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bigfan-fanfic · 3 years

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Who is Batdad closest to outside Wayne manor? Does he have much of a life outside of the Wayne's? Who would Batdad consider his closest friends besides his family?

Honestly, Batdad doesn’t have much of a life outside of the Waynes. He doesn’t really have anyone other than the League to talk to. Clark would probably be his closest friend outside of his family because in a lot of ways they are similar.

Okay, let me talk about this. ( I came back up and decided to answer more concisely above and put this under a read more because it’s very, very long, and I cried three times while writing it and I have never had any visceral reaction to what I write ever before... oof. Just be warned if you ever feel anxiety or pressure that basically, that’s what follows)

Batdad basically denies his own wants and dreams because he wants to help Bruce. What this means is that no matter what Batdad wanted to be before (maybe he and Bruce were dating and he confessed his desire to be a writer and Bruce allowed himself the fantasy and said they’d buy an island somewhere, and Bruce would lounge on the beach and supply Batdad in kisses while he writes the best book ever), by the time Bruce gets back to Gotham from his training, Batdad has had to become what Bruce would have been if Thomas and Martha were there.

He’s a public figure and philanthropist, carrying the legacies of Martha and Thomas on his shoulders. He has to keep Martha’s business running - no, not just running, thriving - and deal with corrupt officials, corporate espionage, and greedy businesspeople all but threatening him to take Wayne Enterprises public so they can trade stock, all while making sure Thomas’ charities are well-funded and the money is actually going where it should (see earlier greed, corporate and personal). This is all while having to attend galas and functions and fundraisers and events or risk pissing off any one of these people who can turn his life into hell - missing one event can lead to being blacklisted and then that means nobody goes to a charity gala, which means that there’s no hospital built for those in the Narrows.

All this and also consider that everybody in high society sneers at you because the only reason you’re there is because you’re engaged to Bruce and you lived with him ever since Martha and Thomas died. You’re besieged on all sides, because the snobs hate you, the press wonders if you’re even qualified to run a business, and there’s always envy and hatred from below because why aren’t you doing MORE to help them? You haven’t been trained in this - your parents were upper-middle-class at best; you met Bruce by chance, so it’s just you and Alfred and this crushing, all-consuming PRESSURE and the fact that none of it is enough, you aren’t doing enough, it’ll never be enough.

Oh, and at this point, you’re probably only in your mid-twenties at the latest. And it only gets harder because Bruce is back and crime fighting and now you have to worry about him dying on patrol, so every night you’re there to assist him (sleep? don’t know her) and patch him up and support him every day even though he pretends a little too well to be a drunken boor and a cheating asshole (sometimes he isn’t even pretending) and help him when he gets frustrated and then you adopt a kid after your first day off in years (day off, what’s a day off, you haven’t slept enough since you were eighteen and Bruce left you and Batman came back but you haven’t said a word about it) and now there’s school and making sure Dick eats enough and is happy and doing good and doesn’t get overworked on patrol and stressing on whether or not Dick is okay whenever he leaves the Manor and again, none of it is ever enough.

You feel like you’re in your fifties by the time you hit thirty and the Justice League forms and that means SO much more work not just physically but emotionally because Bruce can’t meet anyone new without determining a thousand different ways to kill them if necessary (except for Talia, apparently. And Selina. And Silver Freaking St. Cloud. And Julie Morrison. And any number of dalliances Bruce has had because somehow they’re all smarter. or stronger, or maybe he just has a weakness for tall women who don’t take his crap. Is that what you do? Is your loyalty and consistency and unconditional love actually what lets Bruce walk away so often to a woman’s bed? Is it because he knows you will still be there? Is it because you have put so much of yourself into this life, into your children, into the Wayne Legacy of Perfection and Excellence that it would kill you to leave? Is it because you’re just another tool to him, one that will be quickly replaced when you succumb to sleep-deprivation, or that thing you’ve heard about in the news where people are dying from overwork so often the Japanese have a name for it, or the fact that you’re doing the work of ten, no, twenty people and not once have you ever complained to Bruce or begged him like any reasonable person would to stop this vigilante nonsense and actually LIVE), but now you have to coordinate meetings and a thousand different secret identities and make sure everything’s kosher and nobody’s fighting and of course Bruce has a beef with the nicest freaking guy in the League and Clark keeps coming to you to see if you can help them work it out.

Oh, and then there’s Talia, aka the thorn in your existence and her child who literally has tried to murder you for the crime of being married to Bruce years before he had even heard of Talia, and now on top of all the above, you have to balance getting to know the kid and be reminded day in and day out by him that you aren’t enough, that Talia has such a deeper connection to Bruce, that you are an obstacle to his happiness, that she’s so much smarter and stronger than you, that you are weak and everything you touch becomes weak and tainted by you. And not to mention that you still aren’t doing enough because Gotham’s underprivileged are screaming in pain from everything they deal with and at least you are fed and clothed and you have a family you can support and you are rich and you need to be doing MORE.

And nobody else in the League can even come close to understanding you because wow, you do so much, do you ever take a break? You come this close to crying when Oliver remarks that if he had to do that much work, he’d go back to the island he was stranded on for five years because he’s joking. For anyone else your life would be a living hell and he’s joking. How do you do so much; do you ever sleep; hah, Bruce, your husband is showing you up! And this is when they even acknowledge you, and you feel like a major-league prick for even thinking these thoughts because Bruce and the League put their lives on the line every day (oh god they’re always in danger and the stress of losing your boys - which has happened to you already - and Bruce and your friends who are the only ones you can ever actually talk to without worrying that you’ll give away someone’s identity) and you’re complaining about a little bit of paperwork? You get to go to parties and meetings while your husband fights to save lives and you’re complaining? How selfish are you? All you do, everything you do, it isn’t enough, it’s never enough, there’s always MORE MORE MORE and it never ever stops.

Jason is dead, Jason comes back, Dick is beaten within an inch of his life, the Joker kidnaps Tim and you are hanging by a thread because the last time the Joker took one of your kids and you couldn’t find them meant that there was an empty bed and too many memories but no time to grieve because Bruce threw himself into work without a care and you needed to do even MORE because you can’t lose him too. And even the League was supposed to help with this but it doesn’t because you can’t bear to lose anyone, because they’re family and not only that, the world has gotten careless because the supers will save them and crime is actually going UP somehow and if even one of the League dies, a city could be overrun by now because the police and government are all but useless and the skies are filled with supervillains and the only thing stopping the world from falling into utter disrepair is the League, and thus you. And through all of this you have to be doing better, have to be doing MORE because every new thing means all the rest of your work becomes that much harder and you haven’t slept properly in a decade now and you feel ancient but still, you can’t complain, you haven’t earned the right to complain because you are never hungry and you never go without and there are so many people who need your help and charities that depend on you to function and kids that need fatherly advice and affection and a League that needs managing and you don’t have time for a breakdown because if you’re gone for too long everything collapses and everyone you love suffers and forget about therapy because who the FUCK could you ever talk to about any of this without either revealing a hundred secret identities and putting everything at risk or sound like a whiny crybaby?

Selina and Talia are back and hovering around your husband again and they flirt with him like you don’t exist and it’s not his fault and you love him but you see Talia every day in Damian’s voice and manner and don’t even think about talking to Bruce about his infidelity because he has so many more important things to worry about and he’s already apologized profusely and anything else makes you feel selfish and you HAVEN’T SLEPT in what feels like all your life and every moment not filled with work is filled with stress about work and worry because every time you don’t see your boys is a moment they can be dead and you don’t know it and every moment Bruce isn’t at the Watchtower is another moment Lex Luthor has to enact some horrifiying plan or the Joker gets ahold of a nuclear weapon or something else unforseeably terrible happens and it is TOO MUCH but you still need to be doing MORE because it isn’t enough and you aren’t enough and nothing is ever enough.

Is there even a you anymore? There used to be a kid there who just wanted to help his friend when he lost his parents. A kid who got left behind to stay with that friend. A teenager with dreams and hopes and wishes and a sweet boyfriend who could maybe get past his grief and lead a good life with you. A young man with the chance to stop his lover from leaving, to stay with him and not give in. Where did he go? Is he still there, underneath the years? Or is he gone, and this being made of stress and fear and feelings of inadequacy and stifled complaints and sadness gone unsaid and trauma left to fester all that you are? That kid you once were gets further and further away with everything you do to help, every time you keep silent because what good would it do to scream the way you want to, the way you’ve needed to for so many years but never let yourself?

And yes, your boys and your husband make it better, make it worthwhile, but it remains that you feel old, you’ve been tired since you were still 19. Your days are consumed with stress and your nights are filled with fear. And you can never say this now because it has been years, and you’ve lost that chance. The guilt would throw Bruce off his game and if he’s off his game, he could die and all of this would be for nothing. Quite against your will, you’ve been trapped in a no-win situation, and even death is no escape because you know that without you, it all comes crashing down and game over. You are Atlas, holding up the world and knowing that you have just enough strength to hold it up for eternity. And no one will release you from your prison.

But you have to endure it, and smile while you do so because if Bruce ever knew (or if he even cared to look), it’d all go falling down. You are the support, and the support’s support, but no one ever thinks that you might need assistance. What do you have going on? Being a dad? Working? Attending parties? It isn’t enough and you know it isn’t enough and everybody knows that it isn’t enough and they always, always need MORE.

I wonder now how Batdad does it. How he doesn’t break down crying. And part of that is because he is fictional, and I never thought about what it would be like to go through that level of pressure every day of your life. I hope someday Bruce comes to his senses. That even if he doesn’t let go of his grief, maybe he stops being Batman. And stops training Robins. Because yes, he gave them a home, but he manipulated them into being what he is. Who knows what good Dick could have done if he had just been Bruce’s adopted son. Maybe a philanthropist. Maybe he just would’ve had a happy life instead of one where he could die every day. Where he constantly has to reopen the wound of his parents’ deaths to convince him to keep at it. I want them to realize that they don’t have to, anymore.

But they won’t. Because they aren’t real. And they exist for our entertainment. And because we’ll keep reading the comics and watching the movies and playing the games, Bruce will always be Batman and never come to terms with his parents’ deaths in a healthy way and there will always be more threats to existence and even just to him personally.

And Batdad too, is trapped.

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fridayfirefly · 5 years

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Lost and Found [Part Three]

Masterlist | Ao3

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I wanted to make sure this chapter was perfect, and now I’m super proud to show you all

The evening after Damian made his leap of faith and lost the pen was one of the rare nights where his entire 'family' managed to make it to the dinner table. Grayson and Barbara (Damian used her first name only because she threatened to ram him with her wheelchair if he kept calling her 'Gordon') drove in from their shared apartment in Blüdhaven. They were Soulmates, currently dating and soon to be engaged, if the ring box in Grayson's sock drawer (which Damian found when he broke into their apartment last month) meant anything. Todd came in that morning unannounced, claiming to be "in the mood for Alfred's cooking" (Damian suspected that Todd simply doesn't like eating alone, but said nothing). Drake was free for dinner because he didn't have any evening classes at Gotham University. Stephanie Brown arrived the day prior because Drake asked for her assistance on a case he was working on. Of all the heroes who fought crime in Gotham, Damian was least knowledgeable about Stephanie Brown. In all the time Damian had lived with Father, he had only spoken to Brown a few times and had only patrolled with Spoiler once. However, it seemed that Damian would be patrolling with Spoiler a lot more in the coming weeks. Earlier that day, Brown had offered to remain in Gotham and take Grayson's place on patrols. That way, Grayson could stay in Blüdhaven, instead of driving to Gotham on his nights off at the Blüdhaven police force to patrol.

Selena Kyle showed up for dinner as well, though she made no references to their conversation the night before. Father and Alfred were also at the dinner table, but Damian already knew that they would be there. Damian had lived with Father for almost three months, and he had seen the way that the Manor worked. People came and went; it seemed that the only people who stayed the same were Father and Alfred.

Once dinner started, conversations drifted around Damian. He struggled to find the right words to explain that he made contact with his Soulmate. He felt the need to say it, if only for the purpose of stopping Grayson's constant nagging.

“So when’s Connor coming to visit?" asked Barbara.

Damian turned his attention to Drake, interested in any news about Drake's Soulmate. Damian had yet to meet Connor Kent, but he was certainly interested in meeting one of his brother's Soulmates.

"He's coming over a week from Saturday and then staying for a week until the new semester at Metropolis University starts. Connor's bringing Clark, Lois, and Jon along with him. Jon's still on summer vacation, so Clark and Lois plan on leaving him here with Connor for the week so that he isn't home alone all day while they're at work."

"Jon is Damian's age, right?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah, Jon's turning thirteen next month," Drake answered.

Damian wondered what Jonathan Kent would be like. Hopefully not as immature and imbecilic as his classmates at Gotham Academy.

As the conversation hit a lull, Grayson piped up, "Damian, what's new with you? Are you still ignoring all your problems?" Grayson's tone was far too innocent for the taunt veiled underneath the niceties. Damian shot Grayson a glare, which was matched by Grayson's own stubborn look. Logically, Damian knew his teasing was fueled by well-intentioned concern, but Damian still found it annoying.

