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fractualized · 2 years

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what do you think would be the likelihood of john and bruce getting together post-vigilante? would either one of them attempt to go for it?

Well, if the player chooses to respond "I wish we had never met" to the friends question at Ace Chemicals, probably zero. But that answer is pain and I assume not the path you're thinking of.

The multiple-choice nature of the game does affect the probability, though! In Telltale, Bruce's characterization has a lot of dependence on the choices you make, and I think a Bruce who chooses more of the John-friendly options could believably, down the line, be more than friends with him.

After all, if Bruce responds to John with "of course we were friends," you get the scene of Bruce visiting John in Arkham, a significant sign of support. As far as I know, we don't get a sign that Bruce has visited Harvey in Arkham, which is awful for poor Harvey, but an indicator that Bruce feels a stronger attachment to John. Also, at this point, Bruce knows that John wanted Bruce to love him, which may not be an emotion you want to rekindle with someone who has some stalkery tendencies, but Bruce is evidently not concerned about it.

And on the other side, after saying he's done with admiring Bruce, John still looks thrilled by Bruce's visit, by Bruce not giving up on him even after John, uh, tried to kill him. I'm sure that John very much wanted to break away from Bruce in the heat of that moment at Ace, when their worldviews clashed so violently, but that confrontation was so heartwrenching precisely because of how much John loves Bruce. So I think that affection is alive and well…

… with the caveat that John has learned some things. In trying to find himself, he tried using other people as blueprints for who he was supposed to be, only for Bruce's principles to result in decisions John found senseless and infuriating, only for Harley to turn her back on John multiple times, only for Dr. Leland's support to stay behind in Arkham Asylum. John already had many instances of fending for himself, like making other Arkham patients afraid of him, learning secrets of the asylum and using them for his benefit, keeping information from or disclosing information to both Harley and Bruce as he saw fit, and deciding not to include Bruce while spending a week or two preparing for vigilantism with some clown sidekicks. As heartbreaking as John's failure to be a hero is, the sliver of a silver lining is that those disappointments may actually help pull him up from his low self image. As much as he may care about those few other people, they are operating on their own subjective standards. So can't John develop his own standards for who he wants to be?

All that is to say, while John may still think Batman is awesome, I don't think he'll put Bruce on a pedestal anymore, and Bruce won't seem as much out of reach. And if John appreciates Bruce's visits and comes around to seeing Bruce as attainable, that could work out to John gaining the confidence to propose they become something more. After all, if he can wield wacky gadgets and learn to competently fight within a couple weeks, and successfully kidnap the head of a shadowy governmental organization, anything is possible!

As for Bruce being the one to make the first move… Again, Telltale Bruce's behavior depends on your choices. You certainly have the option to pursue Selina while pursuing your mission, so Bruce could do the same with John. But if you go with a typically more reserved, mission-focused Bruce, I think it would take more time for him to get there. John being stuck in Arkham would help some. For one thing, John doesn't have the same amount of murder baggage as your average Joker to make Bruce question why the hell he's having these affectionate feelings, and for another…

Well, it's actually a mixed point, but Bruce is a fixer. He would appreciate that their relationship would help John be more stable and encourage him to be more compliant with Arkham's treatment, so he can be re-released one day. But a lot of batjokes meta has made the point that while much of Joker's behavior is obviously bad (you know, like the murder), rehabilitation scenarios can turn shitty quick because they become more about what Bruce thinks he wants Joker to be instead of Joker determining what a better version of himself is. Do we want Bruce to push for Arkham to be a better institution and to encourage John to heal? Yes! Should we be concerned that Bruce might end up advocating for treatment that crams John into a behavioral box instead of advocating for John himself? Also yes!

But to sum up the point of the question, I can see either of them pursuing a relationship under the right circumstances. Like in real life, though, that relationship isn't an endgame but an ongoing pursuit that shouldn't be taken for granted.

#ask #anonymous #telltale batman #batjokes #john doe #bruce wayne #this raised the question of what happens if vigilante joker starts escaping arkham like villain joker would #but it took me long enough to just answer this ask as it is #analysis

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infinity-squared-comics · 1 year

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“Umm... Hey, Bruce? I have a question, but you gotta promise not to be mad.”

Bruce looked at the young boy beside him. Jason had only been working as a hero for a few months, but he was a kind boy, with boundless determination and optimism. Bruce couldn’t be prouder.

“Of course chum. There’s nothing wrong with asking questions, as long as you remember to be kind and not keep pressing if told no”

“Oh, ok. Well, um... I was wondering. Why don’t we kill the bad guys? Cause, we beat them up, and we stop them, and we send them to Arkham, but then they get out. Wouldn’t be better to kill them so they can’t hurt people anymore?”

Ah. This question. A difficult topic. Bruce still remembered how long it took to show dick that here were always better options than killing. That boy... He had been so full of pain, and anger. Bruce wished he could have helped him more.

“Well chum, that’s a bit of a complicated question. To me it goes back to two things. The first one I’ve already told you. The night my parents died was the worst night of my life, and on that day I swore to never put anyone else through that same pain. The second goes back even further. You see, my father was a surgeon. He worked tirelessly to save people. Sometimes he would spend days on end in the hospital, working tirelessly to save a single patient. There’s one night that will always stay with me. He had just come home from a particularly challenging case. It had reached a point where the patient’s heart had stopped, and her blood had to be pumped manually using a complex machine. There were two options. The machine could be set to automatic, where it would have a 12.8% chance of success. Or, it could be worked manually, where that chance went up to 13.1%. My father spent 18 hours sitting in that same spot, pumping the machine once or twice every second. The patient didn’t make it. When he finally got home he had a look of utter despair on his face. I asked him ‘why papa? why did you work so hard for so little?’ he sat me down and he explained something to me, something that I still remember to this day. He said to me ‘Bruce, my boy, I must tell you something of grave importance. You see, there is nothing on this earth worth more than a human life. There is no amount of labor that is too much for even the chance to save a life. It doesn’t matter how hard you have to work yourself; you can never give up on a life. It is our duty, as those born with power, to save as many people as we can with that power, no matter how slim the chances. That is my greatest code, my boy.’

“You see Jason, even if the criminals escape, we can still stop them from hurting people. It may take much more time and effort on our part, and it may be easier to simply kill them and be done with it, but my father taught me, you never take the easy way out when lives are at stake”.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Jason woke up in a cold sweat. No. That had to be a dream. That conversation never happened; he’d have remembered it. Except... The pit. When he came back, the pit healed his mind, but not all the way. He still lost little things and- oh. All this time. That’s why. All this time. That’s why Bruce wouldn’t kill, there was a reason, this whole time! Oh, that noble idiot. That’s what me meant when he said it was too easy, he was still putting it upon himself to save everyone. Hmm. He might owe his dad a bit of an apology.

#Fiction #fan fic #batman #bruce wayne #Jason Todd #Robin #Red hood #short story

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benis-chillin · 1 month

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Backlog Reviews 2024: Batman Arkham Asylum

Platform: PC

February 14th, 2024-March 4th, 2024

Well, after Bionicle the Game was such a massive disappointment, even by my lowered standards, it was nice to see this game live up to all of the hype.

It's not without flaws, of course, but overall, it has solid gameplay, a "gets the job done" story that only has a few bits I'd say are bad, and the difficulty is fairly balanced if you pick the right mode.

Killer Croc's section kinda sucks ass, though. Just really long and boring?

Really, the biggest delay for writing this review is that I just don't have THAT much to say compared to the other two. Most of what I have are minor quibbles that I think would be amusing.

For example, I had to play this at the lowest settings for a consistent framerate. Like, I tried medium with all of the optional settings turned to low, but that gave me this one room early in the game running at 12 FPS on those settings, and 60 FPS at low settings. And even then, I had some minor frame drops here and there. My laptop isn't a top tier gaming PC or anything, but I'd think it could run a 2009 game a bit better.

The lower settings also gives a lot of people blind eyes. Idk why, it just does.

Some of the pre-animated knock-out poses for the thugs are weird, too. Like, they'll ragdoll into a natural position, then set themselves up like:

It's bizarre to see in real time. Why did they intentionally make it as weird as possible?

Though really, the "because it's a video game" shit in this game does sorta bother me. Like, many times, you'll face obstacles that Batman, in-universe, SHOULD be able to move or get around much more easily, but the developers want you to do some weird challenge that doesn't really make much sense. Every video game has this to some degree, but I hate how artificial it feels here in particular.

This also leads to moments where Batman feels like kind of an idiot, though? Like, you look at him, and go, "Why aren't you better at doing your damn JOB, bro?"

One example that broke me a bit was the Bat Claw upgrade. He assembles it in his Arkham Batcave, and it can pull things. Pretty cool, right?

Well, later, as things get worse, Batman is in the same Bat Cave, and he assembles the Ultra Bat Claw from some nearby parts, which can do everything the original Bat Claw can do, but also a LOT more.

SO WHY DIDN'T HE JUST MAKE THE ULTRA BAT CLAW IN THE FIRST PLACE!?

We wasted HOURS of our lives with this shit, Bruce! We could've gone so much faster with that thing, and you only NOW put it together!? ARE YOU STUPID!?

So yeah, those quibbles aside, I quite liked this game, though would still call Lego Batman 2 my favorite Batman game so far.

8/10.

And next on the docket has been a long time coming: Metroid Dread on Switch.

#gaming backlog #batman arkham series #batman arkham asylum

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fragmcntdstars · 6 months

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@babydxhl sent 👫for harley? — send 👫 for four headcanons of our muses

Harley had always wanted a sibling, but she found a little more with Mary. Okay, yeah, there's moments where she wants to strangle the other, but those moments come && go like her slightly hectic moods. There's a kind of understanding that they've managed, although she knows that there's something a little more between them. Harley && Mary work together very well, even though they haven't really known each other too long. Shockingly, its so easy for Harley to work with Mary.

While they were in Arkham, Harley && Mary were in adjacent cells. She wasn't sure at first if it was a great idea for them to be so close together, but it wasn't something that was clear at first. Harley had been bounced between her original cell and one closer to Ivy, although the second option was more out of necessity for the other's life. Harley && Mary would pass notes between their cells, using the trays they got at meal times to pass those notes. It was a way to pass the time, && it had become some of a bright spot that she liked during the times at Arkham.

Whenever they plan heists, Mary tolerates Harley's plans that include treating her like a child. Not in a demeaning way, but its something that they use to make sure that the plan goes through correctly. Sometimes, though, its used in a way that can get them more valuable items. Tickets to the local museum aren't the cheapest, but often that is the only way to get access to the items on the top of Harley's wish list. The last time they did it, they stole a diamond that they managed to fence a few days after. Did they have to leave the city because of heat? Yes, but then something happened that distracted from the diamond theft in a spectacular caliber.

Aside from the first time, Harley rarely allows Bruce around Mary. Harley doesn't want Bruce to scare Mary, && Harley doesn't want Mary to hurt Bruce. When she does have to keep Bruce somewhere else, she puts Bruce in her bedroom and ends up giving him a few treats to make sure that he keeps on his best behavior. On more than one occasion, Mary has made a threat to turn Bruce into a coat. Harley hasn't doubted that Mary would do that, but she's also not wanting to see if Mary is actually willing to hold up her threat.

#babydxhl #fragmented queue #v; masterless harlequin #𝔥𝔶𝔢𝔫𝔞 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔩𝔢𝔯 // harley quinn

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dc-sideblog · 1 year

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Okay but like genuinely so often Bruce is characterized as a human piece of shit and the Justice League just does not care but if they wanna call themselves heroes then I think in those verses they would have to do something about it. But what? He's Batman. He's the most powerful man in the world. He's the main funder of the League itself. He knows all of their secrets. He knows every weakness and has detailed plans on how to exploit them if he ever thinks he needs to. He has near infinite money and resources and a reputation as a happy go lucky bumbling fool. He's one of their founding members, he's part of the Trinity. How do you take down Batman without bringing down the Justice League with him?

Options:

Execution: PR nightmare. The world would wanna know why, and the League would have to admit that it turns out Batman was evil btw and they just never noticed, or worse, they noticed and turned a blind eye, because he was useful. This would decimate trust in them and any authority they might have over what justice is or looks like. The only way it could be pulled off is if it was completely covered up and they immediately had a new Batman take Bruce's place. But that runs the risk of a leak happening someday about how the JL is conducting secret executions and cover ups

Prison: lol. Lmao, even. Words cannot express how terrible an idea this is. Anyone who legitimately suggests that putting evil!Batman in prison is in any way a real solution would get laughed out of the room

Arkham: when has this ever actually accomplished anything. Aside from making people MORE mentally ill. Look what Arkham did to Harley Quinn

Suicide Squad: there's only one thing worse than abusive evil Batman: abusive evil Batman under Waller's control

Mandated therapy and community service: unfortunately you have to want it to work and actually work at it in order for therapy to have any tangible effect. Just showing up is not enough. Doable solution, though, depending on the characterization

Indigo Tribe: fuck Bruce I guess lmao. This is poetic justice. He would hate a Lantern ring, and a parasitic one that destroyed his sense of self would mean the end of Bruce Wayne in all the ways that mattered. This is like community service in a way, but without the hope of any future rehabilitation, and instead he's just endlessly enduring all the pain he's caused others all at once. Most sadistic option on this list, but it's also the safest bet in a situation where no one thinks Bruce would ever change

Alternate universe: throwing Batman into an alternate dimension is not a solution. It is a new set of problems for somebody else

Give Jason a free pass: presenting the Evidence™️ and turning off the cameras is one way of dealing with Batman, sure, but it has a 99% chance of ending in tears instead of bloodshed. If Jason was gonna kill Bruce he would have done it by now. Also he deserves better

Beat him up real good: fucked up AND ineffective. No matter how permanent or severe the injury, it's Bruce's mind that's the real weapon, not his body. He would find a way to work past anything and then he'd be out for blood, seeking vengeance

Let the Flashes decide: 👀 it's not a war crime if no one's ever done it before. They would create the Torment Nexus

Ignoring the problem: 1000% success rate. Just keep cashing in on that sweet sweet Bat money and the JL's stellar reputation. They need their strategist. The fate of the world is on the line

#yeah i dont know what this post is #i just see a lot of 'batman is abusive' stuff out there where its just... never addressed #no change #only his kids ever find out and no one with any power tk do anything ever breathes a word about it

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soulmate-game · 3 years

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Part 2: The same prompt, but Siblings this time

Tim paused the video on his computer, the red figure on it in mid-leap off of a building. Be rewound the video, played it, paused again at the same time stamp.

