#they're still friends despite everything and gotham's just like

[theclam-beforethestorm]

Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent being good friends who are now bitter and jaded about each other, not able to bring themself to care for the other but also not being able to hurt them is WONDERFUL for angst but what would be truly hilarious are Bruce Wayne and Two-Face very publicly remaining friends. 

Like everybody in Gotham knows of the district attorney’s fall from grace and his former friendship with Bruce Wayne but even after Harvey’s gone and committed atrocities they just...still can be seen getting coffee with each other. Two-Face crashes Bruce Wayne’s board meeting for the sole purpose of pissing him off. Two-Face is in the middle of fleeing a robbery when a foot sticks out and he goes FLYING ass-over-tits, then looks over his shoulder for the perpetrator and instead of murdering them he just tells Bruce to go fuck himself and keeps on running from the cops

[vm-haunts]

Me: haha I'll just make up a timeline for this crazy crossover idea.

Me, a week later: what the fuck what the fuck how did I end up with so much plot how is it still expanding oh my god stooooop.

Aaaanyways. I don't know if I'll ever got it properly written, but this monster of a plot bunny now covers several major events and I'm losing my mind...

But anyways, cliff notes version on the plot and how far it stretches:

..

College trio was involved in the dionesium (aka Lazarus water) research, and somehow they're actually the more ethical bunch. Which is saying a lot considering.

DP events happened but they encountered and got help from several DC magic users during it. Budding occultist Sam for the win. (no agit yet and no phantom planet either)

The GIW got somewhat reformed, thanks to the help of Team Phantom's JLD friends. However at some point they got new management. Now instead of destroying ghost, the new comers are interested in the correlation of ecto-contamination, liminality... And secretly, in the increased success rate of induced metagene activation in liminals. Yikes, they somehow got worse.

Again, the Fenton parents are somehow the ethical ones here, despite everything. They refused to work with the new branch of GIW, stuff escalated (don't they always), and now they're dead. And in ghost jail. At least Vlad is there with them for the heartwarming reunion.

So Team Phantom ended up faking their death and goes on the run while raiding GIW bases, and along the way they found a weird guy (Jason). Weird guy's mom showed up and. Well guess they're involved with assassin cult's power struggle now, at least they get to help a guy out.

More shenanigans later they ended up with some monks in the Himalayas, and- wait Danny what do you mean you know them? Oh yeah Plasmius's little stint with the Infi-map... Gotta love time travel.

Anyway, after Danny got scammed for long overdue property damage fees and Jason got a pair of cool swords, they met Talia again and she brings news! Totally no ulterior motives or anything :) (Sam called her out to her face and she just smiled)

Jason, considerably more chill in this au, is still unhappy about... Well. Everything in Gotham.

Cue the Red Hood stint but with much more control and less blood shed. Which ironically made RH more intimidating because he moves like a ghost(duh). Especially when Jason's main act of revenge is 'pranks', which reads as mild psychology warfare actually. But hey the bats did that to themselves, he did nothing wrong (besides being a drug lord).

Red Hood peaceful mode does however attracted some unwanted bird themed attention, the Owl's not the Robin's. And well, undead Talons sneaking around undead experts, what could go wrong?

Everything apparently. Because on top of the Rh stint, Jason is somehow also infiltrating the Court of Owls now. As his real identity Jason Todd-Wayne no less. But the real suprise is Danny running into his parent's old researches, and. Well, the poor talons need help, might as well join in with the infiltration.

Some more shenanigans later it ends in Jason and co. quietly turning the talons against their old masters, and oh boy did they overachieved the goal of getting a foot into Gotham's crime world. Must be Danny's Fenton luck.

Ol' Batsy is very very not happy about that development by the way. But he can die mad about it as far as Jason is concerned.

...

The end. Of part one.

Stay tuned for part two, where we cross AGIT with crisis.

And massive thanks to @taddy-cat, a large part of this is inspired by the lovely discussion with you!

[schrodingers-deadbitch]

I've decided to write an actual story based very loosely on my first two post because I'm almost finished all my exams then after that I'm technically finished with school and I'll have a lot of time on my hands so... Enjoy?

Yeah enjoy.

Half A Corpse

Prologue/Summary

There are only a few things Danny could remember from before his life as Daniel Fenton. One of those things would be his real name.

Not that ‘Daniel Fenton’ wasn't his real name, it was. It was given to him by his parents (sister), recognized by the law, and known by everyone else around him. It's the name that he calls himself everyday. It's the name that he claimed and grew into. The name that he chose. His name is Daniel Fenton. But it wasn't his true name.

His true name, a name given to him long ago by a mother who he has long since forgotten. A name being called out by a distant voice filled with both joy and malice. A name that brought him mostly pain but also comfort. A name that, despite how long it has been, still rolls off of his tongue with so much ease. A name that tasted of the sweetest honey and the most deadly of poisons simultaneously. His true name is Danyal Al Ghul.

***

There are a lot of things Danny could remember from his life as Daniel Fenton. A lot of it was either failing English (or just school in general), or fighting ghosts. Some of it is hanging out with his sister and his best friends, (sometimes like actual kids!).

Majority of it was just him hiding. From the GIW or his parents? He didn't know. Most of it was just him protecting. Ghost or human? It didn't matter. It was always just him, alone in his room, in the dead of night. Doing what? Patching up himself after a long night of ‘patrol’; his homework still in his bag. Long forgotten. Why didn't he do it? He was ‘saving it for another day’.

Daniel could remember pain. So much pain.

He didn't remember how it happened. He didn't want to remember how it happened or what had happened. He didn't want to remember anything. He just wanted to forget it all and pretend it never happened. He wants to forget the pain. He wants to forget everything.

He wants to forget.

He wants to forget.

He wanTS TO FORGET!

HE WANTS TO FORGET!

HE WANTS TO FORGET!!!

He forgot. What happened?

***

His name is Daniel Nightingale. Danny for short. He recently moved to Gotham with his siblings and with the help of his best friends.

His parents? They're dead.

He doesn't remember much from before moving to Gotham but that's ok. He's got a feeling that that's a good thing.

What he thinks isn't a good thing are the leather clad furries and the rich kids who had taken an interested in him and his family. Especially the ones with familiar faces.

[radiance1]

Alicorn parole au.

So, Billy Batson managed to successfully make friends with the two alicorns he kinda walked in on and learned their names. Pariah and Clockwork, he doesn't know how long they've been here but he knows that they're probably really old, like he pretends to be when he's Captain Marvel.

He doesn't tell them he's Shazam or the campion of magic though since they only just met, and it is a secret. Though he did have to leave to go back after he lost track of time and it is almost time for the field trip to end and he doesn't want to get left behind.

Clockwork gently nudge Pariah to go along with the boy, which confused Pariah since the boy already made to them without injury so he could obviously make it back. Except he's lost and Pariah realizes Clockwork wants him to guide the boy instead of protect.

Which he could do.

So he walks with the boy, and Billy found the silence pretty awkward so he talks to fill the silence. It's mostly a one-sided conversation and Billy felt like he was talking to a wall not going to lie, and he realizes that Pariah is listening, very intently in fact, about everything Billy is saying. Most of which was school stuff, then slowly changed to superhero stuff, Billy stops talking for a while when he realizes that maybe he's saying much more than a bystander should know and it would risk his identity.

But then it's okay because Pariah, genuinely, doesn't know anything about this world or its inhabitants.

Then he just, disappeared after Billy found one of his classmates and went back to Clockwork.

Billy then finds himself going back to visit his new friends, mostly when he had nothing to do, he memorized the way so it was pretty easy. Pariah keeps grumbling about how and why this mortal child could keep finding and passing through his barrier, which Clockwork chuckles at.

Clockwork, he finds, offers varying amounts of wisdom out of blue, wisdom that Billy does find himself using actually. Nor does he seem surprised when anything happens and just easily going with the flow more bemused than anything (a perk of being an all-knowing watcher of timelines for eons is that most things don't surprise you) while Pariah seems to be ready for a fight at a moments notice and seems to really want one.

