#steph has some effect but not too huge

[bitimdrake]

everyone in the mutual circle is already having smart opinions about the “if you had to make one bat character never have existed at all” poll (that people largely voted on without having any thought at all) but to add my two cents:

if you get rid of Bruce none of the other characters ever exist either. No exceptions. I love dunking on Bruce more than anyone, but come on, let’s be serious here. (However if you would like to get rid of the entire batfamily bar none, good news!)

if you get rid of Dick, there will never be a Robin. None of the following batboys will ever exist in any form. Batman might still get a partner of some kind, but it may or may not be a kid sidekick, so assume you will also lose any parent/child dynamics too. idk who would pick this option.

if you get rid of Barbara, none of the other Batgirls will exist either, and also it’s a 50/50 tossup if there is ever a significant presence of female vigilantes in Batman comics. Too risky.

if you get rid of Tim, you don’t get to be all “omg third robin steph!’ because Steph will therefore only appear in one story arc ever (her first, trying to get her dad caught) and never appear again, doomed to be a minor note in history instead of a recurring and eventually main character. On the other hand, there is a chance that Lonnie Machin becomes the new Robin instead soooo

getting rid of Jason the character doesn’t honestly impact that much (we’ll get some other Robin replacement in the 80s), but getting rid of Jason Todd, Dead Specter Haunting Batman, Eternal Ghost Of The Batcave changes the vibe of an entire era and risks losing or significantly changing every subsequent character. Living Jason is minor; Dead Jason is a keystone.

for such an iconic, popular, constantly appearing character, Alfred...really has almost no impact on the universe

if you get rid of Cass, you honestly aren’t going to cause a lot of ripple effects either. The universe will be fine. However, you will have to spend the rest of your life knowing you got rid of Cass, you monster

[fencecollapsed]

Just watched your video on grace chastity, really good stuff!! I never thought of her that way, but she is honestly so compelling now. Was wondering, in your video you seemed to express you didn’t like parts of npmd? I’m personally not a huge fan of parts of it either, even if I love other parts. Would you be willing to share your thoughts on this?

hi! I'm glad you enjoyed the video, thank you! <3

yeah I can share some thoughts, I have a lot haha

so my biggest problem with NPMD is that I simply do not care about the Lautski plot thread. I think it's boring! I think their relationship in this story is hollow and bland and not emotionally engaging, which is a problem when the emotional climax of the story is staked on them. and I know it works for a lot of people, Lautski became one of the biggest HF ships after NPMD's wide release. I don't wanna discredit that, but I just don't see it.

I don't care about this relationship. the two weeks they have to hang out freely without Max's interference happens offstage during a timeskip and we don't get to see them at the football game together. the only scene they have one-on-one together in act two before CAITIA Reprise is them pretending they don't like each other. the show gives me very little to root for in terms of their dynamic and chemistry other than their first banter-y interaction at the beginning, and even then I think their first interaction is better in Abstinence Camp.

I have a big bias for Abstinence Camp Lautski, I think their chemistry is significantly more believable and charming in that story. they don't spend half of it pretending they're not into each other, for one. it's cuter, and we actually see more of their dynamic. just works better imo. I think their plotline in NPMD would work better if they were written more closely to the AC appearance.

Lautski basically splits main plotline spotlight with Grace's story, and because I'm so much more invested in Grace's story it sometimes feels like a waste of time whenever we snap back to the romance. mainly near the end - I don't think it's a huge problem throughout, honestly. but CAITIA Reprise is supposed to be like, THE big emotional moment of the story, this huge climax where we think Pete will die. and it does absolutely nothing for me! I feel nothing during that scene, I never have. and I understand the intent behind it, yknow? I understand the misdirection, and if it works for you emotionally then I'm sure it's really effective and that's great. but for me, because Grace's sacrifice is the one that actually happens and we spend all that time dealing with Steph and Pete's emotions rather than hers, it just feels a teeny weeny bit disappointing. like that time could've gone into a little exploration for Grace's thought process. I can pick up on the implications that lead to her ending, it's not difficult, but it would be nice to be shown some of that stuff too, dyou know what I mean?

it's just gonna inherently affect my opinion of the show when I don't particularly care about one of the two main storylines hgjskf

I think the Grace plot thread is extremely strong though. all things considered. she carries the show for me and she carries it so well that it makes up for the weaker elements. honestly better than the strong parts of Black Friday imo - I think BF has more to work with but it fumbles the bag more because the focus is spread thinner. both higher highs and lower lows. NPMD is still a more satisfying watch to me because the Grace story is so strong, while BF never feels like it quite comes together or gets the best use out of all its characters and ideas.

neither of them are as strong or satisfying as TGWDLM though. that show has a masterful balance of all its emotional throughlines and all of the characters get their proper amount of exploration for the story. even parts I don't particularly care about never feel like they're getting too much focus that it's distracting. it works the best at what it does, I think.

anyway yeah that's my main thing. I don't think NPMD Lautski is very well-developed and I'm not invested in their part of the story. it takes away from my enjoyment of the whole a little. also I don't love the barbecue monologues segment and Just For Once, I think that whole part is too long but that's more of a preference thing. I've read the positive analysis pieces on Just For Once, I totally get the intent and I don't even think it's objectively unsuccessful. I just think whether or not you like that song has a lot to do with if it emotionally resonates with you, personally. it does not resonate for me so I don't really care for it. just doesn't hit. that's just me though!

[brunchable]

2319 Chapter 9 — Start of Love & War || Young!S.S × F!Reader.

Word Count: 2K Genre: Young Love, Diary Entry, Flashbacks. A/N: Inspired by the Korean Drama 2521. Thank you for being patient guys, I do apologize if it's short! I admit I've sorta forgotten some stuff so I'm rereading everything lol. I might focus on the present next chapter.

The night of July 25 1999, it was a hot, scorching summer, and night had come with a breeze like a balm. It was noisy all around the camp; not only your group was the one waiting for the meteor shower to start. The radio was on for the forecast and some people were singing, others were telling stories and laughing around the fire. 

The midnight blue sky is exuberant, twinkling with bright, white sparkles and fireflies.  Stephen turns his head to look at you, his face illuminated by the stars. He digs his fingers into the soft grass of the hill.  

At some point, you caught Stephen staring at you as you blew a deep sigh out of your lungs and you felt embarrassed, somehow. Especially after confessing to each other that both of you have lingering feelings mutually. 

"Oh my! Look up!" Donna gasped and pointed skyward as millions of diamond streams fell from the sky.

Stephem smiled at you and asked you if you had ever seen a meteor shower before. “No, it’s for the first time”, you answered and suddenly quickly turned away to hide the hint of pink blooming on your cheeks.

He pretended he did not notice and he went on, “It’s interesting how people are fascinated by this phenomenon, when the Earth basically passes through the tail of a comet, which collects everything it finds in its journey through the Universe.”

Both of you gazed up at this dark, vast canopy sprinkled with millions of diamond lights. So mesmerised were you by the sight of it, your voice took on a dreamy tone when you answered him, “Yes, but how beautiful it all looks from down here.” you softly chuckled. 

He laughed softly together with your silvery laugh. It was so sweet and sunshiney, he half-expected flowers to sprout on the ground wherever you walked and a coterie of singing woodland animals to trail behind you while you traipsed through meadows or whatever girls like you did.

Both of you lifted your gaze and saw small shiny globes shooting across the sky, leaving behind a neon-like effect. Exclamations and applause could be heard around you, and you felt him take your hand and clutch it slightly. All he seemed to notice were your bright eyes, they were close enough that he could see the way the lights from the comets reflected in your eyes, like tiny star-beams streaking across an endless night. Your lips parted, lush and pink, and an insane desire to find out whether they tasted as sweet as they looked now gripped him. He nodded with a very warm glow in his eyes, a very softened looking face and an almost hidden smile.

You were too absorbed by the meteors to react to his actions but your heart did skip a beat as you watched the whole show on an indigo background, like a huge canvas, which would lift with the sunrise. 

Stephen closed his eyes and made a wish for time to stop for a short while, so that he can savour the moment with you. His chest aches at the idea of losing the thread of this night, and the ease that has shaped between you, an ease born of weeks instead of months or years, but it is something, fragile and lovely.

Stephen sighed softly, stealing glances at you whenever he can so that his photographic memory will have your image seared into his brain. Then, he looks skyward to see the night sky, twinkling with myriads of mysterious stars, blue-black velvet, making the heart stop from the power of mystical attraction.

Something inside Stephen sparked and right there and then, he has made up his mind. He was going to finish what he started, he will graduate university. 

Stephen's Flashback 

“It’s laughable, isn’t it?” He says. 

“What?” Beverly asks him.

Stephen gestures to himself. “This.” He leaned his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. “I should just quit Mom. I’m obviously not cut out for this.” 

Beverly sighs. “Not cut out for what? College? Real life?” 

Stephen shakes his head. “Responsibility in general, really. Dad was right when he told me that I'm no better than his estranged brother, Uncle Rainer. He was right about that, at least.”

"This year is just a really bad year, Stephen. A really, really challenging year. Sometimes in life, we need a few bad days in order to keep the good ones in perspective.” His mother reached out to hold his hand while keeping the other one controlling the steering wheel.

"You might not see it yet, Stephen but you have what it takes. Your grandfather always tells me to finish what I started, thrust aside your trepidation and self-doubt. Bare your teeth and embrace the process. Most importantly, finish what you start. You’ll be surprised by what unfolds and presents itself before your very eyes." Beverly continued with a slight imitation of her father. 

She continued, "And if at the end of it all, you still don’t like medicine, you can do whatever you want to do. You're young, this is not the end of the world."

▪︎▪︎▪︎

August 5th 1999

“Again, (Y/N)!” If you hear the words 'again' and (Y/N) together in a sentence one more time, it might be the thing that finally tips you over the edge. 

You've been on the edge since you woke up this morning with a headache sent directly from the pits of hell, so the last thing you need right now is more grief from Coach George Laurier. You focus on suppressing your annoyance, like you do every training session when he makes it his mission to push you to your limits. 

Rationalising it’s his dedication that makes him such a successful coach, he decided throwing your ice skates at him is something that should stay in your imagination. 

It’s been a few days since the camp and right when you got back home, your father instantly gave you a condition. A condition to make it ‘fair’ according to him. Since they allowed you to go on that trip, the least you could do was start training. So here you were, training for the next olympic games. You’ve been so focused that you haven’t been able to hang out with Donna.

“You’re being sloppy, (Y/N)!” he yells as you fly straight past him. “Sloppy skaters don’t get gold medals!” 

What did I say about not throwing skates at him? I already have a gold medal.

“Come on, (Y/N)! Put in some effort for once.” Alex snickers, poking his tongue out at you when you shoot him a cold glare. 

Stupid Alex Laurier. Just because he is the best male hockey player the University of Washington, Devonport has to offer and having an ex-figure skater as a father, Alex acts like knew everything about both figure skating. 

“It’s coming, Coach,” you say with as much fake enthusiasm as possible. “I’m getting there; it’s not perfect yet, but I’ll keep practising.” It’s a minor lie, a harmless one. You are getting there. What you've failed to mention is you're only getting there off the ice, specifically when you're attached to equipment that helps you get there. 

“She’s getting there,” Alex lies, throwing an arm around his Dad's shoulders. “Hang in there just a bit longer, (Y/N).” 

It was nice for Alex to be on your side and show a united front to his father. 

George mutters something inaudible and waves you off flippantly. “I’ll see you two back here tomorrow, and if you could both not be late, that would be great. I’m fairly certain eating McDonalds before training isn’t going to get either of you onto the Olympic team. Understood?” 

Shit. “Yes, Coach,” you say in harmony. 

Alex is staring at his phone, waiting for you in the lobby when you finally exit the women’s locker room. 

“I freaking told you he’d know.” you groan, swinging your bag toward him as soon as you're close enough to hit him in the stomach with it. “I didn’t even have anything!” 

He grunts at the impact, tugging the bag from your hands and flinging it over his shoulder. “The man has the nose of a bloodhound.”

You climb into Alex's new SUV, the latest guilt gift from his uncle, and head home. Alex and you decided it would be cool for him to be your ride since he has practice two hours after yours. 

Alex stops at a stop light and looks over at you while you rummage through your purse for your most prized possession. 

“What does the planner say you’re doing tonight?” 

 You snicker, ignoring his teasing tone. “Getting laid.” 

