#Between issue 3 of Tim drake Robin

[oifaaa]

Honestly with the amount of bullshit dc puts Jason through I think the very least they could do is make him the tallest bat

[hyperfixatinator]

Where is the line?

In the comics, Tim Drake's moral code is an enigma to me, particularly his stance on the Batclan's no-kill rule. For all the fans who say he's always one step away from full blown villainy, there are even more saying he's a strict goody two-shoes who could never stoop that low.

Then there's the different takes on where Tim draws the line between these two extremes. Personally, I find that line hard to pinpoint. Digging for canon demonstrations of his morals has lead me to more questions than answers. My biggest question right now is:

What counts as breaking the no-kill rule in Tim's eyes?

Luckily, the Robins 2021 comics shed some light on this. In issue #3, "Tim", or rather an imposter of him, said that choosing not to save someone isn't the same as killing them, and that letting a villain die can be a way to get justice. Normally, this point would be moot since it's not Tim himself who said it. However, at the end of issue #6, the real Tim clarified that what the imposter said WAS his real opinion on the matter.

Not only that, but Tim has shown this belief through his thoughts and actions before. Twice.

The first time goes all the way back to Robin 1991 #5. During the fight against King Snake, Tim kicked him through a nearby window, fifty stories above the ground. As King Snake's life hung in the balance, Shiva appeared and commanded Tim to kill him.

Tim refused. He walked away, leaving King Snake entirely at Shiva's mercy.

What gets me is that Tim made no move to save King Snake from falling. And he made no effort to stop Shiva from committing the murder, either. His only thought as he heard the man's scream was "Fifty stories is a long way to fall."

The second time was in Red Robin 2009 #26. Tim orchestrated a whole plan to manipulate Captain Boomerang into getting killed by Mr. Freeze. The whole time, Tim blamed Captain Boomerang for making all those bad choices, despite Tim being the one raising the chances of them being made. Tim believed he was innocent because he wasn't directly participating.

Tim then stopped that plan, but not for any noble reason. He decided that he couldn't let anyone else kill Captain Boomerang but himself.

Tim couldn't bring himself to do that, either. So he had to spare his father's killer in the end.

This seems pretty cut and dry so far, right? Tim believing that letting villains die is alright as long he doesn't do the deed himself? I'd think so too, if there weren't other moments contradicting this.

In Robin #35, Steph insisted on leaving an enemy who got buried under the snow to die. Tim chastised her for it.

Neither of them were responsible for the snow, or for the enemy getting trapped in it. Plus, that guy tried to kill them with a chainsaw moments prior, so he's not exactly an innocent damsel in distress.

Maybe it was because this enemy wasn't a big enough fish to fry. We didn't really get confirmation that this guy has actually killed before, and he's around goon status at best.

But then in Robin #46, Tim chose to save another enemy who got himself into a deadly situation. That enemy was a murderer known as Young El. This time, Tim wasn't telling anyone else why they should save a murderer's life out loud. These were his private thoughts.

Notice how Tim's inner monologue sounded kind of on-the-fence. He contemplated justice finally catching up with Young El as the floorboards gave way, bringing a support beam down on him in the process.

However, Tim immediately switched gears to rescue Young El from under that beam before the water rose too high.

But Tim, as he told Young El the reasons he's saving him, asked himself "Do I even believe what I'm saying?" He could be asking this about two different things he said here. A) "Maybe it's not too late for you to learn something, Young El.", or B) "Death's easier for you when it's the other guy. Death's never been easy for me."

For Tim to doubt his belief in either of these statements is very interesting. He could be questioning if Young El is already too far gone for redemption, or he could be questioning if seeing someone die has never been easy for himself. For all we know, it could be both.

Unfortunately, Tim never got to see if his choice to save him would pay off. Tim wasn't strong enough to lift that beam, and Young El drowned.

There's a question on my mind as I read these pages. What makes this murderer's death different from when Tim let King Snake fall to his "death"? Sure, King Snake didn't actually die, but Tim didn't know that until later when the man came looking for revenge in Gotham.

Tim was once able to simply walk away from what he was certain would be a killer's demise. But then he's consumed by guilt over not being able to prevent a different killer's death down the line, to the point of hallucinating.

On top of that, what changed Tim's mind later? Red Robin #26 and Robins 2021 #3-6 still happened in the future. The only significant difference I can tell is that these two comics involved the killer's of Tim's parents, making it personal. But if the Imposter from Robins 2021 got his beliefs from his profile before his mother's killer got involved, then does that still hold up?

Maybe we should put a pin on it for now. There are other things Tim's done that brings the details of his no-kill rule into question.

Such as that one time Tim actually killed someone with his bare hands.

In Robin issues #51-52, Tim accidentally killed Lady Shiva while drugged on amarilla, a plant that enhances the user's speed beyond human limitations.

It may be argued if the amarilla altered Tim's mind enough to excuse him of fault or not. However, I want to focus on what happened after Shiva was revived. Here's another question to go with the first one:

Does Tim believe the kill still counts if the victim was revived afterwards?

From what I've gathered, yes and no. It's kind of complicated.

After Tim killed Shiva, he was understandably distressed about it, about how he can never take it back.

But after Shiva came back to life? Nothing. He didn't dwell on the fact he broke the vow to never kill. For something that devastating to happen in his life, it's odd that Tim didn't bring it up ever again, privately or otherwise. Especially considering what happened later in Robin #123, when Tim thought he killed Johnny Warlock.

Tim was utterly inconsolable. He lost all faith in his abilities as Robin, and in himself as a whole. It also contributed to his decision to quit being Robin after his dad found out. In general, he seriously dwelled on that "kill" for a much longer time than he had after killing Shiva. The difference being that he knew Shiva was resuscitated immediately afterwards, while Tim didn't know Johnny survived until issue #141.

But there's the fact that Shiva really did die. Her heart and breathing both stopped. So are we to believe Tim moved on from that so easily because she's alive now? What happened to never getting that back?

Come to think of it, not long after Tim killed and revived Shiva, there was someone else who landed in that same boat. Dick.

In Joker: The Last Laugh #6, Dick brutally attacked the Joker after believing he killed Tim. Dick ended up accidentally killing Joker instead, before the clown was resuscitated.

Here's the thing. While Tim was trying to comfort Dick, saying that it's ok because Joker's alive now, Dick didn't believe so. He was still distraught that he killed someone. The fact Joker came back to life afterwards didn't matter to him. To Dick, it still counted. So what does that say about Tim?

Before we move on, there's another person Tim knows who also died and came back from the grave. Jason.

Tim openly acknowledged Jason was killed before coming back, too. Multiple times. For example, when they met up in Red Hood and the Outlaws 2011 #8.

Tim hadn't shown any signs that he thinks Jason's murder doesn't count anywhere, except for maybe once.

In Knight Terrors: Robin #2, Tim and Jason had a heart-to-heart, and Tim said something strange.

"You survived."

Except Jason didn't survive. He died. To say Jason survived that night would've meant he never died to begin with. Him being alive now doesn't change that. Was this Tim telling a white lie to make Jason feel better? Or does Tim see being revived after death as "surviving"?

Ok, now we can move onto the next question. Or rather, bear with me as we go back to the first question. It's a broad topic with plenty more to talk about.

What does Tim count as breaking the no-kill rule?

We already asked how Tim feels about bringing villains back from the dead after killing them. And we asked how Tim feels about leaving a villain to die without getting directly involved. However, we still don't know how much involvement Tim needs to have in an enemy's death before he'll take responsibility for it.

We can confirm he won't mercy kill in Red Robin #21, even if it means giving someone a fate worse than death. No exceptions.

Tim also doesn't allow anyone he's actively teaming up with to kill, especially if he's the one in command. He's been amicable with known killers before (Huntress and Pru, for example), but only when they remain non-lethal while working alongside him.

Apart from that, though, it becomes less clear. However, I think this is a good place to expand on when Tim blew up a lot of League of Assassins bases in Red Robin #8.

I'm not going into whether or not those explosions actually killed anyone. I've seen evidence supporting both sides of this debate, so I'm just going to say it's up to interpretation. What I AM talking about is whether or not Tim would've felt responsible if they had killed someone.

Before overloading every generator in the LOA database, Tim gave a warning to the Wanderer. He told her that he couldn't be held responsible for what would happen to her if she didn't leave.

After initiating the explosions, Tim warned the White Ghost that they had fifteen seconds to leave before it was too late.

