#notice I'm not saying Tim is in the wrong because while i personally feel he should have prioritized his mental health I think

[messiahzzz]

while it’s perfectly fine to have your own headcanons that are non-canon compliant — by all means, go wild. recognizing pieces of yourselves in fictional characters can be a very healing and validating experience. this is nonetheless a casual, well-intentioned reminder that gale, in fact, does not have bpd.

bpd is a pervasive pattern of instability affecting interpersonal relationships, self-image, and mood. the disorder is marked by impulsivity beginning in early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts. a diagnosis requires at least 5 of the following 9 criteria to be met:

Fear of abandonment

Unstable or changing relationships

Unstable self-image; struggles with identity or sense of self

Impulsive or self-damaging behaviors (e.g., excessive spending, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating).

Suicidal behavior or self-injury

Varied or random mood swings

Constant feelings of worthlessness or sadness

Problems with anger, including frequent loss of temper or physical fights

Stress-related paranoia or loss of contact with reality

source: [x]

i highlighted the criteria that do apply to gale in one way or another in a pretty purple.

i personally believe that it’s rather harmful to equate his relationship with mystra with her being “his fp”. she is a deity, his goddess, and the source of his powers, who is in in full control of the magic he wields.

gale: mystra commands all magic. salvation, if such a thing exists, is hers to bestow or withhold.

gale has been effectively groomed and conditioned to serve and revere her at every turn since early childhood. imo this comparison really undermines a lot of crucial points in gale’s story that deal with his overall trauma and abuse. after all, you wouldn’t call shar sh*dowhe*rt’s fp either.

gale doesn’t revile mystra, nor does he commit benevolent deeds solely motivated by the secret hope that she will somehow notice and take him back. when you meet gale in the game he has already fully come to terms with the fact that he has been abandoned by mystra with no hope of reconciliation whatsoever. he also had some very fitting lines in ea regarding this topic that i'm sad haven't been repurposed in the full release in some way.

gale: [the tadpoles] don't know that some things are impossible. they don't know that... they don't know. player: what is impossible about what you're being shown? gale: forgiveness. gale: it is mystra i see. and yet it cannot be her. there was a time when i would have believed - but no longer. gale: suffice it to say she would not bestow upon me the favors promised in these dreams. that is how i know they are delusions.

he has already reached the stage of acceptance. moreover, gale only starts to realize that mystra might have been in the wrong for requesting his death once the tadpole squad & tav speak some sense into him. and even then he doesn’t ever show that his emotions regarding mystra are anywhere along those lines. he is instead rightfully angered that she only saw value in his death, after he had been worshipping her loyally for years.

gale: i worshipped mystra loyally for years, and in that time she granted me the barest sliver of the power i was ready to wield. gale: even with the fate of the world at stake, she had little more to offer me than the means of blowing myself up at a more convenient time. she's done nothing to help us.

gale: you abandoned me in my hour of greatest need. i had no obligation to help you in yours. gale: because you had no right to ask that of me. you cast me out, remember?

gale doesn’t display rapid changes in mood either. he is a character who is generally very composed and has been known to remain nonchalant even in the face of utter horror. tim downie himself even commented on this once. source: [x]

the only instance i can think of is his sudden switch from resigned-to-death to utter-eye-sparkling-enthusiasm once he spots the crown of karsus. apart from crucial story reasons that i won’t touch upon in this post, i’d also like to add that it’s a rather common phenomenon for people who have just barely survived a suicide attempt to suddenly be filled with zeal and unbridled energy. he doesn't display impulsivity without thorough consideration when it comes to its acquisition either. he considers this a golden opportunity and is positively enthusiastic and elated that this might prove an alternative to him ending up in a cloud of netherese smoke. nonetheless, he knows what he is doing. evident in him actually succeeding in ascending in one of his endings.

gale: this is no passing whim, trust me. if i can obtain that crown, it will affect us all. it is not a decision i'll take lightly. gale: it's our future that i'm thinking of - we can't rely on anyone else to do it for us. gale: for now - we've learned all we can.

neither are his relationships that we do know of (namely elminster, tara, and morena) frequently changing. they are marked by years of mutual respect, care, and consistency. there is nothing unstable about them. while it's important to note that his relationship with tav is still in its honeymoon stages during the main game, there is no inclination of any push-and-pull dynamic between them whatsoever.

gale isn’t preoccupied with keeping up some sort of benevolent act in order to win (back) affection — he genuinely IS a good person and he proves this at every turn. moreover, to have a tressym become your familiar you must be of Good alignment.

(taken from tumblr user galedekarios's post.)

there is never a moment where his ideals or alignment suddenly change. in fact, i’d argue that he and wyll are most consistent in this regard when compared to the rest of the companions. gale makes his moral standpoint very clear from the beginning on and also explicitly states that he believes that in order to survive this entire ordeal it would be selfish of him if he wouldn’t be willing to compromise on his morals. this isn’t a sudden bout of ✨muahahaha wizard hubris✨ that he barely contained to hold in before, this is yet another act of selflessness — it is what he’s willing to do for the group and subsequently, the welfare of faerun.

player: i love unsavoury things. don't feel guilty on my account. gale: that's good to know. although i should say i do what i do out of a sense of utility and pragmatism, not a love of the unsavoury. gale: we're up against the greatest threat faerun has ever faced. i don't mind getting my hands dirty if it gives us a better chance of surviving. gale: whatever advantage i can gain for us. i will. and i refuse to feel guilty for it, no matter how much mystra's chidings might echo in my skull.

this is him, once again trying to be useful in whatever way he can. to give them an advantage, a slither of hope against seemingly impossible odds, so they might make it out of this in one piece. gale wouldn’t approve of those actions under normal circumstances, but their predicament is as far from any definition of “normal” as it can get.

gale is no fool, he realizes this is essentially about survival. he knows that he has no option left other than to tolerate, which is why he can be convinced to not immediately depart tav’s company even if they choose to commit atrocities. this is no character flaw of his or him displaying a previously dormant openness for cruelty, this is about recognizing the necessity.

player: you don't stand a chance alone. you're free to go. i dare you. gale: gods damn you - you're right. few things are more powerful than the will to live.

gale: i thought the orb to be the greatest of my sins, but i see now that there are darker depths to which i might yet sink. you may be content to sink into that abyss, but i assure you - i am not.

gale doesn’t lead a split existence. he has a very strong sense of identity. he knows what he wants, what he doesn’t want and he isn’t shy in expressing his boundaries either. which he has especially shown when it comes to his relationship with tav. i originally had intended to touch upon this in another post entirely but: i firmly believe his entire Gale of Waterdeep™ persona is more of a performance than him struggling to find a sense of identity and trying them on for size. it is an intentional decision to separate gale dekarios from the great wizard of waterdeep, to create distance and make sure his family name remains untarnished in case things should ever go sideways.

gale: i agree. and on the plus side, if i get myself into any truly cataclysmic straits during the remainder of our journey, my family name will go untarnished.

there is also a deep-rooted feeling of unworthiness and his firm belief that love and praise are conditional resources that he will only be granted through his talents alone, naturally. presenting himself as gale dekarios, the man, would mean highlighting his shortcomings and very human flaws, while distracting from the aspects of himself that are deemed praiseworthy, the ones that actually matter: his magical prowess.

i personally believe that part of the beauty of gale’s story is him realizing just how “little” it takes for him to be truly content. he gets his happy ending, with someone at his side who truly sees him, understands him and unabashedly commits to him. they worship and adore him in return — and it is well deserved. he isn’t reduced to be constantly and restlessly searching for some unattainable ideal to fill the gaping void within himself. he doesn’t secretly thirst for more power still or believes that in being with tav he is settling for something. instead, he is finally happy to just be. be and be accepted. teaching a class of unruly wizards and coming home to his spouse each day already fulfills him.

gale: that's how i feel with you - content. it's a rather unfamiliar feeling, i must say. not something gale of waterdeep ever craved.

even if he doesn’t pursue a romance with tav, he reaches a realization of “oh, it appears i am not irredeemably flawed and only able to reach true redemption through my own death. what i needed was actually with me all along.” throughout their journey and through his friend's support. i think that’s a very powerful and comforting message. he is very well capable of finding peace within himself.

devnotes: his default state is that he returned to waterdeep and became a professor of illusory magic at his former school, blackstaff academy. general vibe here is that this is a gale who's found peace with himself - he's a great teacher, one his students are mostly in awe of.

to repeat myself: sharing your headcanons is all in good fun, nor should you ever be discouraged from doing so. this is your personal tumblr experience, after all. but i personally think we should be mindful of unintentionally perpetuating negative stereotypes, such as narcissism being a general indicator or being deemed a classic depiction of bpd. i think we can all agree that the continuous longing for acceptance, connection, praise, and approval is something we all have in common deep down, regardless of whatever disorder we may have. [insert victoria justice meme here]

gale may be many things to many people, but he is no entitled narcissist.

#with love. a person diagnosed with bpd <3 #this turned much longer than i originally intended it to be (aka less of a reply and more of a character study) #by now you know that i am incapable of cutting myself short. i’m so sorry #i debated if i should put this in the tag at first #but i personally think that this is a very interesting discussion #also to reiterate: this is by NO MEANS a slight at the original poster #i just thought it more respectful to make my own post instead of invading theirs with my ranting #fandom is all about fun and escapism. #if you interpret characters in a certain way that i personally disagree with that is a-okay #BUT i’m also gonna have my own specific brand of fun by pointing out why you’re wrong (affectionately) #also i quickly want to add that if you're interested in a very accurate and respectful portrayal of bpd: watch crazy ex-girlfriend!! #its on netflix and genuinely such a funny and unapologetically weird show. the writers have really done their homework #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 meta #character analysis #it speaks #long post #suicide mention

[krizariel]

Follow up to this post At first Tim was silent, seemingly taking in his surroundings. He seemed weary for some reason and Jason didn't know what to say first. Talking to Tim had never been this difficult, but its been so long hoping for him to wake up and then he beat him to it

"Who are you?"