"Don't call her a problem," Damian growled. No one at the table looked concerned by their interaction, so Damian assumed that Babs and Stephanie had both been informed of what had happened two weeks ago. "The answer is no, anyways. I'm not ignoring her. I lost something for her last night."

All other conversations halted when Damian revealed his secret. "Good for you, Demon Spawn," Todd said, speech muffled by the mouthful of food he was trying to talk around.

"That's great news!" Grayson's face was lit up. "We should celebrate. I haven't had an opportunity to throw a party at the Manor in ages."

Damian sighed. Any attempts to halt Grayson's party planning would surely fail. There was no stopping Grayson’s unnerving desire to celebrate every little thing.

"Babs and I can set it up. We can do it next Saturday, while the Kents are here. After all, it's been months since the last time the Banquet Hall was used."

Father rolled his eyes at Grayson’s antics, the slight upturn of his lips proved that he was in support of Grayson's idea. It had been less than one minute since told his tell his family that he had lost the pen for his Soulmate to find, and he was already regretting it.

——————————————————————

It had taken Damian six hours and eighteen jewelry stores throughout Gotham to find the perfect gift to give to his Soulmate. It was a bracelet, made of silver and designed to look like feathers wrapping around the wrist. But it still wasn't perfect, which was why Damian was knocking on Drake's bedroom door.

Drake opened his door, looking much better rested than he had at dinner two days prior. The dark circles under his eyes had faded, and Damian could see only one coffee cup on his desk, instead of his usual three to seven. "Do you need anything?"

Damian nodded. "There is something I need assistance with. Given that it is within your area of expertise, I came to you for help."

Drake looked shocked at Damian's request, but also interested. "Come on in."

Damian walked into Drake's room and shut the door behind him. "I understand that you are knowledgeable about nanotechnology." Damian set the bracelet down on Drake's desk. "Would you be able to monitor heart rate and blood pressure through this, without the modifications being obvious to its wearer?"

Drake picked the bracelet up and examined its size and weight. "It'll take me a few days, but I think it can be done..." Drake trailed off, grabbing a spare piece of paper off his desk and jotting notes down. "It's for your Soulmate, right?"

"Yes."

"Cool," said Drake, "Is there anything else you want to be added to it?"

Damian paused for a moment, considering his words. "Could you add a tracker? One that activates only if the heart rate and blood pressure monitors detect that she's in potentially life-threatening conditions?"

Drake nodded. "I can definitely do that. If I connect everything to an app on your phone, then those kinds of settings can be done through the app rather than through the bracelet itself. But you know, I won't judge you if you want the tracker to be available to you now."

Damian shook his head. "I don't want to invade her boundaries. I just want to keep her safe and out of harm's way."

"That's genuinely really cool of you, Damian," Drake said. "I think Connor's going to like you."

"Tt. Everybody likes me."

Drake laughed. "Sure, Demon Spawn."

Damian turned away from his brother, leaving the room before Tim could catch the small smile on his face.

——————————————————————

"No more complaining, Dami. I didn't get to throw you a Welcome to the Manor party or a belated Birthday party, so you're going to suck it up and enjoy this one," Grayson instructed. He and Barbara had already bought refreshments, created a playlist titled "Can Damian Even Dance?", and decorated the Banquet Hall. Though in Damian's opinion, a blind cat would have been better at decorating than Grayson. Instead of buying normal party decorations, He and Barbara had gone to thrift stores, buying up used gender reveal party decorations. They then wrote the word Soulmate overtop of 'boy' or 'girl' so that each banner proclaimed "It's a Soulmate."

"I'm not complaining. I just think that your decorations look terrible."

"Don't call them terrible, they're made with love." Grayson could barely keep a straight face while saying it.

Damian rolled his eyes and walked out of the Banquet Hall, heading towards the foyer. He knew that Grayson was the type to go all-out when it came to showing his emotions (i.e. throwing a party to show that he's proud of Damian and supports him) but Damian wasn't really the type to enjoy a party, especially when he's the guest of honor.

"The Kents are here," Tim called out as he opened up the front door.

Damian watched as Tim greeted the Kent family. Damian had already met Clark Kent, though strictly through his superhero identity and was familiar with both Connor and Jon's time spent as Superboy. And Lois Lane-Kent, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of an award-winning novel (which Damian has read), was just as well-known in America as Superman.

“Clark, I know you've already met Damian, but the rest of you should come and meet him. After all, Dick is throwing the party in his honor.”

Damian walked into the foyer to meet Tim’s Soulmate’s family. “Hello,” Damian dipped his head in greeting.

“It’s nice to meet you, Damian,” Lois politely greeted him.

"I've read your book," Damian blurted out. "I found your commentary on the negative ramifications of superheroes on our society to be enlightening."

Lois smiled brightly, "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've always been interested in how Superheroes influence modern society, and I think it's important for people to understand that Superheroes aren't always a good thing to have. Because Superheroes exist, citizens allow themselves to become complacent, pushing the burden of stopping crime onto Superheroes, instead of trying to prevent people from becoming criminals in the first place. It's definitely a multifaceted phenomenon, and one that our society needs to be aware of."

"It's a very complex issue," Damian agreed. "I hope we can talk about this further at a later date."

Lois nodded. "Definitely." She glanced towards her husband. "Clark and I should go find Bruce and catch up with him." The pair left the foyer, walking in the direction of Father's office. Damian, Tim, Connor, and Jonathan walked in the opposite direction, towards the Banquet Hall.

"So you're Damian," said Connor. "Tim's told me a lot about you."

"Tt. Knowing Drake, it's likely all lies and slander. Drake's jealousy often gets the best of him."

"Jealous of what? The fact that you're so effortlessly annoying?"

"You're obviously envious of my innate ability to do everything better than you."

Connor, Tim's Soulmate, let out a laugh. "Tim didn't tell me that you're funny."

"He's not funny, Connor. He's annoying. Now come on, you have to see the decorations Dick and Babs put up. They're awful."

"How do you mess up party decorations?" Jonathan Kent asked.

Tim made a face. "Dick likes to challenge himself by putting up the worst possible decorations. Last year he and Babs convinced Alfred to have us all make the Christmas tree decorations ourselves. I still don't think I've gotten all the glitter out of my hair."

“At least these decorations are harmless,” Damian cut in. “Imagine what would have happened had Father not vetoed Grayson's Fourth of July cookout earlier this summer.”

Connor laughed. “That definitely wasn’t Dick’s best idea. I doubt that fireworks and the Wayne family mix well.”

When they got to the door to the Banquet Hall, Grayson's music already playing, Tim turned to Damian. "By the way, Damian, I finished the modifications that you asked for. It's in my room on my desk when you want to go get it."

"Sure. Tell Grayson I'll be a few minutes."

Tim and Connor walked into the room, but Jonathan stayed behind. "Is it for your Soulmate - what Tim was fixing for you?"

Damian's eyes narrowed. "Maybe."

Jonathan's face brightened. "Cool. Are you planning on losing it tonight?"

“I take it Tim told you and his Soulmate about my Soulmate," Damian commented, ignoring Jonathan's question.

"Tim didn't tell me, Tim told Connor. He wanted Connor's advice on how to apologize to you, for what he said about your Soulmate. I couldn't help but overhear; superhuman hearing doesn't exactly have an off switch. Besides, I was mostly just interested in the fact that your Soulmate is French. My Soulmate's French too."

Damian didn't know how to respond to that. Jonathan Kent was like a breath of fresh air. He was entirely unconcerned about Damian's wealth and status. He understood the sort of responsibility that being a superhero entailed but didn't get weighed down by it. He had just met Damian but already trusted him enough to reveal information about his Soulmate. Jonathan Kent, who seemed so easy to read at first glance, was secretly a conundrum.

The modifications on the bracelet were almost completely imperceptible to Damian's trained eye. Besides a small change in weight, it appeared unchanged. "I like the feathers," said Jonathan, "Definitely more subtle than anything I could come up with. But what was Tim doing with it?”

“Modifying it,” Damian said curtly. “It now measures heart rate and blood pressure.”

Jonathan nodded, “That’s a smart idea. I might have to ask Tim to make me one."

As they left Tim's room, Jonathan continued to fill the silence. "I don't know how you managed to not lose something for so long. I lose stuff all the time. My Soulmate will probably end up figuring out I'm Superboy because I accidentally misplaced my uniform."

"Your Soulmate doesn't yet know that you're Superboy?"

Jonathan shook his head. "We haven't met in person yet, plus the language barrier makes communication through the Soulbond difficult if we aren't both using translators. My Soulmate only speaks a little bit of English, and I'm even worse at French. But I'm getting better. I take classes now."

"I'm fluent in French," Damian added. "If you ever need something translated, I'm sure I could take the time to help you out." Jonathan Kent was one of the few genuinely good people Damian had met. Damian wanted to get to know him better.

"Thanks, Damian."

As Damian passed his bedroom doorway, he noticed something new sitting on his bed. A black book. He changed course, heading straight towards his new Soulmate object. It was a sketchbook. Damian quickly flipped through the crisp, new pages. His Soulmate must be a designer - the first three pages contained clothing designs. The first page was a dress, pink and white striped with a bow around the waist. The second page was a jacket, olive green with gold-colored buttons. The third page was a plain white t-shirt, simple at first glance, but the detailed notes beside the design indicated that she meant to cover the shoulders and shirt sleeves in a detailed embroidery.

"Wow," said Jonathan. "Did you know that your Soulmate was so talented?"

"No," Damian breathed out, taking in every little detail. He had never been so fascinated by fashion designing. Everything about the sketchbook showed talent, dedication, and skill. He could hardly tear his eyes away from the sketches - they were so detailed, with little notes in the margin indicating everything from what store to go to to buy the fabric, to the exact shade she wanted, to whether or not it needed hand stitched. All three pages were dated August 20th - she had planned out all three pieces of clothing that very day. Damian couldn't quite believe that his Soulmate was so perfect.

But pushing towards the front of his mind was the knowledge that he would have to return the book. It was obviously important to her, something she would never want to lose. Damian pulled his phone out and took three pictures, one of each of the sketches, to make sure he didn't forget a single detail. Then he grabbed a sticky note off of his desk and wrote, "I figured you might want this back - D.W."

Damian could feel Jonathan watching him. "I'm glad you're a good person, Damian."

"Thanks," Damian said dryly, but the compliment still stuck with him. He had never cared about being a good person until he lived with his Father. He didn't think he would be good at it, but maybe he was wrong.

Then, it was just a matter of losing the sketchbook so that she could get it back. Damian, not wanting the book to get damaged in any way, decided to just toss it into one of the open doorways on the way back to the Banquet Hall. It worked to lose the book only because the Banquet Hall was in one of the sections of the Manor that was rarely ever used, except during social gatherings. The twisting hallways and odd door placements were designed to keep snooping Gala guests from getting into the main part of the Manor without physically locking doors. According to Grayson, they also made for very intense games of Hide and Seek, which Damian had yet to play (Grayson had promised him a game, though, and had yet to break a promise).

"So what is your Soulmate like, Jonathan?" Damian asked him once they found their way back into the Banquet Hall.

"You know, you can call me Jon." Jon's facial expression switched to something that could only be described as dreamy. "My Soulmate... he's wonderful. He loves music, it's his biggest passion. He sends me music recommendations all the time, usually weekly playlists, unless he's bored or wants me to listen to something special. His favorite color is green and he has a pet turtle named Oliver. He has three best friends beside me, and he says he can't wait to meet me in person, but we're waiting until we're at least fifteen."

The night passed quickly in Jon's company. It was a new experience for Damian, having someone his own age to talk to. Conversation flowed easily from Soulmates to Superheroes to school. It was the first time Damian genuinely felt like he had made a friend.

Once midnight came around the party ended. Lois and Clark left to drive back to Metropolis, and Grayson and Barbara left for Blüdhaven. Tim took Connor up to his room, and Brown and Todd both left for their own (rarely used) bedrooms. Damian knew that Jon was staying in the guest bedroom three doors down from his own, so he offered to take him there.

The sticky note on his floor was the first thing Damian noticed, once he was finally alone. Written in the same handwriting as the designs from before was the sentence, "Thanks, it's a birthday present from my parents - M.D.C."

Damian knew it was time to give his Soulmate the bracelet. Wrapping it alongside the box of replacement pens he had gotten her, Damian made sure to write in his best handwriting, "Happy Birthday M. From your Soulmate, D.W."

Taglist: @fanboy7794 @mikantsume @hetalia-lover-is-here @howtoshuckatlife @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @redscarlet95 @derpingrainbow @friedchickening @constancetruggle @melicmusicmagic @beautym3 @kunstner1 @shizukiryuu @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @crazylittlemunchkin @black-streak @darkshadowguardian @mystery-5-5 @trubel43 @fandomfan315 @vincentvangoose

#lost and found #marinette #damian wayne #marinette x damian #maribat #maridami #daminette #my work

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bigskydreaming · 5 years

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Ok, but how would you writte a court of owls and a dick grayson fanfic, focusing on the abduction too, after all the traumas that being destained to be a talon could carry with?, just imagine dick noticing his family could have known this, and then boom, someway the court makes his way to dick core, bat fam have to fighthim, but focusing in all those conflicts and not only the fights

LOL I have a few different Court of Owls’ ideas running through my head at any given time, but for various reasons, some of which I can’t even identify, they almost always tend to be AUs of some kind, where I also play around with different takes on the family dynamics or how the family comes together in the first place. I have no clue why that particular plot point, the Court, tends to pair itself with unorthodox Batfam takes in my head, tbh. It just does.

