#did it help a lot of people

[notbrucewayne48]

"aphobia doesn't exist"

bitch literally not that long ago an aroace youtuber animator was insulted by almost half of its community for being it

#i did some research about it and found out that the problem was principally that she had previous experience in the romantic area #so people just didn't take her seriously and said she was lying #even though she stated multiple times that she wasn't comfortable in those situations #now things are more calmed but damn #mind your own bussiness #i believe she knows more about herself than you #sorry if i offended you with this comment but i hate how aro/ace/aroace people are always left behind #insulted and rejected because they “dont know what they are talking about” #or because they “just have to wait for the right person” #or because they are “psychopaths and they are missing something” #i love that animator and she helped me realise a lot about myself #and now that i know the context i think i will start making a list and killing aphobes one by one #aromantic #arospec #asexual #aroace #acespec

[bluerosefox]

Over Tea

A sudden chill sweeps through Gotham, almost like Mr. Freeze had just attacked only thing was the man was currently locked away in Arkham, and was felt by all. And talked by all via word of mouth and on social media as well.

The clouds and smog that covered their dark city shifted and swirled, a rumble beginning deep inside them as the weather turned from smoggy to rain and thunder with no real warning. The strangest thing was the green glow that could be seen when thunder rumbled inside the gray clouds.

Then like a candle being blown out, the rumbling stopped, the rain ended, and the clouds parted all over Gotham.

For the first time in a while Gotham had a clear sky and it felt... it felt like something heavy had been lifted off the city.

It was this sudden shift and the all felt chill that had set off alerts for Batman and his family. Since early morning since the first change and shift happened he was in front of the Batcomputer trying to narrow down where it started.

After hours of searching with the help of Red Robin, Oracle and strangely enough Red Hood, they managed to narrow down where the odd power had been coming from.

Was still coming from, only very low.

The old and abandoned observatory tower.

-x-x-

"More ecto-tea Lady Gotham?" Danny asked, his hand waving towards the steaming pot nearby.

The woman smiled lightly, her dark painted lips curling up to show her sharp fangs for a moment before saying "No but thank you Young Kingling though I would like more cookies if you don't mind. Now where were we?"

Danny nodded towards her and signaled towards a maid skeleton ghost who walked forward with a tray of cookies. The maid swiftly placed a few more cookies on the spirit embodiment of Gotham plate before bowing and stepping away.

"We were just about to discuss the sentience of the Court of Owls." Danny said as he lightly tapped the large almost mountain of paperwork on the table they were sitting at, floating high above the floor as shooting stars and planets drifted around them. Many ghosts floated around as well, servants that had sworn their loyalty to the Young King, and were preparing things like snacks and drinks for two powerful beings in the room as they discussed business. Nearby doors and windows though were ghostly knights that stood tall and alert, making sure no interlopers interrupted the meeting taking place and ready to defend not only Lady Gotham but their King.

"Ah yes them." Lady Gotham grimaced as she took a drink of her ecto-tea. "That will take some time for us to discuss, they've been running around unchecked for to long and even with my limited abilities to hinder them has been less than ideal."

"You, Lady G, were deeply cursed for many, many years and I just broke most of it." Danny cut in quickly, he was not about to let this wonderful and powerful city spirit blame herself for something out of her hands "Due to said curse you couldn't do much so please don't go blaming yourself. Its mostly broken now, so you can freely start healing yourself and your city self now that jerk demon that cursed you is in Walker's prison for his crimes."

Lady Gotham grew silent for a moment, her dark eyes staring deeply at the young King but then warmly smiled, well as warm as she could seeing how she was Gotham itself. "You reminded me of my Knight, Young King, treating me like this. Not afraid to point out the truth and facts."

Danny gave a light laugh as he took a hold of one of the cookies on his plate and gave a bite "I'll take that as a compliment Lady Gotham. Now about those Court of Owls...."

