In issue # 110 of Nightwing (1996), why did Dick look irritated (and clench his fist) when Tim told him that Bruce considered adoption (which Tim rejected obvs), especially since Tim's dad was killed (and Dick knows that)?
ANON YOU HAVE ASKED ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE ISSUES OF NIGHTWING OF ALL TIME <333
Very short answer: it's the trauma
So the thing is, this is a heartbreaking issue that requires a lot of footnoting, because the emotional undercurrents are BIG and POWERFUL but the dialogue is deliberately understated?? and Dick and Tim are often not saying what they mean?? or just straight-up lying to each other?? and they're TALKING PAST EACH OTHER because
they both suck at communication
they are not even TRYING to communicate their actual problems - like, if Tim straight-up said, "A bunch of people I love are dead and I keep having nightmares about how it's my fault and I'm guilty and miserable and lonely and avoiding Bruce and I came to your city because I was reeling and I missed you and I didn't know what else to do and now I'm scared you're mad at me," that would crack through Dick's determination to keep his distance because Dick's whole thing here is based on the conviction that Tim is fine, but of course Tim doesn't say any of that, and Dick can't read his mind. And Dick's not quite as determined a liar as Tim so Tim is able to figure out a little more of what's going on with Dick vis-a-vis insecurities, but Tim's still completely missing what a colossal mess Dick is right now, and again: this is because he's not a mind-reader and Dick doesn't tell him! And doesn't want to tell him! And doesn't want him to know! So Tim thinks that Dick's maybe acting this way because he's mad at Tim, and he tries to solve the problem from that angle, even though that's not at all what's going on and actually Dick's miserable and traumatized and mad at himself
I love it so much
So the short-ish answer to your question is, Tim's correctly guessed at some of Dick's insecurities here. Dick's not mad that Tim's in the city, but Tim's right that the adoption was a big deal to Dick, and he's right that Dick's a little threatened by the idea of Tim getting adopted too. (This wouldn't normally be the case! But Dick was kinda uneasy about Tim in the early days when his own relationship to Bruce felt very shaky, and right now Dick's feeling like he's lost Bruce again, and when he's insecure about himself he tends to slide into seeing Tim as a rival - both in vigilante terms and in terms of a connection to Bruce.)
And probably the main reason Dick's so stunned - and a bit angry - here is because Bruce didn't tell him, and although this is very different from Bruce not telling him about adopting Jason... it's still jabbing at those old wounds.
BUT THE LONGER ANSWER is important! Dick loves Tim, a lot!! SO MUCH. He watches Tim sadly from a distance and thinks about how much he loves him in this very comic! So why isn't Dick more enthusiastic about the potential adoption? Why is he skulking around in alleys being miserable and self-destructive and avoiding Tim so determinedly that Tim's convinced he's offended Dick somehow? What's going on???
Well, Dick's life has been imploding.
So to really answer your question, we have to back up a bit and get the context of what's going on with Dick and Tim prior to this comic.
I started writing about this and it got way out of hand, so below please find a guide to my four-part manifesto about Nightwing 110 and what's going on and why I think it's great:
Background: Dick + Tim + Trauma Conga Lines
Background: War Games Aftermath
Nightwing 110
Fix-It Fic Ideas
rambling manifesto is below the cut
Background: Dick + Tim + Trauma Conga Lines
Images: a reporter is shot and killed in front of Dick in N 93; a few days later, Darla is shot and killed in front of Tim in R 129; a blood-covered Dick turns from Blockbuster's body in N 93; a blood-covered Tim stares at his father's body in IC 6
Timeline-wise, we're in The Bad Year for Dick and Tim. Dick's life has been FALLING APART. Blockbuster figured out his secret identity and started murdering his entire supporting cast: Blockbuster hired someone to attack Haly's Circus, blew up Dick's entire apartment building, and shot a reporter in front of Dick. In the climactic confrontation, Catalina Flores killed Blockbuster and raped Dick.
More or less simultaneously in War Games, Tim's life has ALSO been falling apart and his supporting cast has been getting gruesomely murdered. In quick succession, Jack figured out Tim's secret and Tim had to quit, Steph got hired and fired as Robin; Steph accidentally started a gang war; Darla got shot and killed in front of Tim during the gang war; Steph got killed by Black Mask; and Jack Drake got killed by Captain Boomerang.
