#Dick Grayson and his complex is special to me

[scho17]

“It's all Dick can do to not imagine himself in Danny's shoes. Clutching a rescued Jason as they sobbed together. But Danny got to her in time. Dick didn't.”

oh that was wicked work just OW OWWWWWWWWW MY FEELINGS WHAT THE FUCK. I feel like I got sucker punched, granted, I really did ask for it and God, did you deliver.

Tim, in the bg who has absolutely no idea who these two are or what's going on but can really only infer based on what he can barely make sense of/hear over the unintelligible dialogue through the rain: So. Human trafficking?

Neither Danny or Ellie can exactly say no because well, yes, but it's government funded and sanctioned and, well, for it to be considered human trafficking that would imply them to be considered human, sentient, something of that realm which the governing body obviously does not think them capable of being.

DEATH DEFYING!! 🔥🔥🔥 It happens later down the line and is slow going. Alfred feels like he's watching Harvey and Bruce 2.0 because here are these two incredibly intelligent witty young men who do nothing but yearn for each other and it's so clearly obvious to anyone with eyes BUT THEM. It's truly painful to watch.

Punching the air. It’s Dick watching Danny’s retreating back, Ellie in his arms sound asleep with a soft but longing smile. It’s Dick babysitting and not knowing what the fuck he’s doing but doing it anyway and it’s all worth it after he hears either of them laugh, even if it’s at his own expense. It’s Dick learning to cook and take care of himself again after Jason’s death because while his passing shattered a piece of himself there are othes who need him too. If he can’t help even himself then what use is he as either Dick Grayson or Nightwing?

Fast forward to a couple months to a year or two in the future and Dick is sitting on their shared apartments couch, staring at a photo of Jason. It’s a photo of them at a fair, Dick only about seventeen in it with an arm around the shoulders of a barely thirteen year old Jason Todd. Both of them carrying cheery twin grins on their faces as Jason held out a large floppy teddy bear for the camera. Dick had won it for him at one of those scammy ladder climbing games and Jason had smiled so hard Dick’s cheeks had ached in sympathy.

He can’t help but wonder if Jason would be happy for him. He wonders if he has the right to have any of this when his little brother who deserved so much more will forever remain fifteen. Alive only in photos.

But Dick will only grow older. He's got a father and while they're never completely on the same page, he's there. He's got two younger brothers, one in the ground and the other still flying across the grimy Gotham midnight sky, both work like Atlas, and both 60% genius and 40% scheming little shit. Dick’s got a darling boyfriend and a little girl he thinks of as his own and it's good. So, so good. 

He wonders if his parents would approve. Dick thinks they'd be happy for him. He would like to think Jason would be too. 

For all that Bruce had called him irresponsible for bringing Danny into the fold in the beginning Dick could never regret it. Not when it lead to all of this. Their apartment feels so full and homely in a way it hadn’t when it was just him alone. 

AGH OH AND THEN JASON COMES BACK. Guys. Guys. I can be. Good. Normal actually. Wait guys how do we feel about dad friends Roy and Dick because I have. Thoughts.

There are crayon drawings plastered all over the fridge, letter magnets and cartoon ones pinning them in place. A throw blanket over the couch cushions, a rack holding shoes by the door - something Dick would have never thought to buy - there are tapestries and posters hung up and an eclectic variety of plates, bowls, cups, and utensils with residency in their cupboards because their little girl flat out refuses to use the forks that have too-long prongs or spoons with broad handles (“It’s just bad vibes Pa!” “Okay, well what about this one?” “No! That ones too heavy and it has patterns on the handle,”).

In some fucked up way it was kinda funny. 

Guy on the run goes to Bludhaven to keep a low profile and catches the attention of a vigilante. The universe is laughing at him, surely. 

Everything was fine up until a month ago. Really, it was. Danny had obtained his own shitty apartment and yeah, maybe his dead end job made him want to eat dirt more than usual but everything was fine. There weren’t any eyes on him and now there were. A certain bird didn’t know how to leave him alone.

“Can I help you, Nightwing?” Danny says in a flat tone, leaning his forearms against the rails of the fire escape. He isn’t a cigarette type of guy but if ever there were a time this would be it.

“Mhum. I want names, same as always.”

Danny rolls his eyes. “We both know I can’t tell you anything.”

“But you could.”

“I could,” Danny acquiesced with a shallow nod. “And then what? When they can’t get to me, they’ll get to you.” He sighs, feeling infintely tired “in any case, the big bad bat isn’t known for leaving things he doesn’t understand alone, and I’m not really looking to be a lab rat again. Zero out of ten do not recommend. Turns out being vivisected fucking hurts, man.”

“Why won’t you let me take them out for you? Besides, I’m not weak. I can hold my own just fine.”

And thats the million dollar question, isn’t it? Dannys gaze fixes upon the ill looking moon, pallor as he peers through the smog of the dingy city and into the sky. “Because he told me to wait.”

“Who?”

Clockwork. 

Clockwork told him to wait. To do the one thing he hates more than anything in the world. To do the unforgivable - to sit idle when they had Ellie. As much as he’d love to spit venom and recite every reason why the GIW needed to be taken care of much sooner rather than whenever Clockwork had in mind, he can’t. He’s - and Ancients, he’ll never forgive himself - scared. He’s scared.

Logistically, he knows he’s strong. Stronger than anyone in any of those facilities compounded. Stronger than Vlad in terms of raw power if not in wiles, he’s stronger than Pariah Dark. Danny has tested his mettle against the worst of the worst and came out on top but he’s still fucking scared. Isn’t that something? Crown prince of the Infinite Realms is scared. 

There’s no one to magically make it better. No one to lean on because he’s the strongest, he’s it. And if the strongest can’t stand up because they’re too busy having a panic attack at the sight of a lab coat then really, what use are they?

“I can’t tell you that.” He glances down to the alleyway below them. It’s filthy. Wet newspaper plastered to the pavement, old gum cemented in place like spots on a dalmatian. It looks a lot like how Danny feels most days.

Nightwing frowns. “I can help you,” he says. It sounds painfully earnest, like he believes he really, really, could. 

“That's a nice offer, Nightwing, but I can’t take it yet.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

There he is. That’s the boy the bat raised. “Can’t.”

*

The next time Dick sees Danny it isn’t in Bludhaven. 

It’s months later in her sister city, Gotham. Crime Alley, to be specific. It was during the tail end of a joint patrol with the newly minted Robin, Tim, whom he had sent back to the cave early. His eyes snagged on the figure of a young man carrying a child in the middle of the wet season, a thin thoroughly soaked through navy blue sweater clinging to him like a second skin. It was pouring down like the heavens didn’t know how to stop grieving. 

It seemed as anguished as Dick was in the immediate absence of Jason. He blinks tiredly and washes the thought away. There’s a little girl cradled in Danny’s arms with hair just as pitch black as his own, burrowing her small face in his neck, tiny arms clinging as the man himself runs his hand soothingly on her back, murmuring apologies into her hair. “I know, I know, I’m sorry Ellie, I’m sorry. It’s okay, it's- We’re out. We’re okay.”

It’s a painfully private moment, one that he feels guilty for witnessing. The girl - Ellie, sobs into Danny’s chest. It isn’t his place to watch, to witness this. All the same, he wishes he could comfort them somehow. 

[gaywineauntsstuff]

I just saw someone say that Tim was the only member of the batfamily who didn’t suck at math.

With the exception of Dick (acrobatics) and Cass (body language) none of the Batkids are THAT much better than the others at a certain skill

Yes Jason is a better shot

Yes Tim is a better detective

And on a technical level they’re much better

Sure

But that means that if they have a 0.001% chance of cracking a case or making a shot. There will be a noticeable difference between Tim being the character or say Damian.

Otherwise

Not particularly.

Think of each skill like a normally distributed curve okay with the mean being your average hero/olympian/hacker/genius

Right

The Batkids will be at the 96th percentile in the skill

With the exception of 1 of them being at the 99th percentile range

Unless you are writing something you can comfortably say is complex/difficult enough to warrant drawing attention to the 3% difference. It’s annoying to bring it up

I exclude Dick and Cass

Because Dicks introduction is the fact he can do something the rest of the kids can’t to the point where it’s an identifier within his own story. It’s how Tim found him, a signature only he can do.

And Cass because she is genuinely cartoonishly cracked in her own storyline and in batfamily stuff she’s borderline a mind reader

(Could also argue Jason for supernatural stuff and the all blades)

These are exceptions because yeah

If you told me Jason, Dick or Steph cracked a difficult case in a run I wouldn’t treat it as shocking information

If you told me Tim, Dick or Damian managed a tricky shot with a firearm in a dire situation (like what happens in the Grayson run) it would be interesting, surprising but like not? Shocking?

If you told me that Jason did a quadruple summersault off a building and landed on his feet I’d be confused as shit

And even WITH Dick and Cass the other kids are still FREAKISHLY good at D&Cs special skills but they both have unignorable signatures

This is a very long winded way of saying when an author simplifies a character down to

“Oh look nice flippy one”

“Smart one”

“Angry gun one”

“Pet collector”

It’s annoying because you basically ignore all the interesting overlap

Like guess what Dick literally has a habit of collecting strays (see the rabbit and 3 legged dog he lives with in his apartment in the new run)

Tim is fucking badass and is very good at dealing with explosives

Damian is canonically currently thinking of leaving the family business and no longer being a hero to maybe focus on helping people in other ways

Jason occasionally works with magic and demon bullshit

And every single one of them is a genius okay literally every single one of them could get a masters in physics, chem, bio and history in like 2 weeks flat.

Their stats are stacked

All of them know enough info to be able to do 99% of a task and yeah someone might call Tim or Dick in for detective help or Jason for muscle and restraining backup but in 99% of cases THE OTHER CHARACTERS SHOULD BE EQUALLY competent

[celestial-cosmica]

'Stephanie Brown was the Robin, Batman deserved but didn't need'

I do stand by the notion. Unlike Jason, Tim and Damian, she WANTED to be Robin, it wasn't handed to her, for Damian it was basically his birth right.

Her relationship with Batman is just really complex. What he did to her was wrong, but you should punch yourself if you think he doesn't care about his Robins, CAUSE HE DOES, HE'LL DIE FOR EVERY ONE OF THEM. No, he isn't her father and she isn't his daughter.

Stephanie was the Robin Batman needed because she was his reflection in many ways. Her stubbornness matched his, her sense of justice reminds me of Batman, her anger towards criminals and her sympathy towards victims all represent what the Batman Mantle stands for. However, she is her own character.

Stephanie Brown is a mirror but she is herself. Her stubbornness that of Bruce, she's hardworking just like Cassandra, her strong sense of justice matches that of Jason Todd and her energy to make everyone around her comfortable matches that of Dick Grayson.

What makes Stephanie herself is her flaws. Her stubbornness, anger, people pleasing-ness, her such strong sense of justice, how she loves so hard that it ruins her but it still doesn't stop her from loving, her emotional behavior but that's what Stephanie is!!

She does a golden retriever energy and I do believe that, she's my comfort character <3 and I think that aura contrasts that of Batman. I'm not justifying Bruce for what he did and her death could have been avoided but she was meant to be a vigilante. In another universe where she gets the Batman Mantle, I will assure you that she would be the Batman, Bruce couldn't be.

I am so sick and tired of people revolving her character around being a golden retriever or a love interest of Tim Drake and/or Cassendra Cain!

