#character thoughts

[isagrimorie]

The more I dig into the Voyager rewatch, and the more I see Janeway is giving in more and more to the Valkyrie she's always inside. The more intriguing Janeway is. I already think she's great but digging deeper into Janeway is amazing.

I keep thinking of how Janeway holds on to the Starfleet regulations and it makes me think of that Doctor Who quote and how she fits the description to a tee:

"Good men don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many."

I feel this is Janeway -- she has rules for a reason, she's not evil but she also knows she can go very, very far.

Janeway has been through a brutal border skirmish in the conflict with the Cardassians. She downplays it but, how Kate Mulgrew, it feels like there was a lot more there.

She ranked up from Lieutenant, not because of being a Science Officer but because she's a decorated vet in a bloody siege, where they won.

As we've seen from Sige of AR-558 and the episode in Strange New Worlds ground combat is a whole different beast from ship-to-ship battle.

(Tom looks like a zombie in the last one btw)

Also, IMO, she's one of the more inventive tacticians in Starfleet-- the way she used the torpedoes in Year of Hell as a mine was amazing!

That's a great naval tactic shit. Hot girl navy.

But also, Janeway fits so much the Doctor Who, Good Man Goes to War rhyme:

Demons run when a good man goes to war. Night will fall and drown the sun, when a good man goes to war. Friendship dies and true love lies, night will fall and the dark will rise, when a good man goes to war.

It's also true of Janeway that when the three people that form the basis of Janeway's mental health died and/or became very sick, Admiral Endgame Janeway happened. And then she destroyed the Borg.

Janeway needs rules for a reason.

/edited

#star trek voyager #kathryn janeway #character thoughts #thinky thoughts

[pixelatedfarmhouse]

Going over some dialogue on the wiki to help with story inspiration, and came across a bit of marriage dialogue for Sam:

“I might spend some time today fixing any leaks in the roof or the windows.”

I know it's popular to bag on Sam for being one of the less mature marriage candidates, and being seemingly useless when it comes to household chores... but this bit of dialogue has me headcanoning that he might actually helpful when it comes to being handy.

I imagine that while Kent is gone Sam would take on any home repairs that need doing, and I could see him doing the same for Penny or even Haley and Emily.

On that note:

“I hope Vincent’s not too lonely now that I’m gone… I kinda felt responsible for the little guy. But, life’s all about change… right? Kids need to learn that, eventually… Or else adulthood will destroy them.”

Has me thinking that he also does quite a bit of childcare when Penny's not tutoring, which is something else people seem to overlook.

#stardew valley #character thoughts #stardew valley sam

[sunsetcougar]

I’ve seen a lot of people saying that it’s bad writing that Vaggie’s identity revolves so heavily around Charlie and the hotel and personally I don’t think it is bad writing, rather it makes perfect sense for her character.

Vaggie lost her entire life, her entire identity, everything, in a matter of minutes. Any value she had was stripped away, leaving her with nothing but trauma. So she latched onto Charlie, who showed her kindness and compassion in the midst of the worst day of her life, and built a new identity from what she was given. She’s afraid if she’s not constantly useful, constantly proving that she’s worth keeping around, she’ll be discarded by Charlie like she was by the Exorcists. So she dedicates her whole being to the woman she loves, because that’s the only thing she knows how to do.

I’m not saying that kind of attachment is healthy or that it’s good that Vaggie has so little outside of Charlie and the hotel, what I’m saying is that it makes sense. She’s clinging to what she has and is terrified that if she loosens her grip she might lose everything all over again, so she doesn’t even try.

#character thoughts #hazbin hotel vaggie #vaggie #charlie morningstar #chaggie #hazbin hotel

[abhainnwhump]

Putting your characters in a kidnapping scenario is a great way to practice characterization because there are just so many ways you can take being kidnapped. Are they terrified and crying? Or calm and determined? Screaming and yelling curses or making jokes? How about begging for mercy? Immediately getting violent?

And when/if they break, how does their behavior change? You can have a character start calm and collected and turn paranoid after weeks or months in captivity. Iconically, take your defiant and cocky character and make them scared and meek. Take the sweet innocent character and turn them into a monster. How would your OC develop if they were in a problem like this?

My closing statement is, test your characters. Like a geode, you need to break it to see the gems inside.