Jason was at loss of words at first because he did not see that coming. Granted, with the brain injury it was a big possibility but- Tim was staring at him wearily and Jason didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable.

"I'm Jason"

" I… see."

"I'll call the nurse" And Jason quickly left the room to call for help.

-----

The news of Tim waking up flew fast and promptly he was receiving many visitors. The doctor said Tim's mental faculties appear to be fine, other than the amnesia. It is likely temporary considering that nothing appears to be wrong with his brain. He just needs time and go into physical therapy and to remain in observation but after that he should be able to go back to his normal life. So Jason took this as a chance.

He'd be there for him this time, even if he doesn't remember. Maybe life is giving him a chance to start over and do things right.

At first Tim was weary of him. Where he was talkative with others, his answers were curt and didn't make any small talk. That was ok though, Jason is nothing if not stubborn.

He still kept visiting him, he kept bringing him flowers and asked the questions he told himself he'd ask.

Jason brought books to read to Tim until he'd fall asleep. Slowly Tim began to open up more.

Jason tried to come most days but sometimes he'd just sneak through the window after patrol. Tim would look at him surprised because it was so late (or too early) and bringing food with him because the hospital food sucks.

"I wish I could move better already. I feel so…weak and powerless, still being unable to leave this place on my own."

"Then come with me." Jason said.

"What? I can't leave right now plus if we leave the nurses will see you and will kick you out."

"Trust me, we will be out and back and no one will notice"

As promised, Jason took them both outside while he carried Tim. They'd walk around the gardens or would go to the roof. When Tim's legs give in, Jason would just carry him around. At first the pretty bird was skittish and didn't want to be held but then as his legs were genuinely too tired he accepted the help.

Sometimes he'd feel Tim snuggling closer and clinging harder onto him and Jason couldn't help but revel on the attention as much as he could.

Before he thought he didn't deserve this. Any of it.

The thought of being with someone was too distant, too foreign he didn't even entertain the idea of a romantic relationship. He didn't think he could allow himself to have that. But now... this feels different and maybe it was okay to enjoy it.

----

Then of course, because life is a bitch, everything went crashing down.

Jason had gotten close, maybe too close for Tim's comfort and Tim just…snapped.

"I can't keep doing this"

"What do you mean?"

"I lied. I do remember you. Everything. I always had."

"What the hell Tim? Why!?"

"For you maybe it had been plenty of time but for me… It hadn't been long since I had my feelings thrown back at my face. I understood why you did it. That didn't mean it didn't hurt and I needed some distance so I could get over it. It's normal for people to need space. So when you showed up, the last person I wanted to see was you. It hurt seeing you talking to me so freely like you hadn't just walk all over my feelings for you.

Maybe it was stupid but at the time I thought feigning memory loss would deter you from coming back. Would make make it easier for you to get tired and leave for the time being. I knew I'd still see you but I thought…it was a temporary solution. Desperate, stupid one. But you kept coming. You kept visiting me. I'd wake up and I'd see you and I started to enjoy your presence but I'm done. I don't want to keep lying to myself so what the hell are we doing?!"

Jason felt cold. Like suddenly the floor below him disappeared. But of course…of course he never had a chance.

"So what I'm hearing is that I hurt you again."

Tim was looking straight up at him. He looked pained to have this conversation but resolute nonetheless. Have I been hurting you all this time?

"I'm sorry. I know I can't take what I said back. At first what hit me was a sense of loss…of never making things up to you. For you to be gone and all I'd remember of you was your face as I hurt you even if at the time I thought it was for the best..."

"I'm so sorry Tim. I kept coming back because I wanted to make it up to you and-"

"So pity it is"

"What?"

"Jason maybe you had plenty of time to think about getting to know me and cool down but for me it had only been days since you threw my feelings right back at my face with raw honesty. I'd like to…. work again together, continue being allies, be friends even…"

"Friends…"

"But right now all I need is time and space. There's a lot I need to process…a lot of my life I've lost and I need to catch up with it all. You are a reminder of my feelings for you and that's the last thing I want to think of right now. So please… if you mean it when you say you care... then leave."

Part 3

#jaytim #jason todd #tim drake #sorry the drama went out of hand #ill be back later with the end #i can't write for shit but honestly the last part is the whole reason I wrote this to begin with lmao #amnesia #but not really :D #not fic

[c-nstantine]

Can I request the Bruce’s reaction to black batmom struggling with her hair upset about how her braids came out and told Bruce out of frustration “but I don’t wanna be black,I wanna be white/Latina” then leaves the house for a couple hours knowing batlids heard it from outside hers and Bruce’s room? And this shocks them because batmom is so confident?

Also I love your work!

@chassidychanel Thank you so much for requesting this. I really enjoyed writing it!

Word Count:0.6k

"I think you look great, sweetheart," Bruce said trying to reassure his wife. He had rarely seen her so distraught over her looks.

"Oh. 'Cause my parts are crooked, I'm running out of hair, the edge control is turning white, and my arms burn," Y/N practically whined. She was trying to do her own hair which normally didn't have these problems.

"This is all fixable," Bruce said placing a hand on her shoulder. Y/N cut her eye to him and he retracted his hand.

"Not by the Gala tonight. My hair can't look like this," Y/N said gesturing to herself in the mirror. Her eyes were turning puffy out of frustration and she was pretty sure there were at least three stress pimples on her forehead.

"I'm sure it's going to turn out great," Bruce said as stood next to his wife in their shared bathroom. There were various strands of braiding hair, at least three different types of gel, and four different rattail combs laid on top of their counter space. Bruce would offer to help but he didn't know the first thing about doing her hair. That he didn't try to learn while they were dating or even after they were married, he was just so heavy-handed that Y/N refused to let him help.

"Bruce, you don't get it. If I look bad, those rich white people will use it as an excuse to say 'Look at the ghetto black girl Bruce married,' or 'He could've gotten someone better' and maybe they're right," Y/N's voice was choked back a little by tears.

"What are you talking about?" Bruce noticed how distressed his wife was.

"I wouldn't have to go through this if I was white. You wouldn't have the validity of our marriage questioned every time we go out together. I wouldn't have to worry about being seen as inferior because of the hair that grows out of my head." Y/N cried into Bruce's shoulder. She was fairly sure there was a good bit of snot on his Yves Saint Laurent suit jacket.

"It's going to be okay, baby," He said as he rubbed her back in small and soothing circles.

-

"And that's what I heard mom say to Bruce," Dick said to his siblings that he rounded up.

"Really? That doesn't sound like her," Tim was concerned for his adoptive mother. She was the one who always made him feel confident in any decision that he made. So to see her so distraught felt wrong.

"I mean it kinda makes sense. Think about it, Mama Wayne has had to deal with years of shit just because she's married Bruce and that's outside of the Batman stuff," Duke realized. He even noticed the various magazines that would attempt to tear Y/N apart.

"So, how do we help her?" Cass asked looking between her older brothers. Y/N was the last person who deserved to feel this way in Cass's opinion.

"I have an idea," Jason smirked.

- "Ma, we cleared your schedule," Jason said as he opened the library's door. Y/N was reading one of her favorite novels and looked at her son with confusion.

"What are talking about?" Y/N asked as she noticed all of her kids filing into the library. Lastly, Alfred and Bruce came in with a projector and a cart full of snacks.

"We're gonna have a movie night," Damian said as he claimed his spot next to Y/N. He practically kicked Bruce out of the way but felt no shame nor regret about it.

"Thank you, kiddos," Y/N's eyes brimmed with tears of joy. She kissed the head of each of her children.

#bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne x black!reader #bruce wayne x black reader #x black reader #black!reader #x black!reader #bruce wayne #black!batmom #batmom #batfam #bruce wayne x black!batmom #c-nstantine

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Catch and Release

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: AU where Jason doesn't die in the explosion and he and Tim end up attending the same high school months later.

Chapters: 8/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Sebastian Ives, Jack Drake, Janet Drake

Relationships: TBA

Additional Tag: Jason Todd Lives, Jason Todd-centric, POV Jason Todd, POV First Person, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake is Not Robin, Jason Todd is Not Robin (Anymore), Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug, Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Alfred Pennyworth Knows, Stalker Tim Drake, Jason Todd Has Chronic Pain, Jason Todd Has PTSD, Angst with a Happy Ending, Unlikely Friends, Injury Recovery, Emotional Baggage, Rage, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating

Chapter Eight: Pain in the Head

I hung out with Tim's friends and worked on character sheets. I spent three hours there before I told Tim I had to go. I had a great time. Don't get me wrong. But I was nauseous and didn't want to be sick at his house. Ives planned on sleeping over at Tim's place, so I didn't have to feel bad about leaving him home alone. I got a ride to the manor, and Bruce sat on the porch waiting for me as soon as I arrived. "Where have you been?" Bruce asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, Bruce... Can I go inside now?" I asked.

"You're pale," Bruce replied.

I wanted to lie down and nap, but I could tell Bruce didn't plan on letting things go. I didn't have the time or energy to explain myself, so I did what any reasonable teenager would do. I made myself throw up and burst into tears. "Jason," Bruce sighed before helping me to the family room. He couldn't accuse me of anything while I was sick. That and throwing up stopped the onset of a migraine.

