"So does this mean I'm like... adopted?" Danny asked as he looked over the documents on the table before him.
"Oh honey, as far as we're concerned you're our flesh and blood!" His mom was quick to reassure him, "Though legally speaking... yes."
Danny frowned as he read through and reread the papers, trying to reconcile the information found there with the story he'd been told. A story about a younger version of his parents, who'd had his sister and decided they were ready for another child but were struggling.
After multiple failed attempts, they sought out a fertility specialist and learned that their years of exposure to hazardous materials had compromised their ability to have children. The fact that Jazz was born first try and without complications was a miracle. A long series of medical records and doctors notes showed all the tests they went through trying to find another way to conceive, culminating in a positive test result for Maddie's ability to carry to term. With renewed hope, they began to research IVF treatments and donors. Unfortunately, they couldn't afford both an egg and sperm donor as they hadn't yet found someone willing to invest in their patents. Not willing to give up, Maddie took to browsing online forums for advice from people who had been in her position. It was there she learned that, similar to organ donors, people who have their embryos frozen can sign a consent form allowing their stored embryos to be donated in the event of their death. This was the lead they were waiting for.
Another couple who had also been struggling to conceive had six embryos prepared and were successful on the fourth attempt, leaving two behind when they passed away. Having signed the consent form, those two embryos had been kept in stasis waiting to be donated. With a confirmation that they were compatible, the Fentons wasted no time in setting up an appointment. The first didn't take but the second did. They took every precaution during the pregnancy, this leading their decision to start wearing hazmat suits even while outside the lab, and nine months later the Fentons were welcoming their second child to the family. At this point in telling the story, Danny had been handed two matching documents; the donor profiles the clinic had given his parents all those years ago. There were no pictures, and information like surname and address had been redacted out of privacy, but they held the health screenings and physical descriptions of a couple named Thomas and Martha.
"Nothing has to change Danny," His mother stated, "We love you so much and are so proud of you, biological child or not."
"That's right Dann-o!" His father jumped in, "The only difference is that now you know."
Danny looked at his parents, then to the documents, then back to his parents before asking, "So why are you telling me this now?"
"It was never something we meant to keep from you. And now that you're sixteen, we felt it was the right time," His dad said.
"And," His mom added, "We felt that, if you wanted to have a relationship with your biological family, you should have the chance to find them." She then placed a box on the table, an AncestryDNA kit. "We never had any means of contact to let them know you were born and services like this didn't exist back then. It's okay if you don't want to, but we felt you should have the option."
Danny studied the kit before nodding to himself with determination. "No matter what some DNA kit has to say, you're my parents. You've been there for me my entire life, I'm not going to replace you with some strangers who share blood with me. But.. I would like to know them."
Secure in his decision, he proceeded to complete the DNA collection and send out the test with help from his parents. In a little over a month he would receive his results. He was nervous to find out if he had grandparents or siblings but, a little selfishly, relieved that he wouldn't have to worry about meeting his biological parents. He knows he's old enough that a court would let him choose where he ended up but he doesn't want to think about what would have happened if his bio parents were alive and decided they wanted to fight for custody. That just made him feel guilty though. He should feel sorrow for the parents he never got to meet, and he does, but if they had lived, would they ever have gone back for him? Would they eventually have decided they wanted another child or would he never have been born, forever in stasis as the world went on without him?
He shoved those thoughts away, not wanting to dwell on them. He doesn't need to worry about 'what if's, they didn't happen after all. This is how his life played out and he wouldn't trade it, his family, and his friends for anything. Now he just has the opportunity to add some new people to that group. Until then, it's back to his normal routine while anxiously awaiting his results.
Later, in a cave in New Jersey far below the surface, an alert would flash on a high tech computer.
So I've read and am obsessed with a lot of your fics. I still have a lot more I absolutely need to read. But I am most obsessed with stately raven that's for certain. To the point where I have definitely spent hours pondering what things might look like in the future of the fic and also doing the fandom typical "au version meets another version of the batfam" which I know is an exercise you've also done.