“Ew,” he says, the tip of his nose wrinkling as he grimaces. “Keep your imaginations to yourself.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing,” Alex smiles to himself while you roll your eyes, “So. . . I heard Paris talked to you before we left camp. . .What did she say?”

You scoff at the memory of that morning before separating, “Y'know she apologised but then she said I should've let everyone know I couldn't swim.”

“Wow.” Alex widens his eyes, “What a massive bitch.”

“I'm over it, just as long as I don't see her again. . . Robbie was more upset than her.”

Alex pulls over in front of your house and lifts the handbrake, “To be honest, me too,” Alex said. “You know what?” 

“What?” You asked, looking over at him. Before you could even register what was happening, he leaned across the car and pressed his lips against your cheek. You almost jerked back in surprise. 

“All right,” he said, pointing at his cheek. “Lay one on me.” 

Before you could think twice, you planted a kiss right on his cheek. He smelled like pine trees. “There.” 

He grinned, sitting back just as fast as he’d leaned over. “That fixes it for both of us—and by that I mean my Dad being a pain in the ass.” 

And that’s when I fainted. Okay, I didn’t really faint. But something inside you snapped like an elevator cable, your heart plummeting to your feet. You felt light-headed and combustible, your neck hot beneath your collar. 

“Thanks,” You said, laughing a little. Thanks?! Someone kisses you and you say thanks?! Did you learn nothing from Stephen Strange? 

“That takes the pressure off.” 

No, it doesn’t! Now I have no idea what’s going on! Do you like me or are you just being a good friend in the most confusing, lip-touching possible way?! 

“Hey,” he said. “What are friends for, right?” 

Not this! You climbed out of the car onto shaky legs. Alex Laurier kissed you. Alex. Laurier. Kissed. You.

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

You shut the door of your room and that’s when you snapped out of your trance. You dropped your bag on the floor and combed back your hair, “What the hell was that guy thinking?”

You rushed to the window to let some fresh air in, not realising that Stephen was there, “You look frazzled.” He looked up from the guitar he was holding.

You jumped slightly and cleared your throat, "It's nothing."

“Really? That didn't seem like nothing to Alex.” 

Your face flushed at the mention of his name. You sat down, wondering if Stephen saw Alex kissing you on the cheek. He seemed so casual about it—he probably wouldn’t even think about it again. 

“He was just trying to cheer me up. His dad was very hard on me during training today.” You replied, which was not all a lie since you think that's what Alex was doing—at least that's what 'taking pressure off' is to him.

“Nice to see that it worked.” Stephen chuckles and sets his guitar on his stand, “Enjoy your sessions with him.” With that, Stephen grabbed his jacket and left his room, shutting the door behind him. Stephen's actions stung and it caught you off guard, rendering you speechless. Even though he was casual about it, it felt as though there was a blizzard right beneath his calm persona.

SERIES TAGS: @goldencherriess @lokislov3 @strangesweetheart @mydearalmira @veryladyqueen @seasonofthenerd @artsherlocked @bobateadaydreams @classicrebound @holygalaxyprincess @sobeautifullyobsessed @winsteria @allie131313 @gaitwae @sherlux @the-royal-petals @keistange @omgstarks @evelynrosestuff @withalittlehoney @strangeions @gwephen @cemak @patbrdac @siredlust @downtownshabby @nicoletk @lilithskywalker @youcantseem3 @samisubi @strangelockd @bloodyxsaint @lady-harvey @paola-carter @jotaros-bara-tiddies @delightfulheartdream @strangefilms @strangeobsessed

[deathsmallcaps]

What kind of tans would the Batfam get during the summer?

Alfred: When he was young and in the service, Alfred got a nice tan on his legs, forearms and face. But that has mostly faded with age and inside work now. Extremely conscientious of the dangerous effect the sun has on skin, he now wears protective gear when gardening (which happens less and less as he grows older) and a healthy amount of sunscreen. However, he still vacations on beaches when he has the time, so he has a swimsuit tan.

Bruce: Sunscreens the fuck up. Can he tan? Slightly. Will he? No. He’s a little afraid of sunburn pains, and while his years of training have toughened up his skin, it’s not like he exactly WANTS to have rough skin. He got one (1) cancerous mole when with Ra’s Al Ghul and doesn’t want to tempt fate.

Selina: she was always a little sad she was never as tan as her mother, and so went through a phase where she went to tanning beds. She didn’t like the result, expense, or bluster from the doctor, however, and when one of her friends had a serious skin cancer scare, she quit. Still, Selina loves lounging by the pool in a bikini, and never puts on as much sunscreen that her loved ones would want her to apply. But as she’s largely nocturnal; and often wears a full body once piece, her tan is largely consistent but not a huge change from her look during the winter.

Dick: he always gets a nice golden brown, isn’t afraid of going swimming or sunning in *not much*, but is still conscientious of health and uses sunscreen and goes to the dermatologist regularly. He does have a bit of a sock tan though - he rolls them all the way up when wearing sneakers because he’s a dork.

Barbara: Lobster red burn, peel, back to pale with maybe some new freckles - repeat. She’s given up. She puts sunscreen on her scalp. She’s kind of jealous of Dick. Swears she once got a burn from the moon.

Jason: T shirt tan. All the way. Would have a red neck except he’s always wearing helmets. He sometimes wears a tank top outside enough that there is a 2nd level of tanning, but not too often. Also, he likes boots, so he doesn’t wear shorts and short socks often.

Cass: burnt herself a LOT during her early years as a free person. She loved the warmth and comfort of napping in the sun. She’s learned to be more careful, but you can still find her napping on roofs. As such, she develops a nice, healthy looking tan, but she sort of has the same tan outline as Jason - she doesn’t have a set outfit she usually wears, but it usually approximates a tshirt and varying lengths of pants. Her feet are brown though - she goes barefoot as much as possible.

Tim: Hasn’t ever tried for a tan really. He knew he was Supposed To wear sunscreen, and it’s one of the self care habits he didn’t really neglect. But he’s in the habit of wearing longer clothing anyway, so all that really regularly sees the sun is his hands and face.

Steph: a nice, athletic tan. She spends as much time outside as she can, often running. This originally stemmed from trying to be away from her house as much as possible, and grew to a true enjoyment. She sometimes jogs in a sports bra, so her midriff is a bit tan.

Damian: Damian doesn’t really see the point of tanning, as for most of his early childhood, he wore protective gear and/or worked in the literal shadows/inside like other sensible people who live in deserts. But he also values being outside, sometimes running with Stephanie, and finds Gotham to be too dreary to waste any sun he gets. So he tans quite nicely, though his lines seem to be a mix of Stephanie’s and Cassandra’s

Duke: Duke has a swim shorts tan. Ever since he was a kid, but especially since finding out about his light powers, Duke enjoys the light as much as possible. He also needs to keep up with the tans of people who DON’T spend many daylight hours in a supersuit. So while he does apply sunscreen, he especially applies it to the lower half of the face, as he’s afraid the difference in tone could be noticeable. Either it works or people really don’t care, as no one ever mentions it or uses it against him. Sometimes he’ll join Cassandra on a roof for a sunbeam nap.

Terry: Aesthetically not into tanning. He doesn’t avoid it exactly, but he definitely doesn’t go out of his way to get one. Occasionally gets sunburns when his forearms have been meaning by the car window for too long. Terry does not see the point of working on things like cars and machinery outside of perfectly good garages, thank you very much.

Matt: used to run from concerned adults with their sunscreen - not because he especially hated it, but because it took too long. He still hasn’t gotten into the habit, and so does the ol’ burn-then-tan thing very often. As such, he basically had a T-shirt tan.

[lazyrants]

The LazyTown Circus (prod 203)

Original airdate: February 12, 2007

Story by Magnus Scheving

Written by Magnus Scheving, Mani Svavarrson, Noah Zachary

Directed by Magnus Scheving

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello

Puppeteers - Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Sarah Burgess, Ronald Binion, Emily Decola, Mary Robinette Kowal

In this episode, a song that starts off wonderfully and ends terribly is played, and Stephanie dresses up in her most horrendous costume in the entirety of the 100+ episodes produced (including the campaigns, Extra, Sproutlet Show).

Sportacus is playing with a Yoyo in the airship. He wraps the string around his water bottle and pulls it to him. While drinking, the crystal beeps. He goes outside to see what it is, and it's a fly stuck in a mailbox. WOW. JUST. WOW. Using the yoyo, he gets it out.

Look at that 3D effect. In 2013, three episodes from the then-new season were played in cinemas. Imagine if this was one of them and it was in 3D! Anyways, he wraps the yoyo around the mailbox handle and pulls up the yoyo, opening the mailbox and freeing the fly. The main episode starts with Trixie dialogue, my second-least favourite character so it's getting off to a bad start. She's doing a high-wire (that isn't that high), and once she finishes, it's Ziggy's turn. Can you predict what happens next? Yep, right. Robbie decides to eavesdrop (after playing two of his piano keys, for someone reason one makes a moo noise, so that was funny)..

Ziggy gets scaareeed.. beep beep beep. Sportacus attaches a hook to his belt buckle, and jumps out the airship. Supa. Kewl. Mainly because he's 3D animated in one of the shots & he doesn't even hit the ground.

Anyways, Ziggy's still being a whiny scaredy-cat, he's not even halfway through the walk, and Robbie is literally CHUCKLING. I don't blame him, either. Sportacus flips over to him, and he gives a 'u serious right neow bro' face to Ziggy, then he smiles and taps his shoulder. He lifts him off. Ziggy tells him he knew he wasn't that high up but he was still scared, and he gives him some good advice - try to be a little brave. Once he leaves, it's Stephanie's turn and she says that it's too low for her. Trixie says she's never been on a real one before, Steph says she has (she says they're as high up as TREES).

Ziggy believes her and even asks for her to help him and Trixie with the high walk and to do other cool stunts, and the idea comes for them to start a THE LAZYTOWN CIRCUS (lol episode name in episode review hehe) with animals, cotton candy (Guess who said that? They both said no), music, stunts, & cotton candy (Oh my god, Ziggy. SHUT. UP). When they leave, she decides to try the high walk.

Meanwhile, Stingy & Pixel are being epic gaemers!!11!! when Trixie comes in and tells them everything, including that they need animals. Stingy comes with actually funny dialogue - 'Pick Pixel! He's been eating cheesy garlic Crunch-O's all day and he smells like elephant feet! (Pixel breathes in his face) Urgh, call animal control, something's died in Pixel's mouth!'

Out of all the screenshots I've took for this review, this is my ultimate favourite. So after some more funny dialogue and an angry Trixie moment, we go back to Stephanie attempting the high walk once more, but she herself is scared.

When she sees Ziggy running to her, he puts the pole higher then it originally was. Ziggy runs to Stephanie with a clown nose on and tells her he is a clown. Red nose or not, he is a HUGE CLOWN. He falls (??????) Robbie laughs. He stands up, questions how high the pole is and tells Stephanie she's his hero. So screw the dude who saves you everyday & tells you how to live a healthy life. When Robbie overhears Ziggy's excitement about starting a circus, he attempts to think up a plan to stop it, but he can't think of anything. The end. Until, he starts whining about the annoying things of circuses and talks about cannons - then he devises a plan to shoot Sportacus out of one.

Ziggy sends Sportacus a letter asking if he'll do some circus stunts. He decides a few moves to do - the first one being this one where he throws a tennis racket from arm to arm, throws a ball in the air, AND HOLDS THE RACKET WITH ONE FINGER, AS WELL AS THE BALL. Then he throws a glass plate onto there as well.

And here comes a somewhat funny Disguise Time - Robbie chooses the ringmaster outfit and a light shines on him like he's actually in a circus.

He introduces himself as Roberto The Great, funny dialogue, etc. He ends his speech with 'LET'S START THE SHOW!' Anyways, for once, they do something with the Mayor's approval. They tell him about the circus. When Trixie says Steph's doing the high walk, she says Sportacus might do it. The animals Stingy and Pixel introduce themselves with obnoxious noises. LAZYTOWN FURRY PROPAGANDA AT 3AM NOT CLICKBAIT MUST WATCH 4K ULTRA HD. Anyways, Sportacus flips in and handstands, saying he is ready for circus stunts.

Milford starts saying a bunch of stuff they need for the circus, and Trixie tells him they already have most of the stuff he's talking about. Sportacus says they just need a ringmaster, and they get a ringmaster.

Roberto instructs them to follow him, and somehow, the LazyTown circus has just.. gotten there. Did he buy it like in Mystery of the Pyramid? Did he build it? Was it already there? They all follow him and go inside the circus.