#i saw this mentioned in a video I was listening too and wanted to make a post about it #whump #whump prompt #whump writing #whumpblr #whump tropes #defiant whumpee #broken whumpee #characterization #writing help #captive whumpee #captured whumpee #whumpee turned whumper #whumpee prompt #whump scenario #whump ideas #whump thoughts #writing thoughts #character thoughts

[kindlingkeen]

It kills me that rhato has Jason having spent all this time in the mountains with the all caste meditating and working through his inner conflicts and he winds up able to manifest his soul into swords that kill true evil and then he hardly uses them. Also what is true evil? Since it is his soul is it based on his understanding of evil? If so then DC let my boy kill the joker with his soul swords! You owe him one after like 40 years of classism and victim blaming and disrespect!

Friend, I’m afraid you and I are going to be waiting a looooong time for dc to do right by Jason. Pretty sure the world economy will be collapsing in the face of a second viral apocalypse, and dc will still be happily publishing bullshit dragging Jay through the mud.

I totally agree, the all blades are such a missed opportunity. I love the idea of Jason ‘Robin gives me magic’ Todd as Red ‘I’m actually fucking magic’ Hood. And they would totally shish kabob the joker. He’s true evil by anyone’s definition.

In fact, given the joker’s cockroach like tendency to come back from just about anything, seems like magic soul swords are just the thing to kill him dead for good. And is it really murder if it’s done with magic soul swords? Sounds like divine intervention to me. Batman can’t throw you in Arkham for carrying out spiritual destiny, right? Hmm … this is sounding more and more like a good fic prompt 👀

Thanks for the ask, anon!! 💙

🪽🔥🗡️🤡☠️

#keen converses #all blades #magic jason todd #stupid dc never gets it right #fic prompt??? #jason todd #red hood #batman #the joker #character thoughts

[inkher0]

Honestly that one scene in Marble Hornets where Alex has his first blow up at the cast has told me everything I need to know about Tim's personality.

First of all, he's ultra sassy. He's the one that starts mumbling about how annoying the shoot is, and he validates Sara when she starts complaining. Second, when Alex seems to be directing a lot of his anger at Sarah specifically, Tim becomes more aggressive, literally arguing with him on Sarah's behalf. Third, the moment that Sarah (not Alex) says "Let's just do it again", Tim immediately says "alright" and calms down. Fourth, once Sarah starts yelling back at Alex, Tim is steady throwing his own two cents in, reminding Alex that he's yelling at both of them and not just her.

What that says about Tim is that he's protective. It's his default. It doesn't matter how he little he knows or feels about that person- as long as he doesn't hate your guts more than the guy yelling at you, he's on your side. At the same time, though, he's not a dominating person. If someone is standing up for themselves, he doesn't stand in their way. It reads more like a heightened sense of justice, which would make sense given his past trauma.

#marble hornets #tim wright #character thoughts

[bthump]

what do you think is Guts’ an Griffith’s biggest fears?

Guts: anything bigger and stronger than him. I think that's essentially what the monsters function as in Berserk, thematically - personifications of Guts' fear stemming from his childhood trauma. I mean, that's essentially stated when Guts encounters Zodd and the narrative describes him as terror itself:.

Griffith: I'm going to say failure to achieve his dream. Guts leaving him was worse on him, but it's not something he lived a good portion of his life in fear of the way I think he lowkey, mostly subconsciously, lived in fear of failure. And he sacrifices Guts because he caused him to fail to achieve his dream, by becoming more important.

As a fear it's something that in a happy ending Griffith would've been able to grow past, but he never got the chance to in Berserk.

Like I'd describe Griffith as being driven by guilt, but that kind of goes hand in hand with a fear of failing to achieve the dream so many died for. The fear isn't given centre stage for Griffith the way it is for Guts, thematically, but yeah as a headcanon that's my answer.

Thanks for asking!

#ask #anonymous #character: guts #character: griffith #theme: fear #character thoughts #headcanons

[lizard-queen-izzy]

OK! WE'RE DOING THIS!

Everyone shut up and sit down. I'm talking about TMA. I am listening through for the first time, I'm through S1 and halfway through S2, and I already have many Thoughts. Today, we will be focusing on my evil ship thoughts, because I missed my chance when this was coming out so now I will subject you all.

I know Jon and Martin get together at some point, and yknow, that's all fine and good.

BUT I WANNA TALK ABOUT JON AND TIM, OK?