One moment he's calm and composed, like Royality. The next he's acting like a warlord ready for a battle at the drop of a hat.

Overall, they act pretty different despite being of the same species (at least he's pretty sure they are).

A while after meeting them, Billy is given a piece of paper by Clockwork that Billy is supposed to rip apart in case of an emergency and both of them would come to his aid. Which he thought was nice, but he knew he probably wasn't ever going to use it since he's Shazam!

He still kept it though.

He never thought he would've had to use it, but his class being held hostage while on a field trip to Gotham city of all places was not something he expected. Nor did he even have an opportunity to turn into Shazam without risking his identity, and his teacher was at risk of death while trying to buy time for Batman or any of the birds to come and save them really.

So, he rips the paper.

He realizes two things that day.

One, his friend Pariah just might be (or was) an actual Warlord out for his enemies' blood and two, Batman's questioning glare is still scary no matter if he were Shazam or not.

[impyssadobsessions]

Prompt/Relationship Analysis/Headcanon DPxDC

Okay This can be taken as a prompt~ As I love to dive into possibilities of WHAT IF- Basically after becoming friends/adopted by the bats and entering the hero circle he starts to become insecure in his place as a hero. Not feeling good enough.

So I can imagine after Danny befriends/gets in touch with the batfamily in some way. Like they've pretty much adopted him and now he's surrounded by heroes- (Both from Gotham and outside of it) That he starts to get insecure about his heroics as phantom. He starts to get to know other vigilantes, some with similar struggles and then it just dawns on him that they're better at it then him.. in every way. There is always someone who has one of his powers and does it better. Who can do the only thing he has been dedicating himself to- way better. And it hurts. Danny who grew up with a "perfect" older sister and being known as the failure of the two-I can see his insecurity eat at him. The feeling of not being good enough. Which is bad if mixing his trauma and guilt of a future that never happened or fear of losing everyone. ESPECIALLY because he's close to the bats.. The batfamily are perfectionist- because they have to be but Danny can't see that. Even rougher if the bats don't even realize they're doing it. Yeah they're better at sneaking, duh. They're highly skilled, because they've trained on it to be that way. Even if they don't hold the standard on Danny's head- it kills him to know he with all his powers is struggling to be as good as them. Can see only ones really about to notice are like Duke and Steph, or like Kon and other YJ members. Those that know how it feels to be next to them. Kon or Steph having to basically spell it out for Tim- which Tim like what? Then realizes and feels dumb because its so obvious. (plus having felt that way before just feels like a double whammy) (Can see all the bat members having felt that pressure too so its like an OOF how did I not notice moment) Or Step and Duke spelling it out for the rest of the family.. like DUH =w= Babs probably figures it out too. Imagine a cute heart to heart with Duke and Steph, and Alfred. Those picking up on the reason WHY Danny's acting strange. Danny pushing himself harder- feeling guilty about making it a competition but also not wanting to fail- ends up breaking down a little. Because he feels not enough. Even if he had reconciled with his parents and everything- still lingers that he was failing school.. struggling as a hero, struggling with relationships. Now he with other heroes and the doubts are so heavy. But he has no choice to pull through. So he does as he always does and keeps going even if he's crashing. Danny just not realizing his worth, despite everyone seeing it. Idk just seem like a perfect bonding moment for after Danny enters the dc world, for the bats to be like OH fucking right. Because they just accepted him as their own- Like setup for each bat to have their own one on one with DAnny. Each relating in different ways. Learning each has their own motivation and they all worry about not being enough- but how they cope. Danny rethinking reasons why he saves ppl- and in the end its just because he CANT let things happen when he has the power to stop it.. And even if he's not enough- he's there. And that can make such a difference. ......IDK if any of this made sense btw- couldn't focus properly at work because many scenarios of this was popping in my head. Still can't focus enough to keep a consistent thought- BUT I wanted to get this out <3 Because the scenarios in my head are so cute.

[incorrectbatfam]

If the batkids had never become a bat what superhero would they sidekick as instead, in your opinion?

I don't think all of them would've automatically become another hero's sidekick. Think about it: of the nearly 2 billion kids on Earth, only an atomic fraction of them get to witness superheroes firsthand, and even fewer go on to become sidekicks or heroes themselves.

Without Batman taking him on, I don't think Dick would've stuck around Gotham for very long after his parents' deaths. Canonically, he spent some time in the foster system, but I can easily see him ending up someplace else. My headcanon, because I'm a sucker for friends finding each other across timelines: he ends up in Central City and becomes best friends with Wally. They grow up together, but without the burden of superhero responsibilities. Instead of hanging out in Barry's lab, Wally is with Dick that day, so he never gains powers. Dick becomes an honorary West-Allen and instead of being a vigilante or cop, he pursues justice another way by becoming a journalist like Iris. But even with the West-Allens' company, he still goes home to his solo apartment and stays up at night wondering what it'd be like to come home to something different.

Jason still grows up in Crime Alley and tries to steal the Batmobile's tires. Bruce is still sympathetic and takes Jason in. But without Dick, there's no Robin and no mantle to inherit, so Jason becomes Bruce's son and his son only. He goes to school, has his friends and hobbies, and he knows about Batman but Bruce is adamant about keeping him out of danger. He never dies, so that's a plus. Without Dick or Wally as founding members of the Teen Titans, the only times he interacts with Roy are a small handful of corporate trips or galas in Star City. He grows up as an only child, which isn't special in itself. But every time he's greeted with an empty house, he can't help but wonder if things should be different. It's something he can't put to words himself, let alone talk to Bruce or Alfred, so he keeps to himself the pervading feeling that something—somethings—is missing.

Since Batman exists though, so would little Tim's determination to deduce Batman's identity. But as brilliant as he is, it's much more difficult when he can't match the butts Robin's acrobatic moves with the Flying Graysons. He narrows down the possibilities, but there are still a number of people who could fit Batman's profile. And when he finally figures it out... there's nothing else to do. There's no Robin opening for him to blackmail his way into. What I can see him doing is trying to become a new sidekick, but after Bruce turns him down, he just goes and creates his own justice-seeking persona anyway. But there's a different air to it. He doesn't have Robin—a fellow kid—to model himself after. Plus, he's on his own. There is no batfamily or Young Justice. And it's likely his parents would be still alive, so I think that would shape him into a more jaded vigilante—perhaps even an anti-hero. He's got a more different MO, and he's both a valuable ally and formidable opponent. But he still feels like he's not where he should be.

Damian would still be raised by the League of Assassins, but without the Robin precedent, Talia really wouldn't have a reason to send him to Gotham and train with Bruce. I want to be a little optimistic though, so I think instead of growing up to be the League's heir, he starts to see how messed up everything is and makes his getaway, similar to Cass. I headcanon that he crosses paths with Cass and, with their shared background and understanding of each other, they take on the world together. Instead of being assassins or vigilantes, they work together to unlearn their fighting instinct. I see one of two outcomes: their past catches up to them and they have to make a stand, or they're never caught and they open a cat café together instead. I like the latter better. Cass makes the drinks and Damian tends the cats. Despite the tranquility, there's an unspoken agreement between them that what they have isn't the full picture.

Barbara still becomes Batgirl, because that's what Bette was before her, and she works in tandem with Batman and Batwoman. But without Dick, her relationship with the bats is purely business. She still gets shot, becomes disabled, and continues her career as Oracle as well as her relationship with the Birds of Prey. I think eventually, Steph, who starts out as Spoiler as per canon, becomes Babs's mentee as Batgirl, but not Bruce's (again, no Robin). They don't have any connections to Dick or Tim, so instead, they use that time to build a sisterly type of relationship. Rather than dying and then coming back as Spoiler, Steph carries on being Batgirl. But when patrols are done and she hangs up the cowl to work on the latest cases with Babs, she can't help but notice that HQ is too cold and quiet. But she can't explain why.

