open } she's had her fill of destinies and that's why she flew away

[choosetruth]

Who: Georgia Mason, YOU
Where: the Kindergarten
When: June 23 - 27
Rating: PG-13ish probably
Summary: Georgia's a Dhampir Oracle. Goodie. Just like she's never dreamed. At least she has spells that make people tell the truth.
The Story:

[Starters in the comments! There's one party starter available for people if they want to get stuck in the zone of truth for threads.]

Comments

[choosetruth]

She rolls her eyes. "Remember, I don't read comics. Unless this is a stop asking you about secret identities thing, in which case I guess I can see if Shaun knows, but you really were inviting it with that statement."

[mrsarcastic003]

He shakes his head. "No, I was just surprised. You mentioned that I wasn't the first person you thought of, so I assumed that you knew of the others. Both of them."

[choosetruth]

She shrugs. "Dick Grayson's the only one who ever made it into the movies. And that's only the old campy movies. The gritty reboots didn't have any Robins. Too unrealistic, presumably."

Because a guy fighting crime in a batsuit is so realistic without a Robin.

[mrsarcastic003]

"Ouch." He reaches over and pinches himself. "I feel real."

[choosetruth]

Georgia raises an eyebrow. "You're a teenager fighting crime and somehow everyone is okay with this. Maybe in your world, that makes sense, but where I'm from someone would have called child services by now."

[mrsarcastic003]

Well, technically he has spoken with child services. He just lied his ass off about anything that touched on Robin, and was honest about the important stuff like "is Bruce a good guardian?" Somehow he doesn't think Georgia would approve of that answer, though.

"Well, as previously discussed, there is a long tradition of it." He pauses. "...Though I think that the police commissioner doesn't technically approve."

[choosetruth]

"He always seemed like a good guy in the movies. That long history involved at least one of those two former Robins being killed messily, if I recall." It's not something she knows from the comics, but it's something Tim told her when he was trying to claim he wasn't Robin. Georgia pays attention. And she remembers things. "When you were twelve, if I recall. That's not much younger than you are now."

She doesn't bother trying to keep the disapproval out of her voice. Either Batman picked up a replacement almost immediately or Tim's had far too little training. Either way, Batman doesn't come off as very responsible.

[mrsarcastic003]

He raises an eyebrow at her. The disapproval is plain, but he's known about that for some time. This is the first time she's really leveled it at Bruce, though, especially in connection with what happened to Jason.

"He's one of the best people I know. I know he's human. I know he has flaws, but he's a good person, and a good hero."

[choosetruth]

Not exactly surprising that Tim would defend him. He is Batman's sidekick.

"That is presumably why he sells so many comics."

If Batman were real, she'd have a lot of questions and complaints about his methods. Taking a kid sidekick, yes, but also the whole vigilante thing. It seems... inefficient at best, downright cruel at worst. It's not like supervillains are the cause of most crime, even in Gotham. Crime is caused by systemic problems that are better fought through politics than punching.

But Batman isn't real, and she's never had to question the ethics of superheroes before.

"I just suppose I have something with a rich white dude dressing up in a scary costume and punching poor people, then dragging underaged kids into the mix."

stop talking trash about his family, george.

[mrsarcastic003]

"That feels like an extreme oversimplification, and I don't think I've been dragged anywhere."

no

[choosetruth]

"You wouldn't." Because he is a kid, and to him it would be an adventure. Of course he'd want to be a superhero--who wouldn't? But it's an adult's job to say no. Not encourage him.

"I'm aware in your world, for whatever reason, this shit makes sense." The reason being that his world is fictional wish fulfillment is probably not a great one to bring up. Presumably in universe there are reasons that are better than that. "But if it happened in our world, even putting aside the physical improbability that someone could take that much damage that often and still be walking, he'd be extremely arrested. You don't get to just declare yourself the arbiter of right and wrong and get away with it. The systems in place aren't perfect, but they're still more just than guy dressed up as a bat."

