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deliciousbasementtrash · 7 months

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Playing Nurse for the Batfam

From Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #67-69 on Webtoon; Artist Inker Starbite

Summary: you are a nurse working for Gotham General Hospital. Batman has offered you a job. You are meeting the whole family for the first time. What could go wrong?

Pairing: Slowburn Jason Todd x reader, (maybe a why choose with Dick Grayson as well?? Idk tell me what you guys want)

Warning: Adult language, knife injury

Word Count: 1.5k

Note: These characters are not my own they belong to DC. The only character that is 'mine' is the reader. I am going to be as nondescript as possible for the reader as well for physical attributes. This is a continuation series; I’m not sure how long it will be. Also for some reason, my replies to comments are not showing up. I’m not ignoring your comments Tumblr won’t let me respond :( But please, please comment I live for it

Part One, Part Two, Part Three

Part Four: Dinner and a Show

Anxiously, I took the napkin from the table and began twisting it vigorously. I felt Alfred leave his seat as he rose to meet his family. I swallowed hard, not wanting to look at all of the people that were entering the room. They just seemed to keep coming. How many people were in Bruce’s family?

Before I had time to register it a hand was outstretched near me. It nearly made me jump. The stranger cleared his throat and smiled, “Hello, I am Dick Grayson. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

In an ungraceful motion, I put the napkin on the table and stood up to greet him properly. I took his hand in mine and firmly shook it. His hands were large, calloused, and a little clammy. It was almost like he was a little nervous to meet me. But that couldn’t be right.

“Nice to meet you, Dick Grayson. I am y/f/n y/l/n,” I said, trying to make eye contact with him. Dick was an extremely handsome man. He was almost achingly pretty. With his soft blue eyes, dimples, and dark curly hair, he could definitely charm the pants off anyone if he really wanted to.

His smile grew when our hands met. He just stood there for a moment looking at me, and then he pivoted to the side. He introduced Tim Drake and Duke Thomas. Tim was cordial and did the customary new person greeting, Duke was somewhat rambling.

“Your powers are truly something to be admired, thank you so much for everything you have done,” Duke said as he excitedly shook my hand.

I smiled at him and rubbed the back of my neck, “It’s really not that big of a deal but thank you, Duke. You guys are the ones that make the real change.”

Duke opened his mouth as if he were going to disagree, but a red-headed woman with glasses wheeled up to us and joined the conversation.

“You boys are hogging her. Hello, I am Barbara Gordon. This is Cass, she doesn’t say much, and this is Stephanie, she says too much.”

I greeted them both, slightly overwhelmed by the amount of new people. I was trying my best to act ‘normal’ and be as social and charming as I could be. A younger boy who strongly resembled Bruce stood far away from me. He surveyed the room, taking in the reactions. He seemed so serious for his age. I wasn’t sure if I should make the introduction or not.

“Where is Jason?” Bruce asked the room.

“He is running late,” Dick said, “he said he had some ‘other shit that needed to get done first.’”

Faintly, I saw Bruce tense, but just as quickly as it came, it went. “Alright, everyone leave y/n alone and go sit down.”

On my right, there was Alfred, who felt my anchor to the world. On my left, there was Dick Grayson, who felt like he was trying to get me to smile and laugh every chance he got.

The table soon became loud with conversations that finally were not about me. However, I felt eyes on me the whole night. Damian Wayne was across from me, staring at me the whole time like I was an intruder.

“So, you are a healer,” Damian said, skeptically.

I swallowed a bite of food and nodded, “I am.”

“What can you heal?” Damian asked, twirling his dinner knife in the air.

“Flesh wounds, broken bones, blood loss, head injury, organ injury,” I trailed off not knowing what else to say.

“How does it work?” His eyes narrowed at me.

“I’m not really sure. It’s as natural for me as breathing or blinking.”

“What are your–” Damien asked but then Bruce interrupted.

“Son, you do not need to vet our guest. Let her enjoy herself.”

Damien was suspicious of me and curious I wanted the boy to feel comfortable, “It’s okay, Bruce. It’s natural to be curious about it. What other questions do you have for me, Damien?’

“What are your limits?” Damien asked.

I felt the table go quiet. They all were curious and wanted to know my weaknesses. I instinctually did not want to answer, but I knew that if I wanted to be accepted I would need to be vulnerable and honest.

“I cannot heal a majority of terminal illnesses. Spinal injuries can go one way or the other it depends on the severity. I cannot heal tumors. And…. and healing is draining. If I am not smart about it, I can make myself sick.”

“Sick how?” Dick asked, leaning in.

“Well, it’s hard to explain. When I healed Bruce, it was after my shift at the hospital, I barely ate that day or slept the night before. So, when I put all that energy into healing him, it was exhausting. I nearly passed out on the ground next to him. When I got home, I slept for 16 hours straight. That is a more mild case though, it can get more… severe.”

“I wasn’t aware of that,” Bruce mumbled.

The boyish charm on Dick’s face vanished, “How severe can it get?”

“Oh, you know tremors, fever, bloody noses, vomiting, seizures. It can get bad. I’ve learned my limits the hard way, but I’ve learned them. Growing up my limits were more extreme. I couldn’t heal a paper cut without getting a headache. Small stuff like cuts and bruises doesn’t bother me at all now though. It barely scratches the surface of my limits.”

“Prove it,” Damien said.

“Excuse me?” I asked, annoyance filling my tone. I can handle his constant questions, but being told to prove it vexed me.

“You say you can heal cuts and bruises without it ‘scratching the surface.’ Prove it. Prove you’re not a charlatan witch.” It was a movement for a boy too quick for his age he took his dinner knife and sliced along his own arm.

“Damien!” Barbara yelled. Dick leaped across the table but it was too late, blood was already pooling. Bruce and Alfred cursed.

“Why did we allow Damien to have a knife at dinner?” Tim asked over the yelling.

“Tim, do you really think we gave him that knife?” Bruce asked, incredulously.

Anger surged as I slowly made my way around the table full of people yelling until I was in front of Damien. I glared at him as I rested my hands just above his cut. The room became silent as I healed him. The cut closed, and I replenished the blood that he lost.

Damien looked at me, dumbfounded. The whole room did expect for Bruce and Alfred.

“It’s one thing to hear about it, but to see it… you really are a miracle.” Duke said the words and I flinched from them.

I looked at Damien and let my anger show through. “I will not heal you if you pull something like this again. I don’t care how much your father pays me. I am not a monkey that will dance for you on a whim. Do not harm yourself to make a point or prove something again.” Damien angrily ripped his arm away from me. I didn’t care. It was unacceptable. He should never hurt himself intentionally like that just because he knows I can heal him. I turned and faced the room, “It was lovely meeting all of you. I hope you all have a nice evening, good night.”

And with that, I turned around and left for the night. Maybe I shouldn’t be as mad as I am right now, but I know I need a moment to myself. I heard light footsteps beside me as someone lightly jogged to catch up.

“I’m sorry about Damien we are still house-training him,” Dick said, trying his best to lighten the mood.

I didn’t crack a smile, “It’s okay, Dick, really.”

“He can be intense sometimes, well we all can,” ever so lightly he reached up and grabbed my elbow, turning me so I faced him. “We are a lot. We are loud. We are sarcastic. We all think we are right all the time. We fight. We can be obsessive, protective, and socially inept. You will constantly have to patch us up–”

I shook my head, my eyebrows pinched in confusion, “Why are you telling me all of this?”

“You need to know exactly what you are getting into. It won’t be fair to you if you don’t know,” he said, absent-mindedly his thumb stroking the inner part of my elbow. He probably didn’t even know he was doing it, but I was acutely aware of it.

I just nodded, “Thank you for telling me. I appreciate the honesty. Besides, if I can handle my family, I can handle yours. Good night, Dick.”

“Of course, good night, y/n.” It looked like he wanted to say more, but I didn’t have the energy for it.

I walked toward my room, suddenly so exhausted. I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my palms, and accidentally ran into a wall.

“Um excuse you,” a deep voice said.

