I've decided that it's finally time to make a pinned post to make it easier to find my Unwanteds character analyses/specific parts of them.
Aaron
By Series:
Whole series (Quests and Unwanteds)
Original Series Only
Quests only
By Book:
The Unwanteds (Perceptions, Parallels, Fear to Anger)
Island of Silence (Character Continuity, Setting the Stage, Turning Point)
Island of Fire (Paranoia, Needing Support)
Island of Legends (Eva Tangent, Beginnings and Endings, Welcome to The Jungle)
Island of Shipwrecks (Liam Tangent, Wanting to be Unwanted)
Island of Graves (Potential, Progress, Applecorn, Twins, Rebuilding)
Island of Dragons (Self-doubt and Healing, Giving up Leadership)
Dragon Captives (He's Happy!)
Dragon Bones (He's less happy now, Kaylee Tangent)
Dragon Ghosts (Head Mage, The Dissenters, Magic and World-building)
Dragon Curse (Family and Frenemies, Giving up the Robe)
Dragon Fire (Cycles and Centers, Labels and Legacies, Nadia Tangent)
Dragon Slayers (Good and Evil, Brother and Son)
Dragon Fury (Deserving of Redemption, Epilogue, The End)
By Topic:
Tangents (Eva, Liam, Kaylee, Nadia)
Aaron and Mr. Today (Parallels, Turning Point, Character Continuity, Self-Doubt and Healing, Brother and Son, Epilogue)
Leadership (Setting the Stage, Needing Support, Giving up Leadership, Head Mage, Giving up the Robe, Good and Evil)
World-building and Writing (Perceptions, Magic and World-building, Labels and Legacies, The End)
The Jungle (Welcome to the Jungle, Wanting to Be Unwanted, Self-doubt and Healing, Cycles and Centers)
Aaron and Artime (Setting the Stage, Needing Support, Wanting to be Unwanted, Twins, Self-Doubt and Healing, Head Mage, Magic and World-building, Labels and Legacies, Epilogue)
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genuinely it kills me that the only thing people know about duke is he’s a meta day time hero named signal because his pre meta signal stuff is so good and like the meat of his character to me like omg I just feel bad these people are missing out. They don’t even know “it’s why I got these puzzles out Mr Wayne. I’m going to take him on. They all say I’m crazy, but theyll see… you’re only crazy if it doesn’t work, right? Now, like I said… what’s a six letter word for hit-or-miss?” They don’t even know his parents got jokerized in an exact replica of the wayne family murders. They don’t even know We are Robin. They don’t know he’s a puzzle master. They don’t know everything he went through trying to find his parents. They don’t know he threw himself in front of a train because he was pissed Bruce was an amnesiac and wanted him to lock in and be Batman again. They don’t even know We are Robin. They don’t know he blasted Two-Face underwater with his favorite heavy metal band “Batmans bitch” and/or pussy it depends how you interpret the censor. They don’t even know “look at this. This is me. This is you. I love you.” They don’t even know We are Robin. They don’t even know he wanted to be called Lark. They don’t even know the name signal is based off his mom and being the first knight on the battlefield. They don’t even know “and you told me you had a rule. That when you weren’t sure about someone, you met them first thing in the morning. In the new light, you said. People have a harder time hiding who they are first thing in the morning.” They don’t even know he quotes Tarantino movies and is a poet and collects card games. They don’t even know “You think Joker is just pure evil, just pure black. But he’s not. He attacks what he loves. His serum makes victims do the same. So my parents? Every horrible thing out of their mouths? They’re actually telling me how much they love me. That’s the motivation behind the blackness. So please. Let them stay. I can take it.” They DONT EVEN KNOW WE ARE ROBIN
Wayne Wearing the Hats of Other Cosmere Characters
As requested by anon. :)
And as we all know, when Wayne wears someone's hat, he basically becomes them. And if this list has taught me one thing, it's that I do not know which Cosmere characters wear hats other than, like, Veil.
1. Wayne with a pirate hat on (he's Tress!)
I don't know if Tress wears a pirate hat, but I still think Wayne could make this work.
