#and now we have a Batwoman that is more like able
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Would the Bat-Clan/Family really be better off without Bruce?
You know. I often hear the critism that Batman raises child soliders or whatever and I happily.... Agree, I mean it's obviously what they are. Kid vigilantes are something that should have become extinct in comics since the 70s but DC kept them. I don't really care cause I love them so much and I don't like to push realism into comics in a world where aliens exist and vigilantes actually work as a method to bring Peace.
What I'm hear to argue about was that Bruce was probably a GOOD(kinda?) thing for them honestly. So let's imagine a world where Batman faced with the opportunity to take in any of these kids as Vigilantes and give them training and tech/supplies refuses or just ignores them or just never even meets them.
You have
Dick - who tried to hunt down Tony Zucco by himself
Barbara - had gone out as Batgirl on her own
Jason - lived on the streets in Gotham, we meet him trying to steal Batman's tires.
Tim - followed Batman and Robin around with a camera for years before being Robin
Damian and Cassandra - both trained assassins since birth
Stephanie - was already already a vigilante before Batman took her in and is the daughter of Cluemaster
Duke - was a member of the Robins gang that tried to keep the piece during Batman's absence.
Leaving out Batwoman and Huntress because I have yet to read through thier stuff(forgive me). Will get there eventually though
Right of the Bat(Pun intended)
Dick is likely dead, let's be real. No 10 to 13 year old is taking down a small gang of criminals without training outside acrobatics. In some versions even his father who had the same exact training plus actual muscle couldn't take them down.
Jason is a 50/50 there is a big chance that he becomes either another criminal in the endless see of early Gotham or a vigilante protecting crime alley and die eventually either way. Sadly there's a bug chance he becomes one of those faceless mooks Bruce punches every now and then. You could argue this is a better fate than his time as Robin and Red Hood but I disagree
Tim probably has the best ending here. He could literally just stop following Batman and have a completely normal life. That or he dies eventually following Batman around.
Barbara has police self defense training and is insanely smart. I actually genuinely think there is a solid chance she survives her time as a vigilante if she plays it safe and picks her battles. Heck if she survives long enough she could even hook up with Huntress or something.
Damian if Bruce rejected him and with no Dick in this world. Not only doesn't become a Robin but either goed back with his mother to satu with the league or becomes a sorta frank Castle style vigilante trying to prove himself to his father.
Cassandra is interesting. Not exactly sure but I think she has a chance to be picked up by some other hero out there that or she straight up gets found by her dad or mom. But if this was a connected world kind thing she probably gets picked up by Huntress and Barbara maybe?
Stephanie imo doesn't last particularly long without sufficient training. Good chance of her dying in a similar way to war games actually (god I hate that story). Again if you see this as a whole world, she probably gets picked up by Huntress and Barbara too.
Duke unless he gets his metahuman ability is pretty surely gonna die eventually. I know the least about him so not much to say here.
I'm incredibly open to arguments against my opinions tho. But I genuinely think Bruce did more good than bad here. Especially with Dick. Who while being dead would never be able to reform Damian or help Bruce chill out during those early years. To talk about how his death would affect stuff like the titans and the wider DC universe.
Damn maybe the guys who say he's the heart of the DC universe have a point.
#batman#dc#dick grayson#jason todd#tim drake#babara gordon#duke thomas#stephanie brown#damian wayne#cassandra cain#nightwing#red hood#batgirl#black bat#orphan#the signal#red robin
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With Wayne Family Adventures returning, I would like to overanalyze one panel from one of the preview images, as I have not been able to stop thinking about it...
[ID: Picture of Stephanie Brown and Tim Drake sat in a kitchen area. Tim sits in a chair while Steph sits on the table, giving him a pat on the head and smiling. In the bottom-left corner of the screen, bunches of lavender are visible. End ID.]
So, this panel is a nice moment between Stephanie Brown and her ex-boyfriend Tim Drake, with Steph giving Tim a supportive pat on the head. This may indicate that we will see them discussing their relationship history in some form this season - like the many, many, many other cases of “Thing that comic fans wanted to see acknowledged in canon is done better in the webcomic” before it. But that’s not what I find interesting.
What I find interesting is the flowers in the leftmost corner of the panel.
Drawn in a surprising amount of detail, we see a bundle of lavender. Now, this isn’t wholly interesting in of itself - Stephanie Brown does love purple, after all - but I find the choice of lavender specifically to be really neat and potentially meaningful given the history of Steph and Tim specifically and the mantles of Robin and Batgirl more broadly.
Lavender is a flower that has often had queer meaning assigned to it, dating all the way back to the early 1900s. The flower and references to it have often be used as code for queer community in a similar way to how rainbow flags are used as symbols of queer community.
[Content Warning: The next paragraph will include discussions of homophobia and systemic oppression of queer people more broadly.]
This unfortunately includes the Lavender Scare, the 1950s anti-gay crusade that ran parallel to the Red Scare. That period, horrific in its oppression of queer people in many different ways, also had a surprisingly major influence on the history of comic books in general and Batman in particular. The publication of Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 argued that comic books were having a negative influence on the youth of the day, including claiming that Batman and Robin were gay lovers and that readers would be “corrupted” by their relationship. In response to this book and the massive amount of scrutiny it put them under, comic book publishers founded the Comics Code Authority to regulate their content and DC created the characters of Batwoman and Batgirl as love interests for Batman and Robin in order to “prove” their heterosexuality.
With this in mind, I find the choice of lavender in the frame of this image really interesting. While Stephanie Brown and Tim Drake are not the Batgirl and Robin of the Lavender Scare, they are still a broken-up Batgirl/Robin pairing. Tim Drake is now an explicitly queer man, in a relationship with Bernard. Stephanie Brown has not been made explicitly queer, though the coding is certainly there in several of her appearances (mostly famously in her reaction to Zatanna in Rebirth Young Justice and her relationship with Cass in Future State). With this in mind, the flowers feel like a kind of cheeky nod to the past and how we are now able to move forward - in new, queerer, more lavender directions.
Or, y’know... Maybe Stephanie Brown just really likes purple and I’m thinking about this too hard... Who knows!
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Reader Beware....
another Flamebird in Gotham au, notes app substitution on this site!
this time I'll be listing my personal goals for the au and the developing fanfiction. (ignore if you don't want spoilers! /or you just couldn't care less about my DC/Batman thoughts)
create a fic/maybe a series that develops Bette Kane and introduces her to an audience that does not know her
Bette is highly underrated and unused. The potential in her parallel to Dick Grayson and her history with both Kate Kanes is a lot. Now that I've gotten into this fic and my hcs, I will now forever resent Grayson (2014) bc I can see so much there if you just swap Dick for Bette as the insider-spy. (Kathy Kane characterization in that comic notwithstanding).
characterize and humanize Talia al Ghul
I very much prefer a Talia that is complicated and tragic. She deserves her own development arc and she deserves a characterization that won't paint her as a strictly abusive mother. There's so much there, she's an old character and a great one! (Morrison I am closing my hands around your bald head). Yes, she's not a perfect mother. Who is? I prefer a Talia who maybe wasn't there for Damian all of the time, but she tries, goddamnit. Talia has her own heavy trauma and baggage that should be taken into account with the way she raises Damian. She should have way more in common with her son, especially when it comes their relationships with Ras.
actually write Damian Wayne in a published fanfic for once (you do not want to see my many many drafts and wips)
Not as much to add here, other than I don't think my Damian headcanons or characterization is that far removed from canon.
focus on other aspects of Gotham City that aren't tied to Batman/Robin (like Ragman, Wildcat, Mother Panic)
Self-explanatory. Gotham is a huge and diverse city, and having only Batman and vigilantes directly associated with him operate there is super boring.
Integrate Bette Kane and Kathy Kane into the wider Batman/"Batfamily" mythos
Also self-explanatory. It'd be nice. They're the first Batwoman and Bat-girl!
Create future opportunities for smaller, lesser known Batman characters (if this becomes a full series) like Charlie Gage-Radcliffe, the Foxes, Calvin Rose, Onyx Adams)
Please I need to see them in fanfiction form. Charlie is my blorbo who needs more comics, and Calvin is my favorite Talon. Also, he's canonically a former member of Haly's Circus and he wasn't given the immortal juice like the others - it is my hc that he was in the circus around the time that Dick was.
Rectify the deaths or character assassinations that I don't like (Orpheus, Holly Robinson)
Orpheus's death sucks major ass. Bringing him back no matter what, just to satisfy my brain. Holly Robinson deserves to be Catwoman for at least a while longer.
If I'm crazy enough to do it - introduce Christopher Kent in the future to an audience who does not know him.
MY SON. Look, I like Jon. Mildly. He's alright. But Chris is MY defacto Superman child and everyday I mourn what could've been if he wasn't aged up (deja vu) and he was able to exist for just a little while longer so that he could interact with Damian. So, if this au becomes a series, you best believe that I'm including at least a cameo. Jury's out if I fully replace Jon in the au or I make them similarly-aged brothers.
Expand/lengthen comic arcs I like and wanted to see more of (Robin: Son of Batman in general, We Are Robin, Talon, unironically Beast Boy 2000, Streets of Gotham)
Mostly self-explanatory. I just wanted to see more of Damian/Maya. Suren hanging out and going on adventures. We Are Robin needs a longer series, Talon is one of my fav comics, and I genuinely just wanted to see more of Bette in LA in Beast Boy. I also wanted to see Colin and Damian in SoG. (Plus, there was a Ragman backup running there!)
maybe give characters who are considered part of the "Batfamily" but are usually never given their dues - a chance to be main characters (Duke Thomas) (once I actually fully research him)
Yeah. This needs development on my part. I like him a lot, I just want to understand him better and give him some screen time so to speak. If I do get around to a We Are Robin rewrite or just incorporate it somehow into a larger fic.
umm... maybe expand on al Ghul lore perhaps, and develop the League of Assassins into something functional, terrifying, and tangible
Requires further research. But I love @arabian-batboy's take on how the family names (the al Ghuls, the Orghams, the Darga) connect to Behenian stars and the idea that each star could be connected to a hypothetical family and their powers. It's just cool.
#wasp does a thought#dc#dc comics#damian wayne#robin#batman#flamebird-in-gotham au#bette kane#batfam#dick grayson#batman meta#talia al ghul#Jason todd#cassandra cain#dc meta#batgirl#batwoman#flamebird#stephanie brown#seriously War Games is the WORST#yes all of these goals are difficult and crazy#yes I will probably not be able to complete all of them#still#a man can hope#notice how none of this is about the main Batfamily#yeah#there's enough fic out there for most of them already#also I don't feel qualified to write any of the bigger characters bc I haven't read enough comics to justify it#read Ragman (1991)#taxonomy!verse
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Holding my Black queer girls real close today.
Representation really does matter and the fact of the matter is that it's just so nice to be able to see yourself on the screen- big or small. Yes, Black and POC folks understand the point of universal themes and how you can find parallels in stories that often lack us, but sometimes it's just nice to look at a screen and see someone that looks like you and sounds like you.
