#gothic noir

[artmagine]

The concept art of The Batman (2022), by Jon McCoy, James Chinlund, Glyn Dillon and Ash Thorp

[gabrielleragusi]

Promotional illustration for author Bea Northwick's gothic book "Blackwicket"

[candycatharsis]

The Writing On The Wall - Damian Wayne Romance

New Part 0 (Re-write)

Hello! This post is just to give some background info for the rewrite of 'The Writing On The Wall.' I'm recharged. I have prescriptions for my depression. I'm also a better writer than I was in 2024 so I'd like to reapproach this from the beginning. So let's do this together.

This is an enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, “Pride & Prejudice but make it Gotham” kind of story, with a mystery thread running underneath it. It’s not a nameless reader-insert anymore, but it is written to be immersive in that “you can absolutely slide yourself into this OC’s shoes” way. Blair Birch is the main OC: specific enough to feel real, open enough that readers can project. (Think: an OC you can inhabit, not a blank placeholder.)

Eventually it will contain smut, but this fic will be the first time I attempt something like that so it's gonna be a bit further down the road and I'm not sure how detailed I feel brave enough being.

Ages / Continuity Notes

We’re using a “current-ish continuity” vibe where Alfred is deceased, and that absence matters. The manor feels different without him, and everyone feels it in their own way.

Ages are adjusted slightly so the “older brothers” feel closer together and Damian being in college makes sense:

Bruce: 50

Dick: 34

Barbara: 34

Jason: 30

Cassandra: 28

Tim: 25

Stephanie: 25

Damian: 20

Blair Birch (OC): 20

(If we need to tweak a year or two for timeline smoothness, we will. Plot > calendar.)

About Blair Birch (OC)

Blair is non-binary (they/them) and tends to lean femme-presenting when they have the energy for it, but gender expression is fluid and practical. They are not “perfectly mysterious” in a manic pixie way, they are mysterious in the way exhausted people become mysterious: because survival makes you private for safety.

Blair is:

brilliant with words and blunt with people

a music snob (especially rock/metal and adjacent genres), with opinions sharp enough to cut glass

full of practical hobbies and competent hands (the kind of person who can fix a thing while being mad at it)

shaped by a traumatic upbringing and a life where money was always a problem

visibly marked in small ways: scars, signs of hard work, and the kind of physical details that show up as the story unfolds.

Blair’s life is built on routines, jobs, deadlines, and a relentless refusal to accept “charity.” If help arrives, it must be a transaction. It must be earned. They can't feel like it's a trap or it comes with strings attached.

Batfamily, as they appear in this story

This is not a “Batfam domestic fluff only” fic. The family exists as a living system with friction, love, and secrets.

Bruce Wayne: A father trying to hold a crumbling ecosystem together after Alfred’s death. He’s protective, suspicious, and quietly desperate for the manor to feel like home again, even if he’ll never admit that out loud.

Dick Grayson: The one who notices patterns in people. He’s the first to clock that Damian is hiding something, and he has the dangerous habit of being right. He's also too mischievous for his own good and pushes his way into Damian's business.

Barbara Gordon: The strategist with a sharp moral compass. She’s practical, observant, and not easily charmed. Unless your name is Dick Grayson that is.

Jason Todd: A storm disguised as a person. He reads Blair’s survival instincts like a language he grew up speaking, and he doesn’t always know how to be gentle about it.

Cassandra Cain: Quiet, strong empathy. She sees what isn’t being said and often understands Damian before Damian is ready to be understood.

Tim Drake: Weaponized intelligence with a human heart. A little too good at making connections. Blair and Tim clash or click depending on the day, and Damian absolutely does not enjoy that.

Stephanie Brown: The one who cuts through tension with brightness that’s sharper than it looks. She’s not fooled by Blair’s defenses, but she respects them.

Damian Wayne: College-age, proud, exhausted, and furious at the one enemy he can’t stab: failure. He’s used to mastery. Creative writing humbles him, and being humbled makes him reckless.

Teaser:

Damian Wayne is used to winning. He’s trained for war, raised on impossible standards, and taught that excellence is the bare minimum. So when a creative writing professor hands him a failing grade and tells him his work is “emotionally vacant,” Damian does what he always does: he searches for the weakness, the loophole, the solution.

The solution has a name: Blair Birch.

Blair is broke, overworked, sharp-tongued, and completely unimpressed with Wayne money. They agree to tutor Damian for one reason only: the paycheck is too large to refuse. But the tutoring sessions don’t stay academic for long. Damian notices the way Blair disappears the second time is up. The way they flinch at certain names. The way they sprint into the night like they’re outrunning something.

The campus has been whispering about a ghost.

Something moves in the upper windows of Chatsworth Hall. Things go missing. A “renovation” wing stays too quiet. Damian’s instincts insist it’s not supernatural. It’s sloppy. It’s human.

And when Damian starts pulling at threads, he finds Blair at the center of more secrets than either of them can afford.

Because Blair is hiding a life. Damian is hiding a mask. And Gotham has never been kind to people who carry secrets alone.

Vibes / Comparisons

If you like:

Pride & Prejudice-style tension (class clash, assumptions, grudging respect turning into obsession)

academic rivals / tutor dynamics

Gotham noir atmosphere, “haunted building” rumors, and mystery breadcrumbs

slow burn romance with sharp dialogue and softer moments earned the hard way

Batfamily as messy and not a perfect sitcom

…then this is for you.

[selkiethewitch]

[irenearts]

Good girl

[little-hag]

The first chapter of Strays is out now. It's a piece about what remains after the fall. Sofia Falcone in Arkham, institutional violence, and the first spark of something that could be a family. For those who enjoy gothic noir, psychological hurt/comfort, coping mechanisms.

"Arkham’s air tasted like old bleach and despair and dirty metal. It was a far cry from the vanilla, clean warmth of her mansion’s study."

"She would survive again. She would escape. Arkham had no idea what kind of fire they’d caged."

Ao3 | Fanfics Masterlist | First Chapter →

[darknoirjazz]

A vintage glass with just a few drops of whiskey left at the bottom, rain pressing heavy against the windowpane, and the flickering, low light of a dying candle...

Sometimes the loneliest hours are when the rest of the world is completely asleep, leaving you entirely alone with the thoughts you just can't shake in a dark room.

I sink back into the same old wooden chair, letting the silence slowly take over. This heavy, lingering rhythm starts to do its work in the quiet—making it feel like you're wandering through an endless, ancient library, surrounded by the scent of old paper and memories you’d rather forget.

If you find yourself stuck in a long night like this, turn the lights all the way down, pour something warm, and just let go into this 3-hour track with me. It’s the perfect backdrop to keep you company while getting through a thick book, writing in your journal, or just sitting with your own mind on a rainy night.

Come lose yourself in the mood here: https://youtu.be/ks-1XFwo85E

[cocoandduckie]

In the Soft Grass Art Print at Coco and Duckie