#gotham is based around where jersey city is

[rey-129-fan]

Well, it's been a while since I've posted any fanfic... Let's change that.

Good news! I'm not dead! My brain did try to get me to do things that could unalive myself for a bit, and then I lost nearly an entire side of my family over the span of 3 years, but I'm still here and still kicking! And I have two new puppies who are adorable and so loving.

Now for this story, this is inspired by a few posts I saw on @theglamorousferal, mostly the one about Amity Parkers going to college in Gotham and buying a hotel (I'm making it a co-op student house, but I've never lived in one, so if something's unacceptably wrong, tell me, if not, artistic license), but also the one where our main Trio buy a building to set up shop there, and wind up adopted my Jason (I swear, I saw that post after I wrote the first chapter, but it just fit so well).

***

Honestly, Amity Park was weird long before the Fentons moved there- the original settlers named the nearby lake Eerie, and it wasn’t after the Great Lake.  It’s just that before the Fentons’ machine punched a hole through reality and created a permanent doorway to the land of spirits and ghosts, the weirdness was not as blatant.

Prior to that, Amity Parkers were some of the few that could move to Gotham without suffering a breakdown that was common for new arrivals.  Now there was a slight dip in newcomers for about a decade or two after the Bat made his debut and then the crazies that followed him, but then Amity Parkers got used to the spirits of the dead wandering around following the aforementioned punching through reality.

All this to say that Gotham Universities were a rather common destination for young Amity Park adults seeking higher education.

Now because of this, there were always apartments advertising themselves for people from the small town.  They, after all, tended to not have a breakdown after their fifth rogue attack and just pack up and leave halfway through their lease.  But it got very annoying having to sift through all the advertisements when looking for a place to stay- something Danny Fenton saw his older sister go through when she got in to Gotham City University.  The boy then shared what he was witnessing with his two best friends- Tucker Foley and Sam Manson.  Tucker offered to help filter out the spam, which Danny’s sister Jazz thanked him for but turned down.  Sam… Sam instead got thinking.

Sam had been to Gotham a few times in her life.  She had an idea of the areas closest to the schools and how much those should cost.  And looking at the letters Jazz was getting, the offers were a little too high for a regular college student to afford.  Sam was also familiar with how many hotels were not being used in Gotham- people building them in hopes tourists would come to stay while visiting the East Coast, tourists that could not be convinced to visit due to the high crime rate and the lack of activities or places of interest in the city itself.

She quickly went to work, looking in to these empty hotels.  She was rather upset by their numbers and put together a spreadsheet of them, with details like number of rooms, any amenities they may have, and nearby landmarks.  She then grabbed her two dorks and marched to Casper High’s Community Outreach director.

Now Sam’s presentation raised a few eyebrows, mostly because it was in a completely different state, but Sam shot back that because of the efforts to incorporate the town’s new ghostly residents and provide them with helpful ways to feed their obsessions- efforts led by the Fenton family- Amity Park had very few homeless, and those that were had a huge community safety net to help them get back on their feet.  Additionally, with how many people moved between the city and the town, helping the city could be argued to also be helping the town.

The Outreach Director just sighed and gave Same the green light to at least draft and send out a proposal to the powers that be in Gotham, saying that there wasn’t much that could be done before they got backing and approval.  Sam thanked them before leaving, Danny and Tucker trailing behind.

She was back the next day with a draft of her proposal and a list of who to send it to.

***

Since returning from the dead in the eyes of the public, Jason Todd was often contacted by groups trying to use the Wayne fortune to fund their own personal projects.  They thought Jason would be the easiest to con- sorry, persuade- since he was a former street kid unlike the rest of his family.  Thus surely he would know just how much this new building with low income housing would help the people of Gotham- it even came with a pool and gym!

Yeah, he did know how much the people of Gotham needed housing, but $2K a month was not affordable when you’re barely making $30K a year!  Oh and the pool and gym were only available for those who could shell out an additional $2K a month.  Jason knows, he read the whole document carefully.

God, sometimes it was hard to tell who was worse, the psychos in Blackgate or real estate investors.  And sadly, he couldn’t just pop a bullet in their heads and be done with it because 1) it would raise too many questions and 2) it would make Bruce get all sad and mopey- again.  Jason just did not have the mental energy to put up with that on top of the rest of his life as a crimelord/vigilante/long-lost adoptive second son of a billionaire.

All this to say, he was not impressed when he first glanced over a proposal to convert the unused hotels around the city into housing units- especially since it was from someone that did not live in Gotham.

Manson?  Wasn’t there a family with that name that would attend some of Brucie’s galas?  Oh yeah, their family made its fortune off patenting the machine that wrapped toothpicks in plastic, as well as a couple others.  And they had a daughter around Repla- Tim’s age.  Hopefully this wasn’t her trying to be a kiss-ass like her parents.

Jason finished reading and sat back.  The proposal wasn’t too bad.  Converting hotels into apartment buildings would be easier than office buildings, and the suggestion to use ex-convicts that wanted to turn over a new leaf as building managers certainly wasn’t the worst.  Also creating a fund for those that couldn’t afford rent, as well as community kitchens and gardens were certain plusses, though would need to have the right people in charge to make sure they actually worked as planned, and to keep the Court of Owls from messing with it.

Overall, it was something Jason would consider, after some research and maybe talking with the rest of the Bats and Birds.  And if this was from the Manson kid, maybe get Dickie or one of the others to talk to her next time there was a gala in town.  Or talk to her himself, if the Pit wasn’t too loud.

…Dick was probably the better option to talk with her if it came down to it.

***

There's the first chapter. I'm going to go write the next one. When I have a good log of them, I'll then go and edit them and put them on AO3.

This has no title yet because I suck at naming. Feel free to comment with suggestions for a name, both for the fic/au and for the eventual hotel/co op. As well as any shinanegans and majors/colleges/universities for our liminal young adults.

Part 1/? Next >

#dp x dc crossover #dc x dp #danny phantom #dc comics #i've admittedly never read dc comics #jason todd #sam manson #amity park/gotham co op #comments and constructive reviews are welcome #I was originally going to throw in a reference to another spoopy franchise #but i figured i could save it for later #the rest of the bat fam will show up eventually #I don't need majors for sam danny tuck or jazz #I do need for paulina dash kwan wes val and any other kids #star i'm think of being a physics or sports science #gotham is based around where jersey city is #amity park is actually going to be in NY #specifically around jamestown in the southern tier #no it's not illinois because it takes the fentons two days of driving to get to vlad's at least #that means over 8 hours in the car which illinois is not #part 1 #of idk how many parts there'll be

[robintherobiner]

Dick and Damian bond over being different to their family.

Jason and Stephanie and Duke were born into the deepest, darkest corners of Gotham, while Tim and Bruce were thrust into galas and secrets and old-but-new money.

But they're all Gothamites at their core. They look up into the gloomy sky and feel at peace, they look down and feel calm, they walk around with the ache of Gotham in their blood, recognized or not.

Damian is half Pakistani. (Nanda Parbat (where the League of Assassins is set) is based on Nanga Parbat, the westernmost major peak of the Himalayas. While Gotham City is traditionally depicted as being located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. (Its look and atmosphere was mainly influenced by New York City, and Bill Finger said that he chose the name "Gotham", and not New York, so that all readers in any city could identify with it.) )

Dick is Romani. (In most cases, he's depicted as either a quarter or half Romani, but no matter how little, he IS Romani. I'm not entirely sure which subgroup he is (i'm not sure if subgroup is the right word, sorry), but according to Wikipedia its a Indo-Aryan ethnic group which most likely originated in India, but then they migrated into Europe so there's so many possible different places he could be from. I'm not entirely sure how this all actually works, so I don't know if theorizing which specific country/subgroup matters or not.)

Please note that I'm not talking skin colour in this post. Damian (in most cases) is depicted with tan/light brown skin, but Dick is almost always as white as the others. The only person (of my knowledge) in the batfam who is always shown as coloured is Duke. But he's not in this post because he is very much a Gothamite, regardless of his skin colour.

This is because skin colour does not entirely depend on the country you're from. I am white, and my friend is brown, but we are both fully Portuguese because all four of our parents are from Portugal.

I was raised in England, and I feel a strangeness whenever I am with my British friends because despite having the same skin colour, living in the same country, speaking the same language, i am different. But my friends difference is both inward and outward, if that makes sense.

I made this post because as someone who has recently realized this difference i feel, i want these fictional characters to feel it too.

So, sorry for the ramble, but I just want more fanfics where these characters take their difference (I don't know if race or ethnicity is the right word, but by difference I mean the fact that they are not fully Americans) and embrace it, whether they do it together or separately.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

#batman #batfamily #batfam #dick grayson #damian wayne #damian al ghul #is it al ghul or wayne? bc technically he has 2 last names but i keep seeing him as just wayne which annoys me deeply #do not deny the boy his heritage Bruce. he is not JUST your blood. #rant post #race and ethnicity #which one am i meaning in this post? I do not know. Someone tell me please!!! #gothamite #gotham #dc comics #dc universe #am i wrong here?

[havendance]

No Man’s Land Event Timeline

I am of the opinion that more people should write fic set in No Man's Land, but considering it's like, 80 issues long (not counting the lead up) I've made this timeline to make it easier for people who don't have time to spend like a month reading comics. (And also as a reference for myself. So, ever wondered what went down in No Man's Land? This is for you.

(For a timeline of comics that made up the event you can check the other timeline I made here)

(Also available to read on AO3 for your convenience)

Part 1: The Quake

Before we actually get to No Man’s Land Proper, we need to get some facts down about why it happened in the first place. Which means we’re going to be touching on Batman: Cataclysm. (The Batman: Contagion event (where Gotham got hit by a plague known as the Clench) also happened prior to this and contributed to No Man's Land being a thing, but this timeline is already long enough as it is so we won't be going into detail about that.)

In late June/early July, at 7:03pm, a quake 7.6 on the Richter scale hit’s Gotham

While we don’t know the exact date, Batman chronicles #14 reveals that it’s before July fourth.

When the quake hits:

Bruce, Alfred, and Harold are all in the Batcave

Dick is in Bludhaven

Tim is on a plane flying back to Gotham

He’s just resolved to open up to his dad. That doesn’t actually happen.

Helena Bertinelli (a.k.a the Huntress) is in a subway car

Stephanie is at the mall

Catwoman is breaking into a building

Azrael is handing Bane off to the GCPD (Bane gets away)

After the quake dies down:

A number of prisoners escape Blackgate (including Cluemaster)

Lots of people die

Batman, Robin, and Nightwing all run rescue efforts. Huntress and Catwoman are also shown helping out

Alfred and Harold work to repair the manner and clear the batcave 

Batman runs around in a bat-monster truck (Not particularly plot relevant, but it looks cool)

Bruce works tirelessly both as Batman and Bruce Wayne to try and aid rescue efforts, pour in relief funds, and convince business owners to remain in Gotham

Part 2: The Abandonment of Gotham

Bruce goes to DC to speak to congress in hopes of securing federal aid for Gotham

However, giving aid to Gotham is *wildly* unpopular and he fails

An executive order declares Gotham No Man’s Land

The city is given 48 hours to evacuate before they blow up the bridges. People with a criminal record are not allowed out.

Later comics reference Black Monday which means that presumably the government gave Gotham a weekend to evacuate.

In Batman: No Man’s Land Secret File #1, it’s revealed that the bridges were blown at Midnight on New’s Year’s Day

(Personally, I don’t think this date makes sense, largely based off of vibes, but also partially based off of dates given later. It’s the perennial comics retcon at work. Regardless, since it’s a solid date, I’ll be calculating later dates based off of it. I think I’m also going to have to make a timeline that I don’t hate where I just ignore this though)

During this Jim Gordon tries to get a job outside of Gotham before discovering that he’s a laughing stock outside the city and deciding to stay in No Man’s Land instead

Barbara Gordon also decides to remain in Gotham

Part 3: No Man’s Land

We open 93 days after they blew the bridges

While vibe-wise, it feels like late fall/early winter to me, based off of the New Year’s day Black Monday date, it’s April 3rd. (Yeah, I don’t think the date makes any sense, but I like numbers so I’ll keep doing the math.)

The next time check in we’re given is 127 days in. It’s noted that it’s the tail end of the Winter. (Date wise this would be May 7th)

(Look, maybe weather’s just different in New Jersey, but May does not feel like the tail end of winter to me.)

Status Quo:

Batman is who knows where. None of his allies have seen or heard from him.

We later learn that he went on a Bruce Wayne guilt bender and tried to bury his guilt over failing Gotham in partying.

Oracle is based out of the clocktower. She gains intel through a network of informants and food by using her knowledge of the city’s fallout shelters.

Jim Gordon is running what remnants of the GCPD remained in No Man’s Land along with his wife, Sarah Essen. He’s currently angry with Batman for disappearing and will remain so for some time.

Helena Bertinelli is both operating as Huntress and has recently taken up a Bat-themed mantle. She calls herself the Bat, but she is later referred to as Batgirl.

Though not mentioned in the opening salvo, we later learn that Leslie Thomkins remained in No Man’s Land and is operating a medical aid camp clinic place thing.

We also later learn that Alfred Pennyworth spent his time up to this point wandering around Gotham, helping people out, delivering at least one baby, and raising moral through storytelling and performances.

Outside of Gotham:

Nightwing is facing the usual combination of corruption and crime in Blüdhaven.

Robin has moved to Keystone City with his dad.

Stephanie Brown is approximately 7-8 months pregnant and living in the Gotham area outside of the No Man’s Land zone.

Azrael is doing stuff I guess? I think he’s chasing down some villain dude? Look, does anyone really care about Azrael?

(Note from future Havendance: Okay, so No Man’s Land actually made me care some about Azrael)

Catwoman. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you what Catwoman’s up to either. She’s not in Gotham, I can tell you that much.

100 days into No Man’s Land (April 10th), Batman shows back up. (Alfred Pennyworth is with him). The GCPD take back Old Town (I think? It’s the part of Gotham with the clock tower). Barbara and her father are reunited.

Before the next timeline checkpoint various things happen:

Azrael enters No Man’s Land

Batman begins working with Batgirl

Batman makes a deal with the Penguin to establish himself back in Gotham and gain information

Batman makes a deal with a former enemy (Lockup) to get Blackgate prison up and running.

Black Mask is locked inside, taking him off the map.

Barbara Gordon discovers that there is someone else operating as Batgirl

Superman shows up for a day to try and lend a hand.

127 days into No Man’s Land (May 27th). The tail end of winter. A lot of politics/land war stuff goes down.

Pre shuffle map:

(Unfortunately, I don’t believe their’s a post-shuffle map)

The Penguin makes a deal with Two Face to get at Batman. The GCPD makes a deal with Two Face to get at the Penguin’s territory. The end result is that Two Face takes Batman’s territory and the GCPD take half of Penguin’s territory.

Meanwhile, Outside of No Man’s Land:

Stephanie Brown gives birth

The Drakes move back to the Gotham area

Dick Grayson enters the police academy, hoping to root out the corruption on the force from the inside

As a result of all the politics/land war shuffle up:

Two Face hires David Cain to try and kill Jim Gordon. He’s stopped by Batman with the help of Cassandra Cain (currently without a name).

Batman finally admits that he can’t take care of the city on his own and calls in help.

Batman fires Helena Bertinelli from Batgirl for not adhering to his impossibly high standards. He gives the mantle to Cassandra Cain.

Also around this time, Jim Gordon punches Batman in the face. Which isn’t particularly plot relevant, but I thought you should know.

Once everyone’s assembled (Around day 189 (July 7th))

Azrael and Batgirl are sent to take down Nicholas Scratch — a charismatic radio personality who pushed for No Man’s Land to be a thing in the first place, now in the city and causing trouble.

Nightwing is sent to take control of Blackgate back from Lockup. He succeeds but gets beat to hell and has to be nursed back to health by Barbara Gordon.

Batman and Robin investigate Poison Ivy’s hold on Robinson Park. They find that she and the orphans she’d taken under her protection have been imprisoned by Clayface and end up working with her to take him down. The end of this storyline is noted to be the first day of summer.

( Side note here, officially, the first day of summer is on June 21st, which would put the start of No Man’s Land back before the New Year’s date. And honestly, July feels way too late for the first day of summer, but I don’t know why I’m trying to get a consistent timeline out of comics in the first place. *sigh* I’ll just stick a timeline that I think works better at the end of all of this.)

Around this time:

Jim Gordon attempts to break off his deal with Two Face. Two Face does not like that, and as a result he takes Rene Montoya and her family hostage.

Helena Bertinelli, now back to the Huntress mantel, teams up with Petit who broke off from the GCPD for being a little too into shooting people.

Catwoman is recruited by Batman to steal some discs with data on them that he says is vital to restoring Gotham. She succeeds but then proceeds to sell the data to the highest bidder. At this point in time, it’s unclear if Batman ever gets the data.

Side note, but apparently before all this, she managed to get elected the mayor of New York and then had to fake her death by having Catwoman push Selina Kyle off a building. It all sounds wild. Maybe I should be reading the Catwoman comics…

Bane enters Gotham, recruited by a mysterious outside influence (Later revealed to be an agent of Lex Luthor). He’s apparently no longer on venom? Idk, I don’t really care about Bane. This timeline is somewhat biased in case you couldn’t tell.

Robin gets in the middle of a three-way battle in the subway between the Ratcatcher, Mr Freeze, and two guys whose names I don’t remember. He ends up sick due to a nasty combination of rat bites and sewage (excellent sickfic potential, that’s all I’m saying)

Side note: in this story, we learn that apparently a bunch of Tim's old classmates are larping as their DnD characters in the sewers of No Man’s Land which is one of those details I feel compelled to share with you.

Also at this time, Stephanie’s mom learns about her being Spoiler and tells her to stop.

Batman teams up with Lynx to take down a gang in Chinatown that’s enslaving people to generate electric power.

Harley Quinn shows up for the first time, dating the Joker.

Bane blows up Gotham’s Hall of Records.

Meanwhile, the Street Demonz hit up Two Face’s territory, capturing him and nearly executing him via hanging before Batman and Robin save him for… reasons. I’m honestly not sure why. Because Two Face is too popular of a villain to kill I guess.

A later retcon says that Batman actually blew up the hall of records? For reasons that are also unclear? Whatever.

Superman visits Gotham again, this time helping people out in civilian form.

Killer Croc makes a move on the Penguin’s territory. He’s stopped by Robin (still recovering from his illness) and a temporary alliance between the Penguin and the GCPD.

During this story it’s also revealed that it’s been about two weeks since Tim and Dick entered Gotham.

However, this should be taken with a grain of salt since also in this story, Rene Montoya is shown to be back with the GCPD which, as I’ll get to in the next bullet point, implies that months must have passed since he entered.

