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lovelybucky1 · 7 months

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Sweeten the Deal

Kinktober Day 4- Femdom

warnings: batgirl!reader, afab!reader, bondage, canon typical violence, implied batman x reader, degradation, vaginal sex, vaginal fingering, spit as lube, unprotected sex, fade to black sex scene, 18+ minors dni

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when you take the bag off of crane’s head, he is already conscious. he grins, though it’s lazy and dazed with his eyes unfocused.

“batgirl,” he drawls in that sickly sweet voice of his.

“crane,” you reply bitterly.

you had chased him down the streets of gotham in the rain. he had gotten some hits in, but your injuries were nothing compared to the uncomfortable squelching in your suit. when you finally caught up with him, you hit him in the back of the head with a rusty pipe and he was out. it’s not your most tactful capture, but it worked.

“i have to say, i’m a little offended they sent you after me instead of daddy. i guess i’m not as big of a bad guy as i used to be,” he smirks.

it’s a dig at your power, strength, and a slightly misogynistic one at that. you narrow your eyes at him. he can talk all the shit he wants, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s bound to a chair bolted to the floor.

crane looks around the warehouse he’s being held in, taking in the sight of the tall ceiling, dim lighting, and seeming lack of exit.

"this doesn't seem like the interrogation room they usually take me to," he notes.

you roll your eyes. "No, it isn't."

"have you bat-people finally taken over and judge and jury now, too?" crane looks far too smug for someone who is ultimately at your mercy.

"this isn't your typical trial, crane." you step closer to him. "you have information i need, so in return for your cooperation, i won't turn you in to the police."

crane leans his head back as much as he can due to the high back of his chair and raises his eyebrows at you. "you think you're doing me a favor by not turning me in? you turn me in and i'll just escape again, just like i did the last time, and the time before that. seems like those arkham employees really don't have their heads on straight," he smirks.

you pause for a moment, trying to think of a rebuttal. sure, crane has a phd, but you didn't think he'd be able to figure you out so quickly.

"how about we made a deal, then, crane?"

he looks at you with an unimpressed stare. "what, i tell you what you want to know and you stop torturing me?" he adjusts in his seat. "no offense, but a little girl in a costume doesn't really scare me." before you can respond, he's talking again. "besides, there is nothing you can do to me that i haven't already done to myself."

after that, he grins. it's unsettling, maniacal, and it reminds you that you're not just dealing with a guy who wears a costume and runs around the city. this guy is fucking crazy.

you exhale through your nose, resolving yourself to using a different interrogation method. you're not proud of it, but like crane said, there isn't any way to hurt or scare him. he already thinks you're only good for using your feminine wiles to distract enemies. what do you have to lose by confirming his suspicions?

"no, i'm not going to hurt you."

"oh, good. i have to say, i was getting pretty tired of batman breaking my ribs."

"i have something to offer you at batman can't," you say. you walk right up to his chair, almost standing between his bound legs. "sex appeal."

crane laughs, and the sound makes you feel slimy. "you must be one of those blind bats, or maybe batman really is your father." you furrow your brows behind your mask.

"but i can offer you something much more comfortable than what he would."

crane looks your body up and down, not trying to hide ogling in the slightest. "i see... so why don't you get on with it and take off that ridiculous suit."

"that's not how this works. you talk first," you say.

"how do i know you're not going to take my information and leave me here?"

you slip your leg over his hip and hold onto the back of the chair, lowering yourself onto his lap. he raises his eyebrows, looking up at you with a slight smirk on his lips.

"how about i give you some, you give me some?" he asks.

"fine. you go first," you say, not bothering to hide the annoyance from your voice. "tell me what you know."

"i know a lot of things. i'm a doctor, after all. i doubt most of it would be of any interest to you, though."

you sigh heavily. "tell me what you know about the drug supplier for arkham."

"hm, i'm not sure that rings a bell," he looks up at you with a devilish look in his eyes. you clench your jaw as you reach towards the base of your throat to grasp at the zipper to your suit. you drag it down slightly, revealing some of your cleavage.

"don't play dumb with me, crane."

"i have no idea what you're talking about."

"the original drug supplier for the asylum got bought out by some no-name company with no public records or anything."

"and why do you think this has something to do with me?"

you narrow your eyes. "because a week before the merger, the old ceo checked into arkham after a psychotic break. that has scarecrow written all over it."

crane chuckles. "it wasn't my idea. i was simply following orders."

"who's orders?"

"i don't know. i got back to my temporary residence and there was an unmarked envelope with my name on it. thirty-thousand dollars cash up front. the letter said they'd give me the rest upon completion of the job."

"so you did this without even knowing why? he was an innocent man," you say, voice almost a growl.

crane laughs mockingly. "oh, you precious thing. men like that are rarely innocent. he could've been corrupt, or an infidel, or a sexual predator. everyone is guilty of something. even batman, even you."

ignoring his bait for a reaction, you continue with your questions. "they gave you cash up front. why didn't you just take the money and run?"

"steal from a mysterious organization who knows my identity and where i'm hiding out?" crane scoffs.

"so you're-"

"if you want anything else, you better show some more skin," he interrupts.

glaring at him, you unzip your suit all the way but leave it on to show off the rest of your cleavage and down your stomach. his eyes trail over your skin hungrily.

"so you're just a hitman for hire now?" you ask.

"why, are you in the market?"

"have you done any other jobs?" you ask instead of answering his ridiculous question.

"maybe i have. maybe your precious batman is screaming and crying for you to come save him. wouldn't that be a sight? your mentor needing to be rescued from his bad dreams by you."

his voice is almost hypnotic, but you know better than to fall for his tricks. he's trying to persuade you to give into your baser urges, your jealousy, your need to be useful. fucking psychopath.

you reach around his head and twist your fingers in his hair, yanking it back causing it to knock against the metal back of the chair. he winces a bit, but it does nothing to quell the wild look in his eyes.

"shut up, crane."

"feisty," he remarks. "i did a few jobs outside the city, but those aren't in your jurisdiction."

unfortunately, he's right. outside of the city is too vague to track anyone down and connect crane to crimes.

"how did you do it?"

"do what?" he asks, looking at your tits instead of your eyes.

"do whatever it is you did to that guy."

"you want the dirty details, batgirl?" he smirks. "of how i strapped him down and injected him with my chemical that put the fear of god in him?" his hips thrust up, jostling you on his lap and making you grab onto his shoulder for support. he looks up at you with a sick smile. "he screamed and screamed, begging for mercy, for death to take him. he ripped out his hair and scratched his skin bloody. i think he was imagining spiders from what i could gather, but in my professional opinion, he just seems like your regular nutcase."

recounting his crime clearly feeds into some sick fantasy he has, but by playing into it, you're getting the information you need. you look down to see his cock straining in his pants.

"jesus, you're crazy," you say in disbelief, though you shouldn't be surprised.

"yet you still decided to crawl into my lap. you're just as crazy as i am, you're just afraid to get your hands dirty."

you can handle crane doubting your strength, your intelligence, your capability, and your worthiness to wear the bat symbol, but you refuse to let him compare the two of you.

"we are nothing alike," you hiss. "i don't torment people for my own enjoyment."

"what are you doing to me now?" he says, looking down at where your hips have shifted closer to his erection.

without thinking, you reach forward and harshly grab his cock through his pants. he winces and squirms, trying to get away from your touch or wanting more of it, you're unsure.

"you sick fucking bastard," you spit. "talking about your attempted murder got you this hard?"

"it was mostly the slut on my lap."

"you want me to hold up my end of the deal, crane? well it's going to be on my terms."

you climb off his lap and take off your suit, leaving you in your undergarments and mask. his eyes study you intently, making you feel more like a test subject than sexy.

when you step back over to him, you yank open the fly of crane's pants and take out his cock. he's hard and average sized; nothing impressive but enough to satisfy you.

standing in front of him, you spit into your hand and bring your wet fingertips down to your pussy. you open yourself up while he watches, unable to do anything else.

once you deep yourself open enough, you sit back on his lap and hold onto his dick, positioning his tip at your entrance.

"ask me for more," you say. "beg me for my pussy."

"this wasn't part of the deal," crane says, smug.

"i won't give you anything if you don't play by my rules. you're my prisoner right now."

crane rolls his eyes but resolves himself. "please give me your pussy," he says unenthusiastically.

"you can do better than that."

"please bless me with your fucking cunt, batgirl. i want you to use me." his tone could use some improvement, but the words were good enough to satisfy you.

you sink down on his length slowly to adjust to the size. by the time you're fully seated, crane is having a much more difficult time keeping his composure. his breathing is faster and small whines occasionally escape his mouth.

"how's that, crane?" you ask, voice breathy in his ear. "everything you thought it'd be?"

"looser than i expected. guess daddy treats you well," he chuckles, though it trails off into a moan.

you roll your hips a bit, gripping his shoulders tightly. perhaps you're holding on tighter than you need to, but pain clearly isn't a problem for crane.

"now you can tell all your freak friends- joker, harley, the riddler, whoever else you run with these days- that you got fucked by batgirl. i bet you'll spin it like you got me begging on my knees for you, but we'll know the truth. we know that you whimpered for my pussy like a little bitch."

“they don’t give a shit about you. but they’ll love to hear that i fucked batman’s bitch. does he know that you’re stepping out on him tonight?” he asks with a grin.

no, bruce doesn’t know what you’re up to tonight, and when you tell him, he’ll get the abridged version.

“stop fucking talking about him,” you hiss in his ear. “keep his name out of your disgusting mouth.”

crane moans at that. a genuine, low moan.

“i would’ve let myself get caught sooner if i’d known you were so easy to give it up.”

you’re riding him now, bouncing on his lap and using your grip on his shoulders as leverage. he watches as your tits jiggle in his face, staring shamelessly like the pig he is.

this doesn’t seem like much of a punishment for him, but fucking yourself on his cock is too enjoyable to care. besides, as soon as you finish, you will be promptly sending him back to arkham where he’ll be held in a much more secure wing.

#jonathan crane #jonathan crane x reader #jonathan crane smut #scarecrow #scarecrow x reader #scarecrow smut #nolanverse #cillian murphy #cillian murphy smut #cillian murphy x reader #jonathan crane fanfic #jonathan crane fanfiction

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celaenaeiln · 3 months

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what do you think about the theory that the dumbification of steph and dick is (occasionally) rooted in ableism?

ok I don't know much about this theory but in the end I don't think the dumbification of these characters have anything to do with ableism. If they were written dumb, it was written that way on purpose as a stand alone.

So let's start with Steph.

There's this overall impression that Stephanie is the dumbest of the bat group and that's really not fair for three reasons. 1 - Her character was handled poorly in the batgirl comic, 2 - Stephanie's debut isn't hers, and 3 - she's unique from the rest.

1 - Her character was handled poorly.

What I mean by this is in her Batgirl comic, the intention of her writer was to purposefully make her dumb.

The very first page, her introduction as Batgirl is this -

Batgirl (2009) Issue #1

Her very opening is Dick noticing she's not as good as Cass through her skill level and then Stephanie being like "Yup! That's me! I'm a nobody and can't do anything!" That's her introduction. And throughout the rest of the comic, she'll just continue putting herself down as someone who isn't capable or exceptional. This is exactly how Roy acts in Red Hood and the Outlaws. He puts himself down, is ashamed and disgusted by himself, and thinks of himself as a failure which is a HUGE mischaracterization by Scott Lobdell because he wanted to boost Jason's character by putting down Roy's. Which is exactly what's happening here. The authors are trying to boost Barbara and somewhat Cassandra's skillset by putting down Stehanie and making it out like she's some kind of massive failure and Barbara is her saving grace without whom she would be pathetic and die a second time.

2 - Stephanie's Batgirl comic wasn't written for her, it was written for Barbara.

The entire time of Steph's defining "who am I and what can I do?" comic that every single character goes through is just a cover up to talk about how good at her work Barbara is. Instead of getting to see the ingenuity, the determination, and the skills Stephanie learned on her own, under Batman, and from her death, the entire time it's just Barbara dictating Stephanie's actions which further leads to the dumbification of her character because the comic begins with Barbara talking about how pathetic and dumb stephanie is-

Batgirl (2009) Issue #2

And it continues with her being in charge the whole time, Stephanie learning nothing, never acting independently, and always being under Barbara's shadow.