"I'm so sorry, Bruce-."

"It's fine... When is the last time you took-. I swore I wouldn't ask you that," Bruce replied.

"I didn't think I needed them anymore... I thought I'd been feeling better lately," I replied. Bruce felt my forehead.

"I've been home for two days, and you-. Jason, I'm sorry for walking out on you. I wasn't trying to hurt you... I'm-. Our bond is different from the bond I have with anyone else. I'm holding on for dear life with you... And I know I'm losing you. I feel like you're slipping away when I look at you.

"I can't take the thought of knowing you suffered because I chose to leave you alone that day. Jason, you're so precious to me... And I'm terrified that if I let you talk about what happened, you'll say what I've been most afraid to hear," Bruce confessed. I wasn't in the mood for a serious conversation, but he was finally willing to speak about what happened to me.

"I don't hate you... And I don't blame you for what happened. I've been trying to tell you all this time," I paused, "I'm sure Dick told you I wanna die sometimes... But you don't realize what I have to experience every day."

Bruce exhaled through his nose. "Go ahead..."

"I wake up under debris almost every day... And then I lie about my nerve pain, which I know everyone can see. By the time I get to the mirror, I'm already so disheartened by the countless efforts I've made to appear normal that I barely notice my scars anymore. When I shower, my skin still hurts like the burns are fresh, and I want to cry, but if I do, I'd never get anything done. Then, I come down for breakfast... And sometimes the medications I'm on make me so sick I don't want to eat, but I know I'd be worse off if I didn't.

"Then I go to school, and you wouldn't believe what they say about me," I swallowed hard.

"Jason-."

"But I endure it because I know I have to... What I can't stomach is the isolation. Don't ice me out, Bruce," I begged. Bruce sighed.

"I don't know how-. I can't pretend that almost losing you didn't change the entire way I had to look at our life. You can't be Robin anymore, Jason, and I feel awful for having to take that away from you," Bruce whispered.

"You're saying our, but you mean mine. How can you expect me to step down from being Robin when you can't even walk away from being Batman?" I asked.

"Jason, it's been over a year, and you're still healing. I can't risk putting you out in the field again. Gotham needs Batman-."

"Bullshit," I snapped.

"Language-." "Oh! Go to hell! I told you about all my issues, thinking you would finally see me, and I realized you're no better than the rest of them!" I yelled. I couldn't help but get mad. I should've seen it coming. He'd never had the guts to say it, but I knew this was his way of shutting me out for good. It pissed me off. I threw my crutches and hobbled upstairs.

"Jason! Jason, you can't-!"

"Screw you!" I yelled as I went to my room. I slammed the door and packed my bag. I almost forgot I felt sick. He saw me as weak. That was the worst thing he could've ever opened his mouth to admit. He was no better than everyone that gaped and gawked at me. I was his walking tragedy, and I'd be damned if I let him treat me like a ghost.

I started packing with tears in my eyes. I wanted to get out of there before I said something vile. "Jason, don't be like this! Please come out and talk to me-."

"Bruce, I need to get the hell away from you before I say something I regret!" I hollered. "And I guarantee that if you follow me, I will never come home! Leave my crutches and get away from me!" I sat down and texted Tim. He was the only person I could trust at that moment. I asked him to come to get me, and he texted me immediately. I waited in my room until Tim texted me, and I left my bedroom. Bruce left my crutches in front of the door and retreated like always. I slung my duffel across my body like a messenger bag, hoping it wouldn't throw me off balance.

I swung the door open and left it like that. Tim took my bag and opened his mouth to ask if I was okay, but he kept quiet. It was for the best because I was in a particularly heinous mood. I fell asleep in the car and woke up in Tim's guest room. He was on the floor with Ives, eating pizza. My head throbbed, and I felt sicker than I did earlier. Ives glanced at me and got up to turn the lights down. "Sorry, were we too loud?" Ives questioned.

"No, I-. How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Thirty minutes... Maybe an hour," Tim answered, "Do you need an aspirin?"

I pressed my palms against my eyelids. "No thanks... Tim, do you-? Who carried me in?" I asked.

"We both did. Tim got you out of the car but wasn't strong enough to get you up the stairs. It was a team effort," Ives answered, "You're heavier than you look." I let out a soft chuckle despite the pounding in my head.

"Know how I asked you to move in with me?" I questioned. "Could it still work if it were the other way around?"

"You wanna live here?" Tim asked. I nodded. "Alright." I was shocked. I thought he'd say no, but he looked thrilled.

#fic #catch and release fic #batfam #Jason Todd #Bruce Wayne #Alfred Pennyworth #Tim Drake #Dick Grayson #Barbara Gordon #Sebastian Ives #Jack Drake #Janet Drake #Jason Todd Lives #Jason Todd-centric #POV Jason Todd #POV First Person #Tim Drake Has Issues #Tim Drake is Not Robin #Jason Todd is Not Robin (Anymore) #Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug #Alfred Pennyworth is the Best #Alfred Pennyworth Knows #Stalker Tim Drake #Jason Todd Has Chronic Pain #Jason Todd Has PTSD #Angst with a Happy Ending #Unlikely Friends #Injury Recovery #Emotional Baggage #Rage

[cfr749]

I totally, totally agree with your view of their relationship. The Barnes episode is one I can’t watch and I just pretend it doesn’t exist. The whole situation with Chris and Ashley was just…unnecessary and written horribly. I feel like Tim treated Lucy better when he was her TO and respected her and didn’t treat her like a child which is mainly what he does now. He became more patronizing AFTER she was no longer his rookie. Additionally, he didn’t say anything after Lucy told him he would do great in Metro - just gave her a half smile and left. He acted like a teenager during the Valentine’s episode when he gave her the silent treatment when he found out she did the five-player trade. And it ended with LUCY apologizing and Tim never once apologizing for his immature behavior. He also treated her horribly in the episode when Isabel came back. He invited her to LUCY’S apartment without asking Lucy, gave her a half-hearted apology only when Isabel was AT THE DOOR and then proceeded to joke around with his ex-wife ABOUT Lucy and IN FRONT of Lucy and then regressed to his TO voice with his “Chen!” later at the station, right after making fun of Lucy trying to help him relax. Like, hello, that’s your girlfriend! Why are you snapping at her when she didn’t do anything??? Chris was absolutely a shitty partner but Tim is a becoming a very, very close second. He treated her better when she was his rookie and especially before they dated. And im so bummed about it because I had such high hopes but the way they write Tim’s character is just ruining it for me.

Hi anon!

First off, I'm glad you got to get all of that off of your chest 😂. I know how isolating and frustrating it can be to have all of the feelings about choices the show is making, but feel like you can't share those frustrations without pissing people off or experiencing backlash. So while I can't control anything other than my own response, I'll just say, you're always welcome to vent to me!

I'll be honest and say I didn't notice / react to all of the things you mentioned in the same way, but I can see your points and understand why those moments may have rubbed you the wrong way. Especially since, like I mentioned in my last post, the issue isn't any 1 isolated incident. The issue is a repeated pattern in the storytelling and messaging.

Something I want to be clear about before I go any further though:

This is not about my head canons or what I'd like to believe the writers were trying to convey.

Of course I think the idea of Lucy liking Tim more than Tim likes Lucy is ridiculous. That's why I can't figure out what on earth the writers were doing.

Of course I don't hate Tim (I literally could never!!) --- I love both of these characters deeply, and close to nothing excites me more than the idea of the two of them falling in love.

This is specifically about choices the writers made and what we actually saw unfold on our screens.

And if my takes seem to be more pro-Lucy, that's specifically because, IMO, the way the story unfolded was much more favorable to Tim that it was too Lucy.

Which isn't even surprising. Women often get the short end of the stick. Women of color almost always do. And that is literally the entire point of why this conversation is important. It's why shrugging off repeated instances of Lucy's character being eroded in service of the ship or maybe just as a result of the thoughtlessness of the writers really bothers me. It's why I'm not the only one who feels this way.

So, anon, for now, I'm just going to dig into the first item you mentioned as one of the first examples of this pattern -- the Katie Barnes of it all (sorry Katie - you were lovely - I promise it's nothing personal 😂). Setting aside the confession prank in 3x09 (which is it's own essay), this was the first time I started to really question the direction the show was going with making the ship canon. At the time, I hoped it was a blip, because we all remember that look in 3x14, and... yeah.

I believe this was the first appearance of jealous Lucy. And don't get me wrong, I have no problem with using jealousy to tell a story -- as long as it serves a purpose and as long as it's not completely 1-sided.

But instead of moving Chenford forward, this actually moved them several steps backward for me.

Like you mention anon, in seasons 1 and 2, despite Lucy being his rookie, I felt that they were very much portrayed as equals. They helped each other in different ways. I’d argue Lucy often showed she was more emotionally intelligent than Tim and used that to help him navigate through the end of his marriage, and Tim obviously poured everything he had into getting her as ready as she possibly could be to move on to the next step in her career.

But this scene in 3x11 managed to re-assert the Rookie - T.O. dynamic in a way that slapped me harder than any moment when he was actually her T.O. -- asserting Tim's view of Lucy as someone he needed to teach not how to be a capable police officer, but someone he needed to teach about the world.

He said this to Lucy. Lucy! LUCY!

If you don't understand why this is categorically absurd, please go re-watch season 1 right now.

The fact that it was couched in compliments and we got to see Lucy go squee over his praise doesn't make this any less patronizing.

