#thats gotta do some kinda damage to tims psyche abt never feeling like you belong no?

[flwrkid14]

Tim Drake: Always the Almost

There’s something about being almost.

Tim Drake was never meant to be Robin. Not really. Not in the way Dick was—the bright, acrobatic first son. Not like Jason—the reckless, fiery second chance. Tim? Tim wasn’t supposed to be a hero at all. He wasn’t chosen. He chose himself.

But even when he did everything right, even when he saved Batman from himself, he was still almost.

Almost Robin.

Almost Batman’s partner.

Almost part of the family.

It’s exhausting being the one who holds it all together, who sees all the cracks but is never quite enough to fill them. He was the one who picked up the pieces after Jason died, the one who figured it all out, who knew Bruce was spiraling long before anyone else did. But when Bruce looked at him, he didn’t see Tim. He saw a kid trying to fit into a suit too big for him. He saw someone filling a role, not someone who belonged.

And Tim did it anyway. Because that’s what Tim does. He steps up. He takes the hits. He keeps going.

But that doesn’t make it any less lonely.

Even when he became Robin, it wasn’t the same. Dick was the golden child. Jason was the one everyone mourned. And Tim? He was the placeholder. The one who kept the legacy going while the real Robins cast their shadows over him. And when Damian came along, when Bruce’s actual son showed up, it was like the universe confirmed what Tim always feared deep down:

He was never supposed to be there.

Damian made it clear from day one. He didn’t need Tim. Gotham didn’t need Tim. Hell, Bruce didn’t need Tim. Not anymore. Damian was the son, the heir. And Tim? Tim was expendable. Replaceable.

It shouldn’t hurt. But it does. It always does.

Because no matter how many times he saves Gotham, no matter how many times he proves himself, Tim is still almost. Almost enough. Almost part of the family. Almost loved.

And the worst part? The part that no one ever sees, because Tim is so good at hiding it—he wants to be enough. He wants so badly to be seen, to be valued, to be the person they miss when he’s not there.

But he knows they wouldn’t. Not really.

Because Tim Drake is always almost.

And that’s the part that will break him.