* ROBIN / RED !

soldier keep on marching on / head down till the work is done / waiting on that morning sun / soldier keep on marching on

[birburger]

indie canon-divergent Tim Drake, as penned by Micki.

where else can you find me?

Jason Todd ( @sonburied​ ) Kyle Rayner ( @lifebleeds​ ) Graysons, including Mar’i ( @starignite​​ )

[birburger]

jesus christ.

[dragon-in-a-fez]

me every five minutes: if I built another weird electronic contraption I think it would fix me

[dragon-in-a-fez]

folks you don't understand. I have a tinkering compulsion. last week I was bored one afternoon so I built a rechargeable electronic D&D dice set that seeds its random number generator by measuring the ambient electromagnetic field. it took four hours and I didn't need any parts that weren't already in my house.

[dragon-in-a-fez]

in case you're wondering what that looks like

[oftroia]

" I just know what its like to have responsibilities and feel like you need to shoulder them all by yourself, thats all. So please DO call if things get difficult, okay? " Just promise me. It was easy to say things were fine while the house was on fire just out of view. He had done it HIMSELF many many times before.

" Thanks ... it helps to HEAR you promise it to be honest. " It helped even more for them to get back in the flow of things and he was quick to follow his brother, even without a heavy cape to aid him ( Nightwing perfected the art of falling years ago after all ). Swinging by on a rope and continuing a conversation was second nature to him. " Perfect night for it, actually. Hope you don't intend to RACE me tonight because you won't win that one. "

[birburger]

"Dude, cmon. I'm not B." It's been a long road here, but Tim knew Dick would catch him if the need arises. He has before, and he would again ( just like Tim would catch Dick if he had to ). His cape catches the updraft, pulling him just a few feet upwards into the air, letting him keep sailing forward instead of pitching towards the ground.

Kevlar and leather shift, flexible rods holding the tension ( the irony of his cape taking on a vaguely bat shape is not lost on him ). "Oh. You're on." He grins at his older brother. Competition in some form or another has been the basis of a handful of their early training, and there was no erasing that competitive spirit. It's far too late for that.

[birburger]

[ @youngheroics | unprompted ] "Hey I know I've not been around lately and I'm sorry about that..." he had tried but between trying to keep the Outsiders afloat and losing Blüdhaven first to the flames and then to radiation, it wasn't like he had had much time to sit and think lately, let alone try and catch the others, "but if you want to talk... I'm here." Every time he had picked up the phone it had been something new. Stephanie, Tim's father... while Blüdhaven had burned Gotham had fallen apart in its shadow and if anyone could guess how little help Bruce was to a grieving young boy right now it would be him. "We don't have to talk I just... I don't think you should be alone right now." -from Dick <3

Every time Bruce had stuck his head in to check on the younger Robin, Tim had deflected. He'd spent most of his life alone so far, and he could manage a little longer. It was easier that way, to sit and be alone with his thoughts and feelings.

Easier to let them simmer until they boiled down ( until they became something that lodged in his throat with every breath and clung to his shoulders in grief ).

So when Dick finally dropped in.... Tim still doesn't say anything, curled up in a ball in the window seat of his room in the manor. But neither does he react the way he thinks Bruce might have ( with a blindly flung object that would barely miss the person in the doorway ). He just sits still.

Neither inviting nor rejecting.

Finally, Tim manages to swallow. His voice steadier than he thought it had any right to be. "I'm fine, Dick."

[birburger]

bat behavior.

[birburger]

i miss cryptid bruce.

[birburger]

okay, you know what. random person who said Tim idolized Dick more than Jason, and Jason was only used as a warning sign: in canon, you’re close to the mark. HOWEVER. this is my blog and I make sense of the timeline.

Tim was too small to remember meeting Dick as part of the Flying Graysons. he might’ve been 3 at most, but very very likely younger. that being said, I do like the fact that it was Dick’s acrobatics that outed him and Bruce to young Tim.

therefore, the Drakes had a tape or two of the performance that Tim practically wore out growing up. he loved watching the Graysons in the air, even if he doesn’t remember seeing them in person.

but, here, this is the important part. you know who was Robin when Tim really started in on his obsession with Batman and Robin? Jason was. and that’s the key here. because Jason had died, Tim’s mental image of him never changed. he idolized Jason because Jason as Robin was the clearest picture of what Robin should be. bright. strong. a balancing figure to Batman’s darkness.

he never saw what went on below the surface. it was filtered through the perception of a starry eyed preteen.

so he and Dick bonded as siblings. as mentors and partners.

but the whole time, Tim is standing in Jason’s shadow.

[fightersuggestion]

if i die, i die on my own terms

[birburger]

Where do penguins go to vote? The North Poll.