They look for a few seconds until Robbie tells them to get prepared. Then we cut to Bessie and Milford for like five seconds after they bump into each other and Milford tells her he's got the tickets. Well, that was kinda useless. Anyways, Pixel is the head of a zebra.. horse thingy & Stingy is the tail which he complains about. They compromise to take turns. Then Pixel burps and Stingy runs out for air. I don't get why this is slightly funny but it is. Everyone is in their costumes, Milford & Bessie have arrived, and it's Time to Start The Show! (During the video, Steph plays the sax and spit comes out. Yuck.)

After taking the screenshot, I realized that is not the case.. *facepalm*, Trixie made it look like that with her water flower. After the song, Roberto tells Sportacus his very important role - to go into the cannon and fly into the 'very safe' net. He agrees once Roberto says the kids would love it. So he handstands his way to the cannon.

Before he gets in, Roberto tells him to put on his goggles (don't want anybody gettin hurt). He also tells him to cover his ears so he doesn't hear anything, and it works. Anyways, it's time for the high wire and Stephanie's too scared to. Roberto gets Ziggy and Trixie out of the way and tells them to stay there, pulling a lever that traps them in a net. He pulls up the net so they're just hanging in the air. Stephanie yells 'Oh no!' and Roberto overhears her.

Roberto chases Stephanie for a while, bringing up the question - what would he do if he caught her? Anyways, she climbs up the ladder, and Roberto drops the ladder so she can't get down. Milford and Bessie are idiots who think this is all staged. Stephanie attempts to get to them, but she can't, and she reveals she was lying. Took her long enough! Ziggy says she just has to be brave, and what ya know? She does it!!

lolwut. The crystal beeps, which Robbie thinks is the perfect time to launch Sportacus out. Sportacus swings onto this swingy thingy with his hands, and flips so now he's holding onto it with his legs. When Steph loses grip, he catches her.

Stephanie does an astonishing backflip onto the ground, then ANOTHER one after she lands. Sportacus does one only. But then again, he's Sportacus. He gets Ziggy & Trixie down, and the horse/zebra finally decides to make an appearance. Roberto says it's the perfect getaway and uses it as one, but Stingy & Pixel can't handle his weight, so they topple him over and he falls into a drum.

Notice the season one prop in the screencap. His hat falls off, and everyone finds out it's Robbie. Then he tells the kids to not try this at home (LOL). Stephanie apologizes to them for lying about her bravery, but they say she was brave enough to be truthful & actually go on the high wire. Ziggy is still sad they didn't get to see anyone on the high wire. So Sportacus goes on the high wire, and he's so daring he does FLIPS on the wire!

Then they perform the circus version of Bing Bang, which is pretty bad if I may say. In the lair, Robbie says that he was so close and he'll get Sportacus soon. He tries sitting down, but he can't, ya know, considering he has a drum on his posterior.

7/10 - Revisiting it, I liked it more. It was the song & costumes that put me off.

[alfredsolos]

BATFAMILY HEADCANONS

In most of the batfam fics, there are these stereotypical family dynamics that is assigned to them and it really doesn’t fit the image I have of them in my head. So basically this is my headcanons about them.

Let’s start with Dick. To me he isn’t this angelic parental figure to the other batkids because Bruce is too busy with Batman. I think Dick is someone that      -most of the time- has to be the passive agressive force to keep the others in line. He is nice but not stupiditly naive. He knows yelling or getting angry will only make it worse. And frankly he can’t deal with his family’s bullshit 24/7. So what he does is to look calm and patient. He listens to others and tries to make the problem look small and insignificant. Which in the end prevents overreaction. Although most of the time this “tactic” works there are times that even he gets explosive. And in which brings me to my other point. When angry, Dick Grayson is an asshole. Doesn’t matter to whom he’s talking to. He will say things that he’ll regret when he calms down. He doesn’t immediately calm down, so after an hour or two he will go to that person which he blew up to and apologise. Another thing about Dick Grayson is that as I mentioned in the beginning, he isn’t and doesn’t want to be a second parent to his other siblings. He loves them a lot of course but he doesn’t have the time or the mental space to parent them. He will support and look out for them but he knows that it’s not his responsibility so he avoids that most of the time. Also even though Dick is one of the most emotionally open member of his family, to a stranger he looks distanced, dazed. He has this look on his eyes that is calculative and warning. He generally looks like someone that’ll explode to a single inconvenience. So most people that don’t know him get unnerved. Lastly Dick Grayson isn’t touchy-feely. He’ll only accept or initiate touch to people he trusts. Of course he’ll give occasional hugs and pats to some victims. But other than that he prefers a bit distance.

Second is Jason. Among the rest of the batfamily, Jason is the one that looks the most approachable despite his huge frame. His face looks calm and kind. He doesn’t frown when thinking unlike the rest of his family. But of course this doesn’t change the fact that he’s one of the most deadly member of the family. Unlike Dick he doesn’t have a long patience. When annoyed or angry to someone, he will warn them off. He doesn’t immediately go to beating them up though. He threatens people or blackmails them. If they still don’t back up, obviously he fucks them up. Personality wise, he is mostly indifferent to things. He doesn’t really care who did what unless it personally effects him. What Jason hates the most -after joker- is having to fix other people’s fuckups when he can relax at his safehouse. He doesn’t really goes out of his way to interact with his siblings, but he’ll always be there when the need him. Because he knows the feeling of being alone. Another thing about Jason is that he isn’t really mad about being replaced. Yes, he called Tim pretender a couple of times but that was just to anger Bruce and not let him forget what happened to him. But it’s been years since that fight so he doesn’t open that conversation anymore. I mean he was also a replacement to Dick so he knows what it’s like. Overall though, he is actually pleasant to be around and chat. 

Next is Cassandra. Cass is open about her feelings around her family, although not with strangers. She’ll show her family when she is sad or angry or happy etc. She isn’t scared to cry when sad and scream when she’s angry. She cares about her family but has emotional bonds to a few among them. Which are Bruce, Tim, Duke, Steph and Barbara. She loves the rest of course but these ones are the ones that she’d do anything. Cass can speak after years of practice, but sometimes she’ll go back to signing suddenly. Sometimes it’s easier for her that way. Cass is capable of understanding what’s right or wrong. But sometimes she has difficult understanding that some of her actions can be a bit extreme. She’ll scare people if she deems it necessary. And most of the time you can’t change her mind on something. If she wants to do something, she’ll do it. Another thing is that sometimes when talking to a person she’ll space out and -kind of- analyze them. They won’t notice that she wasn’t really there until they ask her a question and just see her stare at them unblinking. It’ll get really unnerving but the moment Cass reads the fear she’ll come back and smile like nothin happened. Her family is obviously used to it so they don’t react when this happens. And Lastly, sometimes she’ll ask weird questions to her family that creeps them out, beacause of the context of the question. It’ll sound dubious and immoral, and she’ll ask it like every bit of the question is okay and normal. The reason of it is that, because of her upbringing she needs to know whether something is good or bad. After it’s answered, she’ll move on like nothing weird happened. 

And let’s talk about Tim. Tim Drake is the batkid that is the most like Bruce. To him Duty comes first and everything else second. He has morals, although not as strong as Bruce. If killing or dying is the last resort he will do it without regret. To him everything has a certain value that he gives, and he arranges his priorities through that list in his head. It might sound cold but that’s what kind of person he is. Also because of that, he is most of the time perceived as an asshole. He doesn’t really get why people don’t understand his perspective and sees nothing wrong about his views. He doesn’t shy away from manipulating the circumstances to his advantage even it means disregarding the feelings of people around him. Tim is also very possessive of his personal belongings, so he doesn’t like people coming into his room. His room is very messy due to cleaning being very low on his mental priority list. He forgets trivial details or doesn’t bother to remember them. He also hates the taste of coffee so he usually drinks energy drinks to keep him awake. Because of that he gets very little sleep and has a pallid appearance. Because he usually wears baggy outfit people assume he is thin, but he has crazy back muscles due to wielding a bo staff for years. He isn’t mad at Jason or Damian for trying to murder him, but will use it against them for his purposes.

Duke is mostly percieved as the most humane one but he is the exact opposite. Mainly because of his powers and his nonchalant behaviour. Duke -in time- learns to control his powers but still can’t find a limit to them. He doesn’t get tired from using them as if it’s natural to him. He sometimes floats in the manor when he is deep in thought and his ability to manipulate light and dark gives him absolute cryptid vibe. He mostly patrols in day time, but is absolutely terrifying when he goes at night. He has full control of his surrondings and can make people see what he wants them to see. He can go invisible and take rogues out without them knowing someones even there. He can cloak other people in darkness or make them invisible on light. His eyes glow randomly and all you see is little black dots of after effect. He himself doesn’t really get why people are so afraid of him. His personality is very introverted most of the time. Although he led teams before, he doesn’t see how amazing he actually is. He feels different among the other batkids because of that. They all seem like these supreme beings and him just a kid that Bruce picked up. Even though he is the only batfamily member that actually gets along with everyone.

Last is Damian. Now in every fic, he has the same personality of being the “blood son” or “Yes father.” which I hate. Damian was raised by trainers and ninjas and maids. He cannonically met Talia when he was 8 and his father when he was 10. So most of his life he didn’t have any parental figures. Just some ninjas that trained him to kill and be resistant. So naturally he treated his parents how he treated the ninjas. By trying to be useful to them. To him, he wouldn’t have any worth if he wasn’t useful. So he killed for his mother and saved for his father. He didn’t look for love or comfort. Because again, he didn’t know how to interact with his parents. But something changed in him when he saw his father with his siblings. How Bruce treated Damian different than rest of his siblings. So he started to hate his brothers and sister because of it. But eventually came to the realization that it wasn’t his siblings that he hated but himself and his father. Because to be blunt, Bruce was never a parental figure in his life. Dick understood him better, but yet again he didn’t saw him as a parent either. The person who he felt a bond -a parental bond- was Alfred Pennyworth. No matter what Damian ever did he always stayed and loved him. And that made Damian feel love so much that he started to change around him. Damian becomes more playful and teasing and sarcastic around him. His eyes tinkled whenever they talked and he laughed loudly -with dimples showing- when he was with him. To someone other than Alfred, Damian looked as if life itself was boring him. The smiles he gave them are condescending and arrogant. To Damian they are just like mere ants in an ant farm. So he prefers to stay away and observe. He doesn’t actively try to hurt his family anymore but prefers to be distant. Whenever he is not with Alfred he’s with his pets. He especially likes to spend time with Goliath. To him Goliath is his best friend. He knows Goliath will be there whenever he calls for him and has a deep bond with him. Last of all, Damian doesn’t hate killing. He doesn’t like it either. The reason he’s not killing is because he wants to stay in Gotham. If he were to kill someone he wouldn’t have permanent regrets and that bothers Bruce. Damian can differentiate between good and bad but he prefers to do whatever he pleases most of the time so this sometimes cretaes an argument with his family.                      

[incorrectbatfam]

Stepmom!Selina?

She sees what she's getting into from a mile away, but she welcomes it because Bruce's kids are a part of him, and she loves all of Bruce.

The kids all see it coming too, and while some (Damian) take longer to warm up to her, she's welcomed into the fold with open arms.

Selina's got a heart as big as her partner and while she's not always perfect, you can see how much she cares.

As a former foster child herself, Selina understands Duke's unique experiences and traumas from the foster care system, so whenever he needs to talk, she's the first one he goes to. Sometimes he doesn't want to (or need to) talk, so they'll watch boxing matches or she'll teach him little bits of Mandarin. If the kitchen isn't busy, they'll try their hand at new TikTok recipes, and film themselves either succeeding or debunking the original poster.

Being raised in isolation to be a human weapon meant Cass missed out on a lot of the things daughters typically learn as children/teens. The evening of Cass's first gala, she didn't know the first thing about doing her own hair and makeup. She's braved assassin armies, but her self-made disaster of bobby pins and eyeshadow nearly drives her to tears. Selina swoops in, wipes Cass's face with gentle reassurances, and walks her through step-by-step.

Selina considers it a privilege to have watched Dick grow from the spunky little Robin to the man he is today. Even though he's taller than her, she still ruffled his hair when he does a good job. She also keeps the first ever birthday card he gave her, which includes a pop-up bat signal and scented stickers, and remembers all of his favorite radio stations. Also, when Bruce does something, Dick goes tattling to Selina.

