dick's relationship with bruce + the titans too-long meta
there's been so many of these but i have many thoughts on this subject!!! dick's two biggest allegiances are to the batfa.m and to the titan.s and the two simply do not vibe (with pictures!).
for the most part, i feel like (at least in team settings) the titans are pretty vocal about not being batstans and bruce in kind has never put a 'proud parent of a teen titan' bumper sticker on the batmobile. like i feel like there's so many examples of:
and:
and:
i also think both sides thinks dick goes too easy on the other. that dick will always give batman the benefit of the doubt, and he will always answer a titans call. like the titans are constantly grilling dick about why he would listen to batman:
and batman thinks the titans focus too much on the power of friendship:
& i personally do think its a dash of 'what do you mean you're adults you were twelve yesterday'. like all the titans are the original sidekicks to most of the JL, and generally speaking the firsts of their mantle's so i do think there's a dash of parental caution at letting your newly adult kid do whatever they want with their friends. especially considering its not like theyre working at safety & gentle work emporium theyre all vigilantes/heroes and their missions are often life or death. they also are very excessive about each other and would absolutely kill or die for each other given very little prompting (ex: wally literally turned back time and revived dick grayson, thereby killing himself in this very issue). and the titans cannot go a single run without saying 'we didn't create a team... we created a family' and saying shit like:
when they are also (often) the JLs family. But especially in younger years, like the titans were dicks main reason for ever leaving gotham. and in early years robin, dick's sole focus was gotham, bruce and robin. & they worked so well together, dynamic duo who became such a cohesive unit and spent every waking moment together in some capacity (and often enjoyed that time very much)
but once the titans started to meet his duties split and like any teenage kid he found himself wanting to just hang out with his friends rather than his dad sometimes. and dick was so lonely in the early years and naturally sociable that finding other kids who could relate was so important to him.
& i just think there's no doubt the titans were the rift that caused b&r to end. at the very least the timeline was sped up by the titans because dick was the youngest of the OG 5 and watched them all break off into their own adult selves and being the first active sidekick i think dick started thinking if they can be adults, can no longer be someone's #2... why can't i? and considering the titans were older than him, dick had several places to land or look for comfort or reassurance in his friends who seemed to have it together more than seventeen year old him. and bruce pushing him away (whole meta on that later) and dick seeing everyone else age out of their sidekick roles, led to stuff like:
and don't get me wrong, no matter the age, i think dick values very few other opinions than batman's. like titans (2016) broke apart because bruce was disappointed in dicks leadership and eventually convinced him wally & donna needed extra supervision (context: wallys heart problems & troia). also, dick rarely leaves things out of reports so im sure bruce saw that /technically speaking/ both dick (bruces son who he is not normal about) and wally died on this mission. but the titans didn't back down:
i also think the titans really respect dick's leadership, and they rarely (if ever) take well to anyone outside the titans shittalking dick grayson (sidenote -- specific titans can do it all they want because they have been a long time dg stan sufferer(TM) but outside of the team it rarely goes over well). but anyway, only dick could convince the titans to not fight this (much) and only bruce could convince dick:
so when dick stopped fighting it and agreed with the JL i feel like it was obvious bruce influenced that.
AND i think super important is that batman/most of the titans aren't super close so all they hear about each other is through dick. and dick can be emotionally intelligent, but he can also be unreasonably secretive. so every time bruce and dick fight or like, those big moments like dick's firing, or kicking dick out of the mansion after jason's death or like any of their big, shocking fights its like dick coming to the titans at his lowest. and because he places so much self worth on bruces opinion on him, i feel like that in turn might make the titans dick does run to in those moments (donna, roy, wally, etc.) resentful because he doesn't always go back into how or why they made up, when they always do.
but anyway all that to say this wouldn't be a problem if dick didn't love them both SO MUCH like:
THE BLACKERT CLAN: ( eldest to youngest. ) Officer Alexander Alan Blackert ( Papa. ) Laura Anne. ( Momma. ) Hannah ‘Lou’ Louise. ( Big sis. deceased. ) Windsor Rose ( The middle baby. ) & Faina Marie. ( Little sis. )
Officer Alexander Alan Blackert gave most of his livelihood to serving in the Portland PD. He broke down political boundaries to become a detective on the field, attempting to take most cases with an impersonal basis. However, after the death of his eldest, Hannah and her dear friend Rachel, he was required to take a near 6 month sabbatical to get his mind in the right shape. He remained forever hindered by these murders and blamed a lot of the legislature for the injustice served. He remains to be what he refers to as a ‘political atheist’ finding that most of his battles are man-made and simply cannot be helped for the corrupt exist very much within their broken system, especially in a place as evil-centric as Portland, Oregon.
Laura Anne Blackert was a nurse, before she gave birth to Hannah and decided to focus her time on her marriage and life as a mother. When the girls grew old enough she began to home-school them in hopes of solidifying a higher education. When the girls hit their teens they were granted the opportunity to attend public school for the first time which became a slight challenge for Laura, however she found solace in returning to the work scene and taking up time in the triage department at Legacy Hospital.
Hannah was only 21 when she lost her life to a drunk driver. She’d been the designated driver and was completely sober at the point of impact. She had gone out with Rachel to celebrate Rach’s 21st birthday ( whom was also sober ). The girls never found much joy in getting drunk. When they went out to dance, they always ordered non-alcoholic beverages such as Roy Rogers or Shirley Temples. Most of their joy in life came simply by existing in the moment. Hannah was an up and coming ballet dancer and volleyball coach at the local community college. She gave her all to her team ( her ‘girls’ ) and was a loving and very dedicated older sister to Windy & Faina.