Literally, I don't need to hear any man say this to any woman ever. I especially don't need to hear a white man saying it to a woman of color. And I sure as hell did not need to hear Tim say it to Lucy.

So where'd we end up?

Lucy took some major hits to her character, blurring the lines between personal and professional by accusing Tim of giving Katie special treatment because he found her attractive, and ultimately came off as jealous, immature, insecure, and unprofessional amongst probably some other less than flattering things. And note, I'm not saying I think she is these things. I'm saying she was portrayed to the general audience as being these things.

Tim, on the other hand, got a windfall -- not only did he get to be the wise, all knowing teacher (let's not forget his deep love of meditation), he got to have all his past sins erased under the guise of helping sweet Lucy understand the world is a scary place.

***

So obviously you mentioned a bunch of other examples, but this is already too long and probably not at all what you were looking for in a response, so I'm going to wrap up here. I got another ask about the Valentine's Day plot, so I'll tackle what I did and didn't like there eventually (yes, I am capable of liking things. it's rare, but possible).

Thanks for the ask! 🥰🥰🥰

#chenford #chenford critical #the rookie #my asks #see lana ramble

[randomluck-ofthe-universe]

Ok here me out and I'm in no way trying to be antagonistic. This is just something I've thought lately when fans get mad at Timmy's gfs.

If the relationships are fake for PR sake or as a cover then it shouldn't matter who he aligns himself with, right? At the end of the day it doesn't mean anything.

If the relationships are real then it's his business however he chooses to handle it in public and private, right?

I only ask because I see so many fans getting upset with each new gf and the fact checking and looking for clues seems like not a good time for fans. But more importantly, the derogatory hate that gets slung at his gfs is not a great look for us. In reality Timmy and anyone he dates are not above anyone else but I would hope that we as people would not bash these women for the perceived notion that they are not "good enough" for him and are somehow inferior. I don't know Timmy at all but I would think he wouldn't like what many say about these women.

If it's fake it doesn't matter and if it's not our business.

Personally, I see a pattern of him publicly having gfs leading up to movie premieres and then the relationship fizzles pretty quickly after the publicity run. Is it a coincidence, maybe? Is it a PR stunt to get attention for upcoming projects and something that is mutually beneficial while it runs its course to whatever goals they set; maybe? We know stunting of this sort has and continues to happen. I tend to lean towards them being fake but it's also not really my business.

I guess I just feel like no matter what, if it's real or not, how the fanbase reacts says a lot and the hate is so ugly. Even if we don't like someone...attacking their intelligence, self-worth, parenting skills, etc., is beneath us.

I used to be so wrapped up in everything about Timmy and anytime a picture popped up or a mention was made of him with some girl he might be dating, my stomach would tie up in knots and I would try to find every piece of information I could trying to figure out if it was real or not. But I realized how much that was feeding into my already diagnosed anxiety and depression; so I took a step back. I have zero control over the situation and it's going to happen one way or the other.

If it is fake, it is so sad that this stuff is still going on; whether it's for business purposes or personal. I wish this stuff didn't matter and that celebrities private lives also didn't matter but more so I wish people wouldn't let these things bother them so much so they could be happier.

I don't know if any of this makes sense and I know I rambled a lot but I've just noticed all the hatred getting worse and worse. We have so few things right now that are good/positive in the world, let's try not to add more negativity for things that have nothing to do with us?

hi 😊, I understand your feelings, anon, and agree with you.

and yes, you've no idea how I fully agree it's so sad that this stuff has still to go on.. whether it's for business or personal purposes.

first of all, in total honesty and with no hypocrisy I want to tell you that I don't like Tim's "girlfriend" at all, as well as her entire family cause they represent for me what most negative and offensive there can exist about the image of a woman and about a human being in general.

get and buy visibility and popularity only thanks to money, so much money, without having any professional nor personal qualities or merit and promote shamelessly the idea that a fully fake aesthetic beauty based only on your body entirely redone is the only effective way for achieving any type of success and fame, is for me something really toxic, wrong and frankly disgusting at every social and human level.

having said that, you can dislike someone but for this reason getting to the point of hating her madly and erasing him or calling him out in the worst ways, is something that I find absurd, absolutely unfair and I strongly disagree with, for a lot of reasons that I won't be here repeating because I've already expressed my opinion quite clearly about Tim and about judging his life and his choices.

I truly appreciated your thoughts, anon, and I would love if you'd want contact me in private to talk more in depth about them.

thank you for your message. 🤍

#my anons #timothée chalamet

[kneels-bohr]

i'm reading Tim Maudlin's Philosophy of Physics: Space and Time and I think he makes a bizarre point but he has been very good in his other book so idk. anyway here's what he has to say about the twins paradox in special relativity (abridged because it's way too long to quote):

if you draw a space-time diagram with the inertial (experiencing no force) twin's trajectory being a vertical line along the t-axis passing through the origin it looks something like this:

and if you compute the interval along both paths (defined here as the square root of [the change in t, squared, minus the sum of [the changes in each of the other coordinates, squared]]) you'll see that the interval for B is greater than that for A, and since what a clock measures is proportional to the interval, twin A will be younger than twin B.

so far this is fine, perfectly clear. i don't think there's anything wrong with this explanation. but then he brings up a "confusion" people have about this that he states as

Confusion 1: In relativity, all motion is the relative motion of bodies. But the relative motion of A with respect to B is exactly the same as the relative motion of B with respect to A. So their physical situations are exactly the same. Therefore, when they get back together, by symmetry, their clocks must show the same elapsed time.

to which his response is not wrong, i think, but doesn't address the confusion at all! to quote the important bit

... there is an objective geometrical structure to space-time that defines inertial trajectories for all bodies, irrespective of the existence of any other bodies.

And then here's this bit:

Confusion 2: As a solution to Confusion 1, many texts suggest that the Twins Paradox is resolved by acceleration: twin A's situation is not really symmetrical with twin B's because twin A has had to use his rockets. The rockets (in accordance with the Relativistic version of Newton's Second Law) produce a force that twin A can feel and that bends his world-line. Twin B does not use his rockets and feels no force. So, twin B knows it is he who is "really at rest" while his twin, feeling the force, knows he "really traveling" [sic]

i don't think this is a confusion though? i think it's essentially correct? except for the bit about one twin being "really at rest"? about this, he says:

Notice, first, that we were able to predict the effect without calculating the acceleration of anything: all we computed was the ratio of the lengths of the two trajectories. The accelerations play no role in explaining the end result. Indeed, it is a simple matter to alter the situation so that B is accelerated exactly as much, or even more than A, but still ends up older than A. In figure 1, we have added exactly matching accelerations to B's trajectory. Now B fires his engines exactly to the same extent as A but the little "bump" on his world-like will not significantly shorten it: he will still be the older of the two when they meet.

The accompanying diagram is

i think he doesn't understand what the person in confusion 2 is saying. i think tim maudlin interprets them as saying that the acceleration is what causes the slow aging, which is wrong, but what they're actually saying is that the acceleration breaks the symmetry. so he can say (correctly, i think) that the acceleration doesn't cause the slow aging, but nobody is actually disputing that!

i think the person in confusion 1 is asking why you can't draw another space-time diagram, one with twin A on a vertical line and twin B in a triangle to the left, do the same calculations for the interval, and conclude that A ought to be older.

using the way that tim maudlin has presented special relativity, you can't do that because by the relativistic version of newton's first law, only inertial trajectories have straight line paths in Minkowski space-time so you can't have Lorentz coordinates where twin A's trajectory is a vertical line along the t axis.

idk maybe i'm wrong but he does quote feynman as being wrong about this in the same way i think i am so maybe i should weigh the likelihood that he's wrong higher

[mlobsters]

supernatural s14e18 absence (w. robert berens)

DEAN Well, hey, here's to another miraculous Sam Winchester survival. Got to say, man, if Jack hadn't have healed you…

one might say it's getting a little absurd but whatever

i have zero idea how this is gonna shake out, with the kinda accidentally killing mary because she was gonna rat him out to the boys situtaion.

DEAN You know, lately, it feels like we'd be up the creek without that kid. I mean, first, he takes care of Michael and then Nick. SAM Kind of sounds like you're bummed about it. DEAN No. "Get out of jail free" card? I'll take that.

don't think it's the case here really because killing nick seemed pretty darned justified at this point but have noticed when there is a moral quandary to be had over killing someone, it's usually someone else that actually does it these days. if blog search actual functioned, you could get a number of results for quandary :p

so the cas not telling sam and dean about jack being clearly not right has come back to bite him in the ass.

LUCIFER Yeah. I'm your, you know, subconscious or whatever. Y-You whipped me up to help you figure this out.

so does jack get a hallucifer too then? (transcript says nick but it's lucifer)

LUCIFER All right? Buddy, you killed Mary Winchester. You cannot come back from that, and you know it. All right? You've been flapping your wings all around, trying to run away from what you did, and where'd you wind up? Right here, right back to the scene of the crime. JACK No. LUCIFER Yeah. Yeah, because somewhere inside, you realize that the sooner you accept it, the easier it'll be. JACK No, it's -- It was an accident. LUCIFER Okay. Tell Sam and Dean that. I'm sure they'll understand. It's not like family isn't everything to them

subconscious makes points

music while they're searching the cabin for jack/mary/dead nick is good. reminds me of hmm. modern thriller during a spooky/unsettling scene music. lol (it's christopher lennertz and tim wynn on music this ep. confirming yet again i am scores more likely to enjoy lennertz's score vs jay gruska's)

moments like this where it's like i can see the promise of what this show could be. a scene that's genuinely unsettling. slowing down and not focusing on this breakneck knee deep plot machinations, but setting a scene where the emotional tension that we know mary is dead and we're dreading them finding her, and finding this instead. dunno. it was very effective (and the music continued to be appropriate)

CASTIEL I know you know this, Mary, but, um, Sam and Dean -- they're -- they're glad to have you back. Whatever you still have to deal with and however long it takes, you should know they're happy. I mean, finally, they don't have to be so, um, so alone. MARY Castiel. They were never alone.

um, i think that's a bit of a stretch lol. cas was not around that much, and when he was it wasn't always good. they had bobby, lost bobby. have jody but see her even less. they've been hobbling between meager support systems for a while. cas only seems to really qualify in that way visibly onscreen in the past season or two at most? they talked him up but we didn't see it much.

