On fridays I try to recommend at least 10 fics around a central theme. Currently I'm doing Batfamily fics as that's what I'm into right now but I'll branch out eventually to include other fandoms.
I'm starting to get quite a collection of these so I though it was about time to make a masterpost linking all of them for everyone's convenience before the amount I'll have to link at once gets out of hand lol.
Batfamily Fandom
Specific Family members:
Dick and Tim Brotherhood (Tim Drake, Dick Grayson)
Tim and Jason Brotherhood (Tim Drake, Jason Todd)
Tim and Jason Part 2
Tim and Damian Brotherhood (Tim Drake, Damian Wayne)
Bruce Wayne and his Emotional Support Robin (Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne)
Tim and Cass being Siblings (Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain)
Duke Thomas is a Wayne (Duke Thomas, Batfamily)
Dick Grayson-centric Recs
Good Dad Bruce Wayne Recs (Bruce Wayne, Batfamily)
Themed Rec Lists:
Batfamily Shenanigans (general Batfamily focus)
Young Justice Recs (Tim Drake, Kon-El Kent, Bart Allen, Cassandra Sandsmark, other Young Justice 98 members)
Batfam Valentines Special (romance fics centering around a Batfam member and various partners including TimKon, SuperBat, etc)
Civilian Tim Giving The Batfam Heart Attacks (Tim Drake joins the Batfam early, late, etc)
Cryptid Batfam (The batfamily either being actual cryptids, mistaken for them, or acting like it)
Batfamily meets the Justice League (Justice League members, batfamily members, identity reveals)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Janet Drake who is willing to crawl back out of her fucking grave and wrap her hands around Jack and Bruce's throats if they even dare to hurt her fucking baby.
Jack who for just a moment after all the bullshit of Robin and everything else going on with Tim thought about it. Could almost picture striking his son, maybe it would teach him something. Only for shiver to travel along his spine, a shadow crossing the corner of his eye, a noise so primal it set every one of his teeth on edge.
A predator was waiting. Letting him decide his fate.
He backed down.
Bruce the very man that has made Gotham tremble has never been so terrified as the day he pushed Tim in training and he didn't get back up.
Alfred who swooped in to comfort Tim.
Bruce who couldn't even move his very body frozen in fear, he could feel it pressing down on his throat. He woke up the next morning covered in bruises a distinct hand print on his throat, for the rest of the month he heard what would sound like heels walking the halls everytime he dared to go within a foot of Tim.
Jason has he hunting Tim through titans tower, a foot of space about to be cleared only to feel a power like no other wrap around him. Throwing him clean though the wall. As soon as his eyes shut a nightmare so traumatizing he refused to explain what happened to Bruce. He never again tried to hurt Tim.
Janet Drake who even dead refuses to leave her baby alone. Who spent almost 36 hours bringing him into this world and will be damned if anyone tries to take him from it.
Everyone on the Wayne family learned to never leave a single mark on Tim or else the noise of heels will follows them until she is appeased.
So, the other day, when I was discussing AO3's policy on solicitation, a tumblr user came at me saying that AO3's "no monetization/solicitation" rules were "bullshit" because nexus mods allows fan created mods to get paid.
Look at me.
Look at me right now.
AO3 protects you.
AO3 protects you and your works.
It protects your works from copyright strikes and DCMA takedowns.
It protects your work from advertisers.
It protects your work from overzealous legal challenges.
It protects your right to post adult content.
AO3 is non-profit and AO3 will never try to use you or your work to make a profit for themselves and AO3 will go to bat for you if someone tries to legally challenge you or your works.
I’m a long time member of fandom and I’ve been writing and reading it since I was 12 years old on Livejournal and fanfiction.net. In those days we’d be hit with mass deletion of fan content, authors trying or threatening to sue websites that hosted fanfic, and ff.net suddenly deciding any fanwork with graphic violence or sexual content was unacceptable and just banning anyone who didn’t delete it off the site. Ann Rice hated fanworks so bad she convinced/threatened ff.net into removing all fanfic of her work and agreeing to not allow any new fics featuring her intellectual property from being posted for years.
It was such a scary time to be in fandom that fic writers started adding disclaimers to every story in hope it would help them avoid getting sued.