It's a grimdark time in DC comics.
Background: War Games Aftermath
Dick's slowly recovering in the Manor as Bruce recaps recent events to him (Batman 634)
Now, Dick's actually part of War Games - very briefly. A day or two after Blockbuster's death, Bruce calls Dick for help, and Dick comes to Gotham. Dick and Tim briefly interact but Gotham is in flames, they're both freaking out, and they don't really help each other - Tim tries to tell Dick about Darla, and Dick shuts him down (not realizing Darla is actually Tim's friend); Dick has a panic attack in front of Tim and Tim drags him out of danger but gets snappish instead of worried.
AND THEN, midway through the gang war, Dick gets shot in the leg and ends up in a coma for a while. By the time he's recovered enough to wake up and walk around, Steph's dead, Jack's dead, the funerals are over, and Tim - who's avoiding Bruce - has moved to Blüdhaven.
Here's Dick trying to get answers out of Alfred in Nightwing 99 (Alfred and Bruce aren't telling him anything, either because they can't stand to talk about it or because they're worried about impeding his recovery):
Somewhere around here - presumably whenever he first learns about Jack's death? - Dick calls Tim, who doesn't pick up, in IC 7:
In Nightwing 99, it's implied that Dick leaves the Manor almost as soon as he wakes up, after confronting Bruce:
Dick can't bring himself to confess Blockbuster's death, but obliquely admits his own distress: "…Bruce, I'm lost." Bruce wants to solve things by throwing themselves into The Mission in Gotham: "It's just you and me again, Dick. But there's plenty of work to do." As he talks, Dick grabs his crutches and leaves. He confronts Catalina, arrests her, and tries to turn himself in... but Amy doesn't let him. As he's walking out, angry at Amy and at himself, a prisoner offers him a card.
Meanwhile, in the Batcave, Alfred's stunned to discover that Dick's abandoned his costume:
In Nightwing 107, we learn that Dick has ditched everything and apparently joined the mob - or is he undercover? Dick ultimately comes up with justifications for what he's doing, but a lot of what he's doing is punishing himself and hiding from his life. He's in Detroit for a while, but then has to go back to Blüdhaven, where he sees Tim...
...and now we're caught up with Nightwing 110.
Nightwing 110
I haven't had a chance to see Robin in action since the beginning of the gang wars in Gotham. It seems like just yesterday he was an earnest little computer geek too smart for his own good. He's still too smart for his own good and he can still kick butt with a search engine, but now he's a full-fledged superhero, to boot. Wonder if he knows how good he is? Not just at the fighting, but at keeping the whole thing on his terms. That's really hard to do, and Tim - he's been through so much, and weathered it so well.
Dick's been staying mostly in Detroit rather than Blüdhaven for various reasons, but one very important one is that he's been avoiding Tim.
Dick and Tim's relationship always suffers when Dick's self-worth issues get in the way, and this is probably the most dramatic moment AND IT'S SO SAAAAAD *wails*
From very early on, Dick has had a very high opinion of Tim, and - like Bruce's conviction that "you're better than me, Dick" - this is
very heartwarming and an expression of Dick's faith in Tim
very important to Tim, who tries really hard to impress Dick and (like Dick) hangs a lot of his self-worth on being needed and useful
a source of many sweet moments
but also
a source of problems in their relationship, because Dick's high opinion of Tim and low opinion of himself means he consistently underestimates how important he is to Tim, wonders if Tim would be better off without him, and sometimes thinks that keeping his distance is good for Tim so that Dick doesn't bring him down... and meanwhile Tim interprets Dick's distance as disapproval or hostility
When Dick's down on himself, he'll continually compare himself unfavorably to Tim - Tim questions more, Tim's better with Bruce, Tim's got better computer skills, etc. etc.
And that's what's happening here, when Dick watches Tim fight from a distance:
Dick: Still, Timmy played it through nice and clean. Disarmed the perps, protected and avoided the cops, kept any civilians from being shot... God, I love that kid. Too much to let him see me like this.
This isn't a neutral assessment of Tim's skills. This is Dick castigating himself. The implication is: Tim plays it nice and clean, Tim kept civilians from getting shot... unlike me. Elsewhere in this arc, Dick's been convinced that he's "poison."
He can't bear to see Tim because he's certain he'll only bring Tim down.