In short,

Stephanie Brown was the Robin Batman deserved was because she was his own reflection, no one could've made him see his flaws that way she could have because she's his flaws personified (this isn't an insult), sure he didn't need her, but the timeline of Stephanie being Robin is very special to me. I know what he did was wrong, but I do know her death was something that had a major effect on him because he failed another child, another Robin, another person who looked upto him. I do believe that Bruce cared, but that care didn't overshadow his harshness on her. I do believe Bruce regretted how he behaved when she was Robin, and I do believe he went to her grave every week to give flowers not out of guilt but out of care.

Should Stephanie Brown forgive him? No. However, will she? Yes. Stephanie Brown is nothing if not someone who believes in second chances.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, I'm NOT normal about Stephanie Brown :D

I hope this was enough to answer your question on my previous post @a-bad-case-of-the-stephs

[luv-lock]

Can I ask why you hate Tim 😭 I’m genuinely curious im just getting into batfam lore and I see so many ppl hating on him

I don’t hate Tim as a character—I used to love him. He was one of my favorite Robins for years because of how well-written and unique he was. But over the past 6-7 years, the writing has completely ruined him.

Tim started as the smartest Robin, someone who stood out because of his brains and determination. He wasn’t chosen to be Robin because of tragedy or by accident—he earned it. He figured out Batman and Robin’s identities on his own, proving how intelligent and capable he was. He became Robin not because he needed Batman, but because Batman needed him. That dynamic made him special.

But now? He’s gone from being the 'smartest Robin' to what DC themselves called the 'always-online bisexual.' That’s literally how they described him in their marketing, and it shows how little respect they have for his character. Instead of focusing on his intelligence, his strategic mind, or his growth as a hero, they’ve reduced him to a walking label. His sexuality is the only thing they emphasize now, and that’s not representation—that’s lazy writing. Not to mention the arts sucks. The artists who make comics for him are coming straight out of Wattpad. Look at this shit:

The art sucks. Now compare this trash to these:

Fucking beautiful. I can just look at it and be happy. Idk about others but it's obvious which one I'm going to buy.

And the change wasn’t organic. Tim was written as straight for 40 years. He had deep, meaningful relationships with female characters, especially Stephanie Brown. Their relationship was one of the healthiest and most developed in the Batfam. They supported each other, they had chemistry, and it felt natural. But then the writers threw it all away. His new relationship feels hollow and forced, like it only exists to make him a bisexual character.

Don’t get me wrong—representation is important. But when it’s done this way, it feels like a checkbox, not real development. A character’s sexuality isn’t a personality trait or an arc. Tim was more than his sexuality before, but now it feels like that’s all DC cares about.

Compare this to other Robins:

Dick Grayson (the first Robin):

Dick is the OG, but when he debuted, people didn’t take him seriously. Back then, he was seen as a sidekick—a kid in bright tights following Batman around. When DC aged him up and transitioned him into Nightwing, he became a leader, a symbol of independence, and the heart of the Batfamily. Now he’s beloved, but it took years for fans to respect him.

Jason Todd (the second Robin):

Jason was hated when he first replaced Dick. Fans thought he was just a cheap copy—another circus kid in a Robin costume. His personality rubbed people the wrong way, and the backlash was so bad that DC actually let fans vote to kill him off. But when Jason was brought back as Red Hood, his character was transformed. He’s now a fan-favorite because of his anger, his moral complexity, and his strained relationship with Bruce. Fans went from hating him to loving him, but it took a lot of work to get there.

Damian Wayne (the current Robin):

Damian started as an arrogant, entitled brat. Fans found him unlikable, and many hated that he replaced Tim as Robin. But DC invested in his growth. Over time, Damian became more humble, learned to work with others, and developed his own unique dynamic with Bruce. Now, he’s seen as one of the most compelling Robins.

Tim, however, had the opposite journey. When he debuted, he was instantly loved. He wasn’t a tragic orphan or a rebellious anti-hero. He was just a smart, determined kid who figured out Batman’s identity and stepped up because he believed Batman needed Robin. Fans loved that. His comics as Robin sold for years—something Dick and Jason never achieved when they were Robin.

But now? Tim has gone from being one of the most beloved Robins to a joke. DC doesn’t know what to do with him, so they’ve reduced him to being the 'always-online bisexual' (their own words). His entire character now revolves around his sexuality. A character’s sexuality isn’t character development. I only care about sexuality when it's comes to watching porn. Tim was so much more than that. He was the smartest Robin, the strategic genius who could outthink even Bruce. But now, that part of him is gone.

He’s not Robin anymore, but he doesn’t have a clear role or identity. While Dick is Nightwing, Jason is Red Hood, and Damian is Robin, Tim is stuck in this weird limbo. DC hasn’t given him a meaningful arc—they’re just writing him for the sake of saying, 'Look, we have a bisexual character.' And I as a bisexual person found it very offensive.

What makes this even worse is that Tim’s been overshadowed by Damian. DC created Damian partly because they hated Tim, and now Damian has taken over everything that made Tim special. He’s a tactical genius, a skilled fighter, and even looks like Tim now. I mean look:

If it wasn't for his girlfriend in these pictures and the art style I couldn't tell if it's Tim or Damian.

Tim deserved better. He lost most of his real fans and these days his fans are people who are into yaoi. He used to be one of the smartest, most relatable characters in the Batfam. But instead of building on that, DC has turned him into a caricature. That’s why I’ve lost respect for how they’ve handled him—not because of his sexuality, but because they’ve erased everything that made him great and replaced it with shallow writing. He's just an extra now that is better dead. And if DC itself don't care about it's characters then why should I? We have enough good comics with good art for Dick, Jason and Damian that I don't even think about Tim anymore.

[sillygoose067]

A Masked Promise

Ch.8

Dick Grayson (Nightwing) x Reader

The car ride was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. The warm hum of the engine filled the spaces between your soft chatter about the amusement park and occasional bouts of laughter over the carnival games. Dick—no, Gray—had insisted on dropping you home, and though you had tried to talk him out of it, he had been firm yet kind.

“You’ve had enough buses and trains for one night,” he’d said, flashing that crooked smile that made your stomach flip. “Let me do this.”

You hesitated, reluctant for him to see the small, run-down apartment complex you called home. But the sincerity in his voice had been impossible to argue with.

Now, as the city lights blurred past the car windows, your hands twisted nervously in your lap.

“Everything okay?” Gray’s voice was low, calm, but there was a note of concern in it.

“Yeah,” you lied quickly, offering him a small smile. “Just tired.”

He didn’t push, though his eyes flicked toward you briefly, a hint of doubt in them.

When he pulled up to your street, you directed him to park at the corner, hoping he wouldn’t notice the chipped paint and flickering lights of the building ahead.

“This is me,” you said, unbuckling your seatbelt.

Gray glanced at the building, then back at you. “I’ll walk you up.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to,” you said quickly, panicking a little. “It’s late, and you’ve already gone out of your way—”

“Y/N,” he interrupted gently, his blue eyes steady and resolute. “I’m walking you up.”

His tone left no room for debate. You sighed, giving in with a small nod.

Inside, you felt every crack in the walls and heard every creak of the stairs as you led him to your door. Unlocking it, you stepped inside and flicked on the lights, revealing the tiny studio apartment that served as your home.

“It’s… cozy,” you said, your voice tinged with self-conscious humor.

Gray stepped in, glancing around with curiosity but no judgment. His eyes landed on the small kitchenette, the books stacked haphazardly on the table, and the threadbare couch pushed against the wall.

“It’s nice,” he said simply, his voice sincere.

You glanced at him, trying to gauge if he was just being polite, but his expression was unreadable.

“Uh, tea?” you offered awkwardly, already moving toward the kitchenette. It felt like the least you could do after dragging him up here.

“I’d love some,” he replied, settling onto the couch.

You focused on the familiar rhythm of making chai, grateful for the distraction. Measuring out water and milk, crushing fresh ginger and cardamom pods, and letting the tea leaves steep—it was a process you’d done a hundred times, but it felt different with him sitting there, watching.

The scent of spices filled the apartment as you poured the chai into two mismatched mugs and brought them over. You handed one to him, your fingers brushing briefly, and sat down across from him.

“This is… different,” he said after taking a sip, his eyes lighting up in surprise.

“Good different or bad different?” you asked, suddenly nervous.

“Good,” he assured you. “Really good. I’ve never had anything like this before.”

You relaxed a little, smiling. “It’s just chai. Nothing fancy.”

He shook his head, his gaze on the mug. “No, it’s something special.”

You busied yourself with your own mug, feeling a warmth that had nothing to do with the tea.

After a moment, he spoke again, his voice quieter. “You know, when I was a kid, I lived in a circus. The Flying Graysons.”

You blinked, caught off guard. “The circus?”

He nodded, a faint smile on his lips. “My parents were acrobats. I grew up swinging from trapezes and walking tightropes. It was… magical, in a way. Until it wasn’t.”

Your chest tightened as you watched his expression shift, the light in his eyes dimming slightly.

“They died during a performance,” he continued, his voice steady but tinged with something heavier. “It was an ‘accident,’ but I knew better. Bruce—he took me in after that. Gave me a home, a purpose. But he wasn’t exactly… warm.”

You stayed quiet, letting him talk.

“He tried, in his own way. But I needed to figure out who I was without him. That’s why I left Gotham, the manor, all of it. I worked my way up to detective to build something of my own. To prove to myself that I could.”

His words hung in the air, and you found yourself looking at him differently. There was so much more to him than you’d imagined—so much pain, resilience, and strength.

“I didn’t mean to unload all that,” he said after a moment, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips.

“No,” you said quickly, shaking your head. “Thank you for telling me. Really.”

He nodded, his eyes meeting yours. “And this,” he said, holding up his mug, “might be the best thing I’ve had in years. I could see myself getting used to it.”

You laughed softly, missing the deeper meaning in his words.

“Gray,” you said hesitantly, testing the name again. “Thank you. For tonight. For… everything.”

His smile widened slightly, and he leaned back, looking more relaxed than you’d ever seen him. “It’s my pleasure, Y/N. And don’t forget—you’re the only one who gets to call me that.”

You rolled your eyes playfully but felt your heart skip all the same.

As the night stretched on, the conversation ebbed and flowed. You told him about your favorite books, your love for old Bollywood films, and the way chai always reminded you of home.

He listened intently, his blue eyes warm and focused, as if you were the most interesting person in the world. And for the first time in a long time, you felt seen—not for what you had or didn’t have, but simply for who you were.

When he finally stood to leave, you walked him to the door, your chest tightening slightly at the thought of him leaving.

“Goodnight, Gray,” you said softly, the name rolling off your tongue as if it had always belonged there.

He paused, his gaze lingering on you for a moment longer than necessary. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

And with that, he was gone, leaving behind the faint scent of his cologne and the realization that this night had changed something—though you weren’t quite sure what yet.

———————————————————————————

TAGLIST (Thanks to the request by @mybones537):

@mybones537

[nilolemillion]

Let’s get one thing straight (very unlike me): Batman loves his kids. All of them. He’d die for each one in a heartbeat (of course not kill for them, cough cough Jason). But if you think for one second that Bruce Wayne, the guy who regularly dresses as a bat and fights crime at 3 AM (cough cough insomniac furry.), has a favorite BatKid, then clearly, you’ve never met his children. He doesn’t have a favorite, not because he loves them equally, but because none of these potatoe pie pumpkin cutie-headed chaos gremlins deserve to be his favorite.

Let me explain.

Dick Grayson (WOOP WOOP that’s the sound of that police. Yes Karen, I know he’s no longer an officer, NO KAREN I DON’T GIVE A FUCK.):

The first pancake. The golden boy. Everyone assumes that Dick has a special place in Bruce’s heart because he was the first Robin. He’s charming, he’s capable, and he smiles like he’s got a fucking sponsorship deal with Colgate. But let’s be real, this guy left the nest the second he could, started his own superhero gig in Blüdhaven, and still occasionally shows up to remind Bruce that he doesn’t need him (yes king, show your independence, love that for you.) And you know Dick is the type to throw that ‘you’re getting old, B’ line out there just to twist the knife. Bruce loves him, but how can he be the favorite when he’s busy playing Batman-lite with better hair?

