Latest Posts by ohtobefightingthefoos - Page 7
Sol Regem having his wings healed by primal magic using a rare seed that brings light and life then going on to kill innocent civilians
Vs Soren having his lungs healed by dark magic using the blood and death of a rare magical creature then going on to become a protector of the innocent
timkon stans stop tagging(!!) and whining about bernard challenge impossible
Reasons to Love Timber:
Crazy even for a vigilante x Most un-civilian civilian
Same trauma different trauma responses
Tim dating someone even the Bats are scared of
Buy 1 Timbern get 1 QPR with Darla Aquista free
The objective hilarity of Tim being surrounded by superpowered men in spandex punching people out without a gay awakening, but Bernard rolls up his sleeves and takes out one (1) guy and Tim's third eye is wide fucking open
One of them says something insane like "I hacked into the Pentagon once" or "My uncle Freddy taught me to drive. Now I know stuff like how to survive swerving off a bridge." and the other says some variation of "I'm so in love with you" or "Marry me" or "You wanna get a room?"
Neither of them holding back from taking potshots at each other
The fact that Tim knew Bernard before he knew Jason or Damian
MILF and DILF lover Bernard Dowd vs. Cannot-stop-collecting-parental figures Tim Drake Fight
Bruce trying to shovel-talk Bernard and him just panicking and blurting "Smash" on impulse and both Tim and Bernard dying of embarrassment while Bruce is just confused
Tim Drake, seasoned vigilante, dating a civilian who can not only whoop his ass, but will do so upon request
Bernard being the most kidnapped man in Gotham and Tim just having to deal with that every week, to the point where he just incorporates it into his schedule
The two of them being the most insane people in the room and conversing about something that seems normal to them but scares the fuck out of everyone else in the room
The two of them stargazing on the tallest gargoyle in Gotham before writing their initials into the base with Sharpie
Louis Grieve Trio being a literal love triangle (Tim was dating Steph, Darla had a thing for Tim, Bernard had a thing for Darla and also apparently for Tim, who apparently had a thing for him too. Also, Darla kissed Bernard on the cheek once.)
High school Bernard creating the wildest theories about Batman and Robin, while Tim refutes the idea that they even exist but then doing a bunch of stupid public stunts as Robin just to watch Bernard melt down the next day at school
Trying to toss popcorn into each other's mouths while watching a movie and absolutely losing their shit when they manage to land one
Both of them having to deal with a massive amount of comphet
Tim having no care for his safety or weakened immune system and Bernard still-scarred-by-Darla-dying-in-his-arms patching him up with a haunted look in his eyes that makes Tim reconsider being so reckless this time around
Best Friends Both Secretly See Each Other As the Sidekick
Both of them being skater boys but in different directions- Tim loving skateboarding and Bernard loving figure skating. They find a compromise in rollerskating and spend afternoons trying not to fall flat on their butts and pecking each other on the lips as they help each other up
"Bernard, I think I have a crush on you... What do you mean we've been dating for two months?"
"What do you mean those kisses were romantic? I thought this was a French thing? ... We were in Paris for a week, give me a break!"
Tim dating the one person Jack Drake hated with a passion
Dana laughing hysterically when Tim tells her he's going out with Bernard Dowd- yes, the same guy who used to flirt with her when he invited him over to lunch- and then fighting off laughter again when Bernard stage-whispers to her that he'd be willing to leave Tim in a heartbeat if she ever changes her mind (while Tim goes redder by the second)
Trying to summon a ghost and bickering about who will chicken out first before they get startled by a loud noise and both run out at the same time
Epic videogame battles
The Batfam gearing up to threaten Bernard because he's an ex-cultist and organ seller and being shocked when Bernard threatens them back because Bruce objectively sucks at parenting, Jason tried to murder Tim once, Damian tried to murder him more than once and listen, maybe they won't stay together forever, but Tim will always be his best friend, and anyone who messes with his friends is On Sight
"Uh, this theory seems a little crazy, even for you." "No, no, hear him out."
