#like yeah he was robin and yeah he did make the mantle his own

[002yb]

what is your favourite reverse robins dynamic?

Admittedly I'm very fond of the Dick and Jason dynamic that came about from my other reverse robin au posts, but somehow Damian and Tim edge it out (though I'm also extraordinarily fond of how I imagine dami/jay in this verse, too!) Maybe I'm a bit weak for it because this low-key could have been Dick and Jason's relationship if things were just slightly different... which just adds to my love of reverse robin au because the comparison is a bit tragic. ;U;

Damian + Tim

Where Damian recognizes that he's outgrowing his own mantle, so he seeks out his own replacement

That Damian's bleeding heart chooses Tim (intelligent, resourceful, tenacious, insufferable) is something Tim never lets Damian live down, later on in their friendship partnership

These two having been through it together. Damian being there every step of the way, too. From training Tim to take over the mantle, to his first patrols. Building up Tim's confidence and being all smug and proud when Tim comes into his own

There would be a lot of trust between them. Because Tim knows he can rely on Damian. Damian has proven this time and again by simply being there (with wicked, prideful smirks at Tim's competence, with patience and a firm hand at any setbacks; challenging him, having his back, and being bluntly honest in the face of any of Tim's insecurities that crop up). And Damian just - he chose Tim, of course that confidence goes both ways.

So yes, although Tim stops being so starry-eyed as he grows up, the respect for Damian will always be there. It's why Tim strives to become less a mentee, more a partner

Because he wants to be there for Damian, too.

That they become friends partners was only natural.

Make no mistake though, the majority of the time these two are just griping at each other, about each other

(Because as they grow up together it becomes fun for Damian to needle Tim. And of course Tim is influenced by this and taunts Damian right back. And it becomes their norm. It’s something Damian half heartedly complains about because Tim used to be ‘respectful’ what happened? And Tim scoffs because Damian happened, that’s what).

But yeah, Tim being the one to challenge Damian when it's needed. Or Tim squaring off with Bruce whenever Bruce and Damian have a rare spat

Extra Damian & Timmers + Supers

These two both have their own super besties and like hell they both haven't had those awkward encounters where they bump into one another at the Clark home in the mornings

Truth be told, ambiguous Dami/Jon and Tim/Kon because it can’t not be a thing where Damian and Tim are forever uncertain about what's going on and their respective besties claim it's platonic but the doubt is there forever hahaha

Damian and Tim needling each other about their respective supers.

Omg, random competitions on who comes running fastest when called ahhhahaha the super boys are so exasperated and in love

That aside, Damian and Tim challenging each other a lot and it's really motivating for them both. Meanwhile everyone else is concerned because they both seem kind of mean? It’s how they care though 💖

For some background on what's below this, Tim + Jason:

Because Tim never outgrows the Robin mantle, it's Damian who takes it away in true Bruce fashion

By bringing in street kid Jason and blindsiding Tim like none other

There's no ill intent behind it. It's entirely because Damian thinks so highly of Tim that he shoves him out of the proverbial nest

But Tim doesn't take it that way and it becomes their biggest fight

Because Tim accuses Damian of feeling Tim is lacking. Tim demands to know why he's being replaced. What the fuck he did wrong?

Nothing, is the answer to that. Because Tim took Robin and made them to be something even greater than what Damian left behind. The respect and care Tim put into Robin is something Damian doesn't take lightly; he's most grateful

What he's not about is Tim getting all combative and nasty though, especially when Damian is doing something for Tim

Just classic batboy miscommunications, y'know?

Anyway, because Tim lashes out, Damian ends up lashing out too. It eventually comes out that Damian doesn't want Tim getting 'complacent' in Damian's shadow and Tim shuts down on him so hard

Damian knows that Tim could be the best

Tim's insecurities run away with him and he feels entirely the opposite (like he misstepped somewhere, like Damian never saw him like an equal, that he's already replaced, etc etc)

Basically Tim leaves for the tower and leaves Damian to look after Jason, if that's what he wants so bad.

A falling out because Damian assumed and Tim is betrayed and it's sadness because even if Robin works with Batman, Tim has always been Damian's partner first and foremost.

Something something Tim turning on Jason and being the very definition of 'never meet your heroes'. Just Tim giving Jason the coldest stare, the most damning of once overs before clicking his tongue (a bad habit picked up from Damian)

Oh. Jason getting stuck with the knowledge that he's the bane of Robin's existence. And then Bruce's disappointment, too, because he seriously just comes in to work and his well-oiled machine has a cog in it that doesn't fit yet

So Jason is put in this position with a lot of pressure to be the best. So that Batman will approve of him, so that Robin will accept him, so that he doesn't disappoint Damian and make all the sacrifices he made for Jason worthless

And angst with the struggle in finding his place in a world that didn't need/want him beyond Damian's willful fancies

Damian & Tim + Jason

Damian being there when everything falls apart in Ethiopia

For whatever reason, Damian is there in Bruce's steed while Bruce is indisposed elsewhere

And Damian is caught in that same position: save the lives of countless innocent people or save the life of this boy who stole his heart

Though Bruce gives the order, Damian goes against it.

This being the first time Damian has ever done so, but he does it without regret because Jason is his

And because Damian chooses Jason, he's able to get to the warehouse in time to save him. Not from the beating, but at least from the worst of the explosion.

So torn between Jason having saved his birth mom or that not happening and Damian making the conscious decision to let her burn ooooooo >>

Anyway, Damian's actions have consequences. With Bruce. Who goes off on him so hard despite Damian bringing his son back to him. And he bears it with squared shoulders and raised chin, because he has no reason to be ashamed. Still, Bruce is his father so Damian shows him respect

Until Bruce goes off on Damian's loyalties. Bruce being so worked up and betrayed that he questions if Damian is still under the influence of the League, if he's theirs as opposed to his

Damian is no one's. Though, that might not be right. He's Robin's. Still, he bristles at the accusation. And it leads to the ugliest fight they've ever had, which leads to Damian leaving the family with the seething proclamation that he will return to the League

Something something, Tim going after Damian and trying to parse out how serious Damian is. He can't just leave, not with Jason still--

'Look after him for me.'

And Tim might hate him for this one. Because Jason is going to wake up and see how everything fell apart. He's going to see that Damian is gone and Jason will know it's his fault.

'That's unfair.'

'Do it for me anyway.'

And Tim does, even if he’s angry and abandoned and upset.

#reverse robins au #damian wayne #tim drake #batbros

[briefmusicbouquet]

pt 3 of 5 on my rants on "why none of the robins should become batman after bruce"

tim edition

like when you look at it objectively, yeah he does seem like a pretty solid option, he's a good detective, he's got the fighting skills, and outside from robin and batgirl, he's the next closest vigilante associated with batman, and he understands a lot about batman and his philosophies

and granted, there is something interesting in the fact that he chose to become Robin/vigilante because he wanted to help his hero (the one that usually 'helps') and make sure his hero didn't become something that went against batman's ideas, but that's almost exactly what would make him a bad batman

because batman has a symbolic meaning that he understands, but i lowkey feel like he mainly sees it in the context of how batman works as a symbol for gotham and how that benefits gotahm

so being batman wouldn't have meaning for him because he has a connection to the mantle and genuinely believes in it's ideas, which granted he does believe in, but it would be overshadowed by him feeling like there is a need for batman and those ideas that bruce upheld to exist in gotham, and if nobody is going to do then, then it's his responsibility to do that

like i feel he would place more value on upholding that symbol of batman and staying true to the batman ideals that bruce already established, over what batman means for him personally and making batman his own, you know? which would just end up being a pale imitation of batman

#also keep in mind that this entire series is probably biased #because i have a love for morally grey characters and particularly enjoy morally grey tim drake #OH MY GOD I FORGOT TO MENTION #also a lot of his vigilante career has been him as other people's roles almost #like yeah he was robin and yeah he did make the mantle his own #but you know he goes to redd robin after that #but that name specifically also feels like a 'he wasn't quite ready to give up robin yet' thing instead of him stepping out of robin #and into his own vigilante identity #so him being batman #especially if he never did step out of the robin name completely #would mean he never really gets to have that identity that is wholely his you know #whereas if it was after he has his own identity #itd be like he was going backwards you know #either way it's not like it'd be a terrible terrible completely catastropic choice necassarily #but i feel like it wouldn't be quite as satisfying you know? #batman theory #batman #tim drake #red robin

[zahri-melitor]

Thoughts on the different ways Tim and Dick relate to Bruce in self-isolation mode and Batman going off the rails. Because they BOTH have a lot of experience with both situations, but react differently to it.

It’s a reflection on the observation that Dick will walk out on Bruce when he’s in grimdark mode while Tim will cling closer to try and rein him in; while as soon as someone accuses Bruce of killing, Dick refuses to believe it but Tim will be like ‘we have to seriously consider the result if he did’.

Tl;dr they are the only two Robins/ex-Robins with such deep experience with this because they’re the only two who have been left on their own to deal with a Batman being criminally reckless. Jason’s period as Robin somehow never scored a go-around of Bruce going into self-hatred mode (possibly because the amount of stories written about Jason’s period of Robin is realistically under a year’s worth, I don’t care that some timelines suggest he might have been in the costume as much as 2.5 years, there isn’t anywhere near the material for that) and Damian has always, ALWAYS had Dick and/or Tim available to defuse and redirect Bruce, and they both have patented strategies to deal with this.

While Dick acted as a (largely unspecified) handbrake on Bruce up until the grand “You’re Fired!/I Quit!” contretemps, and then developed the far more personally protective strategy of just walking away and letting Bruce deal with it on his own, as they’re both adults and he should not be required to act as emotional regulation for a grown adult. There’s not a lot of ON PANEL discussion of this, between 99% of their period as Batman and Robin being pre-Crisis and the flashbacks we’ve had since then tending to revolve around a few set pieces. But there’s a reason that Bruce describes Dick as his greatest achievement and the most important part of him being Batman. Not disappointing Dick functioned as the brake up until Dick became an adult.

HOWEVER. The only reason Dick was able to get away with his brand new strategy is not that Bruce became better at regulating his own emotions (it is to laugh). Oh no. Alfred and then particularly Tim stepped in to pick up the slack, and pretty much have never stopped since then.

Tim became Robin specifically to stop Batman going off the rails. “Batman needs a Robin”. He saw the violence and he stepped in to find a way to stop it. And when Dick refused to help out, Tim took on the role of emotional regulation buddy and essentially never stopped.

Plus, if Tim did not think the position was important, Knightfall reinforced it in the worst possible way. The arc of Knightfall, for Tim: Bruce pushes Tim away and becomes more exhausted. Tim is assigned to teach JPV how to be a hero. Bruce, trying to do too much on his own, gets his back broken. Bruce assigns Tim to making sure JPV functions as Batman. (Dick turns up for 3 pages to complain that he did not get the mantle and Tim, dealing with Bruce being injured and on a quest, his dad being kidnapped, and the realisation that Azbats is going off the rails ON HIS ASSIGNED WATCH, doesn’t have time to do anything else but sigh and go ‘yeah you’d be better but Bruce set it up this way’). Azbats locks Tim out of the cave. Tim continues to Robin his way around the edges trying to clean up Azbats going off the rails. JPV kills a Rogue and leaves a victim to die. Bruce comes back, deals with Azbats, then disappears off again, giving the mantle to Dick this time. Tim and the rest of us get to experience Prodigal. Bruce comes back again and within no time at all Tim is flinging himself on top of Harvey Bullock to protect him during a shootout in Troika.

Tim came out of Knightfall CONVINCED that his most important job as Robin was to act as emotional regulator. Especially since Alfred quit at this point. “What does a Batman who kills look like” is not an academic question to Tim. It’s not even a “well I’ve seen other timelines” thing for him. Tim has literally been the assigned Robin to a Batman who ended up killing and the death occurred, in part, because Robin couldn’t hold him back.

It’s also notable to me that that one time Tim HAS tried Dick’s “let him deal with it himself” strategy, that was the run of ‘Tec and Batman between Officer Down and Bruce Wayne: Murderer. Alfred had quit again (and was living with Tim at Brentwood, while Bruce refused to go near Alfred). Tim was ignoring Bruce because he told Steph Tim’s identity. Bruce literally only had Sasha Bordeaux (and Steph for a bit) as assistance. And what happened? Bruce ended up accused of murder and was arguably off the rails enough that he COULD have done it, given how much he wasn’t talking to anyone.

Tim has never ever risked that again. He was only able to quit following his 16th birthday for a couple of days before he went straight back to Bruce, not even expecting an apology. Following War Games, War Games, when Tim’s so heartbroken and tired he has to leave Gotham and moves to Bludhaven, Tim is still talking to Bruce and seeing him regularly, because Bruce is all by himself in Gotham again and Tim knows that’s a recipe for him falling off the rails again.

This is part of what I think is at the heart of the debate between Dick and Tim over “growing up and out of being Robin and finding your own identity”. Dick is convinced that you can safely leave Bruce to his bullshit when he’s going off the rails, because Dick was able to walk out and it went fine (Bruce found himself Jason and was just fine…right up until Jason died, but they all got past that time! Bruce doesn’t need this level of coddling! You cannot find who you are apart from Bruce unless you give yourself that separation!), while when Tim tried, Bruce got accused of murder and decided he was going to abandon the whole identity of “Bruce Wayne” until he got his ass kicked by enough family members over how stupid he was being. Tim doesn’t think it’s safe. Tim’s seen Batman and seen Bruce ‘die’ too many times when he needed rescue.

Tim knows Alfred won’t always step up to the role. He’s quit twice and is now dead. Tim knows Dick refuses to act as an emotional regulator for Bruce anymore. Tim simply doesn’t TRUST anyone else with the role as they’ve never had to actively deal with it on their own, and being part of the bigger network is very different to being The One.

