#i love ALL of the batfam but if anything happened to STEPH??? i would genuinely die

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Okay so I saw this post earlier about how the Battle for the Cowl should have been between Cass and Jason (I can’t find it; if anyone knows what it is sorry), and yk it make so much more sense than what happens in canon!! Neither Dick nor Tim want to be Batman - they’ve both been shown to want to make their own path and being Batman stresses them out like crazy. Having either of them fight for it makes no sense. Steph and Babs have their own thing, they have no desire to take the mantle, and Damian is like 10, so?? HE might think he’s ready to be Batman but no one would let him.

Anyway so I’m just gonna say Duke’s already been adopted into the Batfam here (bc I love him) and that Tim and Steph were Robins together because I like it better. And so Bruce dies right? So there’s no Batman. Dick’s chilling in Bludhaven with no desire to be Batman, no one in Gotham wants to be Batman... sans Cass and Jason.

Plus it would be like a moral conflict too - Cass is so against killing, even moreso than Bruce, because of her past and what she was forced to do, while Jason believes there are people you just can’t leave alive. And are either of them right? We don’t know. They both would want at least the role Batman has in protecting the city, though they’d do it in very different ways. And Cass would obviously win because she never loses, but I feel like seeing them battle it out would be so fun bc Jason is brutal, yeah, but he’s also smart as fuck - seeing him trying to figure out Cass’s weaknesses and use them against her and seeing Cass use her own experience and superior abilities against him.

What’s everyone else doing? Dick’s probably stressing the fuck out because two of his siblings are trying to kill each other in Gotham shit- but after a while of getting yelled at he decides to just leave them to it. Damian probably goes with him and is his sidekick like in canon when he was Batman, but given he’s still Nightwing here Damian’s not Robin. Maybe he could be Flamebird - to complete with the story Dick got Nightwing from. I like to think Steph winds up chilling with them too, because I love her bond with Damian (she’s literally the closest to him after Dick and they have such a annoying older sister-bratty younger brother bond and no one does anything with it??) and since I think she’s meant to be the next Nightwing (right?? Am I reading the wrong things??) I’d love to see her have a sibling bond with Dick as well.

Ig Tim has more time to like... obsess over bring Bruce back to life or whatever he did? I genuinely forgot how he did that aside from that “I’m not Batman; I have friends” (Tim my guy icon), so he can probably be doing that while he and Duke and Barbra all continue being vigilantes and protecting people in the middle of Jason and Cass’s fighting. Barbra has better things to be doing - yeah she cares about Jason and Cass both and she probably yells at them to sort it out, but they’re both old enough to figure shit out. Duke is also stressed out but he has more important things going on rn. I feel like Tim wouldn’t care.

Tim and Steph would probably become Spoiler and Red Robin (he named himself after a fast food place does this guy live under a rock) bc no Batman = no Robin. I guess you could go the Steph Batgirl route but I like the Spoiler costume better so I’m sticking with it.

Actually, I kind of don’t want Bruce to come back now. Like how did he even come back in canon what did Tim even do.

#batman #batfam #battle for the cowl #alternate universe #ig #dick grayson #jason todd #cassandra cain #tim drake #stephanie brown #damian wayne #duke thomas #barbra gordon #bruce wayne #why did tim name himself after a fast food place again #cass would be an interesting batman tbh #esp if she is forced to work with jason as red hood... #dick is just chilling in bludhaven #he's not chilling hes stressed #but its okay #its not - damian #barbra is so done w this family drama #shes just #nope #tim has not slept in a week someone help this dumbass #steph is discovering the wonders of being an older sister #bruce is dead #i hope for good #rip but comic book death and undeath is so random #im concerned

[batarangsoundsdumb]

batman webcomic

#it was fantastic i really wish that dynamic for ALL of the batfam comics #also wishing for a batgirls story featuring steph babs and cass #y'all let's make this happen #gimme my goddamn STEPH CONTENT #HAND IT OVER DC RIGHT FUCKING NOW OR YOU DIE AND YOU DIE PAINFULLY #ngl i'd risk it all for stephanie brown #i love ALL of the batfam but if anything happened to STEPH??? i would genuinely die #but lmao damian in this was fantastic #prime damian characterisation #tho like i'm so 200% hellbent on damian being a weeb #it's fine weebs exist and they have (some) rights. like human rights and animal rights and stuff #damian greeting duke: Greetings MORTAL join me in the hall for a battle of the sword- whoever bests the other gets to pick the naruto ep #damian's alarm clock is set to a nightcore remix of the season 2 intro to attack on titan #cooki-dough #LOVE YOUR USERNAME #bataranswers #damian wayne #robin #batman #batfamily adventures #batfam #batfamily #batman webtoon #dc #dcu #dc comics

[incoherentbabblings]

What fanon interpretations of DC characters do you dislike and which ones do you like (if you like any)?

I don't read much DC fanfic anymore I have to say, so I may be utterly missing some of the more prevalent ones...

I don't mind fanon where it's based around hobbies or interests? It's a real sticking point for some, but I genuinely don't mind it.

I know it's pretty much canon now, but for example Cass being into theatre and dance. I like that one. And Tim being into photography is one I don't mind at all either, in fact I use it a lot in my own writing. So yeah, let Jason be really into books for instance, beyond just... Knowing the plot to Three Musketeers. I don't think they are a net negative at all for the characters. It's just a hobby or interest - something for people to relate to outside of the supeheroing.

I'm... Very picky for Tim fics. If there's angst for Tim to cry about it better be a self inflicted crisis rather than anything than his family have done to him. He can cry and be miserable and depressed - of course he can - but I'd rather it was about things that had happened to others (to show his compassion) or a right old mess he'd managed to get himself into (to show his bullheadedness). Rather than 'my parents never truly loved me' or 'damian/jason are cruel to me and dick/bruce are just allowing it to happen'.

Tell you one thing though, I wish fanon made a bigger deal out of his more manic episodes (that aren't motivated by sleep deprivation or coffee I should qualify). I know it's more of a New 52 onwards thing, but Tim's mood has been shown to have very big highs along with quite bad lows, I think it would be interesting if people explored that more.

The one I think we all struggle with, readers and writers both, is having the supporting batfam characters pop up, and they only exist to prop up the pov or opinion of the fic's main characters. I think Dick, Cass, Steph and Duke suffer the worst from this. For the sake of a) not having the time and space to make room for more conflict or b) just not caring about them enough, disputes or clashing opinions or ideologies are hammered into being flat. So, for example, Dick being placid and very easy going and the perfect big brother, Cass having anything to do with Jason when he's still on a 'is murder ethical' debate, Steph and Duke just being there to rack up numbers or to have them be blandly optimistic or snarky about shenanigans.

I think in those instances, it's okay to cut the supporting characters. You don't need to include everyone just for the sake of ticking boxes I think. Like I say however, this is something I do myself from time to time. You need a character to come in and say/do something to move the plot along and you just have to go with one the audience is already familiar with. So... Catch-22 that one I think.

What else... Um... I guess then it just turns into my personal preferences. Steph is a lot softer and quieter than people give her credit for. I like Dick to still be a couple of levels above his siblings in any given topic, since he has a decade's experience on most of them. I don't mind Bruce being depicted as a good or bad dad, but I can't stand fics which look at a canon instance of his being abhorrent, and try to justify it or have other characters forgive him for it. Not until that conversation happens in canon I say. There should be more Duke and Cass fics because he understands her the best (sorry Tim and Steph).

Though - favourite fanon? Anything that exaggerates or emphasises Damian and Dick's parent child dynamic. I have to say, that's one I'm a right sucker for.

Which ones do you guys like/loathe? Are there ones I missed that you think are the worst?

#dc #dick grayson #tim drake #stephanie brown #bruce wayne #cassandra cain #duke thomas #damian wayne #jason todd #batfam #Ask and I'll babble

[hintofelation99]

Can you describe the batfam by the type of movies or series they like to watch? Also what are the other's reaction whenever they watch it together?

Hell yeah! Tbh I feel like movie nights would be some of the most frustrating nights in Wayne manor, just cause everyone is hella opinionated. Like they take turns letting each other choose movies but even then they fight for at least an hour over what was chosen. But here's what each member typically chooses when it's their turn. Also I briefly mention their reactions in here but I'll probs do a Batfam Movie Night dialogue, fic, series, thingy (??? Idk what to call those things) and I'll link it back to this ask when I do. Link.

Dick:

Genres— Musicals, Rom Coms, Spy Movies

Favorite Movies— Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, The Greatest Showman, Notting Hill, Pretty Woman, A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Kingsman

Basically Dick is guaranteed to pick a musical or a rom com. He loves things that are big and dramatic and beautiful, but also a bit cheesey and silly. Like him.

Everyone groans when Dick chooses the movie because they know it will be a bit cheesey or the stereotypical "Chick Flick". That being said usually what he picks is genuinely good (Mamma Mia and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again are both masterpieces) and they leave everyone laughing or feeling happy.

Dick does also love classic foreign films (mostly European) because they remind him of movies his parents would sometimes take him to see, this wasn't super common but occasionally the Graysons would find a local theater showing classics.

He used to love the Kingsman movies but stopped liking them after everything that happened with Spyral.

Babs:

Genres— Sci-Fi, Comedy, Rom Coms

Favorite Movies— A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Martian, Star Wars, Star Trek, When Harry Met Sally

Babs is a complete nerd and loves all of the Star Wars and Star Trek movies. She'll occasionally watch Lord of the Rings with Tim but she definitely prefers the nerdy Sci-Fi movies.

She only started liking Rom Coms after dating Dick, he loves them so much that it was pretty difficult for her to not start liking them as well.

When watching one of her favs Babs will be mouthing along the entire time. She also has a lot of cool memorabilia from her favorite franchises.

Jason:

Genres— Classics, Dramas

Favorite Movies— Twelve Angry Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, To Kill a Mockingbird

Jason isn't too big on movies. And surprisingly he's not usually super opinionated about movies, he can be pretty opinionated on which movie the family will watch. This is less because he's trying to be combative and more because he's sick of watching his siblings favorite movies, he feels like hes seen them all a million times.

Typically Jason isn't a huge fan of movie adaptations or remakes. They don't bother him and he doesn't care when a new one's released but he's not going to watch it.

Sometimes Jason will accidentally fall asleep during family movie night, these are one of the few nights where he 'cuddles' and honestly it's less cuddling and more 'oops I feel asleep and ended up on someone's shoulder or lap. Whether or not he falls asleep depends on if he's fighting with Bruce or not. If he and Bruce are fighting Jason won't feel comfortable enough to fall asleep (he might even skip movie night), but if they're on good terms he might doze off.

Cass:

Genres— Fantasy, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Horror

Favorite Movies— The Big Sick, The Thing, A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Tangled

Cass mainly knows about movies from her movie nights with Tim, Babs, and Steph, so her tastes have developed based on theirs.

She and Tim frequently watch old B Horror movies together, every once in a while one will quietly sing "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" to the other and they immediately burst out laughing. This is most commonly done at galas.

Tim bought her a sweatshirt with a "horror movie periodic table" on it and she wears it almost constantly.

Tim:

Genres— Fantasy, Classic Horror

Favorite Movies— Lord of the Rings, The Exorcist, The Thing, Stardust

Tim absolutely adores fantasy movies, he's a huge nerd and definitely uses fantasy movies to help him plan his next DnD campaign.

While Tim adores fantasy movies he's more likely to watch movies from his second favorite genre— Classic Horror.

Him, Cass, Steph, and Babs love having movie nights together because they're all major nerds and tend to like a lot of the same movies.

Steph:

Genres— Comedy, Anything Cass recommends

Favorites— Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Big Sick, Palm Springs

Steph is much more outspoken than Tim, Babs, or Jason. This is part of the reason why she is one of the more polarizing siblings on movie night. If she doesn't want to watch something she will let you know.

She can making picking a movie difficult, but every other aspect of movie night is improved by Steph. She gets fun snacks, fuzzy blankets, cool sodas, and she even made them all shirts when they did a Lord of the Rings marathon.

When watching a movie Steph will quietly mimic lines or noises that she likes. She never notices but she does it during every movie. Like during Monty Python she'll whisper 'clip clop, clip clop' when they bang the coconuts together.

Duke:

Genres— Documentary, Mockumentary

Favorites— Darkest Knight: The Truth Behind Gotham's Hero, The Keene Act, America's Most Dangerous City: Gotham, What We Do in the Shadows

Duke loves watching documentaries on Batman just to see how off they are. No one argues when he suggests them for movie nights.

One time he, Jason, and Tim made a 'documentary' about Batman. It looks completely serious to anyone who doesn't know Batman's secret identity.

After making the Batman documentary he decided to make some more on random Gotham villians. He's made about six and all look completely serious to anyone who doesn't know the villian.

In his documentary titled "Riddle Me This" he said that the Riddler gained riddle themed powers after a tragic accident at a riddle book factory. Edward did not appreciate this.

Damian:

Genres— Action, Survival, Documentary

Favorites— John Wick, Riddle Me This, The Keene Act, Jungle, High School Musical

Damian is the absolute worst to watch action movies with, he spends the entire time ripping the movie apart and mocking anything that is even remotely unrealistic.

He and Duke will often talk about their favorite documentaries, he's even started helping Duke make documentaries. Right now they're working on one about the League of Assassins, Tim watched the first cut and almost pissed himself from laughing so hard.

Jon showed him High School Musical and Damian pretended to hate it but secretly he doesn't mind it. Obviously Jon knows this so he showed Damian the entire series, and now it's sort of become their thing.

Bruce:

Genres— Whatever the fuck his kids agree on

Favorites— Please for the love of god let his kids pick a movie

Bruce is tired and just wants to watch a goddamn movie

As always these are all headcannons and have little to no cannonical support. Also all of Dukes movies (except the last one) are documentaries I imagine would exist in the DC universe.

#batfam #headcannons #bruce wayne #batman #nightwing #dick grayson #jason todd #red hood #barbara gordon #oracle #cassandra cain #black bat #tim drake #red robin #stephanie brown #spoiler #batgirl #duke thomas #the signal #damian wayne #robin #favorite movies #mypost #ask

[morgansunflower]

I Miss You 2/3

Jason Todd X Reader

Batfamily X Batsis! Reader

Warnings: suggestive content,

Words:1002

A argument between Y/N and her overprotective little brother, with a believed to be disease ridden available house. What else could happen...

After Damian's warning that everyone is suspicious. I mentally prepared to be lectured. I hear a knock on my door. I sigh deeply taking deep breaths. I step to my bathroom and grab my robe. I put it on, cover my small baby bump and tie a bow with the fabric rope. I step to my door and opened seeing, Barbara in her wheelchair. Her hands rested on her handles and her eyes locked on mine. I am greeted with the 'you're in trouble' look from Babs.