When AO3 and the Organization for Transformative Works were created it was such a relief. Finally we had an archive where we could post and share fics without worrying about exploitation, censorship, or legal threats. We had an organization that fight for our right to create and share fan content. We have someone fighting to protect our stories from being stolen by companies who want to use it for generative ai. Don’t take this protection for granted. Support the site any way you can. We do NOT want to go back to the bad old days.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Hi! Not sure if you're searching for input on fic fairy friday but what about a collection of when the jl discovers the existance of the batclan/ batman's children?
Thank you so much for giving me a new theme for fic fairy friday! I had a lot of fun revisiting these fics to make the list. Feel free to suggest a theme anytime!
@graziegraziella asked me to do fic fairy friday where the Batfam meets the Justice league for the first time. Excellent idea! So here you go, I actually have enough of these already bookmarked to do a second part sometime lol. Sorry for missing the last few fridays, btw, I'm dealing with some stuff and also working on my novel.
Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans. I know things are really hard and scary right now but please hold strong and keep resisting. We'll get through this together.
For more fic rec lists please check out The Fic Fairy Friday Masterpost
Monolith by CharlesWaterloo
Summary:
Diana realised with a jolt that none of them had actually asked him how he knew Batman. And she was just as curious as the rest of them about the “we”. It implied Batman worked with more people. ‘How did you come to know Batman? Does he have any other friends?’
His mouth fell open, and he snorted, which evolved into full-out laughter. ‘I’m sorry. Oh my god - friends?’
Diana felt a little hurt on Batman’s behalf. ‘Are you not his friend?'
He shook his head. ‘Did B really not say anything? I’m hurt. No, I’m not his friend. I’m his son.’
(An AU where the Justice League haven't met any of Bruce's kids.)
Momo's Notes: This is the first fic I think of when I think of this trope! It's technically unfinished but each chapter is essentially a one-shot and this fic covers the JL learning Bruce has kids and meeting all of them so I think it's finished enough to include. I love the WFA vibes on this one, btw! Also bonus points for busybody!Diana. That woman is DETERMINED to get all the hot goss.
To Rescue a Bat by Blueseabird2
Summary:
Batman gets into a situation during an alien invasion and could use a rescue. Unfortunately, Dick and Jason don't think the Justice League is up for the task. At all.
So Dick lets the League know that he will be handling the situation and to expect Batman back by the end of the night. He even promises that he won't be going alone. No one should stand in the way of a Batfamily rescue, even if the Justice League doesn't know there's a Batfamily at all.
Momo's Notes: I love this fic. It's mostly in Jason's pov with a short foray into Dick's later on. The brotherhood and loyalty between Jason and Dick in this one is just chef's kiss. The Batfam are such badasses here. Bonus points for all the Robins still having their own teams but still having no one the wiser that they're in any way related to Batman lol.
Secret Visitors (on the Watchtower) by TheWitchBoy
Summary:
The Watchtower was the same as it always was. With an exception.
A kid.
Clark couldn’t quite wrap his head around that.
A kid.
In front of him.
On the Watchtower.
How did a kid even get on the Watchtower? How had no one noticed?
Momo's Notes: This one is short but has the rare quality of being a 'Batfam meets the JL' set during Tim's initial Robin run, when he was still just the neighbor and before Jason came back. Dick is aged down a bit, making him 19 instead of the 22 he was in canon. Bonus points for mentioning Tim's perpetual bedhead between the ages of 13-15 lol. I love that Clark takes one look at 19-year-old Nightwing and is basically like "That's a baby. Why is a baby on the Watchtower?!"
Security Updates by Jazz020
Summary:
Hal, Clark, and Barry find an unexpected guest playing with the watchtowers security.
Vacation at the Watchtower by Jazz020
Summary:
A continuation of Security Updates
It may have been a mistake to let Tim stay at the Watchtower while he heals from his injury but the kid really needed to get away from his brothers.
“Wait, what if I go to the Watchtower with you.”
“I don't think-”
“It’ll be great. I'll even help out if you need me to. I'll be the best unpaid intern the Justice League has ever had.”
Momo's Notes: This two-parter is cute and WFA coded. Tim is delightfully sassy and hypercompetent gremlin, Bruce is honestly a good dad that in no way can control his flock of birds, and the JL are in no way ready for any of this lol.
pin the blame by ashenice
Summary:
“So, you're the one who named the Batmobile,”
Nightwing opened his mouth, then closed it. “Who told you I named the Batmobile?”