DEAN Might have been Lucifer. Nick was trying to bring him back. SAM Yeah, but Jack said-- DEAN Who cares what Jack said? We don't know what happened! But I swear, if he did something to her, if she is -- then you're dead to me.

well. we know dean gets over shit pretty fast when it comes to the core group all things being equal, so i imagine he'd come around in a moderate amount of time. not like cas is ultimately culpable, not like when he broke sam's wall, for instance. it was a fuckup, but would jack have done something awful inadvertently-ish even if sam and dean knew right away when cas found out he definitely was off? ehh. everyone knew he wasn't acting quite right. but all bets are off when the person getting killed is mary (or heaven forbid, sam)

DEAN No, he knew. He knew something was wrong with the kid. He knew it, and he didn't tell us! He didn't even tell us! CASTIEL I was scared. I believed in Jack for so long, I I believed that he was -- he was good. I -- I knew that he would be good for the world. And he was good for us. My faith in him, it -- it never wavered, and then I-I saw what he did. It wasn't malice. It wasn't evil. It was like Jack saw a problem, and in his mind, he just solved it with that snake. DEAN The snake?! CASTIEL What he did wasn't bad. It was the absence of good. And I saw that in him. But we were a family, and I didn't want to lose that, so I thought I could fix it on my own. Felt like it was my responsibility. So I left. And I didn't tell you. If I could go back and just -- just talk to him right then and there, I would. But I can't, Dean. I failed you. And I failed Jack. And I failed --

cas, friend. you do not have a great track record with fixing stuff on your own. but i get it. but also, if you're trying to keep your family together, gotta communicate!

gonna try to resurrect mary with rowena, ok. i didn't see that coming

JACK I killed Mary. I-It was an accident. I-I didn't mean to. I just -- I just wanted her to be quiet. I just wanted her gone, but only for a second. And I just. I thought it. It all happened so fast. I need to undo it. You need to help me undo it.

you know i was thinking about this last night. and i think about the same kind of thing fairly regularly. mary could see she had reason to be scared of jack after the cruel way he killed nick (which everyone is a lot more upset about than i anticipated but ok). yet she still wouldn't lie to him about not telling sam and dean. an unstable, infinitely powerful child, essentially. and i think about the way that some people respond to people that are being aggressive or whatever. and you know, when you're someone that has been abused (like myself) sometimes you come away with a pretty ingrained fear of anyone acting off to do anything to avoid setting them off. i know that's not everyone's experience, for sure. but that was kind of an essential survival coping mechanism for me that's carried through. it doesn't serve me well in a lot of every day social conflict potential situations, but it is one that i think can sometimes keep you from getting killed 🤪

MARY Sam, everyone here understands what you've been doing and what you've been putting yourself through. SAM Yeah, I know, but Jack's been through a lot -- you know, losing his powers.And I haven't really been there for him.Sorry, Mom. I don't mean to lay all this on you. MARY No. Are you kidding? It's nice knowing I'm not the only one with parental guilt. How much did the two of you go through when I wasn't there for you? And even when Amara brought me back and I got a second chance, things got complicated. I got complicated. SAM Mom. MARY No, I'm just saying parenting is always a struggle.

heard. it's a struggle even when not these extraordinarily complicated and bizarre situations they're in.

SAM Dean, it wasn't just Cas. It wasn't. We knew Jack was dangerous. We always knew. Long before he killed Michael. You more than anyone. I mean, from the very beginning, you knew. But, you know, we fell for him 'cause he had a good heart and a good soul. Then he didn't. And that's on me, too, by the way. I mean, I'm the one who made the call to bring him back. He didn't ask for that. I decided for him. And you warned me. DEAN No, you didn't know, okay? We didn't know. SAM Exactly. We didn't know. But -- he had become our family. You know, after Maggie and the other Hunters died I just left. Just dumped Jack on Cas and left. I knew. I mean, I knew something was gonna I just didn't know it'd be this. DEAN I did it, too. When I talked to Donatello about Jack, he said he was good as far as he could tell. But then he talked about how powerful Jack was and that he could never really be sure. And it was a warning. I just couldn't see it.

i appreciate that they're both taking accountability

well. i guess they get some closure at least, having a body. i think by rights this should be upsetting me, but it isn't? nothing like the this season's absolute disaster of jack dying originally and dean hellbent on committing suicide/eternal torture. that was like. 3 solid episodes of ugly crying my way through them.

LUCIFER Well, I warned you. It's worse -- trying and failing. There's no going back. You realize that now. Cas, Sam, Dean they're never gonna trust you again. And you know what that means. What? You can never trust them.

the flaming hoops this show will jump through to keep pellegrino around!

is that mary with the baby one new? can't recall. they've added a few here and there past several seasons

glad they kept it to just the 3 of them, writer's 2nd draft script linked on wiki

SAMUEL WINCHESTER you better have a copy of that picture elsewhere before you burn it. you have so little of her! see, there you go, that's how you made me upset. thanks, show. push straight into the weepy montage of happy mary moments

?? that felt very... forced. whole scene did to me, but that was the icing on the cake

i liked mary, but never really connected with her i don't think. kind of like bobby, but even less to go on. don't blame samantha smith in the slightest, i think it's how they wrote her. she was great at the emotions. but this episode largely left me feeling 😐

#supernatural #spnwatch #spn 14x18 #robert berens #christopher lennertz #tim wynn #spn musical score

[itsoneofthemuses]

Hi! I forgot to include this in my previous ask. "With pretty much everything" (ref my previous post) I meant that I agreed with every point you made, but I had not heard the term «woobification» before and was curious what it meant. Do you want to expand on that? :)

Wow, so you went hard on the last ask and gave me a bunch of questions 😂 (which I appreciate!) but I figured I'd answer this first because your other ask will probably take me a while... And will probably get broken up into sections just because I talk a lot when left to my own devices.

Woobification (which is fandom term) refers to the process of a character becoming or being turned into a "woobie" and honestly, I cannot do this concept justice so I will leave it to TV Tropes because they're an amazing resource and because they have comprehensive articles and subarticles on it.

The first paragraph sums it up pretty well but there are subtropes worth reading about. For the record:

A "woobie" is a name for any type of characters who make you feel extremely sorry for them. Basically, the first thing you think to say when you see the woobie is: "Aw, poor baby!" Woobification of a character is a curious, audience-driven phenomenon, sometimes divorced from the character's canonical morality.

Tim Bradford fits the trope in a lot of ways. I love Tim's character in S1-S2. He's complex and complicated, hurt and angry, but still compassionate and willing to listen. Much like Lucy, he's capable of acknowledging his wrongs and growing from them. That starts changing in S3 and by S4, he didn't seem like the same character, nor would I call his changes "growth" because there was no actual evidence of any growth. Just that he went away over summer hiatus and came back different.

The fandom focuses a lot, I think, on his pain and his experiences. I've noticed it since way back in S2 but it feels like it's gotten progressively worse. Although chenford is the main ship, it doesn't always feel like Lucy is an actual person (or character) in her own right, especially lately. Her trauma becomes about Tim's role in saving/supporting her, her career path becomes about Tim's past hurts, her sexual and reproductive choices becomes about Tim's dreams and desires.

Canon has done this too, led the way even, I think, and that sucks. As far as I'm concerned, Lucy deserves better and, you know what? So does Tim.

