Tumgik
#I just assumed it was Jason because in the beginning Batman explains that a new Robin joined him after the first Robin became nightwing
betterthanbatman1 · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Clark: Butts are for sittin’ not for sassin’
Robin: Kill me now
1K notes · View notes
suzukiblu · 6 months
Note
WIP guessing game: "Robin"
Superboy has existed for about six months at best (five months, two weeks, and six days, but who's creepily spying on their fellow heroes and vigilantes? not Tim, for sure) and was created in a lab full of extremely niche genetic experiments whose creators very rarely bothered making look human, which is probably why he has some weird ideas about certain social norms.
Tim assumes that's why the guy just decided to drop a very annoyed Catwoman on him out of nowhere, anyway.
"The fuck?" he says, though through his vocoder it comes out more like the incoherent screeching of the damned. That being, well, the whole purpose of the vocoder and all. Superboy grins down at him from the nighttime sky all bright and sunny and weirdly adorable, for being a lab-grown weapon and a guy who is technically capable of disassembling Tim down to his individual atoms with, like, a touch and about two seconds' worth of thought.
Not that Tim has been creepily spying on anyone or said anyone's Cadmus files, again.
Also Superboy might not even know he can do that yet, so it's really not a smart thing to mention right now.
"Hey, man!" Superboy greets cheerfully. "She was breaking into that big museum a couple blocks over, figured you'd care about that. As opposed to, like, breaking into some rich asshole with insurance's penthouse. Figured you would not have cared about that."
"The museum also has insurance, for the record," Selina informs him sourly as she makes an art of getting off her unceremoniously roof-dumped ass while looking like being on this roof was her idea to begin with. Because, like: Selina. "And has not properly sourced the artifacts in their new Bast exhibit."
I know, that's why I was on my way to the museum to keep an eye out for you, is what Tim does not say, since Robin is supposed to be a splintered aspect of a mysterious all-knowing city spirit given human form and not just, like, a really dedicated teenager surviving on semi-legal energy drinks and conspiracy-board detective work and the occasional occult ritual to summon the Batman.
What he does do is jerkily cock his head and say, "Preyyyyy?", and let his vocoder horribly mangle the word into a sound usually best described as "unholy avian screeching". Superboy beams, which is not a normal reaction to hearing Robin's voice. Selina just rolls her eyes, but Selina of course knows about the whole "really dedicated teenager surviving on semi-legal energy drinks and conspiracy-board detective work and the occasional occult ritual to summon the Batman" thing.
Like she's never summoned the Batman for anything, geez. Or "Bruce", as an eight year-old Dick Grayson had once upon a time decided to randomly dub him. Tim still can't call the eternal and unsleeping eldritch protector of their city that without feeling like he's going to spontaneously combust, but it is in fact a thing that the Batman will answer to.
Might as well call Pennyworth "Alfie", though.
Jason was even worse at names than Dick, Tim is pretty sure.
"Yeah!" Superboy says, sounding still more cheerful and floating down the rest of the way to the roof to land lightly in front of Tim. Selina eyes him in a way that would end very badly for anyone who was not functionally invulnerable. "I mean, she seems cool and all but I dunno, figured the Bat wasn't big on Cats in his territory. And also the criming. Definitely also the criming."
"How . . . find Robin?" Tim asks. Superboy doesn't have enhanced senses, as far as he knows, so . . .
"Oh, I've been stalking you," Superboy explains. Tim blinks behind his unblinking mask and feels several ways about that statement. "That's what you Bats all do when you're interested in somebody, right? So I figured you'd like it if I did it back."
. . . Tim feels several ways about that statement.
518 notes · View notes
Note
okay so question
what is happening in comics right now
bc according to dark crisis batman is dead
but also we have batman vs robin??? among other things…
Okay, so this is a complex question and sorry it took me a minute. I want to answer this seriously, so much so, I busted out my actual laptop (it has dust from over a month of no use [I solely use my phone and tablet]) This may seem like a half hearted answer, but know that it is 100% serious because DC is just an absolute clusterfuck.🙃
My understanding is that since Death Metal, everything both is and isn't current continuity. If this somehow makes no sense, you are welcome! You now understand perfectly and have the same basic understanding of what is happening as I do (which for context, I read roughly 30 active DC runs a month, I am putting in the work 😭)
The best and only way I know how to explain it is to go over what is occurring in each active run/series that features batman. It doesn't really clear anything up, but I feel it is the only way to address this. I am also probably wrong on some of this. Please comment any corrections, I am trying… (unless otherwise noted, I am reading all titles listed and am current on all issues)
*Lastly, I am trying to make these as educational as possible while also giving away as few spoilers as possible. There may be some if you are not caught up or have not begun a series.
Current continuity- Main Timeline
Batman #125- This is a start of a new storyline and puts the previous storylines at an end (can we put Gotham Girl to rest) Batman begins the investigation of the killing of Billionaire's in Gotham featuring the Penguin as his main villain (from what I know from solicits. It comes out in full tomorrow July 5th) Status- Alive
Detective Comics 1062- This is a start of a new storyline and puts the previous storylines at an end. It releases July 26th. RamV begins a run where Bruce begins questioning demons and if one is inside him, idk man, the solicit was odd. Ram V is generally a big horror/suspense writer so this part 1/4 of his Gotham Nocturne series is along those lines (I assume) and I have very high hopes. Status- Alive
Dark Crisis: Has some cross over with the Flash, but seems mostly an entirely contained storyline that is not affecting other continuity. Bruce Wayne is dead. Stems from events that occurred in the current timeline of Justice League. Status: Dead
Batman Vs Robin- This title will be released in September, so we only know what has been released in the solicits. The crossover event of Shadow War just ended as well as will be Robin. This is the fallout of both of those regarding Damian. Not much is known yet as it has yet to be released or even solicited much, but we do know Bruce Wayne's status at the beginning of the story: Status- Alive
Batman: One Dark Knight- Batman is assisting an escort of prisoners. Status- Alive
Task Force Z: Harassing Jason Todd after putting him undercover on a mission. Status- Alive
Nightwing: Bruce is in like one issue. He is proud of Dick. He is pretty much the only batfam to not feature prominently in this which is surprising as Tom Taylor (derogatory) loves to write anyone except for Dick in his Nightwing run. Status- Alive
Superman Son of Kal El- Bruce is "looking out for" Jon as Superman is off planet. Tom Taylor (derogatory) writes Bruce as incredibly incompetent… color me surprised. Status- Alive
Timeline Jumps/Elseworlds:
Batman: Urban Legends- This is a collection of short stories that are all current continuity, elseworlds, and timeline jumps regarding the batfam and Gotham, and sometimes neither of those things. Status- Alive, but could change depending on individual storylines
Batman/Superman World's Finest- Fighting Crime with Superman, Supergirl, and Dick as Robin. Status- Alive
Jurassic League- The justice League as dinosaurs. It is awesome. 10/10 would recommend. Status- Alive- but as a dinosaur 😲🦕🦖
Batman: The Knight- Bruce Training to become batman, but he is not yet batman. This is my favorite Bruce-centric series at the moment. Status- Alive
Future State Gotham- *I am a bit behind as went through and read each Future State series before allowing myself to go deeper in this, I am only like 6/14 issues in. Bruce has stepped down as Batman. Jace Fox is currently Batman. Nightwing wants to be Batman. Status- Alive, I think, but not as Batman
Batman: Killing Time: When Bruce was in his early days as Batman. Currently tracking The Riddler and Catwoman after a crime. I have really enjoyed this despite it being a Tom King run.... Status- Alive
Batman Beyond Neo Year: Bruce has been murdered by Gotham (yes the city as an entity) Terry McGinnis tries to put the pieces together. Status- Dead
I am Batman: *I haven't read this as I am still behind Future State Gotham. Jace Fox is batman as a companion storyline to Future State Gotham. Status- Alive, I think, but not as Batman
Flashpoint Beyond: Thomas Wayne is Batman. Status- Batman is alive, because Thomas is Batman, but that is because Bruce is dead
DC vs Vampires (and related spin off series): Vampire King Dick Grayson has taken over earth. Status- Dead
Dark Knights of Steel: More trash from Tom Taylor (derogatory). The art is pretty though and Tim gets wrecked once again. Status- Alive
Batman Beyond: The White Knight- Bruce is old and no longer Batman. He has escaped from prison with the assistance of Jason Todd. Status- Alive
Monkey Prince- Batman is tracking down Monkey Prince's parents and Monkey Prince, but it is mostly Damian as Robin. I am unsure if this should go here or under current timeline, but seeing as it has Damian in Gotham and as Robin, I assume it is slightly prior to Damian's own series. Status- Alive
Unsure because I have not read these:
Batman: Fortress- I haven't had time to get into this yet. I think batman is trying to stop an alien invasion. Idk if it is main or elseworld or time jump. Status- Alive
Batman/Catwoman- This just ended.I am uninterested. I have zero idea honestly. I assume he is alive otherwise what is the point? Status- Alive
Edit- I have been informed Bruce is dead in this, but as it takes place over multiple timelines he is both alive and dead
Justice League vs The Legion of Super Heroes- Batman is fighting the LOSH with the JL. Status- No idea, but pretty sure it is Alive
I hope this makes some sense and helps a little. I know it does neither.
Tumblr media
153 notes · View notes
Text
So... Jason Todd might be immortal.
So, a long while back, I saw a theory floating around that Jason Todd (specifically the version from the New Earth continuity, we won’t get into Prime Earth, and New52 and Rebirth) is actually immortal. 
I can’t find the theory now, google has failed me, but if I remember right, the gist of it was that Red Hood super fucking dies at the end Under The Hood. 
Tumblr media
Jason is hurt badly after Bruce gets him with a batarang, but it’s suggested this wasn’t fatal because Bruce’s whole thing was figuring out a way of stopping Jason from killing Joker without killing Jason. 
However, Joker immediately blows up the building they’re in. 
Tumblr media Tumblr media
There’s this weird ripple of space sparkles, Bruce gets up, and immediately begins to mourn him, alongside various images of different Batmen across the multiverse... I guess, maybe. 
Under The Hood was technically part of the Infinite Crisis event, so like everything else that happened in that block of time, we time jump a year after this (theoretically, some characters don’t appropriately age up, the perpetual teenagers that they are).
If you read this at the time, you probably assumed Joker just killed Jason in another explosion. 
Tumblr media
Jason returns in the Nightwing costume in Nightwing #118. If you remember my post about Conner Kent dying in place of Dick, I’ve been told this happened because they’d planned to have Jason become Nightwing after Dick’s death, but when Dick was spared, allegedly they already had art drawn of Jason as Nightwing, and I guess didn’t want to scrap it. I cannot confirm this as fact, though, I’m not sure where that information comes from. 
So, clearly Jason didn’t die, so what happened? It’s kind of a weirdly written comic, so Nightwing is going to be no help explaining what happened, Dick asks no questions regarding where Jason’s been or how he’s back, character emotions and actions are all over the place, Jason turns into a grotesque blob monster for a bit (it... is explained, but its weird and confusing), it’s a whole thing. 
Tumblr media
If I remember right, the theory has to do with those space sparkles. They seem to be associated with the event of Superboy Prime punching the universe, the same event that un-killed Jason Todd. 
As the theory goes, Jason cannot die - his death was unwritten, and cannot be re-written; he will always come back. So, Jason died at the end of Under The Hood, but reality won’t let him stay dead. 
Tumblr media
He’ll just come back - “reset” so to speak - as if he never died. 
This is also a handy excuse for how he crawled out of his grave without dying again from lack of air. 
So I read that theory, thought “oh that’s cool” and then proceeded to never think about it again. Until today. 
Tumblr media
So I was reading Battle for the Cowl, and I got to this bit in Dick and Jason’s fight where Jason yeets himself to what surely must be his death - Dick seems to think it is, at least, and Jason indicates that Dick doesn’t want Jason’s blood on his hands, so Jason must know this fall could kill him. 
But just before letting go of the ledge, Jason tells Dick “I’ll be seeing you sooner than you think.” 
.....Weird. 
Tumblr media
And then I remembered this little line from Batman and Robin, after Jason’s returned again (in the fucking pill helmet outfit....), where Jason says - “shoot me, do it, I’ll come back.” 
....I mean it seems like Immortal Jason Todd may have been the intent during this era. Possibly. There’s more evidence supporting it than I thought. 
Sometimes you get things like this that are just a bit out of place, a bit odd, but build on each other and seem to be leading toward some big reveal or deeply explored concept... and then it just got dropped entirely or the universe rebooted, and you’re left wondering if it was ever really there at all. 
621 notes · View notes
verymuchimmortalcat · 3 years
Text
To Have Several first Meetings
Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month Day 1: Meeting for the first time
ao3
@maribat-bdbwm
Marinette had known she was adopted since she had been twelve and had a project about genetics in school. Her parents had explained to her that her mother had given her up for adoption since she wasn’t in a situation to take care of her and didn’t think her father would be able to. Marinette’s mother had passed away soon after and while Tom and Sabine had her father’s information neither of them had ever contacted him. They left the option up to Marinette, and at the time she hadn’t cared, she had two loving parents and she was happy.
.oOo.
Marinette meets Batman for the first time when she’s 14. Wonder Woman had been in contact with them from the beginning of the hawkmoth situation, but after Heroes Day Batman insists on speaking to the them. As they enter the Watch Tower she can feel Cat Noir buzzing with excitement next to her. She’d laugh but she’s too nervous to do so.
Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are waiting for them. Marinette’s glad there aren’t more heroes around, Cat Noir looks like he might explode in excitement. They sit down at the table and Batman speaks first, “You need training.”
She’s well aware of that, but the way Batman says it irritates her, but she ignores it. She’s here because Diana asked, and because Batman is right about their lack of training.
Superman speaks up then, “We can help you with that. You can use Titans Tower for your training-”
“-And due to the nature of the threat you face, the two of you and the rest of your team is welcome there anytime.”
Marinette doesn’t point out that the rest of them are temporary heroes, it will probably alarm them more. She knows Cat Noir is probably jumping at the offer but she wants to know “why?”
Batman’s the one to speak, “if you’re going to protect Paris, then you’re going to need to be trained well.”
Marinette doesn’t know why Batman has a sudden vested interest in Paris’s safety but she’s going to go along with it. They do need the training and it will be nice to talk to more heroes their age.
“And the Justice League won’t interfere in Paris?”
“No.”
“None of them? You have a very large team and not all of them are here at the moment.”
“I will ensure everyone is informed.”
Marinette drops it, Batman sounds sincere.
.oOo.
Cat Noir and Ladybug make their first appearance in Titans tower that weekend. Cyborg and Nightwing are the ones waiting for them. They meet a lot of heroes. There’s Robin, Red Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl, Kid flash, Solstice, Ravager, Beast Boy, Raven and apparently there are more of them usually but those are the ones she meets.
Civilian names are a whole another thing. Ladybug, Cat Noir and the Bats don’t share theirs but then there are the others. Cassie of course doesn’t have a secret identity. And Kon, Bart, Kiran, Rose and Gar don’t really mind telling another super hero. It’s a bit weird how forthcoming they are with their identities, Marinette’s had the no sharing identities rule hammered into her head for over a year now, and meeting the Teen Titans is making her question that rule.
As time passes and the miraculous team grows larger and the heroes become permanent, Titans Tower becomes steadily more occupied during weekends and training relaxes into hanging out.
They still train of course, the bats help with figuring out hawkmoth and Mayura’s identities, pretty much everyone helps with the actual fighting, and Raven helps with the more magical aspects. She meets pretty much all of the teenage superhero community over the course of a year. It’s pretty cool.
.oOo.
About a year after they start their training, they figure out Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste and Mayura’s Nathalie Sancouer. It’s not surprising but she knows they’re all worried how it’s going to affect Adrien, who as they learn is Cat Noir.
Marinette is fifteen when Hawkmoth’s reign over Paris ends.
Paris celebrates for days. But Marinette can’t bring herself to feel anything anymore. It’s not that she hasn’t been dealing with her emotions with the constant trips to the tower it’s just not letting herself feel anything in Paris becomes normal.
Her parents start to get worried and as much as she would love to calm down their fears she can’t. Luka, Juleka and Alya are the ones who join forces to convince her to reach out to her biological father.
