So you're a go to source for all things Dick&Tim bros and you tend to write primarily from Dick's POV. So, odd question, but if you were to summarize their relationship from his POV in FIVE panels which panels would you pick? Keeping in mind that one specific aspect of their relationship that you love needs to be clearly represented by each panel (loyalty, trust etc). I hope this is a fun challenge and not an annoying question so if you don't want to answer that's cool! Have a wonderful day!
No more talk. The same thoughts run through two minds... (SotB 29) / You're my equal. My closest ally. (RR 1) / I can't stop thinking how much I rely on him. (GoG 3)
25 Feelings Dick Has About Tim
This was such a kind ask & a cool challenge which I totally failed; here are TWENTY-five panels of Dick's POV on Tim sdfdsfds Look, I got carried away! Marcia and Cindy! The boys!!
OKAY SO BEFORE I GET TO THE PANELS A FEW NOTES:
WARNING THAT THERE ARE SOME NEGATIVE EMOTIONS IN HERE because I love conflict but but but you gotta remember those are not the final word!! They are complicated people and sometimes they get mad at each other BUT ultimately their relationship is so hugely important in both their lives & they love each other and rely on each other so much -!!! <3
Also I have CONCLUDING THOUGHTS at the end about what Dick's POV leaves out (mostly: a lot of Dick defending & protecting & supporting Tim, which Dick does instinctively but isn't very self-aware about most of the time)
I have loosely organized my list into 5^5 format (5 categories with 5 examples each!), so if you want to skip to a relevant one, here are the categories!!
Below the cut:
I hate him and find him infuriating (#1-5)
On second thought, he's endearing & fun (#6-10)
Grief is complicated & he's all tangled up in mine (#11-15)
I love him & think highly of him (#16-20)
I rely on him & though it's hard for me, I trust him (#21-25)
I hate him and find him infuriating (#1 - 5)
1) He thinks he’s so smart and can psychoanalyze me and Bruce, but he doesn’t know me at all, he should get lost (New Titans 61)
2) He thinks he’s so smart and can psychoanalyze Bruce but he doesn’t know Bruce at all, he should get lost (Gotham Knights 26)
3) He is so nosy about stuff that is MY business (Robin 0)
4) He sounds like an insincere suck-up half the time... but okay, fine, if you push him he's got a sense of humor about it (New Titans 65)
5) I'm sure he's a better vigilante than me. It's my fault for being a failure, but I resent him anyway. (Nightwing 9 - Dick's having a nightmare)
On second thought, he's kinda endearing (#6-10)
6) He worries too much and gets anxious so easily, but it makes him fun to tease (Robin 67)
7) I'm not that competitive - okay, so maybe I'm a little competitive, I gotta make sure he doesn't get a swelled head (Prodigal)
8) I'm supposed to be his favorite! It is not cool for him to be fanboying over my not-girlfriend's not-boyfriend!! (Birds of Prey 19)
9) We have fun together. I can kick back and relax when it's just the two of us. Plus I get to boss him around a bit. (Prodigal)
10) He’s always trying to reassure me, and I guess it's a little comforting, but also he doesn’t really get it. Or me. He makes excuses that he shouldn't, because he doesn't understand that I suck. (Nightwing 64)
Grief is complicated and he's all tangled up in mine (#11 - 15)
11) He reminds me of everything I try not to think about. Sometimes the memories are so strong it hurts to look at him. (Batman 441)
12) WHY IS HE BEING IMPOSSIBLE ALL OF A SUDDEN??? THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING (Nightwing 139)
13) We're the same. He says all the things I don't let myself think about. It's like arguing with myself. (Nightwing 139)
14) He thinks he gets to tell me what to do but he doesn’t, fuck him (Battle for the Cowl)
15) Life sucks, so what. I sucked it up so he should too (RR 1)
I love him and think highly of him (#16 - 20)
16) He’s the closest thing to a brother I’ll ever have. If someone hurts him I will hurt them harder. (Nightwing 6)
17) I can't handle the idea of losing him. (Nightwing 97)
17) He’s so good and I’m not. I'm afraid I’m bad for him. (Nightwing 110)
18) He’s better than me, and it’s kind of a relief because I know no matter what he’ll be okay. (Gates of Gotham 3)
19) In my head he’s the responsible one. (Gotham Knights 10)
I rely on him, and though it's hard for me, I trust him (#20-25)
20) I know I have to trust him but I'm afraid he'll make the wrong choices and get hurt (Nightwing 139)
21) I'm sure I know what he should do because I see myself in him - not that I can take my own advice, but he should (Blackest Night 3)
22) I trust him. When I’m losing my grip on things, he pulls me back. (Gotham Knights 10)
23) I want him to trust me (Red Robin 12)
24) He can tell when I'm lying. Sometimes he sees my weaknesses better than I wish he did. (Detective Comics 874)
25) He’s always there when I need him. (Teen Titans / Outsiders Secret Files)
Final rambling thoughts:
TIM: Uhh, okay, so I'm just skimming this list - do you really trust me? you're not just saying that? - but anyway, I'm confused because you left some stuff out? Like some stuff that's kinda important?
