5-7-9

[5-7-9]

Do you think he brushed her hair with kindness?

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It seems that Cassandra Cain's current Batgirl ongoing will continue for another year!

It's very funny how I was talking about people criticizing it the other day and it'll still be going strong into 2026. 😭

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nother nita. I always thought her costume could use a bit more idk. something. so i pulled in her snake from world without young justice + tried to make her costume look like cloth over scale mail

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batcat challenges you to match their freak, wyd?

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WFA doesn’t know about Gotham Girl and Duke. WFA doesn’t know about Riko’s crush on Duke. WFA doesn’t know about Tim and Darcy/Sparrow and We Are Robin. WFA doesn’t know about Riko and Batgirl. WFA doesn’t know about Daxton and Batman-

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i have only ever sought out reading the comics where Tim is canonically bi and so on with other reasons to read comics and therefore i recognize when artists keep getting hired to draw for plotlines with queer elements and so since i know the artist from Duke’s fear state part is also the timkon queerbait artist i have to assume that the artist has some say in the story or at least is working with writers they agree with because-

Long story short is that only consciously bisexual Tim is supportive of Duke.

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The writers of Robin War did not get We Are Robin at all, on re-read it's quite obvious they didn't care for them at all. They treat We Are Robin (WAR) as if it's useless, they're importance is downplayed at every turn and they barely get any moment to shine.

(break because this is a long post)

Most of my issues start after the Robins meet up at the gym. Duke starts giving a speech while his friends stand off to the side. Up until this point Duke has never been treated as a leader and the We Are Robin team have only acted as equals.

Everyone decided independently to go out and fight crime, everyone is on the same page and that's why they work together. They're a group working together because they want to, they aren't a gang working under a gang leader.

Damian immediately shows up, tells them they aren't Robin, tells them to go home, insults them and beats up both Duke and everyone else. On top of dozens of people being arrested our first impressions of We Are Robin are them being portrayed as weak and incompetent, and I hate that this isn't a one time occurrence.

Grayson #15 literally starts with WAR saying they are Robin only to immediately be corrected by the "main four" Robins followed by Dick talking about how inexperienced they are. Not long after we get a two page spread of Damian berating them and beating them with ease.

What happens right after they get trained? They get captured and rendered useless before they could do anything. What happens when they're captured? You guessed it! They get insulted more. They don't even get to show off any training as they escape, they just reach between bars and throw Tim upwards, the next two encounters with the Talons barely show any of WAR fighting either.

I get that this was supposed to show the difference in skill but we haven't been shown WAR doing anything that doesn't show how weak they are, it's overkill and is just discrediting all of them. Plus it's missing the entire point, they aren't meant to fight super villains and they aren't meant to be super soldiers.

For the Third? Fourth? Time now Damian defeats all of them again. Can you tell how tired of this I am yet? Finally after all that we get to see We Are Robin fight!

...But it didn't feel satisfying at all, not to me at least. The fighting is relegated to the background, in the first panel it shows most of them hiding behind a wall while the Talons attack. Then the next one has us focusing on Duke and Damian's conversation and fight. This empowering moment is then turned into Duke, a member of the group getting beat up by Damian again.

The kid who we just met gets his time to shine, he's been afraid this entire time so he must get his moment to be brave here. Nope, he didn't defeat the Talon and is about to die, hopefully another member steps in, showing the teamwork and strengths of We Are Robin? No, Damian saves him and tells him he's not Robin.

Finally we reach the last moment of WAR fighting, there's nothing quite as bad as the others but most of the panel is taken up by conversation and we're left with one image. I'm sorry but one image doesn't make up for the countless times they've been mocked in this event.

That's it, that's everything, that's how We Are Robin was portrayed in Robin War and it was absolutely. fucking. horrendous.

I think it's pretty clear that they only saw We Are Robin as an army, a group of people lead to fight others. This should've been obvious to the writers but WAR isn't an army or a gang, it's a movement and a movement is very different. The Robins aren't pawns to send off into battle to fight super villains. They're kids trying to make a difference, they work together to protect others, they inspire others to join and together they can bring change. That's where their strength comes from.

Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian talk lots about what it means to be Robin and they talk a lot about how WAR aren't Robins. From the get go we're more likely to agree with them, they have all been Robin and we're likely way more attached to those characters. None of them really see anything wrong with their words and you never get to see an argument for WAR's opinions on what Robin is. This removes so much nuance, undermines the entire movement and makes everything they're doing seem meaningless.

