Https://archiveofourown.org/works/23094079

there tends to be a kind of under estimation in regards to dick’s attitude towards his parents. they’re more often used as The Reason for his path of heroism, and that’s true enough, but it’s a very focused Reason that often fails to include the actual Loving Parents. i would argue that thomas and martha wayne get more attention in regards to their loving on bruce, and in certain time traveling corners on dick as well, but it’s rare to see that kind of respect paid to john and mary grayson. the parallels we can draw between bruce and dick pretty much end after dick is taken in. we can count: loving parents; stable family structure; only child; bright future; horrific murder of parents; witness to said murder; and plot for vengeance as the core parallels between dick and bruce. where they begin to diverge is the point in which bruce becomes the guiding mentor for dick in how to channel that sense of grief and rage (though bruce had alfred, alfred played no part in diverting bruce from his self destructive path and encouraged it)

to that end, there’s a lot of talk about martha wayne’s pearls and mary grayson’s robin, but even then talk seems to only center around dick’s hero name and never what about the history the name implies. “robin stands for hope”, okay what else? martha’s pearls symbolize the catalyst for bruce’s transformation into batman, but does mary’s robin do the same? i think not, bc going back to the divergence between bruce’s and dick’s origins, though bruce remains the defining fork in the road for dick, if dick were raised in extremely similar circumstances as bruce, bruce would have more or less fulfilled the role that alfred did for bruce- which was mainly distant but caring adult figure that served to simply agree rather than direct. a reasonable conclusion, should bruce have fulfilled such a role for dick, would have been that dick should’ve become bruce #2. obviously, dick didn’t and the reason for that lies in john and mary grayson

this may ruffle some feathers, but there is a point to be made in the difference between the wayne parents and the grayson parents. let’s do some quick if thens: if alfred was left in charge of bruce, then alfred holds some responsibility in how bruce turned out. if bruce grew up to be someone emotionally closed off, then bruce is an emotionally distant, closed off adult. if bruce is an emotionally distant, closed off adult, then it stands to reason alfred reflects the same. so, if bruce and alfred are both emotionally distant, closed off adults, then when they take in dick grayson, dick will grow up to be an emotionally distant, closed off adult. right?

well, we all know that’s not how it turned out, and all reason for such a conclusion reside solely in the short time john and mary grayson raised their son. “but bruce had about the same time with his own parents. why did he and dick turn out so different?” and again i point directly at the implied differences in the wayne’s and grayson’s child rearing! the waynes represented a very nuclear family, one that is generationally upper class and in very prominent leadership positions. tracking the assumed and typical rearing patterns for that kind of family, though it may be a foundationally loving one, it’s also one that is radically different from the type the graysons represented. power and job structure rested solely with thomas and martha; bruce had very very little to worry about or any responsibilities other than making good grades and being a generally good son. comparing such a dynamic to the graysons, the power lines begin to blur a little. john and mary are employees, not leaders or heads of anything. however, they work in an extremely team oriented and cooperative environment- their earnings depend on everyone and themselves. though a prominent act in haly’s circus, they are not a completely solo one, and even then, it is a team, FAMILY act. since his birth, dick has been raised in an environment that focuses heavily on teamwork and perseverance. he took on enormous responsibility in being a part of the flying graysons, which likely wasn’t something he was being forced to do, young as he was. taking on a JOB as young as 9 years old, one that tests his physical, mental, and emotional strength sets him drastically apart from bruce when he was the same age. but let’s go back to john and mary again

no parent on earth would ever want to put their child in such a dangerous position as performing on the trapeze. and yet, john and mary did. why? dick’s initiative and his parents’ trust and strength. if john and mary believed that they lacked in some way that could put dick in harms way, i find it impossible to believe they would have ever let dick join them. dick did not learn his strength and endurance from bruce. dick already possessed those qualities before meeting him, otherwise dick would have never become robin and joined batman so quickly. the graysons set an ENORMOUS example for dick, one that set the tone for the rest of his life. taking into account the “it takes a village” familial structure that dick was raised in while with haly, dick would have learned that the strength of individuals COMBINED is what makes a person strong. even the formation of the flying graysons relies on trust in each other, that they will be caught in the next leap and that they can do these amazing stunts without fear of failure BECAUSE of the Faith they have in each others abilities. in addition to that, an environment that encourages strength and teamwork must also encourage FAILURE. one cannot learn from perfection- only through mistakes does one grow, and dick grew EXPONENTIALLY. dick grew, at the age of 9, to PRODIGY levels of talent and acrobatics. john and mary set an example so strong and so steadfast that it fostered dick’s stone-solid character for the rest of his life, even after they were gone from it

dick would have not survived his parents’ deaths were it not for the way they had raised him. it is why dick can move on and grow from it, whereas, as we’ve seen a dozen dozen times, bruce has failed to ever move on. coddled and adored as he was, bruce never had to face a challenge that his parents wouldn’t have gladly taken care of for him. the waynes did everything for their son because they loved him enormously, and what parent in the world would force their child to do difficult things- especially at 10 years old? of course bruce never had to confront things like failure or hardship before, his circumstances in life simply wouldn’t have allowed for it, and that is why bruce was so incapable of handling his parents’ deaths. thomas and martha did not prepare bruce for difficulties in any department, whereas john and mary introduced problems AND solutions to dick very early on. the SOLUTIONS bit is what set up dick for so much success- that’s the key difference between the two. dick had both parents AND guides, while bruce just had parents