DICK: No? I think I got everything?
TIM (starts counting on his fingers): The time I was having a bad day but then I called you. The time I got captured by Two-Face but then you saved me. The time I fell off a train but then you saved me. The time I fell off a building but then you saved me. The time I fell off a different building -
DICK: I feel like you're trying to make some kind of point but I'm not sure what it could be.
SO THE THING IS, I put 25 panels in here and not a single one has Dick catching Tim when he’s falling!!! But I think that's a central motif of their relationship from Tim’s POV, not Dick’s. I love Dick, but in some ways I think he is spectacularly un-self-aware.
And I think he especially has a lot of blind spots about Tim. He kinda intermittently gets that Tim admires him, and he enjoys it in a playful I-get-to-boss-you-around way. But Dick tends to consistently underestimate all of his own good qualities & skills, and he meets Tim at a point in his life when he's especially down on himself & his abilities. And so he's unable to see his own influence on Tim, & therefore unable to fully understand a lot of Tim's priorities and loyalties and motivations, because you can't actually understand Tim without understanding Dick's impact on him. There's a fascinating moment in Bruce Wayne: Murderer when Dick's completely blindsided & upset to discover that Tim doesn't entirely trust Bruce, even though this has been a definitive fact of Tim's whole thing ever since he showed up with his Batman needs Robin theory, and Barbara has to actively remind Dick of the obvious-to-everyone-except-Dick fact that a lot of Tim's loyalty is to Dick, and Tim loves Bruce but feels free to be more wary of him. (And to give Bruce credit: this is not something he ever begrudges.) But anyway Babs points this out, and Dick manages to sorta process it for about five seconds, but he cannot actually accept it into his worldview so instead he discards it at the speed of light and goes off and has an argument with Tim instead sdfsfdsf
All of Dick's virtues - Dick's kindness at the circus and Dick's determination to fight through grief and Dick's rigid sense of morals and Dick's vigilante skills and every time Dick has ever backed Tim up or listened to him or protected him or saved him from something or just been casually kind to a stranger in Tim's presence etc etc etc - all these things loom really large in Tim's mental story of Who Dick Is, and What Dick And Tim's Relationship Is. Tim meets Dick before he meets Bruce, trusts Dick more than Bruce, aspires to be Robin instead of Batman. And so in Tim's default version of the story, Dick is the super-special and admirable hero and Tim is... nobody in particular, a tagalong outsider who's barely managing to be a hero, not part of Dick and Bruce's family and not part of their story, who, if he's VERY LUCKY and tries REALLY HARD, might be able to fight his way to proving himself and offering something to Dick that Dick will value, if Dick doesn't get fed up with him first.
But that's not Dick's version of the story!!!
Dick's version of the story is almost the exact opposite, a story where Dick's an outcast failure black sheep who's screwing up everything he tries, and meanwhile Tim is The Sudden New Perfect Robin Who's Better Than Me And Probably Bruce Loves Him More And Probably They Gossip About What A Loser I Am, mixed with a complicated edge of Tim Thinks He's So Smart But He Doesn't Know Me/Us At All. Dick gets much more attached to Tim over time, and Tim gets unnervingly better at the know-it-all psychoanalysis so then Dick gets to have complicated feelings about him being right instead of just annoyance at him for being wrong, plus Dick's relationship with Bruce improves a lot, so Tim stops feeling so threatening. But Dick never fundamentally changes his basic theory of their relationship in which Tim is highly impressive and capable, and Dick is not so much.
