#SO INANE. sorry.

[ofswordsandpens]

Riordan: And the grand lesson that Percy needed to learn over the course of hoo, the culmination of his character arc of this series, the moment where the fate of the world hangs in the balance because of a single decision he has to make... is realizing when he needs to take a step back :)

Me:

[phoenixkaptain]

Okay. I’ll write an actual analysis.

A Lonely Place of Dying does a few things, storytelling-wise, that are actually incredibly impressive. Like, I figured it out and I was so excited.

First, we don’t see Tim. Not in part 1. All we see is glimpses. His hands as he puts away his camera. His feet as he runs away from Starfire’s apartment. We only see small parts of him, leaving him shrouded in mystery, which leads into part 2, where he’s represented by a shadowy figure on the cover.

The Titans, but especially Starfire, are all worried about the small child looking for Nightwing. This kid knows Nightwing’s name, knows where he lives, nd has a very conspicuous camera. I’d be worried too! So of course, from the Titans perspective, he’s an intimidating opponent that they don’t understand. (Especially since I’m like ninety percent sure Tim isn’t actually the one they’re looking for. Like, I think it was just a happy coincidence that the most suspicious child on the face of the planet happened to show up at the same time as the actual problem.)

We don’t see Tim’s face until just under halfway through part 2. And the first thing they show us are his eyes. He’s searching for Dick, even among all the pandemonium, and it’s only upon him finding Dick that we see his whole face.

Tim’s eyes are important. They’re an important part of his character in this storyline. Because Tim sees things. He sees through Bruce, he sees through Dick, he sees through Alfred even. He’s always looking.

And this is compounded when he explains how he knows what he knows in part 3.

We see child Tim Drake at the circus. Tim says this to Dick “…I kept staring at you…” and this “I remember waiting for you to go on. And then, when you did, I just sat there and watched.”

On the next page, he says, about Dick’s parents’ deaths, “I turned away… I couldn’t watch. Then I heard you crying and I turned back and I saw you holding onto them, and I began crying, too.”

Page 11 has his monologue about seeing Batman for the first time, and how he thought Batman would hurt Dick, but what’s important isn’t the dialogue, it’s the panels. They focus on the realization of Batman being safe, entirely through Tim’s eyes. He’s panicked and scared, then slowly relaxes. We see it all, because Tim sees it all.

And it’s THIS. Tim started the story by finding Batman, but he starts his story by beginning to look for Dick. Us seeing Tim seeing Dick is a direct parallel to us seeing Tim seeing Batman with Dick. Tim’s story starts by him staring at Dick, unable to look away. And when we see him for the first time, he’s looking at him again, still unable to look away.

Throughout the story, Tim is constantly looking at Dick. Yes, this is mostly because he’s talking to Dick, but even at the end of part 2, when Dick is being congratulated by Haly’s Circus members and isn’t paying attention to Tim at all, Tim is still watching him.

Why is there so much emphasis on his eyes? I’m so glad you asked- IT’S VISUAL STORYTELLING BABEYYYY.

Tim’s most important role in A Lonely Place of Dying is as a third party. He cares about Bruce and Dick, and he knows them a lot better than they might think, but he’s still a third party to them. They don’t know him. He’s someone who’s been looking in on their lives for ten years.

He’s. A. Voyeur.

The emphasis being placed on his eyes cements this. Dick, Alfred, and Bruce are all put off by him at first. He knows too much, he doesn’t offer much information on himself until he’s forced to, it’s almost uncomfortable how much of a stalker this thirteen-year-old manages to be. He’s a voyeur, watching their lives, unnoticed by any of them, and that’s a bit unnerving! I don’t blame Dick for being unsettled by him, he’s weird!

And, his eyes as a child watching Dick to his eyes as a preteen finding Dick. They’re connected. A perfectly linear story, just told backwards. It’s really very satisfying.

Now, point two. The question we all have. Is Tim a stalker?

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: yes, but I’ll explain.

