recall the warm and intimate atmosphere, as you sang so softly just for him.

He couldn’t help but feel a flutter in his chest as he thought back to that moment.

As you stopped the song you smiled at the crowd. “Um, I wrote that for a friend.” you nervously chuckled as you scan at the VIP area up above where the bat-family was.

The crowd cheered and applauded as you finished the song.

Jason’s heart beat faster as he heard you say it was written for a friend.

He knew damn well it was for him. You didn’t sing those lyrics for no reason.

The rest of the bat-family was glancing around at each other, clearly all knowing you were talking about Jason.

Dick was grinning widely, obviously enjoying Jason’s reactions.

Jason just sat silently, trying to maintain his stoic demeanor but failing miserably as his cheeks turned slightly red.

He could feel everyone’s eyes on him, and he knew they were all enjoying this moment a bit too much.

“What?” He looked at his family.

His family members all had amused smiles on their faces.

Dick was still grinning, while Steph and Duke were both squealing loudly. Babs had a knowing smirk, and Damian even had a tiny bit of a smirk on his face.

“Yeah, yeah laugh it up” he muttered, folding his arms and looking away.

The bat-family made their way backstage, eager to see you and congratulate you on your performance.

As they made their way deeper backstage, they eventually found you talking to the stage crew and the backup dancers.

As soon as you saw the bat-family approaching, you brightened up immediately.

You hugged all of them but noticed that Jason wasn’t there.

“Where’s Jay? you asked “I’m right here,” a voice said from behind you.

Jason suddenly appeared from behind you which made you jump a bit.

You turned your head with a smile and immediately pulled him in a hug.

His arms automatically wrapped around your back, pulling you closer to him.

He tried to play it cool and act nonchalant, but he couldn’t help the small smile that formed on his lips as he held you.

“Ah- Jason, wait I can’t breathe!” you wheezed.

Jason didn’t realize he was hugging you so tightly until you spoke up.

He immediately loosened his grip, but still held you close to him.

“Sorry” he mumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed that he was getting so affectionate in front of his family.

You let go of his grasp and faced everyone “Why don’t we all go eat somewhere?” you said as you specifically eyed Bruce.

Bruce, on the other hand, let out a small sigh, realizing there was no way he could say no to you.

"Alright, where do you want to go?" he asked, everyone started brainstorming.

The bat-family members all started throwing out different ideas

“Thai food..

“Burger place.”

“Italian.”

“Pizza!”

“Sushi.”

“Steak!”

Jason stood silently, just watching his family members all debate where to eat.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly overwhelmed by the different suggestions.

“How about we let Jason decide?” Dick says.

Oh, great.

All eyes turn to Jason as they try to convince Jason to choose their option.

“Jason say steak please.” you pleaded.

Jason felt all eyes on him, everyone eager for him to make a decision.

He heard your pleading tone as you begged for him to choose steak, and the way you said his name sent a small flutter to his heart.

“Steak” he finally said, the word slipping out of his mouth without even thinking twice.

Everyone let out a mix of groans and cheers.

Bruce looked relieved that a decision had finally been made, while Damian just rolled his eyes.

“All of you are like children.” Damian says.

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to Months.

Jason had come to look forward to your constant presence in his life. From your regular hangouts to your late night phone calls and everything in between, he craved it all.

Jason found it harder and harder to deny his feelings for you, but he still somehow managed to keep it under wraps.

He knew his family members were getting fed up with him holding back, especially Dick and Tim.

They both kept pestering him, saying how painfully obvious it was that he was completely smitten with you. But Jason just brushed them off, pretending like he didn’t know what they were talking about.

You were walking in the batcave then saw the three of them talking about…. you.

You hid behind a wall listening in.

“Why can’t you just tell her?” Tim asks as he crosses his arms.

Jason grumbled a bit as Tim asked him the same question again.

“Because,” he replied, “It’s not that simple. Do you think dating a star is gonna be easy?”

“You’re just making excuses, Jay” Dick chimed in. “You know they like you, so why are you holding back?”

Jason grumbled, feeling frustrated as he knew he couldn’t deny what they were saying.

“I just can’t, okay?” he snapped back. “It’s not that easy to just confess to someone like them.”

You felt your heart sink a bit as you heard Jason's words.

You couldn't help but wonder what he meant by that. Was the idea of confessing to you really something that he thought was so impossible?.

“Why does it have to be so complicated?” he asked. “You like them, they like you. It’s not rocket science, just ask them out.”

“It’s not that simple,” Jason mumbled, folding his arms. “They’re a star in the industry, they could’ve had anyone they wanted. Why the hell would they want me?”

He felt like he wasn’t good enough for you, that he wasn’t worthy of your time and love. He was worried that his own issues and past baggage would only drag you down and make your life worse.

“I don’t want them to love me, I’m not someone worth wanting.” Jason said.

Jason’s words were completely contradictory to his own thoughts and feelings.

Deep down, he knew that he desperately wanted your love and affection. He longed to be with you, to hold you, to love you.

But his own self-doubt and insecurity kept him from accepting or even acknowledging his own feelings.

His words punched you in the gut, your eyes clouded with pain as you clenched your fist.

Tim’s eyes widened as he saw you around the corner.

Both Jason and Dick turned around, following Tim's gaze and freezing as they saw you standing there.

Jason's face paled as he realized you had been eavesdropping on their conversation.

You were still reeling from what you had overheard, your heart aching at Jason's words about not wanting your love.

Feeling overwhelmed, you stormed out of the batcave, leaving the three men speechless and stunned.

Eventually, Jason snapped out of his frozen state and began running towards the entrance of the batcave.

Dick and Tim both watched him go, knowing that he was going after you.

Soon enough, he found you in the gardens outside the manor, sitting on a bench with your head buried in your hands.

He cleared his throat, trying to get your attention.

"Hey," he mumbled softly, taking a seat on the bench next to you.

“Gah!” you exclaimed, surprised by his presence.

Jason flinched as you exclaimed in surprise, not meaning to startle you so much.

“Sorry.” he apologized softly, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

You looked at him then softened “It’s okay.” you said as you pulled your legs to your chest.

He knew it was his fault for making you feel like this, and he hated himself for it.

The two of you stayed silent for a while.

He knew it was his fault for making you feel like this, and he hated himself for it.

He took a deep breath, knowing he owed you an apology.

“Listen, about what you overheard-” he began.

“So, everything I did was all just casual to you?” you cut him off.

Jason looked taken aback by your question.

“No, no, it wasn’t casual” he protested, shaking his head. “I genuinely enjoyed every moment I spent with you. You don’t have any idea how much I-” he cut himself off, suddenly feeling too embarrassed to finish his sentence.

“Jason, I tried to give away my schedule just to hang out with you. I wrote songs for you. I gave you presents just to show how much I care. I tried to show you that I loved you, but you wouldn't let me that’s why I didn’t say anything.” you said

“But, I wasn’t too sure if you actually didn’t want my love so I just waited till you said something.” you looked at his gaze.

Jason was speechless as he listened to your words.

He felt a pang of guilt in his heart as he realized the extent to which you had gone to show him your feelings.

He had been so focused on hiding his own feelings that he hadn't been able to appreciate all the gestures and efforts you had made to show him how much you cared.

He stared back at your gaze, his expression unreadable.

“I know I’m affectionate to my friends, but it’s different with you Jay.” you looked away, staring at the red flowers in front of you.

“If you want me to stop loving you just.. say the word.”

Jason's heart skipped a beat as he listened to your words.

He knew he should say the word, should tell you to stop loving him. It would be the easy thing to do, the logical thing.

But the words just wouldn’t come out of his mouth.

"I…. I can't," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't ask you to do that."

Your head turned to him “What?” you blinked.

Jason avoided your gaze, feeling conflicted and vulnerable.