dick would not have become a light in the world while with bruce were it not for john and mary grayson and their love and dedication towards their son. the credit for dick’s achievements as a hero may fall to bruce most of the time, but even bruce recognizes that he had zero part in the formation of dick’s strength of character. dick’s continued success and perseverance has EVERYTHING to do with those first 9 years he was with john and mary, and not a single one of the innumerable tragedies dick has endured has ever been able to disavow that

The best things in the new Nightwing run!!!! (In a random order)

Part 1!!!

Skip if you don’t want spoilers??

Is he gonna crash out????

CRASHOUT CRASHOUT CRASHOUT CRASHOUT MY BOY!???? FINALLY I CAN BREATHE!!! LOOK AT THE RAGE???

LOOK HOW HE LOOKS WHEN SHES INSULTING HIS TEAM??? HOW HE LOOKS AT THE DIGS AT HIS GIRLS?? LOOK AT MATURE HES BEING??? Not crashing out?? But absolutely making us all know he 100% wants to crash out.

Damian Damian Damian… I hope we see Damian this run! Please I love them together? Why doesn’t Damian crash at dicks until Bruce gets his shit together???? Mayhaps

Crashoutcrashoutcrashoutcrashoutcrashoutcrashoutcrashoutcrashoutmybaby boyyyyyy ughhhhhh

C R A S H O U T

C R A S H O U T

(Can you tell I like him angry)

Yes 100% agree random mysterious circus themed villain (lowkey the villain is actually getting me invested like?? What is going on there???)

Also the nightcycle looks so so cool

See how u can be funny and not insufferable???

HES SO COOL LOOK AT HIMMM?

NAH?

GRAYSON MY BELOVED LOOK AT HIM??

U don’t gaf do you? (That’s a lie lmao)

Gotta love anti cop sentiment in nightwing comics thank you for reminding us that the institution is in of itself corrupt as shit I miss you here! No more of that cringe shit we Saw him do since 2016

We love a Grayson who is actually badass as fuck

-babs was also not grating at all here! I lowkey really really liked their dynamic! Which is rare for me I am the biggest dickbabs hater ik! But she was also SO COOL HERE!!

YES YES YES THIS EXACTLY THIS!!!

Also people forget that when you fuck with Dick Grayson he doesn’t just take the hits and go well they’re family I love them.

He leaves

Not permanently, never permanently.

But if you lash out at him he’ll bow out of your story.

Quintessentially he’s a character who exists to fill in flaws or missed edges (Robin was literally invented to keep Batman talking so comic books would be more interesting) and Dick is also a performer at heart

He knows when he’s losing the audience and when to go for intermission.

And the people he works with know he’s always right there if they need him urgently but that subtle support he provides will be absent until his wounds are sufficiently licked.

And give me a story where the characters know deep in their bones he will always answer their calls even if they no longer speak but not wanting to use it outside of an urgent situation because they understand how he works and are trying to respect that he will always come when called even if he really really needs to be away from them.

Like a respect for his autonomy as a person as well as a hero.

And only the brutality aspect it always annoys me as a lover of both canon and fanon when in fanfictions people will have Dick bring out Red Hood as a way to scare criminals.

I feel like this did bleed into Tom Taylor’s canon story but now that Dan Watters is writing again… yeah no

Mr “I’m putting my foot down better hope it doesn’t land on your neck” Grayson doesn’t need his little brother to come in and scare his cities criminals.

I genuinely love how in batfam fanfics….

Dick is like: little D (Damian), Timmy Tim, little wing (Jason) I’m on my way my baby bros!!!

And then in canon….

Dick: *perpetually perturbed by his codependent siblings but knows he’ll never not answer cause who else is gonna pull their dumbassses out the gutter*

Single parent Dick Grayson on the brain rn

Does anyone have any fics?

I’m not talking about like Dick raising one of the robins im talking about a whole ass child like a baby.

The only canon character I will accept is Mari Grayson but plz

Someone give this man a tiny child.

If any fanfic writers come across this and need convincing I give you.

-Jason comes back from the dead and decides it’s revenge time and it gets ruined bc wtf why does Dick have a 5 year old. Why is the 5 year old adorable? He cannot kill this 5yr olds dad even if he is a dick (lowercase)

- young Tim being an uncle (wtf is he supposed to do here??) and calling Steph bc she knows things and him getting yelled at bc “oh bc I’m a girl ik how to child rear?? Fuck you” this is not why he called her but now he’s too scared to try and clarify.

