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#if batman doesn't want to save the city because he loves it then what is it all FOR
just-more-pr0mts · 2 months
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You have probably seen all the aus like danny gets adopted by batfam, Danny as damiens twin/older brother, Danny dating a member of the batfam, Danny part of the justice league, Danny as a gotham superhero and more.
But have we seen Danny Fenton as Batman.
Danny Fenton who was taken in by the original Wayne family, with Marta and Thomas Wayne. Taken in when Martha was not yet pregnant. They treated him as their own and raised him as such. When they discover that Martha is pregnant and go out to celebrate. When they take a short cut and danny is just a few seconds too late to save them.
The boy who lost his parents when he failed to stop Dan and for all he knows his sister is dead gone. Who was lost in the infinite realms for so long. Who got stuck in a foul city where the weak are crushed so only the strong prevail.
Danny, Who stumbled into the warm arms of the Wayne family. Who slowly opened up to them. Who never used his powers so he could have a shred of normalcy with them. Who realized they loved and cared for him as thier own. Danny who accepted he loved them in turn. Danny,the boy who lost another set of parents on one fateful eve.
Danny who lost-
Danny who
Danny
Bruce.
Bruce who takes in these lost stray children because he wants to look after them. But he doesn't know how to because he never had a normal childhood.
Bruce who puts up a front to protect himself as well as his family. Who lies to face of powerful beings to protect his family. Bruce who trains long and hard to protect his family from said beings, so much so that he ends up locking away his emotions, so that his children don't have to loose another parent -not knowing that they already had so long ago
Bruce who's so proud of his children, but just doesn't know how to show it. Who is so scared, so terrified they might fight the same battles as him...or something even worse.
BRUCE WHO WANTS to kill the joker. Who wants to hurt him like he hurt his CHILD and leave him there to die, but he knows better than that... he knows what a cruel joke it would be, the irony. He knows that it will just more horrible things to his children knowing they'll never be able to stop him. That's why he brought him back.
Bruce who as much as he tries is always two steps behind.
And now when his new dimension is at stake because of the very beings he left behind, he must choose between the life that he built for himself here or the one that he left behind.
A carefully weighted scale. With the future on the horizon, and choices to be made.
Will the scale stay true or will the choices made unbalance it all.
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Hii my beautiful creatures of the day and night.
I sorta forgot about tumblr but if you like this piece let me know! Also I love hearing how I can improve and make my writing better.
Ps. If you have any suggestions on what I should write about feel free to ask! I'm so excited to hear about it
Ps.ps. if you have any cosplay blogs dm me! I'm trying to get into cosplau
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space-dreams-world · 3 months
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Inspired by this:
Except there's a twist: Danny adopts Dick, Jason, and maybe Tim.
Danny moved to Gotham (not bad end, but Vlad gets killed, trying to help Danny escape Amity Park, after de aging Dan and Ellie. Fentons, in their confusion and anger, make it even more unsafe for Danny to live there. Fortunately, Vlad made Danny his heir awhile ago, and in leaving, Amity closed their portal and Vlads. Vlad is a full ghost now. So now Danny is a runaway pregnant genderfluid teen that moves to Gotham, whether it be before the wayne murders or after. Jordan isn't born until a year into living in Gotham.)
He sets up a bakery/cafe near crime alley with his apartment on top of it and lab in the basement. He also owns a warehouse that he uses as a storage and training zone. He never makes homeless people pay, and if you can, it's a dollar. Even ghosts show up. He gets to know batman starting out and even maybe starts to court him as bats. They don't officially date until after catwoman reject his proposal, and Damian is permanently with Bruce.
Danny, while not at the circus prior to Graysons' murder, sees an escaped juvie grayson and is able to calm him down, even gets him to speak with his parents again and Danny with the help of Gotham threatens/scares Zucco into fearing for his life. He doesn't bring him back to Juvie but manages to save Dick's things and important paperwork. They declare him missing despite being needed in witness protection. Bruce wants to care for Dick but he doesn't have the same connection to Dick and sees Danny as his own Alfred, when B parents died. Danny raises Dick with a little help from Bruce.
Cannon events also happen, so Two-face and Joker get ahold of Dick for being near Batman and get beaten and shot. Danny brings Dick to the Far frozen and they heal him and he ensures to Two face/Joker that he will feel the same pain as what he has dealt to Dick and almost kills Joker but gets left with a warning.
Court of Owls actually loses Talons to Danny and are his and his kids' bodyguards now while trying to learn how heal them. Unfortunately, Bruce pulls back from the relationship with Danny, and this hurts them both.
Then,when Jason is on the streets, he sticks to near Danny's place and eventually gets adopted, too. Eleanor is born after. Jason loves his new family and is surprised that Bruce is back to dating Danny again. (Which hurts Dick because Bruce only came back for Jason)
In this scenario, Shelia reaches out to Jason for bribery reasons, and when Joker shows up, Danny is having none of it. He kills Mr. J crushes his soul and brings Jason to the Yeti, where he flatlines and gets to become a halfa instantly. This time, Danny is the one that pulls from Bruce as he never found out where Danny took Dick and now Jason to heal. So in the 6 months Jason was in the Zone practicing, Bruce took the worst of it and thought he was dead, but in reality Jason in the zone training with his powers and Dick helps out with his enhanced liminality. What seems like a death to Bruce is a coma or a loss of mobility for Jason. Bruce just assumes he's dead.
Dick grows up to be either a gymnast instructor or a social worker. Jason would be studying for literature or social or justice reform. Dan is a mechanic or security guard. He works part-time at the cafe and helps with branding and making the sweets. Jason, Jordan, and Ellie also help in the shop. Stephanie is a part timer.
Tim, during one of his photoscapedes, gets caught, and Danny and/or the kids save him and bring him to Danny. Tim, while dealing with years of parental neglect, stays with them, or Danny notifies Bruce of this. Either Tim stays with Danny, and despite Drakes having more money and power, Danny's otherness freaks them out and they decide fuck this or similar to cannon, Bruce adopts Tim.
Bruce, by the end of this, officially only has one or three kids: Damian, Cass, and/or Tim.
[I don't know if I want the boys into vigilante. It seems hypocritical for Danny to say no to vigilantism,but in another reality to this one, Danny says yes to the boys being vigilantes]
Hilariously, Danny and his kids show up to a Gala as Masters Heirs.
Jazz moves to Gotham after College to either be a doctor or work in Arkham.
Sam, while trying to leave her parents grasp, goes to Gotham for personal reasons and her parents threaten to cut her off from her inheritance unless she shows up at important events or Galas to support the Manson name.
Tucker is a tech fan and also moves to Gotham, but it is a bit of a recluse, but he takes an interest in teaching Babs, Dick and Tim in Hacking. He is an IT guy for Wayne Industries and an app creator.
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Bruce Wayne | Quality Time
Love languages headcanons
Pairing: Bruce Wayne x reader
Word count: 0.6k | AO3 link 🩵
This man runs a whole conglomerate, dozen different charity foundations, has to play into whatever current political ploy is to earn information, (might have, like, 20 children), is a founding member of the JL, on top of being The Batman and trying to prevent Gotham from imploding – trying to make this unfixable city heal.
He nearly doesn't have enough time for himself – heavens know how many times Alfred shoot him with a horse tranquilizer – and time to you??
All his responsibilities are half the reason why quality time is his love language.
The other half is that he didn't have enough time with his parents. They were snatched from him, a child, and this time (his childhood) is something he'll never be able to have back
Not gonna lie, he's harsh. He won't prioritize you. Not on purpose, not because he doesn't love you, simply because there's people out there that need to be saved. And, after so much time without a proper relationship, maybe Bruce also doesn't know how to cater for you – and because he's way too awkward, too dense to a detective, even if he can play cool at times.
But the tiny things are like love letters:
Strikes to me as the guy that'll be in utterly destroyed, broken ribs and concussion, and still try and get up and have breakfast with you, just to be with you
His personal quiet time is important to him. It helps him organize his thoughts. Yet he'll try to be, at least, in the same room as you.
Bruce will sit on the same room as you, in complete silence, and stay. Maybe you're working and he is there on the couch of your office, sitting with a concussion and sixty percent painkiller, statue-quiet.
I love you, so I'll take the burden of not doing this super important other thing – like resting – to sit with you in silence.
Will stare at you, motionless.
Eventually, you'll learn that this face he's making is lovestruck-ness. Don't comment on it.
And if his love language is all about undivided attention, it means he'll learn how to organize his time to have together time without all the distractions. A walk around the Manor Garden, a quiet dinner in front of the tv, cuddling; might do the trick.
Stays awake to talk with you, even if it's after a case frenzy where he didn't sleep for a week. Crash with him in the couch after a long day.
If I could stay with you here forever, I would. He can't get this words out, a lump on his throat, so he just stay as long as he can
Can't tell me he won't marathon Grey Ghost with you. At the end of every episode will dump on you all the details about the production. It's important that you listen even if you don't find it all interesting. Connection bids, y'know?
Ask him about forensics if you want to know more about the whole Batman deal. Or explain the new additions to the batmobile.
Getting to explain something he loves to someone he loves counts as top-quality time in Bruce's books.
Sometimes will find you just to start explaining a current case he can't crack. Either to see if you have any intelligent idea, but mostly because saying it aloud helps thinking.
