Hey all : ) This is, unfortunately, not the update you were hoping for, but it is important and brings good new so please take some time to read it.
I am definitely not dropping this story any time soon. I planned to have regular updates from the start, but a whole bunch of personal things popped up over the summer, and I just couldn't get anything down. Now that the school year has started again, and things have calmed down a lot, I'll have more time and willpower to churn out chapters. I can't say exactly when I'll have the next one up, but it shouldn't be more than a week or two.
In the meantime, if any of you want to hear my head-cannons for this story, or get a sneak peak of things to come, I've included some bonus stuff below. If not, thank you for taking the time to read this note and for reading this story in general. I've got a lot of positive feedback, and it means more to me than you will ever know : )
HEAD-CANNONS and IDEAS: (warning, much of this is just brain vomit)
Dick will be a lot more tied to his only-possibly-existent-in-cannon romani/romany/roma heritage. He has darker skin, an slight accent which is more pronounced when he's really emotional or really relaxed. Sometimes in extreme circumstances he accidentally starts speaking romani (which in this fic will be google translated Romanian because there is no written romani language). He looks basically like cannon-Nightwing, but with darker skin, skinnier, and a bit shorter. He is 16, but has all the bits and bobs to pretend to be 19. He can drive, he has never gone to much school, and he works as a mechanic in Gotham.
I'm not totally sure yet where I'm going with this story's Jason. He is still more morally ambiguous than other heroes, but in this all of the flock are, and he doesn't quiet cross into anti-hero territory. His parents abandoned him to the streets when he was little, and he met Dick in juvie when he was still very young. Now he is the second oldest at 14, though he pretends to be 16. He is in school more often than not, and he has a part time job working at the docks.
Tim is pretty much like canon, but his parents died in a car crash a bit before he met the rest of the flock. (Yes, I'm totally calling them the flock forever and always now). He's 11, and in middle school. He pretend to be 14, and works part-time as a runner. (In Bludhaven, runners not only deliver packages and messages, they also come equipped with tazers).
Damian and Steph are the youngest. Damian ran away from Ra's Al Gul just before meeting Dick, so he's a bit of an odd kid. No one knows much about Stephanie, she's always been on the streets. They are 6 and 9 respectively.
Barbara is her own hero-ish thing in this story. After her time as Batgirl, she became an information gatherer and informant for the Justice League. She's friends with Dick, and helps the flock out a lot.
Wally babysits the younger kids when Dick and Jason are off doing more dangerous hero things. He has no idea about their real ages or secret identities, and they have no idea about theirs. (Can't you totally see him doing odd jobs all across the county to earn some extra cash?)
Batman is going to play a big role in this story later on. Nothing is concrete yet, but there is going to be a lot of bonding between him and all the bird kids, particularly Dick. There will also be a lot of Catwoman, because she is rad and would totally take the kids under her wing. Or paw. Whatever.
All other members of the season 1 team will also play a part, though Conner and M'gann less so than the others just because I have yet to think of a plot point with them. (This is not to say they won't be a part of events, just not central to them). I might include a couple of season 2 folks, but it's not likely.
SPOILERS: (kinda not really)
In the next chapter Dick, Tim, and Jason are going to meet YJ and maybe go on a small mission. I have yet to decide if Wally will recognize them, or if they'll recognize say anything to Wally, but you can count on it being pretty funny.