No, his eyes were not deceiving him. The video was not doctored.

So what the hell was going on?

“Hey Timmie, find anything on that Paris situation Bruce asked you to look into?” Dick’s voice made Tim startle, nearly spilling his coffee all over the keyboard and possibly deleting his hard-earned research. Rescuing his lifeblood from certain doom, he hugged his mug to his chest and glared at his older brother for a second. Dick was not in the least bothered, used to this sort of reaction from the younger detective. Dick just grinned, leaning on the back of Tim’s chair and looking up at the images on the large computer screen above them. He whistled lowly, impressed. “You’ve made a lot of progress, nice! Anything you wanna share with me before the debrief tonight?”

Tim clenched and unclenched his jaw, weighing his options. Dick waited patiently, knowing that sometimes Tim needed a minute to sort through his rapid-forming thoughts. Finally Tim sighed, setting down his mug grimly.

“Actually, yes,” he admitted. Tim’s tense tone immediately made Dick stiffen, straightening up. His eyebrows pulled down, and he returned his gaze to the computer.

“Okay, that’s your serious voice. What is it?”

“I… need your confirmation with something,” Tim turned around and looked straight at Dick. And he hesitated again, because certain… past interactions with his eldest brother once again flashed through his head. The entire Bruce-is-alive and being threatened with Arkham interaction, to be specific. But Tim needed to know the truth, it was his fatal flaw he supposed. He couldn’t back away in fear of how Dick might react.

“Ohhhhkay?” Dick just grew more and more concerned the longer that Tim took to actually speak.

“So, just to recap. There are only four people in history who have been able to do a quadruple somersault, right?” Tim asked, knowing full well the answer. Dick, predictably, shifted and grew even more on alert at the inquiry. He knew that couldn’t mean anything good. His jaw clenched, and his hands formed tight fists. But Dick also remembered the Bruce incident with Tim all that time ago, and he didn’t want to repeat his mistakes. So he forced himself to take a deep breath, and shake himself away from jumping to conclusions.

“Yeah,” Dick nodded. “Me, my parents, and my sister,” he confirmed rigidly. Tim nodded, and then rewound the video on the screen again, nodding to show that Dick should focus on it.

“Okay. But watch this,” Tim suggested, starting the video again. Dick watched as the red and black-spotted heroine of Paris, Ladybug, zipped through the air and around buildings with her yo-yo. He watched as she let go, at a height that even a normal person could manage, and executed four perfect somersaults in mid-air before landing nimbly on the ground. Tim paused the video again, his eyes never leaving Dick’s tense face.

“It isn’t doctored,” Tim said, filling the silence and preemptively answering the questions he knew he would get. “I checked. Magic is involved, but Constantine and Zatanna both confirmed it would have no hold over basic physical abilities like flexibility or… gymnastics. Only specifically combat styles used by past Ladybugs can be transferred magically to the next Ladybug, not this.”

“Tim,” Dick’s voice was terrifyingly blank. “What are you suggesting?”

“Nothing yet,” Tim was quick to hold up his hands in surrender. “I’m still doing research. It’s possible, though extremely unlikely, that she managed to teach herself how to do that. You tell me, Dick, how likely is it?”

Dick swallowed, not wanting to say it but knowing he had to look at the facts. “... At her age? Next to impossible,” he admitted. “She could learn it, theoretically, as young as seven or eight, but only if someone who knew what they were doing taught her since she was about three.”

Tim nodded again. He knew those numbers, he knew where they came from.

“Then— and this is only a theory right now— we have what I think is the more plausible scenario,” Tim swallowed. This was the hard part. “Your sister was kidnapped after your parent’s death, but the body that was found wasn’t actually her’s. It wasn’t in a state to be physically identified, so—“

“I know what state it was in, Tim!” Dick snapped, forcing himself to take a few steps back and just breath. Even now, the image of a tiny body burned beyond recognition was burned into the inside of his eyelids, there to taunt him whenever he blinked or slept and let his mind wander in just the wrong direction. She would be… what, Jason’s age, now? She was seven… only seven, when their parents died and she ran off into the Gotham streets in despair. When she was kidnapped, as is what happens in Gotham.

When Dick was presented with a body he could not say WASN’T her’s a week later.

“The DNA…” Dick tried. “They said…”

“I know,” Tim’s voice was carefully soft. “But the records on your family’s DNA were all kept by the circus back then. The Talons had access to those files. It’s very possible they were tampered with. Switched. It wouldn’t be hard for them to burn your sister’s actual medical files and replace them with forged copies that had someone else’s DNA on them. The data of the girl who actually died.”

Dick closed his eyes, shaking his head. He didn’t want to hope, it would hurt too much if Tim was wrong.

Tim had been right about more unlikely things than this, a voice in the back of his head whispered. And yeah, that was true. But Dick was still too scared to hope.

“Finish your research, Tim,” Dick’s voice was strained with suppressed emotion. He couldn’t even look at the younger vigilante as he left the Cave. “Find out who Ladybug’s civilian persona is, and then we’ll talk.”

Tim could only sigh in relief when Dick was gone. That could have gone much worse.

—*—*—*—*—*

A week later, the entire family was gathered. This was the full debrief on the Paris case, rather than the progress update that they had had to do before. Research took longer than Tim had expected, he had years of data to go through after all. But he had come away with exactly what he had been looking for.

After running through the overall situation and where the fight against HawkMoth was at in the present day, Tim licked his lips and took a deep breath. This was it, the Who-Is-Ladybug part.

“I was able to get security footage of her detransformation, just one lucky shot from ten years ago, when this whole thing began,” he prefaced. “She was thirteen years old, and untrained as far as heroism goes, so it stands to reason she didn’t know yet how to be properly careful about transforming. This is that security picture,” he carefully put the enlarged picture up on the Batcomputer, as well as sliding a physical copy onto the table for everyone to pass around.

Dick didn’t even try to grab it, his eyes glued to the computer, expression unreadable. The picture was a little grainy, but most of the girl’s face could be made out. Pigtails, dark black hair that shimmered blue in direct light, blue eyes.

But it was the next picture that Tim pulled up that pushed everything over the edge.

“These are the official pictures of her that I was able to get from Paris records. This first picture is of her at the same age at the security footage, thirteen. The second picture is her now, age twenty-three,” Tim said, before the side-by-side came up on the screen. Tim’s eyes slid over to Dick, who was frozen in his seat, just staring at the images silently. He wasn’t even breathing.

“Dick?” Bruce asked, immediately noticing the behavior. His eyebrows furrowed. “Are you alright?”

Dick’s next breath came in with a shudder, and he clenched his eyes shut in a futile attempt to stop the tears that came out. He choked out a broken chuckle, shaking his head and giving out a lopsided, watery grin.

“Heh. Another point for Timmy being right,” Dick jokes weakly, rubbing at his eyes.

“What do you mean? Tim?” Bruce turned to the younger of the two insistently. “What’s going on? Who is she?”

“Currently, according to Parisian records, she is Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Tim told them. “More specifically, her full name is Marinette Gray Dupain-Cheng. Which I believe is what she chose to change her name to after she was kidnapped sixteen years ago from right outside Haley’s Circus, and illegally transported to France,” Tim clicked another button to bring up a third picture in the side-by-side. It was of someone who was clearly a younger Marinette, but in the very familiar costume of the Flying Graysons, standing right next to a twelve-year old version of Dick. “Because her birth name is Marie Natalia Grayson. Dick’s younger sister, who until now was presumed dead. But I was able to confirm that the medical records back then for Marie were forged, and the information on them could not actually belong to her. The body that was presented as Marie’s… was a red herring to hide that Marie was no longer in America at all.”

Dick’s sob-laugh drew everyone’s attention back to the first Robin, who was now silently, openly, crying. Nobody really knew how to deal with that, and the room descended into awkward silence as Dick tried to regain his composure a little.

“Marinette… Gray,” he whispered, chuckling again and shaking his head as he wiped at his cheeks. “That idiot… her ability with subtlety hasn’t gotten any better, that’s for sure,” he was smiling now, still staring at the pictures of Marinette on the screen. Of his beautiful little sister, all grown up and not buried six feet under like he had thought for far too long.

Because this was different from Hope. This was certainty. The face, the far too on-the-nose name, the somersaults, Dick had even noticed it in the way she swung on her yo-yo. The body memory from years of Trapeze, those little quirks he recognized as belonging to his sister that he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge. But now, all together, he could admit to himself that it was her. It was really her.

Could it be a clone? Maybe. Maybe. But that was why Dick snuck out to France the very next day, informing absolutely nobody.

Because he had a test that only the real Marie would be able to pass.

—*—*—*—*—*

"How did you- No, nevermind, I don't want to know, plausible deniability and all that,” the deep, unfamiliar male voice made Marinette squeak in shock, nearly dropping the phone in her hands. She leaned so far to her right that she almost fell over, but her nearly perfect balance (that only failed her when she was nervous or self conscious) kept her upright.

Her eyes darted down to her phone screen, where an app that Max had helped her create was opened. It utilized at least five hundred little fly-shaped drones that Markov managed and kept track of to scan the city for corrupted butterflies and recognize the level of stress or other negative emotions that civilians were experiencing. It cut down severely on patrol time that the crew had to do, making it easier for them to balance their hero and civilian lives and also allowed for them to arrive at the scene of Akuma attacks twice as fast as before— along with helping with the original purpose of catching evidence to use against Hawkmoth, of course.

Marinette straightened her back, smiling sheepishly and closing out the app. She had just been making a routine check, it had only been open for a minute. How had he managed to sneak up on her in that time? Only chat could do that anymore.

That is, until Marinette turned around the rest of the way and got a good look at the man. Her eyes widened— what was Nightwing, a vigilante from Gotham, doing there?

“I don’t see what plausible deniability has to do with anything,” she replied in easy, unaccented English. She might not speak it often, but she did stay in practice. Even now a lot of her fashion notes and thoughts were in either English or Romani. “It’s just a game app that my friend created,” the practiced lie flew easily past her lips, and she was able to even smile confidently and begin to happily ramble about Max’s (public) achievements like she would in any normal situation. “It is still in the test phase of course, but it uses virtual reality and mapping technology to create a treasure hunt sort of adventure game that people can do as they walk around. Like Pokémon go, but with real-time footage of the city— with people not included besides the game characters of course— and it rewards caution as well as keeping active,” she explained their cover story for the app happily. But Nightwing only smiled easily at her with his arms crossed, clearly not believing a single word.

“Ah— but that probably isn’t interesting,” Marinette purposely stuttered, turning her face into one of (surprisingly genuine) confusion as she looked at the vigilante. “What are you here for anyway, Monsieur? This doesn’t seem like—“

“I have a riddle that a friend of mine told me to ask you,” he interrupted, instantly putting Marinette on guard. She took a step back, eyebrows pulling down at the odd request. But still, she chuckled nervously and shrugged. She had to maintain appearances after all.

“Uh, sure..? Riddles are fun, in the right circumstances I guess.”

Nightwing beamed happily, nearly blinding the poor girl. “Awesome!” His next words came out in fluent Romani though: “If a Hummingbird ever gets lost, what kind of animal will track it down?”

Marinette’s mouth went dry, her shoulders dropping. Her mouth opened and closed, the shock of the question leaving her unable to even pretend she didn’t understand exactly what was said. Nightwing’s gaze grew more intense, yet his smile got impossibly soft.

Marinette swallowed thickly, and she took a deep breath before responding in Romani: “You shouldn’t— only one person—“

“That doesn’t answer the riddle, ma’am.”

Marinette’s confusion turned into a harsh glare. “He would never tell someone else to ask me that. What are you trying to play at, Nightwing?” She hissed harshly, still in her native language.

“Listen, Marinette,” Nightwing held up both hands to try to calm her down. It did the opposite, making her take another step back. “Batman and the rest of our team has been looking into the Hawkmoth security—“ Marinette cursed, clearly seeing where this was going. “— We believe he found out who Ladybug is. But, we also found signs that your real name is—“

“Shut up!” She yelled in English, fists clenched tightly. Luckily she had gone into an alleyway to check her phone, or else they would be attracting attention by then. Her eyes sparked with anger. “You don’t get to use that name. And if you’re so smart,” Marinette tucked her phone into her purse and scaled the wall next to her nimbly, perching on the roof as Nightwing cursed and began to follow her. “Then try to predict my moves, birdy.”