Fifteen seconds. That explanation on the mistake of letting him in might've taken roughly another fifteen to twenty seconds. Did the other bases even get a full minute head start? The way some of the people were already running away could imply they at least got a warning, but it's possible they might not have.

Even if everyone in every base received a warning, would that be enough for Tim to avoid holding himself accountable if they didn't make it out in time? Tim's the one who rigged the bases to explode, but I guess giving someone a warning means it's now their fault for not heeding it?

We can't be sure he even considered the possibility of those explosions killing anyone. Tim knew they were dangerous enough to bring the whole Cradle down, and the other ones we saw looked pretty powerful (except the ones in Ra's hideout). But Tim also called Ra's a murderer right after that happened, which would've been very hypocritical if Tim himself thought he committed murder.

So, my guess is either A) Tim relied on sheer luck for those explosions not causing any casualties and chose to believe they hadn't, or B) Tim didn't believe the deaths of anyone caught in them would be his fault.

Again, this isn't about whether or not blowing up the LOA bases killed anyone. It's about how willing Tim was to take that risk, and if he would've blamed himself for anyone getting killed from it.

Either way, it's canon that Tim had no guilt for the explosions he caused, or for anything he did before Red Robin #22. Just ask the Sword of Sin.

This is an exerpt I got from the Fandom DC Database on the Sword of Sin:

"The Sword of Sin can be ignited with the mind of the wielder, if the person is powerful enough. The sword has the ability to conjure in the mind its victims all of the sins for which they are guilty or have not atoned for."

When Tim was stabbed with this sword, he was immune. The Sword of Sin decided he was innocent. Although, I have to ask how reliable this sword was in making that judgement. If the sword is judging others based on its own set principles, then something's not right here.

The Sword of Sin was also used on Dick, and he wasn't immune. It dug into Dicks subconscious and unearthed memories he'd long since repressed. Memories of himself watching a boy get beaten to near death, and then doing nothing. He just walked away.

Now, tell me why the sword brought this to light, but not the time Tim left King Snake to die!

It wasn't an accident. Tim deliberately chose to leave instead of trying to save this man from the murderous Lady Shiva. Sure, Tim was no match for Shiva and he might've not been able to stop her, but the same could be said for an eight year old Dick not stopping a group of much older kids. Neither of them tried to stop the attackers.

Tim didn't atone for it, either. When King Snake returned in Batman #469, Bruce told King Snake that it wasn't Tim who left him to die. We know that's a lie, but Tim never corrected this. He let Shiva take all the blame.

We have two instances of a boy choosing not to prevent someone from having a near death experience. One guilty, and one innocent.

Did the Sword of Sin think Tim was justified because King Snake was corrupt? That doesn't sound holy to me.

Was it because Tim didn't feel any guilt over it, while Dick did? Can the sword's judgement be thrown off by the victim not feeling any shred of guilt over their actions, even subconsciously?

That could make sense given what we know Tim did in the past: King Snake falling, the vandalism (explosions), and ALL the lying over the years (Tim reviving Shiva might count as atonement, so I'm not including that). If the sword based its judgement on God's will alone, then odds are high it would've picked up on one of these.

Even so, I'm not going to sit here and say this is definitely the case. I'm not familiar enough with how the sword effects other characters to make that call.

If this is indeed false, then did the DC universe's version of God decide to pardon Tim of his sins when he prayed earlier that same issue, despite him not believing he had any? I mean, who knows, right?

You can probably see why there's more questions than answers. The point is Tim didn't have any guilt for the things he did before Red Robin #22. Tim was canonically convinced he had nothing to atone for.

So then why did he say the opposite later in Knight Terrors: Robin #2?!

In the heart-to-heart between Tim and Jason, Tim tells him this:

"You have a lot to atone for...We all do..."

Tim knows that the words "we all" include him, right? By saying this, Tim admitted to also having things he needs to atone for, right?

Is this another white lie to make Jason feel better? Is it one of those slight changes the New 52 made to the canon? If not, then why did he change his mind? Did his no-kill rule change and make him feel guilty for some past actions? Is it not the no-kill rule, but something else?

What changed?!

Where does Tim draw the line?

I don't know. We've narrowed it down to a general area, but it's kinda hard to see a line when it's so blurred it could be a gradient.

Tim baffles me. He acts as a steady moral compass for others when he can't even seem to stay consistent with his own. You're free to call it poor writing (and honestly, fair), but I find his hypocrisy fascinating.

That's what it is, isn't it? Tim's a hypocrite who's completely oblivious to being one. And it's not like this was never mentioned in the comics before. Damian called him out on it!

In Batman & Robin 2011 #10, Damian confronted Tim about his near-murderous reaction when Fist Point killed Artemis (Teen Titans Vol 4 annual #1). Damian then accused Tim of constantly rejecting him because they have more in common than Tim's willing to admit.

It's debatable how accurate that accusation was, but Tim had a pretty volatile reaction to it.

"I believe in every choice I make!"

Does he? I don't think someone who's so sure of what he believes in would contradict himself to this extent. Especially if he wasn't doing it on purpose.

He wouldn't vehemently push Bruce's no-kill rule onto others and berate them for bending that rule, only to go and bend that same rule himself when the Batclan isn't around. He also wouldn't exploit what he thinks are loopholes, decide later that those loopholes broke the no-kill rule, and then earnestly claim he never broke it.

Why is he like this?! He's had arguably the most normal childhood out of the whole Batclan before becoming Robin! What could've made him so fickle about this?!

Where does he draw the line? And how will he know when he's crossed it?

[brucewaynehater101]

Yes! Yes yes yes!! Tim making a functional support network for younger heros! He also offers them opportunities that make being a hero easier, aka he sets up a program through DI that "hires" superheroesbut doesn't actually have them do anything for the company other than Good PR. He just goes up to these 16 to 25 year old heroes as Red Robin and says, "hey, I'm working with Drake Industries on a project to help young Superheroes like yourself. Would your Civilan Persona be interested in a word from home coding job that including coding lessons? The pay is 2,000 dollars every week, you make your own hours, and as long as you turn in your projects on time you get to do them whenever you have time between patrols and missions. Plus theres insurance that doesnt care how you got hurt."

It's a simple way to make sure all of them stay housed and fed without having to constantly worry about which shifts they can miss due to emergencies without loosing their job! And insurance so they don't have to sit at home stitching themselves up! Sure not everyone is cool with the idea of just telling Red Robin their secret identity (they don't know he already knows) but Tim offers them a form that they can sign up alongside 3 to 6 trusted friends and all of them will get jobs so that even if the list gets Leake the majority of it *are* civilians so it will be a lot safer. There are already hundreds of civilians with that exact job from DI and maybe a dozen heroes. Their identity will be safe, Tim swears it. He always adds on that if they do get found out, he'll take it up with the CEO himself, wink.

This, unfortunately, leads to rumors that Red Robin and Tim Drake have a Batman/Bruce thing going on. Why else is Red Robin so sure that Tim would listen to him?

Sure, Red could threaten the CEO. However, he's also closely working with D.I. Continually, didn't Red stop collaborating with the JL? Tim swears he's not funding them for the younger heroes, but what if it's cause of whatever happened to Red?

That could be a funny rumor to pop up that Tim would definitely feed into.

But yeah! I agree that juggling a job and being a vigilante would be rough. College and work at the same time was tough, and those had set schedules!!!! I can't imagine spontaneously trying to constantly save the city while attending a job/school with regular hours.

There's definitely some issues Tim needs to work out (pubicly providing financial support for vigilantes would get him arrested [the JL is somewhat government sanctioned]), but this hiring idea might solve some of that.

[reverseflashes]

OWEN MERCER READING GUIDE

Owen Mercer is the son of Digger Harkness (Captain Boomerang) and Meloni Thawne, having been conceived while Digger was trapped in the 30th century. Owen never got to learn Meloni was his mother, and it was never revealed how Owen was sent back to the 21st century.

Owen longed to meet his birth father, but when Digger was killed after a mission to assasinate Tim Drake's father Jack Drake, Owen took the mantle of Captain Boomerang, Jr.

Owen's time in comics was short, but eventful. He was a member of the Rogues, Suicide Squad, SSoSV and Outsiders; before he was killed in Blackest Night.

Owen Mercer is brothers with Bart Allen aka Impulse.

This list contains all the comics Owen had been in, in chronological order.

Happy reading!

