#like damian has 1 murder attempt on tim

[sarahreadstoomanycomics]

I don't remember Jason trying to shoot Tim in the back?

This is probably because of my tags on that one post well I technically phrased it wrong he doesn't try to shoot him in the back he actually does.

And then he was most likely about to shoot him in the head until Ulysses dressed as Red Robin stopped it.

He was definitely going to kill him here he's some prior dialogue in the scene too that shows it.

I know Jason's other two murder attempts on Tim are much more famous than this one though so I definitely understand not remembering it. This is from Robin 1993 #177 which is part of the FabNic run and he's by far my least favorite writer this comic had so blocking it out of your memory even if you've read it I get.

[roachesforthewin]

My Personal TIMKON Recs List

i made this for my friend recently and thought i’d share it here because you tumblr bitches love pain and little gay dudes (just like me fr)

all of these have good young justice, batfam and superfam (though sometimes it’s minimal) representation (because i don’t read them if they don’t have good rep, sue me). Plus Tim and Kon personality and character accuracy, obviously.

Also these are all Ao3 recs because i like to consider myself as not a heathen

Funk Ass

- sun kissed by merils

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48882055

beach episode, queer young justice fr fr, Kon rep is off the charts (ashgs quite possibly the conner rep of all time, just the phrases he uses /$)/ so real!!)

- Baby Talk Me Down (Take Me Out) by sage (lemontongues)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25384345

ahhhsh this one is unfinished but i desperately wish it was, either way great fic and great character rep + conner civvy life insights

- Out of The Frying Pan, Into the Casserole Dish By JpegdotJpeg

https://archiveofourown.org/works/41005416

martha kent (& the superfam!) is the best person ever, plus tim is the most autistic little dude (we love him sm)

Haven’t finished but amazing rep/haven’t read yet but plan to

- Robins and other flightless birds by Ionaperidot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15607170

ahsgshsh this one qualifies for [literally kill yourself after reading (pain)]category but i put it here just cause :-| uhh BW adopts fucked up kids good for him: JJ!tim, Catatonic!jason COA!dick etc

- Straight on ‘til morning by merils

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43401684

haven’t read this one yet but i’ve heard really good stuff about it! plus good kon character development/ exploration (from what i’ve heard)

- there you were by mindshelter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25599205

the blorbos deserve pain, don’t you agree? (i haven’t read this one in a hot minute and have forgotten what it’s about but i remember it being good)

- Buy Back the Secrets by sundiscus

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43137879/chapters/108412977

okay no this one LITERALLY AHSGGSGS bro just read it, uhh civvy tim and superboy interactions, 5+1 things, good sibling Jason (a rarity unfortunately), funny ass dialogue

sexy times (good for them)

disclaimer! none of these fics are like solely focused on smut, but that plays a large ish role thats why they’re in this category

- take me to the airport (call me from the platform) by Hayleythewriter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47970586/chapters/120950194

This has an idiots to lovers tag…there’s not much more to say. except for great sibling relationship portrayal of Damian and Tim that doesn’t involve murder attempts Yay!! (DC wouldn’t even dream of it)

- What happens in Vegas by Ididloveyou_once

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32850109

Stupidest bitches alive fr (mostly tim) + Cassie Sandsmark being a bitch, we love to see it! and and and it has an interesting subplot/s so woowoo, also minor Birdflash👀

- Scions by winterlive

https://archiveofourown.org/works/375897

Conner Luthor is a bitch and i love him + lex luthor is a good dad WHAT!?! oh HA and Clex which is soo good.This was honestly one of my favourites sheerly because of good character representation and BW not being a terrible father

- Trust Fall by Ididloveyou_once

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31654376

Again good sibling rep between all of the batboys, mostly Damian and Tim tho YAY! (it’s seriously a rarity do not take it for granted)

Literally kill yourself after reading these (Pain)

- when your bf hits the street and turns into meat that’s amore by CarrionCarnival

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40318824

self explanatory title, heavy gore :loved it, literally my favourite fic on this list (i adore gore what can i say)

- You are Shaking Fists and Trembling Teeth by Bored_Liege_bow

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47679967

implied TimKon, aftermath of conners death Rip timothy d-w

- my dear devoted delicate by blenderfullasarcasm

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48556555

pushing daisies au, sad af + good exploration of loss on tim’s part through his life

[thatthirdtriplet]

Relationships:

Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne Talia al Ghul/Bruce Wayne past Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson Barry Allen/Hal Jordan the core four - Relationship

Characters:

Tim Drake Damian Wayne Dick Grayson Jason Todd kon-El | Conner Kent Bruce Wayne Ra's al Ghul Clark Kent Barry Allen Bart Allen red Robin - Character robin Batman Nightwing Alfred Pennyworth agent A Selina Kyle Cassie Sandsmark Cassandra Cain

Additional Tags:

dick grayson is a bad sibling he gets better but holy duck Batfam Damian Wayne is a bad sibling Damian Wayne is a bad person this is a Damian Wayne hate zone Don’t Like Don't Read Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent Tim Drake Deserves Better Tim Drake Needs a Hug Tim Drake Gets a Hug the Bruce quest Tim Drake is Red Robin Dick Grayson is Batman Dick Grayson is Nightwing Bruce Wayne is Batman Damian Wayne is Robin Damian Wayne is a little shithead Jason Todd is the Red Hood Tim Drake Has Issues Tim Drake Angst Cassandra Cain Deserves Better Cassandra cain is a good siblings selectively Mute Cassandra Cain

Summary:

Timothy Drake has been dealing with Damians murder attempts for too long. He's tired, nobody is listening to him about anything, Bart and Kon are dead, Bruce is lost, and Dick thinks he's insane. He needs to take matters into his own hands.

[stormiclown]

Master post (& fics I’m planning to write)

Ladies and Gentlemen: My take on Adrien having his own antagonist like Marinette has Lila and Chloe. A new transfer students makes an enemy of the entire class, but Adrien seems to be his main target.

Part 1 Part 2 Headcannons

Status: Completed (maybe)

Let Her Eat Cake: A one shot in which Lila is exposed as Hawkmoth’s ally, which opens up questions about Francois DuPont. In other words, Bustier is accused of being Mayura.

Read Here

Status: Completed

Lila’s Reflection: A one shot in which Lila has a twin sister who she feels inferior against. Includes Lilanette, Male Marinette, and Lila angst.

Read Here

Status: Completed

Marion Dupain-Cheng: Ice Cold: So we know the umbrella scene where Adrien basically pulls his “sad boy” card to make Marinette feel bad for him? Realistically, she shouldn’t have fallen in love with him just like that. I think she should have been wary of him because of his association with Chloe or outright hate him after he scolded her for being happy that Chloe was leaving. Or in ’Bubbler’ when all he cared about was having a party and not that adults we’re literally being launched into the sky. Or in ‘Despair Bear’ after a day of forced niceties he laughed when Chloe insulted Mylene’s macaroons. Long story short, Marinette shouldn’t have tolerated Adrien for as long as she did much less have a crush on him. If she did, it should’ve been obliterated by now. (This is a Drabble)

Read Here

Status: Completed

A Beetle’s Blossom: The members of the Justice League have seen many things. The deaths and resurrection of some of their comrades, alien doomsdays, off planet missions, and the literal destruction of the world. But the boy who *strongly* resembles Bruce in more ways than just his appearance has them stumped, especially Bruce himself.

