#in the way that Tim and Damian are first and foremost legacies to Dick

[teleportationmagic]

Anyways. Today I am frustrated about how Cass -> Steph lagacy is explored better in Batgirl 2000 than in Batgirl 2009, and yes that's because of editorial, and yes I will die mad about it, and yes I doubt that we'll ever really see an exploration of it because Batgirls placed them both on the same level which isn't something I disagree with, but ends up with the result that we never get to see how Cass feels about the legacy she leaves behind. And yeah, Cass was never the point of Steph!Batgirl. And similarily, while we get some feeling of Steph towards Cass - questions about her faith in her, and joy in beind able to take part in her legacy - it's shallow, it has to be shallow, because Cass isn't there. And while putting Cass back in Batgirl is undeniably the correct choice, I wish there could be an opportunity to show the legacy going from Cass to Steph, even if Cass is picking it up again. I don't think these two things exist antithetically to each other.

[fantastic-nonsense]

Thanks for your reply. And, yeah, I definitely agree that Robin is first and foremost Dick’s legacy, and that he chose Damian as his Robin for important reasons that he expresses to Tim later. And, his blessings to both Jason and Tim previously were also extremely important. But, I was thinking about it more in terms of how the transition was handled. I know that Jason and Dick, despite popular belief, had a decent relationship when he was Robin, but Dick didn’t react well initially because he had been completely blindsided by the news, nor had he given his consent. I thought that Alfred was sort of repeating Bruce’s mistakes here, so Tim might have been blindsided by it as well (not that I think he would’ve given his consent either way at that point). You saying that it was a crisis decision on Alfred’s part puts it in perspective though, and it makes sense since Alfred’s generally more sensitive than Bruce. I do think, though, that seeing Damian in a Robin suit (with Alfred’s blessing) would have probably made Tim realise that there was a real possibility that Damian could be Robin.

[referencing this response on how the transition from Tim to Damian as Robin was handled]

I think two things can be true: Tim would be blindsided and hurt by Dick's decision to make Damian Robin regardless of the circumstances, but it was particularly tough for him given the situation that it occurred in (the issue you're talking about and I mostly discussed in my original response), and it was the obvious decision to make based on where all three of those characters were in their character arcs.

Tim during the BFTC/early Reborn era honestly needs to be viewed in the context of him clearly being ready to take the same steps Dick took at his age to become an independent vigilante but wanting to cling to Robin because it was the only sense of stability he had in an incredibly unstable period of his life. Tim had been operating semi-independently for years and had just spent the entirety of Battle for the Cowl telling Dick that if he wouldn't put on the cowl Tim would do it himself…and then he actually did put on the cowl to go fight Jason. It's not like Tim wasn't signaling that he had moved beyond Robin's role as Batman's non-independent protege.

And Dick could see that, especially since Tim had already been the Robin to his Batman once, back in Prodigal. He genuinely meant it when he called Tim his "equal" in Red Robin #1, and I think that's important to understand where both of them are coming from.

Ultimately Tim's problems with Robin "being taken away from him" were not Dick's problems, and Tim's hostility and hurt comes from a fundamentally different place than Dick's did. Dick voluntarily gave up being Robin to become Nightwing, and the rocky transition from Dick to Jason was less about the mantle and more about Dick's personal insecurity about his place in the family and Bruce giving Jason Robin without his permission. Tim's place in the family was very solid during BftC and his RR #1 freakout was mostly about the perception that Dick was taking away his sole source of mental/life stability and choosing Damian (a potential hostile) over Tim to watch his back and keep him alive.

Dick's issues were about insecurity in the face of a father apparently replacing him with a new son and a new partner in his absence. Tim's issues were about feeling unmoored in the face of yet another loved one dying, his civilian life going up in flames (again) and being pushed out of a tenuous stability back into instability, and the percieved lack of trust in his ability to properly fill the role he was already occupying.

So honestly I think Tim's feelings on that transition need to be viewed as an entirely separate thing from how well or poorly the transition itself was handled, because I genuinely believe that Tim's reaction only was what it canonically was due to the unique intersections of events going on in Tim's personal life. Dick could have (and should have) handled the transition with more delicacy, but Tim was always going to react badly because of how hard he had been leaning on the mask to give him a sense of normalcy and balance. That's not really something Dick or Damian (or Alfred) could control, even though the transition itself was rockier than it could have been on their ends and poorly handled out-of universe.

[the-dreaded-deep]

More contributions i carve into my walls at night:

And by @robbed-ghost

#YES CAUSE LIKE#when Damian was taught of the mantle of Robin being held it was every meaning of mentee and trusted right hand man in one phrase#it was the thing he was to aspire to be and the thing he must kill to take to be loved/taken in by his father#and when he really does go into the family he realizes that’s not the case and that it’s a gift passed down however unwittingly from dick#and at some point he almost didn’t have that BECAUSE of what he’d been taught about it being fundamentally wrong#and therefore everything he knew and hoped about and strived for for his father was useless if he didn’t get the mantle the right way#and by having him be dick’s Robin it’s like he finally got that hope of earning the mantle back.#because he got it from the man who actually intended it. the one who invented it and earned it. the one that understands it.#it’s about how when dick got it his mother was commenting on how proud she was of him and how magnificent it was to see him be himself#it’s not just family and son: it’s pride. like a constant ‘im proud of you. keep making me proud by being you—by being This.’#it’s something that goes beyond dad and kid and mentor and student it’s legacy and doing the previous generation proud with hard work#which is what Damian’s goals have always dumbed down to (no matter how hotheaded he can be about it)#when Bruce handed that title to Jason with little to no consultation from dick it was devastating to him because he wasn’t prepared#prepared to be proud or prepared for it to be taken away; either one is correct to some extent. it was Bruce silently doing away with truth#and using it as a placeholder for something simpler and less intimately felt. it was a name from dick’s parents first and foremost#when dick handed that title down to Damian after tim (who had had to take it and redefine it fundamentally even further than Jason had)#it was an encouragement and sign from dick to Damian of ‘I know you aren’t this. but I know the real you is so wonderful. make me proud.’#and Damian did and he understood innately that that was what dick wanted from him and what he needed to get his connection with his parents#back in a way. anyway. I’m abnormal about dynamics ❤️#damian wayne#dick grayson#dc#batfam

I feel like Dick and Damian definitely do regard each other as father and son to a certain extent but in a way that is so tied to Bruce's "death" that they'll never actually say it. Damian will just keep referring to Dick as his Batman, a role that has only ever meant father to him, and Dick will refer to Damian as his Robin, a name that has only ever meant son.

