nari-writes - Tumblr blog

nari-writes · 11 days

Text

Alright so I just finished Batman:TAS recently and started watching Superman:TAS and it delights me that the first episode is literally just: superman??? Who dat. This is aliens :)) (even if Brainiac does say "human error, Jor-el"). So obviously I do now have aus. Obviously <3 shout-out to @midnightluck for the Justice League, @cer-rata for Terry and @suzukiblu for Jordan + putting up with the initial ramble

So anyway Brianiac's satellite upload gets fucked up by Jor-el either in petty revenge or as an accident, and a part of Brainiac ends up on Clark's ship. The vague explanation I have is that Brainiac is the AI for everything and in TAS, Jor-el also does not realise he is "evil" and thus still uses his help as a navigator for Clark's ship while he is initially building it. The ship, however, is offline to prevent the Kryptoninan council from finding out about it, and thus, that section of Brainiac does not get taken back into the satellite upload.

As it is BARELY the 90's when the Kents find Clark after the crash, Brainiac is summarily useless thanks to the current lack of wifi, but manages to mostly teach himself English and Kal kryptonian, and decides that. >:( since they're BOTH there, they can BOTH be vestibules of kryptonian knowledge. And also Kal can get him more earth knowledge. The vibes entirely are: "Weird aspects of kryptonian culture taught by an unbodied dickhead historian" and while the argument is "but brainiac is evil!" Main brainiac is. But this is a subsection of Brainiac :) he learnt more stuff + Clark loves him soooo much.

Unfortunately. That is His baby now. He is not impressed with his baby. His baby bought him a growing chick the other day, with big sad eyes, and said the kryptonian word for fluffy!!! in such a mournful tone that Brainiac resigned himself to teaching kal about how growing up worked and that the chicken needed feathers to fly. This explanation ends with Clark collecting feathers and trying to jump off the barn roof, and he thus resolves to extend further co-parenting issues to the Kents. For his own personal convenience, of course.

It does of course ALSO mean that Brainiac, who has a loose definition of the words "surveillance state" absolutely gets in at the ground floor when the internet first starts up. Clark's influence relegates him to the background, but he is good at hiding ! So they don't realise they have an AI in the wifi! But ohhhh boy does brainiac scare a few people at first. Potentially tries to do his "i am helpful" schtick before realising he is not useful in this because he's basically just. Seems completely like a troll? He's some random person who's invaded the internet!!

However he is also the inspiration for google 😂 and calls it his younger, stupider sibling. It is also funny to me to think about earth compsci engineers having NO idea why sometimes the internet acts SO DAMN WEIRD <- brainiac's fault.

As a result though, when Clark starts up as Superman, Brainiac does NOT let the Kr project off the ground. Files are misdirected and blackmail is gathered. Until one day Kal says something sad about how he'll never be able to have a great romance, because he's terrified of telling anyone the alien thing, and that he's always thought about kids but he's kinda terrified because what if he hurts someone- and Brainiac is like ah yes wait. I shall fix this for my Only Kryptonian.

TWO kids for the price of one?!? he finds, after he goes searching, and then further prodding finds THIRTEEN children, extraordinary. Not all of them are viable because the earth scientists truly are incapable but Brainiac can fix the issues with their technology to ensure Kal has the children he wants.

"How many children did you think of, kal-el?" he asks, and Clark laughs at how kindly his friend/uncle/grandfather figure treats his silly selfishness.

"Oh, man, sometimes I think: as many as I can carry! But then- I don't want Superman to get in the way of being a good dad. Too many and I won't be there for them like I should, you know? I worry about that, I guess."

"As many as you can carry is a significant amount," Brainiac says dubiously, already imagining teaching these numerous children kryptonian culture and Also that they are Not chickens. "I do not think that can be fulfilled effectively."

Five minutes later Clark has five children and has realised his matchbox apartment and budding romance with Lois Lane are both complicated things he will now have to resolve. He's basically commuting daily to the Daily Planet from Smallville, thank god for superspeed and his endlessly patient parents, jfc

(Children I was thinking of: the destablised kon!clone from SB94/The Ravers, Kon, Match, Bizarro, and Mia. Alternatively they went old-school with Biz so Brainiac didn't get a chance to help him/he's older than the other kids when Clark finally mentions wanting kids, to Brainiac, and thus Biz ends up like. The kids' uncle. There ARE technically twelve clones before Kon. I could've given you thirteen-fifteen kids, Clark.)

Anyway this does mean that either a) when Lois finds out Kal is superman this is not his biggest secret, b) Kon rocks up as Superboy and Lois, once she finds out Clark is Superman, immediately goes: WAIT BUT SUPERBOY'S YOUR KID. ARE YOU MARRIED??? or c) everyone at the Daily Planet thinks Clark just. Got really unlucky with different people he slept with and someone in the world's wildest stroke of luck they all ended up pregnant. Because Clark Does Not mention a partner when it is eventually revealed he has kids.

He probably does keep them a secret for a while though. A) He doesn't want them to have to try and be "normal" since they're only just out of the pod and B) I feel like, weirdly, Clark is somehow that co-worker that people like. barely know anything about. You like them and they're so helpful! and good-natured! and then you get him in the office secret santa and realise you're not even 100% what his favourite colour is or if he has a pet.

Anyway, Lois: he is NOT expecting Lois to get pregnant and they have to have a Long talk about it because Brainiac is. :) Being an asshole about species compatibility and the fact that it is "not natural" for Kryptonians to be created biologically rather than properly, in a pod, and also: Clark already has five freaking kids. That's a lot of kids! Are they going to be okay having a brother that much (at least five-ten years I'm thinking, depending on if we go: Brainiac gives him multiple children of multiple ages, or multiple young children of the same age,) younger than them??? And then there's Chris, too, who rocked up just after Clark and Lois started dating, and is still pretty high needs because he only mostly speaks Kryptonian (and is lowkey terrified of Brainiac, so Clark's main babysitter is out) (also please please imagine how freaking cute the subplot of "chris realises this brainiac is not the nightmare his stories told him about; watching his new siblings do things that Brainiac would have killed them for, terrified for them because he heard the stories of how long Brainiac bided his time--)

But this is also: how many kids can we give clark, the fic, and thus they have Jon, and then Jon exhibits so many kryptonian characteristics and Lois doesn't mean to but she's a little wine drunk and says, "i love them, you know, they're all perfect, Jon's perfect, I was just- I'm terrified for him. If we raise him right he's gonna be just like his dad…and you know what? I was wanting my own little Lane. Someone to follow my footsteps. I'm feeling a bit outnumbered here, haha!"

Brainiac: hm. I will amend this. (Makes and artificially grows human!Jordan so he displays more human genetic characteristics As Lois Wants)

Brainiac: I have created Jon-el's twin for you, Lane. You are welcome.

Lois: um what

Clark: honey no you can't talk about children with Brainiac he will make more

Lois: WHAT.

Lois: OUR CO-WORKERS KNOW I DIDN'T HAVE TWINS, KENT.

Clark: …. you're gonna have to be one of those weird "I didn't know I was still pregnant" stories…. 😂

Lois: 😭 Clark you know those are only funny when they are NOT HAPPENING TO ME

Clark: you didn't know you were pregnant….. literally

Lois must engage in the gaslighting of all of her coworkers <3 What do you mean you didn't realise she had twins she's shown you both of them? Of course they look the same they're babies. Of course she always had twins. She carried them. Did you carry her babies? Of course she would know. Isn't that right, Clark? …. isn't that right, Clark?

Clark: "Where else would she'a gotten a baby from, guys? An alien?"

Brainiac: hello i have delivered the child. Where is my thanks? It has still not been conveyed? I am doing the Literal Best as the Literal Best AI ever? Excuse me? You ignore Brainiac?

Brainiac: death for one thousand humans-!!!

Martha: 🥰 Brainiac I'm so proud of you for always making sure these kids are taken care of. Giving us Jordan! Oh, you marvellous robot

Brainiac: …. acceptable, Matriarch Kent

either that or Lois shoots herself in the foot and everyone thinks Clark is STILL the man with the world's worst luck and the strongest genetics ever:

"Lois, honey…how are Jon and Jordan so close in age? If they're not twins?"

"Uh- Jordan is adopted!"

