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pluckyredhead · 7 months

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hi! i'm new to comics and i got in through reading your fics and wayne family adventures. i've since started reading more of the mainstream verse and i realized that most comic fans consider wfa to be totally fanon. you're one of the few i saw that disagrees. would you mind elaborating a lil on why? i'm too new to really form an opinion either way but i'd like to know your's!

(also yes i really did stalk your blog back years worth of posts i'm sorry! 😭😭)

Aw I love this! Welcome!

So I think it's really important to be clear on definitions here:

Canon means it's part of an official text. It's literally in a comic (or book or movie or other property) published or licensed by DC.

Fanon means it's made up by fans. That doesn't mean bad or good, it just means that it comes from fandom and is not part of the official text.

Wayne Family Adventures is an official licensed comic by DC, so by definition, it cannot be fanon. That doesn't mean everyone has to like it, but it's not a fan comic. It's an official DC product. It's not fanon.

Now, WFA isn't part of the main DCU canon. It takes place in a separate universe. The Jason in Batman #138 and the Jason in WFA are not the same and they are having very different experiences. (And I'm sure the Jason in WFA would be grateful if he knew.)

But that's no different than a comic that takes place in an alternate universe, like Dark Knights of Steel or DCeased, or a movie like Blue Beetle or a show like My Adventures with Superman. They all take place in their own universes, but all of those universes are canon. None of them are fanon.

What I think most people mean when they say WFA is fanon is that WFA draws on tropes and characterizations that are popular in fandom. Which...yes, absolutely. This is on purpose, and honestly, it pisses me off when people complain about it. (Not you, anon! Your question was lovely, you just triggered my unskippable cut scene of dialogue. Sorry lol.)

Wayne Family Adventures is probably the single best idea DC has had in the 20 years I've been reading comics. (The second best was the kids and YA graphic novel lines.)

I just checked, and WFA has 1.3 MILLION subscribers. That's more than every floppy comic starring Batman sells in a month, combined. It's more than literally any superhero comic has sold in decades - in this century! The combined strips have over A HUNDRED MILLION VIEWS. That is bonkerstown. That is a readership like DC hasn't seen since the 1970s. That is unparalleled success, and it's introducing characters like Kate Kane and Duke Thomas to a whole new audience.

Now, WFA was clearly designed to appeal to Batfans who were active on social media and fanfic sites like AO3 and Wattpad, and Webtoon readers. The readership of Webtoon is mostly young and female. Fandom as a whole is mostly female. The writer of WFA is female.

And maybe I'm not being fair here, but when I see people dismiss WFA as "just fanon," I always catch a whiff of "It's not a real Batman comic. It's a girl comic for girls."

I have spent the past 20 years begging DC (and Marvel, DC is not alone in this) to see women as a viable audience - as their largest potential growth audience! I have watched in dumbfounded frustration as they ignored the juggernaut success of Raina Telgemeier and Ngozi Ukazu and Alice Oseman running rings around the NY Times bestseller list and counted a 50k shipment here and there as a resounding triumph. I have literally seen them throw out survey responses from women because "those women had an agenda." (This is a true story. 2011 was rough, y'all.)

And all of a sudden, they gave us a comic actually catering to women and young people and fandom, and they put it on the most popular, current, modern platform for comics availably - and it's brilliant. It's smart and funny and stunningly drawn and every episode makes clever, inventive use of the scrolling format. They FINALLY gave us a girl comic for girls, and it's a masterpiece.

And yes, it riffs on fanon concepts. It also has its roots firmly in mainstream DCU canon. It references deep cuts. CRC Payne and StarBite know their shit. Jason Todd being a bookworm may be a fanon staple, but he does plenty of reading - including Jane Austen - in the 100% canon mainstream DCU comics.

It's not going to be for everything, because nothing is. It's completely fine if you don't like WFA. No one has to read it or enjoy it. If you're into Batman for the darkness and the crime and the ongoing plotlines and the angst, WFA won't be for you, and that's totally fine!

But to finally, finally be valued as a reader by DC, to have them do something smart and innovative and so, so well executed, and have the exact people they made it for dismiss it out of hand because Bruce has a "World's Okayest Dad" mug or whatever? Yeah, that chafes.

#wayne family adventures #this one's gonna get me in trouble

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littlemissonewhoisall · 9 months

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I think a lot of people who haven't read Batgirl (2000) and only know Cass from her appearances in other characters' books or online summaries miss something very essential about the root of why she's such a good fighter.

Yes, Cassandra was trained in martial arts from birth, learning from some of the deadliest assassins and mercenaries in the world. But that was not the core of what David Cain was doing with her, nor is it the real root of what makes her so dangerous. People who were raised from childhood by assassins to be dangerous fighters are not particularly uncommon in the DCU. Even in the Bat Family alone, Damian, Jean-Paul, and Helena were all trained to be assassins from childhood. The reason why Cass is still presented as a much better fighter than them isn't inconsistency though, it's because their training lacked something very important.

Cass wasn't an apprentice or an heir to David, nor was she a weapon to accomplish his agenda. She was first and foremost a science experiment. David didn't have a kid and decide "now I'm going to make you into a killer like me". He had a child specifically for the purpose of having a blank slate of a person that he could use to test his theories about the role of human body language in combat.

Yes, she was trained to fight. Yes, he planned on having her go on assassination missions. But these were ways to prove his concept, not an end unto themselves. David was convinced that if someone's entire development was influenced by communicating solely through body language that their brain would develop so that they were more adept at combat than any normal person could actually learn, regardless of their level of training, and he was right*!

Cass has mastered a bunch of combat styles, at least offensively, but she's also able to pick up new styles almost instantly, and react defensively against skilled opponents without needing any technical knowledge of defensive styles. She can coordinate and react far more efficiently than is humanly possible for anyone else, because her brain just works differently due to the unusual circumstances of her development. THAT'S what makes her an unparalleled* fighter, not her level of training.

*Shiva being an aberration which should not be counted

#cassandra cain #batgirl #bat family #david cain #dc comics

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froizetta · 1 month

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Chapter 7 is here at last! We've mostly resolved things between Batman and Robin, so now it's time to start tackling Clark's uhhh... Well, his whole deal, pretty much. This chapter marks the beginning of the next phase of this fic. There's a little ways to go yet! (Jesus Christ how did this get so fucking long????)

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Fandom: DCU Pairing(s): Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne Length: 49k Chapters: 7/?