[dc-himbo]

Alright, working on a few physical description and how characters handle emotional and physical intimacy and how they fight. I'm doing the 'main four' first to break this up a bit more. This is just my personal head cannons, let me know what you think. I'm also doing they are all adults version of this as well. This is also a bit rambly so I apologize for that...I'm a little tipsy....yeah.

Jason is Hispanic, fight me. (I never liked that DC made all the robins kind of look the same and didn't go for diversity off the bat, but meh...not in my head cannons). Jay stands at a solid 6'4 but wears boots that give him some more height a lot. He is focused on his strength and focused on intimidation that his size grants him. Granted peak physical perfection from the pit, and he has taken care of his body ever since. He's a bit vain when it comes to how he looks despite the scars that line his body. He is very broad, wide shoulders, thick thighs and arms. Looks like he's cut from stone. Jason is a flirt and a he is a charmer and he is very aware of it and uses it to his advantage when it suits him. Emotional intimacy however is something he says away from and doesn't feel he is worthy of.

Richard Grayson is Romani. I honestly wish they would have given him brown eyes too, but I digress. Dick is 5'10 and he is lean AF. Dick is one of those that has 0 percent body fat. Built very much so like an acrobat. Dick is pretty. Pretty in that effortless way that he doesn't even know his effect on people. Has a lot of definition to his muscles, but he is built more for speed and flips than he is for strength like Jason is. Dick is a charmer, but he's not very self aware of it. While is not really self aware of how his looks and charm effect others around him, Dick is probably the most well equipped for Physical and Emotional Intimacy than the rest of his brothers and Bruce. Deep down, he craves those connections with other people and he subconsciously seeks them out the closer he is with people.

I have always viewed Timothy as Korean. Tim is 5'8 and he is thin. There is definition to his muscles, but not like his eldest brothers as he is usually not hitting the gym as often as they are. By no means does that mean Tim is a slouch, he just prefers to fight with his brain first and foremost. Muscles may look impressive, but he'd rather outwit then straight up beat someone to a pulp. For as smart as Tim is, he is very forgetful and flighty. He would rather work on his cases or the lastest Wayne project than be alone with his thoughts for too long. This makes physical and emotional intimacy and connections difficult for him as most people tend to give him his space and his distance.

Damian definitely takes after his mother's features more in terms of his Arabic-Chinese heritage and as he grew up he explored this side of himself more. Damian (Adult) was the shortest growing up, but now matches his father's height at 6'2. He is the most disaplined with his body, very mindful of what he puts into it and it's limits. He is strong, getting the benefits of the pit just like Jason did...but his time training with his brothers and his father has taught him that you cannot rely on strength alone. He is distant when it comes to physical or emotional intimacy by choice, seeing them as a bit of a distraction to his goals of becoming a legacy just like his father and his mother's family.

Anyways, let me know what you think...I might delete this later or add to it. I always get so weird sharing my writings and musings.

[bigskydreaming]

Tbh the Tim situation is more like if people argued Bruce had no right to take the Batman mantle back when he returned from being lost in the timestream because Dick was Batman now, but nobody does that. THAT is the real parallel IMO, not the firing, because the latter still ignores the fact that Dick didn’t even actually fire Tim, he was saying nothing but good things about him. He wasn’t trying to push Tim away, just extend a hand to someone else, and that is a situation that has no parallel in either Dick or Jason’s situation.

Nah, in my mind the real parallel is that both Dick and Bruce originated mantles born of their own personal reasons that others have worn since they first came up with them....but no one ever so much as suggests that Bruce had no right to do with the Batman mantle as he chose, it was always still Bruce’s first and foremost, at the end of the day, because HE MADE IT. If people want to bear the mantles others originated, as a way of continuing what they started or honoring them or both, that comes with the caveat that the mantle’s originator still deserves final say on who carries what they made and continues the legacy that doesn’t exist without them, IMO. If someone wants something no one else has any say over, they should make and shape their own mantle.

Which Dick did. Twice. And the first time, the fact that it was HIS, that he made, was the real reason Bruce taking it away (not even to give it to someone else to try and help them change, the way Dick did with Damian, but just taking it)....THAT was the issue. It wasn’t his to give or take. But it was Dick’s to wield as an indicator of who he considers family, as that’s what it represents for him and what he wanted it to represent to Damian....just as he once used the fact that Tim was Robin to express that made them brothers now....LONG before Bruce actually adopted Tim and made it true in any other sense.

And Dick taking it from Tim to give it to Damian NEVER actually took back the fact that Tim had been Robin and thus to some degree now always would be even if others held the name after him....and thus they remained family (a bond which had also long since been cemented in other ways that didn’t depend on whether or not he was Robin, whereas the existing connections between Damian and the others meant nothing to Damian until Dick MADE them mean something to him, VIA Robin)...just like Jason and Tim being Robin after Dick, or even just Bruce taking the mantle away from him in the first place, didn’t actually change the fact that Dick still remains his mother’s Robin no matter WHAT he’s actually called....and no one can ever make that untrue or remove that aspect of him.

[renaroo]

The Directive

Disclaimer: Batman and associated characters are the creative property of DC Comics. Warnings: Canon-typical violence & language Pairings: BabsDinah, CassBrenda Rating: T Prompt: ( @shobogan​ ) Answered! Though if I want to get more specific, @renaroo pls write me an epic cross-generational adventure featuring at least four Batgirls in which Dinah and Babs are married, Cass saves Brenda through time travel shenanigans, and Steph mentors Nell.

A/N: This one TOTALLY got ahead of me but I now adore this universe and would love to expand upon it more someday bc SAGE YOU HAVE SUCH GOOD IDEAS and I’m here to serve. 

Bruce’s death struck something in her that Barbara was not aware could be shook anymore. 

Not after she had been in the line of work she was for so long. 

The dismantled Birds of Prey, the death of the Batman, the flight of so many new and impressive Bats in Gotham that she barely knew what to make of it all. 

She was, loathed as she was to admit it, loathed as she was to allow it to hurt her any further, emotionally compromised. 

