[hider=Quickly, Robin! To the crosswalk!][center][COLOR=SLATEGRAY][B]C H A R A C T E R   C O N C E P T   P R O P O S A L[/B][/COLOR][h1][color=gold][b]R O B I N[/b][/color][/h1]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Weq5GRz.jpg[/img][h3][sup][sub][color=goldenrod]J A S O N   P E T E R   T O D D   [color=lime]♦[/color]   M A L E   [color=lime]♦[/color]   A C R O B A T   [color=lime]♦[/color]   H A L Y ' S   C I R C U S   [color=lime]♦[/color]   B A T - F A M[/color][/sub][/sup][/h3]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/FQrNaQI.jpg[/img][/CENTER][COLOR=gold][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]C H A R A C T E R   C O N C E P T:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR]
[CENTER][sup][color=goldenrod]"I'm [b]not[/b] a normal kid -- I'm like [i]you[/i] -- my parents were killed too and I can't let that lie any more than you can."[/color]
[color=silver]- Detective Comics #542 (September 1984)[/color][/sup][/CENTER][INDENT][INDENT]Journey back to [b]1983[/b] and the original origin of Jason Todd.  Not a street smart punk from the gangs of Gotham who would become the "bad boy" Robin, but a talented circus acrobat who came to endear himself to Dick Grayson, and then later be introduced to Bruce Wayne.  He'd not brash, he's not confident.  He's scared and uncertain, but most of all, he wants his [b]family[/b] to be proud of him as he tries to find his place in this brave, new world.

When an injury sidelines [b]Dick Grayson[/b]'s vigilante activities, he takes up an offer to coach and mentor a young athlete growing up in similar circumstances to those Dick experienced with the Flying Graysons.  But, just as with Haly's Circus all those years ago, Dick's exposure to the nostalgia of his childhood will reveal that the make-up and lights hides a number of secrets.  And the more that Dick tried to shield Jason from the shadows among them, the more the darkness closes in around them.

This is Robin II: Year Zero.  A series of events that will take you through the story of how a boy named Jason Todd would come to be the successor to Dick Grayson and Batman's new partner in the war on crime.[/indent][/indent]
[COLOR=gold][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]C H A R A C T E R   M O T I V A T I O N S   &   G O A L S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT]I had a good thing going with Toyboy, but after awhile it started to feel like a gimmick.  This gets me back to writing what I do best, while fleshing out and exploring a facet of Jason Todd's character that is often overlooked or outright dismissed, which is the brief period of 1983-1985 before his Post [i]Crisis[/i] reboot and personality change.    Other than that, I'm counting on [@Inkarnate] to help me avoid sandboxing solo as I had been doing with Dick/Toyboy.  The goal here is to be more organic, more natural with the development, and take time in telling the story of how a circus orphan becomes the second Robin.[/indent][/indent]
[COLOR=gold][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]C H A R A C T E R   N O T E S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT]Note: All NPCs shared with [@Inkarnate]

• [b]Richard "Dick" Grayson (Nightwing)[/b] - the original costumed sidekick known as Robin, having grown from a mere boy to a young man now making a life and a name for himself in the city of Bludhaven.  After an injury takes him out of the fight, he picks up a job as a trapeze coach for Haly's Circus in order to make medical bills and rent for himself, rather than continuing to rely on Bruce Wayne for money.

• [b]Colin Wilkes (Abuse)[/b] - A young orphan in the care of the Gotham City Child Welfare Agency.

• [b]Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl)[/b] - a young, teenaged superheroine who has crossed paths with the Batman.  Serves as Jason's regular babysitter when Dick isn't available, particularly as Alfred is getting too old for that sort of thing.

• [b]Julia Pennyworth[/b] - The daughter of Alfred Pennyworth and the former French heroine who was known as Mademoiselle Marie, Julia is an assistant district attorney working in Gotham.

• [b]Amanda Groscz[/b] - A social worker with the Gotham City Child Welfare Agency, assigned to the case of Jason Todd.

• [b]Mandy de Paolo[/b] - Another social worker with the Gotham City Child Welfare Agency, and the sister of [b]Fr. Daniel de Paolo[/b], a Catholic Priest with the Gotham Diocese.