“Uh, Batman?”
A grin split out on Nightwing's face. He leaned in. “I’ll tell you a secret,” he said conspiratorially, “B lied to your face,”
“What?”
“I named the Batcomputer and the Batarangs,” he nodded towards where Batman was currently speaking to Superman. “The car? That’s all his doing,”
“Oh my god,” Barry whispered.
(Barry Allen goes on a quest to figure out who named the Batmobile. There isn't a single Bat who will give him a straight answer)
Momo's Notes: This fic is a lot of fun lol. Barry had no idea that Batman had a family. Apparently, most of the Justice League DID this know this but they didn't see fit to share that fact with him, Hal, or Shazam. Finding out BATMAN of all people had kids leads him down a rabbit hole trying to figure out who named the Batmobile but in true Wayne fashion the entire family takes the opportunity to fuck with him.
Undercover by InvalidStuff
Summary:
Jason is working undercover when he gets kidnapped by the Justice League. Batman is off-world which leaves his siblings scrambling to find him. While he has to figure out how to not get sent to Arkham and keep the existence of the batfamily a secret from the league.
Or, Jason annoys the league and learns he's important, Dick being the aggressively protective older brother that he is, Tim being a casual badass, and Damian living for violence.
Momo's Notes: Poor Jason is having a TERRIBLE day in this one. Everything that can go wrong, does. Now he's being held prisoner by the Justice League who have no idea he's Batman's kid, several of them aren't acting like themselves, he's injured, Batman isn't available, and his siblings are ready to fight god barehanded if it means getting their brother back.
NA NA NA NA Batdad! by nightwalker
Summary:
The irony of Batman having that coffee mug was amusing. The thought of Brucie Himbo Trainwreck Wayne owning it was hysterical. Ollie took a quick swallow of coffee to push back a laugh. “I like the coffee mug. A friend of mine has the same one.”
Momo's Notes: Short and wholesome. Green Arrow is one of the first to discover not only Batman's identity but that he's a damn good dad, too.
little brothers and chilli dogs by bleesknees
Summary:
Tim gets gravely injured while on a mission. Luckily, wanted criminal, murderer, and mob boss Red Hood is there to save him, but due to an unfortunate mishap involving copious amounts of glitter, the Batcave’s medical stores have been destroyed. Instead, the closest emergency supplies are one Zeta away—in the Justice League’s Watchtower.
Momo's Notes: No one knows who Batman or the other Gotham vigilantes are, only that Batman, Nightwing, and (Red) Robin work together. So they are understandably alarmed when wanted criminal Red Hood somehow breaks into the Watchtower with a profusely bleeding Red Robin in his arms. This is one of the rare 'Batman conceals his identity even from the JL' fics that have him continue to be very careful about who finds out rather than just revealing it to everyone at once.
The Waynes, Damsels in Distress by hitthedeck
Summary:
Roses are red, violets are blue, Bruce Wayne and his kids get kidnapped every other week. Some things are just universal, undeniable facts of life.
Or, in which Bruce Wayne is still Batman and his kids are still Robins, but they keep letting themselves get kidnapped because they think it's funny.
Momo's Notes: I love this fic, it's so unhinged. The JL and some of the Titans meet the Waynes in their vapid public personas with no idea that they're also the badass heroes they've known and respected for years. The Waynes take full advantage of this opportunity to be as annoying as humanly possible. I also recommend reading the rest of the series since it has more unhinged shenanigans such as Jason "haunting" the watchtower and Tim fighting a magical invasion with the power of self-destruction. It's so much fun.
like i’d love for there to be people who recognize that jason’s incredibly valid and normal anger comes from his trauma and not from a magic pit, while also understanding that bruce was not abusive, but unfortunately batfam fans can only hold one good take in their brain at a time without exploding
yeahhhhh there’s a lot of over exaggeration of Bruce’s mistakes when regarding Jason. In the end I think the “abusive” title really depends on three things:
What you’re considering canon
what you define “abusive” as
and if you’re saying there’s special circumstances becuase a relationship between a vigilante mentor and mentee is a different thing than a father and son. Which it is.
and yeah. The whole “Jason was only murderous due to the effects of the pit” makes me pretty upset. He had a right to be angry over many, many things, and while a murderous rage definitely isn’t the way to go with that, it’s also understandable. And writing it off as the Pit is both dismissive of the wrongs done to him and erasure of the darker sides of his character—and if you’re erasing that, then you don’t truly like Jason Todd. You like what you make him into, and that’s not the same thing.