“But, um, I really am sorry about this whole mess. If I hadn’t messed up at the end, you wouldn’t be—” “Hey, no,” Clark said quickly, “You don’t need to apologize for that to me! The important thing is that you’re safe. And it’s my fault it ended up being this bad, really – I should have asked for help sooner.” Robin met his eyes curiously. “Why didn’t you?” Now it was Clark’s turn to feel awkward. “Well, honestly, I don't know. I wasn’t really thinking straight. I guess I…didn’t want to interrupt?” he said slowly. Robin’s eyes widened. Then he let out a soft giggle, his shoulders relaxing. “Man, no offense but that’s kinda dumb. B was right about you.” Clark’s curiosity was piqued. “What did he say about me?” “That you’re too nice for your own good,” Robin said. He was grinning now, edged with mischief. “He kept muttering it the whole drive back. And stuff about how stupid and reckless he thought you were.” “…Oh.” “Yeah. I think he likes you!” How’d you figure, Clark thought to himself dryly.

#my fic #superbat #this took me way too long to publish considering that it's been written for like. a month #but it took a lot of editing for me to be happy with it #I'm still not ENTIRELY happy with it honestly but oh well!#one can only stare at something so long before slightly losing one's mind #and I think it's still an entertaining read #so enjoy!

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chaoticace2005 · 2 months

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I've got two things to say.

One: I can't stop thinking about the Angel the Airhead/Anthony the Mobster dichotomy in relation to the Brucie Wayne/Batman one. I can't unsee it.

Two: I kept thinking about Tony as Angel's nickname based on his name (which I will forever love because the other day I asked my mom what name she'd give an Italian mobster from the early 1900s and she said, no hesitation, Antonio) and I couldn't figure out why it didn't sound right. And the reason is because the nickname for Antonio is just "Antó" (or "Tonino" if you wanna be quirky I guess).

I am insane about Italian characters in media in case it wasn't obvious. I cling to any and all opportunities to spread actual Italian culture.

-🐇

Oooh yes!!! Im so excited to see Angel/Anthony more in the show! With the fact his brother has now been shown on screen I’m hoping we’ll dive more into that other side. Cause you’re right.

Angel has given off that airhead porn star persona for so long, and we have been shown that there is more underneath, but it would be really cool to see the difference between that, who he is around the hotel, and how he used to be with his family.

The Bruce Wayne/Batman comparison in particular is really cool cause you’re right! Similar to how most people in the DCU can’t see him at Batman, I’m sure the idea that Angel had this whole other life before Valentino is bizarre. I don’t know if it will be him slowly opening up more and dropping hints, or if we’ll get a side by side comparison to what Anthony was like before.

All in all: yes. Not Italian myself but I agree in the importance in spreading Italian culture and giving representation, so I hope the show delivers! (And if not the fandom can always retcon it 😂)

#hazbin hotel #angel dust #angel dust hazbin hotel #anthony hazbin hotel

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dailycass-cain · 7 months

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After much hype, a new volume of Birds of Prey was released this past week. Was it worth the hype? How was the Cass content in it?

Well, time to air my thoughts on Birds of Prey #1.

The first thing that kind of astonished me is the AMOUNT of Cass we got in this issue. Literally, I think writer Kelly Thompson just establishes WHO the keys are for this comic.

It's Dinah and Cass.

Like a part of me thought we'd get a little bone with Cass that sets her up, and she'd disappear amongst the other members. Nope. She gets as much fleshed out in this story as Dinah.

That has me curious given the setup alone of Dinah getting this team together to save Sin (yaaaaah. FINALLY!).

There's A LOT of potential here. A part of me still muses if this will get acknowledged from the ye old Black Canary mini which pulled Sin away from Dinah.

It isn't lost to me at all that throughout this issue Thompson littered a CORNUCOPIA of homages to past Cass stories (and probably other stories too just that I'm not Daily Zealot 😋).

Take for example the aftermath of Cass's introduction in the issue. Besides the sequence being STUNNINGLY drawn and colored by Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire. There's this nugget.

So the very League who broke Dinah/Sin are what paired her with Cass. But that's not the ONLY poetry Thompson delivers in this comic when pertaining to Cass.

There are OTHER callbacks.

Namely, the reason why Cass instantly agrees is "sisterhood" I know someone on Tumblr brought up Cass knowing its importance due to Sandra/Carolyn but I see it as more of a DIFFERENT reason. Something that sadly just ended.

*cough* Batgirls should be still going. Give me three comics of Cass a month dagnabit. *cough*

There are two others but I'll get to that soon. Can I just gawk at this page more?

Again, there are nice parallels here with the Brightest Day BoP volume. Dinah assessing someone just that this time IT IS CASS. No hoopla or things to deny certain other writers from doing this.

We actually have Cass officially on the BoP team in the main DCU.

It's just that this intro means a lot. The moment I got to this page I had the dumbest goofiest grin on my face. Not instant tears (those did occur this issue) like certain other comics of Cass I've read. Just, "Oh yeah this writer gets the character."

Like it was whiplash reading this issue after a certain OTHER comic this week. Like, this issue just feels like a nice pace just going from one scene to the other.

It just flowed so perfectly from one to the other establishing the other members as Dinah and Cass (or all four ladies) recruited them.

This leads me to what DID get me emotional about this issue: Cass meeting Barda.

Like so many years I wanted this. So many times neither character was synched with the other to do it (death and limbo sadly).

This leads me to what DID get me emotional about this issue: Cass meeting Big Barda.

Like so many years I wanted this. So many times neither character was synched with the other to do it (death and limbo sadly). But it FINALLY happened.

And… I'm tearing up looking over the pages plus my mind is on it. 😅

Wrassin frassin….

Like Thompson delivered in spades with Cass/Barda. This is everything I'd imagined and then some.

So with all that out of the way of me gawing at this all. What you really want from me. My thoughts on a certain Cass vs. Harley Quinn.

The truth if you haven't been following me the last few days is.. I didn't mind it. There is a precedent of Cass having trouble with folks like Joker (though he was the easiest to tell in the end), Mad Dog, Mr. Fun, and Harley.

Just that you think I didn't notice what you did Thompson but I caught the homage. Harley and Cass plunge off a building (yes that is Harley not Babs).

Besides the homage and precedent I know many are overlooking how this is all told from Cass's perspective and nothing she does in this tale showcases WHY Harley should be part of this team, other than Cass saying so.

Cass is an unreliable narrator due to well her disorder and can't describe the best words to what happened. Stephanie Brown, she is not at detailing everything PERFECTLY.

I just view it like a Pink Panther film. Cass is the straight man, and Harley was "Clouseauing" her way throughout the scene.

But I digress, if anything the scene made me wonder, "HOW THE HELL DID HARLEY LEARN A LEOPARD PUNCH?!" Only a handful of fighters know that.

HOW THE HECK DID HARLEY KNOW?!

Did the fight make Harley look good? Not really to me. It's Cass's PoV that did it and it didn't convince Dinah, Barda, and Zealot. Just the insistence that Harley is the wild card edge they need (which cues the obligatory reason for Harley being on this team and nothing more).