Taglist: I am just starting a taglist; if you would like to be included please comment :)

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sadiewayne · 4 months

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@bluejaysgonerogue i wanted to do a proper post so:

more people can see it

people can add to the list

(this is my opinion, please please if you have other comics, add them to the list)

im actually a big fan of the "newer" stuff, we're talking new 52 onwards, purely bc it works nicely in the times

new 52 starts strong with a storyline that's all about dick's past, and given it ocvurred after a hard reset, it's easy to get into

so:

nightwing 2011 (30 issues + 1 annual)

grayson (20 issues + 3 annuals + futures end, a weird special that i would honestly skip)

nightwing 2016 (109 issues and counting + 5 annuals + nightwing rebirth that comes before the run)

there's also the 2? previous nightwing runs:

nightwing 1995 (five issue limited run + alfred's return #1 special that comes first)

nightwing 1996 (153 issues + issue 1/2 + issue 1,000,000 + a whole host of specials)

2? because does nightwing 1995 actually count as a proper run???

you might also hear them referred to by volumes, 1995 is vol 1, 1996 is vol 2, 2011 is vol 3 or new-52, 2016 is vol 4 or rebirth

grayson is a bit weird but my absolute favourite dick ever. it's a spy thriller and doesn't have a lot of batfam/titans/yj characters in it BUT it does have a lot of dick being awesome. there's also an 'event' that takes place during grayson called robin war, very fun and a good show of dick's skills and manipulation.

to top it off, robin year one is always quoted as essential reading so i'd check it out too (before anyone shouts nightwing year one, it's issues 101-106 of vol 2)

there's also a lot of batman that features dick, he has a nice feature in both hush and under the (red) hood but nothing major, both giving us some nice interaction with bruce. both are also just incredible and deserving of being on the list of iconic batman

batman and robin 2009 is a lot of fun bc it features dick as batman, and damian wayne as his robin. this is a dynamic that i just love and is where episode 113 os WFA just hits hard (and why damian leans on dick so much, he is dick's robin)

oooooo and a lonely place of dying (1989) is brilliant. it's the introduction of tim drake and features dick. it's great, you should read it. it comes after a death in the family which is also just amazing. no dick, just jason, but fun (dick was in space at the time with the titans, tamaran i think)

i do just want to give a warning for nightwing 2016, it gets weird from issue 50 onwards. there's a period where the comics shift massively (#50-77 no spoilers) and then the current run by tom taylor is fine but misses a chunk of his character. i still like it but it's not the best thing for his character

OMG i forgot about titans runs lmao. ngl, i haven't read that much titans so i will leave that to one side so any experts can accurately recommend. i will say that i have enjoyed the very recent worlds finest: teen titans (2023) limited run a lot, back in the robin days, deals with dick and bruce's relationship and his relationships with the team. (also wally is there and i love wally)

TL;DR

start with nightwing 2011 and work forwards moving to grayson and then to nightwing 2016. then go back and read the older stuff

i have absolutely missed a lot BUT this is kind of my "short n sweet" run down, iconic dick grayson is like, most of dick grayson, so it's hard. the common advice (and what i did) was new 52, grayson, rebirth

tbh this is like a basics list, the required reading if you will, not that you need to read any of it but if you do want to, this is a good starting point. a lot of the runs have these crossovers, like robin war and death of the family (not the jason one, this is a weird vol 3 thing), so you get to read other comics too for those issues)

also sorry for the just random other non-nightwing comics, i got excited

i definitely forgot some stuff, again i'm sorry, but go vibe with dick and have a good time and also your fic?? if you'd be willing to share??? i'm always looking for new stuff to read (do not feel pressured into sharing it if you don't want to tho)

i hope you enjoy your nightwing experience, it can seem overwhelming but take it slow, comics aren't that long, and just remember that even yj and WFA are better than nothing (or the live action titans /hj)

#dick grayson #nightwing #dc comics #batman #dc #robin #dc robin #comics #sadies dick grayson

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androxys · 1 year

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Kid Detective (Tim Drake - The Eras Tour: A Lonely Place of Dying)

So I know I’ve talked before about Tim Drake and his character in the context of A Lonely Place of Dying, and how LPoD is foundational (in my humble opinion) to understanding the context of pretty much any modern Batman comic. Like, if your Batman has lost Jason Todd and carries his savior/guilt complex like an albatross, LPoD. if you have literally anything with Tim, LPoD. Simply foundational.

So I went back through it and here, in no particular order (spoiler alert: it’s chronological order) are a collection of comic snippets about about 2k of my thoughts that I think do a pretty good job of reflecting on this era of Tim, which I fondly call the Kid Detective Era.

I think it’s funny that we don’t see Tim at all at first; he’s introduced to us as a bodiless character.

(Batman 440)

Here is our first real introduction to Tim as a narrative character. I say this because technically at this point we have met Tim as a character before, but we’ll get into that later. This is the first time we’re getting a thought or speech bubble directly from Tim, even though we don’t know that it’s him yet. We also got Tim Fact #1: caucasian. Beyond that, all we know is that someone is following Batman and taking photos of him. This person knows of a connection between Batman and Bruce Wayne, and is now headed to Dick.

Tonally, this is such an ominous introduction to Tim. Reading this now, in 2022 with all the pleasure of knowing exactly who Tim is, and having always known who Tim is. I can’t imagine this being the cold open to a comic with a mysterious new character… especially as this character reveals that he has context.

(Batman 440)

Tim is still off camera here, so we still don’t know anything about him. How old he is, what he looks like, nothing. This is his photograph collection, which we imagine are a lot of photos he took himself, as well as newspaper clippings and articles that he found. This serves to show that Tim’s interest in Batman is not a quick thing– a collection like this would have taken time and dedication to build. There was work and premeditation involved. This spread also brings us back to the point that technically we have seen Tim before, back in Batman #436.

(Batman 436)

See here the photo from above. Tim will provide even more context to this later, once he actually meets Dick Grayson. But first, he has to find him. Tim tracks Dick up to New York, where he follows Starfire home (yikes) and asks her where Nightwing is. Starfire is– understandably– confused, and it’s in New Titans #60 that Starfire provides our first detail about the stranger who is following Dick. The stranger is “that kid.” At this moment, Dick is off the grid and going back to Haly’s Circus, where he performed as a child, and which now is facing financial difficulty. The Titans didn’t know about this because Dick just… didn’t tell them… I guess. Tim knows about this because he broke into Dick’s house, found Dick’s safe, broke into it, and stole some of Dick’s papers.The Titans take this as confirmation that whoever broke into Dick’s house knows that Dick is Nightwing.

(New Titans 60)

All this leads us to the exciting moment where Tim, staking out the circus, sees a clown perform an acrobatic move to stop an out-of-control lion. Tim (correctly) concludes that the clown has to be Dick Grayson, and in this moment we get our first real look at Tim Drake. He’s got his camera in hand, a youthful glow, and two living parents. All this will change.

(New Titans 60)

Here is Tim and Dick’s first real conversation. I think it’s worth noting here that Tim is not a very good conversationalist! He doesn’t really make any time for Dick’s very justified confusion, he just steamrolls right into his “Batman needs you” speech. But before they can deal with that, they have to deal with the circus mystery happening in the present, with the aforementioned lion. Tim wasted no time here either– he is not a very patient lad, at present– and has already been digging through the trash for clues. Tim does fail to solve this particular mystery, but Dick gets it, and things end up right as rain at the circus. So Dick decides to take this kid back to Wayne Manor, because what else do you do with the kid who knows the answer to “Who Is Batman?”

(Batman 441)

Tim explains how he figured out who Batman and Robin were, by telling Dick how he was there the night the Flying Graysons died. How he took the picture with Dick, and coped with the trauma of watching two people die got really invested in learning about the Flying Graysons. He watched Robin perform a quadruple somersault, something only three people could do, and Tim was able to connect the dots to Dick. From there he tracked it to Batman, and then deduced Jason’s identity.

(Batman 441)

As Tim is explaining all this to Dick, he keeps returning to his Big Point: that Batman needs Robin. And Tim thinks that when Dick was Robin, things were better, so therefore Dick should just be Robin again, and things will be better again. It’s a very thirteen year old way of thinking, bless his heart. Also, can you believe he’s thirteen here? Crucially, while Tim kind of floats the idea about him being Robin in the “every teenager thinks about being Robin” way, he did not set out on a particular mission to become Robin himself. He very explicitly thinks Dick is the one for the role.

The problem with this, of course, is that Dick is Nightwing. It was kind of a whole thing when Dick stopped being Robin. He isn’t too eager to jump back in, and tells Tim as much. He takes Tim down into the Batcave, because why bother to keep any secrets at this point I suppose, and shows him the Robin costume before suiting up as Nightwing and tearing off to find Batman. (By the way, there’s a whole Two-Face plot happening, and that’s where Bruce is. But this post isn’t about him, it’s about Tim, so Bruce gets relegated to background character status.)