Barbara needed to pull in rank. She needed help. 

She needed to protect her legacy. Because legacy -- Bruce was right in that regard -- legacy was all they truly left behind. 

Dinah opened the door. She was at least ten minutes earlier than Barbara had assumed she would have been, even using the JLA transporters. Barbara should have known she would have been -- should have known Dinah. 

“I’m so sorry,” Dinah said, coming to Barbara’s side. “I know I’m part of the Network, I know that I’m supposed to be out there helping the chaos, but... But I had to make sure you were okay first. God, Babs, I remembered the gang wars and what happened to you and the watchtower and--”

Barbara wrapped her arms around Dinah’s neck, breathed in her hair. It had been too long -- they had let themselves be apart too long. 

“I need help, will you help me?” she asked Dinah without warning.

“You know I will, Barbara,” Dinah responded without hesitation, her own arms wrapping around Barbara’s shoulders. “You don’t even have to ask.”

“I need you,” Babs said, tears streaming down her face. She pulled back enough to look Dinah in the face, to cup Dinah’s chin in her hands. “I’ve made more mistakes in my life than I would ever admit, Dinah. But the biggest was letting you walk away -- not from the team. From me. From us. And I need you. God, I need you.”

Dinah’s hands tenderly found Barbara’s face, thumbs brushing away the tears. “You have me. You’ve always had me.”

It was mourning, it was emotionally compromised, it was human, and it was one of the people in her life who made her the most human that Barbara kissed that night, that she proposed a new life with that night. 

Of course, there was her other proposal as well. 

She was surprised when she learned that Cassandra was building her own Network, almost a rival to what Barbara had already established. Perhaps, more surprised than she should have been. 

Cassandra had earned her stubborn streak from Barbara herself. 

Alfred walked down to the cave alongside Barbara for most of the way, but he had many things to attend to -- official Wayne family business, dealing with Tim’s injuries, coaxing Dick, managing that Damian child that Barbara only knew in passing. 

If there was anyone in the world Barbara may have trusted Cassandra’s well being with after she lost the one man she saw as a father after what Cain had done to her, it was Alfred. 

But it wasn’t about what other people could do for Cass.

It was about what Barbara should have been doing from the beginning. 

“Cass,” Barbara announced herself, though she knew Cass had heard her come in and made a point of not turning away from the multiple computer screens before her. 

That was most certainly a pointed gesture. Just as it was a pointed gesture that Cass was refusing to remove her full face mask. 

“Helena wants to send her thanks for helping at the harbor,” Barbara continued. 

“Okay,” Cass answered, using the cursor to click on the Huntress’ file on the screen. 

Barbara stared at Batgirl’s back and wondered why she had let things get to that point to begin with. 

“That’s not the only reason I came,” Barbara continued lowly. “I came to check on you. Because I’m worried about you. You were... fairly ruthless out there tonight. That’s not like you.”

Cassandra might have been one of the most powerful fighters Barbara had ever met, but she was marked by her gentleness, by never taking things a step too far. 

That was not the Batgirl who had been on the streets that night. 

“Have you let yourself cry yet?” Barbara asked. “Have you let yourself... Are you taking care of yourself?”

At that, Cassandra quickly spun her chair to face Barbara. She was still using the full facemask as a shield, a barrier between them. 

That had never been its purpose before, but Cass had grown to hide behind it. She must have gotten that from Bruce. 

“Why do you care?” she demanded bluntly. “Why are you... here!?”

There were many answers that Barbara could have given, but she was only interested in giving the truth. She pushed her chair forward, closer to her former protege, to her friend, to her... 

“I’m here for you,” Barbara said, her own tears welling. “I’m here because I love you, and I’ve not done enough to show the people I love that I love them. And now one of them is gone and he’ll never hear directly from me what he meant to me. And I regret it. I regret that I have to trust that he could see it in the woman I grew up to become thanks to him. I hate that I drove you away so that you don’t even have that from me.”

There was silence, and then, reluctantly, Cassandra reached up and pulled off her mask.

Her hair was a mess -- sweaty and sticking up at all ends. Choppy, like she had cut it herself recently to fit better in her mask. It was something that Barbara used to do for her back in the day. Her face was wet, which was a testament to the flow of her tears since the mask was at least partially absorbent. 

But the real testament to Cassandra’s pain was in her eyes. The red rimmed, the bloodshot, the sniffing nose. 

“He was my... my dad,” Cass said, reaching into one of the front pouches of her belt and producing a crumpled sheet of paper despite the shaking of her whole body. “He... This says it. My-my copy.” She then buried her face in her hands. “Still can’t-can’t read all-all words. St-still so... so du--”

“Shh,” Barbara cut her off, moving fast to rush forward and catch the crumbling girl, let Cassandra become a puddle in her lap. Barbara rested her chin on Cass’ head and slowly rubbed circles on her back. “Shh, never say that. Never say that.” She squeezed her own eyes shut. “I’m so sorry, Cass. I’m so, so sorry, Cass. I can’t go on without us being okay again. I can’t let yo go on not knowing how much I love you. Do you hear me? I love you, and I’m sorry you didn’t know.”

“I love you, too, B-Barbara,” Cass hiccuped into Barbara’s shoulder. “Love you, too. C-Can’t make... can’t make Network -- can’t make legacy without you.”

“Neither can I, Cass,” Barbara assured her in soothing whispers. “We’ll do it together. Just like we always should have.”

Helena stood in the Cave. It was the first time she had been there, aware of what home it rested beneath, given the so-called honor of being a guest in its halls. 

“Is this a guilt thing?” she asked Barbara and Dick as they walked her from the carport toward what seemed to be a hall of encased costumes. “Because I don’t really feel like honoring someone’s complex today.”

She would have much rather spent her Saturday sleeping in. She had spent every night and almost every day working on keeping Gotham safe in the aftermath of-- well...

There was a look that passed between Dick and Babs, the kind that read volumes between friends who had known each other a long time.

“Wouldn’t know,” Dick finally answered with a shrug. “It’s part of his will.”

Helena didn’t have to ask whose. Didn’t want to even if she hadn’t known. 

“Here we go,” Barbara explained, waving to the case she had stopped in front of. 

For a moment, Helena didn’t get it, but then her eyes drifted to the suit. The emblem. The shape of the mannequin which wore it. Her look hardened and then she glanced from side to side -- they were in a lane of Batman suits. Those worn by Bruce over the years, some that were worn by his temporary replacements. 