"I can't ask you to stop loving me... because I don't want you to," he admitted softly.

He knew he was risking everything by admitting his feelings like this, but he couldn't hold back anymore.

He took a deep breath, gathering all his courage to continue.

"The truth is, I’ve been a complete dumbass for months," he said, finally looking back at you.

"Every time you tried to show me how you felt, I just couldn't accept it. I was scared, okay? I didn’t think I was worth your time or your love. So I kept pushing you away, pretending like I didn't care."

For a moment, you just stared at him. Then you felt your body move towards him as your arms pulled him in a warm hug.

Jason was taken by surprise but he immediately wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you tight.

He buried his face in your shoulder, feeling an overwhelming mix of emotions.

All the tension and guilt he had felt for months slowly began to melt away as he held onto you.

"I’m sorry" he mumbled against your skin. "I'm sorry for being an idiot. For making you doubt how I feel about you."

Your hand slowly caressed his hair “It’s okay, I’ll always forgive you either way.” you softly replied, trying to soothe him.

He looked into your eyes, searching for any signs of doubt. But all he saw was sincerity and love.

A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and he felt a warmth spread throughout his chest.

Your hand moved up to cup his cheeks when you saw his smile “There’s my Jason.”

He leaned into your touch, feeling a sense of comfort and peace wash over him. "Yeah, I'm still me," he said softly, his eyes locked with yours.

He gently placed his hand over yours, holding it against his face, feeling the warmth from your touch.

"I'm sorry for being such a dumbass," he mumbled, feeling overwhelmed with emotion. "I won't push you away again, I promise."

"I just.... I’m not good at talking about my feelings, y'know?" he added, "But I'll try, for you. I’ll try my best to show you how much you mean to me."

Your expression softens “And I’ll give you everything I have.”

Jason felt his heart melt as your expression softened and you spoke those words.

He felt undeserving, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but believe you.

He leaned his forehead against yours, "You already have my everything," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

Jason's lips met yours in a soft, gentle kiss.

When he started dating you, he felt more at peace.

Though he often hung out with you, this was different. Everything felt so intimate and lovely.

He’s usually composed, that is until he touches you and he can't pretend he loses himself again.

You made him a sappy, stupid something out of him. The kind he swore he’ll never be. He feels awake inside a dream.

Jason couldn’t believe the effect you had on him. He had never thought he could feel this way about someone, so vulnerable and exposed.

He used to pride himself on his stoicism, his ability to maintain control. But when he was with you, all of that went out the window.

He found himself craving your touch, your attention, your love. He was like a man possessed, completely bewitched by you.

But Jason especially loved your voice, he could listen to you sing for hours on end.

There was something about the way you sang that captivated him. Your voice, your expression, the way you poured your heart and soul into every lyric.

He loved watching you perform on stage, seeing you shine and shine, but he had to admit that he loved it even more when you sang for him alone.

Those moments, when it was just the two of you, felt like a secret little world that only they shared.

He loved how, after each and every song, you would turn to him with a smile, seeking his approval and praise.

He would shower you with compliments and applause, telling you how beautiful you sounded and how privileged he felt to be the one to witness your talent.

But sometimes, he preferred to show you how he felt. He would pull you into his arms, holding you close and kissing you deeply, hoping to convey all his appreciation and love through his actions.

He wanted to do more than just say it. He wanted to show you how much he loved hearing you sing.

He would pull you into his arms, holding you tightly against his chest, his head resting on your shoulder.

"Sing for me again," he’d murmur, his lips pressing against your neck.

Jason was not one to broadcast his relationship with you to the world.

He liked to keep things between the two of you as private as possible.

He was protective and territorial, and didn’t like the idea of other people knowing intimate details about his life, especially when it came to you.

Your life was constantly put under a microscope, with fans and paparazzi following your every move.

You didn't want that kind of attention to affect your relationship with Jason.

You wanted to keep him away from the public eye, to protect him from the spotlight and the scrutiny that came with it.

But that didn't stop you from longing to tell people that he was yours.

Jason would often feel embarrassed when you would brag about him to the bat-fam or your friends.

He wasn't used to being talked about in that way, and he didn't like being the center of attention.

He would often stand there, trying his best to keep a straight face, while secretly enjoying hearing you talk about how awesome and amazing he was.

The bat-fam found it all too easy to tease Jason, and they often did so, much to his annoyance.

However, they quickly discovered that it was practically impossible to tease you.

You rarely got flustered or fazed by their taunts, and it drove them insane.

Jason would sit back and watch, feeling a mix of admiration and amusement as you effortlessly shut down any attempts to poke fun at you.

Jason's eyes eventually settled on the shelves, where a collection of vinyl records were neatly displayed.

He walked over, taking a closer look at the records. Some of them were of your own albums, but there were also records from other artists that you seemed to enjoy.

He picked up one of your albums, admiring the cover and running his fingers over the title.

As Jason browsed through your collection, he noticed the wide range of genres.

There was pop, rock, jazz, R&B, country, even classical. It was clear that you had a taste for variety.

He picked up a jazz record and held it up "Who knew you were such a fan of jazz?"

You were sitting in an armchair, your guitar on your lap as you strummed a soft melody.

You looked up as Jason spoke, a small smile playing at your lips.

"You don’t know this but I’m a sucker for Jazz.” you replied.

He let out a soft scoff at your response. "I’m learning more and more about you every day," he said.

“The more you know.” you said, taking the record from him.

Jason watched as you took the record from him and opened your record player, placing the vinyl on it.

The music filled the room, a smooth and sultry jazz melody that oozed with elegance and charm.

You turned back at him, then you had an idea “Hey, dance with me.” you offered your hand.

He took your hand, intertwining his fingers with yours, a smile playing at his lips. "Alright, I'll dance with you.”

Jason treasured every single moment he spent with you.

He adored the way you held his hand, the way you looked at him with those sparkling eyes, the way your laughter would ring out like music to his ears.

He loved the way you would pull him close, the way you would sing for him, the way you would kiss him as if you couldn’t get enough of him.

And in those moments, everything else faded away. There was only you, and him, and the love they shared. He was bewitched.

[goodluckdetective]

Continuing off my “Tims parent’s weren’t bad or good, just mid, iPad kid vibes”, here are some assorted thoughts:

-Fanon Tim Drake family has really messed with the perception here, since the fanon tends to crank up their neglect 100 degrees. I can understand why, if you like this live your truth, but it can really confuse folks.

-Tim’s parents appearances are over a wide range of comics that tend older which makes reading them kinda a pain. So finding the source material isn’t exactly a walk in the park.

-Most of the rest of the Batfam has a wild variation in parental quality. At the top we have category A of Duke, Dick and Babs where both or one of their parents were solid. Then we got category B of “depends on whose writing they might have 1 good but flawed parent and one super bad one” like Steph and Jason. Then there’s “it’s complicated” for Damian, and “Jesus Christ” for Cass.

Tim probably falls between category A and B. Janet and Jack are depicted as absentee and work obsessed but not to an illegal or negligent degree for the time. Jack def has abusive behavior later on in the Robin series. His parents are complicated but in a normal way, and I think that can be a depiction people don’t love to dig into. Which I think is a shame because I think there’s a lot to work with there actually. In the wake of his parents deaths, Tim really has never confronted that his parents let him down in a lot of ways and it’s not way to idolize them in comparison with “my dad shot me” Cassandra Cain.

-Janet def seems to be the better of the two. I don’t have any idea where this “ice queen” Janet Drake comes from, she just seems like a workaholic.

[glowinthedarkjellyfish]

Gymnast!daughter head cannons!!

Gymnast!daughter who likes to spend time with Dick just swinging around in the gym, they’ll boy enjoy just practicing tricks together, hey they even got Bruce to but a trapeze frame for the garden.

