#anti-timsteph

[alicepooryorik]

Tim: Spoiler? You know I didn't.

[soleminisanction]

Ahem.  

Of all Tim Drake’s canon love-interests (pre-New 52), the only one he has ever displayed both romantic and sexual interest in is Cassandra Sandsmark. She is also the only woman he has ever propositioned, though the offer was turned down. 

Tim Drake is demisexual, and his deep friendship with Cassie only adds to their potential romance. It could be an incredibly compelling romantic sub-plot if it were ever allowed to be fully explored, instead of being smothered in its crib to inorganically force Tim back together with a woman who repeatedly betrays his trust. Which they have done three separate times.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[soleminisanction]

If i could erase all of tim & steph's red robin interactions from my mind forever i'd do it in a snap because they make me so uncomfortable. Her not letting him explain & literally screaming at him in issue 9 or 10 for not trusting her while telling him that all the times she went behind his back were okay because she was doing it with batman and making only him apologize for the both of them was awful. I have to do a double take when people say shes the one that deserved better in their dynamic

Yeah, seriously. It is so uncomfortable. She hired people to attack him, Batman's instructions be damned, someone who actually cared about Tim would've told him to fuck off.

If I could change one thing about canon, it would be to have Steph's original Batman-based "betrayal for Tim's own good" end with Bruce saying, "This was all a test, but not for you Robin. I brought this plan to Spoiler to see how she'd react. That she agreed to go through with it despite everything it put you through is concerning. I think you two should have a long talk about your relationship."

It would've made so much more sense.

[soleminisanction]

Do you hate timsteph. I read your analysis and you wrote god knows the readers don't know why tim loves or is with steph and it came across kinda shitty. We didn't get build up of their relationship in rebirth like pre flashpoint but we do see them being in love and caring about each other. I actually prefer it to the sometime problematic way their relationship was framed pre new 52. But saying god knows why tim is with steph is a mean thing to say.

I mean, yeah? I’ve never been shy about that. I dislike Tim/Steph a lot. 

Seriously, no hate to the shippers – y’all do you – but purely criticizing the pre-Crisis canon pairing, it is my hard-line NoTP. And not because it’s “problematic,” but because I think it’s unequal and unpleasant to read. Like, I genuinely don’t know why he ever dated her. It feels like she did nothing but harass, insult, use and betray him for all 180 issues of Robin. 

But that is an entirely other rant.

That said, the reason I said “god knows” it because it’s literally true. I know, blah blah new universe and all, but still should’ve been some justification. A get-together story, a flashback, a conversation about their first date, something. Them being generically cute together is very much not enough, especially because a) the last time they were in a relationship ended so badly and definitively and b) they did it by smothering one of his other potential relationships in its crib.

Also, to me, the whole Rebirth thing comes across as lazy writers not knowing what to do with Steph if she’s not either The Girlfriend or a glorified cameo trying to lure back lost readers. Which is honestly really shitty for her? Like that’s just a shit way to treat a female character. And I don’t even like her. I’m genuinely surprised more of her fans aren’t annoyed by it.

So yeah.