Thank you for everything you're doing with Gaza eSims. At this point (March 16, 2024), would you recommend monetary donations to Crips for eSims for Gaza or Gaza Online's eSim drive? Hoping to promote on social media and both seemed good on brief research, so I was just wondering if you had any opinions on which might be better. Thank you again for everything you do!
Crips for eSIMs for Gaza [donate link] (headed by Jane Shi, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, and Alice Wong) is sending eSIMs to the Connecting Humanity team (headed by Mirna El Helbawi) so that they can connect people in Gaza.
Gaza Online [donate link] is run by alumni from (vetted organization) Gaza Sky Geeks, and they have their own team that is connecting people directly. So as to spread out donations across multiple teams I might suggest highlighting them at this point.
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Thomas Lives! Bat-Family AU
Batfamily AU where Thomas Wayne moves to protect his son by shielding him rather than rushing the gunman after Martha is killed. Joe Chill was a mugger who didn’t expect to become a murderer that evening and he flees as soon as Thomas’ back is turned. Now both Thomas and Bruce survive and go home to Alfred.
Does Thomas become Batman and Bruce becomes the first Robin? Is Thomas (and later, Bruce) cool with lethal means when necessary but usually holds back because a) most street level crimes don’t require a lethal solution and b) he doesn’t want to traumatize his child any more than he already is?
Or does Thomas go all in with philanthropy to try to save Gotham and Bruce eventually becomes Batman because he sees there’s a missing piece? He figures between his father’s free clinic and all the money he puts into public transit, shelters, food banks, medical care, and education, Gordon fighting to clean up the dirty CGPD, and his efforts to take down organized crime as Batman, Gotham will be better off. Does he have to wait until he’s an adult to even start training for Batman because Thomas won’t let him go off to study the way of the blade until he’s graduated high school?
Do Thomas and Bruce trade off Batman for years once Bruce grows up and no one knows which one they’re gonna get? Most people don’t even know there are two so any theories on his identity is widely off? Neither one needs much of a cover since they’re both seen when the Batman is active plenty of times. Thomas continues on a surgeon. Bruce gets a business degree and works at Wayne Enterprises. Alfred continues to be the world’s most badass valet. They build the Martha Wayne Foundation together and are all active within it. Instead of Bruce and Leslie starting the Thomas Wayne Memorial Clinic, Thomas and Leslie build and run the Martha Wayne Memorial Clinic.
Does Bruce end up being less of a control freak because he never had full control in a world where his father was still around? With Thomas there to take care of things after Martha died, does Bruce even feel the need to control everything around him? Does he end up with more emotional intelligence and better communication skills in a world where he’s raised by both Alfred and Thomas? Is he just little quicker to trust people? Is he less likely to date criminals and tell them his secret? Is he a little quicker to smile?
In the OG timeline, 18/19 year old Dick wanted to adopt newly orphaned Jason Todd and Bruce stopped him and stated that he would adopt the kid while Dick went to school and started his life. Would the same thing happen between 22/23 year old Bruce and Thomas with newly orphaned Dick in this universe? With a healthier father figure and Bruce as a brother rather than father, would Dick and Bruce ever have the falling out they eventually did in canon? If they still fought when Dick outgrew Robin, would Thomas be able to be a better mediator than Alfred, since he doesn’t have any constraints in his relationship with them? If Bruce had been Robin himself, and eventually became Batman after his father stepped away from the role, would Bruce even blink at Dick moving on?
Jason’s adoption would probably go much the same, but afterwards, things would probably change.
Because if Dick and Bruce aren’t butting heads, and they’re both always welcome in their dad’s Manor (possibly even both reside there), does Dick -now the cool, young uncle- end up spending more time with Jason? Bruce can’t teach a lot of what Dick can do (no one but Dick probably can) once he melds his circus training with his fight training, so Jason had to become a brawler/bruiser in order to do the same job in canon. This meant his violence looked like violence, whereas Dick’s violence looked like cute acrobatic tricks pulling the criminals’ attention away from Batman. If Jason gets the chance to learn more from Dick, or if Dick is able to go to bat for him without triggering any bigger fights with Bruce (plus Thomas there for Bruce to turn to with dad questions/rants), does Bruce ever think Jason is crossing a line?
Even if he does, Jason isn’t in quite the same place in this universe. Even if Dick is still incommunicado when he overhears Bruce talking to Alfred and misunderstands, he now has someone else he can turn to: Grandpa Tom. Does Thomas tell Bruce that he’s not too big for a scolding and he needs to go apologize to his son? Does Bruce take that advice and explain everything to his kid so Jason never returns to his old neighborhood to learn that his mom wasn’t his biological mother?