On AO3

Status: On going

Fics That Are Coming Soon

The Most Hated Girl in Paris: An AU where instead of getting off Scott free, Chloe is legally punished for the Train Incident and has to deal with the fact that’s she’s Paris’ most hated girl. She must decide if she wants to continue living this way or if she’s going to claw her way to redemption. Long term project.

Tumblr Concept

Status: Not started

Not So Miraculous After all: Tired of citizens justifying their reckless behavior with the Miraculous Cure, Ladybug stops using it, making sure that consequences get left behind.

Status: Not Started

The Fall of A Queen (C. Bourgeois): An Au where Andre isn’t re-elected as Mayor. This changes everything. Long term project.

Status: Not Started

Cuisine Paradise: Seeing as both their parents work in the food industry, Alya and Marinette decide to start a YouTube channel together to share their recipes; Marinette’s pastries and Alya’s dinner recipes. It all in good fun and they accidentally become famous. Long term project.

Status: Not Started

New Boy In Town (Remy Gasteau): The son of the Prime Minister transfers to Francois DuPont and takes an interest in Marinette. Extremely long term project.

Based on an ask I submitted to @mcheang

Status: Not Started

Civil War (Paris Edition): No matter how hard Lila tries, the class refuses to turn against Marinette, believing that Lila was just confused and there was a misunderstanding. In an attempt to get the girls to help her with Adrien, she insists that Marinette would go great with Luka. It was a brilliant plan— until war breaks out over the class. Lukanette vs Adrienette. Short term project.

Status: Not Started

Round the World Trip: After winning a series of contests, essay challenges, and competitions, Marion unintentionally earned his class a fully paid global trip over summer vacation. Includes Male Marinette and shenanigans. Mid-length project.

Status: Not Started

Damian’s Secret Brother: After ruining any chance at a brotherly relationship with Tim after his murder attempts, Damian Wayne is determined to prove that he wasn’t just a brutish assassin. The discovery of his newest biological brother provided him with the opportunity to show everyone that he could be civil with new family members. But he didn’t think he would get attached to the friendly baker’s boy who had ambitions to be a fashion designer. Male Marinette and bio-dad Bruce Wayne. Mid-length project.

Status: Not Started

[dysfunctional-family-fight]

Propaganda for the Batfamily

"Constantly fighting, and trying to kill each other. Also are fighting the mentally I’ll at 2 in the morning while wearing glorified tights and bat ears"

"*gestures vaguely at every batfam story ever* No but like they’ve got so many issues idk where to start. Jason’s death and all the shit he started post resurrection? Damian straight up trying to kill Tim for while back in the day? Bruce’s questionable and inconsistently written parenting skills? Also they’re all vigilantes which in Gotham means they definitely have issues"

"Thomas and Martha Wayne got murdered and it's all been downhill from there"

"Bruce dresses up as a bat to fight crime and Alfred, failing to stop him, adopts a "well if you're going to do it then at least do it where I can see that you'll be safe" attitude and helps from behind the scenes. Bruce in turn adopts a child called Dick. And then a child called Jason. And then a Cass and a Tim and a Duke. It doesn't really work out with a Steph but she's family anyway. Damian doesn't need adopting because he's Bruce's bio kid that he didn't know existed for ten years. And all of the children are SO determined to fight crime that the combined forces of Bruce and Alfred aren't enough to stop them, and one by one they all become vigilantes (Bruce also adopting Alfred's attitude from before). Most of them die at least once. None of them are good at coping OR communicating OR feelings OR being a member of a functioning family but by god if they aren't trying to help. Sometimes the world, sometimes each other. They usually fare better with the former. Bruce and Dick yell at each other about everything under the sun that parents and eldest children yell at each other about. Jason is angry at Bruce because the Joker is still alive after he killed Jason. Bruce is angry at Jason for killing people. Cass is away from home a lot. Tim takes even worse care of himself than the others (on page). Duke is... actually doing pretty okay if not counting the fact that his parents got jokerised and his new family is This. Damian struggles with not killing people and a rampant animal adoption addiction. They all struggle with abandonment issues. The rest of them struggle for screentime. It's like that one vine with the girl who goes "please god, let me have just one good day" and god answers "oh my god you again? give it a rest buddy" where the family (both as a collective and as individuals) is the girl and DC Comics is god."

1 all of them have tried to kill each other at least once

2 bruce wayne is a kind of shitty dad

3 everyone but bruce and alfred were child soldiers (ish)

4 dick grayson has beefed with multiple 12 year olds after he had already grown up and moved out

5 cannot overemphasize the murders and bodily harm

6 one time bruce got lost in the timestream (comics) and everyone but tim thought he was dead and tim was like “hes alive” and everyone kinda bullied the shit out of him for it

7 one time jason got murdered by a guy and then several years later dick put him in prison down the hall from the guy

8 one time bruce beat the everloving shit out of jason for shooting a guy with a blank

9 another time bruce refused to tell jason about who killed his dad despite knowing full well

10 bruce is the main reason jason died at age 15 in the first place

11 the amount of beatings dick grayson took throughout the 50s and 60s is frankly absurd

12 in the injustice universe damian got dick killed and then bruce screamed at damian for “killing his son” despite damian also being his son. then damian joined the league of super fascists against his dad (who beat him up a lot) and then his dad put him in prison

13 bruces uncle isnt in the batfamily but after bruces traumatic orphaning his uncle did more traumatic stuff to him

"Several attempted murders, several arrests of each other, general disdain and massive fights, love that is destructive to all parties, and an inability to communicate"

"they're a family full of extremely traumatized child soldiers whose primary coping mechanism is vigilante justice. many of them have tried to kill each other multiple times. some of them have died & come back wrong. they try their best and they do care about each other but they also get into big blowout fights a lot. they all came from some form of traumatized background before being taken in. the oldest sibling (Dick) had to be a father to the youngest sibling (Damian) for a not insignificant period of time when the dad (Bruce) disappeared; this was immediately after Damian (Bruce's only biological child) had started living with them after being raised in an assassin cult by his mother for the first like decade of his life. Jason died, came back wrong, was groomed by assassins, became a drug lord, & tried to kill multiple members of his family."

"i don't think i can summarise the 80 years of familial dysfunction. my best is just. Batman is the best parental figure some of these kids have ever had. Batman."

"Take your pick of issues. Dead parents, absent parents, abusive parents, addict parents, distant parents, assassin parents. How many people are in the family? Who knows? Everyone deals with personal issues by dressing up and fighting crime in the most depressing city possible. Bruce may or may not have adopted all the kids/plays favorites."