It only took a few minutes and crossed rooftops for Marinette to call on her transformation and pick up speed. She knew by then that Nightwing, and probably the other Bats too, already found her out. Not ideal, but manageable. Now she wanted to show him why he shouldn’t come into her territory and dig into her past and think he could get away with it.

Somewhere during the chase, more Bats appeared one by one. Judging by what Ladybug was able to overhear, they had come as soon as they realized where Nightwing had snuck off to.

That made Marinette pause from where she hid behind a sloped roof, in the middle of a call to her own teammates. Nightwing hadn’t come on his team’s orders?

Why the hell had he come, then?

She shook thought thoughts away, focusing on her plan. Paris was her city, and she would make sure the Bats learned their lesson when it came to sticking their nose in Parisian business.

“Bug?” The soft, concerned call came from her yo-yo and pulled her from her contemplating. Max, in full Pegasus attire, was frowning at her in worry on the small screen. She just shook her head at him.

“I’m fine, Peg. Just don’t like how this feels like Gotham ruining my life again,” she remarked sourly. “But I’m fine. Start plan We’re Not Kids.”

Max nodded, but rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like; “even though we made this plan when we actually were kids…”

A portal opened in the air a few seconds later, releasing Honeybee in all her gold and black glory. The winged hero zipped through the air, immediately putting team Miraculous at an advantage since team Bat didn’t want to actually harm them.

It took a glorious five seconds for Honeybee to paralyze them all before Tortoise dropped out from another portal and surrounded the temporarily paralyzed vigilantes in a dome shield that kept them in just as easily as it kept everything else out.

One by one, Marinette’s teammates dropped out of more portals until Pegasus himself joined them. Ladybug took that as her que to come out, leaping over her hiding place to land in front of her friends, who had formed a half-circle in front of the trapped dome.

“Vixen,” she called to the fox-themed hero, whose ears twitched before she straightened to attention. “Create an illusion to hide us. The last thing we need are any pictures or anyone asking questions.”

“Got it!” Vixen agreed easily, raising her flute to her lips. A short melody later, and their surroundings warped. To those inside the illusion, it seemed as if the world merely ended off of the rooftop they were on, into only blankness. Outside, that very rooftop appeared empty.

It was then that Chat Noir stepped up to take Ladybug’s side, his acidic green eyes scanning over the Gotham vigilantes trapped inside Tortoise’s protective barrier.

“You can release the paralysis, Honeybee,” his order was noticeably softer than Ladybug’s clear commands. It was obvious that he was the deputy in this situation, the flexibility to Ladybug’s iron leadership. That was when the red clad hero crossed her arm, resuming control of the situation wordlessly. The Gotham heroes briefly glowed gold as Honeybee let their paralysis begin to gradually wear off.

“Paris is my city,” Ladybug’s voice was at a normal volume, but came out with such auditory steel that it was clear she expected to be listened to, or she’d know why. “If I needed or wanted your help, I would have asked for it. Now, if you had come here normally to offer aid, then we might be having a different discussion right now,” her eyes narrowed further. “But you dug into my past. You violated my privacy. And Nightwing, you crossed a line,” she would have continued if the blue and black clad hero didn’t use his sudden ability to move to rip off his mask.

Marinette’s voice died in her throat, and for a while she thought she might be hallucinating. Those eyes, that face— she knew them. She knew them, because she saw them whenever she dared close her eyes. Because the dreams she had, the dreams that made her never want to drag herself out of bed because she wanted to believe those dreams were real so badly, always contained those eyes. And that face, though it had been much younger in her memories.

She stumbled, and only Chat’s presence at her side kept her from toppling right over.

“Bugaboo?” He asked frantically, distraught. She just shook her head dazedly, pushing herself back to her feet and away from her partner.

“I’m fine, Chat. Just…,” she assured her partner, but her eyes never left Nightwing. She licked her lips nervously, before continuing; “... Bluebird,” she whispered, making Nightwing’s eyes widen. Her brother’s eyes. “That’s the answer to the riddle, right?”

Slowly, a wide smile split his face before he began to laugh happily, despite Robin slapping Nightwing’s mask back on his face with a furious grumble.

“Ladybug?” Tortoise asked, stepping up to her other side cautiously. Seeing as they were all adults now, none of them had to worry about time or power limits anymore. “Are you..?”

“Release the shield,” she ordered instead of answering, her eyes clearly damp behind her mask. “I need to strangle my idiotic older brother for scaring the hell out of me.”

That made the rest of her team make their various exclamations of shock, but Chat and Tortoise stayed silent. Chat just put a hand on Ladybug’s shoulder in support, while Tortoise zipped his wide gaze back to Nightwing before sighing and releasing his ability.

“Only you, Bug,” the green clad hero groused playfully. “Only you.”

If Marinette Dupain-Cheng suddenly introduced her long-lost brother to her closest friends and family that same night, nobody voiced the coincidence out loud.

—*—*—*—*—*

Part 1: Romance

Part 3: Bio!Parent

#maribat #ml x dc #mlb x dc #dickinette #platonic dickinette #3-from-1 challenge

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punnyasitgets · 3 years

Note

[cha cha slide voice] reverse!

Freeze! Everybody clap your hands!

Ok so Catwoman Guardian of Gotham was a disaster so I'm taking it into my own hands. Only Bruce and Selina are swapped and Alfred still exists, not. The weird maid lady and Bruce is Not a bloodthirsty murderer

This got Very long so it's under a cut

Selina's parents were murdered by Joe Chill and she vowed to never let anyone feel the same pain she did, hence why she later became Catwoman

Bruce grew up on the streets with his big brother Thomas taking care of them both, but Thomas ended up killing a guy in a mugging and got sent to prison and left Bruce on his own

Catwoman hears about a number of high-profile thefts (museums, aristocrats) springing up and starts trying to track down the cat burglar and ends up interrupting a burglarly from a wealthy woman's penthouse

She chases the burglar down and they have a fight on the rooftops where they kick the everloving shit out of eachother but the burglar throws her off the roof and when she gets back up he's gone

Next night, she attends a charity event and meets an activist and fundraiser by the name of Bruce Wayne and they have a nice chat and hit it off

In the middle of it, a waiter bumps Selina in the side right over where her ribs got cracked from the other night and she doubles over so Bruce helps her out of sight and asks what happened

She tells him she tripped down the stairs of her house but he does Not believe it and ends up sticking by her the rest of the night, at the end of which Selina is like. "He's nice I think" and invites him out for lunch soon

Jump a day or two and Selina runs into the burglar again but this time he's got full body armor and a bat motif and she is Not Happy With This Development

Bruce stole a ton of armor and weaponry from the GCPD and made his own suit because Selina rly messed him up the last time they met

So they fight and Bruce hits her in the side and it floors her and he is like. Wait A Minute, but she recovers and he's forced to run

And then over a period of a month or two, Bruce starts hanging out with Selina in the day (lowkey stalking her to see if his wild theory is right) and while over at her manor he spots a bloodstain on her shirtsleeve from a wound that bled through the bandages she was wearing and when he questions her she says she cut her arm open on a nail accidentally and it's not a big deal but he's just. Hm

Also during this period, Catwoman keeps showing up to stop all of Batman's robberies and he's really getting sick of it because he's been using the money from his stolen goods both to like, feed himself but also to support a gang of homeless kids in the neighborhood he lives in and to help provide food for the local orphanage and it's getting Really Hard To Do That When He Can't Steal Stuff

So basically he knows she's Catwoman and Selina is his friend and he's just. I Have An Idea

Batman starts going out more often just to taunt Catwoman while she's on patrol and he starts going to other rogues like Two-Face and Cobblepit to egg them on and he actively breaks Bane out of prison and the Riddler out of Arkham just to set them loose

He's basically manufacturing a crime wave to try and wear Catwoman out and it's working

She's really exhausted because of all this and every time she has to make an appearance in public she's all tired and struggling to keep it together and Bruce makes a point to be there and to cover for her whenever she's too overwhelmed

Eventually Catwoman gets severely injured during a fight and she's too far from the Cave so, not really having another option, she shows up passed out in Bruce's apartment bleeding out and he's all surprised and helps her and gives her impromptu medical care but never pulls off her mask

Selina wakes up on his couch and he's asleep in a chair he pulled up next to her and she's like :] and leaves him a thank you note before going

So Batman has basically become priority one but he keeps causing so many new problems to spring up that she can't actually go after him while he commits a robbery spree, and every tine she deals with everything else he goes to ground for weeks on end

All the while Bruce is there being Supportive Friend Of The Year and they keep going out to eat and they spend events together and it's Grand

Eventually Bruce asks her out! And she's like. Oh No because while she likes him, she genuinely doesn't know if she can handle being in a relationship at the moment but she doesn't want to say no so she gives a tentative yes and so they're dating

Luckily he is a very understanding man and whenever she has to dip out to be Catwoman or when she's too tired to go out he's all "oh it's fine, I can reschedule" and it's a Very Big Relief

Batman goed to ground after another round of Mess With Catwoman and he stays that way for like three months and she puts all her rogues away so for the first time in a While she has proper free time to spend with Bruce and it's lovely! And shes like. "If this is how our relationship is, I don't want it to end" but because she's Catwoman and she doesn't know that she could hide it from Bruce if they were married and so one night she shows up in his apartment as Catwoman and shows him that she's Selina and he's just "!!!!! Oh that explains a lot, that's really awesome"

He swears he'd never tell anyone about her identity and makes a joke about how because Selina makes herself seem so ditzy at parties, nobody would believe him anyway and so Selina proposes to him the next night and they end up getting married and Bruce moves into the manor ❤️

Unfortunately Batman comes back and he pulls a pro gamer move which involves releasing every inmate from Arkham and Blackgate, including but not limited to her entire rogues gallery

So she's having a Time and literally just can't handle everything and every time she does well against a rogue Batman swoops in out of nowhere to divert her and really it's exhausting and she's working herself to the bone

Eventually she manages to wrangle most of them but the Joker is still on the loose and Batman keeps evading her and she Has Not Slept For Four Nights

While she's in the Cave, Alfred makes a comment about how at night it always gets so nerve wracking, especially since Bruce tends to leave after she does and Alfred is worried he might get caught up in something dangerous considering Batman and the crime wave and Selina is like

"He leaves the house at night??? [wh]" And Alfred gets confused tells her how he can never find Bruce in the manor from around eleven pm to two in the morning so he assumes Bruce goes out to visit friends or to deal with personal business and he tells her abt how he asked Bruce about it and he told Alfred that he and Selina had already talked about it

And Selina is just. "He was lying to you, I had no idea he was going out" which makes her Very Suspicious

She can't Do anything about it because she's trying to track down supercriminals but she checks the manor security feeds and she can't find any trace of Bruce leaving which is Concerning

Basically she ends up finding the Joker and stopping him from bombing the city and he gets sent back to Arkham, but before she can go home Batman shows up and they facedown on the roof

Batman goes all "I really didn't want to do this but you gave me no choice" and then starts trying to kill Selina

He gets a bunch of good stabs in but Selina seems to get the better of him and so he runs and she follows him into an apartment building but loses him in the hallways

She spots a bomb behind one of the doors and realizes the building is about to explode so she gets out of there just before it does and Batman corners her with a gun on a nearby roof

He tries to kill her again but Selina manages to get close and hits the gun away

Batman tries to run but she grabs him by the cape and yanks him back and manages to rip his cowl off before he gets away, at which point she sees that it's Bruce and she's Horrified

And it finally clicks that Batman has been trying to get every other criminal in Gotham to either kill her for him or wear her out so that he can do it himself, which would Also be killing Selina Kyle, and since she doesn't have any other heir, Bruce would get her fortune

And she's all "why would you do all this" and he gets really angry and starts telling her all about the people that aren't as privileged as her and he basically tells her that he wants her money so he can use it to help the people living in the East End and the Narrows, since Selina and the other aristocrats of her stature didn't know the problem like he did and refused to help

So Selina is just baffled that he'd go this far and he apologizes to her genuinely before he tries to kill her one last time because now that she Knows, this is his last chance to get away with the plan

It doesn't work, Selina fights him off and manages to get cuffs on him but he gets away and Selina goes home and Divorces That Man Immediately but also realizes that while he was living with her he'd been stealing things like jewelry she never wore or fancy paintings from rooms nobody ever went into and she is just Not Pleased

But she also allocates a ton of money towards charity projects focused in the more rundown areas of Gotham and actively starts funding all sorts of orphanages, soup kitchens, clinics, etc

She tries to track Bruce down but he's just Gone and so she lets it go even though she's very heartbroken and sad that he tried so hard to kill her

#bat and cat swap #batman #catwoman #dc comics #gaysonlyocean #adobe decrees #tysm rat 🥺

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myersesque · 3 years

Note

Tell me about how telltale batman has the most in character bruce despite being divergent to a lot of established lore - more so than a lot of the comics themselves imo

YES YES EXACTLY YOU GET IT

quick disclaimer that my comic knowledge will obviously be limited to the comics i've personally read. comic writers love to take characters and do their own thing with them, so i know for a fact there are probably a million comics that contradict this post, but that's not the point.

even the telltale side of things in this are gonna be a little biased and full of personal interpretation, because telltale's game format means that everybody's bruce wayne is gonna look a little different. but, i mean, i guess the way i play bruce is the way i see him anyway, so whatever.