Identity Crisis (2004) #3-6

The Flash #217, #219 (cameo)

The Flash (1987) Extra 1/2 (Takes place between #219 and #220)

The Flash (1987) #220-223, #225

Outsiders (2003) #32-38

Robin (1993) #152

Outsiders (2003) #39

Robin (1993) #153

Supergirl (2005) #9

Outsiders (2003) #40

Supergirl (2005) #10

Outsiders (2003) #41-42

Supergirl (2005) #11-12

Outsiders (2003) #43

Supergirl (2005) #13

Outsiders (2003) #44

Supergirl (2005) #14-15

Outsiders (2003) #46

Outsiders (2003) Annual 1

Supergirl (2005) #16

Checkmate (2006) #13

Outsiders (2003) #47

Checkmate (2006) #14

Supergirl (2005) #19

Outsiders (2003) #48

Checkmate (2006) #15

Outsiders (2003) #49-50

Outsiders: Five of a Kind - Nightwing/Boomerang (2007)

Suicide Squad (2007) #3 (cameo), #4-8

Manhunter (2004) #34 (cameos in #33, #35-36)

DC Universe Holiday Special (2009)

Blackest Night: The Flash (2009) #1-3

CAMEO APPEARANCES This is the list of comic book issues where Owen had cameo appearances. He had none to few lines in these issues and didn't have any impact on the events occured in them. They are also listed in chronological order.

52 (2006) #24, #33-34, #45

Countdown (2007) #39

All Flash (2007) In this one-shot, Owen captures Heat-Wave and Weather Wizard, two of the Rogues responsible for Bart's death.

Justice League of America (2006) #15, #17-18.

Robin (1993) #165 (Flashback only)

Catwoman (2002) #74

Salvation Run (2007) #2

Gotham Underground (2007) #1, #3, #6

Blackest Night (2009) #1

[arsonmurderandjaywalking]

notes for the Jack and Janet get divorced instead of going to Haiti au that I have been ruminating on

We get to avoid the Obeah Man arc (misogynistic and extremely racist. I’m glad to be rid of it)

Ultimately I see Janet getting custody, but I feel like there’s also the question of if she would want to be a single mom, and how she would feel about being one. She’s already doing most of the parenting between the two of them, but there was still some divide of work. She was a working mom in the 90s when she didn’t explicitly need to be. Her career is probably important to her. Suddenly not having the fallback that Jack provided would be pretty daunting

Another question irt custody is how hard Jack would fight it. He’s a typical conservative dad. He thinks that child-rearing is mostly a woman’s job, but also I can see him having issues at the thought of a single-mother household. Additionally, he hasn’t really had any revelations about his parenting yet, so he would be even more insulted than canon Jack about anyone implying that he wouldn’t be able to properly care for Tim, and he’d probably fight it on principle

I have no idea what would happen with the company, actually. I am not a business person. They’d probably still have to work together though, since they’re both described as heads of the company, and I imagine they’d both be reluctant to leave

Google is telling me that divorce proceedings tend to take 3-6 months when there aren’t any significant issues, which is certainly not the case for these two, and potentially upwards of 14 months when there is a lot of arguing. Which. Is so long. That’s such a time sink I don’t want to do that. But they have so much to argue through. And they’re probably both bitter so they’d be trying to undermine each other. But this is very much affecting Tim so maybe they’d want to wrap it up as quickly as possible. But also you know Tim would be hiding that from them as much as he can. Why must I be so concerned with verisimilitude in this specific aspect

FINE it lasts a year but no longer. I don’t care. They can sort out their shit in a year or not at all we have a canon timeline to stick to, however nebulous it may be

Tim is not doing good. Assuming this all starts at the same time the Drakes went to Haiti in canon, Tim hasn't really developed that closeness he has with the others yet. He and Dick only really get close during Knightfall/Prodigal, his relationship with Alfred only really develops after he starts going out as Robin (source: his second? maybe? Robin mini. The one where the Joker breaks out of Arkham while Bruce is out of the country. Where he says he doesn’t know Alfred that well) and he hasn't even met Barbara yet. He doesn’t even have his civilian friends because he's still attending boarding school right now and he’d be home on winter break. The only person he could go to for emotional support with this is Bruce

Tim wouldn't tell Bruce that that's what he's doing, I doubt he'd even tell him about the divorce without prompting, but he does definitely start spending as many hours as he can get away with in the cave. For no reason in particular

I’m beginning to run out of ideas. On further thought, I think Jack and Janet would want Tim to have a say in deciding who he stays with, or they’d at least want his opinion on it even if he doesn’t have the final say in it. 

He could think himself in circles forever trying to find a good answer, or at least one he can make himself say, but none of that would change the fact that what he really wants is to stay with them both. He wants this to not be happening. He wants them to not be getting a divorce. He wants to actually live with them, not just spend 9 months a year in a boarding school and only see them on weekends and holidays

[turboacek-blog]

Aqualad: most underrated Young Justice story

Just wanted to kind of layout how interesting his story was as I feel of the OG team his reserved personality makes him not stand out over the rest and some only thought he was interesting when playing the bad guy in season 2

Aqualad a young adopted kid training to be the next Aquaman with his best friend, and is in love with a girl. But he takes the opportunity to be Aquaman’s sidekick which takes him away from his best friend and crush

Only for him to come back in some months just to find that his best friend got with his crush…

And he has to essentially still save the day and be the hero, come to terms that he lost her due to his “job” while not being upset at them the arguably two closest people in his life

Like this is in any other medium is a movie in itself

Add through season 1 he’s the leader of a bunch of interesting personalities and was like the calm big brother of the team

Then in the time skip, his crush joins the team meaning he can finally spend the quality time with his crush he had to sacrifice before, and it’s a bit unclear if they ever got together during this time but on the mission she dies on your watch…

Not much time later you find out that your mentor/King’s enemy is your biological father so dealing with all these emotions is again it’s own movie itself

Not even going to go into the whole double agent thing in season 2 that people already like

But then one of your best friends Wally dies and you’re thrusted back into the job as your other best friend grieves his own way leaving mostly on your own

Then in season 3 he does it he becomes Aquaman he’s another leader of the Justice league everything is going seemingly fine

But does fall too deep with the secrets again…

And between seasons 3&4 he finds a new love

But all this time his first issue keeps coming back of balancing work and life which is how he lost Tula before and how he perceives to have lost Superboy until later revealed he’s fine

Idk I think Kaldur has the sneakily best story through the show in total

Characters like Nightwing adjust with each season more to fit that season's story than something overarching, and Miss Martian will always have her identity problems and so on but I feel the others weren’t as detailed as Kaldur I feel

I’m just saying you could easily make an amazing movie animated or real life about Kaldur the secret son of a villain learning under a hero and on the way has to juggle the problem of hero and villain and work and life and love or duty

You would literally just need to adjust his hero name tbh as I don’t think general audience will wanna watch a movie called Aqualad tbf

Like Garth got the Tempest alternative when he’s not Aqualad either swap that as Garth is still kinda seen more as Aqualad due to comic history and teen titans or just give him a new name as a character like Tim Drake will probably always be Robin primarily but he still has a couple of alternate names he can go by

Random but I kinda of like Tide, from Tidal Wave or Rising Tides or a play on his comic counterpart Jackson Hyde

And for visuals Kaldur has the Atlantean magic that Aquaman doesn't have so he can water bend for a more interesting power set as Aquaman is basically just super strong with no aquatic life around

Plus can generate electricity has weapons etc. giving him a mix of Queen Mera and someone like Robin

Idk I just feel that this version of Aqualad you could make its own version of the story just about him and be well received by a majority

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Catch and Release

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: AU where Jason doesn't die in the explosion and he and Tim end up attending the same high school months later.