All of this exactly. Jason is my fave little guy and I love characters who express their trauma through anger, but people will fall either into the camp of depicting Bruce as evil OR Jason as brainwashed and controlled by the lazurus pit so they can have an easy solution to welcoming him back to the batfam. The more interesting answer is neither Jason nor Bruce are the villain, they’re just two people who hurt each other deeply and won’t compromise. And obviously there’s a bunch of nuance to it, but no one wants to explore that.
People aren’t actually a fan of Jason they’re a fan of an archetype they’re trying to squeeze him into bc anger as a trauma reaction is unliked.
There’s a lot of idiots in the fandom, I’ll give you that. I blame a lot of this on the percentage of fans who aren’t willing to actually explore the characters beyond what is presented to them at face value??? There’s a frankly depressing amount of people just here because Jason’s hot, or they dig yhe anti-hero vibes. Which, sure. Do whatever you want. But don’t give your opinions on characters or write long posts about them or fic’s exploring their actions if you’re not willing to acknowledge that the blacks and whites are more grey than anything else; and nuance exists in all characters, even ones you first interpreted as horrible or wonderful. You can like a character without editing the lines of their code to conform to your ideas of what they should be. And if you CAN’T, then you don’t truly love that character, and you have no place writing about them.
take me for example—on here, 90% of my content is crack incorrect quotes. Because it’s funny. And I like it. Every so often, I’ll be in the mood to write something more realistic or angsty, and that never gets nearly as much attention as my other posts—which means that I am, in a way, feeding the image of Jason being a carefree, kind, unburdened man with a good relationship with all his family members. But that’s just not the truth; and if I were to write something REALISTIC—a fic, a long post, something like that—I would not characterize him that way. Because there’s a difference between a crack post and a fic which I feel needs to correctly represent a characters actions and motivations and feelings. I think one of tje biggest problems with this fandom is that there’s not a lot of people willing to acknowledge that difference, becuase acknowledging it would mean facing the fact that they don’t truly like Jason Todd—they just like the version of him they see theough crackposts and comic strips and everything that paints him in a good light. Same with Bruce, but in the reverse—too many people are so used to the Bruce hate they see in the Jason fan circles that they refuse to see any sort of minced view on him or his actions.
And this is not to say that Jason is never happy or carefree or on good terms with his family. But there are different versions of Jason who have gone through different things, and Tumblr Jason is not one of them. That is a facade made up by the fandom on here, built mostly of WFA Jason combined with Under The Red Hood Bruce—which, for many obvious reasons, is the absolute worst combination possible.
Okay, I respect all of your opinions on Jason and Bruce but also think you're being kinda unfair in saying that people who think Bruce is abusive or who believe in Lazarus Pit effects are fake fans.
People believe these things because the comic writers make it REALLY hard to believe otherwise sometimes. When they have Bruce hitting or beating his children or playing mind games with them. No matter what definition of abusive you're trying to use Bruce's mind game on Tim's 16th birthday was wrong and damaging to both Tim's psyche and relationships. Bruce lashing out at Dick, punching him and kicking him out because he was grieving is not okay. Bruce getting angry and beating Jason into the ground is not okay. There is never an okay excuse for hurting your loved ones.
Is that ALL of Bruce's character? No. And it certainly isn't who Batman is SUPPOSED to be but there are so many examples of writers using flimsy excuses to make Bruce an abusive parent in the comics that it's really hard to ignore. If you want to ignore these out of character writing choices the DC writers made and focus on Bruce as a flawed but loving dad? You have that right. That is also a valid interpretation.
And as for Lazarus pit Jason? The DC writers seem to have a special kind of disdain for the character. They keep writing him like a two-dimensional villain doing things that are completely out of character so some fans headcanon a reason for out of character breaks like this:
Can YOU think of an in-universe reason Jason does this generic villain shit? Or why he tried to kill Tim again in the Battle for the Cowl? Or why some writers choose to make Talia and Ra's straight up evil in a way they were never intended to be? You can point to racist writing out of universe but how do you explain it IN universe? You can pretend those events never happened, that's a valid option, but chocking it up to temporary Lazarus Pit madness starts looking viable, too. Certainly Batman comics have suggested long-term mental effects of Lazarus Pit use. It's not a perfect solution, but it's the least messy option and some fans can run with it to make interesting drama and storylines.
