I Have This Headcanon That Laios Winds Up Helping In The Castle's Kitchen Gardens In His (infrequent)

I like to think that whenever Tim and Jason patrol together people call them Robin Hood.

Like-

*Tim and Jay waiting for police to arrest some goons*: ...

Police officer: Thanks for this Robin Hood.

And, even better, Tim and Jason don't care.

Jason: no sweat.

Tim: see ya around officer.

Holmes having living relatives that he still talks to and interacts with, Holmes being the one to initiate most of the physical contact and affection between himself and Watson, Holmes saying Watson is his “only friend” VS Watson having no living relatives by the time he returns from war, Watson rarely initiating contact between himself and Holmes unless he’s tending to injuries, Watson having a semi-large circle of friends outside of Holmes

I don’t know where I’m going with this but I just think those parallels are interesting. Holmes has close familial relations and is very physically affectionate but has no friends whereas Watson has many friends but no familial relations and is much more reserved about touch. There’s something here. It’s on the tip of my tongue I just know there’s something here you could dissect if you thought about it enough

Ex-Villain angst

Exactly what it says on the tin.

Ex-Villain from a crime family that has to watch and participate as their family is taken away by the heroes

Ex-Villain who spent their villain years chasing the approval of their mentor/villainous idol/villainous loved one, only to find themselves 'redeemed', now chasing the approval of the heroes

Ex-Villain changing their behavior, but never getting better. In fact, they're not sure they've ever felt worse

Ex-Villain only ever being seen as that, an Ex-Villain

Guilt tripping, so much guilt tripping. They don't even argue anymore, they just give in.

Nobody wants a villain, Ex-Villain is rejected almost everywhere, which can make it easier for hero organizations to keep them under control because they have nowhere else to go.

Ex-Villain losing sleep over their past, unable to think of anything other than what they've done wrong

Ex-Villains dyeing or cutting their hair and changing their appearance until they're unrecognizable, because maybe then they can at least pretend they're a different person now

Ex-Villain who still suffers with violent impulses, unable to ever get help for them because admitting they have them would make everyone distrust them

Ex-Villain who learns the hard way that that 'power of friendship' thing only applies to people the heroes like

Ex-Villain who's trying, they really are, but find it increasingly difficult to believe it'll ever actually make a difference

One of my all-time favorite antagonist organizations in the entirety of DC is the Court of Owls, and it's a guarantee that I'll eat up anything that features them. But my favorite thing in regards to them is the fact that Dick Grayson could've very easily been a Talon.

Case and point!

I dislike the New 52 era of DC for a number of reasons, but one thing I do think they got right was specifically how they handled the Court of Owls in regards to both Bruce and Dick, and the dialogue in this sequence here is some of the best in my opinion purely because of the reveal of what could've been had Bruce been just a little later to bringing Dick into his home.

If you look at Nightwing and consider just how powerful he is on his own as an unaltered human, and if you look at the Talons and how viciously deadly they were against the various members of Batman's family, and then you combine them?

Obviously, taking into account the different way Dick would've been raised means assuming he would lose some of his leadership and detective capabilities because— considering that Talons are all essentially mindless assassins that have to be told what to do and when to do it at every moment— he never would've had the opportunity to be an individual, or to be a leader, or to have thoughts for himself that would allow him to problem solve.

But if we're looking at lethality specifically, substituting those features for the electrum injections that would give him superhuman healing and senses, and the training that would teach him to disregard pain and emotions would remove the human limitations that he would be otherwise restricted by.

Combined with Dick's acrobatic flexibility (assuming the Court would allow him to continue maintaining it, with its many uses and advantages), the Court's training to withstand a multitude of different circumstances in battle would turn him into one of the most useful weapons in their arsenal.

The imagery of the Talons, as seen above, is also incredibly fitting to the themes of Dick throughout the years. The most glaring and obvious of which is the bird symbolism, which I'll refrain from going into detail about because of how obvious it is.

But there is definitely a fairytale-esque quality to them with the nursery rhyme that, in my opinion, fits very well with Dick's upbringing in a circus.