Jason Todd (My personality favorite zombie, resuscitated character in the whole world, I love him so much and all the Outlaws.):

Oh, Jason. The problem child. The one Bruce failed, died, and came back with a vengeance (literally). You’d think after all that tragedy, Bruce might go a little easier on him. But Jason? This kid shows up at family dinners with guns blazing, ready to debate the morality of lethal force like it’s Thanksgiving dinner conversation (and it is, I did it and it was quite fun.) Sure, Bruce would die for him (again), but Jason pushes every button Bruce has like it’s his job. One minute he’s trying to be the better vigilante, the next, he’s making Gotham’s criminals wonder if Batman has gone completely off the rails. If Jason’s Bruce’s favorite, it’s in the ‘how are you still alive and not in jail?’ kind of way.

Tim Drake (DC DROP ANOTHER CANON ILLUSTRATION OF TIM BEING A CUTE LIL STALKER AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!):

Tim’s the brainiac of the family, the kid who deduced Bruce’s secret identity with zero help. Naturally, you’d think this would earn him some serious brownie points. But here’s the thing, Tim works way too hard. He’s got all the signs of a caffeine addiction (which is completely and absolutely understandable, he’s just a little silly and caffeine addicts are hot, yes I am too), zero concept of work-life balance, and is always trying to out-detective Bruce. Yeah, Bruce admires his dedication, but let’s be honest: Tim’s the kid you have to physically shove into bed because he thinks sleep is a myth. Bruce is just trying to prevent this kid from burning out before he’s 30. How can Tim be the favorite when Bruce spends most of his time making sure he doesn’t turn into an insomniac vigilante-zombie?

Damian Wayne (I’m literally making my birthday party theme of him, that should explain enough.):

Ah, Damian. His literal blood son. You’d think that alone would give him a shot at favorite-child status, right? Wrong. Damian is an adorable, pint-sized murder machine with a superiority complex the size of Wayne Manor. Bruce loves him fiercely, of course, but Damian’s idea of father-son bonding is training in deadly combat and arguing about why his assassination techniques are totally valid. Plus, he’s got that whole ‘I’m the heir to the world’s deadliest league of assassins’ thing going on. Sure, he’s Bruce’s kid, but you know he’s never going to let Bruce forget it. Not exactly favorite material when he’s constantly plotting world domination during family movie night. (Dw, he won’t act on it, Alfred made very clear that the batkid who dares dominate the world will be banned from his pastries. Besides, he’s too busy scratching Titus’ belly, he doesn’t have time to dominate the world. PRIORITIES BITCH.)

Cassandra Cain (I stan her more than I stand my own life. Help. I literally crocheted a plushy of her.):

Cassandra is probably the least rebellious out of the bunch, which should give her an edge, right? Wrong again. Cass may be quiet and respectful most of the time, but when she does go rogue, it’s on her terms, and it’s not just a small rebellion. No, Cass will disappear for weeks on end, take down a crime syndicate by herself, and then show up like it’s no big deal. Bruce can’t even stay mad because she’s so good at what she does. But Cass’s habit of ghosting the entire family and dealing with things solo? Yeah, it keeps her out of the running for favorite. Plus, she’s secretly the most dangerous one, and Bruce can’t play favorites with someone who could take him out without even blinking.

Duke Thomas (He’s was the sunshine I was midnight rain. DC DROP ANOTHER CANON ILLUSTRATION OF ISABELLA WITH DUKE AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!):

Duke the daylight protector of Gotham, which is cute and all, except that Bruce has no idea how to parent in the daylight. Duke brings this bright, positive energy to the BatFamily, which sounds great in theory, but this is Bruce we’re talking about. The guy who lives for darkness and brooding. Bruce loves Duke’s optimism, but it’s like trying to teach a vampire to enjoy the sun. Plus, Duke has a habit of questioning everything, and sure, Bruce appreciates his independent streak, but do you really want a favorite who keeps making you reconsider your life choices?

Stephanie Brown (My sweet dear and beloved purple queen, I love her so much.):

Not an adopted batkid, her mom is alive I think… But I don’t give a duck KAREN. Stephanie is the wildcard, the one who does whatever she wants, whenever she wants, and somehow gets away with it. She’s staged fake deaths, gotten fired from being Robin, and still keeps coming back for more. Stephanie’s whole existence is an exercise in chaos theory. Bruce loves her resilience and her ‘never-say-die’ attitude (literally), but how can she be his favorite when her middle name might as well be ‘Loose Cannon’? She’s the kind of kid who’ll fight crime while live-tweeting it. Yeah, Bruce loves her, but he’s not rewarding that kind of energy with a favorite child title. (I’m still confused about her age thingy.)

So no, Bruce doesn’t have a favorite. Because how could he? His kids are walking, talking disasters, each one a different flavor of chaos. Bruce loves them all more than anything in the world, but picking a favorite would be like trying to choose between different natural disasters. Earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, they’re all beautiful in their own destructive way, but you wouldn’t want to pick one to live through. In the end it’s about Bruce somehow surviving all of them.

[crime-scene-psychic]

As I continue my Titans rewatch, I feel as though I've been unfairly harsh towards it. No, it's not perfect by any means. The writing goes from standing out, to half-way decent, and then to CW-levels of awful all in the span of a single episode. The special effects leave much to be desired for an HBO production. Sometimes the characters would simply Not Do That. It's literally impossible to see anything due to the lighting choices. Timeline? What's a timeline?

But it also gave me live-action versions of a lot of characters we haven't ever gotten the chance to see in that particular format. It gave me a pretty complex Dick Grayson character, something that, until that show, hadn't existed in a live-action sense either. The only other characterizations of that character that existed before Titans that were that complex were animated (namely the original Teen Titans and Young Justice, though they also didn't get a chance to truly develop the character as fully, in my opinion, because they were A. shows geared towards kids, and B. looking to focus on the entire team as a whole, which Titans sometimes had a hard time doing).

A lot of critique towards the end of the show came from people (rightfully so) complaining that the show focused too much on the Batfamily and that they should've just made a Batfamily show if that's what they wanted to focus on, which I agree. Don't get me wrong, I think a big reason why I can see so much potential in the show and why I enjoyed it so much is that it focused on the characters I loved so much. However, I realize that the show is called Titans, not Batfamily, so I totally understand why a lot of people were pissed. They signed up to watch the Titans, not whatever problems Bruce Wayne and his gaggle of children were dealing with.

I'm just biased and I recognize that.

Like, yeah, the show is far from perfect, but even with it sometimes focusing a bit more of Dick than other characters, I still feel like there are well-rounded story lines for the rest of the characters, at least the main cast, especially as it finds its footing a bit in the later seasons.

I hope in the near-decent future we do get a Batfamily show (or, heaven forbid, because I would NEVER shut up about it) a Dick Grayson show, because just from New 52 and DC Rebirth there is SO MUCH MATERIAL and that's not even scratching the current runs. There's so much to do with these characters, especially Dick, and I can't help but with Titans getting canceled (I'm surprised it made it 4 seasons, in all honestly) feel unsatisfied. Even with what was able to do, I was still disappointed when it came to how they handled certain story lines (mainly Slade and Dick, because I really feel like they had a missed opportunity not including the Apprentice story line. Like, they could've made it the big secret Dick was keeping from the rest of the Titans in season 2, that during his time with the first Titans group he was forced to work with Slade, but they did the Jericho thing, which is fine, but I think if they'd stuck a bit more to the source material they would've been better for it, especially since the Apprentice arch is such a fan favorite).

I've been rereading some of the New 52 pre and post Forever Evil, mainly the Court of Owls run and the Grayson run, and there's so much untapped potential there! Just as I was revisiting Grayson, I couldn't help but think about how badass some of the panels would look in a live action show. We've barely gotten Court of Owls content, and when we do, they make it all about Bruce, which is fine, I guess, but Dick Grayson in the current Prime Earth lore was LITERALLY BORN to be a Court of Owl Talon and it's such a missed opportunity not to explore that further (which is probably one of the few grievances I had with Gotham Knights because if they were able to show Jason going through the Lazarus Pit again then GODDAMMIT they could've at least HINTED at Dick's ancestry!).

Side note, Court of Owls wouldn't have made much sense in Titans, but then again, they didn't seem too bothered playing fast and loose with the timelines, so why should I? It would've been a really interesting Dick Grayson arch, especially in comparison to Gar and Conner's time with CADMUS in season 2. Like I would love to see the Court sink their Talons into Dick and fuck him up a bit, but again, I'M BIASED!!!!

I hope with more and more people getting into the Batfamily that it'll lead to more content, especially live-action, but it just seems like studios aren't interested, which is insane because it seems everyone else is? I don't get why they're so hesitant. I talked about this in another recently long ass post, but I don't really get why studios are afraid to put Robin/Dick Grayson into the DCEU. He's such a cool character if done right and his fighting style is super sick to see live-action, as demonstrated in TItans. I love that they incorporate acrobats into his style, it's fucking awesome to see.

I dunno. Just back on my DC bullshit and thinking things. That's it.

[dreamsfullofwoe]

Each member of the Batfamily would likely express their first "I love you" to their significant other in their own unique way, reflecting their individual personalities and experiences. Here's how some of them might do it:Batman (Bruce Wayne): Despite his stoic exterior, Bruce would probably express his love through actions rather than words. He might show it by going out of his way to ensure their safety, spending more time with them, and sharing vulnerable moments that reveal his true feelings. He might say it indirectly, such as, "You mean a lot to me," or "I care about you more than words can express."Nightwing (Dick Grayson): Dick is generally more open about his emotions, so he might simply say "I love you" when the right moment presents itself. He would likely want to make the moment special, perhaps taking them to a place that holds significance for them or sharing a heartfelt speech about how they've impacted his life.Red Hood (Jason Todd): Jason can be a bit rough around the edges, but deep down he cares a lot. He might show his love by doing something thoughtful or protecting them in his own vigilante way. His confession might be straightforward and honest, saying something like, "I never thought I'd say this, but I love you."Red Robin (Tim Drake): Tim is known for his intelligence and resourcefulness. He might express his love by meticulously planning a surprise date or gift that has personal significance for both of them. He'd likely want everything to be perfect and meaningful when he says those three words.Batgirl (Barbara Gordon): Barbara is strong and independent, and she might express her love by being there for her partner through thick and thin. She'd likely have a heart-to-heart conversation with them, opening up about her feelings and saying, "I love you" with sincerity.Batwoman (Kate Kane): Kate is confident and assertive, and she might express her love in a straightforward manner. She might say it during a moment of intimacy or vulnerability, showing that her tough exterior doesn't overshadow her emotional depth.Robin (Damian Wayne): Damian has a complex personality due to his upbringing, but as he matures, he might express his love by doing something he considers selfless. It could be as simple as spending quality time together without any other distractions. He might say, "I... care about you a lot. More than I thought I would.

[dustorange-moved]

hey!!! could you share your fave dick grayson fics especially if they include bruce or even slade! you are probably my favorite dick grayson author I love your characterization so much I keep reading and rereading your fics all the time!!!!

