#more bc i see Dick as Damian adoptive Dad

[lovenaiu]

They are my favorite brothers Duo and they don't have any normal interaction

[dickheadcanons]

Your brain is literally gynormous. Do you think Damian's and Dick's relationship is paternal? Because, as someone who has actually had to raise their sibling (do not recommend) it looks more like a guy that had too much in his plate trying to be the best caregiver he could, but not really being a parent, if that makes sense. I feel like the idea of him wanting to adopt him feels like kind of a retcon, couldn't really see it in the og run. But of course, it could be because it's not exactly the same as my experience (abusive father, incapable mother, yknow the drill). What do you think? All your posts are so good.

Also while you're at it, what do you think of Dick as a parent? Some elseworlds have played with the concept, and main continuity did something too with Olivia but T*m Tayl*r fucked that up too. I also wonder how Damian would be as a dad, but I don't think I've ever seen any stories with it.

omg anon thank you and thank you for asking!! this is literally one of my favorite topics!! i was thinking about making a post on this and now you gave me the excuse for it!!

Long story short, I don't think that “parental” is a binary thing. I mean, I know several bio-parents who are just guys with too much on their plates, trying to be the best they can, you know? And people can see parent figures in all kinds of relationships that aren’t blood or traditional moms/dads, especially with people who didn't know each other from birth. There are a million ways to be parented, and a million ways to act as a parent.

The way I think about it is, is Dick Damain's John Grayson? No, I don't think so.

But is Dick Damian's Bruce Wayne? Yes. Totally. Absolutely.

More under the cut bc I have a lot of thoughts.

I think to talk about Dick and Damian, we have to start with Dick and Bruce. So much about Dick and Damian is a reflection of the original Dynamic Duo, and I think that's very much the case with this element as well. From the start of their very long comic history, Dick and Bruce have been dancing around their relationship. We get early comics that say they're "like" father and son, we have Bruce saying he couldn't care about Dick more than if he was Bruce's son, but we also have places where they call each other their best friends, where they act more like brothers, etc etc.

When it comes to who our parents are, I think there is the responsibility, and the result. Certain people have the responsibility, the duty, to be our parents, and sometimes (because death or illness or being shitty people), they aren't able to meet those responsibilities. That never removes the responsibility; they don't stop being the parent. But they aren't able to create the result of us becoming good stable adults. That's where other people can step in, where the parental figure appears, and those are the people that we actually point to when we say "they made me the person I am today."

In fandom, we see a lot of Dick not wanting Bruce to replace his father, of him asking not to be adopted. I think this is a fine characterization that works with who Dick is, but Bruce is actually the one to say that he is not going to replace Dick's father. He says it completely unprompted, too. This is withholding the responsibility of being Dick's parent from Bruce, keeping him at a distance and reserving it as an honor for someone who can't hold it anymore, even as Bruce demands responsibility for literally everything else about Dick.

And I think that it's very telling of what Bruce's idea of a father is. The thing about having a dead parent at a young age is that the person of your parents is still tangled in the role of parent in your life; Mom is mom, not Martha, and because she's dead, the image of both Martha and "mom" is frozen. For Bruce, the relationship of father and son is frozen in the relationship of specifically his father and him. Of course Bruce is not Dick's father; Bruce himself is so different from what his conception of a father is. And as a fellow son, for Bruce, someone who just got back from 7 years abroad studying to be Batman, for whom the nearly 20 year old wound is still fresh, the idea of even wanting another father doesn't make sense, particularly for a boy that Bruce identifies with so hard that he becomes the third person ever to know who Batman is.

This looming memory is even worse when it's Dick's turn to be Batman. While Bruce looks at Dick and sees the memory of his own loss, the shadow of his own grief, Dick is looking at Damian and seeing Bruce. Dick knows very well who Damian lost; Dick is grieving what Damian lost more than Damian is. Bruce couldn't conceive of replacing a father, but Dick is struggling to imagining himself replacing Bruce at his job, much less who he was in his personal relationships.

But even if Damian isn't Dick's responsibility, Dick doesn't hesitate to care about Damian's future. "Who's going to save him if we don't?" At the start of the DickBats era, Dick isn't looking at Damian as a family member, really. He's looking at Damian as a victim, abet a very involved, very dangerous one. It's how Bruce looked at Dick too, before he had any reason to know that this kid would become something more to him. But, like Bruce, what Dick does to save Damian is bring him into the thing that is most precious to him; Batman. The mission. Saving people. A way to live in the world.

I know saying someone is the Batman to their Robin is like, a joke at this point. Something unbelievably cheesy. But you google "iconic duos" and Batman and Robin are one of the first responses. There's a reason for the joke. So imagine you are Robin, and your Batman is dead. And you have to go and find a new partner. Dick making Damian his Robin is heavy, just as heavy to me as adoption papers. Bruce made Dick his partner without any idea of what that meant. Dick, and the audience, had 70 years of expectation on what Dick and Damian could be. Dick making Damian Robin was a very specific claim, far stronger imo than just claiming him as a son would have been.

Because, to be honest (and speak to your other question), I don't think Dick thinks a lot about being a parent. I don't really think it's that important to him. Dick is a leader, a mentor, he deals with a ton of teenagers and kids through his vigilante work, he goes to Tim's sidekick parent's meetings and takes Jason skiing and more than that, he's also young. He's in his 20s. He should be at the club. I think he probably thinks he'll have kids in an abstract way, but it's not something he's looking for, consciously or unconsciously. He's not searching for connection, or to fix his mistakes or his past, the things that lead Bruce to adopting sidekicks. He'd be a great dad, and I think we see him being pretty good with his Elseworlds kids, but Dick is a very practical person, and him taking a kid in (vs finding somewhere else they can go) is not really the practical choice.

Except for one kid. There's just been one kid with legitimately no where else to go, where Dick is truly the only option, because going home meant only bad things for him. Dick made Damian part of his family in the ways that mattered to them both in that moment. With their lives, adoption doesn't really make a huge material difference on custody (if Damian wanted to leave, Dick couldn't have stopped him; Damian has access to basically unlimited money and can feed and clothe and wash himself. and possibly already has a phd.), and Dick wanted Damian to choose, anyway. If I recall correctly, Dick says he didn't think about taking Damian with him until Bruce comes back. He thought about taking Damian with him, thought that Damian might be better with Dick (his partner!!!!) than even with Bruce, his dad, the person Dick loves so much, only in the face of them being separated.

Meanwhile Damian, for all his blustering about how Dick needs to "earn" his respect, warms up to Dick startlingly quickly. For Damian, who had never known a father, who in his initial run hadn't even known his mother for more than two years, whose other male family is Ra’s al Ghul, his father is Batman. Even in Tomasi's kinder depiction of Damian's childhood, Damian only knows the Bat. And when he meets Bruce, the first thing he expresses is disappointment. Bruce the man is underwhelming and then goes and dies. So much for the mythic hero!

And then he meets Dick. Who manages to teach Damian something, who doesn't discount his skills even when he's wrong. Who proves that he is better at being Batman than Damian, and shows that he wants Damian around. And, even more importantly, who doesn't die. Dick is stable in a world constantly in flux. Damian screws up a lot in that run, and he leaves for long stretches of it, but Dick is always there when he gets back. There's no blame here, but the truth is that Dick is the one who stays.

Bruce was Damian's father, but what does that mean to someone whose never met a father at all? Bruce might have tried to connect with Damian before he died, but he doesn’t do it in a way that works. He doesn’t give Damian trust, he doesn’t encourage him in the ways Damian finds important…the first person to do that is Dick. Dick gives Damian responsibility, makes him part of the team. It could be argued that Damian didn’t deserve it, but we’re not talking about deserving. We’re talking about what worked. It sounds like as good an idea as making a tiny 8 year old acrobat a sidekick, but it undeniably worked for both Damian and Dick. Does that mean that either of these relationships were parental in the way that we think of it in the real world, in the way that a child psychologist would say is good and healthy? I have no idea. But they are the most parental in the absence of any other parents, and I think that means a lot.

Unfortunately, we don't get to actually see the dissolution of Dick and Damian's partnership. DC conveniently skips over showing us Bruce coming back and Dick becoming Nightwing again; preNew 52, Dick is still Batman with Damian even when Bruce returns, and in the New 52, he's been Batman "Before" and we don't really see the end, just a vague aftermath. But if it did take that kind of change to make them realize their relationship had a flavor of "parent and child", had the makings of something like a father and son, well, they'd just be following in the original Batman's footprints.

[roxineedstosleep]

god, gotham knights jason with battinson,,,,, the sheer cuteness of bruce having a son THAT big :'> I just know he'd be so protective over his quiet soft spoken dad!! can we get a one shot with maybe one of the batkids being mean to bruce bc he can't be there for something important to them! while he tries placating them and paying no mind to them being rude, jason is behind him entirely and glares at his sibling. he hates seeing bruce said. god help you if you make him cry in front of jason

(Jason, behind Bruce, during a discussion between he and an of his brothers)

Children can be cruel.

God, and everyone who interacts with children, knows that children are truly peculiar beings.

They are innocent, mouldable souls, have no real control over all their emotions and are always in constant development and moulding of their persons.

And well.

If a child in a structured home, no matter what form their home takes, they can be cruel at times.