And I think this is part of why Tim cannot move himself on. He doesn’t trust Bruce to cope. Even if there are approximately a dozen other Bat folk around to step in if Bruce starts his self-isolation cycle again. Because too many of them historically have gone “well screw you too” when Bruce started the cycle, and the 13 year old kid who talked Batman down from being too violent with criminals, and the 14 year old kid who was left to control a Batman experiencing religious psychosis and got strangled in the process, and the 15 year old kid who hung off Nightwing’s arm to stop him punching the Joker one more time, who left Batman to his own devices only for him to be framed for murder and refuse to try and get out of it, and the 16 year old kid who realised if he quit and left Bruce would never speak to him again so he swallowed it down and reached out again and again and again even as he was hurting, in the worst year of his life, and the 17 year old kid who refused to believe Bruce could be dead and went to find him, damn the consequences to himself? That kid cannot walk away because he KNOWS THE PRICE and he knows what it costs to pay it and he doesn’t trust anyone else to do so.

(yes, Tim should be allowed to have an arc to move away from this dynamic. But I understand why he can’t, and DC will have to have someone ELSE take over the role or commit to writing ‘Batman goes off the rails’ plots where Bruce provides his OWN emotional regulation that pulls him back ahahahahahaha like that will occur)

#dc meta #tim drake #dick grayson #Dick cares deeply but knows inside Bruce can get through it #Tim is convinced it will all fall apart again if he lets go #they both have solid personal evidence that this is the case #I believe Tim can move on! but the writers need to let him grapple with this

[hopefulstarfire]

Do yall wanna know my actual favorite butterfly effect?

Two people fucking on a mountain indirectly lead to my favorite comic of all time, Under the Red Hood.

Let me explain.

Joseph Hugo married a woman named Sophie Trébuchet in 1797. He was a general in Napoleon's army so they moved around quite a bit. In a letter he would later write to his son, he and his wife had been on a trip on June 24th 1801 to get from one post to the next and he believed this, on the highest peaks of the Vosges Mountains, is where he believed they conceived their son, who would later become the Ocean Man and famed author Victor Hugo.

(Fun fact: Jean Valjeans prisoner number, 24601, is absolutely in reference to his believed conception date)

Victor Hugo grows up and obviously is responsible for many works, such as Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and was never one to shy away from political commentary. Thus, he was exiled from France and sent to living on the Channel Islands. It was here that he wrote a novel titled The Man Who Laughs.

Like many of his works, this one does have different adaptations. One in particular came out in 1928 starring Conrad Veidt as the character Gwynplaine, or the Man Who Laughs.

Fast forward about a little over a decade later in 1940. A comic book writer comes into work to be greeted by two artists he worked with, one who did significantly less work than the others. These three men were Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson.

Now the details of this meeting are...well, up in the air. Each man had their own account to it, and Bob Kane especially is the most unreliable given that he took credit for literally everything and we went over 70 years without Bill Finger getting any sort of credit to actually creating Batman. But what we do know is that there was a drawing of a playing card and a face for the joker card; and Bill Finger said, "Hey, that looks like Conrad Veidt in the Man Who Laughs."

They pushed further with that angle in making the character, a new villain for their hero; the obvious, Joker.

Some years later we get a little bit of an origin story in 1951, in the comic The Man Behind the Red Hood! (ALSO written by Bill Finger) Some college students are trying to solve this decades old case of a burglar in a red pill helmet that was called the Red Hood and trying to figure out who it was. Teaming up with Batman and Robin, they find out that the Red Hood was in fact Joker's old alias. He used to be a lab worker that was stealing from a playing card company with that alias. He was caught by Batman and threw himself into some chemical waste to escape, thus becoming the Joker.

This origin has stuck around in some form ever since. The moniker was unused for quite a long time after this, but would eventually find a new home in a different character.

See, in the 80s, Batman's second sidekick, Jason Todd, was killed off in a very brutal fashion after a fucking poll that people could call two different numbers to decide if they were going to save him or not. I will get into why I have so many frustrations with everything surrounding this story another day, but the important thing to know here is that the Joker killed Jason while Jason was trying to save his mother.

And for a good period of time there, Jason became a character that you did not bring back to life. Until they did.

A storyline running from 2005 to 2006 came into life, called Under the Hood. In it, Batman has to fight a new foe taking on the mantle of Red Hood, only to discover its Jason Todd, brought back to life from the Lazarus Pit, and taking on the mantle of the man that murdered him to go fucking murder the Joker and take control of crime in Gotham and do what he believes Bruce couldn't, all while dealing with trauma and feeling replaced.

So yeah. We wouldn't have my favorite character or story if it wasn't for Victor Hugo's parents fucking on a mountain and conceiving him there where "The elevated origin seems to have had effects on [Victor Hugo] so that [his] muse is continually sublime". That is a quote from that letter. Victor Hugo's mountain conception where he got a great muse is the reason for the Joker and Red Hood. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

#kenz musings #dc #dc comics #red hood #jason todd #batman #bat family #joker #victor hugo

[starfirexuchiha]

Unused Akechi Thieves Den conversations

There are some unused Thieves Den conversations that Akechi had with the other PTs, so I wanted to show them here. This is a long post btw.

Zorro - Yusuke & Akechi convo

Yusuke: ......

Akechi: You're looking at that Persona rather intently. Is he that intriguing?

Yusuke: Absolutely. It is an unparalleled luxury to lay sight on the physical manifestation of another's self-image. Not just any artist can claim to have borne witness to the likes of Personas, or Mementos. It would be foolish not to use this opportunity to incorporate these concepts into an art piece.

Akechi: I... see. Well, you have fun with that.

Yusuke: Ah, before you go. Would you be so kind as to show me your own Persona? I'd love to use him as a model for one of my sketches.

Akechi: ...I'm going to have to decline.

-----------

Goro doesn’t want to model for Yusuke lol

Robin Hood - Ann & Akechi convo

Ann: Seeing this reminds me of the days you still acted like a prince. Things have gotten pretty dark since then...

Akechi: Complain all you like, but this is who I am. I'm not going to change back.

Ann: I'm not complaining. It's better to know you're being honest and not hiding anything from us.

Akechi: Honest, huh.

-----------

I like how Ann is accepting of Goro’s true self.

Robin Hood - Sumire & Akechi convo

Sumire: This Persona is yours, Akechi-senpai? I'm surprised. It's very, um... noble.

Akechi: Ah, that's right. I suppose you've never seen this one.

Sumire: Never! Do you fight with it the same way? You know, "Muahahahaaa! You're all gonna die! Sayonara, suckers!"

Akechi: Heh. Are you mocking me?

-----------

Sumire’s friendship with Goro is so adorable!

Robin Hood - Ryuji, Ann & Akechi convo

Ryuji: It ain't fair that he gets to have two Personas. Aren't you kinda jealous?

Ann: Sometimes. Is it something you can train yourself to do?

Akechi: Personas are part of your personality, correct? Why don't you try acting like someone you're not?

Ryuji: Dammit, Akechi!

Akechi: Down, boy. Learn to take a jo—

Ryuji: You're a frickin' genius! Let's do it!

Ann: Good idea! I wonder what I should act like...

Akechi: Hah. And here I thought I'd seen the limits of your idiocy.

----------- 

Goro was like “Why don’t you try being a wildcard?”. It ain’t that easy though lol

Morgana Car - Akechi, Ryuji & Yusuke convo

Akechi: This car was a lot more comfortable than I expected. I can't say I mind it.

Ryuji: Dude, have you forgotten how bumpy that shit was in Mementos? I thought my ass was gonna split in half.

Yusuke: Agreed on the bumpiness. It was rather effective at abating my hunger, though.

Akechi: I don't usually ride in cars with such weak suspension. It was a new experience for me.

Ryuji: THAT'S what you call it!?

----------- 

You learn something new everyday.

Kamoshida Statue - Sae & Akechi convo

Sae: Honestly, when I heard there was a teacher like this at Makoto's school, my blood ran cold.

Akechi: If it was that much of a concern, why didn't you bring it up with the faculty?

Sae: It's not that simple.

Akechi: You should be more upfront about your feelings. Then again, I suppose you are who you are.

-----------

Did Kamoshida had some way of making the students’ parents/guardians not complain about him? Is that why Mishima was like “the parents know but don’t care”?

Kaneshiro (Ruler Form) - Makoto, Ryuji & Akechi convo

Makoto: Say, Kaneshiro mentioned that there was someone using other people's Palaces to do whatever they pleased...

Akechi: Yeah. I suppose that was me. I'm surprised a petty criminal like him had caught wind of me, though.

Ryuji: But Shido's the one who was takin' advantage, yeah? I thought you were just followin' orders.

Akechi: Hm... It's not quite that simple.

----------- 

What do you mean by that Goro? Do you have more freedom when you’re in palaces or something because the conspiracy is not aware of what goes on in there?

Shido (Ruler Form) - Akechi & Sae convo

Akechi: I never thought the scheme would end with Shido. I always assumed some other monster would take up his mantle.

Sae: Even so, I'd already decided that I wouldn't give up on exposing the guilty parties. ...I want to keep my faith in justice.

Akechi: Oh? Something so cliché coming from you is rather surprising, Sae-san. I suspect the Phantom Thieves have rubbed off on you quite a bit.

Sae: That's a possibility. Maybe you could do with some change yourself? Like, drop the "cool customer" act and just live in the moment?

Akechi: Hah! Surely you jest. I'll pass.

----------- 

Oh Goro is putting up his Detective Prince act on this one.

Interrogation Room - Akechi & Morgana convo

Akechi: How nostalgic... It makes me sick to remember that day. I can't believe I was so thoroughly tricked.

Morgana: It was quite a gamble on our end. But ultimately, our justice saw the light.

Akechi: Justice, huh... Sure, let's leave it at that.

----------- 

Sounds like Goro doesn’t believe Morgana there.

Penguin Sniper - Ryuji & Akechi convo

Ryuji: Pool's pretty fun once ya get used to it. Aight Akechi, let's go a round! It's time for the Ultra Mega Poolin' Schoolin'!

Akechi: Ignoring that ludicrous title... Do you honestly wish to play against me?

Ryuji: I'm a man of my word! I know I got no chance when it comes to brainy stuff, but this? I can take ya. Or what, are you chicken?

Akechi: Heh, of course not. Sure, I'll play a round. And I won't be holding back.

----------- 

I think Goro is gonna use his right hand, but Ryuji you should still prepare yourself. 👀

Loki - Yusuke & Makoto convo

(Akechi is not in this unused convo but the convo is about him)

Yusuke: To think we would fight side-by-side with Akechi once more... His personality seems to have shifted, though. It's a far cry from the Detective Prince we once knew.

Makoto: That is true... But somehow, I think it made him easier to talk to. He's honest with us, at least. I don't worry about him hiding things anymore.

Yusuke: Yes... His murderous screeching may be unsettling, but I've come to realize that is simply a part of who he is. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to paint a portrait of him, knowing this...

Makoto: If you do, I'd love to see it. ...I'd like to hear what he thinks of it, too.

----------- 

Murderous screeching LOL! Again Yusuke, Goro will not model for you 😆

-----------

and that’s all of the unused Goro convos in the Thieves Den.

#unused content #goro akechi #persona 5 royal #p5 royal #thieves den #yusuke kitawaga #ann takamaki #ryuji sakamoto #makoto niijima #sae niijima #morgana #zorro #robin hood #loki #suguru kamoshida #junya kaneshiro #masayoshi shido

[devine-fem]

Uhm, if you’re going to read a long post of me ranting about Jon Kent then read this one.

if I hadn’t gotten so attached to Jon and his potential then I genuinely understand why people genuinely dislike him. As someone who likes Jon, I just think about how much untapped potential he has and I’ve gotten attached to that. To be fair, I’m starting to get where anti-Jon Kent people are coming from.

he had excellent potential with Damian as his friend during Super Sons but Super Sons had just started and honestly in their universe Jon and Damian AT THE TIME had not known each other for an entire 365 days I don’t think. a lot of Damian and Jon chemistry can be missed and go right over your head if you don’t look closely enough, super sons was more of a setup, it was a layout, and it established something but what it was establishing never truly came to fruition, it was cut short by his age up and then in Robin 2021, Damian separated himself from everyone including Jon and was able to stand on his own two feet. It felt like he did need to detached from Jon because as he is NOW he can’t be anything to Damian and as a die hard Super Sons fan I’m starting to wonder why they’re STILL friends as of right now, Jon is almost grown now and he spent years away from Damian, why does he even still care? Shouldn’t he be trying to move away from Damian and do his own thing as well? Or is he just perpetually stuck with Damian because that was when his character peaked and the writers are aware of that.

I don’t know if he’s ever going to be able to seperate from Damian fully… Damian was almost his entire character to be fair because he never really, really got to be anyone else BUT ‘Damian’s best friend’ and why does JON deserve to be Superman with the stories under his belt? He doesn’t deserve it. I don’t understand why the writers thought that was a good idea, he’s not the Superman anyone really wants and frankly he’s not ready to be Superman for a very long time. The only idea that can support him being Superman is the obnoxious ‘Blood son gets the mantle!’ that DC shoves down your throat and that’s just vapid.

Now his solo comics are filled with toneless, baseless and mind numbing story with no personality and a little queerbaiting on the side… no wonder people don’t like him, I’m starting to really understand that.

As long as Jon is aged up, he also waves away a lot of Damian’s friends out of existence because they had associations to Jon and Jon is no longer those ages so it’s likely these characters will never show again. If you were a fan of those characters that fit under this umbrella then I can’t blame you for not liking the guy… Now characters you loved cease to exist because of some random kid who was dumb enough to take a space trip one day. What’s there to like about Jon Kent anymore? He’s not even really recognizable to fans when he is the way that he is right now.

