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Dc Comcis - Blog Posts
Okay but hear me out
Stephen lang as a live action slade Wilson
I think deathstroke deserves his own movie
I have these insanely vivid dreams and I like to write them down so I don't forget them. I'm specifically drawn to this dream I had not too long ago. I think I'll call him Ivan
I'm a bit of a DC nerd so I'm not surprised that I had a dream I was in the DC universe. If you couldn't tell by my shitty background, I'm controlling vines, becoming poison ivys protégé after I died in my dream. Boy lemme tell you, dying in a dream was not fun
Maybe I'll delve into detail about the dream in a later post or smth
Without backgrounds next time
GL: You know damn skippy he ain’t friendly Supes
DC Comics - a thought
There’s a tendency in fanfiction that I’ve noticed to kind of de power Superman and Wonder Woman in favor of making Batman and the Batfamily look better. Part of this is probably because of the overwhelming amount of stories centered on Batfamily dynamics and that when writing shock and awe fics people want familiar characters to be their outsider pov, but it just doesn’t work right with Superman and Wonder Woman.
Another part of this is probably because of how the characters get presented in the comics, unfortunately both Superman and Wonder Woman have had to deal with a lot of flip flopping with their powers because the characters were made too powerful and the turn back to try and make them less overpowered has backlashed into making them too weak at times depending on the story. Not to mention how since Batman is part of the trinity that is the face of DC they want to make him equal to the other two within the canon, and it just doesn’t work. I don’t care how smart he is, Batman just cannot handle the problems Superman and Wonder Woman face, he’s only human.
I don’t know, it’s just a common occurrence for a popular character to try and have their real world popularity reflected in the comics, even when it doesn’t work, Batman and Spider-Man have that problem, the latter significantly more so than the former since Batman actually does play a pretty important role to the Justice League, just not quite to the point as he is represented, I think.
Major surprise upon opening my first Hellblazer comic in I don’t know how many years, John Constantine is bisexual.
(Excuse the low quality pics, I’m at a restaurant)
And according to his wiki, he’s been Bi since the early 90’s.
Fun fact to learn over an over priced salad.
I made new lock screens and I wish to share them with all the lovely internet people.
Tim: *walks in on Bruce eating all the cookies*
Tim: What's going on here?
Bruce: *hands him $20*
Bruce: What did you see?
Tim: I saw you downstairs eating an apple.
Bruce: Good boy.
Finished “The Batman” Poster ! :)
Doing gods work for James Gunn. I will forever push this agenda.
Let's count everything that happened to Damian on his life.
Being physically and emotionl abused by his own mother that forced him into fight her for years, just because he wanted to know of his father.
Having to see how one of his teachers got blind by others and gave him the option to save him but instead he would recieved the punishment.
Being groomed into make a cultural genocide.
Being brainwashed by his grandparent and mother.
Having to kill people since he was like 3-4 years old and being exposed to extreme violence.
Being constantly sick and having to replace his organs because how hurt he used to get in the league.
Being shot 5 times and almost get paralyzed, then his mother put him a metal spine and tried to control him to kill his special person.
His mother sent assasins and put a price on his head and then sent a older evil clone of himself to him.
He died.
He went to the hell.
He came back.
Then he died. Again. But just for a seconds this time.
Have a good time in this part, had his brother, grandpa, make new friends and meet his best friend.
His father neglect him a lot. But still, pretty peaceful, until his favorite older brother got shot and get amnesia and then something happend and see how his grandapa got killed in front of him.
All of this make him leave the mantle of robin, thinking that it didn't work since his favorite people in the world got hurt.
Ah. His best friend aged up and kinda become a different person that he used to know.
His father ignored and neglect him when he cried in front of him and blame himself.
He started having hallucinations.
He died again, twice.
He finally started healing with his other family and then he saw his other grandpa got killed in front of him x2
His father is an asshole to him.
He realize he has another brother, he started to getting along with his father again but still tense.
He wanted to help his new brother but then he found out that he got killed by his mother's assasins.
It's kinda concerning how long this list is tbh. And I know a lot of these things related with Talia and Bruce sre kinds controversy but I am not talking about if they are good or bad parents, I am talking about Damian's perception snd that's all.
I am not a Talia or Bruce stan, I focus on Damian manily but a lot of these people used Damian as a way to slaughter one of these two characters and it's stupid.
Hello! Just passing by and asking your opinion on Robin 2021! You don't have to answer but I was wondering your thoughts on the run was since it finished back in 2022 and I saw your post back in 2021 where you just dropped the series.
If you did answer a question similar to mine then you can just post the link. I thought the idea of the story was cool but it didn't work out much and Damian was somewhat OOC in that story :/ thanks for answering if you do <3!
Hi! Eh...Robin 2021 is...okay. Like Williamson is clearly not going in the direction of the previous story (baby Hitler Damian) but it didn't truly do anything I cared about either. Williamson is just not the writer for truly interesting concepts and he's turning even unusual characters like Damian into fairly generic ones. I get that this lead to new people starting to like Damian, but as someone who liked Damian because he wasn't generic/typically relateable I lost interest pretty quickly and haven't regained it since.
There is a reason why I haven't said much for weeks. I kind of lost interest and don't see anything on the horizon that could pull me back in. If people like to see "relatable" teenage Damian that's their right, good for them, but I don't really care anymore.
The Justice League thinking Billy is Shazam’s son but Billy is nothing like him. Billy is angry, dark and super punk.
Oh Green Lantern? You mean the space cop ? Fuck that noise!
Batman? Why would I respect a furry?
Superman? You were mean to my dad when you first met so fuck you too!!!
If anyone writes this please tag me!
Punk Billy AU
Imagine the Justice League is fighting some villain and somehow they turn Shazam back into Billy! Once standing where Shazam was is a small boy who looks something like this!