Tim begins the story by taking pictures of Batman fighting Ravager. The narration mentions someone calling in a tip to Gordon about Ravager’s location, which is what led Batman to this point, and I’m on the fence over whether or not Tim was the one who called in. On one hand, it would make a lot of sense. Ravager is part of a bigger ploy by Two-Face, and we find out in part 2 that Tim knows Two-Face is behind the trouble. It would also explain how Tim found a spot to set up his camera for a good portion of the fight. And, it isn’t like Tim wouldn’t know Gordon’s phone number. On the other hand, it’s never explicitly stated who called Gordon, so assume what you will.

Part 1 actually shows us a glimpse of Tim’s collection of photographs. It’s huge. Most of them are obviously newspaper clippings, but a few are just pictures (I assume on photo paper because the edges are cleaner than the newspaper photos). Tim says, in part 3 “You know, since I was able to read, I clipped every article on Batman and Robin.” We admittedly don’t know when Tim learned to read, but he’s thirteen and says he gets mostly A’s, so I’m assuming he probably learned in preschool or kindergarten, around the age of 3-5. That’s a lot of newpaper clippings. We only see his more recent and his most stalkery ones, so who knows how many more he has?

There are only a few points in the story where we see that Tim is genuinely emotional about anything. For the most part, he is calm. He smiles a lot. He doesn’t use a lot of exclamation marks. The only times he does use exclamation marks are when he’s monologuing (internally or externally) about how great Dick is or when he’s trying to make a point. The only time we see him get visibly distressed is when Dick ignores him about Batman needing a Robin.

I don’t know how to stress upon you that Tim only cries that one time. Tim almost dies three times in this comic. He went to his second circus and another person died. His idols both berate him and talk down to him (although Dick stops right after they meet with Bruce. I’m going to be honest, I think Dick wants Bruce to take Tim on as Robin because if Dick had to deal with Tim for a whole day, so does Bruce). He has to recount watching Dick’s parents die and the nightmares he got from it.

He went through so much. But, the only time he’s upset is when Dick won’t listen to him about what’s best for Batman.

Anyway, Tim flat out just says a lot of really stalker-y shit, so I’ll just list some more:

We already know about him clipping newspapers since he could read

When he’s asking Kory where Nightwing is, he lets slip to her that he was watching Titans Tower with this line “I know he wasn’t at your meeting today.”

There’s also a few lines from breaking and entering Dick’s apartment “Grayson kept his old apartment. If he left the Titans, he might be here.” “He’s a detective… he must keep notes. Even something scribbled on a shopping list.” “No! The Haly Circus is closing? It can’t be! It can’t! But at least I now know where he is!” (Why is the shopping list thing stalkery Kacie, I’m so glad you asked. Tim knows Dick well enough that he knows Dick writes things down. Bruce certainly doesn’t, and Bruce is also a detective, so it’s a logical leap unless Tim knows Dick is inclined to write things down.)

There’s one part that isn’t stalkery so much as really funny to me. While Tim is looking for Dick at the circus, he realizes that Dick is “a master of disguise” and that “I’ve been looking for Dick Grayson, but he could be anyone.” only to almost immediately after say “No, not the roustabouts. They’re too tall.” First, that means he can’t “be anyone.” Second, he knows Dick’s height just. So well.

Tim realizes who Dick is and I think I’ll just tell you what he said to explain how he figured it out “Th-that jump- - -that’s him! It’s got to be Dick!” What was so special about Dick’s jump? I don’t think there was anything special, I think Tim is just weird.

Dick asks Tim who he is no less than three separate times. Tim refuses to tell him, all three times. At the beginning of part 3, while Dick is introducing Tim to Alfred, Dick says “Alfred, this may be a bit awkward, but I’d like you to meet- - - -what did you say your name was again?” Implying that Tim did tell Dick, but only briefly.

Back in part 2, Tim says this to Dick “Look, I know you’re Nightwing. You used to be Robin. Then Jason Todd became Robin, and when he died, Bruce Wayne went to pieces.” Tim says this before telling Dick his name by the way.

Tim, upon being introduced to Alfred (a cont. of the earlier Dick line) “Tim. Mr. Pennyworth- - gosh I was really hoping we’d meet. I know you’re Batman’s confidant, and I’ve dreamed about the stories you could tell.”

Alfred’s response to this is “I am- - what did you say?” Which is very funny.