Personally, I have been waiting basically 84 years to see a badass Black Vampire/Monster-slaying woman on screen, ever since Rona showed up on season 7 of Buffy. Heck, I just knew we were going to get a spinoff about the Hellmouth in Cleveland and Rona was going to be leading the charge! Obviously, that didn't happen, but some 20 years later (holy crap!) in comes Ms. Calliope Burns/Imani Lewis and the possibilities were endless. The potential was there! I didn't need First Kill to be perfect, nor should it have to be. It was a fun premise that was focused on the characters who would otherwise be sidelined in other shows. And damn it, it was just fun.
The most hurtful thing of course is the very loss of a character like Calliope Burns, and the Burns family for that matter. The last few years of superhero films/tv shows have both given and taken away. Yes, we got the women of Black of Panther, Misty Knight, Monica Rambeau, Maria Rambeau, Ryan Wilder, Sophie Moore, Anissa, and Jennifer Pierce. That list has gotten a bit smaller and other than the BP women, the Rambeaus remain and even then Maria may just be a memory. (Ugh it hurts to write that.) I won't pretend that the entertainment business is easy, but it certainly seems like the stories and characters that are expendable, more often than not, belong to those of us often pushed to the margins. We cannot and we must not overlook the fact that First Kill had a dark-skinned Black co-lead, a Black woman showrunner, and a crew/staff full of women and queer people. Additionally, we cannot overlook that the folks making decisions about these shows tend to be cis white heterosexual men. It is really hard to make/keep diverse content if BIPOC arent' even in the room.
Anyway, deep sigh. I'm doing all this rambling to say that it sucks to lose this show in general. It sucks to lose this over-the-top, enemies to lovers to enemies fated love story. And it is extra awful to lose a young Black QUEER/LESBIAN character with so much potential. To get a character with agency and vulnerability. A character with some flaws but also with such strength. (And obviously, the accolades should go to Imani, Felicia, and the writers for not just creating some stereotype.) We deserve all the things. The great characters and even the crappy ones. We deserve camp and frivolity. We deserve to be superheroes and super villains. And again, we deserve all the things because our stories matter. And we should be allowed to escape into fantasy and build worlds upon worlds.
So, yes, I'm going to be cranky for a bit on this one because it feels like one after another. And to make matters worse, it feels like there's no place to go. HBO sure as hell ain't saving Batwoman, because they won't even let Batgirl (what in thee whole frak is that! I'm sorry to Leslie Grace.) see the light of day and Disney is too busy running paperbag tests (I will be mad about America Chavez's casting forever!) to be bothered. Although, crazier things have happened and maybe Netflix will be financially bothered enough to either sell the rights or give it a proper series finale. Give me a freaking 2hr movie at this point.
So, to my queer babies who feel like they are going through it right now, be easy with yourself. Kick and scream and fight and rage. Write and create and keep putting it out there in the world. And if no one has said it today: You Matter. Your stories Matter. You belong. And You have something to say.
#First kill#calliope burns#imani lewis#queer black girls#queer black women#representation matters#Netflix is on some b.s. for this one#save first kill#I want good things for this whole cast#rants and rambles
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okay so: there are a decent amount of timber fics that pit Tim and Bernard against each other as enemies in some way. some variations of this include Bernard getting possessed, Tim as Joker Junior, or Bernard as a mob heir. but, you know, we are missing one scenario: evil gun Batman.
but this post is not about timber + evil gun batman!tim. this post is about the circumstances that it would take to get Tim to agree to being Batman in the first place, which are many because of our current set of characters. but first, let's discuss our theoretical worldstate.
1) Approximate ages
Tim is 24. Steph is 25, Cass and Jason are both ~26, Dick is like...31?, Duke is 22, and Damian is 18. I don't know how old Babs is in the current canon but we'll assume that she's, like, a couple years older than Dick. Helena Bertinelli (who will matter later in this) is between Dick and Barbara. Bruce is in his 40s and we'll just leave it at that.
2) Hero mantles
It's pretty much what you would expect, but I'll detail a couple things: Cass and Steph are still sharing Batgirl, but Babs has stopped the mantle entirely and is Oracle full-time, as she should be. Damian is still Robin but he's not happy about it and is on the verge of quitting to become someone else/leave Gotham/whatever. Tim is...it's complicated, okay? It's not that Tim doesn't want to be a vigilante. He definitely has a healthy civilian-vigilante life balance! I think right now he's not really patrolling formally, but he does do stuff for the vigilante network that Babs doesn't because she's busy with the Birds of Prey/non-Bat projects she's working on right now and can't keep track of vigilantes in Gotham who aren't the Bats. People like Xanthe, Helena, Claire (Gotham Girl), some non-Duke We Are Robin alumns, etc.
3) Other miscellaneous stuff
Kate is in the Bat-circle, but falls more under Tim's purview of "vigilantes operating out of Gotham who aren't really part of the Batfam" than under Bruce's purview of "Batfam leader". She's still Batwoman, though. Darcy Thomas is still friends with Tim and operating as Sparrow, but with an actual vigilante costume and not just a purple hoodie and a domino mask. Tim operates out of a larger version of the murder houseboat.
Okay, now: why is Tim Batman, again?
Tim does not want to be Batman. This is important. This is also preceded by a giant conga line of tragedies. For this to happen, Dick, Cass, and Bruce all either real-die or fake-die. I imagine Bruce is not really dead because he's not allowed to die. He just got lost in the multiverse because of a glitchy portal or something. Cass died in the line of fire trying to protect someone, because if she did try to dodge the bullets someone would die. Not sure about Dick yet. Maybe he had to fake his death again to go undercover. (Tim will absolutely call him an asshole for this.) The order of events is probably that Dick is the first one, then Bruce, then Cass. Cass ends up surviving the injury miraculously, but is in a coma/stuck in physical therapy/unable to do vigilante work. Damian is at a point in his character development where he no longer wants to be Batman. Helena does not want to do that again. Jason is like "fuck Batman we do not need Batman".
Duke asks if there's anyone else who's ever been Batman. Tim has flashbacks to Azbats. But then he does have a brainwave and attempts to reach Helena, but Babs says she's out on an important thing for the Birds of Prey and won't be back for a while. >:(
Nobody wants to be Batman, but Tim is exactly the kind of character who would do it anyways because Gotham needs a Batman. (Someone who is better read on Damian would be able to talk about how this impacts him, but I'm sure it would not be pretty, especially considering the character developments I've given him for this scenario. He does not want to be Robin anymore! He was already approaching that point when Bruce disappeared!)
#dc#tim drake#it takes more people dying before tim gets to the part where he's ~evil~ batman. because tim does not change his morals very easily.#i'm not sure i will do more with this concept. but it certainly does exist!#au: gotham needs a batman
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In that case:
Character- batwoman
Monster- dalek
Prompt- the same genesis ark that brought the daleks to canary wharf also left some behind. One got stranded in Gotham City and got picked up by Ra’s al Ghul, who refocuses it to his purpose: renewing Gotham. Batwoman is the only person available to stop it.
Gonna put this one under a read more:
Ra’s al Ghul smirked as walked around the chained dalek, his fingers gently tracing over each feature. “So, this is the fearsome creature that took the lives of my men. Such a fascinating piece of machinery.”
“The Daleks will exterminate humans!” The dalek cried out as it seemed to struggle to make its way out of its chains, its blast gun starting to prime. “EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”
“Then exterminate away!” Ra’s stepped in front of the Dalek and raised his arms into the air with a smirk. “If that’s what you wish, then exterminate me here and now. But then, how do you expect to leave then? Forever a prisoner until the chains rust away as you wait for those who left you behind. However, it doesnt have to be that way.”
The dalek seemed to calm at the words, its voice almost curious as it spoke. “Then… what way can it be?”
“My thinking may be a bit… small for one such as yourself, but I believe that we can renew Gotham in a way I’ve never been able to before. Once we’re done, you’ll be able to leave.”
“The Daleks have no intention to help you! We are the only true beings! We must exterminate all life-”
“And what do you plan to do after that?” Ra’s slowly stepped to the Dalek and ran his fingers across the detail of the metal casing. “But I can give you a new purpose. Instead of exterminating all life, you could be the master of it. To be with me and rule a humanity with a renewed purpose.” He slowly pulled back. “What do you say, Dalek?”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kate Kane let out a sigh as she watched over the bustling city below her. With Dick still out in Blüdhaven, Damien and Bruce out who knows where, she was the only one left to deal with the crime of Gotham. And even though it was a quiet night, it made for a long night of watching and listening for anything more threatening than a cat stuck in a tree. She slowly leaned against a gargoyle on top of the Wayne Enterprises building and looked up to the smog-filled sky. “As much as I like the quiet nights, I do wish something would happen.”
“You say that as if you want something to happen,” Barbara said through an earpiece. “You’re the one who keeps asking for a break.”
“Are you always listening in, Oracle?”
“If I dont know what’s going on, then how will you?”
“I could just use the police scanners like Bruce does.”
“And miss out on all the important stuff? I dont think he’s the best example on gathering intelligence.”
Kate rolled her eyes and tossed a batarang up into the air. “Please tell me you found something.”
“I think so, but I’m not entirely sure.” Oracle let out a heavy sigh and pulled up a small, holographic image of a Dalek near the docks. “But there’s something strange out there. It doesnt seem to be attacking anything yet, but I’m still not sure what it's after yet. Though it's alien in nature.”
“Think it’s Brainiac?”
“I dont think so, but if it is, then we may want to get Superman out here.”
Kate sat up and looked out towards the docks of Gotham, a frown crossed her lips as she watched a few explosions light up the sky. “We can handle this without him.”
“Alright, but you really should-”
Kate silenced her earpiece and jumped off the edge of the building to start gliding to the docks. A streak of blue light caught her attention as another explosion came from just outside the harbor. Whatever she had been going after had started to move and was moving quick. She lowered her arms and let go of her cloak and used her grappling hook to quickly change direction and follow the explosions. It wasnt long before a blue blast of electricity ripped through the line of her hook, causing her to fall from the sky.
With a quick roll, Kate landed on the ground to face the Dalek. “So you’re causing the chaos here.”
“You’ll have to forgive my new friend for causing quite the show, though now that you’re here, then that means the Batman wont be far behind.” Ra’s stepped out from the shadows and grinned as his league of assassins followed suit. “But I’m sorry, Batwoman, today is the last day the Gotham you know will exist.”
“I wont let-” Kate’s words were cut off as a beam of blue energy slammed into her, her armor peeling away where she was hit. She fell to the ground and looked up as she watched the Dalek hover above the ground, weapons still trained on her.
Ra’s jumped down from the building he had stood on and started to walk the streets with the rest of his league of assassins, passing Kate without a second glance. “Goodbye, Batwoman. You wont be missed.”
Kate’s eyes widened as she watched the Dalek ready its beam once more, and then felt the sting of electricity run through her body as she was struck once more.