I'm a huge fan of compounding on the world people do for fics so all of this is of course just my own thought exercise based on your writing, figured you would like to hear about it.
I figure since it's a batdad au the liklyhood of Jack eventually hitting the streets to do a little vigilantism in some manner is probably inevitable. As if he already isn't up to vigilante level nonsense just trying to survive on the streets with the holler (which btw, also obsessed with them. Like so much you have no idea)
I was thinking about how you said how important it was to Jackson that the bat is something other which absolutely makes sense, it's comforting but also not something he can hold onto after finding out about Bruce (besides being impressed with Bruce's ability to change so wholly when he's The Bat). But it also makes me really wonder if in a possible future of stately raven, that The Bat would remain something more like an urban legend in a way, people will eventually find out he's real for certain. But I wonder if he would continue on being assumed non-human with the addition of Jack being around. Because that would bring some level of comfort to jack or (mostly just because Jack thinks it's really impressive). Jay going out to help The Bat and being just as much something other if not more. Really driving home the belief the gothamites have that The Bat isn't Human and now there's more things like it around too. Maybe Jay even really playing up the inhumanity (but not in a way that reads ghost, he doesn't need to be ghostly, he's some secret third thing don't you know?). He already has a raspy quiet voice, sharp teeth and his holler already calls him a gargoyle and vampire. I don't know if he would take a name himself as a vigilant if he hits the streets in that manner at all or if gothamites would just come up for something for him, but considering his last name is already Raven he's probably going to end up with a bird name if he does, theming y'know.
Jay out on the streets moving like something out of a kids storybook and putting the fear of the unknown to use because well, The Bat gets less scary if you know he's a Man and what a better way to keep showing the bat isn't human than for him to be associated with something else non human.
And from there I just went okay wouldn't it be hysterical for a typical fanon batfamily to meet The Bat and Jay (and maybe even a younger Dick if Bruce still ends up taking him in with this timeline) but this version of the Bat is still very much the Quiet thing hunting Gotham with this even more cryptid resembling first sidekick. And Robin, as Robin because well, nothing could ever stop him from wearing the flying Graysons colors but maybe his costume would also have some slightly more disguising of human features. I definitely have thought way too much about all this because I'm obsessed with the world you've built and I haven't even really scratched the surface of all my musings here.
WAOW no way has it been--
*checks watch drawn on wrist*
--too much time since you sent this? yes, yes it has!
This ask singlehandedly inspired me to draw Jay for the first time since I made the au.
as for my response...
I figure since it's a batdad au the liklyhood of Jack eventually hitting the streets to do a little vigilantism in some manner is probably inevitable
oh for sure! Jackson/Danny may be severely traumatized from the nasty burger explosion and borderline disdainful of his own powers/ghost half most days, but he can't fully erase his need to aid others.
We talked about it before in DMs after i accosted you shortly after you sent this ask, but Jackson, upon entering the Gotham vigilante scene, is likely to not take a combat-oriented role, but more of an informant one; utilizing his connection with the other street kids and their communication network, and his place on the ground, to ferry information over to Batman about criminal movement.
Since, much love to Bruce, he's not living in Crime Alley/impoverished areas of Gotham, he can't see or hear everything that's going on there. Jack's living on the streets and keeps in contact with other street kids, so they know where activity has spiked, and can avoid it and take different routes when running around.
From a watsonian perspective, Jackson's doing this from various self-preservation angles and because he doesn't actually want to step back into the hero scene. The resulting trauma from the Nasty Burger explosion has left him scarred, physically and psychologically, he is wont to avoid anything that may explicitly remind him of hero work.
(Which doesn't mean he's not capable of convincing himself in a roundabout way that whatever he's doing isn't hero-work; just helping someone,,,)
For the doylist reason: I think it'd be fun to explore a different avenue of heroism for Danny, since he was the dogfight-type of hero; wherein he could fight the enemy, win, and everything would be fine after. Which was a method that worked for Amity since ghosts were an outside combatant.