Do you have to subscribe to it? No. That's kind of the beauty of the Batfamily comics fandom. Theres' been so many comics of varied writing quality over the years that you can pick and choose what you do and don't believe (the same as the comic writers themselves do!) and it doesn't make you a bad or fake fan. Someone's take on a character may not be to your taste, but that's okay! Feel free to write fics, make art, or just share your opinions! There's always going to be someone happy you shared!
Can we please just agree to leave the "if you don't see this character the way I do you're a fake fan" discourse behind please?
Ok I have some more bat lore / comic questions that may or may not have relevancy to future chapters or future fics. In no particular order:
What offensive capabilities does the Robin motorcycle have (and does it have a specific name)?
How does Tim meet Kon and the other core four?
How does Tim’s whole training with lady shiva thing go down?
Do we ever see what Dick was up to on the off world mission he was on when Jason died?
I included links to where you can read or glance over the comics I'm referencing for free if you want to, btw! Feel free to ask me anything if you have more questions, I love this stuff lol.
What offensive capabilities does the Robin motorcycle have (and does it have a specific name)?
The Robin Motorcycle (it doesn't really have a special name, though it's occasionally called the Robincycle) is essentially a Robin-themed Batcycle, so it has all the capabilities of the Batcycles. These days all of the Batfamily members have one painted and styled to match their vigilante persona. They're designed first and foremost for high-speed chases and the pursuit of criminals so they're extremely fast and agile with jet boosts to jump over obstacles, additional grapple lines to grab onto any vehicles they might be pursuing, trackers to tag a vehicle and follow them, communication equipment and computer (Dick once left a Batcycle at Babs' place and it annoyed the heck out of her broadcasting a message for her to call Dick Grayson), can produce smoke clouds to conceal itself, has autopilot, can stop itself if riderless, and usually has some backup equipment to replace what they use in the field. It handles just as well off-road as it does on-road. I'm kinda surprised Tim never gave it a special name since he called his Robin car Redbird and even had a tricked-out skateboard with jet-boosts called the Redboard.
I don't know of any comics-specific offensive abilities beyond that, though the games and movies have certainly taken the idea and run with it. Usually if they need a vehicle with more firepower they'd use one of the cars or planes. Knowing the Bats though, if you want to add things to their cycles like spike strips to take out tires or rocket propelled nets or whatever it wouldn't be out of character. Comics writers tend to add whatever gadget is needed for that issue to their vehicles or belts anyway.
How does Tim meet Kon and the other core four?
Tim first meets Kon in Superboy/Robin: World's Finest Three. Metallo (super dangerous Superman rogue, a huge robot with a human brain and a kryptonite heart) decides Gotham is a safer target to focus on than Metropolis so he attacks while Batman and the Justice League aren't available. Tim knows he can't take it on alone so Alfred suggests he call Superboy, instead, since at least Tim would have an Super helping him. Kon is living in Hawaii at the time (being taken advantage of by a conman and groomed by adult women ugh), when he finally gets the message Robin sent and rushes to Gotham to stop him. Eventually Superboy takes out Metallo and then Robin returns the favor by saving Kon from Poison Ivy when he was an idiot and kissed her. Kon was hot-headed, stubborn, and way too focused on his looks and girls. Tim was obsessively serious, focused, and no-nonsense so the two fought like cats and dogs at first lol.
He met Bart in Robin + Impulse when he was on a mission to recover some stolen military computer at a ski resort. He went with some friends and Alfred under the cover of it just being a trip with his friends and Bart was already there on a class trip. At one point Robin was pinned down and about to be killed by gunfire so Bart zooms into costume and back in time to save him. Tim immediately recognizes him as being Bart by how big his feet and floofy his hair are lol. They track the bad guy down to an old military base where he hacks into NORAD and orders a nuclear strike on Russia. Tim saw the password for the computer was a combination of 3 numbers, 2 letters, and 2 numbers but not which ones. They only had a few minutes but Bart was able to superspeed through trying all trillion combinations and land on the right one.