And in the middle was the one she had made herself what felt like so many years ago. 

Not the one repurposed for Batgirl. 

Hers. 

The one she wore when Batman disappeared at the beginning of Gotham’s No Man’s Land asylum. When she was the only Batman to be found. 

Without thinking it through, her hand came up and she touched the glass. She wasn’t sure what the feeling was in her chest -- but it was pride and it was hurt. 

Turning back, Helena looked directly to Barbara first and foremost. “What is this?”

“Rebuilding a legacy,” Barbara answered. “And making sure all the right people are honored for it -- are still a part of it if they choose to be.”

Helena remained unmoving, waiting for more to be revealed. 

“Bruce left in his will that he didn’t want me to be Batman, that it could die with him,” Dick explained, arms crossed. “But those of us who have taken up for him in his absence before know that can’t be true. Batman and Robin can never die. So I’m ready to bear that responsibility... but to do it my own way. And to ask, respectfully, of all the previous mantle holders before me if I can have their permission to do so.”

Taking a breath, Helena tried to keep her head on straight. “I... Well, I think the record shows that I was always about defying Bruce when it came to style points,” she replied. She then looked to Barbara. Looked to her friend. Because there was more to the puzzle, still. “What are we doing here?” she asked, figuring her response was more than enough to give Dick whatever permission he was looking for. 

“Dick’s methods are going to put him in the city more, he wants to utilize the resources Bruce had stockpiled there,” Barbara answered, folding her arms before her chin. “It’d be a waste for something as technologically lavish and as important to all of our histories as the Batcave itself to go to waste.”

Helena’s smile grew. “You’re going to give me more toys from this collection, aren’t you?”

“You do like toys,” Babs replied wryly. “Also... I’d like to take the opportunity to let you know that Dinah and I are engaged.”

“That,” Helena responded with a wave of her hand,”is by far the least surprising news of this night.”

The wedding was not a wedding. It was a union.

Barbara’s dad, Helena, Cassandra, Charlie, Sin, Lian, and Roy were there. Dick texted them congratulations near immediately, but what with the move, the cowl, and the newly orphaned Wayne, he had difficulties of his own getting to the courthouse. 

It took a lot of tough upper lip for Barbara to not take it personally that Tim didn’t come. But she knew he was suffering in ways the rest of them could only imagine. 

Their honeymoon was not a honeymoon, it was a recruitment drive with Zinda at the proverbial and literal wheel. 

She handed her assignments to Helena, Cass, and Charlie as they left. Dinah put them in charge of watching Sin. And then behind their backs made sure that Sin understood she was in charge of watching the three of them. 

“I saw your list,” Dinah said in the middle of kissing every inch of Barbara. “You know that Cassandra is going to go against it and invite who she wanted all along.”

“I trust Cassandra, even when we don’t see eye to eye,” Barbara replied, entwining fingers with her wife. “Helena’s responsible.”

“Helena also will do what she wants and invite who she wants,” Dinah argued, finally getting to the line of Barbara’s jaw. 

“You’re right,” Babs smiled. “But that’s the Legacy more than anything, isn’t it? Doing what your gut says is right no matter who’s in charge and disagrees with you?”

“As long as you’re self-aware,” Dinah laughed warmly into Barbara’s ear before locking their lips. 

It was the best night of her life, with her high strung anxieties for once melted away by the trust she felt for each and every person around her. 

It was a Legacy, not a Network. But it was a network of trust.

The least surprising person to be picked up while they were gone was Stephanie Brown.

She had been Spoiler then Robin then Spoiler again. 

At the moment, she was standing off to the side in Barbara’s Batcave with her full mask still on and Cassandra standing firmly by her side. As if Cass’ presence was needed to show the act as one of defiance. 

“We’ve never gotten off on the right foot, have we, Spoiler?” Barbara asked as Dinah went and had her reunion with Sin. 

“I get that a lot from people who wear funny ears on their costumes,” Stephanie replied. “I’ve been training with Huntress and Batgirl for a whole week. I trained with Robin and Batman before...”

Before was a difficult but necessary place to leave that sentence. 

Cassandra was unmoving, eyes set on Barbara intensely. 

Barbara did not miss the very deliberate way that she was not wearing her costume. 

“You’re serious then,” Barbara said, folding her fingers together on her lap. “What was Helena’s opinion?”

“Yes,” Cass said without hesitation. “Before we even... started. It was yes.”

Of course it was, Barbara should have gotten Cassandra and Helena to work together sooner. They were almost a hivemind when it came to instinctive readings on people, fighting Barbara back when she needed to be fought back, and giving her migraines in the process. 

But it wasn’t about them. It was bigger than that. It was even bigger than Stephanie Brown. 

Steph tilted her head and looked questioningly at Cass. “Wait, yes to what? I thought we were doing this whole Birds of Prey outreach thing, right? Same as what Huntress is doing right now with Misfit and Catwoman and Question--”

“You’re more important,” Cass said without hesitation.

Stephanie looked back to Barbara, apparently not pleased with Cass’ penchant for being cryptic. 

“Stephanie Brown, we’re not simply working with the Birds of Prey,” Barbara informed her. “If you would like to do only that, you will continue working with Huntress and Black Canary, Misfit and the rest. You can do so as Spoiler or any identity you determine suits you best now that we’re in a time of everything about Gotham being Reborn.” Barbara dipped her chin down, looking steadily at Stephanie from over the rim of her glasses. “But, if you’re willing, Cassandra has chosen you for a deeper level entirely. For being a part of all of our legacy. To be a part of something more intimate.”

Folding her arms, Stephanie tried to seem nonchalant but she was almost shaking with nerves. “Do I have to be adopted by someone? That seems to be everyone’s MO lately.”

“You just have to answer a question Cassandra has for you,” Barbara replied, nodding to her daughter.

Cass looked at Stephanie with such meaning, such emotion, it prompted Spoiler to pull back her hood and mask. 

“Cass?” 

“Stephanie,” Cass began, “will you be... the new Batgirl?” 

Shocked, Stephanie dropped her mask. 

There was a tense silence, and then the girl let out a whooping scream before leaping at Cassandra and giving her a bear hug, lifting her off the floor and twirling around with her. 