THANK U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! omg that is the biggest honor ily 💗💗💗💗

SOME FICS I RECOMMEND ARE OLD ENEMIES NEW DEBTS BY WILDSOFMARCH, catch a talon by the toe by wildsofmarch and cross my talon and hope to die by wildsofmarch……………wildsofmarch is a fav by default bc they write about my favorite concepts EVER (talon dick + slade) and like that alone is sufficient but then they r also ridiculously talented so here we r.

as 4 others hmmm i m always logged out of ao3 so my bookmarks r scarce + i never remember anything ever ever ever BUT SOME PPL I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS TRUST TO DELIVER QUALITY dg r jinmukang (dick whump champion of all time) and glassofwater (EXCRUCIATING ANGST AND DICK CHARACTERIZATION and Bruce characterization and EVERYONE characterization) and then of course forcefully rec silverwhittlingknife’s whole entire corpus every work there is like a true embarrassment of riches brilliant clever sweet writing with gut punches and its all trueeeeee characterization

i also adore princessmariana’s dark Bruce fic series and her batfamily dragon au holds a super special place in my heart. must read

some other nonmentioned authors / indvl dg fics off the top of my head that can level u to the ground emotionally r:

TO BE HUMAN by newsical - nothing I say will do this justice. newsical is srsly generational literary talent & also her current wip could make me chew thru glass but To Be Human is dick and damian Perfectly

UNIVERSAL CONSTANT by cirth - AGONIZING it’s. its. its. SO dick + amnesia (a la ric grayson gunshot) BUT instead of ric he stays with the family and omg. u will rend ur clothes biblical style weeping.

THE COLOUR OF WATER by cirth - this will forever play on ur eyelids when u close ur eyes ♾️ beware

DRAG AND LIFT by cirth - baby jason finds baby dick without shoes as he escapes juvie a Foundational Dick And Jason Text 4 me

TO THE LEFT by newsical - omg newsical’s current wip I FORESHADOWED ITS INCLUSION in this list ITS AN AU WHERE DICK AND ROY oh you know 🫶 ARE on opposite sides of a kidnapping but soooo much more. exquisite world building, characterization, writing, evth srsly evth

THE QUIET SOUND by orphanaccount - excruciating young dick angst after bruce is shot !!!

IRON FIRE AND MIRROR GLASS by purplesoot - after Bruce gets his back broken he arranges a deal with 1 of the fair folk: dick. exquisite and very painful but ends beautifully. the author’s other dc work is a slade dick apprentice fic that’s equally masterful

THE JINGLE JANGLE MORNING by audreycritter - this fic is like the skeletonkey for Bruce and Dick its pure essence it is tapping into something truer than true

OF YOUR LIPS BEGONIA BLUE by streetlightskeletons - SLADE IS PAID TO WATCH A KIDNAPPED DICK. DICK IS DYING OF HYPOTHERMIA. SLADES FEELINGS R COMPLEX. HE……(grits teeth)…..CARES. GET UP GRAYSON. ft a wonderful Jason Todd cameo at the end. this fic has stuck w me for 5 yrs and i think about it very often and is as foundational + influential a slade characterization text touchstone for me as chris priests actual deathstroke comic run.

WOEFULLY INCOMPLETE LIST

[zahri-melitor]

I missed writing up my Helenapoll thoughts so here we go:-

Joey Cavalieri – I think Cavalieri does some interesting complex things with Helena’s background and in grounding the fundamental trauma that made her Huntress, from the ‘danger of being raised female’ to ‘danger of being a Bertinelli heir’ to ‘danger of mob connections’ to ‘danger of being a vigilante’. It has a level of realism that you don’t generally get in the regular DC comics universe in regards to some of these topics.

Chuck Dixon – Dixon’s the one who cemented Helena into Gotham and put the work in to establish her rocky relationships with everyone else. He gave us Robin III: Cry of the Huntress which set up Tim and Helena’s relationship, which I adore. He gave Helena a clear role in Gotham as the outsider, which is not always fair on her, but provided plenty of conflict for plot momentum and let her yell at Bruce more often. I think Gotham would be lesser without Helena having that position in the group.

Grant Morrison – so DC One Million is unexpectedly good Helena content, to my surprise. It’s one of the few places outside that uses her experience as a teacher really naturally in terms of how it frames her views and actions as a vigilante (apart from all of those regular Helena solo stories where she goes off hunting down the abusers of her students, of course. Which is apparently the ONLY plot anyone can come up with any time Helena gets pitched for a short story/single issue)

Devin Grayson – ooh let me get spicy for a moment. I think Nightwing/Huntress is bad Dick Grayson. I’m less convinced it’s truly bad Helena. Now the fallout from this by creating the ‘you stole my man’ narrative that ends up being the overarching topic of the Helena and Barbara dispute (even though they have multiple other fascinating points of contention) is irritating, but it’s interesting in terms of Helena testing if this helps in any way with how she relates to the rest of the Bats. (It fails) In terms of her other stories, I don’t actually mind Fear of Faith or Spiritual Currency, but they’re very one trick only (She’s! Catholic!) with Helena. They are helpful in building the reasoning for why Helena joins with Pettit.

Greg Rucka – it’s the man himself! Cry For Blood is easily my favourite Helena story, and his hand is obvious in all the best parts of Helena in No Man’s Land. If you don’t like Rucka’s Helena, you don’t like Helena.

Gail Simone – I maintain that Simone took a very complex situation, with Barbara and Helena’s layered antagonism over Dick, the Bat(girl) costume and the two betrayals surrounding it, their differing moral stances on when killing is acceptable and why, their mutual lack of trust from previous failures and personality clashes, and found a way to work through it so they weren’t at eternal loggerheads. They were both justified in their dislike for each other, but finding a way for them to become friends (with screw ups along the way on either side) and move them away from that eternal ‘two women cannot be friends if they’ve ever been attracted to the same guy’ canard was just a really important moment for their mutual stories. Plus it was the first time anyone had really given Helena time to be in a title with more than one other woman (Zinda and Helena and Dinah getting drunk and kicking heads together is something that can be so special).

Tony Bedard – oh the other Birds of Prey writer we tend to ignore. The interesting thing with Bedard’s run is that he gives Helena the space to work as the BoP field leader, given Dinah’s absence, which is a role nobody would have considered for her until Dinah resigned. It’s a growth period for her.

Ivory Madison – I like Huntress: Year One. I really enjoyed it as a story. I think Madison had a lot of fun drawing out the parallels and future echoes in it, and I really just enjoy the background competence given to Helena even at this early stage as she learns to be a vigilante.

[qcomicsy]

I was going to reblog with a comment but that post is already super long. But so true ! Like the ninja assassin thing with Dick is a modern retcon something that would be a Tim Cass or Damian thing to do. But writing a flashback for an adult Dick in the 2000s would be weird. By the 1960s he was firmly in canon 18 and in college. How are you gonna go back to the era of goofy and be like this is Dick’s angsty teenage years involved getting turned into a vampire and fighting Bruce over dating Talia. It just doesn’t make sense with how Long comics keep going. 80 years of comics and he’s only what 28. Like it’s very hard to keep a consistent character when everyone wants to make Dick Jason and Bruce new characters every few decades

Absolutely!

My personal view about how they kept retconning Dick's personality as a child and his relationship with Bruce is that it's a mix of complex things and bullshit.

The complex things is yeah, Dick and Bruce had their share of problems when Dick was growing up. They did start bumping heads a lot, but it was more like "this kid is turning into a man and is starting to clash views with his father (who is already someone who's not easy to deal with)" and "that's the part where he starts to develop who he is as person" (I won't get much into that because I haven't read many comics regarding Dick transition from Robin from Batman & Robin to Robin from Titans until Nightwing in the pre-death of the family era.) than the borderline abusive and toxic relationship they started to introducing in the late 90's to early 2000's portrayals of them.

It's complex because after rebooting everything it's hard to introduce such a long and gradual process that took almost ten years of development that is Dick's emancipation not only from working with Bruce but also following his every step as boy wonder. Specially if we think about the huge fall out they had right after Jason died.

It's bullshit because they started with those retcons when we had that long and embarrassing period of Super-hero history (late 90's to early 2000's) where everyone was trying to make super-heroes popular again but following alongside with a palpable embarrassment and self-conscious shame regarding any silliness and/or whimsical side the superhero universe. Like "we're making superheroes stories but this is for adults, this ain't for children 😡😡". Nobody wanted to be the "60's Batman TV show everyone makes fun of" and everybody wanted to be Alan Moore.

We had all this writers who grow up reading "Death of the family", "The Killing Joke", "Batman Year one" add were dying to recreate the 80's dark period glory, even if they didn't had the same writing skills for that.

I mean hate the Killing Joke all you want (I know I do), it has a shit tone of good writing.

It's bullshit because everyone was still sore about how Batman turned into a joke in the 90's after that one movie and for some reason everyone blamed Robin. It's bullshit because comic books are always influenced by the popular media around them, and while 40's Batman had the American Way and American Family Values™ 🦅🦅🦅, 80's Batman has Scarface, Taxi Driver and long urban tragedies.... 90's have Die Hard and every extra power macho fantasy under the sun.

I mean... This was 90's Nightwing.

he's so big and so stupid and one day I'm gonna top h–*gunshots*

No one wanted to see "good father" Batman, hell no one wanted to see any emotional shit in comics? Emotions??? In my manly comics??? Miss me with that gay sit emotions is for girls 😡😡 I wanna see big buffy man making his enemies cry 🔥⛓️☠️💪☠️😡⛓️🪚🔧

So you reach early 2000, everyone kinda hates or is kinda embarrassed of Robin, Batman is a former shadow of the man and the father he used to be. But you still wanna introduce new readers to your character (Dick Grayson) that (for better or for worst) is loved but only by the people who already know him, you're still embarrassed of his silly origins and the whimsical part of it.

So what do you do?

Personally I think writers thought Dick had it too easy as Robin, personally I think they were obsessed about making it real, personally I think everyone was obssessed and trilled with the idea of being the next Tim Miller and making their one fresh real edge introduction of the boy wonder. Personally I think this is all the new 52 was absolutely on for the Batfamily.

Personally I believe (and this is more a optimistic take) some writers were creatively trying to tie Dick's anger issues as Nightwing to his origins as Robin.

You have this chance of one in million (at te time) to reintroduce Nightwing (reintroduce Robin), now you can make it as real as gritty and as edge as you want. You can make it Robin cool again, you can introduce in a way that will sell well the dark story you where preparing for this character. And you also can deny any father and son relationship he could had have with Bruce Wayne and keep the big beef strong man without feelings reputation that people have been manufacturing by choice into Batman from ten years by now.

And what is more dark and character building than an abusive father?

I think writers thought that making Bruce abusive towards Dick and Dick resentful towards Bruce was the best way to launch this new universe as realistic and grittier. Not only making Dick's Robin introduction (and origin) more "real" but also separating Bruce even more from a emotional and father like figure that for some reason some writers (and fans!) despised to much.

Killing so many birds with one stone might as well call yourself David from the Bible.

And they were so certain this direction would be a success that the just notice their mistake now.

Anyways... A load of bullshit.

I personally don't mind Dick's Robin having anger issues, I think it's a natural progression from his first real serious introduction from back in the 80's, I also think it adds more to his character tying up his first trauma along with a long life of others and the result of having to deal with a frustrating job (that is vigilantism is) since literally ever. I like the idea that the perfect Robin wasn't perfect all the time and he also had (and has) other side of his personality that isn't as nice or likeable as it should and that's a thing he consciously have to work on as a person since he was a child.

However I also think writers did took to far sometimes and Dick history and specially his relationship with Bruce suffered from it. And I also agree that if everyone tries to reboot, retcon and fucking "subvert" a character every fucking ten years you won't even have a fucking consistent character to begin with (gestures vaguely to Jason Todd, Deadpool and now poor fuckin Damian and their wreck of comic book history).

