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Richard (Dick) Grayson, was the first Robin. The creator of Robin.
When he became Robin for the first time, it was all about revenge. He was chasing the man responsible for his parent's deaths. He was angry and hurt, and he was burning, made of Red-Colored-Rage.
When he became Robin again, permanently, this time, he was joyful, and bright, and excited. He was flying and doing good, and he loved it.
He put on a show when he was Robin. He gave laughter as he rose above the line of buildings, and smiles while comforting victims.
He met other kids, doing the same thing. Learning, fighting, protecting, some were flying, some weren’t, but in the end, it was all the same. But… none of them gave the show that he did.
Eventually, Robin became a staple. Robin was made of light , and laughter, and good. Robin was Batman’s opposite in everything in regards to personality.
No one, except for those who really knew Dick (Alfred, Bruce, Barbra - people who knew what it felt like to be powerless in a city like Gotham), noticed that Robin still burned.
No one of them burned like he did. That choking Fire in his chest, was not in anyone else .
Then it fell apart. Dick was fired, his Fire was doused, and Dick threw off the Red, to become Blue.
Dick Grayson created Robin out of Red-Colored-Rage. Dick Grayson became Nightwing out of Blue-Colored-Sorrow.
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Jason Todd, was the second Robin. He was the reason that Robin became a mantle.
Jason became Robin out of a want to do good. He protected fiercely, and loved passionately. Most importantly, Jason Todd burned.
Where Dick burned as Red-Colored-Rage .
Jason burned as Yellow-Colored- Passion.
The show continued, more fiercely than before. Jason gave Laughter while breaking bones, and Too-Bright-Smiles while drawing blood.
Dick comes back as Blue-Colored-Sorrow, wanting to meet Robin-as-Jason, they each look at the other, and see that the other understands when no one else does and- Dick leaves as Blue-Colored- Bliss. He comes back again, and again, and together, Dick-as-Nightwing and Robin-as-Jason burn.
People learn to fear the Birds more than they ever did the Bat. Because the Bat was water, he would sweep you away with his force. But the Birds. The Birds were Fire, they would burn you from the inside out and Laugh while they did it.
Eventually, through no true fault of his own. Jason’s Fire burns out. His Yellow-Colored-Passion betrays him, to a mother he thought would love him.
People stop fearing Birds and start fearing the Bat, because he is no longer a steady river, he is a raging torrent.
Dick is not told of the ash of Robin-as-Jason’s Fire, and when he learns of it, his Blue-Colored-Bliss turns to BluRed-Colored-SorRage, his colors blurring and mixing in ways they shouldn’t , his Rage becoming Blue, his Sorrow now Red. and it’s wrong. It’s wrongwrongwrong-
And he’s burning all wrong-
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Timothy (Tim) Drake, was the third Robin. He was the reason Robin became its own, apart from the Bat.
Tim became Robin out of necessity. At least, that’s what he believes.
The thing about Tim, is that he’s only burned twice. The first, when he saw Robin-as-Dick do a quadruple-flip, the second, when Robin-as-Jason stopped burning. He wanted to burn all the time, he craved to, but he didn’t so he never planned to become Robin. He went to Dick Grayson first, but Dick was still Red-And-Blue-Sorrow-Rage-Not-Right colors. So Tim went to Batman directly.
Eventually, Tim became Red-Colored-Assured, he still didn’t burn, but… he hoped he would eventually.
Dick comes to meet Tim, and, eventually, Dick’s colors even out and he becomes Blue-Colored-Bittersweet.
Tim burns for the third time, when his father takes away Robin. He burns and understands and hopes that it lasts, but it does not. Because Steph stops being Royal-Colored-Wild and becomes Yellow-Colored-Shine, he watches as Robin-as-Steph burns, and he knows what it feels like now, he understands .
Then his father dies, and Tim… Tim finally burns. He becomes Robin again but now he’s Robin-as-Tim instead of Tim wearing Robin. He becomes Red-Colored-Warmth and he is burning.
Dick looks at Tim, Tim looks back, and they see. Dick becomes Blue-Colored- Bliss again. Together they burn, and people learn to fear the Birds again.
Jason comes back. He is burning, but it is not the burn it was. It is not right. He is Lime-Colored-Wrath, and Jason-As-Red-Hood is not right .
He hurts Tim for being Robin-as-Tim, and Tim nearly stops burning.