"Bruce is addicted to adopting kids. Bruce. quit putting children into crime fighting. One of them died like how did you not learn. Dick (the first robin) is a huge ass to the next one that comes along (this is the one that died like. Super graphically and horrifically) because Bruce basically fires him as his son and Dick leaves. The one that died rose from the grave, was kidnapped/manipulated for years and has supernatural anger issues (but rightfully should be angry) tries to kill brother Tim who became robin after him for replacing him. He becomes a drug lord and starts cutting off heads. Uses guns for the bit specifically (really funny) (bruce has trauma with guns from dead parents). Bruce mean to Tim when he first comes, then finds out oh shit I have a bio kid raised by assassins that really thinks he’s epic and tries to kill Tim a bunch. It’s practically tradition for his brothers to try and kill him. I love Damian but damn babe. That’s a lot king. He also genetically got the addiction to adopting but for pets. He’s pulling up with cows and shit and keeping them. Cass is perfect and we love her. Duke has a really funny relationship with Jason, and also does some out of pocket shit in the comics (by that i mean like. Dangerous/crazy stuff but in a good way) Alfred is perpetually exhausted with them, mostly bruce. Bruce is emotionally constipated so bad, like crazy bad. This man cannot communicate and is a bad dad a lot bc of it. But he’s really trying and loves them."

[wufflesvetinari]

mmmmmrhghghgh okay. OKAY. i am holding your hand, i am gently holding your hand

listen. my credentials as a damian wayne liker are unimpeachable. i have written ~85k words of fic about how interesting and endearing damian wayne is. if you don’t know shit about dc and followed me because of a homestuck post in 2011, i could quiz you on my own dc opinions and based solely on what i put on your dash you would agree i enjoy content about some kid named damian wayne.

it is good and interesting to treat damian as though his actions have consequences.

i have no interest in discussing whether a 10yo raised from birth to be an assassin/world-conquerer has any concrete moral culpability, because that is 1). boring and 2). the wrong framework for the world of Detective Comics Comics.

BUT, within the story, damian is a vastly more interesting character if you allow the world to react to things like him trying to kill tim, or offing random goons early on in gotham, or lashing out in wildly disproportionate ways when he is challenged. damian began his time in canon inarguably traumatized, brainwashed, and desperate for approval and he was still a dangerous and unpleasant person to be around. take that history out of the equation--that arc of slow change where lots of people justifiably couldn’t stand him--and damian is just A Cute Kid and i do not care

 i think it’s important to understand that traumatized kids do not always behave “sympathetically,” and that they still deserve compassion and care, and the people who step up to help those children are doing basically sacred work. and yet, the world still reacts to people when they lash out: relationships will be destroyed, faith in them will be lost, etc. Tim’s not an asshole for not wanting to be murdered! it’s interesting that their relationship is “rocky” because of a literal murder attempt! you get a much richer vein of Damian characterization by acknowledging that this happened (TWICE LMAO) and wasn’t Tim’s fault! that’s just part of who damian starts out as, and it’s wild to me to want to sand the edges off of that, because the push/pull of Damian’s character--swinging from sympathetic to unsympathetic, painfully rational to wildly irrational, all within the same story arc if the writer knows what they’re doing--is the best part!

it’s much more believable to me if some characters never fully learn to trust damian, not because he doesn’t deserve trust, but because that’s how people work. that’s the history he’s dealing with when he tries to figure out who he wants to be in the future. and he never had a choice about how he was raised, and now he has to wrestle with that as an adolescent who’s been granted agency--conditionally--but not a whole lot of trust.

(hell, i’ll admit to kind of digging the metatext that lots of real life DC readers hate damian and have since the early aughts when he was just Grant Morrison’s Edgy Batman OC. all of that is texture. flavor. chef’s kiss. my child. what a brat)

[lazaruspiss]

i would actually love some nightwing recs from you

Aha! You activated my trap card <-(completely forgot how public they are with their nightwing obsession) (ps: i also talked nightwing recs here too <3 i simply love to talk about my baby boy)

My "area of expertise" is mainly Nightwing 1996, so that's where most of my recs come from. There was also Nightwing 1995, which was more of a test run for 96. I think it had 4 issues total? It's not bad, just not noteworthy either. I've been working on a big spreadsheet of info for 96, including trigger warnings, but im only like. 15 issues in. hashtag pain and suffering. Issue #1 already has a woman being threatened, I have it down as "attempted rape" in my list, and that kind of sets the tone for what you need to be able to handle to read everything in that series.

The biggest downside is that it's all pre Damian :( son boy i miss u and i wish u were in better comics. Tim is funny tho. The first arc in 96 is great scene setting, and Tim shows up in #6 to be a lil stinker :3. We establish Dick's goals, motivations, etc, as well as what the state of Blüdhaven is and who our main baddies are.

It's all a bit heartbreaking in retrospect. Dick fails. He wants to be more independent and remove himself from Bruce's shadow, Blockbuster is established as the big bad for him to bring to justice, and he wants to make things at least a little better for the people of Blüdhaven.

He ends up dragged back to Bruce by an invisible leash, he technically beats his main villain but only in the absolute worst way after losing everything (and continues to lose more after, losing things he didn't know he had), and Blüdhaven is destroyed.

Dick loses. It's a bad end. A tragedy even. And yet, because of the nature of comics like DC, his story continues. It continues in crossovers and fan service and whatever else might sell. His most personally meaningful story ended prematurely for fucking War Games. sorry I know I just complained about this but cmon.

There were some good storylines after that! But I'm still bothered by the fact that the Tarantula arc was cut off after like, 2 issues. Road to Nowhere (#94-95) really did go nowhere. But the concept was there and it had the potential to be a decent story about an abusive relationship.

Mobbed Up (#108-111), Renegade (#112-117), and Brothers in Blood (#118-122) are some of my favorite arcs, all post Blockbuster. But after those I kind of lost interest. Annual #2 also came out sometime after all those, and I can't stress enough that it is absolutely not worth reading. It was written an illustrated by men, reduces Babs and Kori to nothing more than romantic partners, and completely misrepresents older stories. They literally retell older Dick/Babs moments, but without anything that could make their relationship at all complex or questionable to the consumer. Dick saw her as a sister, but rather than use that as a sign of closeness and respect they cut out all reference to that entirely because god forbid relationships have any nuance nowadays. Annual #1 was alright. I think it came out in the first or second year of the 96 run, and it's a nice self contained murder mystery one shot that showcases Dick's workaholic habits, his want for a family, and his tendency to try and change himself to makes others happy. He also comes off as very accidentally arospec. There's a moment where he tries to get a woman to stay with him by saying things like "but I could learn to love you" and if that wasn't me everyday throughout my middle to high school years than I don't know what is.

Outside of 96, I wanna point out The Search for Ray Palmer: Red Rain. Which may not be a Nightwing story but is absolutely a Bruce & Dick story (with vampires!) I haven't actually read much of the original Red Rain because. Dick's not really in that one. The Ray Palmer spin off however has Dick hunting down his parents' killer: one vampire king, Bruce Wayne. If you find those posts about Dick initially being a vengeance hungry 8 year old interesting than this is about as close as actual comics get. In the main timeline, yeah, Dick wants revenge, but because he's 8 and really just going through it rather than being genuinely bloodthirsty he's very easily talked out of it. In the Red Rain universe there is no comfort. He's alone, and grief consumes him. Bruce killed his parents for that very purpose, because he wanted Dick to be consumed by grief and hopelessness like him. Getting Dick to be like him and getting Dick to be obsessed with him was kind of his entire goal from the moment he laid eyes on him. Bruce's main presence up until the end where he shows up is shown largely through Dick's hunt, through Dick's obsession. Bruce wanted them to be inseparable and he very much succeeded in the end. By the time Jason and crew cross paths with them it's already too late. Everything is as Bruce wanted it to be. So a yandere vampire brudick au, basically.