And he doesn't know how to have the steady heartfelt conversations, so he'll listen to you talk. About your day, your plans, how much you worry about him, about what you ate today.
A great listener. Will hit you with follow up questions so you can keep talking about what you love. Never talks about him but at this point you know the drill – you have to ask for him to talk.
Regular week preplanned dates. Will do all in his powers to not postpone it. Will be completely heartbroken when this inevitably happens. Will look like a kicked puppy.
He's not distracted with you, all his mental attention on you and you only.
That's it 👍
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A/N: If you like what I do, please consider supporting me and buying a coffee!
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waspredteeth · 29 days
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You know what I've realized these past several months on Tumblr and just...years of consuming content?
It's pretty rare for the fandom to acknowledge Gotham as a city. A real, living city with people in it. Like, sure we always get cutesy posts about Batman or the others from outside perspectives or fics that include interesting ocs (I love u if you do that btw).
But what I mean isn't that. What I mean is: does anyone think of Gotham and its citizens as actual people? Because I've sure seen kind of the opposite.
I see constant arguments or heavily biased (mostly misinformed) posts regarding what Bruce does and how the Batman helps the city. That his riches would get lost in corruption and no one can save the city unless there's violence. You could try and make the argument, sure. But we've seen time and time again in comics that Bruce uses his money to the benefit of the city. We've seen in comics that he employs people who are disadvantaged and gives them opportunities. People know Bruce Wayne gives jobs and treats his employees well. He donates heavily to charities, creates his own organizations, funds Leslie Thompkin's clinic, and consistently updates the safety of his own buildings. People (at least post-Crisis) would know that Bruce Wayne did everything he could to save Gotham after the Cataclysm earthquake/No Man's Land - that he went up against Congress. Of course, not everyone would like Batman. Not everyone would trust the Wayne name. They'd see a stranger who prowls nightly and may or may not rescue you. They'd see the privilege of an old rich name who gets to exert his influence over the city. If you go to him for help, you go to him with the fear, and anticipation of rejection or with the knowledge that he will be safe.
I've also seen the (imo) ridiculous notion that Crime Alley citizens would trust the Red Hood. Maybe some would now, after the reboots and actual comic book evidence that he's doing something. But I cannot fathom living in a city with such heavy crimes occurring and then trusting what is essentially a cop. People don't know the Red Hood. They don't know Jason Todd. They would only know: 1. he has tried and succeeded various times to take over organized crime and drug routes 2. he can and will kill if he sees it fit. In some people's eyes, he would be a cop with even less judicial oversight. In some families, he would be the killer of their breadwinner, of their fathers or family members or lovers. A man with a gun. Eyes without a face. If you go to him for help, you go to him for blood.
This doesn't even begin to lay out the insane amount of vigilantes who live/operate in Gotham. The Batman is not the only figure. The Red Hood is not the only figure. If you boil down Gotham to only the conflict between these two characters, you miss the nuances and varied opinions of the city by miles. If you boil down Gotham to just Batman-affiliates, you miss even more.
For every person who doesn't trust Batman, there's someone who'd prefer Huntress. For every child who lives in fear but can't trust an adult, there's Robin or Batgirl. For an abused woman, there's other women out there who help: Catwoman or Black Canary or Holly Robinson. There's people who'd never trust a vigilante but want safety, they'd have Leslie Thompkins (who operates in Crime Alley) or Lucius Fox who could give them a job.
Not to mention, Batman is very obviously white. There would be some people who would rightfully mistrust white men, and would prefer figures like Orpheus or Onyx or Batwing or the Signal or Huntress (post-N52). There's the Creeper, who would be terrifying but some might prefer the monster over the man. There's Ragman, an explicitly Jewish vigilante who was literally called the Tatterdemalion of the Oppressed and trusted by the poor and homeless. There's Batwoman, Mother Panic, Spoiler, Nightwing, Red Robin, Azrael, Bluebird, the enigmatic idea of the Oracle, Anarky, Ghostmaker, Gotham Girl/Boy, Catman, Alan Scott-Green Lantern, Wildcat.
Hell, maybe someone who lives in Gotham would just straight up trust Superman or the Flash or Wonder Woman more than anyone else. Maybe they'd never once trust someone acting for a perceived view of justice and would just trust an employer like Two-Face or the Riddler or any mobster.
I'm stressing my point here: when you write anyone who lives in Gotham City, keep in mind that they don't know they live in a comic book world. Secret identities are foreign to them, they only know the base actions of each vigilante. Each person's opinion will heavily vary. Every experience colors their view of the city and vigilantes as a whole. Just, idk, widen your horizons and consider about what someone living in a place like Gotham would really think.
To that end, read the comics!!! Research actual cities!!! Take in experiences and history!!! It's all interesting and just adds so much more.
You want one comic that shows Bruce helping Gotham and the various views of Gothamites, read Gotham Knights #32, published in 2002 and titled "24/7." Read it online illegally if you have to!!
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ktkat99 · 6 months
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Reverse Robins prompt if you're looking
Batman swears he doesn't want a partner. Until he meets Damian. Talia drops him off to be raised by Bruce and, as Bruce has no other kids, the two are free to train as they pleased. Damian grows up and moves out, taking his own section of Gotham to protect under his new, adult identity.
Batman, struggling to get himself reaccustomed to working without a partner, meets Tim.
Tim knows who they are and has been following them, taking pics and copying their moves to teach himself martial arts for years.
He's seen Batman having trouble and insists that he needs a new Robin.
Him.
After protesting and trying to chase him away, Bruce finds out just how alone Tim is at home and decides to take him up on it.
Damian feels replaced and is immediately antagonistic to Tim.
He hates how happy the damn kid always is.
He hates how Bruce is spending more time training him.
He hates how Alfred has changed typical meals that Bruce liked to remove seafood, which Tim is allergic to.
When Tim asks to train with him, Damian goes far too hard on him.
When Tim sleeps over and eventually moves in, having officially been adopted, Damian wastes no opportunity to remind him who the Blood Son is, and tell Tim that he's just a stand-in. Basically cannon fodder. Bruce didn't *really* love him. He'd just needed a soldier.
Over the next few years, Tim gradually grows stronger, but also more withdrawn and depressed.
Bruce takes in Jason and Tim starts going solo on patrol, but he always makes time to train/hang out with/play with Jason, wanting to be the big brother Damian had never been to him.
And then one night Tim never returns to the cave.
There's no call.
No heads up.
No distress signal.
No one knows where he is.
No one can find him.
Damian insists Tim must have just left and openly mocks him for trying to get attention or having not had the spine to quit face to face.
Until Damian finds him three weeks later, having been captured, tortured, and turned into Joker Jr.
Damian is horrified and ends up killing the Joker to save Tim, but its too late.
Tim dies in his arms waiting for help to arrive.
They're all grieving and devastated, but no one besides Jason blames Damian for Tim's death to his face, making Damian feel even worse.
He blames himself for not helping search for Tim.
He blames himself for failing to save him.
He blames himself for being a bully, rather than a brother.
He finally has to take a break from being a vigilante and moves back to Nanda Parbat, throwing himself into his training and confessing what happened to his mother and grandfather.
When he's feeling able to resume his job again, Damian moves back to the manor and life goes on as much as it can.
They all still miss Tim.
But they're learning to live without him.
Talia and Ra's, seeing how rattled and off his game Damian was, decide to follow him back to Gotham, steal Tim's body, and see if they can revive him in a Lazarus Pit.
Tim comes back to life, but instead of returning home immediately, he watches them from a distance.
Damian has moved back home to the manor, despite having an apartment in the city.
Despite Bruce still having Jason.
Tim remembers how Damian used to treat him, all because he was adopted, and gets angry.
He becomes Red Hood, but while Jason!Red Hood's problem was that he wasn't avenged, Tim!Red Hood is more concerned with saving Jason from the abuse he had to endure from Damian.
He breaks into the manor one night as Red Hood, making sure to avoid every trap and alarm while still leaving obvious signs all over the cave and the manor, wanting to send the message 'I know you're Batman. I was in your house while you were asleep. I'm dangerous, and I know all your tricks.'
And then he goes upstairs to kidnap Jason.
Jason is overjoyed to find out Tim is alive, but right as Tim's about to take him and leave, another little kid is suddenly in the room.
Jason explains that Dick recently lost his family and Bruce took him in.
Tim knows he has to save both boys, but now is also even more caught off guard.
He'd spent so long trying to tell Damian that he was wrong, that Bruce really did love him like a son.
But the fact that he'd not only been replaced, but Bruce was still sending kids into battle, even after what happened to him was too much.
Tim tries to kidnap them both, but Dick, who's never met Tim before, gets scared and runs to Damians room for help.
Damian fights off the intruder, but then Tim's helmet falls off/Jason says his name/Damian recognizes the fighting style/he somehow finds out that he's fighting Tim and freezes, allowing him to escape.
Damian is shocked that Tim's alive and he and Bruce work to find him and bring him home.
Only, Tim doesn't want to come home.
Not when Damian is there.
Not with Bruce and Alfred, who never did enough to protect him.
But...
He finally accepts, solely to protect Jason and Dick.
So the family gets to work towards the second chance they never thought they'd get, Tim gets a family who loves him, and Jason and Dick get a very protective older brother.
