#bruce in Blüdhaven

[pinklotushere]

*throws this and runs*

Blüdhaven was used to the flips, the twirls, and the relentless quips that came with Nightwing. The acrobat in black and blue had long been the city's shadowy protector, darting from rooftop to rooftop with a grin that never quite matched the chaos he left behind.

But something had changed, and the people of Blüdhaven were starting to notice.

“Yo, remember last week when Nightwing—uh, if that’s still him—just shattered Luka’s arm? Like, no banter, no nothin’? Just crack.”

Eddie leaned back in his chair at The Last Stop Diner, his gaze fixed on the group of regulars seated at the corner booth. He wasn’t the only one with questions.

“I thought I was imagining things,” Carrie chimed in, stirring her coffee. “But I swear to God, the guy’s built like a brick wall now. You see him take down the Steel Street crew? No flips. No acrobatics. Just…straight punches.”

“Yeah, yeah!” Eddie slapped the table for emphasis. “He didn’t even bother dodging. Just ate one of their hits like it was nothin’ and decked the guy right after. I don’t think he even grunted.”

“Maybe it’s steroids?” someone suggested.

“Or a mid-life crisis,” Carrie shot back, rolling her eyes. “Dude looks fifty now, minimum.”

But speculation didn’t make sense of the facts. Gone was the lithe, nimble Nightwing who once turned gang fights into chaotic circuses.

In his place was a towering figure, six feet of raw muscle and no nonsense, fighting with the kind of technique you’d expect from a hardened boxer rather than a trapeze artist.

Even the criminals were baffled.

“Hey, Luka, how’s the arm?” Eddie called to a guy limping past the diner window.

“Shut up,” Luka snarled, holding his sling protectively. “Don’t know what that guy’s problem is, but it ain’t normal.”

The Steel Street gang had been laughing when they saw Nightwing show up last week.

“Aww, here he comes,” one of them had jeered, “with his flips and twirls!”

And then the old man had decked him.

No clever quips, no acrobatics—just a straight, brutal left hook that left the guy crumpled on the ground. The others tried to jump him, but every one of them got the same treatment. A solid punch here, an elbow there, and a particularly nasty uppercut that sent Luka to the hospital.

By the end of it, the gang wasn’t laughing anymore.

The rumors started spreading.

“You think it’s still him?”

“Gotta be. He’s wearing the suit.”

“But the guy’s, like, twice the size he used to be! And where’s all the snark? I haven’t heard him say anything in weeks.”

Whatever had happened to Nightwing, one thing was clear: Blüdhaven’s protector wasn’t playing games anymore. And the city hated it.

“I miss him,” Carrie admitted one evening, staring out at the skyline. “Like, the real him. The guy who made all this crap we deal with…bearable.”

Eddie nodded solemnly. “The flips. The jokes. The way he’d tie those gangsters up in, like, Christmas lights and leave ‘em swinging from a lamppost? Where’s that guy? Where’s our guy?”

When he came back, the city didn’t let him go quietly.

It had been months of fear, confusion, and speculation, but when Nightwing finally swung into action the way he used to—quips, flips, and all—it was like the entire city exhaled at once.

Carrie spotted him first. “No way,” she breathed, pointing to the figure perched on a rooftop, striking his usual pose.

When he leapt down, somersaulting through the air to knock out three gangsters in one motion, Eddie cheered so loud he nearly lost his voice.

The word spread like wildfire

By the time Nightwing finished his patrol, there was a small crowd waiting for him at the edge of a park.

People—actual civilians—approached him with tearful smiles, holding out fruit baskets and baked goods.

“Uh…” Nightwing hesitated as a little girl shoved a bouquet of flowers into his hands. “What is happening right now?”

“You’re back!” Carrie exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in a hug so tight he nearly dropped the flowers.

“Don’t ever leave us again,” Eddie begged, thrusting a pie into his free hand.

“Wait, what?” Nightwing blinked, completely baffled.

“You abandoned us!” an older woman scolded, shaking a finger at him. “Where were the flips? The sass? Do you know how scary you got?”

“I…uh…” he stammered, utterly lost.

The crowd parted slightly, and to Nightwing’s utter disbelief, a few familiar faces emerged from the shadows. Gang members. Former enemies. Even a couple of low-level villains.