Of course Shazam is still the same sunshine bubbly personality as always but Billy is different, he's mad at the world for forgetting him and that the bad people for doing all the terrible stuff to him. He had to go through it all alone but he's actively trying to better the world around him, in and out of Shazam form! He would still be respectful as always but he's less likely to tolerate rude or mean people. It's one of the reasons why people had such a hard time finding his identity. I think he would dye his hair all kinds of crazy colors, he'd draw on his skin all the time, have piercings, and wear cool makeup! (I know this really won't work especially with his very limited budget but can you imagine!!!)
Punk Billy Supremacy <3
(All pictures from Pinterest)
I AM SO USED TO GIVING AND NOW I GET TO RECEIVE
Today at 1 PM Est Time on Webtoon!!
tell me this isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing post you’ve seen?
alex ross + gotham’s joker
𝖫𝖺𝖽𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖦𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗅𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗇, 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝖩𝖾𝗋𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝖵𝖺𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗄𝖺, 𝖽𝖺𝗋𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖻𝗈𝗒.
I think he looks much better with his scars. he may be dead, but he’s one sexy deceased ginger.
me rn:
HES SO CUTE HOW DID I DO THIS HDHDHHDBD smol little bean
the only good thing to come out of Gotham knights is that Robin costume that’s it 💀
oh also Bruce in any form, he’s rrly pretty bdbdb
Dick: Remember when you didn't try to solve all your problems with attempted murder?
Jason: Stop romanticizing the past.
*Harper and Cullen are doing something absurdly dangerous*
Harper: I think Houdini did something like this once! Why, if I recall correctly, he was out of the hospital in no time!
Cullen , deadpan: Well that's encouraging.
Terry: We just ate. Why are you making pancakes?
Damian: For the dogs.
Terry: Why are you making pancakes for the dogs?
Damian: They don't know how.
Bart: What’s sexting?
Wally: I'm not having this conversation with you.
Injustice in the Justice System: The Ethical Plight of Arkham Asylum
It is a common saying within Gotham City that you can set your watch off of Arkham Asylum’s regular breakouts.
Founded by Dr. Amadeus Arkham well over a century ago, this government-funded penitentiary has morphed from a well-meaning mental hospital to quite literally a house of horrors. Sanctioned as an asylum for the criminally insane in 19XX, Arkham Asylum has been affected by corruption and fraud every year since its founding - a reality only exacerbated by the breakout rates that have spiked by almost 46% annually since the Joker’s posting as a publicly known terrorist.
Anybody who lives in Gotham has been affected by the persistent breakouts plaguing the asylum. It’s been the Riddler’s bombings of the subway system. It was the threat of Gotham’s water supply being polluted by Joker toxin (only narrowly avoided by vigilante Batman’s interceptions). It was literally any Halloween these past few years. Take your pick.
Arkham Asylum is wholly an ethical nightmare. Its moral values and code of conduct have completely warped since its founding, and a lack of accountability has transformed it into an unethical hovel for anybody incarcerated there. Corruption runs rampant in the system. Any bribe of any size can be weaponised, and prisoners can do anything within and including escaping.
The poor legislation and the lack of accountability likens Arkham to the El Salvador gang jails. Both of them have death rates in the hundreds, and both do not receive programs preparing inmates for reinsertion into society. The two of them have inmates who are rarely - if ever - allowed outside.
These so called ‘reformatory’ institutions are unethical, unlivable hovels for anybody incarcerated. The abusive living situations make it a wonder any of Arkham’s convicts ever even consider choosing to stay within the prison walls.
Speaking of Arkham being an unliveable hovel - asylums throughout America have progressively gone out of style within the last forty years. However, Gotham is a city that leans more towards traditionalism - a view paired with and reflected throughout the city’s beautiful architecture and the scarcity of new bills, legislations and laws that are passed as a result of the city stagnating and being unwilling to create change.
This languishing, this lack of desire for movement and progress, is part of the systematic problems that threaten to topple Arkham. It is part of why it is inhumane.
Asylums have been going out of style for a reason - both sides of the system suffer. There is a relatively low rate of recovery from patients in asylums who are mentally unwell - even lower in Gotham City. Caregivers are pessimistic about their future outlooks because of the low success rates, feeding back into the cycle with no positive yield. This vicious pattern makes it nigh-impossible for anyone within the system to get any sort of fulfilment from it.
Although Arkham is officially a psychiatric ward, it houses patients who are arguably sane and yet are sentenced to life with the mentally unwell. Take Adam Bomb for example (article linked). Convicted of terrorism after trying to blow up the city, Bomb worked with criminally insane terrorist Firefly and thus was convicted of insanity beside him despite all claims that he was not mentally unstable.
It could be argued that these inhabitants aren’t perfectly sane, but an overwhelming amount of evidence from court records show otherwise. XX% of convicts in Arkham were allegedly intended to go to Blackgate Penitentiary, but couldn’t as a result of the overcrowding in the system. This whopping XX% percent of inmates, forced to live in padded cells and treated as less than human because of an insanity that they don’t have, live in an oppressive scheme which in turn makes it more difficult for actually unwell prisoners to receive the help they require. Furthermore, inmates who are criminally insane likewise suffer - the heightened risk of assault, dangerous gangs, and trauma in result of the organised crime fester a wholly unhealthy environment for the patients in the system who are meant to be there.
This misconduct is really highlighted in 20XX’s horrifically dubbed “Haunted House” breakout, where seven inmates (both sane and insane) attempted an escape. One of their psychiatric patients (a Ms. A. Smith) was killed in the panic after experiencing a psychotic break and subsequently attacking one of her fellow escapees after watching one of the sane male inmates assault a staff member.
The tragic events that transpired in the “Haunted House” jailbreak underline the desperation of reform required within our justice system. It is crucial that we address these issues within and around Arkham, as its current state has crossed lines and boundaries that even the worst cities throughout the globe have not passed.
Now, after considering these insurmountable problems, you may be wondering.
How is Arkham Asylum still standing?
