brightest day, blackest night

Not only was Dick the guy that helped Roy get Lian back in the first place,

Which led to a frankly unreasonable amount of cat fights with Roy’s ex over Roy and Lian,

And Dick actually being the guy to retrieve Lian against all probable odds (not only the fact that he literally had to move heaven and earth to get her but the “I never thought you’d help me after I lied to you” 😭 😭)

And not only did Dick literally go to Ireland with Roy to help him figure shit out,

But like… look at him.

Thanks! And yeah, Bruce was not a fan of Dick being a cop. Dick does actually try to talk to Bruce about it, but when he initially proposes the idea, Bruce does his best to shoot it down. 

Detective Comics #750

This conversation pretty much lays out the reasons Bruce is against the idea...primarily because he’s worried for Dick safety. Those are the first words out of his mouth, “It’s dangerous.” Dick can’t use the skills he usually utilizes as Nightwing without putting his secret identity at risk. That means that Dick is going into deadly, dangerous situations, and he’s handicapped. Bruce doesn’t like that. There’s also the fact that he doesn’t approve of Dick using a gun. As a police officer, Dick would be required to carry one. 

But Dick doesn’t wait for Batman’s permission. He goes through with his plan and joins the police academy without telling Bruce. Bruce unhappily puts up with Dick’s job for necessities sake, but as soon as things turn around in the force, he once again pushes Dick to quit. 

Nightwing #75

And he assumes that Dick will quit. When Dick continues to do police work, it puts a strain on their relationship. 

Nightwing #81

inspired by TheFlashMuseum's TikTok here!

Bonus:

kat8cha:

Wally’s thoughts on Dick and Roy.

“perfection in a mask”

This is a long-running theme in their relationship, too:

Wally: And I’m not like Dick. I can’t juggle half a dozen problems at once and still do everything so perfectly. Sometimes I envy him that talent. (New Teen Titans #28)

Roy and Gar and several other characters have made similar comments over the years - Tim even teasingly refers to Dick as “Mr. Perfect”. And it’s lovely, it’s great that so many characters admire and look up to him. But it also belies the fact that Dick’s “perfection” tends to come at a high cost, and it’s always a struggle for him. He had to drop out of college because (contrary to what Wally assumes here), he couldn’t effortlessly juggle everything and “still do everything so perfectly”. He constantly works himself past both his physical and mental breaking point. And what Wally describes up there about how Roy is “always competing with someone… Ollie, Dick, even himself… and coming up short” is actually strikingly similar to how Dick’s described his relationship to Bruce:

Dick: When I’m with Batman, I’m a mass of insecurities. No matter how much I try, I can never be as good as he is. (New Titans #57)

Wally and Roy and the others might look at Dick and see a “machine”, an unattainable standard of perfection that they’ll never be able to match, but Dick just looks at himself and sees someone who’ll never be as good as Bruce. More than that, he sees himself as a constant failure for not living up to his own impossibly high standards for who he thinks he should be, much like how Wally says Roy is competing against “even himself”.

I’ve pointed out in the past that Dick is obsessed with the idea of “failing” people, to the point that I’d even argue it’s his deepest fear. And it’s something he believes he’s been guilty of many times over, even though the people in his life couldn’t see things more differently. (In one particularly heartbreaking exchange, he tells Babs that “I know I failed you”, and her response is “You never failed me. I don’t know if you’re capable of such a thing.”) Even as an adult, we see him still beating himself up for “failures” from his earliest days as Robin, nearly a decade (or more) earlier:

Dick: I almost failed him. I couldn’t save Meany and I nearly got Batman killed. 

Tim: It was a no-win situation, Nightwing. You both came out alive. That’s what’s important. 

Dick: I know you’re right. But it doesn’t help. (Robin #0)

Of the Titans, only Donna seems to fully understand how far from perfect Dick really is, and how deeply he struggles to act like he is:

Donna: Dick’s pushing himself. He works with us, on his own, he goes to school, and then he works alongside the Batman. And you know how he feels about the Batman. He wants to be as good… even though he never can be. He’s just not driven the way the Batman is. He hasn’t got that same fanatical obsession. So Dick’s all tense trying to do too many things at once. The best you can do is get him to relax. (New Teen Titans #28)

It’s vitally important to note that this is the same issue where we see Wally talking about how he envies Dick’s ability to “juggle half a dozen problems at once and still do everything so perfectly”. Wally might look at Dick and think he’s just effortlessly staying on top of everything, but we’re very purposely shown that it’s not true. Dick’s trying to “juggle” far more than he’s actually capable of handling (he mentions in the same issue that “I haven’t had more than three hours’ sleep in the last three days”), and we see the constant pressure making him tense and irritable, to the point where Donna has to explain to Kory why he’s acting this way.

*insert sitcom music here*

Sure! I can think of three times in particular where people really stepped up for Dick to help him out when he was grieving. 

Donna’s Death 

When Donna died (saving him), Dick was devastated. Their relationship is often overlooked in more recent comics, but these two were incredibly close. They were so candid in loving and supporting each other, and there really wasn’t anyone quite like Donna in Dick’s life. Platonic soulmates. So Donna’s death really hit him hard. He disbanded the Titans. 

Titans/Young Justice Graduation Day #3

And spent several weeks in mourning. He completely isolated from his friends and family in his apartment in Bludhaven. 

Outsiders Secret Files

He was seriously depressed. I’d say Roy was the person that kept Dick going during this time. I mean, you can already see in these panels...Roy reached out over and over to make sure that Dick didn’t suffer through this all alone. And when nothing seemed to get through to him, Roy formed the Outsiders and pushed Dick into joining, to try and draw him out of his own head. 

One thing I like about this period of time is that Roy lets Dick grieve. Even when Dick is unpleasant and angry and sad, Roy stays by his side. He lets Dick be less than perfect, which is nice. 

Nightwing #105/#106 (1996)

VS

his “I’ve got you” to Tim Drake as Robin in an eerily similar moment

Nightwing #25 (1996)

Then his dismissive, simple answer earlier in that same comic when asked how often he thinks about Jason. How often is sometimes?

What was he thinking about during that eerily similar moment? Was he thinking about that moment with Jason? Did he just feel a sense of deja vu? Is it just instinct to catch Robin like that, to reassure him like that?