#eldritch au

[absolutely-esme]

What do you mean he's not eldritch?

What if all of the members of the Bat Family other than Tim Drake were secretly eldritch abominations?

They all work very hard at pretending to be human, and they've even gotten pretty good at passing. They can even mostly avoid the uncanny valley when in their civilian identities. There was a heck of a learning curve, but they've gotten things figured out for the most part.

Enter: Tim Drake

Weird, poorly socialized, probably autistic Tim Drake

The Bats think they've encountered a fellow eldritch being in disguise, and one that seems like he could use some help blending in. Naturally, they're quick to welcome him into their fold. Jason is delighted to take his turn at being a big brother mentor.

It takes a comedically long time for anyone to realize something's up because there is an absurd amount of overlap between stuff you need to know for masking and stuff you need to know to pass as human.

Meanwhile, Tim is amazed that the Bats have apparently decided he's cool enough to hang out with. It's like something out of his daydreams. They even have good advice for him on problems he hadn't known how to ask about. They are so patient and understanding about it, too. They never get annoyed with him for not already knowing. They also seem to be okay with the bits of weirdness he can't change.

Just weird kid Tim getting bundled into an incredibly helpful and supportive found family of eldritch entities. They're all going to get a good grade in human-ing, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve.

...

I imagine the Bats are various different kinds of eldritch abominations because they're still adopted. They look wildly different when not in human form.

Bruce is a mass of... shadows? Smoke? Something dark and formless that shifts and flows in different ways depending on his mood.

Dick kind of looks like a pile of owls that is also somehow a single body.

Barbara is a spiral galaxy with stars that are also eyes somehow?

Jason is a solid-looking mass of muscle with six strong legs, a thick coat of shaggy hair, a mouth that opens much further along his body than it seems like it should, and even more teeth than you'd expect a mouth that size to have.

Stephanie Brown is kind of like an incredibly dense storm system with purple glitter.

Cassandra is a silhouette through which undiscovered nebulae can be seen. What she is a silhouette of depends on her mood.

Tim, they have only ever seen in his meticulously well-crafted human form. He's really good at that part even if he needed some help with the behavioral bits.

Damian is half human. Talia saw a mass of living darkness trying really hard to pretend to be a man and decided she was into that.

...

Dick: So, eye contact is actually pretty simple once you have the formula figured out. You need to cycle between looking at the other person and looking at something else at the appropriate frequency. If you look at them too much it will come across as staring. If you look away for too long they'll think you're not paying attention to them. You'll need to experiment to figure out the appropriate frequency.

Tim: *frets*

Jason: You don't have to look straight at their eyes, just in the general direction of their face.

Tim: Oh! I can do that!

...

I think Eldritch Bruce having history with the league of assassins in a markedly less inentional way than Canon would be funny. Like, you'd think an encounter between an eldritch abomination and a cult would be deliberate on someone's part, but no.

Bruce was still young and unskilled at differentiating between normal and abnormal human behavior.

[chickenlover-19]

Duality

And humanity lost (or smthing poetic). Also??? I can finish art pieces still??

Here’s my take on Eldritch Danny (as prompted by @paenling 💜)! I’m in love with the idea of Danny becoming more and more ghostly/eldritch overtime. It could be influenced by how much he uses his ghost side but personally I like the idea that his appearance becoming creepier and creepier is more of an eventuality that he can’t avoid (after the great microwaving). I have lots of thoughts on this, so expect more in the near future mwahaha

[stealingyourbones]

HEY GUYS I MADE A FIC!

I have been a part of the incredible @patrol-partners-batphandom-2023 event and have been working on a fic this past month with my absolutely amazing partner @scarletsaphire ! now it's time to show yall the wonderful creation we made.

behold. my child: I’ve Grown a Mouth So Sharp and Cruel (It’s All That I Can Give To You)

[phoenixyfriend]

Shadow and Mirror

Read on AO3, written for this prompt

Cody has a new crush.

Well, a “crush” implies something much more childish than the point he’s reached in his life.

Cody has… felt a connection and really hit it off with someone he finds reasonably attractive.

His brothers are being less than supportive.

“He is my Jedi and one of my best friends,” Rex says, “but I just… for both your sakes, life will be so much easier if you don’t go for it.”