“Yo, man,” muttered one of the Steel Street crew, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “Uh…we kinda brought you a thing.” He held up a sleek, black and blue leather jacket. The stitching was uneven, and the Nightwing symbol on the back looked like it had been traced from a comic book, but it was clearly handmade. “Figured you could use something fresh. Y’know, for the cold nights.”

“...Thanks?” Nightwing said, taking the jacket with a mix of confusion and astonishment.

Another thug shuffled forward, holding a battered book in his hands. “Here.” He thrust it at Nightwing. “It’s a joke book. You’re always crackin’ one-liners, right? Well, these might be better than what you’ve been using. No offense.”

“None taken,” Nightwing replied dryly, tucking the book under his arm.

A burly enforcer stepped up next, dragging a pair of free weights behind him. “These are for ya. You were hittin’ like a freight train last time, so, uh…might as well keep it up, right?”

A lanky member of the Steel Street crew awkwardly handed him a single boxing glove. “For when you’re really feelin’ old-school,” he joked. “Signed it for ya too, in case you wanna auction it off someday.”

Nightwing stared at the growing pile of gifts in his arms, the ridiculousness of it all threatening to overwhelm him.

“So, uh, promise you’re not gonna leave us hanging like that again?” Eddie asked, still clutching his pie.

“I…promise?” Nightwing managed, his voice tinged with disbelief as he juggled the flowers, joke book, weights, and jacket.

Somewhere in the back of the crowd, a man muttered to his wife, “You think he’s weirded out by this?”

“Probably,” she whispered back. “But it’s Nightwing. He’ll make a joke about it later.”

Nightwing, overwhelmed but smiling faintly, realized he’d never understand Blüdhaven’s people. But for once, he didn’t mind

[frownyalfred]

okay but consider the hilarity of Dick Grayson actually making a name for himself as a REALLY good detective over in Blüdhaven, the Gotham tabloids catching wind of it, and printing a whole story about how Dick “…clearly doesn’t get it from his father!”

his father being Bruce Wayne, known in certain circles as the world’s greatest detective. like imagine the dinner table conversation after that story drops.

[the-djarin-clan]

BatDad and BatBaby.

Nightwing #100

by: Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, and Adriano Lucas

[were-wolverine]

“dick grayson is a rich kid” “dick grayson is a cop”

you mean the dick grayson who spent the first 9ish years of his life in a traveling circus? who probably lived in a trailer? who was put in juvie for weeks after being orphaned? who was likely taught not to trust cops?

you mean the dick grayson who refused to use bruce’s money once he left the manor? who lived in a shitty apartment in Blüdhaven and worked a job to afford it? who is very independent from bruce?

you mean the dick grayson who saw firsthand the corruption in both gotham and blüdhaven’s police department? who became a vigilante to do what the cops couldn’t/wouldn’t do?

you mean the dick grayson who, after becoming a millionaire (from alfred’s inheritance), gave all of that money to charity? that dick grayson?

[armed-with-a-waffle-iron]

Sports Team Logos for DC Comics Cities

Used Photopea and took some liberties with the names.

Fictional Etymology

The Knights⚾️: The Knights initially attributed their name to Gotham's history as an English colony though the double entendre was not lost on them, especially since the infamous "Gotham Nights" have become synonymous with the crime capital.

The Meteors🏈⚾️: Alliteration 🤷‍♀️.

The Spartans🏐: Gateway City possesses the largest collection of Greek artefacts outside of Greece and have a reputation for producing gold-medal-winning Olympians, inspiring the name of Gateway's Pro Volleyball team; the "Spartans".

The Sab-Cats⚽️: The Sab-Cats are a NWSL team born out of a social initiative by community centres in Star City using sport to keep youths away from crime. Recently turned professional, the team honours its mutual aid roots by adopting the Anarchist symbol of the "Sab-Cat".

The Velocity🏈: Keystone City has long been a hub of transport manufacturing, from automobiles to aircraft. The Velocity began as an amateur factory workers' football team in the 1940s, with its name referring to the cars these workers assembled.

The Cheetahs🏈: Initially named the "Central City Cougars", after the wildcat historically present in Missouri, the NFL team more recently renamed itself after the speedy African Cheetah in honour of its then residential speedster, the second Flash, following the first Crisis.