Batgirl (2009) Issue #3

So from the beginning to the end, what has changed? How has Steph grown as a person and skill-wise? She's done nothing.

They did Steph so dirty in this comic -

Batgirl (2009) Issue #4

You're telling me someone who was grappling before they even met Batman is fumbling over a safe save??? This comic feels like a Tom Taylorized version of Batgirl.

And this is what happens when they have her act independently, without Barbara's orders -

Batgirl (2009) Issue #5

They refuse to let her even be good at school

Batgirl (2009) Issue #15

And even the one case she does get to solve near the end without Barbara's interference, they only let her do it with the help of another female senior vigilante.

But mainly the dumbification of Stephanie comes from making Barbara look good. And people can say, "She's older, she knows better which is why she's in charge" but I counter with Tim and Bruce's dynamic or Dick and Bruce or Tim and Dick. Just because a partner is younger doesn't mean they're incapable. Writing Stephanie this way was a choice and since this was supposed to be her comic, this characterization for her is what stuck leading to the dumbificaton issue.

Convergence Batgirl Issue #1

They won't give her a freaking break.

3 - Stephanie is different from the rest of the Robins and Cass

Stephanie started off her vigilante career by herself, unlike the rest. Dick, Jason, Tim, Cass, and Damian all had mentors that raised them in some way shape or form at the beginning but Stephanie literally created her own costume, snuck out, and learned crime fighting by herself. She's like Helena, Bruce, and Barbara and I firmly believe if Bruce had treated her as Robin, genuinely taken her in, she wouldn't have died in the altercation with Black Mask.

But I think it's because of this element and the fact that times have changed, this ingenuity and self-growth is seen as unfeasible which leads to the dumbification of her character. As if she's unable to fight and think for herself without leading to her detriment.

Convergence Batgirl Issue #1

They seriously classified all her hard, independent work as Spoiler into "being young and silly." I can't-

In summary of Steph, I don't believe dumbification has to do with ableism. Stephanie's written that way because the writers don't know how to write her and they don't care enough.

Dick

I don't think the dumbification thing with Dick is anywhere near as bad as it is with Steph. But whereas Stephanie doesn't a single post-og spoiler comic where she's seen as good until the very recent Batgirls comic run and tie ins, Dick has numerous comics where he's pointed out to be amazing or good.

Steph says it

Convergence Batgirl Issue #1

Tim says it

Robin (1993) Issue #32

Bruce, Helena, Damian, and various other heroes to summarize.

However same issue with the stephanie batgirl comic and dick - both characters are dumbed down to highlight Barbara's intelligence. Not even touching Tom Taylor's run, Dick's really only dumbed down when he's paired up with Barbara.

Batgirl (2011) Issue #3

There's no way he can't fight his way out, use a grapple or a device, manipulate someone, or at the very least have an escape plan.

Convergence Nightwing/Oracle Issue #1

He's the leader of the Titans, the Outsiders, been Batman, soloed, been Robin, and he teaches heroes on tactics, strategies, and fighting skills. But she won't even give him the decency of hearing out his plan because she's so incredibly smart that she doesn’t need to listen to anyone but herself.

No, I don't believe Steph and Dick's dumbification is related to ableism but there are other factors that play into it.

#stephanie brown #batgirl #spoiler #dick grayson #nightwing #barbara gordon #oracle #cl anon asks #cl asks #thanks for the ask!

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punkeropercyjackson · 1 month

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Honestly why even bother making Jason afrolatino if you're not gonna write him as he is in canon when that's what actually'd make him work good rep for us.What i mean by this is

His ego is huge,he's super tough and an edgelord,has anger issues and brutal ass tactics and is a morally gray vigilante but he's ALSO a huge woman respecter to the point he thinks they're better than men,is extremely kind with a huge soft side and his exterior attitude and Red Hood are trauma responses that're framed as valid on his end so he's not the 'Scary Black Man' stereotype and with the exception of the vigilante part this is actually a pretty common personality type for irl black men-Important note that i don't fall under the attitude but i AM a black man(and woman)

He's been a huge nerd since he's debut in both meanings of it-He's a genius who was a star student in school and loves classical literature,theater and speaking articulately and poetically but just happens not to 24/7 since he's a comic book character,not a Shakespearen one

And his soft sunshine boy with hidden depths Robin self is a critical part of making him as black latino work-You can't go with the retcon of him as a mini thug because it's extremely dangerous stereotyping

Duke as his favorite brother-It's erasure with white gringo Jason but even worse and just stupid because both of them being black would it EVEN BETTER writing they're eachother's number one Batboy pick.Ain't no nigga picking Tim when the only other black guy in the factor is Right There and fuck ya aus,keep Jason white in them and leave afrolatino Jason out of your mess

He hasn't expressed a particular preference for girls he likes but HAS for the ones he dosen't and it's preppy perfect judgemental ones who try to 'tame' him so rip all y'all's white X Readers LMFAO.Worth noting that his canon girlfriends have been a half cambodian tomboy(Rose),an edgyptian butch(Artemis)and a darkskin black woman(Dana)and that he's actively rejected a white blonde girl on the basis of her being too normal(Isabel)and Kory post deblackification so i think it's obvious where his tastes lie

You CANNOT make him and Roy or Batcest a thing-I don't think i need to explain why pairing up a white man who knew an afrolatino since he was 14 and him grown with a daughter and putting him in incest is violently antiblack

Poverty is not inherently bad in black or latino characters and there was a point in canon where it was used as simply an element in Jason's story instead of demonization so use that edition.But making him a drunkard,a smoker or a sex fiend is 100% perpetuating stereotypes and he's canonically the opposite of all three so again,sometimes things that are canon are better

Him being tall and super jacked and intimidating looking can actually enchance it-He uses it to his advantage to get people he dosen't like to fuck off because they buy into the propaganda and gives him more deepness with the rest of his personality

This includes him being a real gamer and his neapolitan food addiction and your headcanons on his other tastes should follow their lead-His favorite characters should be black and latino ones(His favorite Marvel hero is Miles Morales,it's canon to ME),he should listen to black and latino artists,he should eat black and latino food and know how to make it for that matter,etc

Back to a Duke situation-You also can't make a white woman instead of Talia his adoptive mom for obvious reasons and imo if you're gonna make him and Stephanie besties,she should be black too for that black best friends and found siblings rep(She works as a black woman as much as he does a black man and i'll make a manifesto of that like i did him if asked).This applies to the Team Dad Jason take too in the sense that he should mentoring Damian and Nell and Tiffany since they're Batgirls instead of white kids

In summary what i'm trying to say is:If you're going to see Jason as an afrolatino man,you need to go beyond just the aesthetic and little bits you feel like including because you think they're appealing and actually write him as an afrolatino man,as Jason Todd and not some random guy

@nogender-onlystars @willieoo @mayameanderings @desi-pluto @insomniac-jay @vulnonapixes-dc-corner

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ectonurites · 2 months

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Do the Robins really think of each other as siblings? I know they all consider Dick a brother and vice versa, but between all them, is there really a sibling dynamic/consideration? Do they ever call each other as such?

Okay, so, off the bat (heh) from the phrasing of this ask I want to clarify something:

Namely that the hero role of ‘Robin’ does not inherently have a familial tie.

‘Robin’ is a hero role that has (in main continuity) been filled by: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne, and in a slightly less formal way Duke Thomas (he was a member of the We Are Robin movement and the most prominently featured of that group, though he did not really act as ‘Batman’s sidekick Robin’ which is why he’s kinda in his own category here but still worth mentioning).

However, that’s not to say there are no familial ties there. From the list of Robins… Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake are the adopted sons of Bruce Wayne. Damian Wayne is Bruce’s biological son. Duke Thomas was for a time fostered by Bruce, though that is not presently the case (he lives with his uncle instead nowadays). And, while not a Robin, it’s also worth mentioning that Cassandra Cain (Batgirl) is Bruce’s adopted daughter.

So, to answer the baseline question of ‘Do the Robins really think of each other as siblings?’ I would say 'most of them do, the ones that are adopted siblings'. But like, Steph isn't their sister, and they aren't her brothers. That’s simply not the case there, she's never been adopted by Bruce (not to mention one of them—Tim—is literally her ex-boyfriend).

I think it’s very safe to say that among the ‘Dick, Tim, Jason, Damian’ grouping, yes canon has pretty clearly shown that they do all have a brotherly dynamic. They don't all use the specific phrasing that frequently, but it's not uncommon for them to—whether to directly call one another brothers, or to talk about their shared (adopted or otherwise) dad. This isn't to say they are all close or all have good relationships with one another all the time (lol no, Dick & Tim are close/generally have a good relationship, and Dick & Damian are also close/generally have a good relationship, but aside from that things get rockier/vary a lot more) but at the core there's a brotherly thing with all the ups and downs that entails.

To pull some examples of either using that phrasing or showing that kind of dynamic from books published within the last few years:

(Dick & Jason in Nightwing (2016) Annual #1)

(Dick talking about Tim in Nightwing (2016) #80)

(Dick talking about Damian in Nightwing (2016) #110)

(Jason & Tim [& Cass] in Task Force Z #8)

(Jason & Damian Robin (2021) #5. I do feel the need to mention that on Damian's end this hug was also a distraction to then electrocute Jason. That's just how he is sometimes. but the hug was genuine on Jason's end 🤷)

(Tim & Damian [& Dick] in Batman #138)

That’s just some stuff I could think of off the top of my head, there’s definitely more examples (and also if I went further back, but I'm approaching this anon from a 'the current state of things' POV).

Also worth noting that Dick & Damian’s relationship does kinda toe a line between ‘brothers’ and ‘pseudo father-son’ due to Dick needing to fulfill a parental role while Bruce was dead (pre-N52, like, Batman and Robin (2009) era). They’re still more brothers than anything else, but with such a large age gap and the way responsibilities had to be taken due to the situation at the time, it makes things complex, ya know! In general, I think that’s something to keep in mind—it’s not that these guys all lived together as one happy family with Bruce at any given point in time (they did Not), but despite that they still are family. They each have a complicated relationship with Bruce, and complicated relationships with one another, but they are (and see each other as) family regardless. A messy and non-traditional family, but still a family.

The thing I think some people get confused with is the way that the greater 'Batfamily' is more what we think of as a 'found family' where characters don't necessarily fall into traditional familial roles... because that includes people like Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Helena Bertinelli, etc—people who are bats but are not part of the Wayne family. Like... The Wayne Family and The Batfamily are not synonymous. The Wayne Family is a separate but partially overlapping thing. The Waynes are Bats but not all Bats are Waynes, ya know? And like, it's only further confusing because of how most of Bruce's adopted kids kept their original last names even after adoption, so it's not always clear at a glance who falls into which group if you're not super familiar with the characters.

NOW, the person I think this gets a bit fuzzy with in terms of placement is Duke… he's obviously part of the Batfamily, but where exactly he sits in relation to the Wayne Family has like, been different at different points in time. Because he was Bruce's foster child for a while, and now he isn’t anymore. So in terms of his relationship with the other Robins, it definitely is more familial than like, Steph's relationships with any of the others—because he was their foster brother—but it's not quite as strictly defined as among the 'Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian' grouping. I’m gonna link this post by a Duke-centric blog which goes into some of this more clearly!

#tbh thinking of a damian & jason interaction was the hardest thing here those bitches are both often allergic to being sincere w/ family #and also they just don't interact All That Much. which is honestly such a missed opportunity but well thats another conversation #anyway. i hope this helps to clear some of this up!?#sam explains

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popculturebuffet · 2 years

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So Let's Talk About Warner Bros Discovery Burning Down HBO Max for the Insurance Money

Okay real quick for those of you who don't know who I am: I"m Jake, I review animation on this fair blog sometimes on comission (which is open by the way) , and mostly just because I want to. I love all kinds of stuff from comics, to comic strips, to movies, and review all kinds in turns. I"m telling you this so you have full and proper context as to why Warner Bros Discovery's latests actions have been HELL on my anxiety. While this week has been a hard one for reasons that aren't your buisness, Warner just made it so much worse so rather than do three reviews this week, i'm doing two and this piece, outlying why I"m so nettled, why I no longer feel any security for anything warner has going , in production or otherwise, and why WBD sucks dirty ass in thunderstorms.