Surely, some uncorrupted Gotham official is good, right? They would have seen the corruption, the abuse, the inhumane condition. Surely, somebody would have pushed for a change.
Well - you aren’t wrong. Arkham has been the focus of almost 15% of bills petitioned within Gotham City for eight years.
But there are good reasons why it is still functioning. Why nine out of ten of these petitions are rejected, despite the obvious poison to our society that it provides.
Arkham Asylum was made by a key founder of some of Gotham’s most foundational rules and regulations, Stuart Gordon. Nevada and Maine are the only other states to decriminalise sex work - but Gotham City, too, has special permissions under the state of New Jersey to abolish the law as a result of his work. Furthermore, Gordon pushed for Gotham to be one of the first cities (although highly debated and largely criticised at the time) to allow equal purchase and selling of property by minority groups within Gotham. Gordon’s lasting contributions to New Jersey’s sociopolitical landscape are likely partially why Arkham‘s presence continues to endure despite its increasingly intrusive existence in our modern society.
Arkham Asylum stands as a symbol of justice. Despite the rampant violence and a severe lack of accountability within its system, it is the most famous (and infamous) jail this side of America. When you look any closer at the system, its flaws and corruption reveal themselves to you in a disturbingly clear fashion. Yet when we think of the law, when we consider the justice system, Arkham is always the first to mind, given its wide discussion by people around the globe.
Arkham Asylum was a lot of money. A lot of money. For the first fifteen years of its construction, Gotham government’s annual transparency records reveal Arkham Asylum taking almost 40% of the budget allocated to police and law enforcement in its construction time. This rampant fund theft and poor budget of the government, exacerbated by the relative spike in crime rate during the years of its building, proves just how long they intend Arkham to stand. Why would the government put so much money into something that they didn’t intend to run in the long term?
These factors have made our authorities comfortable. Unaccountable. Stagnant. The level of ease that Gotham’s government holds about jailbreaks trickles down to regular citizens. They face no consequences from us as a result of our being excessively comfortable with the crime they permit.
If nothing is to change, we have a clear view on the future based on the long history we have with Arkham in the past. Gotham City’s complacency allows corruption to fester, and it leaves us citizens complicit in the tragedy of crime and disaster.
It is not too late to change course.
If we don’t stop this fraudulence now, it will be too late to change course.
The first step to change within others - our society - is change within ourselves and our standards. We must remind ourselves that this crime is not normal. Remind ourselves that we should not be comfortable. The disasters, the rampant crime and the rotating door of terrorists coming and going from Arkham is not something to be nonchalant about. We have to teach our children that the standards that Gotham’s bureaucracy sets for us isn’t acceptable, and that they should not be growing up with fear in their hearts and emergency exits in their minds.
Furthermore, it is imperative that we insist on more from our higher-ups. Allowing them to continue shrugging their shoulders and telling us that the establishment cannot be changed is only going to worsen the state of our city and justice system to the point of no return. We need to pressure new laws from them, so we can uproot the corruption that they have allowed to fester in our city for decades. We must demand new regimens for jails in order for us to be able to transfer inmates out of overstuffed systems and give resources to those who need it most.
Most importantly, we have to demand better, moral legislation. Regulations that seperate the harmless from the terrorists, and incite prisoners to remain in a prison that will not be cruel to them at every waking moment.
One voice can only do so much.
Many voices, speaking as a part of an undivided unit desiring wholly for change - that will get the government’s attention. That will make them feel the same discomfort we have been experiencing our whole lives. That will lead them to forging new change within this stagnant society, one which will better both the lives of AA’’s inhabitants and those of Gotham City.
Sign this petition, and stand with me. Stand with all of us who are appealing for a difference within a society. Help us create change that will last for generations.
-Jeffrey Anderson
Gotham City's Reliance on Playboy-Billionaire Bruce Wayne
Playboy, billionaire, philanthropist. Bruce Wayne - or Brucie, as those who read the Gotham Gazette may know him by - is a common sight in Gotham newspapers. For good or for bad, he will be there. Some recent headlines (pictures attached) that Wayne has found himself at the forefront of would be a shock if it were anybody else, but since it’s Gotham City’s favourite wealthman, nobody bats an eye.
See this? Apparently - according to search statistics from Gotham City - this charity is nothing to applaud.
Here in Gotham, I’ve noticed we seem to have this thing about normalizing things that would be otherwise insane in other places - of course, I can’t speak without being a hypocrite. As a Gothamite myself, it’s much too frequently that I find myself irritated instead of horrified that there’s been an explosion on a subway line, exasperated instead of aghast that man-bats are delaying the buses. But I digress.
In the first newspaper headline I’ve included, we can see Wayne’s incredibly generous donation to Klimate and Kryptonite, a charity dedicated to areas affected ecologically by aliens or other space matter. Everywhere else - anyone else - this 1.5 million donation would have caused a ripple of turning heads and discussion about change. But on that Sunday? Nothing. Nada. Bruce Wayne’s support of our city’s ecosystem is deep-seated - and far too little talked about. If you’ve ever been to a hospital here in Gotham (I’m assuming you have, we have the highest mugging rates in the USA) you’d notice that there is a distinctive ‘W’ logo on almost every piece of medical equipment in the hospital. Yep, that’s him again. Wayne Biotech plays a fairly large piece in supplying medical equipment at prices cheaper than most competitors - because as the man said himself, ‘healthcare should be affordable if not free’.
Take a step back for a second and picture Gotham without Bruce Wayne. Medical prices would be sky-high; innocent citizens would be in crippling debt over minor accidents, unable to leave poverty. The waterways and skies would be clogged with even more trash than there already is. Buildings destroyed by terrorists like the Joker would take at least three times as long to rebuild.
This leads me to my next point. Why are our actual city officials not doing anything?
Yeah, you already know the answer. Corruption.