When she gives in and asks her parents, they give her his contact information happily, assuming that’s what had been bothering her all this time. Marinette doesn’t correct them.
It takes Marinette a few weeks to call him but she does call him.
.oOo.
It turns out he already knew about her; he had just figured waiting until she was older was the better approach. Marinette wasn’t really sure what to make of that but he had invited her to his house in Gotham to spend a week getting to know him and the rest of his children.
Marinette accepts his offer happily. It would be nice to learn more about her father and his family (beyond what her research turned up with, Gotham reporters didn’t seem very sensible), and get out of Paris for a while.
.oOo.
Marinette is met by M. Pennyworth, who’s their butler, at the airport. Her parents had let her come on her own after M. Wayne had assured them that she would be safe. There had still been an unnecessarily large number of people to send her off at the airport, though.
Their ride to Wayne Manor is filled with a good amount of nervous rambling, from Marinette’s part. Alfred (he had insisted upon being called so) asks her about school and friends and Marinette goes on a lot of tangents as she talks about everyone in Paris.
There several people waiting at the entrance when they reach the Manor. If she wasn’t anxious about meeting her family, she would probably be more amazed at the beauty of the Manor and the surrounding grounds.
She waves awkwardly at them and says, “hi, I’m Marinette.”
The shortest boy among them, Damian she believes, turns away and walks back into the Manor. Her father turns as if to follow him but he’s stopped by the second tallest of her siblings, Marinette doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to the idea of siblings but she finds she quite likes it, “I’ll go check on Damian. Bye Marinette, see you around.”
She waves at him silently and all of them fall into silence, Alfred having left them. Would it be too late to turn away now?
There aren’t enough pictures of Bruce Wayne’s children on the internet, with the exception of Tim Wayne, for her to recognise all of them but she's pretty sure the one who finally breaks the silence is Jason Todd, returning from the dead created more than enough reading material for her research.
“I'm leaving. Nice to meet ya,” and then heads off. None of the others seem to think it’s strange, so she doesn’t dwell on it.
Mr. Wayne clears his throat and says, “we should probably head inside.”
“Truly one of your brighter ideas B,” Tim says and the other two laugh. They introduce themselves as Cass and Duke once they’re inside and Mr. Wayne tells her she can call him B or Bruce like the others do or whatever she’s comfortable with, Marinette nods in reply. And then she’s being dragged along to somewhere deep in the Manor by her new siblings and they’re talking about some kind of prank war that they’re apparently in the middle of.
Marinette grins. This is bound to be interesting.
226 notes · View notes
Text
Whacky Gotham, Goofy New York, and Chaotic Paris.
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7)
Chapter 5: Then Let The Games Begin
•—–—–·†·–—–—•
Soooo, the Batfam is panicking, Gotham's confused as to why Iron Man is flying over Gotham like a madman, and Maria is with two of Gotham's Sirens (but only Ivy and Harley know this) having a wonderful time playing with Bud and Lou.
Let's start with the Sirens.
Harley is watching over Maria and Tikki as they sleep with Bud and Lou, Ivy walkes over to sit next to Harley, handing her a cup of tea.
"So, what's the diagnosis?" - Ivy
"She has some sort of trauma, has class issues... and handles more than she should, but still does everythin', on top of bein' a hero. She's been through some sh-t Pam." Yeah Harley may have found out Maria's a hero (if the tiny god and magic were anything to go by).
"Is she alone?" - Ivy
"No, thankfully, she has supportive parents, and friends that aren't little sh-ts. I think they're also heroes, she also has a lot, and I a mean A LOT of pent up emotions, she doesn't show anythin' negative, only positive things. She seems to shrink in on herself if she thinks she does somethin' wrong. Pam, we both know there's a limit to how much crap a person can take before they snap, and she's such a sweet kid. There has to be somethin' we can do to help her Ives." Ok she found out alot, but in Marias' defense, they have trustworthy souls, and they were the only other people (besides her friends) that she talked to about it, yes she had her Maman and Uncle to talk about hero stuff, but for the stuff her class does, she only ever vented (without being negative) to her friends.
"Her class is visiting the Botanical Gardens in three days, and it's a 2 part tour, so we can see just what's going on. If it's bad then we scare them a bit, if it's bad bad... they can handle a few slightly poisonous plants right?" - Ivy
"God I love the way ya think Ives, do ya think she can stay with us? I mean look at how cute she is with Bud and Lou... Oh my god, she's cuddlin' dem, and ya gave her a flower crown, how'd I miss that?! Where's the camera?"
Tumblr media
Harley took a picture to remind her of this wonderful moment. As Ivy and Harley looked at the picture, they both promised to keep Maria safe, and maybe become sorta kinda-ish parents to her while she's in Gotham.
•—–·Now back to the Bat-Chaos Bat-Cave·–—•
Tim took over the chair and was now searching the possible locations with Jarvis, Damian was sitting on a different chair, trying to act cool, but he wouldn't stop looking over at Tim, to see his progress. Bruce was talking over the comms with Tony. Dick and Jason, weren't helping (they kept feeding each other worse and worse ideas of what could have happened to Maria). Then they heard Jarvis speak.
"I have found the most likely area Ms. Dupain-Cheng would be in. Her phone died about 56 blocks away from her hotel, if we don't count kidnapping, or murder, she would have thought about asking for directions, but may have decided not to considering the city she is in. So that leaves us with a possible 15-25 mile radius from her last known location. I think it best to divide into groups of two, have Oracle stay and update you if anything on security, and or traffic cameras happens. Bruce will be with Tony, Dick will go with Tim, and Jason will go with Damain to search within the area. Stephanie and Cassandra will search around a 5 mile radius near Wayne hotel." as Jarvis continued to explain the other details, the Batfam began to suit up, Batman met up with Iron Man, and they took the North area, Nightwing and Red Robin took the East area, while Red Hood and Robin searched the South. Steph and Cass were on foot in civilian clothes, searching the West area they were assigned.
They searched for the whole day, and came up with nothing. Until Oracle saw a video from a traffic cam around 9pm, 15 blocks away from where her phone died. She called it in and everyone went back to the cave. Once everyone was at the Bat-Computer, Oracle pressed play, the cameras didn't have sound, and it wasn't close enough to see if she was ok.
They watched as she went to an overgrown parking lot and sat down. She was looking down at the ground, and that's when they spotted two figures round the corner and spot her. They watched as the two figures approach Maria, and saw the startled reaction she had. They realized it was Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy that were talking to her, then they saw Maria collapse. They watched as Harley made sure she was ok, looking over to Ivy before looking back to Maria and picking her up. The last thing they saw, was Maria being carried away by two of Gothams' most dangerous rouges, but now they knew where to look next.
•—–· Back to Ivy and Harley ·–—•
Harley continued to take adorable pictures of the children.
"God, they're so f-ckin' cute!" - Harley for the 20th time
As Ivy continued to watch while caring for her plants, Catwoman walked in.
"Hey girls, got the stuff for movie night, so what are we- Holy mother of cats! He adopted another f-cking child didn't he! Where the hell does he keep finding them?! 7 was ment to be the god DAMN LIMIT!!!" - Catwoman
Maria jumped at the sudden shouting and may have accidentally summoned a yo-yo (one made useing creation magic and protection magic) before saying.
"Tikki where's the akuma?! How long was I out?! Forget it Tikki spot-" she then realized she wasn't in Paris, and seeing a new face, she also realized she just spilled her secret to another person within the same day... kinda
"Fffffffffffudge sunday that fell on the pavement!" - Maria shouted in baker profanities
"That's not how ya curse sweetheart. It should go more like-" Harley was cut off by a vine Ivy had summoned.
"Harley, cursing makes the plants sad, you know this." - Ivy said removing the vine
Harley just walked over to Maria and whipsered it in her ear.
"You're supposed to say it more like this, ' ..... .... ... .. ....... .. ... .....' ok?" - Harley ended with a big smile
"... I will never see this world in the same frickin' light ever again." - Maria
"ehh close enough." - Harley
"Can someone please tell me, WTH is going on here, on our special girls day off?!" - Catwoman
"She is a new member of the Sirens as of today, and as a member, she's unda our protection, so effective immediately." - Harley
"Cool." - Maria
"Harley." - Ivy
"Wut... first things first, if she is going to join, she needs to be very flexible, know how to fight, and be incredibly intelligent." - Catwoman
"She beat Ed's @ss with a gun pointed at her, and solved every riddle with ease, so I'm positive she'll be an amazin' addition to the team." - Harley
'God she sounds like a new mother now' "But we don't know how good her flexibility is." - Catwoman
"I know, hey Maria, ya wanna do some tricks with me, of course we need to stretch first, but do ya wanna give it a go?" - Harley
"Sure." - Maria
Ivy and Catwoman sat down on a couch a few feet away from where Maria and Harley stood in the empty part of the building. They started out with stretches, and to Catwoman's surprise (and Harley's delight) Maria copied Harleys streches perfectly.
"Ok, now that that's done, we'll start with some cartwheels, then move on to flips, then handsprings and so on." - Harley
Maria gave Harley a nod... and they were off... literally, Harley did a cartwheel into a handspring, and a few backflips, Maria executed it flawlessly. Harley did some more complicated gymnastics tricks, and Maria did it, Harley did triple backflips going into a cartwheel, into a summersault, and Maria did that perfectly as well. This went on until both Harley and Maria were slightly out of breath, both having massive smiles on their faces.
"Ives, please let her join, she's like a mini me." - Harley then hugged Maria and they somehow both tripled in cuteness as they both did puppy (or Puss In Boots style) eyes at Catwoman and Ivy.
"Sure Harley." - Ivy said walking over to give Harley a small kiss on the cheek.
"Okay... but she doesn't have a costume yet, and she still has to think of a name for herself." - Catwoman
"Is a mouse good, like a mouse themed costume, that or a Turtle themed one. What do you think Harley?" - Maria
"Mmmm, I like that with the mouse you can always toy with Cat, ya know, cat an' mouse stuff, turtle seems... weird even fawh Gotham, so personally I would pick mouse, just because of the cheesy jokes you could do." - Harley
"Very funny, ok then, give me a moment."  Maria then reached out her hand, her eyes then started to glow an icy blue, and a small portal opened in front of her, she reached in and pulled out a small pendant necklace. After she put it on a small mouce appeared and greated itself, Marias' eyes going back to normal after closing the portal.
"Hello I'm Mullo, nice to meet you all."
"Omg omg omg, It's soooo f-ckin' CUTE!" - Harley
"Best to assume all of them are extremely cute Harls." - Ivy
"What the Hell did I miss in the week I was gone?!" - Catwoman
"Ehh, not much, oh but Iron Man did fly aroun' Gotham a few times earlier this mornin' like a madman." - Harley
"Oh sh-t." - Maria
"Maria are ya ok? That was ya first official proper curse in my presence." Harley said looking over to the girl.
"He's gonna kill me." - Maria
"Wait, what do you mean Marigold?" - Ivy
"... He's my Uncle, and I never got to text him I was ok, since my phone died before I met you." - Maria
"Hey, I'm sure he'll understand, now what are we watchin'?" - Harley
"I think we have more important matters other than movies at the moment!" - Catwoman
"Ok, Me Myself and Irene it is." - Harley
"No! You basically kidnapped Iron Mans' NIECE!!!" - Catwoman
"Technically, she fainted and us bein' the good Gothamites we are, decided to take her with us, to make sure she was a-okay." - Harley
"I'm ganna need more than just a six pack of soda to get me through this... Just put the movie on already." - Catwoman
Catwoman sat at the far left end of the couch, next to her sat Ivy, then Maria, and then Harley, Bud and Lou by their feet. All of them sharing one big blanket (Becuase if Iron Man did show up, or any of the birds, then Maria was in a protective burrito and they may not see her right away) and they started the movie.
•—–·–—•
"Oh god, the poor cow." - Maria
.........
"Hahahaha, he stuck a whole f-ckin' chicken head in that guys @ss" - Harley
"The poor chicken." - Maria
"Maria you don't want to see this part." - Ivy then lightly covered her eyes for the ehem, chicken extraction.
.........
"Anyone up for another movie?" - Harley
"That depends." - Ivy
"Any suggestions Cat?" - Harley looked across to the other end of the couch to see Catwoman already sleeping.
"She took her cat-nap already? Seriously?" - Harley
"... What about Pirates of The Caribbean?" - Maria
"I'm good with that." - Ivy
And they started the next movie, Maria was happy, it felt like when her maman and papa would sleep with her when she made a pillow fort. It was a loving atmosphere, it felt safe, and nothing could ruin it. Marias' eyes became heavy, and she leaned her head on Harleys' shoulder, falling asleep after a few minutes.
Ivy paused the move looking over to see both Harley and Maria sleeping, soon Ivy also fell asleep in the comfortable silence.
…………………………
Around an hour later Maria woke up in a panic, she had a nightmare, and kept looking around frantically for someone with tears running down her face.
"What's the matter hun?" - Harley said looking around to see if someone had gotten in. When she looked back at Maria she saw that she was crying.
"What happened?" Harley asked in a kind voice that was filled with motherly love.
"I, just *hic* had a bad dream that's *hic* all, I'm fine." - Maira said trying to wipe the tears away.
"You're ok, I promise nothin's goin' to happen to ya as long as Ivy and I are here, ok hun?" - Harley hugged Maria, and she could feel the girl let out a few more sobs, and quick breathes.
"Thanks Maman." Maria didn't even realize what she had said, it just felt natural for her to say it.
"You're welcome hun." 'Omg I'm gonna cry, she called me maman!' Harley rubbed small circles over Marias' back, and began humming until she fell asleep, she continued to hug Maria until she also fell asleep.
•—–· Back to the Chaos Bat-Cave ·–—•
"What do you mean she's with two of Gotham City's Sirens?!" - Tony
"Tony, calm down, I'll call Selina, she can talk to them and get this all sorted out." - Bruce
"Your fiancee is a Gotham Siren too?! Why didn't you tell me?!" - Tony
"Why isn't she picking up? And unlike some people, this family doesn't like outing our secret identities... on live TV." - Bruce
"Oh well excuse me for not keeping my secret identity a SECRET!" - Tony
"I'll try calling her one more time." - Bruce
"Bruce, it's 3am. Who in their right mind ever stays up this late.... aside from this family." - Tim with a giant coffee mug in hand.
"... I'll just call her one more time." Bruce then connected it to the Bat-Computer so everyone could hear.
•—–· Back to the Sirens ·–—•
Catwoman's phone is ringing like crazy, waking everyone up, including a tired, annoyed, and confused Selina.
"Wth does he want at 3 in the morning?!" - Selina
"Just answer it so we can keep sleepin'." - Harley still hugging Maria
"I'm putting it on speaker, so you lot can testify against his @ss in court, for disturbing the peace."
•—–· Over to Batsy ·–—•
"Selina I need to ask-"
"WHAT THE F-CKING HELL DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT A GOOD NIGHTS REST!" - Selina
"Oooooh, she sounds pissed Bruce." - Jason
"I'm sorry to call you at this hour, but we need to find a girl that looks just like every single one of my other kids." - Bruce
"Bruce... I thought we agreed that 7 kids was. the. f-cking. limit." - Selina
•—–· Back to the Sirens ·–—•
Selina looked over to Maria before muting the speaker.
"Do you want them to know you're here Kitten?" - Selina
"... I'm tired, I haven't had coffee, I have no filter, so f-ck it, act like you never saw me today, and let them drown in chaos. " - Maria
"I think I like filter less Maria." - Harley
"Okay." Selina shrugged her shoulders and then un-muted her phone, putting it back on speaker mode.
"Where was she last seen?" - Selina
"She was last seen with Harley and Poison Ivy, I want you to see if she's still with them." - Bruce
Selina looked over to Maria and Harley, both of them shook their heads with mischievous grins.
"I've been with them all day, and I haven't once seen a girl that looks like your kids. Now can I go back to sleep, and forget this ever happened?" - Selina
"WHERE IS MY NIECE!!!" - Tony
"Oh, hey Tony, didn't know you were there, don't know who, or where your niece is, but good luck trying to find her. Oh and Bruce, I'm shutting my phone off so you don't keep calling till the butt crack of dawn. And congrats it's now 4am. you owe me a lunch date, uh-ba-bye." Selina then hung up her phone and turned it off.