Harper and Cullen get away from their abusive dad and Harper tries her hand at college before dropping out. Batman still saves them and Harper becomes Bluebird, but because vigilantes aren't as normalized, she's met with more skepticism from her brother. Nonetheless, she pushes on. But it's a lonelier pursuit. There's no one she can call for backup, no one who understands her problems, and the only person to patch her up is an inexperienced Cullen. Without Batman at the center, she turns out a little like Tim—she develops her own moral compass which might not necessarily agree with the other heroes. The victories are bittersweet as every decision is second-guessed, but the silver lining is that the siblings still got each other. Still, sometimes they wish they weren't all that they have.

Duke would never have been part of We Are Robin nor become Bruce's protegé after that. Again, I'm going with the good timeline, so Duke's parents are okay and he grows up normally. He develops his powers, but doesn't get much guidance besides the secondhand information he gleans from reading about other metahumans. He probably wouldn't take to the streets, but instead, uses his powers to trace back evidence and provide the vigilantes help in a behind-the-scenes way. Maybe he incidentally comes across a shard of Nth metal while surveying a crime scene. And since Nth metal allows him to see into other dimensions, that's actually what happens when he takes it home.

But he can't make heads or tails of what he sees. A traffic light uniform, then a blue uniform gracefully flipping from a skyscraper. Teenage heroes gathered with pizza. A crowbar, an explosion, and a red helmet. Cameras and clones and wingsuits. A child getting dropped off by his mother and being mentored by a Batman that looks different from this one. Busier commlinks, Batgirl using sign language, a hero-themed restaurant. Himself, wearing red and green, surrounded by kids he's never seen.

And then it gets weird. All those strangers out of uniform. A kitchen table with a blonde girl and a guy with a white streak arm wrestling for the last slice of pie. A spiky-haired kid switching the salt and sugar, then an older teen putting the wrong one in his coffee. The Waynes' butler feeding two dogs, a cat, a cow, and a turkey. A young woman in a wheelchair trying on new scarves with a blue-haired girl and her brother. A red-headed woman and a woman in a fuzzy cat sweater debating something. The oldest kid and an Asian girl sharing their playlists. And in the middle of it all is Duke himself, sitting in a living room with CEO Bruce Wayne, sipping hot apple cider while making fun of a bad movie.

Then Duke puts the shard down and covers it. He doesn't know what it all means. Should he should go downstairs and tell his parents, or wait to tell one of the vigilantes?

In the end, he does neither. Some missing pieces are better kept secret.

[halfagone]

Here's another DPxDC AU: Danny might not be Bruce Wayne's biological son, but he most certainly is Vlad Masters' biological son.

After the Nasty Burger explosion, Vlad learns in Jack and Maddie's will that Danny is actually Vlad's son, born after a fling between them all those years ago (and no, it doesn't count as infidelity if it was a threesome!) that Vlad had been intentionally trying (and let's face it, failing) to forget about. So now he has to grapple with their deaths, their secrets, and a brand new son he only just learned was his even when he'd been longing for a family for decades. Safe to say, Vlad gets pissed but his anger fades as he sees Danny fall into a depressive state from the death of all his loved ones.

Vlad doesn't end up telling Danny about his newly revealed blood status. Danny already has so much self-loathing that Vlad figures he doesn't need another reason to hate himself. He has always preferred Jack over him, after all.

So he doesn't say anything, but when he gets invited to a gala in Gotham he decides to attend (for the first time in forever, Vlad always has been a recluse after all) because he thinks Danny needs to get out some more. Or just, you know. At all. He knows Danny will hate it, but all his arguments about going out to hang with schoolmates have fallen on deaf ears so maybe Vlad just has to force Danny to get some socialization in him.

There, Danny is almost immediately taken in by the Wayne kids, and while he's still not as bright and expressive as usual, Vlad counts it as a total win.

But of course Bruce has to make a comment about how he didn't know Vlad had a son (internally, Bruce is wondering why his research isn't up-to-date) and Vlad explains that danny is the orphaned son of two dear friends of his from college. He's still not telling anyone about Danny's true father, as much as he might want or like to.

At some point, Vlad gets around to asking: "Damian is your youngest, yes? Your... blood son if I recall correctly. It must have been a difficult adjustment on all of you. How do you do it, Bruce?"

Bruce thinks that Vlad is trying to gather information, but he doesn't know for what and it's not like he can ask. But he is definitely very suspicious of him.

In reality, what Vlad means by that is: "I have a brand new son that I don't know how to properly take care of, and he hates my guts and he hates his own guts and I don't how to fix that and I know I fucked up with him but I don't know how to unfuck it up. Any advice?"

But Bruce is giving his best patented Brucie Wayne TM behavior and just says: "Oh! You know, those parenting books really are something!" *cue ditzy laughter*

But Vlad thinks that's actually not a half bad idea and buys himself a bunch of parenting books. He makes himself flashcards and everything. He looks into forums, the whole shebang.

And Danny... notices this, even despite his grief. He can tell that Vlad is trying even if a part of Danny would really prefer if he didn't. Their conversations might be stilted sometimes when Vlad has to glance down at a flashcard on his lap, but he's trying so hard and even Danny isn't immune to that. So he goes about his days and tries to remember what normalcy feels like.

They end up moving to Gotham because Vlad thinks that he has a market for VladCo. and/or Axiom Labs here. He tries to get Danny's opinion, but as it turns out Danny's opinion is that everyone he loves is dead and gone so Vlad doesn't really bring it up again. But hey, Danny gets to spend a lot more time with his new, maybe friends the Wayne's, so it'll be fine.

The Wayne family are very confused about the relationship between Vlad and Danny, because they can sense there is history there, but whatever it used to be is nothing like it is now. And not just because they're a family unit now, but because Danny is a shell of who he used to be and Vlad is nothing like the composed businessman he has always painted himself as. They try to keep an eye out for potential abuse, and come up with nothing. They still keep an eye out of course.

But then Danny gets it into his head that his ghost powers are the cause of all his pain and suffering and wants to get rid of them. He figures that Vlad wouldn't mind removing them, but then he starts trying to convince Vlad and apparently he was wrong about that. Vlad is, meanwhile, very much concerned because that is more blatantly obvious self-destructive behavior. Being Vlad's son might not have given him a ghost form, but there is no way to get rid of the ectoplasm in his body when he had been born with it.

Vlad always turns him down, but they keep arguing about it, and one day Vlad accidentally reveals that Danny is his blood son and therefore he can't get rid of his powers since the ectoplasm is ingrained in his biology even before he half-died. And Danny feels betrayed, not because he's been Vlad's son all this time but because he thinks that Vlad is only treating him better now because he's his son and not Jack's.

It's easily their worst argument ever, and it ends with Danny running away to the Wayne Manor because they're really the only people he knows around here and he doesn't know what else to do. He ends up revealing pretty much everything to them, and the Wayne's realize they might have been massively underestimating how messed up this situation is.

Vlad does go searching for him of course, but who knows what reception he'll get once he makes his way to the Manor.

[doraambrose]

What do you think about Jason's relationship (platonic!!! Father and son stuff. Still can't believe this ship exists. ) with Bruce? Should they even interact at all if DC only makes Bruce abusive and cruel towards him? Or do you ignore whatever is on those pages like it was always meant to be and like a lot of the fandom does?

(Personally, Bruce shouldn't be the best dad but he should never have raised his hand against his kids, unless during sparring and fighting off mindcontrol. The only exception I would make is shortly after Jason died and Bruce, out of his mind with grief, hit Dick who had kind of tried to comfort him. But everything else? Laughably out of character.)

Hello! Thanks for the ask friend!

Bruce and Jason's relationship is vastly complicated, but I personally don't think they should be on the best terms.

Bruce is very similar to Jason in that he's been written either okay or horrible by dc writers, but actual good characterization in the last like 10-15 years is pretty rare.

