#Bruce kinda sucks more often than not

[i-care-bout-things-too]

Is it parental affection he will get though?

Sorry this is actually one of the most important Tim Drake moments to me!!! All he wants is to make Bruce proud!! He’s 17 and he just wants his dads approval at the end of the day!! He did his best and he deserves parental affection!!!

[luludeluluramblings]

Smalltown!Neglected!Meta!Reader x Yandere!Batfam ☁️ Part Two

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

Part One ☁️ Part Three ☁️ Part Four ☁️ Part Five ☁️ Part Six ☁️ Part Seven ☁️ Part Eight

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

A/N: Still establishing some more lore and feelings. Currently, the Batfamily has two yanderes. With more yandere’s being revealed outside of Gotham and some in Gotham about to start falling into obsession. Also, my favorite Reader is one who is manipulated into thinking the collar around their neck is a necklace. Will be working on Part Three, but it might take longer because we have obsessions starting and Reader starting to get to a breaking point.

Warning(s): Yandere themes, Obsessive behavior

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

Poor Reader has it rough. Not too rough, but still life kinda sucks and they wanna go home now, please and thank you.

But, as always, things start to brighten up a notch or two.

Reader is thriving at school, sure they can’t hang out with their friends, but their friends understand (which honestly kinda odd, but they’ll roll with it)

There is a small issue.

Reader is a metahuman. (I know, shocking. So unique.)

Reader controls the weather, at will or with extreme emotions (oooooo interesting)

Back in their hometown, Reader didn’t have to hide said abilities that much. (Hell, more than a few people knew about it. Such an understanding community.)

Here in Gotham, in a practical stranger’s house, they’re not gonna to that.

Which is fine. Fine fine fine

Okay, so Reader is tense. Doesn’t have a healthy outlet, and is bottling things up. So that storms brewing. Gonna be fun when that comes back to bite Reader in the ass.

But, things are looking up. (I swear this time!)

Duke and Cass are hanging out with Reader more. They’re sorta becoming a trio of amigos.

Though, they do disappear often. For long periods of time.

Reader is pretty sure Bruce is Batman, at this point.

They’re not stupid, it’s in their damn genetics to be somewhat intelligent, so to speak.

But, no one actually tells reader. It’s lead to some awkward situations of them going silent when Reader enters the room, or the manor being unusually empty after everyone went to the ‘library’.

(Smalltown doesn’t mean stupid, bunch of jerks.)

It just makes reader feel even less like they’re part of the family. Even Alfred disappears for a time, leaving Reader completely alone with nothing, but portraits and old wood furniture.

No one says anything. No one mentions a single thing. (Am I not worthy of the secret? Why did you drag me here only to ignore me?)

Bruce continue to bounce between ignoring and coddling. Yet gets upset if Reader does the same. (Making them anxious.)

Dick pops back in, immediately showering Reader and excessive amounts of affection before shooing them off cause he’s gotta take care of somethings. (It makes reader feel like a pet in a degrading way.)

Jason gets caught harassing Reader by Alfred. Which leads to a screaming match between Jason and Bruce. It’s a violent one, but Alfred drags Reader out of the room before they can see. (But they hear things breaking and It’s terrifying.)

After that, Reader is extremely cautious around Jason. Which for some reason makes him angry and more violent. (Why does he hate me? This is scary.)

Stephanie starts to come around. Slowly. They’re getting there. (Stephanie still prefers to hangout with Tim and Tim…)

Tim ignores Reader the most. Will not talk to Reader at all. Which sucks because Teader thinks they would total get along. (But, nope. All they get is the cold shoulder.)

Reader just avoids Damian like the plague.

Reader talks more often to her other half-brother living miles away than the one she’s currently living with. (That’s gonna piss Damian off later)

While Barbara remains cordial.

Life is moving on. We’re good. Everything’s good.

Wait? Gotham Academy is having its own student Gala? That sounds amazing! Getting dolled up, having a night with friends. Maybe…. Having a date escort them….

And the best part is, Bruce says Reader can go.

Now, Cass and Duke and Damian won’t be going. Which is a bummer, but Reader understands.

Bruce even buys reader something to wear.

An obnoxious designer outfit. (A couture ruffle monstrosity that’s all the rage on the runway.)

It’s so terrible you have to laugh. (Just to hide how upsetting it is that no one actually knows what you like here or bothers to ask.)

Reader even shows Stephanie and they share a laugh. (It’s great. Reader needed that laugh.)

But, there’s no way Reader is going to wear this. So, Reader calls their childhood friend and favorite fashion designer.

Commissioning a more mature outfit. (Reader is almost grown, time to take a break from the ruffles and embrace the sexy.)

BFF comes through and then a week later someone shows up at Wayne Manor. (Damn that was fast.)

Someone from Reader’s hometown, and this starts to set things in motion.

BFF’s older brother, Reader’s childhood crush, shows up holding a dress and driving Daddy’s old truck. Which he hands Reader the keys too.

Nana and Grand Daddy, the Step Grandparents, wanted to surprise reader with a gift from home. (Remind Reader how much better living in a smalltown is compared to somewhere like Gotham. How much their town adores them and misses them.)

Poor oblivious Reader. Not realizing their smalltown is so desperate to have them back. (Reader was their’s first, they know Reader best.)

Nor how desperate Gotham is going to be to make force reader to stay.

[writing-mlm]

maybe tim drake x male reader where tim falls back into his habit of just sort of studying people like he had batman and robin. he likes the reader but obviously tim has to analyze everything about him, his own habits paired with the suspicious nature instilled in him by batman wouldn’t let him casually take interest in somebody.

It's not stalking if we kiss

Summary: Tim can't process emotions normally and does everything wrong only... it works Pairing: Tim Drake x Male reader W.C: 4k a/n: guys I cant write Tim properly omfg I rewrote this a million times

People tend to forget that Tim is actually… kinda creepy. He is second on the stalker list, right behind Joe from You and now that he thinks about it, he might be better than Joe. For one, Joe is actually creepy. He’s a killer by choice, he’s the gross stalker. Tim is the informant stalker, considering himself more of a private investigator type of stalker. And, he’s not a stalker. He’s a detective who’s really good with technology. Everyone knows that. 

Admittedly, he’s tried to grow out of those habits in his recent years. After being confronted with learning every single member of the JLA’s schedules without any of them noticing, he realized he had an issue. He went to therapy— he slept on it and watched a couple of movies and changed. 

But man, old habits die hard. 

He doesn’t realize he's fallen back into his stalking habits for a long while, that’s how second nature they had become over the years. Some sort of natural instinct he had since birth to learn about people that were only made worse through Bruce’s training and his paranoid nature. It was the perfect concoction for someone like Tim, leading him down a near-irreversible path. 

Even now, as he’s watching the surveillance footage of you as you’re out on patrol several states away, he doesn’t realize it. His eyes flicker across the screen to find the street sign, Blecker Street, you’re seventeen blocks away from home and nearly three miles out from your patrol area. Having followed one of your old goons down to an alleyway before dipping into the restaurant they ran inside. 

It was a temporary stay, your old mentor was going to be away for some time and needed someone to watch over their city in their absence. Naturally, you accepted and set up back in your old apartment, it had never been rented out considering your mentor was the landlord and sentimental in that way. But that didn’t stop Tim from worrying. He’s seen reports from that city, and while it’s not as bad as Gotham, the city had aliens and metas. It wasn’t something Gotham had to deal with often, something you had definitely stopped being used to. 

Sipping his tea, Tim watches as you roll your neck and then your shoulder as you exit the restaurant with the goon in tow, it only tells him one simple fact; you’re tired. Probably another ten or so minutes before you called it a day and went back home. He grins, he prefers it when you’re home. Well, it’s not actually home, he thinks he should call it your place for the week instead. Your home is in Gotham now, it has been for several years now. He knows you've been neighbors for quite some time now. 

Sure enough, after ten minutes you’ve called it a night and head back to your apartment. Once he gets a visual of you entering your apartment safely, he closes out the footage tabs on his laptop and goes to bed. It’s nearly eight in the morning in Gotham and he’s been up for nearly two days. His old— according to Jason— body isn’t used to staying up for four days straight anymore. 

It sucks ass. 

As he settles into bed, he just has to double-check that you’re okay. He flicks through the cameras he’s hacked into, seeing that you’ve entered the apartment and from the home security your neighbors have, he hears the door lock four times. That’s the lock, the deadbolt, and two additional locks and it settles him enough that he’s pulled into a slumber by the fact that you made it home safely. 

—

It’s small things, at least that’s what everyone tells him. The small things matter and he wholeheartedly agrees, more often than not in crimes the smallest details could be the largest but he doesn’t know how that would apply to you. Why whenever he’d mention you to Dick or even Alfred, they’d tell him that. As if it was some major deciding factor in his friendship with you.  

Ever the genius, he doesn’t connect it when he remembers the last time he was in your boat you’d mentioned how you hated the fact that people could look inside. 

So, naturally, when he finds a one-way glass cover online, he just has to buy it for you. Never mind the fact that he installs it while you’re still out of the city and without getting any sort of permission from you. But he has a key for a reason. You clearly trust him. He doesn’t see why it would be a big deal for you. Maybe for others, but you’re different. You’re… well, you. 

He installs it and has Bernard test it out from the outside and it works. Not that he doubted his work would ever fail. He checks for himself and he’s pleasantly surprised that someone would only be able to look inside if they got within an inch of the window. And he thoroughly doubts anyone could even get that close to begin with. 