He’s only really likeable if you only read SSOKE and if you mindlessly cling to any queer representation you see regardless of quality. If you actually did grow an attachment to Jon Kent throughout the years when he was created in Thomas Wayne’s batcave then you’ll have to juggle the weird and alien experience of hating and loving a character as if they are two different characters entirely.

So yeah, I’m starting to get Jon antis. Half of liking Jon Kent is making up story for him and the other half is being an apologist for bs being sold in comic stores as of right now. If you hate the guy I envy you, this is not for the weak - this is not for the weak AT ALL.

#jonathan samuel kent #jonathan kent #damian wayne #rant #anti jon kent (post bendis)

[discowingneckline]

reasons i hate rhato pt1

this pertains to v1 #1, so expect more at some point when i can stomach looking at it again. this is exactly what the title says. hey, do you like rhato? great, fuck off and don't read something that is going to upset you. i don't care what your good opinions are of this. the run sucks, and it deprives almost every other character of their personality for the sake of jason's character.

why does jason not have clothes on? why is his stupid little cute jacket not on him? why didn’t anyone give him underwear? if there’s clothes for kory, there must be clothes for him! if kory took off his clothes, it makes little sense why she wouldn’t put some on him where he isn’t injured at the very least. 

why didn’t kory keep his gun farther away from jason, and also why wouldn’t a seasoned hero at the very least not take the bullets out of his gun like be so for real. she clearly doesn’t recognize him here (for some fucking reason)

why does kory look at jason and think of her and dick post sexy times?? why do you fucking think the first thing on her mind for memory is that shit? fucking weirdo.

also why is kory so white-looking? fucking weirdo. why is she stick thin?

i don’t like the relationship here of dick and jason. i am a jason todd is a nice good robin. like yeah a bit of attitude but um…ew

also why is kory here in the first place and living like this? she is a woman of class, thank you very much.

if kory had “male clothes” the entire time, back to a previous point, why didn’t she put them on jason (since she already took off his clothes to treat him) or at least keep them near jason for when he would wake up? it’s giving that scott lobdell just wanted excuses to have jason nude for like all of this issue and to dumb kory down to be super sexual. 

also kory’s proportions are so weird and off. and also, let’s be so for real, they took away her curves and like body fat? like she was super strong, buff, hot before man. what the fuck.

“they appear to be the correct size” which one? the robin suit? the nightwing suit? which nightwing suit? also this is giving, based on previous panels, “jason has to face his horrible brother’s suit and take his mantle, but this time (super edgy shit) he makes it his own!” get a fucking grip.

the amount of jason calling kory “orange” when he knows her name and her title!! it’s giving fucking racist behavior. and it’s just rude. he literally got called out about it a second ago and he made this huge apology, just to do the same shit repeatedly again. speaking of that, comparing her to something from national geographic is giving…dehumanization. 

where did kory get these clothes? how long has she been where she is? what the fuck. also, not that kory wouldn’t wear stuff like that, but?? i don’t see why she has so many changes of clothes that are almost carbon copies of the same shit. 

what is that flashback she has with nightwing and arsenal? first off, what the hell is that roy? second off, why is kory’s body shaped like that? also this suit of her’s sucks. worst i’ve seen ever. my irl friend also complained about nightwing’s shoulders and the overall anatomy of the art. said it was shit.

why is jason handling guns and weapons with no shirt on? why are they so set on not giving this man clothes?

“she obviously loved dick grayson—almost as intently as i hated him” be so fucking for real right now. get a fucking grip. is this where the bulk of “bad sibling dick grayson” comes from for jason todd fics? because lmao be so for real.

what is jason’s anatomy this page specifically? what the fuck is it?

oh my fucking god. why does kory go to kiss jason?? in the water?? at night?? at fucking all? like kory isn’t shy with her sexuality, but jfc. you’re trying to tell me after she was so hung up about nightwing (??) that she just throws herself to whatever man is available? be so for real. she has fucking standards, and jason todd will never meet them. it’s giving that someone (scott lobdell) had a thing for a character (kory) and was using a self-insert (jason todd) to get that. 

also what is with all of her thigh gaps?? give my princess her body back please holy shit.

…i read more, and what the hell is: “it is one of the ways my people assimilate language, knowledge—you said you wanted to talk, i only assumed…” kory was literally talking to him for several days in english. why the fuck would she kiss him? again, makes no sense. you’re making a very intelligent woman fucking stupid so jason can seem cool and smart and desired. it’s gross. 

…why does kory’s power look like that? um…ew.

“sometimes they are crazed vigilantes pretending to love us like a son” be so fucking for real. as though jason and bruce didn’t have a decent relationship at the bare minimum. also?? what the literal fuck is “pretending to love us like a son” bruce does love jason, and of course dick as well. perhaps he isn’t always the best at showing it, but he does. and if this is another jab about bruce not killing the joker? literally get off of it. that is not fair for jason to say shit like that. it goes against everything bruce has ever stood for since he was a child, and it’s insane to expect bruce to do whatever jason wants when jason is going out killing a ton of people and overall just being a piece of shit.

why is jason talking about friendship and romance when it pertains to kory?? be so fucking for real. i do not believe for a second that kory would get with jason after their talk if jason truly talked to her about everything (because she would know that she was/is in love with dick, and i don’t take her for being someone who would throw herself at his brother). 

…i wonder what “qurac” would possibly be a stand in for. also why would roy harper just be sitting and taking that? also why is it just jason who is going out to get roy and not, oh i don’t know?? his fucking family??

if you guys want to see the panels from the points i gave, just let me know and i will reblog with them included.

#op #dc #dc comics #anti rhato #jason todd #koriand'r #roy harper #dick grayson #nightwing #starfire #arsenal dc #i fucking hate this #and the art is pretty shitty too

[actuallyastingray]

So with Ed Boon confirming that Injustice 3 isn’t coming anytime soon, I decided to create my own dream roster for future Injustice games

As far as the franchise goes, I feel that it’s time for a reboot. The whole “Batman v Superman” trope has been done waaaay too many times and for way too long. Personally, I would rather see something like the storyline of Injustice 2, where a tertiary villain forces everyone to work together. Not to mention, exactly how many times are they gonna throw Injustice-verse Batman and Superman at each other before the story goes completely stale? Also, for those of you who don’t read comics, they ended the Injustice franchise with Injustice vs. Masters of the Universe by killing Darkseid, Skeletor, and Superman. So yeah, reboot time.

This plotline takes the theme of IJ1: Heroes against a corrupt, immoral society, with the twist of IJ2: the surprise villain Brainiac as the final boss. I based character design around the MKX variations system. Out of MKX, MK11, and IJ2, the MKX variation system was the only one that I liked (and no, I did not create this post to rationalize. It’s personal preference) I’m pretty happy with how this turned out overall. Remember this is completely fan made, but I would find it hilarious if some of these designs make it into Injustice 3.

(This is a long one. Better get comfy)

Earth has always faced threats from other worlds, and the Justice League was always present to face them. This time however, the outcome was very different. In a final showdown against the lord of Apokolips, Darkseid, abord the orbiting Watchtower, the world was stunned when the League headquarters suddenly exploded, taking the lives of all aboard. Though Earth was once again saved, the cost was immense. Darkseid’s army had left many cities devastated and the planet without its defenders. In the wake of this disaster and in the rebuilding of the world, the New Order Government, or NOG, came to power as an answer to the void of protection the JL had left behind. The new authoritarian government instigated a crackdown on vigilantes and criminals alike, reasoning that metahumans and costumed criminals were to blame for the world's injustices. Those who resisted were rounded up and imprisoned or executed. A few criminals chose to side with the NOG and became the new face of “peace”. Now years later, in a world devoid the Justice League, it's time for new heroes to step up and resurrect the legacy they left behind.

The Heroes

Superman (Conner Kent)

Cloned years ago by Lexcorp and Cadmus, Conner Kent grew up in Superman’s shadow as the teenaged Superboy. Despite public perception, Conner and Clark were not as close as they wished they could’ve been; too much tension regarding Conner’s conception kept them at arm's length. With the loss of his genetic father figure, Conner spent years agonizing over taking up the mantle of Superman, and whether or not he would be worthy. With the NOG crackdowns increasing everyday and no one else able to stand in as the symbol of peace, it’s time to make a stand and remind the world that Superman isn’t just a man, he’s an idea.

Variations:

Yellow Son: “Standard” Superman, focuses more on heat vision based moves

Man of Steel: Focuses on super strength powered grabs and throws. Can use Invulnerability to negate chip damage and reduce knockback from attacks

House of El: Conner dons a sunstone suit from the Fortress of Solitude. Can use Kryptonian technology such as Phantom Zone projectors 

Batman (Dick Grayson)

First Robin, then Nightwing, Dick Grayson now finds himself as the inheritor of the identity of Batman. Unused to the new identity, he mourns for both his adopted father and the simpler times before the NOG. Regardless, he honors his father by continuing Batman’s patrols across an NOG controlled Gotham. His mission goes further than stamping out street crime; he knows the Watchtower did not blow by mistake, and that it’s no coincidence that the NOG rose so quickly in the aftermath. It doesn’t take the world's greatest detective to realize there is something else going on behind the scenes. Something much more sinister

Variations:

Vigilante: “Standard” Batman, focuses on grapple lines and batarangs

Dark Knight: Brawler based playstyle with multiple counter options and knockdowns

Acrobat: Double jump/air combos. Dick uses his escrima sticks during melees.

Red Hood (Jason Todd)

Jason never had it easy in life. Taken in by Bruce Wayne at the age of twelve, he had only a few years to enjoy life as the second Robin before being killed by the Joker. After his resurrection at the hands of Ra’s al Ghul and subsequent rampage against Gotham's underworld, he thought he could finally settle back into a life with his adopted father. Then the Apokoliptian invasion took that chance away. Jason still patrols Gotham as Red Hood, working in tandem with his adopted brother, but the loss of Bruce has left their relationship strained to breaking point. Not only that, but with the even increasing NOG threat in Gotham, Jason is well aware his vigilante days are numbered

Variations:

Vengeance: “Standard” Red Hood. Combines martial arts with handguns and knives for quick combos

Lock n’ Load: Jason can manually load shotguns and grenade launchers for ranged attacks or to be used as combo finishers

Demolitions: Jason makes use of various hand grenades, such as flashbangs, smoke, and electric

Harley Quinn

The NOG made short work rounding up Gotham’s criminals and even shorter work trying and executing those they deemed too dangerous. Harley shed few tears over the Jokers execution, but his death and her life on the run from the NOG has given her new insight into his psych. When faced with an oppressive, power mad government, the world could use a little mayhem.

Variations:

Enforcer: Harley gains combo extenders focused on her baseball bat. Harley can also use batarangs as a ranged weapon

Trickster: Harley can plant Jack-in-the-Box traps which trigger and launch opponents when they come near. Adds jack-in-the-boxes as part of her combos

Clown Princess: Harley uses a crowbar and several Joker themed gag attacks (Injustice 1 & 2 joker moves)

Catwoman (Selina Kyle)

Already on the road to redemption long before the Apokoliptian invasion, Selina Kyle has found she cannot outrun her past as a thief in the face of the NOG crackdowns. Forced to seek refuge with the Batclan, she puts her tricks and skills to use stealing intel on the NOG. Unknown to her new partners, her mission is much more personal than just avoiding jailtime. She and Bruce Wayne were due to announce their marriage shortly before his death, and with Dick Grayson’s suspicions that his death was not accidental, she’ll do whatever she can to find out who is to blame and make them pay

Variations:

Safecracker: “Standard” Catwoman, gains whip attacks and combo extenders

Alley Cat: Selina loses whip and ranged attacks in exchange for empowered melee strikes and Sharpen Claws to boost damage

Saboteur: Selina gains new pounce attacks and Cat Scratch (from previous games). Pounce attacks can remove buffs from opponents.

Batgirl (Cassandra Cain)

Cassandra Cain was trained for one single purpose in life; to help her father kill the Batman. David Cain was unrelenting in his pursuit of vengeance against the Dark Knight, so much that he molded his daughter into an instrument of his revenge. Truly ironic that instead of facing Batman, he crossed the Joker’s lethal gags and fell prey to the clown's sinister traps. Cassandra was left without a father and without purpose in life. She had no further drive to continue his mission and considered approaching her would-be target for aid. After his death aboard the Watchtower, she slipped back into hiding in the Gotham underworld. The rising pressure that the NOG is putting on Gotham has forced Cassandra out of the shadows and forced her to seek refuge with the Batclan. This new Batman is not the man she once was sent to kill, and while he has accepted her as a sidekick, she cannot shake her fears that he will one day see through her facade

Variations:

Elusive: Cassandra uses smoke bombs to teleport. Can also use smoke bombs offensively to stun opponents or turn invisible

Duelist: Cassandra can use Duelist Stance, pulling out a bo staff and gaining access to multiple parry options

Orphaned: A bat drone joins the fight alongside Cassandra. Can be commanded to launch attacks and can be grappled onto

Arsenal (Roy Harper)

Roy never had the best relationship with his mentor and guardian, Oliver Queen. Nevertheless, they remained close compatriots as Star Cities vigilantes. The loss of the Justice League cost Roy more than one guardian, losing his surrogate mother Dinah Lance as well as Ollie in the explosion. Following the rise of the NOG, Roy sought to distance himself from vigilantism, taking a job as a security guard and becoming a single father. As the NOG continues to remodel Star City, Roy watches as a new kind of crime and corruption takes hold and his suburban life threatened. For the sake of his daughter, and his mentor’s legacy, Roy steps back into the fold as Arsenal. 