#drabbles#doctor who#dalek#batwoman#kate kane#ra's al ghul#oracle#barbara gordon#i apologize now to the batman fandom#I know enough to do this#not enough to really flesh out a full story
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So why, then, did The CW clean house this season? The blame isn’t squarely on network CEO Mark Pedowitz. Broadcast’s longest-tenured network topper reports to a board comprised of execs from Warners and CBS Studios, who for years have played a vital role in programming decisions. For example: While Dynasty has had the distinction of being broadcast’s lowest-rated scripted series for years, revenue from the reboot’s international sales and the Netflix deal kept it on the air for far longer than its linear numbers deserved. So after five seasons of living life on the bubble that included a wild history of casting changes, why did time run out on Dynasty and so many other CW favorites?
Blame streaming. And mergers. And The CW’s impending sale.
Warners and CBS Studios — now overseen by newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global — ended the Netflix output deal in 2019 to help boost their respective streaming platforms, HBO Max and Paramount+. Foreign sales, too, have dried up as those rights need to stay in-house as both platforms continue their global expansion in a bid to compete with Netflix and company in the streaming wars. That’s a loss of billions of dollars in revenue, making shows like Dynasty, for example, no longer profitable.
Without those two revenue streams, and amid new corporate ownership, the free lunches are officially over as both of The CW’s corporate parents are in active sale talks with station group Nexstar and other potential buyers.
(snip)
While The CW is expected to look considerably different next season — expect more low-cost foreign acquisitions and unscripted programming — the network’s most-watched originals are all returning. The CW gave early renewals to seven of its eight returning shows, all of them among its highest rated. Sources say Pedowitz wanted to bring back the Greg Berlanti-produced DC Comics dramas Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow but Warners no longer wanted to pay the leases on the studio space, which expired May 1, and prompted April 29 cancellations. Plec’s Legacies was also said to be a financial decision made by the studio.
Legends and Legacies, along with Charmed, In the Dark and Roswell, New Mexico all were part of the Netflix output deal.
(snip)
And before anyone can start a petition for the unfortunate shows that met their early demise this week, keep in mind that HBO Max and Paramount+ can’t save those lucky shows that were able to stay on the air as long as they did because they were part of the Netflix deal. Sorry, Legacies, Legends, Dynasty, Charmed, In the Dark and Roswell, as Plec said, “Today we mourn.”
Corporate greed destroyed CW. Paramount Global and Warner Bros wanted to compete with Netflix so badly that they made CW (a network they owned) unwind their Netflix deal.
I had wondered for the longest time why Batwoman was on HBO Max instead of Netflix and found out it was because CW ended their output deal with Netflix. I knew then CW was in trouble -- true enough a year after I learned about it, CW announced it's being put on sale.
Another thing I learned about HBO Max's/Warner Bros Day and Date release in 2020 and the outrage it caused among filmmakers is that Warner Bros putting their 2020-2021 movies on HBO Max meant the filmmakers/studios couldn't shop around their movies to other streaming platforms and would actually make less money. Because going straight to HBO Max meant WB would just be paying itself and at a lower cost too.
This is basically what happened with CW, CW used to have a sweet output deal where they just churn out shows regardless of ratings because Netflix and foreign markets would pay handsomely for the shows. The moment Paramount Global and Warner Bros decided to compete with Netflix and turned their eye on CW, was the moment CW was toast.
Because Paramount Global and Warner Bros were never going to pay CW the kind of numbers Netflix was willing to pay.
(Mind you, this was before the market corrected itself and Netflix's stocks fell to more reasonable figures-- which unfortunately triggered Netflix going around like a headless chicken because they've just been focusing on acquiring customers and not retaining them. Again, corporate greed).
This also means, unfortunately, as much as my heart wants it, there are no saving Legacies because Paramount Plus and HBO Max are the reason why Legacies was canceled in the first place. Netflix is also having its own problems, so there's a very slim chance for a save from there.
It's also a bitter pill to swallow knowing the reason why Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman were canceled was that Warners couldn't be bothered paying the lease on studio space. That's it. The whole reason.
Warners. Didn't. Want. To. Pay. Studio. Space.
#tv: batwoman#tv: legacies#tv: legends of tomorrow#legacies cw#batwoman#legends of tomorrow#article#streaming platforms
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The black mirror batman
And now Wayne is back but doing something else. Also, apparently Wayne’s son from Son of the Demon (which I did read back when it was released) is Robin now - or maybe was Robin because he doesn’t appear in The Black Mirror. I believe Identity Crisis was about to begin when I last entered a comic book store on a Wednesday, but since then I’ve been tangentially aware that somewhere along the line Bruce Wayne “died” (comic book scare quotes in full effect) and Dick Grayson took over in his place. As well, though I’m not a regular reader, I am familiar with some of the changes to the title over the last several years. I’m familiar with Batman and his mythos but I don’t read his books save for special occasions - books or stories that come highly recommended or hyped. It’s not the salvation of the genre and it does stumble awkwardly in places, but simultaneously, it does get some things right and those things are worth the time of the superhero enthusiast.Īt this point, I should mention that the caveats from Batwoman apply here as well. And in some ways, The Black Mirror vindicates his sentiment. He’s proven himself to have great taste in the past and it was on his recommendation that I gave Big Questions a shot against a warehouse of reservations and came out quite pleased.
Book critic Dan Goodman, knowing my reluctance to heartily endorse the superhero genre, gave the book a pretty nice recommendation and said he thought it was one of the best examples of the genre in years (I’m paraphrasing from memory here, but I think I’m doing him justice). I mean, think how many enemies I’ve made by saying that Batwoman: Elegy was mostly awful and that All-Star Superman fell flat to me partly because Frank Quitely’s people drive me crazy.) So my general rule for this sort of thing is that I won’t review a superhero book unless 1) I really found something special in it (and I really need to do more of this) or 2) the book was recommended to me. On average, even the better books will only be able to rate an OK rating by the measures I use. And that’s why, for the most part, I don’t really review a lot of superhero books. Sometimes we just want to turn our brains off and take in an unbelievable story. I read and loved The Hunger Games, even though it wasn’t anything particularly special. We don’t expect romance novels or westerns or Elizabeth George mysteries to be Remains of the Day or Cloud Atlas. There are Good books that find themselves nestled in the genre that has been Marvel and DC’s bread and butter since the ‘60s, but they’re rare and all the more special for it.Īnd that’s fine.
Rather, the problem is that so much of superhero fiction doesn’t actually succeed. It’s not that a superhero story can’t succeed and rank among the best of the medium that would be like saying The Long Goodbye isn’t great American literature. Because there are standards of good storytelling that sort of just exist over and above genre concerns, I’m not often kind (or perhaps better: generous) to superhero fiction. The same awkwardness exists here on Good Ok Bad. But we shouldn’t expect a neck-and-neck race. Certainly, a critic might make note of Twilight's purpose and express some evaluation of how well it succeeds on its own terms. On a site that reviewed both books side-by-side, we’d expect reviewers to use at least most of the inches on the same yardstick to measure out their respective values. While it may seem unfair to compare the two books, one is entertaining trash and the other is awestriking and thoughtfully composed (at least according to most everyone who’s read it and isn’t thirteen). See? They’re both great because they both succeed within their unique contexts! After all, how far could you trust someone who rated Twilight and Brothers Karamazov as being Great Books because Twilight succeeds at its goal of being a mindless-but-amusing supernatural romance/thriller and Brothers Karamazov succeeds at its goal of being kick-ass, world-class literature that people will be talking about for hundreds of years or more. I try to extend some graces to the contexts in which these books operate, but completely divorcing genres from the general expectations of the medium would perpetrate some pretty wild discrepancies. One of the weird things about this site is that I rate genre books alongside, quote-unquote, more serious fare.
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It's funny that I have a few paragraphs talking to you, but when I want to write something I just barely get past the second line. I don't think I need to say that I don't mind and I even like these long answers since I was encouraging them from the beginning...😶
I'm thinking of a song- is this a song? If not, I think I'll look like an idiot too.
“i'm just too gay to obsess over a man the way I obsess over kate” HELP, THIS IS SO FUNNY??? LMFAO. I can literally add this at any time to anything in my life and that's exactly what I'll be doing!! It's research that could save the world from possible alien invasions, don't worry. I mean your mom was right (I guess? here where I live the game is not recommended for -18 so-), although the game is cool, it's not something people should have contact so young. as they are nowadays.
so you're going to send me to the lion's den and make me survive like this?? I'm not ready for it. I swear I try not to ask too many questions but my fingers just slip!! Jhdskwkka oh okay, if you mentioned Joker her attitudes might remind you a little of him....?
since this doesn't ruin my experience, you can tell me about this cliffhanger, right? 👀 okay, wait, so the cliffhanger was just something that would probably be a plot for the first eps or that would open to season 8, is that? wow this is disrespectful to them, did they already have season 8 written or something?
wait wait I remember someone called Zari, if I'm not wrong she had a situationship with someone on the team... isn't she the one with the animal powers? 🤔 you're selling batwoman in a very good way i- I'm very tempted. We need a petition for them to stop making the characters dirty, not even barry escaped! I was going to ask if you like Cisco since you didn't mention him, but I feel like the answer coming would be you're too gay to be obsessed with men, but this time with caitlin instead of kate 😶
now I don't know if it's a moment that you're not thinking about it, or you're not thinking about it kwhjwkwskk
– 🌟
i felt that in my soul. talking to you is so much easier than writing my fics, i can't tell if i should be happy or worried about that. you didn't have to say it but i very much appreciate the reminder.
😮 technically yes. okay, i’ll bite the bullet and risk looking like an idiot just in case. i think we might be on the same page though ‘cause i think there's only one thing this references and it’s…the song nineteen by tegan and sara. it's such a subtle and dumb thing but i have a major connection to the song and the number so at some point i just started saying 119% for no reason and then it…sort of stuck lmao.
akdkdsakaskd thank you, it was both a joke and the honest truth lmao hmmm, i guess that makes sense, carry on. yeah, i agree, i just find it funny that mortal kombat was a no but she had no issue with injustice which is basically just the DC version of mortal kombat 👀 your last comment has potential for a whole other conversation but i’ll just say that i agree and that it baffles me that there are 7 year olds out there who have better IPhone’s than me like why???
kind of but i promise it’s worth it!!! just know that if you do end up liking alice, it'll get painful quick 😶 it’s okay! it’s just that i can go on for hours and i don't want to ruin anything for you. i wouldn't say she reminds me that much of the Joker but the comparison is an easy one to make cause…Batman -> Batwoman, you know? she's a lot more complicated. in a good way of course.
i guess i can tell you but i’ll do it as vaguely as possible. basically, they struggle all of season 7 because they're stuck in the past [i can't remember the exact year rn, my bad] and once they finally fix the Waverider and are able to go home…they essentially get arrested by some sort of Time Police. it's frustrating ‘cause we see them struggle ALL season and once things are solved, this happens and then BOOM, the show’s canceled. so yeah, it was just supposed to be the start-point for Season 8 so no real harm done, it just sucks. i assume there was already a plan for Season 8 so if they would have known there wasn't going to be one, they could have wrapped off Season 7 in another way and given a real ending to the Legends. somehow, though, i feel like this ending fits them lmao.
close, zari’s the one with the wind totem, amaya’s the one with the spirit totem aka the animal powers. [and they also should have been girlfriends but that's another rant] djskakswjsjks lmao, you know me so well. i honestly do love cisco, even though they also messed up his character toward the end. him and caitlin ARE team flash, screw everyone else.
