#decides to throw away his identity as bruce wayne and only live as batman

[linkspooky]

I know you already said in a post that Batman would empathize with Tomura so I wanted to ask you if you think Batman could empathize with the rest of the League.

Sure, there are plenty of parallels already between Batman's rogues gallery, and the League of Villains. Batman is characterized by his relationship with his villains, partly because he frequently shows empathy for his villains, considering how many of them are victims who've had "a bad day" just like Bruce did.

Toga Himiko and Harley Quinn

This is the most similar parallel between a batman rogue and Himiko, I already wrote a post about it here, more or less Harley and Toga live their lives in a twisted pursuit of love which would be an understandable motivation were it not for in pursuing their love they create many victims along the way as they violently lash out.

There is an episode of Batman the animated series called "Harley's Holiday" where Harley is given a clean bill of health and is discharged from Arkham Ayslum. Harley however, the next day is triggered when the shop attendant forgot to take the tags off a dress she legally purchased and the shoplifting detector went off, what specifcally triggers Harley is the idea that she's going to go down for a crime she didn't commit and be dragged back into Arkham. Harley has a bit of an emotional breakdown at this point and thinking she's going to be arrested, knocks down the security guard, takes a hostage to protect herself and runs out the store.

Harley: I just wanna live a normal life without some cop always pouncing on me.

Harley all day long runs with the hostage not because she's trying to hurt anyone, but essentially is having a breakdown and legitimately believes that she will be dragged back to Arkham for a crime that she did not commit. She even did not intend to hurt the girl she kidnapped and was planning on letting her go.

Batman follows Harley the whole episode, not because he wants to capture her and put her back in prison, but he's trying to de-escalate the situation and protect Harley so she doesn't lose the progress she's made.

Bruce: Listen to me. All the work you've done, your freedom. If you run away, you'll lose them Harley. You're so close to winning back your real life. Why risk it now?

It's worth bringing up that Himiko is also someone who was specifically failed by the social systems that were supposed to teach her how to use her quirk in a healthy way. Imagine, if after her first violent incident, instead of being thrown out by her parents, and pursued by the police to lock her up someone would have gone as far as Bruce did to remind Himiko that one bad day, or one bad deed shouldn't ruin your whole life. The goal of batman isn't to throw away his villains and lock away the key but to reform them, as shown by his last action in the episode buying Harley a dress and expressing empathy for her troubles.

Harley: Why did you stay with me all day, risking your butt for someone who's never given you anything but trouble? Bruce: I know what it's like to try and rebuild a life. I had a bad day too, once.

TWICE AND HARVEY DENT

Disassociative identity disorder? Check. Formerly good person who goes bad and suffers a mental breakdown after what was essentially an accident? Check. For Twice it's losing his parents, it's losing his job, it's deciding to steal to make a living only to have all his clones turn against him and forget what's the real one. Harvey starts out not only as a well-intentioned person, but a prosecutor trying to fight crime, and a close friend to Bruce Wayne.

The inciting incident to his villainry is a sheer accident, through no fault of his own. Harvey has problems with another personality, a repressed angry side, and is attending therapy to address it while the pressures of his outside life pile on and one violent accident that scars half of his face causes him to snap.

Batman's focus the entire episode is once again, trying to bring his friend back. In Harley's case especially he's suffering from a dissociative identity disorder which does not make him fully in control of his actions. It's not even a question of whether or not Harvey is past the point of no return for Bruce, but rather how he is going to bring him back.

Bruce: Wherever you are, whatever you've become, I will save you. I swear. "Two-Face Part II".

As Two-Face insists that Harvey is gone and no part of him remains, it's Bruce who refuses to give up on the idea that Harvey is still there, reminding him he still has friends.

Bruce: I want to help you. Harvey: Help me? You don't know anything about me. Bruce: I know that you have friends, Harvey. Friends who love and care about you. Harvey: Harvey's friends are no friends of mine. Bruce: What about Grace? Harvey: Grace? What do you know about Grace? Bruce: Every day, she waits and prays. She wants you back, Harv.

Once Harvey's attempts at revenge against the man who scarred him are stopped, there are follow up episodes like "Second Chance" that emphasize once again that Bruce is someone who believes in Harvey's ability to heal. When he's kidnapped just before getting face restoring surgery after making major progress in his therapy, Batman spends the entire episode trying to get him back and it ends again on this hopeful note.

Harvey: Bruce. Goold old Bruce. Always there. You never give up on me.

Bruce doesn't kill his villains because he doesn't believe he has the right to act as a judge on whether they have the right to redeem themselves or not, and in many cases he is actively in support of their rehabilitation and return to society. Compare the way Hawks handled Twice. He started off making an offer to redeem him, but unlike Bruce decided he was the one who had the right to choose who was worthy of redemption and who was not. He divides good people and bad people and decides Only Twice is worth redemption because he is good and his offer of redemption comes at the cost of selling out the league, and then goes straight to the murder option.

Batman doesn't act like he has the right to decide who gets saved, and who doesn't, whereas in hero society there's a pattern of regularly ignoring the help of people in need of they don't fit the image of a "good innocent victim."

"Well Batman wasn't fighting a war like Hawks was" go read the Injustice Comics, Batman's best friend Clark Kent becomes the literal dictator of the world and Batman is running a rebellion against him and the justice league and he still never chooses to kill anyone even if that would make the fight he is fighting a lot easier.

Jason Todd and Dabi

This one is a little bit harder to explain, because there's no under the red hood arc in Batman the Animated series which I am using as my main example because it's the most well known version of Batman. I did write an arc comparing Jason and Toya.

Under the Red Hood the storyline if anything is a well-written tragedy because it shows how much Batman failing to save Jason is a deviation of his true self, and his desire to save and reform his villains. Batman suddenly has trouble helping save an obvious victim, because of how much his own guilt complex and fear that he will lose Jason again is sabotaging his feelings. Batman isn't perfect after all.

However, I will say two things, if you read the original Death in the Family arc Bruce isn't a perfect parent but he is leagues better than Endeavor and he in fact was doing what he thought was best to help Jason when Jason started showing signs of instability.

His attempt to remove Jason from the Robin role was because he thought Robin was making Jason worse and Jason needed time to be a normal kid. Which is on a totally different level than what Enji did which is just throw away the kid he didn't need, and then make no attempt to help a kid who was reacting badly through sheer regret. If Batman had a kid reacting like Toya, he would have noticed and at least tried to help because at that point in the comics Batman was a flawed parent yes, but one actively trying to fix his mistakes and do better, as opposed to one who just ran away at every opportunity.

On top of that Bruce's hesitation the entire Under the Red Hood arc is about how much he mourns Jason, and how afraid he is of grieving him again. He fears that he can't save him while wanting to save him. Whereas, Enji really only cares about whether or not he can keep being a hero. Batman makes it clear by the end of the arc he wants to save Jason, he's wanted to the entire time.

Batman also, unlike Enji is capable of admitting that he can be the bad guy and that he can fail. Bruce also admit, and I think this is what makes him symapthize with his villains so much that he's not a saint or paragon of morality either, much like Jason he also feels tempted to put villains on the ground or that it would be much easier to just take justice into his own hands.

Part of what drives him to be a hero is because he's capable of imagining himself being the villain, that's why he relates to his villains and tries to help them instead of taking justice into his own hands. Whereas, Enji can abuse his family for years and be told several times that he chose being a hero over a father, only to believe he's still somehow the hero in this scenario. You have one who understands they failed their son and they could be a villain and the other who can never see themselves as the villain and instead villainize their son.

SPINNER VS KILLER CROC

As for Spinner the closest comparison I can come up with is Killer Croc, someone who is just a normal person with a birth defect that causes their skin to grow scales who was treated as a sideshow freak and continually dehumanized throughout all of their lives. This one is harder because Killer Croc doesn't really get many sympathetic episodes in Batman the Animated Series, in fact there's an episode I kind of dislike where Croc is taken in by freaks who treat him as human and accept him and then he turns on them. Which I think is kind of against the message of a lot of these Batman the Animated Series episodes, that these people aren't bad at heart but created by the circumstances they've endured in life.

If you dig around in the comics though there are times where Killer Croc is treated in a much more sympathetic light, in Suicide Squad he has a romance with Enchantress of all people which calms him down significantly because utlimately he just wants to be treated as a human from having people hurl abuse at him all these years and treat him as an animal because of his skin condition.

COMPRESS VS THE RIDDLER

Closest comparison I can come up with for Compress is the Riddler, because Compress to me of the league is the most "Bank Robber in a Silly Costume" themed villains. Riddler's obsession isn't really with harming people so much as creating elaborate riddles for Batman to solve.

When Paul Dini did a run on detective comics they explored Riddler from this angle, by have him giving up his identity as the Riddler and instead for awhile act as a private investigator who turned his same obsession in creating riddle themed crimes, to solving them instead. he even worked alongside Batman a couple of times.

#askspookies #mha meta #dc comics meta #batman #dc comics #toga himiko #harley quinn #twice #jin bubaigawara #hawks #harvey dent #jason todd #dabi #toya todoroki #the riddler #mr. compress #btas #batman the animated series #metasks

[lordmo]

Brucey’s Machine

more dumb Batman fanfic ideas

so I love Batman as a restorative force, not purely a punitive one. Blame it on a youth on BTAS and its related comics where he’s sympathetic to crime.

Particularly keep in mind the BTAS comics, where he would occasionally make a point of using Waynetech resources to help the small-time crooks he was busting down, because he recognized they were trying to make a living before a freak in a skintight Bat costume broke their arms.

Enter a small cadre of Waynetech employees -- a janitor who had mugged someone to pay his rent, a mail clerk who’s a recovering addict, a security guard who busted up a pawn shop when his wife needed surgery, a rank-and-file engineer who had tried to use a nuclear kickball to melt a payday loan office during a manic spree because they weren’t receiving the psychiatric care they needed, an admin assistant who had been working numbers for Two Face, etc., etc. - who all got busted by Batman for minor shit but then got recruited by Wayne Corp. as part of a convict outreach program, and had their lives turned around.

This odd cadre have a poker night where they start trading stories, until they piece together enough details to realize that their employer is not just Bruce Wayne -- he’s Batman.

They all debate what to do with this information, but decide to form a small, protective shell from the bottom up to protect Batman’s secret identity - an armored shell for the soft spot on the belly of Bruce Wayne, who had left soft spots that not even Batman could predict because of Bruce Wayne’s socioeconomic status. Because, after all -- they had all been helped by Bruce Wayne when the criminal justice system had left them to rot when they were all at their most desperate.

So the tiny group endeavor to do their part to deflect suspicion from Batman, in their own small ways, from within. Acting as a small-time smokescreen from people who have cause to believe something’s up. But the crux of the story is that someone *does* get the inkling that Bruce Wayne is Batman, and our small gathering of well-meaning mooks have to use their skills and connections to nip this shit in the bud to scare the would-be antagonist from realizing the truth, all the while leaving Bruce Wayne clueless that they know his secret.

Some asshole gets thwarted. Batman never really suspects anything is awry. Hell, even the car that got melted by a nuclear kickball was probably a coincidence, it was probably a weapon stolen from evidence lockup and, besides, it was only used to stop a gangster from getting away. It was probably an open-and-shut case of gangland revenge, but at least nobody died. The Bat-Fam have more important things to worry about than that. 

These are the things that Bruce Wayne thinks about as he strolls into the front door of his main office building at 9am on Tuesday morning, his secret safe. The front desk man and the janitor greet him heartily. One of his engineers calls him “Mr. Wayne” in the hall. The mail clerk lowers their over-loud headphones to give him a “yo, boss!” and an archivist throws a glance before an unnoticed smile, etc. There’s no strife, no sign at all of a villain who threatened to destabilize this. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for a new hire who sheepishly admits that this is her first job after getting busted for running a chop shop. Bruce Wayne jokes and says that he knows she’ll be great at the details, then retreats into his office.

Floors get cleaned, mail gets sorted, numbers get crunched, people get help, lives get changed, and Bruce Wayne becomes Batman.

The machine runs smooth, and nobody bats an eye. When the machine breaks down, that’s when people notice. Nobody ever pays attention to an escalator until it’s broken. But Batman has backup he has no idea about -- people who keep the machine running smooth. A machine he built with his own hands, with no expectation of a reward, but one that chose to make the Batman mythos work under the hood.

This is Brucey’s Machine.

theme:

#Mo's Brain Vomit Parade #Batman

[duskbat]

#also the context for this is #bruce was framed for murder as bruce wayne #it was almost impossible to prove his innocence but bruce obviously didn't murder anyone because he's batman #obviously the bat fam is trying to prove his innocence #but they can't find anything #and so some of them actually start to think maybe bruce did murder someone #but then bruce goes stir crazy in jail #breaks out #decides to throw away his identity as bruce wayne and only live as batman #obviously the bat fam confronts him and is like hey you didn't actually murder someone right? #and bruce fucking refuses to answer #FOR NO REASON #he literally could just say no and that would be the end of it #anyway bruce tries to run away but dick stops him and is like hey i never once doubted you and also you're my dad so what the fuck #bruce and dick get in a fight #dick accidentally shatters the memorial to jason #bruce escapes and then monologues about how he expected more from them and now he's finally 'free' #it's an interesting concept for an arc but poorly executed #also if bruce just waited for the bat fam to prove his innocence and worked with them none of this would have happened #god i hate it when dc is like batman works alone #ok then why does he have robin #why does he adopt his sidekicks #why did he join the justice league #why is he friends with superman #why does he train new heroes #why does he allow people to know his secret identity #why does he work with gorden #why does he keep Alfred around #hell even in this arc he wouldn't have been able to escape jail without alfred so don't give me that bullshit #he's nothing without the people around him

[verymuchimmortalcat]

As You Were Once

For Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month Day 14: De-aged

ao3

@maribat-bdbwm

Marinette was waiting at the airport for her dad, Cass, Damian, Tim and Steph. Lucius had said that there were some important things to handle in the Paris branch of WE and had insisted upon Bruce dealing with it himself. Then the others wanted to join him, leaving Dick as Batman for the week, Signal, Red Hood, Oracle and the Birds of prey to protect Gotham. Alfred had decided to go on a vacation when most of the Manor's occupants were coming to Paris and Duke would be staying with Jason for the next week. 

The five of them had promised that they wouldn't interfere in case of an akuma attack. Though Marinette was sure that they weren't going to sit back if they decided their help was needed. But hopefully they wouldn't deal with anything too severe this week. 

She waves as she spots her siblings, all of them with the exception of Steph trying not to draw attention to themselves. 

“B’s still getting everything sorted at customs and immigration,” Tim informs her once she’s finished hugging all of them.

She frowns, “was there a problem with something?”

“He’s keeping up his cover,” Damian states.

“He’s being unnaturally friendly to someone he hasn’t done a background check on,” Steph says.

“It was starting to get creepy,” Cass adds.

Marinette probably would have run away too. Galas were one thing, everyone there had been through an extensive background check but the whole Brucie Wayne act in front of people he knew absolutely nothing about was a completely different level of strange.

Their conversation turns to everything she’s missed since their last conversation. She gets a very detailed update on Damian’s pets 

They weren't waiting long before they were joined by B. Though he had to leave almost immediately to WE apparently whatever he had come for had been more urgent than they had realised. 

Once her dad is gone the five of them head to the bakery, while there wasn't space for everyone to stay at the bakery, all of them had wanted to spend time with the Dupain-Chengs. 

.oOo.

They're all at the bakery when the screaming starts. All of them immediately jump up but before any of them can join her she stops them and tells them to cover for her. Tom and Sabine don't know her identity and her siblings can't risk theirs over what’s probably a simple akuma attack. 

Promising them she'll call if she needs help she transforms and heads in the direction of the akuma. Adrien's already there but the others aren't supposed to transform unless needed. It's pretty close to WE. Marinette hopes her father actually remembered his promise and didn't become a target. 

She stops to rescue a larger number of children then she'd normally have to. Why are there so many children outside during an akuma attack?

It's only when she stops in front of a boy who appears to be about seven who looks exactly like the photos Alfred has of her father at that age does she figure out what the akuma's powers are. 

De aging. 

Marinette asks him anyway, there is always the possibility that a random Parisian child looks exactly like a seven-year-old version of her father.

It is not a random Parisian child. Marinette is the holder of the miraculous of good luck, you really would think she’d have better luck.

She crouches down so that she’s at his eye level, “I’m going to take you somewhere safe. Is that ok with you?”

He looks unsure but he nods. Picking him up, she swings back to the bakery as fast as possible. She calls Nino, Alya and Kagami and tells them there's a family emergency and to take care of the akuma and to bring it to her so she could purify it. 

Landing in an alleyway near the bakery, she de-transforms. She doesn't bother with telling him to keep her identity a secret. He already knows in the future and he's definitely not going to talk to someone who doesn't already know who she is.  

Holding his hand she leads him to the bakery. She tells Damian to get the others up and takes her dad (wow, is it strange to think of an approximately seven year old as her dad) to the living room.

