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“There are many occasions when neither of them could sleep. They often solve this with late-night sparring til’ exhaustion.

After a very long and frustrating day, it got a little mean and a bit heated at the end.”

Out of the blue dry humping and handjob art, because my brain said you need to draw this ✌️

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Wait why is Dick’s time as Crutches just him being like an angry feral cat and trying to do best to destroy everyone and himself, all the while Tommy is just standing off to the side, going “awwww, look at him. Isn’t he sweetest thing?”

Because Dick was actually baby boy. Little guy right there. His suit and polo were even too baggy on him.

Serious answer:

It was that obvious at this point in continuity how badly Dick was doing. Timeline-wise, this all takes place DAYS after War Games (refer to the Crashout of All Time), which in turn only took place weeks after Blockbuster.

At this point, Blockbuster had burned down Haly’s and bombed his apartment, assassinated that reporter, Tarantula had killed Blockbuster and did a whole bunch of incredibly horrifying things, Dick lost his job as a cop because a mini breakdown in between larger crashouts led him to try to turn himself in for murder, and that’s all before War Games even happened. Again, refer to The Crashout.

A significant portion of Dick’s comics in this era were entirely internal monologues of how much he hated himself, intermixed with what I can only describe as hallucinations/mania.

And then Tommy Tevis and his family come along, and they see this mentally ill freak who can throw down and who is too gone to give a shit about subtlety, and he’s like “this kid is mine”.

Again, I can’t help but think of how neat the contrast is between Bruce and Tommy here. Bruce is a superhero, a “good person” fighting on the side of the righteous, but Dick still feels abandoned and worthless to him (whether or not this is warranted). Bruce is too cold and imposing of a figure to feel like Dick can even approach him. So much of issues #105-#110ish is him thinking about how much of a disappointment he is and how Bruce would never want him after Blockbuster.

Then you have this mob boss figure, involved in every petty crime you can think of and (at least at the beginning) collaborating with Black Mask and some other dubious guys, but whose heart is just so warm and full. He’s jumping at the bit to proclaim the importance of family and love. He’s able to give Dick exactly the comfort he needs at Dick’s lowest (okay well actually we still haven’t hit rock-bottom yet bc Blüdhaven isn’t a pile of rubble yet but whatever).

There’s also this incredible narrative told with the crutches themselves. Dick gets the nickname “Crutches” because he’s shot during War Games and has to use them for a while. He’s crippled. Yet, as he spends time with the Tevis family and gets back on his feet, we concurrently see that wound heal. If I remember correctly, the issue where he’s healed enough to no longer need them is also either the same issue or the immediate previous issue to the one where he finally leaves. Dick is physically and metaphorically offered the “crutch” of the mob until he can walk on his own again.

Again, not that he’s healed now. He’s still got another 20ish issues to fall until Blüdhaven is bombed and Dick actually in-canon tries to kill himself via radiation. But still, it’s a wonderful calm in the middle of the storm.

Anyway, where was I?

Tommy and the Tevis’ are GOATed and Crutches is my beloved.

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“There are many occasions when neither of them could sleep. They often solve this with late-night sparring til’ exhaustion.

After a very long and frustrating day, it got a little mean and a bit heated at the end.”

Out of the blue dry humping and handjob art, because my brain said you need to draw this ✌️

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people tend to ignore Alphonse's anger in comparison to Ed, who's much more loud with it and has a much shorter fuse for irritation. but when it's about real, deep anger, Ed tends to turn his inward towards himself, while Alphonse gets angry at other people. in this essay, I will -