Everyone: looks at Jordan, who is Jon's splitting image

Everyone: …..okay

Anyway because this AU is wildly cliche, very obviously the Bit of Brainiac that helped Clark grow up re-integrates with Brainiac prime during a Big Dramatic Battle where all of the Superfam are getting hurt, and manages to stop/halt Brainiac prime from hurting Clark and the Kryptokids at the cost of his existence.

Jordan gets to punch it in the circuits cause he's the only one not affected by kryptonite but still has the general invulnerability. (And then Jon and/or Kon and meeting the LoSH and they realise their grandfather Brainiac has very much been continued in Brainiac 5's code :3 for an open-ish happy ending of "hey good exists forever and always regardless of heritage")

GRANDPA LEARNS LOVE AND AFFECTION.

GRANDPA CHANGES FROM GENERAL SELF SERVICE AND SELFISHNESS AND REALISES HE LOVES KAL AND THE KENTS AND HE WILL PROTECT THEM

GRANDPA ALSO WANTS ACCESS TO THE INTERNET. There is a constant battle and it does work for a while because he is elected babysitter of the kryptokids and he is only a small part of Brainiac, five kids does stretch the circuits he developed from Clark's pod, but it's a constant cycle.

"Kal-el, son of house of el, I demand google, I have not finished investigating the 'man of Bats'. Why are there two variations of his name?"

"You mean Dark Knight?"

"THERE ARE THREE? KAL-EL, PROVIDE ME WITH THE WIFI IMMEDIATELY--"

Also when Brainiac finds out that Clark's birthday falls on a human holiday he. He tries. He tries to do pranks. Most of them are vaguely and accidentally evil (Chris cries when Brainiac takes over the internet for the day and makes every search engine answer questions wrong), but he tries. He knows Clark likes pranks! He is trying to participate! It's family bonding!!!

Braniac: It is your 33rd April fool's day.

Clark: Yep!

Braniac: I have finally decided to assist you with a prank.

Clark:...oh?

Braniac: Behold! (Small boy with dark hair, blue eyes and a square jaw walks in, dressed in a decent little suit.)

Clark: Braniac you CANNOT keep making...Wait. No. No you didn't--

Braniac: A prank to share with your closest friend!

Braniac: I have been calling him "Bruce" for my records, but you may want to pick something else for clarity.

Clark: 😦😳😬💀

(And thus we have Terry)

Also, while Clark is pretty secretive about his kids, when/if any of them go out with a Superfam name, and/or after he gets closer with the Justice League, there are little slip ups. He does really love his kids!!! And at the point where he's joined the JL he's been with Lois for a few years now and is used to mentioning them every now and then at the Daily Planet/trauma sure does bond you together :) and he trusts the core members of the JL pretty well. Someone makes fun of Bruce for his "hoard" of children and his "adoption problem" and Clark snorts and then chokes. Bruce has barely adopted Tim and/or has only just gotten Cass. Four? Please, Clark's almost at double digits.

Or Hal is talking about the fact that he doesn't know what to get his niece for her birthday; Clark asks how old she is, and goes "Seven? Oh, yeah. Go for Monster High, it's really big right now. The dolls are pretty cool."

"Lol why do you know so much about dolls, you have a secret collection-"

"What? No, my daughter likes them."

Hal:

Barry complains about how many birthdays he has to go to and Clark laughs. "Oh, tell me about it! Mia, Mark ((Match)), Chris and Mara all had birthday parties for their school friends in the same week - thank god for superspeed, right?"

Barry, who was talking about volunteering to visit kids' birthday parties at different orphanages in Central: Clark what are you talking about.

Also, Clark's an idiot and decides to introduce Brainiac's "prank" to Bruce on the watchtower because hey! It's neutral ground! And none of his kids can hear into space, thank fuck.

Clark: so....Bruce....you know how you were complaining about being an empty nester. Now that Damian's gone to college. Well. Hm. (pulls Terry from behind him) Surprise!

Bruce: .......You have a new child.

Clark: er. Well. sort of!

Terry, staring at Bruce like the autism creature: O_O

Bruce: .....I have a new child.

(also probably terry's backstory then includes some amanda waller induced kidnapping and potentially a bit of amnesia and adoption by another family but hey, he finds bruce again eventually!)

(also match does try and be the badboy of the family and does hang out with thad, when thad comes up to kill Bart, but. they both just. accidentally vaguely rehabilitate each other? They're not good, but they don't murder, at least. It's a low, low bar. When Clark tries to disappointed-face him, Match just says he's following in Grandpa Brainiac's footsteps and does Clark REALLY expect him to disregard a family legacy-- and you can give him some suicide squad angst or whatever, but the fam is still. there for him.)

(Mia and Kara get into a fist fight when they first meet; then they are best friends. Mia's not great at 'being Kryptonian', especially because she was one of the first attempts, and as per canon is technically a human who they tried to overwrite with Kryptonian DNA, and thus doesn't entirely understand Kara's connection to their 'home', but as a result she also ends up being Kara's confidant in it, because unlike Kal she does understand being taken away from your home and not being able to go back to it, and yet does not have...the same connection the way the other members of the Superfam do, and the disconnect allows Kara to actually talk about Kyrpton instead of mourn)

(Kon does try and grab the spotlight; Clark is trying to let him have freedom, after both Mia and Match went a bit....bitey at his attempts to keep them safe until they were older, but he's still the more naive of his siblings. Thankfully for Clark, he does get to introduce Kon to Robin, and while they don't hit it off, it is enough to mitigate the worst of the fallout of Rex's sleazy bs and Knockout's crimes ): When he joins YJ Clark is both proud of his heroism and a little scared that one of his kids is actually deciding to follow in his footsteps.)

(Mara is Kon's destabilised clone, from when he learns about paul westfield. We did not have enough girls in this family and thus part of their journey of self-identity was the fact that in a family of loud personalities they weren't great at speaking up; it takes a while for them to admit they want a new name and to use she/they pronouns, but by the time Jon and Jordan are five everyone's used to the change. Mara and Kon are closest, even though Kon and Mark/Match are technically sort-of twins; they clash waaay too much in temperament and personality. Kon was much better at playing protector to his little sibling, especially after they came out, and Mara shares "Supergirl" with Kara - she's only a backup member of the titans, though, and has the compassion and strength for heroism but sometimes too much empathy. Does a lot of relief work and peaceful outreach programs. They love a lot.)

(Chris?? no self sacrifice here!!! He has a bunch of fucking siblings with TTK, he is NOT going into that portal)

(There are two Nightwings; every now and then they debate who should switch to Flamebird, jokingly, and yet both of them have perfectly valid arguments - it's kryptonian! / I look good in blue! - and thus it never comes to fruition. When Mia and takes on Flamebird they give it up entirely; it helps that Chris ends up doing a lot of intergalactic work, so there isn't much confusion on earth with the call sign.)

When Jon is old enough to want to switch from Superboy he 100% puppydog eyes Chris into giving him the Nightwing handle so he can give it to Dami, and snags Flamebird from Mia. Dick decides he can live with that and is trying to take care of his own kid so is semi-retired (and can snag it back from Dami if he ever gets too bored).

For a bit there are def still two Flamebirds, but then Mia and Chris decide to team up for intergalactic stuff and to bully Mara into more fistfights, so then they're Trio and just go by Mar-El, Lor-Zod, and Mi-El. I know that is not how female names work on Krypron but I also think Lois Lane, who kept her name and also gave both Jon and Jordan her last name, hyphenated, heard of that shit and went "absolutely not". Either that or Mara decides to keep her Kryptonian name as Mar-El and Mia is Mia Kal-el, or copies her mom and is like naw Fuck This, especially considering her.....lack of general connection to Krypton? Could be fun for any :3 (Or maybe in space she just goes by Lane; time for her semi-mom to get recognition. Mara is already showcasing the house of El, Chris is rehabilitating the house of Zod, she's gonna kick butt for the house of Lois.)

....Though this does potentially mean i have accidentally called Match "Mat-el" and the Barbie jokes from that. Would be. Iconic.

Anyway that's the Grandpa Brainy au! Tune in next week when I force Cerata to watch Arthur and the Invisibles with me and start talking about bug-prince Kon-el and Lois' adventure to save her husband from a tiny evil overlord.