Tim, Bart, and Kon teamed up for the first time in JLA: World Without Grownups when all the adults in the world are wished away and they have to team up and figure out what's going on and how to save the grown ups. The boys worked really well together and decide to camp out in Mt. Justice, the old abandoned headquarters for the JLA and Bart comes up with the name Young Just Us as their team name since this was the only place they could just be themselves without all the disapproval or expectations of their Justice League mentors.
Tim, Bart, and Kon all met Cassie in Young Justice #4 when she, Arrowette, and Secret all joined the group. Cassie had a huge crush on Superboy back then and when Secret (A girl Tim, Bart, and Kon had previously saved from government experimentation and lied to the Justice League to protect in Young Justice: The Secret) asked for her help getting to Robin, Superboy, and Impulse she jumped at the chance to meet him. Once there, though, Secret revealed that the group that had imprisoned and experimented on her had a bunch of other kids, too. She'd found where they were keeping them and asked for their help freeing them. Cassie agreed to help and Young Justice: The Secret Files #1 is them going on that first mission together.
Afterward, well she was new to being the 2nd Wondergirl after the legend that is Donna Troy passed the name down to her and feeling like she didn't measure up. Being with a bunch of teens who ALSO felt crushed by the pressures of being a teen hero in the shadow of their predecessors gave her a place to belong. And she still had that embarrassing baby crush on Kon lol.
How does Tim’s whole training with lady shiva thing go down?
Comic: Robin (1991)
It was just after his mom died and his dad was in a coma. He felt like he wasn't good enough to really be the partner Batman needed. Bruce set it up that he would study with one of the martial art masters he'd studied with, a man named Rahul Lama. He wanted Tim to learn empty-handed combat, meditation, and healing. Tim only got to spend a few weeks there before he ended up saving the life of an man name Clyde who was about to be beaten to death by a gang called the Ghost Dragons. The gang was run by a man called King Snake who's known as the most dangerous man alive. Lady Shiva is one of the most deadly fighters on the planet but she's constantly searching for someone good enough to fight and kill her. She was hoping King Snake would be the man good enough to do it and was investigating him to try and set up a 1 on 1 battle when she spotted Robin saving Clyde. He was rough and needed a lot of work, but she could see he had immense potential and recognized him as being Batman's newest partner. She used to be a part of the League of Assassins and is one of Batman's original teachers (though he never could beat her) and she decides to take Tim under her wing in hopes that THIS student could be the one that surpasses her.
They find out that King Snake has a manufactured plague and is out for their blood for interfering. Tim, Clyde, and Shiva go on the run together while trying to track King Snake down together. Shiva offers to train him and Tim knows he needs to be way better if he's going to take on King Snake or his gang so he accepts. She has Tim choose a weapon to learn and because the Bo staff was the least lethal option, that's what he chose. The first time he beats her he does it by being clever. He cut a hole in the top of his bo so it whistled when he swung it and it distracted her just enough to give him the advantage. During this time he also learns to fight without relying on his eyes. King Snake is blind and likes to face his opponents in completely blacked out rooms where they'll be off-kilter and he's in his element.
When they finally face King Snake, Clyd runs off to confront him alone and is dead by the time Tim gets there. Tim beats King Snake in the pitch-dark room using his whistling staff as a distraction. King Snake is dangling off the edge of a 50-story building and Shiva demands Tim kill him. Since Tim is her student, her weapon, his kill is still hers and it will be the next step in his training. Tim refuses but doesn't interfere when Shiva kills him herself. Tim finds out from an undercover officer about a shipment King Snake sent to Gotham and he's there to intercept it. He then takes up his place at Batman's side
The entire time all this happened Batman, Dick, and Alfred had no idea Tim was in danger. They all thought he was still safe in Paris with Rahul Lama lol. In true Tim fashion he only gives a report after the fact. Shiva shows back up occasionally still calling Tim her "little bird" to test him and make sure he's still living up to being one of her greatest students and always hoping this time she can convince him to fight hard enough to kill her. He beats her every time using his brain rather than pure martial skill and always refuses to play by her rules but he does respect her a lot. At times during his training she was almost motherly, calling him 'little bird', brushing his hair out of his eyes, and almost gently trying to get him to not be "naive" about the world. She's weirdly more motherly with Tim than she is with Cass, her own blood daughter.
Do we ever see what Dick was up to on the off world mission he was on when Jason died?