Circuses are often all about maintaining a certain level of illusion, painting a picture to portray a story about each act that is, usually, exaggerated for the sake of entertainment. Similarly, the Court utilizes the belief that they're nothing more than a wives' tale to allow them to continue operating from the shadows. At the same time, the rhyme itself paints them as this otherworldly, all-knowing, all-powerful entity and dissuades any thoughts of acting against them on the off chance that someone does believe they really exist. It's whimsy, in the same way that a circus is, because they're using a story and attempting to make the most of how people receive said story.

The story parallels to Dick becoming a Talon instead of Robin also scratches a very particular itch in my brain. There are two paths, but both of them are intrinsically interwoven with Gotham and Batman.

Dick becoming Robin means him joining Batman on the side of protecting Gotham and her denizens from harm and injustice. He doesn't kill because Batman and Robin aren't the judge, the jury, and the executioner. He maintains his humanity despite the literal physical limitations of a human body and the mental and emotional burdens that come with having free thought, morals, and ethics to take into account.

But Dick becoming Talon means joining Cobb and the Court also on the side of Gotham, but from a different perspective. The Court is made up of Gotham's elite— the rich, famous, and powerful who all want control but don't want the target on their back from being publicly in control. He'd be maintaining the skewed perception of what is just and unjust that the Court instills within him. In turn, this would mean fighting against Batman, who undeniably goes against the wishes of the Court's members who profit and benefit from the corruption of Gotham.

There is a sense of devotion that makes them different sides of the same coin, however. The Talons are tortured and brainwashed into submission, forced to ask "how high" when told to jump. Dick throughout his various comic appearances, has shown his intense loyalty to Bruce— a loyalty that rivals that same devotion of the Talons to the Court, especially in his younger years as Robin.

In conclusion to this tangent, Dick Grayson becoming a Talon was meant to happen, that is undeniable, but Bruce Wayne stepping in and stopping that (albeit unknowingly) is the only reason the Court doesn't have a near undefeatable weapon to use as they see fit.

Which just makes me wonder what other disastrous outcomes were avoided by Bruce taking in the other children.

Pinned Post

Since I plugged this blog on my main I guess I should make a pinned post clarifying everything.

I made a silly little sideblog for talking about the Youtube tabletop RPG series made by Sequence Break, starting from Star Road Now, continuing with The Quiet Decay and Severed Strings.

If you're not familiar with it I suggest checking out the official playlist with all the episodes on Youtube to get a feel for it as well as the wiki (beware of spoilers for later parts), but tl;dr it's a collection of TTRPG campaigns set in the same continuity, in the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure universe (albeit it strays from Jojo canon later on.) The events happen in a near-ish future (2088-2140) in the city of Electros, Japan and usually revolve around dealing with some kind of grand moral dilemma told through a series of labyrinthine fights and personal subplots. Also punchghosts. I'll elaborate on the specific parts of the series under the cut.

I won't be tagging spoilers since this is just a tiny thing I have on the side, so if you're interested in this series in any way I suggest you at least finish Star Road Now before continuing.

Star Road Now is generally centered around themes of dreams, self-improvement, potential and family. This is the first entry in the series set in the year 2130, and is the most popular one by far; in fact it's what you usually get when you search "jojo ttrpg" on Youtube. It sets the stage for the rest of the series and is a must-watch if you want to understand what's going on in the other two parts.

The Quiet Decay narrows the scope a bit while retaining some thematic ties to SRN (family and self-improvement are even more prevalent now), but it also explores the inner psyche of many of its characters through the mysterious phenomenon of Black Tears. It's the second entry in the series and is chronologically the earliest one, starting in autumn of 2088, and features some characters from Star Road Now as well as Severed Strings (as to why, see below)

Severed Strings is the third and latest entry in the Sequence Break Jojoverse and is still ongoing, having been run parallel with The Quiet Decay up until the latter's finale. It is a lot more experimental, taking concepts established in canon Jojo and flipping them on their head or otherwise playing with them, though it still retains strong thematic ties to SRN and TQD in the form of familial bonds and what they can mean to a person; it also introduces the theme of freedom and individuality to an extent which becomes more clear later on.

There are some spinoffs to the main series such as On The Road Again (a darker AU of Star Road Now featuring a completely new cast of characters) and Crystal River Romp (an ambiguously canon spinoff set in an amusement park), though I don't know much about them as I haven't watched much from either spinoff.

This blog has a tag system in place to make it easier for me to look for specific types of posts (ie a certain character/part/etc) and it's accessible through mobile as well as desktop. Feel free to reblog anything from here, I don't really care.

