#by the time jason came back to gotham he had no idea wtf was going on

[hex800020]

Alright, so Batman’s rule is ‘no killing’ but let’s say that after Jason’s death, he takes that rule to an extreme, and the breaking point is the Joker.

He probably said something like, ‘there are things worse than death,’ right before leaving him in a vegetative state with phantom pain for the rest of his life. Technically, he didn’t cross the line, and while he doesn’t feel good about what he did… he doesn’t feel bad either.

Neither Alfred nor Dick judge him. They don’t even bring it up, probably hoping he’ll pull himself back from the edge or something. But Bruce promises himself it won’t happen again. This was a one-time thing. Just for his son. And it’ll be the last time revenge blinds him.

Even so, he’s way more violent during arrests than usual. Tim Drake steps in, trying to talk Dick into helping him stop Bruce, but Dick… well, he agrees with Bruce, even if he won’t admit it out loud. He’s hurt too.

Tim does everything he can to pull Bruce back from this path, and eventually, he puts on the Robin suit himself. Bruce is not happy. His first instinct when he saw Tim was anger—yelling about ‘everything he doesn’t understand and shouldn’t get involved in’ but the rage didn’t last long. It melted away when he really looked at him—standing there, worried and small, like a little wounded bird.

He was smaller than Dick had been when Bruce took him in, but bigger than Jason. Still, Tim was definitely small… and brave.

‘Robin gives people hope. That’s his role in Gotham’s war on crime.’

Robin brings hope to those who need it, even when the situation is so dark it feels like the light has been swallowed whole. Even when there are people who don’t deserve it. Even when that person is him.

Bruce couldn’t help himself. He hugged Tim, wrapping him in his cape like he’d done with his other Robins. Tim froze—physical contact wasn’t something he was used to. It felt out of place.

The best way to describe it was: uncomfortable. But that feeling didn’t last long. Soon, the warmth started seeping in, and it felt more like being a little kid wrapped in a bear hug.

Neither of them remembers how long Bruce stayed there, hugging the kid, murmuring over and over that it was going to be okay, while attempting to rub his back.

[flashflashhundredyarddash]

batkids and their relationships with their siblings headcanons. under read more because this got fucking LONGGG

dick

dick is the eldest so he doesnt want to bog down his younger siblings with his problems, but if he DOES, he tends to talk to jason about it

dick and cass start to really begin to bond when Cass shows up to dicks gymnastics class for 3rd-6th graders and then cass shows up all the sixth graders and they get frozen yogurt after lmao

dick and tim are Very much thick as thieves. tim is very much like bruce on the Emotional Suppression scale, so dick just really wants to make sure his little brother is safe and happy ALL the time

Duke and Damian are the only two really permanently at the manor anymore, so when dick drops by he tries to do something with both of them. duke frantically zoom calls dick every other week to help him with his his trig homework. dick shows up to dukes high school graduation with literally the BIGGEST SIGN

everyone insists damian is dicks favorite but he does actually genuinely love all his siblings equally, his relationship with damian is just Very different from the others because of the age gap and being dami's primary caretaker for a year. dick babies dami every chance he gets

jason

would sell Dick to satan for One corn chip

him and cass don't have the greatest start to their relationship because cass is very much Against Killing so it takes a while for jason to warm up to her and earn her trust. now, though, jason is competing with steph by showing cass all the classic American Teenager things she missed out on. steph is currently winning but jason is like 98% positive a crunch wrap from taco bell is going to push him over the edge

tim and jason are currently competing over who can solve the most cases in a month. tim is winning. that won't last long.

jason Loves to Big Brother duke its so embarrassing. duke will get out of school and go to his car and jason is SITTING IN THE FRONT SEAT FRANTICALLY WAVING TO GET DUKES ATTENTION. JASON THAT IS MY CAR. signal has one (1) mission with arsenal and arsenal goes hey did you ask that girl to homecoming yet and duke is like I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU.

Damian is proof that Actually, Little Brothers are Pests. Jason fully believes that he was brought back from the dead PURELY to torment damian and he will fulfill this mission at any cost

cassandra

it actually really upset her when Dick didn't accept her at first. she knows her other siblings really adore dick so his lack of trust was really disheartening. it takes dick a while but once he Actually Accepts that cass is going to be a permanent part of their life and oh, wow, dick you really hurt her feelings he really hyperfocuses on bonding with cass for a couple of months which definitely improves their relationship

she really likes jason!! their relationship doesn't start well but because he's close with steph and tim who are cass's top two favorite people to exist ever, cass is like well i GUESS ill hang out with him more. jason is fun to talk to because he always tries his best to explain jokes and give context to what people are talking about (also tim took her to taco bell already but she didn't tell jason she just wanted to hang out)

cass LOVES tim. they just click okay. tim always seems to know when to give her space and when to push and come closer. Tim's "guest room" is just her room lets be real. tim and cass occasionally get mistaken for twins and Cass Loves it.

duke makes cass listen to metal once and cass loses. her. damn. mind. they bond over music a lot because they both Love Music to a degree the others in their family don't.

damian!! damian is her little brother!!! dami isn't As Hostile to cass at first because he is 100% aware cass has the edge in fighting and respects her. cass likes all of his instagram posts and they have a snapchat streak going

tim

tim Loves dick, dick was his first sibling!! he had Very strong hero worship when he first met dick but it mellowed out when tim got older because wow 17 is really not that cool and mature lol. tim has an open invitation to dick's apartment which he does occasionally take advantage of. tim has more than once scared the shit out of wally when wally comes over and wally is convinced they're being robbed (HA) for half a second. i mean. he's not wrong.

listen. tim understands that forgiving the guy who tried to kill you would be a Struggle for some people and it was! definitely! but also at least he can trust jason to, uh, be open about if he doesn't like tim. which is not an assurance he has with other people. so if the guy who tried to kill him tells him tim is cool now then like. maybe tim isn't that bad or annoying a person? also jason arrested a whole gang and won the cases competition but then it created a power vacuum that the whole batfam had to clean up the rest of the month. thanks, jason.

tim LOVES cass. you know how most of the time theres this empty feeling inside you and you just kind of ignore it because you don't know what will fix it or if you do, you know you can't fix it? cass makes that empty feeling feel a little less empty. they just click. tim always tries to travel with cass whenever she leaves gotham.

tim and duke. Tim is actually the sibling who duke goes to whenever he has questions he doesn't want to ask bruce or alfred about, like, life or vigilante-ing or school or college or whatever and Tim is always like yes!! i love Giving Advice and Solving Problems!! tim and duke and jason fill out their college applications together.

tim and damian. LMAO. ROUGH START THAT'S ALL ILL SAY. at some point alfred goes like fuck it. family therapy. and tim and dami are PISSED. tim and damian get along best when they have a common enemy to work against. their relationship gets much better when damian is older and they actually talk about their feelings like emotionally stunted bats. despite how bad their relationship was, tim will ALWAYS protect damian

duke

very much intimidated by dick at first. dick is so much older and has his own job and friends and life and is very much AN ADULT. dick likes to take duke out to do lots of cool stuff (paintball, lasertag, tech exhibitions, concerts, etc). also, dick PERSONALLY introduced duke to superman and is dating THE FLASH. 10/10 awesome big brother.

was intimidated by jason for 0.5 seconds before jason actually opened his mouth and started speaking. jason is literally. So Embarrassing. which is weird because nobody else really seems to feel that way about jason but duke knows he's 100% in the right here. like yeah jason is also An Adult and does Adult Stuff but he's also at the manor like every other weekend???? and he always complains about bruce but always seems to be in the same room bruce is in????? like okay jason. they bond over literature!! jason and duke and alfred will spend literal hours talking about books and duke loves it. duke is the only one who doesn't think jason is funny and jason gets so upset about it lmao.

cass has this one week where she gets really into photography and by virtue of being nearby (and also not nocturnal), duke becomes her victim subject. duke prints out all the pictures and hangs them up in his room (his favorite is one he took when he stole the camera and took a really bad selfie of them together).

tim is closest in age to duke so duke tends to hang around with him a lot. tim introduced duke to his young justice friends and duke is like yes!!! meta-friends!!!! tim really helps duke out with his powers because tim is always like wow i wonder if your powers would work if we did This? can you see farther than other people? is your visible spectrum of light different than other humans? Bruce does the same thing but bruce is boring about it lol.

damian and duke live in the same house and will be in the same room and just send each other social media posts back and forth. they follow each other on instagram and will, OCCASIONALLY, make tik toks together because they're tik tok fiends. each of his siblings have visited his parents once or twice but damian routinely comes with him.

damian

damian gets a special bullet point to say that it took him. forever to come around to the idea of having siblings. he very much believed that he was Bruce's Blood Son and everyone else were just tagalongs or allies. it took him ages to acknowledge that dick, jason, tim, and cass were his siblings, so when duke came and like a week later damian was like Ah, Yes, this is my brother Thomas everyone else was like dude wtf

listen. LISTEN. Obviously. Richard is very highly skilled. and also Father values him highly. and also Richard will listen to Damian complain about his schoolmates. and also Richard is much more patient with Damian than other members of his family. listen....,,, (all this to say damian kind of fucking adores dick lmaooooo this kid).