Now, Bruce hates it when they do the trapeze. Okay Dick is an incredibly skilled vigilante and former acrobat and his daughter is one of the best gymnasts in the world, he gets nervous, even when there is a net under the trapeze bars.

But Bruce loves his kids so he still bought a trapeze set for Dick and Gymnast!daughter because whatever makes them both happy he’ll make sure they get it.

Gymnast!Daughter who actually did ballet and ballroom dancing before starting gymnastics.

Her mum saw an advertisement where kids could get 2 different dance classes for the price of one if they took the class for 5 months. Gymnast!daughter loved her first classes so much when she was 3 that she continued dancing untill she was 14.

She started gymnastics when she was 8 and would often incorporate some of her dance skills into her floor routines.

Gymast!daughter who’s tall for a gymast. Kind of tall in general since she’s 5’9 but for a gymnast, that’s basically unheard of.

Gymnast!daughter who, because of her height sets new standards for gymnastics, totally destroying the stigma that you need to be small to be good at gymnastics.

Gymnast!daughter who, when she was 15 and working as an intern for Wayne Enterprises was mugged!! In broad daylight as well. Luckily for her Red Hood was near.

Gymnast!daughter who got home and immediately started looking up new articles about the Red Hood.

Gymnast!daughter still hadn’t been adopted by Bruce at this point, that was a couple months later so she didn’t know about their alter egos.

Red Hood became her favorite, vigilante mainly because he saved her but also because he recognised her from a local gymnastics competition and said she reminded him of his brother and that she had real talent.

How can he not become her favorite crime fighting gothamite after that?!!

So Gymnast!daughter buys some Red Hood merch, just a plush and a hoodie okay maybe like 5 hoodies and even some rubbers in the shape of his helmet, she may also dedicated her next floor routine to him by having a leotard the same red as his helmet and the routine being a bit action-y.

The music she used for her floor was a mashup of songs that she had arranged and dubbed the red hood. So yeah she might’ve been a bit of a fan, I mean je did save her life so…..

But imagine Bruce Alfred and Dick’s surprise when they learn she’s a major fan of Red Hood.

I mean, Jason has only recently gotten back and relationships are a bit tense, he’ll swing by the manor now and again for food but, tense.

So yeah Dick who gets a younger sister finds out she’s a huge fan of his brother, he can’t say that nooooo she doesn’t know their identities yet.

So he waits. He puts up with her fangirling over Red Hood but when she tells Dick of how Red Hood told her he had seen one of her gymnastics competitions and she reminded him of his brother Dick decided he could put up with you being Jason’s no1 fan à little longer.

Still Dick always reminds you your room would look better with Nightwing merch instead, saying he’s way cooler than Red Hood.

Gymnast!daughter who laughs a bit at that and tells him she might wear Nightwing blue for her next out of state competition, show some pride and love for the people that try and make Gotham safer.

He finds that quite alright.

So this is the first kind of added on Drabble for the gymnast!daughter series.

I’ll do more little drabbles like this and I know I said this was head cannons but I forgor halfway through writing sk yeah. More like relarionship previews of how stuff was when gymnast daughter first met dick and jason.

Next part should be tomorrow and will show more of tim and Damian then I’ll do steph babs and cassie and duke.

Leaving best till last bruce then Alfred o’Immortal one.

After that probably some short stories to add onto gymnast!daughters life and create more of a character background for her.

Lmk what you all think 🫶🩷

[cephalog0d]

Batfam Spreadsheet 3 (and 4, technically)

I HAVE DONE A THING. For anyone who was following my previous enormous spreadsheet of doom, I sat down and split it into a PREBOOT one and a POST-FLASHPOINT one.

Mostly this was to make things a little less unwieldy to use. I'll be continuing to update the post-flashpoint one as usual (and, I mean, I guess the preboot one if something happens to come up, but I expect that one to be pretty static).

(I might look at doing some kind of multiversal one, too? We'll see. Open to suggestions/requests there!)

All the previous stuff about what's in them and how they work still applies! See below the cut for more detail!

Characters included (both spreadsheets): Barbara Gordon, Bette Kane, Cassandra Cain, Charlie Gage-Radcliffe, Damian Wayne, David Zavimbe, Dick Grayson, Helena Bertinelli, Jason Todd, Jean-Paul Valley, Kate Kane, Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake

Characters included (Preboot only): Wendy Harris

Characters included (Post-Flashpoint only): Bao Pham, Claire Clover, Cullen Row, Duke Thomas, Hank Clover, Harper Row, Jace Fox, Jarro, Minhkhoa Khan, Luke Fox, Maps Mizoguchi

Roles: Characters are listed by Major, Supporting, Minor, Cameo and Unreal roles. Cameos that are only on a cover/in a photo are noted as such. When a character appears in both the main story and flashback both are listed separately (e.g. Supporting; Flashback). When characters are only in flashback, that's listed with a clarifying role (e.g. Flashback (Supporting)). Roles listed as "Flashback" only are either Minor or Cameo roles. Unreal indicates the character is in a dream/hallucination/vision/etc.

Identities: Character names in the Identity column indicate someone is out of costume or at a point where they aren't using a secret identity (flashbacks before officially taking it up, gaps where they stopped, etc.)

All sheets are conditionally formatted so if you enter "Y" in the Read column it will highlight the whole row in green to mark it off, if you're the kind of person who likes to keep track and mark things off a list.

The widget at the top of each sheet will calculate how many entries the sheet has and what percentage are marked as "read" (based on entering "Y" for the Read column)!

Series dates are the start of the series, since that's how a lot of places besides DC itself with their weird "volume" convention distinguish different runs.

Collected: Lists collected volumes that contain that issue (at least in part). "NC" indicates that as far as I can find this issue has not been collected in a book form. Issue may be collected in additional places or editions, but it's a starting point! I found this site very helpful in figuring this part out.

As of this posting, the sheet is up to date through cover date Jun 2024 (release date Apr 2024)!

Happy reading!

[ambriel-angstwitch]

Robins being Robin Commentary #5-6

Fourth and Final Part!

Immediate Bald Damian Jump scare. Also kind of reminds me of Aang.

Batmans been having an angsty night stroll. Found a picture of a girl that looks like Jenny Wren, I wish he was talking about Cass here but I know he’s talking about Jenny Wren

Ok so Dick shining stuff in their eyes got them stuck in a simulation. They had to play it through to escape using Tim’s guidance. All of their seemingly perfect life’s that Bruce thought they might have lived without him fell apart (Steph leading a super team, Damian’s monk lifestyle, Jason’s race car driver dream, and Dicks super spy life. Tim being kidnapped wasn’t in the simulation but he did find out while hacking it that Bruce thought he’d be a video game designer.)

Exactly! Not only does Batman need Robin and Robin need Batman. But the entire support structure is important

On a continuation of Tim suffers hour. She is going to use headlight to make him look like the villain Batman blames. So at least Batman has a no kill rule

Time for them to see gauntlet zero. But ahhh! Damian called Tom his brother! I know I already freaked out when Tim called Damian his baby brother but both are amazing occasions

Ope! Well Robin ought to have been traumatic for Bruce. Not to mention that this means Jason isn’t even the first Jason. By the time Jason came around he’d already lost a kid, granted she wasn’t as much of his kid as the robins since his home never really became hers but still

More Tim Suffering. The way it takes three of the Batkids to hold him off when he thought someone hurt his kids.

Ahh yes my favorite mind control (or other situations where the mind is messed with) trope. Telling the person something only they would know as the other is hurting them. (Also little Dick is so cute I love him)

Yay! A happy ending! Bruce is part of family talks now! (Please just add Babs, Cass and Duke too now! Maybe Kate sometimes)

< prev

[allovesthings]

I imagine that paranoid Bruce would do everything in his power to keep Batman as mysterious as possible, going as far as to hide his daemon entirely while he's under the cowl. (I imagine that seeing someone /completely alone/ would be SUPER freaky)

Nobody is 100% sure /what/ The Bat is -some sort of shadow creature? Justice, taken physical form? Gotham's own daemon?- but what everyone /does/ know? Whatever The Bat is, it isn't human.