In the last three years, six highly-ranking members of either the GCPD or the city government were fined or arrested for misuse of funds, money laundering or taking bribes. The rampant fraud that is occurring among the people we are meant to trust with our city creates a power vacuum that is only filled by crime. Yes, the Wayne Foundation (and Wayne’s parents’ charities, the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation respectively) are doing tremendous amounts of work to help provide free healthcare and shelter while simultaneously countering social issues. It’s good, of course, but doesn’t anybody get the feeling that maybe our government-sanctioned officials should be the ones fixing these problems, not charities?
Crime is running rampant, and our political leaders are too lazy and too compliant to respond.
We need to make a push for change. Protest (in ways that are helpful, not harmful - we don’t need another supervillain running around Gotham trying to ‘help’) for our rights to have honest authorities. Talk about the change you want to see in our city, and spread the word. We are no longer standing by for lazy and corrupt government officials to do what they want with Gotham. We can no longer stay stagnant.
-Jeffrey Anderson
absolutely obsessed with Jason and Tim being the family psychologists that spend 90% of their time together just getting into long debates and discussions about the personalities and mental issues of everybody in the family. they will meet up at Jason’s apartment twice a week for takeout and a 2 hour conversation on how Damian might be so obsessed with the Robin mantle because the dynamics of the league make him think that family should be a business and if he cant work as a vigilante he’ll be abandoned. every stakeout they do together ends up with them getting distracted talking about Dick and his obsession with red heads. they’ve let multiple people go during these stakeouts bcs they’ve gotten side tracked when they then start discussing if Jason’s childhood issues and strained relationship with Dick somehow influenced HIM to befriending Dick’s old pals so often, and they get so fascinatingly into it that the guy they were waiting for just. slipped right by them.
nothing is off limits between these two when they start talking about mental health and family issues. they’ll compare Tim’s abandonment-independence from the Drakes to Jason’s caretaker habits from his dug addicted mother. there have been 3 hour phone call conversations about the loa and how it fucked with Jason’s perception of Bruce that then get turned into 4 hour face to face discussions about how Tim’s opinion of Bruce rapidly declined because of Jason’s death and how he handled it. they rehash how Bruce has effected every single bat child about 12 times and they still never get tired of it.
it’s not even about therapy or coming to terms with trauma. these two bitches just love dissecting family drama and psychology within the Waynes. every now and then during dinner somebody will make a fairly casual remark that has nothing to do with anything and Jason and Tim will make eye contact across the table because they KNOW they’ll be tearing that apart at a later date. what I’m saying is english-enthusiast Jason Todd and stalker-genius Timothy Drake are 100% the gossip scientists of the family, and the Waynes are their lab rats being observed for their own entertainment
hopelessly obsessed with movie-nerd Jason and has-seen-one-movie-once Tim just hanging out.
tim breaks into jasons appartment through the window every week, they make dinner together then eat on the couch while watching a film (they both do a bit of a commentary and jason has fun facts)
one step further, he was a gatcha life kid
Tim Drake was a nightcore kid
Please Let Me Keep Him
Warning! This isn’t really lore accurate, this is just what I wanted to see from the Arkham Knight. So I wrote it! There is an OC in here, their name is King. The only thing you need to know is they work for Bruce and used to be Jason’s friend.
It’s been two years since Jason died, the truth of his unfortunate demise only now coming to light as Bruce traveled through his worst nightmare of a night. If he really sat down and thought about it, Bruce only wanted to see his son again. One more time. Bruce Wayne never sat down though, his anger keeping him afloat while one thought in the back of his mind burned him through and through, “please let me see him again.”
Bruce did his best to focus on his footsteps, the loud clanging of metal on metal, echoing through the flashing halls to bring an even sharper ring to his ears. The red lights and fizzling circuits; it was all enough to distract anyone else.
Not Bruce Wayne.
His head was echoing with horrific laughter, screams of those he barely recognized. Every reflection he caught of himself reminded him that he was going paler than paper, his eyes a horrific green that he only saw in his worst nightmares. The screams would get louder; and he fought the urge to snap the next person he saw’s neck. The voices built to a high, until one scream cut above the rest. A shrill, broken sob, screaming for mercy, screaming for someone to save them - for Batman to save them.
He stopped. He blinked away tears he didn’t even know he could shred, and gave a harsh breath. For so long he had maintained his dark and brooding persona and it was starting to crack, making him wonder whether or not he had been lying to himself for years - whether or not this was the true Bruce. He shook his head, cursing himself for letting such thoughts distract him. The subtle vibration of his gauntlet buzzed with a red light, catching his attention. He slowly raised his arm, preparing himself for the stone facade he once again had to maintain. He clicked a button.
His screen flittered to life, revealing a young adult sitting in front of the batcomputer. Soft freckles on a sharp face with white patches of skin, as well as their heavy bags, illuminated by the light. “Hey, Bruce.”
“Ulysses.”
“Doing good, thanks for asking. You?”
He didn’t even blink. “Why are you in the Batcave? It’s too dangerous.”
Their dark curls fell from their bun as they unpinned it, covering their shaves on the side of their head; painfully reminding Bruce of the bat symbol shaved in, courtesy of Dick. “Nightwing reached out. Shit, Bruce, why didn’t you let us know?”
This time, he did blink. “Too dangerous. You’re too… ”
“Don’t even try to say I’m too young,” they sighed. “At the very least, Damian deserves to know. Do you know how many times Dick thought you had died in the last twelve hours?” His only response was a grunt, and he continued to move forward down the hall. “Whatever. I’m helping you. Do you want info or not?”
“What do you have?”
King rolled their eyes. “Of course, my pleasure. Two signatures up ahead, behind the chonky door.”
“Please do not say ‘chonky’ on comms, King.” Dick’s voice cut in.
“One is definitely unconscious,” they continued, “One… huh. Bats, I’ve never seen a system so close to yours, they have all of Gotham marked down in the same way the computer mark's things. The Arkham Knight definitely knows you, like they said. I’ve also locked onto some of the Arkham Knight’s voice patterns.”