While he’s there, cleaning up the mess he didn’t mean to make, he notices that the fruits on your counter are going bad. It would be bad if you returned to a house of moldy food, so he throws it out and cleans the bowl before Tim decides he needs to make sure there’s nothing else wrong on the boat. 

It’s only nice. 

He ends up with a trash bag filled with nearly rotten fruit, an expired milk jug that only had one bowl of cereal left, some cleaning wipes, and a gross-smelling sponge. He knows you don’t live in filth, you hate dust and mold, so he figures the sponge had accidentally retained some nasty liquid that only got worse with your departure and subsequent lack of attention. 

Tim, knowing you well enough, goes back out to replace the sponge but he rationalizes that if he’s buying a sponge he might as well restock your home. It feels weird going to the store to pick up just one thing. He takes a list of everything you’re running low on or out of entirely and sets out for the second time that day. Never mind the fact that he had agreed to drinks with Bernard who was now forced to tag along if he even wanted to get a taste of drinks later that night.

He returns to the boat with Bernard deciding to wait outside, something about not missing another planned event, and puts everything into their rightful place. He knows where everything goes, the meticulous spots that you never change whenever you deep clean.

Should he deep clean for you?

“Good God! Let’s go!” Bernard yells after Tim has spent a whole ten minutes debating if he should deep clean the entire boat. 

“It’s not like you’re coming home with me,” He huffs, exiting the boat. Bernard raises an eyebrow and Tim raises his back. “You always go off when we get drinks— I’m just the wingman,”

“Yeah, a pretty shit one.” Bernard scoffs. 

—

“Hey,” He answers his phone without looking up from his current case. It doesn’t have his attention, it hasn’t since you left, but he needs to get at least a little work done. Even if he’s still riding out the splitting headache from yesterday. “How’s city-sitting?” He glances at the phone, making sure it was on speaker. 

“Calm,” You answer, crawling out onto the fire escape of your old apartment. “Better than Gotham— my place doesn’t move with the wind anymore, either.” You chuckle, now settled onto one of the old metal stairs. 

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of staying,” He frowns, taking the phone off of the speaker and pressing it to his ear. Now that he thinks about it, he wouldn’t mind moving to your city. It’s nice. 

“Nah,” Your face scrunches as you say it. “It’s nice, but it’s too retirement home for me. I’m not ready to give up having a constant stock of bottled water and up-to-date gas masks.” You joke. 

“That’s good,” He stops himself from sighing. “My rent would’ve gone up.” He jokes, flipping through the pages of his files. 

“You’re rich,” You scoff, it’s playful. There’s no harm in it. “It’s crazy we’re paying rent to live on fucking water, though.” You add, leaning back on the stairs.

“Eh,” He shrugs, grabbing a pen and flipping it between his fingers. He’s sure somewhere in the galaxy someone is paying rent to live on air. “Capitalism will always be crazy.”

“Oh, by the way, the supermarket had a sale on those ice creams you like. I got you some,” He admits while putting the phone back on speaker. 

“Bitch,” You draw out. Tim hears your smile and softly smiles, now taking apart his pen. “I love you, dude. Oh my god, I’m gonna raw dog them once I get back.” You all but moan.

“…sometimes I wish you thought before you spoke,” He cringes, staring at his phone. Never mind the way hearing you say that made him feel things.

“Sorry!” You laugh. “But, thanks. How much do I—“

“I’m rich,” He reminds you, putting the pen back together. His phone beeps midway putting the ink back into the metal casing and he glances at his phone. It’s an alert that your mentor was spotted back in the city. He smiles at the alert, a part of his nerves calming immediately. 

Good, you’ll be back in two days. 

“I gotta go,” He lies knowing your mentor will be back within the next two minutes. 

“Ah, okay. Keep me updated about that case, I just know it’s that Elvis impersonator!” Standing up, you stretch and he nearly hears the pop of your joints. 

“It’s not, but okay.” 

He does very little in the window between then and your return, he’s mostly counting the hours and patrolling. It’s the usual for patrol, albeit a little boring without your chatter in his ear. He’s happy to report he didn’t get any major injuries in that time frame, though. 

When you finally return to Gotham, Tim waits for you on the deck of the boat. He’s pretending to hardly care, acting caught up in some footage he’s reviewing to notice you walking up to the docks. 

“Missed me?” You grin, stepping into the boat with ease. He remembers when you’d been so nervous to get on them before, fearing you’d fall into the nasty water below. 

He looks up, a grin across his face and eyes taking you in. You’ve tanned in your absence, although he supposed Gotham doesn’t get nearly as much sun as Florida does. 

“Hardly noticed you were gone,” He teases and closes his laptop. Rolling your eyes, you invite him inside. He takes the invitation with ease, slipping inside your boat as you scan around. 

“You cleaned?” You ask, the smell of his favorite cleaning products still lingering in the air. “Don’t tell me that the Tim Drake had a party in my boat house!” You gasp, looking at him. 

“Hardly,” He nudges you aside so he can sit on the couch bench. “You had some food going bad so I figured I might as well clean up.” He explains.

“Thanks, baby girl,” You draw out the girl, a southern twang coming through. Rolling his eyes, he watches as you kick your shoes off and toss your duffle bag into your bedroom before joining him on the couch. “How was the case?” Lugging your legs up to the spare room around you, you lay your head on his shoulder while he opens his laptop again and huffs. Not good, then. 

“It’s the Elvis guy,” You quietly sing as he’s watching the footage again; that alone answers your question. The case isn’t even close to being finished. Yikes. 

“It’s not him.” He insists, mindlessly scrolling through the stolen footage. “I’m starting to lean towards the woman I interviewed first, but I’m sure I’ll solve it before tomorrow.” As he speaks he’s biting back a yawn. 

“Wanna take a nap, clear your head and shit?” You ask as you stand up. It was a long drive from Florida to Gotham and you were honestly beat. Probably another hour or so before your body took over and you knocked out. 

“Of course,” He grins and you nod, taking a quick shower. 

Naps with Tim aren’t anything new. He falls asleep often (you think there’s something medically wrong going on but what do you know) and you’re not going to leave the perfect opportunity to get a little sleep slip right past you. So, he’s gotten accustomed to dropping on your shoulder and sleeping; which naturally progressed into the two of you napping on couches or beds together. But only if you were seriously beat. 

Joining Tim on your bed you find that he’s still awake but slowly falling asleep. Waiting up for you, his eyes peer towards the door as you enter and he lifts the sheets up for you. Joining him, you lay on your stomach, letting your body relax as he sleeps on his side, his back facing you. 

Rolling onto your back, you let out a small sigh and turn your head to look at him. 

“Stop staring,” He whispers, turning so now he’s facing you. With hardly open eyes, he stares at you, waiting for you to look away from him. Smiling, you make it a point to look away and turn away from him, raising the covers to your chin and trying to dig yourself deeper into the plush bed. Now he’s staring at you, almost pulled in towards you. 

Tim knows he likes you. He thinks he’s laying his hints down well enough, he thinks he’s being romantic with his actions. He’s so sure you know that you’re just waiting for the right moment to ask him. 

You aren’t. 

Because you don’t know. 

You’re not oblivious by any means, you know when someone likes you. But with Tim, that’s just how he’s always been. You’ve known him as the kid who found out Batman because he was an amazing detective, the guy you’d go to if you wanted to find something or someone. He always had those tendencies, so it didn’t make you bat an eye when you became his latest target. 

It was like his acts of service and who are you to question it? 

That’s not to say you don’t like him back. 

No, it’s not weird that you’re sharing the same bed, chest to back. Yes, there’s plenty of space around the two of you, but what’s the harm in being close? 

The harm is that Tim isn’t focusing on falling asleep. 

You’re sound asleep, blissfully unaware of his qualms but Tim won’t keep his eyes off of you. His eyes trace the strands in your hair, settle on how you’ve accidentally shifted the cover down to your stomach with how much you kick. How you hardly dried off from the shower, favoring the peaceful sleep you knew was awaiting you instead of enjoying the privacy of your bathroom. 

His eyes follow and trace your body again and he doesn’t do it with any intentions other than curious ones. 

He doesn’t know where that shirt is from, he’s helped with your laundry before and he’s never seen that shirt but it’s faded enough that he knows it’s old. The collar is stretched out and the tag is sticking out, the words all but faded. It’s old and well-loved. 

It’s probably one of the clothes you left behind in your old apartment. 

Sighing, he closes his eyes and flips to his back, trying his best to fall asleep. It’s normally not an issue for him, he can fall asleep and wake up on command most days but today is different for some reason. Maybe he’s missed you so badly that his body won’t let him sleep until it’s felt he’s had enough time spent with you to make up for the absence. 

“Can’t sleep?” You ask after he turns again, this time back to his original position. 

“Sorry,” He mutters the apology, doing his best to seem as though he was falling asleep. He flips onto his back to look at you, a tired gaze clouding your eyes. 

“It’s okay, I was hardly asleep.” You shrug and then make a face akin to a mischievous grin. “Wanna cuddle?” Looking at you, he tries to figure out if you’re joking or not. “But only if I’m a big spoon.” You add. 

“That works,” He nods and turns his back to you, awkwardly shuffling back as you shuffle forward. Humming, you wrap your left arm around him and settle your head on top of his, with your right arm acting as another pillow for his head. His hair smells like your favorite scent and you’re surprised you hadn’t realized sooner. But it is a little faint. 

“This good?” You mutter. 

“Mhmm,” He hums and you hum back, letting your eyes close again. 

—

Tim watches you as you work through the cameras; your day job is a normal, boring receptionist job at the hospital. You’re talking to a man while Tim is in the Batcave, his feet propped up on the desk and eyes strained to not blink. He’s thumbing through different angles and misusing Bruce’s tech to get information from everyone you talk to. All their records pop up to the screen on the left and he skims through them all. 

