#why do I feel like the gotham rogues help bruce out

[mcuxhp777]

Ed: Is this yours

*Damian clinging on his leg*

Bruce: Yes, I was wondering where he went

Ed: *Sighs* It's the third time this week

Bruce: You try raising four children

#batfam #bruce wayne #incorrect quotes #ed nygma #damian wayne #why do I feel like the gotham rogues help bruce out #like he's balancing his life #then he has to deal with 16 y/o dick #13 y/o trigger happy jason #sleep deprived tim drake #6 y/o will crawl into your bed while you sleep damian

[lordgrimoire]

The Goonion would like a Word

Bruce had never had an experience like this before, letters of ransom from any of his rogues? Certainly! But the Goonion only ever left messages when they were paying bail for their own, and he was becoming worried as to why Jason’s Goons had posted a message to him via The Goonion.

“To Batman of Gotham, New Jersey, United States of America, We would like to have a word with you in regards to a pair of Meta Adjacent individuals we would like to harbor here in Gotham, we are only extending the courtesy to you regarding them due to the fact that the United States Government refuses to acknowledge them as people due to their conditions, the Boss said he would tell you himself, if he has not already he likely will soon. Suffice to say a family of three is coming to Gotham as their last chance at a safe harbor and we would prefer it if you did not get on their cases. We hope to receive your response without any broken bones, The Goonion, Gotham, New Jersey Branch.” Tim was staring at the paper, the stationary of The Goonion, with confusion, Dick, Barbara, Cass, and Stephany seemed rather accepting of it, and Damian was confused. 

“What is this, Goonion?” His youngest asked, staring at the paper as Bruce read over the return address, the Iceberg Lounge, a server named Thomas. 

“Ah, we haven’t told you about them yet have we?” Dick began, sitting back. “They’re nice folks, help get the Goons payed and are usually the ones to put their feet down when Rogues get outta hand for normal folks, for instance, the Joker does not have the stamp of approval for, many reasons. But primarily it’s due to his former Henchmen, including Harley, snitching on him to the Goonion.” Dick typed something into his phone, Damian’s own device pinging in his pocket, likely more info. “The Goonion has an odd relationship with us, we don’t go after them and they try to keep things regulated, Jason could probably tell you more, and it seems from the letter we do have to talk to him.” The door to the cave opened, and while Bruce looked up to see his second son come walking down the steps he seemed, tired, run down even.

“The Goonion already got to you? Good on them.” Jason huffed as he sat next to Damian, ruffling the boy’s head much to his exasperation and attempted swatting. “Situations fucked, the letter doesn’t even touch on the bigger parts but it gets, real fucky like, possibly gonna want to get Uncle Clark and Aunt Diana in on it fucky, definitely Constantine as well.” Well Bruce knew his flags rather well and if Jason was advocating for not only a League intervention but one headed by John Constantine? Bruce decided to address the original topic first. 

“They can stay, but they will have to answer questions.” Jason huffed and leaned back. 

“Ground rules then, the two younger kids? Meta Adjacent? They have a similar situation to me, and it turns out Ra’s is playing with not even a tenth of a full puzzle with the Lazarus Pit.” Everyone around the table stiffened, save Alfred who had come in behind Jason with a tea service, as Jason took a sip from the mug placed before him and nodding to Alfred. “Thank you. The details are spotty but the abridged form is this, the Lazarus pit is the remains of a bunch of people from a dimension to which we all go when we die, the residents therein call it the Infinite Realms since it services everyone that means every Person who has a faith or doesn’t has a place there. Furthermore these three’s parents who passed recently in a Government Sanctioned raid made a Portal to the Infinite Realms, and Lazarus Water? Corrupted, dirty, a literally soul eroding form of what makes up matter on that end of the divide, Ectoplasm.” Jason withdrew a vial from his pocket, a bright green and sluggish substances was held within. “This is pure ectoplasm, The Parents, a pair known as Doctors Jack and Madeline Fenton, introduced me to a Doctor from the Infinite Realms, suffice to say I am feeling much less angry and far more at peace with things, though apparently being angry is normal for the type of “Dead but Brought Back” I am.” Jason placed the vial on the table and slowly pushed it to Bruce, taking his hand back when he reached for it.

“Jazz, the eldest, is a student at Gotham University, or she is now, identities and the like will be handled later but for the younger two it’s time for some non starters, because apparenlty if you ask an Ecto Entity or anyone touched by the Infinite Realms how they died it sets off a “I Must Kill You Now” trigger in their head, essentially forcing them to suffer their deaths all over again until they deal with who or whatever asked the question, so no being a little nosey punk about it Tim.” Tim jolted at his name being said instead of Jason’s nickname for him but he nodded when he realized that his elder brother hadn’t looked away from him. Bruce was still proud the two had started to mend things so well, but as he stared at the vial a question swirled in his mind.

“Why did the Goonion send a letter then?” Jason stiffened slightly and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Alrighty, so you know how I’ve been going to College classes since a year ago? I met Jazz at one of them, as Jason Todd, son of Bruce Wayne and card carrying member of Red Hood’s Goonion. This was, sometime around Spring Semester, soooooo” Steph lunged up, mouth open with a squeak until Cass pulled her back down. Jason sighed and continued. “We started dating last year, she wants to be a psychiatrist and maay have started working for The Goonion in Star City when one of their guys ended up on her mentor’s patient bench. Her academics are already transferred to Gotham U but she’s still looking for a new Mentor.” Bruce made an affirmative noise at that, encouraging, Jason was holding something back, the younger siblings hadn’t been named yet. “The Goonion hired her former mentor and Jazz followed them in since they have really good benefits, and she has experience with the whole Capes and Crooks thing already. Though she told me she would rather she and her siblings explain that.” 

So, Jasmine Fenton, after being a student for at least a year in Psychiatry, became a Goonion Psychiatrist, and then when her Parents died she takes her younger siblings, one of whom is rather recently adopted into the family by the looks of it, and flees her hometown, one Amity Park Illinois, which has a disturbingly blank file in the League databanks. “Yeah,” Jason began, looking over at the Batcomputer, scanning the total lack of data from two year ago on. “The Government locked their hometown down quick, they have a branch called the Ghost Investigation Ward, who managed to get a law in before our current Shining Dome of a President, was sworn in, apparenlty old Lex has been trying to rip that law to shredds since he found out about it and there’s something akin to a coup attempt going on from the GIW towards Lex. I looked into those guys already, I think it would be wiser to side with the current President and not a bunch of Loons who would dissect Uncle Clark and his kids if they got the chance.” Damian jerked slightly, turning to face Jason.

“What?” 

“Yeah, Krypton is dead it’s a dead world, by some of the smaller parts of the Anti-Ecto Acts that means that all Kryptonians are ecto-beings and by that law have no sentience, and are just emotions imprinted on ectoplasm, given the fact I died once they would pick me up as well in a heartbeat, for “disposal” as they call it.” The room had become Still, Dick seemed furious, staring at the damning lack of info alongside a pale Tim, Damian who was still staring at Jason realized just why his brother had looked back to him and was also looking at Cass, they had been brought back by the pit, they were by Federal Law non-sentient. Bruce felt the arms of his chair bend slightly under his grip before breathing out his frustration. 

“You have a plan?” Jason nodded, he seemed to be expecting worse, you really didn’t give him a reason not to, and began speaking.

“The Goonion will be dealing with protecting people who fall under the acts, we just need the JL to take this problem and light it on fire, drag it into the public eye and raid a few of the GIW’s bases that may have people, both from our side and theirs, in captivity. I will be going tonight to get Jazz and her Siblings from a bolt hole of theirs, an Aunt in Arkansas whose bound to be investigated is hiding them, I just need to borrow something.” Bruce allowed an eyebrow to climb up his forehead, he wants to borrow the Batplane for it.

“I’ll allow it, go and get them once it starts to become dark out, I’ll expect you back by dawn, do you have a place set up?” Jason blinked at him before nodding. 

“Yeah, one of the safer corners of Crime Alley, closest part to Gotham University, three bedrooms, two bath, someone maaay have helped me pick it out.” Bruce nodded, he would get nowhere in trying to guess which of his other children, Alfred, or any of Jason’s friends, or even some of their own collectively reformed Rogues could have helped Jason in this, but suffice to say it was a safe harbor and one backed by some rather tough figures. The Goonion alone would give anyone trouble, but with them being in Crime Alley that meant that they were essentially in an invaders nightmare. Dead ends, construction, dilapidated or abandoned buildings, it was a natural ambush site. Jason then put a box on the table, it was a scanner of some sort. 

“One of the reasons they’re coming here is this,” he flipped a switch and the machine began to frantically beep, practically sounding a long tone before Jason flipped it off again, “Gotham sits on a similar point to Amity Park, and as such we are LOADED with ambient ectoplasm, constantly stirred up by magic based curses of one sort or another it essentially blinds ectoplasmic tracking devices.” Bruce nodded, accepting the device as it was pushed down the table to him. “Jazz had apparently decided that they would run to Gotham if things went sideways like this anyways, we’re the closest ambiently effected city to Amity not ringed by GIW outposts and scanners.” Bruce paused in his observing of the machine, the GIW had surrounded other cities that had high ambient ectoplasm?

“Where?” Jason pulled out a small notepad.

“Well, Jazz wouldn’t tell us, but the Goonion has it’s ways, The GIW has encircled the following cities, Salem, Boston, and Springfield of Massachusetts, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia and Gettysburg of Pennsylvania, Chicago Illinois, Savanah Georgia, D.C., and then San Francisco and San Antonio of California and Texas respectively, I asked for this list at 6 this morning, I was handed this current version at Noon, these were just the overt ones. Metropolis, Bludhaven, and Gotham, are currently not surrounded, there are locations between them but not many.” Bruce stood, watching as addresses were placed on the table, each assigned a sticky note and details. 

“You should get ready to go get Jazz and her siblings, we’ll deal with this.” Bruce tapped on the sticky note closest to him. Jason nodded and stood, following Alfred out of the Batcave as Bruce looked to the rest of his family. “We have targets, we have details, Tim, dig up what you can on the GIW, Damian, Dick, Cass, Stephanie, your with me, we’re going to raid as many of these places as we can tonight, Barbara,”

“I’ve got comms, got it.” She interrupted, rolling over to the Bat computer and preparing for daylight operations 

#dp x dc #dc x dp #danny phantom #batman #dc #dp #danny fenton #jazz fenton #dani fenton #ellie fenton #jason todd #bruce wayne #tim drake #dick grayson #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #duke thomas #damian wayne #the goonion #The Goonion V The GIW

[starry-bi-sky]

Part SEVEN of "Clone Danny"

Red Robin, Danny recognizes, steps away from him as he sits up. "My name is Phantom," he signs, blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes. (From Red Robin's perspective, it looks like he has no eyes. There lacks his signature green glow.) "I'm not a gang member, just an out-of-town vigilante."

Red Robin frowns at him, an uncertain grip on the bō in his other hand. "Phantom?" He repeats, no lacking amount of suspicion in his voice. "How can I believe that?"

Right. Yeah, okay, that's fair. Danny shrugs at him, and slumps against the wall. "Google search?" He gestures, he's been out in the daytime before and he's seen the news articles about him.

Red's eyes narrow at him and Danny simply draws his knees up and faceplants into them, half-listening to Red's murmurs into his comm while also trying to get some extra-shut eye.

("Oracle, can you pull up anything on a vigilante named Phantom? The guy here is claiming to be one." Tim says.

"On it."

"Is this Phantom wearing a white mask?" Bruce asks, his voice gruff like an aftershock. "There's a vigilante who shares the same name, but he resides in Illinois."

"Is this guy from that Amity city you visited ages ago?" Says Tim, before shaking his head. "Don't answer that. Yes, he's wearing some freaky mask. I said it reminded me of Hood's helmet for a reason."

"I've got something," Oracle interrupts, "Bats' right. as usual. The Phantom of Amity Park, not much stuff of this guy but he's only been out for over a year. Apparently, his rogues' gallery consists of ghosts."