-Lian and Baby Grayson play dates

-23 yr old Dick has a Baby, he got adopted at 22. Baby is legally Bruce’s grandchild. Bruce is a grandpa at 38 wtf is he supposed to do here. He’s being broody his son is dead! He can’t care about a chil- awwww look they’re smiling at me hiii baby

-Damian and baby Grayson fighting during Bruce time stream vacation. Baby Grayson “well I’m the blood child so there!” Cue Damian violently screaming.

-titans baby sitting shenanigans

-each person who interacts with baby Grayson decides to buy the child their hero merch. This is competition. Dick has about 5 closets worth of baby sized hero merch he doesn’t do laundry for 3 months..

Baby Grayson being a freakishly good acrobat like their dad and scaring everyone (why is the 4 yr old doing a backflip) Batman finally feels vindicated bc everyone knows how hard it was to keep Dick on the ground and not a chandelier now.

Plz send links if anyone has anything like this or writes something I require content and it’s midterms

Same aesthetic as starfire but with the Nightwing color palette

-Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation Nightwing Magic girl transformation-

Now I’m just picturing Dick shoveling cereal into his mouth while he’s writing 5 separate papers on different laptops (all of them are due at midnight, it is 11:45)

(he was supposed to get them done a week ago but darkseid tried to end the world)

(He gets them done and gets 4 As and 1 A-)

(The A- is in forensics bc he accidentally used batspeak)

Broke: Dick has no degrees and dropped out young

Woke: Dick has like 7 fully completed bachelors bc he keeps taking college courses to keep busy/ learn new skills as nightwing and ends up just having a fuck ton of credits. He simply doesn’t tell Bruce to make Bruce sad that none of his kids have graduated college.

I fear twitter has infected by brain bc my only thought is 'that one friend who is too woke'

just so you know, you have some followers who enjoy/write fanfiction. not saying their urls rn bc i don’t wanna air out dirty laundry in public but if you want them so you can block and report, just say the word and i’ll dm you a list

As an enjoyer of both as well plz carry on. I just think the difference is hilarious.

I genuinely love how in batfam fanfics….

Dick is like: little D (Damian), Timmy Tim, little wing (Jason) I’m on my way my baby bros!!!

And then in canon….

Dick: *perpetually perturbed by his codependent siblings but knows he’ll never not answer cause who else is gonna pull their dumbassses out the gutter*

Now imagine this whole concept with in the de-aging mix

-Dick goes from pushing 30 to saying is 9 and 3/4 which is basically 10 shut up

-and Bruce just melts

-it’s temporary but all stress the wear and tear of the year falls off of him. He has his boy back

-and they’re the dynamic duo, the first Batman and Robin. The never need to speak to understand each other and the way they communicate doesn’t get lost in translation the way it did when he got older.

“You were reckless” went back to being interpreted as “I’m worried about you be safe” instead of a criticism.

-Bruce laughs again in a way he hasn’t since Jason died and all the bats are there for it. They see Bruce Wayne as the man when his life was 1 tragedy instead of a million. And if they thought measuring up to Dicks Robin was hard actually seeing makes it seem impossible. They kid just fits in a way none of them feel like they do (they do fit they all just have issues)

- and then a crisis happens and 9 (10-shut up) Dick just isn’t as competent as Nightwing (obviously 20 more years of experience and aging will do that) but Dick also can’t work outside of Batman and even when working with Batman he struggles to fill in the huge gaps that his older self filled seamlessly

-and Bruce sees how Much his boy has grown, how much he’s changed and developed and matured and how did this little sweet boy become the future standard for heroism.

He’s so small

-Dick gets turned back into his almost 30yro self and thanks Bruce for looking out for him a second time and does Bruce say anything about how proud he is of his boy, how much of a joy it was to raise him.

No

He just says

“Anytime”

I don't know where else to put this and I'm losing my mind over it. The passage of time in Dick Grayson's life haunts Bruce. His son is almost thirty. His son is nine. His son has been fighting crime for twenty-one years. His son is trying on the Robin costume for the first time. His son is sixteen and insisting on driving the Batmobile with a license he hasn't even had for a full week. His son is twenty-four and wearing the Batman suit. His son is ten and has aced a test that Bruce puts on the fridge. His son is eighteen and leading the Titans. His son is thirteen and falling asleep on Bruce's shoulder. His son is his child. His son is a man.

Bruce's eldest son, his first son, is a man that Bruce can never stop seeing the child in. Dick is grown and matured and Bruce is glowing with pride, and he will never find equilibrium. He will never be able to fully reconcile the boy and the man. Time is slipping through their fingers and Bruce would give anything to hold that nine year old again. He loves his son, both past and present, and that love of the past clings to him like a ghost. That nostalgia haunts him. He is proud of who Dick has become and will always mourn who Dick no longer is.

Alfred ‘let me train an 8 yr old in combat instead of therapy’ pennyworth: ….

Bruce ‘never stopped being the child in the alleyway’ Wayne: hnnn

8yro Dick Grayson who despite trauma and anger issues, Has very good emotional intelligence: … so is the next 10 years of my life gonna be a one way conversation

Alfred: ….

Bruce: hnnn

DG: god I’m gonna have to give you peopling lessons aren’t I?