[planetwaynez]

The Batboys and the songs I relate them to:

All the songs here are with I visualize them as or with those songs. I think that the songs I mentioned are not how the would visualize themselves or even listen to. Is just my vibes trying to match theirs.

Bruce Wayne:

There a few songs that I relate to him personally. I think Bruce can be a very hard person to describe, even through songs.

So the ones that I choose for him are very specific.

Control by Halsey. Very self explanatory, I think Bruce seeks control all the time, and sometimes he thinks it's sleeping away from him. So every time I listen to this song he comes to my mind, especially the moments he struggles to keep his mind sane.

Like I would by Zayn. He thinks he is special, no one compares to him. And he can be very territorial with his lovers sooooo. Also I think he can be jealous of small things and he might like to remember his lover that he is the best they ever had.

Dick Grayson:

He is chaotic, he is sweet, he has blood lust sometimes. Dick is a family guy, he is a lover, he is the blueprint.

Toxic by Britney Spears. He can be sweet, he can be a lover but he can be very addictive. Plus if we look into the 80s it's very self explanatory too.

Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift. I think Dick can be very dreamy like, so this song fits him well. He is a dream but you never know if you will awake up with said dream by your side. The energy of this song matches his, especially if is someone else singing to him.

Jason Todd:

I love him, I hate him. He make me want to punch a wall and hug him. Jason is very complex and he stands out the most for me, so the songs o choose are the ones I visualize someone singing to him as I way to annoy him.

Maddle about by Chase Atlantic. This song is the song for me. I can see someone singing this to Jason as a way to get to him. In my mind he can be very slow to realize someone is into him, so I can see him realizing it by said someone singing this one to him. He would be sooooo annoyed.

Style by Taylor Swift. I also think he has a dreamy like vibe to him, but different to Dick his dreamy like vibe is a little bit more dangerous and brings a mysterious energy around him, just like this song is to me. So I think someone could easily listen to this and remember him. Also he is known for having not so lasting relationships, and this song is about a relationship that is very complicated soooo.

Tim Drake

In my mind he is the blueprint for nerds. He can be very unaware of people. The songs I relate to him are heavily related to that aspect of his personality, and he is also a workaholic.

I knew you were trouble by Taylor Swift. God! He is trouble. This dude is the best liar among all of them in my opinion and I love that. So people that get in relationship with him very often can feel they were made a fool out of themselves, when it's not the case. He is just a good liar.

More by 5SOS. I think this is a song that someone would sing to him. I think that from all of them he is one of the ones that can push themselves away more. So this song would definitely be someone singing to him about the fact he is away and that they want more.

Duke Thomas:

Baby boy. Troubled baby boy. I see him more as someone to be related to a very specific type of song.

Die for You by The Weeknd. I think he can be a very loyal person, and a very dedicated friend and lover. Every time I listen to this, I can clearly see him dying for the ones he loves.

YOUNGBLOOD by 5SOS. Duke is one of the youngest, if I am not mistaken. So I can see him vibing to this song with a few friends he might manage to make throughout his life. He wants to feel to forget, so this song passes the vibe check.

Damian Wayne:

He is a murderous gen z. I love that. The songs I choose for him give off the vibe in my mind. Also I think that the songs that someone would sing to him are very specific and that type that either makes him blush or annoyed.

Slow down by Chase Atlantic. Someone please sing this to him, it would make him annoyed or blush like crazy. Either way, he would kiss the person to prove a point.

Dangerous by Royal Deluxe. Damian is a very dangerous dude, so I think this song fits him very well. You kinda never know his next move and I think that is what makes him so intriguing.

[covertblizzard]

I’ve often heard the expression “Space Grayson” thrown around in regards to Kyle Rayner - my question; is that a fair description of Kyle’s personality? And, in your opinion, should/could Kyle and Dick ever successfully occupy the same space? Either on a team (JLA, Titans, etc), or even just as a one-off team up?

HELLO hi this is a very fun question because I've thought a very similar thing, especially when I was starting to find out about Kyle at the beginning. I am also very sorry because my response is VERY long (oops haha). Also, tiny disclaimer: I've not read everything ever, please feel free to disagree with me, this are just my thoughts about it.

TL;DR: On a surface level, they have similar overarching character type, narrative support, and friends, but once you start reading their stories, it falls apart quite quickly, although they do still both have a martyr complex and some hero traits (but this is quite common in heroes in general). I would love to see them team up, my preference is for Titans (I can't believe they have yet to work together on Titans with so many overlapping friends), although a one-off team up (maybe to rescue a mutual friend/family) could be fun as well!

Is "Space Grayson" a fair description of Kyle's personality?

I think when you're skimming through a summary, they can give off fundamentally similar vibes at the beginning - both generally good heroes with a no killing rule but a more flexible take on it than say Batman (Kyle letting Guy kill Major Force, I've been told Dick has stepped aside to let someone murder a person who killed their family before but I don't know the comic, Dick once beating the Joker to death, Kyle decapitating / nearly killing Major Force), good looking but trouble with girls (Donna, Jennie-Lynn, Soranik for Kyle and Kori, Barbara for Dick), same friends (Donna and Wally especially, but also Roy, Jade, Rose, Jason, Tim, and even BARBARA), favoured by Batman (Dick being told he is going to lead the Justice League one day and Kyle being the favourite Green Lantern (or one of), although this honestly is more of an indication of narrative favour with Batman used as an endorsing stamp), the ~special~ one in their circle (Dick as the cheerful/brighter Bat, and Kyle as the more normal lantern with more uncertainties that he has to overcome), party boys-vibe, and some general hero traits.

In general, I think it is less that they are similar as people, but that they are both also advantaged by being favoured by the narrative / narrative prop-ups. As I said above, Batman favouring them both is an obvious example, but they are both written quite favourably in general. Dick has his whole can never be corrupted and is fundamentally good thing (propped up again by Bruce), Kyle has his white lantern arc and the ability to master the whole emotional electromagnetic spectrum thing. Of course, they have both at some point lost some "favour" (when Dan Didio apparently wanted to kill Dick for example) and Kyle has lost quite a bit at the moment (he isn't really much of a narrative focus right now I think), but they both have relatively good framing (Dick more so than Kyle overall, but both still fit the category). I know there are complains about how Dick is sometimes written as not as competent as he should be or too happy-go-lucky, but narratively he is always treated as an amazing person you ARE supposed to look up to. Both have their "grown past what they've been given" arc, Nightwing for Dick and White Lantern for Kyle (although Kyle doesn't STAY White Lantern, which to me is at least a bit of an indicator for loss of narrative favour).

However, beneath the surface, I actually think they're quite different. When people say they're the same, they're often referring to how they are similar in terms of their narrative roles, so I'll start there, but I'll also mention some general personality difference towards the end (this is a bit difficult for me because personality isn't easily distinguished and separated and compared in my opinion haha).

Admirer vs Admired: This at least partially because Dick is one of the earliest created hero whereas Kyle is relatively new, so slotting him in a narrative in a way that the audience would like is important, but in general, Dick is an admired character (all the future Robins, many of the Titans both his own teammates and future ones, Jon Kent recently, even people within the league) whereas Kyle is an admirer of other characters (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, everyone who has upheld the Green Lantern tradition, many of Justice Leaguers, childhood crush on Donna so he probably admired the Titans too, even mentions of Nightwing detective skills).

Hypercompetence/Natural vs Thrust into Responsibility: Dick is generally a genius at a whole bunch of things and hypercompetent (not saying he doesn't work hard, because he does, but he is also very often portrayed as extremely naturally talented at a huge array of skills) whereas Kyle's story in general has a lot more element of struggling (arguably, also a product of their times, with Dick created in an era where the stories were more lighthearted and fun so Dick being a genius simply makes the story flow easier to the fun parts without the complication of watching them work for it). Kyle, on the other hand, is rarely portrayed as naturally talented at being a green lantern or hero, and Marz (his creator) even said in interviews that he is supposed to be an everyman character. Dick is the popular schoolboy with good grades, Kyle is the struggling student. Kyle's storyline has a lot of elements of the right place at the right time, Dick's story has a lot of how it doesn't matter whether Batman picks him up or not, he would have been a hero anyway because he is just like that (I believe Batman even explicitly tells Dick that during some Court of Owls arc, the latest Robin comic also sort of reinforces that with Dick becoming a secret agent, whereas it is pretty obvious that Kyle without being given the ring would likely not have ventured the hero path).

Above Everyone vs As Good As Everyone: This is sort of related to the above point, but it is more about how they are talked about in the narrative in comparison to others, as opposed to their own skills. Not to argue about whether or not Dick is truly better than all of the Titans (and Justice League?) but in general, he is portrayed as better than everyone. It is a little bit of a fundamentally Robin thing (with the exception of Jason who was led by Donna during his Titans mission as Robin, every Robin leads the Titans, even if the Robin is Damian and Tim leading people who have years of experience like Raven and Kori). Donna and Roy have both lead the Titans team, but never if Dick is part of the team. If Dick is in the team, he HAS to be the leader. If he is not around, Donna and Roy makes reference to how he was a better leader and they're not doing good enough. Kyle doesn't get that kind of narrative prop-up, like I said in the first point, he is the admirer, he deferred to both Roy (leader) and Donna (basically second-in-command originally, leader in Rebirth) when he joins the Titans (throwback when he was Donna's boytoy and damsel in distress lol). In fact, when he just joined, he is even considered newbie beneath the other kiddos. Of course, he grows and gets to a stage he is no longer just the newbie, but they usually then put him to equals to Donna and Wally, but not usually above them. Meanwhile, there is a literal quote of Dick saying he is going "back to the Titans-- those jokers are absolutely lost without me" and he is not ever shown to be wrong, the stories often back this up and have the Titans basically lost without him, especially in the early stages. In Rebirth, Kyle is even acknowledged as their heavy hitter when he joins but he is not the "better than everyone else", and during that VERY arc, Dick isn't even there (because he is busy being Ric at the moment) but almost every issue doesn't fail to keep bringing him up to remind the audience how this would be all easier and better if only Dick was here (especially by Donna and Raven). Oh, but they are just representing loss and how much the Titans miss him, you might think. SURE, BUT THEY JUST LOST ROY AND WALLY TOO (if I remember correctly, Roy and Wally are more recent losses even, but they don't get the close to the kind of narrative significance that Dick does, they never do)!! (Disclaimer: I don't think being the leader makes you automatically better than others, and this is even explored occasionally in Titans, but only when Donna and Roy are leaders as far as I've seen. But DC does have a "leader is better than everyone else" view in general, and Dick is treated as better than everyone else and that's why he is the leader.) Another easy (but extremely stupid) way to see this difference is how Connor and Kyle stories often have girls fawning after Connor instead whereas Dick in general is the "get the girls" guy. What does this show? In real life, nothing. In DC world of male-dominated writing, it is essentially the way of showing who is the ultimate macho man and best dude around because all the girls LOVE them (I'm going to puke).

Naivety: This is a little hard to compare because if I'm comparing Nightwing!Dick to Green Lantern!Kyle, Nightwing has literally 10 years of experience (maybe more) on him. However, in general, Kyle (as far as I've read) is shown to make more amateur-ish, naive, or innocent mistakes (eg. trusting the wrong people, oh boy does he not do this a LOT). This is a bit overlap-ish because some fanon portrayal of Dick Grayson does have him very naive and easy to trick, but he isn't really in canon, at best it's an image he projects to lower people's guards against him. Kyle meanwhile, is a pretty trusting dude, who nearly dies a whole bunch because he trusts the wrong people. He's the "I don't understand, why would you LIE?" person.