Bernard secretly holding a resentment toward Tim and Darla for leaving him to go be vigilantes because he never truly moved on from Louis Grieves and it hurts to know they were off doing more important things while he relived the gang war over and over again
Both Tim and Bernard being touch-starved but Tim being touch-averse (if you held him he might just fall apart) and Bernard being touchy (please hold him to keep him from falling apart)
Tim frantically trying to hide his secret identity while Bernard knows and just trolls him the whole time
Achilles and Patroclus-coded dynamic
Tim having polaroids of all his old school friends (Ives, Ariana, Danny, etc.) and then stopping by Bernard's every once in a while to run his fingertips across the edges and notice the differences in his features- not just physical aging, but how the edge of his smile used to be a lot smugger, the light in his eyes a little dimmer now
Metalhead Tim vs. ABBA enthusiast Bernard
Tim spending days poring over a case before Bernard casually walks in and looks over his shoulder at the plans. He offhandedly mentions something and then it all clicks into place for Tim, who kisses him on the lips before running out to take down the baddie
One of them going on a longwinded rant beside a conspiracy board absolutely covered in red string and photographs. Everyone in the room turns to their boyfriend with an exclamation of "Uh... Do you wanna stop him- ookaayyyy." When they find the other just staring at them with the widest heart eyes, actively adding in input every time the other stops to take a breath.
Darla finding out the two of them are dating and squawking indignantly that this better not mean that they're gonna turn her into a third wheel now before forcibly crashing all of their dates (neither of them mind because this means it'll be easier to keep her safe and keep her from dying on them again)
Fanon Tim, a mysterious super smart hacker bro on the same level of Oracle, who’s also unhinged, caffeine dependent, morally grey, negative rizz, lowkey has the highest body count of all the bats, and is a badass: and I will watch the crimson blood, leak from you neck
Canon Tim, loser skater boy who plays DnD in his spare time, nap addicted, pulls hella bitches, strict moral code with the bad habit of seeing only black and white, and is also a major badass: woah, that kid is hardcore goth
Bonus sketch:
Sketches while relistening to tma with a friend lol
Thinking about how Rayla originally said the Key was just a child’s toy and now wondering if the Key was originally simply a toy Aaravos made for Leola when she was younger (like children’s blocks) and then later repurposed for the book he was working on which, perhaps, he meant to pass on to her when she was old enough.
the need to talk about the characters vs the fear that all of my analysis is just empty prose and surface level understanding
there's an instinct,
a moment of truth.
and in that moment,
you hesitate.
Expanding upon the idea I put in the tags of this post on my main blog.
Viren saw the monstrous part of himself in Claudia when she killed to revive him, and abandoned her because of it. Mostly I think because he saw it as a hurt he was causing and ran away. The same way he emotionally abandoned Soren as a child because seeing his son reminded him of the hurt he caused for his family. He COULD HAVE been on a path to forgiving himself. I think his attempts to reconcile with Soren and apologize (however poorly managed) were brought on by the realization of what he’d done to Claudia.
And we see him let go of the shame he was feeling (writing out the events that occurred, burning the letter when he realized he couldn’t put that burden on Soren). But he does not see himself as worthy of another chance. He views himself as a monster, and he views Claudia as a monster. That’s the part of himself he left behind for her.
He also left behind the part of himself that we saw in his dark magic fever dreams. The younger version of himself that believed there is always hope, that there is always another path forward. That people can change. We see that reflected -
(oh hey mirrors/reflections as a symbol: Leola and the sea of the cast out reflecting the night sky, the reflection of the full moon in the water of the nexus when Rayla went to rescue her parents from the coins, Ethari seeing Rayla in the reflection of the sword when she’s a ghost, the reflection of Soren in his sword when he “kills” Viren ((mmm I love these Soren Rayla parallels)) also YALL I think Claudia’s gonna die like WHYS Soren alone in his reflection!)
in Soren’s character arc.
Harrow, Runaan, and Viren were all prepared to accept death as justice for their actions. They all knew they were guilty of continuing the cycle of violence. Harrow stopped being ashamed and felt remorse for the actions he took and their effects. We can see this in his letter to Callum. He has regrets, but he believes the justice he deserves is death, not forgiveness.