Another thing that I think is important to mention is in We Are Robin #6 (the last one before Robin War) the team face off against a Talon. Duke gets shot and Riko steps in front of him, fiercely facing them down. After Riko is taken care beaten alongside Duke, Izzy pulls out a gun to defend them and herself. Dre and Dax saw this from blocks away and came running, saving the others and fighting alongside them. All of them run in head first and the versions of them in Robin War almost look like cowards in comparison.

Then we get this amazing internal dialogue and fight scene, I'll let it speak for itself.

In We Are Robin five of them are taking on one Talon and they didn't even defeat them, in Robin War they seem to be able to beat Talons almost singlehandedly. But they still felt so much more powerful in We Are Robin, fighting side by side with each other. It felt impactful and to me, that small victory was infinitely more important than any win seen in Robin War.

It saddens me because if the writers cared a little bit more it could've been good but they didn't and it really shows.

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To be fair, the writer of Tim Drake: Robin with the boathouse 100% read We Are Robin and liked it, same can be said for a Fear State arc writer. I can’t say for certain that Tim and Duke could never get along because i recognize that canon is making an effort in making Tim and Duke of all characters to get along. Same can not be said about Dick and Duke even if they’re supposed to parallel each other. You could say Duke made an impact on Tim.

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Duke & Tim: Bruce's guilt complex & Batman doesn't control Robin

Duke: Look, I told you, if you're taking me in because of my parents, because you feel guilty or sorry for me, just stop. I'm fine on my own. And Robin today, Robin doesn't need a Batman.

Tim: Are you serious? I was saving people! Wait...does me getting shot remind you of Jason? Of Alfred? Is that it? Look, I didn't start yesterday, you're mad about a different thing. And you're not in charge of me. I don't even wear a bat.

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Dukedre TO ME is very autism (dre) audhd(duke) and progresses like: duke being overly self aware and realizing he's got a crush on dre mid we are robin when they get a little physical during an argument and duke is a little TOO into it and then duke immediately puts it in the box where he compartmentalizes and ignore all his confusing/overwhelming feelings bcs he is nawtt equipped to deal w that (having a crush on dre, not liking boys) nor does he have the patience. dre figures it out sooo late, like signal era late (the war kids still habg out around this era in my head) and duke is significantly hotter bcs hes brash, confident, not nearly as angry and explosive and overall unashamed his corny charismatic teasing self. at that point duke is ready and knows for a fact that dre likes him back bcs of that one time they kissed

(but not in a relationship way yet bcs side note I'm of firm belief that duke has kissed all the we are robin (friendgroup/non fully communicated poly qpr cyclone) members once and i am willing to elaborate)

he just needs dre to lock in and realize. until then he has sooo much fun trolling and ragebaiting dre bcs at that point they are on good terms just casually argumentative and duke is soo addicted to teasing him it's actually insane. they're very

when they inevitably get together duke laughs soo hard during the confession bcs of how long it took and they're dynamic does NOT change they just kiss and flirt abt it now

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crazy a YT video i didn’t finish 2 months ago only got privated recently when it’s from 2years ago

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I have not been using Polywar to mean a typical polyamorous graph where all 5 are dating everyone this whole time.

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As much as I think Dre and Riko have potential in Polywar, I also think it would be completely valid to assume Dre is totally gay and only dating Dax and Duke in Polywar too.

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Duke Thomas did NOT start a gang. He joined a youth activist movement that aimed to protect communities and empower mostly poor, non-white teenagers in a city that overwhelmingly didn’t care about them or their safety. If you’re going to talk about him like a criminal, that makes every other vigilante a criminal too. Being outside the law is what ‘vigilante’ means. We Are Robin was no more criminal than the Batfamily itself (and based on the number and scale of illegal activity each group has committed, it’s actually far less criminal). None of its members ever called it a gang. Canon descriptions don’t either. Because it wasn’t one.

And he was never the leader. There was no leader, it was a collective network. He never ran a criminal organisation. Jason Todd did. Selina Kyle did, multiple times. Holly fucking Robinson did. Duke did not, and he would be insulted to hear you imply otherwise.

He hates gangs! They’re a scourge of the very neighbourhoods he wants to defend and uplift! During WAR, his teammate Izzy’s big brother Hector was in a gang that she actively refused to let him pressure her into, despite him constantly abusing her. And then he got killed. In Gotham Nights #8, Duke was horrified to learn that his old friend Danny from the Narrows had joined a gang. He couldn’t imagine why Danny would do that to himself when he had two loving parents, tried to talk him out of it and gave him a Signal alert, promising to be there for him if he pressed it.

Read We Are Robin. At least read proper summaries of it before making sweeping statements that give the wrong impression, if you really don’t have the time for 12 issues. Stop calling the adolescent black boy a gangster when you mean hero.