Tim also calls his dad and lets him know that he’s in No Man’s Land. This leads to his dad calling his senator and the fact that Tim’s in No Man’s Land becomes a national news story.

Note: We’ll be coming back to this.

Two Face kidnaps Jim Gordon and holds a trial for him regarding the deal they previously made. Despite the fact that Two Face is literally the only person running the trial, Gordon is found Not Guilty. As a result of this trial Rene Montoya and her family are freed and Two Face is arrested, taking him off the map.

Look, please just read Batman #572 and Detective Comics #739. A summary does not do this justice.

Timeline wise, the trial reveals that Rene has been held by Two Face for five months. This would be at minimum, three full months and two parts of a month, meaning between 120 and 150 days have passed. This would put us between day 300 and day 330 of No Man’s Land. I’m going to assume day 300 since our next check in is day 312. Going off the New Year’s day zero date, this would put us in Late October.

Following this, Jim Gordon and Batman finally make up.

Catwoman re-enters Gotham and hands off the data to Batman (An event so important that it’s shown in near-identical detail in *three* separate comic issues. I’m not annoyed.)

This retroactively pushes Batman contacting her and her whole heist deal to happen circa day 300 of No Man’s Land.

At an unclear point in the chronology, while Barbara’s nursing Dick back to health, Petit’s faction attempts to kidnap Barbara. Huntress is initially aiding him, before turning against him (temporarily).

Our Next solid date Day 312 of No Man’s Land (November 8th):

Lex Luthor enters Gotham and begins to rebuild as part of a larger plot to gain control over Gotham.

The Joker begins making plans

Huntress is finding herself chafing more in her partnership with Petit

Roughly day 323 of No Man’s Land, an executive order is signed that will No Man’s Land on January 1st (the one year anniversary)

During the last month of No Man’s Land:

Lex Luthor and the government lead various rebuilding efforts

Azrael and Batgirl assist Batman in going up against the Joker a couple of times

Catwoman spends time messing with Lex Luthor

Batman convinces Bane to leave Gotham. We learn that he was apparently promised rule of Santa Prisca by Luthor in exchange for his services.

Christmas Eve (And at some point in the night, Christmas Day) — shit hits the fan.

The Joker makes his move, attacking Petit’s territory. Petit and many of his men are killed by the Joker. Huntress makes a final stand, nearly dying at the Joker's hands before Batman and Nightwing show up and chase the Joker away.

The Joker also kidnaps, like, all the babies in No Man’s Land, and also sets up a bunch of bombs, sending Batman and his allies racing on a search across Gotham

Sarah Essen (Gordon’s Wife) is shot and killed by the Joker

December 31st (and at midnight January 1st)

Sarah’s funeral happens.

Batman thwarts Lex’s plan to own all of Gotham with the help of Lucius Fox

No Man’s Land ends.

(Whew, that was like 2000 words of timeline.)

Appendix 1: Just how long did Tim spend in Gotham?

(Yes this timeline has appendices. I’ve put far too much thought into everything)

But wait! Remember how I said we’d come back to Tim calling his dad? That time is now. At some point in this timeline, pressured by public opinion, the president issues an executive order to extract Tim from No Man’s Land. The thing about this plot point is that I have *no* idea when it happens. It could happen anywhere between three weeks after Tim enters No Man’s land (so about day 210) to December.

If we go solely off the Robin comics, roughly two weeks after Tim enters No Man’s Land, he becomes a major new story and an unspecified amount of time later (though one that feels short) he is extracted. (The grass is green and there are leaves on the trees in the art implying summer or early fall at the latest).

However, in the main bat comics, Tim is shown popping up here and there in supporting roles until literally the end of No Man’s Land. We do know, at minimum, that Tim is out of No Man’s Land in time to spend Christmas Eve with his dad (before somehow sneaking out and into No Man’s Land in time to help out with the whole chasing down the Joker drama). There’s a panel where they sort of vaguely make a reference to the fact that Tim has been sneaking into No Man’s Land to help out Batman, but no indication as to how long that’s been going on.

So, in conclusion. Tim is extracted from No Man’s Land whenever is most convenient for whatever story you want to tell. I think in my personal timeline, I’d put it at roughly day 300 after the Batman and Gordon reconciliation to have it line up with Luthor putting PR pressure on the government, but honestly canon is so contradictory on this point that it could go any way.

Appendix B: My Personal Ideal No Man’s Land Timeline

So, as mentioned above. I will accept the New Year’s Black Monday date for some canon purposes. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. My ideal timeline (a.k.a the one I’m going to use when I end up writing fic) would end up extending No Man’s Land so that it begins earlier and lasts longer:

Late October/Early November: Day zero of No Man’s Land

Batman enters on Day 100 so roughly February

Day 127 of No Man’s Land (The land war, tail end of winter) lands in late March

Day 189 (Bats assemble, First day of summer) is placed in late May (a little early, but we can go more metaphorical here)

This is about where those extra months I added go, during all the vague Bat stuff that goes on before Luthor enters Gotham

Luthor still enters Gotham in November

All the Christmas stuff goes down the same. 

No Man’s Land still ends on New Year’s Day for the symbolism.

#no man's land #batman: no man's land #comics #barbara gordon #helena bertinelli #jim gordon #timeline #reference #comics timeline #tim drake #the cooler gotham antihero #this is long #like nearly 3000 words long #carthago delenda est #dc #bats + birds + affiliated

[bombusbombus]

hi hello

so i was reading your fic 'masking' and i

i knew gotham was like the chicago's south side, and the harlem, and the new orleans of the dc universe, but your description of clark's realizations about gotham made me realize just how much it would be like those places.

gotham is the coagulation of all the "black" areas, all the low income, crime ridden area's populated by marginalized folks in the united states, and god did you ignite gotham feels in me.

okay, so, imagine with me that gotham is declared the most multi-cultural city in new jersey (that's where it is, canonically, which im sure you know), that jason plays streetball with the black boys, that dick is often spotted at soup kitchens with the volunteers, that tim is organizing warm spaces in libraries and community centers, that damian helps out at animal shelters and makes them accessible for disabled people, that wayne industries constantly attempts to use their influence to get the city to remove the hostile architecture, that for the years that jason was dead, his gravestone was littered with orange petals and that prayers from families went up that robin would visit batman that year, that tales of batman saving people are told around thanksgiving tables, that folks will see black bat on their rooftops on lunar new year, seemingly enjoying the celebrations.

idk man, just imagining a melting-pot gotham that loves their heroes as much as their heroes love them is-

just thank you for your fic, friend :)

~malkolm :)

(p.s. sorry for the run on sentence and i know i could've commented on the fic directly but i haven't had the time to make an ao3 account and yeah sorry)

oh, I love love LOVE this. I know I didn't get into it very deep in the fic, but the way Gotham is always portrayed as a cesspool of crime always rubbed me the wrong way. So many DC writers use the same "crime" and "police" dogwhistles that politicians use about real neighbourhoods in underserved communities. It's really interesting how much certain writers' language around Gotham has roots in racist/classist policies in real life government.

But. If we extrapolate from that, if we do base Gotham off real cities with high crime rates, no wonder Bruce loves it. No wonder he sees something to fight for. And if we extrapolate Metropolis, a city with so little crime, of course it would be everything that those same politicians approve of---gentrified, bland, unwalkable and corporate. It doesn't feel like it could be anyone's home.

I'd much rather live in Gotham. I like your description of the ways the family could incorporate into the community, imo the community is so important. Any Batman who doesn't love the people and cultures of Gotham with an undying passion is not my Batman. Any writer who tries to boil Gotham down to empty gothic buildings and crime is NOT writing my Batman. Every building in that city is full of people leading vibrant, precious lives, and Bruce can't bear to see any of them reduced to a statistic.

If anyone knows specific comics that represent Gotham as a place full of life and love where real people live (not just obsessing over crime like Reagan-era propaganda) please rec them!! I've read some that are really sweet but haven't found nearly enough!

#hrhrgrgh I am mind melding with u #I DO think he enjoys the celebrations. I DO think he watches the fireworks. I think that's exactly what he fights for every day #a batman who doesn't care about fireworks and flowers? who even is he? Why is he fighting?? #“helping people” always has to come before “fighting crime” or else you've just written a cop. #Batman Is Not A Cop #sorry I am a little incoherent so if my sentence structure doesn't make sense. uhh I have no excuse

[brigittttoo]

94 78 58

(For the fanfic writer's ask game)

94. Do you prefer dialogue or description? -- ohoho, I think we all know the answer to this is definitely description. In real life I'm not a very talkative person, with a lot of social anxiety, and so often when I have to come up with dialogue for a fic I end up writing it in a lot of stops and starts. The most generous thing I can do for myself in making an outline or a rough is to draft out the gist of a major dialogue part and follow that when I actually write the scene, although sometimes even that doesn't go as planned. I've written dialogue based off my outline notes before and ended up completely switching who says what.

Description is also nice because I like making sure that worlds that characters exist in (even if the world is as small as a single room for a scene) feel real, and have substance, and have histories that don't all have to be told explicitly but can often just be inferred from a good description. This is going to sound insane but one of the major reasons why I was never as much into DC as Marvel was because Gotham and Metropolis felt so utterly fake; like it was semi-obvious (to a Canadian,,) what cities they were meant to be approximating but I never understood why they couldn't just be set in actual New York (or actual, uh,, New Jersey? is that where Gotham is supposed to be?) Anyways kudos to those few fics of DC media I've read where I am not so completely caught up in the fact that these are like movie set towns that have big plywood facades in front of a painted backdrop.

78. How do you choose where to end a chapter? -- Well I've only written two works that have multiple chapters, and both of these were planned out somewhat carefully. For Slow Waters, it turned out to be much of a classic three-act kind of thing, most likely because it was following the Pacific Rim movie, which (although I've never consciously kept track of this) was probably following its own three-act thing. And so----hold on I've just realised the fic is actually four chapters and an epilogue, so like. don't believe anything I say about writing, jeez wtf

I guess the real answer is "wherever I want to" but in general it feels motivating to end a chapter on the set-up for a new action, or solution, or new direction, so that one can end the whole story with the satisfying conclusion.

For The World Offers Itself I at least had decided very early on that the story should be structured by the different terrains that codywan travel through, but even then I found myself staggering the journey so that the chapter at least ends in the biome it's titled after, even if they don't quite start there.

58. What is the last thing that a fic made you google when you were writing it? -- The question I cannot answer although I so desperately wish to!!!! (to respect the rules of codywan remix challenge.) The spoiler-free version is that usually I google a lot of words, and use trusty thesaurus dot com for even more words.

The most non-spoilery google search I can provide is something that I looked up last night that isn't actually in the fic but that I was wondering because of thoughts around the fic, and it's the wikipedia page for Nicknames, of all things, particularly the interesting fact that the Vikings (the fic is Not about vikings) sometimes treated the giving and receiving of nicknames with such formal ceremony that it included an exchange of gifts, and was called "nafnfestr", or "name-fastening". So that's neat :)

#thank you very much for the questions lore!! #writing #mwah

[totesarchives]

Krollin' With My Homies

BY CARMEL LOBELLO • IMAGE BY KEVIN ZACHER

“You know who likes fried chicken? Black people. You know who else likes fried chicken? Everybody.”

Nick Kroll has been doing the fried chicken joke for a while, and wherever he is, whether he’s on Live at Gotham, performing on Jimmy Kimmel or on his home turf at Upright Citizen’s Brigade in Los Angeles, everyone in the room laughs. He has a sharp yet friendly way of delivering it—like he’s doing a bit with you rather than telling a one-sided joke. “I love doing stand up,” he says. “I love that you can grab a microphone and go anywhere in the country and talk to a group of people and make them laugh. And you don’t need props, you don’t need wigs, you don’t need anyone explaining anything. Everyone understands it. Sometimes they’re not gonna like you—but you know, I like that.”

Upright Citizen’s Brigade is a homebase for Kroll, a foundation to keep the emerging talent anchored as he spins his career through enough media channels to make your head spin. First there was the Internet—his shorts like “The Ed Hardy Boys” and his audition tape as Bobby Bottle Service for The Jersey Shore were some of the most-watched pieces of comedy online this year. Then there’s television, with HBO’s Life and Times of Tim and FX’s The League. Most recently he’s clawed his way onto the big screen with roles in four movies releasing this year.

If Nick Kroll were an outfit, he’d be described as “high-low.” If your shirt is from Target and it looks good enough to wear with your Chanel bag, then not only is it a damn good shirt, it’s also available to everyone. Being high-low is having range.

“I came up at UCB and this place called Rafifi’s in New York and Largo, and it’s a very specific audience that goes to these shows,” he explains. “It’s college educated, upper-middle class white people in their twenties and thirties.” The difference between Nick and most of the comics who come up in that scene, even the really good ones, is that most of them stay there. Being part of this hyper-intellectual community is both exciting and essential for Nick, but he has his eye on a much broader fan base.

“TThe people who I respect a lot like Louis CK, Chris Rock or Seinfeld—these guys can go and make anyone laugh. It doesn’t matter if it’s super blue collar or super rich, or whatever. They’re just funny. There are certain universal truths that everyone can understand, and I think that’s what I aspire to.” On the other hand, he’s careful to qualify, “If I only can make certain people laugh then so be it—I don’t want to tell jokes that I don’t think are funny to get a broader audience.:

At the high end of Nick’s “high-low” continuum are the characters he invents for his bits at UCB. “The UCB audience has a very specific point of view on the world,” Nick admits. “It’s very ironic.” Fabrice Fabrice, who was his first character to catch on with live audiences, is the vicious gay craft service guy on the set of That’s So Raven. He struts on to the stage at the start of every show in a pink polo belly-shirt, pink flip-down Uggs, and two pairs of sunglasses. Another UCB favorite is Gil Faison, an Upper West side [sic] divorcee with an affected accent, an affinity for Allan Alda [sic], and possibly a coke problem. In a skit at UCB in New York, Nick and John Mulaney gave a walking tour of the city in ribbed turtlenecks, blazers, and gray wigs. In front of a picture of Central Park Nick points to an imaginary passer-by and says, “Oh look at that, it’s a brown woman walking around with her white babies,” to which John responds, “Oh that is a genetic mystery.” “We applaud it,” says Nick. They then take the audience to “The hot cultural center, Times Squaaaaare”, where John comments, “You know the problem with an anonymous jerk-off booth, is that you still know who you are.” The audience laughs at every joke. They’re New Yorkers, so they get it.

Falling somewhere in the middle ground between the Chanel bag and the Target shirt is Nick’s TV work. There’s his role on FX’s The League, which has lately been getting him recognized on the streets by meatheads and bespectacled comedy nerds alike. Then there’s his role as Stu on the animated HBO series, The Life and Times of Tim. Nick describes Stu as “the kind of guy who eats garbage burritos and is totally in love with Tim’s girlfriend and talks about it openly in front of everyone.” The show is mostly improvised, and it was Nick’s first big job—one he got after a casting director saw him perform live. “My first audition literally on a skype [sic] internet phone from my friend’s place in Chinatown. We’ve done two seasons and it’s so fucking fun. The guests this year—Will Forte came in and Jennifer Coolidge came in and Super Dave Osborne came in. I got to improvise a scene with Elliot Gould. [sic] Bob Odenkirk and Bonnie Hunt came in. All these people who have been making their living in comedy for forty years—they just come in and I get to fuck around with them on a completely even playing field.”

On the mordantly delicious low end of his lowbrow side, Kroll has ensnared a huge audience obsessed with his newer personalities who live on the Internet. Bobby Bottle Service has been getting a lot of play lately—an Italian-American, Vaseline-lipped entrepreneur (record producing and pool cleaning) with a giant photo-realistic tattoo of his mother’s face on his back, Bobby Bottle Service has an audition tape for The Jersey Shore in which he promises to “Respect the shit out of those girls, like Snooki, who looks like she’s been smooshed down to the size of a bowling ball with a tan an fake nails, which is very attractive to me.” And the audition tape is a side project for Bobby B, who’s best known for solving crime in “The Ed Hardy Boyz,” an internet series Kroll writes and produces with with [sic] Jon Daly. The first episode is called “The Case of the Missing Sick Belt Buckle.” Kroll’s Internet characters aren’t just for people who work in the entertainment industry or live in a big city and are friends with the guy in the ticket booth at UCB. If you get MTV, you get these characters and you laugh.

And then there’s the Target shirt, that golden icon of low brow [sic] success. The Big Screen. Kroll has landed parts in four movies coming out this year—Get Him to the Greek with Jonah Hill and Russell Brand, Dinner for Schmucks with Steve Carrell [sic] and and Paul Rudd, Date Night with Tina Fey and Steve Carrell, [sic] and Little Fockers, in which he gets to do a scene with Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Robert De Niro. “It’s amazing to be in a scene with De Niro, but to be able to fuck around with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson and come up with a bit with Owen Wilson. I get to be like, What if we do this and what about that and do you like that? And they were like, Funny, we’ll do it.”

If you take Nick’s joke about fried chicken and replace “fried chicken” with “Nick Kroll” and “black” with “nerdy,” you have a picture of where he stands on the map. “I get to do so many different things simultaneously. I get to live and breathe comedy and make living doing it, and get recognized occasionally. There’s so many ways to create things and so many ways to let people know what you’re creating. That’s exciting for me.”

It’s like he’s on SNL, but with limitless creative freedom. On trusting his instincts, Kroll says, “What it comes down to is that I’m much more scared of regret than I am of rejection. And that makes me do embarrassing things. But I’d rather do embarrassing things than regret not having done them. And ninety-five per cent of the time I feel right. Everything is  a risk at various levels, and sometimes I’ll jokingly say—not even jokingly—that it’s easy to risk failure if you can’t conceive of not being recognized for what you do.” ⇼

__________

This article appeared in Issue 23 of Death+Taxes, published on April 7, 2010. Death+Taxes (2008-2010) is a defunct music and men’s lifestyle print magazine; it relaunched as a website in 2010 and was eventually acquired by SpinMedia in 2014, where it remains a culture and politics vertical of Spin.

Text and spread screenshot taken from Issuu.

#death+taxes #death+taxes issue 23 #death and taxes #April 7 2010 #carmel lobello #nick kroll #magazine #archive #digital archives #2010 #interview

[kyberphilosopher]

Hiss

[Part ii. of Bite] Jason’s been resurrected, only to find he’s been replaced as Robin. Luckily, an old enemy of the Batman has the attributes to help. Word Count: 6465

Warning[s]: guns, crime, language, crude humor, Mitski, non vegetarian reader, age gap, glorified taskmaster ally. Following part i the readers official gender is not disclosed. 

“Uh, Jason? We might wanna let god fix it, because if we fix it, we’re going to jail.”