Still, that particular moment didn't ruin my fun (unlike a prior comic tried to achieve). Birds of Prey #1 was everything I wanted and then some. It made me smile and it made me tear up. It gave me that good Cass content. 😁😁😁

Like I'm pumped for the next issue. Because again, it's giving me something that has always left me lackluster prior. Cass vs. Amazons? More Cass/Dinah? More Cass/Barda? Why is the mysterious person not wanting Babs on this?

Okay. You got me comic.

I really REALLY loved this comic. Like, I never thought in my years as a Cass fan we'd be getting so much content like this. Like, after the heartbreaking loss of Batgirls (and Spirit World being a mini aka I DON'T WANT IT TO END), this series was the pickup I needed.

So to all the creatives involved in this comic. 🙏🙏🙏🙏

#cassandra cain #dc comics #my thoughts

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ao3feed-superbat · 2 months

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Cloakrooms and Goatcheese Canapés

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/5XIH4We by sophie_in_hell03 When Bruce Wayne wakes up alone in the alley his parents were shot in, he can't remember anything since that night. He certainly doesn't remember he's Batman. But he's got an important gala tonight he can't miss, and he knows he can get through it, but - goddamnit why does that reporter in a cheap suit keep looking at him like a wounded puppy? He's trying his best to mingle and squeeze donations out of the one percent but good lord can this guy stop eye fucking him like - oh. OH. So evidently, like a huge JERK, Bruce has forgotten his own boyfriend/fuck buddy/lover/partner/whoever. No matter, Bruce can make it up to him in the coatroom. Words: 2692, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Lucius Fox, Lois Lane Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Temporary Amnesia, Amnesiac Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent Knows Bruce Wayne is Batman, bruce wayne doesn't know hes batman, bc he forgot, Clark Kent is Superman, Clark Kent Needs a Hug, Clark Kent Loves Bruce Wayne, Pining Clark Kent, Bisexual Clark Kent, Bisexual Bruce Wayne, Wayne Gala (DCU), bruce is amnesiac but immediately thinks he's fucking clark, Fluff, Eventual Smut, Maybe - Freeform, Tags May Change, Rating May Change, How Do I Tag, no beta we die like jason todd, making out in cloakrooms, Kissing, batman is a great detective, bruce isnt lmao read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/5XIH4We

#ao3feed #superbat #world's finest #Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne #Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent

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wonderbatbvs · 3 months

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It's such a no-brainer to me that if you're going to take a risk like starting a new universe (The DCU), ending an old universe (The DCEU), or trying to start something new in an old established universe (Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League) that you should ALWAYS have back-up plans & immediate countermeasures in place so if things start getting outta control there's a way to make things right again.

This is especially important in the case of The DCU because it can't afford to fail after the disastrous failure of The DCEU & abrupt tragic end of The Snyderverse.

How am I supposed to care about a new Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman, when Zack Snyder already nailed it perfectly with his casting? Unfortunately, they never got a proper opportunity to shine together as The Trinity on-screen.

I really hate how unnecessarily confusing James Gunn has made this whole new universe already. For example, is Blue Beetle part of The DCU? Technically, yes, it is even though the movie takes place in The DCEU Continuity.

So then why is he gonna be in The DCU? Simply put because he probably assumes nobody gave a fuck about Blue Beetle & decided to just throw him into this new universe because fuck it might as well since nobody cares anyways.

Now that begs the question, why not do this for other characters like Karen Fukuhara's Katana from Suicide Squad (2016) or Will Smith's Deadshot who were both perfectly cast but much like Ben Affleck's Batman didn't get the chance to reach their full potential.

The DCEU will go down as one of the biggest missed opportunities in cinema history. All because WB couldn't leave well enough alone. What a damn shame..

Good luck, James Gunn. You'll damn sure need it.

#the dceu #the dcu #the snyderverse

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aboutzatanna · 7 months

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So Tom Brevoort, comic book nerd and editor over at Marvel is currently going through the first JLA volume over on his tumblr.

His take on Zatanna's extended backstory involving Sindella is the same as what I hear elsewhere:

<blockquote>Having inducted Zatanna into the League in the previous issue, Conway made her the focus of a multi-part story that delved into her history, background and origins. I don’t know that there was really any more of an origin needed that, “Daughter of Zatara, who employs the same manner of spells that he did”, but Conway felt differently, and so the new recruit became the center of the storyline. I wasn’t entirely sold on this reworked version of Zatanna, though, and so this wasn’t exactly a welcome direction for me. </blockquote>

Whilst Brevoort's blog is worth checking out for his insight into older comics (if you're into it), I have to disagree with his take here.

I get that the story of Sindella is very much a product of it's time and there are some weird bits that take away from the overall story but I think that on paper, the story of a mother and daughter cruelly separated from each other and for their reunion to end in tragedy is one with a lot of potential and is worth revisiting. (I covered Sindella's story here, here and here).

The story also has an important place in DCU lore in that it's also the first time that the term Homo Magi was mentioned. And aside from the silly 'fatal attraction' thing between human and homo magi, I like the idea of homo magi having to isolate themselves from humans because otherwise their magical gene would vanish over the course of a few generations.

I think the main problem is that the story has been left to languish and has not been revisited. Part of why Superman, Batman and Spider-Man stay relevant is because their stories, supporting characters and villains are constantly updated for newer audiences. Look at how characters like Mr Freeze, Kite Man and so many others have been revamped and upgraded over the years.

It also doesn't help that modern retellings often ignore Sindella's place in the lore. Especially egregious was the Young Justice show where they decided to tie the origin of all magic and Homo Magi to Vandal Savage while Sindella had no lines and just died of cancer. None of the bazillion 'all magic is dying' stories in JLD ever touches on Sindella's role in the magical cosmology either for that matter.

So, fingers crossed and hoping that Sindella gets her due one day.

#zatanna #zatanna zatara #sindella #tom brevoort #justice league of america #zatara family #young justice #justice league dark #yj #jld

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strawberrytalia · 6 months

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omg! i wanna do a few:

top 5 dc characters!

top 5 comic series!

top 5 animals!