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Decided to list the green flags and red flags because i support the 2ML antagonist!!! (I put multiple green and red flags for the amount of times i remember it appearing but idk, i’m not super dedicated to paying attention to have the exact numbers, so i might’ve missed some).

2nd Main Lead is best boi and I stand by it: ✅ Supported MC during his sister’s death even when MC never told him personally (he somehow had to find out himself, meaning he’s constantly looking out for MC). ✅✅✅✅ Left with an apology after seeing MC was uncomfortable with him MULTIPLE TIMES!!! (🚩 Context: MC is hiding a secret from him but keeps escalating the dramatics and passing it off as being pissed at 2ML, instead of, y’know, saying he needs privacy???). 1st time being when he came over unannounced and drunk. 2nd time was checking on MC when he didn’t come home. 3rd time after outright admitting he thinks MC is being abused and almost called the cops but still left when MC panics and tells him to leave. ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅ Constantly looking out for MC’s safety, it’s the first thing the audience sees and how MC met him. Although he didn’t know of MC’s BDSM secret so assumes the worst of bruises, he still cares about MC getting injured. 1st example is MC’s first meeting where he tells him not to drink alcohol too much. 2nd time is making sure he didn’t skip dinner by treating him to a meal. 3rd time making sure MC wasn’t too nervous on his first day as a professor. 4th time noticed his split lip. 5th time is noticing MC and a mysterious man walking nowhere. 6th time is catching him fainting. 7th time is seeing the wrist marks. ✅ Mix of the previous three, but he pays attention to MC. If MC had more of a personality, then maybe we would’ve gotten to know more of the things 2ML noticed. Welp! Too bad! ✅💚💚💚💚He thinks about MC. He’s randomly reminded of MC even when he’s not around. That’s really cute. Idk, I just thought that was really cute. 1st example was their lunch. 2nd was when he came over drunk. 3rd was their missed lunch. 4th was the 3 flashbacks we got as proof that he thinks about him lots. ✅✅ He supports MC. 1st example when MC first became a professor. 2nd is when in a flashback he worried he’d have no friends but backed off when MC said he’s fine without popularity. ✅✅✅ Loyalty. When MC made him promise to stay by his side, he took it to heart. All the examples are flashbacks, but you can see it for practically all of his appearances. He could’ve left MC anytime but he didn’t. He’s the one going after MC. 1st example is when they became friends. 2nd example is after his sister died. 

Because 2ML is the antagonist, he’s supposed to have red flags… I’ll list them too but I find them mostly debatable. ❓ Stalking MC? I’m kinda unsure if that’s what happened or if he happened to be where he is. Honestly, I’d say he just followed them, to call him stalking by going to the bathroom is extreme. Or even following his friend because he was confused and suspicious before the drama. 🚩 Controlling/Overbearing protective behavior. I mean he prides himself in how MC likes him (didn’t know romantically/sexually so it’s not about “using gays to compliment yourself” just platonic or brotherly). There is the scene of him being so worried about abuse that he takes off MC's clothes to check for more bruises (btw the artist forgot to draw the actual bruises so I was confused)… Nothing to say about it really, that’s no way to handle abuse victims in general even if MC isn’t a victim. Confronting possible abuse head on just makes everyone panic.❓ He gets jealous. I’d get it if it was just because the ML is legit actively disrupting MC’s life and 2ML’s relationship with MC included, but he seems insecure about everything he knew of MC. 10 years of friendship and never knowing your friend was gay would be a little bit… idk. Feels like the friendship wasn’t strong enough to be trusted. I get it in that case, but still. The narrative is forcing the love corner to be the actual reason why 2ML is jealous, hence 2ML ranting to 1ML  about how much better he is than him, but I don’t care. ❓ Confessing so soon after being horrible to MC and while MC is seeing someone. This one reminds me of this Youtube video or comment section about Psychology saying that people should confess their romantic feelings as soon as they get it, because it alleviates possessiveness and lingering feelings if you get rejected, and anxiety before confession. While i agree that 2ML did the right thing in confessing when he finally realized his feelings, i feel there’s a time and place to do it. Although I think he chose an okay place to do it… The timing should not be right after talking down 1ML aka MC’s partner. Although I think 2ML’s previous actions shouldn’t have annoyed MC, the narrative clearly says MC is uncomfortable. 🛡️So for this point, I wanna be clear that I’m defending 2ML of a seemingly red flag that I don’t agree with. Homophobia. First of all, being repressed is not the same as hating the gays. He’s confused about himself!!! He used to not understand it. 