"hey Babs, everything OK?" I tried to sound confident though am nervous. Does she know?

"you tell me" she bitterly said "according to everyone you've been absent from patrol and missions for quite some time"

"oh, think I might be sick so you may not want to hang out with me" I lied, I am sorta sick but not that kind of sick

She raised her right eyebrow "I doubt what you have is contagious" she saw, right through my lie "Y/N, why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me?"

I sigh feeling like I am a disappointment. I step to my window. I couldn't look at her. She is the closest I ever had to mom, after my own died. Barbara puts her hands on the wheels of her wheelchair and rolls into my room.

"I know you and Grayson weren't exactly proud of me when I told you both, that I was in love with, Jay... There was a time when you both almost put him in jail.. So how was I going to tell you that I am pregnant with his baby?" my tears falling damn hormones. I look at my sister excepting disappointment but saw remorse instead

"I know you are disappointed with how we dealt with Jason" she softly smiled "I just am glad that you saved him when no one else could"

"he needed to know that I cared about him, that he is loved and that he wasn't alone" I began to cry, I feel so alone "I just M-miss him and he-he promised me he'd come back. He never broke a promise to me"

"I know" she softly said

Barbara, rolled closer to me. I hear footsteps. I look seeing both Cassandra and Stephanie standing in my rooms doorframe. I dry my tears. Cassandra, sadly smiled and Stephanie had a genuine hurt look.

"hey Girl's" I said

"you shouldn't feel like you have to hide from us. We're your best friends, Y/N" she sighs "your sister's"

"I know Steph believe me I do. I was going to tell you all. I just didn't know how" I take another deep breath.

"does anyone else know?" Barbara asked

"as of now Dami and you three" I feel my heart sink "I honestly don't know how I'm going to tell Bruce I'm moving out and that I'm pregnant" I sighed nervous of how I'm going to tell Bruce. He's so unpredictable, but I do know he loves me

"what?! Are you crazy Y/N you can't leave. You need all the help you can get, especially without Jason" Stephanie exclaimed

"Gotham is too dangerous you know you're safer here" Barbara added 

"agreed" Cassandra said with effort, her speech as certainly improved

"Girl's I appreciate the concern but this is my doing.. and Jason's. I'm not going to stay here so Bruce and all you are worried about me. Not to mention that I doubt he approves. The man nearly had a heat attack when I told him I'm dating Jason"

The following day I walk through the hallway. Damian by my side. I carry my purse as I step to leave to look at the new open house. Damian and I arguing that I'm moving out.

"Dami, for the last time I am not asking you. I'm telling you, DROP IT!" I demanded not wanting anyone to hear our conversation

"I only do not believe you are capable of taking care of yourself and your child alone" he said sternly

"I am not discussing this with you further kid" I walk down the left staircase.

"perhaps you should reconsider" he said irritated

"and why would I do a thing a thing like that?" I asked sarcastically

"we both know, Todd may not return for months if not longer. You are in a delicate condition and should not be unsupervised incase something happens"

I take a deep breath I should assure him everything is ok. I stop by the door Damian within inches of me.

"Dami, I am going to be OK" I softly said

"I still advise you to stay here where it's safe until Todd returns. I shall speak with father if you're too uncomfortable too" he offered

"Dami" he cares so much ".. I love you"

I hold the doorknob he grabs my wrist.

"do not make me, force you to stay. I will if I must!" he threatened with his voice breaking

My heart sinks at his words "Dami, here I'll let you come with me" I offered maybe that will relieve his worries.

"tt, fine"

We went to the open house. I stand in the living room. The fireplace on the left wall. It felt peaceful. I softly hummed. I see other couples. I could practically feel Jason's strong and comforting hand on my own.

"I'm certain this house is infected with hundreds of diseases!" Damian gratefully said

"funny I think Tim said the same thing about you" I teased with a chuckle

"tt, this is a waste of time, perhaps we should return home" he suggested

"you can but I actually like this house" I said

"you could slip on these slick floors. Someone could break in. Your child could get, infected by thousands of things in this revolting house" he declared confident he was right

I shake my head "anything you like about the house?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm, expecting probably not

"tt of course not"

#batfamily #Jason Todd X Reader #Batsis! Reader #Damian Wayne X Batsis! Reader #Batsis #Pregnancy #Bruce Wayne X daughter! Reader #Bruce Wayne #Unplanned pregnancy #Comfort #Dick Grayson #Damian Wayne #Tim Drake #Stephanie Brown #Cassandra Cain #Barbara Gordon #Alfred Pennyworth

[gotham-rat]

BRO since father's day is nearby, how would the batfam celebrate it with bruce and alfred (alfred takes care of them sm and deals with their shit on the daily, he's technically a father too imo!!) and how would they celebrate it when they're in quarantine and before when there's no quarantine?? I love reading your stuff anf it genuinely makes me happy and hope u have a great day! ^___^

this made me so happy!!! and wow it’s an amazing ask so thank you anon :)) here we go, it’s a pretty long one:

batfam + father’s day

bruce, without fail, always forgets about father’s day. it creeps up on him every year and every year he’s surprised by his kids. the very first father’s day gift he ever received was from dick-his second year of being robin. it was a very colorful card, with a drawing of a small robin and a big hulking batman. young dick also included 46 cents in change because he thought money was a very high end addition. bruce cried later, softly while in bed. he couldn’t stop thinking about just how much he cared for richard. his little boy. dick, of course, carried on the father’s day gift tradition. cards accompanied by long hugs, cheesy fake trophies for “#1 DAD”, awkward pictures of bruce on patrol in big frames, his gifts remained light, always poking a little fun. bruce keeps every single one.

jason’s first father’s day with bruce felt a little tense. jason wasn’t sure if he could celebrate it with him, he didnt know if bruce liked that type of thing, even though jason himself wanted badly to spend the day with him. so when dick showed up, bearing gifts, and jason saw bruce’s grin, he ran upstairs and pulled out a letter he’d written but wasn’t planning on giving. every year until his death he’d write bruce a long letter. post-death jason doesn’t usually show up, but leaves a small package on the front step every father’s day. it’s addressed to both bruce and alfred and is normally random things. a polaroid of him and a bad guy he tied up, a batman themed card deck, an old batarang he found in a street once, etc.

tim woke up really early his first father’s day, and replaced every picture in the house with one of bruce that had been used as a meme all that year. (it was him at a red carpet event, doing The White Man Pose, awkwardly facing the camera). every year he does something like that, TPing the house, putting googly eyes on the food, etc. bruce finds it absolutely delightful even though he pretends to be annoyed.

damian didn’t really understand the concept of father’s day, so upon waking up and finding the whole crew there, he was pretty confused. when he found out what was happening, he quietly excused himself and proceeded to cry in his room. he felt embarrassed and guilty for not knowing. he wanted to express his great love for his father but he had no idea how. bruce came into his room, quietly shutting the door behind him, and dami wrapped his arms around him and they sat on the bed hugging for a long time. bruce kissed the top of his head and said “thank you.” when damian heard that he asked “for what? I didn’t get you anything.” and bruce said “you’re here. you’re my kid. I’m thankful everyday for that.”

cassie punches bruce in the arm as hard as she can every year. she leaves a tiny fist shaped bruise that hurts way more than bruce will every admit.

barbara always swings by, and takes a pic of bruce and her own dad when she sees him, and then cuts each person out and pastes it together on one picture to give to both of him. on the back she writes “love you dads!” or “batdad and copdad” or “why do you both look so stiff? xx”

father’s day makes stephanie uncomfortable. highly uncomfortable. she certainly loves bruce, but doesn’t quite see him as the father figure most of the others do. she calls him every year though, at 6 o’clock on the dot. sometimes she cries. she thanks him and tells him she’s so grateful to have him in her life. bruce wants nothing more than to hug her, but he knows she doesn’t like being around him on that day, when her mind is filled with thoughts of her own father.

when it comes to alfred, bruce organizes the whole thing with his kids. alfred doesn’t really do much butler work anymore, but he definitely gets the whole day off, dami and bruce cook whatever he asks for, for each meal (and he likes to mess with them and ask for difficult things to make) and tim puts on a suit quite similar to alfred’s and talks with a bad british accent. damian likes giving him father’s day gifts and writing “grand” in front of “father” which alfred absolutely adores. he’s completely showered with gifts, in fact he gets more than bruce does. last year they distributed nerf guns and had a full pillow fort war with him. alfred kicked all their asses of course.

for quarantine this year, things were a little different. these members are quarantined in wayne manor: bruce, alfred, dick (he couldn’t be alone in his apartment), tim, jason (where else could he go), cassie, and damian. (stephs in cali and babs is self quarantining). dick got the wonderful idea of putting on a talent show for bruce and alfred, as a way of celebrating how well the two have raised them. it took a lot of convincing on his part, but finally everyone agreed. dick did a dance number that’s was entirely too long. tim solved not one, not two, but three rubix cubes in under a minute. damian did a little magic show where he was supposed to *cut* off jason’s finger and restore it, only he accidentally did cut into jason’s finger, and there had to be a pause in the show for jason to get gauze and wrap. damian is now banned from doing magic. jason reanacted the door scene in titanic by himself. cassie dares anyone to challenge her to a staring contest. she won everytime.

#batfam headcanons #batfamily headcanons #incorrect batfam quotes #batfamily headcanon #batfam headcanon #batfamily #batfam #batman #stephanie brown #gotham #dick grayson #jason todd #bruce wayne #damian wayne #dc universe #incorrect batfamily quotes #joker #the joker #red hood and the outlaws #red hood #tim drake #cassandra cain #barbara gordon

[thattimdrakeguy]

I couldn’t finish Batman and Robin 2009. It was just... mentally exhausting and I stopped shortly after Bat Dick put fake Bruce in the Lazarus pit. Based on his appearances in Teen Titans, Bruce Wayne: Road Home, as well as his big fan base, I assumed Damian’s character development was executed nicely in his own series. But then again in Gates of Gotham (literally read it just for Cass) he’s impulsive, arrogant and rude to Cass both to her face and behind her back-even after she saved his life 1

Don’t get me started on the sexist things he’s said to Steph. I want to like Damian, but writers don’t make it easy. I got into comics because of batfam fanfics and he was a fave of mine. Dude was extra violent and displayed borderline sociopathic tendencies in his first appearances, cool beans. There’s a lot they can do with a character like that. I just felt like his bad behaviour was never properly dealt with before B&R, and I couldn’t muster the energy to see him through his own series. 2/2

IMO, Damian felt like a Gary Stu at times.

I don’t know if that last one was from the same person or not, but I just got the feeling it is, and if it’s not, then well it blends well enough and don’t feel the need to answer it separately.

Like all I can really say is that I don’t really like Damian. A lot of people confuse that for me thinking he’s an evil monster. I imagine cause I have a Tim icon and other Tims do rage on about that every now and again. As well as just plain taking things I say the wrong way (though I have probably said things in the moment I imagine). But I just plain don’t really like his writing, and if I can’t really read a comic he’s in that I actually like. Idk, I just find it weird to say I like him, when all I really like is what he could be. I don’t feel like that really equals me liking him, cause when I think about it, I kinda realized that meant the opposite, and didn’t wanna project the wrong idea.

But I wanna say this about Damian. He is insanely inconsistent as a personality and character. To this very day. So, as I do with every character, I start from the beginning, figure out what was meant to be by the writers that helped develop them, and figure out what’s in-character and out of character from there. I just feel like it’s the most objective way I can look at anything if I want to review things with standards that are more than just “I like this” or “I don’t like that”.

And in the case of Damian he’s never not been inconsistent. Like one of the main reasons I reread Batman and Robin (or at least Morrison’s run) was for plans of a post about flanderization in the Bat-Family, cause it was pretty rampant in the 00s and still continues often to this very day, and I think is the cause of a lot of lost sales and unhappiness and overall fandom diminishment.

However also to say it, I liked to see a lot of what Damian could be within B&R 09.

But anyways, basically just because I can’t really do a part of the post on Damian without trying to figure out what he was like to begin with, and what he was supposed to be per his creator.

Cause you can’t really tell in fandom. Cause his most popular comics are from stuff that isn’t in the main universe and was purposely a lot lighter, or in the main universe from writers that really surprisingly didn’t get the character despite the popularity--which continues my thinking on it was less about the quality of the writing and more about the lazy fan service. They honestly really flanderized him in a similar yet opposite way then what they did with Tim in the 00s.

And while I can’t act like the sexism and homophobia wasn’t an actual part of the character of Damian at the time--he shows both of those traits in the series (at least the homophobia, cause I’m now realizing that I might be thinking of another series for the sexism). He was flanderized even then by other writers from the different series.

Like how he’s written in Red Robin, is not freaking Damian. It’s not Damian to me. I don’t accept it as Damian. Even a lot of the content of him in Batgirl I even less feel like is Damian--besides unfortunately some of the sexist comments, but they never really proper developed him on that as far as like--actively showing that, at least that I can recall. So all I can really say is it’s uncomfortable, and how they don’t delve into it is the only real reason I say “That actually sadly does fit in with him”. But it’s not like it doesn’t make sense, he was raised to fight, not to handle emotions or feelings, he probably would do and say really creepy things when he has a crush--I just wish they’d actually acknowledge that what was going on rather than sacrificing a good story for more fan service.

The other writers make him too much of a bratty, snotty, kid. And I found that, that is an absolutely terrible interpretation of Damian, because beyond his origin, he isn’t a typical brat, and he doesn’t really act like a kid (in some ways yes, but general mannerisms and personality no). And even then he was a different kind of brat. He was entitled and bitchy in his origin, not immature (at least in the same way) and snotty. They have him act more like some spoiled brat from next door rather than a kid that was abused into being obedient to be what his abusive mother wanted (Talia shouldn’t be abusive, but like I said before, I think the series sucked overall for reasons like that and more).

(I also find that stupid line cutting scene in RR where I presume he was trying to kill Tim to be even stupider, cause Damian wouldn’t freaking do that at that point. They make Damian come off as so stupid in that issue, I hate it. Cause it was all just a cheap way to force sympathy for him, but it doesn’t even make sense when you think about it and is a huge stretch.)

Damian doesn’t make jokes when he’s written better--it’s like his thing. He’s got quite the temper, and understandably why of course. He’s violent with criminals, but he’s also mostly just stoic as his base state when not in a stressed situation, and even shows remorse (which is a big stretch from his origin, but I blame that on the writing which could be very rushed and lazy). He was treated like just another adult for the most part, and it had a weirdly endearing quality despite the maturity of it, and general edge of the series. It was Damian’s place and it worked really well. It just felt right for their dynamics. Damian’s a unique kid, and they respected him for who he was. He just needed help on his morals and stability.