Todd is kind of unbearable but damian has been informed this is both a normal feeling when it comes to Todd and also big brothers. damian was an only child for ten years so yes, Father, if Todd attempts to tickle me I WILL break his fucking nose. yes i WILL put money in the swear jar but I want you to know i don't regret it. they always try to sneak up on each other but mostly fail.

DRAKE!!! but no lol once damian grows up and is like I Apologize for attempting to murder you it was wrong and you are just as much a son to Father as I am tim is like UGH i guess its cool since ur being so emotionally mature and all. also im 2 for 5 on siblings trying to murder me so im definitely going to win trauma bingo and damian is like i take it back you are insufferable. When Will My Older Siblings Stop Joking About Their Trauma.

CASS!!! listen. cass is cool. Cass Gets It. They have a special Bond. also damian really likes it whenever cass is home because 1) he gets to hang out and do something cool with cass and 2) he feels significantly safer with cass in the house because Nobody will be able to hurt any of their family if Cass is there. ALSO he tries to call her cain but everyone is like DONT DO THAT and he doesn't want to call her wayne bcus theyre ALL wayne (dick adds it on as a middle name but also Richard John Wayne West-Grayson is just. the lamest name ever so dick needs to reconsider it before his upcoming nuptials)((dick will not reconsider it except maybe whether grayson-west would work better)) and so he tries cassandra but cass is like :) call me cass and damian is like cassandra is more formal and respectful and cass is like :) and finally damian just has to give in.

Duke! him and duke actually live together so they get the Most Bonding Time and have a bunch of inside jokes as a result. (is it bad i wanted to laugh because inside jokes... joker... i'll see myself out). they're eating breakfast together (and also alfred sits with them IM NOT A MONSTER ALFIE'S LIKE 70 NOW OKAY) and duke laughs and bruce is like what are you laughing at, son? and duke is like oh damian just showed me this funny meme and then he shows the phone to bruce and bruce grabs it (both the boys groan) and after WAY TOO LONG is like "i don't get it" and so now duke and damian have to try and explain the comedic intricacy of bob's burgers

[bigskydreaming]

You're asked to choose one and only one or DC's future stops existing immediately. your choices:

1. Jason Todd the anti-hero who seldom works with only a couple of the bats he doesn't hate, for example Dick and Cass VS. Jason Todd who came back with healed body but broken spirit, folded back into the Gotham gang and learns to be part of the society again.

2. Tim Drake who makes all of his mistakes as canon but realizes he's been wrong and apologizes to people VS. Tim Drake back in his first iteration, a cute little brother character who is a reader insert and a fun teenager.

3. JayKyle VS DickKyle.

4. Jason Todd with a sword VS. Damian Wayne with a sword.

5. Chris Kent VS. Jon kent.

Okay but which DC future? Its omniversal future? Its hypertime future? Its multiversal future? Its Elseworlds future? Its dark multiverse future? Mwahahaha your threat is useless because the sheer wtf of DC's continuities, timelines and conflicting declarations of what to even call their multiomnihyperverse makes it impossible to target simply A future! DC's overly unnecessarily complicated nature renders it functionally immortal and impossible to ever truly destroy, take that Darkseid.

I mean. But anyway. Whatevs:

1) I honestly do prefer the idea of Jason someday fully reuniting/reintigrating into the Batfam as a whole, because fuck it, the found family I'm here for is the one where they actually act like a family....I just think it takes actual work to get to that point and I get irey when people are like we're here! We found it! And its like meanwhile, abusive dynamics still abound. Mmm. No thank you. But even though I've been on a huge Jason and Dick and Cass kick for like, forever, I do still aim for him having a dynamic of his own with the rest of the family.

Like the thing is, I hate playing the favorites card in families, and I think the emphasis on so and so being Bruce's favorite child or so and so being this kid's favorite sibling, etc, like it really does feel like to the detriment of the whole family, because once you start validating the idea of favorites, ESPECIALLY in a found family that is CONTINUOUSLY growing....I think you're kinda shooting yourself in the foot because you're kinda creating a situation where either no future new additions to the family can EVER be Bruce or one of the kids' 'favorite' or else you're innately positing that said fave status is conditional and even a current fave of Bruce or a sibling can be bumped down the ladder by the addition of a later arrival....

Which is LITERALLY the entire essence of the eternal conflict between Dick and Damian and Tim fans. Its not even that Damian is Dick's favorite, allegedly, its that prior to Damian's very EXISTENCE, fans felt comfortable declaring Tim unilaterally to be Dick's 'favorite'.....and then all it took was the addition of a single family member who had specific NEEDS in regards to Dick's attention and focus, largely because of his age and needing a legal guardian while Tim was old enough to literally jet set around the world on his own.....and like, everything went up in flames in large corners of fandom.

So I'm just like, death to the fave family member myth, its just incredibly counter productive to the idea of found family as a whole especially when it usually only exists to prop up a preferred character as better than others via the proof of see, these other characters say he's their fave or whatever...but also like, its not even necessary?

Because the thing is, you can have Jason reintegrated into the whole family overall, and still prioritize your personal narrative FOCUS on characters you like more than others, like say Dick and Cass.....because of course its natural for even people in the same family to have entirely different DYNAMICS with different family members....and these dynamics don't have to come with a ranking system in order to prioritize which ones you just focus on more in a story. Because its not necessarily that Dick has to be Jason's fave brother, y'know, just for Jason to prefer spending time with Dick simply because he's more comfortable with him due to knowing him longer or being more secure in the idea that Dick doesn't judge him based on their greater shared history.

This doesn't mean that Jason doesn't care for his other siblings, that he can't have strong dynamics with them as well, its just about finding a reason for why these two specifically might be in a story without the others that doesn't demand putting a definitive ranking on which one Jason considers his FAVE. Just like Damian doesn't have to be Dick's FAVE just for them to have the super close canon relationship they have, even relative to the other siblings, because there's everything needed in canon already to establish that the mere fact of Dick essentially RAISING Damian for a year, and being the first one in the family to really take a chance on Damian, like, this lends itself naturally to them maybe more naturally gravitating towards each other than other siblings due to comfort level and familiarity, etc, but it doesn't have to be like....oh but yeah, I just like Damian more than you, Tim, y'know?

So my answer on this one is a total cop out of both, both is good. Jason totally reintegrated back into the family, but with dynamics that still lend themselves fairly easily towards story lineups where its just him running missions with Dick or Duke or any other one or two specific family members even if for no other reason than they gel together best in the field, y'know?

2) Hmm. I honestly really do love and miss 90s Tim Drake and just....don't see him in a lot of what I read these days. I'm like no, why did he have to go, he was doing so well! BUT I'm also on a big accountability kick, and like, I'm so steeped in fics where Dick GROVELS for forgiveness for every little slight he's ever done real or imagined, with every character but Tim in particular, so its like.....I'm not gonna lie, I really have a preference these days for seeing stuff where its literally anyone actually owning up to shit they've done to Dick and apologizing or groveling or making it to HIM, like, completely unconditionally. In the same manner we usually see Dick apologizing, glossing over any reasons he might have had for doing what he did or feeling the way he did, and saying oh it doesn't matter, putting the entirety of his focus on what HE did and why it was wrong no matter what and he's sorry.....that's what I would kill to see from more fics, just in reverse.