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dp x dc #blue rambles #crossover #writing ideas #random idea #danny phantom dc #dpxdc #dcxdp #ghost king danny #Danny visited Gotham as part of his new kingly duties to discuss things #only to find the city spirit chained and cursed by a demon #he fought the demon and kicked its butt now that he's cleaning up Pariah Dark bad management #Lady Gotham been trying to save her city self for years but couldn't do much #Her Dark Knight and his bats and birds helped ease the pain #but the demon encouraged and influenced a lot of Batman's rogue's #The Joker is the one he's most proud of #Lady Gotham did her best to save her people from his influence #some listened others didn't #anyways Danny came to Gotham because he noticed a lot of papers for the city and well #again found the demon and fought him #it caused a huge shift in Gotham that couldn't be ignored #and we all know Batman wouldn't ignore it. #Honestly I just wanted Ghost King Danny and Lady Gotham discussing business and drinking tea as they float. #I like to think the Batfam do get to the Observatory and somehow sneak in even with all the guards. #what happens next I leave open for others to play with. #11 pm ideas and thoughts

[dreamsy990]

you know i used to think it was weird how sora and roxas have such different personalities for supposedly being 'the same person' but after playing a few games i sort of realized that they do have similar personalities, because roxas acts how sora does when he's under extreme stress.

compare roxas to sora in, say, kh1. that's where a lot of peoples idea of sora's personality comes from. sora is generally very upbeat and optimistic in that game. not very similar to roxas, right?

but let's switch the game and talk about a game where sora is ABSOLUTELY GOING THROUGH IT. chain of memories.

sora's resting state is melancholy in com. he only ever cheers up in short bursts, usually when he's joking around with friends. just like roxas.

he's quick to anger, and tends to lash out at the organization members. best example of this is when larxene makes him 'remember' namine, and he swings at her repeatedly, even after she's gone. he only stops when jiminy is able to snap him out of it.

you know what scene that resembles?

sora, while a bit more on the angry side and less sad, continues to act like this in kh2 when he's in stressful situations. (he also has a tendancy to insult people which, while it's not very related to the point, is very funny and sora saying 'gonna cry?' to xigbar is great.) i cant comment any further than that about kh2 off the top of my head.

so, roxas acts like sora does when he's stressed, right? but why is roxas always acting like that? to which i say, he isnt!

he only ever acts like that when he's also in fucked up and stressful situations, which happens to be a CONSTANT in his life. but when he's hanging out with axel and xion, a decidedly NOT stressful situation, he's a lot more like sora. he's teasing his friends and insulting his coworkers and joking around and acting like a normal kid. not really important, but unless i misremembered some sora lines which is VERY possible, both roxas and sora respond to friendly insults with "oh thanks!" a lot. just a funny little detail that felt relevant.

the biggest differences between roxas and sora boil down to environment and... i dont know how to put it besides volume? roxas is very quiet and tends to keep most of his thoughts to himself, while sora is very loud and expressive in comparison.

there is one other huge difference i noticed, which is less character based and more story. sora wanted to get off destiny islands and explore with his friends, but roxas just wanted routine. sora wants adventure, and roxas wants things to stay the same, for days where he gets off work and eats ice cream with his friends to last forever, to keep having conversations about nothing and watching the sunset. roxas wants normalcy, sora wants excitement. it's just interesting seeing their contrast.

not sure if this is very well said or anything i just wanted to talk about my boys

#random thoughts #its been a while since i got to use that tag eheheh #i bet theres a few people following me who didnt even know i did analysis posts #the fact that sora and roxas grew up in very different environments is pretty important btw #roxas was already a bit quiet and being in a cult where any expression of emotion is immediately shut down probably didnt help #we'll probably never get a good idea of how roxas would be if he was in a normal situation #id say some of the twilight town stuff might be a close estimate but even that doesnt really fit considering all the shit going down #even from the very start hes being accused of theft hes Not doing the best #anyways. sora and roxas are different obviously #but theyre a lot more similar than people really talk about #kingdom hearts #roxas #sora #not rereading this so it might be a little weird and hard to read sorry

[turtleblogatlast]

Leo getting hit with a truth curse but instead of forcing him to admit to super sad or worrying things it’s things like “it was me who broke the remote” “I saw Mikey prank Donnie and helped hide it because it’s way funnier if he didn’t know who it was” “I rip my clothes to look more like Raph’s because he’s really cool” “my stripes aren’t even red they’re pink!”

