#also earlier in this comic tim has a nightmare in which dick and bruce are wearing masks & he demands to see their real faces | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dairy-farmer · 2 years

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Thinking of an au where the Batman isn’t Bruce Wayne, but instead an actual eldritch creature that protects Gotham. Like the spirit of the city.

(Ive seen art of it but I can’t find it rn?? But hopefully you know what I’m talking about)

And Tim still stalks this eldritch creature and also the various rogues and baddies of Gotham for his night photos, and he’s the *only* one who can ever catch photos of the bat.

The Batman, who is not really human and can’t speak, like I said, more of an eldritch horror, becomes incredibly attached and protective of Tim. He sees that Tim is neglected in his big empty ‘cave’— Timmy is his sweet little baby bat and he’ll protect him. Incredibly possessive. Gets violent when Tim tries to escape or do something with others. But is so sweet and gentle with him.

But of course, he’s not human, and he doesn’t really have a human concept of morality, meaning he has no concept of what’s platonic and approprsiate and familial and what’s sexual. To him he just needs to be timmy’s everything, his protector— he’s a bit like a dragon. Timmy is his hoard. He protects the city, and everything in the city is miserable save for his sweet little jewel.

He’ll insist on sleeping cuddled to Tim, sometimes tugging off clothes so he can feel bare skin and wrap him in blankets. Tim kisses him on the ‘cheek’ once and the creature insists now upon receiving this sweet little kisses all the time.

He notices that sometimes when he holds him close the cute little pink space between his legs with the curls of black hair grows wet. Initially, he’s concerned, but upon further examination, it appears to bring him no pain. He touches it, nuzzles against it— and Timmy makes such sweet little noises, and the bat realizes it brings his little treasure pleasure.

He’s absolutely fascinated with his cute cunt, his tiny little tits, his wet mouth. He also likes to hand feed him, to wash him, to carry him around.

When it’s finally realized Tim is missing, he’s eventually spotted with the bat, and the search is called off. None of them want to anger that eldritch creature— if the bat wants him, they have to let him have him.

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

okay! the concept of batman being this abstract thing, a song of Cthulu type of thing that rules over gotham and is the actual manifestation of the grimy, slimy rot that’s festered in the city.

that is so good!! when i first started reading robin comics and especially the batman comics where tim is first introduced there was one panel that stuck out to me in particular and that was after tim’s mom is died and his dad is in a coma. bruce is drawn and depicted as this....shadow lurking in the backround. in the hospital he’s outside the room and behind the glass observation panel- but he doesn’t have a face.

tim, earlier, when he’s talking to dick and alfred, says that the sight of bruce coming down at haly’s circus descending on dick and his parents gave him nightmares for years and he looked so haunted as he said that. even though he learned that bruce was just trying to help, he still couldn’t help but feel afraid.

after the incident with his parents he has another nightmare where bruce/batman comforts him and hugs him. only for batman to transform into this nightmarish thing that gets this evil smirk and swallows tim into the shadow of him like he’s a kelpie drowning an innocent boy.

i think for the most part modern interpretation has forgotten it- but its canon that tim was terrified of batman for a long time.

in this panel which took place after tim’s dad died i think it’s interesting the way bruce is drawn

where bruce’s shoulders are hiked up, his eyes are blacked out and half of tim is sucked into the darkness. without context this doesn’t really look like a father comforting his son who’s just been traumatized and stumbled across his murdered father and is literally sitting in a pool of his blood. this is a very, very possessive type of hold, not really one meant to reassure. it’s tim’s hand gripping batman’s that is the only indication that he’s holding onto him for stability and not to get away.

it’s definitely something that’s caught my attention that it’s almost never or very rarely BRUCE who comforts tim but rather batman. it would’ve made sense if the writers had bruce remove his cowl and then hug tim so he could show this stable facade and father who will be looking out for him.

but they don’t. which i feel is a very important detail.

a batman who is more animalistic and driven by impulse abducting tim is just so GOOD!!!! i can’t stop thinking of the last line you used “if the bat wants him, they have to let him have him.”

like they’re letting this boy go into the ether with a monster and they have no idea what will happen to him and thy just have to let it happen!

but the part that i really love is how, since Batman’s instincts are so base- he can’t really comprehend boundaries or how appropriate something is to do with tim.

