#and then the Same Bad Guys would threaten that grown-up six-year-old's life and our detective would try to stop them

[silverwhittlingknife]

Dick and Tim at the circus <3

I love Tim's origin story. Here are some of the highlights:

There's a Meaningful Photo that Dick and Tim both have copies of...

...and it commemorates their first meeting:

Here's Tim's memory:

(Look how cute they are! Who among us would not respond to a hug from Dick Grayson by gazing up at him in awestruck adoration and then obsessing about his superheroics for years? Tim Drake: truly the relatable Robin. =p)

Things that I love about this:

1. Tim gets attached to the Robin costume when it's still the Flying Graysons costume. Before it symbolizes crimefighting, he associates it with kindness and reassurance and happiness (and of course, with Dick):

Which is of course why Tim thinks of the costume as Dick's ("it belongs to you!").

2. Dick ruffled his hair and promised to do a somersault for him, which is the reason why Tim is watching so closely. So the reason why Tim figures out Dick's identity is because of an act of kindness, and this is just so quintessentially appropriate for Dick Grayson I can't even tell you.

3. Tim meets Dick's parents, and Dick meets Tim’s parents. And even though it's a really fleeting encounter, that means they know something about each other that no one else knows. (No one else in the Batfamily ever sees Dick with his parents or Tim with both of his.)

And all four parents in that photo later get horribly murdered, leaving the two kids as the sole survivors. So for Dick it becomes a kind of talisman of the Way Things Were before, well, all this:

4. Dick's kindness is what makes Tim pay attention to the somersault, but the reason why Tim obsesses about it afterwards is because he's horrified by what happened and worried about Dick. Which is quintessentially appropriate for Tim Drake.

I turned away...I couldn't watch...Then I heard you crying and I turned back and saw you holding onto them, and I began crying too. I'm sorry, Dick. I really am. I didn't want to hurt you by telling you all this.

This is such a charged moment and the complexity of it really speaks to me. Because on one level, this is a kind of classic origin story for a Tim as a crimefighter: witnessing a horrifying crime, forever haunted by it, wanting to help. And in this story, Dick's the tragic victim. But what comes next is the realization that Dick's become Robin, which transforms him from victim to hero. And Tim clearly sees Dick as that hero now - after all, he's come to Dick because he's sure that Dick can save Batman.

But Tim spends the years before he figures out the secret thinking only about Dick's tragedies, and I feel like that gives a really compelling twist to his admiration. Because what Tim admires about Dick is not that he thinks Dick's immune to grief or suffering - Tim knows he's not! - but that he's a hero despite it. The person that Tim recognizes fighting crime is the person that he dreams about crying. The kid kneeling beside his parents' bodies is the one that Tim sees saving the day. And there's something really cool about that story to me.

5. They meet before either of them meet Bruce. Before the masks and the secret identities.

To me, it's really important that their first connection is a personal one. Tim doesn't remember the somersault years later because he's got photographic memory; instead, he remembers because 1) Dick went out of his way to be kind to him, and 2) Tim worries about Dick when he witnesses the murder.

So their mutual concern for each other as people is the spark that ultimately leads Tim to figure out Dick and Bruce's secret identities and ultimately join the Batfamily. He remembers because Dick made him a promise and hugged him.

And Dick's the one who convinces Bruce to make Tim Robin. Dick's the first one to consider Tim part of the family. And Dick's at the funeral for Tim's mom and he's the one who calls after the death of Tim's dad, because all the compassion and love that's in Tim's heart is something that Dick feels just as strongly.

And that's why I think they're great.

[lokitapendragon]