Wayne: Wax, meet my new friend Daniel!
Wax: ...
Wax: You, uh, mean Dan the Slasher? A man very, very wanted for slashing faces?
Wayne: Well, actually, he prefers to go by "Daniel," and it turns out, he was only slashing faces to make people smile, but we had a really good talk about boundaries and he thinks that, after jail, he might try to be a stand-up comedian instead.
Wax: You convinced him to turn himself in??
Wayne: Yeah.
Wayne: Is that okay?
2. Wayne with a mistcloak (he's Vin!)
A mistcloak has a hood, and therefore, it is a sort of hat.
Wayne: All clothes are just a costume, you know?
Wayne: When I wear this, I'm giving people a warning that I am dangerous, that I kill.
Wayne: But when I wear a bow and a dress to a party, I'm telling people that I belong, that I'm probably not going to kill them.
Wayne: ...
Wayne: Sometimes that second part's a lie.
3. Wayne with a mistcloak (but now he's Kelsier!)
Again, the hood makes it a hat.
Wayne: I think people misunderstand "ruthless."
Wayne: It doesn't mean "mean." It doesn't mean "cruel."
Wayne: It means you see the path from where you are to where you need to be, and you follow that path, regardless of whether or not it takes you through some dark places.
Wayne: And me?
Wayne: Well in some ways, let's just say I'm a "Pathian."
4. Wayne wearing the hat that Masaka made (he's Nikaro!)
Yes, at this point I was in fact using ctrl "F" to find "hat" on people's Coppermind page, why?
Wayne: I am a lone hunter.
Wayne: But I am wearing a hat made for me by my former friend.
Wayne: But only at night.
Wayne: In the shadows.
Wayne: Where no one can see that I am very lonely.
Wax: It's a cute hat.
Wayne: H-How long have you been standing there??
5. Wayne wearing a white brimmed hat (he's Veil!)
Finally, a character who characteristically wears a hat!
Wayne: I'll leave the long-term planning to you, Marasi.
Wayne: Me? I'm going to go to a bar, drink more wine than people think I can handle, and see what they say when they think I won't remember.
Wayne: Little do they know, I can't forget.
Marasi: ...
Marasi: Why am I weirdly attracted to you right now?
6. Wayne wearing puppy ears (he's TenSoon!)
Say it with me, kids: Puppy ears are a hat.
Wayne: Kids these days don't remember.
Wayne: How it was when the world was ash.
Wayne: When death nipped at the heels of infants and the sky was so black that you could never even see the stars.
Wayne: ...
Wayne: And I'm so glad they don't.
Wax: ...
Wax: Why are you lying on my porch in dog ears?
Wayne: Old dogs need the sun's warmth.
7. Wayne with Syl on his head (he's Kaladin!)
A Syl sitting on your head is a sort of hat. And Syl is always up for helping someone understand Kaladin.
Wax: Uh, Wayne? It's 3am. Why are you sitting on my roof staring off into the darkness?
Wayne: No time to sleep.
Wayne: Every moment I sleep is a moment I am not throwing myself bodily into the teeth of problems that will otherwise consume the innocent.
Wax: You, uh, have time to brood though?
Wayne: I have to rest sometimes.
Wax: ...
Wax: This is rest??
8. Wayne with a bald cap (he's Szeth!)
A bald cap is a sort of hat.
Wax: Back on the roof, huh?
Wayne: I like to be high up. And alone.
Wax: Do any Stormlight characters sleep?
Wayne: Sleeping lets the screams in.
Wax: ...
Wayne: Hey, Wax? Do you mind just telling me what's right, what I should do?
Wayne: I don't think I know.
Wax: Uh...is this still Szeth?
Wayne: ...
Wayne: You know, I wish I knew.
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white people really cant give a shit abt anyone but themselves unless held at gunpoint or smth huh?
“what about the poor little white kids just trying to have fun?” what about the poor little kids of color made to feel unsafe and unwelcome in a space that was supposed to be fun?