Let's begin with what's going on for those in the back who haven't heard: Last week Warner Bros Discovery made the earthshatteringly dumb decision to cancel their 40 million dollar Batgirl film, and not release it in any way shape or form as a tax write off as well as announcing they were canceling several other dc projects with the Arrowverse finally being taken out back and shot with the Flash getting canceled and given a smal lseason to wrap up (and Superman and Lois likewise detatching from said universe for it's own saftey), and just about every DC Project now in fear of being cut, paticuarlly the tv shows. The Flash MOVIE is weirdly exempt from this despite starring known human dumpster fire whose progressively spiraling Erza Miller. Granted they ARE getting help, so it might help, but it still feels odd to not drop THAT movie but drop one by people who have done absoltuely nothing wrong and is almost finished. And by odd I mean...

So yeah a 40 billion dollar diverse, great looking film is in limbo, any dc film that hasn't started shooting is in the firing range. While I do feel the DCEU badly needed an actual structure instead of just doing whatever movie without any real plan. But

Is somehow worse than no strategy. But there does seem to be SOME method to the madness here.. unfortunatley said method, as most perfectly put by my surrogate tv dad John Oliver "It seems like your trying to burn down my platform for the insurance money"

That does seem to be WBD's plan: Liquidate as much as possible, put as much of it as a tax writeoff as you can, and to hell with what comes next. There's no building going on here, just madly selling anything they can to make money. Which admitely I have done, I once had to sell off my entire 3ds collectoin to get buy, but i'm a 30 year old man with the body of an orangutan, not a BILLION dollar company that should know better. Even if Discovery is new at running this type of company, they seem more concerned with making as much money as possible and don't care if they actually surivive as a platform, if works of art surivive, or for anything other than getting a huge kickback.

And that brings me to today, the worst news in recent animation history. And keep in mind that history includes: 1. Disney cancelling the critically aclaimed and briliant owl house because it was too gay and trying to pretend that's not why they did it 2. Netflix's Childrens Content slowly collapsing into the sea with one or two exceptions. 3. Sex Monster John Lassiter somehow getting another job and a new movie AppleTV+ feels comfortable promoting. 4. The passing of Betty White, Ed Asner and Gilbert Gottfried

But yes HBO Max decided to delist a TON of his content. While ti hasn't happened yet and the backlash, and a recent blow to their stock due to this bullshit as a rare instance of corprate greed biting them, MIGHT stop it, it might be too late. The shows being chopped include Close Enough, a show they had just canceled a week ago and now decided no one can enjoy and that was not only one fo the platforms lead shows, but it's only adult animated comedy that didn't make people throw things at it on sight, Infinity Train, a show people were already mad was screwed out of more than four seasons, Ok KO Let's Be HEroes, one of the best cartoons of the 2010s, Mao Mao Heroes of Pure Heart which was stuck in cancelation limbo, and victor and Valentino, which I have not watched but is JUST going through season 3 as we speak. None of it makes sense, none of it is right and all of it is clearly a ploy to mak ea tax writeoff. And while previous managment had done this, there was a simliar incident iwth greats such as megas xlr and sym boinoic titan, never before has a company made material not only unavablaibe but so nakedly tried to claim something as a loss. I'm HOPING this bs dosen't fly in court, as none of these shows really are the net loss they thinkt hey are, paticuarlly close enough and infinity train, so none of this should add up, but i'm not holding my breath.

I'm also not holding my rage. I belivie in works being avaliable to people. Good or bad, as long as their not harmful , they should be out there and avaliable. Things should be preserved. And making it so several shows are just outright unwatchable, JUST so you can make money is one of the most greedy, discpiable, hateful and agonizing acts i've seen in some time. OK KO thankfully escapes thanks to being on hulu, but that may not be forever and they may try this shit with other platforms. For once most of these shows being on netflix in other countries is a lifesaver. And yes you can still find the stuff that's being taken on the internet, piracy can be bad but it can also be a way to preserve stuff, but I should be able to have a legal and fine means of watching Close Enough. I shoudln't hav eto scour for a show just because you want money. I'm still subscribed to hbo max as it's not me who does and it still has enough content.. but if they keep doing this scorched earth nonsense, it's going to leave them with nothing to sell and nothing to buy and no one to buy into thei rshit. and i'm hoping they learn their lesson and ease back before it's too late and one of the best platforms in the streaming wars is gone.

For now though all I can do is wait and hope like hell more things I care about don't die a cruel greedy death.

#warner bros discovery #hbo max #close enough #infinity train #i'm pissed now

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bluejaysandblackbats · 6 days

Text

Eyes and Ears

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: An AU where Barbara finds Jason instead of Bruce.

Chapters: 9/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon, Jim Gordon, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Sheila Haywood, Original Character(s)

Relationship(s): Jason Todd/Original Character(s), Past Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson

Additional Tags: Canon Divergent AU, Older SIbling Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd-centric, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Jason Todd is NOT Robin, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd Has a Crush, Adopted Siblings

Chapter Nine: Nightjars

Jason waited on the roof, swinging his feet as he sat on the ledge. The black of night and lights of Gotham shone beneath him. He tilted his head back and looked up into the sky at the darkness as a familiar wave of sadness and fear washed over him. He took a few deep breaths, trying to pull himself together.

It wasn't like he was scared of being home alone. He kept trying to tell himself that, but the way his hands shook after waking up from another one of his nightmares said otherwise. "Hey, got space enough for two?" a voice asked. It didn't startle him in the way that it usually would have.

"I'm not gonna jump. I'm just waiting for my sister to get home," Jason mumbled.

"You say that like your sister is Batgirl," he chuckled as he sat next to Jason. Jason turned to him, and he gasped.

"You're the Boy—. Robin. You're him," Jason whispered, "Did she tell you to come here?"

"So she is your sister? And no, I'm just in town. Thought I'd stop by," Dick smiled, "And thanks for not calling me the Boy Wonder. I'm a little old for that. Why are you waiting for her up here?"

Jason tried to conceal his trembling hands as he spoke. "Pop's out of town... It just feels weird knowing he's not in Gotham, so I'm watching from up here until she gets back," Jason explained himself.

"How long have you been—? It's none of my business. If she wanted me—."

"Almost five months. Didn't really think I'd be here this long, but they feel like family," Jason confessed. A breeze blew past, and Jason shivered.

"Come on, I'll make us an omelet," Dick whispered, "You like eggs?"

Jason nodded and followed Dick back to the apartment. They climbed into Barbara's window, and Dick went straight to the kitchen as if he'd been there before. "Who are you?" Jason asked.

"She really didn't tell you?" Dick asked. Jason shook his head. "Well, if she trusts you... Dick Grayson." Dick held out his hand, and Jason shook it.

"Jason Todd... Or Gordon. Not really sure how the name thing's gonna work long-term... People really call you Dick?" Jason asked. Dick nodded as he took off his gloves and mask and set them on the counter.

"So, Jason... What's it like having Barbara as a sister?" Dick smiled. He cracked a few eggs and chopped up some peppers and sausage.

"I thought I was stubborn, but I think she's got me beat," Jason replied, "But I've never had a sister before, so I dunno... Maybe they're all like this."

"Nobody's like Babs, trust me on that," Dick replied, "But yeah... Stubborn. That's her."

"But she's also a good friend," Jason whispered.

"Oh, boys. Now, who's gonna tell me I'm pretty?" Barbara asked. Dick and Jason turned to her. "What are you doing here?"

"When were you gonna tell me you had a little brother?" Dick asked. Barbara messed up Jason's hair.

"I would've told you the next time we talked... Jason, what are you doing up?" she asked.

"Having an omelet with your friend, Dick," Jason answered casually, and Barbara cleared her throat. "I couldn't sleep, so I went up on the roof to wait for you."

Silence fell over the kitchen, and Jason looked at both of them. "Who's taller? You or Wonder Girl?" Jason asked.

"Which one of us are you asking?" Dick replied.

"You say that like Barbie knows Wonder Girl," Jason replied. Barbara sighed.

"Barbie?" Dick grinned.

"Don't start," Barbara went into the fridge and poured herself a glass of juice.

"I'm taller. Not by much," Dick answered.

"How many questions can I ask before it gets weird?" Jason questioned.

"Um, you can ask what—."

"He can ask three questions, eat his omelet, and go to bed," Barbara interrupted. Jason stuck his tongue out at her. "Three."

"Fine. How old were you when you started out as Robin?" Jason asked.

"Don't answer that," Barbara chimed in, and Jason opened his mouth to argue.

Dick chuckled as he asked, "Why? How old are you?"

"Thirteen," Jason replied.

"I was around your age," Dick replied.

"Oh, you just love to start problems, don't you?" Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know he's never gonna let me hear the end of it." Dick made Jason's plate. "I told Jason I'd train him, but I don't want him out in the field. He's not old enough."

Dick nudged Jason and whispered, "You'll wear her down. It might take a while with her, but if you really want to change her mind, you won't give up."

"I'm not like Batman. He's not gonna wear me down. He's too young," Barbara replied.

"Oh, come on. It's not like you waited until you were an adult to throw on the cape," Dick scoffed. Barbara sat down next to Jason and sighed.

"Did you two used to date?" Jason asked. Barbara and Dick turned to him.

"Eat your omelet," Barbara replied before responding to Dick, and Jason started to eat while they argued. After he finished eating, he lay on the couch and drifted off to sleep. It wasn't until he'd been asleep a whole hour that they'd stopped arguing.

"Look at that," Dick chuckled, "He's out cold." Barbara picked him up and carried him back to his bed before returning to her conversation with Dick. "What's the story?"

"He was living in an abandoned apartment all by himself. Two parents dead, his birth mother in the wind... I don't want him out there because of what he's already been through. He won't really talk about it, but from what he's told me, his father was horrible to him," Barbara whispered, "I didn't want to say it in front of him... But when I took him home, I promised myself that I'd protect him. I can't do that if I allow him to do what we do."

Dick nodded and sighed. They talked for a few hours, and on Dick's way out, he whispered, "The biggest mistake you could've made was letting him know what you do, but all you can do now is train him as best you can and hope that he'll listen to you."

Barbara nodded, and once Dick was gone, she changed into her pajamas and checked on Jason. A thought weighed heavy on her mind as she went back to her room. It kept her up for the rest of the night.

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a1307s · 4 months

Text

Companion #2

(Bart Allen)

[Art is not mine! Credit to battysketches]

Requested by: Feketealkony16

Keys:

Y/N: Your Name

Word Count: 5,760

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:

None

——————————————————————

My companion and I have been spending a lot of time together over the past couple of weeks. We have a nice routine that makes me calm. I like knowing what is going to happen, and with Bart, I always know when stuff is going to happen and how it's going to happen.

However, recently Bart has insisted on sleeping in my bed with me at night. I'm not sure why but he keeps asking me, so I finally said yes last night. It's weird waking up with him in my bed. I'm not sure what to do. Usually, I get up and shower before breakfast, and then Bart makes us pancakes. Am I supposed to do that today too?

I shift in bed so I'm sitting against the board in the front. Bart stirs a bit, rolling over so his head is buried between my thigh and the bedding. He stays still for a second before shifting again, his head staying in place but his arm resting against my hips. For whatever reason, Bart has started touching me a lot. He seems to like touching my hips, but again, I'm not sure why.

Usually, I don't like people other than Conner touching me. I do like Bart touching me too though. I like the little sparks that bounce off of him when he's excited. I did end up asking Artemis about the electric sparks and she said Wally does it too when he gets really happy. She also said that Wally doesn't know it's happening because he's used to electricity running threw him so it's hard for him to tell when it's being transferred to something or someone else. I'm pretty sure it's the same for my companion.

Once again, Bart shifts, this time he props himself up so I can see his face, but his arm stays put. When his eyes blink open, sparks start bouncing off of him and colliding against my hips. He is happy, good. "G'morning," He mumbles, a sleepy smile on his face as he looks up at me.