i love the idea of wither unwilling pleasure where batman fucks tim because he knows it makes him feel good despite his resistance and objection! BUT the concept of tim being taken young enough where HE doesn’t fully understand the concept of sex is so good. he knows it feels good and his batman holds him so gently as he presses into tim’s little body. tim just holding on and gasping, crying at how his body tingles and pulses under batman’s hands and not quite knowing what it is or what’s happening!!

tim being a tender little kept thing, batman’s most prized possession stored in his cave.his claws digging into tim’s tender flesh and shivering with delight as some unknown feeling rushes through him when he presses into the wet hole of his squirming treasure.

in many way i think eldrich batman would be as socially aware as tim, in many ways they’re both like two kids playing together and discovering each other’s bodies together.

batman carries tim around on his back as he flies through gotham and sometimes citizens see them up on the top of buildings curled up together.

but those could just easily be gargoyles. the top of wayne enterprises is teh sight of many batman sightings since it’s the tallest building in the city.

a week after security cameras are installed on the roof to prevent break-ins, bruce wayne, the city’s richest patron, quietly deletes the hours of footage featuring the batman tenderly fucking timothy drake. the boy that was famously abducted by him months ago.

the batman does a lot of good for the city, more good than bruce could ever claim to accomplish. the people are already scared of him. the fact that timothy seems both alive, healthy, and well is the only reason the GCPD hasn’t mobilized against him.

but if this were to get out then...

sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good. but from the looks of those tapes. timothy didn’t seem to believe it was all that much of a sacrifice.

over the years the story of timothy drake, the young boy who was quietly abducted by the batman becomes a cautionary tale to the children of gotham. warning them to not misbehave, to not miss curfew, to not cause trouble or else batman would come and take them like he did to little timmy whose devastated parents left the city and never returned. so enraptured in the grief of losing their only child.

bruce continues to keep tabs on batman as he always has. he has a small team of tech experts who track and delete all footage from the security cameras all around the city.

one day a grim face barbara gordon, the head of his tech team, comes to him with a small flash drive. on it are a handful of images and videos of the batman, in his arms timothy drake, and in timothy’s drake’s arms, a little dark-haired baby whose hair floats just a little too unnaturally.

it’s been a long time since images or videos of batman have been captured. in the home of timothy drake, stored in a shoebox under his bed,hundreds of images had been uncovered and they were the best-recorded footage of the gotham myth ever taken.

bruce was certain they had timothy drake to thank for why the gotham specter became even harder to trace even with dozens of cameras constantly searching him out after discovery of the timothy drake pictures.

the spot the video was taken was a spot frequently visited, it was the top of wayne enterprises, right under the letters of bruce’s last name.

bruce knew that they knew cameras were pointed there. bruce knew that they knew that they’d been caught on the footage.

the city belongs to the batman and bruce is certain it knows exactly what bruce has been doing all these years.

bruce isn’t sure why but for some reason, the batman wanted bruce to see both timothy drake and...their child?

bruce wasn’t sure. he didn’t know. he really didn’t.

he couldn’t understand batman, not even a little.

this could’ve been a promise.

but it just as easily could’ve been a threat.

#anonymous #asks #answered asks

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ectonurites · 3 years

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In Tim original he was there when dick parents die and he look like 4-5 and that make me confused bc shouldn’t Tim be more younger than that when dick parents die ? ( I mean the age gap between dick and Tim Probably 8-10 )

OKAY lets take a look at this!

All of this is obviously not currently canon because the New 52 changed things and honestly even before that things could be very inconsistent, but we can try to approximate what Tim, Jason, and Dick's ages and age differences were based on that 1987-1989 era of canon to try to make sense of 'how old Tim should have been when Dick's parents died' (Then I know you didn't bring up Jason but considering how linked Tim's origin is to him he's relevant, so he's in here too)

So in Batman #416 (the issue Dick & Jason first meet), Dick brings up two things relevant to talk about here:

From this we know:

Dick was 19 when Bruce fired him from being Robin

Dick & Bruce were partners for 6 years, meaning Dick was approximately 13 when he began as Robin (I believe other comics reference him being around 12 at the time of his parents' death/becoming Robin, so it could be more like it was 6 full years and dates just don't line up exactly, and he did actually start at 12. This could also be explained as the training time, as later in Lonely Place of Dying Tim mentions there were a few months between the death of Dick's parents and Robin's debut, meaning it could be more like his parents died when he was 12 -> he trained the rest of the time he was 12 -> he properly debuted as Robin at age 13)

For the purposes of working out this logic I'm going to treat these things as happening when Dick was 12

Now the DC Wiki cites that Jason was confirmed as 12 when he met Bruce/became Robin in a letters-to-the-editor type 'bat-signals' page included in Batman #413, however all the scans of that issue I've been able to find don't include those pages (they're often not included in scans of older issues), so I'm not currently able to confirm/deny that. However logistically it makes sense, that way he had a few years in the role before his death, considering we do know he died at age 15 from a few sources including his Death Certificate in the Batman Files:

For the sake of 'needing a number' I'm going to assume that age 12 start time is true.