Some more stalker lines that come from Tim looking around the manor: “I’ve seen pictures of this place,” “There’s the renoir Mr. Wayne bought last year. I read about that in Art World Today.”, “He’s got an erte? Oh, I love his stuff.”, “Please, can I see the rest of the house?”

There’s this, which a part of was mentioned earlier “I don’t remember the clowns or the animals, or anything else. I just remember waiting for you to go on. And then, when you did, I just sat there and watched.”

Tim says, before explaining anything, “Okay, you won’t take me seriously until I tell you everything. Dick, I don’t want this to hurt you. And I’m really afraid it might.” He then says, “I’m sorry, Dick. I really am. I told you I didn’t want to hurt you by telling you all this.” Tim is right, Dick is hurt. Tim is a stalker, but he’s a conscientious stalker.

There’s this “That image of you doing your somersault- - - -it stayed with me for years. I couldn’t get it out of my mind.” “I knew that somersault. I knew it like I knew my own name.”

This is just the beginning of a sentence, but it still is very stalkery “When you moved to New York to become Nightwing…”

Or how about “…Batman and Robin have meant everything to me. I’ve followed them both… I know them so well. I knew when Dick left to become Nightwing. I knew when Jason came and became Robin… and I knew when Jason died.”

Tim mentions offhandedly that he managed at some point to slip a tracking device on Two-Face. An impressive feat, considering Two-Face was trying to hit him with a crowbar and Tim only came into contact with him twice, either to punch him in the face or push him away from attacking Alfred. I doubt he slipped it on him while punching him, but his ability to stay calm under pressure even while acting panicky, managing to smoothly slide a tracking device onto Two-Face that Two-Face never realizes is there, is very impressive. Or, it’s practiced-

Bruce says “I don’t want a partner. It’s as simple as that.”

Tim responds “After all you’ve been through, I understand.”

So you may be wondering, with all of this overwhelming evidence and the fact that he knows where both Kory and Dick live and the fact that he already knew Alfred Pennyworth was Batman’s confidant and all of the weird, supervillain-esque shit he says, why does anyone like him?

And I’ll tell you why. It’s because he’s so fucking awkward.

Tim says things like “oh thank goodness” or “gosh” or “it’s still been wonderful.” Tim stutters talking to Batman. Tim fanboys over Dick and Bruce constantly. He isn’t even upset to have gotten a mystery wrong, he’s just happy he got to see Dick solve a case.

But also, Tim is right. Batman is acting recklessly, and it’s directly as a result of Jason dying. Tim says he needs Robin, not Nightwing, but I think what he means is more the role that they fill. Robin is little and Bruce can tuck him under his wing and keep him safe. Nightwing is an adult who argues with him and is a good leader in his own right, leading to more arguments. Robin is someone Batman has to take notice of, has to account for when making plans. Nightwing can keep up, and he isn’t as worried about Nightwing because he trusts Nightwing’s ability to stay alive. They fill very different roles, and that’s what Tim means, even if he has trouble saying it.

And he’s completely right. Batman without Robin runs recklessly into a building without scoping it out, tries to save two boys tied with active grenades by himself, walks into a room full of mobsters with guns without having any protection himself. Tim implies that he’s worried Bruce might die, and he’s right to be worried.

But even with Nightwing there, Batman only worries when things go wrong. He doesn’t see Dick as his scrappy little sidekick anymore, he sees him as an adult. And it’s only when Dick’s in trouble that Bruce reverts to treating him like a child.

Robin makes Batman stop and think before they go in. Robin makes Batman patient. Because Bruce cares about Dick and Jason, and he comes to care about Tim too.

Tim wins him over by being clever, but later comics show that they have to build trust in each other. Tim trusts Bruce completely, right off the bat, and that’s overwhelming for Bruce. But Bruce stops being overwhelmed and starts feeling fond.

Because despite everything I said, Tim is a good person. He’s so worried about Bruce that he’s willing to search everywhere to find Dick to try and help him. He’s so worried about Bruce that he spends his vacation week slumming around on his bicycle trying to save Bruce’s life. He dives down a coal chute without a second thought, and he pushes with all his might to unbury Batman and Nightwing. He cares about them, and it’s painfully obvious that he does.

