(no subject)

[summercomfort]

ugh, I was less productive than I'd hoped today, so I'm a bit behind on grading. But I was also really sleepy the whole day, egh.

Did get new yarn so that I can continue crocheting my blanket, though. At this point this is my 4th ball of yarn?? Anyway, it's finally feeling blanket-sized, so I'm pretty happy about it.

Other than that, frittered away my evening reading fics where Tim Drake is sad. What an excellent and bountiful genre! Hopefully my brain will be sufficiently rested up that tomorrow I'll be able to plow through a bunch of narratives. :)

Comments

[minoanmiss]

AHAHAHAHA Sad Tim drake, glorious genre, how that boy suffers

[summercomfort]

yes it's my fave. He's so wooby but I'm strangely okay with it

[oracne]

I have wondered why Tim Drake is always Sad. Maybe it's just the recs I've received?

[summercomfort]

well, there's canon Tim Drake, who is mostly not sad, and instead is just a Smart Teenager. But then there's apparently a particular Red Robin run where he is Super Sad in the comics because he lost the Robin mantle, has to run around trying to save Bruce, and then apparently falls out the building thinking something like "well, I feel like I've done enough."

Which then fandom's immediately like "!!!!" and made that a big part of his personality???

Anyway, fanon!Tim Drake has abandonment issues from his parents never being home, is hyper-independent because he's been living on his own in his family's manor since age 8 (even though in canon he goes to boarding school), and was Robin during Bruce's Dark Years when he was ultra-violent and depressed after losing Jason (even though it wasn't that bad in canon). Basically fandom decided to crank up Tim's backstory of being a super smart kid who feels under-appreciated no matter what he does and seems to be valued only for his utility and ability to perform to societal expectations. (Hmmm, I wonder why?? lol) Then, what happens to Tim depends on the author -- some authors put Tim through the wringer re: depression, suicidal ideation, etc. Other authors give Tim a family, usually in the form of the Bats -- either Bruce is an amazing dad compared to Tim's birth parents, or, if Bruce is also a bad dad, then the bat siblings take care of each other. Still other authors push Tim to a stage where Tim leaves the Batfam and finds family with Young Justice, or on his own, etc etc. Basically it's always "Tim feels sad because he feels like he doesn't belong to the family" followed by "Tim tells himself that's okay because that's just how the world is, and proceeds to over-think everything, culminating in convoluted plan that backfires" followed by "Tim finds family and affirmation." It's cheap cathartic endorphins but it works, lol.

[oracne]

Hmmm, I do NOT wonder why! Thanks for this, I hadn't read most of his canon.