#veliya01

[mamawasatesttube]

Regarding Tim's parents, what are your opinions on how they're usually written and what would you want to see more or change?

MAN... okay. let's see.

so the way people tend to write them in fanworks - like total caricatures of horribly abusive parents, so one-dimensionally evil it's laughable - is boring. it's just extremely boring to me and i don't engage with it or care for it at all whatsoever. there's no nuance, there's no actual understanding of tim's relationships with them, no... anything. it's like people heard a whisper that jack drake is an abusive parent and went "well, it's not REAL abuse unless he's locking tim in a cabinet and starving him and beating him and whatever else". (also i think people often combine this with making tim east asian and janet a tiger mom, which is... yikes.)

so THAT whole incredibly empty mess aside: let's start with jack. jack drake is an emotionally immature and authoritarian parent. he loves tim. he is emotionally abusive to tim. these two statements coexist. tim loves him. tim is endlessly frustrated and trapped in their relationship in ways because jack doesn't see him, not until near the end. it's a source of constant tension. it's fascinating. the love is there but so is the abuse. narratively i understand that once he couldn't provide the tension of "tim has to hide from him" anymore, his story utility was limited, so of course he got killed off, but i think there was still some room to squeeze out interesting stories from him before writing him out. also i think retroactively, tim having to deal with him while bisexual and closeted is interesting and has some real story potential for sure.

janet, on the other hand? well, she appears like four times ever, so there isn't actually a ton to work with. we know tim loved her, too, and the panel of him sitting on the bed going "i know. it's her funeral. my mommy's funeral..." destroys me every time i see it. but because we have a lot of empty space about her, it is our city now. and i personally like to think about her being part of the chinese diaspora in the greater nyc area (which... probably includes gotham in universe, i would think). because i love to give tim racial identity issues and mixed-race issues because he's just so good at identity issues already. ough...

overall i just would love to see more actually nuanced takes on them instead of just "they were HORRIBLE ABUSERS" or "they were PERFECT PARENTS" as the only two ends of the spectrum. and i'd love to see more actual focus on tim's relationship with either of them vs just... hashtag batfam using them as a backdrop, you know?

[theogmrpandabear]

Who hurt u so….what have you seen, what acts of cruelty have you witnessed, felt, and most definitely dealt for you to create such angst-ridden blood-soaked works of art

(I am absolutely obsessed with your art❤️)

@veliya01

Is it a weird thing to say that I want people to ask weird questions about my art? Or at least about my drawings? I dunno tbh