Archvied fic rec - A Truth at the Edge of Hearing

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: A Truth at the Edge of Hearing (and the rest of the Black Sky series)

Author: Te

Fandom: Batman / general DC comics

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Tim Drake/Kon-El, eventual Bruce Wayne/Kon-El

Warnings: major character death, grieving, pairing switch, rough sex (edging into dubcon territory)

Other notes: alternate universe, parallel universe, universe-hopping, multiple points of view,

Length: unknown

Summary: After Tim Drake dies, Batman tries to deal. Turns out “the clone” he’s been so cold too might be the person he most needs to talk to.

 

I know some people really, really hate fics where the pairing changes. Unless, of course, you’re breaking up the couple-I-hate for the couple-I-love. No one really warns for Spock and Uhura breaking up if Spock ends up with Kirk after. (Sorry, personal peeve there.) That’s one of those fandom things that usually doesn’t bug me too much. I’m a poly-shipper. If it’s well-written, I’ll enjoy it. This is one of the few fics where a pairing change really caught me off-guard the first time I read it. Going back, it makes sense, being as how the theme of the story is about moving on, and–well, permanent character death does rather preclude two people from getting together. Still, for a brief moment, I kind of understood why other people get so up-in-arms about pairing changes.

As far as characterization goes, this is really lovely. Again, I’m not super up-to-date with comics–I mean, I can tell you there were four Robins (and Stephanie, briefly), three Batgirls, a couple of Batwomans, and their basic personality traits–so maybe comic fans might disagree. But I found it a fascinating read. It’s also a great fic about dealing with death–not just the short term, but the long-term ramifications, how you can be changed by events and not go back, and even not want to go back.

It also made me briefly consider just how weird certain parts of fandom can be. This is an AU story where the lead guy also goes to another alternate universe. So technically the pairings are something like–spoilers–unrequited Tim/Kon, Kon/AU!Tim, AU!Tim/AU!Kon, and finally with Kon/Bruce. So weird. It makes sense in context, I guess, but try explaining that to someone…

 

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Originally posted on tumblr on 8/13/12