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fantastic-nonsense · 4 months
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im soso curious, i need to know... why is tim a child of apollo? bless u for not going with fanon<3
[referencing how I decided who the Batfam's godly parents were in my PJO AU WIP]
People like to sort him into Athena because DC has spent the last few years emphasizing how smart he is and how he's better at the more “cerebral” and detective aspects of the job. But Tim’s most prominent pre-reboot traits are not actually his detective or tech skills: they’re his reckless, impulsive bravery, his ability to analyze and think very quickly on his feet in dangerous situations, and his "power of friendship" idealism.
He's a people person; it's one of his greatest strengths. Tim is like...physically incapable of going somewhere and not making at least one friend while he's there. Hell, when he ran off to travel the world on his "fuck you, I'll find Bruce on my own" trip he still managed to pick up his own little crew of assassin friends along the way. Making connections and talking to people and relying on others for help is how he successfully navigates being a hero, as he himself notes on multiple occasions:
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"Did you think I was going to run all around the city, desperately trying to save everyone all by myself? I'm not Batman. I have friends." -Red Robin #12
Tim loves his family and friends, and losing so many people he's close to within such a small timespan sends him off the deep end in multiple ways (trying to clone Kon, fighting Dick to get the Lazarus water, isolating himself from everyone, fighting with Dick and running off to find proof that Bruce was alive on his own, etc).
At his core, Tim is an idealist who becomes a hero for no other reason than a) a broken man needs help and a broken family needs mending and b) if Dick won't go back to being Robin he might as well do it, because someone has to be Robin. He sees what will happen if Bruce stays on the path he's on and says "no. I'm not going to let that happen." He's a hero because someone has to help, and he's able and available to do so. He doesn't work on cold hard logic and facts. He works off of gut instinct and then uses his big brain to go find facts and logical conclusions that support those instincts.
Tim was never going to be an Athena child.
So I started thinking. At first, I wanted him to be a Hermes child; it seemed right to frame his parentage around being the child of the messenger of the gods given how he became Robin. But that's not really him, either. Apollo, within the scope of both classical mythology and the PJO-verse's depiction of him and his children, fits him better.
While modern culture tends to zero in a lot on Apollo's status as the god of music, poetry, and the arts (for good reason), Apollo in classical Greek mythology was first and foremost known as the god who (for lack of a better term) helps his people. He's the god of the sun, of light, of medicine and healing, of prophecy, of truth.
Tim comes into Bruce's life at a time when Bruce is at his absolute lowest point. Jason is dead. He's estranged from Dick. He's failing in his mission to save Gotham. He's highkey passively suicidal. And Tim takes it upon himself to fix that. And he does it by being a solid, bright, stable presence in Bruce's life and an extremely blunt, truthful messenger of the future he sees: Batman needs a Robin, and if Bruce doesn't have one he's going to die.
And I didn't abandon his intelligence in the calculations: Apollo is also the god of rational thinking, order, and knowledge, contrasting and working in harmony with Dionysus (the god of irrationality, chaos, and passion). He was also known to be the god whose job it was to interpret the will of Zeus to humankind, which I thought was appropriate for a boy who spends quite a lot of his time being the living communication translator between Bruce and everyone around him.
So. Apollo child.
............also I thought it was funny to make the god of youth the father of the boy DC refuses to allow to age.
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Ok I made jokes about Robins being Batman's soldier sometimes but this doesn't mean they're!
Bruce loves and cares for his city deeply and also his kids; also each Robin has their own story and journey as Robin but all of them are part of this love and care for this shit garbage that Gotham is
"ah but Dick becomes Robin to kill one guy" do you read that shit? Dick wanted to kill but he slowly realized that killing is bad and how being trapped in that mindset would hurt him. In the end Dick did not do that, in the end he decided to fight for Gotham
Jason also believed in Gotham and wanted it to become a better place, he goes with Bruce because he believed in Batman, he believed in the change that Batman was bringing
Tim becomes Robin because he was worried about Batman, he also cares for Gotham and he knew if batman doesn't put his shit together Gotham would be worse day by day (also Dick was Tim's Robin, not Jason)
And then Damian, this boy comes from a bad place and maybe he thought about Robins as soldiers in the start, but soon he realized what Robin represents (thanks Dick, Steph and Alfred) and turned it into redemption for himself. He doesn't ignore what Robin represents, he understands it and wants to believe that a city like Gotham can be saved, that the world is not always about powerful people doing bad stuff without justice
Also, now I have your attention, I want to add that even when Bruce is not around people in Gotham city will get up and fight! They also love Gotham as Bruce loves and they'll protect their city. Take Colin Wilkes as an example, he was saved by Batman and decided to do something good too; Harper and Cullen Row; the Batgirls and the others
All of them share the same love of Bruce for this shit garbage, all of them will fight because they are inspired by what Batman represents
I know all of this can be a little confusing, but I want you to understand that Robins are not soldiers, they're people - that as Bruce - love this city
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roobylavender · 3 months
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hmm this may interest you, do you have thoughts on this subject matter character-wise or in a meta sense?:
https://www.tumblr.com/thecruellestmonth/740875315694501888/batman-turning-points-3-batman-under-the-red
personally i'm not a fan of bruce's disavowal of fatherhood much for the same reasons that i'm not a fan of his installing the good soldier plaque. these to me are both writing choices driven more by writers' desire to explore theoretical concepts than they are driven by a character study of bruce himself. the concept of robin as an occupation inherently equivalent to child abuse is interesting. the concept of wondering what right a father has to children he has adopted towards that end is interesting. that being said, exploring the former concept didn't necessarily demand eliminating robin altogether. exploring the latter concept didn't necessarily demand bruce completely disavowing himself of any accountability. and ultimately both writing choices ignore that a core aspect of bruce's relationships with the robins was wanting to be a good parent, or at the least a good guardian. certainly something more than a mere ally or friend. he took responsibility for these children because he wanted to help guide them towards a certain path in life where they would no longer be ruled by their trauma the way he was and is by his. allowing them to become robin to that end was obv more than questionable, but all too many writers forget and even go so far as to ignore that bruce knew that. he was well aware of his status as an enabler and he eventually hated himself for it deeply. he felt perpetually guilty and reluctant to ask dick for any support once the latter became an adult bc he didn't want to sanction and (in his mind) effectively require dick to do something that would endanger his life on his own orders. he could realistically never stop dick from pursuing vigilantism, but he could at least refuse to ask dick for that commitment any longer so that dick had complete freedom to make his own choices as to the matter. regardless, bruce had to live with the guilt of having enabled the existence of robin to begin with, and he intended to live with that guilt. it was his closest friend and his primary means of survival
if anything, that to me is precisely why his disavowal of fatherhood doesn't make sense. bruce is a poor communicator and he has a tendency to take upon all burdens at the expense of his loved ones feeling like he no longer values them or their support, but that doesn't negate the fact that he's quite hyperaware of his flaws. he's a far more relentless critic of himself than he is of others, and that stems as much from self-righteousness as it does guilt. he's supposed to be better. he's supposed to set an example. he's supposed to do the right thing. he's supposed to save the whole city even if he's only one person. and so on and so forth. bruce is possessive of highly unrealistic expectations for himself bc he's a ridiculously emotional person trying to tell himself to act like a robot. he repeatedly sets himself up for failure and then when he inevitably fails he kicks himself down like a dog. he is essentially a walking man-child simply because he cares too much and that often leads him to make stupid, emotionally driven choices: like taking random children into his home and teaching them how to channel their emotions through fighting crime, because if it worked for him it might work for them too, esp when they've got the added benefit of his supervision and well-intended (albeit awkward) companionship
all of bruce's circumstances and internalizations and traumas point to him taking what i would term excessive ownership of his crimes. he's a self-made pity puddle because he thinks everything is his fault. dick barely having a life outside of vigilantism is his fault. dick nearly falling to his death is his fault. jason failing to properly process his parental trauma is his fault. jason getting blown up by the joker is his fault. i simply cannot imagine a world where bruce isolates himself from caring or from taking the blame because doing the latter has been his modus operandi for so long. it makes more sense for bruce to disavow fatherhood in the specific context of not wanting to take the place that john and mary or willis and catherine will always occupy; it makes less sense for bruce to disavow fatherhood in the specific context of raising and loving dick and jason as if they were his own. it's very much a you don't have to call me dad but when i call you "chum" i mean "son" situation. he's never one to burden others intentionally (although we obv know this rarely plays out the way he wants it to), rather he intentionally burdens himself. that's precisely what knightfall as an arc is stellar at depicting, regardless of the fact that it coincides with the existence of the good soldier plaque. bruce in the aftermath of jason's death has to blame himself excessively because it's the only way he knows how to cope. i've never understood depictions of his grief with an emphasis on jason's share of the blame bc not only is it classist towards jason, it's also inconsistent with bruce's own character and tendency to believe that every bad thing that happens is his fault. it's why i'm not really a fan of gotham knights #43-45. a death in the family makes it clear that bruce blames himself for not allowing jason to have the space and time to process his trauma properly before throwing him into the suit. allowing him to have hope never even comes into the picture
and i'm not sure if anyone has ever considered this, but the disavowal of fatherhood really confuses me when you remember tim exists. why is bruce's disavowal with regards to jason even necessary when the crux of tim's entry into the mythos is precisely the fact that he isn't someone over whom bruce can similarly exercise responsibility and ownership.. it's far more interesting to explore the tightrope bruce walks with that partnership because he's easily in a place to deny responsibility and yet obv he ultimately can't because despite whatever reluctance he expressed initially, he eventually gave in. the tone of the grant/brefoygle run also helps with depicting that dilemma. we're not primarily privy to the bruce of old anymore, who while quiet and awkward nonetheless expressed a capacity for caretaking. there are remnants of that of course (esp after tim's mother dies). but the bruce of the 90s is more imperious and domineering because he's been hardened by trauma. he delivers grand speeches about vigilantism and justice. he sends tim across the pond because he needs proper training. the fact that they're neighbors and get burgers together sometimes doesn't detract from the physical divide present there because tim is ultimately someone else's son and possessive of a life entirely divorced of what he does in the mask. he can walk away without preamble in a way that dick (at least until adulthood) and jason never could. plenty of writers recognized that and personally i believe it's what made the 90s robin run interesting to read, but i also believe writers retroactively projected the necessity of an emotionally distant bruce to that narrative onto the bruce of old. it was progressively rewritten to be a constant rather than a development in the wake of a highly transgressive event. and unfortunately that's tainted every interaction and/or recollection that he has with/of jason afterward
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yanderes-galore · 11 months
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Can I ask for a general romantic concept of Bruce Wayne aka Batman? Just any version you want!
