#jason todd hamlet au

[paperedking]

@the-perks-of-being-a-wallcrawler yeah. yeah i would consider it.

reminder that asks are open for requests !

[bloodyentrails]

AU where jason goes to study literature at uni and as they are doing hamlet he keeps coming up with increasingly complicated scenarios to improve the story and they all get shot down by his study group. he just can't stomach a story where hamlet has to die.

[ifyoucandaniel]

once again nobody asked, but here is a comprehensive list of my favorite shorter Batman fics. my other list was mostly fics 50k and up, so this will be under 50k and oneshots :) i feel like most people have probably read a majority of these but! i love them all so much so here they are

In Love With Justice and Battling in the Wings by Jedi_olympian, 9k, 10k, T. literally who would i be if i didn't include my day one, my bbg: the justice league recruits nightwing and meets the batfam <3

Two Against the World by carolinaa, 36k, T, completed. i reread this all the time :') this is a "tim joins the batfam a little differently" fic as well as a "tim gets an emotional support dog and dick grayson won't leave the lonely kid next door alone" fic <3

Museum Mishap by prettymisskitty, 38k, T, completed. I love smart little stalker tim joining the fam in fun ways! jason and tim get kidnapped after jason tries to figure out if this scrawny jumpy kid knows batman and robins secret identities. shenanigans ensue

Jason Todd's terrible, horrible, no-good very bad week by slenderboo, 18k, T, completed. this is another one im sure everyone has read but!! it's my bbg!! hurt jason with some big brother nightwing and concerned little brothers AND its a batfam meets the justice league fic? say less.

Say Uncle by megaerakles, 46k, T, complete. this is so fun and i actually laughed so hard at jason having legal custody of tim at 19 by accident. "teen dad(?)" this is basically tim's fake uncle AU but he hires jason to be his uncle until he can figure out how to get him to go home to the bats <3

Doc Harley by starknjarvis, 15k, G, completed. this!! i love harley being friends with the bats sooo much and her slowly therapy-ing them all is so very good and perfect. harley and dick deserve to be best friends

Dangerous and Noble Things by Destiny919, 45k, T, completed. this one reminds me of hand in unloveable hand by britishparty, and in this one tim is abducted by ra's and then years later the batfam finds out and they bring him home :) cass and tim are a package deal, do not separate!! so good and i love robin jason so very much

Savior(s) of the broken by epistemology, 13k, T. this is just some good ol' jason and dick becoming brothers again and jason slowly getting to know his siblings again <3 the end maybe made me cry just a little... right in the brother feels

Living Dead Boy by terranpheum, 22k, T, completed. im actually rereading this right now! this is where tim is there when jason digs his way out of his grave and takes him home to rehabilitate him by making him play scrabble and eat with him :) so cute and very good

Even if I'm Erased by Darkness, I Will Definitely Save You by Kirazalea, 7k, T. okay so i LOVE battison fics especially ones that include dick and this one is from selina's pov so this is my bread and butter. if anyone has more battison fics send them to me i feel like ive been through the whole tag.....

of crime lords and literature by adelfie, 23k, T, completed. everyone loves some jason begrudgingly becoming protective of tim and the two of them bonding over hamlet. whats not to like :p

Juneberries by michaberry, 68k, M, completed. tim gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured while damian wrestles with his own demons and tries to bring his brother home :’) tim and damian learning how to be brothers and realizing they would do anything for their family is just <33

Robin is Magic by flames_dance, 15k, T, completed. the way my heart actually dropped to my ass when jason found out who tim was, you had to be there... very good jason and tim bonding with a side of trauma from titans tower <3

Around Red Hood's Barn by Tori1116, 24k, T, completed. jayroy where roy doesn't realize his crush red hood and his hooligan neighbor jay are one and the same and keeps ranting to his buddy hood about how annoying his neighbor is. single dad roy x jason wanting his brothers to leave him alone and stop causing misunderstandings <3

the butlers neighbor by deargalileo, 16k, G, completed. okay i almost never see fics from alfreds pov and this is even better because its alfred adopting tim into the family while bruce and jason are just in the background accepting they have another kid. 10/10 very cute bonding between alfred and tim

lashed with riot-red and black by lux_et_astra, 16k, T. yet another tim and jason becoming brothers fic <3 they start writing notes through their windows and become friends :) i think i’ve read every fic under the tim drake joins the batfam early tag