OMG hi ella!!! 🫶 OH THESE ARE HARD

Top 5 dc characters (omg I feel bad ranking them)

Duke Thomas - who’s surprised 😭 no but he’s without a doubt my fave bat. i think there are just so many inspiring things about him, and he represents the aspect of comics I love most - stepping up and doing what’s right even when all odds are against you

Carol Ferris - I used to talk about her 24/7 when I was heavy in my GL phase, but I never stopped loving her. I love that she’s deeply flawed and angry and passionate, and she gets to be messy. Also she influenced me to be more comfortable expressing myself femininely which was hard as a brown girl ngl anyways carol <333

Ollie Queen - LMAO idk why but I feel so cliche putting him, but he’s my favorite Arrow and he always has been. I relate to him a lot. He’s really introverted, in his own head despite being is outspoken, he loves nature, cares deeply, and he isolates when he’s sad. I also like his very black-and-white thinking, esp when it gets challenged. live laugh love ollie queen

Talia Al Ghul - I won’t say much about her lmao bc talia stans are like sharks here, but she is also very important to me. Like you ever get that character that just seizes your heart???? Yeah that’s Talia for me 🥺 i don’t post abt her often either, but i love her sm

Khalid Nassour - it’s hell being his fan, but i’ll do it anyways 😭 so Khalid is rlly interesting bc i read his “cool” appearances first then read Dr Fate 2015 where he was more of an annoying 22 yr old. And it was so satisfying watching him grow from someone who was more narrow-minded and whitewashed to an intelligent, capable, and enlightened person. I really enjoy his character’s spin on what fate means in regards to one’s identity, heritage, lifestyle, and faith.

Top 5 comic series (THIS IS ALSO HARD OMG)

Day of Vengeance - this is the one currently living rent free in my head rn bc it’s so FUNNY and random, but also a really interesting storyline in regards to magic in the DCU. It’s just so enjoyable watching this group of mystics handle the hugest threat ever and barely get along, and they’re all weird, and then Lori joins and she’s like the group teenager and it’s so funny

We Are Robin - I honestly wish it was longer ngl but I really wanted to see more of the group together and their stories, especially Izzy and Dre. The premise and duration of this story is SO dear to me bc ofc Duke, but also I love watching kids band together against authorities bc they love their city sm.

Batman: Son of the Demon - as a Talia and sometimes Brutalia fan, how can I not 😭 It’s so sad and actually heartwrenching how happiness was so close to them but taken away, and how much Bruce and Talia sacrificed for each other because they are both loving people, they just love in the wrong way

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters - perfect Ollie. Perfect depiction of his mind. Really good storytelling. SHADOOOOO she served cunt and dc didn’t like that so they ruined her. Her initial appearance was so charming i literally made it my header. I like ethical dilemmas and the one in this story is so good. Also shoutout to Eddie fr

Green Lantern: Blackest Night - OKAY THIS IS THE ONE I WAS AFRAID OF SHARING 😭 I’m SORRY i love this for so many reasons, nostalgia mostly bc I re-read it over and over again at the peak of my hal obsession era idk why, I like the giant white entity, I like when all the Corps leaders have to team up and they’re all side-eyeing each other sm, and I also love when random heroes get involved and help save the day like Mera, Ray, Barry, Diana, Grant, watching them all try to survive it while battling grief in front of them. It is NOT THE BEST GL COMIC EVER but it’s one of my faves.

Top 5 animals (I love this question!!!!)

CATS 🫶 I used to have a cat when I lived in the states!! his name was austin, he was 8 years old, and he was the cutest thing ever. we had to give him away when we moved 😭 i still hate that my mom did that sm

SEALS!!!!!!! 🦭

Orcas 🐋🐋🐋 I like them a lot, they’re so adorable

Otters!!! 🦦

Flamingos 🦩 (hehe my username for a reason) they’re pink and i like all things pink also they’re so pretty

#these were rlly good!!!!! ty ella!!!!!#<33333 #you just reminded me that i have an ask idea abt kyle to send you soon omg #asks

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cactusspatz · 1 year

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March recs

Much delayed by travel and post-travel virus that turned into laryngitis (yayyy), but please enjoy!

DCU

All gen unless marked otherwise.

Say Uncle by Megaerakles

Tim is prepared to take the steps necessary to ensure that Bruce will not feel obligated to adopt Tim when a comatose Jack Drake inevitably dies. But what could be better than preventing Bruce from ending up with a son he doesn't want? Bringing back the one he does.

Jason agrees to the Replacement's stupid, stupid plan to invite some strange adult man he's never met to come live with him, if only to keep the idiot alive long enough for him to serve his purpose in the Great Red Hood Revenge Scheme.

Might this new roommate situation have an impact on either of their worldviews? Surely not...

Tim, why are you LIKE this.... *facepalm* I really didn't think the Fake Uncle Scheme TM could get any more insane but this fic does it with style. (thanks to @smilebackwards for the rec! and the next one lol)

The Seven-Layer-Dip From Hell by Oberon Bronze

Jason enlists Tim to help him through the stages of a 48-hour fear toxin trip in exchange for a favour, on one condition -- Tim can't call any of the bats for help, no matter what happens. Tim, thankfully, will do quite literally anything to get his family all under one roof again.

Emotionally messy delicious h/c, and the sequel doubles down on the goodness.

Prince of Foxes by poisonivory/ @pluckyredhead (Roy/Jason)

Once upon a time, Roy Harper almost had a mate.

Years later, he's kidnapped for a deadly game where shifters are forced to fight to the death for the entertainment of the humans who despise them. All he wants to do is escape—that is, until he recognizes one of the other shifters: a feral wolf who, a lifetime ago, was his best friend's little brother. Until he died. Until Roy lost him.

But no force on earth is taking Jason from him again.

Well-written shifter AU with a great look at their relationship over the years (and Jason's death), culminating in a tensely-written period of captivity in a shifter fighting ring (which also has some amazing pit fights).

GAME OF THRONES

So apparently four years is finally enough time for me to read GOT fic again without being swamped by annoyance at the series finale - at least, as long as the fics are VASTLY AU. Which both of these stories are!

The Right Question by Aviss (Jaime/Brienne)

In which Ned asks the right questions at the right time, and Jaime keeps most of his vows. The important ones at least.

aka the one where Jaime hides Elia Martell and her children on Tarth. Very satisfying!

Our Scars Make Us Golden by K_R_Closson (Jaime/Oberyn)

Jaime Lannister drives her sword through Aerys's back to save a kingdom. When her father's armies sack the city and kill those she was sworn to protect, she flees King's Landing, unsure what to do. On her way to Dorne, she runs into Ned Stark who hands her a baby and a purpose, protect the Targaryen heir.

Interesting genderswap AU with a badass Jaime.

MISC

A Light in the Dark by @glimmerglanger (Star Wars, Cody/Obi-Wan)

Sometimes, it seemed Obi-Wan only saw other people across the field of battle.

The only reliable source of contact he had with other living beings - for the past year - had been during a fight. And he had not been able to enjoy such contact, had not been able to sink into the Force and refill his reserves, because all of the men he fought were trying so desperately to kill him and all the people he was trying so hard to protect.

OR, the one where Obi-Wan serves the Republic, Cody serves the Separatists, and they find a way forward anyway.

Loved this! The army-swap AU premise, the captivity h/c, and the hope of the resolution.

