#reverse robin tim first au

[ghost-bxrd]

hi please I need this in my life rev robins tim adopting Jason is amazing I need whatever deets you got skskskisk

Here have some more bullet points! ✨

Instead of tires Jason happens upon a fancy drone Tim had stashed somewhere. He takes advantage of the situation (this kind of fancy tech sells for a thousand bucks at LEAST!), hot wires the thing, and takes off with it. Sadly, Jason misses the tracker so Tim sniffs him out within the hour, thinking Batman’s onto him (who else could have the knowledge to wire HIS advanced tech but Bruce?)

Tim kind of blue screens when he sneaks into Jay’s hideout and finds a malnourished kid nibbling on a piece of stale bread and the drone clutched in one hand

Jason thinks he’s done for when the new crime lord shows up. Like- that guy cut the heads off several people only a few days ago and- oh, oh god, he just stole from a crime lord. Oh no, oh shit-

Tim is still blue screening and thus totally misses that the kid went into fight or flight mode until the drone comes sailing at him and hits him clean in the face.

Jason, in his panic, jumps right out the window (death via fall is better than having his head cut off, or whatever else perverted thing the new crime lord is into)

Tim barely manages to react in time to keep Jason from plummeting several stories, having even more trouble dragging the kid back onto solid ground because the little shit actually tries biting him! (Tim is lowkey impressed)

Jason never stops fighting, managing some solid kicks and punches that Tim’s gonna feel for several days, and keeps spitting at Tim even after he’s finally got him pinned

Tim, after inspecting Jason’s handiwork on the drone and considering the kid’s fighting spirit (not to mention the ill seated realization that Jason might not make it much longer on the streets with how thin he is), knows that the kid is either gonna die or be picked up by Batman (or god forbid, Damian) if he finds out about the kid’s skills. So really, it’s a no brainer what Tim has to do now

Bruce and Damian think they’ll have to do another tally mark in the list of crimes Hood committed, now thinking not even street kids are safe from him

Jason’s not sure he likes this weird arrangement, but Hood turns out to be surprisingly young and doesn’t want him to do any weird crime stuff and actually teaches him things about tech, so… he thinks he’ll stay. For now.

(Tim spends exactly one week around the spitfire that is Jason and decides that, yes, he would kill everyone in Gotham and then himself if anything happened to him. Not that he’s gonna let anybody know that.)

[rock-in-robins]

so like reverse robins, if done right, i love em. anything reverse robins i ever write will never have Steph become Babs. it doesn't make sense to her character for her to become oracle, would she be great at it, absolutely, but it doesn't make sense.

there's always debate on whether it should be Steph or Tim to die and more or less become Jason. my answer is that Tim get's joker jr'd and kills himself (+ the joker if your so inclined (but joker would have to be revived somehow for plot reasons) (you can make it Bruce if you want more angst)) then Steph becomes robin because Tim always talked about how gotham needed a robin and she wanted to honor him in a way only she could. then the thing with black mask happens and she still fakes her death travels, heals, grieves, and comes back when she heard bruce picked up a new kid. (Jason wasn't robin yet, just living in the manor but Steph new it was only a matter of time)

so she comes back to gotham and decides she's gonna take care of crime alley her way, and revamps her old spoiler costume. (she may not have grown up there but she was a few streets away and she knew what a place like that did to kids) (she also has no ties to Bruce anymore so her no killing thing gets a whole lot more lax)(she kills her father - that's how bruce and the others found out shes back in town). and openly feuds with black mask over territory and brutally maims him but like just a bit.

Then Jason becomes robin and six months later Tim is back. he's different and definitely a bit more unhinged, but efficient as ever. he quickly takes over the drug trade and helps Steph get rid of the worst of the worst. But doesn't do the whole try to make Bruce kill the joker thing, instead he makes Bruce watch as Tim does and warns him that if he tries to revive the joker again (damian aka nightwing def killed the joker & Bruce brought him back) that they Will Have Problems. Tho he is going as Joker Jr. as a fuck you and a threat to pretty much everyone, after all they all knew what happened to the 2nd robin.

In summary Tim & Steph split up the Red Hood traits

Duffle bag of heads - tim, he's dramatic

Died (like burried in a grave and crawled out died) - tim

Guns - Steph

The joker - tim (but steph will shoot the fucker on sight so help her god)

Black mask war - steph (obvi)

Crime alley - steph mainly (but tim lurks around and every crime alley kid & sex worker knows that if they ever need something JJ will take care of it no questions asked)

Drug trade - both, they make dates night out of it (it does not matter they aren't together anymore)

Scaring/pissing B off - both, they make it a game

Murder - both as a treat

[cluescorner]

I gave myself a writing challenge and I am fascinated by it

So basically I put the robins in a randomizer to give them a new order/role (because I just...kinda wanted to see what would happen + I like role-reversal AUs) and got results that are giving me a fucking brain blast.

Stephanie, the first sidekick who defines the role

Tim, the sidekick who dies and comes back wrong

Dick, the sidekick who saves Batman from himself

Damian, the sidekick who was never supposed to be a sidekick but would go on to prove everyone wrong

Jason, the youngest sidekick who is still the Kid Wonder

...So this is fucking wild. I've got some ideas and several of these fit perfectly (Dick's role is pretty similar to his one in canon), but some of these are fucking INCREDIBLE to explore (Steph being the first Robin is something I never even considered but tbh I kinda love it).