☈ - ✮ ✭ ✮

Six months. That’s how long it took for Jason to die. Six. Whole. Months. In an abandoned warehouse, in some foreign country that he couldn’t even remember. He’d been fifteen, small for his age but fifteen nonetheless, when that clown had beat him. And what had Batman done? Nothing. He’d let him sit in that warehouse, in that foreign country, with that clown at age fifteen- for six months. And he had done nothing.

Not that it really matters now. It had, at one point, to Jason. He’s in denial that it still does. But to Batman? Oh, it never mattered at all. How long had it taken Bruce to replace his son? A week? A month? No, it had been six months. Barely. And the clown? He was safe and sound, very much alive and loose as he usually was. Batman had put him in Arkham, after a while, but of course it hadn’t lasted for very long. Jason’s death? That was permanent. At least until there was a new and improved and very much replaced Jason running with Batman, six months later. That was permanent too.

So one can imagine the confusion you felt when you opened the door to find a very much alive ex-Robin on your apartment doorstep. 

201 Arkham Street, apartment 317 Gotham City, Gotham County, New Jersey

That’s the address given to him by the Riddler. Putting him in Arkham seemed to be one thing that the Batman had got done during Jason’s little time away. Clearly it had ended up well enough for at least one person. Jason hadn’t even needed to threaten the Riddler out of riddling. In less than ten minutes, Edward Nygma had revealed the Mockingbird’s address, who they like and don’t like, what their suit was made of, and finally their name. Batman had always assumed Riddler and Mockingbird were best friends, birds of a feather with all the times the they’d seemed to make some kind of appearance by the others side. Some friend Riddler was now. 

Jason had snuck into the Batcave recently, and while going through files, decided to take a glimpse into Mockingbird’s just for the sake of curiosity. He wasn’t expecting much. When he was fifteen, it had been near empty. But sure enough, the file had been expanded upon relatively greatly in the past- what? Four years? That sounded right. But one thing that hadn’t changed was your seemingly long standing friendship with Edward Nygma, the Riddler. Still, so much for it. 

Batman had seemingly made a note of allies of theirs, then crossed out multiple names. Poison Ivy, Bane, Deadshot- and yes- the Riddler, stayed. Scarecrow, Black Mask, and Catwoman were all shockingly crossed out. Jason hadn’t expected the last one. Below the allies were the list of crimes. That had changed too. They’d gotten more violent towards the end of the list, straying away from the Mockingbird that the ex-Robin had known. Mockingbird had picked a fight with Dick’s Nightwing enough times for Batman to make a note of too. Before Jason could get to the new pictures of Mockingbird, he quickly closed the file. Didn’t need to see anymore. 

So based on what he had gathered, you should’ve looked different. He’d memorized your face when he was fifteen. Was expecting it to have changed compared to then. But when you open the door and Jason’s face to face with you, Mockingbird, it’s like the first time. Only your eyebrows have gotten slightly darker, and your eyes have rung with dark circles. 

✮ ✭ ✮

The same can’t be said for Jason Todd, however, who you let into your apartment rather quickly. 

You’d done your research on him, too, but only after you’d heard about his death. A death which was confirmed. After locking the door and beginning to turn around, he answers the question before you can ask. 

“Superboy and Lazarus Pits.”

“Ah,” you respond, crossing your arms. The man stands tall in your living room, though it’s not forced. You’ve got no idea what a Lazarus Pit is, but it seems to have changed the Robin you knew before. He was scrawny before. He puffed his chest out before. He had something to prove before. Now his broad shoulders make him look bigger naturally. He could reach up and touch your ceiling with no effort. His face and jaw are masculine and strong, eyes bright green and blue and cyan like you remember. That’s how you know it’s Jason Todd.

“It’s because of the power struggle, isn’t it?” says Harley beside you as you both look over the side of the roof, her flat on her belly and you crouched on the ledge in watch. 

“Hm?” you’d tossed back through your voice changer, not even looking away from the busy street below. 

“Jay killed the Robin,” Harley chirps. “You know- Batman’s little boyfriend? In the shorts and the tights with the flips and the kicks? Oh, that kid went bing, bang, boom. Jay’s been real pumped about it.”

This had made you turn to Harley Quinn. You looked at her over your shoulder, still in position. Though you hadn’t thought about it at the time, it was a good thing she couldn’t see through your mask right about now. 

“The kid?” you say at last. 

“Yeah! Jason Todd! Ya’ know him?”

Harley doesn’t look at you, bubbly as ever in her own world. But you watch her for a moment. Then you turn back around to the direction of the street. “No.”

“Well I’m sayin I bet that’s why there’s so much crime goin’ on now. Old Batty’s got it...”

“I heard,” you tell Jason, before he can go into further detail. He nods once in understanding, in line with a breath, and then looks around the room. Your apartment is small, seemingly in decay, and looks like a shithole. Just like the rest of the building. 

“Mockingbird, I presume,” he offers finally. “Y/N L/N was it?”

You nod once, holding your gaze at the ground in thought before taking a step toward your kitchen. It’s close by to the living room. So close, in fact, that your island counter practically touches the back of your couch. “Robin,” you greet in turn. 

“My name’s Ja-”

“I know what your name is.”

Just then a sprinkle of dust falls from your ceiling, mixing with dirt and shit and pollen. “Nice place,” Jason condescends. 

“I’m sorry,” you put your hands on your counter as you lean in to look at him. “Weren’t you under the ground not too long ago?”

“Weren’t you in jail not too long ago?”

“I never went to jail.”

“But your buddy Ed did didn’t he?”

Your eyebrows crease, and Jason notices you lean forward a fraction of an inch more. He got to you. “How do you know about Edward?”

Jason Todd gives a small smile. His right hand reaches up until it’s poking the side of his head a few times. “Bat knowledge.”

You frown tightly. “Don’t do that. I didn’t like that.”

“You like beating up Dick Grayson?”

You shift. “Yeah. I did.”

“And Catwoman? Huh?”

“Yeah,” you say a little louder. “I did. What wonder boy? You wanna see the scar to prove it?”

“Okay,” Jason huffs. He closes his eyes, his jaw clenching, and then he speaks softer to control himself. “Okay. I’m not Boy Wonder anymore, or wonder boy. Don’t call me that.”

You look him up and down. His eyes, his jaw, his brows. The Robin you knew those years ago. He’d been beaten and blown up. He must’ve cried for help. 

“Okay,” you say, equally as soft. “But just for the record, I haven’t been the Mockingbird for years. Can’t really call me that either.”

“Why not?” Jason Todd questions, turning around so his back faces you while he observes your apartment. You can see his muscles through his shirt. 

Because you were just a kid. Because I liked you. Because you didn’t deserve it. Because Batman didn’t help. Because you were replaced. Because most of my friends laughed it off. Because I couldn’t go after Joker myself. Because I got angry. 

“Just grew out of it,” you shrug instead, turning around. You open your dirty fridge and pull out a bottle of lemonade and two glasses. “What are you doing here, Jason?” you say as you pour the drink, your back now turned to him. 

“I need your help.”

“Whatever with?”

“I’m thinking of getting a little...” Jason’s voice goes low into something like a masculine purr, “...revenge on Batman.”

“You came back from the dead,” you turn around with two glasses of lemonade, “to get revenge on the Batman? That’s your great plan?”

“No,” Jason says simply. He’s since turned around so he’s facing you. “Screwing with the Batman is just a piece of the fun. He’s nothing.”

Jason accepts the glass that you hand to him. You sit down on your couch in front of his figure. That simple motion is enough to bring out some more dust from your walls. “So what’s the revenge?” you take a sip of the sweet, gritty liquid. It coats your teeth strangely in seconds. 

“New Robin. Ever heard of Tim Drake?”

You stop your sip, looking up at the big, broad Jason. You can already tell where this is going. “Uh, Jason? We might wanna let god fix it, because if we fix it, we’re going to jail.”

His brows shoot up. “You hit me in the face with a pipe.”

“I didn’t hit you. You walked into my swing. But you wanna go after the kid, Jason? Really?”

“Yeah.” He crosses his arms so his forearms flex. 

“Tim Drake?”

“Yeah.”

You roll your eyes in thought. On one hand, you hadn’t been Mockingbird for years. You stopped when you were eighteen, and you’re twenty one now. Not that it’s helped you very much. You’re still struggling in a shithole, broke and unhappy and no longer able to afford school. And Tim Drake hasn’t really done anything wrong. But on the other hand, Batman is a dick, and you really stopped liking him after what happened to the former Robin. You’d wanted to go after him and the Joker for it, but you’re not far enough in the Gotham food chain for that. Trading swings with Selina was as close as you got. 

“Alright.” You stand. You’re not even close to Jason’s height. “Lay out the deal. You got a suit?”

✮ ✭ ✮

And that’s how you and Jason Todd ended up on a roof that night. You, at the crisp age of twenty one, and he at what you suppose is his version of nineteen. Still working on wrapping your head around that one. 

You’ve pulled out your Mockingbird suit from under the bed. It was a bit dusty, but not hard to slip into. Everything seems in place. It’s just old. Your voice scrambler is still working okay and all the eyes light up efficiently. Jason’s got a suit too. 

“I don’t,” Jason answers, his face suspicious. His eyes are twinkling as he looks down at you. It’s so hard to believe he’s just a boy- or was, last you saw him. 

“Don’t worry,” you tell him. “I got you.”

You lead Jason to your room, into your closet, and into a space even farther back where an illuminated glass case the size of several yard sticks stands. It must cost more than your whole apartment. Inside of it is a metal suit like a military uniform, similar to Bruce’s Batsuit but with an Arkham emblem over the chest. 

“Call it the Arkham Knight. You like it?”

“Where did you get this?” Jason steps forward, raking his eyes up and down the design. Bruce would hate it. 

“I stole it from the Batcave.”

“The whole display case?” Jason snaps to you. Then his brows shoot up and he takes a step closer. “How do you know where the Batcave is?”

“How did you know where my apartment is? And yes, I took the whole case. It was just sitting there.”

Jason turns back around to the suit. It’s growing on him. He admires it. It’s perfect. The Arkham symbol will put the Batman into a state of despair. “Hard to believe you and Selina aren’t friends anymore.”

“We never were,” you mutter back. It’s really not his business that you ended so many partnerships because of his death.

“You’re sure this is the place?” you question. It sends Jason into a state of euphoria, hearing the distorted villainy of your voice again. It feels like the first time too, just like when he saw your face again. It feels how it did when he was fifteen and infatuated with the Mockingbird. It’s almost dizzying. It’s just strange to hear it knowing that now you’re on the same side. 

“Yeah,” he answers through his helmet. His voice is distorted too. “This is the place.”

You’re overlooking a Gotham street at night, something you’ve both discovered vigilantes, heroes, and villains do a lot of. Smoke fills the air along with police sirens and building lights. You’re positioned in one of the outer districts though, away from most of the commotion. 

“I can’t remember the last time I was here,” you say, half to yourself. 

“I can,” Jason says back. “When I ran with Batman. Last year. I was fifteen.” Jason's voice drops. “Or was I...”

You frown behind your own mask. Of course. Jason died four years ago, and he was fifteen when that happened. He came back- you’re not sure when- older and stronger and behind on the changes of the world. He must not know about social media, or the latest television crazes, or the new roads in Gotham. It makes you sad. 

All Jason sees when he meets your eyes through his visor is several red slanted lines. You’re both unreadable through your helmets. 

“There’s a good restaurant down on this corner,” you both turn back to the street, crouching in wait. “Maybe B-Man likes it.”

“He never eats,” says the ex-Robin. “Never sleeps. Never does anything.”

“You know he broke my buddy Scarecrow’s bones last Halloween?” you scoff. “Literally for not knowing where Black Mask is. Your old boss is weird as hell.”

Jason cocks an eyebrow you can’t see. “Thought you weren’t friends with Scarecrow anymore?”

“Anymore? B-Man keeping tabs on me?”

“He keeps tabs on everyone,” Jason shakes his head. “You’re just a file.”

“Hm,” he hears you say. Contemplate, more like. You speak again after a moment of silence. “Well Scarecrow and me are fine, thank you for asking.”

Jason scoffs. “He your boyfriend or something?”

“My boyfriend’s over in Metropolis.”

Oh. 

“How’s your girl?” Your head snaps to Jason at once, hands twitching around. “Or guy.”

He tosses a look to you that you can’t see, but you can guess at. Somewhere between ‘what the hell’ and ‘why the hell’ and an eye roll with furrowed brows. 

“Come on. Rose Wilson seems your type. Ooh, Artemis?” You suddenly nudge his arm with your elbow. “Batgirl? Is it Dick?”

Another look is thrown your way. This time it feels more angry. “Whatever, Robin,” you offer lightly. 

It dawns on you that perhaps Jason has never had a partner before. That seems more likely, especially after thinking about his situation, and suddenly you feel bad. It’s too late to vocalize an apology now though.

“Fine,” you say at last. “Let’s just stop talking.”

“Let’s do.”

✮ ✭ ✮

It starts raining not long after that. 

The drops bounce off your suits harmlessly. There’s still no sign of this Tim Drake and Batman. 

“Hey,” you break the silence. “Has anyone ever told you you look exactly like a statue?”

“Must be a resurrection thing.”

“Yep.”

The rain falls harsher.

“So,” Jason begins. “I have to ask. How do you do the- the…” he spins his pointer fingers around rapidly.

“What the fuck are you doing? What is that? No- what is that right there?”

“The thing that you do.”

“I’ve never done that in my life, Jason. What is that? Finger jiu jitsu?”

You hear Jason suck in a breath as he turns away. “You think you’re so funny.”

“You asked me for help. And between the two of us- who has died here? Not me. I’m hilarious.”

“Oh,” he scoffs. “So hilarious.”

“You seemed to think so. When…” your voice trails off. You almost wanted to mention that night in the warehouse to him. A memory of him looking up at you, his hands bound behind his back as he stares in wonder flashes in your mind. But it doesn’t linger for long. Movement in the street catches your eye. “Jason.”

Both your heads snap down to the place below. Sure enough, after a few seconds, a figure steps into view of the moonlight. A skinny kid with dark hair and a bright red and yellow costume. He looks younger than Dick or Jason.

“That’s him,” your partner says. He reaches behind his back and pulls out a long rod. It unfolds with a click that you recognize- the click of a gun.

“What?” you furrow your brows. “Woah- what?”

“I’m gonna shoot him,” Jason tells you casually, fiddling around with the weapon. It’s coming into shape more and more as a sniper rifle.

“That is a child,” you whisper hiss. “He’s like ten!”

“I don’t think he’s ten,” Jason puts his eye over the scope. “This is revenge.”

“Please, do not shoot a child for replacing you in your job of tightie whities vigilante.”

Jason huffs through his mask and looks over at you. “What did you think this was, bird?”

“I thought we were just like, gonna kick him in the balls or something! This is exactly what I meant by ‘we are going to jail’! I told you we should’ve let god fix it!”

“He’ll be fine.”

You knock the rifle out of the Arkham Knights hands with a bang. It clambers across the roof top until it’s nearly over the edge, half on half off.

Jason and you go down at once, shoulder to shoulder in a tackle. Thunder booms overhead. Through his visor, Jason sees you raise a white, gauntleted fist back in a punch, aimed right for his face. Luckily, he manages to catch you by the torso and neck and throw you off.

When he pushes himself to his knee and foot in a kneel, he looks up to find an exact replica of himself. Not literally, of course, but looking at you is like looking into a mirror. Your hand is placed on the rooftop the same way his is. Your knees are bent at the exact same angle as his own. When Jason cocks his head to the side slowly, yours follows him at the same time. So this is what it means to fight the Mockingbird.

He decides to reach for the gun at the side of his leg. He manages to fire once- and miss- a bang going off that he’ll be lucky Drake doesn’t hear over the storm. You knock the gun out of his hands easily, dodging a punch to the stomach before countering with one of your own to his face. It hits the exact same way Jason’s do. He sees your knuckles coming closer to him and almost thinks they’re his own.

Next idea is toss you off the building. Key word: you. Not him.

Jason grips the back of your head through your hood, reaching around. He carries you with him while he stands, tensing his abs as he feels you hammer your elbow away at them. It’s the knee to his crotch that makes him let go and let out a strangled groan.

But before anything else can happen, you spring forward at him in a pounce. Your palms latch onto his shoulders. His feet disconnect from the surface of the roof and the both of you go backwards until neither one of you are on the building at all, over the side.

Jason gets tangled in the emergency stair well. His metal suit clangs against it as he falls and tumbles down, either causing or saving some head injuries. You hit your back on an old street light before landing in a trash bin.

This is it, you manage to think to yourself. Lying in a garbage bin in Gotham at night. And in the rain. This is rock bottom.

I am going to kill everyone on the block for this, thinks Jason.

✮ ✭ ✮

You do eventually get up and remove yourself from the garbage bin. Jason sits at the bottom of the stairs, watching you. You do not exchange words. He does, however, follow you down the street as you essentially stomp.

“Ma’am,” he offers quietly to a gawking older woman.

You enter a small restaurant. More of a diner, really. The door jingles as it opens, and Jason watches you walk to the side until you find a table by the window. You sit down with a huff, tapping one of your helmets red eyes. He shuffles into the space ahead of you, nearly skirting the table across the floor with the bulk of his own muscle and suit. He can feel your judgy eyes on him as he clambers into the seat like a large, run down father.

“Hi there,” a chirpy waitress bounds. She’s a large, redheaded woman in a bright yellow uniform and a hat with a spring connected to a plastic burger on top. It is ridiculous, funny, and you are sadly not in the mood. “My, aren’t you two some interesting looking people! We don’t get a lot of men of metal around here!”

You both look at her silently, masks on but hatred seeping through boredly.

“What can I get you tonight?”

“A gun,” you drawl tiredly, rubbing your palms over your mask.

“We’re not sellin’ those right now, my dear. Something else?”

“Two cheeseburgers would be fine,” Jason speaks up for you.

“Two burgers,” the waitress repeats with a smile, writing it down in her burger notepad. Her cheeks are rosy as she beams happily. “And should I be expecting Superman?”

“Die,” you snap to her, watching her hurry off to the kitchen. Then you put your head down in your folded arms on the table.

Jason glanced around. It’s empty except for the two of you and some dumpy guy in a trucker hat with wide eyes. “What’re you staring at?” Jason all but barks. Normally, he tries to make himself as unnoticeable as possible in public. Not very confident or secure, it seems. But now he’s tired. He just fell down about a million floors worth of metal stairs. It’s late and he lost two of his guns.

“What?” you raise your head, also looking at the trucker hat man. “You’ve never seen two people in superhero suits before?”

“Beat it,” Jason orders.

The man is quick to stand and speed walk away. Still you egg on, “get out of here, bozo!”