But since Gotham's issues are structural, coming in, taking everyone on, and knocking them out won't work. Jackson or Batman take out one group without forethought, and those people will just be replaced. Or released. It's like trying to stop a wound without cauterizing it; it doesn't actually do anything other than briefly slow it down.
So Jackson would need a more discreet hand if he wants to help Gotham. I think it'd be a fun writing skill to exercise.
But it also makes me really wonder if in a possible future of stately raven, that The Bat would remain something more like an urban legend in a way, people will eventually find out he's real for certain
That's the plan! I love the Batman mythos and urban legend surrounding the name, and I want to preserve that as much as possible, for as long as possible. There's something greatly appealing to me about people believing that something or someone is supernatural, even though it actually isn't. The theories and lack of confirmation is a huge part of the intrigue.
And a weird quirk a I have over it, is that it's specifically important to me that Jack and Bruce remain human despite everyone thinking otherwise.
The appeal of the batman mythos is strongly because of Bruce being just a human man tricking everyone into thinking he's not, and it applies to Jackson too despite him no longer being fully human. the cognitive dissonance is an important aspect to the ruse.
Something, something.... the dehumanization of one's humanity imposed by the self and reinforced by the whole in Bruce's case, and dehumanization imposed by the whole and reinforced by the self in Jay's.
I don't know if he would take a name himself as a vigilant if he hits the streets in that manner at all or if gothamites would just come up for something for him,
My idea for Jack's vigilantism is that he, for a good long while at first, pointedly refuses to acknowledge anything that he is doing as vigilantism or herowork; this is just giving the Bat an extra boost as thanks for its attempts to help Gotham. He knows what it's like to keep a city safe! (Or try to)! He knows how hard and exhausting it is! This is just,,,, an extra helping hand. And if he can spit in the faces of the criminal underground while doing it, then even better!
So I don't see Jackson actually naming himself, since he'd consider that as making it "hero-ish"/offically hero-ly, and implies that he was seen or discovered by someone and confronted. Which is the last thing he wants.
Since he's an observer, Gothamites + the underground likely don't know about him for a while, so they appoint it as a freaky ability of the Bat's, and rumors spike for a good few weeks or months. The revelation that it's actually something else will have to come with the Bat revealing it himself (unlikely) or Jackson getting caught spying. Or a slow, creeping revelation as the collective conscious come to understand that there's a second player in the game.
(and with it, a new wave of fear as folks realize that there is now a new little beast reporting back to Bat like Odin's crows.)
Nothing quite as bone chilling as realizing that a devil you know is better than a devil you don't.
And from there I just went okay wouldn't it be hysterical for a typical fanon batfamily to meet The Bat and Jay (and maybe even a younger Dick if Bruce still ends up taking him in with this timeline)
Batman growled under his breath, "what did you w-word for?"
"That I wasn't the only hero around."
"Dude," said the other kid in the room, "That's what I wished for!"
"And you are?"
"Oh, Ben 10. The universe got destroyed and I had to put it back together, but I kinda wondered if the job would be easier with more heroes around."
"It sucks being the only one, right?"
"Wait, so who's responsible for this?" cut in Wonder Woman.
"Me," they both said, "wait what?"
"Dude, you're a cartoon in my universe," accused Danny.
"That's what I was gonna say!" countered Ben, "You're-! ... wait."
"I could have sworn I knew your name."
"Me too."
The two looked at the Justice League.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure you guys were comic book characters," recalled Ben, "I should know your secret identities, but..."
"You're drawing a blank too?" guessed Danny.
"Yeah. Weird."
"Comic books," cut in Cyborg, "we're comic books?"
"Yeah... I think you're a cartoon actually," recalled Danny, "but I don't... really remember."
"Wasn't there a cartoon about a half-ghost kid?" recalled Spider-Man, "On Nickleodeon."
"Did you read any other comic books?" asked Invincible.
"I watched a few shows," figured Danny, "but how can we tell which universes got merged?"
"Differentiating the universes involved in the merge will be difficult," Bulkhead pointed out from the comm-screen , "as time goes on, we will forget that they were ever separate."
