#eldritch gotham

[frownyalfred]

so we’re all in agreement that “Bruce dies and the Batman mantle is actually an eldritch curse from Gotham that passes immediately to his heir and that means Dick wakes up one night and instantly knows that Bruce is gone, and can suddenly feel all of Gotham and all of Bruce’s memories and has to grieve silently with his brothers because otherwise he’ll open up his mouth and tell them exactly how Bruce died because he can feel it and it’s kind of like Bruce is still in his head, and Gotham is even deeper, and the last thing he wants to do is put on that cowl or be anything of Gotham’s but people start noticing, those with magic and Sight and other powers, they see this mantle hanging over him he keeps denying and Gotham sabotages Nightwing every time he tries to step a foot out on patrol and drowns him in Bruce’s memories until he can’t really tell who he is again, he’s just a tool, and maybe Bruce was too, maybe that’s why he was always Like That, having a city in his head and generations of Wayne memories in his head and now the fear that one day it might pass on to Damian, and that fear becomes Dick’s fear, too, until somehow a Bruce comes back - Tim saves him, Gotham saves him, something yanks gravity backwards and says absolutely not, and Dick looks his father dead in the eye and realizes they’re both like this, this is a curse that can never be lifted from either of them, passing away was Bruce’s only respite but even that was taken from him (because of love, and family, and a duty that runs so deep it shakes the foundations of Gotham) and now they’re two men but they’re really dozens, and they know what the other is thinking, feeling, seeing, because it’s their eyes too, and when they do part a fraction of an inch, Bruce’s guilt flows over the cracks, sealing him in with it. Dick flees to Blüdhaven, but it’s not enough. Bruce collapses in Gotham and coughs up blood, Her price for losing a knight, and Dick comes back on feet that don’t touch the ground, in Bruce’s mask that has become molded to his own face, and when Bruce opens his mouth and bares bloody teeth at Dick, at Gotham, at the curse between them — all Dick sees is himself. because that, too, is Bruce’s” would be a cool fucked up fic, right?

[logicallyblind]

‘Sentiment Eldritch Gotham that favours Bruce above all else and acts like a jealous child throwing a tantrum whenever he leaves the city boundaries etc etc’ is one of my favourite concepts to come from the DC fandom

Cause I especially love the idea that It eventually noticed just how badly the death of Its favourite’s fledgling effected him so It just, kickstarted the boy’s heart again cause like, he was within Its territory why wouldn’t It be able to just realign reality an inch, like it hadn’t done before dozens of times to protect Its favourite 😔✋

Like I’m imaging It presenting the newly revived, still catatonic but breathing Jason back to Its streets like a child presenting Its homemade art project like

“look what I did for you :D do you like it? Are you happy again now? :D”

and then immediately flipping to D:< when Talia scooped him up and left like “That wasn’t for yOU—“

Anyways, big fan of sentient Gotham

[rosejubilee113]

The Immortal Bat

It's well-established in Gotham that Batman cannot die and stay dead. Gotham itself will wrench him back to the land of the living if one of his kids doesn't get there first. So Batman dies, and everyone is mostly just annoyed...

Dick: "You think I'm gonna be Batman again? Absolutely not. Get back here."

Jason: "Yeah, no, this is copyright infringement. Get back here this instant, old man."

Tim: "I dragged you back once; I will do it again. Get back here right now."

Cass: stares at the grave until he spontaneously resurrects, apologizing, like "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry."

(This is not because Cass is unable to speak, but because she's Batman's daughter and they can communicate silently with better clarity than with words, obviously)

Stephanie: "We are way too understaffed for this. How dare you leave."

Damien: "I will fight whatever entity is in charge of death if you do not return this instant."

Duke: "I'm honestly impressed you managed to die at all, but break's over, time to get back to work."

[doodle-blob347]

Gothamites are the unholy combination of Massholes and New Yorkers

[the-fyre-flie]

Eldritch Gotham + Bat Family Cursed to be Metahuman Au where Bruce Waynes meta power is being imperceptible, silly alien invasion shenanigans!

Bruce just straight up won't show up on sensors or scans unless he *wants* to be found. He can meld with the shadows at will because he's just willing himself to not be noticed. It's not invisibility, it's more like he creates his own personal blindspot in the universe. He doesn't notice any of this at first because he's spent years training himself to be stealthy anyways, but it starts to freak out people like J'onn and Clark, who should be able to sense him anyways and just can't. This is also how, despite dozens of people knowing Batman is Bruce Wayne, his secret never really gets out.