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt leo #rise leo #plot twist he COULD be admitting angsty stuff but he’s pushing the less oof truths forward instead on purpose #raph: hey leo what do you want for dinner #leo: *about to bare his soul on all his internal torment but pivots* I’m afraid of snakes #(no but fr Leo’s stripes being technically more pink instead of red is cute ngl) #(a very reddish pink to the point that in certain lighting it looks red but at the base they’re p pink) #(i also am very fond of the idea that Leo doesn’t just have questionable taste in fashion he also just loves Raph a lot and looks up to him) #but yeah I think that something like this would be 99% Leo admitting to unimportant things or admitting to how much he values everyone #like they all KNOW Leo loves them and he’s talked them up enough for them to know but it’s different when he’s like #‘I just wanna read my comics with you guys around - it’s my favorite place to be’ #or again just random bs that doesn’t REALLY have a lot of weight like #‘I like using my portals to prank random people around the world’ #‘I’m worried about being a bad influence on hueso jr’ #‘sometimes I kinda wanna see hypno’s plans succeed’ #‘it’s been way too long since I found this out and honestly it’s embarrassing but I actually don’t have a di-‘ #SORRY COULDNT HELP MYSELF #(<-but did u know that that pink rather than red observation actually ties into this headcanon as well if u know about red eared sliders)

[ryllen]

x

#HH i WAS just THINKING of drawing yuu visiting his place with a dress after attending the college event with everyone with usual suit get up #and maybe just did a little dance together and have him laughs at the fact she is dressed but actually barefoot; but then ... BUT THEN H #twisted wonderland #twst #sebek zigvolt #twst yuu #twst mc #fanart #i was thinking maybe this is set up by lilia again #but then i want trey senpai sincere *but goofy* compliment on the dress; maybe he helped to pick the dress #anyway that dress is so delicate and beautiful #that website has a lot of good green dresses #he actually suited up tidy just some while ago but he started dismantling himself when he got to be alone out of sadness & frustration #because of what he heard #maybe it was even an official announcement #details detai ls #one can only call her yumimi in several occasions -- or maybe forever if u get to that point of relationship with her #she prefer to be only known as yuu because she thinks the mimi in her name is too cutesy for her #i said this on tags on another post already but just for new people who are looking if u are reading this right now hello #i just wanted to draw yumimi in beautiful dress that was all #it's funny if i just imagine jade elbowing on trey and delivering better compliment for yumimi because jade knows the situation needs it #does it look more like cabbage roll #eeh

[arthursfuckinghat]

The worst part about playing rdr2 again is knowing who's going to die, how they're going to die, when they're going to die, and not be able to do a single thing about it

#sorry I'm just thinking about lenny and sean a lot #they're so full of life #sean is always cheering people up and talking about whatever nonsense he talks about #he fills the silence #lenny is always chirpy and keeping himself busy with reading but is always happy to talk #kieran too #he was always nice even when everyone was cruel to him or picking on him #he did chores and helped with the horses and did whatever he was told #and was grateful for it #nobody fucking noticed when he disappeared apart from mary beth #nobody got to mourn sean #but lenny and hosea both got what they wanted #they were buried with friends #I miss them so much its why I'm still on chapter two because everything's okay for now #micah is still in jail everyone's happy #its hard #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #mick squeaks #arthur morgan #lenny summers #sean macguire #kieran duffy #molly saying “I love you dutch” and getting a “thank you dear” in return makes my blood boil #oh molly

[5mcsinatrenchcoat]

So Sam said in an interview that the perfect boring ending for Karlach would be owning a tavern and that lives in my head rent free.