The Cosmos🏀: Before its destruction, Coast City was known along the West Coast as a melting pot of diversity, and its former NBA team derived its name, "Cosmos", from the word "Cosmopolitans".

The Bloodhounds⚾️: Before harmful radiation, Blüdhaven was plagued with corruption, often enabled by its police force. Some suspect strings were pulled for this former MLB team to adopt a blue kit and a common police dog as a mascot. Maybe it's a coincidence?

[spectral-phases]

The Night Blüdhaven Exploded

I don't see enough people talking about what the Chemo attack on Blüdhaven must have done, as just everything was going wrong for Bruce and his boys that night.

For starters, Bruce is already fighting his dead/ressurected son who came back as a crime-lord villain who has been blowing up so, so many goons/criminals in Gotham for a while.

Then he sees Blüdhaven explode in front of his very eyes, and Jason then taunts Bruce, saying that Dick must be dead and insists on forcing Bruce to choose between killing Jason and killing the Joker not 2 minutes later. Bruce, as we all know, refuses to allow either, and stops Jason with a Batarang to the neck/shoulder, depending on your angst factor (or possibly aiming for Joker, but Joker moves and gets it to hit Jason on purpose/by accident ymmv).

(Batman 1940 #650)

And then, after all of that, the Joker sets off some explosives, surely killing Jason/the Joker (This makes the second explosion the Joker is going to no-clip his way out of, and Jason's learned that skill this time as well)

(Batman 1940 #650)

But wait! There's more! I know in the Batman comic they only mention Bruce being concerned for Dick, but Tim was living in Blüdhaven at the time too! Tim was fresh off of his father/girlfriend dying and didn't want to be adopted by Bruce, so he invented a fake Uncle Eddie (hiring an actor to play the role) and moved to Blüdhaven, where his comatose step-mother was being treated. Tim is only out of the city at the time of the explosion because the Titans came and said something was wrong with Conner, so they needed to leave to help save him. On their way out of the city in their jet, they only get far enough to avoid the blast, but not far enough that they avoid the resulting shockwaves as it renders their navigational systems offline, and likely their comms too. So not far enough that Bruce, who has been chasing Jason and Black Mask all night, could reasonably be aware of this fact.

(Robin 1993 #147)

So Dick and Tim very well could have been in that explosion and then Jason gets exploded! Amazing! That's 3 for 3 remaining Robins possibly killed in an explosion in one single hour.

We have no idea where Jason gets to, but we'll assume that he is unable to find the body because of the new no-clipping into the backrooms skill Jason must have (Jason was meant to die here, again. In another explosion set off by the Joker, so Bruce will have to assume Jason is dead even if he turns up alive later. How? Who the fuck knows).

Speaking of ol' Richard "Dick" Grayson, aka Nightwing, how is old boy wonder doing? Well, he's been having a rough go of it the past six months, between Blockbuster targeting him and destroying everything he cares about, Tarantula killing Blockbuster after successfully convincing him to just let her kill Blockbuster (while he walks away and has a panic attack...and...other things happen...TW: SA if you look it up), and then basically playing "suicide by cop" through the job following that and being a double agent of the group that just nuked Blüdhaven, uh...he is straight-up not having a good time by the time Chemo blows up Blüdhaven, and he's only getting worse. He tries to go to the center of the explosion, and Superman, fortunately, arrives on the scene to save Nightwing and put him up on the shelf to avoid dying (I love how Superman keeps trying to save Nightwing from himself in this era and Nightwing is just...no, thank you).

(Nightwing 1996 #116)

Unfortunately, this is the "Flying Grayson" himself, so no shelf is high enough to prevent Dick from going in there, and his mental state is so bad that certain death while saving others is probably more tempting to him at the moment than a deterrent. He "Duly Noted"s his way back into Blüdhaven, helps get the police to control the panicking crowds of survivors towards an escape route, saves the few remaining friends Blockbuster didn't kill recently, and goes directly into the most radioactive area of Blüdhaven to try and save some rouge who might have been there. We see Superman fighting Chemo's core in the background throughout his rescue attempts, so Dick's close the entire time to this heavy radiation. Dick notes that this is the first time he's able to breathe easy in months, saving people from the ruins. He's eventually taken out as a door explodes with the Chemo green gasses while trying to locate the rogue while reflecting on his recent failures.