I kept it general, any Batman could fit this I think. Didn't really do too much character personality research for this so let's see how this goes. I hope I depicted a yandere Batman well, I love him but have no idea how to write him properly ;;
Yandere! Bruce Wayne/Batman Concept
Pairing: Romantic
Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Stalking, Threats, Manipulation, Obsession, Overprotective behavior, Implied delusional behavior, Trauma, Dubious relationship, Isolation, Violence, Lack of privacy.
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Batman, or Bruce Wayne, would have a hard time connecting with his darling.
He is a man who never sees the world in a shade of gray... it's always either black or white.
He is dedicated to preventing others going through the trauma he's went through.
He would be a strange yandere to have.
He's technically a hero yandere, which makes him protective.
Yet his darling doesn't see him half the time in the beginning.
Yandere! Batman acts as a guardian to you from the shadows.
He may not kill, but he will threaten and manipulate others to "protect" you.
As his Bruce Wayne persona he'd act flattering to you.
His more romantic intentions are shown through Bruce Wayne, while during the night he shows his yandere behavior by watching over you.
It sounds romantic... but he eventually becomes a suffocating yandere.
Batman really does mean well in his obsession but he is blind if he does something "wrong".
He and his darling have very different world views.
It's like he's incapable of seeing the world in a morally gray view.
His darling most likely knows both personas at some point.
Let's talk Bruce Wayne.
He's flirtatious, a billionaire playboy.
He'd be caring and loving towards his darling, carefully hiding the fact he protects them at night until they do find out.
You may think he's just a playboy trying to seduce you yet he's more than that.
It's just the extent of his care is mostly shown while he's Batman, his persona in the day is meant to distance others from what he truly does.
Batman dedicates himself to your safety and protection.
Before you know that Bruce and Batman are the same person he deals with your safety differently.
He watches over you in the streets of Gotham until you get home.
If a crook tries to target you... he takes care of it quickly before you even see it happen.
When you do get home he watches from your window on a rooftop just to make sure you sleep well.
He hates leaving your side to deal with other crimes but his city needs him.
If you're in danger he'll always try to be there.
When he does save you from danger and gets to physically hold you and comfort you the best he can, Batman feels calm.
Your presence puts him at ease.
Carrying you to your home after a rescue is one of the best feelings to him.
He loves to keep you safe, it gives him peace of mind.
If you already know he's Bruce then he'll step up security.
He has the money to install a high-quality security system in your home to take care of you.
That or he offers to let you stay at the Batcave/manor.
He wants you in a safe place... it's a dangerous world.
Gotham is dangerous...
He'd be so torn if you were taken away from him.
He wants you to know that everything he does for you is because he cares for you.
He wants you to never forget that.
The security is necessary, him watching you is necessary, beating up "potential crooks/threats" is also necessary.
Bruce/Batman seems like the type to struggle with affection at times.
He'd reciprocate if his darling started it.
A kiss when he got home... an offer to cuddle and ease his nerves...
He accepts such invitations.
Starting them himself is difficult for him.
He seems like a yandere whose very closed off to that.
His obsession is mostly over seeing you safe rather than actually supplying you with affection.
How else should he show he cares for you than protection?
You are one of the safest people in Gotham.
With someone like Bruce, THE Batman protecting and obsessing over you... no one's getting close.
Unfortunately... what causes strain in your relationship is your lack of privacy and the feeling of suffocation.
It's nice to be so protected...
But do you need all the cameras?
The doors are always locked... no one can get in or out except Bruce.
Alfred tries to tell you his master is looking out for you since he loves you and you're his lover.
You begin to not feel like a lover-
You may not like having to initiate affection yourself...
That and Bruce ignores you at times to monitor crime.
Bruce is not the best with relationships.
Of any type, really....
He can't seem to choose between fighting crime and catering to you.
This fact drifts you two apart... if you felt love for Bruce before then it dwindles more and more now.
What's even worse is it's like he won't let you go, either.
If you tried to break up and tell him you need to part ways... he refuses.
It's like you have no choice once you move in with him.
He can keep you locked here for as long as he wants...
He just doesn't accept the break up.
"You need me in this world. Without me you could get hurt. The crime rate is high... it'll be better to stay."
Argue as much as you want, Bruce is stubborn.
The home you once loved to share with Bruce now feels like a prison, similar to the ones the criminals of Gotham would be sent to.
You can try to talk him out of it... you won't get far.
Bruce takes his role of protector seriously...
It gets to the point that he neglects his relationships.
Bruce tells you it's all to keep you safe.
Every beat down he delivers... every camera he sets up... every. single. locked door...
It's all because he wants to protect you, it's all because he loves you...
He may mean well... but he's blind to the fact this obsession only drives you further apart.
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Heart of Ice is a fantastic series but I'm thinking of how more fucked up it would be if Jason did have his Darling, and how he had the militia kidnap Nora. He knows exactly how it feels to love someone so much that you will do anything and everything to save them, no matter the cost. And Jason justifies it the same way he does all the terrible things he's done as the Knight, but also reasons that if Fries really loved Nora, he would have prepared countermeasures and kept her from being taken. Jason is NOT going to make that mistake with his Darling, and he'll keep his Darling under a very tight lock and key so what happened to Nora can't happen to them.
I also think it would be nice if Nora got to meet or get a glimpse of Jason's Darling after she wakes up, and they have a shared feeling of understanding and compassion for each other. Both of them love men who have done terrible things for their sake, but they desperately want them to understand why they want them to stop. Logistically it would be hard to put them in the same room during the story, but maybe it's an optional bit of dialogue if you haven't yet finished Darling's side mission to rescue them. I think it would be a nice little moment narratively to have the first person Nora sees be someone in a similar position to her.
Jason doesn't want to hurt Nora and wants her kept safe, so he has her moved to Darling's safehouse when she's initially taken and thawed. Then when he finds out Batman and Victor are tracking Nora down, he has the militia move Nora so there's no chance Darling will be taken by Batman too or put in danger by Victor as a form of revenge. So in that brief moment of time, Darling and Nora get to talk. Maybe Batman can find an audio recording some of their conversation in the Arkham Knight safehouse or near Nora's cryochamber if you finish the Heart of Ice DLC after the main story.
Nora: If you don't mind me asking...The man keeping us prisoner. He sounded different when he talked to you. More gentle. Is he...did he kidnap you because he's obsessed with you? I'm sure that once Victor and Batman find me, we can get you out of here too. That man won't be able to hurt you anymore. Darling: No, no, it isn't like that. Well, it is, but not exactly. He was my boyfriend, but then...I thought he was dead. We all did. I only found out a few weeks ago that he was alive and he blames Batman for not saving him. Nora: I'm so sorry. But why is he keeping you captive down here with that tracker on you? It sounds like he's been doing something in the city, working with all these other criminals. Did he kidnap you? Darling: Yeah, he did. He keeps saying that it's just to keep me safe while he carries out his plan, since the whole city is a warzone right now. I know it sounds bad--it IS bad. I love Jason, I always have, but he's changed. He's killed and hurt so many people, he wants to kill Batman and get revenge...I told him, I TOLD him that Batman did everything he could to try to find him, but he wouldn't listen! He's been through so much, and I hate that I couldn't do anything to stop what Joker did, but all he's doing is hurting more people. And everything he says he's doing to protect me? I don't want people to get hurt because of that, because of me! I don't want anyone to die because of me! Nora: It isn't your fault. He may be doing this for you, but if he loves you he should listen when you tell him this isn't what you want. You both deserve to be happy and together, but this isn't the way to show his love for you. Darling: Thank you. I guess you've had this kind of conversation before? With Freeze--Um. With Victor? Nora: Not yet. But when we're together again, I'm going to tell him. I'd rather die having a few more days together than spend another second in this damn box without him. Darling: Do you think he'll really stop trying to cure your disease? And he won't make you get back in there? I don't want to act like I know him better than you or insult him, but...he's done a LOT to keep you safe since you've been in there. A lot of terrible things. He might not be able to accept it. Nora: He will. I know he'll listen to me. Deep down, I think he's always known that I wanted to just spend my last days with him. I think he's finally able to accept it now.