Panic Room by envysparkler, 15k, T, completed. jason being locked in a room with his trigger while actively trying not to kill him and then getting locked in a room with TWO of his triggers is insane lmao. i love damian in this actually :’) that boy needs so much love

also i realized again that these are mostly tim & jason centric so i’m very sorry damian, dick, duke, cass, babs, and steph, i do have fics for them i promise i just have so many tim and jason ones…. pls send recs for other batfam member focused fics!! <3 i feel like that tiktok that’s like I GOT LOVE FOR YOU TOO KEVIN but for the entire batfam because i just have 900 jason and tim centric fics 😭

[wetratheadcanons]

Batfam AU where Steph has a YouTube channel making shitpost type content and vlogs about living with the Wayne family during quarantine, and the first video had Jason visible in the background, confusing everyone of her viewers, and she just explained it with "oh yeah that's Alfred's nephew Paul", but a bunch of conspiracy theorists just post multiple reddit threads about 'Paul' being actually late Jason Todd (which technically they're right about) and it becomes a gigantic meme, so everytime Jason speaks in the background and Steph puts subtitles in the video it's just like "Ja-... Paul: Listen i still think Hamlet should've fucked Horatio" and then when she finally puts him officially in one of the videos it's just Jason in a shitty neon pink party wig that doesn't even properly sits on his head.

[vln-vibes]

Of Legends, Fairy Tales and Folklore

AKA A MariBat, Ever After High inspired AU

In the World there are certain stories that are universally known. They're known as Legends or Fairy Tales. Every knew the big stories; The Classics of Grimm Tales - Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Goldilocks and the Three Bears etc etc. They even created a new celebration for such stories; Legacy Day. It was a rare event that everyone wished to see; the day the Stories and Legends pledged to follow their story to the tea, no games, no divergence, a perfect recreation through and through. But there were other Legends that began to emerge like those of the Miraculous; The Miraculous were items blessed by the gods of the universe and they always played out the same stories. The Ladybug and the Black Cat would always retrieve the stolen Butterfly, it was always stolen back from the guardians after. The Ladybug would recruit other heroes to aide in their journey and become the next Guardian. The Ladybug and the Black Cat would get together and live their happily ever after.

However people were often unaware of the Folktales- divergent stories that took a split with each incarnation. They began with the story of Bruce Thomas Wayne, an aristocratic boy who lost those dear to him at a young age. His story should have ended that day, he would live his days reclused in his castle, never to see the light of day... However that was not how his story went. He took his mourning and channeled it to create a new Legend. He became the  Batman, a champion against the evil of the world to ensure no one would be destined for a tragic ending. Then came Richard John Grayson.  The day his world came crashing he was destined to become the Talon, a weapon for the Court of Owls and Gotham’s dirty aristocrats; Bruce saved him from a miserable ending and the story of Robin was born. Batman and Robin became folktales; to show that not everything was set in stone, that there were multiple paths to a single beginning. Jason Peter Todd, Timothy Jackson Drake and Stephanie Brown all took on their own incarnations and versions of Robin; each unique in their own way but maintaining their mission to rid the world of its tragic endings that were deemed to be destiny. Along the way came the tales of Batgirl, Batwoman, Black Bat, Spoiler and Signal.

Damian Wayne-al Ghul was one such spirit who was saved. His destiny was to become the ultimate weapon for his family. A culmination of the greatest of the world. When he was at his perfect state he would become the vessel for the Demon. His destiny would not be kind. The story of Batman and Robin were what brought him hope, the small amount he allowed himself. When he finally left the dreaded compound, he was finally able to see that he didn't have to be a weapon for his grandfather. Thus the story of the Fifth Robin began.

Each person selected to be a Story or a Legend was born with a mark, one which would represent their role in the story. When they reached the age of 10 they would wake up to find a blank book, one which only they could read and could never be lost or destroyed. Marinette Dupain-Cheng did not know what to think when she saw the Ladybug mark over her heart, she ensured no one could see it as she knew it would be important for later in her life. The book that appeared when she was ten told her snippets of her story, she could never know too much lest she face unforeseen consequences. 

