#tarantula dc

[erinwantstowrite]

Hi!!!! I Love love love your fic, and I have a question! An inquiry if you must lol. I was reading the tags again, and I noticed the skip Westcott tag. Are you going to approach the topic? Like, other than Peter suffering that trauma, when he eventually opens up to the bat family, will he talk about it?? Will dick talk about his own experience with Tarantula? I'm so excited to see your take since you put some hints that skip was maybe his caretaker at some point? Like foster dad or maybe I'm genuinely just tripping and mixing with other fics.

ALSO incredibly excited to see what happened to him with the experiments!!! It's extremely vague but im so needing that angst!!!! I really want to see more of Peter's life before coming to Gotham, before even meeting Tony!

hiii!! ty for the love!! :)

i spent ages looking for an ask i got a while ago about this topic but i can't find it for some reason? so if anyone is able to find it for me, i'd like to link it to this post and i'd appreciate the help!!

EDIT: perpetuallypanicky found the post!

(warning for under the tag: talking about Skip Westcott and Tarantula, which covers the topic of SA. please take care of yourself)

Peter will eventually talk about Skip Westcott. I can't say how much he says because I haven't actually written the conversation yet, but at the moment, it's more alluded to that it is talked about. It's a conversation for way later in another part of the series I have planned for LoF, which actually has an entire plotline about Peter's past and how it connects to his future. But he will open up and talk about it at some point. I think in the road trip arc (chapter 15 I think?) I have it planned for Peter to talk about Skip in some context with Dick (mainly, he tells Dick the most he's ever told anyone about the day he was bit by the spider), but not fully.

(And if that changes, it will 100% be warned in the beginning with the other trigger warnings I put in beginning chapter notes.)

That's mostly because Peter still hasn't processed that yet. He hasn't even told his therapist (I briefly mentioned a few times in Peter's POV's that he has gone to therapy, but I should probably make sure it's known that he doesn't go so often that he's gotten through the biggest parts of his past).

As for Tarantula... I talked about this in the Lost Post (this thing disappeared???) so I should probably mention it again. But Tarantula did NOT happen in this au.

There's a huge reason for it, and that's because I hate Devin Grayson, the writer who put that shit in there. I don't want her attached to LoF in any form, even if I'm writing to bash it.

That's not saying that Dick isn't still a survivor of SA. He's still going to have that be a part of his past as well, with some of the other instances. (There's another instance with Catwoman that's just... no.) So I'm not erasing that part of his history. I just hate Devin Grayson.

Which means that when Dick does find out (and he will), there's gonna be a big reaction. For the most part, when it comes to What Happened, I won't be going into details, nor flashbacks, stuff like that. It'll be about the impact of those times, and how Peter and Dick are recovering, though they do talk about it.

Also, Skip was Peter's last foster parent before Tony, you're right. He's probably just a little older than Dick, I'd say, around mid thirties? He was responsible for Peter for a little while but Peter ended up running away that day he got bit, and Skip hasn't fostered since.

And as for the experiments: I'm excited to write about it more. Peter and Dick also talk about this, and in some more detail than the Westcott talk. It's about time that Dick learned how Tony got Peter's complete trust,,,, a little sneak peak into that,,,, :)

There's actually so much about Peter's backstory that I sometimes wonder if there's things that I wouldn't be able to get to in LoF... It just means that I've been considering writing a prequel one day

[oldmannapping]

Trigger warning: Discussion of past sexual assualt and mention of domestic violence (fictional).

HC: Dick donates one of his Nightwing suits to a What Were You Wearing exhibit to destigmatise male rape.

He does a single interview with a carefully-vetted reporter in response to the media explosion.

Exerpt below.

Reporter: Despite your flashy and talkative superhero persona, you've actually been quite good at keeping details of your personal life close to the vest for all these years.

Nightwing: (chuckle) Yeah, that's a pretty big part of having a secret identity. Talk lots, say nothing. When in doubt, throw in a pun or two.

Reporter: So after, what is it, ten, fifteen years of being a public figure-

Nightwing: More than twenty, now.

Reporter: Twenty! Gosh you're making me feel old.

Nightwing: Me too.