As an example, the one I’ve come back to the most often and most recently when fiddling around with various WIPs when the chaos of my life these days allows for it, lol.....its called “Where Last We Left Off” and it goes AU from general pre Flashpoint comic book continuity when Dick is still Robin, around fourteen or so. Long enough into his time living with Bruce that they’ve reached a point of considering each other father and son, even if neither is saying as such yet, and past the point where the Titans first formed and and even after Kory first came to Earth, so Dick has well established friendships with Garth, Roy, Wally, Donna, Lilith and Kory at least.

So in it, I set up an initial prelude and then there’s a time skip to five years later, where all the actual fic takes place. My premise is basically that Batman has been operating in Gotham for about seven years by the prelude, Batman and Robin about four or five, and its only in the last couple of years that Batman’s started coordinating more consistently and officially with other heroes as a member of the Justice League. And the point of departure happens when the Court uncovers Batman and Robin’s secret identities while trying to rid themselves of Batman’s interference in their operations even though he’s not aware of them just yet. When they realize that Robin is none other than their intended Gray Son, they decide to try and kill two birds with one stone.

Cue Dick’s abduction, but with a twist. Rather than make him a Talon and subject him to the Talonization process or whatever that’s called, and employ brainwashing or mind control techniques to control him, they make themselves known to Bruce as the ones who took Dick, give him a taste of what the Talons are capable of and make sure he gets a good look at the changes to their physiologies and mental states, and then they make their demands. They won’t subject Dick to any of that.....so long as Bruce agrees to hang up his cape and cowl, and cease all vigilantism and contact with other heroes. They give him forty eight hours to make his decision, and leave him with the body of one of their Talons to ‘study’...in essence, making both an example of how little they care for their tools and think nothing of disposing of one, and to give Bruce more information than he really wants at the moment of all the kinds of things that Talon was subjected to in the ‘making’ of him.

Unable to find a hint of where they took Dick before the deadline, even when Bruce calls in Clark, Barry and a few others for help searching, Bruce ultimately agrees to their demands and ceases all activity as Batman in exchange for the occasional proof of life demonstrating that the Court are holding up their end of the bargain. If they see even a hint of vigilantism or working with other heroes, they warn, they’ll have no further use for Dick except as just another of their Talons.

Heartsick and with no real idea how to spend his days at first, or inclination to put much thought into coming up with ideas for that, as well as refusing to even speak with Clark and the others, let alone Dick’s friends, at the risk of that being overseen or heard and deemed ‘working with other heroes,’ Bruce ultimately funnels most of his time and energy into charity works and projects mostly born of idle ideas he remembers Dick mentioning every now and then, when complaining about how stupid the way certain things worked or skewering various flaws in the typical upper class reasonings of people he was expected to converse with at various galas....and then venting to Bruce all the way home.

Eventually, Bruce meets Jason in a different way than in canon, but still takes him in. Not to replace Dick of course, or because he’s given up on him (if he ever did that, after all, there’d be no reason for him not to go back out as Batman). But rather just because he has to do something, and the thought of caring for Jason and trying to be for him what he was for Dick, or at least hoped he’d been, it sparks the first real motivation he’s had since the abduction. The one thing he can’t bring himself to regret is taking Dick in, even as he blames himself for thinking so selfishly, since if he hadn’t done that, this would never have happened to Dick (not knowing yet that the Court was always intent on getting their hooks into Dick whether he was in the equation or not). But the point is, he can’t honestly say he wishes he’d never taken Dick in, even as selfish as he feels for that, so he doesn’t let his misgivings keep him from following his instincts with Jason, telling himself it’ll be different since he’s not Batman anymore. (Bottom line being his choice with Jason is still about Jason, not just as a proxy for Dick or anything).

Not all that long after, different events than canon result in him taking Tim in as well (with Tim not aware of his past as Batman at this point in this AU, since I’m positing that Dick was abducted before Tim happened to see Robin doing the flip that let him connect the necessary dots there). And not long after that, Bruce takes in Duke as well, and then finally, about a year before the five year time skip to present day, he takes in Cassandra, due to Barbara’s influence.

Babs has one of the bigger divergences in this AU, as I’m switching things around a little specifically to set Dick’s abduction at just before Babs becomes Batgirl. So she’s not really one of his friends at this point in life, and she sets out to become Batgirl pretty much right after Bruce hangs up the cape. Unable to even confront Batgirl as himself, lest the Court see that as an attempted return to vigilantism, but paranoid that they might view Batgirl as his attempt to work via a proxy, Bruce does a most un-Brucely thing....he anonymously tips off the Commissioner about his daughter’s vigilantism, and Jim Gordon puts a stop to that by unapologetically even playing the guilt trip card to keep his daughter from risking her life night after night. So Batgirl retires almost as soon as she begins, but that doesn’t mean Babs is out of the game by a longshot.

A big part of the reason for that divergence is I’ve always felt that Babs was going to become Oracle one way or another, no matter what road she took there, and although I love her as Batgirl, I don’t view it as fundamentally essential to her overall character as other early personas of other superheroes are. And despite the Bat theme, Barbara has never been dependent on Bruce either for guidance or resources, let alone validation......so I wanted to play around with what happens if you cut the Batgirl portion of Barbara’s life out of the picture completely.

So basically, she just starts becoming Oracle even earlier. She promised her dad she wouldn’t risk her life on the streets in a cape and a mask. She made no such promises about putting her computer skills to use for the greater good, in whatever ways she deems most efficient. Which ultimately leads to her working as a superhero information broker for a growing number of vigilantes who have no idea their cyber eyes and ears isn’t even quite of legal drinking age just yet, and from there, forming the Birds of Prey as satellite agents for missions she directs them towards in a Charlie’s Angels kind of way, where she’s just the voice on the radio so to speak. One of those missions results in Dinah, Helena and a couple others crossing paths with Cassandra, who returns with them to the States. She’s still just a teenager though, younger than when she first crossed paths with the Batfam in canon, only about thirteen here. And the Birds don’t think any of them themselves have the kind of home and stability they all agree she deserves, so they ask the ever mysterious Oracle if she knows of anyone....not realizing just yet that said Oracle is barely a decade older than Cassandra herself at this point. But the Oracle knows all...so she has an idea.

Bruce, being the Walking Guilt Complex that he is, felt shitty about interfering in her attempts at vigilantism even as much as he believes he made the right choice there. So after he adopts Jason, he contrived an excuse to hire Barbara in specific to be Jason’s tutor and catch him up to speed before he went back to school, so he’d have reason to allow Babs to become a regular presence at the Manor, and an excuse for him to help her out any way she might need or want. Not that she ever took him up on this, which frustrates him to no end, cuz can’t a billionaire just assuage his guilt complex in peace already, damn. But regardless, between Jason, Tim and Duke, she’s become a regular fixture at Wayne Manor over the years, even though for the opposite reasons as Bruce initially ‘hired’ her. After all, all three boys are basically geniuses in their own respective fashions, so its not like they need tutoring in the conventional sense once they caught up to speed in whatever ways they needed.

Rather, Babs is their tutor specifically in the areas of ‘making sure they don’t get so bored with their schooling, they turn to blowing things up and/or world domination as a hobby’. Basically, an overachieving perfectionist know-it-all hired to help three overachieving perfectionist know-it-all kids reach their full academic potential unhindered by their conventional schooling, which at this point is basically just something that Bruce insists on so the boys get regular social interaction, while Babs concocts their actual curriculums that actually interest them and they do on their own time.

Anyway, so while seeking a placement for Cass that Babs thinks is deserving of her, she ultimately thinks of Bruce, and calls in that favor, albeit in a most unconventional sense. Babs doesn’t know Bruce was Batman at this point either, given how effectively he covered his tracks when he hung up the cape and how pointedly he’s kept away from all vigilantism since....but she knows each of his three boys have very different backgrounds and had trouble adjusting at first because of various issues...all of which Bruce spared no expense in addressing, more in terms of his own direct focus and parenting rather than fiscally. He’s a good dad, here, a great dad, since he’s basically poured all the energy and drive he once devoted to vigilantism to what he now feels he should have focused it on instead....being the father he wished he’d been to Dick and wasn’t going to make the mistake of not being now.

All of which makes Babs think that he might not only be willing to take in Cassandra, but that he might be the best one for her. And so after a lot of cloak and dagger obscurity that would be completely unnecessary if all the parties in question knew all the relevant information about each other, Cassandra ends up at Wayne Manor too.

All of this is essentially backstory for the in between time between the prelude and the actual fic, unveiled and doled out via information conveyed in the present day. But where the actual fic begins, Bruce is committed to being Superdad to Jason, Tim, Duke and Cass, none of whom know he was Batman or the true nature of what happened to their mysterious elder brother who according to the news and what little Bruce and Alfred are willing to say, was abducted years ago with no attempt made to seek a ransom and no idea who did it or why.

Meanwhile, the kids have their own secrets, as Cass has been sneaking out into the city at night and stopping petty crimes and running into some girl in a purple hoodie who calls herself Spoiler. Tim’s preoccupied with a longtime personal quest of his....figure out who the elusive Oracle, all-knowing master of the cyberways is, and in doing so perhaps win their approval and mentorship. And Duke’s metahuman abilities have recently begun manifesting, and Jason ends up helping him test them and figure out what all he can do (after Jason catches Duke in the act of practicing his ghost vision and Duke has to convince him he’s not crazy and nobody needs to tell Bruce).

And that in turn leads to Duke exploring the house with aid of his powers, trying to learn more about the mysterious missing eldest, and Jason distracting him every five seconds by whispering “what do you see now,” because Jason has also long been endlessly entranced by the mystery of Dick Grayson, and also, Jason has no chill.

With all of the above being the dynamic in existence in ‘present day’....when Dick escapes the Court and returns home.

So the story itself is all about Dick trying to deal with the aftermath of everything that happened to him while the Court’s hostage, and everything that didn’t happen to him and that he missed out on, coming in at the eleventh hour to a family that’s now almost fully formed all in his absence....with a seat at the table that’s been reserved for him the whole time, but with him uncertain as to where and how he fits in all of this.

All while being as cryptic about things as possible, because the one and only thing he and Bruce seem able to agree on, after their bittersweet reunion that doesn’t go how either of them ever imagined it....is to keep the other kids out of all this by any means necessary. Upon learning that Bruce hasn’t been Batman in years and the others know nothing about any of this, Dick’s firm on believing they should keep it that way as he doesn’t even know them yet, but he does know he isn’t willing to risk anything like what happened to him happening to any other child, related to him or not. And Bruce is perhaps too willing to accommodate Dick on this because he still feels this is all his fault, and telling the others everything would mean admitting to them what a terrible father he once was.

Which, he wasn’t, is the thing. One of the many things Dick’s struggling to reconcile now, because just like in the comics, Dick’s early years with Bruce were good more often than they were bad. He realizes upon seeing how easily the other kids interact with Bruce in a parent and child way that this is something he’s envious of, and in hindsight wanted even before he was kidnapped, but now he doesn’t know how to voice that or his fear that that Bruce would only be willing to offer that to him now out of guilt, that if he’d really wanted that kind of relationship with Dick, they would have had it before he disappeared.

Add to that the fact that Dick can’t make up his mind whether he’s grateful and touched that Bruce gave up being Batman just for the chance it might keep him safe from the fate of the Court’s Talons.....because sometimes, Dick resents it deeply...or not resents, per se, but more that he didn’t know the specifics of what was going on in the outside world beyond where the Court kept him, or that they’d made Bruce give up being Batman....so finding that out upon escaping is messing with his head more than he expected, and now he can’t help but feel aware of all the people over the years that could have been helped by Batman but weren’t, because of Dick. Basically, the Son of the Walking Guilt Complex, aka Walking Guilt Complex Jr., is blaming himself and his getting kidnapped, for being the reason Bruce isn’t a superhero anymore.

Meanwhile, it was not a good idea to keep all of this hush hush, if for no other reason than that its impossible to recover from a life-changing ordeal like this at home, when that home is filled with four other people you and two others are all committed to keeping the full details of what happened a secret from. Its not at all the homecoming Dick was picturing and had dreamed of, and he catches himself at times feeling resentful of the others for being there at all, before feeling guilty because the truth is he really is glad that Bruce took them all in and has been good for them, that he still found a way to help people and be true to himself even without being Batman.

There’s other stuff involved too, like the fact that Dick is still keeping things from even Bruce, like everything that happened to him in the Court, because a) he doesn’t want to talk about it, b) he’s afraid of the guilt spiral it’ll send Bruce into, to know that all this time he’d done everything he could to keep Dick safe by giving the Court no reason to break their word....when they never actually made any promise not to try and break Dick by methods not part of their usual Talon process, and c) he doesn’t want to talk about it.