Every now and again Mol tries to convince Karlach that she's tooootally big and cool enough to drink the strong adult stuff already. Regulars are making bets on how long it takes Mama K to cave.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #karlach #karlach cliffgate #bg3 karlach #bg3 rolan #bg3 mol #bg3 alfira #astarion #bg3 astarion #I mean he is there #he approves of the mischief #he also thinks Karlach should let her try the strongest stuff (a little) just to see the kid's face #I could've filled the tavern with our main party but it's like. #we all can guess that they visit. #putting other people there feels like showing there's lots of them :3 #did put my Tav in though. half of her. #she helps around #I accidentally created tiefling central here but eh sue me #oh also yes Mol could just steal what she wants but this is about STATUS #queen of the underground deserves to be treated as such! #Karlach understands 'cause in some ways she also was that kid #but also: she also was that kid. and nope. #art tag

[archiephd]

So long as the political and economic system remains intact, voter enfranchisement, though perhaps resisted by overt white supremacists, is still welcomed so long as nothing about the overall political arrangement fundamentally changes. The facade of political equality can occur under violent occupation, but liberation cannot be found in the occupier’s ballot box. In the context of settler colonialism voting is the “civic duty” of maintaining our own oppression. It is intrinsically bound to a strategy of extinguishing our cultural identities and autonomy.

[...]

Since we cannot expect those selected to rule in this system to make decisions that benefit our lands and peoples, we have to do it ourselves. Direct action, or the unmediated expression of individual or collective desire, has always been the most effective means by which we change the conditions of our communities. What do we get out of voting that we cannot directly provide for ourselves and our people? What ways can we organize and make decisions that are in harmony with our diverse lifeways? What ways can the immense amount of material resources and energy focused on persuading people to vote be redirected into services and support that we actually need? What ways can we direct our energy, individually and collectively, into efforts that have immediate impact in our lives and the lives of those around us? This is not only a moral but a practical position and so we embrace our contradictions. We’re not rallying for a perfect prescription for “decolonization” or a multitude of Indigenous Nationalisms, but for a great undoing of the settler colonial project that comprises the United States of America so that we may restore healthy and just relations with Mother Earth and all her beings. Our tendency is towards autonomous anti-colonial struggles that intervene and attack the critical infrastructure that the U.S. and its institutions rest on. Interestingly enough, these are the areas of our homelands under greatest threat by resource colonialism. This is where the system is most prone to rupture, it’s the fragility of colonial power. Our enemies are only as powerful as the infrastructure that sustains them. The brutal result of forced assimilation is that we know our enemies better than they know themselves. What strategies and actions can we devise to make it impossible for this system to govern on stolen land? We aren’t advocating for a state-based solution, redwashed European politic, or some other colonial fantasy of “utopia.” In our rejection of the abstraction of settler colonialism, we don’t aim to seize colonial state power but to abolish it. We seek nothing but total liberation.

Voting Is Not Harm Reduction - An Indigenous Perspective

#indigenous action #2024 elections #voting #on one hand i think if one opponent is a mask off fascist white people have an obligation to vote against them As The Least We Can Do #but if that's all we're doing? that and bullying other people who see a futility in participating in a colonial institution of 'democracy'? #sorry but um. shut the fuck up #if we spent half as much energy on direct action to support each other in ways that help people REGARDLESS of who wins what election #as we did on yelling at Other Leftists about voting i think we would get a hell of a lot more actual shit done #and sure as hell help more actual real life people who we claim to be helping by yelling at other people to vote #i'm talking to me here like #our current blue harm reduction candidate actively supporting a genocide should make you feel like maybe this shit doesn't fucking work #because it doesn't <3 #harm reduction as the least we can do needs to be a call to action via vote AND actual action or it's not a call to anything at all #the least we can do needs to be motivating AND convicting #it's the least we can do so fucking do it. it's the least we can do so if that's All you do sit the hell down or stand the fuck up #for people who the status quo serves it needs to be the ballot AND the bullet or our ballot means fuck all for real liberation

[sysig]

Simon Petrikov is a service top and you can fight me about it (Patreon)