"Guess we'll need to get used to it," figured Bubbles.
I've seen many stories about Danny reincarnating in the DC universe, and I'd like to wonder how Danny would impact his personality if he were reborn as Bruce Wayne.
Or would it impact the story, like if Danny were born Bruce Wayne for some reason because Clock told him to take a vacation?
And he is born and goes through Bruce's happy life until the fateful day at the theater that may or may not happen?
Or, instead of Danny being reborn as Bruce, his soul kind of enters Bruce's body on that day because on that day the original Bruce passed away along with his parents.
I love your writing; it makes me feel a little happier.
Ooooo, may I propose another idea; Bruce Wayne gets shot hismelf the day of the theatre incident, he was going to die alongside his parents but something else happened.
His heartbeat is fading, his eyesight blurry and spotted, his body numb and heavy, he can feel his blood pouring out from his wound right at his heart, where the bullet it.
He takes a wheezed breath, closing his eyes and embracing the inevitable.
Then it happens.
His body freezes, his breath is cold, his heart feels like it’s been electrified, his heartbeat going from one beat away to pounding like he’s gotten off the world’s worst rollercoaster. He feels energy curl around something in his gut, something that wasn’t there before.
Bruce’s eyes snap open, and in the reflection of the puddle of his own blood, he can see them glowing a toxic green.
“Bruce Wayne,” a voice comes through his head, sounding like a boy not much older than he, “My name is Phantom, and we’ve both been chosen for a fate of death.”
“What do you say we change that fate?”
Bruce raised his hand and places it on his chest, feeling the muscle and tissue knitting itself back together.
“Together?” He asks, “I-I don’t want to be alone.”
He can practically hear Phantom’s kind smile, “Together.”
Bruce agrees and he has changed both his, and a young boy once named Daniel Fenton’s, fate.
i love fics where casper high goes to Gotham and terrorizes the people there and concern the fuck out of them but I also think it would be cool if they went to metropolis and Gotham like where they are in one City for a day or 2 and they go to the other for the rest of the time
Gotham will be terrorized yes but metropolis would be doomed because they are used to evil billionaires and alien weird but casper high is just feral weird and super man just being confused on who TF these kids are
I feel like superman would just call up batman. And ask are these ones yours? With a glitchy picture of casper high students doing something insane or trying to fight something/Someone
Also casper high students definitely have a eat the rich mind set and they would pick a fight with lex Luther
And for the Gotham part
they would square up to fight the penguins(?) goons thinking they are the guys in white
They would be holding Danny back from fighting the joker
keeping one of the kids from steeling a mutant sewer rat and taking it back to Amity
sam would be trying to join poison ivy
Paulina and her friend star would be calling Harley and Selina feminist legends and try to get their autograph
Bruce pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes. He’s usually not one for such an open sign of distress, but he feels in this case it was warranted. And he was having such a peaceful morning, too.
“Did she just write ‘yeti doctor’?”
Bruce’s head snaps up at Steph’s voice, looking once again at the letter on the screen. “Dear Mister Wayne,” it reads, and that is where normalcy ends. “Thank you so much for taking in Danny, I was so worried when he had to escape our parents.” Which is already an extremely worrying sentence. Made even more worrisome with the fact that there is no Danny currently residing in his manor.
His family is in chaos. Tim has three screens in front of him, ranting about living firewalls to Barbara, while Dick leans over his shoulder.
Alfred has lifted a thick three-ring binder out of the care package that this Jasmine Nightingale has sent them, and is flipping through it. Apparently this binder contains all of the medical, psychological, and cultural information needed to make sure that Danny’s species can thrive. Because the missing teen that should be in his manor is not human, but some sort of human/ghost hybrid.
“Father, I think this warrants an emergency meeting with the Justice League.” His youngest says. “There is currently a government agency hunting Cujo and Daniel, citing laws that directly counter the Meta Human Protection Acts. This cannot stand.” Cujo, the green glowing, 10 foot ghostdog that delivered the package and letter this morning by density shifting into the dining room during breakfast. Damian was of course attached.