But other series didn’t really get that. He would still be really rude like his origin, and not really the same tone of rudeness (I’m not sure if I can really explain what I mean by that), he’s aggressive, but putting him in Teen Titans never made sense to me, because I don’t see Dick doing that. Dick had a lot more respect than to force Damian to do something like that. Dick was more patient, and while he did lightly smack (not any kind to hurt him any. literally to demonstrate without pain. more taps really) him to teach him a point about aesthetical weaknesses in his costume like the hood, it was mostly done out of finding a way to teach him that would speak to him. So just forcing him to do something he didn’t want to do--which would clearly not work on him--was just contrived and plain bad writing wise. Something they did more as a stunt so they can say “TITANS NOW HAS THE SON OF BATMAN” than to use him well or continue his story in a natural way.

With Cass I can’t say anything, because that’s like the one time he talks to her, and that basically shows their dynamic. So that’s just them, I can’t really say anything on it. If he felt challenged by her I could see him being a total jerk. It really depends on the scenes themselves. I never read the series myself cause I genuinely really don’t like that Batman Reborn era of Bat-Family. Too much of it was just done for publicity and random changes, and for the most part didn’t work much to me.

But overall, at the same time, despite me singing the praises of what Damian could be, and was for a little while. The overall writing for the character arc was super lazy. Stuff just kind of happens, and way too quick to fit in with what they introduced. He just kind of goes “this is right, now”, which makes his whole brainwashing thing feel a bit--useless, and makes how he went from chopping heads off to that in very little time sort of cuts out depth that could’ve really made the series more rereadable. Damian actually comes off surprisingly as a very flat character for stretches of time in the issues because his character arc is never focused on as much as you’d think until they need to be like “Oh yeah...uh, here’s an emotional moment”. Which just felt really cheap to me.

So the series to me isn’t worth it if you want a good story. None of the stories were good to me, I think I was questioning each one cause it was either schlocky, out of character, or both. I know people like Grant Morrison, but they aren’t for me, I’m not a fan of their writing. Damian was a Gary Stu a lot, which they try to explain with the League thing--but having the League give him experimental surgery so he could walk the same day (or next) after being legitimately paralyzed was just way too freaking much to me. But he does make mistakes, so he’s not at base a Gary Stu really--the writing just really stunk badly sometimes.

This isn’t me putting in a bid to say “OH YOU JUST NEED TO READ THIS, AND YOU’LL FREAKING LOVE HIM”, because to be freaking honest, when you already have a bad taste in your mouth, it’s best to just wait a bit till trying again. I read the fandom recommended comics and felt there was so many problems that I couldn’t read Damian for literal months. And he still has a lot of the problems you said. I’m just saying Damian is surprisingly different when written by his creator than others, cause honestly nearly every single other writer for him has gotten him wrong. Like mind-blowingly wrong. He does not feel like the same character anywhere else. It’s nuts.

To put it another way, it’s a generally speaking bad series, but if you want to see what Damian was meant to be like before they kept regressing him, and diminishing him, and turning him into more a joke, and see what his dynamic with Dick and Alfred was meant to be like, it’s a brilliant and perfect series to read it for.

It’s better for learning about them--then it actually is to enjoy it. Because it’s most likely not a series I’m going to be returning too often unless to research something again.

[talesfromatabletop]

RP Headcanons: DC Edition, pt 1

Batfam

Bruce cares, tries, and fails, but generally keeps trying for his kids.

Baby Terry McGinnis is the cutest thing ever and his dinosaur t-shirts reinforce this.

Slade Wilson - terrible person, great assassin, loving (if strict) parent.

Dick and Bruce fight constantly! Once Dick gets mad about something, everything makes him more angry until he and Bruce eventually resolve the first problem. It's sometimes big stuff... sometimes really petty shit.

Steph loves waffles. She will trade Tim for a 4-stack with chocolate chips.

Everybody wants to pair with Bruce on Gotham patrols. He gets the best fights and he brings snacks in the belt - it's a 50/50 if it's protein bars or trail mix, though.

Nobody wants to pair with Bruce on Gotham patrols. He won't let you make Social Media posts or stop for a hotdog at Rico's corner stand.

Jason and Dick actually fight a lot, still. Jason knows how to push Dick's buttons and he uses that as a self-defense tactic when he doesn't want to talk. ("Get Dick mad and he won't ask if I'm okay!")

Cass loved Steph before Steph loved Cass. Stephanie figured it out... eventually.

Lucius Fox only helps with the really weird shit because Bruce trades him Alfred's secret holiday recipes sometimes. Alfred's recipes are the true treasures of Earth.

Duke does his best not to get swept up in the weird, wild lives of his batsiblings tbh.

Tim doesn't babysit, he gets babysat.

Ace is the Good Boy™ but he will try and take Krypto down.

Titus is trained, we swear, but he's goofier than a ferret on drugs sometimes. 10/10 derp.

Sometimes Dami gives Batcow walks through the garden to help her relax.

Every Batfam member will stab the other for the last piece of Ma Kent's apple pie. Even Alfred.

Superfam

90s Kon and YJ Kon both deserve to exist. What better combo than the Insta-famous, outgoing showboat and the blunt, introverted buffbaby?

YJ Kon is way more of a "Conner" than 90s Kon. 90s Con is now "Carter."

Carter + Tim = Flashy Disaster Couple

Conner likes Wally's freckles.

Ma and Pa Kent accept any and all grandkids, time-travel or dimension-hopping be damned because "They're our boys, now, Clark, of course we want to see them!", and there are family trips to the farm.

Clark will bribe his friends and teammates with his mother's cooking. He can't bribe with his own, though, because he's terrible at it.

Jon would happily fly to Gotham for dinner before eating what his father burned made for them.

Krypto would probably go, too.

Clark doesn't know what to do with all of his sons but at least they aren't like his cousins.

"It's not about whether the boob window would look good or not, guys! It isn't happening!" is still something he's had to say before, though, and Clark's mildly ashamed of it.

With three superboys up to bat, the real issue is that none of them want to share the name. Jon had it first and that's fine with his brothers, really. Conner looks and feels like practically an adult, so he's meh about it. Carter wants something catchier to say. The result? Superboy, Kon and Rao.

Jor-El had a conniption when Carter named himself "Rao" as a hero. "You named yourself after OUR GOD?!? You disrespectful little-!"

Lex thought it was hilarious.

The boys are constantly in the background of Carter's posts and there's a few Insta vids of Lex trying and failing to hide that he's mildly amused by his son's shenanigans.

Flashfam

Barry is face-blind (has prosopagnosia). He can gradually memorize specific elements of a person's face ("Uh... Ollie's hair is like mine, right? So he's blond! And I know he has facial hair.") but has trouble associating them together unless he's had long periods of exposure to the person.

Wally is a nervous bundle of anxiety. All of the time.

Barry is practically incapable of looking on the dark side of things, and tends to believe the best of people - this extends to his villains.

Cisco is his bro, Caitlin is like the ditzy aunt, and Harrison is the exasperated father-figure that just wishes his kids didn't drink so much coffee.

Speaking of coffee - Barry doesn't drink it on the job. It makes him antsy.

Captain Boomerang - Digger, to his friends - is always on the edge of getting out of the game. Raising Owen ("Little Diggs") is a higher priority than his Rogues work. He waivers between retirement and always that "last" job that'll set him up to take care of his son.

Little Diggs is too pure for this world, and a fan of Flash even though he knows his father is a villain.

Wally isn't as forgiving with the Rogues as Barry is. This is especially true for Heatwave, Glider and Cold, since they've all double-crossed the Flash before.

Cold isn't fond of Kid Flash. Barry earns his respect and, in some ways, his admiration - this doesn't extend to Flash's smartassed sidekick.

Lisa and Mick are a surprisingly functional duo despite their dysfunctional dynamic. Lisa is generally in charge in their relationship, and Mick knows Len would ice him if he ever raised a hand to Lisa.

Len and Mick are best friends, despite the friction from their clashing personalities.

Lisa keeps pushing Len to either date or pick a favorite hooker - anything to get him laid and chilled out for once.

Len is practically addicted to puns. Not even just cold- or ice-related puns, either! He will make puns out of anything when given an opportunity, and genuinely is amused by them.

Arrowfam

Oliver is never in control of his daily life. He's barely in control of his personal choices most of the time.

Felicity runs it all - the team, the company, organizing his assignments from the League... everything other than doing the hard stuff herself.

Ollie really is a capable hero, but he doesn't believe it. He also doesn't particularly believe that the League needs or wants him there, but couldn't tell you why exactly they keep him, then, if questioned about it.

Roy has totally given up the flash and mystique of heroism tbh. Trucker hat? Check. Bow, arrows, and backup guns? Check. Flip-flops? All the better to chase people with. The slapslapslap of justice will strike terror in the hearts of muggers everywhere.

Oliver spoils Lian relentlessly.

Artemis is glad to avoid the weird shit that Roy and his clones get up to when Ollie isn't paying attention. She's never been more thankful that she isn't one of the adopted sidekicks.

Jim: Big, friendly, easily guilt-tripped, the pretty one.

Will: Mature, down-to-earth, does the guilt-tripping, the mom/dad friend.

Roy: Trash, amger!!!, can't be guilt-tripped but can be blackmailed, has no clue what he wants in life yet.

Lian will either murder you in your sleep or you are now a member of her family. There is no in-between.

No pets. Ever. They will get shot with an arrow by accident and nobody in the house is willing to deal with that emotional burden.

Oliver wants exactly 0 people in the "Arrowfam" but will kill you and/or himself over losing any member of his Arrowfam.

#dc comics #headcanon #dc headcanon #there is so much more #snippets with Azzy

[thebluenebula]

So todays my birthday so I figured I'd write a birthday fic for Ashleigh. I really enjoyed writing this. This take place about three to six months after she arrived, so she is much more comfortable around the Batfam.

Masterlist

The Day After (Coming Soon)

Birthday

I sat at the breakfast table, reading todays paper. I never really read them. I just skimmed through them until some picture or crazy headline caught my eye. Bruce sat across from me.

"So." He loudly said.

I looked up from the paper. "So?"

"Sunday."

"What about Sunday?"

"It's your birthday."

"Oh." I was genuinely shocked. It didn't feel like a year had passed. I guess when a lot happens, you don't notice the time go by.

"I was just wondering what you wanted to do for it?"

"I don't really want to do anything." I explained.

"Really?"

"Yup."

"No party?"

"Yep."

"You're only eighteen once Ashleigh."

"And I'm quite content not to celebrate it."

"Alright." Bruce looked a little disappointed. "How about a gift, what kinda gift do you want?"

"Gift." I looked at Bruce with genuine shock. "Bruce you've literally given me everything I could have ever needed in the last six months."

He grinned. "Thats my job."

"I dont need anything else."

"I know you don't need anything, but so you WANT anything?"

"How about my own house?" I joked.

"If you want one." Bruce replied, deadly serious.

"No." I quickly responded. "I'm not going to get kicked out am I?"

"Of course not."

I sighed with relief. I may be about to be eighteen but I'm in no way prepared to be on my own.

"If I was going to kick out any of my kids, don't you think Dick and Jason would already be gone."

"What's this about me getting kicked out?" Jay asked as he walked in.

"Don't worry Jay, I'm not kicking you out. Yet." Bruce assured him. "Just making a point."

"Wait," Jay leaned against the table. "I understand why your using me as an example, but why would you want to kick out Dick?"

Bruce shivered. "I have heard him say things I never wanted to hear any of my kids say."

"God." Jay yelled and slammed his head into his hands. "I'd repressed that memory."

"What happened?" I cautiously asked.

"Well there was this one time Dick and Wally were fu-" Jay began to explain.

Bruce elbowed him. "She does not need to know. No one needs to know."

I looked at the two curiously. I wonder what Dick and Wally got up to.

That night before I lay into bed, I looked at the photograph on my locker. Siobhan, Sean, and I. We all looked so happy. It felt odd, this would be the first year I'd have a birthday without Sean, and the first in years without Siobhan. I grabbed the photo and lay into bed.

That Friday I was lying on my floor, texting Cassie. "Artemis seems crazy."

"She can be, thats why her and Jay get on so well. So it's your birthday Sunday. 🎉🎉🎉" She text me.

For a moment I wondered how she knew, then I remembered that it was on my Pixtagram account. "Yup."

"You doing anything for it?"

"Not a thing."

"No party?"

I wish. "Not much of a party person."

"Dick or Steph will through you one regardless."

"Bruce made Dick promise not to and I don't think Steph even knows."

"Wait you didnt tell them its your birthday?"

"Nope. Only Bruce, Alfred, and Kate knows and I'd  rather keep it that way."

"Okay, mind if I come around tommorow? We can just hang out or something to not celebrate you're birthday."

I giggled. "That'd be awesome."

"How's 12 sound?"

I yawned. "That'd be awesome. If it's alright, I'm going to go to bed."

"Goodnight Ashleigh. I'll text you in the morning."

"Night."

I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Cassie text me the next morning and we confirmed are meet up. A little after one Cassie arrived. We got to togetehr with a couple of the other kids and played video games and chatted for hours. Cassie had to leave in a bit so the two of us headed up to my room.

I sat down on my swivel chair and Cassie plopped onto the bed. "So any idea what Bruce is getting you for your birthday?"

"Nothing, I think."

"Nothing?"

"Well he asked me what I wanted but I couldn't think of anything else I could want"

"Maybe you could ask for a car and give it to me." She joked.

"You can fly though."

"It would be a tad questionable if I FLEW to school."

"Point taken."

"Speaking of gifts," Cassie pulled a wrapped box out of her bag. "Since I won't see you tomorrow."

"Cassie you didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

I took the box from her. "Thank you. Do I open it now?"

"I'd prefer if you did." Cassie said. "You can't imagine the amount of thought you have to put into getting a gift for the child of a billionaire."

"I'm not picky." I explained, then pulled off the wrapping paper. A photo frame. A blue frame surrounded by little clouds and bats. "Cassie, its adorable."

She smiled. "The clouds were already there but i stuck the bats on cause... you know."

"Yeah, I know." I smiled. "I love it."

"Well I seen that you had that photo by your bedside and thought you might use this frame for another. Maybe you could put like a picture of everyone in in it or something.

"I don't have a picture of everyone in the house together. That'd be nice."

"That's it!" She exclaimed.

I jumped. "That's what?"

"Your birthday gift. Ask Bruce for a picture of you all together."

"I'd love that but I'd have to blow on a hell of a lot of candles for that wish to come through."

Cassie laugh was interupted by a ding from her phone. She checked the phone. "Diana's outside, I've got to go."

"I'll walk you out."

We headed down to the entrance. Cassie opened the door and prepared to leave. "I guess I'll see you again Ashleigh." She said as she stepped out the door.

"Cassie."

She stopped and turned. "Yes?"

"If you aren't busy tommorow... maybe you like to come around."