And of course, all his old friends and teammates desperately want to see him and reconnect with him, which he fluctuates between wishing it was easier to explain who they were and have them around without risking their own identities with his new siblings.....and being grateful that keeping the Big Secret from said siblings meant they could only be around so much (like Clark and Diana, etc, who now simply would not be kept away period)....because like with Bruce, Dick is having trouble coming to terms with how much they’ve all changed while he was gone and how much he’s changed, and what this means for them all and how they even FIT now, if they even do at all.

All of which ultimately builds to Dick sneaking out at night to return to vigilantism himself, which makes Bruce throw an epic freakout when he finds out because he only just got Dick back and is not about to risk losing him again. And with Dick trying to convey that he NEEDS this, now perhaps even more than he ever did before, because its the only thing he knows, the only thing that feels familiar, feels right at this point, while everything else is confusing as hell. And even more than that, he needs it in order to feel like the last five years haven’t cost him everything, that they haven’t...’ruined’ him, because what’s the point of him even being home if he’s just as lost and confused as ever and he can’t even save people, do the one thing that’s always made all the shit he’s ever been through feel worthwhile, like it means something?

He needs it, he can’t give this up forever just because something terrible happened one time, that probably would have happened in some form even if he hadn’t been a hero, given what he found out from the Court about his family line. And he’s not wrong to feel that way, is the problem, much like its a problem that Bruce isn’t wrong to feel that if nothing else, its too soon for Dick to be doing this again, and he hasn’t remotely handled any of the many issues weighing on him and the trauma he’s still unwilling to address.

And it doesn’t help that all the while, Bruce has been wrestling with his own uncertainty as to whether to go back to being Batman now that Dick’s safe again and the combined might of the Justice League and Titans have followed his escape route back to the Court and come down on it with extreme zeal. Or whether he even wants to, anymore, if he can justify the risks it includes while now a father in truth not just to Dick but four other kids too (and yes, Damian exists in this AU, he’s just not here yet). He doesn’t want to leave any of his kids without a father, and even more than that, he doesn’t want any of the others following in his and Dick’s footsteps, which also plays a factor in freaking out at Dick’s quick return to a mask.

But he can’t deny that he does miss it too, and more importantly, he misses the way he and Dick used to understand each other without a word, in perfect sync as they swung over the city together. He can’t help but feel like it would be so much easier for him and Dick to understand each other, communicate with each other, if they were back on the same page even if just for one night for old time’s sake. And also he worries about Dick maybe growing to resent his siblings if he feels like they’re the only reason he won’t go back to being Batman, he won’t let there ever be a Batman and Robin again....which then startles him into worrying that on some level he’s afraid of growing to resent his other kids for being the reason not to do that. And around and around and around it goes.

And then the other kids figure it out in their own ways and everything really blows up.

And its hard and messy and painful and nothing short or easily fixed. And there are no good choices or easy choices or right choices. Just a lot of good people trying to make the most good come out of the most bad, and not a clue what that actually means or looks like, let alone how to go about it.

Ultimately, its Dick at age 19, coming of age in the most unconventional of ways, trying to figure out who he is and who he wants to be after everything that’s happened, and dragging his whole family along for the ride as they’re all forced to ask the same question and then compare notes and hope that even if they’re not all on the same page, they’re all at least somewhere to be found in the same book.

Its about how you can’t go home again....even when home is exactly where you left it, and everything looks exactly the same but everything is different and nothing and no one will ever be the same ever again.

But that doesn’t mean the trek isn’t worth making, because sometimes the only way to make it forward to who you want to be now....is to first go back to where you last were when last you trusted who you were and what you wanted. So you can make your peace with leaving that road untraveled before finding your new direction and setting forth on that road instead.

*Shrugs* So yeah, that’s my ideal Court of Owls related fic. “Where Last We Left Off.”

Not quite the kind of fic you were describing, lol, but I do seem to insist on being unconventional with my takes, lmao.

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dammit-stark · 5 years

Note

Hi! I would love a Superbat fic! Bruce accidentally gets drunk at an event and Clark (who is there as a reporter) helps get him home? Or just anything Superbat. I love it all. Thank you!

okay this was SO stinkin fun I loved this thank you for pushing me farther down the superbat rabbit hole I am content- 1.1k words

- - - -

“Mr Wayne, sir, do you uh- need a hand?”

In Bruce’s defense, he’s spectacularly drunk and unaware of the fact that this very attractive reporter is also his alter ego’s superhero partner, so he winks dramatically, suddenly latching himself onto Clark’s very sturdy shoulder, and says, “Depends on what you want to do with your hand.”

It’s an innuendo- and a very blatant one at that- even oblivious Kansas boy catches his meaning, and he can’t help but smile. Knowing the caped crusader is hanging off him and flirting horrendously gives a suddenly very real incandescence to the night, like a row of glaring LED lights in a stark white hallway, like a hangover without the headache or the fun of the alcohol, like a carnival ride in your chest.

“Let’s get you home, Mr Wayne,” Clark says, voice heavy with his own hidden meanings as he hefts one arm beneath Bruce’s shoulders to better support his weight. Bruce leans into his touch. Clark cant help but think how torturous this all is. He knows Batman’s real identity, but Batman doesn’t know his, he’s stuck behind this mask, wearing a reporter-shaped costume over his hero skin.

“You really know how to talk a guy into bed, don’t you, hot stuff?” Bruce flirts as they break out of the shiny, white mansion and out to the biting chill of the front steps.

“Just- wait here. I’ll get Al- your driver.”

Bruce leans heavily against a nearby stone pillar in agreement.

Clark finds the parked Cadillac and very politely knocks on the passenger side window. His thick-rimmed civilian glasses appear in the reflection only until Bruce’s right hand man rolls down the window.

“Sir,” Clark says, all earnesty and good names, “My name’s Clark Kent. I’m a reporter, but I’m off the clock. I promise. I think Mr Wayne might need help getting home. Mind if I lend a hand?”

Alfred takes one look at the way Clark’s large form takes up most of the passenger side window, glances back at Bruce’s very relaxed state, and nods, “That would be much appreciated just- no funny business, okay?” His voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper, “As remiss as Mr Wayne is to admit it to even himself, his heart’s already spoken for.”

Clark can’t help it, he blushes. He hadn’t t known his teammate had a significant other. And he hadn’t known it would breed such a soup or disappointment and envy in his veins.

“Understood,” Clark insists, perfectly ignoring the nervous feeling in his gut, “I really do just want to lend a hand.”

For some reason, Alfred actually believes him.

As far as Alfred knows, Clark’s could be some manipulative reporter waiting to pounce on Mr Wayne and get some exclusive drunken scoop on the richest man in Gotham. But everyone knows that Alfred knows what’s best for Bruce, and if trusting a stranger reporter is one of those things, Clark isn’t going to complain about it just right now.

Clark does most of the manhandling as Alfred goads a very drunk Bruce Wayne into one of his most expensive cars. Later, as they pull onto the drive of Wayne Manor, said car gets vomited on as Clark dotes on his billionaire- Alred insists it’s no problem, it happens, and Clark feels awful about, runs his fingers through Bruce’s hair as Alfred pulls into the large garage, whispers sweet things that go right through Bruce’s drunken head.

“Right through here, Mr Kent,” Alfred directs as Clark carefully wraps a tight grip around his stumbling partner. Alfred holds the door open, and suddenly Clark’s making a beeline for Batman’s favorite sitting room without a second thought. Whether he doesn’t notice or just doesn’t say anything is anybody’s guess, but Alfred doesn’t question for even a moment how Clark knew his way around.

“Here you go, Bru- Mr Wayne,” Clark says as he carefully lowers Bruce down onto the nearest loveseat.

Bruce swats at Clark’s shoulder, a gentle grab at the fabric holding tight around his inhuman muscles, and a sloppy grin hanging off his face, “You gonna come down here with me, pretty boy, huh?”

Clark’s responding smile is a soft dejection, “You know I’m not. You need to get some rest.”

“No, I don’t,” Bruce insists, and god, this is such a weird side of him, Clark lives it. He’s so used to the darkness of Batman, the wit of Mr Wayne. He’s never become well introduced to the softness of the real Bruce. He hopes one day he introduces himself for real, but for now all he has is a couple of secret identities and stolen moment, “I can go all night, baby.”

When Clark pats kindly at Bruce’s jawline, he tries to keep himself at arms’ length, “I’m sure you can,” He says, voice soft, “But I gotta go. You can’t see me in the morning.”

Bruce looks achingly disappointed, “We don’t have to see each other in the morning. It doesn’t have to be a thing.”

“I’m afraid it would, Mr Wayne,” Clark says, pulling an Afghan off of a neighboring chair and covering Bruce with it. He stands finally, touches gently at Bruce’s hair, “I should go.”

By the time he’s upright and standing at the door, looking back at the fire lit scene behind him, Bruce is snoring noisily with his nose buried under the edge of his blanket. Clark shows himself out of the manor.

The day that Clark finally reveals his true identity to Batman, the man behind the mask smiles, equivocal and nerve-wrecking as Clark wrings his hands together.

“I know,” He says simply and-Wait, what?

“How long have you known?”

“Oh come on, Clark. Very few people know their way around the manor like that, and they’re all either superheroes or Alfred, and even fewer have a body like that. I was wasted, not blind.”

Clark rubs a hand against the back of his neck, eyes on the floor, it’s a nervous habit of his from way back when, “I didn’t realize you noticed.”

There’s that nearly out-of-place light in Bruce’s eyes again, “Of course I did, Clark, I always notice you.”

Clark can’t help it, he blushes like a schoolgirl,”You suck,” He mutters under his breath, unable to meet Bruce’s gaze.

“And besides,” Bruce says, easily ruining the moment just like that, “Alfred wouldn’t have put up with you if he hadn’t recognized you in the first place.”

“Alfred knew?”

“You’re six foot three and have a BMI so low it isn’t recognizable on the human scale. You’re pretty hard to miss.”

#superbat #drabble #superman #batman #clark kent #bruce wayne #okay but this was so fun why do I love them #I feel the need to apologize for my sudden foray into dc ff idk why this is happening

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jasontoddiefor · 5 years

Text

Manor-Dad lets me drive the Batmobile

Summary: Bruce had two options when Dick found the Cave. 1) Tell him the truth. 2) Go along with Dick’s excited “You’re dating Batman!” until he figured out the truth.

Several children later Bruce wished he’d gone with option 1) or he wouldn’t have to deal with all his kids believing he and Batman were separate people. Yes, even Damian.

Tagging @3rdrandomthing for reading the unpolished version of this mess.

A tiny excited nine-year-old boy was jumping around the Batcave, dressed in dark Batman PJs with little yellow bats printed on them. They had been a gift from Clark and Bruce hadn’t had the heart to deny them Dick after the child had accepted them so cheerfully.

Much the same, Bruce now didn’t have the heart to use his short-term memory eraser on his young ward. Dick hadn’t cried much after his parents’ death and, unlike Bruce had been after the loss of his parents, he was a rather happy child given the circumstances. Nevertheless, Bruce wanted Dick to smile as many of those genuinely cheerful smiles as possible, and let him make a lot of good memories.

Discovering the Cave below the manor was most certainly a glorious memory for Dick, and Bruce didn’t want to take it away. Certainly, he could be convinced to keep it all a secret? Dick was smart, he knew when something was important.

Once he had made up his mind, Bruce stepped out of the shadows. The Batsuit was already back in its case, so he was sporting sweat pants and a comfortable hoodie. They didn’t heat the Cave and for all the hours Bruce spent sitting in front of the computer, a tank top didn’t suffice according to Alfred.

“Bruce!” Dick shouted when he finally spotted Bruce. “Look! This has to be the Batcave! Can you believe it? Did you know it was right here under the manor all this time? Have you met Batman…”

Dick trailed off and studied Bruce cautiously. His gaze lingered on Bruce’s neck, where this night’s fights had resulted in a small bruise and the coffee mug in Bruce’s hands.

“Look, Dick, I know this is a lot to take in-“ Bruce began to speak, but Dick interrupted him.

“You’re dating Batman!” he exclaimed.

Bruce blinked.

That wasn’t the conclusion he had expected Dick to reach. Before he could set the boy on the right path, Dick was already talking again.

“Of course! It makes so much sense! That’s why he immediately knew who I was and found me so fast when I was trying to find Zucco. You sent him after me, right? Can I meet him again? Please, please, please, I haven’t thanked him properly yet, and Alfred said it’s important to do that always.”

Dick jumped up and down, vibrating with energy. Behind him, Alfred stood with another tray of treats for Bruce and for once he looked about as caught off-guard as Bruce felt.

Bruce shared a look with Alfred, but he just shrugged in turn and indicated with a hand wave that Bruce should reply to his still rambling ward.

Right.

Looking back at Dick, Bruce could see him smiling brightly. He should correct Dick’s thoughts, but then again, it would be a good cover.

If anybody ever got too close to the truth and Dick accidentally talked – not that Bruce assumed he would, but he didn’t earn his title as ‘The World’s Greatest Detective and Most Paranoid Bastard’ by being unprepared – Batman’s identity would be safe still. Once Dick got older, Bruce could tell him the truth. For now, though...