Viren is finally coming to terms with his guilt and shame when he writes his letter to Soren. And he never delivers it because he sees it for what it is. But that doesn’t mean he’s fully prepared to let go (he never tries to reconcile with Claudia and I’d have to watch it again because it’s hard to tell at that point if he’d even want to. That man really just threw her to the wolves). His death is his final cycle into violence. Falling back onto the crux of dark magic - even if it’s to save people - and the dark magic literally requiring him to die. He’s running away into what’s safe and comfortable instead of overcoming that fear and trying a different solution even if it would be harder. He could have left with Soren and found an alternative (this is a narrative, he made this choice for. a. reason). His life to save Soren’s was not the only option, it was his choice.
Runaan was ready to accept death until Claudia decided he’d be better used for information. Which ends with him trapped in a coin (very similar to the way Aaravos is trapped in the prison for eternity). He had an opportunity to overcome the violence and listen to Rayla and Callum about the egg. But he chooses the cycle of violence again. And it’s what consumes him in his limbo. And then having the second chance to overcome that violence and accepting it is what saves him.
This is getting rambley and it’s getting late, but like - do you see my vision? Do you see the parallels? The themes? And so on and so forth
best boy wip
cis men do not like it when you call their star wars memorabilia 'cute'. like im sorry your death star egg timer that makes an explosion sound instead of a ding is cute. that's what it is. you don't need to pretend its not. take my hand. come with me
This was gonna be longer but I got bored and I'm a nerd, not a graphic designer. Obviously this is not a complete list of his appearances, just a selection. Anyway love my boy please
more timbern headcanons
i think lonnie and bernard were on the same conspiracy theory forums online
when timbern is out on a date, tim's brain turns off, and he knows no directions. he makes no decisions. bernard is driving. where? tim doesn't know and doesn't care. it's his self-care moment. (his brain only turns back on when babs tells him something might go down)
bernard doesn't smoke, but when he's having a stressful day at the restaurant, he will take a smoke brake
tim used to do bernard's chemistry homework for him, and bernard would do tim's physics homework for him.
bernard will call tim "mr. wayne" to piss him off
they start playing fight and end up making out for hours
tim's fridge is full of polaroids, mostly of bernard and calico, but one of them is very old and all fucked up. It's a picture of tim bernard and darla at louis grieves.
bernard took a picture of that polaroid and uses it as his phone lockscreen
please witness its power
this one looks better in the dark, so click to see it in its full eerie glory
Masterlist of Comic Knowledge Posts
(To be expanded upon as new posts are made, but for now, here’s a place you can find any big questions I’ve answered or comic info I’ve dug up)
DC Timeline Powerpoint
Batkid Nicknames Powerpoint
Batkid Hero Names/Undercover Aliases Powerpoint
A Crash Course in the CW Arrowverse
What Was Jason Like As Robin?
The Significance of Jason’s Bat Symbol
Damian’s First Canon Interactions With Each Batfam Member
The Brady Bunch
What Instruments Do the Batkids Play?
How Tim Lost His Spleen
When and Why Tim Changed His Color Scheme to Red and Black
Batkids + Major Injuries
The History of Damian’s Skin Tone in Comics
Is Dick White?
Crash Course on Bart Allens’ Death
The Batkids + Swearing
Duke Thomas’ Personality and How to Write It
My Cringey Old Tim Drake + Depression Masterpost
“I Don’t Hit My Kids” Yeah Okay Old Man
If You Were Wondering Whether Dick and Tim Like Pineapple On Pizza, the Answer is Yes
Remember the Time N52 Bart Was a Psychopath
Batkids + Their Last Words When They Died
Every Panel of the Batkids Referring to Each Other As Siblings That I Could Find
Damian and Selina’s Current Relationship
Tim is a Health Nut
The Aftermath of Bart’s Death
Every Panel of Bruce and Dick Being Referred to As Father and Son That I Could Find
Every Panel of Bruce and Jason Being Referred to As Father and Son That I Could Find
Every Panel of Bruce and Tim Being Referred to As Father and Son That I Could Find
Every Panel of Duke and Cass Being Referred to As Bruce’s Children That I Could Find
Bruce’s “Death” and Battle For the Cowl Explained
The Confusing History of Ra’s and Talia’s Eye Colors
Jason Suffers From Chronic Pain, Y’all
Damian Nicknames
Wally West’s Dating History
That Time Dick Was in the Mob
What the Public Knows About Jason’s Death
Why Does No One Remember That Dick Was Raped When He Was 16
The Dark Origin of Jerry the Turkey
The Batkids + Mourning Each Other’s Deaths
Jason is a Canon Book Nerd
No, Dick Did Not Try to Throw Tim in Arkham
Dead Robins Club Members
Bruce + Calling the Batkids His Children
Which Batkids Have Been Raped/Assaulted?