In terms of characterization of Bruce, I'm not as well-versed as I am with Jason, but I have a pretty good idea of how he should be. Bruce is heavily flawed. He has some significant childhood trauma that never got truly dealt with,leading to the creation of the batman. I also sense he has bpd or at least bipolar or something like that, as well as a superiority complex. He's also very stubborn and set in his ways and his instinct is that he's always right and everyone should do what he says. He's controlling and a hypocrite. But he has the best of intentions. He wants to keep everyone safe, he loves his kids and he just wants to protect people, but it has to be his way. I fully believe that Bruce never actually intends to hurt his family, but mental illness mixed with a need for control and a lack of socialization can lead to hurtful actions. In gotham war, Bruce truly believes that what he did to Jason was what was best for him, despite how crazy and abusive it actually was. After Damian died, he loved and grieved so much but didn't know how to handle it. He couldn't live without him so he did everything possible to bring him back, hurting his other kids in the process, but he didn't think he was seriously hurting his kids.

Jason is also very stubborn and a hypocrite. He has some substantial childhood trauma that also didnt get proper attention. he's not as hot-headed as certain characterizations of him like to say, but he is a VERY emotional and emotion-driven person. He thinks with his heart more than his head at times. He has very strong opinions and beliefs. He also loves his family and wants to protect people, mainly children and women, and he also believes that his way is the right way.

Bruce and Jason both think the other is wrong and neither want to compromise. And Bruce has done so much to Jason. And jason doesn't understand Bruce's pov because neither of them can actually communicate with each other in a healthy way and neither of them have healthy ways of executing their beliefs and morals, their actions don't always do their intentions justice.

So I think their relationship is strained. They're too similar and too different at the same time. They both have too many problems and don't take good care of their mental health, leading to some really unhealthy Coping mechanisms. But I do agree that some of things Bruce and jason have done have been super out of character and totally could be erased lol

Thanks for the ask friend!

[batvvvvv]

love these 2 with all my heart theyre crazy. infodump incoming

ivy and jon met in college about 18 years before the plot starts (ages 18 and 19 respectively) they were both like, intense and unsettling and as traumatized gay people do they kind of gravitated towards each other. jonathan broke his pen one time and asked pamela if he could borrow one and they just kind of ... never stopped talking. they've been inseperable since

jon was ivy's first friend not made out of neccessity, and pam was jonathan's first friend period. they are absolutely ride or die for each other.

they moved in together after a year to split rent, and despite still being Incredibly fucked up it was both of their first taste of normal life. or as normal as gotham can be idk. living the queer codependent best friends lifestyle !!! something almost like happiness

jonathan did sell drugs out of their apartment for a few months to make ends meet but that Definitely has no impact on his future later! haha! anyway

then they graduated! jon got a job in psychiatry and moved out; ivy stayed and took a job at arkham in the infirmary, where she meets harley. and while pam became more bitter and jaded at the horrible things she witnessed in arkham, jonathan got fired for tormenting a patient, spiralled completely into his obsession with fear and created the first version of his fear toxin. he was arrested and sent to blackgate (and then arkham a week later), then 6 months later ivy was arrested for blowing up a factory, and sent to blackgate.

they didnt speak for the next year and a half. jon continued to isolate himself and spiral, landing himself in arkham once or twice a month at a certain point, while pam got unhealthily fixated on taking down the corrupt in gotham, getting herself into her own fair share of trouble. both of them get to a breaking point around the same time-- forced to face their own actions and the consequences they bring.

so pamela escapes prison again and decides to lay low: gets an apartment under a fake name, and begins to plan her next operations more carefully. somewhere along the way harley moves in with her (after being ditched and left to fend for herself by the joker) and things are Okay !

jonathan's road to recovery (if you can really call it that he's still fucked up and crazy) is a little more explosive and insane but he ends up on ivy's doorstep, dripping wet and covered in blood, and asks to come in. despite everything she lets him stay! (i've written a fic for this that i'll share sometime if i can figure out how 💔)

and they've been keeping each other alive for the 15 years since! they're mean as hell to each other but also they would do anything for eachother. never underestimate the bond betw two fucked up and evil gay people

yeah i love these two so much . most annoying best friends ever !!!!!

[wetratheadcanons]

some battinson headcanons cause i still think about him almost a year later but 60% is actually just me projecting onto him

is autistic (obviously), but also has adhd

he also deals with intrusive thoughts, it's why his no-kill-policy is so important to him

loves video games, obscure internet lore and horror - especially analog horror and found footage

his favourite games are project deepweb, he solved it in just a little under 2 hours, and vampyr, he always plays the pacifist run despite it being harder

has a whole wall dedicated to the five nights at freddy's lore, scott cawthorne might be his biggest enemy

absolute animal magnet despite being kinda terrified of all of them

can't go anywhere that has animals because they're immediately flocking to him

the whole "introvert at a party finds the dog" - situation but instead the dog finds bruce and refuses to leave

ace was the first animal bruce wasn't ever really scared of, alfred thinks he may have been trained to be a psychiatric service dog prior to his adoption

wherever bruce is in the tower, ace isn't far away, his presence calms bruce

prefers loud music, he doesn't like being alone in his head too much and the noise helps him

apart from nirvana and my chemical romance, his favourite bands are ghost and ice nine kills because he likes their consistent themes

selina gifted him a pair of pink cat-ear headphones once and they're the only pair he ever wears at home

he claims it's just because they're comfortable but everyone knows it's because he loves them

eats when he's hungry but rarely at specific times, it doesn't make sense to him

he can't really eat after waking up

doesn't eat meat, he feels like it lies too heavy in his stomach

he also doesn't like the smell of cooked meats or fish

he loves sour fruits and has a mild sweet tooth

has a caffeine addiction but he doesn't like the taste of coffee, prefers black and green tea (to alfred's delight) and energy drinks (to alfred's horror)

he's trans ftm who is either gay or bi with a preference for men (he doesn't know and doesn't care to find out)

selina and him never went further than their kiss, bruce will always put gotham before anything else (until dick comes along) and selina needs a freedom that he can't give her

they also both realised it was a spur of the moment thing since they barely knew each other at that time and found they're better off friends

they're co-parenting a kitten though it's adorable really

bruce found her half dead on patrol one night and called selina in a panic about what to do, they named her chewy

ace loves chewy, she sleeps on his head, bruce has an entire folder on his phone dedicated to pictures of them

had a robin hood phase when he was 6, tried to steal from his parents to give to people in need

alfred continually reminds him of this after he takes in dick

his favourite rogue is ivy, they have important conversations (as in ivy talks and bruce hngs) about climate change while bruce tries to stop her from murder

he implements policies build after her ideals into wayne enterprise

his respect for her rises after she gets together with harley

for all that he fights it, he can't sleep without the sound of gotham - which includes gotham typical crime

he thrives when he's alone, it's how he does his best work, be it batman or wayne enterprise

has trouble admitting defeat, dick joining him as robin helped him in that department a great deal

is pierced. he did almost all of them himself, alfred has a heart attack everytime he spots a new one

the public has a weird badboy image of him, bruce has no idea where it came from

doesn't bruise easily but is still constantly in pain

has an absolute shit posture, social anxiety and crime fighting don't help

sleeps in the worst positions humanly possible

has a weird thing about mirrors, avoids them as much as he can

doesn't give interviews ever, it's part being a social recluse, part everything the press did to his parents, part hating to be perceived

has troubles with empathy, but his compassion makes up for it in great detail

dick uses him as a jungle gym, he pretends to be annoyed but secretly loves it

when bruce is working on cases in the cave, dick hangs head down off of bruce's back with his legs over bruce's shoulders

dick claims it helps him think, bruce knows it's because he doesn't want to be alone

bruce loves the relationship dick and selina have, might be a little jealous that cat got through to the boy much faster than him though

after taking in dick, bruce makes sure to show alfred that he actually does see him as a father figure - regrets all the times he told him that alfred's not his father

that's all i have for now

[lazaruspiss]

YESSSSSS i would love to read what you've got sorted out for your Dick alters :D

*does an evil little cheerleader dance*

-redhoodinternaldialectical

Hi! I liked the Ric arc. Conceptually. Sort of. It has many problems but it stuck with me. Most of my DIDick notes are tucked away in my DMs so I'm gonna do my best to go over all that! (and according to my writing program this is over 1.6K words so. whoops?)

