"Batman shouldn't be forced to kill the Joker at the detriment of his morals and mental health" AND "Bruce himself set up Jason's expectation that parents will take bloody vengeance for the sake of their children's lives" are statements that tell you Bruce is in a hell of his own making.
Jason does in fact have the right to ask. Bruce gave it to him implicitely. Because Bruce a) positioned himself as Jason's father, b) blamed Jason for Garzonas' father trying to get revenge on Batman and Robin and dying for it, c) argued that it was the natural actions of a father to try and avenge his kid.
Either Bruce IS Jason's father, and he failed to live up to the standard he set, or he isn't, and he sold a lie to an orphan to put him in the line of fire to deal with the loneliness of his eldest leaving the nest.
Jason, when coming back to life, seeing the Joker alive, must have felt incredibly betrayed and foolish. "I thought I'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt."
Jason's ultimatum in Under the Red Hood is asking Batman to put his money where his mouth is.
Was it the natural thing for Garzonas senior to set-up an ambush to gun down Batman and Robin because fathers should avenge their sons?
Was it really Jason's fault back then that three men died in a failed scheme? When Batman toppled the pile of cars on top of Garzonas senior, when he tricked the subordinates into shooting each other, can we still blame Robin for not seeing this coming when he 'maybe' pushed Garzonas off the balcony?
If it is so inevitable that more deaths would follow a son's murder, why is the Joker still alive?
And if it wasn't, if fathers don't normally take bloody vengeance, then perhaps the three men that died should be blamed on the man that 'pushed' them?
Maybe Batman already had blood on his hands.
Maybe the Red Hood has a right to ask why he's so comfortable with that.
Grace becoming the platonic third to Rocky and Adrian’s relationship. Adrian instantly loving grace because he not only saved their planet but he was willing to sacrifice himself to save them all and also Rocky specifically. Rocky going to visit grace and Adrian is already there and they’re swapping embarrassing Rocky stories with grace. (“Adrian is Grace’s new favorite Eridian, question? Grace not need Rocky anymore, question? Grace ABANDON Rocky, question?!”) Rocky and Adrian staying overnight and sleeping in a pile on top of grace. Adrian at the end of the movie working on tweaking grace’s biodome so he’s as comfortable as possible
Hello I am Adrian, this is Rocky, and this is our emotional support human. You better be nice to him or we will throw you into his temperature controlled ocean
the aroace read of ryland grace is so personal and haunting. "you don't even have a dog." was it not enough to love the world for the sake of living in it. was it not enough to live for the thrill of discovery. was it not enough to smile at your students. was it not enough to be afraid.
First entry for this year’s @green-with-envy-phandom-event !!!! This one goes to @sykloni and that absolute masterpiece of a Cicus Gothica Poster 👀✨ Hope you like it <3!
at a conference I attended recently, a researcher pointed to the difficulty of finding material in archives because so much depends on the metadata and the terminology used to describe things changes over time. "it would be so helpful," the researcher said, "if I typed 'lesbian' into the library of congress database, it would also show me results that were categorised in the 50s, when the materials were interpreted as 'intimate female friendships'"
which is what tag wrangles at Archive Of Our Own do incredibly effectively: searching for "omegaverse" also leads to "alpha/beta/omega dynamics" and "alternate universe: a/b/o" and so on. but ao3 achieves this frankly incredible categorisation and indexing system by the power of countless volunteers putting in hours and hours of unpaid and unthanked free time, and it's completely understandable that most archives do not have that kind of infrastructure, but also how incredible that a fan-run website has better searchability, classification, and accessibility than the library of congress
“When I tweeted about AO3's tags a while back, I received many comments from people wishing that their professional tagging systems were as good, including users of news sites, library catalogs, commercial sales websites, customer help-desk websites, and PubMed (the most prominent database of medical research).”
— Gretchen McCulloch of @lingthusiasm, “Fans Are Better Than Tech at Organizing Information Online”
At long last, the stars aligned, the spoons were retrieved and things got done just in time for @phandomholidaytruce of 2025!