150 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 3 months

Text

the first chapter of spiderkon is over 7k.....

#it is also not done #so I will absolutely be dividing this fucking MONSTER in half dhjshd lolol lmao #bip bop nari drops #IM REALLY PROUD OF MYSELF THO 🥺 I THINK IT'S FUN SO FAR. I'M EXCITED TO POST IT

1 note · View note

nari-writes · 3 months

Text

Tim Drake has Problems and Issues, and Batman is a capital-B-bad word. (ft. Jason Peter Todd, The Second Robin and Incorrigible Creature of Sass and Child Protection). aka. Blogging (and other dangerous activities likely to get you adopted by the Batman) chapter 2 (HECK). Part one | Ao3 Link

Tim finds out the next morning that the hecking Batman stole his camera’s memory card. He hadn’t even seen Bruce take it! Granted, part of his distraction had been the dark and the late hour and the suddenly-woken-from-sleep by what could probably be constituted as someone’s sleep paralysis demon, but wow. The slight of hand required, when Tim’s attention had been worriedly and entirely focused on his camera? He’d been paranoid that Bruce would take the camera as punishment for his photos - but he hadn’t even noticed Batman stealing his SD card.

He’s prepared to write it off as the price of his identity being discovered - because he’s got two others and can fetch a third next weekend for backup - when he has the sudden, horrified realisation that he hadn’t finished formatting the card last night. It had been cold and he’d wanted to make Jason smooshing into a snowbank into a gif for his blog, and by the time he’d finished that and posted it, his eyelids were basically shut and he’d still needed to pull the other photos off the card. He thought he’d have time to format it this morning because his dad had a golf thing early, and Tim and his mum were only going later for the brunch and the mingling after everyone had finished playing, but-

But he doesn’t have time. Because Batman had stolen the card. The card he hadn’t finished formatting, and last night he’d been playing around with slow exposure shots and taking pictures of Wayne Manor. He'd been playing around with the long lens he doesn't get to use often because it was too bulky and he'd been taking pictures of Wayne Manor.

Oh he’s so doomed. He’s got to get the card back before Bruce has time to look at it, if he hasn’t already. The photos are definitely going to be called creepy at best and at worst they’ll highlight Tim is well aware of his neighbour’s nighttime activities. Thankfully, the lack of alien mind-probing and Bruce Wayne at his doorstep at least indicate Bruce hasn’t had time to go through the photos. Yet.

Probably.

Freaking heck, he's so screwed.

Plan one is to just...break into Wayne Manor. It's a stupid idea, so he doesn't even put it on a back burner to muse over and discard later because there are way too many problems with it. How is he going to break into a) the home of a billionaire and b) the home of the literal dang Batman, most paranoid and prepared person on planet Earth? It's not happening. It would be nice if it was that straight forward, but it's not happening.

Plan two is his parents. They are technically home this week, and he's pretty sure he can get them to invite themselves into Bruce Wayne's house if he pretends Bruce wants to talk business. He knows how to get into his dad's emails, and if he acts fast enough he can get them to organise some sort of business meeting before his parents jet off again at the end of mid-semester break. It's still dependent on his parents staying till the end of the mid-semester break, though, and also on Bruce not being suspicious that Tim Drake, guy he just stole a camera from and also threatened, is coming to his house. It’s a pretty bad plan.

Plan three makes him feel kind of slimy, but it's the one that's most likely to work if he can't get around his parents.

Jason's self-defence classes, the ones Bruce totes as an ‘anti-kidnapping measure’, are run by the same person who teaches Tim’s classes on the other side of the city. He’s built up enough goodwill with her that he’s pretty sure if he looks dejected about his parents not being able to come to his Tuesday class to see his progress, she’ll let him join Jason’s Thursday class as a temporary measure, even though that class got booked out a day after Bruce’s kidnapping commentary.

From there it’s just a matter of prior parkour practice making him a fun match for Jason and Jason’s Robin training, and then Jason enjoying his company enough to chat to him after class so they’re still together when Alfred or Dick comes to pick Jason up, and Tim then letting on that he lives next door and oh no, looks like his parents aren’t picking him up, would it be at all possible to be dropped off? Then pretending to forget his key and his parents not being home to let him in - which, at least, is the part of the plan most likely to succeed, and it makes him a bit miffed that there are so many other points of failure - and getting himself invited to stay at Wayne Manor until his parents are free to pick him up.

On Thursday he’s pretty sure they have a dinner date with the Khadirs, and they actually like each other. It means his parents won’t be home till eleven at the earliest, which will give Tim plenty of time to search the manor.

Unless, of course, Bruce didn’t take the memory card into the manor and has instead stored it in the Batcave, which Tim knows exists but has never been able to access, or he’s given it to Dick or Oracle to look into, or even just Tim not being enough to keep Jason's attention-

God, he’s going to have to figure out how to make plan one work, isn’t he.

There just isn't time for plan three, because Bruce will totally have free time between now and Thursday and so much of it hinges on Jason wanting to talk to him when Tim's three years younger and five feet shorter, and it runs the risk of Jason recognising him from jaunts in Gotham. Plan two is better, but not by much, and he's concerned that Batman's legendary paranoia is going to have negative effects on Tim's success rate.

Plan one…maybe he can pretend to be selling cookies for the girl scouts? He's young enough to get away with it - but there's no way Mr. Pennyworth will let him inside, unless maybe it's raining. That'd be a weird situation to get into though - to walk between their properties when there's a better road, and to lug behind whatever eclectic collection of cookies he can find, and then invite himself into their house to get out of the rain. It'd look totally suspicious. And what respectable girl scout would sell things without the rest of their troupe? Or supervision. Or checking the weather. What respectable Gothamite would go out without checking the weather?

He would need it to be raining - which, to be fair, happens often enough in Gotham - but not have the day be dreary, so he has an excuse to have forgotten his umbrella. And, as everyone knows, when it rains on a day that's not dreary, it's normally acidic, and Tim's not keen on dealing with the raindrops burning scars into his scalp.

Scratch that, no girl scout impersonation is in his future. He could try and just break in and pretend a friend had dared him? But that wouldn't give him a lot of time to investigate, and no access to the Batcave.

Although. Why does he have to break into Wayne Manor?

Tim's eyes narrow in the mirror, lips twitching upward. Why not use Batman's paranoia against him? If there's the risk his memory card will be in the Batcave, why not start in the Batcave? He'll have two perfect excuses either way - there's likely no way to tell the Batcave is under Wayne Manor, so he won't be risking his knowledge of their identities - and Batman stole his memory card, so why wouldn't he track down Batman to get it back? Plus if he needs to go upstairs to find the card, he can always claim pre-teen prankster status, or even just leave and get back into Wayne Manor some other way. His parents will kill him if he gets caught in Bruce Wayne's house, but he'd rather be 'grounded' for the rest of the break then let Batman realise Tim's a stalker.

…Okay he probably already thinks that, but still. Tim’s not letting the Batman know about his collection of Wayne family photos. He'll never be able to walk around Gotham again.

He’ll never want to walk around Gotham again, on account of the fact that he’ll be dead from embarrassment.

So…now he just needs to break into the Batmobile and get himself driven into the Batcave. He's totally got this.

—-

Several hours later he’s still sure he’s got it, even if it’s not at the same level of total assurance it was that morning. He’s followed Batman and Robin around all night and neither of them have caught even a glimpse of him, and he knows they were keeping an eye out because they swung past his usual haunts twice. As if he’d be dumb enough to use the same spot after it’d been blown. He’s young, not dumb.

He’s also not dumb enough to beeline straight for the Batmobile the first time they leave it unattended, either. A few carefully thrown rocks from the fire escape reveal no perimeter alarms summoning Batman and Robin back if someone gets near the car, and even the ones he lets very carefully - he didn’t throw them hard at all, and made sure to stand closer he could aim better! - hit the tires and the door didn't set off an alarm.

It’s kinda stupid, actually. When Tim gets his SD card back he’s gonna send Commissioner Gordan a message about it so the Commissioner can use the information to make fun of Batman. That’ll be a good revenge for taking Tim’s stuff.

The lock’s harder than testing the perimeter alarms, though. His palms are so sweaty he has to keep wiping them on his hoodie to stop himself from leaving marks, and every noise makes him scamper back to hide behind a group of stacked cardboard boxes, just in case it’s Batman or Robin. It takes forever before he can get the trunk unlocked, but when he does he sighs in relief and quickly scampers inside.