The Emperor Gregor Vorbarra special exhibit of the Vorbarr Sultana Fibrecraft Institute by rattyjol (Vorkosigan Saga, gen)

NARRATOR: No record survives of precisely when or how Emperor Gregor first picked up knitting. The first public acknowledgement of the Imperial Hobby was in the thirty-eighth year of his reign, when the Emperor was forty-three. However, it is abundantly clear that the Emperor had been knitting for some years before this. Throughout this audio tour, alongside clips and reenactments, you’ll be hearing reminisces from Princess Olivia herself. Here’s one now:

P. OLIVIA: My father knit almost constantly inside the private Residence. I remember him reading me and my brothers to sleep as children: he would balance the handreader on his knee or the arm of his chair, and go on knitting over top of it. Never dropped a stitch, never skipped a line. And his character voices were legendary.

This is SO sweet, and a great use of fake-documentary style.

#monthly recs #fic rec #dcu #batman #batfam #roy/jason #game of thrones #jaime/brienne #jaime/oberyn #star wars #cody/obi-wan #vorkosigan

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cosmic-herbal-tea · 2 years

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Batman vs Robin #1 Proves Why The General DCU Needs To Distance Itself From The World Of Batman

Its been a while since i’ve ever posted any kind of content relating directly to comic books but today’s issue of Batman vs Robin just was too much to be kept in silence. As much of a Batman fan I am, there’s also many things I favor in the DC Universe and its very irritating to be reminded of DC’s self-fulfilling prophecy.

(Spoilers ahead)

I'm just going to say it; Damian Wayne's issues with Batman are not compelling enough to have a possession storyline with him that includes wrecking up the entire mythos of the mystic side of DC Universe as a way to showcase the stakes involved with him being possessed and on the side of the Devil Nezha.

Firstly, I find it ridiculous there’s another storyline with Damian acting as an antagonist. Never mind the fact his heritage makes re-treading this murky territory and his fans are tired of it (some even find it racist) but my problem with him is that he’s Batman’s biological son so he’s gonna be pushing the bar. Of course he’s empowered far above Jakeem Thunder & Tim Hunter. Of course he thinks the literal most powerful mystic objects in DC are insufficient to taking down Batman. Of course Batman finds Damian to be a credible threat and not a 15 year old he can put in his place. Im tired of Damian (and by extension, Batman characters) getting into situations that narratively props their conflicts far moreso than general DCU character that hardly get to do shit.

Secondly, Nezha and Damian's actions (possessed or otherwise) having this wide of a effect on the DC Universe's magical verse is precisely the reason why Batman's world needs to stay in it's own corner. You have Justice League Dark and God's former agent of vegance all compromised and incapactiated to showcase the stakes Damian is involved in with Nezha. Why is this important you may ask?

If your defense for this is because Batman sells, well you're right. You want a cookie for an obvious answer? But here's the dealio: it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Batman's stories are the only time where DC has any REAL stakes on par with actual events like Dark Crisis. The mere fact that this story is taking place at the same time as Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths should tell you something. How can anything else sell if nothing really matters or Batman matters more? Thanks to a empowered/possessed Damian, the world of magic is turned upside down. It's one of the selling points of it being a big stake event for Batman. Now what is the Justice League Dark title having going on in their own corner? NOTHING BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE A TITLE. IT GOT REGULATED TO A BACKUP BEFORE JUSTICE LEAGUE GOT CANCELLED.

One also has to ask WHY the magic characters and Justice League Dark in particular? The answer is pretty simple: it's a easy way to make the event look large AND make people look good. Dark Crisis did the same thing where all the magic characters are already aware the Great Darkness was up to some shit and just hid away. Part of their role is to showcase the continually larger stake at hand while also hinting towards said Darkness perhaps being manipulated. Just like Dark Crisis, Batman vs Robin uses magic characters to show off just how powerful Nezha is and how much more powerful he has/can make Damian. Just look at how the Justice League Dark is incapacitated. Look at how Nezha resides in the Tower of Fate, implied to have beaten Doctor Fate in his own place of power and uses it as a makeshift base of operations and can offer artifacts that ordinarly serve as plot mcguffins themselves. Even titles like Flash are guilty of doing this, as there was a JLD crossover with them fighting Eclipso. Wally got to save the day after finding out the bad guy's plan because of SCIENCE (the current Doctor Fate literally had to get a bachelor of science but I guess magic characters are stupid outside magic), saved the JLD from possession, and was immune to Eclipso because God loved him and is proud of him (nevermind the fact a Muslim character was involved in the plot heavily).

It's writing and portrayals like this that gives Marvel Comics an edge. While I'm not saying they're not above pulling this off themselves, it's pretty notable that Marvel has various books covering different characters potentially getting coverage that can impact their future on the big screen that may not inheretly step on other character(s) while DC/Warner Bros have to rely on Batman-centric books and events to sell things because they find it difficult to capitalize on their own comic book characters for anything. My Flash example also showcases this idea that in order to elevate something, someone has to be pushed down is a common thought process and it seems the JLD are contendable targets for years to come.

You'll notice that in all this, I didn't focus on Damian much or Alfred or any of the plot-relevant details. That is the case because I'm not wanting to put full care into that even though I read this to see Alfred's return. Not everyone wants to care about what's happening in Batman's world. There are people yhat like to see other aspects of DC be respected and treated with care and some don't even want to be involved in Batman's stuff. But books like this is what we get when those who want to follow magical-related characters are somewhat interested in a crossover; disrespected.

I wrote this because despite this happening, people are praising the issue because Damian/Bruce conflict and Alfred and I'll be damned if I can't raise awareness on the nonsense happening in this book. It is things like this that has significant limited my purhcase of ongoing series. The only Bat-related book I support is Sword of Azrael. It is sad that my favorite titles like Aquaman and Justice League Dark no longer gets ongoings while Batman's stuff can keep going even in it's medicority to bad stories phase. I think DC Comics, as a whole, needs to start seriously respecting their non-Batman titles if they hope to captialize on anything else not Batman.

#justice leauge dark #damian wayne #robin #batman #zatanna #john constantine #doctor fate #swamp thing #etrigan #jason blood #khalid nassour

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pluckyredhead · 6 months

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Character Profile: Koryak

And so we come to the last (but never least, not in my heart) Lost Titans profile: Koryak! My terrible, damp boy.

Look at him pout! How I love him.

Koryak debuted in the 1994 Aquaman series. (Note: I'm not sure what his last name is - his mother's is never mentioned, and even though I sometimes tag him as "Koryak Curry," I don't think he would use Arthur's last name, especially since even Arthur didn't use that name very much at the time.)

As I've mentioned before, Arthur has had a lot of different origins, but in the post-Crisis era, which the only era Koryak appeared in, Arthur's mother was the queen of Atlantis, and his father was Atlan, an ancient Atlantean sorcerer who impregnated her in a dream. Arthur was abandoned at birth because of the infidelity/his blond hair, was raised by dolphins (yes), and briefly lived with a human man named Arthur Curry who taught him English and gave him a human name to borrow.

