Application v3
1. Player Information
Name (or internet handle): Ari
Current characters in Bete Noire: None
2. Character Information
Name: Timothy Jackson Drake
Livejournal Username: peektuttut
Fandom: DC Comics
Image: Here.
3. Character Information II
Age/Appearance: 17. Tim's short, still not quite six feet yet. He's slim, verging on small, but very strong. He tends to wear clothes that are a little too big for him, to hide his musculature. He has the black hair and blue eyes that are somehow so common in the Bat family; he tends to let his hair grow fairly long.
History: Tim was all set to have a decent, simple, entirely normal life. His parents were successful, father a wealthy businessman, mother...well, Janet often accompanied Jack on his travels 'round the globe. They saw the world, while Tim was left at home more often than not, raised and taken care of by the maid and nanny, Mrs. MacIlvaine. She was strict, though generally kind, but Tim was content enough, happy when his parents were around and usually too young to be too unhappy when they were not. When he was five, though, perhaps his parents realized their world-traveling ways were not conducive to raising a child; they took him to Haly's Circus, despite Catherine's warnings that a circus could be a very scary place for a child. Jack denied it through and through, more than ready to share the experience of his son's first circus. Tim took to it well, loving the sights and sounds, the colors and scents and noises that greeted his every sense. To prove to his wife that Haly's was a perfectly wonderful environment, Jack flagged down a group of performers, the Graysons, a family of acrobats, to take a picture with Tim. The boy sat on the knee of the family's youngest member, Dick, thoroughly awed by their bright costumes. He still has the picture, though it's faded and worn. It was supposed to be proof of everything right in the world. None of them expected Catherine to be right, not even Catherine herself.
Later that day, sitting in the main tent to watch the Flying Graysons, Tim watched the trapeze line snap, watched the Grayson adults fall to their deaths. There were screams and movement all around him, but Tim was held immobile. Then, he didn't make a sound. Later, he'd make up for it with nightmares that would leave him shaking and crying for years. There, in that tent, watching Dick Grayson's world crumble around him, was the first time Tim saw the Batman. He looked up, where the acrobats had fallen from, and descending was a black...thing, heading for the only Grayson left. At first Tim opened his mouth to warn the older boy, to tell him to run from what he had taken for as a monster. It's an interesting thing to note: the future Boy Wonder's first view of the Dark Knight was as a monster. It was brief, at least; Tim the child swallowed that cry, realizing that Batman was there to help, not hurt. That was when his parents pulled him away and fled the circus; later, they would send a copy of the picture Tim had taken with the Graysons to the family's only surviving member, thinking Dick would want it.
The next few years would see Tim tortured by nightmares and unease. He led a good life in Gotham Heights, spending the majority of his time playing computer games or watching television. And it was the latter that would change the entire course of his life one day in his ninth year.
One Saturday morning, while eating his cereal, the young Tim was watching the news. No, most children don't bother watching the news - but when he was very young, he realized that the world news was the best way to see where his traveling parents were, and how they were managing. So, this Saturday morning, instead of watching cartoons, Tim was watching the news - which happened to show one of those rare videos of Batman and Robin at work. They were catching the Penguin, and in the process of evading gunfire, the then Boy Wonder did a quadruple flip. It sparked a memory in Tim's head, and things clicked into place in seconds. Haly's Circus had been a momentous event of his childhood, and was never far from his mind, even over the years. He recalled being told that Dick Grayson, the youngest of the Flying Graysons, who had seen his parents perish, was only one of three or four people in the world capable of completing a quadruple somersault.
Tim's active brain kicked into overdrive that morning, and he spent the rest of his time in his room on the computer, or in the library looking through old newspaper archives. It had to be Dick Grayson in those pixie boots; the only other's capable of the trick were twins in Russia - everyone else was dead. With that realization, it only took some digging to find out where Dick had ended up; even then, Tim was a detective. He found that Bruce Wayne had adopted Dick, and two plus two usually equals four. At nine, Tim had discovered a secret men three or four times his age had killed for, but did not possess.
It was his closest guarded secret, one he shared with no one. Tim watched as Dick grew up and left Batman to become his own man. He begged his parents to allow him to take karate. He watched as a newcomer filled Dick's pixie boots, saw that Bruce Wayne had adopted Jason Todd. He also saw the differences between Jason and Dick, saw how the happiness Batman had with Dick turned hostile and tense with Jason. Tim collected every photo, every newspaper article he could and kept them all in a binder beneath his bed, where he could keep his real interests. And he watched when Jason died, and Batman nearly lost everything else along with his adopted son.
By now, Tim was thirteen, and terrified to see one of his heroes nearing that abyss, readying himself to jump off the deep end. Batman was getting reckless, and Tim knew what had to be done - but he knew he needed proof. And he proved himself again, to no one in particular at the time, by managing to stalk the Dark Knight, and take pictures of him taking foolish risks, nearly getting himself killed. Tim did everything he could to track Dick Grayson, now Nightwing, down - and eventually, he lured the former Wonder to Haly's Circus, where they first met. There, Tim revealed that he knew their secret; his explanation was shoddy at best, such was his desperation that Batman have a Robin. Batman needed a Robin, and he tried to convince Dick to return to the pixie boots. Dick refused, but agreed to lend his help as Nightwing.
It wasn't enough. No one ever listens to the kid.
Batman and Nightwing went off, walking right into a trap Two-Face had set for them; when Tim figured it out, he took an old Robin costume from the Batcave (where he was supposed to stay until the heroes rerturned) and went to their rescue. He put those karate lessons to the test, and kept managed to distract the villain long enough for Batman to recuperate; it was also long enough to take a few nasty bumps from Two-Face. When all was said and done, despite a few nasty words from Batman, Tim - and Dick, and Alfred - where able to convince him. Batman needs a Robin. Batman always needs a Robin. And though Tim didn't set out looking to be the Boy Wonder, it fell on his shoulders to fill those pixie boots.
But not without a lot of training.
Bruce taught him how to fight; Alfred taught him how to act. Dick taught him how to be the Dark Knight's partner. During his time training, Tim's parents vacationed in the Caribbean; it was there that his life would begin to fall apart. A voodoo cult leader called the Obeah Man took hostages, and later attacked him; both Drakes were present. Using a poison gas, Obeah Man put Tim's father in a coma - and killed his mother. Batman wouldn't let him go after Obeah Man with him - he wouldn't give Tim the chance for revenge. Instead, he was stuck at home - first when Bruce rescued his father, and brought back his mother to be buried. The night before Catherine's funeral, Tim had horrible dreams - about his parents, about Batman, and Robin, about Dick and Jason; when the Joker made an appearance, he awoke, afraid. He had still yet to put on the costume, again, still hadn't gone out in the field. Bruce was unwilling to risk another child, and wanted to make absolutely certain that Tim was ready. So when Scarecrow was on the loose, and Batman went off to stop him with strict orders that the newest Boy Wonder remain in the cave, Tim was understandably annoyed. That annoyance turned to fear, however, as he picked apart the Scarecrow's recent crimes, and found in them a trap, laid for Bruce. Though the Dark Knight warned him that should he leave the Cave, he'd be giving up his chance to be Robin, Tim thought rescuing his mentor was a risk worth taking. Leaving the Cave in his regular clothes and a ski mask, not wanting to dishonor the outfit, Tim made his way to Scarecrow's hide out, where Bruce was being held captive, a non willing tester of fear gas, along with reporter Vicki Vale. Tim managed to save them both, though he was gassed; his fear, then, was the absolute terror that he was unable to live up to the legacy Dick and Jason had left him. The fear hallucination turned tables, though; he drew strength from how he envisioned the former Boy Wonders, and managed to turn shelves full of fear gas on Scarecrow, and free Batman. Later, the Caped Crusader, instead of firing him, told him that sometimes rules had to be broken.
Tim had learned all he could in Gotham; it was time to move on. Batman presented him with a brand new Robin uniform, completely with pants and boots, instead of short-shorts and pixie boots, and sent him on his way.