Bruce can say that he was not so lucky.

I mean, he knew he wasn't the best of children. After his parents, it's a miracle Alfred didn't leave him with some distant relative or in the care of the state or in a full-time boarding school. Fuck. He had repeatedly been a walking nightmare and to this day he doesn't know how Alfred could have had so much love and dedication to him to keep him from getting lost along the way.

And after adopting, raising, and fighting with Dick? well, he learned that children are a tricky business.

And he does the best he can. He really tries.

The mistakes he made with Dick, he avoids making with Jason. After Jason died, he reframed his whole upbringing with Tim. And with Damian's arrival, he happily had all his kids to support him in the process.

"It takes a whole town to raise a baby."

It never felt so real.

Now that Dick had grown up and matured in his own way, had lived his own experiences, you could say they had a better relationship. With Jason things were tragic, but at least now they were in a safe place.

But Tim and Damian… they were something else.

He really tried, Dick and Jason were different. Each of his sons was. But the circumstances of their arrivals and the timing also played a big part in that.

Dick was basically an accidental baby. As if Bruce had gotten someone pregnant in their teens and was thrown into his care when the mother no longer wanted to raise him. Bruce was a teenage father with Dick; in the best of terms. He wouldn't eat his own vegetables and had to make sure a depressed, angry kid ate his without tearing up half the room. Without Alfred things would probably have gone south quickly.

That explains their constant bickering during Dick's early youth. It explains why they can feel close and hate each other at the same time. They were both children emotionally when they got together and one was in the care of the other. It was unfair, but love was stronger… at least until the differences came and they had to hurt each other and separate in order to get back together.

With Jason, Bruce felt like a young single father. How if in the middle of college he finds out he's a father and has to take care of it. Sure, he's more mature, knows a few parenting tricks and has more of a sense of responsibility about childcare. Thank God Jason was a good, rocky kid, but with a heart of diamond sitting down with the best of intentions.

Jason was a boy who needed love and wanted to give love to whoever had the desire to give him love. That's where Bruce comes in.

Bruce adored Jason, learned from the mistakes he made with Dick and took advantage of his maturity to do better with his new son. If it weren't for the mind game and the fact that Bruce himself couldn't get over his parents, and therefore couldn't help Jason with his own. It really would have been the healthiest relationship he had in comparison to the rest of his children.

But Bruce isn't perfect, and that along with Jason growing up in a place where Bruce and Dick had arguments and there was a lot of elite pressure in front of him. Jason left, they fought, he died and when he came back things were not good for a long time.

Now they are. Of course they are. But neither of them really want to remember those bad feelings. They have a different kind of love.

Tim and Damian are different for different reasons. Clearly and justifiably different reasons.

Tim arrived when Bruce was at his lowest point. Damian came in demanding and believing something of Bruce that he was not.

And they're still kids, still in training, and Bruce needs twice as much patience to be able to raise them both and to be able to accommodate everything he can do for them based on the needs of both of them.

It's not easy.

It's not always happy.

But he loves, LOVES, his children, and for that very reason he won't stop trying.

Even they come to hate him. He will console himself with the idea that at least he fought to the end.

And Jason, now that he's grown up. He knows that.

He knows that Bruce loves every one of them with every cell in his body. Every part of his mind and soul is dedicated to him and all his brothers. No matter what happens, Bruce will put them first in any situation.

So now that Bruce is actually an adult and can really deal with his children… it pains him to realize how unfair his siblings can be to their father.

Of course, there are things that Jason doesn't forgive his father for, and he himself accepts that he is not a complete victim of everything that happens between him and Bruce. But at least he understands that there is a backstory and tries to get to a point where they both don't lose control.

But his brothers don't seem to understand that.

He sees how his father, his poor father, tries on more than one occasion to reach out to his brothers, to argue about things that could be better, about the unnecessary risks they take. But his brothers only shout and smash everything their father gives them.

That's why, although he doesn't always get into the fray, he subtly sets the record straight.

When Bruce is away, which sadly has happened on more than one occasion, he and Dick have taken care of their younger brothers. And not having the same patience and focus as his father, he has come to have a kind of impact on his siblings. So, take advantage of that.

He casually stands behind his poor, distressed father. And he looks at the booger on duty and gives him the same look he usually uses on the fucking sons of bitches he deals with every night. He do not do any kind of harsh mad expression. Only a simple glance, thats all.

And that's what's enough.

That's all.

Of course that's enough. Bruce still gets yelled at, but at least the yelling subsides a few at a time until all that's left is apologies and a well-deserved hug.

He fucked up with Bruce before he died and then disappeared for years.

He doesn't want his brothers to experience that. No.

And he doesn't want Bruce to experience that feeling of losing a son at a bad time either.

(Jason's "you better put your fucking shit together bro, or u gonna regret it" glance)

[mxtantrights]

What if Jason Todd was having a friend with benefits. And she ends up getting pregnant. How would he react to that cause he is going to be a Dad and she is his friend...

I think this depends on where Jason is in terms of his life. For the sake of this request let’s go with hes still redhood but he’s not out for revenge anymore. He’s becoming the person he’s wanted to be for a long time.

Jason is nervous as hell. He thinks a lot about his childhood more than he cares to admit. So if he’s talked to you about it and this happens I think it would be less of a freak out compared to not knowing anything about his upbringing and coming to him with this news

Depending on what you’d want Jason is down for whatever. You wanna keep the baby? Okay. You wanna give it up for adoption? He’s right by your side. You wanna have an abortion? Jason will help.

If you decided to the keep the baby I think your relationship would have to change. Like there is no return to normal after this.

If your already friends then I think he’d want to understand the boundaries of this new situation. like if you both have feelings for each other he’ll ask if you wanna do the couple thing. If feelings are not involved then I think amicable co parenting would be something he wants.

He’ll be scared shitless for the rest of pregnancy. When you first start showing. When you get an ultra sound. Every little thing just peaks his interest but also raises a million questions.

He’s the type to buy stuff in advance. He’s frugal. (Literally him taking the wheels off the Batmobile was a frugal move) He’s not gonna wait for the prices of things to go up. No. He’s on coupon alert. He’s literally got an app.

He’ll be in the middle of beating up some guys in an alley when he gets a notification that baby wipes and formula are on sale at a store less than a mile away and he leaves the fight.

Or you’ll text saying your craving something and he’ll drop everything. Screw the mission. You want fried pickles? Let’s get fried pickles.

Also he tells you he’s redhood. Just because it makes sense. He’ll be able to protect you and your child better knowing that you know what he’s up to.

At some point the whole family knows. Maybe Jason tells Alfred first. And then Dick drops by Jason’s place and sees baby stuff. He tells Duke and Cass. Then Tim notices Jason’s watching more and more videos on swaddling and tells Steph. Bruce finds out via Alfred and Damian bothers it out of him on patrol one night.

Suffice to say you have a village ready and waiting to help you.

Delivery day is madness. Alfred if definitively there. Bruce is helping calm Jason down. Duke,Cass, Tim and Steph are preparing both of your homes. Dick and Damian are in the waiting room.

Jason gets the hell squeezed out of his hand that day. But honestly your his friend and he’s yours and there would be no one else you’d trust. And vice versa.

Jason gets advice from Roy one the child is born. He even asks Bruce to ask Clark for tips as well.

You being the friend that you are get Wonder Woman onesies for the kid bc you know Jason would eat that up.

At some point you talk to Bruce and get wonder woman to take a pic with your kid when Jason’s busy on an away mission and he comes back to Diana being god mother of the child.

This was fun to think out!! Thanks for the request I hope you like it <333

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

AU where Bruce isn’t a billionaire but just you’re regular everyday history teacher. He still has all his martial arts training and stuff because he meets Selina and Talia in college and is like ‘hot women... must be able to keep up with her in a fight...’ and no parents (well Alfred exists but yk), but is otherwise normal. No Batman.

Then he meets small Dick Grayson, recently orphaned in a whole new country, and his adoption senses are like ‘hnggg’.

And small Jason Todd before his mom dies and he winds up on the streets so when Jason goes missing from class he gets worried and finds him and is like ‘hey Dick do you want a new brother’.

Given Tim went to boarding schools I can’t see him meeting him first, so maybe he meets Steph first?? And he notices how no one seems to care where she is etc and is like ‘can I adopt you??’

And THEN Tim’s parents die ig and then Steph’s like ‘yo can you adopt by bestie’.

And then he meets Cass I guess?? Not as a teacher. Maybe she saves him from being mugged or something and his child sense immediately tingles and he’s like ‘child?? With?? No home?? Would you like me to-’

Reiterating he’s a history teacher, so he probably has like a three bedroom apartment and already has five kids.

Then Talia is like ‘hehe soo remember when I said I miscarried well ACTUALLY-’ and Bruce is like ‘wtf this is a. child. Why does child have. Sword.’ And Talia’s like ‘oh I thought you’d use all your martial arts training to go out dressed up as a Bat and beat up bad guys so I could use the terrifying image you cast as a way to train our son more.’ And Bruce like ‘wtf no I have better coping mechanisms than that’ ‘oh - wait why are there so many rats here?’ ‘THOSE ARE MY CHILDREN TALIA-’

Dick still hates Talia because I find that hilarious. Damian is like five, already carting around a sword, and Bruce DOES NOT have exactly one (1) coping mechanism of cage fights in a fursuit so he’s like ‘Okay. Let’s try to work out your aggression is a less violent way’ ‘FATHER I WILL BE YOUR ONE TRUE HEIR’ ‘To what? My teaching job? Okay.’