There's also Outsiders 2003, which I keep meaning to read but haven't quite gotten to. Dick leads another team, but Donna just died so he's even meaner and cagier than he usually is.

gah. i really wanna finish that nightwing spreadsheet. i'll probably post it once i finish the 1996 section, or at least get it caught up to where it stops before crossing over with war games.

i've made a lot of these but theyre just things that i eventually wanna read, the dick grayson one is really the only one with anything in it rn <-(one track mind. and that track is called blorbo)

[evilwickedme]

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts lately about how fanon treats Tim compared to Damian and Jason, which is fine, but they’re looking at it through the lens of “good victims” vs “bad victims” in response to trauma and I don’t think that’s the right way to do it. I don’t think we should be looking at it like that because 1. All three of those characters have trauma and comparing trauma is gross and 2. applying real life psychology to inconsistently written fictional characters feels pointless lol. Damian and Jason are written super inconsistently and trying to tie their characters into one specific framework is borderline impossible lol. Sometimes Jason is written as a good person who has inner demons but other times he’s written as a psychopath who tries to murder his family and gleefully tries to shoot children so I don’t think it’s super productive to label him as one or the other. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Ok I'll be real with you I'm not 100% sure what you're getting at! I think you're saying that Tim is positioned as the good victim and Damian and Jason are positioned as the bad victims, although correct me if I'm wrong.

I definitely have a lot of thoughts when it comes to victimhood and the batfam, especially Jason. I saw a TikTok recently that put something I've thought for a while now into words, which is that Jason - Red Hood - is a victim's power fantasy. Like, Bruce is very much a male power fantasy, and Spider-Man and Captain America are Jewish power fantasies, and Jason is over here with his anger and trauma and it just feels so familiar. I don't relate to Jason the most out of the batfam - I feel like Tim's experiences as a whole are much more relatable to me - but I for sure see myself in that aspect of Jason's character.

I think the dynamic of "bad victim" vs "good victim" is flawed in the first place, and dare I say it - yet another aspect of cultural xtianity that has made it into fandom and our culture at large. Purity culture is based in Christianity, and a natural result of it is the idea that victims must be flawless and well behaved, or they must be at fault.

Honestly we see this in DC's constant rewriting of Jason's Robin days - post UTRH comics, esp post n52 comics, are constantly retconning him into being the angry Robin, a boy who was angry and damaged and no good from the beginning, which of course is not true at all - he was a fucking nerd, for real. He loved school and doing homework and going to museums and he only had two notable cases of violence, one extremely close to his death, and the other is in the first issue of A Death in the Family - you know, the story in which he was killed off. Afai can remember RHatO n52 and rebirth and urban legends: cheer all try to present this - almost as if to make Jason's death less tragic, make it seem inevitable. When Bruce calls Jason "broken" in a hologram in battle for the cowl it's this claim that he was mentally unstable and shouldn't have ever been Robin, something that was only brought up in ADitF.

All of this is DC's attempt to make Jason a "bad victim". Red Hood!Jason is angry not bc of his death traumatizing him, but bc he was always broken. The reality is, the reason Jason's death affected Bruce so much and the reason UTRH was so impactful WAS Jason being such a joyful, trusting child. He wanted so much to belong, to be good, to be magic, and instead he was betrayed by his own mother, brutalized, and then left to die. If there was such a thing as a good victim or a bad victim - which there isn't, because being a victim is a neutral act, and nobody deserves to be traumatized, even if they're the worst person on earth - Jason was absolutely a "good victim". That's the whole fucking point.

I don't know as much about Damian as I do about Jason, but I feel like Damian needs less retconning to be presented as a "bad victim". He's introduced as a violent boy who attacks Tim and doesn't trust anyone and having taken in so many of the LoA's teachings. I think it's insane how much the fandom tends to stick to this early characterization; unlike the situation with Jason, where DC is actively trying to pretend that he's always been rotten, for the most part the actual comics have really let him grow as a person and I'm really looking forward to reading Robin (2021) (I already have vol 1 I just need to like. Get around to it).

The truth is Damian was a deeply traumatized and brainwashed child who needed a supportive environment and Dick really tried to give him that, which was so instrumental in his development. I feel for him so much and it's really saddening to see the way many people treat him in the fandom. At least Jason made the choice to become a villain as an adult. Damian's just a kid, even now, and he'd never been shown another option.

As for Tim - God, I've said this before, but I fucking hate how woobified he's become in fan spaces. Guy's intelligent, sarcastic, independent, and yeah, honestly? Not always been treated the best. His biodad wasn't exactly great. Bruce gaslit him on his birthday and Alfred just went along with it. Dick and him were so close, and then after Bruce "died" everything just fell apart between them. But also like. Idk I feel like people often take his agency and character away from him. Originally Tim was supposed to be the normal kid. Robin was basically a nine to five - he was there to do a job, and he wasn't ever supposed to be part of the family, esp considering how recent Jason's death was when he became Robin. That just sort of... Happened. Dick treated him like a brother from the first, yes, but Bruce didn't treat him like a son, and Tim wasn't looking for a father. I don't remember where I saw this, but somebody pointed out that Tim basically never lived in the manor. I think he feels very deeply for the people he loves, and that's why he was so distant at first from the batfam - he didn't want to create a connection that would be severed eventually anyway when he stopped being Robin (again, was initially supposed to be a temporary gig!). We see this most obviously because he did get attached, and then Kon, Bart, Steph, his dad, and Bruce all died - or "died" - and he low-key lost it. And like...

Okay I've sort of lost the plot, but I guess basically what I'm saying here is that I'm not saying that Tim isn't deeply traumatized himself, but I don't really see the things that traumatized him the most as victimizing. Like... He and his dad were working on rebuilding their relationship, for better or for worse. Before Bruce died, he was doing pretty well as part of the family. He's, unfortunately, back to being Bruce's Robin. So like - what is he a victim of that he's being treated as a good victim? But then you read the most popular Tim centered fics and you're like, oh, okay. So we're just projecting here.

Like, were Jack and Janet drake amazing parents? Again, no, and he expresses extreme frustration with the constant moving and boarding schools and at a certain point jack confiscates his tv and jack forces him to stop being Robin because it's dangerous. But none of this is anywhere close to the abuse that's portrayed in woobified!Tim fics. Like my God, some of that shit is AWFUL. Many of them are extraordinarily well written and deal with the abuse they inflict on Tim extremely well. But it's, at least as far as I can tell, made up. Positioning Tim as a "good victim" is so fucking easy when you're making up the abuse in the first place.