“Uh, Alfred?” Duke starts form where he and Jason have been emptying the care package, “there’s a huge first aid kit here, but most of it is glowing.” Jason, of course, is turning the high tech laser pistols over in his hands, getting a feel for the handling and grip.
Bruce let’s his eyes skim over the letter again, his eyes catching on words like “Ghost King”, “Infinite Realms”, and “vivisection”. “I know it takes Danny a while to open up,” the letter reads, “so I’m beyond grateful that he feels safe enough with you.” Except he doesn’t, because Danny is not here. Somewhere out on the streets of Gotham is a half dead teenager, hurt and alone. And Bruce didn’t know. Didn’t know any of it until his sister sent him a care package, because apparently this kid has lied to his sister that he’s safe, that he found somewhere to stay.
He doesn’t notice the sudden hush behind him until Jason breaks it. “Is that fucking Lazarus Water?!” Bruce lowers his head back into his hands.
“I will prepare a room for the young master.” Alfred sniffs as his footsteps go towards the elevator. “I’m finding this kid.” Jason answers, leaving towards the lockers
“Wait, Little Wing! I’m coming with!” Well, at least Dick can hopefully keep Jason in line. He prays to Rao this doesn’t mean he has to deal with a half-ghost, immensely powerful teen that struggles with Pit Rage.
A small hand lands on Bruce’s shoulder. He looks up into the sparkling eyes of his daughter. “New brother”, she grins.
If Amity Park has one rule for survival, it's commit to the bit. Whose bit?
Everyone's.
You go to Ember's concerts even though there's a better than even chance of being hypnotized. When Technus turns up you obligingly shriek about how terrifying unfeeling machines are. If Boxy's around, you put up a spirited but ultimately futile fight to protect your precious, valuable boxes.
You confirm it when your neighbor tells the GIW that the ghost went thataway, officer. Phantom says the weird eye-ghosts that are stalking him are delusional and he is not an authority figure of any kind, you agree that he'd be the one to know best. The Fentons are ranting about their latest weapons, you oooh and ahhh over their brilliant creation.
Your eyes glow because of special effect contacts you're testing, anyone who knows you can testify to that.
Don't run, don't break the rules, and heaven help you if a ghost decides you've disrespected their obsession. It doesn't matter how much time passes, they might not chase you, but they will remember the insult.
Ghosts are never more dangerous than when their obsession is disrupted. So smile and nod, or shriek and cower, and play the role you're cast in. You'll get out alright.
**
Gotham natives have a word for people who play along with a rogue's plan instead of getting out at the first available opportunity: morons. The closer you are to a rogue, the greater the danger, and none of them will spare you just because you decided to 'see where this was going'.
Civilians are little more than mobile props for most rogues - as long as you get out of their line of sight, they'll forget about you. Don't try to be a hero, don't draw attention to yourself. Playing by a rogue's rules is a great way to die.
Danny had been hesitant to take a job in Metropolis but since he learned to open portals commute wasn't an issue. And technically he wasn't 21 yet but the owner knew the truth about Danny so looked the other way for a few more months.
He actually liked his coworkers but especially Grace Choi. She treated him like an annoying little brother. Grace liked that Danny wasn't very breakable. He wasn't sure what to make of her ex, the red headed archer. Especially with the job offer.
"I'll join your team, Roy but only if my little brother comes too. I don't trust him not to die again if I'm not there."
"You don't have a brother."
"Found family, bitch. He is meta adjacent."
Danny blinked and before he knew it he was dragged back into a vigilante life. Nightwing was a bit of jerk but had some cute siblings.
Danny travels through time and across the universe a lot. Mostly because he has an agreement with Clockwork and the Observants that if he does so they'll give him heads up if he's about to experience something that might drive him crazy, but also because he just likes to travel and visit alien civilizations.
As a result of his travels, he ends up learning a lot of cool things. Cool things that he doesn't realize are super big deals because he is learning them when they very much aren't. Stuff like various cultural rights and traditions of Krypton, how to construct Martian bio-ships, the origins of Themyscira... To him, they are just neat little tidbits, like people mentioning how Otters have favorite rocks. To the Justice League, and particularly to those from nearly dead species and cultures, everything he randomly drops lore on is a much bigger deal.
