bobbinrobins

[bobbinrobins]

As far as I'm concerned, today's Dick's bday (first day of spring, 20 march, right???) So... Happy bday Dick Grayson!!!

And he received the best gift ever

An emotional support Robin! (He will bully you until you feel better)

SpeedPaint!

[bobbinrobins]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/55239094/chapters/161955832

He hesitates for a moment, watching as Damian begins to unspool his length of rope, still chattering about the tigers. Possibly the strangest thing about coming to live here wasn’t the wealth of the humans with whom he lived, or even the fact that one of those humans was Batman—it was the relationship the other borrowers had with the humans. All his life, his parents had impressed upon him the importance of staying hidden. To be caught was to be killed, or worse. But these borrowers were not only known to Bruce and Alfred: they lived in a comfortable sort of synchronicity, in which Bruce and Alfred readily gave them supplies and offered their time and company.

Duke is settling in. Damian is a good younger brother.

[bobbinrobins]

hope you had a great break from everything and you're doing better now with your irl situation! can't wait for the next chapter (but no rush, you're always more important than whatever you may create, go drink some water)

-🪻

Thank you so much for your kind words and wishes! ❤️

My irl situation is indeed better now! Things have simmered down a bit and although I'm still getting back into the groove of everything, I am getting back to a sense of normalcy. 😌

I have made decent progress on the next chapter as well! It's mostly drafted out, but going in and filling in some gaps and cleaning it up has been a struggle for whatever reason😅 but I'm working my way there!

[bobbinrobins]

Heyy! I love your writing! Will you continue the story with borrower Bruce? 👀

thank you, i really appreciate it <3 and yes 100% absolutely!! i have a decent chunk written already but i'm a slow writer + i got a lot going on rn. ugh borrower!bruce my beloved. i went to my doc to see if there's a snippet i could share but i need to do sooo much editing before it's ready. here are some headcanons about this au instead:

Bruce moved into the Kent farmhouse with Alfred after his parents died. by this point, Clark's powers had already come in and while he was still struggling with mastering them, the initial shock of discovery had already passed for both Clark and his parents. and since borrowers avoid contact with humans at all costs, they had no way of knowing Clark's not actually a human

borrower!Bruce doesn't have a batsuit, but he does have a cape! his signature borrowing outfit is fittingly all black (made from borrowed scraps of fabric and discarded garments) and his cloak is made from a rat's fur

his other clothes are mainly wool and furs - since borrowers are so small, they struggle to keep warm. the bed in his nest is a pile of furs and wool and fleece, and also a piece of flannel from one of Clark's shirts (Clark is still looking for that damn shirt, it seems to have disappeared into thin air. strange.)

borrowing is hard and dangerous work. Bruce has calloused hands and numerous scars from his long borrowing career - not quite as scarred as main universe Bruce, but not far from it. climbing, falling, tousling with wildlife and dealing with a world that isn’t made for your size comes with many hazards and Bruce wears the proof on his skin

Bruce has many tools to aid in his borrowing trips. he has a glider that he can use to make a quick descent from a high place (like trees or the taller cupboards) though he prefers his grappling hook when he has to climb something. he engineered a portable lamp from the bulb of a christmas string light but he doesn't often have to use it since borrowers have excellent night vision

best part about the Kent house? Martha loves to bake. Bruce takes full advantage of that and frequently sneaks by the kitchen counter to borrow a piece of a cookie or muffin or coffee cake. when food's normally so difficult to come by, the calories are literally a life saver so thank you Martha <3

Clark had a pet gerbil as a kid. one day he came home to find that the door to its cage was open and the gerbil was nowhere to be found. poor Fuzzball (their cat) got all the blame :( (Bruce felt sorry for the gerbil and snuck into Clark's room to set it free from its cake. gerbil was very confused but made a run for it and enjoyed his freedom in the wilds of Kansas

[bobbinrobins]