Because so often even in the all too rare fics where we DO see other characters apologizing to Dick for shit, its watered down with Dick volunteering that oh he messed up too, it was a two way street, and its like no! This is Pettiness Hours! I want the unconditional apologies! Give me the groveling! From anyone, I don't care at this point, lol, just show me characters actually PUTTING IN THE WORK to make it up to Dick for harm they've caused him, even if completely unintentionally or via neglecting his feelings or considering the repercussions their actions or words would have on him. Aaaaaaand, frankly, Tim's a good place to start there, because of how one sided all the takes on their conflicts have been for so many years. I mean, if people need a place to start, Batman and Robin Eternal gets enough praise it can't be pretended that people in fandom don't know that story exists, so how about some stories where Tim says he's fucking sorry for punching Dick in issue #4 or #5 of that one, and it was uncalled for and he was clearly just looking for an excuse to unleash some more of his resentment and upset for the Spyral/Forever Evil stuff, and family deciding that its totally okay to punch Dick whenever they're mad at him and need to work off some aggression so they can then finally forgive him (for now) is a trend that needs to die in a fire post-haste? I mean just as an example.

But the thing that kills me about fanfic trends is like....the sameness of so much of it. There's SO much room for variety and diverse takes, and like....I don't actually hate Tim! I'm just cranky because of the imbalanced nature of most content out there for literal years at this point. Push the pendulum BACK in the other direction, create some balance by showing the flip side of things.....and that leaves a lot more room for me and others of like minds to then be more amenable to - and even interested in - other stories that don't scratch this particular itch, but don't need to, because other stories are doing the scratching by then, y'know?

And THEN like, at that point, I would be ALL FOR more stories that are just callbacks to classic 90s Tim who I adore, with his skateboarding and his EARNESTNESS and his go-get-em spirit and also the gumption. All the gumption. I like that Tim. I do miss that Tim. But like, for the moment, like, I want accountable Tim because I am tiiiiiiiired of groveling Dick and tbh at this point its not enough for me to just see people move past putting Dick in that position and just have mutually respective and doting brothers Dick and Tim having adventures together......nah, first I want some reciprocation. Ngl. Gimme the apologies for actual mistakes actually made.

3) DickKyle. Easy question, c'mon, you gotta know that. LOL. ;)

But yeah, I've been shipping these two off their like, two shared pages from way back in the Obsidian Age story years before Jason even returned, let alone was in Countdown together with Kyle, so like, its no contest. I don't mind JayKyle, I certainly prefer it to JayRoy tbh, but there's not a ton of appeal in it for me, particularly in how its usually depicted, because like....the entire basis of JayKyle is that they DO have stories together and spent a whole year worth of weekly issues traveling the multiverse together in Countdown.....but there's like, practically no trace of their actual dynamics from that series or any specifics of literally any issue from that entire comic in most fics I’ve read, so its like.....idk, it tends to come across as more generic, not in the sense that it cant still be interesting, but more in the sense that it feels like just someone paired with Jason just because history between them EXISTS without any interest in exploring what that history actually IS....and at that point, its like, well there's no reason TO prioritize that ship over DickKyle for me personally, when like, I have a shit ton of headcanon reasons for why those two in a pairing specifically. *Shrugs* My logic. Its not for everyone, but it works for me.

4) Jason with a sword or Damian with a sword? I don't understand the question. Both. Both is good. All the characters should have swords. Swords are awesome.

5) Chris Kent vs Jon Kent - oof. I adore Jon, I really do. I love his dynamic with Damian, I love a lot of their specific stories, the parallels between them as friends and Bruce and Clark as friends....its all very bien. But I gotta give this one to Chris, because I'm always gonna have a soft spot for him because I'm a sucker for all abused kid heroes, and I just miss that funky little dude so much. There's so many stories we didn't get with him and were just ripe for the picking, but nooooo, DC's like lol you can't have nice things, here we just rebooted the entire multiverse and now Clark and Lois never adopted the son of Clark's worst Kryptonian rival and raised him with tender love and care awww does that make you sad, were you invested in him, WELL TOO BAD, HE'S GONE NOW AND BASICALLY NEVER EXISTED, NOW GIVE US YOUR MONEY ANYWAY MWAHAHAHAHAH.

Yeah. I'm still not over that. Probably will never be tbh, so I with great grudge-bearing do affirm that I'm gonna go with Chris on this one and like, he is a Priority for me and I'm still very keen on the idea of him and Duke being besties for random reasons that might not make sense to anyone but me, but eh, whatever.

[butwhyduh]

Can I request sth more fluffy? Middle of the night cuddle with my boi Tim and fem!reader (*^*). You wrote some good spice now can I ask for some sugar?

Christmas party

Tim drake x reader

Christmas series 1

It was a cold still night in Gotham. One where the moon was visible and the air was crisp. You snuggled under your blankets on your with your heaters on high but you had a bone chill that wouldn’t disappear easily. You shivered and wished Tim was there.

He had patrol. The city never slept and this was a prime night for crime. It was a perfect night. Or a Gotham perfect night anyways. He had given you a quick kiss and literally jumped off your fire escape. Your scream was caught in your throat as you watched him rappel away. It never got easier to watch. It didn’t help you sleep either.

Your eyes finally started to get tired and your comfort watch-a-hundred-times Netflix show wasn’t holding your attention anymore and you fell asleep. The street below was surprisingly quiet even.

You woke to the sounds of something or someone outside your window. You couldn’t see out because of the closed curtains. You quickly looked at your clock. It was only 2 AM. He was usually out until 4. You reached for the bat you kept by the bed and quietly stood up as the window opened. Your heart beat quickly and you clenched the bat. Tim had been very certain that you should swing on sight of an intruder. Use the element of surprise.

Legs slid into your apartment and you swung. Hard. A soft “oof” sounded and they grabbed your bat.

“Sunshine, it’s me! It’s Tim,” he whispered loudly. You relaxed. “Good hit though.” Groan.

“Sorry Timmy! Are you okay?” You asked turning on a lamp. He stood in his suit, his cowl still on. He pulled it off.

“I’m fine. I’m just glad you protected yourself,” Tim said pulling off his suit. He put it in the hamper and came up to you. He gave you a little kiss. You moved to hold his hips and he hissed and pulled away. You pulled back.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just kinda got shot today,” Tim answered lightly and you gasped. “It didn’t go through the suit though. I’m fine. Just a bruise. Not even a bone bruise. I swear.”

You looked at him in the lamp light and there was a blue bruise forming on his hip. “Timmy, what happened?”

“I didn’t duck,” he joked and you blanched. “Just some drug dealers. Red Hood was there and he took care of it. That’s why I’ve got the night off. Not the bruise. Sorta the bruise,” Tim grimaced as he climbed in bed.

“Red Hood then shot out their kneecaps and said that he’d shoot any criminals on sight if they were out tonight. Said it was ‘fucking Christmas so go the fuck home.’ So B thought it was best to have the night off of Red Robin,” Tim said laying flat. Your eyebrows rose at that one. He tried to hide a tiny groan as he adjusted to be more comfortable. You laid beside him careful not to touch him.

“Does this hurt,” you asked, gently leaning against his arm. You’d rather full on cuddle but you didn’t want to hurt him. Tim moved and pulled you close to him from the waist up.

“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. It’s late. Let’s get some sleep,” he said rubbing his thumb on your back. You rested your head on his chest.

“Yeah, but I’m definitely worried about you because you got shot. Please, be careful,” you pleaded. He had a hard time looking you in the eyes. Guilt over making you worrying was a bitch.

“Of course, always. I’ll at least have patrol off for a few days. Give me a kiss,” Tim said hopefully. You leaned over and kissed him delicately like he was breakable. He was so strong but still only a human.