Variations:

Robin Hood: “Standard” Green Arrow/Arsenal, can equip trick arrows to be used as ranged attacks or during combos

Streetwise: Black Canary based build focused on martial arts. Roy’s bow is repurposed as a melee weapon

Outlaw: Roy uses guns instead of archery. Can now fire rockets from his prosthetic arm 

Mera

King Arthur dreamt of uniting the land and sea for peace. Despite his death aboard the Watchtower, his dream lives on through Mera, now queen of Atlantis. Despite the outcry from her people for revenge, Mera has continued Arthur’s work of brokering a peace between worlds. However, her sovereignty is constantly tested by the NOG, who pressure her to surrender to their laws. If she is not careful, Arthur’s dream of peace is likely to be washed away with the tide.

Variations:

Hydromancer: Zoning playstyle revolving around water constructs/attacks

Queen of the Sea: Mera can summon sea life as part of new combo extenders/amplifiers

Memento: Mera loses hydromancy attacks. She now wields Arthurs trident as a melee weapon

Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm)

Kaldur lost more than a king when the Watchtower blew, he lost his mentor. Sharing a heritage of both land and sea, Arthur was one of the few people who understood his struggles in adapting to a new world. Despite the loss, he is committed to helping Queen Mera continue his Kings dreams of brokering peace with the surface, even if it means defending her from its denizens. 

Variations:

Royal Guard: Rushdown build focuses on melee combos using Kaldur’s water bearers

Bioelectric: Kaldur can extend grabs and throws using electricity

Tempest: Combines hydromancy and bioelectricity for powerful combo extenders

Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)

Following Hal Jordan’s death aboard the Watchtower, his ring chose a new bearer in freelance artist Kyle Rayner. Having always idolized the Justice League as a kid, Kyle finds himself woefully unprepared to become a hero, especially in an era where having powers can get you killed on principal. Nevertheless, the ring chose him because he could overcome fear, and he’s not going to disappoint the Green Lantern Corps.

Variations:

Rookie: Kyle loses most construct/construct combos in exchange for simpler ring blasts or beams for finishers or launchers

Willpowered: Stronger constructs and more construct combos

Freestyle: Amplified constructs are now autonomous, allowing Kyle to use new attacks while they finish. 

Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter)

The death of the Justice League had lasting impacts far into the future. Though Earth has been spared the horrors of Apokolips, by the 25th century the NOG would have wiped out all metahuman resistance and become a tyrannical power that rivaled Darkseid himself. Unable to fight back in his own era, Michael Carter was “volunteered" to be sent back to the origin point of the crisis facing his reality, hoping that the use of advanced futuristic technology could turn the tide against the NOG before it becomes the threat he grew up with. Hiding his insecurity behind cockiness and showboating, Booster ultimately failed to stop the Watchtower explosion, losing his time bubble in the process. Now stranded in a distant past, he is determined to carry out his mission and save the future once and for all.

Variations:

Sidekick: Skeets can Scan opponents as a command or during throws. Booster gains bonus against Scanned opponents, such as block breaking attacks against fully scanned opponents

Buddy Cop: Skeets now assists Booster with his combos. Booster gains new combos/amplifies involving Skeets

Legionnaire: Booster wears a Flight Ring, allowing him to fly and gaining new air attacks

Captain Marvel (Freddy Freeman)

Prior to his final mission, Billy Batson trusted his secret identity and some of his powers to his closest friend, Freddy Freeman. Since Billy’s death, Freddy has assumed the mantle of Capitan Marvel, though a much more jaded and brooding version. The loss of his friend and the rise of the NOG has Freddy frustrated over his new identity. What good is being a superhero if the people you save don’t want to be saved? What Would Billy do in this circumstance? Just because he fanboy’s over superheroes doesn't mean he’s prepared to become one.

Variations:

Power of Zeus: Playstyle utilizes lightning-based melee attacks. Certain combos charge Freddy with lightning for additional melee damage

Stamina of Atlas: Freddy can use Stamina of Atlas to absorb projectiles, converting into health. Can summon healing zones which restore health to Freddy or damage enemies

Courage of Achilles: Heavy melee focused with multiple gap closing/dash moves

Mary Marvel (Mary Batson)

Mary Batson always had an inkling that her little brother was up to something every time she caught him sneaking out at night. While she assumed it was just impromptu sleepovers with his friend, Freddy, she was completely unprepared for the realization that her brother was Fawcett’s own superhero. Her carefully organized world was further turned upside down when he shared his power with her and Freddy, making them the cities new protectors. Always one to rely on logic and planning, Mary tells herself that opposing the NOG as a costumed hero is crazy. But deep down, she knows that fighting back is the right thing to do, and that her little brother would never forgive her is she let Fawcett down

Variations:

Speed of Mercury: Speedy/agile based playstyle, can use Speed of Mercury to slow down opponents (Nimble Reptile)

Wisdom of Solomon: Mary gains more ranged attacks, using magic and lightning attacks for zoning.

Strength of Hercules: Mary gains stronger melee attacks. Can deal additional damage to enemies with armor or whom are blocking

Captain Boomerang (Owen Mercer)

The Central City Rogues were well known for having a unique, almost friendly relationship with the Flash. Nevertheless, this relationship did not save them from the NOG’s crackdowns across the US as hundreds of criminals were rounded up for sham trials and execution. Having lost most of his family in the Rogues, as well as his secret idol in the Flash, Owen Mercer has finally decided that ‘enough is enough’. The Rogues are bound by their code of honor, and he’s determined to honor the Flash and all his fallen family members by taking the fight to the NOG

Variations:

Trickshot: Owen can set up boomerang traps (Hat Trick Kung Lao) and can ricochet boomerangs mid-air for homing shots 

Speedster: Owen uses speed boosts to disorient opponents (Kabal). Can use dashes to quickly close or make distance

Rogue Justice: Owen uses gadgets from the Flash Rogues as part of his combos

Raven

Most of the Titans died while assisting the League aboard the Watchtower. Only Raven, who was chosen to stay behind and use her magic to teleport her teammates in and out, was spared. She now lives on as the last surviving legacy of the Teen Titans. Raven knows she is ill suited to rebuild the team, she lacks the charisma, positivity, and leadership her teammates had, but dreams of continuing their legacy in a new generation. For the time being, she has other problems to worry about. The rise of the NOG has been accompanied by a sinister darkness pervading world. A darkness she is all too familiar with.

Variations:

Daughter of Sin: Raven can summon sin demons as part of her ranged combos or as throw extenders. Can activate Shadow Form for increased power.

Soul Self: Raven can use her soul self to absorb projectiles, to be fully consumed for damage buffs or to be later thrown back at opponents

Enchantress: Raven gains access to telekinetic attacks and ranged grabs 

The Villains 

Lex Luthor

If one were to ask Lex Luthor, the world under the NOG is perfect. Fewer constraints on business, more control on his employee, newer opportunities, and best of all; no Superman. The NOG is everything he worked for during the era of the Justice League, and he never had to lift a finger to make it happen. So what if that arrogant hag President Waller is taking all the credit? He knows how to deal with her. But first, he needs to deal with these new, so called “heroes” who would put an end to his good fortune. The Justice League is dead, and let them stay that way. 

Variations:

CEO: Luthor uses a Lexcorp satellite in his attacks, dropping missile call downs and orbital lasers.

Genius: Luthor can activate a defensive shield on his power suit to negate attacks and prevent him from being staggered

Copyright: Luthor uses gadgets and tech taken from Apokolips as well as from deceased heroes

Major Force (Clifford Zmeck)

Introduced to the public as a new, improved Superman for the NOG, Major Force loves nothing better than lording over the general public. Few realize his history as a convicted serial killer and rapist, and indeed it was only a plea bargain with President Waller to serve as a test subject that spared his life. Powerful as he is, Major Force feels starved for a good fight since joining the NOG. He never had a chance to test himself against the Justice League in their prime, and Waller doesn’t approve of him “sparing” with new recruits. In fact, he sees these new upstart “Leaguers” as a welcome change. He finally has a chance to cut lose and savor certain thrills he has long kept buried.

Variations:

Temporal: Major Force can use distortion fields to slow down enemies and projectiles, or speed himself up

Concussive: Major Force uses more explosive attacks and blasts. Can Self-Detonate to deal massive close range damage

Dominator: New grab combo that allows Major Force to steal life from an opponent, increasing his damage while lowering their own

Bane

One of many criminals rounded up during the initial NOG campaigns, Bane’s past as a member of the Suicide Squad meant he was lucky enough to be given a choice by President Waller: Serve the NOG or be executed along with his fellow Arkham inmates. Now years later, Bane is the tyrannical warden of Stryker’s Island. No longer a place the houses exclusively criminals, Stryker's has become a fate awaiting anyone who dissents against the NOG, including captured metahumans. Bane enjoys his position in breaking soldiers to serve the NOG, and forming his own Suicide Squad to round up anyone else who would dissent. And if need be, he is more than happy to demonstrate what it means to cross the man who broke the Bat

Variations:

Luchador: Grappler based playstyle with multiple throw options at the end of combos. Venom boost becomes a one time use berserk 

Backbreaker: New combo setup for his Backbreaker move (Sun God Kotal Khan). Venom boost stacks for bonus damage

Warden: Multi-string basic attack moves designed for heavy pressure. Venom Boost is now passive that increases Bane’s damage the lower his health gets

Killer Croc

Waylon Jones was one of many metahumans brought to Stryker’s island for processing. As he suffered under the brutal treatment of the guards, his progressing mutation only made him a further target for abuse. The more he mutated, the more the guards and inmates pushed him, until the day he snapped back. Now little more than a glorified attack dog on the NOG’s leash, he vents his long-suffered hatred and rage against humanity on whomever they point him towards. While he hates the NOG and Bane in particular, his conditioning under the NOG means that he also blames the worlds would-be heroes for being unable to save him and is ready to lash out at the newly forming Justice League to get even

Variations:

Cannibal: Croc gains access to more/longer grab/bite combos (Ravenous Millenna)

Predator: Croc can Submerge, allowing for teleportation or surprise low attacks/grabs

Uncaged: Croc wears a muzzle, preventing bites. Croc can now use his broken manacles to flail at opponents

Hippolyta

The Amazons have had few reasons to trust man’s world. Against Hippolyta’s wishes, her daughter Diana sought to broker a unity between Amazons and humanity. Her death aboard the Watchtower has only confirmed what Hippolyta knew; man is not to be trusted, only destroyed. With the NOG preoccupied with the new Justice League, Hippolyta stands ready to bring the Amazons ashore and exact vengeance on humanity for her daughter's death

Variations:

Hoplite: Hippolyta prioritizes using a sword and shield

Spearmaiden: Hippolyta uses a long polearm with high zoning

Demigod: Hippolyta uses Wonder Woman’s lasso and bracers

Circe

Ancient enemy of the Amazons and would-be tyrant of humanity, the goddess Circe has always plotted from the shadows as to how best to achieve domination. These days, she has no enemies. They fight and scheme against each other. The Justice League and her nemesis Diana are gone, the Amazons and mankind brace for battle, and the gods themselves have gone silent on the matter. For the first time in a thousand years, there has never been a moment more ripe for conquest than now. Circe has come to rule humanity, and the world is her oyster

Variations:

Blasphemous: Circe uses an enchanted Amazonian great sword and shield as part of her combos (Injustice Ares)

Goddess: Circe uses several control based moves to disorient opponents and set them up for combos

Witchcraft: Circe gains a new counter and a new reversal that Hex enemies, preventing them from using certain moves

Ocean Master (Orm)

Always living in his brothers shadow, Orm never gave up resenting Arthur for stealing his throne. Had it not been for Arthur, Orm would be king and Atlantis would have long ago conquered the surface world. Instead, Orm was reduced to bargaining with surface worlders and rogue Atlanteans in order to gain a sliver of power that he deserved. Now, with his brothers death, the tide turns in his favor. Mera sits uneasily upon the throne and has few supporters backing her peace treaties with the surface. All it will take is one slip, and she will topple as Arthur did. Though at this rate convincing her to declare war on the surface world is going to be laughably simple. The surface worlder seem almost desperate for an excuse to make attempts on Atlantis, and Mera’s confidence in them wanes by the day. After decades of scheming, Orm can afford to be patient.

Variations:

Monarch: Orm wields a trident and gains new counters and anti-air combos

Schemer: Orm uses Atlantean weapons, such as guns and rifles for set-ups and juggling

Abyssal: Orm can call in Trench to attack enemies or pin them down.

Larfleeze

Wielder of the orange light of avarice, Larfleeze once faced off against Hal Jordan and came away with a healthy dose of fear and respect for the human. Hal’s recent demise has sparked Larfleeze’s curiosity surrounding Earth. What could possibly have killed the greatest Green Lantern of all? What he has found instead is a planet devoid of defenses and ripe for pillaging. Driven by his insatiable greed and utterly oblivious to the chaos his presence is causing, Larfleeze is committed to reap Earth of anything worth stealing

Variations:

Covetous: Larfleeze can steal opponents special moves, summoning an Orange Lantern construct to repeat those attacks

Agent Orange: Larfleeze can charge his power battery to summon Orange Lantern constructs. These constructs can be spent to perform attacks (Stunt Double Johnny Cage)

Vain: Larfleeze can charge himself with orange light, increasing the power of his attacks and causing all his attacks to become armored for a short time. After this effect wears off, Larfleeze will become exhausted and take bonus damage

Granny Goodness

Granny Goodness worshiped Darkseid with a fanaticism matched by few. So confident in her masters capabilities, that his death alongside the Justice League shattered her. In the aftermath of his death, Granny was among the many who seized at power on Apokolips to fill the void. While she can never be the ruler Darkseid was, she believes that finishing his goal of locating the Anti-Life Equation is the best way to honor her fallen master. Earth will fall, be it the will of Darkseid or Granny Goodness

Variations

Warbringer: Granny uses Boom Tubes to attack her opponents, to teleport, or summon Parademons

Headmistress: Granny uses a Mega-Rod for a weapon. Can be used to release ranged blasts of energy or hold enemies in place for setups

Tough Love: Granny uses several Apokolitian torture devices and gadgets as traps for setups and combos

Lashina

Leader of the infamous Female Furies of Apokolips, Lashina was first and foremost among her sister Furies, and is now the last of them. The other Furies were aboard the Watchtower when it detonated, leaving her their sole surviving legacy. Angered by the unjust death of her sisters and the loss of her master, Lashina dutifully follows Granny on her campaign back to Earth. This time it’s more than just conquest, this time it’s personal.