"penguins are only found in the southern hemisphere. they're flightless, and their migration is limited by that factor. they'd also be easy prey for the land predators that live in the arctic circle."

[oftroia]

Tim promised to call him if he was needed — and if that promise had come from their father he might have questioned it more but he would TRUST Tim with this. " Alright. But do call if things get tough. I'd hate to get a call from Oracle that the whole city is suddenly on fire or doused in some insane gas Joker cooked up this time or whatever else this damn city can come up with to make our lives harder. "

He crouched down, peering over the edge of the building. " I'm not stubborn enough to act like you and Batgirl together don't have this covered better than I probably ever could but ... " that didn't make the realisation sting any less. It did not make him feel any less like a failure for being unfit for his father's legacy. " if it ever becomes too much ... talk to me, alright? Promise me that. "

[birburger]

"Please. You think we'd let it get that bad?" Tim keeps his voice light, relishing the wind tugging at his cape. He can almost see why Dick likes it so far above the city — the traffic below, sparse and brilliant and moving against the asphalt and city lights. If Joker reappears, I think Jason's got first dibs. But he doesn't verbalize that. Tonight was not a night to bring up the complex morality that was coexisting with Red Hood in this city.

Especially not when his brother was in such a mood.

"I promise. If it gets nasty, we'll call you in." And before he could let Nightwing argue, Tim pitched forward, letting his costume cut the air resistance before the cape flared out, stiffening against the wind into a glider. "And it's a nice night for a bit of flight, isn't it?" He called back, grinning.

[peranarkia]

>> Bingo. It’s not so bad, either. >> Yap is settling in well. I can’t believe it, but my supercomputer figured out how to hire a dog care service until Leslie was able to send a nurse to pick him up. He lived in the clinic for a few weeks at the end as a very loved-on live-in mascot. >> I don’t remember if I ever mentioned that. Did you meet him?

Lonnie’s fingers hesitated over the keys, as they paused to rub in frustration at their temples. Their cognitive function was high, but not exactly where it used to be, before a bullet had been fired through their skull. 

>> Anyway, he’s happy. So am I. I can change my own bedsheets. >> Small dignities. 

The hacker stopped to stroke their dog’s head, as he placed it into their lap needily. Unfortunately, he hadn’t come out unchanged, either. He was… quite attached to them these days, especially as they had their own home together again. 

>> Anyway, to your point, that’s fair enough. Perhaps a good samaritan took care of it behind the scenes. All of the crimes I was caught for were committed as a minor, after all. >> On the topic of judicial proceedings, however, has Armstrong ever been brought into custody? >> Normally, I would say that we shouldn’t at all be using the present justice system, but I do fear what he can do while roaming free. >> I think I’m ready to take him down. 

Lonnie swallowed thickly. It was a daunting thought, certainly, but… not one they doubted. 

Much. 

>> But I digress. Really, I was just going to invite you to a housewarming get-together. I’d invite others, but I don’t… really have any others to invite, so I understand if that’s reason not to attend. I’ve never been to a party, but I imagine they’re supposed to be… full.

[birburger]

>> you didn't. >> and no, I haven't.

But he was, at least, tangentially aware of the dog. Sticky fingers and spying eyes everywhere. Almost everywhere. When it came to safeguarding people Tim cared about, everywhere was good enough.

He can borrow a few tricks and habits from Bruce at the end of the day.

The mention of Ulysses set Tim's brow to a furrow again. He hasn't seen so much as a dang peep out of the man since the last big blow-up — double-meaning not quite intended and far too on the nose for his liking.

>> haven't seen him. or anything that resembles him >> went to ground. I don't like it, but there are enough random acts of violence in gc without his boot-cut hair involved

High pitched beep interrupts his train of thought for just a second ( ten minutes, then interrupt again ), and then he refocuses on the task at hand — scrolling through the GCPD's antiquated database. Machin, Machin, Machin...

>> i don't suppose it would be crowded, would it >> ünternet party's probably more your speed.

[peranarkia]

>> cont. >> @birburger

It had been a while since they last sent him a communique, they knew. Perhaps too long, but his message didn't indicate any heightened anxiety about what it was they had to say, so hopefully, he wasn't about to go def con on them.

>> If I made you guess, would you hate it? >> You are a detective, after all...

Lonnie bit their lip, admittedly excited about the news they had to share.

>> I'll give you three hints. >> 1. I'm not staring down god-awful interior design at the moment. >> 2. I can walk a full mile without needing aid. >> 3. I'm not saying I suspect you per se, but I recently became aware that my criminal record has been sealed... You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?

[birburger]

>> ... >> ...

Lonnie beats Tim to the punch. Any message the boy detective was typing is erased before [Enter] is tapped. Instead, he leans back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other.