“If anything happens to you, I’ll beat Batman up myself.”

“That’s the nicest and most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said. We’ll hang out tomorrow, before the Christmas party, okay Sunshine?” Tim said with his eyes already closed. He was severely sleep deprived and wasn’t going to be up much longer.

“Sure, Tim,” you whispered as his breathing evened in sleep.

——————————————

All morning, you both laid in bed and watched tv. Tim tried to get a little handsy but his hip was in more pain than he had anticipated and one touch by your hand had him almost jumping out of the bed in pain. It really was black and blue. But this was a rare moment to just cuddle with him and you weren’t missing it for the world. Tim was on the phone most of the afternoon.

The weather had changed from nice to sleet but the time you were getting ready for the party. You had changed and were finishing your look. Tim was throwing on a sweater and watch you had gotten him for his birthday. He pushed his hair back before it flopped right back in place.

“You’re beautiful,” he said suddenly like he was finally watching you. He meant it as a compliment but it came out almost like ‘who knew?’ You gave him an eyebrow. “You know what I mean. You look great tonight,” Tim said with some pink around his cheeks.

“Thanks,” you said giving him a kiss on the cheek. He groaned and wiped the lipstick off his pale skin. You smirked. He walked over to the coat rake with just the slightest stiffness to his walk to show how bruises up he was.

“Are you ready? Don’t forget your coat. It’s nasty out there. I think we might have to stay over at the manor tonight,” Tim said grimacing. “It’s okay right now but if it gets worse..”

“You sure?” You asked. You didn’t want to miss it but if the weather was awful you didn’t want to chance an accident.

“Yeah we’ll be fine. I can drive through just about any weather,” Tim said with a wink. You grabbed your coat and left.

Nude hose was a bad idea. It was frigid outside. You should have worn the fleece lined thick tights you had considered as you were shivering in Tim nice red sport coupe.

Wayne manor couldn’t come in view fast enough and you happily ran up the stairs and in the house from the parking garage. Tim chuckled and then grimaced when he tried to catch up.

“Careful on your bruise,” you reminded him. He nodded. The house was much warmer than outside. Alfred warmly invited you into the study. Bruce, and Duke were already hanging out. They were talking about movies and Tim jumped in. He didn’t get much free time but when he did, he was a huge nerd.

Damian and his friend? Girlfriend? Walked in and started playing chess.

Dinner was served in the dinning room. Alfred always made amazing food. A traditional mushroom soup. Apparently Bruce’s mother had it as a Christmas tradition and, while the boys barely touched theirs, Bruce happily enjoyed it.

You saw Jason and his date before he cleared his throat from your seat at the table. Alfred was so happy and quickly ushered them to their seat at the table. Tim held your hand as often as he could as the meal continued. His long fingers stroked the inside of your palm in a soothing way. Whether it was for you or him, you couldn’t tell.

Down at the other end of the table, Dick said something loudly and it took you a second to realize what was going on. He was proposing. Tim had a little smile as Dick stuttered his way through his words. That was new.

She looked at the box in shock. She wasn’t going to say no was she?!? You couldn’t handle the stress and you gripped Tim’s hand tightly. Dick literally pleaded for an answer and that broke the spell she seemed to be under and she said yes.

Kisses. Applause. Champagne.

Tim lightly squeezed your hand that you had relaxed and he smiled at you. You both were young enough that a proposal wasn’t an awkward thing to watch. You were seen as just too young. Dick and his new fiancé retired for the night and the party was moved to the parlor.

You sat on a stool by the billiards table. Tim and Jason immediately began playing a game while you talked to his girlfriend and Cass.

“So if I win,” Jason said a full hour later. By this time, Damian’s girlfriend had fallen asleep on his shoulder and Bruce had announced the storm too bad to travel. “I get the penthouse.”

“Sure Jay. That’s Bruce’s. But I’m willing to gamble it,” Tim said throwing his hands up at the ridiculousness.

“I accept terms,” Bruce said. Both boys looked at him surprised. “Whoever wins gets the penthouse.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at Bruce and Tim gave you a wtf look but neither questioned the decision. Jason played seriously. He was a natural. His rough upbringing had him playing pool in many hazy bars as a kid as well as the occasional trip to a bar on the weekend he enjoyed regularly. Tim just didn’t have time to play games. Plus he had a nasty bruise on his hip. Jason won the game easily.

“So the penthouse is mine?” Jason asked. Bruce nodded and shrugged. Tim softly coughed in his hand.

“If you’ll live in it,” Bruce said. Damian was carefully carrying his girlfriend upstairs.

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

“I guess, deal?” Tim said confused. “Though you should owe me. You’re the one that got me shot.”

“What?! You got him shot?” You asked loudly. Tim blanched.

“Not my fault,” Jason defended.

“Literally your fault,” Tim countered.

“What did you do?” Jason’s girlfriend asked looking at him suspiciously. He offered her a sheepish smile.

“I might have said ‘what are you gonna do, shoot us?’ I meant me. Not Tim! He also has a bulletproof suit,” Jason said.

“That’s not in the report,” Bruce said slowly and both boys flinched.

“Good night everybody. Merry Christmas,” Jason said pulling his date from the room.

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Bruce called down the hall. Everyone else took it as a cue that the party was over.

You moved upstairs to Tim’s old bedroom. A My Chemical Romance poster and Dragon Ball Z poster hung on the back of his door as the only personal items. You smirked at him when you saw it.

“I forgot that was there,” Tim groaned reaching for it. His pale skin was flush with embarrassment. You grabbed his arm.

“Leave it. It’s cute. It’s got personality,” you said with a laugh. He rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. A complete nerd,” he said looking away.

“And you think you’ve changed since? You wear Spider-Man boxers under your suit sometimes,” you whispered in his ear.

“How do you know that?”

“When I pull them off of you..” you winked.

“Speaking of, having a hot girlfriend isn’t exactly nerdy,” Tim said getting a little handsy.

“Are you trying to get laid in your childhood bedroom?” You asked fake scandalized. He pulled you closer.

“Maybe.”

“Very nerdy to try and get in my pants right now with anime posters on the wall, Timbers,” you said pulling him towards the bed and into a kiss before he could protest.

[rason-rodd]

Opinions and Reviews

My opinion on ... The Rebirth Arc of Red Hood (aka why I’ve been rather absent from the Fandom for almost a year)

More than a year ago or so, I started losing interest in the Red Hood Comics. Between disappointment and frustration, I decided to leave the fandom or at least take some distance for a little while, a decision which, sadly, almost came naturally.

But the disappointment I felt was not caused by my followers. On the contrary, I’ve always been thankful and honoured to have them, to have you. The Red Hood fandom and more largely, the DC comics fandom, allowed me to meet so many amazing persons, persons who have always supported me and my work as a fanfic writer and I hope they’re doing okay wherever they are right now.

No, my disappointment was caused by the directions the Red Hood Comics were taking, directions that, as a huge fan of Jason Todd, couldn’t tolerate.

Red Hood and The Outlaws Rebirth started in 2016. And whether you liked the New 52 or not, you had to admit that the Rebirth arc started very well and the very first issues were very promising, offering the Jason Todd fans always wanted to read and that was in continuity with his predecessor from the New 52. Jason was this troubled leader fighting psychologically with a trauma he couldn’t leave behind and trying to win the trust of a father who never really trusted him while doing his best to help the city of Gotham and his new friends, putting aside all his personal problems mentioned above. Truly an amazing character with an incredible character development and an outstanding potential.

Lobdell, along with Dexter Soy’s magnificent artwork, brilliantly brought this Jason Todd to life and Red Hood and The Outlaws became, to me, one of the best DC Comics of its time. The story with Black Mask was coherent and realistic and creating this Dark Trinity was a genius idea. The members of the Outlaws completed each other and bonded in ways the previous Outlaws never did. No stupid love triangle. No unnecessary love story. Just lonely people finding a family in each other.  Separating the team was a big mistake and in my opinion the series started to go downhill because of it. 