Me: I should I actually think about my OCs

*makes another borrower AU instead*

this is expanding on that idea of a tiny Bruce and his human kids, but it's just Dick, Jason, and Babs at the moment

Kay so the idea is there's a borrower community in an apartment building, and Bruce (26) is a sort of protector for it. Keeping it safe from animals and traps and such. Babs (15) is his apprentice/sidekick because she won't take no for an answer

In this apartment building are two foster kids: Dick (13) and Jason (10). They're doing ok, just kinda vibing as brothers

Of course the borrowers and humans meet, they get attached to each other, and now Bruce has to keep his two giant kids and one not-giant not-his-kid from setting something on fire

[bobbinrobins]

Hey do you have any Holiday hc’s for the borrower batfam au?

I'm a little late in answering this but I hope you enjoy these nonetheless! ❤️

Alfred makes hot chocolate for everyone and serves them up in teeny little thimbles. He even somehow manages to put the tiniest dollops of whipped cream on each thimble. This is all of the Batkids' first times trying hot chocolate and they quickly get hooked.

Alfred also knits the kids tiny holiday sweaters!

Bruce and Alfred begin building fires in the fireplace just about every night, and Alfred puts out some pillows for the kids to lie on. All of them love stretching out next to the warmth, but Cass especially. Some nights she'll sneak away from the others just to have some quiet time by the fire. Alfred often accompanies her and often greets her with a thimbleful of soothing tea ☕

Bruce takes great joy in corralling the kids into watching the same movies his parents watched with him when he was a child. (The Batkids very graciously pretend not to notice when he gets misty-eyed)

[bobbinrobins]

Which of the batkids in your fic are most likely to try and ride a bat down in the batcave? (and who would have the most success?)

-🪻

Hello! And so sorry it took so long for me to answer this! The holiday season was very chaotic and draining (it was great fun! but a lot)!

Damian, being a lover of animals, would definitely be the one who wants to attempt to ride a bat the most, but he has a lot of respect for the animals and also doesn't want to bother them, so he would likely abstain and instead watch them from a fond distance.

Tim would probably attempt to do it because he has very little sense of self-preservation and he saw How To Train Your Dragon. He may even go so far as to design an elaborate harness/saddle for a bat. Bruce would probably have a heart attack upon seeing him trying to put a saddle on a bat and swiftly intervene. And then install nanny cams in the BatCave because Tim sneaks in the next night to try again.

[bobbinrobins]

!!!!😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️ Thank you so much! I absolutely adore it!!!

Damian riding one of his pets into glorious battle !!! Or Alfred preparing the teeniest tiniest teacups and bittiest biscuits ever baked

Two Alfreds!

Second one is based off a scene in @bobbinrobins Ground-Bird's Nest fic because I'm never gonna shut up about it

[bobbinrobins]

Damian nods. “I have found that it is unpleasant to suffer the aftermath of nightmares alone,” he says, matter-of-fact, a pointed expression in his eyes that Duke recognizes as the offer it is. And he hesitates for a moment, because he’s been trying really, really hard not to be a burden. He’s offered to help make dinner or go borrowing multiple times now, although all of his attempts to help out have been shot down by Dick, who insists that he “rest up” and “get comfortable here.” He forces himself to sit through their family dinners when he still feels like something of an outsider, and when every laugh makes his body go tense, and when the food tastes and feels like ash in his mouth. But Damian is looking at him like he can see right through him, and Duke finds that he doesn’t have it in him to refuse the company he so desperately needs.

Duke is struggling. Thankfully, Damian is there.

[bobbinrobins]

Feel free to ignore this but now you have me thinking about Clark having mini heart attacks whenever he hears any of borrower! Bruce's kids daring each other to do something dangerous, like the minute he hears anything about it he stops what he's doing and listens very carefully to make sure they're safe.

He has randomly just completely stopped talking during conversation to focus in on them and it rightfully weirds people out, but they don't know how to bring it up because Clark we'll just go back to talking once there done.