She tells Tikki to give tiny Bruce something to occupy his time while she and her siblings figure something out. As they all join her upstairs, she sees as each of them realise what's happened and go from shock to laughter. 

"He doesn't remember anything. The others are taking care of the akuma. Figured you’d need help taking care of him," she says before Tim can ask. 

"Hasn't happened yet," Cass states. 

The laughter from a few seconds ago is gone. They all know what she's talking about. This Bruce Wayne hasn't lost his parents. 

This Bruce Wayne also seems to be glaring at them, he also looks scared. She can’t blame him, he wasn’t offered much of an explanation before she brought him here.

"Where are my parents?” he demands, “The girl who brought me here obviously seems to be some kind of superhero. Who are the rest of you?"

None of them look shocked that he knows that she’s Ladybug but none of them are dwelling on that. He asked for his parents what could they even tell him? They obviously can't tell him his parents are dead but they also know it wouldn't be fair to lie to him. 

"Would you like to talk to Alfred?" Tim asks suddenly. They all sigh in relief when he nods. 

Marinette calls Alfred but doesn't hand the phone to tiny Bruce immediately, it would definitely be more painful for Alfred than any of them to deal with him in this state. 

As soon as he picks up, Marinette starts speaking, "there was an akuma and dad became small and he's asking for his parents and we offered to call you instead."

Alfred being Alfred remains calm and asks her to hand the phone to tiny Bruce. All of them are staring at him as he talks to Alfred over the phone. Even though they can hear only one side of the conversation, tiny Bruce seems to calm down. 

Once he ends the call, he hands the phone back to her and says, "Alfred says that some kind of magic made me small and that all of you are very important to me when I become big."

"You're strangely adorable," Steph says. 

He frowns at that and he’s never before looked more like Damian.

“So, what do you like to do when you're bored?” Marinette asks, bending down in front of him and they all watch as one of the world’s greatest heroes rambles on about something his mom showed him last week.

.oOo.

This is the most they’ve ever heard Bruce talk about his parents and Alfred. They’re all listening intently about the woman who was their grandmother right now. Neither of them want to ask for more information. It wouldn't make sense to not know his parents if they were close to him. Alfred mentioned once that Marinette looks startlingly similar to Martha Wayne, Tim wonders if B’s picked up on it yet. Even if he has, Tim supposes, there wouldn’t be any reason for him to dwell on it as far as the Bruce in front of them is concerned his parents are alive and well.

They’ve all snuck pictures of him talking animatedly, he’s too carefree to notice, has no reason not to be. He’s already sent a few to Alfred and the others and immediately switched off notifications. Marinette and Damian do it too when their phones start blowing up, Steph’s just ignoring it and still taking photos and Cass is spamming them back. 

He goes back to watching Bruce talk without the weight he’s been carrying in all the time Tim’s known him.

.oOo.

It's strange, Cass thinks, to see him like this. The closest he's ever been to this relaxed is when all of them are at the manor for something other than a gala or bat business. 

She's alternating between listening to Bruce and tormenting her brothers who stayed back in Gotham. She’s sure if patrol wasn’t starting soon, they would’ve been here already for varying reasons.

She wonders if he’ll remember any of this when he comes back to normal, she’ll have to ask Marinette.

.oOo.

They moved to Marinette’s room in case the Dupain-Chengs check on them. Father’s taking a break from talking and is going through Marinette’s designs, Stephanie and Cassandra are with him. Drake seems to have taken on the responsibility of tormenting the others remaining in Gotham or he’s just texting his boyfriend, Damian doesn’t want to know.

He’s watching as the three of them go through Marinette’s designs, and watches as she gets progressively more flustered as they bury her in compliments, well mostly Stephanie, Cassandra and Father aren’t as vocal but it’s also the most he’s heard Father compliment someone sincerely.

It’s strange to think of the child in front of him as his father. He smiles a lot more and even laughed several times.

And then Stephanie mentions that Damian draws and Father’s asking him if he could look at his drawings. Damian offers him a small smile and unlocks his phone and shows him the recent painting of Titus, Alfred, Ace and Jerry and watches as his Father analyses the whole painting.

Maybe the child in front of him is not the father he’s gotten to know but it is nice to see him all the same.

.oOo.

Marinette’s starting to get worried. It’s been an hour and the others haven’t returned with the Akuma yet. They can’t keep tiny Bruce occupied forever. She’s considering transforming and checking it out when Tim pokes his head out from where he’s sitting on her bed and says, “hey Mari, delivery for you.”

Alya’s standing next to him with the akuma in a jar, looking confused. Marinette sighs, explaining this is going to be interesting.

She climbs up and heads to the balcony before transforming. Alya hands her the jar and Marinette purifies the akuma, calls for her lucky charm and throws it up in the air.

“So…” Alya starts, “wanna explain what that was about?” 

“Family emergency. I’ll tell you about it later. Bye!” and then Marinette’s back in her room. Her siblings seem to be panicking and her dad’s not there. The Miraculous Ladybug should have taken him back to where he was. He’s probably standing in the middle of the street completely disoriented.

Detransforming she joins their discussion, or more accurately panicked argument, to let them know what happened. They’re all on their way to the Paris branch of WE in a few minutes. She’s sure one of the employees is bound to have found him and explained things to him but they’re still going just in case.

He’s attacked by hugs when they find him in the lobby of the building, he looks confused as to why but none of them offer any explanation. Steph’s the first one to pull away when her phone starts ringing.

“Shit. We forgot to tell Alfred everything’s fine again.”

Letting go of her dad, she checks her phone and there at the very top of her notifications is a missed call from Alfred. Just one, he’s not anything like the rest of the family as proven by the hundred notifications below that. Steph’s already picked up the call and handed it to B. Marinette sends Dick a message to let him know that everything’s back to normal and to please not come to Paris once patrol’s done.

There are people staring at them, which isn’t surprising but makes her uncomfortable all the same and she knows the rest of them probably feel the same, though Tim might've gotten used to it. They watch in silence as B finishes talking to Alfred and hands Steph’s phone back to her.

He looks over the bunch of them and asks, “did you have something to tell me?”

It feels like forever that they stand awkwardly looking at him before Marinette says, “nope! Nothing important,” and drags her siblings out of the building and back to the bakery. They can talk to him later and Damian’s yawning on their way back. It’s been one hell of a first day in Paris for them, she can’t wait for the rest of the week.

#the only reason this is on time is because ive had it written for a month #maribat #mbdbwm2021 #bio dad bruce wayne #my writing

[jmoriarty-221b]

Ok so this idea was inspired by AUs where Tim Drake is a member of the Addams family and thus this cute idea was born

Ok so, Tim’s parents still travel a lot but instead of leaving him alone in a big empty manor they leave him with his aunt and uncle Morticia and Gomez Addams

And Tim is a weird little kid who grows up without fear of the dark figures at night because the boogeyman is actually a pretty nice fellow who was very touched when Tiny Tim gave them a drawing of themselves, the monster in the closet actually gives great fashion advice as well as providing the perfect clothes for playing dress up, and the monsters under his bed are great storytellers and the shadow man gives Tim great advice on how to hide and use shadows to his advantage, etc.

The point is that Timmy grows up under the care of the Addams when his parents have to leave on long business trips or excavation sites and as such, is exposed to Gomez’s great appreciation of swordsmanship and fencing, and the haunted suits of armors are always great at comparing which kind of swords are the best in which kind of combat as well as the the importance of craftsmanship when in relation to having a reliable sword

And then one day Timmy watches the movie ‘The Legend of Zorro’ and becomes absolutely obsessed with learning how to use a sword and fight with it in the way only little kids can become obsessed with something they find completely cool, and Gomez is so excited to be teaching Tim everything he knows and they work together to craft Timmy his very own mini rapier for learning how to fence (swords are heavier so Tim learns those from Gomez when he’s older and can parry more weight)

And Tim becomes very Focused and Serious on learning how to fence and he’s very excited when he manages to finally best his uncle in a fencing duel (not as excited as Gomez tho, “MY CHILD SHALL BECOME THE BEST SWORDSMAN YET MY LOVE, DID YOU SEE HIS TECHNIQUE, HAD I BEEN SLOWER HE WOULD’VE RIPPED OPEN MY THROAT IN ONE SWIPE, I’M SO PROUD” “Our child dear”)

And then the movie ‘Count of Monte Cristo’ comes out and both Tim and Gomez are super fans (as a whole the family’s favorite movies are this one as well as the Legend of Zorro because 1. Revenge is achieved to the improvement of the main character’s well being and 2. The Aesthetic) and Tim just focuses on getting the hang of swords now with Gomez being more than happy to help his darling nephew

So years pass and Tim’s parents have finished one of their most taxing excavation digs so they return to Gotham and Tim has to return too (for the purposes of this AU Janet and Jack actually do give a fuck about their son so they would call him every other night when they’re away and if they can’t then at the very least they would call Tim once a week; they also call Morticia and Gomez at least once a week to check on how Tim is doing and they were also very happy to know that Tim has taken a liking to swords so they try to bring new types of weapons or literature related to weapons from the culture of their latest excavation so Tim can learn how different types of swords are wielded all around the world)

But anyway, Tim is going back to Gotham so he and Gomez work on creating a new sword for him with the family motto carved on the blade “Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc” which translates to “We Gladly Feast on Those Who Would Subdue Us” which is metal as fuck so yeah, and this sword is super durable and strong, inspired by a katana’s durability and a rapier’s gracefulness with a blade that is such a dark purple that it looks black like obsidian and the inscription of the family motto is carved in letters that are ruby red with a black hilt where an image of a drake is engraved in the same ruby red as the family motto (basically it is a Very Deadly Sword that is also Very Pretty with a dark aesthetic)

So Tim gets back to Gotham and one day he’s watching the news and sees The Batman saving the day and what not and sees Robin do a quadruple back flip and figures out their identities and decides that he wants to meet them at some point while on his nightly photography sessions of Gotham architecture; and if he manages to snap a couple of shots of Gotham’s heroes sometimes then that’s a bonus but Tim is mostly focused on capturing the essence of Gotham city (at this point in time when Tim moves back to Gotham he physically looks like 10-12 year old; he did meet Dick at the circus when he looked like he was 4 years old but for the purposes of the timeline Tim, as an Addams, can choose to remain at any age he desires for as long as he wants so while he did appear to be 4 years old at the circus, he had been alive for a couple of years more at this point, this also explains how he can master swords and fencing while physically looking like a 10 year old because he has been practicing for years as well as why he remembers Dick from that night at the circus)

So the timeline continues with Tim figuring out that the Bats are actually his neighbors but instead of staying away from the Waynes, he decides to go ask his parents if he can stay with the neighbors whenever they have to stay later than usual at the company or have to take a short business travel and they talk with Bruce about it and he agrees to take care of Tim, so now Tim has an in to befriend the Waynes and helps smooth out the edges of Dick and Bruce’s relationship so Bruce doesn’t fire Dick from Robin, but rather they talk about their feelings for once and Dick decides he wants to create his own superhero identity and Bruce supports his decision (Tim may or may not have had to talk about how his family happened to be very open about their feelings and worry for one another and how much closer they are due to talking to each other and resolving conflict; Alfred may or may not have been 100% behind Tim every time he made such a conversation) also, Tim is basically a trial run for Dick on becoming a big brother for when Jason arrives

One time Tim asks Dick if he knows how to fence which Dick can’t really answer because technically he knows how to fight with a sword but that’s for vigilante purposes which his civilian self isn’t supposed to know so Dick says that he doesn’t and asks Tim why he wanted to know, Tim proceeds to talk about how his favorite masked hero uses a sword to fight injustice and he has a black cape and a black horse and Bruce comes into the living room they’re in in the middle of Tim’s rambling about his favorite hero using a sword and is Concerned for a hot minute until Tim finishes the rant by saying “. . . and that’s why I like his movie so much, have you seen the Legend of Zorro?” (Cue relief for both Dick and Bruce because for all that they scrambled to put a name to the hero Tim was describing they couldn’t come up with one and were considering the possibility of a new player in the vigilante scene) so then Tim asks Mr. Bruce if he knows how to fence and Bruce says yes and asks if Tim would like to learn cue the “Oh, my uncle taught me how to fence a few years ago and when I lived with them we had a duel at least once a week, it was very fun so I was just wondering if you knew so we could practice if you want to Mr. Bruce”

Dick is 100% on board with this because the idea of Tiny Tim and 6’1” Bruce fencing is hilarious in his mind, Alfred is there to supervise and both Tim and Bruce are provided with the appropriate fencing equipment and protection; Bruce starts off slow and is surprised when Tim manages to beat him before starting to enjoy fencing with someone who can surprisingly keep up with him (Dick is taking pictures because the height difference is just too cute to be ignored and Tiny Tim is adorable in his own mini fencing equipment)

Whenever his parents do have to leave for extended periods of time (any company trip that takes more than 3-5 days qualifies as this) Tim stays with his aunt and uncle, thus starting a fun tradition of having spontaneous fencing duels with his uncle Gomez, basically if one of them is in the library then the other will shout ‘En-garde’ while throwing a sabre towards the other person and engaging in a quick duel; basically, if Tim is reading about the latest poisonous plants produced by Poison Ivy and annotating his research in order to get an idea of what would be a nice gift for his aunt Morticia and Gomez walks into the library then Gomez will grab two of the sabres they have on the wall for this exact purpose while shouting ‘en-garde’ before throwing a sabre at Tim and engaging in a duel, same goes for Tim, it’s almost instinct to the point that Tim has to hold himself back from doing exactly this whenever he sees Bruce in the library of Wayne Manor

Later on, when Jason is already adopted into the Wayne family, Tim still comes over and makes it his sacred mission to teach Jason the art of swords so he has another fencing buddy because “Mr. Bruce isn’t always here and I have decided that we will be friends and you’re pretty cool but knowing how to fight with a sword just ups your coolness level ya know?” So now Jason has smol Tim teaching him how to fence and it’s pretty fun to be able to do a taxing physical activity outside of being Robin with a friend, when Jason gets the hang of fencing Tim decides that he must now advance to the next level: sword fighting (Alfred is always there to supervise and give tips and pointers because he also knows how to fence but chooses to stay in the sidelines and let the young masters have their fun)

The problem with this is that, while the Waynes do have sabres for fencing, they don’t have swords, at least not in their civilian selves, so Tim decides to bring his own swords to teach Jason how to sword fight, Alfred is the first to see Tim’s very own special sword and is both impressed at the craftsmanship and concerned as to why a child has a sword, Jason thinks Tim’s sword is the coolest he has ever seen and Tim is happy to talk about how he made it himself with his uncle’s help when he finally learned all about sword fighting and promises Jason that they can make him his own cool sword when he learns how to sword fight too, Dick also thinks that the sword is a little concerning for a kid to have but he also wants his own cool sword and so now he insists Bruce has to teach him how to sword fight because Tim said he’s not allowed to have his own sword until he learns how to sword fight, Bruce is baffled as to why Tim has a sword, impressed at Tim’s skills in craftsmanship, and a little Concerned as to why Tim’s sword has that Latin inscription on the blade (no Tim, knowing that “we feast in those who would subdue us” is your family motto doesn’t calm me down yet it explains a lot about your mother)

By the time Damian comes along to the family he is very interested in where Jason and Dick got their Very Cool swords from, his father also has one and he wants to have his own Very Cool Sword too, thank you very much, and Tim visits them when Damian is still settling in and asks his customary question of if he knows how to use fence and gets an affirmative answer he asks Bruce if it would be ok for him and Damian to have a fencing duel, Bruce explains the rules to Damian and makes sure that Alfred, Dick, Jason and him are present in order to keep Damian from maiming/killing Tim

The duel does get a little out of hand as Damian gauges that Tim is more skilled than he previously thought so he stops holding back, Tim is positively grinning at this since he always has to hold back with the Waynes in a way that he doesn’t with Uncle Gomez because while an Addams won’t die from a stab to the heart, the same can’t be said for anyone else; the duel ends with Tim winning because he has more experience than Damian but he is positive beaming at how awesome Damian was and how these duels could become a weekly thing before they transition to swords and once Dames graduates from swords he can design his very own sword with Tim’s help as a sort of graduation present for learning how to sword fight and he’s sure that it won’t take too long for Damian to master swordsmanship because he’s basically a natural already and very skilled and this duel was so much fun Damian we have to do this again sometime oh my gosh I want to teach you everything I know it’s gonna be so much fun

And Damian, a poor baby, was mad at having lost to Tim but then Tim hits him with all this excitement and smiles and it’s the promise of getting his own Very Cool Sword is what gets him to agree to learn from Tim, it’s not that he feels warm at getting compliments from someone who also likes swords and knows what he’s doing in a fight, he definitely doesn’t find Tim cool at all, he’s just making use of a resource and he will learn everything Tim has to offer and become better than both Grayson and Todd, that’s all (that’s not all because it turns out that Damian is the younger brother Tim never had and he takes Dami under his wing and helps him adjust to a life outside the League of Assassins and how to find hobbies to enjoy; Damian won’t admit it but he is also Very Attached in to Timothy and feels like he won’t be judged for his past with him and he is also a fellow sword enthusiast so yeah)

Tim decides to do the same thing to Damian and initiating a quick fencing duel whenever he sees that Damian is in the gardens (no fencing inside the Manor on pain of Alfred’s eyebrow of disappointment); this helps Damian with the transition of learning to have fun and also learn to realize that not everybody is an enemy, it also helps keep up his training and burn some energy whenever he gets restless and helps him bond with Tim more

The idea was that Tim and Uncle Gomez would surprise each other with spontaneous fencing duels by shouting ‘en-garde’ at the other person whenever they find one another in the library, and now it turned into a fluff AU where Tim isn’t Robin but he’s still a family friend to the Waynes and an Addams and helps bring the family closer through his love of swords because yes

#Tim is an Addams AU #fencing AU #tim drake #humor #batfam #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #damian wayne #alfred pennyworth #Uncle Gomez #Aunt Morticia #Jack and Janet Drake don’t suck in this AU #Gómez teaches Timmy how to fence #and i love that for them #fluff AU #Jason doesn’t die here #Dick isn’t fired here #Bruce actually communicates with his sons #due to Tim’s influence and Alfred’s passive aggressive remarks on his behavior #he loves his sons and learns how to express his love and concern for them in a way that is clear for everyone #Damian and Tim bond over fencing #Damian definitely thinks that Tim is the coolest and names him his favorite brother #they’re all friends #and together the four of them get up to the craziest shit #Tim isn’t Robin here #but he Knows who the Bats are

[purple-vixen]

Batfamily interactions involving vines - Headcanon

A/N: I've been wanting to write this for a while. This is my first headcanon by the way, I hope you enjoy! - Vix

• Whenever Dick screws up, Tim and Steph ALWAYS shout "What the fuck, Richard?"