A bunch of aliens from way far away come to invade earth, and they spend a few days orbiting to try and scope out the heros and protectors. The aliens conclude that no earthly hero can outmatch them, and they easily begin to take over earth. The JL get captured, every single member imprisoned in ways that exploit their weakness except for Batman, who's been missing since the aliens showed up. Already, the JL is working on a way to bust out, but not before Batman shows up kicking alien ass.

The aliens start freaking out cuz "wtf who are you why didn't you show up on any scans we literally spent days researching". Turns out as soon as Batman noticed the aliens he willed himself to just stop existing to the normal world, which created a massive blindspot for not only Batman but all history related to Batman. Like pages torn out of books, information on him was just unreadable and unobtainable.

Batman proceeds to jailbreak his buddies and the JL collectively send the alien invaders packing. Insert epic fight scene I don't feel like writing...

[ratinapinksuit]

Wayne Manor is haunted.

It isn’t haunted by the previous Wayne’s or the ghost who lived on the arcs of land past. Rather, Wayne Manor is haunted by Gotham.

The spirit of Gotham is not one singular entity but a collection of dark energy that personify as human-ish.

Bruce Wayne has known that his home is haunted for as long as he’s lived.

The first sign of paranormal activity was the temperature. Bruce Wayne can never be too cold or too hot in his home. All he has to do is complain and The Manor bends over backyards to serve his every desire, to solve every complaint.

The plants grow well. Really well. Even in the harsh winters the flowers can still bloom so long as the Wayne wants them to.

But the most damning evidence is the darkness. The darkness is never empty and it never disappears. No matter what, the shadows lurk. And the entities in the shadows lurk along with it, covered in the heavy blanket of darkness.

Bruce has very rarely seen what’s in the shadows, but he’s felt them. Very intimately.

They’re hands.

Hands attached to impossibly long arms that twist and turn and sprout from no body but from the darkness. They never disappear, never reduce. Instead, it seems they multiply each and every time Bruce sees them, feels them.

God, does he feel them.

The wretched hands are obsessed with feeling him. They dig their fingers into his hair and card through the black strands, cup his face in gentle hands and trace his features.

The hands that live in the shadows have always been present in Bruce’s life. When he needs them they appear, holding him when he can’t stay upright no longer. The arms twist around him and it’s the most warm embrace he’s ever felt.

On a dark and stormy night, Bruce is up late in his office. It’s late enough that it’s basically morning, but that’s never stopped Bruce before.

There’s a knock on the old dark oak doors of his office. Bruce doesn’t call out, doesn’t ask who’s there because there’ll be no answer to receive. He rises from his chair and opens the door to the dark hallways of Wayne Manor.

The first sign that Bruce is not alone is the darkened hallway. After adopting a traumatized Dick Grayson, he’s always made it a habit to have the lights on to keep the boy comfortable. No one turns the lights off except for the entity in the shadows.

Bruce tilts his head back with a sigh, his open posture invites the shadows closer. Arms wrap around his waist, holding him tightly as he allows himself to melt in the embrace. His hands are held in a gentle grasp, face cupped in warm hands and his hair toyed with as the shadows continue to engulf him.

The hands pull away moments later, leaving only the shadowy hands in his. They pull him forward, guiding him through the dark halls of Wayne Manor until they reach his room. From the darkness, hands pull the covers back, leaving room for Bruce to lay in bed, which he does when gently pushed down.

The hands tuck him into bed and continue petting his hair until he falls into a deep sleep.

Holy heck this post ran away from me O_O This post is inspired by this post by blackkatdraws2.

[solarpixels48]

In my head the reason why all the batkids - Duke (let's be honest even Duke. After a while even he should look a bit pale/have those ashy undertones), are drawn so pale is because due to Lady Gotham's lack of light all Gothamites have a grey palour/ begin to have grey-ish undertones. All Gothamites have that corpse-shique vibe. Outsiders compare children and describe Gotham's children as having that tuberculosis paleness and the younger ones as having belladonna eyes.

Context: by pale, I don't mean lighter. I mean the kind of paleness you get from sickness or lack of light.

[violentbat]

Wayne Manor (always sentient if I have a say) probably has architectural and old-magic ways of distracting or confusing intruders that aren't supposed to be there. You enter a room, searching for something, and decide to explore further, but it takes you ages to realize you've left and re-entered the same room. Bruce used to vanish completely playing hide and seek, and Martha used to spend confused hours trying to find him, half-convinced she'd already looked everywhere, yet still managing to just barely miss him. Forget finding the Cave, even finding the nearest bathroom is near impossible if you did something the house doesn't like.

It also loves Alfred, so it permanently prevents him from leaving.