Best example- Jimmy was over talking with Clark about the pictures he had taken that day and which ones Clark wanted to use for his article, and will Clark was talking about the pros and cons of the two pictures he had been considering he just stopped. Man stared straight at his fridge for a solid 5 minutes, then went back to trying to pick a picture.

Clark later when he was home alone put duct tape on the ice maker in his fridge so certain little guys would stop climbing into it for ice, the batkids where so mad about this.

i love this so much... you're so right, Bruce's borrower kids would be absolute fucking menaces. the most highly trained group of borrowers in the world vs man with super senses. i imagine them pulling insane shit on purpose just to fuck with Clark LOL

ok sorry to steal your very excellent idea - now i'm imagining Jimmy mid-convo with Clark going over to the fridge to get some ice and when he presses the glass against the dispenser, Jason comes tumbling out with the ice and Clark has to fumblingly and very obviously distract Jimmy saying something about the ice dispenser being broken and that he'll take Jimmy's glass so he can fish Jason out of the glass before Jimmy sees him 😭

meanwhile Bruce is chilling in his workshop. there's a knock against the floorboards above him and then the loose plank shifts open and a large hand lowers down into their borrower house carrying a tiny Jason by the scruff of his cloak :')

Clark: "hey Bruce you lost this"

Bruce: "thank you. put him with the others"

the hand moves over to plop Jason in the time-out pile with the other kids who have spent the entire day tormenting Clark with mischievous borrowing adventures and who are now banned from borrowing for the rest of the week. 😔

(i have borrower withdrawals can you tell)

[bobbinrobins]

Howdy guys,

My town got hit pretty hard by the hurricane and I had to evacuate. My family and I are all safe now! However, it’s been a pretty rough time and I’m still struggling with the aftermath.

Writing stuff is kind of on the backburner for now as a result of this. Thank you guys for your patience and wishing all of you the best in these times! Stay safe! ❤️

[bobbinrobins]

Imagine Cass and having a Secret world of Arrietty moment in Bruce's moms dollhouse.

Like little Cass sitting at the tiny antique vanity; Or her running her a hand along a rack hanging pots and pans in the kitchen. Her going the up the stairs, and for the first time she in her life, not needing climbing gear to do so. etc

She's like exploring around and asking Alfred what's this/that and Bruce comes in with a quick question for Alfred, before pausing in the doorway, taking in the scene and having (possibly big) feelings about it.

This is such a beautiful and sweet concept 😭❤️ I love it so much! She's definitely enthralled by the beauty of it all - it's definitely a high-quality, handmade dollhouse, with intricate carvings and painstaking attention to detail, and Cass marvels over every inch of it.

Bruce would definitely get emotional seeing Cass in the dollhouse. It was something so dear to his mom, and seeing one of his kids (because he absolutely considers them his kids!) cherish it just as she did gives him a sense of closure he never knew he needed. ❤️

[bobbinrobins]

Do you have any batfam g/t aus (drabbles, oneshots, or multi-chapter fics) that you want to write one day, likely after Ground Bird's Nest?

-🪻(that's right, i'm back lol)

Oh man I have so many. 😅 Probably more than I will ever feasibly have time to write. Some are just half-formed vibes floating around, whereas others are more fleshed out.

I do have a couple stories within the Ground-Bird's Nest universe that don't fit into the main story which I would like to write in the future! Specifically, there are some characters who probably won't make an appearance in the main story about whom I'd really like to write! (I think the one I'm most excited about is Clark meeting the kiddos).

Aside from that, the idea that is at the forefront of my mind is a silly Pixie Hollow AU loosely based on the Great Fairy Rescue. I'll put the details under the cut for those interested!

Tim, Steph, Cass, and Duke are all fairies, and Bruce, Jason, and Dick (and possibly Damian; I haven't decided if I want this to be before or after he joins the household) are humans who are forcibly exiled by Alfred to an estate in the countryside for some badly-needed rest after getting badly hurt in a battle. Dick unearths an old fairy house he made when he was a kid here and, basking in nostalgia, decides to encourage Jason and/or Damian to put it out in the yard for old time's sake.