"Oh great.")

"Look tell the Batman that I'm sorry for trespassing on his turf," He signs irritably when Red Robin eventually starts talking to (re: interrogating) him again. "It's not like I want to be here."

"How did you get in Gotham anyways?" Red Robin questions, batman was on his way to help deal with the situation but Tim doubted he wouldn't get caught up on the way with dealing with petty crime. "Your turf is nearly a thousand miles away from here."

"Two words." Danny deadpans, "Teleport ghost." (Red Robin winces sympathetically.) "I'm keeping this bastard in the thermos for a month for this alone."

(Danny was ignoring the slow-choking anxiety growing in his lungs over how he was gonna get home. He never takes his phone when he goes out, the risk of breaking it was too high. He had no way of contacting anyone to get him home.)

(He swallows the growing lump in his throat, and buries the feeling in the back of his mind.)

"Thermos?"

Danny unclips his Fenton Phantom Thermos off from his belt loop and shows it to Red Robin. "My ghost-catching device," He says with one hand, tilting it carefully for Red to inspect. "I wish I could say I made it, but its a FentonWorks invention."

(He wasn't sure if it was a smart idea to say who it belonged to, but saying it wasn't his probably loosened up any tracks on him, right?)

"Do you work with these Fentons, then?" Red asks, and something dark and shadowy flickers from the corner of Danny's eye. He glances over, and sees nothing, and his hackles raise.

(Either that was Batman, or a ghost, or Danny's mind playing tricks on him. He couldn't feel his ghost sense building in his throat, so he decided it was either the latter of the former.)

Danny snorts, quiet and gruff. "No." He clips his thermos to his belt again, stifling a smile on his face. "The Fentons hate me actually, I prevent them from catching ghosts themselves. Their son gives me their tech."

He had a cover story, so he might as well stick with it, right?

Batman shows up at that moment, appearing atop the little roof where the door is, and giving Danny a heart attack when he speaks in his low, rumbly voice like thunder rolling in, "Why would they hate you for that?"

Danny shoots up to his feet with a startled yell in his throat, clutching his chest as he whirls around and looks up. He nearly runs into Red Robin, and signs a few choice swears at the Bat.

"wow you're scarier in person, asshole."

"you didn't answer my question."

"Of course I didn't, you scared me." and Danny takes a trembling step back when the Batman jumps down and lands on the roof in front of him. He's faced ghosts before, but somehow the living is always scarier.

"But, um, the reason is a bit.. complicated, I guess." He says, fingers beginning to shake as his adrenaline wears off. God is he tired. He wants to go home. "The Fentons are the local ghost hunters and local crazies. I don't know if I can call them mad scientists because they're harmless to the living."

"But they're extremely anti-ghost. I've heard from their son multiple times the very unethical things they would do to ghosts if they got their hands on one."

Danny 'talks' a little more before calling it quits, even telling Batman that he can't tell him more without putting his identity at risk.

Plus, its getting harder and harder to hide his bone-deep exhaustion and his growing fear of being stranded in the most dangerous city in America with no way home.

"I would love to tell you more, believe me I'm dying to." Danny signs, shaky sarcasm dripping from his fingers. His hands are visibly trembling and he's withholding a slowly growing panic attack. "But I would like nothing more than to figure out a way to get home."

"Do you have no one to contact?"

"Sort of. But only one of them could probably come get me and get me back to Amity by sunrise. And I have no phone."

That one person being Ellie.

=====

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 4.5 (Dani interlude) Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 7.5 (Dan Interlude) Part 8

Taglist: @the-navistar-carol @thought-u-said-dragon-queen @gin2212 @youracearocroatneighbour @luckybyrdrobyn @deeplyconfusedbear @epilepticnerd @beautifulmomenttodrawblank @sara0055 @blusunkhild @letmesayfuxk (?) @latheevening226 @tkiesai @rosedasy @meira-3919

#dp x dc #dpxdc crossover #danny fenton is a clone #dpxdc #dp crossover #danny fenton is not the ghost king #dpxdc au #it was either ellie comes to get danny or he stays in gotham Somewhere #and he's Only Just met the bats so they're prolly not gonna offer anything #danny's fear of being alone in gotham is prolly downplayed here #but if it were me i would ALSO be slowly driving up to. a panic attack the longer i was in an unfamiliar city with no way home #if this were a proper fic that panic attack would be a lot more evident in the writing #alas #not me looking up Batfam personality cheat sheets because ive never read the comics #dont trust my characterization of the batfam im winging it on google search and summaries of their personalityand out of context comic page #fun fact amity park is described as a moderately large urban city similar to chicago or san francisco which means i cant call it a small to #listening to Dark Arkansas Daughter while writing this #'you with the dark curls you with the watercolor eeyes. you who bares all your teeth in every smiiile' is so au danny coded #bullet point to prevent me from dragging #i need to stop writing these at midnight #im a very honest person and it shows in my writing and it sucks

[disniq]

heyyy it's the tropes jason anon again back at it with a new question! what quotes from the comic books would you say describe jason & his philosophy well? thank you so, so much for helping me out ❤

Hi again Anon!

Full disclosure here; I don't think Jason has been written consistently enough over the years to necessarily have one set, inarguable philosophy. But I do think there are certain themes that carry through.

So;

Red Hood: Lost Days #3

This is, notably, the first time Jason kills. (I'm not including Garzonas, which is debatable, or the Cheer incident, which is a retcon) He finds out his hand-to-hand teacher has a barn full of drugged children about to be sex trafficked. The cops and politicians are in on it, making lawful justice extremely unlikely, but taking out one man takes out the system. Jason crosses that line for the first time because nobody else is there to stop it, and this is the most practical route.

He does not see it as "murder" because he feels it was deserved.

Red Hood: Lost Days #4

After that line has been crossed - as Talia points out here - a pattern emerges. It's notable that Jason does not kill all his dubiously skilled teachers, only the ones he deems the worst of the worst - people deliberately and repeatedly harming everyday people, especially children.

Jason reiterates this in his famous utrh speech. He's not talking about killing every rogue, every criminal. He's talking about killing the worst of the worst, the people who can finagle their way out of the system, the people the system fails to catch.

Under the Red Hood

It would be remiss of me not to include that one time Jason killed a nazi. Good for her dot gif.

To Jason, these people are beyond the regular means of justice, so he provides his own. He stops them from hurting anybody else.

This is not an exclusively post-resurrection opinion of his, either. Jason expressed similar thoughts during his Robin run.

Batman #422 (thank you @benbamboozled 😘)

This woman, Judy, baited her sister's murderer into attacking her too and then slits his throat. She's unrepentant, and Jason agrees with her decision. (Bruce, for the record, gives a speech on how "nobody is above the law" which is. An interesting stance for an illegally operating vigilante to take lmao)

It makes sense to me that Jason, as someone who has seen the system fail repeatedly (both as a civilian and as a hero), would have those kinds of doubts. The system doesn't always work. The system often fails the most vulnerable people.

When Bruce was failed by the Gotham justice system, he became his own extra-judicial system. When Jason is failed by both the justice system *and* Bruce's own vigilante system? Why wouldn't he do the same.

Unfortunately, this thread is mostly dropped for a while with the wave of writers who either actively hate Jason and try to make him capital E Evil or who are playing shameless self insert with him, but there are two more recent panels that I want to include too;

Task Force Z #12

So, in TFZ, Jason pushes who he thinks is Bane off a roof for killing Alfred. It... is not actually Bane, but instead the brainwashed former corpse of Gotham re-reanimated via comicbook science and. You know what, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that Jason regrets killing Gotham because he didn't deserve it, but reiterates that he will kill the real Bane if he gets a chance.

Jason sees killing as something he can do that others can't, that others maybe *shouldn't* have to do.

The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #8

And finally, I adore this little beat in JTMWSL. This is something Jason thinks about. He's not just some brute that doesn't understand that "killing is bad". He thinks about it, reads theory about it. He sees that between the black and white, there are many, many shades of gray.

He understands that people who don't kill with their own hands aren't necessarily good people - like these cops here, gleefully waiting for him to be killed in prison. And that the people who *do* get their hands dirty aren't necessarily the bad guys - like poor Judy.

And I think he probably varies where he places himself on that scale at any given moment.

#I'm sorry anon none of these are strictly speaking quotes but this is what I've got lol #jason todd #asked and answered #long post #my meta

[on-leatheredwings]

i've found your account only a few days ago but ever since then I've been STUCK here rereading your fanfics, especially ones with damian. i wasn't even a dc fan (heard about some stuf, watched some films and cartoons, but that's it) but now im reading comics since im Obsessed and need more batboys in my life (rip my productivity😔)

Anyway, after Sleepover i'm curious what will Bruce (and maybe even Thalia) think of batboys strange behaviour towards reader. He's smart, so he definitely notices it early on, but how he'll react....

I can see him being weirded out (like he was by Jason's anger issues, before his death), but he also can be an enabler, since Robin (literaly any of them) had a hard life, so if those relationships can help him why not pretend that everything is normal? you'll be safer in a Wayne's Manor anyway

All in all, thanks for a new hyperfixation 💞💞

P.s. About games:

1. Boyfriend to death 1&2 - since you're into yanderes you might want to check this game out. I prefer the second game, but the first is also fun. But beware the trigger warnings!!

2. Long live the Queen - more of a raising sim than dating sim but you still can romance some guys and girls.

,3. Hatoful Boyfriend - mostly a comedy, but there is a yandere.

4. The Royal Trap - it's been a long time since i played it, but it used to be one of my favorites so i'll just mention it.

5. Higurashi - once again not really a romance sim, but its an interesting horror mixed with a slice of life

;A; AWWWW THANK YOU IM SO HAPPY YOU LIKE MY STUFF.... THAT MAKES ONE OF US GIJSDOFAFGHFOJDSD

and yes yes get into DC!!! (girl who hasnt even read a full run since like. injustice)

damn now you got me thinking and excited. incoming spiel

i agree entirely about bruce just knowing how Bad things can get, so to make things simpler, he's like "yes, your darling(s) can stay in the manor, boys. 🙄"

mmm yes..... when it comes to bruce noticing the batboys are yandere, i think it's always sinfully delightful to just have him be reluctantly okay with it. 😈 it's also easier narratively ngl but i also like the idea that the batfam is all just corrupted.

bruce's thoughts are that they (his sons) fight for vengeance and justice but this is where they could use some leeway.... we all need our vice... they fight so hard for gotham, they deserve a little treat (getting rid of your human rights)... it's very "Dad who wants his sons to have happiness even if its not healthy" of him. in fics where bruce is a yandere, well, he's the exact same way so he can't judge. although if that's the case, i like the idea of bruce just being like "yes what we do isn't right. let's not talk about it. just don't kill <3"

still wondering what i like more. a yan!bruce who's self aware what he's doing is wrong but he just refuses to think about it. or a yan!bruce that justifies it all because of his paranoia, Tower of Babel style (if you don't know, that's when it's revealed batman has plans to subdue/kill the justice league just in case they go rogue.)

for the batboys depends on their personality... for damian, he's so resolute in things that i prefer when he just believes 100% what he's doing is okay, if not actually righteous. ^_^

hmmm talia.... I'M STILL UNSURE HOW I PREFER THAT AS WELL... i think talia being a you-arent-good-enough-for-my-son mom is a little cliche but also. she kinda would say that. you'd have to prove your worth somehow but idk how tf darling would do that LOL. in the end, i think talia is just relieved/comforted that her son indeed feels desire and wants love and will continue the family legacy (regardless if youre afab/can biologically have children.)

no THANK YOU FOR THE ASK!!! AND THANKS FOR RECS!!!! heheh yeah ive checked out btd and im not averse to the warnings its more like im not that most of into the designs ngl. fox guy seems cute? AND LMAO FUNNY BC IM ON A HIGURASHI REWATCH (never played it tho)

