"cool Character I Guess..." I Mutter, Walking Away With A Suspiciously Character Shaped Lump In My Throat

One of the things which really annoys me about Dick Grayson’s characterisation by both DC and the fandom is how they treat his being Romani (I say this as a gypsy from the circus myself) also before people cancel me for saying gypsy - I am not American and it’s not a slur where I am from. I am a gypsy myself so please don’t freak out about my using this term which feels comfortable and accurate to me

I know this is a common complaint, but being a gypsy or Romani is such a niche ethnic identity, and so often I see people treat it almost like a nationality. For example, the idea that Dick Grayson grew up not knowing English is so bizarre to me… of course he knew English, he may be Romani and speak it, but he is also American. The shopkeeper who he is buying food from doesn’t speak Romani, nor do the local authorities whose permission we need to even put on a circus/fair, so it makes sense that he’d speak English to them. He works in the circus: his family’s livelihood depended on his being able to draw a crowd - if he can’t interact with the people he’s taking the money from, how does he expect to make it in what is essentially a customer service job (I speak from experience here). Also, historically, by the late 18th century, the vast majority of Romani-speaking gypsies also spoke another language as a first language, and by the 20th century, I could argue that this is about 99.99999% of us, if not all.

The other thing I often see is how Dick Grayson is portrayed as being the Bristol-raised kid who doesn’t understand Jason’s Crime Alley upbringing. And yeah, whilst Dick lived with Bruce from a young age, and might (even based on his personality) have a better chance of mixing with the rich kids, let’s not act like Dick didn’t know struggle as a kid. Even if his parents were fairly comfortable economically, he spent at least half the year living in a trailer/vardo, which people associate with being working class. All gypsy kids are taught to fight from a very young age because whenever we pull on somewhere to open (aka put on the show), we expect a hell of a lot of racism from the locals, which often included getting jumped, often by multiple older gadja/gorja/non-gypsy children - and hell, even adults! As well as knowing how to defend ourselves, this also leads to a lot us developing a bit of a defence mechanism wherein we can talk ourselves out of a situation, or endear ourselves to people quickly in the first place so we don’t get fighting (keeping us safe, and keeping us in the good graces of the locals so we can continue earning a living there) - perhaps this could be explored as part of the reasoning behind the famous Dick Grayson charm? Anyway, all this to say, Dick would fully understand what it’s like to be the poor outsider who has to fight at every corner just to exist, and justifying his existence to others who view themselves as his ‘superiors’.

My final complaint is a small one: every single gypsy I know grows up absolutely BELTING Cher’s ‘Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves’ and the fact that I’ve not seen Dick pouring his heart into that song, screaming the words ‘I was born in the wagon of a travelling show’ is honestly a hate crime which must be fixed immediately.

I love Withnail and I. I wish gay people were real.

Omggg they were titans

And if I said that he surrounds himself w mirrors bcs he wants to be certain no one can be hidden in his room? then what?

No because I feel like it’s not discussed enough how young Dick is (bcs of all of the younger Batfam members) but that mf is in his 20s AND STARTED BEFORE THE AGE OF 10??

I counter your “Dick is old” statement with the batbrothers constantly being reminded of how young he actually is.

“Ask Dick, he’s ancient.” Jason says. A week later Jason saves a terrified grad student from a kidnapping and the guy tells Jason he’s 25. And Jason’s like what. But you’re a kid?!

“I was 25 when I adopted Dick.”

“What?!” Everyone says! “That’s so young, you can’t be a dad at that age that’s insane!”

“Dick is 25.” Bruce responds and they’re all horrified.

*Dick is in the hospital and Jason and Tim are trying to figure out his insurance situation when Bruce walks in and tells them them that Dick is still on his plan since he’s not 26 yet.*

I just feel like they don’t understand how young Dick actually is and they tease him so much that sometimes they don’t even realize that he’s really still so young. (I obviously don’t know the accurate ages of everything, but just saying).

Remus “i don’t know how to let people in” Lupin and Sirius “then i’ll stay at the door forever” Black

I want the Ambassadors exploring new places and wondrous things in distant countries; underwater caves, bioluminescent beaches, the world's tallest waterfall, stargazing campfires, escaping assassination attempts, lush deep jungles...

I just want them to be having fun experiencing things T/////T

Omg I'm obsessed (again)

i can’t look at Ben Linus too long or he will corrode my brain like acid. i’m avoiding images of him like the plague because i simply can’t deal with that shit right now