His world travels began in Paris, where he was to learn from the Ramul Lama, a master of ancient techniques. From the man, Tim learned healing arts, and was supposed to learn much more about using pressure points to bring a foe down; his training was cute short, however, with the interference of the Ghost Dragons. In Paris, Tim made his first real enemy in King Snake, Sir Edmund Dorrance, whose drug running ring Tim busted up - but not without aid. Namely, Lady Shiva's; after the same man, they met and worked together. This deadly mercenary, hailed as the world's greatest fighter, taught him much, namely mastery in one weapon. Tim chose the bo staff, and was scoffed at for such a non-lethal choice, as he had been scoffed at only a month earlier for choosing a sling in a similar situation. But, the Boy Wonder told her, that was his reason for picking the staff; he would not kill. Eventually they parted ways, and Tim tracked King Snake across Europe; Dorrance escaped, and Tim returned to Gotham, to his comatose father, and his waiting mentor. Finally, he was able t o get to work as Robin, the Boy Wonder in his hometown.
A couple years passed, marked only by Bruce's broken back, his father's kidnapping, and Batman's subsequent order for Tim to remain in Gotham while he rescued Jack. Those were some of the hardest weeks of Tim's life; but Jack returned, still in a coma, but safe. Only a few months later, Tim met Superboy and Impulse, two other young heroes. They worked together to release a D.E.O 'project' named Secret - and soon after that, formed Young Justice, their own superhero team. For a while, it was just the three boys, but eventually girls were allowed into their league - and it hasn't been the same since.
The next five years would pass as a blur, marked by drama, love, angst - it was like a sitcom conducted in school and on rooftops. The Boy Wonder met the daughter of one of his more ridiculous foes, Cluemaster, and fell for her, hard; Spoiler was beautiful, witty, and smart. She was also stubborn as all hell; once Tim broke up with Ariana, his first girlfriend, Stephanie was right there. And they were together for....well. For a long time. And just when things were so wonderful, Tim's world began to fall apart. Young Justice had disbanded, and he'd joined the Teen Titans, going to San Francisco every weekend to all but lead his team. His dad woke up from his coma, he regained use of his legs, he fell in love with his physical therapist, Dana Winters. Their marriage was the best thing that could have happened to save Tim's homelife; she kept the arguments Tim and Jack would have about his lies and whereabouts at bay. For a while, he had a family again. Family, girlfriend, friends - he had the baddest, most tricked out motorcycle in the world, and worked with the coolest guy on the face of the planet.
Things were good.
Then, in a short period of time, it all fell apart.
His father found out his was Robin; Jack made him quit. And Stephanie...his girlfriend...took up his mantle. It was such a betrayal, but he tried not to mind. She had always needed Batman's approval more than he. Their relationship hit the rocks; Steph saw one of Tim's classmates, Darla Aquista, kiss him, and wouldn't give him the chance to explain. Angry and hurt, Tim went out with her. Being the Girl Wonder didn't work out, though, and Steph was fired soon after wearing the brightly colored outfit; and to prove that she was worthwhile, instigated one of Bruce's many War Game scenarios, without knowing all the pieces. The gangs of Gotham - Odessa, Ghost Dragon, Los Loboys, Crown Point, Bowery - every last one of them went to war. What resulted was the police losing faith in the Bat Family, the deaths of hundreds - including Darla, no matter how hard he fought to protect her - the Clan taking on a stadium full of thugs...And Black Mask torturing Stephanie to death.
Or, well - that's what he thought, for over a year. But more on that later...
As if one tragedy was no enough, scant weeks later, a tremor, another crisis, ran through the superhero community. The loved ones of heroes were targeted; Tim's father was the last to be targeted. The Boy Wonder listened to his father die over the telephone as he, in the Batmobile with Batman, raced to save Jack. They were too late; Jack Drake was murdered by Captain Boomerang, who also died that night. Dana, upon seeing the gruesome sight, was unable to cope without someone to lean on, and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Bludhaven. There was no revenge, no righteous anger to take out on some vile being; there was just grief, debilitating grief that Tim tried desperately, and ultimately vainly, to push away. He tried to think like Batman, to deal with it like Bruce. It was his friends in the Titans that showed him how much easier it was to deal with like a Titan. In the space of a few weeks, he'd lost his girlfriend and his family; he was an orphan. And Bruce, who had already raised two, approached Tim at his father's funeral. The Boy Wonder stood back as his father was buried; he had cried so much in recent weeks, that he couldn't dredge up an appropriate emotion to show. It was too much, and he was only sixteen. He couldn't do it anymore. And when Bruce offered to adopt him...Tim panicked. It was too much, too much to deal with, but he couldn't refuse; legally, Dana wasn't fit to care for him, and she hadn't adopted him legally upon marrying his father. Bruce could easily bring Tim into his family. So Tim went about fixing it.
The Boy Genius deserves his title: he created an entire fictional being; his own Uncle Eddie Drake. He changed his father's will, grated fake documents, social security, ID. He fooled the US government into believing Eddie Drake had always existed, and what was more, he fooled Batman, the World's Greatest Detective.
For some time, he lived with fake-Uncle Eddie in Bludhaven; he set up his Robin's Nest, a version of the Bat Cave, and virtually lived there. He worked with Cassandra Cain there, for a while, when Batgirl showed up to help him in the city; at first, he was angry that Batman had sent her. He didn't need looking after. But after a near fatal run in with the Penguin, things smoothed out, and the worked side by side for a while. For a while....things were better. As Tim is wont to do, he pushed away dealing with his grief and anger - not necessarily a good thing, considering he had a habit of letting it out in unhealthy bursts. Unhealthy for those around him.
But even that came to an end as the rest of his life began to unravel.
The Crisis; the decimation of Bludhaven; the death of his step-mother, of his fake uncle, of his best friend. Conner Kent, Superboy, was dead, and Tim, still unable to grieve, still prone to acting as if everything was all right, left Gotham for a year long trip with Dick and Bruce. They traveled 'round the world, retracing the steps Bruce took to become Batman. A lot changed between the three of them on that trip. Tim made himself a new costume, abandoning the bright colors of the one he'd inherited for the darker, red and black version he sports now. They were Conner's colors.
Drama awaited him on returning to Gotham; Cassandra was under Slade's influence by way of a powerful drug, and nearly killed him. He started a new high school and started dating Zoanne Wilkins, and found friends. Bruce offered to adopt him again, and Tim accepted, moving into the room in the manor that Dick and Jason had once inhabited. He got himself kidnapped in order to bust up a kid-snatching ring from the inside. He met Dodge, who wanted to be his sidekick and ultimately paid a high price for his heroic efforts. When things finally settled down, new players hit Gotham and nearly tore it apart. And now...Stephanie's back, as Spoiler. He's reunited with his old girlfriend. It would be easier if she had been dead and risen from the grave; then maybe he wouldn't be so furious with her. It's not easy to forgive someone who fled to Africa for nearly two years without so much as a postcard telling him she was alive.
Still wavering between being Tim Drake, Tim Wayne, and Robin, the Boy Wonder faced a Gotham leery of heroes, and a world he's come to distrust. He's eighteen and already an old man.
When Batman disappeared, things got worse. Gang wars started erupting across the city, and Tim spent his time putting out brushfires, knowing the bombs were coming. They had to be. He was ready; he was looking for Batman and keeping Gotham safe, but he was, day by day, more and more ready to put the cowl on and be the symbol Gotham needed him to be. The General, Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, returned to Gotham, much to Tim's disgust, and brought with him mayhem. The General stole other identities to lend to the chaos - first Red Robin, then Anarky. And while Tim was seeking him out, tracking him to an abandoned warehouse, he fell into the trap. The stupid, ridiculous trap he'd never had been prey to, if only he'd been thinking clearly. A bomb had been planted, waiting for it, and it exploded before Tim could escape. They don't always make it out scott free; the back of Tim's head was caught in the blast. He only wears a little domino mask; there was nothing to protect him. His hair, having grown long as of late, was burnt off, leaving him with a near crew cut in the front, and nothing in the back. Blistered skin covered the back of his skull to its base, there were even bits around his eyes from when he hadn't ducked quickly enough. He was hurt, maimed in a way, and he'd be surprised if hair ever grew back. Still, he overcame it - tried to - and did his best for Gotham. For himself. For Gotham!