Chapters: 3/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Sebastian Ives, Jack Drake, Janet Drake

Relationships: TBA

Additional Tag: Jason Todd Lives, Jason Todd-centric, POV Jason Todd, POV First Person, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake is Not Robin, Jason Todd is Not Robin (Anymore), Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug, Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Alfred Pennyworth Knows, Stalker Tim Drake, Jason Todd Has Chronic Pain, Jason Todd Has PTSD, Angst with a Happy Ending, Unlikely Friends, Injury Recovery, Emotional Baggage, Rage, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating

Chapter Three: Timeout

The on-campus suspension wasn't that bad. It beat riding in the car with Dick. I finally managed to stop crying before we got to the school, so I had enough time to hold the icepack in my lunch to my eyes to look normal again. Mr. Ames sent me straight to the counselor's office anyway. The counselor was new, or I didn't recognize him. I sat down and looked around until he tapped on the desk with his pen. "Hey, Jason, I'm Mr. Finney... Can we talk about yesterday?" he asked. "Short-term memory's shot, but I'll give it a try on one condition," I replied. Mr. Finney nodded. "Can you open that window? I'm feeling shut in." I wasn't joking. I hid it well, but I'd developed claustrophobia from the accident. "Of course," Mr. Finney replied as he opened the window for me. "Would you like the door cracked?" I shook my head. "You were saying?" I asked. "Can we talk about the fight yesterday?" Mr. Finney repeated. I nodded. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "I should've had better control over my feelings," I mumbled. "Jason, what were you feeling at the time?" Mr. Finney asked. The last thing I wanted to talk about was how I felt. "I was just sick of feeling weak," I answered. It wasn't a lie. I didn't have any reason to lie. That was the last substantial thing I contributed to the conversation. He wasn't bad at his job, not by far. I think he knew I'd be shut off. I'd give him nothing but breadcrumbs. "How long have you been claustrophobic?" Mr. Finney asked.

"I started having symptoms in April," I answered, "It's January now. Nine months."

"Because of the accident?" Mr. Finney questioned. I nodded. I shut my eyes as I recalled what it felt like to be trapped between my mother's body and the debris from the explosion. "Jason?" "I'm done talking. I don't-. I'm sorry," I stammered. Once I had the thought in my head, it took a while to push it back down. I squeezed my hands together to stop them from shaking. "Can I go now?" "Sure, Jason... You can go," Mr. Finney replied, and I walked to the designated campus suspension room. I'd never been back there before. I worked on homework while I was there until the lunch bell rang. Alfred made me two chicken wraps for lunch and a cup of pudding. After lunch, Bruce came to talk to Mr. Ames in person. They had a long conversation that resulted in Bruce taking me home early. "What's wrong?" I asked. Bruce shook his head. "Nothing. I want to know what happened between you and Dick this morning," Bruce whispered. I looked out the window. "You can't pick me up early from school to make me apologize," I replied. "What happened?" Bruce asked once more. I didn't want to talk about it. Maybe I should've. It might've helped. "Fine, but that's not why I picked you up early. I almost forgot we had to reschedule your Wednesday for today." "So, nothing on Wednesday?" I asked.

"Ophthalmologist on Wednesday morning and the optometrist right after, but you'll be there for the second half of school," Bruce replied.

"Are my glasses ready?" I asked. "They should be," Bruce answered. Even after my orbital bone fracture healed, I couldn't see well out of my right eye. "But they also want to see if Monday affected your sight." I grew silent. I knew Bruce wanted me to talk about what happened, but I didn't feel like talking about that. "Is Dick gone?" I asked. "No, he's gonna be here until the end of the week," Bruce replied, "Business..." I rolled my eyes. Business. "Don't be like that," Bruce chastised me.

"Be like what? I'm just peachy," I muttered. I knew Bruce was short with me, and I wanted to push him. I just needed him to snap back. "I have a role to play, Jason," Bruce explained. "You have a lot of roles. Hero, philanthropist, businessman, bachelor... Oh, and an involved father. Guess we both forgot that one, huh, Bruce?" I chuckled. Bruce pulled over on the side of the road and pointed his finger in my face before catching himself. "Hope you enjoyed that. That was your last cheap shot, Jason. I'm serious. You're on thin ice," Bruce warned. I grinned. "I've got tons more, though," I joked. "Enough!" Bruce yelled. I grew silent. "Jason, you've been more insufferable now than you've been in months. I'm sick of it. You have until we get to the doctor's to get it together. I get it. I do," Bruce berated me. He'd finally gotten tired of me pushing him. I didn't expect that to be the last straw, though. I shut my mouth and let him drive me to my appointment. I didn't know what to say to him anyway. I got what I wanted, and it was a hollow victory. I didn't have to see my Wednesday doctor, but Bruce made me go to a pulmonologist twice a month after my lung collapsed again during a bout of pneumonia in October. It was painful. The nurse checked me in and asked me a few questions before sending the doctor in. I sat on the hospital bed, staring at her as she checked my breathing for herself. "You got in a fight. Did you experience any shortness of breath?" she asked. The pulmonologist was no-nonsense, and she quickly got to the point. "Nuh-uh," I replied as she let me pull my shirt down. "What about school? Do you have P.E.?" she asked. I shook my head. "Any concerns or changes?" "Nope," I replied. She nodded. "Okay, what's wrong? Not a single joke?" she questioned. "I've told one too many today," I replied, "And today kind of sucked..." She nodded and sent me out to Bruce. Bruce embraced me as soon as I walked out the door. I would've pushed him away any other day, but I needed it then. I hugged back, and he pulled away. "I love you. I don't say it enough," Bruce whispered.

I walked ahead of him so he couldn't see me crying. He wouldn't start the car when we got to the parking lot. "I'm sorry," I mumbled. "You wanna grab a bite to eat before we go home?" Bruce asked. I nodded. I almost felt like myself again, but it didn't last. There was an explosion down the street, and Bruce left me to sort things out. He parked me outside the restaurant, and I ordered food and sat in the car. All the anger and bitterness I had toward him came flooding back. I ate my food in the car and waited until Alfred came to pick me up. "Master Jason-." "It's fine, Alfred... Can we go home now?" I asked. I don't know. Maybe there was no use in trying.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Crash course in YJ (and adjacent) Kids

Have no idea what I'm talking about when #comicsposting again? Would like to know? For reference, if you want it, here's a rundown of my comics specialty: DC's cast of teenage heroes on the team Young Justice in the 1990s. Names, powers, backgrounds, etc. I spent way too much time on this.

Tim Drake (Robin)

Age: 14-15.

Powers: None, but highly skilled in acrobatics, detection and martial arts, weapon of choice is a bo staff

Background: Figured out Batman and Robin's secret identities at age nine. Volunteered to be the new Robin shortly after Jason Todd's death because "Batman needs a Robin." Initially the de facto leader of Young Justice with a reputation as the smart guy (but is in fact just as unhinged as the rest of them). Struggles to balance his two identities; he has to conceal Robin from his father and Tim Drake from his Young Justice teammates, which leads to trust issues among the group.

Distinguishing features/costume: Black hair, blue eyes usually concealed by a domino mask with opaque lenses, oval face, short and wiry. Green and red suit with leggings, black and yellow cape (distinct from Dick and Jason's costumes, which were bare-legged and did not have any black, and Damian's, which has much more black, a tunic, and a hooded cape).

Kon-El (Superboy)

Age: 16 physically but chronologically less than 2, is unable to age past 16 for about half the series.

Powers: Tactile telekinesis (TTK), the ability to control anything he can touch, which allows him to mimic super strength, invulnerability, and flight. Does not have Superman's other powers, such as heat vision, x-ray vision, etc.

Background: Clone created by Project Cadmus to be their mind-controlled replacement for Superman after his "death." Escaped before he could be artificially aged to maturity and has been an independent hero since Clark's return. During YJ 1998, is working for Cadmus as a field agent. A habitual show-off and flirt who harbors a lot of private insecurity and doesn't initially function well as a team player.

Distinguishing features/costume: Curly black hair in a fade haircut (later cut short and spiky), blue eyes, strong jaw, significantly taller and more muscular than the others, earring for most of the series, scruffy goatee later on. Initially wears a 90s-ified version of the Superman suit with a black leather jacket, later updates to a metallic version of a suit without the jacket.

Bart Allen (Impulse)

Age: 14-15 physically, chronologically 2-3 due to hyperaccelerated aging for the first two years of his life.

Powers: Superspeed, including the ability to vibrate his molecules through solid objects. Later on he develops the ability to create temporary replicas of himself ("scouts").

Background: Barry Allen/the Flash's grandson from the thirtieth century. Was born with his superspeed out of control and had to be raised in VR to keep his mental aging on track with his physical aging. Brought by his grandmother to the twentieth century to get his rapid aging resolved by Wally West, the current Flash. Currently lives in Manchester, Alabama with Max Mercury, an elderly speedster who is training/raising him. Thanks to his VR upbringing, struggles with patience and thinking things through, but is more intelligent and perceptive than he's usually given credit for.

Distinguishing features/costume: Lots of reddish-brown hair, yellow eyes, big feet, short and wiry. White and red suit with a lightning design, googles with yellow lenses.

