using this site as a notes board to shop around my Bette Kane-Battle for the Cowl AU which I will now be lovingly regarding as the “Flamebird&Not-Robin in: the dangers of dead fathers, two (2) different spy organizations run by our evil-except-not-really-mothers, and somehow everything always is either a Wayne or a Kanes fault.”
Starting off this au with a general list of the characters in it and their roles as of Battle for the Cowl:
(((Edit: I changed the format to make this easier to read)))
Bette Kane - Flamebird
I’m throwing around the idea of her being a forensic scientist/or a pro-athlete
I hc her as being the same age as Dick i.e around 26
she’s back in Gotham bc Bruce died, stays in Gotham bc she sees the absolute mess it’s in & decides to help
even if it’s dubious if anyone really wants/needs her there
still an established LA hero with a public reputation so she’s not totally unknown to Gotham
finds Damian basically homeless in Gotham/breaking into places to stay and offers to take him in
he only accepts bc he knows she’s a Kane/related to his father
correctly regards Damian as an abused child / but doesn’t have the prior extensive knowledge or experience with the League to cloud her judgement on Talia or Damian (they’re equally both victims in her eyes)
while she is leagues more adjusted emotionally than the other Bats (she almost never interacts with Bruce outside of her childhood) - she’s still a lil traumatized and unhealthily copes regarding her parental situation and Kathy Kane
also has a little bit of trauma-related amnesia with a certain section of her childhood (that will come into play)
She does remember being Batgirl vaguely, very vaguely
Damian al Ghul-Wayne - not Robin in this au
at least not yet
he goes out on his own without a definite vigilante identity until later developments
came to Gotham to see Bruce after leaving Talia
Bruce is “dead” so Damian decides to wander Gotham on his own before Bette discovers him
tentatively stays with Bette bc they are related and he needs shelter
is secretly still insecure about Bruce (bc of how they last interacted) ((Batman#655-657)) /and whether or not Dick would have accepted him, as they haven't met before this au (Resurrection of Ras al Ghul is heavily altered)
tolerates Bette, Tom, and Rory’s friendly affection but will not hesitate to leave in the early months
is struggling with his place in the world bc Bruce is gone, Dick doesn’t know who he is, and Tim still hates him. So he’s not on the best terms with the main Bats.
Tom Bronson - Wildcat (the third)
If you don’t know who he is (I think only JSA fans know if his existence), he’s the third-ish Wildcat of the 2007 Justice Society, the estranged son of Ted Grant, following the long-ago death of Yolanda Montez and way-longer ago death of Jake Grant.
And yes, he is the one that transforms into an anthropomorphic black jaguar (he got it from his mom)
Ted will make an appearance and somehow I WILL bring Yolanda back from the dead/maybe even Jake too
Tom goes to Gotham to help his dad with the city shenanigans of BfTC
jury’s still out on whether I’m making him a love interest for Bette (my brain will make crack ships of the most random characters, don’t mind it)
decides to stay in Gotham even after his dad leaves bc the Bats really are stretched thin (in his opinion) (he’s used to the large size and scope of the JSA)
becomes a brother figure for Damian
accepts him as a annoying little brother in the sense of someone taking care of a stray kitten that bites your hand
lacks literally all experience with anything Batman related before going to Gotham / so he has Opinions about the family
is constantly anxious about Gotham (he is from Brooklyn) (someone pls tell him how this dysfunctional group of people manages to do anything at any point in time in This Fucking City)
a non-Bat POV into the insanity of Bat-events happening
what’s the League of Assassins? or Leviathan? Or Spyral? Or a Red Hood? Fuck if he knows
In my mind, Grant Emerson never died (he is happy and thriving OK) (fuck u Blackest Night) (he will make an appearance) (alongside Maxine)
Rory Regan - Ragman
our favorite underrated Jewish hero
originally from Gotham, I’m surprised he isn’t used more
for those not in the know : Ragman is a magical/mythical Jewish hero consisting of a costume made of rags which contain the countless souls of sinners who will eventually gain redemption within the rags if they help the current Ragman
Rory can use their strength, minds, and skills to help him as Ragman
Ragman (the suit) was canonically created to protect the Jewish population of Europe around the 1500s after the Golem of Prague was also made
Bruce makes an appearance in his 90s series actually / and Rory makes a cameo in a couple issues of O’Neil Batman
I’m planning on making him a more homegrown hero who tends to the homeless/poor/criminals that the Bats don’t get to- the whole “Tatterdemalion of the Justice” thing
is here bc we need another non-Bat pov of Gotham (he’s way more familiar with Gotham than Tom)
and I also like Gotham being more diverse in terms of vigilantes
bonus mentor for both Bette and Damian
he likes Bette bc shes 1. Jewish 2. a lighter hero than the other Bats 3. is a little easier to communicate with
he knows Damian is struggling and tries to support him in any way he can (as Rory also has daily struggles about his own morality bc of the Ragman suit/entity)
has been in Ragman in Gotham for about as long as Bruce has been Batman / he has seen some shit
The Ragman suit canonically slows the aging of the user, so Rory is older than he looks
he only just now started working with Oracle bc he understands the need for a semi-formal organization of Gotham heroes (he does appear in BfTC: The Network)
Kathy Webb-Kane - Agent 0/Headmistress
The leader of Spyral
not a child of a n*zi/ Otto Netz does not exist in this AU
still the first Batwoman
not romantically involved with Bruce bc ew
formerly married to Nathan Kane - the oldest Kane sibling of the little dynasty (Martha’s older brother)
after he died, she inherited what fortune he had that wasn’t taken by the Kanes
formerly Bette’s legal guardian/adopted mom after her dad died when she was 9
yes there will be mommy issues/familial conflict bc Spyral is an antagonist
conflicted about Bette bc she does still care for her, but she has a mission that she was committed too long before Bette was even born
clearly remembers being Batwoman
Spyral is still a spy organization connected to St. Hadrian’s Finishing School
currently targeting Talia/Leviathan, Damian, and Jason
also begins targeting Bette after she starts investigating in search of Kathy
Talia - Head of Leviathan
okay so. Resurrection of Ras al Ghul happens, but not the same way. Talia tries to go against Dusan on her own with Damian after learning of the body snatching plot
Inevitably, Ras comes back. He manipulates Talia and Damian into staying for a little longer. Things do not work out, and Talia deliberately sends Damian to Gotham bc Bruce isn’t dead (yet).