Then Bruce died.
Love how that works out.
Dick took the mantle, finally, after Tim took a terrible crack at it himself. And Damian...of all people, Damian was the one Dick picked to be Robin. It should have been Tim. He took that bitterness and ran with it. Let Damian be Robin. Tim knew that Bruce was alive, somewhere - he had to be. And Tim was going to find him.
But he knew he'd be crossing lines. Lines that he couldn't allow to be traced back to Bruce or Dick. Batman. He couldn't be Robin. So he picked up the suit that Jason had worn, that the General had worn. Red Robin wasn't much of a hero, but he was something. And he was leaving Gotham. Red Robin would find Bruce, one way or another.
It really wasn't a fun journey. He went through Spain, France, Germany - and everything he found led him to Baghdad, Iraq. It was worth it, because now he has proof that Bruce is alive, solid proof, and it's like coming out of a fog. No more hoping he wasn't crazy. He was right, and he can prove it.
Of course, that proof came at getting two people killed, a third maimed, and almost dying himself. Bad times all round. It also ended with him working for Ra's al Ghul. Sort of. Tim's a real master of putting on a facade after all these years, after all. So while pretending to follow Ra's's orders, he set his traps, and in the end, well.
In the end he stopped the bad guys, saved the girl, and crippled the League. And he still has that proof. Looks like things are finally starting to look up. Not to mention becoming an emancipated minor, and a CEO all in one day, while managing to beat Ra's at his own game and save the lives of friends and family. It was a good day. Except for the being kicked out of a window part.
Personality: People change as they age, and the Boy Wonder is certainly no exception. Over the past five years, his personality has darkened, developing from the innocent, optimistic teen he was into the brooding and bleak young man he is now. Tim used to be open, quick with a quip, and more than ready to be a good friend. Such characteristics tend to warp, however, when one loses too much, too young. Today, Tim is a quiet young man, quieter than he ever was; but on top of that, he's angry.
A temper is a dangerous thing in his line of work: he's been taught to never fight angry, to not let that emotion cloud his judgment. But on several occasions, Tim has lost his temper against an enemy, tapped into a violent fury that Lady Shiva would be proud of. Everyone has his breaking point, and the Boy Wonder's has grown dangerously close over the past year, close enough to have broken. And he still carries the guilt of the consequences of his actions, even actions years old.
Determination is one of the few things about Tim that has not changed. When he was thirteen, he was determined to find a Robin for Batman, when he was in the Titans, he was determined to make them a working team, and now he is determined to have his friends back, no matter what it takes. Truth be told, Tim's anger is not what one should worry about - it's his determination.
Any costumed crime fighter, especially in the Bat Family, leads a double life; though at his core Tim is a brooding person, he is also a complete geek. Total nerd. There's no easy way around it; the Boy Wonder might be a figure worthy of respect in Gotham, but Timothy Jackson Drake was a member of the Gotham Heights Geeks. He played Dungeons and Dragons with them on a regular basis (and was a damn fine Game Master, thank you very much), belonged to his old school's computer club, learned how to hack and program with skill second only to Oracle. Though he always counted himself among his geeky friends, there has always been something about Tim that drew all sorts in, be them geek or jock, prep or goth. Along the same lines, he has a tremendous ability to diffuse problems between said cliques. When it comes down to it, Tim is a natural leader, whether he likes thinking about that or not.
See, leaders get people killed. And he has a lot of lives - deaths - on his conscience already.
Beneath everything is Tim's intelligence. He's not called the Boy Genius for nothing, and has been hailed at times as being even smarter than Batman and Alfred. He's a smart young man, and has gained the all important street smarts over the past five years. He can take a computer apart almost as quickly as Oracle, he can hack with the best of them, but he can also handle himself on Gotham's mean streets - and he has to, because damn if mean isn't an understatement.
Recent events have forced him to deal with complications he never thought he'd face. There were always shades of gray, but Tim very, very rarely saw the line between right and wrong blur. After Bruce's death disappearance, Tim knew he'd be blurring those lines. He started making compromises. Big ones. Got people killed. Very nearly did a little killing of his own. Hell, there are probably a few unknown deaths on his shoulders; but despite it, he's finding his way back to black and white. Which is great, because he was getting really tired of those compromises.
Sexual Preferences/Orientation: Tim's the Boy Virgin. Normal teenage hormones have taken a backseat in his life; the one time he thought he was getting laid, he was broken up with. He's heterosexual, but sex really isn't in the forefront of his thoughts. He develops crushes easily, in a way that can kind of question his monogamy; Tim's a good ole boy type. He doesn't like the idea of cheating on someone he's with, but he isn't super traditional about relationships, either.
Powers: Tim is exceptionally strong for someone his age and size, but he is still only human. He has been trained extensively in martial arts, criminology, acrobatics, stealth, disguise, escapology - just to name a few. Lady Shiva herself was among his first fighting teachers, and though she wished him to kill, the Boy Wonder never backed away from the Bat Clan beliefs. Besides that, in his world travels he learned other helpful abilities, like healing skills from the Ramul Lama in Paris, where he was supposed to learn much; and never had the chance, thanks to the intervention of the Ghost Dragons. Still, he has excellent knowledge of pressure points, how they can heal, and how they can bring a man down. His main 'power,' however, is his keen mind, his above average - if not genius - intellect. Possibly smarter than Alfred and even Batman himself, Tim's specialty is his detective skills. While his predecessor, Jason Todd, was headstrong, rash, and ruthless, Tim spent much of his career as Robin fearing he strayed on the side of overly cautious, to slow to react. Though still his own harshest critic, the Boy Wonder has proven time and again that he is worthy of being Batman's partner. His costume is fireproof and bulletproof, and contains numerous weapons that help him in his fight against crime, the most notable of which are his birdarangs and his collapsible bo staff.
Reason for playing: I've played Tim for a long time, and he's very comfortable for me; he's got a nice, modern voice that's distinct despite being...modern. Tim's so rarely in sexual situations, or situations where his limits are really pushed in the way the city would push them, so I'm looking forward to seeing what that would be like with him.
5. Samples
First-Person: [A little quietly; he isn't speaking into his journal yet.] What the--
This isn't the Financial District. O, you there? I was just on my way out of Little Odessa. Should be on fifth right now, but - O? Dick? Can anyone hear me? [There's some quiet movement, a few mutters, then the revving of an engine.] Where's Toto when you need him?
Third-Person: He had to admit, his newest plan complicated things.
While Red Robin needed no help getting around, Tim Drake needed arm and leg braces to walk around. It meant that the safe houses would need new equipment - and that changing on top of a building, for whatever reason, would be really hard to explain. But it had worked so far, and if he wanted to keep fooling Vale, he'd have to use the braces for the next year. So a bag with a set of the braces was clipped to the back of his bike, to be delivered to one of the apartments in the Wayne name downtown. He'd already left a couple bags in Crown Point, and the East End.
In costume - it wasn't like Tim Drake could ride a motorcycle right now - Tim weaved in and out of traffic, slipping easily between cars as he went. The traffic started to recede as he left Little Odessa, headed toward the Diamond District. It wasn't uncommon; less people could afford to be at this end of town.
The corner of his mouth twitched, just a little. Maybe he'd tackle that, after getting the gang problem fully under control. The Neon Knights were almost there, and now that he'd condemned Cavallo and Wise, he didn't have much more opposition to worry about. He wasn't going to let Gotham be in disarray when Bruce got back.
He'd gotten the idea to assassinate Tim Drake from Bruce, after all; he'd done something similar, years ago, to throw Hugo Strange off the trail. Tim was just taking it a lot farther. He smiled.
And that was when he realized that he was not driving into the Diamond District.
Third-Person #2: He didn't have time for this.
There was so much to do still - he had to find Scarab, set his trap, talk to M'gann - and all he could do was think about Stephanie. In the Batgirl outfit. She'd broken his heart, let him think she was dead for more than a year. They weren't good for each other right now - they were bad for each other - but jeez.