There is so much potential for something there, and they would be so incredibly messy after the S1 finale.

[I've lightly scrolled through the jontim tag, and I truly don't think there's enough of you talking about how tragic they are. Platonic or romantic, they're so so sad.]

They both worked in the research department before Jon was made Head Archivist, and even though they definitely weren't close, they were definitely friendly. My Firm Belief is that Jon was the only one who took Tim seriously despite his more lax attitude, he saw his strong work ethic and his dedication and treated him accordingly. And Tim was the only one who listened to Jon, the only one who thought he had anything to add and took his suggestions.

I believe they were hired around the same time, and once they met there was a silent understanding that they were there for eachother. It was nice to just have someone in their corner in this new environment.

When Jon got promoted to Head Archivist, he was adamant about Tim being on his team, because he knew Tim would help get the results needed. [I have a whole, how everyone got assigned to the team timeline thought out but that's not why we're here]

Tim is the only member of his team who Jon doesn't think would have written Antonio Blake's statement as a joke to scare him. Which means he trusts him the most out of all of them. Which wouldn't be as important if he showed distaste for them equally, but he regards both Tim and Sasha highly, and only really seems to have an issue with Martin at this point. So why would he trust Tim to not have written it but not Sasha? Unless he's known him the longest and has reason to put that faith in him.

AND THEIR CONVERSATION AT THE BEGINNING OF MAG 33?? You're gonna listen to that, the first time we as the audience meet Tim, and tell me you don't hear how much these two care for eachother? Even when Jon starts getting upset/loud, he calms quickly for Tim, and doesn't let himself fully yell at him. He also leaves it up to Tim to fix the mistakes, an example of him trusting Tim's judgement and work. And Tim is so calm with him! The man keeps getting worked up and starting to get loud, but Tim stays calm and let's him self correct and say what he needs to before proceeding himself. He knows Jon is stressed and has a lot on his plate. He knows these mistakes needed to be discussed with him and corrected somehow, but he's still not going to force Jon to re-record the statements if he really doesn't want to, he's willing to find another solution. And then he leaves to go work on it so Jon can get back to recording the statement.

And Tim telling Jon he doesn't understand the filing system and Jon explaining it calmly to him, admitting he doesn't really get it either but that's how it is.

You also have to see my vision for how the S1 finale effects them. A traumatic experience where they were both scarred mentally and physically in the same ways. Something that should have brought them even closer, maybe finally made them feel comfortable being proper friends outside of work. But they both react to it SO differently. And that is the beginning of their downfall. That is the beginning of the end.

Because Jon spirals. He stops trusting everyone. He pushes them all away and starts crossing boundaries. HE SPIES ON TIMS HOUSE. And he can't even calm down long enough to see why this bothers his coworkers. Why this hurts Tim.

The beginning of S2 from Tim's perspective is awful. Your first friend in this workplace is overworking himself, throwing himself back into work the second he's cleared physically well enough to go back. But he clearly hasn't moved past it, and you can't blame him for that. Everyone copes differently, but then he turns on you. He stops trusting you, starts pushing you away, starts spying on you. Can you imagine how much that hurts? To have the first person in this terrifying new job who ever put their trust in you, who ever believed in you, to turn on you just when you need them the most.

THEY ARE SO FUCKING MESSY. GOD.

Anyway. I very well may be back with more JonTim thoughts as I continue to listen. But this is what I have for you today.

#tma #tma spoilers #tma season one #tma season 2 #jonathan sims #jon sims #tim stoker #timothy stoker #the magnus archives #archives gang #character thoughts #jontim #jonsims/timstoker #ramblings #Thoughts

[aroacewxs]

wxs and how they sleep

tsukasa

late, light sleeper. tired of seeing "tsukasa gets all his eight hours!" NO. HE DOES NOT. HE IS BARELY GETTING BY. HE IS RUNNING ON HOPES AND DREAMS AND SPITE AND HOPES AND DREAMS AND SPITE ONLY. he would chide everyone else around him to sleep early and rest up while he sleeps at 3 trying to perfect one line that is bothering him deeply to his core like an itch under your skin. sleeps on his back, that loser. HANDS FOLDED ACROSS HIS STOMACH TOO LMAOOOOOOO. i also feel like he would try sleeping on the floor after hearing that it's good for your back.