Batman doesn’t take off in the Bat-Jet every time a Gothamite gets into trouble somewhere. It’s reasonable to assume that if Tim isn’t his emotional support child -and therefore standing right next to him when they learn his parents have been taken captive- Bruce wouldn’t leave Gotham to go save the Drakes. Obeah Man always planned to kill Jack and Janet, so they’d both die in that incident.
Does Bruce step in to adopt Tim when he realizes the orphaned boy has no family left and is worth millions of dollars (which will lead to all kinds of trouble in Gotham)? Under what circumstances does the rest of the family learn that Tim knows their secret? Does he just take pity on them when they’re trying to explain away an absence or injury one day and gently tells them that he’s known who they were for years already? Does he step in to help when they’re in trouble at some point, and is like ‘by the way, I’ve known since I was nine but that’s not important right now’ similar to canon? Does he stop Jason from running into trouble without backup one day and in the middle of arguing that he has to go, Jason realizes that the little shit knows? Do they decide to tell him one day and he overdoes his ‘shocked’ reaction? Or does he sell it perfectly and it’s years before they learn he already knew?
How does Jason take to being a big brother? Does he jump into the role with enthusiasm? Is he unsure about it? Is he determined that his little brother will know no further heartache and ends up bullying their dad (Bruce) into better self care as a result? Does he just kind of ignore Tim while he tries to figure out how he feels about all the changes until he sees some kid bullying his little brother at school and hears Kill Bill sirens going off in his head? Do they become an unstoppable team both at home and in the field? Do they geek out about books together even though they have different tastes in them? Do Bruce and Thomas just check the library any time they can’t find the boys?
Or does Jason die anyway? And Tim still steps in to help, but with another person watching with a different perspective from the others?
Everyone else is focused on the fact that Tim is already a skilled detective who knows their secret, has been studying martial arts and acrobatics enough to have a solid foundation and some decent skill already, and can recognize that Bruce needs help and therefore, should totally be the new Robin. Thomas, however, stops to ponder why it is that Tim was able to recognize Bruce and Batman’s heavily hidden depression. Instead of questioning how Tim knew where Dick lived and worked and all that, he questions how the hell a kid that young just fucked off to another state without anyone noticing. Yeah, he’s worried about Bruce getting stabbed and just going back into a fight, but he’s already got Alfred and Dick on his ass about that, so he can take a moment to feel the horror at the fact that a child witnessed that and didn’t respond as though it were the worst thing they’d ever seen. While no one else questions that Tim just had his boarding school start forwarding his mail to Wayne Manor without issue, does Thomas stop to go ‘WTF? Why is no one questioning what the Drake boy is doing here?’
Does Thomas decide that while helping Bruce, they can also help this kid who is clearly in dire need of competent adult supervision?
Who, then, adopts Tim? Thomas or Bruce? Or does Alfred adopt him out from under them, so they each get a little boy wonder? Do most people who encounter the family have a period where they try to figure out which black-haired, blue-eyed kid is which black-haired, blue-eyed man’s child before giving up with a headache? Does Bruce sometimes refer to Alfred as his mom the way Dick has a few times in canon? Are outsiders utterly confused about the whole lot? Do they all just live in the Manor together as one happy and less-dysfunctional-then-they-could-have-been family?
When Cass enters the picture and Bruce is focused on the whole assassin-turned-vigilante bit, is Thomas in the background going ‘Yes, a granddaughter! Have you met your new little brothers, yet? Oh, you don’t know how to speak? You know they have teachers for that, right, Brucie? We can afford one that will keep their mouth shut if she lets anything slip during lessons. You go help Barbie research that while I introduce her to the alphabet. See? Wasn’t that easier than making the poor girl point at everything until we caught on to what she wanted?’
‘This is your Uncle Dick, he’s going to teach you how to use the trapeze! What’s that, you like ballet? I’ll build a studio in the Manor and get you private lessons! You like roses? Alfred, want to help us build Cassie a rose garden!? Of course she broke those men’s arms, Brucie, he was harming her little brothers! I seem to recall you breaking more than a few arms when someone hurt Dickie!’
Instead of coming to Gotham with his quiet, emotionally stunted father to meet an uncertain and grieving adopted brother and very professional Alfred, does Damian end up hearing all about his new family and asked after his interests by his more mature father? Does he exit the Batmobile to be gathered up in a big bear hug by the unit of a man that is Thomas Wayne? Is he then introduced to his uncle, sister, brother, and whatever Tim ended up being in this universe? Does that make the introduction go better? Either because there are just too many variables in play for his planned takeover or because he’s too stunned at everyone being genuinely happy to meet him that he forgets he could be cursing and trowing a tantrum when they talk about helping him unpack and get ready for bed after his long trip?