Reporter: So after more than two decades of being in the public eye as Nightwing, you've chosen to reveal a part of your life, some would say arguably one of the most vulnerable and private parts of your life. Why now?

Nightwing: It definitely wasn't a quick decision. I think that for any survivor of crime, it's important that they take time to heal and process things. Particularly for something like rape or domestic assualt, so much agency is taken away from you and I think for me, owning my story was a really important part of feeling like I could take control back.

Reporter: And you wanted to take control in a way that helped other people.

Nightwing: Not at first. I wasn't- It wasn't something I immediately thought like, "Oh, now I can relate to victims better on the job, how can I use this for good" kind of thing. I was really- For a long time, like years, I just wanted to pretend it didn't happen. Like it was the same as any other injury I'd get being Nightwing, or Robin, or whatever, like it wasn't any different.

Reporter: But it was different.

Nightwing: Yeah. I mean for one thing, it wasn't really an injury. I mean, there's no such thing as luck here, or being more raped or less raped, but in my case, I didn't have physical injuries. I wasn't- it wasn't like I was overpowered and beaten or anything like that. So I didn't feel like there was anything to "recover" from, if that makes sense. And I think there's also a lot of shame that went along with that, as a man, as a superhero, as someone who's used to being the strong one and the one who protects people, there was a lot of shame I felt. Like, if this was really rape then it would have been more violent, and I'd have been able to fight her off, and my body wouldn't have responded... All of that.

Reporter: All things that I'm sure you've heard from other victims, over the years.

Nightwing: Yeah. And that's something, I didn't want to be a victim. That wasn't- Nobody wants to be a victim, but I've spent most of my life helping people and being the hero, so it was impossible for me, for a long time, to do that cognitive shift and think of myself as both. Like, yes I'm a hero, yes I'm strong, and yes I was also assaulted and yes I need help to deal with this.

Reporter: So it was a long time before you told anyone.

Nightwing: Yeah. It was actually my broth- It was someone in my family, who noticed some things I said and some ways that I acted, and confronted me about it.

Reporter: Confronted?

Nightwing: Yeah. That's how it felt, anyway. I was really defensive at first. I was still in denial and wasn't really in a place to talk about it.

Reporter: But you did.

Nightwing: Well, he didn't really give me a choice, ha. It was- and you can cut this out later, if he doesn't want me to say it- but it was Red Hood. He's got a lot of experience with survivors and he's stubborn as shit so I didn't stand a chance. I think part of me also, I think I was ready to tell someone. I think I needed to accept what had happened.

Reporter: So it was the right time for some tough love.

Nightwing: Some tough brotherly love, yeah.

[fuck-edfrugs]

Need a fic where dick finally opens up about what happened with tarantula and mirage to his brothers and they just give a silent look to eachother. 2 days later tarantula and mirage are found dead.

[notnotnightwing]

Jesus..I can't believe her. She's so..

Ugh!

....

I hate the rain.

It's to loud.

.......

I need to get out of here.

Dick starts his car and begins to drive towards Jasons house

...

Tears start to flow down his cheeks

...

He sniffles a bit

....

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!

Dick slams on the brakes and he lunges forward roughly

..

He leans over the steering wheel and sobs hysterically

Fuck.. he cries out

Why am I so afraid? She's not her. Even though she's evil, she wouldnt do that to me.

.....

Sniffs

I want my dad.

[captainlordauditor]

I’ve created a Medium, and am starting things off with a bang, talking about Devin Grayson’s and Marv Wolfman’s runs on Nightwing. Warnings for sexual assault, suicide, and abuse.

[snakeredbirdbatkatana]

Fuck Mirage and Tarantula also daughter of Acheron just fuck all that I wish the hunters of Artemis existed in that universe cause let me tell you I would be sending a god damn Iris message.

We don't kill people shut up Batman fucking hell

(Tried to leave that vague I don't recommend looking any of that up if you know you know but super triggering wouldn't recommend yah)

[trust-and-jump]

Yes but then you remember that little moment...

When Jason was little, he wanted to sound as intimidating as he could for Robin, and so copied Batman’s behaviour and voice, and would also imitate Dick because he was the first Robin and just so cool Jason couldn’t help look upto him as the standard (still is to a certain extent for present day Jason though he’ll never admit it).

