#replacement Tim Drake

[thatshadowgastwhore]

I come bearing Tim, Jason, and Bruce angst.

Ever think about the fact that Jason had to be the adult when it came to his relationship with his mother? That the roles were reversed and the child had to look after the parent when she was at her most self destructive, had to be the one looking out for her to try to keep her safe from herself, and from his perspective, he failed. He wasn’t enough. Catherine died. (Obviously Jason bears no actual fault in her death, he was a child, but that doesn’t mean he believes that)

And with Bruce, pre death, Jason and Bruce had an excellent father/son relationship. At no point pre death were those roles reversed and Jason had to be the adult for Bruce. Bruce was a loving father, he wanted to keep Jason safe and it allowed Jason to be more of a child. It showed him what a parent should be for their child, unlike what he learned from Willis and later Catherine as she devolved.

You know what Jason does not witness? Bruce in the aftermath of his death. He doesn’t see Bruce spiral and become violent like Willis or self destructive like Catherine. He never has to witness Bruce as less than an ideal parent. He also never witnesses that the person who steps up to emotionally support Bruce and pull him out of his spiral is another child. A child taking on the role of caretaker for an adult.

Jason’s greatest trauma is his death, but his first trauma is Willis and Catherine. Bruce would never tell Jason the extent to which he fell apart. Tim would never divulge the information willingly. Bruce was so grief stricken, he barely remembers his time after Jason’s death, he blocks it out.

Jason may hate Bruce for not killing the joker, but he’ll never hate Bruce for becoming (briefly) like Willis and Catherine. Because he’ll never know. He’ll hate Tim for taking his place in the family, and never know Tim became like him in so many more ways than becoming Robin.

Tim knows on an informational level what Jason’s time was like pre-Bruce. He studied the family, he’s a researcher, his pattern recognition skills (literally how he unmasked Batman) are too great for him not to know the basics, but he doesn’t know the emotional level it would have scarred Jason. But even without that, he’ll never tell him what happened while Jason was dead. Even if it means Jason resents him. He’s going to take that secret to his grave.

Jason will never know that they have that in common. He doesn’t need to. It’ll only hurt more. (He can never tell anyone)

[tiger-grace]

headcanon that after Dick Grayson being Robin all of the batkids interchangeably use “holy ____ batman” even at the worst possible moments

Steph, staring down at Tim in the medbay cot: holy common cold, batman

Tim: please stop

Steph: holy spleenless sillybilly batman

Tim: steph please

Jason Todd on the floor, bruised and bloodied: dad?

(The timer ticks down to three seconds)

Jason: well holy shitballs batman I’m going to fucking di-

KABOOM

[plagueislost]

i love being late to trends. my new years resolution is to be late to every trend ever. and you know im serious because im even late to new years.

(theres an inverse version of this by @chamiryokuroi , you should go check it out! i started making this before i saw theirs, but i think its cool that now theres both versions)

[anxi04]

tim and bruce have an odd relationship to the rest of the family. they don’t act like father and son but it seems like they have a “deeper” bond than the others

bruce seems to take tim’s advice more seriously, bruce actually takes a break if tim tells him, tim still gets benched but not nearly as much as he should, and most confusingly, tim benched bruce once. not alfred benching bruce, TIM.

normally bruce has to be forced to take a break, and normally by alfred, but if tim says “you’re benched for a week” bruce? listens?

they have no idea why. some of them ask dick if he knows since he was there but he’s just as confused

and then despite all that there’s also such a strain between them? it’s really on the line of a professional relationship and almost a care taker. it’s very confusing. and then the times bruce gives tim a present or anything like that and tim stops and stares at him for a second, like he’s dissecting bruce. no one is able to fully figure it. until bruce is de-aged to tim’s robin era.

tim is very adamant about most of them, but especially jason and damian, do not reveal their names to him. for the time being they have a strictly professional relationship with their father who doesn’t know them.

they finally get some of the picture when they see tim start acting as bruce’s caretaker. tim switches between being gentle “hey, you need to sleep” to screaming at bruce. it always works. tim knows exactly which version bruce needs and it scares the team cause that has to require some practice

they’re then also thrown for a loop when they hear bruce call out jason’s name in a shocked voice, which makes sense cause he doesn’t know jason is alive but jason still has his helmet on so what? and then they hear a voice none of them have heard. except dick goes pale and jason’s breath hitches. and suddenly tim is responding to jason’s name and acting weird, almost like what some of dicks stories described jason as. and it’s so fucked up when they’re watching time act like someone else and bruce going along with it

the dynamic they’re getting is also fucked up once again when, during one of bruce’s really bad days, tim straight up acts like bruce’s parent. and bruce reacts well.