“How?” Dick asked, “Our systems couldn’t even pick it up. Taj must be one damn genius.”
They hummed, then hesitated. “It’ll take me a minute to hack it, also, I don’t think you’ll like who’s voice it matches.”
“Who?” Batman asked, more in the form of a demand.
“Well, I have three candidates, but… I’m sorry, are we not gonna talk about how you locked up Tim? Isn’t that the point of a sidekick, to help? I mean, shit, Bruce. He’s gonna be crying about it for weeks.”
Bruce contemplated telling them to refrain from unnecessary talk on comms, but refrained to keep them in a decent mood. Bruce stopped in front of the metal door, reaching for the lever, but stopped when the red lights threatened to reveal his position if he pulled on a locked door. “King,” he started. The door’s light suddenly turned green and Bruce could almost hear King’s smirk. Bruce turned off the screen and stared at his hand. He only thought to himself for a moment, deciding that there was no more time for unspoken words or games, only justice. He yanked the lever down, moving to stand in the middle of the door frame as it slowly opened, the light from the various devices pouring in.
“More red lights. What a shocker,” King mumbled.
Bruce took in the room before him, only managing to register that it was a room before running to a tied up Jim. He went through his mental checklist in less than a second; he’s breathing, he looks to be unharmed, he sensed no danger around him, only the prickling sense of paranoia he always carried with him. With no more than a grunt, he moved to untie Jim.
“Room scanned. Approaching from behind,” King warned in a flat voice.
A different voice cut in, “Turn. Around,” the voice said, debilitatingly slow. The same voice that managed to irk Bruce everytime he had heard it, the voice that rang a loud warning in Bruce’s mind; “I know them.” The same voice he had been unconsciously chasing the entire night. Bruce slowly did as he was told, turning face to face with the Arkham Knight, a gun pointed at him, his white eyes glowed harshly against his mask.
“Who are you,” Bruce almost growled.
The Arkham Knight didn’t shift his posture, not even moving to straighten his neck. He only said, “You have no idea…”, trailing off as he moved his free hand to the side of his helmet, slowly pushing it up, and as he finished his sentence, “Do you, Bruce,” his voice modifier finally let the Knight’s real voice slip through, young, dark, and crisp.
Bruce stared, eyes widened and lips slightly parted, feeling his heart spike, drop, and break in the same motion. His breath held, he only stared, feeling the Joker’s ringing laughter split through his head. “Jason,” he almost stuttered, “But… you’re dead.” His mind tried so hard to comprehend what was in front of him. Jason’s eyes, once full of a fire he could never describe, now haunted him, looking empty and tired. His whole face had hardened, scars covering his entire face. Bruce’s first instinct was to tell him he looks fine, that he is safe and whole and how happy he was to finally see him; but the melded skin on his face, the one in the shape of a certain letter. Oh, how it stood out, swallowing his vision whole, the mark of the Joker.
The Jokers laugh cut in once again. “Let’s not fall out here, Bats! I might have told you a teeny, tiny lie…” Bruce’s mind was sharply telling him to shut up, but he appeared from behind Jason’s large form, moving in front of him. “But c’mon, look at the boy,” he exclaimed while ducking underneath Jason’s outstretched arm while he circled Bruce. “You did good. We did good! You should be proud,” he smiled the same smile that crawled around in his brain at night. Bruce was practically scratching at the walls of his mind, pleading for Joker to get away from him, to leave Jason alone.
“What’s the matter,” Jason taunted, “Lost for words? I expected more… I’m hurt.”
“Holy fuck.” King murmered, an octive so low their words could hardly be comprehended.
Bruce didn’t know what to say. “Joker sent me the film… I,” he fought a voice crack, “I saw him kill you.”
Jason’s nose flared, “Don’t you dare lie to me,” he shouted, moving forward and emphasizing his threat with a pointed movement of his gun. “How long did you wait before replacing me? A month?”
“No…” Bruce whispered.
Jason angrily persisted, ignoring Bruce’s denial, “A week? I trusted you… and you left me to die!”
“Jason… no,” Bruce started.
“You always told me, Bruce. Focus on what I want to achieve and it’ll happen. Well, you know what I want now, huh,” He moved forward. “I want you dead.” He shoved his gun underneath Bruce’s chin. Bruce reacted before he could think, slapping away his gun and slamming his head into Jason’s, followed by a mechanical hiss. Jason stumbled back for only a moment, before he reached into his holster to take out two more refined firearms. He angrily shot forward before regaining his surroundings. Bruce was gone. He breathed hard, anger seeping into every muscle of his body. “You can’t hide from me,” he shouted. “I will hunt you down!” The gun in his right hand whirred, elongating to form what seemed to be the upper receiver of a sniper rifle, his other gun forming into a long barrel and snapped onto the other piece with ease.
“Holy shit,” Dick breathed over comms, “He’s got two pistols that can turn into a sniper?”
“Noticed,” Bruce grunted, looking over from his new hiding spot. Jason looked around for a moment, a noticeable scowl forming onto his face before he ripped off the outer visor and once again covered his face, this time the helmet forming the faint shape of a skull. He grappled away, his form exactly like Bruce’s, just the way he taught him.
Neither of the three knew what to say, not knowing how to even comprehend such a horrid situation. None of them knew how to begin to address it, to question how he might had been alive. A beat of silence offered no moment of clarity or explanation. “So,” King started, offering some ease to the air, “Jason’s alive and hates you. Fantastic. He’s taken a sniping position up on that ledge. His guns are good, really good. I’d say you have four shots before it kills you.”
“Four?”