@radioratdesigns I was your gifter and a stroke of inspiration struck me dead when I read your Prompts because they just fit perfectly with a plot bunny that had plopped up in my brain a day or so before the receiver assignation:
The Hazmat AU and the Big Sister Ember were exactly the Tropes I had in mind when I thought of a crossover (or is it technically an AU? 🤔) with the movie "The Polar Express".
It was supposed to be a phic, but a bout of writer block and irl issues had me stumped (I swear I tried... ಥ╭╮ಥ), but since I noticed that sometimes making art comes to me more easily, I managed to get this done at lightning speed!
ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
Here a bit of plot and details under the cut (plus a bonus):
Danny had his accident way earlier –at 9– and so (to compel to his childish fanboyness) his suit is even more astronaut-themed to give him a (what should have been) foolproof full Hazmat suit;
due to the complicate attachment of the helmet, tho, kid Danny never had the time/chance to take it off to ask the rogues to stop attacking the town (and the glass visor is too thick and stuck (thanks Jack) for anyone to understand him);
my usual headcanon (which I use to justify why Danny's power level is so high from the beginning) is that since the energy of a whole dimension flooded inside him, he could be "on par" to the reading of an Ancient to the more experienced ghosts (thus leading them to the misunderstanding that Danny IS a small-sized Ancient that's hoarding Amity Park and its permanent Portal);
the misunderstanding could have been cleared in an instant if the Rogues had seen Danny's face, because he's scarred from the accident and you can't fake the freshness of a Death Scar to date how long a person has died (but, alas, the helmet takes too long and humans are in danger);
I'm shaking things up with the Truce to make it more star-aligned than religion-related, and so the Solstices (both) are established as one day without fighting AND one of the Ancients (following a rotation) can organize an event to which few elected can participate through invitation (it's a great honor);
this year is conveniently ((. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)) Clockwork's turn, so they invite most of the Rogues (mainly the ones who can be redeemed), some just as spectators and other as participants:
The Lunch Lady and Ember are part of the show-and-snack Hot Chocolate song;
Desiree is just a passenger, but her meeting with Danny is very much a stab to the Core;
Sidney Poindexter is also a guest, but he's also accompanying his kid cousin Robert on the Polar Express for the pre-teen's journey;
Skulker and Technus pair up in the broken toys wagon to try and invent a new weapon;
Johnny Kitty and Shadow decide to try and race the locomotive to see who's the fastest;
And last but not least the "villains" of the story, the Box Ghost, who wants to steal all the presents in Santa's sack since they're in boxes, while Walker had been pursuing the troublemaker trio on their motorcycle, but seeing so many "magical violations" he decides to imprison everyone.
Now back to Danny:
The accident happened 6 months or so before THE Christmas when the crossover takes place;
He's 9, so while he may be wary thanks to some "stranger-danger" conditioning, due to some previous positive interactions with Youngblood (kid-to-kid communication -> he already knew Danny was a kid and told no one) he's also brutally honest if a ghost asks him something, even if he's in human form;
(this leads to several Identity Reveals, Moral Crises and Epiphanies during the ride on the Polar Express for the Rogues);
Danny joined the ride to the North Pole (along with Sam and Tucker because they were at the Foley's for a sleepover) because he's this close (🤏) to give up on Christmas already and when the Conductor tells him that he could see Santa, he jumps at the opportunity to get proof that he exist and so his parents would stop arguing and ruining the holiday;
...upon learning this and that Danny is Baby™, they decide that just "not fighting" the kid isn't enough, they have to adopt him!
But where's Clockwork in all of this, you may ask?
They're watching from the sidelines, masquerading as the rooftop hobo with cryptid messages and suggestions, while the Rogues and Team Phantom scramble to stop Walker's and the Box Ghost's separate attempts from destroying Christmas.
Obviously they succeed, but... neither Santa nor Desiree (who had been asked) are powerful enough/able of such a feat (making Jack and Maddie stop arguing and/or hunting ghosts), so... there's the next best thing!!
✨Baby Acquisition!✨
On Christmas Day, when the Mansons and the Fentons come to retrieve their offsprings, Sam and Tucker can only offer two sealed envelopes (but no Danny).
One from Santa's (who offers the proof that he's real and not exactly a ghost, but also points out all the ways they killed their children's Wonder for the holiday so it's no surprise that Danny came to him to seek help) and the other from Clockwork.