“What a fuckin’ prick,” Jason grumbles as he watches the man trip down the street through his view from the window, the door still ringing to signal it’s been opened.

“Yeah,” you agree tiredly.

Your nimble fingers reach up and back to push your white hood from your head. Then they click against the sides of your face and pull the helmet away, revealing your face. You inhale as if you couldn’t get enough air before. Jason watches you, still as a statue, his visor giving him the luxury of being able to monitor your breathing.

“Now what?” you gripe, rubbing your eyes. It can’t be comfortable with all the armor on your hands, but you don’t seem bothered. You must’ve gotten used to it by now.

The Arkham Knight ahead of you only cocks his head to the side slightly. Silent with his helmet. “I’ll help you punch Tim but that’s as far as I’ll go.”

“Why are you defending this kid?” you hear Jason breathe in return. For a split second, electricity runs through you at the sound of his distorted voice, the way his body looks in his suit of armor and how unreadable he is through the helmet. It shocks you all the the way down to your crotch.

“You know,” you begin, eyes widening and voice quieting with a sudden nervousness. “He’s just a kid. Younger than you were.”

Jason scoffs and turns his head away from you, now looking out the window. Gotham is dark and damp outside. “Bullshit,” he scoffs. Then after a few seconds and continues. “Tim Drake and I are the same age.” His head pulls back slightly, fingers giving a strange, sudden twitch. “Or were. We’re-”

You’ll never know what Tim Drake and Jason Todd were. Jason never finishes his sentence, and only his suit flashes with little codes and details to let you know he’s still alive in there. Besides that, he’s as still, lost in sudden thought. You frown and lean in a bit, tapping your elbow with your fingers while you shift uncomfortably. “You’re nineteen, Jason.”

His head twitches again. Now you know he’s heard you. “I’m two years older than you,” you reason. “You’re nineteen.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “Why did you let me go?”

Your eyebrows scrunch and unscrunch. Another wave of electricity shocks down your body, but this time it’s because his voice sounded more like his own. You could hear it under the layers of metal and distortion. But option one is to respond to his question by pretending you don’t know what he’s talking about. That seems like it’s for the best.

“You were just a kid,” you tell him honestly. He silently presses you on. “And I just- I looked at you and I…” I really liked you, kid. Best night I had in years. Made me smile. God, you had to stop working with so many other Gotham city villains just for making jokes about the kid. “You were fifteen,” you say, looking away. “Just a kid.”

Jason watches you. Again, your head turns so you look out the window. He would’ve expected that to be the end of it, but you continue. “Why didn’t you turn me in?”

Jason’s about to pretend to not know what you’re talking about, because it seems like it’s for the best that way. But then he remembers you can’t see anything through his helmet. “What’re you talking about?” he gruffs.

“You saw my face in that warehouse,” you press. “If you had told Batman, I would’ve been to jail. Maybe Arkham. But that never happened. So why didn’t you tell him?”

I was obsessed with you, Jason’s mind screams. In love with you! It hisses, which makes Jason cringe. “Guess you were a kid too.” That’s right. You were seventeen back then. What is that? Last year of high school? You balanced a criminal career and the required education for a minor at the same time. Where were your parents during this?

Jason bites down on his lip hard. Parents. Should shut up about that, probably.

“I’m uh,” you bite your lip and then lick it. “I’m sorry for pushing you. On the roof.”

He shifts. “It’s nothing.”

You turn back to the window. Your arms uncross from atop the table and go to rest in your lap. This close and this still, Jason can make out all the details in your suit. It’s impressive. Kevlar and rubber and plastic, the Riddler had told him. Not the gloves. That’s metal and plastic. 

“So,” Jason decides. “How do you that?” Your brows crease in confusion. He tries to do the finger motions he’d down before, which makes you cringe. “The mirroring. And the fighting and the…” he goes through the motions again. “It in your helmet?”

Your confusion sinks away. A new expression washes over your face as you lean in. One finger reaches up, poking your temple and you smile softly. “Bat knowledge.”

Just then, the waitress saves the day. “Two cheeseburgers for the scary suit people!” she beams, setting the plates down. For a second, her breasts are pressed into each of your faces. Jason first, who does not move and you can’t see under the helmet. You bite back a snicker but instead seep a childish look. Then you’re next, and you can feel Jason’s silent laugh under his Arkham Knight suit as your eyes go wide. “Enjoy, dears!”

“Boobs,” you shiver. “Just got boobs in my face.” And then Jason watches you carefully pick up the burger in your dangerous gloves, and take a bite.

Indeed, for the first time that night, the man in front of you reaches up and pulls off his own helmet with a click. You watch it be taken into his large, veiny hands and passed to the edge of the table, against the wall of the window. Then your eyes wander up to his face, which makes you chew slower.

A strong face. Sharp jaw, perfectly in line nose. Lips always pulled into a scowl. Bright eyes with tired circles and scars across his skin. There’s a streak of white in his dark hair you hadn’t noticed at all before, though now it’s practically blaring you in the face. Jason Todd is very handsome. 

“What?” he says behind his burger, raising it to his lips but freezing before he can bite into it.

You shrug and focus again on your burger. You hear Jason bite into his own.

“I don’t have any money,” you tell him after a moment, swallowing down a bite.

“Me neither,” Jason answers. He nudges his head towards the window. “There’s an ATM across the street.” You nod in response.

A few bites in you speak again. The minutes have been filled with the noises of chewing and swallowing and yummy meat and cheese. “You ever heard of Mitski?”

Jason swallows his bite, which are bigger than yours. “What?”

“Mitski,” you repeat. “The singer?” Jason shakes his head. “You seem like you’d like her. My boyfriend hates her.”

Jason’s brows twitch.

“Why aren’t you with him?” he questions, taking another bite.

You roll your eyes. “Too expensive. He’s-”

“But he lives there.”

“He just didn’t offer,” you shrug. “I don’t have the money anyway. It’s fine.”

Jason cocks a brow. Your own boyfriend didn’t offer to get you out of this shithole?

You roll your eyes. “We haven’t talked in a long time okay? He’s busy. I’m busy.”

Both of Jason’s brows raise now, almost playfully. “Busy with what?”

You’d be offended if you weren’t busy trying to answer. What were you busy with? After you graduated, money went dry with university. It became less frequent after retiring from the Mockingbird mantle. Most of your jobs were minimum wage and short lived. You’re a bartender now, but not somewhere that’ll keep you going probably. Most days you sit around the apartment or run errands, sometimes hosting Ivy. Last time she’d been over, she’d given you a plant that had quickly died and spoke about Harley quite a bit. And Riddler obviously doesn’t come over anymore. Scarecrow had once but he’s off doing god only knows now. 

“Shut up,” you hiss. “What are you busy with?”

“Controlling crime in Gotham,” Jason takes a bite.

“How’s that working out for you?”

“Well.”

“You know you didn’t have to ask me to do this,” you say. “You could’ve just asked someone else. There’s a lot of people in Gotham okay with child killing.”

“I wanted you,” Jason explains. He’s quick to speak again to keep you from thinking about his words. “You were the first person I thought of.”

You’re nearing the end of your burger. “How did you find me?”

Jason shrugs mid-chew. He’s almost done as well. “Riddler.”

“Gave me away that easy?”

“Yep.”

You chew your last bite. It was a good and hearty burger, the cheese melting perfectly against the patty and your tongue.

“You want anything else?” Jason asks.

You watch the street outside, eyes squinting on the ATM. “Jason,” you mutter. “Jason.”

✮ ✭ ✮

Three men snicker as they load up dark blue duffel bags. They’re slimey and smelly, like an old sewer. Money falls from the machine like a waterfall.

Their success doesn’t last long.

One of them comes in contact with the Mockingbird’s elbow and slams his head into a brick building. The other two are just inexplicably on the ground, incapacitated while the Arkham Knight stands overhead.

“Fuck,” you breathe through your helmet. “I missed this.”

Jason’s just picked up the duffel bag when the sudden sound of sirens blare through the air. It’s close. Too close.

“Well that’s no good,” you mutter. You turn to Jason, taking a sharp step forward. “Give it to me.”

His brows furrow under the mask.

“I’ll pay the waitress,” you say. “You run.”

Jason reaches behind his belt and shifts the weight of the bag into one hand. A gun appears- a small handgun. You duck down as he raises it at you, holding your head down as the BANG! rings through the air.

You stand back to your feet, bracing yourself at the sudden sight. The Arkham Knight charges you, but only to pick you up like you’re nothing and jump through the glass window he previously shot at. The adrenaline makes things hazy, but you can see the blue and red lights now. It doesn’t matter. The two of you fly across what turns out to be a pawn shop, burst through the back door and back room until you hit the cold outside air of Gotham again. Multiple doors slam shut behind you. You’re both out of breath and panting, and it’s raining again. This time in an alleyway.

But the cops won’t follow you out here.

It’s quiet besides the panting from you two. Jason has more endurance, you’re sure, but you can hear his breathing inside his helmet. He lets the duffel bag slip out of his grasp as you double over. “I did miss that,” you offer. “Running from the police.” The Arkham Knight just continues his breathing.

“Thank you,” you tell him.

✮ ✭ ✮

Two days after the incident, you enter your apartment lazily. Your keys are tossed onto the island counter before you wander through your mail. One of your letters is from Ed in Arkham, warning you about “some big guy asking about you”. A bit late for that now. You haven’t heard from Jason since that night.

It isn’t until you go to sit on your couch that you notice a large, nearly bursting open envelope. Your fingers stretch to reach it, examining it. No return address, but written in pen in sloppy letters is the word “Bird”. Luckily, it doesn’t feel like a bomb. It feels more soft but firm.

You open the envelope. Your breathing hitches, breath slowing when you see what’s inside. Then a smirk comes over your face.

Just then, dust falls from your shitty apartment ceiling.

✮ ✭ ✮

A week after the failed Tim Drake incident, a young man decides to pay a visit to your building. He is tall and strong, with raven hair laced with a white streak at the front. He frowns at everything, ducking his head to make himself smaller and less noticeable. He cares not for being perceived by other people. He’s well aware of how he looks.

The man’s knuckles tap against apartment 317. He shifts, looking back and forth. The man is quite attractive in is casual red hoodie and jeans, but he wants to be out of the open as soon as he can. After a moment, there is no response from inside.

He scrunches his brows and knocks again. When he takes a step closer, he can hear something from the inside. Music. A piano and drums and maybe an organ?

Jason twists the door knob with ease and steps ahead and inside. The apartment is completely and totally empty. The music becomes louder and more clear. It’s a female singer he doesn’t recognize.

Only the bones of the kitchen remain. Counters, cabinets, a sink, and an old fridge. There’s mold in the corner of the space. But in the middle of the floor where the couch and living room used to be is a cluster of things. Things meant for Jason Todd. 

The man eyes the pile for a few seconds. Then he sets towards it. The first thing he recognizes is a CD player with the volume turned all the way up. He still doesn’t know the song.

Besides the player is a suit he’s quite familiar with. It’s clunky, but folded as neatly as it can be given that it’s made of metal. On the top is the helmet that gives it away. The Arkham Knight suit. It sits on a dark duffel bag in front of a small white piece of paper with the promise of ink inside. Jason decides to open that first.

You’re coming back… and it’s the end of the world…

Haha! I knew you’d show up!

Jason nearly rolls his eyes at the first sentence.

Thanks for the money. I know it was you. Thanks for the fun night too. Sorry about hitting your balls. They felt really big if that makes you feel better.

It didn’t.

I was thinking of Metropolis, but what do you know, me and the boy toy decided it might be better to hold off on it. I got a bit of dirt on the kid by the way. You’ll find it on the back of this paper. Oh and I hope you like the Mitski soundtrack. I bet Drake’s the kind too. I’m going to keep the Mockingbird suit if you don’t mind. I guess our night of fun kinda reignited an old flame. Don’t even think about coming after me.

Son of a bitch, Jason internally screams.

I have a gift for you though. You get the Arkham Knight. You look good in it. And a little something extra in the bag by the way. 

Love, Mockingbird.

I just need a quiet place… where I can scream, how I love you…

Indeed, inside the duffel bag Jason Todd finds some cash and red fabric with an R emblem over the chest. He doesn’t need to pull the rest out to understand what it is. He decides not to question how you got his old Robin suit or when, but lets himself smile a bit, his chest expanding with his breath. It’s a real smile too. 

You’ve given Jason everything he needs to go after Tim Drake himself.

✮ ✭ ✮

I hope I’ve ruined everyone’s day. You think I would let the reader and Jason be happy together? You absolute baffoon. Maybe I’ll make a part three for gits and shiggles though. I’m not sure about this one. Definitely more based around their interactions than the drama unlike the first one. It was fun though. I hit the paragraph limit. I think I did a good job with the chemistry. I do apologize for giving the reader a real set in stone age though. I don’t like to to that because I think it takes away the point of having a ‘reader’. Also if you’re vegetarian please just eat a cheeseburger it’s so good y’all are weird. Oh and fun fact I just got a Red Hood tattoo on Saturday! Look at me go!

Tagging everyone who asked for a part ii: @yunho-leeknow @fyowyn-writes @martianmilfhunter @beardedfandiplomatprofessor

#dc robin x reader #dc jason todd x reader #jason todd x reader #robin x reader #x reader #redhood x reader #red hood x reader #dc redhood x reader #dc red hood x reader #red hood imagine #dc red hood imagine #dc redhood imagine #jason todd imagine #imagine #imagines #jason todd imagines #redhood imagines #dc redhood imagines #dc fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #red hood fanfction #redhood fanfiction #jason todd fanfiction #jason todd angst #jason todd fluff #red hood angst #red hood fluff #fluff #angst

[bigfan-fanfic]

I don't know why, but for some reason, I thought of Batdad early in the relationship between himself and Bruce not having a lot of followers. Like, it's early in 2000's and the LGBTQ community haven't really made a big stand in society, so the thought of Bruce marrying Batdad was horrifying. But once it gets later into the century he starts gaining more followers and contributions and love from people.

Alright, let's say that Dick is 13 years younger than Bruce and Batdad. And we say modern day Batdad, in 2022, is 35. That makes Dick 22, Jason 18, etc.

If we go off of the idea that Dick was someone in his tweens when he lost his parents, let's say the middle range between the youngest and oldest I've heard of and say 11, that means Batdad and Bruce adopted Dick 11 years ago, in 2011, when they were both 24.

And if we say Bruce and Batdad got legally married at 18 so that Batdad could take over Wayne Enterprises, and Bruce went around the world for 5 years, that means that Bruce and Batdad were 23 when he returned. So he had been Batman for about a year before adopting Dick. All this tracks. So that means Batman came into operation in 2009-2010, and it was 2004 when they, at 18, theoretically married. Researching this confirms gay marriage was not legal in either New York or New Jersey (the states where Gotham could theoretically be located) and would not be until, coincidentally, 2011 and 2013, respectively.

So imagine being 18 in 2004, when President Bush affirmed support of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, when San Francisco briefly allowed same-sex marriage and a few months later had to void all the marriages they allowed. Imagine Bruce and Batdad ducking away to New Paltz, New York for the day to have a civil marriage ceremony and then seeking a certificate only to find that Jason West, the mayor who had officiated, had been charged for "solemnizing marriages without a license". Oh, fuck, imagine going through the next 5 years without the boy you love at your side, having to run a whole-ass company with his name on it and skyrocketing in notoriety as a gay public figure and suddenly it seems like everybody hates you. Imagine having people constantly questioning your control of the company because you can't legally marry the man you love, who has left you to the wolves. Imagine this all while there are still no laws protecting you from discrimination based on sexual orientation. (If in New Jersey, civil unions for same sex couples become allowed in December of 2006. If in New York, a marriage equality bill keeps being proposed but keeps getting shot down.)

In 2010, after 5 years of dealing with all this shit in your own professional and personal life, all on your own except for the man who raised you when your parents wouldn't, the man you love comes back and immediately makes your life THAT MUCH HARDER by starting to do the vigilante thing. However, on June 24th, 2011, same-sex marriage became legal in New York state, meaning that Batdad and Bruce could be legally married starting July 24th. Adoption is a simpler issue, as the state of New York had a history of allowing same-sex couples to adopt, so Bruce and Batdad could may have been able to obtain guardianship of Dick and then later adopt him.

But yes, imagine Batdad having to go through so much by himself, facing discrimination and hardship at every turn, but eventually being able to marry the man he loves and start a family together, and being an inspiration for those that were like them. And pushing for equality, to help LGBTQ+ people who aren't as fortunate as him to have the benefit of wealth and connections, and eventually becoming a beloved figure in the city he once thought hated him for who he was.

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 3

So, I know it’s been a long time waiting for this chapter but it’s finally done! It is 3500+ words of Thana’s overprotective friends and Jason being an overprotective dad/brother.

Before I get into the chapter, I’m going to go over a few words that might trip you up. All of the translations are courtesy of Google Translate so if I’m using a word wrong feel free to correct it.

Baba is Papa. Aleuma is Auntie. Kutlat Saghira is Little Nugget.

Thana stood in front of the class, carefully going over her note cards for her presentation.

Mlle. Bustier smiled at the class before clapping. “Okay, everyone. Let’s settle down and give Ms. Dupain-Cheng our full attention.”

Lila, ever the attention seeker, allowed crocodile tears to well up in her eyes. “Mlle. Bustier. She’s going to copy my presentation. It’s not fair.”

Thana glanced up at the other girl, her blue-grey eyes cold. “Well, Lila. If you’d paid attention, you would know that M. Dupain and Mme. Cheng are my adoptive parents. I’m not doing my presentation on Italy. I’m doing my presentation on Gotham City, New Jersey, USA.” She nodded towards Mlle. Bustier and waited for her to put the slides up on the board before turning to look at the class. “Gotham City, New Jersey, USA is called the ‘most crime-ridden city’ by the locals. The GCPD, or Gotham City Police Department, is exactly what it sounds like. The police department of Gotham City. Most locals, however, do not respect the officers of the GCPD because of the vigilantes that roam the streets. The main vigilante is Batman, he’s also the oldest, he dresses in all black with a cowl on his head that has bat ear like protrusions on the top. After him is Nightwing. Nightwing is very flexible and most Gothamites, people from Gotham, speculate that he is in fact the first Robin. He dresses in a suit of black with a blue bird across his chest. Red Robin, who is widely speculated to be the third Robin, works alongside the first two but also alongside Spoiler. He dresses in a red and black suit with a yellow robin head in the center of his chest atop a pair of crossed bandoliers. Spoiler, who most believe was both the fourth Robin and the second Batgirl, dresses in a suit that is primarily purple with black on her chest. Signal, a member of the team, dresses in a yellow and black suit with a white bat on his chest. It is believed he may be a meta, which is shorthand for metahuman which is what they call people with powers. There is also Black Bat, who most believe was the third Batgirl, who wears a mostly black suit with a yellow bat on her chest and yellow detailing on her arms and around her ribs. Black Bat’s suit covers most of her face from her nose to her chin. Most Gothamites believe that the first Batgirl is working hand in hand with the rest of the team behind the scenes after an attack by the Joker left her paralyzed from the waist down.”