Then Duke’s parents are Jokerized (bc the Rogues still exist) and he stops showing up to class and Bruce gets worried again and finds this child trying to take on the Joker by himself and is like ‘okay yeah no’.

And then one day he gets Cullen Row in class, and he’s a sweet kid, kind of jumpy, but then he sees some assholes picking on him for being gay and goes all teacher mode and is like ‘do you want me to talk to your parents??’ and Cullen’s like ‘lol my dad would probably give them a medal’ ‘Hmmm okay so can I adopt-’ Naturally Harper is a package deal.

Basically Bruce adopts all his kids but IS NOT a violent furry so he’s a good dad and doesn’t enlist them into his weird ass ‘war on crime’ or whatever he calls it.

Also the kids get to share rooms now and fight over bathrooms-

[roseworth]

The truth is that all the bat's have a complicated relationship when it comes to Bruce being their main father figure even dick and damian who have the most straight forward and strongest connection with Bruce as their dad still have this * added on which isn't a bad thing it's reflective of how complex most human relationships are particularly parental relationships but we can't talk about it because there are so many people who will jump on it as an excuse to say see they're not a real family it's fine to ship such and such or the people who don't want Bruce to have any children what so ever

!!!!!!!!! YEAH the weird relationship as a family they all have is so often either ignored or taken to mean "well theyre not ACTUALLY his kids" and its so annoying bc its so much more interesting when their dynamics are all a little fucked up. like to me none of the adopted kids are able to really see bruce as their father but some people will take that to mean that damian is his only child which. no.

like in canon its hard to take any of the batkids and say "bruce is their father and they are bruces child" bc their relationships are nuanced and not cut and dry. but that doesnt mean that bruce isnt their father.

but its hard to talk about that bc you have people saying "no their relationship IS complicated theyre not a family so its not weird to ship them" or the people that think of the batfamily as like. coworkers or whatever. and if i say they dont always think of bruce as their father i get lumped into the people that dont think bruce has kids

plus there are the actual writers (not naming any names but his name rhymes with Bom Baylor) that refuse to write any complicated relationships and just make cute moments to please batfamily fans instead of acknowledging their actual dynamics. so you get people going "look dick sees bruce as his father and thats it!" despite the years of him not knowing how he actually sees bruce so people can pretend that the dynamics arent as fucked (affectionate) as they are

in conclusion i like it when everyones relationships with each other are weird. theyre still family and if you act like bruce isnt their father ill bite you, but IM allowed to act like bruce isnt their father because im right.

[anawrites3]

Ana love, idk if u keep up with comics but in the new Nightwing run we might be getting a sidekick for nightwing and idk how I feel about it btw :(

Im torn bc like, I have ALWAYS wanted Damian Wayne to be his “Robin” and for them to do a Robin Returns arc but like Robin returns to Dick, not not Batman. Like Robin finally returns to Dick Grayson but in the form of his own sidekick, Damian Wayne. It’s wishful thinking, I know, bc like, no one can have a Robin unless they’re Batman. But idk, the one run where Dick was Batman and Damian was his Robin, his almost son. It holds soooo much space in my heart and I want DC writers to return them to their fatherly-son roots.

On the other hand, I really think it goes against Dick’s character to take an orphan boy (as the new chapters have depicted a boy who had seen his dad murder by (possibly) Heartless) and do the same thing Bruce did to him (aka child soldier) when he’s seen the path himself and his friends have gone down due to following in their parental figure’s footsteps.

Like, I can see Dick picking up a sidekick that has already been brought into the vigilante world by someone else (YK LIKE DAMIAN WAYNE) bc he would take it as his responsibility to look after them and make sure they’re still somewhat protected and still have their childhood and innocence even tho they’re been forced into this line of work.

But I really really really can’t see THE Dick Grayson introduce an innocent kid into the hero life.

He’s fr recognised as the hero Batman should have been. So I think it goes against his character to follow in Bruce’s footsteps like this…

Fr when I catch you Tom Taylor - when I catch you 🤨

It's the first time I'm hearing about it actually but I feel you so much, anon!

I really want Damian to be Dick's Robin. I want him to become Nightwing in the future. Dick had a greater impact on Damian - because Bruce wasn't there but also because Bruce is kinda shit at dealing with people, while Dick is... well, Dick haha And yeah, Robin was always Batman's partner but maybe it should change now (soon?)

And I too don't think Dick would ever get the child he adopts into the vigiliante business. Or any child to be honest. He wouldn't want it - he knows firsthand how it is to be the child soldier, all the danger that comes out of it and I know that he would do everything in his might to stop the kiddo from following in his path. Unless the writers do something smart for once and go with the whole "I can't stop him so at least I'll keep an eye on him and protect him while he punches bad people" - the same way it was with Bruce and Dick at first but still... I don't really like it. It could be fun if Dick just adopted the kid without all that sidekick crap and writers would focus on more family shenanigans, maybe with Damian being the jealous little brother/son - but I bet DC would think it's too boring 🙄

And yeah, you're totally right about Dick taking under his wings a kid who already is a vigilante and how he would never bring a new kiddo into the vigilante world. It would go against his character so much but... not like writers really care about that stuff anymore.

I think there would be a way to write that story pretty well and not fuck up Dick's character entirely though the sheer idea puts a sour taste in my mouth. But if you're saying it's going to be Tom Taylor's run... well, I don't have a lot of hope 😫

We just have to wait and see, I guess 😔 And hope for the best

[maddies-chronicles]

haleee!!! hiya! i got so confused when you changed your url but all is good now 😅, also pls tell me about this mega dr? i'm very curious (only if you want to ofc)

jkhdsakjhsdkfh it's okay i don't know which name i want to go by bc all my DR selves have different names (here is where i would put a skull emoji if i wasnt on my laptop). i literally cannot wait to post about my crossover DR so ty for asking i need to rant about all the scripting i did today instead of schoolwork:

my name in the mega-DR is riley (edit: no it's not it's hale)! i'm the adoptive child of the dupain-chengs (mlb) and the emilys (fnaf). i scripted that tom and henry are cousins, and henry's family moved in with us after his first wife died. the aftons live (and the emilys used to live) in london.

the dupain-chengs have two biological kids- marinette (of course) and nicolas. nicolas is about a year older than marinette and three years older than me. henry (who i also call dad lmao) has two kids- the daughter he had with his first wife, charlie, and the son he has with his current wife, who is also my OR mother (who i also call mom), sammy. charlie is about eight, and sammy is still drinking out of a bottle, he's like one-and-a-half. i'll list out all the DR ages at the end bc i already know this is about to get confusing as hell.

biologically, i'm the child of phoenix delvaux (half witch from the boiling isles, half human) and valentine morgenstern (tmi). this is because i wanted a loving father figure but also didn't want to script out my daddy issues. anyways, this makes me a quarter witch, a quarter human, and half shadowhunter (i'm the main character frfr). bio mom and sabine were cousins (sabine is fully human, they are related on the human side).

but wait! that's not all- valentine had connections in the human world (pre-being evil ofc) and who are these connections but tony stark and bruce wayne (bruce is my godfather and tony is kinda like his brother or family friend). consequently i see peter (who has been tony's sort-of apprentice, sort-of child for most of his life in this DR) quite a bit growing up (i call him my brother even though he's like... my paternal godcousin at best?) as well as all of the batkids, who i also refer to as my siblings. this confuses every single one of my friends in paris to no end, because they have literally no idea who i'm talking about. in addition, talia (dc) is my godmother through sabine.

so anyways, i grew up with my biological father (valentine) in southern canada (i know he's not from there, but he's on the run-ish, and that's where i'm from in my OR). my maternal godfather darius (toh) eventually figured out that my mom had a kid and came to find me when i was about seven. he wanted to take me back to the demon realm and raise me as a witch, but also told me that my mom had living family (sabine). i of course wanted to meet them, and i ended up staying in the human realm with them. darius visits often, and the whole family visits him in the demon realm over summer holiday. this is how i meet my friends in the boiling isles.

anyways my mum (OR mom) connects me to the rest of my OR family that i scripted into this DR, but i won't talk too much about them here. i will however mention auncle raine and uncle eber, who live with my dad (darius), and who we live with while we're in-realm.

during the summer i sit in on some of the nearby magic school classes to get a sense of what's going on. the schools nearby to dad's (darius') place are hexside, where i meet my boiling isles friends, and hogwarts, where i meet my hogwarts friends. i'm going to have to make more posts about this DR soon because this one is already so long, but i literally cannot wait to keep talking about this.

edit: i forgot to list the ages omg uuhhh me (15), marinette (17), nicolas (18), charlie (8), sammy (1), peter (15), dick (24), jason (18), tim (16), damian (10), cass (25), steph (17), duke (16), and i wanna script in the rest of the batkids too but idk much about them

i'll add my shadowhunter family in the next post lmao

[incorrectbatfam]

Can I get headcanons for an au where Bruce adopted the kids when they /were/ babies, please?