(Batman 441)

(New Titans 61)

There’s a little bit of tone jumping going on, because Batman 441 leads directly into New Titans 61 and they didn’t get the scenes lined up exactly (comics, amiright?) but the gist is here– Tim is distraught that Dick isn’t taking Robin back up. To Tim, it’s very important that it’s Batman AND Robin. Tim is reading very heavily into the symbolism of the mantles here, and is treating them like a sacred thing. It’s Alfred then who begins to plant the seed that perhaps Dick knows that he cannot be Robin again, but that Dick’s inability to retake the role does not mean he disagrees with Tim’s premise; it’s just time for another person to take up the pixie boots.

(Batman 442)

Alfred must not have paid too much attention to gardening though, because he seems surprised when his seeds bear rapid fruit. In fairness to Alfred, I think there’s a kind reading here that could go along the lines of him seeing a potential candidate for Robin in Tim, with Dick’s tacit approval, but Alfred did not imagine the speed with which Tim would take to the idea, nor did Alfred believe Tim was anywhere near ready. Which would explain his hesitation when Tim went to put on the suit just pages after seemingly suggesting that Tim could be Robin. But there is also a reading here that would call Alfred out as a hypocrite, throwing Tim to the wolves to keep Bruce from killing himself. Regardless, Tim is right, Batman needs help, so Alfred drives Tim– in Jason’s suit– to a building that Two-Face collapsed on him and Dick.

(Batman 442)

When Alfred and Tim arrive, they help the two out from under the building and Bruce doesn’t react well to seeing some kid in his dead son’s clothes. Which, fair. He insists that there is no more Robin, to which Tim makes his big case.

(Batman 442)

Tim lays out his entire beliefs to Batman, stands toe to toe with the Dark Knight, and explains his conviction in the symbol. Always the symbols with this boy, at this moment in time. Tim at this point, importantly, has accepted that Dick cannot be Robin again, and that it is up to him to be Robin for Bruce, if he is the best candidate to do it. So Bruce decides that on a tentative basis, Tim can begin training to see if he can be trusted. Which is such a Bruce thing. He can’t commit to a new Robin yet, so he’ll make this boy dedicate time and effort into seeing if he can measure up to a near-mythological ideal that he has built up, without any clear goal or end in sight except for gaining Batman’s nebulously defined trust. Great job, Bruce.

I don’t know if it’s better or worse that from Bruce’s perspective, Tim really is just some kid. It’s just that when this random kid happens to know his biggest secret, what else can you do? Speaking of the fact that Tim isn’t Bruce’s son (yet) though, where are Tim’s parents? Well, he relayed that back when he was explaining his connection to Dick.

(Batman 441)

The Drakes are, in a word, absent. Off on business, leaving Tim at a boarding school that Tim slipped out of on vacation. LPoD doesn’t establish Tim with much of anything in the way of parental oversight or authority figures, leaving a narrative gap that Batman can slot nicely into.

This all builds to a collective image of Tim in his debut story. The first major pillar is his belief in Batman and Robin. He believes in them as symbols, as universal truths. Batman needs Robin. He starts this story thinking that Dick Grayson is that Robin. He doesn’t necessarily know or even think that Bruce Wayne needs Dick Grayson (he does, but that’s besides the point) because Tim isn’t privy to the family dynamics inside Wayne Manor. He’s just an exceptionally determined kid with a camera who saw what only Alfred and Commissioner Gordon were seeing: Batman was slipping without a Robin to balance him out. So Tim went out to correct that balance. He has a good mind already, figuring out everyone’s identities and following Dick to Haly’s Circus. Tim was remarkably straightforward and determined in that goal, to the point where he could be a little creepy, invasive, and stubborn. He really could have slowed down and talked to Dick at the circus, but the mystery of the lion grabbed him. He’s very focused on the task at hand; when a problem arises that impedes that task, he solves it with a similar directness. There’s very little finesse here, at this stage. That will come later for Tim. Right now, he’s just a kid with a dream, and that dream is on probation at best.

#tim drake #batman #dick grayson #dc comics #meta #a lonely place of dying #chit chat #the way i can already feel this getting out of hand #as I plot out the next TD era I want to cover #there are probably typos but whatever #tim drake eras tour

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 11 months

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I need to invest in a better story book

by Daphne_Laurel_Tree

Jason and Robin have dinner with the Batfamily- or are supposed to anyway- the introductions didn’t really go great…. Especially since B attempted to steal Jason’s kid….. WHAT DOES IT MATTER HE WAS YOURS FIRST!? FINDERA KEEPERS BIT-!!!!

Words: 2530, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of I didn’t really think this through now, did I?

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Alfred Pennyworth

Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Batfamily Members & Jason Todd, Batfamily Members & Dick Grayson

Additional Tags: Dick Grayson is a Talon, Angst, Family Feels, but kind of sad, mentions of child death, kind of?, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, But Not Much, that comes later, Family Drama, Batfamily (DCU), Author has not beta read, #We die like Jason Todd, Young Dick Grayson, Jason Todd Has a Heart, Bruce Wayne is a decent parent, I mean- he tries

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/48131692

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the cape crusader #gotham #dc universe #ao3 #ao3feed

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hashtagonlyingotham · 3 years

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Can you suggest a great place to start for a new Batman comics fan?

Hi! Ooooh this is a tough one. It kinda depends on what kind of Batman stories and which characters from the batfamily you like.

A great place to start is Batman: Year One by Frank Miller because it’s basically a modern retelling of the origin story.

I can also recommend some classic/pre-n52 Batman stories that you can read as standalones (in other words, they don’t require catching up with a year of comics before reading):

- Batman: Two-Face and Scarecrow Year One. Introduction to well-known villains. Basically, everything with “Year One” behind it is designed to be a starting point.

- The Long Halloween, by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Very well-known and acclaimed. It has a sequel, Dark Victory.

- The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore. This one is a bit controversial in the fandom, some hail it as a classic, others don’t care for it much or downright hate it. In any case, it’s famous, maybe even famous enough for your library to have a copy.

- Hush, followed up by Hush Returns, and Heart of Hush. Hush isn’t a very well-known villain outside of the comics, but I feel like he’s brought up pretty often in the comics after his introduction, so it might be a good idea to read “Hush” just so you know who he is. "Hush” also has lots of appearances by other Batman characters, villains and heroes alike.

- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. This is an AU story (which of course makes it a perfect standalone) but it’s a very famous one. Its success kinda started the “darker and grittier” trend that most movies follow.

There are many more but it has been a while since I’ve read them. No doubt some of my followers will be able to add to this.

If you’re interested in the Batfamily, here are some pre-n52 books for them:

- Robin Year One (Dick Grayson)

- Batgirl Year One (Barbara Gordon)

- A Death in the Family (the death of Jason Todd)

- “Robin” is a solo title for Tim Drake’s Robin, the collections are called Robin: Flying Solo, Robin: Teenage Wasteland, and Robin: The Big Leagues.

- Battle for the Cowl: this story takes place after Bruce Wayne/Batman has “died”, leaving Gotham in disarray. It introduces Dick Grayson as Batman with Damian Wayne as Robin.

- Tim Drake becomes Red Robin and has another solo title. Collections are: Red Robin: The Grail, Council of Spiders, Collision, Hit List, and Rabbithole.

- Gates of Gotham: a solid story that features Dick Grayson as Batman.

If you do want to read an actual run, I can recommend the Batman n52 run. The n52 was a reboot in 2011, which had a lot of issues as a whole because it erased fan favourite characters and storylines, so you’ll find a lot of people complaining about n52 online (usually for good reasons). However, the “Batman” title was actually pretty good. (Although I’ve only read the first 5 TPs, I couldn’t keep up with comics anymore when I started working full-time so if they became terrible after Zero Year, do let me know in the comments lol.) Here are the collections of that run: Batman: The Court of Owls (2012), Batman: The City of Owls (2013), Batman: Death of the Family (2013), Batman: Zero Year - Secret City (2014), Batman: Zero Year - Dark City (2014), Batman: Graveyard Shift (2015), Batman: Endgame (2015), Batman: Superheavy (2016), Batman: Bloom (2016), and Batman: Epilogue (2016).

(I personally wasn’t a big fan of what the n52 did with the other members of the batfamily, so I focussed mostly on Batman stories during this time. I heard the n52 “Detective Comics” run, which is Batman’s other title, was decent as well but I wasn’t keeping up with that one so I can’t be sure.)

I can’t recommend anything more recent (after 2016) because I actually wasn’t able to keep up with comics anymore. (I know the n52 ended, but idk anything about what followed it.) But I’m sure some of my followers will be able to give even more recommendations!