So today, Jason can not only perfectly embody their body language so much so that if you couldn’t see his face you would think it’s them, he can also uncannily mimic their voices.

He uses this to their utmost advantage and it results in chaos every time. Just image scenarios like you’re in Gotham trying to rob houses in peace at night, you hear “Well well well something darks happening.” and of course you’re fucked but it’s Nightwing so you’re not that fucked and when you look to the source of the sound you find yourself staring down the feared crime lord Red Hood aiming a bazooka at you.

[duckysprouts]

it’s been a while since i drew “dear jason” dick and i miss him

[deadsetobsessions]

Okay, so maybe Tim has no business being in Bludhaven. Tim maintains that since his parents fail at parenting, he can do whatever he wants.

Besides, it's for a good cause. Like, not letting Tarantula get her dirty hands on his big brother in another time line. Tarantula had popped up in the Bludhaven servers - by that, Tim means the endless amounts of threads and underground fronts for criminal activity that he stalks on a regular basis- by being seen with Nightwing. Tim had immediately booked a ride to Bludhaven and bought another burner. He'd try to take care of her himself, but if worse comes to worse, he'd call Deathstroke. He's totally aware of the weird tension Deathstroke has with Nightwing and Tim's kind of banking on that.

Dick's been back in Blud for two months now, Jason having assuaged his mother hen tendencies enough for Dick to get sick of the Manor. Tim hadn't meant to follow since he had plenty of projects to work on now that "SAVE JASON" wasn't blaring at the top of his head.

But then Tarantula appeared and Tim saw red, remembering the way Dick spoke about her and what she did to him.

He bids the driver goodbye. The driver doesn't question his being on his lonesome mainly because 1) Gothamites mind their own busines, 2) Tim gave him a $500 tip to make sure he remains a "good" Gothamite cabbie, and 3) Tim made sure he was dropped off in the swankiest, most ostentatious hotel Bludhaven had to offer.

"Rich people," the cab driver had muttered as Tim closed the door. Perfect.

Tim got his keycard, having checked in under Alvin Draper over the phone. Normally, they'd require an in person visit, but money talks. And people listened when Tim had a lot of things to say.

Tim even feels like he's trained enough to go out! Lady Shiva's training was ingrained into his memory, and Tim's built enough muscle to make use of some of it. He is still nine, after all. He's so much stealthier this time around. Plus, he's got almost his full tool set back. Sure, some of the tech is ancient, but he managed to finagle it to make grappling guns and smoke pellets more along the quality that he's used to.

Tim waits until nightfall, looping the surveillance around his window to mask his exit. Tim adjusts his domino, eyes scanning the city skyline as his handheld computer (god, he can't believe he has to invent wrist computers) tracked reports of Nightwing through Tweetings.

Ah. He's around Seventh. Tim grimaces as his untested joints adjusts to the grappling guns. His dark clothes make him hard to spot, to his advantage as he tracks down Nightwing.

Tim watches, perched on an adjacent roof as Nightwing takes down a crowd of goons with the flips Tim remembered watching from afar and up close in another timeline.

"Blockbuster'll kill everyone you love, Nightwing!"

Tim winces at the rather brutal crunch that followed, Nightwing having punched the guy and knocked him out in one move. He watches Dick sigh, tugging at his hair in stress.

Tim could... no, no. He shouldn't think of murder as a first option. Well, no, he shouldn't think of Deathstroke as a first option. But he'll need to take Blockbuster out before anything happens. And he needs to threaten the new Tarantula before anything happens. He won't allow her to even get close to Dick.

Maybe it's unfair to punish her for a crime she hasn't done, but unlike murder, rape can never be defended. Catalina Flores is a dead woman walking.

Tim stalks his big brother back home and then broke off to begin his short reign of terror over Bludhaven's underground. If he can't get Dick to take a break (and Tim's tried, a lot, over the years) then he'll make sure that the next month is as gentle as possible on his older brother.

Step 1. Murder Take care of Blockbuster

Step 2. Threaten Catalina Flores and her brother.

