the way i am THINKING about this one https://batsandbirdbrains.tumblr.com/post/805132652157009920/back-to-dick-leaving-the-batfamily-after-bruce
(it could also work after the Invasion and the Reach, when everybody is blaming Dick for literally nothing, i think that would be an interesting time for him to fuck off to demon hunting school)
but what i'm really interested in is how people react afterwards. i think it'd be interesting if Dick is just. gone. for months, and nobody knows where he is, and if it's after Forever Evil, how many people even know he's alive to be missing? i misread the post initially and thought it was post-Spyral which would ALSO be interesting, with the Batfam being too pissed at him to notice him missing at first.
BUT but what after Dick comes back? or at least is sighted again. like i think him joining Justice League Dark is SO INTERESTING (especially if it's post-Reach), and just having absolutely nothing to do with the regular JL. If it's post-Forever Evil or post-Spyral, how many on the League would even know WHY Dick disappeared for months and then came back as Constantine's protege, seeming to have left Nightwing behind entirely?
and what does his training look like? i think people don't focus on the demon stuff enough with Constantine, or if they do, they forget the magic aspect, and it's such a shame because both aspects are SO INTERESTING. and off of that, magic being like the one thing Bruce never understands or gets the hang of, and the fear that puts in him especially when one of his kids is dabbling in it (though Dick is doing much more than dabbling). like i think even more than becoming Renegade or a mercenary, Dick becoming a magic user would disturb Bruce the most
sorry i have no idea where my brain is at with this, but the glorious angst of Dick returning to the League but with Justice League Dark is so interesting to me, as well as the way this... shift of Dick's violence affects both him and those around him. Does Bruce care that he's killing demons? Are Dick's old friends disturbed how easily Dick slips into lethal violence with magical and/or demonic threats? What does the rest of the JL and/or the Titans/Team think about losing Nightwing, one of their greatest members? Like, they still have him, he still does jobs, but never anything that isn't magic-related, and he refuses all team-ups bar none, except his teammates with JLD? Does Dick have a new hero name/persona?
(personally Nightjar is maybe the one i'd go with, as suggested in the series The Courier by Whymustwedolife on ao3, whose magic world-building is stellar and so so interesting in the DC world. I could also see Dick not changing his hero name from Nightwing, though, as like. an extra fuck-you to Bruce and/or the Batfam and/or the League and/or Titans)
i'm not sure how i would do it personally, but i'd be so interested to see what his training entails, especially as something entirely different than anything Harry Potter-related, which just isn't my cup of tea. Like what does magic training look like between a single master and apprentice? especially if that master is Constantine, who is such a delightfully odd egg? gods they would bicker SO MUCH i just know it, but as soon as someone suggests they don't like each other, they would be APPALLED like, "No, that's my weird stinky wizard man wdym" (they both think this about each other).
anyway sorry this isn't coherent, i'm having so many Vibe thoughts but so few concrete ones and i'm curious if you've had any further thoughts about this au. i just think Dick deserves to hunt demons and ghosts and necromancers with swords. Constantine should teach Dick to use demon-hunting swords exclusively to fuck with Deathstroke.
(i've been interacting from my side btw @beepbeepwhatdoyouthink)
I love everything about this. Im not as familiar with Justice League Dark and Constantine in general, but isn’t Deadman in Justice League Dark, and doesn’t Dick become Deadman at some point? Or am I mixing up characters, that very possible. Regardless, I think it would be SO fun if Dick just fucking shows up as Constantine’s apprentice. ESPECIALLY if he keeps the name Nightwing, as a giant fuck you to everyone who was mean to him for no reason lmao
I fully agree with you that Dick and Constantine would bicker back and forth constantly like an old married couple, and everyone thinks they hate each other, but they get offended when anyone implies that they don’t like each other.
Tbh I’m not super familiar with how magic works in the DC universe so I’m not totally sure how the apprenticeship would work, but I think eventually it would become a partnership. Maybe Dick has natural magical affinities for whatever the fuck Constantine does, and so he really just needs some initial guidance on how to utilize it. So the apprenticeship itself doesn’t last long, but they don’t want to stop working with each other. They enjoy each other’s company. They have a good time fucking around and irritating people like Batman.