For a while, Carrie mooched off of her siblings' Netflix profiles, but everyone got tired of her messing up their algorithm and she was forced to make her own. She soon realized how much freedom she had because no one could see what she was watching. Selina caught on to the power trip and started researching and watching snippets whenever a new show comes out. That's how she stopped a bunch of preteen girls from watching Squid Game.

Tim often gets overlooked as not just the middle child, but the child who appears put-together and regularly takes on adult responsibilities. Selina, however, remembers that he's still a teenager. She regularly checks in and gradually teaches him that it's okay to let go and act his age. Selina encourages him to call his Young Justice friends outside of missions and take small acts of rebellion against Bruce. When Tim and his boyfriend snuck out to a famous lover's lookout, Selina gave them the car keys and covered for them.

She noticed that Jason really enjoys hanging out with Harley Quinn, bonding over not just Joker trauma but other shared interests like music taste. After Harley turns to the antihero side, Selina discusses with Bruce and they start inviting Aunt Harley and Aunt Ivy to dinner. The first time they do that, Harley is so excited that she baked a three-layer cake just for Jason. Literally, in strawberry frosting, it said, "THIS CAKE IS FOR JASON ONLY." Finding someone that Jason can relate to remains one of Selina's proudest accomplishments.

She's trying her best, but she makes mistakes too. For instance, although Wayne Manor has plenty of kitchen space, Selina does her cooking at Harley and Ivy's because Ivy can offer her fresh plant-based ingredients that suited Damian's needs. When Alfred's not available, she sends Damian to school with healthy, flavorful vegan lunches shaped into Cheese Viking characters. One time, she was tasked with bringing brownies to a PTA meeting. Incidentally, Harley was simultaneously baking a... different kind of brownie for a block party (you can see where this is heading). When an angry superintendent demanded to know who was responsible, Selina wisely kept her mouth shut and thankfully, so did Damian.

Cullen loves concerts, but he's a huge introvert who gets anxiety when he's left alone in a crowd. Selina becomes his concert buddy, and she'll go as all-out as he does. Sometimes that's showing up to a garage band dressed-down in hoodies and sunglasses. Other times it's painting their faces and looking like they just came out of a Hot Topic blowout sale. She even listens to the discography beforehand so she can blend in. Selina learns a lot about Cullen through this, because nothing says more about a person than the music they listen to.

Harper, though looking rough around the edges, turns into a giddy little kid at interactive science museums. During one of these trips, Harper got distracted by the giant Newton's Cradle so she didn't notice a fourth grade field trip sweeping up Selina. When they reunited at the gift shop, a chaperone had given Selina a school t-shirt and she was put in charge of grading ten kids' assignments. Harper laughed so hard that she spewed lemonade on the museum owner. Neither of them will let the other live that day down.

Selina and Barbara openly talk about guy stuff, and Selina is more than happy to offer advice in times of need. They're both pretty liberal talking about that stuff, and one time they did a tier ranking of all the Gotham Rogues based on how effective their gimmick is (Joker was the only S-tier). They then proceeded to get into a debate on whether or not Man-Bat and Killer Croc should qualify for the list, which led to them staring each other down at dinner while the other family members sat around them confused.

Steph's school offered a Mother's Day breakfast. Although Crystal Brown was doing her best and wanted to make it, she was scheduled a double-shift that the breakfast fell right in the middle of. Selina reached out to Crystal and with permission, went in her place. Afraid that Steph would publicly reject her, Selina sat in the parking lot for ten minutes as Bruce amped her up over the phone. Steph, thinking that no one would no up, was ecstatic and said that she couldn't have thought of anyone better. They enjoyed stacking up waffles and making the girls who bully Steph envious.

Long before she and Bruce got married, Selina made it clear that she would not be relegated to the gender-typical role of a homemaker, and Bruce happily concurred because it's 2021. They knew that to give Alfred a break, they'd have to take on some chores themselves. Instead of dividing up a boring old chore chart, they find ways to make cleaning fun and collaborative. They'll dance around the halls in mop slippers, play "guess the stain", and race their roombas. The kids see this and start modeling the behavior in their own ways—Dick swings from high places to dust them, Damian trains his pets to pick up garbage, and Cass and Duke compete to see who can clean the most bathtubs.

Some parts of the Manor are due for redecorating, so Selina and Alfred make a day trip out of interior design sketches, flipping through furniture catalogues, and looking at paint swatches. It sounds boring at first, but the menial tasks meant they had plenty of time for conversation, and she finally understood why everyone respects him. They also made room in the afternoon for a stroll through the park and afternoon tea, where he told her and her only the secret to a perfect scone.

The other Justice League partners welcome her into the group too. Whenever Selina's in Metropolis, she joins Lois and Ma and Pa for Sunday brunch where they share what their kids have been up to. Iris shows her life hacks to cooking large batches of food in a short time. Selina and Dinah discover an online store dedicated to selling vigilante gear and go on a Cyber Monday spree for their whole families. Steve Trevor, Diana's partner, teaches Selina how to fly with the invisible jet so she can surprise Bruce with the batplane.

After overcoming their initial conflicts, Selina and Talia hold a high amount of respect for each other. Talia sees Selina as not just a capable combatant, but a worthy partner to her former beloved and stepmother to her son. Selina, after spending all that time with the kids, understands the motherly love that Talia holds for Damian and makes it abundantly clear that she would never try to replace Talia in the boy's life. Regardless, looking after all those kids is hard, so they are very much open to the idea of co-parenting.

(Selina doesn't know it, but all this makes Bruce fall in love with her all over again.)

[ectonurites]

so i want to read red robin but uh. i'm missing a lot of context so do you know which comics i should read before starting it?

Okay. So. Red Robin 

Ideally, Red Robin comes after reading through Tim’s Robin run in general, as it’s basically a continuation of that comic. It’s not like you need to read every single comic he’s appeared in before or anything like that... but I just definitely wouldn’t recommend this being like... the first major Tim-focused story you read, if that makes sense? The way he acts in Red Robin hinges upon a lot of previous things having happened, as opposed to him acting like his more normal self. 

But lets go into some specific things that are important for understanding what’s going on in Red Robin assuming you’ve got some basic Tim info/understanding under your belt already:

Final Crisis - What happened to Bruce during Final Crisis is essentially the main driving force of the first bit of Red Robin, in general I’d recommend reading the whole event to understand it because just part of it without context would probably be really confusing (this is the reading list I used) but it can definitely be... overwhelming, it was a huge thing. The parts with Bruce are what’s most relevant: Batman #682-683, Final Crisis #6-7 and Superman/Batman #76

Robin (1993) - As I said above, in general Red Robin is the continuation of Tim’s Robin run. Events from the last major arc ‘Search for a Hero’ (Robin #177-183), which has the same writer as the second half of Red Robin, are especially relevant. In general though, reading through Tim’s Robin run helps you to... understand Tim more, and kinda see how the things he’s going through in Red Robin are a change for him, he’s acting a lot darker and edgier than normal because of all the things he’s been going through basically since War Games happened. (Steph’s death during that event was kinda the kickoff of his traumas in the 2000s, as it was followed by his Dad’s death in Identity Crisis, Kon’s in Infinite Crisis, and Bart’s in The Flash: Fastest Man Alive. While these don’t all specifically get referenced in Red Robin necessarily, and aside from his Dad they do all come back, these incidents along with Bruce’s apparent fate during Final Crisis are all things that have been weighing on him heavily and contribute to his mental state)

Battle for the Cowl - While this is kinda a hot mess of an event (particularly for Jason), it’s extremely important for context. Here’s a reading list, although personally I’ve just read the TPB for the event that I physically own that just has the main BftC comic & the two Gotham Gazette issues, which is what’s most relevant for Tim specifically.

That’s the like, most important context stuff going into it I think? There’s definitely a few other things potentially worth checking out like the rest of the Batman: Last Rites tie-ins (Batman #682-683 & Robin #183 that I already listed above are part of that, those are most relevant for reading Red Robin but for a general understanding of what else is happening in Gotham at the time consider checking out the rest), which all lead into Battle for the Cowl.

After Battle for the Cowl, the Batman: Reborn event is what establishes the new status quo in Gotham. (Red Robin #1-4 is considered part of this event. While you don’t need to read every other Batman: Reborn thing to understand what’s going on in Red Robin, certain little details and questions you may have about characters who are now in different positions than before are explained in the other titles so it’s worth looking into. But all of these were coming out around the same time as Red Robin so it’s not so much a ‘read before’ as a ‘read alongside if you’re interested’ ya know?) 

Then I know you didn’t ask for this but I’d like to add a few specific things I think are helpful to read during Red Robin, some the Red Robin comic itself will tell you about as they crossover but some it won’t!

Adventure Comics #3 - This one it’s kiiinda hard to tell exactly where it fits into Red Robin, some time during the first arc when Tim’s on his search still, my best guess is just sometime before Red Robin #4. This is essentially Tim & Kon’s first real reuniting since Kon came back to life during Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds. This issue also references things with Tim that happened during the One Year Later part of Teen Titans (2003) in issues #34-37. It doesn’t necessarily do too much to the plot of Red Robin but I think it’s relevant reading, and it later gets referenced in Red Robin #9.

Blackest Night: Batman - This one... also kinda hard to figure out exactly where it fits in, I think right after Red Robin #5 makes the most sense since it’s definitely before #6 (because Tim references the event during that issue) but it has to be after he finds what he finds in #4, and #4 kinda goes directly into #5. This is a tie in for the Blackest Night event but as long as you get the basic premise of ‘Black Lantern rings make zombies’ then it can be read pretty independently. 

Batgirl - It’s very clear where this crossover happens in the comic, After Red Robin #9 read Batgirl #8, then the rest of the arc is continued in Red Robin #10 and on. 

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne - So, this book builds on Tim’s findings earlier in Red Robin as well as what Dick and Damian discovered/pieced together in Batman and Robin (2009) Issues #7-12 in regards to what happened to Bruce during Final Crisis. I’d recommend reading the first two issues of this (Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1-2) before Red Robin #16. Then after that issue, read the rest (Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3-6). Alternatively you could just read all of it after #16, before the next thing I’m about to list, it doesn’t make a huge difference. It’s just that in Red Robin #16 Tim references that the events of this book had already started, but he hadn’t become involved yet, and he gets involved in #3. Regardless, read this before The Road Home: Red Robin.

The Road Home: Red Robin - This one is specifically mentioned to take place after Red Robin #16, but I’d really really recommend reading Return of Bruce Wayne first and then this. Afterwards go back into Red Robin #17.

Teen Titans - This crossover technically is first teased at the end of Teen Titans #91, but primarily starts in Red Robin #20 and then continues into Teen Titans #92.

Judgement on Gotham - This event starts in Batman #708, crosses over into Red Robin in Issue #22, Gotham City Sirens #22, and ends in Batman #709.

There are a few other things Tim shows up in around this time (The Gates of Gotham series is the first thing coming to mind, as well as after the crossover with them he rejoins the Teen Titans, but he also just shows up occasionally in the other bat books based in Gotham during this time) but they don’t really have any effect on the plot of Red Robin specifically.

I hope this makes sense and isn’t too confusing! In general like, this era between Final Crisis and the New 52 had so much going on in the Bat books that there’s like... lots of moving pieces to keep track of. Hopefully this can at least point ya in the right direction. 

[thatblondeperson]

Hi so I'm gonna make a quick post just to go over some things in the wake of likely oncoming news.

First and foremost, I will be happy with any outcome we get for Tim unless it turns out to be queerbaiting because fuck that DC. Either go 100% for bi or gay or don't play at people's heartstrings. Commit or be burned. I myself like to headcanon Tim as bi. I think he's always been very clearly attracted to women, but that doesn't mean he can't also be attracted to men. I've shipped TimKon before and still do, just less so than my main, which brings me to the next obvious thing of note.

Yes, obviously I'm very sad that Tim and Steph broke up. More because it was mentioned in passing which I think does a disservice to their entire relationship as a whole. Where is the respect for their tenure together? I do hope we get some explanation since there was nothing going on in current continuity that predicted this and I'd rather not just have it written off as "yeah they're over, move on." I want to dig in a bit, because Tim's attitude seems like something bad happened which would have to be huge considering that they've been fine up until this point. I do not feel confident that my curiosity will be humored.