Darling: You know, for a dying woman that just climbed out of an icebox, you're pretty damn strong, Mrs. Fries. Nora: You're sweet. You know, it's funny, Victor said that about me all the time. Though to be fair, I was actually the more physically fit one before my symptoms got worse. He's always been...more academic-minded, heh. I remember when we were on one of our first dates in college after I had tennis practice one day. Ha, after a few drinks, I decided to show off a bit and asked the bartender for a lemon. I crushed it and the look on Victor's face was so adorable, he looked like he was seeing Superman lifting a truck or something. I never let him hear the end of it, either--there was this silly running joke we had where if he needed help lifting something or opening something, I'd tell him that "Super-Nora" was coming to help. Darling: ...I hope you two enjoy the rest of your life together, Mrs. Fries. Nora: Thanks. I hope that you and Jason can, too.
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tate-lin · 1 year
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Jason Todd is my favourite character in all of DC but:
If someone doesn't want to kill, you can't ask, tell, or expect them to kill for you
Or, you can, but you'd be a complete asshole. The only time those expectations are valid is when a person signed up for a job where killing is expected (e.g. the military).
But as we all know, Batman is not the military nor the police. He only has one rule—or only one rule he truly cares about—and that's to not kill.
And frankly, I don't care what his reasons are for that; the bottom line is that he doesn't want to kill and we should respect it. Because at the end of the day, when you take a life, you're the one who's fully responsible for it. You're the one who has to live with it. And because of that, nobody should force you to do it.
Look, like I said, Jason Todd is my favourite character too. But that doesn't mean I don't find it disturbing or unfair when he expects Bruce, and only Bruce, to kill the Joker for him.
Do I find it understandable and human? Of course! Jason died horribly and gruesomely to a madman who'd do the same to anyone else so long as he finds it funny enough. It's only natural for him to want and expect someone—especially his father, the one he loved the most and the one he'd been searching through the thin crack of the door for even as the countdown struck zero—to put an end to the clown permanently, but. Does that mean he should? Absolutely not, and I think it's straight-up awful that so many people in this fandom encourage this take.
And the kicker is, if Catherine was still alive, if Catherine was the sort to become a vigilante and this happened to the both of them, do you think Jason would have the same expectations for her? I bet not. Not because he's sexist, but because Bruce is Batman and we take Batman for granted.
Yeah, you heard me. We take him for granted. We expect too much out of him.
This has been a slow-coming realisation, but it comes after a particularly harrowing conversation with my sister during which she told me that I was taking her for granted and I surprised myself by agreeing with her. I won't go into the nitty gritty details but what I took away from the conversation was that just because someone can do something, and you yourself would do that something for them, that does not mean you should automatically expect them to do the same for you—especially if it goes against their character and what they stand for.
This goes the same for Bruce. Just because he's capable of murder and is justified in doing it, that does not mean that he should do it if he doesn't want to. And just because Jason would do it for him if the reverse happened, that still does not mean he should do it if he doesn't want to (which Bruce would have never asked for anyway because that's just not part of his character). No matter their similarities, Jason and Bruce are two completely different people and they can't be expected to do and choose the same things.
Batman, of course, chooses to take responsibility for many, many things, most of which are completely optional. He's a billionaire, he doesn't have to help his city by spending his nights saving people, facing the worst the city has to offer, and risk his life and sanity on the daily. He's the CEO of one of the most wealthy companies in the world, he doesn't have to uplift his city by donating to orphanages, hospitals, and charities, creating programmes to help the youth, the poor, the disabled, ex-convicts, and other minorities, as well as funnel any struggling person he encounters to his company so that they can be assured of a job. He was a single and free man, he didn't have to agree to care for several angry, reckless, and bitter kids with death in their hearts.
All of the shit he does is completely optional! Yet, the one thing he explicitly chooses not to do, the one thing he absolutely refuses to take responsibility for and takes great pains to avoid, is killing.
And I get it, this is murder we're talking about here. You can't just expect people to be just okay with doing that, even if that person is a demented dude in a bat costume.
Actually, why are we expecting so much out of such a person? Cause Batman can do anything? Cause Jason is his son and Gotham is his city? Cause if given half a chance, we wouldn't let Jason down? Cause if something happened to us, we hope that we mattered enough to someone for them to avenge us, no matter if doing so would completely destroy them? Tear them apart from the inside-out? No matter that we're already dead and they'd have to live the rest of their lives like that?
Just something to think about.
At any rate, I think it's wrong to look at someone and expect them to kill for you. If Gotham wants Joker gone, they're just gonna have to do it themselves cause expecting a volunteer to do this extra shit they never asked for and explicitly does not want to do is more than just appalling.
It's cruel.
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dairy-farmer · 3 months
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I have the first chapter of the Civilian AU done, it's just going through beta slowly, and I decided I wanted at least half of chapter 2 done before I posted since it's gone from 3 chapters to 4 somehow TT
But! In the meantime, do you remember the multi verse AU aside? Where canon or Canon adjacent BatFam meets Civilian AU BatFam? Well, currently I'm thinking about the reverse, for full Drama (tm).
A villain attacks a fancy gala event, a fundraiser for children's literacy programs in Gotham, planned by Tim, at Gotham oldest hotel, in the ballroom. The villain takes the building hostage kind of situation, but a child there is a meta kid whose powers of time and space manipulation, and manages to transport all 173 people to a new universe, where there is a hero named Red Robin.
Batman responds with Superman since a whole building being consumed by light and suddenly being replaced by a similar building, one without any snow and whose lights are all lit. He ends up calling Diana and Superman, plus a few other league members because he quickly realizes there's multiverse travel involved.
News channels abound by the first hour, interviewing scared guests, alternate versions of Gotham's elite and some underprivileged children and their parents. Among them is Bruce Wayne and a strange woman none of them recognize on his arm with a baby on her hip.
The woman is beautiful despite being chubbier then most socialites, but would be just curver anywhere else. She does wear the Wayne Family jewelry however, a keen Vicki Vale notes, cornering her while Superman talks with this new Bruce. And then she manages to get one of her most viewed clips
"Tim Wayne, but Mrs. Wayne is fine Ms. Vale."
"And who finally tamed Bruce Wayne? What's your maiden name, Mrs. Wayne?"
"Drake, Timothy Drake." And so the world (mostly gotham, goes fucking insane." Oh, of course they find out Tim was just his secretary but it calls everything else into light. New light is shone on Red Robin and Bats both in and out of cape, while people keep trying to save Tim Wayne from his bad situation. Jason Wayne is also there, trying to defend his step mom and Dad, while everyone else thinks they're like in a cult or something. The cult of Bruce as it were.
Red Robin is so into DILF Bruce and his wife and soon gets seen making out with Mrs. Wayne of course 🤭🤭🤭
-Lady Lilac aka ♡♡♡
😍😍😍😍😍!!!! i LOVEE canon-verse/canon adjacent interacting with the multiverse!!!!!!!!!
i love the idea that tim in the civilian secretary au is a real martha wayne type socialite! because even in red robin and batman's universe this sort of expected way that married socialites are supposed to behave and act. no matter how progressive society becomes high society very much has deeply patriarchal values and failing to adhere to them gets you excluded, shunned, and bad mouthed. so everyone, bruce too, needs to adhere to it. and as much as the whole 'playboy' thing may have been entertaining and funny for much of high society, the older he got meant more than a few people started...wondering why he wasn't settling down. it's not like he was short of choice. and him turning down their daughters and such would be alright with them if he brought around women of equal or better standing but instead he'd bring about the likes of miss....selina kyle. well then at that point more than a few people start getting offended. angry even. bruce has a lot of money and has done a lot of work to make sure civilians never perceive him as more than a harmless idiot and that's great. that helps a lot for his work as batman. but it damages the work he can do as bruce wayne. bruce's actions are seen as disrespectful towards people with very deep pockets, deep pockets who can do a lot for the city. while the batman of one universe has a lot of charitable endeavors and does well...he doesn't do nearly as well as the batman of another universe. a batman who got married to a wonderful, darling little wife. who had plenty of rosy cheeked babies that all the wealthy grandmamas at galas and balls would coo over and pinch. a batman who managed to not step on any toes with tim there to apologize for him and grease squeaky wheels, who worked with him as a well oiled machine to make sure every ambitious goal they had in mind for the city came to fruition (because it turns out that bruce is more at ease at those events if he has someone holding his hand). tim takes the reins of the good will and projects for a 'better gotham of tomorrow'. being held in high regard means more solid connections, ones that bruce doesn't have the luxary of like of the newest mayor who is listening very intently over hor d'oeuvres about improved city planning so all those abandoned factories that are all around the city can re-enter production (sure it will make some people are a lot richer than they need to be but it will also ensure that a boom of jobs occurs in gotham with it's struggling market). so tim has his "little projects" that the other wives and ergo their husbands attend.
because tim is VERY well received by high society and all its stuffiness because he plays dutiful, loving wife who supports his husband.