The class looked on in amazement at the high quality photos that went along with each hero, but also in fear as Thana gave a thorough rundown of all the heroes and villains, called Rogues, before Thana’s face split into a smile.

“-The Sirens, a group of three antihero turned Rogues who don’t behave the same way that most of the other Rogues do. They have been seen helping Batman, when it fits them. The Sirens refers to Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Catwoman wears a black leather catsuit, which is self explanatory in her name. Poison Ivy wears varying shades of green and plant life while Harley Quinn, who was once affiliated with the Joker, most commonly wears a light pink crop top under a pair of gold overalls. The Riddler and Scarecrow, two Rogues who are relatively harmless since they partnered up, are rather distinctive. The Riddler, who wears a green three piece suit with matching hat and a purple tie and domino mask, leaves riddles and clues. Scarecrow, who wears a grey three piece suit with a canvas sack over his head, injects or sprays people with what he calls Fear Toxin but recently he has cut back on the injections and only soaks the paper The Riddler’s riddles are written on in his fear toxin. The Penguin wears a black three piece suit with a white dress shirt and is most commonly accompanied by twin girls who are most commonly seen wearing black wigs, green dresses and Kabuki masks. The Great Rodolfo, whom most speculate is related to the Joker, wears a cream or tan suit jacket, plaid pants, a matching plaid vest and a different patterned plaid necktie. Lastly, there’s Red Hood,” Thana’s hands fisted at her sides and pressed her lips into a thin line, who has recently been spotted fighting alongside various members of Batman’s team. Most Gothamites believe him to be the second Robin returned from the dead. Red Hood wears a red helmet, a dark brown leather jacket, black pants with black boots and a black utility belt, a black shirt with a red bat on his chest, and a red long sleeved shirt under his black shirt.”

---

Thana wrapped her arms around Kim’s waist and let out a shuddery breath. “My brother is Red Hood and he wants me to know it’s him.”

Chloé frowned but nodded. “We’ll help you see him again. However, we need to set up people here to fight the Akumas and someone to get, at least, Adrien to purify the butterfly.”

Alix smiled and turned towards Chloé. “I have some friends in Mme. Mendelieve’s class who can assist us while we’re gone.”

Adrien nodded and smiled. “You mean Bellamy, Brielle, Marc, and Alicia?”

Alix nodded. “Alicia is very sneaky and would be pretty good at using the Mouse Miraculous. Marc is very trustworthy and may or may not already be planning a storyline involving a hero who’s based on them. They would be a good temporary Horse Miraculous user. Bellamy is the Mom friend of their friend group and kind of reminds me of the dragons from mythology who hoard things, so I was thinking about him for the Dragon Miraculous. And Brielle is awkwardly good at keeping people organized, the only person better is Vivienne, so she could probably wield the Bee Miraculous.”

Adrien grinned goofily and slung an arm around Alix’s shoulders. “Those are great suggestions and unless anyone else has anyone better I think we’ll go with them.” Adrien, as the de facto leader of the team, looked to Thana for his longtime partner’s opinion.

Thana nodded from where she was hiding amidst Kim’s red sleeves. “Bellamy was nice to me when I arrived and Alicia always shadows her friends.”

Nino glanced at Chloé before tapping his headphones. He knew she would know what he meant. Nino glanced at their friend, could see how out of it she was becoming, and locked eyes with Chloé.

Chloé, always okay with coming off as argumentative and brash, looked at her oldest friend with a smile before falling back into her usual bratty persona. “Not to say this hasn’t been fun but, this hasn’t been fun. Kim, Nino and I are going to take Fragolina back to mine. Thanks for having us and thank your dad and Jalil for not interrupting us for me Alix. Kim. Nino.”

Kim stood up slowly, making sure to not disturb Thana as he did so. He shed his red hoodie and draped it around Thana’s shoulders before pulling Nino to his feet. Nino, who took his headphones off and placed them atop Thana’s head before selecting one of his playlists and stuffing his phone into one of Kim’s pockets.

The boys guided Thana out of the room, while Chloé smiled at the two other members of their group. “Fragolina’s going through some things at the moment, because she just realized her brother isn’t as dead as she thought he was and wants her to know that he’s looking for her.”

Adrien pursed his lips before glancing at Alix. “I didn’t know she had a brother, did you?”

Alix shrugged. “She didn’t really talk to many of us when she got here.”

---

Thana settled against the pillows on Chloé’s bed with Kim’s hoodie looking as though it was swallowing her whole and the hood pulled up over her head and covering Nino’s headphones with the lyrics to The Neighbourhood’s “R.I.P.2 My Youth” transitioning to Fall Out Boy’s “Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea” sounding in her ears. Nino’s phone was no longer in Kim’s pocket but plugged in while Chloé was packing clothes for their trip to the States.

Nino and Kim were trading practice blows in an area far away from Chloé’s closet. Or they were before Nino began flipping away from all of Kim’s attacks.

Chloé glanced at the boys before shaking her head and turning to their resident Gothamite. Chloé let a smile cross her face before turning to the four Kwamis, who were all relaxing in a large dollhouse, and raising a brow. “What are you four doing?”

Plagg and Trixx wore matching grins while Stompp simply crossed their arms over their chest and Sass began humming a tune. “Relaxing, what does it look like we’re doing?” Plagg’s face broke out in a larger grin before he relaxed into Trixx’s side.

Chloé simply shook her head at the four Kwamis. “Why don’t you four go relax with Fragolina?”

-*-*-*

Jason smiled as he picked up his Little Nugget and settled him on his hip. “Hey Little Nugget. Did you sleep well?”

Damian nodded before burying his face in Jason’s shoulder. “Who are they?”

Jason adjusted his hold on Damian to allow for Damian to see the two girls. “You remember Lady Shiva, don’t you?” He waited for Damian to nod before he continued. “The girl with the dark hair is Lady Shiva’s daughter, Cassandra. The blonde haired girl is Stephanie Brown. Do you remember when Bruce proclaimed that he wouldn’t have his children hanging out with the children of bad people?” Damian pursed his lips in thought, something he picked up from Jason, before nodding again. “Lady Shiva is a bad guy, as is Stephanie’s father. But, by Bruce’s standards so are Talia and Ra’s.”

Cassandra bowed, low to the floor, in Damian’s presence. Cassandra would never forget her training, and all must bow before the Heir of the Demon’s Head.

Stephanie gave a two finger salute with a smile. “Sup?”

Dick and Tim emerged from the bedroom they crashed in the night before. “Jason? Does this place have coffee?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Am I going to have a Tamaranean princess and a half-Tamaranean tyke breaking into the apartment you’re helping pay for?”

Dick’s eyes widened before he dove for the couch, where he left his phone the night before. He let out a victorious shout when he found his phone still had battery life left. He tapped out a text to Kory before turning back to his brothers. “No.”

---

Jason kept watching for danger out of the corners of his eyes, even though it was noon and he was in a supermarket, he couldn’t take any chance now that he had his Little Nugget and two sisters to watch out for. He saw a familiar man with short red hair leading a man with long brown hair, a familiar red haired woman and her companion, a familiar blonde haired woman, turn down aisles further down. “Stephanie Jeanelle Brown. Put down the toaster waffles. Take Cassandra and go find the boxed waffle mix, and while you’re there grab some pancake mix and syrup. Dick, Tim, go find some fruits that will keep for more than a week.”

The four teens nodded before going off to do what was asked of them. Damian, however, pouted from beside Jason. “Why do they get to go get things while I’m stuck with you?”

“Because, Little Nugget, I’m not afraid someone will steal them and make me reconsider how I feel about murder now that it’s not just me.” Jason smiled and ruffled Damian’s hair, which had grown out since Jason had first taken him. “I just want to keep you within eyesight because there are unsavoury characters who live in Gotham and darken the streets. I know technically I’m your brother but I feel like you are my child and I will do everything in my power to protect you, like I couldn’t protect your aunt my sister.”

Damian glanced up at Jason, a look of confusion on his face. “But I thought there were only three girls in the family in the right age range.”

Jason’s face melted into a faraway look and tightly pursed lips. “She was four when I met her, this tiny little slip of a child covered in bruises with dark red hair and blue grey eyes. I was following her, like most street kids would have, when she got the drop on me and then pinned me into the shadows beside a dumpster because her father was walking towards the alley we were in. I became Robin when I was twelve and she was nine, and then CPS and GCPD dragged her from one of our nests and took her away from here. I just found out about that at the press conference.” Jason’s blue green eyes kept sweeping the aisles looking for anyone who could pose a threat to his family. He saw, instead, Selina Kyle deciding between two different laundry detergents in one aisle and Oswald Cobblepot, accompanied by Pere and Gale, deciding between two different kinds of cereal.

Damian took in the information Jason gave him, knowing that Jason would tell him anything he asked even if it was painful to think about. “Who’s her father?”

“Jervis Tetch, aka Mad Hatter.” Jason’s voice was filled with so much venom he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “He’s a very bad man and if you ever hear anything about him, you run away. The Iceberg Lounge will provide you sanctuary if you can’t make it back to the apartment.”

Damian nodded as he allowed himself to be caged in by Jason’s arms so he was between Jason and the shopping cart.

Stephanie and Cass returned triumphantly with waffle mix, pancake mix and syrup. Followed by Dick and Tim a few minutes later.

Dick turned to Jason with a wry grin. “Is there a real reason we’re shopping at this store at this time of day? Or did you just want to surround yourself with other people who love your Pixie?”

Jason glanced up and made eye contact with Ed Nygma. Jason waved with a small smile on his face before Ed grabbed John’s arm and dragged him to the six siblings.

“Big Todd.” Ed called in lieu of greeting.

John nodded with a smile.

“Are you ever going to give that up?” Jason shook his head fondly. “Ed, John. This is Damian, my Little Nugget. Little Nugget, these are your aunt’s Uncles Ed and John.”

Ed nodded. “Have you tried to get in contact with her?”

John pressed a kiss to Ed’s cheek before looking at their present company. “Now might not be the best place to converse about this topic Love.”

Ed nodded before he let John drag him away. “We must converse again.”

---

Jason smiled as he tucked Damian into bed, before closing the bedroom door. He slumped back into the kitchen and with an exhausted sigh he set about finishing the dishes from the day’s meals. He paused to think about what Ed had said in the store. Would she even want to hear from him? Would she be receptive to talking to him or getting in contact with him?

Tim walked into the kitchen, intending to get a glass of water then go back to bed, when he stumbled upon Jason lost in thought. “Jason?” Tim stood next to Jason and gently pried a plate out of Jason’s hand. “Jason? Can you hear me?”

Jason shook himself out of his stupor and turned to the smaller boy. “Replacement? What are you doing up at this hour?”

Tim shrugged nonchalantly. “I was going to get a glass of water.”

Jason rolled his eyes and grabbed a glass out for Tim. “Sure.” Jason leaned against the counter and watched as Tim filled the glass with water.

Tim smiled at his older brother. “Were you thinking about what Nygma said?”

Jason ruffled Tim’s hair with a half smile on his face. “She was my only family for many years.” Jason turned back to the sink still full of dishes with a chuckle. “Go back to bed Replacement.”

Tim nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow.”

Jason finished the dishes before dragging his still damp hands through his hair. He let out a tired sigh before turning around, to find discarded clothing covering his couch. He picked up a laundry basket and tossed all of the clothing into the basket. He glanced around the living room and nodded, satisfied with how clean it was. “We’ll have to clean up the apartment tomorrow, as long as Wayne doesn’t call us in.” Jason muttered as he put the laundry basket down on the counter and walked into his bedroom and curled around Damian.

---

Jason, with Damian settled on his left hip, stared at Bruce Wayne who was standing at the door to the apartment building. He raised a single eyebrow as he turned to have his right side facing Bruce. “Can I help you Mr. Wayne?”

“We need to talk.”

Jason snorted. “Then you can do it while walking. We’re meeting someone soon and we’re walking.”

Tim, Steph and Cass brushed past the trio. “Bye Jace! We’re gonna go hang with Kon, Cassie and Bart for a few hours!”

“Text when you get there and when you’re leaving! If we’re not home before you call to let me know you made it home safe!”

“Bye Jason!” Steph called while Cass waved.

Jason turned back to Bruce and raised his eyebrows. “Walk and talk Wayne.” Jason hitched Damian further up on his hip and started to push past Bruce, when Dick beat him to it.

“Call me if you need something or if one of the others needs something. I’ve gotta go home to Kor’i and Mar’i.”

“See you later Dickiebird.”

“See you Jaybird, see you Chick.”

Damian simply waved at Dick and rested his head on Jason’s shoulder. “Bye-bye.”

Jason watched Dick walk away with a smile on his face. He turned to Bruce and frowned.

“Jason-”

“Baba. Go.”

“In a minute Kutlat Saghira.” Jason pressed a kiss to Damian’s cheek. “Do you want to walk and talk or-”

“What did he just call you?” Bruce cut Jason off. “What did you just call him?”

“I called him Little Nugget, and last time I checked I didn’t have to tell you anything.” Jason shook his head and pushed past Bruce. “Are you ready to meet some friends Little Nugget?”

Damian nodded and smiled.

---

Jason pushed open the door to the Iceberg Lounge and smiled as the chilled air cooled the sweat on the back of his neck. “This is where we’re meeting some friends of your Aleuma.”

Damian smiled and patted Jason’s chest, his nonverbal way of saying he wants down.

“Don’t run off, stick close. Not everyone in here is friends with your Aleuma.”

Damian nodded before the two men from the supermarket approached them.

“Jason.” the man with brown hair smiled as he extended his hand to Jason.

“Mr. Crane. Have you been keeping your nose out of trouble?”

John laughed and nodded. “Of course, Ed keeps me in line.”

Ed laughed and shook his head. “Someone has to.”

The red haired woman and her blonde haired companion strolled into the area with matching smiles on their faces.

“Sundew.” The red haired woman called.

“Little bird.” Her blonde companion chirped.

Jason waved. “Damian, the red haired lady is Doctor Pamela Isley and her lovely companion is Doctor Harleen Quinzel. Pam, Harley, this is Damian al Ghul-Wayne. However, he’s more my son than Wayne’s at this point.”

Pam and Harley waved at Damian before offering him smiles.

“Oswald!” Jason called to a portly man across the lounge.

The man, followed by two women dressed in green long sleeved dresses and Kabuki masks, walked over to Jason with a smile on his face. “Todd. It’s good to see you.”

“You too old man.” Jason bowed to the two women. “Pere. Gale.”

The women bowed back.

“Damian, this is Oswald Cobblepot, your Aleuma liked him for some reason and he gave us shelter on more than a few nights.”

Oswald Cobblepot held out a hand to Damian with a smile on his face. “Hello there Damian.”

“Hello.” Damian smiled and stood taller. “Baba. I’m taller.”

Jason snorted. “I see that Little Nugget.” Jason glanced over his shoulder when he heard the door move.

“Hey, Ozzy? You heard from-” Jerome stopped talking before his face split in a smile. “Hoodie! You’re back!”

“Hey Rome.” Jason waved. “Come meet Damian.”

Damian tilted his head in a confused puppy manner before the red haired man appeared from behind Jason. “Is he?”

Jerome extended a hand to Damian with a more mild grin on his face. “Hi. I’m Jerome Valeska, although most of these people know me better as The Great Rodolfo. You must be Damian Todd.”

Damian preened for a moment before coming back to the moment. “Technically, Baba says my name’s still Damian al Ghul-Wayne but I like Damian Todd.”

Taglist

@southamericangothamite @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss @mochegato @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @2confused-2doanything @wannajointhecrabcult @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmymind @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @mialuvscats @pheony1882 @pepelachanel @moongoddesskiana @abrx2002 @ladybug-182 @greatcatblaze @thatonecroc @vixen-uchiha @superbwhispersconnoisseur @lilkymilky

After this, there will be a short titled “Pixie?!” featuring Jason fresh from the grave and the appearance of Talia al Ghul using his panicked state against him.

#maribat #ml crossover #mlb crossover #ml x dc #mlb x dc #gothamite!Marinette #platonic sibling jasonette #Safety Found in Red Sleeves #sfirs

[witchsblackfox]

Let Me Love You

Summary: Inspired by Let me Love you by Mario. Adrien is such a playboy. Engaged to Marinette she takes all his excuses and stays by his side. When Damian enters her life, she finds there is more than just what her Fiance is showing her.

--------------------------

Adrien proposed to Marinette back spring after she graduated college. A year after they have been engaged they finally planned to have a Christmas wedding that year. As December rolled around Adrien agreed to go over seas with her to check out Gotham, New Jersey to see if it would be a good fit for a new home and business. As they arrived to the city, Adrien insisted they should go to the hotel and rest then do all the searching tomorrow. But Mari wouldn't have it. Instead she had the taxi cab drop her off at the next light where so she can have a look around and Adrien can go and rest. It was still early morning for the city so a lot of the shops were just now opening up. Marinette walked down the streets finding a cute little coffee shop and went in, ordering a large latte and a banana muffin.

"I'll pay for the gentleman behind me." She whispered to the barista leaving her thirty dollars and walked to the table by the window, waiting for her name to be called. She picked at her muffin, watching the sidewalks fill with people as a young man walked up to her table.

                                         øøøø

Damian was annoyed that someone even paid for his coffee. He looked for the woman and found her. He walked over ready to tell her off until he saw her dazed and beautiful. The light from the sun coming in the window glowed around the woman and glitter off her eyes.

"May I join you?" Mari jumped a little looking up to see him smiling at her slightly. She waved her hand to the seat in front of her then popped a piece of muffin in her mouth. "Thank you for the coffee." He wasn't sure why he felt the need to come talk to her, but some reason she drew him in. The barista called for Marinette's and Damian's name and they both stood. Mari laughed and he offered to grab it for her so she sat back down. When he came back and handed her his coffee taking a sip of her latte by mistake, she was watching him with a raised brow.

"This coffee is good compared to my usual. Must be a new barista." Marinette was hiding her laughter.

"That's because its mine." She held up his cup and he looked at his hand with a smile. He sat back down and they traded cups and talked about themselves. Damian found that she's from Paris looking for a new place to live, she was an animal lover. She had the prettiest smile he had ever seen. He looked at his watch and scooted back from his seat.

"I'm sorry, if I don't leave now I'll be late for work."