“It’s a secret,” Bruce said seriously. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t!” Dick promised eagerly.

“You have to swear an oath.”

Bruce had loved swearing oaths as a kid. Nowadays, he knew that they had just been his parents’ convenient way of getting him to avoid telling Alfred about how many sweets he’d already eaten before dinner, but they had been fun regardless.

“Say, does that mean I can accompany Batman in the future?”

“No.”

“Bruce said I could join you on patrol.”

Bruce, dressed as Batman, nearly burned his tongue on his coffee. Dick’s expression was utterly innocent like he wasn’t lying directly to his face. Lately, he’s been spending a lot of time in the newly christened Batcave. Whenever Bruce was supposed to be sleeping or out in the city working for Wayne Enterprises, Dick went down to the Cave.

Sometimes Bruce thought that Dick had finally figured it out and was trying to prank him by feigning ignorance, but then he’d paraphrase something to Batman or Bruce that neither had said, and Bruce would know Dick was still in the dark.

“He did not.”

Bruce enjoyed Sunday mornings. They all slept in and ate breakfast together. He didn’t have to go to WE, Alfred allowed himself to relax for once, and Dick didn’t have school.

The manor had always been a quiet place after his parents’ passing, but it had never been calm. And even though Dick’s gleeful shrieks were echoing through the halls, Bruce felt at peace.

“Batman said I’d be safe in the city patrolling with-“

Bruce opened his eyes, staring directly into Dick’s blue ones. He had wondered about the sudden weight on his chest.

“No.”

“Awww, come on, B!”

Dick kept on asking, Bruce kept on protesting, and somehow it ended with Robin following Batman on the streets. Bruce still couldn’t believe he had let a child, practically a baby, talk him into taking him out to fight crime.

Not that Dick was doing any of that until he was at least thirteen. For now, Batman would make his rounds first, then take Dick out for an hour to accompany teenagers and women home in the dark, carry food to homeless people and track down lost pets.

Dick didn’t complain about it at all but poured all his energy into his task. He knew his job was serious and that the goal was to help people. If Dick dedicated about as much motivation to his homework, he could skip several grades. Honestly, it was like Dick simply enjoyed spending time with Batman, which was weird to say the least.

Bruce didn’t think he acted all that different around Dick as the Bat. He certainly got more careless about his posture as well, the more often they patrolled together.

And then, one night, after an actually fun patrol, he took off the cowl. It would be better if Dick knew the truth, even if he hadn’t deduced it himself. After all, his detection skills were something they were still working on.

“Bruce!” Dick gasped. “You were fighting with me tonight?”

“Of course. It’s always been-“

Dick rushed over to Bruce’s side, worry written all over his face.

“Is Batman alright?! Has he gotten hurt? He should have told me, I’d have been fine without going on patrol, and you shouldn’t endanger yourself. You’re already doing enough for Gotham during the day. Can I see him? Do you always jump in for him when he can’t fight? Has he gotten hurt often?”

Bruce took a deep breath and pinched his nose.

Maybe it was too early still.

“Sure,” he said, unknowing that this would be the beginning of a life-long commitment to self-love. “I stand in for Batman when he can’t patrol Gotham. What’s the purpose of funding all of this, if I don’t contribute?”

Dick nodded, though Bruce could tell he wasn’t satisfied with his answer. Maybe he would try again in another six months.

“Do you think Dad’s worried about us when we’re out on patrol?”

Batman very nearly crashed into the next building. Only his iron grip on his grappling hook and his years of training made his landing on the next roof look as professional as always.

Robin settled on the gargoyle next to him, still deep in thought.

“I mean, we don’t come back hurt often, but he always makes sure to check me for injuries again after you’ve done it. He is worrying, isn’t he?”

Batman was still stuck on Robin’s first sentence.

“… Dad?” He questioned.

Robin looked up at him in confusion before promptly blushing red.

“Don’t tell Bruce I call him that! I’m practicing it still ‘cause it sounds weird, and the first time I say it to his face needs to be perfect. I know I told him I don’t want a new father, and I don’t, I love my Papa. But he could be another dad, you know? Like, everyone has two sets of grandparents as well and I know that’s not the same, and I know he hasn’t adopted me, but I’m pretty sure he does love me like a son, he has called me that before. I know he didn’t do it consciously or whatever, and Grayson-Wayne would be like super duper long, and all teachers would hate it but-“

“Dick.”

His ward, his son, stopped talking, nervously looking down at his gloved hands.

“I’m sure Bruce will be absolutely happy to hear that and call you his son. You just have to tell him.”

Okay, so maybe this whole ‘Batman wasn’t Bruce’ thing did have some positive sides.

Dick grew with every month that passed. He got stronger and taller and Bruce trusted him with more and more responsibilities. He even took Dick to the Watchtower and it was a delight to see him collect clues about everyone’s identity, remembering even small details like Green Arrow’s preferred coffee brand, and inform Bruce of everyone’s identity within a week.

At thirteen, however, Dick still hadn’t figured out who Bruce was.

It was a little frustrating. Nothing seemed to shake Dick’s belief that they were two separate people.

“Robin,” Bruce growled in his Batman voice, before switching to his actually softer and more melodic tone. “I’m Batman.”

Dick stared at Bruce, cowl-less and serious, before being overtaken with laughter.

“Oh, jeez, B- you- Holy hell-“

“Language.”

“That was perfect. Exactly how Batman would say it!”

The direct approach really wasn’t working out for Bruce.

Even worse, Dick didn’t even seem interested in who Batman was. As long as he was kind to Dick, spend enough time with him and “treated Bruce right”, he didn’t care whatsoever about who was behind the mask.

“The Bat’s the Bat,” he had heard Dick tell Barbara once like that was a proper explanation for anything.

Barbara Gordon was a menace. An intelligent, blackmailing, smart, and confident menace hell-bent on putting herself in danger.

Bruce could go to her father, he really should, but Barbara hadn’t even been fazed by the threat.

“I know you’re just trying to look out for us, Mr. Wayne, but I promise you, we’ll be safe with Batman. I just need him to teach me some more kick-ass moves. Training with Dick is good, but he’s only learning himself still.”

Bruce didn’t even know where to start with that line of argumentation. He most certainly could keep track of two children at night, but he didn’t want to.

Yet, somehow, he found himself keeping watch over a little bird and a bat during nighttime, and playing Mario Kart with his son and his best friend during the day time.

#batman #bruce wayne #dick grayson #Barbara gordon #alfred pennyworth #fanfic #batfam

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toughguywithbossygirlfriend · 7 years

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From Hate to Love in record time (with a little help from Clark)

It seems to me a lot of people think that Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne having an argument in Justice League movie is proof that they are a bad match. Well ... they are kind of used to start this way, neither Diana, nor Bruce, would start “impressed” by the other ... not all romances start like a “teenager crush” ... and the “teenager crush” is seldom of the long lasting kind ... How many of you are still with their very “first love” ? not so much I guess ... it often takes some experience and time to find the perfect partner.

There is this Trinity comic that I liked a lot. I think it goes back to 2003. I am not sure of that but judging by the “DC Comics” logo it has to be somewhere between 1976 and 2005.

The comics starts with Superman saving the day and meeting Bruce Wayne. They are not exactly BFFs but they know each others secret identities for some time.

Wonder Woman seeks to meet Superman for the first time because she thinks he may be responsible for a nuclear explosion near Themiscyra. Of course he isn’t, but he is amazed by the magnificent woman that he compares to Lois. As you can imagine he is charmed, who wouldn’t be ? She finds him awesome as well of course, so muscular, so large, so powerful, so heroic ... So they start to work together showing off to each other how awesome they are ... and some suicide bomber blasts later ... the “Boy Scout” effect takes place... “such a Man”.

They fight together and again Superman shows his incredible power in front of her by taking the blow of another nuke while protecting her... That really starts like a strong “SuperWonder” story, poor Lois ... Joking !, Supes only loves Lois it is written in his Kryptonian DNA and we know how resilient this DNA is ... the only lead remaining after the nukes detonation is “Gotham”, so Superman takes her to a “Friend” ...

Batman was just in the middle of an Interrogation and Diana just steps in and uses her lasso without asking ... bad idea ... as usual, Bats already has a file on her, what a surprise, so he isn’t really that “charmed” ... being his usual ice cold brooding dark self and Diana in noble warrior princess mode ... lets just say it didn't look like there was a lot of “WonderBat” to start with ...

Of course they despise each other quickly and Superman has to run(fly) after Bruce to talk to him alone. By chance, Diana discovers the hiding place of Ras Al Guhl who’s the “bad mastermind” of the story. But Wonder Woman gets beaten down to a bloody pulp by Bizarro finding out her limits of power. Waking up in chains and in bad shape, she knows she is gonna die, her skull crushed by the powerful creature and prays for Hera.

While Superman saves the day somewhere else, Batman follows his own lead with a fully prepared utility belt. He takes out a dangerous amazon rebel (Artemis), Ras’s henchmen and blinds severely Bizarro making him flee just before the creature had a chance to kill Wonder Woman. He frees her and she follows him. He is cold and Infuriating as always but she wants to help. He saves Gotham and she saves him but she needs to dive in the Lazarus pit to avoid death.

After her revival, she kind of gets crazy and runs away, returning to Themiscyra. Superman and Batman follow her there but split up as soon as the Island is in sight. Batman gets unsettled from the magical beauty of this place and ends up in front of the most wonderful bathing beauty he ever saw : Diana. After collecting his data on her before they even met, I think he was already “charmed” by Diana pure soul (and they already saved each others lives) but now he is helplessly hooked ...

Completely out of his mind in this magical paradise, his kisses her... without asking first ...

Bad Idea ... but I can understand the poor guy, when you think you’re in paradise it is hard to stay cool ... they say if women show off more than 40% skin men’s brain switches to “primitive reptilian brain” and Diana pretty much shows 95% or more ... my bossy girlfriend (turned wife) would no doubt make fun of me and say that my own reptilian brain IQ is definitely not higher than the one of Bruce Wayne here. XD ... she may be right but she doesn't really complain.

Ouch ! that did hurt ! ... and not only the pride...

Clark was the smartest of both guys, ... he was peeking from up in the sky, clever ;) ... surely Bruce isn’t the only one who should rediscover his manners ... the funny guy is nearly as fast as the Flash but didn't stop Bruce ... Clark, are you already a hardcore shipper ? or did you really want to get him killed ? ... I love the Boy Scout when he is with Lois, he always is such a WonderBat fan.

After that, Batman returns to his usual Dark mood and all three have a little chat on a nearby Island. Finally after setting the next missions for him and Clark, Batman tells Diana that she can help in any way possible but she takes it the wrong way. She understands she misjudged the meaning of his words when he gives her back the magical lasso that he found back in Ras Al Guhl’s lair. Evidently she is upset and confused about Batman. She has “more or less” positive feelings about Batman (”more more or more less ?” well “probably more less !” after the bathing) but obviously Superman, for whom she feels great respect, seems to actually consider the man as his Friend. She needs to understand !

I think Superman is really awesome here. There is so much intelligence, wisdom and humility in these few words. “I often wonder if I were an ordinary man, would I show the same valor ?”. You have to admire the man. So much power but still able to question himself like that. I wish at least some of our politicians would be that good. Superman may be Batman’s “Beacon to the world”, but it looks like Batman is Superman’s “Beacon to the overpowered superheroes”.

That gives Diana the urgent need to rethink what she and her sisters really know and believe about men. I have no doubt that Diana is wise enough so that she would have figured it out all by herself but Superman helped to shorten the process. After talking to her mother about the amazonian rebel she goes to Wayne manor.

Now that she has seen Superman in action it is not hard to imagine how, with his all superpowers, he could have saved her and Gotham from the nuke and claws of Ras Al Guhl. She can imagine that Superman would still have got a hard time fighting Bizarro.

But then you have this Bruce Wayne, “Batman”, a mere human mortal man with absolutely no superpowers who finds Ras Al Guhl’s hiding place without the help of luck like herself or x-ray vision, takes down an highly trained amazon and a bunch of henchmen, hurts and drives away one of the most powerful creatures she’s ever met, a creature even the Champion and Princess of the immortal amazons couldn’t match in combat. This normal man doesn’t run away despite all his “weaknesses” but stands up against such danger, puts his life on the line for people who don’t even know his name and won’t ever be grateful to him for that. That man fights in the shadow, when Superman or herself shine in the sun and get the glory. Nonetheless he saves her, then saves the city ... how can you not ask yourself the same question as Superman ? when you admire valor, truth, justice, selflessness, compassion, how can you not fall for a guy like that ?

She may have been raised on an Island with no men, but Diana is a smart girl, she knows a catch when she see’s one. And the magic of Themiscyra already showed her what Batman’s heart was set on. So when she returns to Bruce Wayne to find out where the last two nukes are ... she can’t stop herself from adding :

If you remember the only time she actually hit him you know the only thing missing in this sentence to fill up the dots is the implied “If you kiss me”.

#wonderbat #wonder woman #batman #superman #superbat

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easilydistractedandamused · 6 years

Text

Chapter nine of Billy Bat Son for those that don’t want to follow the link

Chapter 9: The Zoo

“Shazam still can’t come in?” Clark asked Cyborg during a meeting.