I probably won't write a fic or anything because tbh I don't like publishing my writing that much, but I might expand this into a full AU and post about it. I might randomize other stuff too (ie, stuff that I cannot change vs stuff that I cannot keep the same) but this fucking rules as a starting point.

[maya-custodios-dionach]

My personal reverse robins au that lives in my head has

1st - Ward and never adopted, special partnership mentor-mentee bond with Bruce, first kid hero, inspiration for future kid heros, evetually establishes and manages many open shelters with heavily and thoroughly vetted staff Duke,

2nd - runaway from Nanda Parbat and tracked down his birth father with no input from Talia and later sheds his need to emulate either of his parents for their validation and becomes a world renown glassblower artist with galleries Damian,

3rd - independent vigilante turned mentee who gave up vigilantism to pursue medicine after the Black Mask incident Stephanie,

4th - first officially adopted and had damian accompany him to ethiopia taking his masters in literature and future head of the Martha Wayne foundation Jason

5th - runaway from cain and ended up at the clinic Stephanie practices at, spoiled by Bruce and all her older siblings takes ballet lessons and future dance fusion choreographer/trainer Cassandra

6th - swooped up by an empty nester bruce who's kids keep on badgering him to go out and do stuff outside the mission and ended up at halys circus's first and last show at gotham angry ball of chaos youngest sibling with the batclan wrapped around his pinky finger Dick

Where's tim? Why, ward/emotionally adopted by selina kyle childhood friend of damian, stephanie and jason that goes out as Drake Industries's young CEO by day and the citys most notorious information broker by night stray!Tim of course (same age as steph)

... Who also mentors a tiny barbara (same age as dick) in tech stuff, tho babs soon surpasses him in the future. Its a cute blue-orange morality mentor teaching a lawful-neutral leaning good mentee dynamic.

I personally think that the Robin mantle stays with Dick, no passing down of titles. Each of the kiddos have a personal young mask pseud that they grow out of to take on a new independent adult mask pseud, tho i think itll be fun if the ADULT mask names post-sidekick era are the bird-themed ones, while the sidekick code names are color-themed.

I think I finally realized why I don’t like a lot of the Reverse Robins “Tim becomes the Red Hood and attacks Jason” storylines… because at least when Jason was Red Hood, he was also under the impression Tim was a rich snobby brat who had everything handed to him on a silver platter, including yet another extremely rich, loving family, regardless of how accurate those ideas were.

But when Tim’s Red Hood he’s really just punching down at a poor kid Bruce took in. Tim as Robin AT LEAST had his home to go back to, where he had all of his basic needs taken care of, while Jason would either end up back on the street or in the foster system.

So honestly, “Red Hood Tim” to me just comes across as a real spoiled brat. I want to see more original ideas on how he does things! (Like one where he hacked into Arkham and went out of his way to start killing rogues which?? jason get your ass in gear and do that in canon u wuss)

Anyways, alternative thoughts welcome!!

Also at some point I should continue working on a Reverse Robins fic where Tim got taken by the Court of Owls and experimented on & he stole Dickie from there too… we’ll see

[batsandbirdbrains]

I want a reverse robins au where Damian was the one at the circus when The Flying Graysons fell, and it happened while Bruce was stuck in time or whatever. So Dick doesn’t meet Bruce for like a year or so after Damian adopts him. And Damian does adopt him. Immediately. No question.

And the entire time Bruce was gone, Dick could tell Damian was so sad about it. So to make him feel better whenever they talk about Bruce, his little eight year old mind just comes up with the most ridiculous idea.

Dick just always refers to Bruce as Grandpapa in his most obnoxious snobby accent. And it never fails to make Damian’s mouth twitch up into the barest of smiles, if not outright making him chuckle.

And it just caught on with everyone else. Dick is the only one who thinks of Bruce as a grandparent, but if anyone talks to Dick about Bruce, they call him “your grandpapa.”

He also refers to Talia solely as Grandmama in the same snobby accent because he can’t stand her and being referred to as a grandmother in general just pisses her off. Makes her feel old. Dick loves pissing her off, because whenever she comes around, she never fails to make Damian upset. That’s his Baba. No one is allowed to upset his Baba.

So when Dick finally meets Bruce for the first time after Tim brings him back, he just sort of stares up at this big imposing man he’s only seen pictures and videos of, and he’s a little intimidated, but Damian is right there holding Dick’s hand so he puffs out his chest and does his best not to look frightened or worried. And he looks Bruce dead in the eyes and tells him, “i thought you’d be taller, Grandpapa.”

And Jason doubles over, the laughter shocking even him, while Tim smothers a laugh in the background, and Damian just smirks and squeezes Dick’s hand.

Bruce is baffled. But he can’t help but be charmed by the little gremlin standing in front of him who’s sticking his nose up in the air and calling him Grandpapa. He’s reminded a lot of Damian when he was young, actually, even if Damian was a little older than Dick is now when he first came to live with Bruce.

And the Grandpapa thing never dies out, never fizzles into anything more common to call Bruce. It’s always the full Grandpapa, always.

A few JL members had met Robin while Bruce was lost in time, but only a select few. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Arrow mostly. A few other strays. Flash has met him a handful of times.

But the first time he goes to the Watchtower to be introduced to everyone, he clings to Bruce’s hand and asks him, “Grandpapa, when does your meeting start?”

And everyone turns and stares. Because this colorful little kid just called Big and Broody “Grandpapa,” and Hal Jordan lets out a bark of a laugh.