#lucy chen #the rookie #tim bradford #answered asks #did this actually answer your question anon? #i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about S4 #most of them are angry and unpleasant #some friends and i started the let lucy get laid brigade and 30daysoflovingforlucy event because we were so upset by it #anyway it is what it is now #the rookie anti s4

[yvtro]

https://at.tumblr.com/scintillyyy/ah-thank-you-for-the-correction-you-are-correct/nwppbs9d8f1g

That whole thread really highlight how lonely Jason's Robin run was. Honestly it makes me sad how he didn't have many friends back then compare to others. He had Eddie but even then dc forget about them.

i don't really agree with lots of points in this thread, mainly because of tim exceptionalism (or the main character complex, whatever you want to call it) + it assumes that things that happened pretty much only because of jason's death would still occur.

having said so, i do agree that jason's robin run was (in a way) incredibly lonely!

now, personally i don't think that jason noticed it much, but that's part of the problem. i have touched upon it briefly in my other posts about vigilante/civilian identity (look: here, for example), and i think it's worth to make a quick comparison of pre-crisis vs post-crisis jay.

so, tldr, pre-crisis jason is shown to have a whole life at school, he has friends and even a romantic interest. post-crisis jason has none of that. we see him working for an extra credit at school, but if i recall it right (might have been a pre-crisis story retroactively included in canon though) the only time we actually see him *in* school is when he thinks about how he would like to join the theatre but doesn’t have time for that because of robin responsibilities. we don’t see him having any social life outside of robin, but also as a member of the community he doesn’t have anyone close his age. his cameo in titans is very dear to me, and you know, as a person with siblings i will tell you, you can absolutely be friends with your older brother’s friends, but we don’t ever see him developing a lasting bond with any of them (which is also because he died quite soon after that. i’m not saying that donna, for example, didn’t care about him, but i don’t think they had a chance to grow very close).

there's eddie, sure, but even that relationship is that of penpals, and by the time jason comes back from the dead, eddie is completely retconned, so it's safe to assume that in the current continuity they have never known each other at all.

i'm not going to comment on dc trying to sell the concept of roy and jay being childhood friends in n52.

so i’m thinking, you can make an argument about how jason knows little besides vigilantism, but i believe there’s an additional layer to how even his “nightlife” (debatable term btw, we see robin jay operating in daylight along with batman all the time but i guess that was a whole another era) focuses pretty much on bruce and no one else. he really doesn’t know much beyond batman and robin.

and it obviously wasn't really the writers' intention, i bet it's mostly the result of the fact that they weren't really interested in exploring his character much, but jay's world is so very narrow and centres around bruce. and i can see how bruce wouldn't really see any problem in it at first, because (while it's not really canon, as there's a time skip and we don't even get to see how he settles into the manor, nor much of his training period) it is safe to assume that it took some time for jay to gain bruce's trust and to get used to a role of a child (since he was used to fending for himself/presumably being briefly a caretaker for his mother before). so when the kid finally learns that he can depend on bruce and actively seeks him out, that's great. it took so much to coax him into allowing to be cared for, now the issue is solved. (wrong.)

i think it really puts post-resurrection jay's mentality in perspective (even if winick did not intend it this way; he clearly had no interest in jay's 80s characterisation). of course jason's anger, disappointment, and feelings of betrayal focus on bruce; bruce was everything he had. at this stage, he doesn't know much beside him, and being robin.

and i don't think that jason then was quite aware that he was lonely. he had his dad, which was the most important thing for him for a while, he had alfred. dick might not have been home much, but their interactions we got to see were meaningful, and flashbacks (such as the famous ski trip) suggest that they did spend more time together. babs was around. he probably made so many brief connections with gothamites in his time as robin too.

it all becomes a problem when jason grows. when he can't see a line between being a robin and a son, and looks for another parental figure, and he doesn't have anyone to talk to about it. everyone he has a lasting relationship with is part of the family that he worries he doesn't belong to, so he just resolves to find someone new to depend on.

it becomes a problem when he digs himself out of grave, and later comes back to gotham, and there's such a limited number of people he can (or could, if he wanted) turn to.

i also believe that even if the plot of 'a death in the family' never occured, the fact that he went from a hyper-independent parentified child to someone who spends most of his time with his dad or alone (and i don't think he minded alone time all that much at first) would backfire otherwise. i'm joking, but at this point there probably would be some separation anxiety, on both sides.

i just wish i could grip jay with bbq tongs and put him in east gotham to allow him to stay in touch with his community. of course he probably was around there as robin a lot, but as a civilian? i doubt it.

#this got so long. damn #btw no hate to anyone in the thread linked i just think that approaching that element of jason's story from tim's pov is very limiting #jay meta #jason todd #dc comics #answered

[ashes-writing]

Are you doing the full alphabet for characters? If nobody has asked for it can you do the filth alphabet for Tim Speedle? It's just so nice that somebody on here writes for him ❤️🥰Thank you for doing these!!

taglist babes || req rules / fandoms+characters || send ?s || masterlist

Warnings;

Minors, I thinketh the fuck not. This content is 18+ only. Dacryphilia, breeding kink, size kink, bondage/choking/biting - rough sex, voice kink, angry sex, talk of dick size, body fluids, sex position, soft!dom, brat tamer, praise kink, hair pulling, risky sex, sex toys, the usual you find in these things, hehe.

Taglist;

@beardedbarba @calmcoast @justmeandanoverdrive @louderfortheback are the only people on my CSI taglist. If you'd like to be on it, click the lil link up top, please and thanks?

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

.... This man is aftercare king. He's cuddly as hell, will pull you on top of him and just like... hold you and play with your hair and his sleepy voice is god tier, alrighty? God tier. If he's been a little rough with you he's making sure you're okay, he's full of praise and he's kissing all over you. And post-sex showers or baths with him are just ughhh. I'm down bad, your honor.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

.... I feel like he's a lips / eyes / thighs kind of man. He loves those parts on you. I mean, he loves boobs, don't get me wrong but he really, really really loves a good pair of thick thighs. Lips and eyes are the first parts he notices by default and sometimes he's staring like an idiot, it's cute. So fuckin cute.

.... I feel like his sarcastic answer to this would be his mind followed by "What? Don't objectify me, damn it." but it's totally his hands because he knows what to do with them and he loves how just a few little touches will make you come undone.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

.... Loves a good messy blow job. Loves to look down at you and see you tearing up with drool and his cum glistening on your pretty little lips. He's got a hand all tangled up in your hair, ughhh. Again, I'm down bad, your honor. Baaad.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

.... He's into photography, IIRC. He likes to take pictures of you all spread out and bare naked and he keeps them hidden either on his person or in the drawer of his desk / nightstand. His most favorite one of all is a picture that he took while you were having an orgasm. It's not as 'dirty' as the others but there's this fucked out daze in your eyes, you're teared up, your mouth is hanging open a lil and there are hickies all over your neck and throat. His second favorite one is a picture he took of his hand covering your tit / at your throat.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

.... He hasn't been around the block a few times like Eric and he's not damn near celibate like Ryan when he's not in a relationship, but he does know exactly what he's doing. Because he's observant as hell, so he's listening to those little noises you make that he likes so much and he's watching the way your eyes flutter open/closed or almost roll back in your head and he'll do whatever he was doing that made you like this even more.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

The Face Off. Where you're sitting in his lap and he can look into your eyes, hold your hips / grab your tits, kiss you and leave marks and bites on your neck and throat. He loves to see the exact second you come undone for him.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

.... I feel like this is situational with him. He can be serious and oh so romantic -insert dreamy sigh here, but there are times when you bump noses or he nearly falls over trying to shed his jeans or your teeth bump during a kiss where he can't help but crack jokes.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

.... he's not immaculate, but he's not a wild mess either. Given that his hair is dark the hair down there is just as dark, maybe darker. He's decently groomed.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

.... He is so intimate, always gentle and touching and kissing and praising. "Y' doin so good for me, sweetheart. Takin me so"... groaning "Fuckin good, baby." and he's always staring at you, he loves to look at you and he loves you and you can see it with the adoration in his eyes.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

.... He likes to edge himself until he's about to explode. He loves the way it feels when he finally allows himself release. He's jacked off into a pair of your panties before. You've walked in on him jacking off and you let him throat-fuck you and he went feral, going back so far that when he came it slid back down your throat.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Dacryphilia -you're so fucking pretty when you're looking up at him with teary eyes as you gag on him or he's teasing you until you're sensitive and begging him to fuck you or stop teasing. Choking and biting / rough sex on occasion, he loves it. Praise kink, giving and getting with more of a lean towards giving, overstimulation, spanking, light bondage, he's a soft!dom ya'll can fight if you want but facts -i lowkey feel he's got a bit of brat tamer to him, like he thinks it's cute, he really does but he also knows when you're just doing it for attention and thus you get the attention, holy shit, size kink -he loves to watch you take every inch and even more so when he can see the way his cock pushes against your abdomen from the inside, i feel like he's the kind of guy who will push his cum back inside of you so lowkey breeding kink... He's got a voice kink, he loves accents / soft and sultry, dreamlike voices, He loves having his hair pulled / being bitten or scratched in the heat of the moment so lowkey pain kink also.. Being called sir -you will get railed immediately. Edging, oh my god.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

.... on his motorcycle, in the bed, against the wall, on the kitchen table, in the shower...

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

.... kissing his neck, pulling him closer by the belt loop on his pants, when you can't keep your hands off him, arguing sometimes gets him hot and bothered, playing with his cock / rubbing his cock, sitting in his lap, seeing you naked...

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

He's not going to do anything that doesn't feel consensual. He's not into being called daddy either, i don't think. I used to think he was but my opinion has changed. He's not into doing it right out in public with an audience. Piss kinks are not his thing.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

This man can stay between your legs for hours and he's damn good at it too. He will not stop til you're shaking and begging him to and he might not stop then, he'll coax one more out of you. He prefers to give, tbh.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

.... He prefers it to be slow and sensual and he will tease / initiate foreplay at odd times during the day just to get you all worked up real nice. He can however, be slow and rough, esp if this is after an argument sex.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

.... They're alright, but he prefers to take his time. They happen most of the time when he's rushing out the door an so are you but oops, he saw you walking around naked to look for clothes and now he's got you bent over the bed with a fist in your hair and a hand at your throat...