(Nightwing 1996 #116)

I do think the appearance of Batman as Dick passes out isn't real, Bruce was in Gotham, either reeling from the explosion or looking for Jason or something. There's no way he got to Blüdhaven already, and the legs of Batman are hazy, blending into the smoke.

I also think after Chemo is stopped that Bruce probably still hasn't heard anything about Nightwing, because I don't imagine he took the time and resources to call the Veteran in a communications blackout (who has been historically trying to poach Batman's Robins, and nearly got Tim killed trying to convince Tim to leave Batman and join up his forces. Batman and the Veteran are not on good terms, is what I'm saying) just for Tim's step-mother and fake uncle.

(Robin 1993 #147)

By this time, he is talking about Tim as if he's alive, so he's probably gotten something from the Titans base confirming that Tim's alright, so he's gotta be taking the time and effort to call the Veteran for Dick.

Bruce, being Bruce, gets into a fight with Dick as soon as Dick is brought back to the Batcave and wakes up, while Dick is being treated for severe radiation poisoning/burns. I am willing to forgive this because he's had a time of it, even if he's being hostile and pissy and unsupportive. Definitely not winning the Father of the Year award for this, I'm afraid (Worst Father of the Year award is going to Deathstroke, for embedding a known radioactive carcingenic material into his daughter's eye, but Bruce is in the running for this and Jason).

(Nightwing 1996 #117)

I am awarding this to Bruce for trying to reassure Dick.

But. Anyway. Yeah.

Rough night for everyone involved. Absolutely everything going wrong all at once.

[angry-nightwing]

Bruce and Dick's relationship is a comedy, actually

[silverwhittlingknife]

good coping mechanisms [not pictured]

nightwing 116 & red robin 12

[thesulkycroissant]

Bruce.

B r u c e.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

A Stone’s Throw

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: The night Jason wakes up in the convalescent home, he’s accompanied by his favorite nurse (Nurse Kathy). Nurse Kathy follows her instincts and decides to foster him in the nearby city of Blüdhaven. Soon, her partner and roommates become Jason’s new family despite hopes that he’ll regain his memories.

Chapters: 5/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Original Characters, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon

Additional Tags: Disabled Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne Doesn’t Know Jason Todd is Alive, Angst, Fluff, Found Family, Jason Todd Has a Foster Family AU, Jason Todd Moves to Blüdhaven, Original Asexual Characters, Original Lesbian Characters, Amnesiac Jason Todd, “Missed Him By That Much” Trope, Hurt/Comfort, Resurrected Jason Todd

Chapter Five: Tale of Two K/Catherines

Sibyl brought Jason a sandwich while he studied everyone in the house. Daniel and Walter sat by the fire, and Dodie fell asleep on the couch. Everyone kept quiet, letting Jason get his bearings, but it only confused Jason more. He noticed no one else had a sandwich, so he took his, breaking it into sections, and he gave Kathy the first piece. “Oh no, Blue—.” Jason insisted. “Okay.” Kathy ate her piece and watched as Jason politely divvied it up between every person in the room. Sibyl left to make everyone another sandwich for Jason’s sake. 

Daniel glanced up from his sketchbook, looking at Jason, and he smiled. “Blue Eyes, look,” Daniel whispered as he showed Jason a sketch. Jason tapped his own chest, and Daniel smiled. “Exactly. I’m gonna try to draw you with a few different haircuts to figure out your look when your hair grows back.” Jason leaned forward, touching foreheads with Daniel. Dodie stirred, chuckling at the odd picture of Jason pressing his forehead to Daniel’s. 

Jason smiled as a reflex to the innocent warmth of Dodie’s laugh. He nodded, turning his face away from Daniel, toward the fire. Sibyl brought him another sandwich, and he started to break it up, and she shook her head. “Nope, Blue Eyes. This one is all yours, hon. I made everyone else another sandwich. I’ll be right back with them,” Sibyl smiled. Everyone around him agreed, and he sat on a bench beside the fireplace and ate. Sibyl returned as promised. 