Use the bathroom, get comfortable, and maybe have some tissues on hand.

For these headcanons, we’re gonna assume they were adopted in order of age, and that they’re all under 18. So Dick and Babs are 16 (with Babs being older), Harper is 14, Cass is 13, Jason is 12, Tim is 7, Steph and Duke are both 5 (with Steph being older), Carrie is 3, and Damian is 1. Yes, I’m aware that it diverges from canon age gaps but once you keep reading you’ll see why I did that.

Now for the headcanons (in no particular order):

Alfred is “Grandpa” and Bruce is anything from “Dad”, “Pops”, “Old man”, “Baba”, etc. All the other adults, like Kate or Clark, are aunts and uncles.

Steph and Duke compete over everything, like who can tie their shoes the fastest or learn to ride a bike first. Steph makes a point of letting everyone know she’s older, but Duke fires back with the fact that he’s taller. They’re both at the top of their kindergarten class and are known for butting heads, but God help anyone who decides to pick on one of them.

Harper got her first period at school while wearing white shorts. Thankfully, Dick and Babs came in clutch.

At school, Kon told Tim that he got ten dollars every time he lost a tooth. Tim tried to hack the system by pulling a bunch of teeth out at once (thankfully to no avail) until someone caught him.

Babs has a different secret handshake with each person.

When Damian first came along, everyone expected Carrie to be angry or jealous since she’d no longer be the baby of the family. And she was a little jealous at first. But the moment she saw him, her eyes went wide and she whispered, “He’s so tiny” and vowed to protect him with everything she had.

The last business trip Bruce took was when Cass was a baby, and the reason why it was his last one was that while he was abroad, Alfred sent him a video of Cass taking her first steps and he burst into tears in the middle of a meeting because he wasn’t there to witness it in person.

Dick once used Damian as a wingman to pick up girls. It worked so well that Jason tried the same thing, only to have it grossly backfire on him.

Whenever Bruce needs a break, Alfred will call everyone to the living room for one of his infamous spy stories.

Cass is the queen of April Fool’s.

Tim, Steph, and Duke regularly climb on each other’s shoulders to try to reach the cookie jar.

Harper is a pro at getting gum out of people’s hair. Tim is a pro at the exact opposite. 

Bruce gives Dick “the talk”. Dick then gives it to Harper who gives it to Cass who gives it to Jason and by then it’s so misconstrued by then that Bruce has to re-give it to all the kids.

One time Jason lashed out at school and it led to the teachers referring him to a therapist. Bruce stayed with him during the first appointment and Jason admitted to feeling unwanted because of what some kids at school said. Meanwhile, back at home, all the other siblings were trying to get their names to be Damian’s first word, like a competition. None of them ended up winning because when the other two came home, Damian called out to Jason. (And Jason cried on the spot because it didn’t matter what people said at school, he was wanted by the right people).

Group outings with the Kents or the Allens are a normal occurrence.

Harper gave Bruce a heart attack when she DIYed her hair dye and piercings.

The first time Tim saw a shooting star, he was convinced that aliens had arrived to take over the world. His conspiracy-driven panic spread to his younger siblings and that’s how Alfred found them all hiding in a blanket fort wearing saucepans as helmets.

Steph once got lost at the mall and the first thing she did was buy ten Build-A-Bears. 

Cass regularly carries her younger siblings like suitcases.

Bruce never rushed Dick into getting a license or helping out around the house.

Harper once snuck on a train to the next town without telling anyone because she wanted to ask Kate advice on coming out.

Nobody got any sleep for the forty-eight hours when Damian’s favorite stuffed animal went missing.

Duke is a LEGO kid. Carrie is a horse girl. Together they created the ultimate toy equine sanctuary.

Bruce can’t ground the kids. They’ve unionized.

Jason is no longer allowed to pick movies on account of the time he chose an R-rated slasher.

It’s an open secret that Cass accidentally left Tim at a haunted house once. 

Alfred custom sews a ten-person "get along" shirt.

Duke once snuck Damian to school for Show And Tell. Steph ratted him out almost right away.

Jason tried to make his younger siblings reenact Shakespeare. It lasted a good thirty seconds before it dissolved into people hitting each other with props.

As a big mystery/conspiracy theory person, Tim was wholly convinced that Damian was an extraterrestrial because the first time he saw him, it was at the hospital where Damian was hooked up to a bunch of machines after he was born. It wasn’t until after three different people explained the concept of preemies to him did Tim finally get it.

Carrie loves to play dress-up and will rope in anyone in the vicinity.

Bruce’s favorite song to sing to someone when they’re upset is Lean On Me by Bill Withers

Cass taught everyone obscenities in sign language and it was all fine until someone caught Babs at school and she got detention

Alfred can’t remember the last time the house was not babyproofed.

Between birthdays, holidays, Gotcha Days, and other special days, there’s always a reason to celebrate at Wayne Manor.

Whenever they fly on the private jet Duke's in the cockpit insisting he knows more about airplanes than the pilots (Alfred or Kate) bc he watched the Planes movie.

Harper got matching leather jackets for all the sisters.

Bruce gives Tim "coffee" that's 90% milk and a splash of coffee for flavor.

Cass and Jason communicate solely in inhuman grunts.

Carrie can and will latch onto the first person she sees like a koala bear.

There's a running gag among friends on how many siblings Dick has because he tells stories without ever using names.

Bruce comes home after a long day of work and everyone drops what they're doing to dogpile on him.

Harper only got an after school job to pay for her Club Penguin membership.

They all make snowmen in descending size order with Bruce's being this huge towering one and Damian's being like three inches tall.

The girls have a "no boys (except the baby) allowed" zone.

Carrie can't pronounce the letters "R" or L".

When Damian learns to crawl suddenly all the other family members become a jungle gym.

Bruce doesn't notice when someone invites a friend over without permission because what's a few extra kids anyway?

Harper comes out and for a week people wouldn't stop making bi puns.

They try to do that thing where each family member puts a different colored handprint on the mailbox and they end up running out of space.

As the oldest Dick gets stuck with babysitting or he's forced to let Jason tag along when he goes out (bc all parents make their older kids do that) and he resents it but at the same time no one can talk trash about his siblings.

Damian's animal collection begins when he brings in a mouse from the yard. (Cue the hilarious siblings-helping-him-hide-new-pets montages.)

Someone beat Bruce for “World’s most attractive man”, but that’s okay because he was voted “World’s happiest man” instead.

[bitimdrake]

I think that distinction of actual found family vs "some guy I got stuck with bc we both have the same dad" is important and like... not something batfam fandom likes to think about a lot. I get that "this is some guy who pisses me off and I just have to tolerate being in the same house as him" isn't as fun of a dynamic to write fanfic about but it would be nice to see it acknowledged more in like... headcanons and stuff at least. that's my reality with my actual blood-related brother and when I stop to think about it the whole "family means they all get along and love each other and are really close!" thing is like. ugh. there's barely even a canon basis for some of it, do we have to do this all the time. I don't begrudge people entirely bc characters overcoming differences and whatnot is fun but more variety would be nice.

yessss. Like, found family is my most belovedest trope, but the first time I saw anyone refer to the bats a such I had to pause for a second because I'd never really thought of them that way. And I...still don't. At least, not as an entire family unit; just maybe certain duos within it.

If we take the first three Robins as an example--

Jason and Tim are just objectively not found family in any way. They are the opposite of found family. They are two people who were independently adopted by the same guy and (pre-flashpoint) can't fucking stand each other.

Dick and Tim have the only real case for fitting the trope. Tim wasn't adopted until years later; Dick was long since living on his own. They were not legal/literal family when they bonded, and they didn't need to be close. But they ended up calling each other brothers anyway, well before they became legal brothers.

And Dick and Jason were somewhere in between. Dick was still Bruce's unadopted former ward at the time Jason was introduced, so there was no legal relation, and Dick and Bruce were very distant, so there was no compulsion to spend time together. But Dick did chose to reach out to this kid and feel for him as a brother anyway...though I still wouldn't call it "found family" because it's not like they picked each other without pressure to be brothers. Despite the lack of adoption, they were both Bruce's kids in all the ways that mattered, so that family connection wasn't really found.

(And Damian, meanwhile, is found family with none of them because he was introduced into the family as a bio kid while they were already adopted. That doesn't mean there was no element of choice in people like Dick deciding to care for him, or that his relationships with his family are less valuable; it's just...not the trope. And some of his relationships in the family are sweet and great, and some are "I wish I wasn't related to you.")

Yeah, I don't know, I do love "we learn to overcome our differences and become close" stories, but we gotta acknowledge that most of these siblings were shoved together whether they like it or not. Some of them liked it! And some didn't, and had good reasons not to. It's just not a family that all hangs out and has game night together; they are perpetually messy.

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

i would love to know more about all of your batman ocs if you have anything you want to share!

ahhh thank you I absolutely do!!!!!!!!  A couple of notes beforehand though lmao I play very fast and loose with canon (and casting), and I still have even more left on a list to make 😂

Julietta:

So I did a whole big infodump here but basically she's Tim Drake's older sister who gets kidnapped by the League Of Assassins! She's used as a surrogate for Damian and raises him for almost five years, while Jason is stationed as their guard. But then Damian is taken to be trained, and Jason leaves, and Julietta is alone — Talia (who has a soft spot for her) sets her free and she returns to Gotham, where she's eventually reunited with both only to find out that neither of them remember her!