Regarding Steph, I hope she doesn't get written out. i hope she gets respect, her own stories, her own life. I want her to not just be cast aside as a nothing in Tim's life, or as cheap training wheels for this new chapter. I don't want mlm representation at the expense of misogyny because media does that a lot. Shippers on this site do this a lot. Someone can't be queer unless you effectively bury their prior relationships in a trauma filled heap of garbage. It's frustrating and I don't want her sucked into that. I believe in my heart that she would be supportive, so if Tim is gonna come out, LET ME SEE SOME DAMN SUPPORT FROM STEPH. This could change her stories too though, which I'm happy for as well. they could let her be canonly bi (not mentioning Future's End as that's BARELY Steph...) and give her some new adventures that I will be thrilled to read. But I don't want her turned into the devil of Tim's life journey. Don't make her his oppressor, don't make her the thing that held him back from happiness. She can be something that was happy for him as well, and now he has something else that makes him happy. It can be both.

My theory right now is that Tim is getting a ton of memories flooding back into his head and he's remembering old friends which is bringing up old suppressed feelings that he wasn't aware of. Bernard is in his memories and I think that's a really interesting way for them to take his. It's not making a new character or starting things out of the blue, it's very much saying HEY! We heard you. This is something people have seen in Tim for a while so maybe it was always there but he never knew it himself. Very cool move, I hope they handle it well.

My next concern is...my fic. Regardless of the outcome, gay or bi, I will post it. If he's bi, I'm not gonna have any issues, but if he's gay, I will pin a disclaimer at the top of my blog and on the fic itself. I just want to post it. I'm a slow writer, but I've been working on this piece since 2019, and I've been wanting to write it since I first got into Tim and Steph. Is it perfect? No. It's very self indulgent and angsty, but I'm proud of it, and I want to post it. With either outcome I'm afraid I'll get backlash, and I will just probably have to link them to a disclaimer. If Tim is confirmed gay, I will be heartbroken at not feeling comfortable discussing my fic with anyone. I won't be able to talk about why I've loved TimSteph for years. I won't be able to post headcanons. I won't be able to participate. I will still love them both separately, but I'll be losing the drive for my art. Those two have inspired me for years and I have list of wips and ideas that will unfortunately never be able to be published. It breaks my heart to have to abandon all of that, but it's my own fault for not writing fast enough or not feeling confident in my drawing abilities. I have been a bit selfish today in hoping that Tim is bi, and I do wholeheartedly apologize for that, but my creativity is going to halt immediately and I'll never get to do what I planned to do because I believe it would be disrespectful to continue to put out TimSteph media if Tim were gay.

More than anything, I am worried about losing friends. I won't get to have deepdives into their characters anymore with a couple people, and those deepdives have kept me going many days during quarantine. I wont get to bounce fic ideas or art ideas off of people anymore, and I'm worried that over time without TimSteph being a bit of glue, I'll lose those people. This is kind of my one big ship. I don't ship a lot of things and while it's not necessary to ship things to be happy, I like having at least one solid ship to fall back on. I don't have a backup, most of my ships are from discontinued shows and I have no desire to write or draw for them a lot of the time. I gotta shift this energy somewhere, but where? And I just do not want this lack of energy period that might come in the wake of Tim being confirmed gay, to lose me connections with the people I've gotten to know over the past couple years BECAUSE of TimSteph. I'm mourning a future that might not even come, but I can't help it. I'm afraid that I'll get left behind.

This is all very dramatic and personal, the comic today was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm being selfish for the sake of my art and my personal relationships which overall doesn't matter in lieu of potential representation!!!!!!! Like actual tangible representation YES. There's ways that I want this to go and ways that I don't, but for the record I want to make sure it's clear: If Tim is canonically confirmed as LGBT+, I will be celebrating with everyone else. I am not here to suppress representation for the sake of a fictional ship that I enjoy. Everyone should get a chance to see themselves in a story, and Tim is a big character to make that leap with. This will hopefully be a diversity win that will make a huge impact in all big name comics going forward, not just DC comics.

[considermewhelmed]

Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths- Tim Drake

TW: attempted su*c*de/su*c*dal thoughts, anxiety, depression. 

a/n: hey remember in the Master when I said these would be short fics? Ha. Yeah. Me too. Good times. 

Tag list: @river9noble

Master

“Achilles, Achilles, Achilles come down/Won’t you get up off, get up off the roof?/You’re scaring us and all of us/Some of us love you/Achilles it’s not much but there’s proof.” 

“You may feel no purpose/Nor a point for existing/It’s all just conjecture and gloom/And there may not be meaning/So find one and seize it/Do not waste yourself on this roof/Hear those bells ring deep in the soul/Chiming away for a moment/Feel your breath course frankly below/And see life as a worthy opponent.” 

Tim stood on the edge of the building, overlooking the city. His cape billowed lightly in the cool air, and he took a deep breath. 

‘Red Robin, report.’ Barbra’s voice asked in his ear. 

Tim remained silent, his eyes scanning the streets, but his mind far away. 

‘Red Robin, report.’ She repeated. 

‘Red Robin, are you okay?’ 

A new voice broke onto the comms. 

Dick.

He had been thinking a lot. About Dick. And Damian. Bruce. Steph. Babs. Duke. Luke. Cass. Kate even. There were just… so many of them. So many. One less surely wouldn’t matter? 

He imagined he wouldn’t get a huge memorial like the one for Jason in the batcave- he was choosing this, he did it himself, there was no honour in that. He didn’t mind though, he wasn’t sure he even cared to be remembered. 

They barely remembered him alive, why would death help? 

He wondered how long it would take them to forget him. The voice is the first thing you forget about a person, when was the last time he talked to them all? 

‘Red Robin, where are you?’ Dick.

‘Is his comm offline?’ Steph. 

‘No, it’s online. It should be working. Receiver and all.’ Barbra. 

‘Red Robin?’ Dick. 

He looked down. He’d survived some pretty unlikely things, but this was too much. Too high. There was no way his heart could take his fall, let alone the pavement below waiting for his body. It called his name, whispering the promises of sweet relief with every breeze, the streetlight spotlight marking his entrance to his final bow. 

‘Can you get his tracker online?’ Dick. 

‘Red Robin, come in.’ Bruce. 

‘No. He’s bypassed the security.’ Barbra. 

‘Really Drake?’ Damian. ‘Sneaking off during patrol?’ 

‘Red Robin, report.’ Bruce- and Tim imagined he sounded worried in the way only Batman could be. 

‘Where was his route?’ Dick. 

Tim tuned them out, but couldn’t bring himself to turn the comms off completely. He didn’t have the heart to be alone- he was selfish and desperate. 

He shrugged off the cape, letting it fall to the rooftop, and quietly unclipped his utility belt. He wished he felt scared, or sad, or anything, but instead he just felt numb. Human instinct should be trying to get him back safely to the solid roof behind him, but instead he just swayed in the wind, as if even his own body was impartial to the decision. 

He closed his eyes and sighed quietly, rolling his shoulders back, resigning to his fate. There was no use in fighting anymore. 

That was it. He felt something. Tired. 

Not just tired. Exhausted. Bone deep exhaustion, the kind of exhaustion that made even sleeping a chore. Tears gathered in his eyes, and with each drop his mask got looser and looser. He thought of something to say- some sort of goodbye. Not for them, but for him, for closure. His own eulogy. Last words, maybe? 

Did he deserve last words when the villain he lost to was his own mind? Internal, eternal, and inevitable? It was a dance he’d been a part of for far too long and he was just tired. 

“Hey Replacement.” 

Tim expected his whole body to go rigid, for his instinct to take over, for any kind of fight to bubble up inside him, itching to get out. He and Jason reconciled, sure, but sometimes when he caught him off guard, Tim still had the same knee-jerk reaction. 

Instead, his body just stood there, open and unarmed. It solidified his resolve- even his instincts knew it was over. The idea that Jason could easily shoot him, or push him off the roof didn’t scare him. 

Why would it? 

He could hear Jason’s quiet, heavy steps as the older boy approached. 

‘Red Hood, status, have you found him?’ 

Dick’s voice came over the comms. 

Tim didn’t look at Jason. There was a soft click. 

“No, not yet. I’ll keep looking. Just cover my area Dickhead.” Jason said before the soft click happened again. 

The two boys were quiet for a minute. 

Behind him, Tim could hear the familiar whirring of the mechanics- mechanics he helped design -that indicated the removal of Jason’s Red Hood helmet. A thump after indicated Jason had opted to ditch it on the roof. 

Normally, Tim would yell at him for being so careless with his equipment, especially since Tim worked hard on the last updates, but he couldn’t even find his voice. 

He heard the clatter of weapons hitting the ground, and Jason stepped closer. 

“Come on Timmy,” Jason said softly, and Tim’s chest tightened at the nickname. “You’re shaking. You gotta be freezing.” 

It wasn’t until Jason said something that Tim realized he was vibrating. Even the air was unforgiving in Gotham, and somewhere between his decision to step on the ledge and the loss of his cape, it turned into an icy grip that cut through the thin material of his suit. 

The wind stung his face where the tears had started to slip beneath his mask. His knees buckled and he sucked in a sharp breath of air. 

“I can’t.” He choked out, his hand gripping at his chest. “I- I can’t move.” 

‘Red Robin?’ Dick’s voice cut through the comms. ‘Come on buddy, where are you, I’ll come get you.’ 

Tim couldn’t hear him over the roar of his own blood in his ears, and took his comm out of his ear, throwing it off to the side. 

It was then he caught sight of Jason, and was shocked by the lack of not only helmet, but mask as well. Jason’s eyes had a green shine to them- a side effect of the pit -and they were trained on Tim. 

Jason held out his hand to Tim. “Take my hand baby bird.” He murmured. 

“No,” Tim cried. “I want- I should- I have to- I’m going to fall Jason-” 

“No.” Jason said sternly. “No you won’t.” 

Tim inched closer to the ledge. “It doesn’t matter-”

“Of course it matters dipshit, you matter. I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.” 

Tim’s lip trembled and a sob tore from his throat as his knees gave out from under him and for a split second he was falling- 

And the next he was wrapped in a tight hug. 

Tim reached out instinctually and grabbed onto whatever he could hold, staying as close as possible to the smell of leather, gun polish and sweat, a surprisingly comforting combination. 

Maybe it was just because it meant safety. 

“I’ve got you baby bird,” Jason mumbled, and he could feel Jason bury his nose in Tim’s hair. “I’ve got you.” 

“I’m sorry,” He sputtered through his tears. “I’m sorry, Jay, I’m sorry,” A whole new breakdown washed over him, and he couldn’t get a grip on his emotions. 

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Jason scolded him lightly, and rubbed little circles on his back. “I’ve got you.” 

“I was going to do it,” Tim cried. 

“I know.” Jason whispered. 

“They hate me. They’re going to hate me more!” Tim whimpered. “I can’t- I don’t want-” 

“I know.” Jason repeated. “But no one hates you, Tim,” He promised. “Hell, even Barbra threatened to get out here to find you.” 

Tim buried his face in Jason’s chest and just stayed there. “I’m nothing more than a placeholder,” He mumbled. “I’m a pretender. A replacement.” He sniffled. “I didn’t- I didn’t even want to be Robin. God. I wanted Dick to be Robin. Batman needs Robin.” He was close to hysterics, and god Jason still didn’t know what to do. 

“Maybe,” Jason agreed. “But Bruce Wayne needs Tim Drake.” Jason said quietly. “I’m pretty sure the old man would be lost without you Timmy.” 

Tim shook his head and Jason snorted. “You set up the system in the batcave, make sure the Wayne business is intact and running smoothly, you’ve updated all the security, you always make sure there’s coffee in the manor, and no one makes him smile with bad jokes like you do.” 

Tim stayed quiet, and Jason alternated between rubbing his back and running his hand through Tim’s hair. The boys stood there for as long as Tim needed to and Jason realized how small Tim was because Jesus Christ this was just a kid in a costume and he just wanted to be loved. 

“Can we go back to the Manor?” Jason murmured. “My bike’s not far.” 

Tim didn’t move. 

“We can watch a movie?” He suggested. “I’ll let you pick.” 

“Why are you being so nice?” Tim mumbled. 

“Well… I could punch you instead if you’d like. Not sure that’ll make you feel better though.” He offered, and was rewarded by the smallest, quietest laugh. “C’mon, we can raid the kitchen.” 

“You aren’t going to make me talk?” Tim asked. 

Jason shook his head, tightening his grip on him. “I’m not going to make you talk about anything you don’t want to baby bird.” He said softly. “But if you want to do that, I’m here for that too.” 