tim and bruce's eldest child is just starting elementary school and it brought out stories from jason about his first day in first grade and about how he'd been one of only three kids who had been able to read a handful of words by the end of the year. and tim...well he thinks of all those children in his step son's place who still don't have the resources. the gotham media eats up how tim always has a new project coming out. a few of the crueler journalists make a joke about how he almost pops out as many charities and benefits as he does kids. that particular online newspaper gets blacklisted from all WE events.
tim does a good job and its the first of his projects he's undertaken with jason helping him on. having jason around helps especially since tim is very far along with jason's latest baby sibling. the program for literacy is a success. it's also the biggest task they've undertaken since in their research they realized a significant portion of adults from the lower income bracket in gotham were also illiterate. jason is the one who comes up with the idea for making the program run on a tv channel. unlike when he was a kid, nowadays most people had tvs. and since there were no playgrounds or places to play that didnt have broken bottles or dirty needles lying around that meant most kids watched tv.
having the kid's program be on tv meant that other information like job resources, night schools, and other programs could be spread to the parents of the child who were either in the room or watching with them.
it's a success. jason is the happiest that bruce has ever seen him as he gets ready for the one year celebration at a nice vintage hotel that is popular with the older crowd of socialites. normally jason hates these events but he's more than willing to shake a few hands in order to see the looks on kids from his old neighborhood's face when they see that the night's goal for the benefit is converting some of those condemned apartment buildings into a multilevel afterschool care center.
damian is relieved he doesn't have to go and has volunteered to stay the night with his younger siblings (no one mentions about how dick is upstairs and could easily babysit).
tim is cooing to their sweet one year old that they're taking (with them because the baby can be a little fussy) and beautifully filling out the silk halter dress he's in. their poor baby is whining and pawing at his mother for milk even though they're trying to wean him.
bruce is happy and content to accompany his wife and sons to the event. that changes very quickly when some masked gunmen show up because of course something has to happen when they're doing something for the underprivileged part of gotham.
jason is furious and carefully shielding tim and his baby brother across the room while bruce is in agony having to watch them as they're ordered on their knees with their side of the room.
but then...something pops.
there's no other way to describe it. it's like a big shiny soap bubble in his ears inflate and...pop.
bruce recognizes the sensation. it'd be hard not to recognize the sensation of dimensional travel though....he doesn't recall it ever happening with such a massive group before. in fact it might be the whole building because the front doors suddenly let in a gust of icy gotham winter wind even though bruce knows for a fact it's july.
normally bruce would be on alert. an entire building of people suddenly appearing must've set off every large energy monitor in the cave. if there's a batman in this dimension then...he must already be on his way.
the lights in the ballroom cut out for a moment but flicker back on. the gunmen are hunched over alongside many other guests who are in pain from sudden popped eardrums. many of the young children are crying including bruce's youngest child who is sobbing and burying his face in his mother's neck. the lights flicker again and bruce's knuckles throb from knocking out the gunmen as he crosses the ballroom to reach his family.
bruce is right about there being a batman in this universe and it appears this batman has wisely requested the justice league come help. and he does arrive. but not as fast as the gotham media who descend on this event like bloodhounds.
a few guests make calls on their phones, which apparently still work, asking for ambulances because a few of them panic at the blood leaking from their ears. ruptured eardrums are hardly something to panic about but bruce's heart aches at the sound of his baby sobbing. jason is helping comfort the other children while bruce carefully checks over tim, pressing firm fingers to tim's soft, pillowy sides.
bruce pulls himself from tim's side for only one reason and its at the sight of superman. his family might have thought he's turned into a softy ever since tim entered his life but if this is a universe with a hostile superman...well he'll deal with it.
it's not. clark is just as he remembers him. despite his firm voice in questioning and wary gaze as bruce approaches, dodging other reporters, there's a...softness...a relaxed sort of fondness that bruce hasn't seen in a while.
things had been awkward for a while after bruce married tim. and although clark may have come around there was an awkwardness between them. clark may not have said lois disapproved of their continued friendship- and maybe he did it to spare bruce's feelings but...he knew.
with this clark, once he figures out bruce isn't a threat by listening to his steady heartbeat, there's no...tension. no small lines of stress between his brow.
it's while he's talking with clark that the batman of this universe shows up and starts harshly interrogating him in low tones, quiet enough that surrounding guests being interviewed or attended to by paramedics don't hear. it's while theyre occupied that vicki vale makes her move.
bruce really shouldn't be surprised by the sharpness and readiness of the media. especially vicki. after all, it was those drama ridden articles she published about him and tim that was what landed her a talk show spot on good morning gotham.
the clip is circulating barely three hours later but within minutes of vicki finding out tim is his wife other reporters similarly descend and bruce has to leave the conversation to protect his wife from all their probing while dismissing their questions with tense words that they're frightening his wife and child.
jason swoops in for a rescue but grows hostile at the accusational questions about bruce and his and tim's relationship.
jason's harsh demand that they leave his mom alone elicits even more buzz. elicited and bloodthirsty buzz.
it reminds bruce a lot of how the media acted right after his surprise wedding announcement.
bruce is stuck dealing with a repeat of that so that means that fixing the whole dimensional mess falls to the batman and justice league of this world. thankfully keeping track of the guests is easy since they're in a hotel that had been on the decline for awhile and there are plenty of open rooms to house all the guests and families that attended.
turns out that in this universe this hotel was boarded up and shut down ages ago. that at least lightens concern about the hotel that is now in bruce's dimension.
it's been a while since bruce was enveloped in a media storm but thankfully, once they get over their shock, this dimension's batman and the justice league start gathering all the reporters up, trying to limit their probing into the situation given that the average person has no experience with alternate dimensions.
bruce appreciates it even if he catches a few of their grimaces and pursed lips. a few of the bats remain at the hotel to oversee and monitor the situation.
bruce recognizes all of them except one dressed in red and black wearing a cowl.
he catches the name. red robin. but can't quite pin the name to the suit.
until a few reporter photograph open windows and both he and the rest of gotham are treated to the sight of red robin and his tim wetly making out. black gloved hands squeeze his tim's plush waist and full tits and oh how bruce would recognize that pretty blush painting the visible part of red robin's face anywhere.
and well...bruce must admit he's only human. and given the stress of the situation he's certain that he's allowed a moment of weakness.
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riddle-me-ri · 1 year
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How would the Riddlers be with an S/O who has cartoon physics powers?
A/N: Ohohohoho hell yeah!!! As an animation nerd there's nothing I love more than wacky ass cartoon physics! This would probably be one of my powers not even gonna lie
Riddlers with A Reader That Possesses Cartoon Physics Powers
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Arkhamverse Riddler:
- Oh please, you're insulting him for thinking he would even believe for a moment that you– 
- Wait, wait you just painted that tunnel! 
- Yet when he went up to it Ed ended up hitting a wall…whereas you went through it…
- Why...how does he hear a train??
- Edward pinches his nose. Just how…it didn't make sense…
- Yet, he also lived in a world of meta humans, aliens, and gods...maybe he shouldn't be so surprised. 
- Once the initial shock is over, he's definitely going to use your cartoon physics to his full advantage. 
- Especially your ability to patch him up. 
Reevesverse/Dano Riddler:
- He rolls his eyes at first. 
- It's a really cute idea in theory…
- Although when he saw you balancing yourself on a ledge…
- Only to continue to balance on thin air. 
- You scared the living daylights out of him. 
- It takes a while for him to get used to it, but it still keeps him on edge. 
- He’s glad you’re able to protect yourself to some degrees
- But he would appreciate it if you wouldn’t raise his blood pressure for unnecessary reasons. 
Gotham Riddler:
- Oh please..
- Listen a lot of weird things have happened in Gotham...but there's no way…
- Are...are you walking on thin air after walking off the roof? 
- How? How? Omg please don't look down–AH 
- As interesting as this development is, his stress levels for your safety goes up to 11. 
- Just because you have a higher chance of coming out of situations unscathed…
- Doesn't mean he won't worry.
- He will also be adamant that no one else finds out about these abilities of yours. 
- He can think of a handful of people who would love to take advantage of it.
BTAS Riddler: 
- Cartoon physics, you say?
- Like going through painted black holes?
- Being flattened but coming out unscathed? 
- Yep, all that and more. 
- He's intrigued from the start 
- When you show him all the basics; teleporting black holes, painting tunnels, walking on air, plugging guns the usual suspects.
- He's in awe, you…you're amazing!
- Eddie is super impressed and feels even luckier to have you on his side.
- You're as strong as Batman! 
- He feels so lucky to have you
- And he's relieved you have a way to defend yourself. 
- It is Gotham after all. 
Zero Year/Capullo Riddler:
- He's going to be highly skeptical at first. 
- So he will make you prove him wrong.
- What do you mean you don't want to? You got too!
- He won't leave you alone unless you walk on clouds without falling down, if you can go through painted walls or if you can straighten out a flattened limb!
- He will preemptively shoot a gun at you, of course expecting you to plug the barrel with your finger. 
- When you do and the barrel inevitably explodes on itself. You wipe away the gun powder with no hesitation. 
- Meanwhile Ed is speechless (for once)
- But he's stupid excited now.
- He is going to take full advantage of this. 
Twojar Riddler:
- He chuckles begrudgingly, you and your extremely imaginative ideas…
- That is until he saw your physics save your life in real time. 
- You two were out on a date and you went to cross the street. 