“Bruce can’t show up either because of the media nightmare,” Barry said slightly concerned that two of their members were no shows for over a week

Victor was just silently amused that the speedster just unknowingly stated why the magic user wasn’t showing up.

“Nah,” he said shaking his head in response. “I doubt he’ll be able to show up for awhile,” he said.

After all, avoiding the media was one thing, but somehow keeping it from Batman? Yeah, he wouldn’t look forward to trying that.

“Master William is testing the security again,” Alfred informed Bruce as he was bringing him lunch in the Cave.

“He’s probably feeling caged by now,” Bruce responded, taking the cup of coffee and glancing to see the end of a red sweater in the corner of a camera. He was picking it apart as fast as Damian had, slowly but surely. “I’m starting to feel caged, myself. Can’t go anywhere without reporters dogging our steps,” he said stirring the cup.

“Might I make a suggestion, sir?” he asked.

“Go ahead,” he said sipping at his drink.

“Perhaps you can make an event of it,” he said and when Bruce looked at him in confusion, he elaborated. “Staying inside to avoid the reporters will only make things harder on him in the long run. Perhaps you should go to the zoo, I heard he likes that,” he said.

“Gotham Zoo is under the control of the Penguin,” Bruce reminded him.

“We know that, he doesn’t,” he said. “I do not believe young master Damian has had the pleasure of going to Gotham zoo yet, either,” he said.

“Fine, prepare the car,” he said drinking the rest of his coffee and standing up.

“Of course, Master Bruce,” he said, leaving with a smile to do as he was told and Bruce glanced to the cameras, finding a flash of red in the corner of one near the gardens and started to head in that direction.

The moment Billy saw the large structure, with it’s metal gates, his entire face lit up and even though it meant that Bruce would be giving more money to Penguin for his schemes, it was worth it.

While Damian didn’t run off eagerly like Billy did, he did look at each animal with a small hint of joy in his eyes, the corner of his lips twitching upwards just enough that Bruce could see he was enjoying himself as well.

“Have you seen Billy?” he asked when he couldn’t see the red sweater for ten minutes.

“He ran off to get some food five minutes ago,” Damian replied, looking around now but spotting him speaking to one of the officials made his tense shoulders relax. “There. He seems to be speaking to someone,” he said and Bruce followed his line of sight and felt himself relax. “I’d blame you for being paranoid, but we both know the risks of being out in public like this,” he said glancing off to the side where a reporter was hidden, taking pictures of them.

“Sorry if I took awhile,” Billy apologized when he returned to their sides.

“It’s fine. What were you two talking about?” Bruce asked.

“I asked him about the feeding habits of the animals!” he proudly declared with a grin. “Like, did you know that the Brown Bears are Omnivores?” he asked.

“I did not,” Bruce said, quietly amused and listened as his son told him what he’d learned from the worker.

“You seem upset,” Victor said as Billy was tossing a football up and down, lying in the grass of the stadium they usually met up in. “So, judging by how you're here and not with your dad you’ve managed to slip away from him?” he asked.

“It took me three days to clock his security system,” he said with an annoyed huff. “And longer still for all the reporters to start to lose interest. Sneaking out was impossible with them always hanging around,” he complained. “How are the others?” he asked glancing at him.

“They’re a little concerned why you haven’t been able to show up for two weeks, at the same time Batman’s been dealing with some personal issues,” he said easily.

“What kind of personal issues?” Billy asked him curiously, getting an amused smile from Cyborg at this.

“You know I’m not gonna give you any hints to his secret identity. I refuse to participate in your dumb contest,” he said, as he usually did and Billy shot him a cheeky grin.

“Not even a small hint?” he asked.

“Not even that much. I’m neutral on this, you know that,” Vic said with a hint of amusement in his voice as he looked at the thirteen year old.

“Fine, so I take it you told Bats what I’ve been dealing with?” he asked.

“ Neutral, ” he said pointedly. “And no, I’ve told them that you’ve been dealing with some family issues. They don’t know it’s dad issues, Clark suggested it had to do with your uncle and I’ve just gone along with it,” he said and Billy nodded his head. As it as, it was the best cover for what was really going on as it had a hint of truth in it. The best lies always had some partial truth’s in it and when it was supplied by someone else, it was always easier to believe than if you did it yourself.

“I’ll try to head up later. You’ve been keeping an eye on Wayne Manor’s security system, right?” Billy asked glancing at him

“You asking me to help you sneak out every night?” he asked, raising a brow as he looked at Billy.

“I just need to know if the coast is clear,” he said simply and was handed an alarm clock. “Uh, I already have one?” he said unsure as he looked to the object to Vic, wondering what this was about.

“It’s a camera , doofus. Point it toward the door and I can tell you if someone is in the room when you're sneaking back in,” he said and Billy turned it over in his hands, not seeing the camera in it, but he supposed that was the point. It wouldn’t do if people could tell it was a camera after all. “So long as you remember to ask me of course. I can’t remember everything for you,” he said and Billy offered him a grin.

“Sure, sure,” he said amused. “Did you know Gotham Zoo is run by the Penguin?” he asked curiously, like they were talking about something mundane and not a criminal using a zoo of all places as a front for illegal activities.

“How do you figure that?” he asked blinking, unable to see the trail even as he was simultaneously triple checking everything. So far, it seemed like any other zoo in the world.

“The penguins receive special treatment,” he huffed. “The lion isn’t fed enough, nor do they give them bones to clean their teeth with, but the bear barely has enough room, same with the tiger too,” he said. “Most of the money he doesn’t put in for his operations go to his favorite animal,” he said, having seen it, and it brought up a righteous anger in him. Animals didn’t know better and they certainly didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Sure, they were still healthy, just barely underweight but Billy could see that they weren’t happy.

“Please tell me you're going to leave this alone,” Victor pleaded with him, even knowing he wouldn’t. Billy was stubborn like that, being in Batman’s turf wouldn’t change that one bit.

“If it makes you feel better, I only plan on investigating right now,” he said as he knew talking to the boss of the zoo wouldn’t do right now, he had to go straight for the source if he wanted to do any good. And to do that, he needed to make a plan first.

“It doesn’t, but thanks for letting me know anyway,” he said with a small smile on his face, huffing in amusement.

“No prob, man,” he said with his usual smirk when he was amused that most people assumed was him being a jerk but Vic knew better.

“Join me in one more game before you head out for patrol?” he asked and the smirk turned into a grin.

“Oh, you know it,” he said before rushing off the fake grass to a nearby blackened spot to transform. When he transformed on the field, he quickly learned that fake grass could both melt and catch fire (but only a little, really) when struck by magic lightning.

Still, no one looked twice as lightning hit the abandoned football stadium. If anything, the people of Fawcett heard it and relaxed, somehow knowing that everything was starting to go back to normal after their heroes long absence.

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uncpanda · 7 years

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Jet Lag and Chinese: Part 2

Prompt: As Clark Kent’s best friend and kind of sister you’re used to the strange. Still seeing him get cozy with Wonder Woman is more strange than you’re used to. So when the chance to cozy up to a billionaire playboy comes around, who are you to say no?

Part 1

When that knock wakes you up at three in the morning, you consider killing whoever is on the other side. You pull yourself out of bed, your comforter wrapped around your shoulders, and make your way to the door.

You open is to find Clark, Diana, and an unconscious Batman between them. An unconscious Batman who is bleeding all over your floor. You look them in the eye, and ask, “You realize I’m a photographer and not a doctor, right?”

Clark rolls his eyes, and pushes his way inside. “Duly noted. The bleeding has stopped for the most part, but he’s under some sort of alien drug. Hal got a cure, but it’ll be a while before he comes out of it.”

You close the door behind them, “So you need a place to stash him?”

Clark shrugs, “He’s part of the team, and he’s damn good at what he does.”

You blink as Clark puts him on the couch, “You were just complaining about him yesterday.”

“You complain about your sister all the time.”

“My sister is an entirely different matter.”

“Clark.” Diana’s voice is soft, a reminder.

He let’s out a deep breath, “Right. We have to go. We’ll collect him in a few hours. Stay inside and don’t get yourself killed.”

You wave him off, and turn on the T.V. knowing that you won’t be getting back to sleep. You collapse in your armchair and watch the chaos unfold. You’re more than a little bitter that Clark hadn’t given you a heads up that something was going down. Your passion was photography, and things like this called your name. To tell the story of what was happening. The true story.

After about six hours, you guest begins to stir. You glance at him, as he sits up. You meet his gaze and he simply says, “You’re Clark’s friend.”

You nod, “Change of clothes is in the bathroom, feel free to shower too.” He stares at you, and you stare back, “I already know the secret identities of ninety percent of the League. One more won’t kill me.”

His voice is gruff, “It might.”

You shrug, “Then don’t. Sit there in the blood and filth on my couch. I’m going to make Clark buy me a new one anyway.”

His lips quirk slightly, “Are you now?”

You smile, “My guests are mainly reporters, they tend to pick up on things like blood stains.”

You watch him leave for the bathroom, and listen as the shower turns on. Your attention remains on the TV, while you pull out the breakfast fixings; cereal, bread, milk, butter, bowls. After about twenty minutes the doors opens and you stare at the man standing in your bathroom doorway.

He raises one eyebrow and asks, “Are you surprised?”

You screw your mouth into a pondering look, “Not completely. Makes sense, who else would have the money for Batman’s toys. Bruce Wayne fits.”

He nods before moving into the kitchen, and pouring himself a bowl of cereal, his eyes remain glued to the television screen, “How bad is it?”

“Not the worst thing to have happened. They’re in cleanup mode right now.” You take a bite of cereal.

“And whose clothes am I wearing?”

“Clark’s.”

He nods, “Excellent. Then it really will be his fault when I kill him.”

You hide your smile behind a spoonful of cereal, “Not a fan of plaid and blue jeans.”

His scowl said it all, “I’m not a fan of him continually asking me out to his family farm to relax. And insisting I’m made for farm life.”

You can’t help it, you laugh, “You’ll have to excuse him. He’s been hit in the head one too many times.”

“You don’t think I’m made for farm life.”

You smile, “You have city boy written all over you. You’d survive, you’ve been through worse. But you’d be bored within minutes, and murderous by the time lunch hits. I’m the same way, and I grew up in Smallville.”

He raises an eyebrow and asks, “Thrill seeker?”

You shrug, “I’m a photographer. A damn good one. It allows me to go where I want, when I want.”

“I bet the boy scout loves that.”

You scowl, “He’s the over protective brother I never asked for.”

“Only child?”

You shake your head, “one younger sister. We're not on speaking terms. Parents have been in and out of jail since I was a kid. My grandmother raised me. But she was up there in years, and could only do so much. The Kent’s were nice enough to help out.”

He grins at you, before pouring himself a cup of coffee, his eyes flicking to the television screen. You sit there in silence for several minutes before his phone rings. You listen as he talks, assuring the person on the other line that he’s fine.

You meet his gaze unashamed as he hangs up. He smirks at you, “Looking to write a tell all?”

You smirk, “Clark does the writing, I just take the pictures. That being said, a picture of Bruce Wayne in jeans would set me up for quite a while.”

He smiles back, “Or you could let me take you to dinner.”

You raise an eyebrow, “You really want Clark to kill you, don’t you?”

He answers your question with one of his own, “Aren’t you a thrill seeker?”

“Absolutely. But something tells me that you, Bruce Wayne, may very well be the adventure of my life.”

#bruce wayne #bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne imagine #batman #batman imagine #batman x reader #clark kent #diana prince #wonder woman #superman #dc reader insert #dc imagine #dc universe #dc

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bambamramfan · 7 years

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Superheroes

[Thing I wrote when Marvel was first promising a “woman Thor”]

I admit I was a little bothered by an article I saw bemoaning recent trends in science fiction and other genre movies. I don't argue with it's data, so much as the tilt of its conclusions. The article complains that scifi movies these days aren't really about the future, but rather about a different vision of now. They're not about tomorrow, they're about today.

Of course they are about today. Science fiction in all forms is always about today. Because today is all we know. We can talk about the future but it's almost entirely commentary on the current world, and the current truths we live in. None of us are from tomorrow, how could we write to it?

This is a good thing. It means science fiction (and other work) can tell us lessons for our current lives.

The other trend this article laments is the too many superheroes. A movie about superheroes isn't really a movie about us.

But much like "writing about the future" is really talking about today, then writing about "superheroes" can really be talking about everyone. When Spiderman recalls "with great power comes great responsibility", our reaction should not be "wow sounds like such a burden I'm glad I'm not him."

So I wanted to write about superheroes some. What are they telling us?

And first off, we need to distinguish a Super Hero movie from… well, a vigilante movie. A superhero is about a symbol that inspires the general populace. It's not that they do great things, but they proclaim "great things can be done."

A vigilante is just a dude who hits things pretty hard and solves the problem themselves.

