#okay. i was not aware there was only one person in gotham who could be catholic?

[boyfridged]

not to be that person but catwoman (1989) and batman: year two both have not only a more authentic and genuine, but also inherently more interesting depiction of catholicism than any books with helena ever had. and i’m saying it as someone whose one of favourite comics is cry for blood. the truth is that helena’s catholicism has never been anything more than a stereotype. i do not mind using catholic themes just for aesthetics, but i feel like sometimes people forget that there are some motifs that are just much more fun if they preserve the original nuance and actually serve a function in the text.

[dcxdpdabbles]

Oh my god, you laid out freelance inventor perfectly for the justice league to mistake Danny for Batman, especially with John Jones already making his thoughts known that Bruce wayne would be the perfect himbo for Batman lol. Does the entire league pull together to make a beach day seem intentional and end up making so many mistaken assumptions along the way? Either way, I adore what you have going. I'm kinda curious if you had any thoughts on Damians' first reaction to meeting Danny? If not, that's okay. I just love the thought of Danny bonding with Damian in a feral way or through sparing like ghosts tend to in this fandom

The first time Danny meets Damian Wayne is when he comes to the Manor for a surprise visit. He usually would have called ahead or messaged Alfred, but it was a last-minute decision to stop by Gotham on his way to Metropolis.

Initially, Danny was going to a technology expo hosted by Lexcorp, but it was delayed due to a giant fight. A robot had flung Superman through the convention hall, causing severe damage.

Since he now had a weekend free while Lexcorp searched for a new venue, he figured he would spend it with his favorite one percent. Imagine his surprise when he noticed the first thing he noticed was that Bruce had a biological son, one he had told to stay hidden.

He had told his displaced son not to venture out of the manner because he didn't want the public to know about him. Danny hadn't felt this angry in a long, long time.

The glare he sent Bruce had the man flinching, causing Damian, fresh to the Manor and not used to seeing his Father as anything but commanding, to raise an impressed eyebrow. "Kids. Bed. Now. I want to talk to your Father."

"No." Bruce cowered. "Please stay, kids."

"Sorry Bruce, I actually have to touch up some photos for this month's photo op," Tim was quick to say, jumping from his seat.

"I also really need to get started on some paperwork for the gymnastic gym." Dick laughed nervously, dropping out of the handstand he was in. Danny never understood how the young man could randomly spring into flips and handstands.

Damian did not inch from his chair, though. He meets Danny's gaze with a cool upturn of his nose and crossed arms.

"You have no control over me or my actions, Harlot," Damian hissed, but a pale Dick and Tim pushed him out. Jason had been out on some far-off island trip with his friends- Roy, Kori, Artemis, and that delightful Bizzarro who spoke like it was an opposite day every day.

He was the only person to whom he would not talk to Damian. Everyone else would look Danny in the eye and justify why they would assume that a child should be treated as a secret was the correct thing to do.

"Well?" Danny asks when all Bruce does is sit there, hands on his lap and sweating. He narrows his eyes, crosses his arms, and watches the sweat drip down Bruce's head. "Explain yourself."

"Danny, I swear I wasn't aware of Damian. His mother told me she had a miscarriage. If I had known, I would have told you-" Bruce started but was cut off by Danny marching across the room and practically snaring into his face.

"That's not why you're in trouble, Bruce. Why are you treating a nine-year-old boy like a dirty secret?!"

"um..well, that's...you need to understand he's a bit unstable-"

"Choose your next words very carefully, Bruce." Danny cuts him off, recrossing his arms. Bruce swallows before he seems to gather unknown courage and straightens out his back.

"Danny, I don't think Damian needs to be a secret forever, but he needs to adjust before he can go out. He had a hard life with his birth mother and tends to lash out in violent outbursts. Just last week, he pushed Tim off the stairway!"

That's alarming. In fact, it isn't very good to think Tim would not be safe in the same household as Damian. They talk more about it, especially the part where Damian makes clear he wishes to replace Tim and would do nothing to remove him.

Damian is a threat to Tim's well-being. He mentions this to Bruce, who waves it way like a damn fool.

"Tim can handle it."

"Just because he can doesn't mean he should," Danny growls, throwing his arms into the air. "I can't talk to you right now. I can't even look at you."

"Danny, please-"

"Nope. I will tell Tim to stay with me, and I will make plans to take Damian out and about. If you treat someone like a criminal, they will act like one. I'm going to help that young boy settle here, but I will not do it at the expense of another. Don't call or message me." Danny growls, strutting out of the room only to practically run into Damian.

The boy raises his chin as if daring Danny to tell him off for eavesdropping. For one second, Danny is reminded of Jazz, back when she had been so insistent that she was an adult.

His eyes soften, and he knows Damian can see based on his surprise blink. "H kid have you had the chance to go into Gotham yet?"

"Why would I waste my time with the peasants? I am an elite warrior, destined to rule over them."

Huh. He reminds Danny a lot of Jazz now, with her anti-social tendencies- not that she refused to be around people, more like she refused to make friendships with people her age because she thought herself too mature for them- and a little of the battle-hungry ghosts in the Zone.

He can handle that.

"You are to be a general, right? Why are you acting like a common foot soldier?" He asks, watching the boy's entire demeanor freeze over. "A good ruler is not just combat strength. They can take command and can easily step among their fighters. How can you do that if you do not understand the common folk's way of thinking?"

Damian opened and closed his mouth before narrowing his eyes. "You mock me."

Danny shakes his head, falling to his knees so Damian won't need to strain his neck. He keeps the baby talk out of his voice but only barely. He gets the sense that like his sister, Damian would prefer to be treated like a mini adult. "Never. I'm genuinely interested in your thoughts, but you must know that all knowledge is power. Know thy enemy..."

"...as one knows thyself," Damian finishes his quote, looking vaguely intruded. He considers the offer before nodding. "I shall accompany you on your outing and gain valued observations of the average American child."

"Only after you apologize for attacking Tim and tell him to his face how you will not be doing that again," Danny warns, raising a finger at Damian's clouded face. "A good leader does not want insubordination. Attacking Tim did not prove anything but how unreliable you are and how much you fear Tim."

"I do not fear Drake!"

"Then why does his presence so threaten you? Bruce told me how out of all his kids, you seemed so sure you could take him in a fight but not a battle of wits."

Damian's eyes grow cold before he lashes out a hand. Danny catches it quickly, much to the boy's shock. He clicks his tongue, shaking his head. "Not bad, but not what a regular American child would behave. You would have been singled out as a spy the second you stepped in the street."

"....I shall work on my reaction and emotional regulation." Damian yanks his arm free, striding away but not before glancing back at Danny. "You are strange."

Danny smiles. "Thanks, kiddo."

The boy vanishes from sight, and Danny sighs. He must now find Tim and help him pack to stay with him. He also needs to yell at everyone in the Manor, including Alfred. Honestly, that man enables Bruce far too much.

[flamingpudding]

Fictober23 Prompt: 5 - "You're the smartest person I know."

Fandom: DPxDC

Rating: T

Warnings: Mensions of Blood, Injury and Violence

A/N: This is kind of a bad timeline kind of situation that plays into the Gamer Pal Prompt I wrote before but can still be read independently.

Danny gasped as he staggered along the alley wall, with no idea where he was. He leaned with his shoulder against the wall as his left hand pressed against the wound on his stomach that refused to stop bleeding. He was confused, dizzy and pretty sure his father had given him a concussion, so closing his eyes and just sleeping on the side of the street was out of the question.

Tucker had thrown him through a portal Wulf had opened and that portal had spit him out here in… he doesn't recognise anything. But he was pretty sure he wasn't in Amity anymore. His vision was blurry but he was pretty sure that there were skyscrapers or at least buildings way taller than he was used to.

"Fuck." Danny cursed as another wave of pain made his body shudder. If he could just transform than maybe these injuries wouldn't be as bad but next to the pain Danny could also feel electricity surging through his body thanks to whatever Vlad zapped him with that stopped his transformation.

He coughed, squinting his eyes at the red spots that splattered to the ground. Things had gone to shit and real quickly and for a moment Danny thought that maybe they should have listened to their Gaming friend. Listened to his words of caution and advice to find a way to leave or to have at least a couple more of back up plans if things go horribly wrong.

Well it all came back to bite Danny like usually, as he spat out another glob of blood. Maybe Tim hadn't been as paranoid as they had assumed.

"You okay there kid?"

Danny needed to blink a couple of times until the red and brown blob before him finally took the shape of a person. He blinked several times more until his brain also finally caught up with who he was seeing before him.

"You're Red Hood?" Danny somehow managed to say in between coughing again. Tim had told them about Gothams vigilantes and how he could contact them to get them to help with Amity. To get them into contact with the Justice League. They had thanked him but refused the help, citing the fact that even one overshadowed hero could spell even worse trouble than they already had.

Now he felt stupid having refused that kind of help.

"Hey there kid." Don't black out now. Your bleeding pretty heavily we should get you to a doctors and-"

"No hospitals." Danny cut the vigilante off, coughing once more. Even though Tim somehow had managed to get the Justice League started on the removal of the Anti-Ecto Acts they were not yet gone. He couldn't risk that yet.

But meeting Red Hood meant that Danny was in Gotham, which meant he could probably go directly to Tim for help. His Gaming Pal did say that he knew his cities vigilantes personally.

"Okay no hospitals then." Hood confirmed for him as the man reached out to Danny just as he lost his balance falling forward. The last thing Danny remembers was muttering something along the lines of "Tim… I need to find him."

The next thing Danny then became aware of was the soft beeping of a heart monitor and loud arguing not too far from him. He groaned audible and the arguing stopped instantly. A wight rested on his shoulder and Danny blinked through the brightness and blurreyness once more until he vaguely recognised the shape of a person he so far had only seen through video chats.

"Tim?"

"You absolute idiot." Was the response he got and yea that definitely was the voice he had heard so often during all the late night Doomed gaming sessions.

"That checks out. You are the smartest person I know." Danny chuckled lightly until a sharp pain made him gasp. "Shit, I will feel that for weeks."

"The smartest person you know is Sam. Between the four of us she has the best grades, remember? Besides that, do you have any idea what kind of panic you and Tuck send us through?"

Danny peaked at Tim and grimaced at the frustrated glare the other teen was sending him. "Tucker was the one throwing me through a portal."

"You're lucky you landed in Gotham." The other then muttered, shaking his head.

"Again. You are the smartest person I know. You would have figured out some way to track me? Like the time you hacked our phones and tuned in onto Desiree's ectosignature to find her. Works better than the Booomerang that keeps hitting my head."

"That's because that thing is only tuned on you."

"And you somehow got rid of the GIW and I still haven't figured out how you did that."

Danny watched how the other teen shrugged. There was a silence between them. Tim was texting on his phone, probably informing Sam and Tucker. Danny, meanwhile, for the first time took notice that he was in some sort of medical bay, also noting that whoever Tim had argued with had already left. If he could believe Red Hood's words, then even if this looked like a hospital room it was not one.

"Hey Tim?" Danny finally broke the silence and the other teen only hummed. "Is your offer to stay with you in Gotham and to go to school and college here still open? I think I am ready to leave Amity behind now."

Tim looked up from his phone at Danny and gave him a feral grin. "About damn time. I had all the papers ready for you for ages now. It's about time we finally make use of them."

Danny chuckled. "And you still don't believe me when I say, that you are the smartest person I know?"

"Anyone in my family can do at least that, you know? These papers are nothing special."

Danny only raised an eyebrow at the other before both teens started to laugh, with one laugh getting cut short by a groan of pain and the other by fussing over the other right after it.

[hollandorks]

haven

battinson! bruce wayne x f! reader

chapter fourteen

Summary: After the sudden deaths of her mother and grandmother, y/n is forced to return home to Gotham…and to the man who broke her heart three years ago. Back in Bruce Wayne’s inescapable orbit, she vows to get to the bottom of her former best friend’s new cold personality. But Bruce’s secrets aren’t what she’s expecting.

a/n: I'm back to posting semi-regularly, yay! Not sure when the next chapter will be finished because of the holidays but hopefully it'll be within the next week or so! This one is a little on the shorter side, but the next several will be longer I think! (Since I haven't actually written them--but I have plans and they're lengthy.)

Series Masterlist

word count: 2k

“Oh man,” Martinez groaned as his eyes flicked from Alfred, to her, to the picture, and back again. He gulped audibly. Next to him, Blake the security guard was white as a sheet. “Gordon’s gonna kill me.”

“Gordon’s gonna kill me,” Martinez said for the twentieth time as y/n poured him a cup of coffee to replace the one that was currently still on the foyer floor. “I was supposed to be the one paying attention. I was the one he trusted.” Which, he informed  her after maybe the fourth “Gordon’s gonna kill me,” that meant he was Gordon’s most trusted on her security team. He was one who was secretly supposed to make sure no one else was compromised. 

“Martinez,” y/n said for the nineteenth time. “No he isn’t. You were doing your job. You already said you didn’t leave, or fall asleep, or take a call. In fact, you did your job so well you ignored my offer of coffee.” She held out the new mug. 

Martinez was still nervously mangling the hat of his uniform. He was completely ignoring her reassurances. He went still after a second, then turned eyes that were twice as frightened to her. “Man, Mr. Wayne’s gonna be so mad too, isn’t he? This is his house.” 

Y/n narrowed her eyes. “I’ll handle Bruce. And besides–Alfred’s more in charge than he is, and he already agreed it wasn’t your fault.” Alfred had met Gordon downstairs a few minutes earlier. The elevator and entire lobby had been turned into a crime scene. Martinez and y/n were waiting to give their statements. 

Easing Martinez’s fears was much easier than facing her own. It was easy to focus on him and nothing else. Because in the short half hour since she’d first found the picture, each bit of new information was worse than the last. No one on the security detail had been harmed, bribed, or had even moved. The security cameras had been turned off for only ten minutes. Which all meant that someone had enough access to Wayne Tower and its security to get past everything extra that had been set up. 

They wanted her to know that they could get to her. 