“Only a thousand times yes!” she cried out. 

Barbara and Cass exchanged soft smiles. 

It was Phase One. Their legacy was moving forward. 

It had been too long since Barbara had sparred with Cassandra. 

She was fast she was good, but she went easy on Barbara. And that was her downfall. That was when she had Dinah bring Sin in and them both take her on. 

“Girls, girls, we’re family,” Barbara reminded her adopted daughters as she pulled out her eskrima. She smirked at them both as they got into stance. “That means we never hold back.”

Sin made the mistake of leaning too much on Cassandra’s lead. Cassandra made the mistake of being too soft toward the woman she saw as her mother. 

Barbara knew all too well that she wanted her girls to live with even the toughest fighter on the streets agains them. They both hit the mats at the same time. 

“Wow,” Sin managed, rubbing her jaw. 

Cass got to her feet in one motion and narrowed her eyes. She was mad because she had lost. 

Barbara couldn’t help but smile. 

Good. 

“Stay back,” Cassandra warned Sin before lunging forward toward Barbara.

“Okay?” Sin asked while Cass and Babs erupted into a flurry of attacks and motion. 

Cassandra had no weapons. Barbara was in her chair. They fought dirty to make up for the things they lacked, and that was exactly what Barbara wanted. 

Her Legacy was going to be stronger than her. Better than her. And her family was going to be thrice that.

“I want you to sign up for ballet,” Babs managed to grunt out in between hits. 

Cassandra pivoted and moved into her next attack. “I don’t want--”

“It’s not what you want, Cassie,” Barbara admonished. “It’s about what’s best for you. You may be mine and Dinah’s daughter, but you’re also one of the Wayne heirs. You’ll be expected to have a more public persona, and I also want you to do something that’ll make you happy.”

For a moment, just a moment, Cassandra left an opening. “You did... ballet.”

The next thing Cassandra knew, she was on her back on the mats again with Barbara leaning over her. 

“And we’ll do it again together,” Barbara said to her happily. “Because you need to be a civilian, Cassandra Wayne Gordon-Lance. And you also need a new costume and name now that Stephanie’s almost through bootcamp. And unfortunately, Batwoman seems to be taken.”

“Didn’t want to be anyway,” Cass said, sitting up and hugging her knees. Her brows knit together as she rested her chin against her knees. There were tears welling up in her eyes. “Was... was supposed to be Batman.”

Barbara felt her heart break. “Oh, Cass... you... there could be two, if you want to--” she stopped as Cassandra made a point of shaking her head. 

When she looked up, Barbara realized that Sin had been silently moving toward them all that time, her own eyes filled with tears. “Sisters,” she said, also getting Cass’ attention. “I am to be Black Canary. But I love you more. Please take my new name instead if it make you happy, Sisters. Please. You can take it and not cry, that would be enough for me.”

Cass’ mouth hung open in shock at the selflessness of the action before she reached over and pulled Sin into a giant bear hug, rolling with her on the mats. “You make me not cry. You make me happy, Sister,” Cass said over Sin’s giggling. 

Babs watched them with a soft smile before Cass came to a stop and looked up at Barbara meaningfully. “Ask Huntress,” she said. “I want to be... The Bat.”

With a small huff and a smile, Barbara shook her head. “No, Cass. You can ask her. When you go to tutoring tomorrow.”

Stephanie came back to the cave with a hollow look to her face and a noticeable tremor in her arms. She carried herself toward the lockers all the same and slumped onto the bench in front of her locker. 

But whatever energy she had used to get herself to that point seemed completely gone by the time she made it that far and she couldn’t manage to even pull more than her cowl off. 

If Barbara had needed the evidence that the new Batgirl was crying, she got it. 

Barbara, in truth, had been waiting for one of these nights, and she hated with everything in her that it was only Stephanie’s third night without Cassandra at her back.

“Oh, Steph,” she soothed, coming to her side. “We can’t save everyone.”

“I know that,” Stephanie said, rubbing at her face to get rid of the gross sobbing. “I know that. But I always... I hope... if I’m good enough--”

Not letting even a single other word out of her, Barbara pulled Stephanie into a tight embrace. “You are good enough, you’re Batgirl,” she reminded the young woman fiercely. “And when you wear that costume you are bigger than yourself, not just because of the women who came before you, but because of the person you have forged yourself to be. And we all believe in you.”

“Babs...” Stephanie sniffed. 

“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine,” she assured Stephanie. “I’m trying to run too many systems, too many people at once. The world needs Oracle, but so does the League and the Titans and Birds. But my family, my Batgirls, deserve Oracle most of all.”

“You can’t be everywhere,” Steph attempted to argue.

“I can,” Babs assured her. “But I make things a mess, get overstretched.” She looked up to Stephanie meaningfully. “How’re you doing in classes?” 

“I don’t see how that’s--”

“Because if you’re paying attention in the you may have noticed a new classmate of yours came in later in the semester than usual. Her name is Wendy Harris,” Barbara explained. “It’s going to be your new job to bring her in.”

Wendy took to cipher like a fish to water, and it wasn’t long before she joined Stephanie and Cassandra in joking around on the job. More Stephanie than Cassandra, of course, but it wasn’t long before Wendy was able to monitor both of them from patrols on opposite sides of town at the same time.

All with Sin sitting patiently in her lap and asking a thousand questions per night about her sister’s progress. 

“Sorry if she’s annoying while you’re working,” Dinah attempted to apologize as she sent Sin off to bed. “She’s taken a real shine to Cassandra, both being adopted super badasses and all.”

“Are you kidding?” Wendy had answered, rubbing tears from the corners of her eyes. “Speaking sister-to-sister is one of the things I look forward to the most with this job.”

Barbara was taking a break from her own servers to drink what was left of her most recent cup of coffee and watch the scene unfold from a distance. A distance she shared with Leslie Thompkins. 

“You know that Cassandra has tendencies to be more like Bruce, God bless his soul, than almost anyone I have had the pleasure of meeting,” Leslie said. “And I’ve had more than a hand in raising and evaluating the Boys over the years.”

“I do,” Barbara said, raising her mug to her lips again. 

“And you’re aware that closing people off, punishing herself -- that comes as part of that package,” Leslie pressed.