@mindgames0145
Danny/Tim, Key, "I'm over it, so over it, just the ... Touch of your lips?"
This was…
Frankly, this was the last thing that Tim expected.
Or wanted.
But there Phantom was, in all his monochromatic glory. More monochromatic glory? Phantom certainly seemed paler: his skin less a contrast against his white hair, his lips a deathly blue, the glow of his eyes brighter against his skin. It was worrying.
Not that Tim cared.
Phantom and him weren’t—
They couldn’t—
“And here’s part of our technical team,” Black Canary said with a gesture that introduced Tim’s arrival. “This is Red Robin. He’ll be working with part of his home team called Oracle.”
Phantom looked up from his conversation with Constantine so quickly that it had to hurt. Or maybe it didn’t, not to a ghost. Phantom was floating after all, as he tended to. His hair drifted in a current none of them felt, the only part of him that moved as he stared frozen at Tim.
After a long, awkward moment, Tim finally said, “We’ve met.”
Phantom cleared his throat. The halo of minuscule objects, or lights maybe, that orbited Phantom’s head started to move again. It was the first that Tim had noticed them, (too focused on Phantom’s face). The sparks darted in and out of Phatom’s hair, but seemed to move consistently. They almost formed a circlet of light.
“Ah, Young Justice and I worked a case together, last year,” Phantom managed to say.
Had it already been a year?
(Had it only been a year?)
“Great!” Constantine said with a clap of his hands. “Then let’s get to it, yeah? Got shit to do after this.”
“Constantine,” Wonder Woman sighed.
“What? I do! I’m a busy man!”
Their banter was just background noise to how loud Tim’s heart suddenly sounded. Phantom had all of Tim’s attention. This was the last thing that Tim had expected, but God did he want it.
Siren!Danny that fled/left his dimension for whatever reason and ends up in the DC universe. He's able to buy/make a fake identity and is living a relitively normal, if homeless, human life, but again hes a Siren, he needs to swim and sing.
To limit the chances of getting caught by the humans, and because Danny prefers colder water, Danny chooses to swim at night, so he can swim and sing to his hearts content.
His nightly swims are pulled to a stop when one night he gets caught and tangled in some trash. He even tried to phase through it, but it was coated in some weird glowing green liquid that could be mistaken as ectoplasm but wasn't.
Two days later, *insert hero of your choosing* stumbles upon Danny struggling in the net. Danny can't speak the human language when hes in Siren form, his vocal cords aren't made for it so all he can do is chirp, growl, click, and hiss. Because Danny is a Siren, the hero, after making sure Danny isn't in any serious danger, calls in Aquaman, hoping he could calm Danny down.
Except, Danny is nothing like anything Aquaman has ever met or seen before. He almost looks like a Merman, or a Siren, but not quite. Danny's form is more, not quite animalistic, but ethereal, and bigger in comparison to similar beings. What's more, Aquaman can't communicate, can't understand him. Danny's words are like if they were translated through 10 languages and then back into English before being layered over eachother repeatedly. It was disconcerting.
With little other options, Aquaman decides to take Danny with him, carefully removing the trash with the help of the other hero, before grabbing Danny's hand and leading him back to Atlantis.
Since Danny didn't have much else to do, he followed, mostly out of curiosity, but a also because Danny was missing being in a pod*.
Basically: Because Siren!Danny comes from a different dimension, his Siren Form is very different from the Siren's of the DC universe, and Aquaman can't communicate with him. Curious, and worried he might have neglected a subspecies of his subjects, Aquaman takes Danny in.
Can Be:
-Human/Siren Hybrid +Ghost
Or
-Pure Siren w/Humam Form +Ghost
Or
-Any other amalgamation you can concoct
*Pod: Siren family kind of like a Wolf Pack or Lion Pride but Sirens.