He leaned against the sink with one hand, the other busy stroking himself through his slacks. There was so much wrong with this, he thought. He had a meeting with the commissioner to get to. He had his own assassination to plot. Instead, Tim was in the bathroom, acting like a teenager for the first time in a long time. He bit his lip to stifle a groan, unbuttoning his pants to wrap his fingers solidly around his erection. She'd been working out on the bars when he came in, all that blond hair following her when she moved, uniform hugging her body. Tim grunted, hips shifting toward his hand.
He missed her. He was afraid of her. And he came as his thoughts strayed, hovering between Stephanie Brown and Tam Fox. His ex and his fake fiance.
Tim turned on the faucet and cleaned up, before bending forward to press his hot forehead against the cool porcelain of the sink. He had to shift his attention back where it was needed. Scarab. Catching Scarab was definitely more important than masturbating in the bathroom. He was going to forget this had happened, so he could look Tam in the eye later.
And Steph.
Crap.
P L A Y E R
☓ Name: Ari
☓ Personal journal: rivin
☓ Age: 22
☓ Other characters in The Devils See: --
☓ Email: redrobin133@gmail.com
☓ AIM/MSN/Yahoo! Messenger: AIM: FallenSun13
C H A R A C T E R
☓ Name: Timothy Jackson Drake
☓ Series: DC Comics
☓ Reference: Walk this waaaay
☓ Canon point: Teen Titans #92
☓ Age: 17
☓ Personality: People change as they age, and the Boy Wonder is certainly no exception. Over the past five years, his personality has darkened, developing from the innocent, optimistic teen he was into the brooding and bleak young man he is now. Tim used to be open, quick with a quip, and more than ready to be a good friend. Such characteristics tend to warp, however, when one loses too much, too young. Today, Tim is a quiet young man, quieter than he ever was; but on top of that, he's angry.
A temper is a dangerous thing in his line of work: he's been taught to never fight angry, to not let that emotion cloud his judgment. But on several occasions, Tim has lost his temper against an enemy, tapped into a violent fury that Lady Shiva would be proud of. Everyone has his breaking point, and the Boy Wonder's has grown dangerously close over the past year, close enough to have broken. And he still carries the guilt of the consequences of his actions, even actions years old.
Determination is one of the few things about Tim that has not changed. When he was thirteen, he was determined to find a Robin for Batman, when he was in the Titans, he was determined to make them a working team, and now he is determined to have his friends back, no matter what it takes. Truth be told, Tim's anger is not what one should worry about - it's his determination.
Any costumed crime fighter, especially in the Bat Family, leads a double life; though at his core Tim is a brooding person, he is also a complete geek. Total nerd. There's no easy way around it; the Boy Wonder might be a figure worthy of respect in Gotham, but Timothy Jackson Drake was a member of the Gotham Heights Geeks. He played Dungeons and Dragons with them on a regular basis (and was a damn fine Game Master, thank you very much), belonged to his old school's computer club, learned how to hack and program with skill second only to Oracle. Though he always counted himself among his geeky friends, there has always been something about Tim that drew all sorts in, be them geek or jock, prep or goth. Along the same lines, he has a tremendous ability to diffuse problems between said cliques. When it comes down to it, Tim is a natural leader, whether he likes thinking about that or not.
See, leaders get people killed. And he has a lot of lives - deaths - on his conscience already.
Beneath everything is Tim's intelligence. He's not called the Boy Genius for nothing, and has been hailed at times as being even smarter than Batman and Alfred. He's a smart young man, and has gained the all important street smarts over the past five years. He can take a computer apart almost as quickly as Oracle, he can hack with the best of them, but he can also handle himself on Gotham's mean streets - and he has to, because damn if mean isn't an understatement.
Recent events have forced him to deal with complications he never thought he'd face. There were always shades of gray, but Tim very, very rarely saw the line between right and wrong blur. After Bruce's death disappearance, Tim knew he'd be blurring those lines. He started making compromises. Big ones. Got people killed. Very nearly did a little killing of his own. Hell, there are probably a few unknown deaths on his shoulders; but despite it, he's finding his way back to black and white. Which is great, because he was getting really tired of those compromises.
☓ Abilities: Tim is exceptionally strong for someone his age and size, but he is still only human. He has been trained extensively in martial arts, criminology, acrobatics, stealth, disguise, escapology - just to name a few. Lady Shiva herself was among his first fighting teachers, and though she wished him to kill, the Boy Wonder never backed away from the Bat Clan beliefs. Besides that, in his world travels he learned other helpful abilities, like healing skills from the Ramul Lama in Paris, where he was supposed to learn much; and never had the chance, thanks to the intervention of the Ghost Dragons. Still, he has excellent knowledge of pressure points, how they can heal, and how they can bring a man down. His main 'power,' however, is his keen mind, his above average - if not genius - intellect. Possibly smarter than Alfred and even Batman himself, Tim's specialty is his detective skills. While his predecessor, Jason Todd, was headstrong, rash, and ruthless, Tim spent much of his career as Robin fearing he strayed on the side of overly cautious, to slow to react. Though still his own harshest critic, the Boy Wonder has proven time and again that he is worthy of being Batman's partner. His costume is fireproof and bulletproof, and contains numerous weapons that help him in his fight against crime, the most notable of which are his birdarangs and his collapsible bo staff.
☓ Weaknesses: Tim has developed a tendency to work alone. He doesn't like putting other people in danger, he doesn't like involving other people, - which has a way of coming back to bite him int he ass sometimes. He's still fairly small, and sometimes all the skills in the world won't matter when you're in a different weight division. He has a tendency to brood into the foreseeable future - or forever - unless someone knocks him out of it; which rarely happens. It's an almost obsessive thing: when faced with a problem, he won't stop working at it until he has a solution. Sometimes, that blinds him to other problems. Or people. Along the same vein, when he runs into problems that he can't fix, he takes it out on himself. There have been plenty of times when he's been unable to save someone, whether it's a stranger or a friend - and the guilt usually translates to recklessness at near Jason-level proportions. And something he really should learn to stop doing is the way he always lets the pretty girl get the first punch in. Though 'lets' might be generous. 'Gets distracted' is probably more fitting.
☓ Strengths: See above; Tim's a tactical genius, an excellent liar, an expert martial artist, he's well versed in criminology, acrobatics, stealth, disguise, escapology - and he's pretty damned handy with a computer, to boot.
☓ Intranet post sample: [Someone is looking very, very wet. Tim managed to cough up most of the water he swallowed at least an hour ago, and he stashed his Red Robin costume - which means he's got some very poorly fitting clothes on, because they aren't his - but towels have been a little harder to find than this very, very old computer. He's scowling pretty hard at it, too, because this crap is obscenely old, and it's frustrating when you're wet and half drowned and have no idea where you are. But eventually - after turning the entire picture completely upside down (and then green) somehow, he gets it working.]
--kill for Windows 7 right now. I'd settled for Vista. Hello? I think I got this broadcasting, but the signal is...different. I need to know where I am.
☓ Log post sample: He was drowning.
It didn't make any sense; he'd just been in the T-Wing, heading back to Gotham with Cassie, and Conner, and Bart. He'd been pleased with the decision to rejoin the Teen Titans, the realization that it was possible. As water tried to flood his lungs, he tried to understand what had happened. Had he blacked out? Had they crashed? Tim forced his eyes open as the current dragged at him. No, no crash - he didn't see any fire, didn't see any remnants of the jet - but then, what?
It didn't make any sense. Then again, that wasn't exactly unusual for him.
Locking his jaws, Tim trusted his inner ear and kicked upwards. It took effort, and his cape nearly killed him - but he broke the surface with a long gasp before being dragged under again. He was trying to disengage the damn thing when the current gripped and hurled him again, and where there had been only water, there was suddenly land. Tim latched onto it, ignoring his cape and dragging himself out of the shallows and onto the beach. He laid on his side, coughing, forcing what water he had swallowed out of his system.
Strange, he thought; he hadn't seen an island when he'd come up for air.
Getting to his feet, Tim staggered, looking up at the moon, and back out to sea. Where the hell was he? And where were the Titans? More importantly, who was here?