Cody is unfazed. “You do remember he was my Jedi Commander before he got promoted and took you with him, right? I know what he’s like, and I’m into it.”

Rex makes a face. “Uh, all due respect, Cody—”

Oh, this bitch.

“—but he’s changed in some pretty big ways since he split from Kenobi.”

“So’ve I.”

This earns him an eyeroll. “Yes, yes, you’ve discovered your romantic charisma and started charming the pants off of any sentient you encounter on leave. You do realize that’s part of the problem?”

“That I have game?”

“Skywalker doesn’t do casual,” Rex insists. “Open, maybe, if you talk about it, but he doesn’t do casual.”

After a moment of consideration, Cody shrugs. “I can work with that.”

“Can you?” Rex challenges. “Can you really deal with the full force of Anakin’s attention? With him losing his entire mind if you get hurt, and calling you up at three in the morning to chat, and promising you the galaxy in a bunch of flowery words that should be hyperbole, but really, really worryingly sounds literal and sincere?”

“…did you try dating him?”

“No, but I was there basically every time he hung with Amidala, and that shit continued past the point where he gave up on romantic seduction and settled into friendship,” Rex says, more of a grumpy complaint than anything, “and she’s just as weird as he is when it comes to all that, so it’s no skin off her back to match his energy, but you are not on their level.”

“Rude.”

“I’m just saying,” Rex grits out from between clenched teeth, “that you like to have fun, and Anakin likes to dedicate every morsel of crazy knocking around his brain to whichever poor soul ended up in his affections.”

“I feel like insulting your CO that much is grounds for a court martial.”

“Echo told him, to his face, that he occasionally seemed crazy as a bag of tooka kits and about as hinged as a sliding door. General Skywalker took a second to process, and then laughed. He doesn’t care, not if it’s from a friend.”

Cody hums. “Which you are.”

“Yes.”

“Enough to warn me away before I break his heart?” Cody asks. Rex looks away, and Cody can only chuckle. “You’re not that subtle, Rex.”

“I’m trying to make sure you do what’s best for both of you,” Rex insists, glancing at Cody for only a moment before breaking eye contact again, “so Anakin doesn’t get disappointed, and so you’re not walking in blind when it comes to him being… the most.”

Cody snorts. “I can handle Skywalker, Rex. I may not be a Jedi or a Senator, but I can handle one brat with a smart mouth, a bad attitude, and a couple of super-powers.”

Rex grimaces. “I mean… it’s not really… that simple. The Force stuff, I mean.”

There’s something a little odd to Rex’s voice with that one, more than just the weird pauses. Cody doesn’t dismiss it quite as easily as he might have. Instead, he carefully asks, “the whole ‘Chosen’ thing some of the Shinies were gossiping about? Kenobi said it was an old superstition more than anything, a metaphor taken too literally, and that even the Jedi argue about it.”

“When?”

Cody’s expression must speak for him, because Rex clarifies without prompting.

“When did Kenobi say that?”

Cody looks past him at the wall, frowning as he thinks. Rex waits, and doesn’t take it too personally; they know each other too well for that. Finally, Cody shrugs. “A couple months in. Skywalker was still a Jedi Commander with the 212th.”

“So, before Mortis.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. “This has to do with that shitshow?”

Rex looks uncomfortable. “You… aren’t 501st.”

“Yeah, and?”

“Well… Kenobi didn’t get possessed. Or channel a god. He just used an extra weird lightsaber for a bit.”

Cody gives it a few moments, and then finally says, “Rex.”

His brother continues to look uncomfortable.

“What did that place do to Skywalker and Tano?”

(Continue on AO3)

[andr0nap]

WHAT THAT MOUTH DO?!???!?!!?!

oh yknow~ ;)

[yanban-san]

"Ingo, darling, would you please let some light in?"

"…It's not even light outside yet, little Love." You pouted, and were about to retort- But you were stopped by the feeling of something strangely cold and liquid wrapping around your arms and snaking it's way across your back. The ephemeral mass pulled you into the softness of your bed, shifting and coiling and moving- A darkness you could stare into forever, triggering the appearance of shapes and colors before your eyes that weren't really there.