There is…very little space. It makes sense, all things considered - what's the best use for a car, bar travelling storage space? - but Tim's thankful he's small and flexible enough to fit around all the junk. His mother’s yoga obsession is serving him well right now, because he's got one foot pressed against a spare tire and the other wedged by his ear, and if he were any less dedicated to Dick Grayson’s gymnastics routines he'd have already started to cramp.

He really hopes they have a short patrol tonight. It is a Monday, so chances are good that Jason at least will be sent home, and Bruce at least visits the Manor to (presumably?) put Jason to bed and (probably?) drop off evidence, but that still means at least two hours of this squished discomfort.

Except also it’s winter break, so Jason doesn’t technically have to be back at the manor for school the next morning. Tim scowls at the realisation that he’s probably gonna be here for ages. He breathes deep, trying to relax so he doesn't cramp up, and then pauses.

How does the trunk of Batman's car smell better than his dumb gloves?

There's a faint motor oil smell, but mostly it's just clean carpet and mint and a vague smoke, like the remnants of a campfire. It's nice, way nicer than the other times Tim has been shoved in a car boot (though at least he normally had more wiggle room when being kidnapped, even though handcuffs had made it impossible to utilise) and Tim's got plenty of time…his blink feels a little too long, but he doesn't bother to fight back a yawn. At least if he can get some sleep it'll make the time go faster and he can finally get to looking for his memory card.

His neck spasms, and Tim hisses between his teeth, awkwardly shifting his arm to try and ease the cramp. Sleep hovers out of his reach, but thankfully the pain eases and he slips into a drifting lull, the muted noise of late-night traffic enough to mimic the trees that normally rustle outside his bedroom window.

By the time the engine rumbles under his cheek, Tim's stumbled through half-dreams of Robin and long exposure shots and his knee is stiff enough that he knows getting out of the car is going to be difficult. Still, he's been lucky enough so far that Batman hasn't found him, and he's not about to trade a sore leg for a frogmarch back to his parents.

The pull of acceleration makes a tire press against his ribs, but bar the squish of things moving around, the actual drive is surprisingly smooth. He can't hear anything from the front seats, but it's still making his heart rabbit in excitement; he's so close to Batman and Robin, and they have no idea.

…No wonder Rouges pull plots all the time, if this is the amount of giddy adrenaline that hits you when you get away with something under Batman's nose. Tim feels like he's going to jitter out of his skin, and it's only the lack of space in the car that's stopped some excited hand flapping and gleeful wiggles. He can’t help it. It’s just so exciting to know he’s so close to Batman and Robin, the shadowy vigilante heroes of Gotham. He’ll never be able to talk about it, but it’s exhilarating to know his classmates will never experience anything like this.

The car rumbles through Gotham, her engine a purr of power, and Tim feels every corner and twist, even if he can’t figure out the road they take back. It doesn’t matter, though: he still knows where he’s going, and he knows his plan for when they arrive.

He needs to be careful. He has to wait. Tim tilts the edge of his watch towards his face and manages to wiggle it into the light coming through the brake light. It's just after 2am - but that doesn't mean Bruce has finished up his work as Batman. He'd made himself promise he wouldn't leave the car until 10am, which is when he normally sees Mr. Pennyworth drive Bruce into the city, presumably for work.

Theoretically he could get out earlier, but he knows 10am is the only verifiable time, and points of failure decree that he should limit them with available evidence whenever possible. That's rule number one in making sure your plans work with minimal adjustment - and he's already gonna have to do major adjusting when he gets out of the car. Like, for example, do they have cameras? How will he access them to hide his presence? What if Jason or Dick is in the Batcave instead of the Manor? Tim will probably hear them, but things are pretty muffled in the car.

Then the SD card itself - would Bruce put it somewhere logical, like near the computer? Should Tim check the computer to make sure no files have been copied across? Is what Tim considers logical going to be what Bruce considers logical?

And finally, getting out. Sure, they'll be way easier ways of getting from Batcave to Manor than vice versa, but what if someone sees him? Or what if there are extra cameras upstairs on a different security system?

He hates not having every point of information available for easy access, but there's nothing he can do here but his best.

Which. Disgusting. He hates that he just said that to himself but it's all he has to combat his nerves right now so unfortunately his best will have to do. After all, it's not within his power to get a blueprint of the Batcave, or he'd have just hacked the batcomputer and deleted his photos manually.

He sighs to himself longingly at the thought and hears the tires change from pavement to stone, and then an echoing reverb of machinery. The Batcave; it must be. He’s in the freaking Batcave. His heart pounds in his chest and he grins to himself, a tiny noise of excitement squeaking out of his throat. This past day-and-change has sucked in terms of his stress levels, but holy heck the fact that he’s currently in the literal Batcave has almost made everything worth it. How could it not, when Tim is in a sanctum so very few get to see? He’ll never be able to tell anyone, but that’s just par the course at this point - and he likes getting to keep his secrets.

Who cares if his parents never ask about what he’s been up to, when Tim can hold in his heart the knowledge that he is one of the privileged few that knows the Batman’s identity?

Sure, Bruce didn't tell him, but isn't it even cooler that Tim figured it out by himself? He'd only ever admit the daydreams on threat of telepath, but sometimes he's thought about Bruce finding out Tim knows and being impressed with him. Bruce would compliment him on his discovery, on the deductive reasoning and the evidence he collected to prove it; what else would impress the greatest detective in the world but someone of similar calibre?

It'd be amazing to have Batman invite him into more secrets, impressed by his faithfulness, but...

Tim's not stupid. Kids are a seen-and-not-heard subsection of the human species, especially kids like him, and Batman would likely only be pissed at Tim for being an uncontrollable liability. Better to make sure that, like everything else Tim thought important, it was kept his own personal secret. No need for Batman to get involved with Tim Drake if Tim Drake is a normal kid, and no need for his parents to drop him off at another boarding school for bringing trouble to their door in Gotham.

There's a sudden click, and Tim startles, head twisting as the trunk lifts. It gets him into the perfect position to be blinded as the trunk opens, and then-

“Ah,” he says, staring up at the cowl and cape, before swallowing thickly. “Hello.”

“This is breaking and entering,” says Batman, and Tim can't stop his scowl.

“That's super hypocritical. You literally broke into my house yesterday.”

“Your window was unlocked.”

“That's not an invitation!”

Batman makes a noise in his throat, and Tim tries to wiggle out from around the spare gear and the tire he'd wedged himself around. His attempt ends when Batman takes him by both biceps and physically pulls him from the vehicle, sitting him against the ledge of the trunk when he's free.

“I think breaking and entering requires you to not have driven him here,” says Jason, his voice a drawl of sarcastic displeasure, and Tim flushes and looks down at his shoes. Batman had known the whole time? He'd just…let Tim stay in the boot for the whole drive, and not done anything to stop him? How humiliating, to find out his oh-so-clever plan hadn't even survived first contact.

Batman's looking at him. Tim can feel eyes resting heavy on the back of his neck before Bruce says, “The Batmobile is well-outfitted with sensors and cameras to prevent theft or tampering. Prior experience assisted in advising me of the…issues with my security system.”

Jason's weight shifts, like he knows he's the ‘experience’ that highlighted the Batmobile’s weak spots, but Tim's stomach just feels wobbly.

“Do you enjoy lying?” Batman asks, and Tim's head snaps up.

“What?”

His stomach no longer feels wobbly. Now it just feels…gone. Like it dropped into his feet and took his guts with it. Is his face pale? It certainly seems like it should be, with how his fingers have begun to tingle, the too-hard pulse of his heart depriving him of oxygen.

“I distinctly remember you saying that I wouldn't see you out again at night-”

“You weren’t going to,” Tim says, feeling light-headed, the sentence cut off by his own recognition of a pitiful defence. Bruce’s mouth is a hard, flat line.

“Did you or did you not understand the intent behind the instructions I provided, Tim Drake?”

“Yeah,” he mumbles, shoulders hunching. Because yeah, he had, but Batman hadn’t caught him in three years and he’d figured that his lucky streak would continue. Especially if he didn’t post anything on the blog, and Batman had no further proof of his existence and/or his defiance of Batman’s rule.