Does Damian still try to kill Tim (the current Robin) off? Does he try, but this much more cohesive and connected version of the family keeps stopping him? Do they talk him through his issues better? Does he learn what it means to be part of a family much sooner? Does he end up with an art studio and a pair of kittens by the end of the first week? Does Thomas call up Talia to arrange for Goliath to be sneaked into Gotham to live in the Bat Cave once he learns that his grandson is missing his dragon bat over hot chocolate one night?
Or does Batman/Previous-Batman/Sometimes-Batman, Thomas Wayne, just raze the League the first time Ra’s messes with his son? Does Bruce get to stay with Talia to raise Damian from the beginning in his family’s ancestral home with his father, honorary second parent, little brother, daughter, son, and whatever Tim is to him in universe? Does Talia go off to become CEO or COO of another company on her own after her father’s demise? Does she work for Wayne Enterprises? Do she and Bruce get together under different circumstances? Do they not get together at all and Damian is never born? Or are things much the same between them, except she realizes that Bruce can give Damian a real family in this universe and hands him over sooner?
If Jason died and came back, how would Thomas’ presence alter his actions afterwards?
Would Thomas have killed the Joker once the threat of starting an international incident was taken off the table? Would any member of the family give a shit if Jason used guns or killed the occasional murderer/pedophile/human trafficker in this universe? Even when Jason saw there was a new Robin, he wouldn't be able to say who brought Tim into the fold, so that wouldn’t make him feel as replaced. He’d have a moment to step back and question it in a way he never did in canon. Even if he was still hurt and pissed at Bruce, would knowing Thomas, Alfred, and Dick were all there be enough to bring Jason home anyway? Would his grandpa and new little siblings ever let him leave again once he did?
Would Bruce have reacted better to Clark confessing to killing some of his rogues in a world where he was raised by Thomas? Would they never have their falling out and end up even better friends without that interruption in their relationship? Between that and having less overall issues, would Bruce be willing to call his friend sooner when he needs help? Would that extend to more members of the Justice League? Is he laid up with a broken leg and calls in Barry when Mr Freeze breaks out of Arkham because he has experience with ice-themed villains? Does Killer Croc get bitch-slapped back into Arkham by Wonder Woman one day because Bruce and his kids all had the flu and he asked for her help?
Does Jean Paul Valley ever become Batman? Or does Thomas just step into the suit while Bruce is recovering so Jean Paul gets more training time? With another adult around, does Tim still have to babysit Jean Paul all by himself? Are they able to catch the fact that Jean Paul is losing it sooner?
Does Bane have any idea what hit him when Thomas-Batman comes for him after he hurt his son?
/|^;-;^/| ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ /|^;-;^/| ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ /|^;-;^/|
Just some questions that came to me while I was feeding my goats this morning…
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Hey!
I’m an aspiring animator and I was curious because I’ve seen these in other rough animations. What are these for?
Those are called "time charts"
Its often used in professional world to organise the frame rate between keys or as they are called "inbetweens"
It's not often used so much nowadays, but to keep it simple, you can do a basic ball bouncing exercise
To put it simple:
You can find out more in Richard Williams's book "Animators Survival Kit" or on youtube
Edit: those are not necessary to use if you're working alone, as most of the times time charts are used as a guide for animator assistents
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i see sometimes non-binary being dismissed as an identity or treated as a stepping stone to fully transitioning among some texts about gender i've been reading. do you have any thoughts on that? as someone who feels the most like non-binary/agender, this has made me question my identity a lot more and made me feel more depressed lol. obviously i get misgendered irl a lot and wonder if i am just being a coward to not fully transition and what i am is not real anyway, so i should just pick something. i'm not white if that helps idk. ty for any thoughts on this.
I'm not sure what you've been reading but don't worry about what is and is not "real," no gender is innately "real." just think about how you want to live your life and then do that. you have every right to do whatever you want to navigate or try to control how people perceive and interact with you.
how people read your gendered presentation is always going to involve some calculus between phenotype, dress, voice, gesture and how all of these things are raced and classed (e.g. I have friends who relate being read as white more frequently when presenting feminine). you are the best interpreter of how these things affect you and how you want to navigate them for your own comfort & safety.
if it's not an issue of safety though I would say that getting misread is just kind of something that happens. if you don't have an easily legible presentation that you're aiming for 100% of the time then it's not really avoidable. I would try to stop worrying about what it means for your identity. like obviously how people read you does impact your life, but it's not particularly something that you need to internalise.
of course not everyone thinks about their own gender in particularly political terms, but I think that shifting or multivalent identity, shifts or inaccuracies in how people read you, &c., are part of the "point" of nonbinaryness as a targeted destabilisation of the (colonial) gender binary in the first place. and wanting a designated "nonbinary" presentation that is easily legible and categorisable kind of takes the teeth out of that.
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