“why can’t poc just make their own redesigns and we can keep these ones” why cant you realize that your actions have consequences and that you should maybe try to not enforce racist stereotypes??
like ofc its ideal to have VARIETY among both villains AND protagonists, its when your characters look like this
that the issue arises
scratch “can”, white people are encouraged to reblog
For their fifth anniversary, I decided to write a little bit about why I really enjoy Timbern and Bernard as a partner for Tim. Because there's a lot of Timbern hate out there and they deserve all the love.
To talk about Timbern, I need to talk about how I got into DC. Because Bernard is literally the character that got me interested in reading DC comics, exploring the Batfamily, and engaging with the fandom. Someone I follow was posting some Timbern stuff, and I was like, wow, no way, they're finally letting Robin kiss boys? And the boy he's kissing is a super traumatized pain cult survivor with a complex relationship with his parents? And he has a habit of pretending like he's fine or avoiding talking about his issues? Count me in.
And here I am, ten months down the Timbern and Batfamily rabbit hole.
I'm not going to pretend like I'm a Tim expert or that I've read every one of his comic appearances and have an encyclopedic knowledge of all the details of his character/personal life. Maybe one day. I can have goals. I have also not fully read the issues where Bernard is first introduced (because I want to read Robin '93 in order and that's a big undertaking), but I have seen all the panels with Bernard in them and know the context for them.
But I do feel like I know enough about Tim, Bernard, and their relationship to have an somewhat educated opinion on this. But I also don't know everything about Tim and these are my personal interpretations of the characters based on what I've read. Timbern shippers and Tim fans, feel free to respectfully disagree with me. Timbern haters and Tim haters, go complain about it in the anti tag :)
Also, fair warning, I do talk a little bit about some of Tim's past love interests (mainly Ariana and Steph, a little bit of Tam), their similarities with/differences from Bernard, and the strengths of Tim and Bernard's relationship compared to theirs. I don't think any of it strays into anti territory and I tried not to put the other ships down, but just wanted to mention it so people who ship those as well (multi-shipping for the win!) aren't caught off guard.
So, Timbern. One of the biggest reasons that I like Bernard as a love interest for Tim is the fact that he knows Tim is Robin, but he's not pushing Tim to tell him or is overly bothered by Tim keeping it from him.
This tells us a couple of things: a) Bernard is smart, b) he can see through Tim's masks, and c) he is content with whatever pieces of himself that Tim is willing to give him.
Let's break those down into a little bit more detail.
Point A: Bernard is smart
Tim is a smart character. If people are going to simplify him down to one trait, it's going to be his intelligence. It's what he's known for, and the boy is smart and a fantastic detective. When there's something he doesn't know, he's not going to stop looking into it until he knows it. I also feel like he values intelligence in others (e.g. looking up to Bruce and Dick). Which makes me think that he wouldn't want to be with someone who isn't smart in some way.
Bernard comes across as a bit of an idiot at times (which, by his own admission, is intentional), but he's also double majoring in physics and biology in college (bio-major here: not easy). And yes, he's a conspiracy theorist, but that also shows that he notices patterns and strange coincidences (something that Tim also very much does). And, as mentioned above, he figured out that Tim is Robin on his own. That's not an easy feat, since most civilians Tim has been friends with over the years don't do that (with some notable exceptions, like Tam).
I do feel like all of Tim's partners in the comics that I've read (mostly Ariana, Steph, and Tam) are intelligent. Bernard's definitely not unique in that, and it's another point in favor of my 'Tim appreciates intelligence in addition to looks' idea. But Bernard's intelligence is one of the reasons that I think he's a good partner for Tim.
Point B: Bernard can see through Tim's masks.
A big part of the Tim-centric comics I've read is him balancing the masks of 'Robin' and 'Tim Drake' and the fact that he really hates hiding things from the people he cares about. He hates hiding Robin from his dad and Ariana. He hates hiding 'Tim' from Steph and Young Justice. But he's good at it. Or, as good as the plot requires him to be. He very much tries to follow Bruce's teachings about keeping the masks separate and follows Bruce's rules about who can know his identities. It's a big plot point in Young Justice '98 that Tim won't tell his team his civilian identity even though the rest of them have shared it. And it's not because he doesn't want to; it's because Bruce says no. Tim hates doing that, he hates the wall that it puts up between him and them, but he does it anyways because he understands that it's necessary.