“Then, with that in mind, do you understand that your behaviour directly violates the rules we discussed, and additionally endangers your safety?”

He’s been scolded before. It still hadn’t felt like this, with humiliation making heat prick at his eyes. Batman's impassive, but you never look at Batman to know how he feels: you look at Robin. Tim chances a glance and sees Robin’s shifted on his heels, looking awkward and unhappy.

Bruce must be so mad.

“We didn’t discuss anything,” Tim says softly, his throat tight and his hands shaking as he tries to keep his emotions under control. “I’m careful. You just - you just ordered me around, but you don’t know me.”

“Kid,” Jason says, and Tim’s nails bite into his palm. “It’s our job to protect the people of Gotham-”

“You stole my stuff! You stole my stuff and deleted my archive and do you know how many people were upset? Twitter blew up about it. They like you! They like seeing you. It was important to them! It was important to me.”

…But why should Batman care? Tim’s long since learnt that things that are important to him don’t get to be in plain sight - his dad has broken his stuff before, and Tim’s not let that happen to anything he actually cares about for so long that he’s forgotten what it feels like. The feeling that he’s stupid for letting it get to him, when it doesn’t even really matter, the helpless, melancholic kick of being unable to change anyone’s mind-

“Aw, kid, hey,” Robin’s kneeling in front of him now, hands on Tim’s shoulders, and Tim’s mortified to realise he’s been sniffling. Can this day get any worse? Bad enough that his clever checks and foolproof plan were literally ignored by Batman so that Tim would stay out of the way tonight, now he’s crying? Like a child too emotional to be up past his bedtime? “Come on now, squirt, B-man’s an overbearing prick but the translation here is he’s terrified for you. It was dangerous for the site to stay up. Your photos were amazing - but you were so close to us. ”

“I wasn’t,” Tim says, wiping his runny nose across his sleeve, and then suddenly a black handkerchief drops into his eyeline. He pauses, tracing it up to Batman’s hand, and then pettily says, “...if this smells as bad as your gloves I don’t wanna use it.” Jason snorts and mumbles something that may have been a proud, I told you so.

(He still takes it. He’s not petty enough to refuse having a handkerchief from the Batman. This night has been a nightmare - at least he can still have the world’s most pity-present souvenir.)

“Distance,” Batman says softly, “was not the problem.”

“Okay,” Robin says, when Tim’s expression takes on a mutinous edge, “think of it this way for me, yeah? There’s a blog that’s gotten crazy popular because it’s started semi-regularly posting really good photos of us. Batman and Robin. And you, you’re Penguin or Riddler or Marone, whatever, you wanna know how the blog gets good pictures of us. Wondering how the photographer knows where we are. You start thinking maybe Batman’s trying to drum up good PR and then suddenly you’re thinking: hey, maybe this blogger knows the Bats.”

“I don’t!” Tim says quickly, and Jason looks over his shoulder at Bruce. Tim, desperate, follows his gaze, and-

Batman’s holding his SD card.

“Don’t you?”

#tim drake #bruce wayne #jason todd #batfam #batfam fanfic #nari is writing #tim drake sticks his foot in his mouth and gets adopted #tim drake & bruce wayne #tim drake & jason todd #dc fanfic #Robin #batfam fandom #I was NOT meant to write a chapter two. this wasn't supposed to happen. what am I doing here wtf #........anyway #more sass boy 👀#are we all ready for tim to LIE!!!!!!!!#little guy needs to commit some crimes <3 #oop

29 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 4 months

Text

So I posted it a little early on ao3 because my Christmas plans were shaky on the wifi, but, finished fic for the @superfamsecretsanta exchange event!

Wrote some timkon fluff from Ma's POV and drew way too many Ma/Pa Kent Tim/Kon parallels that I will never be able to get out of my headcanons now 🤭🤭

Happy holidays @noreen-seee !!!! 🥰

#dc comics #dc fic #timkon #nari is writing #fluff #superfam #kon el #conner kent #superboy #tim drake #martha kent #Noreen-seee

26 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 4 months

Text

.....am I writing sex pollen fic without the sex?

"Do you know, on average, how often you guys get sex pollened? You have a form!"

"It's good to pre-establish consent," Tim said, instead of something far more stupid like: have you been carrying around lube and condoms on the off chance I'll get whammied and you're the only person around, and NOT because you're insatiably horny and getting it on during down time on missions?

Baby you betcha!!

#timkon #nari is writing #dc fic #unfinished fic snips

46 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 5 months

Text

"Wouldn't it be funny to make Luthor pay child support?" Kon asks the ceiling, and Tim's typing stops. His chair squeaks as he turns around, but Kon's too tired to look at him. He's pretty sure he's getting ash on Tim's bed, but if he has he'll just TTK it off before he leaves. Tim won't mind, even if it leaves a smell. He's good like that. And also probably very used to sleeping with ash-smells: sometimes when Conner stays over he can still taste smoke in the air from the wind coming the wrong way.

"I mean," Tim says, and Kon grins 'cause he's pretty sure Tim has done his little hand-steeple, leaning forward on his elbows. Kon can feel it through his TTK, but it's still funny because it means Tim's decided to take this seriously. "If you wanted to, now's the time to do it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. He's in Stryker's, so he can't give anyone a different story. And he's in Stryker's for trying to kill you and the rest of the Kryptonians. So court of public opinion would eat him alive."

Kon snorts at the thought. "Hey twitter, poll time: which of my genetic donors have tried to kill me?"

"Hey twitter, are we all glad I inherited my sense of fashion from the alien and not the cishet multibillionaire?" Tim retorts, and Kon snorts even louder, the sound breaking into a short laugh.

"What fucking fashion does Kal have? Don't you slander me like this-"

"No, no, I saw the Smallville photos, I saw the T-shirt and jeans combo, don't try and act like-"

Kon shrieks, "Don't you bring my sordid past into this!"

"-like you're any better than Hickville, Clark."

Kon hears a far-off, choking laugh, and laughs again himself. "He can hear you," he says, and Tim presses his hand to his face.

"Fuck off, Clark!"

"You're gonna get tattled on," Kon snickers, and finally musters the energy to roll onto his side and prop his head on his hands. "Tell me more about our court of public opinion. I figure, what, drop the DNA test?"

"Mm, yes, I can post it on Bernard's youtube channel to really add legitimacy."

"Do you think Lex technically disowned me? When I hit the whole 'hey-o, fuck Lexcorp and everything you stand for, here's a little TTK reshape of your logo to be a giant LGBTQ sign?' It's not like I ever lived with him."

"Did you? In-"

"Nah. Hawaii, at first, and then sorta in Metropolis? Was kinda in Cadmus for a bit so I guess I lived with him then? How involved is this Lex with Cadmus?"

#unfinished fic snips #dc #nari is writing #not part of the other tim and kon chatting fic but i was like #hm i wonder if kon COULD get child support #and then i was like. you know what would be funny? conner dragging lex on twitter snickers

6 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 5 months

Text

"Conner, don’t you get it? Clark is awkward because he loves you. He just has no idea how to deal with everything else. If he didn’t love you,” Lois says, “this would be easy.”

#i just think!!!!!!! that clark and kon are SOOOOO interesting<333 #unfinished fic snips #spiderkon #like tbf this is the core thesis of spiderkon: HOW DO YOU LOVE WHEN THINGS ARE HARD !!#but ALSO. mwah. this is how I see them ok. ok!!!#if it were easy clark could hate his weird homegrown stolen dna clone #but he CAN'T<333 #he had no choices and no knowledge and no idea what to do so maybe if he ignores it it'll fix itself? he'll understand better?#but he doesn'ttttt #and it isn't until he starts trying. and gets to know kon. that it becomes easier.#because then he just gets to pick loving kon <3 and family <3333 over the fucked up nature of kon's existence #not to say it doesn't mess him up but it's Much better afterward #lol doesn't stop poor kon from having Issues about it tho :“) my lil guy #cause like obvi clark is the adult in this situation and its not Kon's responsibility but stilllll #wip fic snips #tagged it with both bc maybe this will end up. maybe not haha

6 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 6 months

Text

He hates not having every point of information available for easy access, but there's nothing he can do here but his best.