“Yes, Gray, four.” They turned their attention back to Bruce, fingers lightly tapping over a keyboard, “I’ve highlighted all suitable hiding spots and ledges, they’ll be your best shot at Jason.” Bruce grunted, slowly moving over and peaking out of his hiding spot. “Also,” King started again, “I’m going to look at the photage Joker sent to us. I never ran it through a check before because… in any case, I’ll have that soon.” Bruce didn’t get to reply because in a split second, he ducked back under, a shot whizzing above his head.
“Aww, what’s the matter? Can’t look me in the eyes?” Jason smirked to himself before shouting, “Come on!”
“Your goal is to not get shot at, Bruce.”
“Bruce, let me take it from here,” Dick grumbled. “Look a little behind you, to your left.” Bruce did so, eyeing a subtle ledge out of Jason’s sight. Without another word, he grappled onto it. “If you can get down to the platform by gliding when he even glances away, take the chance.”
Bruce eyed Jason for a long time, patiently playing the waiting game that he had taught Jason so, so long ago. A memory flitted to life. His bright eyes pierced his mind, his devious smile as he sat and watched Bruce stare right back at him. Jason managed three hours before finally becoming restless; his mood brightening when Bruce took him to get ice cream afterwards. Bruce’s eyes almost clouded with tears, so he sank back into his emotionless front.
Just like two years before, Jason grew tired easily, his eyes flickered in another direction and Bruce took the opportunity. He had no time to glide; he fell down, silencing his landing when his cape caught the air.
“Nice,” Dick commented. “All you have to do is make a run for it, get underneath him, grapple up, and take him down.”
“You sound too sure,” King added.
All three of them didn’t say anything afterwards, a silent acknowledgement that Jason was too tough to go down with one on-the-fly plan, but Bruce sprinted forward all the same. Staying directly out of his sight, he slid under his position and grappled up to the ledge he stood on. Bruce easily caught him by surprise, grasping the barrel of his gun with one hand and his forearm in another, he moved in a blur. “Jason,” his voice stern and cold, “I can help you!”
Jason grunted from the struggle, “There’s no…” another grunt, “Helping me!” He fired off a shot, causing Bruce to let go while Jason fell below, setting off a smoke bomb.
“King!”
“Getting a read, Bats.” King clicked a few times while Bruce’s vision quickly recovered. “He’s gone. On the other side of that wall.”
“How do we get behind it, sis?”
As if Dick had timed it perfectly, the wall suddenly flew up, revealing a longer sector of the room, and a shot flew past Bruce. He quickly fell, rolling to a stop, and moved behind a wall. He noticed drones; two of them, and Jason perched on another ledge. Bruce already knew what to do, he synced his bracer to his remote hacking device and scanned.
“I got it. Blinding it now.” King said.
Jason cursed under his breath, “You’re not the only one with sidekicks, Batman!” The drone quickly recovered and shot at Bruce, taking him by suprise. He easily rolled out of the way, barely dodging another shot from Jason as he ran to find cover. He silently hoped King would read his mind with both drones now shooting at him, feeling the painful shock of the bullets bouncing off his armor. His blood spiked, he was panicking. Bruce Wayne was panicking. All the thoughts of wanting to save Jason and save Gotham at the same time sent shockwaves throughout his entire body. He continued to run, dodge, roll, anything he could do to stay a step ahead of a swift death. He almost took another shot from Jason when King finally managed to regain the controls of the drones, silencing them. Bruce tried to calm his own heart rate, his own composure was slowly crumbling away. He had no time, no breath, no thoughts. He stayed under his newfound cover of a concrete blockade.
“Do you even know what he did to me?” Another shot whizzed above Bruce’s head. “The games he used to play? This is mercy compared to what he put me through.”
Bruce did his best to ignore Jason as he once again pondered his surrondings and saw the highlighted grates. Grates meant good cover, good cover meant an easy route to get to Jason. Good, he was thinking clearly again. “King, can you buy me any time?” King responded with something about how they practically owned time, he didn’t listen, and moved the drone to a shooting position. Jason was quicker, he shot at the drone before it fired, releasing another shot at the last drone to send it tumbling to the ground with a loud snap. Jason was fast, much faster than either of the three remembered, but Bruce managed to use the distraction to get into the grates, crawling through the narrow vents as he tried to get the image of a broken and bloody Jason out of his mind. Once he deduced that he was in a suitable position, he silently shuffled out of the grates, taking his time to not make a single noise. He looked up, seeing the perfect window of opportunity to grapple up, bursting through the glass, and managing to land right in front of Jason. “Joker got to you! I know what it’s like!” Bruce tried, struggling to match Jason’s strength as he tried to wrestle the gun away from him. He was so much stronger than he remembered, the thought threatening to send him back to memory lane.
“Don’t pretend to understand!” Jason shouted every angry insult he could think of during the battle for the upper hand. Bruce almost let out a sob thinking about losing Jason again to the madness of his own mind, but Jason quickly managed to break an arm away in Bruce’s moment of weakness, setting off another smoke bomb that stunned Bruce, once again disapperaing.
“Dammit,” Bruce muttered, grappling off to a more clear ledge. He looked around; Jason was gone again. No taunts, his thermal scanners didn’t pick up his signature. He almost wondered how Jason could get away that quickly, but he remembered that he taught that skill to him when he was young. When he was just a boy, a boy who didn’t deserve to be thrown into a never ending war, dragged into the depths of the darkness where Batman had dwelled for years. He once again blinked, trying to settle his mind back to the situation at hand.
“Bruce, did you hear that?” Bruce said nothing, so King continued. “He’s emotional, vulnerable.” Bruce nodded in understanding. He had used vulnerability in the past, manipulating others' sorrows to get what he wanted, his reasoning always leading back to the justice of Gotham. He could do that to Jason, who was already broken and fragile. He could hurt him more, scream everything Bruce thought about himself to Jason to enrage him. He already had hundreds of plans in his head on how it could go.
But he could not bring himself to do it.
“Another plan, King. Now.”