And so asking Dick about Tim is kinda like if you asked George Bailey to tell you about Harry Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life; like, you'll be there for five hours while he tells you how great Harry is, and how accomplished Harry is, and how he doesn't really get how or why Harry does the things he does, and maybe George does feel a little resentful or jealous sometimes, but that pales in comparison to all his admiration and trust for Harry who he loves so much, who's better than him in so many ways, and he's not gonna openly gripe but secretly he can't help but feel sometimes like he's such a failure in comparison to Harry, a perfect person who emerged fully formed from Zeus's head with all the virtues and also all the accomplishments, etc. etc. etc. --
-- and he will not actually remember the part where he changed and saved Harry's whole entire life unless you literally send him to an alternate timeline in order to force him to remember it. <3
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and baby, if you knew
word count: 2.1k || pt2 of saying we're just friends
warnings: mentions of the night before (?), morning after, hickies (?)
summary: oh the horrors of getting caught the morning after
You stare at yourself in the mirror, blinking incredulously. (Partially out of pure shock, partially because sleeping with your contacts on was NOT a smart decision on your end)
Holy fuck, Tim got mouthy with you.
You tilt your neck to brush your fingers over the hickeys, gawking at the way it trails down your neck and collar to your chest, the purple popping on your skin. Sure, you weren't half as pale as Tim was, but hello? You didn't even bring concealer. You weren't expecting him to take you to the Wayne Manor.
"Tim." You swallow, grimacing.
Tim raises a brow, shirt pulled halfway over his head.
"How many hickeys did you give me? Do you have a whisk? Do you have ice? Are you secretly a vampire???"
"One question at a time, lovely." he mumbles. "Seven. There's a whisk and ice downstairs. I am not secretly a vampire, although I can see why you'd guess that."
You blink at him. "Do you have a collared shirt?"
"Just settle for one of my shirts for now." He pulls the shirt over his head, tossing you the other one in the bed.
"Please tell me it's not sheer."
"It's not."
"Thank GOD you're rich." You mumble. "It's a blessing to have non-sheer white shirts."
"Yeah, I get that." He mumbles. "Come on. Alfred called us for breakfast a little ago."
"Which one of your siblings are here?"
"We'll see." Tim hums, shutting the door to his room. (All of them are downstairs, likely. They were probably having a post-valentine debriefing like they usually do. Bruce was not spared from it.)
You duck behind Tim when you notice everyone having breakfast.
"You said we'll see! Are none of them staying with the people they were out with last night?!"
"It happens every year." Tim hums, holding his hand out for you. "Come on. Don't do the walk of shame."
"Seriously. I run a stan account for you and live in my dorm. I'm practically a hermit." You deadpan. "I am NOT cut out to be meeting your family this early in the morning."
"Master Tim, young miss. Are you ready for breakfast? We are having pancakes."
"Just kidding I would kill for pancakes right now." You mumble, following behind Tim as he sits you next to him.
All eyes are on you as you adjust the collar of your shirt, the tag scratching against your skin, the hickeys on your neck visible. You thank Alfred as he places a plate before you, and you start at the chocolate chip pancakes. Holy shit, fuck the eyes on you, this was heaven.
"Alfred, do you have a recipe book?" You blink at him, eyes wide in admiration.
"Which recipe would you like, young miss?"
"Oh, all of them if possible. I'd love to be able to cook half as well as you can." You hum, taking another bite of your food. "Do you have a digital copy?"
"Unfortunately, all of it is on paper or in here." He smiles, tapping his brain. "But I am more than willing to provide you with any recipes you may like."
"Mm!" You shove the last piece of the pancake into your mouth, swallowing as you get up. "Tim, do you have a laptop? I want to type a couple recipes down and transcribe what's on paper—"
"Pull open the drawer to your left." He hums.
You pull it open, blinking at him.
"There's a false bottom in it. One of my spare laptops is in it. The password is a combination of letters." He hums.
"With significance?"
"Yes."
"Oh, then I know an approximation, then." You hum, working your finger into the side as you prop it open, pulling his laptop out. "Is it our birthdays?"
