Love TimBernKon bc usually ships have opposing dynamics but with those guys it’s just
Bruce: Why pouting?
Clark: You had a kid and you didn't tell me.
Bruce: I had plenty of kids. You need to be more specific.
Clark: You had a kid of your own, and you didn't tell me.
Bruce: Are you making differences between bio kids and adopted kids? 'Cause I have some big news for you, alien boy.
Clark: You had a son with Talia al Ghul.
Bruce: Listen, it was an accident-
Clark: Are you telling me you just happened to get Talia al Ghul pregnant?
Bruce: You knocked up Lois!
Clark: We were engaged? She's not my arch-enemy?? I didn't keep it from you???
Bruce: Hey, cut me some slacks! I was a bit shocked! I mean, how would you react if you found out to have a secret child with Lex Luthor?!
Clark: *nervous laugh*
Bruce: ???
Clark: What an odd choice of words...
(BRB gonna use this dialogue in my Superbat WIP)
Context: While out shopping Barbara was kidnapped by Talia Al Ghul's men and taken to where the Lazarus pit is. Talia says it's a fun girl's trip, but Babs knows the side effects of the pit and is not about to be pushed in.
Barbara (stopping her wheelchair before Talia could roll her to the Lazarus pit room): I'm not going in there.
Talia: Why would you pass up this offer?
Barbara (arms crossed): Jason Todd, you, Ra's Al Ghul, and that one time you put Bruce into a coma and tossed him in, assuming you could convince him to love you. And what happened after that?
Talia: We… both went insane, and I almost killed our tifl. But that's in the past, he's better now, I'm sane now.
Ra's (smoking): Never got my thanks for that.
Talia: Father! - Look, Barbara I'm not even killing you—just pushing your chair into the pit.
Barbara: I'm good. I'd rather get robot legs than end up in the pit.
Ra's Al Ghul (siding with Barbara): Contact me if you want me to set you up with that, but she still said no fifty times, Talia! Can you send her away already?
Talia: Father, stay out of this! Barbara, think about what regaining the ability to walk would do for you. You could finally be with Nightwing.
Barbara (grossed out): Oh God, why would you wish that upon me?! We're not like that anymore!
Talia: Seriously?
Ra's: He's with the orange woman now.
Talia: Aww, I was secretly rooting for you two.
Barbara (glaring at Talia): I'm definitely not going in there now. You're not about to insult me and then push me into green slime.
Talia (in denial): You know what? You need some time to think this over and agree to it. I’ll leave you here in this gorgeous tea room and return in twenty minutes. I know you’ll make the right decision. Father, keep watch of her.
Talia exited with a graceful stride, not allowing Barbara to get a word in or continue to refuse her offer. Ra's pulled out his cell phone and handed her an older-looking iPhone.
Ra's: His number is in this phone; he’s labeled "Ahbil."
Barbara nodded, took the phone, and hit the button to contact Bruce's number. Bruce reluctantly answered the unknown call, as his night job often led to strange calls like this.
Barbara: Hey… Bruce, it's Oracle.
Ra's: We don’t need to go by codenames; I know your name is Barbara.
Barbara: Private call, Ra's!
Bruce (confused): Why are you calling me from an unknown number?
Barbara: Talia kidnapped me and is offering to push me into the pit so it can 'fix' my disability, and when I say "offering," I mean she will not let me leave until I agree to it.
Bruce (shocked): What?
Barbara: Yeah. She said I’d be fine, which is a crock of bullshit. I've seen what the pit does to people; Jason has told me. I made it clear I’m not doing that. She said I have no choice unless you come to save me.
Bruce: She said I… And you’re stuck there—God damn it, Jim is going to kill me!
Barbara: Yeah, he might actually shoot you if I end up going crazy, or at least arrest you. She’s not stating it, but this seems to be a mix of good intentions with bad thinking, and she wants you back. Think you can be here soon?
Bruce: Yeah. I’ll text everyone and we’ll be headed there in a few hours. Tell her I’ll be there and that you won’t be wheeled to the pit until we get there. Do everything you can to avoid being pushed in!
Barbara: I will try my best; the mad king next to me is actually on my side with leaving, so he might be able to help.
Ra's: I’m… going to let that one slide because you called me king.
Bruce: I have to deal with Ra's—that just dawned on me. This is ridiculous, but you're my friend, and Jim will kill me if I mess this up. That guy sees me as his friend, and I can’t lose that!
Barbara (chuckling): Men and their weird friendships. Just hurry up.
Bruce agreed and ended the call while Ra's poured himself and Barbara some tea.