But that just makes Robin glare at him, and he squeezes Batman’s hand before stomping right over to him, dragging Batman with him.

“What’s so funny?” he demands with all the sass of a nine year old who feels he’s being made fun of.

“Did you really just call Spooky Grandpapa?”

“Yes,” Robin says slowly, like Hal is dumb. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Aside from the way Batman is positively glowering at him, Hal is also now faced with a pissed off little goblin child who’s been raised by Nightwing the last year. He very carefully and quickly tells Robin there’s no problem, “I was just surprised, is all,” and then books it across the room.

Robin beams up at Batman, who gives his hand a little squeeze before leading him to come sit at the meeting table with him.

“Come on,” Batman says, his tone practically announcing to the room how much he adores this new tiny addition to the Batfamily, “you can sit with Grandpapa during the meeting, and then I’m going to take you to the gym for a new training simulation, alright?”

“Alright!”

Robin sits in Batman’s lap the entire meeting, his face very serious as he pays attention to every word Batman and the others say. Meanwhile, Bruce is getting a total kick out of how much it freaks everyone else out whenever they hear Dick call him Grandpapa.

[jason-todd-week]

Jason Todd Week 2025 - January

Rules | Playlist | Playlist Guide | AO3 Collection | Discord

Jason Todd Week 2025 will run January 6th - 12th this January!

There will be two aspects to this event:

The main part is the prompt challenges. There are three prompts per day. The first is a word prompt, the second is a general trope, and the last is a fandom-specific prompt. You can use one, two, or three of them—it's up to you! Each prompt also has a song corresponding to it in the playlist. A playlist guide will be out shortly so that you can know what songs there are if you don't use Spotify.

If you post on Tumblr, you can use the tag #jasontoddweek2025. There's also an AO3 collection (Jason_Todd_Week_2025).

For your filtering, this blog will tag reblogs with #reblogs, the day, the prompt(s), media type, any non-Jason characters, any romantic or sexual ships (with full character name/full character name), and any warnings. Anything explicit will be tagged #explicit. Example: #reblogs #day 6 #scars #enemy to caretaker #fic #tim drake #gun violence. Please filter out tags you don’t want to see.

Because I am not able to read/see every work posted (due to time constraints and personal boundaries), some warnings or characters may be untagged if they are not in the original post’s tags.

The secondary aspect is another opportunity to participate if you don't feel comfortable creating art, writing, or other media. Each day of the week, there will be a be an open-ended question about your opinions/ideas related to Jason Todd that you can respond to. For example, "What is your favorite Jason Todd headcanon?"

Feel free to join the Discord!

Prompts Day 1: Drive | Time Travel | The Batmobile Tires Day 2: Joker | Chronic Pain | Fear Toxin Day 3: Monster | Supernatural AU | League of Assassins Day 4: Grave | Buried Alive | Immortal Jason Todd Day 5: Family | No Capes AU | Jason is a Literature Nerd Day 6: Scars | Enemy to Caretaker | Red Hood and the Outlaws Day 7: Return | Outsider POV | Crime Alley Substitute Prompts: Lifeline, Royalty AU, Reverse Robins

[brucewaynehater101]

WAIT. Reverse Robin AU, but let's fuck everything up.

Damian is the oldest. He was conceived during Bruce's training arc. Talia found out she was pregnant and ghosted the hell out of Bruce near the start of the arc. Thus, Bruce was dealing with his bad breakup for eight or so years, comes home, takes a year to become Batman, and then a ten year old kid shows up on his doorstep a year later. A highly trained child that has some whacky notions about training/combat that also knows how to escape :) So, yeah. Kid becomes a little vigilante. He has some super friends but isn't really on a team (Jon, Colin, Flatline, Maps, etc). Through Bruce's dedicated reparenting, he grows up to want to be a vet instead.

Duke still met Bruce during Year Zero at the age of six. When Damian is seventeen, Duke's parents go missing (fuck the Joker, let's blame any other rogue for this). There's civil disorder as well, partly caused by Damian quitting and Bruce being sad about it (which good for Damian. Go chase your dreams). Bruce stumbles upon 13 year old Duke, realizes the kid is kind of an orphan who also has meta powers that he won't stop using to be a dangerously untrained vigilante, and thus yanks him into fostering. When he's 15, his mom is found, saved, and healed enough for Duke to move back in with her. Duke eventually moves to the day shift when he's 16.

Steph gets recruited by Duke! She's still Spoiler and even forms the first teen superhero group (with Anita, Cissie, Cassie, Greta, and Kon). She lives with her mom and is the one to encourage Bruce to make connections to other heroes. She's civilian friends with Tim. At age sixteen, she "dies." It's a fake death, but nobody else knows this except Tim. This causes massive ripples in the superhero community, Gotham, and the Bats.

Tim... Doesn't actually join the batfam at first :D There's no flying grayson, but he did figure out their identities. He thinks they're cool, but not to the hero level worship of canon. He knows Steph is Spoiler. His parents still die and whatnot, but Tim pulls an Uncle Eddie. He used his rich boy money to train a bit, even ran into Lady Shiva when he was abroad trying to save his parents, but he isn't a practicing vigilante (and thus currently not physically great). Instead, he uses his computer skills to subtly aid Steph/the Bats. Bart ends up seeking him out (future knowledge), so they start working together as a team (with Bart in-field but not in Gotham). When he's 17, Steph dies/goes missing. Thus, Bart and Tim end up on a StephQuest (because nobody believes stranger!Tim who has no actual proof) [which ends up training Tim to be a great vigilante].