Talia al Ghul Before and After Grant Morrison Got Their Hands On Her
All the Times Tim Was Down With Murder
Tim Not Sleeping is a Canon Thing
FOR THE LAST TIME, JASON WAS INDEED THERE DURING BATMAN: HUSH!! IT WASN’T CLAYFACE THE ENTIRE TIME!!!
Batfam Deaths and Resurrections: A Timeline
All the Barbara Gordon (w/ Batfamily) Hugs I Could Find
All the Bruce Wayne (w/ Batfamily) Hugs I Could Find
All the Cassandra Cain (w/ Batfamily) Hugs I Could Find
All the Damian Wayne (w/ Batfamily) Hugs I Could Find
All the Dick Grayson (w/ Batfamily) Hugs I Could Find
All the Duke Thomas (w/ Batfamily) Hugs I Could Find
All the Jason Todd (w/ Batfamily) Hugs I Could Find
All the Stephanie Brown (w/ Batfamily) Hugs I Could Find
All the Tim Drake (w/ Batfamily) Hugs I Could Find
Dick and Damian’s Relationship
The Timeline of Jason’s Death and Resurrection
The Timeline of Jason’s Return to Gotham
Tim + His Parents: One Big All-Encompassing Post Covering Tim’s Relationships With Jack and Janet Drake
Tim and Jason’s Pre-52 Relationship + Jason’s Winning At “How Many Times Can We Try to Kill Tim” Bingo
Jason is Good With Kids
Dick and Cass: Canon Interactions
Is Tim Really Into Photography?
Tim Being Depressed/Suicidal
Dick Grayson and Tarantula: A Hella Toxic Relationship
@sasheneskywalker i love when you enable me to ramble about things because oh my god do i have thoughts.
so recently, i made a post discussing the phenomena of DC x DP and DC x MLB crossovers and why they exist and part of that post was discussing how largely speaking, at least half, if not more of the Batfamily fandom doesn't read the comics. if they interact with canon DC material, it's adaptations that are their own sequestered universes and oftentimes not remotely comic accurate or seeking to be. the most obvious example is the Young Justice cartoon. i'm adding a cut to this post because it just got so long i'm so sorry.
a lot of times, when people are discussing the "why" of this oversaturation of fanon-only fandom, they blame Wayne Family Adventures. and i think, to a point, i agree WFA is responsible for a boom in this fandom. but as someone who's been in the fandom long before we had WFA, to me it's the other way around. WFA was DC's way of meeting the demand for this easy-to-get-into, easy-to-consume content about the Batfamily that predicates itself on the comics just enough to be vaguely the same characters, but has a more sitcom, slice-of-life sort of vibe so DC could profit off of this section of the fanbase that otherwise wasn't consuming its primary material. and well, it's definitely worked. not only that, but i have a weird theory that the decline in the MCU also led to the rise in the Batfamily fandom. when you consider the fan content that made the MCU popular within fandom, it's that 2012 "they all live in Avengers Tower and Thor is eating poptarts and Clint is in the vents and there are movie nights every Friday" sort of vibe. those were the fics that were a hallmark of the fandom. and as the MCU has strayed from well... quality content in general, but specifically well-thought-out crossover content where characters can have their own arcs but also exist in a wider story where they clearly care about each other, that fandom was sort of homeless. so where do you go, if you like a superhero found family where you can have villains for angst but also stick them all in one big family-like home for silly crack and have a plethora of options for gay ships? well. you go to the Batfamily. if you write a crack/fluff Batfamily genfic with silly vibes and low stakes instead of say, a fic about a very specific comic issue even if it's a popular comic, you're *going* to get more traction for the former. because the fanbase largely just isn't reading the comics.