they’re all horrified by this. the realization that tim and bruce’s relationship has so many layers and that they do act like father and son sometimes. except bruce isn’t the father and tim isn’t the son

[prlssprfctn]

In his new room - in his new house - Jason searches up for a circus performances and stares at them for hours. First, he watches at them mindlessly, unconsciously curious, and then, he starts to take notes.

He is a street kid, and everything about him screams of that. So, he is nowhere near the grace of these performers on the screen. His arms are not that strong, too, but he is agile, and his legs are much stronger - he can think of something.

He can be just as good as the boy he is replacing.

It is not like someone tells him to match Richard Grayson, and it is not like someone admits that Jason is here to replace the first Wonder Boy, but Jason heard Bruce's conversation with Dick earlier. It was meant not for his ears, but it doesn't matter now.

"So, now what, you exile me, and bring a boy to replace me?!"

Jason is not mad. All of it ‐ adoption papers, the manor, the school - is much more than he ever thought he would get in his life. Being replacement doesn't sound as bad anyway; especially, if his brother is so cool.

So, he makes notes on circus performances and slightly chopes his hair. They are much curlier than Dick's - he has more of a wavy ones, and the only ever look that way, when they get long; his childhood photos with short hair looks too straight - but the cut does its magic.

The next day, Bruce compliments his hair absentmindedly and is positively surprised by his new moves on the patrol, asking where he learnt it from. Jason lies about not remembering, but his cheeks are flashed, and his smile is all about teeth. He can't wait to show it to Dick once they finally get on a mission together.

Expect, when they do, Dick just nods and mutters a light-hearted "good job" before leaving to talk with his team. And Jason knows Dick doesn't want to be mean - he gets it; no one feels good about having a replacement, especially the one that seems so cheap in comparison - but he still cries that night in his pillow, feeling himself a little kid, even if he isn't one. Even if he never was.

Jason wonders if his own replacement would make him understand Dick.

But Jason never gets replaced.

No matter the taunting voice of the Lazarus Pit in the back of his head - that sometimes sounds suspiciously like Talia's; you remain unavenged and replaced - and his own intrusive thoughts that spiral in uneven lines, Jason doesn't think Tim was ever meant to be his replacement. Being replaced means to match the person that was meant to be left behind. And no one asked Tim to be like Jason.

If anything, memory of Jason was thrown under the rag, hidden and locked securely in heads of those who survived. And if they brought Jason up, then it was always an example of what Robin shouldn't do: run away, disobey, and allow emotions to consume you. So, not much of an exemplary original. More like an opposite.

Jason feels an urge to explain that to Tim once; when they sit together on the rooftop, almost like a proper family, instead of broken pieces of someone's idea of a one.

'You could never replace me,' he says, and the instant it leaves his mouth, he knows it came out wrong.

Tim rolls his eyes.

'Yeah, dude. Whatever.'

'No, I mean—' He grits his teeth, scrapping slightly the back of his hand. 'I mean... You could never replace me, because... Because you were always better.'

Tim freezes. His big blue eyes shift in something more confused, and it is almost as if he is not sure how he needs to react — to protest? To agree? To thank him?

Jason doesn't know what to do, too.

He wants to say: it is easy as that, babybird. They wanted to have someone who would have nothing in common with me — someone who could help them to forget about my existence, about the existence of the failed Robin.

But he can't make himself speak again. And he is not sure he wants to stay any longer to hear Tin manging to put his thoughts in the words; he is better than him at this, too, and he almost always sounds convincing.

So, he leaves.

In his room - in the building he owns now - he ruffles his outgrown hair, fluffs up the white streak, and passes by his only remaining photo with Bruce in the frame, on the shelf under the stolen tire.

He still does this semi-circus move in his fights - almost frozen in the air, with his back arched - but he doesn't expect anyone to compliment him anymore.

[arrowheadedbitch]

Dick: Tim, you're the only Robin that's never actually died, how do you do it?

Tim: Uhm, I'm better than you?

Tim: Obviously?

