#the clench dc

[mae-kent]

tim fans can we talk about tim’s trauma that ISN’T his emotional neglect or dick taking away robin.

can we talk about his extensive history of SA?? dana winters??? contagion???? knightfall????? not only kon dying, but also bart and darla and steph and so on??????

[pokeberry5]

i can't believe alfred saw this and then let dick briefly believe tim was dead

ref panel + extra:

from DC #696/Contagion #8

i had to cover up dick's face bc of his domino and im kinda sad about it:

no text:

mushroom for encouragement while i drew:

[lemonlimestar]

july 1st 2024 i want dc to shoot tim drake in the neck again. it’ll be fun prommy.

[fantastic-nonsense]

im soso curious, i need to know... why is tim a child of apollo? bless u for not going with fanon<3

[referencing how I decided who the Batfam's godly parents were in my PJO AU WIP]

People like to sort him into Athena because DC has spent the last few years emphasizing how smart he is and how he's better at the more “cerebral” and detective aspects of the job. But Tim’s most prominent pre-reboot traits are not actually his detective or tech skills: they’re his reckless, impulsive bravery, his ability to analyze and think very quickly on his feet in dangerous situations, and his "power of friendship" idealism.

He's a people person; it's one of his greatest strengths. Tim is like...physically incapable of going somewhere and not making at least one friend while he's there. Hell, when he ran off to travel the world on his "fuck you, I'll find Bruce on my own" trip he still managed to pick up his own little crew of assassin friends along the way. Making connections and talking to people and relying on others for help is how he successfully navigates being a hero, as he himself notes on multiple occasions:

"Did you think I was going to run all around the city, desperately trying to save everyone all by myself? I'm not Batman. I have friends." -Red Robin #12

Tim loves his family and friends, and losing so many people he's close to within such a small timespan sends him off the deep end in multiple ways (trying to clone Kon, fighting Dick to get the Lazarus water, isolating himself from everyone, fighting with Dick and running off to find proof that Bruce was alive on his own, etc).

At his core, Tim is an idealist who becomes a hero for no other reason than a) a broken man needs help and a broken family needs mending and b) if Dick won't go back to being Robin he might as well do it, because someone has to be Robin. He sees what will happen if Bruce stays on the path he's on and says "no. I'm not going to let that happen." He's a hero because someone has to help, and he's able and available to do so. He doesn't work on cold hard logic and facts. He works off of gut instinct and then uses his big brain to go find facts and logical conclusions that support those instincts.

Tim was never going to be an Athena child.

So I started thinking. At first, I wanted him to be a Hermes child; it seemed right to frame his parentage around being the child of the messenger of the gods given how he became Robin. But that's not really him, either. Apollo, within the scope of both classical mythology and the PJO-verse's depiction of him and his children, fits him better.

While modern culture tends to zero in a lot on Apollo's status as the god of music, poetry, and the arts (for good reason), Apollo in classical Greek mythology was first and foremost known as the god who (for lack of a better term) helps his people. He's the god of the sun, of light, of medicine and healing, of prophecy, of truth.

Tim comes into Bruce's life at a time when Bruce is at his absolute lowest point. Jason is dead. He's estranged from Dick. He's failing in his mission to save Gotham. He's highkey passively suicidal. And Tim takes it upon himself to fix that. And he does it by being a solid, bright, stable presence in Bruce's life and an extremely blunt, truthful messenger of the future he sees: Batman needs a Robin, and if Bruce doesn't have one he's going to die.

And I didn't abandon his intelligence in the calculations: Apollo is also the god of rational thinking, order, and knowledge, contrasting and working in harmony with Dionysus (the god of irrationality, chaos, and passion). He was also known to be the god whose job it was to interpret the will of Zeus to humankind, which I thought was appropriate for a boy who spends quite a lot of his time being the living communication translator between Bruce and everyone around him.

So. Apollo child.

............also I thought it was funny to make the god of youth the father of the boy DC refuses to allow to age.

