Nightwing Aerial Silk Routine To This Song. Might Add A Part 2

parents & pedigree [x] [x]

This scene lives for free in my head

Imo this is good writing of a flawed older sibling trying not to repeat his father's mistakes but making new ones. We see that Robins value the solidarity between robins in the form of treating each other like equals and keeping each other informed. Because they all have a deep need for personal freedom and are all control freaks to some extent. Bruce's only action to show he cared or in their eyes to punish them for a "miss", was to take away their means to "fix that miss", leading to them freaking out over a loss of control.

It's giving a child the respect and autonomy they want vs doing what is necessary for them even if they can't see it. And the biggest problem with these two options is that neither involve the adult following the rules they set. Batman will not stay back from vigilantism for the injuries a Robin would be benched for and so any rules set are inherently seen as demeaning and proof of a lack of trust in the Robin.

Difference between Bruce and Dick as Batman.

So I know that there's a lot of temptation to compare Bruce as Batman to Dick or Damian, and Dick as Batman to Damian, often with a "oh well obviously Bruce was meaner/Dick was nicer", but I do think they have a neat contrast that fandom often overlooks (as well as some parallels).

Robin: Year One #3

Batmatn #408

Batman and Robin #6

Dick and Bruce both will deal with whatever current threat exists, before fully helping wounded Robin, getting a verbal "I'm fine" confirmation. They clearly do care about Robin. But they also have an obligation to protect people Bruce tries to physically stop joker. Jason's not fighting Dick, but he is trying to talk him down and talk him into getting help, like he did in Battle for the Cowl. The characters also generally avoid a wounded Robin -- it's just easier to see for Bruce, because Leslie calls Bruce out on it "you're leaving (to go deal with this?)" whereas no one questions Dick leaving Damian once he's got medical care and doing his own mission to revive zombie bruce. I imagine this is partially from guilt (we do see Bruce blaming himself for Dick's close call, and Dick framing Damian as his responsibility in Battle for the Cowl) and also possible due to the whole 'batman has a job, robin's physically OK now so time to help protect people' thing.

A strong difference is after the character's get injured and treated. Bruce becomes overprotective, and continues being emotionally distant, which understandably upsets Dick. He is so overprotective he benches Dick each time he is wounded seriously, and that creates friction between them.

Robin: Year One

Batman #408

Contrast this to Dick's general lack of protectiveness. Nothing changes when Damian gets wounded as Robin. Which works well (emotionally) for Damian and it works for the conventions of the genre.

Dick is generally not portrayed as very emotionally overprotective when Damian is injured, and when Damian is captured, he often expresses more verbal concern for the people who captured Damian than Damian himself.

Batman and Robin #9 - Damian, with a new metal spine, got thrown off a building by the zombie batman dick accidentally revived.

Batman and Robin #13

Detective comics annual #11

I should note: I think it would be uncharitable to assume that Dick expressing more verbal concern that Damian will hurt the supervillains who have him kidnapped means Dick doesn't care about Damian. We see in Batman and Robin some of Dick being worried when Damian is shot, and we see Dick telling Azrael they need to find a quicker way to get to Damian when Azrael is talking about how to find the guys who took him. And also, you know. I just don't think Dick would care more about the supervillains that Damian. But Damian is regarded as a tough kid, he'll be fine no matter what, and he represents a threat to other people (interestingly, something I've seen fans accuse... Bruce of doing to damian? Even though Bruce was much more protective and wasn't worried about Damian killing Nobody when Damian was going with Nobody, or Damian killing the Saturn Club guys when Damian let himself by kidnapped by the Saturn club guys to find civilians to rescue)

But I am analyzing here the actions he does and the words that he says, and what the writer dedicates panel time to. I think it's interesting that Bruce and Dick's similarities with regards to Robin getting injured involve emotionally removing themselves from the situation and focusing on cases, and then their differences are in the follow up. Dick often maintains a status quo, which is satisfying to the Robin character (he does not feel like he's being fired or judged) and fits with the conventions of the genre. Bruce often becomes overprotective to a degree where the Robin character feels estranged from him, and is excluded, resulting in alienation from robin and coming across as the "bad guy".