Greta Hayes / "Suzie" (Secret)

Age: Never specified but probably around 14-15.

Powers: Exists in an incorporeal, smoke-like form that can float, shapeshift, create smoke constructs, teleport, and become tangible for limited amounts of time. As a Warder, a gatekeeper between life and death, can sense impending death and bring others into a pocket dimension called the Abyss which seems to be a sort of portal to death.

Background: An ordinary girl who was murdered by her brother as part of a ritual and was changed after death into her current incorporeal form. Was held captive by a government organization and studied in a lab but escaped with the help of Robin, Superboy, and Impulse and has been in hiding since. Cannot remember most of her past life, does not understand her powers, and frequently feels alienated from the rest of Young Justice (except Robin, whom she has a crush on), which leaves her vulnerable to those who wish to take advantage of her powers.

Distinguishing features/costume: Blond/light brown shoulder-length hair, blue eyes, smaller than the others, frequently surrounded by smoke. Off-white suit, long and trailing light brown coat.

Cissie King-Jones (Arrowette)

Age: Never specified, but would have to be 16 by the time she competes in the Olympics.

Powers: None, but a highly-skilled archer.

Background: Daughter of a former would-be superheroine who put her daughter through strenuous training and forced her into the identity of Arrowette from an early age. Sent to boarding school after Max Mercury reported her mother to CPS for child exploitation. Took up hero work again to spite her mother but, after a personal tragedy leads her to nearly kill, chooses to quit permanently. Becomes an Olympic athlete and occasional film actress while still keeping in contact with her Young Justice friends.

Distinguishing features/costume: Long blonde hair, blue eyes, oval face, significantly taller than the other girls. Red top, white skirt, and red boots and mask, alternatively a "Dark Arrowette" costume consisting of a dark red and purple suit with a hood.

Cassie Sandsmark (Wonder Girl)

Age: 15.

Powers: Super strength, speed, durability, and flight.

Background: Daughter of an archaeologist who is an associate of Wonder Woman. Eager to join Diana in heroics and seizes an opportunity to request super powers from Zeus, who grants them on the condition that her mother can deactivate them whenever she chooses. Enthusiastic and reckless but is also struggling with self-confidence in living up her predecessors' legacy. Joined Young Justice initially because of her crush on Superboy but comes to discover her talent for leadership and eventually takes over as team leader.

Distinguishing features/costume: Short blonde hair that gets longer over the series, blue eyes, heart-shaped face, physically matures over time. Goes through several costumes. Initially wears a dark wig and googles and mismatched clothing from her closet. Later versions vary but usually include a black shirt, red pants, bracelets, and a bar necklace engraved with "girl."

Anita Fite (Empress)

Age: 16.

Powers: Vodoun, usually used for teleportation; martial arts and use of an emperor's stick; and mind control through verbal commands due to having a piece of the Anti-Life Equation in her.

Background: Daughter of a government agent (who has been pursuing the escaped Secret) and a woman whose mother was a vodoun priestess. Has had her powers most of her life but is inspired to use them for heroics after witnessing Cissie stopping a thief in a mall. Joins Young Justice after Cissie leaves. Seeks revenge on her maternal grandfather after he kills both her parents, and gets her parents back...as infants whom she now must raise.

Distinguishing features/costume: African-American, long dark reddish hair, purple eyes, tall. Gold and purple suit and mask that conceal everything except her ponytail.

Slo-bo

Age: Physically a teenager, chronologically very young--comes into existence late in the series.

Powers: Has the Czarnian physiology of his original, which provides super strength, durability, stamina, and healing, but these are limited since he came from "the shallow end of the gene pool." Also a skilled mechanic and pilot.

Background: Clone of a deaged version of alien bounty hunter Lobo that comes into existence after Li'l Lobo's death on Apokolips. Is smaller and weaker than his original and considers himself an inadequate successor. Presents himself as extremely morally gray but is actually quite sensitive, emotionally mature (compared to the rest of YJ), and ultimately self-sacrificial.

Distinguishing features/costume: Spiky black hair, yellow iris-less eyes that go completely black when he goes blind, black markings around eyes, gray skin, smaller and skinnier than Li'l Lobo. Gray shirt, black vest, jeans with skull belt buckle.

Ray Terrill (The Ray)

Age: 19.

Powers: Light control, including emanating light, blasting rays/energy, flight, conversion to light energy, movement at light speed, creation of constructs and illusions, healing, and invisibility.

Background: Raised to believe he had a deathly allergy to sunlight and must remain in the dark but learned after the death of the man who raised him that he is really the son of the Golden Age hero the Ray and has inherited his light-based powers. Struggles with adjustment to using his powers and trying to live a mostly normal life and has a difficult relationship with his lying, manipulative father. Joined the Justice League for a while. Dragged into joining Young Justice late in the series to replace recently-lost members.

Distinguishing features/costume: Red hair, green eyes, average build and height, earring. White and gold suit (a light construct), black and gold band leader-style jacket, and gold helmet with fin.

Grant Emerson (Damage) [not actually a member of YJ but has worked with them, has connections to some individual members, and is around the same age]

Age: 16.

Powers: Building up biochemical energy in his body that results in super strength, durability, and speed, greater mass, and blasts of energy. If not discharged, this energy results in his exploding like a bomb.

Background: Son of Al Pratt (the Atom) and his wife Mary but never met them. Stolen after birth and experimented upon, which gave him DNA from numerous other superheroes. Raised by abusive foster parents. Manifested powers as a teenager but couldn't control them. Saved the universe during Zero Hour, accidentally blew up downtown Atlanta, had to join the Titans as an alternative to prison, went on a quest to discover his real parentage, joined the Titans again, and went on hiatus to concentrate on healing from his past. Used to be friends with Bart. Cannot catch a break.

Distinguishing features/costume: Brown hair with floppy bangs and sometimes a mullet, brown eyes, strong jaw, increases in muscle mass whenever his powers build up. Costume varies but consistently involves blue and orange or yellow, with a radioactive symbol on the shirt.

[unforgivingchorus]

Content update for my red Robin solo run ideas

He has bipolar disorder, he doesn’t go to a doctor or anything because vigilantes are psychological freaks but the first case would be him at the start of a hypomanic episode, followed by an inbetween case then a case that’s worsened by the fact he’s having a major depressive episode (bipolar type 2) eventually it would even out and largely the lessons he’s learning would be about living with mental health issues and not dismissing or punishing yourself for them

Normally I tend towards writing autistic characters specifically cause I’m autistic but I think it would bring a lot of the up and down emotional spirals from the red robin run to the reboot continuity as well as letting me explore a more overt mental health spiral

2!

It mostly wouldn’t be set in Gotham, a lot of the smaller in-between cases would be but ultimately the meat of the story would be set across the globe, specifically focusing on post-conflict countries. Or countries where systematic oppression and colonisation is being deconstructed

Thematically this is because a lot of Tim drakes years as robin where following major personal and city wide conflicts and crisis, (see every comic with crisis in the title set in Gotham, the contagion, cataclysm and no man’s land events, and more recently the battle for the cowl and events of the red robin run). Not all of these necessarily still happened in the current Continuity but it’s not a stretch to compare Gotham to a city post-conflict or one in conflict.

Largely setting it across real world cities let’s me ground the experiences of Tim drake and Gotham itself in a more serious tone than is always given to the events. And let’s me draw parallels between Tim and the cities he visits

Also selfishly I’m from Belfast, specifically I’m a ceasefire baby from Belfast, so I’ve spent my whole life living in a country that’s in its first generation post-civil war, and I believe in that thing where writers draw from somewhere inside them for everything and Belfast is always going to have a place in what I write.

Although for This and the mental health stuff there would be a-lot of dedicated research

3

Also, despite calling it a red robin solo run because that’s the characterisation that I would bring most to it, I wouldn’t be bringing back that moniker. In fact it would probably be titled primarily as a Tim drake series, with the first comic subheaded robin but i would quickly leave the robin mantle too.

So much of it would be also about identity and him finding who he is post-mission, when he doesn’t have to be Robin anymore, and coping with the fact that he doesn’t hold any weight in his civilian identity, and he doesn’t value his own continued existence outside of how useful he can be to the mission.

