It's Got Character

[chronicdelusionistsart]

Bernard Dowd & Tim Drake: Robin Analysis Masterpost

Oh god, I've made so many of these I need a central listing. Next I'm going to make a video essay or something. Help

Here's a list of posts I've made about Bernard Dowd and the Tim Drake x Bernard Dowd ship, usually about his appearances in Batman Urban Legends and Tim Drake: Robin! I'll throw a little descriptor in, too. They're sorted in (mostly) chronological order of posting. Hopefully these will be useful touchpoints for people looking to do fic or something????

Bernard Dowd and the Art of Recontextualization

A general overview of the writing sleight of hand used in Urban Legends and TD:R to characterize Bernard and reward rereading the run with a new eye.

The Continuity of Bernard Dowd

A more focused exploration of how Bernard's scenes in the 2000s, which didn't have much to them, were retroactively given depth because of the TD:R run's characterization choices.

"Does He Know, Chat?" - The Conflict of Timbern

After writing a lot about Just Bernard, I zoom out here to talk about how TD:R's central conflict revolves around both Tim and Bernard's perceptions and misunderstandings about each other, which takes a reread and the context that the run was prematurely cancelled to really understand.

The Conflict of Timbern: More Thoughts

I go a bit more into the signposting of the conflict in the post above and talk about how the narrative foreshadowing in the existing issues gives us hints of what was to be in the Timbern dynamic before the run was cancelled.

Bernard as Mirror to Early Tim

A shorter post pointing out a really cool aspect of Bernard's intro and subsequent characterization - that he mirrors the motivations of Tim in his original run origin story, but towards modern Tim himself.

[nicotineglue]

BAD anarky comic: I am a deeply unstable individual who is drawn to fringe and dangerous ideologies. I ultimately truly only care about myself and will rely on Batman/Other Heroes to bail me out if I get in over my head. Everything I say is a either a rouse for my true, selfish motivation or a warning sign that I am going completely off the deep end--IF I bother with an ideological framework at all.

GOOD anarky comic: this bridge FUCKING SUCKS

[rizztaglia]

coin flip bernard by chronicdelusionist is living rest free inside my brain sooo, here he is (i didn't know anything about the coloutd of the nrew and revised sketch so i just went w/ the colours of the older sketch)

[chronicdelusionistsart]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Bernard Dowd, the newest kid to take on the Robin mantle, has big shoes to fill. With Batman still mired in grief after the death of Jason Todd, a new villain over the horizon gunning for Batman's life, and coincidence after coincidence pointing to a grand design, he'll have to solve a deadly array of happenings and get down to the bottom of it all: Who is Moriarty? And what is his connection to Robin? At least he doesn't have to worry about it at school, where his best friends Tim and Darla are blissfully unaware of his nightly activities. But change comes to all things, and unbeknownst to Bernard, Tim has his own secrets...

fuck it. Timbern Bernard is Robin and Tim is a villain AU GO

[chronicdelusionistsart]

The Coin Flip is FINISHED!!!!! It ended up around 95k. Thanks for reading :)

[plagueislost]

is wawa about two characters named wa who explore each others body

no that would be waxwa. idiot

[chronicdelusionistsart]

[plagueislost]

the Coin Flip brainworm has yet to die. this wasnt even a commission i just cant stop thinking about it. @chronicdelusionistsart you need to pay for your crimes

[chronicdelusionistsart]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

"I, uh," Bernard says. Or, rather, fails to say. Tim's eyes are so blue, and so striking, and kind of hypnotic. He feels like his soul is being laid bare. "I've meant to ask," Tim says, slowly. "You've said a lot of things, and…" Bernard's cheeks are burning. "…I don't always know when you're joking about things…" Tim's eyes flick down to Bernard's lips. "And I think that… you, um…" This is dangerous, he thinks, over and over, but Killer Croc couldn't pry him from where he is right now with a crowbar, scant inches from Tim's face. Something's building, taut as a wire between them. He wants to lean forward and kiss him. He wants to tell him everything. He wants Tim to figure him out. He wants - Beep-beep-beep.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

[plagueislost]

quick render commission for @chronicdelusionistsart, based on their fic Coin Flip! GO READ IT. IT WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE BETTER. 🫵‼️

[chronicdelusionistsart]

Dude what the fuck this is so fuckin GOOOOOOD

[chronicdelusionistsart]

If Batman has the Court of Owls, does Owlman have like... The Court of Bats?