Said house gets discovered by a very curious tinker fairy (Tim) who then gets trapped inside after a prank from Steph backfires. Tim gets scooped up by some unwitting humans right before a rainstorm and Step rallies her other fairy friends to break in and rescue him. (Unbeknownst to Steph, however, these humans are actually pretty cool and Tim has a blast with them once he realizes that they're not planning to do anything nefarious with him. But he's trapped inside because of the rainstorm and she has no way of knowing that.) Lots of silly shenanigans ensue. 😌

[bobbinrobins]

how would Bruce react if one of the kids called him dad ?

Externally, he'd try to be pretty stoic/calm about it. He would assume that it was a slip of a tongue on their part and would not want to spook them or make them feel weird about it by saying something wrong by accident.

Internally, though:

(Those are tears of joy, of course)

[bobbinrobins]

Is Stephanie going to show up grounded bird's nest? And we'll she be a human or borrower? If she a human can we get some head cannons on her, Cass, and Tim's friendship? :D

I'm going to start answering this question by explaining my general plans for Ground-Bird's Nest! (Putting under the cut in case people don't want to look for minor spoiler reasons)

I have fully outlined the rest of it, and at this time I do not plan for Stephanie to show up. I love Stephanie dearly (and Barbara, and other associated Batfamily members), but this is my first time writing a long-form fic like this and I'm already struggling a little bit with scope as it is. For this particular story, I've decided to focus most directly on the current cast as it stands, as they are characters who have a direct parent-child relationship with Bruce in the comics!

However, I have several ideas for stories within that universe that involve characters who probably won't make an appearance in the main story, and it's likely that Stephanie will appear :] I haven't honestly decided if she'll be a human or borrower but now that I'm thinking about human Stephanie with a bunch of borrower bats I kind of love it. So have some headcanons:

Tim is already kind of a minor agent of chaos in this universe. Stephanie absolutely enables and encourages this, and more often than not their antics drive Bruce up a wall. Cass is more or less happy to be along for the ride.

She definitely gets a toy remote-control Batmobile and takes them for a joyride. Tim is absolutely thrilled by this. Bruce is not so pleased, but he can't help but melt a little bit at seeing how eager Tim is to ride in an imitation Batmobile. (Still, he puts his foot down after one too many close calls.)

Considering Stephanie handmade her first Spoiler costumes, no one can convince me that she's not great at sewing, and she absolutely uses this skill to make gifts for her tiny pals. It's a challenge making outfits that are comfortable and durable while also being very tiny, but after some trial-and-error (and some advice from a pleased Alfred) she ends up making some fabulous ensembles for them. (She also occasionally makes them sillier outfits, like fluffy onesies, as jokes. Cass, however, adores hers and wears it frequently, much to Stephanie's delight.)

Stephanie loves to rope Tim and Cass into regular movie/TV nights. Neither of them have gotten the opportunity to watch many movies or series thus far, so Stephanie delights in getting to show them some of her favorites, and eventually, they rotate who picks what they watch.

Stephanie also gets both Tim and Cass into both board and video games. Tim latches onto chess, and he and Steph engage in many fierce matches from that point on. Cass enjoys card games, particularly poker (they bet things like Goldfish and candies), which might be because she can always tell when Steph and Tim are bluffing and nearly always cleans them out. (They came up with some sort of system for the borrowers to handle the playing cards, which are probably about as tall as them. :D) Stephanie's favorite to play with them, however, is probably traditional board games, because she thinks it's extra fun when Tim and Cass get to stand in as their own pieces. (Tim and Cass don't fully get it, but Stephanie always gets remarkably excited at the prospect, so they roll with it.)