Largely it would be done through nameless masks and undercover identities so I can further fuck with identity stuff

4

He is not on a mission. I think I would do something that lets me explore his childhood a lot more and his parents, so I can really dig into why he formed such a disconnected attachment to personhood, and probably by having him look into something from their archeology stuff, i haven’t thought through a-lot do what it would be and where overtime he would be much more reckless with his life and desperate to find a purpose or a way for the investigation to allow him to form a connection between him as he is now and his parents as a way to try and form an attachment and basis for who he is and how he sees himself as a person outside the mask, I also would be highlighting how he can’t walk away from someone who needs help, big or small. Real friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man shit that let’s me really hone in on the fact that brings him back to why he became robin in the first place, not any of the duty or personal trade by that came later. The unavoidable temptation within him to help whatever way he can. (And also a severe lack of self respect or value of his own life).

5

It so doesn’t sound like it but, ultimately the goal is to become more and more lighthearted over time as he develops a moniker he’s happy with and finds joy in the vigilante act again. Without ever shying away from the fact that he will never not have mental health issues but learning to cope and live with them rather than outright denying them

6

Also I want to portray someone who’s mentally Ill and extremely capable. He is just as smart and ahead of the game as in red Robin, but he’s also still the saddest boy tam fox ever saw. Ultimate he’s able to use his intelligence as a shield for why he’s taking unnecessary risk and choosing plans that put him in danger, because he can argue it as the logical choice with himself because he’s capable and it normally is the fastest or least lethal way, he just choses to pretend it’s doesn’t matter that there was safer options. You can be mentally ill and extremely smart and capable!

[mamawasatesttube]

What was your fav part about Robin 93?

zoanne wilkins <3

skdjfds but more seriously i really enjoyed the overall arc tim had over the course of it. you can really See the way he goes from just a silly goofy little guy to "oh no. vigilanteism has consumed my entire life" and i think that's sooo fun. also i just really enjoy him as a character. he's so weird and there's so many things wrong with him but also like he is so so so good and kind at heart and it compels me. tim drake i love uuu

like he's so devoted to helping. wanting to keep people safe. sometimes it consumes him but usually he treads water. and he loves people!! he's a friendly lil creature!!! and he has so many friends and also family who love him!!! and he's silly with them and it's GOOD. like his banter and his pranks and everything. it's just so delightful to me the way he's not so isolated like dick and bruce and he's constantly struggling with the line between his civilian life and vigilanteism in a way most others in his family don't really (bruce has no civilian life that isn't simply a charade, dick is barely much better than him most of the time (at least he has some friends, like clancy, but. man.), and cass. well. look at her.) it's a very fun thing for a character to grapple with. in some ways that feels like a classic for superhero stories but i just really like how tim in particular handles it (babygirl your compartmentalization is severe and you have so many identity issues). it's fun!

and also the tragedy and devastation of his everything over the entire comic. i have mixed feelings on the final arc (the steph character assassination was a little much. also why did it have to be ulysses) but the concept of tim sort of accepting that vigilanteism IS consuming him, in a way he always struggled to avoid before... and that being the setup and prelude to everything else that happens to him Later... yeah, that's some good shit. makes me want to make him some hot chocolate, but it's good story.

and also, robin '93 is good because zoanne is there :)

[cairoscene]

went like a not insignificant distance into your blog because I can feel the batfamily consuming me and eating my heart and so on. haven’t ever read or watched or played batman however. as I trust your opinions Where do you suggest I start

omg welcome. i have recently been afflicted with something similar so i do have recs!! in terms of canon — which i will say i have middling opinions about, and i'll admit that i haven't really read any comics older than the 90s — i'll recommend the comics that really got me In Trouble: Batman: The Knight (2021). 10 issues by Chip Zdarsky and Carmine Di Giandomenico. this remains my batman holy grail. it's about bruce's journey to becoming batman and focuses on pivotal experiences in his education. it also features my favorite hot sexy murderous ex husband, minhkhoa khan. also, and most importantly, has some of the best written bruce and alfred interactions that i've read.

Nightwing (2016) #78—. by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. idk this was one of the first ones i read and i just really enjoy the punchy art and the action and the dialogue. from my understanding from #78 onward, the issues are trying to maybe breathe more life and color into nightwing's stories, and for me it works. it's just super fun and cute and i love dick grayson.

Dark Knights of Steel (2021). another Tom Taylor, this time with Yasmin Putri. idk if you told me a year ago that i would be into reading a DC fantasy AU where superman is a prince and batman is his loyal guard i would have laughed in your face. but it's really very fun and the art is excellent. i have quibbles about the worldbuilding, but the robins make it worth it. the robins feature and they are delightful. excellent brainworm material overall. it's still ongoing and i'm not sure how many issues are planned.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest (2022). this one's by Mark Waid and !!! Dan Mora (whose art i cannot stress enough makes me cry) and it's set to be 10 issues, there's one more coming in december. it's got great sort of vintagey vibes and is just really really fun, featuring dick grayson robin who i would run into a burning building for.

for batman proper i'll say i've been kind of cherrypicking issues to read, but i read a good long run of Batman (2016) starting with #102 because, you guessed it, it's the introduction of minhkhoa khan, aka the ghost-maker. i also enjoyed the Fear State saga (#112-117), but most recently i've been very into the recent issues by Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jimenez starting with #125, which sets up a conflict between batman and failsafe—an AI bruce himself created in case he ever needed to be taken down. so far the failsafe saga has given me:

bruce badly beaten and bleeding <3

the whole family banding together to try to stop failsafe

batman zur-en-arrh, which is like, if batman fell into a bucket of colorful paint

so, so many tim drake feelings

just to name a few.

PHEW so for non-comic media, i recommend:

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures. a webcomic from Webtoon by CRC Payne and Starbite. new episodes every week and they're FREE and they focus on slice-of-life family stuff and some character-centric episodes, which is all i've ever wanted really. this was the first batman thing i read, which kicked me off into looking into canon more, resulting in this hilarious set of messages to my friend spanning probably no more than a few hours:

for movies, i don't tend to vibe with the characterization of bruce (and damian. and dick. and talia..) but i enjoyed Batman: Bad Blood (2016) and Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010). also Please Watch The Lego Batman Movie. seriously it's really good and fun

for video games, i've only played Batman: Arkham Knight (2015) out of the legendary series of games by Rocksteady. but man is it A Game (admiring). i also do have a lot of fun playing Gotham Knights (2022) because it's focused on the kids in the batfamily, but i will admit that it sure is A Game (derogatory).

jesus this is getting long. in terms of fic, i would probably have to make a separate post for all of the fic that's lit my brain on fire but you can check out my fic rec tag here on tumbo and my public bookmarks on AO3 for some of my favorites. i also highly endorse all of the fics in @vinelark 's batfam fic rec thread on twitter.

thanks for this opportunity to gush incoherently and i hope this helps <3

[brucewaynehater101]

I typically go with Romantic which is just. So *oof*. Also, I can just picture it now. Dick asks Tim why he thought this was a good idea at all, why he didn't call someone for a ride and Tim simply replies, "I've been getting back to Gothem on my own like this for years. No need to bother you guys." and before he can even continue theres a chorus of "you aren't a bother" and "what the fuck do you mean?!"

Tim just takes a deep breath and says, "I've been getting back to Gothem on my own since before I was Robin so it was never a Robin or Batman issue, it's always been a Tim Drake thing." of course Bruce demands to know what Tim means by "getting back to Gothem on his own" and he just sighs as he sits on some grain, biting the bullet to just get it over with as he says, "sometimes when I went on trips with my parents they would get into arguments and leave in separate cars. And both of them would think the other one took me with them. And I always showed up at home safe and sound a few days later so they never really questioned it. Ha, first time was actually at a Gala in New York. I remember they were fighting about what dig site to go to and that night Mom got on a flight to Siberia while Dad got on a flight to The Congo. I snuck my little nine year old self onto a gray hound bus and rode it all the way to Gothem and then walked back to the manor."

Tim goes on to tell them about other times, somewhere between venting about his trauma and reminiscing about times he looks back on fondly. The fight that left him in Panama Beach when he was 11, the one that left him in Denver when he was 13, just 3 weeks before he became Robin, the one when he was 15 and was abandoned in Atlanta, the time when they left him somewhere in *Canada* and the time he was left in *Mexico City* when he was 14. He even laughs about having to sneak onto a cargo ship when his parents left him in Paris, France when he was 16. He comments that that one was actually a few weeks after he healed from the Titans Tower fight. Bruce and Jason are both totally not having a near panic attack about that last one.