In the end, this is very personal. When it comes to comics, there’s just so much out there, you can’t possibly read it all and there really isn’t such a thing as “required reading”. There will be writers whose interpretation of the characters you like, and ones you hate. ^^; You’ll have to discover what your taste is, and have fun along the way. :)

#mod robin #ask #Anonymous #Batman #dc comics #onlyingotham #is it obvious I grew up with Tim as Robin?#feel free to reply to this with your own recommendations!#esp for the batfam bc I kept it very short since I was focussing more on Batman himself since taht's who the anon mentioned in the ask #it's been a while since I read some of these so if I'm remembering something wrong or if you simply have a different opinion #feel free to add that #just be polite about it yknow #btw one of my favourite Batman books is actually this one-time spinoff from n52s batman eternal #called Arkham Manor #OH I have one specific anti-rec though!!!#like I usually just conclude something wasn't for me when I didn't like it #so it doesn't mean nobody else will but #the absolute worst comic I ever read was All-Stars Batman & Robin #I'd recommend to avoid that one at all cost no matter how pretty the art looks

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mattzerella-sticks · 4 years

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hi! i’m new to reading dc, because i hear new 52 and rebirth kinda suck, do you have any batfamily recommendations?

Welcome aboard! I’m gonna say something controversial - new 52 and Rebirth aren’t totally bad. Don’t get me wrong, before Flashpoint Batfamily was GOING PLACES. But I think they started strong with Batman in new 52 (like the Court of Owls wer fantastic and Julia Pennyworth is amazing) but then the aftermath of this Batman v. Joker fight during Scott Snyder’s run kinda fizzled the Batman run. And don’t get me STARTED on the bullshit Tom King has done. Not even James Tynion can save the Rebirth Batman title (but that’s because the powers that be probably had a vision that’s most likely been canned given how a lot of the brass was let go). I digress...

For New 52, I highly recommend: Batman (up until the Batman mantle gets passed, which is 50 or so issues in), Grayson (I enjoyed the spy atmosphere, plus the introduction of Helena Bertinelli, Tiger, and Midnighter - officially), Red Hood and the Outlaws (although the early issues and how they treated Kori are iffy), DEFINITELY Batgirl (especially the Gail Simone run and then the Babs Starr run, Batgirl of Burnside ftw) and - I’m including her into the Batfamily - the Harley Quinn series, because that’s good no matter WHAT. Things I’ve heard good things about but haven’t fully in-depth read were We Are Robin and Catwoman, although the former ends kind of unsatisfyingly. And, again, not Batfamily but adjacent - Gotham Academy. I was SO MAD when it ended because it was one of the best comics DC was producing. Oh and there was a Robin series where he has a giant bat!!! That was really good, too.

Rebirth they really fucked themselves over for the Batfam. Don’t even look at Batman, the first few issues are okay but then it gets muddled in this Bane plot and ‘War of Jokes and Riddles’ which was the WORST Batman storyline ever. Went on too long imo because you kind of forget this is all Bruce telling Selena about his ‘worst sin’ even though she’d be DTF no matter what. Plus there’s so much emphasis on Kite Man (i think even an issue is dedicated to his POV which makes no sense given the context the story’s being told but again Tom King SUCKS). It’ll make you feel like you read a comic book of How I Met Your Mother. Only Batman issues I recommend are the ones that are Flash crossovers because those are my favs for obvi reasons. What you want to do is get into first year of Rebirth Detective Comics because 1) Cassandra Cain 2) Stephanie Brown 3) Kate Kane 4) Clayface!?!?! 5) Tim Drake 6) Dr. Oktober; Honestly it was such a good ensemble piece (James Tynion is an awesome writer, he’s not a miracle worker unfortunately). That was a good run, although it does change plot at a certain point - which was sad - but it still feels like a Batman book even after the ensemble leaves, better than the actual Batman title. So sticking with that over the Batman main series is good. I think Rebirth Outsiders was trying to capture that magic except the writing isn’t that good plus there were a bunch of creative differences that delayed the first issue and I lost any excitement for it (which was sad because I love all the characters in it - Duke, Black Lightning, and Katana). Batgirl, again, although you’ll come to a point where it stops being amazing - and that is when she ditches her Babs Starr costume for something AWFUL. #BringBackBurnsideBatgirl Once you see the costume change either lower your expectations or move on because it doesn’t recover. I’ve heard good things about the Catwoman series but I haven’t read it. What I have read is Harley Quinn (again unofficial Bat family member) and that has been consistently amazing (even if the last few issues gave Harley questional/straightwashed tastes). DEFINITE reads though that shouldn’t be too long (because DC likes ending good things) are Batwoman and Batgirl & the Birds of Prey. The Batwoman comic was too good for this world, we need more Kate Kane in our lives. And the Birds of Prey series felt like the movie a bit. They definitely seemed like friends (unlike the new 52 version, which was AWFUL) and there’s one story where the men of Gotham get sick that is so good I’m waiting on DC to turn it into an animated feature. Those titles are both like twenty or so issues. There’s a Midnigther and Apollo miniseries that was so great (also unofficial member). Red Hood and the Outlaws I liked, but after Roy leaves it lost the magic. Rebirth Nightwing was good at first, but Tom King ruined it even though he doesn’t write for that title. Best storyline was when he gets involved with this group for reformed criminals while in Bludhaven. The most recent storyline wasn’t bad, in a sense. The characters brought on were interesting. It was just apbrupt and clearly not what the actual writer had in mind, but they had to write around Tom King. And overall the character of Nightwing suffered. Young Justice doesn’t feel too canonical (and Drake is a stupid name); Teen Titans is okay but Damian is an edgelord.

Moving on from that, outside of Rebirth and New 52, some other titles that I’ve enjoyed featuring the Batfamily were: Cassandra Cain’s Batgirl, Stephanie Brown’s Batgirl, Gotham City Sirens, Batman, Inc., Batman & Robin (with Dick as Batman, Damian as Robin), the Outsiders (the spin-off from Titans, probably in the mid-2000s with Dick Grayson leading)...

There was an interesting Detective Comics arc I read about the GCPD starring Renee Montoya that dealt with her ‘coming out’ (in the loosest of terms given how it happened).

A Batman/Superman arc I love revisiting is when they re-introduce Supergirl (and speaking of Batman/Superman, find the issue(s) where Superman gets affected by silver kryptonite and turns into a stoner because THAT was funny)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention No Man’s Land or Batman Year One because those two kind of establish Gotham and the Batman character... You could read the Killing Joke but you can easily sum the entire story up with one panel (probably one of the first images that pops up when you google The Killing Joke). A better, edgier Batman story - imo - is when he gets addicted to Venom. Or the Death of Jason Todd - which reminds me Under the Red Hood is a good story! (I didn’t read the comic lol but I did watch the movie - Jensen Ackles ftw).

If you’re looking for kooky, anything from the 40s up to before Crisis on Infinite Earths where ANYTHING went. From World’s Finest to the Batman title, they got to some pretty insane shit. Very campy. Although the nineties-early 2000′s were campy in their own way, like so on the other end of the spectrum from ‘camp’ that it became camp again. There’s two different Batman storylines that were VERY anti-drugs (Shadow of the Bat was the running title, I think; one story against weed and the other against LSD) that were so ridiculous and trying to push kids away from doing drugs that you couldn’t help but realize how ridiculous and over-the-top this was.

Finally there are Elseworlds titles. Everyone always raves for Batman: Gotham by Gaslight but I think two very interesting takes on a Batman of a different world are: Batman - Holy Terror, and Batman: Nosferatu. There’s also an Elseworlds with Barbara as Batwoman and a female Joker (Batgirl: Thrillkiller I believe) and one that has Catwoman as the hero of Gotham and Bruce Wayne as a sadistic killer.

Hope at least one of these suggestions helps 😀

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jknip2 · 3 years

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lolol i think i just somehow missed every tim run - I love Dick Grayson bc circus kids with complicated heritage feelings are My Type, I love Jason Todd bc I think he makes for good storytelling and i liked Outsiders & dunking on bruce, i adooore what I've read of Steph & Cass which def hasn't been as much as I'd like & god unpopular opinion very much but I absolutely love Damian and I had stopped following batman for a long time until Supersons, at which point I went back and read enough issues to follow his introduction. god i even read that Ric Grayson run just for Damian & Dick content. I think most of the animated stuff I watched followed Dick, except for young justice which i loved!! but was already attached to Dick there. Plus the red robin suit & name were ridiculous lol so I just never looked further into tim drake content. If you have recs for your fave tim runs/shows I'd love to check them out! I basically have read a bunch of old batman comics that i swiped from my brother, then didn't read any for a long time until recently when I had spending money & a DCU app login which is where I finally caught up on a lot of stories I had missed

I've legit never met a millenial who doesn't love his gay depressed ass. Like. This is a first.