Alfred died and became a ghost years ago. He politely asks Danny to not tell the Bat Family.
"You're a ghost," Danny said aloud.
Alfred paused and looked at him for a moment before giving a polite bow. "Greetings, Your Majesty. I apologize for my discourtesy, I had not realized that Master Bruce had brought royalty here."
Danny glanced backwards, where he could hear the sounds of chatter and laughter from where the Justice League and Bruce's family had mingled together. It had been a simple meeting but had somehow grown into a house party with more and more guests arriving.
"It's no problem," Danny said. "Me being royalty is no big deal. Besides, I'm sure you didn't react differently to Diana or Arthur, did you?"
Alfred didn't respond, just watching him.
Danny hid his desire to squirm underneath his sharp gaze before he asked, "How come you're here? There are laws that prevent ghosts from being allowed back into the mortal realm."
"I died when Pariah Dark was still in charge," Alfred said, "and he did not have the capacity to watch over his subjects until he was defeated."
Danny hummed.
Neither of them said anything again. Even though Danny felt nervous from the stare, he did his best not to respond until Alfred finally broke and said, "Please allow me to stay."
Danny blinked. "Why?"
Alfred sighed softly and looked behind him at the door, where the guests kept coming and there was the distinct sound of Bruce scolding Hal again. "I wish to stay a little longer with them."
'Them' needed no further explanation.
Danny relaxed and nodded. "Granted. As long as you don't commit any evil doings like killing mortals, then you're allowed to stay until you choose to move on. Will that suffice?"
A smile appeared on Alfred's face, softening those hard wrinkles.
"Yes, that will be perfect, Your Majesty. Thank you."
Danny grinned. "No problem! Please, call me Danny!"
Damian, running down the stairs: The babies are coming!
Bruce: Excuse me?!
Tim: What?!
Dick: *murdered walrus sounds*
Danian: Alfred the car! Please! Let's go!
Bruce, running after him: W-Wait Damian what babie?! What babies?!
Car: *Speeds off*
*15 minutes later*
Damian, hushed voice: Am I too late?
Danny, shaking his head: She has only pushed out one so far. *points into a welping box*
Welping Box: *a large black dog with big ears, large curling goat's horns, a lion-like tail, and glowing fire-like eyes lays inside the welping box, panting with a round ripping belly and a single litte white puppy suckling*
Damian: Amazing. It doesn't have horns yet?
Danny: Urco grow their horns as they age, isn't that right Pearl?
Daisy: *Whines and lays her head on Danny's hand*
Danny: Such a good girl, strong girl. Sorry for calling you so suddenly, I hope your family isn't worried.
Damina: I told you to call me when it happened. Besides, there's no reason for them to freak out over some puppies being born.
Steph: Too late! *barges into the dorm room* So this is Duke's dorm room. I thought it would be smaller for some reason.
Tim: Looks like he hasn't unpacked yet. What's with the glowing green cat plushie on the couch?
Damian: Tsk, why am I here?
Dick: We're here to be supportive and wish Duke a good first day at collage!
Tim: And why is Jason here.
Jason: *flips him off*
Dick: To wish Duke a good first day! And I gave him two hundred dollars.
Steph: Aren't you crime rich?
Jason: I just like taking money from Dickie.
Danny: *walks out of the bathroom with damp hair, and a towel around his waist, pausing and blinking at the civilian bat kids who are randomly in his dorm room* Um...
Steph: Hello nurse~
Cass: *huffs in amusement before putting her hands over Steph's eyes and looking away*
Jason: *whistles but respectfully looks away*
Damian: *brows furrowing in confusion at his siblings reactions, but looks away all the same.
Tim: Who who who- what are you- I mean-
Dick: *covers Tim's eyes so he can reboot* Oh my, um, what are you doing here? Who are you?
Danny: My name is Danny, I am rooming here for the semester.
Dick: But-But this was-
Danny: If you're looking for Duke Thomas, he's one room over. Room 209, this is 208.
Dick: Oh my god we're so sorry! We thought- I swear we thought this was his dorm!
Danny, chuckling: Yeah I kind if figured.
