i feel like timtam💙 is the only stable relationship that tim could never fuck up and crash out about (i do love timkon, but specially for their crash-outs, they’re twice as stupid together) except i also know i’m a v young dc fan and i haven’t read enough comics to really get tam fox’s personality. is she like. relatively normal or closer to being as unhinged as tim is lol
Don't we all love spectacular crashouts? I feel like that is a universal mood. Give me the good angst 🤌
Tim's relationships are pretty cursed generally, lol, but said crashouts in canon mainly happen because of him having to hide his vigilantism from his significant others. Obviously, that causes huge issues on multiple fronts, and is a major contributing factor for why Tim's relationships with Steph, Ariana, and Zoanne ended.
Enter Tamara Fox, my favorite of his canon love interests. She's introduced during Tim's Red Robin arc--AKA his depressed crashout era that put him on several watchlists, cost him his spleen, and labelled him as mentally unstable by the JLA. Tim's identity is immediately revealed and they are both captured by ninjas. Over the rest of the arc, Tam is in constant mortal peril and arguably sees Tim at his lowest while he partners with Ra's. Scary situation, not an ideal meet cute, but she is down so bad for this scrunkly boy, issues and all. She locked in on this wet cat of a man and said she liked what she saw, which I find hilarious on so many levels.
After *waves hands* all that, she settles in as a will-they-won't they love interest (there are a lot of those in Red Robin) that never commits to having them date, but sets them up for an eventual relationship that we didn't see because New 52 came along and massacred us all. (Yes, I am bitter.)
Annnyway, I adore her and Tim's interactions. In a lot of ways, because after being held hostage by ninjas, nearly killed by spider assassins, and put in mortal peril more times than she can count, Tam has decided to be thoroughly unimpressed by anything vigilante related.
I feel like there's an easy out writers take with civilian love interests where either A) their hero/vigilante SO is the narrative's complete focus, and/or B) the civilian can't possible understand their partner's struggles or lifestyle. In both cases, it makes the other side of the relationship feel more shallow or artificial, but TimTam avoids that. Tam is on the ground-level for a lot of Tim's plotlines and sees him in action. She clocks him for who he immediately and understands why he is the way he is better than pretty much anyone you see in Red Robin. She also has her own life and priorities that don't get swallowed up by Tim. We get a window into her personal life and family dynamics that I wish were explored more, and get to see her consistently catch Tim off guard with how she reacts to things versus what he thought she was going to do.
So, yes, I think this is a relationship that would be difficult to fuck up. It sidesteps most of the hidden identity tropes and drama, and Tam isn't afraid to call Tim out on his BS while also being willing to hear him out when things do sideways. She doesn't ask him to stop being Red Robin or give up his mission, but doesn't get thrown into that world herself. She operates in a gray area where she is in the know but has decided she doesn't want to get more involved, which results in a relationship where Tim can talk to her about pretty much anything, which wasn't really possible in his previous relationships.
He annoys Tam to death sometimes (she puts up with so much) but I love their dynamic, and how Tam was written in general. Tim meets his match with her, and they're so fun together! She's as unhinged as he is, just a different flavor. ;)
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