"Wait, how did she–" Dick's cut off when you manage to open it on your first try.
"Alright. I'm gonna go! I'll be with Alfred if you need anything." You smile.
"She just?" Duke blinks incredulously. "Did she just hack open your laptop on her first try? Is she in compsci like you?"
"English." Tim grabs a couple pancakes, cutting off a piece of butter. "Creative writing, technically."
"Oh, is she making her own major?"
"Yes." Tim hums. "I don't actually know how she guessed that it would be our birthdays since I only changed it a little while ago. It'd be easier to open if it was just our birthdays combined. Maybe she was stalking me."
"Or, maybe all the years of running a Robin Twitter account finally paid off." Jason shrugs. "She's quite a big writer on the internet too, you know?"
"Yeah." Tim hums. "She's quite the character. Have you read her works?"
"I have." Damian speaks up. "Her writing resembles poetry, pulling on the strings of your heart and snapping them at moments you least expect."
"You've read her works?!" Tim raises a brow at Damian. "That's surprising."
"She resembles the poets."
"She'd love to hear that come out of your mouth for sure." Tim mumbles. "Anything else I should know?"
"She covered me for change once while I went to buy cup noodles." Cass mumbles.
"I'm mutuals with her on Twitter?" Steph points.
"Okay, that's not the point. Timmy." Dick deadpans. "Did you sleep with her last night?"
"Sex or just plain sleeping? Because we did both—"
"I DIDN'T GET TO GIVE YOU THE SHOVEL TALK!" Dick cries. "Okay, when a man and a—"
"Dick, I'm well over into the ages of a legal adult." Tim sighs. "Besides, I'm like seventy percent sure that you gave me the shovel talk when you first found out I was dating Ari in high school. Also, I got one from my dad and Bruce, so I think I'm good."
"Oh, right." Dick mumbles. "But still."
Steph pauses. "Does she want a whisk?"
"She was asking for one earlier." Tim hums.
"We'll go help." Cass mumbles, getting out of the seat, dragging Steph.
"Okay, Tim. Is she the one who was making you all red and blushy during Christmas?" Dick slides closer to him, throwing an arm around his shoulder.
"Yes." Tim sighs, batting Dick's hand away. "She was."
"How'd you ask her out?"
"Told her if she had nothing to do on Valentine's, then she could stick with me and I could plan a date." Tim reaches for another pancake.
"And she agreed?" Jason snorts. "Wow. She's way out of your league."
"Yeah, but at least I got B's absolutely insane ability to pull." He mumbles. "Pulled way out of my league, for sure."
"If you fumble her I fear the things that will happen to you, Drake." Damian clicks his tongue.
"Do I... know her?"
"Duke," Damian sighs. "You're smarter than this."
"He's messing with you right now." Jason pours himself another cup of coffee.
"What's your relationship with her." Tim deadpans.
"She used to peer review my poems." He hums. "It didn't click until Damian showed me her information this morning, though."
"You just let them go through my girlfriend's personal information?!" Tim finally looks at Bruce, who only gives him a shrug.
"No harm in knowing a little more about your girlfriend."
"I swear, if you bring her in on the vigilantism—"
"That's not happening. I can promise that." Bruce glances at his almost empty mug. "Does she know?"
"She called me out for being Red Robin last night in the car." Tim sighs. "Besides, it'd be strange if she didn't notice immediately how similar Red Robin and I's voices are."
"She's been running your account for how long... now?" Bruce motions for Jason to pass him the coffee.
"Since middle school, so like..." Tim pauses. "Give or take seven years."
"That's a long time." Dick mumbles. "My longest-running fanpage is only six-ish years."
"If you count the Gotham Gazette, then I've been running for the longest." Bruce snorts. "Is she the one?"
"I think she is." Tim smiles. "And if she's not..."
"Then I will personally see the end of your life, Drake." Damian grumbles. "I shall have mother adopt her and have her write poetry for me in exchange for a living space and food. She shall be the equivalent of a court poet except to mother and I."
"I honestly think she wouldn't turn that down." Tim grimaces.
"Is she that desperate?"
"She's joked about sleeping with a millionaire to make some money." Tim grimaces. "Something something desperate situations call for desperate measures."
"She would love it in mother's mansion, then." Damian hums, sipping on his tea. "I shall have her write a poem for your death. It shall be my last mercy."