No one is dangerous so far, aside from someone who was recently treated for lice. It makes his scalp itch when he thinks about it for too long. 

“You should get a job,” Damian grunts from behind him. “This is creepy, even for you, Drake.” Tim waves him off, he’s not being weird. He’s just making sure you’re safe, that’s it. He also doesn’t care what the boy cleaning bloody swords has to say about his habits.

“I do have a job,” He mutters, switching the camera again. It’s time for your break and you’ll probably call soon. “I’m at Wayne Enterprises, running a team for the IT department.” The right screen switches to his work account where he’s running a code to fix his team's code. He’ll double-check it once he’s home. 

He watches as you fish your phone out and he prepares for the call but his phone remains uncalled. The screen is black and you’re clearly in the middle of a call, he squints and decides to check who you’re calling. It could be debt collectors or scammers, he’s just looking out for you. 

The number quickly runs through his database and he sighs, it’s fucking Bart. 

“-m, he won’t say no to you.” Bart laughs and Tim watches as you shake your head, leaning against the wall of the break room. 

“When you texted that it was an emergency, I assumed it was, you know, an emergency.” Oh, that makes more sense. Tim settled into his seat, you hadn’t preferred calling Bart over him. 

“Oh, I’m sorry! I think my fridge breaking is an emergency!” Bart shouts. “Please— ask Tim to buy me a new one! One with a screen and a double fridge. Please!”

“No-“ Bart groans loudly into the phone. “You’re not helping your case right now.” You chide.

“Frick you, man.” Bart hangs up and you stare at your screen before moving to call Tim. He grins, exiting out of your phone, and stares at his phone. It rings and he waits three whole seconds before picking up. 

“Drake is reaching new levels of creeper,” Damian tells Bruce as the older man walks into the Batcave. Tim pays no mind, walking away from the computer for privacy. “There are laws against these sorts of things.”

“Hey,” He ducks under Dick swinging around on a bar before messing with memorabilia on the shelves. “I was starting to think you forgot about me.” 

“You? Never,” 

—

You’re upset. Tim doesn’t know why but he knows you are. All of the lights are on in the boat and he can hear the bass in whatever music you’re playing. Had it been any louder it might’ve begun to rattle the windows. 

He knocks on the door for two minutes straight before he unlocks the door himself. You don’t notice, which is an issue in itself, but to your credit, you notice when he steps further inside. 

“What happened?” He carefully asks, the music lowering with several clicks from the remote. You shrug, not the worst sign of your mood, and shift over to invite him inside. “Work?” Nodding, he frowns. Of course, it would be the one day he couldn’t watch over the cameras that something would happen. 

“I got written up because I didn’t let this group of teenagers spit at me.” You explain. “You’d think working at a hospital they’d understand how nasty spit is. But apparently, they’re doctors, kids so it’s whatever.” Fiddling with your laptop, he catches the Job Finders tab hidden in a mess of random tabs. Good, he’s always hated that job for you. 

“Was it that manager with the yellow hair? Linny?” 

“It always is!” You exclaim, tossing the empty soda can into the trash can. “One more write-up and I’ll go on probation again.”

“You could come and work at Wayne Enterprises.” He offers, eyes rising slowly from the laptop to you... “I’m pretty sure I have an opening as a receptionist. Or other jobs… of course. In case you wanted a change of jobs.” You look at him, eyebrows raise and he offers a smile. 

“It is closer,” You trail off. 

“Benefits are great, too.” He grins. “And I’m not just talking about seeing me every day.” Pushing his arm, he laughs and closes your laptop. “I’m serious! You’ll get paid more, no one would yell at you because we never get anyone wanting to see us, and there’s sick time.”

“Okay, I’ll apply,” You give in and he cheers, holding you with one arm before shaking you. Laughing, you cover your mouth and push away from him. “But next week, I’m busy this week. You’ll put in a good word for me, right?”

“Of course, what else would I use my position of power for?”

“Let me shower and we can… watch a movie?” You ask and he nods, watching you leave. Once the shower turns on he fumbles with his phone. 

“B, can you give me a receptionist?… No, I know there’s no need but I kinda told (Y/n)—… Okay, and? Like you haven’t lied to anyone!… Please, I’m sorry. Just can you make that a job?… Oh, thank god!” 

—

A week later, Tim helps you send in a resume. Of course, since the official announcement of a new position, there have been dozens of applications. All of which Tim is in charge of reviewing. Not that you would know. 

You’re relieved when you get the interview— put in your two weeks when you’re told you’ve made it to the final interview stage— and sit with Tim while you’re waiting to hear if you got the job. 

Your phone rings as you’re pacing around the boat, second-guessing putting in your two weeks. Not really, though, because Linny had given you another write-up for clocking back in from lunch a minute late. You have Tim answer it for you and he puts it on speaker, watching as you hear the news you’ve gotten the job. 

“Okay, thank you so much!” Ending the call, you stare at Tim slack-jawed. “Tim, I could kiss you!” He stares at you for a moment before he shrugs. 

“Why don’t you?” He asks and you blink before licking your lips. His eyes follow before he does the same. “Not that you have to, because you got the job. I wouldn’t expect anything just because I put in a good word for you.”

“Of course,” You nod. “But is it weird that I still want to?”

“No,” He shakes his head, stepping closer. 

“Cool,” Tentatively, you cup his face and lean in. He meets you, eyes immediately closing as you kiss. His hands find yours, moving it down to his waist. He holds you there, relishing this feeling.

[trashisstillhere]

Oh thank god I finally got to actually draw an actual art after whole months of not doing so.

And it’s a birthday drawing to none other than Ben Schwartz!!! Happy birthday dude!!

Drawn with, of course, the 4 good and super bruce boys he has voiced. Of course, I know some other characters he has voiced but drawing them too would made this take a bit longer and plus I wanted to finish this as quickly as possible which is why this looks like there was barely effort put in it so yeah. (I may or may have not kinda started on this yesterday as soon as I realised tomorrow (today) was his birthday)

Also this is my first time ever making art for any voice actor or pretty much anyone else famous like EVER. The reason why i usually don’t is because I often forget real easily. As I said before, my memory kinda sucks so I sometimes might forget things, that includes birthdays, I even forget some of my family members birthdays too and still do today! (I guess I’m kinda like Randy who forgets Howard’s birthday-) I probably won’t do something like this again but right now I wanted to, especially since I’m finally starting to go back to drawing some more after dealing with no motivation.

So here ya go. Once again, Happy Birthday Ben Schwartz! Keep being the awesome and fun man you are!

[kiragecko]

@umbrellacam told me about a name I'd missed in Detective Comics 679, and I FINALLY figured out what the question marks in my Dick and Tim interaction list are! Turns out I mistyped 679 as 697, and missed ALL of Prodigal! Which is THE early Dick and Tim hangout!

So now I'm rereading it, and TIM! TIM!!! This little suck-up who is just bubbling over with relief that he's not stuck with Jean Paul's meltdown anymore! I'm two issues in, and 2/3rds of his lines have been:

You are doing great and are so cool, Dick!

This is just like how things used to be!

Good job! Jean Paul would have been doing THIS bad thing right now, instead!

It is CONSTANT. And Dick is soaking it all in while he struggles with imposter syndrome. Like, Tim is kinda overdoing it, but Dick is desperate for every single word and hasn't noticed.

Of course, that also means that Dick hasn't recognized that Tim is even MORE desperate than Dick. After getting abandoned by Bruce and Alfred TWICE¹, and weeks of emotional abuse by Jean Paul, I think this kid would do ANYTHING for a sign that someone likes him and wants him around.

Dick is ... doing okay. Like, he likes having people around, but hasn't taken the time yet to make it clear that having TIM SPECIFICALLY around is a good thing.

¹ Tim makes a comment wondering what Alfred is doing now, and assuming he's on a cruise somewhere, that seems fine in isolation. But when you recognize how often his parents abandoned him for trips, and take in all the OTHER little comments he makes ... this kid had issues even back in 1994, guys.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

one of my batfam hot takes is that alfred having a very kind and understanding grandfather-like role is a boring spin on the character and lacks a lot of nuance around his backstory.

like he is a classically trained british butler which means he very likely comes from a working class family. and like, as a working class brit myself, i sometimes find the kindly, well-mannered grandfather thing grating because, a lot of white, working class men his age are unfortunately not nice people. some of them are like my great grandad was a really great guy, but hes really the only one i know who is or was not awful.

because their generation werent as exactly raised with ideals about mental health and emotional regulation. a lot of them were traumatised due to ww2 either because they saw it firsthand when they were like 15, they were old enough to remember things like rationing and the blitz, and a lot of them lost their dads in the war.

i dont expect american writers to understand how much ww2 affected britain (modern britain is still so steeped in it, its insane) and that generation specifically, BUT id love to see that explored more with alfred. like depending on where he grew up, he would likely have been separated from his family during the blitz and sent off to the countryside like most of the kids in cities were, (this is how narnia starts) and like, a lot of them were horrifically abused or used as free labour. a lot of them also lost parents and never got to say goodbye to them. many came back to destroyed homes. some kids also remained in the city or their parents requested them back so theyd experience the blitz first hand and would know the sign of air raid siren meant they might die that night.

you can see how a lot of that generation were permanently scarred. and for a few decades now, alfred would have been part of that generation.

plus he was also a secret service officer which is just like more opportunities to be traumatised and more reason for him to not be this gentle old man whos in touch with his emotions.

and like, as a classically trained butler, he would likely be more reserved because you know, thats how he was trained. also british men that age would also likely be very hands off in regards to emotions.

but the biggest reason as to why the gentle, kind grandfather take doesnt really make sense is that he raised bruce wayne.

like bruce has a whole slew of emotional issues and problems, and obviously some of that is going to come from alfred raising him because you know, thats kinda how that works. i know a lot of batfam folks want bruce to be this great dad, so i guess their take on alfred fits that, but canonically, bruce wayne is an emotional mess and not the best father figure at the best of times.

you cannot look at that bruce wayne and tell me alfred did a good job.

listen, this shouldn't even be a hot take. it's just an opinion that differs from the most popular interpretation of Alfred as an endlessly giving grandmotherly old man.

the thing about Alfred is that more than anything you have to recognize that he's an enabler. and I love the man to pieces, but at absolute best he was extremely negligent in Bruce's upbringing, if not actively encouraging the world's worst coping mechanisms.