 "The young Ladybug was loved by all.... Ladybug knew what this moment meant, after all she knew since she was a little girl... The Ladybug and the Black Cat were loved by all, regarded as the best in history... She was abandoned by her friends, all quick to leave her for the next big thing... Ladybug knew she could not deny destiny... Ladybug fell for ..." 

 Marinette did her best to be a good friend, always accommodating, always compassionate and always willing to help her friends.... She never wanted to lose them. When she met Adrien Agreste she thought something clicked, as though he was her destiny to meet. She had felt the same when she met Chloe, Kim, Alix, Max, Nathaniel,(maybe Nino) but something felt different, something she could not place her finger on. The day she found a small black box in her bedroom she knew what it meant, after all she had known since she was a little girl. The day she met the small Kwami she could not help but think that she was hiding something, her eyes looked saddened before smiling and introducing herself.

As soon as Ladybug made an appearance on the rooftops along with Chat Noir everyone was talking about Legacy Day. The Parisians couldn't help but see when their Ladybug would finally announce their Legacy day. Everyone wanted their favorite heroes to get a reassure Happily Ever After.

The Folktales or Justice League , honestly they had no idea who came up with the name, did not know how much progress Ladybug's story had made. "No one truly knows how different each story of the Ladybug is" Diana, the Princess of Thymescara, and current Wonder Woman explained to Batman and Superman, a new folktale with unprecedented beginning, "My mother was once Ladybug, but to be the Ladybug there is always a price. Each and every one is cursed with a robbed happily ever after, a fact many ignore. My mother, after retrieving the Butterfly, was betrayed by her Black Cat; he wanted my mother to be his happily ever after, when she refused he murdered her, its how she was chosen to be Queen of Thymescara by the goddesses. Jeanne d'Arc was burned at the steak for refusing to sign the Storybook of Legends, they accused her of being a witch and of terrible crimes, that she had deceived them and was not the true Ladybug. Even those that signed did not live happy lives after the story was done... I can't help but want to save this Ladybug from the same ending" 

 Adrien Agreste was always told he was born for greatness. His mother and aunt said so the moment his cat mark came out. They wondered which tale would be his or if he and Felix would play their tale; The Twin Rings. He knew he would be getting his happily ever after so he put up with his father's ridiculous standards, the overbearing work and overly sheltered life. Someday, he knew, he would get to see the real world, make friends, he'd get his happily ever after. The moment he met Ladybug he knew it was heading for the right direction. Meanwhile Plagg is sure that Adrien is a cat but not his Black Cat. He of course can't really do anything about it and ever since his mother passed, Adrien's father locked up all their Books. Because Adrien technically knows they're in his father's safe its not considered lost so it can't reappear to him; he has no clue about his story but he thinks it’ll all play out in the end. Ladybug liked Chat Noir but she did not want him to be her happily ever after... she was beginning to doubt if she would even get one. The more time she spent as Ladybug, the greater her magic and her ability to read the past tales of Ladybug. They all began so grand and courageous but... the closer they got to the ending the more tragic she began to find them. Even those that signed the storybook of legend would eventually fail to protect the butterfly, thus the cycle continued. Tikki does eventually confess about the thing with Ladybugs and Marinette isn't surprised, its actually something all Ladybugs end up realizing and just strive forward with it. A few did try to change the story but by that point it was too late; Tikki has hope Marinette still has time to change or decide to stick with the story. With the introduction of "Lila Rossi", the supposed granddaughter of the one Pied Piper of Hamlet and Ermellina, not to mention she was destined Fox of the Miraculous; the Ladybug began to feel her friends move away... they no longer needed her. Or that was what she believed. As it turned out her classmates who had their own Book and story were aware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing who would try to destroy their stories. Many chose to play along with her, to see how it was possible for her to change stories while other stood firmly on their ground and had unknowingly allied themselves to the Ladybug, the test for their own stories.  What they don’t realize is that Lila's actually a Page Ripper, like a dream-eater except for stories, she lives off of or just enjoys destroying stories because she knows hers will end with her being stuck with a terrible ending, in her opinion. She refuses to realize that she only get the terrible ending because she began to destroy other stories.When she saw Marinette she recognized her as definite main character for a Story and began her vendetta against her At this point she already has Ryuuko, Viperion and Queen Bee as her permanent holders, she made a mistake of choosing Alya as the Fox (one her book warned about, and now Alya thinks its supposed to be for Lila.) In reality she has no clue who or if there is even a person who was meant to be the Fox in this version of the story or if she's just supposed to give it to whoever she deems worthy. The Kwami tell her not to worry about it and just choose allies she is sure about. She does eventually recruit other temporary holders but she’s unsure if she could trust them after Rena Rouge.  Everything began to change once more when they ventured to Gotham, the city of Folktales as it was home to the Batman. Their class had been enraptured by the newest story Lila had come up with, about convincing a story to finally follow their destiny and sign their storybook of legends, when she was called out for the fact that it was not her call to make... No one had to follow any so call destiny or story. "Do you not understand! Without the stories the world will fall apart!" she had yelled out 