Which. Disgusting. He hates that he just said that to himself but it's all he has to combat his nerves right now so unfortunately his best will have to do.

#tim drake: no im not a perfectionist #tim drake: UGH doing MY BEST? MY B E S T ?????#to be fair he has outside stressors here rn snickers #re: is 11 and trying to get around THEEE batman #but still #snickers #unfinished fic snips

2 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 6 months

Text

Do you like gift swaps? Do you like the Superfam? Do you think the overlap of that Venn diagram sounds like it might be fun?

Then join the party here for the 2023 Superfam Secret Santa!!!

A quick rundown of the rules:

Art and fic are both accepted; things like edits and playlists may be as well, depending on participant feedback. Art must be at least lined, and fics must be at least 1,000 words. You're more than welcome to go above and beyond these requirements, though!

Prompts and fills must focus on at least one member of the Superfamily.

Gifts will be posted on Dec. 25th!

No major archive warnings or incest allowed. This is aimed to be a fairly lighthearted event (angst and hurt/comfort are allowed, but nothing too heavy! Use your own best judgment as to what that entails, and feel free to ask for clarification if you're still uncertain.)

Signups are open from now until 5:00 PM CST on November 20th!

Interested? Sign up here!

#hewwo?? 👀👀👀 join??? 👀👀👀 it will be funnnnn I'm sure 🤭🥰#promo #events

88 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 6 months

Text

"Look normally I'm all for a good 'sticking it to the man' attitude but you're a freaking baby. Sticking it to the man is like...you need adult supervision for this activity if you're under sixteen."

"Greta Thunburg did it at fifteen."

"Greta Thunburg doesn't live in Gotham," Jason retorts. "Also, climate change strikes in a well-lit public place is different from 'fuck Batman, I'm gonna go around at midnight in Crime Alley.'"

#blogging and other activities likely to get you adopted by the batfam #unfinished fic snips #maybe i will do a part two. i want that boy ADOPTED. but who knows #the rust. she's strong and crunchy 😬😬

7 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 6 months

Text

Blogging (and other dangerous activities likely to get you adopted by the Batman)

Inspired by Latchkey by goldkirk

Tim wakes up to Batman in his room.

It- well, it's not fair to say it's a surprise, but seeing the looming figure in his window does make his heart seize. Even after the time Tim's spent watching him with the Robins, it's still nerve-wracking to have Gotham's nightmare show up. Especially since Batman does little to dissuade the notion that he's here on genial business.

Maybe Bruce has figured out he knows and is going to silence him. Maybe this isn't actually Batman, but Man-bat, and Tim's about to be twelve-year-old bat jerky. Maybe-

His parents are home this week though, so if he really wanted he could probably scream and get himself some thinking time; but as he takes a breath to decide what to do, Batman puts a gloved hand over his mouth.

And, ugh. It smells kinda gross. Like leather and motorcycle fumes. Probably the right Batman, but also. Super gross? Why does he smell so bad? When did he last rinse his gloves?

“You've been blogging.” Batman says, which isn't a question but is a very unhelpful non-sequitur.

“Mmrnhm?” Tim says, largely unintelligible but not entirely intending words.

What the shit. Batman's only here because of the blog?

Also, unfair. He'd had to jump through so many hoops to spoof his IP and make his own VPN and switch which library he posted from, and Batman still found him? This sucks.

“Don't scream,” Batman says, and Tim nods. Batman pulls his hand away slowly, potentially having expected Tim to lie, but Tim's not stupid. Batman doesn't have to do this nicely, even if he is a kid, and Tim also knows that if he did scream, Batman would either a) be prepared and gag him again or b) vanish, and then Tim would be in trouble with his parents. Either option sucks, so he'd rather opt for the one that lets him keep taking in the details of Batman's suit. It's hard in the dark, but still way easier than through his camera.

“It could've been my parents,” Tim says, when it seems Batman's waiting for him to answer his earlier not-question. Batman hums, and Tim wiggles back so he's against the headboard. “Yeah, I figured you'd already researched their flight times. Have to try though, right?”

“The blog. Why?”

“It's-” he starts, because there's so many reasons and he doesn't actually know which one Batman wants. Or, actually, would like the least? Probably 'I wanted to see you in action' would land with the grace of a sleep-deprived Jason Todd, but 'I was lonely' may be worse. 'I didn't expect it to blow up?' may be okay, but in the end he hesitantly settles with: “I just think that- seeing you, being- human? Or, showing you have humanity- was important.”

“Did you ever think that I wouldn't want that?” Batman asks, and Tim shifts awkwardly.

“I mean. Yes? But also, the way people- talk about you and the Robins. It sucks.”

Batman's mouth looks very displeased.

“It just, it shows that you're human!”

“How do you know?” Batman asks, and he actually kinda sounds like Bruce Wayne now, like this is a joke he's used before, and Tim thinks through what he'd been about to say very quickly and shuts his mouth with a snap. Ow. Now his teeth hurt.

Batman, on the other hand, does something to his cowl that makes him look like he's very slowly raising his eyebrow. Is it weird to think he looks tense, looks more threatening now, even though he'd literally just been looming with the promise of violence? Tim swallows hard.

“I don't?” he offers, his voice breaking, and he literally doesn't think he's ever been more humiliated by puberty. “I mean, I don't! Know you're human, that is. You could definitely be an alien if you wanted. Or a spirit of revenge, or-” Tim flops backward on his bed and pulls his blanket over his head. “I shouldn't be so bad at this,” he mumbles, and doesn't think about he's definitely going to die because Batman's suspicious and Tim's an idiot when he's tired.

Batman is damningly silent, but when Tim finally, hesitantly, peeks his eyes out from the hem of his blanket, the Dark Knight is still standing in his room. Actually, he's half-hunched over Tim's desk, looking at the corkboard of Tim's photos and reminders. He reaches out, and Tim's heart thuds. “Oh, please don't!” he says instinctively when Batman grazes Tim's camera. Batman stops and tilts his head over his shoulder to look, and Tim swallows down the anxiety clogging his throat. “Please don't take my camera. I can get another one but I- that one was-”

“Stop taking photos of us.” Batman says, short and to the point.

“Stop posting them to the blog?” Tim offers, and this makes Batman turn around properly, looking at him head-on again. He's judging Tim, now, and Tim wonders what part of him will be found wanting. In Batman's eyes is Tim's wealth a precursor to change or stagnation? Does he think Tim should be doing more with his life? Or does he simply expect that this is a rich kid's hobby, no sentimentality involved? Bruce Wayne took his billions and made himself a hero and Tim knows he can't do the same, considering his parents are in charge of the Drake fortune, but there's probably a million other things he could be doing that don't involve stalking superheroes.

“You're a child,” Batman says slowly, and his voice has lost the harder overture that's affected his speech so far. “When Batman is out, it is late, and dark, and dangerous. You are a child and shouldn't be anywhere near-”

“I don't go close!” Tim protests, “I'm not stupid!”

“There are always people in Gotham. What does it matter if you're not in the area of the most danger when you're still in danger?”

“I'm not stupid,” Tim protests with a hiss that contains more vitriol than it really should, considering his conversation partner, but he can't help it. “If you never saw me how'd you think anyone else could?”

“How do you know I never saw you?” Batman asks, like a challenge, and Tim scoffs.

“Come on, you think I don't know that if you saw me out there, you'd have me thrown in the back of the Batmobile and at the closest precinct before I could blink? Jason almost-” Tim freezes, then quickly blurts, “-before he took your tires, and got adopted by Bruce Wayne, Jason tried to do the same thing whenever he saw me. I know what I look like, to people in Crime Alley.”

Shoot, shoot, shoot, this is actively a terrible lie; Batman only needs to ask Jason when he met Tim and the whole thing would be blown. And, also, name-dropping a specific kid, like Batman would remember who stole his tires? The connection is tenuous at best and damning at worst.

“You've been taking photographs of us since you were eight?” Batman asks, sounding horrified, and Tim winces internally. Please forgive me, Robin, he whispers in the back of his mind, and then says with all the glib disdain he can muster:

“Well, you let Robin go out when he was barely older than me. It's the same thing.”

He has never seen Batman do a full-body wince before. He's not entirely sure he could get Batman to do it again, and wonders if he should add it to his board of accomplishments. He’d have to encode it if he did, even if the board’s mostly for his own reference, but imagining it pinned up next to his photography awards is making him feel a bit hysterical. Then again, that could also be the fact that Batman is still in his room and Tim is lying.