What is Superman's power in one term? His power is to do the impossible. It's why they kept adding new powers all the time until cannon froze around Crisis on Infinite Earths (and why the end of Superman the movie wasn't shocking). It's all about thinking something is impossible, and then doing it! In an unexpected, garish, and often fairly public way. This is why the most famous line about him is "Up in the air, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman!" He is all about us, the public, witnessing and being in awe of his impossibleness. (And his second most famous line, about truth, justice and the American way, is also meant to be inspiring.)

Superman's secret identity is a nebbish reporter who is almost offensively normal. This isn't a subtle disdain on his part, but rather a promise. Anyone could secretly be Superman. Why, even *you* could secretly be Superman. Any day you could rip off your shirt, fly over the moon, and save the city.

Superman is hope. Kryptonite represents, well, cynicism.

Batman, is like the opposite of this in all ways. He lurks in the shadows, and really does intend to fix all the problems himself. Batman is well known for inspiring an emotion – and that emotion is fear, in his enemies. (The yellow lanterns admit he is the greatest of them.) He's not a symbol for us to be in awe of, he's a symbol for others to cower before.

Populist fans admire Batman because he's human whereas Superman "cheats" by being an alien with superpowers. But well, I can be Clark Kent. We can't be Bruce Wayne. He's born a billionaire and has psychological fixtures we can never replicate. There's nothing populist about lionizing a obsessive billionaire.

(This is part of why The Dark Knight is such a morally bankrupt movie. People are inspired by Batman to be like him – and they are depicted as objects of pathetic ridicule who need to be stopped for their own safety. Gotham does need a hero to look up to, and so Batman and Gordon invent one out of a lie. It's basically saying "inspiration is for suckers.")

Who would win in a fight between Superman and Batman? That's really asking "Who would win in a fight between hope and fear?"

(Maybe if fear wore a ring of cynicism… See how these symbols work?)

***

Which brings me to the other goliath that's dominating the public imagination vis a vis superheroes and vigilantes: the Avengers. What do each of them stand for? By and large, they're not vigilantes.

Captain America is very, very obviously a superhero. His meek background is used to emphasize that anyone of us could become the symbol of idealism he currently is.

Iron Man is a billionaire yes, but at least he's a superhero for libertarians. He flaunts his power and oblivious do-gooder spirit, and encourages everyone else to be as smart as him and show up Uncle Sam who wants to horde all the cool toys to themselves. He's a fairly amoral superhero, but still it's something.

The Hulk is more primal than any of the above. It's not necessarily a pleasant inspiration to see him trampling through a metropolis, but it promises a sort of chaotic, undifferentiated power. There's more things than dreamt of in our philosophies.

Thor. And then there's Thor.

***

Oh my goodness, a woman Thor is such a bad idea. Why? Well lets go through the above Avengers and see what sort of inspiration they stand for. Then we can ask, how would a woman version of that character change the interpretation?

Captain America stands for America of course, but he also stands for idealism itself. He believes in people, and not out of naivete. He sees the fallen world and still believes in the best. He never compromises, but also never loses faith in the people he cares about. A woman filling that role… is actually a radical departure AND an unambiguously good statement. I don't even know what it would mean, but I'd like to see it.

A woman Iron Man means like, nothing. You can be rich and smart and make things and generally disdainful of other people AND a woman. Iron Man is not a good person, he just happens to tag along for good things. There's nothing inherently revolutionary about a woman filling that role instead. It would work pretty smoothly and we might not even notice the difference. It would be Ayn Rand, but less edgy.

(Perhaps the best joke in that comic would be that when she's inside the suit of armor, no one can tell the difference between her and Tony Stark at all.)

The Hulk? The Hulk is basically phallic power. The woman version of the Hulk… is already a really popular comic called She-Hulk. And any fan of that series knows that she mostly solves her problems without or going beyond the use of brute force. She's clever and has personal skills besides her super powers (Note: superscience is a superpower. Itisn’t really a skill any of us can develop. Her organizational skills are.) The entire comic is basically a joke "What would a woman do with a phallus? Not much, she doesn’t need it." Consequently, it's a pretty good comic.

So what is Thor. Thor stands for worthiness. He didn't create or climb to his power, it was just given to him for who he is (son of Odin). But on the other hand, it necessitates an incredible standard that he must always maintain. He's good-hearted, loyal, determined, and many other generically good moral traits. Whenever he goes against Asgardian-morality, he loses his powers. The chief feature of his hammer is that no one else can lift it – Mjolnir is a worthiness symbol just as much as the sword in the stone. He doesn't even want his future kingship, which is contrasted with his very UNworthy brother.

I don't really like this, even though I like Thor. He's generally a liberal superhero arguing on the liberal side of things when politics comes up. And he dearly loves his brother, even as he's a pathetic snake. These are great things, but are largely treated as inconvenient biproducts of his essential worthiness. Like "Oh yeah, Thor is very generous because he's worthy, which means he will never give up on Loki, but that's just Thor, that's not at all a sign that *we* shouldn't give up on Loki." (This contrasts with Captain America. When Cap never gives up on Bucky, we understand that *we* should never give up on Bucky either. Faith in Bucky is *why* we admire Cap. For Thor, it's just a side-effect.) And worthiness… is not a good meta-virtue. Judging that people can only have certain power if they meet a standard of personality, is a fairly destructive moral heuristics. I could give plenty of examples of groups where this goes more wrong than right.

You know what group *really* doesn't need more of the message of worthiness? Women. A woman Thor would basically redouble on his inherent message that you can only participate if you meet certain unwritten standards. That you have no inherent value, but you have to prove your value every day. Ugh ugh ugh. How many times are women already told this? Too many.

This would be bad. So bad.

Now, one comic reinforcing sexism isn't going to be the dowfall of western civilization, obviously. But here's what will happen. The very people excited for "A Big Name Woman Superhero!" are going to find themselves… surprised. Upset. Woman Thor will be trying to live up to impossible standards, and only praised when she does (or punished when she strays from the arbitrarily chosen moral path) and holy shit will that look uncomfortable to readers. And Thor will meekly accept that and continue to try to retain the good graces of Odin.

Imagine the first scene where woman Thor can’t lift Mjolnir for whatever stupid reason it is this week.

They'll wonder why, and they'll conclude "latent sexism by the writers" which was half true, but was inevitable from the word go because of what Thor stands for. And since no one will be happy from this, it counts as a bad idea.

There is of course, one way this could be redeemed, but it would be the end of the comic. Thor could go before Odin, after she has strayed, and say "My time as a woman has taught me what utter bullshit all these rules and moral standards are. Fuck worthiness. Fuck you. I am done with all this. Me and Loki are out."

That would be rad.

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ntshastark · 7 years

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I SAW JUSTICE LEAGUE!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought I wasn’t even gonna post anything about the movie but then I wrote a fucking essay??

LOTS OF SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

GOOD SHIT

SUPERMAN WAS AMAZING!!!! FINALLY!!!!!! THAT’S HIM, THAT’S MY SON!!!!

And like, fuck J*ss Wh*don, but I gotta hand it to him that his Supes - and we know it was him bc CGIed mustache - is way better than S.nyder’s (and I didn’t hate his Clark or anything, but this is definitely an improvement)

Him cracking jokes with Victor when they try to separate the unity (WHEN THEY START LAUGHING ABOUT HOW MUCH IN PAIN THEY ARE!!!! HEART EYES MOTHER FUCKER!!!!) and HIS SCENES WITH BARRY LIKE BINCH YES

AND WHEN HE GOT OUT OF THE FIGHT TO SAVE THE CIVILIANS!!!!!!!!! I ALMOST CRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW THAT’S MY FUCKING SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(And ofc there were some J.oss™ things that I didn’t like, like that “truth, justice” joke that felt a bit forced and kinda ruined his joining the battle. But, in general, it was the best Superman the DCEU has ever served)

And I hope they keep this on the future, especially when he’s Clark™, like. I get brooding Supes, even if it’s not my preference. People suck, we know. But Clark being goofy and sweet and funny and seeming like he couldn’t hurt a fly is his secret identity. If you’re not gonna show it you might as well not even give him the damn glasses.

And I didn’t find it weird him “suddenly cracking jokes”, like. He died. He came back. He's happy. Let my boy enjoy life.

(And his “I changed my mind. I wanna die.” joke oh my gOD I LOVE HIM)

AND THE PART WHERE HE JUST CAME BACK TO LIFE AND IS SHIRTLESS FOR LITERALLY NO REASON AT ALL AND IS CONFUSED AND FIGHTING EVERYONE AND KICKING EVERYONE’S ASSES!!!!!!!!!! BOI!!!!!!!!!!!

WHEN HIS EYE MOVES!!!!!!!!! AND BARRY’S FACE!!!!!!!!!! I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD MY BROTHER HAD TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN

I’M A SUCKER FOR OVERPOWERED CHARACTERS KICKING ASS THAT’S EXACTLY M Y S H I T

Ngl I wish it had lasted more bc holy fuck!!!!!!! If they had made Superman the villain of this movie I wouldn’t have complained a t a l l and I usually hate evil Superman (bc it’s usually evil mastermind dictator which. no. gimme the Superman III I’m-confused-I-hate-everything-I’m-gonna-kick-ass-and-straighten-the-Tower-of-Pisa kind of evil Superman and I’m yours)

I loved Martha. Both her relationship with Lois (I loved how they remained close even after Clark’s death) and with Clark (even tho I’m upset they cut the “I’m taking this as a yes” scene). And, while I’m sad Lois didn’t have a bigger role outside of Clark (which is totally understandable in a movie with this many people), I’m glad they respected her grief. I’ve seen people complaining that they didn’t show badass reporter Lois Lane but uhhh the love of her life just died????? Let her process it on her own terms y’know? And it’s especially hard to focus on her work when they used to work together and everything about her workplace probably reminds her of Clark.

Bruce wasn’t as good as BvS (there were apparently a lot of reshots involving him and some jokes didn’t fit 100% with the character) but still really great. It amazes me how Ben Affleck can deliver such a great Bruce Wayne (by far the best ever in live-action, along with Gotham!Bruce) and still be someone the real Bruce would definitely have to hold himself back not to punch. As a person, I hope he really is leaving the DCEU. As a Bruce fan I’m I hate you don’t leave me dot mp3. Please start drinking your respect women juice. ETA: I came across this article while writing this and now I’m even more pissed, which one of y’all wished on a monkey’s paw for a good Bruce on the big screen????

Anyway.

THAT FIRST BATMAN SCENE IN GOTHAM THO HOLY FUCK I FELT LIKE I WAS WATCHING A COMIC BOOK

THE CINNAMON TOPOGRAPHY

Also, remember the scene when Superman comes back and starts fighting 4/6 of the JL but Batman only arrives 3 years later?

Beautiful.

And I’m gonna talk about W*nderbat on the “bad shit” part, but the person who said “It’s hard to tell whether Bruce has a crush on Diana… or Clark.” is so spot-on like holy fuck “GET OVER UR DEAD BOYFRIEND” “NO U GET OVER UR DEAD BOYFRIEND” “NO U GET

And when Clark says “I didn’t know you liked me that much” and Bruce starts fucking stuttering trying to say “I don’t not like you” like we get you’re a 4th grader with a crush.

Btw the “good” part about the W*nderbat is that, while unnecessary, they can easily ignore it later. Diana is still pretty much in love with Steve and Bruce just has a mild crush, which is completely understandable lmao. And I’ve had plenty of friends that in the beginning I’d go for it but now I see them as brothers.

After Wonder Woman, seeing Diana in the hands of men again felt really disappointing - and I’ll definitely talk more about this later - but I did like her character development. It connected WW and BvS, explaining how WW ended on such a positive note but then she spent all those years alone - because she was afraid to connect to mortals again after Steve - and in hiding - because she didn’t want to be a leader or an inspiration and be the cause of people risking their lives - which felt really reasonable and if I didn’t knew WB I’d even think that’s how they planned all along. And then she obviously connects to people, starting in BvS, and on JL she takes a position of leadership (”follow my lead”) and starts being open to inspire people (talking to the kids in the end)

Also she ofc had some pretty badass action moments but my favorite was when she casually drops that she totally knew Victor was by the lake like bINCH!!! A!!!!! WOMAN!!!!!!

I don’t know much about Aquaman but I LOVED HIM IN THE MOVIE!!!!! Especially at the beginning, before he joins the team, so his solo movie is probably gonna be really fucking good.

I didn’t think him joking around with the team felt weird tho, it just felt like he was having fun. Also I loved the lasso scene omg (tho I don’t remember much of what he said bc I was talking to my brother about how weird the sudden “therapy session” was). It reminded me of that scene in the comics when Hal accidentally tangles himself in the lasso and starts talking about how he only does things to show off and Bruce cracks up in the middle of the battle, or something like that.

AND I HAVE TO MENTION THE SCENE WHERE HE’S DRINKING A BEER AND WALKING TOWARDS THE OCEAN WHILE BADASS MUSIC PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND HOLY FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALSO!!!! MERA!!!!!!! SHE WAS SO AMAZING I NEED SO MUCH MORE @ AQUAMAN MOVIE WHERE U AT

And (for me at least, idk much about the comics so) from the trailers it seemed like Arthur was already king and Mera was already his wife but we actually get to see him coming back to Atlantis and their first meeting!!! (But ngl it was pretty underwhelming :/ It lasted like 5 seconds. More on this later)

Cyborg was really great!!!! I was already expecting to like him bc I loved him in the Teen Titans cartoon, but he was so different than there and I still loved him!!!!! And I actually remember that on the origins episode of TT he was pretty much like in the JL movie. And what made him start accepting himself and eventually become who we see in most episodes was joining the team so!!!! We’ll probably see that Cyborg eventually!!!!!!!!! My son!!!!!!!!!!!

