#or the fact that Cass was an actual street kid from the age of eight until her late teens

[mzminola]

DC Bat comics have a lot of classism issues (among other problems) but thanks to the weird-ass way that wealth scales, any analysis that assumes Tim’s original family is closer to the Waynes than they are to the Browns is going to be full of holes. Or if you assume Stephanie’s family is closer to the Todds than to the Drakes.

Like, the Drakes when Jack still has the company are definitely in a different tax bracket than Crystal Brown the nurse & Arthur Brown the ex gameshow host turned costumed villain, but the Drakes & Browns are still closer to each other than they are to the old money Bruce Wayne whose company bankrolls the Justice League.

Plus the time when DI went under and the Drakes were relying on Dana’s income from working as a physical therapist moved them to probably about the same bracket until Jack picked up a job too.

Acting like Stephanie Brown, who grows up in the suburbs in a house her mom owns outright, can easily put herself up in a hotel room for a week or two when fighting with her mom, only needs a job in college to avoid student loans instead of to supplement them... is close to pre-adoption Jason?

Even pre-his-parents-dying Jason?

No.

Tim & Steph have enough of a gap to have different experiences and sometimes talk past each other, but they’re still both much closer to each other than either of them is to the Waynes or the Todds.

Tim & Steph are both economically well off kids with abusive dads who decide to sneak out and fight crime. Stephanie’s mom is uninvolved in her life because of a prescription pill addiction (though she works past that to become more involved), while Tim’s mom is straight up dead, and the stepmom he gets later is nice but takes a hands-off approach to parenting (and then dies too).

This makes sense with Stephanie’s role in earlier comics being a foil to Tim (though she grows into a more independent character over time). They need enough similarities in circumstance that their different philosophies and crime fighting styles come down to personal choice, and they can argue with each other without mutually devolving into “You just don’t understand!”

TL;DR: economics and social class are fucking weird, Tim & Steph are foils, exaggerating the differences in their backgrounds messes up your analysis.

Bonus: You don’t need to make Steph even more of an underdog to appreciate her character.

[fan-written]

Quick question!! Does Alfred make the Batfam's uniforms? Because as a seamstress myself I know that would take quite some time out of The Butler's schedule.

But if he does then I have ideas for an AU. This is only my hc:

It's going to be called Agent A and the Ladybug.

Diana and Clark were visiting Bruce one day when Alfred overheard Diana point out another tear in the bat-suit. Alfred didn't want to sigh, but this was the third one tonight.

Then Diana mentioned she knew someone who was discreet. And they were very talented.

So Alfred asked for her for their information. Diana explained that they worked under a pseudonym but that they understood the need for a background check.

A few weeks later Marinette gets an email from one Agent A.

She's not surprised since Wonder Woman warned her beforehand, but she is shocked at how much he's willing to pay her.

Then she sees how many of each suit he's asking her to make.

She agrees, but still tries to lower the price.

She loses

She and Agent A email each other often, mostly to complain about superheroes and their recklessness with clothes. Then about their stubbornness and antics.

Then they start exchanging recipes. And talking about life. A knows about her troubles in school. Mari has learned that A is practically a superhero with everything he does for his bats.

Soon Mari has ideas about their suits and asks if she can change the design slightly on a few of them. This is when Mari learns more about the bats, and the Wayne's. Though she doesn't know it's them.

She also asks to try some experimental fabrics. Ones that are more bullet proof, or thinner but flame resistant. Some of them involve new technology and nanobots.

None of it is to noticeable to the public, but the rest of the hero community takes can tell.

They also notice the Batfam seem to have less injuries.

By this point Mari has made enough suits for each of them that Alfred can just send her a box once a week with the ones that need repairs.

The rest of the JL start to bother Batman about the changes. So of course Bruce asks Alfred when he got the chance to try new fabrics and Alfred shrugs and informs him of their new seamstress.

Cue Batfam freak out.