I hate to give Gotham credit for anything, especially when it comes to Alfred since I hate their Alfred, but the show was bang on in its insistence from day one that Alfred should not have been Bruce's primary guardian. it's painful to watch how often Alfred encourages Bruce to tough it out and suck it up, and it never really stops. in one of the latter seasons (four, I think) he hits Bruce hard enough to give him a black eye during an argument, and this is ultimately written as a situation in which Bruce needs to apologize to Alfred for being a bratty teenager, rather than Alfred owing Bruce an apology for hitting him when he's a grief-stricken teenage boy cracking under stress.

and like, listen, I understand there are Watsonian and Doylist layers to this. Alfred fundamentally can't have been a good enough guardian to stop Bruce from channeling his trauma into fursuit vigilantism, because then there's no story. I get it.

but jesus christ.

I don't think characterizations of Alfred as a stoic caregiver are wrong, but I do think people don't want to think about how he got there. when I see the aged Alfred patching up Bruce's wounds and nagging him to eat, or doing his best to offer advice to the kids who have gotten mixed up in Bruce's crusade, I see a man who realized a long time ago that he dropped the fucking ball and has dedicated his life to doing as much damage control as possible. okay, so, completely failed step one (raise a well-adjusted child). can we at least make sure that this basket case adult man doesn't go completely over the edge? can we make sure he doesn't become a killer? can we encourage him to take off the mask and be Bruce Wayne sometimes? can we keep the children safe?

I do think Alfred loves all of them, for whatever its worth. his care for Bruce is real, that is his son, the Batgirls and Robins are his extended family. he'll cook their uneaten meals and clean the entire, massive house himself and stitch them up every night forever. he would die for them. hell, he'd kill for them. he loves them. but none of that means he raised Bruce right.

that's kind of the thing I like most about the Bats: they all care so, so much. but the way they love is terrible.

[bonerot19]

what are your thoughts on Jason and Roy? I have very complicated thoughts about them because on one hand they’re made out to be good friends so often I can’t be ok with them being strangers it makes me sad :( on the other hand they aren’t good friends not really no them because RHATO destroyed Roy :( so they’re in a weird space of “met this guy two weeks ago would’ve died for him for three days and now we don’t really talk” tragic friendship kinda vibe in my brain. I guess that’s even sadder??? But at least the love was there? Sorry for randomly showing up in your ask box 😭 I’m just curious

I have So Many thoughts on Roy and Jason.

I've been learning a lot more about Roy lately, his history and character and he's so cool so it makes me sad what's happened to him in canon (the account royboyfanpage is a wealth of Roy info I love following them)

my problem is that RHATO could have been cool. they could have made Kory, like, important and sentient. they could have just not reduced Roy to the stupid comic relief guy. they could have kept Jason's backstory instead of rewriting one of my favorite origin stories (stealing the batmobile's tires fucks so hard I can't believe Lobdell thought making him steal from Leslie was better??)

I think Jason and Roy have the potential to have a fun, interesting relationship — little brother stealing his older brother's best friends is hilarious. and I know some people (rightfully) have issues with Roy being aged-down to be closer to Jason's age but I think they still have the potential for hilarity at their relative canon ages.

I like fics that portray Jason and Roy as chaotic, and I do often like Jason/Roy fics because I think the dynamic can be really well written — especially in AUs. I like Jason and Roy bitching about Oliver and Bruce (even though Ollie is like, leagues better than Bruce in canon and loves Roy So Much)

I think what I've learned is that while I enjoy Jason/Roy I really understand why Roy lovers hate Jason because when Jason is in Roy's story it does necessitate some level of character assassination. either by changing Roy's age, changing his relationship with Oliver, changing his relationship with Dick, changing his character in general via Lobdell's bullshit (if I catch u Scott I stg)

which sucks, because I think there are people out there writing really complex Jason/Roy relationships that challenge both characters and complete some great character analysis. you just have to be careful and aware of the way Roy is portrayed to not shape his character to suit Jason, cause that sucks

in the end, I'll still read Jason/Roy, because I like it. sometimes I dislike it in the same way I dislike other characterizations of other batfam and batfam adjacent characters. but I'm taking my time learning about Roy and I'm adding some Green Arrow comics to my tbr (which is 10 miles long) cause if I'm gonna write about Roy I want to understand him

[superbatson]

i saw fotg today and bc i'm still not of sound mind to write a proper review (for here or letterboxd), i'm gonna just do a dump of all my spoilery thoughts featuring stuff i loved about the movie:

the new theme is incredible and epic i love you mr. christophe beck i'm gonna make you one of my top spotify artists this year for sure. (for reference: the previous score composer made my top 5 artists back in 2019 bc of how often i streamed the first movie's score.)

FREDDY AND ANTHEA WERE SO CUTE! obviously i'm ride or die for freebat but like freddy has two hands so he can date anthea too. honestly i'm team anthea/freddy/billy/courtney polycule. make it canon!

DARLA AND THE KITTIES! SHE NAMED ONE OF THEM TAWNY!!! so basically cat tawny, as my freebat server invented, is now movie canon. boom. (no really i screamed, i hope somehow that kitten becomes actual tawny in the movies. we really need to see tawny someday)

freddy calling billy "captain everything jr" was so fucking funny to me. like ofc freddy would act all cocky as a hero and the boys would still argue over who's the sidekick. i love it so much

GAY PEDRO REAL! WE DID IT Y'ALL!!! that scene got such a good laugh in my theater, it made me so happy. and i love that jovan got to be the one to say it too rather than dj. 'cause i know internet gays go all gaga for dj but coming out can be such a sweet, pure thing sometimes so jovan really deserved to have that moment and i'm glad he did. (and now seeing the movie, i have more respect for the tie-in comics, since pedro's was all about him being into baseball. i get why now hehe)

also i know i'm jumping ahead here but AY WE GOT AN ELVIS REFERENCE! sure, it was just the end credit song, but hey, i'll take it. it's something. and it was the junkie xl edit of the song too, so naturally, i loved it even more.

speaking of, the movie had a decent amount of bvs parallels! well, more than one, at least. everyone's harped on the final battle with billy basically sacrificing himself just like clark did in bvs (i hope to see those parallel gifsets in the future!), but i also noticed some bvs nods during billy's fight with hespera. when she dragged him by the cape and lifted him over her head to slam him onto the ground... i swear that was just like the bathroom fight with bruce and clark. at least the cape drag. i'd have to go back and watch both movies to see exactly what shots are parallel to each other, but, yeah. sandberg's movies still feel like love letters to zack's and i adore that.

WAS ANYONE GONNA WARN ME THAT IT'S ASHER'S FACE WE SEE WHEN BILLY DIES???? i mean, i didn't want the spoiler anyway but oh my god, i was not emotionally prepared. oh god. i'm still thinking about it. and freddy's sobbing. god. speaking of bvs parallels--

that scene is gonna haunt me for the rest of my days. i'm gonna write and read so many fics about it. ahhhhhhhh

yeah the movie did have a good amount of freebat bless you sandberg & gayden (and now jack and asher are adults so i can justifiably enjoy the freebat-ness of jack & zach scenes here too. suck it, antis!)

but also the movie did have a severe lack of asher and that made me kinda sad. there's a shot from the tv spots he's in that i do Not recall seeing in the movie at all. (though i did run to the bathroom just before the final battle so maybe i missed it somehow? but i doubt it bc his outfit was from an earlier part of the film) but also i kinda wish it was asher who came out of the grave instead of zach. like in the context of the movie, i understand why it was zach, bc diana gave him his powers back, but they buried regular billy so i wish he was the one to emerge from the grave. but whatever, i'm just picky.

asher did kinda out-act zach in all his scenes, though. this boy needs to get more work PRONTO! (he only has one other project coming out this year, i think. some small true story movie. put him in more blockbusters! disney, get him for your tangled remake! just something, please!!!)

the diana cameo was actually amazing and anyone saying bad things about it needs to shut the fuck up. it was great and yeah billy had a crush on her but he's established to be crushing on her in the first film too, it's literally nothing new.

"taste the rainbow, motherfu--!" one of the best lines in the movie, hands down. skittles has the only valid in-movie marketing. i know the line kinda got spoiled in tv spots but it was still so funny in context.

also darla sorting out all the yellow skittles for hespera was so cute and i was kinda thinking autie vibes before she explained her reasoning for it. the whole shazamily is neurodivergent and i will die on that hill.

yeah that's all i can think of for now i really loved the movie, i also kinda wanted more from it but probably bc i felt like we didn't see enough of the family together. but that can be resolved in a third film, of course. (if we ever get one. i know the opening box office is disappointing but maybe the film can still turn a profit. the budget's basically the same as the first film so it only has to make like $300 mil again for wb to make their money back. and it could blow up on streaming afterwards. you never know. i just hope wb is patient and takes their time before deciding on the future of shazam, if this cast is truly out for the reboot.)