"And I believe you have no clue where you are. Here, no one has to follow their stories, everyone is free to make their own decisions and create their own version of their story" "And how would you know!" some angry yells began before he took out a book, it was a deep emerald green, easily mistaken for black at a glance, with golden details and cuffs, at the center was a ruby gem, in cursive the spine said 'Damian Wayne' where it once said Ibn al Xu'ffasch That was how the young Ladybug was introduced to the concept of Folktales and met the young Robin. 

 Selina Kyle, the Catwoman, knows that she at some point gains a protege but it should have happened some time ago (around the time one of her old friend’s passed away), she's not sure how she feels about that.  Marinette isn’t sure if she want to sign the Storybook of Legends, truly no one on her team is, but the Parisians are getting persistent. Even city officials are breathing down her neck and she can’t help but think of Jeanne.

Damian's story of Robin begins to transition into a weird mix about becoming a cat of some sort and of breaking a curse.

All anyone is sure of is that

The End is just the Beginning

[ageeksnerdyworld]

Dead Boy Walking

Characters: Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne & Alfred Pennyworth

Word Count: 3,756

Trigger Warning: Death Mention, Resurrection, Ghost, Haunting, Séance, Slight Swearing

A/N: Parts-- X Sort of another AU going here, I guess. I don’t know really know what this is right now. I had this idea one day and I liked it a lot so I decided to write this little fic. It’s not as good as I’d like it to be as I focused too heavily on one specific aspect, but, whatever. Might do more and might not... We’ll just have to see what happens.

Summary: Instead of being fully resurrected after his death Jason Todd unwillingly comes back as a ghost. After rising from his grave he’s confused and unsure of what’s going on. He wanders Gotham until he realizes what’s going on. And then he makes his way back to Wayne Manor to seek some help.

XXXX

He does not want to do it but something is forcing his hands and feet to move. And so he scratches and pushes at the lid of the ebony coffin. This invisible force is desperately trying to get him to escape before he suffocates. He can’t breathe and his lungs hurt from trying so hard. Pain shoots through his palms and it allows him to take back control of his body. Turning on his side he tries to give in to the cold and the dark, but, the indiscernible force pushes against the lid with everything it has left. That final bit of strength is enough to get lid off and an avalanche of cold dirt falls on top of him; filling his mouth and lungs with dirt and simultaneously mocks his effort to resist.

But his heart and brain do not want to leave.

And yet he continues to struggle against this force; against himself. Pushing through the dirt he starts to climb out, but, he tries his best to fight whatever is dragging him out of the black. All he wants to do is lay back down inside, close his eyes, and return to the engulfing darkness. But his hands and feet continue to ignore his mind’s pleas as they push more and more dirt out of the way.

His hands shoot up out of the dirt and he feels something on his palms.

The name of it escapes him. He knows what the thing is that he feels on his skin but he cannot remember the name. And just as quickly as he felt it; the sensation leaves him with an empty nothingness.

Fully pulling himself out of the dirt he stands up. He starts to look around; trying to figure out where he is. Everything looks dingy, gray, and is completely void of color. It’s like the entire world is covered in a dense fog. All he can see are shapes and sizes of things but nothing is clear enough to see details. He can make out the shapes of the headstones and grave markers as well as the cemetery gate off in the distance. Confused and scared he turns around to see what he crawled out of.