And Tim's a pretty good liar. I think it comes with the territory of maintaining a secret identity for eight years, alongside a fairly active social life. He's not a pathological liar or anything, or flawless at it, but he can lie and hide things pretty well when he wants to.
Tim's lying and hiding, from what I've read, was a barrier in some of his past relationships. It made things hard with Ariana (and Steph, before she knew his identity). With Bernard, it's less of an issue. It's unclear how/when Bernard figured out that Tim was Robin, but he did. Even though Tim, a good liar, was trying to keep it secret. I like to headcanon that Bernard figured it out when Tim rescued him from the cult, since he told Robin to tell Tim he wanted to finish their date, which implies that he had reason to think there was some connection between Tim and Robin. Anyways, admittedly, in TD:R we see that Tim wasn't doing a great job with his excuses and didn't seem super motivated to keep Robin a secret. But the point is, Bernard saw through Tim's masks, both his civilian one and his vigilante one. I feel like he knows Tim as both a vigilante and a civilian and doesn't seem to separate them like Tim does. He sees 'Tim' and 'Robin' as one person.
Which, in my opinion, is something Tim needs. He hates wearing masks. And, while he wears them with Bernard, to Bernard there's no conflicting identities: there's his boyfriend, Tim, who is also Robin. Bernard loves not one or the other, but Tim as a whole.
Point C: Bernard isn't pushing Tim for more.
Bernard knows that Tim is Robin. Tim hasn't told him about it and doesn't know that he knows. And Bernard is content to wait for Tim to be ready to tell him. Something I've noticed in past relationships that Tim has had is that Tim can't give all of himself to his partners. He has a lot of obligations, a lot of things he feels responsible for, which means that he has things that have pulled him away from them. And that has been a point of tension with those partners. Tim can't give them what they wanted from him.
Bernard isn't asking Tim for more than Tim is willing to share. He's okay with Tim having secrets, with him having a secret life. He's okay with being a part of Tim's life rather than involved in every aspect of it. He doesn't need to know everything Tim is up to; he just needs to be there for what he can. That's not to say their relationship wouldn't benefit from a little more openness with each other. But I think that Bernard being willing to let Tim share on his own timeline makes him a good partner for Tim.
Some other things I like about Bernard as a partner for Tim:
He's a civilian. Tim has a history of being a character with a lot of civilian connections, but he's kind of lost that recently. Bernard gives Tim more of a civilian social life and gives him connections to things outside of Robin and vigilantism.
Bernard will stand up for Tim. Yes, Tim is a very capable vigilante, but he's not great at advocating for himself. Tim will put his life on the line to protect everyone else, but will let his own needs fall by the way-side at times. And Bernard will stand up for him. Bruce not protecting his Robin well enough? Bernard will happily chew out Batman to protect his self-sacrificing boyfriend. Bernard's parents being mildly homophobic and making Tim uncomfortable? Bernard will happily make them as uncomfortable as possible in return. Bernard has no problems advocating for Tim.
But Bernard will also call Tim out on his crap. Tim (as Robin) trying to do everything on his own? Bernard's going to insist on fighting right beside him. Tim pushing his nose into Bernard's history with the cult as Robin, rather than as a boyfriend? Bernard's not going to answer his questions. Bernard is fierce. Which is actually another common trait in Tim's partners. Tim does not date push-overs. And Bernard is not intimidated one bit by his vigilante-boyfriend.
Anyways, that's a long way of saying that I really enjoy Timbern and I think that Bernard really makes a lot of sense as a partner for Tim. He understands Tim and complements his personality nicely. And I personally think he's a really fun character.
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Nothing more intimate than a hero who’s keeping their identity a secret to protect their loved ones and to keep them from worrying, and their loved one who already knows but won’t say anything because they’re waiting for the hero to tell them themselves.