By the end of the Ric arc, Dick has what are essentially 3-4 different lives in his noggin. I think the crystal shit is honestly more fucked up if he /doesn't/ have DID. And I was also just enamored with Ric, and all of the "we want you to come home Dick!!" that he was dealing with. Waking up for the first time and being bombarded by people insisting that you're someone else? It works so well for a DID story. As I continued to think about/work on it, it grew far past just covering Ric/Talon/Joker. I ended up going through the major turning points in Dick’s life and sort of walking through it, and seeing who I would end up with. In the canon I'm most attached to Dick is sent to juvie for a while before ending up with Bruce. That's where I imagine their mind first starting to take shape. Robin: A baby. All those happy memories of /before/ tucked away where they can be protected. Any pronouns, too young to really be concerned with much. They're an all around bundle of joy that almost never gets to come out despite wanting to explore and make friends. It's just too dangerous, and they have to stay "pure". This is essentially how they stay, a time capsule that never ages. For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to them as "Baby Robin" instead of Robin for the rest of this. Dick/Magpie: Dick sees Magpie as his imaginary friend. Magpie sees Dick as her partner in crime. The two co-front and switch places a lot, and are generally pretty close. Dick is still exposed to the horrors of the outside world enough to not /think/ he's missing anything, but Magpie takes on what he can't.

They slowly but surely become distant as time passes. Dick completely forgets about her by the time he turns 13. For most of their life Dick is completely in the dark. It's easier like this, when there's a face recognized by the outside world that doesn't need to know the details. It's easier to lie when you don't know you're doing it. There's a period around 10-14 where everything gets /messy/ and memories get weird, particularly where the Joker is involved. Dolly: A little girl with big dreams. She thinks herself much more mature than she is, and doesn't understand what's so wrong about Humbert Humbert. "He really did love her, you know?". Joker showers her in the attention that she couldn't find anywhere else at the time. He's the only person who knows she exists even including the others inside the system. He's the first person outside the system to know that there /is/ a system in the first place. Magpie eventually gets some indication of Dolly's existence, but she doesn't act on it. Has no clue what can even be done for Dolly in this situation.

It does make moving in with the Teen Titans an easy decision. They need to be away from Bruce for a bit, need to just leave Gotham and get it together. The stress of it all still keeps picking up while they're with the Titans. It's no easy feat to manage a team while trying to balance their own mental state(s). Elle: Originally unnamed, but Baby Robin thought they should be named after Elle Woods because they're "smart and cool like her!" but the resemblance pretty much ends there. They're very no nonsense and short tempered. They don't control the body at all, instead managing things from an inside perspective. They know just about everything about everyone. Like Oracle, but for the system and all that encompasses. They can occasionally co-front and speak if need be, but prefer not to. Cannot move the body if they were to front alone.

X: Do I even need to explain. X, Apprentice, eventually Renegade, it has many names, X just stuck the best. Rose ends up calling it René though. Slade gets to call it whatever he wants. X is pretty morally neutral. Doesn't seek to do harm, but follows orders without guilt or hesitation. Doesn't talk, sometimes it just can't, sometimes it just doesn't want to. Slade has heard its voice the most out of anybody. Its mental image of itself has no face, only a warped echo of the mask that Robin once wore. Not actually as mean as it might seem, especially when Slade isn’t around for it to serve. Slade was surprised when he found out about the system, but rolls with it in a way that earns him at least a little favor with most of them.

Maggie (Magpie): She's quiet during the teen years. She can't bring herself to talk to the Titans, seeing them as Dick's friends and not hers. She's lonely. Honestly, she’s a pretty normal teenage girl.

Dolly: Went dormant when they left Gotham.

Dick still helps in Gotham for a while. Until he gets fired by Batman. It sets everything a bit sideways. Dick is sort of leading the charge for a while and is so annoying about it that a coup is briefly considered. This is around the time he falls in with Eddie and Liu, eventually losing his virginity to the latter. Maggie doesn’t handle that last part well. It does end in Dick establishing Nightwing, and most are content with that, but Maggie still occasionally ends up with the memories that Dick pushes out. It eats at her and eats at her, and she never really recovers. Maggie is stuck in a permanent state of being sixteen after this. Life goes on. Life goes wrong. Jason dies. Everything is messy again. Eventually Dolly comes back, but more as an adult this time. Doesn’t mean she’s well adjusted though. She’s selfish, reckless, and far too attached to the demon in their head. Did I mention the Joker introject? Good. Neither did any of them. It’s an open secret, a he-who-shall-not-be-named type of situation. Joker: “My pronouns are eat/my/ass.” He’s pretty much exactly how you think he’d be. He gained some influence after Dick tried to kill the original Joker, but he’s always been this ambiguous boogeyman. Doesn’t really go out of his way to fuck shit up, and mainly sticks to fucking with his Dolly.

Lola/Dolores (Dolly): Can't lie, she’s my favorite. She's got so many issues, but carries herself with a mix of playfulness and flirtation. She's a /woman/ now and isn't afraid to remind you, /Papa/. She thinks of Lulu Belle as being her “girlhood self”. It’s a lot more pleasant to cling to memories of when she and Bruce met and got along through the occasional “cross-dressing” mission than it is to think about what most of her younger years were like. She’s prone to manic episodes, and is frequently enabled by Joker. She drinks, she plays, and she gets yelled at by Elle about making sure she at least uses protection.

Dolores and Joker are effectively married (derogatory). It’s obviously really bad for Dolores. She doesn’t really distinguish between her introject husband and the original Joker, often prone to breakdowns when he sees the original with other women. She fucking hates Harley so damn much, and Punchline when that all happens. It doesn’t really come to anything, but it does mess her up emotionally. It goes on like that. The Blockbuster incident proves to be another low. They keep pulling themselves together into something functional just to be broken down again. Dolores forces her way to the front a lot. She already had a drinking problem, but it doesn’t really get better. At least that makes for a good excuse as to why Dick’s memories are so full of holes. Then Jason is back. He’s intimidating. He doesn’t know, but he can see through them more than most. They keep him at a distance when they can, because it’s terrifying feeling so exposed. And then there’s the headshot and the crystal. All previous alters are essentially locked out, and for a while it’s just Ric.

Ric: He’s angry and hurting. Why wouldn’t he be? Everyone looks at him and treats him like a man that he’s never met. They /hate/ him for not being that person. He’s reckless and guarded, but softens up around people who don’t know the stranger he’s supposed to be. He doesn’t know Slade, but he would've fallen for him easily. Also of note is that he ends up as one of those alcoholics turned health bros, in large part due to finding out that he’s a part of a system. He has a huge soft spot for animals and kids, and is pretty nice to those who deserve it. He’s not afraid to tell people when he thinks they /don’t/ deserve it though. The most date-able of them all tbh. Talon: It’s a feral animal. All its memories, thoughts, and feelings are incoherent and abstract. Joker: He’s given memories of being abused by the Graysons’ and the original Joker gets cemented in his mind as his dad. The aftermath of being groomed and controlled by the original Joker really fucks him up. He gets pretty forcibly humanized. He’s still not great, but he’s slightly better now that he’s learned about concepts like “pain” and “trauma” first hand. He’s morally improved and mad about it. He misses being evil and guiltless. Eventually the previous alters come back after the crystal is taken care of. It’s a fucking trip for Dick, because he’s finding out about all of them for the first time. From here they’d ideally stay away from the bats while they sort out/adjust to all that.

[clay-cuttlefish]

Oh Greg Rucka we're really in it now. Everything from Officer Down to when Gotham Central starts.