#why i like dick and tim in comics: an incomplete list#anyway i really enjoy this origin story & appreciate that tim was not anybody's long-lost relative (looking at you Dick's Long-Lost Sister)#''i witnessed a horrible murder at an impressionable age'' actually makes perfect sense for wanting to be a detective someday#and stop crime#and it works as a hard-boiled detective story motivation ''i saw this crime at a young age & have been obsessed with solving it ever since'#but normally in the trope Tim should be OLDER than Dick#or else the same age#''when i was 12 i met a little 6-year-old at the circus & his parents were murdered & i have Never Forgotten & i still dream abt it''#''i became a private detective so that would Never Happen Again''#also normally in the trope dick would - y'know - not be a superhero#and then the Same Bad Guys would threaten that grown-up six-year-old's life and our detective would try to stop them#i know tim is supposed to be a relatable audience avatar BUT in-universe this origin story is actually kinda weird & not-normal XD#this is an ''obsessive private eye'' origin story not a ''relatable kid'' origin story#and the fact that he figures out their identities & never tells anyone is (watsonian-wise) v. telling & interesting as a character moment#a normal nine-year-old would DEFINITELY tell someone#it's just Extremely Tim that as a small child he keeps his mouth shut about this for FOUR YEARS XD#anyway i find this origin story so fascinating b/c it's either very sweet or incredibly unsettling depending on how Dick takes it#also i am a sucker for Childhood Meetings and Meaningful Photos#and i get a kick out of the fact that most of Dick & Tim's meaningful moments are out-of-costume and not in-costume

Dick and Tim at the circus <3

I love Tim's origin story. Here are some of the highlights:

There's a Meaningful Photo that Dick and Tim both have copies of...

...and it commemorates their first meeting:

Here's Tim's memory:

(Look how cute they are! Who among us would not respond to a hug from Dick Grayson by gazing up at him in awestruck adoration and then obsessing about his superheroics for years? Tim Drake: truly the relatable Robin. =p)

Things that I love about this:

1. Tim gets attached to the Robin costume when it's still the Flying Graysons costume. Before it symbolizes crimefighting, he associates it with kindness and reassurance and happiness (and of course, with Dick):

Which is of course why Tim thinks of the costume as Dick's ("it belongs to you!").

2. Dick ruffled his hair and promised to do a somersault for him, which is the reason why Tim is watching so closely. So the reason why Tim figures out Dick's identity is because of an act of kindness, and this is just so quintessentially appropriate for Dick Grayson I can't even tell you.

3. Tim meets Dick's parents, and Dick meets Tim’s parents. And even though it's a really fleeting encounter, that means they know something about each other that no one else knows. (No one else in the Batfamily ever sees Dick with his parents or Tim with both of his.)

And all four parents in that photo later get horribly murdered, leaving the two kids as the sole survivors. So for Dick it becomes a kind of talisman of the Way Things Were before, well, all this:

4. Dick's kindness is what makes Tim pay attention to the somersault, but the reason why Tim obsesses about it afterwards is because he's horrified by what happened and worried about Dick. Which is quintessentially appropriate for Tim Drake.

I turned away...I couldn't watch...Then I heard you crying and I turned back and saw you holding onto them, and I began crying too. I'm sorry, Dick. I really am. I didn't want to hurt you by telling you all this.

This is such a charged moment and the complexity of it really speaks to me. Because on one level, this is a kind of classic origin story for a Tim as a crimefighter: witnessing a horrifying crime, forever haunted by it, wanting to help. And in this story, Dick's the tragic victim. But what comes next is the realization that Dick's become Robin, which transforms him from victim to hero. And Tim clearly sees Dick as that hero now - after all, he's come to Dick because he's sure that Dick can save Batman.

But Tim spends the years before he figures out the secret thinking only about Dick's tragedies, and I feel like that gives a really compelling twist to his admiration. Because what Tim admires about Dick is not that he thinks Dick's immune to grief or suffering - Tim knows he's not! - but that he's a hero despite it. The person that Tim recognizes fighting crime is the person that he dreams about crying. The kid kneeling beside his parents' bodies is the one that Tim sees saving the day. And there's something really cool about that story to me.

5. They meet before either of them meet Bruce. Before the masks and the secret identities.

To me, it's really important that their first connection is a personal one. Tim doesn't remember the somersault years later because he's got photographic memory; instead, he remembers because 1) Dick went out of his way to be kind to him, and 2) Tim worries about Dick when he witnesses the murder.

So their mutual concern for each other as people is the spark that ultimately leads Tim to figure out Dick and Bruce's secret identities and ultimately join the Batfamily. He remembers because Dick made him a promise and hugged him.

And Dick's the one who convinces Bruce to make Tim Robin. Dick's the first one to consider Tim part of the family. And Dick's at the funeral for Tim's mom and he's the one who calls after the death of Tim's dad, because all the compassion and love that's in Tim's heart is something that Dick feels just as strongly.

And that's why I think they're great.