[elirandom]

Rules: List 8 tv shows for your followers to get to know you!

1. A selection of movies I rewatched so many times I wore out the VHS tapes. The Terminator 1984 (when T2 came Linda Hamilton blew me away), Platoon 1986, Aliens 1986 & Die Hard 1988. It's a lot of bonding strangers to survive, h/c, antiheroes or plain charismatic bad guys, hypothermia or fever, there was only one bed and bantering. The original wet rat blorbos. Also if it's not bloody obvious I had such crushes on Bruce Willis ,Tom Berenger and Michael Biehn, I watched so many bad 80s-90s movies because of them.

2. Wait a minute, TV shows, not MOVIES. My bad, I'm keeping nr 1 as is anyway. Hmm, I always list Hannibal or Buffy tVS/Angel tS whenever I do this so I'm gonna try to list something else that's major loves. So, Miami Vice 1984-1989. Baby me had such a crush on Don Johnson you could see it from space. Adult me gets it, bought the box & rewatches it from time to time, incl writing fic but never anything going somewhere.

3. The Expanse. It's probably a very obvious choice if you ever looked around my corner of Tumblr but I want more people to post about it so. Amos (my favorite pansexual murderbear), Holden (who gave me the Captaincy? Holy shit. How can I fix everything while also being stubborn and chaotic) Naomi (I live with my choices every day but I've got a new life here to do something with & I'll defend it with everything). OT3. Sometimes I want something of poly where Naomi & Drummer (dragon in the shape of a woman, a hoarding underdog with so much fight in her belly) gets to be happy too. But that's just to name a few, it's not often I'm so very invested in so many characters in a show but they all have arcs and space to exist. Unfortunately one of the mains isn't clicking with me at all so the first season took me a while to find all the gold.

4. 9-1-1; besides the love I have for the firefam I'm completely sucked into the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one. And the sunshine one is a golden retriever who's loyal to a fault and just needs food and love. While the grumpy one finds that letting the sunshine in makes life a helluva lot easier even if both of them almost dies a lot.

5. Hawaii 5-0. Talking about grumpy and sunshine. These two fit the bill too, they just can't decide who's who depending on the day and the drama. Danny's usually the negative one always predicting chaos. But Steve tends to be tortured or have shitty family secrets so his sunshine isn't that shiny all the time. But they're brilliant at bickering about everything which kinda gets them even. Instead they're great at hugs and saying I love you. I despise several plotlines but I can't quit them (I couldn't find a gif that includes Danny saying "Stop looking at me like that" in this scene but alas)

6. Stargate Atlantis, my first team turned into family, and my one and only OT4. McShep was my biggest fave, but i enjoyed team!fic just as much as OT4 fic. Reluctant leader with slinky hips and no self-preservation, paired with a smartass with a big mouth who always came through, a smarter woman who didn't get to kick people in the balls enough and stoic warrior who actually was the puzzle piece missing and more than meets the eye. They're a comfort fandom.

7. Due South. A weird cute soft series I didn't know had a fandom until after it was finished in early 2000s. And then I fell into fic (I never got to see the Ray wars up close luckily) and read so much by Speranza among many more. I've rewatched it a few times, esp if I'm home sick it's a comfort show.

I ran out of allowed gifs😭. Well, fuck.

8. Criminal Minds. I've rewatched this show many times because it's something about catching the bad guys and solving the case all neatly tied up. Another show I love but is even sadder and more horrible is Oz because happy ends doesn't exist because humanity is rotten and we pay for our choices. But it's so good I sometimes wanna rewatch it, I bought the DVD box. But then I remember how much I cried at certain eps, like the brothers and I don't. But sometimes it's good to cry over fictional characters.

[subbyfoxelf]

[movie review] batman: bad blood (2016)

“you brought us all together because you understood our pain, our loneliness, better than anyone else could. we needed family. we needed you. you’re not just a mask. you’re a man. the best man i’ve ever known.”

this ruled before it had nunjas, and then it had nunjas.

ok, but let’s get my big complaint out of the way first. talia is just uncomplicatedly, one-dimensionally evil in this one, so that’s... not great. it kinda ruins her entire dynamic with bruce and with damian. not that i was a fan of either in the first place, but it feels like there’s so much connective tissue missing from where they left things to where they are in this movie. even some kind of frank acknowledgement after the fact of like “look, she was a sexual predator and an abuser, it sucks but of course this is where she ended up” would’ve helped a lot.

like, you kind of fucked up by not framing it this way all along? i know these movies aren’t typically willing to go into that kind of depth on these kinds of serious issues, which is fine. you get to decide what the scope of your story is. but if you’re not willing to really deal with this kind of stuff you can’t just halfway go there in order to be edgier or grittier or whatever. you either have to be willing to deal with it or you need to leave it out. what we end up with instead rushes to the mostly correct conclusion but doesn’t show your work at all, so it just ends up falling completely flat and not really saying anything, and that’s just kind of depressing.

oh, petty complaints department: batman telling batwoman “using a gun makes you just like them” when she was trying to save a dude from being tortured demonstrably does not??? but that’s not even where i’m going with this. no, my issue is that in this continuity batman has repeatedly used vehicle-mounted (likely high-caliber) guns and fucking missile launchers, so he can get all the way off his fucking high horse thank you ever so much.

whew.

so, yeah. i actually liked this movie? but my review might end up a bit lopsided in favor of the one or two things i really, really didn’t like. and that’s largely because by the very nature of what the movie wanted to be and what i wanted out of it, the things i liked about it were pretty superficial.

the heretic was a pretty interesting villain and figuring out his whole deal over the course of the movie only to have him carelessly tossed aside was actually a pretty effective way of establishing where talia was at these days. and while i still have all my abovementioned issues with it in terms of what it’s saying thematically, it’s been a minute since we had a good “talia is controlling everything from the shadows” story, so for pure entertainment value it really didn’t suck.

i’m a sucker for bat family stuff, as i’ve thoroughly demonstrated in these reviews. i’m less a fan of bruce being as much of a dumbass as he often has to be in these serious, gritty ones, but at least he has to explicitly to outgrow it in this one! getting to that final shot of the drastically expanded bat family gathering under the bat-signal ruled.

as for the members of said bat family, the guy calling the shots for a lot of this movie while bruce was missing was nightwing, and as the world’s foremost robin i/ nightwing simp, hell yes i loved this. it’s always interesting when dick has to temporarily take up the mantle of batman, whether it’s in a more traditional portrayal where he really respects bruce so filling his shoes weighs heavily on him for that reason, or in something like this where their relationship is more strained and dick wants out of his shadow but gets pulled back in. there’s just always a lot of great character work. add to that the fact that nightwing is way better at playing with others, and i honestly just love this portrayal. they crushed it. i cannot say enough about how much i like him in this one. it’s probably the single biggest thing that elevates this movie for me.

i don’t have as much to say about damian this time? he’s a nasty little brat, as usual. and it’s charming, as usual. and he’s doing his best, and he goes through a lot, and i’m so upset that a lot of people are so annoyed by him. protecc the goblin sidekick!

batwoman rules. i have no notes here. and her gayness is portrayed very frankly and just treated like as much a baked in part of her character as anyone else’s straightness. i fucking love her in this movie and we’d all be better off if her and dick were in charge instead of bruce.

batwing is… fine. i got a good laugh out of how blatantly he’s just… he’s just bat-iron man, guys. he has a suit-up scene that’s just straight out of iron man 1. he’s just… bat-iron man. it’s hilarious.

anyway, uh, yeah! a lot of this movie hinges on dick deciding to trust people and bruce being angy about it and dick being right, so, yeah. it rules. except the parts that don’t. but mostly it rules.

a-rank

[denim-mixtapes]

I see you have been posting a lot about Evil Dead lately so I gather you're a big fan of the series as a whole. How did you feel Rise held up to the rest? Or are you watching it now for the first time?

HI BUDDY <3

No, I'm currently re-watching it, so I have already seen it through :) Idk if you were looking for a whole ass review but I have a lot of thoughts so I am basically giving one lol

I really liked it! I saw it in theaters with my stepdad who is also a huge horror buff, but he hasn't seen all the original Raimi movies, whereas I have, so it was kinda cool to get an outsiders perspective of it as a standalone movie vs my opinion of how it fits in. He liked it as a standalone, and said he didn't feel like he was missing out on anything by not seeing the others, but I think that seeing the rest ELEVATES it and makes it cooler.

I think Rise does a good job of steering the franchise back to unsettling/creepy/horror when ED2 and Army of Darkness took it a little more silly (and I LOVED them, don't get me wrong, I just think if we continued to take the franchise in that direction in this day and age it would not go over well).

I'll go into a lil bit more detail that goes into spoiler territory here, so I'll do a read more just in case.

First things first: TOO MUCH EYEBALL STUFF FOR MY LIKING. I hate eyeball gore. But other than that, I think they did a really good job with realistic and unsettling special effects, which is really cool to me because of how kooky the effects were in the OG.

The Jesus jump scare is by far one of the best (and in hindsight, funniest) jump scares to ever get me, but that's not saying much, I jump at everything. I do think it was a creative and fun way to do a jump scare though.

I also think it does a really good job of tying everything in. Each deadite in this movie represents a different part of the franchise. Danny's milky white-eyed version is reminiscent of the og trilogy, whereas Bridget's yellow iris is more similar to the 2013 remake. The mom's is a whole new version that I think sets this movie apart as a new phase in the series (if it were to continue, I'm sure we'll see a lot more that act and look like her). I think this also does a really good job of representing the 3 separate Books of the Dead from Army of Darkness.

