iliana

I start with my all-time favorite “Batman: The Knight” by Chip Zdarsky. I heavily adore this comic so much since I believe it is such a great comic book that shows us Bruce’s inner thoughts, his bare anger, his love, and his inexperience with the world. This comic gives me the way exactly how Bruce is truly inside when he was a teen/adult until his twenty-five-year-old self. I love how he is portrayed as an angry boy who never lets it go. I think when we think about Bruce, we really need to look one of the core qualities he has in him, such as anger is one of them. Another thing is his obsession. I think we all can see through the mirror how obsessive he is, how headstrong he is. And at the end, all of them are the result of his love, which makes so much sense that Zdarsky made an excellent point in this piece that I cannot stop re-reading it. If you want to start Batman, you should definitely read this!

Okay, here comes the next part: you can follow up to read “Batman: Year One” by Frank Miller since it is the original cult classic one that I’ve also read. “Batman: The Knight” have a transition to this one so do not worry about the time lapse. You can also listen to this on Spotify which I’ve also done and it was so fun! “DC High Volume: Batman” is a podcast where you can find “Batman: Year One”, “Batman: The Long Halloween”, and “Batman: Dark Victory” and listen to them.

Speaking of the “Batman: The Long Halloween” by Jeph Loeb, an amazing piece which I love but my love for the “Batman: Dark Victory” by the same author is overwhelming it. You need to read The Long Halloween (TLH) first, then Dark Victory (DV) because they are both prequels and sequels to each other. TLH is a mainly challenging and interesting year for Young Bat Bruce because he has faced vulnerability and inexperience again. I do not want to spoil it because TLH has so much more details we can talk and dig into Bruce’s psychology at that time but we will have an adorable person who will happen to join us!!! And DV will open up more answers for you so that's all I have to say.

TLH and Dark Victory will have Richard “Dick” Grayson in them, I think that’s why they are must-reads! I love how gentle Bruce tries to be with Dick and we can proceed to take these comics as a head start because I believe if you have read these two in their relationship, you can pick any comic that includes Bruce and Dick’s relationship and call it your canon one, since the core meeting started in these two.

I usually read like this. I am reading the core materials at first and then searching for the comics where I read and analyze to find Bruce’s psychological status and his “true” characterization. If you have read the core materials to know what the situation is about, you can pick a comic and read it without any confusion.

I have some Young Bat Bruce comics which I’d recommend:

“Batman: Dark Patterns” by Dan Watters (this one is one of my favorites!)

“Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham” by Rafael Grampa

“Batman: Night Cries” by Archie Goodwin (this has warnings by the way, it includes darker themes, so be aware)

For Bruce and Dick, I have two versions and I love how they are opposite of each other, but they are good for the start:

“Batman & Robin: Year One” (2024) by Mark Waid

“Robin and Batman” by Jeff Lemire (this is my favorite!)

I think Bruce and Dick’s relationship is too interesting from any perspective when we look at it, but these two will be enough for now.

And my must-have reads for this time and my favoriteeeeeeeee one is one and only “Batman: The Court of Owls” and its sequel, “Batman: The City of Owls” by Scott Snyder! The Court of Owls is one of my most favored Batman villains, and honestly they give me chills because we have a very familiar scenario in our world. Listen, you need to read this after you read about Bruce and Dick because this takes place years later and I DO NOT WANT YOU TO GET SPOILERS! You will get some shocking details sooooo.

Anyways, here are some for the beginning my dear stranger. Please, do forgive me because I am too busy in these days with my upcoming exam and I couldn't write more for you. I wish you an amazing reading time and thank you again for supporting me! Sending you virtual hugs!! 🫶🏻💗

We have enough to speak about but before I start, if you struggle overall, you can always message me privately since I am very happy to help in any way I can.

I will not going to lie I really love to analyze what I read — that applies to my favorite characters, too. I think one of the main reasons why I started to write was because I wanted everyone to see Bruce from my perspective, from what I have analyzed and seen, to see at least if there was someone who saw him as I did, specifically young Bruce. Honestly, I tried to uncover and mainly write him in his own persona, thus I only used his comics for that, but not the ones where he was written out of his character.