#yandere batfam #ask

[everyones-least-favorite-bard]

hey uh actually its time for me to vomit some thoughts on ghostbat

i really do love all the content out here for them in the vein of like divorced-core bitchy snarking and whatnot its funny its classic fandom behavior so its got that nostalgia factor its real fun to see but (non derogatory) but! i feel like thats such a watered down way of observing them. a reflection of a reflection of a reflection if u know what i mean

like obviously this isnt a new thing fandom is doing dynamics get dissolved into the simplest, most consumable caricatures of themselves possible all the time. its like a rite of passage at this point. but there are truly so many fascinating directions you could take ghostbat in particular and seeing it dissolved into just. gesturing at the above paragraph. that. is kind of sad.

i think (and this is just my observations from reading batman the knight and vol 3 of batman inc) one of the keys to their dynamic that really gets me is how modern-era (for lack of a better term) ghostmaker is consistently chasing bruce's shadow. i would say most of his actions can be described as being motivated by a desire to understand and be understood by batman.

like. hes living in batman's shadow not because batman's reputation precedes him or because batman is more capable than he is but because there is something fundamental in batman that ghostmaker believes he lacks. it's a key part of the infamous pseudo-break-up-in-the-rain in issue 105 of batman (2016) when bruce leaves khoa for gotham: bruce says, “you’re sick. there’s a part of you that’s broken and you’re angry that it’s not broken in me.” and khoa is reasonably incensed by this and takes a swing at him. they devolve into a fight that ends with the agreement we saw dick reference obliquely in issue 104.

of course, this assertion is categorically false—bruce himself points it out later in the 2021 batman annual. ghostmaker discusses his latest take-down of a major portion of his rogues gallery and how his successful defeat of all of them makes him a fundamentally better crime-fighter/vigilante than batman since he’s doing it without any of the personal vendettas and attachments bruce has.

but the key is that in his recounting of his battle he inadvertently reveals that he does in fact have a connection with each of them: madame midas and kid kawaii in particular. madame midas took down his fathers business when khoa was young and we see in his memory that this is something that deeply upset him and something he never forgot. in his actual take-down of her he brings it back up when he delivers the killing blow (batman annual 2021). with kid kawaii hes visibly upset by her physical appearance being that of a child and regularly does his best in their fights to take her down in a way that can hopefully allow whatever child-like portions of her remain to be saved (batman 108). i believe one of his battles with her actually contributed to her creators having to put an emotional inhibitor in her since some of what he'd said last time they fought got through to her (batman 107/108).

and bruce points this out!! he's somewhat subtle about it, of course, but he points out that no actually, khoa isn't free from this fundamentally very human part of him that wants to help people because it's good and that wants justice for wrongs slighted against him. still in the batman annual issue, he says, “you spent years focused on a single crime lord. that dedication isn’t about glory or efficacy. there’s a reason why this victory matters to you. a reason why you care.” and khoa (after a flashback) gives an embarrassingly flimsy defense in response to this but it’s still very, very clear that he does, in fact, suffer from the same bleeding-heart syndrome bruce does—if perhaps not as intensely.

obviously i have my gripes and whatnot with khoa being tagged as a psychopath since it seems kind of flimsy at best but i don't know enough about aspd-spectrum disorders to really pin it as definitively good or bad but still!! still!! he does have the personal stake in vigilantism that he condemns bruce for having (not even touching on the whole phantom one/clownhunter arc). at the end of the day ghostmaker believes hes missing this unnameable quality of empathy/desire for justice and he thinks that's what separates him from bruce and what makes them incompatible as partners (vigilante partners but also like. take that as you will): it is not.

the reason they cannot work together is because khoa believes he is missing this part of himself and as long as he continues to believe he's incapable of these things he's never going to measure up to his ideal of batman in any of the ways that matter.

on the batman end of things i feel like bruce is most characterized (at least in the batman the knight era of their relationship) by his desire to see khoa “fixed,” for lack of a better word. he initially takes khoa at face value for things, so when khoa gives his whole "i’m a vigilante for the art, the drama" speech he believes him.

it's actually a very sweet kind of naivete—like, of course, why wouldn't khoa know why he's doing this? bruce is very clear in his convictions regarding his motives for vigilantism and he and khoa are at the very least intellectually matched, so why wouldn't khoa be honest? why wouldnt he know the reason why he fights? if minhkhoa khan, the ghostmaker, says he fights crime because he believes in the aestheticism of a job well done, why wouldn’t bruce believe him?

so it becomes a point of contention between them for a very long time because bruce believes this kind of selfish method/motive and the incompatibility between them because of it will eclipse any relationship they have and, looking at the notorious issue 105 rain fight, it technically has. in their first mini-divorce arc in issue 6 of batman the knight in which they have a fistfight in the snow and khoa leaves bruce after beating the shit out of him he spends much of the fight talking, again, about the artistry of crime-fighting and how he enjoys the challenge of it more than the justice. when he wins the fight, he stands over bruce with a gun and contemplates shooting him (contemplates being used generously here: he stands over bruce visibly anguished before dropping the gun) and his excuse for not finishing bruce off is just that it would be, “too easy" (batman the knight issue 6). again: bruce has no reason to question this—even in a brutal physical altercation khoa continues touting his vaguely hedonistic motives behind joining bruce’s crusade. there is no reason why bruce shouldn’t believe him.

its only when he comes back in issue 8 and leaves with bruce towards the league of assassins that we see bruce kind of begin questioning how true khoa’s cited motivations are. obviously he's still pretty deeply embroiled in his Woe: I the Bat am Alone theatre kid bullshit—“this can’t last. and i think we both know it.”—so he spends most of their time together more observing the idea of khoa he has in mind and convincing himself that anything he sees outside of his established framework isn’t real, but we see when they escape ra's and blow up a major league of assassins headquarters that the illusion is starting to slip (batman the knight issue 9).

in their one-v-one combat for the position of demon’s heir (demon’s heart in bruce’s case) bruce’s monologue switches out of his doom-and-gloom khoa and i are incompatible talk into more of the space we see him in around the issue 105 break-up: during their fight bruce says, “there’s nothing to you! there’s nothing there! you know what’s in me?! everything!” which is a less accusatory version of the 105 quote but still in the same vein (batman the knight issue 10). so we see bruce has moved past taking khoa at face value regarding his joy in “the artistry of crime-fighting” but he still hasn’t quite shifted further into recognizing khoa’s other/true motives.

the rain break-up on bruce’s end, then, shows a further evolution of his interpretation of khoa’s behavior: he believes khoa’s desire to continue working with him is founded from a desire to keep bruce on his level—an action rooted in jealousy over something he will never be able to obtain. khoa believes this as well since, as stated before, he hits bruce in the face immediately after it’s pointed out. but even then he is still taking what khoa says at face value: he still believes khoa is only motivated by his thirst for a challenge and that khoa wants bruce by his side more so he isn’t alone in his empty hedonism than for actual wanting of bruce himself. this informs his reaction in issue 104 after he and robin chase a criminal to singapore: after his undisclosed argument with khoa he is visibly upset over the state of their relationship but believes it irreparable due to the differences in their morals.

i think from there though, bruce only begins picking out the gaps in the mess that is khoa (that we see anyway) when khoa’s telling him about his grand exploits after they meet up again. while their earlier conversations (ie; batman asking ghostmaker to stay in late issue 105) definitely reveal bruce’s newer perspective on khoa, it’s really only the batman annual 2021 conversation where we see bruce make the jump to further filling in what khoa is (very loudly) not saying. another tumblr post also mentioned the scene being the first recorded mention of bruce saying khoa’s name after the rain fight—which considering the last time we saw him say it was The Fucking Rain Break Up Again, sort of thematically implies he’s reached another level of understanding with khoa.

so i’d say on batman’s end he very badly wants to understand khoa, but he’s also only just starting to realize that he doesn’t have enough of the pieces.

this got away from me tbh but the point being: ghostbat has more nuance than a lot of incorrect-quote-y type content has room for.

#although ig that could be said about any fandom character dynamic tbh. #this isnt even touching on the batman inc stuff that went down #im waiting for it to finish before i go there but my god batmans not even really in the gd comic and theres STILL rampant ghostbat bullshit #also didnt hit the issue 103 (iirc?) bit with khoa sitting beside bruce while he meditates in the desert #another crazy insane moment between these fuckers #clutching my fucking head #ghostbat #dc comics #ghostmaker #minhkhoa khan #batman #bruce wayne #dc meta #bards dc thoughts #bard writes

[elizabethemerald]

Son of the Red Hood: Part 4

Diana stepped out from the Zeta tube as the computer softly announced her name. She glanced around at the cave she was in. Bruce always has something interesting going on, and while she doesn’t particularly care about cars or computers, it’s still fascinating to hear him talk about his various projects. The Bat himself was sitting in front of his wall of screens, though he had turned to look at her. She knew she and Clark were some of the few members of the League that could teleport into the Batcave without asking permission first. 

“Diana. Is there an emergency?” Bruce asked. 

“No, Bruce, I just thought I would come to visit.” 

He gave her a long, considering look before turning back to his computer. She smiled at his back. He never did handle strangers in his space well. Especially unannounced and unplanned ones. 

“Does your sudden visit have anything to do with your unscheduled questions during the debrief from the Justice League Dark yesterday?” 

“Mmm.” She hummed for a second and came to stand behind him to look up at the map of Gotham he had on his display. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get my questions on the itinerary. I had been researching in the archives right up to the last moment before the debrief.”

“Hn.” She took his grunt as forgiveness. The Gods only knew how often Bruce had gotten stuck in a research rabbit hole. She set a hand on his shoulder and when his shoulders dropped a little she guessed he wasn’t feeling touch-adverse at the moment and gently rubbed his arm. 

“As to your question, yes it does.” 

“Hn.” She could hear the creak of his gloves as he clenched his fist. “And what does this Ghost King have to do with Gotham?” 

“I don’t believe that your city is in any danger.” He relaxed his hand but stayed focused on his screens. “I need time to be certain though. I would ask, as your fellow hero, your coworker and your friend, that you not investigate until I’ve had a chance to look around.” 

Diana could almost physically feel the internal struggle Bruce was in. His unending desire to know every secret and to puzzle out every mystery versus his respect for her. This is why she didn’t try to go behind his back, if she had just showed up in Gotham to start looking for  the Ghost King Lord Clockwork had mentioned, he would have been onto her in a moment and stuck his nose somewhere dangerous. Hopefully by outright asking him to give her time, she could find the little king without his unnecessary involvement. 

“Will you call if you get in over your head?” He asked, turning to look at her. 

She just raised an eyebrow at him in return. She wasn’t going to scold him even though she had gone toe-to-toe with Darkseid, it was clear that his collection of wards were good for him if he was trying to ensure her health, no matter how unnecessary. 

“I will call for aid as soon as I need it.” She said to help alleviate his concerns. “And I will do my best not to involve myself with your rogues or your citizens unless someone’s life is in danger.” 

He gave her a stiff nod before turning back to the computer. 

“If you would like, you can borrow one of my cars. Alfred can give you the keys.” 

She nodded in return even though his back was to her. He would look for her response on the cameras in the cave once she left. She gave him a little smile and walked up the stairs to the manor proper. It was high time to find a little king that was in need of her tutelage. 

.

Jason woke up better rested than he thinks he’s ever done. Despite waking up to comfort Danny from a nightmare last night he still slept perfectly. He was a little surprised to wake up to Danny sleeping under his arm, but his arm wasn’t even tingly from the boy sleeping on him. He gently nudged Danny to wake him up. 

“Hey bud, how’d you get in?” He asked, his voice still rough from sleep. 

Danny sat up and blinked at him for a few seconds, also seemingly still a little asleep. 

“I just felt like sleeping here.” Danny said, before rubbing his eyes and giving a big, cat-like yawn. Jason swore he could see little fangs in Danny’s mouth before he closed it with a snap and began hopping his way along the bed. 

“Come on Jay! It’s time for breakfast!” Danny said excitedly. 

Jason smiled and followed the boy. He was endlessly thankful his siblings had come by when he first took Danny in because the kid had toys and games, a bed and blankets, plenty of clothes and there was a variety of food in the cupboards. Steph had bought him a Wonder Woman bear, probably mostly to make fun of Jason’s long time love of all things WW, but now Danny carried it everywhere. 