Dick: We'll just leave- again I am so sorry- come on out out out!
Jason and Steph, theatrically: Boo~
Dick: Again I am so sorry! This won't happen again!
Danny: No worries, though when we do meet again I hopes its when I have more clothes on.
Tim: I don't.
Dick: Timothy!*shoves the last of his siblings out the door before shutting the door as fast as he can*
Danny: *bursts out laughing until something brushes against his leg* Hey Cleo, good nap? Let me get dressed then we'll go to the realms for some dinner, yeah?
Cleo, the ghost cat: *purrs as Danny pets her*Murrow~
Danny: Yeah, you're right, this dimension looks like its going to be really interesting.
I love Neglected Reader Aus as much as the next person. However, we're missing out on a big opportunity to further expand on this au
Listen, we know the Batfamily/the Waynes can be deeply dysfunctional, full of chaos and trauma. And naturally, a reader who's just a civilian compared to them and hasn't gone through the same shit as them is prone to be neglected. Not necessarily because the Batfam doesn't love them, but because having any sort of normalcy in a life like theirs is way too hard so they're absent often and fail to be there (I know the Neglected Reader fanfics have many variants and interpretations for this and I LOVE them all qlwjwb but if we stick a tiny bit to canon I doubt any of them would outright hate/be indifferent a Reader simply for being civilian or the "normal one" or just for no reason at all. It's fun to read, however, if the Reader has been around the family since their childhood and recognised as Bruce's child since the beginning, there's no way she's disliked. Not even by Damian...once he gets his character development naturally)
I think the neglect hits better and harder when it comes out of a place of love that's just not enough to fill the gaps. The Batfam cares about her, and she cares back, but there's always something bigger going on. Gotham needs them. The world needs them. And since they're all crime fighters EXCEPT Reader, she's the one who gets left behind and has to deal with cancelled plans, absence, loneliness and the crippling guilt of feeling this way because she's been told it's selfish. She should be proud of her family, of their sacrifice, of all the good they do. What right does she have to complain about feeling abandoned when they're out there every day saving people and risking their lives while she stays safe? Hell, they're fighting to protect her as well. And they try to make up for it. They really try. Hanging out with her, bringing gifts, asking her about her life whenever they can...but they're stretched thin and Reader still feels left out because she can't be part of the bond the Batfam share as whole. All crime fighters, all involved in the same cause, all trained under Batman and going through the same shit for years, together. There are too many stories she doesn't know, and probably will never because they want to keep her out of it "for her sake". She can't fully connect to them in most aspects. She's a spectator of her own family's bond.
And again, it's not for lack of love. Totally the opposite. It's just in this case, love isn't enough.
Now this is while talking about the Batfamily. But actually, these guys aren't even the mosr dysfunctional family of DC. You know who really has the title? The Arrowfamily. Now these guys are canonically a mess and dysfunctional in all ways. Even more than the Batfamily. If you think Batsis has a bad time with neglect, you don't want to know what Arrowsis goes through. It's worse.
There's also the Superfamily, the Flashfamily, the Amazons (because yes I also have ideas for them too), the Lanterns. Shit, even the Aquafamily at this point. And the Justice League has more members that could be used for this theme..
Imagine a group of kids from each of these families, all of them neglected but in different flavours, and becoming friends/comfort group because there's no one else in the world that can relate to the problems they have, to what they feel and why. Their situations are pretty damn unique and only can rely on each other to understand.
In my head it goes like this:
Batsis (obviously), Arrowsis, Wonderboy, Flashsis, Supersis, Green Lanterns' brats, Atom's son and Aquagirl. While their backstories are very different, at their core it's the same issue: They're all extremely ordinary children from extraordinary families, who have grown up as part of a legacy they can't actually be part of. Neglected by accident, lonely and unable to actually complain about their feelings because they have no right. Their parents and siblings are heroes. Symbols of justice and goodwill. They carry the fate of humanity and even the galaxy on their shoulders. They can't ask them for more. It's not fair. They should be grateful for whatever they can get.
