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100 days of enemy recs: 95. Bats
Look, Batfandom had to be on here, because it's so much classic hero/villain stuff. Batman/Catwoman, of course, which goes way, way back. Bruce/Talia, which produced a kid. Bruce/Harvey. Various other villain ships and traitorous lovers for Bruce, of varying levels of canonicity.
I just, I gotta admit I don't ship any of them? Bruce/Selina is, in theory, excellent, but in practice, canon has fucked it up so many times and in such a variety of ways, not to mention failing to settle on any sort of stable characterization of Selina, that I just can't make myself care. The other villain ships are fine, I guess? But again canon is just so interested in making all of his villains The One Real Enemy that none of them are any fun anymore. The closest he has to a nemesis is Joker, but honestly Joker is just sort of pathetic, not interesting or really a match for Bruce, and also super gross.
The Nolan movies tried very hard to make Batman/Superman an enemyship but I don't buy it, They are not enemies, they are Batman and Superman! They are best friends to the point where if they do get in a Mandated Hero Fight they just automatically assume one of them is under mind control or something, and they're always right.
Honestly though I think the real issue is that I settled a long time ago on a Bruce Wayne characterization where he doesn't fall in love. Like, Bruce the Socialite dates a lot, and so many people have tried to get under the shallow mask and find the real Bruce, but even if they manage it all they find under there is a somewhat befuddled polyamorous aromantic who is never going to fall in love or be want exclusive with them no matter how much he loves them. People who try it with Batman end up in the same place, just from a different direction. Bruce should be sleeping with half of Gotham and having complicated sexual/emotional entanglements with half of the Justice League and otp with nobody except Batman.
(That said, I enjoy the crap out of Bruce/Lex where Bruce is 100% doing it just to fuck with Lex and Clark, and Lex thinks he knows what's going on but is very, very wrong and will never find out. I also love Bruce/Lois in a similar way, except that Lois is smarter than Lex and will absolutely figure it out, and they unionize against Clark but they are still enemies because girl reporters and eccentric billionaires have a natural predator/prey relationship. But both Bruce/Lois and Bruce/Lex are ridiculously rare.)
(Okay, Bruce/Harley is also good, mostly because fuck the Joker, and also because Harley and Bruce would both enjoy dating someone who understands them on a deep level and also is in 0 danger of falling in love with them.)
ANYWAY. the point is, I don't really have recs for any of that because most of the limited fic I can think of is by people who I have already used elsewhere.
So instead I am going to rec Robins. I would try to explain Robins, but Robins are complicated. But they are complicated in delightful chewy ways that hit all of my bells for antagonists who love each other.
I just, I gotta admit I don't ship any of them? Bruce/Selina is, in theory, excellent, but in practice, canon has fucked it up so many times and in such a variety of ways, not to mention failing to settle on any sort of stable characterization of Selina, that I just can't make myself care. The other villain ships are fine, I guess? But again canon is just so interested in making all of his villains The One Real Enemy that none of them are any fun anymore. The closest he has to a nemesis is Joker, but honestly Joker is just sort of pathetic, not interesting or really a match for Bruce, and also super gross.
The Nolan movies tried very hard to make Batman/Superman an enemyship but I don't buy it, They are not enemies, they are Batman and Superman! They are best friends to the point where if they do get in a Mandated Hero Fight they just automatically assume one of them is under mind control or something, and they're always right.
Honestly though I think the real issue is that I settled a long time ago on a Bruce Wayne characterization where he doesn't fall in love. Like, Bruce the Socialite dates a lot, and so many people have tried to get under the shallow mask and find the real Bruce, but even if they manage it all they find under there is a somewhat befuddled polyamorous aromantic who is never going to fall in love or be want exclusive with them no matter how much he loves them. People who try it with Batman end up in the same place, just from a different direction. Bruce should be sleeping with half of Gotham and having complicated sexual/emotional entanglements with half of the Justice League and otp with nobody except Batman.
(That said, I enjoy the crap out of Bruce/Lex where Bruce is 100% doing it just to fuck with Lex and Clark, and Lex thinks he knows what's going on but is very, very wrong and will never find out. I also love Bruce/Lois in a similar way, except that Lois is smarter than Lex and will absolutely figure it out, and they unionize against Clark but they are still enemies because girl reporters and eccentric billionaires have a natural predator/prey relationship. But both Bruce/Lois and Bruce/Lex are ridiculously rare.)
(Okay, Bruce/Harley is also good, mostly because fuck the Joker, and also because Harley and Bruce would both enjoy dating someone who understands them on a deep level and also is in 0 danger of falling in love with them.)
ANYWAY. the point is, I don't really have recs for any of that because most of the limited fic I can think of is by people who I have already used elsewhere.
So instead I am going to rec Robins. I would try to explain Robins, but Robins are complicated. But they are complicated in delightful chewy ways that hit all of my bells for antagonists who love each other.
- Heart, Humble (7791 words) by Betty
Fandom: DCU - Comicverse
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Tim Drake, Jack Drake
The one where Jack Drake meets Robin. - Take It Back Now Y'all (82815 words) by TimTheToaster
Chapters: 22/?
Fandom: Red Robin (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Characters: Tim Drake, Original Characters, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Waylon Jones, Oswald Cobblepot
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Time Travel, to call this a fix-it is disingenuous but it is in the spirit, other batfam will apear, tim just has to figure his stuff out first, the OCs are kind of filler but also not if that makes sense, more tags as the situation develops, i'm just gonna slide in the, Slow Burn, tag because this is going to be a long build-up to Something, Canon-Typical Violence, but more like Tim's normal than Bruce's, Just So We're Clear, BAMF Tim Drake, Tim Drake-centric, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution
The one where Tim gets trapped in the past and decides the obvious solution is to set himself up as a supervillain and take over Gotham's crime scene so that the Time Cops will notice him and send him home. - Panic Room (15912 words) by envysparkler
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Batman - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Additional Tags: Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Batfamily (DCU), Panic Attacks, Strangulation, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Broken Bones, Hugs, Hurt Tim Drake, Hurt Damian Wayne, Enemy to Caretaker
The one where Damian locks Tim and Jason in a room together.