I'm so sorry I didn't see this before ???

Yeah I kinda love the idea that the mystic of Batman in that AU being linked to the fact that the public have no idea if he even has a Daemon and that makes everyone uncomfy because what do you mean, Batman doesn't have a Daemon ? everyone has a daemon in this world, including aliens ? What the fuck ?

On the other side of that, to continue the contrast between Batman, dark and mysterious we would have the Robins and theirs daemons, I feel like Dick set a precedent with his daemon and decided to let her participate in the battle with him, because since Robin is a symbol of hope for Gotham and Bruce, in a Daemon AU, not having a daemon would be seen as incredibly sad and not really hopeful, she would be here visible at the fight, helping the little bird anyway she could (i think like his costume, she might kinda pick being very colorful as long as she can chose her form)

And considering Jason as Robin and Tim, I feel like they would continue that tradition.

On the other hand, for Damian, it would start like Bruce, hiding his daemon and as he gets more comfortable into the costume of Robin, his Daemon would come out more.

For the Batgirls, it would depends exclusively on who is behind the costume, I feel like Cass would very much be like Bruce, Steph, on the other hand, was a Robin first and have no problem showing her daemon...Not sure about Babs though, he might just be here on the background discreet but you can see it.

For Duke, I feel like he would have no problem working with his Daemon out in public.

[fancyfade]

Post theme going around on LoCG where people say whre they want the batfam members to end up.

I figured I'd share my post (link) here on tumblr b/c I have way more tumblr followers and post many dc thoughts here anyway

original post:

Anyway, where the Batfam members end up in a couple years in my opinion:

Bruce: I honestly think he should retire. Is this ever realistic? No, he makes too much money. But he’s got to be getting what close to 50 by now? He needs to quit before he dies RIP. I’d love to see him trying to do what he can to help the community as Bruce Wayne (which I don’t think he never does as Batman – we see comics involving it. But like more emphasis).

Cass: I view Cass as the logical successor to Bruce. She deserves to be Batman (and wants to be and embodies his ideals very well).

Barbara: I think it’d be neat if Babs (as Oracle) kind of expanded BoP so we have different subgroups… we got a tiny bit of this might be happening at the way tail end of New Earth continuity, with babs faking her and oracle’s deaths to get the heat off and allow herself to dedicate more attention to major operations rather than being everyone’s problem solver, and her training Wendy as a protege… just pick that up. I like Wendy Harris being involved, and I think Helena is a good candidate for an op leader (more on that later)

Helena: Helena should work with a small team of Birds and take on missions that require some convincing undercover work – shout out to both her mob deconstruction plan in Simone’s BOP and her past as a Spyral agent in this continuity. The team should be flexible, but I’d like to see Steph occasionally team up with her… her forgotten-by-continuity adopted son, James, should also help on tech stuff IMO.

Damian: I like the idea of him doing Batman and Robin stuff in Gotham and more globe-trotting stuff on his own, using Maya and Suren and other friends. He also definitely will try to reform any kid/teenage supervillains he comes across, so he should probably fight mostly adults :p

Duke: I think Duke should stay as the Gotham daytime hero, in contact with the kids from We Are Robin, but… get more appearances. Him being in everyday contact with more normal people could be an important storytelling avenue.

Dick: What Dick’s currently doing is fine, no need to change. He’s already got his niche.

Tim: DC doesn’t know what to do with Tim… I think Tim should honestly go into semi-retirement, coming out for big stakes plots and to train younger heroes. In my head this would be after a 12 issue mini series where Tim contemplates how much his life has changed since he started being Robin, with his initial goal that it was going to be something he does his time in and then gets out, out of obligation, and then slowly he had no normal life to get back out to… we’d bring back Dana as a character to bounce thoughts off, as well as the YJ kids especially Cissie who has also retired as a superhero.

Jason: I think what Task Force Z was doing for Jason was perfect, I’d love to see things continue along that line where he like *wants* to do good and to not be the person he used to be, but he sometimes (often) fails… and leading around a team of other equally-or-more corrupt people is fun. That’s as heroic as I feel like Jason should get, if he’s just turned into pretty much another hero it’s like… offbrand nightwing???

[kiragecko]

If you asked the batkids (generations Dick to Damian) who Bruce’s favorite child is, what would they answer?

Ugh, you asked about what they'd say, rather than what they believe. This is a much harder question!

(I'm including Babs and Duke anyways. I will figure Duke out through answering asks and you can't stop me!)

I'm not sure if ANY of these kids would have a set answer. It would vary so much based on who their audience was, and what period of their life the question was asked.

Dick - Why are you so cruel??? Unless you are a Titan, or maybe Babs, you aren't getting a truthful answer. He's going to answer whatever would be best for his siblings to overhear. And he's going to respect you less. Don't ask him this question. As for what he actually thinks - I ... I have no clue. Not him. He probably realizes it isn't Damian, and is angry about that. Other than that, I don't know! While Jason was dead (and before his death) he almost certainly thought Jason was. But now Cass and Tim are in the mix. A mystery.

Babs - She's been an outside observer for all these kids, so I'm guessing she'd think it was Jason. Bruce was gentle and openly affectionate in ways he wasn't with the others for both Dick and Jason, but with Jason, he did it without prompting. I think she'd be disgusted with the question and wouldn't answer, though.

Jason - Either Dick or, "He doesn't care about any of us, we're just cannon fodder." I suspect love may be boolean for him - either there or not, so 'favourite' might not be meaningful.

Tim - Okay, he could say anyone. Because he is NOT answering this question truthfully. No. That is not a form of vulnerability he could handle. You are getting managed. In reality, he thinks it's either Dick or Jason (depending on when this question is asked), but he is doing SO MUCH PROJECTING, you guys. He's basing it off what he saw before he joined the family, what he secretly feels about his siblings, and complex mental models of his dad that are only semi-connected to reality.

Steph - She'd say Cass, out of loyalty. And to make sure people don't forget Cass. Steph saw such a distorted version of Bruce - he was at his worst when interacting with her and Tim together, which is how he usually interacted with her. And she saw very little of Dick or Jason. My closest guess for her actual opinion is, "I HOPE it's not Tim. Surely he can do better than THAT, right?"

Cass - Cass MIGHT say herself? Especially if she was teasing a little. If she was trying to be serious, I think she would need to know context. Favourite to patrol with? Tim. Favourite to bring to galas? Cass or Dick. (He enjoys watching her, and appreciates how well Dick handles them.) Etc. I'm not sure she would understand the idea of a general favourite, since those aren't really a real thing? People are more complex than that.

Damian - early Damian of course says, "I am his ONLY child and am superior in every way." Later Damian would probably still say himself, in most situations. As for who he THINKS is the favourite? I'm not sure if he thinks of Dick as 'Bruce's Child'. Dick is an adult, and raised Damian. Sure, Dick calls himself Damian's brother, but he isn't competition. Jason isn't shown favouritism in any way Damian can recognize, Cass isn't around, and Steph and Babs don't claim to be family. So that leaves Tim, and later Duke. And I think he is CONSTANTLY keeping a running tally of who is currently doing better in the cut-throat 'Bruce's Favourite' and 'Dick's Favourite' competitions.

Duke - Duke missed most of the drama. All he has is the current relationships to go on. Ignoring everything but his own continuity, post-Flashpoint (because Damian did not go off on his own as a young teen. That's unacceptable), I suspect that he'd think he had it pretty good. Dick and Tim have so much responsibility, and always seem insecure about how well they're doing. Bruce fights with Jason and Damian a lot. And Cass is rarely there. Duke isn't sure which relationship is BRUCE'S favourite, but he knows that he definitely prefers his own relationship with Bruce over everyone else's.

[casscainmainly]

Hope this is okay to ask but do you have any comic recs for people new to dc? I've seen some of the mainstream TV shows and movies but I've never really read any of the comics, so most of my "batfam" knowledge is limited to Bruce and Dick's storylines.

Of course it's okay!! I love recommending my fav comics, feel free to ask for any and all things :). In general, a great place to start is by picking a character you like and finding a rec list for them. Here's a great one from fantastic-nonsense that covers just about every Batfam character! (It also has a list of great whole Batfam runs).

If you want my opinion, here are my recommendations:

Batgirl (2000): This is where I personally started, and gives you a great overview of a lot of Batfam characters like Bruce, Cass, Babs, Tim, Steph, and Dick. You might need a little background info (if you don't know who these people are it might be a little tough), but it's fairly accessible and easy to learn as you go!

Gotham Knights (2000): A book that spotlights basically every Batfam character at the time, so a great place to get acquainted with everyone. The quality is not quite consistent, but there are gems in here and you get the whole Batfam experience.

Batman: Year One / Robin: Year One / Nightwing: Year One: Since you mentioned you know Bruce and Dick, these are great places to start for both of them! Year One stories are meant to be introductions to the character, so they're fairly accessible. Also check out Batgirl: Year One for Babs.

Batman: No Man's Land: A huge crossover event that shakes up Gotham (as events do), NML features a ton of Batfam characters and serves as Cass' introduction. There are a heap of events right before this, but a quick wiki search can help get you up to speed; it's still alright to jump in here.

Tynion's Detective Comics (2016): Post-New 52 (which was an event that wiped much of previous continuity), this run by Tynion does a great job at re-establishing Batfam characters, and serves as a good intro to many characters such as Tim, Cass, Kate, Luke, and Jean-Paul.

For out of continuity stories, you can check out Li'l Gotham and Wayne Family Adventures. These are great for getting used to the characters before jumping into heavier arcs, and WFA features basically every current Batfam member (the portrayals are not necessarily the most accurate, but this is a good starting point).

Of the current core Batfam, the above list misses Damian, Jason, and Duke. For Damian, read Batman and Robin (2009) (also a hefty amount of Dick!); for Jason, you can watch the Under the Red Hood movie if you haven't already, and the comic is also a good intro; for Duke, We Are Robin (2015) is a great intro and his best run.

[leoruby-draws]

The Batfamily in the Training Wheels au, going through 3 distinct eras.

The first years with Robin Dick and BlueJay Jason. Along with Batgirl Barbara,--- Cassandra, and Starling Steph.

The second era with Batgirl Cass, Robin Jason and Lark Duke. Along with Steph still as Starling and Tim as Rook (Dick is Nightwing and Babs Oracle).

Third era Jason becomes Red Robin, Steph is Robin and Damian becomes Downy (which he hates!). Everyone else is still the same.

Who knows what happens next! I don't!

I drew out a 2-page timeline for my au, for personal use, and working out the years and ages was tough tbh! Honestly I treat it as more as a guideline than anything else. And really, in this au comedy and jokes will always win over continuity, so I don't worry if the years don't add up! I'm totally not excusing myself lol!

I might be overthinking all this, but it is fun to craft. Anyways, hope you like it.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Okay so I saw this post earlier about how the Battle for the Cowl should have been between Cass and Jason (I can’t find it; if anyone knows what it is sorry), and yk it make so much more sense than what happens in canon!! Neither Dick nor Tim want to be Batman - they’ve both been shown to want to make their own path and being Batman stresses them out like crazy. Having either of them fight for it makes no sense. Steph and Babs have their own thing, they have no desire to take the mantle, and Damian is like 10, so?? HE might think he’s ready to be Batman but no one would let him.

Anyway so I’m just gonna say Duke’s already been adopted into the Batfam here (bc I love him) and that Tim and Steph were Robins together because I like it better. And so Bruce dies right? So there’s no Batman. Dick’s chilling in Bludhaven with no desire to be Batman, no one in Gotham wants to be Batman... sans Cass and Jason.

Plus it would be like a moral conflict too - Cass is so against killing, even moreso than Bruce, because of her past and what she was forced to do, while Jason believes there are people you just can’t leave alive. And are either of them right? We don’t know. They both would want at least the role Batman has in protecting the city, though they’d do it in very different ways. And Cass would obviously win because she never loses, but I feel like seeing them battle it out would be so fun bc Jason is brutal, yeah, but he’s also smart as fuck - seeing him trying to figure out Cass’s weaknesses and use them against her and seeing Cass use her own experience and superior abilities against him.

What’s everyone else doing? Dick’s probably stressing the fuck out because two of his siblings are trying to kill each other in Gotham shit- but after a while of getting yelled at he decides to just leave them to it. Damian probably goes with him and is his sidekick like in canon when he was Batman, but given he’s still Nightwing here Damian’s not Robin. Maybe he could be Flamebird - to complete with the story Dick got Nightwing from. I like to think Steph winds up chilling with them too, because I love her bond with Damian (she’s literally the closest to him after Dick and they have such a annoying older sister-bratty younger brother bond and no one does anything with it??) and since I think she’s meant to be the next Nightwing (right?? Am I reading the wrong things??) I’d love to see her have a sibling bond with Dick as well.

Ig Tim has more time to like... obsess over bring Bruce back to life or whatever he did? I genuinely forgot how he did that aside from that “I’m not Batman; I have friends” (Tim my guy icon), so he can probably be doing that while he and Duke and Barbra all continue being vigilantes and protecting people in the middle of Jason and Cass’s fighting. Barbra has better things to be doing - yeah she cares about Jason and Cass both and she probably yells at them to sort it out, but they’re both old enough to figure shit out. Duke is also stressed out but he has more important things going on rn. I feel like Tim wouldn’t care.

Tim and Steph would probably become Spoiler and Red Robin (he named himself after a fast food place does this guy live under a rock) bc no Batman = no Robin. I guess you could go the Steph Batgirl route but I like the Spoiler costume better so I’m sticking with it.

Actually, I kind of don’t want Bruce to come back now. Like how did he even come back in canon what did Tim even do.

[hintofelation99]

Batfamily sorted into Hogwarts houses?

Ooohhhh a classic, I love it! Tbh I have no clue how controversial my opinions are here, like honestly each member fits several houses well. So I just went with what felt best to me, but I'd love to hear other's opinions!

First let's go over the main traits of each house, these are the traits I will be focusing on.

Gryffindor -> Bravery, daring, nerve, and confidence

Hufflepuff -> Hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play

Ravenclaw -> Intelligence, knowledge, curiosity, creativity, and wit

Slytherin -> Ambition, leadership, determination, cunning, and resourcefulness

Bruce

-> Hufflepuff: I feel like this one will be rather controversial and honestly it was pretty difficult to decide on. But I think his overall dedication to the mission is what sold it for me. Like that's one of his more consistent character traits, he values the mission above all else. And I don't think of that value or dedication as coming from a place of ambition, but rather a place of loyalty. Honestly Batman's relationship with Gotham really exemplifies both patience and dedication, at least it does in my mind. Hufflepuff is also sometimes thought of as the house that accepts all, so people who don't have a good designation can go there, which is pretty on point with Bruce adopting a shit ton of kids.

Dick

-> Gryffindor: This one might be a tad cliche, but I think that it fits. Because all of the batfam is daring and brave, but Dick takes so much joy from these traits. He’s known for defying gravity and having fun doing it. He’s also the typical confident older brother, like he definitely has insecurities but overall he’s a pretty confident guy. He’s a leader who paved the way for Robins and continues to protect the rights of young heroes. He’s known for being super protective of his family and is willing to make sacrifices for them. Also he brave enough to design a custom that had no pants and confident enough to run around in that costume.