he starts the night on his back and his hands folded but he tosses and turns and wakes up on the floor twisted like a Baked Pretzel with unbearable neck pain and mystery bruises on his legs. he wakes up to the smallest bump in the night and takes ages to fall back asleep. at some point after staring up at his ceiling for an hour he decides that it's hopeless and reads up on theatre instead.

it is also canon he snores, so for the small amount of time he IS asleep, he's doing it very very loudly and obnoxiously

emu

early, deep sleeper. drools. the official Snrrkk Mimimi of wxs. emu is the type of person to have bubbles pop out of her nose when she snores. she literally has "z's" floating above her and escaping throughout her window and into the night sky when she sleeps. emu is the type of person to wake up to roosters going cock a doodle doo and leap out of her bed (with her blankets being made instantly in the process). sleeps on her side, cuddles with pillows and stuffies!

i also think emu would fall asleep very easily on any kind of vehicle if she wasn't excited about every little thing that happens on these rides. car? oh my god, look! cows! plane? are you kidding! she's literally airborne! what is there not to be excited about! boat? are you kidding! she's literally floating! what is there not to be excited about! and was that a fish???

it is also canon that she sleep talks. which is so fitting. she really is a cartoon character

nene

late, deep sleeper. sleep talker. sleeps on her side and occasionally on her stomach with one leg propped up, arms up as if she were surrendering to the police. nene falls victim to the 3-5pm eepiness every time, well knowing that she will not be able to sleep later when she's supposed to and ends up playing video games instead.

when she IS asleep though, nene is as still as a rock. you cannot move her. you cannot wake her up. if someone were to shake her awake, she'd be cranky all throughout breakfast. she has to slide out of bed, blankets wrapped around her body, and slowly make her way to the kitchen on her own accord with little bubbles popping around her head, all cartoon-esque.

rui

late, light sleeper. sleep talker. SLEEP LAUGHER. also has the weirdest dreams, some he itches to tell his friends and use as show inspiration, some leave him sitting there, half awake, wondering what the fuck he just dreamt as he blinks away the sleep in his eyes in dazed confusion.

his sleeping position is sitting, face smushed against blueprints on his desk. unfortunately. but if he were to actually drag himself to his garage couch or to his room (im pretty sure he has a bedroom, but doesn't go there because he spends so much time in his work room), he would free fall onto his face and sleep on his stomach and then wake up on his side or a weird twist of sorts.

#jay does a think #project sekai #project sekai headcanons #wxs #wonderlands x showtime #tenma tsukasa #ootori emu #kusanagi nene #kamishiro rui #character thoughts #eepy wxs my favourite wxs #i feel like tsukasa's entire section is extremely contradictory #do i care? no #maybe ill reword stuff later

[ayumitsuu]

[ Character Impressions 6 (Gen 2) - moar siblings]

- Julia sleepy, Lana sheepy 🐑 they would be the first to fall asleep at a slumber party 😴

- a bit lacklester… 😅 love the hairstyle, we’ll work on personality, and character…

- my Diarmud was… decent. He doesn’t really get to shine as a unit or as a character amidst the other mounted sword wielders.

- love Lachesis -> love Nanna 💘 the bob haircut, the feather accent… SO CUTE!!! 🥰 I wish she promoted to master knight tho (such a cool class)

- I like the way Patty talks and her energy (reminds me of Dew), but some of the things she says are like, “Whoa, gurl. Too far. Back it up or pack it up.” 🙅‍♀️

- ngl, I was a bit disappointed when I saw Febail for the first time, as Brigid’s son I was expecting… I dunno, blinding beauty. I guess Patty doesn’t have her elegant look either.

- I LOVE THE ISAACH TWINS!!!!! 😍

When you meet them for the first time, I thought Scáthach was the calm, reasonable, more timid (possibly nerdy) twin, and Larcei the feral twin. But then it’s revealed that Scáthach is also a spicy boi, itching to fight, but he’s holding back because of Oifey’s orders. 🥺😩💕

#fe4 #fire emblem #geneology of the holy war #first playthrough #first impressions #ayu plays fe4 #ayu draws fe4 #character thoughts #character impressions #brain worms #Lana #rana #Lester #diarmud #delmud #Patty #Febail #faval #scathach #ulster #larcei #lakche #second generation #feh #fe heroes #judgral