Ra's: He’s coming?
Barbara: Yes… your daughter is thirsty for a man who doesn't want her. She’s intelligent and all that, decent mom, but she is thirsty.
Ra's (agreeing): I have no idea where this insanity came from.
Ra's coughed from years of exposure to the pit as Barbara rolled her eyes.
Batfam meets the Justice League fic idea where it's actually just Oliver Queen in Star City attempting to hunt down Red Hood (who isn't even there doing crimes actually, he's just visiting Roy, but Ollie doesn't know this) except every time he tracks him down, he finds another costumed vigilante (Read: Batfam) attempting to get his help for something.
And like, Ollie recognizes them, of course. Because isn't that Nightwing? Nightwing who is actively on the Justice League? Why is he asking an infamous crime lord to come home for dinner?
And then, a week later, he's tracking down another Red Hood sighting and.... that's Red Robin. He's in charge of Young Justice, isn't he? And he just fought Red Hood in an alley and then stood up like nothing happened and bugged him for intelligence on a case he's working, and Red Hood gave it to him?
And it just keeps going down the list until Ollie's at his wits end and partially convinced that a handful of vigilantes on various teams, who he can't for the life of him think of a way they might be connected, might actually be corrupt and working with the mob, then he (begrudgingly) follows reports of another sighting of Red Hood and... that's Batman, arguing with Red Hood but not actually fighting or detaining him, so Ollie sneaks closer and listens to the conversation and... it's the dinner thing again. Family dinner, he hears a few seconds later, and someone named Agent A would really like it if Hood came home for a few hours.
Ollie leaves that situation somehow far more confused than when he started, and he was already extremely confused.
Roy is fully aware that this is happening the entire time and is having the time of his life.
-at a justice league meeting in the midst of a very very stressful few weeks for Batman where everything has gone wrong, alfred is on vacation, and Bruce has not slept in days-
Batman: -outstandingly still coherent, lays out an extremely detailed plan on how to take down the Villain Of The Week- Any questions?
Nightwing: -slowly raising his hand from across the table-
Batman: Yes?
Nightwing: So... in all of this planning did you block out time to go pick up Robin from school like you said you would, or do you want me to do that?
Batman: ...
Nightwing: I'd say we could just let walk home alone, but the last time you did that, we found him trying to dismantle a section of the Russian mafia about two hours after he was supposed to get home.
Batman: ...
Nightwing: And he gets out of school in -checks wrist like he's wearing a watch- ten minutes, so you might want to make a decision soon.
Batman: ...Fuck.
Year of the Dragon!
Batman (shouting, adopting an angry father voice): Why do you constantly make me angry and embarrass me?!
Nightwing looked at his brothers, who wore equally confused expressions. Batman groaned, his frustration evident, as he knew where this was heading.
Nightwing (waving his hands, exasperated): Batman, which one of us are you talking to?! Is it Red Hood?
Red Robin (pointing at the angry man, eager to deflect): It’s Red Hood, right?
Red Hood (denying, arms crossed): No, I don’t embarrass him. I annoy him! So it’s Red Robin, right? Because nobody likes him.
Robin (joining Red Hood's side, smirking): I agree!
Red Robin (spiteful tone, glaring): Oh, no, I know who it is. It’s the unwanted child, isn’t it?!
Robin (innocent, eyes wide): Why would you say that about Nightwing?
Nightwing (confused and defensive): What?!
Red Robin (pointing, voice escalating): No, I was talking about Robin Jr.! He knows I was!
Robin (shouting, angrily): Robin Jr.! Those are fighting words you knock off Timothée Chalamet!
Without warning, Robin pounced onto Red Robin's back, and they both tumbled to the ground in a flurry of limbs. Meanwhile, Nightwing and Red Hood started arguing, their verbal sparring quickly escalating into a physical altercation. Nightwing skillfully gained the upper hand, wrapping his arm around Red Hood’s neck in a headlock.
Batman sighed, feeling defeated, as he and Jim Gordon watched the bickering brothers. Jim couldn’t hide his amusement, much to Batman’s chagrin, a migraine already forming at his temples.
Jim (smirking): Hm, you know, I often forget you have like four or five kids. Which one were you referring to?
Batman (deadpan, rubbing his temples): All of them… All of them.
Jim (nodding, chuckling): Yeah, that tracks. Let them work it out of their system.
Batman (walking away, shaking his head): I usually do.
Jim (intentionally annoying the man): Hey, be thankful one of them isn’t a serial killer.
Batman (groaning, exasperated): Oh my god, it’s not a contest!
