rate slade/dick from 1-10 and explain why
10/10 for giving me what I need. I just love so many things about Slade/Dick.
I love pairings with dangerous trade offs
Works as endgame OR a threat to Dick’s safety
(Which means 2 different ways to get hurt/comfort out of it ❤)
Outsider POV! The fam wants to know wtf is going on
It just knows my id way, way too well ❤❤
I’m gonna draw a ternary diagram, ok
I mentioned [here] what I thought Dick needed from a partner: 1) someone to pay attention to his needy ass, 2) Someone who can overcome his tendency to fall in love with new people, 3) Someone who make him take a fucking break before he burns out saying yes to everyone who asks him for help.
Slade is equal to all these tasks, and he and Dick have excellent chemistry. But that doesn’t take into account that in many versions of Slade, he is a very bad man.
Hence the Ternary Diagram! I will read a fic from anywhere on this fucking diagram. Some days a dirty bad wrong PWP from the noncon corner is what I want. Someone days I prefer a (arguably non-canon) Slade from the h/c corner who forms a big dangerous wall between Dick and whoever’s hurting him (and gives him the hugs Batman won’t). XD
But we have all this space in the middle right? Slade/Dick combines dubcon and and dominance and hurt/comfort in ways I wouldn’t have expected. In that middle space, you get:
To Conciliate a Tiger by Rubynye, which is dubcon/noncon because Slade has coerced Dick into 24 hours of sexual companionship for intel that Dick needs to save lives. But at the same time, you can tell Dick trusts Slade. And what does Slade do with 24 hours of control over Dick? Yes, they have sex, but also Slade ties Dick down and feeds him really expensive sushi. And just generally pampers him and tries to get Dick to stop running himself ragged. And it is… strangely comforting… to read? I remember reading this for the first time and just thinking, “Oh.”
Slade/Dick has this great mix of “I’m going to control you” and “I’m going to take very good care of you while I do”. Which is something I think Dick finds very hard not to react to, especially when he’s been running himself into the ground. Dick wants attention and affirmation. Slade is more than willing to do that, but the price can be very steep. And I’m not saying this is a good thing. But it sets up this GREAT TRADE OFF.
I love Slade/Dick for the trade offs.
You can change Slade/Dick from “Could work” to “Someone rescue Dick NOW” just by dialing up Slade’s need for control or twisting his idea of “taking care of Dick”.
Or you can dial it back down! And get some very satisfying hurt/comfort in which Slade is still a Mostly Bad Man but the outcome is mostly positive for Dick:
What No Man Wants to Lose by firefright, Skalidra (Dick has to rescue current comics Slade, who is (for now) more heroic than not)
Give Me a Break by Skalidra (Slade is guarding the shipment Dick needs to destroy. It goes badly for Dick right up until the bad guys ask Slade to go to far.)
This Night by Mikimoo (A jaydick story in which they (accidentally) call Slade for help when they need extraction. Slade is dangerous and morally gray but he’s got a weird connection with Dick. FYI, story contains off screen rape.)
And then there’s my other favorite genre, in which Slade is nicer than he ever would be in canon but I don’t care:
If There’s a Prize for Rotten Judgement (I’ve Already Won That) by DCdork (hurt/comfort where a deeply exhausted Dick passes out in Slade’s safehouse)
Safest Place in the World by Skalidra (Dick takes TIGER to Slade’s safehouse. Tiger is not amused. XD)
Remember the period in comics when Nightwing was the most widely respected and trusted hero (aka the best period)? That shit doesn’t come free. Heroes are reaching out to Dick for help and Dick is saying yes. That’s great! Except when you have someone like Dick who craves constant affection and affirmation, but who was raised by Bruce “I can raise the bar higher” Wayne.
The kid is not good at saying no, is what I’m saying.
And it is so good for me for Slade to be this dangerously appealing way to escape that. Just for a little while – as long as Dick’s sure he can escape his escape. Isn’t that a great fantasy though? To have someone stronger and scarier and meaner than ALL your responsibilities who can just make them go away for a little while? *happy sigh*
Bruce loves Dick truly and deeply but he can’t show it. Slade’s love is (usually) neither true nor deep, but he is very willing to show it. Talk about seductive.
My ideal Slade/Dick has either JayDick or DickDami as endgame. Ultimately Dick is too much a leader and a control freak to let himself be owned by Slade for long without hurting himself. And I love the idea of Jason or Damian struggling to understand what Dick gets from Slade and if they can give him that instead. (I just get this image of Dick bursting into peals of laughter: “You’re going to dominate me?” and Jason not taking that well. He is very large! And angry! He could do it, you asshole!)
That said, I would read endgame Slade/Dick in a heartbeat if the circumstances are set up to make me believe it. Like Skalidra and Firefright’s What No Man Wants to Lose or darker AUs like When nobody else is looking by Petra (read the epilogue at the end too!)
I love that even when Slade/Dick is comparatively healthy there’s still an element of danger and walking a knife’s edge to keep it interesting. Mmmmm yes. ❤
