honestly just putting this here so that I remember but I really wanna write a fic from some villain's POV as they're working with Nightwing for whatever reason. (maybe they have an in with a network of criminals Dick is trying to take down.)
point is: this villain is working with Nightwing and therefore seeing him through the lens of someone that Dick would want afraid of him rather than someone that Dick loves or at least wants to be perceived as friendly with.
so obviously Nightwing is going to be fucking scary to this villain even though they're gonna be at least a somewhat established villain. and, since the entire thing is from their POV, the reader is gonna see Nightwing as scary too.
not only is Nightwing just very capable and that's scary, but he's actively manipulating this villain and lying.
"You won't kill me. Bats don't kill."
"Are you really in a position to make that assumption?"
"You've never killed before!"
"You seem pretty sure of that."
the villain has no idea how much Dick is stretching the truth or straight up lying. the reader can only assume based on canon and their knowledge of the character.
like in that example, obviously Dick is not gonna kill this random villain, but at the same time he's not entirely lying either. they really aren't in the position to assume Dick will stick to a moral code, (especially if this is a villain that knows about Red Hood,) and Dick has killed before. but that knowledge is only the reader's.
again, Dick is still actively manipulating the villain here, but what are they gonna do about it? they can't know for sure and even if they did assume, are they really gonna be able to beat Nightwing?
Nightwing who from their perspective seems to be calm as can be. walking with pure confidence as if there isn't a villain right behind him.
a kind of confidence that can only come from a man with the skills to back it up.