Friendliness: Dick is also generally seem to hit off with people easier, he has some conflicts with his friends but that often comes later, starting off a friendship doesn't seem to come difficult to him. Kyle, while also being on good terms with a good portion of the Titans and the League, generally has a more explosive starting with a lot of them. He tends to disagree and rub wrong with people before they get along (this honestly might have to do with the fact that people keep seeing Hal as him and the inevitable comparison and everything that causes a lot of tension for both sides).

Motivation / Drive: They both are obviously heroes who want to do good and do their best to make the world a better place. I think they both also have a certain level of martyr complex and as I said, general heroic traits. However, they don't have the same kind of drive, in my opinion. In general, Dick is much more active as a character, and Kyle tends to be a little more passive. For their starting points, Dick created Robin and went out on his own, forcing Batman to take him in as a partner eventually. Kyle got dumped a Green Lantern ring. For their growth arc, Dick chooses the Titans and creates a new identity in Nightwing. Coloured ring floats to Kyle and he is bizarrely confused and eventually becomes White Lantern. In general, Dick is a Leader™ character who leads the Titans and Outsiders and probably the Justice League at some point or eventually, Kyle has never led either the Titans or Justice League, and generally doesn't seem suited as a leader character even within the Green Lantern (I might be wrong about this one though). There is no right and wrong for this either, in my opinion, it's just that Kyle is a lot more reactive as a character and that's fine (eg. Hal gives him the ring that can duplicate, he thinks Hal wants him to recreate the Green Lantern corps, he moves to attempt to do so), he is a chill artist guy who's just trying to make things work and create change in the best way he can and doesn't generally pretend that he knows best for the world when he doesn't. His most active moments generally seem to surround either his civilian life or smaller actions - choosing to move to New York, when he reached out to his friend to help him with his alcoholism, proposing to Jennie-Lynn, etc. (Side note: expectations also push a lot of his motivations it seems.)

Extroversion: They're both fairly well-connected I think, but Dick gives off a more extroverted type than Kyle as far as I can tell, and Kyle has a bit more of a tendency of loner-ism, although they both seem to fall into it especially when stressed (this could just be a DC thing though, it seems pretty common).

Interests: I mean... I think they have different interests too, but this doesn't really define personality. Dick is definitely more of a showman time, but in general his range of interest is extremely wide (acrobatics, books, detective work, etc.). Kyle's interest does seem to be primarily arts and stories.

Overall, I think it's not really a fair description of Kyle's personality and only a slightly accurate description of the role/archetype they take up.

Should/could Kyle and Dick ever successfully occupy the same space? Either on a team (JLA, Titans, etc.), or even just as a one-off team up?

I think they've met once at Hal's funeral and was introduced by Donna (her best friend and at that time boyfriend), and supposedly have one very brief interaction (that I have not read). I think the fact Kyle doesn't actually work with Dick and mostly just bruch past each other is very funny and they really embody the "friend of friend" concept. Honestly, my answer for this question for any characters is almost always they should and they could because it's always fun to see new interaction, but ESPECIALLY for these two. I mean they are the bestie of bestie for at least two people (Donna and Wally)!

I would love to see them team up, both having obviously and definitely heard about the other (I mean Kyle explicitly has been told about Dick a few times on panel, I'm not sure about Dick's side but surely he has heard about Donna's boyfriend for a while and Wally's disaster vacation with Connor and Kyle). They could have certain views on the other, and maybe have been told "oh man, I totally think you would get along with Dick/Kyle" quite a bit by their friends, and to see how they meet/defy expectations would be lots of fun.

Titans is obviously a fun possibility because they've both been in the team, and funnily enough, Kyle always when Dick isn't around. It would be amusing to have Dick watch Kyle interact with his besties and realising they are closer to him than he initially imagined. Perhaps someone going "remember when..." and Kyle is joking/talking with them about it, but he doesn't "remember when" because maybe it happened at one of his (many) hectic life periods and he hadn't been around that much then. Then maybe him being a bit upset over it because who EVEN is this little upstart (which would be consistent with how Kyle generally starts off with most older/more established heroes at first). Meanwhile, Kyle would probably really look up to Dick and he is like an ideal that Kyle is striving towards (as it is for so many legacy heroes and especially Robins+Titans). It would be fun in a sense to have Kyle as the Jason-equivalent of the Dick-Bruce-Jason relationship of the Dick-Titans-Kyle relationship, if that makes sense. Nothing's wrong with Kyle, and Dick likes him well enough, but he feels vaguely replaced even though it isn't REALLY replacing (which works really well especially in the Rebirth version because the timing really shapes with Kyle coming in at a "replacement" time when Dick was gone).

A one-off team up to rescue a mutual friend/family is a very easy and good possibility too though! This can be so many people but especially Donna, Wally, Roy, or Jason. Roy might be the most possible option at the moment, I mean is he Black Lantern-ing somewhere? I don't know if he is in need of rescue though, I haven't been keeping up with the latest mess after the Rebirth Titans dropped off. I don't know if Infinite Crisis is still a thing in the latest version (I saw someone says nobody knows for sure??), but it could be a fun story if they're trying to find or rescue Jason and Kyle has a very obvious crush that makes Dick want to drop him off and send him far far away half the time. Or that he keeps complaining (maybe Donna was busy with something and couldn't join Dick on the mission, so she's like Kyle will go, he can help) and Dick thinks he hates Jason and is vaguely confused (but too stressed to be concerned about or care about it at the moment), until they meet and he is like HMMMM (sorry if you're not here for my JayKyle bullshit, but I had to).

(However, with Dark Crisis shaping up with Dick taking on a huge role and Kyle seemingly at best in some kind of fringe role, I don't know if it would happen any time soon.)

[nevermore-the-kitsune]

Pokemon Teams for Fictional Characters pt. 2

Damian Wayne

(Also, I'm not including move sets because in my headcannon Pokemon do remember all their old moves. But humans choose to only use four)

For this AU I'm having the Wayne's own the Gotham City Gym, which specializes in Dark types. Most of the cannon events still happened. Just with a few tweaks here and there. (Dick's 20, Jason's 16, Cass is 15 Tim's 15 but younger than Cass and Damian's 13 because I love AUs where there closer in age).

Anyway here we go!

First things first in the Pokemon Universe his alias wouldn't be Robin since they don't exist. Instead I think it would be Rookidee, since thats the closest Pokemon to a Robin.

His Partner Pokemon and ace would be a Gligar

Name: Goliath

Gender: Male

Why: Gligar screams Goliath (his Batdragon) plus the coloring of his evolutions matches with Dami's Robin and Batman outfits

Story: He found Goliath while climbing a mountain for his training. At the time he was four and Goliath was a hatching. Damian ended up giving him some food, seeing that the hatching was hungry.

Grateful, the Gligar followed him hoping to return the favor.

When Damian's hand got broken on that same trip, Goliath was the one to help him finish his mission and get home safely.

Talia was impressed that Damian could tame a wild Pokemon without catching it, so she allowed him to keep him as his first Pokemon.

-----

Next he would have a Meowth

Name: Alfred

Gender: Female

Why: This one has to do with its evolution. Persian are said to only be loyal to trainers it likes and that it takes a lot to get them to like you. Their also said to be prissy and uptight. This reminded me of Damian. How it took forever for him to trust his brothers and his own snobby attitude. Thus I think it fits.

Story: After coming to live with his father Damian didn't know how to act. He saw his "brothers" and father treating their Pokemon so different than how the League did. They all trained hard. But, there was something eles: warm praise for a job well done, asking for insight on a case (they had taught their bipedal pokemon sighn language) and comfort on a bad day. His father and brothers treated their Pokemon like... people

In the League Pokemon where the lowest soldier, lower than the slaves or concubines. They trained, ate then they had to and got in their ball.

He had been a little more lenient in his training with Goliath. When asked he said that he was still a baby and he had to take things slow in this stage or he might develop too much muscle mass and be unable to fly.

He had kept him out of his ball with the excuse of developing muscle mass at a proper pace.

He liked Goliath's company. The Gligar was a good companion. But on the same level as another person?

He had expressed these thoughts to Pennyworth, the only person in the house to give him a straight answer when he needed it.

Pennyworth had explained to him that some people love to hold power over others and that Pokemon where an easy target, since they couldn't communicate their emotions as clearly as people could.

"Think of Mistress Cain. She sometimes cannot communicate with words, but we know that she's intelligent. But some people see her as less than intelligent and treat her as such because of the power it gives them."

Two weeks later Damian would come across a group of teenagers attempting to shave a Meowth. The Pokemon was little more than skin and bone and crying out on pain. So, Damian broke their fingers and shaved part of their heads for good measure.

He kept the Meowth and named her after the man who taught him about the abuse of power.

---

Next, a Poochyena

Name: Titus

Gender: Male

Why: These Pokemon and their evolution are ruthless with their pray, and only obey trainers with external skill.

Story: Raven gave Damian Titus as a gift. She said that she rescued him from an underground fighting ring (where the battles are to the death). He was still to young to battle so he didn't need much rehabilitation. The other Pokemon there though...

---

Now we have a Type Null

Name: Heretic

Gender: ???

Why: This Pokemon was created in lab, and artificial designed for the purpose of fighting, just like Damian. True I could have given him Mewtwo, but that cat seems to fit Kon more.

Story: Damian's mother had spent years creating Type: Null with the purpose of being able to kill any target. As a last test she wanted to see which of her creations was suppirrior. So she sent the Type Null out to (try and) kill her son.

Damian, with the rest of his team, beat the Pokemon but couldn't kill it. He had long since vowed to wash the blood from his hands. Instead he offered his hand to it and asked it to join him.

---

Here we have the hardest to explain... Mimikyu

Name: Habibi (I hope I spelled that right)

Gender: Female

Why: Damian is complex, he wants to be accepted and loved just like Mimikyu but dosent know how. Both try to mimic others in order to get that love, Damian his father and Mimikyu Pikachu. So I see this as Damian's spirit Pokemon in a way.

Story: He didn't know why it was so hard to fit in. Gods know he tried. But... little things confused him. Like how eveyone could understand each other without words or singhing. He had no problems with that on a battlefield, but in day to day life; it felt like he was on a separate server.

Like how Todd knew at breakfast with just a look that Drake was in a bad mood and how to help. Or how Grayson could audomadicly tell what kind of day at school the rest of them had withen a few minutes. Hell even Drake could tell what grunts ment what from father! Which ment good job, Which ment I'm glade your okay, or frustration either at them or at a case (Cass didn't surprise him, she had to learn how to communicate without words and watch body language and micro expressions).

School was no better; sometimes it was to load or bright othertimes, when everyone was doing a test, it felt to quiet. But, to much or to little, Damian was always aware of every movement, every sound. It was like the very instincts that saved his life every night where turned against him.

He turned to his nearly forgotten childhood habits to distract himself from everything around him. That only led to more whisper shouting and what even he could tell where displeased glares with a grunt of "fucking tapping" or a snap of "stop!" He knew it was disrupting but it was all be could do to drown out the noise or silence.

On one particularly bad day at school; apparently during one of their tests one of his classmates had had enough of Damian's tapping and decided to make a scene.

There was some yelling from the kid. A few cries in agreement. Before the teacher had gotten hem to settle down. He had demanded that Damian look him in the eye and when he finally did told him to stop with the tapping or else he would be sent to the office, Gym Leaders son or not.

He was the last to finish that test where he normally finished first. The silence had been to load!!

After that clusterfuck Damian finally headed home. He had texted Grayson saying that he was meeting a friend somewhere to work on a project and to not pick him up. In truth he didn't want his brother reading what kind of day he had had. He needed some time to himself.