Name (or internet handle): Ari
Current characters in Bete Noire: None
2. Character Information
Name: Timothy Jackson Drake
Livejournal Username: peektuttut
Fandom: DC Comics
Image: Here.
3. Character Information II
Age/Appearance: 17. Tim's short, still not quite six feet yet. He's slim, verging on small, but very strong. He tends to wear clothes that are a little too big for him, to hide his musculature. He has the black hair and blue eyes that are somehow so common in the Bat family; he tends to let his hair grow fairly long.
History: Tim was all set to have a decent, simple, entirely normal life. His parents were successful, father a wealthy businessman, mother...well, Janet often accompanied Jack on his travels 'round the globe. They saw the world, while Tim was left at home more often than not, raised and taken care of by the maid and nanny, Mrs. MacIlvaine. She was strict, though generally kind, but Tim was content enough, happy when his parents were around and usually too young to be too unhappy when they were not. When he was five, though, perhaps his parents realized their world-traveling ways were not conducive to raising a child; they took him to Haly's Circus, despite Catherine's warnings that a circus could be a very scary place for a child. Jack denied it through and through, more than ready to share the experience of his son's first circus. Tim took to it well, loving the sights and sounds, the colors and scents and noises that greeted his every sense. To prove to his wife that Haly's was a perfectly wonderful environment, Jack flagged down a group of performers, the Graysons, a family of acrobats, to take a picture with Tim. The boy sat on the knee of the family's youngest member, Dick, thoroughly awed by their bright costumes. He still has the picture, though it's faded and worn. It was supposed to be proof of everything right in the world. None of them expected Catherine to be right, not even Catherine herself.
Later that day, sitting in the main tent to watch the Flying Graysons, Tim watched the trapeze line snap, watched the Grayson adults fall to their deaths. There were screams and movement all around him, but Tim was held immobile. Then, he didn't make a sound. Later, he'd make up for it with nightmares that would leave him shaking and crying for years. There, in that tent, watching Dick Grayson's world crumble around him, was the first time Tim saw the Batman. He looked up, where the acrobats had fallen from, and descending was a black...thing, heading for the only Grayson left. At first Tim opened his mouth to warn the older boy, to tell him to run from what he had taken for as a monster. It's an interesting thing to note: the future Boy Wonder's first view of the Dark Knight was as a monster. It was brief, at least; Tim the child swallowed that cry, realizing that Batman was there to help, not hurt. That was when his parents pulled him away and fled the circus; later, they would send a copy of the picture Tim had taken with the Graysons to the family's only surviving member, thinking Dick would want it.
The next few years would see Tim tortured by nightmares and unease. He led a good life in Gotham Heights, spending the majority of his time playing computer games or watching television. And it was the latter that would change the entire course of his life one day in his ninth year.
One Saturday morning, while eating his cereal, the young Tim was watching the news. No, most children don't bother watching the news - but when he was very young, he realized that the world news was the best way to see where his traveling parents were, and how they were managing. So, this Saturday morning, instead of watching cartoons, Tim was watching the news - which happened to show one of those rare videos of Batman and Robin at work. They were catching the Penguin, and in the process of evading gunfire, the then Boy Wonder did a quadruple flip. It sparked a memory in Tim's head, and things clicked into place in seconds. Haly's Circus had been a momentous event of his childhood, and was never far from his mind, even over the years. He recalled being told that Dick Grayson, the youngest of the Flying Graysons, who had seen his parents perish, was only one of three or four people in the world capable of completing a quadruple somersault.
Tim's active brain kicked into overdrive that morning, and he spent the rest of his time in his room on the computer, or in the library looking through old newspaper archives. It had to be Dick Grayson in those pixie boots; the only other's capable of the trick were twins in Russia - everyone else was dead. With that realization, it only took some digging to find out where Dick had ended up; even then, Tim was a detective. He found that Bruce Wayne had adopted Dick, and two plus two usually equals four. At nine, Tim had discovered a secret men three or four times his age had killed for, but did not possess.
It was his closest guarded secret, one he shared with no one. Tim watched as Dick grew up and left Batman to become his own man. He begged his parents to allow him to take karate. He watched as a newcomer filled Dick's pixie boots, saw that Bruce Wayne had adopted Jason Todd. He also saw the differences between Jason and Dick, saw how the happiness Batman had with Dick turned hostile and tense with Jason. Tim collected every photo, every newspaper article he could and kept them all in a binder beneath his bed, where he could keep his real interests. And he watched when Jason died, and Batman nearly lost everything else along with his adopted son.
By now, Tim was thirteen, and terrified to see one of his heroes nearing that abyss, readying himself to jump off the deep end. Batman was getting reckless, and Tim knew what had to be done - but he knew he needed proof. And he proved himself again, to no one in particular at the time, by managing to stalk the Dark Knight, and take pictures of him taking foolish risks, nearly getting himself killed. Tim did everything he could to track Dick Grayson, now Nightwing, down - and eventually, he lured the former Wonder to Haly's Circus, where they first met. There, Tim revealed that he knew their secret; his explanation was shoddy at best, such was his desperation that Batman have a Robin. Batman needed a Robin, and he tried to convince Dick to return to the pixie boots. Dick refused, but agreed to lend his help as Nightwing.
It wasn't enough. No one ever listens to the kid.
Batman and Nightwing went off, walking right into a trap Two-Face had set for them; when Tim figured it out, he took an old Robin costume from the Batcave (where he was supposed to stay until the heroes rerturned) and went to their rescue. He put those karate lessons to the test, and kept managed to distract the villain long enough for Batman to recuperate; it was also long enough to take a few nasty bumps from Two-Face. When all was said and done, despite a few nasty words from Batman, Tim - and Dick, and Alfred - where able to convince him. Batman needs a Robin. Batman always needs a Robin. And though Tim didn't set out looking to be the Boy Wonder, it fell on his shoulders to fill those pixie boots.
But not without a lot of training.
Bruce taught him how to fight; Alfred taught him how to act. Dick taught him how to be the Dark Knight's partner. During his time training, Tim's parents vacationed in the Caribbean; it was there that his life would begin to fall apart. A voodoo cult leader called the Obeah Man took hostages, and later attacked him; both Drakes were present. Using a poison gas, Obeah Man put Tim's father in a coma - and killed his mother. Batman wouldn't let him go after Obeah Man with him - he wouldn't give Tim the chance for revenge. Instead, he was stuck at home - first when Bruce rescued his father, and brought back his mother to be buried. The night before Catherine's funeral, Tim had horrible dreams - about his parents, about Batman, and Robin, about Dick and Jason; when the Joker made an appearance, he awoke, afraid. He had still yet to put on the costume, again, still hadn't gone out in the field. Bruce was unwilling to risk another child, and wanted to make absolutely certain that Tim was ready. So when Scarecrow was on the loose, and Batman went off to stop him with strict orders that the newest Boy Wonder remain in the cave, Tim was understandably annoyed. That annoyance turned to fear, however, as he picked apart the Scarecrow's recent crimes, and found in them a trap, laid for Bruce. Though the Dark Knight warned him that should he leave the Cave, he'd be giving up his chance to be Robin, Tim thought rescuing his mentor was a risk worth taking. Leaving the Cave in his regular clothes and a ski mask, not wanting to dishonor the outfit, Tim made his way to Scarecrow's hide out, where Bruce was being held captive, a non willing tester of fear gas, along with reporter Vicki Vale. Tim managed to save them both, though he was gassed; his fear, then, was the absolute terror that he was unable to live up to the legacy Dick and Jason had left him. The fear hallucination turned tables, though; he drew strength from how he envisioned the former Boy Wonders, and managed to turn shelves full of fear gas on Scarecrow, and free Batman. Later, the Caped Crusader, instead of firing him, told him that sometimes rules had to be broken.
Tim had learned all he could in Gotham; it was time to move on. Batman presented him with a brand new Robin uniform, completely with pants and boots, instead of short-shorts and pixie boots, and sent him on his way.