Not in the Batman comics, but yeah. Just before Jason found out that the woman who raised him, Catherine, wasn't his birth mother his friend and teammate Donna Troy (The original Wonder Girl and one of the OG Titans) was going through the New Teen Titans: Who is Donna Troy? storyline (I can't for the life of me remember which issues this all started in but it was during the New Teen Titans run.). Donna was an orphan who had no idea of her own past but during events with the Titans she found out some information that she could find out who she was and where she was from on a planet called New Chronus. Since she and Dick considering each other to be siblings in all but blood and he's a damn good detective she asked him to help her investigate her origins. Jason called and left messages for Dick, hoping to ask for advice before Dick left, but he'd already left Earth and didn't return until a couple months after Jason died. He had been close enough that Bruce COULD have contacted him and told him what happened and he'd have rushed back to attend the funeral, at least. But Bruce was so caught up in his own pain that he never even contacted him. Dick found out his brother was dead and he'd missed the funeral by months second hand when he landed.
It's kind of a horrible irony that Dick and Bruce were doing the same damn thing (helping a loved one investigate their origins) on opposite sides of the galaxy. The difference is that Dick always put the people he loved before duty so he was there for Donna when everything went wrong. Bruce left Jason with his birth mother Sheila to go be Batman for a bit and it got Jason killed.
I need to share this new emotional trauma with my fellow Batfam fans. Sorry not sorry!
I just discovered The Outsiders musical and this song (Little Brother performed by Joshua Boone) SCREAMS Dick Grayson after Jason’s death to me. Cracking apart at the seams, blaming himself, and spiraling quickly. These lyrics especially:
Little brother
Sorry I failed you
I could not save you
No, I can't even save myself
Little brother
They cannot hurt you anymore
And they cannot take any more from me
If I ain't got you
Then I ain't got nothin' else
With Jason's death, Bruce entirely rejects Dick and kicks him out. With Bruce goes Alfred. Dick's little brother died but he lost his entire family AGAIN. Dick was nearly as suicidal as Bruce during this period, hallucinating Jason and just generally spiraling in grief and guilt (Bruce blaming Dick for Jason's death before kicking him out did NOT help). Tim Drake coming in saved both Wayne men's lives so he thankfully didn't go out like Dally does during his grief-fueled crashout but it was a close thing. 😭
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
🎤 THIS IS A REMINDER THAT ALL OF THE ROBINS ARE SMART, GENIUSES IN FACT. THEY ARE IN A FAMILY OF DETECTIVES. THATS LIKE THEIR WHOLE THING. ALL OF THE ROBINS (AND THE REST OF THE BATFAM TOO) ARE CLEVER, STRATEGIC, AND CAPABLE, NOT JUST TIM. (No hate to my boy Tim, though. I love Tim.) YES, EVEN THAT ONE. Thank you. 🎤
i think this happens because often, batfam writers focus on (and unintentionally or intentionally inflate) the relative distinctions between robins, forgetting the massive similarities between them. these characters are way more similar than they are different, but that mostly comes out when they're not interacting with each other *taps sign* :
This also goes for their skill as fighters. So many people point to Dick or Cass and their overwhelming skill at fighting and then try to say that Tim (and Duke and Steph) is super weak. ALL of the Batfam are extremely strong fighters. Tim has beaten Shiva THREE TIMES while Batman admits he still hasn’t legitimately beaten her in a fight ONCE. Add to that you can’t evaluate Tim as a fighter separate from his genius. He can’t turn off his brain and just fight with pure physical skill. Duke can’t turn off his powers. Steph can’t turn off her unpredictability. All of those factors work together with their frankly terrifying amount of training to make them VERY dangerous fighters on par with the rest of the family.
Tim, Duke, and Steph are amazing fighters.
Jason, Cass, and Dick are great detectives.
Damian and Bruce have emotional intelligence.
PLEASE stop condensing these complex characters down into pigeonholes!
"It seemed to roar from thirty years of frustration, confusion, denial, love, yearning...yearning for what? An anchor. A harbor. A sense of safety. A sense of identity. Yes, I can relate. Yes, this is terrain I know well. I felt Batman rising from deep within." -"Finding Batman" by Kevin Conroy (from DC Pride 2022)
In memory of Kevin Conroy, I'm reposting his story in his own words. We were so lucky to have Kevin share a piece of his soul with us through playing Batman for over thirty years, and his loss is heartbreaking for an entire generation who grew up with him as our Batman. I'm incredibly grateful to have lived in a world where he got the opportunity to play that role for us for so long and in so many different productions. RIP to a good man, a legend, and one of the most iconic voice actors of all time.