"That went pretty well if you ask me, now I'm going back to sleep." - Selina
•—–· Back to Batsy ·–—•
The room was silent for a few minutes before Jason spoke up.
"Does that mean that Pixiepop ran away and is even more lost now?!" - Jason
"Oh god, what do we do, what if she got hurt?!" - Dick
"What if she got kidnapped?!" - Jason
"What if she's with a big time Gotham Villain?!" - Dick
"... What if she got more coffee?" - Tim
"Oh Hell No" - Jason/Dick
"... Lets all go to sleep, and when we wake up, we'll head over to their base and double check. She could've just said that because I called her at 3am." - Bruce
"But my niece is still out there!" - Tony
"You're going to sleep Tony." - Pepper then dragged Tony to his room.
•—–· Back to Maria ·–—•
Selina went to a different part of the building, where Maria assumed the bedrooms were. Ivy had gone to the greenhouse to be with the plants, and now it was just her and Harley left on the couch, and she couldn't sleep.
"... Harley?" - Maria
"Yeah hun?" - Harley
"I can't sleep." - Maria
"Well, watcha wanna do till ya get tired?" Harley asked sitting up a little straighter to get a better look at Maria.
Maria gave a sly smile, and looked Harley in the eyes "Want to go free-running on the rooftops?"
"... Alright, but lets get some coffee, and a snack in us first." - Harley gave her a side hug, before getting up to go make the coffee, and grab some snacks.
After they had their coffee, they climbed to the roof of the base. Harley was in her outfit, bat in hand and ready to do some bonding.
"So, how does ya outfit work?" - Harley
"Like so, ready Mullo?" - Maria
"Yes Maria" - Mullo
"Ok, Mullo, Get Squeaky!" A bright light flashes, and when Harley could see again, Maria was in a dark gray suit, wearing black knee high boots, with a strip of pink at the knee, and black elbow length gloves with the same pink strip at her elbow. Her mask was a slightly lighter gray on the top part, and pink on the bottom. Her hair was pulled into two buns with pink ribbons that faded to gray, and to black at the very tip. Her jump rope around her waist forming a tail going just below the back of her knees.
"Just when I think ya can't get any more adorable. So what should I call ya?" - Harley
"You can call me Multimouse." - Maria
Soon they were racing and doing tricks off different roofs, they were really enjoying themselves. From one of the roofs they heard a commotion in one of the alleys, when they looked down they saw a man holding a woman at gunpoint.
"Not good, seems like he's got issues, probably lost his lover, most likely has additions to drugs and alcohol, and seems to be a little tipsy." - Harley
"I've got a plan." - Multimouse
…………
Multimouse droped a little way behind the guy, grabbing his attention while Harley got the lady to safety.
"You know there's a help center two blocks from here that would be more than willing to help you." - Multimouse
The crook just raised his gun to her trying to keep it steady as he spoke.
"Give me all your money little girl, or else I'll hurt you."
"1. That's not how you hold a gun. 2. That is no way to treat any girl. and 3. Instead of money, I'll give you my jump rope." - Multimouse
"Why the hell would I want your jump rope, that thing looks worthless." the crook lowered his guard enough as Multimouse pretended to hand over her jump rope, only to use it in a quick motion to dismarm the man, as Harley promptly knocked him out with one swing.
"Lets neva have ya at gunpoint again, okay hun? I'm afraid my heart can't take it." - Harley said while tying the crook to a lamppost.
"Sorry, but it was the best idea I could come up with at the moment, besides, any guy with a gun would feel like they have the upper hand if they're facing a random little girl with a jump rope, rather than Gothams' Harley Quinn with a bat." - Multimouse
"Sadly I'm just too popular with the kiddos on the street." - Harley
…………
They continued to stop a few more muggers on the way back to the base, and when they got back they peaked around the corner to see the whole Batfam plus Iron Man talking with Ivy and Selina.
"How much you want to bet we can get back out before they see us?" - Whispering Multimouse
"... Lets try hidin' in the kitchen." - Whispering Harley
As they tried to sneak by (still in their costumes) Selina just walks over and draggs them to the group.
"Here, now let me sleep!" - Selina
"Dang it Selina we wanted tah see just how long we could hide out in the kitchen!" - Harley
Selina did a double take now realizing they both went out.
"... You didn't." - Selina
"We wanted tah go free-runnin'! So what?" - Harley
"She could've gotten hurt Harls." - Ivy
"My suits magic, I am invulnerable to bullets, normal magic, swords, knifes, anything staby staby, and I can withstand any temperature in it." Multimouse said with a slight pout.
"Hold up, is she a magical girl?" - Red Hood in the background
When Selina let go both Harley and Multimouse went behind Ivy for protection.
"We can still make a run for it." - Harley whispered to Multimouse
"... Ok, I'll meet you on the roof." - Whispering Multimouse
Harley gave a nod as she slowly inched her wasy closer to the door that lead to the roof, as she saw Iron Man approach Multimouse.
"Please get out of your suit, we need to talk about why you're here-" - Iron Man
"Multitute!" - Multimouse
Harley then saw Multimouse shrink into dozens of tiny little versions of herself as her clones spread out in all directions, one of which was heading right for her.
"Wth, you never told us she could use magic!" - Red Robin
Harley picked her up, and slipped through the door without anyone noticing.
"That was great, but how do ya get back tuh normal size?" - Harley
"Simple, I just merge back with my clones." As she said this, all her clones came back, and she merged with herself, becoming normal sized again.
"Where to?" - Multimouse
………… So now The Batfam is trying to find many long gone Mini-Multimouses, and Harley seems to have disappeared with her. Harley and Multimouse are now running over the roofs, heading for Wayne Manor.
"So why are we going to Wayne Manor?" - Multimouse
"Because, Batsy will neva think of lookin' for us at his own home, at least not fawh a little while." - Harley
When they arrived at the Manor, Multimouse de-transformed as Harley knocked on the door.
"Ms. Quinn, Ms. Maria, pleasure to see you here, please come in." - Alfred
"Are any of the bat-birds here?" - Harley
"Ms. Barbara, Ms. Stephanie, and Ms. Cassandra are the only ones here at the moment." - Alfred
"Do ya think you can keep us bein' here a secret from Batsy?" - Harley
"Harley? What are you doing here with Maria?" - Barbara
"It seems that Ms. Harley and Ms. Maria are now playing hide and seek with the rest of the family." - Alfred
"Did someone say hide and seek?" - Steph
"Yes, so could we maybe try and keep this a secret from everyone else, please?" - Maria
"Sure, it was starting to get boring around here. We can all hide in the living room no one ever use. Barbara you show them the way, I'll get the food/drinks and boardgames." - Steph
"Is this alright with you Alfred?" Maria
"It's all right Ms. Maria, you can hide out in the old living room." - Alfred
"Thanks Alfie, ya the best." - Harley
"Thank you Alfred." - Maria
"Ok then, follow me." - Barbara
…………
In the old living room, Harley, Maria, Barbara, Steph, and Cass began to formulate a plan.
"Ok, so the best way for them to never find you is to have your phone off, stay away from any and all cameras, and show your face to no one." - Steph
"So, do you have anything in mind that you might want to do?" - Barbara
"Can we put them on a wild goose chase?" - Maria
Cass nodded to Marias' suggestion approvingly.
"I can hack a few traffic cams to help with that." - Barbara
"We can also throw in some useless hints, to throw dem even further off our scent." - Harley
"Good idea Harley." - Barbara
"Thanks, but how long do ya think we should make it last?" - Harley
"As long as Maria wants it to." - Barbara
"Then let the games begin." - Maria.
•—–—–·†·–—–—•
Chapter 5 complete. Hope everyone is stayin' safe, Rockin' those Positive Vibes, and havin' an absolutely wonderful day. BUG-OUT 🐞💮🐞
〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜Tag List〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜
1st Place★: @animegirlweeb ☕ , 2nd Place★: @jumpingjoy82, 3rd Place★: @zalladane, 4th Place★: @jayjayspixiepop, 5th Place★: @arty-shadow-morningstar, 6th Place★: @smol-book-nerd, 7th Place★: @irontimetravelflower, 8th Place★: @fandom-trapped-03, 9th Place★: @meme991001, 10th Place★: @buginetye, 11th Place★: @blackroserelina, 12th Place★: @jessigurl-design, 13th Place★: @adrestar, 14th Place★: @moon5608, 15th Place★: @little-bluestar, 17th Place★: @myazael, 18th Place★: @our-preciousss, 19th Place★: @wolf2118, 20th Place★: @nyx-in-line, 21st Place★: @kking13, 22nd Place★: @lunerlover2024, 23rd Place★: @moonlightstar64, 24th Place★: @corporeal-terrestrial, 25th Place★: @kashlyn, 26th Place★: @tbehartoo, 27th Place★: @heart-charming, 28th Place★: @solangelo252, 29th Place★: @t1dwarrior-of-earth, 30th Place★: @lady-phoenix-of-tardis, @lupagrimm
278 notes · View notes
stxleslyds · 3 years
Note
you know how dc keeps forcing this sudden "we're a family" narrative out of nowhere? I'd love batfam content but years of hurt among them make the recent content seem unearned.
bc you know more about dick and jason than the others, how do you think they would realistically become family to each other, or would it even be in character for them to be the "bros" they're written as now?
Oh anon, this question is amazing, I love it! I saw it when I woke up and since then my brain has been brewing this answer, I was thinking about it as I brushed my teeth and as I was making breakfast, and now I am ready to give you the answer, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed thinking/writing about it!
DC keeps forcing the wrong relationships, and they keep forcing the wrong centre of this supposed family, they make it out to be the Bat-Family when in reality the Bat (Bruce) should have never been invited to this party.
This is why I give you the… Dick-Family!
Oh yeah baby, I am going there. Dick is the centre of this “family”, he is the guy who is actually connected with everyone, he has been around for so long and he has been present when almost all of the remaining characters were introduced! Bruce might have come first but that guy has nothing on Dick Grayson.
Dick has cared and loved for everyone in this family in a true and beautiful way, no matter how much fanon and DC try to tell us otherwise. This man was an amazing son to Bruce and Alfred (my love for Alfred and Dick is brought to you by @hood-ex), a fantastic brother to Jason, Tim and Cass as well as a phenomenal father/older brother to Damian.
Dick Grayson is the centre of this whole thing, and thanks to DC now being an Omniverse I will be able to explain my line of thoughts. But first let me clear some ideas up.
The way I see it Jason would only get along good enough with Dick. I am not here for Jason and Tim having brunch together (honestly, Lobdell, what were you thinking), Jason never cared for Tim, and then writers that didn’t know how the Red Hood worked made him try to kill Tim so, to me, that relationship is non-existent, Jason doesn’t really perceive Tim (yet).
Jason and Damian, listen, I know that there is this fanon theory that Jason knew and cared for Damian while he was in the League, but that is just fanon talk and it doesn’t really fit in canon either. Jason wasn’t really capable of doing much other than fight, and after he was put in the Lazarus Pit he either had to leave because Ra’s wanted to kill him or Talia took him to the All-Castle. So, Jason’s only real interactions with Damian would be when Jason was written as a crazy, blood thirsty dude that actually tried to harm a child. So, him and Damian wouldn’t really have a good relationship (yet).
Jason and Cass… that’s just a no. Jason and Barbara, I mean Barbara was older than Dick when she first met Jason, so they wouldn’t have much of a relationship.
Now, lets move on to how I will make the Dick-Family work.
Dick (bless him) actually talks and listens to people, unlike Bruce, so the change would start there. Let’s set the timeline, I will stand right after the events of Under the Red Hood. Bruce just chose saving Joker over letting Jason kill the Joker and the building they were in exploded.
Batman keeps on being himself (trash) and Jason, having survived the explosion, moves on to keep on building his empire. He really wants to control the drug trade in Gotham, so he works on that, he slowly but surely takes his place as a drug lord again and is a constant pain in Black Mask’s ass.
While Jason is doing that, Dick is trying to put together his life after Bludhaven was attacked with Chemo. Let’s say that Bludhaven isn’t completely erased from the map but he does have to leave so the city can be re-built. He goes to Gotham, where the Red Hood works.
Let’s say that Alfred told Dick who was under the Red Hood, so Dick being a good brother goes looking for Jason. Their first interaction out of the mask wouldn’t be nice, Jason barely remembers his life before the pit and he really is convinced that Dick is the absolute worst.
But then Jason being a nosy man would make an appearance, for some reason, let’s say that he hacks into the Batcave and when he does that he finds some footage… The footage in question would be the one which shows Bruce punching Dick and sort of blaming him for Jason’s death. (Oh yeah, I am going there). The footage will make a memory come to mind, Dick taking Jason on a skying trip.
So, the next time that Dick and Jason see each other is because Jason went looking for Dick and here is where these two actually talk. The way I see it, Dick is more flexible with the no killing rule, he has worked many times with people that are villains or that just have different ways of doing things. So, I think that he would understand where Jason’s coming from with his ideas. As they begin to understand one another Jason begins to recover more and more memories from before the Pit.
They get together once a week and they chat about life as well as vigilante stuff. They become friends.
At the same time Dick is also very good friends with Tim and also acts like the amazing big brother he is with him. They chat, they sometimes work together and one day they come across a very complicated situation involving a new drug being introduced in Gotham.
Dick would call Jason and now both of them and Tim are reunited in a safe house working together so this new drug doesn’t fall in the wrong hands. Jason and Tim wouldn’t really like each other. Both of them are there for Dick and because they have to get the job done.
That’s how I see Dick forming the Dick-Family unconsciously. Hell, I will introduce Barbara now. Do you guys remember that in UtRH Barbara was mad with Bruce and didn’t want to work with him but she was still in contact with Dick? Well, I am using that so it can fit my narrative.
Dick, Jason and Tim need more intel so Dick calls Oracle (real Oracle) and because Barbara trusts Dick she works with them.
Here is where it gets interesting, through Barbara, Dick meets Cass, through Tim he meets Stephanie. You see that Dick’s connections are leading him to form a group of people. Cass and Stephanie are trained by Babs and Dick and they become the new Batgirls.
As all of that keeps developing Jason and Dick become “partners in crime” they help each other, they start building a brotherly relationship again. Although Jason refuses to say that out loud.
Then comes in Damian, a difficult child if there has ever been one but he has Bruce so Dick doesn’t have to jump in that fast… right?
Oh brother! Bruce is dead (omg what would we do? Battle for the cowl maybe? No!). with Bruce gone there is only one person who can take his place and everyone knows it has to be Dick.
Dick would feel a lot of things as he is taking Bruce’s place as Batman but he has a group of people ready to back him up (Alfred, Jason, Tim, Babs, Cass, Steph), and he also has to take care of Damian, he is a child and with his father gone then maybe his mother would want to take him back to the League of Assassins, Dick obviously doesn’t want that so he talks to Tim and tells him that he sees him as his equal and that he has a plan to make Damian stay and it involves making Damian his new Robin.
Tim would obviously be sad and a little hurt, but he understands Dick’s decision because they talked about it and Dick actually took the time to explain why he was doing what he was doing (really DC half of the problems you guys come up could be fixed in seconds if people would only take some time to just TALK!).
Dick and Damian work as Batman and Robin and Dick starts assuming the position of his father. They would live with Alfred in the penthouse and maybe Tim will join them from time to time (when he wasn’t busy with Young Justice/Teen Titans stuff). Slowly Dick and Damian will become the Dynamic Duo that we love today.
So, Dick would have his own Robin, Oracle (who is also managing her own team with Black Canary and (why not) the Batgirls), Red Robin and Red Hood working with him if he needs them. They are always a call away. Jason is the most difficult to reach and he will only involve himself in that kind of drama if its about controlling the drug trade or scaring the living shit out of some very shady people.
So, Red Hood wouldn’t be working with the new (and improved) Batman but Jason would hang out with Dick sometimes.
From there they build up. Dick renovates Arkham Asylum and makes it work they way that it is supposed to work. He might also recruit Catwoman when he needs someone really sneaky, they have known each other for so long, I bet Selina loves Dick, she would certainly help him out.