Upset we didn’t get to see the flashback scenes tho. I hope his movie really does happens to make up for it.

THAT SOFT BOOYAH IN THE END THO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also loved that he was (physically) changing in the end and he’s probably gonna look more smooth the next time we see him (and can we please change Flash’s power ranger costume too? Thx)

AND BARRY WAS SO CUTE I LOVE HIM HE’S MY SON NOW

Like, I’ve never read DC comics so I always see people saying he seems more like Wally than Barry but I can’t say anything on this, all I know is I love him.

Also!!!! I love that they made Barry jewish!!!!!! Comics (especially superhero comics) have such a huge jewish heritage, which is not always respected (especially not lately) so it was really nice! (Also shout-out to when Gal says Kal-El bc her first language is hebrew so I guess that’s the correct pronounce)

Overall, the League characters and their interactions were definitely the strong point in the movie. And that’s always what I prioritize on a team-up movie, so!!!!

BAD SHIT

The movie had two big problems, imo

1. Lack of planning/organization (and a big unplanned change)

First I wanna get out of the way that this whole two-directors thing didn’t really work out. Like, it gave me a great Superman (thx W.hedon) in a movie that doesn’t makes me want to kill the director and then myself (thx S.nyder), but it seems like that was the only plus. It felt too stitched together, the tone kept shifting, idk. Their styles are too different to just add one and then the other and expect things to work out. Maybe if they’d worked together since the begging it could’ve balanced out great (tho it definitely wouldn’t have helped on Problem 2) but that wasn’t the case.

And now the real problem here: The plot really let me down. Like, it’s the first Justice League live-action movie. THE JUSTICE LEAGUE!!!!!!!!!!! And yet, the movie felt underwhelming.

It has a lot of the same problems as Suicide Squad. They tried to introduce a bunch of characters, form a team and go against a villain in 2 hours, it just doesn’t work. Especially when your villain is a Fourth World character like??? Whose fucken idea was this????

If it had been a longer movie, or even a two-parter, where in the first one they form the league and in the second one they fight the villain, it would’ve been AMAZING!! Apparently, the original cut was 3 hours-long, and that was before they even brought in W.hedon, who shot a lot more scenes. And I want so bad to see the original cut (@ WB JUST DO IT), because there were a lot of scenes that didn’t make it (as you can see here and here - and those are not even all of them, I mean, Iris was supposed to be in the movie and everything???), which is also something that happened with SS. Warner Bros keeps ruining great movies by trying to make them short.

And, because of that, a lot of scenes didn’t feel organic, felt like they were just happening to get something out of the way bc it was necessary to the plot. Like the Atlantis scene I mentioned above. It was the first time Arthur came back and he just waltzed in, had his ass kicked by Steppenwolf, talked to Mera, who was apparently in charge, she said “lol that’s ur problem now” and he went back up. Him coming back seemed like such an unimportant thing that I only realized he wasn’t already living there, ruling king and Mera’s husband when she started the prodigal son speech.

Also, the evil Superman bit. A lot of people thought this was gonna be the second biggest thing in the movie, after the main villain and then??? It lasted 5 minutes???? Like, don’t get me wrong, I loved the ressureaction and evil supes scenes SO MUCH, I was fucking DYING on that movie theather, but his whole ressurection felt like such a mindless retcon??? Like, “Oh, damn, we gotta bring Superman back. Throw in a bit with, idk, the mother boxes and some Frankenstein shit. Also make him beat up the League bc it’s cool. But not for too long bc we only have two hours, so just make him come back to normal after seeing Lois.” binch that’s a fix-it fic. And a bad one at that. His resurrection was as rushed as his death and in the end it seemed like none of them had any real impact. The DCEU keeps telling me Superman’s death was a big deal, but failed to emotionally build it up by making people y’know. LIKE HIM. So all those monuments and despair and lack of hope in the world feel fake.

And the villain plot ALSO took a backseat. The whole movie is in the backseat. S.nyder is passed out in the passenger seat and Wh*don is gonna crash the car on purpose because he thinks the airbag feels like boobs. They didn’t explore the New Gods mythos enough, Steppenwolf’s defeat with the frozen axe felt weird, everything went too fast, dropped Darkseid’s name and then used the 2nd post-credits scene to announce that fuck New Gods, now we’re doing Injustice League?????

This movie felt like they dug a Superman-is-dead-Steppenwolf-is-coming-shaped hole in BvS, changed their minds and chose the fucking FIRST LIVE-ACTION JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE to get them out of there! WB keeps biting more than they can chew, trying to do everything at once to keep up with the almost-a-decade-old MCU in one or two 2-hours movies, then getting surprised it doesn’t work out and completely changing the direction. And this isn’t me praising the MCU, fuck them, this is me saying WB should act like the MCU doesn’t exist and do it’s own thing! And hiring the dude that did the first two Avengers movies is the exact opposite of it!!!! And if you’re not gonna ignore the MCU than at least take lessons from what worked in it, like how they structured Phase 1.

I was ok with BvS being confusing to non-comics readers because I thought they were just showing stuff that were going to be explained later and everything was planned ahead. But then Justice League proved me completely wrong. Like, are they ever gonna explain what the fuck was Knightmare or???? The lack of planning regarding the DCEU as a whole is starting to affect the individual movies, and this isn’t good. There’s a Nightwing and a Batgirl movies in the works and yet there was not a single line in JL to explain why Bruce didn’t think of calling the batkids about the possible end of the world, even though one of the directors in JL is (unfortunately) the fucking director of Batgirl!!!! I swear I would’ve be ok with Alfred going “Don’t you think we should call them?” and Bruce saying “If we tell them about this, they’ll want to do something about it. And this is too dangerous.” with no explanation for the scene!!!! It literally takes 10 seconds!!!!! It could’ve been there instead of Diana wearing that weird-ass cape that appeared out of nowhere and playing nurse to Bruce!!!! It could’ve been there instead of Barry fucking falling with his face on Diana’s boobs!!!!! I can’t believe I had to go through this shit again!!!!!!! Fuck you Wh*don!!!!!!!!

EDIT: I JUST REWATCHED ONE OF THE TRAILERS AND THEY FUCKING TOOK OFF THE "AGAIN" AFTER THE "IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU PLAYING WELL WITH OTHERS" IN THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!! I THOUGHT I WAS MISREMEMBERING THE TRAILER BUT NO, IT WAS THERE!!!!!!!! @ WB WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO WITH MY BATFAM

They’re putting too much stuff for the general public to follow and letting out stuff that comics fans will know it’s missing/not following with stories that comics fans will know aren’t finished. And if they don’t take care of this already, it’s gonna blow up on their faces. And on mine, because I fucking love those movies. Which is why I wanna see them achieve their full potential.

Like, they could’ve made a two-parter, with part one being Bruce and Diana putting the League together (and this takes way longer, especially on the individual characters’ arcs) because they know Evil Is Coming™ (And why is it? Not because Earth suddenly feels hopeless without the dude that flew around for like. two weeks and who half of them were scared of. But because there was an alien invasion that almost destroyed the world. Then a weird monster killed the seemingly-indestructible alien. Then some weird girl destroyed a whole city and transformed a bunch of people into rocks. Everyone is scared. And what are parademons attracted by?). Diana tells them about the mother boxes, they realize Victor has one, Bruce comes up with the plan to ressurect Clark, probably does it alone. Clark comes back but he’s confused, he’s overwhelmed, he’s angry, and he has the power of a god. But now Bruce doesn’t want to kill him, doesn’t want to see him die again. The League fighting against him doesn’t actually takes that much longer than it did in the actual movie, just the length of your usual final battle, Lois is still the ultimate reason why he comes back to his senses, but it takes longer. And then only in the second movie Steppenwolf actually arrives and they actually have the time to properly explore the Fourth World stuff without having to spend half the movie putting the team together.

Edit: If this article is right I’m gonna fucking kill everyone at WB and then myself

2. Sexism

This video says most of it better than I can.

(Disclaimers: I don’t agree with the Cyborg part - ”it’s a date” is a known expression and I definitely didn’t see this “vibe” she mentions.

I loved Diana’s civilian’s clothes and imo saying it’s bad that she’s wearing a low-cut shirt is a bit slut-shaming. And Gal doesn’t even have really big breasts, as fanboys all over the world insist on reminding us, so it doesn’t even look that much revealing, I certainly didn’t notice it while watching. And I say that because I have big boobs and there’s certain things my friends with small ones use that would look a lot revealing on me, but on them looks elegant. Also I only remember one butt shot - which is already one too many, when she was going to meet Victor and wearing pants. In any other butt shots, everyone was being filmed from that angle - but she stood out bc she wears that ridiculous miniskirt that is everything but armor. Edit: I’ve seen a picture of another one - also in civvies - and apparently there was a third one too.

She says that a lot of the things that happened to Diana are Gal’s fault and that she’s gonna talk about it later and then never mentions it again, so I’m still blaming the dudes.)

Also Diana seemed very underpowered??? Like, Clark was kicking hers, Arthur’s and Victor’s asses at same time???? And idk about Victor, but I’ve seen panels of both Diana and Arthur kicking his ass solo so...... (And I‘ve seen people saying it’s bc she didn’t want to hurt him but like. Diana’s whole fighting style is supposed to be based on “Don’t kill if you can wound, don’t wound if you can subdue, don’t subdue if you can pacify” so??? Like, he definitely wasn’t getting pacified, time to try subdue and all). And not just this scene, idk, maybe it’s just bc the last movie with her I watched was WW. And the one before that. And the one before that. And the one before that...

Also I just wanna say that I’m pissed this movie is reminding me too much of AoU. They shoved the only female character on the team in a random relationship that wasn’t even canon in the comics (even if W*nderbat has a lot more basis in both the comics and the DCEU than Br*cenat) because god forbid a woman ever be single. And also had a guy fall face-fist on her boobs because why fucking not, right??? Also “I’m always picking up after you boys” vs “Children. I work with children.” as the faux-feminism bow wrapping up the box of misogyny. Plus, y’know the thing in the video I linked about Wh*don shooting the boob scene in JL with a body double? He did the same fucking thing with the Br*cenat kiss. And honest to god, shortly after Wh*don took over, I talked to a friend about how I was afraid he was gonna put W*nderbat in the movie, bc, after all, he took Br*cenat out of his fucking ass and managed to get it on the screen. I can even link you to the conversation. He’s that predictable.

And when I first got out of the cinema after AoU I loved it. I was all gushing about the character interactions bc ‘omg!!! they’re finally acting like a team!!! they’re friends!!!’ even if the plot was meh, and I’m so afraid of ending up hating this movie as much as I hate AoU.................

CONFUSING SHIT

THE GREEN LANTERN IN THE FLASHBACK!!!!!! WHY ISN’T THERE A GREEN LANTERN ON THIS SECTOR ANYMORE @ DCEU EXPLAIN

Diana can’t go back to Themyscira??? And why can’t the other Amazons leave??? If you leave you can’t come back anymore or something????

Atlanteans can’t talk underwater???

On the second end credits I thought the bald dude was actually Luthor, Sr. actually being alive, but I’ve since been informed that that was a random guy covering up Lex’s escape.

And this one is silly but DC is giving me conflicting information. Batcat is out there getting engaged in the comics and then you let Wh*don throw in a bunch of random W*nderbat scenes, no matter how mild, in the JL movie when Selina is supposed to exist in the DCEU, considering the GCS movie in the works........... Quit playing games with my heart........

And one thing worth mentioning that I wasn’t really confused about, but that I’m confused on how I feel about it: WAYNE MANOR BECOMING THE JL HEADQUARTERS HOLY FUCK?????? I’m not even still sure on how I feel about Wayne Manor being abandoned in the first place....... On one hand I want that house full of martial arts-trained kids with black hair and I want it now. But on the other I’m glad it’s at least not gonna be abandoned anymore. Also, what about the Watchtower???

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

I wouldn’t say it’s a great movie. It’s an ok movie with a lot of great moments. And literally full with great characters. There were some poorly-timed (and occasionally just plain bad) jokes but tbh I was just glad they didn’t make up half the dialogue. The DCEU needs to get it’s shit together and WB needs to release S.nyder’s cut of this movie.

#jesus this is............. really long..........#f: dc #g: dc live-action #u: dceu #s: justice league #c: sexism #c: misogyny #t: talk post #mari rants #anti whedon for ts #anti wonderbat for ts #i literally censured both of those words through the whole post and now i go and put them in the tags.............. anyway #(it's not really anti w/onderbat btw; it's anti the act of adding the scenes)#jl spoilers #lbr i wrote the 8th hp book about this movie and it's flaws #but if you see me on the street and ask me if i liked it my only response would be scream #DC OWNS THIS MF ASS #at the top of my lungs

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