After issue 26, nothing was the same. Soy and his art was gone. Jason’s iconic costume changed drastically and the writing as well as the storyline started losing quality. But I remained faithful and kept on reading. I was hopeful. I was wrong. The arc in Appleton was pointless and completely unmemorable. Trying to bring back Willis Todd was a good idea but the attempt led nowhere. Jason willing to be the “Prince of Gotham” and led the criminal world by dethroning Penguin could have been great but the story was messy again. 

And then Issue 37 happened and I was done. New Outlaws ? Seriously? Who are theses kids anyway? Jason as teacher hired by Lex Luthor? Are you kidding me?  I literally HATED that arc. The characters were not likeable or endearing. The story was terrible and completely WTF. I couldn’t see where Lobdell wanted to go with it. And Jason was not the Jason I used to love. The way he used to be portrayed - which I adored so much - was completely gone. And so I stop reading and I “left” the fandom, bitter, disappointed and truly frustrated because of what they had done to my beloved character. And as if that wasn’t enough, DC started doing sh*t with Nightwing as well (Ric Grayson was a joke right?)

I stopped reading for months but I tried to stay informed and finally when I learned that Artemis and Bizarro were back I gave RHATO an other shot only to be offered what? A useless (yet cute I have to admit) Jaytemis romance that didn’t go anywhere and another goodbye to Bizarro (Btw, what the hell is Trigon doing here?) and to the Outlaws.

So in a nutshell, RHATO Rebirth started with a bang with an amazing art, a good storyline and endearing characters. But, DC and Lobdell didn’t use its potential and it started losing quality after issue 27 until it reached a point around issue 37 where it became lame. Lobdell’s Jason Todd and his story ends far below the expectations I had placed in this series at its beginning with unresolved mysteries (Artemis full past + Willis Todd) and a few messy last issues that didn’t bring anything to Jason’s character development. 

Let’s see what the new team has in store now. 

Oh and yes, I’m back !! ;-)

[ambelle]

I don’t see how people actually like Dick/Dawn together? I thought the writers used the relationship to show that Dawn (like Robin) is Dick’s past. He was with her at a time in his life when he was young. He pretty much confirmed that with Rachel in 1x02. Meeting Kory changes Dick. Donna (Dick’s oldest and dearest friend) quickly realizes he has feelings for Kory (who she witnessed trying to kill Rachel) yet he defends her to the end. She says Kory’s a dangerous woman and he messed up with Dawn but Dick persists in helping Kory anyway. Donna’s words are fresh in Dick’s mind when being tested by Trigon in the S1 finale. Trigon shows Dick what his life could be with Dawn. Dick seems happy on the surface with a “normal” life; however, is easily distracted once he returns to Gotham and Kory comes back into the picture. The ordeal with Trigon reveals to Dick that Kory (not Dawn) is his light when Batman kills her and he gives into his darkness. He even asks Kory to come with him and the kids in 2x01, but she says she still has some things to work out. Dick obliges as she did after the asylum experience. Moreover, Dick/Dawn’s chemistry pales in comparison to Dick/Kory and their relationship hasn’t even been fully fleshed out yet. There is a trust, loyalty, protection and intimacy he’s got with her that isn’t shared with the rest of the team (old or new) which is why none of them realized he was about to sacrifice himself for Jason. They all abandon him (with the exception of Gar) when he tells the truth about Jericho. Kory comforts him and says that things will get better once they get over themselves. If Fidei wasn’t an issue Kory would’ve stayed too. After Rachel came to her senses and tried to enlist Donna, Dawn and Kory to find Dick the only one that helps her is Kory. She seems to hint that she fell in love (with Dick) when she talks to the psychiatrist she hooked up with in 2x11. S3 will most likely revisit them saying that they would try again after they figured out who they are and what they plan to become. Working closely with Kory again and the threat of losing her (whether in battle with her sister or to a new love) I hope will push Dick to come to grips with his feelings for her as well. #SlowBurnTorture

“He pretty much confirmed that with Rachel in 1x02.” <<< Honestly this part.

I have no idea why people like DickDawn/ think they are a threat to Dickkory. He does not have romantic feelings for Dawn in present day. And yeah when he and Donna had that conversation about Dawn (which in context was her casually blaming him for Joey’s death yikes) he didn’t even react. His focus was finding and helping Kory. 

With the Trigon thing I think Dawn represented the life he thinks he wants/ would have if he quit being a hero. Not sure why anyone thinks that quitting being a hero is a good thing on a show about being a hero LOL...But anyway Dawn and Jason pushed him to go to Gotham and help Bruce who represented darkness to him. I think Kory was his subconscious. She appeared out of nowhere and pushed him to be happy and free much like she did in real life. And the last thing Dawn says to him in that dream is “of course it’s Kory.” Because yeah it’s obvious where this is all going. 

And I don’t know if it’s the directing or Brenton but if you pay attention to group scenes Dick doesn’t even look at Dawn. And although I think Dawn harbours attraction towards Dick I don’t think she loves him anymore or she wouldn’t have left him to rot in prison. (I mean I’m not convinced her love confession was genuine in the past considering how easy it was for her to leave him after Slade almost killed him but I digress.) And he didn’t return that I love you. If they really wanted to sell us the ship they have been doing an awful job. 

Season 2 showed us Dickdawn completly fall apart as she and the others put all the blame on him even though he was grieving too. Dawn is no different from Hank and Donna but Kory is. S2 was basically the group divided into who gives a damn about him as a person VS who thinks him being the leader means he can’t make mistakes (even mistakes they all pushed him to make. Looking at Donna being crazy in 108 in particular ). Kory just shows up and gets him and that’s it and likewise he always defends her. The ship is good in writing and in chemistry. I wouldn’t trade what we get for what other couples get at all. Also TBH Feddei was a bigger threat than Dawn because Kory was more interested in what he was going through and was willing to return home to save his life. Even though it was platonic that’s better than what happened between DickDawn in s2- her threatening to burn his house down was the longest conversation they had present day. In the past she was pushing him to be like the man he told her was a violent sociopath while he was grieving. Then her complaining that he was too busy to cuddle with her and should quit trying to stop Slade. ( and how are they superheroes if they are willing to let Slade go free to continue murdering people because they are scared? WTF?) Then just leaving without a word.

If nothing else the fact DK was the only pair who didn’t fight or argue or betray each other in s2 tells me the writers aren’t planning on pulling back. They easily could have had her turn her back on him too. But nope because “it’s Kory”.

[vellaphoria]

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if their are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors literally everybody reading this!

I was tagged by the lovely @themandylion - thank you! Since I’ve been involved in a non-zero amount of colab work lately, I’ve restricted this to stories with first lines that I actually remember writing.

20. Death by Cheeto: Jason wants nothing more than to leave.

19. To Break Every Bended Knee; or, Apocrypha: She came for him before dawn. 

18. Deadfall: This is the kind of thing Batman has to know about before it happens.

17. In the Shadow of the Empire: The crash was loud enough that Dick could hear it from the other side of the ship

16. Gethsemane in Winter: The snow bears steadily against the visor of Dick’s helmet, the early onset of winter in Gotham nearly blinding him.

15. Every Sun I Poured Over You: Exactly three days, fifteen hours, and twenty-nine minutes after Wayne Enterprises’ New Year’s gala, Tim leaves Gotham without telling anybody.

14. Night of the Living Batmen: This is either the best or the worst idea they’ve ever had.

13. Yours if You Want it, Yours if you Don’t: The GCPD is hauling Harley back to Arkham by the time Red Robin realizes how much it hurts to put weight on his left leg.

12. To Simulate the Burning of the Heart: Regaining consciousness is the first desperate breath after being submerged in cold, dark water.

11. Unto Your Enemy: The knife pressed in deeper, sawing through lacerated skin and frayed muscle to scrape against the bone of Celebrimbor’s ribs.

10. Make Much of Me: Technically, Bruce only ever taught Tim how to draw banishment and entrapment circles.

9. Just Another Graceless Night: “I kind of want to ask, but I don’t think I want to know.”

8. This Whole Damn City Thinks it Needs You (But Not as Much as I Do): Tim swivels in Bruce’s chair, his weighted cape flaring out as he turns from entering their patrol route in the Batcomputer.