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

.... His biggest risk is doing it in like... the garage of his apartment in the backseat of your car. Or going somewhere private on the ducati and getting it on. He's willing to experiment, but he's also not a big risk taker.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

.... It honestly all depends. I'm gonna say he's good for at least two, with breaks in between (foreplay time), and he can last a good two hours or so, depending on how much teasing is done and how close he lets himself get during said teasing.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

.... A lil bullet vibrator controlled by bluetooth and a phone app. He'll get you to wear it when you're out somewhere together and he'll spontaneously jack up the speed / frequency only to slow it right back down. When he's getting ready to leave and go home, he'll really turn it up and smirk as you try not to moan and squirm.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

.... This man is such a tease omfg. He lives for it. He really does.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

husky groans and lots of swearing, breathless panting against your ear, nipping at your earlobe, saying your name over and over and over, praising you, telling you how good it feels to have his cock buried inside of you. He's noisy. But quietly.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

.... I feel like he's used his cuffs on a lover before. I also feel like he loves to pull hair when you're going down on him or he's taking you from behind. Says the filthiest things in the heat of the moment, seriously, it's shit you'd never imagine him saying.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

.... Average length BUT... he is thick. V.v thick. Veiny. I feel like the tip is a dark mauvey color and it's uncut.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

.... It's not super high but it is higher than most. Like... he's not gonna turn it down when it's offered.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

....He's gotta snuggle, so it'll take an hour or two of snuggling and kissing and touching you before he finally dozes off. It's sooo sweet too, like his eyes get all heavy lidded and he still has that fucked out look in his eyes, and his voice gets so much lower and huskier, ugh. I'm down horribly bad now, s2g.

#tim speedle #tim speedle imagine #tim speedle fanfiction #tim speedle headcanons #tim speedle x reader #tim speedle x fem!reader #tim speedle n*fw alphabet #tim speedle filth alphabet #minors dni

[littlebigmouse]

TMA MAG 64-65

... We're getting a lot of stories about undergrounds, burials and tunnels lately aren't we. I'm sure that doesn't relate to anything at all.

Also I'm sorry, but the image of someone looking into a camera and eating an entire computer piece by piece sounds hilarious to me. Those 24 hour charity stream have really taken off, huh?

And now to the most important piece of the statement: The psychological terrorism Jon is inflicting on his coworkers I mean the office drama!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Tim Stoker did nothing wrong, ever, in his life.

And god, I love the VA's performance in this episode. Such a good job!

OH NOW Jon is suspicious of the CCTV footage. Lord give me strength.

Jon, if you really think that Tim is a murder suspect, then why are you telling him about your suspicions regarding the footage? If you think there's a chance he did it or is an "agent" of something sinister, why are you tipping your hand like that just when everyone would have reason to believe you've been placated?

Or maybe, the fact that you've been friends for so long, as Tim is alluding to here - which, I need more details on that backstory AHH - maybe you still believe in that friendship and maybe you just desperately want to tell anyone of your findings, maybe you do actually need the support of people who regularly flirt or hack their way into police files to uncover this mystery.

I know paranoia is not supposed to be rational. But I will keep yelling at Jon to please maybe THINK for a second.

Also. Tim's practically solving this mystery for me. I feel very heard. And also damn, I need to point out and appreciate Tim's social/observational skills here. Tim is aware that Jon's been having a rough time because he went through the exact same trauma, and he acnowledges that. Tim gives further support to my "Elias doesn't care" theory by virtue of having it himself. He rightly points out Martin's - at this point - harmful conflict avoidance, and he just cuts himself off when he gets to Not-Sascha.

What have you noticed about her, Tim?

Honestly, I headcanon Sascha and Tim were something like best buddies pre-and-during-season-one, since they're mentioned to work together a lot. Maybe he noticed the 180° in her personality. Maybe he feels just as betrayed by her dismissal of Jon as by Martin's, but if it were just that, he wouldn't cut himself off, would he? I can imagine he tried to reach out to her about his troubles, but due to whatever Not-Sascha is up to, or maybe because she lacks the bond/the memories of the real Sasha, she probably brushed him off.

UGh, I am so invested in this.

What's most infruriating is that just as Tim realizes that he can't leave, and Jon explains to him that the archives are trapping them - that should have been Jon's clue that Tim is being genuine here, that he didn't kill anyone, that he's trying to get out of an incredibly shitty situation that Jon is absolutely responsible for.

But instead, Jon still refuses to trust Tim. And if Jon really thinks that Tim is faking here, that he is pretending to be this emotionally distraught, that he was faking what, years of friendship? That he is that good an actor, than that means Jon also does not take much stock into their friendship, into the very real struggle Tim is displaying here. He doesn't acknowledge it because he doesn't believe it, and that's a paranoia that's downright heinous. Imagine you're having a mental breakdown and your long time friend is so wrapped up in their own shit they don't believe you. While you're standing in front of them, having symptoms and a face full of worm holes.

So yeah, our man Tim does not deserve any of this shit.

Also, Jon's absolute social inability shining through brightly here, that he thinks that Tim thinks that Jane Prentiss is his fault. Ma brother in horror podcasts, everything after is the problem, and the fact that Jon refuses to own up to it here kind of shows that even his previous apology to all of them - what, 5 episodes ago? - was not genuine.

You're an asshole, Mr. Archivist.

Do you guys think Elias knows that none of them can leave? I think after Gertrude he should have realized the archives appear to be a job for life. Has he tried to leave himself? Maybe he doesn't give a shit because he knows, whatever is going on, he cannot escape. The only think he can do is watch everyone around him go insane and or die, until the madness claims him as well.

Now that would be interesting, wouldn't it?

#tma #tma live reaction #tma season 2 #tim stoker #jonathan sims #the gertrude murder mystery

[bansheemilktales]

My Feelings About Modern Superhero Movies

As a little kid my passion for comic books got me teased a lot. If you can think of a mean name I was probably addressed by it. The most common were gay slurs. I have no issue with gay people, in fact, I'm usually rather fond of them but it still hurt that people wanted to hurt me. The experience always left me feeling angry and alone. Militantly defensive of the artform I enjoyed. Even as a young boy I could easily go off on a long speech about how comics were great and those who judged then unfairly were awful.

Now that I'm 46 years old superhero movies are all the rage. But after I watch one, I would venture to say that more than half of them leave me feeling angry and alone. I specify "superhero movies". I don't call them comic book movies because they rarely have the qualities I admire about comic books. I wasn't that into the explosions and punches and when I do want to see punches or explosions they entertain me more when they are physical rather than CGI. I like my movies filmed instead of computer generated (stunts are great too).

What I loved about comics was the same thing I loved about the films of David Lynch, John Waters & Tim Burton. They could be a window into an unusual character's head. Sometimes movies habe nailed it like 'Ghost World', 'American Splendor', 'Sin City' and 'Road To Perdition'. In my experience, if you read a good comic book you will often notice they are stories told in the first person so the hero tells you what they are thinking. I remember a passage where Wolverine thought to himself "It feels like there is too much blood in my body". There was a passage in Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in which Batman weighs the options of how to take a criminal down. One kills, a couple of them will leave the crook with permanent injuries and he says "the other one.....hurts" and he kicks the bad guy in dramatic fashion. And most importantly when I read a comic book I get to look at great artwork.

I just finished watching the new movie 'Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness' and I find myself feeling angry and alone again just like when I was a kid. Everybody loves these movies and I am once again made to feel less than when I don't. It seems like adults are experiencing now what I did as a child. They seem to feel very defensive of these movies the way I did with comics. Online I will get called a name when I don't like a superhero movie (admittedly I have enjoyed the occasional one but it has been a while).

On the subject of the new Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor but he does not get to show us this when he plays this character. It is so much boring exposition like "We have to get to the thing or the universe will Bla Bla Bla". I say Good. Let the universe blow up. That would be different.

If you saw Sherlock Holmes starring RDJ there is great internal dialogue. But usually actors overdo it for the 2 lines they have until they are bombarded with enough CG that it no longer even looks like a movie. These things look like videogames. Maybe I'm just an old guy, but Doctor Strange has a distracting helmet instead of hair (I don't see why they can't just use Cumberbatches hair). And his cape is even more distracting since occasionally it comes to life in order to do something stupid like catch someone. And remember when you were hoping to see a zombie give a kid an inspirational speech? Me neither.

What is wrong with comic books? Why do most people have zero interest in reading them? Do people hate seeing amazing drawings? Do they hate imagining what a character's voice is like or knowing what they are thinking? Why is it that America has virtually no interest in them unless it is to see them badly translated to the silver screen?

If this ever gets a lot of readers I imagine people will get angry with me for talking shit about these movies. I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. If you enjoy them that's great. I am happy for you. But if so, why are they better to you than reading comics?

I know that getting worked up over this stuff will get me ridiculed but that's what being a nerd is.

I can easily get mad that Wolverine isn't short in the movies. That Batman is always portrayed as a slow armored guy instead of a guy in tights who dodges bullets. Everyone nowadays says they're a nerd but I don't know if they are. I think maybe they are still followers like they were in school. Only now superheroes are the trend whereas when I was a kid they were a way to buck trends.

So tonight I guess I have to feel angry and alone for a little while.

My heart still wants to give my sad inner child a hug and hope that he doesn't mind hugging an old guy who feels the same way.

[danny-chase]

It blows my mind that people act like Dick suggesting Tim go to therapy is a bad thing, like bruh tell me you didn't read RR without reading RR. Tim needed therapy that whole run, Dick is literally in the right here.

