In Which Damian Builds a Gingerbread House and an Alliance is Formed by @DawnsEternalLight.ao3
Damian Wayne is on a mission. He's going to figure out exactly what's so great about building gingerbread houses, no matter what Tim thinks. This is adorable.
singing in the dead of night by @dukeaubergine.ao3
Tim Drake dies alone in a warehouse by the Gotham docks, passed off to the public as a civilian casualty and passed around the vigilante community as a cautionary tale. Three years later, a wraith comes home to roost. Reverse Robins AU with some lovely Tim/Kon thrown in.
When Bruce Wayne barely survives a brutal confrontation with the villain known as Bane, he comes away with a broken spine and the terrible certainty that his days as Batman are over. An unexpected discovery among his mother’s old things might offer him a second chance—but at what price? The story of a man willing to risk his soul for the sake of his mission, the dangerous creature he decides to call Robin, and the unlikely partnership that will come to shape the legend of Gotham’s Dark Knight. Long and engrossing AU start to the Dynamic Duo. I enjoyed this a lot.
love and bruises by @Acin_Grayson.ao3 & @hoebiwan.ao3
Jason kind of hates the people who say they have a gaydar, but the thing is, he doesn’t need a gaydar to tell with Bruce. He can just tell. Anyone with eyes can tell. The suits, the shoes, that one time Bruce couldn’t stop staring at some random nerdy reporter’s ass, the list goes on. Also, Bruce’s frequent liaisons with Batman are kind of a dead give away. HILARIOUS!
Dick liked to think he had a pretty good handle on the whole ‘big brother’ thing by now, even if Tim still saw sleep as optional and Damian still got a little stabby when a hug lasted too long. But then Damian’s other big brother comes to town, mysterious and red-helmeted and oddly familiar, and seems to want nothing to do with the Bats sans Damian. Damian is strangely close-lipped about his other brother's past, but Dick is determined to find out more about the Red Hood - he could always use more little brothers, anyway! Aw Dick. I enjoyed this.
The Post-Mission Ponderings of Brucerman and NightBunny by @Ptelea.ao3
Afterward--after they'd made arrangements for Copperhead, and been returned to their normal selves, after Zatanna had thanked them both and expressed a bit of smiling regret that Nightwing had gotten caught in the crossfire ("Oh, no problem! No harm done, and I'm always hoppy to help!")--afterward, when Bruce returned home, he was somehow not one whit surprised that a new picture already held pride of place on the kitchen refrigerator. Himself, dressed up in Clark's infernal costume, with a lagomorphic Nightwing perching on his shoulder. They were waving out at the audience, who had clearly ignored the no photography rule for the performance, and doubtless posted online extravagantly. oh heart! A wonderful coda for season 2, episode 54, S'tel ees a cigam wohs!
@heyitsspiderman: people act like they know this city but when i’m in the air i find more boroughs all the time. so far ive counted ten. dont listen to big brother in your ceiling (google) telling you otherwise (google maps) The Spider gang links up via social media while waiting for Peni to figure out how they can safely travel to each other's dimensions.
Raised in the Institution of Dreaming by @whorseshoecrab.ao3
Ronan Lynch is a little boy when he sees him for the first time. There and then gone again, a shock of black and white in the trees. Ronan sees him in his dreams, of course, in the forest in which he so often ends up. Nicely done Sandman/TRC crossover.
Bruce quits being Batman in the wake of Jason's death, tells the world who he is, then retires to Montana and slowly finds healing. And when Jason comes back to life six months later, and Talia tells him 'you remain unavenged,' he can't find any evidence to support that, so he goes home. this is a really lovely AU.
For the first time ever, things are finally looking up for the Wayne family. Bruce is back in the present, Jason has mostly reconciled with them all, and Damian no longer spends his free time trying to murder his brother in cold blood. So of course Dick has to go and ruin it all by putting together a family vacation from hell. This is hilarious.
“Um,” asks the little voice at the other end of the phone, “are you Selina?” Selina pulls the phone away from her face to check the screen again, making sure that she’s not going crazy. No, the phone calling her is definitely Batman’s. “What,” she says, “the hell?” Robin calls Selina for help when Batman is hurt somehow. This is adorable.