( realizing he looked a little like Bruce, a little like Lex. the irony is not lost on him with the position Timothy Drake held in Wayne Industries these days )

The next messages come in one after another. Ping, ping, ping.

And in the gaps between messages, his mind is turning. It's always a puzzle, and he'd have tried even if Lonnie hadn't asked him to guess.

( of course, that all relied on the implication Tim didn't keep track of where his friend was, and what they were up to ).

>> only mildly less god-awful interior design. landlord white with a roach or two painted over in the closet >> as for the latter. >> i plead the fifth. >> it may also not have been me. a new identity I could do. playing nice with the judicial system, not so much.

But that, he could find out. Tim pivots in his chair, leaning over to the KVM switch and flicking it — monitor display flickers, flashing from the mundane to a GCPD internal login screen.

Lonnie had said sealed. Which makes sense. Their record wouldn't have been eligible for full expungement. Which means the cops still could see it. In theory.

[oftroia]

" I sure do. " For better or worse, not many people knew Bruce better than he did. He laughed at his brother's impression of their father, oh if Bruce could hear them right now — " Oh don't get me started. He's ridiculous. " And yet here he was, worrying about him and even MISSING the ridiculousness.

He had gotten up, balancing on the edge of the building, casually challenging gravity as if it was nothing to him — only to stop at Tim's comment. " He's not getting any younger ... " It was a topic he had dreaded for a while. Not only did he not want to consider the fact his father was mortal like most other people ... but if he retired they would have to choose an heir to the cowl and he knew he and Tim DISAGREED on who should take on this burden. " If you guys need me to help out just call ... " But they would not call him, would they? Unlike Bruce they had always been reluctant to ask him to come to Gotham.

[birburger]

Oh, Bruce's ears had to be turning red — but this was nothing new, either. Every Robin, former or current, has made fun of their guardian and often-father in some form and to some degree or another. "Seriously though. Batgirl's got it covered." A beat. "If we need your help, I promise, we'll let you know."

He's always envied Dick's ability to balance on the precipice in a way that seems almost supernatural. Tim had to work long years to get anywhere close, and he knows he still didn't have the same carefree air to it that Dick was currently showing now. Instead, Tim rocks forward, settling into a distinctly more Bat-like crouch, cape shrouding him until it was impossible to pick out where his hands were gripping the edge of the stone and brick, where his footing truly was.

He'd spent enough time as Dick's Robin to know his older brother would be miserable under the cape all over again. Better to let him stay Nightwing, wasn't it.

[birburger]

[ @peranarkia ] -> It's a normal day in Gotham, and Lonnie is a horrible goose hacker on the loose. That is, they're popping a smiling spider onto Tim Drake's desktop, along with a retro pop up window that declares that he has mail!

>> Accept chat invite? >>Y or N?

Now what could be so important that a little spider comes flickering across his screen? Few people had the kind of access to throw something so blatantly on the desktop. Fewer still with the permissions ( implicit or 'borrowed' ) to get past the Oracle's watchful eyes on the device firewall(s).

>>y >>What's up?

No need for worrying much with Lonnie's connection. They were paranoid enough to rival Oracle's software defenses, which also made them safe enough that he didn't have to play any kind of obfuscation about where Red Robin was answering from.

( a pause, a tilt of his head. the timer is still ticking away, halfway across the room. and when that goes off, he still has to wait another ten before cracking open the pressure cooker. no rush. )

[fantastic-nonsense]

While you are digging into batfam lore, could you perhaps help explain what the batkids' legal names all are? Fanfiction has messed me all up. Did any of them actually legally take Wayne as their last name? I see it most often with Tim (i.e. Timothy Drake-Wayne) and Cass (i.e. Cassandra Wayne) but I haven't read any comics that I recall that actually called them that.

Sure! A quick rundown of who's actually part of the Wayne family:

Wayne family: Dick, Jason, Tim, and Cass were all legally adopted at one point or another in the post-Crisis universe (post-reboot is....complicated. Dick, Jason, and Tim are all once again adopted after a long series of retcons; Cass's status is still unknown). Damian is Bruce's biological son.

NOT Wayne family: Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Helena Bertinelli, any members of the Fox family (Luke, Tam, Tiffany, Jace, etc), Harper Row, etc.

Duke is a complicated case; he was Bruce's temporary foster son for a year before moving in with his cousin Jay, who now has custody of him. He's...sort of considered Wayne family, in that at least Jason and Tim consider him to be sort of their brother, but he wasn't adopted and no longer lives with Bruce.

Other: Kate and Bette Kane, who are Bruce's cousins and part of the Kane family.

As for legal last names and who actually calls themselves Waynes:

Damian's legal last name is Wayne. The al Ghuls tend to call him "Damian al Ghul" when he's with them, but legally his last name is Wayne; it's also the name Damian goes by UNLESS he's specifically attempting to leverage the al Ghul name amongst his family or the League of Assassins.