I'm one of those people who's like " I don't have a fave Robin. I love all my children equally" and just lie to myself about it.

I think I love Tim so much because I relate so much. And I think that's why a lot of millenials like him. His constant fear of never being good enough. He doesn't want to be robin. He views it as a job. Tim "batman needs a robin" Drake.

Tbh the red Robin outfit was hella ugly and the comic run wasn't super good unless you're ready to be depressed but Marcus To draws Tim so pretty. 😩.

I really love him in the young justice comics because he's such a fucking dweeb. Before he got his own ongoing robin series he has a few mini-series that I really liked. And his own solo run was pretty solid most of the time. Especially the 90's stuff. The thing about the batfam is that there's so much fucking lore it's impossible to pick a spot to start. His run with the teen titans (not including the new 52. Never talk to me about the new 52 that was a dark time.) was a lot of fun

Sadly he isn't really in any cartoons. He's a side character in a few animated movies, and he has like 15 lines in Young Justice season two that do him no favors.

#i mean a lot of his character arc is just terrible things happening to him? i xould get why its not a fun read.#at some point around 2005 dc decided to kill literally everyone he loved and he got real depressed and tried to clone his best friend #he got fired from robin and was all emo about it and lonely #it was a whole mess

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thattimdrakeguy · 5 years

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Young Justice #10 review - How not to change a character’s identity.

This is finally the issue were Tim Drake becomes “The Drake” (or maybe just “Drake”), and honestly, it’s just lazy as could be. People were already fearing the issue, and it’s actually kind of worse than expected.

They made every bad choice they could’ve.

It is genuinely horribly done.

Most times when a character changes their identity it means something to that character. It’s a defining moment in their character evolution, and the name actually means something to that character.

Nightwing came from Dick Grayson trying to find himself as he grew up. Gaining the name from a trusted friend who told him a story from his home-world, that helped give Dick Grayson inspiration.

The Red Hood came from Jason Todd literally getting killed by Joker, a person that formerly went by the Red Hood. The name was practically a taunt, but an emotionally charged one that was connected to Jason’s story.

With this name and costume change, it means NOTHING.

They don’t even explain where the suit comes from. He just shows up in it, and unless I missed it, no one even acts like anythings different, or brings up the costume at all.

Previously I just assumed the costume would spawn from a reasoning that had something to do with this Earth. To actually give a reason for it.

Like how a gang was insulting Tim’s colors.

But that gang that randomly attacked Tim in issue 8 went no where. Making the inclusion of them almost pointless besides world building, but in their defense, world building is important.

I have no idea why Tim thought it was important to change his costume, considering Earth 3 Drake pretty much wears a normal Robin costume.

Making the change in costume even more pointless and meaningless.

Costumes are meant to say something about the character in some shape or form. This costume has no introduction, no one brings it up, and it’s quality alone is shoddy. The colors stand for boring, and dull, in a few panels the red in it comes off almost as clashing, and the lack of any character-based details makes it terrible.

In the most objective way to consider the costume, even ignoring how Tim only wanted to be Robin, this costume was horribly made on the standards set by what costumes are supposed to do.

Costumes are suppose to tell you something about the character.

Tim’s last costume showed he was a boyish, tech based, ninja. Due to character details like short sleeves, built in tech, and ninja toes. Those details showed exactly what his character is, but this new one doesn’t come off like that. The new costume says absolutely nothing.

The logic of Tim choosing the new name is also completely horrible. He has no reason to change his name. Bart just started saying he should change his name to “Drake”. Why? I don’t think he actually says.

Why would Tim want to change his name to match someone who wants to kill him and is evil? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Why would Tim want to change his name just because Bart told him to? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Why would Tim want to change his name while on an alternate Earth? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Why would Tim want to change his name at all considering his character? Logically, he shouldn’t.

Tim Drake’s character always said that if he stopped being Robin, he would stop being a hero. That only changed when he got kicked from the role and felt he still had to save Bruce.

So now that he’s Robin again, why would he leave that role? He finally got back to being Robin like how he wanted, which actually felt good, but they never even explained why he was Robin again. In fact they implied he was still Red Robin, despite all the marketing and character’s saying he was Robin. Causing a massive inconsistency with just that.

It’s just plain out of character for him to change his name, and one of the biggest flaws you can ever make when writing a story of any kind is having one of your characters, especially one of the main characters, act out of character.

The name as well, while using the characters’ own logic, is out of character.

Tim Drake was always told to keep his secret identity hidden from EVERYONE. Even Barbara Gordon didn’t know Tim’s name until Batman told her (although that was mostly because Tim thought it was cool Babs knew Superman’s real name but not his).

In 90s Robin there was an issue were Stephanie Brown as the Spoiler comes close to finding out Tim’s identity. If Tim Drake went by the superhero name “Drake” and she cared enough to search harder, it would only make it that much easier to find out what his real name is.

You could say that the name is so dumb that’s why it’s so great, because anyone trying to figure out their identities wouldn’t expect them to be that dumb, but when the Bat-Family is so protective of their identities, why would they ever take the risk? That’s out of character.

This isn’t the only way this issue was lazy either. This issue constantly uses singular panel pages, as if they’re just trying to fill up space.

There are 4 entire pages dedicated to just one panel. In a 22 page comic, that means there’s only 18 or so pages that don’t go to mostly waste.

When you have a page like that, it’s suppose to be exciting. The first issue of Wonder Comics Young Justice used them excellently, but also, they had 44 pages I believe. So they worked well with the pages they had to tell the story.

In this issue they just overused them, like they were just getting lazy. It feels like a comic that was written during a hangover. Something Bendis might’ve done last minute when he realized he forgot to write the script.

Regardless if that’s not the case, that’s what it feels like.

The dialogue by itself isn’t much either. Mostly feeling rushed as could be, or only generic funny moments.

This is an issue, written of the quality of a comic that knows it’s going to be cancelled. I don’t think that’s the literal case for Young Justice, but that’s the vibe it gives off. It’s written so lazily, like it knows there’s no point, but it’ll use cheap publicity stunts like changing a character’s identity to get any sort of attention it can get.

However one thing the issue does really well, is establish why Jinny sticks out and is important.

It actually makes me want to read a Jinny Hex solo adventure, because Bendis seems much more interested in her than the rest of the team.

Like I love this snarky, queer, magically teched out, cowgirl.

I’ve never been more disappointed by a comic in general in my entire life though.

The first issue of this series capped off like the original series never ended it. It felt right at home, from the art style, the costumes, the writing, the energy, the fast pace. They really captured the magic of Young Justice. That first issue felt so genuine.

In this: the art style was changed due to there being a new and unfitting artist, they’re already changing the costumes to stuff much blander, the writing has become forced and rushed, the energy is zapped, and the pacing is so bizarre because of the constant usage of single pages.

If you want spoilers on the only events in the current day Earth 3 story, here you go: They fight Earth 3 Young Justice (Young $#@%ers? I guess.), Jinny finally uses her magical items, they win, they go back home.

In the flashback story of Jinny: She gets cheated on, we find out she’s a natural hero, we get a sense of her family’s history, and we finally learn more about the mystery of the chest.

There’s so much more character building involved, and she gets to feel like a real fully fleshed out person because of that.

If you wanna see the best bit of character usage in the main story, and I’m not being sarcastic when I say I like this part. Is this:

As simple as it is, it uses Tim’s character and the world around him to make a simple moment actually be pretty funny, because it uses the basics of character writing.

Compared to the rest of the Earth 3 story’s over-usage of cheap generic dialogue that anyone could say, and while you could argue anyone could say “Noooo... thank you.” like Tim did in the above panel, it works best with Tim because he’s already been shown as the most awkward, yet moralistic member of the team.

It actually uses his character.

I think the above panel is a good showing at the weird choice Bendis has made.

Earth 3 Steph is a more fleshed out character with a purpose than pretty much the entire Young Justice team in this story. When this is only the second story in this run of Young Justice.

Shouldn’t it be more important to keep fleshing out and focusing on the team itself?

It doesn’t even feel like this is the first time these characters been together in a long time. They act as if they never been separated. Conner being stranded on Gemworld were he helped raise a kid doesn’t feel like it ever happened anymore. It affected nothing. It feels ignored. It makes the comic feel disjointed just from the last story arc.

Young Justice’s dialogue is almost entirely generic. Practically anyone could say what they have, and it would work just as well. There’s no character put into them, besides maybe Bart being immature and mouthy, but the whole team besides possibly Tim when he has his brain cell on is pretty immature and mouthy, and even then, Tim isn’t Captain of maturity, he mostly just forces himself to be because he felt obligated to be leader, he’s still a doofus kid.