Officer Down

There's been a lot of cop shit so far, but this whole event is nonstop Cop Shit.

Batman going out of his way to wish Gordon a happy birthday is a pretty good moment. World's weirdest work friendship.

The speech about arresting people being the expression of police power is so dumb. You've killed people Gordon.

Unbelievably depressing how important Gordon is to Renee. She has so few people in her life.

Text-to-speech user Cass my beloved.

There's a joke about Cass being trans Batman that's tasteless but is a little bit funny to me as a Cass gender enthusiast.

I am willing to suspend my disbelief, and my real world beliefs about vigilanteism, to read about a spooky goth manbaby's unhinged family drama as he fights a clown trying to explode the city. It is very hard to do that when he works directly with the cops about normal crime, and Crispus laying out why that's fucked up only to walk it back drives me up the wall more than any unacknowledged shittiness. "Oh blah blah Montoya was right this is just how Gotham is" no the fuck she isn't!

There have been flickers of it in earlier appearances, but this story, and the very end, are where Renee is firmly out of the role of Good Cop and into her own arc.

Renee goes from not being a smoker to drowning her sorrows in the space of two issues. It's fast, but it doesn't feel rushed to me. She's been holding back so much for so long - now that her facade has broken, she can't put it back together.

Tec #755

Renee's only in this for a few panels and one line, but it's an interaction with Two-Face when he crashes Gordon's retirement party and gives a heartfelt speech.

Unknowing (Tec #758-760)

Things have settled for now, with Renee and Crispus working together fairly amicably.

And then they get mind controlled. Whoops.

Renee and Babs get dinner together in the backup for 758, which is cute. It's mostly a framing device for a story about the new commissioner, but hey! They're friends!

The actual important effects of this come later, but it's a good story and I like Sasha.

Tec #761

Renee and Crispus are outsiders even within their department and she's actively mocked here, which really doesn't help her ongoing breakdown.

Having Sasha's training montage as a side panel, with the department investigation overlaid, is a lot more interesting than just having them separate. It's a cool looking issue.

Hey remember how Bullock was implied to have killed that guy?

Tec #682

And that's Bullock gone. Renee's willing to investigate the murder he helped commit, despite trying to commit it herself, so she's a lot more stable than she was at the time. Unfortunately things will continue to deteriorate for her.

Orpheus Rising

A mini about the new vigilante Orpheus and the racial tensions in Gotham. There's still a lot of police apologism, but it's leagues ahead of its contemporary Bat comics when it comes to acknowledging police racism.

His introduction is explicitly about the lack of Black heroes among the Bats and how there aren't enough heroes of colour in general, which feels especially bad to read knowing that he's killed off in War Games less than three years later.

Tec #764

Bullock is finally actually gone, and he's replaced by Maggie Sawyer, an out lesbian from Metropolis who doesn't make me want to punch the screen.

Batman #597-598

Renee's increasingly quick to try and pass "freak" crimes onto Batman. That's probably fine.

Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive

Not a lot of important characterization for Renee here, but she and Crispus get to be competent and chase Alfred, so it's a good stable period for them.

Bruce implodes every relationship in his life and gets caught up in absurd Checkmate espionage and none of that is relevant.

Green Arrow Vol. 3 #16

Vic at Ollie's funeral. Not tiny in a crowd this time! They're acknowledged as friends!

[eclipsecrowned]

anyway since i'm going out of my head: muses that would have tiktok presence, and how. any muses listed that are deceased as of canon have a survival au where they are still fucking around into the modern era.

bruce: tiktok's beloved uncle. everyone loves his official account, and the crossovers he does on his kids channels. likes to flex and show off his awesome aging playboy style. sometimes does challenges. stop tagging him in batman videos-- bonus! cryptid footage of the bat around gotham that is shot like a found footage horror film.

jonathan: is not on tiktok, but has seen the horrors due to his fellow rogues finding it hysterical to torment him with the fact he's an internet sexyman. there are fancam edits of him. there are thirst edits. this fucks him up severely because good lord, he is meant to embody fear itself, why are these fools not quivering in fear? he hates everything about this.

kayden: just speedpaints of her commissions or little grwm content. she's not super attached to the platform but it is a good way to get her name out there as an artist that takes commissions. the bonus anonymity of her account in particular means its a safe place to socialize without people connecting her to her father's criminal activities.

jeannie: prolific background event in her teenagers videos. a polite mom who knocks if the door is closed, but if they're shooting in the yard or a communal living space, she will stumble through with impunity. there's an outtake compilation that is nothing but jeannie stepping into the room going 'hiiii <3' at her only child.

mercy: likes to show off her design space or projects or footage of her work on runways on her account. is regarded as a sweet goth mom. sometimes goes live in the dead of night and reveals little facets of her life, like still being friends with the man she thought she would marry after he left her for another man. brewing conspiracy that she looks a lot like a 19th century socialite, as well as a mid-century designer lost in the blitz, so basically Mercy Immortal.

zoltan: sweet old tiktok grandpa despite looking to be in his thirties. records pretty things he sees on his nightly walks -- nice dogs, moths around a streetlight, how the moon reflects on the water, all while he gently waxes poetic or in awe of what he is seeing in his thick accent. his content is so sincere if not as polished as much of the content on the app. his countrymen tend to enjoy his content more than the average user, which is fine by him, he's not exactly doing it for views.

uma: revolutionary content that the powers that be tend to try and block or shadowban. the fools. she has 70 alternative accounts. one of them that doesn't keep getting shadowbanned is just her recording what her lads do on an average day: be pretty and stupid.

mo: revolutionary content that the powers that be tend to try and block or shadowban. the fools. her bestie has made her 70 alternative accounts. like uma, she has one account that doesn't attract attention that is largely about pigeons and architecture facts about places she finds them on campus or at home.

sarah: occasionally takes to tiktok to update younger fans about her work, and has been known to react to fan tiktoks when streaming on other platforms. she's an established and published name, however, so tiktok is just another tool to her rather than her entire fandom or where she began.

daniel: what was supposed to be a business account instead turned into Mr. Molloy Is Arguing With Strangers on the Internet And He's Winning. Largely social justice arguments and censorship debates. He somehow comes across as totally cool while also relatable when arguing with others. Sometimes his husband is heard in the background recommending cannibalism instead of debate.

karin: just scrolls the app for micro-breaks whenever she doesn't have anything to do, and also to like and endorse all of kris' content like a good big sister <3 has had to explain to her boss what a troll is and that no mr. molloy they are not serious.

kris: almost exclusively makes tiktoks about lestat, her favorite celebrity and in a single verse the guy her favorite sister is dating. she is the go-to for content about him on the app. other content includes her and her bestie mahmoud getting into shenanigans around miami.

ariadne: in the modern era, she's known to post dance, party, and taste test content. out here living her best life relatively anonymously and sharing it with the internet.

melinoe: posts uncanny valley footage of her nightly outings that is taken for either very good practical effects or cg horror shorts. sometimes randomly posts a goth boy with the most beautiful voice singing and playing a very small harp by candlelight.

orpheus: is the goth boy that doesn't know he's been recorded.

danae: more likely to appear in ads on the app about her business, but also makes token appearances in her daughters videos. bridget is very passionate about ethics and pharmacology and makes some really impassioned videos or stitches on either subject, and mama will sometimes come in to support her points. more hilariously, sometimes bridget will start recording a video and danae's startled expression proves bridget just goes off when she wants to without warning.

ada: scrolls when she has downtime, makes a new account just about every week.

sheva: runs an account for her chickens :) has made the front page a few times. people just love those fluffy chickens and their mom's great voice.

crowe: glaive shenanigans. fails of the week therein. going to town on lucians that want to clown on her galahdian friends in the comments. best known for her bike videos where she works on her 'babies'

drautos: does not consent to be in his glaives videos. is in his glaives videos anyway.