Tim grimaces. "What if she breaks up with me?"
"Then you're in the fault, obviously." Jason mumbles, looking at his phone.
"So it's my fault regardless of what happens?"
"Listen, her tweets are unhinged. You can't say you like crazy girls and then get annoyed when you date one and she acts insane." Jason grumbles.
"He's got a point, Timmers." Dick hums. "I hope it works out for the best, regardless of the ending."
"Twenty bucks they are endgame." Damian mumbles.
"Alfred bet ten that Tim would pop the ring."
"Ugh, come on. You know no one out-bets Alfred." Dick groans. "Did he set up the jar?"
"He did. This morning." Duke hums. "I put my bet in too."
"Come on–"
"You can't say shit when you bet on all of our relationships and pretty much came out unscathed in all of them." Jason glares. "Shut it."
Tim rolls his eyes, surrendering himself to the idea that his relationship would get bet on.
"Tim, can I marry your sisters?" You come out of the kitchen, eyes sparkling.
"We're dating." He sighs. "Pretty bird—"
"EWWWWWWW" A mixture of faked hurls and gags are heard in unison as Tim rolls his eyes.
"Ignore them. Why do you want my sisters?"
"The hickeys are all," You pull your shirt down too to show your cleavage, the hickeys no longer visible, "gone! Your sisters are really good at this."
"Yeah..." Tim sighs, reaching to pull your shirt back up. "Steph isn't my sister, by the way."
"Oh, yes, I know." You smile. "After all, if she was, it'd be strange that you've dated her before."
Tim chokes on the air at your statement.
"Besides, she's my mutual." You hum. "I also got Alfred's recipes, by the way." You hum, smile on your face. "I also got his chocolate chip cookie recipe, though I need to figure out what the secret ingredient is."
"A dash of vanilla extract." Tim lowers his voice. "Don't tell the rest of the family."
"Got it." You give him a thumbs up.
"Do you cook?" Damian speaks up.
"I do! Mainly ethnic foods, since there isn't much of that here in Gotham." You mumble. "Got any good Chinese places?"
"Oh, there's this place on Seventh Ave and Jester." Bruce speaks up. "I used to get dim sum there. It's only open from eight to twelve, and you need to get in via reservation. Feel free to borrow my name whenever. Just make sure to invite me."
"Uncle Dan's, right?" You beam. "I went there a while back with another friend, but I miss like... the dim sum that's messy and chaotic in the morning."
"Oh, then try the one on Lightbeam." Dick pauses. "Ah, what was the other street?"
"Oh, that one's good." Duke agrees. "Sam Woo's Dim Sum and BBQ."
"I've had that too!" You smile. "They're good, just quite a while from the university."
"If you really want something good," Cass speaks up from behind you, "try Jin."
"Jin?"
"It's smaller, but it's family-run, and it's been doing business in Gotham for three generations already." Cass hums. "They're called Jin, but the Chinese character for gold. They're right by Gotham U too. On the corner by Circle K."
"The sketchy looking alley??" You blink.
"Yes, but their dumplings are to die for." She pauses. "And they sell in bulk if you want to boil any in your dorm."
"Tim, I want your sister."
"Pretty bird, we just started going out." He clicks his tongue.
"Tim, if you break her heart, I will date her." Cass blinks.
"You can visit her when she stays in mother's mansion."
"Hm?" You turn to blink at Damian.
"Ignore him—"
"Should you and Drake break up, I have already arranged your living arrangements, should you agree to it."
"And what might they be?" You hand the laptop to Tim, pointing at the document you shared with yourself.
"With my mother. Your only job shall be to write poems and short stories to entertain her."
"Living and writing for the Talia Al Ghul? Count me in." You sigh dreamily.
"Alright." Tim shuts the laptop after changing the password. "We're going to get going before her roommate calls the cops on her."
"Oh, right!" You mumble. "It was a pleasure meeting you all! I hope to see you again sometime?"
"Tim, send her number in the chat later!" Dick calls as Tim pulls you out.
"Sorry, they're quite embarrassing." Tim mumbles.
"They're warm." You smile. "I like it."
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
Tim sighs in relief at the look of fondness on your face. Right.
You'll be fine.
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