#pumpkintheriddlemaster

squish your medicine cat!

Here you go!!

Couldn’t tell you why, I haven’t done it much but I hate driving and don’t leave the house anyways but yeah never thought it was weird.

Car comfy, no people, hanging with your music loud as fuck or your car peaceful quiet. Idk man, just happens sometimes

oh no I have no gripes with the use of the drive thru. you drive through. It’s the whole point. Of course you’d eat in the car, I do it all the time

what baffled me is the idea of going inside, sitting at a table, waiting, receiving your food, packing it into containers, and absconding to your car to eat. like? just use the drive thru? Or get it TO GO. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN BRING YOUR OWN CONTAINERS? OR SIT AT A TABLE?? WH

Mag 133: Dead Horse

I never really cared that much for this statement but I’m obsessed with the fact that while Jon is dramatically reading it Daisy is just standing in the corner like this

alrighty, uh, I’d like to preface this by saying it is currently 1am where I am and it could very well be argued I should be in bed, However! I would never pass up an opportunity to ramble about Tim Stoker my beloved. That said I am also not an expert on Tim or on fandoms or on larger issues (I’m kind of young, sorry) and also, historically, not actually that great at any sort of meta analysis, so maybe take this with a grain of salt? maybe a whole salt shaker? anyway, here goes my rambling (sorry if I get a bit long-winded):

• Most interpretations I’ve seen of Fanon Tim fit rather neatly in one of two archetypes, the first of which is what I’ve come to know as one of the Default Fandom Holes - a phenomenon that, in my experience, is basically fandoms (of any media, not just tma) fitting complex characters into more common-among-fandom, simple archetypes, like a square peg into a round hole. Basically, it’s sort of like Flanderisation, if that term means anything to you. 

• Fanon Tim gets whittled down into what can be approximated as The Stereotypical Fun Bisexual: essentially, the charming, confident character who loves to party, acts as comic relief with debatable intelligence, and is generally portrayed as being ‘easy’, dating and sometimes hooking up with a lot of people, as well as often having a lot of, er, ‘sexual prowess’, for lack of a better term. This archetype is... problematic in and of itself, to say the very least (CoughCoughBiphobicCough) and seems applied most often to (either canonically or presumed to be) bisexual characters. Y’know... like Tim!

• Seriously, the amount of boxes Fanon Tim checks here is, astounding. And to be fair, he does have some of those qualities in canon - he is, indeed, a confident person who is mentioned on occasion to be a charmer and a flirt, and he’s demonstrated to be something of a social butterfly, such as keeping up with the lives and studies of the various students using the Institute for their research and sources. In fanon, however, I’ve seen him described as almost nothing like he is in canon; the edges are sanded off to fit the stereotype, and so he’s called a slut or a himbo a truly worrisome amount of times, someone who exists to crack jokes and flirt and do very little else. Sometimes it’s fond, sure, like these are supposed to be loveable qualities, he’s the beloved thot, but other times it’s portrayed as a vicious flaw. Either way, it’s not great, because that’s just. Not who Tim is?? At least, not outright in canon. It’s a lot more noticeable when Tim isn’t the main focus of whatever you’re currently looking at (art or fic or whatever), and so the creator might easily simplify him on the sidelines. However, even some pieces where Tim is the focus display this phenomenon. It happens a lot. Like, a lot. And I notice because... *drumroll*...

• It’s just so unlike who Tim is in canon! He’s confident, yes, and something of a flirt, but he’s not implied to be particularly promiscuous, and he takes his job very seriously. It’s been noticed lot more recently how among the season one gang, Tim’s the one with the straightest head on his shoulders, something that seems strange if you’re looking at Fanon Tim, but perfectly logical with Canon Tim. Jon’s... well, Jon, Martin’s busy breaking and entering and being harassed by worms, Sasha’s out going on coffee dates and graveyard romps with the Distortion, and Tim’s just trying to get through the work day. He gets along well with others and uses that to his advantage when needed. He’s intelligent, has a good education, and is the one to mention to Jon that some recorded statements are misnumbered, showing a particular effort that this Fanon Tim likely wouldn’t put in. He’s goofy at times, but it’s not all he is.

• And! Not to mention (I say, as I’m actively mentioning it) that he does have trauma like everyone else in this show! It doesn’t get explained for over a hundred episodes, but it’s plainly obvious and heart wrenching in hindsight. I might be biased, because I myself am an eldest sibling, but the loss of Danny has a huge effect on Tim’s character and informs so many things he does, even before we learn his name. Of course, it’s hard to have your airheaded comic relief when they’re a complex character wracked with grief and anger, so a lot of times this gets casually shoved in a closet and never acknowledged, ever.

• But. Sometimes, Tim doesn’t act as the shallow wisecracker. Sometimes, Tim’s Fanon characterization is informed not by his season 1, before-everything-went-wrong behaviour, but by his season 3 behaviour, where we meet the other incarnation of fanon Tim, the one I like to call Jackass Tim.

• “But Cinna,” you might very well say, “Tim had a lot of reasons to be angry by season three!” And you’d be right! By season three (and even season two, to be honest), Tim’s been put through the fucking wringer. Brutal. He’s got lots and lots and lots of reasons to be absolutely pissed - except, most of the time when Jackass Tim rears his head, he’s once again not the main focus of the piece. Rather than acting as the simple comic relief, he acts as the simple antagonist. It might come as little surprise that a lot of these examples come from people who think Jon Did Nothing Wrong - not naming any names, of course, but it’s a phenomenon that comes up now and then. And I myself do like Jon! A whole lot! But he also did things wrong! A lot of things wrong! Nobody in this podcast is perfect, that’s part of its whole.. thing

• Jackass Tim is, in most of his appearances, the cruel man who’s just so mean to poor old Jon for no good reason, who, of course, did nothing wrong! /s. A lot of these characterizations are almost startling in how far out of character they pull Tim, in the exact opposite direction to Fun Tim - he’s cruel, verbally and somethings physically hurting Jon in ways that are less informed by a man who’s depressed, stuck at the end of his rope and feeling betrayed by a former best friend, and more “wait, shit, we need someone to bully Jon for our whump and then immediately leave the room.” It’s no surprise that these pieces don’t exactly take the time to examine why Tim’s so angry, or to realize that in canon, by season three, much of that anger is turned inward into a suicidal spiral. Most sightings of Jackass Tim aren’t focused on Tim - he’s just an archetype to prop up other, more focal characters (usually Jon, in my experience). 

• To be very fair, there are good interpretations of Tim, even when he’s not the focus! Not everyone’s pulling him out of character. Sometimes he’s written very generically, sure, as a side character, but it’s better than the above two characterizations. Tim’s not everyone’s favourite, of course, he’s not quite a main character and not everyone cares much enough to do all the research to keep him in character. Sometimes it’s just not that important to what you’re making, and that’s totally understandable! I get that dude, no prob

here! A very quick kitty cuddle on a bed, because I think kitty jmart deserve their safehouse getaway too