She smiled. "I'd love to."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll remember to bring those extra candles for the wish."

I laughed. "I'll need them."

"I won't forget." She promised. "I'll see you tommorow then."

"One other thing, when is your birthday?"

"Why?"

"So I can remember to get you that car."

She giggled and walked down the steps. I wonder if Bruce would actually let me buy her a car.

I got up early the next day and to my delight. No big deal seemed to be made of my birthday. Dick, Bruce, and Alfred wished me a Happy Birthday but that was it. Everyone else seemed clueless to it.

Around eleven Cassie arrived and her, Carrie, Harper, and I ended up in the den playing video games again.

About one Bruce dragged me out of the den. "What's up?" I asked him.

"Someones here to see you."

"Who?" I asked as we stepped out into the hall.

"Hey Ashleigh." Kate stood just inside the door. Arms open.

"Kate!" I hugged her. "I didn't know you were coming today."

"Thought I'd surprise you, considering it's your birthday." She ruffled my hair. "Happy Birthday, by the way."

"Thank you." I smiled. "How'd you know?"

"I always know."

"Bruce told you?"

She nodded. "Bruce told me."

"I felt it was necessary." Bruce added.

Kate held a box. "A little something."

"Thanks but you didn't have to."

"I know, Bruce said that. Which is why I distinctively ignored it."

Bruce scoffed. "I shouldn't be surprised."

Kate looked to Bruce then back to me. "I'll hold on to it for a little while."

"Sure." I looked to Bruce skeptically.

"Follow me." He said.

I followed Kate and Bruce towards the Dining room. "Where are we going?"

"I just want to say, that this was primarily Dicks idea." Bruce said.

Oh no. I already knew what this is. I put on a smile as we walked through the doors into the dining room. It was decorated to the nines with birthday banners and other colorful decorations. Sometimes I hate Dicks insistent to go over the top with everything.

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone yelled as I entered. I smiled at the large gathering of people. To say I was uncomfortable was an understatement. But just for a second. Before, when I had parties, it fwlt like a lot of the smiling faces were just that, smiling face, no genuine emotion behind them but not this time. This time the smiles held happiness, love. I could feel it

All the nervousness I should feel, melted away. I don't know of it was Kate's hand on my shoulder or the smiles of my family and Cassie.

I was quickly tugged to the table by Steph. In front of me sat a large chocolate cake. On it, there had to be about fifty candles. "I told you I wouldn't forget." Cassie smiled.

"Come on!" Dick shouted excitedly.

"Can't we just skip that part?" Jay moaned.

Dick ignored Jay's remark and burst into song. "Happy birthday to you!"

Dick was quickly joined by the others, even Jay mumblwd along. After the song was over, I blew out my candles. Downside of so many candles, took quite a few blows.

"So what'd you wish for?" Steph asked.

"She can't tell you, that ruins the wish." Dick said.

"I didn't wish for anything." I said. "I have everything I could ever need."

Damien scoffed. "Corny. You sound like Grayson."

Cassie nudged me. "Do it."

"Fine." I sighed. "I did wish for something."

"Anything." Bruce said.

"I wish for... a photo. Of all of us. Together."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

"That's doable." Bruce turned to the kids. Jay and Damien in particular. "Isn't it."

Jay sighed. "Just this once."

Damien scoffed. ""Yes, as Todd said."

"I shall get the camera." Alfred stated.

"No need I have one here." Steph said, handing a camera to Alfred. "I have been capturing every moment of this."

"At this point, I'm surprised you don't take pictures of us sleeping." Tim remarked.

"Maybe I do."

"I'm double checking the locks in my door tonight." Duke commented.

"I'll always find another way in."

"You are the creepiest blonde I've ever met." Jay said. "And thats not a low bar."

"But you love me for it."

Jay sighed. I turned to Alfred. "You're  not going to be in the photo?" I asked.

"Someone must take the photo."

"I can take it Alfie." Cassie said.

"I will allow you to take this photo, Miss Sandsmark, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Never refer to me as Alfie ever again."

"Fiiine." Cassie snagged the camera. "Now go join them."

"Okay," Bruce said. "Tallest to the back."

Dick, Kate, Bruce, Alfred, and Jay stood at the back in that order. Damien, Babs, me, Harper, Carrie, Duke, Steph, and Cass stood in front.

Dick picked up Damien. "Let me go Grayson!"

"Chill out." Dick said as he placed Damien on his shoulders. "Don't want you cut out of the photo.

"This will suffice." Damien huffed, pretending to be upset.

Steph turned to Cass. "Pleaaase."

"Sure." Cass lifted Steph onto her shoulder.

Bruce smiled at his children and place an arm around Alfred. I felt Kate place her hand on my shoulder.

"Say cheese." Cassie said.

"Cheeese!" We all shouted as Cassie snapped the picture.

We all walked over to her. "How's it look?"

She through an arm around my neck. "Smile."

I looked at the camera in surprise as Cassie snapped a picture. "What was that about?" I asked as Cassie let go of me.

She shrugged. "You needed a photo of us."

She handed me the camera. I looked at the photo of us. Cassie looked perfect but I had a look of absolutely confusion plastered on my face. I smiled and looked at the family picture. Everyone looked perfect in it. Even Damien and Jay were smiling. The camera was quickly passed around everyone as they looked at the photo.

Afterwards we cut the cake. I could tell by the way that Cass and Steph watched me as I took the first slice, that they had baked it. "Best cake ever." I said after I took a bite. The two girls had huge grins plastered across their faces. The cake was quickly devoured by everyone.

A pile of gifts sat on the table from each of the Batfamily. I figured I'd open them later and we went to play party games. For a moment I thought they be boring but the look on Tim's face when the donkey tail ended up pinned to his back, courtesy of Steph, proved me wrong.

Eventually we all lay up and watched some movies. By eleven everyone was clearly knackered. I could barely even keep my eyes open. Carrie was sound asleep against Bruce and most of the others weren't far behind. I was almost asleep when I felt a small weight on my shoulder.

Cassie looked half asleep as she leaned against me. Maybe she was asleep, just with her eyes open. I couldn't tell.

"Is she asleep?" I heard a voice ask from behind me.

I looked over my shoudler. Diana stood in the open doorway. "Diana." Bruce slid out gently from under Carrie and stood up. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I knocked. I assure you." She said. "No one answered, so I let myself in."

"Sorry, Miss Prince, I was preoccupied." Alfred stated.

I hadn't even noticed Alfred in the armchair in the corner. Jay was curled up beside him and appeared to be sound asleep.

"No worries Alfred."

"You've come to pick up Carrie. I assume." Bruce said.

"Yes. I'd leave her here but I promised her mother I'd bring her home tonight."

"Of course."

I shook Cassie. "Wake up."

She looked up at me groggily. "Huh?"

"Diana."

She sat up straight and looked to Diana. "Oh hey."

"Time to go."

Cassie stood up and stretched. "Sure, I'll juat grab my bag, i think it's in the kitchen." She turned back to me. "See yah Ash, and Happy Birthday."

I smiled. "See yah."

Cassie and Diana left and I looked back at the TV. I didn't recognise the movie that was on. I didn't even know who picked it. Slowly I drifted off to sleep on the couch.

#batfamily #batfam #bruce wayne #batman #dick grayson #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #damien wayne #robin #alfred pennyworth #duke thomas #signal #stephanie brown #spoiler #barbara gordon #oracle #cassandra cain #orphan #carrie kelley #batgirl #harper row #bluebird #oc #cassie sandsmark #wonder girl #fanfiction #batfam fanfic

[elareine]

Reasons to be jealous

Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, one swear word Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Damian Wayne (side) Additional Tags: Pining, Misunderstandings, Jealousy, Undercover as a Couple, Future Fic, 5+1 Things, Brotherly Bonding, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff Batfam Bingo Square: 5+1 AO3: /18872404

One

“Well, that’s one arsonist behind bars.” Dick closed his laptop with a sigh of deep satisfaction. “Good job, Timmy.”

“Warm in here today,” he remarked absently, still focused on his own screen but knowing that Dick liked a bit of chatter once the tension of a case lessened.

“Oh, yeah, Jay and I were talking about it recently and it just reminded me of how much I like coming home to a warm room.”

Tim actually turned his attention to Dick. Dick and Jason… they talked, sure. The years had even smoothed most of the stiltedness out of it. He would go so far as to call them family.

But they weren’t friends. Tim couldn’t imagine them talking about room temperatures.

“You were?”

Dick laughed. “Weird topic of conversation, right? But you know how boring stake-outs go.”

Tim nodded in a heartfelt manner.

“It’s just a childhood thing. Circus trailers aren’t exactly known for great insulation. And Jay….”, Dick hesitated. Close to two decades later and still none of them liked to think about that child trying to survive on Gotham’s streets.  “Well, he knows cold, too. I thought it would be nice to have it warm if he stops by, is all.”

That was the second time Dick had called Jason ‘Jay’. Tim had thought he was the only one of their family who called Jason that. The only one who regularly saw Jason, too. Apparently not.

He ignored the twinge in his gut and asked, “So you’re getting along better now?”

The smile on Dick’s face was small but genuine. “Yeah.”

“Hey, did you set something on fire? Usually I’m close to freezing in here. See, this is why I bring the food,” Jason joked as he dropped the containers with said food on the kitchen counter.

Tim’s neck felt hot as he moved to take out some plates. “I thought it might be… nice. To be warm.”

It wasn’t a good excuse, he knew that.

Jason’s gaze sharpened. “Nice.”

Tim shrugged as casually as possible.

He thought Jason might ask again - give that man a hint something was up and he would follow it to its bitter end - but the other man finally relaxed into a smile. “Well, it is. Nice.”

When they moved to the couch for their weekly session of greasy food and terrible TV, Jason took his jacket off. Again Tim felt that unease in his gut. He had assumed that Jason kept the jacket on as form of a safety blanket, to hide his guns or even just out of a sense of style. But no, he’d just been freezing because Tim never really noticed the temperature of a room he was in and tended to keep it on the chilly side.

Some detective he was. He’d been doing this - this thing with Jason for years now, being partners, brothers, friends even, but he hadn’t seen something so simple about him. But Dick had.

A knee nudged against his. When he looked up Jason’s eyes were concerned.

“You alright, babybird?”

The nickname, as always, made Tim want to smile, but he just said: “Tired, sorry.”

Two

It was one thing to know that Dick and Jason were getting along better now; another entirely to watch it.

Patrol with just the four of them was always tense. It didn’t happen often. Babs had made plenty of comments about all-men groups being ‘way too testosterone guided’ and Tim absolutely conceded her point. But she was busy and Steph and Cass were away, as was Bruce. The announcement of an upcoming Arkham breakout hadn’t left them with much choice but for the four of them to work together.

Still, Tim had expected it to be tense because Dick and Jason were sniping at each other and Damian at everyone, not because Jason and Dick were goofing around and it was weird.

Dick was laughing and slinging an arm around Jason’s shoulder innocently. Tim knew that move intimately - any moment now Dick’s hand would move under Jason’s right arm and flip him over bodily. He’d done it to Tim and Damian about a thousand times.

Dick’s hand moved and pulled.

Nothing happened.

Jason was grinning under his helmet, Tim was sure. “Bit heavier than you remembered, Nightwing?”

Dick pouted.

Before he could reply, however, he was interrupted by a sharp voice. “Are you done being a distraction?”

Damian was being even more pissy than usual. He’d donned his Batman cowl in Bruce’s absence, but it couldn’t hide the perpetual scowl on his face this night. Tim didn’t need to guess what had caused it. The brat (which was what Damian always would be to him, a head taller than him or not) had always been possessive over Dick, and didn’t Tim know it.

Still, for once, Tim actually agreed with him. They were very distracting.

Luckily, the first inmate chose that moment to break through security forces, and soon they were all too busy for any more flirting.

“Why are you here and not in the shower?” Dick waved a hand in the direction Jason had disappeared to.

“I need to write a mission report,” Tim protested.

“We can do that, right, little D?” Dick smiled at Damian, who grumbled but acquiesced. “Go ahead and have an early night, dude. You look beat.”

“Uh. Thanks.”

Tim made his way to the unofficial changing room they sometimes used after missions, where Jason was just coming out of the shower, a towel around his hips.

He smiled when he saw Tim. “You’re done?”

“Looks like it.”

“Wanna go for some pancakes?”

“Sure.”

With a quiet sigh of relief, Tim peeled out of the tight suit, grimacing mentally at the sweat that made his skin stick to the material. Jason moved next to him to get dressed.

Tim didn’t realise how quiet he’d been until Jason’s hand reached out to poke his newly uncovered cheek. “Something on your mind, babybird?”

“It’s weird,” he admitted, “seeing Dick and you get along.”

Jason laughed. “I bet. Don’t worry, it probably won’t last.”

“What brought the truce on, anyway?”

“Nothing special. Guess we just decided to, to quote a certain Tim Drake, ‘grow up and talk’. Though alcohol was involved. Obviously.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed. Jason wasn’t looking at him and his tone of voice was relaxed, light, even.

He was lying. 

Three

“If he’s coming to Wayne functions now, we might as well make Jason officially a part of the family again.”

“Bruce doesn’t know how to ask and he thinks Jason will say no.”

“He might not.” But Tim was aware that Dick’s attention wasn’t really on their quiet conversation.

Dick was loosening his tie. Tim, curse his brain, couldn’t help but notice the way his throat was flushed, how he swallowed like his mouth was dry.

See, this was the kind of situation where Tim mentally cursed every bit of detective training he’d ever had. He’d really rather not know that his brother was becoming aroused in the middle of a very public ballroom, thank you very much.

Tim followed Dick’s gaze to where Jason and Damian were talking to a group of socialites, the two of them towering over everyone else. Without any conscious input from his brain, his own eyes strayed to where the suit jacket stretched just so over Jason’s broad shoulders, to where the coat flared, perfectly accentuating his waist, down to his thighs just barely contained by the slim suit pants…

Dick’s voice recalled him to the present. “Well, you would know better than anyone else.”

Apparently not, Tim thought. Apparently I don’t know anything about him. If he didn’t even tell me about you…

It was hard to speak around the bitterness in throat. “I know that if he keeps throwing Damian to the wolves like that, he won’t live long enough to answer Bruce.”

Dick laughed. “Aww, you know Damian only means his death threats 30% of the time these days. Still, I’ll go rescue him. Coming?”

Tim waved him off, knowing all three of the official Wayne brothers together would draw a crowd. Worse, it would draw Cass. As much as he loved his sister, he didn’t want her to see the ugly feeling clawing through him.

For a minute, he just watched Dick move through the crowd, a kind word here, a flirtatious smile there, always working his audience. The golden boy. Tim had thought he was over that old jealousy - over fighting for the cowl, for Bruce’s love, for a place in their family, always compared to the first Robin - but now it looked like Jason would be just one more thing he’d lose to Dick and he couldn’t stand it.