A large round tombstone stands before him bearing his name, birth and death year.

But I’m alive?

He shakes his head in confusion and makes his way out of the cemetery.

And he just continues walking; alone, afraid and at a complete loss. Feet nosily shuffling from lack of use; as walks down the street he notices that no one is looking at him. They should be staring wide eyed at the horror before them. Running for their lives from the zombie that walks amongst them. They should be screaming at the top of their lungs, and calling the police, at least. These people should be doing something. Anything, anything at all, would be better than acting like he doesn’t exist.

But not a single passerby pays him any attention.

“Nobody sees anything wrong with this fucking picture?” he yells gesturing to his torn, ragged, dirt-covered suit and the rotting flesh that makes up his corpse. “I just crawled outta my own goddamn grave, people!”

No one turns to look or even bats an eye when he yells. Bewildered and worried he stands in the middle of the sidewalk; eyes darting about pleading for someone to notice him. Then his eyes land on a lone elderly man waiting at a bus stop. The man seems friendly and nice so he rushes over to ask the man for help. He sits down next to the man but he doesn’t seem to notice. So he pokes the man in the shoulder but the man just shakes him off as if he’s a pesky fly.

He gets up and leaves the bus stop; assuming that the man was just either too rude, or too focused on himself, to pay him any attention. Continuing to walk down the sidewalk he tries once more to get the attention of passersby. Turning a corner he almost collides with a woman pushing her toddler in a stroller.

“Sorry. Excu...”

He doesn’t have time to fully apologize, and move out of the way, before the woman and her baby walk right through him.

The woman shivers slightly and the baby starts to cry. Mouth hanging open in shock he turns around and watches the woman console her child before continuing to walk down the street. Even more confused than before he moves out of the way of walking traffic before it can happen again. Leaning against a storefront window he watches the oblivious passersby.

Then it hits him. He hasn’t been brought back to life like he first thought. But he’s not dead either. And he isn’t a zombie for a number of reasons. The sudden realization brings to mind a passage from Hamlet.

What may this mean,

That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel

Revisits thus the glimpses of the moon,

Making night hideous and we fools of nature,

So horridly to shake our disposition

With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?

Say why is this? Wherefore? What should we do?

He decides in that moment what he needs to do. Turning on his heels he begins to walk down the street.

XXXXX

Now sure of what to do he makes his way to Wayne Manor. If anyone would know what happened to him, and how to fix what was happening now, it would be Bruce. And if B wasn’t there then he could at least talk to Alfred or Dick. Surely, one of them would be at the Manor, they would know something.

Opening the large front door he walks into the Manor.

“Hello? Anybody home?”

No one responds.

Walking through the Manor he sets off on a self-appointed mission to find the others. As he walks he notices that his feet don’t make a single sound as they hit the floor. Shrugging it off he chalks it up to forced habit learned from the life he had before B took him in. A life that was first ruled by an abusive two-bit criminal father and then was ruled by the hard, cold mean streets of Gotham’s underbelly.

The sound of singing hits his ear before the sound of running water.

Someone’s in the shower.

He opens the door and walks in; the off-key singing echoing slightly in the bathroom. The lyrics are to some song that he has a very vague memory of. But the voice singing is clearer in his mind and more recognizable than the lyrics. Hopping up onto the counter he sits on a space next to the sink. Writing a quick message on the fogged mirror he smiles to himself. Then he waits.

A couple minutes later Dick Grayson steps out of the shower, wraps a towel around his waist, and begins to dry his hair; all the while still singing.

My loneliness Is killing me and I I must confess I still believe, still believe

Dancing as he rubs the towel over his ink-black hair his back remains turned to the sink. Dick softly makes a comment to himself about the room not being so cold before. But he shrugs it off, reminding himself to ask Alfred about it later, and turns around. Just as Dick hits the high note he turns around and sees the message written on the mirror.

Hi, Dick. Miss me?

Grayson screams and almost faints.

Quickly writing on the fogged mirror again; he begins a new message directly below the first one. Then he hops down from the counter and stands next to Dick. From his viewpoint both messages are completely legible and he can read them just fine. But apparently Dick is having trouble reading them as he tilts his head to the side and his pale blue eyes squint in confusion. After a minute or two he gets it and his mouth drops open in shock.