• [b]C.C. Haley[/b] - The owner and general manager of Haley's Circus

• [b]Waldo Flynn[/b] - One of the clowns and a longtime member of the circus troupe, this former friend of Dick Grayson seems different than how Dick remembers him. 

• [b]Harvey Bullock[/b] - A police detective whose slovenly appearance and rough demeanor mark his as one of the worst police officers on the Gotham Police Department.

• [b]Harvey Dent (Two-Face)[/b] - The former District Attorney for Gotham City, twisted into a cruel crime boss.  Tapping into the longshoreman's union, Two-Face has built a criminal empire that uses a blackmail and protection money racket to fix electoral votes, buy police officers, and hold the city hostage through its corruption.

• [b]The Court of Owls[/b] - A mysterious organization that manipulates events in Gotham City for its own ends.

• [b]Raymond McCreary (Talon)[/b] - A childhood friend of Dick Grayson's who also grew up in the circus, through appeared to have later runaway from it.[/indent][/indent]
[COLOR=gold][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]S A M P L E   P O S T:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR]
[hider][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/1u2zJGY.png[/img]
“T H E   G E O M E T R Y   O F   S H A D O W S”
[sub]P A R T   O N E[/sub][/center][COLOR=goldenrod][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]G O T H A M   C I T Y[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][sup][color=crimson]Haly’s Circus[/color][/sup][/INDENT]
[color=silver]The ground is forty feet below me.
 
There’s no net.
 
Nothing holding me up.  I let go of the flying trapeze and, for a moment, I’m flying.  I can hear the gasps, the collective holding of breath, and even a few shrieks rise from below.  I’m starting to fall, but I’m not afraid.  I just stretch out my arms, and I know she’ll be there to catch me. Because she’s always there.  Because she always does.
 
The gasps echo, louder this time, as we both go sailing through the air.  Me, dangling in mid-air, and my mother holding onto my arms with her legs hooked around the trapeze bar.
 
Then she lets go.
 
The screams pierce the air.  I shut out the audience - the blur of faces and lights - as I tuck into a ball and flip through the air.  Once.  Twice.  What they don’t see is my father, standing on the platform.  He let the trapeze bar go right as I finished the first rotation.  Coming out of the second,  I plane my body out.  My hands open wide, the trapeze bar smacking right against the palms.  Holding fast, I sail through the air.  Dismount, tuck into a backflip, and make the landing on the platform.
 
The cheers break out, even as my mother is following suit, until all three of us are standing on the platform together.  The applause grows in intensity as she dismounts and joins us, then transforms into a standing ovation as we take a bow.[/color]

“The fearless Flying Trapeze! Let’s have a great Gotham round of applause for ten year old [b]Jason Todd[/b]. The youngest acrobat performing today!”
 
[color=silver]I step back, and soon I’m the only one standing on the platform. The performance goes into the second act and I’ve got the best seat in the house.
 
Taking another step back from the platform, I put my back against the tent pole and slide down. The strength seems to go out of my legs and I’m starting to realize that my arms are numb. My heart is pounding in my chest and I’m still trying to catch my breath. Below, it probably feels a little cool inside the tent. Up here, with all the lights, it feels like it’s a hundred degrees. 

In between the platforms, mom and dad are really putting on a show.  I know every move.  I know each routine, but it’s still incredible to witness.  It takes my breath away, and I get to see this every day.  The audience below?  Amazed would be an understatement.  I wish that I could be out there with them, but I’m still too young.  Mom and dad are worried that I’ll get tired.

 Tired during practice is one thing.  We have nets and safety harnesses while we learn a new routine.  It gives us that little extra security to push ourselves to the limit to figure out what works and what doesn’t.  Which, in my case, usually doesn’t.  I hit the net four or five or even a dozen times some days.
 
But that’s practice, and this isn’t.  So I come in at the start of the performance for the first act, then I’m sidelined for the second, and come back toward the end of the third.  But I don’t really have any stunts after the first act.[/color][/indent][/hider]
[COLOR=gold][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]P O S T   C A T A L O G:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][color=goldenrod][sub]PART I: "THE GEOMETRY OF SHADOWS"[/SUB][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]Coming soon.[/i][/indent]
[color=goldenrod][sub]PART II: "AND THE ROCK CRIED OUT, NO HIDING PLACE"[/SUB][/COLOR]
[INDENT][i]Coming soon.[/i][/indent][/indent][/hider]