“He was not eight-”

“I just think that unless the same orders get applied to him I think you're being a bit of a hypocrite. He’s actively in more danger than I am, considering he ends up in grabbing range of Rouges and I don’t.”

“I will be telling your parents,” Batman growls, and this time Tim smirks.

“Yeah? And how do you think that's going to go for you?” Tim can almost exactly imagine it: there's no way his parents will believe Batman, because it's crazy and they'd be freaking out over Batman in their house, and if he does it as Bruce Wayne it'd be a crazy coincidence for Tim Drake, known genius, to have access to. If Tim hadn't already solved their identities, that connection alone would probably tip him off.

Well, maybe Batman wouldn't think about the potential implications - academic strengths don't always translate to detective-solving skills, and it's just Batman's misfortune that in Tim's case it's a little bit the other way around. Detective skills that he's carefully and stubbornly honed have led him to a dogged dedication to his studies.

“Robin is a trained professional,” Batman says, and Tim volleys back with,

“Yeah and I'm not doing the same thing he is at all, so my standards can be different.”

“Tim Drake,” Batman says, this time actively growling his name, and Tim doesn’t know if he should cackle or wince. For one thing, he’s pretty sure Batman has lost this verbal volley, which is why he’s pulling out the doom and darkness voice.

On the other, this is the voice he uses on men triple Tim’s size and with twice the bravery (and crazy), and having the full force of it directed at him makes his stomach drop. He clutches his blankets, fabric pulled tight, and tries to pretend his hands aren’t shaking.

“The blog is being removed - do not start it again. I will not see you on Gotham’s streets again during my patrol.”

The lens of his mask are so narrow that the white is barely visible. He holds Tim’s gaze, like he’s imparting the orders, like he’s checking to see Tim’s fear will keep him obedient, and then nods slowly. The cape swishes behind him as he puts Tim’s camera back on the desk, and then he’s leaving. Leaving, and Tim’s secrets are safe and he is unharmed and undeterred.

“You won’t,” Tim whispers as Batman slips out his window and into the dark.

116 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 6 months

Note

trick or treat! I've seen you reblog danny phantom stuff before, so do you have any dc x dp ideas? (it's halloween, you gotta! 👏👏)

🥺🥺🥺 noooo I don't!!!!! I only ever wrote/posted one danny phantom fic forever and ever ago when I was like, twelve. And I have been enjoying all the dpxdc xovers but I don't have any of my own!! So I guess this is a bit of a trick; a snippet from a mystery of memory loss....(or maybe something else? 👀)

“I saw you on the train, before I ended up in the river, I know I did, but you act like you've never met me before,” thud, thud, thud, goes his heart, steady but present, like the beats are counting out each point of evidence. “You keep pretending that you don't know me, but you do - I know you do.”

“Tim-”

“And that! No-one calls me that!” Tim's hands fist at his side, and his body's thrumming. “Nobody ever calls me Tim.” No matter how much he'd like them to. It's Timothy or Mr. Drake, both a title, both with a reason to be used. Tim is just- preference. Courtesy.

And who wants to do him the courtesy of Tim when it's been made very clear he's nothing so common as a simple 'Tim'?

#ask aussie #aussie's anons #i like! the concept of this one #but it's a bit hard to write so it hovers awkwardly between potential fic graveyard and nooooo #lemme write yoooou #unfinished fic snips #writing blog reblog

2 notes · View notes

nari-writes · 6 months

Text

@babblebuzz replied to your post “Trick or treat! (Any lines that you're eager to...”:

Oooo!!! Hope you get to use it it's gut wrenching ehehehhe

thank!!!! <3 it's so fun; soulmate aus are soooo. mwah. owie my heart and soul uwu

#babblebuzz #replies

0 notes

nari-writes · 6 months

Note

Trick or treeeeaaaat darling~

ahH but how am I supposed to put anything here when you've read/know so much of my stuff!!! okay, okay; I think this was an opbb/fic&art project I was gonna do with @babblebuzz aaaaaages ago: a mishmash of fairytales and a curse to go along with.

“Hey! Hey, you! Squirt with the scar!”

Luffy made a confused noise in the back of his throat before looking around, eyes scanning the horizon for where the voice might have come from. “Me?” he asked the empty sky, wondering if someone was stuck in the clouds, and heard a grumbled,

“Yes you, dumbass! Up here!”

Luffy made a confused noise, looking around and then taking a cautious step forwards. “Up...where?”

“Here you idiot! In the huge fucking tower right in front of you!”

Luffy took another step forwards, jolting to a sudden stop as he banged into something. As though his touch was the catalyst, bricks began to form under his hands, and Luffy could see a tower begin to form in front of him, reaching high into the sky. “Cooooool,” he said, craning his head back so that he could try and find the top, and saw in the distance what looked like a man hanging out of the side of the tower.

“Fucking finally,” he heard the man say, and then watched as the man wriggled further out of what appeared to be a window, basically hanging out of it. “Hey!” he called down to Luffy, and Luffy gave a questioning noise in the back of his throat, holding his hand to his head. Surprisingly his hand met fluffy hair instead of-

A something. What something? he wondered, but found himself quickly distracted by the man in the tower yelling, “You better catch me!”

“Catch you!?” Luffy yelped, backing up frantically and looking around for what he could use to break this man’s apparent fall. “I can't catch you, you're like twenty feet in the air!”

“It's better than thirty,” the man said, and then jumped out the window. Luffy quickly scrambled underneath the tower with a yelp, holding his arms out in a vain attempt to catch this strange, tower-bound man.

He seemed to glitch half-way down the tower, vanishing from Luffy’s sight, and then suddenly he was back up at the window again and Luffy frowned, staring up at him in confusion.

“I thought you were jumping!” he called out, and received an incoherent yell of fury in return.

Hopping backwards, Luffy scurried around the tower, trying to find a door, but even doing a full lap revealed nothing. He contemplated going around again, but the man called out with a heavy sigh,

“There's no way to get in.”

“The window’s a way to get in!” he called back and heard a bark of laughter.

“You said it yourself, it's like twenty feet in the air!”

Luffy hummed under his breath, taking a step closer to the tower and peering at the bricks. They looked old and crumbly, with tiny flowers growing in the cracks, but if they were strong enough to hold up a tower than surely they'd be strong enough to hold up him. He stepped back and stripped off his armour, rotating his shoulder back with a small grin of relief as the weight on his lithe body vanished, and then cracked his knuckles before approaching the tower again.

“Hey, what are you doing?” the man demanded, and Luffy grinned at him before hooking his hands into the rocks.

“It's not thirty feet!” he said, and then began to climb up, muscles bunching and shifting easily beneath his skin as he climbed.

“You dumbass, get off!” the man called. “What if you fall?”

“Eh, I'll probably be fine,” Luffy called back, sweat dripping down his back and focusing on what to grab next. His muscles had started to ache faintly with the strain, but he was half-way up, and was starting to pick out the man’s sharp features. “Oh yeah, I'm Luffy by the way!”

“You're a dumbass, that's who you are,” the man shot back, and Luffy gave a huff of a laugh, sweat dripping into his eye and making him blink, wishing he could wipe his forehead.

“Who’re you?” Luffy asked, and heard a grumbling sigh.

“Zoro.”

He's the demon bounty hunter - Roronoa Zoro!

Luffy shook his head, pausing in his climb to try and chase the faint memory ringing in his ears.

“Hey, are you okay?” Zoro asked worriedly, and Luffy shook his head again, dismissing it. He must've heard it while travelling!

He ignored the fact that he couldn't truly remember when he'd first started travelling. It must've been quite a long time ago.

“You have a cool name!” he said as he started climbing again, ignoring the pain growing in his fingertips as he clawed in the bricks for a grip, and Zoro snorted.

“You have a brain the size of a pea.”

“Hey!” Luffy cried indignantly, pouting up at Zoro and surprised to find how close he was, “You're the one stuck in a magic tower!”

Zoro glared at him, face sucked in fouly, “It wasn't my fault! I finished my part of the deal, to stay up here for a month with nothing, but they just decided to keep me up here for their stupid princess to rescue.”