#My art #Adventure Time #Fionna and Cake #Winter King #Simon Petrikov #Winterkov #Shitpost #Only the highest tier shitposts around these parts lol #I mean really he's a switch but those two are not mutually exclusive so it's fine lol #Just wait til you hear my Winter headcanons I am playing 5D chess with him lol #I did write a scratch comic about it but hmmmmm Hmmmmmmmm #Lol anyway ♪ #This was meant to be a warmup project for me to pick at while I worked on Requestobers and then I finished it by Day 3 lol #So uh - excitement and all that lol #I did have a lot of fun with that BG tho lol which I like never say! But I did I had fun! #The colours are some of my favourites so that helps and all the sparklies ♪ Very enjoyable :) #And making Simon's reflection was easy-peasy too so just! It all fell together smoothly :D #The fact that people are already making BDG as Winter King videos and the like delights me so much #There's just so much to draw from! No pun intended lol #Winter just completely baffled as to why one of them - but not him?? - would take the lead over the other #Aren't they both Simon?? (Are they?) Or if not that - he's Winter! #All those cheeky waist-grabs have to count for something don't they! #Of course they do ♪ Hehehe

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 108

So this time it wasn’t Danny’s fault, or even Boxy’s fault! And it wasn’t like Pandora’s box was open for more than a split second! But uh, still. This could be a bit of a problem, what with how it’s affected um, well, everyone. Living and ghosts. 

At least it’s not dangerous! Really, how bad can people getting animal aspects be? Well, besides the embarrassment. 

#dcxdp #dpxdc #prompts #Over in Gotham Catwoman is squealing with elation at her new cat ears and tail #Superman is bemused at being part dog now- his tail won’t stop wagging help #Jason is thinking this is some sort of sick joke when he scarlet robin wings #the claws are kind of cool though he’ll admit #Pet adoption centers get a lot of visitors thanks to people no longer being allergic to animals they previously were #Several people want to go back to sleep #other people want to know wtf is going on #danny definitely didn't do an oopsie #Tucker looking at himself: If I am a sphinx now I will be blaming you if Riddler or catwoman kidnaps me dude #Sam: At least aricaris can survive on my diet so I'm good #Danny & Tucker: How did you figure out the species so quickly???? #WHEEZE- box ghost is part box turtle now

[thatswhatsushesaid]

man, but like.... why is there a contingent of jiang cheng stans who are incapable of stanning their special guy (totally justifiably! i support you!!) without shitting on jin guangyao in the process? why are these fans capable of doing deep narrative dives to understand and contextualize jiang cheng's justifiable actions re: wei wuxian and the wen remnants pre-timeskip, who write thoughtful screeds in defence of his feelings of anger and betrayal vis-a-vis the golden core reveal, but lose that capability entirely the second jin guangyao shows up?

is it because jin guangyao is mean to jiang cheng while trying to not get murdered as his whole life collapses around him? jiang cheng is a big boy, jin guangyao's carefully calculated spiel to provoke him during the guanyin temple confrontation doesn't even make the list of top ten most traumatic things to happen to him, he'll be fine.

feral jc stans should be friends with feral jgy stans because nobody else likes us 🥲

#salty peak sect 🧂 #he did crimes??? good for him 😌 #knife mouth and tofu heart #editing to AND ANOTHER THING about this because i'm never done when i think i'm done #i think jgy stans have a tendency to do this to xue yang too actually! i know i've done it in the past #like i'm not nuts about xy and jc the way i am about jgy obviously #but that DOES mean that the people who ARE nuts about him have undoubtedly done a lot more thinking and reading and rereading about him #than i have #and i appreciate how their hard work has helped me develop a better understanding of xy's character #tl;dr jc and jgy and xy stans should all hold hands

[inkskinned]

it mattered because when my brother asked me what if this is the happiest you'll ever be? the best you'll ever get? the thing i felt was fear, not peace. everybody thought you were so perfect for me. even i thought you were "helping me grow". i had to challenge every internal clock. make myself more thoughtful, more kind, more beautiful.

i told my therapist it was good because i like the changes i made and there's something so strong about saying i did that. the problem is that i can like the difference all i want, but i changed for you. something akin to getting your name tattooed, all my progress is stamped with fuck you.

it was the happiest i'd ever been and also the best i'd ever gotten. i would still get in the car and think what the fuck just happened.