There was a familiar presence sidling up to him. For such a big man, Jason could be quite stealthy.

Tim took a deep breath, composing himself. He couldn’t afford to act weird around Jason. Again.

“Hey,” he smiled at him, “Alfred got you into a suit?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to wearing something this expensive.” Jason rolled his shoulders back, stretching the shirt even further. Tim had to look away. “You make it look so natural.”

“I’m always terrified of spilling something.” Tim suppressed a shudder, remembering his mother’s less than understanding attitude when he’d ruined one of his outfits as a child. Alfred, of course, would never do more than cluck disapprovingly, but…

“Well, then you’d better put that glass away and dance with me.” There was a roguish grin on Jason’s face as he offered Tim a hand.

Tim, however, didn’t even really have time to consider that offer before Jason just went and took his hand anyway, his other setting down Tim’s glass on a nearby surface before pulling the younger man to the dance floor.

“Jason,” Tim protested, laughter threatening to break through as Jason pulled him into his arms and began leading him into a quickstep.

“C’mon, the longer we dance, the longer we don’t need to talk to anyone else.” Jason grinned down at him. “Mrs. Quickshaw was already making her way over.”

Now Tim did giggle. “In that case, feel free to whisk me away anytime.”

He thought he saw Dick watching them from the corner of his eyes, but Jason chose that moment to twirl him around and he forgot all about it, breathless with laughter.

Four

“Grayson and Todd.”

Tim looked up from his screen at the cave to the masked crusader sitting next to him. “What about them?” Last time he’d checked, the two were out and about on their usual routes. Jason had even texted him about a particularly funny incident involving two sex workers and a fourteen-year-old wannabe client four minutes ago. Surely even he hadn’t managed to get into trouble in the meantime?

What was he thinking, this was Gotham.

Damian made an impatient gesture. His expression implied that Tim should know exactly what he was talking about, but he deigned to say: “They are closer.”

Oh.

“Yes.” Tim did his best to sound disinterested. There was no way he would bare this wound to Damian.

Damian was frowning up a storm now. “I’ve seen Grayson experience romantic and sexual attraction to someone he believes is out of his reach before. He’s exhibiting all the signs now.”

Tim considered that. In a way, Damian certainly knew Dick better than Tim. (That still smarted a bit, by the way.) The brat had certainly become better about people’s emotions through the years. If Damian said that Dick was in love with Jason, Tim believed him.

For a second, he considered the possibility that it was one-sided with something like joy. Then he squashed it ruthlessly.

It was Dick. How could Jason resist him? Why would he want to? Everyone loved Dick. It didn’t matter that Tim had invested years of his life into supporting Jason through the most difficult times of their lives, into building a relationship that was founded on trust instead of violence. He had never kidded himself that it made Jason obligated or even likely to love him.

It didn’t matter, because who wouldn’t want Dick?

Dick might be pining now, but soon, he would get what he wanted. He always did, in these things.

Tim just hoped for Jason’s sake that Dick wouldn’t get tired of him once he had him.

Shoving the thought away, he said tiredly, “Maybe it is for now.”

There was a loud crack as Damian set down his cup with enough force to split porcelain. “You’re not helpful, Drake,” he spat, jumping up and exiting the cave in his usual dramatic fashion.

Tim watched him leave and wondered why this felt like giving up.

Five

“Oh, I see you have booked our honeymoon suite. May I offer my felicitations?”

Jason smiled and pulled his partner closer into him. “Thank you.”

“Our suite offers everything you need to make it the experience of a lifetime. The rooms include a kitchenette, a secluded balcony with a sea view as well as a whirlpool. I’ll have an attendant bring you a bottle of champagne,” the clerk smiled, “on the house.”

Dick beamed. “Oh, thank you, that’s very kind of you!” He turned to kiss Jason on the cheek. “See, babe, I told you this hotel is the best.”

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Grayson. Now, our restaurant serves dinner between six and ten, though I’m happy to give you recommendations if you choose to dine elsewhere. Room service is available by calling…”

“Will she never stop talking,” a voice in Tim’s feed cut her off.

Tim frowned. “You’re supposed to be working, Robin.”

He could practically hear Damian’s eyeroll. “Not much to do as a valet, you imbecile. I’m assigned to take their luggage up,” that was going according to plan, then, Tim thought, how nice to know, thank you, Damian, “but they are too busy flirting to actually do something.”

“That is what they’re supposed to be doing,” Tim reminded him.

“Tch.” Damian’s feed cut off.

Jason and Dick were finally wrapping things up at the reception desk. Tim watched through the security cameras as they turned towards the elevators, their eyes seemingly never leaving each other.

These days, Jason was the logical choice as a partner on these missions if they wanted to keep it in the family. Mostly because people didn’t know he was family, so they could use their actual names to get into luxury hotels and the like. O was busy and Bruce on another planet, so it made sense that Tim was running the backup side of things. Sure, Dick had been a bit quick to volunteer to be Jason’s partner on this one, leaving Damian to infiltrate the labor side of things, but Damian was still a bit stiff in undercover situations like this one. The entire set-up was entirely logical.

Still, as Jason’s hand dropped down to squeeze a generous handful of Dick’s ass, Tim started to see Damian’s point.

The honeymooners made their way up to their room. Separating as soon as the door closed behind Damian, they silently began to case the room.

Tim let them work for it for a minute, then spoke into the mic. “There are no outgoing signals apart from my camera from your room.”

Jason looked up into said camera and smiled. “Thanks. How are things on your end?”

“Uneventful.”

Dick asked, “Where’s Damian?”

“Making his way through the rooms. He’ll hand your note over to the mark in about five minutes.”  

“Better get undressed then,” Dick said, winking at Jason. “Gotta give her a show, right?”

“You actually want her and Damian to walk in on us?” Jason sighed dramatically. “Tim, you’ll rescue me if Damian tries to kill me, right?”

“I don’t know,” Tim replied drily around the bile in his throat, “if you make me watch you two have sex, I might help him hide the bodies.”

“Ouch.” Jason pressed a hand to his heart. “I’m wounded.”

Dick rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt over his eyes. “Just get undressed.”

“Since you’re asking so nicely, darling.”

“Just for you, honey.”

Tim decided to turn his attention to Damian’s feed, instead.

And one

To say the aftermath of the mission was tense was to make an understatement. They had drawn out the mob contact they’d needed and locked away an entire branch of a drug-smuggling cartel, but Jason and Dick had barely made it back to the cave before Damian had appeared to whisk a confused Dick away, throwing acidic looks at Jason all the way.

Jason, weirdly, didn’t seem to take that to heart at all. Instead, he was grinning at Tim. “Got the brat all upset, huh?”

Tim didn’t know what to say. That Damian had good reason to be upset? That both of them couldn’t stand this new relationship that had been on display so obviously during this mission? ‘He’ll come around’, knowing fully well it would be a lie?

Abruptly, Tim stood up from his chair. Then he didn’t know what to do next. His instincts were screaming at him to get of here, to get away from Jason until he had himself under control again, but he couldn’t just storm past him, could he? Then Jason would definitely know something was wrong.

And this was what he had wanted all these years, right? For Jason to be a part of their family again. To be happy.

(For Jason to happy with Tim.

But he should’ve known better. Who could compete with Dick Grayson, after all?)

“I’m happy for you and Dick.” Tim could say it, but he couldn’t make himself look at Jason as he did.

“Tim.” Jason’s voice was soft.

Tim’s eyes stayed stubbornly on the ground even as he heard Jason move closer to him.

Then there was a large hand cupping his left jawbone, gently tilting his head up.

“Oh, babybird, I’m-“ there was just the slightest brush of Jason’s lips against his own. Then Jason’s mouth moved up, pressing gentle kisses to his cheekbones, the arch of his brow, his forehead.

Tim had to close his eyes against the sudden burn in them, and Jason kissed his eyelid, too.

“I’m sorry,” Jason told him earnestly. “I didn’t realise the acting would affect you. I didn’t think you-“

“Well, I do. Love you, I mean.” Tim stopped himself. “Wait, that is what we’re talking about, right?”

“I was hoping.” Jason kissed him again. This time, it lasted a lot longer, just their lips gently moving against each other, Jason’s hands on his neck, Tim’s hands on Jason’s shoulders.

When he finally moved just fractions of a centimetre away, Jason said, “I do, too.”

Tim wanted to believe, to just let himself give in to Jason, drown in his affection, but he had to open his eyes, had to ask. “But… you and Dick…”

To his surprise, Jason chuckled. “When would that even happen? I’m pretty sure I spend every waking hour of the day either with you or texting you or talking to you on the coms, Tim. I was probably texting you during the stake-out when Dick and I were talking about the ideal room temperature that you were so weird about.” He paused. “We were talking about the ideal room temperature, babybird. How does that scream romantic relationship to you?”

Tim was full-on blushing now, he was sure. “You’re very comfortable with each other. And you did do way more touching than necessary on the mission.”

“Okay, number one - we’ve been in this business long enough to know to never go undercover as a couple with someone you actually have feelings for. They will be exposed and it will be a mess and someone will probably be watching. Number two - I just enjoyed annoying the shit out of Damian.”

Tim actually pulled back a bit to look at Jason. “Wait, that was intentional?”

“On my side at least.”

Some of the interactions Tim had had with Damian fit that, he just hadn’t thought it was reciprocated - oh. Dick’s flush at the ball. Oh. “So Dick is-“

“I knew Dick was fucked the moment Damian turned out to be that tall.”

Tim groaned in exasperation. “How did I miss that?”

“To be fair, I didn’t really know before I mentioned to Dick that I’m, you know, with you and he proceeded to have a slow meltdown about Damian in front of me. There was alcohol and crying involved. Wasn’t pretty, believe me.”

“That’s what broke the ice?”

“Yeah. Pretty difficult to get annoyed at someone after you’ve seen them sobbing with guilt about being attracted to the demon brat.”

With an exhale, all the tension Tim had been carrying for weeks now left his body and he slumped forward into Jason’s embrace, hiding his face in his neck.

“Can we please stop talking about our brothers now?” Jason asked plaintively even as his hands started rubbing soothing circles on Tim’s back. “Because I’m kind of stuck on the part where you said you loved me and let me kiss you, here.”

The smile that rose on Tim’s face was slow to unfold but so very, very happy. “You’re right. You should kiss me again.”

Jason did.

Tim had no occasion to think about Dick Grayson again that evening.

#jaytim #damidick #elareine writes #fanfic #tim drake #jason todd #dick grayson #damian wayne #dc #batfam bingo 2019

[bigskydreaming]

I know what you like from Dick (your post are really extensive and detailed, which is great because I love seeing people talk about what they’re passionate about) but is there any type of arc, friend expansion or themes you’d like to see with other robins like Damian or Jason?

Jason, definitely. I actually talk a lot about possibilities for him unrelated to things involving Dick - I’ve got lots of thoughts and feelings about what if he’d had a bigger support system when he was a teen, and how that could have led away from his inevitable death. Like how there was always that age group of YJ and Titans members who were just a couple of years older than Tim so never quite meshed with his YJ crew, but not as old as Dick and his friends....the Ray, Damage, Anima, etc. Like there’s more than enough there for Jason’s own Titans lineup of in-betweeners. I also have a lot of thoughts about Jason and Damage being potential BFFs, and also the idea of Jason dating Tom Bronson aka Tomcat, the werepanther son of Wildcat, Ted Grant. 

And post death and return, I think Jason, Obsidian and Damage could make a great trio of misunderstood (and horrifically misused by DC) friends who’ve been through hell and back and toe the line between hero and anti-hero, but often not even so much because of their own choices but because of how they’re inevitably perceived due to things outside their own actions (like Obsidian often assumed the worst of because people are afraid of his shadow powers, and Damage has a long history of being demonized for the destructive nature of his powers by people in universe, etc).

So like, I definitely have those posts, I just suck at tagging....like search my blog on mobile for those characters’ names and posts with them should come up fairly easily.

My thoughts on expansion for Damian at the moment are currently consumed by GIVE HIM BACK HIS FRIENDS DC, WTF, FIRST COLIN, THEN MAYA, NOW JON, WHY WON’T YOU LET HIM KEEP ANY OF HIS FRIENDS EVER.

And with Tim they’re mostly like.....give Young Justice to anyone but Bendis, who I can’t stand, lol, but otherwise I’d be interested. Like, I know ppl don’t believe me lol but I genuinely don’t inherently dislike Tim, as long as he’s not being written as what I perceive to be at Dick’s expense, like, people getting pissed at Dick on Tim’s behalf for something that I will always maintain was not as cut and dried as people make it. But like, separate of stuff like that....I loved the YJ book from the nineties and was a big fan and so I’m actually really glad to have all of those characters back and reunited, its basically what I would have wanted and done with them myself all along, its just....Bendis. Why. Stop.

Also, Tim’s new superhero name will never not be the dumbest thing ever, there are SO MANY CHOICES you could go with instead and you have him like...Fail at Secret Identities AND Striking Fear Into The Heart Of His Enemies all at the same time. Good plan.

Like, when you need your hero to stop and explain to the bad guys that no, actually, his namesake is actually a pretty bad-ass bird in real life, honest, like...that’s not good. I don’t know who said that was good but like. They lied.

Cass and Duke, I just need more of together. Them in Batman & The Outsiders is again, actually a canon thing I really enjoy, even though the insistence on Cass’ broken English can go die in a fire any day now, seriously. But I love the two of them together and think they’re such an underrated dynamic and they play off each other well, and I would love to see them explore the hidden aspects of both their backgrounds together....like there’s still so much Cass doesn’t know about Lady Shiva and her intentions for Cass like what she even wants from her, and literally everything Duke learned about/from Gnomon in Batman & The Signal needs following up on STAT, even if its just to say Gnomon was full of shit and Duke should not listen to him about anything. 

I also have some older posts about the possibilities of tying Duke’s powers and his family tree into the emotional entity of hope that empowers the Blue Lantern Corps, like the same way Jade - Alan Scott’s daughter - is connected to the green lantern energy and powers without actually needing to be one herself. Like, some of that meta needs tweaking because later stories I read with Duke made certain things about that not work, but like...there’s stuff there that I still would love to see played with even if just in fic, because I love the Lantern CONCEPT as a whole, and also I’m really really in love with the idea of one of Duke’s direct ancestors having maybe been an avatar of hope at some point like Kyle was for Ion, and Duke’s powers were derived from that....like we know his mom Elaine had some kind of powers as well, with the implication IMO being that they were light connected, and that’s why Gnomon was fixated on her in the first place, even if he’s lying about being Duke’s biological father....anyway, like I said, there’s definitely stuff about that lurking around my blog, I just....desperately need to get better about tagging, but also I say that a lot and then it never happens. LOL. Like I’m great at remembering to tag for trigger warnings, but tagging for organizational purposes? My brain’s like lol why would we ever do that.