Jason gets yoinked from the streets post-Steph's "death" at 13. Bruce is feeling massive guilty/depressed that one of his charges/unofficial children died. Jason, who found a really neat home with a library and also has experience with struggling parents, unfortunately helps coax Bruce out of his spiral while also signing himself up for becoming a vigilante. Jason has his own team of superheros and stuff. Steph comes back about a year into his vigilantism (so when he's fourteen or so).

Cass shows up in Gotham after Steph gets back. She gets adopted and becomes/starts Batgirl.

Dick's parents die when he's nine, thus when Jason is fifteen.

[chocor0se]

I GOT MORE I GOT MORE

ahem,

When Damian first heard of Jason, it wasn’t from Bruce. He visiting Jon in Metropolis when he brought up something Kent had said.

“Oh, Dad said something about Bruce getting a new kid? Have you met him yet?”

Damian was shocked, no not shocked. He was outraged. Had his father really stooped so low as to replace Timothy? His own son, Damian’s own brother?

After that he had rushed to Gotham almost immediately. And lo and behold there was a child just a few years younger than Tim was when he died.

The moment he and Bruce were alone he started screaming, uncaring whether or not the kid could hear them.

“I cannot believe you!”

“Damian-“

“No! It hasn’t even been a full year and look what you’ve done! To replace Tim-“

“Jason’s not-“

“What? A replacement? Because it sure looks like that to me!” He lowered his voice, “Are you going to drag him into our nightlife as well? I suppose you probably want a new partner since the old one’s gone, right?”

“..I won’t drag him into it. Not again.”

“Newsflash, Father, everyone you seem to know gets dragged into it.”

Damian knew what he said was harsh, that’s why he had said it.

When he stormed out of the room he passed by the replacement, who was obviously trying not to show that he had heard everything. They locked eyes, and Damian just glared at him.

Maybe scaring him away would work.

consider this: reverse robins au where damian calls jason replacement

[hehether]

Can I see more of reverse robins AU?

YESSIR HERE'S THEM. And I love the hcs that Damian, Tim and Jason have bat-themed names and suits, since Dick is the very first colorful Robin ever!

[vigil-antes]

Do you like have any good comics recommendations or anything to do with the bat fam, I don't have many DC friends so idk where to start

hiii omg ive been WAITING for this. you didnt give me any kind of parameters for what kind of fics you want so im going to list some of those i like most. its going to be a long one so buckle up:

My DC Fic Best Pics:

Short & Sweet (Oneshots/Less than 10k words)

Send to All: Crack, the bats have a sex pollen release form

glucose guardian: Funny, Tim being the caped community's accidental sugar daddy

A Brief Interview: Sweet, Damian & Tim Ageswap

curiosity and the cat: Cute, Timbern Catlad AU

Dead Meme: Crack, Jason centric, Jason keeps referencing dead memes

Have I Told You About Minnie?: Sweet, Bruce&Steph

Multi Media Marketing Mistakes: Crack, Social Media AU

an inappropriate explosion: Funny, Superman calls Batman to reel in his unruly son (Red Hood)

though your eyes will need some time to adjust: so sweet GAH, Bruce&Steph

Girl what were YOU doing at the devil's sacrament?: Funny, Timbern after the disaster with the chaos cult

Tim Drake: Bisexual Awakener Extraordinaire: Funny, YJ experiencing the mandated Robin-Induced sexuality crisis

Brotherhood: Tim&Damian, Damian Time travels right into Jason's attack on Titans Tower

Priceless: Crack, Nightwing&The Bats messing with Bane

User SuperRob: TImBerKon. Need I say more?

The Mystery of the Superboy Shirts: TimKon, Tim keeps stealing Kon's SB Shirts

Thicker Than Water: Funny, Batbros slice of life-ish

Big Bird, Commence Attack!: Crack, Jason's revenge plan involves dressing up as Big Bird

World’s Saddest Breakfast Club: Sweet, Batkids Bonding

red chrome: Funny, Tim's health is concerning enough to stop Jason from attacking him in Titans Tower

Hot Dog, French Fries: Tim&Damian, Damian gets dosed with truth serum

#SoftRobin: Funny. Damian-centric Social Media AU

Hurry Up Don't Take So Long: Sweet, DamiJon through the years

Paris vs Gotham: Crack, Social Media AU Ladybug crossover (no ships)

Can I tempt you?: TimKon, Light angst, Sweet

Bedtime Stories (15-50k Words)

Baby Birds and Bat Caves: SO funny, genuinely one of the best fics ive read, Tim-Centric, Meta(?)/Cryptid Tim, inspired by Welcome to Nightvale

Gotham Knockoff: Tim-Centric, Alley Kid Tim pretends to be the Drakes' kid to get closer to the Bats

In This or Any Other Universe: Nightwing ends up in the The Batman (2022) Universe

Dangerous and Noble Things: Kid Tim gets kidnapped by the League of Shadows. No one realizes until, four years later, the Bats notices something wrong

In this Town We Call Home: Kid Tim attracts Batman's attention to get adopted

With Violet Light: Jason finds a ring of power and becomes a Star Sapphire

Little Birds’ Wings: Jason&Other Batkids, Jason comes back from the League to a drastically different Gotham

the pact of our youth: Reverse Robins Au, TimBerKon after Tim dies (and comes back different)

Pretty Boys and Identity Problems: Sweet, TimKon, To get away from his crush on Robin, Superboy gets entangled with Gotham pretty boy Tim Drake

let's get mischievous: TimBern, during the chaos cult ritual, Bernard gets possessed by Dyonisus

It Wouldn't Be Make Believe (If You Believed In Me): DamiJon fake dating AU where they don't know each other and meet while Robin is investigating a case in Metropolis (they're uni aged btw)

I’m Pretty Sure Tim Steals Clothes: An Elaboration In The Form Of A Long Fic: Cute, TimKon, Tim keeps stealing Kon's SB shirts

Into the Deep Dark Night: Tim-centric, Tim&Jason, Tim dies as a kid and loses a bit of his humanity

Alcatraz, But On Hardmode: Sweet, Tim-Centric, A YJ mission goes wrong and Tim has to rely on Jason to get him and his team out.