[seasaltandcopper]

thinking about strong (brittle) vs strong (resilient) characters

the first type seem unbreakable because of the sheer amount of shit they withstand without flinching. they stand tall, still smiling, shrugging off every setback in a way their peers can’t help but admire. they’re the last person anyone expects to fold, and it will take a storm of epic proportions to break them, but once they hit that point, there’s no going back. they snap, and that vulnerable emotional core now lays exposed to the elements, stripped of the thick armor that previously protected it

the second type seem weaker on the surface. every storm that rolls in pushes them down, bows them almost to the ground. they’re not stoic. they’re not unflinching. they’ll sacrifice dignity and appearances to get by, and compromise is accepted as a facet of survival. in some ways it may even seem like life has specifically set them up to be knocked down at every turn. but each time the storm passes, they rise back up again with a resilience and flexibility that allows them to bend so much farther without completely breaking

#character thoughts #breadcrumbs #I love both types to be clear #and I absolutely dont think the second type is unbreakable #everyone has a breaking point #neither of these types is 'better' they're just different #the first often tends to have that dramatic break #the second it's often an 'unremarkable' build up of pressure over time #one day a storm pushes them down and they just dont get back up

[sunsetcougar]

Out of the Overlords I think Carmilla would have the most reach in other Overlord’s territories. She’s built her power on her control over Hell’s supply of angelic weapons, but it’s not as if they’re solely discarded in her territory during the exterminations. I think she probably has people placed across Pentagram City whose jobs it is to get the weapons and get them back to her territory before anyone else, especially other Overlords, can get them.

That raises the question of how aware of this the other Overlords are. Do some of them have some sort of agreement with her to let her collect the weapons? Do they just not want to risk getting in a fight with her? Are they unaware that she’s doing this? Do they not care?

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel overlord #carmilla carmine #hazbin hotel carmilla #theory #character thoughts #headcanon

[fizzigigsimmer]

Roy Tillman needs to catch a bullet. I think he’s going to, and that Gator is going to be the one to serve it to him. Warnings ahead for spoilers through episode 9.

First let me just get my initial reaction out of the way: SCREAAAAAAAAMS. Y’all when I tell you I had my tv paused at the two minute mark trying to gird my loins to get through what I knew was coming. 😆 I mean I knew it was coming but I didn’t expect them to just throw us in like that. So it seems they were not overstating the parallels between Gator and Oedipus. There was lots of talk this episode about choosing paths and digging ditches when it would be wiser to change course - and for his failure to change course, for his sins, Munch has taken Gator’s eyesight.

He has made Gator useless in the eyes of his father (who although worried about him in some distant fashion when he goes missing) abandons him in the mist after delivering the parting message that ‘if he ever had a point’, it is surely gone now. Gator is blind, orphaned and exiled. On the other end of the spectrum there is Dot, who has been in exile since she was a child, running from wolves. She tried to carve out her own space and build the family she wanted, but the wolves came back. She’s at her wits end, back against the wall - but she’s finding that she is no longer alone. Her husband and child are waiting for her and thanks to Indira, Lorraine has finally looked past her own bias and seen her for who she is. With Witt and a swat team rallying to save her and Munch arriving just in time to save her from the grave she’s been fleeing all these years it is reinforced over and over: Dorthy Lyon has finally been seen. And with that support she is finally able to stop running.

This was such beautiful storytelling and I cannot 🥹 say enough how much I love this show for telling it. I am even fairly confident now that Gator is going to survive the series, and here is why. Firstly, if there was ever a moment for him to pay for his sins through death the moment feels past us. At this point his death would just be superfluous. This narrative is really big on themes and when certain seeds are planted we know they’ll be paid off in some fashion or another.

Thematically Gator has been likened to both Jack Skellington and Oedipus Rex, and as I’ve said before these are both tragic hereos who make selfish, reckless impulsive decisions that bring about destruction. They both however survive their enlightenment and seek to right their wrongs.

Dot has three times now plead with a fellow victim to stand with her against Roy. First Linda in her dream, then Gator in the shed, and finally Karen in her old bedroom. Linda was just a dream and is already dead, so there can be no taking back there. Gator initially refused and told Dot he wasn’t going anywhere - that he was staying on the path he was on. Karen didn’t say it so explicitly but she chose the same. But by leaving Gator alive and opening his eyes to the depth of his father’s disregard, Munch has left Gator with the opportunity to change his course - one last opportunity.