“I’m aware,” Barbara said. “No one fought with Bruce harder than you, except maybe me, Leslie. I know what my daughter needs.” She looked to Leslie with a knowing smile. “She needs what I learned to need when I was just the same -- a team, a family. And that’s what we’ve built here out of the Legacy. Everywhere she turns, even when Bruce is not there, even when I’m not there, she knows there are a dozen more people who are. They need her, and more importantly she needs them.”

Leslie nodded. “Thank you for helping with Wendy Harris.”

“Thank you for everything, Leslie,” Barbara replied. “And I mean that.”

It’s after ballet that Cassandra insisted that they get some tea and relax together. It was something that Barbara couldn’t refuse, considering that getting Cassandra to start ballet to begin with had been like pulling teeth. It was the least she could have done to humor her.

Dinah was holding Sin’s right hand, Cass holding Sin’s left, and Charlie bouncing around and talking about, or rather complaining about, the lack of capes on recent new superheroes in the magazine rags. Stephanie argued about the lack of Bats despite the magazine’s supposed Gotham base. 

It was downright domestic in downtown Gotham, and something that Barbara never thought she’d be a part of. 

“Oh, here’s the place -- it opened up in that store I was considering getting to start up my floral business again,” Dinah announced, pointing to the cafe. 

“Alright, let’s hurry in, get something to warm us up,” Barbara said, trying to motion for the girls to usher forward. 

“Just wants to get back to work,” Cass sniggered, picking Sin up to carry her once Dinah released Sin’s other hand. 

“Someone has to work around here,” Barbara defended, leading the way into the cafe. 

“Welcome to Brenda’s Cafe! The special today is--” the woman behind the counter looked up and dropped the handful of mugs that were in her hands, breaking them against the counter. “Cassandra!?”

Everyone stopped at the cafe’s entrance and looked in surprise at the woman. 

Some of them got used to being recognized around the city -- Barbara’s face was known by every cop in Gotham county, as was Dinah’s thanks to her own father. Stephanie had various friends from high school and college. 

When Cass was recognized, it was always Miss Wayne. And it never carried the familiarity that the cafe worker was giving Cassandra.

Fortunately, Cassandra did not drop Sin, but her shock was shared all the same.

“Brenda?” she asked. “But... Blüdhaven--”

“I thought you...” this so-called Brenda continued, walking around the counter, eyes widening. “My god, it’s really you!?”

Cass put Sin down and immediately the two collided into an embrace, tearful and emotional beyond anything Barbara had seen from Cass in years. 

Sin moved to Dinah’s side and tugged on her coat. “Sister is happy?”

“Very,” Dinah replied before looking smugly toward Barbara. “But Babs isn’t. What’s the deal?”

Barbara couldn’t help her frown. “Not that I’m turning into my father--”

“Which you totally are,” Dinah snickered.

“But she has tattoos,” Babs pointed out to the roarous laughter of her family around her.

It had been years. Years since Barbara took the step to grow her personal Legacy, her personal family, and nurture it the way it had always deserved.

The way she had always deserved and never allowed herself to feel that way. 

Cassandra had not looked as nervous on her wedding day as she had then right then. Meanwhile Sin was trying out designs for a new Black Canary outfit. 

Stephanie, according to the monitors, was pulling in through the third cave system. She liked taking the long routes as Nightwing those days, it seemed. Scenic and showy for the new recruit. 

“Never knew,” Cass said, chewing on her knuckle. “Never knew he... had a daughter.”

“I put the dots together,” Barbara said sympathetically, reaching a mug of tea Brenda had made for them toward Cass. “John Robinson’s daughter, like her mother, goes by her mother’s maiden name. Little. And she has been a Batgirl fan her whole life -- since the moment she heard stories of the heroic young woman who fought to the ends of the world to save her father’s life.”

“Failed,” Cass said, not accepting the tea. 

“Not how I see it,” Barbara pointed out. “As for your pick...?”

“Tiffany,” Cass said, looking to the other monitor as Charlie and Dinah came through the Manor -- to Damian’s eternal chagrin. The young Fox girl was curious and full of energy. “Smart. To have more than one at the same time.”

“Being Batgirl isn’t just about independence or worth,” Barbara said calmly. “Our directive -- the Legacy’s directive -- is to ensure that young women who make the selfless choice to put on our emblem, to better our city, to avenge the innocents who are harmed, receive the vital support and training they need to do so.” She looked proudly at the woman her daughter had become. “That’s what the Birds of Prey is. That’s what the Legacy is.”

Cass smiled proudly back. “We’re Batgirl.”

[batmanneo]

Terry honestly is my favourite successor to Batman and the only one that I really see being the first one to take on that role non-temporarily. Dick and Tim would do it if they had to (Dick especially, as evidenced by the multiple times he HAS, given how important Bruce’s legacy is to him), but neither of them would want to have that mantle if given the choice.

Damian and Jason (ESPECIALLY Jason) are way too violent and extreme to fill the role the way it’s meant to be, and Tim and Dick are too CLOSE to Bruce to ever fully step out of his shadow even in that role (Dick managed to somewhat mold it to himself, but was very stubborn at being as much like Bruce as possible).

Terry has... none of those holdups. He chose to be Batman, he HAD to be Batman. Not Robin or some other identity, he is BATMAN, first and foremost. He isn’t trying to be Bruce, he wasn’t raised by Bruce or trained by him prior to being Batman, so he has no reason to. He’s a bit of a punk but has nothing that makes him hyper violent or murder happy, his own strong sense of justice pushed him into stealing the suit of his own volition and against Bruce’s will in order to do what was right.

Terry is a different kind of Batman than Bruce is, and they both know and prefer that. Bruce doesn’t WANT Terry to be just like him, or to teach him in the same way he taught the others. He’s teaching him how to be BATMAN, not Robin, and in a way that helps Terry find what kind of Batman he wants and needs to be for himself and for Gotham.

Terry also respects and sees Bruce in a very different way than the others Bruce helped in the past. They’re very receptive to each other and Bruce makes sure Terry knows he doesn’t have to be afraid to question him or speak his mind (not like Terry wouldn't have anyway), and Terry actively WANTS the wisdom Bruce has to offer in order to become the best Batman he can be. Bruce is a very different person in his old age and Terry had and has a very different set of circumstances compared to his previous partners.