Idk I guess the main problem here is that the idea of good victim and bad victim are ridiculously harmful in the first place, but then there's also just the fact that none of this characterization is based in canon - whether bc of DC's attempts to erase history with Jason, bc character development is routinely ignored with Damian (not to say that it's low-key because of racism, but... It's low-key because of racism), or bc it's straight up made up.

But, again. Y'all. Just do not moralize victimhood. Nobody deserves to be abused or mistreated or fucking murdered (except the joker, bc as I've said before, he has such a high fictional kill count it's like the equivalent of killing a Nazi and I stand by that).

Anyway thanks for asking, sorry for taking a few days I just had to think about it and also apparently write a full scroll of text. I tried to break it up into readable chunks instead of the wall of text I originally wrote it as but it's still just. So long. Anyway much love

[fruitdragon]

So I haven't slept properly in the past 3 days. Have had way too much coffee today and I'm currently eating a box of alcoholic chocolates.

I have many ideas for fanfiction right now.

Idea 1: White Collar x DC. Fucking A/B/O universe. Tim is Neal, he is an Omega. His scent blockers make it appear as if he is a Beta. One day Jason in full Red Hood gear, come storming into the building smelling like an Omega nesting mother. In this universe Jason basically adopted Tim the minute he saw him. Everyone is freaking out. "Neal" stands slowly and reaches for his neck to remove his scent patches. His scent calms Jay down and and while the office is still confused they slip away. Nesting heat I would like some ABO without it being sexual.

Idea 2: White Collar x Disney descendants. Yeah I know. So the core for managed to sort of universe hop/dimension travel, it was one of Carlos's inventions and they can go back and forth. And Carlos ends up becoming Neal. In this universe Mal and Evie are Hades kids, Maleficent and Cruella had Carlos together (expand how you wish) and Jay is desperately in love with Carlos. One day Mal visits the office, to check if Neal is ready for "family weekend" Peter Burke is an ass, and is very demanding of what family weekend is because "Neal doesn't have any family, I would know." Mal tears down a bunch of assumptions. Like "why don't you have any records of him before he's 18?" (Dimension hopping but they don't say that) "What's his actual eye color not just the contacts?" (Chocolate brown) "Do you know he has to dye his hair to keep it looking like that?" (In universe the black and white hair is natural) "What's the name of his first boyfriend?"(Harry Hook, but he's with Jay now) "Do you know how many siblings he technically has" (Mal is a half sibling and Evie is her half siblings, other family? Is Oscar his younger brother in this universe.) "At what age did he try chocolate for the first time? No at what age did any of us have actual food for the first time?" (14 for Carlos, 15 for Mal, Evie was 16- I HC Evie as the oldest) "what were his mother's charges in her first arrest her second arrest and her third arrest?" (First arrest animal abuse, kidnapping, property theft. Second arrest conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, arson, and animal cruelty. 3rd arrest child abuse, animal cruelty, assault, sexual abuse of a minor, and second degree attempted murder of said minor). Diana and Jones are actually great. "So you wear the hat too?" (If you make this world have at least minimal amounts of magic it becomes even more fun, when abilities could be revealed)

Alt: Jay comes in and most the same information gets out but in a wildly different way

Idea 3: alternate universe where all of Batman's kids turned into villains of some sort. Dick Grayson as Renegade, Jason Todd as Red X or Red Hood, Tim Drake as jester after being Joker Jr, Damian is still a prince of the League of Assassin's, Cassandra is still Orphan only she's a terrifyingly silent assassin, Stephanie as spoiler becomes a better version of The Riddler as Clue. There are still found family vibes maybe the rest of Young Justice is also villainous of some sort. That universe comes in contact with a semi-normal DC universe, it's very disconcerting. Everyone is confused Renegade almost stabs someone, Jester is giggling hysterically, and whenever anyone asks about Batman they all flinch. In their Universe, Batman is a terrible dad (F-), in the semi-normal one he gets a solid B+

Idea 4: Danny Phantom x DC Universe. Bruce Wayne is a clone of Danny Phantom and he knows it. Danny can't really properly raise him since he is not really got a human life anymore and Bruce is still half human, but he still sticks around like the weird uncle figure or whatnot until the Waynes are killed. After that he kind of becomes more of a father figure along with Alfred who is definitely Clockwork in this universe. Yes that means that Damian Wayne is technically an Eldritch abomination of some sort. The rest of the surviving clones kind of act like aunts and uncles to the rest of Bruce's kids and it's great. Yes this is a trans Danny and trans Bruce universe because I stan (also I'm Trans and really appreciate it). Yes that means that Damian technically does have to be cloned unless Talia has a dick or Ra's al Ghul is the father. Maybe that means that all of Bruce's kids gradually become more Eldritch due to Eco- contamination. Jason is one of the most outfits because he died and came back, Bruce is more supportive in this universe, Danny is crying hysterically like I'm a grandfather of many Eldritch children. In universe that means as soon as Kon-El is revealed and Superman reacts badly, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne have a very public falling out. Also Conner is adopted into the family because why not.

"Hello Superboy, my code name is Batman. I am the clone of a hero known as Phantom. Would you like to come with me? I have several brothers and sisters you could meet." Robin pipes up in the Background

"Does this mean we're getting a cousin B? I'm totally feeling the Aster." All Robins are with Bruce at the same time

[alto-tenure]

okay so: there are a decent amount of timber fics that pit Tim and Bernard against each other as enemies in some way. some variations of this include Bernard getting possessed, Tim as Joker Junior, or Bernard as a mob heir. but, you know, we are missing one scenario: evil gun Batman.

but this post is not about timber + evil gun batman!tim. this post is about the circumstances that it would take to get Tim to agree to being Batman in the first place, which are many because of our current set of characters. but first, let's discuss our theoretical worldstate.

1) Approximate ages

Tim is 24. Steph is 25, Cass and Jason are both ~26, Dick is like...31?, Duke is 22, and Damian is 18. I don't know how old Babs is in the current canon but we'll assume that she's, like, a couple years older than Dick. Helena Bertinelli (who will matter later in this) is between Dick and Barbara. Bruce is in his 40s and we'll just leave it at that.

2) Hero mantles

It's pretty much what you would expect, but I'll detail a couple things: Cass and Steph are still sharing Batgirl, but Babs has stopped the mantle entirely and is Oracle full-time, as she should be. Damian is still Robin but he's not happy about it and is on the verge of quitting to become someone else/leave Gotham/whatever. Tim is...it's complicated, okay? It's not that Tim doesn't want to be a vigilante. He definitely has a healthy civilian-vigilante life balance! I think right now he's not really patrolling formally, but he does do stuff for the vigilante network that Babs doesn't because she's busy with the Birds of Prey/non-Bat projects she's working on right now and can't keep track of vigilantes in Gotham who aren't the Bats. People like Xanthe, Helena, Claire (Gotham Girl), some non-Duke We Are Robin alumns, etc.

3) Other miscellaneous stuff

Kate is in the Bat-circle, but falls more under Tim's purview of "vigilantes operating out of Gotham who aren't really part of the Batfam" than under Bruce's purview of "Batfam leader". She's still Batwoman, though. Darcy Thomas is still friends with Tim and operating as Sparrow, but with an actual vigilante costume and not just a purple hoodie and a domino mask. Tim operates out of a larger version of the murder houseboat.