His Head is Bloody, but Unbowed: Jason-centric AU where he never stole the batmobile tires, but ends up meeting the Bats anyways after he saves Robin

A Good Place: Very soft, Damian&Bruce, Damian time travels to Batman's first year of activity.

Fairy Godbrother: Sweet, The batboys time travel to each others' pasts and help their brothers when they were younger

best laid plans: Tim&Jason, Tim finds Jason after he crawls out of his grave, bt they get goth taken by the league

Mystery Man: Cute, BirdFlash, The bats aren't known to the JL, Different first meeting

One Eternal Round: Super original, Bruce&Robins, My Hero Academia crossover where Aizawa, Midoriya, Kirishima, Todoroki and Bakugo remember their past lives as Gotham vigilantes

A Meditation on Railroading: Tim-Centric, Tim's dad leaves him stranded away from Gotham with no way back. Jason finds him and brings him home

the ship of theseus: Jason-Centric, Percy Jackson crossover, Jason and Percy are secretly twins

Why They Shouldn't Have Social Media: Crack, Social media AU

Cracked Foundation:Soft, Jason&Damian, They get stuck under a collapsed building together

Monolith: Bruce&The Batfamily, The birds aren't known to the JL, The JL meeting each member of the Batfam for the first time

Loading and Aspect Ratio: SO GOOOOOOD, Batfamily, The bats use wing prothesis but everyone think they're metas

Three’s a Crowd (But I’m Here if You Are): Cute, Funny, TimBerKon

A Softer Gotham: Steph&Bruce, Steph-Centric, Steph time travels to a time before Batman, becoming Gotham's first vigilante

greatest of ease: Dick-Centric, POV Outsider, Dick Grayson as seen in the eyes of the people surrounding him

Yesterday's Voices: Bruce&Batkids, Bruce's memory of the past five years gets erased leaving behind a softer man, one who doesn't remember Jason's death

show me yesterday, for i can’t find today: Jason-Centric, Jason&The Batfam, Robin!Jason and Red Hood switch places

Eat Your Heart Out, Social Life (50k+ words)

Vultures, Squirrels, and Other Flying Menaces: So good, AU where instead of becoming Robin, Tim hires Deathstroke to kill Joker, leading to the assassin adopting him and the other Batkids.

I’m alone here, I think: TimKon, Witch Tim, Tim is erased from everyone's memories and leaves Gotham. Kon finds him anyways.

You, Me, and the Humanity in Between: Soft and sweet, Bruce&His kids, Non-Human Batkids

cards on the table: Tim-Centric, Tim&Batfam, Tim's parents fake their death and leave Tim behind. He uses his stalking skills to become a fortuneteller scammer. Against his will, he ends up befriending the Waynes

Roasted: Funny, Cute, Dick-Centric, Talon AU, Dick&Batfam, Recovered Talon Dick opens a coffee shop that ends up becoming Rogue-Vigilante neutral grounds

Code Bat: Batfam, The bats aren't known, they have an emergency code to only be used in emergency case when revealing affiliation is inevitable (idk how to explain but its good trust me)

Minimum Height Requirement: SOFT, Bruce&His kids, Batfam, Batman doesn't let his kids become vigilantes before they turn eighteen

Running Headlong into My Arms: Soft, No Capes AU, even without Batman, Bruce finds his family

Liminal Space: Tim-Centric, Tim&Bruce, Tim&Batfam, Tim ends up in a softer and kinder version of his world

Robins and Other Flightless Birds: Bruce-Centric, Bruce&His kids, A Batman without kids is visited by another version of himself. He finds tha he, too, wants kids.

Laughter Lines: JayRoy, Soft, Jason helps raise Lian, before and after his death

Stars of the Forgotten: Bruce-Centric, Meta!Batkids, Bruce&His kids, on the search for a missing Barbara Gordon, Batman stumbles upon five metahuman kids in need of a home

Latchkey: Sweet, Tim-Centric, Robin!Jason, BatWatch!Tim, The Waynes get concerned with their lonely neighbor, Tim Drake

Ain't No Compass, Ain't No Map: Funny, Tim&Jason, Borderline abandoned Tim Drake gets taken in by Crime Lord Red Hood. CPS tries investigating, with little results

And that's it for today. If you're still here, thank you so much and seriously, some of these are so good, so read them, trust me!

Sorry i took so long to get back to you, i had to organize the mess in my AO3 bookmarks and compiling this took me ages.

Let me know what you all think, and if you ever want more!!!! (Yes i have more. It's a problem)

[necrotic-nephilim]

I think what I love the most about Reverse Robin AU TimJay is the absolute potential for hero worship with Jason toward Tim. In canon we often forget that Tim didn't really care for Jason as Robin, meanwhile as I never shut up about, Jason has been weirdly respecting and obsessed with Tim since finding out about Tim's existence. So if you flip their order, make Tim Red Hood and make Jason Red Robin, there's so much room for hero worship from Jason.