It also makes sense to me that Bruce would put the lock and key on the Batman identity after he went into retirement and isolation, not letting anybody else carry on what he felt he had disgraced. Until Terry comes along and gives him reason to pass the torch properly.

[bigskydreaming]

I think about the fanon take on Dick and Jason’s relationship a lot, and the reasons for it, and tbh I think its not even just people wanting to make Robin Jason even more sympathetic or woobified or whatever....because even people who don’t even like Jason do it too!

And sure, at this point, part of why its so everpresent is its become so widespread most people just see it and take it for granted upon coming into the fandom for the first time. But I think getting things to that point, like it was a lot of factors. It was the Jason thing for sure, but I’ve also seen a lot of primarily Tim fans lean heavily into that trope too, as though Dick not being an asshole to his successor makes Tim’s attitude with Damian look worse by comparison....which is unnecessary IMO because I mean, Tim does have legitimate reasons for acting the way he does around Damian, that don’t even have anything to do with his feelings about Robin specifically. 

And then I think additionally, there’s a tendency to lean into this trope because fans of Good Dad Bruce Wayne, intentionally or not, like, use it to take attention away from where Dick did direct his resentment in canon...at Bruce himself. Because Dick had legitimate cause to be upset about it, which means there’s legitimate criticism to be made of Bruce for it.....and its much easier to shift focus onto Dick’s supposed asshole behavior or aloof rejection of Jason than to try and defend Bruce’s actions which....there’s not really a defense for. 

Bruce messed up. He should’ve been made to own that in canon and freaking apologize for it and put some effort into repairing his relationship with Dick, or failing that, fanon should’ve made him, but we’ve never ever gotten that on any kind of large scale even in fandom....because people are too busy holding Dick accountable for things that never happened to even consider holding Bruce accountable for things that did.

Then I think in some instances too, I’ve seen fans of both Tim and Damian, individually and together, emphasize this trope....but because of how close Dick was with them when they became Robin at first. Almost as if going with the take that Dick wasn’t at all close with Jason as Robin is meant to idk, make his relationship with either one of them seem more ‘special’ in comparison?

And ultimately, the thing is all of the other Robins who all approach the mantle as a legacy (one they’re only a part of because Dick created it in the first place, and then one way or another gave them his blessing to wear it, whether it was his idea for them to do so initially or not)....like the fact is, so much of this family’s overall dynamic is rooted in conflict around this specific name and mantle and what it means to each and everyone of them, and how its become symbolic of their place within the family itself, their legitimacy in being considered an actual member of the family. Which ironically resonates with the fact that Dick’s most established intent with the mantle and what it symbolized is actually meant to be just that....family....and with this hardly ever acknowledged by anyone other than him.

Point being.....they’ve all at various times fought over this mantle because of what it means to them, and because its so synonymous with their place within the family itself, their reasons for being part of it, for feeling as though they’re part of it, even if only initially.....

And Dick is actually, per canon....the odd man out in that.

He’s the one and only one of the actual Batfam who has never actually resented any of his siblings for anything to do with the Robin mantle or name and has always established himself as an ally and mentor and even just an ear to listen to their gripes or issues with Bruce. With his one and only actual issue with the mantle’s passing of the torch being just.....he’s bizarrely not fond of people trying to cut him out of the process of expanding his second family.....by way of the mantle he created in memory of his first family. I know. Go figure, right.

So its this thing where for one reason or another, ultimately it feels like everyone who’s first and foremost a fan of one of the other kids like.....idk, but to me it feels like there’s this perception that viewing Dick’s relationship with the Robin title as it actually exists in canon, and him standing out as the only one who doesn’t ever use it as a reason to create distance between himself and a sibling, like....maybe there’s this feeling or undercurrent that it threatens the other Robins somehow, by making them all look more petty or something in comparison? 

Where similar to what I described with ‘defending’ Bruce by shifting focus from his behavior in that matter to Dick’s made-up fanon behavior with Jason.....maybe it ultimately all traces back to this idea that its necessary to bring Dick down to the same level as all the others, so he doesn’t look ‘better’ than them by comparison?

*Shrugs* I don’t honestly know, to tell the truth. Its not a thing where anyone can ever know for sure what the actual underlying reasons for this phenomenon is, across the whole board. But I do think if that’s on any level part of the reason, that’s kinda wholly unnecessary IMO. 

Because it doesn’t have to be - never had to be - that Dick being the odd one out in his behavior towards any and all of his successors is because he’s like ‘better’ than the others in any way, shape or form. That he’s above being petty or resentful or any of the accusations made of the various other kids and that his canon behavior has been twisted to reflect in this regard.

Of course he’s capable of those things. He’s human. (Well, for a fictional character, I mean. LOL).

But no.....its not that Dick needs to be viewed as any more mature or pure or good than the others, above taking out any resentments he has about this on them....

When its far more plausible and in character that being the one who created the mantle, for the reasons he did....he’s simply always been too close to the situation to ever treat any of the others any differently than he did in canon.

Because for the guy who created the mantle and title of Robin...to honor his family.....maybe its just as simple as he always felt like it would cheapen or taint the very legacy he was trying to honor: his parents and the circus family that was likely as much a community, a found family of orphans and misfits and runaways as anything Bruce built.....if he used Robin as an excuse to push away or exclude or hurt any kids at all just like him, in need of a family.....someone his parents & circus family would have been as unlikely to turn away as Bruce had been.

Dick was never an asshole to Jason not because he’s too good to resent being replaced, unlike any of his siblings.....he quite possibly had the urge to be, and had to willfully fight past it. But the point is he did do that....and maybe the reason he did and was able to, is simply because to him, doing otherwise would have been a betrayal of everything Robin stands for in his eyes.

Because the thing about legacies.....they usually involve people trying to live up to whomever originated the legacy. Which plays a large role in a lot of fanfics, with the younger kids at times being in awe of Dick as the original Robin, and often times resentful of trying to live up to that.

But again....any and all takes that revolve around Dick creating the title in memory of his parents requires the idea that the mantle has always been a legacy for Dick too. The legacy of his parents.

So just as his siblings no doubt often think “what would Dick do” in certain situations, as is wholly natural when part of a legacy and thinking about one’s predecessor....

I think for Dick, upon meeting his own successor and replacement for the first time, no matter what he felt about it....

I’d bet one of the things flashing through his mind was some variation of “what would his parents do,” or at least “what would his parents want him to do.”