ANYWAY! i hope you wanted an essay because oh boy did i get carried away:

one aspect of bruce's character i think is important is his motivations. he didn't just wake up one day and decide to be batman - he made that decision for a reason, and i think that reason is inherently important to his character, because having a different idea on his origins can give you a completely different idea of how his character should act, if that makes sense?

in my personal opinion, bruce wayne should always be motivated by love. he's motivated to fight crime by his love for his parents, and his love for gotham city, and his love for innocent people who don't deserve his parents' fate. my favourite comic panels are always the ones where bruce lets his scary persona slip a little, where he cradles a child against his chest to comfort them; batman was created to be scary, yes, but he's intended to scare criminals, not innocents. whilst bruce's parents' deaths definitely jumpstart his vigilantism, they are not the centrepiece of his entire morality - he doesn't care about gotham's citizens because he's imagining his parents in their place, he cares about them because he genuinely loves his city.

i think a lot of comics i've read have sorta forgotten that aspect of his character. white knight's entire plot revolves around the idea that bruce, blinded by his own anger, has become just as brutal and careless as the criminals he fights, and has ended up causing harm to innocent civilians because of it - whilst i think that's certainly interesting, and i am a sucker for a good "heroes aren't always good people" storyline... it feels icky. i struggle to reconnect that bruce, snarling and chained and unable to sympathise with the innocent people he's hurting, with the bruce who held children to his chest and promised they'd be okay. a lot of comics don't consider bruce's motivation to be his love, they consider his motivation to be his hatred, which leads to characterisations of bruce that are cruel and uncaring and, in some instances, outright abusive. it's like they frame his entire morality as "getting revenge for his parents' deaths" - which is funny, because i think it's pretty commonly agreed upon that bruce wayne shows his parents' murderer mercy. i think a lot of the issue is that people dehumanise batman, and bruce in turn; he's not a man, he's a monster.

which brings me to telltale bruce!

i think what makes telltale bruce work so well is the way they instantly humanise him. the opening scene of season 1 flickers between batman's fearless crime-fighting and bruce wayne gritting his teeth through an injury and getting ready for a gala. his relationships with the other characters - harvey, selina, john, tiffany, everybody - are shown in halves; you see just as much of bruce as you do batman. you'll see batman shielding harvey from attacks followed by bruce sitting by his side in his hospital room; batman repressing fond smiles behind his cowl as he talks with john; bruce at lucius' funeral, filled with despair, knowing that batman is to blame. it is incredibly, painfully clear that batman is not a myth or a monster - he's bruce wayne, the same bruce wayne who flirts with reporters and makes bad puns and goes on fake-dates with his friends to help them learn how to talk to girls. he's human, in a way that comics often seem to forget he's meant to be.

(part of the draw of batman, to me, is that he's human. he's got fancy gadgets and a cool suit but underneath it all he's just a man, just a human being driven by emotion like the rest of us. he feels real, in a way. i used to look out of my bedroom window and imagine batman coming to save me from my problems; i could never quite do that with superman, or wonder-woman, or any of the others.)

not only that, but thomas and martha wayne are removed from bruce's motivations pretty effectively - they're outed as awful people, the kind of people bruce fights against. they did to oswald what joe chill did to him. so rather than falling into blind rage, rather than the unfortunate "batman fights for revenge", you get a bit of nuance - bruce has to come to terms with being wrong, and learn where he stands, torn between awful people who he loves and good people who hate him. he's fighting not to avenge his or oz's parents, but to prevent any innocents from meeting the same unfortunate fate, and to redeem himself.

they let him be wrong without totally becoming a villain: they let him punch out oswald cobblepot on live TV and deal with the consequences; they let him instigate riots for his own benefit; they show him crouching in the back of a truck, surrounded by criminals he's been willingly helping, staring guiltily at a bat-signal he's ignoring; they let him feel guilt for all the friends he couldn't save.

he doesn't beat his friends-turned-enemies with glee. he doesn't take joy in putting them away. he doesn't use them as punching bags for his own anger and trauma.

he keeps harvey from committing suicide and tells him, earnestly, that there's still hope for him. he sits across from john and admits, hoarse and teary-eyed, that he truly did consider them friends. he gives up being batman for alfred's sake. he visits john in arkham, with an honest smile, despite all they went through. these choices may be optional, yes, but with the way telltale writes their characters, every one of these options is perfectly in-character for their bruce. you may play him a little angrier, a little more vengeful, a little less sympathetic - but at his core, he's the same. at his core, he still looks at gotham city, and the villains he goes up against, and says "i'm sorry this happened to you, i wish i knew how to make it better". he cradles them against his chest.

i don't know if any of this made sense, but tl;dr: telltale writes bruce as a flawed person, yes, but at his core he is loving and charismatic and bittersweet, and that's who i've always thought he should be.

(this kinda turned into bruce loveposting halfway through, but hopefully i still got the point across.)

#ask #fav #and for attention:#telltale's batman #bruce wayne

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vastanxc · 4 years

Text

03:00 am

Three o'clock in the morning was when the magician, now in her own apartment, walked to the kitchen to make a cup of tea so she could sleep. She had become independent from the Titans once she was of legal age. It was a small but comfortable apartment that paid the league for her services and she was happy about it. She liked to be independent... be alone.

- Nice place.... but haven’t you thought of a change of color?

She did not turn to see the man. By now the voices of Gotham's family were already very familiar to her. As with that strange habit of appearing out of nowhere.

- You all say Damian is the rudest, but he always knocks on the door before entering a house.

- The spawn knocks "your" door, devil. Besides, you must thank me that I am not Bruce. That pervert would stare at you until you woke up.

By the time she turns. She saw Jason sitting on the sofa, reading one of her magic books with his legs on the coffee table.

- “Great book of magic” my ass... where is the trick of how to get a rabbit out of a hat?

- Page 134.

Jason look at her for a few seconds and look for page 134... just to find the trick he had said.

- Well... I’ll be damn.

Raven tried some of her tea and sat down at the kitchen table.

- Why are you visiting me at this hour?

The lonely member of Batman's family got up and walked to the table and sat in front of her.

- I have a problem with magical things... and I wanted to use the bathroom.

- What happened?

- I ate a bean burrito and it sat me wrong.

Raven sighed and thought that Damian was right, sometimes.

- I mean the magic, Jason.

Jason took some pictures of his jacket and showed them to the magician to see.

- Where did you see these symbols?

- I found them under Arkham, in the sewers.

- What did you find?

- An Alf doll that was missing his head.

- ...

- Oh, and a plumbing system that connects to the asylum morgue. It seems that the new warden does not like to point out that his patients are dying, and to cover it up. Throw the bodies in the sewers of the city.

Raven was left thinking about what she had heard and tried to relate it to the symbols in the photos.

- Any ideas?

- I know the brand. It's from a cult that worships a demon who wears mortal skins to enter the mortal plane.

- That's beautiful.

- I presume that the warden is a member of the cult and marks them so that some member collects the bodies once they are in the sewers.

- Sounds crazy... chances are you're right.

He said while removing the photos.

- Do you want something to drink?

- Aren't you going to kick me out of your house?

- Why would I do that?

- It's 3 a.m.

- You are like this, there is not much to do about that. Would you like some coffee?

- Sure... Ok.

Raven, with her powers, lit the coffee maker to make a cup for her visit.

- Can I ask you a question?

- I will not change the paint on my walls.

- Okay... can I ask you another question?

- What do you want to know?

- How come the spawn hasn't woken up and isn’t attacking me with his toy sword?

- He’s sleeping.

- I ask again How come the spawn hasn't woken up and isn’t attacking me with his toy sword?

- ...

- Was the session in bed too rude?

- You're all idiots... everyone bothers us with that.

- Did you force him to dress up as an Arab dancer to move his hips?

- I PUT A SPELL ON HIM!

Jason was silent for a few seconds and then said.

- The pot broke. Your carnations are going to die.

- Yes, I've noticed...

Again, with his magic. Raven cleaned everything and served the cup of coffee to her disrespectful guest.

- Thank you.

- He hadn't slept in almost five days. But when I got to locate the smugglers, he wanted to go get them, but I didn't allow it. I slept him with a spell, sent the data to Mr. Pennyworth and told him about Damian…

- Mmmm...I see.

- Yes... I don't like to do it, but sometimes it's the only option I have.

- Don't blame yourself. Alfred does the same with Bruce... although shooting a dart at the old man is a little exaggerated.

Raven laughed a little for what he had said, and they continued in silence.

- Are you and the spawn going seriously?

- He proposed to me a few days ago.

- Wow... did he bring you someone's head in sign of their eternal love?

- He gave me a ring, Jason. Just like any man does.

- Well you can't blame me. Just because he got quieter, doesn't mean he got normal... marriage?

She nodded

- That boy doesn't give a shit... does that mean you're going to lay eggs some of these days?

Something else was heard breaking and Jason said.

- Oh... poor camellias. Who will have water that satiate their thirst for life?

- Mr. Pennyworth told me that of all the Robins, your talent for humor was only comparable to your insolence.

She said as she again cleaned up the mess she had made.

- Alfred knows about his Robins.

- We plan to have a family... we've talked about it.

- That's good. More than for you for Alfred and Bruce. Alfred has always wanted the Wayne family to continue and Bruce… That idiot needs to be a grandfather. It would be the only normal thing he could have. Even Damian wasn't normal.

- I have been told stories of Talia…

- Yes... the Al Ghul...

- What about you??

- Me what?

- Do you have anyone to introduce us for Christmas dinner?

- No... it's not my style.

- Oh, come on Jason. I've seen you and Barbara. Why don't you try?

- No... I'm very fond of Barbara… enough not to screw up her life.

Raven did not expect that answer from the masked young man. He took her by surprise and preferred not to continue with the subject.

- It would also be very uncomfortable to bring some of my "couples"

- I don't think it's that bad...…

- I've been with all the girls on the team, Raven.

Raven was frozen in the face of confession.

- ... ¿Kori?...

- Yes... ooooh yes... The red one is one of my top 10.

- Are you kidding me?!

- No, I have the burns to prove it.

The girl covered her mouth in surprise from what she had heard.

- How could you?

- Have you seen her naked? She is hotter than my motorcycle ... and I love my motorcycle!

- But Richard...

- He doesn't know... and that guy doesn't have a face to criticize Kori at all...

- Who else?

- Well... I had a rub with Stephanie...

- ...

- And the spawn's mom.

- You're crazy. Did you know that? Totally mental.

Said the magician, incredulous of what she heard.

- If Damian finds out about this...

- He knows

- WHAT?

- The remote control broke... my condolences.

- WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE KNOWS?

- I told him once.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

- I slept with your mom.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

- What did he tell you?

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

- You didn't sleep with her. She used you. I saw my mother use men and women as sex toys several times to make up for my father's absence. So, don't brag about it... you were nothing but a talking dildo.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

- ...

- To tell you the truth, it is one of the kindest things he has ever told me.

- …

- Ok... Well, I have to go. I have to find a cult leader and blow his brains off. Thank you for the coffee and introspection of my sentimental life. I'll make an appointment for next week. See ya…

He said as he wentout, throwing himself out the window.

- The inability to use a door...

She said the magician turning off the lights to go back to her bed next to the young man who had been sleeping all this time. Before putting himself back next to him, she stroked the young man's hair with his hand and smiled.

- I can't believe you're the most normal.

#Damian Wayne #raven #damirae #damian x raven #damian raven

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writingblock101 · 4 years

Text

Old Memories (Jason Todd x Reader)

Request for anonymous: “I didn’t want you to see me like this.” and “You’re proud of me?”

I hit 700 followers? Holy shit? Thank you! Enjoy!

Word Count: 3,000 words

Warnings: Gore, violence

Tags: @idkmanicantenglish, @mayahoelland2013

Red Hood grimaces under his helmet at the sound of the familiar, maniacal laughter. His hands tighten into fists as his skin burns with the heat of a bomb and stings from the blows of a crowbar. Keep breathing. You’re not in Ethiopia. His fingers ghost over the word “HA!” carved repeatedly into skin that isn’t his. The memory makes Red Hood’s stomach boil with rage.

His hands brush over one of his guns strapped to his thighs. The heavy metal brings him comfort, knowing he’s not a scared kid, beaten and chained to the ground in an abandoned warehouse. He’s highly trained and heavily armed with a chip in his shoulder. While Red Hood may have agreed to not kill in Gotham, he’s certainly going to deliver some pain to the Joker.

“Help patrol Gotham, they said,” Red Hood mutters to himself. “B would appreciate it so much, they said.”

“You good, Wing?” Nightwing asks over the comms.

“Peachy,” Red Hood growls, his teeth grinding at the sound of the laughter again. “Where the fuck is this crazy son of a bitch?”

“Dunno. The upstairs classrooms are clear.”

Red Hood grumbles under his breath as he checks an empty kindergarten classroom. While he’s happy Joker decided to hole up in a school at night when there weren’t any kids present, there are about twenty million different ways he’d rather be spending his evening than hunting for the Joker with Nightwing and all of them include you.

You and Dick, of course, were the ones who talked him into helping patrol Gotham. With Batman and Robin on bed rest after getting caught in an explosion and Red Robin abroad, that left Nightwing and Red Hood to make sure Gotham didn’t go to hell. And of course, just with Red Hood’s luck, Joker decided tonight was a beautiful night to break out of Arkham.