#warm up #writeblr #i spent a lot of time picturing our future #how funny to think: in each version of our future #i was never myself #i was someone smarter kinder braver #better adept. #who could navigate the way you shouted and got angry at small things and never fucking believed the best of me #i would never be needy and you'd never get tired of me #people usually talk about how we picture people as being “fixable”. but i assumed i was the problem. my idyllic picture wasn't of you. #it was a version of me that wasn't ill. that needed no extra help. that could be your wife and happy #the fact i wasn't happy was because there is something so wrong inside me. it's always been that way. i convinced myself: #if i stay i can change. if i stay i can make it worth it. i can apologize and fix this. and make us both okay. #for the last year i've been thinking about how you blamed our whole breakup on me. how it was my fault for whatever thing. #and i agreed with you. because of course i did. you'd trained me to believe everything was my fault . that you wanted to love me and i made #it far too hard. that i was always finding ways to ''set you off'. #a few days ago while i was doing something else #i realized that while i was in crisis you told me to fuck off and find someone else to get help. and you never fucking apologized . #you said i made you do that because i wasn't being sensible. i had been crying too hard to speak clearly. #you said: you're doing this to manipulate me. #you forgave yourself for that. i had to forgive you without apology. you said you were right to react that way. and then you were SO #SO annoyed. any time i said: i feel like you aren't nice to me. it is hard to trust that you love me. #i don't think about you that much anymore. but these days when i do: all i can think is that im not sure u ever really understood kindness #you were the cruelest to the people closest to you. and most of the time. that meant it fell to me.

[happyk44]

Jason: I'm sorry, my dad tried to do what to you?

Nico:

Nico: Nothing. I didn't say anything.

Percy, climbing in through the window: HE SAID THAT HE TRIED TO KILL HIM WHEN HE WAS A KID!

Nico: Oh my God, Percy, where the fuck did you come from?

Percy: From outside, obviously.

Percy, uncapping Riptide: Anyway, Jason, would you like to come with me to embark on a quest to kill your dad?

Nico: Percy, no!

#something about how percy wove a protective cloak around Nico's shoulders and gets enraged when people threaten that #Jason: I mean... He did let Hera throw me to literal wolves as a two year old 🤔 and i love nico dearly so... #nico in the corner calling his dad for help and hades is just like yeah fuck let them kill him #i always thought he could stand to be killed more hera used to do it a lot but then she got bored and frankly i just dont have the time #happy talks pjo #nico di angelo #percy jackson #jason grace

[tracle0]

Feast your eyes! My pride stars :)!

#pride stars #origami #paper craft #paper stars #handmade #arts and crafts #so it was my cities pride yesterday and I spent the ENTIRE month of July making these lil stars to give out to people! #it went really well actually #I was saying donations appreciated but not mandatory and some people looked so happy just to have some stars!!! #some people were SO generous too like oh my god???? #I think there was only one experience I disliked during the event where I was vaguely swarmed and people were helping themselves but #yknow we all get excited haha #got a really cute mushroom bracelet as a trade as well!!! #I have a fair few leftover - lots of aro and ace ones #couple of bi and a couple of pan #ZERO non-binary I should've made more!! #nd obvs some rainbow and trans cause I made the most of them #I'd say lmk if you're near me and you can have some but I am pretty sure none of you know me irl so you can't have any I'm afraid #oh also worth saying - I made the stars I could with the papers I had! Bought purple and pink but I did not try more complex flags cause #I mean. I couldn't really afford to haha? #maybe next year I'll try the lesbian flag too! #ok bye xx #trade-marked