We then know that Bruce met Jason not too long after he fired Dick based on Batman #408. The start of the issue shows the incident/reason that Bruce fired him (he got very injured by the Joker and Bruce decided he couldn't work with a partner anymore), then it says some weeks (an unspecified number of weeks, but they use the term 'weeks' not 'months' to describe it) passed:

Which brings us to the anniversary of Bruce's parents' death which is when he first meets Jason in crime alley.

So, based on all that so far we can conclude:

Dick's parents died and he became Robin when he was around 12/13

Dick was fired from being Robin after they worked together for six years, at age 19

Soon after Dick became Nightwing (also at 19 I believe), and Jason was taken in by Bruce at age 12 and became Robin after training

(Jason and Dick don't meet for a while though, as it's not until 18 months after being fired that Dick approaches Bruce again (in Batman #416 as referenced earlier), when he and Jason would have probably been around 20/21 and 13/14 respectively)

Jason was killed at age 15, when Dick would have been approximately 22 if we consider this three years after he was fired/Jason met Bruce

Then let's get to Tim! We know that Tim was 13 during Lonely Place of Dying, which takes place not too long after Jason was killed

(Batman #441)

Which gives us that 'Jason is about two years older than Tim' age difference that is commonly used

Now taking that stuff also into consideration:

Jason died at age 15, when Dick would have been approximately 22, and Tim would have been about 13 (theoretically he actually should have been 12 at the time of Jason's death because Jason died in April and Tim's birthday is in July, and Lonely Place of Dying is supposed to be like a few months after Jason's death and we know he's 13 at the time of the story, however I'm almost certain Tim's birthday hadn't been determined yet when the story was written so it definitely didn't factor into the logic when they were writing it. So we should treat it as him being 13, but my brain would yell at me if I didn't at least address that)

So, we can then approximate Tim & Dick's age difference at around 9 years, implying Tim should have been about 3 at the time Dick's parents died, when Dick was 12. Most people usually assume Tim is older than that at the time though, in the 4-5 (or even 6) range like you suggested, based on the art and the fact that Tim has strong memories from that day (of the deaths themselves, and the thing that lets him figure out that Dick is Robin: that the Ringmaster had said only three people could do that quadruple somersault)

However frankly it is possible to have memories from being 3, like it's less common sure and is about the earliest that is average to have, but especially considering it was something he had nightmares about for years afterwards that impacted him, I wouldn't be that surprised by details sticking with him even if it was from when he was that young. Also comics are not ever consistent about drawing people the ages they are so I really don't think that can count as proof of age or anything.

Also, the way he speaks in the flashback to the moment during Batman Year 3 (so before Lonely Place of Dying, because in the LPoD flashbacks we don't actually see him talk at all at this age) feels much more to me like how a preschooler (typically about 3-4) would talk than a kindergartener (typically about 5-6), just as someone who has worked with both age groups before.

(Batman #436)

But I mean i'm not an expert on childhood development stuff like that, so take my opinion there with a grain of salt. I'm more just trying to point out that him being significantly younger than most people assume he was there is definitely possible. I usually only see people point to the parts in LPoD and gloss right over Batman #436 in these discussions.

But yeah! So there's obviously guesswork thrown in here, and comics just in general are not consistent about ages like these things are fluid and do change, but my best guesses based on stuff from that late 80's period (+ the death certificate from later, I know him being 15 is mentioned in other places too but off the top of my head I could not remember and the death certificate is just easiest to find) are:

Tim was about 3 when Dick's parents died

Dick is about 9 years older than him

Jason is about 2 years older than Tim/ 7 years younger than Dick

I hope I worded this in not too confusing of a way, and I'd again like to reiterate this is in no way a definitive thing (there just is no definitive answer, because basically all this kind of stuff gets contradicted at various points) it's just what makes most sense to me after reading through these comics from this era!