His world travels began in Paris, where he was to learn from the Ramul Lama, a master of ancient techniques. From the man, Tim learned healing arts, and was supposed to learn much more about using pressure points to bring a foe down; his training was cute short, however, with the interference of the Ghost Dragons. In Paris, Tim made his first real enemy in King Snake, Sir Edmund Dorrance, whose drug running ring Tim busted up - but not without aid. Namely, Lady Shiva's; after the same man, they met and worked together. This deadly mercenary, hailed as the world's greatest fighter, taught him much, namely mastery in one weapon. Tim chose the bo staff, and was scoffed at for such a non-lethal choice, as he had been scoffed at only a month earlier for choosing a sling in a similar situation. But, the Boy Wonder told her, that was his reason for picking the staff; he would not kill. Eventually they parted ways, and Tim tracked King Snake across Europe; Dorrance escaped, and Tim returned to Gotham, to his comatose father, and his waiting mentor. Finally, he was able t o get to work as Robin, the Boy Wonder in his hometown.
A couple years passed, marked only by Bruce's broken back, his father's kidnapping, and Batman's subsequent order for Tim to remain in Gotham while he rescued Jack. Those were some of the hardest weeks of Tim's life; but Jack returned, still in a coma, but safe. Only a few months later, Tim met Superboy and Impulse, two other young heroes. They worked together to release a D.E.O 'project' named Secret - and soon after that, formed Young Justice, their own superhero team. For a while, it was just the three boys, but eventually girls were allowed into their league - and it hasn't been the same since.
The next five years would pass as a blur, marked by drama, love, angst - it was like a sitcom conducted in school and on rooftops. The Boy Wonder met the daughter of one of his more ridiculous foes, Cluemaster, and fell for her, hard; Spoiler was beautiful, witty, and smart. She was also stubborn as all hell; once Tim broke up with Ariana, his first girlfriend, Stephanie was right there. And they were together for....well. For a long time. And just when things were so wonderful, Tim's world began to fall apart. Young Justice had disbanded, and he'd joined the Teen Titans, going to San Francisco every weekend to all but lead his team. His dad woke up from his coma, he regained use of his legs, he fell in love with his physical therapist, Dana Winters. Their marriage was the best thing that could have happened to save Tim's homelife; she kept the arguments Tim and Jack would have about his lies and whereabouts at bay. For a while, he had a family again. Family, girlfriend, friends - he had the baddest, most tricked out motorcycle in the world, and worked with the coolest guy on the face of the planet.
Things were good.
Then, in a short period of time, it all fell apart.
His father found out his was Robin; Jack made him quit. And Stephanie...his girlfriend...took up his mantle. It was such a betrayal, but he tried not to mind. She had always needed Batman's approval more than he. Their relationship hit the rocks; Steph saw one of Tim's classmates, Darla Aquista, kiss him, and wouldn't give him the chance to explain. Angry and hurt, Tim went out with her. Being the Girl Wonder didn't work out, though, and Steph was fired soon after wearing the brightly colored outfit; and to prove that she was worthwhile, instigated one of Bruce's many War Game scenarios, without knowing all the pieces. The gangs of Gotham - Odessa, Ghost Dragon, Los Loboys, Crown Point, Bowery - every last one of them went to war. What resulted was the police losing faith in the Bat Family, the deaths of hundreds - including Darla, no matter how hard he fought to protect her - the Clan taking on a stadium full of thugs...And Black Mask torturing Stephanie to death.
Or, well - that's what he thought, for over a year. But more on that later...
As if one tragedy was no enough, scant weeks later, a tremor, another crisis, ran through the superhero community. The loved ones of heroes were targeted; Tim's father was the last to be targeted. The Boy Wonder listened to his father die over the telephone as he, in the Batmobile with Batman, raced to save Jack. They were too late; Jack Drake was murdered by Captain Boomerang, who also died that night. Dana, upon seeing the gruesome sight, was unable to cope without someone to lean on, and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Bludhaven. There was no revenge, no righteous anger to take out on some vile being; there was just grief, debilitating grief that Tim tried desperately, and ultimately vainly, to push away. He tried to think like Batman, to deal with it like Bruce. It was his friends in the Titans that showed him how much easier it was to deal with like a Titan. In the space of a few weeks, he'd lost his girlfriend and his family; he was an orphan. And Bruce, who had already raised two, approached Tim at his father's funeral. The Boy Wonder stood back as his father was buried; he had cried so much in recent weeks, that he couldn't dredge up an appropriate emotion to show. It was too much, and he was only sixteen. He couldn't do it anymore. And when Bruce offered to adopt him...Tim panicked. It was too much, too much to deal with, but he couldn't refuse; legally, Dana wasn't fit to care for him, and she hadn't adopted him legally upon marrying his father. Bruce could easily bring Tim into his family. So Tim went about fixing it.
The Boy Genius deserves his title: he created an entire fictional being; his own Uncle Eddie Drake. He changed his father's will, grated fake documents, social security, ID. He fooled the US government into believing Eddie Drake had always existed, and what was more, he fooled Batman, the World's Greatest Detective.
For some time, he lived with fake-Uncle Eddie in Bludhaven; he set up his Robin's Nest, a version of the Bat Cave, and virtually lived there. He worked with Cassandra Cain there, for a while, when Batgirl showed up to help him in the city; at first, he was angry that Batman had sent her. He didn't need looking after. But after a near fatal run in with the Penguin, things smoothed out, and the worked side by side for a while. For a while....things were better. As Tim is wont to do, he pushed away dealing with his grief and anger - not necessarily a good thing, considering he had a habit of letting it out in unhealthy bursts. Unhealthy for those around him.
But even that came to an end as the rest of his life began to unravel.
The Crisis; the decimation of Bludhaven; the death of his step-mother, of his fake uncle, of his best friend. Conner Kent, Superboy, was dead, and Tim, still unable to grieve, still prone to acting as if everything was all right, left Gotham for a year long trip with Dick and Bruce. They traveled 'round the world, retracing the steps Bruce took to become Batman. A lot changed between the three of them on that trip. Tim made himself a new costume, abandoning the bright colors of the one he'd inherited for the darker, red and black version he sports now. They were Conner's colors.
Drama awaited him on returning to Gotham; Cassandra was under Slade's influence by way of a powerful drug, and nearly killed him. He started a new high school and started dating Zoanne Wilkins, and found friends. Bruce offered to adopt him again, and Tim accepted, moving into the room in the manor that Dick and Jason had once inhabited. He got himself kidnapped in order to bust up a kid-snatching ring from the inside. He met Dodge, who wanted to be his sidekick and ultimately paid a high price for his heroic efforts. When things finally settled down, new players hit Gotham and nearly tore it apart. And now...Stephanie's back, as Spoiler. He's reunited with his old girlfriend. It would be easier if she had been dead and risen from the grave; then maybe he wouldn't be so furious with her. It's not easy to forgive someone who fled to Africa for nearly two years without so much as a postcard telling him she was alive.
Still wavering between being Tim Drake, Tim Wayne, and Robin, the Boy Wonder faced a Gotham leery of heroes, and a world he's come to distrust. He's eighteen and already an old man.
When Batman disappeared, things got worse. Gang wars started erupting across the city, and Tim spent his time putting out brushfires, knowing the bombs were coming. They had to be. He was ready; he was looking for Batman and keeping Gotham safe, but he was, day by day, more and more ready to put the cowl on and be the symbol Gotham needed him to be. The General, Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, returned to Gotham, much to Tim's disgust, and brought with him mayhem. The General stole other identities to lend to the chaos - first Red Robin, then Anarky. And while Tim was seeking him out, tracking him to an abandoned warehouse, he fell into the trap. The stupid, ridiculous trap he'd never had been prey to, if only he'd been thinking clearly. A bomb had been planted, waiting for it, and it exploded before Tim could escape. They don't always make it out scott free; the back of Tim's head was caught in the blast. He only wears a little domino mask; there was nothing to protect him. His hair, having grown long as of late, was burnt off, leaving him with a near crew cut in the front, and nothing in the back. Blistered skin covered the back of his skull to its base, there were even bits around his eyes from when he hadn't ducked quickly enough. He was hurt, maimed in a way, and he'd be surprised if hair ever grew back. Still, he overcame it - tried to - and did his best for Gotham. For himself. For Gotham!