stray: strictly a professional/lifestyle social media presence. has to rep the royal family in a good light, after all. tends to record messages for her audience on holidays or days of remembrance. deep down in her heart she wants to report her brother and his friends being creatures as men of their age are want to do and make videos about the galahdian plight, but unfortunately, that doesn't fit The Vision the citadel is putting out.

roxas: sick skating tricks with a side of urbex. he's having a good time now that the worst is, for now, over, and likes not just making memories of his own, but recording them for posterity. his friends are regular features.

soap: shenanigans with his peers as well as storytimes. it will become apparent in his content that gaz holds the braincell while soap and roach are just out here living their best lives without brains, shame, or common sense. weirdly knowledgeable about how those intense cleaning videos will make a number of toxic gases.

julia: anonymously posts urbex videos in full gear, and from angles that imply either drone usage or being really good at getting into high, tight corners. has made a small devoted audience to herself. her and pupper's ghost follow one another exclusively for quite a long time.

nikolai: thirst traps or gun content. no middle ground. no clear reason for any of it. man is just out here confusing everyone on the platform.

hana: i chose to believe in the modern era she is either running a momtok account about her mini me and the misadventures that shun's daughter can get into, or she runs a really helpful self-defense channel for those who, like her, are stuck in the hellhole known as k*murocho. has surprisingly great advice and move by move breakdowns if the latter.

homare: repeatedly banned for depicting illegal activities on the platform. still keeps trying. very popular with young men trying to get into the honorable lifestyle.

shizuka: nice defense attorney 'lady' who gives free advice for what people can do at every step of being challenged by the justice system. sometimes does grwm just bc they are so stylish and people keep asking about the routine. like most parent muses on this list, is sometimes a hostage of their daughter hisano's antics. got her back once by stitching into one of hisano's haul videos with the actual receipt of how much said kid spent ON A SINGLE SWEET LOLITA OUTFIT--

yuko: follows her only child in secret. has an uncanny ability to crash his streams or videos by being a sickly sweet and affectionate mom to aki-chan!!! other than her reign of terror over her son, she uses the app to find new recipes and any tips related to her hobbies.

[agoddamn]

No, see, the worst part is that Bruce STILL keeps some of the abusive characterisation! Especially wrt whatever the hell it is they're trying to do with Jason now, which… appears to be some sort of weird repetitive emotional beatdown until he gets dragged back into the family, and then he fucks up because he has a differing ideology and gets put back on the shitlist, and then he has to earn his place back again -

There was a fun time in Jason's ongoing in which Bruce assumed Jason had done a Bad (it's complicated, but basically - Jason Did Not, and Bruce didn't bother investigating what had happened despite also making the same wrong assumption earlier in the run), and beat the absolute SHIT out of him and kicked him out of Gotham. Jason had to be RESCUED. Then an issue or so later Bruce is coming up and telling Jason his best friend is dead and they're hugging all of a sudden and everything is fine, like. Okay.

All this instead of just making Jason an antagonist with a complicated relationship with Bruce because they have different ideologies but still care about each other... like in Under the Red Hood. Because that means we can't pretend they're a happy family, I guess. Good luck figuring out how villainous Jason is or ever was, by the way. They skipped explaining that part.

Canon also likes to put emphasis on Bruce's relationship with Damian, his biological son, despite the fact that they're all a chaotic adopted family now, so that's cool. Stephanie was also never Robin, until canon suddenly out of nowhere starts pretending she was again.

Oh, that's...woof. Worst of both worlds.

My unpopular opinion is that...I honestly never liked the whole Red Hood thing! As funny as it is that DC and Marvel revived their tragically dead sidekicks who'd stayed dead for so long everyone thought it was permanent (ah, what a comic book sentence) around the same time, Marvel seemed like they had a clearer idea of what they wanted to do with Bucky than DC with Jason. He's had a relatively (relatively, I know this is still comics) linear/coherent arc where Jason seems to go all over the place. It's vitally important that he's different from Bruce re: killing, but also not so important as to keep him from being able to act friendly with Bruce.

I also never liked how the Red Hood arc leaned so hard on the fourth wall, so to speak. It made me stop taking it seriously. We know why Batman never killed the Joker: it's so DC can keep making comics and video games and action figures. A character whose whole purpose is to seemingly keep asking "why is the Joker alive" is doomed to an existential rat race, asking a question that can never be answered in a truly satisfactory way.

I also admit that I immediately hated what they were doing with Damian because that "oh but he's really your real son!!" bullshit started to be all over the place as soon as they decided they were actually keeping him around. Really stuck in my craw that it came right after the female Robin, too, as if Steph was so controversial that they needed to revert to levels of traditional nuclear family the Batclan had never even had before.

(I was robbed of tragic even-numbered Robins! Robbed!!!)

[hannaswritingblog]

Imagine: Selina Kyle reacting to you being a politician

Fandom: Gotham

Tags/themes: politician!reader, politics au

Collab with @winterxisxcomingx who inspired and convinced me to write a fic with politician!reader and helped me decide on the fandom, despite not yet being a part of this specific one.

A/N: Although basically originating from an inside joke, this is probably one of my best works so far, or at least one of the easiest and most fun things to write, and I feel it ended up being very much in character for Selina. Just so you know. :D

You often have trouble finding Selina. Gotham with its dark corners and high buildings provides plenty of fine hideouts for people in need, even when they need to hide from people making their way to the top, holding positions of authority. Or maybe especially when they need to hide from authority?

On the other hand, Selina is yet to know that you're a politician. She probably doesn't think she has to hide from you. It's also true that when you first met, you hadn't decided on your career, so you didn't hide anything by not saying you're one back then, and then... it just never popped up in your conversations.

You've been wanting to talk to your friend for the whole day, and with your persistence, you finally find her on a top of a building downtown, standing close to the edge. It doesn't surprise you to find her in such a place anymore, so you only greet her by saying:

'Nice to see you, Cat.'

Selina turns around and smiles lightly at your sight.

'Hi, Y/N. I didn't expect to see you here.'

'Why?'

'I don't know. I haven't seen you much lately.'

'I've been busy with work.'

'Work?' she says, seemingly surprised. 'You didn't mention work before.'

'Oh, it's because... it's... new.' With your heart suddenly starting to rush, you hesitate if you should tell her everything.

'What is that work exactly?' she asks the question you've dreaded for the last couple of days.

'Something in the city hall.'

'Well, could you specify? I think a lot of different people work there.'

You stay quiet, not knowing how exactly put it into words. Your silence is enough for her to start realising what really is going on.

'Don't tell me you got into politics.'

'If you want the truth, that's what I need to tell you. I'm a politician now.'

She scoffs, turning her head away. When she starts walking towards the door leading to the roof, you stop her by saying:

'Selina, I'm sorry! I should've told you earlier.'

'You think you should've told me?' she raises her voice, walking back up to you. 'What you should've done is not become a politician! You... you know what those people are like! They're corrupt, they don't care about anyone or anything except themselves. They're just... not cool. And I believed you were cool.'

Her calling you cool leaves you dumbfounded for a couple of seconds. When you finally manage to let anything out of your mouth, you say:

'But... you know me. I'm not like that. I don't have to be like other politicians. I'm the same person I was two months ago, and you know I've done so much good for you. I can still do good.'

'I don't know, Y/N,' she whispers, shrugging her shoulders. 'I don't know if I can trust you with that anymore. All I know is that I'll still be out there, fighting for survival, when you work your way into luxury.'

This time you don't stop her when she walks away. You regret the choices you made, mainly not telling her earlier. You know you dissapointed her greatly. But you also know you can't quit the path you chose. It's an opportunity to prove Selina she's wrong with judging people just by their occupation, especially when she knew them before; an opportunity to help others. The person she saw as cool is still there after all.

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

Problematic Faves Cliffs Notes: Harvey Dent/Two-Face

Batman (1980) #329

Summary: Once a crusading district attorney that worked alongside Batman and Jim Gordon to fight crime – now the duality-obsessed super criminal known as Two-Face.