As Robin, Jason has always teetered that edge of being pro-murder or not. Whether you believe he killed Felipe or not, even in his Post-Crisis introduction as Robin, he almost kills Two Face. Those concepts of lethal justice have always been brewing inside him, just reigned in by Bruce. So if you have Robin!Jason witnessing Red Hood!Tim start killing people and quickly making noticeable change in the landscape of gangs in Gotham, Jason would take quick notice. I think Tim as Red Hood would still be lethal, but there'd be a different application than Jason's Red Hood. Heads in duffle bags isn't Tim's style, even if he kills. I think you'd see something much more akin to that time Tim almost killed Boomerang, where it's such an elaborately thought out set up, it realistically doesn't even look like Tim killed anyone. It'd take months for Bruce to connect this string of deaths as anything other than coincidental, let alone link them to Red Hood. And Jason is wickedly smart, even as Robin. Jason, putting those pieces together before Bruce does and witnessing the undeniable positive change for Gotham it's enacting? Robin!Jason would be incredibly drawn in by that, and then even more-so, a Red Robin!Jason who has to grapple with being replaced to make room for the next Robin would I think, in anger, turn to Red Hood. And Tim would push him away at first, his plans don't have room for a scorned teenager who's trying to get back at Bruce and Nightwing!Damian like this- but I think Jason would wear him down. Prove to Tim that Jason can think on his wavelength.

Slightly related, what interests me about Red Hood!Tim is how it'd implicate his closeness to Ra's. Jason is taken into the League by Talia in Lost Days and Ra's doesn't necessarily approve of Jason's presence, especially not of Talia dunking him in the Pit, but Ra's has always canonically been A Little Weird about Tim. I think in a world Tim dies as the second Robin, it would be Ra's who dunks Tim to preserve his mind that Ra's thinks shouldn't be wasted, and you have the potential for 'apprentice of Ra's' Tim wrapped up in it all, even without him experience the Red Robin arc. So when it's Jason as Red Robin, instead of him going to Ra's when he's scorned by the Batfamily, he goes to Tim. The person he once idolized, because I think Tim would've been Jason's Robin. Smart, competent, a strong legacy to live up to. And now he's back, and he's pro-killing, an edge that Jason has always teetered on and would feel even closer to when he's replaced by a young Dick. I think Tim wouldn't ever be able to get rid of Jason.

Then on Tim's side, I think his reaction to being replaced after his death would be a complicated one. Objectively, being the Robin who believes Batman needs a Robin, he'd respect the logic and know Bruce was always going to replace him eventually. But still, there's always going to be that instinctual emotional reaction of betrayal and replacement. I think he'd view Jason at first with anger and distance, but then, seeing Jason as this street kid with begrudging potential, I could see Red Hood!Tim testing Jason. Constantly throwing things at Jason, seeing how he reacts, if he lives up to being Robin. Tim has a need for analyzing people, understanding their strengths and weaknesses. And he seems the Robin mantle very uniquely, he'd need to have it proven to him that Jason can handle it.

So you would have this dynamic of Jason hero worshipping Tim, slowly believing in Tim's methodology. While Tim is at first dismissive of him, but then starts to test him, see what makes this kid tick. And I think the TimJay potential of Jason trying to prove himself to Tim could be Neat.

[kevin-day-is-bi]

kinda getting into the idea of a reverse Robins AU where it isn't just the second Robin that dies, it's always Jason.

Damian is first - Bruce's actual son, who goes from Talia's training to peak angst Bruce and then escapes to become Nightwing, who grows up confident and smiles because why wouldn't he?

Then comes Steph, barely Robin for a year, only there because she needs support and the second Robin always brings out Bruce's optimism. She fakes her death but it's found out and she's okay, really, and she's on to Spoiler

Then Tim, who obsessively watched Damian and went so far as to date Steph to get closer, who Bruce adores, because he's two Robins in and he's soft now, and he's chatty and snarky and the darling of the League and he goes on to be Red Robin and everyone knows he's one of the most skilled fighters in the world

And then it's Jason. Jason, who's the fourth Robin, who's whole entire role is to be loved by everyone, because everyone knows Robin by now and Robin is always safe. and then he dies. he becomes Red Hood at 17, three years after he dies

And Bruce swears not to take another Robin, except Tim begs him to go to the circus, and when Bruce sees a black haired boy see his parents die, he doesn't have a choice. he's the most careful around Dick, so Dick grows up wary and quieter, because he's not just the baby of the family, he's the one who feels the aftershocks of Jason. no one is around.

Barbara is 14 when she gets shot, only Batgirl for two years, and she's given all the responsibility of Oracle a year later, because she has to. she saw Jason's death air on the news, she knows what'll happen to Dick if she can't help.

[vinelark]

Hello! Was going through your fic rec tag and saw someone asked for your favorite pangy Jason fics, and was wondering if I could request the same but with Tim instead?

okay, you’ve asked the golden question for me, because tim pangs are my favorite pangs—and this fandom has such an abundance of them. i had to narrow this list down so much, and tried to focus on fics where the pangs feel like a core part of the story for me. i came up with a mix of go-to recs that have definitely appeared on this blog before and some stories i don’t think i’ve mentioned yet. so here we go, serving up some tim pangs:

Like a Hinge, Like a Wing by @bonesbuckleup

tim joins the batfamily early, and in one of the pangiest ways possible. featuring an actual uncle and tim being so very isolated and alone (until he isn’t!)—excellent recipe for great and sustained pangs. i rec this one often and for good reason: i love the characterization of this pre-robin tim (smart! competent! lonely! believably a kid!), the writing is fantastic, and it still hits on each reread.