And they were drawing it out. Instead of grabbing her, they were making her wait. Making her scared.

Y/n focused again on the nervous cop in front of her, who was still bemoaning the fact that everyone was going to be mad at him. 

“If you don’t stop, I’m going to be mad at you,” she snapped. There was a headache blooming between her eyes. 

Martinez quieted, looking like a kicked puppy with a mustache. “Jesus, I’m so sorry, y/n. If I can make it up to you at all–” 

“Just drink your coffee, okay? No one blames you.” Y/n took a sip of her coffee. Her hands were still shaking, and some of the liquid spilled over as she set the cup back down. Damn, she was wasting a lot of coffee in one night. 

She startled when a warm hand landed atop hers. She looked up and met Martinez’s soft gaze. He didn’t say anything else, but his presence was enough to steady her. 

“I’m so glad they didn’t shoot you,” she said after a moment. 

They shared a grin. “Hell, me too.” 

An awareness prickled along y/n’s spine.

She looked up, and there was Bruce. 

His hair was stuck to his forehead and his shirt was on inside out. Her stomach swooped. There really only seemed to be one possibility from those two clues, plus the fact that he hadn’t been home. 

Jealousy and shame spread like hot oil through her stomach. 

Bruce looked…angry. His eyes were twin blue flames where they stayed locked on Martinez’s hand atop hers. 

Martinez scrambled to his feet as if the king of fucking England had just walked in. More coffee spilled as he bumped the table. Y/n half expected him to bow for Bruce. She rolled her eyes. 

“Mr. Wayne! I’m so sorry, I swear I was paying attention, I–” 

Bruce’s eyes went cold. “And you are?” 

“Officer Martinez, we actually met back–” 

Y/n’s eyes narrowed. It was her turn to jump to her feet. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” she said to Bruce.  

Martinez flinched. Bruce calmly glanced her way then went back to glaring at Martinez. 

“When the security of my home has been compromised due to incompetence–” Bruce said, still calm despite the obvious fury in his eyes. 

Y/n cut him off. “Oh shut up. Stop talking to him like that. It wasn’t his fault!” 

Bruce’s eyes flashed. “Well, it was certainly someone’s.” 

“Maybe it was yours, then.” The words rose within her on a tide of anger. God, her life had been threatened again, and he had the nerve to come home from fucking his girlfriend and act like a dick to her friend? “I mean, you’ve been letting the rest of the tower go to shit for years, makes sense that maybe security is a little lax. Especially if you don’t even give enough of a shit to ever be here.” 

They were almost toe to toe now, both breathing heavily. From the corner of her eye, she saw Martinez freeze in place, mouth open in shock. 

“I give too much of a shit, y/n. If your little boyfriend hadn’t been distracted–” 

Oh, y/n thought. Bruce thought Martinez was her boyfriend. And okay, maybe it looked like that, but Martinez actually had a great girlfriend who was in a group chat with them where they all sent memes to each other. She and Martinez wanted to set up a double date with her cousin and y/n.

The realization made the anger ebb, but then she was pissed off all over again. 

“What gives you the right to act like this?” she spat at Bruce. He was so much taller than her that her neck was starting to ache from glaring up at him. “After what you did, after what you said, you’re acting like you have any right to one, be involved in my personal life at all or two, be jealous!” 

Bruce flinched. Just like the first time it had happened two days ago, it didn’t feel as good as she thought it would. 

“Um,” Martinez said in the echoing silence. “We’re actually just friends and I–I’m going to go give my statement now?” 

Y/n barely noticed him leaving. 

She was so sick of being so afraid, so heartbroken, so…everything. 

“You’re going to apologize to him whether he’s just my friend or not,” she said, poking Bruce in the chest. He winced and tried to mask it by looking away. “I already told you, Bruce. I lost you three years ago. Stop acting like that didn’t fucking happen, because it did.” 

Bruce’s hands were clenched into fists at his sides. Now he wasn’t looking her in the eye at all. “I didn’t mean–” 

“Oh, shut the fuck up, yes you did.” But the words were bereft of the anger that had been present only moments before. She took a deep breath and a step backwards. “I’m just–sick of pretending things are the same, okay? I know you want to go all protective-best-friend thinking Martinez is my boyfriend or that he put me in danger but–I can’t just–Things aren’t–” Suddenly words were failing her. “It’s just not the same, okay?” 

She watched as Bruce softened, too. “Y/n, I’m sorry, I–” 

“Why did Martinez just run out of here like a bomb went off?” Gordon’s voice cut across whatever Bruce had been about to say. 

“Mommy and Daddy were fighting,” y/n said drily, her defense mechanism of humor kicking in. Bruce made a choking noise. “Find anything useful? Like maybe Frank Gallo?”

She could almost hear Gordon’s teeth grinding from across the room. “No.” 

“Bruce,” Alfred said from behind Gordon. “We have some things to discuss.” 

Bruce gave her one last glance before following Alfred out. 

Alone with Gordon now, y/n sank into her chair with a long sigh. She stared at the little coffee spills as if they had personally offended her. “If I spill any more coffee tonight I might kill someone.” 

“Now that would be a sight. Looked like you were about to do Mr. Wayne in already.” Gordon chuckled and took the seat across from her. He flipped open a small notebook. 

“I’m still not opposed to smothering him in his sleep,” she muttered. “Arrest me if you have to.” 

“How about I get your statement instead?” 

It didn’t take long. She was basically a pro at giving statements to the police at this point. When she was done, she said, “I’m so…tired of giving statements to the police.” 

Gordon regarded her with sharp eyes that didn’t miss anything. “We’re doing everything we can, y/n,” he said softly. 

“I know, I know. It’s just–getting shot at was scary and all, but this is my home.” Her voice cracked. She ducked her head and fiddled with her coffee mug so Gordon wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. “They’re telling me they can get to me here, too. Where I’m supposed to be safe.”

“I understand completely. We’ll get him. We’ll get them. I have a feeling he might show up on our doorstep sooner rather than later, with something bat-shaped pinned to him and a couple of black eyes and broken bones.” Gordon smirked. Y/n frowned as she realized she hadn’t seen Batman at all. Had he been downstairs? Maybe Bruce hadn’t wanted him to come upstairs. Her frown deepened. “Now, you’re going to have to help me convince Officer Martinez not to sleep in the elevator tonight. Or right outside your door. He’s pretty upset.” 

“I’m surprised he still wants to hang around, considering how much of a dick Bruce was,” y/n said under her breath. “But I’ll do my best.” 

Martinez took a lot of convincing, but eventually relented and went home to his girlfriend. He made y/n put a chair under her bedroom door handle first, though.

Bruce hadn’t reappeared by the time y/n went to bed. 

She laid down, the words of their argument–or whatever the hell that had been–replaying on a loop. Being around him made her feelings go haywire. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so angry at him. The heartbreak of three years ago had taken over her life and she had to admit that the anger felt…almost good. Cathartic. But it also made her feel out of control. She didn’t feel like herself. Being mad at Bruce went against years of instincts. She was used to defending him, or him defending her, to being on the same team together.

She was still wide awake as dawn broke over the sky hours later. 

Another thought kept turning over and over in her mind. Frank Gallo–or someone he had hired–had gotten into her home. Her very, very secure home. 

She had been afraid before, but it was nothing like this. Her safe haven had been…sullied. They knew who she was, where she lived, and had basically said right to her face that not even Bruce Wayne’s money and power could keep her safe. 

Added all together, y/n’s mind simply would not shut off in order for her to sleep.

It occurred to her again that she hadn’t seen Batman at all–had Gordon updated him on what happened? Because he had been in that photo, too. He had kept her alive, which she was certain had pissed off the Gallos. Was he a target? Maybe the picture of them together was a threat to both of them, but only given to her since they knew where she lived. 

When she rolled over, her eyes caught on all of her research piled on the opposite side of the bed. Her eyes snagged on those three words: white knight syndrome. 

She bet she had her answer about any possible feelings he might have. Even if he had shown up, he hadn’t tried to contact her, to see her, nothing. He was probably sick of having to keep her alive. He was probably leaving it up to Gordon and the police department now. 

Despite everyone who was trying hard to keep her alive, y/n felt utterly alone. 

Next Chapter

taglist: IF YOUR USERNAME HAS CHANGED LET ME KNOW!!!!!!

@ktficworld @grunge-n-roses5 @anon-cat-posts @projectdreamwalker @warsaur @lachillona02 @crazyunsexycool @doetic @alexiris @that-girl-named-alex @harry-bowie-mercury @vaniasagitaa @widows-writings @missing-loki @exactlyelegantwizard @miriamnox @mavenmoon @eclipsedplanet @spencerrxids @giulia2372 @katara-is-a-goddess-changemymind @janezat @incorrectmarvelquotesss @spiritdetectivel @i-have-no-life-charlie @ilovemybabes @curseyouperrytheplatypus @lightsinmycity @yondiii @spideybv28 @fictionalmansl4t

[cursedkeyboard]

Funnily enough, I've never been too big of a Jason Todd fan. Not because I don't like him, he's a great character, but because DC fails over and over again to give him justice and treat him right.

The number of times alone this boy has been beaten by his adoptive father, betrayed, and forgotten are far too many, far too much.

And the constant portrayal of Jason as this volatile, violent, mindless man is tiresome, lazy in all senses of the word and overdone. I understand that Jason was unstable after he left the pit, I mean, who wouldn't? The trauma of his death alone could've sent anyone crazy, but then to experience everything else afterwards, including having to come to terms that Bruce not only did not kill his murder but also replaced him, leaving Jason to grieve what was once his and what he should've gotten, of course he'd be less than okay.

Again, I'm not the biggest Jason Todd fan but I do wish more people would see just how much good Jason has in his heart, how kind and gentle he can be once his walls are down, when he's no longer constantly analyzing your actions and wondering why would you bother talking to him, getting closer to him.

In my opinion, a man who is so gentle with children, who constantly gives second, third, and fourth chances to people who don't deserve it, who despite it all still wants to make a change and protect the city that failed him, couldn't possibly be anything but the most caring partner. Not just partner, no, also brother and friend.

We all know what he did to Tim and Damian, there are reasons, such as his mental instability at the time and rage, and though those are not excuses, I believe Jason would still drop everything to go save his family. He might complain, he might brood, but family is something important to him even when just looking at them hurts him. He lost his loving mother, stepmother, far too early and it's not hard to imagine that even with all the pain and grief inside his torn heart, the little boy inside Jason still craves the warmth of a family.

Just look at the way he treats his friends, at the way he helps them through situations no one else would, how caring and attentive he is. Jason is gentle, sure, he is rough and mean and he's got blood on his hands, but Jason is made of love.

Jason was made to be loved.

So I think, whether platonic or romantically, Jason would treat you so well. He'd scold you for not wearing warm clothes during winter, "We're in Gotham, you fucking moron, you wanna freeze to death?", all while wrapping you with his jacket or scarf. He'd make sure you're eating at least something every day, and if not, he would immediately put you under his arm, maybe over his shoulder, and take you to the nearest food chain he could find, "I don't want to hear you complaining about headaches when all you had today was a cup of coffee and gum.".

Lord, he'd be torn between freaking out and being extremely annoyed that you got hurt, be it at work, a fight, or just out of clumsiness. But no matter what, his hands would always be so, so gentle when touching you. The tip of his fingers brushing under the injury, as light as a breeze, his other hand holding the back of your neck, or your bicep, perhaps even your hand just to make sure you're there, with him.

Jason would both hush you gently, "I know, sweetheart, we're almost done.", and also tease because he's a little shit at heart, "If you had a little more awareness than a ten year old this wouldn't have happened, idiot."

And physical touches? Oh, love, Jason is a sucker for intimacy.

I know for a fact he wouldn't be comfortable for a long time with anyone in his personal space due to the torture he went through. The trauma would make his skin crawl any time someone got too close or brushed past him, he'd hate it so much because it makes him weak but also because he can't let anyone try to hug him without feeling sick to his stomach.

And with you it's no different. It would take a long time, a lot of trust being built up, conflict and confessions, maybe he'd even open up to you with his head on your lap as you brushed his hair softly, a big, big step for him after years of not letting anyone close. He'd tell you about the Joker, about having hope in Bruce, about his biological mother. And he'd feel vulnerable like a child when you wipe his tears gently without a word.

Once he starts craving your touch, though, regardless if you two have a platonic or romantic relationship, Jason is putty in your hands. Forehead kisses when you part ways, cuddling on the couch while he reads and you're on your phone, thighs touching when sitting close, even a little bit of hand holding when he's stressed and needs to play with your fingers.

He's like a big cat that's constantly making his way onto your chest, stealing your breath and making biscuits on your skin, making sure you're giving him sufficient pats every day.

It's a little part of him that he's barely able to properly allow space for. There's still so much hurt in Jason, so much confusion and desperation, hatred and upset, that he'd probably still close off sometimes, try acting tough so you'd see how fucked up he is, how he's not truly worth of your love.

And yet.

And yet all it'd take for him to go soft and pliant in your hands would be a single touch, cupping his cheeks, brushing his skin softly with your thumbs, right under his pretty emerald eyes, making sure his gaze is on you and only you. Just like that, he'd slump his shoulders and bring you into his arms, breathing a sigh of relief and squeezing you close, your heartbeats synching.

He wouldn't remember when he started feeling safest in your arms but it'd feel like it was since forever. Like there was no one else but you.

Jason was made to be loved, though he is a little broken and a little tainted, lost like a child and hateful like a sinner, your love might just be his salvation, something he's greedy for, selfish for, even when he's so hesitant of somehow hurting you.

[phantoms-lair]

"Okay, I can see why your astrology loving self likes it here," Tim elbowed Danny.

"It's astronomy and you know it." Danny said, fake offended.

"Yeah, I will admit I'm surprised by how good the internet is here. I wasn't expecting that out of rural Kansas."

"Well, think of who they have to keep in contact with, and how far away." Danny pointed out. "Honestly, pretty sure Bruce is responsible."

"Wouldn't be surprised."

