Headcanon

[detectivederp]

• There are a lot of deaths in his life that Tim still blames himself for. Even if he didn't have a direct hand in them, he will never be able to honestly say he doesn't bear guilt for them.
• For a few deaths, he still has nightmares, from time to time. Chief among these is the dream about finding his father's body in his apartment, still warm but clearly dead.
• Tim's stepmother and 'uncle' did die. He feels particularly guilty about the both of them as well.
• He had the bodies of the people Jason murdered after Tim set him free identified so that he could never forget who it was who had died.
• Potential suicide trigger warning? Highlight to read: During the year after Infinite Crisis, Tim struggled with some depression and suicidal thoughts. After everything that happened in his life he felt awful and toxic. Fortunately, the time he spent away, with Dick, helped a lot with him dealing.
• As a result of all of this, Tim also has a fair bit of bitterness in him. Sometimes he can get nasty about things.
• His mean and villainous streak is one of those things. He is honestly terrified of ever becoming a villain, and he knows he has the capacity to do it. He's done some nasty stuff, he's worked with the bad guys on occasion, and though he says he doesn't want to ever compromise-- he knows that sometimes, he will. That scares him.
• He only envisions a couple of plausible futures for himself-- the main thing to know is that if he's still alive, he'll be fighting crime. Realistically, he thinks he may well be dead by the time a few decades roll by. He doesn't consider turning to the dark side when he considers possible futures-- it's not one he'll allow.
• Tim's bitterness also had an effect on his religious views. While his family was never particularly theistic (with his father being a Catholic who never practised or cared much about it, and his mother being Jewish but also not big on the religious scene), he did try to believe in God (as opposed to gods, which obviously do exist in his world). He couldn't do it.
• As a kid, Tim was pretty attention starved and not given a lot of love from his parents. This is a major reason why he eventually became Robin, but it also plays a role in how he deals with people. Praise tends to be reserved only for more momentous occasions, and he is quick to judge and reprimand. He has realised that his parents weren't good because they were absent, but the way one gives affection is still pretty deeply ingrained. This is why Punchy gets no bropounds ever.
• The main reason why Tim's hair is long, now, is that one of the mistakes toward the end of his career as Robin resulted in some very bad burns on the back of his head and neck. Some scarring remains-- the hair covers that.
• The other reason is much simpler-- he simply didn't have time to get a good haircut while adventuring around Europe.
• Tim is currently 18 years old. If he were to be asked, he'd hesitate, and possibly still guess 17. He hasn't paid enough attention to realise he's now a little older.
• He has given no real thought to his sexuality, and isn't sure what he'd answer if someone were to, for some reason, ask. In actuality, he is asexual and panromantic, but not highly romantic, either. Aesthetically, he tends to find women more attractive-- but it's based mostly off of personality anyway.
• Tim will always be short.
• Tim still has a fondness for photography. He doesn't give it much thought anymore, due to priorities, but he never totally got over it. He's particularly meticulous with crime scene photos-- though that's also because of his extreme attention for detail.