- Edward had a heart attack when that car struck you 
- Yet your body just contoured to the car's silhouette…
- It was slightly unnerving to see but…you were alive somehow! 
- You were pretty embarrassed that that was how he saw your physics in action. 
- At first he was in disbelief but now he's grateful for them, if they are a means to keep you safe in Gotham. 
- Also fully expect him to reuse those teleporting black holes when he needs a quick get away. 
Gotham City Sirens Riddler:
- He really shouldn't be surprised. 
- If it was anyone else, he probably wouldn't bat an eye.
- But his own s/o? Well that's different. 
- He'll be skeptical but intrigued..
- You grab a bucket of black paint, yet when painted on the wall it turns into a scenery of Gotham Park.
- When you two walk through it, Eddie's pretty stunned. 
- However, nothing moved him more than when you grabbed another bomb straight from the air to keep him from being hit…
- Yet when it exploded you were just covered in soot with spiky and smoked hair.
- He is still not used to you defying gravity or your lack of pain recognition but…as long as you're okay…in the end.
- It's all that matters…even if it drives him bonkers sometimes. 
Telltale Riddler: 
- Much like Arkham Riddler, he'll think you're just messing with him. 
- Please just stop wasting his time, if you want his attention oh so badly, grab him that tool.
- Before he knows it you hand that exact tool to him. 
- At first, this Edward doesn't take notice. 
- Albeit after the next couple of requests…and you not moving an inch away from his side…
- Edward is irritated. How are you doing that?
- He's speechless when he sees you just pulling something from behind your back. 
- He told you to turn around so your hack faced him and yet, you only pulled something from your front. 
- Maybe there is something to your…claim of possessing the ability of cartoon physics.
Young Justice Riddler:
- You mean…those silly Saturday morning cartoons? 
- He's hesitant to believe, but like other Riddlers, he lives among meta-humans, aliens, and gods so…it really shouldn’t be that hard to believe. 
- If anything he thinks its pretty fascinating all around. 
- The way your body contorts to whatever it impacts. 
- How you can defy gravity as long as you don’t look down.
- Your limbs stretch, shrink, and twist as if there were no bones. 
- He’s also grateful for your powers. 
- You’ll be able to protect yourself, even if it’s in a comedic way. 
- It’s very impressive to pull an impactful punch and a punchline at the same time. 
Hush (DCAU) Riddler: 
- Similar to Dano Riddler, he thinks it's cute when you first mention it. 
- However, his heart leapt into his throat when you plugged your finger into a barrel of a gun to protect him one night. 
- Only to have the gun implode on itself.
- Or whenever it seemed like you broke a bone or a joint you just cracked it back together. 
- He's stunned but amazed. 
- Like other Riddlers he is assured to know that you have a way to defend yourself if he's not there. 
- But please just stop walking on air like that
- It unsettles him and he doesn't not want to be there in case you do look down.
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Dick resurrecting Bruce via Lazarus Pit and his reasons for doing so left a bad taste in my mouth. Especially when Dick tried to talk Tim out of it. I don't like it. I wish Tim found out about it and... Had a serious discussion with him? Hit him? Left? I dunno.
Oh man, it's hard for me to talk about this one without the Doylist approach. I'm gonna come back to these panels, but I just want to leave them here as a contrast between how Dick is written in his solo vs. how he's written in Batman and Robin:
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Dick: Tim... I ... where does it stop, right? What about your mom, then? My mom and dad? Bruce's...? (Nightwing 139)
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Dick: This isn't just "loved ones," Alfie. It's Bruce Wayne, the Batman. He saved our lives, he saved the city and the world how many times? (Batman and Robin 9)
I have SUCH complicated feelings about the Morrison Batman and Robin run? I like a lot of the Dick-Damian-Alfred dynamics, and I love the idea of villain!Jason as a major antagonist for DickBats, and I love what I think is the concept of the Lazarus Pit arc, which is that Dick's slowly crumbling under the pressure of being Batman and Jason's taunting is the last straw that finally pushes him to make a terrible mistake.
But I don't like the execution of the Lazarus Pit arc, and the disregard for big chunks of post-Crisis continuity and characterization is sooo frustrating. ("I don't like to plan"/pro-Lazarus-Pit!Dick, cartoonishly-evil!Talia, redhead!Jason, etc.)
And yet. AND YET. So many of the concepts are so good! The execution is so messy, but the concepts are so good! I want to tear it all up and then put it lovingly back together but different sdfdsfs
I had a lot of thoughts, so below the cut:
Why characterizations in B&R are a huge departure from previous continuity (Doylist version)
Why the Lazarus Pit arc COULD BE SO GOOD though (and how we can make it work with Watsonian reasoning)
Finally getting back to your question - how would Tim react? (tl;dr probably with concern and worry?)
Characterization Changes
Just to give you a bit of an idea of how abrupt a departure B&R is from Dick's solo, here are some panels showing some major changes.
1) Dick on Lazarus Pits: Pro or Against?
Here's Dick arguing against using the Lazarus Pit and telling Tim it won't bring back the soul in Nightwing 139:
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Here's Dick doubling down on the evilness of the Lazarus Pit when Ra's taunts him with it post-Bruce's death in Nightwing 152:
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But here's Dick arguing that the Lazarus Pit will be fine and that he doesn't believe in "prophecies of doom" in Batman and Robin 7 (and indeed, also in B&R, he'll kill and resurrect Kate with zero consequences - convenient!):
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2) Talia: protective or cruel?
Here's Talia worrying about Damian's safety and teaming up with the Batfamily to try to save him from Ra's in Resurrection:
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But here's Talia smirking after telling Damian they're enemies now and she's going to replace him with a clone in Batman and Robin 12:
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3) Dick and planning
Here's Dick-the-planner in Nightwing 142:
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Tim: That's a lotta ordnance. Dick: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
But here's Dick the impulsive leap-before-you-look guy in Batman and Robin 9:
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Dick: ... Okay, I'm sorry - I don't like to plan, I work without a net... I'm not Bruce.
4) Resurrection: the right choice or the wrong choice (part 2)
Here's Dick telling Tim he made the right choice (not trying to resurrect anyone) in Nightwing 139:
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But here's Dick insisting that resurrecting Bruce would've been the right choice in Batman and Robin 9:
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This is one of those "clearly some people were writing angry letters to the editor" moments sdfdsfds, because it's awkwardly attempting to address Dick's abrupt about-face but the writer still hasn't read the issues in question because
a) Alfred has no way of knowing Dick's previous stance and it's incredibly weird that he would, b) "cautioned against" the Pit is a lot milder than "had a fist-fight with Tim about it," c) Dick's argument has shifted from "the Pit is an eldritch evil that's untrustworthy and probably soulless" to "look, resurrection is a special thing, and not all loved ones are important enough for resurrection," which, uh, okayyyy, and d) Dick is still full-naming "Tim Drake" as if he's a business associate and they had an argument about how to properly file paperwork and now it looks like Tim Drake was right after all, as opposed to Dick's little brother that he had a huge fight with and who subsequently ran away from home insisting that their dad was alive and that he was gonna prove it and now it turns out their dad is alive
Why This Arc Could Be Great Though
Listen, Dick-driven-to-the-Lazarus-Pits is a great concept. I love narrative foils. I love Dick ending up in the exact same place that Tim was in Resurrection, and even though he knows better. I love Dick being that desperate. Here's the setup:
Damian's back gets broken, Alfred takes him to get emergency treatment from Talia but it's not clear if he'll recover,
villain!Jason taunts Dick about not caring about Bruce,
Dick's been slowly crumbling under the pressure of being Batman and between the guilt of Damian being injured and the blow of Jason's accusations (not to mention having to fight villain!Jason and get him arrested), this is the last straw,
he decides to resurrect Bruce even though he knows perfectly well this is a terrible idea because he was the one who talked Tim out of it
he heads off to do this incredibly stupid thing and nobody stops him because normally on the rare occasions Dick's out-of-control Tim shows up and stops him (Hugo Strange, the Joker) but Tim isn't here and actually the strain of that ongoing estrangement is probably also contributing to Dick's isolation and terrible decision-making
the attempted resurrection goes horribly and Dick has to fight a grotesque parody of his tragically-dead father
I love this idea!! I love it when characters make stupid emotional decisions with terrible consequences!! I love the ways Dick and Tim's arcs intersect and parallel each other!!
And I think this could absolutely be in-character for Dick. He knows it's wrong and a bad idea, but he's desperate and pushed to his limits and grasping at straws? Yeah. I can see it.
BUT yeah, not in love with the execution. My conclusion is that more people should write about this arc in fanfic. <3
How Would Tim React?
I think it depends on where you put Tim in the story?
Options that come to mind:
Tim finds out mid-adventure: Tim's semi-teaming-up with Ra's and underground in a League base - and suddenly he stumbles on Dick sneaking in with (apparently) Bruce's dead body! In this case, I think Tim's first reaction is defensiveness about his own behavior and assuming he's being spied on, and it only slowly dawns on him that Dick's up to something. I'd really want to somehow maneuver a physical fight where Tim tries to stop him, so you get a direct reversal of Resurrection, but mmmm I'm a little stuck on how to get there since Tim's working theory is that the body isn't Bruce's body, so I don't see why he'd be opposed to Dick dumping it in? But anyway, they should have a physical fight and a direct parallel where Tim realizes he needs to back off and let Dick decide, and then they hug ;_; I feel like to make this one work you need Tim really invested in stopping Dick, so uhhhhh maybe for some reason Tim's "rescue Bruce from time" plan requires the body of the clone? So Dick CAN'T put it in the Lazarus Pit, or Bruce will be LOST FOREVER?
