More spicy Devin:

Please note how far we've gone without even mentioning sexuality. But now it introduces itself into the equation. While Bruce is content to occasionally lust after Catwoman or Talia, Dick has quite suddenly turned a corner in his life which makes it hard to so much as think through the thick fog of hormones. These are two extremely physical people, and also both extremely attractive, and in his panic about becoming irrelevant, I think Dick Grayson may have tripped over the idea of a romantic relationship. It would allow him to stay in the Manor as a part of Bruce's life indefinitely, it would reassure him as to Bruce's feelings for him, it would allow him some much needed physical release, and it might - it might even help make Batman a happier, more relaxed person. How much does this man really love and trust him? Would this kind of relationship be an option? Being the brave and bold creature that Batman has helped him to become, Dick goes to find out.

I think if it happened at all, the whole thing would have happened in about twenty seconds, and I think that they would both remember that day with a visceral recall that borders on feverish. For Dick, about sixteen or seventeen at the time, it would have started months and months earlier, and going in to it he would already know every tremor, every swallow, every flex of fist and tight-throated, abandoned half-sentence that had both preordained and precluded it. For Bruce, it would have come out of nowhere; a brick wall separating the past from the present, the asphalt below it suddenly permanently littered with small shards and chaff from the crash.

My guess is that is would have started with a question. Dick, in an arbitrary moment in the Batcave, asking something like "what happens to me after I turn eighteen? What happens to us after those… papers… stop meaning anything…?" To which Bruce would respond, as most likely would anyone who had not been obsessing about this particular potential end of the world for months on end, "hm?"

So maybe Dick stops using language. Maybe he moves close to Batman suddenly, grim and determined in an oddly thrilled sort of way, heat radiating off of him in waves as he suddenly presses his lips against Batman's - irresistible force hurtling towards immovable object. And if that happened, then I'm guessing that two things go through Batman's head in that moment, equally terrifying.

First of all, the person in front of him now is NOT a little boy. He has not been seeing him, truly seeing him, for maybe years now. And the thought of the loss of that little boy makes him freeze up with grief. He is so inexcusably, insanely—unsafe, unsafe, unsafe! (love = death)—attached to that little boy, and that little boy isn't there anymore, has somehow slipped away. That little boy that he owns, truly owns - legally, loyally, financially, life-debt, imprinting, creation, encouragement, oath-sworn owns—body and soul.

Which means that the not-little-boy in front of him, he owns this creature, too. This creature that looks different, thinks differently, hell, even smells different - how could he have been paying so little attention?! - he recognizes him absolutely nonetheless. Absolutely. The spirit is unmistakable, and maybe something deep inside of Batman moves to grab it, to hold it close, to use it to blot out the horrible grief of losing his little boy, which doesn't have to be horrible at all, because this creature standing in front of him now, trembling with audacity and passion, staring at him unblinkingly with those breath-takingly familiar blue eyes, he is so frustratingly, obviously the SAME that before he even thinks about it, maybe Batman does reach out to him - not to return the kiss, but to break him apart with his bare hands and release the more recognizable form; his darting ray of sunshine, his wise-cracking little monkey-wrench, his boy.

And then the not-little-boy moves towards the reach of Batman's hands with such an utter lack of fear that Batman himself recoils, stepping quickly back, knowing as he does so that the not-little-boy sees the falter, knowing as he does so that the soul he has breathed beside for over eight years now will be able to imagine no other course than total dedication to pursuit and final victory through abrasion. Because I think that Dick would be right if he later asserted that Bruce himself was partly to blame. Bruce would have stepped back, after all, that's true. And he himself had trained Dick Grayson never to give up on an opponent in retreat.

why her Titans sucked so bad

Which ones did she do?

Devin on the HoYay:

I don't think they're gay (though I would have no problem with it if they were). I don't think they sleep together or hold circle jerks in the Batcave. But I do think that they're in an enormously complicated relationship that often suffers from an overabundance of trepidation hitting up against a deficiency of communication. I think they love each other familially, but that both of them have so little experience with family that they hardly know what that is or means. So now, in addition to all the good things they do for one another - and there are many good, healthy aspects to the relationship - Dick provides Bruce with a constant emotional challenge, always ready to go off - to accuse, to push, to question, to need things from him he's not sure he can give - while Bruce provides Dick with an irresistible, unsolvable mystery: how do you make a difference in the life of a person unwilling to be changed?

And one last comment before I leave this matter: I'm fairly certain that Greg Rucka, Chuck Dixon, and Ed Brubaker all have totally different ideas about this relationship, and I'm fairly certain that whatever they think, they're all correct. I don't hold this theory out as the be-all-end-all psychological evolution of the Wayne/Grayson dichotomy… this is just what's in my head and heart as I write, and I'm sure I would terrify myself if I tracked down the origins of this speculation in my own life. All I know is that it revs my motor, and gives me a lot to play with when I use these characters. This is the answer I got when I asked them about their relationship, and so this is the background material I'm using when I script.

Devin on Ghost Rider!

Stuart Moore, my editor on Ghost Rider, actively discouraged me from reading any old Ghost Rider comics. He wanted a fresh take. And the more my friends told me about the character and his history, the more I saw why. I'm not usually judgmental about these things, but what the fuck WAS all that? The SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE, folks - it's about as pure and naturally outfitted as a concept gets. We all know the spirit of vengeance. We know what it is and how it behaves and that you don't get to ask it any soul-searching questions like "were you once the soul of Noble Kane?" Who cares? It's the spirit of vengeance! As far as I'm concerned, that explains everything right there.

And I'll admit, too, that it was fun to be able to cut loose a little. Ghost Rider never took an oath not to kill. Ghost Rider doesn't suffer from compunction or fits of existential doubt. Ghost Rider isn't surrounded by a bunch of loyal allies fighting for his humanity. Ghost Rider has a bike and a chain and his head is on fire.

Ghost Rider is COOL.

Which ones did she do?

She did the relaunch before this one, which brought back the original Titans. The characters were great, but somehow they started sucking as super heroes. Which was offensive to those of us who were reading it in the Wolfman/Perez days, when it sported the tagline, "They are the best there are."

the relaunch before this one, which brought back the original Titans

Despite my love for the second incarnation, and fondness for the first, that relaunch never grabbed me, even though it was mostly the same guys. But I didn't stay around very long.

She did the relaunch before this one, which brought back the original Titans. The characters were great, but somehow they started sucking as super heroes. Which was offensive to those of us who were reading it in the Wolfman/Perez days, when it sported the tagline, "They are the best there are."

I just read the recent relaunch, and I've got some questions.

1. How did Donna Troy die? (And why is there no mention of it in the Nightwing continuity, given that they were good friends?)

2. Didn't Starfire quit superheroing and go off somewhere? Why would she be hanging out with a bunch of kids now?

Uh, also, the only time I really liked Tim was the "You lied to Starfire?" "I lie to *Batman*" conversation. And one friend of mine was stunned speechless by the HoYay when I told her where Superboy came from; she'd seen it referred to in fic, but she thought it was fanon.

How did Donna Troy die? (And why is there no mention of it in the Nightwing continuity, given that they were good friends?)

I remember a conversation in Nightwing between Dick and Babs where she alludes to his relationship with Donna.

I loved this...

Please note how far we've gone without even mentioning sexuality.

She got very far without mentioning sexuality.

IIRC, the blue chick killed her. (Indigo)

Donna Troy was killed by that strange computer girl in The Outsiders, except she (not Wonder Girl) was a Superman robot at the time. It's why the previous TT disbanded.

I can't accurately answer the Kory question without the comics in front of me.