"Hey Danny!" Elle hovered over the two of them. "Let's go flying!"

"We've got a guest you know." Danny gestured at Tim with his thumb. "Be kind of a jerk move to fly off without him."

"Can't he fly?" Elle asked. "His hero name is Robin, right?"

Elle looked like she was ten, but Tim had to remind himself she was less than half a year old and often surrounded by metahumans. "No flight. All my powers are up here." he said, tapping the side of his head.

"You're psychic?" she asked.

Danny laughed and Tim rolled his eyes. "No powers, just smart." he clarified. Then he looked back at the stars. "It would be interesting to see what it would be like to have powers, but like most of the family, I'm a normal human."

"No one who can lie to Batman with a straight face is normal." Danny pointed out.

"If he wants to know what it's like to have powers, why don't you show him?" Elle asked.

"It's rude." Danny said, sticking his tongue.

"Not with consent."

"Not with permission." Danny pleaded. "You are too young for me to want to hear you use the phrase 'consent'."

"Missing something." Tim pointed out.

"Overshadowing. If I take control of you I can channel my powers through your body. But like I said, it's kind of rude."

Tim wasn't sure 'rude' was the word for stealing someone's bodily autonomy. But Elle did have a point of her own. There was a world of difference between doing something with or without consent. "Okay, how would that work?"

"How would what work?" Danny asked.

"The overshadowing thing."

"Oh, it's er," Danny was fiddling with his fingers, suddenly nervous. "It's kinda creepy."

Tim gave him a flat look. They'd covered Danny referring to himself as 'creepy' enough in Gotham that he wasn't amused.

"It's basically possession. I would seize control of your body and channel my powers through it. Normally the person getting possessed is sort of put to sleep and only has vague impressions of the time they were controlled. But a person with strong enough willpower can resist and be aware." Unsaid was that pretty much everyone in Tim's family would be able to hold onto their awareness.

"Could you cede control once you had it though? Possess someone but not control them?"

"I honestly don't know. I've never tried it." Danny admitted.

"Then lets try it," Tim suggested.

Danny looked at him like he was crazy. "Why?"

"Two reason. The first is it will see how well I do if a ghost tries controlling me. The second," he shrugged, "I'm not a metahuman and will probably never be one. And I'm okay with that, but it's been interesting to see what it feels like to be one, you know?"

Danny pursed his lips and Tim wondered if he was crossing a line. Being a metahuman hadn't exactly been a fun experience for Danny, after all.

"Okay." Danny said reluctantly. "But you don't get to blame me if you don't like it."

Or he could just still have issues with the thought of people rejecting him for his powers. "Fair. We've got Elle as our witness that this was my idea. I could talk to the Kents beforehand too-"

"Not necessary!" Danny shuddered.

Tim felt his heart droop. Deep down Danny still didn't trust they'd keep caring for him. He hated what the Fentons had done to Danny's self esteem. "You don't have to if you don't want to." Tim softly reminded him. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable either. But I trust you, you know?"

Danny swallowed heavily. "Okay. If you're sure."

It felt cold, at first, like a chill up his spine. Then Tim felt his mouth move and vocal chords activate independently of of him. "Okay, so this is overshadowing." His own voice said. "So I guess, try to do something and I'll try not to stop it?"

"Do you have to talk out loud?" Tim asked. "It's going to look like I'm talking to myself."

"I guess that works. And yes, no psychic connection for this. Sorry."

"Weird," Elle observed. "I've seen some recordings of overshadowing and usually the person has the eyes glowing the ghosts color when control, but the glow fades when they resist control. But the eye glow didn't go away when Tim spoke."

"He's not resisting me, I'm letting him have control, it's different." Danny insisted.

"Maybe I should start resisting you. Just to see if I can." Tim suggested.

Elle giggled. It really did look funny with him talking to himself.

"Okay," Danny raised Tim's arm and clenched his fist. "You try to open your hand and I'll try to keep it shut."

Tim had to admit just feeling his arm move like that was mildly panic inducing. He'd managed not to be carded by Hatter but imagined this was what it felt like. He struggled to move his hand only to have it firmly stay in place. He struggled more, eventually sending his arm into erratic fits, punching himself in the face. "Owww" he moaned as

Elle doubled over in laughter.

"Healing factor should take care of it in a few minutes. Unless you want to stop now." Danny rubbed their injured nose.

"No, I mean, I think I want muscle control back, we can work on resisting stuff more later. But I want to see what having powers feels like!"

"Which one do you want to-"

"Flying!" Elle interrupted gleefully.

"I think you might have an ulterior motive." Danny said dryly. "You up for flying, Tim?"

"Yes please," Tim answered, trying to hide how excited he was to try.

He's seen others fly, several times, but it wasn't something he's ever thought he could do except on a hang glider or something.

"We're going for invisibility first." Danny warned. "Since we don't want to be seen."

If getting possessed had been a shiver up his spine, becoming invisible was like being dunked in cool water. Not frigid, but a definite chill ran across his skin as it vanished from sight. Then Tim felt gravity lose it's hold on him. Without any form of propulsion he lifted up about a foot in the air.

"We're going to start low and slow." Danny assured him. "So if anything goes wrong you aren't going to fall too far." Gently he leaned forward and glided effortlessly through the air.

"Do you think I could do this myself?" Tim asked.

"No clue, let's try!" Danny seemed to be warming up to the idea of testing with Tim's lack of a bad reaction to being overshadowed.

The floated in place and Tim tried to move their shared body. But while he could mover his limbs with ease, Danny's power couldn't be interacted with. "Doesn't look like it, sorry."

Elle looped back around. "This is low and slow is kiddy stuff." She groaned.

Danny gave her a mild glare. "You are three months old. You have no right to complain of kiddy stuff."

"If anything I can more." Elle countered. "Come on, can we at least do tag or something?" Tim shrugged. "Sure, tag sounds good."

~

"Does she normally smoke you this bad at tag?"

"No." Danny grumped.

Tim sighed. "Sorry. Having to plan out our strategies is letting her hear us. If you took full control-" "Then you wouldn't be in the game, I'd just be using you as a meat suit for no reason." Danny pointed out.

Tim thought for a moment. "Danny, can you put your shield in a bubble around us, so Elle can't hear us planning?"

"Sure, but it's going to be obvious."

"That's fine, we're just planning the planning." Tim assured. Danny raised the shield "We're planning to plan? Seems redundant."

"We're planning the things that will let us plan in plain sigh without your sister knowing." Tim corrected. "So our main issue here is we've got two minds that need to collaborate. Even if we split the division of labor of you powers me body, we each need to use both. You can take control of my body if an opportunity needs it, but I can't take control of your powers, so that what we need more communication for."

"Elle hasn't developed much beyond the standard, so we can keep to those. So, intangibility," Tim tapped the ring finger of his left hand twice. "If I make that motion, it means I'm asking you to use intangibility, if you do it it's warning me you're using it and I don't have to flinch away. Blinking twice will work the same for invisibility and..." Tim thought a moment more. "Tongue for flying." "Okay, I get eyes for invisibility and hands for intangibility, why tongue for flying?" Danny asked.

"Because it can't be seen. So tongue on the roof of my mouth acts as the taps or blinking, but can also be used to indicate direction in three dimensions." Tim demonstrated by holding his tongue to the roof of his mouth, then pressing it to the left side of his cheek."

Any more discussion was interrupted by Elle knocking on the shield. Danny dropped it to reveal his younger sister looking annoyed. "Are we playing or what?" Dany smirk and cracked their shared knuckles. "Round two begins now."

~

Alfred stood on the porch with the Kents while Martha rang the bell to call the children in. It had been a lovely visit catching up with them while Tim spent some time with Danny and Elle. It warmed his heart that despite moving to Smallville and possibly adding Kent to his name instead of Wayne, Danny and Tim were still very much brothers.

(One of the contingencies, if the Kents hadn't felt able to take in the boy, was for him to be officially adopted by Tim as a Drake, allowing him to still be a part of the family without feeling an unwanted connection to Master Bruce. But that plan was scrapped when Danny became publicly known during the Seige of Gotham. It was for the best, Danny truly needed more adults he trusted.)

It wasn't unexpected to see the children approach from the air. What was unexpected was there was only two of them and Master Tim seemed to be flying of his own volition. A raised eyebrow was all it took to remind the children that this wasn't an ordinary situation either.

Tim felt his shoulders hunch and his cheek flush as Danny's self-consciousness expressed itself in his body. Danny separated from him and opened his mouth, probably to apologize, but Tim wasn't going to let him. "I wanted to know what it was like to fly." he said, cutting off any apologies for his existence his brother might make.

"Indeed." Alfred said simply. "And how did that work out?"

"Quite well. I can better coordinate flying members of the team now, as well as Danny and I worked out a simple non-verbal code in order to plan around Elle while she could hear everything we said to each other. It was a productive endeavor."

"More importantly, Master Tim." Alfred's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Did you have fun?"

Tim felt himself becoming bashful now, ducking his head. "Yeah." He answered. "I did."

Good. Just as Danny needed the occasional reminder they were cared for, Tim needed the reminder that he was more than his use.

"That's something." Pa rubbed his chin. "Don't suppose you'd be willing too take me up there too. "I'd love to be able to go flying with Clark."

Danny's face turned red, and he half hid behind Tim's shoulder.

"It's okay if you're not comfortable with us for that yet." Ma said kindly. "We know you haven't know us as long as Tim."

"S'Okay." Danny muttered.

"You can take Pa and I'll take Ma. We can all go flying!" Elle cheered.

"When your brother's ready," Ma gently admonished.

"With that we must be off." Alfred apologized. "While I treasure these times, it's not fair to Miss Gordon to have to run herd on our family all evening without backup."

"Give Bruce our best." Ma patted Tim on the head while Pa and Alfred shook hands.

"I will. See you soon Danny."

"Yeah." Danny smiled at his brother. "See you soon."

It would be sooner than either of the two thought

[on-leatheredwings]

i've found your account only a few days ago but ever since then I've been STUCK here rereading your fanfics, especially ones with damian. i wasn't even a dc fan (heard about some stuf, watched some films and cartoons, but that's it) but now im reading comics since im Obsessed and need more batboys in my life (rip my productivity😔)

Anyway, after Sleepover i'm curious what will Bruce (and maybe even Thalia) think of batboys strange behaviour towards reader. He's smart, so he definitely notices it early on, but how he'll react....

I can see him being weirded out (like he was by Jason's anger issues, before his death), but he also can be an enabler, since Robin (literaly any of them) had a hard life, so if those relationships can help him why not pretend that everything is normal? you'll be safer in a Wayne's Manor anyway

All in all, thanks for a new hyperfixation 💞💞

P.s. About games:

1. Boyfriend to death 1&2 - since you're into yanderes you might want to check this game out. I prefer the second game, but the first is also fun. But beware the trigger warnings!!

2. Long live the Queen - more of a raising sim than dating sim but you still can romance some guys and girls.

,3. Hatoful Boyfriend - mostly a comedy, but there is a yandere.

4. The Royal Trap - it's been a long time since i played it, but it used to be one of my favorites so i'll just mention it.

5. Higurashi - once again not really a romance sim, but its an interesting horror mixed with a slice of life

;A; AWWWW THANK YOU IM SO HAPPY YOU LIKE MY STUFF.... THAT MAKES ONE OF US GIJSDOFAFGHFOJDSD

and yes yes get into DC!!! (girl who hasnt even read a full run since like. injustice)

damn now you got me thinking and excited. incoming spiel

i agree entirely about bruce just knowing how Bad things can get, so to make things simpler, he's like "yes, your darling(s) can stay in the manor, boys. 🙄"

mmm yes..... when it comes to bruce noticing the batboys are yandere, i think it's always sinfully delightful to just have him be reluctantly okay with it. 😈 it's also easier narratively ngl but i also like the idea that the batfam is all just corrupted.

bruce's thoughts are that they (his sons) fight for vengeance and justice but this is where they could use some leeway.... we all need our vice... they fight so hard for gotham, they deserve a little treat (getting rid of your human rights)... it's very "Dad who wants his sons to have happiness even if its not healthy" of him. in fics where bruce is a yandere, well, he's the exact same way so he can't judge. although if that's the case, i like the idea of bruce just being like "yes what we do isn't right. let's not talk about it. just don't kill <3"

still wondering what i like more. a yan!bruce who's self aware what he's doing is wrong but he just refuses to think about it. or a yan!bruce that justifies it all because of his paranoia, Tower of Babel style (if you don't know, that's when it's revealed batman has plans to subdue/kill the justice league just in case they go rogue.)

for the batboys depends on their personality... for damian, he's so resolute in things that i prefer when he just believes 100% what he's doing is okay, if not actually righteous. ^_^

hmmm talia.... I'M STILL UNSURE HOW I PREFER THAT AS WELL... i think talia being a you-arent-good-enough-for-my-son mom is a little cliche but also. she kinda would say that. you'd have to prove your worth somehow but idk how tf darling would do that LOL. in the end, i think talia is just relieved/comforted that her son indeed feels desire and wants love and will continue the family legacy (regardless if youre afab/can biologically have children.)

no THANK YOU FOR THE ASK!!! AND THANKS FOR RECS!!!! heheh yeah ive checked out btd and im not averse to the warnings its more like im not that most of into the designs ngl. fox guy seems cute? AND LMAO FUNNY BC IM ON A HIGURASHI REWATCH (never played it tho)

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Lollipops

Timari January Day 1: Lollipop

By @maribat-calendar-events

Listen, when Marinette Dupain-Cheng opened up a clinic, she had been expecting a lot of things.

Children, since she was officially in pediatric care. You know, the branch devoted to treating children.

Eventually, she expanded to consider her patients might include henchmen, as well. And she had been mentally prepared, perhaps, to possibly meet their bosses, if they wanted to thank her for their services in person, though she had doubted this.

She had not, however, been expecting to look a vigilante dead in the eyes (domino mask, it didn’t matter)... or, at least, not like this. She had been expecting to get approximately one glimpse of their usual suits and then have a fist obscure most of her vision. Not to see him hunched over in one of her chairs, hugging the knife buried in his side.

