One thing I've noticed as I've gotten further into the DPxDC fandom is that people don't believe me anymore when I tell them I don't consume DC media.

Like, I'll be like, "Oh I don't really know much about the DC universe" which is true! Most of my knowledge is from fandom osmosis and various wiki dives I've done for the sake of my own fanfic. Even then, my knowledge tends to be very batman specific because that's the niche that I've found myself just cozying on up into.

But then I'll be talking with one of my irl friends and they'll mention something about batman or one of the robins and I go off about the things I've learned (like according to the batman wiki APPARENTLY Duke might be immortal????? Like what the fuck????) and they'll go, "Wow you know a lot about Batman, huh?"

and I have to sit there being like, none of this knowledge is knowledge I gained legitimately. I was just trying to enjoy some fanfic of my comfort media from when I was a child and suddenly I found a Danny Phantom/Batman crossover fic and now I've written over 100K words for a fandom in which I've never consumed content and whose other half I have not watched since I was a literal child.

My friends are out here being like, "Wow, Eli, you must be a fan of DC!" and like, I can't just TELL them that I only can bring myself to enjoy DC media in this very specific context because the fandom itches a particular area of my brain that has not been scratched in a long time. Like, I'm not MAD that I've ended up in these predicaments, I'm just constantly living in a state of wondering when do I stop denying that I know a lot about Batman and accept that I've become a fan of Batman media in the least legitimate possible way.

IDK if this makes any sense, it's just a thought I had while I was working on my one shot for day 6 of DP/DC Week. Also like, it feels very weird to just throw my thoughts out into the void like this when I've only really interacted with other DP/DC crossover fans via my own fanfics and other ao3 comment sections so like please excuse my general awkwardness as I shout into the void that is tumblr.