"Good morning," I say back, turning my head away from him. My chest always feels tight when Bart smiles at me. I asked Batgirl about it, and she said it sounds like I have a crush on Bart. I don't know what a crush is, but she explained it as me liking him. Of course, I like him, he's my companion. If I didn't like him, he wouldn't be my companion. Duh.

"Y/N," Bart whines, tightening his hold on me as he buries his head between my hip and his arm. "Look at me!" I obey, turning back to him. His head pokes out as he keeps it rested on us. His smile widens, the sleepiness draining from his face. "Good morning, Mamas."

That is new. I don't know if it's good new. It makes me tingle, but not the tingling I get from the electricity leaving Bart, it's a different tingle. "Good morning," I repeat, once again turning away from him. I think it's a good tingle. It makes me feel like I want my companion to touch me more.

As if he can read my mind, Bart wraps his other arm behind my back, tugging me some so more of himself is on top of my lap. His head is shifted to my other leg, his heart being pressed into my thigh as he lays across me. Recently, when I get overwhelmed - that's the new word Black Canary taught me last week; she says it explains me getting upset about the lights and my emotions - I've been listening to Bart's heartbeat instead of Conner's.

"Why won't you look at me?" He asks, his hands rubbing my hips as he cuddles himself up on my legs. He reminds me of a cat doing this. Sometimes Garfield will transfer into a cat and lay on me, so I'll pet him.

"You make my chest hurt when I look at you too long," I mumble, glancing down at him.

"Oh," He murmurs, his face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you mean it hurts?"

I scan around my room, trying to find anything other than him to look at. "I don't know... it just... feels tight sometimes."

"Oh," Bart repeats, his tone a lot happier this time. "My chest does that too. Usually when you laugh." Maybe Bart likes me too. I hope so or else I'd be a bad companion. Am I a bad companion to Bart? I hope not. I want to make him happy.

"What are you thinking about?" He asks, his hands no longer rubbing my bones and instead gently pushing the hem of my pajama shirt up. A small sliver of my skin shows, which seems to be holding Bart's attention as he pushes his fingertips into it. I don't think I like that, but I do like the feeling of the sparks against a new part of my skin.

"I don't know what to do," I murmur, watching Bart as he watches his fingers roll over my skin. Maybe I do like it, and it's just making me nervous because it's new.

I don't like new things and there's a lot of them happening right now. Bart sleeping in my bed all night, Bart waking up in my bed this morning, and now Bart touching my bare stomach. He's slept in my bed before because we've taken naps together, but he usually spends the night in his bed. Since we've taken naps before, we've woken up in each other's beds, but our naps are usually only an hour or so and never after eight at night. He's also touched me in a lot of places: my arms, my thighs, my back, and even my stomach. The only bare skin he's ever touched is my hands, arms, and face though.

"What do you mean you don't know what to do?" He asks, pushing my shirt up a little more as his fingers slide over my sides, right above my hips. His eyes stay attached to his fingers as if it takes a lot of focusing to touch my skin. Maybe it does. I've only touched the same skin he's touched on me; well before today anyway. I don't see why it would take so much focus though.

"Well, usually I'm in the shower by now, but I'm not. I'm still in bed, with you touching me."

Bart's fingers stop moving, staying put on my side as he looks up at me. I make myself look down, focusing on his eyes as I try to breathe the tightness out of my chest. It's not the tightness I'm used to having around Bart. It's the tightness I would get after I knew I failed a test. "Do you not like me touching you?"

I think about it for a minute, like Canary has told me to do. She's told me just because I feel uneasy about something doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. It just means I'm worried about what is going to happen. "It makes me worry," I finally answer, looking away from Bart again. My breathing hasn't helped with my lungs.

"About what?" He asks, sliding soft circles into me. I can still feel his eyes on the side of my face, which doesn't help my thinking.

"Why you're touching me. If you want me to touch you. If you expect anything from me because you're touching me."

Bart stays silent, the only sounds filling my ears being his heart and lungs, along with the soft sound of our skin running against each other. "Well, I'm touching you because I like how you feel... That sounds creepy," he falls quiet again, spacing out a bit. "I'm touching you because it's how I show and how I feel that someone cares. I would like you to touch me back, but you never have to do anything you don't want to when I'm around. If you don't want to touch me, then don't, I won't be mad."

I roll his words over for a bit before looking down at him. "Where would you like me to touch you?" Hopefully, it's somewhere okay, like his hair. I really want to touch his hair.

"A few places. You can touch me wherever you're comfortable touching. I won't be mad no matter what you decide." Once again, I roll the words over in my head. Does he think that I think he's mad? I slowly move my hands to his head, letting them rest for a beat before I slide my hands through his locks. They're soft against my fingers, causing waves of calmness to start to sprout.

We sit like this for a while, Bart rolling circles into different parts of my stomach, and me playing with his hair. I start trying to braid it, like I've seen M'gann do to Cassie's hair, but Bart's hair isn't long enough to make a good braid.

After a bit, Bart shifts, sitting up in bed across from me. "I'm going to take a shower," he starts, tilting his head some as he looks over my face. "Do you want to take a shower with me?"

"No," I yap out, panic quickly eating away at the calmness that was previously present.

"Okay, you don't have to," he says softly as he slowly reaches his hand towards me. I stay still, petrified with fear despite his present smile that usually makes my chest tight, not fearful. His hand is gentle as he places it against my cheek, his thumb gently sliding against my skin. For whatever reason, this is another thing Bart likes to do.

"Please go away," the fear pushes out of me before I can stop it. I don't like this, I don't like him touching me, and I don't like Bart anymore. He's a scary companion. He's going to hurt me.

Bart's smile drops a bit, but is still present, and still scary. "Okay," he says softly, dropping his touch from me before sliding off my bed. I stay put as I watch him walk into the bathroom.

Once the door is shut behind him, I shoot up from bed and make my way out of my room. I do not feel happy, I do not feel nice, I do not feel good. All of can think about is my pod and Luther and pain.

I need to find Birdman so he can call Canary. I need to talk to her. I do not like feeling scared, and I really don't like feeling scared of Bart. He's my companion, he's supposed to make me feel good, feel loved, feel safe, someone I'm supposed to trust. I do not feel any of that. I feel scared of him, scared of him seeing me. Why would he want to see me like that? Why would he want to take a shower with me? Does he want to hurt me? What test did I fail?

My mind is a fog, my breathing feeling labored, and my nervous shaking as I race into the living room. I can hear Conner trying to get my attention, but I ignore him. "Nightwing?" I call, walking up to the team leader who's tucked into a corner of the kitchen. I tug on the arm of his shirt, pulling his attention down to me with a soft hum. "We need to go on a walk."

————————————

Canary is sitting across from me, her body language open and her pen and pad ready to write down what I say. I open my mouth again to try and explain this morning but once again, nothing comes out. "Take your time, Y/N, the league knows I'm not on call, so we have all day to figure this out," her words are soft, like always.

I like Canary, she is nice, and patient, and helps me with all my thoughts and feelings. When I first started talking with her, she told me she used to and still does help Conner - and other heroes - with the same thing so it's okay that I ask for her help.

"Bart keeps asking to sleep in my bed at night," I finally push out, shifting my gaze around the room. Even though it feels nice to talk to her and I feel safe with Canary, it still feels overwhelming to talk about stuff sometimes.

"Yes, we talked about it at our last session, do you remember what you said about it?"

I think about it for a moment, trying to remember. "I said that I don't know how I feel about it." Canary stays quiet, her eyes soft as she looks at me. "He asked again last night, and I said yes."

"Why did you say yes? Did you want to say yes, or did you say yes so he'd stop asking?"

I think about it for a moment, trying to relive the moment and the emotions I had during the discussion with Bart. "I felt... happy when he asked. I thought it would be nice. I like our naps so I figured it would just be a really long nap. That's why I said yes. I like it when I go to sleep next to Bart, it makes me feel... like I'm important to him. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, it makes sense," Canary says, bringing some relief to me as she scribbles in her notes. "How was it? Before bed? When you were getting ready to sleep and when you laid down for the night?"

Once again, I think about it, trying to relive the memory. "I was already ready for bed when Bart showed up. We watched a movie - it was about some talking cars - and we sat next to each other, with Bart's arm around my hips. He keeps touching my hips. Why is he doing that?"

"I'm not hundred percent sure because I'm not Bart. Why do you think he does it?" I hate when she does this. When she makes it obvious she knows the answer but won't tell me what the answer is. It's supposed to 'encourage my thoughts and feelings to get to find the answer' which is stupid. If I knew the answer I wouldn't have asked the question.

"I don't know."

"I think you do, you're just scared of the answer." Maybe Canary isn't as nice as I thought.

I think over the question for a while, nothing but space in between Canary and me. "Well, today Bart said he likes how I feel, and then said he sounded creepy so he changed his answer to something about showing care and being shown it, I don't know."

Once again, the older hero stays silent, scribbling away at her notes. "Repeat that." This is really stupid.

"Bart said he likes how-"

"Not that part, the last part." Why did I ask to talk to Canary? This is a waste of time.

"His answer was something about showing care and feeling cared for," I repeat, my anger bubbling with my words.

"Again," she orders, not helping the growing frustration.

"Bart said he likes touching me because it's how he shows he cares and how he feels that he is cared about - oh..." Maybe Canary isn't stupid, and maybe I don't like the answer. Why would Bart care about me? I know he's supposed to since he's my companion and all, but other than supposedly having to, why does he?

There's a soft smile on her face as she looks at me. "See? You did know the answer, you just needed help putting the pieces together. What was the rest of the night like?"

"I don't know. We laid down after the movie and went to sleep."

"Was Bart touching you when you went to sleep?"

Why does that matter? "Yes, he had his arms around my hips and back like he did this morning."

"Why do you think he did that?"

I think about it for a moment. "Because... he was showing he cares...?"

Canary hums a yes as she nods in agreement. "People feel cared for in different ways. Some people - like Robin - feel cared for when people get them stuff like coffee, love letters, or even something as simple as a rock. Other people - like Bart - feel cared for when they're touched like hugs, kisses, and holding hands. Most of the time people show they care in the same way they feel cared for."

"Are those the only ways to feel cared for? I don't like any of those things."

Canary smiles softly again, before speaking. "There are five love languages. The two we already talked about are called receiving gifts and physical touch. There are acts of service like Batgirl helping Nightwing with paperwork. Words of affirmation is another one, stuff like being told you're doing good-"

"Ew," I say before I can stop myself. "I hate when Nightwing and Conner do that."

Canary nods, propping her head up with her arm. "Your love language is quality time. Stuff like napping with Bart or sitting with him when he plays his video games." I nod, the same way Canary does, as I roll her words around my head. I feel bad for thinking she was stupid, she's smart. "So, the time before sleeping was good, how was the actual sleeping?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, my confusion washing away all the understanding I had a second ago. I think this is why I don't like talking to Canary sometimes. She's good at making stuff make sense, and then ruining it the next time she asks a question.

"Did you sleep through the night?"

"Oh, I woke up a few times. I'd panic for a while before I realized it was Bart."

Back to silence, sounds of breathing and Canary's pen filling the space between us once again. "How'd this morning go?" She finally asks, being the one to break the silence again.

"I woke up confused."

"Because Bart was there?"

"Yes and no," I answer, getting a head tilt from the lady across from me. That usually means I answered in a way she wasn't prepared for. "I was happy to see Bart when I woke up and I did finally remember he was supposed to be there but I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I should stick to my routine or not because waking up with him in my bed isn't part of my normal schedule."

"You don't do very well with change," She says softly like she does every time we discuss a change in my life.

"I know," I answer shortly, like always. "He ended up waking up shortly after and kept touching me again."

"Did you not like him touching you?"

"I didn't mind him touching me for most of it."

"And for the rest of it?"

I go silent again, replaying this morning in my head, trying to remember my thoughts and feelings in the moment. "Bart just... touched me differently I guess."

"Try rewording that." Occasionally Canary will say this, usually when she needs more context or doesn't understand what I'm saying.

"Bart... lifted my shirt. Not like a lot! Just a little bit, and kept touching my skin on my stomach and sides and I don't know," I rush out with a heavy tone, using my hands to model how much skin was showing. "It wasn't a lot," I repeat, a lot softer this time.