“Jay?”

Jason instinctively nods but then remembers that Dick can’t see him. So he writes on the mirror once more. And just like before his message comes across jumbled and backward. It takes Dick a couple of minutes to fully get what Jason is saying.

“Well, that explains the cold at least,” Dick says with a chuckle and a smile. “But I don’t get it, kiddo, how are you here?”

He shrugs and begins to write his response. Jason tries his best to say everything that happened but he doesn’t really know himself so it’s hard. So he starts at the beginning; his death. Then he realizes that the mirror was starting to clear up. Jason rapidly scribbles out the last bit of his half-explanation but it’s no use. He sighs sadly as he watches Dick stare at the mirror; completely dumbfounded.

“I don’t get it. What are you trying to say?” Dick asks after a long while.

Jason throws his hands up in anger and the motion makes a slight breeze which in turn makes Dick shiver.

Crossing his arms and leaning against the sink Jason watches Dick pace the bathroom floor. Dick mutters to himself as he thinks about the situation at hand. Jason Todd remembers bits and pieces of the life he had before. Some things are clearer than others. Those aren’t much, but, they’re just enough. And Dick Grayson, the original Boy Wonder, was one of those few spots of clarity. After a few minutes Dick stops pacing, faces the bathroom mirror, assumingly where he thinks Jason sits, and says “I’ve got it!”

“We need to hold a séance.”

XXXXX

Dick tried his best to convince the others that Jason was somewhat alive. The two agreed that Jason wouldn’t do anything until Dick convinced the others to do the séance. But none of them would hear what he had to say. Bruce brushed it off as some type of grief-related dream. “People don’t come back after they die, Dick. You and I both know that very well, I think.” In his mind there was no other explanation for what Dick had seen and experienced. It was just his emotions, and his mind, playing tricks on him.

Alfred didn’t believe him either. He too chalked it up to fantasy and grief.

Then Jason accidently made his presence known to the both of them.

Bruce was sitting in the Manor library reading over the discussion topics for an upcoming Wayne Enterprises board meeting. He had been in there less than fifteen minutes before Jason walked in. The temperature dropped, as Jason walked past him, but Bruce barely took notice of the change. Jason walked over to the bookshelf and began running his fingers along the spines. Then his eyes land on his favorite one and he plucks it from the shelf.

Bruce just so happens to look up at the exact same moment and sees the book floating in mid-air.

Jason locks eyes with Bruce and stands perfectly; anxious about his adoptive father’s reaction. But then he remembers that Bruce can’t see him. Meaning that the man thinks he’s only staring wide-eyed, mouth agape, at a floating book. Hehas no idea that he’s actually staring at the ghost of his son. So Jason tucks the book under his arm and walks to the middle of the room. Lying down on the carpet, on his stomach, he lays the book in front of him and begins to read.

Bruce stares at the pages turn, seemingly by themselves, in total shock and awe.

He said nothing to no one and kept the incident to himself. Bruce tried time and again to convince himself that it was his grief playing tricks on his mind. Or that it was the lack of sleep in recent weeks due to an influx of criminal activity. One thing was for certain to him at least; Jason was not back from the dead.

Then the second Boy Wonder paid Alfred a visit.

Alfred was alone in the kitchen on afternoon; preparing the night’s dinner. Roast rack of lamb with pine nut stuffing and Jasmine rice. Jason was watching Alfred gracefully move from the counter to the oven; roasting pan in hand. Then the boy, forgetting the state that he was in, got up to help the aging butler. Rushing over to the sink Jason accidentally turns the water on full blast and makes Alfred drop the pan onto the floor. The loud crash startles Jason and he disappears from the sink; leaving the water running to overflow the sink.

All Alfred saw was the sink turning on by itself.

The unwanted, and purely accidental, haunting went on for about a week and a half before either Bruce or Alfred said anything about it. By that time such inexplicable things were happening that neither man could keep it a secret any longer; so they each told the other one. Both agreeing, that Jason was indeed somewhat back from the dead, they decided to take Dick up on his offer to perform a séance.

XXXXX

“I’ve done a ton of research,” Dick says. “And I know exactly what we need to do.”