No. Wait. Tim has a better idea. He's got dirt on them, on top of the murder thing. He'll fabricate Catalina's tax returns, embezzle a shit ton of money from the IRS, and get her and her corrupt brother (because getting your sister out from murder charges is considered corrupt) arrested and locked away. And he'll make sure they stay locked away with some good old blackmail on Amanda Waller.

Tim grins, tranquilizing the building with an ungodly amount of knock out gas pellets, to riffle through the police precinct's files.

Step 2. Threaten Catalina Flores and her brother.

Step 2. Cripple Catalina Flores and her brother with blackmail and the IRS.

In three hours, Tim has everything he needs to begin a temporary hostile takeover. He's got the names of local mob bosses, the big players, and the names of practically every police officer that takes bribes and their... sponsors.

He'll have to cut off Blockbuster's lines of supplies first. Then, blacklist him from local suppliers, mobilize the police precinct against him (by imitating his M.O. perfectly- Tim's not a fucking amateur- and pretending to rob the precinct blind), and then break his knees.

Step 3. Profit

Tim takes out his shiny new burner phone, enjoying the loud sounds of the police squawking through his planted bugs. He lounges on the building next to it, keeping an eye out for Nightwing just in case the man decides to respond to the crisis.

[Unknown: It's RR.]

[Deathstroke: New phone?]

[RR: Who dis?]

[Deathstroke: What?]

[RR: Nevermind. I'll give you forty thousand to shoot someone's knees out.]

[Deathstroke:... That's it? Who?]

[RR: Blockbuster. Bludhaven. Extra twenty thousand if you tell him he's got the spine of a sea slug, kick him in the balls, and post it on Tweeting.]

[Deathstroke: What did he do to you? Deal.]

Tim ignored Deathstroke's question.

[RR: Half sent. Confirm?]

[Deathstroke: Confirmed. Timeline?]

[RR: Three weeks. 21 days.]

[Deathstroke: Confirmed.]

----

Tim grins ferally, all teeth as Catalina Flores looked on in horror at her computer screen.

"Get out of Bludhaven, and don't come back. If you even think of going near Nightwing, I will rip what's left of your pathetic, sniveling swine of a brother apart. You will not enjoy the consequences."

Tim clicks off, watching Catalina and her brother launch themselves into mad packing. He tapped out a short message to Amanda Waller for her and her team to intercept them at the state lines. They'll never get away from Tim's fury. Never.

[Waller: It's done.]

[Waller: I will find you.]

[RR: You can definitely try, Waller. Good doing business with you.]

Tim can see the blood vessel the woman popped after he sent that last message. He laughs.

He saves Deathstroke's video from Tweeting onto his actual, spoofed phone. He destroys the burner phone, less shiny now that he's dragged it through two and a half weeks of breaking heads and terrorizing the Bludhaven Underground. Nightwing hadn't even gotten a whiff of his activities, this Dick being far less experienced and known in this version of Blud.

One more week and Tim can continue his other projects.

----

Nightwing, going about his vigilante business: wow it sure is peaceful

Feral Tim Drake, Nightwing's scary dog privilege: try me, bitch

[voiddaisy]

every time i consume new nightwing media a year is taken off of my life. why is he so tragic? has he sought out a psychiatrist? therapy? maybe some ketamine? does he need a dog? i can bark.

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

Below is why I think these bots would be fun to see;

-Knockout would become a famous model and Breakdown would be his bodyguard. I just think it would be funny to see Knockout caught up in a rogue attack and go absolutely apeshit on some poor goon that accidentally stained his 5 000 dollar designer jacket. Breakdown has to pull him of the poor man like "Babe, babe, it's ok, we'll get you a new jacket. How about a nice new suit too? That sound good?" Meanwhile the goon is fucking traumatized.

-Wreck Gar sees that Gotham is covered in trash and makes it his own personal mission to collect all of it and create his own trash kingdom. Gotham's streets have never been cleaner.

-I just want to see Kup train the batfam. And act old with Alfred. Perhaps save one of the vigilantes after they get captured, using nothing but his holoform, a bottle of liquor, a stun gun and guerilla tactics.