Tim tightened his own grip and kept close- Jason was keeping him grounded and that’s all that mattered. “What was it like?” He whispered. 

Jason was quiet for a long moment, and Tim regretted asking almost immediately. 

“Long.” Jason decided. “Dark. Quiet.” 

“Good quiet?” 

“No.” Jason said softly. “Too quiet.” 

“I’m sorry.” Tim whispered. 

“Me too,” Jason mumbled. “You’re not alone Timbo. I’m right here, alright?” 

Tim nodded and pulled away after a moment when he felt like he could stand on his own. Jason collected their things and handed Tim his mask, cape and belt, putting his own mask and helmet back on, clipping his holsters on. 

The ride back was quiet- Tim’s comm must have busted when it hit the roof, and if Jason heard anything he wasn’t giving it away. Jason came up with some half-assed lie about what happened to Barbra and the other Bats over the comms, and immediately claimed the living room for him and Tim, heading upstairs. 

Tim was asleep by the end of the opening credits, tucked safely into the side of his big brother. 

Maybe Tim couldn’t fight the villain in his head on his own, but having someone like Jason Todd on your side certainly made it easier.

[vallerygallery]

Young justice season 4 theories part 2

Alright strap in cause this is part 2 of loosing my sanity trying to predict season 4 of young justice. And oh boy are you in for a ride today.

So my last post on this (linked above) was mostly on Wally West, Greta Hayes, the Legion of superheroes, Jason Todd and Bart Allen. I went on about Easter eggs and other thing but I’ve just scraped the barrel on the absurd amount of speculation I call theories. So I’ll go ahead and develop my thoughts on the legion, and add some other details that I’ve seen that I think could lead into some other story arcs.

The Legion Of Superheroes

I’ll be the legion isn’t my forte in comic book knowledge buuuuut, here’s my take on what could happen. This will have some similar points to the ones I made in my last post but bare with me. I already touched upon the easter egg we had and how this might be a way we get Wally back. But what I think is more likely is the house of El.

So let me explain... I've already said that we could meet Kara but I think it could be anyone from the house of El. One of the founding members is superboy, which one though changes so we could see a storyline from that prespective. If we do I think it could go in a bunch of different directions and I might make a post separately for all the ways I think this could play out uf the focus on the superman family. (Tell me if you want to see this).

Other than that it could center on rectifying some mistake in the timestream. Maybe some domino effect Bart caused by avoiding the reach invasion. I don't really know how else this could work but I kinda see this as a posibility.

The Outsiders

With the outsiders I’ve seen that the members deviate A LOT from the comics. Obviously, the series wants to go where the comics can’t. They want to see the characters grow at a rate that’s basically unseen. But some current members that I think could be brought into the team without taking away from the story. So here are my characters:

Francine Langstrom

Sebastian Faust

Indigo

Batgirl

So I think any of those characters could work well with the team and the storyline we’ve been seeing hence why I think they could appear. And while I know Batgirl already appeared I meant Steph or Cass. The others however I did have to do a little digging so here’s my logic...

Batgirl

Batgirl is really straight forward since we have 2 to choose from. Cass and Steph. They just feel like logical desicions to come out of Batman inc. as Jefferson called them. There is really no other though and I know Batgirl has been a member before sooo yeah.

Sebastian Faust

Faust is part of the magic side of DC which in my opinion is something we could see more of. We already know there's a bunch of magic users from the Misplaced episode so I don't think it could be much of a stretch. We could even see other members from justice league dark for all I know. I think that with just Zatanna and Dr Fate it could be good to introduce other magic users affiliated to the Justice League.

Simmilarly, Faust is linked to Markovia (granted its through a vampire invasion but still) and we know that with Brion still there it's going to continue being a huge part of the storyline going forward. More so because the light has agents in the government. So I think he could be a good option to have show up.

Indigo

Indigo is one of the many Brainiac iterations. So it could just go in a bunch of different directions. It could also indicate we' be exploring more about the superman family which would be great in my opinion. We have a lot of options since I think the writers won't go with the most obvious choice but I still think that this is perfect cause it crosses over with the legion of superheroes. Tell me some storylines you think could happen.

Francine Langstrom

Ok so in all fairness I'm not the most up to date on this character but from whaat I've found she could be a pretty good fit.

The Phantom Zone

Another point that I touched previously was the phantom zone was referenced with the words 'ghost pit' which seems too close in my opinion. Again this could be used to bring Wally back or... it could have a tie to the house of El. We could be seeing more growth there. It could also tie in with what the legion is going back to stop or to vandal savage if he starts employing criminals. It's likely that they could be employed or in alliance with the light as we keep seeing it grow. It could also be similar to how the light crossed the reach although I do believe it would be more likely to see the light hurt here as these are meant to be the absolute worst criminals Krypton had to offer. We could also see Kara and it could all depend purely on how she was raised after coming out of the phantom zone. This could give many different storylines but I think one that could be interesting is one where she-s raised by Darkseid. We’ve seen it with Superman previously so I don-t see it as a stretch. Besides it would give the writers a lot to work with.

Those are just a few thoughts and I have more considering time doesn't pass there but I'm unsure how it could play out since there are so many posibilities. Especially since I really think it will be coming into play I’m interested in seeing how it comes to be an important player. I think the writers have a lot of potential to make a remarkable storyline if used correctly.

The Doom Patrol

This is one I doubt will happen but I think we could come to see flashbacks or some variation. So ever since I saw Garfield have the flashbacks with the heroes they’ve lost I thought they were setting something up. But with it they also go ahead to talk about the Doom Patrol. I know that its in passing and while I don't think we'll have an entire season I believe we'll see more of them cause they're a huge part of Garfield. If anything we might get to see some of the members as they go through grief. I think it could fit in with season 4 cause while they are part of Gar's past they also have their own phantoms to get over. It could be an interesting dynamic if they take a simmilar approach as they do in the tv show. Where they are plagued by their past, they've lost their family and I think them grieving while trying to help other would be an interesting dynamic.

[dearmrsawyer]

well IT WAS A YEAR. it was also emotionally two weeks and five years? lol. its been a lot, but there were some real positives from this year that i wanna reflect on just because! they’re nice to think about!!

i’d love to know if any of you have any positive things from your year that you’d like to reflect on. accepting asks where we can celebrate your little wins too :)

in general i’m just quite proud of myself for how i’ve managed the library this year, given that its just me. its been hard feeling more disconnected from our students, and also trying to provide them with support that can reach across the void created by distance learning. it wasn’t 100% successful all the time! but it can’t be, and i never aimed for that. i just did everything that i felt i could reasonably do as a single individual, and i think i did my best! i spent a lot of this year driving out to post books to our students, or meeting them at convenient locations to do book swaps, and i’ve spent a lot of time coaching academics through online systems over zoom so that they could effectively teach their subjects, and i’ve spent a lot of nights and weekends prepping materials that needed to be made available to students ahead of class, because our academic staff weren’t able to finish them while i was still on the clock (i’m def not trying to @ our academics here! they’ve been delivering material late all year bc of how much extra work they’ve had to take on too! its just the roll on effect bc i’m the last link in the chain). i’ve felt a huge sense of camaraderie with many of my colleagues this year, and am grateful i had them to make this work year more manageable. but i know i’ve been doing a lot of hidden work and i think i did well :)

oh man i loved turning off my wake up alarm in march and never turning it on again!!!! I think i can count the number of times i’ve had to use my alarm on one hand, and they were mostly dr appointments. it feels so comfortable to wake up when my body decides, whether its 6am or after i should already be working LOL. there have definitely been ebbs and flows to how well i’ve slept throughout the year, sometimes i know exactly what’s affecting my sleep and sometimes i have no idea, but regardless, the absence of an impending alarm has been such a nice way to compensate for.. everything else lol

i started growing vegetables!!!!!! I spent a week in March digging out a patch of my yard, and then the next month or two growing seedlings, and i successfully grew snow peas, silverbeet, beetroot and lettuce :D i also added dill to my herb garden, and successfully propagated thyme and lemongrass! i did attempt a few other vegetables that didn’t pan out, mostly because snails kept eating my seedlings jkjdgkj but it was so exciting to successfully grow something that i could then EAT! and i’ve also been able to figure out which vegetables i consider more convenient to grow, for example buying leafy greens can be super inconvenient bc i find its often impossible to use them all before they go bad. they sell greens in such ridiculously large bunches! but growing them myself, i can go out and pick however many leaves i want, and the rest won’t go bad because they’re still on the plant! i also started to stagger how many seeds i wanted to grow which meant they weren’t all maturing at the same time, and i didn’t need to use them all at the same time. 

Supernatural finished this year which was NOT a highlight 😭 but it was originally scheduled to finish in May, and i was given the gift of 6 whole extra months to live with this show as a work in progress. as much as i still wasn’t ready to say goodbye in November (would i have ever been ready), i was given so much unexpected extra time to appreciate being IN it while it was still going. i spent so much of this year reflecting on how big a part of my life this show has been, and how much its given me and shaped me. from the ages of 14 to 29 i was able to live with this show as a close friend, and i’ve never taken that for granted, but i am so thankful for the extra time i was given to reflect and appreciate it even more deeply. also supplementary highlight is how much that ending meant to me <3 the world can think whatever it wants but i was on that journey for 15 years, i was there for every episode, never falling behind or taking a break, and that ending honoured the story i watched, and i am very grateful that the pain of it ending was cushioned by the sense of peace and fulfilment that ending gave me. 

i finally found hair products that WORK!!!!! i’ve had the same hair routine for like a decade (basically sans products) and i thought i should use this extended period of time where i exist unobserved to experiment. i’ve never really bought hair products for myself, i’ve always inherited them from my mum bc she always had a surplus of products she’s collected over the years. our hair couldn’t be more different so i’ve never experienced a product that was particularly effective LOL. i have v dry hair that’s naturally curly/wavy but extremely frizzy, and i have soo much of it!! so many hairs on my head! my mission was to find a way to let it dry naturally without all that frizz popping up, and without having to dry it in two big twists. the only products directed at curly hair that i’ve ever been aware of is mousse, which used to give people that crunchy look that i can’t staaaaaand but i’ve spent a few months buying quite a lot of products and testing them out one after another, and i’ve found a couple that i absolutely LOVE!! this is big for me bc i always structured my week around when i wash my hair (the day of and day after i’m unavailable lol). i’ll still have to structure my time around it somewhat bc it takes so so long to dry, but its going to be less of a drama if i have to do things when its not completely dry yet, and also i just feel like i’m finally getting to let my hair do its own thing without it stabbing me in the back 😂

i think that human connection has probably been more important this year than ever before, and i’ve often felt like maintaining connections requires energy i just haven’t had for a lot of this year. but i also feel like i have been very connected? i feel like i put in the work. my best friend and i shared a few phone calls this year even though neither of us have ever really been big on phone calls (neither of us have ever talked with people on the phone much in our lives lol). i’ve skyped with my Norwegian friend Ellen almost every month this year!! my friend Bel and i started exchanging sporadic voice messages again, which i’ve just loved. i’ve video chatted with Steph even though it was a scary new venture! and it was so amazing! i do feel like i’ve had less interaction with people on my dash this year, but i feel like working from home has changed the ebbs and flows of my energy throughout the day sooo much, and i just haven’t been online as much when other people are, but i’ve spent a lot of time connecting with people over whatsapp! when it comes to family, being around my grandparents was really really stressful for the first half of the year, but as the situation in Australia eased we relaxed enough that we were comfortable to spend time with them without our masks (plus we weren’t seeing anyone else lol). and i was able to make myself available to them more often while working from home, since i live only a minute away! we stopped having our big family lunches until September, and when we were finally able to get back together we enjoyed each other’s company so much. so while i haven’t been face to face with people on a daily basis, i don’t think i’m any less connected to the people that matter than i was a year ago.

[whetstonefires]

Do you think the DC fandom maybe, Infantilizes Tim a little too much? Like for a rich kid character who's main trauma for a long time was a getting left home alone too much there's an oddly amount of meta abt how much how much his parents hurt him~ compared to, y'know the two poor characters who grew up with physically abusive dad's+druggie mom's, or the two that were raised assassin cult's, etc

…well, yeah, I do kind of think that? His whole schtick for so long was being too old for his age in ways that didn’t sacrifice his jokey, relatable teenager energies. It’s weird how little of that we see anymore, sometimes.

And then DC broke him and discarded him and he’s sort of awkwardly hanging around getting reimagined as more woobie with every fan generation. It is weird!