…yes? 🧐
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I wonder if there a fan edit timeline of just homelander becoming more n more unhinged. I’d totally watch that as a recap when the next season drops
Have you ever seen American Gods / Preacher / Legion. If so what ya think of them.
Just knowing it’ll be be made gets me excited cuz it’s like a little treat for future me. Idk when it’ll drop so maybe it’ll slip my mind untill they announce it n then I get double the excitement like omfg I remember when they were talkin about it n now it’s dropping.
Well of course he would batman and the joker have always been two side of the same coin so they had to make him the overpowered cliche n Barbatos was definitely way cooler. The BWL has cool design but not a fan of his story just very predictable even the brain switching like such a cliche terrible writing all to snuff Barbatos 🙄
N making constructs he should be able to make n tapping I to that darker dimension just A1 writing.
Same with Red Death homie strapped him on the Batmobile like a hood ornament n obliterated him 😮💨
Doombreaker shouldn’t even been in the line up tbh so unnecessary. They shoulda gone with something else.
Omfg your the first person I’ve met/come across to have heard of it let alone read it. You seem to have good taste so now I’m extra excited to start it.
You laugh now but I’m so serious, everytime I see shark related things irl I be whispering to myself Chichimatul
Lmaoooo I'm willing to bet that there is definitely one out there somewhere. 😂
I've seen both American Gods and Preacher! I loved Preacher; I really liked all the characters. American Gods was another of those 'its just okay' for me at the start; I initially wasn't really v attached to the characters (besides Mad Sweeney lmao, he was an INSTANT favorite), then by seasons 2&3 I was more invested and tHEN THEY WENT AND CANCELLED THE SHOW.
Lmao exactly! I'll probably honestly forget too by the time it finally drops, so it'll def be a treat for future me also. 😂😂
Yeah; I liked BwL's design (although personally, I would have preferred if he had Bruce's actual body type instead of basically looking like the Joker cosplaying as Batman, like, he's just supposed to be a Jokerized Bruce Wayne, so why was he so skinny and lanky like Joker??—I whipped up a little 'how I'd have preferred he look' concept before:
all the main elements of BwL, just [what I consider], to feel more Batman-y, and less, 'Joker playing dress up as Batman', lmao) and even his concept was a cool one—a Batman driven to Joker levels of madness? Heck yeah, sign me up, but DC definitely took the idea and made him more than what he should have been imo. Esp, again, when Barbatos was RIGHT there, being so much cooler!! Also, yeah, the brain switching was sUCH bad writing, especially since we ended up with basically TWO BwLs after! Since we have the original, now running around as 'Darkest Knight' after the ol' brain-switcheroo, and then when we had Batman use the Black Lantern ring to raise an army, BwL's original body was among the people he reanimated, and, despite NO LONGER HAVING A BRAIN ANYMORE it??? was still basically BwL somehow??? That was when I was just fully DONE with the whole event and like 'okay this is ridiculous, please wrap it up already' lmao. Like it went from such a cool concept to just, okay this is dragging out and just bad writing now.
Yesssss!!! His 'dark constructs' were honestly SO cool!!! I really that wish we'd had stories more of him, instead of BwL taking center stage and Dawnbreaker and the other Dark Knights basically being reduced to like, his lackeys (which was so dumb imo, like they're ALL Batman(/batwoman, in The Drowned case), they should have been more equal. 😤😤
For real!! The Batman who became Red Death doing what he did to the Flash was absolutely brutal. (And the fact that Barry was still present afterwards and basically trapped in there with him, constantly trying to get Bruce to come to his senses 😭😭).
HE REALLY SHOULDN'T HAVE!! Like, I get that they wanted a counterpart for everyone on the JL, but for Superman there really were SO many better choices to choose from who they could have combined with Batman!! I still maintain that a Cyborg Superman or a Metallo version would have been SO cool, but there're plenty others that would have been neat too: a Brainiac/Batman mash-up, or a Livewire or Silver Banshee one. Heck, even a version of Batman combined with Parasite would have worked and been cooler than what they gave us!
😆 I hope you enjoy it!!
Lmaooo. 😂😂
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I'M WEAK OKAY?
i looked up cast
and i'm gonna speculate on what i've seen
(i’m VERY bad at speculating xD and it’s the flash. they can throw literally anything at us common sense be damned)
S9E5 — is so far the last one with Hartley
DON'T YOU DARE KILL HIM OFF. just don't you dare!
Diggle's appearance is less interesting. i guess he's just sent towards the team with some tech or info or whatever and he'll stay to help
i have a feeling Mark would change sides again sooner than later. double spying or something
i hope Ramsey will be on team flash's side
i don't think Bivolo will.
but it feels like one of them should be. they'd need even numbers for their precious one-on-one's
S9E8 — Nia <3 i have no clue what they'll do with her character. just happy we'll see her
S9E9 — here we have Oliver and Wally 👀 time travel? seems likely. i don't think team will be able to take engine back. or destroy it. they likely fuck up and then will be fixing everything
S9E10 — and okay i'm interested in this ep the most for now. we have Henry and Nora and EDDIE (west-allen drama?) and my second favorite Captain — captain David Singh <3 i'm pretty sure they will try to make us cry
S9E12 — we finally have nora west-allen! i hope Bart will be here too. it's still early, they can make changes with cast
S9E13 — Eddie's still here which is curious. like i don't believe they resurrect him. no way in hell Eddie's being alive won't ruin Barry and Iris' marriage. well, in the show. it's not like they are bold enough to make thawne/west/allen canon
and here we have Jay and Zolomon 👀
i hope we'll have more familiar faces this season. i can't say that i'm all that invested in anything right now
Khione's love for plant's annoys me to no end. don't get me wrong she is adorable and made the right choice to live her life. but why plants? i just can't get it. i annoy myself because i'm annoyed by her love of plants
chester/allegra drama just… i honestly just don't care. i want them to be done with it already. jeez i saw more chemistry between Fiddler and Jaco in the latest episode
i want a damn good reason for Rayan as a bad guy, okay? i wasn’t a big fan of her batwoman, but they canceled the show after cliffhanger and i just wanted to get some closure. and now i have even more questions
current ‘rogues’ are pale copies of something we should have had around season one or two, maybe three. “time to light this match” my ass. I’m bias, i know, i just want my favorite two punning assholes back 😭 even if just for a two minutes appearance
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Fuck. Wonder Woman had been surprisingly easy to break. Harley hadn't even fucked the slut's pussy yet and she was already asking to be her slut. She was already going along with everything Harley was saying. It was like a dream...
"Mmm...yes, I think we can make this work, Wonder Slut..." Harley hummed, pounding mercilessly away at the former heroine's ass. She leaned forwards to grab Wonder Woman's discarded tiara, placing it on her own head, "Ya can jus' be my slut! It's what's best for ya! Maybe with that heroic heart a yers, ya might even be able ta convince me ta be a hero myself! I could take yer spot on the Justice League while ya just worry about being ready fer me ta fuck ya when I'm free!"
Getting an in with the Justice League would help Harley get closer to Batwoman and Supergirl too...more potential sluts for her to have some fun with. Wonder Woman was her favourite, but a girl like her needed more than one slut.
As much as she was enjoying the feeling of Wonder Woman's ass, Harley knew it wouldn't be long until she came at this rate, so she pulled out of that tight ass and immediately slammed her cock into the dripping pussy in front of her, humming as she thrust in and out.
"Of course, though, if yer my slut, we won't exactly be able ta hide that from everybody. We'll have ta tell people that yer my girlfriend or something. Especially if Wonder Woman retires to spend her time with the love a' her life..." Harley hummed, spanking her ass again, "Especially since with all the cum I'll be pumpin' inta ya, who knows, ya might end up with a bun in the oven..."
everything Harley said made so much sense to diana. like, why hadn't she thought of it before? gods, it felt amazing having Harley fuck her ass, and then when she switched up and started spanking her ass while the criminal pounded diana's pussy--
well, diana was long gone in her heroics.
"that's... that's okay." was it? to be Harley's 'girlfriend' as far as the public was concerned? what if they didn't like that, all the people diana wanted to save? wanted to like her? what if-- what if they hated her, thought her a traitor, for falling for the criminal--?
but wait, diana thought, if i can save Harley, then she's not a criminal anymore! and maybe that made a lot of sense to her, too, since then the people would love both of them! both her and Harley.
"um... cool. that's cool--" said diana, a giggle erupting as Harley fucked her. she barely realized her tiara had fallen aside and now rested on Harley's head instead. that was okay, though. diana was Harley's slut, and that's all she really wanted to be and--
"you would... knock me up?" it came out as a question, but diana felt her body tingling in anticipation. was it possible, then, for Harley to knock her up? or would she just take so much seed that never found fruit?
either would be okay with diana, come to think about it.
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well, today unexpectedly ended up being a lot. started out mundane enough, up at 7:30 and off to work. We had two interns on the schedule, but it turns out neither of them were actually coming in today (cue me being slightly more than slightly irritated at our intern coordinator over it) which of course significantly cut down on our ability to do cases for clinic, and of course our law clerk was also out, so that left us with just our paralegal able to do cases, and with two cases leftover from yesterday that needed work. So we didn't end up opening for any new cases, which made things pretty boring for me. But I sat in on a motion that my work buddy was arguing just for kicks that took a while and then ended up not actually be adjudicated, so that was a bit of a let down. He went home after that because he wasn't feeling great, so the office was just me, our paralegal, and our receptionist at that point, so pretty dead. At some point in the afternoon, I got a twitter message that the news had just hit that Batwoman was officially cancelled, and y'all, I'm big mad about this. Like so fucking mad. I knew it was a possibility of course, but was really hoping we'd get another season because the show was *just* getting so good, and it feels like they cut it off before it was really able to hit its peak, and I'm just so so mad about it. like seriously, fuck the cw so much. so I spent a while bitching about that on twitter, which I didn't really feel bad about doing at work because I basically had nothing else to do. I'm also super irritated because I just met Nicole Kang and she was super fucking lovely, and I really wanted to see more from her on the show. but yeah, I'll elaborate more on that on our upcoming podcast episode, but suffice to say I'm super fucking mad about it and honestly reconsidering if I'd even want to go forward with another podcast at this point because I'm really just done with the cw and all their bullshit. Sigh. that was a major letdown. I headed out at 5, we ordered sushi for dinner because we were both feeling kinda crappy. We were going to watch the Queendom episode, but right before we were going to start it, the news dropped that Legends was also cancelled, which was also a very big bummer. I do feel much more strongly about Batwoman being cancelled than I do about Legends, because Legends was at least able to hit its peak and have several really high quality seasons, I'm just really irritated they weren't given the courtesy that was given to Supergirl THE SAME FUCKING SEASON to know ahead of time it'd be the last season and to give them a proper goodbye. Like if that had happened, I honestly wouldn't even be mad about it. but not giving them that was a really fucking shitty thing for the cw to do. so after that dropped we really weren't up for a Queendom episode, so we basically just chilled out for the rest of the night. Roommate went to bed, I stayed up a bit longer before showering and getting ready for bed, and now I'm here and it's late, so I'm going to go to bed now (well, after I do the wordle and nerdle anyway). Goodnight friends. Happy weekend.