The two of them tramped their way into the kitchen, Danny standing on his tiptoes to see the kitchen countertops. Jason started pulling pans out of cupboards and food from the fridge to make them breakfast. 

“Can you teach me how to cook?” Danny asked, his eyes so damn big that Jason can’t help but nod, and he’s rewarded by the brightest smile he’d seen. It felt like he needed sunglasses. 

“Sure thing pipsqueak. Just promise not to touch the burners or my knives until I say you’re old enough, ok?” 

“Of course Jay!” 

Jason turned away, trying not to think about the flame that burned in him every time he saw how happy Danny was. He couldn’t let himself get attached, sooner or later they were going to find the kid’s parents and he would leave Jason’s life and leave it just as dim and dull as it had been before, but he couldn’t seem to stop the flame from burning brighter as he prepared simple omelets for their breakfast. 

Danny rested his chin on Jason’s shoulder as he showed off how to flip the omelet properly. It took several seconds for his brain to catch up with the fact that his not yet five year old was suddenly able to rest his head on Jason’s shoulder. He turned slowly and carefully in case he needed to catch Danny, but found the boy just sitting in the air looking at him curiously. 

“Why did you stop? Are the ‘melets done?” Danny tilted his head like a cat; and then his whole body tilted to the side in the air. He was still cross legged but now sitting with his torso parallel to the ground, five feet in the air. 

“Huh. Did you know you were floating?” Jason asked, keeping all of his panicked shrieking on the inside for now. 

Danny looked down at himself before looking down at the floor. 

“Oh. Should I stop?” 

Jason genuinely didn’t know how to answer that. Finally with the same mental shrug he gave to all of the magical, alien and meta shenanigans he’s dealt with turns back to the stove to finish the omelets. If he could deal with the likes of Harley and Ivy without freaking out, he could handle his kid, this kid floating a little. 

“Uh. If it’s comfortable then you can keep doing it.” Jason decided. “You can float around me and your aunts and uncles, but be careful doing it around other people.”

“Right, because if they catch me they’ll cut me open.” Danny said. 

Jason felt his soul curl up and die a little. God bless this kid. Jason was going to personally rip the throat out of anyone who hurt his kid. It would make the heads in a duffle bag seem like a children’s party. 

“That won’t happen again.” Jason growled. “As long as I’m alive I’ll be there to protect you.”

Danny gave him another brilliant smile and the flame in Jason’s chest burned all the brighter. He quickly plated his omelets and handed one to Danny. The kid seemed perfectly content to eat floating in the air. Jason took his to eat the table and Danny followed, still cross legged, though he bumped into a chair and rotated further until he was fully upside down. Somehow, and Jason wasn’t certain he even wanted to start trying to figure out how, Danny was still able to eat his breakfast perfectly well even upside down. The plate and the omelet didn’t seem at all affected by gravity. 

Jason casually took out his phone and snapped a picture and sent it to the “Ants n Buncles” chat that Steph had made for those in the know about Danny. He included the caption, “SO I guess my kid can float.” The chat immediately started going off as his siblings reacted. “I think I also saw fangs in his mouth earlier.” Then he muted the chat so he could focus on the kid in the air in front of him. 

What the hell was he supposed to do with a floating kid? He was not suitably equipped to teach a meta kid with powers AT ALL. 

.

Jazz woke up tired. Fatigue wasn’t especially anything new, nor was the accompanying sense of dread that had kept her up into the early morning, but it was unusual for it to happen now that she had moved away from Amity Park. She no longer had to stay up to make sure her brother and his friends were safe from ghosts, or to treat his injuries after their parents shot him, so she was actually able to get a proper amount of sleep each night. She still wanted check-in texts from Danny to make sure he was ok, but now she usually woke up to them. 

She had anxiously sent him a text yesterday, but the message had been marked undeliverable. That probably meant he was in the Ghost Zone. If he hadn’t texted her by nightfall she was going to have to text Sam and Tucker. It was rare that all three of them spent that long in the Ghost Zone all at once. She didn’t have to worry, not yet, at least, that’s what she kept telling herself as she tried to focus on anything else other than the growing feeling that something terrible had happened. 

It wasn’t like she didn’t have other things to think about! She had exams coming up, and a project due, and rent was coming up, and she had another shift at the student cafe tomorrow, and… and her phone was ringing. She recognized the Amity Park area code but not the specific number. She gave herself a small mental shake and answered the call. 

“Hello, this is Jasmine Fenton, may I ask who is calling?” She said, utilizing her calm and professional script. 

“Hello Jasmine, this is Angela Foley.” Jazz was surprised to hear from Tucker’s mom. While she had spoken to the woman a few times and was generally on good terms with the Foley family, she wasn’t certain why she would be calling her. 

“Oh! Mrs. Foley, is everything ok? Did something happen to Tucker?” Jazz began mentally running through her checklists and emergency protocols. The Foleys didn’t know that Tucker helped Phantom protect Amity, but they were one of the families expected to be the most supportive if they found something out. 

“Jazz, I need to make sure you're sitting, I have something that I need to tell you.” Angela’s voice had a hoarse quality to it that Jazz couldn’t remember from her previous conversations with her. She sat heavily in one of the few seats in her apartment. 

“Did something happen? Is Danny ok?” Jazz asked, her scripts falling apart in the face of her fear. 

“Yesterday there was an explosion at your parent’s house-”

“But things are always exploding in that house!” Jazz interrupted, her fear growing like a creature in her stomach. 

“Jazz, the house is completely destroyed.” Angela said, trying to keep her voice soft and even. “Your family was home, Jazz, your family is gone.” 

“No.” Jazz immediately denies. “Danny must have been out of the house, he must have-”

“Tucker pulled up the police records. He’s so good with computers my boy, but he told me you needed to know, you needed to be told.” Angela was rambling, probably unused to having to share this kind of news. “The police said they pulled three bodies from the house. Jazz, I’m so sorry.” 

“No. He can’t be dead. No.”

“Jasmine, I-”

“NO! No!” Jazz was crying, tears rolling down her face. “No, Danny can’t be gone.” 

She couldn’t breathe, she was screaming and crying and her throat hurt and she couldn’t catch her breath and Danny couldn’t be dead and it wasn’t fair and she should have been there and she left him and she couldn’t breathe and she was screaming and…

Jazz collapsed to the floor with one last heartbroken scream on her lips as her phone fell from her nerveless fingers.

#dp x dc #jazz fenton #danny fenton #jason todd #diana prince #son of the red hood

[bruciemilf]

Me again!

Jaime and Jason have very similar helmet designs, so like...

It wasn't easy, but they had managed to subdue Cheetah and Captain Boomerang, which was a team that no one had on their bingo cards for rogue team ups that month. The villains were tied up with Wongergirl's lasso, Cheetah fuming and attempting to hiss around the duct tape over her mouth while Boomerang was passed out cold.

On the other side of the villains, Jason could see the rest of the young heroes who had been called in to help standing in a small circle, laughing about something or other, checking back in on the rogues to make sure they hadn't escaped. His eyes narrowed at tge casual arm Superboy had thrown around Tim's shoulders and the way Tim leaned into his side and made a mental note to corner the half-kryptonian and ask about his intentions.

"Intense, huh? I didn't think you worked well with others, mi amor." He was ripped from his musings by his boyfriend, who had finished some of the clean up and wandered back to his side, eyes bright and teasing.

"We were in the area when you got the call, love. And they're not so bad, really."

Jaime shrugged, self satisfied. "Sure. If you say so. Khaji Da thinks you're an imbecilic oaf who lies to himself to avoid healing with his problems by the way."

Jason reached out and snagged his boyfriend by the waist and pulled him closer, until the armor on their chests touched. "And you?"

He mused for a second, puraing his lips in thought. "I think you're just doing what heroes do. Saving lives and refusing to go to therapy."

"I go to therapy!" He replied ingignantly, to the sound of giggles from his paramour. "You were in excellent form out there, babygirl."

He did not miss the way Jaime shivered at his wods and lowered tone and the ways his gaze became warmer. "So were you."

They leaned in together, Jaime craning up and Jason leaning down, to have their lips meet in a kiss that would no doubt promise a good post-mission date night when...

Bonk!

The two pulled back as their helmets collided, Jason flushed red and Jaime almost definitely blushing beneath his helmet, his flush deepening with the laughter from the rest of the young heroes at their mistake.

"...maybe we should wait until we've changed out of out uniforms..."

"Yeah. Yeah that sounds good to me." Jason dropped his hands from Jaime's hips and stepped back, instead taking his hand. "The rest of you can handle this! Au revoir!"

The two of them grappled abd flew to tge nearest Zeta Tube to get back to Gotham and then back to Jason's apartment to continue the date they were on when they were interrupted.

HELP. GOING ABSOLUTELY FERAL OVER THIS.

Tim and Kon. MI AMOR. BABY GIRL???? KHAJI DA ROASTING JASON. IM- JSJSJS

Okay. It's just a bit worse when the batfamilys around. Jason doesn't plan for it. He doesn't. But it's in his nature to compete. He had to prove his worth since Bruce took him in, why stop now?

No, he's not trying to impress Jaime.

Shut up, Dick.

"Little Wing, you literally didn't have to take on those thugs alone."

" He does it cause Jaime's turned on when he gets aggressive."

" I did not!" He yells, throwing a betrayed glance in Duke's way. What happened to loyalty between poets?! " ...Why? Did he say something?"

"Oh my God, --"

I'm not immune to Jaime flying over with Jason's favorite post patrol breakfast, helmet retracting back to reveal a bloody grin and black eye. But his eyes practically sparkle when he sees Jason. " Jay!"

At the very least his siblings feel enough disgusted shame to look away when Jaime locks his legs around Jason's waist, peppering kisses all over his helmet. " Ay, papi, your ribs aren't looking good."

" Tell Khaj to stay out of my business. It's not OUR Injury."

He still hugs Jaime's waist, gentle and careful, even thought he knows his boy's tough and has the scars to prove it. "How about you? You're good, baby boy?"

" I'm always good,"

" We'll see about that..."

Bruce, fighting for his motherfucking life over coms:

#THISSSSS #bestie we should talk hmu #dc #dcu #jason todd #jaime reyes #jason x jaime #jayme #redbeetle #reyhood #jayreyes #dick grayson #bruce wayne #text