Diana is still handing out Mari's contact info. Mari becomes the go to designer for all the DC heroes, but she prefers anything to do with Agent A.

Then Alfred learns about Paris. Then he realizes why Diana would know about Mari.

Then maybe Mari's parents die. Not in an akuma attack, or a car accident. But a robbery. in their store. And she was there.

And it's like Bruce is eight again.

But his child is across an ocean, and they've never actually met before. And she can't actually leave Paris because somehow he's adopted another hero child. But this one started when she was actually a child.

Then Mari all but disappears.

All of the heroes get an email about how she is stepping away from commissions until further notice. Agent A is the only one who gets a longer message.

Wonder Woman is silent whenever someone asks where she is. She can only say that she’s alive.

Ladybug is seen on the streets more often than not. Marinette hasn't been seen in school since her parents died.

In fact her former classmates only catch glimpses of her entering the small apartment she now lives in. The emancipation paperwork went through easily at age 17. She finishes class online.

Because she's devoting all her time to finding Hawkmoth she actually finds him. The giant butterfly window was a big giveaway.

Gabriel Agreste and cohorts are taken into custody on her parents first death anniversary.

Chat Noir gives her back the ring through Plagg. They never exchange identities.

Mari is 18 now, standing in front of her apartment door, trying to get the energy to go inside. She may have completed her mission, but it's like a side note in her mind. She's gray, and dull compared to Before. Her apartment isn't much different.

Finally she opens the door.

Its not empty for once. There's a man, tall, with white hair, wearing a suit. She's never seen him before. But she knows.

They hug. And she cries. She finally cries because she can. And she won't get taken advantage of by an emotional terrorist.

Alfred asks if she wants to come home. She can only agree.

They return to the manor and Bruce can't remember why she looks familiar. He only saw a picture of her when he checked out Alfred's file on her from years ago. He's also trying to figure out if he had plans to adopt her.

His kids all kind of assume Bruce had and don't think to much on it. They are a little surprised by how close she stays to Alfred, but they all know Alfred is the best.

Alfred gives her a room next to his. She starts to take up some of his duties. Mostly some cooking, but also all of the clothing repairs. The Batfam don't know about the suits, but it's kind of their own fault. They are considered some of the world's greatest detectives. They should know who's fixing their vigilante stuff

It starts small, designing again. a hair clip here, a pair of socks there. Eventually she's making her own clothes again.

Finally she redesigns her Ladybug suit.

Then she emails the Heroes. Wonder Woman is ecstatic that she's back. Several commission her for other things instead of superhero needs.

Finally Bruce figures out where she came from and confronts Alfred. As far as he knew their designer didn't know their identities.

Alfred asks him to leave it alone, but he's Batman and he's paranoid so he doesn't. So he digs deeper.

Next thing he knows he has a little sister who's younger than some of his kids, but it doesn't matter because he knows Alfred has already adopted her and that makes her family.

He also learns about her role in Paris. Mari is a little surprised at the offer to train together, but not to terribly. She knows he's Batman.

Suddenly their dynamic changes. It's only a little different from that with his kids, but that's because of their relationship with Alfred.

The kids are confused.

Then Cass asks to spar. Those in the house gather to watch and can't believe that Mari is holding her own.

They all want to train with her now and she gets closer to all of them.

Alfred is there for all of it, making sure she's safe, in every possible way.

Finally she begins to heal.

That was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but apparently I have a lot of thoughts about Alfred and Mari.

[jinmukangwrites]

DC headcanon prompt: When Dick is compromised by mind-altering drugs, the only thing that makes him calm down and feel safe is having Bruce near, in his sights, and preferably making some sort of physical contact.

It takes all of Bruce's willpower to keep his hands on the steering wheel of the batmobile, grinding his teeth as the whimpering persistently continues on even as Damian makes noble attempts at the closest thing to cuddling.