"Why must you rise with the Sun, Darling? Stay and rest with me. The world will wait." The sonorous voice rumbled in your ears, echoing all around you. A deep, muttered growl- Or perhaps a purr. Something intertwined with your hands, and something else coiled around your shoulder. "The world might wait," You answered back, "But my stomach certainly won't. Can't I go get some breakfast?"

"Hrn," The thing wrapped around you groaned in annoyance- And suddenly you felt something weighty in your hand. A bowl.

A bowl of pecha berries.

"I would rather this satisfy you for now, little Love." Nobori grumbled. You sighed- And ate the berries. Sweeter than normal, and perfectly ripe. As always. "I still wanna get up."

Nobori did not reply- And you set the bowl down, thinking of your next move.

"…Do I need to ask a certain brother of yours for assistance?" You goaded. "Absolutely not," Nobori replied. "…Surely you do not despise my embrace so much you would invoke my own brother against me?"

"Of course not, dear, but…" You squeezed the shadowy hand holding your own. "I would like to get up."

Nobori growled- And half whined. "…I do not want you to get up right now. Can you not stay for a little longer?" You felt something press against you. Heavy, silken, shifting- Cold yet warm, yet stiff, yet hollow- No matter how long you stayed with them, the form of Nobori always eluded description to you. "Why though?" You asked.

"…I have my reasons." He answered.

The thing twitched and shivered in the dark. And you hummed, wondering what to do. It certainly wasn't unpleasant being wrapped up in Nobori's shadows- But you wanted to get on with your day. And you knew the Depot Agents would be missing their beloved Boss. This behavior was quite unlike Ingo too, you knew. Normally he was last to come to bed and first to rise- It was rare you did not see him in his human form, or even a pseudo human appearance.

So why now?

The shadows continued to coil around you. Small little you. Precious little you. Holder of his heart, who could have the Earth bent and shaped to your whims if only you would ask- Normally. Nobori knew it was... Well, rather wrong of him to be holding you hostage. He always did his best to be respectful of your will, but... And it was difficult to admit to himself, too, the reason why he wanted to have you to himself.

You felt something rub against your cheek. Something else twist around your leg, coiling around your thighs-

"I-Ingo," You stuttered, feeling your face flush with warmth- Which made the shadows so much colder as they continued to rub against you-

Or would it be better to call it nuzzling?

"Ingo- Are you... Do you... Are you wanting me to cuddle you?"

"...I merely wish your for your company and affections, my Dear."

"...So you want cuddles."

Something swished in the dark- Like wispy cobwebs collecting around a duster, so to did the shadows suddenly gather into something more corporeal- Tendrils sweeping into shadowy shapes that dared to let the smallest sparks of sunlight trickle into your room as the void pooled into a dark ink, dripping and undulating into a vague, humanoid shape.

"I... I would like to cuddle you. I would like it very much, love. I want to hold you."

The creature grasped at you again, and from it's sorrowful looking facade of a face, you could tell just how despondent your darling was.

Perhaps you could let Nobori win this once.

"Well then, come here." You beckoned, and suddenly the dripping ink expanded again- Except this time you were practically floating in it. A hand grabbed your arm, another wrapped around your stomach, one around your leg, another around your other leg- Gently stroking at your limbs and rubbing your back, and something smooth and firm purring into your neck.

"Mmm... Soft." He hummed. And the shadows went quiet- And so did you. Might as well catch some more snoozing. And as you drifted off again, you could've sworn you heard a quiet, whispered hush of a voice- Almost off in the distance.

"You've been a verrrry bad brother, keeping our soulmate all to yourself like this. I want to cuddle them too."

...Oh dear.

[hootbon]

paused on the showtime comic, ran to raggedy instead

ignore the fact the both of them are putting eachother’s lives at risk 😀

YOOUUU 🫵🥹 KISSES THEN EATS THE ART SO MUCH

They get a little smoochie

[twst-drabbles]

Trapped in a Fish's Eye 1

Summary: "It's not looking for a meal," you reassured Azul with a whisper in the dark, "It's looking for anyone that's willing to look at it. So keep all those windows closed, and make sure nobody gets out. It'll pass soon enough."

(Eldritch Prefect time! This time, everyone at Octavinelle is trapped inside their own dorm with no way out, and they're going to be stuck here for what seems like an eternity! Time dilation kind of thing. So, it's basically a little mini event where you can send in what kinds of fucked up things happen in this trapped space. So, I'm asking, what do you want to happen while everyone is trapped in here? What disasters and horrible things do you want to happen? Everything will go back to normal soon enough, so no need to worry about lasting consequences!)

You never really stray far from that group of first years, Azul noticed. You linger around, watch over those rambunctious students as they go about their everyday shenanigans as though there wasn't something wrong with the world around them. As though these creatures and beings that slowly dwindle down the population simply don't exist.

Well, how is Azul one to talk? In a weird way, this should to be comforting. He and most of Octavinelle come from the sea, and those cold waters aren't known for its gentle embrace. It was only by a miracle that his own mother didn't starve to death when he hatched.

Azul hasn't met many like him, but with the ones he does know, none of them had mothers, let alone fathers. Often, they're all orphans. Azul was lucky. Very, very lucky.

But, such luck wouldn't keep him safe from the sheer discomfort of living on land. Yes, yes he'd be a fool to say that living above waters is somehow safer than back home, but there is this… rule of sorts, this expectation that death, while an everyday part of life, wasn't something to be treated with a casual wave of a hand.

Death was not as welcome a visitor.

Which is why it's so strange to Azul that every land dweller would ignore all these dangers. This kind of acting was a part of his sea life, not on land. It's annoying, it's grating, and it's worrying overall.

But what can he do? He knows nothing of the new and recent dangers. You do. And you continue to walk on as normal. While Azul can't say he feel any modicum of trust in you, he can't deny that your knowledge was something that saved his hide again and again, even if you went about it in such a roundabout way just to grab at some entertainment.

"You'll be having a stalker in the coming week," you said just as you walked into the lounge, silencing the entire are despite it being its busiest week, "Make sure to cover everything that can make you see the outside. You wouldn't want to catch that its gaze."

So, the students in the Octavinelle dorm will have to forgive him for being as panicked as he was when he ordered every window covered and every door locked.

"Aren't you overreacting a little?" Azul heard one of his staff members say, "I mean, come on. It can't be scarier than the stuff up on land. Besides, there's a magic barrier over this place! I think we'll be fine."

That same man would be dragged by you kicking and screaming from a window he tried to pry open, face half morphed, almost melting with dropping fish scales and conjoined milky eyes. You made easy work of him, a clean cut of his head and yet he still gaped.

You placed his head in the room where everyone grabs their breakfast. You smiled at Azul as you said, "They'll need a reminder, won't they? Of what it means to be under that moonlit gaze."

He tapped his finger frantically on the table, unable to look away at this… this fool that he probably should've done better to warn.

Azul isn't callous, as much as he makes himself out to be a cutthroat business man.

"What does it want?" Azul practically growled, "Why is this creature here?"

And when can he and the rest of this dorm get out? There's an emergency mirror here just in case of fire hazards, but no amount of magic can get it to work. The glass is pitch black, so it can't even function as a regular mirror.

"It's not looking for a meal," you reassured Azul with a whisper in the dark, "It's looking for anyone that's willing to look at it. So keep all those windows closed, and make sure nobody gets out. It'll pass soon enough."

"And what if it comes back?" He slammed his fist. It hasn't been that long, only two days and there's still plenty of food, but it was enough for Azul to digest the possibility that they'll be here for a very long time.

Soon enough to you may very well be forever to him. Azul's not a fool. He knows you're not human to begin with.

You shrugged as you grabbed the glass case. You shook it, and the head melted further, as though an old and wasted organ. "Then it'll come back. But it won't. Why try twice when it won't succeed the first time in luring someone out? It's not human. It won't even think to try again, not when it has near infinite hunting grounds."

A younger him would've pushed through the haze of dread and find ways to deal with this monster. A more naive him would've been powered by curiosity and the possibility of milking more money out of this once he's controlled the danger.

But he's been in your hands. He's gazed into the threads that make up your being and felt you unravel his in turn, bit by bit. He couldn't weave himself back together. You had to do it. And so he forgot it all, besides his body's very warning to never look back.

"But, I do have to warn you," you place the case down and took Azul's hat, forcing him to look up, "We will be out soon enough, but it will seem like an eternity to you. Just endure and everything will be fine. Be sure not to get caught in that silver light, alright. Cover it up if you do."

[crocodadz]

what do you even do when your boyfriend transcends humanity to cure the world for a second time and then takes a catboy's Pidgeon with him before vanishing for eternity a long time

i'd cry tbh

[thesoulspulse]

It’s kinda nice putting them side by side to compare the various Eldritch AU versions I’ve made so far of some of the more powerful ghosts in the show. First we have Nocturne which like many of us like giving more of an owl-like appearance. Then there’s Undergrowth who I made look more like an ancient Druid/Forest Spirit. And next we have Frostbite with a sort of snow wizard look I guess? And more recently of course I added Clockwork with a look based on the sands of time and sundials.

I definitely want to draw more Eldritch AU ghosts/spirits of course but who knows, maybe I’ll make a few oc’s too to cover some of the other powers or elements we didn’t see much in the show. But for now here’s what I have and I’ll be posting a poll next to ask for some suggestions on who to draw next!

[llamagoddessofficial]

E-eldritch Sans au? oh... oh no. Please go on. What does the "blue eyed one" want? and of course there is a skull somewhere in their ranks? what happens when He sees her too?

Sans, the 'blue-eyed one': He wants her just as much as the others do. They all love her in the closest approximation to love they can feel. Rather than try to appear humanoid to her and risk falling into the uncanny valley, like Red often does, Sans takes the route of being completely otherworldly in a clean and easily comprehensible manner. His body resembles a dark fluid, fluctuating in viscosity and shape, eyes and mouths opening across him when required (although he tends to stick to just one mouth to ease the scare factor). He might take a form resembling the small skeleton we all know if she seems particularly nervous... he’s very kind, very careful with her, talking softly and offering to shelter.

Unfortunately, he hates other humans. He wants nothing to do with her friends, he’d kill them if the opportunity arose, he despises having to share her with these noisy dirty meatbags. He makes it very clear from the start that he only assists her friends if she asks, and purely to make her happy... he understands that her mind doesn’t work as his does and she needs her little pack bonds to stay sane, but he’s still clearly vying for a way to get rid of them. She finds it difficult to trust him.

Red, the 'red-eyed one': If Sans is cold and blue and otherworldly... Red is crimson, blood and bones and sinew, almost too close to home. Sometimes his presence is comforting because it reminds her of the warmth of flesh & other human beings, and sometimes it’s deeply and viscerally disturbing, twisting something she knows into an unnatural shape that makes her stomach turn and vividly reminds her that this is a higher being playing around with a smaller creature’s physical form purely for entertainment. Unlike Sans, he’s a lot more tolerating of her surviving friends- although it’s obvious he’s got eyes (MANY eyes) for her, he enjoys her human companions too, he’ll joke with/protect them without her having to prompt him.

Much like Forest God Red, it slowly becomes clear that Red’s imitation of humanoid mannerisms and shapes isn’t entirely for her benefit. He harbours some envy for the species that knits its family units together so tightly- he wants to be human.

Skull, the 'thing that wants': A massive creature following her across the landscape like a needy dog after one chance meeting in the open. All the eldritch beings are huge, but Skull is the only one who struggles to shrink himself, far too ancient and powerful to access those fine shapeshifting motor functions anymore.

He loves her in a frightening, consuming, eldritch way. He wants to know her inside and out, he wants to touch her consciousness, he wants to explore every inch of her brain, he wants to absorb her Soul and trap her tiny body in his own. Maybe he wants to hold her? Maybe he wants to eat her? It’s hard to tell anymore, with a creature like him. He’ll hunt for a thousand years if he has to.

[absolutely-esme]

Monster!Tim Coraline AU Idea

This idea would not leave me alone.

It’s a cross between a meta!/magic!Tim au and a Coraline au.

Before I get into it, I feel like I should explain.  I was on a bit of an Eldritch!Batfamily and Cryptid!Batfamily kick.  Then I found a collection of supernatural Tim aus.  Then I stumbled across a Coraline au.  There’s probably also some inspiration in there from vampire au fics.

It didn’t really jell until the idea occurred to me of a scene where some frightened villain asks Tim “What kind of monster are you?” and Tim says “The hungry kind.”

...

The idea is that somewhere back along the way, Tim’s family tree includes some kind of supernatural creature which may or may not have been an eldritch entity.

The supernatural heritage allows Tim to acquire abilities from other entities he has defeated, and Gotham is absolutely full of the supernatural if you pay attention.

