Levitate Music Video

reminder that this exists

ME @ THE TØP BILLBOARDS:

Me, waking up from my Infinity War induced coma, on my way to pre order tickets for Avengers 4 when they come out even though the Russo’s said its worse than Infinity War:

I think about this clip at least once a day

Anyways saw jason being brought into a titans post recently because it seems fandom has this idea that Dick didn't mourn Jason/didn't care about him/whatever.

So anyways. Let's talk about post-crisis because that's the standard when ppl bring up Robin!Jason.

Fanon myth #1: When Dick mourns Jason, he's grieving someone he didn't know.

Canon: Post-crisis didn't have a ton of time to establish the new version of Jason's character, but they dedicated a whole issue to Dick reacting to Jason being Robin, had Jason show up in The New Titans, and frankly set things up so that their relationship was pretty much unchanged from pre-crisis (which was a good relationship).

The issue I just mentioned has Dick start out as annoyed in the beginning because Bruce didn't tell him there was a new Robin and Jason messed up a case he was stalking out. He's a bit harsh with Jason at first, but it's not meant to be something unforgivably mean - it's understandable. By the end of the issue they've given each other like 3 nicknames a piece (shorty, old-timer, kid, Mr. Nightwing, Mr. Robin, etc) and end by bonding over kicking the crud out of some dudes. It takes Dick all of one day to warm up to Jason lmfao, he's mildly harsh on day 1 and day 2 he gives Jason his old costume and contact information and it ends like this:

Batman (1940) #416

Now if that's the only issue you read, I too would be a bit skeptical, like "oh he showed up one time, everyone knows he had to at least pretend to try" and if you're reading through a reading list for Robin!Jason and are uninterested in Dick, you'll miss this next thing.

This is Danny Chase, a member of the Titans. He's searching for reserve members of the Titans because he's bored as he got left home alone when the Titans went to space without him.

The New Titans #52

Remember that there wasn't a ton of time for them to set up Jason's new characterization, but in universe, he still was Robin for about 3 years. In pre-crisis times, Jason did appear in the New Teen Titans, most notably helping save Dick and Raven from Brother Blood. This is something that is implied to be carried over from pre-crisis into post-crisis continuity, as Danny (who wasn't even on that mission) knows about Jason, has a nickname for Jason, and talked to him the week before he died - ergo the Titans, including Dick stayed in contact with Jason after that mission.

So yes, even in that tiny sliver of time that we got post-crisis Jason, the writers went out of their way to establish Dick and Jason's relationship. They couldn't do it more because it was literally like. A year.

Fanon myth #2: Dick didn't mourn Jason.

Canon: This likely comes from Dick being pretty much okay by the time A Lonely Place of Dying comes around. That's Bruce's arc, but that doesn't mean that Dick didn't have one - he, literally did.

In my expert opinion, he looks pretty upset about Jason dying here... and this is his initial reaction, not retconned or anything - this is a direct response to "A Death in the Family". Basically Danny goes "hey i think Jason died" and it sets off this chain of events

The New Titans #55

And that's just the initial reaction. Later in the issue, after taking time to think things through, he fires Danny from the team with part of his reasoning being:

"I've been thinking about what happened with Jason and I honestly don't know if we should be taking responsibility for someone as young as you."

From here, chronologically speaking, he visits Jason's grave and expresses guilt over giving Jason his old costume and notes that Bruce didn't even try contacting him about the funeral, which he had missed.

Next we have a not super well known Secret Origins issue where he confronts his feelings about Jason while stuck hallucinating in limbo, and this issue actually acknowledges the incident with Brother Blood and Jason helping out, which confirms it was brought along into the new continuity. Basically these panels sum up the incident.

Secret Origins Annual (1987) #3

So yeah the "recent emotional turmoil" is Jason dying and Dick's conversation with Bruce (where Bruce blames him for making him need a partner, blames him for Jason's death, punches him in the face while Dick is still injured from the space mission, and kicks him out of the house). And the "drug-induced slumber" is because Dick at some point has started taking sleeping pills, and he feels like shit at the start of the issue and takes one so he can get some rest (which then backfires). Also in this issue, he mentions that he's seeing a therapist (he hallucinates and is like hmm maybe i should call them, before being like, no it's probably fine, I'm just on edge... which rip).

In The New Titans #57, which takes place after this, we see him talking to his therapist, and going to confront Bruce, which now kicks off A Lonely Place of Dying with him in a better place now that he's had some time to talk things out with his therapist and such.

However he still doesn't like bringing up Jason

Robin (1993) #0

Here they brought him up for exposition, but let's not forget the time Dick beat the Joker to death because he brought up Jason's name. He thought Tim had been killed by the Joker too, but the clown saying Jason's name sends him over the edge.