"I’m Tim," he says, though introducing himself to a puppy makes him flush in embarrassment. "Are you hungry?" The dog blinks at him, all scared eyes. "Where’s your family?" Tim asks. "Did they leave you?" 12-year-old Tim finds a friend. I'm not crying you're crying.
Parenting is Bruce's thing, and Jason isn't planning on messing with that. But when Bruce fails to spot the countless red flags about Tim's home life, it falls to Jason to step up. Of course it does. Because he's literally the only one in his family who knows how to be responsible, and if Dick disagrees, he can suck it. Oh Tim. Aw Jason.
Bruce finds himself stuck in the past, and while waiting for the league to pick him up, struggles to get along with his past self. Plus being in a practically empty manor is a bigger adjustment than he'd like to admit. I enjoyed this, especially Alfred!
Before the Red Hood is on Batman's radar, Tim Drake manages to figure out his identity. He comes to Hood with an offer: "Are you in the market for a side-kick?" I'm enjoying this 10-story (so far) series in which Jason's return goes slightly differently. The author says the series isn't complete yet, but I thought it reached a good enough stopping place to recommend reading it.
There’s this tendency with the Robins. They tend to treat gravity as less of a law, and more of an optional construct. Cass had been surprised by it the first few times she sparred with any of them. Even Jason, broad and dense as he is, could lift himself off the ground with so little effort that there was almost no warning. There was no telltale bent leg, barely a tense muscle. Cass has spent plenty of time watching each of them fight in the time since those first few matches, though. She knows how to spot it. (Cass spars with all her siblings. It's nice! Mostly. Except for the rampant cheating.) ♥CASS♥
It’s all Tim’s fault, like most things are. That’s what Jason tells himself as he stares at the clock on his desk, reminding him of a deadline he’s not sure he’ll meet. If he can just crank out these last few paragraphs and ignore the way his head throbs, the way his ribs ache… Well. Then there will be another deadline tomorrow, and another next week. It does not fucking end. He sighs and drains the last of his coffee. Eight hundred more words to go. (Jason goes to school. Everyone finds out, despite his best efforts.)
When Damian finds a small child with an expensive camera on a rooftop in the middle of Gotham, he decides to follow in his father’s footsteps and take the boy home. After all, why should Bruce be the only one who gets to add to the family? Damian and Tim age swap fluff. This is both hilarious and adorable.
After years of pining after an alien demi-god who is, much as she hates to admit it, miles out of her league, Lois realises she's caught feelings for her co-worker. Unsure whether or not to tell him, she seeks advice from the most sensitive guy she knows - Superman. Things don't go as she expected... This is a really sweet and a little funny story of Lois revealing her feelings for Clark and Clark...revealing his secret identity.
When he’s eleven, Jason Todd becomes a regular at the Bowery Branch Public Library. This is his life, through their eyes. Oh my heart! This is a great outsider POV on Jason over the years.
Batman and Robin #1: Death Becomes Her by @Hinn_Raven.ao3 & @RenaRoo.ao3
DICK GRAYSON has spent two years serving as the DARK KNIGHT and as a mentor to his adopted brother DAMIAN WAYNE. Throughout their successes and throughout their bonding, DICK has strived to teach the young Robin the importance of life and justice. Their teamwork may soon be tested, however, alongside DICK's claim to the mantle of BATMAN by the world's deadliest fighter. LADY SHIVA returns to Gotham with only one goal in mind: to test the prowess of her daughter's competition to the BATMAN legacy. I enjoyed this! #we were the best richard
Batgirl #1: A Robin's Revenge by @Hinn_Raven.ao3 & @RenaRoo.ao3
STEPHANIE BROWN has been through a trial by fire. As BATGIRL she has finally earned respect, a support group, and a legacy to be a part of. But all of that hard earned prestige means nothing if she isn't trusted to handle things on her own. A newly revived BLACK MASK has returned and wants to rule Gotham again with an iron fist. Stephanie is locked out of her support system in an effort to keep her from the man that almost killed her, but she is determined to prove her abilities not only to Gotham but to herself. Steph lays a major demon to rest.