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I keep having this idea go through my brain where after Bruce kicks Dick out, he realizes his mistake and is like “shit what should I do” and decides to secretly adopt Dick without telling him. He plans to tell Dick once they fix their relationship, but they never really get the chance. In this AU, Dick never really rejoins the family for whatever reason (idk maybe Jason told him to fuck off and that he doesn’t want a brother or something like that). But Bruce loves Dick so much, and even after years Dick is still one of his favorite people. Jason dies, he gets Tim, Cass, Steph, and Damian, and Jason comes back, but Dick never does. Bruce has to watch from afar as Dick does so much good as Nightwing and gives his heart to Blüdhaven, a city that everyone gave up on. He has to watch as Dick builds a new family with the Titans and his other friends. Then Bruce gets lost in the time stream, everyone thinks he’s dead, and this is where the adoption thing comes into play. Bruce left Dick almost everything in his will. Jason was legally dead, he never adopted Steph, and Tim and Damian were still minors. Plus he knows that Dick can do so much good with the resources Bruce has. Dick is now shocked and grieving because he didn’t really realize he meant that much to Bruce, that Bruce had adopted him, that Bruce had actually loved him. And now it’s too late for them to fix things. The rest of the family is kinda miffed about the whole situation though, and view Dick as a bit of an imposter/gold-digger because Dick was never there yet somehow ended up with everything. The only one who really has his back is Alfred, and even then their relationship is a bit stilted. Dick tries to take custody of Tim and Damian, but Tim runs away to look for Bruce before he can. He gets custody of Damian, though, and he does his best to raise him. Jason runs off and so does Babs. He lets Cass be Batman because as much as he still loved Bruce, he does not ever want to be Batman. He still works in Gotham as Nightwing though. Damian becomes his little Robin, and they really start making progress in their relationship. Dick is doing great stuff with W.E. too, and both the crime and poverty rates have decreased since he came back. All in all, things are going pretty well. Then Tim comes back with Bruce. Things are now awkward because Dick has become an important part of Cass, Steph, and Damian’s lives, but he doesn’t know how to interact with Bruce. Bruce is doting on him and trying desperately to do anything to get him to stay. Tim and Jason are kinda jealous of him and of Damian too, because Dick is actually present in Damian’s life and calls him “his little Robin”. Bruce even tells Tim to get over it whenever he complains about he’s Robin, not Damian. Then one day it escalates into a big blow out fight in front of the Titans and the JL, and maybe Tim or Jason says some shit like “He isn’t even a part of this family! You’re just letting him pretend like he belongs here when he doesn’t.” And Dick starts to shrink in on himself as all his old insecurities rise up again, and he doesn’t even expect anyone to defend him. But then comes Bruce’s voice, surprisingly thick and emotional as he says “He’s the reason this family even exists. If it weren’t for him, none of you would be here.”

Why must you hurt me like this

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Batman/Superman: World's Finest #42 - "Bizarro World Tour II" (2025)

written by Mark Waid art by Adrian Gutierrez & Matt Herms

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do you have a design for nightwing and red hood? I have seen you draw them with elena b4 maybe and updated look now

I doodled them and couldnt get the Victorious twin joke out of my head help

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That Time Dick Joined the Mob

This is one of my all-time favorite arcs, so I decided to re-read it again.

Right after Blockbuster ruins his life and War Games happens, Dick returns to Blüdhaven depressed, alone, and destitute. He’s no longer a cop and he fucked up his leg during a gang standoff back in the War Games event.

So obviously he joins the mob.

This whole arc is amazing because 2/3 of it is Dick slowly unraveling under the weight of his perceived sins and inadequacy. He is crippled, not from the leg wound, but by the idea of Bruce never loving him again after Blockbuster’s death.

…And the other 1/3 of it is him being adopted by the mob family who took him in.

In fact, the whole dynamic between him and Tommy Trevino is explicitly Dick’s perceived inevitable abandonment by Bruce, a morally righteous man who has failed to provide him comfort and affection, versus a bonafide criminal who manages to be more warm and inviting than anyone has been to him in years.

Take this exchange. Dick is absolutely reeking of isolation and self-loathing. And then the mob boss guy pinches his cheek and calls him his son. This is S tier shit.

Incredible. Fantastic. The Trevinos are underrated GOATs and I love them.

Dick is also constantly stuck in internal monologues of how much he hates himself and how doomed he is. Bro hates being alive right now. If you think people were exaggerating about Devin Grayson’s writing style being actual torture, you’d be wrong. This man does not smile.

And, to top it all off, Dick is not just associated with the mob. He’s an enforcer. And he’s fucking terrifying.

Look at him lurk behind his target.

Crutches in hand (hence the nickname), Dick fucking obliterates this poor dude in front of his kids. Not that he knew the kids were there in the first place — he was pretty pissed to learn that afterwards. But still. Ruthless.

And again, just this astounding contrast between Dick actually wanting to die — those expressions are grim; Dick looks horrified at what he’s done — and Tommy doing his darndest to be the most wholesome crime lord on this side of the United States.

Fughedabowdit indeed.

Sharing this in the hopes that the Crutches arc gains more love because holy shit do I need this in my veins.