7. Unconventional Tactics: After the third straight week of ninja tailing him, Red Robin's had enough.

6. Emotional Support Trashfish: “You spent how much?”

5. to your own blood, and empty spaces in the throat: Silence suffocated the battlefield in the wake of Thanos’ ships.

4. Complications: In his time working at the Gotham Gazette, Marcus had seen a lot of shit.

2. This City’s Build on Salted Earth: Of course, he just had to go with the cliché.

1. Cut and Run: Clark put him down on top of one of the abandoned warehouses by Dixon Docks, just past the city limits.

Favorite: Oh god. Probably “After the third straight week of ninja tailing him, Red Robin's had enough” if I had to pick?? Because it establishes motive, intention, and the inevitable chaos that’s about to ensue. (for the uninitiated, Tim basically gets the ninja very *very* sugar high and flips Ra’s the bird.

Patterns?: What I tell myself when I come up with first sentences is that they should open the fic in medias res (or, the middle of things - imo, the best place to start a story), but what I suspect is actually happening here is a bunch of lines that make the person reading them go “idk wtf you’re talking about vell.” The person reading them includes me, because that was my reaction reading through a lot of these openings...

I thought about tagging people, most of the people I thought of tagging have already been tagged farther up the chain. So, for anyone who hasn’t, go forth and judge your writing choices lmao XD

[undeadredhood]

№ — ( JORDAN CONNOR, HE/HIM & CISMALE, DC COMICS ) ┊ did you hear about RED HOOD? i heard that they also go by JASON TODD and are aged 25. they weren’t turned into dust at all, so they’re still in tact - according to the press, anyways. think the papers are right?

hello !!! gia here with my BUT DID U DIE THO? meme of a son. this is my first time playing jay i’m nervous but i larb him and i hope i do him justice :’’) here’s a lil bit about him. 

idk if i’ve said this already, but jason is Garbage™

an orphan until he was caught stealing tires off of the batmobile lmfao

he was taken in by bruce 

a very angery boi, bruce figured if jason could channel is rage properly that he’d be a kickass crime fighter

tho jason was v unpredictable esp after trying to kill two faced, the man who killed his father

basically the rogue robin, used guns against bruce’s orders etc

H A T E S being compared to dick (the first robin/now nightwing) he’ll literally fight anyone who compares him to dick

idk how it took me this long to get here but anyway my mans DIED. he was asked to take a break from robin and stormed off to find his mom who was working as an aid worker in ethiopia, tho it was later divulged that she was working for / blackmailed into working for the joker and literally HANDED OVER HER OWN SON

joker beat him with a crowbar before locking he and his traitor ass mother in a shipping container and setting off a bomb, killing them both

so bruce had to deal with that, fun fun funf FUN FunFUnfuFNun

random but i figured this was worth mentioning, bruce sees jason as his biggest failure and jason’s death was bruce’s greatest fear realized so…. that sucks

anyway superboy-prime alters reality and basically brought jason back, tho he wasn’t fully there, mans was still Fucced up

talia al ghul put the boi in a lazarus pit and effectively brought him back to life tho it had some side effects: 1. a Cool silver streak in his hair, 2. he was A LOT more violent and vengeful and 3. lowkey gave no fuck about anyone else’s lives

traveled around the World to learn new ways to fuck people up. an Extra boi.

came back to gotham as the Red Hood™, beat up the joker w a crowbar but let his ass live to use him against batman lmfao

jason’s now with the outlaws and is just... trying to do better. he’s still an emo bb but he’s trying u gotta give him that. 

jason still has his streak FUCKING fight me on it i dare you 

also jason would kill for his family he loves his brothers, his sister, babs and steph, bruce to the MOON AND BACK he just doesn’t show it srry 

EDIT: since i plotted stuff out with vi, prior to the Snap™, jason and kori were dating and the two, including roy, were living together. things were pretty serious w them tbh. tho when the snap happened jason and kori were fighting and he left to blow off some steam and after a while he came back to apologize but before he could get to her she was gone. so rn he’s lowkey miserable (but he always is so wtf else is new??? and lowkey on a mission to find out more information on the poof since he was in gotham when it happened and no actual idea of what went down. 

[cloakedsparrow]

WTF brain?

My sleep disorder and illness decided to strike simultaneously last night, so I couldn’t sleep but couldn't get anything productive done in my new-found awake time. I got the idea for a Bat Family AU, even though I’ve never been willing to write Bat Family fanfiction. I guess I thought maybe an AU would be easier to start with?

Anyway, I jotted down the outline, but then started working it into something resembling the start of a story. Today, I look at what I wrote and this was it. The breaks are where there’s apparently going to be actual plot development/story.

Eventually, I will finish shaping this into a proper story. Feel free to use any concepts if you like them though. I’d appreciated it if you’d link me so I can read them.

Half-assed plotline below the cut.

Bat Family Multiverse AU

Bruce was helping Wonder Woman on a case when he came into contact with a strange artifact. He awoke back in Gotham, in a world where the Waynes never died and there is no Batman. Bruce doesn’t know if he’s been sent to an alternate reality or if the world around him has actually changed. Before he figures it out, he needs to find out where his children are.

Dick’s parents were killed just the same in this world, but without Bruce there to take him in, he was sent to an orphanage. Rumors of bullying and abuse abound, but before anyone ever bothered to look into it, Dick had had enough. He ran away and seemingly fell off the face of the earth for ten years. Then an eighteen year old Dick, mute and scarred, showed up at Haley’s Circus.

Dick’s still kind and intelligent, but not the friendly and flirty son Bruce raised. He helps out and stands up for those around him when necessary, but otherwise keeps to himself. He’s never told anyone anything about those ten years, but his skills as an acrobat are more impressive than ever. He performs under the name Robin, and wears a costume with colors that honor of his fallen parents.

There’s another costume hidden in a trunk in Dick’s trailer. One that’s less bright and designed to protect the wearer a little better than a leotard. One that once instilled fear into the hearts of mobsters and child killers across the US East coast, when a vigilante referred to as Robin Redbreast captured many violent offenders and left them in a nest of evidence for the police to find over the course of three years. No one knows where the vigilante came from or where he disappeared to, but he’s rarely seen or heard from these days.

It all makes Bruce want to take Dick in all over again and show him who he could be.

After a robbery gone wrong that led to stint in juvenile hall, Jason Todd was taken in by a boys home in Gotham run by a kindly priest and funded in part by donations from Thomas Wayne. There the boy learned patience, mercifulness and how to funnel his inborn rage into passion for good. Now he runs a homeless shelter and soup kitchen with the allowance he receives as the guardian of an orphaned billionaire child. Some would find a stranger taking in an unrelated boy suspicious, especially when there was so much money attached to the child, but anyone who has actually seen Jason interact with Tim Drake can honestly say that they adore each other.  

Tim Drake was lonely for most of his childhood. His parents were always off working or schmoozing with the rest of the Gotham elite. Eventually, he was old enough to suggest going with them when they headed off to a charity fund raiser, which meant he was with his parents during the attack that killed them. Tim himself was injured, losing his spleen, a small length of intestines, and the lower half of his left leg. After a couple shady individuals showed interest in taking in the heir, Jason Todd (who had met the boy during his usual visits to the Gotham Hospital children’s ward) fought for -and won- custody. Despite his tragic childhood, Tim appears quite content. With Jason, he has the love and sense of belonging he never received from his parents and all he ever wanted was a family that loved him, wanted him.

Jason and Tim also moonlight as a vigilante detective known as Bluejay. They follow crimes in Gotham (and elsewhere, if the crime is big and mysterious enough to catch their attention) -Tim hacks all sorts of data bases and security footage and Jason gets information from assorted street types who would never talk to the police- and then send the proof they collect to whatever authority or superhero will be able to use it. They never get involved physically and always take precautions to never get too close to a case.

Bruce can’t help but wonder if this is the path Jason and Tim would have followed if he hadn’t intervened in their lives. The two are closer than any of his children have ever been and seem happy, at peace, as though all they needed was love and a real home. It hurts and shames Bruce to think that he didn’t give them that.