[shycorvid]

I'm admittedly not very familiar with Kon-el's backstory, just the vague details, but I got the idea of him somehow escaping CADMUS ahead of schedule, and winding up in Gotham, where he accidentally becomes one of Batman's rogues. He's just coming into his powers, and isn't quite sure what he's doing, just that he wants money (later he'll claim he gets that from the Luther part of his DNA and people just go along with it). Eventually Batman gets a sample of his DNA and realizes oh no, this kid that's been harassing him and his children (mainly Tim) is freaking Clark's. Suddenly it all makes sense. And then they have uncomfortable phone conversation.

Bruce- Kent. Clark- Hey Bruce. Is something the matter? Bruce- Depends. Clark- slowly Okaaay. Depends on what? Bruce- I’m hurt, Clark. Clark- What does that mean? You sound okay? Bruce- I thought we were esteemed colleagues. Clark- We’re friends. Bruce- Esteemed colleagues that tell each other when they’re seeing their mortal enemy. Clark- What does that even mean. Bruce- I tell you everything about Selina. And Harvey. And Talia. And the thing with Khoa- Clark- You’re not being very helpful right now. Bruce- But you didn’t tell me about Lex? Clark- What. Bruce- sends DNA results Congratulations, it’s a half-Kryptonian Gotham rogue. Clark- sputtering Bruce- Get him out of my city.

[muirann]

me, shaking and muttering to myself “let people find comfort in media how they want to; it’s not that deep!” and “do not be unnecessarily negative on the internet!” every time i stumble across a fic that makes jason todd a caretaker to tim drake. sometimes i need a reminder too.

[mamawasatesttube]

fandom and all its """kon resents clark""" this and """clark is mean to/mistrusts kon""" that. actually, kon canonically goes to clark to bitch about his rogues gallery:

"Superboy's told me all about this guy."

(adventures of superman #533)

can you imagine? he just calls up superman to talk shit about scavenger (and presumably others too!!). i just know he's lounging midair in the most ridiculous poses while slurping up a milkshake he made clark buy him and spouting ridiculous teen slang that clark has to make several mental notes to look up later. this is the mark of a truly beautiful family bond and i, for one, would like to see more of it.

[ruenii]

Tim, [trying to bond with toddler!Damian and spend time with him]:

toddler!Damian, [actually hissing]: you dare to show your affection to ME?? hmp!! i do not wish to partake in such unbecoming things!! stay away from me pitiful human! you truly are such a disgrace!

Tim, [ignoring Damian because he's busy with other stuff]:

toddler!Damian, [his eyes wide]: you... dare ignore Damian? you ignore him like garbage?! oh! oh! jail for big brother! jail for big brother for One Thousand Years!!!

[snottertooder]

[geneticdriftwood]

shoutout to the only panel in the cheshire contract where roy actually looks believably 22ish. you will always have a special place in my heart <3

[heroesriseandfall]

Discussing self contradictory comics timelines is all fun and games until someone comes up with a technically-possible timeline that completely goes against everything you hold dear.

[sbd-laytall]

THIS!

This is why Superman is such a compelling character to me.

Adventures Of Superman (1987) #505

He's a person full of so much power, but he would never think of abusing it and hurting people because his heart is that big.

Look, a story where Superman is evil is entertaining for sure, but I will always prefer the stories where Clark helps people even when it hurts him because he'd rather die than let someone else die when he could help.

And this line hits harder because this is shortly after Clark comes back after "dying," so he's not just saying this. He really, deeply, means it.

[pokeberry5]

Hi! For ur version of Tim, do you think he can cook? Or tries to put in the effort to learn how to cook?

pre-robin into early robin, i don't think he can. or like. he's not the completely incompetent "can burn water type"—he can follow recipes or instructions on boxes.

i think as he grows older, he's the sort of person who learns how to improvise a suite of dishes (usually that have sentimental value). which means, when he cooks, he's usually vacillating wildly between basic but decent dishes and Intense meals.

[robsplode]

[letgomypartypiece]

edward nygma brainrot is real and a big issue

[baambastic]

What the actual fuck, Alfred. Genuinely what the fuck.