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Fratboy dick AU bit alferd is not supportive

(For the angst)

So dick doesn't tell anyone he's in college. He gets a full ride scholarship and financial aid, and the university is in a rather safe space. He even gets legally emancipated so he can do everything even though he's like 16 at that point. Then some of thepeoplw in a frat learn he's all alone, and decide to make an exception and waive his initiation fees (idk how frats work so Idk if this is unrealistic). The place where he's at is relatively crime free, so there isn't much for him to do as nightwing. But he does join dojos (as the instructor) for a part time job, so he gets to use the gym to keep in shape and spar. If people ask questions he says that he learned it from the circus (which I think is believable).

After he gets his degree, he just... doesn't tell anyone. Not because he isn't proud of himself, but because he'd started doing it genuinely because he wanted to instead of out of spite. He knows bruce will dismiss and mock him, so why bother?

So anyways a few years along the line, he's patching up JL members as a field medic. Batman is shocked that dick has medical training and confronts dick on it. And dick gets to tell bruce that he doesn't owe him an explanation.

I think I'll leave it at that. I'm not good at writing conclusions.

I mean I feel like there’s gotta be some sort of financial aid for paying all the frat fees and whatnot if you know where to look or who to talk to, so it’s probably not too far-fetched if maybe he gets his fees waived or covered by a fund of some sort. Maybe after he’s been fully initiated, he gets put in contact with a couple alumni who like to pay the fees for current members if they’re in a tough spot. And if we’re making him 16 and emancipated when he first joins? Even if in real life they don’t allow anyone under 18, we’ll just pretend for the sake of this au that it makes the others that much more protective of him.

Or maybe he just takes out loans on his own to pay for everything.

Or maybe he has a gymnastics scholarship that pays for all his school stuff like classes, books, room & board, and the dining hall, and he just has to figure out how to pay for extras like the frat. That’s not so bad. He can do that.

Either way, he figures it out. And maybe once his frat brothers find out he’s totally on his own, they help him out a little more. They’re very supportive. His big’s parents essentially also become his parents, too. They were disgusted when they found out Bruce kicked out his teenage son and left him to fend for himself, they were so upset on Dick’s behalf. They invite him over for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and they offer to let him stay with them during the summer. He almost always spends the holidays with them, and he takes them up on the offer to stay over summer a couple times, but he also takes classes over the summer and stays on campus a lot. After his freshman year, he lives in the frat house. Idk if frat houses are also open over the summer but let’s just say they are for the guys who take summer classes.

And if no one else in the Batfam or the JL knew about any of this? I’d like to think they find out when Dick is able to use his frat connections to finally break a case. Maybe he sees the frat letters tattooed on a suspect’s ankle, and he just, “Ahh shit. I think I might know a way to get to him.”

Because he also has the letters tattooed on his ankle. His big took him on the night of his initiation to get it. His entire pledge class got it. It’s not required, but most of them get it, at least at the school he went to.

And so he uses his normal identity as Dick Grayson, Fiji frat boy, to attend an alumni gathering or whatever to scope out intel on the guy. And it works so so well. The guy’s not actually involved in the main scheme, he works for the business the bad guy is using as a front or whatever, but it gives them enough to work off of and Nightwing has the real villain in cuffs by the end of the week.

And that’s how everyone on the JL finds out Nightwing was in a frat.

“When the fuck did you go to college?” someone asks.

“When B kicked me out.”

Cue shocked and appalled faces all turning towards an angry Batman.

“How did you pay for it?” Bruce barks.

“Had a sports scholarship. Took out a couple loans. Got help from some Fiji alumni to pay all my dues after the first semester.”

Most of them are impressed that he was able to make it work all on his own. They ask him about his degree, then find out he eventually went to med school after getting his undergrad. That he had scholarships and grants for that too. That he paid off the couple loans he took out a couple years ago. That he’s an actual medical doctor, he just doesn’t have his own practice or anything. It’s why he’s so good at field medicine when something goes awry. He’s fully trained and board certified.

And Batman is livid. The other bats are either pissed off he never told them, or in Damian’s case, smug that he already knew all of this because of course Dick told Damian when they were Batman and Robin together.

Bruce is such a sourpuss about the whole thing. Dick doesn’t particularly care.

“You know Batman, your training actually really came in handy,” he says sarcastically. “Hazing was a breeze compared to training with you.”