Then Arthur - still a teenager at this point - went to Alaska, where he immediately rescued a teenage girl named Kako from a polar bear. Kako and her family took Arthur in in gratitude, and he and Kako fell in love. (Kako's family is sometimes said to be Inuit, sometimes Inupiat.)

Anyway, Arthur and Kako lose their virginities to each other. IN THE SNOW, FOR SOME REASON:

This is such an infuriating racist, sexist trope (the WOC with the broken English throws herself at the white hero, logic be damned - why isn't she wearing anything under her coat??? - but of course she will never be his wife, or anything more than a footnote in his story).

Immediately after this, tragedy strikes Kako's family, Arthur is blamed (it's not his fault), and he's thrown out. He returns to the ocean, and eventually goes on to become Aquaman, king of Atlantis, etc.

Years later, he returns to Alaska for plot reasons not worth going into, and that's when he meets Koryak, THE MOST NINETIES BOY OF ALL:

The shirtlessness, the swords, the hair! Truly a man of his era. (Boy? I always assumed he was about 18 here, but a Secret Files issue claims he was 16.)

Koryak is not Arthur's biggest fan, but after Kako turns into a fire elemental because this is the DCU and these things happen, Koryak decides to go to Atlantis with Arthur. Or, well, technically the city was called Poseidonis at the time, which will be important later.

Anyway, the Poseidonians are a little wary of a stranger at first, until Koryak saves a child's life and suddenly they love him. Koryak, who didn't really fit in in Alaska, is basking under the attention, but it doesn't go over well with the current king, Thesily (Arthur had stepped down a while back for Reasons), who is wildly jealous of Arthur, and fears Arthur is looking to take his throne back and now comes complete with heir.

So Thesily leads Koryak into a side room and tries to stab him to death. Luckily, a sudden earthquake causes a pillar to topple over and trap Thesily. Koryak gloats and leaves him to die. What a brat! I adore him!

The earthquakes aren't stopping, and the people of Poseidonis want to flee. Arthur tells them not to because a prophecy said they should stay, but Koryak leads the Poseidonians out of the city and to their sister city, Tritonis, which is where the merpeople live. There, the Poseidonians immediately proceed to be huge assholes to the Tritonians, using up their resources and being racist to them. (Introducing Koryak, an indigenous man and literally the only character of color underwater at this point in time, and having him lead a bunch of racist colonizers was...maybe not Peter David's best choice.)

Anyway, Koryak decides to open up some forbidden tunnels because he feels like it, and they turn out to be forbidden because they were imprisoning Kordax, Arthur and Koryak's evil immortal blond lizard man ancestor. Naturally.

Arthur rolls up with his crew (his girlfriend, his dad, and Garth) and Koryak and Garth throw down. It doesn't go well for Koryak:

I LAUGH EVERY TIME.

Anyway, Arthur's side wins, Kordax is killed, the Tritonians are freed, and Arthur decides that to make it up to them, the Poseidonians are going to serve them as slaves indefinitely. That...seems like compounding human rights violations on top of human rights violations, but okay. Anyway Koryak volunteers to stay and serve the Tritonians as well, because he feels guilty about what he's done.

...for a little while. Then he gets bored and decides they should leave. The king of Tritonis is like "Says who?" and Garth shows up out of nowhere and is like "Says me" and the king's like "Oh shit, okay" and lets them go, leaving Koryak both grateful and resentful towards Garth. I am eating this up with a SPOON btw.

Koryak returns to Tritonis, where he immediately falls back into old habits of resenting his father. Vulko, an advisor of Arthur's who is currently mad at him, sees this and decides to use it as an opportunity to overthrow Arthur:

(The scar across his nose is from Kordax. Later artists forgot it and I wish they hadn't.)

Vulko and Koryak plot for like...a really long time without anything coming of it. Arthur knows perfectly well that it's happening but doesn't do anything about it, even though he could put a stop to it by simply, like...showing Koryak five minutes of positive attention, ever, in his life. Because it's really, really obvious that Koryak just needs positive reinforcement, and would be fully Team Arthur if Arthur would just give him a reason - at one point when Arthur briefly dies (he gets better), Koryak is willing to die to try to avenge him and save Garth and Dolphin from torture. He's not all bad! He's just drawn that way!

Anyway, Arthur comes back to life and Poseidonis decides to make him king again. Just as he's about to be crowned, GARTH tries to overthrow him and steal the throne - but that's just because Garth has been holding Arthur's magic trident and was possessed by him. Arthur overpowers him, and then tells him that he's not mad and in fact, he's proud of Garth for holding out as long as he did.

Then Koryak tries his hand:

And like...yes, Garth only tried to steal the throne because he was possessed and Koryak did it willingly, but Koryak also tried to help Arthur when Garth went rogue. Again, it is so, so clear that Koryak's loyalty was Arthur's for the asking, but Arthur never asked. Instead, he praised Garth for trying to overthrow him and then told Koryak to his face how much he sucked.

Arthur is at least merciful enough to commute the normal sentence for treason from death to banishment, and Koryak is kicked out of Atlantis. Arthur then literally never thinks about him for the next SEVEN YEARS. (Okay, Koryak shows up very briefly for three issues in 1999 and Arthur thinks about him while he's looking directly at him, and then forgets he exists again. But then, Arthur also repeatedly forgets about his own wife. Arthur is terrible.)

Anyway, seven years later, Arthur has also been banished from Atlantis, and is now living in Sub Diego, which is what happens when half of San Diego inexplicably falls into the ocean and a small percentage of the traumatized people discover they can breathe underwater. Koryak, meanwhile, has returned to Atlantis to fight with Garth some more:

Love this for them!

Koryak, btw, is arguing that the survivors of Sub Diego should be allowed to move to Atlantis, and Garth's like "Uhhh they wouldn't fit in" and Koryak's like "Wow, racist." Ahem. In general, Koryak during this period is a lot calmer and more mature than he used to be, and also a lot more willing to forgive Arthur for All the Bullshit:

Also, there's a joke that implies Koryak might be queer?

Literally that's the joke here: Koryak is talking about a guy named Malrey (half-shark, half-cop, and no I am not kidding), and Lorena, who has a crush on Koryak, is clocking that she may not have a chance. I don't know if this was just a throwaway gay joke, which happened all the time in 2005, or if it was going somewhere, but we'll never know. (For the record, even though Garth says Koryak has a crush on Lorena, that doesn't appear to be true, especially since Lorena is underage and Koryak is definitely an adult by now. I don't think we should take Garth's line there as anything but dismissive of Koryak's outreach to the Sub Diegoans. Also, back in the 90s, Koryak definitely had a crush on a minor character called Deep Blue, a.k.a. Debbie Perkins, but that never went anywhere, which is good because SHE WAS ARTHUR'S HALF-SISTER. (She and Arthur made out a bunch before they knew, because Arthur loves kissing girls his sons have crushes on. YIKES ALL AROUND.) (Also just kidding, Arthur doesn't pay enough attention to any of his kids to know who they have crushes on.))