This started out as a “draw high tech gear based on the dragons” study but then one of my friends said it looks like a Big Hero Six AU and I couldn’t get it out of my head.
Would you ever expand upon your joker junior thoughts more? I think that was such a well written idea and would love to hear what else you think about it
Oh my god yes. 100000% YES!
That post before was more of an idea vomit, didn’t cover all of what I thought, so I’m happy to hear someone wants to hear more.
So, JJ’s always been a tough convo for Tim. Obviously. But it’s not just because of how traumatizing the Joker can be, or about the shocks and psychological torture. It also reminds him of a grim time in his life. With Bruce still going through the motions post-Jason’s death, and Dick frequently spending all his time in Bludhaven, he hadn’t been watched much. Save for Babs, ofc.
That’s actually why they’re so close. She’s much more emotionally competent thanks to her dad, lol.
JJ wasn’t only a big thing for Tim, but for Gotham too. In a place like this, it wasn’t hard for whispers from the Joker’s men to travel to civilians and cops. Everyone knew why Robin was nowhere to be seen. Everyone knew why Batgirl looked the way she did, agitated and worried. Everyone knew why the cops searched that same warehouse over and over, never allowing anyone inside.
Which was also why no one was happy to see Nightwing, very obviously the first Robin, return after yet another sabbatical in Bludhaven. Of course, that stopped a little after everyone collectively realized that, oh crap, he doesn’t even know!
This begins a collective effort by the more clear-minded people of Gotham to NOT disclose anything JJ related. There has to be a reason, right? No way were they going to force Robin #3 to disclose anything he didn’t wait to. It didn’t hurt that a year or two later, a mysterious figure named Oracle began effectively making every news article or picture related to JJ disappear.
Everyone holds their breaths for the next few months. What if what happened to the second Robin happened to him? What if he was too crippled to go back out?
As the Batfamily grows bigger, it becomes way clearer that Robin #3 hasn’t said a WORD. Not even after they grow closer, when the screaming and murder attempts and arguments cease. He doesn’t say a word, so no one else does either.
Tim goes to great lengths to medicate himself against any variant of Joker venom or gas. The familiar smells just… bring things back to the surface.
He tries not to act like Jason whenever the Joker gets out of Arkham. It’s already hard for everyone to hold him back from killing the monster. Jason doesn’t need some second-rate copy of his trauma trying to get sympathy. Unlike Jason, he didn’t die. He didn’t come back differently, or lose footing on his life, his job, whatever.
It would just be better if Tim acted as aloof and concentrated as he always did. Not make a big scene, and follow Batman’s orders to a T. No need to worry anyone.
Honestly, the only reason no one notices the literal war going on in this boy’s head is because he doesn’t want to cause a scene.
Oh, and if you’re wondering what he says when one of the bats finds him the next night, still avoiding them…
Yeah, he full on denies EVERYTHING. Looks whoever it is, Jason, Steph, Dick, straight in the eye and says that what they saw was fake. Edited. Something to threaten Bruce with years ago. Tim just ran because…because…Anyway, he’s fine. Don’t worry about Tim Drake. He’s fine.
Babs groans over the comms when everyone hounds on her to tell them everything. Like hell is she gonna tell them a single thing until she has Tim’s full permission.
Batman may claim to have no powers, but Green Lantern knows better. He’s convinced that Batman’s cape is sentient.
Green Lantern has observed it on quiet nights in the Watchtower, when Batman thinks no one’s paying attention. He releases control over his cape, letting it unravel and float menacingly around him in different directions. It moves on its own, sweeping across nearby surfaces, carelessly knocking over items.
There’s one thing Green Lantern knows for sure—Batman’s cape has a sweet tooth. Every time Batman passes the candy bowl, it’s mysteriously emptied.
Even stranger, it seems to influence other capes. Once, while Batman was talking to Superman, their capes briefly touched, and Green Lantern saw Superman’s cape come to life—swirling and fluttering as though it had a mind of its own. Superman, unfazed, didn’t even react to the way their capes were flapping erratically around them. Green Lantern was relieved he didn’t have a cape.
He told the others about his theory, but they were skeptical at first. They eyed Batman’s cape with suspicion as he was distracted by a mission briefing with Wonder Woman. But even the Flash had to admit Green Lantern might be onto something when Batman’s cape swiped their feet out from under them, sending them both tumbling to the floor.
Martian Manhunter nodded sagely and agreed on its intelligence, having felt the minds of four little beings flitting around underneath Batman’s cape. Maybe one day they’d feel comfortable enough to run underneath his cape too.