Tim doesn’t want to be Robin. Like, okay, he would love to be Robin, but that’s not why he’s here. He doesn’t want to tell Dick his first name, and it’s only after seeing that Dick isn’t taking him seriously that he spills the beans. He didn’t want to tell Dick, because that would hurt Dick. He says “B-Batman, it’s hard for me to say this to you” because he’s about to tell Bruce off for being reckless and he doesn’t want to. Tim wants to know that Bruce and Dick are safe, and that’s the only thing he wants.

Yes, Tim is definitely a stalker. He literally said himself that he followed them, and even if it was only through newspapers, it still counts as following. Now, maybe he doesn’t fit this dictionary definition of a stalker: “a person who harasses or persecutes someone with unwanted and obsessive attention,” but I think he does fit this dictionary definition: “a person who hunts prey stealthily.” Tim is stealthy and quick.

I read an article that said his weakness was unexpected situations, but I would argue that that’s bullshit. Tim is great in unexpected situations. Did he expect Two-Face to start trying to beat him with a crowbar? No, but he managed to avoid being hit and plant a tracker on him. Did he expect Two-Face to crush the Batmobile he’s sitting in with a wrecking ball? No, but he managed to jump out and hide and tried to warn Batman and Nightwing to watch out. Did he expect Bruce to agree to let him train to be Robin? No, but he’s going to do the best he can now that he has the chance.

From the very beginning, we can see that Tim is someone with an answer to just about everything. He knows things, he notices things, and he’s good at reacting. Later comics don’t dispute this, that I know of. Tim is the Robin with multiple contingencies for his contingencies, but he’s also the Robin who is most likely to say “oh shit I did not see that coming.” He’s a surprised sometimes, yes, but that doesn’t mean he’s unprepared.

All in all, Tim Drake is a fascinating character study of a rich kid who talks like an elderly woman providing therapy for a man who is at least two, if not three, decades his senior. Tim doesn’t quite understand at any point that monitoring isn’t the same thing as showing affection, which is why he and Bruce get along swimmingly and why Tim is often slated to be the Robin most alike to Batman.

Congratulations, Tim.

Also, I really truly believe that Tim had his first crush on Dick, which is why he couldn’t stop staring at him. And I didn’t mention he said this, because it wasn’t important to the points I was making, but it’s important to this one. Tim says “…I kept staring at you, and your circus costume.” The circus costume being similar to Robin’s is never brought up, only the fact fact that Tim couldn’t stop staring at it. I’m telling you, his first crush was here, it’s so obvious, just look at my corkboar-

[aarontveit]

[duketectivecomics]

What’s your favorite Duke comic? I like We Are Robin!

I never would’ve guessed, tumblr user we-r-robin, lol

Think it would have to be All-Star Batman’s Cursed Wheel arc. The art style itself reminds me sm of the early issues of Catwoman (02), where swathes of color does so much heavy lifting for the scenes. Also as a transition point btwn Duke’s robin days vs him finally coming into his own as signal just 👌 *chefs kiss*

Wish DC would’ve let that time really breathe with something on-going for duke but alas 😔

[mirror-ralsei]

initial sleep-deprived thoughts on the february newsletter:

- some memes referenced: doobie ralsei, eric andre, everyteenagers, warthunder leaks, cdi mario

- weirdly enough the sans “your mom” valentine creating a recursion of moms is really reminiscent of the joke book physics book recursion lol. probably doesn’t mean anything but jic

- i doubt the amv character is alphys. she already has valentines with her undertale version sprite depicted, and her deltarune counterpart is more focused on superheroes than anime.

- furthermore, upcoming characters such as elnina and lanino and arguably the strange letter character were teased. so i personally think this is a new anime-themed character, probably from chapter 3 with its focus on TV

- wait i just realized this would match up with the anime case in the garbage dump too

- as for the strange letter. my gut reaction was like many of us GASTER CONFIRM??!!?11 but turns out i just misremembered “SHOW YOURSELF! DELTARUNE!” as “SHOW YOURSELF! DELTA RUNE!” so scratch that

- the most compelling evidence against it being gaster is definitely the japanese version not matching his katakana quirk. using contractions and no line breaks in the english version too

- if it is a different character other than gaster it’s at the very least an intentional red herring making us believe it’s gaster... like the gaster reading seems completely intended.