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why-this-kolaveri-machi · 5 years

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dick grayson fic rec post

i’ve read a fair amount of dick grayson/nightwing-related fic over the last few months–and have so many favourites that i revisit frequently!–that i thought it was about damn time that i made a rec post. feel free to add on any gems that you think i’ve missed.

s/o to @cautiousamber who actually inadvertently got this ball rolling, and who is just awesome in general.

these fics are listed in no particular order. almost all of them are sourced from ao3 and a lot of them feature dark themes, blood and violence. i’ll put fic-specific warnings next to each title, but make sure to check out the tags on the fic itself before reading in case i missed something that you’d rather not read.

like a rubber band until you pull too hard by @perissologist Summary: Morgaine le Fey curses Dick Grayson to absorb the pain of everyone he loves.

Warnings: Violence, blood & gore, whump, some swearing. Also, it’s Jason Todd/Dick Grayson, tho that’s not the focus and more or less subtext until the last few paragraphs of the fic.

this is a gloriously simple h/c premise that packs in so much potential that i’m still kicking myself for not thinking of it before. the writing is wonderful, the interactions between dick and his family are heartfelt without being sappy, and the writer treads a fine, fine line between jason’s general standoffishness and the aching core of his love for his family so damn well.

Half Lost, Half Found by takadainmate Summary: Driven underground, Batman fights to keep Nightwing alive.

Warnings: Violence, blood & gore, graphic descriptions of injury, some swearing. And it’s, uh, incomplete, and likely to remain that way.

this… THIS is the fic that truly inspired me to make this post, because everyone needs to read it. rich in detail and full of glorious h/c, it manages to give us a nuanced, dynamic portrayal of bruce and dick’s relationship even while ratcheting up the tension as batman struggles to keep a gravely injured nightwing alive and save them both from Peril. it lacks the final chapter where (presumably) they are rescued and finally get a chance to recover, but i would 100% recommend reading what’s there even if you aren’t a fan of incomplete fics.

Black and Red by Eboni_A Summary: Jason Todd is the Boy Terror to Dick Grayson’s Boy Wonder and proud of it. Where Dick is graceful, Jason is brutal, but they work together like clockwork. When a serious illness takes Dick down, Jason makes it his duty to watch over him. Jason loves his adopted brother and will kill to protect him.

Warnings: Violence, chronic illness, blood and gore, swearing, dick is fourteen and jason is twelve and they go through a lot of Shit. first person perspective.

this is nominally set in the young justice universe but there are a lot of changes–with jason todd adopted far earlier than he has been in other batman media and working as a batman sidekick of a different name while dick is still robin. given i’m not a big fan of reading robin-era fics (literal children in Peril makes me squirm) or first-person perspective, this fic still managed to win me over with how well-rounded and sympathetic it made an angry and prickly jason todd feel. dick also has to deal with a fairly serious medical issue, but despite spending most of the fic in hospital, his humour and charm and bravery shine through.

Collar Me (Don’t Collar Me) by CaramelMachete and spread_my_wings Summary: A basic patrol ends in a common injury. However, complications may turn a simple broken arm into something potentially career-ending. Dick copes as best as he can. Until he doesn’t. His family tries to help.

Warnings: blood and injury, serious complications of said injury, descriptions of surgical procedures and discussion of permanent disability. some swearing. a work in progress.

i am obsessed with this fic. spoiler: the complication is compartment syndrome, and the way the fic approaches not just dick’s ways to cope with this, but other members of the batfam and several of dick’s friends ring very true to their characters. it’s emotional without being melodramatic and wonderfully written. an update on this fic ranks among the highlights of my day, honestly.

through sandstorms and hazy dawns by Makalaure Summary: “Robin,” Bruce grinds out, “stop talking. You need to stay sharp.”

Dick knows he is walking a fine, fine line. “Aw, come on, B,” he says, going for cheerful but feeling like something in him, something he has kept carefully in check till now, is about to snap.

Warnings: mature themes, mentions of forced prostitution, homophobic language, implied paedophilia, implied past abuse, and exoticisation. panic attacks.

this is a beautiful fic, dealing with all the highs and lows of the earliest stages of bruce and dick’s relationship–both of them utterly out of their comfort zones but learning all the same. being batman’s first robin is so much more of a struggle than dick ever lets on later in his life, and in spite of everything, their growing love for and wonderment at each other shine through like a beacon.