and i feel... complicated about this. because on one hand, Don't Like Don't Read has been a tenet of my fandom experience. i'm very pro-fandom and that includes fandom content i don't like. and to an extent, i do think this sort of should apply to Batfamily fanon. i enjoy having my moments with other comic purists, giggling over exceptionally painful OOC headcanons or even facepalming in pain over some content but it is on me to not interact with that content. you don't make fandom a better place by being hostile to fans who engage with canon in ways you don't approve of. and frankly? we as comic readers are not going to get non-comic fans to read the comics by being asshats to them. no one is going to want to pick up any comic if we get a superiority complex about it. and also, i feel like we're all lying to ourselves a little bit insisting comics are so, so easy to get into. they're not. we can just all agree, they're really not. i've been single-handedly helping my sister get into comics, specifically Wonder Woman and no matter how simple i make it, i watch her get frustrated trying to understand what pre-Crisis and post-Crisis and New-52 and Flashpoint and all these things mean and what a retcon vs a reboot is and what a Crisis Event is and what the hell Diana's current backstory even *is*. sure, you can give someone a beginner list of comics to start with and slowly dip their toes in the water but sooner or later, *something* is going to confuse them. comics as a medium straight up aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea. and if someone *just* wants to read silly fluffy fanfiction about the Batfamily, i can't entirely begrudge them for not wanting to take the hours and hours out of their day to understand this medium. it's not an accessible medium to get into. "read this and this, but this run is out of print and this run wasn't collected in trades at all but also make sure you read that event in order and this is a good comic but the backstory in it is retconned and you *have* to read this it's so important but it's also really bad because the author kind of sucks" sounds. ridiculous for someone who like. just wants to read some stuff about Nightwing. sometimes, we all make reading comics sort of sound like a chore, not a hobby.
so my point is, i do extend some grace to Batfamily fanon for existing. i think my biggest gripe is, as i said in my other post, misuse of tags (if you're not creating content about comics, maybe you don't need the comics fandom tag on Ao3, just the all media types umbrella tag) and my far bigger gripe: when panels are taken out of context to support fanon only headcanons. if i could impart *anything* onto the Batfamily fandom as a comic fan it'd be this: if you haven't *read* the comic, don't spread the panel. if you don't even know what comic it's *from*, don't spread the panel. it's fine to use comic panels to discuss your headcanons, but so often i see someone spreading a comic panel from a comic they haven't read, and when asked where it's from, they can't source it. a silly example that comes to mind is a post going around, taking a panel where Dick, in his internal monologue goes "here comes the sun. do do do do." and the post is claiming it's from him getting buried alive. when that panel comes from Nightwing (1996) #140, and he gets buried alive in Nightwing (1996) #127, two completely different moments frankensteined together. if you're going to not read the comics, that's completely fine, but unless you're sure of the source and the context, panels shouldn't be spread around. i'm sick of this specifically happening to Red Robin (2009), with ppl claiming Tim has totally killed people because he blew up some of Ra's' bases, when those panels within context, make it clear he gave everyone time to escape. and in a later arc in that very comic, Tim grapples with the idea of murdering Captain Boomerang, and *specifically chooses not to*, because he doesn't agree with murder, even against the person who has hurt him the most. if you'd like to write fanfiction where Tim is pro-murder and has done some sketch things, i'm totally on board and would probably like to read it. but there's no need to pretend it's canon from a few panels you saw out of context.
beyond that, i think it's not *entirely* correct to say that fanon is harmless. whenever i see very WFA-positive posts, they often default to the argument that WFA is fun and silly, and comic fans are killjoys for not liking it. which. i think is complicated because the issue is, WFA and fanon don't exist in a vacuum. if you like WFA power to you, i don't think it's the worst thing ever, but i do think it's degrading to these characters because honestly? they feel incompetent in the webtoon. it's one thing if WFA was solely a slice-of-life sort of deal, just having silly episodes where Bruce is taking on a PTA mom or they're all fighting for the last cookie. but when WFA attempts to take on more serious plots with these characters, it *fundamentally* falls flat in understanding them. i get it, Bruce comforting Jason having a panic attack because a noise reminded him of the crowbar felt cute in a microcosm, but i'm so serious when i say that storyline destroyed how like. half of this fandom understands Jason Todd's relationship to his trauma. it doesn't understand how he reacts when he's triggered, what coping mechanisms he seeks out, and how he would handle Bruce comforting him. even if i can believe for a brief moment Jason *would* be triggered by something like that, him running and trying to hide and then getting a hug from Bruce to make it okay is just. painful. WFA needs everything to be wrapped up in a nice, neat little bow. so even when it starts to tackle interesting concepts, it makes them fall flat with its need to be soft, low stakes, hurt/comfort. there was a two-parter episode that dealt with the complicated mutual hatred/jealousy between Tim and Damian that *almost* really interested me because for once, it felt like the webtoon wanted to explore canon messy dynamics. but of course, it had to be fixed with one conversation and a hug. you don't mend the *years* of issues these characters have like that. WFA isn't in character because these characters are hyperbole cartoonified versions of themselves to fit within the medium and be a cute happy family.
because that right there, is the crux of it. the Batfamily fanon seeks to simplify the Batfamily and force them into a nuclear family. there are so many fantastic posts on here discussing how the nuclear family-ification of the Batfam is eroding decades worth of complex histories so i won't go too far into that. but what i will say is that there's this need, in the Batfamily fandom, for the Batfamily to exist as a unit. they are a *family*. (honestly i think calling it the Batfamily is a misnomer and has been for years but we're in too deep now.) they exist to each other first, and any teams or friends they have come secondary to this family unit. you can *specifically* see this demonstrated in what headcanons are becoming popular these days. i have an entire lengthy meta in my drafts about how i *loathe* the "the Batfamily meets the Justice League" genre of fanfic because it makes no *sense*. in order to have this genre of fic exist, you must operate under the assumption that no one in the League, or adjacent to the League, knows the Batfamily exists and are thus utterly shocked to discover Batman has kids. and to make *that* work, you have to strip *every single Batfamily member* of such important dynamics and friendships so you can lock them all in Gotham for their whole lives. Dick can't have the Titans, Tim can't have Young Justice, Duke & Cass can't have the Outsiders, Jason can't have the Outlaws, Damian can't have the Supersons, Babs can't have the Birds of Prey, and so on. because if they had these relationships, they would be known to the League. the Batfamily fandom doesn't care about this, it's just "silly fanfiction", it's not trying to be serious. but how can you say you like Dick Grayson as a character if you don't understand the Titans *are* his family? at some points of his life, moreso than the Batfamily even is. it is constantly repeated to us in most comics with Dick how much the Titans mean to him. he *needs* them to be who he is. the same extends to every other Batfamily member, most of which have been full League members at this point. but in fanon, that doesn't matter. the Batfamily are a sequestered unit first, and all of those side relationships are secondary and easy to toss away, if it makes your fanfic work better.
and because they have to be a unit first, you have these forced relationships that dump years of actual canon material for the sake of making them get along. the Batfamily fandom has its favorites and well. it's no secret it's usually the boys. Jason and Tim by *far* stand out as fandom faves so, their dynamic is a heavily explored one. it does matter that in canon they don't tend to get along and especially don't see each other as family. what matters is that you can push dynamics onto them. and so fanon gets all twisted up about which Robin Tim actually idolized as a kid (Dick) and what member of the Batfamily is pro-murder but still an older sibling figure to him and looks out for him (Helena, or if you want the dynamic of once tried to harm Tim but they've reconciled, Jean-Paul) in favor of who's the most popular. Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian are always going to be the standouts for popularity, but it's specifically Jason and Tim who are getting fanonized the most. and that's because really, we don't have much canon content of Tim that *isn't* the comics. for Dick you've got Young Justice (tv), for Damian you've got the DCAMU, for Jason you've sort of got the Under The Red Hood movie, but Tim sort of lingers in this limbo. (yes, he's in Young Justce (tv) and Titans (live action) but in neither is he the main character nor given much depth) so, he gets a *lot* projected onto him and has become fanonized. and even with Jason's animated movies, you don't see him interact with Tim, so people build it from the ground up how they want to see it, disregarding of canon comics. i think it's what makes him so popular in the first place- he's malleable into whatever you want or need him to be.