I find it very interesting that Dick avoids repeating mistakes of the past that Bruce made (becoming overprotective of Robin to an alienating degree and firing him) by doing things that would be read as callous or uncaring to the reader if he wasn't Dick, I guess.

P.S. I know some people say this is why they regard Morrison's Dick as OOC, but I didn't have any place to fit that acknowledgement in the above paragraphs, but I think it's important to note that this was not just Morrison's Dick. In general Dick as Batman era was way different than Nightwing Rebirth era Dick or even post 2011 Dick.

I often forget that a majority of the characters in my favorite stories are actually rich white kids. And then I'll get one of those tiktok slideshows about their aesthetic and I'm reeling a little because of all the rich white 16yo tiktoker energy in them. And yk what they're technically not wrong sometimes. It's just that I forgot and now I have the ick for my favorite character because irl I would avoid their vibes with a 10 foot pole.

Specifically, Tim is for the kids who had parents with undiagnosed trauma and mental illnesses. The ones who had to gentle parent their own parents. The ones that have to remain stable even when they can't because they are needed.

Dick is for the eldest children that feel constant guilt for how their actions affect the rest of the family. In success, you set a standard too high for them and in failure you're taking away resources(time, emotional energy, money) that should have been theirs.

Somewhere in between, relating to them both, is the youngest that has to be happy all the time for the family to function. The one that gets made fun of when you need a joke. But also the one that knows everyone's triggers and is always paying attention to everyone's mood. The one whose work is never recognized because no one else has to be home as much as them, everyone else gets a break but them.

Dick is for the eldest sibling while Tim is for the parentified children and I think that's the most important difference between them

I was rewatching Young Justice and the fact that all versions of Robin are the only one forced to keep their secret identity even with their teammates and friends is usually written off as Batman being paranoid. I think it's more than that, that it's his way of giving the kids an 'out'. If they ever decide they don't want to fight crime anyone they have a safe identity to return to, no obligations.

They are children first, soldiers second. Bruce knows better than anyone the loneliness his job brings and of course he would want better for anyone, especially his kids.

I like to think that thanks to Jason's death, Dick's hair became straighter and let it grew bacause he couldn't care less. He was trying to be a good brother to Tim tho, and Timmy was trying to also be a good brother but you know, he was doing the best a little kid could know.

Jason: You became a fucking cop?! Ew.

Dick: Is that really worse than being a gang member or a terrorist?

Jason(Crime Lord, recognized publicly in several nations as a terrorist): Yeah?

I love when ACAB gets brought up in batfam fics and people dog on nightwing like this dumbass hasn’t been using the same technique since the 80s.

-the mob is bad… I’ll join them and ruin it inside out

-the cops are bad… I’ll join them and ruin the corrupt system

-spyral is bad …. I’ll join them and ruin it inside out

-the court of the owls is bad… I’ll join them and ruin it from the inside out

-deathstroke is bad …. I’ll raise his kids and ruin their relationship with him from the inside out.

-Aliens want to take over planet… this is bad… I’ll send someone to join them and ruin it from the inside out

Dick saw the BDP and went … yep the same routine I use for terrorists, spies, aliens and mobsters work.

AND YALL THINK DICK LIKES THE COPS?

Bro is just a professional cuckoo let him liveeeee

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Help! How do I get the back of Nightwing’s head to look like he’s leaning his head forward? Anything I do just makes his head look smaller 😭😭

Wip for an edit I have in my mind to this song

For some reason I truly fully believe that Kuina’s death wasn’t an accident. We know her dad was misogynistic and thought she would never become the world’s greatest swordsman. And that she was a skilled martial artist who could win fights against adults in the dojo with ease. We hear gossip amongst people at the funeral that she “fell down the storehouse steps apparently” which is just hearsay.

You expect me to believe such a talented young martial artist just slipped down the stairs and died?? No. I suspect foul play.

I refuse to accept that the canon is supposed to be an accident.