"Does it matter whether it was a little or a lot?"

Yes, it does. Why wouldn't it? "Different things happen depending on how much clothing is off. If it's a little bit it's just a check up and if it's a lot I get hurt."

Canary falls silent, pen still and her heart beats a bit faster. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. "Is that what happened when you were with Luther?" Her voice is a little uneven, but I'm surprised. Anytime we talk about how Luther used to hurt me her heartbeat picks up.

"Ya, it did. Do you think Bart would hurt me?"

Again, silence from the lady across from me, but her pen is at work this time and her heart is back to normal. "No one can be hundred percent sure someone else won't hurt anyone, but I do believe Bart wouldn't ever hurt you."

"Why?"

Silence. More silence, and then... some more silence. I hate how long Canary takes to answer my questions. "Has Conner talked to you about having a boyfriend or girlfriend?"

That's not an answer, that's another question. I think Canary just likes to make me angry. "He said I can love whoever I want to love, girlfriend or boyfriend."

She hums, no pen marks this time. "Do you know what a boyfriend or girlfriend is?" I shake my head no. I don't know what one is or the use of one. "A boyfriend or girlfriend is a lot like a friend. Do you know what a friend is?"

"A friend is someone you care about and trust and spend time with."

Another hum and another nod. "A boyfriend or girlfriend is kind of like that. A lot of the time, they start as friends or companions in your case, before a deeper relationship develops."

"I still don't see a difference."

"Well with a boyfriend or girlfriend, you tend to be more... physical. You do things like kiss among other things that you wouldn't do with a friend. Unlike a friend, you only have one and there's stuff you only do with them. Oh, and a boyfriend is a test run for a husband."

"What's a husband?"

"Let's save that discussion for after we get the boyfriend-girlfriend thing down."

"What's a girlfriend?" I ask finally, it's been three months since the first time I heard of it. The question has sat in my head ever since.

"Same as a boyfriend but it's a girl instead of a boy." Oh, that's simple. It makes me feel dumb for not figuring that out on my own. "Nightwing tells me you were having a panic attack when you came to find him."

"Panic attack?" I echo, confused about this and still confused about the whole boyfriend thing. I don't like feeling confused, it makes me angry and reminds me how little I know about the world because of Luther.

"Yes, it's when it's hard to breathe and you feel very scared, and it's hard to think straight because of your emotions. All you think about is your fear and what's causing it." Ya, I definitely had a panic attack earlier. "What happened right before you felt like that?"

I stay quiet, mentally going over the event. I know what happened. I remember all of this morning. I don't know why it makes me so scared. It shouldn't be scary for Bart to want my clothes off, right? Maybe it should be.

"Bart... he asked me to... he wanted to take a shower together," I stumble out, struggling on how to form my sentence.

"And that made you feel scared?"

I nod, propping my arms on my knees before burying my face into my hands. "Why would that make me feel scared? Why would it cause a panic attack?"

Like always, I have to wait for Canary to finish her writing and thoughts before she answers. From between my fingers, I watch as she leans forward, sitting in a similar pose to me. "I think that the idea of being without clothes around someone scares you because it reminds you of the things Luther has done to you. I also think that Bart believes he's your boyfriend. Have you two talked about that? Or kissed? Or anything else that you haven't done with another member of the team?"

The first half of Canary's speech makes sense. I understand that, I remember the fear I felt, the fear that before today, Luther was the only one to make me feel. The second half... not so much. Why would Bart think he's my boyfriend? We haven't kissed or anything else. We do things together, we spend time together, and we take naps.

"We haven't kissed and we haven't talked about him being my boyfriend. We hold hands but I do that with Conner as well. We take naps together too but again I do that with Conner."

"It's different with Conner. There's stuff you do and say with family that you wouldn't do with a friend." That doesn't make any sense either. My head hurts from all this thinking and I'm getting angry. I have more questions than answers. This isn't helping.

"People are confusing," I mumble, rubbing my face before sitting up straight.

Canary stays put, giving me another soft smile. I'm really starting to not like it when she smiles at me. "How about we stop for the day, ya? I'll come back and we can talk again tomorrow."

"What do I do about Bart?" I ask as she stands up and starts collecting her things.

It takes a second - like usual - for Canary to answer. "I think you should have a serious talk with him. See if he thinks he's your boyfriend. See if you want him to be your boyfriend. If you're happy with the talk, have another sleepover. If you're not, stay away from him today and we'll look into and talk about finding you another friend."

I don't want another friend. I want Bart. I want to keep him all to myself. For a long time, if not forever. Maybe I shouldn't want to keep him. Maybe that's me being possessive like Wolf gets about Conner and me. Conner always yells at Wolf about it so it has to be a bad thing, right? I need to find Bart and talk to him. Maybe he'll help my thoughts. Hopefully, he'll help my thoughts. As long as he doesn't make them worse.

————————————

My head is scattered when I walk back into my room. After my session with Canary, I went on a walk and then continued to walk, for two hours. Instead of helping, it just messed up my thoughts more. Canary didn't help, she just made me more confused.

Like earlier today, Conner calls for me as I walk through the living room. Once again, I ignore him. Conner tries to help with my thoughts but usually, he just confuses me or gets angry because he doesn't understand either.

A bit of relief runs through my veins when I swing my bedroom door open, but it's soon washed away. Laid out on my bed is my red-tinted companion, who instantly sits up when he hears the door open. "Y/N," he calls, jumping to his feet. "Are you okay? Nightwing said you had a panic attack. Did I cause it? What happened? Where have you been? Did I upset you? Did-"

"Please be quiet," I murmur, looking at my shoes as I try to push down my feelings. I'm upset that I made Bart worry, I'm upset that I can't control my fear, and I'm upset that Bart won't be quiet so I can answer his questions.

Surprisingly, Bart does silence. I can feel his eyes digging into me as I focus on my shoelaces. One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten... Maybe taking deep breaths and counting does help. "I am fine. I did have a panic attack, but it's fine. You did but didn't cause it. A lot has happened today. I was with Nightwing and then Canary and then I went on a walk. You did but didn't, once again."

"How did I both cause and not cause your panic attack? How did I cause and not cause you to be upset?" I glance at Bart, his face scrunched up and his eyes are pink. I decide to focus on the wall behind him instead. I don't like knowing I caused him to cry.

"You... I didn't... I don't like new and there was a lot of new this morning." My words stick in my throat a few times before I manage to get them out.

"I don't understand."

I sigh, glancing at his face again. His eyes are teary, making my heart feel like it's being squeezed. I don't want him upset, I want him happy, I'm supposed to make him happy. "I... liked you waking up in my bed. It feels... it makes me feel important."

"You are important. Very important to me, actually." Maybe my thoughts aren't always wrong. Why am I so important though? I don't do anything to be important. I definitely don't do anything to be important to Bart.

"The..." I stop for a second, running my fingers under my shirt. "That was fine. It was okay, but it made me a bit scared. Then you... kept touching me and... it makes me scared. Really, really scared." Bart steps forward a bit before stopping, causing himself to stand in an awkward half-leaning forward, half-staying put pose. "And... and then you asked to take a shower together and... all I could think about was you wanting to hurt me, about Luther hurting me."

Bart knows a lot about my time with Luther. He doesn't know the details like Canary and Conner do, but he knows about the tests, about the chocolate, about the hurting. He doesn't know about the on and off clothes, so I don't think it's fair that I'm upset with him. It's not fair for me to have a panic attack because of it. It's not fair that I make it seem like his fault.

"I didn't... I'm sorry," he mumbles, fixing himself so he finishes his step forward.

"It's not your fault. Luther hurt me, not you. It's not your fault. I just... I can't say no."

Bart takes slow steps forward, stopping right in front of me. His cheeks are wet. I made him cry. I don't want to make him cry. "I am sorry I kept touching you. I should have stopped when you told me you were worried. I know you... struggle with new things so I shouldn't have pushed anything new onto you this morning. I'm sorry."

His words feel nice. They make me feel calm. Silence envelopes us, it's not the usual gentle silence though, it's a heavy silence. "Do you think you're my boyfriend?"

Bart tilts his head some, his eyebrows pressing together in confusion. "Yes? Why are you asking? Do you not think I'm your boyfriend?"

Why would I think he's my boyfriend? I don't even know what a boyfriend is. Even with Canary's explanation, I'm still confused. "Canary told me that she thinks that you think you're my boyfriend. At the end of our session, she said to talk to you and see what you think and see if I want you to be my boyfriend. She also said if I'm happy with our talk to have another sleepover and if I'm unhappy to stop talking to you, which made me angry."

"I... have a lot of questions," Bart mumbles, confusion deeper on his face. "First, do you not know what a boyfriend is?"

"Not really. Canary said it was someone you are more physical with, and you kiss them, and you only have one, and something about a husband."

"Okay," he says, blinking his eyes a few times. "Um... a boyfriend is someone you love a lot. You do kiss them too and you do... other things that aren't important right now. It's someone you want to spend the rest of your life loving." Oh, that makes a lot more sense than what Canary said. "Why were you upset when Canary said to stop talking to me?"

Bart is dumb, and unlike Canary, he is actually dumb. "Because you're important. You're my companion. I want to keep you forever and I don't want anyone else to have you." Bart smiles at this but I'm not sure why. "But Conner yells at Wolf for being possessive so I don't think I'm supposed to feel like that."

Bart's smile gets bigger as he lets out an airy laugh. "Conner yells at Wolf because he growls when people get too close to you and when Conner spars. That's completely different from what you're feeling. You don't growl at people or threaten to hurt them if they talk or come near me." Oh... that makes a lot of sense.

"So, you're my boyfriend?"

"Do you want me to be your boyfriend?"

"Yes," I say, nodding in agreement to my statement.

"Do you actually want to spend the rest of your life with me or are you scared to say no?"

"I actually want to spend my life with you." It makes me sad even thinking about someone else getting to have Bart. He's supposed to be my companion.

Once again, Bart's smile grows as he looks at me. "Good, because I want to be your boyfriend."

"So, you're my boyfriend."

"So, I'm your boyfriend." The word sounds weird but nice.

"I still don't know what the difference between a boyfriend and a friend is though."

"We'll figure it out together, okay?" He says, slowly moving closer. "And we'll move slowly so you don't get scared again, and I'll start asking before I touch you, okay? Does that sound good?"

"Yes, it sounds very good. I'm sorry for upsetting you."

Bart goes to put his hands on my hips but freezes with them hovering over me. "Can I touch you?" I nod yes. "Do you actually want me to touch you or are you scared to tell me no right now?"

"I actually want you to touch me."

Once the words are out, Bart's hands are present on my hips, once again rubbing soft circles into me, over my clothes this time. "You don't need to be sorry. I scared you. I pushed too hard this morning. I should have talked to you instead of assuming you were okay with me touching you. I shouldn't have assumed I was your boyfriend. From now on we will talk about stuff more, okay? Maybe we can talk to Canary about doing couples therapy so we can work on making this work, ya?"

"Ya, I like that idea."

"I like that idea too." I have a boyfriend. Bart is my boyfriend. I get to keep Bart forever.

———————————————————————

#bart allen #impulse #bart allen oneshot #impulse oneshot #young justice #young justice oneshot #young justice x reader #bart allen x reader #impulse x reader

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just-an-enby-lemon · 1 year

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2004 Batman + Rogues Kids Universe

Joker: Look Batsy we have a Robin too!

Harley: We're a happy family, Batman!

Duela: Hiya!

Batman: Are you alright kiddo?

Duela: Sure. Yesterday I had no family. Now I have parents. *picks a malet* AND WE HAVE FUN! *hits Batman* HAHAHAHA

Batman: I hope this does not become a trend.

-/-

Batman: Penguin, let the hostage go! What's going on with you? Kidnnaping kids isn't really your style.

Penguin: I didn't kidnnaped no one. I was just thinking what is the point of restoring the Cooblepot name if I'm the last Cooblepot? We need to have someone behind, legacy and all. But them it hit me. Did ya know, Batman, that is not uncommon for Penguins to adopt lost chicks.