The Ancient's letter reveals that since they're unfit to be Danny's parents in this timeline independently of any manipulation/choice/explanation/plea, once they'll get out Tucker's house, they'll forget about Danny and any trace of him would be erased from the town.
This is just a polite/formal communication.
The duo stalls, trying to find a loophole or a way out of this, but all comes unfortunately to an end when the parent that was having Jazz for her own sleepover calls them for an emergency due to a ghost, so they have to go.
There's almost no hesitation as they run out of the door, they just falter when this sensation of overwhelming loss hits them, but they charge on to get to Jazz and the ghost.
(Because Danny had always been their last choice.)
From then on, Jack and Maddie go on their life as aggressive ghost hunters with this constant sensation of something off/missing, always out of reach, but with sometimes slivers of glimpses immediately forgotten afterward.
(Jazz, Sam and Tucker still remember Danny and get to talk and meet with him sometimes in secret, but they are forbidden to speak about him to anyone beside among themselves.)
As their "crimes" against ghosts pile up despite Team Phantom still trying to convince them to stop during the years, they age until their time comes and due to the ecto-contamination they become ghosts.
It's only at this point that they meet Danny again, now grown up and with a life of his own and they immediately get it.
That's what- who they were missing.
But it's too late, they have done too much and kept NOT choosing him (CW had put in the fine prints that they could have remembered everything and get Danny back if only they had sincerely –and without external input, like an identity reveal– rejected their biased researches).
So they get a(n after)life sentence for crimes against the Infinity Realms and this is the last time they'll see Danny.
Danny is... disappointed, but not surprised. He grew up with the ghosts and became a well-adjusted adult, so he had realized way back that the Fentons had been a danger to him.
So he just tells his parents to spend the rest of eternity regretting their life-choices and flies away from their prison.
Sometimes... the only good choice for yourself is to cut away what hurts you and choose your Family, your Persons, on your own.
꒰(@｀꒳´)꒱
Uh. I ended writing a piece of this anyway. (・–・;)ゞ
I guess sleep-deprivation after not going to sleep after new year's party is useful for something! (≧∇≦)
Anyway, here, as a thanks for enduring my rambling (and your patience for waiting for the almost late gift), you get an alt. version of the art piece without the Polar Express in the foreground!
(Was this angsty enough? >:3c)
(A thanks to @phantommoon-art @halfalix for their support and enabling through Discord.
Sooner or later I'll be able to write this phic, I promise you!
( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ)
Happy New Year and hope 2026 will bring good things to ya!
“Hello, thank you for calling the Justice League helpline. If you’re calling about an emergency, and you do not live in Gotham, please hang up and dial for our emergency services. If you do live in Gotham, I’ve been instructed to tell you to call the GCPD headquarters - they will inform your assigned vigilantes as soon as is possible. Seeing as you’re still on the line, how may I help you today?”
“Hello, my name is Sandra Smith, I’m an agent with Child Protective Services. I have a bit of an odd request, but I’m not quite sure where to direct that request. I figured my best bet would be through the JL, y’know?”
“Um, sure? I can’t promise anything, but I can certainly try to help you.”
“Thank you. See, a child was recently found wandering and they don’t seem to quite… exist? When asked whether he had parents, he stated that his father was Batman. I wanted to see about getting into touch with Batman to verify whether this was true and see about-“
“I’m sorry, ma’am. Batman? See, um, he’s kind of… preoccupied? In the sense that, for the foreseeable future, he cannot physically… uh… answer any summons?”
“What- not even for a possible-“
“Yeah, uh, between you and me, off the record? Batman is uh… gone so… someone else is acting as Batman in his stead, right now. They, like, inherited it or something. It was a bit of a big deal when it happened; I dunno, I’m not a Gothamite, but I heard there was a lot of drama around that time.”
“I… see. Um, thank you for your time. I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.” Sandra hung up the phone quickly, before looking down at her desk.
How was she going to break the news to Danyal?
Glancing across the files on her desk, she tilted her head at the green sticky note stuck to one of them - the Fenton’s? She supposed they had been on the waiting list for quite some time.
…
Tim slammed the transcript from several years ago on Bruce’s desk. “You get to explain this to the brat.”