“Shit, then,” King grumbled. “Alright, I have an idea that builds off of the last one.” Bruce listened carefully as he snuck around the various obstacles, illuminated by the soft glow of the moon as he moved through to the next sector, everything perfectly captured by the skylights. “I could hack onto his comms, connect him with you, or me. It might be enough to talk him off of the ledge.” They paused, “I have so many things I want to say to him.”
“Me too.” Dick quietly chimed in.
Bruce gave it a thought as he rolled from one position of cover to the next, searching for any signs of Jason’s whereabouts, quickly and quietly knocking out the few militia that roamed. After dragging a body to a spot out of sight, “Don’t hurt him,” Bruce said in a low whisper. Neither King or Dick spoke for a moment, taking in the idea of Batman, Bruce Wayne, showing emotion. Bruce couldn’t help it. He felt the cold facade crumble into tiny bits, slowly wearing away the more he thought about Jason.
King finally responded, “I wouldn’t dream about it, Bats,” they flatly said.
“Do it. Dick, get me Jason’s location.”
“On it.” He proudly exclaimed. His search only took a few seconds. “Uh…”
“What?” Bruce breathed out harshly.
“It says… shit! It says he’s above you!”
Bruce didn’t even register what he said as a large weight brought him face to face with the ground, a few bones popping as he went down. Jason quickly got off of him, kicking him in the same spot he had shot Bruce in that sent his vision to straight white. Blinded, he tried his best to roll over, but Jason was quicker. He straddled Bruce, one hand squeezing his neck as the other pummeled his face, angry grunts following directly after each punch. Bruce struggled weakly to force Jason’s hand off of his throat - when he suddenly stopped trying. He didn’t know what was happening to him, he felt as if he almost deserved the pain. He wanted to shoulder all of Jason’s pain. He would rather take thrice the suffering Joker brought upon him then see Jason like this, fist beating the near life out of him, tears building up in his eyes. He heard faint calls of his name over the comms, no doubt Dick trying to bring him back from the corners of his mind, but he didn’t care. It was almost as though this was Bruce’s version of peace, as if he didn’t deserve any better.
“Jason?” A clear voice cut into Jason’s helmet, stopping his punch in mid-air. He frantically looked behind him, then around him. He stood off of Bruce, grabbing his sniper and aiming it wildly around the place.
“Who fucking said that,” Jason shouted with a newfound, deeper anger.
“Do you remember me?” King asked, voice weak.
Jason stumbled backwards slightly, giving Bruce enough time to recover, whatever that meant in his condition. He tried his best to sit up, gripping his neck in pain. Jason trained his gun on Bruce’s movement, but King cut in again. “It’s King, Jay. It’s your friend. Do you remember me?”
“Kingsley?” His gun drooped downwards, staring off into space as Bruce got up, still holding his side and wipping away the blood oozing down his lips. Jason almost seemed in a frantic daze, “What are you doing… where are you? Are you safe?”
Bruce fought through the ringing in his ears and his body’s pleas to stay down, somehow managing to stand up. As if Bruce managed to get a grip on Batman’s persona once more, he shot forward, sweeping Jason off his legs with a swift kick, and grappled away to a safer position with the distraction. He heard Jason roar with anger as he fell out of sight. “King, you’re working with him!” Jason’s visor once again lit up, searching for Bruce with a new ferocity. “You traitor! You were supposed to be my friend!”
“I am your friend, Jay, but this? This is all wrong. You’ve gotta stop.”
“Stop?” He was practically screaming at this point. “How long was it before he stopped looking for me? How long before he gave up on me!”
“He never gave up on you. It took two years, Jay. We convinced him to give up the search, but never on you. He was starving himself, he never slept…”
“No! Stop lying to me!” He shot in no paticular direction. “I can still hear him! He is still in my head, he’s laughing and it’s all his fault! Joker ruined me to spite you, Bruce!”
“Jay, I’m so sorry.” Dick cut in.
“And you! I was just your fucking replacement! Could never live up to the brilliant Dick Grayson’s legacy! Always in your damn shadow!”
Jason continued to shout into his visor, when a message flicked on Bruce’s own screen.
You’re connected.
His breath was once again caught in his throat. He tried to breathe out slowly, thinking about the words he would say to Jason. He thought about begging for him to forgive him, to tell him that he was all that gave him hope and laughter, the small moments with him gave him such a calm and happy demenor. Like he himself, Bruce Wayne, was happy. He couldn’t stand another minute reliving the moment where all of his joy had been stripped away for those long, long two years, the very second he had died. He gulped and cleared his throat. “Jay?”
Jason stopped shouting, his face flickered in confusion, then rage. “Where are you, you fucking bastard! Come out here! I promise I’ll make you suffer,” His voice ended in a growl.
“Do you remember what we did for your thirteenth birthday?” Jason stopped every movement in its tracks, Bruce continued to peer out from behind the railing he was hiding behind. “I took you to a baseball game, do you remember that? You went through a nine month long baseball phase, we were always playing catch instead of training. You almost wanted to become a baseball star instead of Robin…”
Jason’s angry scream cut through the air. “Don’t call me that! That’s not who I fucking am anymore!” He flailed around, aiming for anything in sight.
“Do you remember the time I let you drive the batmobile and you almost crashed it into the river? You wouldn’t stop telling King and Dick the story for weeks.”
“Shut it and come out and fight, old man!”
Bruce exhaled a long held breath, moving to come out from his hiding spot. Jason immedaitely trained his gun on Bruce, his hands in the air and slowly moving towards him. “Jason,” he started, “I just want to tell you the things I wanted to say when you went missing.”
Jason gave a dry and sadistic laugh, not moving his gun. “What? Finally gonna tell me that you wanted me to suffer? That I was a sacrifice?” Jason shot at Bruce, and he let it hit, chipping into his armor that covered his shoulder. Bruce didn’t even flinch as he continued to move towards Jason. “The Joker made me hate you, and you fucking let him, Bruce!” His voice was cracking.