... There's a problem with his plan, though. Tim's spotted him.
Narrator voice: they were not okay
I LOVE THIS PANEL SO MUCH
Tim spots Dick before he can sneak away, and chases after him. At first he tries to tease light-heartedly - "Look at you! Back on your feet!" - but when Dick looks away grim-faced, Tim sobers and we get a bit more of his actual worries. (Tim will sometimes fake cheerfulness when under stress - both Babs and his friends comment on this in War Games and in Teen Titans.)
Now they catch up. Tim asks Dick if he's okay. (Dick says he is. He's not.) Where he's staying. ("Some people" are the mobster family.) Dick asks Tim how his step-mom is. (Tim says she's okay. She's not. She's had a breakdown.) How school's going. (Tim says school's okay too. Actually, he's dropped out.)
And now at last we've looped back to the panels at the top! Dick tries to retreat, and Tim - convinced that Dick is mad at him, which is really not the case - tries to figure out if Dick is mad at him for coming to Blüdhaven without permission, or about Bruce's offer of adoption. (Tim's self-worth issues mean that Tim's convinced that Dick is mad at him about something, as opposed to the truth, which is that Dick is spiraling and it has nothing to do with Tim.)
Dick (turning away): We - we shouldn't be talking like this.
Tim (fake-cheer, acting as if Dick means "we shouldn't be talking with you in costume and me out-of-costume"): Well, go get your gear!
Dick: I can't do that.
Tim (more serious now): You're not mad I'm, like, in your city or anything?
Dick (shocked): NO! No. I'm honored. You have more of a right to be here than I do.
Tim: Is it the adoption thing?
Dick: The what?
Tim: 'Cause I was a little worried about that. That's kinda part of why I said no. I mean, that and the uncle thing. I was just thinking it wasn't really all that long since he officially adopted you, which was kind of a big deal, emotionally or whatever, and to me you're like totally his son and I don't wanna step on that or anything.
Dick (whirling): What are you talking about, Tim? Bruce is going to adopt you?
Tim (hands up): No! I mean, he was. But he's not now. I've got this uncle… So I don't need, you know, anything really… from Bruce, or… You, uh. You didn't know. I'm sorry, I figured he would've talked to you about it or something.
Dick (turning away, jumping off the balcony): Yeah, right. Fat chance.
Tim: Well anyway, it's not gonna happen, so you don't have to worry about it... right?
Dick's unnerved by the adoption offer mostly because it drives home his distance from Bruce - he didn't know Bruce was offering this, and since Dick's been thinking of himself as Estranged from Everyone Forever, it feels like Tim joining Bruce's family - replacing Dick - instead of Tim joining Dick's family. So he reacts badly - EVEN THOUGH!!! AGAIN!!! DICK LOVES TIM A LOT!!!
So Dick emphasizes the distance he's trying to create: tells Tim that whatever he does is up to him and Bruce, not Dick, because Dick's withdrawing from everything. Actually, Tim should forget that he ever knew Dick:
Dick (pulls his hood up, turns away): Look, Timmy, I'm sorry. I don't care what he does. If he can be of help to you, you should take him up on it. I wish I could offer to help you myself, but I can't. I'm not part of this anymore. This whole thing… I'm out.
Tim: Yeah, right…
Dick: From now on, it'd be better if you forgot you ever knew me.
Tim (echoing what Dick said): ...Fat chance.
Tim's hurt by this, and he's been pretty oblivious about what's going on with Dick, but he's not an idiot, and after a moment of hesitation he correctly figures out from this ramble what Dick's not saying, which is that Dick's feeling like he's worthless to Bruce, that Bruce doesn't value him, that he's lost that relationship. So Tim impulsively tries to reassure him that Bruce does need him... but Dick's in a lousy headspace and it doesn't work:
Dick's walking away. Tim chases after him again.
Tim: Hey, uh-! Remember how I once told you that Batman needed a Robin? Well, that's still true, but even more than that, he…he needs you. You know, not like every second or whatever, but at the end of the day, he needs to know you're still on his side. It's…important.
Dick kicks over a newspaper stand.
Dick (glaring): YOU- ! - you have no idea how much of my life I've wasted believing that was true.
Dick pulls up his hood again and walks away.
(Side-note: forever wonderful to me that both Dick and Tim use "need" as a synonym for "love." Issues: they have them.)