“... hi,” she said, glancing behind herself at the Scarecrow goon she had been about to lead out the door. “I can get to you in a minute.”

The vigilante didn’t say ‘okay’, but he didn’t say ‘no’, either. From what she had been told, this wasn’t uncommon. Introverts, the lot of them.

She quietly closed the door and pointed the goon towards the exit, and waited a few minutes with her ear against the door to make sure he hadn’t gotten immediately jumped by a second, secret vigilante. Once she was reasonably sure that the henchman had gotten away to safety, she went back to the vigilante who was, apparently, in her care.

He was… still in that chair. Stab wounds will do that to you, she supposed.

She hesitated as she eyed him up and down.

This was Red Robin, she was pretty sure, though he could have been Robin or Red Hood or really just any other male vigilante in Gotham… they all looked the same. She wasn’t going to say it aloud, though, she didn’t want to risk being wrong. Embarrassing.

Also, she was pretty sure she was on thin ice right now. Getting his name wrong might just screw her over.

Thankfully, he was aware of her presence immediately, and she didn’t have to call his name to get his attention.

She sent him a slightly nervous smile. “You do know this is pediatric care, don’t you? I was trained to treat children.”

“The guy before me wasn’t a child.”

“He has a kid,” she said. Technically, this was true.

“Was the kid here?”

“I plead the fifth. And the fourth. And any other applicable laws that might help me right now.”

He snorted. “I’m not a cop.”

“You still get people arrested, I’m not going to risk it.”

He lifted his hands in a kind of ‘I surrender’ gesture, only to wince. He quickly went back to applying pressure to his wound, which was probably for the best.

Marinette shook her head to herself, sighing. “I’ll bring my equipment over here. I’d rather not have to carry you.”

“I can still walk,” he said.

He moved as if to stand. She grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him back down, giving him a cold look.

“Don’t do that. Christ.”

He groaned and slumped back in his chair, pouting like the child that she was supposed to actually be getting. How had her life come to this?

You say ‘ohmygod why are you bleeding on my doorstep oh my FUCKING GET INSIDE’ to a henchman one time and suddenly it just becomes your thing.

She sighed internally as she went about collecting her things and then sighed externally when her eyes flicked to the security footage. She had put a camera next to the door a while back, when she had first started taking henchmen. She didn’t use it often, she really just had it to make people at least hesitate before trying to steal things.

Anyways, the point is, Red Robin was not in the chair she had left him in.

She made sure her next footstep was audible, before feigning a pause to make sure she had everything she needed.

By the time she stepped out, he was back in his chair, looking for all the world as if he had never left.

Marinette hated life.

She was quick in stitching him up. Perhaps quicker than was strictly medically advisable, but whatever. This wasn’t meant to be permanent or anything, this was just to last him until Batman could, like, magically fix it. Or whatever that cryptid of a man did. Marinette, frankly, preferred not knowing.

She pulled back, wiping bloody hands on the towel around her neck.

“Normally, I’d say to take things easy for the next few weeks, minimum, but considering…” she shrugged. “I dunno. Just try not to pop those.”

He tilted his head to the side consideringly for just a moment.

And then he laughed. “No promises.”

“It was worth a shot.”

He jumped to his feet, and she cringed just slightly. But it wasn’t like she could stop him if that was what he wanted to do. She could only mumble a few curses under her breath and move to leave so she could close up shop.

Red Robin lingered for just a few seconds longer than she expected him to.

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him briefly. She figured it was probably best to just ask him outright whether or not he needed to go through some files. He was going to do it regardless of her wishes, and she liked pretending to have free will.

“So, is my clinic up to par with your standards?”

Red Robin didn’t bother denying that he had had ulterior motives for visiting.

Instead, he held up a candy he had grabbed from the jar on her desk.

“For sure. You guys have lollipops.”

[setokaibapetty]

5 + 1 Fic Friday Roundup: On Campus

One of the things that April is an awareness month for is community college. So, have some fanfic with student//teacher characters or a school setting.

Mahogany (AO3) - "Shepard and squaddies are students at the elite Galactic Training Academy. (Think Starfleet meets Hogwarts. In space.) Reapers have been dead for hundreds of years, but there are still plenty of baddies out in the galaxy. Shepard-in-training rises to the occasion, with the aid of her squad and a certain snarky flight student. Currently Rated M for language and mature situations."

The Night Will Come but Not to Stay (AO3) - "Jazz is excited about going to Gotham University for college. It's halfway across the country from Amity Park and anyone who knows about her weird family or ghost nonsense. Finally, she can pretend to be a normal woman who just wants to go into psychiatry. She meets a cute guy named Jason, and they seem to be getting along great."

Form 23-C: Application for a New Roommate (AO3) - "After battling ninjas, aliens, madmen, mafiosos, other heroes and death itself, Jason was about to face his most unknown foe yet: a normal life. It's fine. He'd always dreamed of going to college and for once reality sort of lived up to expectations. He loves the classes, he can handle the workload and his cases too. His roommate is a total douche, but whatever. Jason's fine, he's got this. Then he meets his roommate's brother. Jason totally doesn't have this."

Holy Romantic Overtures, Batman! (AO3) - "After the heist of a lifetime, henchman!Jason decides to go legit and enrolls in college. The last person he expected to see there was Robin, and he certainly didn’t expect to fall for him either. But somehow it all works out. Maybe it’s all the labels?"

campus cryptid vs. future valedictorian (AO3) - "Mara Glass did not care about "weird hot guy," the supposed "campus cryptid." She had heard of him her first couple years and had him pointed out to her by a classmate once, but what was there to notice? Okay, he was probably thirty, a nontraditional student, so what? There were a number of those around. Apparently he was hot--well congrats to people who were into people, they could keep him. And if you asked Mara, from her extremely objective perspective, those Disney-green eyes were doing a lot of heavy lifting. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about a thirty-something guy who didn't talk about himself to twenty-year-old classmates. He probably had, like, a real life. There were rumors he was married, although Brittany noted that the only reason people thought that was because one time someone heard him finish a phone call with, "You light the candles, I'll bring dinner. I love you." None of that was remotely interesting to Mara. He sounded like a normal person, and she wished people would shut up about him. Then in third year, she had a history class with weird hot guy."

Bonus: Scholastic Nightmare (AO3) - "Nara Sayuri, a religious studies major from a traditional household, would be hard pressed to come up with a worse nightmare. It was her first time presenting a paper at a conference and apparently her paper was so wrong that one of her ancestors - a deified ancestor, the Shikabane-hime herself - came down from the heavens specifically to point out how off base Sayuri was."

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

Hi! Is it okay to request different Penguins (or only Arkham, if you don't write for all!) with a female reader who dresses in classic Lolita fashion? If you aren't familiar with the style, it refers to people who wear doll-like dresses, accessories and cutesy makeup! She also behaves in a very "dainty" way and is kind of shy, so I guess you could say she has soft mannerisms/personality! Thank you! <3

"Soft Fashion" Penguin Party x Reader

eyyyyy I don't get to write a ton of Penguin parties! Always exciting. Believe me, I'm rather familiar with the lolita style. It's not something I could wear or pull off, but I love looking at the different dresses and styles. I tend to like gothic styles or dresses with richer tones like you see in classic.

TW: some unhealthy/villanous relationship dynamics, doll play if you squint at 2022

Gotham

At first, he confuses the soft personality for someone to be manipulated and controlled. Another pawn to be used in his grandiose plans for King of Gotham. Then he fell for you. It should have been so easy not to but... What originally started as plots for how to use you swiftly became annoyance at the idea of other people trying to use you. It's so annoying! He supposes he'll have to look after you forever now.

Honestly? The fashion itself makes him feel masculine in a positive, non-toxic way. He's rather used to people looking at him or thinking of him as effeminate because of his smaller stature and method of dress- Not that effeminate is bad, not at all. Yet, it's frustrating when your gender identity is distinctly male.

So dating a woman who dresses in a highly feminine style gives him a reason to flash his peacock feathers, so to speak. In some ways, it encourages him to get flashier with his outfits. Why not? The two of you together, a complimentary pair...

And you two will have matching elements when you go out. Whether it's small color coordination, or the same fabric was used for your dress and his handkerchief- It's a subtle way of telling others to back off.

Would be willing to try the Ouji fashion for you. A prince to your princess. He'd look fucking good in it, too.

BTAS

Obviously, you are a woman of status. This put him on guard at first, given his past run-ins with women like that using him for gag amongst her peers. He thought of how he should dupe you first before you could dupe him! Then he saw some cad harassing you for your purse and your genuine gentle nature- Bother.

His assumption was that you must be a lady of some kind to be dressing up like that. Perhaps the last of your true kind here in Gotham. You were everything a Lady should be- impeccably dressed, polite and well-mannered. Of course, some of that could be his own bias painting a perfect portrait of you. He wasn't wrong, in a way. Money and familial status does not necessarily a Lady make.

He has opinions about his favorite style of dresses and he has 0 shame sharing them. Mind you, he won't stop you from wearing things he "disapproves" of, he's not some moronic numbskull who feels entitled to your body and the clothes on it. Yet you might notice he tends to like fancier dresses with longer skirts, to the knee and below. Oh! and the ones with matching gloves, oh, those are lovely. He can't wear gloves himself due to his... condition. He loves seeing them on your delicate fingers.

There are moments you might need to pep him up as he stands next to you. He's aware that no matter how well he dresses there are still "flaws" in his appearance. Then he'll tell you what a lovely creature you are, inside and out!

Burton

Oh boy. Look. You need to know it now, but this man is not soft, nor is he anything related or parallel to dainty. He's crass, he's short and he's rather grungy. But holy fuck all, he likes looking at you.

The big problem is the pawing. He already has a handsy problem when being with anybody because the man craves social and physical intimacy after being denied it for so, so terribly long... Seeing you all dressed up is kind of like finally getting your mitts on the porcelain plate that was in the cabinet for all those years. The ones you got punished if you ever touched them. So now you kind of want to just smash it against a wall and-

No, wait. That metaphor went a little too far. What he means to say is, he wants to see the dress come off. With his teeth, but you seem like you wouldn't like that. Yeah, he figured you wouldn't like that.

It takes so much self control for him not to be a little freak around you but the fact that he does says so much. He'll crack an awful, nasty little joke, expecting to see color rise to your cheeks. Dancing along that line of too much and just enough. Anybody else fucks with you in that way, though, and he'll break their hands.

The two of you are an odd pair. Yet there's no doubt there's plenty of love to go around.

Arkham games

He's so about showing off his partner in nice things as a status symbol and lolita dresses cost a fuck-ton so he's already into it. He actually doesn't need an explanation because unlike some others on this list, he's been to Japan and the harajuku shopping district in his prime crime days. Y'know. Before his wings got clipped (banned entry into the country).

It's about the image. The status. When you're decked out in warm winter lolita fashion to accompany him to his Iceberg Lounge, it just says something to other people. You're his most special companion who gets everything you desire. And you earn it by just being you!

And... you know. Following his rules. Shy, dainty, and soft. You're like the prim and proper ladies at the boarding school he was shipped off to as a lad. To be treasured by some. In his line of work- to be fleeced.

Oh, not to worry, lamb. You do everything he says, and no one will be able to touch you. You keep to his hours, to his place- He's been a bit of a collector for a long time, love. Think of it like an elegant birdcage to keep you away from the filthy vermin that want to sully your wings.

That and don't comment about his eating habits. Follow all that and he'll get you whatever you want. You can be the adorable puffin to his penguin!

Batman 2022

He does not get it at first. Ain't lolita that book about the creepy guy who adopted the teenager he wanted to sleep with? oh. They made a fashion out of it? Why? That seems like a whole mess of implications, ya know? Sure, people dress up in Gotham in all kinds of weird shit these days, he just wants to know why this one.

Once you get into it, that it's only tangentially related, it's fashion, most importantly you like it- He'll tell you you're a cute little doll. His cute little doll.

It is funny given the kind of club he runs. Scantily clad men and women for entertainment about and yet you're... Very fully dressed, for the most part. If you ever wanted to get a little more risque, he wouldn't mind. A shorter gown, a peek at those thighs above the stocking... He could get into that.

Speaking of dolls, he wouldn't mind dressing you up. Or at least picking out those outfits. He's got a good sense for a suit, he'd figure out what dresses and accessories look best on you for an occasion. Gives him a fun sense of control and power play he enjoys. Rolling your stockings onto you, rolling them back down. Kissing your knees and calf. You got him kneelin' for you, sweetheart. Ain't you just a pretty picture looking at him like that?

He's going to teach you how to use a gun. Something tiny you can fit in your bag. He plans on being there if anything should happen, but pretending you're completely safe in his hands given everything is uh. Foolish, in his opinion. At minimum, you're getting a fancy taser. You can make it cute if you want. You're much too nice to not know how to defend yourself if you got in a bad situation!