Okay, now: why is Tim Batman, again?

Tim does not want to be Batman. This is important. This is also preceded by a giant conga line of tragedies. For this to happen, Dick, Cass, and Bruce all either real-die or fake-die. I imagine Bruce is not really dead because he's not allowed to die. He just got lost in the multiverse because of a glitchy portal or something. Cass died in the line of fire trying to protect someone, because if she did try to dodge the bullets someone would die. Not sure about Dick yet. Maybe he had to fake his death again to go undercover. (Tim will absolutely call him an asshole for this.) The order of events is probably that Dick is the first one, then Bruce, then Cass. Cass ends up surviving the injury miraculously, but is in a coma/stuck in physical therapy/unable to do vigilante work. Damian is at a point in his character development where he no longer wants to be Batman. Helena does not want to do that again. Jason is like "fuck Batman we do not need Batman".

Duke asks if there's anyone else who's ever been Batman. Tim has flashbacks to Azbats. But then he does have a brainwave and attempts to reach Helena, but Babs says she's out on an important thing for the Birds of Prey and won't be back for a while. >:(

Nobody wants to be Batman, but Tim is exactly the kind of character who would do it anyways because Gotham needs a Batman. (Someone who is better read on Damian would be able to talk about how this impacts him, but I'm sure it would not be pretty, especially considering the character developments I've given him for this scenario. He does not want to be Robin anymore! He was already approaching that point when Bruce disappeared!)

[graysongraysoff]

Happy October! For this year's October writing challenge I thought I'd try @whumptober, and I couldn't think of a better fandom to do it for than Batman! Here's hoping I make it through and that folks have as much fun reading these drabbles/ficlets as I do writing them. 💕

Subscribe to the series for daily updates.

Links to individual works below the cut:

Day 1. Adverse Effects Red Hood gets hit with Scarecrow’s fear toxin.

Day 2. Caged | Cornered | Confrontation Bruce and Dick are about to be cornered by the police. Dick insists that Bruce leave him and his broken leg behind, but Bruce hesitates.

Day 3. Gun to Temple Red Hood meets the new kid.

Day 4. Hidden Injury Bruce rushes into the Batcave with an injured Dick in tow. Only later does Alfred realize that Bruce doesn't look so good, either.

Day 5. Running Out of Air Dick struggles uselessly against the weights pulling him down below the water, hoping Bruce will get to him before it's too late.

Day 6. Ransom Video Bruce Wayne's 13-year-old ward is kidnapped. Not long after, the kidnappers post a ransom video online.

Day 7. Shaking Hands | Silent Panic Attack After Conner Kent's death, Tim Drake is coming apart at the seams.

Day 8. Back from the Dead The mindless, fear-addled thing that emerged from the Lazarus Pit in Jason Todd’s body wakes up in a room he doesn't recognize and is interrogated by a voice he cannot place.

Day 9. Protect In Bruce's final moments he's protecting his son.

Day 10. Made to Watch “And I thought, what better way to celebrate my relationship with Robin — or, I’m sorry, I know you’ve taken up my old moniker now, yet another bond the two of us share — but I thought, what better way to celebrate than with a reenactment of our fondest memory together?”

Day 11. Sloppy Bandages | Self-Done First Aid After the Joker uses Tim to stage a reenactment of Jason's death, Jason assesses the damage and helps him out as best he can.

Day 12. Stabbed It isn’t until his blade slides home that Damian senses that something is wrong. Silky laughter slinks into his ears; Poison Ivy’s laughter. His blood runs cold. He’d been fighting one of her mutant plants — her most advanced cultivation yet. It must have taken her ages to perfect it, to create a monster that could hold its own for as long as it had against a combatant like Damian Wayne. She should be furious… what does she know that he doesn’t?

Day 13. Fracture Dick Grayson tried to play Two-Face's game and lost, and now he has to pay the price for biting off more than he could chew.

Day 14. Carried to Safety Bruce rushes a gravely injured Dick Grayson back to the Batcave.

Day 15. Lies After his daughter dies as Batgirl, Commissioner Gordon promises he isn't going to let anyone else's children meet the same fate.

Day 16. Mind Control Dick regains consciousness as Jason is trying to get him back to the Batcave so his injuries can be treated, but it doesn't take Dick long to realize that something isn't right.

Day 17. Dazed and Confused Bruce wakes up in the hospital to find his mother beside him, despite the fact that she died decades ago.

Day 18. “Take my coat.” Officer Jim Gordon attempts to take Bruce Wayne's statement on the night of his parents' murder.

Day 19. Repeatedly Passing Out | Head Lolling Jason brings a battered Tim back to the Batcave for Alfred to patch up.

Day 20. Tears The Joker sets a bomb in Sheila Haywood’s agency warehouse, but this time Bruce arrives in time to save Jason  — at the cost of his own life.

Day 21. “You’re safe now.” Bruce comforts Jason after Jason wakes from a nightmare. At least, he thinks he does.

Day 22. Pick Your Poison | Toxic Dr. Crane asks Poison Ivy why they’ve never teamed up. Ivy gives him a clear, concise answer.

Day 23. Tied to a Table | “Hold them down.” The Joker has teamed up with Jervis Tetch, and together they’ve come up with a game for Bruce and his boys to play.

Day 24. Blood Covered Hands Commissioner Gordon fails to comfort Bruce Wayne after Dick Grayson dies to protect him.

Day 25. Lost Voice Bruce Wayne talks to Dick Grayson after his parents’ tragic deaths.

Day 26. “Why did you save me?” | Birthday Wild Card! Yuji eats the last of Sukuna’s fingers and Megumi carries out his execution.

Day 27. Muffled Screams Dick reflects on his growing fondness for the new Robin as he rescues him from a band of thugs.

Day 28. Anger Born of Worry Dick's life slips through Bruce's fingers.

[ao3feed-timkon]

Pushed from the Nest

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/9q6reoL

by Niiwasong

Timothy Drake has been dealing with Damians murder attempts for too long. He's tired, nobody is listening to him about anything, Bart and Kon are dead, Bruce is lost, and Dick thinks he's insane. He needs to take matters into his own hands.

Words: 1635, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics), Young Justice, Teen Titans (Comics)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Gen, M/M, Other

Characters: Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Kon-El | Conner Kent, Bruce Wayne, Ra's al Ghul, Clark Kent, Barry Allen, Bart Allen, Red Robin - Character, Robin, Batman, Nightwing, Alfred Pennyworth, Agent A, Selina Kyle, Cassie Sandsmark

Relationships: Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Talia al Ghul/Bruce Wayne past, Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Barry Allen/Hal Jordan, the core four - Relationship

Additional Tags: dick grayson is a bad sibling, He gets better, but holy fuck, batfam, Damian Wayne is a bad sibling, Damian Wayne is a bad person, This is a Damian Wayne hate zone, Don't Like Don't Read, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Tim Drake Deserves Better, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, The Brucequest, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Dick Grayson is Batman, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damian Wayne is a little shithead, Jason Todd is the Red Hood, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake Angst

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/9q6reoL

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

I Would Like You To Love Me

by LovesickPrince

Tim has spent his entire life in the safety of his tank. He's lucky to have such a happy life as a merperson, or so his parents keep telling him. Most of his race are violent, mindless animals, but Tim isn't like them. He has a home, an education, and a family.