It's not working, Dick is still curled up in the corner of the backseat and side door, knees to his chin and arms clutched around his shins, knuckles most likely white benieth his gloves. He's breathing hard and his pupils are blown wide, skin oily and pale. Drugs—a new kind at that. Mixed with a little bit of fear toxin and a little bit of of something else so the antitoxin doesn't actually do much. It's Black Mask who's encouraged the creation and supply of the drug. Once Batman gets his hands on him-

Dick whimpers again and Bruce takes a calming breath. Not now. Right now he needs to get Dick back to the cave so they can safely let the drug run out of his system.

It almost feels like it takes too long to finally reach the cave and it takes all the self restraint Bruce has to calmly exit the car and send Damian upstairs to have an early night. Damian argues at first, insisting he has to watch over his older brother, but Bruce doesn't let him win. With an extra bit of encouragement from Alfred, Damian sends a shockingly worried glance Dick's way before his shoulders slump in defeat and he heads upstairs.

After that, it's all a matter of opening the side door of the batmobile and coaxing Dick into his arms. But it doesn't take that much coaxing; in fact it's almost like Dick was the one to launch himself into Bruce's arms first.

Bruce carries him over to the medical bay where Alfred helps him lower Dick down onto a cot so he can check over the symptoms. Dick keeps a tight hand on Bruce's cape as Alfred works, breath hitched but not as panicked as it was on the drive over. It takes a couple minutes, but Alfred eventually confirms Bruce's suspicion that they just need to let the drug run its course and it should be out of Dick's system by morning.

Bruce wishes Alfred goodnight and Alfred bids them farewell as he returns to the manor, leaving Dick shivering on the cot and Bruce trying to work up the willpower to leave him so he can file a report on the computer.

"Are you fine if I leave?" Bruce finally manages to ask, causing Dick to go still with a hitching whimper. "I will just be at the computer."

Dick opens his mouth, blinks hard, closes his mouth, and swallows. Then he gives a jerking nod. "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

Bruce returns the nod and stands up from the chair he's been sitting on besides the cot. Though, Dick immediately contradicts what he had just said when his arm shoots out and once again grabs Bruce's cape.

Bruce stares at the hand and Dick does as well, before Dick lets out a choked cry, his hand shaking like he's trying to force himself to let go.

"I'm sorry," he chokes, and Bruce's heart shatters.

He looks behind him, painfully aware that Dick's hand is still wrapped tight in his cape, and when he finds himself completely alone with Dick like he knew he would be, he lets a few carefully constructed walls fall in the first time in years.

He steps towards Dick and reaches out with unsure hands even though just a few minutes ago he was literally just holding Dick. But he knows it's different now, a few minutes ago his goal was to take Dick to the cot, but now his goal is to just hold him.

Dick lets out a soft sob as he leans into Bruce's embrace. Bruce lifts him up, grunting from the weight. Dick's no longer the small, eight year old kid he used to be. He's grown into a fine young man, who even though he's still a little small for his age, he's very much still very much a man.

It's like an old sad song when Bruce manages to deposit himself and Dick into the chair. Dick is a mess of muscle and long limbs that it takes longer than what it used to to get them both into a comfortable position. Dick curls up in Bruce's lap almost like it's the most natural thing in the world. Like it hasn't been almost two decades since he was a young bright eyed child who ran out in the streets as Robin.

And Bruce lets him, mentally beating himself up over the fact that he's stopped doing this. With Dick. With Jason. That Tim was too old by the time he could even consider something like this. That Cass is still new and Bruce is still unsure what she wants from him. That he's never even thought of doing something like this with Damian, let alone Duke.

Bruce should really hug his children more, if not let them curl up on top of him and cuddle.

He takes a deep breath and brings one hand up to the keyboard and the other into Dick's sweaty yet soft hair. "I got you chum," he whispers, something in his gut unwinding with every steady breath his eldest—his grown up and independent baby boy—makes.

"I got you."