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So now that Ruby is gone can we agree that Luke, Mary, Alice and Sophie carried season one of Batwoman on their backs?
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Okay, so you know “Justice League meets Batman’s kids, who they’d previously been unaware existed” AUs?
So picture that.....but this time, instead of them just having no knowledge of any of these other Gotham vigilantes at all....the Batkids all migrate to various cities as they get older and become known as their protectors - Dick in Bludhaven, Tim in San Francisco, Cass in Hong Kong, etc....
Meaning they’re all established figures, the Justice League are aware of them as solo local heroes who stick to their cities and so they just don’t interact with them much if at all, or else some are members of team lineups but are particularly vague about their histories or life outside of the team’s adventures....
So the big reveal isn’t that they become aware of all these other Gotham vigilantes all at once....its that some big conflict or whatever requires a huge team up of all available heroes, and in the aftermath, they figure out that like.....despite being known as solo heroes who work alone or loners outside of their team settings, 80% of these heroes all not only seem to already know each other, they seem to be related.
And so naturally they all turn to Batman, who has profiles on every known hero and they thus figure had researched these individuals too and just never mentioned this little detail, and they’re like, “Did you know about this?”
And then Nightwing turns to him too, arms crossed and is like, “Yeah Dad, did you know about this?”
And the infamous Red Hood is all: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have never met any of these people before in my life. Lives? Whatever.”
And then Red Robin moodily grates out “I have no siblings.” Since he’s nursing a grudge since Dick and Jason broke into his apartment the night before and replaced all his custom Red Robin gear with Darkwing Duck merchandise and his vengeance will be swift and also totally disproportionate because things escalate quickly in this family, that’s true in every universe.
Cass meanwhile has deftly skewered Jason’s lie by walking over to him and brazenly patting down the man with many many guns with no fear whatsoever. He squawks and futilely attempts to bat her hands away as she riffles through his many pockets, but he doesn’t seem shocked, just annoyed. Eventually, she pulls away and triumphantly reveals a box of Hello Kitty themed band-aids.
“So these are yours then? Just for you?” Black Bat asks smugly. Red Hood squints at the box.
“What the fuck? How long have those been in my jacket? Why are those in my jacket? Did you freaking plant them in my jacket just on the offchance you could at some point in the distant future use them at my expense?”
Black Bat frowns, puzzled. “Yes?”
“Oh come on, Dead Hood,” Spoiler says with an exaggerated toss of her head meant to convey she’s rolling her eyes beneath her own mask. She skips her way across the room to Black Bat and then drapes herself languidly all over the smaller woman. Who in turn doesn’t so much as twitch beneath the sudden added mass as Spoiler holds out her hand towards the box of band-aids.
“One please. I have a boo-boo,” she says with easy familiarity straight into the intimidating cowl of Black Bat. Only then does she deign to finish her train of thought with Red Hood.
“I mean seriously, are you saying you don’t have potential blackmail set-ups, pre-rigged releases of incriminating material, and a random assortment of traps, pratfalls and mortifying scenarios in place for the express purpose of being able to humiliate any and all of your siblings at any given moment, without any need for additional prep time?”
“Is this true, Little Wing?” Nightwing whirls on the larger Red Hood with a faux-scandalized gasp. The founder and leader of the Titans, formerly the Teen Titans, renowned for his stratagems and calm competence when directing squads of supers in the heat of battle while he keeps pace with nothing more than naturally acquired acrobatics and a utility belt that apparently uses the same technology as Wonder Woman’s invisible jet....now appears to be....staggering with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead, moaning about how he felt....faint?
What is happening right now, several dozen superheroes want to know. Is this a drill? Are they supposed to be checking for signs of a mental ambush from undetected psychic saboteurs? Did they all hit their heads at the exact same time and are now experiencing some kind of shared mass concussion?
Look, that wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to ever happen on the Watchtower.
“Have I failed you so utterly?” The veteran child hero bemoans with a dramatic twirl - that when contrasted with his stern demeanor of a mere ten minutes ago - makes the fears of telepathic infiltration seem less paranoia and more....concerningly probable. “Did you learn nothing from me? Did you learn nothing from B?”
He stops and jabs a finger up at the sky. “Quick, everyone! What is the very first rule of Living While Batty?”
As if by rote, over a half a dozen voices chime in from all over the room, causing various heroes to jump. Spooked by yet more and more vigilantes joining in some kind of mass recitation like they and they alone have some kind of clue what the hell is going on and everyone else just hadn’t been invited to the party. Which is just rude, honestly. Nobody likes feeling like they weren’t invited to the party. Not even superheroes.
“If you’re not going to bother preparing for every possible contingency and at least six impossible ones, you might as well just stay in bed.”
Even the Red Hood joins in the Illuminati chant or Cub Scout pledge or demonic ritual or whatever the fuck that just was, though his slumped and exasperated posture gives away every hint of sulkiness his headgear otherwise would have kept safely hidden. He’s surprisingly more...expressive, than most who’d only known of him by reputation had expected him to be. The day continues to yield surprises.
“Of fucking course I do,” he growls out, snatching the box from Black Bat. She doesn’t even fight to hold onto it, just lets it go with a knowing smirk. “I wasn’t surprised by the idea of it, I was just surprised she bothered with such a weak effort. Like yeah whatever, actually those could be mine. I use those all the time at home. So what?”
He aggressively yanks one of the band-aids out of the box, fumbles with the peel-off strips with one hand and he roughly rolls up the sleeve of his jacket with the other. Then just slaps it on his forearm and raises said appendage high, showing it off this way and that. “See?”
“Oh yeah, for sure,” Signal drawls from the other side of the room, nodding his head approvingly. “Totally convincing. Nice job walking that one back, you really showed them.”
Red Hood’s head snaps in his direction with ominous intent. “Watch it, Day-Glo.”
Signal just snorts.
“Yeah, like I’m gonna take constructive criticism on my name and costume from a dude who’s spent the last several years calling himself Red HOOD while running around in a freaking HELMET.”
“Its not meant to be literal, you fucking pedant.”
“So wait, its not literally a helmet? Huh, does it at least protect your head literally, or just like...symbolically? Like if Bane were to clock you across the head, would your concussion just be a metaphor? What’s the treatment protocol for a metaphorical concussion? Fluids, bedrest and a philosophical prescription of two chapters of Chicken Soup for the Soul as needed?”
“Laugh it up, KC and the Sunshine Band,” Red Hood bats back. “You just got yourself disinvited from Thursday night’s poker game.”
Signal just grins and folds his arms over his chest cockily. “Please. You’ve been looking for an excuse to ban me for weeks, cuz you know until you can prove I’m using my ghost vision to cheat, you can’t actually bring suit against me for it in Family Court.”
“That, and also Family Court isn’t a real thing, you toddler. Stop validating Wing-a-ding-ding’s obsession with Shitty TV Nostalgia and just call it that thing where Oracle traps us all in a room until we settle our latest fight without anyone getting stabbed.”
“Yeah, but like, say that five times fast,” Spoiler pipes up. “Its just not practical. Family Court’s way easier.”
“Says the one who’s not even in our fucking family.”
“And yet I grace you all with my sublime presence anyway,” she blows a kiss at him, beatifically unbothered. “You’re welcome.”
The Red Hood scoffs and rounds on his heel, zeroing in on Batwoman in the far corner.
“Hey Auntie B, my siblings are all dead to me and I just helped stop an alien invasion so I deserve nice things like a fun Saturday night. Can you get me into Dad’s fundraiser so I can crash it? He won’t put me back on the list until I promise not to bring any C-4 with me and I won’t promise not to bring any C-4 because he should just trust me that I won’t when I say I’m not gonna and he won’t trust me that I won’t until I admit I shouldn’t have brought any to that sting last month where three tiny little yachts blew up through barely any fault of my own, and I’m just not gonna do that ever because I have convictions and I feel I shouldn’t have to be punished for that. Y’know?”
Batwoman blinks at him. “Kid, I’m not gonna lie to you. You’re my nephew and I love you, but I stopped listening three seconds into all that.”
“Ugh, fine. Can you help me crash Dad’s event tonight so I can teach him a lesson about why he should just trust me not to make a scene so I don’t have to always make a scene to make a point.”
“Tempting as you make that sound,” she says wryly, “I have a strict policy for dealing with you lot and your......everything. I only worry about tolerating one of you at a time, and there’s seven of you, and seven days in the week. You each get your own. You know perfectly well its Robin’s day today. You get me on Tuesday, just like always.”
“Auntie B, we’re not like other families, are we?” Red Robin’s delivery is sarcastically childish and his question clearly rhetorical. Most of his attention is fixated on whatever it is he’s doing with his wrist-mounted computer.
“No sweetie, we’re all severely fucked in the head and a little bit too comfortable with that.”
“Just checking. Oh hey, Hood, I just emailed you a patch for the hole in your firewall I exploited when replacing all my shit using your accounts just now.”
“You did what?”
“Used your accounts to pay to replace all my stuff that you fucked with last night?” Red Robin says slowly. “Did you not realize that I’ve been sticking within ten feet of you for the past five minutes just so I could clone your devices and do all that while BB and Spoiler kept you distracted? I gotta say, bro, I feel like that’s on you then.”
Red Hood swivels his helmeted head in the direction of the aforementioned two. Black Bat waves. Spoiler shoots him an utterly unrepentant thumbs up.
“You’d side with your ex over me? That’s what its come to?”
“My only allegiance is to chaos,” Spoiler says brightly. Black Bat shrugs.
“Plus he bribes better.”
“Hateful,” Red Hood points at Black Bat, moving on to level the same finger at Spoiler, who curtsies in acknowledgment: “Hateful-er.”
Then the finger rounds the bases to aim judgmentally at Red Robin. “Hateful-est. And that was all Nightwing’s idea anyway, not mine.”
“Oh, I assumed as much,” he says casually. “Your idea of a prank tends to have more of a Carrie vibe. Or be a literal literary reenactment.”
“Its called an homage, 4chan.”
“Whatever, plagiarist. And anyway, I couldn’t go after ‘Wing for payback on this one. He used an Immunity card. If you didn’t want me getting back at you, you should have used one too."