A Meditation on Railroading by @eggmacguffin

another one of my favorite rereads—this is all about robin-era tim being hurt in his home/civilian life and trying to deal with that on his own, because he’s drawn a clear line between “robin” and “tim.” this is pangs galore—from tim’s positioning of himself in relation to the bats (especially bruce and dick), to the large and small ways he is hurt + how he deals with that hurt, and, especially, the way we get to see jason observe & recharacterize tim based on what happens in this story.

Surveillance series by @smilebackwards

this series has these very specific “tim comes into the picture late” flavor of pangs that i am (more than) a bit obsessed with—it does such a compelling job navigating what this version of tim would think and do and feel as he forges relationships with the bats/assorted heroes a few years later than in canon. and some of those feelings (especially in the first and last installments) are beautifully pangy; here we have tim dealing with a lot on his own without ever expecting outside help, and even later when be finds himself with a support network, this still teases out the great, subtle pangs of tim having to learn how to navigate that.

equivalent exchange by scribblemetimbers

holy tim pangs, batman! this really hits the sweet spot—a tim who is competent and cunning and stubborn as hell AND is lonely with terrible self-worth unintentionally reinforced by bruce, all of which collide in a self-sacrificial gambit that sets its long plot in motion. (this fic is complete, but is part one of a series.) this does one of the top-tier, prime pang setups: in which one character unintentionally reinforces another character’s deepest insecurities (with devastating consequences).

between hands that relaxed by @deitybird

one of my new fav reverse robins fics (that recently completed!), in which tim, the second of batman’s partners, was killed by the joker—and that’s just where the horrors begin for him. lots of pangs re: tim’s sense of identity/worth, his aching loneliness as he slowly finds his way back to the family, and especially notable angst re: his relationship with an older damian. (before he died it was: bad. this story takes a very hopeful approach to their future.) i also adore the timkon & core four threads here. as a bonus, the first fic in the series is damian pov and, imo, extremely worth reading both fics for maximum pangs.

Hear it in your tone (you’re slowly letting go) by sexyPineappleMan (wip)

a take on “bruce is tim’s biological father” that is so far doing everything i would want with this premise, and delivers a buffet of pangs from chapter one. tim is brilliant, lonely, and hurting in this joins-the-family-late au—that also sees him as a (former) olympic hopeful gymnast, a non-robin tim identity i love—and i’m equally compelled by the angst/looming reveals, and by the intrigue of the plot itself. i���ve been well fed so far and am eagerly awaiting more.

Our Bodies & Other Fine Machines by @sunflowersandink

in which robin!tim is dealt a very specific kind of difficult hand and (you may be sensing a pattern here) tries to deal with it entirely on his own. the way there’s so much tension and angst hanging over a scene about eating pancakes speaks to the kind of story this is: one where every single detail is used for maximum potential. i return to this one for its prime tim pangs, and i still forget, every time, just how well executed they are and how the plot builds to a top-notch reveal and resolution. (heads up for food insecurity/disordered eating in this one, do mind the notes!)

some of us have childhoods that aren't poems on sight (but darling, you're doing alright) by mrs_d

specifically chapter 21, which has a fully executed pang arc that almost lets it read like a standalone story. don’t get me wrong, there are pangs threaded throughout—tim in this story is very lonely and primed to expect lack of care—but the misunderstanding between alfred and tim in the second half of this chapter is really notable. it’s simple and technically low-stakes compared to what else is happening in the plot, but the stakes feel high to us (and to the characters).

How to Proceed by @philosophersandfools

another reverse robins fic, this one a oneshot that pulls off its premise both efficiently and potently. here we see a teenage eldest brother damian, who has softened a bit (especially since a very young jason and dick have already been brought into the fold) but still distrusts and dislikes his father’s new mentee, 14 y/o tim. that distrust stems from damian’s misunderstanding of tim’s intentions/situation and leads to some excellent pangs before a decisive resolution.

this is nowhere near an exhaustive list and i reserve the right to update with additions later 💪

[ghost-bxrd]

au where Dick gets kidnapped by the court after he got adopted by Bruce (when he's Robin) and Bruce eventually finds Jason and gives him Robin in honor of his first son

bby Tim is out taking photos of Batman and Robin when he runs into Talon Dick and clocks him as Dick Grayson and well the Owls never said that Talon could have a baby chick and kidnaps Tim

maybe JayTim endgame (bc that's my ship sorry) while Batman and Robin search and find their neighbor and also find Dick

Owl Song in reverse with Dick hardcore imprinting on Tim by accident and Tim convincing his new Talon caretaker to leave the Court with him.

Honestly I can even see Tim dragging a happily cooing Talon!Dick to Wayne Manor and knocking on the door, all smiling and happy and going “I found your son, sir!” With a a feral undead owl boy at his back, eyes large and round like the moon and just DARING anybody to hurt Tim 👁️

Jason takes one look at how gentle Tim is with Dick and falls head over heels. Tim is stuttering his way through every interaction with Jason because—holy shit, that’s ROBIN. And Dick periodically misinterprets that anxious excitement as genuine fear.

