[more-nothing]

A Hand over My Mouth, a Hand over the Window (AO3, locked to users)

Tortall, Alex/Thom/Delia (and all permutations), E, 45k

“You’re not Gifted,” Thom blurted, because she wasn’t. Thom wasn’t quite good enough to detect magic on someone, not without closing his eyes and trying rather obviously, but he would have seen the girl in classes if she had the Gift. “Which is why this makes all the more sense,” the girl leaned forward again, eyes twinkling conspiratorially as she gestured between them. “Why what makes sense,” Thom didn’t understand. The back of his neck, likely flushed an unflattering shade of red, itched. “An alliance,” the girl said, like it was obvious. “We can’t sit back and play stupid forever, not if we really want to be respected around here.”

Thom meets Delia in the City of the Gods. They encourage each other's worst impulses, yet somehow, everything changes for the better.

Finally posting evil OT3 fic yayyy. There are 6 main chapters, which will go up on Wednesdays, and 7 interludes, which I'll usually post on Fridays. Tysm everyone who followed me for tortall stuff for your patience with all the comics bs... and I guess now sorry to all my comics followers but honestly I feel like 70% of you had a tortall phase growing up so I don't feel as bad... stephcass fic next tho ;).

[more-nothing]

The final chapter is now up!! Just the epilogue to go now, tysm for reading!!

[moishe-pipick]

[batnotes]

It's probably a good thing no one remembers the 1993 Black Canary run (geez louiiiise this plot is racist) but it's a shame Nightwing and Huntress's first team-up and charming rapport have been effectively retconned along with it.

panels from Black Canary (1993) #10 + 11

[timejoshi]

when you're at a point where you're publishing comics with worse, less substantial representation of black characters than you were in the 90s or 2000s, i feel like, and now maybe this is crazy, but i feel like maybe you should at least acknowledge that you have an issue

[fuzzy-oooze]

There's this really obscure forgotten DC hero named the Heckler, who's basically buggs bunny as a superhero, not having any powers or physically strong, but just really good at pissing people off until they accidentally deal with themselves.

Now they're interesting, but the REAL star of the show is one of his villains, John Doe the Generic Man, who's this guy in a stark white suit with flat pink unshaded, untextured skin with no features or anything who talks like chatGPT and has black text over his face that explains what he's feeling at the moment. That guy is fucking fascinating.

[mightym52]

I first heard about this guy from the "League of regrettable superheroes" Books, (The supervillain one, obviously) and He stuck with me because its such an interesting concept. not only is HE generic, but he has the power to make anything he TOUCHES generic too. I never actually got to experience his whole deal as an actual character, since this was just an info book that tells you about the character, so seeing these panels it really cool.

[calleido]

british smallsword ca. 1780-1810

[more-nothing]

because you reblogged that post about helena b and have shown a willingness to answer ask memes, please assign a modern fashion aesthetic to as many tortall characters as you have the time and energy for (including dora and zlata and maybe their friends)

so while you're correct on both fronts i fear this prompt basically devolves into "modern AU" when applied to settings like tortall... which means that my very uncreative answer is simply that we are primarily dealing w a group of posh nobles who would dress like a j crew catalog but even more expensive (modern AU knight-training is just eton college im so sorry).

that being said i do have a few, even worse ideas. thom in his newly back from convent shopping spree era is a hypebeast. he's blowing the trebond family fortune on ugly ass limited edition supreme tshirts. tragically this does mean that zlata, the younger and more outdoorsey version of him, is into gorpcore. the rest of her generation... yeah it's really 90% preppy "quiet luxury" bullshit. Wallis is a gay guy who works for an evil consulting agency (SORRY) by which i mean he's dropping way too much money on zegna suits that his coworkers never compliment him on and getting irrationally annoyed abt it. oh farmer and vania are rich kids who go vintage shopping to feel artsy and down to earth but they don't know how to do laundry so their apartment has a moth infestation. dora wore blazers in high school and only survived without getting bullied for it bc of her undeniable facecard. im so sorry this was definitely not the answer you wanted lmao

oh wait also thayet would get way too into the maria grazia chiuri era of dior w the comodified "we should all be feminsts" tshirts and the ugly sling-backs. once again saved by the facecard the thing is that rich people just do not have good taste

[valtsv]

basically the best thing any character can do is decide they don't want to be afraid anymore - in fact they never want to be afraid of anything ever again - and take action so drastic they fail to realise that this too is a decision motivated by fear. or to account for the Consequences of that.

[starcrossedconverse]

actually i think dick at some point needs to investigate the penguin for some reason or other and is like. oh mysterious storage locker. don't mind if i do. and then. taxidermied blockbuster.

[vampirlor]

tim drake: i love being robin but i have to lie to my dad its a lose lose situation

dick grayson, trying to win the orphan olympics: i lost something once...