Faina is the youngest of the Blackerts. She’s exceptionally sporty, but also a brainiac. Where Windsor took her studies in the arts very seriously, Faina pursued other outlets with a focus on medicine. After the loss of Hannah, she suffered a deep depression that severed her relationship with Windsor. Hannah was always the ‘umbrella’ for the three, shielding them from pointless arguments and often being the voice of reason. Without her presence it became difficult for Windsor and Faina to get along, now witnessing just how night & day the girls are. However, with time and growth, the two became closer and would do anything for each other. After graduating in the top 10 of her class, Faina shot off to George Fox University where she worked on her nursing degree, just like her momma.
once my mother sent my grandparents a short story i wrote (the one on hercules u know the one idk why she did i think she just wanted to be like "hey remember the chronically depressed child? well they did something!") to them. problem is, neither of them have an email, and there's no computer in their house, because they live in rural ireland, and their tv has less then 10 channels and they have no wifi. only my grandmother has a phone, and its a flipphone from the 90s. she does actually have a smartphone, but she doesn't know how to use it so only the blueberry thing gets used.
so, how to send them my shitty 1.5k words of mythological revision? she sent it to my uncle, who also lives in ireland, but in a place that isn't in the middle of fucking nowhere. he printed it out, and sent it to them in the mail. fine, right? wrong. the envelope he sent, while it obviously had their address, had no other attached information to it. no context. it was just a weird story in an envelope mailed to them.
fine, you think. they probably were at first like "oh what is this?", but then figured out what it was and figured out that their grandchild, who they know to be interested in mythology, especially greek mythology, must've wrote this.
nope! instead, the logical conclusion that they arrived to was that this has come from a strange cult, that was attempting to indoctrinate members via strange myth pieces. they were freaking out about this, i need you to understand, trying to figure out where the hell it had come from and how did it have their address, they must be spying on us, what in our house could be used as spy equipment-
luckily, my uncle came back and was like "oh it arrived!" and explained the situation and all was well. but honestly the fact that my shitty 1.5k fic on some weird immortal bisexual recovering alcoholic managed to freak out my grandma so much she had an anxiety attack? i just... this was a whole weird situation.
moral of the story? don't send unmarked envelopes to your grandparents, especially if they're rural. they will make up some weird convoluted story about cults for a little excitement in their lives.
NICKNAME/ALIAS: Stella, Star, ‘Aim’ ( if you are close to her! ).
BIRTH DATE: May 5th.
ETHNICITY/NATIONALITY: Caucasian / American.
GENDER: Cis female.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual.
RELIGION: Non-denominational.
SPOKEN LANGUAGE: English & some Italian.
CURRENT LIVING CONDITIONS: A little cottage of a home with an adorable garden full of bunny rabbits. -- But she also finds herself on the road quite a bit.
OCCUPATION/AFFILIATIONS: Grade-school - Middle-school English Teacher & Supernatural huntress.
relationships.
PARENTS: Joseph & Aster Hicks.
SIBLINGS: None, only child.
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: @ghostbloomed. Sage King.
CHILDREN: N/A.
PETS: She’s often too busy to care for domesticated animals, so she takes care of the little ‘wild-lings’ that show up in her garden, such as the squirrels and rabbits and birds.
physical traits.
EYE COLOUR: Green.
HAIR COLOUR: Blonde.
HEIGHT: 5′4.
BODY BUILD: Mesomorphic.
TATTOOS + PIERCINGS: Only one piercing in each ear and a small tattoo of a Celtic cross on her mid-back ( aka a ‘tramp stamp’. )
NOTABLE PHYSICAL TRAITS: Beautiful, bright smile and vibrant green eyes.
phobias and disorders.
PHOBIAS: Clowns ( nothing scarier! ) & spiders.
MENTAL DISORDERS: None.
WHEN WAS THIS DIAGNOSED?: N/A.
personality.
INTELLIGENCE: Amé has always been extremely bright and intuitive. Her classes genuinely came fairly easy to her, even mathematics which she hated. Where she most thrived was English lit, which she took with great pride, reading for enjoyment whenever she could. Her desire for knowledge and far off places came in handy upon the many hunts her parents took her on. Amé would always want to fill her brain with as much intellect regarding the various creatures they searched and studied ( and took out. ) She also knows a thing or two about plant life, gardening, awareness of poisonous berries, vines and leaves, etc. - camping and animals. She’s a wild heart, with a free spirit.
LIKES: (Favorite) Drink: She’s a simple girl, tap water. Food: Pasta. Snacks: Potato chips. Movie: Much Ado About Nothing ( the Kenneth Branaugh version w/Kate Beckinsale. ) & Monty Python & the Holy Grail. Color: Red.
DISLIKES: Negative energy, letting people down, tight spaces.
DISPOSITION: She’s generally a laid-back being who tries to fill the world with a bit more positivism. Though she’s witnessed a number of brutal occurrences, including death, she does her best to exude a pragmatic heart and advantageous nature.
when his beloved dog mac, which hellboy had since childhood, he had no one to talk to about his emotions. with an organizational restructure going on within the short-staffed B.P.R.D. most of his friends were off on assignment, the professor became secretive and was handling personal investigations, and then without time to grieve hellboy himself was getting shipped off to Mexico on a mission himself. this eventually led to him befriending a trio of luchador brothers and going on a drunken bender for months on end. together they traveled, drank, and hunted vampires that had been plaguing Mexico.
this bender only grew worse when the brother he was closest to was turned into a vampire and hellboy was forced to slay him. eventually, the professor had enough of hellboy's absence when receiving footage of his son wrestling as a luchador and agents were sent to drag him back.
during his time away not only had the investigator become a luchador. he'd also starred in a movie where he played the devil. accidentally gotten married to a demon. and went searching for a fabled treasure. and we discovered he looks good in a poncho and sombrero.