• Jason also gets on board just for the sheer pleasure of pissing Dick off.

• When no one was around, Jason sat on the Wayne Manor piano and started hitting the keys trying to recreate that "Is there anything better than p****? Yes, a really good book." vine

• As soon as he played the last chord, one of the shelves started moving and Bruce's collection of Ming dynasty vases crashed into the floor

• And that's how Jason found out about the Batcave's old entrance.

• Tim set his voicemail greeting to a record of him saying "Oh hi, thanks for checking in, I'm still a piece of garbage".

• Damian once tried to convince the other batboys into becoming vegetarian when they stopped by the Bat Burger drive-through after patrol. As soon as he realized they weren't buying it, in a fit of rage Damian yelled "Fuck your chicken strips!"

• Barbara often quotes the country boy vine when she's with Dick, but instead of saying "country boy" she says it like "Circus boy, I love yoooooou".

• During meetings in the cave, whenever Bruce asks them to look at some graph from the intel he gathered, the Batkids always snicker then start singing Photograph by Nickelback in unison and Bruce regrets his life choices for 4 minutes and 18 seconds straight.

• Bruce threw a Bat-glare at Steph because he was interrogating a Two-Face thug that was playing dumb and Steph was in the background dancing while singing "Why the fuck you lying? Why you always lying? Stop fucking lying"

• There was this time Jason showed up in the med-bay with two soprano flutes stuck on his nose

• Jason was about to explain to Alfred that Barbara had bet 5 dollars if he played the John Cena theme with two flutes in his nostrils just like the kid from the video

• Before Jason could even speak, Alfred cut him off and said "Save your breath, at this point I'd be far more terrified if I knew what happened.".

• Steph and Cass thought tying a potato to the ceiling fan in Cassandra's bedroom because of that vine would be a good idea

• It was all fun and games until the fan started spinning too fast and the potato flew out and made a hole in the window glass

• Less than 5 minutes after that, a ladder was put near the window and, Alfred, who was trimming the Wayne Manor garden, appeared, covered in leaves and with a head bump

• Alfred retrieved the potato and calmly commented "The fact that this is the most ordinary thing I have seen today really amazes me."

• As soon as he left, a mortifying silence established while Frank Ocean played in the background. That was until Cass mumbled "A potato flew around my head before you came."

• Tim has two Instagram accounts, one for his civilian identity and the other for Red Robin

• One night Bruce made him wait in the Batmobile while he discussed something with Selina

• Tim got bored, sat on the Batmobile driver's seat and started a live stream through his Red Robin account

• During the live, he reenacted the "I'm in my mom's car" vine, but in that part where the mom spoke, Tim would make an impression of Batman saying "Get off my car."

• Batman showed up out of the blue and said "What are you doing in my seat?"

• Tim instantly turned the live off and jumped back to the passenger's seat faster than Flash

• Using Instagram during patrol was banned by Bruce after that night.

• One morning Barbara was having breakfast with Jim and while reading the newspaper headline about Penguin running for mayor, Barbara grumbled "Gosh, sometimes I wish I was Jared, 19"

• James Gordon, a dad confused over social media, especially memes, asks in response: "Who the fuck is that Jared 19 and why the hell so many people want to be like him?"

• After seeing that vine of a cat installing a cable, Damian tried to train Alfred (the cat) into doing the same thing

• Long story short, the family's Xbox was sent to tech support and Damian had to pay for the repair with his allowance.

• One time Dick and Jason were working together on a case about missing children

• "There's only one thing worse than a kidnapper." Dick said as he wrote on a board the word "child" over "kidnapper"

• "A child!" Jason exclaimed with assurance.

• "No!"

• "Especially if that child is Damian."

• "Jason, no!"

• The biggest April fools prank the Batkids ever did was related to a vine.

• There's a vine where a guy brings helium balloons inside a car and the car starts floating.

• So they decided to tie hundreds of balloons into the Batmobile.

• The floating Batmobile was being broadcast all over the news in Gotham.

• Once again Bruce regrets his life choices

• "Have kids, Master Bruce." Bruce grumbled, remembering what Alfred used to tell him. "Kids are good to keep you company, Master Bruce." He grumbled while throwing away a trash bag full of popped balloons. "Should have gotten a ferret. Ferrets don't tie helium balloons to your car, and neither leave the toilet lid open."

#dc comics #batman #batfamily #batfam #dick grayson #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #damian wayne #damian al ghul #robin #barbara gordon #batgirl #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #bruce wayne #headcanon #dc comics headcanon #batfamily headcanons #batfam headcanons #headcanons

[soulmate-game]

Well that happened.

B!dbwm 2020

Day 6: Meeting the Justice League

Marinette paced in her bedroom in Wayne Manor, running her hands through her hair as Damian laid on her bed and played animal crossing while completely ignoring her freakout. 

“Dami, how did I get myself into this mess?!” she asked, frantically pulling at her pigtails. Her brother snorted, rolling his eyes unsympathetically. 

“You never use your brain until after you’ve already made important decisions,” he responded ruthlessly. “All of your mental capacity goes towards planning out completely inane things like birthday parties and actually caring about what our even more idiotic class thinks about you, so when you actually need it you don’t have any intelligence left to spare.” 

Marinette turned her eyes on him, the blue lightening to an icy color in her panicked annoyance as she glared at him. “Gee, thanks. I can always trust my darling brother to have my back,” she said sarcastically, to which Damian only smirked. 

“When it matters? Of course. But in this case, watching the fallout will be entertaining and not at all dangerous to your physical safety.” 

Damian and Marinette had been sent to live in Paris a few years back, about a year after Damian had come back to life. Marinette had been far too attached to the twin she had thought she had lost for good, and had nearly driven him crazy with how overprotective she had gotten. Right alongside that, Damian had started to become even more stifled by Bruce’s own protectiveness and distrust of him, so he quit being Robin and they were sent to PAris to try and “recover” from their “trauma” somewhere “safe and peaceful, under the jurisdiction of the JLE.” 

Yeah, that was a great idea. Up until they found out the hard way that the JLE had up and abandoned the Paris headquarters and taken up unofficial residence in England somewhere. And then Hawkmoth showed up. And of course, of fucking course, an old chinese man from the pacifistic organization that acted as a direct foil to the League where they grew up somehow decided that they, out of everyone in Paris, were the best people he could find to wield the power of tiny gods to save the city. 

Sure, he was right, but Damian chewed him a new asshole as soon they met for trusting complete unvetted strangers with the gods of creation and destruction. 

And now Marinette had finally managed to leak to Tim, who then spread the calculated slip of information to Bruce, that Paris had had a supervillain for the past few years and the JLE had been neglecting their jobs. Which turned into Batman setting up a meeting with Ladybug and Chat Noir (Damian had tried to tell everyone his name was Chance Noir, Dark Luck, NOT ‘chat noir,’ since the last thing he needed was to be associated with Selina in any way. Nobody listened, and now he was stuck with being called Chat Noir). They had a lovely discussion about all the shit Hawkmoth did, their lack of resources, and the lack of assistance/straight up refusal to believe their word that came from the JLE. 

Which led to Batman inviting Ladybug to meet the Justice League to debrief on the Paris situation. Damian had been invited as Chat Noir, but had taken the smart path and opted out. Now Marinette had to not only go to the Justice League as Ladybug, but also as Batman's daughter Hummingbird, who was being brought in for consultation along with Damian as Robin. 

“I’m gonna die again,” Marinette continued her catastrophizing, Tikki and Plagg sharing a glance at once another from their spot on her writing desk. “I’m gonna die of total embarrassment. Don’t bother resurrecting me Dami, I’m just gonna die all over again once Dad finds out who we are and kills me.” 

Damian snorted. “Hah. Father killing anything, good one,” he snarked back blandly. “You’ll be fine. Remember, you’re the planner and I’m the one with actual skill. You have the strangest ability when it comes to getting out of situations like these by the skin of your teeth,” Damian grinned at something on the screen of his Switch before continuing. “You’ll be fine. And if you sell me out, I’ll bury you myself.” 

Marinette stuck her tongue out at him. Neither of them wanted their dad to find out that they were LAdybug and Chat noir, especially since they had already explained to him the basics of the source of their powers. They were both certain that Bruce would completely ignore how well they had been handling the situation on their own for almost five years and jump straight to the “my murderous children should not be left with the powers of destruction and creation at their fingertips,” line of thought. Bruce had never trusted them alone before, why now? 

“At least help me, shaqiq?” Marinette asked, walking over and plopping onto the ground next to her bed, so she could look straight into her twin’s bright green eyes. At first, he refused to even look at her, completely unmoved. Marinette hummed mischievously, a habit that was the source of her Gotham codename. “If I go down, I’m taking you with me.” 

Damian finally huffed, scowling. “Fine.” 

He knew better than to doubt her. Marinette always got her way when she decided she was wronged and needed to even the score for something. Always. 

—* — * — * — * — *

Hummingbird. The smallest Bat, by far, and the fastest when it came to natural speed. Hard to spot, with the sole giveaway that a short playful hum could be heard if she thought she had her prey cornered. She was hardly ever wrong. 

She had also been temporarily retired as she and Robin moved to some undisclosed location to get away from the vigilante life for a while. Or so Batman said. And for the most part, aside from the occasional League gathering here or glimpse that they got of the two’s civilian personas if someone visited the manor while they were there, Robin and Hummingbird stayed retired. Heroes who knew them wondered if Robin had finally given up and settled down somehow, if he was even capable of it. And they all speculated that Hummingbird was so scarred from Robin’s death that she wouldn't ever be able to leave his side again, retired or not. 

 Seeing Hummingbird in her navy blue and black uniform, almost identical to her brother’s but for the thick navy blue scarf that covered her neck and lower face, everyone in the Justice League who knew her thought they were right. She stood there, older and only a little taller, never leaving Robin’s side as they traded secretive glances and hand signals only they understood. They didn’t make any attempt to stray from one another’s side. 

But Jon Kent, superboy and Damian’s oldest friend, was of a different mind. He had been by Marinette’s side after Damian died, and by both of theirs when he was brought back. This was not the same terrified dependence he had seen back then. His eyes narrowed. 

The twins were scheming, and nobody else would notice until it was too late. 

Quicker than they could blink, he was by their side with his trademark smile. “Hey guys! Long time no see!” 

They gave the half-kryptonian identical deadpan expressions, sighing in tandem. “You facetimed us last night. And you flew to Paris to visit us last week,” Damian pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “Despite us expressly telling you not to.” 

Jon shrugged. “If I listened to everything you two said all the time, we’d never have any fun. So, excited to meet this Ladybug girl? Dad says that your dad won’t tell him anything about her until she shows up.” 

Hummingbird and Robin traded looks before Marinette answered. “Not really. We see Ladybug in action in Paris all the time—”

“She even saved Marinette from an Akuma who was obsessed with wanting to date her,” Damian interrupted with an insufferable grin. Marinette elbowed him hard, making her brother wince before chuckling at her red face. 

“I could have saved myself just fine! It’s not my fault we have to lay low, or we might get kicked out of Paris for being past vigilantes!” Marinette argued, voice high as she protested how helpless Damian had made her sound. She puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. Damian’s grin widened into a predatory smirk that showed off teeth.

“Oh? What about that one time that Tsurugi got akumatized, and Chat Noir had to save you because she wanted to duel you for the right to date me and you were cornered?” 

Marinette growled, throwing up her hands in frustration before smacking Damian’s shoulder angrily. He only laughed at her. “I’m leaving! Come find me when Ladybug finishes explaining the things we already know!” with that, a fuming and embarrassed Hummingbird stormed out of the room. 

“Huh,” Flash remarked, leaning against the wall. “She looks a lot better than the last time I saw her. And she actually left your immediate vicinity. Willingly,” he remarked to Robin, who glared at the speedster. 

“It’s been almost six years. If you think my sister is weak enough to be that thoroughly encumbered by the past for so long, you are greatly underestimating her,” he looked around to see almost all of the gathered League members staring at him. He grit his teeth and looked over at his father. “When is this woman going to arrive, anyway? You’d think she would actually be on time.” 

Just then, a portal opened in the middle of the room and Ladybug walked through. Quickly shedding the brown costume that allowed her to teleport in, she was left in just her black and red-spotted combat suit. Seeing as they finally found out how to alter the costumes the Kwami gave them, Ladybug’s hair now sat in a braided bun on the crown of her head and her costume was made to look more like Nightwing’s with the ladybug symbol on her upper chest and between her shoulder blades on her back, with black gloves that reached up to her elbows and black knee-high boots with red stripes up the sides. 

The brightly colored heroine smiled, seeming to light up the room with cheer that nearly put Jon to shame (it took her awhile to perfect that particular smile. She actually based it off Jon himself, and Damian was impressed by how accurate she had been able to make it over time. Not that he would say as much out loud). 

That was when Diana started choking on thin air, and Damian and Marinette both realized that they had overlooked something rather major. 

Hippolyta had been a Ladybug. Diana had met Tikki. Diana knew how to see past Tikki’s glamour. 

At first, Ladybug tried to play it off. Maybe Diana would catch on and help her out. So she walked over, holding her hand out for Wonderwoman to shake and putting on another wide smile for good measure. 

“Oh my Kwamii! It is so good to finally meet you, Wonderwoman, Tikki told me so much about you and your mother! Would you like to talk later—”

“Marinette Wayne, how in Zeus’ name did you become the new Ladybug?” Wonderwoman instantly yelled, making Marinette wilt. Damian tried backing away slowly, only for Diana’s eyes to then shoot over to him and narrow dangerously. “And you! I knew I felt something weird, but now I can pinpoint it. You are wielding the Black Cat! One of you explain what is going on. Now.” 

Ladybug and Robin instantly looked away, getting ready to make a quick escape right as their father walked up behind Robin, putting a firm hand on his shoulders. As always when Batman smiled, it sent a shiver down everyone’s spine. Marinette gulped a little. 

“I agree. Marinette, I forgot to tell you that we changed the locations of the League security cameras last night,” shit they were so busted. Bruce must have suspected them of something from the very beginning, stupid world’s greatest detective instincts— “But now that we have confirmed that my suspicions were correct, we can save that discussion for later. First, let’s debrief on the Paris situation like we agreed. Then, you two will explain why you decided not to tell me while you help each other clean the entire Batcave tonight.” 

Damian didn’t open his hand for the entire meeting. He and Marinette made eye contact as soon as everyone sat down for a suddenly very uneasy debrief, silently agreeing that they would not let their father take away their Miraculous. They finally had names and reputations of their own, away from the Batclan and their father’s influence. They had learned more about themselves and what they were capable of in those past years as Miraculous wielders than in all the years of the rest of their lives combined. They wouldn’t give it up, not even for Bruce’s approval. 

But when they got back to the Manor and began cleaning up the batcave as they had been ordered, they were surprised when Bruce made no mention of taking their jewelry back at all. And he stayed up with them, silently reviewing things on the Batcomputer as they cleaned. It could almost be considered family bonding. 

By the time the twins were done cleaning the sun was about to rise, and finally their father spoke up for the first time since they had begun their punishment chore. 