Last Laugh #6

After this he's incredibly upset with himself and locks himself in his apartment and when Wally comes to talk to him he finds him looking at a bunch of old photographs, one of which Dick picks up at the end and stares at, which is labelled "Me and Jason". And further on the grieving ends of things, in Nightwing Secret Files #1 the first story features him hallucinating Jason who leads him through his life story (again exposition time lmfao). And in Gotham Knights #26, when Tim brings up Jason in an argument, Dick looks crushed and Tim just apologizes at that point, because he knows he crossed a line. So yeah. Dick grieved Jason.

Fandom myth #3: No one even cared Jason came back and they were incredibly mean and out of line, especially Dick who threw him in Arkham three doors down from the Joker!!!! Jason was pit mad he deserves none of this mistreatment!!!

Canon: Jason came back right before another crisis, the one Dick was supposed to die in, and actually gloated about Dick dying to Bruce's face, while trying to become a drug lord and trying to force Bruce to kill the Joker. Jason then proceeded after the crisis (which had left Dick in a three week coma - he pretty much didn't have the time/opportunity to respond to Jason being alive right away) to dress up as Nightwing and run around New York City killing criminals and through a bizarre series of events, Dick ends up saving him from being eaten by a tentacle monster and then Jason himself becomes a tentacle monster, and Brothers in Blood is an arc that exists...

Dick is conflicted about Jason coming back considering that Jason is you know, going around murdering criminals as Nightwing. He talks to a therapist but when Jason does ask for help, he does decide to go and save him. So he does well... care, it's just complicated because Jason as Red Hood isn't the Jason Dick remembers.

Jason has actually gone to prison twice. The first time Tim in his infinite wisdom decided now, right after Jason tried to start a gang war where his grand plan was "use the kiddie gangs as fodder" and uniting the gangs under the "good cops", would be the perfect time to give him a second chance.

Now the Arkham thing: when Dick became Batman, he decided to renovate Arkham and get ride of all the torture and shit that was going on, because he had spent some time there undercover and was like, getting tortured fucking sucks.

At this point, Jason, with his second chance decides he's going to use it becoming the "Batman Gotham needs" nearly kills Tim (who literally gets away by playing dead using a bullshit technique to slow his heart rate) and shoots Damian in the chest, and also attacks Dick as well (he's not messing around he literally sprays Dick with fear gas in this fight). He then becomes the Red Hood again and kidnaps Dick and Damian in a ploy to unmask them in front of the internet. The police capture Jason, and Dick pulls some strings to get Jason sent to Arkham - he has to pull strings because Jason doesn't actually belong there

Batman and Robin (2009) #23

And note: the joker just attacked everyone so like he's not in Arkham, he broke out a while ago. And also note: Jason's sane, he's passed all evaluations, he calls himself sane, he is making these decisions not out of pit madness, but because it's what he wants to do. So, why did they pull strings to put him in Arkham? Simple:

"He won't be safe in a conventional prison... there will be a list of enemies a mile long locked up in there with him. Unless he's in twenty-four-hour protective custody, all he'll be doing is fending off attacks."

- Dick Grayson, Batman and Robin (2009) #23

So yeah. He was in Arkham because Dick cared enough not to let him just die. Their relationship isn't by any means good in this period, but Dick very clearly, still cares.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3

I hope that clears things up. @not-your-regular-nerd, tagging you because you recently seemed to have some confusion about how Dick could grieve other people but not Jason. I'd recommend reading some of the comics I mentioned if you don't think Dick cared about Jason. Him caring about Donna dying is not mutually exclusive to caring about Jason dying.

Reblog if you can’t remember what even you did with your time before you became a multifandom mess.

That time all of the entire batfamily was sleep deprived

Dick: “Tim? Tim! Can you read this? I feel like I’m slipping”

Tim: [slowly walks over]

Dick: “so, what I understand is that the whole operation is settled in New Jersey”

Tim: [reading it over and over] “Dick, there’s nothing about New Jersey in here. Get it together, man”

Jason: “Dick, go lay down man”

Dick: “m’fine”

Tim: [turns around] “I forgot where I put my sandwich”

Dick: “do you want me to call it?”

Tim: [stares at Dick]

Jason: “yes. Please, call Tim’s sandwich”

Dick: [pulls out phone]

Damian: “Grayson, think about it”

Dick: [calls Tim’s phone]

Tim: “hello, this is not Tim’s sandwich”

Bruce: [leans back in his chair] “Dick, leave a voice mail”

Stephanie: “this… this would be so funny if I could hold my eyes open”

Dick: “I’m waiting for the beep”

Tim: [looks at Bruce]

Dick: [realizes] “wait, god- fuck you guys”

Bruce: “I’m honestly shocked you got that far”

Cass: [enters with Tim’s sandwich, eating it]

Tim: [groans]

On a stakeout one summer night, the Justice League gets caught up in the middle of a swarm of super powered mosquitoes. Chewed up, they go back to the Watchtower to regroup.