And lastly, while I was sad to see no tattered and bloodied Bruce Campbell, I was EXTACTIC to see trans rep in a blockbuster horror film! It's never explicitly stated that Danny is trans, but I feel like it is heavily implied, especially because the actor himself is trans. BUT I love that in a genre where often peoples differences (skin color, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc) are exploited and often mocked by and used by the villain to further hurt the character, I was so glad that that DIDN'T happen here. Ellie is an equal opportunity possessed mom! She hates all her "titty sucking parasites" equally, not just the trans one!

All that to say, I enjoyed the movie a lot. I feel like people who aren't as optimistic as me when it comes to movies could find things to dislike about it, but I review movies entirely on how they made me feel, not from a technical standpoint so I will continue to say it's a good addition to the franchise.

[stuffromymind]

Canada’s Top 20 Bands (Excludes Solo Acts)

I stumbled on this list but it pissed me off so much, I was gonna share it with some friends but the email got outta hand soooo...

This list is hurting, definitely in the wrong order, but it's TOTALLY invalidated by #20 and #8.

20: Simple Plan: F-. The plan is quite simple: "Let's SUCK!". Pedo Pop. They sang love songs to 10 to 14 year old girls at their gigs. I met Bob Rock, who produced one of their albums, at a bar once during a set break. I went up to his table, said hi and asked: “Can I buy you a drink Bob?”

“No thanks, I’m good.”

“Okay, I just thought you might be hard up for cash since you took a gig working on Simple Plan’s last album......”

The whole table burst out laughing, Paul Hyde, (his partner and lead singer in The Payollas/Rock&Hyde), burst out laughing, slapped me on the back and said: “OH HE GOT YOU BOB! Good one mate!”

Bob smiled at me and said: “Fuck you, man.”

He gave me a wave later that night as he walked out to his black Escalade, smiled and said, “Have a good night.”

He knew I was right.

I’d need money for lung transplants for an orphanage full of kids who grew up next to a trash incinerator before I’d help to unleash more Simple Plan on the world. Seriously.

-

-

19: Saga: C.  The fashion says it all. Bar band who wrote mostly ok songs. I don’t remember any. They weren’t bad... just..... “eh?”

Nice Eddie VH, “No Bozos”, shirt for stoner dude, Mr. Zebra Pants. I think the guy beside him mighta been dealing with a chubby. The dude playing pocket pool, who came directly from his shift at the car wash? That’s rock.

I’m making this up as I write.....I’m going to bet that the guy in the white suit is the keyboard player. I’d bet on it. I’ve always been able to walk into any venue and spot the keyboard player immediately.

No lie. This just occurred to me.

In fact, I’m gonna go on a hunt and see if I’m right. brb............

HAHAHHAH!! I knew it! I don’t know how I always know, but I DO!

-

-

18: New Pornographers: ?. Respected by their peers. Not my kinda thang.I couldn’t even I.D. one of their songs if you played it to me. Def other bands that should bump them from this list.

-

-

17: Sum 41: B. Was better than a lotta pop punk, (damning with faint praise), but $$ and substances made them flail. Their first album and promo clips were catchy as Hell. Got pretty metal AF towards the end though, dammit. They were good enough to record with Iggy Pop so you can't say shit, really.

-

-

16: Metric: D+. Considering the bands that are missing here? Geddafuckatta here! Never failed to leave me vigoursly unimpressed.

-

-

15: April Wine: B-. Had some undeniably good songs. Worked a gig they played in the 90s. Mercer on drums may have been a reincarnated Viking. Hella nice guy. Good dudes. Unlike Trooper who were unrepentant, 'rawk star' pricks.

-

-

14: Triumph: B+. Def had some memorable melodies. Killer musicians. Not my cuppa tea ultimately. Rik Emmet could rip. Watched him play a solo album show in a university cafeteria, from 10 feet away, 5 years after their famous US Festival gig in front of 300,000. Crowd was smaller. A bit.

-

-

13: Cowboy Junkies: C. Nice. If you like whispering and don't belch too often or have a cat that likes to purr, (you'll miss hearing the songs if you do). If you like dynamics or being conscious? Best in small doses.

They tried to rock up their sound.  Kinda like getting nuns to dress in lingerie and work the pole in church: Didn't take. 

I did have a crush on Margot though. Quirky is cool... 

-

-

12: Loverboy: 1st Album: A. After that D+. "Hey! Ballads make money! Cheese is tasty! Let's crank out soft fromage!” Large mistake. Almost as large as Mike’s bandana.

-

-

11: Barenaked Ladies: B. Yeah, talented. Yeah, apparently put on a good live show in the early days. Yeah their Bruce Cockburn cover that got them started is quite exswellent. But tried too hard to be "wacky!" and I could never stand Page. Just.....no.

Just one of those people that utterly rubs one the wrong way through no intent of their own.

-

-

10: Voivod: A-. A minus only cuz I just don't digg'em. Trailblazers, original, inimitable: Yup. Just not for me. Jason Newstead played with them for a while, (the nicest Metallicat), so that's says sumpin'.

-

-

9: BTO: A. I can play a snippet of 4 of their songs that I guarantee anyone with ears and a few ounces of skullmeat between those ears will recognize at least one of them. Not many bands can say that. Plus, one of their biggest songs was a joke song by Randy Bachman making fun of his brother's stutter, (which is honestly kind of a dick move but it works).

-

-

8: Nickelback: F- - -  Times Infinity. Are you fukking kidding me?! Whoever* made this list eats a bowl of dirt with cheese for breakfast, a plate of shit with cheese for lunch, and a block of mouldy cheese garnished with melted cheese and seal vomit for supper. He has no taste.

Canada and Oilberta should apologize for this stain. If the logic is, “Popularity = Greatness”, then the author of the original list should be in the local dog park on his knees with a fork 'cuz 3 trillion flies say shit is good eating.

I mean, what kind of DICK kicks out a member of the band you all started in highschool and then sues him for his royalties? A dick like Chad, that’s who.

I saw them open for Big Wreck in a bar in 98 when all we knew is the ‘Guy who looks like Jesus is a hack and the band is 4th rate Nirvana.” That was our appraisal.

When they broke world wide and Big Wreck didn’t? I gave up on the music industry and any chance there’s a Sky Friend. Chad Croaker even made Ian Thornely’s songs sound generic as producer. That is some Hellspawned, evil “talent” right there.

-

-

7. Skinny Puppy: A. Never been a rabid fan but is one of those bands you might not be aware of, but that bands you love totally love them! Kinda like there's no Nirvana without Pixies sorta thing: No Ministry without S.P.

-

-

6: Blue Rodeo: C at outset. Don't much know 'bout last 30 years of output, honestly. They wrote a classic song called “Try". Every band would like to write one song that hits like that.  #6 Though? Nahhhhh.

-

-

5. The Guess Who: C. I'm sorry. I just can’t stand their "hits". Burton, in the 60s before they made it big - was a rawk star twat to 2 members of my family and everyone else in the joint. I met him 3 decades later, introduced by a radio DJ who liked my band.

He was SO deep in his gambling addiction, plugging Twonies into a slot machine like it was the Titanic and he was trying to stop it sinking, that he didn't even look up. Just said, "Hey how's it going?", while staring at the screen and pulling coins from his plastic bowl like an automaton.

At least this lead to B.T.O. which should be WAYY higher than The Guess Who.

-

-

4. Arcade Fire: C-. Yeah, No. I've tried. If you needed a group you can sum up in the phrase, "Up their own arses”? This is your band.

-

-

3. Tragically Hip: A+. If you don't own Fully Completely, (recorded at Abbey Road)? You're a dick. Were they WAY overrated as a live band? Hell yeah! Except for Gord pushing his imaginary lawn mower around the stage, doing laundry and being generally odd -as I recall from the 1994 Another Roadside Attraction tour with Danny Lanois, Midnight Oil and The Pursuit Of Happiness- the band was Nyquil for the eyes. They rocked your ears but visually, they’d have been the ideal live band for Ray Charles or Helen Keller.

-

-

2. The Band: A. Another of those bands that if you erased them from existence, another 40 bands would vanish instantly. Don't own any of their music but you can't deny talent and influence.

-

-

1. Rush: A+. Well, duh. I will say that Ged's vocal style kept me away for the most part till their last 3 albums when his tone and timbre changed/dropped from the registers he resided in and he started projecting less from his schnoz.

They're each cool, down to earth blokes and most exswellent Hoser ambassadors. Would have liked to have met Neil.... wish I'd mailed the letter I wrote after I read his Ghostrider book. They don't deserve to be on the same list as Simple Plan and Nickelhack, speaking of which:

* "A Chicago native, Jeff Mezydlo has professionally written about sports, entertainment and pop culture for nearly 30 years....If he could do it again, he'd attend Degrassi Junior High"

That explains it! A meathead, jock himbo! Nickelhack's core fanbase.

Fuhk me running!

This list should have included:

Big Wreck, (Never put out a bad album in 2 1/2 decades). Ian Thornley has pipes for days and can flay the skin from your skull with his guitar playing.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE672AEDCFAD9B04B

-

Headstones, (You won't find many rock/punk bands with more pointed, well written lyrics delivered with more piss 'n venom). Hugh followed me when I was on Twitter. Like minded, nice guy’d who prefer people at a distance I guess. I especially enjoyed seeing him on the last tour deal with an iZombie staring at his device, front row:

“Okay! You got your picture? Put your goddamn phone away!”

iZombie just smiles at his screen while pointing his device/appendage at Hugh’s face. Hugh simply SWATS the phone away, sending it slamming to the floor. Show continued. Aces.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2NAU6h-pv4UbxUpNSAn5yKUeTrGH_vpZ

-

Red Rider/"Tom Cochrane & Red Rider", As Far As Siam....Neruda. Come on....