That was how he found himself in a nearby park. It was filled with plenty of sounds that didn't suffocate him and the fall leaves where soothing to his eyes. Damian had Titus out of his ball as company, knowing that the pup loved park walks.

They had been walking for an hour when they came across a box set off just on the edge of the trail. "Free to Good Homes" was written on the side in black sharpie.

No sound was coming from inside, so he assumed that the had all been taken. Until Titus went closer sniffing at the seemingly empty box.

"Pooch Pooch"

"Hmmm... what is is it boy?" He asked as he walked closer to his Pokemon and the Box. Damian hoped he was wrong. It was cruel to leave a baby Pokemon all alone, especially since the weather was getting colder by the day.

Inside the box was in fact a lone Pokemon. At first glance it looked like a Pikachu. But something was off. It looked more like a doll than a living creature. If it wasn't for the small chirps it let out and slight way that it was shivering from the cold Damian would have written it off as a toy. No wonder it got left behind...

Damian reached down and picked up the mystery Pokemon as gently as he could.

"Come on beloved, lets go home."

He tucked the Pokemon in his jacket to warm it up before reaching for his phone to call Grayson for a ride home.

That night Damian locked himself away, even skipped patrol, and spent a sleepless night learning everything he could about his newest Pokemon.

---

That was inspired by this comic

---

Finaly, for his last spot Eevee!!

Name: Omni

Gender: Female

Why: I'm going to have all the Batfam members have an Eeveelution. This branch and the Batfam are both growing consistently. We all have our favorites but we love them all the same. So I think it fits.

Story: Everyone in the family had an Eevee or one of its evolutions. Damian's Father said that Eevee was the Wayne family symbol, it was potential, the ability to become whatever you wanted.

Though it surprised Damian that the Wayne symbol wasn't a Noibat or Noivern (Batman's ace) at first he eventually understood the logic in choosing such a Pokemon to represent the family name. That only made things harder for him being the only one not having one. Did they not truly see him as family?

On the one year anniversary of Damian arriving at The Mannor, his family through a small party. Pennyworth made his favorite foods, The Mannor was decorated in tacky streamers (Graysons' idea) and they watched some of Damian's favorite fims, their Pokemon curled up with them. His father had offered to take the day off from the gym. Until Todd suggested that Damian take on the challengers.

The Gotham gym was part of his heritage. Damian had been training for the day that he could finally help weed out the weak challengers just like his siblings sometimes did (think the battles you do before challenging a gym leader in the games).

On that day, if the challengers agreed to it, their final battle wasn't with Bruce Wayne the Dark Knight but instead his son. Most accepted thinking that it would be an easy win, that they had lucked out in not having to battle one of the stongest Gym Leaders in the League and could still get the Shadow Badge.

Those poor fools.

Damian was only allowed to use Alfred, Titus and Habibi since he used Goliath and Heretic primarily as Rookidee.

Damian fought seven trainers that day in 3v3 fights. Only two of them got the badge.

With the day overwith and the night rising, so did Gothams' protecters.

The night ended with exhausted body's and adrenaline crashes. Damian was ready to slip into a mini coma from the day he had but before he could head upstairs to The Mannor...

"Not so fast baby bat." Graysons' voice called out to him. "We got one more surprise for you."

Damian raised his eyebrow at that. What else could they do? His father came back from the locker rooms where he had been desuiting, it always took him the longest because of his "old man bones" as Todd said.

"Son," his father said "its Wayne tradition to get your first Pokemon when you turn ten years old. I missed that with you." He paused, eyes briefly shifting to the floor before they snapped back on Damian's face. "Luckily there's one tradition we didn't miss. When you've lived at The Mannor for a year or the adoption papers get finalized, I give my children this..."

He pulled a Poke'ball out of his poket and handed to Damian. "Go on son, let them out."

He did

Staring at him was his own Eevee.

---

AN: All of Damian's Pokemon (sans maybe Omni, I'm thinking of leaving her as an Eevee) will eventually evolve. Eventually.

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Nightwing #81 Review

i swear i actually thought no one was interested so i didn’t write one but a grand total of two (2) people said they wanted to read it, so here it is. honestly, my opinion’s been going a bit downhill, but the art is really cool and there are some decent parts so. holding out i guess? i really hope taylor has an end goal or at least a cohesive plan, otherwise i don’t see this series going anywhere i’ll particularly enjoy

the cover is very straightforward in its imagery, this villain has nightwing in the palm of his hand, easily manipulated, easily controlled no matter the action dick thinks he’ll take. 

what i find interesting is the colour: both previously and heavily in this issue, the colourist has chosen to make pink this villain’s main colour, with different shades of pink as accents. so why the red in the cover? possibly to just make it more eye-grabbing, though one could argue that pink is even more eye-catching than red. maybe to convey a sense of dread or fear that pink won’t fully get across. either way, it’s definitely a decision i’m curious about.

so melinda zucco is in a high enough political position within bludhaven that she is next in line to become the mayor after the previous mayor died and dick just,,,,didn’t have any idea she existed? dick didn’t know anything about her? forget dick’s own brilliant detective skills, forget his doggedness at anything zucco related, you’re telling me bruce never found her and told dick about her? maybe he wouldn’t have now, but back when dick was a young kid, he definitely would have at least made dick aware of her existence, to let dick know and ask if he wanted to interfere with her life or anything.

i have a thought about zucco’s facial expressions. she is very much stone-cold poker face throughout the entire issue. the only time i see her pull a different expression is near the end when dick corners her against a wall with an arm around her throat. 

this is most certainly intentional, what with the varied and intense expressions we see on other characters, dick most prominently. i’m wondering what exactly is the creative team’s reasoning behind this. in these panels, zucco is meeting with the most dangerous, powerful, near-bloodthirsty man in all of bludhaven and becoming the mayor of the city respectfully. in both of these panels, there is barely a hint of emotion in her face: no fear, no determination, no satisfaction. it’s just odd, considering the circumstances she’s in, regardless of any training recieved.

just spitballing here but. like. from what i’ve read so far, dick doesn’t really seem like bludhaven’s guardian angel. more like when peter parker first put on spandex and blindly stepped out into new york.

dick, how exactly can you underestimate someone from one move. so he caught your escrima. anyone with enhanced reflexes can do that. you still don’t know how he can actually fight, and this is shown in the next set of panels. 

i just don’t like the wording here. dick’s “underestimated” him, but beats him up easy in the next page. in addition, i don’t know much about combat, but i would assume it would take more than one move to determine exactly what an opponent’s skill level is, made even more complex when you add physical enhancements and metahumans and aliens into the mixture.

idk my first thought when i saw that he caught the stick was “ah ok he’s enhanced” because obviously he couldn’t have reacted fast enough if he wasn’t (as there are few people trained enough to catch it on human reflexes alone.) then the wording in the next panel, i’ve underestimated him, made me think “oh no ok so he’s not enhanced, he’s just a really good fighter and can give dick a run for his money in a fight.” then, it turns out my first assumption was proven correct in the next panel. it just comes across as misleading to me.

(also sidenote but his curls are cute.)

have i praised the art enough in this series? no, i have not.

i adore the way this is laid out and illustrated. without even having to read the text, the action sequence is visually engaging and intense, and easily followable from one panel to the next. dick’s physical expertise comes through quite efficiently, and i love the special attention shown to draw our attention to dick’s escrima in the bottom right corner.

also that move in the middle row leftmost panel that’s the mcu black widow move to get up off the ground it was the first thing i noticed and it made me laugh; thought it was worth noting

i’m really loving dick’s escrima sticks in this run. they’re just so multipurpose, it’s hilarious and exhilarating. kinda reminds me of bruce’s belt, the way the button in the middle does eevveeerrryyytthhiinngg. 

got a problem? don’t worry! dick’s installed a feature into his escrima that can fix that! (i like thinking dick helped make them it makes me happy and makes my engineer!dick side satisfied)

yawn. your big heart is your one true weakness yadda yadda the fact that you care will be used against you blah blah we get it. jesus can the villains please find a different weakness to exploit, this is getting old.

i need dick’s capacity to empathize and care and love to stop being a weakness that villains sneer about. bonus points if dick saves everyone anyway, either because of or despite his great big heart and the villain is surprised by the goodness of mankind or some shit like that.

i need it to be a strength, right from the get-go. the fact that he cares so incredibly much should be an asset that dick has and will use. he’s a very complex character with years of background, it can’t possibly be that hard to find another weakness of his. 

ooooh this is cool, gosh i absolutely love this.

because what exactly is the reader doing? we are seeing the fear in dick’s face, just as this villain intended. even better, we’re seeing the reflection of it from the villain’s glossy mask, telling us exactly what we’re seeing and exactly what he likes so much about it.

dick’s standing up straight, shoulders drawn back, looking up at this villain’s face with determination and resolve, but his suit is tattered. one eye looks to be swollen. his hair is falling limply around his eyes, as opposed to the curls from earlier. his escrima aren’t even part of the main focus, instead blending into the side of the mask in the outer corners of the mask’s eyes, which tells you exactly how big of a threat they are to this villain.

poor bitewing’s quite alarmed.

also on second thought why would you bring your puppy out like this, when you know you’re gonna end up fighting someone in the suit. a) how many grey three-legged adorable little puppies live in the bludhaven area dick? and how easy will it be to connect the doggo running around with nightwing with the doggo that dick grayson owns? and 2) is this puppers trained? does she have fighting experience? how exactly can you ensure she will survive this highly stressful situation?

dick take better care of your dog 

you know what? i was with tim on this one. why exactly is dick so optimistic and trusting about the people of bludhaven? bludhaven, which has been described as gotham’s smaller, smellier, more corrupt sister city once or twice. it’s not just the corrupt people in power, the entire system needs to change and people need to have faith and hope in order for them to come together, espcially if they’ve been living in conditions like how bludhaven has been described. from how clueless dick is about his own goddamn city, i can tell he hasn’t been here long.

it was a nice moment of hope, i’ll admit. but it was a tad unrealistic for me.

also it was in a weird place in the comic. this sort of confrontation and big get-together of the people to rejuvenate hope in each other feels like it should come near the end of a run, if not the end of an issue. certainly not in the first third of an issue. the pacing’s a bit off to me.

loyal little puppy patiently waiting for her human to wake up. i love her so much.

no it’s not. it’s bitewing.

living for this t-shirt honestly. do comics of dc characters exist in the dc universe? they must if the mug and the shirt are any indication

(now i’m imagining the first batman movie that came out in the dc universe and bruce just. being so offended at who they chose to play him.)

well, yes. but when a group of people are put through hellish conditions over and over again, they soon become desensitized to the pain and terror of their everyday lives in order to both stay sane and keep their life relatively stable, and part of that becomes ignoring or blocking out anything that isn’t directly important to you or your loved ones. having a bleeding heart will most likely get you killed in a city like bludhaven if you don’t have the same skills that vigilantes have.

and of course, people are more than capable of coming together and rallying under their city’s vigilante after seeing the good they’ve done and how they’ve helped the people, but that sort of trust takes time and effort to build. dick also had the whole ric arc and was gone for a while, which has been referenced several times in this particular issue in fact. that’s not going to make bludhaven’s citizens any more likely to trust him.

maybe i’m being a bit harsh but this comic is comic off as a bit too idealistic for the amount of change nightwing can do in a city given the present and past circumstances as well as nightwing’s own abilities. even dick grayson can’t pull off everything.

ok seriously this needs to stop this needs to stop.

right now, dick reminds me of oliver queen in the few episodes of the cw’s arrow i watched. he does the punchy-kicky-fighty and occasionally has smart insights due to the skills he gained from his past that he certainly definitely totally has but only ever exhibits once, while his team does all of the background research and information gathering and actual work.