I think if we are talking about someone who became the hope of Gotham, who changed it as a person who has morals, who has compassion, but no one actually speaks about that a lot. Bruce did not become the greatest Batman suddenly, he had to go through everything by himself to understand what he was capable of and I wanted to show the parts where he was still a young adult and pretty much in love.

I really love to write everything in a realistic vision, since it is the most prominent thing I try to portray in my work. This is what inspires me to write, from the perspective of a realistic vision, both applied to Bruce and the reader. “What would he do?”, “What does this situation lead to?” or “I must connect the dots because I am trying to give a reasonable scenario or story with a realistic possibility.” I constantly think about the details of the work I am writing. But it also has a struggle that I constantly think about it until I finish, re-read, and decide that it is complete. This is one of my errors obviously, I re-read once or twice to see if I have missed anything or all. It is tiring for me honestly, but it is also a plus because I want my work to apply to everyone, so I don't want to leave any detail out of mind.

I think this was the main thing that influenced my writing since after writing a few pieces, you start to develop what you should keep or discard, how you want the sentences to be formed, or how the portrayal would be. It is completely up to you, my dear, so don’t be afraid to write.

As much as you will write, as much as you will develop! Everything needs practice, nothing comes perfectly by their own. You just need to discover what you like, how you want it to go but you need to start writing first. I know what you meant about where you should start, but my answer is: just start. Pick the scenario you want to write and start off like that. Trust me, after that, you will going to enhance since you will know what to say this time, what to bend this time, and all.

And do not wait for any approval, just write what is in your mind, in your inspiration. I started to write from this perspective and look what amazing people I have found, including you and everyone who follows me, who messaged their amazing support to me and honestly, I am so grateful!

Do not lose your mind if your ‘practice’ would take a year or more, since as much as you work on yourself, you will always find your flow.

It is very okay to be in a slump, that’s another thing. So do not let that scare you, since it is no writer’s fault that it happens. Slump, I believe is something that happens eventually because sometimes we can’t put the ideas as we wanted initially or sometimes we have so much going on in our lives that we have no inspiration to write or whatsoever. As soon as you start to write, do not be discouraged by the slump, just think of it as the reading slump, since both of them carry the same meaning.

Another thing is you wanted to know if I have any must-reads, well I do not, unfortunately other than the ones I mentioned. As I said, I heavily use Bruce’s comics — the ones I believe that show his true traits and take them as an inspiration. I read them and analyze them and then I apply his traits in my work. I think what is important is to write Bruce in his character and think if this is what he would do in that sense. For instance, I heavily believe that Bruce, specifically young Bruce is madly in love with his wife, as if he ever had a wife (I mean he does in our mindsssss thoughhhh), because it is his character. That is his character, his trait and we can see it in everything!

His murdered parents, the love carried itself in vengeance and then justice to be the one he is today. His city, because he did not want anyone to suffer from the same fate he had been given and it is also a form of love, compassion, and morality. So sometimes I don’t understand if we can see his ‘signs’ this clearly but why the hell would he be a terrible lover?? I understand that he has struggles, hardships, and trauma but it is the natural situation in our lives to have depression and low self-esteem but instead of giving a realistic, rational portrayal of him, he is always written out of his character.

I want to show his sides, the detail-oriented points where I had read in his comics, and bring them into the work. So, that is the thing I do and that is why I do not have any reading list other than his comics. I think as a writer or a storyteller, it is our job to bring it to the fiction, to bring our point of view to create the work. That is why I want you to start writing to find your own flow by the things that inspire you, aspire you to form an idea in your mind that influences you to write. Keep choosing that thing and apply it to your work.

A work without errors is an impossible thing. Nothing is created without an error. It can be a grammatical error, it can be a hardship to deliver your point but you will get through eventually; you will do it less and sometimes you will write it so perfectly, then it will happen again so do not ever stop writing since it is a very normal thing for a writer. No one is perfect.

