idk, this is all coming from someone who's hardcore on the aro spectrum so take it with that, but I feel that, while we've seen him in a lot of loving committed relationships, there isn't any hardcore evidence that they were romantic in nature? from his end, so to speak. to me, the problem Dick runs into is that he's one of the most loving people in the universe (which is practically canon-compliant) but isn't necessarily able to bring to the table what's needed for a lasting romantic relationship—his relationship with Kory is one of the more lasting elements of his character and she's blatently aro imo which let it work so well. from what I've gathered, there's a certain level of emotional exclusiveness and commitment that is part of a romantic relationship that would really trip him up from anything more permanent (and he usually fucks it up when he tries, most people don't sleep with their past SO and then give them an invite to their wedding to someone else wtf Dick).
the level of care that Dick and Babs have for each other is undeniable, but it was a friendship and camaraderie first and foremost. it's not too hard to read a lot of their relationship issues being that Dick couldn't quite give Babs what she needed in a committed relationship as well as him not fitting into the role without some discomfort.
I actually think prime earth Dick (there are actually official disambiguations of the character, they both even get their own wiki page LOL: pre-flashpoint is new earth while new-52/rebirth stuff is prime earth) reads better as aro because we actually don't see him in any real committed relationship with anyone who sticks around or really has emotions for on the scale of any of his new earth partnerships; his character has become much more family focused. in the grand scheme of the "it's me or the boys!" question, he comes down pretty hard in the "I thought I told you upfront that this other stuff was more important to me," category, whether it's hero stuff, another batfam mess, or just his natural restlessness and dislike of being chained down (I stg after the dust has settled on any crisis and everyone's ok and back on their feet, he runs off as soon as he's able).
my interpretation for characters is usually only loosely based on hardline canonical evidence and there is a way of viewing everything through a lens (like how new earth Tim dated a fuckton of girls but can easily be seen as super closeted or not having really explored his sexuality) so while I do have evidence to back it up, most of it's the feel of a character in general. personally? I just want it to be a thing because yes please for an actually plausible representation of my sexuality and it would totally make letting Dick be a casual "lady" killer so much easier and without the weird baggage that comes with all of Bruce's liaisons.
anyway, thanks for kinda humoring this spiel, I have flexible preferences for most character interpretations but I literally won't shut up about aro!Dick headcanons if you let me go on LMAOOO
as for this fic, having him as the counterpoint to a house full of asexuals gets a thumbs up from me! If anything, I think I'd lean towards a bit more discourse over the disambiguation between aro-ace and just asexual characters; it looks like your Tim is leaning there but if I had my (subjective) druthers Damian would maybe be like "and it'd be aro-ace anyway (if I'm reading him right here, but that's the jaded aro in me speaking). I really did enjoy your work—and I laughed so hard at the batman porn thing.
If I'm pressed, in this verse, the ones who tend towards aro are Jason and Tim. (Because I may or may not write the Jon Kent pining fic in this verse that ends with Damian being all 'we've been common law married for the last two years' when there is a confession. And I love the idea of Bruce and Selina's are crazy about each other, but use the chase/capture thing as their means for satisfaction and are unintersted in the actual sex.) Of course, the ace fics I've written in this fandom are almost completely for the laughs.
Being completely honest though, (and we're veering dangerously close to the Discourse here which I normally avoid at all cost), I find the insistence to specify between ace/aro really alienating. I get that people like to have something that defines them more specifically and if it's helpful for you, 100% go for it, but it's not particularly helpful for me. I've always preferred the more umbrella turn because, for me, the whole point was that I wasn't alone. So, it's not perfect, but I lump the whole ace/aro thing into 'ace spectrum' and call it a day. It tends to bleed into my writing. :/
I'm completely up for reading Dick as aro, but he's never really pinged me that way in the stuff I have read (while some of the other Batfam members absolutely have), but like I said, I haven't read much Nightwing (I haven't even read an arc with Kori). God knows everyone writes everyone differently so I may have just not read the right stuff.
Comment on Grow Up So Fast
zovinar Fri 13 Apr 2018 05:31AM UTC
Last Edited Fri 13 Apr 2018 05:34AM UTC
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InsaneTrollLogic Sat 14 Apr 2018 12:50PM UTC
Last Edited Sat 14 Apr 2018 01:40PM UTC
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