[megamind2010]

Ladybug dies how

peacefully in her sleep at the ripe old age of 94 NAYYYYY IM SORRY

Assuming youre here cuz koby told you to come and yell at me for doing this and id like to say first of all im very sorry i just love tragedy soooo much. koby got really mad at me when i first brought up the idea and it also tortures me horribly too And we also talk a lot about the alternate universe where she doesnt die and instead she and casey just move to new york and hang out and get married and Chill Out

but in the "canon" ending im sorry yes nell dies (ducking rocks and bricks) IMMM SORRY! She's subject to the hereditary blue beetle curse of dying in a fight tragically young (she jumped in front of the metaphorical bullet for jaime on account of he's exempt because he has a much healthier support system than other beetles)

i'm a hack so i haven't really drawn or written anything concrete about it but how it goes down in my mind is your classic event/crisis where all the heroes are mobilised to fight off the annual universe destroying threat. this time it's aliens of some kind and while the league and the rest of the important guys are up there fighting or negotiating or punching the universe or however this particular one gets solved, ladybug is down on the ground in gotham helping to evacuate people and deal with some alien scouts/robots/etc that are menacing civilians. (casey has already been evacuated and is safely sheltering underground with a bunch of other civilians, being checked in on every now and then by some flash or another, & her general attitude is UGH Can you idiots get this sorted out so we can order chinese and watch real housewives...)

it happens while ladybug is getting a family to safety and an alien scout lands on the roof of their apartment. he ushers them downstairs and to his credit does a good job of holding off the attacker while the civilians get out of there - nell has no powers but is a very competent fighter and also is decked out with plenty of kordtech gadgets to help even the playing field :] but it's been a long day and she's so exhausted and there's only so much you can do when an alien shoots you in the chest with a laser and flies away and leaves you to bleed out

so there's nell with her communications down & unable to move & lying there staring at the sky full of invading spaceships and flying superheroes... if she could get someone's attention she might be okay but everyone is busy. it's a crisis! and nell knows that, she knows what this whole business is like, and she's been ready for something like this to happen for a while. nell is a very confident person but she isn't deluded about her own mortality... it's part of her personal philosophy that it's cruel to have too many attachments if you're likely to die horribly young (a mentality learned from the death of her mother and refined by the death of ted kord) so isnt it great that she doesnt have many friends? and that she's on okay terms but not super close with her family? and that casey doesnt actually care about her at all and wont be affected by her untimely death past the inconvenience of finding a new place to live?

lol

at the end of it all nell isn't really that upset about dying... they went out doing something worthwhile, they saved lives, they did the best they could with what they had, and they made a positive impact on the world while they were here. and that's about what he's always wanted to achieve so hey a+ work ladybug! obviously its not like he WANTS to die, theres always more to do, things he's going to miss... he'll miss talking to ted, working on gadgets and sorting through problems and making him laugh... he'll miss his family obviously but they'll be fine without him... michelle is someone she hadn't expected to get so close to, but she and ted both have booster to keep them on track

really annoyingly as she's closing her eyes the person who keeps coming into her mind though is casey. At this point nell is pretty aware that she cares about casey more than she ever planned or wanted to and has done a lot of mental gymnastics to convince herself that it's fine that nothing ever came of it (and now nothing ever will) and in her last moments she reassures herself that it's onesided and casey doesn't love her and he'll be fine without nell and You did a great job at not forming attachments ladybug that's why you're the best! but she can't help the surge of intense regret and fuuuuuck what if it was different and what if what if.........

here's my primo ladybug dying on a roof song

Nell's fatal flaw will always be her self-reliance and conviction that she's doing things the right way despite it all. if she bothered to communicate with the people in her life then she might be swayed on her views on love, or if she was less stupidly independent then maybe she would have been working with another hero and wouldn't have been in this situation. but that's tragedy i suppose, knowing how a character could have escaped their fate and yet having to accept that in this scenario with this set of rules there was no other way for this to happen

anyway if you'd prefer to think about nell alive and happy living in new york with casey then please do that. It's easy and free and it makes me smile

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Oddduck request - as a neurodivergent person who relates way too much to her,could I request her shutting down or trying to mask being “normal” on a bad day. Like I got told “no one likes loud hands” while stimming recently and now I’m constantly aware of it and it sucks. Just- oddduck losing her “sparkle” and Bruce immediately noticing and trying to reassure and help her

You could hear the fizz in the glass on the table but fuck if you could hear what anyone was saying. It was an indefinable mash of voices. Like trying to pick out ONE specific voice in a stadium of screaming fans.

Still. Some of your tricks still worked. No one tended to notice if you hung to the back, smiled, nodded, and generally didn't draw attention to yourself. 50 more minutes. That was 10 minutes five times. 25 minutes twice. Five minutes 10 times... You could do that right?

Maybe. But it was so loud, even your beloved rabbits had run for cover in the brush and there wasn't a single fluffy tail to chase. A thread to follow to lessen the load.

You glanced up at the clock and took a deep breath, feeling like your lungs were scraping the insides of your ribs and trying not to wince. Parties were hell today apparently. Even a nice polite reception for a symposium where people talked in nice tones and there wasn't so much bass in the air it felt like your bones were going to dissolve.

50 minutes. 50 more minutes and you could hail a cab. Escape into the crisp air and crunch your way through the fresh powder snow to somewhere less ungodly fucking bright-

____________

Bruce watched you hang near the edges. There was a muscle ticking in your neck from the pressure you were putting on your jaw and he wasn't entirely sure if you were angry or about to be sick.

And it made his own jaw ache in sympathy.

From the minute you had walked into the room, you'd been- not yourself. Or at least, not the you he'd come to love so much. The font of weird little facts. The patroness of forgotten historical figures. The sole teller of tales half-remembered. You were the reclusive author of books people claimed to have read. The public face of the aloof, eccentric author. And it hurt in a way he didn't know how to describe.

Worse. He didn't know what to do. HIS public face meant media attention. It meant throngs of people who wanted to speak to him- and if he just walked over and plucked you out of your corner, people were going to want to talk to you. And that, he didn't think, was anything you wanted.

A shy little boy at a coffee shop asking you to sign his book was one thing. Throngs of frothing elites wanting you to be clever on demand were another.

Still. He had concerns that you might actually crack a tooth grinding your jaw if he didn't do something. And he'd only just gotten Clark to stop glaring at him any time you were mentioned- if he didn't return you home in MINT condition, even if he'd just shown up where you happened to be, he didn't doubt he'd be in for it. And sure. He had the jewelry to handle it but- he'd rather that stay locked up.

He waited a moment until the couple he was talking to found someone less distracted and mae his escape, weaving easily through the crowd and picking up another drink on the way, taking a sip.

Sure. He wasn't drunk but- if he staggered enough. Looked like he was making a fool of himself hopefully, people would be too busy watching the show to get closer. Wanting to see how the Ice Princess in the corner would handle Gotham's favorite son at his least polished.

He situated himself in front of you and leaned on the wall, making sure to keep his hands to himself as he draped himself on a column and looked down at you, "Doing okay?"

"Fine," you answer, giving him a wan imitation of the smile he loved so much.

"You're grinding your teeth."

You quirk an eyebrow at him and he smiled a little, "There's a muscle twitching in your neck," he explained. "So you're either about to have a stroke or you're grinding your teeth. And your color is too good for it to be a stroke."

The confused blinking makes him stop. He'd heard Clark once say you were "buffering" making that face. Struggling to process a piece of information and he held out a hand. "C'mon," he said, "Tell me about a rabbit hole?"

"But-"

"I'm bored," he said simply, winking at you. "If anyone asks you can just tell them I asked about Jepp. Or that you thought I was gonna pass out or-"

When your hand slides into his he stops and squeezes gently. "Just get me out of here. Please?"

"Where do you want to-"

"Just not here."

And Bruce doesn't need telling twice. He just leads you out the nearest exit and wraps his jacket around you. Anything to make your voice stop sounding like that. So small and frail. "I think I know just the place, Doctor," he said, squeezing you against his side like he'd seen Clark do before. Hoping that the pressure would help instead of make it worse. He didn't really know what to do, but at least the muscle in your neck stopped ticking.

[gilbirda]

Another Harley Quinn

Sequel to "The After"

Go to the first fic: "Deal"

A few weeks after the news of Joker's death spread around Gotham, a bonfire was lit on the roof of Joker's abandoned Funhouse. It wasn't rocket science to know who had done it or what she wanted. Maybe it was time for Jazz to have a talk with Harley Quinn.

[Read on AO3][Read on FF]

---

There was only one person crazy enough to go back to Joker's Funhouse and start a bonfire on the roof.

It wasn’t a question of who could be waiting there, or what she wanted to talk about, but a matter of who was going to go there and talk to Harley Quinn, who had been in hiding for a while.

“It’s okay, I can take this one.”

There was silence on the other side of the comms - not that Jazz found it unusual. She knew that Bruce and the others thought of her, she knew they didn’t exactly accept her or liked her, in the case of Timothy and Bruce at least.

She tried to not let it get to her, but Jason was extra sweet anytime they went there for a visit, so he knew she didn’t have a good time on these visits.

“Are you sure?” Batman’s voice betrayed nothing of his actual thoughts. “Harley can be-”

“Positive,” she didn’t let him undermine her authority again. “I’ll deal with her. Will update later.”

Jazz turned off the comms with a sigh, conflicted. She had been taking turns with Jason on who patrols every night, and when it was her, coordination was impossible with the bats - and it didn’t have to do with the tentative truce they had going on.

She was as capable as her partner but every damn time she tried to take initiative and deal with things on her own she was second guessed and subtly questioned.

It was tiring.

Jason knew, of course, and he said he would talk to Bruce about it, but she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it so she asked him to give Bruce a chance to come around on his own.

She really wanted to stay positive, to focus on what was important and what they wanted to achieve in Gotham - family or no family, she followed Jason to the city and no matter how much it hurt to be painfully aware of not being wanted, she would still be at his side as long as he wanted her.

(And he did want her. He wasn’t good with his words, but always tried to let her know he wanted her there.)

It was easier playing the anti-hero of Gotham with him, but sadly tonight Jason was busy and he wouldn’t be able to give her warmth to fight the ghosts of her past.

But for the moment, she could deal with Harley on her own.

She was just a human woman, no matter what others said. No matter what Bruce said. Misguided, yes. Violent, yes. Erratic, also yes.

But evil?

Harley wasn’t like Joker - she cared about things, about Gotham, about people.

Jazz landed on the rooftop of the abandoned building without making a sound, but still made her steps noticeable for the woman looking up at the stars.

“You cannot see stars in Gotham,” Harley commented, munching on some food. “It’s a shame. Smores?”

The Ghost removed her mouth cover and sat down next to the woman, accepting the freshly made smore.

It was delicious.

(Danny would have liked it.)

“That you cannot see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Even in the darkest night with thickest clouds there is that invisible light.”

Harley pondered her words for a second, humming. Her expression betrayed nothing of her thoughts.

“Is that what you are? An invisible light?”

Jazz hadn’t said that with that meaning, but didn’t want to elaborate. She shrugged.

Harley’s eyes zeroed on the gesture. She hummed again, tilting her head, observing her as much as Jazz was observing the rogue.

“Is he really dead?”

“Yes.” After a moment of hesitation, she added: “I killed him myself.”

It would be too much information to share that the Spirit of Gotham possessed her body and used her as an instrument, a conscious puppet consenting to be a medium for revenge. Gotham wanted the clown dead, and Jazz was more than happy to help.

Harley narrowed her eyes. “He has been back before.”

“Not this time. He is not coming back, I swear.” Jazz shoved the rest of the cooling smore in her mouth, her mind going back to the feeling of Joker’s warm blood on her hands, on her face. It was everywhere, her vision completely red. “Slit his throat so he wouldn’t have the last laugh either.”

That had been all hers, though. She found his voice annoying as hell.

The other woman threw her head back and hollered at the night sky, unbothered by the noise. She had a nice voice, a nice laugh. More authentic than the other clown. Whoever considered her to be a mere sidekick, a bland copy of Joker, never heard her laugh.

“Good riddance.”

Jazz nodded, sharing the sentiment.

“Did it hurt?”

“When I fell from heaven?”

Harley laughed again. “I like you, girlie.” She shook her head, as if trying to also shake away the heavy air that had been covering her like a shroud. “Did you make it hurt?”

Jazz watched as Harley made another s’more at the bonfire, vaguely registering the kindle was all rubble from the Funhouse. Her eyes stayed on the burning smiling face of the Joker, maybe a poster or something, remembering his face as he realized he wasn’t going to bounce back from her attack.

“I think it hurt more to know he wouldn’t make a spectacle out of it. We kidnapped him directly in front of Black Mask’s face and then killed him in an abandoned building no one cared about.”

Jazz accepted the new s’more, blowing on it to cool the melted sugar down.

Joker had pleaded, he had begged, he had offered cash. He had offered her a 50% cut of his operations. He had asked if Red Hood paid her enough for this. If he was worth it.

If he had anything else to say about her partner, she didn’t know, since that’s when she decided to cut his vocal chords.

“And if someone saw, they only saw Hood’s baiting Batman into direct confrontation. He is the flashy one for a reason. I take care of the covert stuff.”

Harley hummed, finishing making her own s’more.

“Does he- I mean, not that I’m trying to meddle or anything - For reals! I just… you know, I just-”

“Just ask it, I’m not going to get mad.”

The woman didn’t look convinced but nodded anyway.

“Does he treat you right?”

Honestly? She should have expected the question, given current company.

Jazz knew what people whispered behind her back, and it wasn’t just the “Ghost” identity they had given her already.

Hades and Persephone, Bonnie and Clyde… Joker and Harley. As they settled into the roles of Heads of the Crime Underworld of Gotham, it was inevitable that their story got romanticized to hell and back. It didn’t help that they weren’t hiding their relationship - many times they had held hands and leaned on each other in places they could be seen, and people talked in the Underworld. Damn gossips.

They didn’t mind whatever people said about them, but comparisons were inevitable, and it didn’t surprise them when rumors of a new Prince of Crime and his own Harley arrived to their ears.

Soon it was obvious that the Ghost was no Harley, that she had an equal role in the new organization, that she was as deadly and in charge as her partner; but the damage was already done. People were a bit rougher with her, expecting her to fold, expecting her to crumble and call for “her boo”.

Expecting her to go insane.

“I mean, not that I could actually give any legal advice,” Harley continued talking when Jazz didn’t say anything, “my license was revoked. I’m just- Well, I don’t know what I wanted to do, actually.”

“He treats me well.”

Harley abandoned all pretense and turned to fully look at her in the eyes.

“Are you sure, honey? I’ve heard-”

Jazz hummed, lifting one hand to stop the other woman. “Whatever you heard is not true. Him and I… we understand each other. And our relationship is based on trust.” At Harley’s raised eyebrow, she added: “Is not easy, it is not without its problems, but distrust almost cost us everything once already.”

Silence fell on them as they looked at each other, analyzing each other.