Then Bruce died.
Love how that works out.
Dick took the mantle, finally, after Tim took a terrible crack at it himself. And Damian...of all people, Damian was the one Dick picked to be Robin. It should have been Tim. He took that bitterness and ran with it. Let Damian be Robin. Tim knew that Bruce was alive, somewhere - he had to be. And Tim was going to find him.
But he knew he'd be crossing lines. Lines that he couldn't allow to be traced back to Bruce or Dick. Batman. He couldn't be Robin. So he picked up the suit that Jason had worn, that the General had worn. Red Robin wasn't much of a hero, but he was something. And he was leaving Gotham. Red Robin would find Bruce, one way or another.
It really wasn't a fun journey. He went through Spain, France, Germany - and everything he found led him to Baghdad, Iraq. It was worth it, because now he has proof that Bruce is alive, solid proof, and it's like coming out of a fog. No more hoping he wasn't crazy. He was right, and he can prove it.
Of course, that proof came at getting two people killed, a third maimed, and almost dying himself. Bad times all round. It also ended with him working for Ra's al Ghul. Sort of. Tim's a real master of putting on a facade after all these years, after all. So while pretending to follow Ra's's orders, he set his traps, and in the end, well.
In the end he stopped the bad guys, saved the girl, and crippled the League. And he still has that proof. Looks like things are finally starting to look up. Not to mention becoming an emancipated minor, and a CEO all in one day, while managing to beat Ra's at his own game and save the lives of friends and family. It was a good day. Except for the being kicked out of a window part.
Personality: People change as they age, and the Boy Wonder is certainly no exception. Over the past five years, his personality has darkened, developing from the innocent, optimistic teen he was into the brooding and bleak young man he is now. Tim used to be open, quick with a quip, and more than ready to be a good friend. Such characteristics tend to warp, however, when one loses too much, too young. Today, Tim is a quiet young man, quieter than he ever was; but on top of that, he's angry.
A temper is a dangerous thing in his line of work: he's been taught to never fight angry, to not let that emotion cloud his judgment. But on several occasions, Tim has lost his temper against an enemy, tapped into a violent fury that Lady Shiva would be proud of. Everyone has his breaking point, and the Boy Wonder's has grown dangerously close over the past year, close enough to have broken. And he still carries the guilt of the consequences of his actions, even actions years old.
Determination is one of the few things about Tim that has not changed. When he was thirteen, he was determined to find a Robin for Batman, when he was in the Titans, he was determined to make them a working team, and now he is determined to have his friends back, no matter what it takes. Truth be told, Tim's anger is not what one should worry about - it's his determination.
Any costumed crime fighter, especially in the Bat Family, leads a double life; though at his core Tim is a brooding person, he is also a complete geek. Total nerd. There's no easy way around it; the Boy Wonder might be a figure worthy of respect in Gotham, but Timothy Jackson Drake was a member of the Gotham Heights Geeks. He played Dungeons and Dragons with them on a regular basis (and was a damn fine Game Master, thank you very much), belonged to his old school's computer club, learned how to hack and program with skill second only to Oracle. Though he always counted himself among his geeky friends, there has always been something about Tim that drew all sorts in, be them geek or jock, prep or goth. Along the same lines, he has a tremendous ability to diffuse problems between said cliques. When it comes down to it, Tim is a natural leader, whether he likes thinking about that or not.
See, leaders get people killed. And he has a lot of lives - deaths - on his conscience already.
Beneath everything is Tim's intelligence. He's not called the Boy Genius for nothing, and has been hailed at times as being even smarter than Batman and Alfred. He's a smart young man, and has gained the all important street smarts over the past five years. He can take a computer apart almost as quickly as Oracle, he can hack with the best of them, but he can also handle himself on Gotham's mean streets - and he has to, because damn if mean isn't an understatement.
Recent events have forced him to deal with complications he never thought he'd face. There were always shades of gray, but Tim very, very rarely saw the line between right and wrong blur. After Bruce's death disappearance, Tim knew he'd be blurring those lines. He started making compromises. Big ones. Got people killed. Very nearly did a little killing of his own. Hell, there are probably a few unknown deaths on his shoulders; but despite it, he's finding his way back to black and white. Which is great, because he was getting really tired of those compromises.
Sexual Preferences/Orientation: Tim's the Boy Virgin. Normal teenage hormones have taken a backseat in his life; the one time he thought he was getting laid, he was broken up with. He's heterosexual, but sex really isn't in the forefront of his thoughts. He develops crushes easily, in a way that can kind of question his monogamy; Tim's a good ole boy type. He doesn't like the idea of cheating on someone he's with, but he isn't super traditional about relationships, either.
Powers: Tim is exceptionally strong for someone his age and size, but he is still only human. He has been trained extensively in martial arts, criminology, acrobatics, stealth, disguise, escapology - just to name a few. Lady Shiva herself was among his first fighting teachers, and though she wished him to kill, the Boy Wonder never backed away from the Bat Clan beliefs. Besides that, in his world travels he learned other helpful abilities, like healing skills from the Ramul Lama in Paris, where he was supposed to learn much; and never had the chance, thanks to the intervention of the Ghost Dragons. Still, he has excellent knowledge of pressure points, how they can heal, and how they can bring a man down. His main 'power,' however, is his keen mind, his above average - if not genius - intellect. Possibly smarter than Alfred and even Batman himself, Tim's specialty is his detective skills. While his predecessor, Jason Todd, was headstrong, rash, and ruthless, Tim spent much of his career as Robin fearing he strayed on the side of overly cautious, to slow to react. Though still his own harshest critic, the Boy Wonder has proven time and again that he is worthy of being Batman's partner. His costume is fireproof and bulletproof, and contains numerous weapons that help him in his fight against crime, the most notable of which are his birdarangs and his collapsible bo staff.
Reason for playing: I've played Tim for a long time, and he's very comfortable for me; he's got a nice, modern voice that's distinct despite being...modern. Tim's so rarely in sexual situations, or situations where his limits are really pushed in the way the city would push them, so I'm looking forward to seeing what that would be like with him.
5. Samples
First-Person: [A little quietly; he isn't speaking into his journal yet.] What the--
This isn't the Financial District. O, you there? I was just on my way out of Little Odessa. Should be on fifth right now, but - O? Dick? Can anyone hear me? [There's some quiet movement, a few mutters, then the revving of an engine.] Where's Toto when you need him?
Third-Person: He had to admit, his newest plan complicated things.
While Red Robin needed no help getting around, Tim Drake needed arm and leg braces to walk around. It meant that the safe houses would need new equipment - and that changing on top of a building, for whatever reason, would be really hard to explain. But it had worked so far, and if he wanted to keep fooling Vale, he'd have to use the braces for the next year. So a bag with a set of the braces was clipped to the back of his bike, to be delivered to one of the apartments in the Wayne name downtown. He'd already left a couple bags in Crown Point, and the East End.
In costume - it wasn't like Tim Drake could ride a motorcycle right now - Tim weaved in and out of traffic, slipping easily between cars as he went. The traffic started to recede as he left Little Odessa, headed toward the Diamond District. It wasn't uncommon; less people could afford to be at this end of town.
The corner of his mouth twitched, just a little. Maybe he'd tackle that, after getting the gang problem fully under control. The Neon Knights were almost there, and now that he'd condemned Cavallo and Wise, he didn't have much more opposition to worry about. He wasn't going to let Gotham be in disarray when Bruce got back.
He'd gotten the idea to assassinate Tim Drake from Bruce, after all; he'd done something similar, years ago, to throw Hugo Strange off the trail. Tim was just taking it a lot farther. He smiled.
And that was when he realized that he was not driving into the Diamond District.
Third-Person #2: He didn't have time for this.
There was so much to do still - he had to find Scarab, set his trap, talk to M'gann - and all he could do was think about Stephanie. In the Batgirl outfit. She'd broken his heart, let him think she was dead for more than a year. They weren't good for each other right now - they were bad for each other - but jeez.