The walls continued to pick, pick, pick down.
Bruce continued, almost unphased by his words. “I want to tell you that you’re all that brought me joy for so long.” Bruce took a step forward, Jason taking one back and firing another shot that ricocheted off his stomach, the two of them locked in something of a step off. “I want you to know that I am shattered because of what happened. I tried so hard just to protect you but I failed.” Jason fired off another shot, this time hitting him right on his bat symbol. “I can only think about all the times I swore that it would be okay. I’m nothing but a liar.”
“Stop!” His voice broke, “Stop talking to me!” He threw down his gun and sprinted towards Bruce, tackling him.
That was it. The walls were down, emotions flooding his mind as every thought hit him at once. He had just heard Jason, who he truly admired for his strength and endurance, scream at him with all his willpower to be quiet. When his voice cracked in anguish, Bruce felt his heart split in two, but he kept going. He stood up, weakly blocking Jason’s half hearted punches. “I know I put you through a nightmare,” Jason swung again, a cry scratching to rip out of his throat. Bruce quickly dodged and pushed Jason away. “I caused you so much pain.” Jason tried once again, giving the loosest punch of the night. Bruce moved to the side, only slightly, and gripped Jason by the shoulders before moving his hands to wrap around his head. “I took you for granted. I’m so sorry, Jason.”
“You did this to me!” Jason flailed against him, hitting him with almost no force. Bruce ripped off his visor and aggressively cupped his face, forcing Jason to look at him.
“I love you, Jason.”
Jason scoffed, tears rolling down his cheeks. He tried his best to form a coherent sentence, his face flashing from anger to sadness over and over again until he finally broke down in a sob, his knees giving out. Bruce was there to catch him, bringing him into a tight embrace as he felt his own tears escape, slowly dripping onto his mask.
“You left me to rot in that abandoned wing of Arkham for over a year! With him!” His fingers dug into Bruce’s armor with enough strength to leave small indentments as he buried his face in Bruce’s chest.
“I know. I’m sorry,” Bruce shushed as he lazily combed over Jason’s unkempt hair.
“You left me. I always feared you would.” His voice was now strained, soft and broken.
“Jason, I’m here now. I’m never letting you go again.”
Jason seemingly nodded against his chest, but he didn’t know why. Jason just knew that he had finally felt comfort in Bruce again, the flame of anger subsiding for only this moment. “I thought you’d finally be the dad I’ve been wanting.” Jason almost scoffed to himself, but he couldn’t over his tears. “I was young and dumb. Maybe I’m still dumb for thinking that.”
Bruce shook his head, a soft smile gracing his lips. “I’d be a lucky man to have you as a son.”
Jason finally huffed out a happy sigh, but it soon faded away. “I can’t forgive you, Bruce.”
“I know,” he said softly.
“Can we try again anyways?”
Bruce didn’t verbally respond, only tucked him in even tighter. Jason smiled against his chest, the soft beat of his heart through his layered armor lulled away the voices in his head that barraged him for not getting his revenge. He didn’t care. He never knew this was the closure he needed.
Bruce knew it would be a long road to recovery for Jason, for them. He expected the screams, the yelling, the punching. He expected Jason to let his anger out on him every day until he wore himself out. He knew how long it would take Jason to forgive him, if he even could, and yet he could only mumble the same prayer over and over again as he clutched Jason tight.
Please let me keep my son this time.
Bruce said he works alone so the universe said let's kill some parents make a bunch of orphans and make em this guy's problem. Oh and let's make the Fox kids and the Gordon girl justice seeking goody two shoes and also make em his problem just to piss him off. Oh and let's not forget the clown girl the plant the assassin the cat the crocodile the mudpuddle and the riddleboy. Bruce looking up at the sky thinking about how much he hates his life.
Years after he's old and alone with his dog chilin finally getting his peace and quite then Terry walks in. Bruce looks up at the sky again and starts screaming bloody murder.
The Rogue Files: How Ivy Got Her Name Part 2
A clown girl raised her hand while jumping up and down enthusiastically. "What about Poison Oakie" and Eddie's whole face dropped in a way that reminded Pam of Saturday morning cartoons. "what about no Harley" and in response Harley crossed her arms and pouted which Ed easily ignored and continued with the matter at hand. Edward would eventually dismiss the group of rogues on the grounds that they were not helpful and utterly useless (his words). Ed sat with his back aginst the wall, hugging his knees deep in though when his head popped up in triumph. "I know" he jumped up and grabbed Pam by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "Riddle me this, I have a kiss of poison and a name like Ivy, who am I?". "What" Pam was definitely confused. "You, kill people with a poisoness kiss correct?" He was smirking again. "Yes" and Eddie continued "and your last name Isley sounds Like Ivy". Ivy was still confused "and" while Ed just stared at her blankly. "This is the part where you put them together Pam" Ivy rolled her eyes "Poison Ivy I like it". Eddie posed triumphantly tbr smirk on his face growing bigger. Ivy chuckled as Ed put his arm around her shoulders. "I can tell were gonna get along just fine". Those words seemed so Ironic now.
Batfamily as actual things my family has said: Part 2
~
Stephanie: Cass isn’t just my best friend, shes my baddie from another daddy
Jason: . . .
Stephanie: Oh dear god why did I say that
~
Duke: What’s wrong with Tim?
Damian: The idiot took NyQuil instead of DayQuil by accident but refuses to sleep because he’s got work in an hour
Damian: He’d probably be fine if he hadn’t taken twice the recommended amount too
Damian: He’s gonna pass out any minute, wanna watch with me?
Duke: Hell yeah
Duke: Tim! How’s it going dude?!
Tim: I CAN SMELL THE RAINBOW
~
Dick: I’m really not that sunburned
Barbara: lobsters aspire to achieve that color Dick
Dick: At least my skin actually has color
Barbara: It’s not my fault I’m translucent!