“You love him.” A nod. “And he loves you.”

“Without doubt.”

“He told you? With actual words?”

“Yes.” She looked away. “Many times.”

Since that day where they worded their actual feelings, it came easier and easier to say it. She said “I love you” when he made her favorite tea, he said “I love you” when she cuddled to his side to read on a quiet afternoon. He said I love you without words more often than not, with kisses and touches and soft gestures - but he noticed she enjoyed it more when he said the words.

Jazz felt her cheeks burn thinking about it. It was still quite new, but not unwelcome; she really enjoyed his smooth voice dipping lower when he said those words in the dark of the night, when they were in bed.

“So it’s real.”

“Huh?”

Harley laughed again, giggling into her hand. “You really love him.”

Jazz didn’t know what to respond so she didn’t say anything.

“Good.” She nodded a few times, decided. “You guys can stay, then.”

Both chuckled at the idea. If it seriously came to it, Jazz was confident she could overpower Quinn, even more with Jason at her side, but the sentiment was nice. It was good to know that there were people in Gotham ready to fight if another Joker rose to power.

Jazz felt the presence before Ivy made her appearance, but she didn’t act on it. Better to not act wary or antagonistic, first impressions and all of that.

“Darling,” Pamela’s voice was smooth like honey, but hid as many thorns as her vines. “What are you doing talking to The Ghost?”

The exasperation as she said it made it sound like this was a common argument.

“Red!” Harley launched herself to the woman’s arms, hugging her as hard she could. “I just wanted to have a chat.”

Ivy hugged her girlfriend back, but her eyes stayed on Jazz’s, distrust evident in her expression.

“We are cool, we are cool!” Harley insisted. “Just needed to check a few things but we are besties now, right, Ghost?”

Jazz stood up in one movement, smiling at the pair. It was no secret that these two were together, and the amount of mischief they got up to was astronomical - but neither actually had stepped on their Crime Empire’s toes, so they never had to interact before.

“The bestest of friends.”

“See? I told you there was nothing to fear-”

Jazz ignored them when her phone pinged, taking it out to see who was writing to her. Jason, checking in that Harley hadn’t tried anything suspicious and if she was okay. She texted back that everything was fine and that Harley was actually very fun to talk to.

>Good

>There’s pizza for dinner btw, and I made extra dough

Was he implying…?

>> Are you sure?

> I think it’s time we introduce ourselves to the Sirens

They had discussed revealing themselves to other rogues, the ones they could make some kind of functional network with. They didn’t have to be friends, but a certain amount of trust so they stayed put and didn’t try anything funny like undermine their authority or try to overthrow them.

The Sirens were a good first option. Never after making a power play but always ready to make deals with the big fish in case it came in handy later on.

“I said, he’s cool!” Jazz looked up to find Harley pouting and stomping her foot a bit. “Hood is not like him.”

“Because she said so?” Pamela pointed at Jazz. “No offense.”

“None taken. Actually, you guys can meet him in person if you want? He is making pizza and said there’s enough for everyone.”

Ivy narrowed her eyes.

“There’s stuff for a vegetarian one, if you wish.”

“I want mine with extra pepperoni!” Harley lifted her hand, all smiles and excitement, nothing like the worried abuse survivor Jazz found making s’mores in the cold night. “And olives. Do you guys have olives?”

“I can ask.”

Both turned to check on Pamela, Harley’s puppy eyes doing wonders to make the woman cave in.

“Just one pizza and we are gone.”

Jazz smiled as Harley cheered. It was nice seeing Harley so happy, so alive. She never met her back when she was still with Joker, but she had seen enough footage to see the difference now.

It made sense that she was worried that another Harley Quinn situation could happen to her. It felt nice, having someone care for her like that.

Like an older sister.

(Was this how Danny felt?)

Jazz shook her head. Being stuck in the past was no good, is not what Danny would have wanted of her. She was sure of it - he would have laughed at her being all fuzzy thinking about her boyfriend, smiled at her trying to be a serious crimelord, and enjoyed flying around Gotham’s skyscrapers with her.

Some days, it was difficult to keep that in mind.

Today it was easy, though, thinking about the warm kitchen waiting for her, thinking of Jason humming to a song on the radio as he prepared the pizzas, a safe haven from all the noise and the fights for power, and Batman’s distrust and Tim’s subtle poking for details about her brother’s death.

“Pizza!” Harley screeched, jumping into Ivy’s arms so she could carry her towards their destination.

Jazz smiled, stomped on the bonfire to kill it off, and jumped from the roof without checking if they followed.

Jason was safe. Was quiet. He provided a comfortable silence where she could cry and laugh and mourn and experience joy without the pressure of honoring Danny’s memory or not. Jason never expected her to. He never expected her to be anything. Sweet, sweet nothing.

There was no one else she would build a Crime Empire with.

---

Back to Main Archive

Back to Danny Phantom Archive

Do you like my stuff? Buy me a Ko-fi!

[riddle-me-ri]

With various riddlers, what kind of dere do you think each one is? (Ex:kuudere, yandere,etc.) Arkhamverse Eddie is a definitely a tsundere.

A/N: okay okay so I had to go out and do some research for this one. Cause for the little bit of a year that I spent dabbling into some anime and manga, I thought there was only like four or five dere personalities, only to realize…there’s like over a dozen. So after some research, I feel like I can now appropriately respond rip. Also, some of these personality types depend on a romantic relationship while others don’t…I’m gonna try my best rip. These are my opinions based on my perspectives of both the personality types and the different Riddlers, feel free to agree to disagree but like I don’t wanna cause any crippling discourse adffghh please don’t come at me I’m just a wee anxious socially awkward nerd.

The Riddler’s Dere Personality Types (based on someone who knows the bare minimum):

Arkhamverse Riddler: 

So, I do full heartedly agree Arkhamverse Eddie has strong tsundere tendencies. We’re all painfully aware of his loud bravado and egomaniac antics in order to actually protect himself from getting hurt because he’s actually incredibly insecure. He’ll scream, rave, rant, insult, and treat anyone and everyone poorly in order to lift himself up. However, I do believe that if someone can see through his illusions of grandeur but still recognize the inherent brilliance of Ed and recognizes that for him (so he doesn’t have to constantly build himself up) he could be more open, just I wouldn’t expect it to happen over night.

Reevesverse/Dano Riddler: 

Dano Riddler was sorta hard to find a good match, I could’ve easily gone with fandom and been like yeah, he’s a yandere (which I can see where y’all get that from, and like if we’re following the storyline that he does/did love Batman). But again, I did my research lol. And from what I’ve seen in the film and the first book of Year One. I’m leaning more towards Dandere (aww dano riddler is a dandere sorry moving on…) Dandere’s are the quiet asocial types that avoid conversation when applicable cause they’re worried about causing conflict or make trouble. In Year One, obviously, we see him struggle interacting with people face to face, and every time he even attempts it, it seems to backfire. UNTIL he dons the Riddler persona and uses that as a cover to express his true emotions and motivations. 

Gotham Riddler: 

This will be mostly referring to Season 1 Ed, I have seen the show up until the start of Season 3, you girl got super annoyed at the Lee/Ed bullshit and it was hard to stomach. Petty I know, but for all the love and adoration of this Eddie…I sorta can’t stand this Riddler (I know blasphemy to love one but not the other, but it’s my honest opinion…stop lowering your voice you damn dunce) ANYWAY, like…at the start I think he’s more of a deredere (someone whose overall kind, sweet, especially to someone they have a crush on or love and sometimes overly energetic) but obviously as the show progresses it’s clear to see he also has yandere tendencies (murder solves everything *finger guns*)

BTAS Riddler:

While Gotham somewhat starts out this way, my husband is a deredere through and through and I’m not saying that purely from a favoritism standpoint. Judging more so by his demeanor in Riddler’s Reform, we actually got to see how Edward interacts with a somewhat general populous. He was seen to be extremely charismatic and eccentric, albeit also shy (when flirted with) and endearing. I believe this Ed would be overall courteous of others as long as they show the same courtesy, obviously that’s not always the case and therefore he goes to the extremes. He would be kind to a fault, he won’t let someone walk over him however (lookin’ at you Mockridge). 

P.S. if I was really playing into my favoritism, I would’ve given him a kekkondere (someone who full heartedly believes in love at first sight and wants to be betrothed asap to me BUT I didn’t I showed some restraint asdffg)

Zero Year/Capullo Riddler & Twojar Riddler:

So I’m gonna cheat and combine these two, TECHNICALLY speaking they are one in the same, storyline wise, so I figured it’d be safe to give them the same personality type even if there’s like a year or two distance between them and their motivations are…odd af sometimes.

For these shitheads I’m going with Kuudere but they also have Hiyakasudere traits. 

A kuudere from my understanding is your cool, calm, and collected personality. Which these two shitheads have shown, I mean you’ve gotta be somewhat confident to just waltz around with your shirt open. That and just about every panel of Zero Year Riddler is him with a shit eating grin, even as Batman got closer and closer. They’re also extremely analytical to a fault, twojar being the extra prick he is literally crafted a whole war just get Joker to laugh and Zero Year boasted to Batman all the different variations of plans he conceived before choosing the one that ultimately lead to Zero Year. Not to mention, this Riddler’s start has him as a tactician and consultant of sorts for various corporations. 

Where the hiyakasudere traits come in is if there’s someone that’s an object of their affections. Both of them would be chronic teasers and there’s no way you can convince me otherwise. Hiyakasudere, are pretty flirtatious  and tease their love interests on an almost daily basis as their way of showing affection. 

Gotham City Sirens Riddler: 

Much like Zero Year and Twojar, Sirens Riddler I also consider to be a kuudere, but for different reasons. 

This particular Riddler is an actual reformed Riddler (not just a ploy like BTAS albeit it’s sometimes debated if he’d actual go straight or not if Batman wasn’t there). He’s also probably one of the most self aware and is constantly having to combat his colleagues and the public’s preconceived notion of who he was. So he’s very cool and calm, despite being held hostage over live animals or jumping in to protect a possible victim from an oncoming bomb. He still stays rational and constantly tries to collect the pieces his fragmented mind as he questions if him changing is even really worth it. 

Young Justice Riddler: 

I feel like once I explain this personality type, i-it will just make sense to you guys…

A Hajidere is “for someone who’s really shy or nervous around their crush.” Also “they have trouble confessing to the one they love and may often blush or faint at the sight of them making the first move.” 

Do…Do I need to say more? I know this is mostly purely fanon based on what little we’ve gathered from the three episodes he was in…but c’mon…that’s on point.  

Telltale Riddler:

Now this, asshole. 

This absolute stick in the mud asdfjk

Basically, a hindere is someone that’s extremely haughty. He carries himself proudly and with no pretense. Just imagine Arkham Ed, but actually is secure. I had a tough time deciding if Telltale would be a hindere or a tsundere, but a tsundere is described as being capable of kindness and affectionate. I don’t see that with this Ed, purely because of how far he’s gone in his deranged but damaged mind. However, hindere’s aren’t totally without hope, they can have a soft spot for a particular someone, but it has to be an absolute miracle for it to work. (plus i’m just trying to break up the monotony of my answers rip, plus we only get so much out of this one cause well…iykyk)

Hush (DCAU) Riddler: 

Bare in mind for this Riddler it’s only for the Edward BEFORE the stupid twist again ifykyk. 

Based solely on the mannerisms seen during the middle of the film, I can see him also being a hajidere if there’s a love interest involved. 

I’ve always seen this Riddler as an extension of Young Justice, if he actually made it out on his own as he got older, and continued to make a name for himself (and he did although found himself somewhat of a laughing stock). Albeit was still pretty dorky, until he decided to used that assumption people have of him to his advantage later. 

He’s able to hold conversations just fine with other people like Batman, other Rogues, GCPD. Those don’t really matter too much, Batman maybe a little more than others. However, when it comes to a crush, this poor man’s dead to rights lol

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, I think that’s my final take…I don’t even wanna admit how many drafts, look backs, and edits this took. Again, totally based on my opinions and outtakes, clearly this isn’t an overly analytical or proper research paper of any kind. This is purely just based on the vibes when reading their stories or watching their performance and taking a pinch of fanon into the equation to fill in some gaps. 

Please don’t come at me. Please don’t fight me rip, I’m tired lol. 

Thank you

[zahri-melitor]

Okay so I'm now 4 volumes into Gail Simone's Batgirl, and hmmmm, I really want to talk about issues #17-26.

Now look this is still quite depressing Barbara. I'm still frustrated at some of the changes, but I think Simone finally managed to pull the strings together more coherently here?

Like, I do not care about James Gordon Jr. Wow do I not find him a compelling villain. I also, just quietly, think he loses something in the potential depths of his character by the "everyone is one biological family" Gordon retcon for New 52, because I think there's a compelling additional layer available in the baby sociopath being the biological child of Jim and Barbara Eileen, while Barbara is the adopted daughter/niece, and the levels of awareness of different family members over how James Jr reacted to Barbara's arrival and his jealousy of her, that I think actually did get teased out somewhat in The Black Mirror and are now are no longer here.

Barbara Eileen here also continues to have almost no personality or motivations, but that's par for course for Barbara Eileen. Always a cipher.

I do find the contrasts set up by this third version of Ventriloquist and her brother with Barbara and James Jnr to be interesting, with the mirroring of which sibling is jealous of the other, and in their sociopath way has turned their sibling into a puppet of their desires. I actually find it more interesting in terms of the fact Ventriloquist is used for this, because the second Ventriloquist, Peyton Riley, sort of achieves the same reflection on the surrounding narrative in Dini's 'Tec run, only in that one Peyton is reflected in Dini's exploration of the upper echelons of Gotham society and its mob connections. It's just interesting to see a character type used twice in fairly close succession simply as a mirror like this.

The story however, and particularly certain elements of it, made me smile quite a bit, as Simone was reaching back into both the classic Bat storytelling set ups and themes she's used before, so I was enjoying the narrative echoes to preboot she had sprinkled through this.