- if they aren’t gaster or a version of gaster then they’re probably a character strongly connected to him, considering the illegible writing and the disappearance and redaction of the letter

- speaking of which, i haven’t seen anyone bring up [REDACTED] yet, who also talks in wingdings (assuming gaster is mysteryman and not [redacted]). probably not them but could be relevant

- as wandydoodles pointed out it could also be the “YOU’RE EARLY!” character

- “squint your heart” is an interesting concept. not sure we’ll find out what it’s referring to for a good while though. unless it’s just the soul

- “THE TIME IS GOING AROUND.” interesting phrasing. seems reminiscent of “the world revolving” or “take a ride around town” somehow but who knows the significance

- “EVERY DAY IS A DAY OF LOVE, IF ONLY YOU BELIEVE IT SO. DO YOU BELIEVE IT SO?” this also could be vaguely important. like belief determines things into existence?

- i don’t have much to say about the “there was someone i wanted to help” “i seem to have forgotten who” part bc like with the roaring knight this is just setting up a plot thread with virtually no context whatsoever at the moment. it’ll form the basis of investigations going forward but there’s nothing really we can determine with the information right now imo. like with the existence of the bunker and such, it’s just asking a question.

- the only context we have is “don’t forget” as a main theme of the series in the music title, sans’ lab, or occasional references to the phrase like spamton, but that really doesn’t tell us much of anything yet - this is just one more instance of that.

- the only part that helps us determine anything about the speaker is maybe “YES, IT’S QUITE IRONIC, BUT I SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN” which could imply the identity of the speaker is someone who is good at remembering, or whose job it is to remember or catalog things.

- “WAS IT MYSELF? NO... WELL, PERHAPS.” another interesting bit of dialogue that we really don’t have context for yet. though if this is some other piece of gaster this would be evidence towards it i guess

- “YOU ARE VERY ODD, RESPONDING OUT LOUD TO A LETTER.” uhhh this character seems to have the ability to hear our responses... and it’s odd considering the letter would already be written, possibly implying further timeline weirdness

- i’d also just quickly like to point out that it’s possible, if not likely, that this letter is addressed to someone other than us the readers. i doubt it but we do have some of the other valentines like ralsei or elnina/lanino as precedent that this could be written to another person

- “HAPPY NEW YEAR! OR, WAS IT THE OLD YEAR.” “NOW, PUT ON YOUR COAT AND WASH YOUR FACE! OR, PUT ON YOUR FACE AND WASH YOUR COAT.” this reminds me of the river person dialogue and the egg man dialogue and again, the whole cat state egg stuff in general

- according to reddit im not the only one getting unused string vibes off the “put on your face” line lol

- “NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER. OR, IN ANY ORDER AT ALL.” chaos confirmed??? (joking haha jk unless...?? but probably joking)

- “GOOD BY!” clearly means something and isn’t a typo given there are no typos in the rest of the letter... but i have no idea what. a pun maybe?

- the tense shift from present - “It’s a strange letter” “It’s more or less” “if you squint” “you feel you could understand it” - to past - “There was a sound” “the letter was gone” - is interesting and seems to support the cat state egg things yet again (“there is a man here” “there was not a man here”)

ETA:

- actually... “Well, there is a man here.” “Well, there was not a man here.” “WELL, HAPPY NEW YEAR!” “WELL, IN ANY CASE,”

- overall i wonder if this character is associated with the past: an old timey letter, new or old year, the time going around, the character maybe having a good memory, the parent-y demand to wash up and put on a coat, and the shift from present to past tense?

- my crackpot first thought while first reading this (other than gaster) was “grandpa semi?” but that’s definitely not right lol

- they also might be associated with or affected by the timeline wonkiness going on: “HAPPY NEW YEAR! OR, WAS IT THE OLD YEAR.”, “THE TIME IS GOING AROUND,” the mixed-up order of coat and washing, the shift from present to past tense, and continuing a letter based on a response that hasn’t happened yet

- spamton love network: “the earth will stop spinning” might be a “the world revolving” reference... whatever “the world revolving” even means

- spamton love network: “where is the promise of perfection?” ???

- spamton love network: “my fears surging through me like suspicious waves” something with the ocean?

