i did this in middle school when i got grounded lmaooo
if there is a screen
ao3 will be seen
Pondering my orbs.
When the League meets Baby Robin(Dick), they are genuinely surprised, as it seems impossible that Batman is raising this little ray of sunshine who appeared from between his cape and then proceeded to greet them with the brightest smile they've all ever seen, completely adoring Superman, saying how great Wonder Woman is, and actually laughing at Barry's jokes.
Bruce takes care of his work, but occasionally stops to, in fact, help Robin who is trying to do his English homework. The other members also help out, of course.
So, Hal arrives at the Watchtower, and Robin, seeing the man his dad mentor has been so grumpy about because of the last meeting they had (Hal doesn't understand that Batman is the best at his job and is the one giving directions for a reason, duh!), decides he will exact revenge.
He carries on a normal conversation with the man just as he did with everyone else, subtly leading the topic until Hal falls into the trap:
Hal: What about your mom? I can't imagine anyone putting up with the old bat.
He speaks with all mockery, but then his smile freezes when he sees the tremor in the little boy's shoulders.
Dick: *shuddering and holding back a little sob* my mummy died in front of me a few months ago.... I...
Hal is pale now, because the child actually sobs, and runs off to hide in the cape of Batman, who was now standing, ready to stitch up his child.
He's not the only one, Superman and the others are already there too, looking at him angrily because he made the little bean cry.
Hal is in a panic.
And if he sees how the boy smiles at him when no one is looking, sticking his tongue out at him while moving his lips to send him the message "Don't bother my dad", no one would ever believe him, not while the little boy is now clinging to Batman tightly as he slowly blinks away tears that not even the best actors could ever pull off.
Only Hal knows the devil behind that angel face.
Batman knows it too, but he adores his precious little demon.
"save me, substance abuse!" i cry. before you can moralize to me about the dangers of addiction, a noble and powerful steed gallops into the room - my horse whom i have named "substance abuse". you learn an important lesson about making assumptions. i snort a line off its back
This is probably a hot take but I don't think anybody actually cares who Batman is outside of the GCPD and conspiracy theorists.
When Batman first shows up he's a friggen poltergeist. He's a cryptid. For a second there maybe people thought he was just a creepypasta.
Then when people start to think… actually it kinda seems like he's a guy…? Like, he's a real…? Person…???
Then the GCPD is like, 'Okay, well, then he's breaking laws.'
But your average schmo is like, 'And? Yeah he's a guy; he gave me fifty bucks to get home last night. Right after he saved me from an acid piranha pit.'
But the thing is, Bats has his own personality. He's a whole person as the mask. People don't ask who Superman's secret identity is because, as far as they're concerned, Superman is just Superman, and when they can't see him, it's because he went home. It would be the same with Batman. They probably think he sleeps or hangs upside-down all day.
I think Gothamites like him as Just Batman; he's the city's pet monster, and they like it that way.
I think we get super caught up in the, "Batman's secret identity might be revealed! 😱" because Batman's secret identity is famous. But if someone unmasked Clark or Barry or Hal it would be like
"…I have no idea who this is."
And they expect the same of Batman.
GCPD wants to know so they can arrest him, conspiracy theorists want to know because they wanna know where he fits into the machine, gossip columnists want to know so they can get catch some drama, and real-person fanfic authors wanna know so they can accurately describe him when he takes his mask off to kiss Bruce Wayne.
Tim: Ah yes, my train of thoughts.
Tim: Or, as I like to call it, the Anxiety Express.
Tumblr usernames are so funny, "the ghost of jason todd started following you" okay well can he stop
Tim Drake, about trying to convince Batman to not almost kill criminals and himself: