La pasticherie de Petra

See, sometimes I'm foolish and say things like "I don't like Bruce/Dick," and then you write fabulous plotty identity porn like this and I'm floored and, well, eating my previous words.

Fantastic. I'm not clear on why Bruce/Batman was acting the way he was, but that's fine, because Dick has no freaking clue either. Except for that very, very telling moment when he almost called him 'Robin.' Which pretty much made me go 'eeep!' and attempt to hide under my cat.

The plot was very intriguing, and it makes perfect sense that it would be Two-Face. I have no idea if Dagmar is a canon character or not, but I really loved seeing Dick from her perspective. And this gives me even more of a feeling that I really, really should be reading Gotham Central. ;)

Wow.

Okay, this may have just trumped More than Two Men. Which is -- pretty impressive.

This was -- it was a lot, it what it was. Also brain-stratching. Also good. Also *hot*.

(Though I confess anxiety that Dick might have broken his lunch date with Tim.)

And it's a good thing I was alone in the house, because Babs the video camera? I screamed.

I really, really like the way the two stories interlock (and it took me an embarassingly long time to figure that out ::sigh::). And I think I am going to have to read again at least once to get much more coherence out of my reaction.

Though I managed to formulate, quite clearly, that Dick is going to be jailbait for manymany years. *g*

The warning for these two fics and the summary for Pay No Attention made me crack up so hard that my flatmate thinks I'm insane. Just so you know.

First of all, Officer Grayson working in Gotham = genius. I love Dagmar: she's smart, wicked cool and tries so hard not to be charmed by Dick (and loves Sibelius! As all sensible people do.). The scene with Dagmar, Tommy and Dick, with Dick as the outsider trying to fit in was lovely; I like the idea that Dick has to struggle somewhat in the GCPD before he fits in, and the Bludhaven/Gotham PD rivalry. Renee! Renee makes an appearance! Words can't describe how much I love that.

There are so many bits that I want to point to and flail and say 'You guys are brilliant' and 'that was nifty', but if I did that every time, this comment would be half as long as the fics together, but I loved the scene where Dagmar takes him to the roof of the GCPD building. Hee, Dick's just been initiated. These lines are golden:
The rooftop is darker now, but the shadows are less deep. No contrast. She doesn't know if she'd see anything if she looked, but she's lived in Gotham most of her life. She doesn't need to see to know.
That made me love Bruce so much, because that, right there, is the point of Batman. You don't need to see him to know that he'll be there, trying his damnedest to protect you and beat up the bad guys. A lot.. Bless!

Eheheheh! Marital aids. Again. Petra, is this going to be a leitmotif in all your fics? 'Clark' made me laugh and laugh, but really? it's all about the Babs (especially since it makes me think of Petra's 'voyeur-Babs' icon).

And the sex. Dear God. So very dead right now. Nightwing and Bruce-in Batman's-suit = fucked-up and hot and twisty. And this is me failing to make any sense, but it's a scene that only works in this fic, but *my god* does it work here. And sex on the car. The *car*. This is me, flailing.

Ahh, Toppy Nightwing is a thing of beauty. Bruce, you utter moron.
Hm. Some useful buttons found, but he'd have to adjust his gameplan slightly next time.
Snerk. That's awfully manipulative of you, o man who is not the Bat. But then, later:
It would be easy enough to let his hand hold Nightwing's. It's even a little tempting.
Bruce is so smitten. So very.

I loved that this fic has not just one plot, but several, and they all interlock to create a picture of what being a cop in Gotham is all about. And then there's the Bat-stuff too. But really, it's all about Dagmar and Dick kicking ass. Great job, as ever.

Wow, I think this sorta broke my brain. But in the best of ways, really.

I loved the whole identity issues, though I'd also love to see someone (agreeing with the people up above) like Clark come in. Or possibly just some more Tim.

This entire thing is just so interesting to me, especially the way you've written the characters in it. The Batman/Dick and Bruce/Nightwing stuff is just amazingly messed up, and I love your Officer Grayson stuff.

And...there's really nothing that I can add to these comments, anyway ^.^ Loved it all!

This not only is a nice excuse to reread this, but also nice that I can reread it with a better frame of reference, since I hadn't caught up on the Nightwing series last time I read it.

I think I like Dagmar much better on a second read-through. It was hard to get into her character at first, but knowing everything from this piece before, the smaller stuff comes across better. Her biased unbiased point of view is a nice touch to the story that gives the length (in terms of time passed) of it real weight.

Hrm, no I was wrong, I remember liking Dagmar the second I liked Tommy, which was sooner than I had thought. Tommy was, well I think you elicited a reaction that Dick would/did have at the same time the read did using a completely different POV to do it, which is just good writing.

And I looked it up. She's an actual character so I will shut up and pretend I knew that. And now I'm going to need to reread this when I (one of these days) catch up on at least the latest Detective Comics.

Grayson's smile is wider than she's seen yet, enough to give Tommy competition. That's because at that moment it's a completely relaxed and real one, and that line itself made me smile wide too in reflex. I like the reactionary writing of this, from what the reader gets out of it in terms of what's happening. Very inclusive of what's going on and I'm able to get sucked into the universe.

And you did such a good job of Alfred completely pretending he doesn't know anything when you know he knows everything, that it almost had me convinced that he doesn't know anything.

Officer Procjnow -- she hasn't said, "Call me Dagmar," yet, so he doesn't Because Dick has manners and those lovely people skills, so he even thinks Officer Procjnow in his head. I adore that little detail thrown into the POV, that's a very purposeful thing on Dick's part.

I really like that while Dick is never not really Dick, he does know how to focus the different parts of his life enough that when he's being Officer Grayson, he's focusing on the job to really get it done. You know, except when he's making out Batman, but we're not at that part yet (which I will say now I looooved).

I love the cop talk, back and forth. It totally screams GCPD to me. I miss Officer Grayson, he would have been awesome in the GCPD.

He feels hyperaware, as if coffee's a wonder drug that makes him the best detective in the world. Oh that just makes me smile, because Dick's got the same problems with coffee I do, except he's much more sleep deprived. I love that sentence anyway, just the way it's structured makes it stand out.

Man, and the way that the passage and meeting of Officer Grayson went was just brilliant. Batman is being Batman. And even though we're not getting every one of Dick's thoughts it's still just him. I think it's very clear that the missing bits where he might be overanalyzing is a kind of literary device and not really Dick pretending in his mind as much as he is, if that makes sense.

"Do you do this to all the rookies?"

It earns him a scowl. "Only the ones who have previously demonstrated their incompetence."

I audibly said ouch on that, because Batman, man. It's like he can be meaner when he's Batman and Dick isn't Nightwing. But it totally matches those flashes of Bruce when Dick was in the hospital (I am completely remembering him going "Stay" and giggling).

"Welcome to Gotham," he says aloud, to himself, and gets on the bike. "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."

Mm, because Dick's getting reinitiated to Gotham. I mean it's never been his home to begin with, but now it's adult Dick-not-defined-by-Robin who needs a whole new initiation to really appreciate Lady Gotham.

Identity porn within identity porn? Gah! It's wonderful and sexy and so very much a Bat thing. I love the names Bruce has given his dildos and video equipment--and poor Dick just wants to know he was worthy enough to be a namesake.

The subtlety of everything within a complicated entanglement of identity and persona and who is playing whom and what and where and when--it is all handled so expertly. Bruce's admiration of Nightwing's legs is priceless, and I love the way Bruce and Batman both can't help but be in the moment and call Nightwing/Dick-Robin by his name when they have sex for the first time.

Did I mention I love this series? I've read it many times, now.

OMG! I have no words.