#but that gets derailed when another earthquake hits gotham

[scintillyyy]

i think tim should go to college but i also think he should bounce to a new one every semester because things keep happening and he keeps dropping out.

#he starts at gotham university but then the clench comes back and he has to stop attending #then he re-enrolls at the gotham school of engineering but a titans emergency happens and he transfers to a school in sf #and when that cools down and he goes back to gotham he has to go undercover at gotham community college for a case #and then when the case is over he figures he might try gotham school of art & design because he's into photography again #but that gets derailed when another earthquake hits gotham #then gotham gets kicked out of the country again so he tries hudson university #(he does business) #at some point he gives the catholic 'holy mother of god university' in gotham a try #do you see my vision

[mzminola]

I know No Man’s Land was a huge game changer for the Bat comics, that changed the physical, economic, socio-political, etc landscape of Gotham, had key character arcs, introduced new characters, etc, and removing it from continuity flat out breaks a lot of canon.

But AU-wise I am so interested in a verse where the big earthquake never hit, just to explore Tim’s story arc.

Because it hit right before Tim came back from his soul-searching trip. He left town after causing Young El’s death, wrestling with the importance and the risks of Robin, heartsick over all the secrets he has to keep from his dad, in trouble with Ariana’s guardians. Tim winds up involved in two different wars, returning to studying martial arts in Paris, and tangling with Shiva again.

By the time Tim’s on his flight home (having left with no one but Dick knowing where he was (and then not even him after a while)) he’s decided both to continue being Robin, and to tell Jack.

Coming home to Gotham fucking DESTROYED completely derails that second decision. Tim does not tell Jack about Robin, even when Jack moves them to another city and Tim sneaks back to Gotham on his own.

So what happens if Tim’s plane lands in the airfield outside a perfectly intact, just how he left it Gotham? When Jack’s been worried about his son missing for weeks, but doesn’t have the ruins of their house around him to make him just be glad that Tim is even alive without questioning where he’s been? When Bruce is only dealing with regular levels of Gotham crime, not a localized apocalypse?

Does Tim go through with his decision to tell Jack that he’s Robin? Does he keep coming up with reasons not to? How does Jack’s different response to Tim’s homecoming affect his choices? Do we get the ‘Tim is benched by his dad’ arc early, before Tim is a member of Young Justice or dates Spoiler, before Jack sends him to Brentwood or marries Dana?

What changes?

#Also does Cass still make herself known in Gotham without the quake #or does she settle elsewhere? #continue wandering? #roving hero Cassandra Cain #heck Cass and the Arrowfam has some potential #anyway #Tim Drake #Robin 1993 #No Man's Land arc #Jack Drake #based on everything about Jack BEFORE Tim skipped down without a word #I don't think he'd react well #Robin #Batfam #DC #fic ideas