But as all things do, this happy and well-connected Dick-Family is disrupted when Bruce comes back, he inserts himself slowly back into his role as Batman and as he does that Dick starts to move away from it.
But Dick’s connections are strong and well cared for, so, even when he goes back to Bludhaven and starts fresh (again) as Nightwing those connections remain. Oracle still gives him intel, Robin and Red Robin come over to Bludhaven to patrol, maybe they even have their own rooms at Dick’s place.
With Bludhaven functioning again, all of the terrible people that were working there also come back, maybe some of them never left and they have been corrupting the city from its very core. So, when Jason tells Dick that he would like to expand his operations to Bludhaven, Dick says yes, as long as Jason keeps him updated on his work and also lets him know what is going on.
I think it works! What do you guys think so far?
From then on with the whole Dick-Family being connected and strong I think they can actually act and solve their problems as a family. All those arcs that didn’t work very well because Bruce was in the middle of it being a jerk, I think they will work if Dick is at the centre of it. Let’s say that Bruce hid the fact that Joker knows their identities and all that, with such a strong family the second that the Joker tries to manipulate Jason into believing that he created him, Dick will come out of the shadows and shut that bullshit down. If Joker tries to do something to the Circus, then the Birds of Prey and the Robins will be there in seconds helping Dick.
The Court of Owls, those little shits wouldn’t stand a chance against this team, this force of nature! Jason would be the one working from afar because you know my boy wouldn’t be subjected to the “no-killing” rule but if he does it, he has to do it away from the children (Damian) and away from Cass, if he doesn’t want to know real trouble. (He probably arranged those things with Dick a long time ago and he is happy with it).
Now, please forgive me but for angst reasons I will actually let the events of, Batman Incorporated #8, Forever Evil, Nightwing #30 and Spyral run its course.
Let me explain, after Damian’s death Dick holds the Dick-Family together, as well as Bruce because he is amazing like that, but then after Dick supposedly dies, things change just a little bit. Jason would retreat back to his own corner because the only thing attaching him to the Dick-Family was Dick but he would also keep his eyes open and he might also have a direct line with Oracle if things go south.
Aside from Jason, I do see the others working on keeping their connections intact. When Damian eventually returns the land of the living, I can see all of them coming together even more because that’s what Dick would have wanted.
And then Dick will come back from Spyral and here is where the Dick-Family will show the “Bat-Family” why its superior to it in every aspect possible.
The Dick-Family will notice that something must have happened, Dick would never play dead and leave them like that, but Dick loves Bruce and he doesn’t want to tell them the truth, Bruce has no memories now and his family doesn’t deserve that kind of drama BUT Jason and Tim are suspicious, they know Dick at this point and they trust him so they firmly believe that he is hiding something to protect someone. And here is where life repeats itself. Let’s review the Batcave’s footage, yes, I did it again, I just love the fact that Bruce has footage of himself being the absolute worst to his kids, how does DC not use it! Anyway, Tim and Jason find the footage from the events of Nightwing #30 and suddenly the Dick-Family have their “Dick defence squad” jackets on and they are ready to party.
After all that Bruce eventually gets his memories back and he is held accountable for his actions. Also, around this time the events of Robin War would have already happened so Duke is also introduced. Dick lets him join and all that, and then Duke and Cass become besties and they work together.
And yeah, as Rebirth comes closer the Dick-Family would be more united than ever.
The end.
That is how I would have done it. But this way is slow, and DC wouldn’t be able to monetize it as much as they would want.
Jason wouldn’t be giving hugs and calling everyone their brother or sister, he will only get along with Dick and he would be professional with everyone else.
Tim and Damian would get along but they wouldn’t go for ice cream together on a sunny day. Steph and Damian would and so would Cass and Tim or Cass and Duke.
Oracle would work with Dick and the others as a side thing because her main thing would be the Birds of Prey, this time with Helena too.
Alfred would spend his time with Bruce but he would also be very aware of Dick and his influence on everyone around them. Bruce eventually would be integrated to the Dick-Family because Dick is a sweetheart but Dick would also make Bruce follow his rules, Dick is a little bean but he is also the most badass person in the room (whichever room) so you better listen to what he has to say.
The Dick-Family would be something that grows silently and doesn’t need a “Joker War” in order for them to be there for each other, they would try their best each step of the way and they will talk things out when mistakes are made.
This is the way that I see this family dynamic working.
I would even go as far as to say that Talia can be part of the Dick-Family because she is connected to three people, Dick, Damian and Jason.
Dick is the person with most connections in the DC Universe, the Titans, the Justice League, Deathstroke, they all have connections to this treasure of a man. If he needs help in Gotham or Bludhaven then he can call people from the “first circle”, if things are beyond a “street level” threat them he can call the Titans and if shit really hits the fan, Clark and the others are a call away.
Anyway, this was unnecessarily long, I am sorry about it but I am also not because I really don’t know how to answer your question without going on a long rant.
In conclusion the Bat-Family doesn’t work and sadly it wouldn’t work no matter how much they force it. These people don’t have connections, Bruce is not able to make connections between people. And DC has erased entire relationships that Dick used to have. I mean, they got rid of Dick and Tim being close brothers just so they could give us a shitty brunch between Tim and Jason? Only yesterday we saw a true and beautiful interaction between Dick and Damian.
DC is handling the “Bat-Family” in all the worst possible ways. It just doesn’t work.
They should have used Dick all those years ago and they shouldn’t have destroyed Jason’s characterization with Lobdell’s ideas.
So, sadly, my dear anon, I don’t see the Bat-Family as a in character thing for any of these people as they are written currently, but I hope that you enjoyed my version of it. May the Dick-Family bring everyone who reads about it a little joy!
90 notes · View notes
themaribatpit · 3 years
Text
Jasonette July Day 14: Loss
Written by: The Maribat Pit  @jasonette-july-event Prompt: Loss Rated: T (Presumed Major Character Death) Based on the trailer for the upcoming Gotham Knights game: https://youtu.be/IhVf_3TeTQE (TW: flashing images towards the end of the trailer)
Jason is walking home on a rainy night in Gotham after a long day working with Roy.  He was hoping to quickly get back home to his girlfriend and relax for a few days. He felt his phone vibrate, he took it out from his pocket to see it was a call from Batman. The words “Incoming Transmission: Code Black” were written boldly across his screen. Jason had a bad feeling about this. He walked into a nearby alley and looked around to see if he was truly alone before taking this urgent call.
He was unsure whether to pick up the call or not, his relationship with Bruce had been strained ever since he was killed by the Joker and came back as the Red Hood. Even if they had reconciled, they still argued and disagreed with one another.  This was probably him asking if he was willing to go undercover again like he had done with Black Mask.  He continued to stare at the phone, thinking of all the possible reasons that Bruce may have wanted to call him. “What is Code Black?” He thought to himself as he answered the call.
His phone sparks to life with the image of Bruce, Jason immediately knew something was wrong. Bruce never showed his face in any Bat related communication. “If you’re watching this, I’m dead.” Jason could not believe what he was seeing, he barely registers the rest of the message. Thinking back to how he first met Batman, trying to steal the wheels off the Batmobile. To him, Batman was invincible, invisible and unstoppable. After all his training as Robin and even after his return as Red Hood, a small piece of him had felt that Batman could not be beaten. He had watched Batman face aliens from outer space and gods from another world. Knowing that Batman was well and truly gone felt...impossible.
He slowly trudges home, his vision blurs as he slowly makes it home on autopilot. He enters his apartment, not even taking his wet clothes or shoes off. Marinette hears him walk in, “Welcome home Jay, I made boeuf bourguignon.” Jason doesn’t even notice her, and in that moment she knew something wasn’t quite right. Normally Jason would joke about how it was a miracle nothing was burning, it could happen, given how clumsy Marinette was.  He slowly drags his feet to the living room and slumps on the sofa, his head in his hands. Marinette peeks her head around the corner, looking visibly concerned.  
Marinette slowly walked to the sofa and sat next to Jason, putting a hand on his thigh. “Jay?” she quietly asked.
Jason’s voice begins to crack “He’s gone, I can’t believe it, he's really gone.” He lifts his head up to look Marinette dead in the eye, “Mari, Bruce is gone.”
Marinette gasps, she had heard the news report but she didn’t think it was true.  She had assumed it was the start of an elaborate ruse, but the look in Jason’s eyes told her otherwise.  Marinette knew Jason and Bruce’s relationship was complicated, but he was visibly hurt and shocked by the news.  Jason wanted a lot of things, he never really wanted Bruce to die, not like this anyway. If that were the case he would have gone through with his plan of blowing up the Batmobile, all those years ago.  Marinette reached up to gently wipe a tear from his face, he held her hand close to his face before she could pull it away.  It was the first of many that would be shed at that moment.
For so many years, before and after he died, Jason wanted Bruce to understand him.  He seemed like a pointy-eared brick wall at times, he never thought there would come a day when it would fall.  Batman had almost seemed untouchable, even when Bane broke his back, he came back stronger than any of them.  Marinette gave a startled little squeak as he pulled her close to him, before wrapping her arms around him. He pulled away slightly but her face was still very close to his, he ran his thumb along her cheek as she leaned into his touch.  He savoured the warm softness beneath his fingertips.  His teary eyes looked into hers for a moment, before he leaned in close to kiss her.  At that moment, he needed to feel the warmth that radiated off of her.  He needed to hold her close to him, he needed to know that she was really there, and not just a cruel fleeting dream.  
Marinette was surprised, in the years that she had known him this wasn't a side of Jason that she had seen before.  There was a feeling of desperation in that kiss, one that only Marinette was privy to.  Whenever Jason kissed her in the past, sometimes it was passion, sometimes with a gentle softness, and other times because he took a certain delight in making her blush.  This time there was passion, but almost never with the desperation and anguish he felt at that very moment.  By contrast, Marinette was a lot more trusting, more forgiving, more optimistic.  It was something that Jason didn’t take lightly, especially considering the person he was by comparison.  With the Kwamis' help, she had seen him through his bouts of pit madness.  Nevertheless, when the kiss broke, she was breathless for a moment, but she didn't pull away.   She rested her forehead against his, brushing aside the occasional tear from his eyes.
For the rest of the night Jason continued to hold Marinette close to him, his chest heaved with sobs every so often. Even with his complicated relationship with Bruce, he was still the one who adopted, taught and cared for this street urchin of Gotham. As the two held each other, Jason’s phone began to ring, displaying Nightwing’s blue bird symbol on screen. Jason took out the phone and looked to see who was calling. He stared at the screen, unsure how to talk to Dick after the loss of Bruce. He looks back to Marinette, ”answer it” she told him with a gentle smile, he needs to be with his family now.
Jason took a deep breath and answered “Hello?”
He could hear Dick’s voice, unusually hoarse on the other end “Hey Little Wing, you saw the message didn’t you?”
Jason solemnly responded “Yeah. I got his message.”
“We need you Jason, just as Bruce said, Gotham needs its guardians. We’re all here at the Belfry. Babs, Tim, Steph, even Duke and Cass. Are you with us?” asked Dick.
Jason looks back to Marinette, who then nodded to him with a smile and mouthed “Go.”
He turns back to the phone, “I’ll be there in an hour, Ladybug can handle things here”.
As he ends the call and stands up from the sofa, Marinette puts a hand to his chest and lifts a finger, signaling to wait just a moment before running to the bedroom. She returns with two wrapped presents, “They were meant for your birthday next month, but...I think you need it now more than ever.”
She places the two boxes next to Jason, and asks him to open them up. Jason picks up the first box, slowly unwrapping to reveal new body armour. His eyes widen, he runs a hand across the large red bat symbol on its chest.
“Mr. Fox and I worked on this for you, he may be an excellent inventor but he lacks a tailor’s touch.” she explained. Taking out a cue card from the gift box, Marinette clears her throat and begins reading from it. “The tri-weave bodysuit consists of an outer and inner layer made from a titanium-dipped tri-weave fiber mesh.”  Marinette tried to read the words with some confidence, despite the fact that English was her second language. She wasn’t even sure if English speakers understood what these words meant. “Sandwiched in between is the MR-fluid based liquid armor system. The proprietary WayneTech Smart MR-fluid hardens in response to impacts, specifically designed to provide superior shock absorption.” As she read the cue card, Marinette thought working these materials into the design was challenging enough, never mind having to list out what they were for.  Still, not everyone had her magical super suit, so she never really thought about how a normal human would have to shield themselves.  Judging by the smile growing on Jason’s face, clearly she was reading some things right. “The liquid body armor layer is also more flexible than the ceramic or fiber-based armour, allowing for greater maneuverability.”  Marinette took a breath and gently placed the cue card back into the box, “I hope you understood those words, because I didn’t” she joked, and for the first time since he’d come home she saw Jason smile. “I also modelled it after your favourite hoodie for maximum comfort.” Saying the last two with emphasis as if it was the most important thing when it came to armour.
Jason chuckles, “This is perfect Pixie, thank you.” As he stands up to give her a hug, she stops him and gestures to the other gift. As he opens the second box he sees within a new Red Hood helmet. “Same materials as your suit. Light, breathable and comfortable.”
Jason picks up the new helmet and begins inspecting it from all angles. He is curious about the black embellishments around the vision slits of the helmet. “Hey Pixie, what's with the dark eye rings?” he asks, turning his head to face her.
She gives him a wink “Red Hood with a pinch of Ladybug.”
Jason places the helmet down and goes to the bedroom to change into his new armour.  Tikki zooms over and both of them give each other a firm nod. If Jason was putting his trust in Marinette to hold the fort here, there was no way she was going to let him down.
66 notes · View notes
odos-bucket · 3 years
Text
So to continue my thoughts on Clark and Bruce adopting Jason together (begun here)
They go back to crime alley the next day. Bruce brings a copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel for Jason, who seems vaguely surprised to see them again. He isn’t as wary as he had been when they’d met in the middle of the night, and even sits beside Clark when they get onto the bus (though both end up giving their places up to other passengers before they can reach their destination).
At this point Clark and Bruce are focused on the idea of getting Jason enrolled in school, so the intention with this get together is to familiarize him with some potential institutions. Bruce was up all the previous night researching Gotham boarding schools, and reaching out to faculty members.
Despite all the preparation, the whole thing goes terribly.
Jason seems fine on the bus, but is tense and anxious during the actual school visits. He’s engaged by the classes and lectures he sits in on, but overall feels out of place, and is distrustful of pretty much everyone he ends up interacting with. He’s feeling conflicted, because he loves school, and he knows he’ll be pissed at himself forever if he really has this opportunity and ends up letting it slip by. But on the other hand he’s justifiably paranoid about perceived kindness from strangers (and yeah maybe it’s a little easier to trust Superman than it would be just anybody, but he still doesn’t really know the guy). And even if there isn’t some hidden catch to the offer, he’s not sure he can get on board with living somewhere where there’s a curfew, where his activities would be monitored. The idea of ceding any amount of control in his life at this point makes his skin crawl. He figures he owes it to himself to at least see if this is something that could work out, but goddamn if everything about it isn’t overwhelming and kind of horrifying.
And that’s all before other people start making themselves problems. Everywhere they end up going there’s bullshit to deal with from students, teachers, and administration.
Because of course the people running facilities designed to cater to Gotham socialites don’t treat Jason right. Even with freakin’ Batman and Superman with him he gets suspicious glares and withering looks.
None of that is any less than he expected. What really gets Jason is how put off everyone seems to be by his questions. He comes into every office with a list of things he’s curious about (Batman isn’t the only one who stayed up the previous night to prepare). He wants to know what percentage of the student bodies are there on scholarship, how the meal plans work, what the curfews are, how tightly regulated students’ time is outside of classes, what his life would be like if he put it into their hands.
The administrators don’t like the ‘interrogation’. Which is absolutely insane, because really they should expect any prospective student to have questions. And they should be prepared to answer them. That should be a part of their job, right??
But there’s this attitude of, “We don’t need to explain ourselves to the likes of you,” of, “Just be grateful you have a place here at all.” And that’s what puts Jason over the edge, has him realizing that this isn’t something he’s going to be able to deal with.