Babs

-> Ravenclaw: Babs the oracle, she’s basically the definition of knowledge. She definitely exemplifies other houses as well but her dedication to knowledge and intelligence definitely put her in Ravenclaw for me. After being paralyzed a lot of people thought she would give up being a vigilante, but instead she turned information into a weapon and a shield. Instead of giving up she created a new and now invaluable position. She isn’t just smart, she’s clever and quick thinking, always ready for any situation.

Jason

-> Hufflepuff: Okay, so in a lot of ways Jason mirrors Bruce. He’s incredibly loyal to his home, has strict rules that he (mostly) stands by like don’t hurt kids and no abusers get no mercy (and yes I’m using the terms rules loosely here). But honestly what sold the whole ‘Jason is hufflepuff’ thing for me is how protective/kind his is of crime victims, specifically women and children. He was a crime lord who fought to for kids, who didn't tolerate abuse, and who protected prostitutes. And yeah that's all super brave and very Gryffindor-esque, but in my mind it all comes from a place of genuine kindness, and that's what makes him a Hufflepuff to me.

Cass

-> Hufflepuff: Cass is deadly, she could snap just about anyone like a twig, but she's also a complete cinnamon roll. She's a sweetheart who adores her family and, for the most part, likes people. Cass is kind and sweet and she literally booped Batman on the nose. Like if that isn't the most Hufflepuff thing, than I don't know what is. She's just the epitome of 'soft cute Hufflepuff,' but also never forget that she can easily kill you.

Tim

-> Ravenclaw: In my opinion (and I think also canonically but I'm not 100% on that) Tim is the smartest bat. Tim literally outsmarted Ra's Al Ghul and he figured out Batman's identity when he was just a child. And he's not just 'I know a lot of things' smart, he's cunning and knows how to plan for any outcome, how to out wit others, how to lie to Batman. Like in the Red Robin arc his Tim's side quest is outsmarting the league of assassins and pissing off Ras Al Ghul. That's such a Ravenclaw (and baller) move.

Steph

-> Gryffindor: Steph had the nerve to put on a purple suit, she was daring enough to hit Robin with a brick, and she was brave enough to become Batgirl even after her encounter with Black Mask. She's bold and shameless in all the best ways. Like Steph isn't the greatest fighter or most skilled bat, but she's bold and fearless and that's what makes her such a great hero.

Duke

-> Slytherin: This one took me forever to decide on, but I realized that Duke has all the smarts of a Ravenclaw and all the bravery of a Gryffindor. Traits that both fit perfectly into Slytherin. He's cunning and smart and an amazing leader and so determined. Duke lead the 'We Are Robin' movement and made his life goal to out riddle the Riddler. Honestly he's the perfect mix of smart and brave and really exemplefies the best of the Slytherin traits.

Damian

-> Slytherin: This one is a bit lack luster and a bit typical, but I do think it's fitting. He's cunning and ambitious and really values his heritage. Damian knows his life goals, he knows where his heritage can take him, and he will do anything to reach his full potential. And I do think that he has some Hufflepuff undertones, undertones that come out even more around animals and Jon, but overall he is a Slytherin.

And wowie, I'm done. This took waaayyyyyy longer than expected, so sorry for that. Honestly when I saw this ask I was like 'oh, cool, easy!' then I tried to answer and holy shit. I went back and forth so much and could not decide. So after many days and much thought this is what I ended up with. That being said I did really love this ask bc it was super fun.

Also srry if there are any typos but if I keep trying to edit this I will never finish bc I will keep changing my mind.

[soulmate-game]

Maribat March 2021 @maribatmarch-2k21

Day 1: Found Family

“Ah! Bonjour!” A cheery voice called, as a short Eurasian girl bound over to the unfairly intimidating mob of tall people with sharp eyes. Chloe had called in a favor. “My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chloe told me that your tour guide cancelled at the last minute, so she blackmail—sorry, begged me to fill in for them. You are the Wayne’s, non?”

The one at the front of the group, clearly Bruce Wayne since Marinette didn’t live under a rock and had seen the man on several American news broadcasts before, nodded and cleared his throat. Man, was he intimidating. Even when he shot her a dazzling smile that was sure to blind Paparazzi with fake cheer. It was a nice smile, Marinette wasn’t about to deny. But it was empty. Distant. And Marinette wasn’t going to buy it for a second.

“Yes, that’s us. Mademoiselle Bourgeois mentioned she had asked a close friend of hers to take care of our tour.”

Marinette nodded again, clasping her hands behind her back. “I guarantee, you won’t miss anything the tour guide would have shown you. In fact, Chloe mentioned that you all were very curious about the now retired Parisian heroes, right? My former best friend ran the Ladyblog back when they were active. I am more than confident that I can answer any questions you have while we go through the city.”

A boy with a white streak in his hair rose his hand, as if he was in a class and needed to wait to be called on. Which, considering the sheer size of their family, Marinette was actually grateful for. But damn, this was another imposing figure. Slightly taller than even the six-foot-three-inches that Bruce Wayne owned, he was solidly built and rocked a brown leather jacket and ripped black jeans. Marinette smiled and nodded for him to speak.

“How old are you? Because I don’t know if twelve year olds are allowed to do guided tours,” there was an obvious tease in his voice, but there was also legitimate concern in his blue-green eyes. Marinette almost missed that concern amid her quickly building annoyance. She even felt her eyes twitch.

“I’m turning eighteen in a few months if you need to know, Monsieur,” she evened out the bite in her voice with an overly sweet smile. “And if you want to get lost and possibly pickpocketed in the busy streets of Paris, then please continue to make comments on my height. If not, we can begin our tour and you might even enjoy it.”

Several Wayne’s snickered at her comeback, one man in particular elbowing the white haired gentleman with a little too much glee. Even the stoic Bruce laughed softly, and a boy with enough bags under his eyes to make the airport jealous nearly fell over himself with his suppressed laughter.

The man himself just snorted, sending her a lopsided smirk that oddly radiated approval. It was almost as if she had passed some sort of test.

“My name’s Jason, Pixie. You already know B. The guy trying to break my ribs,” he pointedly shoved off the one who had elbowed him, “is Dick. He’s Bruce’s first adoptive casualty. The one that looks like a zombie is Tim, we might need to take a break to get him more coffee before he passes out halfway through. The one who hasn’t stopped glaring at you is Damian, the badass redhead is Barbara but we all call her Babs. The annoying blonde is Stephany, the other cool badass over there is Cass. She doesn’t talk much. And the one trying to pretend he doesn’t know us is Duke.”

Each member he introduced gave her a little wave or nod. Even Damian managed a short nod of acknowledgement before resuming his glare. He looked to be a couple years younger than her, so she just brushed it off as teenage drama.

“Alright then! It is very nice to meet you all. Now, Chloe did inform me that you guys are very multilingual, which is another reason she asked me instead of one of our other friends. If you ever need it, I obviously am fluent in both French and English. But added to that, I am fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, Italian, and I know basic survival Japanese. I also know French Sign Language, though I’m not sure if that’s very useful for you unfortunately. If you ever need to communicate non-verbally, I will do my best to accommodate that. Now, I believe you guys were scheduled to start the tour with a visit to the Louvre, non? Right this way.”

As Marinette led the large group out of the Grand Paris, they didn’t bother taking time to admire the sights before asking questions.

“Have you ever met one of the heroes?” Dick, who might have been shorter than Jason and Bruce but was muscular enough to still inspire caution (and admiration), asked. His blue eyes seemingly stared right through Marinette as he continued; “If you’re almost eighteen, then they must have been active through a lot of your school career.”

