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lacrimosathedark · 2 months

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Bat-Family Nicknames and Insults

So I went off the other day because fans keep having people who aren't Roy Harper call Jason Todd "Jaybird" and now I'm thinking about all the other nickname misconceptions so here's a probably non-comprehensive list of nicknames among the Bat Fam.

(Special thanks to @sohotthateveryonedied for a bunch of my data, she made a whole powerpoint with actual comic panels! Go check that out! Also got some info from @kiragecko who was writing some lists with more specific references.)

This list is an active document and will be edited in the event I find more nicknames or have more to say

Addendum note: I'm more than willing to add something I forgot, but you must have receipts. I'm not just going off of memory. Nothing will be added to this list without proof. If you don't have a source, please don't make a suggestion.

This is aside from assorted common insults and nicknames like jerk, ass, shorty, dude, idiot, etc.. Sidenote, every not-Steph Robin has been called “Little Bird”, “Birdboy” and/or “Wonder Boy” at some point. It’s kinda part of the job lol Secondary side-note, the only ones who REALLY use nicknames for people are Barbara and Jason. And Tim specifically in reference to Damian. Everyone else pretty much uses their names 98% of the time. Final note (sorryyyyyy) generally unless they're funny to me, I'm not including things used only once unless I have gotten vibes that it's a trend. This is an attempt to compile recurring nicknames. So ones noted to be used once are either I can only confirm it happened once but could happen multiple times, or I think it's hilarious.

Alfred Pennyworth

Al/Alf Seems to be a common nickname among the boys.

Alfie Dick, Tim, and Jason have all called him this.

Alfredo Jason called him this at least once and I think that’s funny. Not sure it’s exclusive though.

Mom Dick seems to have referred to him as such once…I’m sorry but that’s so funny.

Alfred also has specific ways of referring to everyone: Bruce: Master Bruce, Mister Wayne, Lad, Bruce, My Son Barbara: Mistress Barbara, Miss Barbara, Miss Gordon, Miss Oracle Dick: Master Dick, Master Richard, Master Grayson, Dear Boy, Young Sir, Young Man, Richard, Dick Cassandra: Miss Cassandra, Young Cassandra, My Dear Jason: Master Jason, Young Sir, Lad, Jason Tim: Master Tim, Master Timothy, Young Master Tim, Lad, Young Sir, Young Man, Timothy, Tim Damian: Master Damian, Young Master Damian, Young Sir, Young Man, Son, Damian

Bruce Wayne

Spooky Oliver Queen calls him this, others might as well but I legitimately have no idea.

Batsy Everyone and their goddamn dog, but Joker uses this notably a lot.

Detective RA'S AL GHUL EXCLUSIVE. I think? But this is how Ra's generally refers to Bruce.

B-Man HARLEY QUINN EXCLUSIVE...I think. She calls him this a lot though.

While Dick and Jason will internally think of Bruce as their father, Dick rarely says so and extremely rarely calls him “Dad”. Jason would only say so mockingly or under pain of a second death. Tim rarely even thinks of Bruce as his father (he didn’t become Robin to be Bruce’s kid, and he doesn’t want to replace his own father—much the same way Dana didn’t replace Janet) and never refers to him as such outside of WE work (where he very much uses that to his advantage). Damian almost exclusively refers to Bruce as “Father” but has called him "Dad". Steph sometimes calls him “Boss”. Everyone usually calls him "Bruce".

He refers to ALL of the boys as “chum” and “lad” at some point. It’s just how he used to talk honestly. He DOES NOT call them “sweetie” or “honey” or anything like that. He DOES, however, speak to small children this way. There are multiple instances of him using "sweetheart" and similar terms when dealing with young children. This differentiation I think is for two reasons. One, Bruce is emotionally stunted and being open with anyone outside of actively comforting is difficult for him, and two, the youngest child he has ever had himself was 9 years old so he's never had a small child he'd be likely more inclined to be extra super soft with.

Barbara Gordon

Babs Most people call her this. Bruce doesn’t seem to though, oddly enough.

Babsy/Babsie Both Dick and Jim Gordon have called her this. Very cute.

Barb/Barbie Nearly exclusive to Jason Todd, actually. I think her dad calls her this once in a while, but specifically Jason calls her this.

Babes A few of her friends call her this, but mostly Luke Fox when they were dating.

Red A few people call her this, but mostly Jason and not real often. Probably cuz we already have a red-head often referred to as “Red” (Pam Isely by Harley) and as to not be confused with the other two Reds in the family (Red Hood and Red Robin).

The High Priestess of Tech More of a reference than a nickname, but I think it’s funny. Dick referred to her as such.

O For Oracle!

Dick Grayson Exclusives because Boyfriend Baby Love Beautiful

Richard Grayson

Dick Everyone calls him this. Almost no one calls him Richard.

Dickie His parents also called him this, along with other people who knew him from Haly’s Circus, but otherwise it’s mostly just Jason.

Dickster I…hate that this is canon lmao. Dick has thought this one in his inner monologue, but Jason has also said it at least once. It’s…Something.

Circus Boy Common insult, Jason uses it a few times.

Tight Ass No comment.

Rob Kinda rare for him and more a Tim thing, but his Titans team call him this sometimes. I specifically remember Wally doing so, and Roy too I think.

Boy Wonderful Not marking this as exclusive because Babs probably used it at one point but, shockingly (or not) this comes from Wally West! Wally has also called his Titans team as a group “Dear Hearts” at least once which is just so fucking cute. Neeeeeerd.

Kid Not exclusive to him, but consistently called this by Slade Wilson/Deathstroke over most anything else.

Marcia TIM DRAKE EXCLUSIVE. A joke between him and Tim, assigning each Bat-boy a Brady Bunch member.

Little Robin MARY GRAYSON EXCLUSIVE. This is where the hero name Robin came from; Dick’s mom used to call him this.

Dickie-Bird JASON TODD EXCLUSIVE. Jason calls Dick this a lot during his weird appearances in Nightwing that I pretend never happened because it was weird and dumb. But it is a canonical nickname. And it’s funny.

Amy Rohrbach Exclusives because Partner Rookie Stud Cowboy Sherlock Mr. Confident

Barbara Gordon Exclusives because Girlfriend (and because she’s funny) Flatterer Boyfriend The Brightest, Sweetest, Most Handsome, Wealthiest Young Bachelor on the Entire East Coast Buckaroo Bucko Candy-Gram Darling Lover Love Hunk Wonder Man Wonder Hound Wonder Former Teen Wonder Twenty Something Wonder Blue Wonder Poor Lovable Naïve Dope Pixie Boots

Cassandra Cain

Cass Pretty much everyone calls her this.

Cassie Some people call her this, specifically the people closest to her; Stephanie, Tim, Barbara, Bruce, and Duke. It’s generally used sparingly, especially considering Tim is close to ANOTHER Cassandra who goes by “Cassie” almost exclusively, so Cass is generally preferred to avoid confusion. But Cassie is tossed around.

Batghoul Possibly Stephanie Brown exclusive, though easy enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if others called her that. She is notoriously spooky.

Bat-Babe KON-EL/CONNER KENT EXCLUSIVE. These two are actually good friends and dated for a short time. They’re very cute. And they met at the time Kon was just…Like That.

Jason Todd

Jay Literally everyone calls him this sometimes. It’s a common nickname.

Jace/Jase Also pretty common, but seems to mostly be among family. Dick and Bruce have at least both called him this.

The Toddster Was called such by Danny Chase, implying they were friends somehow? (Jason didn't have many Titans missions so idk how they were close enough for him to call him that). He calls him that when he discovers Jason’s status in the system is “unknown”, leading him to find out he’s dead.

Rojo Referred to himself as this once while he was still a crime boss, so presumably some of his gang called him this too. Obviously Spanish for red because Red Hood.

Little Bird Possibly exclusive to Barbara Gordon, she called him this in a flashback.

Jan That Dick and Tim Brady Bunch joke. Just imagine one of them looking Jason dead in the eye and saying “Sure, Jan.”

Little Wing DICK GRAYSON EXCLUSIVE. Called Robin Jason this in Nightwing Year 1 and it’s very cute.

Jaybird ROY HARPER EXCLUSIVE. The reason I’m making this post because no one seems to remember that Roy and only Roy has ever called Jason this. But any time these two appear together, it’s usually said at least once.

Stephanie Brown

Steph Pretty much everyone calls her this at one point.

Stephie A few people if I recall, but I know Tim’s called her that.

Blondie Pretty sure a few people call her this, but notably Harper Row.

Damian Wayne Exclusives because He Was A Brat Wench Fatgirl Girl Blunder

Timothy Drake

Tim Everyone to the point where it’s just his name.

Timmy A lot of people call him this pretty teasingly. Dick, Jason, and Babs do it consistently, but that’s older siblings for ya. Bernard has done it too.

Timbo Dick and Jason as well as his friend Ives have called Tim this at the very least. Tim notably doesn't seem to like it, though he has used it himself in a derogatory way in his inner monologue.

Timbers I’ve only ever seen Jason call him this, but I could be missing things. Would not be surprised if Dick did too, but it’s very Jason.

Rob Most of Young Justice called him that up until he revealed his name (which took a while because Bruce was being controlling and overprotective, as he does). Short for “Robin”, obviously, which is all they knew him as.

My Robin I’m pretty sure each member of Young Justice has said this about Tim, though Conner does it the most and has the biggest negative reaction to literally anyone but Tim being Robin.

Cindy DICK GRAYSON EXCLUSIVE. It’s that Brady Bunch joke again!

Little Brother DICK GRAYSON EXCLUSIVE. I didn't originally include it because it had the same vibes as like "dude" or "jerk"; something that's easily tossed around, y'know? And it feels like a descriptor, but it is actually used as a title/nickname several times, especially when Dick is messing with Tim.

Pretender JASON TODD EXCLUSIVE. Though it should be noted, he only directly called him this one time. Aside from that, he more refers to Tim as A pretender, not as like a nickname or title. It’s a description. (like “replacement” was but fandom made that a nickname yes I am in fact bitter)

Duckboy HARLEY QUINN EXCLUSIVE. She says this once, but it’s hilarious so I’m keeping it.

Detective RA’S AL GHUL EXCLUSIVE. Ra’s is very particular about titles. The only other person he refers to as “Detective” is Bruce, and Dick one time in his internal monologue, so he is acknowledging Tim’s competence. And then proceeds to get a large portion of his resources obliterated by Tim <3

Stephanie Brown Exclusives because Girlfriend Sweetie Muffin Boy Virgin

Duke Thomas

Narrows Almost Jason exclusively, though I think Harper has called him this once or twice. In reference to the neighborhood he grew up in, as opposed to Jason and Harper's Park Row aka Crime Alley upbringing.

Newbie Jason calls him this frequently, though it's likely the others have too.

Baby Bird ELAINE THOMAS EXCLUSIVE. Yeah, surprisingly Duke is actually called this by his mom.

Damian Wayne

Gremlin Mostly exclusive to Tim, but Jason has called him this too. This also seems to be Tim’s go-to for Damian when not using his name or codename.

Dami Used by Jon Kent and Talia al Ghul, so presumably those closest to him.

Little D I think Barbara Gordon exclusive but I’m not sure.

Cousin Oliver Not said to his face to my knowledge, but the Brady Bunch in-joke between Dick and Tim.

Prince/Your Highness (other royal variations) A common way to mock Damian for his haughty air and stuck-up attitude. More common in the past because Damian was The Worst and never shut up about being the heir to Batman and the Demon's Head. He's grown a lot since then and this kind of joke is used less. He is still pretty snooty though.

D JON KENT EXCLUSIVE. I have yet to see anyone else call him this at least, and this is how Jon almost always refers to him.

Baby Bird TALIA AL GHUL EXCLUSIVE. I’ve seen her call him this once, and I don’t recall ever seeing anyone else call him this. Just wanted it known that Talia is the only one to call Damian this.

Tim Drake Exclusives because Tim is Petty and Damian was a Brat Little Monster Hobbit Homunculus Little snot Spoiled, vicious and homicidal little punk Heir to the Kingdom of the Damned

Note on how Damian refers to others: Damian usually uses full first names or surnames, depending on circumstance and closeness. He occasionally calls Dick “Dick” or “Richard”, but often calls him “Grayson”. He almost always refers to Tim as “Drake”, but occasionally as “Timothy”.

Fanon names that I dislike

Replacement Jason never once calls Tim this, and refers to Tim as A replacement about as much as Dick did about Jason (Yes Dick has at least once when talking to Bruce referred to Jason as his replacement). How common it is in this fandom to call Tim "Replacement" (with a capital R like it's a name or title!!!) drives me absolutely insane. It's not canon and tbh you can do better. Hell, "pretender" is right there! And Jason's a nerd, he would do better.

Baby Bird Like…it’s cute, but given it’s used in fanon almost exclusively for Tim, and POST DAMIAN, it just feels infantalizing. Especially when the only canon uses are mothers towards their kids. I see this a lot with Dick and Jason using it, which is...just no. Like, Dick, I get it, but he's more likely to call Tim "Little Brother". Jason would never allow himself to be seen as this soft to Tim. If he were trying to be gentle with him, he'd probably call him "kid". He's done that before.

Baby Bat(s) I have seen this used literally twice. Once where a goon mockingly called Tim that, and once in an AU where Harley said it to Damian. "Baby Bat" isn't a thing. Sorry.

Big Bird More amusing than anything but a little annoying. No one ever calls Dick that in canon and whenever I read it all I can think of is Sesame Street so unless a giant yellow muppet bird is what you're going for, maybe don't do that lol

Demon Brat/Demon Spawn Not the most egregious thing, especially considering the numerous nicknames Tim comes up with, but the consistency of its usage in fanon is a little frustrating. This is never used in-canon, and if you want to use it in your fanworks, just maybe intersperse it with other more creative nicknames, yeah? It's just unoriginal at this point.

Jaylad I don’t hate this one, but it’s such a huge misconception that it’s canon. Bruce has said “Jay, lad” a couple times because he calls like every boy he meets “lad” and people made up “Jaylad”. Not the worst thing ever, but it's not canon.

Golden Boy I don't actually have a problem with this one, but I may as well clear up that this is canon as a descriptor but not as a nickname for Dick. Like calling Jason "the dead Robin". Like, people have said that about him in-canon, but they haven't called him that. The common derivative "Goldie" is entirely fanon.

Non-canon nicknames I think are funny

Dick-face/Dickhead I’m sorry, I find it hilarious whenever someone (usually Jason) in fanfic calls him this. It’s also to me just a silly exaggeration of the obvious joke that has been made at least once (but probably several times by now) in canon about someone being about to call Nightwing a dick and someone else reminding them not to use names in the field. I think it’s hilarious.