And, building off of that, I can't help but think about all of them playing D&D together. (Tim was canonically a TTRPG player in his Robin run, so I imagine he catches wind of it from Stephanie and ropes everyone else into it). Stephanie volunteers to DM and takes great joy in painting and customizing minis for their combat encounters. If one of the borrowers get the final blow on one of the enemies, they get the honor of physically pushing the mini over to mark it as deceased. 😌

[bobbinrobins]

Jason is a borrower thank to some tech Bruce got he's able to be human size. Do to a malfunction during a patrol he shrinks back down. Good think there's a certain bat stalker who saw it happen.

Tim is definitely very, very confused and very panicked when he sees Robin vanish one night. He decides to sneak closer to investigate, and manages to catch sight of Jason, now borrower-sized, trying desperately to call Batman for backup - except the tech malfunction has also impacted his comms, so he's basically stranded.

Tim hesitates until one of the very crooks Robin had been pursuing starts to double back, apparently sensing something fishy, and he realizes he absolutely can't leave Robin there when he can't even call for help, not when someone could discover him at any minute. So he whispers about a thousand apologies before scooping Jason up and tucking him into the chest pocket on his jacket and absconding to somewhere safe and deserted.

Jason is now even more freaked out, but when Tim takes him out, he realizes that Tim is a) a huge Robin fan who really, truly wants to help and b) extremely little-brother-shaped (even if Jason happens to be much smaller than him now). He pretty instantly warms up to Tim (it helps that Tim basically has starry eyes the entire time because he's speaking to one of his idols), who very eagerly agrees to help bring Jason back to Batman.

Batman, meanwhile, is panicking since Jason's line suddenly went dead. Thankfully, Tim, with some commentary from Jason (who's back to chilling in his pocket), is able to find him relatively quickly and reunite them. After explaining everything, Batman is immensely grateful to Tim, although he is very concerned about what Tim is doing in the middle of the city in the middle of the night.

Soon enough, both Bruce and Jason are "accidentally" running into Tim on a regular basis as civilians, until Jason has managed to establish a solid friendship foundation and they start hanging out regularly. (Tim, of course, knows exactly who they are, but Jason and Bruce have no idea that he knows.)

[bobbinrobins]

fic/Au idea. It takes place in a fantasy or normal Au where Wayne manor is considered a local myth nobody can find do to it being curse(and the magic mist). Bruce lives in the manor with Alfred, both can't leave. When People manage to find and get into the manor it becomes gigantic to them(they shrink). Also Bruce looks Like a shadow monster(think darkest knight). It would be top bad if children started showing up one by one.

Ooh 👀 I adore AUs where Batman is some kind of mysterious/spooky eldritch being, especially if he still has a soft side.

Rolling with this idea, what if the reason no one can find Wayne Manor is because it only reveals itself when someone is in great need, or something along those lines?

So Dick, after witnessing his parents' murder, is filled with rage and decides to try and avenge them by going after Zucco and his gang. Without Batman to help him channel his anger more productively, this does not go well, and he ends up deep in hot water with the mob on his tail. He tries to shake them off by venturing into the woods, but they're persistent, and in his desperation, when he comes across some kind of enormous, eerie, abandoned-looking manor he decides to sneak inside. (His pursuers only see trees and a rapidly-growing mist, and are forced to head back.)

Dick is thanking his lucky stars that his pursuers seem to have given up, but now he has a new problem: the entrance through which he came is definitely not where it just was several minutes ago. In fact, he can't seem to find any kind of exit anywhere, forcing him to try and navigate this creepy old building full of shadows. The ceilings are definitely getting taller, too, and he's really starting to panic when suddenly the shadows coalesce into a hulking, living silhouette, and Dick is certain he's going to die.

Batman, however, is just confused/curious about a child appearing in the manor when there haven't been any visitors for years. (Alfred is thrilled he has a chance to break out the fine tea sets). It's very hard to convince Dick he's not going to hurt him when he looks like an eldritch shadow-being, but thankfully he's got Alfred in his corner, who prepares Dick some hot chocolate and coaxes a story out of him.

Dick ends up staying for awhile. Eventually, one by one, more and more lost children wind up appearing in the manor's entrance, and before long the house is livelier than it has been in years.