“I hate this fucking city,” Red Hood grumbles.

“Clearly not that much ‘cause you never left,” Nightwing quips back.

“Yeah, well, sorry for not fucking off to a completely different city because B pissed me off,” Red Hood snaps.

“We’re not all dramatic enough to die instead.”

Red Hood grins under his helmet, glad that his siblings are finally catching on to how much fun it is to make death jokes.

The intercom crackles to life, Red Hood’s grin melting off his face.

“Looks like old Batsy seems to think he’s too good for my games,” The Joker sighs. “Instead, he sent me Old Boy Wonder and the Defective,” He laughs loudly. “I’m sure we’ll still have some fun!”

Red Hood grinds his teeth, but finishes checking the last classroom.

“Downstairs is clear, anything upstairs?”

“All clear,” Nightwing confirms. “That just leaves the gym.”

“Great,” Red Hood sighs. “Meet in the west stairwell.”

Nightwing swings around the railing, dropping onto the floor next to Red Hood. Show off.

“Shall we?” He asks.

Red Hood grumbles but follows Nightwing out the stairwell and toward the large gym. Red Hood shoves open the door to be immediately met by gunfire near his head. He curses, ducking left while Nightwing sprints right.

“Hiya, boys!” Joker exclaims, firing another round of bullets into the wall above the bleaches Red Hood is hiding under. “I thought you two would never find me!”

“I’d rather find you in a cell in Arkham!” Nightwing yells from opposite bleachers.

“Arkham?!” Joker sounds deeply offended. “Boy Wonder, when did you turn into such a party pooper?”

“You want an alphabetized list?” Nightwing growls then his escrima sticks crackle to life with electricity and he leaps out of his hiding place, hitting a nearby goon in the face.

Red Hood takes that as his cue and comes out shooting. They make quick work of the goons, sending the Joker sprinting toward the back of the gym.

“This party isn’t over yet!” He exclaims, pulling out a different, strange-looking gun.

“What the…” Red Hood frowns at the toy looking weapon then Joker points it at him and fires. “Shit!” Red Hood exclaims, rolling out of the way from a dart that’s sticking into the floor.

Joker fires again, this time hitting Red Hood in the shoulder. He curses, yanking the dart out, but feels strange. Joker laughs again.

“I hope you like my new concoction!” He exclaims.

Jason feels the room spin around him for a moment, a floating feeling rushing throughout his body. A giggle builds in his stomach then comes tumbling out of his lips. Another follows, spilling like bubbles out of Jason’s mouth. Bubbles, that’s funny. He laughs more, the idea of bubbles coming out of his mouth seeming hilarious.

He looks down at his chest, expecting to see bubbles. Huh. He’s on the ground now. Isn’t that funny? Jason thinks so.

He looks down at his chest, wanting to find the bubbles. Maybe they’re a pretty color! Wouldn’t that be funny? Bright green and purple bubbles spilling out of Jason’s mouth. That would be hilarious!

Jason laughs more, tilting his head to see the bubbles, but he doesn’t see bubbles. Dark red blood gurgles down his chest, oozing from his split open stomach. Those aren’t green and purple bubbles. More blood gushes out of his stomach as Jason laughs harder. Blood? He’s bleeding? When did he start bleeding? He needs to stop the bleeding, but he keeps laughing. What is so funny? Jason isn’t sure, but he keeps laughing.

Deep cuts on his arms begin dripping with blood. HA! HA! HA! HA! carves itself into his skin. Jason laughs harder, feeling tears rush down his face. He hears the smack of a crowbar against skin, the ticking of a clock, the smell of gunpowder. He feels the burn of an explosion, a sheen of sickly green covers his eyes. It bubbles around him, forcing his skin back together.

“Jason?” You stand in front of him, blood spurting from your slit throat. “Why did you do this to me?”

It’s not funny, but Jason can’t stop laughing.

“Why did you do this to me?” You hiss, more blood spurting from your throat.

As blood dribbles from your throat, it catches the scars on your arms. HA! HA! HA!

“You did this!” You scream. “Jason! You did this! Jason! Jason! JASON!”

“Jason!” Nightwing exclaims.

Jason jerks awake with a gasp. He shoves Nightwing away from him and rips his helmet off, breathing heavily. His hand flies to his chest to find it perfectly dry. He isn’t bleeding, you’re not here. He’s on the ground in the gym. The Joker is tied up and unconscious. Isn’t that funny?

A familiar, maniacal laugh escapes Jason’s lips. His eyes widen at the realization.

“Hey,” Nightwing puts a grounding hand on Jason’s shoulder. “It’s okay, breathe through it. We have the antidote, let’s just go to the Cave--”

“No,” Jason cuts him off. “I’m not going to the Cave,” He giggles at the thought of bats, his anger quickly flushing away.

Nightwing sighs, probably not surprised by Jason’s resistance.

“Okay, fine. I can go to the Cave. Do you want me to take you back to your apartment?”

“No!” Jason laughs again, his chest tightening at the familiar laughter. He feels a crowbar smack his skin. His hands go to his hair, tugging. There’s no crowbar. Another laugh spills past his lips. “I can’t,” Jason manages as another laugh forces its way out. He tugs harder on his hair. “I can’t do that to Y/N… Not when I’m like this.” He laughs again.

Dick frowns, squeezing Jason’s shoulder.

“Okay, Jase, just breathe. You’re okay.”

Jason nods shakily, his heart rate speeding up with each laugh.

“My apartment is too far…” Nightwing frowns.

“I have a spare key to Tim’s apartment,” Jason giggles, his fingers tightening in his hair at the sound.

Nightwing narrows his eyes.

“Does Tim know this?”

Jason rolls his eyes.

“He’s the one that gave it to me, birdbrain,” The usual bite is wrecked by another maniacal laugh.

“Okay,” Nightwing helps Jason to his feet. “Let’s get you out of here.”

. . .

It’s not just Joker Venom. Dick curses under his breath. It never is easy with Joker, is it? He looks over at his brother on the couch. The crazed grin has forced its way onto Jason’s face as more and more maniacal laughter forces its way out.

With each giggle, Jason’s nails dig into his hair. Luckily, Dick was able to get Jason out of his gear, but the sight on Tim’s couch was truly heartbreaking.

Jason is hunched over, curled in a protective position Dick guesses Jason used a lot before meeting Bruce. His hands are knotted into his hair, tightening with each giggle. His eyes are squeezed shut, tears streaming down his face through the laughter.

“No, stop!” He begs. He murmurs something low and panicked that Dick doesn’t catch. “Stop! Leave Y/N alone!”

Dick clenches his fist, his chest tightening at hearing Jason say your name again. If he had to guess, Joker laced his Venom with Fear Toxin. Because Joker Venom wasn’t already hellish enough.

Jason whimpers again, curling tighter on himself. Dick needs the antidote. This isn’t the first time Joker has combined his Venom with Fear Toxin so making the antidote won’t take long, but Dick can’t bear to leave Jason alone.

Kori is off-world, Roy is on the other side of the country, Bruce and Damian are the absolute last people Jason wants to see… Kyle is off-world, as is Donna, Tim is in Europe, Cass is in Hong Kong with Steph, Babs is helping the Birds of Prey with a mission, and Dick doesn’t have a single clue about how to get in touch with Jason’s friend, Artemis. While Dick understands why Jason doesn’t want you anywhere near him, Dick doesn’t want Jason left alone for any period of time… Which leaves you as his only option.

Dick sighs and fishes out his phone.

. . .

You stand outside Tim’s apartment, staring at the door. Dick gave you the full rundown. Jason has been hit with a mixture of Fear Toxin and Joker Venom, giving him terrifying hallucinations while laughing like the man who murdered him.

The sound of maniacal laughter, muffled by the door, sends chills down your spine. Your arms burn where the words HA! HA! HA! HA! are carved. The sound of screams echo distantly in your ears.

Although it has been years since you were trapped in that 3rd-grade classroom with that deranged clown while watching him carve into your classmates’ bodies, the memories still haunt you constantly. Some kids got Glasgow smiles carved onto their faces. Others got the Joker’s name carved across their chest. You got his laughter carved down your arms. Years of therapy is the only reason you can stand in front of this door without running.

Another laugh fills your ears. You squeeze your eyes shut, feeling the sting of the cuts running down your arm, but you pause, taking a deep breath. Although the laugh sounds dangerously close to the Joker’s, underneath the high pitch noise you can hear Jason’s low timbre. He is in there, forced to be producing the last sounds he heard as a scared, beaten sixteen-year-old, and you’re not going to let him suffer alone.

You knock on the door.

Dick opens the door, looking a bit disheveled. He’s still in his Nightwing costume, mask and all, but judging by his messy hair, he’s been tugging on it and running his fingers through it, a nervous habit you’ve noticed most of the family doing.

“Hey,” He pulls you inside quickly. “I’m sorry to drag you into this--”

“I’m glad you called me,” You cut him off. A familiar laugh interrupts you, causing you to tense.

Dick frowns, reaching out to squeeze your shoulder.

“Hey, just breathe. You’re not there. You’re in Tim’s apartment.”

You close your eyes and take a deep breath, nodding along with Dick.

“I’m okay,” You promise.

“Y/N?” Jason says quietly.

You break away from Dick and slowly approach Jason on the couch. He looks exhausted and terrified, dried tear tracks on his face along with the frozen, crazed smile.

“Hey, Jaybird,” You begin quietly. “You okay?”

“You’re...You’re not real…” Jason slowly backs away from you, curling against the couch’s opposite arm with a giggle.

“No, Jay, I’m here. I’m real,” You reach out to run your fingers through his hair.

He sighs, melting into the touch for a moment, then a deranged giggle forces its way out of Jason’s mouth. Your hand tenses slightly in his hair. It’s not Joker. This is Jason. Joker isn’t here. It’s just Jason. He would never hurt you.

Jason notices your sudden stiffness and slips away from your touch.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Anger tries to overtake his features, but the fixed smile makes Jason look even more demented. He glares at Dick. “I told you not to call! What the hell?!” He laughs loudly, his hands closing into tight fists.

“I didn’t want to leave you here alone and Y/N was the closest person,” Dick explains calmly.

“I would be fine!” Jason protests, another laugh forcing its way out.

“No, you wouldn’t be,” Dick responds tightly. “I have been watching you lose your shit on the couch for the past twenty minutes! I need to go make you the antidote.”

“I’ve survived worse!” Jason protests with a loud, maniacal laugh. “I’m already living through hell, I didn’t want someone else to be dragged in!”

Your face softens.

“Jay,” You reach out to touch his arm, but he jerks away from you.

“No!” He protests loudly with another laugh. “I didn’t want you to see me like this,” Tears form in his eyes. “I don’t want to… to turn into him.”

“Jase,” Dick frowns. “You’re nothing like the Joker. You’ll never be the Joker.”

“You… You don’t get it!” Jason yells with a laugh.

Dick opens his mouth to say something else, but you interrupt before he can.

“Dick. Go to the Manor, I’ll stay here,” You order.

Dick shoots a worried glance at Jason but nods and walks out of the room. You turn your attention back to Jason.

“Jay,” You cradle his face, wiping your thumbs under his eyes. “You’re not the Joker. You never will be.”

“I know, but I didn’t… I didn’t want you to see me when I sounded like this,” Jason giggles again, your shoulders tensing for a moment. “See! I know you’re scared of me! I never want you to feel like that around me!”

“I’m not scared of you,” You tell him sharply. “I know you would never do anything to hurt me. Yes, the laugh brings back some bad memories, but you don’t bring back those bad memories. You help me replace them with something better.”

Jason’s eyes squeeze shut for a moment, his hands coming up to hold your wrists.

“I saw myself standing over you so many times. You were bleeding and I was holding the knife,” He pauses, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I saw myself hurting you,” He giggles, his hands momentarily tightening on your wrists at the sound.

“Jay, have you ever had any desire to ever hurt me?” You ask.

Jason’s eyes fly open.

“No!” He quickly says.

“Then what makes you think you’re suddenly going to start now?”

Jason says nothing, looking down at the floor. You move a hand to his chin, forcing him to look at you.

“I’m proud of you,” You tell him.

His eyebrows furrow with a crazed laugh. Both of you tense for a moment.

“You’re proud of me?” He asks hesitantly.

“Every day,” You tell him. “You never cease to amaze me. You’ve experienced the worst of the world, but still put yourself in danger to help others. You have so many reasons to be angry, but you still find some way to love everyone around you. Tonight, you faced off against a man who has hurt you and so many people that you love. He tried to break you, turn you into what you hate, but you are still standing here strong. I am proud of you.”

Tears freely flow down Jason’s face then he pulls you into a tight hug, holding you close to his chest.

“I’ll never hurt you,” He promises into your hair, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“I know,” You whisper back, despite the giggle that escapes him.

. . .

By the time Dick makes it back to the apartment, you had coaxed Jason on the couch where he was fast asleep against your chest. You idly run your fingers through his hair, whispering words of reassurance to him when his body goes tense from nightmares.

Dick holds up a syringe.

“How is he?” Dick asks.

You shrug, glancing down at Jason fondly.

“About as good as he can be, given the circumstances,” You look at the syringe. “Antidote?” You ask.

“Yep,” Dick nods. “Let’s wake him up.”

“Jay,” You whisper to him, running your fingers down his back. “I need you to wake up.”