[wetratheadcanons]

some battinson headcanons cause i still think about him almost a year later but 60% is actually just me projecting onto him

is autistic (obviously), but also has adhd

he also deals with intrusive thoughts, it's why his no-kill-policy is so important to him

loves video games, obscure internet lore and horror - especially analog horror and found footage

his favourite games are project deepweb, he solved it in just a little under 2 hours, and vampyr, he always plays the pacifist run despite it being harder

has a whole wall dedicated to the five nights at freddy's lore, scott cawthorne might be his biggest enemy

absolute animal magnet despite being kinda terrified of all of them

can't go anywhere that has animals because they're immediately flocking to him

the whole "introvert at a party finds the dog" - situation but instead the dog finds bruce and refuses to leave

ace was the first animal bruce wasn't ever really scared of, alfred thinks he may have been trained to be a psychiatric service dog prior to his adoption

wherever bruce is in the tower, ace isn't far away, his presence calms bruce

prefers loud music, he doesn't like being alone in his head too much and the noise helps him

apart from nirvana and my chemical romance, his favourite bands are ghost and ice nine kills because he likes their consistent themes

selina gifted him a pair of pink cat-ear headphones once and they're the only pair he ever wears at home

he claims it's just because they're comfortable but everyone knows it's because he loves them

eats when he's hungry but rarely at specific times, it doesn't make sense to him

he can't really eat after waking up

doesn't eat meat, he feels like it lies too heavy in his stomach

he also doesn't like the smell of cooked meats or fish

he loves sour fruits and has a mild sweet tooth

has a caffeine addiction but he doesn't like the taste of coffee, prefers black and green tea (to alfred's delight) and energy drinks (to alfred's horror)

he's trans ftm who is either gay or bi with a preference for men (he doesn't know and doesn't care to find out)

selina and him never went further than their kiss, bruce will always put gotham before anything else (until dick comes along) and selina needs a freedom that he can't give her

they also both realised it was a spur of the moment thing since they barely knew each other at that time and found they're better off friends

they're co-parenting a kitten though it's adorable really

bruce found her half dead on patrol one night and called selina in a panic about what to do, they named her chewy

ace loves chewy, she sleeps on his head, bruce has an entire folder on his phone dedicated to pictures of them

had a robin hood phase when he was 6, tried to steal from his parents to give to people in need

alfred continually reminds him of this after he takes in dick

his favourite rogue is ivy, they have important conversations (as in ivy talks and bruce hngs) about climate change while bruce tries to stop her from murder

he implements policies build after her ideals into wayne enterprise

his respect for her rises after she gets together with harley

for all that he fights it, he can't sleep without the sound of gotham - which includes gotham typical crime

he thrives when he's alone, it's how he does his best work, be it batman or wayne enterprise

has trouble admitting defeat, dick joining him as robin helped him in that department a great deal

is pierced. he did almost all of them himself, alfred has a heart attack everytime he spots a new one

the public has a weird badboy image of him, bruce has no idea where it came from

doesn't bruise easily but is still constantly in pain

has an absolute shit posture, social anxiety and crime fighting don't help

sleeps in the worst positions humanly possible

has a weird thing about mirrors, avoids them as much as he can

doesn't give interviews ever, it's part being a social recluse, part everything the press did to his parents, part hating to be perceived

has troubles with empathy, but his compassion makes up for it in great detail

dick uses him as a jungle gym, he pretends to be annoyed but secretly loves it

when bruce is working on cases in the cave, dick hangs head down off of bruce's back with his legs over bruce's shoulders

dick claims it helps him think, bruce knows it's because he doesn't want to be alone

bruce loves the relationship dick and selina have, might be a little jealous that cat got through to the boy much faster than him though

after taking in dick, bruce makes sure to show alfred that he actually does see him as a father figure - regrets all the times he told him that alfred's not his father

that's all i have for now

#the batman #bruce wayne #battinson #bruce wayne headcanon #headcanons #platonic batcat #dick grayson #batman #dc comics #catwoman #the batman 2022 #alfred pennyworth #selina kyle #battinson headcanons

[emma-d-klutz]

Ok the explosion of affection I felt immediately at Batman Unburied's Riddler being a condescending little jackass made me, like, really click in my mind how I feel about the character in a way that I can word now. And keep in mind, this is just going to be MY personal feelings and preferences and not real character analysis with reasoning behind it, so like if you feel differently, I'm not saying your take is wrong.

We good? Ok.

I think Riddler's best as an ally rather than an antagonist.

Why? Because he feels most like himself to me when he's just a little guy. A silly little billy with a genius intellect that he wholeheartedly devotes to riddles and puzzles and escape rooms just because that's genuinely what he’s passionate about and how he wishes to spend his time, and he will steal, hack, blackmail, and even take hostages as a means alone to this life's calling. He is a person who needs everyone everywhere to know all the time that he is the smartest and cutest person in the room or so help him god. He deeply loves Batman/Bruce Wayne in the way one who unironically called themself a “sapiosexual yandere” an online rp forum back when they were 14 deeply loves, and he will throw a tantrum if he doesn’t get enough attention. He roasts and gets roasted. He annoys and gets annoyed. He is just a funny little guy to me!

Now here's the issue:

In Gotham, rogues can be funny. Goofy - wacky even! It is in many ways encouraged. Securing your own campy gimmick is integral to getting into the rogue business there, and they mean it, the campier the better. HOWEVER, a rogue must still be seen as a threat. A real threat. Otherwise, you are nothing but a third string gag character.

So what is one to do with Eddie, who is a main and major rogue of Gotham's gallery so high ranking and OG he can contract and subjugate lower level villains into his plans and who is also just a funny little guy with motives that do not necessitate mass killings or disabling psychological torture? Well, I have seen properties tackle this by making him into a real threat with new or expanded end goals, and I have also seen properties decide to make him pathetic and snubbed, sadly relegated to a dejected gag.* And I don't particularly dislike or disrespect these as a whole. I'm more lukewarm to them, I guess. They still have my affection, but it is proportionally incomplete.

But when you make him an ally?

Well now! That’s a horse of a different color!!!

When Riddler’s an ally he can be competent and taken seriously while also being entirely a silly little guy who is insulting you and bragging. Full bombastic personality and full respectable skillset. AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! When he works as an ally, I go from “Eh, it’s the Riddler,” to becoming putty in this character’s gloved little jazz hands! And it’s not even about if he’s actually a reformed “good guy” or not. It’s entirely about letting him be powerful without making him scary. Er, to the audience. (You know, like how we know the Batfam scares the shit out of everyone, but as the audience, we’re not scared; we just think it’s funnier and cooler, because we’re in on it? I realize I’m overexplaining, and I thank you if you have read this ramble this far.)

I think comparable examples are Catwoman and Harley Quinn. Big, big name villainesses, yes. But Selina has always been more of a career thief than a coldblooded killer, and since she has a romance with the Bat, we don’t think of her as anything but an ally even when she continues to act as a rogue. She is allowed to cool and respected as a character without having to be the kind of crime you expect Batman to spend his time prioritizing. Harley, on the other hand, seems much more prone to murder now and forever, but because we always knew it was something she had been pulled into by the Joker, the audience already kind of saw her as an ally, and she often is one. Now she’s just a freewheeling antihero with a girl gang of roller derby baddies and other villainess/ex-villainess friends, associates, and love interests. And she’s still herself! She is just a funny little chick with a M.D.! She is bombastic and adorable and still very much able to pull her shit off. She annoys and is annoyed. A gremlin girl if you will. She is the easiest parallel, and I do not think it is pure happenstance that one of the times Eddie turned coat, she was involved in (and all the sirens were clients to) his detective agency. Nor, would I say, is it a coincidence that Eddie and Selina have also had a longterm friendship that’s-sometimes-slightly-more. Similar things are going on here, yaknowhaddimean?

But for some reason, Eddie’s switch to ally is the one of those three that just never sticks. And I have no theories as to why at this time. I just think, personally, that being a weird little grey-area character that is usually on the same side of the heroes is the best place for him. It is where he can best express being both a worthy rival and a little guy with glasses. You wouldn’t hit a guy with glasses, would you? Oh, you would. Ok.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk, and goodnight. 

*Shout out to instances that split the difference and go, "The Riddler will mislead Batman into thinking he's a real and present danger, but the punchline is no humans were harmed and he has tricked the Batman into playing riddles with him and hanging out." Those feel like an achievable, believable compromise and also are always funny/cute.

#riddler #the riddler #edward nygma #edward nashton #batman unburied #batman #batman meta #gotham rogues #a war of jokes and riddles #the batman 2022 #batman the animated series comics #batman the animated series #the batman 2004 #batman confidential #batman arkham games #i'm just listing all the titles i can think of that crossed my mind while writing this that were relevant ok? #i'm sure i missed some. these tags are clogged and not gonna be useable in a search feature anyways. who cares? I'm siting sources here

[dailycass-cain]

Well, now that I have time tonight, let's FINALLY dig into this film and my thoughts on putting an Elseworlds of Cass in it with Kai Li Cain.

I'll start with the adaptation itself. After the last few Elseworld adaptations modified the story (Red Son and Gotham by Gaslight) it startled me how mostly untouched the main crux of this one was.

The story is "mostly" beat for beat just like the original comic.  There are changes namely Killer Croc's role in the movie (compared to the graphic novel where he was a human mutated), taking out the Captain of Bruce's ship, and Talia's werewolf henchmen. The movie fixes a few flaws the original story had (Oliver has a handful of scenes in the comic while he's actively investigating and forges a bond with Kai Li). Not to mention his battle with Poison Ivy is expanded on (he doesn’t get trashed causing Bruce to save him. This Oliver backs up physically on being prepared for “the doom” that’ll destroy his city. 

Harvey Dent as well feels like a truly good-natured fellow who truly you believe can change the cesspool Gotham has become. Again, it helps with an extended scene. Not to mention switching Ollie for Harvey in some places helps more strength those bonds as well. 

But the true scope of what truly helps this animated adaptation is Bruce and the "Bat Family" in this. You really get a sense that after his tragedy, besides forging himself into Batman, Bruce made himself this family by adopting Dick, Sanjay, and Kai Li.

But also the movie explains better how Bruce had a foothold in Gotham by putting Lucius Fox into this tale.  It helps the further portions as well letting Fox be the one who is all, "I think Bruce might have cracked with all the death" he's witnessed in the few days back.

But I give the movie full credit in you really get a sense that Bruce cares and is snapped out of his obsession to end the madness by Kai Li for a better quieter moment than the book gave with Tim (who Cass replaces here).

Really it astounds me how much Kai Li has a role in this film. She's the human anchor to Bruce and shielded by Ollie from the terrors of Gotham. That's not to say this kid can't handle herself, it's just Ollie/Bruce have been thru A LOT in this story.

They really don't want Kai Li going down the path both went down to end the madness that plagues Gotham.

However, that really what differs between Tim's original intent of the story and Kai Li's. She's a seeker just like Ollie/Bruce, while Tim's character is just-- there. He isn't given much sadly (then again none of the Robins are). Kai Li’s scenes feel more justified while Tim’s is more he just walks into the exposition by accident. 

That's why I do enjoy about this story more it feels like Dick/Sanjay are active more than Dick/Jason in the comics along with Kai Li. Plus there's a twist in the climax with them that only adds to the ordeal Bruce has to go thru in this to save Gotham.

Why this story's end has that finality to it but--- due to Kai Li being a Cass/Carrie Kelly hybrid I kind of want a sequel actually. Just Kai Li adopting the Bat mantle and trying to save the city from another supernatural threat.

Heck, you can have the BAT-man warn her of the incoming threat to deal with before he's forced too.  Like you can easily visualize it being around the 40s and well how Indiana Jones or the Mummy it could get.

There's still a bunch of Gotham Rogues you could bring to it (Scarecrow, the Court of Owls, Bane, and Clayface just for starters that pop in my head). 

 Not to mention heroes around Gotham with mystical or into the occult (Kate Kane, Ragman, the Creeper etc).

I also just love the voice cast all around this film. Jeffery Combs easily delivers as Langstrom (not surprisingly). While David Giuntoli is starting to make me want him to voice Batman more.

Giuntoli gives his Batman a different darker edge here than Batman: Soul of the Dragon. So it's amazing how he can handle a 70s Batman while going a bit into the grit here.

Christopher Gorham as Ollie is kind of extraordinary in this to me. Literally how he flips from this drunken mess of a person to reveal the inner turmoil within him.  Like Gorham is exceptional here.

Tati Gabrielle as Kai Li just channels perfectly that innocence and trying to be that anchor of "reality" for Bruce given she's all that's left for him.  But also does a good job showcasing the tragedy she has to watch as her father figure descends to madness to save Gotham.

Literally, I'd say everyone in the voice cast delivers nicely here. If there's any negative well...

It's just Talia and Ra's are still by the numbers bad guys here. There's no real motives for either other than freeing an otherworldly creature. I do like Talia is an active player here than the book buuuut...

Her motives are just eh. But that was the problem with the book as well. I do like they gave her a better fate here than the comic (ugh at what that comic did to her).

But still, her and Ra's motives are just so paper thin.  But I digress that's the one flaw this movie could've corrected but didn't. The villains are so hollow and stereotypical. They really needed better motives.

Even with those flaws, I rather did enjoy the story. Honestly more so than the original book.  Cause the movie makes me yearn for more. I mean you have Kai Li here and not have her go down this path with maybe BAT man saving her from his fate.

Okay, I admit it. I want 1940s Bat costume with Kai Li. I just want to see her kick ass and continue where Bruce left off.

Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham doesn't hit that note Batman: Soul of the Dragon did, but it does come close for me. If they've expanded on the villain's motives than just have them be the same as the comic I probably would've enjoyed the film more.

Still, the places it did expand on I quite enjoyed. Plus the movie feels more like a Batman than the book which had a more pulpier Batman in it.  I'd rank this probably my fifth favorite Batman film (Under the Red Hood, Mask of the Phantasm, Soul of the Dragon, and '89 being my top favs).

But this movie was a pleasant surprise after the mess the last attempt at a Batman Elseworlds gave us that barely resembled the original story (or Batman: the Long Halloween for that matter) I kind of really dug this film waaaaaaay more as the add-ons felt warranted.

Batman: the Doom that Came to Gotham might surprise you. Save for Penguin and Etrigan’s bare butts. That will be sights one will never forget. .... I didn’t mind Etrigan’s. 

Just a last note on Kai Li. I'm okay with it being a loose adaptation of Cass.  You can see the tomboyish nature of Cass shine with Kai Li, the love she has for life, and seeing the good in others (Oliver, Harvey, and pulling Bruce out of the darkness for a tiny bit).

Her impact isn't physical, but hey a sequel can fix that. The seeds in this story can bare one where she becomes a vigilante too. The "wine cellar" and all the toys are good.

She saw the hope bats can bring to Gotham. Sooo maybe sequel bait? If not give me an older Kai Li as a Bat.

#batman: the doom that came to gotham #cassandra cain #kai li cain #movies #my thoughts #batman

[incorrectbatfam]

What are your thoughts on the Batman: The Knight comics?

Spoilers under the cut since it's relatively new

Batman: The Knight is a 10-issue retelling (spanning from January to October 2022) of how concept of The Dark Knight was conceived. It focuses on a young Bruce Wayne in the first handful of years after his parents' murders. I'll be honest, going into it I was a little like "whatever" because we've had countless iterations of Bruce's backstory and at the moment it seems like DC is oversaturated with Batman compared to other heroes, but while this isn't the most original take, the storytelling format coupled with the artwork makes it among the more memorable.

I like how the first issue starts with Bruce trying to channel his emotions into a productive way to help Gotham, but it quickly comes out in ways that aren't as helpful as he thought (with folks like Alfred helping him see that). His fighting/training is intercut with flashbacks of therapy sessions with Hugo Strange. This makes for a good setup because it shows how his noble intentions are confounded by his youthful recklessness.

Issue #2 is a continuation of Bruce learning his Batmanning skills in Paris. I also like how this issue addresses the hypocrisy of vigilantism—he's committing crimes to stop crimes. He also has to learn to be more independent because his whole life, he's been far too dependent on Alfred. I'm kinda meh on the kiss at the end, though I view it as foreshadowing for his future relationships, namely Selina. Also, I love the little details of the past like Bruce owning a Razr and the artwork being reminiscent of the late 2000s.

#3 is where we start really diving into the psychological aspects of Batman. It shows that Batman wasn't an easy decision and we have these glaring moments of self-doubt that, understandably, Bruce would have. Because, as the comic put it, how do you stop monsters without becoming one? The detective work itself felt a bit lackluster but the show-don't-tell of Bruce's trauma and the emotional kick to the solar plexus makes up for it.

I'm not as big of a fan of #4's cover art because it doesn't have the same feel as the first three but that's whatever. Story-wise, I think it's a nice take on Bruce's ninja training but there's nothing too special there. It feels like a transition comic and I was hoping to see more of Ducard. It also reminds me a bit of Batman Begins, but overall it sustained my attention and made me look forward to what he's gonna do next with his new skills.

#5's cover art feels like Carmine Falcone should be in it even though I know better. Not sure why. Anyway, Bruce is now in Russia on an espionage mission. Even when he's in a vulnerable place, we still see Bruce pulling together everything he's learned to outsmart Anton. Also, Bruce was ~this~ close to kissing a man. Half the fandom already knows he's some flavor of queer but I like having another piece of proof for when I inevitably get into an argument with another cishet neckbeard at a convention.

We all know that later in life, even with the batkids, Bruce has these walls around him that take a lot of work to chip away at. Well, in issue #6, we see these walls start to build up. Bruce wasn't always a hardened control freak. The opposite, in fact. He fails to consider the consequences of breaking the rules. We see this portrayed as a flaw in other comics, like when the Gotham Rogues continually break out of Arkham or evade the system, but this issue illustrates how that's not Bruce's fault, it's the system that's supposed to take care of the villains after he turns them over. We see Bruce losing faith in the system and relying more and more on himself, which leads to the popular lone wolf portrayal of him later on. I enjoy not just the nuance, but the details that show how someone like him would become closed off.

(Not a fan of the cover art in #7 that's just me.) This issue is where we explore Bruce's early relationship with Zatanna. She plays a smaller role but it's interesting nonetheless. We see Bruce experiencing magic and he even has the opportunity to acquire it, but he ultimately decides against it. He does a good job of placing boundaries on what he's willing to do, and at the same time it highlights why he trusts people like Zatanna and Constantine more than other Justice League heroes. Also, the humor feels very on-brand.

The training part of issue #8 felt a bit short for my liking, but I still enjoyed where the story went. This issue in particular felt more like it was about Anton's journey to becoming Ghost Maker, so while I didn't expect to see that in a Batman origin comic, it provided some interesting and necessary context for that character. For Bruce, I really like how this highlights that the battle for justice is just beginning, even though we've seen him endure so much already. With abstract concepts like justice, it's hard to picture the uphill battle, but toward the end of this issue I finally start to understand the magnitude of what Bruce is up against.

Issue #9 came out a day ago so it's the freshest in my memory. Bruce's globetrotting is finally over and he faces his real test against Ra's Al Ghul himself. We finally see everything come together to make Batman. We also get to see why Ra's Al Ghul was seeking Bruce in the first place with the incorporation of The Still. The pacing felt a bit off to me because with all the detail they're packing about how Bruce navigates the league of Assassins, it's hard to believe this is the second-to-last issue (I think there should be at least one more). The artwork also felt a little inconsistent at times but it doesn't detract from the story (the coloring is great though). Overall, this issue sets the foundation of the relationship between the Waynes and the Al Ghuls, even providing a possible connection to Damian's storyline.

The last issue comes out on October 18th. I'll definitely be reading it, but I might not remember to review it here so if you want my thoughts, shoot me a reminder.

Overall rating: 84/100. Not the most original retelling, but a detailed and fascinating spin on what we already knew. Also a good starting point for Batman newbies.

#ask #anonymous #bruce wayne #batman #batfamily #batfam #batman family #league of assassins #dc comics #comic review #comic recs #spoiler alert #tw violence mention

[kevin-day-is-bi]

Embarking on watching all the Batman movies pt 9: The Batman (2022):

This move is a bit complicated, in terms of accuracy. As a Batman movie, I really enjoyed it. There’s a very clear separation between Bruce and Batman, to the point where even Alfred comments “is Bruce Wayne actually going to be making an appearance?” It’s a perfect Batman Year Two, complete with the baggy t-shirt, smeared eyeliner, and awkward not-quite-quippy one liners (“you got a lot of cats” said to Catwoman). We see him purposefully interact with kids a lot, especially towards the end, and we have a lot of the classic internal dialogue which is treated exactly as cringy as it is (“the city’s scarred. Angry. Like me.”).

I also think they added just enough hints of not-quite-entirely-created or fleshed out aspects of Batman. Having the Iceberg Lounge was a nice touch, as was having the memory of Thomas Wayne healing Falcone. There were a couple major changes, and most of them worked fairly well. Having Martha be an Arkham was a weird choice, but paired with making Selina be Falcone’s daughter, it added nicely to helping Gotham feel insular.

Catwoman is fantastic, and I greatly enjoyed having her be so involved with the Falcones. I also quite liked Bella Reál’s storyline. Having a background plot of politics is really nice and it helped flesh out Gotham as a city.

There were a few changes that didn’t fit quite so well. Making Penguin be a normal mobster and part of the Falcones made me wonder how he would advance as the Penguin, and it made him a little less weird and out there.

Similar to that, I do have a fair amount of issues with their treatment of Riddler. Firstly, while making him be a type of villain that is feared in modern times (a white fuckboi Reddit mod), it once again brings up the question “why Gotham?”. It doesn’t make Gotham feel particularly singular, or especially messed up. Furthermore, by turning the character himself into a less (for lack of a better word) bright character, by making him not have the Riddler suit and have his outfit be covering and dark, it really makes him feel like he’s not the Riddler. While I could see the changes being made, with the amount of care that gets put into the Batman character and the Falcone family, it feels very out of place. While it seems like a nitpick, making his name be Edward Nashton instead of Ed Nygma is a great example of this. Ed Nygma is designed to be glaringly obvious, kinda cringy, and very campy. Plus, it fits with a lot of the Rogues (like Julian Day being Calender Man). Additionally, giving him reasonable motive (being screwed over by the crime families) sort of ruins the point of him. You have reasonable villains that exist for moral quandaries (Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, Babydoll, etc), but Riddler exists fairly in the black and white. He’s not as cut-and-dry evil as the Joker, but he mainly exists to cause chaos, not to raise good points.

Overall, it’s a very good BYT and a suitably fleshed out Falcone, and in terms of the internal machinations of Gotham it’s fairly comic accurate. Plus, a lot of the shots looked very much like comic panels, which is something I greatly enjoy. I deeply hate the Joker hints at the end, largely because I worry that it will fall into the same pitfalls that The Dark Knight did and will either not adjust him to fit the world very well or over-adjust.

7.5/10

#Embarking on watching all the Batman movies pt 9 #Batman reviews

[deadsh33p]

I'm very shy about sending asks but do you wanna talk about your version of the Batman rogues? If you don't is fine.

Decided to not do what you asked for and just tell you my batman universe. Since there are many characters, I'll just give a sad abstract for ya.

-I imagine the Batman universe timeline like how Gotham portrayed it: a mix of multiple different years. In this case I focus more on the 1920s, 40s, 90s and 2000.

-Look I understand why Bruce acts playboyish but I love my men goth and pathetic. He is goth and pathetic.

-Even though there were many conflicts, in the end batfamily becomes CANON. They all love each other very much (yes this includes Jason and Damian) (Damian acts like how the batfamily webtoon portrayed him aka not a piece of shit)

-Hyperempathetic Bruce Wayne my beloved.

-Yes Batman spanks the living shit out of his rogues but he has a list of who he thinks has more chance of reabilitating "sooner". Seeing how Harley is getting better, his hopes for Harvey leaving crime comes back AND STRONG.

-Batman and Harley are friends. In their own way.

-Harley acts similarly on how she acted in TNBA: nicer. Though she swears alot.

-She gets along pretty well with the Batfamily (said prior), but with the rogues too. The majority of them.

-She goes to Oswald's house to escape the cops every now and then.

-Obviously she's incredibly close with Ivy, but she gets along really well with Edward. Before Harley met joker (and became Harley Quinn) she was Ed's therapist, til he broke out of arkham. But she feels alot of sympathy for him. Ed is grateful for meeting Harley but he absolutely HATES that she knows everything about him, for obvious reasons.

-Edward dislikes Ivy alot. She hates him too so no probs.

-He streams on twitch and they can't legally ban him because it helps finding where he is.

-Ed avoids killing now. But in his first years as riddler he would do much horrible things. You can say he's "getting better" (he still commits crimes though)

-Kristen is canon here, though she doesn't die.

-The first years being the riddler, he was in an incredibly bad moment in his life. Batman once found him having a breakdown close to his own traps.

-Has autism, OCD, anxiety and schizophrenia. Though this has nothing to do with his crimes.

-The reason why he loathes attention SO MUCH is because of the extreme neglect he suffered through his entire life. Unconciously he is kind of showing in the face of every abuser/bully that he has power now.

-Works with The penguin.

-Oswald is kind of the dad of the rogues, if you interpret it that way. Everyone goes to him for help, being either advice on their personal life or the "please let me hide in your house Batman is going to break my femur" kind of help.