Harvey Dent also serves as a dark reflection of Batman's own struggles living a dual life with conflicting identities.

Main Goal: To enact his own justice whilst committing crimes.

Fears: Uncertainty, himself in general [the things he's capable of, specifically], losing control, his loved ones dying, his darker half discovering Bruce's secret identity [Detective Comics (2016) #1021], Renee Montoya's rejection [Batman: No Man's Land, novel], and the Joker [Joker (2008), only].

Mindset: Sees himself bound by fate and its will. As a result of Harvey's black-and-white worldviews, he considers his two-headed (scarred on one side) silver dollar a truly objective instrument of justice due to it only yielding two simple, 50/50 outcomes at the end of every coin toss.

"Some people go to the beach to forget their problems. They can watch the waves for hours. I understand the fascination.

There's a pattern – then there is no pattern.

It's the same with the coin. We want it all to mean something – we want to find the pattern – but in the final analysis, it's just waves."

— Harvey Dent, Secret Origins Special (1989) #1

•••

"He was always interested in the law – some might say obsessed. Man's law gave order to Harvey's world – they delineated the parameters of right and wrong, good and evil. They gave him something to believe in."

— Gilda Dent, Secret Origins Special (1989) #1

•••

Hugo Strange: Let's go back further, you were a rising star, a beacon of light for this city. A white knight riding in to save it with the Dark Knight not far behind.

Harvey Dent: You can leave him out of this. He is wrong. They all are. No one understands the beauty of fate's hand. I am grateful to Falcone. He gave me a clarity; a purity that few will know. Everything boils down to a simple choice, this way or that way, good... or bad.

Hugo Strange: Do you really believe that?

Harvey Dent: How could I not?

— Batman: Arkham City

•••

Batman: If you pull the trigger, how are you different from the Roman?

Harvey Dent: That's Jim Gordon talking. You know the system doesn't work. That justice can be decided like the flip of a coin.

— The Long Halloween

•••

"You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time... but you were wrong! The world is cruel. And the only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased, unprejudiced, fair."

— Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight

•••

"Life's a lottery, Holman. It's chance that decides who lives and who dies. Who gets cancer. Which kid is born with spina bifida. Who gets run over by a truck.

This [the coin] is what decides whether or not I blow your wife's brains out."

— Harvey Dent, Joker's Asylum: Two-Face #1 

Teen Titans Spotlight (1987) #13

Character Traits:

🌗 Loving • Idealistic • Genuine • Principled • Resolute • Focused • Driven • Workaholic • Passionate • Eloquent • Wrathful • Obssessed • Brooding • Self-loathing • Black-and-white thinking • Dauntless • Fair • Honest (generally) • Man of his word • Learned helplessness (regarding the coin and his choices) • Self-destructive • Unpredictable • Hair-trigger temper • Can be persuaded • Charitable (depends on coin toss) • Takes his pain out on others • Self-enabling • Serious • Harsh • Intimidating • Vengeful • Physically violent • Self-aware • Conflicted • Feels remorse • Tries, but fails to improve as a person • Too Dependent on his coin • Fatalistic • Suicidal • Forgiving • Self-centered, but not selfish 🌗

Key Facts:

Harvey Dent...

• Had mental health issues long before his disfigurement [Batman Annual (1990 #14, Batman: The Animated Series - Episode 10, and Batman: Arkham City].

• His father physically abused him every day as a child. Christopher Dent used a double-headed coin to make Harvey believe he could "avoid" the beatings if the coin landed on the non-existent "tails" [Batman Annual #14].

• Bruce Wayne was his childhood friend [Rebirth universe & Batman: Nightwalker].

• Harvey "Legal Eagle" Dent was the top of his class [Secret Origins Special (1989) #1].

• Paid for his father's nice apartment [Batman: Two-Face (1995) - Crime & Punishment].

• Half of Harvey wanted to love his father, while the other half wished him dead. Despite everything, he tried to make peace with Christopher prior to the acid attack [Batman Annual #14].

• Never stopped loving/thinking about Gilda Dent when she disappeared from his life following the events of the Long Halloween [Batman (2006) #653 & Batman (2011) #712].

What's more, Harvey continued loving Gilda so much that he wound up murdering her second husband's killer in a pre-Long-Halloween continuity [Batman (1980) #329] because the man's death left Gilda grieving.

• Fun fact: The Power of Love helped him resist Poison Ivy's pheromones in the Dark Victory #11!

Begone, thot!

• Blamed Batman for what happened to him with Salvatore Maroni Carmine Falcone and the acid attack that scarred his face [Batman: Arkham Knight].

• Uses his coin to determine whether he should kill or spare his victims. Also, he has been known to perform acts of charity [Detective Comics (1942) #66 & Batman: The Silver Age Newspaper Comics Volume 3 (1969-1972)] sometimes.

• Loves and hates Gotham [Batman and Robin (2013) #23.1].

• Dislikes hypocrites [Batman: Two-Face (1995) - Crime and Punishment & The Spectre (2001) #5].

• Developed strong feelings for Renee Montoya in the Batman: No Man's Land storyline.

• Continued caring about Renee deeply, despite the events of Gotham Central (2003) #10 [Convergence: The Question #1-2].

Received training from Batman [Batman #653] and Deathstroke [Deathstroke (2018) #38].

• Has tried growing better as a person, but he keeps failing [Batman Annual #14 & Batman and Robin Adventures (1995) #1-2].

• Has re-scarred himself more than once [Batman Annual #14, Batman #653, and Batman: Black and White (1996) #1].

• For all his faults and crimes – such as nearly beating Dick Grayson to death in Robin: Year One – he has helped people [The Batman Chronicles (1999) #16], defended Jim Gordon from himself as Jim's defense lawyer [Detective Comics (1999) #739], cares about the women in his life, and keeps his word when the coin comes up good.

He is a complex character, period.

Other Facts:

• Has seen Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" [Batman (1986) #397].

• Knows how to sculpt [Detective Comics (1986) #563].

• Owns a "thememobile" like Batman [Batman (1987) #410]!

• Likes baseball [Batman (1987) #411].

• Likes symmetry [Batman (1989) #442].

Smokes, but also doesn't [Batman (1994) #513].

"My own version of the literary reference mark known as a diesis – more commonly known as a double-dagger! My next pair shall strike to the heart of the matter!" — Harvey Dent, Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice #1 – the words of a man who certainly reads a lot!

Batman Annual #14 & Teen Titans Spotlight #13 – A himbo he is not!

• Reads classic books such as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" [Detective Comics #66] and "A Tale of Two Cities" [Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice #2].

• Still finds putting criminals behind bars fun [Batman Gotham Adventures (1999) #12].

• Can speak Spanish [The Batman Chronicles #16].

• Doesn't mind hitting women at all. There are so many examples of this; Harvey confirmed it himself [Batman: Streets of Gotham (2009) #7], and beat up Jim Gordon's wife in Batman (1999) #572.

• Made a self-insert comic book in an art therapy program. Yup, he wrote and drew it himself [Detective Comics (2001) #753]!

Called it "The Adventures of Copernicus Dent and His Best Girl and Plucky Assistant R'Nee!" 

• Plays chess with Batman [Gotham Knights (2002) #32].

• Has watched Star Trek [Nightwing (2008) #150].

• Fought and killed a werewolf [The 2008 DC Universe Halloween Special]. Yes, really.

• Was a cult leader [Detective Comics (2020) #1020].

• Rebirth!Harvey is now working as a jailhouse lawyer in Blackgate [Detective Comics (2020) #1024].

• Understands how binary code works, but computer geeks make him sick? [Robin (1994) #11] Yeah.

• Has kids. Twins! [Batman: Two-Faces Strikes Twice]. It looks like they're irrelevant.

• Remembered Renee's birthday and sent her tulips [Detective Comics (2000) #747].

• Has been a judge before [The New Batman Adventures - Episode 24 & Arkham Unhinged (2013) #11].

• Hates odd-numbers [Robin: Year One #2].