Fix-It Fic Ideas
I have spent a lot of time thinking about potential fix-it fics for this comic (TRAGICALLY AFAIK NO ONE HAS WRITTEN ANY, FEEL FREE TO BE THE FIRST). An idea that I offer free to a good home:
A bit after Dick leaves, Tim winds up in trouble and gets injured and Dick has to rescue him (how does Dick find out about it? I dunno)
Tim's injured so naturally Dick's gonna take him back to his home with his stepmom and/or uncle
. . . except the uncle is an actor and not a very convincing one; Tim's entire edifice of lies collapses
Dick realizes that Tim is not actually weathering things well
Dick still thinks that he's poison and terrible and awful and (insert self-hating monologue here) BUT Tim living on his own after his dad is murdered is so bad as far as Dick's concerned that clearly SOME kind of intervention is necessary
Tim insists he does not need an intervention
Dick's sense of responsibility and worry over Tim now force him to carve out time from his major project of hate-myself-and-feel-bad to try to look out for Tim
Dick insists that Tim stay with him until his stepmom is better
They share an apartment for a while
They are both still super-super-super traumatized
???
eventual hugs and healing on both sides
profit
Alternate fix-it:
Tim follows Dick back to the Tevis' house like the little stalker he is, and then introduces himself in disguise as Alvin Draper
Dick's furious and frustrated but can't do much about this without screwing up his own disguise
Tim's determined to figure out what's going on with Dick partly for altruistic reasons and partly because he's also running from his own life, but Dick doesn't figure out the second part until way later
Dick's so frustrated with Tim being here when Dick told him to go - plus wrapped up in wondering what Tim knows, and being paranoid about what he might figure out, and hating being observed - that it takes him a while to start wondering questions like, "wait, shouldn't Tim be in school"
Dick and Tim are pretending not to know each other - or pretending to have a hostile relationship, or something - so any real conversations have to be in snatches in secret
Dick tries to bluff/threaten Tim into leaving (for his own good!!) but it doesn't work
Slow crawl toward mutual awareness of trauma which they're both super-self-conscious about - Dick hears Tim crying at night; Tim hears Dick's nightmares or sees another panic attack
??
At some point it becomes increasingly obvious that they know each other / that their story about their relationship is fake, and when the mobsters confront them, Dick says yeah, he lied, actually Tim's his little brother, and he gives some kind of stylized version of the truth which doubles as an emotional speech to Tim who gets all choked up and hugs him
and it's very touching and emotional because remember Tim HASN'T been adopted so they're NOT brothers and Tim was worried maybe Dick didn't WANT to be brothers but Dick CONSIDERS him a brother so ;_;
??? i don't know what happens next. do they quit the mob? does Dick now explain his mob-infiltration plan to Tim?
meanwhile off-panel Bruce stops Deathstroke from blowing up Blüdhaven, well done Bruce
oh wait or maybe Cass does??
anyway Dick and Tim have hugged so then there's a happy ending
In Conclusion
IN CONCLUSION Dick and Tim should hug more and this comic proves it. Look at them! They both need hugs! They're standing so close to each other! THEY ARE MIRROR IMAGES OF TRAUMA AND BAD COPING MECHANISMS they need each other and they don't know how to say it - they want to help each other and they also don't know how to say it - they don't know how to talk to each other or to anyone else - Dick lashes out and Tim lies and they both isolate themselves and withdraw into depression loneliness even though they could help each other! and would want to help each other! but they won't ask for what they need because they don't think they deserve it and they don't realize how important they are to each other
i just think they're neat. i want to study them like bugs and rattle them around in a jar until all the masks come off and they can actually see each other clearly
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Eremite harem sounds delicious ngl 😫 Even more so with ferility goddess reader… (this is long, hope u don’t mind <3)
So, worshiping gods come almost always with different kinda of rites and rituals. Now I can imagine spring being something that the followers of the ferility goddess treat as a holy period of time. The reason being that it’s the tile of the year, when their goddess is the most fertile, so much so that it’s not unusual for twins or even triplets to ne born.
And what would be a better way to celebrate the season of new life, than breeding their goddess day and night, until she is nice, round and heavy with their brood.
That’s how you got here, in between six eremites who were given the honor of getting you pregnant with new strong firghters.