Then again, rich white guy. He'd be fine. Maybe Batman's not so unbelievable after all.

rude

[mrsarcastic003]

He frowns. It's not like what she's saying doesn't make a certain logical sense, but that's just not the reality he's familiar with. In his world--it works. Batman makes things better, and Batman is better at doing that when Robin is in the picture.

"It might not make much sense in your world, but in mine, a guy dressed in a Batsuit is better than the systems in place. Things were a lot worse before he started doing what he does, and Gotham would be an abandoned, smoking crater several times over without him."

[choosetruth]

"Well, yes, supervillains do change the rules a little bit." But her mind pokes holes in that logic too--Bruce Wayne could use his extreme wealth and technology to come up with more efficient solutions, and Arkham clearly is a mess that isn't going to reform anyone.

Then again, she might have to change up her own rulebook. She still believes systems are better than anarchy, but what happens when you can't trust the systems? What happens when the organizations you're supposed to trust do things like, say, clone journalists and keep them locked up without access to internet? She could certainly use a hero busting in through the CDC and rescuing her from the mad scientists, and what really is the difference between Shaun and Batman, besides Shaun's lack of a costume and complete willingness to kill?

"I can see why Batman would be needed in some situations. Maybe even a lot of situations. But things like that should be the exception, not the rule. And it certainly shouldn't be a permanent solution. What happens when he dies? Do you take over?"

[mrsarcastic003]

Tim visibly shudders. "Hell no. I don't want to be Batman. I don't want to be Nightwing." Even if he is Tim's hero. "I'm going to be Robin for a few years, and then turn it over to the next person who wants it and is willing to work for it. Maybe they can be Batman when the time comes. Or Nightwing can. He's done it before, and I think he's pretty good at it. And maybe by then we won't need Batman. Maybe we can all retire and the world will actually be a better place."

[choosetruth]

She gives him a long slow stare. She might not have her sunglasses and she might look different from usual, but she's still hard to read.

"You know, there aren't a lot of stories about heroes who quit. Not unless they're followed by them remembering how important it is for them to swing around in pajamas and punch people."

Except Cissie, she hears.

[mrsarcastic003]

"I'm pretty okay with fading out of the narrative and getting a college education." But he's talked to Cissie, and that's not the indication he's gotten from her. He stays Robin. For a while yet. Past when he thought he would be, and so much changes for him that he wonders if he's really going to be ready to be done when all that happens, or if--with his 'normal' life in shambles, he'll just embrace the hero life full on. After all, it's where all of his remaining family and friends are, aside from Cissie.

[choosetruth]

"Be nice. But even death wasn't enough to get me out of it. Once you offer yourself to the world, it's always gonna want one thing more."

Maybe she's wrong. Maybe Tim will get to walk away and go live his life a normal citizen. For his sake, she hopes so.

But she suspects that if he hears a cry for help, he'll be no more able to not put the cape on than she'd be able to not whip out her recorder. They're both junkies, when it comes down to it. There are some things you can't just quit.

[mrsarcastic003]

Well, she's not wrong about that unspoken thought. For all that he thinks he'll give up the cape and mask, helping people isn't something he thinks he'll ever be able to stop doing.

He snorts quietly at the comment. "That's a cheerful thought. Superman calls it 'the neverending battle,' and somehow that still sounds less like a life and afterlife sentence."

[choosetruth]

She shrugs, a corner of her mouth tilting up in something that might be considered a smile if there was anything remotely happy about the expression.

"It's the price we pay. But what's the alternative? Quitting?"

Part of her wants to. Part of her recoils violently at the thought.

[mrsarcastic003]

"Not until someone better comes along." He grins at her. It may not be a normal attitude for a sixteen year old, but he's driven, and he has an idea that she's the same about her chosen field. He can't see her quitting without a damned good reason and the certainty that someone else would pick up where she left off.