So do not be discouraged by the thought that your writing is inadequate or whatever, you can never know that. You can never know what other people like and what kind of style they love to read. You have to start from one point eventually and you will find your own style through it but the most important thing is to write, that's it. And if you never start doing it, you will never find out.

It aroused you more that how he was effortless about handling you like this, never rough and mindful of you. He had improved himself since you two had sex for the first time. It could be so much better if he were open about his ideas or words but it still made you want him like this, quiet and messy, in your dark room.

Your fingers found his upper back which was scarred but also hardened by the muscles. Your fingertips dragged through the one you found at the moment while his cock hit your sweet spots perfectly leaving you breathless. He loved to play with his pace as you realized ‘cause since he started to drag his hips into yours, he was slightly altering his pace on and off, leaving you breathless and whimpering against his bruised skin.

The sound of skin and his breathing right against your ear were the only sounds that filled your room, occasionally your own soft moans in the dense air between you.

“Is it good?” he muttered to you, pressing his nose under your jaw. You believed that he liked the situation you were in, him being buried in you thickly while your legs around his waist could give anyone a vision of lovers, well in fact that you two were strangers that only one of you knew the other.

You tightened your legs around him which made him squeeze your soft flesh as a response to you. He pressed his face to your cheek, making you meet his angle before he caught your lips in a lazy kiss while he fucked you. He kissed you one by one, earning the kisses how he liked but also giving you moments of air since it was harder for you to breathe in this position — you underneath his sturdy body, scorching from his warmth and the quilts around you two in the freezing February night in your bed.

“You’re so sweet.” he groaned at your lips before catching them, rolling his tongue into your mouth as his cock rolled between your folds, stretching your walls utterly. You loved the way he was doing you, the thickness and the skin against yours — him inside of you so good like this.

You sighed into his mouth when he broke the kiss to catch your lips once more before pressing his forehead against yours. You were sweet as honey, almost like the unique flavor he once tasted in his lifetime before he lost the feeling of it until he found it again. Your sighs of love — even though it was early to call this love — and scent were hazy around him, against his face. The feeling shouldn't have made him feel so good like this as he was in your arms, in your sheets but here he was in the bed you had let him rest when you were first aiding him as well as letting him fuck you for the second time in the week. He would stay away from you until there was a hollow in his mind, the hollow that made him think about you in the ways that belonged to the lovers.

You were constantly flickering in his mind when he was in his cave, bruised and freshly awakened from his daytime slumber. Sometimes you were in his mind for a minute before his thoughts wandered to whatever thing he was pondering about, sometimes instead of getting a chance to envision you, he was right near your neighborhood as he watched your silhouette in your window. He did not want to admit or he was obviously ignorant of his own feelings when it came to you until he couldn't bear to miss you anymore as he found himself in your bed. Well, in fact it was the main reason why he was there in the first place on Valentine's Day night, for the purpose of getting enough of you until he came back days later.

Your fingers pulled him back by the hair on his neck, trying to get some air. You were now used to his ushering of being close like this, face to face when you were having sex slowly each time. If you ever recall, you would know he did not like to have a few minutes of release since his only thought was to be with you, thus the sex would last long and slow. You did not mind, did not care as long as he was against your burning skin. You were just as needy as he was for you, a constant ache between your thighs and chest when you were thinking about him. You two were so mad about each other that you were not minding to fuck a stranger in your dark room, yet if you dared to call him a stranger anymore. He would come in the night for you to help him with his wounds — even though he had Alfred as his upper hand — or just a visit he couldn't bear to go to his lonely bed to finish the patrol and end up with you in your bed. You would unconditionally take him as he was, sometimes messy and rough, or sometimes slow and needy since he was making you catch some feelings over his every visit.