Tim is living his life and forgetting that what he went through is probably fucked up. If it happened to another kid, he'd label that as criminal neglect. For himself? Meh.

(I know this is possible because, as someone who's been praised for being smart, I can be so fucking dumb. After explaining to my therapist that I've had anxiety attacks several years before and get anxious in social situations, I was shocked when she told me I had anxiety. Fucking dumb of me, but I bet Tim makes similar mistakes).

Just Tim vibing over all the "good times" he had and forgetting that it's fucked up his parents did that. He probably also felt really proud of himself for figuring it out. He was able to solve his issues and navigate complicated problems (like crossing borders without a passport) all by himself! Isn't that so cool!

The poor batfam is having heart attack after heart attack hearing all of this. It's another aspect of Tim that gets added to the piles of "things he hid from us without meaning to" and "why digging up the Drakes to revive and kill them again is a good idea" (Damian and Steph mainly are the ones to propose the second option).

I love the examples you proposed! Tim really was vibing

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Got some more! :D probably be it until a few days

1: as seen in Nightwing: a new order, Jake had a voltron robot in his room, most likely Dick introduced him to it, do you think dick showed him more of his childhood like how some parents do?

2: since Jake is a fan of basketball both fanon & canon, does he look up basketball stuff? I bet he likes the first space jam movie ;)

3: does the starburst duo like horror movies? If not, what’s their favorite costume to wear on Halloween?

4: if they can dye their hair what colors would they be?

5: when they are older, what would their favorite nostalgic moment between the two of them?

6: what’s their favorite superheroes? both in universe and maybe some heroes from different superhero comics.

7: does Chris have a crush on mar’i when they are older? I can totally see Jake and Chris becoming brother in laws

1. Oh very much he would. It’ll be all the works of what Dick grew up with as a kid. It further contributes to all those times of people, both Titans and Batfam, can look at those just once and make a remark about the Family Resemblance. All that’s missing is that Jake having blue eyes like Dick’s and as Dinah Lance once put it “It’s like Dick somehow became younger while we all got older”

2. Yes he would. Whether it be entire history articles about how the major league teams came to be, the records being held up, etc, It fills up his search engines on all of his devices like there’s no tomorrow. He would also like that movie, whether basketball related or not, at least for the sheer novelty of it, having a good laugh at its plot and select moments of it alongside his friends and loved ones on some movie nights.

3. They want to like them and they’re fascinated by them….the issue lies in the factor that no matter how much they’ve trained and seen all sort of actual in universe terrors throughout basically all their lives, one too many splattering moments and jump scares are enough to send them scurrying straight to their respective parents’ rooms.

As for their preferred costumes on All Hallow’s Eve; Chris designed a custom built rubber monster suit akin to all those Japanese monster movies Conner showed him once. His in particular is very influenced by Godzilla, only instead of dorsal plates and iguanodon arms, his monster design has a frill, velociraptor arms along with toe claws and Carnotaurus horns. Then there’s Jake who basically design a Pokémon trainer outfit with his superhero colors (Basically a Discowing colored version of say Red or even Satoshi/Ash)

4. As once suggested not too long ago by a friend of mine, @spider-jaysart , Chris would have a black streak in otherwise brown hair whilst Jake’s streak in turn would have a red one.

5. Maybe one of the favorite moments they look back in the most would be the time they performed as part of the band (Chris on Bass and Jake on Drums) for Bludhaven Academy’s Last Day of School Dance along with Thara and Meredith (who which they played Rhythm and Leas Guitar respectively) in front of all of those classmates, their parents, staff members, all the while not cracking under the pressure. They still keep photos of that performance and their band group shots in their albums to the very day

6. For the both of them in universe, they both agree on Superman being a strong favorite for many obvious reasons. As for other heroes besides the Big Blue Boyscout, Jake more or less bases his entire hero work on Robins from the past, primarily his Father and (the still current one in my personal preference though I digress) Uncle Tim. For Chris, he also looks up very greatly to Tim Drake as Robin and the only other hero that can come close to that appeal for him would be either Shazam (Billy) or Cyborg.

As for other heroes which aren’t native to the DCU, there’s principally two mains for the both of them: Invincible aka Mark Grayson and Peter Parker, The Amazing Spider-Man

7. Actually (and apologies if I end up disappointing you my friend, sincerely) but Chris Kent and Mar’i Grayson are an example of two friends, boy and girl, that don’t end up in a romance between them. For one thing, Chris is already crushing the aforementioned Thara Ak-Var (Long story Incredibly short, she’s much younger here as Chris’ contemporary, New Krypton coexists and she’s an exchange student at Chris and Jon’s school) while Mar’I, if she lands at date at all, would be with someone outside of the Graysons’ social circle, as in not within any one of the superhero community whatsoever, much to Dick’s overprotective nature of course. In fact, Mar’i actually helps Chris with his strategies for getting closer to Thara.

I how these answers are to your liking @gothicghost2000 . They’re really fun to do. If you have any questions, suggestions or otherwise, reblogging and/or replying would be greatly appreciated.

[attherowndtable]

Bluebird Reading List

Well, I've shuffled off from twitter and what better first post than to bring the reading list with me?

But who is Bluebird?

Harper Row AKA Bluebird is a member of the Batfamily. She grew up in The Narrows, Gotham City's poorest neighbourhood, with a deadbeat criminal absentee father, a hardworking loving mother and the cutest baby brother she could ever hope for. After Batman saved the lives of her and her brother, Cullen, from a homophobic hate crime, she endeavoured to become Batman's partner, offering her gift of mechanical engineering to his services by improving his CCTV scramblers. After some pushback from the Dark Knight, he reluctantly agreed to take her on as a partner, though her identity as Bluebird would be formed on her own much later, when an attack from the Mad Hatter rendered Cullen comatose and she took matters into her own hands to save him.

Under the break is a fully detailed reading list of all appearances that will spoil some plot elements, but this is the short version. The best thing about Harper is also the worst thing: she's got nothing. Her major appearances amount to a grand total of four books:

Batman Eternal - the first book she has something of a starring role in. It sets into canon her personality and skill set, which started off as a mechanical engineer and then James Tynion IV, main writer on Eternal, switched it to hacking very abruptly. Presumably this was because she was being partnered up with Tim Drake and they had to show she wasn't useless. I have my issues with this but I'll get mad later.

Batman & Robin Eternal - continuing on, Harper returns in her supporting role, an opportunity that is exploited to explore her backstory and solidify the first moment she truly got to be a hero.

Punchline - the first issue of Punchline was a standalone, the rest of the book got turned into a backup story in The Joker (which was actually a good book, you should read it). By far her worst appearance. Everything Tynion did in the Eternal books with Harper, he just shredded all of it. She's been written as utterly incompetent just to make Punchline look better and the only times she gets to do something is a bit of DIY and the very end of the book. Just insulting characterisation.

Punchline: The Gotham Game - and somehow that shit got a sequel too. Solicits just came out and she will indeed be making her reappearance in Gotham Game #3.

And now, the full reading list.

First is the People In The Dark backup* from Batman (2011) #25. This is a story from Harper's childhood, and displays how she first got into engineering, along with some relationship work between her and Cullen.

*If you've found this reading list because you're new to comics and are looking for characters to get into, a backup, or b-story, is an unrelated, or only tangentially related, short story that you can find after the main plot of the comic.

Next is Batman (2011) #12, titled Ghost In The Machine. Fun fact (but also a sad fact), this issue was drawn by Becky Cloonan, the first woman to ever do art for a Batman story. This issue marks the first time Harper saves Batman's life and her first meeting with the Dark Knight!

Batman (2011) #7 - The Talons Strike! - is Harper's very first appearance! Batman escapes the Court Of Owls' labyrinth and dies from exhaustion and physical and mental torture. Harper drags his body out of the river and saves his life a second time by restarting his heart with a car battery and jumper cables.

Resolve is the story told in Batman (2011) #18. Harper begins training herself (I like to headcanon she used fighting game moves), donning her black stealth suit and homemade gear and Batman breaks her nose for it, partly still lashing out from the mental torture the Court Of Owls put him through, partly because he doesn't want to see any more good kids enter this life. Not one to be set back by a mere Batbop however, she yells at him and gives him some much needed tough love to put him right.

Shadows And Ghosts (Detective Comics (2011) #21) is Harper's next appearance, chronologically. Batman has since confiscated her gear and she fills us in on what she's been up to since.

Not much happens.