Marinette smiled. “They did only retire last year,” she agreed with a nod. “Yes, I have met all of the Parisian heroes at least once,” she snorted at a stray thought. “In fact, I met Chat Noir quite a lot. You see, my old College was basically ground zero for a lot of akuma attacks. And by a lot, I mean a majority of them,” she shook her head before pausing to get everyone to cross a street. “After a while, Chat Noir started calling me ‘princess’ to make fun of how often he had to save me. He’s an annoying ass.”

Despite her words, everyone behind her could easily hear the fondness there. They all traded glances. What if this was a Lois and SuperMan situation? Regardless, they all had a suspicion that Marinette knew more about the heroes than she let on. Or, at least more about Chat Noir.

“When you say that your school was a hotspot for Akuma attacks,” Bruce spoke up cautiously, his Dad Senses going haywire. He didn’t like how nonchalantly she had said it— she was far too casual. Sure enough, he watched as the muscles between her shoulders stiffened slightly at the conversation change. “What do you mean? Surely it couldn’t have been that bad if the school is still around.”

Marinette sucked her teeth, grimacing. “The school is still there, yeah, but only because of Ladybug’s ability. You’ve heard about the Cure, right?” It was Tim who answered her;

“Yeah. It fixed the damage done during a fight, right?” He asked, tilting his head a little. Marinette ignored her brief thought that the gesture made him look like a curious puppy. She sighed.

“Yeah. But when they say damage, they mean everything. Injuries, collateral. Death,” she said the last example darkly, far too much weight behind the word for it to be meaningless. She heard Jason hiss in sympathy. “But there are good things. The Cure also erased anyone’s memories of dying besides the vague knowledge that it did happen, so there isn’t much trauma there to unpack. Not as much as there could have been anyway,” she assured them. “And I’m one of the lucky ones. I never died, and I was never Akumatized.”

“Hmph,” Damian’s voice cut through the brief silence that followed her admission. She looked back at him to see his sharp green eyes staring right into her. “You don’t honestly believe that’s lucky.” It wasn’t a question. Marinette clenched her jaw, turning around and ignoring him.

Because, no. It wasn’t luck. It wasn’t lucky that she was the only one that remembered everything— all of the deaths, all of the Akumatizations, everything that others mercifully forgot. Since she lived through all of it, she remembered all of it. And survivor’s guilt is nothing to scoff at.

But she wasn’t about to reveal her trauma, or at the very least the full scope of it, to people she had just met and was leading on a tour.

“If you look to the left, you’ll see a statue that was made depicting Ladybug and Chat Noir back during the first years of their activity,” she suddenly told them, gesturing to the still-standing statue. Nobody missed the obvious topic change, but nobody commented on it either. Turns out the statue was something they had been looking forward to seeing in person, Tim even went up to take a few photos with his camera. Barbara took a few circles around the statue, easily pivoting her wheelchair around it as if she was trying to see every angle and imperfection possible. Marinette couldn’t help but chuckle fondly at the sight.

“Your family are pretty big fans, huh?” She asked Cass and Duke, the only ones that had stayed back with her. Duke snorted, and Cass gave her a small grin.

“They like to keep up to date with all the heroes,” Duke answered with a shrug. “Since we’re so high profile, it isn’t weird for us to be saved by one here or there even when we’re away from Gotham.”

Marinette just gave him an odd look, furrowing her brows. “But the Miraculous team has been disbanded since HawkMoth was defeated,” she reminded them. “There’s no need for them to save anybody anymore.”

“Old habits,” Cass spoke up softly, her voice barely a whisper. Her eyes locked with Marinette’s. “Not easy to break.”

The smaller woman had a feeling that Cass wasn’t talking about her family’s habit of keeping up to date on heroes.

“Alright! We need to head to the next stop or we might not have time to see everything!”

The tour went pretty similarly. The walks between stops were pleasant, and filled with questions about the period of time where HawkMoth was active. Marinette wasn’t even the least bit surprised nor put off; everyone was curious about those years now that the tourism restriction was lifted and people could ask freely about it. Besides the many questions about the Heroes, Marinette found the group to be very pleasant company. They were polite, but also rowdy in a very endearing way. She caught a lot of inside jokes they had with each other, and a lot of good natured teasing and fighting. They even managed to rope her into it somehow, and she found herself snidely teasing Damian or casually threatening Tim with not allowing them a coffee break. She even got to ride on Jason’s shoulders for a bit after he made another comment on her height that she Did Not Appreciate. But the ride she got made it worth it.

But soon the sun was high in the sky, and it was about time for them to take a lunch break. They had all been walking for hours with only a few chances to rest, and honestly Marinette was impressed that none of them seemed too tired out by it.

“Alright,” she put her hands on her hips proudly. “Since some of you won’t stop whining about needing coffee or being hungry— Dick, don’t you dare buy anything from that vendor! I’m gonna lead you all to my parent’s bakery so we can have lunch and caffeinate all of you. And conveniently enough,” she smiled widely. “The bakery is right across the street from my old College! So you’ll be able to get a look at where the majority of Akuma attacks happened, and maybe I can tell you a few specific stories if you want,” she offered. There were a couple cheers (Tim and Dick) from the crowd and everyone seemed pretty pleased with the next step in their tour. Smiling, Marinette turned and began to lead them in the direction of her home.

Sirens blared, a fire truck zooming down the street next to them.

Headed in the same direction.

Marinette frowned, watching it go. “That’s weird. I hope everyone’s okay, whatever happened,” she mused idly. But as they kept going forward, the sirens didn’t get any softer. If anything, they started getting louder again after a while. Marinette was visibly concerned by then, her pace picking up. “This is my neighborhood,” she told the solemn group behind her. “I know everyone on this street—“ they rounded the corner, and Marinette stopped in her tracks. Her world ground to a halt.

There was the fire truck, stopped right in front of her bakery.

Which was completely ablaze.

A string of curses flew out of her mouth, the little Eurasian wasting no more time before sprinting towards the building. She could hear people yelling at her to wait, slow down, stop! But she ignored them. The only thing on her mind was that her home was on fire.

“Marinette! Wait!” Dick reached out to grab her arm, but like a snake Marinette easily slipped out of his grip and continued forward. Steph was next, deciding to just tackle Marinette— to no avail. The Parisian just shouldered the bigger woman off of her with pure adrenaline fueling her muscles, and everyone else knew by then that they could not stop her. The Wayne’s decided all they could do was jog behind Marinette, keeping her in sight as they tried to gauge the damage.

“The top floors don’t look like they have even been touched by the fire yet,” Tim whispered, though his eyes flew between the building and their tour guide. Marinette was speaking rapidly with a firefighter that wasn’t immediately busy, trying to get information. But before anyone could decipher what was said, Marinette tore a large strip off the bottom of her shirt and tied it in a hasty mask around her mouth.

“Wait!” Bruce was the first to realize what was happening, with his years of experience with self sacrificing children and their stupid stunts. But Marinette managed to kick him away before he could grab her, dashing into the inferno without paying any heed to the many protests that followed her.

The group of Gothamites could do nothing but watch the flaming building, then. If they went inside, it would only overcrowd a hazardous area. Minutes passed, and there was movement in the fire. Out of the doorway came Marinette and a firefighter, both having to work together to carry the body of a large man outside. The sight of the man made the Gotham family blink— he was as big as Bane! And that was nothing to scoff at. But despite his unusual size and muscle mass, the man had all the signs of being a normal civilian.

Marinette didn’t stop there. She ran back in. Coming out a lot more quickly this time with a barely conscious Asian woman— everyone saw the resemblance between her and this new woman immediately.

It had to be her mother.

“Shit,” Duke hissed. Nobody else could say a word. It wasn’t looking good, and this wasn’t a situation where random vigilantes showing up out of nowhere could actually help. Not this late into the fire. Bruce’s hands curled into fists.