My favorite character is Hephaestus Brando from Severed Strings she is the light of my life my quirky little construction worker and generally funny little lady who lives in my head rent-free. I have a couple other characters I really like but you can figure those out on your own.

I think that covers all the bases, feel free to send me an ask or something if you have any questions for me or about the series.

Sexualities and Nightwing

Modern Dick Grayson is devoutly, serially monogamous and demiromantic. He has to have an emotional bond with his partners before anything else happens and then he falls in love. Trouble is, he has an emotional bond with the entire DC universe. You can't tell me that man hasn't fallen in love with most of his friends, female, male or everything in between because of the kinds of emotional bonds they have, however unhealthy.

Modern Dick must be consumed by romantic feelings he only keeps in check by pouring his energy into Babs, his current partner. He does genuinely and devotedly love her, of course. He probably thinks it's a moral failing to even fantasize about someone else, so it's easy to "forget" everyone else. Except he doesn't forget that he's in love with all of the Titans and most of the Justice League, he'll just never act on those feelings and no one will ever know.

The Wayne kids aren’t mafia, but individually they’re scary enough for people to assume they are. Everyone knows Brucie Wayne is the biggest himbo ever and his kids are running everything from the shadows. It’s like…a given. Seriously have you seen his kids? Tim’s even the CEO at 18.

Dick is beloved. Everywhere he goes kids practically flock to him, but people have seen him slam one too many possible child predators into a wall with the most threatening smile for them to think he’s all sunshine and rainbows.

One time, a mother asked for his help because his daughter was missing and the police wouldn’t help. Dick made one call (to Tim or Oracle), and the child was back by the end of the day and an entire trafficking ring was taken down. When asked he simply smiled and denied any involvement but said he was over joyed that one more trafficking ring was out of their city.

Jason Todd is Crime Alley’s hero. More so than anyone else, he has directed funds to help the area he called home before being taken in by Wayne. He died, but no one actually believes that. The Wayne children’s “mafia” had him doing something under cover. And while dick is all threat with a smile, Jason is Threaten with a frown. He can send people running with just a look.

someone noticed that Jason is always strapped. Man has no less than 5 weapons and one is always a gun. He doesn’t hide it, kids always ask him question and Jason always stops to answer them if he has the time. Even shows kids a few moves if they need to defend themselves. For whatever reason people don’t connect hood to Jason, but they definitely think Jason is funding hood.

Tim is the most relatable. Certified genius and always down to help kids with homework. Sometimes he’ll camp out in a cafe for the day. Without fail his location gets leaked and by mid afternoon he’s put away his WE work to tutor any students who have walked in.

He’s always tired, always has coffee, and always gives people a smile, but he knows too much. Rumor is that nothing happens in this town without Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne knowing. One time he was taking a break at the park, scrolling through his phone when a group approached him clearly intent on kidnapping him. Before they even got close Tim was reciting their social security number, their cell phones, the names of their loved ones, and their address.

When Tim looked up it was with a tired smirk that clearly came across as a warning. He then stood, slipped a business card onto the bench, and told them if they need work to call this number and their reps will help them find something regardless of their past record.

Rumor has it the downfall of the most recent corrupt socialite was completely orchestrated by Tim.

Damian is a little gremlin that has the family wrapped around his finger. At first their were rumors of infighting between the two youngest (Tim and Damian), but then how could that be possible when at the first sign of trouble Timothy materializes out of the shadows wearing his mother’s smile that promised social and financial ruin if you so much as looked at his baby brother wrong.

Dick flat out punched a man in the face for calling Damian a terrorist. The “victim” was high society and swore up and down that their would be a law suit, but Tim took care of it with a few photos and screen shots of an affair that would have ruined the man in question.

Damian has scary dog privilege on his own, but it’s a whole new ballpark when Jason is out with him. Apparently someone tried to kidnap Damian on the way to meet up with Jason and the bats didn’t even need to be called. Jason took care of it before they even got the kid in the van.

Damian is a violent little thing. Everyone knows, even if it was never announced, that he got it from where ever he had been living before, so they always gave him a little leeway, especially since his violent tendencies were decreasing…at least physically. Damian can, will, and regularly verbally eviscerates anyone who wrongs him. It’s impressive as it is scary. This kid looks at you like he can read every insecurity you’ve ever had and is not afraid to air it to the world while also insulting you into the grave.