[trans-cuchulainn]

had a really interesting convo yesterday about ethics and whether intent or results matters (eg if you tried to make an ethical purchasing choice but the business was actually exploitative as hell, does that "count") and very much came to the conclusion that sure, if you're concerned with your personal immortal soul, as a christian might be, then intention counts. but if what you're focused on is your impact on the world, then intention means nothing if the actions have negative results, right? (that doesn't mean you're to blame for them! you didn't know! but you also don't get "ethics points" for trying, you know?)

and this also got me thinking about the whole christian idea that sinful thoughts are as bad as sinful actions because. they're just not imo. maybe for the sake of your Immortal Soul they are points against you, if that's your jam. but in terms of putting good into the world, in terms of your impact on other people, the ONLY thing that matters is what you choose to do with those thoughts. there is no way that "was kind to someone who was pissing me off, for the sake of community harmony" or "helped an acquaintance with a task even though I felt resentful about the time spent doing that" is a Bad Thing for the world

and it made me wonder how much purity culture and thought policing is rooted in (mostly evangelical) cultural christianity and this idea that ethical choices are an individual thing because what matters is the impact of them on YOUR soul and not, you know, things we do because of what we owe the world around us / because of love for others / because a world where people are trying to put good into it is a hell of a lot nicer to live in than one where people are only worried about themselves

i grew up evangelical but like. fairly mild evangelical and even though there wasn't a big focus on hell and stuff, i definitely fixated on imperfect thoughts and behaviours that were putting absolutely no harm into the world, rather than focusing on what i could do to put good into it, and that individualistic vs outward-focused approach to morality has been something i've grappled with a lot as an adult. but i never really thought about it as simply as this and really that's what it boils down to. are you making the ethical choice because you're trying to put good in the world, or because it would make you a "good person" to do so? because the answer to that 100% defines whether it's the thought or the result that counts

#also i feel like Sinful Thoughts Are As Bad As Sinful Actions... #as well as being bullshit... #is just like a one way trip to moral ocd and a whole lot of guilt spirals #and i just don't think it's useful! you can't necessarily choose your thoughts! #you can however choose your actions because Good is something you do not something you are #ethics #i do think The Good Place did more to make me interrogate my evangelical upbringing and ethical assumptions than anything else #but also this idea of putting good into the world... idk. it's kind of encouraging AND scary #i don't think I'm naturally a very good person but i can choose to do good #i can be bitter and jealous and resentful and still help people and make their lives a little easier #and my feelings are not actually impacting on the world whereas my actions are #at the same time in a society built on exploitation and corporate greeed #it's hard not to be conscious of the harm my actions are doing without me trying #i didn't necessarily make an unethical choice but all of my choices cause harm to someone somewhere #living in the west and the global north and whatever you become very conscious of that

[cluescorner]

Tim Drake has a weird fucking function

The thing about Tim that I find unique is that his life became SO MUCH WORSE after joining the heroing thing. Everybody else had a mid-to-shit life before becoming a hero/living with Bruce and mostly everybody (except Jason who LITERALLY DIED) had their life improved by being a hero/being Bruce's kid (or at least it is typically portrayed as such.

Tim had the exact opposite trajectory. His life wasn't perfect before he became Robin, but like...multi-millionaire/billionaire (canon is unclear, but he's within Gotham's upper-strata) kid with both natural intelligence + charisma and a bright future ahead of him and parents who were emotionally neglectful but nothing really beyond that (which is also a form of trauma, but all of the info we have indicates that the Drakes were no Arthur Brown or David Cain) and he still had other people he could rely on outside of them. He went to boarding school, which could be something horrible OR something amazing depending on your own thoughts/experiences. I grew up having a commute where we'd drive past a really pretty and rich af boarding school that literally everybody in our area DREAMED of going to, so to me the idea of going to boarding school sounds incredible but mileage may vary. Tim seems like the type of kid who would thrive in that though. Based on what we know in canon atm, his pre-robin life was fucking amazing.