“I watched days worth of your Paris battles before going out to meet Ladybug and Chat Noir in person,” he said without ever turning around from his spot at the computer. “I was impressed. I still am. The teamwork was flawless, and the Parisian heroes never used deadly force. They even did their best to provide emotional support to the victims who were akumatized. I thought for sure at least one of you two would have been victims yourself, with all that you’ve been through. Anything can be a trigger for you, anything can make you vulnerable to Hawkmoth,” Bruce paused to take a sip of coffee. He didn’t have to look at his children’s reflections in the face of the Batcomputer to know they were drinking in every word he said. He did anyway, allowing a small smile that they couldn’t see to form on his lips. 

“I scoured through every akuma attack one by one, trying to find the one where one or both of you were the ones possessed. But I only found more reasons to be impressed by the heroes instead. By the time I was done looking through every scrap of video I could find, I had a feeling I knew who you were. Hearing your voices in person cemented it further, but I wanted video proof. So, knowing that Marinette would have forgotten about agreeing to accompany me to a JL meeting, I asked Ladybug to debrief us.” 

“You had us from the start,” Marinette sighed, shoulders slumping. But Damian said nothing, eyes wide as he picked up on the nuances of what Bruce was saying that Marinette was too tired to catch on to. 

“I’m proud of you two.” 

Then, even Marinette froze. The twins had identical expressions of shock on their faces, and Bruce finally turned around to look at them properly. For a long while, the three of them only made silent eye contact as dozens of emotions flew through the air silently, but understood. Then Damian and Marinette straightened up just and silently. Damian nodded to his father, Marinette gave him a vulnerable little smile, and then they both backed out and went to head to sleep. 

And once they were gone, Bruce sighed in content. Seems his meet-the-Justice-League plan worked out perfectly. He had finally managed to say something right to his two most troublesome children, for the first time. He leaned back in his chair, gazing up at the dark bat-infested cave ceiling as one more tiny grin played on his face, a little melancholy this time. 

Guess they never needed him to help them find their inner hero, after all. They had become even better at the whole hero thing than he was, and all on their own. Bruce closed his eyes, not noticing when Alfred draped a blanket over his body and left the Cave with a soft chuckle. 

--*--*--*--*--*

This sucked, but I wanted to give you guys something. So. here you go I guess? 

#maribat #b!dbwm2020 #b!dbwm #bio!dad bruce wayne #Platonic daminette #sibling daminette #Damian as Chat Noir #mlb x dc #ml x dc #Miraculous ladybug X DC #idk what happened don't yell at me #another one-hour fic

[curlybookwriter0294]

Behind the Dark Sunglasses

Summary: All Wally wants to do is to enjoy his time with his handsome boyfriend Nightwing. However, he can't stand his dark sunglasses and truly wants to know who he truly is because he is dying to know what color his eyes were. Will he finally tell him?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the DC or the YJ universe!!! Just the plot lol.

AN: I am back with another Birdlfash fic!! Gosh, I just fucking love these two togetherrrrrrr and I hope that you guys will enjoy this little beauty. Sadly it is not smutyyyyy but there is somewhat sexual content in here lol. 

Wally West has no idea if heaven is even real but hey, he lives in a world with superheroes and he’s one of them, so anything is possible at this point these days. Right now, at this moment, this feels like he’s in heaven. “Fuck,” he muttered through grounded teeth, throwing his head back and closed his green eyes and used a hand to grab a fist full of dark hair that was between his legs. “Babe. Shit.”

He heard a low chuckle that he knows all too well and had opened one eye to see his raven-haired boyfriend stroking his member with a hand as he smirked up at the older speedster above him. “Enjoying this?” he asked him, using another hand to push up his dark sunglasses that he would always wear whenever he’s not in his Nightwing uniform.

Wally bit his lower lip so he could focus the warm touch that was on him, frowning when he had looked down at the younger hero’s face or what he could see because of his stupid sunglasses. He sighed. “I would be enjoying it a lot more if I could see your eyes, Nightwing,” he said with a sigh.

 He watched Nightwing move away from his legs and knew that the moment between them had ended because of what he had said. The two heroes were silent as he had put himself back into his boxers and jeans that he was wearing, watching Nightwing walking over to sit in his desk chair with a deep frown on his face. “Wing…” he started, running a hand through his short red hair.

 “You know why I can’t tell you.”

 Wally rolled his forest orbs with a snort and leaned back on his bed until his back touched the headboard. “Yea. I know. It’s because of Batman and his stupid rules. I just thought… that since…never mind. Forget it.”

 Neither of them said anything after a while and Wally watched the younger hero fiddling over his computer that was attached to his watch and Wally sighed. “I’m sorry for ruining things.”

 Nightwing turned Wally’s desk chair around to stare at his older boyfriend as he folded his arms over his chest. “You didn’t. You have no idea how much I want to tell you about me,” he said with a quiet sigh, threading his fingers through his short black hair.

 “Can’t you just simply ask him if it is okay? I mean, I told you since the first day The Team was formed,” Wally reminded him in a matter-of-fact tone, shaking his head as he leaned off the headboard and crawled over to the edge of the bed. “I just…” he blushed before continuing. “I just want to see what’s behind those dark sunglasses, especially if things were to get heated again.”

 The younger man that was across from the speedster cleared his throat and shifted in his seat nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know Wally. It’s just…” Nightwing paused as he tried to think of a way to explain the situation. “It’s complicated with him. Even if I do try and talk to him it’s still going to be a no.”

 Wally studied him for a moment, trying to decide if he truly believes in what he was saying to him. Wally truly understands that the Dark Knight has strict rules when it’s about revealing their secret identity. Heck, he remembers asking his uncle if he knew who Batman truly was and even he didn’t know. He could understand the hesitation of revealing it to him. It makes him slightly wonder if there’s more to it than just the rule that Batman had created.

 “There isn’t something else is there? Perhaps another reason as to why I haven’t seen your eyes yet?” The speedster asked slowly, watching his boyfriend’s shoulders tensed up at the question. “There is… isn’t there?”

 “If people find out who we are… our enemies can use that against the people that we tell.” Nightwing told him, knowing that it was half the truth in his words. He truly wishes that Wally would drop it and they could go back to what they were doing before. However, he knows how persistent his boyfriend can be at times and he also know that he won’t drop it unless he gets a real answer.

 Wally leaned forward on the bed and stared at the younger hero, wishing that he could see what kind of facial expression he was making. He honestly wonders if his eyes were blue, or green or heck hazel. “I understand that babe,” he told him. “But I believe that there’s more to it than that. Am I right?” he asked, hiking a brow at him.

 Nightwing didn’t answer him right away and Wally knew that he was right after all. Wally nibbled at his lower lip, trying to think of a way to break the awkward silence that had followed between them. “At least tell me that you’re not a serial killer,” he says in a joking manner and his upper lip curled up when his boyfriend scoffed at him. “That’s not really an answer. I gotta know what I’m dealing with here.”

 “No, Wally. I am definitely not a serial killer,” Nightwing told him with a shake of his head. “It’s just…” There was a pause. “I don’t want you to think differently about me if you were to discover my identity,” he said to him honestly as he took a deep breath.

 Wally stared at him with wide eyes and got up from his bed to kneel in front of Nightwing. He used his thumb to lift his chin and even though he was wearing sunglasses, he knew that he was staring directly into his green eyes. “Even if you are a serial killer. It wouldn’t change the way that I feel about you, Nightwing. You can trust me. I know that I am an annoying speedster who likes to eat a lot and don’t know when to shut my mouth at times, but I do know on how to shut the fuck up when I need to. Just tell Batman that okay? Maybe then he can finally let you tell me because I am so dying to know what color your eyes are,” he leaned in to give Nightwing a chaste kiss on his lips. “I love you. So damn much.”

 Wally knows that it was rare for Nightwing to cry and when he saw a train of tears flowing from his sunglasses, he gently wipes them off with his fingers. “I love you too, Wally and…” Wally froze when he watched Nightwing reached up with shaky fingers to slowly take off his sunglasses. “And I want—”

 Wally reached up with his hands to stop Nightwing from removing them. “Babe, I don’t want you to get into trouble. If he finds out…”

 “Didn’t you just tell me a moment ago that you know when to shut the fuck up when you need to?”

 Wally pressed his lips together in a thin line and rolled his eyes at him. “Yes. But we both know how Batman is. He’s gonna know that you—”

 A pair of lips made Wally stop talking and he had moaned when Nightwing’s teeth had bit his lower lip to open it so his tongue to slip inside his mouth. Wally placed a hand onto his chest to gently push him away and licked his lips. “Are you absolutely sure you want to go against Batman’s orders?” he asked breathlessly, gulping when he saw Nightwing’s hands reached up to touch the handles of his sunglasses. “Wing.”

 Neither of them said anything to each other as Nightwing slowly took off his dark sunglasses and Wally squinted his eyes as he tried to figure out why his eyes were close and why the heck he had looked so familiar even though he has not seen his eyes yet. “You can back out anytime. I won’t be mad,” he promised him in a reassuringly way.

 “No. I want to do this. Just…don’t freak out, okay?”

 Wally cocked his head to the side in confusion by his comment and was about ask him what he had meant by that, but his question was caught in throat when Nightwing had finally open his eyes and Wally’s whole body froze when he did.

 Blue. His eyes were blue.

 It was so blue, Wally thought he was staring into an ocean and the more he stared into them deeply he was finding himself lost in them and honestly, he wouldn’t mind being lost in them and the more he had studied his boyfriend’s face the more he realized as to why he had looked so familiar to him. He had to blink several times in order to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him and even rubbed them just in case.

 “R-Richard Grayson? You’re—You’re—"

 “Actually… I prefer to be called Dick Grayson,” Dick corrected, clearing his throat as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He sat still in the desk chair when Wally continued to stare at him in shock. “Wally—” he started, trying to come up a way to make this whole Secret Identity Reveal less awkward.

 “It makes sense,” Wally interrupted him, eyeing him up and down. “As to why the Dark Knight was so harsh on the whole ID thing…which means,” his mouth fell open as the pieces fell into place the more he had thought he had thought about it. “No way…”

 Dick Grayson knew what his older boyfriend was smart and that he had figured out the reason by himself but waited until he had said the words before saying anything else. He sucked in a deep breath when wide green eyes met his blue ones and knew what was coming next when he had opened his mouth again.

 “Bruce Wayne is Batman.”

 Wally watched Dick nod at him slightly and Wally’s mouth made a O shape in shock and Dick sucked in another deep breath as he waits for him to speak again. “You really have pretty eyes, Dick.”

 Dick blinked several times as he processed as to what the redheaded speedster just said. He was confused about his statement. Shouldn’t he be more concerned about more important matter at hand? “Is that the only thing that matters right now?” he asked, hiking up a brow at him.

 Wally scratched the top of his head as he shrugged his shoulders. “I mean did you want me to freak out over the fact that the billionaire is freaking Batman and that you’re Nightwing?” he asked him, cocking his head to the side when Dick’s shoulders stiffen. The speedster shook his head. “Because I don’t care about that kind of stuff. You know me better than that.” Wally walked closer to where Dick was at his desk and leaned in closer to him when he had brought his face closer to his. “You could be a stripper and I would still love you.”

 Dick rolled his sapphire eyes at him. “You’re such a—"

 “Sap?” Wally suggested, wiggling his eyebrows when the raven-haired hero snorted at him. He cleared his throat and leaned in to brush his nose against his boyfriend. “I’m being for real though. I would still love you. No matter what, babe.”

 “I know,” Dick said with a huge blush on his face. “And I also love you too. Thank you for accepting me.”

 “I will always accept you. Don’t forget that. Ever.”

#birdflash #wally x dick #dick x wally #dick grayson #Wally West #young justice fanfiction #somewhat smut #birdflash fluff #kid flash #nightwing

[rhub4rb]

Warmth

Y’all remember this au? Well, guess what, now I’m using it for bio!dad Bruce month and no one can stop me--

Also warning I did not edit this so oop

@biodad-bruce-month

AO3

Day 1: Meeting for the first time

-_-_-_-

The last fight against Hawkmoth had been a blur. A success, sure, but a success that cost her everything. With the reveal of Hawkmoth being Gabriel Agreste, came the loss of Chat Noir, as he left Plagg and the ring behind, never telling Marinette his identity. She could only guess, though she doubted she was wrong.

At first, Marinette thought that was it, that it was the only loss that she would have to lose that day.

But then she got home.

There was an eery quiet to the bakery as she stepped inside. It wasn't unusual for Marinette's parents to vacate to their apartment during an attack, to get away from glass and whatnot, but they would usually be back in the bakery by now to help stragglers from the attack to a cup of hot cocoa and a croissant.

Worry filled in her gut, a sinking feeling inside of her, like an anchor dragging her down to the bottom of the ocean.

Slowly, she walked up the stairs, dread filling her up every step of the way until she was in front of the door. She stopped, holding her breath as she listened for any sound, any sound at all, coming from the apartment.

Silence.

She opened the door, slowly, the creaking sound squeezing her heart like a hand in her chest, and as she looked inside, finally opened her eyes and looked, she could do nothing but let out a heart-wrenching scream.

And the ending, the true ending, was just as much of a blur as what was the beginning. What she thought would have been the end.

There had been burglars that had used the chaos of the final battle against Hawkmoth, to break into the apartment to try and rob them. Her parents had just been unlucky to be home when it happened.

It became a mess of lawyers and child services after that, trying to figure out where Marinette should go, as she tried to hold herself together with the help of Gods and friends. Still, if there was one thing Marinette remembered clearly, it was the day she was told the truth about her father.

"I'm sure your mother was going to tell you at some point," the family lawyer said, in that voice that sounded like it was meant for a 7-year-old or a scared animal, rather than a teenage girl who risked her life to save the very city they were in, even if he didn't know it. "but... your father is not who you think he is. She wrote down, that if anything were to ever happen to her and Tom, that you were to live with your biological father. I'm sure this comes as a shock to you, so I understand if you need some time to think. We've already contacted him, and he has accepted the responsibility of taking care of you."

It was so much change in so little time, but Marinette supposed that was nothing new.

-

Bruce was at a loss. The last few days had been calm, as calm as they could be in Gotham. He knew something was wrong.

When he got the phone call, his heart had stopped. Sabine, a woman he actually truly cared about, even after their relationship ended abruptly, was gone.

She left him a daughter he didn't even know he had. And he accepted the responsibility of taking care of her, without a trace of doubt or hesitancy in sight.

Marinette, however, was arriving, and he had yet to actually break the news to his family. Heck, he had yet to actually meet the girl himself. Bruce ended up deciding against meeting her at the airport, though. He felt that it was for the best, if not to just keep his family occupied while Alfred got her.

Bruce could tell Tim was suspicious, had been, for the last couple of days, ever since the call. It made sense that Tim would be the first to notice, he had always been the most perceptive. He had yet to actually confront Bruce on the matter though, and that was perhaps for the best because despite having known for a couple of days now that Marinette would be arriving, he still had no idea how to tell his family.

His biggest concern was Damian. He had almost killed Tim over the position of Robin, Bruce didn't know how he would react to his position potentially being contested, though Bruce had no plans of turning Marinette into the next Robin.

Marinette was his blood, his family, and yes, Damian was too, but he was raised by assassins since he was born. Marinette was innocent, and Bruce wanted to protect that. He owed at least that much to Sabine, even if she never told Bruce about Marinette.

In a way, he could understand why Sabine never told him. Even though she never knew he was Batman, she did know he was Bruce Wayne, how he always had a target on his back. Marinette, if she had been with the Wayne name, would have a target just as big, just by association.

Now, Marinette would be leaving her little bubble of safety, of Paris, and come to a town, grittier than she would ever be prepared for.

Bruce supposed he could only do his best to make her feel welcome.

Gathering the boys into the dining room before Alfred arrived with Marinette, Bruce allowed himself to take a deep breath.

"I have something important to tell you, and I need you all to listen to me carefully," Bruce started, leveling a hard gaze at his sons. "A couple of days ago, I got a call, informing how someone very important to me passed away and that... she- left someone very dear to her for me to look after."

Bruce winced at his own wording and wondered for a moment how he had become so bad at telling his family things. Truthfully, he was never really good at it, to begin with.

"Wait, are you telling us you adopted another kid?" Jason asked incredulously, clearly not happy with the news, and by the look on his face, it seemed Damian agreed with the sentiment.

"I didn't adopt Marinette," Bruce said. "I am her father, biologically."

It was ghost-quiet now, as no one dared to utter a word, shock radiating off of them.

And then, there was a knock at the door to the dining room.

-

It was a lonely feeling, arriving into a new city, and be greeted by a butler rather than someone who was supposed to be her dad. Still, Marinette thought, at least Alfred seemed nice.

She stayed silent in the car ride to the manor, letting the sound of rain hitting the window lull her into a fake sense of calm and serenity, as she ignored the incoming storm and thunder. Perhaps she was overreacting, nerves and all, but she wondered what a man like Bruce Wayne expected his child to be like.