#can we like not make going to therapy a big deal #you're not calling someone crazy if you bring up therapy #i get why someone would react badly if a stranger said that but Dick's known Tim for years and they're legit brothers #and then you conviently forget the part where Tim attacks Dick afterward like 🤔 yeah no you didn't read it #ppl literally see the scene and go: wow shame on Dick for calling Tim crazy #i can't therapy has literally helped so many of my close friends I begged them to go to therapy #like clearly you've never been in my situation where you stay up at night worrying about someone cuz they aren't addressing mental #health issues and clearly are struggling and all you want is the best for them #like if someone looked at that situation and called me the asshole i would probably lose it #no one's the good guy and no one's the bad guy it's like y'all have the moral comprehension of a 5 year old #notice I'm not saying Tim is in the wrong because while i personally feel he should have prioritized his mental health I think #he has the freedom to make that decision #all I'm saying is if you see someone struggling with mental health issues fucking say something quit acting like thats a bad thing #destigmatize mental health issues already too many people deal with real shit for this fanon bullshit #dc comics #batfam #batfamily #dick grayson #tim drake #red robin

[feathered-serpents]

YES OH MY GOD!!! martin has never really felt out of character to me in s5, i saw so many posts about it i was starting to think i was the only one. i’ve never thought of martin as the “🌸uwu tea boi🌸” even from the beginning he wasn’t like that. and in s5 there were times where he was unfair and understandably stressed out by ya know,,, the apocalypse and people constantly suffering but his actions never felt out of character

Edit: Tumblr what did you do the opening paragraph of this post??? Why is it merged with the second paragraph. I fixed it 

I’m going to use this as an excuse to go fully unhinged over Bad Jmart Takes of 2021. I've had these opinions for a very long time and have implied them over time but have never overtly said them, but now it's been one year since the show ended, the fandom is significantly quieter, and I've stopped fearing god so let's do this

The sweater-wearing soft-boy tea-making version of Martin is very cute and I do think based on some level of canon. It's a fun version to play with and there is nothing wrong with it... it's just not always Martin.

This got so long it warranted a read more so warning unhinged behavior below

The "side" of Martin that people say is OOC in season 5 was indeed always there and people actually seem to like it most of the time. In season 1 he burst into Jon's office and slammed the jar of worms on his desk, later he calls Jon out and does in fact raise his voice asking why he's so skeptical, in season 2 he snaps at Tim in the tunnels while looking for Jon, in season 3 he yells at Elias, in season 4 he's a designated bitch the whole time and yeah part of that was manipulating Peter Lukas but it still came from somewhere and also he was manipulating Peter Lukas.

This "side" of Martin was always there, it only became a problem when he and Jon became a couple and that part of Martin was in fact still there, and it wasn't just the sweet tea boy with an occasional spicy side that fanon decided he was. This is why while fanon is fun it's also lowkey a plague and will kill us all

And like Martin does do things I don't like in season 5, I don't like how he decided to "keep his apology" in 174, I have mixed feelings about him saying that he and Jon wouldn't have gotten together in a normal world but... none of those things are out of character for Martin to say. When you look at his character those things make sense, that's just the kind of person Martin is and he's not a perfect person

And I think this leads into a problem that is not at all exclusive to the Magnus fandom, but just fandom in general, and that is: Just because a character you like makes a decision you don't agree with or says something you don't like, does not make that decision out of character.

You know that one post that's like "The version of me you made in your head is not my problem?" that's also true in fiction. The version of the character you made in your head is not the story's problem.

I know I've said the same thing in three different ways in a row now but I just NEED that to be hammered home as hard as possible: IF A CHARACTER DOES OR SAYS SOMETHING YOU DON'T LIKE DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE BEING OUT OF CHARACTER

Okay. I think I've talked about that long enough, but I'm not actually done

All of that is all well and good but that's actually not the part I thought I'd get skinned alive for. This is

You see a lot of these takes go hand and hand with another take, a Jon take. Sometimes these takes were used only to fuel this particular Jon take:

This portion of the fandom wanted to overly victimize and sometimes straight-up infantilize Jon's character.

In these takes, Jon can do no wrong since he is the fav, but a lot of wrong IS done in the show, it has to be someone's fault but god forbid it be Jon's. Since Martin is the one closest to him both emotionally and literally throughout the course of season 5 he's the most common target but you will notice these takes did go after literally everyone else in the cast.

I'm not saying they were doing this consciously, no one does this consciously, but that is what was happening. I find this doubly ironic because many of these takes will go after Georgie because she wanted Jon to be the perfect victim a flaw that is indeed in the text but then will turn around and fanonize Jon until he IS the perfect victim.

And like, the apocalypse was not Jon's fault. That take I absolutely agree with it was not Jon's fault, but... other things were. People DID suffer because of conscious choices Jon made, the most blatant example of this being knowingly feeding off the trauma of just random passerby. Something that Jon himself acknowledges was a bad thing to do and he could've stopped but didn't want to, yes he feels remorseful for it and it was definitely part of his self-destruction spiral but he still did it. That is still a thing he did.

Also, they will claim that Martin and the other characters were "stealing Jon's agency" while proceeding to discredit all agency Jon had in the story that was not morally good, which is a lot of it. I'm not saying Jon never had his agency stolen from him ever obvious he did MULTIPLE TIMES but but you cannot blame every bad thing he ever did on that, the man sometimes just made bad decisions, literally the entire case does that

Like I remember what I still consider to be the worst Magnus take I've ever seen, and it used 198 as its frame and talked about how Martin and Basira act when Jon falls down and is lying on the ground groaning and Basira is giving him a hard time about all the fuss he's making and Martin helps him up and says it passes quickly and that's about it

For full disclosure here is the scene:

And I swear to god this was used to say that it was proof that everyone else's trauma is taken seriously and Jon's is not. Which still bluescreens my mind whenever I hear it and I just need others to see it and know that's a real take I saw

You take all this and you combine it with Jon being described as physically small, physically weak, descriptions I have used make no mistake, but when you put it all together with these other takes it reads as very very infantilizing to the point where it's a little uncomfortable.

Listen I think I'm gonna stop here I think I've typed enough and I still have a ton of actual real adult work to do. I don't know if this was coherent, this was a year's worth of rant pent up and released at once so I apologize if it's all over the place.

Remember, you do not have to agree with me here, this is my own opinion. I'm not trying to pick a fight, please remember the block button is literally right there I've used it on almost everyone who made the above takes you can use it on me it's fine I promise I do not have the energy for a fight just block me please I'm begging okay goodbye

#tma #the magnus archives

[doomedship]

Episode 7

So here is my usual thing of breaking down post episode thoughts. As you can guess, I'm neither surprised nor pleased with where we got to. I'll save the Chenford chat this time because honestly, it's the same comments as before and I'm covering it in the asks I'm getting. It's not like there was much to look at.

I think the major issue with this season is the level of disconnect among the characters. It is so at odds with the closely interwoven stories of s1-2 where we really felt everyone in the core cast was playing for the same team, working towards the same goal.

What has changed?

Nowadays, everyone is off doing their own thing in visually very separate settings with completely unrelated plotlines.

When they used to all go out on patrol, there was a synchronisation, a unity to the way an episode was framed. Even if they were in different local storylines, the core six would be shown within the same routines, the same parameters of action. There was body cam and shop cam footage reminding us they were all in the same boat. They'd call on one another as backup, and they'd typically regroup at some point to link everyone back up by the end of the episode.

Now we watch three or four distinct siloes, separately, with too many non-police characters to make this cohesive.

We have the main bucket which is always Nolan, who takes up the bulk of the screen time and is typically doing 'policing', albeit not as we used to see since he's now some kind of 007 action hero instead of rookie cop. Bailey is his entirely unnecessary bond girl. They're typically seen out in the field in a range of settings, interacting with new guest characters every week, and there's an air of holier than thou about them that's suffocating the ensemble dynamic.

We then have a further bucket with Wesley and Angela who have this season's B-plot. Wesley's scenes are mostly with outsiders and feel quite manufactured to give a reason for Wesley to even be on-screen at all - which he is. He's effectively the second leading man right now. He's the only one besides Nolan with a heavy storyline. Meanwhile, Angela's scenes are at a desk in the precinct or with Wesley at home. She is no longer a roaming agent and most of her content relates to home and family, so she feels cut off from everyone else and underinvolved.

We then have Harper, who fluctuates a bit. She almost got set up to be the only remaining classic T.O., but this has largely been sidelined. Thorsen hasn't appeared in a while and even when he did, half the dialogue was about personal relationships. The police scenes were limited. So the only remaining link to the rookie dynamic we know was so successful isn't even being explored. Most of Harper's content is about her love life and family too. So she feels cut off from everyone else and underinvolved.

Then finally, there's Lucy and Tim. I said I wouldn't get into it with Chenford but it's glaringly, painfully obvious how they've decimated the role Chenford had in this show. Lucy and Tim combined on patrol showed the light and the dark of the job. Tim's experience and Lucy's empathy. Together they teased out the conflict that simply being alive brings, all the difficulty and the wrong turns and the doing your best but losing anyway. None of that exists in the show anymore. There aren't any moral dilemmas, there aren't any moments of true pain. I've spoken at great length about the way Lucy has been treated, but suffice to say, she feels cut off from everyone else and underinvolved.

A further point is that the show has lost its physical grounding in the city setting. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but we don't see much of the everyman's Los Angeles anymore. Everything has been dialled up on the extravagance scale. Criminals aren't ordinary people anymore, they're master criminals and gang bosses and serial killers and ex-secret service and... group of rich wives? There aren't any grey areas, either. Everyone is either rotten to the core or they're a joke criminal.

Before, we'd see our characters delving into run down and regular homes and businesses, we'd see poverty and pain and mediocre crime and futility and grey areas. We'd see genuine loss and subverted expectations. Now I'm not surprised, I'm not intrigued, I'm not relieved. I'm just... nothing.

This show has lost sight of what it set out to do. And that wasn't give crude, trashy scenes based around getting a flash of an actor's chest. It wasn't about virtue signalling or clear cut morality either. But that's where we've landed.

#the rookie #chenford #long post #ds: episode talk