Behind you, was the sharpest and quickest Clearwater that Sumeru had seen in decades. And while she sadly couldn’t pump you full of cum, that didn’t mean she couldn’t help with getting you aroused. That’s why she was massaging your already tender breasts, alternating from soft and deep movements, to quick and rough ones.
Meanwhile your strongest Stone Enchanter bounding into you relentlesly from the front. His strong arms were wrapped tightly around you, and his thick and veiny grith was dragging right against your sweet spot with each thrust in and out.
Sooner rather than later, you started to feel your climax getting closer and closer. And with the fondling of your chest, and the thrusts that just got faster and faster, you could just feel how your eyes rolled back in pleasure. And your build up finally came to an end, when the Stone Enchanter came inside of you, and bit your collarbone hard.
And the three of you just stayed there for a while. You and Stone Enchanter catching your breaths, while the Clearwater pressed kisses all over your already sore shoulders and behind your neck, while simultaneously rubbing your full tummy and sides.
But before you could even recover from your first round, the two eremites whom just pleasured you, were pushed aside and replaced by a new duo.
In front of you sat a Galehunter general, who immidietly dived between you spread legs. She started to suck on your small bundle of nerves, while also labia with her fingers. And just a moments later, a pair of strong hands , that you instantly recognized to belong to Daythunder, picked you up a bit, and swiftly showed your leaking cunt down to a new cock.
The new grith took some time to adjust to, and the constant stimulation to your clit wasn’t helping at all. An while the groth inside you wasn’t as thick as the last one had been, it was long and had a bit of curve to it. It sat right against your crevix, and you waited with anticipation and dread, how it would soon be slamming against it.
And just that happened, the Daythunder behind you showed no mercy, as he secured a thight grip on your thighs, and started to fuck you deep and hard. And the Galehunter kept up with the pace, and licked long strokes from your clit, to your cunt that was being filled to brim. Her coarse hands would also press against the fat of your stomach, enhancing the pleasure that the Daythunder’s long lenght gave you.
And once again you reached your high. And once again a new pair of hands grabbed your waist and pushed you down another dick, while another pair of hands massaged you whenever wherever. By the end of the week, you’d been fucked and breeded in every corner of your tent, and in every position imaginable. You had have cock up your cunt and ass, and down your throat, you had given lovebites to your eremites, and they had all made sure to make sure that you were covered in reminders of them.
And now, you just laid there, on your soft silks and thick furs, just so used up and sore, but also content. Because you knew for a fact, that a new brood would be welcomed rather soon to your beloved eremites, and that thought made you happier than ever <3
N-nonnie this...this is gold ♡
f!reader, reader is reffered to as a goddess, breeding, smut with a dash of fluffiness <3
The original idea of fertililty goddess!reader belongs to @seakicker /juju, i'm only borrowing her concept ^.^
Yes, i agree that the rituals in honor of the fertility archon would be in spring; after a long dead winter comes the green spring, full of new life and hopefully bountiful hunts and harvest. The people of the desert hadn't had it the easiest since, well, it's the desert so people from there, especially nomads like the eremites want to give you a fitting tribute in hopes that you will grace them with strength and good hunts.
And you do of course! You loved every single one of your worshippers, but the eremite became your favorites after the unfortunate passing of your former lover, the Crimson King, so you decided that after his death you should be the one to take care of his beloved people in his stead and so you were here.
You spend much time with them in your human form al they loved you so so much for it♡ their goddess came to them after all, the banished ones that everyone looks down upon, see nothing more than savage bandits and yet here you are, gracing them with your beauty and benevolence. Every hunt is successful and they celebrate it by organizing a big fire where they laugh, drink and eat, your chosen harem of the best and strongest warriors clinging close to you and feeding you the best cuts of meat.
And a absolute must-have is the spring ritual of fertility in your honor! You and your chosen harem set out towards a further location from the usual camping place, something like a small oasis in the desert where you set up a big tent and the ritual can begin~
By the end of the week, both you and your lovers are exhausted and positively wrecked; everyone in laying naked and tired but sated and happy among dozens of silken pillows and blankets, eating and laughing and exchanging quiet words and gestures of affection with each other with your belly full and warm with their seed, a strong arm from the Daythunder male wrapped aeound your full hips and his rough hand caressing your tummy and you know already that there are multiple new bright lights coming to life inside your womb.
Yeah, you couldn't be happier♡
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