Jason: Okay, I remember why I tried to kill this kid, now

[tired-all-the-time22]

Ghost King Phantom's secret twin brother WHO?!?!?😱😱😱

[dumsp1r0sper0]

something that genuinely cracks me up about the "jason calls tim replacement" thing is that it's literally such a lame fucking nickname. like surely the whole point of nicknames, even ones that are meant to be rude and demeaning, is that they're fun to use?

"you really think you can be the new robin, replacement? you really think you can be better than me, the ultimate robin?☝️🤓" SHUT THE FUCK UP LOSER who even talks like that

if we're taking it as a brothers thing, it should at the very least be jason alternating through a list of increasingly niche rip-off versions of popular movies. "someone tell 2007 animated movie ratatoing to pass the salt"

[batfambrainrotbeloved]

Give me Bruce who in a furious tone yells out "JASON" but it isn't Jason who responds, its Tim- Because even after so many years, he still hasn't gotten used to B calling him by his real name.

[mmmmmmeow]

the fact that dick sees him as a little brother is so heartwarming tbh (dick gave it to tim as robin) LIKE AWW this is the sibling dynamic i love tbh. like no they all don’t hate eachother they care for one another. idgaf if they get into arguments every two seconds they’re my babies

DCU Holiday Special (one shot)

[erinwantstowrite]

oh boy i sure do love waking up sick after sleeping through my alarm but you know what it's gonna be a good day- what? what are you saying to me right now... no... NO... JASON CALLED TIM "REPLACEMENT" IN CANON??? THEY SAID JASON TODD SLEEPS AROUND???? KILL ME KILL ME KILL ME KILL ME KILL ME-

[onceabluemoonthoughts]

Everyone in the bat family is fluent in multiple languages.

And I’m bilingual, so here’s some language blunder moments I’ve had but put through the batfam.

Steph(talking to herself while on sims4): And i can add a scooter there… wait scooter? No it’s a uh… tricycle? No, definitely not… oh my god, the one that hurts on the shins! What’s it called?!

(Looks up ‘the shins hurt thing’. Then edited to ‘the kids toy that hurts shins’ then edited to ‘the kids toy ride thing that hurts shins’ then edited to ‘the kids toy ride wheels that hurts shins’ before finally getting search results not about how to fix shin pain)

(I did do this, today, which is why I am making this post in the first place actually)

Steph: what?! It is called a scooter! I was right the first time!

Dick(getting caught in a lie): I really digged myself a hole didn’t I?

Bruce: Digged? You mean dug. You dug yourself a hole

Dick: Huh? No. I don’t accept that. I’m using digged. Fuck English.

Tim: By the way where’s the uh… (snapping fingers) the uh… oh god what’s it called? The thingy…

Barbara: Just say it in the language you’re thinking. I speak most of the same languages as you by now

Tim: uh… it’s the uh… I don’t know

Barbara: what?

Tim: I forgot the word… in all languages.

Barbara: then I can’t help you.

Jason: oh yea he talks out of his elbows doesn’t he?

Roy(confused): he what?

Jason: talks out of his elbows?

Roy: …

Jason: it’s a saying. Means he talks a lot.

Roy: yea, not an English saying bud.

Jason: … well it should be.

Jon: you’re late

Damian: I am aware. However there was no… I could not see the time because the… uh..

Jon(expecting an excuse): ..?

Damian(frustrated): I know what I am about to say is wrong. I forgot the actual word. There was no watch on the wall. I did not know the time.

Jon(trying not to laugh): you uh… mean a clock?

Damian: shut up.

[tiger-grace]

robin!Jason catching the obvious rich kid following them around in crime alley pretending to be a street rat: that’s why yo shoes raggedy

Tim, who has stalked every single piece of information about his personal life: that’s why your mama dead

[gnomewithalaptop]

Rereading the Our Worlds at War tie-in again and God I miss their friendship every day

[bookburners]

My favorite cannon-contridictory headcannon is that Tim Drake smokes weed because its simply the funiest turn of events that could happen.

[headcanonthings]

Tim: All right, you’re clearly not listening to me. I can say whatever I want. Bruce, focused on a case file: Tell me about it.

Tim: I murdered the Riddler this weekend. Bruce: I feel you. Tim: Now that I have the taste for blood, I can’t stop murdering. Bruce: Been there, done that. Tim: The Joker is next. Bruce: Go for it, chum. I believe in you.