But yeah, I for sure have lots of thoughts and ideas for all the family members at various times, but there’s not a whole lot of rhyme or reason to when they pop into my head or when I shift to one in specific....just that inevitably, I always shift back to being Dick Grayson hour, lol. I even have some broader Batfam/franchise posts like.....there’s one I wrote about how I’d give other Rogues than the Joker a derivative character or sidekick, like Mister Freeze, the Riddler and Poison Ivy (I think I named them Kid Chill/Tundra, the Memetic and Hemlock). 

And there’s one I keep meaning to revisit about how I’d love to see the Batfamily go up against...a whole rival family, like if a branch of the Falcones returned to Gotham to try and retake power in secret, and they had a matriarch kinda like how Bruce is the patriarch of the Batfam, and then various kids and cousins to act as foils for the Batkids. Like a hacker named Smokescreen to work on hiding their activities from Oracle’s eyes, or a rival to Jason called Red Herring who like, pits the family against each other by framing crimes on various members of the family and testing their trust in each other.

Stuff like that. So I’m not a totally one track mind. Just 90%! LOLOL.

I occasionally remember to take longer meta or ficbits and put them in this sorta catch-all fic posting I have here:

 https://archiveofourown.org/works/18557212/chapters/43986025

But like, by occasionally I mean I’ve remembered a grand total of four times, but hey, whatever. I’m a WIP. The first one is an old magic AU I’m pretty fond of....it was mostly focused on how Dick, Jason and Tim might grow up if they’d been adopted by Zatanna instead of Bruce....though Bruce ends up adopting Cass, Steph and still has Damian. Unfortunately it was written before I got caught up on DC stuff so it doesn’t have Duke in that one....though he’s in two of the others which are more just general Batfam shenanigans.

*Shrugs* Basically I’m random as fuck and hop around a lot, but I’m definitely interested in all the various Batkids, so can happily ramble about any of them with the right prompt, whether a reblog or an ask - just assuming I have the time or energy or am not being a cranky asshole at a particular character because I’m overprotective of my personal chosen fave and not above admitting it. LOL. Quelle problematique.

Like, this is a bit broader of a question then I typically know what to do with, other than just like...point to other things I’ve written that are related, lol, because like....there’s SO MANY thoughts I have or ways I could answer that, I generally don’t know where else to start haha. The more specific you are with an ask or a debate point, the better your chances of getting something definitive from me, lmao.

[forthemultiverse]

Running Late - Jason Todd x Reader

You weren’t particularly sure how you were feeling. Feelings were always so changeable and easily manipulated. Who knows what could be influencing your brain at the moment. 

Maybe it was the fact your name was commonly associated with the Red Hood’s, and everyone liked to fixate on your friendship, how having a connection with Jason must mean something.

If everyone thought it meant something, then it probably did, which meant you were being oblivious and in denial.

But if it didn’t mean anything, then you were easily influenced and stupid.

You were confused. 

It all started with simple and small things. Finding out a member of the Batfam you’d never met was in town and unaccepted. Taking some homemade pancakes over to combat Alfred's awful ones (Tim had told you he’d taken some over before and it had led to a bonding chat between brothers) 

“Most of Bruce’s people don’t ring the doorbell.” He’d eyed you up, lingering at the bag of Waffle’s, and raising his eyebrow. His brain was turning, and he was trying to work out why you’d be at his safehouse. 

“I have manners.” you motioned forward, “And usually when someone brings you a gift of food you let them in to eat some of it with you.”

“Who are you?”

“(Y/N),” you shrugged, “Met Cass in the roof of the ballet hall fighting demon zombies, saved Tim’s ass, trained by Kate Kane, now a part-time member of the family.”

“And what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to say hey.”

“You’ve said hey.”

“And talk, you’re in town, we’ll run into each other and work together, and you can’t work together without some sense of trust. Now let me in so we can get to know one and other.”

He finally opened the door and stepped aside. You hadn’t thought it would go that well.

You started using some of Tim’s tech to randomly hack into the comm in his helmet. Just for random chats and to exchange information. He needed more help than he liked to admit and having you just randomly pop up stopped him from having to ask.

Other people started to notice how much you were talking when you’d randomly start laughing during a fight, and they’d look to see who was online, only to see his logo and a locked conversation. Then there would be the occasional comment where one of you would reference something only the other understood.

Randomly singing the Red Robin theme tune.

Something about a purple alien brain that exploded into sparkles

Then there was the time you disappeared for a week to do a mission with the outlaws.

Then the month you were gone.

The three weeks Jason spent in Gotham - completely avoiding most of his family. Avoiding his family didn’t mean they didn’t see you two around (both in costume and without)

“Your ability to randomly show up and disappear is extremely useful and extremely annoying.” you joked, unlocking the door to his safehouse.

“Annoying?”

“I never know exactly where you are, or when you’re going to appear and terrify my date.” you referenced when Jason walked up to you outside a bar earlier in the week.

“That was a date?”  

“Maybe? I don’t know, the dude and I had been vibing for a while, and it was the first time we’d been out just the two of us.”

“You could’ve told me to go away.”

“That would’ve been rude!”

“Nah, I would’ve got it.”

“No, you wouldn’t have.”

“I so would!”

“I guess I’ve been replaced.” you mocked. “Dramatically sigh, I came back to this, back to life, all that energy!”

“Don’t insult me.” he genuinely seemed upset, and you knew you’d hit a nerve without meaning to. You’d really only meant it as a joke.

“You’re irreplaceable, Jace,”

“Don’t try and backtrack.”

“Making fun of you - JOKINGLY, and admitting that I’d rather be out with you isn’t backtracking.”

“Ha! So you’re happy I broke up your date.”

“Eh, don’t know, you’re more fun, I mean you’re my friend, so of course you’re fun. Plus, like I said, it’s impossible to know when I’m going to see you.”

“Come on my next big job with me.”

“I have a job you know, I can’t just disappear and be an outlaw whenever.”

“Then plan it, run away with me for a bit. Use your holiday slots or something.”

“I’ll think about it.” you rolled your eyes. You couldn’t just disappear for months. You had too many friends and family who needed you in Gotham - and your past few random trips had got you the reputation of unreliable. You needed to fix that.

“I’m gonna leave tonight.” He turned away from you and started picking up things he’d want to take with you.

“Without talking to Bruce?”

“I don’t want to talk to Bruce.”

“You never want to talk to Bruce.”

“See you next time.”

“Come home soon.”

The conversations between you both continued but you didn’t actually see Jason for a long time, and eventually, the talks took a pause. Everyone still spoke about you both - how (Y/N) could ask Jason about something, how (Y/N) is always talking to him so we know he’s fine Bruce, how (Y/N) and the Red Hood had done this or done that, or had some special intel thanks to a mission they’d finished quickly. 

You didn’t have the heart to tell the family you hadn’t actually spoken to him in a while. It would make them worry, and if Jason wanted to be invisible, he’d have a reason. Any bats looking for him could screw up a job, get him killed or captured. 

It bothered you.

Not speaking. 

Knowing he was probably out there having a lot of fun and you weren’t part of it. That you were in Gotham. That Jason was avoiding his family, and you’d somehow got forgotten too. 

You missed him. His sarcastic and over dramatic comments. The creative way he’d describe people. 

How smart he actually was. 

Maybe you didn’t miss the brooding, and the darkness, but you always felt like he’d never been that dark around you. Perhaps he was kinda lying to you, never showing you the person everyone else saw - but all that meant is other people started to see him the way you did.

Steph had asked if you were dating and Dick had definitely tried to eavesdrop the conversation. 

You hadn’t even thought about Jason and you that way before then. But now you were all confused. Missing him. Thinking about him. Worrying and wanting to hear his voice. Thinking about all the moments from everyone else’s perspective and reading into everything both of you had ever done.

When you were in New York for an investigation, you spotted a Red Helmet on the top of a skyscraper. 

You’d been at a Wayne Event, and rushed to the roof of your building to wave. 

He swung over instantly, pulling off the hood for a second to smirk.

“What’s got you so pretty - that boyfriend took you on a trip or something?”

“Maybe.”

“So you’d run away with Mister Boring but not me?”

“Mister Boring? I never said he was boring.”

“You said I was more fun.”

“What does it matter,” you rolled your eyes and looked up at the sky. “I’m here for Bruce actually. And I ditched the kinda boyfriend a while ago.”

“Oh.”

“You’d know if you ever bothered to check in.”

“I thought you’d be too busy.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

There was an odd pause as you just kind of looked at each other.

“So what are you doing in New York?” you broke the silence

“Exploring towns to settle down in a bit more,” he spoke quietly.

“Are you kidding me? What does New York have that Gotham doesn’t?”

“No Batman.”

“Seriously? Just talk to him! Don’t you want to be able to have a family?” he lowered his head slightly.

“You don’t understand the situ-”

“I do understand! Tim wants to know you, Dick’s always told you he’s open to talking, Cass could use someone like you to look to int he darker moments, Damian and you are so similar! I’m stuck getting side eyes from everyone because you gave me a chance.”

“You were different.”

“How?”

“You never looked at me like I was the Red Hood, the dead Robin.”

“You gave yourself that title.”

“And?”

“If you wanna wear that label, go ahead, but wear it with pride, and don’t think you can blame everyone else for thinking about you that way. The Joker’s old identity, The Joker big win over Batman - it’s not negative unless you make. Yes, you got taken down, but you came back. ‘Bruce’s biggest mistake’ didn’t come back from the dead, you, a human person, did. Maybe what happened was a mistake, but you’re the one choosing to let it stay that way.”

“He’d never accept me and I’m not changing.”

“I’m not saying you need to change. Play by your own rules whenever you like.  Call yourself the black sheep, but realise you’re the only one thinking about you that way. And, realise the mistake wasn’t you, it was driving you away. Fix the mistake by coming home. Get over the differences and know that there’s far more love in your life than hate. Your brothers and sister want you in their life.”

“It’s too late.”

“It’s never too late.” you got a text that told you to return to the party. You turned and opened the door leading down the stairs and into a giant glass meeting room. “Never.”

A few weeks later, a heavy knock came from your apartment door, and a Jason - holding homemade Waffle’s was waiting for you.

A beautifully warm feeling filled your body up. Seeing him, walls down and coming to you of his own accord. Just Jason. Hands touching for a second as you took the bag of waffles, sparked sending shivers up your arm. He’d made you wait, nothing for weeks, but he was here. 

“Bring me home?”

“Happily.”

#Jason Todd #jason todd one shot #jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #red hood #red hood x reader #red hood one shot #red hood imagine #jason todd headcanon #red hood headcanon #Red Hood And The Outlaws #red hood and arsenal #batfam headcanons #batman #dc comics #DC Universe #red hood outlaw

[batarangsoundsdumb]

guess fucking what? my inbox is so fucking full right now i'm unloading all of this shit in one post.

For the 11th gotham memes: gothamites react to bruce being jacked in a tiktok he made with kids, like super yoked, ripped as hell

fucking hilarious thanks. i think i did it in one meme post, but i genuinely don't remember which one

i dunno which of the batfam would do this but one time i was sleeping over at a friends house and ended up on the floor bc the bed was so very small and i just stayed there because the rug was soft

that's a drunk jason move i don't know what to tell you

tim and jason are "i listen to pop punk" solidarity. whenever jason highjacks the batmobile theyll go on long ass car rides blaring mcr and paramore and then never talk about it again

as they should!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tim: no jason it's my turn using the aux cord i gotta put on my jams jason: don't you dare put on weird shit tim: don't worry, you're gonna love this *plays fearless (taylor's version)

hear me out hear me out, red hood stans 🤝 nightwing stans t h i g h s

holy shit yes.

SNL au: Bruce breaks character when pretending to superman and says something like "I'm not superman! You've seen his gps!! It's from 2001!!!" @sabeanybabe

superman flies past the snl building the next day just to say 'actually it's from 2005, i'm not a heathen'

does your back hurt from carrying the batfam fandom

it hurts more from the exotic rock collection i keep in my backpack, but thanks for the concern.

I love your posts by why would you always leave the best parts in the tags?

as a treat for the people that check the tags ;) (and also because i'm committed to the short post aesthetic)

somehow your playlist was everything i never knew i needed. i mean it. this is my new favorite playlist.

and don't you dare get a new favourite playlist!

babe ur stoner tim playlist is exactly too perfect, earth is literally blessed by ur existence

babe thanks so much! i love my stoner tim playlist because it's just my usual playlist but people think it's an artistic choice that i put taylor swift and britney spears in there, when it's just what i unironically like listening to

JANDKSKDK BILLY RAY CYRUS ON THE STONER TIM PLAYLIST I LOVE IT IT

again it's not even an ironic choice, i know every single word and i genuinely like the song

The last chapter of Fundamentals of Casework has me crying at work. Thanks I love it @dudelookitsalesbian

oh babe, i'm sorry, but also, not sorry i love chapter 4 so much it's my lovechild with the 'mental illness' tag

soooo....stumbled on your tumblr by some stroke of fate??? read your DC fanfic first. which is PHENOMENAL btw. then found all the batmemes; the funniest thing EVER bc everyone forgets about regular old gothamites. kept scrolling and your blog pops up as recommended. clicked on the ao3 for shits and giggles and waddaya know?!?!? it's YOU!!! you're LEGEND!!!! ever seen that meme? it's a video of a cat that got into a baseball field and the two announcers get really invested in his escape attempt and start giving a play by play of the cat instead of the game. memeable moment: "GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!"

i seriously think about this ask every single day and it's so fucking funny to me that i've never seen the meme you're referencing, but i still find myself going 'GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!' whenever i see something funny. but wow i'm glad you liked this steaming pile of garbage

Fav dc character overall? And fav batfamily character?

don't ask me to pick between the loves of my life, but i can tell you i've cried about every single batfamily member and also wally west (my beloved)

What's your opinion on fans having a problem with batfam being "too big"? And some even claim that batfam is just "Bruce Alfred Dick Damian" and the rest of them are just "friends and allies" (source: reddit) Personally, I like batfam because of this reason but idk

stupid. a family can never be too big. i'm not that big a fan of like huge batfam stuff with everybody from every single universe, because as much as it's funny for bruce to have like 30 kids, it just feels a little too OOC for me.