Would she be disappointing to him? Would she even matter? He already had a family, wasn't she disrupting his peaceful life? Should she even care?

Dejectedly, she let out a sigh. There was so much she didn't know, and this new city filled her with dread, just as suffocating as Paris. She could feel it, seeping from the ground, and infecting the people. Marinette wondered if this was what Paris would become now.

She was pulled out of her thoughts, however, as the sleek black car pulled to a stop, in front of what she could only describe as a victorian dream house, complete with gargoyles and all. She hardly even noticed Alfred opening the car door, umbrella in hand.

As Marinette walked up the steps, she could only truly wish that this would be a place that she could heal. To take a break from all of the responsibility and let herself mourn and grieve, and as Alfred opened the doors of the manor, she allowed herself to take a deep breath in, straighten her back, and lift her head.

She could hear a voice now, muffled behind doors and walls, and all at once fear gripped Marinette's heart like vines with thorns, cutting and never letting go. She tightened her hands into fists and forced herself to calm down, grabbing her emotions and curling them into a ball, throwing them deep into a far off corner in her mind.

The voice stopped talking, total silence filling the room for a moment, only to be interrupted as Alfred knocks on the door, just as calm and collected as he had been from the moment he picked her up from the airport.

He opened the door, and slowly Marinette walked, seeing four different guys, all of whom she supposed were now her brothers, until her eyes landed on Bruce, her dad. Her actual, biological dad.

Marinette's breath was shaky, but she hid her nerves well, something she was very proud of, as she felt the eyes of them all on her.

"Master Bruce," Alfred started, "may I have the honor to present to you your daughter, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Marinette's eyes scanned them, reading them in a way they would probably never get, before something finally clicked in her mind, allowing her to breathe, if only slightly. Marinette bowed respectfully to them, rising with a newfound calm centering her.

"It's nice to meet you all," she said, bluebell eyes just shy of calculating.

-_-_-_-

#bio!dad bruce wayne month 2020 #b!dbwm2020 #bio!dadbrucewaynemonth2020 #maribat #warmth au

[anothertimdrakestan]

Light Of My Life Jason Todd x Reader

LINK TO PT 2

Words: 2.7k

Requested? Yes! From a lovely anon!

“Hello! May I have a Jason Todd x reader where the reader is a really powerful superhero from the avengers and is well known and she met Jason when she was hopping on rooftops in Gotham (for fun idk haha) and the reader feels lonely and they bond over that with Jason and they start dating and when Jason’s brothers find out they’re dating (a few months later) they freak out and say things like “YOURE DATING THEM?! How did this happen?!” Thank you!”

LINK TO PROMPTS  -> REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN!

Ok so I took this as a new avenger I hope that’s okay :). It’s mostly selfish that I wanted to write my own badass hero for Jason to simp for... can you blame me? She’s basically a heroin Livewire for those of you that watched Supergirl. Also you really set me up for a long fic so strap in anon, you did this to yourself by giving me an amazing request! Hope you enjoy! xoxo

“You’re kidding right. Gotham? Mr. Seclusive Bat Brat’s turf? Not a chance in hell.” you groaned hearing your newest mission. “Sorry Y/H/N you’re headed to nut-case capital” your comm buzzed back and you rolled your eyes. At least it was a short trip right? Confirm with Dr. Strange exactly the newest magical item you needed to look for, find it, and get out. Maybe zap a couple villains for shits n giggles. Grabbing your motorcycle you headed out, praying for a short trip. 

Arriving at your hotel you began to set up, having powers meant no bulky suit which was nice but Strange had set you up with about a million photos, books, and what looked like scrolls about a stupid helmet. Apparently all the helmet did was let the wearer float and see in the damn dark, half of the avengers could do that shit already. But when THE Dr. Strange makes a request of the Avengers, they comply. 

You’d heard about a drug leader with an eye for shiny objects, and you decided to start there hoping you could really give him a show. Waiting for night to fall you headed out, appreciating the constantly terrible weather in Gotham, lightning cracked in the sky exhilarating you, taking it as a sign from your gods that they liked this mission you felt the electricity run through your veins as you sped towards the ring a friend of yours had tipped you off about. Propping your bike up on the side of the building you felt the electricity dancing through the wires of the building and you zapped into them, travelling in to the main room.

Jason just about pissed his pants. He watched this hot motorcycle chick park her (sexy ass) bike outside the drug ring he was busting that night and right when he was about to put on some Red Hood Charm™ he watched her turn into a giant spart and shoot into the building through the camera system. Realizing she was going to do his job for her he decided to watch from above, trying to figure out who the mystery meta was. As he sat perched on the top of the building he couldn’t help but hope it was Y/H/N, one of the most prominent new Avengers but what was she doing in Gotham? Regardless he sat, ready for the lightshow.

What you saw inside the building was horrific. Disgusting men were throwing cash around to take home young, terrified girls. Disregarding the mission at hand you flashed into the middle of the “show”. Immediately guns were out but that had never stopped you. Dissapaiting into one of the lights you enjoyed how some of the men shrieked at your powers. “Shit dog I think it’s Y/H/N but what’s she doin in Gotham?” never able to pass an opportunity to boast you appeared behind the group smirking “hey boys. Don’t there girls look a little young for you? That said, you should let them go or I’ll get angry. And you’d be shocked with how angry I can get - literally.” you held up a hand letting sparks dance in you palm. What you didn’t expect was to see a blundering idiot in a red mask crash through the ceiling. 

Before you could light him up he called “uh hey! It’s Y/H/N right? Big fan. Red Hood pleasure to meet you. See, this is usually my territory, drugs and all, but I’d be happy to share with a lovely lady like you so-” you scoffed. “Shut up BatBrat I don’t intend on swinging minor league with you tonight, I just want these girls out of here and to talk with you” you gestured to the drug lord, annoyed this Red Batman or whatever his name is was getting in your way. “Minor leagues huh? Princess if you think this is any type of game you’re wrong, we don’t play by the rules here.” and he pulled out two guns and began firing. This shocked you. You thought the bats held the same standards as the majority of the Avengers, no killing. This clearly went down the drain as you watched him blow the brains out of the majority of the drug dealers. 

Deciding this wasn’t the night for you to successfully capture the man you needed, especially because Stark would kill you if you got in a fight with another vigilante on an away mission. While Red Mask went hand to hand with the guards you helped the girls escape, shooing them towards the exit and making them promise to be safer. After securing the public’s safety you took a moment to watch Red Armour fight. He was trained you had to admit, he ducked and punched like he’d been doing in for years, he was refined in skill but reckless and practice, it was fascinating. “You gonna help or is that not in the Avenger’s handbook?” you smirked as he got pinned by a couple guards. As he was preoccupied you zapped to the drug lord, shocking him enough to put him down long enough to move him. Forming an electric rope around his limbs you began dragging him out. “Sorry RedBat I got what I came for, you make a good side kick though” with a wink you walked out, not before hearing him shout “ITS RED HOOD SPARKY” 

In one of the Avenger’s safe houses you’d tied up your captive. “This is super easy buddy, all I need to know is where to find the Helmet of Razadazar” what a stupid fucking name, it doesn’t even sound cool. Knowing he’d feign innocence you prepared yourself for light, pleasure for you, not so much for him...

“You’re. Lying. Todd.” Tim’s fingers flew across the BatComputer. “Y/H/N in Gotham? EPIC!” Jason rolled his eyes. “Drake she definitely wasn’t all that amazing, plus she gave the impression she wasn’t long for Gotham so it’s probably nothing. Newbie training for the A list.” Tim sighed, Jason was probably right, the Avengers left Gotham to Batman, no one wanted a piece of it. “Alright, but you gotta tell me everything, I think she shorted all the camera footage so you better use all the detail.” Jason agreed, secretly excited to recount his experience, maybe fangirl a little. All he knew was that he was going to find you, the only game he wanted to play was chasing you.

After taking a short lecture from Captain A about aggressive torture techniques and why they should be AVOIDED you had gotten your answer. Apparently an underground auction with other-worldly treasures was the place to be. At least Gotham’s wealthy were making everything easy for you tonight. 

Jason adjusted his bowtie as he waited to enter the auction. Attending as Bruce Wayne was easy, he did owe Damian a barn now, but it was a worthy pay off for Damian to endure some father-son time as a cover up while Jason played billionaire. Finding an excuse to go other than finding Y/H/N wasn’t hard either, and now here he was, hoping you’d stand out. Let’s just say fate helped a little.

Sitting at a table with your fake identity as Ms. Stark was equally as easy. Excited to be meeting Mr. Wayne the Gothamite who was seated next to you. As he sat down he looked younger than the paparazzi pictures showed. You stuck out a hand to shake and he took it gently, kissing it, to your surprise. He looked at your smirking, “looking lovely tonight Sparky” you’re jaw dropped. Mr. Wayne I had no idea Red Cap was your speed” you whispered, shocked, but slightly comforted to know you had your sidekick here.”It’s. Red. Hood. And just as you Ms. Stark, this identity is not my own.” it made sense, but it was still impressive. 

Having exchanged pleasantries with the table the auction began. Item after item went, you and Hood slid in low bets to seem interested, but you wondered why he had came. Then the helmet was up. You sucked in a breath knowing the plan was to win the bid then snatch the helmet. You bid politely against someone at table 37 until it was yours. “Going once” “Going twi-” the auctioneer stopped as Mr. Wayne raised his paddle, tripling your bet. The auctioneer looked shocked at the amount, not letting you bid again before he shouted “SOLD to the sir at table 14!” For the second time that night your jaw dropped. “I need that helmet!” you whisper yelled. “That old thing? Sure princess. You just have to get dinner with me tomorrow” you realized he just spent millions and millions of dollars just to win your time. “Deal” you hissed. 

Jason decided not to tell his brothers about his date. Feeling like it was a once in a lifetime opportunity he wasn’t ruining it. After hiding the helmet in the BatCave he was waiting for you at a candle lit table for two. When you walked in he knew it was love at first sight. Sitting down across from him you smirked. “You clean up nice..” he finished for you “Todd. Jason Todd.” taken aback you’d heard about him, the kid that lived, part of the Wayne family. “Well if we’re going real names Mr. Todd what do I have to lose, y/n l/n” you smiled, drinking in his appearance. He was dashing you had to admit, confident and laidback it was alluring. “Beautiful name to fit a gorgeous girl” he winked, to your shock, making you blush. 

The two of you spent the night throwing snide comments, compliments, and flirtation between you. Something about Jason just clicked, it felt right. After hours at the table you and Jason went for a walk around Gotham while he showed you his most memorable spots. Somehow the two of you wound up on the top of a skyscraper staring at the stars. Finally having a person who understood the burden of heroism but wasn’t judging you for being new was refreshing. Only knowing each other for hours it felt like it had been years, confiding in each other about some of your deepest secrets. Jason was amazed with your powers, but you explained that they were hard to control, bottling electricity up in anything was difficult, batteries rotted, lightbulbs broke, and sometimes it felt like you were no different. He watched as you showed him how sparks danced across you skin and though he didn’t tell you, they’d been sizzling around you since dinner, an aura vibrating around you as you laughed, cried, and smiled with him.

“So Lightning McQueen, what do the sparks do when you’re happy?” you grimaced at another of his nicknames and explained how they crackle and pop sometimes taking on certain weather-like patterns. “Huh, well let’s see some lightning then” Jason grabbed your hand pulling you into his chest, using the other hand to lift your eyes to meet his as he leaned in. You sped up the process, hands wrapping around his neck, crashing his lips on yours. He was right, lightning struck across the sky as sparks danced between the two of you. Pulling away he grinned as he breathlessly looked at you. “Beautiful” You pulled him in for more, deciding maybe Gotham wasn’t so bad if he was here. 

“Why does Y/H/N always get the Gotham missions?” Peter Parker groaned. “Well seeing as she practically lives there it’s easy” the rest of the gang retorted as you blushed. “I guess I just really like the weather” you grinned while everyone rolled their eyes knowing the reason Gotham was having more lightning than ever was no coincidence. 

“Honey I’m homeeeeee” you squealed as you zapped into your kitchen. Jason had learned not to be alarmed when you appeared out of thin air and he opened his arms as you fell into his embrace. “Hello to my favorite double A” he grinned when you gave him a zap, he knew you loved all his nicknames. He pulled you out of his embrace looking you dead in the eyes. “Sparky it’s time you meet my family, you know Tim is going to kill me for hiding you” You were so excited, timing never aligned or one of you was injured or not on Earth but finally, it was time to meet the family. 

You’d snuck into the manor before, but everytime it seemed to get bigger. Jason squeezed your hand warning you about how annoying his family was. As you entered you took in everything. The cutest little boy was chasing a grown man with a sword, a teenage boy sat on a kitchen cupboard shotgunning an energy drink, all while a nice elderly man chopped carrots calmly in the kitchen. Breaking the silence you began to name each boy “Uh hi guys! I’m y/n you probably know me as Y/H/N but I’m so excited to be here! I’m guessing Damian, Dick, Tim, and the wonderful Alfred!” all the boys froze. Alfred smiled and continued chopping.  “Oh my god oh my god oh my god” Tim jumped off the cupboard wide eyed staring at you. “Todd how do you know her?” Dick looked at you, shocked to see an Avenger not in costume next to his brother. 

“Actually guys I’ve known Y/N for a while, remember Tim that night? We’ve kept in touch since and I’m lucky enough to be her boyfriend!” Jason kissed you on the cheek and immediately Tim passed out. As Dick poured water on the teen Damian walked up to you and you bent down to look him eye to eye. “Prove you’re Y/H/N because I don’t believe Todd could pull a famous hero like Y/H/N” Jason started “No y/n it’s fine” but you wanted to make a good impression so you zapped into the light fixture, counted to 5, then appeared on the cupboard Tim had been on, only to zap back nex tot Jason. “TT I’m impressed Todd. Y/n let me say I’m impressed with your recent activity with the Avengers. I know what it is like to be surrounded by older, entitled idiots.” Damian stuck out a tiny hand and you shook it, making sure to give him a little shock. 

Having woken up Tim began rapid fire questions. “So Todd lied you’re here? And you like him? Can I just say you’re so cool. Would you let me run some tests on your powers? What’s the biggest lightshow you’ve done? What is spiderman like? I feel like I’m quicker than him but I don’t know. Do you love Jason?” you tried to take in all the questions. “Yes I’m here, yes, thank you, sure I guess, biggest was cracking a small moon in half - don’t asl I was mad, spidey is cool kind of a dweeb but, he’s pretty quick but I haven’t seen you, and yes I do love Jason” you took a deep breath. Jason smiled at you, glad you could keep up with Tim’s q & a. Suddenly Tim grabbed Dick’s arm and started running to the BatCave, “okay y/n I’m gonna go set up some tests come down in a minute. Todd you lucky asshole you bring her down in five okay?” before you could reply he was gone. 

Taking a deep breath Jason wrapped his arms around you. “I’m so glad you can deal with them, but if Drake gets really bad knock him out cold” you chuckled, knowing that dealing with the Wayne’s was more difficult for Jason than it was for you. “Anything for you babe” you grinned. “Always the light of my life y/n” you rolled your eyes knowing the jokes would never stop, one of the many reasons you loved Red Hood with all your heart. 

haha I never do A/N but do y’all get the pun in the title hehehehe wow I need to go to bed. Also check out the pun in my masterlist lolz. Now, dear reader, that you read this post we have an inside joke together hehe... love you! xoxo

#jason todd #jason todd x you #jason todd x reader #jason todd fluff #red hood #red hood x reader #tim drake #dick grayson #damian wayne #avengers #dc x marvel #batboys

[anjuschiffer]

The Wayne Twins

Just woke up from a 3 hour nap and decided to make some tea when another story concept came to me.

I’ve always been down for bio!dad bruce, hell, I’ve been writing content for it (and even holding an event for it), but!

What if... Bio!dad Bruce AND Bio!mom Talia, meaning... TWIN AU (although Talia isn’t exactly the best mom here either :D)

So basically, Marinette is brought up the same way as Damian, but instead of a sword, she’s an expert at using a rope dart

Her rope dart is black with a single red feather, a sliver dart at the end

However, while Damian is taken to Bruce, Marinette isn’t. Instead she remains with Talia

She’s taught about the miraculous, that she is to investigate the whereabouts of it and to retrieve it

Marinette accepts the mission and wanders the world to look for it

3 years pass, Talia yet to receive any news about Marinette, wondering if she also betrayed her like Damian had. It had been a year since her last report

Turns out, Marinette was still on her mission, but hadn’t been able to contact her mother about her progress on it. She had a lead that told her that the miraculouses were somewhere in France

Marinette had almost been caught by the French government when she tried to cross the border, but still managed to get by.

Now using a fake identity, Marinette got an apartment and school documents to ease her mission

Now it was a matter of time to find it

Now, at this time, Damian was more open towards Bruce, finally dropping the last piece of information Bruce needed to know

“Father, there’s something I need to tell you.” He hesitates when Bruce remained silent. “I have a sister.”