"It was a pleasure to meet you Damian." She stood up as as well and walked out with him. She held her latte and turned to a voice calling for her. The man had ran to her coming to a stop and pants. Damian stayed a little longer as the blonde man gave her a gentle kiss on her head, wrapped his arm around her waist then they walk off. Damian raised a brow giving a hurt scowl and heads off to work.

                                         øøøø

Mari stayed in the hotel the rest of the week working on the rest of her wedding dress as she worked on her other commissions. Adrien would leave and come back late at night semi drunk or comes home the next morning covered in make up. Mari noticed all of this happening but she ignored it by being either in bed or absorbed in her work. Sometime that week, Mari was getting the clothes prepared to wash them and all she could smell on the clothes were perfume she never wear and find lipstick all over the collar of his shirts. It made her more uncomfortable than when he was still modelling for his dad. It's only until the wedding... This will be over with... She continued to tell herself.

                                         øøøø

A week later, she meets Damian again at the same coffee shop and they sat and talked for about an hour he never once brought up the blonde from before. That same night had a business dinner with his father to attend and an Agreste from Francis was joining them. His father and him stood by the entrance waiting for their guest to arrive as the host came over assuring them that their table is ready. The door had opened letting in a cold chill as a woman walked in. She took off her black coat, holding it over her arm revealing a formal red, off the shoulder long sleeve dress and her midnight hair was pinned into curls against her head. A man stepped in behind her not removing his suit jacket but combed his blonde hair back with his fingers. They walked over to Damian and his father looking like a happy couple. If noticed closely, it can bee seen that there is something wrong with the woman based off her body language but with just from the first glance it she appears to be uncomfortable.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Wayne." The blonde spoke holding his hand out to his father.

"I am, please call me Bruce. This is my son Damian." His father introduces as he shook his hand.

"Adrien Agreste, and this is my fiancé, Marinette Dupan-Cheng." She held out her hand a soft red hugh covered her cheeks. Bruce shook her hand first then Damian eyes a little wide taking her in. Bruce cleared his throat and Damian blinked composing himself again and took her hand bringing it to his lips.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss." Damian lowered it then let go he felt death glares coming from Mr. Agreste but shrug them off. Marinette had a smile on her face so he just accepted it as a win. The host appeared once more with a nod from Bruce she led them to a table of four. Bruce and Adrien walked ahead of Damian and Marinette leaving them alone. So he held his arm out for the woman to take. She took it and walked with him as Bruce spoke with Adrien. Bruce stood in front of a chair holding it place when the two arrived. Damian reached for chair beside the blonde when Marinette was pulled away by him and forced to sit by his father. Damian showed at the notion and moved to the other side of the table and sat down.

"Miss Dupan-Cheng, Mr. Agreste said that you are here to find a place to live. Why here?" Bruce asked.

"Well, I wanted a change of scenery. Paris has so much memory I wish to escape from and Gotham feels like the best location for my new store." She smiled. Damian listened taking in as much information and add them to his mental file of her.

"So you are a designer? Did you make the dress?" Oh that question lit her face up.

"Yes. Thank you for noticing. I even made Adrien his suit. Show them honey." She turned to get Adrien to stand but stopped short when the waitress was  blushing and giggling mess in Adrien's arm talking about the drink menu. Seriously?! Marinette turned back to Bruce and smiled the most uncomfortable smile she could bare.

"What would you recommend to drink Mr. Wayne?" Her words were noticeably shaky. Bruce pointed to the pink wine to eat with her spaghetti and then snapped his finger grabbing the stared attention of Adrien and the waitress. She blushed redder then ran over apologizing for her distraction and took their drink and food order. Damian was upset by the exchange. It was clearly bothering his father for its a Business meeting. Bruce cleared his throat dragging the blonde’s attention and smiled an annoyed smile.

"So, we were talking about building an office and we join as board members. Correct?" Marinette looked up surprised by the conversation. She was unaware of this choice he made and listened carefully. Damian listened as well as he debated about taking the girl away from the table or not.

                                         øøøø

After dinner, Marinette wanted to leave before Adrien embarrasses her more. Adrian has clearly drank too much wine for her liking. She stood, wrapped her jacket back around her body, then lifted Adrien up against her shoulder. Damian got out of his seat and took her fiancé from her, putting him in the rental car.

"Thank you." She granted Damian a kiss on the cheek and got into the driver seat driving to the hotel.

Week two was passing slowly. Marinette was left alone as Adrien had left back to Paris to check on the wedding plans with his father. She walked around Gotham grabbing ideas as she made it to Robbinsville Park and sat in the grass sketching her first line of clothing in Gotham. She expect a criminal act to happen around her or at least a missing child, but she wasn't expecting a Great Dane to topple her over. He licked her face earning laughs and squeals from the woman. Mari laid there on her back as he laid on top of her pinning her in place. Marinette just couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and just pet the Dane. She found his tag under her chest reading the name "Titus" nothing more.

They stayed there for about an hour and when no one came for him, she hooked her belt around the collar and took him back to the hotel with her. Titus jumped on her couch and laid back down watching her get settled. He looked like he was considering jump in back on her but decided not to. She couldn't help but laugh as she sat down next to him turning the tv on and snuggle against him. She kept him home for a few days with her, feeding him dog food she had ordered from room, service to pick up using Adrien’s credit card to pay for it.

They spent all their time together, playing in the hotel room, making outfits that fit him like a boss. Even made him a bat costume just for fun. Titus liked dressing up and Marinette enjoyed making the clothes for him.

The following weekend, Mari decided to take Titus for a walk. They walked around the fashion district picking up the materials she ordered, then went to park to relax. It was a wonderful afternoon of quiet and peace; she lay against Titus, who was asleep behind her head resting on her leg until someone ran over panting heavily. Titus shot his head up at the same time as Mari and wagged his tail excitedly.

                                         øøøø

Damian went back to the park in hope someone would being his dog back. That's when he saw Titus dressed in a red and black outfit laying in the grass under a shaded tree. He bolted toward them not expecting his dog to jump out from behind the person growling at him.

"Titus down." The voice was familiar but Damian was too pissed to see who it was. Once he settled down a bit he spoke.

"How dare you...steal my dog..." He breathed each word then stood up brushing his hair back and sees Marinette behind his dog protectively. Marinette laughed, petting his head as she got up and hand Damian the leash.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know he was your dog. When no one came for him I took him home. Titus was great company." She smiled at him and he just couldn't be mad anymore. Marinette pulled out her phone and Damian watched as her face shifted then looked down to her phone vibrate before a sound rang from her pocket. Mari was almost in tears from the picture was quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hands exposing the photo to Damian by accident. The photo was of a man walking into a hotel room with two women clearly going to do something inappropriate.

His anger that subsided was back and he quickly hugged the small woman being joined by Titus standing on his back legs coming just as tall as Damian. Marinette began laughing at the notion and tripped dragging the three of them down onto the grass talking into another laughing fit.

"Haha. Thank you Damian, I feel a bit better now. Hey, would you like to hang out with me this week? Titus too." She wiped her cheeks off sitting up ad she scratched under Titus's jaw.

"I'd love to."' Marinette climbed up onto her feet, dusting off her butt, then picked up her shopping bags.

"I'll see you tomorrow my little hero." She leaned down and gave whispered something else in his ear before giving him a kiss on his snout. The three of them spent time together the rest of the week. Going to the park, seeing a movie, hell they even just spent time at her hotel room. It only lasted until Adrien came back finding a big dog on Mari's lap and another man in the kitchen bring out drinks.

"What the hell." Adrien as livid. The Great Dane growled at him. Mari stood up petting the big dog down and walked over to the blonde giving him a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Welcome home. You remember Damian? He came over to talk about the project." It wasn't a complete lie. They we're talking about it. Inbetween ice cream and games. Adrien refused to reciprocate glaring at the man in the room.

"Leave my hotel room. Now." He didn't want to leave but Mari moving her hand behind her back motioning him to go. Damian pulled Titus out the door with him closing the door. He could hear a yelling match happening.

                                         øøøø

The last week in Gotham Mari and Adrien were inseparable. Adrien wouldn't let Mari leave his side she even had to join him during meeting. He kept her from doing her projects including her wedding gown. She was beginning to feel suffocated and wanted to get some space.

"I'm going back to the hotel. Enjoy your dinner." She put the napkin on the table receiving a scuffed response with a wave to leave clearly annoyed by her. She walked out, looking behind her to find another woman sitting in her seat. Oh she could have screamed instead she stormed into the nearest alley heading to the hotel.

Robin and Red Hood were arguing over who beat the bad guy first. They weren't aware that a woman dressed in a purple semi-formal dress was walking down their way until the man they had beaten, stood and wrapped his arms around her holding the knife to her throat. She released a sudden yelp getting the attention of the boys then took her heel stomped it directly in the center of the man's foot, elbows his rib, shoved her left palm into his chin slamming his teeth together then rolled the knife holding arm behind his back dropping him to the ground. She sat on top of him and sighed.

The boys stared at the woman surprised. She got up after pressing her fingers into the man's neck putting him to sleep. As she dusted off her dress then fixed her hair.

"Marinette?" Robin let the name slip but cleared his throat before speaking again. "Miss that is quite dangerous. Is everything okay?" He stepped forward offering a hand instead he was rejected.

"Can you please take me back to my hotel. I don't wish to be here anymore." Robin nodded then looked to Red Hood.

"You got this?" Hood nodded and tuned to the sleeping criminal. Robin picked up Marinette' caring her like a princess to her hotel room balcony. She slid out of his arm, rubbing her arm looking down.

"Thank you, Robin." She went to kiss him on the cheek but met his lips. They didn't pull away. Robin pulled her closer making the kiss deep and longing. Eventually they separated and she breathed a name.

"Damian." Robin froze in place as he looked down at her. She found out? How? She apologized becoming a blushing mess.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said another man's name. I shouldn't have kissed you. I'm engaged you see... To a playboy of all people. Heh. The kiss was amazing don't get me wrong... It like it a lot." She continued to ramble and Robin kissed her again making her go quiet and press closer.

"I liked kissing you too." He whispered against her lips. "Get some sleep. You had a rough night." They kissed once more then leapt off the balcony heading home.

The next and final day in Gotham, Mari had her bags packed ready to go back to Paris tomorrow. She figured Adrien would be out doing whatever he does until he texted her saying the plane will be leaving in an hour.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She grabbed her suitcase pretty sire she left something behind and ran to the elevator. As it came to the lobby she rushed with her suit case down to the representative counter to call for a cab to take her to the airport. The woman gave Mari a sympathetic look as she hung up the phone.

"The cab will be here in less than 20 minutes."

"Thats okay.. I'll wait outside. Thank you miss. Oh can you give this to Damian if he visits." The woman nodded taking the item and placing it under her desk. As the cab arrived, she threw her suitcase into the trunk and slid into the backseat. She barely made it before check in was closed, putting her bag onto the plane, and found Adrien waiting by the gate.

"Took you long enough. Let's go." He took her hand and lead her to their seats in first class.

                                         øøøø

Damian and Titus arrived to her hotel hoping to see her before she for the last day here. His mind kept going back to their kiss last night and he hoped be could talk her into staying with him.

"Sir, this is for you."' Damian was stopped by the receptionist holding an envelope. "The miss asked me to give it to you before she bolted out the door with her suitcase in tow." He took the envelope, thanked the woman, and went home. Dick and Jason found him pouting in the Batcave beating up the mannequins. The white shiny envelope laid on the chair slightly open almost crumbled up. Dick picked it up reading it then understood.

"You going to crash it?" Dick asked.

"How can I, she's in Paris. I'm here. It's not like I want her." The words burned in his mouth as if he stuck his tongue in lava. Dick just shook his head and the beating continued. This went on for days after until the day Tuesday night.

                                         øøøø

Marinette spent all Tuesday finishing her dress for the wedding in the end getting very little sleep. She fell asleep around 4 am and had just woken up at 8 when the door bell rang with Chloe and her mom behind the door.

"Oh my god Mari did you not sleep?!" Chloe questioned sharply.

"Oh honey. Wedding jitters? I remember my wedding day with your father." Marinette's mom began. They took her to her vanity and earned up her face helping her hide the circles she created. As Mari put on her dress, she spinner around showing it off.

"Oh wow, you look absolutely divine." Chloe as already in tears and her mom was speechless.  The time was 9 am and they rushed out the door to the limousine. She took this chance to tell her mom and best friend about Damian and Gotham.

"I’m sick of Adrien doing this to you. You shouldn't marry him Mari." Chloe again said.

"Its just pre-wedding habit. He'll stop after we say 'I do'." The response earned two sour scowls and a sigh. They arrived to the church by 9:30 and walked up to the door meeting her papá giving her a gentle kiss on the head.

"You look beautiful pumpkin."

"Thank you papá." She took his arm and held herself close feeling safe against him. At 10 am, the bell rang and the music began. Chloe and Adrien's cousin, Felix walked down the isle, Luka with Kagami followed, then their little one held the rings on a small pink pillow. The girls wore something blue on their gowns that symbolized Mari's hair and the boys wore something green for Adrien's eyes. Marinette took a deep breath and smiled at her papá then began the walk down the isle. Adrien stood in full white wearing a green under dress shirt, he stared at his bride as she got closer to him. They met at the alter, lifting her vail, he took her hand and turned to the priest.

                                         øøøø

Damian landed at the airport at 8:30 Wednesday morning in Paris. He quickly searched for the church that held the wedding then changed his clothes into a suit and fixed his hair. A bell from across the way rang loudly, he looked to his wrist and saw it was 10 o'clock. He got to the lobby as his rental pulled up. Once inside he sped off toward the church.

He arrived just 10 minutes after the door closed, the Wedding March playing. A big burley man held his hand up blocking Damian from entering.

"I am an invited guest of Marinette's. You must let me through." He held up the invitation to the man. The burly man scowled at the young man stepping to the side and let him through. Don't do anything you'll regret. Damian thought go himself. He stood in the back staying by the door mesmerized by Marinette's beauty.

"If anyone believe these two should not be wedded, speak now or forever hold your peace." The priest spoke toward the audience. Damian waited when no one spoke he stepped forward.

"I object." His voice filled the room and everyone turned to him.

"Damian, why are you here?"

"Why are you here?" Adrien and Mari said together.

"You invited me. Marinette, listen to me please. Don't marry him. Come home to Gotham, to Titus. You don't need a sleaze who will just hurt you every night. Seeing other women while his wonderfyl and beautiful wife sits st home waiting. Come back to me." He waited for her to say something but when she shook her head he continued. "You'd never have to worry about what I do. I'd be coming home back to you, every night, doing you right. You're the type of woman who deserves good things. Mari I just want to show you what love is. Please let me love you."

"I'm sorry, I can't. Even if does continue to do so. I'm prepared for it. Thank you Damian." She turned back around to continue the ceremony. Damian wanted to not accept it. When she wouldn't turn back to him he felt defeated. The man from outside escorted him out of the church feeling sympathetic toward him. He say on the steps outside the church.

                                         øøøø

Marinette's mind was on Damian. He was right. I get nothing but pain and suffering. It'll be the same. Chloe knew too. What am I to do..it's too late isn't it?Adrien tapped Marinette's hand grasping her attention.

"I'm sorry can you repeat that." She gave the priest a small smile.

"Do you, Marinette take this man to be your husband?" She looked at Adrien, eyes demanding and wishful. She turned to her friends seeing the answer from them and then to the door. After another second she smiled and looked back to the priest.

"I do not." She gave both rings to Adrien and stepped down from the alter.

"I'm sorry everyone." That was all she said and ran down the isle and out the door. Chloe and Kagami followed after, then Sabine and Tom, and lastly by Luka with his son. Marinette kicked off her heels pushed open the church doors.

"Damian!" He stood up staring at her. She ran towards him jumping from the fourth step away and hugged him to her. He spun her around a bit looking down at her face. "I choose you." She kisses him deeply, holding him in place.

                                         øøøø

Adrien stood there shocked from man. Who entered objecting and making sick claims about him. He was smug when his wife-to-be stood up for him and sent the man off. He wasn't expecting her to leave him at the alter. He stood there alone with the priest as everyone from Marinette's family left with her. He looked to his father who just sat there scowling at him, Natalie shook her head just as disappointed. They knew he was going to screw up, he knew he would, but he didn't expect her to leave him.

                                         øøøø

A year later, Damian and Marinette lived back in Gotham in an apartment above her boutique. Mari was finishing with her last client for Christmas Eve, Damian was upstairs making dinner, getting everything ready when a call from his father came through.

"It's time Selina is about to have the baby. We're st the hospital now." Bruce had a panic tone in his voice.

"Okay dad. We'll meet you there. Just breathe with her and you won't pass out." Damian teased before hanging up. He cleaned his mess and put the food away from the heated burner, put the apron away then head down stairs with his coat.

"Babe, it's time. We got to get to the hospital." Mari was just about to lock the door when he came down.

"Oh shoot! She's a day early! I owe Dick twenty dollars now. Let me grab my coat and well leave." Damian just laughed. Only his family could get Mari to join the betting war. Mari and Damian made it to the hospital in time to meet the newest addition to the family. A little pink blanket covered in elephants filled Bruce's arms.

"Meet the newest member of our family. Emily Mari Wayne." Mari awed, took the baby from him and rocked her gently. Damian talked to his father while Mari was alone with Selina and Emily.

Emily had a tuff of black hair covering her little head, soft little pale skin. She has her moms nose and at the moment her fathers eyes. She was just so small and fitted perfectly in Mari's arms.

"She looks so much like you Selina. She's so beautiful." Marinette said handing her back to Selina. "I'll let you rest. Good night." Damian and Mari left the hospital to go home. They wee both too tired from their day of excitement to even think about dinner. They just got ready for bed and cuddled to sleep with Titus at their feet.

Christmas Day, they leave the apartment with bundles of gifts made by Mari, pastries they both made and headed to the Manor. The doctor have given clear instructions to Bruce to watch Selina and the baby for at most couple days. Emily and Selina we're sitting by the tree in Bruce's favorite chair when Mari and Damian arrived. Alfred helped Damian take the box of goodies to the dining room as Mari took the gifts to the study finding her parents waiting.

With a squeal she hugged them tight.

"When did you two get in?" Damian came in with a small laugh pressing his back against the archway by his dad watching the exchange.

"Two nights ago. We wanted it to be a surprise pumpkin." As everyone piled in around the tree, Mari stood up giving everyone their gifts from her. Bruce and Selina got matching lockets, Tom and Sabine got aprons courtesy of Damian's handy work. Alfred received a new dress shirt that if the light hits it right he can see the names of all his loved ones sewn in it. Dick got a blue and black jacket, Jason recieved a red and tan jacket, and Tim got a red and black jacket. Mari smiled wondering why they gave her a confused face and just shrugged. She knew, just hasn't told anyone yet.