An issue should never be written as badly as the Earth 3 story in this.

While the Jinny Hex story is actually really well-written as far as character building is concerned, the Earth 3 story is bottom of the barrel as far as quality goes, and that’s the story that actually has the whole team involved.

Bad dialogue, horrible out of character identity change, bad usage of page space, bizarre pacing, lack of story that actually feels worth paying attention too

This issue would personally be given a 3/10, and that 3 only comes from Jinny’s story being quite well written as a character piece.

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bluebellhairpin · 5 years

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Something’s Not Right

Bruce Wayne/Batman X Batmom!Reader

A/N: Oh dear, here comes the angst. (This is like 6+ pages on my google docs. Ha Ha ha oops) - Nemo

Warning(s): Blood, kidnapping, almost character death, mentions of miscarriage and infertility, not necessarily in that order. This could be distressing, so don’t read this if you think it could upset you.

Summary: Ever since Batman’s third Robin, you’ve been know as the Batmom to Batman’s mask. But events lead you to break with not knowing what to do, and the only comfort you find is Alfred, who then tells you of something you never knew. With your newfound information, you set to work saving your family.

Listening to: “Something's Not Right” by Lily Allen

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

You first met Batman when you were robbing a bank.

In your defense, you were a little inexperienced, and he only knew you were there because he saw a shadow pass inside through a window.

After that you kept running into each other, and ended up becoming each others first vigilante partners.

You know, before he had a million Robin’s.

You even came to know who was under the mask. Bruce Wayne the billionaire.

When he brought home the first soon-to-be Robin, Dick Grayson, you were raiding his fridge in the Manor’s kitchen, having made yourself at home over the last few years. You looked at Bruce like he was crazy, he told you he’d explain later and you sure as hell made sure he did.

You offered Dick some of the cereal you’d raided, and he accepted with a mumble and small smile. From speaking to Bruce later, that boy had been through a lot.

You only hoped that Bruce wouldn’t push him too hard.

We had forever We never got it together

Jason Todd joined a few years later, having been found by both you and Bruce trying to steal hubcaps. When Bruce brought him inside after the to had talked, you got the horrible feeling that Jason would become a Robin too.

Your worries were confirmed when you caught Bruce and Jason sparring in the cave. You caught Bruce’s eye, and he froze. You shook your head at him and he knew he had more explaining to do.

After that, you become monitor of the computer. With Jason as the new Robin, and Dick starting to spread his wings off as Nightwing, you didn’t desperately need to be out fighting anymore. Someone needed to stay home, and with your relationship with Bruce becoming something more than friends, he felt better when you weren’t in danger.

When he brought that up, you never once failed to play the card of “What about Dick and Jason?”

Despite Dick being Nightwing and not living permanently at home, or Jason not really wanting to be in the Cave when he could have the house all to himself aside from Alfred, they always managed to be in the staircase of the cave when your voices started to raise in the same heated discussion. They knew it wasn’t anything to worry about.

You were protective, viewing them as the sons you could never have, and Bruce was too careless for his own good.

But really what they stayed for was what happened after the yelling, the telling off, and the arguing. You always made up after, with softer words, a hug and a kiss. They’d never seen anyone else do that after a fight.

I waited for you For you I made it better

Jason's death hit you all hard, but Bruce didn’t get over it.

Then, a couple years after Jason died, Bruce came home with another boy donned in Jason’s old Robin suit. He introduced himself as Tim Drake. He said he knew who you were, and you told him ‘Who doesn’t know (y/n) Wayne?’. Then he said he knew who you really were.

'Valentine' was a name previously not spoken directly to you in over half a decade, and this thirteen-year-old seemed to know more about you than you thought possible.

The next few years went on with their own struggles. Bruce got used to having a Robin again. Tim dealt with troubles and struggles in the form of his real parents. You got over the fact Tim was wearing Jason’s costume once he got his own. And Tim became a permanent residence of the manor.

With Bruce and Dick protecting the city, Tim as Robin, and Alfred wanting to keep monitor duty with Tim, you gave up the vigilante life for good.

Nowadays you only ever went to the cave to deal with injuries, last-resort monitor duty, and scolding Bruce or Tim for staying up too late.

The one thing that didn’t seem to change was Alfred and Dick. They were always there, always a shoulder to cry on, and a listening ear. They knew how hard it got for both you and Bruce.

Dick wanted to be there to show he was grateful for what you’d done in the past.

Alfred was there because that’s where he belonged.

They kept telling me that it was unlikely All I had to do was keep you beside me

Once everything seemed to be falling back into a semi-blissful state, the world served another harsh blow. The first was to Bruce, in the form of a vengeful and now alive Jason Todd.

While Bruce had to serve every night going out to face the Red Hood, you went back to the monitor spending your days trying to track Jason down. Now that your boy was back you needed to have him home. Even though they didn’t know it, you knew that what both Bruce and Jason needed was to be together.

Naturally, once the initial tension disappeared, you were right.

Even now, now that Jason is back, you can still see the haunted look in Bruce’s eye that makes you think he’s almost believing he is seeing a ghost.

The second blow was to you, in the form of Bruce’s long-lost son Damian.

He came in silence, and for the first few days you barely noticed a change. It was mostly Bruce’s attitude and reluctance to let you in the cave that made you suspicious. Luckily for Bruce, he was around when you found Damian in the cave.

Needless to say it took a good couple hours of conversation before everything was cleared up.

Damian listened from the staircase, and eventually Tim wordlessly joined. The new duo unknowingly recreating what their predecessors did before them. Alfred felt a wave of nostalgia from just glancing at them.

What Damian couldn’t believe through the whole ‘discussion’ was how much you were blaming his father for him being in your home, not him. Even though you both were fighting over him being there, there wasn’t any hate in your words to him, only annoyance to Bruce.

He wondered exactly how many times you had to deal with the same thing before, aside from Tim.

Cause there aren’t many stars in the sky tonight

As far as you were concerned, having children of your own was never going to happen. One robbery gone wrong was enough to pull your chances of your own children from an already mere fifty to less than twenty.

It was one of the reasons you were so good at welcoming each boy into your home with such open arms. As soon as they stepped through the threshold with a tired introduction from your husband, small faces and bleary eyes, you saw them as yours. Every time, without fail.

Naturally it came as a shock to you when the doctor told you to take a pregnancy test after you’d been horrendously sick for the past week. It came as a bigger shock when the test came back positive.

Bruce’s excitement and yours was taken too soon. In reality, you knew it could’ve happened, but you didn’t think it’d happen so suddenly, or so easily.

Dick and Jason were among those waiting when you came home from the hospital, and everyone would've much preferred if the trip happened nine months later, and you’d have a bundle of blankets in your hands rather than just a bag of clothes.

Even Damian couldn’t help the horrible feeling in the bottom of his stomach. After all he still wouldn’t be a big brother.

It had been a couple weeks, but you were starting to worry. While you had grieved, and in your own way moved on, Bruce seemed to stay the same. He didn’t react. When the news came he went straight into autopilot.

In his life he’d lost a lot of people. His parents, Jason, many other residence of Gotham, and now your baby. You started to think that with every lost soul his lost part of his own too.

Cause I know that it’s day but it’s dark outside

Your worries were well served. Not even a couple nights after you voiced your concerns to Bruce himself did he and Damian get captured by the Joker.

Tim was monitoring the computers, instantly sending out and alert to Dick to go help, but he just got caught too. Tim then contacted Jason, telling him to meet him near Gotham Docks.

You wandered into the cave to see the monitor set to where Tim left it. A camera from in an old warehouse displayed all five of your boys beaten, bloodied, and tied up with the Joker pacing back and forth in front of them.

Near the monitor keyboard was a notebook, open to a page with words scribbled in Tim’s characteristically messy writing. He found writing down thoughts helped him get his mind straight. It cleared his head.

“Knows fighting styles - been monitoring us for weeks to memorize patterns - new moves needed - Jason good idea - Mom the last resort.” you read a loud, sinking to the chair at the monitor.

As you processed what was happening, you knew time was running short. You felt Alfred behind you, placing his hands reassuringly on your shoulders.

“What am I supposed to do?” you said, resting your head in your hands, “The GCPD won't be able to handle it well enough, and I can't just contact Clark or Diana. And I got rid of my suit years ago - it’s not like I can just slip on one of Bruce’s suits and go fight myself.”

“I think there’s something I should show you.” Alfred said, squeezing your shoulders.