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA0256E754745F02C

and...

-

Danko -Fecking- Jones. Hello? Degrassi boy puts some of the stains he chose on this list and not Danko? Twat. Stood 4 feet away at a small club in a backwards part of the country many moons ago. I was spitting the words back as loud as the PA. caught Mr. J’s eye and a smirk a few times. Ripping live band. They’re Big in Europe.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL23C355E32E0D8BA9

Any and all of these just mentioned instead of #20 and #8, and a few others should be on any “Best Canadian Bands list. Seriously.

The author, like I said: Himbo, jock, Fuh. Kup.

If you wanna see the original commentary of the sports writer and teen drama fan?

https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/the_best_canadian_rock_bands_of_all_time/s1__37691537#slide_1

[ere-the-sun-rises]

Ooooh! Can I add on?

Indira Varma as Poison Ivy

Tired ecoterrorist plant mom with a soft spot for who Bruce talks to his aloe succulent. More like her Gotham City Sirens version than deranged genocidal maniac.

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

Bubbly and prone to giggles, snort-laughs if Bruce grunts at her because she met him at Gotham U and remembers him walking into her closed dorm room door full force.

Anya Chalotra as Talia al Ghul

Vaguely infatuated with her father's favourite-from-afar. Started as a seduction mission to seal her place in succession, but actually came to like him. Has a "Girl, you live like this??" moment when she sees his greasy hair for the first time.

Freddie Prinze Jr. as Clayface

Humourous, kinda friendly. Does crime because minimum wage sucks and it turns out people discriminate a lot against wet dirt quite a bit when hiring.

Roman Reigns as Bane

Gotta make a living - nothing personal (yet).

Chris Pine as Hush

Pine should be allowed to be ominous more often. He's so good at it, and he'd really bring across the "I hate you so much I wanna fuck you or be you" thing that Hush has going on.

I'd also like to throw in that for Joker, why not the OG himself, Mark Hamill?

Or, if you want a younger version, Dylan O'Brien? (His performance as possessed!Stiles in Teen Wolf season 3 is chilling, menacing and humourous all in one - literally the peak of the entire show.)

Wait a second, if Oscar Issac is Battison's Harvey, who would be his Joker, his Ghostmaker?

I mean, Danno!Enygma is fantastic as an enemy, my bets would go to Pedro Pascal as Ghostmaker (I want to see Oscar's dynamic with Pedro both being enemies of Bruce's attention, each for different reasons).

But Joker? Who would have the profile to play the Joker for Battison?

OOo so here's the thing, I'm not into Ghostbat or Joker at all so I don't really think about it!! I also kinda casted Pedro as Jim because uhhh. I'm a whore like that sjsjs

[pretentious-clownery]

join me as i watch the lego batman movie for the first time (yes i’m late but fuck you)

JOKER I LOVE YOU

why did i recognize the calendar man bc of starkid-

“but all i’m getting is this hold music!i love it” YES

the joker is gay say it with me

wiat why do we give a ahit about the mayor

OH AHIT ITS BRUCE WAYNE-I MEAN BATMAN

“always bet on black”-batman whilst wearing a blonde wig,not surprised tbh

WHY IS BATMAN AND THE JOKER SO GAY

LIKE THE WHOLE “i’m fine with you fighting other people but-“ THEYRE BOYFRIENDS

“are you saying there nothing special about our relationship” JESUS CHRIST THEYRE NOT EVEN TRYING TO HIDE IT

petition to have superhero movies all be lego

j bird is my official name for the joker now

“batman doenst do ships” bitch tell that to your fandom

“there is no us” “batman and joker are not a thing “ THE WAY THE JOKER SHAKES HIS HEAD AND TEARS UP

GIVE THIS CRIMINAL A HUG

“i don’t need you” HE NEEDS YOU THO BATS ,WHY ARE YOU BREAKING UO WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND

“you mean nothing to me” JOKERS LIPS QUIVERING IM GONNA CRY HE LOVES HIM SO MUCH

i’m 12 minutes in i-

i like to think that while everyone is praising batman joker is crying to taylor swift

“i love you more than my kids “ i didn’t know my parents were in this movie

why did i think when he asked where the orphanage was that he was gonna either set it on fire or beat up the orphans-

IS THAT ROBIN

“take care of your abs” gonna write that on my wall

aw the kid with the glasses that i think is robin didn’t get anything but still loves the rich asshole

“what’s the password “ “iron man sucks” THEY WENT THERE AND I LOVE THEM FOR THAT

i mean i agree

did he pull that out is his pocket??

is he wearing a fucking THONG

why is the lighting so good it’s a fucking lego movie

ok but the silence after the loud atmosphere to show his loneliness is so good and smart??

is he laughing at what i think is a sad scene

batman honey you can take off your mask y’know

like you’re at your house you can be yourself

hes talking to his parents aw

DID HE KICK ALFRED INTO THE FUCKING PIANO BY ACCIDENT??

JESUS CHRIST THAT GIVES ME A BIGGER REASON TO BE AFRAID OF HIM

why is this so fuxking meta i love it

“don’t you think it’s time to face your greatest fear?” ”snakes?” “ no” “clowns?” “no”

batman how are you afraid of your boyfriend

SNAKE CLOWNS OML

“nope now it’s snake clowns bc you put that idea in my head” same

“you’re gonna have a great time!” “nonono” “you might meet some new people “ “nonono” “you could even make some new friends!” “nONONONONONONO-“ why is this me

did he beatbox no

OML TUXEDO DRESSING PARTY

the only party i wnat to go to honestly

why do all of his tuxedos really suck

“superman gets it,why can’t batman” *sinks into his chair* your honour give him a hug

“you deserve better than batman” HARLEY BE SPEAKING FACTS

joker is so upset

joker would like olivia rodrigo and blast good 4 u and favorite crime CHANGE MY MF MIND

WHY IS VOLDY THERE

oh god what’s his idea

“he’s the greatest orphan of all time!” why is he actually right

in every batman movie we see his parents die

he’s become an orphan so many times it’s ridiculous

“i’m just so jazzed to meet you”

JAZZED??

oml bruce just said it

robin with eyeliner oml

BRUCE YOU HAVE A BF WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT

ok she’s badass

IS THE JOKER ACTUALLY SURRENDERING WAIT

“apapapapapapa” “you run and i catch you” theyre boyfriends carol

“you were right.there is no us” in any other movie this would be an emotional scene but in this movie it’s a VERY EMOTIONAL scene

but joker is right

his plans often have a back up taht is literally him getting captured so why not just surrender

is he actually saying blink

why do i love him and kinda relate to him

“i just wanna go to arkham and pay for all my crimes” bitch who are you trying to fool

still love him

“BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK-“

joker is an anime girl confirmed

“i’m of the menu! you won’t get to fight *this* anymore” is he calling himself a snack

“riddle me this!WHAT JUST HAPPENED” i love the riddler

OK WIAT EVERYTHING WHEN DARK BC NOTHING MATTERS TO HIM BUT THE POLICE CAR WITH THE JOKER AND JOKER HIMSELF ARE STILL COLORFUL

DO I SENSE THAT BATMAN ACTUALLY DOES LOVE JOKER BUT SIMPLY JUST IS IN DEEP DENIAL HMM??

“no more crime!” are they actually that stupid? do they really think that all crime is over? even though someone new could spawn ??

aw the soft music when it shows robin being adorable and bruce realizing he has to raise him is actually so wholesome

“and i must say,i’ve grown rather fond of the young lad” same alfred,same

he’s saying hello to the table protect this angel at all costs

“i’ve always wanted one of those” can i give him a hug

i love robin sm

“don’t call me dad” “okay papa”

HE CALLED HIM DAD AND BATMAN DIDNT OBJECT TO IT IM GONNA CRY

he’s proud of him i’m actually going to cry

DAMMIT YOU RUINED IT

harley is such a queen

JESUS THEY ACTUALLY BROUGHT ALL THE VILLAINS I

VOLDYS HERE

“with an eye for jewellery” y e s

NO SHIT THEYRE POWERFUL

“ask your nerd friends” what if you are the nerd friend

“actually this is pretty terrifying bat-dad” i love him so fucking much

“where’s homeboys bat cave” i wnat this on my wall

“are you trying to tell me bruce wayne is batman

‘s roommate?” I LOVE THIS SM

“i’m rubbing my butt all over your stuff” “we’re gonna have to rename this the butt-mobile” why is he like this

YES ALFRED JOIN THEM

unironically alfred is such a fucking badass

them dissing suicide squad i love it

bitvh there was an entire trilogy to destroy sauron you do not have time to destroy it NOW

his autopilot oml

HE CALLED ALFRED GRANDPA IM GONNA CRY

“endgame is the biggest crossover” what’s THIS THEN HMM

NO

NO ALFRED CANT DIE

oh thank gods

alfreda british insults are iconic

“have you realized you have never said the words i hate you joker?”

mf they’re not even trying to hide it are they

WHY IS THIS SO GAY

LIKE WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT

THEYRE CHEERING FOR THEM SAME

they’re all invited to the wedding

“i’m not gonna be part of a one sided relationship any longer!” OH STRAIGHT UP JUST SAYING-OK GOT IT

harley and joker being gay best friends is what we deserved all this time

ok that light bitch is speaking facts

batman ,while not being a bad guy,he really isn’t great either

HIM TAKING THE NIGHTWING SUIT YES

him and robin bonding in their own way aw <3

THE CLASSIC FIGHT SOUND AFFECTS YES

“winguediam leviosHUT UP!” love that

“GET OFF MY PADRE” YOU TELL EM DICK

“the most powerful weapon at all,shredded abs”

“if there’s no gotham,then i’ll never get to fight you again “ he really knows how to change his mind huh

HIM LISTING ALL THE TJONGS THE JOKER IS THE REASON FOR IS ODDLY TOUCHING??