Bruce dies, and Talia loses hope in trusting any of the Bats to help her and Damian (she and Dick never got along, her relationship with Jason is strained)
So she creates Leviathan as a way to combat her father
BUT it’s not the same organization at all. It’s more of a spy organization with the direct purpose of taking down Ras/implementing a better version of his ecological agenda without as much murder and bloodshed.
Leviathan also is technically against Batman bc obviously Talia has never aligned completely with Bruce either. But she doesn’t purposefully try to kill him or Damian.
She’s a very conflicted character here, and she’ll show up in person to see Damian and learn of his status. As a mom, not a villain.
She’ll have a bigger part later on as Leviathan comes into conflict with Spyral.
Wants to take Damian back but is terrified that she’s not a good mother, that’s she’ll only make her precious son worse, and that Ras will just take something else from her permanently again (familial trauma x2)
So she flip-flops between helping Damian and trying to stop him from being a vigilante out of fear for his safety - which Damian detests (mommy issues 2: electric boogaloo)
Leviathan becomes a target for Spyral after it starts gaining followers that aren’t former League traitors and gains a wider influence among the eco-conscious and those who genuinely want Ras al Ghul gone forever
Dick - Nightwing/Batman
basically the same as og Battle for the Cowl
he becomes Batman and struggles under the mantle
doesn’t take in Damian so Tim stays Robin and in Gotham longer
he doesn't meet Damian until after Bette starts taking care of the kid so they don't have the same connection as in canon
he slowly becomes endeared to Damian the more they interact as the plot goes forward
while he’s still dismissive of Bette at the beginning, he’s forced to trust her when it comes to Damian and Spyral
He comes very close to like seventy mental breakdowns over the whole story
Tim - Robin
stays Robin bc Damian doesn’t need the role when he gets to Gotham
so no, there isn’t any conflict regarding the mantle until way later, and by the time Damian becomes Robin - Tim is already Red Robin
Bc Tim is Robin, he stays in Gotham for a while after Dick becomes Batman
that doesn’t mean there isn’t any tension bc there’s still the whole “Bruce isn’t dead” thing
Unlike canon though, Tim has words and can communicate before he leaves so Dick actually knows that Tim has at least a barebones theory of what happened to Bruce (doesn’t mean that Dick fully completely believes him and he’s still grieving so he doesn’t want anything dangerous to happen to Tim)
(this also means that the zombie Batman thing doesn’t happen)
Tim still leaves on his League pilgrimage and becomes Red Robin out of necessity
He still pushes people away, and he still is an asshole to Stephanie
Ras is very clearly manipulating him out of his own goals to strengthen the League and act against Leviathan
When he comes back to Gotham, Tim fights with Damian over the issue of Talia and Leviathan (bc he sees it as another fully evil organization, slight bias put into him by Ras)
Stephanie - Batgirl
the same as the comics
technically more on Barbara’s side than Dicks after BfTC
still a sister figure for Damian
will eventually meet with Bette bc it’s a crime that they never know each other in canon
is carving out her own legacy and path as a hero and Batgirl
still dealing with insecurity over Bruce
Cassandra - not Batgirl or Black Bat
will eventually become Batman
doesn’t show up until after the initial Battle for the Cowl
becomes Batman entirely on her own (for a bit there’s like three Batmen running around)
exclusively works with Oracle and Steph, comes to work together with Dick
doesn’t interact as much with Bette or Damian until they cross paths investigating Leviathan
Barbara - Oracle
still the same
does not interact as much with Dick&Tim bc she’s still running the Birds of Prey on top of training Steph
will interact with Kathy and Bette eventually bc I need the Batgirl interactions
Jason - Red Hood
is Batman briefly during BfTC
still takes in Scarlet as a pseudo-child
he won’t play a big part in the Bette/Damian part of the story
will eventually become a target for Spyral bc Red Hood is a crime boss with some wide connections
Bruce - dead (lol)
still time traveling and everything
tim will still investigate
the omega sanction/Barbatos hullaboo still happens
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