Of course, Tim’s power isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.  It actually comes packaged with some pretty nasty side effects.

One of those side effects is perpetual Hunger.  Tim is always Hungry.  There is no way to stop it.  He eats enough to stay healthy, but he still feels Hunger at all times.  Increasing his food intake will not help and will screw up his metabolism and cause him to need more for normal function.  If this was allowed to spiral out of control it could eventually reach a point where he was physically unable to eat the amount of food he needed to function and starved to death on a full stomach. 

Fixing it is stupid hard because this particular sort of magical inheritance is really fucking inconvenient.  And, of course, whatever is up with his biology also makes him insanely susceptible to addiction, so no coffee for him unless he wants caffeine withdrawal symptoms all the time for however long it takes to fix that.  The constant Hunger also makes it difficult to get enough sleep.  Have you ever tried to go to sleep on an empty stomach?  Not easy, was it?  Imagine that every night.

The Hunger is fairly central to the nature of the magic.  Whatever supernatural entity he’s descended from, it is the Hungry kind.  The ritual of defeating another supernatural entity, taking a bit of the defeated entity’s power, and incorporating it into himself serves as a sort of metaphorical devouring, (and metaphors matter more to magic than they do to normal biology).  That’s why he’s able to gain power and abilities from defeated foes. 

...

Tim’s relationship with his parents is complicated.  His supernatural heritage comes from his mother’s side of the family.  She did her best to teach him about it and how to cope with it, but a lot of knowledge was lost over the generations due to persecution forcing those like them into hiding more than once.  There may have been a few individuals who spiraled out of control and caused small-scale famines before losing their lives.  It only takes a few cases for people to decide that a specific category of people is simply not worth the risk of having around.  Janet always referred to herself and Tim (as well as anyone else sharing the condition) as “those afflicted with Gluttony.”  This is the closest they have to a name for the condition.

One of the important things Janet Drake teaches her son is to pursue his passions.  It is incredibly important for individuals like them to have things outside the self that they can draw satisfaction and fulfilment from, things that keep them going in the face of the relentless Hunger.  This is what leads Tim to his night-time photography of Gotham, and eventually to his fascination with the Bats. 

Janet’s passions are archeology and travel.  Unfortunately, traveling from dig site to dig site is not a particularly stable or safe environment to raise a child in.  She needs to do these things to remain in good health.  Without her external coping mechanisms, she could start spiraling.  If she starts spiraling, it might trigger her son to start spiraling too because children in their developmental years are delicate, and this type of hereditary magic is fucking inconvenient (there might be ways of managing things that make it easier to live with, but between the knowledge lost and the risks that come with experimentation, they don’t have much info on how anything works).  She comes home as much as she can without the risk of compromising both their health.

She also taught Tim how to calculate appropriate portion sizes based on nutritional data so as not to screw up his metabolism, and how to fix it if he does mess up.  She also stayed and managed the process the first time it happened because the process of returning the metabolism of one afflicted with Gluttony to normal after it’s gotten out of hand is difficult and unpleasant and Tim wasn’t old enough to handle it by himself.  The nanny that had overfed him hadn’t been malicious or unreasonable, she’d just been operating on the assumption that he had standard human biology.  It took months to get Tim healthy again.  It took several hefty bribes to keep things under wraps.  Janet doesn’t know if there are still people out there hunting their kind, but she’s not willing to risk it.

Janet may not know about the aspect of the family magic that lets them gain powers from defeating other entities.  It’s possible that she was holding off on explaining this until he was older and more ready for the responsibility of multiple superpowers.  It’s also possible that the knowledge got lost somewhere along the way and Janet didn’t discover it herself because she didn’t spend her childhood running around Gotham at night and was more the sort of person who would stay home and read when she had trouble sleeping.

...

Tim discovers his ability to gain abilities from defeating other supernatural things fairly early on.  The type of defeat can vary, but it has to be something of significance.  A fight will work for most, but there are other particular challenges that will work for specific cases.

The first things a young Tim is able to beat are these small things, invisible to most, that gain power from learning secrets.  What that power is used for, I couldn’t tell you.  They don’t seem to do much other than sneak around and learn secrets.  Tim doesn’t know if there’s a proper name for these things or not, but he calls them Secret Hunters.  They are absolutely everywhere in Gotham. 