Timberly I can’t tell you why this specific deviation of Tim is funny to me but it is. And I'm surprised I haven't seen Jason call Tim this in canon.

#DC Comics #Bat Family #Nicknames #Alfred Pennyworth #Bruce Wayne #Barbara Gordon #Dick Grayson #Cassandra Cain #Jason Todd #Stephanie Brown #Tim Drake #Duke Thomas #Damian Wayne #Batfam

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confused-wanderer · 8 months

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The entire batfamily’s dynamic and trope- no matter the situation of hurt, anger, sadness, love or loathing - can be fit into one single quote:

“I didn’t know where else to go”

Duke sees it barely a month after he moves into the manor. It was a quiet afternoon, he was finishing up some work when the motion sensor lights up. And then three seconds later, he hears the raps on the door. Tight, repressed but purposeful. So it was definitely one of the family.

He opens the door, and Stephanie is there. She looks a bit startled, understandable as Duke was still a recent addition to the family, before she looks down, huffs and goes inside. He feels Jason’s presence behind him, one of those rare but not so rare occasions where Jason was staying at the mansion and having a cooking session with Alfred. Jason sighs, puts a hand on Duke’s shoulder and follows after Steph.

The second time he was witness to it was at Dick’s apartment. The two were hanging out, both laughing and playing games before Duke notices that while ordering dinner Nightwing asks for four large pizzas. And when Duke asks, Dick just shrugs, a look in his eyes that Duke can’t quite place. Later when they return from patrol, Duke almost has a heart attack at the silent figures in the shadows, lounging on the couch and eating the pizza. Tim barely acknowledges them, body tight while Kon, Jason and Harper keep munching with no explanation.

And the more he sees these incidents - be it Jason going to Tim, Barbara coming to Dick, Cass crashing at Stephanie’s’ or all of them coming to Bruce - one of the bats using the mansion as a lighthouse in their darkest hours, or seeking out others in times of need, he swears he can hear their voices in the silence, each time louder than the last.

“I didn’t know where else to go.”

Nobody ever said those words out loud. Most times they just sought out company, normalcy or the closest thing they knew to it. But thankfully, in a family of stubborn people in pain, they all were detectives, and always kept an extra plate, an extra chair and console, always open for the other.

#batman #dick grayson #jason todd #red hood #nightwing #tim drake #batfam #bruce wayne #damian wayne #headcanons #red robin #duke thomas #the signal #Stephanie brown #robin #spoiler #kon kent #superboy #Roy Harper

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desktop-writes · 2 months

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Static on the Screen | 01

--A Lack of Backup--

<|AO3|Gala Au|SotS|>

(<- Part 2 of 14 ->)

[_|2|3|4|5|6]

{TW: N/A}

[Words : 1,736]

*Note: For any overarching triggers, please click on the Gala Au tab at the top. For warnings regarding this specific fic, please click on the SotS tab.*

Sometimes there’s a moment where you know things will never be the same. A turning point in a person’s life, if you will. It could be as monumental as the moment of the wrongful death of a loved one, leading to an obsession to right the wrong that had happened. It could also be something as trivial as bumping into a person at a coffee shop, leading to finding the love of one’s life. For Barbara Gordon, it was a simple click on a link.

It had started a week ago. Three meta-humans had attacked Jason, Cass, and Damian while on patrol. Seeing as all three family members had some connection to the League of Assassins, the first idea was that they were assassins. The fact that they seemed to glow a Lazarus Green color only provided more evidence for that theory. But as soon as someone verbally confronted them, the theory crumbled under its weight.

“They had called themselves Ghosts,” Cass had signed with their face screwed in confusion. They had emphasized the last word, marking it as important. The rest of the night hadn’t given her much besides debunking the Assassin theory. While she couldn’t do groundwork anymore, she is still one of the if not the best, digital detective on the team. She had made a file and labeled it accordingly, then she had started her search with the keyword ‘Ghost’.

It had taken her 2 days between her day job and getting roughly 3 hours of sleep to find what might have been a lead. A self-published research paper by the Drs. Fenton titled ‘Effective Warding Techniques Against Ghosts’. Barbara had spent 3 hours reading the paper, scanning every detail for information. She could barely find anything useful at the end of those three hours. A lot of it was opinions worded through a scientific lens and not actual scientific facts.

Spurred on by the lack of information, she searched for other papers in their names. Yet, the majority of it was filled with the same content. Descriptions of creatures in agony while being remarked as'manipulative' and ‘non-feeling’ by the two doctors. She knew this needed to be brought up to Bruce and the Justice League as a whole, but she needed more information for the presentation. Thankfully, she had the next day off, and she began a more detailed search of the doctors.

They had documents claiming them to be doctors, with Madeline and Jack both holding doctorates in biology and master's in engineering with minors in Supernatural Studies, but she couldn't find any records of their college days. A handful of papers referenced in the other self-published research papers had Vlad Masters as another co-author, but that dropped after Vlad’s accident. That set off alarm bells in her detective sense, allowing her to dive deeper into her research.

She was nearing the end of her research binge on the doctors and was gearing towards Vlad Masters when she spotted a weirdly named Web link on the last page of her search engine of choice. Thinking it was something similar to the doctor’s papers, she clicked on the link. While it wasn’t another research paper, it was something that grabbed her attention. A halfway-done website wouldn’t have been published unless they were hiding something, so she opened the source code, hoping to easily crack the passcode and start snooping around in whatever was hidden.

The code was surprising, to say the least. The code itself was the same Lazarus Green color as the Ghosts, changing languages every 7 seconds - yes, she had timed it -, and moving in a scattered pattern. The code fought back as soon as the cursor was placed in the text box, with the creator not far behind. With her getting little sleep and the surprise of the abnormalities in the code, she ended up losing against the person on the other side of the screen. With her loss, her screen turned black with a green I-beam in the left-hand corner. A message was written behind it.

Barbara looked at the question before checking on the burner phone she had bought for this reason. They hadn’t touched any files, even though they had full access to her civilian computer. She went the complement route and hoped to get more information on what lay ahead.

Barbara’s hope of the other hackers’ pride getting to them and spilling what they’re hiding diminished with their quick response. She debated her options mentally. She could lean on luck, tell the truth, and hope the person on the other side is an ally in her search. She could also make up a lie and hope they won’t see through it. While she was debating, a new message appeared.

It seemed the decision was made for her. Even if she were to call their slightly plausible bluff, there were way too many important files on her computer, including the one she was building against the Fentons. Plus, she had yet to receive a notification on her burner phone about a breach.

It was a fair request, one she would make in their situation. From their perspective, she was an outsider wanting to look at something personal to them. She could handle a little monitoring if she could find a crack in this case.

<Deal.>

When the black screen disappeared, a light gray followed behind it, giving the website an industrial feel. Black text filled the tabs across the top of the screen, listing labels like 'Ghost Basics’, ‘Rouge Abilities’, and one with a lock emoji, among others. This was a hero database, given the mentions of rouges.

The database belonged to a group of small-town vigilantes, with the person she was conversing with filling in the guy in the chair role. She could tell they were young, with mentions of having to skip class or needing to find an excuse for the team’s main hero, Phantom. Just reading their rouge descriptions, as sloppy as they are compared to the bat’s, she could tell a lot about their team and how they worked.

She kept reading on about the rouges themselves. Even though the pictures were a blurry mess -similar to the stills she had asked Tim to try and clean up -, she could get some information through the written portion of the reports. Everything thing she was learning was leaving her increasingly shaken.

Needing a break from the rouges list, she looks to the Phantom tab to see if the Justice League needs to extend a hand or if they have it under control. She hovered her mouse over Phantom’s tab, only a tab away from the locked emoji. Right before she was about to click, her screen turned black again. Their previous conversation looked back at her, and a slight weight settled on her shoulders. On the other side of the screen was a child.

A child.

A child on an entire team of children being attacked by beings with the power levels of gods; who are being hindered by the very people they protect. At the very least, Robin had Batman, or even their junior teams, if something happened. She looks at the new message.

She needed to keep the connection. Something is happening in Amity Park. Something big. She can feel it in her bones. Racking her brain for ways to keep the connection, she thought back to how unorganized and messy their reports seemed. Mentorship seemed like a good way to go with the kid.

The next message was apprehensive, much like talking to an Alley kid. She should’ve expected this. She was a stranger who had attempted to hack into their database and then offered help with nothing in return. It had caught their attention, though, which was good enough for her.

<What’s the catch? Nobody would do that for free.>

It took a few minutes to get a reply, but that was okay. It gave her time to clear off her desk and start getting the papers strewed about in order.

She continued cleaning up her apartment while she waited. While it wasn’t trashed, it wasn’t clean either. Taking empty snack bags and water bottles from the top of overflowing trashcans and putting them in a separate bag was repetitive and mind-numbing enough to pass the time. She set the filled bags by the door and rolled back to her desk, pushing the desk chair out of her way. It would be stupid to go out this late. She was finishing organizing the paper notes she took over the three days when she got a response.

Her screen returned to normal; the same gray greeted her back. The only change was a small, lime-green chat bubble in the bottom left corner. She spent the next three hours getting a feel for Pharaoh’s setup while gathering more information on the team for her reports. She still had to collect information for the Justice League for them to look at what's happening ground-level. After three hours, she closed the database.

She told the bats, via group chat, that she had found answers to their meta case that needed to be discussed in person tomorrow. After closing the group chat, she checked the locks on the door for the second time that day. Assuring herself it was locked, she wheeled to her bedroom, locked her chair by the bed, and then pulled herself into bed. She went to sleep relatively easy, unknowing of the bombshell that would be dropped tomorrow night.

************************************************************************

Chapter 2 should be out by the end of next month at the latest.

#dc x dp #dpxdc #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc fanfic #GalaAU

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autisticredhood · 1 year

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In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado page 5 / Batman #614 / Detective Comics #790 / In The Dream House / Detective Comics #790 / Batman #614 / In The Dream House / Batman #410 / Batman #428 / In The Dream house / Batman #617 / Detective Comics #790 / In The Dream House / Detective Comics #790 / Batman #618 / In The Dream House / Detective Comics #790 / Batman #614

ID under

[ID: Several photos weaving together text and comic panels.

First image is of text that reads “The memoir is, at its core, an act of resurrection.”

Second image is a panel of Jason’s face on the ground in watercolor art style from Batman: Hush. He is wearing the Robin domino mask and his mouth is parted open. He is splattered with blood. A blue caption reads “Jason.”. The panel is overlaid in red.

Third image is a cropped panel of Bruce and Cass in front of Jason’s grave. Bruce is saying “He would have been eighteen today.”

Fourth image is of text that reads “Memoirists re-create the past, reconstruct dialogue.”

Fifth image is of Bruce and Cass surrounded by graves as Bruce is saying “But he was brash. Impulsive. Headstrong. Never looking before he leapt…I knew that, but I didn’t stop him because he wanted it so badly. He wanted too much to prove something.”

Sixth and seventh images are cropped panels from Batman: Hush with Batman in watercolor art style. The sixth image has blue captions that reads “No matter what differences we’ve had through the years, I’ve always known that Dick had a gift. Jason only had…rage.” In the seventh image the captions are “Jason never had the skills that Dick had. I should never have let him put on that costume.”

The eighth image is text that reads “They summon meaning from events that have long been dormant.”

The ninth image is of two panels from Jason’s post-crisis Robin run in the 80s. The first panel is of Bruce’s face with the Batman cowl pulled down. He’s saying, “Hardly, the other Robin would’ve done the same thing…You two really are two of a kind.” The accompanying panel is an up close shot of Jason’s grinning face in the Robin suit. He’s saying, “Thank You, Mister Wayne. Mind if I stay up awhile and do some homework?”

The tenth image is of two panels from Death In The Family of Bruce cradling Jason’s dying mother, Sheila. In the first panel Shiela is saying with many ellipses between her words, “He turned out to be such a good kid all his problems and he still turned out good.” In the second panel she is saying, “He threw himself in front of me. He took the main brunt of the blast.”

The eleventh image is text that reads “They braid the clays of memory and essay and fact and perception together, smash them into a ball, roll them flat.”

The twelfth image is a panel from Batman: Hush that is cropped to only show a caption that reads “Jason saw being Robin as a game. It’s probably what got him killed.”

The thirteenth image are of two panels from Bruce and Cass at Jason’s grave. The first panel is a cropped shot of Bruce saying “Yes. Maybe if I’d put an end to his attempts, he’d be getting ready to go off to college…” The following panel is of Bruce and Cass standing as dark silhouettes against a red sky with the angel statue of Jason’s grave looming over them. Bruce is finishing his thought from the last panel and saying, “Or just having a normal life…”

The fourteenth image is text that reads “They manipulate time; resuscitate the dead.”

The fifteenth image is of two panels from two different comics. The first is from Batman: Hush in modern comics art style and not watercolor. It’s a cropped panel of Tim Drake in the Robin suit yelling, “No matter what he says, Jason’s death still haunts him. Why else would he keep Jason’s costume so prominently in the cave?” The second panel is a cropped image of Barbara Gordon on the BatComputer screen from the same issue of Bruce and Cass visiting Jason’s grave. She’s contacting Bruce before he goes to the graveyard, saying, “Maybe you’re busy...Look Batgirl just came by. She seemed…upset. I don’t know what happened, but…if this is about what today is, then…Just Know I’m here if you need…”

The sixteenth image is of text that reads “They put themselves, and others, into necessary context.”

The seventeenth image is a panel of Bruce and Cass in the graveyard. Bruce is saying, “But he’ll never have that. Maybe it’s not too late for Stephanie.”

The eighteenth and final image is an edited panel from Batman: Hush in watercolor style again. It is a close up of the R symbol of the Robin suit with blood stains on it. The panel is overlaid in red again. The edit is a blue caption from the same issue that is added to above the R symbol. It reads Batman’s inner monologue of “For these reasons, I’ve carried the burden of responsibility for Jason’s death.”

End ID.]

#um. SCREAM. coping w stress by sexualizing alfred & weaving bruce grief #jason todd #bruce & jason #bruce grief #you know!! you know?? do you get it. bruce's speaking of jason is a memoir & he changes the story of jasons life in context of making him a #cautionary tale in #relation to stephanie & in context of alleviating the heavy burden of his guilt he blames himself which is unbearable so he tries to rewrite #it as jason being a bad robin so that he can pretend for a few moments that it isnt his fault as he believes #took great satisfaction doing the hush panels where hes slandering jason as not being like deck then putting in the panel where he tells #dick*#robin jason he did what dick would have and they are two of a kind :] heehee #and him being like jason had problems!!!!!!! @ cass followed by sheila saying all his problems and he turned out to be such a good kid #he rewrites it that jason got himself killed or that bruce could have stopped him (ignoring the fact that stopping him from being robin LED #JASON TO HIS DEATH) and he'd be alive and in college #anyway you know!!!#my very correct opinions

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fantastic-nonsense · 2 years

Note

If you don’t mind me asking, one question I have that you might be able to answer (seeing as your pretty much the Cass expert around here) - how often has her age relative to the rest of the batkids been brought up in canon?