“As in-”

“No, not older.” Damian digs through his pocket, having a picture to show him. Single photo he has of the two of them. “My twin.”

Ensue Bruce losing his shit because why is he finding out about his other child through his own? Why didn’t Talia tell him about Marinette?

Ensue the hint for Mari, taking a year to track her down at Paris since Damian didn’t know of her whereabouts for 3 years and Talia wasn’t giving out any info about Mari

Once they do find Marinette, she’s managed to find and have the Ladybug miraculous in possession, despite Fu’s gut telling him it was a bad idea, but gave it to mari because Wayzz said she was the perfect candidate

However, Mari has been conflicted on whether to give it to her mother, her principles being tested.

Also, something like this happens

It had been a walk home, after fighting an akuma and once more giving Adri-Chat Noir the cold shoulder that she feels like she’s being followed

She quickly whips out her rope dart, tying up the stalker, only to find Damian before her

“Damian. What...what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your father?”

“He’s our father.” Damian emphasizes, not untying himself at all

At that Mari purses her lips, quickly setting Damian free, but doesn’t run up to him even though she wanted to. After all, Damian was the only person she considered family. She resented their mother and grandfather

“You still havent answered my question. What are you doing here?”

“I want you to meet father.”

“No.” Mari growls, her rope ready to attack if she hand to. “He’s not my father.”

“Whether you don’t consider him to be or not, he is by blood.”

“No he isn’t!” She attacks, leading to the two fighting, although Damian mainly dodges or has to free himself from multiple captures. “You’ve gone soft. Mother would be disappointed.”

“Like you’re one to talk.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Shouldn’t you have reported to her already?” Marinette loosens her grip on her dart, allowing Damian to take advantage and knock her out.

She wakes up at her apartment, where she’s face-to-face with Bruce

“Marinette, meet our Father.” “Father, meet Marinette, my sister... your daughter.”

Bruce remains still, observing the girl, wondering why Talia never told him about their little girl 

Bruce attempts to talk to her, but she breaks out of the apartment, once more fleeing from them

Bruce attempts to go after her, but Damian doesn’t let him

“She’ll keep doing that until she wants to face you. I may not know what she’s been doing for the past three years, but I did grow up by her side for 10.”

Marinette looks for a new apartment and tells her mother about the situation at hand, Talia reassuring her everything is going to be fine and to just focus at the mission at hand

Some time passes and the opportunity finally happens. She’s appointed guardian. 

“Mother, I finally know where the miraculous are.”

“Good. Once you have them in your possession, we’ll finally have the ability to complete the League’s goal.”

While Marinette is happy that her mission is almost over, she doesn’t want to hand them over to her mother, something beckoned her to not do it

If living in Paris taught her one thing, it was that she had the power to change

her classmates had shown her kindness despite her cold demeanor, the bakers around the block showed her love and warmth, treating her like family whenever she dropped by

Her coldness melted around these people, even around the Lila girl that got under her skin. While she didn’t like Lila for attempting to frame her for her mistakes, she certainly did like her for her story telling. She should consider being a director or writer.

She knew that she can change, that she didn’t have to suffer from Talia’s rules anymore if she didn’t return

For Talia never truly loved her... she was a mere tool to her...

“She can’t have you.” Marinette muttered to herself, looking at the kwamis with sadness “She’ll abuse you. She’ll hurt you...just like she did to me...and Damian.”

While away from Talia, Marinette had learned more about herself, learned that she liked to sew, that she loved parkour and acrobatics

She learned these, because she was away from Talia, from her controlling mother

A month passed, Marinette now in Gotham, realizing that if she wanted to escape Talia, she was going to need help.

As soon as she stepped into Gotham, she already found it.

She had carelessly let her guard down, surrounded by thugs when Nightwing had fended them off

“You shouldn’t be out here at this ti-”

“I need to speak to Batman.” 

“And why’s-”

“Let me speak to Bruce.”

“Hold on a sec, how-”

“He’s my father and Damian’s my brother.” Marinette cut to the chase. “I need their help.”

Dick nods and brings Marinette to the batcave, where Marinette rushes to hug Damian, which confuses the hell out of Tim and Jason

Upon seeing Bruce, Marinette awkwardly hugs him, apologizing for the mess their first encounter was

Bruce hugs her tighter, happy that Marinette finally acknowledged their relationship

“So why are you here?” Jason asks, Marinette telling them about her situation, explaining to them her plan (don’t know if I should make her show them the kwamis or not...)

They agree to help

Talia ends up dropping in the next day, much to the family’s surprise (although they already had everything in motion)

Talia ends up dodging the other bats, chasing Mari and cornering her in a room, Marinette telling them that she can handle it, much to Damian’s worry

“Marinette, come now. Hand them over.”

“I won’t.” Marinette defends, looking at the miracle box in hand. “I will never give them to you!” 

Talia rages, beginning to tell marinette how soft she had grown, that she was throwing her opportunity of a life time, that she was stupid for casting aside her right to the ‘throne’

“No I am not! While I’m not the prodigy like Damian, nor am I strong like my father, nor as cunning as you, I know one thing! I’m happier than I’ve ever been since I left the League and I want to continue to be that way!” Marinette yelled, slipping on the Cat Miraculous, shouting catacylsm, holding the miracle box with her other hand

“What do you think you are doing?”

“Something that all the previous guardians should’ve done.” With a shit-eating grin, Mari destroys the box, Talia screaming

Talia gets taken down by Bruce although she ends up escaping and retreating

Marinette finally feels a giant weight off of her, collapsing to the floor

Of course, the plan still isn’t dont

Marinette brings back the Miracle Box (gave Dick the earrings to hold...other rather wear. She changed the earrings to be magnetic) and vows to protect them with her life

“So that’s it, isn’t it?” Damian says, sitting next to her. “What’s next?”

“Dunno.”

“Why don’t you stay here?” Damian offers, Marinette taken aback. “I know you have nowhere else, so why not just...stay with us?”

Marinette looks at the rest of the family, looking at the bruises and cuts on their faces, smiling back at her. Overwhelmed by her emotions, Marinette begins to cry, Damian simply sitting there as she cries.

Her wish was finally granted. She can finally have a warm, kind place to call home.

Tags: @theatreandcomicfreak @damianette-is-life

#maribat #anju rambles #maribat twin au #bio!dad bruce wayne #bio!mom talia al ghul

[thr-333]

Mismatch- Part 14

Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020

Feelings and stuff happen

First< Previous > Next

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“Are you done yelling?” Selina cracks open the door. Not being able to help the smile at them leaning against each other.

“You heard that?” Marinette groans, both blushing.

“Don’t worry, I left to get some food,” She hands them a paper bag, full of the only pastries Tom would deem acceptable in Gotham, “Can’t say the same for all the nurses,”

“They’re going to think we’re so weird,” Marinette buries her face in her hands, while Marion is occupied with the bag.

“This is Gotham, patients not yelling is the weird thing,” She tentatively sits on the edge of the bed, “So, do you wanna talk, or just forget it?”

“We don’t want to ignore it,” Selina feels relief rush through her at Marinette’s words, “But it’s going to take some time to really process,”

“Yeah we have a few questions,” Marion passes Marinette the bag, already eating his own pastry.

“Just a few?” She reflexively tries to tease her way out of the situation.

“Ok, a lot,” Marion takes a bite from the danish, “Why did you decide to tell us now?”

“I wasn’t ever planning on telling you, you already have so much going on with MDC and MCD, I didn’t want to put on top of that,” Predictably both raise their eyebrows, mirroring each other, lot of good that did, “My Brother and Sabine knew but when I told them about Bruce, Sabine encouraged me to tell you,”

“Why did you give us to Maman and Papa?” Marinette presses, well there was no escaping this conversation.

“Bruce and I had a… lets say complicated on again off again relationship,” Yep secret identities always managed to complicate things, “Neither of us would be good parents separately back then and we sure weren’t going to stay together anytime soon,”

Plus is dangerous to be around The Batman and Cat woman .

“What are you talking about, it only took you what? Eighteen years to get married?” Marion teases, with a smirk she saw so much of herself in.

“You’re underestimating me, we’ve been at this far longer than you’ve been around,” She mirrors his smirk, Gearing up for his response.

“Marion, focus,” Marinette scolds, getting neither to drop their grins.

“Oh!” Marion exclaims, spinning back to her, “Who’s the oldest!?”

Selina chuckles as Marinette stutters over her disbelief.

“Marinette,”

“NO!” He shouts, sinking down into the bed, “How can this be?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Marinette taunts through Marion’s ramblings.

“You actually came early,” Selina smiles at her kids, Marion now trying to smother the older twin with a pillow, “I wasn’t even able to get to Paris on time,”

“We were born in Gotham?” Marion pushes the pillow further into Marinette's face.

“Mhmm,” Selina hums, as Marinette takes Marion off guard pushing him off the bed. He yelps, but doesn’t reach for his side.

“Does that make us official Gothamites?” Marinette doesn’t even spare a glance for her brother, who should be in severe pain, not throwing a pillow.

“Nope, the city of lights has successfully bleached all the darkness out of you,”

“Oh yeah?” Marion tries to catch Selina with the pillow, only to get blocked and get it thrown back in his face.

“How long did we live in Gotham?” Marinette asks, instead of helping Marion launch another attack.

“I wasn’t going to fly with two newborns,” Selina pulls Marion into firm hold, avoiding hurting his ribs just in case.

“Didn’t answer the question,” Marion squirms in the hold, she knows he is fully capable of escaping.

“About three months,” Selina shrugs, they both wait for elaboration that she clearly wasn’t going to avoid, “Every time I thought I couldn’t handle it and was about to give you up... one of you would smile… it made me believe everything would be alright,”

“What made you realise-think it wouldn’t be?” Marinette questions, as Selina lets Marion out of the hold.

“Well… Tom and Sabine were waiting in Paris, so happy, so in love, I knew they would be the perfect parents from the beginning,” She doesn’t look at either of them, Marion sitting up but not moving away, “I went to Bruce, hinting at having kids and realised they had something we-I couldn’t give you, so we left for Paris that night,”

“Why didn’t you stay?” Marion doesn't sound accusing, just curious, but it cuts into her nonetheless.

“As shitty as it is, Gotham is still my home, I’ll always come back to it,” She looks up, neither of them buying her half truth, “... I wouldn’t have made a good mother, every time I see you, the people you have become, I know that I could never live up to Sabine, or Tom,”

They both still look hesitant, familiar ticks giving their thoughts away.

“Would you have wanted me to?” She probes, knowing they needed an extra push.

“... No I don’t think so,” Marion answers, not looking for Marinette to share the sentiment, “I love the way my life is, I wouldn’t have it any other way,”

“That doesn’t mean we don’t want things to change,” Marinette adds, taking away the bite from Marion's honest answer, Selina agrees but that doesn’t make it easier, “It’s going to be hard, but I want to move forward, to figure this all out,”

“When did you become so smart,” Selina chokes back her emotions, brushing the hair out of her daughter's face.

““I’ve always been the smartest twin,” Marinette hugs her, Marion following her lead.

“Do I have to bring the pole thing up again?” Marion murmurs into Selina's shoulder, fabric damping, she hugs them tighter.

“Shush,” Is all Marinette makes out around a sob.

Selina hugs them, not caring how long. They eventually settle together in the bed, one to each side. She runs her hands through their hair, telling the twins stories about their childhood. Getting them to laugh at the one where she and Gina kidnapped took them for a ride around Paris on motorbikes when they were three. Telling them about Tom’s in her opinion, overreaction.

“One thing,” Marion blurts, while they are still chuckling, “Are we going to tell Bruce?”

“I think we should, feels like lying if we don’t, especially with” Marinette makes a vague gesture, “Everything,”

“You’re right,” Selina sighs, “Do you want to tell him or should I?”

“... bags not!” They both shout, giggling slightly.

“You little-” Selina starts tickling them, turning their giggles into shrieks.

They calm down, easing back into a hug with only occasional tickle attacks. A comfortable quite settles over them. Whatever thoughts going through the twins not being pressing enough to interrupt the peace. This leaves Selina to her own thoughts, needing to figure out how to tell her fiance how he has two more secret children. This should be fun, it won't be but it should.

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Taglist

@technicallyburninggarden @fusser90  @misslenamooney @superbwhispersconnoisseur

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fic #bio dad bruce wayne #Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020 #Mismatch #Marinette #marinette is mdc #twins au #vigilante au #pop star au #bio dad au #bio! dadbrucewaynemonth2020 #b!dbwm2020 #Maribat #mlb

[toflyandfall]

I just saw a photo of "What persona. Dick Grayson isn't a mask. Not like Bruce Wayne is" from Detective Comics #725 and I find it interesting that Dick and the rest of the bats, with the exception of Bruce, don't wear "masks" per se. They are who they are with or without the domino mask/helmet. The only time I can really think of Dick faking things is when he pretended to be an incompetent BPD cop. How was he able to avoid creating and living, half the time, through a "persona" like "Brucie"?

Oooh, this is a lovely, meaty question.  There’s a lot more analysis of Bruce than I planned because let’s be real, it’s kinda weirder for a guy to run around with half a dozen personas than for someone else to run around as himself.  I hope you still find it interesting, but if you want to skip straight to the more Dick-centric stuff, head under the readmore.

A simple but significant factor is that Dick thrives on the company of people in a way that Bruce does not.  I suspect if you talk honestly to many introverts, you will find they too have an extroverted ‘mask’ they put on to the larger world, though probably not quite so extreme.

Another factor is that the civilian social circles Dick and Bruce travel in are vastly different.  Though they each have a reason for being in those circles, that difference itself enables Dick to escape much of the scrutiny that Bruce’s public identity undergoes, because he doesn’t frequently associate with the much more media-hounded elite.

An interesting thing here is that the large difference in social circles between their civilian lives is actually caused by their own personal similarities: they are 100% committed work-a-holics.  It’s just that they have differing civilian approaches to their goals.

I want to start with Bruce because as you point out, his use of persona is distinct among the bats and his reasons for using them in part explain why Dick and the other bats do not.

Bruce is a child of privilege, he has always lived a lifestyle of privilege, regardless of the tragedies that have occurred during it, and his default view of the world, through no fault of his own, is natively that of the extreme upper class.  This drastically influences his perspective and approach to change, and changing the world is his perpetual goal, the reason he put on the suit in the first place.

Bruce works a top-down society approach toward systemic change, and he works it all the time.  This is actually my favorite but woefully under-emphasized part of him: he is not just someone who punches people on the street ‘for justice’, he uses his company, his money, and his social position toward substantial systemic change. This post does a wonderful job covering the ways he does this through his corporations and personal wealth, as does this one.  I cannot recommend either enough because I constantly want to push even the most casual Batman fans to understand: Bruce Wayne is not just a violent punchy puncher man.  He is a traumatized person genuinely trying to use all his resources including himself to make the world safer.

Detective Comics #725

Bruce has many personas he maintains, and he uses all of them according to what suits his need--Batman for places the law can’t go, Bruce Wayne the CEO pushing for systemic changes, Matches Malone for street information, and Brucie the society high roller for society information and social influencing.  He is rarely ever not in a persona and simply ‘Bruce’.

His top-down perspective of enacting change are what dictated the usage and necessity of these personas. He has the means and capacity to basically disappear from society if he so chose--he in fact does so to train during his younger years so successfully they don’t even know how long he was actually gone. 

The Batman Files

So he doesn’t need the personas.  Not Bruce Wayne, CEO, or Brucie, or any of them really, to protect his identity.  That tells us that Brucie is a deliberate choice he made at some point.  He could have been a recluse billionaire Batman indefinitely.  Even though he fully has the status and means to not maintain a job or a persona or, let’s be frank, a life outside the mask at all, it’s his own work-a-holicness that led to the creation of his public personas.  He’s an obsessive strategist, so if Brucie is a choice, that leads us to why?

Bruce does many philanthropic things with his money, but he isn’t the only rich person around, especially not in a city as old and corrupt as Gotham.   But he’s one of the very few ones doing good with it.

The comic you mentioned has a very beautiful moment where Bruce touches on that, and in full context you can feel how consumed he is by this goal of creating the Gotham his parents would have wanted.  Batman mentions he never sees himself in that place, and the morbid interpretation is that the city kills him before he reaches it, but the hopeful interpretation is that in that shining city, Bruce Wayne and Batman and Brucie and all his masks will no longer be needed.

Detective Comics #725

Back in the old days they’d call it noblesse oblige: the inferred responsibility of privileged people to act with generosity and nobility toward those less privileged. Thomas and Martha Wayne ingrained this feeling of responsibility into Bruce by example, and as all things related to them, he obsesses over it.  It urges him to fulfill expectations within segments of society he finds onorous for the betterment of society as a whole in order to carry out their unfinished works.

Enter Brucie.

Brucie serves a two-fold purpose.  Since Bruce has chosen to maintain personas among society, it becomes a false face to justify any oddities Batman might bring into the life of Bruce Wayne by setting himself up as a eccentric, popular social scion.  But that persona itself also allows him to manipulate the upper crust of society.