“and if it wasn’t for you,i never would have learned how connected i am with all these people.

and you”

brb gonna go SOB

“you’ll help me save us” theyre in love

“you just said us”

y’all

why do i have a new ship

“you had me at shut up” YES

my new wallpaper

then having to take off their hairs to connect is actually a fun detail

eXCUSE ME THAT IS *VERY* CLOSE

HE SAID THAT HE HATES HIM AWW

“i hate you too” “i hate you more” “i hate you the most” “i hate you forever” GET A ROOM

NO BATMAN STAY WITH YOUR BF AND SON

“my two dads are the same dad! but they’re both leaving…” i’m gonna cry

ok bruce talking about how losing people is part of life and how you need to let people in no matter what is just so meaningful and i love this sm

THANK YOU FOR SAYING PLATONIC

NO HE HAS TO SAY WITH HIS SON PLS NO

THEYRE HUGGING

NO YOURE GONNA CRY SHUT UP

all of the villains watching him ascend oml

DID HE GET REJECTED YAY

THEYRE ALL BONDING YES

“holy family photo batman we did it!” YES

him calling him dad yes

the credits YES

alfred playing the guitar >>

“i really hope this thing wasn’t recording “ oh boy do i have some news

NOOO ITS OVER WHYYY

[goodluckdetective]

But What’s the Punchline: Why the Joker is Being Written all Wrong and Why.

Hello everyone, and welcome to the circus. Yes, I am going to talk about the Joker at length here, making me the biggest clown, but listen, I promise, I have points to make. Just sit down and hear me out. 

So a lot of comic book fans, myself included, loathe seeing the Joker because when he appears, it’s usually a sign some bad writing will commence. The Joker is less than a character these days than a “stakes are raised” flag that a writer throws in to let us know “shit is serious now” like we didn’t just see the Joker a month ago in the same way. In general, his actions follow whatever the plot needs from him, plus a joke or two in a wavy font, but otherwise, there’s not much depth to him. He’s a bit like the “sexy lamp” trope except instead he’s more of a street sign that says “danger” and that street sign is in front of like the smallest pot hole to a full on burning building.

But I digress. So the Joker now kinda of sucks, but he has been good in the past. We’ve all read a story where he is actually interesting. So what happened? Well, long story short, the Joker got a bit lost in translation. 

What does the Joker actually represent? A lot of folks say society but that’s not it. Some say he’s chaos for chaos sake, which isn’t entirely wrong, and some interpretations have written him that way, but I’d argue they’re not good ones. 

I think Moore is a little closer with the idea of one bad day but I think people also really simplify what he was getting at.  Because Moore’s point in the Killing Joke (derogatory, problematic) was that the Joker is wrong. Jim proves him wrong, that’s the point. So it’s not that either.

So let’s take a step back. I think the best way to view the Joker is to start with Batman because the Joker is supposed to be his natural foil, his true nemesis. So to foil properly, you first have to decide what you’re foiling. Batman is an idea, the idea Bruce had a very very bad day and then decided to try to stop bad things like it from ever happening again. He’s not a defense of the “system” per say because Bruce goes against the system a lot because it’s corrupt and doesn’t work. But it’s an idea of justice, that those who are hurt can feel safe and that people can be better. 

It’s the idea that “the world sucks and is unfair and bad things happen, but we get up and try to make it better anyway because it’s worth it” Which fits Gotham thematically: things are terrible and dark but no one gives up, they keep pushing towards that light.

Okay so with this in mind, the Joker is easier to define. He’s not pure chaos. The Joker is destructive nihilism, the idea that “everyone sucks and the world is unfair and bad things happen and because of that, I should burn it all down until everyone else realizes it too, because we will never truly win.” A lot of the things the Joker does when written well come back to this mission statement: futility and despair. There’s no hope to be had so fuck it, let’s commit some arson and laugh because none of this means anything, might as well have fun as the world falls apart. And that fits with his character. Why is he a clown? Tragic comedy duality. Why is his backstory always changing and never concrete? Because nothing matters so who he is doesn’t matter, the city will still burn. Why does he shift tactics so often? Because he doesn’t care about consistency, he sees the world as a doomed sim city and he’s happy to destroy it regardless of what tools he has in the hot bar.

And it’s why he hates Batman so much. The Joker views the world as a bird with two broken wings from hitting the window:it hasn’t quite died yet but will never get better. Meanwhile Batman is the person still trying to bandage each wing, like birds doesn’t break wings every day, like the window isn’t going to cause this problem again, like trying to fix this one doomed bird matters. And the Joker hates him for it. He wants him to stop fighting, admit you can’t fix things and laugh. And yet Batman keeps trying to save every broken bird he can find like that will change anything. Hell, he even tries to fix the fucking window, even though some other asshole will put up another one as soon as he convinces this property owner to replace it. Batman looks at this problem and keeps railing against it, even when the chance of him saving ever bird and replacing every too opaque window is impossible. And the Joker finds that attempt to work against what he views as a hopeless situation the most frustrating thing in the world. 

(This viewpoint of the Joker also helps explain why Harley and others so easily fell for the line: cause chaos cus it’s fun is a harder sell then “we’re all doomed, might as well watch it burn and laugh knowing it was doomed to begin with). 

But instead everyone writes him as their first chaotic evil character in dnd and it’s lazy. It’s boring. It’s a plot device in clown make-up. Use a character who makes sense for your plotline. Save the Joker for what he’s meant for. 

[bigskydreaming]

I have decided to make a correction to one of my most oft-repeated stances.

Its not actually ‘both of them being equally at fault’ that bugs me so much about Bruce and Dick’s periods of estrangement.

Its the idea that both of them are being stubborn and need to swallow their pride and get over themselves.

THAT, specifically, is the bigger issue IMO.

Because uh....no. That is 100% what you can’t put them on equal footing in regards to, because when Bruce is the one who instigated conflicts with HIS choices that directly impact DICK’S life....Bruce stretching out the conflict by being stubbon takes the form of Bruce refuses to apologize, consider that he was wrong, or walk back anything he said or did.

Dick stretching out the conflict by being stubborn, on the other hand, is an ENTIRELY different issue, because his only ‘stubborn’ position is refusing to passively accept Bruce’s mandates. He has nothing to apologize for, nothing he CAN even apologize for, other than just.....not ‘settling’ for what Bruce wants him to do in any given situation, not simply rolling over without complaint.

These examples of ‘stubbornness’ exist at ENTIRELY opposite points of the spectrum, and so to pair them as being equivalent is not only grossly disingenuous, its just....gross?

Because essentially, with this people are just saying that Bruce needs to not be so proud, sure, but also that Dick needs to have no pride whatsoever, because that’s what you get when you continually insist that the guy who continually gets railroaded by his father’s control freak issues has some kind of obligation to just say oh I’m okay with that really, and its not that big of a deal, even when it IS very much a big deal.....just for the sake of keeping the peace.

You are effectively prioritizing Bruce’s pride as MORE important and worthy, even while nominally saying oh both are too proud and stubborn, because by virtue of the fact that Bruce’s pride is the cause of so many of their periods of estrangement and Dick’s pride is actually the victim in all these instances given how often he ends up caving and coming back to Bruce to be the one to extend the first olive branch DESPITE Bruce being the instigator.....

This one hundred percent keeps Bruce’s emotional needs prioritized as more important and deserving than his son’s.

And that really sucks. Not even just on its own merits, but also as a precedent, because the fact that it so often happens this way ANYWAY in canon, with this statement STILL getting uttered all the time, about how they’re both too stubborn and prideful.....effectively this just keeps pushing the needle further and further in the direction of Dick being expected to cave sooner and even more easily in each conflict, whether canon or fanfic-originating....because people point to the fact that he DOES cave and from that they kinda build an expectation of inevitability, that its always going to be Dick who caves anyway, so the fact that he doesn’t do it right away, and thus allows conflict to last between he and Bruce at ALL, like.....THAT gets reconfigured to make him ‘to blame’ for any lasting state of conflict between he and Bruce because like, Dick should know better than to expect his dad to apologize or take something back, and thus he should just get over it right away, y’know?

And meanwhile, the expectation builds in the other direction with Bruce, with precedent for how their conflicts so often end (thanks to Dick being the one to cave) heightening the idea that Bruce is just never going to be the one to apologize, work for forgiveness, or take something back or change his mind, so there’s no point in expecting him to do any of the above, or even like....posit what that would even look like.

Because see now its just ‘in character’ for Bruce to never be the one to apologize or sacrifice his pride while its equally in character for Dick to be the one who both views himself and is viewed by others as being the one who is always SUPPOSED to cave, roll over, just let things happen and forgive Bruce anyway, all so that peace can be restored and maintained between the two of them.

And THAT’S how you end up with this everpresent idea that they’re both just EQUALLY stubborn and prideful, with BOTH their pride being responsible for their conflicts.....

Even when their pride is in direct opposition to each other and one’s pride is in defense of his own self-dignity while the other’s pride is at the EXPENSE of the other’s self-dignity.

And that’s like. Really fucked up IMO.