The woman that everyone guessed was Marinette’s mother was suddenly struck by lucidity; she gasped and grabbed at Marinette’s hand without seeming to see who she was even talking to. A single word that none of the Waynes could hear left her throat, and judging by Marinette’s returning panic it hadn’t been good.

She rushed right back into the building, and came back out with the last firefighter who had been searching inside.

Marinette carried a child. She screamed out in panicked French;

“She’s not breathing! I need first aid now!”

That was their cue. The firefighters started their hoses, focusing on getting rid of the flames now that nobody was left inside the building. Bruce and Damian got to Marinette first, and this time she listened as they instructed her to set the child down. Damian, being smaller and having more hands-on medical knowledge, took charge of the resuscitation. Marinette sat there silently, eyes riveted to the small child— a girl.

But Marinette wasn’t reacting like a normal civilian to tragedy. She was eerily calm, eyes focused and barely concealing a terrible rage. She took over chest compressions when Damian started to lose momentum, not giving up.

But then the EMTs arrived, and it was only five minutes with the child hooked onto oxygen that the news arrived—

Marinette heard the monitors on the ambulance flatline before she even registered what people were trying to tell her. Manon. Manon was—

Marinette didn’t register Nadya Chammack at first. She was just another body in the quickly growing sea of them. That is, until she heard Nadya’s pained shriek. A mother who had just lost her baby girl.

“Perhaps we should head back,” Bruce offered softly, giving Marinette space but keeping a keen eye on her. He saw her begin to tremble, then shake. He was pretty sure he could hear the grinding of her teeth for a second before she went still. Just… all movement stopped, the tears that had been building just falling silently for a second before they ended.

And he recognized that carefully practiced emptiness in her bluebell eyes. The same emptiness he had seen in Damian’s eyes when he had first arrived at the Manor. The same emptiness he saw in Dick’s eyes in the days following his parent’s deaths.

The same emptiness he saw in the mirror, every time he had another nightmare about the day Jason had been taken from him, years ago.

Suddenly he could imagine all too well exactly what kind of strength she had to have, to avoid her negative emotions ever being used against her during Hawkmoth’s reign. Especially if she had constantly been dealing with her friends and family being Akumatized and/or dying on multiple occasions.

She didn’t even seem to have heard him. Bruce sighed.

“I called Chloe,” Barbara informed everyone solemnly, holding up her phone for emphasis. “She’ll be here in five.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Chloe hadn’t come alone. With her had been Adrien Agreste, former model when his father hadn’t been… well, in prison. Nowadays he was just a normal student who occasionally gave lectures on neglect and child abuse, and how to help children in those situations.

And, apparently, he was also Marinette’s closest friend. Even more so than Chloe. As soon as they arrived back at the Grand Paris, Chloe herded everyone up into her suite and she and Adrien surrounded Marinette with pillows and blankets. Adrien curled around Marinette like an affectionate cat, and Damien even swore he heard the guy purr at some point

“We should probably leave,” Bruce whispered to their hostess, who looked inbetween him and her friends for a moment before jerking her head towards the door.

“I wanna talk to you first,” Chloe whispered back. Once they all filed out into the hallway and the door was safely closed, Chloe took a breath. “First, I want to tell you that I got a call from the hospital. Marinette’s father is stable, but in a coma right now.”

“Is that the man who looked like he could bench press a car for fun?” Dick asked, earning a weak grin from the Bourgeois heiress.

“Yeah, that’s him. But…” Chloe’s face fell, and she looked around as if to double check nobody was eavesdropping. She still lowered her voice anyway. “Her mother, Sabine. She…” Chloe swallowed a lump in her throat, images of the extremely kind Chinese woman flashing through her mind without permission. “She didn’t make it.”

Several people took a sharp breath, acknowledging everything that had gone so wrong for Marinette on a day that had started so perfectly.

“The smoke?” Cass asked gently, but Chloe winced and shifted on her feet.

“No. They… there were rope marks on Sabine’s neck,” Chloe clenched her eyes shut at the admission. “Marinette’s dad might be big, but he’s not a fighter. Sabine, though… Sabine was. She was raised in a martial arts family back in China. I’ve seen Sabine take down five men at once, all twice her size,” Chloe kicked her lips, shaking her head in disbelief. “Somebody knew… somebody knew that the little Chinese woman was a threat but the big baker with tons of muscle was harmless.”

Nobody took that well. Not only had Marinette just lost her home and half of her family, but her father was in a coma and it had all been foul play.

“Okay,” Bruce nodded once the news had time to sink in. They could help with this; this was their specialty. They might have only known Marinette for six hours, but she had made a big impression. It wasn’t just anybody that could mesh with his family so seamlessly in that short span of time. “Is there anything else?”

“I want you to get temporary custody of her,” Chloe said it the way only Chloe Bourgeois could. With her back straight, chin high, and the tone of a woman who expected to be listened to or else she’d make life Hell for the person that didn’t take her seriously. Bruce could only blink.

“Can I ask for your reasoning?”

“Marinette has been closing herself off more and more over the years,” Chloe admitted. “Hawkmoth’s reign was hard on her. Only Adrien really knows everything she went through during those years. But even after the disbanding of the team, she hasn’t… she hasn’t allowed herself to get close to anybody new. That’s why I tricked her into doing your tour. She needed to socialize with new people, and if she wouldn’t do it herself then I had to pull some strings.”

A few eyebrows raised at the admission that Chloe had fully planned for Marinette to be their tour guide the whole time. It honestly seemed like the kind of well meaning manipulation that one of them would try to pull off.

“She likes you,” Chloe’s voice went soft again, showing how uncharacteristically serious she was about that fact. “She was comfortable enough to let you guys carry her back here. To let you try to help Manon. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but it says a lot to me and Adrien. And… getting her away from Paris for a while is probably a good idea. She was planning to go to Gotham for university anyway.”

The Waynes traded glances before Bruce crosses his arms and asked some more questions first. Doesn’t Marinette have other family? Answer; only her grandmother, who travels all the time and nobody ever knows where she is until she shows up. Bruce agreed that Gina Dupain didn’t exactly seem like a good candidate for Marinette’s new guardian with that description. But finally, to none of his children's surprise, he did end up agreeing.

“But,” he held up a single finger. “We’ll Wait here in Paris for a week, so that she can try to salvage everything she can from her house and so we can get an idea on how her father is doing. There’s still a chance he’ll come out of his coma fairly quickly. And of course, we will only go through with this if Marinette agrees when we ask her tomorrow.”

Chloe agreed to those terms, looking like a weight had been lifted off of her.

Chloe never cut corners when taking care of her hive. And if that meant making sure that her brave soldier bee could move on to start a new hive, one that was better equipped to take care of her, then Chloe would do everything she could to help that move. And really; Chloe was far more resourceful and observant than people gave her credit for. The butts definitely matched, and Bruce Wayne was her last hope to get Marinette the support she needed. Outside of Adrien, anyway.

Chloe took a breath, watching the Waynes trickle off into their own rooms. Marinette was like the little sister she never wanted, but grew to love more than anything. Though, Chloe knew she really chose Marinette as her sister the same way they both chose Adrien as their brother. She just didn’t want to admit she was sentimental like that. But Chloe knew that someone like Marinette needed a bigger family. More support.

She could only hope that Marinette and the Waynes grew to become family for her like she and Adrien had. Kwami knew that Marinette needed all the help she could get for the foreseeable future.

“You did good, my Queen.”

“I know, Pollen. Now we just have to find out who dared hurt my hive.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Dude this took so long to write, but I’m actually really proud of it. Probably gonna take this Maribat March a little differently than last year, and make a few longer stories by connecting some of the prompts together. Maybe each week will be a full story? Idk I’ll figure it out. I know I’m behind but I’m working on it.

I tried to keep the angst out, but it found it’s way in here anyway. Oh well!