And then he starts being the sidekick and working towards becoming Robin. His parents immediately get kidnapped and poison themselves through drinking tainted water; his mom dies and his dad is in a coma. This is not the fault of Robin, but Tim himself muses about the idea that Robin and dead parents are linked: to become Robin completely, you must lose your parents. And with how fate/destiny/canon events can operate in comics universes, maybe he isn't that far off. Once his dad wakes up, their relationship becomes strained as the man grieves the loss of his wife and realizes that his son has been doing vigilantism as a hobby. It is unclear exactly how good of a parent Jack was before the incident, but the results of Tim's involvement with the Robin mantle has definitely made things worse between father and son. Jack will also die within quick succession of 2 of Tim's best friends, his girlfriend, and his other father. He will also effectively lose like 1/2 his loved ones in the fallout of all of that mess including: his older brother, his other friends (both civilian and superhero), and the stepmother with whom he shared what I would argue is his best parent-child relationship (Dana also may have died, but it's left unclear). He has stopped pursuing higher education (the moment he even applied for college he 'died', and it seems he hasn't made another attempt since) and if he wasn’t a major focus of the media before he sure is now. He tries to quit briefly (in fact he initially was planning on quitting once someone more suited came along) and cannot bring himself to do so. Even when he does manage to get away for a while, his superhero life impacts the pre-robin life he is trying to go back to. Leaving is an impossibility, this is all there is for him now. He also isn’t allowed to make mistakes anymore, not when lives hang in the balance. The one who enforces that impossible standard the most (besides Bruce depending on who's writing) is himself. He’s got TRAUMA now and people want to hurt him constantly. He is constantly questioning his own sanity and morality and place in the world. He almost dies like every month. Tim grows colder and less grounded, he is becoming both a better and a worse version of himself at the same time. He’s saving lives in the same few issues as he’s setting up a Saw movie plot for the man who killed his father. He is haunted by the ghosts of his past and the looming figure of his future. His life becomes SO MUCH FUCKING WORSE after he becomes Robin. Some of it is the fault of others, some is the fault of circumstance, and some of it is due to his own actions. But basically all of Tim's worst traumas and life-changing moments are either tied to or caused by Robin. Dick's parents would still be dead, Jason would still be living on the streets, Stephanie would still have Arthur Brown for a father and a lot of other things that deserve their own posts/IDK if they've been retconned, and Damian would still have been raised in the eco-cult where death is a constant. Those are life circumstances that occur without the involvement of Robin, the only one who even needs Bruce involved at all in their series of events is Damian. But Tim? All of what is considered his 'worst' moments occur after he assumes the role.

This idea is what I find the coolest and most fascinating about Tim as a character. Being a hero is usually portrayed as either an outright awesome thing or a righteous duty that one must fulfill or (maybe in a grimmer and/or more grounded story) a sacrifice to your interpersonal relationships/mental health that is made for the greater good. For Tim, being a superhero actively ruined his life (both because of the general circumstances surrounding being a kid vigilante and the choices he made as part of that role). It's never portrayed that way in canon because we need to come out of issues going 'wow being a superhero is so cool! I'm gonna buy the next issue!', but when you just look at Tim's life literally everything really bad that we know of occurred after he became Robin.

#tim drake #batman #batfamily #Red Robin 2009 #Red Robin #idk this is just why I think Tim is a really interesting character. I'm probably not being as articulate as I could be but it's tumblr so #I've had a lot of people say that they think Tim is the most boring robin. And I disagree because I don't think any of them are boring #but it is definitely the hardest to explain what makes Tim interesting to people with only a cursory knowledge #and it doesn't help that a lot of what makes Tim cool relies on his relationships with OTHER characters. #like you can explain why Jason is cool and interesting without even mentioning Batman if you really want to. #with Tim you need a fucking relationship chart and like 11 asterisks whenever anything involving the 'Bruce is dead' era is involved #so I just felt like typing up why I think he can really work as an exploration of somebody who straight up got WORSE after heroing #granted it's never actually stated because DC needs to make money. and tbh the closest we've ever gotten is Red Robin 2009 #which I feel is dubiously canon at best at this rate. was it retconned? did any of it happen in the current universe?