and of course, the fanon ignores other characters in the Batfamily it doesn't know about. i feel like you could create a tier list of Batfamily characters by their popularity, going from the fandom main characters: Tim, Jason, Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Damian. to the underrated: Steph, Duke, Babs, Cass. to the forgotten about unless they're convenient for a story: Kate, the Foxes, Helena Wayne, Carrie, Selina, Harper Row, Maps, Minhkhoa Khan. to the absolutely unknown: Helena Bertinelli, Jean-Paul Valley, Onyx Adams, the Clovers, Julia Pennyworth. it's not lost on me that the ignored characters tend to be women and people of color. which is both a canon and fanon problem, DC will continue adding interesting characters to the Batfamily, play with them for a few years, then drop them to default to the "Batboys" again. and it's a vicious cycle of the fandom only caring about the "Batboys", and thus people entering the fandom via fanon osmosis won't have content about the other characters, therefore, they won't be interested in those characters enough to create it, and it's just this ouroboros consuming itself, no matter how much canon content we have of these other characters. and it's ridiculous just how large the Batfamily is becoming because of this, which is why i'm a pre-Flashpoint fan, because then the Batfamily was contained enough to actually feel like a family with every character having nuances relationships with each other, but i digress because those thoughts could be their own post.
and the thing about fanon is it doesn't exist in a vacuum. DC has started turning the comics to accommodate for what fans are asking for, because fans will beg and beg for content they're not going to consume. Tim Drake: Robin had Tim as a coffee drinker because that's the fanon accepted headcanon. and the resolution of the recent Gotham War arc was for Bruce to buy this new manor for everyone to move in and call him. nevermind that most of these characters have their own homes and have zero reason to be moving in with Bruce. Tim had his marina in Tim Drake: Robin, Dick has Bludhaven, Cass and Steph have their little side of town in Batgirls (2022), and so on. these characters are being forced together as a unit, as one big happy family living together, to appease what non-comic fans want and it's damaging comic relationships. Robin: Knight Terrors saw Jason and Tim team up and working together, which i've seen varying opinions on but i personally despised. their interactions made zero sense for any of their canon history, but it appeases them being this close sibling relationship that fanon acts like they are. also the fears they faced in their respective knight terrors didn't make sense for either character and *only* worked as a moment of bringing them together so they could reassure each other and have this weird dreamscape bonding moment. the canon is bending itself to the will of fanon rather than building on the pre-existing complex relationships. Tim barely even gets along with his most important team in Dark Crisis: Young Justice because it seems the only important relationships the Batfamily can have is with each other. and when we do see them outside of the Batfamily, it only seems to be to relive the glory days like with World's Finest: Teen Titans, instead of developing them as they currently exist. this isn't recent in the comics, it feels like you can trace it back to the New-52, but it does feel a *lot* worse over the recent years. WFA is fine when it exists in its own bubble, but the simple truth is, DC content never exists on its own. the adaptations will reflect back onto the comics. (the damage the Young Justice cartoon has done to some characters should honestly be studied) and so it does frustrate me a bit when fanon-only or adaptation-only fans act like we're being nothing but killjoys for being frustrated with this. since they don't read the comics, they don't see how the comics are suffering as a result of this.