Individually they’re terrifying, but the reason that they’re still Gotham’s golden family is because together the goofiest fucking people you have ever seen in your life (also the endless amount of charity work they do together as a family). When all four siblings are together they always end up trending and it’s always the funniest shit you’ve ever seen.

During the first major snow when all of the streets were shut down the Wayne Boys were out in all terrain jeeps shredding it up dragging someone behind them on ski’s or a snowboard

Somehow, all four boys were spotted trekking across town covered in a rainbow of colored powder. When someone enquired they admitted to getting into a rather harmless prank war with the currently reformed Ivy and Harleen Quiznel. If asked they totally won, but the fact that no part of any of the boys was uncovered said otherwise.

Dick once asked social media to help him track down Tim because he hadn’t slept in 3 days and was not supposed to leave the house. He’d been spotted at a cafe he doesn’t usually frequent and anyone around to witness the retrieval would later say it was the cleanest covert op they’d ever witnessed from the Wayne boys. Jason was the get away driver, dick was on retrieval duty, and Damian was there to make sure their route in and out was clear (hold open the door). Tim was recorded yelling every creative non curse (because no cursing in front of Damian, Alfred said so) under the sky, struggling in the arms of Dick Grayson who was smiling bright enough to rival the sun. 3 minutes in and out. The video screen shots are still used as a meme template to this day.

Brucie Wayne gets asked about his boys in interviews a lot. There are a lot of times where he’s only finding out about their shenanigans due to the interview question, but he just smiles and says he’s happy they’re all getting along while mentally planning out how to deal with them later.

It just makes a lot of sense why Marcille and Laios would be good friends, really, because Marcille Will Tell You What Is On Her Mind. If she doesn't like something, she throws a tantrum. If she's down to clown, she clowns like a champ. If she has an opinion, she voices it clearly and concisely. Laios knows exactly where Marcille stands in pretty much every topic.

On Marcille's end, she's down to clown more than people give her credit for. Laios said "yo let's play with these bones and rearrange them in funny ways" and Marcille joined right in. Like, yeah, she'll want to bonk his skull in sometimes, but aside from the monster and dungeon (well, she does have this one, just differently) fascination, she's pretty much in the same wavelength as Laios when it comes to most things.

Which is cool! Because they could've made them hostile siblings in law but they are besties actually.

[Toon x Mobster] Princess Elizabeth. She doesn't like Jack, he smells like a dog.

With Jack's dad being a wolf, he can understand animals (that he grew up with) and can talk back to them (not including human language). He doesn't always understand, but Jack's fluent enough for a conversation.

Of course, with Princess Elizabeth being a spoiled little brat (and surrounded by dangerous people working under the Guktav) her behavior is abhorrently offensive, but only Jack seems to understand that since nobody else gets her but him.

It does look weird seeing a grown man having a full blown argument with a small petite cat though.

In situations and headcanons and such where Bruce doesn't tell the justice league his identity, I feel like one of the most often cited reasons is that they'd then immediately connect all of his many waves of increasingly smaller vigilantes back to him.

But I'd like to think it doesn't happen like that.

Like, at some point, Nightwing has been on the team for years, and somehow, no one that didn't already know him as Robin has connected him back to Batman, but of course both Bruce and Dick think they know, because they have to, right?

But then Bruce's identity gets revealed while Dick's off world or something, but he gets filled in, so he assumes that his identity is blown too, right? Of course, once you know Batman is Bruce Wayne, it'd be easy to put together that Dick Grayson is Nightwing.

So then Bruce and Dick have to rush to the watchtower from some sort of Wayne family event one day, but there's no real need to put on their costumes yet, because the league already knows their identities.

Until...

Green Lantern, watching a young man that he's only ever seen through gossip magazines fiddle around in the watchtower: Hey, Bru-Batman, I know we found out your identity and all, but do you really think it's a good idea to bring your children into this? I mean, what if he gets hurt?

Dick, incredulous: You... you do know who I am, right?

GL: It's hard to not know who you are. I saw you on a magazine cover just the other day.

-long pause-

Dick: Bruce, when you used to complain that you work with idiots, I thought you were exaggerating.

-general sounds of outrage from the JL-