Here’s the red flags for MC and 1ML below

Main Character: 🚩Keeps a friend around only because he finds him sexually attractive. 🚩🚩🚩🚩Lashes out and starts drama with his friend for being concerned. I get that he does it to hide his secret in the narrative, but there are nicer ways to do that. He even recognizes how he sounds like he was waiting to lash out in one of the moments, but still believes he wasn’t doing that even though he practically was. 🚩🚩Leaves his friend during a supposedly weak moment in his life, even though he recognizes that his friend was there for him during his weakest point of his life, leading to MC reaching out to 2ML in the first place. If he wasn’t going to stay for longer than a few minutes he might as well just not come over. 🚩🚩🚩Prioritizing his sex life instead of easily rescheduling it any other time, over his friend in dismay/distress.  Mental health and friendships should be more important than a hookup. 🚩🚩🚩🚩Kinks in public is illegal. 🚩🚩🚩🚩Kinks in the workplace is unprofessional. I understand that this is a smut comic so it’s expected to cross a few laws just for smut, but still. It counts. 🚩🚩🚩🚩Bad friend. This is a mix of a few of the other points, but the fact that he just doesn’t care enough about his 10 years friend to initiate their hangouts is so one-sided. The way he takes advantage of 2ML’s friendship and kindness and consideration to feel better about himself is such a jerk move. Now that he’s no longer “in love” with 2ML suddenly that means he gets to practically ghost him??? Maybe he did in the past, but the natrative never showed it so to me it never happened. He treats him like shit now, and never acts like he tried before. In fact, MC admits he didn’t try. MC doesn’t deserve 2ML. How do you not notice your own crush was in love with you this whole time??!! 

Red flags for 1st Main Lead: 🚩🚩🚩🚩Public kinks are illegal. ❓🚩🚩Breaking a personal boundary. I haven’t paid attention to the smut but a passionate commentator thinks that kissing even after establishing it as a “no-go” previously, is a broken rule. According to the commenter, in BDSM you would never need to use a safeword for something previously discussed as not okay. It makes sense to me so I think it counts. I was expecting more broken personal boundaries but i think there’s actually less in this story. ❓🚩🚩🚩I wanna say he also compromised MC’s job, but it’s not technically his responsibility? I mean, he admits he shouldn’t make advances on campus and should be more careful. However, that’s bullshit. He does the dangerous unethical stuff anyways. Acknowledging the wrongness and doing it anyways… it’s debatably worse. 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩Isolation is a form of abuse and control. He is actively impeding onto MC’s relationship with 2ML, even if he didn’t know 2ML before or his situation. MC says it’s an emergency but ML tells him to “hurry back” as if he doesn’t deserve to leave. “BDSM shouldn’t be outside of the bedroom/house” is a saying i think.• I haven’t been able to come up with more red flags for 1ML, but that’s probably because he’s boring. He’s a nothing character. Even his tragic backstory is predictable.❓I’m not sure how to describe this one but: Love confession during a tragedy confession. It’s a little disrespectful when MC just finished talking about their dead sister to make the conversation about yourself in the end, should’ve given it some time. 

Supposedly, MC and ML have attachment issues. MC i can understand, their sister died in an accident where she saves him, then their parents immediately disowned him. ML’s parents dropped him off to his grandma during his early teens it looks like? Which caused him to be a perfectionist.I really don’t care though. Characters’ traumas when they don’t have anything likable about them is just a copout for personality. Honestly, trauma is what should support an already established character to be a bit sympathetic, but so far that’s basically their whole personality besides their cliche aesthetics and sex positions. 

Just finished reading 1 season of a doujinshi so now i have to wait but OMG i fucking hate the MC and all the comments supporting the MC and ML. The 2ML antagonist doesn’t deserve all the hate. If my friend was using me for 10 years to jerk off to I’d be so upset at them. In then end, the 2ML antagonist ended up actually being the one to be in love with the MC and not the other way around!!???!???! Honestly I’m not annoyed that the MC later has the cliche of “I was never in love with him” because he literally says that in the beginning of the comic too. That’s crazy though how the MC doesn’t appreciate 2ML’s long time friendship WOW. 2ML had 10 years to confess? NO!!! MAIN CHARACTER ALSO HAD 10 FUCKING YEARS TO CONFESS TOO!!! You can’t blame 2ML if your MC is a hypocrite!!!

They’re setting up the 2ML to be a toxic red flag but I’m not having it. He kinda reminds me of Harvey ngl.

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I definitely connect my feelings of light level ADHD disassociation with my gender dysphoria. Say whatever about overlap and I don’t think it is overlapping but that’s how i experience it.

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Do you think Jason cries during sex?

I don't think he has sex