people argue about what's out of character for the comics they don't even read. i'm sorry, but "bad dad Bruce" is consistently canon. that man is just kind of shitty. when you take someone who has the drive he has, who has this need for the Mission first, who needs a teenager in spandex next to him to keep him off the ledge, that guy is sort of going to be a shitty father figure. he just is. not on purpose or with malice, but when you compare him to any other dad in a big DC family, he sure takes the cake. it's why characters like Oliver Queen tend to *really* fucking hate Bruce for how he treats his kids. Bruce loves fiercely, but he doesn't do well with putting that love first. and his love is a controlling one, he is very particular about controlling how others in the Batfamily are "allowed" to operate. it's what drives the wedge between him and Dick, it's why Steph is never a true daughter to him. (besides the reason of her needing to be a love interest to Tim first, anyway-) i've never understood the massive outcry of people reacting to Bruce kinda being shitty in comics they're not reading. there are some moments that get ridiculously OOC with how cartoonishly evil he is (the whole Gotham War arc and that... complicated mess with Jason) but largely if you want sitcom loving nuclear father Bruce, you have to accept that is a fanon thing, not a canon one. the Batfamily being a nuclear family in *general* is fanon. most of the "Batkids" don't actually see Bruce in a particularly fatherly light and begging for moments where he calls them his kids or they call him dad outside of incredibly specific circumstances is just OOC.
it's getting harder and harder to exist peacefully in this fandom it feels like, if you don't comply to the standard fanon has set. i'm happy people are having fun with their blorbos, even if in ways i dislike, but that "harmless fandom fun" does ripple it's way back to canon, eventually. so i end up pretty tangled with my feelings because are fans at fault for DC making these poor decisions? probably not, but it certainly feels like an unfortunate cause-and-effect situation whether at the end of the day, nobody is happy. and of course, i know some fanon-only fans are striving to be more canon accurate and care about canon dynamics more than others, but for them it's always going to be an uphill battle with the above-mentioned out-of-context panels thrown around and ever-pervasive fanon overtaking anything that's truly seeking to be canon compliant. so really, it sometimes feels like we're all losing.
Dripped out at Comic Con
soren is so full of bottled up emotions. that boy deserves a mental breakdown i think. as a treat.
also i do need to see him sobbing for personal reasons. why do favorite characters exist other than to torture them
"Split Lip" some watercolor sketchbook play. prints for July over on patreon
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portfolio | shop | patreon
I love how the beginning s5 Ezran plot line is like “Here’s Sorvus, and their adopted son, the king of Katolis”.
Btw if y'all DC fans want a transmasc character might I point you to one of their recent additions, Julien Jourdain (Circuit Breaker)
Goofy goth trans cowboy
okay okay I know the point of this is “White people need to put as much effort into learning how to pronounce Black people’s names as they do foreign European names” and 100% I totally agree, absolutely good point
but this tweet becomes hilarious in the context of this clip:
anyways, absolutely put effort into learning how people pronounce their names. just don’t feel bad if it takes you some time to get it right 😅
(also in case you didn’t watch the video it’s “N-SHOO-tee” not “SHOO-tee”)
People who have seen under 20 years of Doctor Who: Aw I can't believe they teased the Doctor's family but we didn't learn anything
People who have seen Too Much Doctor Who: THEY CONFIRMED SUSAN'S PARENT HASN'T BEEN BORN YET?? FINALLY A SIGNIFICANT UPDATE!! WE ARE MAKING REAL PROGRESS!!
bernard will pretend to not notice the mask under the pillow (yes more soft timbern, leave me alone)
you have GOT to remember when watching the new doctor who that the question is not is this good. doctor who is only ever actually 'good' once a season at most. THE ONLY QUESTION IS is it fun, camp, and has aliens. also remember the worst doctor who showrunner is always the current doctor who showrunner. now go watch the new episodes as god intended like you're ten years old and still remember how to experience joy and whimsy.
i saw this:
and thought it would be fun to actually work that out. so
^^^ every doctor who episode in chronological order
(pls let me know if theres any mistakes! i got most of the info from the tardis wiki so idk if its 100% accurate)
i was possessed;
It has been brought to my attention that people might be interested in the research I've done for Magnus stuff (I frequently go on research dives and assume it's of interest to no one but me 😅)