I actually ended up enjoying the Barbara/Ricky Gutierrez storyline, even if it was set up for pathos. It felt like a rerun of Helena/Josh from Birds of Prey, in that Barbara started the dates because she felt sorry for Ricky, but it was interesting in that Babs did indeed reflect on both of their disabilities through the relationship, and I thought they were cute together. Completely set Jim up for the angst moments though.

Then there's the cowl revelations. I'm still very unsure if I like Barbara just outright telling Barbara Eileen about being Batgirl, while having such a harder time telling Jim. Jim's totally repressing and lying to himself over the whole situation (which is classic Jim Gordon re costumes) but it's weird having the two of them back in 'absolutely don't know' land rather than it being an unspoken secret that Jim's fully aware of. I did like that Simone pulled the "Barbara removes her cowl as Jim turns his back" move though. Babs is the primary character after Bruce who should be allowed that motif (plus maybe Dick), because it's about the layers of trust and belief.

Bruce reaching out to Jim about losing a son was also..huuurgh. Amazingly timed as Jim was newly aware of the loss, and it was interesting to see this framed via Damian's death for once, rather than Jason's. The Requiem issue was really well tied into actual plot around James fucking Jr, and Jim calling Barbara to tell her, and the way that blurs the lines, and then Babs calling Dick and Dick not wanting to talk, followed by Dick calling Babs after James Jr falls and Babs not wanting to talk... it reminded me very much of their simultaneous "I'm sorry for the breakup" phonecalls from preboot.

Also Jim taking Babs down to the gun range at GCPD and making sure she could still shoot, and Babs' trauma around that, and the way it's couched so neither of them are quite sure what the other knows, and exactly why Jim feels he needs to know Barbara can defend herself...

Anyway. It's all still very dark and angsty, but in a chewy way, the villains were less groanworthy than Knightfall was, and I finally feel like Simone's hit her stride in this new universe, and in how to layer in storytelling that's referential back to older comics while those references not being needed to understand what's going on.

[ayamari-no-goshi]

Don’t Forget to Write (3)

AO3 -> first, previous, next

Fandoms: DC (Batman comics)

Summary: From Dick’s POV.  Damian happened to win a contest to illustrate a new book by an up and coming author. Being the good brother he is, Dick decided to check the book.He quickly realized he was reading a  very first hand account of one of Jason’s old cases, and deciding to act like a normal person would, he decided to read some of the author’s other works. What he found shook the very foundation of what he thought  was true?  

Warnings: rated T - mostly for swearing and questionable mental health. Amnesia

Parings: none

Notes: originally uploaded to AO3. Cross-posted to tumblr

They didn’t hear anything directly from Jason over the next week. It wasn’t like Dick was worried or anything. Okay, so he was worried.

Every night, at least one of them would stop by the vantage point across from Jason’s apartment, just to make sure he was okay. Unlike before, he now kept his curtains closed forcing them to turn to thermal vision just to make sure he was still there.

It bothered Dick enough that he might have looked in on his volunteer work a couple times. As Nightwing. From a safe vantage point. He was pretty sure Jason hadn’t seen him. It would be more than a little awkward to explain if he had.

While they waited for Jason to reach out, Babs continued to monitor what she could on her end. They were starting to get hints that some of Black Mask’s men were going to go after Jason all because a fictional retelling of the story of how he got his unique features scratched the man’s paranoia. They were certain he found out from Jason’s so-called liaison. As a result, they needed to alert Jason. So, they were going to do it the only logical way their family handled such a situation, by breaking into his apartment. What could go wrong?

When he and Bruce entered through the window, they didn’t find anyone. Concerned, they began searching the small apartment for any signs of what may or may not have happened. Everything seemed to be in order. Jason’s few possessions were neatly tucked away. There were no signs of scuff marks around the furniture, and there were freshly dirtied dishes in the sink. The containers Alfred lent him sat neatly cleaned on the kitchen counter. Either someone went out of their way to make sure it appeared there was nothing wrong, Jason went willingly, or he was caught outside the apartment. Or everything was just fine, and he happened to take a stroll in the middle of the night, in Crime Alley.

As he continued to check around the apartment, his eyes drifted upwards to a maintenance hatch. He’d forgotten some of the older apartments sometimes had them. It seemed a bit too small for Jay to hide himself in, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any clues inside of it. As he carefully approached it, he wasn’t expecting it to pop open. Nor did he expect someone to launch themselves out of it and attack him.

As much as he hated to admit it, it was only his training that let him catch what turned out to be a tire iron with his escrima stick. After realizing the person wielding it was Jason, he pulled back to see what he would do. His brother, now aware of who he had just attacked, backed away but remained in a defensive stance.

“How’d you even put yourself in there?” Dick honestly asked him as he signaled to Bruce it was okay. He also ignored Babs’ snickers. No doubt she was going to make sure everyone saw that footage.

“Practice.” Jason’s brusque reply caught him off guard.

“Why?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I live in Gotham where home invasions on the third floor of an apartment building aren’t as uncommon as you’d think.” Jason leaned against the nearest wall and crossed his arms. While he appeared more relaxed, he didn’t let go of his weapon. “I was wondering when you’d finally come from a visit. You haven’t exactly been subtle with your stalking, but I can’t quite figure out what I might have done to get your attention.”

Dick elected to ignore the stare from Bruce and turn his attention to the window so he could scowl at Steph, who was openly laughing at him from the fire escape.

“You’ve caught the interest of Black Mask,” Bruce told him as he tried to keep his voice neutral, but there had been a slight slip. Being forced to treat his lost son as a stranger was affecting him more than Dick originally thought it was.

“Yeah, looks like he wants to have a chat with you. I guess the way you portray him in your new book isn’t all that flattering,” Dick added on the off-chance Jason’s ability to translate Bruce speak was off-line with his other memories.

Jay moved the tire iron so it was pinned between his arm and side as he ran his hands over his face. “Don’t tell me the famed vigilantes of Gotham have started believing that nonsense too.”

Even with the cowl, Dick could tell Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Your newest draft accurately describes Black Mask’s first attempt at criminal activity, including the injury that disfigured his face.”

“Bullshit.” His brother tensed as he moved the tire iron back to his hand.

“Jay, it doesn’t really matter what we do or don’t believe,” Dick spoke quickly as he moved between him and Bruce. “The important thing here is that a crime lord, who I might add is extremely volatile and paranoid, seems to think you have information about him that you shouldn’t.”

“So, you broke into my home just to warn me?” His words were slow and deliberate as if he wasn’t sure he believed them.

Dick smiled at him. “Do we seem like the type who would knock?”

“I mean, you could, but it would ruin the image.”

“We aren’t currently sure when Black Mask will make his move,” Bruce stated. He seemed to be both amused and exasperated by their bantering. Some things never changed. “We can’t guarantee your safety if you decide to remain here.”

“If you let us, we can take you somewhere safe.” It took everything in Dick’s being to not outright beg his brother to go with them. They couldn’t risk losing him again.

Jason snorted. “Somewhere safe probably means the GCPD. Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“No, you will be under our care.”

At Bruce’s statement, Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You’ll be protecting me? How? By keeping me under house arrest and patrolling my building? It’s not like you Bats operate in the daylight. Gotham’s criminals tend to keep the same schedule you do, but they aren’t afraid of moving in the daylight if necessary. Besides, if, I don’t know, say another breakout at Arkham happens on the same night Black Mask makes his move, I won’t be your priority.” The vitriol in his last few words hit almost as hard as a physical slap.

While it was subtle, Bruce flinched at Jason’s words. It was something everyone in the man’s life had dealt with at least once, and Dick could attest to it. There had been plenty of times where he and the others had gotten hurt in the field, and Bruce’s priority was to finish the mission instead of checking on them. In Jason’s case, if Bruce had decided to focus on him on that fateful day, maybe he wouldn’t have been killed.

“You will be offered temporary protection at our base of operations,” Bruce clarified. When Jason didn’t drop his guard, the man added, “Let us… let me help you. Please.” The emotion breaking through the careful façade of Batman’s image finally made Jason hesitantly agree.

…

It took less than ten minutes to pack some clothes and Jason’s most important belongings. Since there weren’t many of them, just the laptop, two books, the drawings, and the three plush animals, they easily fit. Much to Dick’s amusement, Jason also packed Alfred’s Tupperware. When it was brought up, Jason blushed and muttered something about how it wasn’t actually his, and that he needed to give it back. It took all of Dick’s willpower not to tease his brother about it.

When he was ready, they tried to coax him to go out the fire escape with them. However, Jason refused, saying he didn’t trust his hands enough to be able to safely climb down the ladders and would meet them around the corner. The rationale made sense, but something about it felt like a lie. As they left, Bruce radioed to the others to watch the other exits knowing Jason would likely try running.

They thought Jason would end up going out the back of the building, but he surprised everyone by taking to the rooftops. While he couldn’t get far without a grapple, he knew the layout of the area so well he was easily able to use the various fire escapes to dodge in and out of the buildings of Crime Alley. That familiarity caused them to lose sight of him multiple times. If it wasn’t for the tracker Bruce slipped into his bag, Dick believed there was a good chance they may have lost him.

With that said, Bruce did have an idea of where Jason was heading. He asked the rest of them to patrol while he intercepted him. And rather unfairly, in Dick’s opinion, he asked Babs to mute his side of the comms.

The others tried to comfort him by reminding him Jason was basically a civilian at this point. Gotham residents usually liked and respected their protectors but were also wary of them. But Jason wasn’t just a civilian. He was Dick’s brother, his first brother. Was it too hard for the others to understand that he just didn’t want to risk losing Jason again? No one was there to stop him the last time he ran, and it had led to his death.

About twenty minutes later, the radio silence broke on Bruce’s end when he announced that he was taking Jason back to the Cave. Judging by Babs’ poor attempt at stifling her laughter and Jason’s cursing, it didn’t go nearly as well as it could have. As much as he wanted to go to his brother’s side, he had to wait until the patrol was finished.

Babs did promise to show him the cowl footage though. Apparently, Jason managed to hit Bruce with a tire iron for the second time in his life when he found himself cornered in the home he once made for himself when he was on the streets. After a small scuffle, the only way Bruce was able to get him into the Batmobile was to cuff him.

As a way of trying to calm him, Cass stated Jason’s movements seemed conflicted while they chased him. Dick noticed the occasional hesitations, but figured his brother was trying to figure out what his next steps would be. Yet, as he thought about it more, the more it didn’t make sense. Out of all of them who once wore the title of Robin, Jason had been the best at responding to the flow of the fight. Once he had gotten sure of himself on the field, he rarely hesitated. Perhaps he knew he should trust them but couldn’t bring himself to do so.

Maybe breaking into his apartment hadn’t been the best way to gain his trust. Well, it wasn’t like they could take it back now. Besides, Jason would be back home soon. This time, there will be time to make amends.

…

When Dick returned to the Cave with the others, he found Jason was no longer cuffed, but he wasn’t exactly free to roam. Bruce had put him in one of the holding cells.

“Last time I checked, this isn’t the way to treat family,” he hissed at Bruce.

“If he’s allowed to roam, we can’t guarantee he will stay in the Cave,” their dad replied, matter-of-factly, irritating Dick more. Dropping his voice, he added, “Jason’s codes haven’t been changed since before his death. With how much he’s subconsciously remembered, I don’t want to risk an accidental breach.”

“Then change them!” Dick pretended to ignore the flash of hurt on Bruce’s face at that statement. “You can’t keep him in there.”

“It is only until we can capture Black Mask or his memories return.”

“I am not treating my brother like a criminal because of your paranoia,” Dick pointed an accusatory finger at the man, “decided the best way to protect him was to shove him in a glass box! It would be better to bring him upstairs, but I know you won’t do that.” Glancing towards Jason, who was attempting to make it look like he wasn’t paying attention to them, he lowered his voice. “And if you don’t remove that plaque from the memorial before he sees it, Bruce, so help me…”

“Uh…”

At Tim’s voice, Dick reigned in his anger. For the sake of Tim, Cass, and Damian, he tried to keep up appearances. They didn’t need to see the vitriol he could sling at Bruce. He made that mistake with Jason. Turning to see his younger siblings and Steph, who still counted, he gave them a tired smile. “What’s up?”

“What if at least one of us is with him at all times in the Cave so he doesn’t have to stay in there the entire time?” Steph suggested as he glanced towards Jason.

“I will watch him,” Cass promised.

“What if we show him some of his old case reports?” Tim suggested. “It might help jog his memory. Or ask him to help with some of the open ones.”

Steph sniggered. “You just want to work on something with your hero. When are you going to show him the stalker pictures?”

“Don’t you dare breathe a word of that!” After glancing back towards the cell to see what Jason may or may not have heard, Tim shifted uncomfortably. “Actually… they might help his memory. I’d have to go through them to figure out which ones would be best…”

“What about you, Dami?” Dick noticed Damian had been somewhat distracted since returning to the Cave. He’d been staring at Jason. It wasn’t necessarily judgmental, but he did seem puzzled by him. That made sense. Unlike the others, he didn’t know much about Jason or how to interact with him. Dick could take part of the blame for that. It wasn’t right for them to shy away from the dead, but that’s exactly what they did. “Do you have any ideas?”

Damian didn’t respond immediately, deciding to carefully pick his words. “…Mother once said that as warriors, our battles are carved into our very souls, forcing the body to remember even if the mind failed. I had believed she referred to how movements become instinctual after enough training. Perhaps I had misunderstood what she meant.” He shifted ever so slightly. “While I doubt he would be able to handle our current level of training, joining in katas or sparring could prove beneficial.”

“Or some equipment maintenance,” he murmured as he considered Damian’s idea. It was just as viable as any of their other ideas.

A loud sigh from Babs came across the comm of the Batcomputer. “Maybe you should actually ask him what he wants before you make decisions for him. I don’t know about you, but I’d be pretty pissed if I’d just gotten captured and thrown in a cell before being told I was going to be forced to join your cult.”

“It’s not appropriate to compare us to a cult, Oracle.” Bruce sounded offended.