I’m just curious because every now and then I see it mentioned that she’s around the same age if not slightly older than Jason, which always sort of throws me off a little given how she’s more often paired with Tim and Steph. I guess I’m just curious if you know whether or not this was just something mentioned once and then forgotten about or whether or not this has been a more consistent part of her character.

You're actually insanely lucky you asked me this question tonight, because I had a twitter conversation that prompted me to go hunt down relevant panels and information about this very thing about a month ago. tl;dr: post-Crisis!Cass is the second-eldest Wayne kid and generally written as such; she's consistently two and a half years older than Tim, at least a year older than Steph, and seven months older than Jason legally (and one year older biologically, since Jason was dead for around six months). The only Batkid older than her is Dick.

Canonically, the age gaps between the (pre-reboot) Batfam look something like this:

Depending on which age retcon you prefer (post-Zero Hour or post-Batgirl: Year One), Barbara is either 6-7 years older than Dick or 3-4 years older.

Dick and Jason are approximately 6-7 years apart. Dick is 18-19 when Jason is adopted at 12 and thus 21-ish three years later when Jason dies at 15.

Cass is 7 months older calendar-wise than Jason; biologically she's about a year older, since Jason spent ~6 months dead

Tim is around two years younger than Jason: Tim was 13 when he was introduced a few months in-universe after Jason died at 15. By the end of the post-Crisis universe, Tim is 17 (potentially 18, depending on when Gates of Gotham takes place).

Stephanie is one year older than Tim. This has been confirmed on several occasions, but most notably Steph is explicitly 18 and a college freshman in her Batgirl run, when Tim was 17.

There's 6-7 years between Damian and Tim. Tim is 17 during his Red Robin run and Damian is ~11 by the end of the 2009 Batman & Robin run, though he never turns 11 on-panel.

Those are still the basic age gap guideposts, regardless of "on-panel" post-Flashpoint age retcons. Dick is the sticky one here, mostly because writers could never decide on a) what age he was when his parents died and b) how long he was Robin before becoming Nightwing. Dick's age is also complicated by Tim's backstory, because it gets really sticky if he's too old for Tim to have been in the audience when the Graysons fell.

Anyway...Cass. Cass was 17 in Batgirl (2000) #1; Tim had just turned 15 and was living with his father. While her age isn't consistently brought up, she was treated as a mature older teenager who switches between living with Barbara and independently in the 'cave' that Bruce gives her. We also know she's 18 by 2002 because of Batgirl #33, the issue where Cain tells Cass that her real birthday is January 26th, and Batgirl #37, where she formally turns 18; Tim is still 15 at the time.

Tim turns 16 on July 19th in Robin #116, published in 2003. This once again indicates that Cass is approximately two and a half years older than Tim. This is further confirmed by Batgirl #48 in 2004, where Bruce mentions that Cass is 18, and the fallout of War Games later that year, since Cass relocates to a new apartment in Bludhaven without all of the messy convoluted legal hoops a 16-year-old Tim jumps through to do the same.

As for Cass and Jason, that's discussed in Detective Comics #790, also published in 2004. Bruce takes Cass to Jason's grave on what would have been Jason's 18th birthday, August 16th:

"No one talks about him. All I know is...he was the second Robin. And that the Joker kil-" "He would have been eighteen today." -Detective Comics #790

Ages are always a bit difficult to parse in comics, but this issue confirmed that Cass and Jason were around the same age. While we were never explicitly told whether Cass was 18 or 19 in this scene, we have a very important context clue that provides the answer: Cass's birthday, January 26th.

This would make Cass still 18 during Tec #790, around 7 months older than Jason should have been. This would also keep the correct age gap between both Cass & Tim (since Tim had just turned 16) and Jason & Tim (since they're two years apart). This is further confirmed by Jason being around 19-20 during Under the Red Hood (which I previously puzzled out here), published the following year in 2005. This makes Cass vaguely 20-21 during the Reborn era, since we know that Tim is 17 (nearly 18) and Steph is solidly 18.

In terms of writing, Cass was consistently treated as a slightly "older" character. Tim and Steph were a bit of a matched set even though they were a year apart, but Cass's stories were always pitched for a slightly older and more mature character than theirs. Any writers engaging in infantilizing behavior tended to do so because they were trying to make points about Cass's social skills, not her age. Cass being grouped in with Tim and Steph rather than Jason had more to do with Jason being dead until 2005 and a villain until 2011 than it did age considerations.

So then we get to the post-Flashpoint universe, where we have to throw literally everything I just said out because welcome to the reboot, where the timeline is made up and the ages don't matter:

Cass was re-introduced in Batman and Robin Eternal, where she is explicitly noted to be 16. Stephanie and Tim were both about 17, since Tim's college application arc in Detective Comics Rebirth puts him at 17-18.

But Cass is written as slightly older than Duke during the 2019 Outsiders run, and Duke was 16 when he was introduced and supposed to be slightly younger than Tim and Steph.

Then we run into Tim's "eternally 17" issue compounded with DC actually allowing Damian to age (first to 13 in 2016 and then to 14 in 2021), which throws literally everyone else's timeline into whack.

We also get the Infinite Frontier era allowing Dick and Babs to be in their late 20s again (vs. being 21, like they both had been since 2011) while also dealing with the Batgirls writers admitting they thought both Cass and Steph were 13-14 before being corrected (which explains a lot about how they're written right now).

If all the information I just threw at you confuses you, congratulations: it confuses everyone else, too. Don't worry too much about it. This is why most people ignore any on-panel age considerations we've been given since 2011 and go with pre-reboot ages. Anyway, Duke is now in college as of Urban Legends #18. Logically Cass, Steph, and Tim should thus all be between 20-22 right now, if the timeline actually made sense. Accounting for basic pre-reboot age differences+new age considerations, here's where everyone SHOULD be:

Babs: early 30s

Dick: 28-29

Cass: 23

Jason: 22-23

Steph: 21-22

Tim: 20-21

Duke: 18 (confirmed)

Damian: 14 (confirmed)

............yeah. That's clearly not how they're all being written, but that's the best age approximations I can come up with based on the super convoluted and contradictory information we've been given over the past 11 years. Love how canon is instead acting like Cass and Steph are 13-14 (but still getting less mature storylines than the actual 14-year-old), Tim is eternally 17, Jason is somehow 21 and 35 at the same time, Dick is forever in his mid-20s, and no one knows whether Babs is supposed to be 21 or in her 30s. I hope this answers your question sufficiently despite all of the confusing info!

#rip sorry for that info dump because that was probably way more information than you probably wanted #cassandra cain #dc comics #tim drake #jason todd #dick grayson #damian wayne #stephanie brown #duke thomas #barbara gordon #long post #batfam meta #batman meta #cassandra cain meta #tim drake meta #jason todd meta #asks

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https-furina · 10 months

Note

Hi! Could I please request prompt 38 (“they’re coming. kiss me!”) with Heizou? Thank you! Have a lovely day/night!

✎ i want you instead.

ft. heizou x gn!reader

prompt: “they’re coming. kiss me!”

w.c. 702 words

content: fluff (as always), reader has a fan club? picture them as the barbara of inazuma /j, best friends to lovers? a confession is included

notes: if you hear me screaming, sobbing, crying into my pillows - you really do i cannot lie it i love him

an idol to the inazuman society, there isn't a soul among the islands that doesn't know of your voice and talents. that is of course not even limited to your best friend, detective shikanoin heizou - the man who you can't even remember befriending. one day it was like you'd suddenly acquired his genius intuition and witty remarks at your side, you could say like a sidekick but if anything, you would have been his. heizou is put on a pedestal regarding his skills as a detective - despite just being a regular doushin otherwise. sometimes you wonder how you managed to bond so effortlessly with someone at the opposite end of the job spectrum to you.

and when you call it effortless, it really was. heizou and yourself fit like puzzle pieces that had been missing each other - key components to the other. one time heizou had jokingly grabbed your hand in his, grinning as he threw out "snug like a glove" into the air but it was true, your hands moulded together so perfectly it almost fed your delusions about the detective in his absence. you could go days without seeing him - just like his colleagues - and in those painstaking days, you'd find yourself curled up under a blanket in your home, sketching every miniscule feature you remember of heizou into your sketchbook. you'd rather defy the raiden shogun than ever let him near that sketchbook.

thankfully heizou's keen eye and ability to read between lines unwritten means he is more than used to being a scapegoat for you when your so-called fans are more than rowdy after a performance. he's not surprised when you catch up to him backstage, smiling awkwardly as you greet him. he quirks a brow, almost waiting for you to request some absurd action from him like usual.

"heizou - my favourite friend, the smartest detective in the tenryou commission-" heizou clucks his tongue, folding his arms across his chest as he cuts you off with a grin.

"the only detective in the tenryou commission," he corrects you promptly and you roll your eyes in response - time is running thin as you hurry a glance over your shoulder, "what do you need this time?"

you scowl at the insinuation behind 'this time' and you're about to retort in all of your dramatic ways but there's hushed voices of fans around the corner and your heart is racing thousands of beats a second, virtually in your throat as you stare at him in a daze. you've long had a crush on this man, you ponder if he's already aware.

"they're coming," you breathe as if you've ran a marathon but your lungs simply cannot keep up with you, "kiss me!"

the request falls out of your mouth between gritted teeth but verdant eyes notice your panic and the shaking of your hands when the voices get nearer. he bites his tongue, swallowing so hard his adam's apple bobs when he leans to press his lips onto yours. what the hell has gotten over the both of you? kissing your best friend? but the thoughts wash away when it feels as it always does - natural. you mould together once more but it's not a platonic feeling and perhaps it's mutual when heizou sends a sharp look in the direction of prying onlookers, watching as they retrace their steps backwards and leave.

even in their absence, the two of you don't seem to part. in fact, shaking hands reach up to tangle in burgundy hair when heizou's hands grab at your hips, gentle as ever as if you're porcelain beneath him.

"all the suitors in that fan club of yours and you choose to pull shit like that?" his hot breath fans across your face and you scoff, eyes refusing to look at him in embarrassment.

"i don't want them," you utter, catching your breath from the borderline makeout session that'd just erupted in the corridor, "i want you instead."

there's a smirk on heizou's face and it has smug written all over it. you want to smack it off that considerably handsome face of his but his lips find yours once more when he mumbles "about time" against your mouth.

#— 🧁 sugar ‘n’ spice #https-heizou #genshin x you #genshin #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact fluff #shikanoin heizou x reader #genshin shikanoin heizou #shikanoin heizou #genshin fluff #genshin x reader

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sebeth · 3 months

Text

Who's Who In The DC Universe #2: Bat-Mite, Batwoman

Bat-Mite by Marshall Rogers

A pint-sized imp from another dimension

Claims to be the greatest fan of Batman and Robin, comes to Earth to watch his idols in action

Loves to use his powers to complicate matters for the Dynamic Duo

Forever being ordered back to his home dimension by Batman, like a bad boy being sent to stand in a corner

Bat-Mite is a silly character that mainly appeared in the Silver Age. He did have a mini-series in the New 52 era and has made a few appearances in the various Batman animated series. If you don’t mind an occasionally silly Batman, Bat-Mite can be a fun character. If the “Dark Knight Strikes Again” Miller-Batman is your ideal then Bat-Mite is not the character for you.

Batwoman by Dick Giordano

Kathy Kate was a circus stunt-cyclist and trapeze artist. She later became a socialite and owner of a circus.

A longtime admirer of Batman, Kathy decided to become a costumed crimefighter after she received a considerable inheritance.

She had a mansion constructed atop an abandoned mine tunnel and built her own version of the Batcave.

Often partnered up with Batman and Robin

Kathy’s own niece, Betty, developed her own costumed identity as Bat-Girl

Katy had counterparts on Earth-One and Earth-Two – their careers were mainly identical except for the endings

On Earth-Two, Kathy retired and remained a prominent citizen of Earth-One

On Earth-One, Kathy retired and bought a small circus to keep herself occupied

She was later murdered by the Bronze Tiger in a struggle between Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins

Kathy Kane is one of my all-time favorite characters and my 2nd favorite love interest of Batman (Andrea Beaumont is my number one Batman love interest). Was she a silly character? Yes, in her late Golden Age/Silver Age appearances but it was a rather overall silly time for DC Comics. She is the first heroic female Bat character as she debuted in the 1950s and Barbara Gordon wouldn’t debut until the late 1960s. Loved her rare Bronze Age appearances. After Kathy’s death, her time as Batwoman was erased in the post-Crisis but Bette kept her role as a costumed adventurer as Flamebird. Kathy -as Batwoman – made an appearance in one of the Kingdom one shots. Batman sees Batwoman and says “Kathy?” so he retained some memories of her costumed identity.

As for Kathy’s death…she was essentially stuffed into the fridge. In Detective Comics #485, Batman visits Kathy’s circus and helps her fend off attackers. A second wave of attacks separates the duo and Batman later finds a deceased Kathy clutching her Batwoman costume. Ra’s Al Ghul arrives at the circus and informs Batman that Kathy was killed by the order of the Sensei of the League of Assassins and that Ra’s was the one who sent the note warning Batman of Kathy’s upcoming assassination. Batman questions why the Sensei would consider Kathy a threat and Ra’s tells Batman it is because he told the Sensei that Kathy was a threat. The Bronze Tiger is implicated to be Kathy’s murderer.

We don’t receive a reason for why Ra’s went out of his way to have Kathy assassinated. The only reason I can head-cannon relates to Ra’s obsession to have Bruce as an heir. Around this time there were four main love interests of Bruce: Selina, Talia, Kathy, and Silver St Cloud. Was Ra’s eliminating a possible romantic rival of Talia?

The aftermath of Kathy’s murder received some attention in the Ostrander’s Suicide Squad series – mainly in Bronze Tiger’s attempts to break the League’s brainwashing and his attempts to remember if he killed Kathy.

Kathy frequently married Bruce and was the mother of his son in “imaginary stories” (Elseworlds) from the Golden/Silver Age.

I was so excited when Batwoman was rumored to return in the 52 serie and was so disappointed when it wasn’t Kathy. (Not that I don’t like Kate, I simply wanted the return of Kathy).

Grant Morrison brought Kathy/Batwoman back during his run on the Batman titles and she also featured in the Grayson series. I don’t know if she’s made appearances since the Rebirth era but I’m always up for more Kathy.