I had no idea that Kevin Conroy was gay or had struggled through the things he did. It’s fitting to run across this during pride month. Thanks for sharing this OP. I think a lot of us in the community relate to the struggles Batman and the Robins go through. Most of us struggled with who we are, who we love, and how hostile the world is when you’re different.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I like to think of Tim and Damian as the Batfamily artists. (In my mind Cass dances, Jason writes, and of course Dick is an amazing performer but I’m referring to traditional visual arts you’d view in a gallery) but in entirely different styles and mediums.
Damian’s love of art is expressed through capturing fleeting moments. He sketches, uses markers and color pencils, and even carries around an urban sketching kit for quick and loose watercolor paintings. He loves capturing motion and life, his cat sunning itself, Dick mid jump, even bold watercolor sketches of Batman mid punch. He spent so long hiding his own emotions or dissecting everyone else’s that he just wants to express and capture them for his own enjoyment now. A moody pen and wash because he’s sad or bright bold pops of color with markers to capture Jon’s joy. The family still argues over what idiot gave Damian paint pens and spray cans and taught him about graffiti but he’s tagged most of Gotham and half of Metropolis at this point. Some blame Duke and Jason, some Dick for always indulging Damian’s less serious side. No one ever guesses it was Tim. Tim was SO very proud of Damian’s bold protest art that showed up all across the front entrance to city hall overnight.
Tim’s mediums of choice are VERY different. For artistic expression his first choice is always his camera. Tim is able to take the most stunning photos that leave his audience breathless. Partly for the drama and action in his shots and partly out of terror because there’s no way Tim was able to take that shot while holding onto anything but his camera while hurtling through the air over a firefight! What the hell Tim I can see the reflection of that gun’s muzzle flash on my helmet’s lenses! How are you not dead?! How did I not fucking SEE you?!
His other medium is oil paint. Tim loves the precision and planning in his painting. The only original paintings he’ll make is the occasional formal family portrait for Bruce when he asks. No, Tim discovered his love for painting when Bruce sent him to learn about art forgery during his training days. Tim fell in love with the half art, half science of it all. He loves figuring out how to match the chemical fingerprint of 16th century paint, to copy it so exactly it would take 10 years before someone realized it wasn’t decaying at a rate consistent for the authentic historical paint. He loves studying the techniques of great masters until not a single brush stroke can be found to differentiate them. Mostly he makes his forgeries for his own amusement or to study how a forger he’s investigating did theirs.
Secretly though, he’s done a couple favors for a few people. Selena has approached him a few times for a replacement to put in some rich, dangerous man or other’s private collection so the original can return to the countries they actually belong to without a blood bath. Constantine has also called in a few favors so he can burn a possessed/cursed painting or three without museum curators pitching a fit that he “destroyed a priceless work of art, you maniac!”. Bruce pretends desperately that most of his Robins are not a hop and a skip away from a successful and fulfilling lives as criminals. It helps him sleep a bit better at night.
THIS! Damian was a murder baby for such a short time! And even on his second attempt to kill Tim back in Red Robin (2009) he was lashing out because of fear. He knew how respected Tim is in the hero community and especially in Dick's eyes. He was terrified that Tim would get him kicked out of the family and sent back to the life of violence and murder he'd only just realized he didn't want anymore. He was too young and too unfamiliar with Tim (and Dick) to realize they'd never do that to him.
For all that Tim rivals Bruce on genius, social skills, and detective skills it's Damian that is the actual mini-Bruce. He has his physical skill, his lack of social skills, and most of all his deep well of compassion. Damian loves so deeply that he repeatedly tears himself apart and re-builds himself into whatever he thinks the people he loves want him to be.
This kid adopts every animal in trouble he sees, he was the FIRST to help the We Are Robin movement, and he has a habit of stealing his big brothers' stuff (like Hood's helmet, Dick's shirts, and Tim's jacket and hoodies) because he wants to be like them and feel like he belongs but doesn't want to admit it. He reads shoujo manga full of romance and magic. He's thinking about following in Thomas Wayne's footsteps to become a doctor. He's an amazing big brother figure to Lizzie Prince (Wonder Robin).
THIS is the kid people are calling a terrible and dangerous person.