-You look me in the eyes and tell me Tarantulas wouldn't fit right in in Gotham. His freaky ass belongs there. He would sneak into Arkham to observe the patients, just for fun. Maybe terrorize them a little. "Doctor, the spider talks to me!" "Sure pal, of course it does. Did you take your medicine today?"

-Thundercracker becomes a best selling author in Gotham by writing about his experiences in the war (everyone thinks its just a very detailed fictional world). Jason gets absolutely hooked on the series and meets him one day while Thundercracker is out walking Buster. Jason promptly nerds out.

-Just full on pandemonium with the Scavengers. Krok tries to organize them so they can find a way back home but these idiots keep going on side quests. They were supposed to steal some Wayne tech? Sorry, Misfire got caught up in a riddle contest with the Riddler and Spinister is having a BBQ with Solomon Grundy.

-Airachnid becomes a serial killer/hitman in Gotham and quickly earns a reputation as a brutal and efficient killer. Not really that funny but a lot of potential for drama. She sets her eyes on her newest hit; Bruce Wayne.

-Swindle is fucking living life in Gotham, selling repurposed cybertronian tech to rogues. Not even necessarily weapons, just random pieces of regular cybertronian tools, like bottle cap openers that get repurposed into actual weapons by the criminals. Well, now he's on the batfam's watch list and has go into hiding.

-Ok, listen, First Aid is a freak. A well meaning freak but a freak nonetheless. So when he finds a vigilante bleeding out in an alleyway, of course he's gonna help them! But not before taking a picture of their wound and sampling their blood. Not for nefarious purposes! He just thinks it's interesting. But now the batfam tries he's going to try and clone them.

-All the rogues and vigilantes of Gotham band together to stop Shockwave. He's just trying to make his way home but his experiments and casual disregard for human life makes him such a threat that even sworn enemies have to put their differences aside if they want to survive.

-Predaking befriends Cass and she doesn't tell the batfam cause this is her alien friend and they've already got their own (Batman&Superman, Nightwing&Starfire, Red Hood&Bizarro, Red Robin&Super Boy, Robin&the other Super Boy etc.). Of course Robin eventually finds out and he's so mad cause that's a robot/alien/dragon! She can't just keep him to herself! That's so selfish of her! Meanwhile, Predaking is like "Where the fuck am I?"

[wondertwinsenthusiast]

I might be late to the party, but is this Bruce slut-shaming him? Like is that a fear of his?

Also I think we skipped over/ignored a lot of similar things. The catcalling when he enters his cell from other inmates, the mocking of the pig-headed officers when they’re hosing him down, tarantula being one of the first people he sees entering the dining room, the butt comment from basil and now this, “shameful lust”. Seems like knight terrors tried to touch the over-sexualization and sexual trauma but got ignored a little.

From nightwing’s knight terrors #2

[kermit-coded]

so nightwing 1996 huh.

[timblrdrake]

Who's Catalina? I heard ya on tha phone with bernie

oh. you weren’t supposed to hear that.. it’s not my place to say

she’s…

she’s a terrible person and she hurt your dad.

[yes-im-a-simpp]

''What do you want to be when you grow up?''

Kind.

(enough. I want to be enough. I want to-)

[squishykitty825]

Maybe I'm the problem

Standing in the aftermath of his inaction, Nightwing knew he'd made a mistake. He knew he should have stepped in, stopped her from doing it, but he'd just stepped aside and did nothing but watch.

It was too much. Too much pain. Too much hurt. Too much everything.

Every bad thing that had happened recently was too much. And so he just stood there in the rain watching her end a terrible man's life, feeling no remorse for his inaction until it was too late. A lifeless corpse seeps blood onto the rooftop. Only for the rain to wash it away.

What had he done?

Nothing. Nightwing had done nothing. And he still did nothing when her hands were on his body. Touching him like he was hers. But he did nothing.

In the aftermath of this, he pushed away his family and friends, sinking into the depths of his denial. He was falling further and further into the darkness of his regret, and yet he couldn't bring himself to care enough to pull himself out.

And with no one left to catch him, he couldn't help but think,

Maybe I'm the problem.

Every time he sent one of his brothers to voicemail;

Maybe I'm the problem.

With every second spent in her presence, under her body;

Maybe I'm the problem.