Tim gets told about it after the fact: So uhhh for example, Ra's finds out about Dick's botched resurrection attempt and tells Tim about it in an attempt to paint Dick as a hypocrite/ entice Tim into using the Lazarus Pit. I feel like Tim would just straight-up not believe him? But let's say that Tim finds out for sure - either Dick admits it to him, or he sees some League recording, or whatever. I'm not really sure how Tim would react? Worried, probably, because it's out-of-character, and I feel like Tim might wonder if it's really him or if he's under magical influence or something? And uhhhh then ideally Tim realizes that no, it was because he was having a really hard time ;_; and then Tim is worried about him and comforting and/or apologetic and probably Dick is probably also apologetic and then they hug <3.
Alternate third terrible possibility: it is Bruce's body, he was dead and Tim was just in denial, Dick resurrects him but there are some kind of eldritch evil consequences, and then Dick has to call Tim back and they have to fight undead!Bruce together. I like this one >:D
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starwalker03 · 5 months
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I have plot bunnies. Was wondering how time traveled WMLP Dick would explain having a healing factor like Slade's (Good luck with that Dick) ended up day dreaming into a new au and living up to my namesake. So idea: A government is trying to recreate the experiment that got Slade his powers and make their own unit of Deathstrokes. Dick or the team is investigating human tracking and human experiments. Dick infiltrates the facility but gets caught (suspend your disbelief here). Evil scientists decide to use Nightwing as a spare subject. Most of their subjects are dying anyway, and he's around the right age and health standard. May as well get some more data before they kill him. Slade who came to shut down the experiment for more personal reasons, finds Dick before the Team does.
I have this image of Slade finding Dick curled up in a cell. The roots of his hair are turning sliver in patches. Dick puts on a brave face and tries to barter his way out but Slade can see how exhausted he looks and guess what happened to him.
ooooooooooooooooh yes. mhm mhm yes very much.
I love a good plot bunny. nom nom nom. This is going in the sladick server for sure lmao.
Nightwing in the YJ show is always so fun to mess with because he is definitely Nightwing, like he's not some strange other version of the character with the same name. The story is very different, his role as a hero is very different, his experiences are very different, but he is still quintessentially Nightwing. I tend to blend all my canons together a lot to make stories but the YJ canon is really fun to mess with on its own sometimes, especially with nightwing.
He's just so young and like, different (?) to how he is in other storylines. like Nightwing of YJ is not Nightwing of Teen Titans. they're just not the same. and what we see of his relationship with Batman is so interesting. And then on top of that the timeline for the batfam is so weord to mess with because within five years Dick becomes Nightwing, Jason becomes Robin, dies, Tim becomes Robin, and there's no actual proof that Dick left Gotham for his own city, so for some reason he became Nightwing but stayed in Gotham but Bruce still went and found a new Robin? like. what?
ramble aside, Nightwing being captured and experimented on and saved by Slade before anyone else is so fun. I'm imagining this as like, post season two maybe? or actually no, cause by then he's quit as team leader. so imagine just before season two, maybe Kaldur has already started going undercover in the Light, and Dick gets captured. It falls under the radar a little because he's very independant and things with the light and the reach haven't started to boil over yet, so they assume he's got caught up in some other mission. unless of course he gets kidnapped on a mission. the absolute panic of that. THey've already lost one leader (Kaldur) under mysterious circumstance and now they've lost Nightwing too? Wally and Artemis having already retired from heroing and hearing about their friend going MIA is a Thought. M'Gaan and Conner being out somewhere else doing some other mission.
ooooh wait. in season two Dick has had to fall back on a support position as leader of the team, because they have had to start splitting up on multiple missions and the only way to effectively lead everyone is to be at the mountain on comms and computers. this would be a fun explanation for that. Him getting kidnapped and experimented on, Slade finding and saving him, helping him heal and figure out what's happened to him, and Dick skedaddling as soon as possible because he doesn't want to get double kidnapped and he can tell Slade is very close to doing exactly that.
showing up at the mountain after running from Slade, who has been giving chase... oh that's fun. makes me think of a series by mizufallsfromkumo called Gravity.
Anyway. He's barred from field action for a bit while the league makes sure he has a psych eval and stuff, cause that sounds like a procedure they'd have in place after someone is kidnapped and captured. And because of that no one learns about the fact that he's kinda sorta a supersoldier now and he wants to keep it that way. and then the season starts and he finally gets back in the field and everything. and when Slade shows up in the show he immediately spots Kaldur'Ahm and is like 'yeah there's no way this turned evil shit is real' and he hunts down Dick while he's on patrol to be like 'well hello there. so this can go two ways...' because he now has leverage.
him using Kaldur as leverage to make Dick strike a deal with him, so this time there's no running away. Dick showing up as renegade months later and no one putting two and two together because he's wearing a mask and he's not supposed to be a supersoldier.
I've realised I already have two different fics that follow a very similar plot to this lmao. one is from whumptober 2021 and the other is just only a few chapters in and I haven't had a chance to get back to it lmao.
What Kind of Man? is the idea of Dick handing himself over to Slade as payment for his silence about Kaldur and Artemis. Oh, Well, Call Off the Dogs, We Found Her in the Woods involves Dick getting kidnapped and experimented on to make him a supersoldier (and will eventually involve Slade).
Also if this is an idea you vibe with I would reccomend the series I linked before (although I think it's been discontinued? it's unfinished at the least) and also An Active Imagination by @withthekeyisking-writer. oh! and Dia a Hero by Foreverwhelmed.
I swear I had more recs to give... Oh! hang on...
Black and Blue Looks Good on You by Soul Tinkerer
and Persuasion (which is on hiatus) by Averia.
okay that's all I got rn byeeeeeee
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jonathan-samuel-smith · 7 months
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I'm gonna share it here because I don't have any other place to put it and if you dislike it's ok ignore this
But I have had this specific idea in my mind for days now where Damian is secretly trans, they just fear telling it to their family because they know everyone is just waiting for them to become batman or the demon, they're under a lot of pressure and then meet this boy (from school probably - both always meet in the art room when is nobody around, more calm to work)
They end talking a lot about art and stuff because they're in the same club, in one day Damian told this boy that they are always drawing their ideal girl but not "I would love to date her" but "I would love to be born as her, if I'm a girl I would love to be her" way
They keep meeting like that, sometimes they just talk about art, life or stay in silence. This boy ends up falling in love with Damian in both ways. Some stuff happens and Damian telling him about being Robin and their emotional struggling
This boy also has problems and the art room is a safeplace for them
At some point they kiss and decide to run away for their family together, start a new life with a new name in some God forsaken place
Years pass (maybe 3-4) and Danny (Damian's new name) is now a housewife in this farm, she always uses gloves when she goes in the small town to do stuff (bat paranoid still alive) and the boy is her boyfriend/husband, they're happy, they have animals then big bad stuff happens and Danny safe the day (everyone knows something is off with that couple but they accept it because they're nice) unfortunately there was a hero in that city and the hero saw what Danny did, then start investigating who is Danny
The hero then starts stalking the couple because they think her way to fight is too similar with the league of assassins and dislike it, Danny dislikes her stalker but doesn't kill them
Shit happens (again) in Gotham and Danny knows it, worrying about her family and with all the stalking things she decides to go back to Gotham, her boyfriend / husband doesn't like it (he hates it actually)
Honestly I have so many no happy ideas about this fic, this fic could end really bad but also some cute ideas like Danny and her partner save money for this new life and stuff, or they first kiss, the joy of wearing a dress in the street for the first time
Idk if I'll write this or just suffer with this idea, also Damian's new name could be: Danielle/Danny, Yesenia (Arab name) or other still doesn't know (I just want to talk about this with someone)
Oh yeah, Trans MTF Damian, like I kept almost writing with my "Damian the Mangaka" Fic! I've always moreso liked trans FTM Damian because I'm trans FTM and if I was going stealth I'd hate for someone to write a fic where I'm a girl. But like, Damian isnt a real person, nor stealth FTM, so it's just a weird little hyper-empathy thing.
I love the name Yesenia! and I love her retiring. Consider: BF/Husband is FTM. T4T gotta love it. Also for your consideration: Bf/Husband is Jon (maybe trans maybe not). ALSO for your consideration: GF/Wife is Jon. She goes by Sadie. She's super into the headpats meta. Loves stuffed animals. Yesenia coming out inspires her to come out as well and Yesenia is like "my yuri fantasies are coming true."
Yesenia looks just like Talia. It's adorable. She loves having long hair. Sadie is a butch lesbian and Yesenia thinks its soo attractive. She starts sending Sadie memes about crushing on butch women and Sadie is like "...do you like me?" Yesenia is like "What haha whatever gave you that impression?" "Well.... I like you. I can be your hot butch gf." Yesenia dies of gay panic (very sad story) just kidding they get MARRIED!!! LETS GO LESBIANS! I so so love jondami au where they are rebellious teenage lesbians. I want them to have sleepovers where they look back and go "Oh that whole thing was one giant egg moment."
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