Variations:

Pursuer: Lashina uses a mourning star flail and flexible metal whips for mid ranged attacks and ranged pulls

Bloodletter: Lashina uses Mad Harriet’s gauntlets instead of her whips. Can charge her gauntlets to become electrified at the cost of health

Blademaster: Lashina uses Guilotina’s twin longswords in her attacks. Ranged grabs are replaced with thrown blades

Talia al Ghul

The League of Assassins has always lurked beneath the veil of society, seeking to twist the world towards their founders goals of anarchy. However, in a stunning coincidence, the great Ra’s al Ghul perished not long after his nemesis, the Batman when the Lazarus pits failed to revive him. His daughter Talia resolved to continue his work after his death but found herself at odds with the NOG and it’s message of forced global order. One would not assume her intentions at first glance, seeing as she enjoys her position of chief advisor to President Waller. But like many things involving the al Ghul’s this is just a clever ruse. Talia knows the NOG had a hand in her beloved Batman’s demise. Once she finds out who is responsible, she stands read to burn this pathetic excuse for a government down around Waller’s head

Variations:

Venomous: Talia uses twin daggers laced with poison. Her attacks apply an unblockable poison that stacks in intensity with each attack

Heiress: Talia can equip vials of Lazarus Water which can be drank to increase super meter, thrown to create damaging pools, or used as part of a new grab to debuff enemies

Agent of Order: NOG Talia uses a magnus sidearm, garrote wire, and tasers during her combos

Ra’s al Ghul

Immortal and unyielding, Ra’s al Ghul has seen the passing of thousands of years, gathered countless followers, and amassed an immense fortune of weapons and wealth alike, all in the name of global anarchy and chaos. So self-assured in his success and power, he never assumed his precious Lazarus pits would fail him. Their power waned and with it his immortality. Desperate for a means to retain his eternal life, he turned to any means to sustain himself, be it mystical or scientific. What he found instead was a force that existed far beyond Earth, that promised to grant him immense power and eternal life that his Lazarus pits could not. In his hour of desperation, Ra’s al Ghul has found deliverance.

Variations:

Heretic: Ra’s can light his scimitar or even himself on fire to deal bonus damage. Gains new fire based attacks

Demonic: Ra’s can summon dark spirits during his combos (Possessed Kenshi)

Accursed One: Ra’s applies a Dark Seal to opponents during combos/grabs/throws. The seal can be consumed via command to deal damage based on how many stacks were applied

And, the final boss and antagonist for this AU is... (Spoilers ahead)

Trigon

Trigon the Terrible, conqueror of ten thousand worlds, lord of the inferno, father of Sin. A demon who has laid waste not just in this universe, but in countless other dimensions that make up reality. An evil that surpasses all others, Trigon has tried multiple times already to invade Earth, only to be repulsed by the Justice League and Teen Titans. These are minuscule setbacks for Trigon, who has other ways of conquering his enemies. Whispering in the ears of those desperate for answers or deliverance from beyond, he engineered the placement of the device that destroyed the Watchtower and annihilated his long-time enemies. Now, under the guise of the NOG, Trigon’s servants work to eliminate or convert any who would or could stand against him. Once all resistance has crumbled and Earth is defenseless, there will be nothing to stop Trigon from adding this reality to the many he has already destroyed.

Variations:

Defiler: Trigon can create zones of corruption that damage enemies standing in them. These zones can also be commanded to erupt and launch enemies standing in them

Father of Demons: Trigon can summon his sons to empower him with sin energy, granting him bonuses while they are active

Hellbringer: A giant astral projection of Trigon assists in his moves, crushing or grabbing opponents with giant limbs

Mortal Kombat/Crossover Characters

Kano

‘It’s a simple heist’ they said ‘Just grab the Sunstone crystals and you’re outta there’. Well that bloody went to s@#$ right off the bat. Not only did they muck it up dropping me way off course, but now I’m stuck in the middle of a bloody warzone. I’m not getting paid to fight “superheroes”, ‘specially not one who could toss Shao Khan around like a ragdoll. At least this wasn’t a total loss. Got some nice new gear from a couple of these drongos that’ll make even Tremor jealous. Not like they were using it no more. Still, soon as I get back to the keep, me and Kronika are due for a heart-to-heart.

Variations:

Cutthroat: “Standard” Kano, uses knives for weapons and projectiles, as well as his eye laser

Upgraded: Kano uses Cyborg’s hand cannon. Can activate his implants for a movement and firing speed boost

Mercenary: Kano uses Deathstroke’s katana and Deadshot’s rifle. Deadshot’s optic scope prevents eye lasers but allows for homing bullets

Kitana

Born to the nation of Edenia, Kitana’s homeworld was conquered by Shao Khan of Outworld not long after her birth. When her mother was forced to marry the tyrant, she became the Khan’s daughter and princess as well. After years of standing by her fathers side, serving as his personal assassin and watching as other realms suffered the same fate as Edenia, Kitana had a change of heart in the midst of Outworlds invasion of Earthrealm. Standing alongside her allies in Raiden, Lui Kang, and others, Kitana help to unseat Shao Khan and claim his title of Khan. Still, in a world defined by Kombat, there are few moments to rest. Finding herself lost in a realm on the brink of disaster and facing conquest by a demonic tyrant so similar to one she only just deposed, Kitana finds herself once again standing as a champion of Earthrealm

Variations:

Empress: “Standard” Kitana, using her fans

Edenian Royal: Mournful Kitana, using a bo staff and glaves

Savage: Kitana uses Mileena’s sais and moveset, such as Tele-drop

Spiderman (Peter Parker)

Whelp, this is just classic Parker luck. One minute I’m stopping Vulture from robbing the art museum, next minute ‘bzzt’ I’m lost in some wacko, alternate universe. Yeah, that’s right, not ‘poof’, not ‘zap’, not ‘boom’, my life went crazy with a ‘bzzt’. This new universe is kinda the definition of “everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong” and that's impressive even for my standards. Oh well, I guess when I don’t show up for macaroni night the Avengers will come after me, wherever I am. Until then, the worst thing I have to worry about is the edgy guy in a motorcycle helmet who keeps chasing me around trying to get me to partner up with him. Or the world going to literal Hell, that too. Wish me luck folks!

Variations:

Webslinger: Peter can use web shots, ranged web pulls, and combos that leave enemies tangled in web

Avenger: Peter uses higher tech versions of his existing gear, such as taser webs and spider probes

Iron Spider: Peter wears the Iron Spider suit. Prevents most web moves but allows for hovering and use of additional legs for attacks

He-Man (Adam of Eternia)

On a planet lightyears away from Earth, the world of Eternia owes its salvation and freedom to the Champion of Greyskull, He-Man. One of the strongest beings in the universe, He-Man is the identity of prince Adam, maintain while he battles the forces of darkness led by his nemesis Skeletor. But He-Man is champion to all worlds in the Universe, not just Eternia, and in times of need will be called upon to aid any world in peril. That is how Adam finds himself contacted by the wizard Shazam, guardian of the Rock of Eternity and keeper of magic. The wizard bears a message of a shattered world on the brink of domination by the demon Trigon, a creature as dangerous as Hordak himself. Should Trigon be released on Earth, it will spell doom for all worlds. 

Variations

Champion: He-Man can place Greyskull banners to increase his power in combat. Banners can be interacted with during attacks

Guardian: He-Man wields a great shield in addition to his power sword, allowing for shield bashes and shield charges

Legacy: He-Man can summon phantoms of previous Greyskull champions for additional range on his attacks

#injustice #injustice series #superman #conner kent #batman #dick grayson #red hood #batgirl #harley quinn #catwoman #arsenal #roy harper #mera #kaldur'ahm #booster gold #kyle rayner #freddy freeman #mary batson #raven #owen mercer #lex luthor #bane #killer croc #major force #circe #ocean master #larfleeze #granny goodness #lashina #darkseid

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[msfcatlover]

Which of the batkids would make the worst Batman successor?

Hmmm, now that is a complicated question. I think it depends on how you choose to measure “worst,” as being Batman is a complex & multi-faceted thing. I have two answers.

Jason would have the hardest time sticking to the core code of being Batman. He has his own very strong opinions of right & wrong, they don’t always mesh well with the bat-legacy as a whole, and I don’t think he’d be willing to put them aside for the sake of the mantle; it would go against his very idea of heroism to not do the right thing for the sake of your public image. I also think that despite how he’s sometimes written, Jason never really wanted to be Batman (as Robin, that would mean losing his dad, which was unthinkable; post-resurrection, it’s all a complicated mess, but Jason even more should not want that mantle for both what it represents & his feelings towards the man wearing it.) For him to be in a position where he has to officially take up the mantle means being in a position where all the more viable candidates are for some reason completely unable to, and for Jason to lose that much of his family… even if he was willing, he would not at all be in a mental place where he should (or maybe even could) do it. Jason would not be great at being Batman, and it would be very, very bad for Jason as a person to even try. Therefore Jason Todd would be the worst Batman.

My other answer is Damian, and it’s a much simpler matter. So much of Damian’s story revolves around legacies, family, what those mean, and who he is in relation to them. It’s not good if all he does is hop from the “al Ghul to assassin” pipeline over into the “Wayne-kid to superhero” pipeline. If all Damian does is go from striving to meet the rules & expectations of one side of his family, to the exact same thing just from the other. Honestly, I’m in the camp for Damian throwing off all expectations & quitting the cape-scene entirely (not stop helping people, just… you know that trope where a total badass looks like an every day person, and when they save people they’re like, “Oh, I was just in the area.” Or they get dragged into a big dramatic fight, and they’re yelling at their old friends for ruining their retirement? Yeah, that’s what I want.) but if he must still be a hero, Damian should define his own mantle like Dick did with Nightwing. Damian could probably make for a pretty good Batman, but it would not only be bad for him as a person, it is thematically dissonant for Damian to live his entire life being defined by the expectations of people around him. Therefore, Damian Wayne would be the worst Batman.

(For the record, I don’t think Dick should be Batman either, based on how much of his life he’s spent working to specifically not be. However, I think Dick can adjust his own self-perception in order to find what differentiates him from Bruce, even when they’re wearing the same suit, and could eventually move past constantly comparing himself to the man who came before him. It is not fair to Dick to steal his independence & future away to force him to be Batman, and it would not be good for him as a person at least in the short-term, but he makes for a really good Batman when he tries & he would eventually find balance again. Therefore, Dick should not be Bruce’s successor, but he definitely is not the worst option.)

To end this on a positive note, my top 3 candidates are Cass, Tim, & Steph. In that order.

[DISCLAIMER: I have only recently started getting into comics, so a lot of my info is based on meta-posts & wiki summaries. I like to read things in chronological order, and am about to hit the early 90s. Please be nice to me.]

#Batman #batfam #damian wayne #damian al ghul #jason todd #dc comics #questions #anonymous #my life #mine #my writing #// #I am once again pushing my ‘’Stephanie Brown should be the next Batman because repeating story cycles go brrrrr’’ propaganda. #Just more gently this time #She is not the best candidate BUT she’s the one I’d be most excited to see. #With Cass it’s natural. With Tim it’s logical. #Steph’s pattern of taking up a mantle—being negatively compared to those who came before her—struggling to make it her own #can only reach its zenith by making her Batman. #It would take a horrifying tragedy for her to ever do it. It will never happen probably even in elseworld stories. #But by GODS do I want to see her try!

[the-ghost-of-jason-todd]

Hello! I saw your bingo card and I’d love to read the prompt “rage against the reflection” with Dick Grayson if you’re up for it :)

@friendlyneighborhoodcapricorn this is for you :*

@badthingshappenbingo fill #1 !!

You can also read it on ao3 HERE.

The Batsignal is on.  Yellow light floods from the GCPD rooftop, the shape of the bat above the skyline a cutting edge against the night sky.  It feels like black ice, like frozen iron—like the ink-black pupil of a single roving eye that will not avert its gaze. 

This is the third signal of the night.  Or the fourth.  The fifth.  The sixth.  Dick has lost count.  He swears it’s there every time he turns around—like maybe the switch never clicks all the way off, a dial continuously cranked one notch higher, every emergency bleeding into the next. 

Someone needs help. 

Someone is causing trouble. 

Someone needs to step in. 

Won’t someone help?

Won’t someone do something?

Please help.

Please.

Please.

Please.

He hears their cries in the alleyways, the streets, the docks, the warehouses.  No matter how many he saves, how many he stops, there are always more.  This is how it always goes.  Dick can’t slow down, can’t pause to breathe.  The night is dark, and the shadows don’t sleep, so neither can he.  This is the mantle of the Bat—the legacy he must uphold.  He has to be the Dark Knight, the shadowed terror of every crook in Gotham, the silent savior of every damsel in distress.  He wears the cowl, he wears the crown; it doesn’t matter that the cape feels like a noose around his neck.

What’s one more crisis, anyway?  What’s one more catastrophe?  Just add it to the pile.  It can balance right there on top, next to the fact that Damian has run off again, and Dick’s grapple gun is out of commission, and the Batmobile is on the other side of town, and oh, yeah, did Dick mention that he’s surrounded?  Because he’s definitely surrounded.