But tbh I do get it. And I think the reason his parents’ failure of him and his vulnerability get played up so much, and Jason and Steph’s sufferings (while used a lot for things like motivation and context) not dwelt on quite so much in the same lugubrious style, are kind of the same reason.

Which is that canon didn’t commit to it. Jason and Steph’s experiences with bad parenting were foregrounded and retconned more dramatically awful several times. (There’s some definite classism in how that was approached imo, and I’m never budging on being mad about DC retconning out Catherine being sick and then ignoring her forever in all Jason characterization because a drug death invalidates a person ig, great message during the opioid crisis guys.)

They engaged and coped with it–Steph (and Cass, our #1 canon batfam parental abuse victim) pretty directly, Jason a little less so because of the dubious and fluctuating canon status of most of the content more specific than ‘poverty, homelessness, theft, parental drugs and crime in there somewhere,’ so most of his parent issues have been focused on Bruce. He sure has dug into them tho. 😂 Rarely well or productively, thanks DC, but it’s explicitly part of his character, is my point.

Whereas upper-middle-class Tim was always treated by the narrative as fortunate and unharmed by his experiences with his parents. Even though they were clearly behaving badly in several ways, and Tim showed signs of being harmed by it.

Tim outside of immediate moments of frustration always was of the opinion he was Fine, and Very Fortunate Actually.

Therefore a huge chunk of the numerous everyone who’s got parent-related mental and emotional harm, but has struggled to have that validated and hasn’t responded with a lot of anger toward the parent, identifies with Tim. The only one who’s never really lashed out at his parents for fucking up with him. The one who still needs it explored, because canon ultimately didn’t.

[editing post to put in a readmore because lol it’s long, post otherwise unchanged]

(Dick obviously didn’t ever have any Issues with the Graysons, but he Angry Teenagered at Bruce so hard it changed Bruce’s characterization permanently, rip.)

The things Jason, Steph, and Cass have been through are dramatic, obvious, and fit stereotypes because that’s what they’re based on.

That’s important content to have, but because it’s right out there in your face even people who identify with it quite a lot are less likely to feel the need to work all the way through it again in fanworks. That part’s there. It’s text.

(Well actually Jason having been physically abused kind of wasn’t? I think? It was mostly assumed on the basis of stereotyping and Jason’s not caring about the man much even as he felt possessive of information about his death, which is valid. I don’t actually know what’s up with Willis now, Lobdell did some weird shit that lacked emotional resonance or staying power because he’s Lobdell and has no soul.

Cass’ wandering years are also ludicrously underdeveloped. But very very few comics fans or writers can personally relate to being amazing child warriors with no grasp of language living feral under bridges. That part of her life is consistently represented in terms of absences, in terms of its deviation from the norm and the deficits of normality it left her with, which is typical but unfortunate.) 

-

The interesting things to do with these characters are often informed by the bad stuff in their childhoods, but there’s relatively rarely that much more to say about the fact that those things were bad. They know they’re bad. They’ve had a lot of on-panel rage about it, as discussed above. Steph and Cass both beat the shit out of their dads.

Jason is, in fandom especially, a sort of Platonic ideal of a kid who’s mad about his bad childhood and really bad at figuring out where to point that rage.

(Damian is a whole other kettle of fish, because he’s been lumbered by so many detailed retcons coming so fast no two people can seem to construct compatible models of what his early childhood was like, and even more because he’s still ‘a child’ enough that he’s necessarily in a different stage of processing than someone who’s officially only a few years older than him at this point, but still functionally 8 and also 20 years older, and whose parents are no longer in the picture to continue screwing up.

Also there’s no question that if he brings up an abusive thing the League did, he will be validated by his current environment about his realization that it was in fact bad. There’s a lot of fic on that theme! But it doesn’t have the same tone precisely because it is usually understood that that support will be there if he wants it. Realizing that his previous context contained things that were wrong keeps being made the focus of his arc.)

The badness of Tim’s childhood, on the other hand, was mainly in subtext. Even when we were clearly meant to understand Jack was fucking up, like when he canceled plans with Tim at the last minute to go on a date with Tim’s stepmother, or that infamous time he came to apologize for not being a great parent and got mad Tim was distracted by a crisis on TV so he flew into a rage and took the TV and smashed it and was like ‘that’ll teach you,’ it wasn’t leaned into.

The story didn’t treat Jack as a minor villain to be overcome but like a sort of environmental hazard of childhood, like homework, to be endured and coped with. Tim said things like ‘it’s fine’ and ‘at least he left the computer.’

(And like. It’s not about having a TV and computer in his room. It’s about not letting a child have boundaries, pointedly not respecting a child’s possessions, creating an emotionally insecure environment, punishing minor infractions in proportion to their momentary impact on your own ego, physically lashing out at a proxy for the child…)

Rather like Tom King later didn’t understand about the punching from Bruce, whoever did that story (probably Dixon? I don’t care enough to check) did not understand how serious a case of bad parenting that scene was. That is most definitely textbook abusive behavior. (It’s a hell of a lot more common abusive behavior than being a lame supervillain or shooting you when you screw up, and a lot more specific than ‘was a thug, might have hit me, dead now.’)

And Tim was never allowed to be mad at his parents about it. It was fine. He needed to be ignored so he had the freedom to be Robin. He deserved his dad being mad at him because he was keeping secrets. He complained too much, although objectively he did not.

The universe punished him for ‘complaining,’ more than once. We cut straight from him shunting aside his disappointment that his postcard from his parents was just to say they weren’t coming home yet after all with ‘if it will stop all the fights they’ve been having lately it’s more than fine’ to them getting kidnapped.

He agreed not to come on the rescue mission. His mom never made it home, and his dad was in a coma for a while. And then ultimately Jack died as a result of Tim’s decision to be Robin, immediately after finally deciding to accept it.

So Tim walks around feeling a huge burden of responsibility for his parents’ deaths, and completely unable to process any hurt they did him as real or valid, especially in comparison with the far more blatant awfulness other people have been through, and canon is clearly never going to address it. Or even acknowledge it properly.

Let me repeat that because it’s kind of my main point:

People are fixated on getting Tim’s emotional abuse validated because that’s an incredibly important step in recovering from emotional abuse, and it’s one canon consistently denied him.

How ‘bad’ things are ‘in comparison to’ problems other people have is a bad and unhealthy way to engage with trauma. Okay? That’s just a really harmful framework to apply to pain.

It’s also a way that both Tim and people with experiences similar to Tim’s are encouraged to engage with their own experiences, compounding the existing problems.

So. Not a form of relatable DC was ever actually aiming for when they tried so hard (and pretty effectively) to make him a relatable character as Robin, but an enduring one for a lot of fans.

-

So Tim’s childhood is a natural target for fanworks in a different way than the traumas that have been made explicit and taken seriously by the text. And then a lot of that got compounded by the way the introduction of Damian as Robin was handled, and the lack of resolution that got. And his current status as not quite having a place in the family anymore.

So between the level of projection encouraged by that context and how relatively difficult to access Tim’s Robin run has become ten years after the fact, this has led to a lot of fanworks on these themes that are based mostly on other fanworks, and stray further and further from the original content.

So at this point there’s an entire wing of Tim’s fandom wherein this side of him has expanded enormously, and he primarily exists to suffer, frequently in ways that 1) escalate to a point that is inarguably ‘valid’ and hard to dismiss and 2) set him up to rebound from it in whatever way the writer finds emotionally satisfying or useful–being ultimately cared for and reassured by people who value him (the most infantilizing option but like, popular for obvious reasons), or unveiling his brilliant scheme that was causing him to pretend to be passive in the face of mistreatment, or turning around and using his genius ninja skills to wrest power back from his abusers, or just laying down some sick burns about being treated fairly.

But not that many of the last one, because that’s mostly done with other batfam members.

Tim’s become a vehicle for a lot of vicarious coping that Steph and Jason just aren’t appropriate for, because they get angry and they get even. And those are stories that exist already, so there’s less scope for telling your own.

And because Jason’s reaction pattern is ultimately so masculine (i’ll make them all sorry! with my guns! blam blam!) while Tim’s is pretty gender-neutral, the demographics of fanfic mean that the bulk of the people using Tim vicariously in this manner are female-aligned, which has over time feminized this archetype of him a lot. Sometimes in ways I find really uncomfortable, like there’s a lot of forced pregnancy stuff which activates my panic buttons. x.x

But, ultimately, it’s fandom. People are going to do what they’re going to do, DC in their perpetual fail has hung Tim out to dry in narrative terms, and I’d rather the people who are using Tim for victimization narratives over the people who can’t dismiss or discredit him fast enough now that his position has been filled. 🤷‍♀️ What we gonna do? Fave’s in an awkward spot. DC hates us. This is the life in this comic book pit. XD

-

Also if you’re the same anon who left me a callout about op of that weird Steph post in my inbox, or if you aren’t @ that person, 1) I refuse to get involved so I’m not answering that ask 2) those aren’t even particularly dramatic fandom crimes? That’s pretty normal? That’s just…Caring Too Much About Ships And Disagreeing With Me.

Do I also feel those opinions are kinda bad? Yeah. But I disagree with everyone about something. Chill.

[maychorian]

i am not a comic follower, and aside from jasons return i am unaware of how any of the boys ended up dead/revived but still see it mentioned a lot in fics (still largely confused on why dick needed to be batman for a while) would you be so kind as to give me a summery?

Gosh, there’s a lot. And I haven’t read all the stuff in the reboots, so this will be incomplete.

Basically Jason was the first one to die, back in the early eighties. It was very shocking for the comics community, even though characters die in comics and come back pretty frequently. For a while it was even a saying that everyone comes back in comics except for two people: Jason Todd and Ben Parker from the Spider-Man comics, because those two deaths made too much of an impact and changed things too much to be reversed. Then, of course, they did bring Jason back, so that saying isn’t true anymore.

So Jason died, and it had a huge impact on Bruce and the entire DC continuity. If Jason hadn’t been killed that way, we probably wouldn’t have Tim Drake at all, or if we did the character would be very different. Tim was always in Jason’s shadow, from the moment he appeared. We have about twenty years of comics, which I see as a golden age, wherein Tim, Dick, and Bruce were a very effective trio. Dick was in Bludhaven for much of that, but he came back to Gotham frequently to work with Batman and Robin. And Batman also had a bunch of other supporting heroes in Gotham, like Batgirl and Oracle and Huntress and Azrael, and then Dinah and the Birds of Prey, and even Catwoman when she didn’t feel like being a villain at the moment. Batfamily comics were a whole interconnected web of stories with interesting character and plot-lines.

Then they decided to toy with the idea of Jason coming back, with the Hush series. Hush is a very good storyline, imo, but I think the way it was so well-received put the idea of bringing Jason back for real into the writers’ heads, and I’m not convinced it was a good move. In Hush, it seems like they face Jason Todd as a villain, back from the dead. He takes Tim hostage as revenge for “replacing” him and almost slices his throat, but Catwoman saves him. Later it’s revealed that that was Clayface all along, and Jason was never alive after all. It was all a mind game to mess with Bruce’s head, like the rest of that storyline.

But then later we got Under the Red Hood, with Jason actually coming back from the dead, and they retconned it so that really was Jason, and he just traded places with Clayface to make it look like it wasn’t him. It was kind of nonsensical, because Under the Red Hood was all about Jason coming back and being angry and going full villain and trying to get revenge on those who had hurt him, especially Bruce and the Joker, so why wouldn’t he have just come back for real in the Hush storyline? But anyway, not the point.

Under the Red Hood was a well-written series, and it was well received by fans. So now DC had all the go-ahead they needed to start killing Robins and bringing them back willy nilly, and it got really stupid really fast.

You asked about the boys, so I won’t talk too much about Stephanie here, but it was sort of similar with her. She was a character who had been part of Tim and Bruce’s stable of allies for a long time, and she was Robin briefly when Tim’s dad found out he was Robin and forced him to retire, and then she was killed in a gang war that she accidentally started. It was a pretty shocking moment and actually had some impact on the series and on the characters, especially Bruce and Tim. But then they retconned it so her death was fake all along (which really REALLY threw the character of Leslie Thompkins under the bus, lemme tell ya), and her returning didn’t make even close to the splash that Jason returning did. Still, it was widely regarded as a good move, because her death was really skeevy and gross, and comics fans were generally happy that it had been reversed.