- spamton love network: once again i am operating on the assumption that the contents of the wayneradiotv spamton shows aren’t themselves canon yet have alluded to things within canon (eg. trouble dingle)

[anyroads]

oh my god I'm so tired of this Eurovision shit. it's an apolitical event. it was literally created to be something peaceful the participating countries can engage in together. it hasn't allowed the contestants to make political statements historically. y'all didn't care when Ukraine was being invaded and none of the performers were allowed to protest. y'all didn't care last year when Azerbaijan was invading Armenia and the performers weren't allowed to protest (y'all didn't care that Azerbaijan invaded Armenia, ie. the country they waged a genocide in, period). please stop cosplaying activism and learn how to do it in real life, and effectively.

how much are you parroting the things you see people get up in arms about online and how much are you listening to actual Palestinian human beings in Gaza? you think boycotting Eurovision is going to make a ceasefire happen? y'all can't even listen to Palestinians enough to stop supporting Hamas when they don't. you look foolish. and that harms Palestinian liberation efforts. you know, the thing you're supposed to be fighting for instead of posturing from the comfort of your tumblr account.

It's exhausting watching people claw so desperately for personal catharsis and label it activism to try and justify it. you just want to justify hating things and not feel bad about it.

-an actual activist

[menstits]

When i was staying at my boyfriend's house i noticed that american milk cartons sometimes have a funny little cow on them. Recently i noticed that italian milk cartons almost never have cows on them but rather minimalistic designs and clip art of milk drops, almost as if they're for some reason trying to distance themselves from the animal as if cow did something problematic

[trans-cuchulainn]

is insomnia a COVID symptom

i should have been sleeping for two days straight after recent exertion and instead it's 3am and i can't fucking sleep

[graham--folger]

so. we all agree malam wasn’t talking about yorick right

[deus-ex-mona]

i miss her…

[unopenablebox]

🌸 is so immensely likeable.... do you ever just like someone so much all the time

[aeide-thea]

i know i don't have to convince any of you guys that ~cats are capable of love~ or whatever, like obviously What Love Means to an Animal is a little different than What It Means to a Person (Whatever That Is) but also they for sure want to be buddies, but like

if you were on the fence about that, i'd offer you the image of nefret cat following me very pointedly around the house after i got back from the grocery store, very clearly impatient for it to be Poäng Time

[vonlipvig]

Hi,

I know that you don't really focus on food or anything, but I was curious if you had any recipes for stuff you really enjoy that are typical to your country/home?

I've been browsing some wikipedia pages on pastries and dishes lately and I wanted to try making something, but I couldn't find it in me to choose from the almost infinite selection of things, so I thought asking my mutual from another part of the world may be a good idea :)

You can just give a name of something you feel is worth trying if you don't know/don't have the time/don't want to share a recipe, but I'd love to get a recommendation or two!

Hi! Yes, of course I'll tell you some of my fave dishes that I think are fairly easy to make (I mean, not that I cook, my specialty is putting frozen stuff in the oven or boiling something so yeah lmao). I'll drop some recipes I found in English for you, cannot vouch for them personally (again, since I can practically burn water), but maybe they're a useful jumping off point for you!

Chocotorta: This is the best cake/dessert in the world and it really is the stupidest thing to make. You need to get your hands on some dulce de leche, which I don't know how difficult that can be, but you get that, you get some cream cheese (that recipe says soft cheese? pretty sure that's not the same, get cream cheese, lmao), and you get whatever cookie can replace our chocolinas (basically any squareish, flat chocolate cookie).Then you mix the dulce de leche with the cream cheese until you get a light brownish mixture. You're gonna lightly soak the cookies in some milk or coffee (lightly, so they don't break), then you're gonna make a bed of them on a baking tray. Put a layer of the mixture on top of that, then another layer of cookies, then more mixture, etc etc. Then you chill, and ta-dah! You can leave it like that, fancy it up a bit, but that's the important part.

Pastel de papa (potato and ground beef pie): A really delicious dish, basically a pie or casserole made with mashed potatoes and ground beef all seasoned and with extra ingredients to make it really yummy. I leave you a recipe in english and one in spanish.