Anyway. Back to the plot. Mera is very sick because of Evil Magic, and Garth decides to perform a massive spell to save her, and Koryak agrees to help. This spell attracts the attention of the Spectre, who was evil at the time, and he, uh...destroys Atlantis, killing Koryak, Garth, and almost everyone else. Arthur finally acknowledges that he was a shitty dad:

Immediately after this issue, the book's title changed from Aquaman to Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis. The main character is not the Arthur we know, but a new, younger Arthur, Arthur Joseph Curry, who turns out to be a cousin of our Arthur. His mentor is a guy called the Dweller in the Depths, who has a tentacle face like Davey Jones from the Pirates movies. It is eventually revealed that the Dweller is actually Regular Arthur, with traumatic amnesia. Why? Why does he have a tentacle face now? NEVER EXPLAINED.

Anyway, we also meet this guy:

Narwhal's character design is...suggestive, let's say? Also suggestive: Garth has also turned up alive, and like "Narwhal," he now has albinism and partial amnesia. And Narwhal knows the name "Orin," though he can't place it. (It's Arthur's Atlantean name.)

Anyway, Narwhal is sent to kill this "Orin":

Narwhal kills Arthur/Orin/the Dweller, but it doesn't bring him peace, because he still doesn't know who he is - and Orin did, at the last minute. He goes to Atlantis for answers, and Mera confirms it, at least for the reader:

...and that's the last issue of Sword of Atlantis. WOMP WOMP. All of the Aquaman characters disappeared until Blackest Night (when Arthur returned). Koryak never appeared again, and was retconned out with the New 52. Oh well, at least the narwhal tusk spear is pretty dope.

As of Infinite Frontier, the pre-52 universe has been pretty much restored, which should mean that Koryak is back in continuity...but DC is still keeping Arthur's New 52/Rebirth origin intact, which means he did not spend any of his teenage years in Alaska, which means Koryak was never conceived. So things could go either way - any writer who feels like bringing him back could do so easily, but they don't have to.

I call Koryak "my terrible boy" a lot, and he's undeniably pretty obnoxious: immature, bratty, petty, unforgiving, and, uh...awfully on board with murder, let's say? He is also extremely young when we first meet him, and is instantly slammed with trauma: his mother essentially dies, someone tries to murder him, he's physically and mentally violated by Kordax. I'll say again that the slightest bit of positive attention from Arthur probably could have changed his entire life, but he never got it. SO HE'S GONNA GET IT FROM ME INSTEAD.

Anyway, I love Koryak very, very much, and have already written fic about him. And I have another Koryak fic in the works for after The Lost Titans is published. And I will never stop whining at DC to bring him back. If Koryak has one fan (he does), it's me. But maybe now it's you, too?

#koryak #koryak curry #character profiles #aquasplaining #the lost titans #i write things

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jonkentt · 1 year

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Jon Kent reading order

Key: Run Title (total # of issues in the run) “Storyline Title”. Bold are either important to Jon’s character or just especially good.

Convergence: Superman (2) - #2 Baby Jon’s first appearance. Later, Superman: Son of Kal-El #1 provides a somewhat less dramatic version of Jon’s birth.

Superman: Lois and Clark (8) - Jon grows up on the Kent farm (visually referenced in Son of Kal-El #16).

Superman, 2016 (45) - #1 Jon discovers the dangers of his powers uncontrolled (referenced in Son of Kal-El #11). #2 Jon fears the Justice League will take him away, then Clark shows Jon that he isn’t dangerous. “Trial of the Super Sons” collects #10-11, Jon and Damian Wayne/Robin survive high-stakes team building.

Jon as Superboy ��

Super Sons, 2017 (16) - #1 Jon sneaks off to join Robin’s detective-ing as Superboy. #6 Jon’s first parent-approved night of crime-fighting in with Robin. #7 Jon and Damian’s first off-world adventure without their dads.

Adventures of Super Sons (12) & Challenge of the Super Sons (14)

“Super Sons of Tomorrow” collects Superman #37, Super Sons #11, Teen Titans #15 (2016), Superman #38, and Super Sons #12 in that order - Tim Drake from the future puts Jon through some trauma, then Jon gets rejected from joining the Teen Titans.

The Man of Steel, 2018 (6) - #6 Jon leaves with his grandfather Jor-El to spend the summer exploring space (it doesn’t work out that way at all).

Superman, 2018 (32) - Jon comes back on the last page of #6. “The Unity Saga” collects #7-15, Jon's been gone for 3 weeks but has aged 7 years, this arc explains what happened with Jor-El in space. #9 Jon is captured by Ultraman and trapped in a volcano (referenced in Son of Kal-El #9 and Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #1). #15 Jon has a universe-saving idea later dubbed Unity Day. #16 Jon accepts the invitation of the Legion of Superheroes to spend time 1,000 years in the future.

Legion of Super-Heroes, 2019 (12) - #9-10 Jon and Saturn Girl have a moment.

“The One Who Fell” collects Superman #30-32 - Jon feels like he won’t measure up to his father’s legacy as Superman, then Clark recounts one of their earlier adventures to prove Jon wrong (referenced in Son of Kal-El #16).

Jon as Superman ✮

Superman: Son of Kal-El (18) - #1 Jon seeks Damian’s advice about the kind of hero he wants to be. #2 Jon tries the whole secret identity thing for a hot second, meets Jay, and questions why his dad hasn’t done more for the world as Superman (referenced in Action Comics #1051) #3 Jon has some big moments defining the kind of Superman he’s going to be, then Clark leaves the planet and passes the Superman mantel to Jon. #5 Jon overworks himself as Superman, then he and Jay have their first kiss. “World’s Finest Sons” collects Nightwing #89 and Son of Kal-El #9, this arc illustrates Nightwing as Jon’s personal hero. #10 Jon comes out to Lois.

DC Pride, 2022: “Super Pride” - Jon makes an appearance at a Pride parade as Superman.

Superman: Son of Kal-El (cont.) - #16 Clark and Jon reunite. #17 Jon comes out to Clark. #18 Jon gains an arch-nemesis.

Future State: Superman of Metropolis (2) - Jon pushes the limits of using his powers to protect Metropolis.

Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman (2) & Future State: Justice League (2)

Dawn of the DCU ✮

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent, 2023 (current)

Action Comics, 2023 (current)

#Jonathan Kent #Jon Kent #DC comics #reading guide #comics reading order #for mexi #I am but a humble suffering reader #they don't make it easy

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fantastic-nonsense · 2 years

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Can of Worms Time;

Say you were editor of The Nightwing and BOP books and there’s fan demand for Dick and Babs to finally tie the knot.