Taking the day off from their respective day jobs the three men sat in the Manor kitchen; eating breakfast and discussing the séance. Dick had seemingly done his research and comprised a well thought out list from a variety of sources on the subject. He explains that he even went to the bookstore and picked out a few books that he thought could help. One was called The Book of Séance: How to Reach out to the Next World. Another was one focused only on Romani spells, which he thought would be good to use considering his heritage, and the last was all about protection spells.

Bruce nods approvingly and motions for him to continue.

“Okay. So, first we need to only do this with people who believe that the spirit world exists. Or who at least want to contact someone on the other side. They’re called sitters. I think the three of us, and maybe Tim, will do just fine. If you have any skeptics they’ll ruin the positive energy and throw off the séance.”

“The sitters need to prepare questions. That gives the séance structure and makes it easier to contact the spirit you want to talk to. We already know that we want to contact Jason so that will help a lot. Yes or no questions supposedly work better.”

“Oh, uh, also we kind of need a medium,” he adds.

Both Bruce and Alfred give Dick identical confused looks. Neither of them knows where they would find a medium, or how they would even go about finding one. As they discuss they start to second guess the whole idea of holding a séance. Jason, who stood in the corner of the room the entire time, crosses his arms and grumbles to himself. But Dick’s pleading face changes their minds once again.

“Where are we supposed to do this?” Bruce asks.

“I was thinking we could do it right here,” Dick replies. “It has meaning to all three of us and Jason too. It’ll work better than anything else.”

“Okay, anything else?”

“We need a table that we can all sit at; preferably a circular one. But we can all just sit on the floor in a circle if we need to. Also we need to bless the area and light a few candles on it. And we’ll need a Oujia board, or a glass of water, or a pendulum. Something that Jay can use to answer us when we talk to him.”

“I’m confident that we can find most of these things, Master Richard.”

Dick smiles kindly at Alfred. He’s surprised that the two of them had got so on board with the idea. They were so against it from the beginning that the change was rather unexpected. But then again the change of heart came only after they found out Jason was haunting the Manor.

“We can also record it if you want, Bruce. That way we can get some audio or video of things we couldn’t see or hear during the séance.”

“I think that would be a good idea.”

XXXXX

Dick prepares the séance since he was the only one in the group who had some idea of what to do. They couldn’t find a medium that was nearby and who wasn’t a complete money-greedy hack and so they had to perform it without one. But Dick was confident enough that he could do it on his own. He arranges three chairs in a semi-circle around a table and lays a tablecloth on top. Then he places a tape recorder in the middle of the tablecloth. Rushing over to the library’s archway Dick turns the lights off before returning to the table.

“If everyone could please turn their phones off I would like to get the séance started.”

The others oblige without any trouble.

Asking the two to take their seats Dick sits down at the head of the table. After all three men are seated Dick takes out four candles and places them on the four corners of the cloth. Then he lights the candles; illuminating their faces in the small space. When the candles are lit he presses the record button.

“Let us join hands and intertwine our energies.”

They all join hands and bow their heads. Before fully beginning the séance Dick says a prayer of protection; cleansing the area and praying that no evil spirits come into contact with them during the séance. He decides to lead and end the séance with a Romani protection and closing prayer.

Once Dick recites the protection prayer he begins a Latin evocation.

And once he finishes the evocation he calls to Jason in English; “Jason Peter Todd we respectively ask that you honor us with your presence this evening. Please feel welcome in our circle and join us when you are ready.”

Jason stands in the corner, watching the four men, but doesn’t move.

Dick calls out to him again.

Jason walks over and taps on the table; altering the others of his presence in the room. Dick clears his throat and tells Jason that they won’t be able to understand him if he tries to talk. He tells Jason to tap once for yes, twice for no, with short pauses in between, and to use the knock code for anything more than that. Jason quickly taps once.

Silence fell over the room and so Dick decides to ask the first question; “Do you know why you came back?”

Tap. Tap.

“Master Jason? Where will you go when we’re done here?”

Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Pause. Tap. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Pause. Tap. Tap, tap, tap.

IDK.

“Hey, Jay?”

Tap.

”I just want you to know I’m proud of you, buddy.”

Tap. Tap, tap, tap.