Dodie touched his forehead, trying to wake himself. Then, he started on a rough sketch for the exterior of his next development project. Jason finished his sandwich quickly, and he sat perfectly still with his plate on his lap. “Who are you working with for this one, Dodie?” Kathy questioned. 

“It’s part of a project to rebuild Gotham. Now that this whole No Man’s Land business is done with, we can move forward and start building a city worth living in. So, I’ve got this and the cape cod style houses,” Dodie answered. 

“The whole city?” Daniel asked. 

Dodie grinned. “Well, no… And yes. We’re all sort of drawing anything we can because of the extent of the work, and the big boss is giving projects to whoever makes the prettiest and most affordable pictures. I think it’s all a stupid game to pit everyone against each other in the office,” Dodie complained.

Kathy took Jason’s plate to the kitchen, and he got up and followed her. “Oh, sweetheart, you don’t have to—.” Jason turned the sink on and took his plate from her. He looked at her with sad eyes, gesturing for her to sit at the island. She tried to insist, but she gave in when tears started to form in his eyes. Jason washed the dishes and dried them for her. After he finished putting them away, Jason walked over and moved a stray hair from her face. He nodded at her. “You did such a good job, Blue Eyes. Come here.” She opened her arms and embraced him. 

Jason couldn’t bear to see her at the sink for some reason. He couldn’t grasp at the memory, but he felt sick to his stomach at the thought of it. Jason wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. 

He wouldn’t lose her again. No. That feels wrong. Not again. He didn’t know her. He couldn’t know her. But the loss felt real. Thoughts and memories mixed. Nothing recognizable or coherent came from any of it. Katherine changing IVs. Catherine sick and dying. Katherine well and working in a hospital. Catherine hooked up to IVs. His happy memories of Catherine clung to his picture of Kathy, and his upsetting ones became little more than nightmares. If he could remember his name, he could make it all into something sensible, but none of it felt real. Awake and asleep at the same time. Maybe that’s what he’d always felt like, but… it wouldn’t feel so wrong if that was the case. 

Jason tried to speak, but the sound came out broken and emotional. “Aaaa,” Jason vocalized. He wanted to call her Mom. “Aaa. Aaaa.” 

“It’s alright, Blue Eyes. We’ll work on speech, but this is a good start,” Kathy reassured him. “Walter’s going to make soup tonight… And I’m going to take you to look at a school tomorrow. So, you have to go to bed early.” 

** 

Dodie left shortly after dinner, and Kathy ran Jason a bath. “Well, Blue Eyes… You’re all set. If you need anything, press this button,” Kathy explained as she pressed the button that hung around his neck. Her pager lit up and beeped on her belt loop. “If you need me, push that button, and I will come and get you. It doesn’t matter if it gets wet.” 

Jason nodded, his eyes never left her. “Okay, Blue Eyes. What do you do if you need my help? Show me,” Kathy requested. He pressed the button and her pager lit up and beeped. She kissed his forehead. “I’ll leave you to it, then. I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

Kathy shut the door on her way out, and she sat by the fire watching Sibyl do her bedtime yoga. “Any chance of me getting some cat-cow out of you tonight?” Sibyl joked. 

“Oh hush,” Kathy laughed, “Once I get Blue Eyes settled in tonight, anything’s possible. I’m so excited. This’ll be our first night together. This is going to be so neat.”

“Swell,” Sibyl teased as she pressed her lips against Kathy’s cheek. “You were right about him. He’s a doll… So polite. You’d think someone would’ve claimed him by now… Unless—. Kathy, do you think—?”

“I don’t know, but I’m taking him to the police station after school on Friday to see if they can get his dental records. And if they don’t have them, I’ll try again next week in Gotham instead. I can’t imagine him coming from anywhere else in Jersey,” Kathy whispered, “I should at least find out what his name is.”

** 

MONDAY MORNING IN BLÜDHAVEN

Kathy got up early, searching for Jason, and he was in the living room with Daniel eating oatmeal and watching TV. He was already dressed for school. “Is it good?” Daniel questioned. Jason nodded. “Thank you. Do you feel better now?” 

Jason nodded, turning his head toward Kathy, who thought he wouldn’t notice her. She waved, quietly joining them. “Hi, sleepyhead. Blue Eyes woke up looking for you,” Daniel whispered. 