And that sets off a storm of Bruce shouting and other JL members shouting at Bruce and it’s an all out fight about how he treated Dick. Dick, meanwhile, is just a tad bit smug, but he and Damian sneak off to laugh about it together.

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Jason: Damn it, hating Dick is like hating puppies. It's possible but there is no way to admit it without looking like a massive jerk.

Dick: (teary eyed) There are people out there that hate puppies?

Jason: That is not the point I'm trying to make.

Damian: (sword drawn) Give me their names

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zzzz @myfavoritecuisine

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Fratboy dick AU bit alferd is not supportive

(For the angst)

So dick doesn't tell anyone he's in college. He gets a full ride scholarship and financial aid, and the university is in a rather safe space. He even gets legally emancipated so he can do everything even though he's like 16 at that point. Then some of thepeoplw in a frat learn he's all alone, and decide to make an exception and waive his initiation fees (idk how frats work so Idk if this is unrealistic). The place where he's at is relatively crime free, so there isn't much for him to do as nightwing. But he does join dojos (as the instructor) for a part time job, so he gets to use the gym to keep in shape and spar. If people ask questions he says that he learned it from the circus (which I think is believable).

After he gets his degree, he just... doesn't tell anyone. Not because he isn't proud of himself, but because he'd started doing it genuinely because he wanted to instead of out of spite. He knows bruce will dismiss and mock him, so why bother?

So anyways a few years along the line, he's patching up JL members as a field medic. Batman is shocked that dick has medical training and confronts dick on it. And dick gets to tell bruce that he doesn't owe him an explanation.

I think I'll leave it at that. I'm not good at writing conclusions.

I mean I feel like there’s gotta be some sort of financial aid for paying all the frat fees and whatnot if you know where to look or who to talk to, so it’s probably not too far-fetched if maybe he gets his fees waived or covered by a fund of some sort. Maybe after he’s been fully initiated, he gets put in contact with a couple alumni who like to pay the fees for current members if they’re in a tough spot. And if we’re making him 16 and emancipated when he first joins? Even if in real life they don’t allow anyone under 18, we’ll just pretend for the sake of this au that it makes the others that much more protective of him.

Or maybe he just takes out loans on his own to pay for everything.

Or maybe he has a gymnastics scholarship that pays for all his school stuff like classes, books, room & board, and the dining hall, and he just has to figure out how to pay for extras like the frat. That’s not so bad. He can do that.

Either way, he figures it out. And maybe once his frat brothers find out he’s totally on his own, they help him out a little more. They’re very supportive. His big’s parents essentially also become his parents, too. They were disgusted when they found out Bruce kicked out his teenage son and left him to fend for himself, they were so upset on Dick’s behalf. They invite him over for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and they offer to let him stay with them during the summer. He almost always spends the holidays with them, and he takes them up on the offer to stay over summer a couple times, but he also takes classes over the summer and stays on campus a lot. After his freshman year, he lives in the frat house. Idk if frat houses are also open over the summer but let’s just say they are for the guys who take summer classes.

And if no one else in the Batfam or the JL knew about any of this? I’d like to think they find out when Dick is able to use his frat connections to finally break a case. Maybe he sees the frat letters tattooed on a suspect’s ankle, and he just, “Ahh shit. I think I might know a way to get to him.”

Because he also has the letters tattooed on his ankle. His big took him on the night of his initiation to get it. His entire pledge class got it. It’s not required, but most of them get it, at least at the school he went to.

And so he uses his normal identity as Dick Grayson, Fiji frat boy, to attend an alumni gathering or whatever to scope out intel on the guy. And it works so so well. The guy’s not actually involved in the main scheme, he works for the business the bad guy is using as a front or whatever, but it gives them enough to work off of and Nightwing has the real villain in cuffs by the end of the week.

And that’s how everyone on the JL finds out Nightwing was in a frat.

“When the fuck did you go to college?” someone asks.

“When B kicked me out.”

Cue shocked and appalled faces all turning towards an angry Batman.

“How did you pay for it?” Bruce barks.

“Had a sports scholarship. Took out a couple loans. Got help from some Fiji alumni to pay all my dues after the first semester.”