Batman Eternal! Starting from #5 in which she saves Vicki Vale's life and meets Red Robin for the first time, Harper appears consistently throughout, beginning first in her starter gear that Batman returned to her after the events in Detective Comics. From #15 onwards, she switches to a prototype suit with a mask that I believe to be an homage to Cole Cash AKA Grifter, one of the main characters of the Wildstorm Universe, which was later acquired by DC, and another favourite of mine. Harper's prototype mask is a carbon copy of Cole's but coloured light blue in place of the con man's red. She dons the first real Bluebird costume in #41. Most are minor appearances amounting to just a page or two but if you want specific issues, she can be found in issues 5, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 25, 36, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51 and 52.

In issues 48-50, she can be seen battling Mr. Freeze in a handful of panels!

Batman Eternal tells Harper's story as she grows into a hero and becomes Bluebird. Like most of her decisions, she decided to do this because she loves Cullen, her baby brother, and wanted to help him, though wanting to help Batman too was a strong part of it.

I should also mention that Batman (2011) #28 is a teaser for Batman Eternal called Gotham Eternal. It tells the same event as Batman Eternal #43, the script and art are just changed in Batman Eternal for reasons beyond my comprehension.

In this, Bluebird and Batman break into The Egyptian club.

Though published after Batman & Robin Eternal had begun, Bluebird's cameos in Batgirl (2011) #47 and #50 is set before the events of that story. Bluebird is recommended to Batgirl by Stephanie as a communications and electronics whiz, then she helps Batgirl when Barbara's enemies decide to group up on her. Bluebird is tasked with the apprehension of Killer Moth.

Much like Batman Eternal, Batman & Robin Eternal has Bluebird show up consistently in the run, this time starting right from #1. Again, a lot of 1-3 page appearances but the specific Harper issues are 1-5, 7-14, 17-20, 22 and 24-26. Issues 7 and 8 feature a scene with Cassandra Cain (now Batgirl, but under the ridiculous Orphan moniker at the time) that may or may not be able to be read as a date between the two.

Batman & Robin Eternal expands on the set up in Batman Eternal, with Bluebird's arc focusing on who she is as a person and adding some extra depth to her personality. In this run, we get to see more of her childhood and even meet her mother, Miranda!

We revisit Harper in Detective Comics (2016) #943-946 and #950. She has since hung up the jacket and shock rifle, and is volunteering in Leslie Thompkins' clinic, believing she can do more good as Harper Row than Bluebird. In #945, we get canon confirmation of her bisexuality!

Four years and a million Batman books later, Harper is forced to pick up her rifle again as Gotham's latest two-bit Joker knock-off comes begging for attention in Punchline #1. With Cullen spiralling further and further into Alexis' toxic ideology, she's got to save her brother once more.

Demoted from a solo to a continuous B-story in The Joker (2021) after just one issue (lol lmao etc), Harper starts to panic as she realises how fast Punchline sympathisers are dragging Cullen onto their bandwagon. Now she has to investigate Punchline as Bluebird and assist Leslie Thompkins to help keep her behind bars in court.

Solicits just came out and Bluebird will reappear this December in Punchline: The Gotham Game #3 and she will be teaming up with NIghtwing.

Now, this is not the end of Harper's tale, chronologically speaking. In Batman (2011) #35, Bluebird makes a cameo in a hypothetical dystopian future with a cool new high tech suit. For all intents and purposes, until we get something in the primary canon, this alternate future is the last chapter of Bluebird's story.

Harper also appears in the WWII AUs Bombshells and Bombshells United, which sit outside the chronology... I got too tired to look for specific issues cause there's like three of em and Bombshells ran for 100 but she is a mechanic who forms a team of Batgirls with Nell Little and Kathy Duquesne after Batwoman leaves Gotham!

I sincerely hope you enjoy reading Batman Eternal and Batman & Robin Eternal, because this little blue bisexual means a heck of a lot to me, and I'd love to share her with all of you, but please, do not start shipping her with Punchline. Enemies to lovers is a trope that requires a certain level of nuance, and they do not have it.

[umbrellacam]

Boy Wonder #3

Hmmmm I'm gonna be honest I found that kinda boring, especially in comparison to issue #2. Like. Not bad, particularly? It was nice to see Tim doing sneaky Red Robin things and having fun with it. Seeing lil' hacker Tim learning subterfuge from Matches!Bruce was cute. He came across as in-character.

And I was basically expecting that it wasn't going to be as dynamic or emotionally interesting as #2 given Jason is Juni Ba's favorite and he clearly had meaningful connections and parallels between Jason and Damian that he wanted to explore.

But #3 didn't feel like it had much of interest or substance to say about Tim, or Damian, or his and Damian's relationship, or either of them as Robin. Just a very light intro to Tim (he's "crafty and clever" and Bruce's companion in the "crusade against evil") and very brief, basic interactions that give us a quick skim of a sanitized version of their early relationship:

They don't know or trust each other. Tim is wary of Damian and dubious of his morals. Damian is dismissive of Tim but wants to be acknowledged as worthy or preferably to best/prove himself better than Tim entirely. They manage to work together briefly, discover that there's actually ~more than meets the eye~ on both sides, and et voilà.

Very simple.

Damian being all happy thinking that he inspired Tim with his own Bat-virtuous dedication was cute, even though it was setting up the rug to pulled out from under him. The references to Damian's fight to be accepted/recognized in the family, and particularly by Tim here, do of course reflect canon moments, and that's...good...I just. Hm.

Again, it's such a light, insubstantial, child's-picturebook version of things that, as someone who is dying for quality Tim & Damian interactions, I can't summon much of a reaction beyond like, ok that's nice.

But I also don't feel like I can actually criticize the book on this front, because this is a children's storybook, light-intro type comic. We saw the same sort of thing in #1, probably even more so, with the brief, light versions of Nightwing & Babsgirl and their brief lesson-learning interactions with Damian.

So it's succeeding at what it's meant for, tbh. And it seems like it's only with #2 so far where Ba was kind of trying to do more with it, because he has so much he wants to say about Jason and his parallels with Damian.

As a separate note, I've also seen the whole slick-corporate-Tim-Drake-represents-the-Wayne-family-at-a-charity-gala thing inspired by his brief stint as figurehead CEO in Red Robin (2009) done so often in fic that I'm very, very bored of it, which I'm sure didn't do this issue any favors in landing with me, lol.

Also I don't know how I feel about Damian al Ghul, raised in the League of Assassins, needing Tim Drake to teach him the value of subterfuge and playing a role in order to accomplish your goals. Hrmm. Or I guess you could interpret it as him underestimating Tim so much that he doesn't think Tim is capable of that kind of sneaky fakery?

Anyway #3 with Tim reminded me more of #1 with Dick than #2 with Jason, though Tim&Damian do get more page-space for a full, self-contained story than Dick&Damian did, because #1 had to spend a lot of time establishing Damian's own backstory and characterization.

Interestingly though #1 went way more into Dick's backstory than #3 did Tim's; we got 3 full pages of Dick's history, while we're told nearly nothing about Tim aside from Damian's interactions with him in the present moment, just 3/4 of a flashback page showing a bit of younger him with Bruce's Matches guise, and that's it, lol. And of course #2 went very in-depth on Jason.

So, serviceable. Pretty art, and probably a good, simple intro to the basic modern forms of the characters. Not an issue that I'll be coming back to, personally.

[ao3feed-jaydick]

Smells Like Cinnamon

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/48915397 by y0rgg Jason watched as the black haired man introduced himself to the students, grins from ear to ear as they all looked around the now colorful classroom. Or Jason has a six year old daughter, Kate. When her old teacher is fired, and replaced by a bubbley, much to cheerful for Gotham man, he grows interested in him. Kate (bless her six year old heart) brings them together and a relationship blooms between the two men. Words: 3380, Chapters: 3/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Categories: F/M, Gen, M/M Characters: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, Original Characters Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Original Character(s), Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Police Officer Jason Todd, Teacher Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson Has a Nice Butt, Bruce Wayne Does Not Adopt Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Jason Todd Has a Crush on Dick Grayson, Protective Jason Todd, Acrobat Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne Loves Children, Dick Grayson is a Ray of Sunshine, Everyone Loves Dick Grayson, Rain, Thunder and Lightning, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd Gets A Hug, Jason Todd Swears, Dick Grayson Gets a Hug, Hurt Dick Grayson, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Dick Grayson is Not Nightwing, Damian Wayne is Robin, Tim Drake is Not Red Robin read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/48915397