The way he kissed you, wrapped around you each time like he couldn't dare to keep his hand away from you was enough for you to let him into your heart. You wished you could see his face when you were pulling him close to you, see the expression of love when he would lean his face on yours to instantly kiss you since he did not want to stay away from you even for a second. You wished you could see his gorgeous, hazy eyes during your afterglow as you would be talking to him about something sleepily while he was nuzzled against you, him breathing quietly until you fall asleep and he would leave your bed. And you wished you had the chance to see his face instead of tracing his features in the sombre room when you were unfastening his cowl.

All those wishes and yet you two were in your same routine as he was all over you and you were gladly aching for every inch of him.

When he hit one of your sweet spots, your fingers dug into his scarred upper back. You were used to tracing them when you had the chance — which you did nearly every time. He had a few as you knew them by heart now, adoring his soft skin. You scratched his back in pleasure, your soft whimpers against his jaw.

“Oh, baby,” you tightened your arms around his neck as his face was nestled against your cheek while his hips were lazily moving against yours, “Please.. don't stop.”

“I won't.” he mumbled against your cheek before dragging wet kisses over your jaw, then softly kissing it as he fucked you as you two liked. Your fingertips grazed his skin while you were having the time of your night, your eyes fluttering from his thrusts. A few more slow snaps of his until he almost halted his actions which made you instantly upset.

Before you did anything, he pressed a kiss on your lips and then muttered his words against them.

“I want you on top of me.” he pressed another kiss on your lips. In the next minutes, you found yourself straddling his hips, your fingers digging into his ribs from the sensation of his thickness inside you. You just both loved and hated how he was — so thick enough to make your toes curl and so mean about that he knew how much you enjoyed it to drive you mad during it.

He loved you more when you were on him, your body so right under his palms as he was starved for you to be unable to keep his hands off you. As you were riding him with your slow pace and soft moans, his hands were supporting you on your thighs. There was no single light in your room, only the dim, small light coming from the slightly drawn curtain as you two preferred that way — him being a mystery to you in as he was the darkness itself. He cursed under his breath since he was there to see you in the first place yet due to the inconvenience, he did not watch your pretty face; watch how you were like the brightest star in his arms, so breathtaking that it got him on his knees for your pussy.

Fuck it, if he couldn't see you, what was the meaning of all this anyway? What was the meaning of having sex of his life in the night with a marred shoulder then leaving at four in the morning for his father's house?

He bet you were so gorgeous as you were trying to keep yourself steady from the pleasure; your hair messy and the lips he loved to devour were slightly parted as you were trying to catch some air. He bet your vision would be the best thing he saw that week, in the midst of slipping through the GCPD.

Your hands moved from his ribs to his chest, bracing yourself as you took him inch by inch slowly. You were unaware of him almost switching the light from the notions though his head. All you could think about was how it was perfect in the middle of the night; just him and you. Valentine's Day was long forgotten by you since he was kissing you, never mind spending it lonely until he came this night. For you, it was all about him and you, tangled in your sheets like this. But for Bruce, it was more than that.

When you hit a particular spot by yourself, a whimper let your lips as you stilled in your pace. But he got you, ushering you with his hands under your bare thighs.

“Fuck, baby.” he groaned, aiding you move again, “Take what you want.”

As you rode him, it drove him mad that he couldn't reach for your skin other than the part under his palms, so he drew you close enough to catch your lips messily. A few more kisses and slow thrusts left the tension between you scorching than before. So, you tried to ride his cock while being close to him so he could prep wet and messy kisses over your jaw and throat, bite the skin as he enjoyed every second of you. Once his mouth found your breast, another needy gasp left from your lips, your hand snaked around his neck to keep him buried to you. He sucked the bud before biting it as you were trying to get another sweet spot on his cock.

Your fingers went through his thick hair, pulling him back to your lips. He must have gotten the need as he complied and came to your lips, kissing you hungrily now. You let him slip his tongue into your mouth, make you needy for air and him as well, while he was buried so deep in your pussy.

“Do you,” he whispered between the kisses, “Do you want to do this all night?”

“Yes.”

So, it must have been the love in the dense air between you have gotten you two so high to be tangled in your arms like two valentines.

♡

thank you so much for reading! ♡