Dick continues to go by and think of himself as "Richard John Grayson" even after being adopted, though he explicitly calls himself Bruce's adopted son in several arcs after his adoption happens. You can take your pick of reasons why this might be (and there's quite a few to choose from, mostly connected to Dick's love for his bio parents and already being an established adult when Bruce adopted him), but Grayson was and remains his legal last name.

Jason canonically remained "Jason Peter Todd" after his adoption, per his death certificate:

Jason's death certificate, naming him as "Jason Peter Todd." -Batman Annual #25 (2006)

He was also "Jason Todd" to the general public; it's what people call him when they talk about him both before and after his death. The Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth comic (specifically RHATO #33) confirms that this is the case in the post-Flashpoint universe as well. However, there's a pretty reasonable canon foundation to assume that had Jason's adoption not happened in the 80s and had writers not wanted to complicate things, he probably would have chosen to hyphenate and become Jason Todd-Wayne, based largely on a) Jason's relationship with Willis Todd and b) Bruce and Jason's relationship before his death.

We simply don't know what Cass did. Cass was adopted off-panel in the vague period in between Batman RIP and Final Crisis, but Bruce's death threw everything up into the air; Cass was then promptly put on a bus and shipped out to Hong Kong for the duration of the Reborn era, and since she shows up in a grand total of 8 comics during that time we just don't get enough information to make a judgement call about her last name. Her two appearances in Tim's Red Robin book still call her Cassandra Cain, but it's unclear whether Fabian Nicieza, the writer, even knew her adoption had happened:

"Cassandra Cain, former Batgirl, remains one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet..." /// "Cassandra Cain, aka The Black Bat, Hong Kong operative for Batman, Inc." -Red Robin #17 & #25

Since Cass never had much of a public identity to speak of in the first place (and for a long time didn't even want one), it's super ambiguous what her legal status is and what last name she holds post-adoption. It's pretty reasonable to assume she becomes Cassandra Wayne, though, and it's also my personal preference. Though her relationship with David Cain is complicated, she doesn't hold much attachment to him as a father; likewise, there's really no reason for her not to take on the Wayne name given her attachment to Bruce.

Tim is the complicated one here, mostly because his adoption was such A Production™. Tim was formally adopted about a year in-universe after the events of Identity Crisis (when Tim’s dad was killed by Captain Boomerang). The adoption was pretty high-profile; Tim and Bruce even sat for an interview about it:

From 2007-2011, he's called Tim Drake and Tim Wayne (and occasionally Tim Drake-Wayne) pretty interchangably depending on the writer and situation. His legal name is probably Tim Drake-Wayne, though it's actually ambiguous. He tends to go by Tim Wayne in public while usually referring to himself as Tim Drake in private:

"And by the way, it's Wayne when I want a favor or a table at Bartese, and it's Drake when I look in the mirror." -Red Robin #15

"A question for Mr. Wayne--" /// "Reporting live from the reopening of the Newton Community Gym where Tim Wayne is about to address the crowd." -Red Robin #14 and 15

Post-Flashpoint, that adoption was erased and Bruce and Tim’s relationship was very strained; in the Rebirth era, his adoption was implied to be canon again in both Tynion’s Detective Comics run and King's Batman run, but we didn’t get confirmation until Infinite Frontier and Urban Legends, where Tim is once again explicitly adopted and occasionally called Tim Wayne, though he still mostly goes by and is referred to as Tim Drake:

"But just to be clear--we're not splitting the bill, Tim Wayne." -Urban Legends #4

"...and then Mr. Wayne just adopted you? Awful generous of him." -Urban Legends #4

Tim is also the only one regularly referred to in public as "Bruce's adopted son." Most of the time they're referred to as "Bruce Wayne's wards," so whether the adoptions are public knowledge or not is questionable, but their status as his wards and foster kids is not. Though they largely never lived in the Manor at the same time, they've all attended various public functions as Bruce's kids and acted on Bruce's behalf in various capacities while in the public eye.

tl;dr Tim is canonically the only one who takes the last name "Wayne" upon being adopted; he generally continues to refer to himself as Tim Drake, but canon calls him "Tim Drake," "Tim Drake-Wayne," and "Tim Wayne" pretty interchangably afterwards. Dick doesn't change his name and canonically Jason didn't either, though you could make a case that he might have hyphenated had his adoption been written in the modern era. We don't see Cass enough after her adoption to know either way; however, her existing canon relationships with Bruce and her biological family heavily support and/or imply that she probably became Cassandra Wayne.

[charlesoberonn]

"Way too reliable narrator" where the narrator provides documentation and proof for how they know every detail in the narrative and an estimate of how confident they are in it.