K.

XXXXX

Once they finish, and Jason leaves the Manor, Bruce quietly gets up from his chair and leaves the room in total silence. Then Dick performs a cleansing spell just in case any demons or evil spirits decided to follow Jason into the normal world. As Bruce leaves to go be alone, and Alfred goes to get ready for bed, Dick begins to clean up the séance materials. Eyeing the tape recorder he picks it up and tucks it under his arm. After cleaning the table and getting rid of everything he takes the recorder over to Bruce who sits alone in the study.

“Hey, Bruce?” he asks; knocking on the doorframe.

Bruce sits at his cherry oak desk; his dark blue eyes staring off into the distance. He looks up, when Dick knocks, but doesn’t say anything to his eldest son. Longing, sadness, anger and all lurk behind his eyes and inside his heart. Dick lets out a quiet and defeated-sounding sigh; seeing Bruce like this reminds him of when Bruce confronted him months ago about not attending Jason’s funeral even though he had no idea that the boy died. It tears him apart to see Bruce like this and he hopes that the turn of events doesn’t push Brice back down the self-destructive path he took when Jason first passed.

He enters the room and lays the recorder down on the desk in front of Bruce. “I thought, maybe, you’d want to listen to this by yourself.”

Dick quickly reminds Bruce that he’ll be in Gotham for a few more days in case he needed anything then he leaves. Once he’s alone Bruce gets up and closes and locks the door to the study. He walks back over to the desk and stares at the tape recorder. He doesn’t want to listen to it; worried for the things that Jason might say on the tape. Or the things that Jason might not say. Sitting down he picks up the tape recorder, puts in headphones, and presses play.

The entire séance goes by exactly the way it happened an hour or so earlier.

The recording was pretty much silent in most parts; up until the very end when Bruce asked his question. It was something that had been weighing on his mind every since that fateful night when Joker beat the young boy so viciously and then left him for dead in a building rigged with explosives. The séance was the only time he’d get to ask his question. He needed to ask because he would have done anything to change things depending on the boy’s answer. But in the moment he didn’t even care if Jason answered or not; he asked it anyway just to get the heavy weight off his chest.

Do you wish you weren’t dead?

Bruce can hear the slight hiccup of sadness in his voice through the recording. A slight pause fills the recording with a bubble of dead air. Then Jason’s voice comes through clear as day; as if he was speaking directly into the recorder.

As if he was still alive.

It might not be a popular thought -- but not everyone wants to be alive.

A tear rolls down Bruce’s cheek. Staring off at nothing he rewinds and plays it again. He plays it again, and again, and again. Playing it over and over until tears stream down in face in full force. Playing it again and again until his screaming, tear-filled, hiccupped, cries drown out the tape.

Not everyone wants to be alive.

Not everyone wants to be alive.

[ao3feed-timdrake]

Ghost

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2xdMArt

by WriterofGotham

Jason Todd was a ghost just like something out of Hamlet. No, he was dreaming. That's what it was he was only dreaming that he had gone overseas and that the Joker was there for some reason and his mom sold him out and he died. He was still closing his eyes when he saw Bruce come into his room. It was odd because Bruce knew Jason loved privacy. But this is a dream. Weird things happen all the time in dreams.

Words: 774, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake

Additional Tags: ghost jason!, Jason Todd is Robin, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Hurt No Comfort, Angst, Jason needs more love, ghost au, No Sex, No Smut, Alternate Universe, Flash Fic

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2xdMArt

[paperedking]

ophelia!steph wip ! hands !!

[paperedking]

collection of hamlets jasons

[paperedking]

see the WIPs | like it on Instagram

OPHELIA: There’s fennel for you, and columbines. There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me; we may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays. You must wear your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died. They say he made a good end. [Sings.] For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy.

[paperedking]

more of this WIP

finished piece here

[paperedking]

uncle, father, king

[paperedking]

another ophelia!stephanie brown wip

[paperedking]

ALT

ALT

"foolish" fourth robin but she's ophelia <3

[redbubble here]

[paperedking]

preview of Act I, Scene 1 of my Jason Todd Hamlet AU in iambic pentameter.

[paperedking]

realized i hadn’t posted this one here but technically this is part of my hamlet au