Batman: You didn't adopt. How could you with your criminal record? You kidnapped him, the boy must be terrifield.

Martin: *writing in his little notebook-necklace* I'm not scared.

Penguin: Wack wack see the lad isn't scared.

Martin: *writing in his notebook* I'm happy. : ) they said I woudn't be adoped but we showed them, right dad?

Penguin: Right on point, little bird.

Batman: I understand you want a family, kid, but someone can't just go to an orphanage and take you.

Martin: *writing* why not? it works

Batman: I'm sorry, kid. But I have to rescue you.

Oswald: You're not taking Martin alway Batman. I'm his dad! *opens his umbrella and flys alway with Martin hugging him*

Martin: *throws a notebook page on Batman's* it says "wack wack".

Batman: That doesn't mean is a trend. It may be a coincidence.

-/-

Riddler: Riddle me this, Batman-

Batman: Not you too.

Riddler: What?

Batman: *points to the kid dressed in question marks who is fighting Dick*

Riddler: What's the problem with Enigma?

Batman: How did you even got that kid? Street kid? Kidnapped from an orphanage because they solved one of your riddles? Their parents weren't good?

Riddler: I'm the one who does the questions here, Batman. But just so you know. None of the above.

Enigma: *they pretend to lose so Dick went to surprise attack Riddler and was surprise attacked, he is now tied to a broken heavy robot he destroyed sulking* I saw that the rogues were getting kids so when I saw Riddler grocery shopping I followed him home and kept asking him to adopt me until he said yes.

Riddler: They were very insistent.

Robin: Wow that's real Arkham behavior of you.

Enigma: Thanks.

Robin: You're welcome. You are really loony.

Batman: I shouldn't try but why?

Enigma: I like riddles and his hair is great.

Riddler: Thank you, your hair is also amazing, sweetie.

Batman: Is someone looking for you?

Enigma: Don't think so.

Batman: Sure. That's my life now.

-/-

Batman: Oh great. Another evil kid and this one is five.

Cluemaster: You see Batman, I couldn't avoid following the trend.

Batman: So you kidnapped a child?

Cluemaster: No. She is my biological kid.

Robin: YOU procreated? How?

Cluemaster: That's suppose to be Batman's job, but since you asked when a man and a woman like each other very much...

Batman: Stop. Let's just go with it.

Cluemaster: Okay. Steph go fight the Boy Wonder, will ya?

Robin: I'm not gonna punch a baby!

Spoiler: *at the same time* Don't wanna.

Cluemaster: Steph we went over it.

Spoiler: Nu-uh.

Cluemaster: Okay, let's start again. Steph tell Batman what you want to be when you grow up.

Spoiler: *smilling* I wanna be a hero like batgirl.

Cluemaster: NOOO.

Batman: *super happy this is actually not another evil kid* I'm sure Batgirl will be really happy that she inspired such a cool hero.

Spoiler: She will?

Batman: Uh-hu.

Cluemaster: Don't encorage her. We are EVIL, Steph. E-V-I-L! Because that's what smart people are and you are smart.

Spoiler: But smart people win and mean guys lose.

Cluemaster: You are grounded!

Spoiler: *cries* 'm not. Batman his stupid puzzle is red. Press the button and instead of going boom everyone goes yay.

Robin: *presses the red button* *the hostages are free* God one, kiddo.

Cluemaster: NOOO. *pulls Steph by the hair* I'm taking you to your room. You are grounded forever.

Batman: Hell no. Robin.

Robin: Yes, Batman?

Batman: Maybe the other rogues were right.

Robin: Gotcha. *they kidnap-adopt Steph*

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whelmed-birdie · 5 months

Text

Comic List + Thoughts

so basically i'm just gonna compile a list of all the comics i've read and write a little commentary about them - this is mostly for my own benefit because my memory is pitiful so i need physical evidence of what i've read.

Nightwing Vol. 1: Leaping into the Light (2021)

I enjoyed this! I think it was a good beginner point for the most part because i came here with an interest mostly in Nightwing. I liked the art, and while i was a bit confused bc i knew next to nothing about this universe, so therefore did not understand any of the references they made. i still enjoyed it, the writers keep new readers in mind, and don't necessarily regret reading it first.

Robin/Batgirl: Year One (2002)

this one was good too. I got a bit bored at times but it was a good introduction to batgirl/barbara and how she started and got to be involved with the bats. (basically them just following her around while Barbara's like 'leave me alone tf')

Batman: Dark Victory (1999-2000)

also pretty good, I was kinda bored until Dick came in (mostly because he's the character i've really become invested in so far) but i loved seeing the very beginning of his character. sidenote: i love alfred

Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet (1997)

this one was fun to read! I dont have a whole lot of commentary on it but it was more good backstory and seeing dick as robin.

Robin and Batman (2022)

I LOVED the artwork. watercolor is loml. but about the actual story: i also enjoyed it. Baby Dick is unhinged i love it. also it was the beginning of me not really liking batman??? i wasnt really expecting that... WFA led me astray :') and honestly that dislike just carries on the more i read so idk whats going on

Teen Titans: Year One (2008)

MY JAW DROPPED. bro when batman straight up hit Dick i was BAFFLED. like i know he was mind controlled and what not but bro why is batman such an ass to dick??? like even after the mind control is gone like hes still just so?? like shut up and let this 13 year old have fun with his friends wtf. anyways i dont like him, sorry, but if im just reading the ooc comics then lmk but so far im 👎🏼 on batman

Teen Titans (1966)

I only read issues #1 to get the intro, and then #14 because i heard it was dick centered. I wish i liked the older comics more than i do but i'm not mad i read them. I do enjoy the titans storyline and characters though so i will definitely read more to do with them

The New Teen Titans (1980)

I dabbled but i cant tell you which issues i read- again i think i need to get used to reading comics as a whole and come back to the older ones :')

Nightwing: Year One (1996)

so i've almost finished this one! Its #101-106 and i'm on #105 rn. again I DON'T LIKE BATMAN. like he's such a man-child. he literally 'fired' and yelled at this 13 year old kid for helping his friends save people instead of being with him like okay bitch. but anyways i like this! its more good backstory plus him going back to the circus was a nice touch. also the nightwing origin!!! dick going to superman for advice :') I like it.

okay thats all i got so far, I'm excited to keep reading. I have definitely spent too much time worrying about backstory and reading orders ( ik i don't have to bc continuity is relative but my brain just wont let me go out of order) but i've gotten a reading list that i'm pretty comfortable with. Also pretty soon ill be reading more with the batfam (specifically batkids) and im excited for that!! (the batkids are most of the reason im here tbh...especially now bc batman is...not my favorite)

okay thats all :)

i might add to this as i go i might not, we shall see.

#dc comics #comic reading #dc titans #dick grayson #nightwing #batboys #batfam #batkids #dc universe #richard grayson #batfamily

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zeroducks-2 · 8 months

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“Judging by how the sales of comicbooks dropped from post reboot onwards” does this refer to N52 or Rebirth or the former but keeps declining even with the latter? I’m curious bcs 👀 like, well, it should be obvious the reason why but ig it’s true that many execs/marketing team in that huge kind of company do not have the biggest brain 🤷🏽‍♂️

I don't actually have official sources on hand, sorry about that! I remember reading an interview with Dan DiDio saying that in the past 10 years or so "they lost an entire generation of readers", which leads me to assume there has been a consistent drop in comicbook sales after Flash Point Paradox -ish. Not sure if precisely with Rebirth of N52. Which doesn't surprise me given that they butchered entire decades of worldbuilding, character building and established dynamics for a half assed parody of what they had before.

To expand a little on that. When the reboot happened, despite being hella pissed, lots of fans (me included) thought it was a way to set in stone some key events of what we can call the "main comicbook continuity" because a lot of things concerning New Earth (which is the "main continuity" going from the early '80s to 2010ish) made absolutely no sense, temporally and logically and what have you. For example, when exactly Dick had worn the Batman mantle. Or, that bullshit with Joker being ambassador of Iran. Or the ages of the characters, when they started wearing their mantles etc. Nothing of this happened. Instead they got rid of a number of characters that they didn't really want in their stories anymore (like Cass and Steph who literally disappeared despite having had successful and beloved runs as Batgirls), and they cherrypicked what to keep as canon (Joker shot Barbara and rendered her paralyzed BUT she can walk thanks to an implant, so she's Batgirl now and also she looks and acts as if she was 20 despite she should be in her late 30s. It's unclear if everything she did as Oracle and with the Birds of Prey happened or not).

As you can imagine, that didn't sit well with a lot of pre-existing fans, but also made it extremely confusing for new fans. Things make even less sense than before and it's even more intimidating to approach the comics since to understand a shred of what's happening you should read 30+ volumes of the New Earth continuity AND ALSO everything that happened post reboot and probably you still would have zero idea tf is going on. I don't most of the time to be honest.

This is also why people tend to be weirdly attached to stuff that happened in one single comic even if it was never brought up again, imo. For example Dick, Cass, Jason and Tim having been legally adopted by Bruce. I don't believe there is one single mention of that in any comic except the one comic where it happens - kinda like the writer who wrote it wanted it to be like this, but then the one who came after them pretended it never happened, and nobody brought it up again. So is that canon? It surely was at some point but how about now, is Dick "legally a Wayne"? As far as I know the answer is no, but again, nothing makes sense so people keep on cherrypicking what they like about canon.

Sorry I went on a tangent but yeah they made a mess. Toss in the mix the fact that many of the writers that handled these characters post reboot really hated them (and to this day I cannot understand for the love of me WHY they gave them to writers that hated them. Just see what happened with the whole disgrace that was the Ric Grayson situation), and you have barely readable storylines that contradict previous canon, make no sense and are boring and uninspired as fuck, trying to bank on cheap tricks like "let's pretend these people love each other and are a big happy family because that's what the public wants to read, right?? The Batfamily sells!". That's the extent of their effort to make a story good.

#I'm pretty sure that interview with DiDio is quite easy to find but somehow I'm not managing #but I might be totally wrong about this so take the whole 'sales dropped' with a pinch of salt unless you actually see a source #my asks #DC comics

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zahri-melitor · 4 months

Text

All the discussion of the guts of the video

This has been floating around my head for months now, particularly a few of the sequences. I had the shape of the pacing of the verses, particularly the Barbara introduction very early on, as well as knowing what issues I was going to rely heavily on for material.

I really wanted to use Something Just Like This as it's both an excellent song to set a ship to, but it also of course allowed a bunch of massive ironic moments for various lyrics.

I wanted it to be set in a pre-Flashpoint universe, so that Barbara was still Oracle. Which made finding enough DickBabs panels for the opening verse somewhat of a challenge, as I was only allowing myself pre-1988 material, legitimate flashbacks, and dream sequences. Batgirl Year One, you will always be famous (and have a very useful kiss). But I succeeded and I didn't even give in to the impulse when I was one panel short to use a Barbara and Jason panel from Gotham Knights #43, even though I was really really tempted. Instead I went through Batman Family from the 1970s and found something I could shoehorn in that sounded shippy.

I did use Lil Gotham, even though it's technically a n52 comic AND an alternate universe. But it has a bunch of very cute DickBabs moments with her wheelchair in them, putting it firmly into the storyline I was trying to convey. That's why all of the Lil Gotham scenes (apart from the one flashback) went into the post-proposal section.

We'll just say in terms of the story told in the video, Dick and Babs actually got back together following the proposal instead of what actually happened, and then they had many cute moments together as a couple.

Stuff I really want to point you at and go 'did you see did you see' because I had too much fun with it:-

'Achilles and his gold' - Bruce is of course Achilles here, and his Achilles heel has always been Dick, the boy wearing a gold cape.

'Spider-Man's control and Batman with his fists' - this was another really really early scene I knew. I wanted the World's Finest circus scene with Dick on the trapeze and Bruce catching him. To have Batman's 'fists' in this scene not be punching, but be catching, with all of the imagery that surrounds Dick and his issues about catching people? Yeeeeessss.

'And clearly I don't see myself upon that list. But she said, where'd you wanna go?' - this came together when I was picking panels. I wanted a lovely ironic moment for Dick about how he doesn't see himself as Batman, so the costume transition panel looked SO GOOD for that. And then...I remembered Dick and Babs' first meeting in Robin Year One actually contains the line 'Dad! Are you ready to go yet?!'. And the panels line up so it looks like Dick is sprinting away from Bruce to Barbara, particularly given where the blank white space is.

And then we launch into Batgirl Year One, the main anchor of good DickBabs content prior to both of their costume changes. It's very important to me that I put the giggling panel AFTER the kiss as 'I want something just like this' - what they want is not just the romance but the comfort and trust around each other.

Despite using Batgirl Year One, I still wanted librarian!Barbara with her multiple degrees, so we got two panels of that.

I am SO PROUD to have got oath scenes for both Dick and Babs into this, and I find it amusing I put them on different lines for each of Dick and Barbara. Dick got "the legends and the myths" because his candle oath is such an important part of the mythology of Batman. But Barbara's is on "the testaments they told", because for her the important part of the legends and the myths was choosing to wear an urban legend's costume to the party, while swearing fit best with the testaments.

'The moon and its eclipse' - this was the anchor the entire video revolved around. I had to acknowledge TKJ to get to Oracle, and that line was absolutely perfect. I also went through a BUNCH of panels to decide which one I wanted for the scene, but ultimately picked Gail Simone's n52 retelling, because that one doesn't include imagery of Barbara being shot; it just has the threat.

'And Superman unrolls a suit before he lifts' - this gave me SO MUCH ANGST let me tell you. I actually wanted to use the scenes of Clark flying Barbara for medical treatment in BOP #71 and #85, because I've always loved that moment - Dinah calls Clark in and Clark officially doesn't even know who Babs is at that point, but she's got deadly Brainiac Virus so they're going to do everything they can. And it worked for storytelling as it would be 'Superman transports Barbara Gordon after being shot'. But the associated panels were far less clear than in my memory. So instead I gave 'Superman' to Jim Gordon, and then launched into Oracle Year One and Bruce being a creeper (as opposed to the time he's a creeper during Brainiac. He likes sneaking through the window to stare at Barbara when she's ill).

'But I'm not the kind of person that it fits' this was just perfect for Barbara, because from here on out she doesn't wear a costume. She's Oracle. But teaming it with Oracle Year One and the fact that Babs still learnt new self defense afterwards makes the point that she hasn't stopped fighting.

And then we launch into the extremely Oracle Green scenes, showing off her competency. Including the fun of the 'cover the eyes' moment after an eyes focused panel. I was really happy to find something that worked for Barbara as Oracle and also for 'some fairytale bliss', because a LOT of backlit green computer scenes have grumpy or annoyed Barbara.

'Somebody I can miss' had to be the reunion during Cataclysm. Dick fought his way into Gotham to check on Barbara. They'd both been working so hard not to worry about the other as they did their jobs. And, of course, it made the perfect platform to launch into the most sick!fic of all DickBabs issues - the pair during NML after he gets out of Blackgate.

Which then leads into Joker Last Laugh and the NICE bit of their celebratory roadtrip right before Barbara gets the call from Dinah that that plot started. I adore I managed to line it up so the view on the drive appears just as the music calms, relaxing you. So we can have a lovely dinner followed by the 'Dick and Babs totally had sex' sleepover issues.

Third verse actually was ALWAYS going to be Our Worlds at War, because I think the Nightwing issue of it is underrated in terms of how blatantly shippy it is. Also the narrative of the issue actually fits the verse lyrics pretty well. It's one of Barbara's more badass workout gear looks that she tends to have during the issues when she's got to do things in person.

And of course I wanted to end the third verse with the proposal. Because proposal! I didn't want it too early, because I wanted everything after it to look like DickBabs in a stable, loving, long term relationship. Which is why we get the two shippy flying scenes (with catching! gotta have Dick catching imagery, combined with Barbara letting go of control), then I use 'Happy Birthday' to draw them over to Lil Gotham and Dick about to hand Barbara a present.

Having Lil Gotham here was really fun actually, as it's a continuity that has both Oracle AND DickBabs as a stable background fact, and just a bunch of cute moments between the two.

Then finally... a massive compilation storyline where I pull scenes from all over. After running reasonably canonically through a bunch of earlier storylines, putting together one that's just about the comfort Babs finds in having Dick around was really fun for me (also my Barbara stan nature confirmed)

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geekthefreakout · 6 months

Note

This is just some food for thought, but did you ever notice that JaySteph as a ship is more acceptable than JayBabs as a ship? There are people who dislike both but I’ve noticed that JaySteph doesn’t get as much hate but instead people say that it would make sense because they are alike. And I wonder if that is really true beside the basic points.

People are of course free to ship what they want and this isn’t meant as hate, but just some things I’ve thought about.

I wonder if it’s because Barbara isn’t as feminine as Stephanie and Steph has characteristics that more acceptable. Like Barbara can be intelligent but she’s also stubborn, manipulative, practical, and can be completely ruthless like someone else we know. People talk about Steph and Jason’s daddy issues but really Jason loved his father and his father turned to crime to get his family out of their situation while his mother turned to drugs to cope. Of course that changed with time, but Barbara also had a father (pre-crisis) that was an alcoholic who she loved but used alcohol as his way to cope.

After Barbara was paralyzed she had a stint where she was being mentored by Amanda Waller and was with the Suicide Squad even having Waller wanting her as her successor. That’s all like hardcore stuff and as we know Jason as Red Hood is no daisy. But besides all that stuff because really nobody really needs evidence why they ship something, but I’m just wondering why one gets more hate than the other and it’s not just that that Barbara has been with Dick because Stephanie has also been with Tim. Makes me think that Barbara doesn’t really fit that femininity bill.

Also why is it that Jason is the only book lover, because Barbara was a librarian and she has been shown to love reading just as often as Jason was shown reading.

This was just stuff I’ve been thinking about. Sorry. I love all your responses btw and I hope this ask isn’t bothersome.

No bother at all!

I admit that I haven't seen much Steph/Jason stuff and have never really thought about it. Mostly I think that they would be great friends if they hung out together more often, but I don't personally see anything there that sparks romance for me.

Also I'm not sure about Babs not being "feminine enough" has anything to do with it- though of course, Steph is more unapologetically "girly" a lot of the time. I think it may be more about Babs being older- she's meant to be older than Dick. But since when is DC consistent about stuff like that?

Since it hasn't been pushed by DC to my knowledge, that may be a big part of why there isn't so much backlash to it. I think people might also relate to Steph more, especially pre-Flashpoint Steph. Her Batgirl run had so much heart and is easily one of my favorite books overall. She's much more of an Everyman character than Babs is.

I also think that because Babs has been so mistreated by editorial in the past (TKJ, then erasing Oracle, then Burnside...), people are especially protective of how she is handled.

My brain is kind of friend right now, but that's what I've got. Thank you Nonny!

#anon ask #batfam #batfam discourse #barbara gordon #jason todd #stephanie brown #shipping discourse

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nyhti · 6 months

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Hello! If you don't mind it, do you have any favorite Pre-Crisis comics or issues you would consider required reading for that era? Thank you!

Ok ok ok. Lissen. I tried. I really did. The thing is that pre-crisis is a looooooooong era. It wasn't easy going through 47 years of bathistory and try and pick notable moments, especially because what counts as notable is very subjective. Also I just simply wouldn't consider myself a bathistorian. I mean, I only really care about the rogues, you know me. But! I tried! Here are some moments, that I think are noteworthy, or otherwise interesting. I wrote down why I think each issue is interesting, so you can decide for yourself if you think it's worth reading or not. I know I put things in here that other people might find filler stories and also left out things that some might consider really important (for example, you will find no Justice League here, as I just never cared about them.) It's my list, so it will have my biases. I hope I got all issue numbers and years correct. I was going to go through them one more time to check but........... I don't want to. Also, some of these I read literally years ago, so my memory of them might be hazy. Anyway, I hope you find at least a couple issues on this list you like :33 Golden Age (1938-1956) Detective Comics #27 (1939) ”The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” First Batman story Detective Comics #38 (1940) ”Robin the Boy Wonder” Dick's First appearance Batman #1 (1940) The first two Joker stories, the first Catwoman story and the second Hugo story. Really not a single skippable story in this one Batman #16 (1943) ”Here comes Alfred” Alfred's first appearance Detective Comics #83 (1944) ”Accidentally on Purpose” Alfred gets a makeover and starts looking like the Alfred we know and love today Batman #35 (1946) ”Dinosaur Island” Where the dinosaur in the Batcave came from World's Finest Comics #30 (1947) ”The Penny Plunderers” Where the giant penny is from Detective Comics #168 (1951) "The Man Behind the Red Hood" Joker's first origin story Superman #76 (1952) ”The Mightiest Team in the World” First Batman/Superman team up. They learn each other's identities. It's so fanfic-y. They actually have to share a room on a cruise, because there are too many people aboard. Only thing missing is if there was only one bed. Detective Comics #233 (1956) ”The Bat-Woman” First appearance of the original Batwoman Kathy Kane Silver Age (1956-1970)

World's Finest Comics #88 (1957) ”Superman and Batman's Greatest Foes!” First Joker/Lex Luthor team-up The Flash #123 (1961) ”Flash of two Earths” Not a Batman story, but quintessential to the lore as this is the introduction of the multiple earths Batman #164 (1964) ”Two-Way Gem Caper” Debut of the ”new look”. They refreshed the artstyle here. There are also other changes like the elevator to the batcave and a new batmobile among other things. This also starts my favorite era in bathistory, 1964 to 1970. Sooo many interesting things happened here. Detective Comics #327 (1964) ”The Mystery of the Menacing Masks” New look debut in Detective Comics Detective Comics #328 (1964) ”Gotham Gang Line-up” Alfred dies and we get aunt Harriet instead This story continues in: Detective Comics: #334, 336, 340 and 349 but if you want, you could just skip to: Detective Comics #356 (1966) ”The Inside Story of the Outsider” Alfred returns. Detective Comics #359 (1967) ”The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl” Barbara's first appearance Detective Comics #387 (1969) ”The Cry of Night is – ”Sudden Death”” A modern re-telling of the first Batman story. Well, modern by 60s standards, but that's what I love about it so. Detective Comics #389 (1969) "Batman's evil eye" Here the writers are really longing back for the days of old when Batman was spooky and goffik. Also!! It's a Scarecrow story woooooooooo!!! My favorite Scarecrow story, in fact! Really the only villain you could've had in a story like this. Batman #217 (1969) ”One Bullet Too Many!” Dick leaves for Hudson university and Bruce and Alfred move to a penthouse in the city. Bronze Age (1970-1986) Batman #251 (1973) ”The Joker's Five-Way Revenge!” This is the issue where Joker starts murdering again Detective Comics #457 (1976) "There is No Hope in Crime Alley" Re-telling of Batman's origins. The first appearance of Leslie Thompkins my beloved. Just an all around good fucking story. Detective Comics #469-476 (1977-1978) Steve Englehart's run. Really a must read Batman #348 (1982) ”Shadow Play” Bruce, Dick and Alfred return to Wayne Manor. Also a Man-Bat story! Yippieeeeeee! Batman #357 (1983) ”Squid” Jason's first appearance (for one panel only, though) Detective Comics #525 (1983) ”Confrontation” First time Jason actually speaks Detective comics #526 (1983) ”All My Enemies Against Me!” Jason's parents die and he plays hero for the first time. Last issue of Gerry Conway's banger run. Also first time Jervis uses mind control (and it's on Jonathan!) Batman #365, Detective Comics #532, Batman #366 (1983) Jason dyes his hair and makes first apperance as Robin, but Bruce doesn't approve. A Joker story. Batman #368 (1984) ”A Revenge of Rainbows” Dick gives Jason his blessing and Jason finally becomes Robin officially. Detective Comics #566, Batman #400 (1986) Last issues of pre-crisis. Rip.

#sorry it took so long DDx

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aingeal98 · 1 year

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Long rant post but stepping outside my fandom bubble and seeing people call stephcass sisters is always so jarring like I could be wrong but I feel like most of the people saying that haven't actually read the comics they star in and just consume fanon content where the "batfamily" is a monolith. That or they're just throwing the generic homophobic dismissal at them.