That is, he did until he became more trouble than he's worth and ended up thrown away into the ocean - an environment Tim doesn't know how to navigate, let alone survive in.

Tim had accepted that the ocean would act as his tomb, right before an older male with a red and golden tail saved his life. With nothing to lose, Tim decides to follow this new mer - Jason - around, taking this as his one and only chance to learn the ways of survival.

Words: 4400, Chapters: 1/16, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Alfred Pennyworth, Janet Drake, Jack Drake

Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Child Neglect, Dehumanization, Merperson Tim Drake, Merperson Jason Todd, Siren Dick Grayson, Selkie Damian Wayne, Selkie Bruce Wayne, Siren Cassandra Cain, Selkie Stephanie Brown, Human Alfred Pennyworth, Protective Jason Todd, Caretaker Jason Todd, Language Barrier, Animal Instincts, Families of Choice, Tim Drake-centric, Young Tim Drake, Minor Injuries, Attempted Murder

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/44746136

[whumpbby]

I posted 3,346 times in 2022

48 posts created (1%)

3,298 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@kyuuley

@elwon

@lawless316

@primeemeraldheiress

@nonbinary-octopus

I tagged 55 of my posts in 2022

#headcanon - 34 posts

#dc - 7 posts

#dc headcanon - 4 posts

#omega!jay - 4 posts

#lol - 3 posts

#xd - 3 posts

#murder!au - 3 posts

#jason todd - 3 posts

#heandcanon - 2 posts

#jason todd is magic - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 97 characters

#and can't seem to remember the creators who made it happen forgot about it as soon as it happened

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Listen, I want for Damian and Tim to keep trying to kill each other, but in, like, the Addams Family style. 

I want fondness in their murder attempts.

I want them to keep it up as they age, getting more and more ridiculous, just because it keeps the other entertained! 

And then one day they just beat up a major villain, stand there gloating when Damian suddenly and quote offhandedly stabs Tim in the shoulder. 

They look at the wound. The villain looks at them. A moment passes. 

Damian: Oh, gods! Fuck, don’t move, Drake. 

Tim: What the fuck?! Why would you do that?!

Damian: I don’t know! Habit, I guess! Once more for old times’s sake!? Stop moving, I will secure the blade!

Tim: If I get tetanus I will murder your turkey, I swear! 

57 notes - Posted May 30, 2022

#4

Come on, DC, why won't you lean away from "Jason the Dead Robin" and lean into "Jason the Resurrected Guy"??

He died and that was an important event, sure.

But not half as important as the fact HE CAME BACK VIA SPONTANEOUS RESURRECTION??

Like, it would be so much more fun and engaging if they leaned into him being not only a crime lord - but a magical crime lord! ✨✨✨

Make him an outright villain (I mean, Bruce's man on the inside of the crime) with his shtick being that he has magic and what are they fucking going to do? Like, the Penguin can order his assassination, but once a paid killer saw a guy pull a sword out of his chest and trap the soul inside of it the price will go up considerably.

Come on, DC, make him fun.

65 notes - Posted October 27, 2022

#3

Listen, I know that the idea of Lazarus PIT leaving Jsson angry is an old shoes, but listen.

It took him a ling while to learn how to control that endless rage. It took him a long while to re-learn his emotions, to trace new neural pathways in the destroyed and suddenly revived parts of his brain.

It takes little to anger Jason, but it takes a lot to make him lose it. Because he knows what awaits on the other side and how hard it is to get back from there - his brain is a work in progress, he has to keep managing it. He will quip and deflect until he's blue in the face, because he doesn't want to go back there.

But listen.

The Scarecrow.

Crane discovering the hard way that Red Hood doesn't react to his Fear Toxin like everyone else. Because under all the morals and intelligence and inhibitions - in this one, there's no fear. Not anymore. The only thing left is anger, stifled and pushed down, and repressed like a skeleton in the closet.

And the Toxin just unlocked the door.

150 notes - Posted October 5, 2022

#2

I love the idea of Steph treating Bruce not like a father figure, but a whacky uncle figure.

Oh sure, Dick and Jason and Duke and Damian are her annoying brothers. Alfred is her doting grandpa.

But Bruce is the uncle she always wanted to have.

And being so used to being the dad, Bruce has no idea how to react to being the uncle. He was never an uncle. What do uncles even do???

187 notes - Posted January 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I find it an excellent idea for Jason to be the magical Bat.

They already have an assassin. A gymnast. A smart-guy. The fighting master. A meta.

They only need a magic-specialist to complete the

195 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[icerosecrystal]

The Love We Give To You

Mominette Month 2021

Day 02: Signs of Affection

Masterlist

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Day 2 was a lot of fun to write! I hope you guys enjoy it! Also, to make sure that no one is confused, I wanted to let you all know that this is not a continuation of Day 1.

It has been three months since Marinette married Bruce and became a part of the Wayne family. Bruce's and Marinette's had a great relationship. Bruce showed affection through cuddles and kisses. Not that he would ever admit to doing it. Alfred and Marinette had bonded over their love of baking, cooking, and mother-henning the children. They showed their affection when they offered to help each other. Whether it be with work in the kitchen or little hobbies. All of the children loved Marinette and showed their affection for her in various ways.

Dick loved hugs. The moment he spotted Mari in the room, he would bound over to her, a smile on his face, and squeeze the life out of her. She would always let out one of her tinkling laughs in response before returning the enthusiastic hug.

Tim liked to give her hugs and kiss her cheek in greeting. But for him, it was more his actions than anything. He would get her a cup of coffee and then babble to her about really anything. In turn, Marinette would patiently listen, adding her input when necessary.

For Jason, he didn't appreciate physical affection as much as his other siblings, but he still would allow some of it, but only ever from Mari. Jason would show his appreciation for Mari every time he helped her out with whatever she was doing. He would sometimes talk about he was feeling also. But his favorite part would be when Mari would indulge in his thrill-seeking activities with him. He loved that she didn't try to change anything about him, and he always did the same for her. He even tried to make a leather jacket with her help.

Cass liked connecting with people on a soulful level. So she would usually sit by Mari when she was designing something and meditate or even only watch her work. They would also meditate together at times. Due to Cass being born into the League of Shadows, she found a lot of physical affection to be strange. But she sometimes did hug Mari.

Stephanie was as enthusiastic with her affection as Dick was. She would bounce over and hug Mari every time she entered the room. She would also constantly cling to Mari and would urge her to make waffles with her.

All of Mari's new children showed her different signs of affection except for Damian. She didn't think that Damian should be as blatant with his love for her, but she wanted even the slightest bit of confirmation that he loved her.