Dot has already planted the seed of doubt in Gator’s mind that Roy never loved him and that he may have taken away the one person who did (Linda). And now that Roy has abandoned him and proven her point, I think that in the end Gator will choose to protect Dot end up being the one who kills Roy.

He has devoted his entire life to measuring up to trying to make Roy proud. But Roy never was. For all the times that Gator has told himself and Roy that he’s a “winner” Roy has only ever rejected the notion that he is. He once asked Gator how he’s supposed to teach him to be a winner if he keeps losing all the time, the implication therein that Roy is waiting on evidence that Gator has the right stuff to win at all.

Gator frequently swears up and down to Roy that he does have the right stuff, reminding him of his skills specifically as a marksman. He once told Roy he could have smoked Munch like in High Noon, but the conversation that really resonates with me is the one they had after the botched Wayne kidnapping.

Because when Roy starts in on him about his “bad luck problem” aka his inability to win, Gator straight up tells him the reasons why he thinks Roy should be proud of him. The point of Gator = All state QB, crack shot, knocking pins down every time. “That’s your boy”.

I’ve lost track of the amount of times Gator has bragged and or threatened to shoot someone between the eyes or whatever, lol, but we know he likes his guns and apparently he’s good with them. When he attempted to murder Munch he did so with a sharp shooters toolbox.

But Roy has never been impressed by Gator’s skills. Every time Gator reminds him of his success in this area Roy dismisses him. First by telling Gator life is not like the movies - which, fair enough - and secondly by outright saying he didn’t care and was ready to take luck out of the equation. Aka, he’s taking Gator out of the equation. Which was a big ouch for Gator’s pride and led him to try and prove his point, killing “Munch” with a single shot.

Dorthy Lyon has finally been seen and is ready to take down Roy, and running parallel to that is Gator who maybe finally sees himself and his father clearly. I’m not sure if it will come down to a gunshot, but I definitely think Gator is going to play a role in how Roy dies. 😆 Time will tell!

**Edit to add that Dot is also the only one to ever see Gator clearly.

#gator tillman #roy tillman #dot lyon #fargo #fargo season 5 #fargo spoilers #spoilers #speculation #reaction #character thoughts

[theultimatepumpkinpie]

I gotta say my favorite part of whispers in the walls is at the very end where the operator/drifter is about to get hit by Wally and instead of running they just open their arms and let it happen before transferring. And it's not even that they let it happen but the way they make a spectacle of it. For a split second they seem a bit like a martyr

#warframe #warframe spoilers #whispers in the walls #character thoughts

[writing-nothing-but-spilled-ink]

Some headcanons for a crow x DC au where Jason is brought back by the crow

He would still become red hood

It would most likely happen a year or two later on the anniversary of his death would be when he rises

It would still potentially take him weeks or so to a month to fully get his thoughts together and realize that he's not dead anymore and to get his memories straight I'm going off based on the film and in the crow comics based on how Eric's memories seemed fractured

Jason most likely would probably try to seek out Bruce or the last thing he remembers when he first comes back it's instinct so maybe he returns to the warehouse where he died only to maybe see Bruce standing there and he immediately hides because he has allot of conflicted feelings that he doesn't understand fully yet because his memory is hazy at best

Harley is not with the joker at this time and shes furious that joker has killed a kid and it disgusted her to the point where it destroyed her toxic obsession with joker and she ends up with ivy at some point somehow she will help deliver the finishing blow to joker or at least attempt to

I feel like Bruce wouldn't visit Jason's grave at least not this point in time but Alfred or dick would and find that the grave site is a mess it looks like someone has stolen jasons body

The crow itself would be Jason's guide and follow him wherever he goes I feel like when he comes back he'll ofcourse have the famous scars but he's also be the age he was when he died mentally but physically he's at least a couple years older because a few years have passed and he's risen on the anniversary of his death

Once Jason fully remembers what happened to him he'd get to work on doing research of what's currently happening in Gotham and the whereabouts of joker

It would take him a few months to gather proper information he needs form his new identity and come up with a new civilian identity

That's all I have for now eventually I'll expand on this maybe once I fully finish reading through the rest of the crow comics and re read under the red hood and death in the family but for now this is what was bumping around in my head

#jason todd au #the crow #redhood #the redhood #alfred pennyworth #bruce wayne #the bat family #batman #joker #harley quinn #headcanon #dc comics #dc #the batfamily #dc au #alternate universe #dick grayson #red robin #robin #the batman #batman comics #batman thoughts #character thoughts #comics #comic books #dc universe #batfam #wayne family #dcu

[kindlingkeen]

Hi! I absolutely adore your Asymmetrical Warfare series on AO3 (it’s got me back on a competent Jason Todd kick, which, there’s honestly too little of so if you have any recs pls fire away)!