Yellow Submarines by jerseydevious Summary: A collection of Batfam prompt-fics.

Warnings: there’s some swearing, violence and blood in some fics, but mostly harmless, i think.

not all of these are dick-related, but each and every one of these 52 fics have made me cry like a lost child. i love this author’s batfam–they’re softer, more open, and utterly unafraid to love each other with all their heart. it helps that the writing flows so well, too–there are some phrases here that will stay with me for a very, very long time.

Atropa Belladonna by Embleer_Firth0323 Summary: A routine traffic stop sets off a domino effect that will forever shatter Officer!Grayson’s entire world–transforming a once temperate existence into a lurid nightmare of obsession, deceit, violence, and finally murder.

Warnings: Rape/non-con, abuse, suicide. suicidal thoughts, violence, blood and gore, multiple character deaths (none of the batfam), discussions of pregnancy and miscarriage, swearing, first person perspective. i’m sure i’m missing some warnings; please check the tags for the fic. there are also chapter-specific warnings in the notes that precede the chapters.

HOKAY. this is a VERY long, very soap-opera-y retelling of the infamous tarantula arc from the comics. somehow, it is even darker, but hopeful in that all of the damage it inflicts on dick and those close to him is actually acknowledged and addressed. the world around this particular version of dick is rather nicely fleshed out and full of likeable people… bar catalina, of course. catalina flores plumbs the depths of awfulness and digs even further when it comes to her relationship with dick, but even at her worst, her anguish and trauma is always palpable. it’s a long, difficult, but extremely engrossing read.

i would recommend reading this author’s other novel-length fics as well, but beware that they deal with very, very heavy topics, and not always with the deftest or most sensitive hand.

Come One, Come All and The Only Thing To Say by incogneat_oh

both of these are really cute fics where members of the batfam care for/spend time with an injured!dick. they are sweet, rich in detail, and honestly a delight to read. warnings-wise, i can’t think of anything beyond the odd swear-word.

Little By Little by paramountie Summary: Six times Tiger found himself stuck in Bludhaven.

Warnings: swearing, blood and injury, mind control, violence. Tiger/Dick.

this fic builds on all the the strengths of the Grayson comic series–a breezy tone, spy/thriller content, and tiger and dick’s fun dynamic. this fic is very funny and kind of heartbreaking in turns. my only caveat is that this dick tends very much towards the happy-go-lucky, quippy, emotional, a-bit-of-a-disaster characterisation that tends to plague him in fanon–but to be fair, that is the persona he put up while at Spyral in Grayson.

O Clouds Unfold by lowflyingfruit Summary: Over the years, Alfred tries to introduce the younger members of the Batfamily to the noble sport of cricket.

Warnings: none that i can think of, really.

THIS FIC DELIGHTS ME ON SO MANY LEVELS. little snippets of alfred bonding with bruce’s adopted kids over the years by trying to introduce them to cricket–alfred’s voice is consistently amazing, and it is charming af from beginning to finish.

i’d recommend all of this author’s batfam fic tbh.

Tectonic Doom by paganpunk2 Summary: Dick and Tim head out for a week of brotherly bonding in the wilderness only to find themselves caught up in a scheme to put humanity on the ‘extinct’ list.

Warnings: violence, blood, injury and gore, minor character death

this is a lovely, long, plotty fic–with a wonderfully imaginative premise that’s brought out in rich detail, with so much glorious, glorious Dick/Tim bonding. there are way, way too few fics that focus on these two.

Ducklings on the Freeway by pentapus Summary: Jason worries about the younger Robins. He doesn’t worry about Dick – Dick’s untouchable, and even if he wasn’t Jason wouldn’t care.

(Or Dick gets hurt, and it freaks Jason out more than he expected.)

Warnings: swearing, injury. Jason/Dick, but more subtext than anything.

jason’s voice in this fic is so perfect–the tentative ways in which he reconnects with his family, and especially dick, while still dealing with a fuckton of trauma and resentment ring very, very true. and tired-but-knowing!dick is a delight as always.

this is maybe ~33% of the recs i had in mind, but this post has gotten long and i’m tired, so. i’ll add more later. if you have anything that i’ve missed, please feel free to add it to this post!

#batman #batfam #dick grayson #nightwing #robin #fic rec

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