Red Hood looms aggressively. Red Robin ignores willfully. Round and round they go. Superheroes who can survive excessive G-Forces are getting dizzy just watching them have a largely motionless stand-off. That shouldn’t be how that works, but whatever. All the most infamously reclusive and isolated heroes in all hero-dom are apparently part of the same one big reclusive and isolated family of fucked up weirdos and they’re all officially bonkers. Nothing makes sense anymore. Reality broke. Try another stall.
“Okay, but see, in order to have an Immunity card, I would have to participate in one of you losers’ stupid Immunity challenges,” the Red Hood drags out with exaggerated patience. “And I’m just not going to do that, on account of those all being fucking stupid. You see the problem there?”
Red Robin just shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you, bro. You can have principles or you can have an Immunity card. You can’t have both.”
Meanwhile, on another side of....the same room.....look, its like, an octagonal room, probably. It has a lot of sides. Robin fends off questions from an aggrieved looking Superboy.
“You never told me you had a bajillion brothers and sisters!”
“Yes but I never said I didn’t either.”
Superboy rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, so I should just assume everyone I meet has a bajillion secret brothers and sisters?”
“Well clearly it would have worked out in your favor in this instance if you had, now wouldn’t it?”
“Assuming of course that you can trust what has been said or implied here today and I am actually related to any of those numbskulls. Which I am not actually admitting to,” Robin tacks on hastily.
Superboy eyes him dubiously. “You joined in the same creepy chant all the others did and then got super self-conscious and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Which uh. I did.”
“First off, your interpretation of body language is abyssmal. I do not get self-conscious,” Robin says with a delivery that probably could have benefited from being a little less self-conscious. “And second....that proves nothing. I guessed what they were going to say.”
“Word for word,” Superboy says super-skeptically.
“I’m very good at guessing things. You know this.”
“Okay. Guess how much I believe you right now then.”
Robin glares and folds his arms grumpily across his chest.
“And what was that anyway? Was that like....you guys’ family motto or something like that?”
“Oh no,” Spoiler pipes up. “That’s much shorter.”
Superboy balks at that. “Wait, you guys actually have one of those for real?”
“Yup,” Steph says, counting out the words with her fingers. “He who laughs last....probably works for the Joker. So tranq him just to be safe. See? Only sixteen words. The first rule of Living While Batty is way longer, and what we said was just the abridged version. You should hear the original, before Black Bat put her foot down and refused to memorize it unless sizable edits were made.”
Superboy hovers between her and Robin now, both in mid-air and on the verge of taking Spoiler’s words as an invitation to hear just that. A low growl arises from Robin’s direction.
“Must you?” He asks the older vigilante, with a most put upon expression.
She looks at him pityingly. “Do you actually need me to answer that? Like, we’ve met, right? Hi, I’m Spoiler.”
“Wait, so Robin said that I just never specifically asked him if he had a bajillion brothers and sisters, and that’s why he didn’t tell me, so that means he wouldn’t have just lied and there’s not some code of secrecy that flat out forbids telling other people stuff, right?” Superboy realizes excitedly.
“Yes, excellent direction. Go on,” Spoiler says, steepling her fingers. Robin buries his face in the palm of one hand.
“Soooo, what other stuff could you tell me about Robin’s super top secret family that I wouldn’t think to ask about but that he would tell me about if I knew what questions to ask?”
She claps once, lightly but with emphasis. “Well done. You’ve passed the first barrier. Untold secrets await you behind just a few more.”
“I’ll get you for this,” Robin vows calmly. She waves a hand at him.
“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you do it before January 1st, remember? You’ve promised retribution like ten times already this year and those don’t roll over, y’know. Rules are rules.”
“Enough!” Thunders a voice then, from the front of the room. Well one of the fronts anyway. Like sides, it has a lot of them, but this is the one where Batman’s standing. All eyes snap to him. Which is kinda just what eyes do when Batman says stuff like that. Its like his superpower, except he doesn’t actually have superpowers, which is what makes it scary. But where the snapping of the eyes (directional) is usually followed by Batman saying something else besides just “hey look at me,” here he pauses in the wake of his own call to attention’s waning reverberations. Uncharacteristically silent.
Not that, y’know, he’s normally Mr. Talkity Talk, but usually his silences feel like he has the words to fill them, he’s just withholding them. This though, this feels more like he doesn’t have any words at all. And he’s as confused by it as any of them, and most everyone else is confused by Batman being confused, and its this whole trickle down economy of confusion and its wrecking havoc on the value of the golden silence standard.
Of course, not everyone present is rendered spellbound with confusion.
“C’mon B,” Nightwing cajoles, leaning forward and practically radiating delight. “I think you know what you have to do now. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Its not likely to come around again.”
Red Hood snickers beneath his helmet and chimes in. “Yeah Pops, go ahead. You do this and you’ll actually have my respect for a whole twenty four hours. No, wait. Sixteen. No! Eight. Yeah, eight. Still a good deal.”
“Carpe diem, B,” Red Robin grins, leaning back as if to enjoy the show.
“Hey! Infringe on my trademark one more time, dude,” Signal throws a faux-glare at the former. Red Robin just quirks an eyebrow.
“And what, you’ll start saying Yum every time you eat a burger? Oh no. I’m hoist by my own petard.”
Signal flips him off with a grin and then redirects his attention back to Batman. “Yeah seriously though B, you kinda gotta do it now. Because if you don’t do it, then you’ll forever be the guy who didn’t do it, and you don’t want to be that guy, do you?”
“Yeah you really don’t want to be that guy,” Spoiler shouts out. “Nobody likes that guy. He’s the worst.”
“Do it, do it,” Black Bat starts chanting beside her, steadily picking up speed and volume. Several others start joining in. Even Robin appears to be slightly anticipatory, albeit trying very hard to hide it.
Batman sighs, and somehow everyone manages to hear it. Stills. Waits for....something? Nobody but them seems to have any clue what, but the air is thick and heavy with portentiousness. Something is about to happen, and all most of the heroes present could say for sure is it was something they never would have in a million years seen coming.
Finally, Batman straightens with the resigned air of a man about to have oh so many regrets. He crosses his arms, shakes his head, and in an absolute deadpan monotone, says:
“You are awful children. You know you’re killing me. You’re killing your father.”
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Grounded for Halloween - Batfamily Imagine
Requested by Anon - Can I have a batsis x batfam where batsis gets grounded then sneaks out for a halloween party and the boys have to get her back before Bruce finds out? Please and thank you!!!!!!!
***
“You are grounded, young lady,” Bruce said sternly, pointing to the stairs that led up to the manor. His lips were a fine line, steel in his eyes. “Go to your room now.”
“All I did was what you taught me to do!” Your throat burned as you screamed back at him. Tears barely held at bay. “Why don’t you get your head out of your ass and realize it already?!”
Bruce snapped, rage bubbling to the surface. “I didn’t teach you to get yourself killed! Now go to your room and don’t come out until I say so! No patrol, no friends! School and your room, that’s it!” Bruce reached out to grab your arm, but you jerked away and ran up the stairs. Tears ran down your cheeks, wanting to say you hated him, but you held it in.
A loud bang sounded behind you as you stepped out into his office. You swore, kicking the grandfather clock door closed. “TT, what’s wrong with you?” Damian asked, peering inside at the noise. He had been sent to bed before Bruce laid into you.
“Shut up,” you choked, pushing past him to go to your room. Embarrassment and rage at the unfairness of it all stayed with you even as you slammed your bedroom door shut.
***
Days passed so slowly. Your father didn’t speak to you and you didn’t speak to him. Alfred brought you meals and tried to play peacemaker. He insisted you take the first step, but you refused. Why did you always have to be the bigger person when he was the adult? He was the one being unreasonable.
“Stop it,” Damian demanded as he marched into your room without knocking one evening after school. You were doing homework, minding your own business with your headphones on.
“Stop what?” You took off your headphones with a sigh. “And knock first.”
“Your fight with Father is going on long enough. He is temperamental and now he won’t let me go on patrol.” He crossed his arms as he stood in front of you. His nose wrinkled. You wanted so badly to reach out to boop it, but knew he would just explode.
You shook your head and turned back to your calculus homework. “I’m not apologizing when he’s being a dick.”
“He’s not a Dick. Grayson would have come talk to you by now.” Damian snarled when you chuckled slightly. “I will call him.”
“Calling Dick won’t help. He can’t get Dad to be rational no more than we can.” You waved your hand, dismissing Damian. “Now please leave. I got to finish this homework.”
“TT,” Damian huffed and stomped back out of the room. He slammed your door behind him, making you jump.
Swearing under your breath, you got up from your desk and went to your closet. You leaned against the doorway sadly, eyeing the Padme Amidala Halloween costume you had bought with your friends. The whole group decided to go as Star Wars characters. You were all supposed to go to Violet Crowne’s Halloween party. It was the biggest one of the year.
Of course, you won’t be able to go. Alfred was following your father’s orders even if he didn’t agree. You sighed. Suddenly, you had a rebellious thought. Why couldn’t you go to the party? You could sneak out and your friends could pick you up just outside Wayne Manor’s gates. Your dad would be none of the wiser. It’s not like he checked on you. He just trusted Alfred. You smiled and went back to your homework.
***
“Batwoman has the city taken care of. I need you here to watch over (Y/N) and Damian. (Y/N) is grounded and should stay in her room. Damian should at least be in the manor. No patrol,” Bruce ordered as he pulled on his cowl. Dick crossed his arms, unimpressed.
“Right and why are you punishing your children?” Dick bit his lip when Bruce brushed past him to head toward the batplane.
Bruce grunted, opening the batplane and climbing into the cockpit. “I’ll be back tomorrow at the earliest. Apparently, there is some kind of magic crisis due to the Halloween season. Zatanna asked for my help.”
Dick frowned at him. “Okay, I’ll ask again. Why are you punishing your kids? I mean I have to uphold it, so I should know what it’s about.”
Bruce narrowed his eyes, flicking a few switches in the cockpit. “Man-Bat is on the prowl. I want them kept out of it. Batwoman will call you if she needs help.”
“You wouldn’t need me here if it was just that.” Dick pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just tell me, Bruce.”
Bruce grunted in response, closing the cockpit. Dick stepped off the platform and watched Bruce take off and fly away. “I’ll just have to ask Alfred,” he mumbled, rolling his shoulders to relieve the tension. Dick headed up into the manor and searched around.
Damian was painting in his room, grumbling softly to himself. Dick left him alone. He didn’t need paint thrown at him again. Damian’s door still had the paint splatter from last time.
Your door was firmly closed. Dick bit his lip and knocked gently. “I’m not hungry, Alfred,” you answered through the door.
“I’m not Alfred.” Dick chuckled as you opened the door. You glared at him. Dick’s heart skipped a beat in surprise.
“Damian called you, didn’t he? Well, you can save it. I’m not apologizing.” You started to shut the door in Dick’s face, but Dick quickly inserted his foot in the doorway.