Hal: Fuck. Who has the calamine lotion?

Diana, flustered: What were those?

Clark, never having experienced a mosquito bite before, on the verge of tears: :(

Bruce:

Hal: Hey Spooky, how come you’re not itching like the rest of us? They even managed to break through Clark’s skin.

Bruce: Bats can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in an hour.

Everyone: ????

Bruce: *swoops out the door*

—

Dick: Hey Dad how was the League mission??

Bruce: Better than expected.

Tim: Any idea why Green Lantern has left fifteen hysterical voicemails asking if you’re actually a bat cryptid?

Bruce: No idea whatsoever. Would you please refill my Bat Mosquito Repellant?

Why is it that most fanfiction today thinks that Bruce didn't try to avenge Jason's death? He did. In Batman#429 Bruce had every intention of stopping the Joker - permanently. The Clown had been made Iran's official Ambassador to the United Nations (this was 32 years ago and acceptable at the time). The US government was rightly worried about Batman killing the Joker and causing an international incident. So, the President asked Superman to keep an eye on Bruce.

Like that was going to stop Bruce. Batman was absolutely driven by vengeance at that point. Nothing was going to derail his plans for the Joker.

He went to UN as Bruce Wayne. Not the dillitant, playboy "Brucie" Wayne but Bruce I-am-vegance-and-the-night Wayne. The two come face to face. In those moments Bruce knows exactly what he has to do.

The Joker lived down to Bruce's expectations, attempting to kill everyone there with lethal Joker gas.

Superman saves the day by inhaling the deadly gas. Bruce becomes Batman, seemingly not really caring if anyone sees him donning the uniform. Bruce's need for vengeance is what's driving him here. He's done with subterfuge at that point.

This was written in 1989, my children, so Batman wasn't allowed to come right out and say "I'm going to kill that rat-bastard Joker myself!" However, it was clear that Batman saw this as a final conflict between the two of them. Bruce was also fine with the idea that he probably wasn't going to survive the fight. Dying while exacting final justice on the monster who killed his boy was acceptable to him, possibly even preferable.

Batman leaves Joker with what looks like a fatal gunshot wound near the heart. The helicopter they're in is about to crash. Batman does escape with his life but doesn't even consider trying to save the Joker's. He leaves him to die in a fiery painful manner and seems good with it.

When Superman shows up in time to pull a wounded Batman from the water, Bruce shouts at him to find the Joker's body. Not to try and save Batman but to haul Joker's cold, dead corpse from the river.

So fannon is wrong. Heck, Jason in cannon is wrong. Bruce did try and kill the Joker for what he'd done to Jason and at the time it looked like he'd succeeded too.

Word of mouth really kept me away from Tim Drake comics at first.I joined the DC fandom due to becoming a Jason Todd stan from watching Utrh so naturally i heard all the usual anti Tim points-He's a spoiled ungrateful brat,he thinks he's better than everyone else and rubs it in their face at the most purposefully insensitive moments,he gets everything handed to him instead of earning it,he's a raging misogynist and white privilege on legs in a domino mask.But then i got around to reading his Robin run for Stephanie Brown,followed by 90s Young Justice and Red Robin,plus some misc main Batman stuff with him as a major player and it was like.This is Tim Drake,he sucks at everything but it works for him.He has no manners but he's not malicious,just oblivious and a control freak for what he believes is the best for everyone at the sacrifice of his own safety and health because he considers others worth more than him.He's genuinely hilarious and he's a legit skapunk and not a poser.Most of his important relathionships are with women and the only sexist things he says are very tame and rare compared to normie male teenagers and a product of their time rather than Tim's actual character.Almost all the adults in his life failed him so he has no good coping mechanisms and dosen't know what they look like on other people either so he can't properly socialize as a cause of it.He openly shows affection to all his loved ones in extremely cheesy ways sometimes with no shame and is so earnest and passionate about everything it gives secondhand embarrasment.All his fumbles were made with good intentions and the cast rarely properly communicates with him enough to help him fix that problem on him.The 'mistreatment of Damian' was acting like a petty teenager to his little brother and his 'superiority complex over Jason' is trumped by Jason beating him to a pulp as a grown ass man out of self-motivated 'vengeance' on someone he'd never met and who owed him nothing.Like damn,this that 'greasy white incel' y'all were talking about?