It’s after he gets more or less the same reception at the third place they’ve visited, that he finally just has to leave. He can’t take it, he can’t stand it, he has to get out of the office before he bites somebody’s head off.
He gets outside as quickly as he can, and feels some relief breathing in the fresh air (fresh by Gotham standards at least). He feels so stupid for believing he could have this. Really he should have known better. And he hates feeling stupid more than anything.
Superman trails out after him. And Jason can’t figure out what he’s still doing here. And he’s embarrassed to be upset in front of him. And he’s angry that he feels embarrassed when he doesn’t have any good reason to be. And-
“Jason.”
His name ends up cutting through the disorientation he hadn’t quite realized he was experiencing.
Superman is in front of him, just far enough away that he can’t reach out and touch him. Jason stares at him.
“This is shit,” he says, trying to keep his voice casual.
“What happened?”
They had offered to go in with him to meet the dean of the first school. Jason had turned them down, and they hadn’t offered any of the subsequent times. He hadn’t exactly been keeping them apprized of what was going on either, even though questioning him wasn’t something they had given up on after it had failed to yield anything the first time.
“The same thing that always happens,” Jason says. “No one really want someone like me at their fancy school.”
Superman’s eyes narrow.
“What happened?” He asks again. “What did he say?”
“Doesn’t matter… Look, this has been fun and all, but I kinda just want to go home. So if you don’t mind-“
Batman appears with them as quickly as he’s able to disappear. Neither see where he comes from. He’s just suddenly walking toward them, meeting them, and continuing on without slowing down.
“We’re leaving,” he grunts.
Jason hesitates briefly, confused. But then his thoughts catch up to him enough to realize that leaving is exactly what he wants to be doing, and he hurries after Batman.
The heroes are deeply engrossed in their own conversation as they make their way off the grounds. It’s soft, and urgent, and Jason assumes it has something to do with the fate of the world, which he’s vaguely interested in. But he doesn’t think they’d appreciate him asking questions about things that don’t directly concern him. So he says nothing.
As they get closer to the street he realizes he’s not sure what happens next. He’s feeling tired, and frustrated, and he both really wants to be alone, and doesn’t want them to leave him. Mostly- at least so he tells himself- he wants to make sure that they don’t leave him without bus fare. He’s pretty sure they’ll give it to him if he asks, but he’s also hoping that he doesn’t need to ask.
Once they’re off the property, Batman turns around to face him.
“Jason, I’m so sorry. I don’t know exactly what Dean Sterlins said to you, but if it was anything like what he was saying while I was in there, it was way way out of line.” He starts off sounding tired, and ends up sounding angry.
Angry grownups are something that Jason generally tries to avoid, but Batman’s anger doesn’t feel particularly dangerous, and as he goes on it shifts into something more like urgency.
“Please believe, we never would have knowingly put you in that situation. I- Were the others the same?” There’s a hint of resignation in his tone that suggests he already knows the answer to that, so Jason doesn’t feel the need to do more than shrug.
Batman sighs, and it comes out as such an unexpectedly sad sound that he almost snorts out a laugh.
“Why didn’t you say something before?” Superman asks gently.
Because he had been holding out a stupid hope that if he stuck with this long enough he might find something worthwhile. Because he didn’t want to give them a reason to believe he’s more trouble than he’s worth. Because it didn’t occur to him that they might genuinely want to know until literally just now.
He shrugs. The heroes exchange a look.
Jason’s grip on the book Batman gave him tightens slightly, and he clears his throat.
“Look, uh, I’m sure there’s somewhere else you guys need to be. I appreciate you taking the time to…” He gestures around. “You know.”
“There’s no where else we need to be today,” Superman says.
“Oh… Okay?”
“There’s one more place we’d like to take you,” he continues. “If it’s all right with you. It’ll be the last one.”
Jason wrinkles his nose. He kind of just wants to go home at this point. The optimistic ‘maybe the next place will be different’ feeling he’d had at the beginning of the day has long since shriveled. And curling up with his new book sounds pretty nice right now.
But at the same time, the last three visits have all included opportunities for free food. It stands to reason that this next one will as well. That should make it worth it even if he already knows with near certainty that they can’t be heading somewhere where he might actually have a future. Plus, Superman has this dumb, hopeful look on his face that it’s hard to say no to.
So he takes the bus with them to a fourth location. The ride’s a little less than half an hour long, and the building they arrive at looks different from the campuses they’d been to earlier. It’s not huge. The architecture is pretty simple by Gotham standards. It’s more immediately recognizable as a school.
They go inside, and Batman stops to exchange a few brief words with a woman in the front office.
“There’s a seventh grade English class starting in about ten minutes,” he informs Jason afterwards. “Would you like to sit in on it? We can meet back here afterwards.”
Jason agrees eagerly. This was the part of the last three trips that he’d actually liked. Maybe he can get in and out without needing to sit down with any deans or headmasters.
He attends a class where the students aren’t wearing uniforms, where he gets a few curious glances, but no lingering glares. He gives a note from the woman at the front desk to the teacher, and a few kids offer him greeting nods or smiles before the lecture begins.
The class is more than halfway done, and he’s been deeply engrossed in a discussion about The Giver- which he has never read, but now fully intends to- when all the observations he’s been making about this place click together.
The class ends, and he meets his chaperones back in the hall- where Superman is entertaining a group of ten year olds- to inform them of his realization.
“This isn’t a boarding school,” he says, once the rest of the kids have shuffled on to their next classes.
“No it is not,” Batman agrees.
Jason scowls.
“I stopped going to regular school for a reason,” he reminds them. “I can’t do this. As in literally can’t. I tried!” He’s trying not to sound upset, but it feels like they’re teasing him with this one.
“School’s a lot to manage without a stable living situation.” Batman says.
Jason huffs out a low agreement.
“So we were thinking…” He looks around, as if confirming the hall’s emptiness, before stepping into Jason’s line of sight. “We were thinking you could come and stay with us, and we could bring you to school here.”
Jason’s mind doesn’t process the offer fast enough for him to react immediately. Even once he’s sure of what he’s heard he thinks he must be misunderstanding. He looks up and at each of them try to draw clues from their expressions, their body language. It’s nearly impossible to do with Batman. Superman looks open, honest, and… hopeful. But that’s how he always looks, so does it really even mean anything?
Unable to make any useful interpretations, he asks the only question his mind has been able to form.
“What?”
“Would you like to come and live with us?” Superman says clearly.
Jason continues to stare for several seconds.
“Both of you?” He asks, because that’s interesting, and far easier to comprehend than the idea that someone might want him.
Batman clears his throat, and Superman-
-Superman blushes, which is enough to distract Jason from all the bizarre turns this day has taken.
“And, um, and our son,” he adds. “We have a son. He’s about five years older than you.”
The gears in Jason’s brain turn and click together.
“Robin,” he says quietly.
The vigilantes exchange uncertain looks, like they’ve been doing all day.
“Nightwing now,” Batman says, barely loud enough to be a whisper.
Jason just nods, because this is insane, and despite being born and raised in Gotham, he doesn’t always have a prepared response to insanity. A long moment passes, and all three of them stare at each other.
“Y- you want to foster me?” He says the words so so carefully, like he could chase the reality of them out of existence if he misspeaks, like he’s sure he hasn’t understood them properly.
“We do,” Superman says, quickly enough that the breath that had caught in Jason’s throat as soon as he’d gotten the question out can escape before it gets the chance to make him light headed. “We really do.”
Jason can’t imagine how this will work. He’s pretty sure it’s not a process that can be undergone with fake identities. Does that mean they’re willing to let him know who they are? Or maybe there’s some kind of exception for super heroes. He understands the procedure well enough to know that it’s bound to be a bureaucratic nightmare.
“Yeah,” he finds himself saying before he’s done thinking it through.
Today has been weird, and exhausting. But he likes this place. And he’s pretty sure he likes these people. And really, he would be crazy to say no, wouldn’t he.
“Let’s try it.”
51 notes · View notes
Text
Magic Mom (4/5)
Warning: Angst, death of a loved one, mention of sacrifices Word count: ~900 Summary:  Being Batmans wife was one thing, being a strong magician a whole other thing, now, what happenes if you combine those two and add motherhood? Welcome to the life of the Batfam’s very own Magic Mom…
Requested by the great and amazing @imgayandilikeit​: Batfam x Batmom who actually have magic. She met Bruce in he early years being Batman ( I kinda bad when making request like this 🤦‍♀️ , just say she and Bruce have been together from the beginning go through the whole DC event with him)
Previous || Next
Tumblr media
Tim’s arrival - It had been a while since you’ve decided to leave your home, not being able to stay in the place that gave you so many memories of the little boy you had seen grow and learned to love as a son. No, it pained you too much and not even Bruce could help. In fact, he made it worse. You loved him so much, but every time you looked at his face you saw a man who risked your sons life and didn’t win… It was ripping you and your relationship with him apart and you realized that you needed some time away from everything. Needed time to cope and grief. So you packed your stuff on a day where you knew Alfred wouldn’t be able to talk you out of it, wrote a letter to Bruce to explain the situation, and left. At that moment you weren’t too sure about where you’d go and what you’d do, you had enough money in cash to make it for a while without any job or occupation, but you knew you didn’t want that. You needed something to distract you. And luckily for you, there was just the person who knew how to keep you busy. So you made your way to England, following the trace of a spell that you had used so much during the nights when you were sitting at home worrying for your loved ones and wanted to be sure where exactly they were. And, reliable as always, it led you exactly where you wanted to be and you ended up in front of a run-down motel, in front of the door that posed the last barrier between you and a certain blond magician who had tried to get you to join the justice league dark for a while now. After that it’s like you can escape your own personality and become someone new. It really helps you. To forget and maybe even to forgive in some way. You hadn’t seen Bruce for months now, instead you’ve been travelling the earth and even some other places, defeating everything that had anything to do with magic, from a Dragon in east japan, a demon in west-bavarian or a banshee in greenland. But then you got the call. You weren’t sure how he managed to find out where you had been staying and hack into the un-connected phone - you guessed he had help from a certain sorceress that both you and him knew - but when you picked the receiver you were greeted with your husband's voice. You had no idea how the call would turn out or what you’d say, but when he said that he needed your help in a tone that you hadn’t heard him use for so long you immediately dropped the spellbook you were originally studying and teleported home, ready to fight for the man you had more or less left. But there was no fight, no, when you materialized in the cave, hands raised and ready to throw a spell or to, what expected you wasn’t a foul creature or a rouge, it was a boy, barely a teenager at that, sitting cross-legged on the chair in front of the batcomputer, looking around like he was seeing the sky for the first time after living his whole live in a bunker. It reminded you so much of the other two boys that you had seen having that reaction. You had no idea what had happened before to lead the boy there, but your brain automatically assumed the worst and as soon as you caught sight of Bruce you stomped towards him and slapped him. Hard. After that you started screaming, not as loud as you wanted to in consideration of the boy that was still in the room, asking him about how he could dare to bring another child into this life, after what had happened to Jason, after what it had done to you. After months of forgetting and numbing the pain you were able to let whatever was left out at that moment. Of course, you’d never really get over what happened, but with that you at least managed to really accept it for the first time. Bruce - even though he was torn between the stinging in his cheek, the pain of the words you threw at him and the mix between hurt and happiness and seeing you again after so long - just let you scream at him, not once trying to interrupt or stop you. Because he knew you, he knew that you needed that. But as soon as you managed to get a grip and calm yourself down he started explaining the situation. He introduced you to Tim and told you about how the boy had figured out who he was without any help, about how he wanted to join him. And while you were standing there, looking at that boy, something inside you remembered how it felt being a mum and the part was aching. You realized how much you missed it and when you found out about Tim’s less than great parents you were sold. Of course you and Bruce would have to sit down and talk things over, maybe even some couples therapy with Alfred as the therapist, but it would work out and you and Tim would bond. Of course, with him you’d be extremely careful, you’d forbid him from going on too dangerous missions and you’d use as much magic as you needed to keep him safe, maybe even going as far as joining them on their missions. You couldn’t bear the thought of losing another son. 
354 notes · View notes
Text
chin fucking up, amigo.
Titans 3.02
... eh?
SPOILERS ahead.
1. you know that music video for billie jean where michael jackson would dance along the pavement and the tiles would light up under his feet in different colours? yeah? me too.
titans hasn’t met a table top or a support arch that it doesn’t want to light up in a headache-inducing blue like the world’s most boring nightlight. i mean, i’m not an expert on lighting or cinematography or just... colour by any means, and the quality of the video i’m watching is poor given that i can’t access hbo max, but all the orange and teal and neon is making it very difficult to really differentiate between say, the batcave and the gotham police department and hell, the titans tower. i feel like there’s oftentimes a gap between idea and execution with titans, with gotham being this almost otherwordly hellscape with an aesthetic pulled from a gothic horror novel, but the colours and design just... leave it flat and dark and dull.
1.5. like what really frustrates me is that titans has a delightful mix of tones--the fights often remind me of schumacher-era batman camp, with the contrived quips and the start-stop rhythm and krypto just sallying in and ending the fight with a fucking SuperBark (tm) but in the same episode you have red hood just casually pulling out severed heads out of a duffle bag and desperate people blackmailed into killing themselves out of drug overdoses. I MEAN. it’s wonderful! but it looks all the same. it sounds Absolutely Bonkers on paper but on screen both Quip and Murder happen in the same washed-out blue and i wanted to be excited about the batcave, dammit!
2. things re: red hood have happened at such a breakneck speed that it feels like there’s so much that’s happened off-screen that we’re not privy to. a real proper mystery! 
things that are intriguing about the red hood arc so far:
a) what was that chemical he huffed just before going to fight the joker? is it a regular old performance/adrenaline booster or is it something more lazarus-juice adjacent? if it’s the latter, i can’t imagine he got that much information from a lone chemistry textbook. and where is he getting the resources to set up his little chemistry lab? is somebody else orchestrating things behind the scenes?
b) the red hood persona, costume and mask, plus the elaborate plan he’s putting in place to both string along gotham’s rogues and enact his revenge against the titans seems too... fully-formed and elaborate to have been concocted in just a few days. how long do you think jason’s been planning this? just... stewing in resentment and building rage, dismissed and passed around and underestimated and realising that the power he thought he would get by being robin is no power, no protection at all, but something that’s left him even more vulnerable than before? 
c) do we think that the scarecrow is at least partly behind this transformation? because yes, it was batman that set up this whole hannibal lecter-esque situation with him, and he would be irresponsible enough to have jason-as-robin go talk to him regularly regarding “~profiling~” criminals. it’s not too far of a leap to assume that scarecrow could’ve been manipulating jason at a very vulnerable time, and that he could’ve passed along some of his chemistry know-how, too.
d) ... or fuck, i wouldn’t put it past titans to introduce ra’s al ghul in a fucking ten second aside
e) anyway, the thing that won’t leave me alone is jason seeking out the joker not necessarily to fight him, but to orchestrate his own death. the whole thing has to have been part of a bigger plan. he broke batman with it, after all. and he’s starting to break the titans, too.
f) i love it! i mean, it does re-tread some of the storybeats we had with deathstroke last season (turning the titans against each other as revenge, etc) but it’s... tighter, this time, and at least for now seems better-executed. and as a red hood story it’s different enough to be really interesting, and i appreciate the ways in which its reframed the revenge story to focus on the titans rather than just the batman. like fuck everything up, i say! turn it on its head! slash the innards out of that sacred cow and strew it like garlands in the path of the Story You Want To Tell!
(and yes i am fully aware that by the time i post this review, there will be a whole lot more information out but if i come across like a fool then goddammit i will be a fool!)
2. i love how every season of titans starts off with, ‘oh dick, you thought you were settling into a role and a life and a pattern of relationships? well fuck you, here’s a terrible and traumatic thing, tons more responsibility, and circumstances that will lead you to uproot your entire life and move somewhere else.’ and dick’s just like, ‘well, ok. fuck you, but all right’.
can you imagine? the man was just settling into leading a team in sf and smiling for the first time in years, and now he has to deal with jason’s death, bruce experiencing a full fledged breakdown, coming back to a city that represents more bad memories than good, red hood, and a frightening new case that seems to be targeting him and his team. it’s a testament to dick’s growth that he’s not reacting to this stress like he did last year, shutting everybody out, making irrational decisions and experiencing sharp, short bursts of anger. (not to mention a full fledged psychotic episode.)