Jason jerks awake, looking frantically around the room for a moment, but your hand in his hair directs his attention to you.

“Hey, you okay?” You ask quietly. “We’re in Tim’s apartment.”

Jason nods with a giggle.

“Dick got the antidote.”

“Thank God,” Jason groans, rolling his sleeve up.

Once Dick injects Jason with the antidote, you two move to Tim’s bedroom for the night. The smile is finally starting to fade from Jason’s face.

He collapses onto the bed and pulls down you with him, wrapping his arms around you tightly.

“Thank you,” He murmurs into your hair. “I love you.”

You tilt your head up and give him a sweet kiss.

“I love you too,” You whisper back, making Jason hold you tighter.

Everything is okay.

Thank you guys so much for being patient! My parents are currently moving, I am transferring colleges, starting my summer job and trying to sort out summer classes. Those other request are coming up! I’m really excited to write the next one!

#jason todd #red hood #jason todd x reader #red hood x reader #dick grayson #nightwing #joker #panic attacks?#gore #tw: gore #violence #tw: violence #dc #batman #dc fanfiction #reader insert #request #dc request

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bigskydreaming · 4 years

Text

I’m still laughing my ass off over that one post that was going around a week ago with the fanon depictions of the Batboys vs more canon-accurate depictions, and the various ‘defenses’ people leaped to for why fanon is so much better, and its just like....yawn.

See, its not like fanon can’t be better, and isn’t better with some characters, its not that it can’t ADD nuance.

None of that’s the problem.

The problem is when people ONLY use it to DETRACT nuance and then are like ‘wow, whats the problem, whats the issue.’

Let’s take for instance the infamous matter of Dick’s alleged asshole behavior to Jason back when the latter was Robin, because of Dick’s issues with Bruce at the time.

Here’s the thing - even though that’s not what happened, it IS a fairly plausible examination of what could have happened, so its not like there’s no reasoning or justification whatsoever in exploring it. Its that....its not ever explored. Its just used to one-side a situation and render Dick unsympathetic while Jason’s propped up as having been victimized by him and Bruce is largely kept off-stage entirely.

But because quite frankly we just didn’t see much of their interactions back then, period, theoretically, adding more conflict in this vein still COULD have fleshed out that time period and added nuance every bit as much as my preferred additions of more positive interactions between them.

But people don’t add in these conflicts simply to add nuance, they add them in just to add BLAME.

The fanon isn’t the problem there. What you do with the fanon and why is the problem.

Its like my issues with the Jason-Kori-Roy friendship. It’d be one thing if Roy and Kori’s presence in Jason’s life was used to PUSH BACK against Jason’s belief that Dick hated him or didn’t mourn him or even just to provide more understanding or context about Dick’s position or side of things at the time to Jason when he gripes about him, so he’s a little more inclined to be understanding of what that was like for his brother thanks to the viewpoints of people whose POV he values and who in turn have always valued Dick’s POV and position in things.

But instead everything about the years of sympathy and understanding and insight Roy and Kori have always had for and in regards to Dick are flushed down the drain in order to have them join in with Jason when it comes to bashing and griping about that asshole Dick Grayson. Once again....perfect opportunity to add more nuance and complexity to a situation and a character dynamic, with it almost universally being pounced on to provide the reverse...to TAKE AWAY even MORE nuance and complexity from a situation by erasing anything and everything Roy and Kori might actually feel about what’s being said or believed of this other person they have a history of valuing a great deal.

Or like I was just saying earlier today about how its almost completely forgotten or erased that Dick was shot in the head upon Bruce’s return from the timestream, and was in an eminently sympathetic/hurt position for Bruce and Tim and others to come together around and put aside their own invididual resentments at least for the time being, in order to support Dick throughout an extremely dangerous and debilitating wound and recovery period. The issue with erasing, ignoring or invalidating Dick’s many traumas isn’t that ‘oh we just don’t like all the characters angsting 24/7, sometimes its too much, we like fanon happy-go-lucky Dick because he’s different,’ its like.....lol no, because if you’re still capable of and looking to rip into that depiction of Dick for....get this....not being able to get/grasp/empathize with the kinds of and degrees of trauma you still uphold for all the others, you’re really just looking to make him look unsympathetic in comparison, and shift focus away from their LACK of support and understanding for him when he really justifiably needs it in order to keep that focus instead on their contempt or bitterness for him no matter what else SHOULD have been taking place for him at the same time.

For example....going back to the Dick and Jason’s early years scenario.....I talk all the time about the Brother Blood situation, but guess what else that situation has? A time frame that’s pretty directly applicable to this Dick and Jason enmity scenario so many of you posit, given that the first two times the Church of Blood had Dick captive and were literally said to have released him back into the world secretly under their control....he was still Robin! And the third time, when he finally broke free thanks to the others (and Jason) rescuing him, it was only then that he was Nightwing. Meaning all of that is PERFECTLY positioned to be a fantastic and compelling additional underlying cause of Dick’s alleged early issuers/grievances with Jason.....the same mental turmoil that led to him lashing out against the other Titans like Donna in that infamous fight, could just as easily be said to have contributed or even been entirely behind any shitty interactions with Jason you want to posit happening back in the day.

And look at how tragically dysfunctional that makes all of that instead then....Jason resents Dick for something that ultimately, isn’t actually his fault since he was never lashing out while in sound mind but as an unknowing reaction to a mental battle against conditioning he didn’t even know was there at the time.....and this being a surprise revelation to Jason years later making him mentally reframe all their history, because Dick never said anything about this earlier because due to his guilt complex he felt it would have just been him making excuses or trying to let himself off the hook instead of a valid and understandable added layer of context.

That’s SO much more compelling and interesting than just a one-sided ‘one brother is an ass to the other for no real reason whatsoever, at leat not one we’re willing to acknowledge as being anymore relevant than a random footnote’.....but the problem isn’t that people go off fanon vs canon, the problem is REGARDLESS of whether people are using fanon or canon, people just don’t WANT Dick’s position in any of these times to be sympathetic or understandable, they want him JUDGED for it, condemned. They’re not TRYING to craft interesting, compelling dynamics or situations, they’re trying to make him the bad guy, always the bad guy, and the other person just unilaterally his unfortunate victim.

Just like with Tim and Red Robin, for all that even when people are like ‘nobody was really at fault/its not like Dick had another option with Damian, etc’ in PRACTICE there’s literally no distinguishing between this take and ones where Dick is just wholly irredeemable for his unforgivable choice, because despite even lip service paid to the idea that Dick had his reasons for what he did, there’s no actual PAY-OUT ever given to the idea that he’s anything less than terrible a brother to Tim for it...like, fanon is never the issue here, its just straight up canon....being willfully picked apart and reframed to make the issue entirely one-sided.

People pile on all the additional reasons Dick’s terrible for not taking into account Tim’s headspace at the time, like all the other people he’s lost in the last couple years comic book time, but again, at most there’s lip service about how Dick was going through a lot to, but its never added in to any degree that MATTERS or lessens the characters’ or readers’ vilification of him....while at the same time, there’s a willful disregard of and refusal to engage with all the other things and people Dick had lost in the same time frame, comic book time, like oh.....every single thing that happened in Bludhaven with Blockbuster, Tarantula and Deathstroke, given that the former was literally concurrent with Stephanie’s death and the latter right after Jack Drake’s death.

There’s never allowed any resentment from Dick towards Tim for not giving a single shit about what he was going through at the time, or for assuming he had no idea how to relate to the depth of Tim’s grief as though Dick hadn’t literally gotten a front row seat to his entire city being nuked by Chemo in that exact same time frame, with it still being touted that Dick just didn’t have any understanding or empathy for Tim’s many losses of the time. There’s never any frustration allowed from Dick about how much Tim resents him for making him give up Robin when at the same time, it was Tim and mostly Tim alone who pushed Dick to give up being Nightwing and assume the Batman mantle when even Bruce’s will had expressed to Dick that this was not what he wanted for him.

Again, never even time or focus given to Dick being shot in the head on Bruce’s return before using that to call in Bruce as reinforcements for Tim yelling ‘how could you do this to me,’ let alone any acknowledgment of the fact that Dr. Hurt, the very same villain that shot Dick in the head there, is the very same villain who had Dick locked up, straitjacketed, drugged up and on the verge of a lobotomy in Arkham for a week just BEFORE Bruce’s assumed death.....because lolol, it’d make people look pretty silly for taking Dick’s one comment about asking if Tim maybe needed to take a break and look after his mental health in Arkham to the extremes they did, if forced to acknowledge that at the time, Arkham was a TOTALLY different proposition due to how extensively Dick was invested in its rebuilding and overseeing its running thanks entirely TO that time, just before Arkham blew up and needed rebuilding from the ground up in Battle for the Cowl....because of the fact that Dick himself had just spent a week locked up and straitjacketed and drugged to the gills and on the verge of a lobotomy thanks to the oh so tender mercies of Dr. Hurt’s accomplices having the run of the place.

Because end of the day, the problem with this fandom and Dick Grayson is not fanon, and its not canon, its fandom. Its the willful DESIRE to not have any minimizing or mitigating context on display ever, so as to only keep the worst possible interpretation of Dick’s actions - either drawn from canon or fanon, whichever is most handy for a particular scenario - front and center.

So yeah, the idea that fanon adds nuance or context to Dick’s dynamics with any of his family is hilarious, not because it CAN’T, but because too many people are just entirely too unwilling and uninterested in allowing it to, just as they’re uninterested in any interpretation of actual canon that provides Dick with a smidgen of empathy or understanding for his positions or choices.

Like, that’s the POINT of most of your fanon for him. To strip AWAY nuance. So how are you going to be out here acting like you’re really contributing something to his character that canon doesn’t provide, when really, its all the same to you across the board: Dick Grayson is never justified let alone sympathetic ever?

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fractualized · 2 years

Note

since there is a chance of telltale batman season 3 happening one day, i was thinking about ideas for s3. i remember reading somewhere that telltale wanted to use scarecrow, poison ivy, and (i think?) ra's al ghul as villains in future episodes. scarecrow could easily be tied with john being in arkham - crane is hired at the asylum and he uses the inmates as guinea pigs for his fear gas. with ra's, i always suspected agent avesta might actually be talia so that could be a way to incorporate him. not totally sure about poison ivy, perhaps she'd be more of a new outside force

do you have any ideas for season 3 or hopes/things you'd want to see?

The only S3 thing I've read myself was the EW director, Kent Mudle, explaining his idea to have players decide what kind of Robin they wanted to be with different possible mentors, Batman and Joker being two options. But given that it's been 4 years since the last episode, and Telltale Games was rebooted, and any S3 would be a long way off even if they announced it today, I don't know if old ideas would really hold.

That said, I would like Telltale to put their own spin on a character who isn't used as often. Maybe give Killer Croc a story beyond being just a bruiser, or take some Z-list villain who was only seen three times back in the 1960s or something, ha. Though I would be interested in a more grounded version of Poison Ivy, not controlling plants but still an eco-terrorist poisoning people. Whoever the antagonist, I would just love a story that hit me as hard as Enemy Within did.

Really what I think about with Season 3 is if Telltale would stick with their MO of letting the player's decisions from the previous seasons determine the path in the new game because… uh… that would be a lot. Like it's not just if John was a vigilante or a villain; it's if John was a vigilante who bombed the police station or a villain who MURDERED EVERY PERSON IN WAYNE TOWER. It's if Tiffany is your mentee, or your enemy in Gotham, or if she left with the Agency. It's if Bruce quit Batman! If Alfred is even around! It would be inordinately difficult for Telltale to pull off their usual thing unless they went with a story that's removed from Gotham. So hey, yeah, maybe we do get Ra's and Talia because Bruce travels to do some soul-searching and mind-focusing and whatnot.

(Personally I wouldn't make Avesta secretly Talia, because in my head Bruce has already met Talia and Ra's, and also I was very much not a fan of that move— or anything— in The Dark Knight Rises, and also I think linking characters together with twists like that can make a fictional world smaller when you could make it bigger.)

Of course the other option for S3 is that the developers trash Telltale's MO and pick the S2 ending they prefer and go from there. Which is what I would do, but I have no vested interest in the expectations of the fanbase. :P

Hell, if it was up to me the whole game would somehow revolve around Bruce visiting post-Vigilante John in Arkham and they would have more Cafe Triste-type conversations and they'd explicitly fall in love and there'd be people who'd complain "this is just fanfic!!" and heck yeah a fuckin' great one.

#ask #anonymous #telltale batman #batjokes

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pricetagofficial · 3 years

Text

Ghost -Part Eighteen

Warnings: Language, violence, angst, fear, panic, mentions of death

Masterlist

Word Count: 3K

Tag List: @kishony-the-geek @idkmanicantenglish @unknowntoanyone @subtleappreciation @catxsnow @nightwcngs @woahjaybird @screennamealreadyused @river-bottom-nightmare @bikoncon @arestorationofbalance

A/N: Oops??

The days passed slowly, but Rory was growing more comfortable in her position with the Titans. No one but Tim knew that she was Ghost, and the other four were asked to keep it on the down-low that Rory was even with them. The story that Rory and Tim gave the rest of the team was that the League of Assassins was after her, trying to get her to join so Rory ditched the hero gig and went into hiding.

That was the story that everyone was supposed to give if anyone outside the team found out that she was there, and considering that the story was mostly the truth, they weren't asking too much of their friends. It gave them plausible deniability, and Rory an out just in case it came to it.