[bigskydreaming]

Dick has ALWAYS been expected to put what’s best for the most recent brother to join his family over what he actually WANTS. 

Its tiring seeing that disregarded so that fans of the other Robins can bash him just because when put in an impossible situation REPEATEDLY, and asked time and time to choose between his pre-existing family and the brand new addition, he ALWAYS puts the newest - and thus most vulnerable - member of the family over what he would otherwise prefer....given his pre-existing loyalties....

AND ITS STILL NOT DEEMED GOOD ENOUGH. Because even though that’s a HELLISH choice that should never be demanded of any person once, let alone three times....all anyone ever sees is that the outcome wasn’t ideal for someone else. Fuck that first Robin guy though and how he feels about constantly being pitted against HIS OWN FAMILY.....THROUGH NO REAL CHOICE OF HIS OWN.

None of these situations were ones he wanted, engineered, or was in any way responsible for setting up in the first place.

He was just the one ultimately expected to resolve it...because he’s the original Robin....and that’s the only time fandom deems that universally relevant.

So he can get all of the blame and none of the credit.

Dick did not want Jason to be Robin at first, true. Because Robin was HIS, not Bruce’s, it was his remnant of HIS first family, that HE was the only survivor of, and it should have been nobody but HIS to give away.

He put that aside though, HIS VERY FIRST ISSUE WITH JASON...for Jason’s sake. No one else’s. He himself didn’t benefit from it. It wasn’t ideal for him. It didn’t resolve any issues between him and Bruce, and it didn’t lead to Bruce acknowledging that he’d been in the wrong and over-stepped by making Jason ROBIN specifically....nor did it ever really lead to Jason acknowledging and appreciating his predecessor’s willingness to accept him and give him his blessing to wear HIS family’s legacy and embrace him as part of it.

Bruce may have given Jason Robin....but its only Dick’s blessing that actually MADE him Robin.

Dick did not want Tim to be Robin at first, either. Because Robin was JASON’S, not some stranger’s, and if Jason was dead, Robin should die with him. That’s an actual quote, actually said by Dick, in one of Tim’s earliest appearances. Dick was in mourning for his brother, who had only died six months ago, and this total stranger appeared out of nowhere and after first insisting that Dick look past his totally valid anger towards Bruce given what Bruce did to him after Jason’s death....he literally shows up to rescue Bruce and Dick (after Dick still went to help Bruce ANYWAY)....AS ROBIN HIMSELF.

Granted, I’m not in any way suggesting that it was bad or wrong for Tim to save Bruce and Dick, or that they shouldn’t be grateful for it.

I’m just saying, LOOK at what it must have been like from Dick’s perspective - to look up and see this relative stranger wearing HIS costume, his BROTHER’S costume, the one Dick gave to Jason, with his blessing, after it was already worn first without consulting him....once again, being taken up by someone else with no knowledge at the time of what it meant, where it came from, what it symbolized, the happiness and loss and pain and heart-ache it contains for Dick....

And with it never once acknowledged by canon or fandom, that in choosing to give Tim his support then, his blessing, ONCE AGAIN Dick was putting aside his own feelings, his own preferences for what should be done with HIS family’s legacy, now a tribute to his brother as much as to his parents.....

But no, once again Dick put all that aside to embrace Tim as his brother before Bruce actually even adopted EITHER of them....to accept him, help him, train him....even though at first, his true preference had been that there be no other Robin after Jason...that the costume hanging in the Batcave torn and stained with his brother’s blood, never bear another person’s blood....let alone another brother’s.

Once again. Not a single damn thank you or sign of respect for its origins or what it cost Dick to pass it and his blessing on to someone new, someone still mostly just a stranger at that point.

And Dick did not WANT Damian to be Robin at first, even if that was never spelled out in such explicit words in canon, but C’MON! Damian arrived in their lives like a hurricane. He DID try to kill Tim at first, something Dick NEVER forgot since he raised it with Tim himself in later conversations. And Tim, for all that people point resentfully at Dick for choosing Damian ‘over’ Tim....

Before that ever happened, DICK SPENT YEARS CHOOSING TIM BEFORE EVERYTHING ELSE, TIME AND TIME AGAIN.

But none of that mattered, the second a new brother entered their lives, their family, and once again, it somehow fell upon Dick’s shoulders, and no one else’s, to be responsible for fully bringing this newest member of the family in from the cold, even when Damian IN NO WAY MADE IT EASY. He was just as hostile to Dick as anyone at first. Just as rude, just as callous. All while Dick was just as much in mourning for his father as Tim was...but Dick didn’t get to run off to somewhere else. Dick had to stay in Gotham, living his father’s life, everything he never wanted to be, up to and including raising his father’s son, his own brother, as if he were his own. With nobody else there to take responsibility for him.

Damian was an x factor. A wild card. And a dangerous one. And Dick had never been more vulnerable. Do you think he WANTED to pick Damian over Tim, anymore than he’d wanted to pick Tim over Jason’s memory, anymore than he’d wanted to pick Jason over his parents’ memory? Do you think he felt safer out there as Batman, with Damian as his Robin, initially...than if he’d had Tim at his side? Like he’d ASKED Tim to be, even while naming Damian Robin? Explicitly declaring that this choice had NOTHING to do with their brotherhood, his trust or faith in Tim or his abilities, or his desire to be his family and fight by his side?

No, no and no.

But once again all we hear over and over and over is that Dick chose Damian over Tim. Just like we hear that Dick chose Tim over Jason. Just like we hear that Dick chose Jason over...oh wait, no, we never hear that, because nobody cares about that first element.

Over and over we hear about what it cost Jason and Tim to see the Robin mantle worn by someone else. To be replaced.

When are we gonna talk about what it cost Dick to see the Robin mantle worn each and every time he saw it on someone else, by someone who at first DIDN’T feel like family? Like the very thing the mantle was crafted to embody? That Dick had to willfully, consciously CHOOSE to view as family now, in order to see them wearing that mantle as fitting and right?

We’ve heard to death about how Jason and Tim feel about being replaced, their resentments, their insecurities and doubts, their loss.

What about Dick’s resentments, insecurities and doubts, his loss....NOT JUST as one being REPLACED first and foremost....

But then, over and over, also as the one expected, demanded to do or validate the actual REPLACING....no matter what he himself actually WANTED?