Memory In Context: Robin #25-26!
Aug. 14th, 2013 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
detectivewonderThe memory begins with school, where one of his rich, upper-crust classmates (Karl) has sneaked in a gun, allegedly to defend himself from the 'punks' now attending their school. At home, he discusses the situation with his father and his father's girlfriend, who conclude that his father should speak to Karl's father. He reassures his father's girlfriend (Dana) that he doesn't feel threatened by his father dating, and then we cut to Robin and a young Green Arrow tracking the supply line of a group of gunrunners.
After a thug with a shotgun gets the drop on them, Spoiler drops in and saves their butts. Tim almost outs her real name to Green Arrow, then speaks disapprovingly of her vigilantism. I'm going to attribute his being a total prick as half Bat-dickery rubbing off, and half displacing his attraction due to discomfort, which is still gross teenaged boy behavior but a little more understandable.
They interrogate a gunrunner by letting Green Arrow pull some blindfolded William Tell stunts on him. They make plans to follow the leads the gunrunner gives them tomorrow, Green Arrow defends Spoiler when Robin tries to cut her out, and Robin insists that this is business, not a date (which she had not implied). She keeps him off-balance by hinting she might be interested in Green Arrow and sweeps off with way more style and class than Robin is displaying.
The next day, Karl yells at Tim for narcing on him. He's still carrying a gun, and Tim lets himself be pushed around to maintain cover before heading directly to the office to report Karl.
While this happens, Karl picks a fight with a group of black students in gang colors, draws his gun first... but fires second, and is fatally shot.
Cut to that night, back on the gunrunners' trail, Tim reflects on how, since the death of his mother and near-death of his father, the violence of crime has affected Robin, not Tim. This brings that trauma back to him... and he responds by absolutely brutalizing a gang of gunrunners, again beating one unconscious man until Spoiler and Green Arrow have to pull him off. As his third such memory, even though it's chronologically first, this is going to feel like a monumental failure to him.
He reflects on Batman's instruction to him to never fight angry, something he's been failing at lately.
Cut to Karl's funeral, which he's attending on the arm of his classmate and girlfriend, Ari. He's being self-centered in his grief, a trend which escalates when he recognizes Steph in the crowd of mourners. She's not a classmate, and she doesn't know his civilian ID - he wants to stay hidden from her. Ari notes his attention to some strange blonde girl, and they fight about who she is, why he was paying attention to her, and whether or not Ari should go speak to her. Since Tim cannot adequately explain himself, she slaps him and storms off, thankfully after Steph has already left.
Going back to the empty school, he wears out his anger beating on a punching bag in the gym, needing to be alone. However, he overhears a group of classmates discussing avenging Karl's death... and has a front-row seat to Spoiler beating them down and interrogating them about the student who killed Karl. He's impressed by her, despite an initial impulse to jump in and defend her, and suits up to join her investigation, meeting her at her home. They agree to investigate together, argue about whether or not this is a date, and Tim gets a chance to reflect on the imbalance between them -- he knows her name, her face, and where she lives, she knows none of that about him.
That evening he meets Ari, presents more plausible excuses, and tries to make it up to her - by lying to her. His care and concern for her are sincere, and he's trying not to act on his attraction to Steph, but there's still some discomfort to what he has to do... but also some relief that the walls between his identities are standing firm.
They track the shooter, apprehend him, flee from the gang -- working as a very well-coordinated partnership the whole time, despite tense banter -- and are nearly caught before Batman steps in.
Batman confronts him about keeping these problems to himself, puts his anger and grief in context, is clearly critical of Spoiler's involvement, and leaves him reflecting on the damaging nature of retribution.
+50 Steph dere
+50 romantic confusion.
+50 unease with the self he remembers and how he feels and behaves.
+50 angst about violence and anger issues
+50 tendency to compartmentalize
+FIRST MEMORY OF HIS FATHER
+yay archers
After a thug with a shotgun gets the drop on them, Spoiler drops in and saves their butts. Tim almost outs her real name to Green Arrow, then speaks disapprovingly of her vigilantism. I'm going to attribute his being a total prick as half Bat-dickery rubbing off, and half displacing his attraction due to discomfort, which is still gross teenaged boy behavior but a little more understandable.
They interrogate a gunrunner by letting Green Arrow pull some blindfolded William Tell stunts on him. They make plans to follow the leads the gunrunner gives them tomorrow, Green Arrow defends Spoiler when Robin tries to cut her out, and Robin insists that this is business, not a date (which she had not implied). She keeps him off-balance by hinting she might be interested in Green Arrow and sweeps off with way more style and class than Robin is displaying.
The next day, Karl yells at Tim for narcing on him. He's still carrying a gun, and Tim lets himself be pushed around to maintain cover before heading directly to the office to report Karl.
While this happens, Karl picks a fight with a group of black students in gang colors, draws his gun first... but fires second, and is fatally shot.
Cut to that night, back on the gunrunners' trail, Tim reflects on how, since the death of his mother and near-death of his father, the violence of crime has affected Robin, not Tim. This brings that trauma back to him... and he responds by absolutely brutalizing a gang of gunrunners, again beating one unconscious man until Spoiler and Green Arrow have to pull him off. As his third such memory, even though it's chronologically first, this is going to feel like a monumental failure to him.
He reflects on Batman's instruction to him to never fight angry, something he's been failing at lately.
Cut to Karl's funeral, which he's attending on the arm of his classmate and girlfriend, Ari. He's being self-centered in his grief, a trend which escalates when he recognizes Steph in the crowd of mourners. She's not a classmate, and she doesn't know his civilian ID - he wants to stay hidden from her. Ari notes his attention to some strange blonde girl, and they fight about who she is, why he was paying attention to her, and whether or not Ari should go speak to her. Since Tim cannot adequately explain himself, she slaps him and storms off, thankfully after Steph has already left.
Going back to the empty school, he wears out his anger beating on a punching bag in the gym, needing to be alone. However, he overhears a group of classmates discussing avenging Karl's death... and has a front-row seat to Spoiler beating them down and interrogating them about the student who killed Karl. He's impressed by her, despite an initial impulse to jump in and defend her, and suits up to join her investigation, meeting her at her home. They agree to investigate together, argue about whether or not this is a date, and Tim gets a chance to reflect on the imbalance between them -- he knows her name, her face, and where she lives, she knows none of that about him.
That evening he meets Ari, presents more plausible excuses, and tries to make it up to her - by lying to her. His care and concern for her are sincere, and he's trying not to act on his attraction to Steph, but there's still some discomfort to what he has to do... but also some relief that the walls between his identities are standing firm.
They track the shooter, apprehend him, flee from the gang -- working as a very well-coordinated partnership the whole time, despite tense banter -- and are nearly caught before Batman steps in.
Batman confronts him about keeping these problems to himself, puts his anger and grief in context, is clearly critical of Spoiler's involvement, and leaves him reflecting on the damaging nature of retribution.
+50 Steph dere
+50 romantic confusion.
+50 unease with the self he remembers and how he feels and behaves.
+50 angst about violence and anger issues
+50 tendency to compartmentalize
+FIRST MEMORY OF HIS FATHER
+yay archers