He leaned against the sink with one hand, the other busy stroking himself through his slacks. There was so much wrong with this, he thought. He had a meeting with the commissioner to get to. He had his own assassination to plot. Instead, Tim was in the bathroom, acting like a teenager for the first time in a long time. He bit his lip to stifle a groan, unbuttoning his pants to wrap his fingers solidly around his erection. She'd been working out on the bars when he came in, all that blond hair following her when she moved, uniform hugging her body. Tim grunted, hips shifting toward his hand.
He missed her. He was afraid of her. And he came as his thoughts strayed, hovering between Stephanie Brown and Tam Fox. His ex and his fake fiance.
Tim turned on the faucet and cleaned up, before bending forward to press his hot forehead against the cool porcelain of the sink. He had to shift his attention back where it was needed. Scarab. Catching Scarab was definitely more important than masturbating in the bathroom. He was going to forget this had happened, so he could look Tam in the eye later.
And Steph.
Crap.
P L A Y E R
☓ Name: Ari
☓ Personal journal: rivin
☓ Age: 22
☓ Other characters in The Devils See: --
☓ Email: redrobin133@gmail.com
☓ AIM/MSN/Yahoo! Messenger: AIM: FallenSun13
C H A R A C T E R
☓ Name: Timothy Jackson Drake
☓ Series: DC Comics
☓ Reference: Walk this waaaay
☓ Canon point: Teen Titans #92
☓ Age: 17
☓ Personality: People change as they age, and the Boy Wonder is certainly no exception. Over the past five years, his personality has darkened, developing from the innocent, optimistic teen he was into the brooding and bleak young man he is now. Tim used to be open, quick with a quip, and more than ready to be a good friend. Such characteristics tend to warp, however, when one loses too much, too young. Today, Tim is a quiet young man, quieter than he ever was; but on top of that, he's angry.
A temper is a dangerous thing in his line of work: he's been taught to never fight angry, to not let that emotion cloud his judgment. But on several occasions, Tim has lost his temper against an enemy, tapped into a violent fury that Lady Shiva would be proud of. Everyone has his breaking point, and the Boy Wonder's has grown dangerously close over the past year, close enough to have broken. And he still carries the guilt of the consequences of his actions, even actions years old.
Determination is one of the few things about Tim that has not changed. When he was thirteen, he was determined to find a Robin for Batman, when he was in the Titans, he was determined to make them a working team, and now he is determined to have his friends back, no matter what it takes. Truth be told, Tim's anger is not what one should worry about - it's his determination.
Any costumed crime fighter, especially in the Bat Family, leads a double life; though at his core Tim is a brooding person, he is also a complete geek. Total nerd. There's no easy way around it; the Boy Wonder might be a figure worthy of respect in Gotham, but Timothy Jackson Drake was a member of the Gotham Heights Geeks. He played Dungeons and Dragons with them on a regular basis (and was a damn fine Game Master, thank you very much), belonged to his old school's computer club, learned how to hack and program with skill second only to Oracle. Though he always counted himself among his geeky friends, there has always been something about Tim that drew all sorts in, be them geek or jock, prep or goth. Along the same lines, he has a tremendous ability to diffuse problems between said cliques. When it comes down to it, Tim is a natural leader, whether he likes thinking about that or not.
See, leaders get people killed. And he has a lot of lives - deaths - on his conscience already.
Beneath everything is Tim's intelligence. He's not called the Boy Genius for nothing, and has been hailed at times as being even smarter than Batman and Alfred. He's a smart young man, and has gained the all important street smarts over the past five years. He can take a computer apart almost as quickly as Oracle, he can hack with the best of them, but he can also handle himself on Gotham's mean streets - and he has to, because damn if mean isn't an understatement.
Recent events have forced him to deal with complications he never thought he'd face. There were always shades of gray, but Tim very, very rarely saw the line between right and wrong blur. After Bruce's death disappearance, Tim knew he'd be blurring those lines. He started making compromises. Big ones. Got people killed. Very nearly did a little killing of his own. Hell, there are probably a few unknown deaths on his shoulders; but despite it, he's finding his way back to black and white. Which is great, because he was getting really tired of those compromises.
☓ Abilities: Tim is exceptionally strong for someone his age and size, but he is still only human. He has been trained extensively in martial arts, criminology, acrobatics, stealth, disguise, escapology - just to name a few. Lady Shiva herself was among his first fighting teachers, and though she wished him to kill, the Boy Wonder never backed away from the Bat Clan beliefs. Besides that, in his world travels he learned other helpful abilities, like healing skills from the Ramul Lama in Paris, where he was supposed to learn much; and never had the chance, thanks to the intervention of the Ghost Dragons. Still, he has excellent knowledge of pressure points, how they can heal, and how they can bring a man down. His main 'power,' however, is his keen mind, his above average - if not genius - intellect. Possibly smarter than Alfred and even Batman himself, Tim's specialty is his detective skills. While his predecessor, Jason Todd, was headstrong, rash, and ruthless, Tim spent much of his career as Robin fearing he strayed on the side of overly cautious, to slow to react. Though still his own harshest critic, the Boy Wonder has proven time and again that he is worthy of being Batman's partner. His costume is fireproof and bulletproof, and contains numerous weapons that help him in his fight against crime, the most notable of which are his birdarangs and his collapsible bo staff.
☓ Weaknesses: Tim has developed a tendency to work alone. He doesn't like putting other people in danger, he doesn't like involving other people, - which has a way of coming back to bite him int he ass sometimes. He's still fairly small, and sometimes all the skills in the world won't matter when you're in a different weight division. He has a tendency to brood into the foreseeable future - or forever - unless someone knocks him out of it; which rarely happens. It's an almost obsessive thing: when faced with a problem, he won't stop working at it until he has a solution. Sometimes, that blinds him to other problems. Or people. Along the same vein, when he runs into problems that he can't fix, he takes it out on himself. There have been plenty of times when he's been unable to save someone, whether it's a stranger or a friend - and the guilt usually translates to recklessness at near Jason-level proportions. And something he really should learn to stop doing is the way he always lets the pretty girl get the first punch in. Though 'lets' might be generous. 'Gets distracted' is probably more fitting.
☓ Strengths: See above; Tim's a tactical genius, an excellent liar, an expert martial artist, he's well versed in criminology, acrobatics, stealth, disguise, escapology - and he's pretty damned handy with a computer, to boot.
☓ Intranet post sample: [Someone is looking very, very wet. Tim managed to cough up most of the water he swallowed at least an hour ago, and he stashed his Red Robin costume - which means he's got some very poorly fitting clothes on, because they aren't his - but towels have been a little harder to find than this very, very old computer. He's scowling pretty hard at it, too, because this crap is obscenely old, and it's frustrating when you're wet and half drowned and have no idea where you are. But eventually - after turning the entire picture completely upside down (and then green) somehow, he gets it working.]
--kill for Windows 7 right now. I'd settled for Vista. Hello? I think I got this broadcasting, but the signal is...different. I need to know where I am.
☓ Log post sample: He was drowning.
It didn't make any sense; he'd just been in the T-Wing, heading back to Gotham with Cassie, and Conner, and Bart. He'd been pleased with the decision to rejoin the Teen Titans, the realization that it was possible. As water tried to flood his lungs, he tried to understand what had happened. Had he blacked out? Had they crashed? Tim forced his eyes open as the current dragged at him. No, no crash - he didn't see any fire, didn't see any remnants of the jet - but then, what?
It didn't make any sense. Then again, that wasn't exactly unusual for him.
Locking his jaws, Tim trusted his inner ear and kicked upwards. It took effort, and his cape nearly killed him - but he broke the surface with a long gasp before being dragged under again. He was trying to disengage the damn thing when the current gripped and hurled him again, and where there had been only water, there was suddenly land. Tim latched onto it, ignoring his cape and dragging himself out of the shallows and onto the beach. He laid on his side, coughing, forcing what water he had swallowed out of his system.
Strange, he thought; he hadn't seen an island when he'd come up for air.
Getting to his feet, Tim staggered, looking up at the moon, and back out to sea. Where the hell was he? And where were the Titans? More importantly, who was here?