[chronicdelusionistsart]

Just finished Sol Cesto, an indie dungeon crawling roguelite! The general conceit, for those who don't know it, is that you manage your HP and chip away progress in the dungeon by landing on random squares in one of several rows. Definitely more fun in practice than it sounds on paper lol. It sucked me in so bad I had to take a break for my wrist

I'm not going to spoil things per se, but I really love games whose story is told through and reinforced by the gameplay. And achieving Sol Cesto's most difficult, capstone ending is very much a masterclass in using the gameplay to tell a complete arc from start to finish.

It's also got just GORGEOUS art direction. Can't recommend it enough for roguelite fans!

[pinkbuttercreame]

"You only like Bernard because he's Tim's boyfriend"

No, even if Tim and Bernard broke up, I'd still like Bernard. He deserves better.

[chamiryokuroi]

Family Dinner with the Wayne’s in where Bernard is trying his best at pretending as if he doesn’t know everyone’s secret identity, he drops enough hints to make everyone question his knowledge but he is so silly, so normal, there is no way right, right?

Bernard the ultimate rage baiter.

[chronicdelusionistsart]

You Get it. You Understand. Looking at my phone at your beautiful post like "He Would Fucking Say That"

[timelybernard]

who hates bernard dowd more

mr. dowd

moriarty

Voting ended onMay 24

[chronicdelusionistsart]

Moriarty propaganda

[tirmel]

"The wine poster shows Bern is still contented to the cult/Dionysius"

Counterpoint: the little shit decided to buy it as an homage to their first date (and for Tim's reaction when he sees it and has to try to pretend to like it/that he's not overanalyzing the shit out of it)

[chronicdelusionistsart]

My funniest read is that Bernard's trying to overcome his trauma about things related to Dionysus with a form of self styled exposure therapy because he wants to be a chef and they're prying cooking with wine out of his cold dead hands!!!

[chronicdelusionistsart]

Dark type, Evil type, whatever. They'll never do it but can we talk about how the most effective and faithful translation to English would actually be Dick Type

Sucker Punch? Dick Move

False Surrender? Dick Move

Knock Off / Thief / any other held item fuckery? Dick Move

I rest my case

[chronicdelusionistsart]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Bernard Dowd, the newest kid to take on the Robin mantle, has big shoes to fill. With Batman still mired in grief after the death of Jason Todd, a new villain over the horizon gunning for Batman's life, and coincidence after coincidence pointing to a grand design, he'll have to solve a deadly array of happenings and get down to the bottom of it all: Who is Moriarty? And what is his connection to Robin? At least he doesn't have to worry about it at school, where his best friends Tim and Darla are blissfully unaware of his nightly activities. But change comes to all things, and unbeknownst to Bernard, Tim has his own secrets...

fuck it. Timbern Bernard is Robin and Tim is a villain AU GO

[chronicdelusionistsart]

The Detective

[chronicdelusionistsart]

I finally actually sat down and watched Batman '66 the movie yesterday. Absolutely peak comedy. Is there anything I can say about it that hasn't already been said in sixty years? Probably not. But maybe my favourite part is where Catwoman says "purrfect" while undercover like three times just to hammer home that not recognizing someone with a mask off is patently ridiculous LMAOOOOO

[chronicdelusionistsart]

I thought about this more and I think I nailed down what makes it for me. Adam West Batman is a brilliant series because its satire of Batman hits at the very conceit of it. And again, I'm sure I'm not the first to say any of this but it's soooooooo

Batman stories are thrilling, often emotional, dramatic, and sometimes even comedic. BUT ☝️even the funniest normal Batman stories require you to suspend your disbelief and accept the conceit that there's a really smart and competent rich guy that dresses as a bat to fight crime.

The writers of Adam West Batman went like

Note: anyone can fucking say this. It's not a new observation. The real stroke of genius was when they went "what if we just never let you forget that?" and proceeded to make it as stupid as possible on purpose forever while otherwise obeying every structural rule of a standard Batman serial.

It's not just called the batcave, it has every little thing in it labelled neatly. There's a bat water dispenser. Batman's super smart and solves the Riddler's riddles right away - by spouting fucking nonsense, shattering the cheap trick often used to make Bruce look smart where they just have him arbitrarily know things the reader couldn't have known to solve the riddle. Adam West delivers the trademark stoicism of the Batman persona with gravitas equal to the most dramatic and tearful moments in the comics while fighting a villain who is, at this moment, tripping over their own feet.

What is insane to me is that that thing? That structure thing? That part is the reason that this incarnation of Batman is still exactly as funny as it was in '66. The fundamental building blocks of Batman stories are largely the same even now. The satire is fucking evergreen! Actually, the darker in tone average Batman is at the time you revisit Adam West Batman, the more relevant and hilarious it is.

So this is why it's so hated even half a century later. Imagine being so good at making fun of comic books that the thing you made was still accurately making fun of them decades later. God damn.