Finally, Damian cleared his throat and sat Mari down  by her parents and knelt down in front of them holding her hand. Dick had his phone out turning on video chat with Chloe who sat with Kagami and Luka and watched quietly.

"Mari, I've known you for a year but it feel like a life time. What I said last year I meant it. We should be together. With me and you it can be whatever you want to be. So can we make this thing ours?" He pulled the ring from his pocket a beautiful small princess cut ring. "You should let me love you let me be the one to give you everything you want and need. I'll give you good love and protection, Make me your selection let me show you the way love's supposed to be. Baby, you should let me marry you."

Her parents waited tears running down their cheeks as Mari jumped into him hugging him tightly then kissed him.

"Yes, a thousand time yes." She sat up in his lap. He slid the ring onto her finger and kissed her once more. Everyone raised their cups and shouted congratulations even the baby gave a loud giggle making everyone say awe. The adults and baby went to bed first, then the boys walked away. Damian and Mari disappeared into his old room. Everyone had planned to stayed the night at the manor until New Years so no one left.

Damian and Mari laid in his old room, he held her close to his chest and softly whispered into her head.

"Let me love you, Mari."

"Forever and Always Damian."

The End.

--------------------------

#maribat #daminette

[kurogaya913]

Jasonette July Day 1: First Meeting

@jasonette-july-2k20

The day had been long. Marinette has been up since yesterday six o’clock in the morning. She had just moved to Gotham, New Jersey looking for a new start. Thinking that maybe she can get ideas for different outfit designs with the help of this dark but beautiful city.

Once she was settled into her apartment, not far from Crime Alley, she went out to look for café. She really needed to stalk up on some coffee. Mari looked at her clock and saw that it was 4 o’clock in the afternoon. A good time for coffee and not late enough to run into any problems. At least that is what she thought.

Once the bluenette found a decent café called The Robins Café she knew that she just had to try it. She walked in and was surprised that the café was not the traffic light colors all over the place. It looked like each wall was dedicated to each of the Gotham birds with different pictures of them up on the walls.

Then she took a closer look at the menu and saw that some of the drinks were named after each of the birds as well as the bats and Rouges.

“Good Afternoon, Welcome to the Robins Café. What would you like?” asked the barista

“Sorry, I am new here. What would you recommend for someone who hasn’t slept for two days but needs a boost for the rest of the day?” Asked Mari

“Sounds like you need a Red Robin.” A gruff voice said from behind her. Marinette turned around and saw someone who looked to be a foot and half taller than her, “It has a lot of espresso shots and sugar.” His blue eyes looked tired.

Mari gave a bright smile, “Just what I need, thank you.” She then turned back to the barista and ordered a Red Robin with chocolate croissant.

“Name for the order?”

“Marinette” She then walked to find a place to sit.

As she waited for her order she pulled out her small sketch pad and started drawing something with the Robins in mind.

“I heard that you were new here. How long have you been here and what has brought you to such a dangerous city?” he scratched the back of his head, “That is if you don’t mind me asking that. It is kind of personal information.” He then held out his hand, “My name is Jason. I have lived in Gotham all of my life except for a few years when I lived elsewhere but I somehow just ended up back here. Once a Gothamite always a Gothamite.”

Marinette shook his hand and placed her pen down when she heard her name called by the barista and grabbed her coffee and croissant. Then the name Jason was called and they both went and sat back where she was waiting earlier. And Mari started to answer some of Jason’s questions.

“I am here because I wanted to get away from a very toxic environment. And I just needed a space that was similar to what it was like where I used to be, a place that had villains and heroes. I get so many different ideas. I am an online designer that customizes orders for different outfits. And this past year I have been getting most of my commissions from the United States so I decided to move here since it was the first flight out and I have been here for two days now.” She gave a short answer. No need to get too personal just yet.

Jason then told her a lot about Gotham and what areas she needs to avoid at what times. He also told her about what times the Bat Family is spotted around based on twitter reports.

When Mari took a look outside she noticed that it was getting dark and she glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that the time was just after 6:30 PM. She needed to get back to her apartment before it got too dark. She fiddled with her necklace and looked back at Jason. “As much as I have like talking with you I really need to get home before it gets to dark outside. One of the areas you had mentioned earlier is where I live. Only because it was cheap and I was able to fix it up so that no one could break in easy.” She looked a bit nervous and Jason could tell.

“Would you like me to walk you home? Or I can give you my number and you can call or text me and let me know you got back safe. I would hate for you to feel uncomfortable with a stranger knowing where you live.” He brushed back his white bangs not looking as tired as he did earlier. Mari shook her head yes and they exchanged numbers.

They both walked out of the café and a Marinette turned towards Jason, “I will let you know when I am home. Thank you for all the information on what I need to know about Gotham.”

Marinette then turned and started her trek to her apartment to finally get some rest. Once she finally made it into her apartment and locked her door she got out her phone and sent a quick message to Jason that she was home.

She then spoke to all the kwami about her day. She knows now that this was a good move.

#jasonette july 2k20 #jasonette #marinette #new to this

[arcticdementor]

Let’s say there is a mass migration of people from the bleak, crumbling concrete of Newark, New Jersey, to the palm tree paradise of La Jolla, California. Every day, 100 people rent U-Haul trucks in Newark, drive cross-country, and after unloading, drop their trucks off at a U-Haul in La Jolla. In this scenario, hardly anyone is renting a truck in La Jolla for a one-way trip to Newark. It wouldn’t take long for there to be thousands of U-Haul trucks parked in lots in La Jolla and none anywhere near Newark.

It is a conundrum that provides the basis for a new game I’ve devised, one suitable for playing with your COVID-19 bubble buddies. All you need are some scraps of paper, each marked with the name of a different city, and a connection to U-Haul’s electronic reservation system.

U-Haul’s strategy for keeping its vast inventory of trucks spread around the country, available whether you want to go from Detroit, Michigan, to Detroit, Texas, or from Wilmington, Delaware, to Wilmington, North Carolina, is simple, though executed with sophistication. If there are too many people moving to a given area, U-Haul jacks up the price. If not enough people are heading in the opposite direction, it encourages do-it-yourself movers by slashing the rental fee.

The pricing is based on minute-to-minute data on where its trucks are and where they’re headed. U-Haul ultimately gathers this data into an annual “Migration Trends” report. The report is informative, but since it’s an annual exercise, the data are relatively stale by the time they're released. The 2019 report, for example, came out two months before major cities were roiled first by COVID-19 and then by widespread rioting.

More interesting is the real-time data that U-Haul (inadvertently) makes available. The information is found in the online pricing of trucks based on their points of origin and destinations.

Here’s how different the daily pricing data is from the annual report. The Migration Trends released in January lists Manhattan ninth among top growing cities in the country. That was before the recent escape from New York began. To maintain inventory in New York these days, U-Haul is charging people roughly twice as much to take a truck out of the Big Apple as it is to bring one in. For example, if you need a big 26-foot box-truck to move your stuff from Manhattan to West Palm Beach, Florida, it will cost you (as of this writing) $3,892. Go from West Palm to the city that never sleeps, and it will only cost you $2,115.

And that overstates the current appeal of Gotham. Brooklyn to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, (all figures are for the big 26-foot rig) will set you back $2,603. Chapel Hill to Brooklyn, by contrast, is $492. It is an unambiguous measure of the current attractiveness of living in Brooklyn that moving there costs less than one-fifth of what you’re charged just to get the hell out.

Which brings us to the game: Each player picks two scraps of paper, each of which has the name of a city. Players guess which direction between their two cities is cheaper and what fraction (in eighths) of the more expensive destination that cost is.

Let’s say I put my hand in the hat and picked Philadelphia and San Diego. I guess Philly is the cheaper endpoint and surmise that it costs about half the freight of going the other way. A quick check of pricing on U-Haul’s website would show I won the round. Make it a drinking game (unless you have any driving to do), or make it a betting game.

Before you start betting, it’s worth becoming familiar with the magnitude of the current desperation migration. Here are a couple of examples that illustrate, in U-Haul dollars, the panicked flight from certain cities. If you want to move from Los Angeles to Phoenix, U-Haul charges $1,978. Go from Phoenix to LA, by contrast, and all you’ll need is $186.

Or take poor, hapless Portland, Oregon. A truck to take you away from there to the calmer precincts of Boise will set you back $1,242.

Boise to Portland? $91. Anyone? Anyone?

#washington examiner #eric felten #u-haul

[justgotham]

Time is running out for Jim Gordon and Gotham, and nobody is more acutely aware of that fact than Ben McKenzie, the actor who has portrayed the flinty Gordon for five seasons on the Fox series that shares its name with Batman’s hometown. “It’s a lot to take in,” McKenzie said about the Gotham series finale that airs tonight. “It really is one of those bittersweet moments. But the show was never an open-ended proposition.”

Tonight’s finale is titled “The Beginning…” but the name isn’t quite as ironic as it sounds. That’s because the drama was built to be a sort of “prequel procedural” that leads up to the familiar Batman mythology that DC Comics has been publishing since 1939. The narrative window would begin in Bruce Wayne’s youth with the murder of his parents, and effectively end with his first forays as a costumed crimefighter: Gotham would end when Batman begins. That graduation moment arrives tonight with the show’s 100th episode, the first to feature an appearance by the Caped Crusader in action.

Gotham fans are more than ready to see the Dark Knight in all his cowled glory, but the show’s creative team hasn’t shared that eagerness. Just the opposite. Executive producer Bruno Heller, the British producer best known for The Mentalist and Rome, has said he would never have developed the show if it was a traditional costumed-hero franchise. “I don’t think Batman works very well on TV,” Heller said back in 2014. “To have people behind masks? Frankly, all those superhero stories I’ve seen, I always love them — until they get into the costume.”

That has made Gotham an eccentric entry in the superhero sector, but not an entirely unprecedented one. Smallville (217 episodes, 2001-2010) still reigns as the longest-running television series ever based on DC Comics heroes, and creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar shared a similar aversion to costumed exploits. Their early mission statement was “no flights, no tights,” and the series held out until its final episode to put Clark Kent (Tom Welling) in Superman’s iconic suit.

For Heller and his team, the key to making a compelling Gothamwithout a Batman was to spotlight the hero’s trusted friend, James Gordon, the dedicated lawman destined to become the police commissioner of a city defined by its lawlessness and celebrity criminals. Gordon was introduced in the first panel of the first page of the first Batman comic book ever published, Detective Comics No. 27, the landmark issue that reached its 80th anniversary last month. Gotham added a key element to its version of Gordon — when Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered, Gordon is the detective who handles the investigation.

Gordon is the good cop who holds on to his morals in a bad city that loses its marbles. The show found the man for the job in McKenzie, who had memorably portrayed LAPD officer Ben Sherman on the highly regarded (but lowly rated) Southland, which aired 2009 to 2013 on NBC and TNT. Before that, the Texan portrayed Ryan Atwood, a scruffy outsider adopted by a wealthy Newport Beach couple and the central character on The OC, the frothy Fox teen drama that aired for 92 episodes from 2003 to 2007.

“I had some things in common with the character,” McKenzie says with a shrug. It’s true, the 23-year-old actor trekked west from dusty Austin (instead of rural Chino) to Southern California, and bought himself a eye-catching Cadlliac DeVille that already had logged 17 hard years and 228,000 long miles. “That’s lot of miles.”

McKenzie has covered a lot of distance in his personal life while channeling the role of Gordon. In 2017, for instance, McKenzie married his Gotham co-star, Morena Baccarin, who has portrayed Dr. Leslie Thompkins on the series (and is well-known for her role in the Deadpool films as the mutant anti-hero’s love interest). The couple now have their first child.

For McKenzie, the end of Gotham closes a pivotal chapter in his screen life. But he’s also hoping that the final seasons will also someday represent a prelude to a different career story — one writing and directing. The actor directed the sixth episode of Season 5, and also directed one in each of the previous two seasons. McKenzie has also written the screenplay for two Gotham episodes: “One of My Three Soups” in Season 4 and “The Trial of Jim Gordon” in this final season.

McKenzie, the writer, didn’t exactly go easy on his fictional screen persona. The cop took a slug in the chest and hovered near death for much of the episode, stuck somewhere between “the here” and “the hereafter” in an existential courtroom where he had to defend his life.

‘I actually feel no sympathy for him at all,” McKenzie said with a chuckle. “The less sympathy you feel, the better, I’d say. The more pain you inflict upon the protagonist, hopefully, the higher the stakes are and the more emotion gets elicited. So I had to be a bit of masochist. Putting him through the ringer and having this existential crisis, this dream, where he’s on trial for his crimes and faces the loss of everything: the love of his life and his child at the same time. I think we got there. That’s about as high stakes as you can get. I think, ultimately satisfying, with the kind of emotional payoff we were looking for.”

That seems to apply to the season as a whole. The final episode is an epic send-off, too, with a story that flashes forward a decade (long enough for Gordon to sport a new mustache) and finds the Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) returning from prison and Bruce Wayne returning to his ancestral home after years in self-imposed exile. It also coincides with the rise of the show’s off-kilter version of the Joker (Cameron Monaghan). “It’s fitting that he comes into conflict with Gordon and Wayne right at the end,” McKenzie said. “Cameron has been amazing and there was room for one more big flourish with the role.”

Most of the reviews have veered from good to great, encouraging news for the cast and crew of a series that had been uneven or over-the-top at times. “Everybody’s been very enthusiastic and positive,” McKenzie said. “The final season has been wrapping things up in the way the audience hoped we would.”

Gotham City is arguably the most famous city created in American popular culture since the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz (although Metropolis, Springfield, Mayberry, Twin Peaks, and Riverdale are other prominent spots on the map of un-real estate). Even without Batman, the city zoned by greed, paved in corruption, and mapped by trauma seems to have no limits as far as its story range.

“It’s extraordinary when you think about it,” McKenzie said. “The city itself is a character. There’s a lot of stories to be found in Gotham City. There’s a lot of stories being told from Gotham, too.”

It’s true, Gotham City will be the site of Batwoman, the pilot on The CW this fall, and for a string of upcoming feature films including Joker, The Batman, and the Birds of Prey project.

Also this year: a Harley Quinn animated series and Pennyworth (a series about Batman’s loyal butler) on Epix. Pennyworth and Gothamare unconnected in their story continuity, but both are from the tandem of executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (The Mentalist) and executive producer/director Danny Cannon (CSI franchises).

A passing reference in the 2016 film Suicide Squad identified Gotham City as a major metropolitan hub in the Garden State. The city’s location had been a vague matter for decades, but now it is officially part of New Jersey’s map, and Springsteen isn’t the only local hero named Bruce.

On Gotham, the city feels more like Al Capone’s Chicago than Dracula’s Transylvania. “There’s a specific look and style that Gotham has that sets the show apart. It’s visual identity is distinctive and it was really interesting to work within that as a director.”

Has McKenzie inherited anything Gordon, anything he will take with him forward? “Maybe. We have some things in common, too. He’s living in the same city I live in, New York, but just the slightly more dramatic version.  He’s had to figure things out on the fly and his life has changed and met the love of his life and had a child. There’s a lot of similarities there. But I haven’t bought a gun and I don’t go around shooting one. And I’m more a jeans and t-shirts guy. Although Gordon’s given me an appreciation for a good suit, that’s for sure.”

McKenzie said he’s learned a lot from the creative team he’s worked with, and he believes his acting has made his directing better and vice versa, as well. There’s several new projects that looks promising for McKenzie, both as an on-screen presence and writer or director. Still, saying goodbye to Gotham has been a sentimental exercise for the man who plays the taciturn detective.

“It’s hard. I’ve been through it a couple of times before. I’ve been on two shows before, so it’s been less daunting then before. I’ve built really strong bonds with these folks. We spent more time together than we do with our families for nine months a year. It’s been a joy and a experience I will never forget. I can’t forget.  I wake up every morning to my wife and child who happened during it. So yes, it’s been a city without limits for me.”

#Jim Gordon #James Gordon #Ben McKenzie #Leslie Thompkins #Morena Baccarin

[axonsandsynapses]

ok, I’m 5 years late on this, but…

I recently saw someone posting about how it was weird that the YJ animated universe put Gotham in Connecticut.

And well, given what most people know about CT is “rich people who don’t want to live in NYC go there” and “idk, Yale’s there somewhere, right?” that reaction makes sense. 

However, as someone who grew up there, I want you to know that Gotham city is 100% ABSOLUTELY in Connecticut. (Though I do want to note that @unpretty​ makes a very compelling argument for Michigan, and I will still respect you if you decide to go with that interpretation. Even if it’s wrong.)

More under the cut, because -cracks knuckles- I am a fucking nerd and am going to explain the shit out of this. 

This is going by the assumption that Gotham isn’t a replacement for NYC itself. (Since NYC has been turning up in DC comics for literal decades now, I figure that’s a pretty safe conclusion.) 

When they bother to offer a geographic location, the comics have generally placed Gotham in New Jersey. Writers often seem to treat it as in as in the greater tri-state metro area around NYC. (Though if you go with the occasional interpretation of Metropolis as being across the river from Gotham, you could make a decent argument that Gotham is the Camden, NJ to Metropolis’s Philadelphia). In modern comics, DC also tends to treat Gotham as more of a mid-sized city rather than a gigantic population center like NYC, Chicago, or LA. 

Now, if you’re placing Gotham in the greater tri-state area, New Jersey is a perfectly reasonable conclusion. There are a bunch of cities in the area you could argue for (Newark is a decent contender).

However. Here is a list of things we know about Gotham:

It’s a port city and something of a shipping hub (illicit shipments at the docks are a Batfamily speciality)

It boomed as an industrial center, but entered a steep economic decline in the mid-20th century as the economy started shifting (see: all the abandoned warehouses, and the fact that “Crime Alley” was an affluent district until around the time the Waynes were murdered)

While there are some incredibly poor neighborhoods, there is also an extremely wealthy population

Has a long history of Old, Rich Families (See: the Waynes, the Cobblepots, the Kanes…)

Has a history of incredibly corrupt politicians and city offices

Has both historical mob activity and current gang violence

You know which city fits all those criteria? Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Bridgeport is in Fairfield county, where, yes, there’s a bunch of rich people who don’t want to live in New York City. It has most of the richest towns in the state, as well as some of the richest communities in the entire country.

Bridgeport itself, however, is one of the poorest cities in Connecticut. It’s a historic city that used to thrive on shipping and manufacturing, but has never quite recovered from their decline. Housing prices are high, incomes are low, and the city has huge issues with poverty and violence. Its mayor famously went to jail on felony corruption charges, and then later managed to get himself reelected.

As of the 2010 census, the Bridgeport metro area had the greatest income inequality in the entire United States.

I would probably place Wayne Manor in Easton (in the top 10 CT towns for median household income), which is adjacent to Bridgeport and would allow decent batmobile access. 