this is dick’s city. if he has the same intelligence, worth ethic, and stubbornness in this run that he’s been shown to possess all his life, then he knows this city inside out. he’ll have meticulous notes organized in a ridiculously efficient system, he’ll have scouted out zucco long before this started, he’ll have known when anything big happened in the bludhaven political landscape in an instant.

i’m really not liking exactly how much dick’s relying on babs and tim in this series. sure, he loves them and cares for them and likes working cases with them. but he always pulls his own weight, has always been a mentor figure to tim instead of what’s weirdly becoming the other way around, and takes point on the cases in his own damn city.

what kind of weak-ass oracle is this?? redacted fbi files are child’s play. babs used to hack into the fbi for fun. this one particular picture is so out of character i want to laugh.

reading this series has unfortunately made me confront that, despite the tiny fluid acrobat dick that lives in my head 24/7, canon dick is impossibly 5′10 and muscular at that.

mmm. titties.

tim said hydrate or die-drate bitch

love how dick’s doing all this intense brooding and stuff meanwhile bitewing is curled up in a soft comfy post having the time of her life.

you don’t understand i would legitimately kill myself for her.

also the lighting in this one scene is cool. the blue tones come off so well.

they’re just. so multipurpose!! they can become a bo staff. they can cut glass. they can become a grapple hook/line. they can electrify someone. they’re a funky colour. i’m becoming really attached to these things. absolute solid choice in weaponry.

if you’re gonna write up every rookie mistake dick has made during this series to head trauma, then dick shouldn’t be out and about at all, much less in costume.

see this? this is just straight up wrong. dick most definitely should have spotted her, and would have immediately moved to take her down.

scratch that, dick would have done a full check of the building, because he knows not to break into places uninformed, especially if the owner of the apartment was raised by the maroni family. someone as highly trained, experienced, and competent as dick wouldn’t have done this.

and if you chalk it up to head injury, (which is probably true), than his ~love interest~ and his little brother should have done a much better job making sure he stays in his house.

zucco looks so awkward it’s fucking hilarious

are those shadows that mimic a domino mask, to both reflect and hide the fact that his mask is missing? are those bruises around his eyes, to show how, despite what good he’s doing, being nightwing is hurting dick right now? 

(isn’t his domino mask supposed to have an electrifying feature that keeps people from removing them?)

it’s a little odd how the three known villains of this series are all coloured in warm shades, more specifically pink. meanwhile, in earlier issues, dick’s fondest memories were in pink, memories of him and alfred in particular. why has the colour pink changed from signifying something benevolent to something malicious? idk i hope this gets explained later.

this i did like. either it’s just a display of brute force in anger, or dick slipped the ties and pulled them off once untied. both ways, it’s an unintentional display of power, and i think that’s kinda cool.

again. dick is,,,tall? sort of? weirdddd

i’m so glad most readers are unified in the notion that this was the absolute dumbest fucking thing.

i’m hoping this gets disproved or something soon. and i hope dick doesn’t fall for it, because he definitely knows better than to take something as important as this at face value.

what exactly is taylor trying to accomplish here? why is he trying to go back on what we all knew was a happy, loving childhood and throw strife and disharmony and (what i’m assuming will be) infidelity? this will not end well at all.

---

,,,,,this review got way longer than expected lol. and i realize most of it just became me ranting. i guess i didn’t realize how ticked off i was originally. fingers crossed it gets better.

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @bikoncon @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @thatsthewhump @xatanna-troy @red-hood-redemption @capricorn-stark @batshit-birds​ @comics-observer

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

Problematic Faves Cliffs Notes: Harvey Dent/Two-Face

Batman (1980) #329

Summary: Once a crusading district attorney that worked alongside Batman and Jim Gordon to fight crime – now the duality-obsessed super criminal known as Two-Face.

Harvey Dent also serves as a dark reflection of Batman's own struggles living a dual life with conflicting identities.

Main Goal: To enact his own justice whilst committing crimes.

Fears: Uncertainty, himself in general [the things he's capable of, specifically], losing control, his loved ones dying, his darker half discovering Bruce's secret identity [Detective Comics (2016) #1021], Renee Montoya's rejection [Batman: No Man's Land, novel], and the Joker [Joker (2008), only].

Mindset: Sees himself bound by fate and its will. As a result of Harvey's black-and-white worldviews, he considers his two-headed (scarred on one side) silver dollar a truly objective instrument of justice due to it only yielding two simple, 50/50 outcomes at the end of every coin toss.

"Some people go to the beach to forget their problems. They can watch the waves for hours. I understand the fascination.

There's a pattern – then there is no pattern.

It's the same with the coin. We want it all to mean something – we want to find the pattern – but in the final analysis, it's just waves."

— Harvey Dent, Secret Origins Special (1989) #1

•••

"He was always interested in the law – some might say obsessed. Man's law gave order to Harvey's world – they delineated the parameters of right and wrong, good and evil. They gave him something to believe in."

— Gilda Dent, Secret Origins Special (1989) #1

•••

Hugo Strange: Let's go back further, you were a rising star, a beacon of light for this city. A white knight riding in to save it with the Dark Knight not far behind.

Harvey Dent: You can leave him out of this. He is wrong. They all are. No one understands the beauty of fate's hand. I am grateful to Falcone. He gave me a clarity; a purity that few will know. Everything boils down to a simple choice, this way or that way, good... or bad.

Hugo Strange: Do you really believe that?

Harvey Dent: How could I not?

— Batman: Arkham City

•••

Batman: If you pull the trigger, how are you different from the Roman?

Harvey Dent: That's Jim Gordon talking. You know the system doesn't work. That justice can be decided like the flip of a coin.

— The Long Halloween

•••

"You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time... but you were wrong! The world is cruel. And the only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased, unprejudiced, fair."

— Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight

•••

"Life's a lottery, Holman. It's chance that decides who lives and who dies. Who gets cancer. Which kid is born with spina bifida. Who gets run over by a truck.

This [the coin] is what decides whether or not I blow your wife's brains out."

— Harvey Dent, Joker's Asylum: Two-Face #1 

Teen Titans Spotlight (1987) #13

Character Traits:

🌗 Loving • Idealistic • Genuine • Principled • Resolute • Focused • Driven • Workaholic • Passionate • Eloquent • Wrathful • Obssessed • Brooding • Self-loathing • Black-and-white thinking • Dauntless • Fair • Honest (generally) • Man of his word • Learned helplessness (regarding the coin and his choices) • Self-destructive • Unpredictable • Hair-trigger temper • Can be persuaded • Charitable (depends on coin toss) • Takes his pain out on others • Self-enabling • Serious • Harsh • Intimidating • Vengeful • Physically violent • Self-aware • Conflicted • Feels remorse • Tries, but fails to improve as a person • Too Dependent on his coin • Fatalistic • Suicidal • Forgiving • Self-centered, but not selfish 🌗

Key Facts:

Harvey Dent...

• Had mental health issues long before his disfigurement [Batman Annual (1990 #14, Batman: The Animated Series - Episode 10, and Batman: Arkham City].

• His father physically abused him every day as a child. Christopher Dent used a double-headed coin to make Harvey believe he could "avoid" the beatings if the coin landed on the non-existent "tails" [Batman Annual #14].

• Bruce Wayne was his childhood friend [Rebirth universe & Batman: Nightwalker].

• Harvey "Legal Eagle" Dent was the top of his class [Secret Origins Special (1989) #1].

• Paid for his father's nice apartment [Batman: Two-Face (1995) - Crime & Punishment].

• Half of Harvey wanted to love his father, while the other half wished him dead. Despite everything, he tried to make peace with Christopher prior to the acid attack [Batman Annual #14].

• Never stopped loving/thinking about Gilda Dent when she disappeared from his life following the events of the Long Halloween [Batman (2006) #653 & Batman (2011) #712].

What's more, Harvey continued loving Gilda so much that he wound up murdering her second husband's killer in a pre-Long-Halloween continuity [Batman (1980) #329] because the man's death left Gilda grieving.

• Fun fact: The Power of Love helped him resist Poison Ivy's pheromones in the Dark Victory #11!

Begone, thot!

• Blamed Batman for what happened to him with Salvatore Maroni Carmine Falcone and the acid attack that scarred his face [Batman: Arkham Knight].

• Uses his coin to determine whether he should kill or spare his victims. Also, he has been known to perform acts of charity [Detective Comics (1942) #66 & Batman: The Silver Age Newspaper Comics Volume 3 (1969-1972)] sometimes.

• Loves and hates Gotham [Batman and Robin (2013) #23.1].

• Dislikes hypocrites [Batman: Two-Face (1995) - Crime and Punishment & The Spectre (2001) #5].

• Developed strong feelings for Renee Montoya in the Batman: No Man's Land storyline.

• Continued caring about Renee deeply, despite the events of Gotham Central (2003) #10 [Convergence: The Question #1-2].

Received training from Batman [Batman #653] and Deathstroke [Deathstroke (2018) #38].

• Has tried growing better as a person, but he keeps failing [Batman Annual #14 & Batman and Robin Adventures (1995) #1-2].

• Has re-scarred himself more than once [Batman Annual #14, Batman #653, and Batman: Black and White (1996) #1].

• For all his faults and crimes – such as nearly beating Dick Grayson to death in Robin: Year One – he has helped people [The Batman Chronicles (1999) #16], defended Jim Gordon from himself as Jim's defense lawyer [Detective Comics (1999) #739], cares about the women in his life, and keeps his word when the coin comes up good.

He is a complex character, period.

Other Facts:

• Has seen Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" [Batman (1986) #397].

• Knows how to sculpt [Detective Comics (1986) #563].

• Owns a "thememobile" like Batman [Batman (1987) #410]!

• Likes baseball [Batman (1987) #411].

• Likes symmetry [Batman (1989) #442].

Smokes, but also doesn't [Batman (1994) #513].

"My own version of the literary reference mark known as a diesis – more commonly known as a double-dagger! My next pair shall strike to the heart of the matter!" — Harvey Dent, Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice #1 – the words of a man who certainly reads a lot!

Batman Annual #14 & Teen Titans Spotlight #13 – A himbo he is not!

• Reads classic books such as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" [Detective Comics #66] and "A Tale of Two Cities" [Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice #2].

• Still finds putting criminals behind bars fun [Batman Gotham Adventures (1999) #12].

• Can speak Spanish [The Batman Chronicles #16].

• Doesn't mind hitting women at all. There are so many examples of this; Harvey confirmed it himself [Batman: Streets of Gotham (2009) #7], and beat up Jim Gordon's wife in Batman (1999) #572.

• Made a self-insert comic book in an art therapy program. Yup, he wrote and drew it himself [Detective Comics (2001) #753]!

Called it "The Adventures of Copernicus Dent and His Best Girl and Plucky Assistant R'Nee!" 

• Plays chess with Batman [Gotham Knights (2002) #32].

• Has watched Star Trek [Nightwing (2008) #150].

• Fought and killed a werewolf [The 2008 DC Universe Halloween Special]. Yes, really.

• Was a cult leader [Detective Comics (2020) #1020].

• Rebirth!Harvey is now working as a jailhouse lawyer in Blackgate [Detective Comics (2020) #1024].

• Understands how binary code works, but computer geeks make him sick? [Robin (1994) #11] Yeah.

• Has kids. Twins! [Batman: Two-Faces Strikes Twice]. It looks like they're irrelevant.

• Remembered Renee's birthday and sent her tulips [Detective Comics (2000) #747].

• Has been a judge before [The New Batman Adventures - Episode 24 & Arkham Unhinged (2013) #11].

• Hates odd-numbers [Robin: Year One #2].