And I feel a weight in my heart tonight

All the batsuits were displayed on one of the walls of the cave, it was like a trophy wall. And while your old Valentine suit wasn’t there, there was a display photo of you mid-flip as homage to what you’d done.

As you went passed the suits, both old and new, and the empty cases of the suits being worn by your boys, Alfred soon stopped near your photo. He pressed the logo of your photo-suit and the glass moved away, soon followed by the wall, to reveal another glass case.

“Mister Bruce has been working on it since you destroyed your old one.” Alfred explained, letting you walk forwards to inspect your pristine suit, “He figured you might need it, and if I’m being honest I did too.”

“Who else knows?” You asked, running your fingers over the fabric and the slightly darker logo on it’s chest. It was a lot like Bruce's suit.

“No one, but Tim found out, nothing’s a secret from him long.” you smiled. That’s Tim alright.

The fabric was new, a material you’d never seen before, but looked a lot like miniature chain-mail. Knife-proof.

The chest where your signature V logo was along with around your torso sounded a metallic tap. Bullet-proof.

You noted that although the mask only covered your eyes it was embedded with reflective glass. Photo-proof.

“He sure was prepared.” you said, turning back to Alfred with the mask in your hands. “Will you man the computers for me?”

“It would be an honor, Valentine.”

Something's not right

“Copy V? Guards ahead.” Alfred said. The mask was also fit with a com-link. Bruce seemed to put everything in your suit, from an oxygen mask, to a lock-pick.

“Copy.” you said, sulking along the side of the warehouse towards the guards. You knew this could get nasty fast, but over time you learnt from Bruce many ways to subdue without killing. The guards were out of it before they even knew you were there.

Inside, Bruce and the boys were getting antsy.

Once when Joker left Tim said to the others he’d left a note near the computer encase he and Jason were unsuccessful, in the hope either you or Alfred would find it and send help. It had been almost two hours, and they were starting to doubt. Especially now that Joker was back and pacing in front of them.

An explosion somewhere in another warehouse made their tired heads, and the heads of the others in the room, move towards the noise. The familiar sound of batarangs flying through the air made their head turn back right as two of the dozen guards fell to the floor, soon followed by two more.

Joker ordered to start shooting at where the batarangs were coming from, and the solid sound of shots firing rang out for a couple long moments. When a figure clad in black dropped to the floor from the beams, Bruce felt his stomach drop.

He knew that figure. He knew that suit.

“Search them. Make sure whoever it is, is dead.” Joker said, dismissive in his words but the boys could tell he was on edge. Joker had the Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood and the two Robins. There wasn’t anymore, right?

The guard moved to the figure, nudging its shoulder with his foot, and with the second nudge the figure shot up, pulling the guard into a headlock, and the guard dropped down unconscious in less than a few seconds. The other guards were trained on the figure, and Joker smiled.

“Well, well, does Batsy have a new birdy?” he sang, and the figure stepped forwards out of the shadow to reveal you, donned in your Valentine suit for all to see.

“Oh no, dear Joker,” you said, matching his tone yet lacing it with as much venom as humanly possible, “I promise you I’m far from new.”

Cause I know that it’s day but it’s dark outside

The fact Joker wasn’t expecting a sixth ‘Batman partner’ to show up helped with taking down the guards. And like Tim noted, he was tracking everyone’s fighting styles. Even if Bruce was in the right mind-frame he had little chance of coming out on top.

You hadn't fought in the public eye for many years, so there was no recent footage of your style, and even so most of it was back when you weren’t working with Batman at all.

You had tied up Joker when you set to work setting the boys free, and it came as no surprise that he’d somehow gotten away by the time you’d given everyone a once-over.

Back in the cave Damian was the first. Once back in the confides of safety Damian practically flung himself into you.

“Ummi, I thought-” he said, stopping himself with a sniff and burying his nose in your stomach.

“It was a close call.” Dick added, his voice strained. With a look you pulled him closer, and one by one you managed to deal out hugs and just the right words.

In the next few hours Dick and Jason were both sent off back home with food Alfred made, and the reassurance that you’d come visit. Tim was sent off to bed, being told everything from the past events would be waiting when he wakes up. Damian was also given bed rest, but only after he got one last hug from you.

All that was left was to deal with Bruce, who’d been in the cave since you all went upstairs.

Like the feeling of rain on a Summer light

“Bruce.” you said, reaching his place at the computer. He stopped rather abruptly, and turned to face you with an agonizingly slow pace. The look on his face made you pull him into you just like you did with Dick. And for the first time in so long, Bruce cried.

He could’ve lost everything on top of the baby. The other boys. You. Himself.

He knew what he did wrong, he knew he went in without a clear head, all because something wasn’t right.

#bruce wayne x reader #batman x reader #bruce wayne imagine #batman imagine #bruce wayne one shot #batman one shot #dick grayson x reader #jason todd x reader #tim drake x reader #damian wayne x reader

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sebeth · 5 years

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Young Justice: A Bat Family And The House Of Al Ghul

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

Seriously, turn away if you aren’t up to date with Young Justice: Outsiders – particularly episode 6.

You have been warned…

The current Young Justice season has shown the following members of the Bat-Family:

Batman (Bruce Wayne)

Nightwing (Dick Grayson)

Oracle (Barbara Gordon)

Robin (Tim Drake)

Spoiler (Stephanie Brown)

Batwoman (Kate Kane)

Jason Todd

Damian Wayne

The House of Al Ghul has the following representation:

Ra’s Al Ghul

Talia

Sensei

Damian Wayne

“Rescue Op”, the latest episode of Young Justice: Outsiders, dropped a few bombshells on the Wayne Family and the League of Shadows. Now is a perfect time for a recap and speculation post.

Batman: Has grown tired of the limitations imposed on the Justice League by the United Nations and Lex Luthor in particular. Bruce resigned from the League and formed Batman Inc. Green Arrow, Batwoman, Katana, Hardware, and Plastic Man have also resigned from the League and joined Batman Inc. Robin, Spoiler, and Arrowette resigned from Young Justice in support of their mentors.

We haven’t seen Batman since the mass resignation so we are unaware of his future plans.

Batwoman: Has made one brief non-speaking appearance. I’m assuming Kate’s origin is similar to her comic book version. She should re-appear when Batman returns on the scene.

Nightwing: Left Young Justice at the end of season two. The death of Wally West, his best friend, laid a heavy burden on his shoulders. We have no idea what Dick has been up to during the two-year time gap between season two and three. The use of hypnos in an early episode hints as adventures with Spyral, a spy organization.

The season opened with Dick breaking up meta-human trafficking rings. He’s in a relationship with Barbara Gordon. It appears Dick will/has formed the Outsiders as of the latest episode – Brion and Halo stated they’d work best “outside” the Young Justice team.

Oracle: Has been paralyzed for less than a year. The prequel comic had Babs active as Batgirl in year six. We aren’t aware of the circumstances of her paralysis but it’s most likely due to the Joker. The only question is if we will receive a “Killing Joke” flashback or if it’s only referenced in a comment. Babs is strictly working with Nightwing at this point but will she organize the Birds of Prey in the future? I would love to see Huntress and Lady Blackhawk in the YJ-verse!

Dick and Babs were both aware of Bruce’s “Batman Inc” plan but are not actively participating in it.

Robin: We’re not sure when Tim became Robin. I’ve always felt it was shortly before season two started due to the anxious protectiveness Dick had of Tim in the first episode. Tim should be around 16-17 years old in the current season. He resigned along with Batman in the first episode. Tim’s romance with Wonder Girl is on the rocks due to the resignation.

Spoiler (Stephanie Brown) – Like Kate, she has only been featured in a non-speaking role. Steph was part of the mass resignation of episode one. I’m assuming Steph’s origin is true to her comic book roots: daughter of Cluemaster, adopts the Spoiler identity to foil his crimes. A significant difference is her early adoption into the Bat family. Trust me, Steph wouldn’t have been able to join the team without Batman’s approval. Steph’s resignation suggests she has a much smoother relationship with Bruce in the YJ-verse. Another difference – Steph isn’t romantically involved with Tim. Is Cassie doomed to be the “Ariana” of Tim and Steph’s future romance? Or will Tim and Steph simply be BFFs?

Finally, Jason Todd!

Jason was seen briefly in season two as a memorial hologram. He had died sometime during years two and four of Young Justice. We’re not sure of the exact time or circumstances.

I would set Jason’s death in year four. Dick would be approximately 17 years old during the fourth year of the team. Dick, traditionally, is around 17 to 19 years old when he breaks off from Bruce and forms the Nightwing identity. Jason would have a brief tenure as Robin and a member of Young Justice before his death- allowing a very new to the role Tim to join the team in year 5.