It also helped that they were all scared of her in some shape or form. Even from her Arrowette days, Rory had a reputation of being good at what she did. She was smart, resourceful, and was skilled in multiple forms of combat. After revealing that she took down Superman in a spar twice, they seemed to tiptoe around her. Rory didn't mind it that much, she wasn't there to make friends. She was there to hide and get answers.

It had been two weeks since she arrived and the Titans often went out on patrol without her while Rory played guy-in-the-chair for them while they were out. She was smart enough that it benefitted all of them, and it gave her the chance to talk to people she enjoyed speaking with.

"So, is it just me, or are things really fucking slow lately?" Duke asked, his voice coming from the speaker to Rory's right.

She glanced between monitors while she watched Tim and the others walk around Jump City. "What, did I take all the excitement with me?" she chuckled, checking her phone.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it really looks like it. Not one peep out of assassins here and a few of the rouges have been awfully quiet too. Ivy and Scarecrow were active for a couple of days but fell off our radar again. Bruce and the others are waiting on more activity from her before acting." he explained.

Rory froze at the mention of Poison Ivy. It had been a long time since she had seen the supervillain, considering that she was in Arkham until after Rory had left Gotham. She was willing to put down good money on the fact that she had a grudge against Rory still, amongst other things.

"She doesn't know that I was back in town does she?"

"Why would that be important? Is there anything we are missing?" he asked immediately.

Rory scolded herself for mentioning it. Of course, Bruce and the others were keeping tabs on Ivy considering her past with her. It was embarrassing enough the first time when she learned what had happened, but now it just hurt. That was the night she first kissed Tim and even thinking about it brought up memories that she wanted to forget.

"Rory? Is everything okay? Did Ivy do something to you that we don't know about?"

Rory snapped out of her thought and shook her head. "No, I just have a let's say colorful past with Ivy. Bruce knows about it, but I'm sure she probably wants to kick my ass for-"

She should have been watching the screens more carefully, how could Rory have been so careless about it? If she hadn't have been lost in her own world, Rory would have noticed it sooner. There was no way she could mistake what she just saw, that shade of orange was ingrained into her brain.

"Rory? You there? Why would Ivy want to kick your ass?" The tone of his voice sounded panicked, probably close to how Rory looked.

"Duke, I have to go. Call you later." she quickly hung up before pressing the coms button to link herself with Tim.

"Tim! Get out of there now and get back to the tower as soon as you can!" she cried.

Tim froze in his tracks and turned, the camera turning with his body. "What are you talking about, there is no one here?" he asked.

"There is no time to argue! You and the others need to get back here now!" she snapped slamming her hands on the table.

Now that she thought about it, the other four were quiet as well all of a sudden. Their cams seemed to be normal, but something felt off. They were all stationary for way longer than they should have been.

Rory listened as he contacted the others, only for there to be no reply. This set her on edge even more, which was not a good sign. There was no way in hell that he had found her that fast and took out the other four Titans without her or Tim noticing.

With that last thought, the realization dawned on her. It wasn't the others he was truly after, the target was Tim.

As if it was confirmation of her thoughts, Tim's camera lost signal completely and she stared at a static screen in horror. Tim was in trouble and the others were most likely unable to help him. She was the only one who could.

Without a second thought, Rory dashed to her room and pulled on her Ghost suit, and grabbed her swords and handguns. She was not about to walk into this situation unprepared. Jumping out of her window, Rory grappled across the rooftops as she chased the small red blip that was supposed to be Tim. It was still active so that meant that Tim was alive, but not for much longer if she took her time.

The names of the streets blurred as she ran across the city, the red blip getting closer and closer. She had to get there in time, to save Tim. Just because they weren't together didn't mean that he deserved to die for her mistakes.

Soon Rory was on the same rooftop, but there was no one around. The tracker was activated by organic material and was placed in Tim's arm. if Slade removed the tracker, it would have shut down. It had to still be in him and he had to be alive.

With a sound of air rushing past her, Rory jumped back and saw a white arrow there in front of her with a note attached.

If you want him back alive and unharmed, go to the old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. You have one hour or he will die.

Below the arrow was a pigeon struggling for breath and had a large incision on its side. Taking a deep breath, Rory dug her fingers in and let out a shaky breath at what she was holding. It was the tracker from Tim's arm. She watched as it quit sending a signal and the red dot disappeared from her radar.

He must have done something to the others for them to not respond immediately, and Rory was scared to find out what it was. What were her better options, go and save Tim alone or try and find at least one of the others and risk wasting time and Tim dies as a consequence?

Rory let out a cry of rage and kicked the now dead pigeon across the rooftop, he knew just how to manipulate her into these impossible positions. She was playing his game once again, but if she could win last time then Rory can sure as hell beat him again and again until he finally quit and left those she cared about alone.

This would be the last time Slade Wilson interfered with her life, Rory was going to make sure of it.

Shoving the note in her pocket, she tried once more to reach one of the others. It took a couple of minutes but she managed to get responses from both Superboy and Magician. "Is anyone there? I need a response sooner than later." she snapped.

"I'm here sunshine, what the hell happened? I feel like I got hit by a bus and that's saying something." Superboy groaned through his com.

"One second I was keeping an eye on downtown and the next I was dragged from the roof and was knocked out. I'm guessing the same happened to the others?" Magician asked.

Rory let out a huff. "If only it were that simple, Tim's in trouble. He took the four of you out so I would be lured out into the open. Safe to say that it worked." She took a look around the city and then at her clock. She was wasting time by playing catch up, when Slade made a promise he made sure he fulfilled it, and if he said that Tim would die if she didn't show within the hour, then it was going to happen.

"What do you mean he is in trouble?! Who is this he!? Sunshine, you better start explaining fast." Superboy snapped.

"Deathstroke, he has him. He did this to drag me out of the tower. If I don't show up in the next hour, he'll kill him." she explained. "I just wanted to make sure the rest of you were okay before I left."

"Rory, that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard out of you. You really think that you will make it out of there alive?" Superboy growled before he let out a groan. Whatever it was that Slade did to him, it was still affecting his body.

"You need to get back to the tower, I'm not sure what he did to all of you but I can hear your groans of pain. Magician can check you over back at the tower. If Wonder Girl and Impulse are okay, have them on stand by in just in case I need a quick getaway."

Rory could hear Superboy start to argue her point, but then he let out another groan and there was a thud from his side of the link. Slade had to have used something on him, Superboy was their hard hitter outside of Wonder Girl and made sure that they were out for the count.

"Magician, take him back to the tower," she ordered. "I'll radio once I'm close."

There was a hum of agreement and Rory heard Magician mutter a series of spells before there was nothing.

"Who the hell put you in charge Sunshine?" Superboy asked, trying to breathe through the pain.

"I'm the only one who wasn't knocked on their ass. Besides Wonder Boy, I have years more experience than the rest of you including our fearless leader. Now shut up and get the help you need." With that, Rory signed off and took off across the city towards the address on the note.

It didn't even take her that long to find the warehouse, no more than twenty minutes. Slade had given her a full hour, so what was the catch? Was she at the right place, or was he planning something specifically for her once she arrived?

Taking a deep breath, Rory jumped down and swung through the nearest window shattering it as she landed in a roll. Bracing herself with her hand, Rory took a quick look around. The warehouse was dead silent, no sign of any living thing not even a groan from a captive Tim.

Narrowing her eyes, Rory scanned the area before she went further into the building. Whatever it was, something was messing with the video in her mask. The screen was glitching every few seconds and she couldn't get a full reading of the building.

"Of course," she muttered and removed her mask before tossing it to the floor. Slade had to have brought her to a building that knocked out her mask's sensors. It wasn't something Rory needed it was more of a precaution, but she knew that Slade probably had some dramatic reasoning for it.

Slowly she rose to her feet and walked across the flooring, she stayed silent as the night listening for a sign of anyone or anything closing in on her. Floor by floor, Rory ignored the slow-growing headache as she checked every room for something she could be missing that could give her a clue to where Tim was being held.

She could feel her body getting more and more sluggish by the minute, but brushed it off as typical exhaustion. It wasn't until she got to the ground floor that Rory figured out that Slade was holding Tim captive in the basement. Looking at her clock, she had at least half an hour to find Tim-

Rory shook her head, that couldn't have been right. Not even three minutes ago, the clock she had just under 35 minutes and now she was down to five. The lingering headache that had been growing in the back of her head suddenly became stronger and her heart rate began to pick up.

She continued to take deep breaths and hurried her way down the basement steps, halfway down she tripped over her own foot and tumbled down the rest of them. Something was very wrong, she was never this clumsy even when she was drunk Rory was not clumsy.

There was only one door at the bottom of the steps, Rory's vision blurred as she tried over and over to reach the handle only for her hand to phase through it. Quickly she got angrier and angrier, why couldn't she just grab the fucking handle?!

She was covered in a thin layer of sweat now, and it seemed that her suit was choking her. Tugging at her collar, Rory finally managed to get a hold of the handle and pushed it open. The only thing was, there wasn't a basement on the other side.

In fact, it was daylight where she was now. Turning back to find the door, Rory saw that it was gone, and left in its wake was a familiar collapsed building. Rory swallowed the lump forming in her throat, she knew exactly where she was.

Rory was back in Star City the day that Slade killed her parents. Deep down Rory knew that they were not good people, but the version of her parents she knew could not be tainted by the knowledge that they were assassins, no different than she was anymore.

Hearing a cry behind her, Rory turned on her heel only to be met with a younger version of herself sobbing over the lifeless forms of her parents. Only this time, there was no Oliver and Dinah there to comfort her. Instead, they were dead next to Michael and Clara Sonnet with Roy at their feet.

Seeing them like that broke something in Rory, she let out a choked gasp as she pushed her younger self out of the way and tried to shake Oli, Roy, and Dinah awake.

"Please, Oli come on! Please! You promised you wouldn't leave me! I can't lose you too!" she sobbed before trying to shake Roy awake.

"This is all your fault." a voice spoke from behind her.

Rory snarled, ready to maim whoever it was that said that only to see that it was her younger self there staring at her with innocent eyes.

"Their deaths are on your hands, just like theirs are." Little Rory pointed behind the older one once more.

Taking a shaky breath, Rory slowly turned on her heel and the sight she saw was devastating. Instead of a crumpled building now, Rory was in Gotham again. There sprawled across the steps of Wayne Manor were the lifeless figures of Alfred, Cass, Duke, and Damian. '

"No no no no no!" she cried diving for them, trying to feel for a pulse. Her eyes met the lifeless gaze of Damian and she grew hysterical. He was so young, he didn't deserve this fate!

Her headache began to grow worse, and before her eyes Rory watched the scene morph into the Batcave. Across the floor of the cave were the last residents of Wayne Manor. Dick, Barbara, Stephanie, Jason, and Bruce were lying dead on the floor with gold daggers sticking out of their chest and a single feather resting on the keyboard of the bat computer.

She couldn't stand this any longer, Rory gripped her hair as she fell to her knees. It was becoming too much, every single one of them died because of her. Her body began to shake from the sobs she was trying to hide, even though she was the only one there.

A hand fell on her shoulder and Rory jumped to see Jesse's animated corpse staring down at her. Letting out a scream, Rory dove backward and away from her dead friend. This had to be a trick, Jesse was dead. She was there when they buried his body in Star City in the Queen family mortuary. That was the last time she ever saw him.

A long skinny finger reached out and pointed at her as Rory laid there in fear. "You did this to me, it's all your fault Twinkle Toes. You're a plague, a curse on those around you," he grumbled, Rory watched in horror as his hair fell out and his face became more sullen and maggots crawled out of the holes that once held his eyes.

Rory was close to vomiting at the sight, her heart rate was erratic and she was barely able to keep herself up. Her throat was sore as if she had been screaming and her hands and hair hurt like she had been pulling it this entire time.

"It's your fault Tim was taken and it's your fault that he died."

Those words struck fear in her heart. Her eyes went wide as everything faded away leaving just herself and a lone figure out in the distance, a figure she knew by heart. Rory ran as fast as her feet could carry her, she stumbled every few steps trying to get to him but it seemed that every step she got closer he would get farther away.

After what seemed like hours, Rory reached his body and rolled him onto his back. Tim Drake laid dead in front of her with a hole through his chest. Rory choked back a sob, Tim was dead and she wasn't there to stop it. She cupped his face letting the tears fall freely from her eyes as she begged and pleaded for him to wake up. This was the last thing Rory wanted, everything she did was to keep him safe, and here she was crying over his dead body.

"Tim, I'm so sorry." she sobbed. "I wasn't good enough..."

Pulling his upper body into her arms, Rory cradled his lifeless form burying her face into his shoulder as she held his body with a grip that could rival death.

#Costly Affairs #Tim Drake #Timothy Drake #tim drake fanfic #tim drake fanfiction #tim drake fic #Red Robin #red robin fanfic #red robin fanfiction #red robin fic #DC comics #The Archer #The Aurora Queen Saga #tim drake x oc #red robin x oc

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watchtower-feed · 4 years

Text

Death Do We Part (Part 15)

SSA Spin-off ✧ Jason Todd ✧ Physical Link ✧ 1 ✧ 2 ✧ 3 ✧ 4 ✧ 5 ✧ 6 ✧ 7 ✧ 8 ✧ 9 ✧ 10 ✧ 11 ✧ 12 ✧ 13 ✧ 14 ✧ 15 ✧ Words: 2,700+

You rest your head on your knees as you look at Tim. Your lips tremble as you watch him struggle with his thoughts.