-Adopted Martin (gotham). Learned ASL to understand him better. Martin is a horrible child to everyone (future arsonist) EXCEPT Oswald (he genuinely loved his dad hell yeaah).

-Oswald used to be more aggressive (like in gotham) but over the years he's become more calm. Though if you push him over the edge he WILL put an UMBRELLA over your THROAT.

-For some goddamn reason he's close friends with Ivy.

-Victor Zsasz works for him.

-All of the rouges hates Joker. Every single one. Joker used to be less extreme but he's pushed too farz even fir the villains.

-Batcat canon idfc

-Selina's literally the most chill out of them all. All of the rouges be commiting terrorism and my girl really be here simply stealing pearls like😭 (/lh because my girl IS TALENTED)

-She doesnt gets along much with the rogues in general.

If you have anything specific pls feel free to ask ;)

#long post #text #batman #we reslly be changing info with each other😭im so happy for sharing some stuff #there is more but i dont want this post to get to 10k words yk #ty ty #literally talked abt my faves so i didnt include some like harvey or victor fr//ies #if you havent noticed i simply pick my fave parts of multiple comics/shows and just mix them all together #im a horrible writer bte #*btw

[lamamasjamas]

In The Notion of Fear

Summary: A new type of drug and a new type of killer run rogue in the city of Gotham. You happen to come back to the city in a bad time. Bruce doesn't really know how to deal with it.

a/n: I'm back with the Brucie poo content! I've been busy with other things. This one's kind of short, I'm trying to get back on the groove with Bats man again. I actually like this gif, I’m not that into Pattinson but this one 🤧☝️

Series Masterlist

Warnings: Emo Bruce, stalking/Bruce gets a little horny watching through the mirror, angst, violence (sorta graphic), mention of medicines and tampering :0, I changed the POV for this one cus I wasn't digging using she and her all of the time

A scratch 

A single scratch that spread throughout the body.  Infesting organs, the bloodstream and eventually the minds of the victims.  

It was painful, but most changes usually are.

In their final moments all they see are the vibrant and fluorescent colors of the Earth.  

Are they really victims if they return to their natural state? They are one with earth now. The simplest form with no good or evil existing. 

It's okay to be afraid. It was only natural.

Their screams mean nothing, the pain means nothing. They turn into nothing. 

How is that so bad?

…

The gruesome amalgamation of human and plant made her gag. The man’s mouth is wide open in a silent scream.  A blooming flower was on his right eye socket, its petals blooming and dripping with unknown bodily fluids.  It was too dark to be blood. 

It disgusted you. He stepped closer and you stepped back, making yourself smaller by pulling your hands closer to your chest.  You saw the blood under your nails and on the tips of your fingers.  

What have you done?

It was all a blur after that. 

…

She’s been quiet for about five minutes.  If anything, she still isn’t over what happened an hour ago.  To be expected.  He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he killed someone as brutally as she did.  

He feels bad.  For her, for the victims, even himself.  But, at least he could take a breath of relief knowing that she wasn’t a cruel monster. No. She was something else entirely.  He would help her.  

Another promise for himself to fulfill. 

“We’ll call it a night.”, he said after sighing for the millionth time that day.  

“What? - No- We need to figure this out.  What if he’s just killing innocent people now? Those weren’t his targets-” He stops her with his hand on her forearm.  She was panting by the time she got the words out of her mouth.  Her heart rate was elevated and by the sweat forming on her brow and her frantic disposition he could tell she was on the edge of a breakdown.   

“He’s still in prison.” 

She pauses, looking at him skeptically.  “How do you know?”  

He stands and maneuvers his way out of the barren room, purposely avoiding the vines accumulating on the doorframe.  She attempts to follow him out.  

“I asked you a question.  How do you know he hasn’t escaped?” She sounded stern, but he could hear the hint of fear in her voice.  He wouldn’t answer. That agitated her further. 

“I just know. Trust me” Gordon’s always a good source. 

She huffed.  She looked away and mumbled.  He could see the tears in her eyes.  They were building on her lashes, yet they wouldn’t fall.  They almost shone against the moonlight.  She looked lost again.  Frail.

“What are we going to do with the body?”  What is he going to do with the body? He almost forgot about it, too focused on her wellbeing.  

“Why did you do it?”, he asked instead. 

She paused, she felt embarrassed thinking back on the event. How could she tell Batman that she was assaulted by a drunkard?  It almost felt mundane compared to the things he’s done.  She’s sure she wasn’t as much of a threat as the Riddler. 

“He was following me, and I didn’t notice, I was too weak. I wasn’t focused.”  She stopped abruptly, as if she said something he wasn’t supposed to know.  The slight tilt of his head gave away the question he had in his mind. Weak? 

She continued without further explaining her initial dilemma.  

“I scratched his face.” She showed her hands to him. His blood was dry on her fingertips.  

“I thought he flinched back- but I’m pretty sure a little scratch doesn't cause one to convulse and spew their guts out.” 

He reaches towards her hands to inspect further.  She hides them beneath her jacket before he could. 

“I don’t know if something in my body triggered them to react,” Them? She looks up and sees his lips purse, she nods to the hallway now covered in plant life which wasn’t there before. “-the plants, I mean.  Or… if it was just me.” 

He nods. He feels uneasy as a vine starts to curl around his boot.  He acts as if he didn’t notice.  

“We’ll figure this out.”  A look of surprise overtakes her features.  She feels relieved. Her gratitude didn’t need to be said.  How they’ll figure out how to fix the mess was beyond her, but he was Batman.  Everything will sort itself in the end.  It has to. 

He left her in her solitude.  With her plants and her equipment.  

“Go home, get some rest.  I’ll keep in contact.”  

She cried when she finally felt him leave the area.  She woke up surrounded by leaves and green. Not so alone after all. 

… 

Wednesday, December 28th 11:00 a.m. 

He got an email a while ago From Lincoln March. ‘Come visit the facilities.  I’ll give a private tour just for you!’  It was left ignored.  Until now. 

March looked to be a simple man.  He was friendly, always talked about family and his values.  But his smile, there was always too much teeth involved.  Too gummy.  He was loved by all. He was a good seller.  A good talker.  Everyone could see through it though; it was impossible not to.  No one could be that nice. 

March in fact did not give him a personal tour, for that he’s grateful.  His personal assistant was the one showing him around.  He looked through every room, hallway and paper he could see in his vicinity, at least he would look through it at home, where he could rewatch the contact footage.  

Your name caught his eye in a hallway.  The office was lit brightly; lots of succulents.  What really caught his attention was the fly trap sitting next to your pencil holder.  If only he could see the tag on the pot. 

“Excuse me…” He moved closer to the glass panes.

“Mr. Wayne.”  He could make out the first few letters.  He needed to shift slightly to the left.

The assistant grasped his shoulder tightly.  He looked at Bruce in concern.  

“Are you alright, Mr. Wayne.” Bruce stiffened and the assistant removed his hand quickly.  

“Oh, I’m sorry-”

“Do you know where the restrooms are?”  

The assistant blinked owlishly up at him.  “Uhm, yeah, yeah. Right this way.” 

…

Bruce ditched him as soon as he could.  It wasn’t hard to find the labs, you were a lab director after all.  He also happened to know your specialty.  Toxicology.  

He entered the lab as quietly as possible. You were sitting with your ankles crossed. looking through papers and scribbling down notes on the side.  Others inside left and gave him looks as they passed by.  Only acknowledging you with a wave goodbye or a nod. 

Apparently, he came at a great time.  Everyone was about to have their lunch.  Of course, ever the overachiever, you stayed.  He stands awkwardly trying to find the right words to say. 

"You look nice." You don't turn around.  Instead, nodding and scribbling down notes on the paper once again.  

He steps closer, his shoes squeaking against the tile.  

"You look more than nice actually-" You still don't turn around.  You flip through some pages and read over them silently.  

He finally grasps your shoulder to make you turn. 

"Look, I'm sorry-" Your eyes widen, and you brush your hands to your ears and pull your earbuds out.  

"Oh." 

You push your glasses up and subtly trail your gaze from his shoes to his head.  His shoulders slump and he quickly diverts his gaze to his feet, suddenly regretting looking for you while at work.  

He feels your hand lightly tap his which hangs limp by his side.  

"What are you doing here?", you ask quietly.   

"I came here to apologize." To investigate. 

"I didn't like how we left off the other day." Both in the charity event and after.

“Oh” Your lips purse and your tongue slightly peeks out, wetting your lips and making them shine under the overhead lighting.  His eyes follow the movement and he copies. Your heads are almost level because of the highchair you were sitting on.  Of course, he was still a couple inches taller but due to his almost permanent slouch your eyes met.  

It reminded you of middle school, when you were the same height.  At least, close to the same height.  He’s always been tall.  He’s always been this way.  Quiet, shy, meaningful. You've always been the extroverted one of the duo. The one he would whisper to in their ear to ask the teacher a question.  He relied on you. 

He would be the one to see your real self. The one that was also shy and quiet, and insecure. You used to rely on him. You didn’t like thinking about losing him now that you finally found him again. Especially since you feel if your days were being counted. Moving to Gotham was supposed to be your chance to be real again.  Forgiveness came easy when it felt as if you were about to lose everything. 

You look down to your hands and fidgeted with the metal clasps of the bracelets and rings. 

“Me neither.” He barely caught your words. Too busy staring at your lips.  

“I’m sorry too.”, you added. He could feel your breath on his neck.  He didn’t realize how close he was getting.  

You grasp the lapels to his collar and pull him closer, his body impacts harshly with yours, making him grunt quietly.  He feels his stomach tense and his face heat up from the proximity. 

 You push your arms around his waist underneath his coat and press your hands against his shoulder blades.  You rest your head where his shoulder and neck meet.  He hasn’t held anyone, not since the last time he’s seen you, waiting for a plane out of Gotham.

He could feel you shake against him.  He didn’t need to look down to see that you were holding back tears.  He rubs his hands over your back, putting his head on top of yours.  He feels your fingers tighten over his dress shirt.  Your nails were blunt now.  You must have filed them down. 

You didn’t want to admit it, but his presence was calming.  The anxiety from last night and the morning after washed over like a wave.  His touch was welcomed. 

He settled in silence until you finally collected yourself.  You pinched his waist teasingly, he barely reacted. 

"You look more than nice too, by the way." You snicker before leaning away from the hug.  He bristles, and you chuckle. 

As you pack your things in the lab he glances around the room, making sure to at least glance through the papers scattered across the desks.  

You could hear him rummage through your table and almost told him to stop.  He’s always had a habit of getting in your stuff, your business. He was too willing to scrounge through your room when you were teenagers, thinking all of your belongings were his as well. Rich kid thinking. 

You never protested; you doubt you ever will. 

“I’ll give you a tour Bruce.”, you say as you lead him out of the room and into the hallway. 

You tap the keycard to the pad on the door, effectively locking your part of the facility down.  Just then March appears looking disheveled. 

"There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere." He slows down and looks between them skeptically. He turns to you and wraps his arms around your shoulders.  Your nostrils flare slightly. Enough to make Bruce smirk.  You disguise the scowl under your hand, to his amusement.  

"Seems like you've run into Dr. Y/L/N… again…"  

Whenever Bruce is in a good mood, he suddenly gains the will to stomach social situations.  He shoves his hands in his pockets and leans against the wall behind him.  Smirk still in place.  

"Yeah, crazy how life works, huh Doctor?"

Your lips parted to respond but not before an alarm rang off on your watch.  Your eyes widened. You shrug the arm off of your shoulder and your playful demeanor falls.  Bruce recognizes this behavior too well.  It was usually when you were being called to your house early or when your parents were home.  The next thing you would do was get closed off and ultimately stop responding to messages, calls, everything. It usually lasted a day or two. 

Were you having problems with your family again?  

You looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile.  Your eyes were full of meaning. I’ll tell you later. 

“I’ve got to go.  It was nice seeing you again Mr. Wayne” You passed by both men and could barely mumble a farewell to your own employer.  

As he looked back on the footage he noticed you were starting to look paler since the moment he saw you sitting in the laboratory.  