“I heard it’s open season on Bats.  Let ‘em rip, boys!” their leader crows, hefting up a semi-automatic in one meaty hand.  Dick moves on instinct, flipping backwards and out of the way as the gun goes off, a sharp RATTATTATTATTAT that rattles his teeth in his head.  Lead bites into walls and windows alike, bullets ricocheting across brick and stone and glass in a deadly hailstorm, and in the midst of it all there’s Dick, sweeping and dodging and delivering hits until it’s just him and the leader, one against one.

This should even the odds.  Dick should be able to take care of this guy, would on a normal day, quick and easy and without a thought.  But tonight… oh, tonight he feels slow, sluggish, as he twists out of the line of fire.  Again, and then again, and then again.  He can’t get in close, can’t keep going—something needs to give.

He finds an opening.  A dive and a leap, and he just barely catches hold of the railing of a fire escape, pulling himself up.

There’s no chance to breathe.  He doesn’t have the luxury—doesn’t have the time.  The gunfire is following him—it’s hot on his heels, just a split second behind.  He has one shot at this; there’s no room for error—and he can’t even spare a thought as to exactly how close it’s going to be before he leaps, letting gravity take over.

He doesn’t miss.  He hits his mark.  The thug goes down, and the gunfire stops, and it makes no difference at all.  The grief still feels like ash on his tongue—the cowl still feels like the weight of the sky itself.  The only thing that’s changed is the gasping of his own breath in his ringing ears, and even that will become monotonous in due time.

But maybe not the stinging pain in his side.

Dick grunts, one hand rising to prod at it.  His glove catches on torn kevlar, hot blood slick between his fingertips.

A lucky shot.  Hit at just the right angle to punch through his armor.  It’s only a graze, nothing too dire, but it hurts like hell and Dick just—he doesn’t have time for this.  His Robin is in the wind and the city needs him and he’s desperate for a goddamn second to just breathe, to get a fucking handle on this, but ha ha jokes on him, right?

With a snarl, he clamps a hand over the wound.  Instinct has him heading upward—it takes three tries to get a hold on the fire escape a second time, hauling himself up one-handed.  He feels like a sunflower, forever seeking a warmth that he’ll never find, not in the dead of night in the depths of Gotham.  The shadows are going to swallow him whole. 

He makes it to the roof.  Still seeking, still searching, he gasps air and turns his gaze across the skyline of the city he’s supposed to protect.  Batman needs a Robin—where do you look for a Robin who doesn’t want to be found?  Where do you go when the whole world feels like it’s falling apart?

Dick doesn’t know.  He doesn’t know how to do this, how to be Batman, how to save a city that can never be saved—he doesn’t know anything, and it’s eating him alive.

***

He winds up on the roof of the GCPD.  Feet numb, head fuzzy, he stumbles the familiar path to the Batsignal.

It’s off.  For once, one time in this endless night, the bulb is dark.  Bliss or oblivion, Dick doesn’t care.  He can only lean against the frame, head hanging, arm barely propping him up. 

He can’t stay here.  He needs to regroup, to staunch the bleeding, to find his Robin.  He needs to catch his breath so he can keep going.  The air feels ragged as he gasps it down, hand pressed against the hole in his side. 

It’s here, as he’s trying to hold himself together in every way that matters, that the clouds part somewhere above him.  For one sharp, brilliant moment, his reflection becomes crystal clear on the glass of the batsignal, illuminated by the light of a full moon high above.  He sees what’s become of the Batman, right there, in perfect clarity—sees what he’s become.  A face that should be familiar twists into a stranger’s; everything he’s made of himself, all of Dick Grayson and Nightwing both, buried beneath the black cowl. 

He stares and stares and it only stares back, white lenses cold as the grave.

It hurts.  He wants to cry out, a wounded animal howling at the skies.  Wants to balk, to curl up and cry.  He can’t fill the cowl, the cape, the boots.  Not like this—not having known the man who was always meant to wear them.  Bruce was too big, larger than life, and Dick can’t—he can’t do this.  He doesn’t want to.

He moves without thinking.  Wound forgotten, he raises his hand and slams it down on the glass.  He just wants out—wants to break it, to shatter his reflection, to never ever have to face the crumbling ruins of himself again.  He’s been so strong for so long—because it’s been asked of him, because he’s the eldest, because there’s no one else, because he has to be perfect, because he has no choice—but god, he just wants it to end. 

The sting of his hand brings him back to reality.  Because of course nothing is that simple.  The glass of the Batsignal is reinforced—it’s bat tech, completely bulletproof.  He can’t shatter it.  Hell, there isn’t even a crack.  The only mark he’s made is the bloody hand print he leaves behind when he pulls back, marring his reflection.

It’s poetic, probably.  Sacrificial blood, one man’s pulse traded for the pulse of the city.  Bruce… he gave his life for this.  Gotham.  To keep all these people safe.  And now it’s Dick’s turn, like father like son, dust to dust and shadow to shadow. 

It’s poetic.  It is.  But Dick can’t think about that right now.

The clouds overhead shift again.  Between one blink and the next, Dick’s reflection is eclipsed once more by the night.  He draws in a deep breath—holds it—lets it out slow. 

And again.

And again.

Until he can stand up straight again.  Until he can feel his fingers and toes, until he can shove everything back down inside his chest.  He swallows, gritting his teeth as he pulls out the first aid kit from his belt to get a makeshift bandage around his side.  Then, jaw locked and back straight, he steps back out into the night. 

To find his Robin. 

To help people

To fight crime.

To be the Batman that Gotham needs… even though he knows he will never be the one it deserves.

***

The Batsignal is on.  Dick knows without looking back.  Its light—baleful and orange, stark against the clouds—is unrelenting.  He can feel it, a sliver of glass in his bleeding heart.  It feels like ice, like iron, like a never ending call to arms.  It asks for more, and more, and more—what it asks for never ends. 

The Batsignal is on, and Dick Grayson only feels cold.

#rage against the reflection #bad things happen bingo #my writing #batfam #liveblogging batfam #bingo fill

[atinydroid]

so I was listening to one of my Jason playlists and there's a song I put on there that I always have to listen to several times cause I get SO many feelings about it. I wish I could draw so I could do a cool animatic for it but cause I can't do that I'll just WRITE META ABOUT IT I GUESS

Here's the song. Sorry for the external link tumblr won't let me actually upload the song for some reason.

Breakdown of the song with my thoughts under the cut. (this is very long)

Starting with the chorus

Come paint my face Come take my hand I do not wish you to understand Someday you too Will go to war And by that time may you not fear death any more

Ok so I always listen to this song as if Red Hood Jason is looking at and talking to pre-Robin Jason or like has just been taken in by Bruce Jason. I can only imagine the emotions Jason has thinking about how happy and naive he was pre-Robin. Like yeah he went through a lot of shit with his parents and then living on the street but his stint as Robin and then getting killed by the Joker is just... something else. And "will go to war, and by that time may you not fear death any more." just kinda hits me so hard cause as soon as he put the Robin suit on he was pulled into Batman's war and not long after that death became a very large part of his life very quickly till it culminated with his own.

Fortune may hold you She's not your friend Kind words spoken Bows deepened Foulest creature may wear the sweetest smile Oh do not fear for I will see you in a while

This is obviously about Bruce taking him in and making him Robin. "Being Robin gives me magic!" He was so fortunate that Bruce found him and took him in. But I have to wonder if he regrets it at this point. Like he's died, been resurrected, tried to kill most of his family, gotten better but like is still not Okay(tm). And the fact that it starts off by talking about how good luck can turn and then ends with what is the best descriptor for the Joker that I have ever heard is just Jason poetry honestly.

Eyes upon you Through the years All of your troubles All of your fear Always watching Always see I am you now and you are me

This is just... man if you go back through his Robin run Bruce, Dick (and by extension the Titans) and even Babs were always kinda telling him he wasn't good enough. Bruce by pushing him to be more like Dick and Dick and Babs literally telling him he wasn't good enough to pick up the mantle from Dick. Not to mention all of rich Gotham society judging him for being from the poor side of town. And then later when he gets older and has more of his own opinions and gets more and more violent as Robin because he cares so much about the injustices he sees. Which only leads to Bruce and Dick saying he's too violent and one day he'll end up killing someone. ONLY for that to be followed by the Garzona thing. THIS SONG WAS MADE FOR JASON ISTG

If I should fall You take my sword All that is mine Will be yours Do not fear for those we leave behind The blood that runs in your veins it is mine

And it's like despite everything Robin Jason has been through he knows that what has happened to him to bring him to where he is now is inevitable and it's a cycle he can't change. And maybe sometimes he's not sure he even would given the chance. I'm sure there are moments where he looks at who is right now and how many people he has helped with the way he handles things and knows that Bruce's way doesn't always work and maybe it's good he ended up like this so he can make the hard choices Bruce can't. But he still wishes the young boy he was didn't have to suffer as he did.

I am a stone falling through black water On the bottom I start again I am a stone falling through black water My fall it never ends My fall it never ends

This part man... it feels like he's talking about his relationship with "justice" and how it influences his relationship with his family. Cause he very obviously still considers them all his family but he's stuck in a continuous cycle of wanting to be part of it but also knowing that his way of justice works. Because he knows what life on the poor side of Gotham is like and he KNOWS Batman's way of fighting the injustice that happens down there doesn't work long term. But he also struggles with the fact that sometimes killing someone can start a vicious cycle that leaves kids orphaned, just like him. And so his feelings on the subject are ever fluctuating and he can't help himself falling over and over into cycle of violence no matter how much he wants to get out of it.

SO YEAH I JUST HAVE A LOT OF JASON TODD FEELINGS RIGHT NOW. Sorry that was so long. hopefully it was coherent and made any form of sense. but also omg why did you read this whole thing.

also if anyone wants me to post my Jason playlists (i have 3) lmk and i will

#jason todd #red hood #batfamily #jaybird #dc comics meta #i got really carried away and blacked out halfway through writing this #so i have no idea if there's a cohesive thought in any of these paragraphs #that's my secret cap I'm always thinking about Jason Todd #Spotify

[twinhood-2dot0]

A Shallow Dive into: The Batfam

Welcome to another episode of Alia-rants-about-stuff-she’s-passionate-about. Today, we’re exploring the Batfamily. You already know that this cast of characters is near and dear to my heart, but why exactly? That’s what you’re going to be seeing today. I wrote a post about the entire history of DC but it got too long and boring so I switched topics :P

Meet The Cast

Batman - The most iconic and second ever comic book superhero ever. Bruce Wayne was your typical rich kid, until one day while returning home from watching The Mask Of Zorro (most adaptations skip this detail but I’m pretty sure it’s canon in the comics), Thomas Wayne decided to take a shortcut FROM CRIME ALLEY, WHY DIDN’T THAT MAKE YOU RECONSIDER??? And a guy gunned down both his parents while trying to mug them but got jumpy. He vowed to war on crime and went around the world to learn literally everything he could that could help him. He returns, tries to stop a crime, gets almost killed, returns home and is sitting in a chair when a bat accidentally flew into his manor, and he took it as a sign to dress as a bat. In some versions (there are a lot of versions to this simple story somehow) Bruce had a fear of bats which also compelled him to turn his fear into criminals’ fear.

His superpowers? 

And he’s extremely smart, trained in every martial art, mastery of every weapon, even an expert marksman even though he refuses to use guns, because parents (like everything about him). In Detective Comics #1000 we see him melt down the gun that Joe Chill used to kill his parents and use it to make the symbol on his suit. He has degrees in forensic fields and engineering and computer science and probably other sciences too. He’s at peak human capabilities. I could list everything he can do but I’ll shorten it to he’s the best at everything a human is capable of doing. If you do wanna know everything, I don’t know why you would but you can check it out here.

Robin - Robin is a mantle donned by several characters. His name came from Robin Hood. I don’t know why else a Bat would have a bird sidekick. 5 characters have taken up the mantle in main continuity, namely, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and the latest, Damian Wayne.

Dick Grayson - Son of the Flying Graysons, trapeze artists famous for their circus appearances where they would perform without a net. Their lives came to a tragic end when Anthony Zucco tampered with the trapezes resulting in them falling to their deaths. Bruce Wayne happened to be in the audience, and took Dick in, because he didn’t want him to turn into what he did and help him find justice.

        He’s a founding member of the Teen Titans, starting the trend. He’s the comedic contrast to Batman, as made apparent by his costume choice. He eventually grows out of Batman’s shadow and becomes a hero in his own right, Nightwing. 

Jason Todd - Considered by many as the most interesting Robin, he did not start out so popular. After Dick left Batman’s side, Batman picked up a juvenile delinquent who attempted to steal the Batmobile’s tires as his next Robin. Fans did not like him, presumably because they felt he was usurping Dick. So, DC decided to kill him off. They published the highly influential story of “A Death In The Family” at the end of which there was a phone number fans could call and vote whether to kill him or not. Yeah, the fans really did not like him, as he was voted to die.

He later came back in “Batman: Hush”, but it was Clayface (a Batman villain with a clay body and ability to change into people), in a ploy to psychologically break Batman by Hush. Nevertheless, it was revealed that Jason’s grave was empty, in a lead up to “Under The Red Hood”, in which it was revealed that Jason was resurrected and claimed the identity of Red Hood, his killer Joker’s identity before an accident turned him into Joker. He became a murderous vigilante which did not sit right with Batman. After Batman’s death in Final Crisis, he creates an armoured Batsuit and becomes a, again, murderous Batman. Murderous is a recurring theme until recently. Dick defeats him and is forced to take up the mantle. A while after Dick became Batman, he resurfaces and goes on a very public murderous rampage leaving notes saying “Let the punishment fit the crime”. He is defeated yet again and arrested this time.

He becomes an ally of Batman following the New 52 reboot and stops killing in an effort to gain Batman’s respect. Sorry this got so long, you can see why he’s so loved now though.

