You are the only DC fanfic writer with common sense. Thank you for having braincells. Could you elaborate on Dick's relationship with tarot?
the tarot!! one of my favourite bits outta persephone!!
so we know in rebirth that dick can canonically read a tarot spread because he was taught by a fortuneteller at the circus, so i took “madame mystique” and edited her a little to fit the story better. it made sense that performing acrobats, the same with many professional athletes, would practise a healthy dose of superstition as well as rigorous safety habits
part of the reason i wanted to incorporate it into the story was for a tangible connection to dick’s family but also, as he put it — “I believe in the mind’s ability to find patterns in chaos.” he already knows he’s going to leave the titans and go back to gotham, and looks to the cards to find resolve.
then wrt to the cards he pulled — they mirror both his personal journey from robin to nightwing, but also the three part structure of the story
like garth noted, the king of wands represents optimism and leadership, something that dick doesn’t think he embodies at all but his friends see as representative of him as a person. and that’s true!! the nightwing in the present, the guy everyone relies on and trusts, is someone that dick still is, even at his lowest point.
the hangman reversed is how dick feels in the present — stuck. whatever he did to get himself de aged and caught by deathstroke, his conversations with roy and jason, being grabbed by wally, fighting damian and running from bruce….. it all feels pointless. dick has no power in this moment. everything he worked for as robin has been taken from him. he is stagnant and adrift.
death was interesting because it does represent bruce, but also dick’s relationship to bruce. dick sees that despite everything, his future self will still return to gotham, return to the cave, and roll over to show his stomach. he finds resolve in the cards telling him that he can change his own fate, and stand on his own two feet. maybe dick as an adult is too afraid to be changed, to be liberated from the past, but this dick won’t be. this dick grayson has to take the chance.