I have some insider perspective on the kind of society events Brucie attends.  They’re all about the who’s who of making connections, name-dropping and networking, and unspoken class-based elitism.  Charity events among the upper class have these things at the forefront and the cause is the background.  You don’t get your hands dirty, you don’t go out and make change yourself, you pay money to be socially seen and sometimes it happens to go towards a philanthropic cause.  If you want to raise money from the rich and keep people with deep pockets coming in the door, you have to have social currency yourself. This is where, and why, Brucie comes in.  I believe Brucie ws crafted to maintain Batman’s cover but still attempt to carry on his parents’ legacy to grease the wheels of the rich in the directions he chooses: one of generosity towards those less privileged. 

Superman/Batman #51

The inevitable flaw of Bruce’s approach to his personas and their philanthropy is that in a city rife with corruption, money distributed from the top has many opportunities to disappear well before it reaches the bottom.  As in many of ways they are complements to each other, Dick’s approach balances that out, because his approach to helping his fellow man starts out at the street level...literally.

Nightwing #153 (Nightwing: The Great Leap)

Dick, we know, does not come from privilege.  His mother was from a middle class family before she joined the circus, and despite being world famous athletes, most circus workers are lower to middle class.  The people he grew up with, was comfortable with, were all working folk who expected everyone to pull their weight right alongside each other.  He enacts this everyone-together approach in almost all aspects and phases of his life. 

Batman #615

Even once he had settled into being Robin and adapted to living at the manor, he didn’t feel belonging to a culture of privilege, materialism, or high society. He preferred shotgun in the limo to chat with the driver to riding fancy in the back.  Once he was able to start making his own decisions about where and how he lived, despite having both Bruce’s money and then later inheriting a substantial amount of his own, he chose mostly lower-class communal places.

Batman Black and White #6

Dick also doesn’t see the value of throwing money at a problem when there is an option to fix it with his own hands.  We see this frequently, from building his own car instead of buying a finished one or outsourcing the work, to deciding the best way to clean out the BPD was to start at the bottom and work his way up (literally), to quitting college because his classes never got prioritized over crimesolving.  Most of his day jobs ended for similar reasons. 

Nightwing #153 (Nightwing: The Great Leap)

Despite the showmanship training, he gravitates away from spotlight on the rich and wealthy, who are notoriously the kind of people who do not get their hands dirty or go out and take care of things themselves, and prefers to find or build communities around the kind of people who do.

Finally, Dick is an extrovert.  He doesn’t need to act extroverted as Brucie does because he is extroverted.  He likes people and likes being around people.  Whether by conscious choice or not, he tends to put himself in situations where he is surrounded by people in nearly all aspects of his life.  He chooses apartment buildings whose occupants frequently pass each other on the stairs; jobs that involve interacting with many co-workers, patrons, or students; and collects superhero teammates like Boy Scout badges.  And all of these behaviors come very naturally to him.  

He doesn’t need a mask or a role or a persona for those kind of interactions; his mask is pre-supplied as “neighbor” or “co-worker” or “teacher” by the situations he puts himself in.  It helps make him an exemplary leader, because just by acting authentically to himself, he automatically builds up little communities around him any time he arrives somewhere.

Bruce, on the other hand, is an introvert.  For him, interacting with people isn’t easy, automatic, or comfortable unless it has a purpose, but as a strategist, he knows the necessity of human interaction as a catalyst to achieving dynamic change. So he adapts personas to suit people’s expectations.  Extroverts have more social currency; the life of the party can generate more resources than a brooding wallflower.  

So, it boils down to just a few elements: Dick believes in living and interacting at the street level to accomplish the things that he wants to, and he is extroverted enough that the level of social interaction that entails is not a burden to him.  He surrounds himself with the types of people he is more familiar or perhaps more comfortable with, which happens to keep him further out from the media’s eye than associating with the upper crust does. The lower profile is more incidental than intentional, but it lessens his need to have a cover story for every single bruise and lets him get away with even less of a ‘persona’.

Bruce, on the other hand, is introverted and follows a more classist view that systemic change needs to be effected from the top down.   His personas are more of a self-assumed duty than a necessity, as a way of trying to carry out his parents’ legacy.  Any of his children could have chosen to follow his path in business or the high society limelight, but the sense of obligation toward it is something personal to him that most of them don’t share.

#bruce wayne #batman #dick grayson #nightwing #character analysis #dc #comics #meta #o.c. #bruce wayne analysis #bruce + dick #asks #anonymous #cover stories

[just-an-aussie-fandom-hermit]

( 2/2 ) i mean if i recall correctly didn't bruce take them in to provide homes for them after they lost their parents & often tried to talk them out of crime fighting even though a lot of them would go off & fight crime on their own accord ( whether he allowed it or not) ?

Anon you’re absolutely right!

(This is a long one so be warned).

He didn’t adopt/mentor the kids with the sole purpose of turning them into child soldiers or abusing them at all. His abusive and neglectful behaviour stands in stark contrast to his personality and moral code; most of these kids came from horrific backgrounds, so he would make himself as welcoming as possible to allow these kids to be kids, like they deserve to be. Vigilantism is their way of taking their life into their own hands and making change. His behaviour is nothing short of contradictory and I despise the various writers who made him that way.

I don’t have any sources/comic panels prepared but I want to answer this anyway:

Dick Grayson had just seen his parents die, and was filled with vengeance — he would have gone after Tony Zucco anyway, better to do it on Bruce’s terms. Also, he had spent several nights in a juvenile centre after his parents died (that’s where he ended up) and was beaten up brutally on basically his first night there. Bruce knew he wouldn’t survive, let alone thrive in the system, so he took him in. Robin was initially meant to be a temporary thing, to take down Zucco as well as his coworkers/superiors in the mob. After an encounter with the Joker in which Dick is bedridden, Bruce fires Dick from being Robin for his own safety. He later becomes Nightwing after going through a personality crisis and wondering who he was without Robin.

Barbara Gordon? She was going to be a crime fighter anyway — like Stephanie (we’ll get back to her) she made her own suit and went out on her own accord. Her dad is the police comissioner, but she recognised that the system wasn’t working — because of the mob, political corruption, police inadequacy and criminal conduct (which was/is the norm anyway), all that wonderful stuff — and felt that she had to do something. Bruce is vehemently against this but after a while he realises “oh god, she’s not going to stop,” and decides that, like Dick, it’s better for Babs to do the vigilante thing on his terms, because he’d spent years training for this, and Barbara was a child/teen.

Jason Todd lived on the streets after he stopped living with his abusive father (Willis) and his deceased, drug addicted mother (Catherine). He just saw a kid who had it extremely rough (homeless, formerly abused), and thought “I already have one child under my care, I can care for another, that’s reasonable.” Making him Robin was not only a constructive outlet for his anger, but also not Bruce’s intention at all. He may have met Jason as Batman, but he did not force the mantle of Robin onto him.

Tim Drake had already been BatWatch for years and had figured out who the Bats actually were. After Jason died, Tim saw how broken, angry and violent Bruce had become and he knew it was only a matter of time before something gave. He literally blackmailed his way into becoming Robin (via Dick, now Nightwing) because “Batman needs a Robin,” and he decided “I might as well be that Robin.” Bruce was incredibly resistant, because his son had just been murdered, and he doesn’t want that to happen to any other child — and he brushes Tim off for a while. When he does become Robin, it’s reluctant. He takes him in not just to him Robin but also because his parents are horribly neglectful (hence why he had so much free time as a child to be BatWatch and such) and only ever showed serious interest in his life while they were grooming him to be CEO of their company or when they felt Bruce was a threat to their parental authority (rightfully so.)

Stephanie Brown’s dad is Cluemaster, a minor villain who thought himself the nemesis of the Riddler (Nigma paid this guy no mind,) and left clues at his crime scenes in a similar manner to Riddler. As such her home life was tumultuous if not outright abusive and neglectful. Her mother (Crystal) is a drug user so she doesn’t spend a lot of time in the house. She created her own identity (Spoiler) to “spoil” her father’s plans and clues so Batman could take him and his buddies down. She comes into contact with Tim (ie. throws a brick at him) and works with the Bats so she wouldn’t get herself killed doing it alone.

Cassandra Cain is the daughter of two of the greatest assassins in the world (David Cain and Lady Shiva) and was never taught any form of spoken or written language. Instead, she learned to read body language and micro-expressions, all so she could become the best possible bodyguard for Ra’s al Ghul (head of the League of Shadows) and an excellent assassin. This backfired, and she ran away after witnessing/committing her first assassination and saw the pain and terror in her target — she spent several years on the run before Bruce found her and took her in. Fighting was all she knew, and she wanted to do the “good” fighting (vigilantism/working with the Justice League) instead of being an assassin. It was a way to reclaim her childhood and to help her create an identity of her own, separate from the League of Shadows.

Duke Thomas? He joined and later lead the We Are Robin movement to defend Gotham in Bruce’s abscence (‘Batman: Endgame’ I think is the storyline). I’m not as familiar with his story but he creates his own vigilante identity, The Signal, after his parents went insane (thanks Joker). He went into foster care while police search for his parents, and did generally did not have a Good Time. At this time, Bruce’s memory of being Batman had been erased, and it was Duke’s sense of justice and need to help others that set him on the course to become Batman again. He was never a Robin, and he works mostly in the daytimes, but Duke Thomas became a Bat of his own accord. Bruce simply brought The Signal under the cape and gave him a support network just as he had done for Babs and Steph (the other self-made vigelantes).

Damian Wayne. Biological son of Bruce and Talia al Ghul. In the current continuity he’s the product of a sexual assault, but either way, his purpose is to become the heir to the League of Assassins and their international criminal empire and shadow governments — he’s a manufactured soldier (hence why you might come across a lot of “test-tube baby” jokes, because he was grown mostly in an artificial womb.) Talia drops him off in Gotham in order to help Damian escape from Ra’s, and Bruce makes him Robin to give him an outlet for his anger and violence — in a non-homicidal fashion. Like Cass, all he knew was fighting and violence, but becoming Robin was a way for him to not only reclaim his lost childhood but also create an identity other than the killing machine he was intended to be.

Harper Row is another child from an abusive household — emancipating herself and her brother Colin from their father, Harper’s skill with engineering gives her the means to become a vigilante (Taser Girl?? I believe). Bluebird is her vigilante alias under Batman (her hair is a magnificent shade of blue) but is currently inactive, focusing on her career and education. Again i’m not super familiar with her character, but that’s the gist.

The important take-away is that these kids chose to become who they are — Bruce didn’t just pick them off the street like “you’re a Robin now have fun sweetie :)”, making them a Bat/Robin was simply a means to help these kids.

#ask #submission #batman #bruce wayne #dc comics #batfam #jason todd #dick grayson #barbara gordon #tim drake #stephanie brown #damian wayne #cassandra cain #harper row #duke thomas #batfamily #nightwing #red hood #red robin #batgirl #tom king i’m looking at you #batdad #batkids #alfred pennyworth #bluebird #black bat #the signal #z answers asks #dc rant #characterisation

[enternalempires]

Intruder in the Batcave

This is a Maribat fic, no ship yet (leaning towards it being Jasonette) but here’s part 1! Hope you guys enjoy! Also I am technologically inept, I can’t figure out how to make a link to my Ao3 but if you want to check it out, my username is the same!

Tim was on a coffee high.

Usually this wouldn’t be an issue, he was a coffee addict and he had no shame in that fact even when it made him behave like a drunken— albeit genius— zombie. At seventeen and CEO of Wayne Enterprises he had a lot of work to get done, meaning long hours and even longer headaches.

So he was doing things to keep himself entertained past the freedom of no work that often coincided with being bored.

Such as hacking into the Manor’s cameras and snooping on his family.

Jason, unsurprisingly, was stuffing his face with an unimaginable amount of junk food in their living room while watching Dick and Cass spar— Stephanie laughing and throwing things at them from the side while Babs just trash-talked them with a rather sassy amount of sarcasm.

Damian was sharpening his favorite katana and the rest of his sharp ‘stabby stabs’ as Jay liked to call them— and was scowling that signature scowl as if he knew that he was being watched.

Tim smirked at the glare thrown towards the camera. That little gremlin definitely knew and couldn’t do a damn thing.

Unless, of course, he tried to stab him again.

Alfred was somewhere being, well, Alfred.

Tim, for all his intellect, stopped questioning how the butler and pseudo-grandfather seemed to know anything about everything and before that thing even happened— and seemed to teleport to places randomly, moving quicker than the teenager thought possible sometimes.

But that was just Alfred.

He was the scariest of them all, even though no one said it outloud.

Flipping through the cameras, it takes his brain a split second to back-track to what he saw— or who he saw talking to Bruce in the Batcave. Tim went back to it instantly, turning the volume of his computer up as he tried to process what was happening.

“—you can’t make decisions like this, regardless of what you believe.” His father said, only making his curiosity grow (so of course he did the reasonable thing and sent a live footage link to his sibling’s phones). “This is not your territory, this is not your city, and these are not your people to control.”

“Control?” The girl standing opposite of Bruce, probably no more than five-feet tall and looking no younger than fifteen, hissed with a thick French accent. She had deep blue hair and blue eyes from what he could tell, and she was wearing a red mask with black polka dots and a suit to match. “I don’t want to control anyone, I want to keep them safe! And frankly, Mr. Wayne, you’re nothing but dull if you think that my stance on this matter is unimportant. If you go against me on this, you won’t like what happens.”

Tim watched with wide eyes as this girl— this tiny, young girl who had what looked like a yoyo for a weapon— stood in front of his rather intimidating father and said this without flinching.

He briefly looked at his siblings through the cameras. All of them, even Damian, were watching in shocked silence and bated breaths.

They didn’t know who she was either.

“Are you threatening me, Ms. Dupain-Cheng?” Bruce’s eyes hardened into that familiar Batglare that could send shivers up the cruelest of men’s spines but only made the bluenette smile— which was, admittedly, more terrifying than he would like to admit.

“Leaders don’t threaten people, Mr. Wayne,” She responded. “They only uphold what is right for the safety of their people and follow through no matter the consequences. So, tell me, are you willing to become part of the burden that is placed on my shoulders or will you stay out of my way?”

“You can’t bard my family and our associates from a whole country because you’re scared.”

“You’re right, I am scared.” The girl sighed out, crossing her arms. “But not of you, and not of your family. I am scared for this world and what would become of it if Hawkmoth got in control of one of you. The Kents agreed, the Queens and the other heroes in his and the cities around him agreed. Why can’t you just understand the severity of this?”

Kents. Queens. Heroes.

She, undoubtedly, knew a lot of very dangerous information.

But Hawkmoth? Who was that?

Tim pulled up a search and quickly cross referenced with France, finding a sight called the Ladyblogger and a bunch of news clippings showcasing the notorious Butterfly Terrorist of Paris. He shared that to his sibling’s phones, too.

She was the leader of what the reporter, a young woman named Alya Cesiare, liked to call the Miraculous Team— a bunch of heroes (that typically was just a duo) that fought with the powers of magic jewels that the Hawkie dude wanted?

But no one knew who they were but there was this Marinette Dupain-Cheng in one of the reporter’s videos. That is what his father called her. Cool, cool. She’s a fashion designer but also a superhero.

And, basically, she’s best friends with the chick trying to find out her identity?

But her partner was basically a leather clad furry?

And they’re fighting a magical terrorist named Hawkmoth who deals with neither hawks or moths?

What self-respecting villain names himself that?

“I understand well enough,” His father said, shoulder’s squaring as he met the young woman’s eyes. Abort mission. Abort mission. Don’t make the yoyo-chick angry. “I understand that you are a child meant to be saving the world—”

“Don’t patronize me,” Dupain-Cheng— Ladybug— growled. Tim swore he could feel the power behind her glare from where he was sitting. “I took the mantle of being Ladybug when I was thirteen years old and I became sole-guardian of the Miraculous this year alone. One wrong move and billions can be wiped from existence. I am not savior of Paris, I am not savior of France, I am not savior of the people. I am the savior of life as we know it. I have seen the world drowned and the moon cracked in half in the sky and I have fixed it all alone so that it wouldn’t be our future, so don’t sit there and look down at me because I am a child. Because I am meant to be saving the world. I have saved the world, Mr. Wayne, and I am allowed to tell you what to do to keep it safe.”

Bruce was silent, steely eyes ever leaving the young heroine’s frame and Tim could feel his heart pounding in anticipation. Was his father going to argue more like the stubborn man he is? Adopt her like he did all the too burdened children he came across? Introduce her to them all so he could know what the hell was going on?

“My family will stay out of your way,” He finally said, giving in. “Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I want to be regularly informed about the situation and if there is any way that my partners and I can help.”

“The more anyone knows, the more dangerous it gets,” Ladybug told him. “I appreciate the offer but I won’t be accepting it anytime soon.”