“Well I'm not a princess, so I dunno if I should be saving you then,” Luffy muttered, reaching up and then finding that his arm went straight through the window. Zoro’s calloused hands gripped his arm, and Luffy squirmed over the edge of the window with Zoro’s help.

With a heave, he made it over the top, but Zoro yanked his arm to hard and Luffy found himself pulled straight into Zoro’s chest, sending both of them to the ground. He landed with an oof, and then laughed, peeling himself up and taking in Zoro’s glare.

-----

“Nice scar!” he chirped, his fingertips going to graze the long edge of torn skin he could see at Zoro’s shoulder, but Zoro’s hand clamped around his wrist, moving him away.

“Don’t touch that,” he said, and then paused, staring at Luffy’s hand for a moment before he shook his head. “Look, thanks for comin’ to keep me company, or whatever, but this isn’t helpful. I’m trying to get out, not get other people trapped with me.”

“We’ll figure something out!” Luffy replied, and then rolled off Zoro’s chest, bouncing to his feet and going to peer around the room. “Woooow, you have a lot of stuff!”

Zoro sat up with a grunt, massaging his back with a wince and then rotating his shoulder back, easing stiff muscles. “Most of it was here already,” he said, before heaving himself to his feet. “Probably from the last ‘princess’ they kept locked up here.”

“Wooah, that’s weird.” Luffy said, then shrugged and pouted. “I guess my kingdom isn’t any better. People there keep turning mean and getting grumpy because of the cold, and so did my best friend, so I came out to save him. I think.” He hummed under his breath thoughtfully, a faint headache growing as he tried to think about why that story felt somehow wrong, but the sight of the mirror behind Zoro made him nod decisively. His fluffy vest and long sleeves were proof that he’d come from somewhere cold, even if his sandaled feet seemed to disprove that.

Plus, if he’d planned on travelling, where were all his supplies?

Maybe he’d eaten them all. That was a possibility.

---

His armour glinted bright in the sunlight, catching his eye as he carefully polished the front plate, and Luffy hummed under his breath as he moved the small red cloth in slow circles, distracted by the gleam and tracing the curvy engravings with his fingertip.

---

and the plot notes!

Land on an island that has fairy tales that constantly loop thanks to the grand line being fucky. Usopp tells some stories abt their adventures and the island falls in love w/ them and wants to keep them

Erases their memories and puts them in fairy tales

Lu gets put as a knight to defend people but he doesnt want to, so instead he makes friends with the dragon and goes off to explore starts fucking up fairy tales

Rescues zoro from his tower before zoro’s princess can do it so the princess decides to use her skills to create an army and “save” zoro (this is the army vivi later ends up fighting)

They camp out a nice rich lady’s house, bc the master of the house is paranoid abt her safety. Find out she's been talking to this strange fluffy creature & a long-nosed boy

She flies away with the dragon and the fluffer and the boy and zoro and luffy have to chase after them. Luffy hitches a sling-shot lift and then is like hey woah what? I'm. Super stretchy?

Talk to chopper and usopp and decide to go for adventures. Fight off kuro/hook and take Kaya home.

The owner of the house thought they were kidnapping kaya tho and so they get chased off. Kaya laughs and promises to help visualise chopper’s dream and make a book of cures

Shadow!Brook gives them a bit of help escaping

They bolt for it!!! Cute travel stories and also some dejavu. Zoro and luffy sleeping cuddled together and fluffy chopper and cute!!!!

They get lost bc someone lets zoro lead and they complain like “why do we let him do this EVERY time???” and someone else is like dude this is the first time. And then they pause and they're like huh, why’d i say that. Oh well!

They stumble across a castle!

Sanji was cursed to be a beast bc he stole some magic bears’ porridge. They're pretty cool tho and have been teaching him how to cook. The crew gets invited in and fed. Zeff and the cooks are the bears!

Gin shows up and confesses that they're going to attack the place bc they're so hungry and also afraid of the monster they heard lives there.

Sanji wants to prove he's not a monster and also he hates the thought of them hungry and so feeds them. Turns back into a human but the army still attacks and says there's treasure inside. Gin helps them defend the place.

They chill at the palace for a while and luffy keeps getting Weird Feelings whenever he eats sanji’s food. Sanji runs into a mermaid and falls in love with her!

Said mermaid turns out to be nami and tries to rob the place but Brook alerts everyone before they vanish / scares nami a bit bc skeleton!

They fight arlong the magical fishdick who’d uspured the other ruler and killed bellemere and blackmailed nami, and nojiko becomes queen of atlantis and gives nami some killer magic powers + the ability to shapeshift between human & mer

They go travelling again bc nami’s like I'm bored here and i want more to steal. They run into what looks like an abandoned workshop and find a huge robot that luffy bangs into. Nami recharges it w/ her lightning powers and he splutters to life. Brook’s with them at that point bc it's dark and he's chillin out bc he misses his crew.

THE ISLAND IS UPSET BC THEY KEEP FUCKING WITH THE STORIES

Sends a tornado to whisk them apart and the guys end up getting forcibly/accidentally enlisted in the vivi vs tashigi war. ZORO AND LU THINK THE OTHER IS DEAD ;3 👍

Nami lands near vivi as she's practicing to be a boy (mulan style) and there's lots of yelling but then nami agrees to help her and we get some na/vi interactions and then they basically all run into each other again and become this super effective task force.

Vivi defeats the evil army and saves her dad and lu&co help out. Lu and zoro don't run into each other until they have to save vivi’s dad from croc, who'd partnered with tashigi and has been lying to her about the state of vivi’s country bc he wants to take it over

There's a lot more almost near death experiences and croco is not like normal, he's a hell of a lot more powerful.

Brook leaves them messages on tashigi’s army’s plan.

ZORO ACCIDENTALLY ENLISTED FOR TASHIGI’S WAR AND DOESN'T REALISE UNTIL HE RUNS INTO LU AND SO THEY DEFECT

They keep crocodile’s ass and tashigi and vivi make a peace treaty. Tashigi realises zoro’s the prince she was meant to rescue and wants to marry him (bc of the island) so she can become queen. Luffy is NOT HAPPY.

Brook nudges off a book that reveals some things about the royalty of the island, but also some things about the island being sentient and liking to put people in stories, and that it chooses who’s royalty.

Zoro suggests holding a ball to find tashigi and bride/groom and brook facepalms bc the book ALSO said if tashigi rescued zoro from something he'd be king but all zoro took was that it had to be part of a story and the only story he could remember was cinderella.

Robin’s stepmother has magic that makes robin do whatever she says and orders robin to clean and she isn't allowed to read. She forbids robin from going to the dance but brook breaks the spell and helps her go ;u;

Franky and robin get to dance together and be Huge Dorks

Robin runs away at midnight but the whole crew ends up following after bc franky’s like i know that woman!

Stepmother reveals she got home from the ball before robin and orders Robin to stay in her room and never leave. Sanji says keeping such a beautiful woman locked away is a crime

Stepmother starts to morph into a monster and everyone’s like akfgofng what ?????

But it's gonna hurt robin so they fight it. The monster orders robin to fight them. Luffy bear hugs her and usopp covers her eyes and the monster appears to be losing so it orders robin to jump off her tower window. The island wants a prince to rescue her and so forcibly throws her up there. But chopper’s the one who saves her bc he can fly.

Everyone questions how that happened and the island morphs with the monster so it can talk to them and reveals everything.

The island confesses that it thought they would be happy with their friends there and so brought their friends to them, and that it wants to keep them because they're interesting and they're bored of the real characters. Luffy says that everyone should be allowed to choose their own path and make their own adventures, and then the island won't get bored.

The island is kind of like a little kid!!! And agrees and the stepmother goes back to normal and the island turns into a little kid and starts mumbling that they'll try to be better and let people have their own adventures. Very The Collector from The Owl House vibes

And then they leave the island! ♡

Brook keeps his memories but can't say anything about it. The island was a little scared of the skellington )): it doesn't like horror stories and so it just kinda banished him. too bad for the island that brook still has his df powers and can shadow poof everywhere

#ask aussie #midnightlucky #zolu #trick or treat #opfanfic #nari is writing #another unfinished fic from the graveyard jhsjsh #ILY THO THANK YOU FOR THE ASK <3

11 notes · View notes