(Disclaimer that this is not me saying everyone should ship stephcass and that they hate the characters if they don't. I know a lot of cool Steph and Cass fans who don't care for the romance between them, and that's fine. People are allowed have different opinions and readings on characters and this is not a personal attack on any individual, just a late night ramble on an annoying fandom trend I've noticed.)

No one should be forced to like a ship and I understand complaints that recently they're treated as a bland duo with one personality trait each instead of the complex characters they used to be, but at the same time... Based on canon storylines so far for the past 20 years or so I genuinely can't think of a better love interest for Cass. I can't think of anyone who moved her development along more as a character outside of her actual family. And for Steph, I understand if people like Timsteph, but the feeling I got reading Batgirl-2000 compared to Tim focused stories is that the writers and the narrative respected Steph more. Even after she died. Also its like. Ridiculously easy to read most of their storylines as romantically coded. (batgirl 2000 mostly accidentally, future state deliberately like they were literally canon in that au, batgirls deliberately while also insisting that they're just besties) And even if you don't want to see it that way, saying they're sisters when a) they're not. Like canonically, they are in no way related they're just best friends who hallucinate each other and die in each others arms. And b) Cass explicitly defined Stephanie as a relationship outside of her familial bonds to Bruce, Babs, Tim, etc is just... Idk I've been in too many fandoms that hated f/f ships it gives me the ick.

Harper comes second imo in terms of best Cass romances based on what we've actually seen in comics, and recently yeah stephcass is being marketed as a duo to try and justify the lack of care towards them individually. But it just frustrates me that a decent amount of the dismissal towards them as 'batcest' or 'sisters' comes from the same place as the general dc fan attitude towards them. Which is that it's not worth it to actually get to know these characters and their stories outside of their assigned place in the batfamily fanon. It's why so many fans like to lump Steph in as another one of Bruce's kids and ignore her actual family and the complex and fraught history she has with both them and Batman. (DC does this too sometimes, but imo fanon did it first back during the Dickbats era.)

Obviously a lot of it is general stigma towards female characters and especially female friends who always get hit with the "let gals be pals" trope, but idk. I guess I'm just tired of seeing people talk about stephcass when they don't even care about them as more than side characters. If you're going to say you hate the ship because they're better off as besties at least give me some actual interesting thoughts on their dynamic beyond "Cute sisters who never fight or cause drama! We love women supporting women platonically 💜💜"

#Sorry for all the stephcass focus recently in my defense batgirls is a thing that exists #And also comic twitter is full of homophobes who barely hide their disdain towards any potential gay batfam member or ships they're in #stephcass #dc rambles #fandom ranting #Anyway fun fact I am a multishipper who loves any cass ship #as long as its not with men because I genuinely can't see her as anything but a lesbian #shout out to the accidental allies who wrote batgirl 2000 and created the best autistic lesbian ever

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teleportationmagic · 1 year

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Continuation of this post about reverse Batgirl ft. Babara.

Cassandra's the first one to run into Babs.

It's been a few years - they've gone through a few more Robins. Bruce picked Jason up off the street, Tim dropped Robin for a second, Jason took it up. Jason died. Tim picked it back up again. There was a memorial to a dead boy in the Batcave, before he came back. Hoodie was on the streets again, no matter how much Bruce resents it.

The way she runs into her is... unorganized. She's launched by a creature straight into the side of a townhouse and flips so that her legs frame the redheaded teenager instead of making contact, before launching herself back into the fight and wrestling the thing to the ground. She leaves it tied up, and intends to make a quick visual check before moving on to the other three creatures that are rampaging through Gotham (Joker did a Thing) (Don't ask) when Barbara sticks out her neck and tells her to stop. Asks if she has a plan - asks if she knows where they are.

That is a negative. The situation is quickly evolving, and its all hands on deck. Barbara offers to help - she'll moniter Twitter and TikTok, see if she can give Cassandra any information that'll be useful. She even has access to the police networks - she can really help her out!

Bruce, through Cassandra's ear, is very much against this. But Barbara will stay in her home (which, while uninsulated (anymore), is not actually unsafe) (well, any more unsafe than the rest of Gotham) so she gives her a comm (That's not why I gave you extras, Batgirl!) (You said if I lose them. Lost one.) and heads out to fight giants. Barbara guides her through the city, taking her from stop to stop - she doesn't just keep social media open, but instead she surfs through city plans and sewer routes. Cassandra follows her directions - sweeping up and down Gotham. Barbara knows, by the end of it, that her contributions helped. Significantly.

She asks if she can stay on full time. Not as a vigilante, no, but just as a helper, someone to collate all the information they needed, to point Batgirl in the right direction.

Cass is hesitant. Bruce is hesitant. Steph wants to meet her first, but is also hesitant.

It doesn't help that, during their next mission, it turns out that Barbara had patched herself into their comms network through the one they gave her. She's picked up a codename in the meantime - Oracle.

It's Duke who ultimately argues her in. It's clear she won't stop - hell, which one of them actually stopped when they were told? And while Steph has complicated feelings about this, but she can't quite argue that he's wrong. (Jason also has complicated feelings about this! But he outwardly, he comes down hard on Let Her In, Actually) (Tim and Damian are on side I-haven't-met-her-yet)

Moreover, he continues, she's not actually in danger physically. In terms of new vigilantes, she's relatively safe, all things considered.

So Oracle is pulled into the fold. A lot of her work in the beginning is done out of her laptop, but as time passes (and she gets better and better at what she's doing) it evolves into more complicated stuff - actual hacking and archival stuff.

Cassandra, on the other hand, is growing up. She's been Batgirl for eight years, now. Damian and Duke change their suits, but Cassandra just adjusts hers for height. And now she is a mentor, to a girl older than when she picked this suit up.

"Maybe." Steph reflects. "Your just getting old. In general. Midlife crisis time."

"Older." She replies, tapping her on the shoulder. "Anciiiiiiient."

"Rude, so rude."

Batgirl was important to her, undoubtedly so. But it belonged to Gotham, and to Bludhaven. Cassandra had stayed there for so long, had based herself in those cities. She remembers, being younger. In the year between Cain and Bruce, travelling the world, and helping, where she could. And she helped here, she really did, but. But.

Barbara stays as Cass's main support, but eventually she starts helping out with the Robin contingent. It's Cass who teaches her the fundamentals of self defence - defence being the operative word there. She builds up her skillset so she can run away, instead of the more offensively focused approaches of everyone else. And while Barbara works with Jason, Tim, Damian and Duke, even, occasionally, she's always most used to working with Cass.

(Steph is taking this well! Steph is taking this like an adult, who knows her position in whatever this is is secure! She is not jealous of the proficiency of a teenager! Shut up Damian!)

But the thing is not everyone is Cass. And Barbara makes a bad call - sends Hoodie into a situation he wasn't ready for, and while he made it out alive it was by the skin of his teeth, with a week's worth of rest in the Batcave.

Cass tries to explain to her that it's not the end of the world. That everyone's alright, that people lived. It's a visceral experience, for her - arguing down to a girl who believes unshakingly that this is her fault. That nothing can change that, redeem that. It's Steph, in the end, who can wheel herself into Commissioner Gordon's home and share that same experience - of not knowing. Of miscalculating. Of doing better, next time.

It's to the both of them that Barbara argues that she should be able to do fieldwork. Not forever - she doesn't want forever. But. If she has experience, if she knows what it's like for the rest of them on the ground, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Maybe she can keep herself from making this mistake again.

Cassandra points out that she'd onboarded under certain conditions. Barbara pointed out how much the rest of them risk their lives anyways, how they'd started much younger then she was. Stephanie taps the metal of her chair once. Twice.

She tells her how she lost her legs. That could happen to her too. Think on it.

They give her three days. In the meanwhile, Cassandra thinks as well. About Batgirl. About America. About the League base she'd found when she went to fight her mother, about the dead men left there.

People needed help. Gotham and Bludhaven, they had people and she'd learned the investigative skills she needed to help, on her own. And Barbara needs the legitimacy, the confidence. A mark of her confidence.

She discusses it with Stephanie. Stephanie brings up that Barbara might choose to do the sensible thing, actually, and Cass replies with a single upturned eyebrow.

She doesn't. And Batgirl is passed down again. Cass puts together another costume.

She won't leave. Not just yet, but she knows she will. When she brings it up to Bruce he maps out his own route, when he was new to this, working through Asia and Europe and Africa, picking up mentors and teachers who gave him the skills he needed. Maybe she'll learn something too. Something irreplaceable.

In the meanwhile, it becomes clear pretty soon that Babara's absence from the comms presents its own problems. Stephanie cracks her fingers, and decides to take the task up. Learning is a slow process - she predates the internet just enough for it to be slower, unweildy - but they trade. Old combat experience for tech experience, mixed in with social engineering. Barbara spent years cracking passwords through finding vulnerabilities in the code, whereas Stephanie shows her how to make the right phone call.

(Something else that is becoming clear is that Batman is getting older. He's not been a young man, by the time Cassandra had joined him, and he was getting no younger. There was time for a successor.)

(They just hadn't meant for it to be this soon - )

Bruce dies. Tim goes looking for him, leaving Robin behind, Jason following close. Duke, Damian, and Cassandra gather in the Batcave to decide upon a legacy. (Steph wants to tell them to roll dice for it.) It's not about pride, except in the ways it is - Duke as the most of experienced of them, Damian having known Batman alone and Cass as the one who'd worked under him the longest. There are objective metrics they could use for this, but it's not an objective contest.

"Trade it." Steph suggests, after a half hour of deliberation. "We still need Nightwing and Signal, and whatever Cass wants to take up now. Set up a rotating schedule, until you figure out the best fit."

"It'll be noticeable." Damian hisses, but it's a contemplative hiss.

"He did this alone, didn't he?" Cassandra points at each one of them and he inclines his head. "Yeah, but still. He thought that Batman had to be alone, that it was his to bear."

"It can be ours." Cass says, the simplicity feeling like a bell. Her eyes dart from brother to brother, something like certainty settling in the room. "All of ours."

There is also the matter of the child leaping through Gotham city, trying to avenge his parents. The ache of it brings Damian to his knees. The fifth Robin flies next to Batman, Batgirl on their side.

Robin and Batgirl start the beginning of something, slow and fumbling. That's a first, Stephanie remarks, and there's agreement across the board there.

Dick is Damian's robin, and Duke's, and Cass's. Barbara is Cass's Batgirl, and Steph's and Dick's. Tim and Jason send messages, from time to time - progress reports and stories. Damian has half a conniption when he hears that they're going up against the league.

Barbara partners with a bunch of other Gotham vigilantes - the Birds of Prey. Steph organizes them from her position in the Batcave, running comms and tracking movements. Barbara is by far the youngest of them, but her presence is appreciated, nevertheless. Dinah toys with taking her on as an apprentice.

Bruce comes back. Jason and Tim piece it together, and the pull on him, stumbling back into the present. Batman takes to the skies again - going from three keepers to two.

Then to one. Saying goodbye to Gotham hurts, when Cass leaves - but she leaves with a promise to come back, a kiss on the cheek for Stephanie, a hug for Bruce and Duke.

Barbara gives her a comm as she leaves. Takes a promise that she would keep it, no matter what. And that's a promise Cassandra keeps - voices of Batgirls old and new echoing through it.

#barbara gordon #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #damian wayne #duke thomas #jason todd #reverse robins #batfamily #sorry I am chronically unable to be concise #something that's in the background here is that Jason is still very much adopted by Bruce #but he still occupies Steph's position of having his abilities doubted by Bruce #which is. awkward. Because Bruce loves him wholeheartedly and supports him unconditionally while Batman would like him to Stop. Please #Also original plans had Cass becoming Black Bat but like.#Steph goes BG:R:S and Babs goes O:BG so I wanted #to figure out someway #of keeping Cass's trajectory inverted #even when she starts with Batgirl #and Batman seems. A pretty good answer.#I do want to write something short about Barbara's mentor ship under Cass and Steph #What are the things they teach her?#What are the things she teaches them?#I especially want to see what a reverse Babs:Cass relationship would look like #telespeak

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