… 

His hands were clammy as he awaited your response.  He may or may not be watching as you react to his messages from the roof opposite of your apartment building.  He wasn’t wearing the batsuit tonight.  Often only saving it when he had to make an appearance to people.  When he didn’t want to bring attention to himself he would go out in his baggy jacket, his baggy pants and his boots.  No one noticed him like this, they weren’t supposed to.  

Sometimes he liked it that way. He liked to think of being Batman as making a statement.  He wanted criminals to feel fear when they saw him in the suit.  He wanted people to feel hope when they caught a glimpse of his shadow in the night.  

It was all psychological foreplay for him.  The Bat served its purpose and he would continue to use it as long as he wanted to be seen.  Tonight, he went out for personal reasons. 

He almost felt bad for watching like this.  Even if a part of him thinks you already knew of someone's presence.  He didn’t quite understand your abilities yet.  It seemed like a sensitive topic. He didn’t want to upset you.  He’s hoping in time you would tell him more.  

One of the excuses he made for himself, to watch you through your window, was to make sure you were okay.  The panic that flashed through your face gave him cause for worry.  Of course he had to check up on you, what kind of friend wouldn’t.  Besides, he’s done this all the other times you’ve suddenly felt down.  

His binoculars almost slipped from his hands as you smiled at your phone.  You walk to your bed and fall into the sheets.  You were just about ready to get into bed before finally checking your phone and opening the messages.  You hurriedly sit up again and rush through your bathroom to find your glasses, which you always leave after taking a shower.  You walk quickly back to bed while wiping the fog from your frames.  You lay back down on your back. 

You couldn’t stop the smile from breaking out of your face at his invitation.  Your heart initially jumped when you first saw the notification from Bruce and you practically ran to retrieve your glasses. 

He saw you laugh as you rolled over on the bed, starting to type out your response.  He ignored the way the sheets tangled around your legs and thighs and the way your panties showed as your sleep shorts raised up on your waist. 

Would you like to accompany me to the New Year’s Eve Gala? 

As my date?  

Ten minutes later, he texted again, not sure if he managed to offend in some way. 

It doesn’t have to be that kind of date of course… 

Whatever you’d like it to be 

You kick your feet in the air and type a response. He feels his phone vibrate in one of his many jackets he was wearing.

I’d love to &lt;3 

He smiled softly as you buried your face in your pillows, kicking your feet against the mattress as you read that he had seen the message.  The rest of the night was spent staring up at the ceiling, smiling dumbly and giggling to yourself.  At least that was until you got the alarm again. 

…

He groaned as he still couldn’t decide whether you said yes to being his date or yes to being his date but not date date.  It frustrated him so much he had to turn to Alfred who knocked him upside the head and scolded him for making it harder for himself by adding unnecessary comments at the end of his message. 

It was still on his mind as he sneaked into March Ventures and was able to borrow some of the drugs and medicine produced at the facilities.  He wanted to be completely sure that whatever traces they found in the drugs found in the corpse were from there.  

He thought he wasn’t going to find anything, nothing was out of place.  But as he looked through some of the next shipments of medications, he noticed a fallacy.  The documentation detailing the amount of cargo was different from what was actually contained inside the trucks.  About two boxes were displaced, where? He didn’t know. 

There were no details on where those boxes could have been taken. If they were faulty or even if they were just taken for inspection.  

He stopped by your office on his way out.  He might have taken one of the plants.  For research purposes, not because they remind him of you. 

…

8:00 pm 

Your vision was blurring, you could barely see where the needle was pointing to.  Closing your eyes for a single moment to steady yourself, you breathe in deeply. You open your eyes and pray that you hit a vein.  

The initial prick stung and when you pushed the liquid into your arm it felt as if it traveled through your entire body.  You sat still and waited for the aftereffects to take hold.  In your last moment of clarity, you watch Audrey carefully pry itself out of its casing from the corner of you.  Its limbs were slowly advancing towards you, and you couldn't do anything to stop it. 

Colors brightened.  The plants came alive. You smile dopily as they suddenly gained cartoonish mouths and eyes.  It reminded you of your childhood.  They were like imaginary friends, but they were real. 

Voices overlap simultaneously and you wince slightly. They greet you enthusiastically. 

"Don't you feel so much better!"  

You smile at the poppies with childlike voices. 

"Of course I feel better. I was just tired." 

They all aw and coo in sympathy.  You stand wobbly and start preparing containers to water them.  They always try to comfort you.  They make you talk about your day, and it still slightly freaks you out, even after the many months of the new doses of injections.

For now, in this state, you’re eternally happy, calm even, and it shakes you to your core how every time you take a dose. You want to be in that state forever.  

You’re losing yourself each time you do this.

#bruce wayne x reader #batman x reader #battinson fic #the batman fanfic #bruce wayne fanfiction

[maniacwatchestheworld]

hey I really really don't want to ruin your fun and am not sending this to you to be mean or patronizing but with the way things stand it is extremely unlikely that DC would make Bruce canonically queer any time soon, and strongly hoping they will is just setting up for disappointment. yes there has been that tease with Ghostmaker last year and Bruce's interactions with other male characters tend to read vaguely homoerotic, especially with characters like Clark or Harvey, but Bruce is still their flagship character and as long as making him canonically interested in men might mean losing a large part of their reader demographic (straight male comic nerds) they won't risk that. Making TwoFace bi however is a much more likely scenario since he's a villain or side character! If they made him bi it would most likely only be vaguely implied rather than outright stated (like they did it with the Riddler in last year's Valentines anthology) but it is a possibility, so if there is any official plan of validating BruHarvey as a ship then the best most likely bet is hoping for a one sided confirmation of Harvey's crush

So the thing is... I agree with you! I have doubts that DC would want to make their best seller canonically queer. I don't have my hopes up, and I'm entirely ready to be disappointed that this isn't going to happen... But the thing is... It's weird isn't it...?

Why is Harvey in so many pieces of Batman media right now? He's in their best selling comic AND he's in the comic that the freaking company is named after AND he has a TV show starring him AND he is in a film that they JUST released AND he's popping up here and there in other things too (the podcast, the comic based off of the Animated Series). And so I can't just help but to wonder. Why. Because like, I can chalk a lot up to coincidence. But it's enough at this point where it feels like this is either deliberate, or someone at DC fucked up. Because for people who don't like Two-Face or that like other characters wouldn't all of this Two-Face at once in all the big pieces of Batman media that's coming out right now feel alienating...? Why bunch all of these appearances all at once instead of releasing them spaced out from one another? I don't think that this year is like a significant anniversary year for him. Is it purely because of Gotham Knights? I doubt it. It's a TV show based off of a video game, more or less, and it's not like Gotham Knights: Gilded City is doing crazy well right now either. And the game received lukewarm reception as well. No one gave me an answer on my other post from before of asking if other rogues periodically get a sudden wave of love like this, so I can't say these things for certain, but I doubt that all of this was done for Gotham Knights. Like did the Riddler get this much love when the The Batman movie came out?

And just... The more I think about it, the more it feels deliberate. But why would they be doing this? Are they pushing him to be a character with his own solo series? I'm sorry, but as much as I love him, I don't think that Two-Face is that popular. And what can you do with him if he did star in his own series? I think that he would be used best for a courtroom procedural, (but he doesn't have his law license anymore,) or... A noir mystery series... You know... Like some kind of... Detective Comic...? But I have so many doubts that he'd replace Bruce or that they'd want to create a series to compete with the book that the company is literally named after. And if he was popular enough to warrant having his own solo series, you would think that Task Force Z would have gone on for longer. Are they trying to use Harvey as their answer to Moon Knight? Possibly. But the dates don't line up super well for that. (Moon Knight came out in March of 2022, and they had already ordered a pilot for Gotham Knights in February of 2022.) So just... Why would they deliberately push him so much? I'm not really certain.

And honestly when it comes to comic books... I think that they have a LOT more to gain from LGBT rep than to lose from it! Look at Harley Quinn and Ivy! There are SO many queer characters in DC right now! Specifically in the Batman sphere too! Speaking for myself, I would not have gotten into Batman comics like I have if it wasn't for the Harley Quinn Show and their queer rep. I had 0 interest in the Harley Quinn Show until they had Harley and Ivy start dating in it. And straight-up, if it wasn't for Harley and Ivy dating, I would not have watched the show. I started hyperfixating on Two-Face because I decided to give the Harley Quinn Show a shot. I've sucked my sister into the Batman hole with me, and I guarantee you that if Bruce and Harvey started dating, I could convince pretty much all of my friends to start reading Batman comics. I think that they have FAR more to gain than to lose by appealing to the LGBT community. Watching the Harley Quinn Show, it felt like the show was uncertain that it was going to get revived at the end of the second season, so they did their best to wrap things up and get Harley and Ivy together so that they could at least say that they did it. And now look at the show. They had no question of if the show would come back at the end of season 3! They got a Valentine's Day special! It has its own comic book series now! Them leaning into the queerness of the characters has only benefited the show! And I think that the same can apply to the comics. Just look at the Transformers comics. The Transformers franchise for forever has appealed to a solely straight, white, male fanbase. But by adding queer content into the comics, I think that it not only didn't hurt the comic, but rather contributed to its popularity and ensured its longevity. I think the same could apply to Batman. Also isn't Constantine bi? Doesn't stop him from being popular! And Deadpool is pan and he became a pop culture icon!

Given how pretty much everyone in the Harley Quinn Show is confirmed as some flavor of LGBT, it's kinda weird that Bruce HASN'T been confirmed as queer in that show yet! Harley is bi! Ivy is bi! Clayface is sex and gender fluid! Bane is bi! Riddler is gay! Clock King is gay! Catwoman is bi! If anything, Bruce feels like the odd one out for not being confirmed as bi! And... Isn't it kinda weird that they haven't confirmed Two-Face as bi in that series...? It's such an easy and obvious thing to do with him. Like, OF COURSE he'd be bi! He's bi everything! If any piece of media would just be like, "Yeah, Two-Face is bi. OBVIOUSLY! Duh!" It would be the Harley Quinn show. But they haven't done it yet and I don't know why. But it would make sense if they didn't mention it on sheer virtue of them wanting to actually address it later. It's WEIRD to me that Harvey hasn't been confirmed as bi yet because it's not a big deal for Batman characters to be queer anymore. Tim Drake is bi. Why haven't they just gone through with it yet and mention somewhere that Harvey likes men too? Why not just say the obvious thing out loud already? Are they worried about what people would think of Two-Face? Are they worried that people might look at the only other man that he's ever been close to and start asking questions? Why would DC care if they started asking questions about that?

One or two of these things in isolation absolutely can be a coincidence. But all of these things together are painting a picture... Especially when you start considering the content of these stories. So that and the interview and I can't help but to speculate. I am not going to get my hopes up. I do not expect for Bruce and Harvey to be getting together. But it sure as hell would be the RIGHT thing to do right now! It opens up so many story possibilities! It is the morally correct thing to do given the political landscape right now. And I guarantee you that they would get a lot of new readers by being daring and doing this with their flagship character. I think that the benefits outweigh the losses. I don't expect that it will happen. But DAMN they are giving me a LOT of fuel for my conspiracy theory brain! I didn't mean for this post to get this long but just... I think that it's the right move. And I keep finding evidence that it's a good move, and the evidence just doesn't stop coming. This is a thing that keeps tugging me deeper and deeper into believing the more time I spend in this fandom. I don't want to get my hopes up. I don't want to believe it. But when the only response to all of this is just, "They would never do that with Batman. It would alienate the straight, white, male fanbase!" Just... It might have been a strong argument at one point... But the strength of that augment just gets weaker and weaker and weaker the more I look at and think about things. Honestly, it might even be good for the incels that fixate too much on Batman if their hero turned out to be interested in men. Might finally get to them that us gays are just better.

#batman #bruharvey #twobats #harvey dent #bruce wayne #two-face #queer #queer representation #lgbt #lgbtqiia+ #lgbtqia #lgbtq #queer community #gay #two face #twoface