#Batman #batfam #bat family #batwoman #kathy kane #bat-mite #bette kane #bat-girl #flamebird #ra's al ghul #talia al ghul #talia #bronze tiger #league of assassins #sensei #dc comics #dcu

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lazaruspiss · 7 months

Text

Gotham Knights: The Batman Family

Nightwing: Lost and looking for answers following the death of his parents, young Dick Grayson came under the care of Bruce Wayne. The boy's curiosity and determination led him to find Batman and become the first Robin. Over time, Dick wanted to fight crime differently from Batman. He left Gotham for Blüdhaven to do just that. As Nightwing, his Escrima sticks and impressive style didn't just instill fear in criminals - they inspired hope in the people Nightwing lives to protect. Robin: Inexperienced, with incredible potential, young Tim Drake convinced Alfred Pennyworth and Dick Grayson to bring him into the fold as the new Robin. He'd already uncovered the identities of Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing. He knew he could help them. With training he's become an undetectable master of stealth, with a razor intellect that can crack cases even the Batman can't. The boy wonder is everything Robin was meant to be. At only 16, he's just getting started.

Batgirl: Barbara Gordon was self-trained and only 16 when she started fighting crime as Batgirl. Her ongoing studies in criminology and computer science made her a brilliant detective. When a spinal injury threatened to end her crime-fighting career, Barbara retired as Batgirl and became the information expert Oracle. With therapy and surgery, she eventually recovered. Strengthened by Oracle, as well as Barbara's unbreakable determination to protect Gotham, Batgirl returned. Red Hood: Jason Todd trained to become the second Robin after Batman caught him stealing tires from the Batmobile. Crime fighting gave the reckless boy purpose, and a meaningful outlet for his anger, until Batman failed. Jason was murdered. Two years later, resurrection brought Jason back as a killer called Red Hood. With the Batman Family's help, therapy & rehabilitation, Jason repented his extreme methods. Now Red Hood uses his pistols to put Gotham's criminals behind bars, rather than in the ground.

Bruce Wayne: If you ask the media, Bruce Wayne is a philanthropist, philanderer, or some combination of both. But if you ask me, Bruce is… an uncompromising friend and father. Someone who keeps his distance, protects his secrets, and is a total battle ax of a boss. And always, he's a man with a strong moral compass who would do anything to keep Gotham City safe, no matter the cost to himself. Bruce Wayne is everything Gotham City aspires to be. Also, he's Batman. P.S. And he's a terrible cook, constantly mixes up his black and blue socks, and strongly prefers not to be called "Brucie." [And if Batman wanted a completely serious biography, he should have written it himself.] - D.G. Only you. - B.W. Alfred: Steward of the Wayne family, Alfred Pennyworth is more than a butler - he's a generous mentor, a caring friend, and a reliable ally. Though he operates behind the scenes, Alfred is vital to the safety of Gotham City - and her protectors. Without his combat medical training and level-headed wisdom, Batman and others may not have lived to fight another night. Plus, he's an underappreciated actor. Honestly, he is phenomenal on stage.

#gotham knights #dick grayson #tim drake #barbara gordon #jason todd #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #Character Profiles (GK)#the 'only you' line kills me every time i read it T-T

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birboon · 9 months

Text

Conceived in the Eye of a Secret

title from Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr Crowley"

A Steddie AU fic - Detective! Steve Harrington [oneshot, potentially multi-chapter) — 6k words

Steve Harrington was seventeen when he saw his first dead body. He wasn’t even out of high school – not even a senior – when he stumbled across Barbara Holland floating face down in his pool. He’d just gone outside for a piss, not wanting to wake his then-girlfriend, brain still fuzzy and whirling from the warm beers Tommy H had stolen from his dad the night before, and there she was; skin tight around her bloated form. Steve had taken one look at her short hair and the leaves knotted there, matted with blood and chunks of soft grey tissue that he’d prayed, God, please wasn’t part of her fucking brain, and vomited. The smell, more than anything, was what sent him over the edge: Rank and pungent, an edge of sickening sweetness. He’d been able to smell her cheap perfume, too.

She’d been dumped there during the night. Steve thought she’d gone home - she was supposed to have gone home, but there police found her car still parked down the street, untouched. ‘A crime of passion’, they’d called it, and even now – almost twenty years later – Steve didn’t understand why. Barbara Holland’s face had been beaten to an unrecognizable, pulpy mess of flesh and blood. Shards of her skull had ruptured through her skin, her left eye had been burst from the blunt force that the sick fuck had hit her with; it had dribbled like veiny egg-yolk into Steve’s pool, mixing with the water like oil.

Steve liked to think himself a passionate guy. But he didn’t go around murdering people.

Instead, he caught the murderers – preferably before they’d had the chance to do the murdering but like everything in life, it was easier said than done. Hell, he could count on two hands the number of cases that had passed through the rigorous filtering of Hawkins PD before landing at his desk in the tiny, cramped office that the Homicide Department called home. The Homicide Department being him, sole and singular, bent over anaemic manila folders with little more to information than a polaroid snapshot and the name of the deceased.

So, yeah. Steve was seventeen when he saw his first dead body, and for some reason he’d made it his life’s goal to see as many as possible. If only to prevent them from becoming cold cases, forgotten and locked away in some filing cabinet to gather dust – to prevent them from becoming like Barb. Since the Holland case, there hadn’t been another unsolved murder in Hawkins. A fresh-faced, fresh-out-of-college Steve Harrington had made sure of that. And for thirteen years, Detective Harrington had kept it that way.

Still, he never quite got used to seeing a corpse – the smell never did become easier to handle. With the more violent deaths, and Steve grimaced as he stared towards the twisted, strewn remains of the human before him, it became especially hard to bear. Hopper had taught him to chew gum to settle his stomach at particularly bad scenes, and Joyce – ever the astute pathologist – had given him a small jar of Vick’s VapoRub the second time he’d ever come down into the morgue (he’d had to excuse himself halfway through the autopsy the first time, and she’d smiled understandably as he trembled his way to the bathroom, legs shaking and face pallid). But even a hefty smudge of the strong-smelling ointment wasn’t enough to cover the stench of a rotting carcass entirely, and Steve’s stomach turned as decay permeated the room.

It was October, but it was hot, which only served to make matters worse because the heat only exacerbated the whole ordeal. And whilst the rest of Hawkins, and Indiana in general, Steve supposed, were out enjoying the autumn sunshine, he was stuck in a sweat-box apartment with three other men and a day-old cadaver. The room was stagnant, ripe with death.

“What a shit day to die,” he muttered, and though he hadn’t meant to say it out loud his words got a murmur of agreement from the others. It was a Monday.

The woman – Steve glanced down at the clipboard in his hands – Maureen Gildman had been brutally slain. She lay in a pool of her own viscous blood, face carved-up hideously like the jack-o-lanterns that were beginning to emerge in the windows of his neighbours, and the young detective made a mental note to take Dustin to the pumpkin patch before the Holiday was over. Halloween was the kid’s favourite time of year. Unfortunately, it seemed to be a favourite of all the psychos too. Steve checked his watch.

Four Fifty-Seven PM. A Monday.

A simple glance around the room showed varying picture frames lovingly arranged on the walls and sat on bookshelves stocked with cheesy romcoms, void of any actual books. Most were in good condition, if a bit dusty, but Steve wasn’t about to lecture a dead woman on cleanliness. Not when a picture of her young daughter stared over at him, flecked with tiny beads of maroon, thick and congealed atop the pink dress she’d worn to the last middle school dance. Dt. Harrington hoped the girl wasn’t still waiting to be picked up at the school gates, considering the last class would have let out almost three hours ago. Steve checked his clipboard again. Divorced, he thought solemnly, and for a moment let himself empathise with the dead.

He'd seen forensics scrape the burnt remains of brownies into sterile baggies as he’d arrived on the scene, and it said more than he’d wished to know. The girl had been with her father over the weekend, and it was him who had dropped her off that morning. No doubt Maureen had been busily preparing to have her child back with her, cooking up something sweet and special as a prize for surviving another Monday.

“You got a preference?” The words cut through Steve’s thoughts as he turned to the photographer in question. Johnathon gave him a grim, lazy smile, his lips pressed tightly together. “Y’know, for a day to die?”

A layer of dust was collected on the camera in his hands. Particles bounced around in the sunlight pouring through the shuttered blinds. There was something sour in the man’s gaze as he watched Steve, but he didn’t think that the contempt was aimed towards himself – at life, maybe. Johnathon was probably reflecting on the choices he’d made during his career that had led him to that moment.

Steve shoved his hands into the pockets of his overcoat, fiddling with the strings of the lining. “A Thursday might be nice, maybe.”

Johanthon watched him through dark eyes. He lifted the camera to his face, squinting as he levelled it towards the detective’s shoes, and Steve stepped out of the frame as the shutter clicked and the flash illuminated the puddle of crusted fluids that were soaked into the shaggy carpet. A yellow tent marked with a bold, black 12 was posted beside it.

“Maybe,” the other man agreed. The camera dropped back down to his chest, and he shrugged. Steve chewed at his tongue, looking away as Johnathon dropped into a crouch, lens angled towards the body. Maureen looked grossly ethereal in the white light; the flayed skin on her naked chest was red, glowing.

Steve looked down again. Ms. Gildman was the third in a recent string of murders that the Hawkins P.D wanted to clump together beneath the moniker of a serial killer. Ever since the term had been coined by the FBI in the seventies, it seemed every small town was desperate to have one to their name. Obviously, Steve didn’t quite agree. There were casual differences in the demeanour and traits of the killings that had him pegs them ostentiously as all separate, sad crimes. Crimes of passion, he thought grimly. Right. Passion.

Maureen was missing both breasts. They’d been sawn off with a serrated object, upon quick examination – Steve’s money was on a bread knife, stolen from her own kitchen, but the murder weapon wouldn’t be identified properly until Joyce got the chance to take a closer look. The… breasts were found hidden within a tall, exotic-looking potted plant. An empty box of matches had been found there, too, opened and spilt onto the blood-stained carpet. Steve imagined that whoever had murdered the woman got cold feet, meaning to burn the balls of flesh but abandoning the plight at the last moment. Or maybe they had refused to light, and after four frazzled, burned-out attempts they had been forced to leave before the police arrived on scene.

Either way, Steve found nothing passionate about it. Disgusting, maybe. Driven by desire? Absolutely. But there was no passion, just the empty and unfeeling actions of a disturbed individual.

He stepped away, ducking back beneath the police tape. He’d seen enough.

Nodding to the paramedics waiting patiently in the hallway, equipped with a stretcher and a body bag, Steve crept away. Several neighbours had been escorted from the building in hysterics – in particular, the old woman who had found the woman after smelling the burning confectionary that had been baking as she’d died – but those that hadn’t were standing in their doorways, arms crossed, faces framed with dismay. Steve couldn’t quite figure out if they really were upset, or just desperate to know what was happening.

Chief Hopper appraised him with dark, judging eyes as he approached the stairwell, holding out an arm to stop Steve’s descent into fresh air. A burned-out cigarette hung limply from the older man’s lips, smoke drifting from the glowing embers fleetingly. Steve inhaled sharply, desperate to purge his nostrils. He wiped his nose.

“Careful when you go down there, kid,” Hopper grumbled. Steve raised an eyebrow. “I got two words for ya: Press and chaos.”

“That’s actually three words, chief, but who’s counting?” Jim barked out a rough laugh, and the young detective continued: “Not you, evidently.”

“Don’t push your luck, Harrington,” the older man snapped, but he was smiling and, well, Steve was just glad someone still had that ability, no matter how joyless and thin it was. The chief clapped him on the back as he pressed forward, calling after him. “And don’t say I didn’t warn ya!”

Hopper was right, of course; it was chaos. Always was, but Steve supposed that his wishing for a moment of peace was just that: Wishful. A duo of officers were posted at the main entrance to the building, chatting lightly with each other. Through the screen doors Steve caught a glimpse at the gathered crowd of reporters – a heaving, squirming mess of free-for-all filled with flashing cameras and eager journalists, all desperate to catch a glimpse of the deceased or ambush someone who had.

Upon spotting them, the sea surged, and Steve was half-worried that they’d bring down the doors, but the men in charge of crowd control didn’t seem at all bothered. They shot him a lame look of distaste – one that said ‘oh look, there’s the great detective’ and Steve grimaced.

“Detective Harrington! Detective, could you give us a – “

“Harrington! What did the deceased look like?”

“Detective is this a serial killer?”

Detective! Detective! Detective!

He ducked behind a supportive dry-wall in the centre of the apartment building’s ‘reception’ area, eyeing the stapled pamphlets and posters hanging there miserably. Only one caught his eye – it stood out from the rest simply because it had tried: Nestled atop the dull pastels and black print was a seemingly hand-made poster advertising a band, all dark reds and metal greys, collaged with newspaper cut-outs. Corroded Coffin (what happened to naming bands nice things, like The Doors or Wham! ?), were playing at a club Steve hadn’t visited in years, The Upsidedown . He hadn’t been there since Dustin had been unceremoniously dropped into his lap, not since he’d made Senior detective, what, six years ago?

Dt. Harrington mused, almost-sadly, that he hadn’t even been out for drinks in at least three months – and that was only because he’d been dragged by Robin on one of the Forensic-team outings. He’d gotten shit-faced off of cheap cocktail pitchers and shots of rose tequila, and had to explain to his son why he was going to have to get the bus to school the next morning because ‘daddy’s sick, buddy. Real sick’.

Without thinking, the detective snatched the sheet of paper from the wall, leaving a strip of paper behind, still tacked to the wall, and folded it carelessly into his pocket. And then Steve finally made the point of searching for a fire exit.

It wasn’t hard – cheaply printed white sheets of A4 with a bold red arrow and text reading ‘IN CASE OF FIRE’ were hung carelessly close to the ceiling, one pointing to the next in the most boring treasure hunt ever created. Honestly, though, Steve did think there would be treasure once he found the big X (or, in his case, the back exit to the building). It would come in the form of peace and quiet, and no out-of-context quote headlining the papers, and he was anxious to uncover it.

But when he made it to the outside world, swinging on the fire-retardant handle, Steve was met not only with a crisp October breeze and brilliant sunshine, but with a cheap tape recorder being shoved under his nose. He recognized the neat script inked onto the label that was stretched over the plastic and frowned, pushing it gently away.

“I told you, you can’t just turn up at these things,” he said, herding her backwards as he stepped out into the light. His tone was cold enough for the woman in question to drop the arm holding the device out towards him. She cocked her head, reeling after him like an annoying blowfly on a body. “And before you ask, Nancy, my answer is no comment.”

“You’re not looking so hot right now, Steve,” she said softly. Steve scoffed.

“You know exactly what a man wants to hear, don’t you?”

“Are you okay?” Nancy probed gently, and finally caught up with the man, she settled into stride beside him. He looked down at her and her frilly shirt and smiled gingerly.

“I’m doing just fine, Wheeler.”