We’ve never been told the circumstances of Jason’s death. It’s a safe bet the Joker was involved in some way.

Let’s recap the various versions:

Post-Crisis: Jason searches to find his birth mother. Sheila Haywood, said birth mother, betrays Jason to the Joker. The Joker beats Jason with a crowbar and leaves him to die in an exploding warehouse.

New 52: Very similar to the Post-Crisis death.

Under The Red Hood movie: Similar to the traditional death minus the mom.

Batman: Arkham Knight: The Joker kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured Jason for many months. Joker appeared to murder Jason in a video, causing Bruce to stop searching for him.

Now let’s discuss the various resurrections…

Post-Crisis: Superboy Prime punched the walls of reality causing alterations of the timeline. One alteration was Jason’s resurrection. A massively brain-damaged and physically injured Jason awoke in his coffin. He dug himself out of his grave and wandered the streets of Gotham in a semi-catonic state. Talia discovers Jason and brings him to the League of Assassins. Jason has muscle memory but no intellectual capabilities. In other words, Jason can fight but not communicate. After months of no progress, Ra’s orders Jason to be sent to a home. Ra’s orders Jason will be taken care of out of respect for the Detective. A desperate Talia throws Jason into the Lazarus Pit. Jason emerges with full mental capabilities but an insane amount of rage. Talia furthers Jason’s training but also amps Jason’s rage – she sends him like an exploding bomb into Gotham. Prime targets: Bruce, the Joker, and Tim. Jason and Talia have a brief, icky, sexual relationship.

New 52: No Superboy involved – Talia straight up throws Jason into the Lazaurs Pit. She still serves as Jason’s mentor but no sex was involved. Jason’s return as the Red Hood and his roaring rampage of revenge happened before the New 52 began. We never receive the full details of Jason’s revenge but Jason comments about his rough treatment of Tim and Roy jokes about a “duffel bag of severed heads” so we’ll assume it was similar to the ‘Under The Red Hood” arc.

Under The Red Hood movie: Ra’s resurrects Jason due to his guilt over unleashing the Joker. Jason’s death was never intended and Ra’s resurrected him to make amends. Unfortunately, Ra’s couldn’t contain Jason’s rage and banished him from the stronghold.

Batman: Arkham Knight: Never died but still full of rage and bitterness due to Batman’s “abandonment” of him.

Jason is seen briefly in “Rescue Op”. He’s masked and wearing a red hood. He fights Nightwing. After Dick’s team leaves, he mutters “Grayson”.

Ra’s comments: “Oh, your memory is finally returning. Excellent.”

Let’s speculate:

We can safely assume Jason died at the hands of the Joker. It’s a universal constant. I feel it was a true death as the “faked” death of Arkham Knight doesn’t work well in universe with a Superman and a Martian Manhunter. If Batman didn’t have Jason’s actual corpse in his arms, he would have called in his entire Justice League team to find his son. And if he didn’t, Dick would have.

More questions: Was Dick in space when Jason died? Did Dick and Jason work together in Young Justice? Did the brothers have a better bond in the Young Justice universe or was it the more typical “overshadowed by Dick’s greatness” combined with Dick’s bitterness over being replaced route?

As for Jason’s resurrection…

We can rule out Superboy Prime and timeline alterations.

The Lazarus Pit is the obvious solution. However, Jason is very much in his post-grave but pre-Lazarus dip state. Has Jason been immersed in the Pit? If not, what caused his resurrection?

If Jason has been immersed in the Pit, why such a half-assed job? And where’s the rage?

The Young Justice comic book had Robin (Dick) accidentally drop Ra’s – causing the man to fall to his death. Talia and Ubu threw Ra’s into the pit and he emerged fully intact with no memory loss.

If Jason still has memory loss after the Lazarus pit – is it due to the massive head trauma caused by the Joker’s crowbar? But, again, Ra’s had died in the Young Justice-verse and been resurrected in prime condition. Talia and Ubu had to travel back to the Lazarus Pit – meaning Ra’s was dead for hours – that would also cause brain damage and he came back in perfect health.

My theory is an outside force caused Jason’s resurrection. Talia discovered Jason wondering the streets and brought him back to the League’s stronghold.

It would explain Jason’s current state. I have no idea what the “outside force” would be though.

Jason has been healing and training with the League but has not been immersed in the Pit.

Ra’s al Ghul stated in “Recue Op” that he is no longer the head of the League of Shadows or a member of the Light.

A power struggle occurred and Ra’s lost. Ra’s only has his own family – Talia, Damian, and Sensei – along with a few loyal operatives on the island. Who has assumed control of the League of Shadows?

I listed a few suspects when I covered “Rescue Op” – Cheshire and Lady Shiva. I even theorized over the introduction of Cassandra Cain. I completely forgot the most obvious suspect – Nyssa al Ghul.

Nyssa is the older sister of Talia. Nyssa lost most of her family in concentration camps during World War II – mainly because of Ra’s outright refusal to help her.

“Batman: Death and the Maidens” is Nyssa’s origin and revenge against Ra’s. She murders Ra’s al Ghul and Talia and assumes control of the League.

The trio of Nyssa, Lady Shiva, and Cheshire would be a terrifying triple threat. And if Shiva has coerced Cassandra to help? Very bad times ahead for Ra’s and Talia.

Let’s talk Talia. She only has a brief appearance in the cartoon but received a two-issue spotlight in the comic book series.

Talia is a more multi-faceted and likable character in the Young Justice-verse than she is in the mainstream DC universe.

Talia wants Bruce to love her but realizes he doesn’t/can’t – at least not the way she wants him to. She’s frustrated that her father doesn’t understand or accept this. She wants someone to see her as something other than Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter or Batman’s lover. Talia is very tired of the endless conflict between Batman and her father.

I believe Talia discovered the resurrected Jason. She brought Jason home with her so he could heal. Talia has been patiently waiting for Jason’s full recovery. In the comics, Talia didn’t push Jason into the Pit until Ra’s threatened to send Jason away. Clearly, this isn’t a worry in the YJ-verse so Talia would have no reason to immerse Jason in the Pit and risk the resulting insanity/rage.

Initially, Talia rescued Jason in the comics so Bruce would be grateful to her. Cartoon-verse Talia likely has a similar motivation.

What would cause Talia to throw Jason into the Pit – restoring his full mental capacity even at the risk of rage and insanity?

Two words: Damian Wayne.

Talia was holding baby Damian in her arms during the episode. Why introduce both Jason and Damian together unless their storylines intertwine?

I feel Ra’s successors in the League are going to pursue the remaining Al Ghuls. The League, by its various nature, is a bloodthirsty affair – predecessors aren’t allowed to live out their lives in peace. And Ra’s isn’t a “chilling on the beach” type of guy.

Damian is a newborn and I’m assuming he was conceived the old-fashioned way. None of this Talia drugged Bruce or stole his genetic material stuff. It wouldn’t be true to the Young Justice version of Talia.

Talia has a newborn and a price on all the Al-Ghul heads. Talia realizes Damian needs to be with his father for his own safety. Talia is unable – or unwilling – to leave Ra’s side. It’s possible an ambush goes very badly. A desperate Talia throws Jason into the Lazarus Pit. She orders the now fully restored Jason to bring Damian to Bruce.

Jason may not even engage in a “roaring rampage of revenge” against Bruce. Mainstream-Talia’s manipulations helped cause Jason’s revenge (“You remain unavenged”). Talia has no reason to amp Jason’s revenge in the YJ-verse – she needs Jason to get Damian and himself to Gotham asap.

Jason’s rage may not even kick in until after he hands Damian over – it could be days or weeks later when Jason discovers the Joker is still alive. Enter the Red Hood.

If Jason does go all revenge-driven Red Hood, I am going to be seriously annoyed if he focuses his anger on Dick and not Tim.

Bad enough Dick stole the founding of Young Justice and the Kon friendship from Tim, if he takes the “replacement feud” I’m going to have a fit.

Dick is the original Bat-Family thief – first Barbara has multiple accomplishments stolen from her history in order to make her Dick’s “true love”, and then Dick steals the founding of Young Justice and Superboy from Tim!

I love you, Dick, but stop stealing your sibling’s stuff. They are allowed to have accomplishments and storylines without you hogging the action!

#Young Justice #Young Justice Outsiders #Jason Todd #Talia Al Ghul #Dick Grayson #Red Hood #Nightwing #Bruce Wayne #Ra's Al Ghul #Tim Drake #stephanie brown #Robin #Joker #Nyssa Al Ghul #Batman #Barbara Gordon #Oracle #League Of Shadows

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