A Week Later

Damian flopped down onto his bed in misery. He had just witnessed another hug session between Dick and Mari. Damian wanted that same love, but he was confused about what to do. He felt like he was betraying his birth mother by trying to show Mari love, even if Talia wasn't the best mother ever. Besides, why would Mari even want a former assassin child as her kid? She's probably happy with the rest of them. At least they were somewhat ordinary. Even Cass, the only other one that had only ever been an assassin, was a lot more passive than him.

He continued to mope about his problems before he suddenly had an epiphany! What if he tested her? He needed to make sure that she was worth loving. And so, the next day, when everyone but Marinette, Alfred, and himself was out of the house, he went to the Batcave. He then started sparring against some dummies. He was hoping that Mari would attempt to bond with him and offer to spar with him. And sure enough, after a few minutes of sparring on his own, a melodic voice behind him called, "Damian? Why are you sparring on your own?"

Damian, in turn, replied, "I had nothing better to do. Would you like to join me? I could teach you."

He watched as her face lit up with unspoken happiness before she stepped onto the mat. They both positioned themselves into a starting position for the spar. He then counted them down, "Three, two, one, go!"

He had barely uttered the words before Mari ducked down low, whipped her leg out, and swung it towards him, hooking the back of his ankle with her foot. The action resulted in him falling to the floor. He quickly jumped up and kicked her leg from behind, causing her to hit the ground. Before he could tackle her, she rolled on the ground and jumped up, punching him as she went. He quickly recovered from the hit and followed with his own, which she caught and flipped him over, putting him back on the floor once more. Before he even got the chance to try and get up, she clambered over him, putting him into an armbar hold. And with that, Mari had officially won the spar.

Damian stared at her in awe as she climbed off him, beaming in excitement. Mistaking his silence and awe for embarrassment and hostility, Marinette frantically tried to make him feel better, "I am so sorry, Damian! I didn't mean to be so aggressive! I know that you wanted to teach me, but I already knew how to fight! But I thought that I would pretend that I didn't! But you were giving me a challenge, and I accidentally started treating it as a real fight! You are an amazing fighter! I am so, so sorry–"

Before she could continue with her spiel, Damian interrupted her with a whisper, "You're awesome." Realizing what he said, he ducked his head, attempting to hide the blush that had made its way onto his cheeks. He quickly gave Mari a tight-lipped smile before running to his room, ignoring Alfred's questioning gaze. He had to think. Right now!

He quickly slammed the door and leaned his head against it. Okay. Things that he had learned today. Number one, Mari knew how to fight. Number two, She knew how to fight very well. Number three, Marinette was awesome. Number four, she was much better than his mother could ever hope to be. And number five, he wanted Mari to be his mom! And he knew how to do it.

Two Weeks Later

It had been two weeks since the spar between Mari and Damian, and much had changed since then. And everyone in the family knew it. But no one, except for Marinette and Damian, knew why.

The first thing that changed was Damian's attitude towards Marinette. Before, he would try his best to never be in the presence of his stepmother. But now, he didn't mind. Everyone could tell that he would try to delay his time spent with her. Not many people would realize it, but the Wayne family wasn't just everybody.

What changed next was how he responded to her words. Before, he would roll his eyes, ignore her, or huff. But now, he would still grumble, but it was always half-heartedly. And one time, they caught him smiling at Mari. The dramatic gasp that Dick let out didn't help anyone in figuring out what was going on.

Then he started doing little things, like pecking her cheek before he left for school. He would smile at her, give her a tiny compliment, paint while she designed. They were such small actions, but every time Damian did them, Marinette's heart swelled with happiness. She was in disbelief that Damian was showing his love for her! Yes, he wasn't as blatant about it as his siblings, but he still did it, and that made her all the happier.

But the day that things finally changed completely was when Damian Al-Ghul Wayne walked up to Marinette Dupain-Cheng and cuddled her. It was an ordinary Saturday. Everyone was up early except for Damian. But then Damian came in yawning and looked around. He saw Mari sitting on the couch stitching something. Damian trudged over to her and sat down next to her. He put his legs up on the couch and buried his face into her chest. Marinette smiled gently at his actions and put down her sewing things before putting her arms around him. She then started stroking his hair, and as if he was part cat, he preened at the attention and pressed his head to her hand in want of more strokes. Damian then mumbled, almost incoherently, "I love you, Ummi. You're amazing."

Marinette stopped stroking his hair in shock, and Damian looked to her worriedly, thinking that she was mad with his declaration. But instead, her face broke into a huge smile, and she hugged him tightly, breathing out, "I love you too, Dami."

All while this was happening, the rest of the Wayne family looked at the pair in awe. Finally, Jason spoke, breaking everyone out of their stares, "When did this happen?! And what did happen?!"

Damian looked over at Jason with a scowl and said, "I found out two weeks ago that Ummi is amazing. She beat me in a spar. Now, she's my Ummi, and none of you imbeciles can take her away from me!"

Everyone except the pair continued to be bewildered over the situation. That was when Dick spoke up, "Ummi?"

Damian looked ready to murderer them for not allowing him to cuddle with his Ummi, but all the same, he replied, "I heard a lot of children call their mothers 'Ummi' in the league, or at least in private. But Mother never permitted me to do the same, alone or in public. She said that I was the heir of the league and should, therefore, be as nonsensical as possible. But now that I have Mari, I finally have someone to call Ummi."

By the end of his speech, Marinette looked to be close to tears, and everyone else was looking at him in surprise. Marinette started clinging onto him, whispering, "I love you so much, mon cheri. I'll always be there for you."

Damian blinked back tears and clung back, saying, "I know you will. I am your favorite anyways." When Damian saw his siblings realize what he said, he jumped off his Ummi's lap and ran out of the room. Behind him, a herd of footsteps was heard, along with shouting from each of the children (except Cass). Each of them trying to convince him as to why he was wrong and why they were the favorite.

Back in the living room, Alfred had left to give Marinette and Bruce some alone time. Marinette beckoned Bruce over to sit beside her. She pecked his mouth before seeing the adoring stare. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what is it that you are staring at?"

Bruce pulled her closer, inhaling her jasmine scent, and mumbled, "Oh, nothing. Just looking at my beautiful wife that I can't believe I managed to marry."

Marinette flushed a deep red before punching his arm, "Sap."

"Your sap," he retorted back.

"Yes, my sap," she whispered before giving him a deep kiss.

As Bruce pulled away from her, he mumbled against her lips, "Besides, we all know I'm your favorite."

Marinette smirked before saying, "Oh, I don't know. Your son seems to be just as charismatic as you."

"Exactly–," Bruce started saying before he realized what she said. "Hey! Come back here you!" Marinette giggled as he chased after her trying to tickle her.

The rest of the family came into the room, trying to find the cause of the noise. But they stopped at the scene of their parents laughing together on the ground. Dick then yelled, "Cuddle time," and jumped onto his parents, the rest of the kids, even Alfred joining.

As they all laughed together, Marinette looked at every member of her new family. They were all so different, and that was what made them unique. Even their signs of affection were unique to themselves. But at the end of the day, she knew that they loved her and that she loved them. And that was all that mattered.

2011 words

Day 2 is done! And on time! I wonder how long that'll last!

~ ❄ Crystal ❄

@mominettemonth

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