Nancy’s mouth twisted bitterly at the disconnect in his voice and Steve sighed. They’d dated for three years – four, if you counted the sweet high-school romance they’d fooled themselves into believing – before an inevitable, explosive end. Life got in the way, he told himself. Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler were as different as two people could be; fire and ice. Steve had hoped he’d be able to thaw the woman, get her to settle down, but she’d wanted different things. He’d wanted a family, and she wanted to soar.

Steve had gotten his family, in the end, in the form of a robust, confused four-year-old. And Nancy, well. She was doing what she’d always dreamed.

The woman rewound her tape, bringing it to her mouth: “See: Detective Harrington at the end of his rope. Is this the first case the prodigy can’t solve?”

Steve rolled his eyes, tucking his chin to his chest as they crossed the parking lot opposite the swarm of spectators round the front of the building. The ranks of journalists had settled their unprofessional nature by pressing their faces and cameras against the misty glass, like toddlers at a zoo trying to see into the lion’s enclosure.

“You’re not going to scare me into talking about my feelings, Nancy,” Steve said, casting a glance towards her. She shrugged, spinning the recorder in her fingers.

“Worth a shot,” came the reply, accompanied by a shrug, and Nancy escorted him back to his car, shrouding him in companionable silence. Her low heels clicked on the gravel, and she spun to him when they reached his BMW. A hand wrapped itself around his wrist, and it was Steve’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “You know you can talk to me, right? You were joking, I know, but… Sometimes I worry about you, Steve.”

Dt. Harrington’s smile waned. “I should be the least of your worries,” he shot back. He’d aimed for a light teasing, but the words came out with a heavier weight than he’d expected. Even he reeled back from them, and Nancy squeezed his wrist reassuringly. His pulse raced under her touch. Just friends, he reminded himself (was that all It took? Just a touch from someone that wasn’t his boss or his son? God, he needed to get laid – yet another thing that he hadn’t had the luxury of indulging in lately).

“I care about you. I always worry about the people I care about.”

Steve shook her off gently, opening the driver’s side door: “Be good for Hopper when he finally drags himself out of there, Nance. Tell Mike I say hi.”

He slid behind the wheel before she could reply and unravel the fragile life he’d built for himself.

…

Three hours later, and Steve was drowning in paperwork.

It was cruel, really, how much time he spent in an office that wasn’t even his. Officially, it belonged to the department but most of the time Dt. Harrington saw it as a glorified janitor’s closet. Because whilst it looked good written down on paper, the chipped name plate with Steve’s name on it – one that he was one-hundred-percent sure had been engraved by the resident fear-mongering asshole Officer Hargrove - dared him to question why the opaque glass door didn’t say the same. He’d worked for the Hawkins PD for over a decade: You’d think they would have the audacity and respect to give him a permanent work residence.

But alas, not everyone could be so lucky as the violent crimes unit – especially not homicide. And so Steve settled for less than he deserved and he waited it out patiently, because, in the end, that was how he’d wound up where he was today:

‘Never chase an opportunity,’ his father had told him – and this was when Steve had become co-captain instead of sole captain of the swim team, faced not only with his own disappointment but with his old mans’ too. ‘If you deserve them, they’ll come’.

Steve never had made captain of the swim team outside the constant, companionable badgering of James Rowe, and he’d never outgrown the tiny, un-flourishing seeds of wisdom that Harrington Senior had dredged up during his childhood. Somethings were worth waiting for, he’d deigned. But most of the time they weren’t.

He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it from his forehead with a rough sigh. His shoulders were stiff and sore from being hunched over a desk that took up so much room in the cluttered office that he could hardly breathe, and his wrist ached from underlining and circling the clauses and misspells in Deputy Callahan’s write-up. A myriad of red-penned scribbles tracked over the pages strewn across the table and not for the first time Steve felt like some kind of kindred spirit to the kids Tommy H had made do his homework back in high school. Why even write it in the first place if you knew it was going to be obsolete?

Because they liked to waste his time, that’s why.

God, Steve hated Mondays.

He gathered the loose-leaf documents into a pile, tapping it against the desk to straighten the pages into semi-reasonable conditions, and pushed them to one side. He balanced a heavy-duty hole-punch on top, just in case the weather decided to act it’s month and send a blast of crisp wind through the tiny window held open by the string of the blinds covering it. It had happened once before, years ago, and Steve had spent the rest of his night on overtime just picking up pieces of paper and filing them back to their original places. He didn’t feel like going through that again; his back wasn’t what it used to be, and Steve wasn’t sure his knees would be up to the challenge of crawling along a hard wood floor.

Picking his pen up and dropping it with a quiet clink into the mug resting by his computer, he pushed away from the table, letting the wheels of his chair take him the distance to the door. Steve opened it gingerly, poking his head out and hoping that it wasn’t true that a woman’s work was never done: If Florence made him take another casserole home, he was pretty certain Dustin would begin to refuse meals, and if there was one thing Dt. Harrington didn’t need added to his list of difficulties, it was a fussy ten-year-old.

Thankfully there was no secretary in sight – in fact, it looked like half the police force had abandoned ship. The entire precinct was a waste land. Officer Powell sat in one corner, feet kicked up on his desk, throwing paper balls at a whirring fan, and Maxine Mayfield – a regular to the station, but not for unsavoury reason – watched with an unimpressed gaze as she waited for her brother’s shift to be done. But, really, that was it. That was the grand entertainment that Steve’s nightlife offered.

His keys rattled jovially as he locked up the office, and he ruffled the red-head’s hair in a drive-by mussing on his way to grab his coat from the rack. Robin’s was gone already – no surprise there – so all he really had to worry about as he was leaving was double-checking he had everything, and avoiding the vengeful, fisted hands of Max as she leapt from her chair with furious, delighted eyes:

“Harrington,” she hissed, and Steve smirked at the warmth he detected in her tone. She obviously hadn’t meant for it to leak through, because her eyes widened, and the girl scowled.

“Happy to see me, Max?”

“No!”

“You are,” Dt Harrington teased, and he crouched down in front of her with a stupid grin on his supposedly stupid face. “You so are!”

“Am not!”

Steve waggled a finger in her face, winking to Powell over her shoulder as Max grabbed for it, bringing it to her mouth with the threat of biting it clean off like a carrot stick. “Face it, kid. You love me. You find me funny!”

“You’re stupid,” the ten-year-old snapped back, releasing his hand, and grabbing the lapels of his coat with tiny fists instead. She pulled him forward like she was being the bad cop in a duo of interrogating officers. Steve let himself get tugged along for the ride, grinning.

“Says who?”

“Says Billy,” Steve rolled his eyes, prying her limpet-like fingers from his suit. He straightened up, leaving her adorable, angry face glaring up at him. Her cheeks had gone as red as her hair. There was no heat in her voice though, not really, and she looked away from his soft gaze, blushing. “But I still think you’re cool. He’s stupid too.”

“Yeah, Max. He is,” the man agreed, hands on his hips. “You know who else is stupid? Chief Ho –“

“Harrington!” Steve paled, letting out a nervous bubble of laughter as he turned to the voice. Jim levelled him with a disappointed stare that sent waves of childhood nostalgia through the detective’s gut as the station doors swung shut behind him. He was wrangling a cuffed man by the elbows, tiredness seeping through his eyes, through his voice. “This isn’t a day care. Come and help me.”

Steve furrowed his brows, confused, but approached, nonetheless. He stepped with caution, unsure. “Uh, isn’t exactly my forte, Hop.”

“Cut the crap, detective. You went through basic training just like the rest of us,” the Chief sanctioned, and the lack of patience in his voice caused Steve to walk that little bit faster. At his approach, the guy in custody’s attention rocketed straight towards him.

Now, Steve was never one to judge a book by it’s cover. Really. But with a quick and critical appraisal of the man currently being arrested by his superior, it was kind of hard for Steve to avoid. Because when the man turned, his hair turned with him – all of it – and it flicked over his shoulders, framed by the cheap halogen lighting above, like something out of a Whitesnake music video. Because the tight black jeans, the worn leather jacket, the Savatage t-shirt, the glint of cool silver adorning his knuckles and fingers, did nothing to quell the uncomfortable heat creeping its way up his throat, and Steve cursed himself for never fully getting over his childhood crush on Nikki Sixx.

“Yeah, detective, cut the crap,” parroted the man, and Steve revelled in that voice being aimed towards him. He swallowed, dragging his eyes up from the chains looped around his waist like a belt (and were those handcuffs in place of a buckle? Christ). A smirk was plastered over top of the rocker’s face, his brown eyes fully aware, it seemed, of the thousands of thoughts flooding through Steve’s mind. “Help the old man, why dontcha?”

Hopper gave the guy a rough shove and he stumbled, letting out a breathy laugh, and, stupidly, Steve reached forward to steady him. He regretted it the minute he touched the man because the flutter of eyelashes and sarcastic ‘my hero’ had Dt. Harrington stumbling instead.

“Fingerprint him,” the Chief said gruffly, physically manoeuvring Steve’s hands from the convict’s - remember the type of people who get themselves arrested, Steve – shoulder down to the cuffed hands pinned behind his back. Jim held him there for a moment, giving the other man a knowing look. His grip on Steve’s wrist tightened: “He’s in for drunk and disorderly. You remember how to put that into the system, right?”

“Yeah, but – “

“Don’t get distracted if you ever want to make it home tonight,” Hopper relented, backing away. Steve frowned.

“Where are you going?”

The chief grinned, throwing his hat onto his desk and shrugging on his coat. “Hot date, you know how it is.”

Steve resisted the urge to scoff, clearing his throat instead, and he gently urged the man in his charge forward as he watched, more miserable than ever, as his boss practically skipped from the building.

He pushed the cuffed man into a chair opposite an empty desk and turned the computer on begrudgingly. Chin in hand, he stared towards the blank windows-start-up screen as the PC’s fans whirred angrily into action. Steve felt eyes burning into him, and pushed hair from his forehead as he turned to the unwelcome attention:

“What?” he sighed. He was met with an exaggerated smile.

“Judging by your reaction, I guess you don’t.”

“What?”

“Know how it is,” the man continued, and Steve could feel himself begin to grow impatient, frustrated, annoyed. Spotting his flustered state, the smile on their face crept even further up their cheeks. “Having a hot date?”

He was leaning over the desk now, cheek pressed against a balled fist in some childish mirroring of Steve, and the detective felt the area beneath his eyes grow hot. He blinked, sitting back in his chair: “I know,” he said, aiming to keep his voice steady and calm – professional, because that’s what he was. A professional. Steve hated the way a dark eyebrow cocked at his response. “I know,” he repeated sternly, trying to force some conviction into his words.

“I don’t see a ring.”

Steve frowned, flexing his right hand awkwardly as he turned back to the computer screen, suddenly incredibly aware of it. “I’m not married.”

“Ah.” Steve’s eyes flickered to him, then down to the chipped nail polish on his fingers, and back to the screen. He swallowed, opening a folder to begin the digital booking procedure. He double clicked on a tick-box by accident as the man decided to speak once more: “So, you’re a player, then?”

Steve cursed breathlessly, exiting the file and reopening it. There, a blank slate. Dt. Harrington wished he could do the same thing in real life and restart this whole ordeal – he wouldn’t be letting Hopper sneak off the next time around.

“Name?”

“Eddie – Edward Munson… Is this an eye for an eye situation? Do I get to know just who my charming captor is?”

“It’s not required for me to tell you,” He stated, stealing a glance over towards Munson. The guy was still staring at him, eyes squinting, half-closed, as though Steve was a mystery he was trying to decipher. The click of keys as Steve added the man’s credentials to the document filled the brief silence. “Any middle names?”

“No.” A simple statement. Normal procedure. Then: “So, about your ‘hot dates’, detective… You go on lots?”

Dt. Harrington wanted to slam his head against the keyboard. He inhaled slowly (hold for four, just like Robin had taught him) and let the air out in a whining, exaggerated sigh. Half of him wanted to throttle Munson with the cuffs chained around his wrists, and the other half wanted to entertain him, purely out of personal, incredibly non-professional interest in the other man’s interest.

“Not anymore,” Steve admitted. He clicked into an empty box asking to describe the crime committed: “My colleague said you were being admitted for drunk and disorderly. Is that right?”

Eddie Munson snorted. “Your colleague?”

“Yeah.”

The other man rolled his eyes and began scratching at an ink stain on the wooden desk. “If you mean the big guy, then yeah. I don’t know about any disorder, though. Thought I was just being thrown into the clink with the rest of the bums.”

“You’re homeless, then?”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up beneath his shaggy fringe, hiding there, and he had the audacity to look offended as he sank down into his chair. “Fuck no. Why, do I have trash in my hair?” He brought a hand up to thread through his wild locks, snickering at Steve’s unamused face.

“It’s not funny to make fun of the less fortunate, Munson. What’s your address?”

Eddie stiffened. “Uh, okay. Funny thing, actually – “

“You are homeless?” Steve guessed, and he figured he was actually close to the truth by the way the other man’s face seemed to humble and calm down from it’s crazy that he’d had posted there since they’d met.

“No, dude, I live in a van!”

“Like, in an RV?”

“Er,” Eddie hesitated. “Yeah, sure. Like in an RV.”

“What’s the license?”

Eddie answered disdainfully and watched as Steve typed the information into the designated box, frowning, but he made no attempt to interrupt the detective as he continued filling in the rest of the information. Steve treasured the quiet, broken only by the hushed conversation across the room where in Max continued to verbally abuse Powell’s attempts to shoot a crumpled post-it into the waste basket.

Steve turned to Eddie, then, examining him with a crude eye; Munson puffed his chest beneath his gaze like the preening bird of paradise he’d seen on that nature documentary Dustin had forced him to sit through (David Attenborough had lulled him into a false sense of security - those birds were vicious). Dt. Harrington wondered if the man realised he was doing it, but one glance to his smirking face and smudged eye-liner was enough to stop that thought in it’s tracks.

“Do you have a criminal record?”

“Not that I know of,” Eddie replied coolly. He narrowed his eyes as Steve turned to type something into a search engine, leaning forward and craning his neck to try and get a closer look. “What are you doing?”

“Fact-checking,” Steve murmured in reply, and felt his chest deflate, rest easy, when he saw that the man was telling the truth. He was clean as a whistle. Related family members - his father – were a different story all together, and Steve didn’t let himself linger on the crooked, malicious black and white mugshot that leered at him through the screen. Put away for second-degree manslaughter, he thought grimly, and looked back to the Munson sat before him. “It checks out.”

“Well, good,” Eddie said roughly. There was a gravel to his voice that had the hairs on the back of Steve’s neck standing to attention. “I’m a man of many qualities, detective. But I’m not a liar.”