2.5. but i’ve also talked about dick performing a fair amount of unwarranted emotional labour for his team(s) in that he just lets them take out their frustrations on him and... does nothing. be it his team exploding at him for jericho (both in flashback and present-day) or donna and hank needling him for handling deathstroke poorly or barbara berating him for not handling the bank situation as well as she thought batman would though just the previous episode she had talked about how fucked up it was that bruce just expected dick to step up and replace him in gotham without any real notice. i mean it’s all perfectly understandable and sympathetic from their end--and i’m not trying to bash them here!--but hank, my man, the same chin you’re asking your amigo to keep up is the one that you punched last year and never apologised for. just sayin’.
2.75. @superohclair did a wonderful breakdown of what the ‘fear’ contract could imply here and there’s not too much i could add to that. it’s just really interesting that fear ended up being such a defining feature of their lives, albeit it’s the fear of seeming less than invincible in the face of bigger, more tangible fears. am i making sense?  dick feared loss, and abandonment, and the more existential concept of turning into something that he didn’t want to. bruce so feared being alone that he’s scouting kids to replace robin within days of jason dying. 
it also goes some way in explaining the tense sort of... restraint that bruce and dick show in the wake of loss and tragedy, like anything less than complete control of your emotions can lead to tragedy. it’s conditioning that dick couldn’t shake off when he was at his lowest in detroit, hating his legacy but unable to let it go either.
2.775. but i definitely appreciate the softness that dick displays with his team now, checking on them after a mission-gone-bad, welcoming back old members with no caveats or resentments (and kory’s delight in seeing hank back! hank and dick hanging out together and hank trying to prop dick up!), and appreciating their teamwork in solving cases. that’s always been the essence of dick as a person, and the beating heart of this show: flawed and traumatised people coming together to a place that will always be open to them, where they can be their worst and be supported still, allowed to make mistakes and grow from them. that’s family.
2.8. coming back to bruce for just a sec, it’s interesting how that gotham rogue was so certain when he said that ‘batman doesn’t kill’ but it’s not a rule that either jason or dick put much store by when they were robins. the ‘no-killing’ rule clearly didn’t mitigate dick’s fears about turning into batman and jason’s never been seeing giving two shits about it. it seems to me of a piece with bruce’s distant, second-hand sort of parenting that we see in dick’s flashbacks from s1 where the fear was never about personally disappointing batman, but taking lessons from him on finding a place in gotham’s hellish ecosystem and surviving.
3. kory having waking flashbacks! i don’t buy the bullshit parasomnia episode explanation from fake!HPG (because c’mon, justin has to be some sort of tamaranean ruse) because for one, you have to be actually asleep for that diagnosis. 
(and here i was, hoping against hope that HPG would actually end up as the team’s therapist)
curiouser and curiouser! i wonder if these flashbacks are from the time between kory landing on earth and the beginning of season 1, when she was completely amnesiac? it’d be cool if the show was considering repercussions from that time, and if kory hasn’t gained all her memories back. 
4. i just love the vibes between gar and conner and kory. gar Having Things To Do is only one part of my wishlist for him, however: other parts include having an actual story arc, and actually bonding with members who are not conner and kory. (dick! dick! hank! dick!)
anyway. time to move on to watching ep3 and seeing this family bond and nothing terrible and tragic happening at all, nope, nosiree. 
12 notes · View notes
goodolreliablejake · 2 years
Text
Tim Drake's Robin Erasure
Tumblr media
I think there are certain “Robin” traits that seem utterly inextricable from the character at this point. And unless you’re really into the various batboys and their personas, most people probably think of “Robin” as a character unto himself, rather than the various Dicks, Tims, Jasons, and Carries. But Robin has changed a lot over the years, and the nature of comics is for the most iconic changes to echo backwards through the legend retroactively.
Picture Dick Grayson as he was in 1940 and as he mostly remained for so many years afterwards. Bursting through this little circus drum reveal thing like The New Girl, this green panty-clad, bright yellow-caped circus boy was there for one reason above all others: to play the Watson. One year after Batman’s advent, we knew the World’s Greatest Detective needed an audience surrogate there at all times to explain his cleverness to. So far, so familiar.
Tumblr media
Then in the late 80s/early 90s, Tim Drake comes along with a totally radical costume change, and he changes the Robin game forever. His costume still mostly looks like Robin—same basic color scheme and “R” symbol—but with pants and a black cape, with the yellow just the inner lining. And this kid’s got personality, too. For one thing, he’s intelligent. More than Dick, he’s defined as a successor to Batman as a detective, even proving his worth by figuring out B-man’s secret identity. What’s more, he introduces a big idea that lends some much-needed credibility to this whole “child soldier” thing: that Batman needs someone to balance him out, to provide levity and light, to keep him from going to far. Like the Doctor, it’s dangerous for Batman to travel alone. And so Robin isn’t just the Boy Hostage, he’s really the heart of the Dynamic Duo. Wow.
Tim Drake wasn’t the only myth-shaking thing that happened to Batman in the 90s. I’m talking, of course, about Batman the Animated Series. You might have heard that this was a good show. But it was so much more than that. This show defined Batman. It invented Harley Quinn. It invented Mr. Freeze’s tragic backstory. It reinvented The Riddler as a suave intellectual who uses computers. Just like Tim Drake, it rewrote our memories of these things so that we now assume they’ve always been this way.
And Robin was in that show from the beginning. And make no mistake, the Robin that appears in that show from the first few episodes on is the Tim Drake that I just described; he’s wearing Tim Drake’s costume, and he’s got Tim Drake’s personality and significance. But they call him Dick Grayson, and he has Dick Grayson’s orphaned circus brat backstory. Because this was before superheroes had gone mainstream, at least to the extent that they have today. But even then, Batman and Robin were icons. Nobody knew Tim Drake, but they knew Dick Grayson, some of them anyway. And anyway, it’s just good writing. If you’re starting a new continuity, you start from the beginning. You start with Robin I, not Robin III. And if there have been advances in what makes a good Robin character, then you give all the best parts of Tim Drake’s character to Dick Grayson.
Read more here:
5 notes · View notes
titusbias · 4 years
Text
Sometimes I think I would've liked to see John Blake as Robin in more than Nolan's movies. Maybe in a comic, because if Terry got his miniseries of comics after Batman Beyond animated series, then it isn't impossible. Maybe it can't happen because Christopher Nolan didn't have that in mind when he created John Blake, but guys, we can't deny the character has potential.
Tumblr media
I mean, he found out by himself, like Tim, that Bruce was Batman. He admired the Dark Knight since he was a little kid and knowing that Bruce became what he became after the death of his parents, being John himself an orphan, motivated him. That's why he decided to be a policeman in the first place and then to make justice by his hands and quite the GCPD.
He believed in Bruce and everything that Batman represented even after the big scandal of Harvey Dent and bla bla bla, which for me is great. He went as far as to go to Wayne's manor to make Bruce wake up and face the world they were living. He's the one who pulled Bruce out of his shell after all those years.
Tumblr media
«I figured it out too late. You got to learn to hide the anger, practice smiling in a mirror.
It's like putting on a mask»
Genius line, btw.
They don't show us too much about his past, but he had a hard childhood. Moving to a foster home till his foster parents get frustrated and sent him to an orphanage, all of this after his mother died in a car accident and his father got shot. He felt angry, but never understood. And when he met Bruce Wayne for the first time, he knew he was like him. That he understood. And that he was Batman.
In the movie this is not explain, but John said:
«Right when I saw you, I knew who you really were. I'd seen that look on your face before.
It's the same one I taught myself»
So leaves it to your own interpretation, pretty much the same Nolan does with all his movies. But still a genius line.
John actually cares about the children of Gotham, being a volunteer in his former orphanage and trying to support them in any way possible. He even knows all the names of the orphans and is happy when he learns that Bruce transformed the manor to be the Martha and Thomas Wayne home for children.
Tumblr media
At first he is a loyal follower of the law, saying to Jim that he betrayed everything he stood for and showing himself disappointed with what Gordon did. But as the movie progresses, John begins to understand the point of view of the Commissioner, that sometimes you have to break the rules to catch the bad guys. The scene when he becomes aware that he just killed two people is underrated. Also, from the start of the film, we see that John is not exactly an obedient cop, often trying to do risky moves and things he considers necessary. He's reckless and his priorities are far away from the ones of his colleagues. He obeys his own rules.
So Blake leaves the GCPD the moment he realizes, in that bridge, that Batman is gone and Gotham has no one to protect it in a way the police couldn't. He takes the responsibility that Bruce left him.
Tumblr media
«You know what you said about structures becoming shackles?
You were right, and I can't take it, the injustice»
That's a character development I enjoyed. Wtf all his lines are genius
Tumblr media
John has a lot of things that makes me remember all the other Robins. These are a few I remember.
He's an orphan, like basically half the batfam.
John knew Batman's secret identity from the beginning, like Tim.
He's a person motivated by his past, the anger and the desire of justice. Like everyone.
John called out Bruce on his bullshit, like all his sons do.
He has black hair (???
He killed people, oof.
He looks hella good in a suit, the most important requirement to be a bat.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
He often disagrees with the law.
John admired Bruce since he was a child and grow up trying to follow his path. Tim vibes.
Well, he gives all the vibes. With Dick, specially the cop part and the 'I love kids' thing, Jason and his anger when he was a teenager and ofc Tim, cause he trained his skills to achieve a goal. I can't think of things he has in common with Damian (?
Tumblr media
Reasons I wanted more of John Blake:
Because his official name is Robin, that's freaking cool.
Bruce trusted him with his legacy.
His story is promising. DC get a whole plot from the 'Dick get shot' thing, I'm sure they can do anything.
He would be a refreshing character, like Terry.
We didn't get the chance to see his trajectory as Robin and that's something I will regret the rest of my life.
Idk I have curiosity of what sort of story it could become. One without a Batman and a new and inexpert Robin having bittersweet adventures. Saying that Bruce is really death or not going back, which could be another reason to make it a series.
Assuming that a comic about Nolan's universe would follow the original storyline. Like Batman Beyond.
Did I already said all his lines are epic af?
Tumblr media
The last three draws kinda look like Nightwing symbol more than Batman's
Only reason I don't want more of John Blake:
Because Christopher Nolan ended it there and he's my lord (???
But then, I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt and all the characters he plays and John "Robin" Blake is no exception.
Tumblr media
Yeah, I did this because I was rewatching the Dark Knight Rises and it suddenly came to my mind.
I wrote it in 5 minutes I don't even know
139 notes · View notes
pl-panda · 4 years
Text
Damienette aranged marriage: part 3
Whoa... Two parts in one day. Sorry if this one is worse, but yet again I wrote this instead of sleeping. 
Warning: there will be some cursing from Jason, but can you really blame him? Credits: Miraculous Ladybug team for the elements I take from MLB show. DC for their characters, @ozmav for the AU, @maribat-archive for giving me access to so many different stories to have take inspirations from, @thyladyanput for idea for Chat Damian and me for the plot.
Part 1
Previous
Next
Damienette arranged marriage: Part 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“And why would you tell her everything?!” Jason screamed, still hidden behind Batman’s towering posture.
“Because she is my wife Todd!” Damian screamed. The silence in the room was thick enough that if the assassin swinged his sword, he would be able to cut it in half. Finally, Bruce was the one to break it.
“Fuck.”
This worked like detonating a bomb. Immediately, Red Hood, Red Robin and Nightwing pushed their way into the room and surrounded the two teens. 
“You were gone for less than forty-eight hours!” Dick
“How did you manage to get married!” Drake
“You are just fifteen demon spawn!” Todd
“And who is she!?” Drake again.
Talia watched this whole ordeal with no small amount of amusement. That is until Bruce suddenly appeared next to her. His frown was downright scary even for her. “Explain. Now!” The growl was low and emotionless, but it was enough to yet again put the room in dead silence.
“Beloved. It is good to see you too.” Talia smiled seductively.
“I am not in the mood. Now talk!”
“Fine.” She dropped all illusion of niceness. “I made peace with old enemy of the League. Or even a shaky alliance. But to seal the treaty, an assurance was required.”
“And that assurance was?” Jason asked confused, earning a facepalm from Dick.
“The Royal Marriage. An heir of the League and future leader of the Order.”
“And that leader would be… her?” Batman asked, not fully convinced.
Marinette was standing there the whole time, greatly uncomfortable with the attention Bat Family was giving her and Damian. She did read a bit on them, but it was always Alya who never shut up about heroes. For the most part, she preferred talk about Ladybug, but lately there was slowly forming a rift. The aspiring reporter was falling into Lila’s lies, posting unreliable videos on Ladyblog. Rossi had it for Ladybug and Alya, together with the rest of Marinette’s class, was falling for her machinations. They still hanged out with Marinette, but there was this distaste forming around her. She was no longer their to-go person with personal problems, being replaced by Lila who was awful at helping others unless it benefited her. But now Marinette had more pressing matter than a pity little liar. She looked at Batman, then at the bat-kids and finally at Damian. They were all looking at her expectantly.
“Oh right! Sorry. I did it again…” She gave them a sheepish smile. “I am Ladybug, hero of Paris and Great Guardian of the Miraculous.” She stated. Most of the heroes (bar Damian who knew a tidy bit about the Order of the Guardians) were confused.
“Paris doesn’t have heroes. There aren’t even any supervillains there.”
“Excuse me?! How does nobody knows what is going on in Paris!” Ladybug shouted. “Ugh! Seriously?!”
Batman narrowed his eyes. “Forgive me, Ladybug, but the Justice League would know if there was a threat in Paris. So who are you really.”
“Then ask Green Lantern. He was the one who laughed at my plea for help.” She scowled, but then her demeanor changed. She calmed down and gave a sheepish smile. “But guess I should thank him. I can only dread what would happen if Superman was akumatized. Or Flash. Or anyone really. I don’t think I could win.”
Batman frowned. He would have a talk with Hal once he dealt with this. If there was really a threat like that, ignoring it was not only stupid, but dangerous. And the girl was at best Damian’s age. She was dealing with this for how long? The way she spoke suggested that she was in charge. A child fighting in a war all alone. 
“For now beloved, it should be enough for you that the two of them are legally married.”
“Like hell!” Jason shouted at her, waving his gun. “They are fifteen. No court would accept this.”
“Actually,” Tim started, “under some laws they can be married. For example ‘The Personal Status Law of Muslims’ in Sudan sets the minimum age at ten.” He spoke like he was reading an encyclopedia.
“But we are somewhere between Nepal and China. I don’t think there are such laws here.” Dick said, but his confidence wavered.”
“Tt. First of why don’t anyone ask me or Marinette about our opinion?” Damian asked irritated.
“Shut up Demon Spawn. Adults are working here”
“If you don’t shut up, Todd, I will make you eat your dirty socks until you choke on the stench.” The young boy threatened. Marinette cringed at this, not really wanting to imaging such situation. 
“The marriage stays.” Talia stated coldly. “Otherwise, I will not be able to stop League from going to war against Order of the Guardians.”
“You are their leader.” Batman pointed out.
“That may be correct, beloved, but I am but a regent. Only after Damian finally assumes the leadership, his word will be law. I do try to reform the league, but there is little I can do in this situation.”
“Bullshit!” Jason cursed. “You are just manipulative bitch.”
“Jason!” Dick hit the back of Red Hood’s helmet, causing him to almost tumble. “Language. There are minors in the room.”
“Don’t worry Mousier.” Marinette noted that the whole debate shifted to English. She learned it years ago when she first got interested in fashion. Some of the greatest fashion critiques wrote only in English and she didn’t want to be left behind. And other foreign critiques and designers were always translated into English. “After today, cursing is the least of my worries.” During the talk, Marinette pulled her yo-yo to check the situation in Paris. The good news were that there was no Akuma attack since her confrontation with Hawkmoth. Bad news: she was gone for over forty hours already.
“What exactly is the deal?” Bruce sighted. He loved his boys, but he could practically feel his hair graying. At least the girls didn’t go around marrying total strangers. “I want the full story Talia. Don’t even try to deceive us.”