Most of them are impressed that he was able to make it work all on his own. They ask him about his degree, then find out he eventually went to med school after getting his undergrad. That he had scholarships and grants for that too. That he paid off the couple loans he took out a couple years ago. That he’s an actual medical doctor, he just doesn’t have his own practice or anything. It’s why he’s so good at field medicine when something goes awry. He’s fully trained and board certified.

And Batman is livid. The other bats are either pissed off he never told them, or in Damian’s case, smug that he already knew all of this because of course Dick told Damian when they were Batman and Robin together.

Bruce is such a sourpuss about the whole thing. Dick doesn’t particularly care.

“You know Batman, your training actually really came in handy,” he says sarcastically. “Hazing was a breeze compared to training with you.”

And that sets off a storm of Bruce shouting and other JL members shouting at Bruce and it’s an all out fight about how he treated Dick. Dick, meanwhile, is just a tad bit smug, but he and Damian sneak off to laugh about it together.

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Commissioner Gordon: All the children in Gotham have been lured away by a Pied Piper inspired villain.

*Pause*

Commissioner Gordon: All except Robin, apparently. I thought you were like 12.

Robin: Do you know how many explosions I have had a front row seat to? I have the hearing of an 80 year old.

Batman: I did warn you about this. I offered to make you a cowl.

Robin: It is my sacrifice so Gotham can continue to enjoy my luxurious hair.

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HI! talia and dick sibling relationship merged with slade talia and cobb custody battle au

he gets to nanda parbat and because hes 16 he wouldve already met slade and the court has obv had interest in him for years.

talia tries her hardest to protect him but slade eventually gets him for apprenticeship or maybe that already happened idk

the court intervenes in the apprenticeship/whatever slade and dick are doing atp

talia gets pissed at slade bc "wdym you LOST HIM??"

“He’s a whole ass TEENAGER, Slade, how could you possibly lose him!”

“He was there in minute, I turned to take out the target, and then he was gone! Poof! Not there anymore!”

“You incompetent son of a-”

The fight continues for hours. Actual hours. Consecutively.

Eventually, after a few months, a beaten and bruised Dick shows up back in Nanda Parbat and collapses in his bedroom. Face first. On the floor. He didn’t even make it to the bed.

Talia fusses and frets over him when she realizes he’s returned.

“Where have you been these last months?” she asks, smoothing back his hair.

“Got taken by weird bird people. One of them was my frozen great grandfather. He was weird. I don’t ever wanna go back.”

He’s a little delirious because he’s exhausted and hurt and he won’t admit it, but he missed Talia a lot.

She ends up getting more info out of him once he’s rested a bit more. The LoA ends up taking out the entire Court of Owls within a year. How dare they steal her pseudo-son.

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Bruce Wayne has a massive bounty on his head at all times, multi millions of dollars constantly hanging above him when he goes out in public. Thus, he has his own personal guard when going to galas or charity events. Is it a conflict of interest that his personal guard is made up of his children and coworkers? Probably. Does he care? No.

Socialite 1: Is that... Nightwing? In a suit?

Socialite 2: It is! Who is that next to him? Red Robin?

Dick and Tim, with blazers and sunglasses over their normal costumes, trailing after Bruce the whole night, trying not to giggle at the absurdity of watching Bruce 'Batman' Wayne nearly spill the entire punch bowl on himself:

At first, the public is concerned that a billionaire can "buy out" vigilantes, but it doesn't take long for someone to just... ask Nightwing to guard them for a night, and he agrees, not asking for payment. This eventually becomes little kids asking for Robin to 'guard them on their way to school' and folks begging Batman to 'guard their dog for the week' (Since when did The Mission become pet sitting???) (Obviously, he agrees, tho the little yippy pomeranian gets taken to Wayne Manor for the week instead, and Ace gets a temporary new friend)

A hotline gets set up so that anyone who feels unsafe can call a number and have one of the Bat Family members walk them home. It gets used a lot by drunk college students, women, and kids who stayed up past curfew.

Scared little kid, barely able to reach the payphone, using their last quarters: Um... I n-need.. Robin.. p-please.. I'm really scared... its really d-dark... my house is far away...

Damian, who is already in the area, beelining towards where the call came from:

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Batman & Robin: Year One #10 (2025)

written by Mark Waid art by Chris Samnee & Matheus Lopes

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*Dick gets severely injured while on a mission with Jason*

Jason: Take your recovery seriously or I’ll kill you myself.

*walks away and then turns around angrily*

Jason: I love you.

Dick: I love you too.