There was an undercurrent of upset, embarrassment, at what Steve had possibly been assuming - or even hinting towards – and he cleared his throat awkwardly. “It’s just- uh, you know. We have to do it for everyone who comes through,” he stammered, and cleared his throat again, avoiding eye contact with the other man. “Don’t think you’re special or anything.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Munson shot back, and there it was, the classic grin that Steve found somewhat endearing now that he’d seen that face void of it. Eddie sent him a wink, and he supressed the shiver in exchange for a well-timed eyeroll, scrolling up and down the document to check for anything he’d missed. He checked ‘no’ for anything stating that the incarcerated was exhibiting foul or unsavoury behaviour. ‘No’ was also checked for the box that asked whether a superior officer had been overseeing the whole thing, because Steve was so going to throw it back in Hopper’s face if anyone questioned why a Homicide detective was detaining people.

Steve sent the file to the printer in his office. Mainly because he wanted to escape the digging eyes of Eddie Munson, but also because he didn’t know how to use the one set up only a couple feet away. When he pushed himself out from beneath the desk, standing up, Eddie frowned, copying the motion, and Steve shook his head, pushing him back down into the seat:

“Stay here.”

“Where are you going?” If anything, Steve would say that the man sounded concerned. How cute.

“I’ll be back,” he reassured, and Munson’s eyes widened a fraction.

“Okay?” The other man said, like he didn’t know what else to say. Steve sent him a stiff smile before he began that awkward, half-run half-speed walk to his office. His heartbeat thudded in his ears and if he didn't know any better he'd say he could hear the tumbling of blood as it rushed through his veins as Eddie Munson's eyes followed his every move.

What was wrong with him? Just a few hours ago he was investigating the brutal slaughter of a poor woman. Someone's mother, someone's daughter, was dead, and for the first time in years Dt. Harrington was struggling to keep the case at the forefront of his mind. He braced himself against door, closing it softly behind him. He wasn't in high school anymore, Steve had to remind himself. He couldn't just drop it all for the first cute girl he saw.

But and Steve tried to stop the train of thought before it began, failing miserably. But, Edward Munson wasn't a girl. That made it different, surely?

No. It didn't. Steve had been with guys before - he'd learnt more in college than how to assess the arcs of blood splattered against the wall. He was just tired, and lonely, and he'd had a rough day. Steve snatched the papers from the printer harshly, wrinkling them slightly. He just needed to get it out of his system, that's all.

Preferably not with a drunk dude admitted to a police station.

The term 'beggars can't be choosers' breached the sturdy wall he'd suddenly built up in his mind, and Steve banished it instantly. He wasn't a beggar. He was Steve Harrington. King Steve. The best homicide investigator Hawkins had seen in half a century. If anything, everyone else was begging.

When he came back out of his office, his tiny, insecure pep-talk to himself had boosted his spirits some, and he strode jauntily back to the desk with the same cockiness he'd had when he was younger, before his work had both taken over his life and drained him of it at once. He eyed Maxine Mayfield uncertainly where she was perched on the end of an adjoining desk, listening with the same intense, serious look she always kept on her face as the hand-cuffed man talked aimlessly at her about whatever the fuck a guy like him had to talk about. Music, probably.

Steve sent a sharp glance towards Officer Powell, but the man had fallen asleep with his feet kicked up and his neck flopped awkwardly over the back of his chair. He would feel that position when he woke, and Steve felt a little bit gratified. Served him right for leaving a ten-year-old unsupervised with a criminal.

Not that Dt. Harrington really thought that Munson was a bad guy. Usually when drunks got brought into the clink it was because they’d been partying too loud and disturbed a neighbour, and, honestly, Eddie seemed sober. But that was beside the point.

Steve stood with his hands on his hips, watching the two of them, and felt a begrudging smile tilt the corners of his mouth: “Am I interrupting something?”

“Yes,” Max cried, kicking out at him with her swinging legs. She missed him by about three feet, but he got the picture quite clearly. Eddie rolled his eyes, shaking his chains at Steve.

“Nothing important, Steve,” the man purred. Steve’s heart hammered in his chest, and he wet his lips, looking away from the eyes plastered onto him. Eddie tracked the move like a predator, and something about the way he gave his full attention to Steve had the detective shuddering beneath his gaze.

“Max, you’re not supposed to speak to strangers.”

“You were talking to him,” the girl said indignantly, and Eddie’s dazzling smile caused Steve to falter in his reply, like the man knew just how to hotwire his brain. He blinked.

“Yeah, well. That’s my job,” he shrugged, pushing past her sit back down. The red-head scowled, kicking out again, and this time her shoes brushed against his slacks. He shoot her a dirty look: “You shouldn’t have told him my name, either. Where’s your brother? Go bother him.”

Max’s brow furrowed and she pulled her legs up, crossing them on top of the desk. Her eyes flickered between the two men, and she pressed her lips together in indecision. “Can I stay if I’m quiet?”

“Sure. But I want silence. Anything more and you’re out. That’s an order,” Steve enforced, lacing his tone with authority. He knew it would work – it always did with kids. Remind them that you’re in control, give them an ounce of duty, and they felt instantly important. Max nodded furiously, making a show of zipping her lips, and Steve threw the document in his hand down onto the desk, turning his attention to Munson.

The man was looking at him – no surprise there, but Steve still felt oddly uncomfortable – with wide, excited eyes, his lips parted slightly. Steve could see the pink of his tongue trapped between his teeth, and cocked his head slightly: “You good, Munson?” He pushed the paper across the desk. “I need you to sign this for me, then we can get to fingerprinting.”

Eddie swallowed and shook his head. “No, uh – yeah I’m good. I’m super good,” he informed. He paused, scrutinizing the detective as he stole a pen right out of Steve’s hands before he had the chance to offer it. He scribbled a rushed, messy signature that slopped over the dotted line that it was aimed for, and stood quickly, slamming his palms flat on the table in a way that generated a thunderous sound. Steve raised a brow as Max jumped, lips twisting in her attempts to maintain her vigil of absolute quiet. Munson levelled him with a… what was in that stare? Steve couldn’t quite make it out, struggling to compartmentalise the muddle of emotions burning there.

“So you’re ready to go, then?” the detective proffered, rising to join the detainee.

“I’m all yours, Stevie.”

“Please, call me detective. It’s protocol.”

“I’m all yours, detective Steve.”

Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. The tangy scent of copper drifted from his tie and he swallowed as he rounded the desk. This was going to be a long night.

He hated Mondays.

#steddie #stranger things #steve x eddie #eddie x steve #steddie fic #steddie fanfic #steddie au #steve harrington #eddie munson #rockstar eddie munson #detective steve harrington #concieved in the eye of a secret #fanfiction

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dailycass-cain · 1 year

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Cassandra Cain Reading Guide Part 1: General

So you want a reading list for Cassandra Cain? I'm gonna split this into various sections. So, if the urge increases of "I WANT TO READ MORE!" Then there are other tiers to help feed that great need.

And it all begins with this one.

Part II reading guide (Modern) you can find here.

Part III reading guide (Random) you can find here.

Part IV reading guide (Alternate versions) you can find here.

Part V reading guide (PAIN) you can find here.

The starting point is No Man's Land particularly these issues.

Batman #567 + Detective Comics #734 - Mark of Cain aka Cass's first appearance and her intro arc (Puckett/Scott/Peterson).

Legends of the Dark Knight #120 - First as Batgirl.

Batman #569 - first solo story

Azrael #56-57, #60-61

Gotham Knights #2

Batman Chronicles #18

Robin #73

There are more appearances of Cass in No Man's Land than these and the one above, but these are highlighted by her interactions with Jean-Paul Valley, Bruce, Tim, and Leslie Thompkins.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #1-11, #13-25

The first half of the Kelly Puckett/Damion Scott run. If you're wondering why #12 isn't mentioned, it's a crossover issue for Officer Down (basically Jim Gordon is shot, and the aftermath is him stepping down as Commish). It's totally up to you completist wise if you want to go into that story.

For key portions, #7 is Shiva/Cass meeting for the first time, #11 is a spotlight on David Cain, #18 & #20 are her first actual team-ups with Tim & Stephanie, Not her first meetings (she first met Tim in #120, and Stephanie in Robin #88).

During #24 we have another crossover, this event being Bruce Wayne: Murderer? This leads into the next crossover which hits in #27 & #29 Bruce Wayne: Fugitive. Bruce is the main suspect of a murder leading the Bat Family to investigate it. It is optional BUT--

The primary antagonist of the crossover has a critical role in Cassandra's life. So if you want-- Batman #605 (reveal of the antagonist of Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive) Batman #606-607 (aftermath to the reveal) Cassandra only appears in #605 and has a two-panel cameo in #607.

Batgirl Vol. 1 #26-37

The second half of the Puckett/Scott run. Again, #27 & 29 are x-overs. #30-32 is an arc drawn by Scott but written by Chuck Dixon. #33-37 is the closeout of the run.

For issues going on while this run, there were four specials published that featured Cass.

DC First- Batgirl/Joker #1 (Cassandra fights the Joker.)

Batgirl Annual #1 (one linear story of Cass/Bruce on an adventure)

Batgirl: Secret Files & Origins #1.

Batgirl/Ghost: The Resurrection Machine #1-4.

It's up to you if you want to read the last one. It's Cass's only crossover comic, But yeah.. I’m not particularly fond of the story.

#38 features Stephanie exiting the supporting cast and features the first Batgirl issue by Andersen Gabrych.

Superboy #85 is where you need to read next. It has Cass teaming up with Conner Kent/Superboy. This issue helps leading into----

Batgirl Vol. 1 #39-57

Dylan Horrocks’ run.. #39-42 deals with Superboy and a villain called Black Wind (#39-40). Black Wind shows up again in #43-44 with Cass also tangling with an OLD Batman villain Dr. Death.

#45 is when Rich Leonardi arrives as artist for the comic. This is also the same issue Cass dons Babs' Batgirl costume. #46-49 continues the build-up of tension Cass has with Bruce (starting in #39) which leads to #50 Cass vs. Bruce! Horrocks/Leonardi's crown jewel of their run.

#51-52 Cass takes on Poison Ivy. #53 Stephanie returns to the comic as Robin. #54 sadly is when Barbara exits the title as a supporting character. #55-57 is War Games x-over resulting in Stephanie being killed off, and Barbara leaving Gotham, gutting Cassandra's supporting cast.

During this near the middle of this run, another maxi-series is published by DC that features Cass:

Justice League Elite #1-12

- Kasumi (Cass in disguise and spying for Batman). If you're looking for Cass tangling with threats beyond her usual street fare than by all means.

Nightwing #81

- features Cassandra's first encounter with Deathstroke the Terminator. A gorgeous choreographed fight by Devin Grayson and art by Rich Leonardi.

Detective Comics #790 - a War Games prelude with Cass helping Bruce on a mission while both reflecting on Stephanie Brown who is at a crossroads.

Robin #132

Batgirl #58

Robin #133

Batgirl #59

- the Fresh Blood story which features Cass teaming up with Tim both reeling from the fallout of War Games crossover event and their new status quos.

- #58 is the start of Andersen Gabrych's run on the comic.

- An epilogue to this story occurs in Batman Allies: Secrets & Origins #1 in a tale (written by Gabrych).

Batgirl Vol. 1 #58-73

#60-62 is Cassandra's new status quo. Ale Garza/Pop Mhan provide art for most of Gabrych's run (save one issue). These three issues have Cass tangle with the Brotherhood of Evil and a "ghostly" Stephanie continues to shows up too!

#63-64 is Cass having a rematch with Deathstroke who brings Ravager along for the ride. This is basically Gabrych tying up a subplot introduced in Teen Titans comics happening at the same time period (i.e. Rose posing as Cass), but you don't really need to read that to understand the why. So I’m not going to give the issue # to that.

#65-73 is the Destructions' Daughter arc. Everyone who has history with Cass shows up in this arc. Bruce, David Cain, Babs, Black Canary, a few villains of her past (Shrike and Alpha), and of course Lady Shiva in #68.

It's here Gabrych has to juggle a lot of tie-ins. Infinite Crisis was looming on the horizon and Cassandra was dealing with parts since the beginning of her run. #66, and #69-70 are considered the "lowest" points of the run and the Vol. 1 series.

#71-73 is when the action ramps up again with Gabrych having to speed his way to the ongoing's conclusion in #73.

I know I left out appearances (Supergirl, Batman/Superman, Harley Quinn, Young Justice, Birds of Prey, Robin, and Gotham Knights). Also a mini (Batman: City of Lights). But they're just sprinkles. Added goodies to the toppings that is this entire run. Okay, save the last one and maybe Batman/Superman... You will see them on other lists I have for Cass (mostly part 3 and 5).

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1

- contains TWO stories centered on Cassandra. Along with this neat variant cover by Artgerm. "Sounds" literally feels like a story during or just after the Puckett/Scott run (#37) written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn by Marcus To.

"What's in the Box?" is the other story that features Cassandra written/drawn by Dustin Nguyen. Though shorter than the prior one it is still a gorgeously drawn story. Not mentioned, but alluded based on the art/timeline Cass is in her Black Bat attire. So you can place this story after Gates of Gotham in the old canon.

Batman: Urban Legends #7 (Hunter or Hunted...)

- The story/art by Guillaume Singelin provides a truly UNIQUE tale starring Cass. The action is top-notch, we're given probably the best fight sequence from start to finish involving the character in a LONG TIME. The story is a literal feast for the eyes.

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Episodes 32-33 "All Seeing"

- The second major arc that focuses on Cass showcases the many qualities of the character on why there are so many passionate fans of hers. A good starter or introduction for new readers on the character.

All season 1 episodes of WFA are free and available here:

Episodes 90-91 "What I Want"

- The third major story arc focuses on Cass's comic origin while also giving us a team-up gone awry between her and Damian Wayne. Gives new readers a further understanding of Cass building upon Episodes 32-33.

Shadow of the Batgirl

- a Young Adults graphic novel written by Sarah Kuhn and drawn by Nicole Goux. Kuhn gives Cassandra a modern origin taking elements from Puckett and James Tynion IV/Scott Snyder’s Batman & Robin Eternal origin to give us something newly unique on it’s own.

A highly recommended story!

Batgirls #14

- The best issue of the Batgirls ongoing series. Artist Jonathan Case pulls off a masterclass of art, inking, and coloring in this special “silent” issue. There’s no need to read any prior issues. You can go in without reading the prior two arcs (Batgirls #9-12, 2022 Annual, and #13), but it adds to the payoff of this issue.

Yes, writers Michael Conrad and Becky Cloonan cheat in the format, but the way they sneak the dialogue in is absolutely perfect. After years of being denied the special format, Cass gets it and showcases WHY the character just works so well.

#reading guide #cassandra cain #dc comics

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luvly-writer · 1 year

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“But oh..cara mia”

Ch. 1: So what did i miss?