I did have a curiosity that I hope you don’t mind answering though: are there specific reason why you’re not a Tim fan? And does that extend to other members of the batfam as well?

Hi, anon! I’m so glad you’re enjoying Asymmetrical Warfare (competent Jason ftw!). 🙌

Re: Tim. I should probably be more conscientious with my wording around Tim. A lot of what I say in ao3 comments or here tends toward facetious, and tone doesn’t really come across well online.

Which is not to say there aren’t things about Tim that bug me. For example—canon Tim, there are more than few instances of him being downright shitty to Jay’s memory. Case in point, from Batman #456, Tim imagines Jason’s ghost giving him a pep talk about becoming a hero and Jason says he killed himself because he didn’t listen to Batman.

Ah, no sir, the responsible party was the psychopathic clown with a crowbar and some explosives, not the 15 year old trying to save his newly discovered biological mother.

But is this really Tim the character’s fault? Or is it dc’s fault for creating a narrative that brutally murdered a child and then spent decades trashing his memory and blatantly victim-blaming him for it?

It’s really more fanon depictions of Tim that I have a problem with. In particular, the tendency to project Jason’s trauma onto Tim. Trying to spin the white boy who came from an affluent two-parent household as somehow more neglected than the kid whose parents are dead/incarcerated and was literally homeless is just ??? Jason’s backstory touches on so many important societal issues (the gutting of the social safety net, the industrial prison complex, the opioid epidemic, the criminalization of poverty, the stigmatization of sex work), and this approach sweeps all of that under the rug.

It also really gets my goat how many fics masquerade as being about Jason, but are actually just a vehicle for Tim time. These stories tend to dramatize Tim’s character, whether it’s woobie, touch-starved little Timmy who needs constant reassurance and protection, or smarter than everyone ever, can not be out thought or out fought, is actually a CEO while he should be in high school Tim. My problem with this type of narrative is usually two-fold. 1) It dumbs down Jason’s characterization (which should be so rich and complex) to ridiculously oversimplified motivations and actions. And 2) it turns Tim into a caricature of himself, instead of a compelling character with a balance of strengths and weaknesses and a normal amount of teenaged self-esteem.

It probably doesn’t sound like it from this blog post, but I do really try hard in life not to yuck other people’s yum. Just because I don’t care for how Tim is portrayed, it doesn’t make it inherently bad or wrong. And all of this aside, I’ve read plenty of fics where I enjoyed Tim just fine. For example, I love how @bonerot19 writes Tim in their Something in the Static series. And Tim and Jay’s dynamic in WFA is often amusing.

So, yeah, bottom line. Tim is … fine. I’m just not a fan, per se. I try to at least write him fairly in Asymmetrical Warfare, with both the realistic shortcoming of a teenage boy and the awesomeness of Robin. He’s never going to get the same amount of page time as the rest of the crew is, though.

Re: the rest of the batfam. I mean, I often want to bop Bruce on the nose. Especially canon Bruce who beats up his kids and is completely unrepentant about it. But, honestly, that’s not my Bruce. My Bruce, who I love and love to hate in turn, would never do that. (Compartmentalization, the key to happy fic reading and writing.)

I love Babs and Dick. I want to be besties with Steph, but in reality she’s way too cool for me. Duke and Cass I’m less familiar with, but have no problems with. Damian is growing on me, and if dc would just give up the game and admit that Dami and Jay met in the LoA and are actually super special murder brothers at heart, that would be great. Selina is a queen and someday I will write that Selina + Jay and Dami meet in the LoA fic I’ve been dreaming about.

Re: competent Jason fic recs. One of my favorites is butcherbird, fly away home by e_va @e-vasong. Bonus rec, the same author put out a new fic recently, another way to make it to ten, and it not only features competent Jason, it’s Jason & Tim, and I like Tim in it.

Thanks so much for the ask, anon! Really great questions. Kudos if you made it through the whole post. 💙

#keen converses #fic rec #tim drake #jason todd #my fic #asymmetrical warfare #batfam thoughts #character thoughts