Secret Hunters are invisible to most, but Tim is able to see them.  It might be because of his own supernatural nature, or it might be something else entirely.  If it’s hereditary it must have skipped his parents’ generation.  Neither of them seem to be able to see them.  Tim gains improved stealth and a sense for when something is hidden from catching Secret Hunters until they wise up and start avoiding him.  (Catching them works in place of a fight because secret hunters primarily operate on stealth and evasion.)

He can’t just magically know secrets, but he can tell when there is a secret.  (He still figured out Batman’s and Robin’s secret identities on his own merit.  The most this ability would have done is alert him to the fact that they had secret identities if that hadn’t already been obvious from the fact that they were wearing masks.)

He also gets various other abilities from other things he encounters while scrambling all over Gotham at night.  Nearly doesn’t get out of some of the scrapes he gets himself into.  He gains the ability to cut with his fingernails as if they were razors from something that nearly killed him.  He gains the ability to climb like a goat from a Jersey Devil.  Etc.

...

At some point, Tim is targeted by a beldam.  He doesn’t get the kind of warnings that Coraline does, but his ability to sense secrets lets him know that the Beldam is hiding something, and any child raised in any part of Gotham knows to be suspicious of things that seem too good to be true.  Tim doesn’t have a convenient seeing stone from the neighbor, but he does have the advantage of his own supernatural nature which the Beldam doesn’t know about.

Tim finds a button-eyed doll that looks like him after his parents leave on yet another trip, and thinks it’s a gift they meant to give him before leaving.  They do often bring interesting souvenirs.  It wouldn’t be at all unusual for them to find an artist who sews dolls to look like people and have one made based on pictures of him.  Later on, he discovers the key. 

This Beldam is older and more powerful than the one from Coraline.  She has more power and more past victims to work with, so she’s able to make a larger, more populated world. 

Oh by the way, I head-canon that the Other versions of people in the Other world are actually past victims of the Other Mother, remade and dressed up for whatever role she has them play.  The three ghosts were just the three most recent and not fully processed for use yet.  That’s why the Others are able to act against her sometimes (Other Wybie saving Coraline from the mirror, Other Father tossing the eye to Coraline) or say things she doesn’t want them too (Other Father says “so sharp you won’t feel a thing” and Other Mother kicks him under the table).

The Other Mother doesn’t know all that Tim knows, so the Other World has inconsistencies like Other Batman and Other Robin sitting across the table from Other Bruce and Other Jason.  She doesn’t know they’re the same people.  She just knows that they’re all important to Tim.  She also tries to tell him to “eat as much as he wants” when his real mother was the one to explain the dangers of attempting to eat to fullness for people with their condition.

There isn’t a cat to warn Tim but he doesn’t need it.  He can sense hidden intentions in everything, and he’s fully capable of uncovering the hidden secrets himself. 

Tim doesn’t have a cat, but he does have Other Robin, who might have been made from whatever remained of someone close to one of the people mirrored in the Other World made for Tim.  He doesn’t remember his life, but somehow he feels incredibly motivated to help a boy who cares dearly for whoever and is willing to let him know that they're living a good life out there in the real world.

Tim discovers the nature of the other world and sets out to free the souls trapped there.  He fights the Beldam will all the viciousness and desperation of someone who knows they’ve only got one shot.  He takes everything he can from this fight as he makes sure she won’t ever hurt anyone again.  He doesn’t stop until the beldam is well and truly dead.  Then he unravels Other Gotham and spills all of the souls out into the world where they can move on and rest.

This is how Tim learns to Sew.  He can’t make entire populated worlds like the beldam, but that’s mostly because he refuses to do what she did.  He can control things he’s made (though there’s limits on how much) and even see through buttons he’s sewn (onto cushions and such, he's not the Other Mother).  He also gets some minor illusory powers that let him make things look a bit brighter/nicer/cheerier than they are.  It takes quite some time before he’s comfortable with using these powers.  Trauma is a bitch like that.

Part of the reason this version of Tim was so desperate to do something about Batman losing it out of grief is because he already has Evil Batman trauma from Other Batman, and he doesn’t need that shit happening in real Gotham.