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Dick Grayson x Latina! Reader

Status: Ongoing

Warnings: none

Author’s Note: Seeing as “You are my sunshine” is ending, I published the first chapter to get you guys as excited as I am for this story. Warnings, in this story, heavy amounts of character trauma will be discussed. Therefore, heavy amounts of angst will be shown. Worry not though, fluff and feels will also be a part of it. Enjoy the first chapter and if you’d like to be part of the tag list, don’t be afraid to send me an ask, reply on the chapters, or send me a message. Feedback is always positively welcomed and loved. Love you all!

Taglist: @lorosette @nanas-teatime @prettyacademia00

Series Masterlist:

———————————————————

It had been a quiet night on patrol. Nothing big had happened, just a few thugs here and there. Everyone had retired for the night and decided to crash at Wayne Manor. First arrived Babs, Steph, and Cass, they had been the group closest to the manor. Then came, Tim, Jason, and Duke. Dick, Damian, and Bruce arrived last. They had all entered and headed directly to the changing rooms, too busy with the chatter and banter to even pay attention to the batcomputer. Funny enough, for a group of vigilantes and the world’s greatest detectives, no one noticed the figure next to Alfred, smirking at them from the seat of the batcomputer. “They really are hopeless sometimes” the young girl laughed at Alfred who nodded along with a soft smile. Finally, everyone had returned and noticed someone had been sitting waiting for them.

“Well, i’ll be fucking dammned,” said Jason with a laugh as the girl jogged towards them. “Hello strangers!” she giggled as Cass, Stephanie and Barbara went to hug her. Next was Tim and Jason who couldn’t help but tease her for leaving them for two whole years. Duke then smiled as the young girl jumped in his arms and hugged him tightly whilst screaming that God-awful nickname she knew he hated but secretly loved, “Duckie!” Finally, she turned to the last three, first giving a hug to Bruce, the man who had come to love her as one of his own. Then she turned to Dick, and Damian swore the cave turned tense for a second. He looked at both of them, who were standing face to face, looking at each other dead in the eye. Damian looked around, confused at the anxious faces of everyone around. Even his father was looking at them wearily. “Richard,” she said dryly, to which her counterpart responded just as drily with a nod, “YN”. They kept eye contact for a few moments and when she broke it off to look at Damian, everyone let out a sigh of relief. “Bruce! YOU GOT ANOTHER ONE!” she said looking at him bewildered. She turns to the man and says, “Ok, that’s it, you definitely have a problem, Bruce. You can’t keep exchanging therapy for adopting orphans. I thought we were past that!” making the rest laugh. It wasn’t Yn if she isn’t berating Bruce on something. Bruce at least had the decency to look bashful and Damian spoke up before he could open his mouth, “I am not an orphan, I’m his son. THE blood son”. Yn eyes widened and she looked at Bruce who confirmed his claims. “I leave for two years and come back to find you have a biological kid! Bruce! You could have at least sent an email of precaution!” she says and Bruce shoots back, “I would have if you hadn’t been traveling constantly or in Themyscira” to which the girl smiled bashfully. “You said I needed a break, so I took it.” making the rest laugh. It was good to have her back. Before long, they had migrated to one of the living rooms where she told them all about her adventures and gave them little souvenirs. Throughout this entire time, Damian observed her carefully. She was open with everyone else, yet guarded with Grayson. There were times he would find them looking at each other when the other wasn’t paying attention. A strange fondness could be found in their eyes.

Finally, everyone started to retire to their bedrooms, but before he did, Yn called him out. They were left alone in the living room, with Damian looking at her curiously. “Heard you are half Arab,” she said looking at him softly. She was kind, that he could tell. “He answered quickly, wanting to know what she wanted from him, “Yes, I was raised at the League of Assasins by my mother and Grandfather.” She nodded, “Ras Al Ghul and Talia Al Ghul, damn, another traumatized kid to the bunch. How’d that happen with B?” she said not expecting an answer but Damian cleared it up for her, “She drugged him. Doesn’t take a genius to know it”. She hummed in response and pulled something out of her bag. It was an elephant figurine, beautiful in all aspects. It was jade with golden accents. Truly a remarkable piece. She extended her hand towards him and presented it to him. “Here, a small present. As a welcome to the family. I got it when I visited Arabia. Elephants are my favorite animals, thought you’d like it,” she said and smiled when he took it. He felt a warm sensation in his chest, one he wasn’t used to. Giving her a nod, he thanked her and left for his room. She could see the small smile he was trying to suppress. Once in his room, Damian placed the figurine on his bedside table. Admiring it a little, his thoughts were full of the observations he made of today. Yn Ln. First, he identified what was known. Everyone in the family seemed to be quite fond of her except Grayson, which was out of character seeing as he was normally the warmest. She was kind, and he would understand the fondness of everyone else. She seemed to know all of them quite well, meaning her presence in the family must go way back. And finally, things between Grayson and her were NOT good. Now to what he didn’t know. What exactly was her part in this family? Why does she have such influence over everyone? And his biggest doubt, what the hell happened between Grayson and her that caused everyone to tense up at a mere staredown between the two. That night, as he went to sleep, he assigned himself a new mission. Find out who is Yn Ln and what went wrong between her and Grayson.

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ficreadergirl · 9 months

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Welcome to my Sweetheart

Ep10

Barbara seemed to enjoy the tech store. She spent hours exploring every corner of it. You and Dick followed her around, watching as she examined various devices with interest.

"Look at that beauty!" Barbara was pointing towards a sleek laptop. "I have to buy it." she stated determinedly.

"It really is impressive." you agreed.

"I could use it for--" she began but stopped short when she saw something else that caught her eye.

"Omg! Look at that!" she pointed at another device. "This is even better!" she declared.

"Is it?" you questioned sceptically.

"Of course it is!" she argued. "And it has a bigger screen! And a faster processor! And it looks so stylish!" she continued rambling. Dick looked amused by her excitement.

"So which one would you choose then?" Dick asked her. She thought about it for a moment.

"The second one definitely." she answered decisively. "So what do we do now?" she asked you while trying to find the manager.

"Well, if you've got everything you need, why don't we go to shooting range?" you suggested. "I'm sure you'll love it." you said. Barbara's face lit up immediately.

"Really? Yes please!" she exclaimed happily. Dick looked amused and nodded in agreement.

"Great idea Y/n!" he told you. "I can't wait to see how you do with a gun." he added with a wink. You blushed at his comment.

"You can't wait to see what?" you teased him. He laughed and followed you two outside.

When you arrived at the range, you were surprised to see a line of people waiting their turn. The instructor was handing out target practice cards and was explaining some basics. Since you all knew all about guns thanks to your job as detectives no one needed any help from the instructor.

Dick went ahead of you and took an empty spot on the line. He looked like he was having fun already.

"What do you think of this gun?" he asked you. It was a very nice pistol, sleek and shiny. It looked expensive. He handed it to you and watched you carefully to see how you handled it. You held it reverently and admired its beauty before turning back towards Dick.

"It feels good doesn't it?" he smiled mischievously. His eyes twinkled playfully at you. Your heart skipped a beat and heat flushed into your cheeks. How could he always manage to make you feel these things? He loved teasing you too much sometimes but you loved every minute of it.

"It does... I'd say it's perfect for beginners though." you replied playfully. His eyes twinkled at you again and you felt yourself getting flustered.

"Perfect for beginners..." he repeated slowly. You didn't want to get distracted by his gaze but you couldn't resist it. You turned back towards the pistol and examined it closely.

"Yeah, perfect for beginners." you repeated back to him playfully. His smile widened and he chuckled softly.

"Good thing you're not a beginner then." he teased you. You rolled your eyes playfully and turned away from him to focus on the pistol. You gripped it firmly and began to load bullets inside the chamber. The slide moved smoothly against the grip. You loaded three rounds and closed the cylinder door before taking aim at a distant target 20 meters away. You pointed the gun directly at the target and pulled the trigger without hesitation. A loud bang echoed through the air and smoke billowed out of the barrel when you fired. The bullet hit the paper right between the two eye holes.

"Great shot Y/n!" Barbara cheered excitedly. Her voice came from behind you and she clapped her hands together cheerfully.

"You're definitely not a beginner." Dick commented playfully while watching you fire off another round. Another deafening boom filled the air when you finally managed to shoot the last bullet successfully hitting the centre of the bullseye.

"Yes... I think I'm not." you said with a smirk. Dick grinned playfully back at you and winked. You felt your heartbeat quickened.

"You're a natural." he praised you. You turned around to face him and stared at him for a few seconds. His eyes seemed to glow brightly and you felt your heart skip a beat.

"Thanks." you replied playfully. You saw Barbara's gaze on you and she winked playfully at you. You felt your cheeks heat up again. She knew Dick was flirting with you and you didn't mind it one bit which made you blush even more. She had a playful grin on her face. You turned back towards the pistol and loaded a few more bullets.

"So who wants to shoot?" you asked.

"If it's okay with you two guys I'd like to drink something." Barbara answered. You and Dick looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Sure thing." you replied. Barbara gave you a knowing look and winked playfully at you. She had a smug grin on her face. She knew what she was doing.

"What kind of drink you want Babs?" Dick asked her. Barbara raised an eyebrow at him and smirked playfully.

"I heard about a pub here. Heard about how good their cocktails are." she answered playfully. Dick grinned playfully back at her and nodded.

"Sounds great. Let's go there." he replied. Barbara smiled happily at you and winked at you playfully. After that you three headed towards the pub.

Other eps

#dick grayson x you #dick grayson x y/n #dick grayson x reader #nightwing x you #nightwing x y/n #nightwing x reader #nightwing imagine #nightwing #dick grayson imagine #dick grayson

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insertcoolusernamehereee · 6 months

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Spider-verse, but Nightwing

OK I once saw a comment somewhere which went along the lines of...

"I wish Dc would give us a animation-like Spiderverse of Nightwing"

and at first i kind of ignored it- cuz idk, i don't really care about Nightwing- I mean, i love him! He's great, but not one of my favorite batfamily members.

BUT THEN I REALIZED THE OTHER CHARACTERS WOULD BE THERE TOO

so, here's what i think a Spiderverse movie would be like,

(If the plot was similar)

Nightwing- Obv he's Miles Morales, the main character!

Gwen- OK, the love interest. So we have three main competitors for fan favorite ships! Dick/Wally, Dick/Barbara, and Dick/Kori! Now one of them is already cancelled by default, because Dc is a coward, so we only have Barbara and Kori left! and well, Barbara fits Gwen's personality much more than Kori, and that paired with the fact that DC favors DickBabs in general, WE HAVE A WINNER!

SpiderVerse- okay, this is where it starts to lean a bit away from the movies and a bit from the comics; Spiderverse is now the Court of Owls! My headcannon is that for some reason all vigilantes (minus Batman and one other person, u will find out) join the court of owls thinking it has the right idea, and then BOOM its not actually that good (it kills people it can't control). BUT its not that wrong either. When it figures out what its doing wrong, it starts helping the vigilantes against the real evil, which is...

Spot- The league of assassins :)) YES I KNOW, IT ISN'T REALLY A MAIN VILLAIN of Nightwing's, but STILL, it's too good of a opportunity to give up seeing Ra's and Talia in the movie.

Miles Parents- Bruce and Selina, obviously. I think Jefferson's personality as a parent is PERFECT for Bruce-emotionally-constipated-dad! Selina is Bruce's wife, obv, BUT there is one change here...Y'know that scene where Rio gives Miles that 'your un-grounded" talk? I think it would be Wally giving Nightwing a super cool heartwarming speech (it won't be the same though) and then turned out Selina was listening to it all and at the end is just like "sigh, ok, you're ungrounded, come back soon, i'll deal with Bruce."

NOW FOR THE REST OF THE BATFAMILY MEMBER'S

Tim Drake- DRUM ROLL PLEASE, Hobie Brown! Hobie's smart, and while his personality might be a bit too much....It's still perfect for the role Tim would be playing. Hobie doesn’t trust the Court, and at the end he’s the one who had everything prepared for when they realise that the Court Of Owls is wrong!

Stephanie Brown- AND SHE'S GOING TO BE OUR FAV CINNAMON ROLL, Pavitr Prabhakar. And as much as it pains me as a Pakistani to remove his Indian heritage, it must be done. He's goofy, he ships the two main characters, and is just adorable, he's perfect for Stephanie, and will definitely give her justice.

Cassandra Cain- Sadly, Cass is going to have a less prominent role in the second movie, but hopefully she shows up more in the third; Margo Kess! the scene where she lets Miles go is perfect, because she can detect body language and would understand that Nightwing is right, and Miguel is planning on hurting him.

Damian Wayne- FINALLY MY FAV CHARACTER, but this one is more of a original character instead of a already made character in the movie; Damian is going to be the person Dick has to save. Because i love their dynamic. So, Damian is probably being manipulated by LoA, and idk maybe Ra's is trying to use him as a body vessel without Damian knowing, and the court of owls needs him dead because "HES A WILD CARD" but Dick just NEEDS to save him "BECAUSE THAT'S MY BROTHER, DAMN YOU, IM NOT LETTING ANOTHER ONE DIE" and cue everyone fighting LoA and then a wholesome Dick and Dami scene; Feel free to elaborate on it.

Jason Todd- I had to think a lot for this, but i have a PERFECT answer; Uncle Aaron. ITS SAD AND WILL BREAK HEARTS BUT ITS PERFECT, HELP- The relationship with Jefferson? check. Dies? check. What more do we need?

a happy and alive Jason

Hey! Maybe he comes back when hey go to save Damian! Actually, yes, that is 100% the plot. They find Jason revived at the league and save him :3

Duke Thomas- I CANT FIND A CHARACTER FOR DUKE BUT HE HAS TO BE HERE DAMN IT- please either come up with a original character for Duke or find a already made character PLEASE.

RANDOM OTHER CHARACTERS

Peter B. Parker- Must i explain why? No, no i do not. its perfect.

Mayday- Jon Kent :))) Because why not///

MJ- (Peters wife and Maydays mother) Obv Lois Lane.

Miguel- Random court of owls leader (any idea's?).

SpiderWoman- Can't think of anyone...let me know what you guys think in the comments!

Peni Parker- Kori!! She's perfect

Pig Spiderman- Beast Boy lmao

Black and White Spiderman- Meme version of Raven.

Roy Harper- Just another original character who i need in the movie.

King-Pin- Mr. Freeze! his goals match up pretty well with Kingpins anyway.

The rest of the villains Miles faces will be random Rogues from Batman's gallery.