Tim Drake - Tim Drake was just a normal high school kid, but he was an exceptional detective and deduced the identity of Batman and Robin, and following Jason’s death, he approached Batman to become Robin as he felt Batman was a little unhinged without Jason. Tim may not be as strong or a great fighter like Nightwing and Red Hood. He is ummm… I don’t know much about him, except that he was replaced by Damian when Dick became Batman and has other identities of Red Robin and Talon and has gone back to Robin in Rebirth??? Yeah, it’s weird.

Stephanie Brown - A Robin not many talk about. She was the girlfriend of Tim and the daughter of Cluemaster, a super-villain. When Tim’s identity was uncovered by his dad he’s forced to hang up the cape, and Steph offered to fill in for him. She became Batgirl later on along with Cassandra Cain who I’ll talk about later. She was Spoiler before she became Robin. I don’t know much again, but she is kinda rebellious.

Damian Wayne - He’s the sometimes consensual, sometimes not son of Bruce and Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s al Ghul. He was trained from birth to be an assassin then just given to Bruce I think. Then Bruce died and he became Dick’s Robin. I love their sibling dynamic though, I love seeing Dick act like an older brother.

Batgirl - The first Batgirl was Barbara Gordon, my personal favourite batfam member, the daughter of Commissioner Jim Gordon, one of the few not incorruptible cop in the GCPD. On a Halloween she dressed up in a Batman costume and fought off Killer Moth, attracting the attention of Batman. While at first not appreciative he slowly warmed up to her. She works as a librarian and is a computer genius. When crippled waist down by the Joker, she assumed the role of Oracle, an information broker to help in the batfam’s crusades.

Cassandra Cain - Cassandra is the second Batgirl. I have yet to read the very influential “No Man’s Land” event, but her first appearance was in that event. She is the daughter of David Cain, a skillful assassin. He raised her only to kill. She wasn’t even taught spoken language so that the language processing part of the brain could read body language so she could react to every action before it happens. This made her second best if not best martial artist on the planet. However a mind reading metahuman rewired her brain so she could speak, and she lost her abilities and she had to ask Lady Shiva to help her regain her abilities. 

Batwoman - Katherine Kane is the maternal cousin of Bruce Wayne raised by a Colonel. She is probably the most influential LGBTQ+ comic book superhero, being lesbian. She was in the army until she was booted for being lesbian. She was attacked by a mugger in Gotham and fends him off but Batman still arrives and inspires her. 

Azrael - Jean Paul Valley was brainwashed by “The Sacred Order of Saint Dumas” as their vengeance enacter. He crosses paths with Batman who helped him break out of his conditioning. He then helps Batman in his crime fighting endeavour. He is famous for taking up the mantle of Batman when he had his back broken by Bane in the “Knightfall” storyline. He becomes a brutal version of Batman and had to be defeated after Bruce recovered.

Alfred - Arguably the most important member of the Batfamily, he’s the Wayne family butler who practically raised Batman and his wards. He’s the man in Batpeople’s ears feeding them information and quips

Alex, I'll see you on Thursday.

-Alia

#batman #dc comics #jason todd #dick grayson #red hood #nightwing #batfam

[bluboothalassophile]

I'm reading HfaB and I realized a lot of people treated Jason badly. I'm wondering is it canon that Dick treated Jason badly since I thought they didn't interact that much during his time as Robin. Also is it canon that the Titans treated him badly too. Not accusing just curious. It just sucks to think about since I love the OG Titans so much

Hello,

In canon, Jason got the shaft, a lot.

Dick and Barbara are the biggest offenders of this behavior; there's a stellar panel somewhere where Barbara snaps at Jason he will never be Dick, and Dick consistently is angry at Jason for just existing and taking up the mantle of Robin. Yes, there's a lot more to Dick's side, but he's always this stellar guy but to Jason, and it's about here why Dick's a dick in my opinion. Yes, I know Dick's got a lot of issues between himself and B, and the whole mantle of Robin and Batman, and he's growing up and trying to find himself; I Know! But how he treats Jason is a reflection of his wrath and anger towards B, and it's targeting an innocent bystander; Jason, because Dick just thinks he's being replaced instead of the family expanding (ironic isn't it how that came back in tenfold when Jason returned from the dead...), and Dick viewed Jason as someone B took in instead of a brother. Yeah, there's a whole comic where Dick works with Jason, and by the end of it Dick gives Jason his number with the: 'call any time Bruce is too much or you want to talk' but it didn't negate everything between the brothers. And Dick is an absolute ASSHOLE to Jason, Jason's a little shit in return, but we're not talking in a sibling way, Jason admired Robin, looked up to Dick a lot, and Dick just tears the rug out from under Jason every turn they interact. I think this is what lead to Dick being a better brother to Tim and Damian, but he did a shit job with Jason and it never got better; just when it might've gotten better Jason was killed. As to Barbara, she was just a bitch to Jason. They did later get along, but in that 'I have to tolerate you' way, so they weren't super friendly.

As to how Jason and the OG Titans treated him, it's sort of ambivalent, he has good and bad interactions with them. Roy and he did not get along initially, and Jason and Wally will probably never be bffs, but they weren't necessarily BAD interactions, just ambivalent. I think Donna thought he was amusing; Jason's got a not so subtle crush on her, but he's a kid, and it's insinuated in his arch as Red Hood that he got along with Raven. But these interactions are ambivalent at best, so I don't think they treated him horribly in his mind; or at least certain members didn't because he was merciful to Raven when he came back on his rampage.

The biggest problem is everyone compares Jason to Dick, and Jason 'falls short' in a lot of ways in a lot of people's eyes, because he's not extroverted, charming, funny, merciful, or Dick, he's not Dick, and people compared him to Dick without letting him stand on his own two feet. And they always either forgot he was a street kid or threw it in his face, so they didn't give him a chance, and mostly that was because he wasn't Dick Grayson. At least, that's what I have in a lot of my old comics, it's at about this era that my comics run out.

As to HfaB, I tried to take what I knew about canon interactions and push them forward into HfaB, and also, remember, Jason doesn't view himself favorably. When you don't view yourself with worth the negative interactions tend to stand out more because they reinforce the negative perceptions you already have of yourself; Jason's more likely to remember the bad than the good. And what good he does remember he's going to guard if it's consistent. Part of the reason Jason and Raven get along is because she's consistent with him, same with Zed and Constantine, they're consistent with him, how they treat him and view him, and that makes their perceptions important to him. He might not agree with how they value him, but they are consistent in their treatment of him. Whereas Jason's got a family trying to make amends, and trying to bond with him, but he's already been burned by that route so he'll fight it tooth and nail to keep himself safe, he's also got a perception of he isn't worthy of family, he lost it at every turn: his mother, his father, B, the Bats, Shelia, and family is a primary source of pain for Jason, so he's not going to view it with favor. And because family is a source of pain for Jason, and they are not consistent in how they've treated him over the years, he's not going to just trust them, or turn to them for help, he's not going to rely on them to value him enough to come for him.

#bluboothalassophile #hello reader

[bigskydreaming]

Brain topic du jour is reflecting on the frankly weird as fuck pattern in Dick’s life where....he barely ever experiences losses one at a time. Most of the loss he’s experienced in his life is compounded by him losing multiple people and other elements of stability all at the exact same time.

1) When his parents died, in some continuities this is coupled with him losing his extended family of his aunt and cousin as well, with his uncle left comatose and on life support for years before he eventually died as well. Even in continuities without Richard, Karla and John, the loss of Dick’s parents is compounded by the additional loss of his circus family in the sense that he was taken away from them by the state and their constant reassuring presences in his life were no longer comforts he was able to rely on.

2) When Jason died, Dick didn’t just lose his brother, as the tragedy was compounded by Bruce’s reaction. I’ll never be able to gloss over the effects of NTT #55, personally, because I think its too key to Dick’s entire characterization and the specific direction his character took in the years that followed this, to like....disregard that Bruce however unintentionally, while lost in his own grief, added to Dick’s own sense of loss for Jason in probably the worst way possible. As by kicking Dick out and telling him to leave his keys, Dick - having no way to know or guess that they’d ever reconcile, just like he never actually went back to the circus being a regular presence for him - to Dick, this was in essence the equivalent of his childhood tragedy all over again. Losing not just one family member, but his whole family in one sweep, and all the comforts and stability offered by a home he was forced to leave. Even Dick’s contact with Alfred was minimal for awhile, because why would the guy who basically JUST saw history repeat itself and was like, well I know how THIS tends to play out.....why would he think that if Alfred felt forced to actually choose between his loyalties to Bruce and Dick respectively, that Alfred would pick Dick over the man he’d known and raised from childhood himself?

3) Titans Hunt. I know I harp on this one a lot, but you can’t deny that it fits the pattern. Dick didn’t just lose one friend and teammate.....he lost Joey, he lost a good four or five lesser known Titans who nevertheless were people he viewed as directly HIS responsibility to keep safe. With these tragedies compounded by the fact that though comics played out a lot more slowburn and extended stories over years back then, like.....the aftermath of Titans Hunt was still everpresent and directly died into Dick’s reactions and emotions during the Mirage storyline and everything that happened with the failed wedding and his breakup with Kory AND the fact that he was literally forced off the team he’d basically founded, by the government agency that took over the team and appointed Roy as its leader in his stead.

3) Graduation Day. The second time the Titans disbanded it was again not due to a singular loss, because Dick didn’t just lose Donna at this point, but also Lilith died in the exact same story and though Lilith is criminally underused, like, she’s also one of Dick’s oldest friends. She was literally the first Titan to join after the original five. This then led into the Outsiders era, where Dick was shown to still be reeling from the losses of this story for an extended period of time, and in a fun parallel to the Titans Hunt aftermath, Dick was also ousted from his leadership of THIS team by essentially a vote of no confidence by his teammates (and uh, Bruce too, literally).

4) The Blockbuster arc. Where Dick’s emotional state was due to a continued string of multiple losses. He lost his apartment building and almost every one of the neighbors he’d built a community out of, as we’d been shown him actively involving himself in their lives and vice versa for YEARS before this point. Then he lost his circus, his childhood home, burned to the ground and with dozens of deaths - both spectators and actual performers Dick had known and loved as a child. Then he lost his relationship with Barbara, his sense of self-security and autonomy to Tarantula, he lost another teen vigilante who died in his colors, the mantle HE’D created, when Stephanie was believed dead in War Games, and it all culminated in losing the city he’d invested himself in as his CHOSEN home, the place he dedicated himself to protecting, when Chemo blew it up.

Oh just for the record - my nonexistent passport to the magical kingdom of Narnia for a fic that raises the point when bringing up Tim’s losses in the Red Robin era, that like.....ALL of the above happened at literally the EXACT SAME TIME as all Tim’s referenced losses occurred. Obviously Steph meant more to Tim than Dick on a personal level, but I also included her largely as an anchor point to the timeline, to show how that death, and not long after that Jack Drake’s and then Superboy’s.... occurred right smack in the middle of one of the absolute WORST periods of Dick’s life. To be clear, I don’t intend this to suggest that no actually, Dick had it harder than Tim - nah. 

No thank you. Hard pass. I hate that sort of thing even in support of my own faves over other characters. No, instead the thing I’d love to see explored more is just in light of the SPECIFIC angle fics take here - that Dick’s actions while Bruce was lost in time showed an obliviousness to everything Tim had lost lately - for literally ANYONE to bring up or introduce into the timeline here an awareness of everything Dick had lost AT THE EXACT SAME TIME PERIOD. To establish that actually, Dick didn’t just ‘not understand what it was like’ - rather, its more accurate to say that nobody in universe around this time ever shows an awareness of Dick’s own losses and says oh wait, that doesn’t track then. 

Because obviously, with this stuff put in proper perspective, Dick understands VERY VERY WELL the exact thing we’re accusing him of not understanding by being oblivious to Tim’s losses that he’s not actually oblivious to because he tries to talk to Tim about them all the time, while meanwhile its everyone else who has absolutely mum to say about the fact that Dick’s emotional state is compromised to hell and back at this point, not JUST because of losing Bruce, but also because *gestures wildly* literally ALL OF THE ABOVE in the exact same time frame Tim’s extended losses happened in.

And okay I am going to indulge in slight tiny itty bitty pettiness and point out my ire that so many fics set during this time tend to recite listicles of Tim’s losses, with Steph, Kon and Jack Drake at the very top of said list....while paying no attention whatsoever to the fact that STEPH WAS LITERALLY BACK BY THE TIME THE RED ROBIN SERIES HAPPENED. She’s LITERALLY a person Dick sends to check up on Tim after Tim turns Dick away when he tries himself. How are you gonna stress the impact Steph’s loss has on Tim when you’re not even acknowledging STEPH’S RIGHT HERE IN THE EXACT SPECIFIC CANON STORY YOU’RE CITING??? I just. afhioskhflafhlafhklfahlfa. 

And not to put too fine a point on it, but you know who ELSE was also back at the same time? CONNOR. Superboy LITERALLY was already back to life by the time the Red Robin series even began. Like, the issue where a resurrected Kon and Cassie (Wonder Girl) have a heart to heart about the fact that Tim and Cassie ‘connected’ during his absence and Connor stresses that this doesn’t bother him or make him feel negatively towards either of them at all, because hello, he was literally dead at the time, why would he mind that two of the people he loves most in the world sought comfort in each other? Yeah, that issue? Literally came out BEFORE Tim even became Red Robin.

I MEAN. I’m just saying, when people constantly take shots at Dick’s choices during this period because of how much Tim had lost before Bruce already, in order to shift focus away from the fact that Dick lost Bruce every bit as much as Tim did......and you repeatedly emphasize the SAME three names as the focal point of Tim’s losses while paying no acknowledgment whatsoever to everything Dick lost at the exact same time Tim lost these three.....it quickly becomes kiiiiiiinda relevant in my opinion THAT TWO OF THE THREE NAMES CONSTANTLY MENTIONED AS BEING TIM’S LOSSES ARE NO LONGER EVEN LOST BY THE TIME THE SUBJECT COMES UP. Again, I’m just saying! Pettily, mind you! I am aware of the pettiness, I just beg awareness of like *again gesticulates wildly at all of the above* ALL THAT!