“As you wish Beloved.” She smiled and sat back at her chair. Jason was about to hop onto where Marinette sat, but Damian ‘accidentally’ tripped him. Ladybug detransformed and Tikki flew out. 
“What is this flying mouse?!” Dick screeched upon seeing a kwami.
“My name is Tikki. I am kwami, or if you prefer a small god, of creation and luck.” 
“Okay… I’ve totally seen weirder.” Jason shrugged and Tim was too busy trying to plug in his pocket kettle to make himself some coffee.
“Ekhm.” Bruce faux-coughted to get their attention. “Begin Talia.”
“Many centuries ago, magic jewels bestowing extraordinary powers were created. These were... the Miraculous. Throughout history, heroes have used these jewels for the good of the human race. Order of The Guardians was responsible for protecting and distributing the Miraculous for the good of all humanity. Some time in the past, League has learned about the existence of this artifacts, more powerful than even Lazarus Pit. A secret war began between two organizations. There was a constant stalemate until the Order was mysteriously destroyed without a trace. We believed all miraculous to be lost until two years ago heroes and villains using them appeared in Paris. Initially, we ignored them, long since abandoning this war. But then, some month ago a temple of the Guardians suddenly reappeared with the Order in chaos. The League attacked, but they were strong enough to withstand the initial strike and turn it into a siege. In time, we would have succeeded and wiped them once and for all. But instead, the Guardians understood their situation and reached to us with agreement. A truce and alliance, in exchange for sparing them.”
“Yeah right! Only an idiot would take such offer!” Red Hood kept arguing with the Assassin woman.
“Or a strategist. Either way, the League wins. They no longer need to worry about threat, but this way they also get an ally.” Batman remained expressionless, but he kept sending Damian and Marinette side-glares. He wanted to know how they are coping with this. The girl was a bit shaken, but that was to be expected. He would talk more with her later. What surprised him was that Damian seemed to show concern for her. The kind he usually reserved only for his brothers and father. 
“Yes. While our methods differ, the League and the Order have a common goal: prosperity for all humanity. But to ensure that neither side would go against the other, there needed to be a more tangible symbol of this union.”
“Marriage of the heirs. In the past such method was often used to symbolize an alliance. It symbolized equality of both partners and parties they represented.” Tim acted as an universal encyclopedia again, which Jason did exploit to tease him mercilessly while the others focused on the discussion.
“And let me guess” Dick frowned. “If they break the deal, it means war?”
“Yes.” Damian simply nodded. The memory of his mother’s threat hanging over the girl’s live was still fresh. Now that he got to know her better Damian was surprised that someone so brave and strong could at the same time be such emotionally unstable or open. It was almost refreshing. His family was awful with emotions and beyond that women only saw his last name. Many times he dealt with liars who tried to use him to get into the pockets of his father. But with Marinette he was sure that she was genuine with her feelings. He could not find any reason for her not to be at the moment, especially after she revealed her secret to him. 
“So what? We are just supposed to roll with it? What will press think? You will give Alfred a heart attack Damian.” Dick rambled. Youngest Wayne decided to ignore him and turn to his father. 
“While this might be a bit inconvenient, I believe it is the best course of action for now.” Damian spoke with cold and calculative voice.
“And what about you?” Batman turned to the girl, who for the most part lately was busy discussing something with the kwami in French. Bruce was proficient, but he was too focused on Talia and Damian.
“I… I accepted that my duty as Great Guardian comes with certain responsibilities. If this is what it takes to preserve peace, then I guess… I guess I will roll with it.” She smiled at Dick, almost daringly. Damian smiled too. Anyone who teased his brothers like that earned some points in his book. “But I can’t just leave Paris. For now it’s peaceful, but I don’t know how long it will last. And there are my parents… Oh Kwami! What will I tell my parents! Or my friends! Or my class! What if they reject me for this and I will be kicked from home, then I will not become a professional designer and I will never fulfill my dream and I will be forever lonely…” She unintentionally rambled in mixture of English and French while walking in circle and waving her hands. Damian grabbed her by her wrists to stop her before she accidentally knocked someone out and then cupped her hands with his. She was still talking random stuff, which made absolutely zero sense. Damn. She is cute when she is rambling. What!? He shut down the intrusive thoughts and focused on the girl… his wife.
“Calm down. Take deep breaths. You will not be alone.” He hoped it would work, but she barely slowed down. He sighted. Damian looked her deep in her bluebell eyes and she saw the two whirlpools of jade green he had. They were more prominent that Adrien’s. “Listen to my voice. All is going to be fine. We will not leave you.” This time, it did work and she calmed down. 
Rest of the Batfam watched in shock how Damian has acted. It was most unusual for him to initiate physical contact at all, much less act this gentle. They looked at Talia, but she shrugged.
“I didn’t do anything if that’s what you think.” She smirked. “But I don’t think I needed.” Two newly-wed were just standing there, starring in each other’s eyes.
“Robin!” Batman finally got him to break out of this. “We gotta go. We will figure out exactly what to do later.”
“Fine. But we are taking Marinette with us.” Damian stubbornly stated.
“Yes. She should not stay here. And I have more questions for her.”
The flight to Paris was surprisingly fast. They traveled in perfect silence, but she felt rather uncomfortable with how everyone (bar Damian) sent her a suspicious glares. Finally, they landed around 8 PM on the rooftop of local Wayne Enterprises headquarter. She walked out first, happy to finally get back onto her home turf.
“Now there are some questions that needs to be answered.” Batman spoke.
“Uhm… Okay?”
“Stop intimidating her Father.” Damian scowled. 
Bruce reluctantly nodded. “Maybe it would be the best to discuss it in private of my office.” He pressed some buttons on his glove and the bat-plane camouflage. Well, it was probably more of Bat-cargo plane since it could fit six people comfortably and still have much space free. 
They got into the office, where Bruce had a total of five armchairs set around the coffee table. Immediately, Damian and Dick took two of them, leaving the head one for Bruce and one in between the two Waynes for Marinette. Tim didn’t bother trying to fight with Jason over who gets the last place, instead opting to just jump onto computer chair at the desk and activating a holo-screen. He quickly connected to Batcomputer and started to pull various files (mostly on Marinette and her close ones, but she didn’t see it). 
“So tell me. What is our young couple planning to do now?” Dick teased them.
Jason was standing next to the alcohol bar, pouring several glasses of whiskey. Before Bruce could protest, he brought five and placed them on the table. His reaction to disapproving glare from the other adults was to just shrug. “What? They are married. I think underage drinking would be the least of the problems. Oh! That reminds me.” Jason grinned maliciously and pulled his wallet. He tossed something square and silver at Damian. “I don’t want any demon spawns junior running around soon.”
Once Marinette realized what was that and what was he implying she turned redder than Tim’s outfit. Damian scowled. “I have a sword on me Todd, so watch what you are saying. I might not have chosen her to be my bride, but I will not let you embarrass her just for your fun.”
Jason saw an opportunity and he would be damned if he didn’t take it. “Which sword are you talking about?”
Damian hissed like an angry cat and drawn his sword, lunging at his brother. Todd initially wanted to block the attack with his gun, but fine steel cut right through it. Seeing murder in Damian’s face he did the only plausible thing: started to run.
Marinette was inventing new shades of red with her blushing. Bruce gave her an apologetic look. “Please, don’t take his comments to heart. Jason is…” before batman could find a right word there was a sound of something crashing, followed by a painful yelp. In just a moment, Damian returned happy, his sword a bit bloody.
“Please tell me you didn’t kill him…” Dick begged. Marinette was not sure whether this was a joke or not, but the longer she stayed with the batfam, the less sane they appeared.
“Nah. But he didn’t look where he was running and toppled the stack of boxes and I ended up stabbing him in his left calf. He will live.” Damian assured them. And true to his words, a limping Jason appeared in the doors. He grabbed a fresh bottle of whiskey on his way to the armchair and slumped resigned. “Demon spawn!”
“Idiot!”
“Enough!” Bruce wanted to pull his hair out. “We came here to discuss a certain situation not stab each other. Marinette?”
“Yes monsieur Wayne?” She asked, still stunned with what happened. She had to admit Damian acter chiviliarus protecting her honor, even if his way was pretty violent. 
“I was trying to ask you, what do you plan on doing now?”
“I… I don’t know. This all happened so fast…”
“It’s okay. I don’t think anyone would have a plan for such situation.” Dick reassured her
“Bruce does. It’s inside the safe in the batcave in folder labeled ‘Talia never gives up’.” Tim chimed in before returning to his research. 
“Well, no one sane has such plans.” Dick tried to cheer her up. It did work even if just a bit. “But ask yourself what do you want.”
“Well… I would wish to finish my education and I always dreamed about becoming a professional fashion designer.” 
“And how is this plan working so far?” Bruce inquired.
“Well, I do run a small internet boutique, where I take commissions and uncle Jagged refuses to wear anything that wasn’t personally designed by me.” She said casually.
“Wait a moment… Uncle Jagged as in Jagged Stone, the world-class rock musician?!” Tim suddenly shouted.
“Uh… yes?” She got confused
“But his only designer is the mysterious MDC! That would mean you are MDC!”
“Uh… yes?” Marinette had no idea why Tim acted like that.
“Oh god! Oh god! I got to meet MDC! Can I get your authograph?” He was suddenly next to her, holding a copy of the her first album cover she made for Jagged.
“Sure.” She signed it and handed it back. It read: ‘Good luck TD, MDC’.
Tim Fainted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taglist (sorry if I missed you)
@pheonixashtree @sassakitty @unabashedbookworm @vixen-uchiha @maggiecc12 @actualdisasterwoman @tired-butterfly @shizukiryuu @floralfi @imanerddealwith @northernbluetongue @krispydefendorpolice @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @bluesoulblueheart @theatreandcomicfreak @disneyfoxuniverse @mindfulmagics @alwaysnumberonetruth @nyaabinch @jardimazul @lenamau @rosep16 @dramatic-squirrel @sonif50 @daminett4life @lulutheawkwardess @weird-pale-blonde-person @mooshoon @jeminiikrystal @mochegato @moonlightstar64 
546 notes · View notes
elareine · 4 years
Note
ahhhhh!! you doing prompts!! happy easter by the way!~ can it be a rooftop dating? when they both were young? uwu❤
Hey lovely, I assume you mean JayDick, right? This is my first Catlad story. I made them a bit closer in age for this - maybe three years difference. Sorry it too so long! 
I.
“Alfred?”
“Yes, Master Richard?” Alfred puts down his newspaper to glance at the child. He is admittedly far too young for such a title, but Alfred enjoys the way it makes him giggle, so it sticks.
“Can I ask you something?”
The butler’s curiosity grows. It’s not like Dick to check in twice before posing a question. “Of course.”
“If you would want to have a picnic on a rooftop at night, what would you bring?”
For a moment, Alfred is at a loss. It’s a most unusual feeling for him. Then he remembers: Bruce mentioned that Miss Kyle has taken in a ward, as well. The world rights itself. “Is this, perhaps, a meal you are looking to share?”
Dick blushes, but nods.
“In that case, I believe that some of those cookies you so enjoy would do the trick.”
Dick’s eyes light up. “You would show me how to make them?”  
“You wish to make them yourself?” Alfred raises a brow.
“Of course! I want him to like me, and my mother always said that love—” Dick clamps his mouth shut, but Alfred has heard enough.
This deserves genuine consideration. It’s a recipe that has been passed on in the Pennyworth family for generations. Alfred does not relinquish it easily.
Then again, who else is he going to teach it to but to this boy who has brought light back into the manor?
Alfred pushes his chair back and gets up. “Then we should begin now, Master Richard. They need some time to cool down.”
Dick beams. “Awesome!”
The kitchen will look a disaster after this, Alfred just knows. Hopefully, it will be worth it.
II.
Tim Drake is Robin, and he has no idea what he’s doing. It’s okay, though. Batman (Batman) is training him. Alfred is supportive, and Dick is the best. He’s everything Tim ever wanted in a brother, and it takes Tim a few months to see beyond that.
There’s grief in the lines of Dick’s face, the silences between him and Bruce, the way he avoids some patrol routes. Tim can’t fix that, he knows. But—he has to try to make it better, right? That’s what family does?
So he marches up to Dick one day and blurts out, “I have something for you,” before he can change his mind.
Dick smiles. “Yeah?”
“Here.” Tim pulled out the simple black folder from behind his back and opened it for Dick, showing him the single photograph. Then he holds his breath—surely Dick will ask where he got that. He must be angry at this invasion of their privacy.
But Dick just reaches out with trembling fingers, touching the photograph as if it’s something infinitely precious. “This is…”
Tim shot the picture when he’d finally managed to get his hands on some real good long-lens equipment. It shows two boys in their late teens on a rooftop. There’s a plate of cookies between them, and they’re passing a thermos bottle back and forth.  
Tim has other pictures—of them cuddling, Robin in Catlad’s lap, Catlad in Robin’s, them chasing each other through the air… but this is his favorite because they’re not wearing masks, and they’re laughing. He’s never seen two people look so clearly in love without touching.
The picture was taken ten months ago. Robin had already left Gotham to become Blüdhaven’s Nightwing at that point. Batman was going off the rails, just a bit, and Catlad… he was investigating something away from his mom, something that led him to an empty warehouse and a clown.
It must’ve been one of the last times they saw each other, Tim realizes. Maybe the last time.
Dick doesn’t say anything more, not out loud. He takes the folder, holds it close as if Tim’s given him a treasure, and his watery smile says it all.  
III.
The red helmet still feels a bit weird.
Jason doesn’t regret taking his new alias. It distances him a bit from his former family, which wasn’t his intention, but it feels good to take a name that was associated with his killer and turn into something criminals fear. Besides, Selina made sure his outfit is still appropriately tight under the leather jacket.  
The helmet is kind of a necessary addition beyond the play on his name, though. His senses… well, they haven’t been the same since a maniac took a pipe to his head. Also, Jason would really like to mitigate further brain damage, thank you.
All of which is a lot of words to explain why it takes him a full thirty seconds to the plate of cookies in front of the rooftop entrance to his apartment.
Jason doesn’t need to check them for poison. He knows who made them. “Hi, Nightwing.”
There’s a soft laugh, and Dick hops down from the ledge to stand next to him. His movements are so graceful, it makes something in Jason want to scream. “Hi, Jason.”
His first name. He hasn’t heard that in a while. Not since he and Batman got into a rather violent argument over how to deal with Jason’s killer. “What do you want?”
“I thought—” Dick looks uncharacteristically unsure of himself. “I thought we could have a picnic.”
Jason sighs. His movements are heavy, obvious as he opens the door, takes a step inside. He doesn’t need to look at Dick to know that his posture is deflating, that Jason has once again managed to dim that brilliant smile.
It’s kind of worth it, though, for the gobsmacked expression on Dick’s face when Jason steps back outside sans helmet and with a thermo in his hand.
Jason doesn’t kid himself. He’s a long way away from the small, lively boy that first caught Dick’s interest. There’s not much left of himself; certainly not enough for Dick to love. He wasn’t able to say ‘no’ the first time Robin skipped up to him with cookies and a smile, though, and he’s not ready to deny him now.
“Let’s have a picnic, then,” he says quietly.
Dick’s smile is brilliant enough to light this goddamn city by itself. That alone, he thinks, makes it worth it.
216 notes · View notes
stxleslyds · 3 years
Note
It’s very interesting to see your thoughts on Winnik cause personally while I like that he made jason a bit unhinged and fun in utrh his other characterizations of his were eh at best. Like why would jason not care about the world and why would he take over the drug trade of all things considering his history. I feel like Winnick had a very surface level understanding of Jason. There was a lot of his past to explore but it wasn’t explored that deeply. Plus I absolutely HATED his Bruce and talia characterization. And how he wrote Talia in both utrh and lost days was absolutely disgusting and his explanation for why he did it was that Jason loves Talia and that they were both messed up ppl??? Which is where I can’t forgive him. I feel like he was a one hit wonder because ever since utrh his Jason story started to go downhill. I also feel like it’s because DC doesn’t know how to write a character that’s from a poor background and that’s a huge disservice to Jason. I do hope that Rosenberg or another writer (hopefully female) does a good job on him. He’s been suffering under shitty writing for so long. Sorry for the long ask I really enjoy reading your posts.