(fic title is Seven Devils!)

Tessie:

Tessie grew up in Haly's Circus with Dick! Her mom was a tightrope walker and her dad was a fire breather — she and Dick got to learn trapeze, tightrope, and silks together as kids! After the Graysons died and Dick left, Tessie continued on in the circus and became a tightrope walker herself. Her parents died in a car accident (that wasn't an accident) and she gets kidnapped by the Joker

Harley had started to pull away and in order to keep her under his control, Joker kidnapped Tessie as their new daughter. For years, Tessie was stuck in this situation, driven to a point where she could no longer remember which parts of her life were real and which weren't. But eventually Harley reaches out to Batman and Nightwing to help get Tessie away from the Joker, and Dick is shocked to see his childhood best friend there

(Fic title is Mad World)

Florence:

She’s Alfred’s niece or granddaughter who grew up in Wayne manor, probable angst of seeing her parents die, and she and Dick grew up togehter (and are an eventual ship)

But I can't let my ocs be happy, so!!! One day she’s kidnapped to get to Robin, but it’s the same night that dick leaves Gotham. He doesn’t know she’s missing and with everything that was going on, it’s still several days before anyone else knows she’s been kidnapped / until they find her. So that’s a lot of trauma and she never fully forgave Dick. She’s been even more fucked up bc she has a therapist because of that but the therapist is kind of crappy and dismissive and it’s not helped by the fact that she can’t explain that Robin was her best friend in the world and that’s why it hurts so much that he didn’t come, then later she gets stalked by some villain or another and the police (other than Gordon) basically just laugh in her face

Stalking continues and gets worse and worse but no one is taking her seriously which might lead into her getting kidnapped again and this time it’s Nightwing who rescues her. She might also have an arc about her leaving Gotham for a while somewhere in here but idk yet I just want to throw lots of angst and trauma at her

Logan:

Logan is a Jason ship who comes from a pretty rich family who replaced emotional support with just spoiling her — her parents loved her, but they were always too busy with work to really spend time with her. She's been doing archery, martial arts, and gymnastics since she was a kid, and her parents recently died in a rogue attack.

She becomes a vigilante after that, running into Robin a lot. The two butt heads all the time, arguing and insulting each other constantly, but they would drop everything to help each other and bond over a love of literature.

She ends up in over her head in a situation in Bludhaven and Dick rescues her, eventually becoming a mentor figure to her, which leads to some fun parallels as Dick tries to unlearn Bruce's shit and not fuck this kid up, meanwhile she's just a chaotic little shit and drives him crazy

Vanessa:

Vanessa Kline is a former Gotham street kid! She grew up on the streets and became an older sister (almost mother) figure to Jason Todd, who called her Nessie! Shortly after Bruce adopted him, she got picked up/protected by the Sirens, getting the aliases Vanessa Quinn and Songbird (which actually stems from the song she used to sing to Jason) She's been searching for Jason ever since but could never find him.

At 18 she ended up getting an art scholarship for university, then moved to Bludhaven after graduating (or the university is in Bludhaven, tbd). She meets Dick in her civilian life, as Detective Grayson has questions about the Sirens, but she becomes a vigilante to help street kids and meets him in their alter egos too

She’s less new lmao but her intro gifset can be found here!

(Fic title is Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs)

Kinsley:

Kinsley is Ted Kord’s daughter, Michael Carter (Booster Gold) became her guardian after Ted dies, she becomes his new sidekick, and it starts off with a kind of unhealthy vibe; Michael didn’t want to be a mentor or father but panicked and made her into his sidekick because he didn't know how to treat her as a daughter. Fitting with Michael’s canon approach to superheroing, she was a poster child, did lots of tv interviews and publicity events and such, which left her with quite a lot of money, which Michael has been saving in a trust for her so that she won’t have to ever worry about financial stability.

She shares her father’s intellect and athleticism, being quite good with technology and mechanics/engineering as well as being gifted in acrobatics and various forms of combat. She starts off as Blue Gold, Booster Gold’s sidekick — she has a weaponized suit that she uses to fight, something like a slimmer iron man suit, though with less weapons. They get into a fight when she's around 15 ish (I don't know how old the teen titans were when they formed but it's about a year after that) about a mission and he tells her it's too dangerous, she accuses him of not caring about her and only seeing her as a replacement for her dad, and goes anyways and almost dies, developing superpowers as a result — basically she was trying to hack into or destroy someone’s super sketchy experimental technology and it exploded, her suit saved her life but the blast left her with technopathy and electrokinesis

Afterwards, she and Michael have some serious talks, which include him promising that he does care about her, even if he doesn't show it well they end up deciding together to rebrand her, and then he suggests she try spending a few months with the teen titans, meet some other kids like her, figure out her new powers, and have time/space to herself to decide what she wants to do. She renames herself Glitch and designs a new suit, wanting a totally fresh start for the new chapter in her life

They stay close and still spend time together, but she's based out of titans tower after that around 18, the JL sends them on the mission where they almost die (or at least one of them almost dies, and it brings back Kinsley's ptsd from her dad's death) and she quits the titans and being a superhero at all goes home, Michael is supportive, reminds her that she's always welcome to stay with him but also offers to help her start a brand new life which is what she does Fast forward about 8 or so years, something happens (maybe the plot of Titans, or I might make something up, idk yet) and the Titans have to come back together.

Dick is genuinely surprised (and a little bit hurt) when he realizes just how much she's moved on, both from being a Titan and from their relationship — like her powers aren't a part of her life, being a former superhero isn't a part of her life, even though she was possibly the most well known titan (because Michael was always putting her in interviews and other publicity things), no one even looks twice at her on the streets. She's just shut the door on that part of her life and now she's normal and she's happy and she's found a passion that isn't being "the JL's cleanup crew" as she once described being a titan. And Dick, who left Gotham entirely but still struggles to let go of Robin and get out of Bruce’s shadow, doesn’t understand how she can do that (he also struggles with the fact that she seems so completely over their past relationship)

She now owns a bakery and has a passion for photography but, as Dick proves when he finds the new Glitch suit she's made herself, there's a part of her that just can't let go either.

Josette:

Josette Cobblepot is the Penguin's daughter. She has no idea what her dad is, just growing up as a spoiled Gotham princess. She and Jason became friends through being dragged to fancy galas, preferring to sneak off together than socialize with all the stuffy adults.

One day she accidentally finds out about her dad's crime life and, in a panic, runs away. She doesn't have a plan in mind, but ends up running to Wayne Manor and confiding in Jason. Jason is Robin by this point but never put together that he was her father. Josette is determined to stop her father and keeps running recklessly into danger, leading Jason to constantly have to pull her out of danger, eventually revealing his identity as Robin.

She's mad at him for keeping a secret at first, but ultimately forgives her as he offers to use battech to help her out! She's more of a detective than a fighter, but she does eventually become part of the team!

Leonie:

Leonie Murphy is a reporter (in gotham or blud, tbd) with a very bad habit of running towards villains/fights instead of away. She knows Dick through his day job, follows Nightwing to try to talk to him after a battle, and eventually finds out it's him — she promises to keep his identity a secret, but now she has a harder time staying away from the fights.

Then one day she's caught up in the middle of a fight with someone (maybe scarecrow) and Nightwing is losing, she runs towards him to try to help, gets caught in a blast, develops powers (luck manipulation), and a result of ptsd she pulls a bit of a tony stark and builds herself a suit so she can protect herself next time, and takes the name Karma

But she's like way way in over her head and Dick keeps having to pull her out of danger and the two slowly get closer as they keep saving each other

(Fic title is Luck Be A Lady)

Jessie:

Jessie Jordan is Hal Jordan's daughter! She's not a lantern in the traditional way but, because of his continued use of his ring, Jessie was born with roughly the same powers! She's named after his mom, and was always pretty close with her dad.

She joined the Titans when they first formed! Honestly I don't know enough about her yet but Hank affectionately calls her Nightlight so that's something!

Elektra:

Born Elinor Cross, her dad was in the League of Assassins but her mom didn't know. Taking inspiration from The Mortal Instruments, Ra's experiments on her mom (without her knowledge or consent) to see what it'll do to the baby. When her mom finds out, she runs away with baby Elinor and tries to raise her safely away from the League.

Elinor has no powers but eventually ends up back at the League (tbd on if she's kidnapped or went looking for information on her past) and Ra's has her thrown in the pit. Exposure to the pit triggers dormant genes that turn into her powers, which get set off (uncontrollably to her) by pit madness episodes

She's an eventual Jason ship, though I'm not sure if they meet at the League or in Gotham!