But see, that set a pattern. Now Bruce’s kids could get killed and brought back to life at any time, and both the writers and the fans knew it. It no longer has any impact, in my opinion, because we all know it isn’t going to stick. That’s the way I feel about the fact that Alfred is currently dead in canon--there’s no way it’s real. It has absolutely no emotional impact on me, because it’s stupid and ridiculous and I refuse to acknowledge it. 

The next thing that happened was that Bruce “died” (was actually thrown back in time by a big bad alien), and Dick had to take over as Batman. That was when Dick made Damian Robin and basically demoted Tim, or at least that was the way Tim saw it, though Dick didn’t mean it that way. Tim was the only one who believed that Bruce was alive, and he went on his whole journey to bring him back, and somehow when the dust settled he ended up more isolated than ever.

And that was where the pre-New52 storyline ended. I’ve only read a few story arcs in the reboots, so I’m not as familiar with that era, but I know some basic plot points just from reading summaries and panels on tumblr.

At some point people thought Dick was dead, but he was never really dead. It was another faked death, and he went undercover with Spyral? A whole spy thing? Yeah, I didn’t read that one. Still, bad move to kill another Robin, but at least the readers knew all along that he wasn’t really dead, even if his family (besides Bruce, who knew he wasn’t dead) had to grieve him.

Then Damian was killed, and that was a “real” death, in that he actually died. And his soul went to hell??? And Bruce took a posse, including Tim, and went down and got his soul back and revived him. I don’t think this death had even close to the impact of Jason or even Steph’s did, because at that point comics readers had to KNOW there was no way Damian was staying dead.

And later Tim looked like he was dead, too, shot up by a billion drone bullets, but just a few panels later readers knew he wasn’t dead because he’d been captured and taken to space prison because his brain was too big and too special and he was going to mess things up for the bad guys. So at least DC knew not to even pretend that he was dead for a whole issue, because they knew it would have no impact.

So yeah, at this point pretty much every member of the Batfam has been “killed” and brought back to life, except Cass and Duke, I’m pretty sure. Well, Alfred is dead at the moment, but I’m sure it’s temporary.

I hope that helps. I didn’t really attempt to write this in a coherent way. Because DC comics aren’t really coherent, and I have a lot of contempt for their choices, so I don’t think they deserve that much effort from me, haha. 

And yes, I still love the characters despite the bad writing they’ve been subjected to.

[bigskydreaming]

IGN’s recent Bat-focused article (Batman: What Does Red Hood Need to Do to Get A Good Story?) praises fanfic writers and also is an amazing critique of how stagnant Jason has become under recent DC management and I’m so surprised at how good it is and how well thought out the solutions were

Hmmm. I just looked it up and I mean, I’m not trying to start anything but I both agree and disagree? Like, it makes some points for sure, I mean, its not like its saying things that I haven’t said a thousand times about Dick, like.....these characters need to be allowed access to a full range of emotions, both good and bad, in order to be fully fleshed out, so I mean yes on that premise alone I absolutely agree this is as true for Jason as it is for Dick or anyone else.

Tbh my only real criticism of the piece is it thinks Jason exists in a particular predicament the other characters aren’t in as well. And that I just don’t agree with, like they kinda lost me a bit with their first paragraph:

His complexities and moral ambiguity make him a compelling and distinct character among his more strait-laced Robin-brothers. Sadly, the character has seen little growth since his rage-filled reintroduction into comics. The ‘former Robin becomes a villain’ idea was enough for DC to coast on for a while but since rejoining the heroes, Red Hood has done little else.

First off, this may just be me being pedantic but I’m ALWAYS going to go fetch a grain of salt before continuing reading anything that pits Jason against his brothers in a war of his moral ambiguity against their strait-lacedness. Because to me, that’s just a fundamentally shallow view of the Batfam that caters to the idea that they each must have their own distinct niche in order to be fully viable individual characters, when a) no, and b) they don’t fit neatly into the niches people keep trying to slot them into and it never ends well for anybody. 

Like Jason is morally ambiguous in a lot of ways too, yes, but umm, even if we assume that the writer is only speaking of Dick, Tim and Damian, we’re talking a guy who beat the Joker to death with his bare hands and has ten assassins and mercenaries on his speed dial and who co-led the Outsiders, a guy who was deeply immersed in weighing the pros and cons of getting revenge for his father by getting Captain Boomerang killed and is forever being DMed by Ra’s because he’s convinced he can get Tim to say He Has Some Points Actually, and the kid who was an assassin with a body count by age ten and who has struggled constantly ever since his debut to define his OWN personal view of morality that is not wholly predicated on what he was taught by any single individual.

And this is a big part of where I part ways with the article, because I think it falls into the same trap that a lot of people do by believing fanfic is inherently better by doing the same thing from just a different angle. Fanfic CAN be better than the canon, I absolutely believe that, I believe it is at times, but to do so, it has to like, BE BETTER. It has to do things differently, and not just paint a slightly different veneer over the same things. Like, pedantic though it might be, I outlined the above issue because its a mode of thinking the canon absolutely falls into again and again, and just like the writer of that article themselves, like....I think fandom as a whole is no different? 

Like, yes there are great stories about Jason out there, some writers have done great and interesting things with him, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a huge trend in fandom of doing the exact same thing I see here.....which is honestly a huge part of the exact same problem the article is decrying canon for......LIMITING Jason (and all the Batfam) by reducing them and their stories to finite niches as a way of spotlighting them as different from their siblings.....except they’re not that different! And that’s okay! They don’t have to be! Families can have lots in common, families DO have lots in common due to like.....shared variables during their formative years. 

I mean Jason was heavily influenced by environmental factors in how and where he grew up before he ever met Batman, but like the article goes into itself, he was no less influenced by Bruce himself as his father figure.....which is something he absolutely has in common with his siblings, thus its not hard at all to see how his siblings could have similar complexities and moral struggles that stem from trying to reconcile Bruce’s influence with the many other things and people that have influenced their childhoods.

And similarly, while the article is dead-on about Jason’s stagnancy....this is something that applies in equal measure to the rest of his family, because they’re all facing the same issues in terms of how DC views and utilizes them, and fandom as much as it likes to condemn DC for doing just that....frequently does the same thing. Like, Jason’s stuck in canon, absolutely......but Dick keeps being popped out into his own microcosm to experience a couple years of stories that essentially turn him into completely different characters isolated from every communal part of his character’s history, and then ERASE everything that’s happened at the end of each of these stories and reset him to square one.....and that’s just a different kind of stagnancy that again, still never allows for actual character progression or development. Tim has LITERALLY been regressed back to Robin, like a hard reset that’s its own kind of stagnancy and Damian has had years of character development upended just to kick him back to where he started, effectively strip away all the connections he’s developed at least in any meaningful way, etc.....and the same holds true for Babs and Cass and Steph and even Bruce himself IMO, in a lot of ways.

Its absolutely a problem, but its a problem that extends far beyond just Jason even if he is a great example of it. And its also a problem that extends into fic itself, and that’s why I don’t agree with a lot of the conclusions that article draws beyond just the fundamental “these characters need to be allowed access to a full range of emotions.”

Yes. That. That right there, THAT I think is crucial, but I think that writer needed to widen the scope a little to take in the full impact of what that actually MEANS for the characters....so as to not accidentally repeat the same problem they’re being critical of by essentially arguing for a full range of emotions for Jason....while still defining or viewing Jason through a finite lens of “the more morally ambiguous Bat character, at least as compared to his brothers.”

Because its that last part that’s so detrimental, because it seems like such a little thing at first, until you realize that essentially its just putting a ceiling, a cap on how far those full ranges of emotions can be expressed. Like the problem with Dick Grayson in canon and fanon is NOT that he can’t be written with a full range of emotions.....its that his character absolutely can encompass a wide range of opinions and viewpoints and emotional stances from “I don’t believe in killing as a first option” to “I absolutely can, will, and have beaten a damn clown to death for joking about murdering my brother”.....and he can still walk away as Dick Grayson after expressing both those things, because his character is big enough to include them both. HE’S not limited as a character, its canon writers and fandom writers that both heap artificial limitations of their OWN on him, say that his character is so defined in such a specific way that there’s no way for the latter expression of his character to actually be IN character.....and the fatal flaw here is fully fleshed out characters are never just one thing. They don’t fit in niches anymore than people do, and notice the problems we all run into when we try and pigeon hole people as being just one thing, like humans can’t be contradictory or act against their own self-interest or be hypocritical or evolve or even regress past prior viewpoints....basically, any time you try and sum up a human being in one line, no matter how accurate that description is, there’s still SOME things that are going to be left out of that picture. 

Now, these things don’t always have to matter that much, like if I look at a serial killer and say that’s a serial killer, like, I might be leaving out of the picture that once he helped an old lady across the street and didn’t kill her and he doesn’t even know why, and I for one, simply do not care that I leave that out of the picture. Its irrelevant to the big picture for me. I can acknowledge that it adds a smidgen of nuance to that particular picture and then go yeah but also I don’t care, nuance denied.

But in terms of fictional characters, these things that get left in the discard pile when we try and sum up characters as just one thing, like, they can be hugely significant, because characters unlike real people, are simply WHAT WE MAKE OF THEM. That stuff that’s been left out of the big picture look at that character because its stuff most people to DEFINE what that character looks like have deemed irrelevant....its still there, and still perfectly relevant for anyone who wants to pick that stuff up and make something of it, use it to change the overall picture or even just point to ways and places that picture can absolutely encompass and include these other elements and STILL fundamentally be that same picture, that same character.

And this isn’t to say that characters can never be written out of character, its to say that usually IMO what ACTUALLY makes the difference between something being out of character and something just being an unexpected but still valid character choice is just.....how these things are executed. The latter is when writers make the effort to JUSTIFY their character choice, to sell audiences on why and how this is absolutely something this character would do, to take them on a journey of what led the character to making this choice and let them see how those steps actually line up, that’s an actual journey that character might take. The former is when writers just don’t bother and are just like, well here’s a thing that character did, and you know it was in character because well that’s the character and that’s what I wrote them doing lol, what more do you want. No. Yawn. Next.

But the trick is if you’re going to try and make a character a SPECTRUM of emotions and choices rather than just a same datapoint recurring over and over again endlessly, a literal sticking point that never advances, never progresses, never changes......you have to actually give that character free range to utilize that spectrum of emotions and choices.....not just confine them to accessing all those possibilities but ONLY within a narrowly defined niche that is its own kind of limitation.

A character can START from a logline, absolutely. Can BEGIN in a narrative niche as a way to INTRODUCE them as seemingly different from their surroundings or their peers when they do not yet have the backstory, the evidence of past stories and character choices readers can use to interpret their actions or guess their choices.....but narrative niches, IMO, are meant to have a shelf life, an expiration date. They’re a seed for characters to grow FROM, to grow PAST, not return to over and over again.....because that’s when a niche just becomes another house that stagnancy built.

Anyway, thanks for the thoughts and the article mention.....it was an interesting exploration of thoughts for me even if I didn’t ultimately agree with a lot of what was already said....still a worthwhile read though I think and I mean hey, its cool if you still agree with it more even if I don’t, lol. This is just my take.

[duketectivecomics]

do you have any pretty panels featuring duke, maybe the rest of the fam too? i want to print out a few nice comic panels to put up in my room lol

I’ll be honest, I’m mostly working off of mobile right now, so saving and then reposting panels might.... destroy the quality a little when you go to download them and print them out? When I save/screenshot panels I’m not normally too concerned abt the quality, so idk what effect that’ll have when you redownload them off of this?

So to help cut out the middle man, I’m happy to rec the comics themselves that I would’ve uploaded, so you can go download them directly from the source! (& hopefully save the quality 👌)

Tbh, 90% of my suggestions for Duke Alone would be to scour We Are Robin and Batman and The Signal. The art in WAR is esp just VERY stylistic and fun! And BatS has an Abundance of Duke For Obvs Reasons so 👌👌👌 All-Star Batman’s Cursed Wheel story arc also has some p nice Duke art (& a really good page of Duke riding a batbike during the day that’s just Iconique tbh)

As far as Duke+Fam, there’s good Duke & Jason panels throughout the Role Call story in New Talent Showcase (2017). Duke & Cass is prominent throughout Batman & the Outsiders (2018) (Altho personally im not a huge fan of Soy’s style) There’s an excellent shot of Duke with Tim, Cass and Steph at the very end of Death Metal: Robin King. And finally, one of the stories in Detective Comics #1000 has a two page group shot of the entire family!

I hope this helps!