Hi Anon, thank you for sending your ask!
Well, this is a great question because I love giving my opinions on Winick’s UtRH and Lost Days. I know those books (or some moments in them) are not everyone’s cup of tea and I had and have some problems with some of them but I have also come to understand them or even accept them as a writer bringing up a morally grey area in his books and doing it well (or at least I saw it that way after re-reading and researching a bit about his thoughts on those matters).
This is going to be a long post (I suppose) because there is a lot to cover and I want to let you know in a clear way why I think that what Winick wrote works beautifully for Jason. I will try to answer this as coherently as I can, so I will talk about the points you made in your ask separately so I make sure I don’t forget anything.
Let’s begin!
“Why would Jason not care about the world?”
I assume with that you meant about what happened in Bludhaven when Chemo was dropped there by the Society? That is valid but that really wasn’t Winick’s fault (I believe), that whole thing was shown in the book because back then the Bat-related books were more interconnected and that was what was happening in Dick’s Nightwing run at the time, which I think was used to explain why Dick suddenly stopped helping Bruce in Gotham.
And then I think Jason and Bruce watching that happen when they were having that conversation on that roof was very well planned out. I think Winick used that opportunity for Jason to be his peak level of little shit and make Bruce feel bad about not arriving in time to save another one of his kids. Even though Jason later revealed that he never blamed Batman for not arriving in time to save him, I believe Jason said that about Dick to make Bruce hurt more. Jason was trying to make Bruce stay in Gotham so either Bruce or him killed the Joker that night. Winick on the other hand had to finish his story, him branching out and having Batman go to Bludhaven would have benefited absolutely no one either, and it just didn’t fit the story that was being told in Under the Red Hood.
That’s why I think that Jason reacted that way to the Bludhaven and Chemo situation. If by caring about the world you meant something else let me know! (He obviously cared about Gotham in UtRH and other people in Lost Days).
“Why would he take over the drug trade of all things considering his history?”
Well, I have to be honest with you Jason wanting to control the drug trade in Gotham makes absolute sense to me, and even more when I think about Jason’s past history.
Jason and Bruce have always been (to me) clear opposites in various angles, and in UtRH, Winick talks about that a little bit too.
Batman was created to eradicate crime from Gotham after Bruce witnessed the death of his parents, that was the tragedy that set him off, and even though it was tragic and awful he had everything outside of his parents, he had a home, a support system, people that cared and gave him love, and money. He never had to be in contact with the cruel reality that was Gotham. We know through various stories that Gotham is deeply rotten and corrupted.
But Jason did know how corrupted, rotten and devoid of hope his city really was, he lived in the streets and in an abandoned apartment alone because he didn’t trust the police or social workers (he didn’t believe the system was helpful). He had seen his mother die at the hands of drugs after his father was sent to jail due to his criminal behaviour. Probably his father was a drug dealer and was the person that got his mother into drugs, (I believe that was later made canon, I might be wrong). But why did he do that? Maybe because he came from a poor and complicated background and nobody wanted to employ him so the real bad people of Gotham, like Black Mask, Cobblepot and many others, saw his vulnerability and his desperation to make money and they gave him a job as a drug dealer.
Considering that Jason was made out to have very deep problems with people selling drugs in schools and all that, I can estimate that maybe one of the big Drug Lords at the time employed Jason’s father when he was barely a teenager, that way he earned money, he stopped going to school and sold drugs to his peers so the bad people could control more people while they were vulnerable.
If all of that is true then Jason wanting to control the drug trade in Gotham, by becoming a Drug Lord himself, makes perfect sense to me. I mean let’s talk about this, what were his other options?
Kill every drug lord?
What if that set off a gang war in Gotham over who got to be the next big Drug Lord? I mean, it would be like real life, if someone dies in that sort of position there would always be someone else to take their place. Drugs are clearly (in Gotham) a great way to get money and power.
Also, if he killed all the drug lords then what happened to the people that were working for them, how could Jason help them get another job?
Explode every warehouse and facility with drugs in them?
And then what? Wait for Black Mask and the others to buy more and put a target on his back? Maybe kill some innocents so they can send a message to Red Hood that if he keeps destroying their drugs or whatever people will pay for it?
Maybe all the drug lords would come together and kill the Red Hood themselves, what could one man do against everyone else? Black Mask and the others had vulnerable people on a payroll, if they stopped working or went against what their boss said they would have been killed and then families would still be vulnerable and desperate to survive in Gotham.
Come forward as Jason Todd, the not so dead son of Bruce Wayne, and start a campaign against drugs?
Jason would have ended up dead in seconds, everywhere you look there are corrupt people. What could have been the point of that? What could have Jason be able to give families like his so they could stop living under the control of drugs and Drug Lords?
-
Jason being a Drug Lord himself was the best option because Jason KNOWS the reality of Gotham and Gotham’s people. His way of dealing with drugs could control the drug trade in the first 10 years and then eradicate it after that time. His plan was genius!
Jason knew that for people not to suffer as his family did, he had to take the slow and hard path of becoming the thing that he hated the most. He needed to attack the monster from within. So, when he made his first move he controlled the street-level dealers, he told them “I will protect you from both Black Mask and Batman if you stop dealing drugs to kids and in schoolyards if you do that, you are dead”, it is genius! By being clear about not wanting to have kids and high schoolers involved with drugs he set out a new path where those people weren’t forced into drugs and driven away from school. And that’s the way Winick made us see Jason’s not so new morals, he protects Gotham’s kids and he will kill you without hesitation if you endanger them.
From that he built, Winick made it clear, at first Jason would convince the people working for other Drug Lords to work for him if they followed his rules (and he offered them protection!). If Jason worked on the drug trade, he could have controlled who was inserted in the drug life or could have made it exclusive to the rich or club exclusive. In his intention of taking over the drug trade, he could have moved drugs away from Gotham’s most vulnerable.
And if he employed those vulnerable people, he would have made them work for him on other levels, that way those vulnerable people still had jobs and were protected from people like Black Mask. And in due time, fewer young and poor people would be involved with drugs or the drug trade.
Red Hood employs poor people and makes them not sell to other poor people or kids, he pays his employees good money so their families make a better life for themselves and their kids go to school, they are all protected by the Red Hood and his team (Jason could have trained others and make a team or gang that focused entirely on security), those people then get to retire with their families far away from drugs and maybe Gotham too.
I mean, Winick never did those things but I think that was the way he was thinking about it, he really set a golden path for future writers, his story had to finish Jason’s dilemma with Bruce and Joker but then his life as the Red Hood continued. And it could have been good if other writers used the characterization that Winick had given Jason: protector of children, killer of rapists and everyone that endangered women, children and teenagers. All of that was thrown away for a mythical fight with Ra’s al Ghul for people that were as trashy as Ra’s.
“I feel like Winick had a very surface-level understanding of Jason”.
I have to disagree. I think he understood Jason’s character before his death well and then built a grown-up version of him with those morals more developed after he suffered more and then saw how the world and Batman’s ways hadn’t changed after his murder.
We are talking about post-crisis Jason here; he was sweet and he loved being Robin but he also saw the world differently from Bruce and Batman. He lived a very different life than the one that Bruce lived when he was a kid. Jason even said that he “could fend for himself just fine” and that he had “graduated from the streets of crime alley”.
To me Winick understood this completely, he knew that Jason had had close contact with how drugs could affect people and what a criminal record could lead you to, but he also understood that Jason was a survivor of "crime alley" and all its worst people. He probably knew of things that people were doing of he saw them happening. He knew how to protect himself from those things but understood that not everyone could do it. And when Batman took him to Ma Gunn’s school Jason learned that Batman was ignorant of how awful and manipulative Gotham’s people could be. Ma Gunn wasn’t running an orphanage or cool school; she was teaching children how to steal and harm others. He hated it, he was “okay” when he was alone and now, he was locked in with older kids that beat him and Ma Gunn who was exploiting children’s vulnerability.
I assume Winick took that and maybe decided that was the moment when Jason knew that even if Batman was trying to do good, he still didn’t see Gotham (or that side of Gotham) for what it truly was.
When Jason became Robin and worked along with Batman, we could already see that Jason thought very differently about what should be done with rapists, and abusers of all kinds, Jason saw the world differently when he was a kid and a teenager and then after his death, Winick used that to build a Jason Todd that as a young adult still saw Gotham for what it truly was.
“There was a lot of his past to explore but it wasn’t explored that deeply”.
I am really confused by this (and I am very dumb), did you mean that his past before his death wasn’t explored? Because that was not the point of this book, the information was already there with Jason’s previous appearances in comics, and even then, Winick explored through flashbacks in UtRH how he saw Jason and what it was that Jason thought about crime.
If you didn’t mean that and you meant his past before the events of UtRH but after his death then, well, I would say that Winick couldn’t have fit that in UtRH but he did write a story about that time in 2010 when he wrote Red Hood: Lost Days.
“I absolutely hated his Bruce and Talia characterization”
I will only talk about the Bruce part here because you mentioned Talia later in your ask.
To me his Bruce was perfect. I really think that his characterization of him was spot on, but maybe I am biased because I don’t like Bruce at all? I suppose that you are talking about Bruce’s characterization in those last moments in "crime alley" with Jason and Joker? And how he decided that making Jason drop the weapon by throwing a batarang to his throat and saving Joker was a better option than Jason killing the Joker?
If it is that then I would love to see what you think Bruce would have done at that moment because I didn’t really see Bruce using a gun (in any way) as an in-character thing for him, and even though DC has always danced with the idea of Bruce actually killing somebody I know that they wouldn’t have him do it, and even less when it comes to killing the Joker.
I mean, Bruce brought back Joker from the dead when Dick finally killed that piece of shit so, yeah, I don’t know.
I feel like Winick was trying to show just how loyal and squared Bruce is when it comes to his own no killing rule. Jason wasn’t asking for Bruce to go on a killing spree he just wanted Bruce to kill the Joker and he didn’t. Winick even had Bruce say that about him not wanting to kill one person because he felt that if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to stop and I think that’s pretty true. Maybe it is a bit too much but I don’t think it’s a lie.
“How he wrote Talia in both UtRH and Lost Days was absolutely disgusting”
That is absolutely valid, listen, if you didn’t like how he wrote her at all I really can’t say anything against that. My first real and solid contact with Talia’s character was in that book, so when I read UtRH I really liked how he wrote Talia in that, it seemed to have that aspect of Talia’s love for Bruce being so strong that when she saw Jason was alive, she wanted to help him so Bruce could see how much he loved her. It is messed up but I believed it fitted her character, she had good intentions but her reasoning was a little bit wonky.
With Lost Days, I thought that her character was well written, she isn’t a hero and she isn’t a villain, she is just a player in the game that is the League of Assassins and that world. That obviously changed up until we had that scene happen between her and Jason, I was grossed out and I didn’t understand why that had happened which leads me to what you said next in your ask.
“His explanation for why he did it was that Jason loves Talia and that they were both messed up people”.
This is a part of the interview where Judd Winick answered a question about Jason and Talia sleeping together. The interview was done by Sara Lima in ComicVine’s podcast.
“SL: Why did you decide to write the romantic scene between Jason and Talia in Lost Days?
JW: For those playing at home, Jason Todd, at the end of Red Hood: Lost Days, and Talia slept together. I did that because it was really disturbing and to shine a light on the fact that these are not really well people. A lot of people didn’t like that, which was correct. “You weren’t supposed to like that. That was supposed to be, ‘oh God, stop that, what are you doing?’ It really was. As well as, for Talia, her reasons, being that Bruce had wound up inadvertently killing her father and she was ragingly angry with him and went from love to pure hate and still loving him at the same time. And Jason, given the opportunity to have sex with just about the only woman who Bruce has had sex with or really cares about, ‘Yeah, I’ll go there.’
SL: He’s like, ‘yeah, cause I hate that guy.’
JW: Yeah! ‘I hate that guy!’ And I think that Jason probably had the hots for Talia. She’s hot, he doesn’t exactly have a lot of relationships going on – It’s not a good thing for either of them. These are two people who murder people, two people who are screwed up, screwed up emotionally. There’s this question that why would he do that and Talia only loves Bruce. She might only love Bruce, but she does have sex with other people because that’s just sex. And we’re all grown-ups here. I think those who shake their fist and get angry at this kind of thing might be some of our older readers. I’m an older reader, but I acknowledge the fact that people aren’t that chaste and grow up: people have sex. That’s why I ended it like that; It was messed up.
Maybe it was in another interview or something but this is the only time that I have seen Winick talk about that and I don’t think he mentioned Jason loving Talia but he did say said that “These are two people who murder people, two people who are screwed up, screwed up emotionally”.
When I looked it up, I found that someone that is described as screwed up is a person that is “emotionally disturbed”. That description is one that I feel is valid for both Jason and Talia at the time, they both had a lot going on and were fighting some demons so maybe it’s not a nice thing to say but I can’t say that the statement isn’t true. Or at least that’s how I see it.
When I came across that interview for the first time, I wasn’t expecting Winick to apologise for writing that interaction but I did want an explanation so after he said, “A lot of people didn’t like that, which was correct. “You weren’t supposed to like that. That was supposed to be, ‘oh God, stop that, what are you doing?’ It really was” and “for Talia, her reasons, being that Bruce had wound up inadvertently killing her father and she was ragingly angry with him and went from love to pure hate and still loving him at the same time. And Jason, given the opportunity to have sex with just about the only woman who Bruce has had sex with or really cares about, ‘Yeah, I’ll go there.’”
I felt like that was enough, granted I didn’t like it and I still don’t like it but I don’t see it as Winick writing something disturbing with evil intentions, I just see it as him writing these two morally grey people doing some very morally grey stuff.
This is not me saying that this is how things have to be taken, I know and understand many people who absolutely don’t like this at all and that’s valid. I am not here to change your mind about that, personally when I read the why he wrote that I felt like that explanation was enough but that is just me.
“I feel like he was a one-hit-wonder because ever since UtRH his Jason story started to go downhill”
I think Winick was only meant to write Jason’s comeback to comics, around the time he was writing Outsiders and Green Arrow. And there was also the “Infinite Crisis” (Winick wasn’t involved with that one) event going on in the middle that explained some stuff like how Jason was resurrected which was explored in Batman Annual #25 in 2006 (like a year after the UtRH book had come out and it was also written by Winick). Then with the popularity of the UtRH book the animated movie was made (written by Judd Winick) and because that was coming out DC allowed Winick to write the six-issue mini of Red Hood: The Lost Days in 2010.
The UtRH story didn’t go downhill, DC simply couldn’t handle that level of mature storytelling at the time, just after that event ended DC was already planning on changing stuff and then the New 52 came years later.
Winick’s Jason even made an appearance in Outsiders #44-46, there Red Hood wanted to help the Outsiders break out a good man (Black Lightning) out of prison because he hadn’t killed anyone (it had actually been Slade). Jason/Red Hood’s characterization and story going downhill wasn't on Winick, it was on DC and their lack of interest in making their characters complex and dual.
“DC doesn’t know how to write a character that’s from a poor background and that’s a huge disservice to Jason”
Absolutely. But in my case, I do think that Winick did work with Jason’s background very well. To me, he set a path and no one could follow it but I might also be horribly wrong.
-
I also hope that Rosenberg does an amazing job! I absolutely love his work, as I have said before he is super funny and isn’t scared of writing characters who kill. I feel like he will bring back the sarcastic little shit that Jason once was but he will also bring back that sense of seriousness and dedication that Jason has for the work that he is doing. Rosenberg even showed us some of that in that prelude to Task Force Z in Detective Comics, I absolutely recommend them if you haven’t read them, issues #1041 and #1042 were the ones with that backup story.
I can see that we have very different opinions but that’s just a part of the comic world, we all perceive these comics differently and that’s valid! I am glad you enjoy reading my posts and I hope that even though we have those different opinions you were still able to enjoy my answer! If you think that I misunderstood anything that you say please let me know, sometimes my brain just doesn’t click.
Hope you have a fantastic week!
64 notes · View notes