(Fic title is Lazarus Rising)

Avalyn:

Avalyn is the princess of Gotham, her parents being the richest people in the city after Bruce himself. She knows Dick very well through their parents, galas, and school. They meet when they're 12-14 and get on like a house on fire, growing up to be wild chaotic party kids together — they're roughly Kardashian level famous and the two of them are infamous for their nonsensical but hilarious twitter interactions (often including Avalyn asking different Rogues to attack so she doesn't have to write exams while hungover)

Avalyn notices Dick's weird behaviours but assumes it's just typical weird rich people shit — he'll go AWOL for a mission or while recovering from an injury and she's just like "oh I guess he's on a spontaneous holiday"

He leaves to join the Titans and she feels very abandoned and kind of resentful, since they had all of these plans for life after high school together (and because he just drops all contact with no explanation). But eventually they reunite — I haven't decided if they first reunite in university and then she becomes a vigilante, or if she becomes a vigilante and they reunite because she ends up with the Titans

avalyn dorsey on twitter: the worst part of living in blud not gotham is i can't pray for rogue attacks to get me out of writing finals anymore dick: av what the fuck avalyn: don't pretend you didn't do it too, I remember senior lit

i feel like she would be infamous both for tweets she makes for #onlyingotham and tweets about her (usually about her and dick) tagged #onlyingotham

(also sidenote, I’m totally here for Avalyn & Delta and Julietta & Delta but also I feel like Kinsley & Delta could be Everything)

[lemoncakedesign]

reverse robins au interests me SO MUCH it’s not even funny. like the various ways everyone’s character arcs would play out?

(more thoughts under the cut bc it got long. this is most rambling)

damian never has to deal with feeling like he doesn’t have a place in the family bc he’s the only son, until tim shows up, and then it’s worse, like damian goes all “was i not enough? 🥺” but with knives and years of training. but he also has a larger support system in jon and potentially others (i need to read more damian stuff but. bruce is gonna socialize the hell out of that kid) so he’s got more people to bounce those feelings off of. he probably does not try to outright murder tim but he’s gonna be petty and let him flounder in the name of “training.” i think he comes to respect tim in his own right like right before he dies but never says it and that burns at him and informs how he interacts with jason.

and TIM. i think he still figures out their identities (i saw one person do it bc of damian’s “tt” which is genius), idk how he joins as robin, but he gets a worse and better bruce. like tim is not a replacement for a dead kid but he is a replacement for his “real” kid and nobody else could have the training damian had, so he’s always trying to live up to this first robin and coming short. and he dies sort of feeling like a shitty stand-in and then he IS (in his mind). after he comes back i see him being more of a cold, calculating type than the fiery rage of jason’s red hood, and he’s not so upset at bruce and damian and jason as he is very “rational” about things. also so fucked up bc ra’s al ghul is a creepy son of a bitch. tim isn’t playing any “prove you love me” games with bruce he’s executing the joker point blank and going back to bed.

jason!! what the fuck imagine Serious Man with Serious Children bruce adopting this little sunshine boy. jason’s wary because he’s a street kid but it’s bred this undeniable kindness in him that bruce needs right after his son died. bruce is aware that he was emotionally closed off with tim and regrets it and jason needs that openness so it’s easy in some ways and so, so hard in others for him to open up and love jason. and i think jason would see living up to tim as a sort of sacred duty (i imagine tim as robin having a very cute sheltered idea of what street kids needed from his time running around after batman and robin and his earnest attempts to help really meaning something to jason) but he’s much more secure in his place as both bruce’s son and robin than tim would ever be. also i think he tries to connect with tim bc he sort of lacks the emotional connection while also feeling indebted to him.

and dick, the most sunshine of childs. he’s really not in the beginning i think (he craves VIOLENCE against ZUCCO) but after that he’s just. yknow. ten and not very traumatized beyond the parents thing. he doesn’t have a dark past and he loves the idea of having older brothers (they’re not replacing anyone, like bruce would be as his dad) so he really breaks open everyone’s emotional barriers in a way they can’t ignore. also dick grayson without oldest daughter syndrome?? damian as batman and dick as robin??? these things compel me.

anyway. reverse robins good. expect more fanfic soon

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

DOTTIE’S BATFAM FIC RECS

hi!! so, no one asked for this but,,, I wanted to make one anyway! I really love the batfam a lot and I see a lot of ppl in the fandom wishing it was easier to find good fics. this is by no means all of them but they are some of my faves, generally not too fanon-y! all fics are gen/family fluff with little to no ships (which are not bat/cest). 

feel free to message/ask me about triggers if you’re unsure!! and lmk if I forgot to tag anyone ❤️

---

Homecoming by Ionaperidot / @iowriteswords on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10966704/chapters/24414906

Summary: “Your son’s grave. It’s been disturbed.” In which people actually notice when Jason breaks out of his grave, and Bruce finds him before Talia does.

My thoughts: Bruce’s voice in this is seriously perfect, plus Dick, Jason, and Tim are great as well!! This fic honestly helps inform me of my Tim characterization!

---

The Wound Begins To Bleed by audreycritter / @audreycritter on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13295661

Summary: Now that Tim’s moved back to the manor, he just wants a few afternoons a week without Damian around. Funny how getting that was the catalyst for him becoming a better big brother.

My Thoughts: it makes me emotional okay it GETS me right in my HEART!!! both Dami and Tim are so so so good I can’t rec this enough

---

just hold a smile by RecklessWriter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22777705

Summary: That's the thing about smiles, Dick thinks. If you flash the right one, no one knows there's something more going on inside. Five times Dick faked a smile and one time someone saw through it.

My Thoughts: Dick & others, including Tim and Cass. Dick is really good at hiding his feelings from others, and I love how in this fic, a lot of times, he’s hiding them to “protect” whoever it is

(more under the cut!)

life, if well lived by CaptainOzone

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18378512

Summary: Jason wakes up from a time-travel mishap to find Thomas and Martha Wayne hovering over him. Just another day in the life, right? ...Not quite.

My Thoughts: this one had me crying like a baby!!! the characterization is great and I love CO’s Thomas and Martha

---

one shot, two shots in the night by discowing / @dykewing on tumblr, @/wlwdiscowing on twitter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18871864/chapters/44792710

Summary: The New York Times ✓ @nytimes · 4h

“A Shot in the Dark” remains on our bestseller list for the fourth week in a row! Read our review of @brucewayne’s tell-all memoir here: nyti.ms/3Fs9k2E

My Thoughts: TALK ABT MAKING ME CRY. this gets me every time, and it’s absolutely worth ALL of the rereads. such a great Bruce.

---

The View From Jade by lowflyingfruit

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11329791/chapters/25359972

Summary: Being transported to the past is not the sort of thing one normally expects. But this having happened, and with no easy way back, Jason's determined to make the most of it. Though the Bat still stalks Gotham's streets, the city's crime is run by the mobs instead of the rogues. There's no Joker yet. There's no Robin. Maybe there shouldn't be.

My Thoughts: Jason & Dick, and also Bruce somewhere in there too. this is SO! GOOD! I absolutely love Jason’s voice, and Dick is so in character. plus Bruce and Alfred are awesome as well!!!

---

The Birds Who Smile by Raberba girl / @raberbagirl on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972324/chapters/29656290

Summary: "Dark Nights: Metal" AU where Bruce adopts three of the Robins who once belonged to the Batman Who Laughs.

My Thoughts: I think this was the first fic that introduced me to Duke, actually! and while there are a LOT of characters involved, they’re all pretty great and realistic. they have their moments to shine and it’s,,, *chef’s kiss*

---

The Thing about Apples and Trees by Cdelphiki / @cdelphiki on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22192747

Summary: When Jason agreed to let Bruce adopt him, he thought that meant Jason felt happy and safe in Bruce's home. But when Jason's nightmares only increased, and his panic attacks and meltdowns started happening more often, Bruce was at a complete loss for what to do. But then, Jason finally opened up to him, and he was able to quell some of Jason's worse fears. Perhaps a midnight chat and a few hugs wouldn't fix everything, but it was a step in the right direction.

My Thoughts: this is part of a series but might be okay to read on it’s own? tho really I suggest the entire series, it’s amazing. but this fic specifically has great kid Jason characterization (and also made me cry, I think!)

---

Kitten by lurkinglurkerwholurks / @lurkinglurkerwholurks on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18194294

Summary: Bruce opened his mouth, prepared to give the unemotional, no-nonsense explanation he had cobbled together between his walk to the car and now. Instead, his mouth went dry and nothing came out.

“Bruce?”

Bruce was saved from answering by the thin cry that cut through the silence. He winced, then reached back with one hand to shush the dimpled, kicking legs.

“Bruce, tell me I did not just hear what I thought I heard.”

My Thoughts: so so so cute! plus the gangs all here!!!

---

Yes Ma’am by lurkinglurkerwholurks

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22004695

Summary: Jason had shuffled into the bedroom and had just finished pulling his shirt over his head when he paused, arms still trapped in the fabric. A pair of eyes glowed at him from the bed, reflecting the dim light from the hall.

My Thoughts: I also have to include this one bc it was a gift to me, and it’s so cute & angsty & just dkjsfsdjkhfksjah I love it so much

---

The D-Word by AutumnHobbit / @autumnhobbit on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9597686

Summary: "See, Tim?" Jason called over his shoulder sardonically. "Dad agrees with me."

He turned back to his food for a moment before the thought suddenly occurred to him that the Cave had gone near silent. He cautiously glanced back at the others. Alfred was still working away at stitching Tim up. Tim looked a little pale and sweaty, but he was glancing over at Jason with a look that was a mixture of concern and confusion. Bruce was standing stock-still, seemingly staring off into space.