This is the best tag I've seen involving the batfam, thanks for thinking of it

This is canon now @nctxrejects

lmao yeah i think at that point alfred has had to sit through like at least a dozen coming out talks and just has a pride flag collection in the attic that he pulls out whenever a kid comes out

idk why batfam hits different as compared to any other superhero family

bc it's found family and usually the other superhero families are almost all genetically related in one way or another

I don't know if you watch the umbrella academy but I saw your last post about batcest and saw the similarities. But the thing is (although I think it's weird) in TUA, they addressed it by saying "they were raised as weapons, not siblings" or something along those lines, which is simply not the case with batfam.

yeah i watched tua but i also thought it was ridiculous and they still treated each other as siblings so i didn't like the luthor/allison thing, and am glad they stopped doing that shit bc it fucking sucked.

Hot take: Batcest shippers are the same people who believe adopted siblings are not actual siblings

smoking hot take: batcest shippers are the people who watch 'my sister got stuck in the washing machine' porn

Duke was adopted by Bruce?

not technically no, but do i, tumblr user batarangsoundsdumb, look like i care?

True story but I had to change my freaking name because it used to be "Damien" and most people would go "OH LIKE DAMIAN WAYNE" like please I'm just tryna live

true story, but i don't actually think of damian when i hear the name damian, literally the first thing that pops up is damian darkh like bruh what?

apparently dc comics company supported comic stores by giving out new titles and stuff during the beginning of the pandemic to help them run and I just think that's wholesome

ah yeah that's so fucking cool, still don't like dc, the company, because this world is a capitalist hellhole and we're all owned by warner brothers or disney with no in between.

ayo looking at tumblr head canons and finding out bruce is actually a terrible father is a punch in the gut

lmao yes, in like 50% of comics bruce is a terrible father and it gives me whiplash

oooh I just saw the jason todd vs winter soldier post and the real question is: batman vs iron man

while iron man has like hundreds of cases of armor, batman could throw out an emp and have the guy dropping out of the sky in 2 seconds.

dickfast = fastdick = quickdick = quickie

magnum hot take

hey bata(?) just thought I'd let you know I have copied the obnoxious emoji and Billy Ray post for use on simping men going forth

thank you 😘🌷 (@spacebarsidecar)

why would you do that to your followers???? i get why i did it, but why would you???

what is scarecrow made the nightwing funko pop himself, like those diy-ers that paint over other ones

oh god no, horrible take, horrible take, that's a disgusting thought oh no

I see your HC that Bruce and Oliver fucked and raise you this: Dick and Roy ALSO fucked

yes they did and it was a horrible moment for jason to find out dick has fucked both of his best friends

"at this rate bruce adds like 1 child to his family every decade or so" Duke is introduced in 2013, Damian as Damian, not as an unnamed child, in 2006. And he is already 14 years old, Robins rarely remain Robins after 16 😬 It looks like a new Robin and Batkid will appear in a couple of years

i mean i can't wait? but somebody will probably die first tho, we're due for another major character death. my money's on either cass or duke this time.

BRO you're so right all of your Bruce's ex headcanons are amazing but they aren't ships, that's kinda wild. Like I don't want any peeks into how their relationship was I just want to see everyone make fun of them

lmao YES it's just i love bruce being a slut, like good for him.

I am in love with your posts your honour thank you

omg thanks are we like,, gonna kiss now?

The justice league needs to have a meeting to discuss how many of their members/partners have slept with bruce. Because through a combination of cannon & fannon (if DC wasn’t homophobic) we have AT LEAST: 1) clark 2) lois 3) oliver 4) dinah 5) john

Thats not counting villains or random civilians @dudelookitsalesbian

yes yes yes, they'll have a yearly meeting about how many of their collective exes could be out for revenge and batman's list just keeps getting longer.

tim was like "i'm drake now" and everyone was like ahh so your fursona is a dragon and tim was like pffffft no. ducks.

and what about it?

when steph's fighting livewire and she zaps her with lighting and nothing happens and then they both just. stand there awkwardly for a second and talk. yeah i couldn't stop laughing at that batgirl steph is the BEST

oh yeah that was fucking hilarious and i think it would be so cool and sexy of dc to give steph a little comic series,,, as a treat

Hi I absolutely adore all of yours "Bruce and Oliver very badly pretending they didn't fuck each other" memes

lmao i do too

I need you to know that “Bruce Wayne had frosted tips” is one of my favorite Bruce takes of all time it’s so galaxy brained. you’re right and you should say it

he also painted his hair blonde once when he was travelling and in conclusion, this is why he's being blackmailed by the gotham gazette.

you know my thing about gordon being branded as the only good cop in gotham is its a load of shit like arguably he's a good person and not working to screw people over or anything but the fact that he also works w. batman makes him a shit cop. like yea batman is better than the mob but its still illegal its still an abuse of power he just not making bank

babe, all cops are bad cops. (but yeah youre absolutely right, working with vigilantes makes you a shit cop, but also working against vigilantes just makes you an asshole cop yanno?)

ruh roh i think i’m about to add “so not yeehaw” every time i don’t like something

that's a very good vocabulary upgrade

somehow i feel like steph already knew. like babs obviously knew but i feel like bruce got high/drunk in front of steph and started telling his boarding school stories and steph was just like “oh you fucked up i’m never gonna forget this”

steph and bruce have weird uncle/rebellious niece dynamic and they just hang out sometimes and bruce will be like 'i once broke my arm when i tripped over a hedge when i was drunk so oliver drove me to the hospital on an electric scooter' and steph will just have to sit there with that knowledge in her head.

Hello I just wanted to tell you you are So right in all your steph opinions bc she is, in fact amazing and I think that's very sexy of you. Ps. Your Bruce/Oliver fic is hilarious

babe, thank you so much and yes steph is amazing and i love her and she deserves the world and she's the best member of the batfam hands down. also thanks

In Supersons we see a couple of kids that are implied to be Damian and Jon's children and the boy has laser eyes and can fly, so I asume he's not adopted. The girl, who calls Bruce grandpa, can also fly, btw. So it's canon (probably by accident) that Jon can have kids and he must have married one of Bruce's kids. (I'm hoping for Damian, mostly because any other of his children would be waaaaaaaaaaaaay too old.) @artemisa97

lmao that was probably an accident seeing as jon is a 17 year old superhero in the year 3000 (by the jonas brothers)

You know, I'm a die hard fan of your memes, but I gotta say one thing: if Gothamites actually took gas mask everywhere with them, then the Scarecrow would just be a weird dude in a weird costume, and not a villain oh so scary. DC really should just takes notes from you.

bold of you to assume there's no gothamite anti-maskers

How does it feel being the funniest person on this app?

horrible, next question.

I can't listen to Green Day or Billy Joel without thinking of your post about how Bruce got arrested at a Billy Joel concert @nightwings-kid

yeah that's your mistake, i on the other hand can't enjoy billy joel without thinking about the glee rendition of 'uptown girl'

I've FINALLY been watching the Batman animated series and I gotta say, after watching "the gray ghost" I am CONVINCED that Batman is a closeted super hero geek who was 100% freaking out the first time he met Superman and is just REALLY good at hiding it.

superman: so what do you do in your free time? batman, thinking about the superman fanfiction he's writing on the batcomputer: i have no free time

bruce and oliver be like boyfriends to co-workers 401k (do the justice leagues get 401ks??? not that bruce and ollie would need them, but-)

lmao yes just 400 thousand words of bruce realising 'oh dip oliver is such a fucking dumbass' (also i don't know what a 401 k is but i assume they don't?)

Gothamites would totally boo superman as he saves Gotham while batman is out. @meenje

he's like 'okay think about that next time you want to be saved from an alien octopus'

I just took long break from dc comics and I come back to see ric grayson ??

i think it's very cool and sexy of dc to see dick and just think 'you know what? let's just give him a traumatic brain injury' and then didn't develop his character in any real way

SPEAKING OF RIC GRAYSON, gothamites making confused memes out of ric grayson is much needed

'dick grayson is my taxi driver? can anyone explain what the fuck happened he looks like an italian plumber?'

i hate to say it but batfam are def "marvel characters" in that sense they are characters who are human but become superheroes unlike most dc characters who are gods trying to be human maybe this is why I like batfam

fair enough

#this is only like half of it #but at least you can get like a few answers #yanno fuck it #bataranswers #ask #asks #anon

[incoherentbabblings]

Hi!

I love your content, your love for TimSteph, and I was actually going to ask what you love so much about them. I, for extra credit for English, decided to write an analysis of Stephanie (and why I love her so much), but I just got into comics, and cannot really put my feelings for her in words ... which is odd, considering how much I love her and writing. Also, I was going to do a section on why TimSteph is narrative genius, and I needed help elaborating on that too.

Could you help me out, please? Thanks!

(I feel the need to mention that I have read quite a lot of comics with Stephanie in them, though not all. I'm not much of a comic book fan, but I'm really interested in the Batfamily!)

I'll be very happy to write out bullet points that you could talk about, and feel free to go through my ask and I'll babble/TimSteph meta tags for anything that you think may be worth discussing in your own words - there's like four or so years of stuff there to spark your brain.

HOWEVER!!!! Keep in mind though that much of what I have written is half based on textual evidence and half me just writing what I like/wish would crop up in canon.

For example, yes I like to draw comparisons between Tim being cold and Steph being warm, moon and sun and so on, but there's genuinely nothing in text to hint as this being an actual character trait or symbolism. If anything Tim's stated to be warm several times, more than Steph.

So, and I am sorry to be so blunt, but if I take your request in bad faith for a moment, don't use either directly or indirectly what I've written for your work. Especially without actually going and reading the arcs I talk about. A lot of the time it doesn't hold up under genuine textual scrutiny, and we want to be good academics here! There's Death of the Author and then there's me making crap up because I want to include it in a fanfic. Not the same thing! My blog is called IncoherentBabblings for a reason after all!

I will therefore say this: If you want to write about Steph as a character, I would use the below video as a point of reference. Using the below, you can then go into why she resonates with you the way she does, or why her relationship with Tim is so interesting to you.

If I were you: focus on her dynamic character development: cynical to idealistic. And use three points in her publication history to do this: her introduction in Detective Comics, War Games, and Batgirl. I am sorry to recommend War Games as something to read but it is important to her character. Use the Stephanie Brown Wiki to help!

That lends itself to a biography of her character, a look at her motivations and values, her role within the batfam, and so on. You can also use this to make comparisons with her peers, specifically Tim moving in the exact opposite direction development wise; Babs and Cass in their approaches to Batgirl; and the other Robins through her similar character progression as Dick, which in turn allows her to be a good mentor to Damian, and finally how her character arc runs perpendicular to Jason's. Does that make sense?

Anyway, let's get going! If I were to write an academic piece on Stephanie, these are the main points I would work through. In other words, this is what I would do. You probably will not need nor want to go into this level of depth, and you will want to make it much more personal about why she resonates with you, which may be different to why I love her. So don't worry about touching base with all of them. This is like... 10,000 word essay level stuff. And don't get overwhelmed. I've taken your request far too seriously is all.

Again, I can't write it for you! You gotta do the reading and writing I'm afraid.

...But I still wrote 1,500 words anyway. Gosh darnnit.

Steph’s Character Development

Always keep three points in her character history in mind – her aged 14/15 in her introductory arc in Detective Comics, her aged 16 in War Games, and her aged 18/19 in her Batgirl run.

How does she change? How does she grow as a character? What events caused these changes? Compare that angry 14-year-old trying to choke her father, to the 19-year-old crying happily on the roof. A lot happened between those two points! Outline the main plot beats.

Steph's Role as a Batfam Character:

Protagonist or Antagonist: Supporting Protagonist

Static or Dynamic: Dynamic (think of her character development - angry to alturistic; she softens in her life outlook and in the way she treats others as the years go by)

Minor or Major: Minor and we all mourn that fact :(

Foil or Symbolic: A foil to Tim Drake (and to a lesser extent the other Robins, specifically Jason Todd)

Importance of the character/Position in Society: Fourth Robin, third Batgirl, own superhero. Tim's girlfriend, Cassandra's best friend, one of many of Bruce's 'children'. Initially introduced just as a one-off character for a small arc in Detective Comics, brought back with the intention of being a supporting character to Tim Drake, and eventual love interest. Eventually gained enough popularity on her own terms to support her own solo comic, but has since returned to a supporting role. The character she supports, at the end of the day, is Bruce Wayne.

Motivation

What influences their decisions?: Stephanie's dynamic characterisation comes in here. Compare her motivations during her introductory arc, versus why she does what she does in War Games, versus why she dresses up at Batgirl - Stopping her father, getting Batman's approval, need for redemption.

What do they value?: Values emotional openness, vulnerability, second/third/fourth chances.

Goals/Hopes/Dreams: No long term goals/hopes/dreams in the domestic sense... Continue to be vigilante. Be respected by her peers. Continue to improve self worth through deeds. Graduate college?

What are their views: Views the justice system and police as corrupt, but still trusts in the inherent goodness of people. Focus is usually on the individual, rather than societal or structural.

Actions

Behaviour, Attitudes, Impact on Story and other Characters, Internal Struggle (Wants versus Needs): This is why I think you are best to look at three points in her story - Intro Arc, War Games, Batgirl. Focus on her Wants versus Needs - Steph's take a very long time to align, but they finally do in Batgirl.

Character development is usually driven by the conflict between what a character wants. The plot forces them normally to confront the fact that what they want is not gonna work out, and what they needed instead takes priority.

Everything usually goes tits up for Steph when she is in the driver's seat of the narrative because what she wants from a situation is rarely what she actually needs to happen. See every time she seeks Bruce's approval. She wants it. She absolutely does not need it. And only as Batgirl do we get that acknowledgement, which coincides with her being at the healthiest point in her life emotionally. Look at what she wants as Spoiler during her introductory arc, as Robin/Spoiler during War Games, and then as Batgirl. Why is she so unhappy in the former two? Why have her wants finally aligned with her needs with her time as Batgirl?

Character Traits

Personality: Cynical but perky. Sardonic but sincere. Think about how she changes over the time. This can be attributed to her different writers, but - for example - is there a universe reason for why Batgirl Stephanie is so much more socially awkward than Spoiler Stephanie?

Strengths & Weaknesses: Link these two together because Steph is a very good example where her strengths as a character can simultaneously be a weakness. Her determination can lead to her making ill conceived decisions. Her empathy can lead to her putting her trust in the wrong people. Her forgiving nature can lead to her being taken advantage of. Her temper, whilst landing her in hot water, can also just as often get her out of it.

Relationships

How do they interact with others: Focus on which characters pop up in all three arcs – Steph and her parents; Steph and Bruce; Steph and Tim. I am chucking Cass out the window here, sorry Cass, but if you’re focusing on these three arcs, Cass doesn’t really fit in.

How others view them: Conditional love/affection from her father and Bruce. Unconditional love/affection from Tim and her mother (though both are not without serious pitfalls).