But he doesn’t, he refuses to be nothing but ash again. He keeps going and burning and living. And he loves it.
Damian appears and he is Sick-Green-Colored-Fear. He is afraid of his father, and his opinion which he does not understand, afraid of his brothers and what they may mean for his father's love. He tries to kill Tim, but he does not succeed. He does not burn, he is smoldering embers of a fire doused by years of abuse. But he will learn.
Tims friends die, but he does not stop burning and for that he is grateful.
Bruce dies, Dick grieves and his colors mix wrong again, he is wrong and Tim tries to tell him that their Bat isn’t dead, but they’re both burning and it’s wrong now.
Tim is fired from Robin. He becomes Red-Colored-Fury and Tim-as-Red-Robin.
He burns, but it is wrong.
He is no longer a perfect Fire, he is a burning forest.
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Stephanie (Steph) Brown, was the fourth Robin. She is the one who gave Robin life.
She became Robin because she was asked . Tim could not be Robin and Cass could not burn. So she became Robin-as-Steph.
Steph-as-Spoiler was put in a box, her Royal-Colored-Wild changed to Yellow-Colored-Too-Bright-Shine, and she realized what Tim meant, when he said he could not burn. She feels it. The Fire, and the Cruel-Kind-Roarous Laughter that comes with it.
She suffers as she is torn by Black Mask, but she still burns.
It is glorious.
She rests, gets back on her feet. Robin is Tim again, with her blessing. She becomes Batgirl-as-Steph with her Too-Bright-Shine.
She looks at Tim, Tim looks back. Tim becomes Red-Colored-Warmth, and together, finally, they burn.
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Damian Wayne is the fifth Robin.
When he wore the Robin colors for the first time, at thirteen, it was to gain what he believed to be his rightful place. He had lost a father he had no chance of knowing and he was still drenched in Sick-Green-Colored-Fear.
Eventually, Damian learned. He became less murderous, as Batman-as-Dick took care of him, taught him, loved him. He stopped fearing so much and learned to be Green-Colored-Stable. His Father was eventually retrieved from the timeline, and became Batman-as-Bruce, and Batman-as-Dick became Dick-as-Nightwing again.
What his Father considered his Family was nothing more than a few people scattered across the world, connected with merely a symbol.
When he turned fifteen, Damian became curious. He did not understand why Grayson, Todd, Drake, and Brown came to his Fathers interest. He does admit that with the training they have received, and their experience, they are remarkable. But he does not know how they came into Father's life, or why he decided they would be good at what they do.
So he watched , and searched , and listened , and in the end, he saw .
He saw how Grayson- Dick, was Red-Colored-Rage, how he laughed and smiled and gave people hope , and created something that even Damian did not know the extent of. How he was fired and became Dick-as-Nightwing and Blue-Colored-Sorrow.
He saw how Todd- Jason, was Yellow-Colored-Passion, how he made Robin more than just one person, how he used Cruel-Kind-Roarous Laughter to make people learn to fear the name Robin. How he took Dick from Blue-Colored-Sorrow, to Blue-Colored-Bliss, and how his death mixed Dick’s colors all wrong.
He saw how Drake- Tim, did not start as Robin, how he kicked and screamed and made Robin its own Person, before he even understood what it felt like to be Robin-as-Tim, how he became Red-Colored-Warmth because he needed to. How he separated Dicks colors into something manageable . How he became Tim-as-Red-Robin and Red-Colored-Fury when scorned.
He saw how Brown- Steph, went from Royal-Colored-Wild to Yellow-Colored-Too-Bright-Shine. How she went from Steph-as-Spoiler to Robin-as-Steph to Batgirl-as-Steph. How she kept Tim from falling too soon, how she Loved the Cruel-Kind-Roarous no - Robin Laughter that comes with Robin.
Most of all, he saw how they burned. Their Fire mixed with Colors and their Cruel-Kind-Roarous- Robin Laughter and Too-Sharp-Smiles . They burned, but now they’re all burning wrong and Damian needs to fix it, because if he doesn’t, no one will, because no one burns like they do. No one sees.
They are everything that is beautiful and good and Damian cannot lose that before he gains it.
And, for the first time, Damian is not merely hot coal , or snuffed embers. He is not the cold ashes of a Person who could not truly live before their existence could begin.
He is Robin-as-Damian and he is Green-Colored- Resolve and-
He burns.
He burns for his Not-Robin-Siblings, because if he does not. No One. Else. Will.