My Thoughts: I constantly reread this when I want funny and then heart breaking Jason & Bruce feels. I always know what’s coming and it STILL GETS ME

---

baby wonder by drakefeathers / @drakefeathers on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1887807

Summary: (baby!damian AU) Bruce dies, Dick becomes Batman. But the Damian that Talia leaves in his care isn’t a ten-year-old warrior, he’s a ten-month-old baby.

My Thoughts: oh my goddd this is so good, it hurts but it’s SO CUTE at the same time??? ugh dskjfhkjsadhf

---

a hat fashioned from tin foil by discowing

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14356020

Summary: nightwang @karakurachou – 8 hours ago

jason todd is alive and faked his death so he could become robin: a conspiracy theory thread

Batfam conspiracy theories meet social media.

My Thoughts: !!!!!!! so good!!!! seriously one of the best social media fics I’ve ever read.

---

Bet Your Bottom Dollar by jerseydevious / @jerseydevious on tumblr and twitter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17971160/chapters/42447017

Summary: Dick's been having kind of a hard time, recently. When it boils over, Bruce is there for him.

My Thoughts: I reread this one a LOT when I need Dick & Bruce feels

---

Metanoia by AlannaOfRoses / @alannaofroses on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943249

Summary: Jason's bleeding out, Dick's overtired, and a half-serious offer turns into their new normal. Sometimes you just need somebody else around.

My Thoughts: this one was also a gift to me!! it’s got amazing brotherly bonding and it made me laugh a LOT

---

a hundred miles through the desert by acrobats

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18197330/chapters/43045388

Summary: Finding himself nearly three decades into the past hadn't been part of Jason's plans for the day, but he could manage. Having no idea how he got there, no clear path home and a recently orphaned Bruce Wayne determined to drag Jason into his search for his parents' killer - that might be a little more complicated.

My Thoughts: ughhh this is such good Jason content (and such amazing Jason voice, too) I adore it

---

oh, where do I begin? by LazuliQuetzal / @lazuliquetzal on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21988693

Summary: “No, no, nothing’s wrong,” Jason says. “We’re a-okay. Just peachy. Good times.”

“Oh,” Duke says, lamely, working himself out of crisis mode. There’s an awkward silence for a moment before he speaks up again. “Why did you call?”

“Right, right," Jason mumbles, which seemed a little out of character to Duke. His sort-of wayward brother was generally intimidating, even when he wasn't trying to be. "Uh, Dick said that you had a guinea pig when you were younger. How do you take care of a guinea pig?”

_____

AKA, not-exactly accidental guinea pig acquisition

My Thoughts: this was ALSO a gift to me but it’s so funny and sweet and there’s amazing Duke & Jason bonding so I absolutely must rec it

---

Latchkey by goldkirk / @goldkirk on tumblr

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21672928/chapters/51685639

Summary: or, How Tim Drake Found A Family, Became A Photojournalist, Learned To Love Coffee, and Grew Up, not necessarily in that order.

Tim Drake is thirteen, runs the famous BatWatch blog that has spiraled hilariously out of control, has absentee parents that suit his purposes just fine, is training himself to run the streets at night, and is doing absolutely peachy, thank you.

Alfred and Jason disagree, and get Dick and Bruce involved in figuring out their weird nextdoor neighbor kid’s life. Everything goes uphill from there.

My Thoughts: this is SO GOOOOD the Tim feels are amazing!!! the family interactions!!! everything! sdkjfhsjdfhksdhfajh

---

Blood in the Water by MishaBerry

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12734052/chapters/29037474

Summary: We all do stupid things when we are lonely, and in faraway lands, we hardly expect the consequences to follow us. Bruce certainly never thought twice about an American woman in Jaipur after one night with her. He hardly expected to see her ever again.

The universe, on the other hand, had different ideas, and the tides of time and chance brought Tim Drake to Bruce's life over and over again.

My Thoughts: this one is more AU than a lot of the others on here but it’s a lot of fun!! it has Tim & Damian & Jason feels, plus the rest of the family on a smaller scale

---

so these are just SOME, and honestly you should go and check out other works done by all of these authors!! also would like to suggest reading the fics of @renecdote , @caramelmachete , @redtruthed , @rredarrow , and @schweeeppess !!!

[heleizition]

hello :) if you feel up to talking about it, i would love to hear more about the relationships between tim and his siblings in the farm au. like how they get along (cause obviously he doesn’t have the best relationship with damian or jason in the comics). i know you’ve posted some art of him and jason so sorry if you’ve already talked about this in detail! just curious if not :) have a nice day!!

IM SO SORRYYYY I NEVER GOT AROUND ANSWERING THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok so :

• a thing in canon that is important to dick and tim’s relationship is obviously tim meeting dick when he was a child and kind of admiring him from afar... none of this happens in the dc au, and by the time tim gets adopted by bruce (13 yo) dick is 24 and has moved out of the family home (he has an appartment in town with donna and wally where they might or might not be dating). they’re way less close than whats typically assumed. dick is there for tim n is a trusted figure and they have a siblings gc so he’s always a text away but ye tim at this point comes from a family where he was abused emotionally and its hard to open up to grown ups and even more to an adult adopted brother who’s not always physically present. dick pops up pretty regularly in the family house anyway, but it takes a few years for tim to feel comfortable going to him if smth is wrong :(

• jason when tim gets adopted is 18 and even if at first there is a bit of “oh am i getting replaces” since he’s going to college by the end of summer, in the Big City, they’re the closest. jason was here and saw bruce get involved n mad over what he knew about tim’s home life,,, met tim before he came to live w them too,,, and honestly his insecurites leave pretty quick bc tim jst . bring out his dad instincts . he’s good at guessing what tim is feeling once he gets the hang of it, and patient when they talk, shares his own story with him in some bits. they relate to some things and dont to others and learn from each other n their rooms are also next to each other so jason often hears when tim is crying in his room slightly,, early after his adoption tim couldn’t sleep and he kept tossing and turning and jason n him ended up wrapped up in blankets on the balcony listening to the nature’s sounds and sometimes reading until one of them fell asleep n ,,, yeah ,,, they’re jst, ,, theyre rly close :( ♥. after jason goes to college tim often visits on week ends !!!!! which is where the pic with roy happens. he misses his brother :C

• ok so i had to think for dami and tim because i changed stuff while answering this including since how long dami has been here (because i want him to have trauma bc im a terrible person). So here is what ive decided. dami is 10 when tim gets adopted, has been here since a year or two. he was with talia before, and im not fixed on this but her and dami did live w ra’s and ra’s probably was into some shady stuff to compensate for canon ,,, anyway damian has trauma (ra’s related, talia is good). talia n him escaped n she dropped dami off to his dad and jst vanished ig ? idk . she out there maybe. anyway he has Trauma, emotional abuse n physical abuse, probably to a higher level as tim,,,, anyway when tim arrives he’s wary, bc he knows jason n dick are adopted but tim is the first newcomer since damian arrived and it scares him .. so at first he jst mostly avoids tim and doesn’t really give him a chance ? but after jason leaves for college they get closer. bc they have similar traumas they both can see when the other is Going Through Stuff, bad days, and slowly they allow each other in,,,, sobs, they’re great ok they’re v close,,, when tim is more comfortable in the house he n dami gets up to shenanigans and give bruce’s grey hairs. they’re v good :(

• cassandra gets adopted the year after tim, she’s 16 and mostly non verbal. im not sure what im making her background yet but ye,,, not good,, but she is very kind and gentle and her and tim are rly good,, he brings her out of her shell a bit and likes when he brings his friends over bc they’re patient w her and make sure she understands waht they’re talking about/games they’re playing... tim and her both start learning asl together

• IM AM NOT QUITE SURE WHAT TO DO W DUKE YET SO I CANT INCLUDE HIM HERE BUT HES HERE ! SOMEWHERe !

[duketectivecomics]

Hey I was wondering if you know the official order of bruce gaining all the kids including harper, Barbara, and stephanie? I know its Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian but where does the other 3 and duke and cass fall in? Tia!!

So I’m gonna assume that you mean the order in which they get adopted, since finding First Appearances is one of the easier things to google for any character. (Getting First Appearance issues afterall is part of the reason some comics retain their value, so it’s usually well documented when a character first shows up. Side note: DCUguide is an excellent resource if you’re looking to comb through appearances for characters, although I’d also recommend asking for reading lists from other fans, since usually those have been curated down to essential storylines only)

I tried to provide actual issue #s where I could, but a lot of the time in comics, it’s usually something that’s dropped or hinted around or casually mentioned rather than outright boldly stated.

Also some of these characters span DECADES and their histories change depending on continuity. So I tried to account for that where I could.

But also canon is fake and everyone in fandom cherry-picks anyways so yknow. Keep THAT in mind too.

Before we dive into this, I wanna have a quick convo on what Legal Guardianship vs Adoption is.

While guardianship includes some of the same responsibilities as adoption, it also comes with a few key differences, such as allowing any living parents (also possibly any living relatives) to contest the guardianship. Adoption would make the child fully and solely the potential parent’s responsibility, and would nullify any legal ‘say’ that the biological parents may have. Also of note, is that  guardianship does not allow the child in question a claim to inheritance unless the guardian specifically wills it to them, as there is again, a bit more of distance that is placed between the child and guardian, as more of a mentorship is expected to take hold. One way to look at it is that adoption is permanent (& usually a longer drawn out process bc of that), while guardianship can be more legally flexible.