[burins]

2, 14, and/or 20 for Helena B!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

like all the bats I love that she sees a problem and starts rolling up her sleeves/the spandex. especially in no man's land... local woman says is anyone going to do this (be batman) and does not wait for an answer. agh. gah.

on a lighter note I like that she loves opera. and also that she takes her students to Shakespeare in the Park (#34 is one of the best robin 93 issues imo)

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

(boldly, and with absolutely no canon grounding whatsoever) I would like to see her in gothic lolita. based on her past costumes I know she doesn't mind a fussy outfit with a lot of parts and there are already crosses all over that stuff. with a big enough skirt she still has plenty of freedom of movement and you can hide all sorts of crossbows up in there. now DON'T ask me how she found out about lolita dress I just think it would be fun-

here are some possibilities courtesy of @suedeuxnim my lolita correspondent.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

okay this isn't answering the question really because I think despite being an adult Helena met Cass too young not to go into student mode with her. but I do think we're long overdue for a conversation between Cass and Helena about the weight of familial guilt and varying responses to it. (maybe this conversation already exists and I don't know about it? I have not read her as much as I have other Bats.)

I would also like to saddle her with Lonnie Machin as a student, because I think it would be really funny. IS Helena the type of English teacher who assigns him Ayn Rand so she can watch him tear it to shreds and teach him to strengthen his arguments?

I'm trying to remember if she got along with Kate Spencer when they were both on the Birds of Prey it's been three years since I read Simone's run. maybe Helena would struggle to trust her due to the whole prosecutor thing but I think despite the surface differences they have similar personalities. maybe too similar actually now that I'm saying this.

WAIT. I fixed it. she and Grace Choi should be drinking buddies. they have virtually nothing in common and I think that would actually work great for them. Helena invites Grace over for wine and antipasto and Grace invites Helena over to drink insane cocktails and/or beer at her loud house parties. enrichment for everyone involved. Anissa is quietly seethingly jealous until she realizes that Helena and Grace both view each other as curious anthropological specimens rather than possible sexual partners. "life is a rich tapestry" - both of them, on opposite sides of Grace's front door

(ask game)

[acuesteanos]

batgirl 00 is also a great thesis to the very uncomfortable truth that someone can be a horrific, monstrous, undeniable abuser and still inexplicably love you (and you can still inexplicably love them).

[more-nothing]

serious ask meme questions, for Seminare: 🏴‍☠️ 🙏 🔎 !!

hmmm i feel like i -ish answered 🏴‍☠️ (Were there any points in which your characters tried to commit mutiny against your planned plot?) here--mostly they refused to cooperate w my timeline and i had to slow things down (the bed-sharing started so much earlier in the outline lol).

other 2 below the cut!

🙏 (Was there anything your character(s) really really really wanted to do?) is kind of the inverse q, BUT I can add on that i first outlined the fic that would become seminare after reading through Tim's and Steph's continuities, but before reading Dick's and Helena's, and originally (confessing to my sins here) Steph and Cass fulfilled Helena's function as "stock female character who tells yaoi couple to get their shit together." and like. i will expound on my steph characterization at greater length once i finish this freaking stephcass fic, but suffice it to say that while she is the "inserting herself into the narrative will not be denied participation" queen, she is not the kind of woman to just be chill abt her ex boyfriend dating his adopted brother. hello. steph im sorry i ever did that to you even if it was just in an outline.

HELENA however... once i read her comics i was like. oh DUH. this woman WOULD. from literal first hookup she is giving dick relationship advice. 20 minutes post sex she's trying to set him up with barbara. whom she doesn't even know yet. nor is dick even aware of his feelings at this point in time. and she simply keeps doing this--i earnestly find it to be one of her funniest and most endearing character traits. this woman clocked the emergent concept of the "bat family" and said "hey i can implicate myself in this by having sex with nightwing." which for her is literally career advancement. "are they family or coworkers?" level one question. helena b said "i want to be coworkers with them. and the best way to do that? affair." meanwhile dick "i don't do casual" grayson is trying to give her flowers and throwing up when she turns him down. i mean if you think im still playing into this trope i'll totally take it on the chin but i at minimum maintain that it's in character for helena to meddle like this.

🔎 (What detail(s) in the story are you particularly captivated with? Is there any behind the scenes info or backstory?) I mean on the heavier side obvi there is a ton of stuff left unsaid/lingering in the background re: dick's canonical sexual assault (maybe it would be interesting for me to note here that I'm working off the Mirage/Tarantula arcs, but I mentally discard the Liu ret-con for a number of meta-textual reasons?). I've also said a bit about the musical references here. Hmm... what else is fun... oh! I based the venue Tim goes to in the first chapter, "Granxa Gallery," off another alliterative, converted-building, independent venue with an agricultural name (granxa means "farm" in Asturian). tysm for the questions--you reminded me how fond i am of that last detail!!