One funny thing about the new Batman run is Batman being like “hey hallucination Alfred? Why didn’t you tell me about your great niece?” And the Alfred that I cannot stress enough is a figment of his imagination is like “well master Bruce, it was written in my will, which you have not read” and Bruce is then like “what’s this mysterious society she’s a part of?” And the Alfred, that is not real and does not know what real Alfred did, is like “that’s in the will as well” and Bruce. Still does not check that will
Tim takes a break from looking out for bruce to focus on his own mental health for five fucking minutes and he’s already out there doing shit like this, Tim’s gonna throttle this man
The fact he's self aware enough to recognize he hadn't looked at Alfred's will and why but not enough to actually read said will
Hallucination Alfred is honestly such an interesting way for have us experience Bruce's thoughts though. Cause it also shows moments of how self aware Bruce can be at times when he's not actively ignoring it.
Batfam and hallucination dead loved ones back at it again gsgdg
He's 15, he's a loser, he's an artist, he reads manga, he's a nerd, he's cringe, his best friend keeps fucking disappearing, he's doomed by the narrative at all times, his parents are disappointed in his choice to become a doctor, people hate him, his dad is a chud, his mother is cursed by God, he's two apples tall and on God he can throw a punch, he's Damian Al-Ghul Wayne
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duke and tim are so exactly the time period that they were written, duke is very much a gen z hero as tim is so incredibly gen x, but dick was written in 1940 with the understanding that one day millennials will come to exist and he will be one
You all know the only people I actually understand preferring Tim as Red Robin are the people who like seeing him suffer
Like I love Tim, but he's a character, that's valid. You can enjoy characters suffering, I'm not gonna take offense.
To anyone else I'm just like
Why
Why
That trash? (And if we are going by post-crisis which most people cling to) That literal trash?
Some people really still out there calling going back to Robin "regression". Like if you also want to call someone getting a limb reattached after it was cut off "regression", sure, but I'm generally gonna call that "recovery" and stay far away from you if you continue to insist otherwise.
The thing is that he’s 21 years old!!!! (If we calculate how old he was when Damian first appeared and how old Damian is now since we haven’t really got an official age for Tim) he should be having his own mantle by now!
Red Robin is shit but he deserves to be his own superhero someday it’s been 20 years aprox since Red Robin
Like yeah Tim and Damian sharing Robin gave them both character growth and it’s fun to read, but again, it’s been >>>20 years<<<
I know he's 21 years old! It doesn't matter. And in fact it's very important to me that he stay Robin as an adult specifically! Robin isn't a mantle with "kid" or "boy" in the name. And forcing him out because "he's an adult now" is like the superhero version of "stop caring about what you care about and do your taxes".
Originally Dick was going to stay Robin as an adult until they wanted two different characters for Titans and Batman back in the 80's.
The first appearance of the costume that we'd come to view as Red Robin was Dick returning to Robin as an older adult. It wasn't intended to be viewed as different, it was just mainline canon and how it was implemented for Tim that completely ruined it (which was what this post was about by the way, the reasons he became Red Robin with the whole "it's tainted" thing and doing it to punish himself ruins using it in any way that's not purposefully negative).
Tim when he showed up, the first thing he did was ask Dick to return to Robin not because he wanted Dick to "regress" because Tim doesn't see it as a child's mantle. He sees it as just as important as Batman.
There was a story written not long after Tim's debut that was an alternate future where he retired and then returned specifically to Robin again to help Batman. There was another alternate future in Young Justice where he was in his 30's and still Robin.
Tim has always been the independent Robin that worked with Batman but was never under his shadow. He's only ever been here by choice, and
He has absolutely no reason to use any other name. It's forced and unlike his character to do so by choice. It should only be done to hurt him, or you really loose his character. And it really sucks to make decisions about his character based on how other characters feel about it instead of him.
And frankly, Tim and Damian sharing Robin has a lot of potential that has not been tapped. Like, we got Robin Season and a few other comics with interactions that don't really get into it. Let's not pretend for a second like we're done exploring that.