With that out of the way, let’s start~

Dick: pre-flashpoint/52, it’s stated often that Dick was actually Bruce’s ward, that Bruce has legal guardianship over Dick. I know this is a nitpick and doesn’t matter bc it’s usually retconned/ignored in favor of Dick being adopted. But I think it’s a fascinating point of potential contention nonetheless. especially given the historical reason, that it was absolutely unheard of at the time for a single man to adopt a child, but no one would bat at eye if he was taking Dick in out of a sense of altruism & duty. Contract this with decades later, when he DOES appear to adopt Jason outright, which puts some friction in place between Dick & Bruce. and well, you’ve got a whole story & conflict to explore right there.

Barbara: Usually dons the Batgirl cowl after Dick becomes Robin (the only exception to that was The Batman (2004) cartoon and it was absolutely galaxy brain of them honestly) She has her own Dad though (idk if y’all know him? Jim Gordon? Yknow? The Commissioner?) so she doesn’t get adopted. She’s considered a core batfam member mostly in the sense that she’s been there so long and esp as she makes herself absolutely essential when she becomes Oracle. She has never, and will likely never be adopted by Bruce (bc again. W h e n is that gonna come up? When Jim dies? L m f a o)

Jason: pre-crisis it’s assumed from the go I guess? I could only find slight confirmation and ended up finding more info that there was a custody battle and that Bruce would won Jason back officially in Detective Comics #548. post-crisis, Jason’s history is redone, though & I remember his adoption being touched on, but could not for the life of me find a particular issue. N52/Rebirth it’s simply assumed from the go as far as I’m aware.

Tim: Batman #654. This was after his father died, though he’d been Robin at this point for at least a decade. For n52/Rebirth as far as I can tell he’s also been outright adopted by Bruce (though I think he’s parents were still alive but in Witness Protection? Idk. I haven’t read at all for Tim’s history there so take that with a heavy grain of salt)

Steph: another one who is not adopted (Crystal Brown is very much alive and taking care of Steph (barring the time Leslie Thompkins squirreled her away after faking Stephs death BUT)) She does show up pretty soon on Tim’s tail when he starts as Robin. Again, she’s considered a staple of the family because of how long she’s been involved with them. I like to think of her like Kimmy in Full House. She’s a Good Friend who’s Constantly Showing Up and is one of the family through mutual agreement on everyone’s part.

Cass: Batgirl (2008) #6, though like Tim, Cass had been Batgirl for nearly a decade at that point in continuity. She’s shown and stated many times that she considers Bruce a father/father figure and likewise that Babs, who had been mentoring her, was the closest she has to a mother. In n52/Rebirth, I have yet to see or hear about official adoption for her, but again. We usually ignore canon on that part anyways. I mean they made her into Orphan so uhhhh. Not super great yknow?

Damian: since he is biologically Bruce’s, it’s never really addressed as far as I’m aware (I have yet to read Damian’s appearances Altho he’s next on my Robin list). I personally think it’d be interesting to explore the fact that he was likely born outside of the country and what that means for Bruce gaining legal custody & whether or not Talia would contest that? I’m sure there’s probably SOME thinkpieces about it out there, but I’ll search for them on my own time eventually

And now we’re getting to *drum roll* Harper and Duke!

Harper: her appearances are mostly kept to the n52 runs, though with Tynion returning to Detective, it’s likely she’s coming back into Rebirth soon. She’s a unique case where, due to her abusive home life, she emancipated herself and took her brother, Cullen, with her. Neither she nor her brother were adopted by Bruce, and as far as I’m aware/understand, they’re fine with it that way. I know Stephanie was living with them at some point (it’s dropped in Batman & Robin: Eternal at least?), so I certainly think it would have been nice if DC also brought them into the fold like Steph. Just a couple of kids who are Really Good Friends with the family and continue to insert themselves in batfam business lmao

Duke: I actually addressed this fairly recently here! Duke’s guardianship (bc like Dick, Duke is not outright adopted by Bruce, likely to afford Duke’s parents the opportunity to regain custody should they recover from Joker’s toxin) its a little more up in the air at this point in Batman & The Outsiders. Since Bruce is very clearly taking both him and Cass away on globetrotting adventures. It would make things EASIER ofc if he is under Bruce’s guardianship. But given that it’s not really addressed, it’s led most of fandom to simply assume it instead. And really? Considering that DC themselves probably doesn’t realize that they’ve written themselves into this corner, it probably won’t be fully addressed or recognized anyways.

So to answer your first question actually: Babs, Steph, and Harper? Not adopted, likely never will be, but they ARE interspersed fairly regularly in the line-up. Everyone else? Varying degrees of being under Bruce’s guardianship if not outright adopted.

We’re all happy that they’re here, though!!! And we love and appreciate them ALL.

[incorrectbatclan]

Hi I'm that some person who asked about the Bat Family! Your post was really useful! Thank you so much! Do you reckon you could do another post of the others??? (Only if you want ❤️) And I saw that you wouldn't mind doing a Villain post? Cause I wouldn't mind either! Thank you again! You're amazing ❤️❤️

right ok sorry i didn’t answer this earlier lol but im off college now for christmas break so i have all the time. 

First post! - The boys and Cass

Barabara Gordon: Babs my wife. ginger goddess, love her. Babs is the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, and the first batgirl. She was introduced in 1967 and just pretty much decided she wanted to kickass and made herself a little costume to join batman and robin i think???? anyway joker’s a jackass and decided to shoot her to get back at her dad so,,,,,, he shot her in the spine, paralysing her, so she retired as batgirl and became Oracle instead, the information broker and master hacker of the justice league, had a thing going on with dick for a while but DC likes changing their minds on whether or not their characters can be happy so who knows what’s going on there anymore. Part of the Birds of Prey, which she helped formed, and she’s not even in the new movie about it that i can see so fuck u DC :/ Age varies wildly but she’s normally around Dick’s age or older - to begin with she started off as his babysitter but DC doesn’t like sticking to their own timelines so- 👾/10

Stephanie Brown: My girl!!!! steph ok steph is amazing, basically her dad’s another jackass villain right but like not even a good one just a lame one, called Cluemaster (discount Riddler), and she was like ‘well fuck you dad im going to ruin ur whole day, every day’ and then she dressed up as a vigilante called ‘Spoiler’ to keep in with the family heritage and then just kept fucking with him until one day Tim, as Robin, came along and she chucked a brick at his head and from that blossomed a beautiful friendship. Anyway she was Spoiler for a little while longer and was dating Tim in that period, until Tim’s dad found out about everything and was like what the fuck so he had to retire for a bit and then she became the 4th Robin, until she died bc Black Mask is another Gotham Dickhead, but then DC was like ooooh maybe we shouldn’t have done that,,,, so they just pretended she died. Anyway Bruce dies and Cass, the current Batgirl, is like tfvygbuhjink so she gives Steph Batgirl and now DC keeps swapping between Spoiler and Batgirl for her. She was Dick and Damian’s Batgirl when Dick was Batman. Around Tim’s age, maybe 18?  🧇/10

Duke Thomas: Duke!! Duke’s new to the continuity so he’s not been in a whole lot, but this boy already needs a break oh my god. Duke’s the only vigilante meta Bruce allows in the city bc Duke is his son now and the JL are a bunch of bastards so there’s obvious logic behind it, Clark. Anyway he’s called the Signal and he can manipulate light when taking it in with his eyes, can look back and forward in time briefly using the light. Duke first met Bruce when him and his family rescued him when he was unconscious, which then got repayed when they got kidnapped by the Joker as he was planning to murder them to recreate Bruce’s parents’ death but Bruce got to them before he could kill them, but not before Joker drove his parents crazy with Joker toxin. He joined the We Are Robin movement and is currently trying to find his parents after he was placed in the foster system, and is currently training with Batman. Bruce can’t adopt him yet but I’m sure he’ll find a way. May have shadow powers rn, who knows. Around 15-16 i think?  💡/10

Kate Kane: Kate is Bruce’s cousin, who’s last name just happens to rhyme. She wears a wig in costume, and has short hair out of costume, which I don’t understand but anyway. She shares my love of the colour red and I wish to marry her also, and she goes by Batwoman. I love how creative this family is, and she was expelled from the military for being an out lesbian. After that she trained with her father, a military officer, to become Batwoman after seeing atman in action. She’s also Jewish! I don’t really follow her story that much so I’m not that knowledgeable on it I’m afraid, but she’s a sick character. Around Bruce’s age I think  ❤️/10

Jim Gordon: he’s so tired. he’s the head of the gotham police force and that’s really all you need to know to realise that this man needs a break. please dc. he’s been through so much. The show Gotham is really good if you want to know more about him in his earlier days before being promoted. he’s probably older than like all the gotham rogues so there he is, this old man watching these children causing havoc on his city and having to flick on a goddamn bat switch to get this overgrown furry, his annoying sidekicks, and his wonderful daughter to deal with them instead of you know, the police force he runs. An old man. 👮/10

i’ll try and do a villain one later if u still want me to lol!! im very biased towards all the rogues except mr booboo the clown