Not good for Jason’s skeletal integrity, but our resident Robin handles it like a champ because any Jason will always be the best at handling traumatized people. 🦉

[theerurishipper]

I feel like people really underestimate the importance of Dick being the first Robin. Like, reverse Robin AUs are interesting and such, but I just hope people realize that in the context of canon, they would never work. The reason Batman and Robin ever works is because the first Robin was Dick Grayson specifically. Because Bruce would never have taken in any child if Dick's tragedy hadn't specifically happened to mirror his own experience. Dick Grayson was the only one Bruce truly saw himself in first, because the fundamental event that defines them is the same. And he sees the opportunity to help someone the way he was never helped, to make sure that Dick didn't go down the dark path he did. So, my point here is that the only one Bruce actually made the choice to take in, the only one who could kickstart it all, is Dick Grayson, because he is the only one with whom Bruce could immediately empathize and connect with.

This never happened with any other Robin. He took in Jason because he missed Dick, he took in Tim because Tim forced himself into the role, he took in Steph because he was trying to make Tim come back to being Robin, and Dick made Damian Robin. Of course, he loved all of them, and they all have their unique relationships with Bruce that are very important and inform their characters, and he does need them too. But he specifically formed this connection with Dick that made Dick the only person he ever considered taking in. It took a very specific set of circumstances in Dick's backstory that made Bruce commit an impulse adoption that just isn't really present in any other Robin's story. And the reason Jason or Tim or Steph or Damian or anyone else whom Bruce has taken under his wing even got that chance is because of the work Dick Grayson put into Bruce Wayne.

Before Dick, Bruce was reckless and didn't care at all about himself, to the point of almost being borderline suicidal. He was more brutal, more violent, etc. The reason all this changed, is because of Dick Grayson specifically. He was the one with whom Bruce opened up, with whom Bruce was forced to grow up, to take responsibility and learn to take care of both Dick and himself. Dick, to Bruce was the one who brought "color to their [his and Alfred's] monochrome lives." Dick Grayson's specific brand of happiness and joy changed Bruce for the better. Dick gave Bruce hope. This is true for other Robins too, but only because they followed the precedent that Dick Grayson set, only because they slid into his role (they have their own interesting relationships with Bruce, but this specifically is from Dick that other Robins carried on. A legacy, if you will). Dick Grayson turned Bruce into the kind of man who would become a serial adopter.

Without his influence, without his precedent, there would be no Batfamily, because Bruce would never have gotten to the point where he would be able or willing to take in someone else and care for them properly (It took living through his trauma again to get him to take Dick in lmao). Hell, there would be no Batman because Bruce would have gotten himself killed a long time ago if Dick hadn't helped him learn self-care. Dick knows Bruce best, because he understands him on a fundamentally deeper level than anyone else in the world. And he's the only one who can make Bruce open up at his rawest, most downtrodden state. He is the only one who can give Bruce at his lowest that kind of hope. There is no Robin without Dick Grayson. It's literally a tribute to his parents, using their colors and the name his mother called him. He created that identity as a symbol of hope. He helped Bruce become the kind of man who could and would let other people that he had to care for into his life. Without Dick Grayson, you can simply forget about any other Robin or the Batfamily as a concept even existing.

[batsandbirdbrains]

Hmm but what if it’s a reverse robins au, where their ages are all reversed, but Bruce still acquires them all in the same order. Like Dick is the youngest, but he’s still adopted first.

How old would Bruce have to be when he adopts Dick then? Let’s say he’s 19/20 when Damian is born, and Damian is maybe 10 years older than Dick, and Dick is 8 when Bruce takes him in. God I hate math fuck. Bruce would be 37/38? Give or take?

Idk but imagine the absolute angst of like a ten/eleven year old Dick feeling like he’s being replaced by a boy who’s older than him, feeling like he must not be good enough, and then Bruce adopts that boy within like 6 months?? While Dick is still just a ward?? I think that would break Dick. I think maybe he’d run away or smth. Even if just for a little while. Maybe he’d already founded the Titans, and so he goes on missions with them or just hangs out with them at their homes or at Titans Tower and barely goes to the manor.

And Jason dies within like a year. Tim joins quickly, and Dick finds another, new older boy who’s there replacing now both him and the big brother he never got to really know.

Idk the between is fuzzy, but I want Damian to be sent to join his father or whatever, and instead he finds the first child his father took in and he realizes Dick is is just totally lost and feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere but Damian can see how much potential he has, and he decides actually he will take this child and raise him instead. Dick is maybe like. Fourteen at the oldest. Bruce rly acquired Jason and Tim within like 2 or 3 years. It was a lot of change for Dick.

Maybe Dick and Bruce have just had another big fight. Maybe Bruce is lost in time and instead of taking care of Dick like he was supposed to, Tim is obsessed with proving that Bruce is still alive. Damian plucks Dick right up and either lives with him somewhere in Gotham and goes out with him as Batman and Robin, or Damian takes him back to the League of Assassins maybe.

Do they deal with Red Hood coming back during all of this? Or maybe Jason is still with the League so if Damian brings Dick there, Dick finally gets to know the brother he admits to being a little afraid of when Bruce first brought him home. Not because he was scary, but because he got along with Bruce so well and he was from Gotham like Bruce and then Bruce made him Robin too and he felt like he was being pushed away or replaced or like he was just disappearing.

Idk I just like the concept of reverse robins but same acquisition order