LOL.

But I digress.

5) When Bruce was believed dead while he was lost in the timestream. Again, Dick didn’t just lose the father who had been the only parent in his life for almost TWICE as long as his first parents......this was coupled with the loss of numerous other sources of stability in Dick’s life. There’s the matter of his personal sense of identity and self-expression....Dick FOUGHT against becoming Batman, trying to handle Gotham in Bruce’s absence as Nightwing for as long as he could, because he knew being Batman was very much NOT going to be good for him. He put so much of himself into building his identity as Nightwing, establishing himself in that role, that self-image, that yes, I maintain it was an actual LOSS for Dick, to feel like he had no choice but to give that up and everything it meant to him and his own life, in order to essentially live Bruce’s life for him in his absence. 

Because it wasn’t just being Batman that Dick was struggling with at this time....he also had to act as the patriarch to the Wayne family, essentially raise Bruce’s ten year old son, step into Bruce’s old role in Wayne Enterprises, all while getting no acknowledgment for any of this, for literally LIVING his father’s life instead of the life Dick had worked so hard to build for HIMSELF....because of course Dick’s actions and struggles couldn’t even be advertised beyond the family and close friends, because the whole point of him doing all this was so that nobody else even realized that Bruce wasn’t really there anymore. Dick didn’t just assume Bruce’s responsibilities. Dick assumed Bruce’s life, so thoroughly that most people didn’t even put together that Bruce was ‘dead,’ between Dick handling Bruce’s actual roles and responsibilities while Hush made public appearances as him. 

Like, when you’re living someone else’s life so completely that nobody can tell they’re even gone....how on earth does that leave any time or space for you to have ANY kind of life of your OWN, y’know? Not to mention the fact that like in so many times previously....all this meant that Dick couldn’t even afford to let his grief for his own losses show, because he wasn’t supposed to be grieving any losses in the first place, that was the whole point of the con!

Additionally, couple this with the fact that throughout this time period, Dick didn’t have Tim to lean on at all, because it was never that Dick kicked Tim out or neglected him or didn’t care....he’d actively stressed how much he needed Tim, because the partner Tim was convinced Dick chose ‘over’ him - Dick was the first one to admit back then that he DIDN’T trust Damian yet, couldn’t afford to, because he was all too aware that Damian didn’t give a fuck about him yet and couldn’t be guaranteed to step in to have Dick’s back - because that required mutual trust that Dick literally just hadn’t had time to build yet. And add to THAT the fact that during this time, Jason was actively antagonizing the family and Dick in particular at every turn, trying to bring them all down and basically write over what all of them saw as Bruce’s legacy with Jason’s own version of what he thought that should look like.

Also also, take into account that unlike how often we see fanon depict Dick as just too stubborn or proud to ask for help, there’s the fact that he actually had very few avenues TO ask for help! As already established, he DID ask Tim for help. Not like Jason was an option at this time, and Dick’s friends weren’t actually just sitting waiting in the wings and groaning about the fact that Dick was trying to do all of this solo....nah, they kinda had their own problems, which Dick was all too aware of?

Like the fact that in the wake of Final Crisis, it wasn’t just Bruce that was believed lost. Many other key Leaguers like Martian Manhunter were dead or lost, with others struggling to fill the gaps left in their absence. Cry For Justice happened right after Final Crisis too....that story where Lian was murdered? So it wasn’t like Dick was remotely going to try leaning on Roy when Roy had just lost his freaking DAUGHTER and very much wasn’t handling it well (and not to overshadow Roy’s loss at ALL, but please let’s not act like Dick - who had literally been the person to put a baby Lian in Roy’s arms for the first time and had known that girl for pretty much her entire life - like, it shouldn’t be used to detract from Roy’s loss at all, but it shouldn’t have to, to just acknowledge that Lian’s loss right at this exact time was painful as fuck to Dick, who’d loved his niece like crazy.)

The pattern of compounding, concurrent losses in Dick’s life. I’m just saying. Its there.

And it extends into the New 52 as well, where Forever Evil came right on the heels of Dick losing his circus in THIS continuity to the Joker, just as a way to hurt him in Death of A Family. And with the aftermath of Forever Evil and Dick’s own literal death, being like....the complete loss of Dick’s entire life, even though he was revived quickly. That didn’t mean he got to live HIS life though, since Dick Grayson was believed dead and he was told had to remain so, so its like fuck whatever he actually wanted to do as he went about on the Spyral mission aka something that pinched his own sense of morality and personal agenda at every turn and was kinda the last thing a therapist would recommend for a trauma recovery period, lol. And like, for all the focus that was paid to how Dick’s family were hurt because they believed they’d lost him when he was actually alive, let’s not forget that for all intents and purposes, Dick DID lose his family in the wake of his resurrection because he was flat out told over and over that due to what ‘he’d LET happen to him’ he was an ACTIVE danger to them, and thus wasn’t allowed by Bruce to contact any of them or lean on them to any degree, until Bruce got amnesia and stopped blocking Dick’s pleas to return home by just not being there to pick up the secret phone line at all. 

(And omg, the obliviousness that just EMANATES off the hot takes that Dick had a ‘choice’ in all this and he still CHOSE to do what Bruce told him....like. LOLOL, stop being pissy about me bringing up the term abuse apologism when its literal victim blaming to paint the guy who had to be beaten into ‘agreeing’ to the Spyral mission in the immediate wake of the trauma of DYING, all while his father vocally blamed him for his own suffering and the ‘threat’ he now posed to his family, keying directly into the guilt complex Bruce knows damn well is at the core of most of Dick’s motivations.....fucking please. There’s no choice in all that. That’s active emotional, mental and physical abuse aimed at directly manipulating Dick’s actions, delivered by the guy who knows Dick best in the world and whose approval - particularly when Dick is at absolute rock bottom aka Current Location - matters more to Dick than just about anything because his sense of self-worth has more in common with dog shit than actual dog shit does. Or something. Idk. That analogy got away from me. But like. You get it.)

BUT. I. DIE. GRESS. (I guess).

Aaaaaaanyway, so yeah! That repeating pattern throughout Dick’s life of ‘loss? What loss (singular)? My losses only come in groups, lolol, fuuuuuun’ - mmmm. Yeah. So that’s what’s on MY brain right now. Thoughts?

[marauderundercover]

Ice Cream Weekends

Hi, this is just fluff. Pure fluff and nothing else. (Reverse Robins and Bio!dad Bruce)

Ages: Damian (23) Marinette (21) Tim (16) Jason (14) Dick (9)

“Dad, we’ll be fine. It’s one weekend. We’re not helpless.” Marinette reassures her dad, practically pushing him out the door. If he cancelled another trip with Selina, she’d be pissed. And a pissed off Selina means that the wedding is gonna be pushed back and Marinette was not about to let that happen. Not again.

“Are you sure you and Damian can handle the others? And you’re sure I don’t need someone to fill in for Alfred?” He asks, obviously trying to find a reason to stay. Marinette huffs, crossing her arms as she glares up at her dad.

“Are you forgetting that I basically grew up in a French bakery before coming to live with you? Seriously?” She points out, smirking at the resigned look on his face.

“It’s the first time I’ve left Dick alone.” He says softly. She glances behind her, where Dick was currently chasing Jason in an attempt to get him to play tag. Her youngest brother was sweet, and despite the incident at the circus, seemed to be adjusting okay.

“I know. But he’s gonna be fine. I promise.” She says.

“Call me or Selina if you guys need anything. And I mean anything.” He says. She agrees, and waves as he gets into the car. Yeah, she’ll call them. When hell freezes over. She was not about to be the one to ruin their romantic weekend. If they really needed them, she’d make Damian call. He didn’t care about possibly ruining a romantic weekend. Locking the door, she turns and whistles, grinning as her youngest brother runs right to her, standing at attention. The other two trail behind him, neither looking excited.

“Okay men, we have an entire weekend without Dad. Do you know what that means?” She asks, posing to try and mimic a general.

“Ice cream for dinner!” Dick cheers, jumping up and down. Marinette grins.

“Right you are, soldier! What else?” She asks, quirking an eyebrow at Tim.

“No sleep?” He asks, finally smiling.

“Like that’s any different for you.” Jason mumbles with crossed arms.

“Good job boys. And what’s the last thing?” She asks, grinning as they all look confused. Perfect. “Nobody tells Dad!” She cheers, laughing as Dick whoops and starts running in circles.

“Or, you could be responsible like you told Father you would be. Actually make them eat dinner and sleep. Two things that are important for their health.” Damian drawls, walking into the room with his arms crossed. Marinette rolls her eyes.

“Or, you could stop being such a buzzkill.” She suggests. He scowls.

“I am not a buzzkill. I am, however, taking Father’s instructions seriously. Grayson and Todd are both supposed to be in bed no later than eleven.” He says.

“That’s not fair! What about-” Jason argues, clearly about to mention patrol, something he knew he wasn't supposed to mention around Dick. It was bad enough that Jason and Tim had taken up the mantle of Robin at 12. Dick would not be allowed out of the house in costume for several years. No way.

“Father said that Drake and I will handle it. You, Marinette and Grayson will remain here.” Damian says in a no-nonsense tone.

“Come on guys, we’re supposed to be having fun! Dad and Alfred are gone, it’s okay to just relax.” Marinette insists, letting Dick grab her hand as she starts towards the kitchen. “Dick and I are going to make gigantic ice cream sundaes and eat until we get sick. You losers can either join us, or go eat some stupid dinner that Damian buys because I’m not cooking tonight.” She adds, laughing as Dick cheers.

“Yeah losers! Mari and I are the best!” He yells, practically vibrating in excitement. Marinette grins. This was going to be the best weekend ever. Walking into the kitchen, she grabs the stack of special bowls she had bought specifically for this weekend. They were huge, perfect for giant ice cream sundaes and she’d gotten one for each of her siblings. She figured Jason would trail in eventually, if only to get away from Damian. She loved her brothers, truly she did. But every time he had to wear the cowl, Damian got cranky. It was annoying. She may find his uniform as Red Bird disgusting, but he was always more relaxed as his own persona. Pulling out several different types of ice cream and all of the toppings she could find, Marinette grins at the completely covered counter.

“Okay kiddo, how’re we doing this?” She asks, completely prepared to watch her youngest brother slip into a sugar coma.

“Can I have anything?” He asks, eyes wide as he takes everything in.

“Of course.” She says.

“Then I want chocolate ice cream and cookies n cream ice cream and cookie dough ice cream and fruity pebbles ice cream and the peanut butter cup ice cream with hot fudge and marshmallows and caramel and gummy bears and m&ms and whipped cream and a cherry and, oh! Sprinkles! Lots and lots of sprinkles!” He lists off all in one breath. Marinette blinks at him before nodding and beginning to scoop ice cream.

“It’s your sundae, kid.” She says, trying to ignore the nagging thought (that sounds an awful lot like Damian) that this was a horrible idea. She wasn’t going to listen, because that would mean admitting defeat and Dick would probably be upset. So hopefully nothing too bad happens.

“What the hell?” Jason asks, walking in. Marinette frowns.

“Language, Jay.” She reminds him, nodding towards Dick. He rolls his eyes, ruffling Dick’s hair before grabbing a handful of gummy bears.

“Is all that ice cream for him?” He asks, pointing at the huge bowl that she was currently drowning in toppings.

“Yup. Told you guys we’re going to eat ourselves into sugar comas.” She says, passing her little brother his sundae before starting on (a smaller) one for herself.

“Think you can get me a couple scoops of strawberry?” Jason asks after a pause. She looks over at him and grins.

“I thought you’d never ask.” She teases, switching over to getting his ice cream. She glances over at Dick, eyes widening when she sees the huge dent he’s already made in his ice cream. “Hey, slow down kiddo. You’re gonna get a brain freeze.” She says. He nods, but continues shoveling the ice cream in at an alarming rate. Marinette passes Jason his ice cream while sliding a glass of water to Dick. He frowns at it.

“What’s that for?” He asks with a pout as he hugs his ice cream bowl closer.

“It’s so you can slow down. I don’t actually want you in a sugar coma, buddy.” She says softly, he sighs, but still takes a long drink of water. Finishing up the toppings on her sundae, Marinette grins as Tim walks in.

“Does your offer of ice cream for dinner still stand?” He asks, holding a cup of what she knows to be coffee. She hums, turning to the freezer and grabbing the one ice cream she hadn’t offered to Dick.

“Is your favorite flavor still ‘Coffee Bean Blast’ from Trader Joe’s?” She asks, holding the container. Tim nods with a grin, watching as she gets him several large scoops.

“Thanks Mars.” He says, taking the bowl from her and adding his toppings. Hot fudge and chocolate covered espresso beans. She starts putting away the toppings and ice cream so that they won’t melt, knowing the chances of Damian joining them were slim. He’d never really acted like a kid. Not as long as she’d known him. And since he’s Batman for the weekend, he’d be even less likely to do anything fun. Just as she’s closing the last ice cream container, the kitchen door swings open again.

“I think it may be beneficial for our….bond as siblings, if I were to participate in this ice cream for dinner experiment.” Damian says, his face serious as he walks in. Marinette raises an eyebrow in surprise, but grins at her brother.

“What flavor?” She asks. This was going to be the best weekend ever.

---

Bonus: “I blame you for giving him so much sugar!” Damian yells, stacking a smaller stepladder onto their tallest ladder.

“How was I supposed to know the kid would be able to get up onto the chandeliers?” Marinette counters, sticking mattresses underneath where Dick was hanging precariously, a large grin on his ice-cream covered face. Maybe next time she shouldn’t let him have so much ice cream.

@maribat-bdbwm

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