By this point Tim has a collection of powers that allow him to navigate the more dangerous parts of Gotham largely without fear.  Now he has to learn how to manage without using any that he isn’t one hundred percent certain he can sneak past Batman, which means he’ll have to divide his attention between learning from the training and not letting himself do things the supernatural way.  This is going to suck.

It does, in fact, suck.

Oh, it turns out some of the rogues are a bit supernatural.  He gains a bit of an intuitive understanding of the health of plants from Ivy.  He gains the ability to taste emotions from Scarecrow.  (Also, Johnathan Crane is a freaking weirdo, fear tastes like spoiled milk!)  The rogues with supernatural tendencies are freaking terrified of the new Robin because he always seems like he wants to freaking eat them.  The non-supernatural types don’t get it.

Eventually, Red hood breaks into Titan’s tower.  Tim, by this point, is very good at deciphering how supernatural entities work and is packing an extensive inventory of powers.  He realizes quickly that this is some kind of manipulative entity that feeds on rage and pain attached to an unwitting host.  When he realizes that the unknowing (and therefore unconsenting) host is Jason Todd, he tells the Lazarus Entity in no uncertain terms to give Jason back or perish.

Jason, who does not realize he has a malicious, mind-warping, supernatural parasite and believes there to be no one other than himself and Tim present, is understandably confused.

Tim decides that the Lazarus entity has had its chance and springs into action.

Jason is treated to the terrifying sight of just what Tim Drake is like when he’s not expending conscious effort on not being something out of a horror movie.  Suddenly he’s in the middle of a spider’s web and no matter how hard he tries to fight back everything around him is under the control of his opponent.  Furniture flies around on puppet strings.  Getting too close puts him in range of the freaking claws this kid apparently has!?  Trying to get away just leaves him caught in strings and the more he struggles the more entangled he becomes!  The new Robin is skittering and gliding around in a decidedly inhuman way. 

Jason honestly thinks he's going to die when he finds himself bound with Tim standing over him.  He passes out when Tim rips the Lazarus entity away from him and destroys it. 

Tim gains the ability to heal from defeating the Lazarus entity.

Jason is surprised and confused when he wakes up bundled in a handmade quilt with his head in Tim’s lap and a cool compress on his forehead, feeling sore but more well and whole than he has since before he died.

Jason later decides that his memories of the fight at Titans Tower must be some kind of weird fever dream caused by his body purging the last of the Lazarus Water from his system. It goes along with Tim's account of things.

According to Tim, Jason entered the tower, initiated a lock-down, and then collapsed on the floor. Then, Tim moved him closer to a wall where he was less likely to get stepped on than in the middle of the walkway and did his best to take care of him there because Jason was simply too large and heavy for him to carry all the way to the med bay by himself.

This is far more believable and less of a mind screw than what Jason remembers. Obviously this tiny, baby-faced kiddo who played nursemaid for a stranger who broke into the tower and now looks up at him with wide, starry eyes couldn't actually be the terrifying, predatory creature from the nightmare. It was all just a bad dream.

He's honestly glad he collapsed before he had time to do any harm. The poor kid will never have to know what Jason went there to do. Jason knows, though, and he'll do his damned best to make up for it. He may have flubbed first impressions, but he is going to be the best damn big brother that ever big brothered.

...

Tim might or might not go full on feral cryptid when Bruce is lost in the Timestream. I haven't decided. He will probably pick a fight with the Lazarus Pit much to the confusion and alarm of everyone around.

That’s all I’ve got so far.

[chickenlover-19]

Whatever became of the Phantom of Amity Park?

[austajunk]

The wonderful @bardic-feline and I wrote a nice and naughty Eldritch AU Danganronpa Fic and the first chapter is up! So please take a look. <3

Smile at the Mouth of Despair

Summary: When part-time streamer Chiaki Nanami enters the Kirigiri Detective Agency one afternoon and insists that she is being lured to her death on a mysterious island, assistant investigator Makoto Naegi is determined to keep her safe from what fate awaits her. However, as they pursue this mystery together, they both find themselves seduced and entangled by a strange and eerie butler who longs to return an ancient power to its former glory…

Main Ships: Komaegi, Komanami, KamuNami, and KamuKoma <3

[tciddaemina]

working on the eldritch!SQQ fic, and procrastinated by making a moodboard for it

[andr0nap]

romance at its finest (deranged)