“You got him ready for school?” Kathy asked as she placed a gentle hand behind Jason’s head. Jason leaned into her touch. 

He didn’t sleep well. He had nightmares about faceless figures with familiar forms. He finally gave up on sleep around four or five, searching for Kathy, but he found Daniel. He knocked on the door, and Daniel immediately knew something was wrong, so he stayed with Jason and did the same morning routine he used to do with Dodie. He drank his coffee while Jason finished eating. The little bit of hair on Jason’s buzzed head felt soft against the pads of her fingers. “Mhm… I like exercising early, so he was wonderful company,” Daniel answered. 

“Thank you, Daniel. I owe you,” Kathy replied, “Blue Eyes… Did you like exercising with Daniel?” Jason smiled. It felt familiar. Good familiar. Not conflicting or painfully nostalgic. Just good.

[magnoliasandarson]

ugly

Late Spring in Blüdhaven had always been special to Dick. Melville Park wasn't anything grand, not like the Manor's expansive grounds had been, but there were lights strung through the trees that made it look like a scene from a fairytale. On slow patrols, he would perch on the Band Shell and watch the night flyers flitter through the sparkling branches. It was beautiful.

There was no such beauty now.

He sat on the Band Shell, gloved hands dripping blood onto the cold stone, staring out at the trees. They didn't look magical anymore; it just looked like lights in trees. Dick was a fool for ever wasting time on the trees, for ever believing. He took all the magic with him.

There was a dull ache in Dick's chest that drowned out the pain from his bruised knuckles. He pushed up and grappled back over to the Red Line. He ignored the pang of something as he hopped on top of the train, the phantom of laughter chasing after him even as the world was blissfully ripped from his ears by the wind. There was no comm in his ear tonight- there hadn't been in weeks. He was all alone.

Nightwing tore through the business district like a phantom, not a word spoken as he moved from alley to alley. It was a quiet night, most nights had been quiet recently, but Dick Nightwing needed a fight. His escrima sticks stayed holstered at his sides, bloody gloves growing more gory with each encounter. He needed to hurt.

Late Spring in Blüdhaven had once been beautiful. Dick had been proud to drag his friends from tiny park to tinier park, to go to movies on the grass, to visit the frankly frigid shitty beach. He had loved late spring, had loved seeing Robins appear in late April, had loved seeing the fledglings in May. He was a bird boy, after all. He had loved it all. He couldn't find it in himself to love any of it, now.

Nightwing found himself at St. Eustace. He didn't attend services and would probably burst into flames if he ever stepped inside, but he wasn't there for the church itself. He crossed the opulent roof in utter silence, tracing a familiar path to a familiar sight, his favorite the gargoyle. There was nothing special about the gargoyle anymore. It had been special once, but there was nothing making it special anymore. Some nights, Dick wanted to destroy the snarling stone. He resisted the urge, and lowered himself to the ledge, perching next to the monster. You know what they say about birds of a feather.

Dick wiped his gloves on the stone, silent as he watched the darkness absorb. His hand absently patted the space between himself and the granite behemoth, remembering a different flash of red that had graced the spot. He looked out to his city. He couldn't stand any of it anymore.

This had once been a beautiful sight.

He had once been ecstatic to show the gargoyle off, "it can't beat the ones in Gotham, but it's a good substitute!"

He had once laughed the entire night, trading jokes with his little shadow, his little wing.

There was no light here, even as the sun rose, there was no light left for Nightwing. When he retreated to his trashed apartment, carelessly stepping on shattered picture frames in his boots, he couldn't find it in himself to turn on the lights. He couldn't look at his home, couldn't look at the wreckage of the memories.

There was no beauty left in the world.

And Dick couldn't stand to look at the ugly truth.

[vixfern]

“The Batman 2022 was the first Batman movie to mention Blüdhaven” this and “None of the Batman movies ever mention it’s sister city Blüdhaven” that

LEGO BATMAN IS RIGHT THERE

[frownyalfred]

You've talked about Gotham (as an entity/spirit) and how she feels about the bats, but how does Blüdhaven feel about Nightwing?