“Wait, Damian didn’t call me. Bruce did. I’m here for a visit while he’s gone,” Dick said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender.
Your eyes widened. “Dad’s gone?” You reopened the door. “Awesome.” You walked out of your room and started downstairs.
“Hey kiddo, what’s going on? Why are you grounded?” Dick asked, jogging to catch up to you. You ignored him and entered the kitchen. Alfred looked up from his recipe book. He frowned slightly at you, but didn’t say a word as you got yourself a glass of juice.
“Nothing. I just sit in my room and go to school.” You took a sip of the juice, eyeing Dick carefully. “How long is he going to be gone?”
“A day. He’ll be back tomorrow.” Dick blinked when you walked past him and went back upstairs. He started to follow you, but stopped himself. Clearly, you weren’t going to explain either. Like father, like daughter. He looked at Alfred helplessly.
Alfred closed the recipe book with a sigh. “Master Bruce and Miss (Y/N) had a disagreement about a situation on patrol. Miss (Y/N) jumped after a suicide victim with no regard to how they were going to save them. Master Bruce had to step in to catch them both.” Alfred shook his head, moving to take some ingredients out of the fridge. “They argued for hours in the cave, screaming at each other. Eventually, Master Bruce grounded her and they haven’t seen nor spoken to each other since. It’s been a week.”
Dick ran a hand through his hair. “Great.” He whistled. “So the only reason he called me home was to babysit?”
Alfred shrugged his shoulders. “Perhaps, Master Bruce didn’t give me his reasons.”
Dick bit his lip. “Okay, guess this will be a fun night. I was hoping we could watch movies or something for Halloween?”
“That would be a good idea, Master Dick.” Alfred perked up. “Master Damian hasn’t enjoyed the strain between Miss (Y/N) and Master Bruce. I know Miss (Y/N) is getting restless. Any activity would be good, plus some family time might help soothe the situation.”
Dick smiled in relief. “I’ll call the others and see if they’ll want to come over too. It’ll be good for all of us.” He took out his phone to make the calls while Alfred began to prepare food for the last-minute party.
***
You wore a pair of old jeans and a sweatshirt. The costume was safely tucked into your backpack. Your hair and makeup was done. You opened your bedroom window, pausing to eye the pillow lump under the covers. Hopefully, no one would check on you.
Just as you were about to climb out, a knock sounded on your door. You swore under your breath. “Yeah?” you asked.
“(Y/N), we’re having a movie night. Come join us,” Dick said, trying the door knob. Luckily, you locked the door. You sighed in slight relief.
“I’m not feeling well.” You coughed, face burning at the lie. “I think I’ll just sleep.”
“Really?” Dick paused for a long moment. “Okay, can I get you anything?” He sounded disappointed. Your heart ached a little, but it would have felt worse to miss the party.
“Nah.” You coughed again. “I just need to sleep it off.”
“Come down if you feel better or if you need anything, okay? We’re here for you, kiddo. Don’t forget that.” You held your breath until you heard him walk away.
“Thank you,” you whispered to yourself before climbing out the window and scaling down the side of the manor. You had done it before, but never in the dark.
Your heart stopped when you suddenly lost your footing. You gasped loudly, luckily finding your footing again before you ended up dropping the last two meters. Holding onto the side of the manor for dear life, you stopped, listening to see if you were heard. Only the sounds of the night reached your ears. You sighed in relief and made your way to the ground.
Safely on the ground, you glanced up at your window. It was still open so you could get back inside when you made it back. You saw the headlights of your friends’ car from the road. You quickly ran off into the night, ready for a fun time.
***
“Shouldn’t one of us check on (Y/N) again? At least bring them some medicine and water?” Tim asked once the first movie was done. Cass, Damian, Duke, and Dick were sitting around the den with snacks all around them. Tim was sitting at the small desk in the back, working on his laptop.
“I will go.” Cass stood up and walked out silently.
“I hate that she’s sick. She needs something fun after Bruce locked her in her room for so long,” Dick said after a moment as Damian happily stole the remote from Duke to choose the next movie. “I can’t believe Bruce is being so stubborn about this.”
Tim snorted. “Please, he was like this with all of us too.” He glanced at Dick, shaking his head. “Remember when he fired you from Robin when you got hurt by Two-Face. I know he almost banished me a few times too.”
“Yeah, he took me off patrol for two days after I disobeyed orders by going down a side street instead of the main road.” Duke shivered, taking a handful of popcorn. “(Y/N) is just too stubborn to apologize.”
“TT, that is true.” Damian chose an old samurai movie. “It doesn’t matter if you mean it, just say it to please Father.”
Dick coughed. “You shouldn’t do that. I mean Bruce has a point, but the avoidance of each other is the problem...” He stopped when Cass ran into the room.
“(Y/N) is gone.” She held up your phone. “Pillows were under the blankets and window was open.”
Dick swore under his breath, jumping to his feet. The others copied him except for Damian who didn’t seem concerned. “Everyone suit up. We need (Y/N) back here ASAP. If Bruce finds out she sneaked out...” Dick shivered. “We don’t need this argument between them worse.”
“I’ll let Al know what’s up,” Duke said, running out of the room.
Tim closed his laptop. “I’ll see if I can pick up her trail on the city’s cameras. Cass, why don’t you call Barbara and let her know (Y/N) is missing?” Cass nodded and left silently with Tim behind her.
“I knew I should have insisted on seeing her when I knocked,” Dick mumbled to himself, running a hand through his hair.
“TT.” Damian waved his hand. “You are just a simpleton, Grayson. That’s one of the oldest tricks in the book.”
Dick narrowed his eyes at Damian who kept his attention on the television. “Do you know something?”
Damian glanced up at Dick. “TT, this is your problem. You’re our babysitter, at least according to Father.”
Dick grabbed Damian’s arm and pulled him up. “In that case, you’re coming with us to search for your sister.” Damian growled as Dick pulled him from the room.
***
You laughed as you were spun around the room by a guy dressed as Anakin Skywalker. He had found you and asked you to dance. You couldn’t say no, simply from the coincidence alone.
The party was a lot of fun. There was some under-aged drinking, which you avoided to be the sober driver home for your friends. Lots of dancing and mingling. You let yourself go and enjoy. It was the first time in a week that you had fun.
“Can I get you something to drink?” the guy dressed as Anakin asked with a smirk. You nodded, catching your breath as you left the dance floor.
“Yeah, just a water. Thanks.” You smiled, leaning against a wall to rest. He left after he squeezed your hip. You sighed as one of your friends joined you on the wall. She was dressed a cute R2-D2.
“Well, he’s hot.” She giggled, face flushed. The beer in her hand half gone. “Lucky you, all I get are the nerds chasing after me.”
You shrugged. “Well, you can have him when he comes back. I’m not that interested.” You glanced around the room, freezing when you caught a familiar blonde woman in the corner of the room. “I’ll check in with you later.” You left your friend and made your way across the room to the blonde.
“Honestly, you should try it. Waffles and chicken. Who would have thought?” the blonde laughed. The others looked at her like she was crazy. You tapped her shoulder and the others quickly made their escape.
“Steph, what are you doing here? This is a high school party.” You crossed your arms.
She snorted, turning to reveal her Sailor Moon costume. “I’m investigating. Besides, I should ask why you are here? Aren’t you grounded?”
You bit your lip. “Maybe, but Dad’s not in the city at the moment.” You glanced around and gestured for Steph to step outside with you. She followed with slight disapproval.
“Isn’t that costume a little too revealing for you?” she asked, frowning. “You don’t want to get that kind of attention.”
“I can take care of myself.” You rolled your eyes, shivering in the cool air. The backyard deck was less crowded. Most of the people were over by the pool and the hot tub. “So what are you investigating?”
Steph zipped her lips. “Nope. This is my case and you are grounded.” She checked her phone. “Oh, and it looks like everyone is looking for you too.”
Your heart skipped a beat. “Everyone? Including Dad?”
She opened her message app. “I don’t think so, because Dick said they have to find you before Bruce gets back.”
“Cool.” You sighed in relief. “Well, don’t tell them I’m here.”
Steph sighed. “Come on, don’t do that. They already asked if I know where you are.” She swallowed hard. “I’m lucky I even got into this group chat at all. Everyone avoids me except for Cass since Tim and I broke up.”
“They don’t avoid you.” In all honesty, you weren’t sure if they were avoiding her on purpose or not. You weren’t, but you didn’t try to understand the rest of the family. “Steph, please.” You pouted your lips, giving her your best puppy eyes.
She crumbled in seconds. “Okay, okay. I didn’t see you here and you didn’t see me.” She crossed her arms. “But promise me you’ll check in with them soon? At least let them know you’re safe.”
“I will.” You waved, heading back inside the party. “Happy Halloween.”
“You too, (Y/N).” Steph waved back before going to join the teens by the pool. You shook your head, heading back in to find another dance partner.
***
“Babs, did you find anything?” Dick asked with a hint of panic in his voice. He and Damian were on a rooftop over the movie theater on Miagani Island. Dick remembered you talking about going there with friends once. Maybe you went again?
“No, nothing on cameras. No police reports.” She sighed through the comms. “Tim hasn’t found anything either.”
Dick groaned, glancing at Damian who was looking at the theater with mild interest. “Damian and I will check out the theater and see if (Y/N) is in there. After that, I think we’ll check her friends’ houses again.”
“I’ve already been to all of them. Nothing. None of them are at home and all their parents just say they are at each others’ houses,” Duke added with a yawn. “Are we sure (Y/N) isn’t at a party or something?”
Dick froze. “Of course.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “She’s at a party. That explains the sneaking out and her friends being AWOL.”
“TT,” Damian crossed his arms. “Probably Crowne’s party. It was all over school.”
“I’ll check social media,” Barbara said with a sigh. “(Y/N) doesn’t have her phone, but I’ll check her friends’.”
“Good.” Dick turned off the comm. He glanced at Damian to find him still watching the movie theater with interest. “Come on, D. Let’s go check it out. Maybe we can come back tomorrow?” He dropped down. Damian blinked, huffing before rather eagerly following Dick down.
***
Things were starting to blur together. You shouldn’t have drank the punch your friend gave you once you came back in after talking to Steph. Dancing away, you lost track of who’s hand was on your hip and just focused on the music.
Responsibility flew away from you. You weren’t going to be good anymore. Just live your life, who cares what Dad thought? Rebel.
Suddenly, you found yourself in a bedroom with Anakin Skywalker again. He was kissing you, hands wandering. You let him, enjoying the closeness and the excitement that came with it.
Suddenly, he disappeared. You gasped, blinking several times to find Steph kicking the boy out of the room with the full power of Sailor Moon. “What the hell?” you asked, feeling like you just resurfaced after being underwater for so long.
“Come on, (Y/N). You need to be sober and get out of here,” Steph said, slapping your cheek. You flinched, gasping as you touched your cheek. It worked, you felt more awake now.