Cassandra was raised by her father, but after her first few kills, Bluejay tracked her down and sent Lady Shiva proof of her heritage and whereabouts. Lady Shiva handled Cain and reclaimed her daughter. After a couple years together, Cassandra left her mother’s side (with her blessings) to pursue her own path. After receiving a few anonymous communications from Bluejay that led to Cassandra stopping several costumed villains and even a terrorist plot, she decided that vigilantism was her true calling. She does not have a brand or specific city she haunts. She is more brutal and frightening than Batman ever was. Criminals all around the world know her, and fear her, as The Rook.

Bruce can only hope that Lady Shiva is half as proud of Cassandra as he is. He wishes someone had been there to remover her from the situation earlier, as he had done in his own world (timeline?). He also wishes that she wasn’t so alone.

Without his Batman persona and the internal darkness from which it was born, Bruce Wayne was not intriguing enough to catch Talia Al Ghul’s interest. As such, Damian was never conceived.

Bruce isn’t sure how he feels about that.

But he does know that without the Batcomputer and the connections he forged as Batman, he’s going to need help if he’s going to figure out where he is, how he got here, and how to set things right.

The Justice League doesn’t exist in this world. Superman does, so does Green Arrow and Black Canary. Some photos and descriptions on assorted alien conspiracy sites lead Bruce to believe that the Green Lantern Corps does as well but aren’t known to Earth. He can’t find anything concrete on Wonder Woman or Aquaman. He chooses to believe that they exist but have remained hidden and he’ll leave them that way. Barry Allen and Barbara Gordon are police detectives in their respective cities without any alternate identities as far as Bruce can tell.

He has no way to get in touch with Oliver, Dinah or any of the Green Lanterns. Bruce would rather avoid bringing in Clark until he knows more about the situation and who exactly <i>this</i> Clark is. Barry, Barbara and Commissioner Gordon would likely write him off as eccentric if he tried telling them what was going on.  

He didn’t want to disrupt their lives in this world, but he’s going to need his children’s help to solve this case.

Jason and Tim were the only ones currently in Gotham and they would be the easiest to approach in any case. Bruce could just walk into the soup kitchen and ask to speak with Jason about expanding or contributing to his charity. They’d also be able to locate Cassandra while Bruce went to see Dick at Haly’s.

-------

“I can’t take the risk. If I got caught, they’d take Timmy away from me. If I got killed, I’d be leaving him all alone. I made a promise when I took him in, to be there for him. I won’t break that promise. I won’t do anything to hurt him.

“Besides, he’s my responsibility. I don’t take that lightly. And I love him too much to put him at risk.” Jason offered a kind smile. “Maybe one day you’ll have kids. Then, you’ll understand.”

Bruce couldn’t tell Jason that he actually had five kids, including him. Wouldn’t tell him that’s he’d just unintentionally schooled him on his failures as a parent.

-------

Bruce leaves them together, a new formed family. And goes to reunite his own.

[bigskydreaming]

dick's backstory gets so frequently gets brushed under the rug and sterilized into "parents died, adopted by a rich dude" and subsequently ignored because then it's assumed his life is then perfect. this is a boy who watched his family die gruesomely. who was then removed from the only home he'd ever known and put in juvenile detention. who then became a vigilante before he ever turned 10. who was never adopted. who was fired and kicked out and hurt by bruce. no trauma there! perfectly happy!

Preaching to the choir my friend!

One of my greatest frustrations in DC comics fandom for yeeeeears was always how often Dick and Jason get pitted against each other in trauma olympics, and other assorted wtf-ery. Because just like Bruce ended up pitting them against each other like I described in that post, the comics did too, at least in the beginning. Not AS much since Jason came back with his own clearly defined niche, more…holdovers from that original time. And so there’s this tendency with a lot of Dick fans and a lot of Jason fans to act like its gotta be one or the other, that its impossible to stan for both. And I’m just sitting over here like NOPE, I stan them both and always will, every single one of their problems and any and all canon shitty things they’ve done to each other were really the result of dumbass writers and dumbass characters forcing them into situations where like….they did what they did. I very much reject the idea that they HAVE to always be at odds, and that one HAS to be better than the other (Dick) or have had it harder than the other (Jason). Its just like…..why tho?

So for me, that tends to manifest a lot as in, when focusing on Dick, I really push back against the myth of him as the ‘pure/too light/too good to kill’ golden boy of the Batfamily, because….no. He’s not. He is who he is because of circumstance and as a result of growing up in an emotional minefield of a house where he felt pushed to perfection. With perfection having clearly defined parameters, as established by Bruce and his expectations. Not because he’s innately incapable of killing or just on some core level ‘too good to lower himself to that’, which is unfortunately something that’s also put forth a lot. But the thing is, putting Dick on that kind of pedestal unintentionally says some pretty shitty things about Jason, as well as Damian and even Cass, and I don’t think people fully realize they’re doing that when they talk about Dick “Too Good to Kill” Grayson. Implying that he is such a thing, that there IS such a thing, at the same time implicitly states that his brothers and sister who HAVE killed, even when they were children and it wasn’t their fault, they were coerced…..this basically suggests that there HAS to be something innately….’worse’ about Jason, and Damian, and Cass, or else they never would’ve been able to do that at all.

Like, I read a fic awhile back where a big theme was the rest of the family talking about this idea that like….Dick couldn’t handle it if he did end up killing someone, that it would break him, tarnish him in some irrevocable way. Like they were saying it in a way meant to be complimentary to Dick and his character, even as Jason and the others were the ones putting forth this idea, the impression was meant to be they wanted to protect Dick from this, preserve that ‘goodness’ about him, but I was just like….No. God no. Hard pass. Because the idea that Dick would lose something fundamental to him, like he’d be forever lessened as a character and a person if for whatever reason he ended up killing…..like, there’s really no way to look at that without reading into it the implication that Jason and the others are damaged goods, forever tainted. And like…no thank you. I really really have issues with that line of thought, especially when it includes Cass and Damian who were forced into being child assassins. Like, whether you mean to or not, when you apply that logic you end up writing them off before they were even like, ten. Beyond saving, even then. I find that very troubling and insidious, even. And thus I push back heavily against this take on Dick, but really, its more in defense of Jason, Damian and Cass.

Like, of course he’d be forever affected by something that huge, just like they are and always will be, but to clarify I mean - its this idea that Dick could never be HAPPY again, even if he was forced to kill someone, or put in a position where he made that choice…that’s what I really objected to. Because that’s the part that suggests that Damian and Cass will never TRULY know happiness as a result of their childhoods, and that’s very destructive thinking, to my mind. The reality of someone forced to grow up too fast, having their innocence stolen, being pushed into doing something no one should have to live with….these are harsh, stark realities, they have merit, they have weight - but they do not mean, and should never be assumed to mean, that a child, or even that a character, who fits these circumstances is somehow beyond repair, or salvaging, or just being happy someday.

And then the flipside of that is I equally push back on takes that crown Jason the King of Trauma, not because he hasn’t endured a ridiculous amount, but because in defense of Dick, Tim and the others, I object to playing into the idea of ranking the Batkids’ traumas at all. The stuff Jason’s been through is horrific, but its not negated, or watered down or lessened by acknowledging that Dick and the others have been through extremely fucked up stuff too. And similarly, I’m very bothered by pointing to how much rougher and more aggressive and ‘darker’ Jason is as a character than Dick, as a way to kinda backdoor prove that Jason’s been through more shit than him, because that again leads to a very troubling implicit line of thought that like, there’s only ONE right way to respond to trauma. That if you aren’t visibly hardened by it, darkened by it, the way Jason has been by his, then whatever you’ve been through obviously couldn’t have been THAT bad, or as bad as someone like Jason has had it. And again, I gotta just give a big HARD PASS to that, because that’s just not how it works.