The rest of the Spiderman's in Spiderverse will be random Justice-League members (OMG I LOVE THIS)

And, well, the first movie takes place when it's only Dick and Jason adopted (Before Jason's death, and then a bit after, when Dick is dealing with the grief)

Feel free to add more stuff in reblogs/Comments! Really want to see what you guys come up with :3

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havendance · 2 years

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No Man’s Land Comics Timeline (and Reading Recommendations)

Made to accompany my No Man’s Land Plot Timeline (for if you want to write fic set in No Man’s Land and want to know when stuff happened). This is the order the comics are in the No Man’s Land Omnibuses and thus the order that I read them in. I've bolded the issues that I really enjoyed and added notes by some others that didn't make the cut but I'd definitely recommend checking out for one reason or another.

Batman: No Man’s Land #1

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #83

Batman #563 - These first three issues really just set the scene for No Man’s Land and do an excellent job of it, you should definitely read them if you’re going to read No Man’s Land

Detective Comics #730

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #51

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #116

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #84

Batman #564 - You can take or leave the story that this issue is a part of, but Leslie Thomkins shows up in this issue and has a nice moment with Bruce

Detective Comics #731

Azrael Agent of the Bat #52

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #117

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #85

Batman #565

Detective Comics #732 - The story in these two issues features some good Barbara Gordon content and her discovery that there’s someone else out acting as Batgirl.

The Batman Chronicles #16

Azrael Agent of the Bat #53

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #118

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #86 - A nice standalone issue about a normal guy in No Man’s Land

Batman #566

Detective Comics #733

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #54 - 55 - I don’t particularly care about Azrael, but this story was pretty good if you do want to read some of his comics. It’s got Baraba Gordon and Leslie Thomkins in it.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #119

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #87 — A lot of plot hits in these two issues which sets up the next couple story arcs.

Batman #567

Detective Comics #734 — These two issues are the “Mark of Cain” storyline which is where Cassandra’s introduced! Definitely check them out.

Young Justice: No Man’s Land #1 — It’s young justice and just good fun.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120 — All the bat-gangs here! Plus, good Helena content.

Robin #67 — Dick and Tim make their way into No Man’s Land together.

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #56

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #57

Batman Chronicles #17 — Specifically, the second story in this is really good.

Nightwing #35

Nightwing #36

Nightwing #37

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #88

Batman #568

Detective Comics #738 — In this story Batman and Robin team up to go against Clayface and they end up making an alliance with Poison Ivy.

Catwoman #72

Catwoman #73

Catwoman #74 — The Catwoman story is just really fun. Plus, Maxie Zeus shows up in it which is always a plus in my book.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #121 — I can’t in good conscious recommend this as a *good* issue, but it is rather entertaining in a comics sort of way. Batman vs Mr Freeze.

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #89

Batman #569

Detective Comics #736

Robin #68

Robin #69

Robin #70 — The only reason I’m not bolding this is because then I’d basically be recommending all of the Robin comics and I’m trying to hold back at least a little of my biases (I just think the Robin comics are fun, okay?). Anyway, the story in these issues reveals the fact that apparently some of Tim’s old classmates are just hanging out in Gotham’s sewers, larping as their DnD characters, which is honestly one of the more absurd No Man’s Land details.

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #58

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #122

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #90

Batman: #570

Detective Comics #737

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #123

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #91 — The story in these two issues was my favorite in volume 3 of No Man’s Land. You should definitely read it. It’s got everything that really compels me about No Man’s Land — namely people staying and doing the best they can in a city that’s hell on earth.

Batman #571

Detective Comics #738

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #124

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #92 — Superman enters Gotham pt II, this time as Clark Kent.

Batman: No Man’ Land Secret Files #1 — This issue flashes back to the night they blew the bridges. Probably my second favorite story in volume 3, cool stuff with the city itself speaking to some dude. Also, Huntress (my beloved <3) shows up.

Robin #71

Robin #72 —Tim, still recovering from an illness, goes up against Killer Croc. [Also sets up future plot points?]

Batman Chronicles #18

Batman #572

Detective Comics #739 — Jim Gordon, Rene Montoya, and Two Face in a No Man’s Land courtroom drama. Two Face is really good in this.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #125 — Batman and Jim Gordon finally talk. A really good focus on their relationship

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #59

Catwoman #75

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #93

Nightwing #38

Nightwing #39 — these two issues have that sweet, sweet DickBabs content if that’s your jam.

Batman: No Man’s Land #0 — The origin of Batgirl!Helena as well as Bruce’s return to Gotham.

Batman #573

Detective Comics #740 — A plotty couple of issues, these set the stage for the grand finale.

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60

Catwoman #76

Catwoman #77 — I’m trying to avoid recommending every issue of vol 4, but these Catwoman issues are just good fun.

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #61 — This has some really nice interactions between Azrael, Barbara, and Cass

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #126

Batman #574

Detective Comics #741

Robin #73

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #94 — Minus the Robin comic, these last comics are all the concluding arc of No Man’s Land. The Bats vs the Joker and Lex Luthor.

#comics #reading list #comic recs #long post #timeline #carthago delenda est #no man's land #dc #bats + birds + affiliated

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zahri-melitor · 1 month

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Okay. I’ve started Rebirth and read the opening stories of the following titles:-

Batman

Detective Comics

Nightwing

Batgirl

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey

I’m paused JUST before Night of the Monster Men and so I haven’t added All-Star Batman yet.

My first observation? Oh what a relief. It’s not perfect. There is work to do and it’s not a straight roll back to preboot but after reading my way through n52, characters and dynamics I recognise are back. It’s like DC suddenly remembered that people enjoy characters interacting with each other. And so, as best as I can tell, the concept was to sort of scatter everyone back to team positions that would make sense if the last comic you picked up was in 2011.

There is definitely some inferred off-screen characterisation going on: both Dick/Babs and Tim/Steph are extant relationships again. Dick and Babs had been longing ‘will they’ exes for the last 5 years of writing where they kept being out of sync with each other (the last time the two were actively dating on page was in 2003; the failed engagement was 2006, and they’d been caring exes shading back to flirting from about 2010 onwards). Tim/Steph broke up in 2004 and at BEST were amicable for 2009-2011.

Batman: Rebirth #1 – this is just a really lovely little stand alone issue that’s setting up Bruce taking Duke on as an active student. It’s just tightly written, with an interesting plot, nods at traditional characterisation, a less-used but known villain – it works really well as basically a training case for Duke. Note for everyone – Duke is still just a kid learning to be a vigilante at this point in the classic Robin model.

Batman #1-6 (2016): The team here is Bruce, Duke, Henry Clover and Claire Clover. This really feels like a back-to-basics storyline. The parallels between Henry and Bruce are not subtle, and they’re not meant to be; Bruce rescuing a family in his own situation and how it plays out is a well trodden story in DC, as is characters getting powers that the use of which ends up harming them. It was almost a modernisation of a Silver Age or Bronze Age story device that we’ve all seen plenty of times – which I guess makes sense for a Tom King story. I do have a soft spot for Claire here. This absolutely feels like a one-storyline-and-done set of characters (Gotham and Gotham Girl) who get hauled out occasionally in the future but mostly left alone. Waller seems somewhat more herself but unfortunately has still not recovered for her dieting. Every time they haul Psycho-Pirate out I wait for him to make some commentary on multiversal stuff, given he’s technically still on the shortlist of people who remember pre-Crisis, I believe?

Honestly, this storyline was mostly a relief after some of Snyder’s drama (said with full tongue in cheek over the fact it also included Bruce steering a crashing plane from the outside with cable and two rocket thrusters)

Nightwing: Rebirth #1 and Nightwing #1-4 (2016): This is very much a transitional storyline. It’s Dick’s story, but Damian, Bruce and Barbara are popping in and out of it. In terms of moving on fast from Grayson, the fact that Tim Seeley is writing this means that we don’t get a clean break (this is still basically a spy mystery story), but Dick putting back on the Nightwing suit with blue was such a moment of relief, I can’t tell you how big. He hadn’t worn that since 2009. It also unfortunately involves Court of Owls drama carried over from Batman & Robin Eternal and the 2011 Batman and Nightwing runs, but hey, Dick’s back talking to people, he sounds more like himself, he’s wearing BLUE, and he’s hanging out with Damian in a ‘I love him but he drives me up the wall’ way which is honestly not bad as characterisation. Also this line from Nightwing #2 (2016) stuck with me: “But Batman also taught me every life is worth saving. Even if it always seemed like I believed it more than he did.” While I have my quibbles over the second line (ACTUALLY Seeley that philosophy is pretty fundamental to Bruce), for Dick? At this exact moment in time? After recent events? It feels like a renewal. Every life is worth saving.

Damian here is an irritating little snot, but in the largely affectionate way he tends to get in better writing with Dick, and he’s still acting like a kid, which is always nice to see.

Detective Comics #934-#940: I’m not crying, my eyes are just watering, okay? Oh my GOD. This is Kate Kane, Tim, Cass, Steph and for some reason Basil Karlo on a team together. Okay. I see why Tynion’s run is considered a highlight. It’s not perfect, it’s in no way at all perfect, but Tynion took on an unenviable task (merging Tim, Cass and Steph into usable versions of their preboot characterisation/personalities grafted on to the existing situation of all three characters at the end of n52) and he did it in a way that spent a lot of time signalling that yes, he’s actually read their solo runs. They all had moments where they sounded like themselves and acted like themselves.

Tim still had his stupid arm computer and is at peak arrogance and at one point said “This is what happens when you give a sixteen-year-old genius who doesn’t sleep an unlimited budget” (sigh. SIGH. C’mon, Tynion) but my initial fears from the way the first issue was framed that Tim was going to be treated as less capable than Kate Kane (someone who, even in n52, Tim had spent more time as a vigilante than) were relieved by Tim slotting capably into the ‘support strategy’ role he is so good at. Of course as well then he is sort-of not-really playing around with the idea of moving on (he’s got his invite for university but you can read him as either ‘wanting to move on but trapped by Bruce inviting him back to being closer’ or as ‘Tim didn’t expect to get this, is stymied by it, and feels he’s being pushed about taking the opportunity if he lets people know’). It’s a concept he flirts with on occasion but can’t go through with. And then my sweet boy sacrifices himself and shows up Ulysses fucking Hadrian bastard Armstrong and… we get the acknowledgement that TIM IS THE GLUE. He’s just pulled this team into working together in a functional manner and we get “You were reconnecting threads that could not be reconnected. You’re so loved, so deeply intertwined. It became crucial that we take you off the field.” Which? He hasn’t been for 5 years of stories. That’s my boy, my fix-it Robin.

Steph…is sort of controlling and clearly lacking in training and has some edges to her and bickers with Tim? Which oh my god, I can see actual continuity with pre-War Games Steph here. It’s not perfect, she’s suddenly in an established relationship with Tim and quite focused on that, but I can see some Dixon in her! It’s a miracle!

Cass has had the hardest reboot of the lot and has lost 99% of her vocabulary and is back to her cryptid ways, but even there I can see Batgirl 2000 characterisation moments peeking through. She drops in the window while Tim is stripping down (Fresh Blood! FRESH BLOOD MY BELOVED. The parallels here!), she supports Tim during a fight but pushes Steph out of the way and takes over…that’s Cass’s assessment of their fighting abilities. That’s Steph overreaching her capacity and Cass dropping in to haul her out of trouble.

Kate Kane is very much Kate Kane and while I disbelieve that she and Bruce are really that close in age, this is the start of Rebirth and doing things like gently stretching back out the timeline so that we’re in Year 18 or so again, not Year 6. (Year 18 is rough back-of-the-envelope Year 3 = Graysons fall, Year 13 = ALPOD, Year 15 = NML, Year 17 = OYL to Reborn, then n52 is a single year). I like seeing her actually spend some time actively working with other Bat characters if she’s going to be fully integrated, rather than just turning up for events.

Batgirl #1-5 2016: oh Babs. While this run is winking at past Barbara characterisation (the use of Amy Beddoes as an alias! However there is no awareness that that is a name known by the Suicide Squad and Waller and not only heavily linked to Oracle, but to Barbara’s feelings about guns and Joker), it remains squarely in the ‘fluffy light storytelling that might be suitable for a 22-23 year old character but doesn’t match anything about Barbara Gordon’. I really wish this was good.

It is, I guess, an adequate tonal sequel to Burnside, and if that’s your Barbara you will probably enjoy it, but I can’t help but mentally want to slot every single one of these stories into a past history that occurred during Babs’ ORIGINAL stint at Batgirl.

The concept of Barbara going on a world training tour break isn’t bad and echoes Cass being sent off to Hong Kong (though Hong Kong is skipped over for Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul and Shanghai), but the heavy reliance on Barbara’s eidetic memory as her strong point and THEN Barbara ‘switching it off’ to be faster???

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Rebirth & #1-6: It's Barbara, Dinah and Helena all on a team together? Miracles really do come true!

First point out of the gate: yes, I hate that this contains several take-thats at fans of Barbara as Oracle. I think they're mean spirited and exhausting to read. There is absolutely nothing wrong with fans of a team created by Oracle wanting to see it lead by ORACLE. THAT SAID, characterisationwise this is the closest I've had to my girls for a while.

Barbara is far more like Simone's n52 Batgirl than Burnside. She actually acknowledges aspects of her past, and the struggles it's brought with it and why that should have resulted in growth.

Dinah is unfortunately still running around as Dinah Drake Lance with the shitty n52 backstory retcon intact and reliance on the band stuff. Sorry, Dinah. The first run really didn't do much to recanonise anything preboot for Dinah, just outlined her new history, though Siu Jerk Jai got a few references.

Helena? Look. This is the fourth? version of Helena's origin I've read and it looks like it's most riffed off Huntress Year One, and it's sticking with Helena's mum having an affair, sigh. However, on the scale of "is this actually Helena Bertinelli", there is so much credit on the 'once again has a backstory that actually works as a Helena Bertinelli backstory' side of the ledger that I don't really care. This is about the process of rehabilitation, and Helena is not just a Bertinelli, but the first thing she does is butt heads with Barbara over their combined stubbornness and her refusal to take direction, soooo. Yeah, pretty stoked.

I will say, with this lineup of new histories, instead of being the "two cops' daughters and a mafia princess" group it's now the "Missing Mothers Who Might Be Evil Issues" team. Which is a downgrade. I wouldn't care about them bonding over their mothers so much if it wasn't stereotype missing mother hour.

Overall conclusion?

I became emotional reading Batman: Rebirth, 'Tec, and B&BOP. Even for their flaws they all were trying hard and hit me with what they were attempting to achieve.

This was in no way a complete fix, and heck DC is STILL untangling some of the threads that they started trying to fix here with Rebirth, 8 years later. But oh it is enjoyable to see writing teams actually try and act like yeah, people are allowed to like preboot characterisation.

#z canon read throughs #let's go rebirth #the worst I can say about any of these opening stories was that some were a bit average #I'll take 'average' over 'trying to make me gouge my eyes out working out how this makes sense' any day

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