Bruce nods and fixes something on his suit before his and Marinette’s attention get moved to Alfred who comes strolling over to them as if seeing a magical ladybug-themed superhero arguing with Batman was an average, everyday thing.

Alfred’s seen weirder, Tim decides. Alfred has definitely seen weirder.

“Will you be paying me another visit to discuss the restrictions?” His father asks, causing the bluenette to nod her head slightly. “When?”

“My class is on a field trip to WE tomorrow, we won the overseas trip and month’s stay for Gotham Academy so I’ll be here awhile to refine the understanding you seem to lack,” Ladybug just carries on as if she didn’t just poke his ego with a sharp stick. “We can discuss it during the lunch break, if I can slip away from everyone. I’ll bring Chat, too.”

Chat? Right, the leather furry! Her partner that destroys things.

Maybe having so much coffee wasn’t a good thing.

#maribat #crossover #faminette #timari #jasonette #dickinette #marinette dupain cheng #jason todd #damian al ghul #bruce wayne #batman #batcave #intruder #fanfic #mlb fanfic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #maribat fic

[mischiefandspirits]

Colony of Gotham (3/7)

The Colony of Gotham is an urban legend that is whispered about in the dangerous city. It’s said the Colony is a family of demons and spirits that stalk the night, hunting for the souls of the guilty.

When Bruce became Batman, he’d never intended to be mistaken for a demon. He was happy to lean into it, though, and as he gained his partners – as his family grew – they all followed suit.

First Part ~ Previous Part ~ Next Part

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duke Thomas lost his parents when Joker unleashed a new version of Joker Venom onto a crowd. While most of the infected were rounded up to be cured, some disappeared, Duke’s parents among them. The boy was determined to find them, no matter what it took, which landed him in trouble with both his foster parents and the law. Even when he was labeled a delinquent, though, he continued to search.

Meanwhile, a similar search came to its end.

Harper Row’s hunting had eventually led to her crossing paths with Batman. Despite her fear, she refused to back down under his warnings until her brother Cullen was attacked by some of his classmates while she was away on one of her searches.

Bruce, having been keeping an eye on the woman, stepped in to ensure they got justice for the attack and, in the process, helped her get custody of Cullen so they could both be free of their abusive father. In the face of all these changes and with Batman’s promise to find the other killer, Harper agreed to stand down.

However, Cass would find him first by taking a bullet for him after her father sent men to attack Harper and Cullen to draw her out.

Having expected a monster like Orphan, not this small child who stared up at her with the most apologetic eyes, Harper immediately forgave the girl and worked with Bruce and Batman to clear Cass’s name and take the girl under her wing. It was hard as Cass didn’t understand any language but body, but Harper and Cullen were willing to put in the work. In an effort to help, Bruce brought the Rows into the fold and promised any aid they could require.

Cullen was fascinated, but also happy to keep to the normal side of life. Bruce may have secretly wondered why the other children he found himself faced with couldn't be that level headed.

Harper, on the other hand, was more taken in, but also wary of getting too involved now that she had two people relying on her care. She went out sometimes in all black body armor with a full face mask and short hooded cloak, but she stayed out of sight enough that Black Bat remained an unknown myth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A trip to Los Angeles had Tim declaring he was never going with Bruce on business trips ever again. The first two days had been nice enough, but then Bruce caught him pulling an all-nighter working on a case that he wasn’t supposed to be working on and banned him from coffee.

Which was how a half-awake, phone focused Tim found himself nearly stepping out in front of traffic. Thankfully someone not dead on their feet spotted him in time and she pulled him back onto the sidewalk. He tried to laugh it off as just being too focused on his phone. That failed when he turned to walk away and almost immediately walked into a newspaper rack. The girl insisted on walking him to his hotel. When he pointed out he was going to pick up something from his father, she declared she’d walk him there and back.

When he returned back to Gotham with a new number in his phone, he refused to look her up. No, she was just some random civilian. He didn’t care if Wonder Girl doesn’t even wear a mask! Obviously that was her! A hoodie doesn’t help hide anything, Cassie! You and Kon are terrible! How do you two even have secret identities? At least Superman had those stupid glasses!

No, she was an ordinary civilian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duke Thomas’s search eventually ended when he teamed up with Batman to free his parents and the other missing Joker Venom victims from the Court of Owls, his photokinetic vision helping them navigate the labyrinthine tunnels. Unfortunately the Court’s experiments paired with going so long without the antidote had left the victims catatonic. Even still, Duke was so grateful that he did what he could to help Batman with his cases in the future.

Bruce, giving in to the inevitable even if he was wary to have a meta vigilante in Gotham, brought Duke into the Colony. There was some debate over how he’d fit in until Duke made it known that he would prefer getting some actual training before he went into the field for real.

This doesn’t stop Tim and Bette from glaring eachother down over who got to move on from Robin first.

Cass suggested settling it with a Mario Kart race.

Tim won.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day Jinny “Hex” Woodson got fed up with all her friends discussing their Gotham friends -- ones she was pretty sure none of them were even allowed to have since no one was even supposed to go to Gotham -- so she packed a bag and headed out to find her own Gotham friend.

She decided the place was alright enough. It was actually kind of nice that no one questioned her for having a pair of pistols holstered on her hips. Someone even tried to mug her despite them.

It was hilarious.

She was having trouble finding her new Gotham friend, though. At least until a kid fell off a fire escape she’d been passing under and into her arms.

It was fate.

Apparently the kid had been trying to take a picture of a bird (aka Tim was scouting for a stakeout) and the railing hadn’t been quite as sturdy as he’d thought (it had only let him balance on it in a crouch for two hours before giving way). It was then that he noticed her guns.

“You’re not going to shoot me, right?”

“Angel, you’re so skinny, you can't even see your shadow. I don’t need my guns to whup you.”

“Angel?”

“Because you fell from heaven.”

Tim was not amused. He was even less amused when she declared they were friends now. No, he doesn’t get an opinion on the matter. Should have thought about that before throwing himself at unsuspecting women. She doesn’t even swing that way, Angel.

Around the same time that it hit the Young Justice team that they were all friends with the same Gothamite, it also hit the Colony that Tim had somehow managed to befriend the entire team.

Except no, Tim affirmed that they befriended him. He had no input in this whatsoever, thank you very much. It was probably Kon’s fault, really. He had probably set it all up. Tim was definitely going to give Kon the cold shoulder.

At least until his badgering got too annoying.

The worst part was that Stephanie stole his phone to get Cassie’s number when she found out she and Tim had been flirting. She stated it was so Stephanie could defend his honor if she tried something, but he caught both her and Bette in a group chat with not only Cassie, but Kara Danvers aka Supergirl and Suzanne “Cissie” King-Jones aka Arrowette.

Apparently, they didn’t get to be teased since the girls actively sought out their super friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Talia al Ghul personally informed her that the Heir to the Demon was now living with his biological father Bruce Wayne so she would be wise to keep her distance from Gotham, sister or not, Cheshire knew she’d made the right call keeping her nose out of the Waynes’ business.

It didn’t occur to her that when Talia al Ghul had met Bruce Wayne over ten years earlier at a party and decided to spend the night with him, the woman believed he’d given up his training to settle down for a life of luxury and frivolities. Cheshire didn’t know Ra’s had only allowed Talia to keep the child that had been an accidental result because he’d seen Bruce’s promise and believed, if raised properly, the child could become what he thought Bruce hadn’t.

That Talia had only brought her son to his father because she had no other choice.

The Demon’s Daughter fled to Gotham with Damian after her father was killed by Slade Wilson. She had hoped that between Bruce’s former training and the shadowy Colony of Gotham, Damian would be safe until Wilson could be dealt with.

Damian did not get along with his siblings. He made an attempt to pick a fight with Tim that failed when Tim refused to fight a child. Cass tried to fight him in Tim’s place, but Harper told her no. Damian tried to stab Dick when he hugged him and Dick disarmed him before he could without releasing the hug. He picked a fight with Jason and got his butt handed to him. Damian snuck out to prove himself, picked a fight with Nightwing, and got his butt kicked. Damian tried his hand with Tim again and the older boy, annoyed, agreed then used knockout gas on him the moment the fight began. Dick tried to talk with Damian and they ended up fighting. Damian, of course, got his butt kicked.

Stephanie was standing on the sidelines the entire time, encouraging everything.

Soon enough the Colony noticed Slade holed up near Gotham and launched an attack. Due to the danger, Bruce pulled in everyone, leaving the Robins and Alfred to keep an eye on Damian, Duke, Cullen, and Cass in the manor while Catwoman took guard outside. When Damian found out about the attack and tried to go after Slade, Tim sent him in the opposite direction then followed after him in the suit he’d been designing for post-Robin while the others took shelter in the cave.

Tim knocked Damian out and dragged him back to the cave where they locked him in a cell, to Bruce’s annoyance. Damian woke up and realized his father was Batman when he overheard Bruce reveal that Talia was likely coming back for Damian now that Slade was taken down. He also heard the family’s argument over it. None of them wanted him to go with her, but in the end they agreed that it was Damian’s choice.

When she did come, Damian remembered what the others said about him having a choice and some things about family Dick had said when the two had had their private conversation. He decided to stay with them, citing that there were things his father could teach him that he couldn’t learn while helping his mother rebuild the League.

She was obviously annoyed and disappointed, but didn’t fight him on it.

It wasn’t easy. Damian still fought with all his brothers as well as Stephanie, though Duke did his best to keep out of it. The youngest Wayne tried to challenge Tim and Bette for his place as Robin, but Dick and Bruce were able to get him to agree to training instead with the reminder that he was lacking the theatrical and teamwork skills that the Colony utilized and were mandatory as Robin.

Bruce didn’t mention that he wanted more reassurance the boy wouldn’t step over the line before ever letting him near the field.

Damian was not impressed when he discovered his father’s relationship with Selina Kyle and made it well known.

She thought it was adorable.

Damian would never admit that the kitten she gifted him was what calmed him. He simply didn’t see the point in wasting any energy on outwardly disliking the woman when his father clearly wouldn’t be changing his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Duke took Tim’s place as Robin, he made sure to keep his own contributions to the role quiet. Robin was a legacy while his meta abilities were not. Tim was not quite so subtle in his new role.

No one was sure where the name Corvid came from since the new bird didn’t speak in words, only trills. He wore an armored suit that was blue on the chest and arms and black on his sides with white detailing. His legs, hands, and feet were all black as well except for the blue splashes on the outside of his thighs. A white belt draped over his hips while black bandoliers crossed over his chest, a silver and black bird logo covering the cross. The bandoliers connected to his cowl, which was open at the top unlike the Bats’ which allowed his feather-like hair to fall down around his face. It was shoulder length and faded from black at the roots to blue at the tips, much like the wings that formed from his feathered cape.

They said he was a fallen star stolen away by the Colony. He soared soundlessly through the air on wings that never flapped, leaving behind a trail of blue light. He was more migratory than the others. Sometimes he flew above Batman and Robin, sometimes Batwoman and Red Hood, and sometimes Batgirl and Nightwing. A criminal could only hope they got the warning of seeing one of the others first or he’d have them in his talons hundreds of feet in the air before they even realized he was there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time passed. Damian grew closer to the rest of the Colony under Dick’s instruction.

Jason and Kate bonded with him over their more aggressive styles (to Bruce’s consternation) while helping him learn ways to calm his temper.

Despite their rough start and continuing antagonism, Damian grew to respect Tim’s quick mind as he tutored him in strategy and the Colony’s language.

He also developed a respect that had nothing to do with fear -- not at all -- for Barbara after she repaid an insult he gave her by sharing with the entire family a video of him fawning over some stray kittens in the park. He never discovered how she got the footage as he had made sure there were no cameras in the vicinity before acting in such an undignified fashion. (It was Dick. He pouted for weeks when he realized the cute video he took of his adorable baby brother was used for such purposes.)

A similar kind of respect grew for Harper as he quickly learned to be noticeable when approaching her. She had far too much experience with bats and birds sneaking around and far too little concern over jabbing them with a stun gun in revenge, whether they meant to scare her or not.

He was not afraid to admit he was scared of Cass once he realized who she was, though. He knew her skills and knew she could take him down in seconds if it came to it.

He was skeptical of both Stephanie and Bette, who he believed to be vapid, but Stephanie’s pranks were amusing when they weren’t directed at him and Bette introduced him to social media revolving around animal rights (and cute animal pictures).

Although he was rather dull, Cullen was by far the best person to be with while working on his newfound appreciation for drawing and painting, especially if the older boy was doing his own artwork for the webcomics he and Duke collaborated on.

While not being the most mentally or physically skilled, Duke was the most patient of the lot and could be trusted to keep his mouth shut so he was the one Damian went to when he needed assistance with homework (a rare occurrence, but the American schooling system was so different from his League tutors, to the point that sometimes they even seemed to contradict one another) or wanted to practice his Trillic.

Though he would never admit it out loud, Dick was Damian’s favorite of the lot. While he didn’t have Duke’s patience, he was just as considerate and confidential. When something happened, Dick was always willing to hear him out and talk him through it until he understood. Or at least was on the path to understanding. Dick did not share Jason’s anger, his father’s suspicion, Tim’s caution, or Duke’s anxiety. He had only sympathy. Damian knew his mother would consider Dick weak, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a year in Gotham came and went, Dick went to Duke and Bette. The three talked, eventually bringing in Harper as an idea began to blossom.

Robin had a sword. They said he got it from his shadow.

The only thing not pitch black on the Black Bat was the thin golden outline of the Bat’s symbol on their chest. Their face was featureless, not even possessing eyes like Batgirl. They never made a sound. If you saw Robin, then his shadow was behind you.

There was no time to run.

On the other hand, those who believed themselves safe during the day proved to be foolish.

Bright spirits had come to Gotham.

They wore metal armor and carried their wings on their chests. They came and went in flashes of light bright enough to stun.

Bluebird was their guide and donned armor of blue. Her voice echoed with the voices of lost souls and lightning danced across her form.

Lark was their prophet and donned armor of gold. He could see the past, present, and future and fought with the strength of ages past.

Hawkfire was their messenger and donned armor of red. She spoke with the voices of everyone she passed and her armor blazed with the heat of the sun.

Though they walked the day and seemed to be creatures of light, it was nothing but a trick. They were will-o'-wisps, false lights. They were birds.

The Colony had invaded the day.

With the three working together, Bette offered to turn Duke and Harper. The two accepted. Afterwards Harper sought out Cullen and Cass to offer them the same. She wasn’t surprised with Cass’s easy agreement, though Cullen’s was a little more shocking as he’d never shown any interest in the Colony’s nightlife. Quite the opposite, in fact. He simply shrugged and told her vampirism had nothing to do with the nightlife. It was just how their family worked.

He and Cass were greatly amused, but unsurprised when Harper, Bette, and Duke forgot to mention the latest turnings. They decided to keep their own mouths shut to see how long it would last, though he did confide in Alfred. Not that it was necessary as the man seemed to put it together himself the moment he saw Cullen.

It took three months for Bruce, Tim, and Barbara to figure it out for themselves, then an additional two for the rest to find out when Duke casually mentioned it during a family meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian blamed Tim when he found himself stuck in a room with Superman’s spawn Jonathan Kent while said superhero in disguise interviewed Damian’s father for the newspaper.

Clearly, Tim’s horrible curse had somehow rubbed off on Damian and the older boy would pay dearly once he returned home by way of Damian renaming all of Tim’s non-case related computer folders and creating a maze of invisible thread around his room.

At least the half-alien had good taste in video games. And his voice was nice enough that his incessant chatter was more like a soothing white noise than a nuisance. And Superman clearly would have trained Jon in discretion, even if not to Damian’s family’s standards.

For the record, the only reason Damian accepted Jon’s number was so that Dick would be so pleased Damian had finally acquired a friend that he wouldn’t allow the others to tease him over something that was clearly Tim’s fault to begin with. And when that plot fell through, he simply forgot to delete Jon’s number because he was busy expanding his revenge to include Jason and Stephanie.

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Harper, as Black Bat, wore Cass's Orphan suit from Young Justice. I wanted something a little more lowkey from what she normally wears since she's not really supposed to be spotted.

Tim's suit got the most reworking because I like and dislike elements from all his Red Robin suits. The end result is one with the body armor from his Young Justice (TV) Robin suit, but with the New 52 wings paired with the bandoliers, logo, and cowl from the original Red Robin suit. Except I left the cowl open on top like the ones Kid Flash and Impulse use. From there you replace the red with blue and the yellow with white. I honestly wish I was better at drawing so that I could give a visual of what I'm going for here.

Cass's Black Bat suit is her Batgirl one, just with her belt black instead.

Haper, Bette, and Duke wear Signal's armor as Bluebird, Hawkfire, and Lark, just in blue, red, and gold instead of yellow. The bat logo is also replaced with their individualized bird logos.

Vampires’ animal forms:

Duke: Cape wild dog

Harper: Maned wolf

Cullen: Crab-eating fox

Cass: Northern bat

#batman #batfam #colony of gotham #fanfiction