He stares at his hands with narrowed eyes before you hear his broken voice.

“... I don’t know if I want to be Robin anymore.”

The morning dragged on agonizingly slow with Tim hiding in your room, Bruce nursing a drink in the kitchen, and Alfred sitting beside him. But when Bruce’s phone rang and the hospital told him that his son, Richard Grayson, was just admitted into Gotham General, everything sped past like a blur.

The city traffic buzzing through the car’s window. The loud reporters hounding you at the entrance. The doctor’s mouth moving in silence as he reads from a chart, explaining Dick’s condition. You were only picking up words like critical and surgery.

The first thing you became conscious of was Alfred’s hand on your shoulder. “Y/N. He’s going to be okay.” You didn’t even notice your tears until he was wiping them away.

It’s past midnight in the hospital room. Tim is sleeping on the couch. Alfred is in an extra bed. Bruce had just stepped out for coffee. And you’re still awake, curling up in the armchair closest to Dick. You’re holding his hand and looking at the fringes of his hair lying on his forehead. Slowly you loosen your grip to brush them back, but Dick’s fingers curl around yours.

You’re too busy staring at his hand when he opens his eyes.

“Hi…”

You cover your mouth to trap the sob that’s lodged in your throat. “Dick--”

He smiles. “H-hey hey. I’m okay.” He sounds exhausted but he still tries to laugh. “It’s just-- what? Like broken ribs again?”

You frown at him, “One punctured your spleen, Dick. They had to stitch it up during surgery.”

Dick chuckles, “Another one? Man. I swear I get one every other month. I probably passed out on Jason.”

“You were with Jason?” your voice hitched a little but you lower it right away and check on Alfred and Tim.

“Oh yeah… we had a nice little chat…” Dick’s looking at you now while frowning. “So… you’re leaving.”

You pause and then look down when you answer, “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from Jason since yesterday morning.”

Dick raises one eyebrow and teases you, “The morning after?”

“Shut up,” you snap at him in a whisper, making him snicker quietly. You blush but you can’t help give a small laugh as well.

Dick smiles at you.

“He told me you were leaving and I was hoping to charm the two of you into staying.” He gives you a look, one that’s both sad and disappointed. “But I don’t really think that’s an option, huh.”

Dick squeezes your hand and your voice is a lot softer when you answer, “He killed the Joker, Dick. In front of Bruce.”

“Yeah. He told me.”

“And you almost died, too.”

Dick laughs, “Ye of little faith in me, Y/N. I had those guys--”

“But the bomb. That one was real--”

Dick shushes you. “Jason’s friends got me off the bridge before it went off. Guess you guys were too busy watching Jay and Bruce’s fight.”

Dick slumps back against the pillows and stares at the point where the ceiling and the wall meet. “I hate to say it but Jason thought of everything.”

Tim grumbles in his sleep and you both turn to him. Once the rise and fall of his chest becomes even, Dick speaks again.

“This must be hard on Tim, huh?”

Tim has been tossing and turning in his sleep. When he was in your room, he checked on his wound and was surprised to find that Jason had changed his bandages when he was unconscious.

You watched Tim’s surprised look slowly morph into one of anguish. He didn’t know how to believe that Jason and the Red Hood were one and the same. Or is he just a persona Jason created to do what he can’t do. To protect the hard truths he wanted Bruce to realize.

You close your eyes and slowly climb into the bed next to Dick. He makes room for you and you carefully curl up next to him.

“He told me he didn’t want to be Robin anymore,” you whisper.

Dick pats your head and hums to himself.

“If I was Jason and Tim-- I was them. I was Robin and I always thought… I always saw Bruce as more than just Batman. He was my dad and my friend. He was my protector.”

When Dick’s hand stops moving, you wrap your arms across his chest and hug him tightly. You can feel the even breaths he’s trying to maintain but failing.

“But after what Jason did--” you can hear him clenching his teeth as he speaks, “After realizing that Bruce will always be Batman--to everyone-- more than anything else in the world… it shatters something in you, like you’re not special...”

Before your life turned into this living tragedy, you always thought Batman was just a myth. You’ve seen him sure, leaping and gliding over rooftops from your window and from the streets, but you always knew he was just a man playing pretend. Maybe a police officer finally fed up with the red tapes and the joke that is the Gotham justice system.

You always thought Batman was just another Gothamite who just got sick of being battered and bruised.

“It doesn’t mean I agree with Jason, though.” Dick’s voice is a little lower. He’s giving you a long look with the same sad and disappointed expression. “His heart’s in the right place but Y/N, he’s the one who doesn’t understand.

“When Bruce first brought me in, my parents were murdered by this guy-- Tony Zucco-- just a typical low life mobster in Gotham you know-- no one like the Joker. But when I became Robin, Bruce’s greatest concern was whether I would seek vengeance against that guy.”

Dick’s gaze strays away from you. He’s looking somewhere past his feet, seeing something that’s not there.

“I had him, Y/N. I tied him up and suspended him over a ten-story building, half hoping he would die, or break every bone in his body from that height and live out the rest of his days as a vegetable.

“Then Batman came out of the shadows. He didn’t stop me. He didn’t talk to me-- he just put his hand on my shoulder the whole time, while I stood there and held this man’s lifeline in my hands.”

Dick closes his eyes and takes a deep breath but he doesn’t open them again. The skin at the corner of his eyes crease and there are folds in his brows. When he speaks again, it’s rushed and he sounds exhausted.

“In the end, I couldn’t do it. I dropped him from the third floor. He broke a few bones and that was it. It didn’t make me feel better. Killing him wouldn’t have brought my parents back-- it also wouldn’t prevent another family from ever being murdered…

“Jason thinks he can get rid of evil in the world by killing criminals but he can’t. Because everyone is nursing evil inside of them-- I have something evil inside me.”

Dick’s lips are quivering when he opens his eyes again.

“Batman is the only one that doesn’t because all he wants to do is protect... everyone.”

Bruce has heard enough. He’s been standing outside the hospital room with his hand on the handle when Dick started talking about avenging his parents. Desperately, he wants to go in there and join you and Dick. But the writing on your arm pushes him to visit the rooftop instead.

He steps out to meet Gotham’s foggy air and reaches the end of the ledge when he calls out, “Worried about Dick?” He doesn’t turn around. He doesn’t hear Jason’s footsteps approaching him from the shadows, but he knows he’s there. “You should be. He’s here because of you.”

Jason stops abruptly and clenches his fist. “Wrong. He’s hurt because of your self-righteous courtesy toward the psychotic filth of Gotham.”

Bruce turns around. Jason doesn’t have his helmet or his mask. He’s wearing a black trench coat but Bruce can still see the Red Hood symbol peeking from his chest. Bruce lifts one corner of his lips. “How does it feel?”

To Jason it looks like a smirk on its ways to becoming a snarl. Any semblance of a smile on Bruce is unsettling.

Bruce faces him fully with his hands in his pants pockets. “Now that you’ve killed half of the inmates in Arkham, how does it make you feel?” He watches Jason and lowers his brows and his mouth turns into a straight line. “Like it’s not enough. Right? Like there’s still a few more loose ends-- and you just have to be sure.

“I know you went after Penguin and Dent after the club last night. I also know you’re still after Harley.” Bruce eyes his clothes.

Jason tips his head to the side and replies to Bruce with a small smile.

Bruce tries to control the urge to arrest Jason then and there. He tries to stop being Batman for just one second before he loses his son for good. He takes in a breath and releases it like a sigh. He takes out his hands to gesture to Jason.

“If I could give you one last piece of advice. As a father. As a friend. Ask yourself if this is the type of person you want Y/N’s soulmate to be. Do you want her to be with a murderer?”

Jason didn’t expect that. He was ready to have another go at Bruce, maybe their last showdown before he leaves town, but now he just feels insulted.

“Fuck you, Bruce. I just want her safe-- To do a better job than you did for me. Be better than you.”

Bruce shakes his head. “You can do that without taking another person’s life, Jason. Killing people will only put your lives in more danger.” He points to Jason’s chest. “And you-- the Red Hood-- are a testament to that.”

Jason looks down, the crimson symbol on his chest peeking at him from his loose coat. The Red Hood is supposed to be just a means to an end. A myth strong enough to withstand the Bat’s. A new player to hook in the Arkham villains. Not someone who’ll join their ranks.

Jason looks back to glare at Bruce.

“I didn’t come here for a lecture.”

The pause Jason gave didn’t go unnoticed to Bruce.

“I assume you’re here to see Y/N,” Bruce replies. “She’s talking to Dick. She hasn’t noticed your message yet.”

Bruce walks up to Jason and sizes him up. Jason watches as his demeanor changes. Bruce stands taller, his shoulders seem to go wider. Jason doesn’t need to see the cape to know who’s standing in front of him now.

“Leave Gotham before sunrise.”

Jason can see himself reflected in Batman’s eyes. He suddenly looks like a child. The kid sleeping on the streets of Gotham. Scavenging in the garbage just to get by. Stealing to survive.

Bruce sees his own reflection in Jason’s and it terrifies him. He relaxes his shoulders and leaves his eyes half-lidded. Slowly, he lifts his hand and places it on Jason’s shoulder.

“Take care of each other, son.”

Bruce takes back his hand and starts walking to the door but Jason slaps something against his chest. Bruce looks down and sees that it’s an envelope. He looks back at Jason but he’s looking away from him.

“Give it to Alfred… please.”

Bruce smiles. He gives Jason a small nod before he takes the letter and leaves the hospital rooftop.

When Jason hears the doors close shut behind him, he lets the panic settle in. He first feels its claws scratching at his throat on its way up to his mouth, prying it open, making him gasp for air. Jason jumps when the door slams open.

You see your soulmate standing on the rooftop.

“Jason?”

You run to him and wrap your arms around his shoulder, as far as you can reach. He bends down and you hold him tighter. “You’re okay!” you exclaim against his coat. “I passed Bruce on the way here and I thought--”

“Y/N.”

Jason’s voice is shaky. You pull away to take a look at him but he holds you tight against him. You feel it now, the way his lungs are expanding rapidly and his heart is beating hard against his chest. He’s gripping your clothes as he pulls your body closer to him, afraid to let go. Afraid you’ll let go.

“I want to stay…”

The Joker had killed him and it killed you. The League had planned on using you against Jason. Scarecrow poisoned you. But now they’re gone. Dead. The Joker. Scarecrow. Black Mask. Bane. Croc. Clayface. Penguin and Dent.

Jason killed them all.

“You told me to find a better life. Away from all of this, remember? And I wanted that.” Jason hides his face on your shoulder and you can feel his tears seeping through your shirt. “I wanted that for both of us. But how could I do that if we have so many enemies? How could I do that if they can come after us at any second?”

Battered and bruised.

Dick’s wrong. Jason doesn’t have evil inside of him. None of them do. Everyone is just broken. Cracked under the pressure of the city’s heavy fog and manipulated into playing a never ending game of survival.

You glare at the horizon of the drab cityscape. Yellow lights left on all night. Sirens blaring at every corner. Sewer stench wafting toward the roofs. If Gotham hasn’t broken you yet, it will tomorrow.

You hold on to Jason tightly.

“It’s okay, Jason. Everything’s going to be okay.”

“It’s not, Y/N. We can’t stay-- I can’t stay.”

“I know…”

You rub Jason’s back to soothe him.

“It’s not just the Joker,” you whisper. “Gotham did this to us. It’s taken something beautiful from us-- our link-- and used it to abuse us. It tore us apart and made us forget who we are.

“We can’t stay here. We need to leave Gotham not because we’re not welcome. But because we need to heal, Jason.”

Slowly, you pull away from Jason to take off his coat. He watches as you unzip his kevlar vest and lets you take it off of him.

You stare at the symbol in your hands and silently thank it. Then you drop it on the floor. Jason is too stunned to stop you when you reach for one of his guns inside his coat. You fire two shots into the vest.

This is something you feel you need to do. Jason got to kill the Joker, the phantom menace that has haunted your dreams and waking moments. You only get this. The barrel is still smoking when you return it to him.

You pick up the vest and walk to the ledge of the roof. You pull back to gather as much momentum as you can and throw the vest out and down into the busy streets. You watch the Red Hood fall to its death until you can’t see it anymore.

Jason holds your hand and you turn to face him. He watches the look on your face, determined and unmoving. As if you hold all the cards and you know exactly where to go. He’s never seen such an expression on you.

He squeezes your hand

“I’ll go anywhere with you, Y/N.”

Just before the sun rises over, you’re already on a bus heading West, far enough away that even Wayne tower’s shadow can’t reach you. You pat the bag on your lap that has some clothes and your new identities.

As the bus crosses the bridge, Jason is watching the subtle pink and orange light peeking over the ocean that meets Gotham harbor. It’s a rare sight and one you’ll both miss. He turns to you.

“Hey,” Jason calls. “Look at your arm.” He takes out a pen. You watch as Jason writes on his arm and finally finishes his last words to you.

I love you.

END.

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#ssa #jason todd #red hood #superhero soulmate au #DC imagines #DC fanfiction #DC reader insert #Jason Todd imagine #Jason Todd fanfiction #Jason Todd x reader #Red Hood imagine #Red Hood fanfiction #Red Hood x reader #watchtower-feed #atbucud

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