“I can kind of see her point though.” Dick made sure to look Bruce directly in the eye for his next line. “To the uninitiated, it could seem like a cult.” The angry stare was completely worth it.

He could feel Babs’ disappointment through the line. “Of course you had to make a joke. Why am I not surprised?”

“I’m hurt. It’s like you don’t even know me.” Glancing back toward Jason, he sighed. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Maybe me or our resident fanboy should,” Steph countered as Tim made an offended noise at the nickname. “I know this is important to you, but you and the Boss Man did just break into his house and basically kidnap him.”

Although he wanted to argue, Dick had to admit she made a point. “I’ll go get him some water. Can someone ask Agent A to get a cot set up for him?” Glancing towards Bruce, who had been even quieter than he normally was, he added, “I’m serious about that plaque. Get rid of it, or I will. And I don’t think you want me touching it.”

He stormed off towards the MedBay where they had the water. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Maybe it would have been better for Bruce to make it appear Jason was being passed off to the Waynes. That’s how it had worked the first time around with him… no, that wasn’t quite right. Wasn’t Jason temporarily in a foster home that doubled as some shady front or something first?

Why did his siblings end up involved in the weirdest things? All of them, including himself, were just magnets for trouble. Maybe that’s why they all ended up under Bruce’s care. It was something to think about another day.

Grabbing an unopened water bottle, he made his way back over to where Jason was being held. To put it mildly, his brother was pissed. With an arm above his head and pressed to the glass of the cell, he was attempting to loom over Tim and Steph. With his stormy expression and how the scarring twisted his features, he looked terrifying. Too bad for him, it was hard to threaten vigilantes.

“Oh, it’s you,” he snarled when he caught sight of Dick approaching. “If this is how you treat the people you want to protect, I think I’d rather be one of your enemies.”

“I didn’t think he put you in there,” he explained as gave his brother an apologetic smile. It just seemed to worsen Jason’s mood. “But I definitely misjudged how afraid he is. We’re trying to work on a compromise.”

Jason glanced at Tim and Steph. “They told me. But what could I have done to make the big black bat afraid of me?”

“He’s not afraid of you,” Tim quickly spoke up. “He’s afraid for you.”

That made Jason shift uncomfortably. “Why? Other people in this city have been threatened, and he hasn’t….” His eyes narrowed. “He… you know who I was… Is that it?” When they didn’t answer him fast enough, he took that as confirmation. His anger seemed to deflate as his shoulders sagged. Turning, he plopped on the seat in the cell and hung his head. “All this time, there were people who knew. The scars should have clued me in that I was involved in something criminal. Why else would I have gotten on your radar?” He glanced up and gave them a smile full of self-loathing. “So what did I do? Ran some drugs? Helped some traffickers? Got wrapped up in whatever scheme that bastard clown came up with this month?”

Dick tried to ignore how eerily accurate Jason’s last guess was. “That’s… you weren’t a criminal. You were someone’s son and brother.”

“Don’t lie. No one missed me. I woke up alone with nothing, not even a name.”

“Dammit Jay!” he snapped. before letting his temper fall into something more resigned. “If I knew, I would have come and got you. But how do you search for someone who died six years ago?”

He hadn’t meant to be so loud. Or maybe he hadn’t been, and it was just his brother’s flinch that made it seem that way. No matter which, the silence that followed was deafening. He didn’t want this conversation to go this way. It should have been soft and controlled, not raw and emotional.

“Up until your appearance on the Vicki Vale Show, no one here knew you were alive,” Tim explained as Dick struggled to get his emotions under control. “You were declared dead when you were fifteen.”

Jason’s eyes widened as he glanced down at his mangled hands. For a moment he didn’t move, giving Dick that image of someone who was more dead than alive again. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. “That explains a lot.”

Anyways,” Dick changed the subject, glad Jason hadn’t wanted more information for now. It wasn’t a conversation he was ready to have. “I brought you some water. Someone will be by in a little to get a cot set up and bring you some food.” When Jason eyed the water suspiciously, Dick made sure to open it and drink a little so his brother knew it wasn’t some sort of trick.

It had been a quirk of Jason’s when he first arrived in the Manor. He wouldn’t drink tea or water or anything in those first few weeks if he didn’t see Alfred or Bruce pour their own drink from the same source and take a sip. He had no idea how bad things had been on the streets for his brother to have developed that behavior, but it must have helped keep him alive and mostly intact.

Although Jason still didn’t relax, he mumbled something about leaving the bottle. Dick would consider that a win. “I know Red Robin and Spoiler,” he eyed the two as they slinked away, “went over some options with you. We’ll revisit them tomorrow. None of us want you in there.”

“Except him.” He jerked his head towards Bruce.

“He wants to keep you safe and has the emotional intelligence of an ant.” Dick ran his hand through his hair. “I mean, no one in this family is great at discussing our problems, but he takes it to a new level. After losing a son, his overprotectiveness got a thousand times worse.”

“Did he lose him because of your…” Jason gestured at his mask, “job?”

“Yes and no. One of our rogues killed him, but he wasn’t the main focus of the attack, just a prize. I don’t know the full story, and I don’t think anyone other than my brother did. It’s not like I could ask him.” Dick wasn’t equipped to have this conversation with Jason.

“He was the lost Robin.”

The certainty of Jason’s voice caught Dick off guard. “How did you…?”

“Crime Alley still talks about it.” His brother’s gaze grew distant. “How the boy vanished and how Batman became a monster. They whispered it was the anger of a father losing a child.”

Dick sat down in front of the cell and leaned back on his arms. “He met the second Robin in Crime Alley.” He gave a conspiratorial grin. “Believe it or not, he was stealing the tires off the Batmobile.”

The way Jason’s eyebrows shot up in surprise made him chuckle. “Kid had some balls. Must have been desperate if he even thought to approach it.”

“I miss him. Wish I hadn’t let my personal problems with B get in the way of my relationship with him.” He sighed as he glanced back towards Tim and Steph, who were talking with Cass, and then over at Damian, who was still near Bruce. “I learned my lesson and have done everything I can to be there for them. But enough about that. Let me go check on the snacks you’re supposed to get. Is there anything you need?”

“Yeah, to get out of here so I can get back home.”

Dick’s smile wavered. “We’re working on it, Jay.”

…

He wasn’t sure how much sleep he actually got. Most of his dreams were filled with explosions and disembodied screams. Assuming it was a sign that he needed to go make sure Jason was okay, Dick gave up on sleep and made his way down to the Cave. He wasn’t exactly keen on putting on his costume again so soon. Gym sweats and his mask should be good enough.

As he entered the Cave, he caught sight of Damian in his Robin costume sharing tea with Jason. The door to the cell had been opened, but their brother hadn’t exited it yet.

“I’m surprised you’re down here so early,” Dick called out as he approached them.

Damian’s expression turned sour as he appraised him. “Father won’t be pleased with what you deemed appropriate attire.”

“He’ll live. I thought you had school this morning?”

“I did, but someone called in a threat against the facility. It’s believed to be a prank, but the staff is taking the necessary precautions.”

“Good ol’ Gotham. Some things never change.” Jason gave a slight chuckle before taking another sip of tea.

That caught Dick’s attention. “Did something like that happen to you?”

His brother tilted his head. “I’m pretty sure the Riddler once tried using the gym as a death trap when I was really little. Huh? I didn’t realize I still had any of those memories.” His surprise at the recall seemed genuine, so maybe it had been recently uncovered.

If that was the case, that was a good sign. “Once we get clearance to show you more of the Cave, we should show you some of the other things we’ve swiped from the Riddler over the years. Maybe it’ll bring up some more memories.” Especially the ones from Jason’s cases, but Dick knew better than to state that outright. “I don’t think anyone in Gotham has been spared from dealing with at least one of our Rogues. Anyways, did you save any of Agent A’s tea for me?”

Jason looked him directly in the eyes as he poured himself another cup and purposely showed that was the last of the pot. “It appears we’re fresh out.”

“I guess I deserve that.” It didn’t stop him from stealing the last of Alfred’s scones he’d sent down with the tea. The outrage on Jason’s face made it worth it. For a moment, it reminded him of those rare times he had been over for breakfast when Jason first came to the Manor. He had been so protective of his food. “So, what have you two been talking about?”

“I have been providing him with more information about our… organization.”

Instead of agreeing, Jason rolled his eyes at Damian. “He’s been giving me a very biased run down of everyone else associated with you guys. I think you, Batman, and your Agent A are the only people he’s spoken of in somewhat fond terms. He also promised to end me if I betrayed any of you as well as offering me fighting lessons because I’m ‘severely lacking in any semblance of fighting techniques.’”

“Robin,” Dick sighed. He knew his youngest brother meant well, but sometimes it didn’t come across that way.

Damian just huffed. “I spoke truly. He could benefit from being taught how to defend himself. A tire iron is hardly a viable weapon.”

“Anything can be a weapon, especially in Crime Alley.”

“While there is truth in that statement, proper form and training is needed to be able to handle any disadvantages such an object could grant you.”

Jason didn’t directly say anything. Instead, he gave Dick a look that plainly read ‘is this kid for real?’ There was such familiarity in the expression that it made him want to ruffle his brother’s hair, just like in the old days. But that wouldn’t be appropriate. Jay didn’t currently view him as family.

“It couldn’t hurt,” Dick stated with a shrug. “Besides, it gives you something to do other than just sit in there.”

“Like I can keep up with the great vigilantes of Gotham.” Something that seemed dark and self-directed snuck into Jason’s words.

Unsure what brought that on, Dick decided to risk it and pull Jason to his feet. “Don’t think like that. We all started somewhere. Besides, you proved you could outmaneuver some of us when you had the advantage with the terrain. I think you’ll do just fine.”

“Don’t blame me when you get disappointed.”

There was that negativity again. If Dick remembered correctly, Jason had been insecure about himself and how he measured against him and Bruce early on. Was that what was going on? Or was it something else?

Deciding it would be best to observe and analyze, he led Jason and Damian to the training area. If he was honest with himself, Dick was excited to help Jason relearn this part of his life. He wasn’t involved in the majority of His early training, unlike with Tim and Damian. It was surreal, in what he decided was a good way. While there was still no telling if Jason would ever return to the vigilante life, training was a bonding experience he never really got to have with his first brother.

They started slowly. It wouldn’t be right to try to get Jason to try anything advanced without getting a better idea of how well he moved. There was an understandable stiffness, but his movements were jerky and disjointed. As he continued, while he didn’t outwardly say anything, his skin paled as a sheen of sweat appeared. With how he set his expression in determination told Dick more than anything else. Jason was in agony as he tried to move.

It didn’t make sense. Nothing they were doing was hard, but as Dick paid closer attention to his brother’s odd movements, he began to realize just how broken Jason truly was. He’d died with shattered bones, and then when the universe decided to bring him back, it didn’t do him the courtesy of healing any of it. Jason suffered through the worst of it alone, and unlike the rest of them, didn’t have anyone to help lovingly piece him back together. Either desperation or determination had to be what allowed him to move as well as he did during his flight.

“I think we’ll stop here,” he decided as he requested that Damian go get Jason a water.

Uncertainty and distrust flickered across Jason’s expression as he watched him. “What?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry I pushed you. We,” Dick gestured upwards to show he meant everyone, not just him and Damian, “sometimes forget how it’s like for civilians. I should have realized earlier that you were hurting. How bad is it? Do you need anything?”

Jason shook his head. “I don’t like taking meds if I can help it. On bad days, I’ll sometimes use something over the counter, but I don’t want anything stronger. I’ve seen too many people lose themselves. In Crime Alley, sometimes the need to feel better becomes the only escape.” A hand passed over his eyes as if to hide his momentarily distant look. If Dick remembered correctly, Jason’s mother died from an overdose. Maybe it was another memory starting to break through. “I don’t want to risk falling into that trap.”

“If you need it, I can get you ice. We also have shower stalls over there. The heat could help.” Dick shifted uncomfortably as he made a mental note to contact Zatanna as soon as he could. His brother didn’t deserve to suffer. “But you didn’t really answer my question.”

A shrug answered him as Damian reappeared with water. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s more the stiffness than anything else, and after last night... How the hell do you people tell time here? Anyways, don’t worry about it.” He glared up at the roof of the Cave before taking a drink from the bottle Damian wordlessly handed him before grimacing. “Kid, not that I’m not thankful, but how long was this bottle in that fridge?”

“I am not a kid,” Damian scoffed. “Pen… Agent A regularly restocks our supplies. While unlikely, it is possible something was missed.”

“Or someone recently used the drinks fridge to store food or samples again. I can’t tell you how many times that’s happened in the past. We can get you a new one.”

Jason debated it for a moment. “It’s just water, and I’m not one to waste. I’ll deal with it.”

Grabbing the bottle out of his brother’s hand before he had a chance to fight back, Dick took a swig. Coughing from the unpleasant and almost acidic taste, he walked over to the nearest ledge and poured it into the chasm below. “Yeah, you’re not drinking that. Glad I didn’t give you anything like that last night.” Dick made a face. “Well, decontaminating the drink fridge wasn’t on my list of things to do today.” He glanced at Jason. “Wanna help?”

He almost laughed at the incredulous look on his brother’s face. Almost. But he did allow himself to chuckle when Jason muttered, “When I got abducted by vigilantes, I didn’t think I’d have to help clean house.”

============

Notes:

So, I’m currently studying different types of fencing. One of the things you learn is that even rookies can get really good hits on veterans, and sometimes, instinctual moves end up working better than anything planned. Or sometimes, it makes things worse.

“The Bruce-English translator is not available at the moment. Perhaps you want to try the closest Non-communicative Parent proxy?” – quote from SummersSixEcho on the BatPham discord when she read that line about Dick translating Bruce speak for Jason.

Jason’s memorial says “Jason Todd: a good soldier.” Dick had very choice words about it when he saw it for the first time after confronting Bruce after not being told about Jason’s death. He’s the only one in the family who seems to have appropriately thought it was terrible. Even Alfred defended the decision to have it say that.