[officialpenisenvy]

if marv wolfman wrote NTT today gar terry and slade would host a manosphere podcast together

[more-nothing]

unserious question for ask meme: 🔮 (future directions) for Badly Shuffled Deck by which i mostly am asking what other shitty day jobs u think dick grayson should toil through <3

okay honestly in many ways i feel i cannot do better than the post that inspired that fic... there's also that "list of male thot jobs" post which i can't find right now, dick would probably suit a lot of those.

in some ways i do feel like i hit on my ideal "shitty day job but he's still a public servant/there's some congruence w vigilantism" when i wrote park ranger dickie (except his ass is not making ranger he's a maintenance assistant or an interpretive guide or some entry lvl shit like that) into seminare. oh here's some #behindthescenes lore for u: i got inspired to do that from the bit in Jutro će promeniti sve where Filip gets mandatory community service and finds spiritual fulfillment in cleaning up the parks of beograd (<-referenca koju niko nije razumio lol). But obvi his experience is way more based on the USian park ranger journey by which i mean he is sweating his ass off in the shitty gotham version of the smokey bear outfit... the uniform/stupid outfit/costume is a very important part of all dickie g shit jobs to me he MUST be playing dress up that man does NOT have a civilian identity and quite frankly i do not believe he wants one. if a 4 year old cannot identify his profession on sight it is not for him! richard scarry jobs only he's driving the batmobile by night and an apple by day

[more-nothing]

A Hand over My Mouth, a Hand over the Window (AO3, locked to users)

Tortall, Alex/Thom/Delia (and all permutations), E, 45k

“You’re not Gifted,” Thom blurted, because she wasn’t. Thom wasn’t quite good enough to detect magic on someone, not without closing his eyes and trying rather obviously, but he would have seen the girl in classes if she had the Gift. “Which is why this makes all the more sense,” the girl leaned forward again, eyes twinkling conspiratorially as she gestured between them. “Why what makes sense,” Thom didn’t understand. The back of his neck, likely flushed an unflattering shade of red, itched. “An alliance,” the girl said, like it was obvious. “We can’t sit back and play stupid forever, not if we really want to be respected around here.”

Thom meets Delia in the City of the Gods. They encourage each other's worst impulses, yet somehow, everything changes for the better.

Finally posting evil OT3 fic yayyy. There are 6 main chapters, which will go up on Wednesdays, and 7 interludes, which I'll usually post on Fridays. Tysm everyone who followed me for tortall stuff for your patience with all the comics bs... and I guess now sorry to all my comics followers but honestly I feel like 70% of you had a tortall phase growing up so I don't feel as bad... stephcass fic next tho ;).

[more-nothing]

The last interlude of this just posted!

[more-nothing]

Okay so I saw that you're open to questions and here I am! When you were working on your DickTim fics has it ever occured to you that your characters really want to push you into some direction? If that has happened, did you let them or did you shun their attempts? And what's the typical starting point for you when writing a fic?

hiii anon! predictably this got long so i'm putting it behind a cut. also i should probably reiterate that i'm still taking these asks given that i reblogged the post in the dead of night lmao. anyway.

usually when writing a fic i start with a premise/thesis statement (<-annoying) and build the plot from there. So like, for Seminare for example, I wanted to write a getting-together story where both people were kind of passive and squirrely and had to be tricked into letting themselves have what they wanted. Like, "shy, inexperienced Tim and confident Dick" and "guilty Dick and self-assured Tim" are both fun tropes, but ultimately I thought it would be more interesting to try to match up "Dick who, as in canon, is getting victim-blamed for his own SA to the point where he thinks his problem is just that he 'says yes to the wrong people'" and "closet-case, scared straight, explicitly turns down sex from his two long-time girlfriends Tim." Logistically this is like trying to start fire with wet leaves and no kindling, but that's sort of the fun for me. After I have a premise, I decide how long I want a story to be (I usually stick to the number pretty closely too), then i decide on the structure, and then i stream-of-consciousness outline.

if the fic is shorter though (less of a "plot" and more of a montage of scenes), usually I'll just start writing from the premise. so for most of my dicktim fics, i just went in whatever direction the characters wanted anyway until I reached a good stopping place. for a longer fic like Seminare often what will happen is I'll realize the pace of things does not hit the same in my outline as it does on the page. So for example, I didn't realize how compressed the first few days of dick and tim hanging out together were during the planning stage, and then as i was writing it (especially some of the dialog scenes--that's usually where i find myself having to readjust) i had to make a conscious effort to really slooow stuff down.

i have to say though, the readjustments there were less than on other projects i've written. what i was really scrambling to switch around were my plans for what comes before/after/other fics in the series. i have. no joke. changed my mind so much that i had at one point three separate possible sequels lmao. i did end up picking one, and tweaked the framing of the other two so i can write them as stand-alones but like. i was mildly going insane watching my fic ideas list grow with each day i spent writing haha.