Empanadas: I mean, that's the classic! Basically our version of the 'food-encased-in-dough' staple across the globe. The traditional version is, again, with ground beef, but you can really put anything in there (other typical variants include ham and cheese, onion and cheese, corn paste, etc). IMPORTANT: If the recipe says use raisins for the filling, IGNORE IT, trust me, every good argentine will thank you (Personally I'd take out the olives too, but if you're my grandma I NEVER SAID THAT I LOVE RAISINS AND OLIVES NANA).

Milanesa napolitana: Another big fave, this is our breaded steak (usually fried, but it can go in the oven, it just takes longer), with added tomato sauce and cheese on top and it's delicious. Serve with fries or mashed potatoes for the perfect combo.

I hope that helps, let me know if you ever make some of these! Bone app the teeth! (and everyone else, feel free to drop some good argentinian recipes!)

[stephantom]

I think Henry II / Thomas Becket falls into that family of pairings that’s like. mercurial, lonely god/king/genius and the basically-decent-human-being they’re obsessed with, who transforms them through their love-tempered resistance, their simultaneous acceptance & rejection (Erik/Christine Daae, Q/Jean-Luc Picard, Jareth/Sarah, Beast/Belle), but it also has the playful-yet-toxic codependent best-bros-4-life quality of House/Wilson, grown men who act like teenage boys together (there’s a case to be made for H/W also fitting into the aforementioned cursed-god/burdened-beloved-savior category), and the cataclysmic line-in-the-sand betrayal & divorce element of Magneto/Professor X (and Messala/Ben Hur and Anakin/Obi-Wan). Powerful recipe. For me.

[faytelumos]

I'm gonna start a collection of character questions that actually help me when trying to flesh out a character. These'll be for characters you already have standing out in the open in your head, but who need more development before they get mixed into the fray.

If you want to use this as a questionnaire, always remember that you don't have to answer every question to get to know your character. Even just one or two answers to yourself can be enough.

Character Development Questions

Basic-ish:

Do they have any distinguishing features? (the way they look, the sound of their voice, the way they smell?)

About how old are they?

What's their gender? Sexuality? Are they open or closeted?

What is their ethnicity/cultural identity?

What was their socioeconomic class as a child? And as an adult?

What's their role in the story?

What is their primary Want? Do they need it?

Family and Relationships:

What was their parent/guardian situation growing up?

If they're an adult, what is their relationship with their parent/guardian now?

Do they have siblings? If they're adults, how close are they now?

Do they have children? How old were they when they had their first? Who helped raise them?

What kind of influence are their friends on them?

How easily do they make friends and why?

What traits do they find attractive in a friend?

How do they treat strangers/acquaintances? People they like? People they don't like? Coworkers?

Personality:

One word to describe their general/default mood.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how introverted are they? Extroverted? Pessimistic? Optimistic?

How would they describe not liking a food out loud?

And in prose?

How would they describe not liking a person, out loud and in prose?

What is their favorite place and why?

What is something that stresses them out?

What is something that relaxes them?

What truly scares them?

What is something that would make them happy/excited?

How do they react to physical pain?

How do they cope? (comedy, ranting, art?)

What embarrasses them?

What are they proud of?

What's their biggest strength? Their biggest weakness? (they can be the same thing)

Additional History:

What are their most prominent memories?

Have they ever lost a pet, family member, or friend? How old were they?

Did they move around as a kid?

Did their parent/guardian/community support their interests as a kid? Were they taught to hold themselves to a particular standard or expectation?

More Detailed Personality:

How do they react when forced to do something they don't want to? Could be forced physically or by circumstance.

If money, time, and consequences were no object, what would their perfect day be?

How much time do they spend on their appearance every day? Do they spend more or less money on their appearance then "average"? (don't look it up; it's a vibe check)

Who would they turn to for help? Is it always the same person? On a danger/severity scale of 1 to 10, at what point do they start asking for help? At what point do they stop asking for help? Is this one section or do they flip multiple times as the severity increases? Does this scale change depending on who's around/available?

Just For Funsies:

If they were in a coffee shop AU, would they be the barista, the customer, or the manager?

Do they know any tricks? (juggling, cartwheels, yoyo, dirt bike?)

If they were here with us, what shows/movies/books/games might they like?

What does the inside of their fridge look like? What about their workspace?

[pendraegon]

why are there 3 priests in my parents' house.