How they view others: Stephanie has explicitly never loved her father. She has also never explicitly hated him either. What does that say about her? Look at her changing closeness with her mother. What changed between them, and again, what does that say about Stephanie? Crystal got sober, supported Stephanie through her pregnancy, Arthur was removed from their lives, Stephanie makes a conscious effort to be closer to her after returning ‘from the dead’, though continues to lie consistently to her. Stephanie admires Bruce, whilst also right from the get go insisting she does not answer to him. She never quite lets go of wanting that approval.

How does society view them: Her outsider role within the Batfam. She never quite belongs, and at points her closest relationships are actively discouraged from seeing her. Which Tim specifically never entertains. This outsider nature bites literally everyone in the butt during War Games. Her outsider status is still in place by the time Batgirl concludes, due to its largely self-contained nature as a book, but this is less being an outsider more having earned to right to operate independently. Trust has been given and earned.

Dialogue

What does she say and how: A teenage girl in New Jersey from a working class background has a very distinct voice. She does not mince words, nor does she hide what she is feeling. If she is happy, she will say so. If she is annoyed, she will say so. What she won’t do is ask for help when she needs it, due to her background formulating a need for her ‘to do things on her own’.

Think of famous/important Steph quotes from the three arcs I keep talking about – the excuse me if I don’t jump when you bark, the I really was part of the legend, the only variable you can control is yourself. These show how Steph views others and herself.

When I was writing I Would Have Loved You, I literally made a spreadsheet where I have picked out what I think are pertinent quotes from every New 52 issue featuring Tim or Steph along with a synopsis that explained what they were up to/what the main theme of the issue was. Not saying you should do the same because I’m just that goddamn anal when it comes to this sort of stuff, but the point is – look for quotes by/about Steph which highlight the above things we’ve talked about. You have thirty years to go through!

Author Intention

What purpose does this character serve?: A character that young female readers could get attached to – the every girl/girl next door archetype or a character that young boys could have a crush on – the kind of girl who’s into the same sort of stuff as you, I think Chuck Dixon once said of her, from her initial appearance. Fodder for Bruce and Tim’s man pain in War Games. Batgirl it’s a combination of filling the void for a female lead solo character in the batbooks, but also tonally taking on a much lighter and self-contained book that new readers could jump into very easily, directly compared to the more lore heavy Batman, Detective Comics, and Red Robin books.

What is the author trying to communicate: Steph’s character shows that determination can only get a person so far, a support system and doing things for the right reasons (again remember that want versus need argument) is the only way a person will genuinely succeed.

What is her main theme?: Balancing cynicism and idealism – doing acts for the right reasons, and discovering what these reasons actually are.

...

Is this even usable for anyone but myself? Possibly not!

Still... Go write! And good luck!

#ask and i'll babble #stephanie brown #tim drake #timsteph #dc #anon i am sorry if i misconstrued your intentions #but i hope if nothing else this helps you verbalise why you like steph and timsteph by extension #good luck for your writing!

[beebthatscreams]

I posted 192 times in 2021

122 posts created (64%)

70 posts reblogged (36%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.6 posts.

I added 86 tags in 2021

#hal jordan - 14 posts

#batman - 12 posts

#bruce wayne - 11 posts

#batlantern - 11 posts

#genshin impact - 9 posts

#dc oc - 7 posts

#sinestro - 6 posts

#dc - 6 posts

#my ocs - 5 posts

#batfam - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 120 characters

#this is about me feeling masculine and beating myself up for not being masculine enough to know anything about being gay

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

64 notes • Posted 2021-06-08 00:35:00 GMT

#4

Talia could be such an acceptable villain in the same sense most of the early Star Sapphires are.

She’s a woman raised to be nothing but a ruthless heir for her terrible father and when Bruce shows her kindness? Shows her love? She’s amazed, addicted even. Her obsession is less the desire to own him like sometimes depicted but more in line with the fact she has one person who cares about her, and anyone DARES try to deprive her of love any longer?

She is ruthless, and highly intelligent, being driven by something tender, and foolish. Bruce isn’t just an obsession he’s the only thing she’s ever been allowed to care about. The only person that lets her be a human being. And then when Damian comes along she sees herself. Sees a young boy doomed to her fate. Her own son destined to suffer like she has. She knows that she will be expected to deprive her beautiful boy of care, even from herself, like her father did to her.

It’s too late for her. Too late to unlearn her devotion, too late to ease into something as foreign as love. Despite the love for her son she so desperately wants to cling to, she sends him to Bruce. Because it’s not too late for him. She won’t let that happen. But Talia?

Talia is an Al’ Ghul. Love was never in the cards for her.

74 notes • Posted 2021-05-03 03:40:44 GMT

#3

I wish people understood you can be quiet and not like to talk a lot but not be shy or calm. The amount of words that leave you are not the foundation for your personality.

Anyway in this essay I will explain how Cassandra Cain is the most chaotic of the Batfam and would fist fight god in an applebees parkinglot

216 notes • Posted 2021-07-16 20:43:01 GMT

#2

Definitive List of BatFam Vibes.

“I’m working with fucking Idiots.”:

Barbra

Bruce (usually)

*fighting god with a wooden spoon in a parkinglot*

Cass

Damian

“This mission is a suicide mission” “fucking finally”

Jason

Steph

“Bold of you to assume I value my safety”

Duke

Tim

“I am both too hot and too tired for this.”

Dick

Talia

Selena

(Because both Talia and Selena are valid batmoms)

“Sure, Batman doesn’t kill but fucking watch yourself :)”

Alfred

Kate

466 notes • Posted 2021-11-28 21:18:18 GMT

#1

Okay okay, I understand the identity porn of Hal loving the dashing playboy Bruce Wayne and hating Batman’s guts. By all accounts he and Bruce do not get along as Green Lantern and Batman. But have you considered:

“Spooky there is this rich fuckboy that won’t leave me alone so I’m gonna tell him I’m dating Batman to scare him off. I hope you don’t mind.”

Bruce realizing Hal just called him a fuckboy after what he considered genuine attempts at romancing:

930 notes • Posted 2021-04-10 21:18:20 GMT

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#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Oh no am I officially a dc blog now #oh god oh fuck

[bandsanitizer]

FIC RANT TIME BECAUSE GUESS WHO DEDCIED TO READ 20K+ WORDS INSTEAD OF SLEEPING OR WRITING OR STUDYING??? me ;)

Hey so I read a fanfic and I couldn’t fit everything I needed to say in an ask, so here’s the fic reaction post that tends to occur after I read the most amazing of fics.

As per usually, this is NOT A SPOILER FREE POST.

(In two ways ahahahahah Because Stephanie Brown is mentioned and I can’t be excited over and review a fic without including spoilers)

Now back to the actual point...

“EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING” by @grxysxns IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING IN THE WORLD

IT IS FIVE CHAPTERS, 21376 WORDS, OF PURE GOLD AND ANGST AND DICK GRAYSON (who I love so so so much)

Okay but seriously? It was beautiful from beginning to end and slowly this will be a more coherent post as I calm down, but as of starting this I kind of just finished reading the entire thing at 2:30AM.

Can I just say Birdflash is my favorite and I absolutely love Dick Grayson? Especially stories that really portray the “oldest sibling” side of him in a way that isn’t perfect.

This story does that.

first off, the concept of the AU is a fantastic one and it’s... It’s really interesting? Because Bruce Wayne/Batman is an extreme person who is prepared for everything and anything. There’s a reason he has his contingency plans and knows the weaknesses of the people he’s meant to trust, the people he works and fights alongside. This AU really kicks it up a notch but in such a Bruce way? Like only Bruce Wayne would be like “I LOVE YOU KIDS so you’re not allowed to tell anyone who you are”

I mean, that’s a really simplistic view of it, but the idea of keeping your loved ones safe through not the best of plans, is such a Bruce Wayne move that this AU hardly feels absurd or something so... out of the box. It’s also really creative though and I think it’s a fantastic idea. I will cherish this AU for the rest of life i s2g.

REMINDER: SPOILER ALERT!!!! (go read the fic and come back)

Now onto the Batfam.

@grxysxns Your writing of the characters were amazing??????? I LOVE YOUR CHARACTERIZATION OF DICK GRAYSON AND I WILL SCREAM IT FROM THE ROOF TOPS!!!!!! The way you write Tim is superb. I also do like how you wrote the rest of the batfam (even though there wasn’t everyone necessarily, the idea of family was there). Sure, like other fanfic writers, there was some glossing over of the tensions between Jason and the rest of them and maybe some of the other members BUT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE STORY IT WORKS SO WELL AND I CANT REALLY COMPLAIN

Dick takes on so much and he does this thing where he acts strong for the people he loves and the people he wants to protect. The way you wrote that was stunning. I love the balance of you showcasing how much Dick was doing and how much Dick was screwing up. I like the contrast between the things superhero working out with things falling apart with Wally and then sort of a switch later on. I love when writers capture the good and the bad that comes with Dick Grayson trying to take the world on his shoulders for the sake of his family (specifically his younger siblings). I also love how vulnerable and just broken he seemed, which I know sounds bad, but I love me some Angst™️ yknow? This story has a perfect balance of that and happy endings that are too happy, but just right. A nice ending that feels like a happy batfam yknow?

To be honest, I could go on forever about your characterization of Dick Grayson. !!!!!!! Your showcasing of his infamous anger was not missed and I love it! You included his flaws but showed him being great too and that’s !!!!! The best

As for Tim, holy shit, I love the way your wrote Tim, especially his transition out of Robin. Like, it’s not from Tim’s point of view but I LOVE COMMUNICATION AND DICK SITTING DOWN TO HELP TIM WITH THE MESS OF TIM NO LONGER BEING ROBIN AND DICK REALLY MAKING SURE TIM KNOWS THAT DICK ISNT REPLACING HIM AND THAT TIM IS SO SO SPECIAL AND SO SO LOVED!!!! Also their brotherly interactions about Kon were just ... so beautiful *cries*

Damian was great too??? I like the balance of “from the league of assassins” and “still a kid” that was there. I appreciate that moment where Damian’s just so unsure and Dick’s like “over my dead body” because I just love dick!bats and dami!robin?????? I mean Dick!Bats alone isn’t a favorite of mine, but Dick and Damian have this dynamic that I really like and I think you captured their relationship quite amazingly. (I’m sorry I lack a large vocabulary so my adjectives might repeat)

Then with Cass and the signing... It’s not huge but I love it so much.

Also the hints of Babs and Steph, I love them, but the way you wrote their lack of presence was powerful, too, because I think the distance portrayed really fits how they’d handle everything and despite anything to the contrary, I feel like Dick really does understand his siblings enough to know which ones need the daily check ups and which ones need the prolonged space, until they’re ready. (Tim and Cass vs Steph and Jason) And both are good and fine and did I mention I LOVE YOU AND THE WAY YOU WROTE THE BATFAM????

Plus the whole Dick watching everyone move on while he’s busy living the life of his dead father, was a really intriguing contrast that I found unique and interesting. I like the depth of Dick’s distain for being Batman extending beyond the fact that it’s the opposite of everything he tried as Nightwing. It’s also tying to something he knows he needs to move on from and I just love how you wrote it.

And Jason? My god the ending part was great. I liked the interaction and I like the way Jason shooting those guys was handled, because to some degree, I do believe that between Dick and Bruce there are difference in their beliefs in the whole “don’t kill” code. I think it’s be in character, especially for a stressed and tired and hurt, Dick Grayson to overlook it a bit for the sake of family and just cos it’s not the most pressing issue. Idk Bruce might, but Dick Grayson screams family and I love his interaction with Jason

And now to the bIRDFLASH!!!!!!!! Let me tell you, this will FOREVER be my favorite Birdflash fanfic. Okay so like there’s always a chance you’ll write something more amazing, but this is, by far, one of the greatest fanfics I have ever read. It’s beautifully constructed, well planned, has great emotions, and a nice balance of “IMMA MAKE YOU CRY” and “HERE LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF”

Okay anyways, Birdflash.

WALLY WEST, MY BABY, BEING SO KIND AND SOFT AND UNDERSTANDING (generally speaking) WAS BEAUTIFUL!

CONSENT! IS! IMPORTANT! and even if Dick wasn’t necessarily deterred by those kinds of things and more for the sake of keeping up the lie, I really appreciate how much Wally listened and just had basic! human! decency! It was beautiful and soft and just ... so breathtaking

I love soft birdflash yknow?

AND THEN THE ANGST! The whole Dick “learning” Wally’s the Flash and the guilt from Dick and the later misunderstandings and the eventual truth telling... It was excellently crafted in my opinion. It’s a cliché to have the whole superhero and “oh no are they cheating?!” but you wrote it so amazingly and then Wally calling Dick the next day with understanding and apology was refreshing and really sweet.

WALLY REASSURING DICK HE LOVES HIM AND YET ASKING FOR SPACE IS ALSO THE BEST!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE HOW YOU WROTE THIS SCENE SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH BECAUSE ITS SO SWEET BUT SO REAL AND GENUINE! It’s realistic to have Wally express love and care but also need space, while Dick gets why Wally needs space but kind of wishes Wally could stay. It’s a lovely balance and I’m so in love with your writing.

Finally, the ending. Which basically is great because I love Robins (and any batkid really) not taking Bruce’s shit. Like him telling Clark and Diana I understand, but then forcing Dick and the rest of them to stick to the gag-order... Not his best move. Yet, like the kids, you can understand part of where he came from... And I like that. I also love how you wrote the scene like...

Bruce: WTF?

Kon: 0.0

Wally: 0.0

Tim: uh...

Dick: *comes running in, but like more hobbling* hI YES I DID IT NOW FIGHT ME BROOSE

Damian: *running in after* You cannot be fighting, Grayson!

So a little off, but main idea: Big Brother Dick Grayson, Protective Damian, Cute TimKon, and Wally “What’s happening?” West.

Overall, what I am trying to say is that this story was a phenomenal read and by far one of my favorites across all fandoms and ships. It stands out as one of the best that I’ve read, in terms of characterization of Dick Grayson and his relationships with the other batfam members. The writing of Dick and Wally’s relationship was stunning and this is definitely one of those fanfics I’ll always find myself coming back to read.

You’re an amazing author and I hope to read more of your writing! This piece had me in awe from start to end and I just... Just Thank you? For writing something so amazing and interesting and balanced.

Seriously, “Every Fiber of My Being” is wonderful, so well written, and a really special type of AU that leaves you with a little sense of “What do you mean this isn’t canon?”

“Every Fiber of My Being” by @grxysxns is a fantastic Birdflash/Batfam AU, that really hits all your Dick Grayson feels with a loving handful of soft and caring Birdflash. GO AND READ IT!!! AND THEN EXPRESS YOUR LOVE TO THE AUTHOR!!!

Also this is intended both as a reaction, a love letter to the author, and a rec for people who haven’t read it, and I apologize for how confusing this might’ve been. But wow, there were hardly enough words to explain the way I feel about this particular fanfic.

#fic reaction