The fact that Dick is for the most part a far more light-hearted character than Jason isn’t proof he’s had it easier or hasn’t been through as much or seen as much bad stuff - that last bit is especially laughable. You can’t entertain the idea of a guy who’s been fighting the worst kinds of criminals since he was ten, in the most notoriously corrupt and crime-ridden city in the DC universe, and honestly believe that there’s anything he hasn’t seen or been exposed to. It just doesn’t track. BUT, that kind of awareness of the darkness Gotham is mired in isn’t as easily reconciled with the bright, cheerful personality Dick usually sports…unless you acknowledge that Dick WORKS at being that person. This is his reaction to the trauma he’s lived and been surrounded by, not because its just innately who he is, but its because its who he CHOOSES to be, its the response he’s DECIDED on. 

Jason copes with stuff with anger and outbursts. Dick copes with stuff with laughter and mockery. Neither is better or worse, more right or wrong than the other, they’re just DIFFERENT. Different coping mechanisms, trauma responses, for different people. Like I’ve always said, I see Dick and Jason as very similar people at their core. Their differences are largely superficial. But both of them respond to trauma with defiance. By refusing to be beaten down by it. The only difference, is with Jason, that defiance looks like swearing and spitting and cursing, even when faced with an opponent much bigger or tougher than him, a situation that should be too much to survive. Whereas with Dick, that defiance looks like laughing and smiling and joking, even when faced with an opponent or a situation about which there’s nothing actually funny, nothing naturally bright or cheerful. Dick has to conjure that appearance of brightness as an act of defiance, just like Jason has to conjure that appearance of strength.

And once you stop trying to compare Jason and Dick’s traumas, stop trying to rank one as more or less than the others, and just acknowledge and accept hey, they’ve both been through fucked up shit, they’ve both been traumatized - then you can look just at the stuff Dick’s been through, isolated and independent from everything else, and then you can see just how shitty it actually is, and thus what an act of defiance, what a testament of strength it is, that he is able to go through life acting as cheerfully and bubbly as he often does. And yeah, like you said, its his parents being murdered when he was eight, its being thrown in juvie because of a corrupt system when he’d done nothing wrong, its being beaten nearly to death and shot by Two-Face and Joker and dozens of other villains throughout Dick’s childhood, its the time he was tortured by Brother Blood trying to break him in every way possible and its the shit with Mirage and with Tarantula….and a ton of other stuff that never really gets acknowledged for how bad it actually was, because comics are notoriously bad at actually LOOKING at the trauma they heap on superheroes, and what it actually MEANS and what the realistic fallout would be from it, the emotional toll actually taken.

One of the biggest instances of this IMO is with Blockbuster. Like lots of people know the basics about Blockbuster’s death in the comics, and how it ties into what happened with Tarantula….and because that’s so ‘visibly’ traumatic, because that’s an event that’s easy to associate with a trauma that most people have a ready made image and RANKING in mind already when they think of it - like they think of what happened with Tarantula and they’re like oh yeah, okay, that’s a type of trauma I recognize as TRAUMA, thus I get just from the mention of it that was definitely bad and traumatic and had an impact on Dick….so that becomes the go-to when people talk about the stuff with Blockbuster. That’s what people hone in on….so focused on what pings their radar as Obviously Traumatic, they forget to look around at everything else involved and look at the possible impact and potential fallout.

And thus people forget that what happened with Tarantula happened when Dick was ALREADY at the lowest point in his life, and WHY that was so. Like, they acknowledge it, but in a cursory way, like okay yeah, that’s the buildup, now let’s get to the actual trauma and talk about that. Which ignores like….the trauma that was the REASON he was already in such a state to begin with. Like, Blockbuster systematically hunted down every connection he could find to Dick Grayson’s civilian life, and murdered them and burned all traces of them to the ground…JUST because they knew him. Just as a way to hurt HIM, Dick Grayson.

And because that doesn’t ping on our Preconceived Trauma Scales as immediately as something like Jason’s death or Dick’s parents’ murder or similar iconic traumas….we tend to gloss over that, but like….think about it. Think about what something like that would mean for a character that’s known for both his sense of responsibility, and for being one of the most openly empathetic superheroes out there, an emotional caretaker whose entire reputation is built on how much he FEELS for other people and how deeply.

Imagine the kid who was orphaned at age eight, watching his parents fall to their deaths and in the immediate aftermath taken away from everything else he’d ever known or found comfort in - the circus…..and now imagine that same kid fifteen years later watching that same circus burn to the ground, the last memory of his treasured childhood, when things were GOOD, when he was unconditionally happy, the last connection he had to his parents and all the extended circus family he’d grown up happy among…..all of them now dead too, all of those memories physically burned to the ground until nothing was left. All of it gone, for good. And with this villain saying - that happened because of you. I didn’t care about them, I only killed them, only did all of that, because I KNEW how much it would hurt you. And then that same guy did it AGAIN - blowing up Dick’s apartment building and everyone in it….just because he lived there. Having a sniper kill a reporter he was talking to, while he was sitting across the table from her…JUST because she was talking to him.

Like, that’s trauma on top of trauma, that’s trauma on an unimaginable scale. There’s a reason in that infamous scene with Tarantula, Dick was mumbling about being poison….because he honestly, truly believed it at that point, because it was TRUE. Because Blockbuster had made it his personal mission to make that true, to make it a reality that anyone close to Dick Grayson would die. Because of him. Dick was entirely right in feeling that way, he was simply acknowledging what Blockbuster had very deliberately set out to do..it wasn’t Dick’s FAULT that everyone around him was dying, because of their connection to him….but that didn’t mean it wasn’t TRUE.

And that’s just….mind boggling to contemplate, to picture the toll that has to take, but the thing is - it barely ever gets contemplated! Purely because there’s not a simple, neat, easy way to sum it up and label what Trauma specifically it is. The way we can with his parents’ murder, or his rape, or various things that have happened to Jason or their other brothers and sister. And so it gets swept under the rug because we’re in a hurry to get back to the traumas we DO have an easy vocabulary for, with ready-made pictures all queued up in our heads. And then on top of all these traumas (because there’s more too, like think about the impact of realizing that the circus owner you regarded as a grandfather was someday planning on handing you over to people who were going to turn you into an assassin, make you everything you hate, like imagine the BETRAYAL of that discovery and how it would shake your entire view of reality and everything you knew and believed in about your childhood and the time you spent around that man). But yeah, like, on top of these traumas that don’t have a neat and easy logline to describe them, or that don’t quite look like we expect a REALLY traumatic trauma to look like….then add on top of that a trauma response that doesn’t look like our preconceived notions of what trauma response looks like, a guy laughing and joking and SMILING in the aftermath, rather than growling and shooting and drinking.

And you wind up with the idea that nothing THAT bad has ever happened to this character, not like the stuff that’s happened to this other character who ACTS the way we expect someone to act after they’ve been Through Some Real Shit. Even though nothing could be further than the truth. But that’s what happens when we try and boil things down to easy and simple and quick ways of thinking and processing stories and events and traumas. We end up skipping right over the evidence of trauma that falls outside our initial assumptions, and drawing the conclusion that means no trauma was actually ever there…..instead of the proper conclusion which is just we weren’t looking in the right places. Or were just in too much of a rush or too busy looking elsewhere or for something more obvious, and thus missed acknowledging what was actually there.

Anyway, lol. Lots to unpack there, obviously, but yeah, my point being, this tendency we all tend to have in society, this need to artificially impose ranks and hierarchies and award gold, silver and bronze medals even to something as arbitrary as the kinds of traumas we’ve endured - its fucked up, and self-defeating, and does nobody any good. Because its like trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Trying to FORCE comparisons that aren’t possible, because no two traumas are alike, no two traumas are interchangeable, and thus they inherently CAN’T be measured against each other, ranked, because….there’s no actual measurement system for trauma! There’s no way to actually JUDGE ‘this event was worse, this had more of an impact’, and yet we always try anyway, instead of just accepting….an impact was had. Instead of just worrying about the RESULT, focusing on THAT - which in this case is the person left behind in the aftermath of the trauma, the one actually traumatized….instead of spending so much time and energy focusing on the TRAUMA itself, as though that’s what matters and is important.