But really, the #1 reason why Gotham is Bridgeport?

P.T. Barnum was its mayor. Yes, that P.T. Barnum. He based his circus there in the winters. There are streets named after him. 

The Joker wouldn’t be able to fucking resist.

#guess what i just wrote instead of doing something responsible with my sunday #nat vs. the dcu #batlosers #detective comics comics #batman #gotham city #batfamily #dc comics

[thedcdunce]

The Signal

“Someone told me that the problem with youth is the inability to accept your own mortality. I wouldn't consider this one of my problems.” - The Signal

Real Name: Duke Thomas

Aliases:

Robin

Lark

Gender: Male

Height: 5′ 9″

Weight: 180 lbs (82 kg)

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black

Powers:

Unique Physiology

Abilities:

Leadership

Indomitable Will

Martial Arts

Equipment:

Robin Costume

Unnamed Costume

Signal Armor

Motorcycle

Eskrima Stick

Nunchaku

Universe: Prime Earth

Base of Operations:

Gotham City

New Jersey

Citizenship: American

Parents:

Gnomon; father

Elaine Thomas; mother

Marital Status: Single

Occupation:

Student

Vigilante

First Appearance: Batman Vol 2 #21 (August, 2013)

Powers

Unique Physiology: Duke is a metahuman and is only beginning to understand his powers. Duke's physiology appears to be unique in comparison to other metahumans, amplifying their abilities in his presence. Gnomon claims Duke has his "infinite blood", implying Duke may potentially be immortal.

Photokinetic Vision: Duke has photo-kinetic powers that allow him to take in light through his eyes and manipulate the way he processes light. His eyes can absorb light faster than normal humans, see beyond the visible light spectrum and can detect changes or variations in light that other people can't. Particularly powerful forms of Nth metal can amplify his vision, allowing longer more vivid visions into the past and across dimensions, even hearing some audio.

Retrocognition: Duke can look back at the history of light in a room and see a few minutes of what happened before by looking at the "ghosts" of the light that hit the objects in the room.

Precognition: Duke can use his powers to not only see where light has been, he can also see where light will be to glimpse into the future. This gives Duke an edge in combat, being able to react faster to attacks and even catch projectiles in some cases.

Abilities

Leadership

Indomitable Will: Duke's proven himself to be an exceptionally strong willed individual.

Martial Arts

Eskrima

Stick Fighting

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Duke started fighting without any training and demonstrated considerable skill.

Equipment

Robin Costume: After joining the We Are Robin movement, he was given a red leather jacket by the mysterious "Nest". The jacket proved to be bullet proof, even against multiple bullets at close range.

Unnamed Costume: When Duke went to live with Bruce Wayne, he was gifted a new yellow and black costume. It included a yellow helmet with a black bat-shaped visor.

Signal Armor: After training with Batman, Duke was given a upgraded version of his costume. The new suit is a slightly heavier plated version of his previous suit with some new technology updates. The suit has a reflective bat insignia that can blind or confuse an enemy as well as change color depending on lighting. His suit also has a built-in defensive electrical grid and a stealth mode that makes him invisible.

Motorcycle: Originally a yellow version of Batman's batcycle, Duke has upgraded to a more streamlined motorcycle that can also cloak itself with Duke's suit; rendering it completely invisible

Eskrima Stick: Duke's primary weapon of choice are a pair of modified Esckrima sticks that connect to function as nunchaku as well. The sticks come with spring loaded hatchet blades that allow them to be used as a grapple hook.

Nunchaku

History

Duke Thomas is a vigilante and a member of the Batman Family. He joined the We Are Robin movement and became one of hundreds of civilian teenagers to don the Robin R and fight for their city. Eventually, he would leave the movement and join the Batman Family officially as the vigilante called The Signal.

Origins

When the terrorist known as the Riddler shut off all the power in Gotham City, the madman challenged the city to get smart or die by natural selection during what would later be called the Zero Year. Riddler told the city that if anyone could ask him a riddle that he couldn't answer, he would restore power to Gotham. Duke, who was a confident student at the time, began to train his mind with brain teasers in anticipation of accepting the Riddler's challenge. Duke and Bruce Wayne met for the first time when the Thomas family rescued the unconscious billionaire when Hurricane Rene began its rampage on Gotham simultaneously during the Riddler's plot. Thanking Duke for his kindness, Wayne departed to take on the Riddler himself.

Several years later, the Joker had returned to Gotham with an endgame for Batman in mind. Figuring out the vigilante's secret identity, the Joker kidnapped Duke and his family and planned to recreate Bruce Wayne's parents' murders right in front of him using the Thomas family. Batman managed to rescue Duke from the murderer, but Duke's parents succumbed to the mind controlling gas Joker had released.

Becoming a Robin

After the events of Batman: Endgame, Duke was placed into the foster system. He became desperate to find his parents after it became apparent that the authorities were not making any progress in locating them. During his time in foster care, he went from an excellent student to having a heavy police file because of all of the fights he got into. Because of this, his temporary foster parent, Raymond Mendez, sent him back into the system.

Leslie Thompkins was placed in charge of his social case and tried to keep him from getting into trouble by reassuring him that the police were still looking for his parents and would find them. In the meantime, she asked him to stop picking fights and try to be respectful to his foster parents. She then placed him with Joanne and Roy Dawson, after telling him that police had found some of the Joker's toxin victims wandering in the sewer system. Joanne showed Duke around the dirty apartment, telling Duke that he would need to babysit the other kids and clean the bathroom. Then she left him alone for a few minutes to organize his things into a drawer in the bedroom.

Feeling guilty about letting Dr. Thompkins down, Duke climbed out the window and left the apartment behind in order to go search for his parents in the sewers. As he made his way to the sewers, he thought about his mother and how she was so clean in every part of his life. It made him sad to imagine her wandering the sewers because he knew that that meant she was extremely far gone on the Joker's toxin.

While in the sewers looking for his parents, Duke accidentally stumbled into an underground meeting of homeless people who had created a small city. There he overheard their plan to bomb different landmarks in Gotham, starting with the Hall of Records. Just after hearing this, he was discovered and attacked. Luckily, this was also when the Robins joined the fight to save him.

Together with the robins, Duke fought his way out of the sewers, only to lose consciousness after a blow to the head. When police came, the other robins were ordered by the mysterious "Nest" to abandon him and run. Reluctantly they did as they were told.

Duke awoke inside a police interrogation room. There a skinny man with facial hair and dark glasses asked him what he was willing to do in order to find his parents. When Duke expressed confusion and told the man that that was the police's job, the man left the room. After waiting and then getting frustrated, Duke tried the door handle only to find it unlocked. When he stepped out of the interrogation room, he realized that he was not in a police station at all, but actually inside an abandoned warehouse.

This was when he discovered the red biker jacket with a yellow R on the breast, atop a motorcycle. Inside the jacket, he found a cellphone.

We Are Robin

The cellphone in his new jacket instructed him to go to a new location where he met the robins who had saved him earlier. Together they found the bombs Duke had heard about, beneath the Hall of Record. Using instructions sent to their phones from a mysterious sender called the Nest, they were able to disable one of the bombs. The second bomb proved more difficult, however, as it was on a subway train track and they had to jump out of the way of trains every few moments.

Finally, the Nest instructed them to get on the next train and leave the second bomb there. However, one of the robins, Troy, refused to leave. Determined that he could disable the bomb himself, he stayed behind alone. As the others rode away, he was caught in the blast and killed instantly.

Robin War

After one of the robins was implicated in the shooting of a police officer and a robber in a convenience store, the We Are Robin movement comes under fire by the public. This leads to a member of the city council, Councilwoman Noctua, implementing the Robin Laws. The Robin Laws made it illegal for anyone in Gotham to wear robin paraphernalia and encouraged police to stop and detain anyone who might be a Robin.

Training with Batman

Once Bruce Wayne returned to the mantle of Batman after he had previously lost his memory, the Bat offered Duke a position as his new protege, which the boy accepted under the condition that he not become just another Robin. Handing him a yellow suit instead, Batman agreed to teach him as something else.

Beginning their training together in what Alfred would call the "Cursed Wheel", Batman taught Duke the basics of becoming a professional vigilante by first following a string of murders committed by Victor Zsasz. Though Duke was injured in the process, he learned an important lesson about the psychology of criminals and who he was as a hero.

The "wheel" was forced to turn faster, according to Alfred, when Duke was thrust into a real adventure after Two-Face's return. Having heard a rumor of a cure that could fix him, Two-Face simultaneously fought and befriended Batman and Duke as they tried to locate the cure together, with a hoard of assassins on their tail. Once the adventure ended, Duke was commended for his actions in his first real mission.

Continuing his training under the Cursed Wheel program, Batman and Duke tried to investigate how the Riddler was managing to terrorize the city from his cell in Arkham to celebrate the anniversary of the Zero Year. Following the clues, Duke discovered that the Riddler had secretly allied himself with Duke's former friend and the original Mister Bloom - Daryl Gutierrez, Daryl being the conduit for Riddler's schemes. Together, Duke and Batman saw that the two villains were stopped.

Dark Nights: Metal

While Batman investigated the mysteries of Nth Metal, Duke and Hal Jordan attempted to decode the clues that the Bat had collected and stored in the Batcave, only to discover that Bruce had captured and hidden the Joker there too. Accidentally freeing the madman, the Joker revealed he knew more about the mystery and that he knew that Duke was actually a metahuman before vanishing from the cave entirely.

Fun Facts

Duke Thomas is dating Isabella Ortiz.

#the signal #signal #duke thomas #robin #lark #batman family #outsiders #we are robin #dc #DC comics #thedcdunce

[kid-crashed]

Catch Me If You Can (Part 1)

This is a DamiJon College AU based off of some fantastic fanart by @une1st that you can find right here. Part 2 coming soon!

A shrill whistle rang over the practice field, easily being heard over the sound of rock music blasting from a set of speakers.

“Come on boys! Let me see that hustle!” The coach would have been easily identifiable, even without the booming voice. He was a giant man, easily six foot five, maybe more, with muscles straining against muted gray sweats. He was the only one standing on the sidelines, while the Metropolis City University football team practiced. “You best wake up and get your asses in gear or you’ll be running laps for the rest of the day!”

“Yes Coach!” The call came unanimously from the team as they worked through a series of warm up drills. Practice had only just started; earlier than normal, but they had their big Homecoming game tonight. This was their last chance to get a little extra training in.

The team finished their warm up, the coach stepping into the center of the field.

“Alright boy, take a knee.” The herd of college kids formed a semicircle around theman. His eyes surveyed his team  before landing on one member in particular. “Kent. Get your butt up here.”

“Sir, yes sir.” The guy in question stood up from amongst the team with a cocky grin on his face: Jon Kent. At twenty years old, he wasn’t the youngest person to ever make team captain, but he was still only a junior; a fact which had originally left a bad taste in the mouths of some of the seniors. Still, no one could deny that he’d earned this title, captain was elected by majority vote after all. But it was early in the season. This was his first big game to prove himself in.

He was tall by most standards, short by football’s, at six foot one. But more importantly, he was built almost entirely of lean muscle. His shoulders were broad, half inherited from his father, half the result of doing farm work his whole life. Unlike a lot of the members of the team, who looked like they snorted protein powder and skipped leg day regularly, Jon’s muscle mass was evenly distributed, giving him a conventionally fit, and attractive build.

He wiped the sweat on his hairline with the sleeve of his practice jersey. A clip board was handed over to him. It contained notes about each player on their team, as well as on their opponents.

“Alright folks,” He cleared his throat. “As you know, we’re going against Gotham tonight. Coach Stone can’t be trusted to call the shots ‘cause it’s his alma mater, so I’ll be taking over instead.” There was some collective snickering amongst the team. It was a running joke to five their coach a hard time for having gone to their biggest rival school. “So, here’s how it’s going to go.”

Jon started listing off the positions for roughly half of the team, mostly upperclassmen who were guaranteed a little spotlight in the homecoming game. There was a promise to all the new freshies and returning sophomores that if they proved themselves during training, they could get a little action too.

“Alright boys.” Coach Stone piped back in once Jon was done. “Take five for water, then we’re back to it.”

The members of the team split off back to their bags. Jon had left his over on the one long metal bench that stood at the bottom of the hill leading that lead to the field. As he walked up to it, he was able to look around and notice the small crowd of people interspured all over the knoll.

It wasn’t uncommon for other MU students to sit around and watch various athletic teams work out below. It was a nice place to hang out; sunny, but with a few trees for shade, and easy walking distance to one dining hall, the main gym, two libraries, and some of the larger academic buildings.

Seeing all these other students out here brought a smile to his face. He liked feeling like he was part of a community.

“Yo Kent, think fast!”

Jon’s head snapped up just in time to see a football being launched right at his head. God dammit. He ran back a few steps, thanking every fiber of his body that his reaction time was pretty high quality. Jon was able to cover enough distance that rather than being smacked in the head, the ball slammed his right in the chest. Jon wrapped his hands around the ball, pulling it in and keeping it close with his forearms. Nice. Ball: Caught. Receive: Perfect… Except… As he let his body follow the momentum, Jon felt the back of his ankle knock against something, and he toppled backwards.

“And down I go.” The exclamation was involuntary as he hit the ground with a thud. His recovery period was quick. The man sat up just in time to see one of his teammates cackling at Jon’s expense. “What the hell Batson?”

“Sorry man.” That boy was not sorry. Billy had been a close friend of Jon’s for years, but he could be a bit of a joker. “Also, uh, sorry!”

Jon scrunched his eyebrows at the second apology, noting that it definitely wasn’t for him. That was about when Jon became aware of the weird lump under his leg.

A backpack.

Shit.

“I’m so sorry.” Jon scrambled to his feet, brushing any grass or dirt off his sweatpants. He was careful for the disrupt the bag anymore than he already had.

“You should be.” The lower register voice made Jon unintentionally wince -- Please don’t start a fight right now -- He look at the person belonging to the backpack.

A guy sat on top of jacket, as if he were using it as a picnic blanket of sorts. He wore a rather comfortable looking green sweater, despite it being a nice, seventy six degree day. As Jon’s eyes traced over the figure under the sweater, taking note of how naturally tanned the guy’s skin was, leading up to the mans face and -- Oh… Oh that was a death glare if he’d ever seen one.

It was then that Jon realized he was also stepping on something, well, somethings to be exact. He took a step back and kneeled to pick up an assortment of what he was pretty sure were charcoal pencils. “Um… here.” He handed them to the guy.

This guy stared at Jon for a moment before reaching out with one color-covered hand, palm out flat. Jon dropped the pencils in the hand, being careful not to get any of whatever that ink was on his own hands. He watched as the individual organized the charcoal next to a box of what looked like oil pastels. Well, that explained the color.

“Sorry again.” Jon felt kinda sheepish. “It won’t happen again. I’ll yell at the guy who threw the ball, and uh… yell at myself for falling.”

The fellow sighed. “I didn’t think I’d be in the way when I sat here.”

“You’re not! I promise this was a one time fluke.”

Hazel eyes seemed to study Jon’s face to see if he was really sincere or not. “I’ll take your word for it.” The man then picked up a sketch book that had been resting on the grass next to him, and leaned it carefully against his knees.

Suddenly, something clicked in Jon’s head. “Oh! You’re that dude who’s always drawing here!”

“Excuse me?” The guy rose an eyebrow, and for some reason Jon suddenly felt a bit flustered.

“No I mean,” He took a step back, trying to actually think before he spoke. “I just see you here a lot. Like, during practice I’ll look and and it’s like, boom, you’re there.”

The other male let out a sigh, turning his attention away from the moronic quarterback, and back to his artwork. “I suppose I’m here often.”

“You are.” Yeah that sounds about right Kent. Tell the guy exactly how often he’s here. That’s just a fantastic idea. “I mean, well, I notice that you are.” There was an awkward bit of silence, where this other student was probably just trying to ignore Jon’s presence on that hill. Rightfully so. He was definitely just bothering the guy. “So… Do you always draw the team?”

“No.” The answer was short and simple, but one glance upward must have allowed the man to see just how painfully curious Jon was. “Sometimes I draw what’s in front of me, sometimes I draw based on assignments, sometimes I just draw whatever comes to mind first.”

“That’s so cool.” He peaked over the edge of the sketchbook once more to get a look at the work in progress. “You’re really good.”

“Thank you.”

Jon was about to open his big mouth all over again, probably to make another dumb comment, when his coach’s voice suddenly boomed over the whole field. “Kent! Stop flirting and get back over here!”

“Yes Coach!” Jon called back over his shoulder. “Uh… I’ll catch you later?”

“Perhaps.” The artist shrugged. “Goodbye, Kent.”

For some reason, that just brought a grin to the junior’s face. “It’s Jon, actually. Kent’s my last name.”

“Alright then. Goodbye, Jon.”

“Can’t I get your name first?”

The man looked up from his work with a sigh, making eye contact with the football player once more. “Damian.”

Practice ended rather uneventfully, with the usual post-training pre-game huddle Coach Stone always made them do. Supposedly it boasted moral until the more official motivational speech in the locker room, but Jon didn’t know enough about psychology to say one way or another. The members of the team started branching off, each going back to their bags to collect their things and head out. As Jon was heading back to his own bag, he looked up and noticed that the artist from before was starting to pack up his things as well.

“Hey!” Jon ran over to Damian, before the other was fully packed up. “Wait a sec.”

Damian didn’t slow as he put placed a piece of wax paper between the pages in his sketchbook, and closed it. “What do you want?”

“Are you going to the game tonight?” Jon awkwardly adjusted the strap of his gym bag over his shoulder.

Damian looked him over, then, he carefully put the sketchbook in his messenger bag. “I doubt it.”

There was a very good change that Jon looked like a kicked puppy. A pout grew on his face. Childish? Maybe. But if it works, it works. “Why not?”

The art student shrugged. “I never purchased a ticket. Besides, I’m not so interested in sports events.”

“I can get you a ticket.” H flashed a grin. “And you could just come and draw or something?”

That got a puzzled look in response. “You want me to come to your game, and not watch it?”

The quarterback shifted, rocking back onto his heels, then to his toes. “Why not? Can’t a guy want to see a pretty face in the crowd?” He studied the expression on Damian’s face, noticing the change from confusion, to what he dared to call fluster.

“How--” Damian coughed into his hand. “How will I get the ticket?”

The smile on Jon’s face would have split his head in two. “I’ll leave it at Will Call for you.”

#Damian Wayne #jon kent #robin #superboy #supersons #super sons #adventures of the super sons #batman #superman #batfam #superfam #damijon #jondami #fanfic #damijon fanfic #dc #dc comics #dc fanfic #fanfiction #college #au #alternative universe #football #artist #jock #quarterback #gotham #metropolis