I think it's probably similar, with a few key differences: Gotham's claim on Dick is obvious, and nothing Blüdhaven does will ever supersede that. As much as he wants it to be his city, Gotham owns him -- and I'm sure Blüdhaven respects that, reluctantly. But even borrowed, having Nightwing in Blüdhaven is a boon. And I'm sure Blüdhaven does what it can to reward him for being there and trying to help. Sneaking in strength and luck between whatever Gotham has already given him, layering him in more than one city's protection.

So yeah -- Dick has two cities looking over him, which is a lot for one human/mortal. I think the only other person on that level is Bruce, who is owned in such an all-encompassing way by Gotham, no other Batkid or Gothamite can compare.

[atalante241]

Okay, honest question.

Doesn’t Blüdhaven literally get nuked during Under The Red Hood when Bruce and Jason are having their little yelling match or whatever? Because if so, I feel like that that would probably play some significance in everything.

Also, if Blüdhaven got nuked wouldn’t the surrounding area be irradiated meaning literally everyone in Gotham now has radiation poisoning along with whoever survived the nuke over in Blüd?

[flybynightwing]

I loved your Nightwing-It’s a Wonderful Life fic, and I figured that based on your research for it you might be able to answer this. How did raising Dick change Bruce? Logically it must have, and my general idea is that it gave him something to live for apart from his mission, made him more open to working with others, and made him less violent/aggressive— but is there any canon, Post-Crisis evidence for that?

Because Dick and Bruce's relationship (and Bruce's early career generally) was entirely backfilled after Crisis on Infinite Earths, there are a lot of big gaps in the story, and different authors' depictions of their early years are often very contradictory. And then very soon after Crisis, the Dark/Iron Age of comics begins, meaning that Bruce's characterization very quickly becomes a lot more violent and aggressive than it was previously. You can, and many fans and writers do, attribute those changes to the Watsonian cause of Jason's death, but they also happen retroactively. With the Crisis and the beginning of the grim-dark-ification of comics (and some other more complicated factors that I won't get into here) Dick and Bruce's relationship also becomes a lot more troubled than it had been previously.

All of which is to say that there isn't a lot of incredibly strong evidence for the idea that Dick made Bruce less violent and more open to others, even if I do (obviously) think it's a fairly in-character reading of the mess of canon that we get, because even in flashbacks Bruce kind of becomes more violent around that time. There's definitely some evidence that Dick gave Bruce something to live for, though.

The immediate Post-Crisis version of Dick and Bruce's meeting, Dark Victory, portrays a version of Bruce who is incredibly reserved even in his internal narration. The most effusive he gets is thinking to himself, "The boy... shows promise." But the obvious intended implication is that Bruce has very quickly come to be emotionally invested in Dick, and lets that emotional connection overwhelm his reservedness and (sometimes) his good sense.

(Dark Victory #13)

And of course, in the Post-Crisis explanation for why Dick stopped being Robin, we have Bruce's description of why he recruited Jason.

(Batman Vol 1 #416)

Mostly, though, we get the idea that Dick softened Bruce and gave him something to live for through things that other people say. Most famously, there's Tim "Batman needs a Robin" Drake, talking about Batman's increasing violence since he lost Jason.

(Batman vol 1 #441)

But here, for instance, is young Dick Grayson himself, in Batman: Year Three, which is both a reckoning with Bruce's increasing violence since losing Jason and a partial retelling of Dick and Bruce's original meeting:

(Batman Vol 1 #438)

And then there's Alfred, in the aftermath of the War Games arc, speaking to Dick:

(Nightwing Vol 2 #99)

All of which is to say that there isn't a ton of direct evidence that working with Dick made Bruce more open to working with others, or less violent... but there's a lot of evidence that he deeply needed Dick for his psychological wellbeing, and that a lot of people think of Dick as a vital source of hope and connection in his life.

[batman-obsession-by-secret]

I just started reading a dc-comic in German and it is HILARIOUS language wise!!! Dick uses the formal you for a villain who replies with the informal you to Dick but formally to Bruce, which is already funny.

BUT ALFRED ALSO ADRESSES BRUCE FORMALLY? In German you normally don't address someone formally until they reach the age of 16,so either Alfred decided to just address a literal child like a whole-ass adult who he doesn't have an emotional connection to, OR he sat down Bruce on his 16th birthday and explained that from now on he would have to drop the informalities. I don't know what is funnier