“I only drank one glass of punch.” You rubbed your eyes, getting to your feet. Steph reached for your costume, readjusting it for you.
“Don’t worry, it wasn’t the punch.” Steph cupped your face to look you in the eye. “You okay?”
“I’m okay.” You blinked, rubbing your eyes again. “Why do I need to leave?”
“You just do. I’ve already called Tim.” Steph took your hand and led you out of the bedroom. She stopped in the hallway when downstairs went silent. “Crap.”
Your eyes widened as Steph pushed you back into the bedroom and shut the door. “What was that?” Your head started to throb.
Steph smiled sheepishly. “You remember I was investigating? Well, I think I might have found it.”
“Found what?” Your eyes widened. “Steph, my friends are down there! What’s going on?!”
“Hush.” Steph put a hand over your mouth. “Your friends are fine, just unconscious. I found out through my contacts that Mad Hatter was going to use the party to find a new Alice. He had mind control devices in the music.” Steph held her breath when she heard someone come up the stairs. She grabbed your hand and pulled you to hide in the closet. “He brain blasted the room once he found an Alice. Since we weren’t in the same room as the stereo, we weren’t affected.”
You blinked, trying to catch up. “So I’m not drunk.”
Steph shook her head, pressing her finger against your lips. “No, you’re just under the influence of the music.” She pulled ear plugs out of her ears. The person who came up the stairs went back downstairs. “You’ll be fine. Stay here.” She slipped out of the closet, leaving you behind.
“Like hell.” You followed her. Steph glanced back at you before rolling her eyes and shrugging her shoulders. The two of you went to the edge of the staircase and peered down through the railing to see Mad Hatter and his hired men walking around the unconscious bodies of the teens.
“Where is she?!” Mad Hatter screamed, kicking one of the fallen teens. “I want my Alice! Where is my Alice?”
“Do you know who he thinks is Alice?” You frowned, your headache getting worse. Steph shook her head and pulled out a domino mask. She handed it to you before slipping on one of her own. You put it on with shaky hands.
“You go left, I’ll go right. Move fast.” Steph winked at you and hopped over the railing. You followed her, stumbling slightly from the pain in your head. However, you caught yourself, knocking out the two hired goons on your side quickly.
Mad Hatter clapped his hands. “Alice, there you are,” he said, pointing to you. You felt sick to your stomach. “What a disguise, I almost don’t recognize you, but you can’t fool me.”
“Lights out, crazy.” Steph came up behind him and elbowed him in the face. Mad Hatter stumbled back, holding his nose. You took the opportunity to nerve strike him. He fell unconsciousness, landing on his face. “Good work.”
“Thanks, you were good too.” You smiled at her. The pain in your head was still pounding away, but you had to admit you missed crime fighting. You glanced around at the fallen teens, going to check on a few of your friends in the corner. A shiver went up your spine at the idea you were Mad Hatter’s target and he would have gotten you if it weren’t for Steph.
A motorcycle sounded from outside. You perked up. Steph peeked out the window, sighing in relief. “It’s just Tim. Go with him. I’ll call the cops and take care of this mess.”
“I shouldn’t leave my friends,” you said, sighing when you found a steady pulse for each one.
“(Y/N), you got to go. You’re grounded and the longer you’re out, the more angry your dad is going to get.” Steph pulled handcuffs out of her bag and cuffed Hatter’s hands around his back. “I’ll make sure they’re okay. Text them, say you left before everything went down.”
You sighed, hearing the motorcycle’s engine turn off. Tim would be inside soon. “Thanks for everything, Steph. I would be...well, worse off if it weren’t for you.”
“You’re welcome.” She grinned, going over to give you a flying hug. “We’ll have to meet for waffles once you’re sprung. I think we could team up some more.” She pressed her cheek against yours. “It would do you good to get away from the big bad bat. He’s such a downer all the time.” She tapped your nose as she pulled away. Your lips couldn’t hold back a smile.
“(Y/N)?!” Tim shouted from the front entry. He sprinted into the room before skidding to a stop when he saw you and Steph surrounded by unconscious people. “What? Is that Mad Hatter?” He gaped at Steph. “What are you doing here?”
Steph rolled her eyes. “I’m finishing my investigation.” She spun around on her heel, nose in the air. “Now I’m calling the cops. You take (Y/N) home now.”
You went to Tim and took his arm. “Come on, we handled it already,” you said firmly. Tim followed you, shaking his head.
“You are in so much trouble. Dick’s worried sick, I’d hate to think what Bruce will do when he finds out.” Tim eyed your outfit and took off his coat to hand it to you. You rolled your eyes and slipped it on.
“I don’t care what Dad has to say.” You walked down the front steps, sirens blaring in the distance. Tim climbed on his bike first, getting settled before you climbed on behind him. “And I didn’t know Mad Hatter was going to attack the party. Steph saved me.”
Tim grunted. “Right. Hold on.” He started the motorcycle and took off. You sighed, resting your cheek against his back. Tightening your arms around his waist, you tried not to think to much of what could have happened.
***
You stepped through the door of the Manor only to be trapped into a breath-stealing hug from Dick. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” You choked as he spun you around.
“You’re killing me, Dick.” He stopped and let you go, but gripped your shoulders.
“Look at me,” he ordered, forcing you to meet his eye. You felt your bottom lip tremble slightly. His eyes looked deep into your soul. “Next time, you talk to me and never leave your phone behind. If Steph wasn’t there, you could have...” Dick swallowed hard. You wondered when he had been updated on the situation. Barbara probably told him. Steph would have bragged to her. “I know you can take care of yourself, but we can’t back you up if we don’t know where you are.”
Tears burned your eyes, but you blinked them away. “I’m sorry,” you whispered. Dick pulled you into another hug. You hid your face into his shoulder as a few traitorous tears escaped.
Dick rocked you gently. “You’re safe, that’s what matters.” He rubbed your back. You heard Damian huffing from somewhere nearby before he mumbled about emotional women. Tim slipped around you and Dick and dragged him out of the room.
“Does Dad have to know?” you asked, sniffling once you had the courage to pull away.
Dick wiped away your tears with his thumb. It reminded you when you were little and he caught you crying after Bruce missed your birthday. “No, he doesn’t have to know.”
“What do I not need to know?” Bruce asked suddenly. You and Dick froze before turning to catch Bruce standing in the entrance hall. He frowned, wearing a black shirt and sweatpants. By his wet hair, you knew he had been home for some time if he already showered.
Dick took your hand. “You said you were going to be home tomorrow?”
Bruce glanced at his watch. “It is tomorrow.” He narrowed his eyes at you. You pulled Tim’s jacket tighter around you to hide your costume. “My office. Now.” He turned and left you behind, knowing you’d follow.
“Thanks for trying,” you mumbled to Dick before dragging your feet.
“Be honest with him. He loves you, kiddo. Don’t forget that.” Dick squeezed your shoulder, letting his hand drop once you stepped out of his reach. You took several deep breaths to stay composed.
Damian waited outside the office doors. “Good luck.” He smirked.
“Shut up.” You punched his arm hard. He winced, growling at you.
“(Y/N).” Bruce frowned at you through the doorway where he was seated at his desk. It was going to be one of those desk talks. You hated when he did that to you.
You rolled your eyes and marched inside, shutting the door firmly in Damian’s face. Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath. “Just don’t yell, okay?” you said, opening your eyes and moving to take a seat.
Bruce flinched slightly in surprise. You almost smiled at the knowledge you caught him off guard. “What happened tonight?” He leaned back in his chair. His hand folded under his chin, expression unreadable.
You swallowed hard and wished you could just sink into your chair. “I sneaked out to a party.” You bit your lip when he didn’t react. The silence weighed heavily in the air. “I...I was safe. Steph was there to help me.”
Bruce frowned. You swore the temperature in the room dropped several degrees by his look alone. “The business with Mad Hatter. You were there?”
“Not on purpose. I was only at the party.” You had to look out the window behind him. Stay calm, don’t start yelling or crying. Be rational like he wants you to be. You hoped he didn’t know you had become Mad Hatter’s target.
“So you sneaked out of the house, went to some party and almost got kidnapped by the Mad Hatter?” He got to his feet. “You disobeyed me, disrespected Dick and Alfred, went out without your phone, and almost got yourself killed?” You gulped, Barbara must have told him everything. This family was the worst.
“Yes, but you were being unreasonable.” You got to your feet, eyes still focused above his head. “I was trained by you. Yeah, sometime I make reckless decisions, but I can handle myself. I would have saved myself and the jumper that night if you wouldn’t have stepped in so fast.” Your eyes finally dropped to meet his gaze. You stuttered. “Going without my phone to the party was a mistake. I was lucky Steph was there, but I wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t ground me.”
Bruce stood up. The look in his eyes sharpened. “Don’t you dare tell me I shouldn’t be able to ground you when you almost got yourself killed.” You flinched when he leaned toward you. Bruce blinked in surprise, his expression softened. “I can’t lose you, (Y/N).”
You felt a tear trail down your cheek. Quickly, you reached to wipe it away. “Dad, I need you to trust me.”
“I do.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he came around the desk to stand in front of you. He hesitated a moment before placing his hands on your shoulders. “Do you know how scared I was that day when you could have died before my eyes? How terrified I was when I got a report from Barbara about tonight?”
His grip tightened on your shoulders. A sob slipped out of your mouth. “I’m sorry.”
Bruce pulled you into his arms. You buried your face into his chest and let yourself cry. He gently moved to sit down in the armchair with you on his lap. You haven’t sat with him like this since you were little.
Time passed. You kept your face against his chest even when Alfred opened the door and offered hot chocolate. Bruce accepted it with a soft thank you. Alfred left quietly. You lifted your face from Bruce’s chest, ignoring the wet spot you left on his shirt. He handed you a hot chocolate. Alfred added marshmallows to it. You smiled a little at the sight.
“No more parties,” Bruce said softly. You looked at up at him, opening your mouth to speak. He held up his hand. “No more parties, because you are grounded from them. However, I want you to know I trust you, so we’ll start patrolling together again.”
You felt your mouth pull into a smile. “Really?” You took a sip of the hot chocolate. Bruce nodded, studying his own cup of hot chocolate. Alfred added marshmallows to his too. “They aren’t bad, Dad.” You giggled, happier than you had been in a week.
“If you say so.” He took a drink, smirking slightly at the sugary taste. “And I don’t like that costume.”
You blinked before glancing down. With everything, you had forgotten you were still in your costume and Tim’s jacket, which had fallen open to reveal the full thing. “Dad, I’m not a little girl anymore. I can wear stuff like this.”
He grunted, sitting back in his chair. You relaxed against his chest. Both of you enjoyed each other’s company in rare silence.
#bruce wayne#bruce wayne imagine#batfamily#batfamily imagine#batman#batman imagine#damian wayne#damian wayne imagine#batsis#batsis x reader#batsis imagine#dc comics imagines#dc reader insert#dick grayson#dick grayson imagine#stephanie brown#stephanie brown imagine#batfamily x reader
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