How would you pull it off?

Well I wouldn't do it by having Dick feel pressured to propose to a woman he's not actually actively in a relationship with anymore because he thinks he's going to die and wants to get it off his chest before he runs off, gets hit by a massive energy beam during a multiversal invasion event, and ends up in a coma, that's for sure.

No I'm not bitter about Infinite Crisis and Devin Grayson's continual misunderstanding of Dick and the Dick/Babs relationship, why do you ask?

More seriously, let's play this out with post-Crisis!Dick/Babs but sprinkle in the occasional piece of post-Flashpoint stuff (aka, we're talking Nightwing and Oracle, competent and independent adult heroes who both actively lead their own teams, have their own friend groups, have had serious previous love interests, and have their own responsibilities outside of a relationship with each other).

Realistically, the actual proposal would likely be pretty quiet. Dick and Babs are both pretty private people when it comes to their relationship and they both know what a Production™ their family and friends would cause if they knew there were plans (I'm thinking about Dinah and Tim specifically here, but everyone involved would be guilty). I think they'd wait a few days before letting everyone know.

My running gag during the wedding prep era would be that every time they're trying to plan an aspect of the wedding, they keep getting called out to go deal with superhero stuff. This would obviously usually be within the context of whatever a-plot they're dealing with in their individual books, but also just...littering references here and there about other stuff happening in the background.

Trying to book a caterer? Whoops, all-hands-on-deck alien invasion. Talking about flowers? Gotham's had another Arkham breakout. Trying to get to a dress fitting? Oh no, the Birds need help breaking into a high-security prison in Bialya. Scheduling their mandatory pre-marital counseling sessions? Oops, the Titans need help dealing with some major universe-ending threat. Nothing that actually puts a strain on Dick and Babs' relationship, but something that's just exasperating enough to be plausible for two characters who are traditionally DCU linchpin characters with a lot of responsibilities and funny enough for readers to not get tired of it.

I think it would also be fun to have a Nightwing issue focused on Dick running around Bludhaven dealing with petty crime while trying to figure out who his best man is going to be. Should it be Wally, who's been the best man at all of his previous weddings/wedding attempts? Should it be Roy, who's stuck by him again and again and (Dick thinks) should get a chance to actually be in a wedding party that's not his dad's for once? Should it be Tim, the sibling he's closest to? Should it be Donna, who he walked down the aisle at her own wedding? He has so many choices, all of which would be good choices for different reasons and none of whom would be particularly offended by him picking someone else. He picks Wally in the end, because why mess with what works, and asks the others+Garth and Damian to be groomsmen (yes, Donna's at the altar with him too).

At some point, Babs just appoints Dinah as her Maid/Matron of Honor and lets her run her entire wedding prep process for her. Babs might be a control freak, but this is one area where she's largely happy to let someone else take care of the minutia. She grabs the rest of the BOP Core Four+Cass, Steph, and Alysia as her bridesmaids, picks out her dress, and calls it a day.

As for the wedding itself, I want two things out of it: one, someone important (not Dick or Babs, so maybe Wally or one of the Bats?) nearly doesn't make it to the venue because of a massive superhero conflict, and two, the actual wedding goes off without a hitch. I'm very determined that the actual wedding will not be interrupted or otherwise ruined in any way after the disaster that was Dick/Kory's attempted wedding and the pre-wedding trials I just talked about. So they get their wedding, they go on a honeymoon somewhere, and they TURN OFF THEIR COMMS for a week. The honeymoon period is for enjoyment, not distractions; they've both had enough of those.

Publishing/IRL time-wise, the proposal would happen in a Nightwing issue, I'd let the engagement era happen over a year or so (so 12 issues for both the Nightwing and BOP books, exploring the process from both their POVs) and then have their wedding in a crossover issue. So...yeah, that's how I'd pull off a Dick/Babs engagement and wedding in the context of Dick and Babs both having their own books.

#dick grayson #barbara gordon #dc comics #my writing #asks #dickbabs #otp: acrobats #the only other in-character option is a shotgun wedding which I think would be SUPER funny but not very romantic #...also they both deserve better than that tbh

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about-faces · 1 year

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What do you think of a Harley/Harvey romance? Or do you think they won't just fit and better left as friends or antagonists? Do you think Harvey would be a good fit as the 'token dude' among the Gotham Sirens (Harley, Ivy , Selina)?

Honestly, I don’t know what kind of dynamic Harley and Harvey should have. You’d think they’d have some common ground to build on, between their names and their taste in split fashion! But beyond that, they’re a pair of characters I can never quite figure out when it comes to them being together as anything but antagonists, which is boring to me.

(Note: when I speak about Harley, I’m taking about my own personal understanding of her, as I prefer the character. She’s been so inconsistent ever since she became the Sexy Elmo of the DCU, to the point that she’s more a vague merchandise concept than a character. For all intents and purposes of this, I’m thinking of her as Arleen Sorkin’s Harley from BTAS for the most part)

The big fundamental difference is that Harley is all about fun, while Harvey is all about pain. The guy literally wears his agony on his face, and is a big wet blanket for any irreverent antics Harley might want to commit. It's not even a Bert-and-Ernie situation where there's a wacky character and a stoic, straight-laced character, because Harvey is just TOO serious and TOO tormented to be any fun for Harley. There's little room for give-and-take between them. There's just Harley trying to be wacky while Harvey stares at her like someone who has entirely forgotten the concept of fun.

Now, that's not to say that Two-Face can't be a fun, wacky, flamboyant character for Harley to play with! But we'd have to go back to his late Golden Age characterization, where he was entirely focused on outlandish crimes based around the number two. I could possibly imagine a Harley who encourages Harvey to be that kind of Two-Face again, doing something like... oh, let's say, robbing a circus while riding on two horses at the same time. Harley might have a great time with THAT Two-Face!

Now, one might thinking about going the opposite direction. That, instead of encouraging his worst criminal instincts, there's some potential for Dr. Harleen Quinzel to actually be a healing influence on Harvey Dent. Unfortunately, I can't stop thinking about that comic where Mark Russell had Harley "cure" Harvey of needing to listen to his coin, which not only overlooks the core reasons why the coin is so important to him (Russell just kinda treated it as an obsessive quirk and no deeper), but it also shows how Harley's professional care only resulted in making for a more deadly, unpredictable Two-Face:

(Sidenote: brilliant as Russel is as a writer, you can tell he doesn't understand Two-Face because Batman doesn't refer to him as "Harvey.")

I'd love to see Harley as someone who truly empathizes with Harvey Dent, someone who actually understands his trauma from abuse and his internal divide, but it seems impossible to consider how both characters are usually written. It would require a Harley Quinn who actually does fundamentally care about helping people and a Harvey Dent who is written as both a good man and a victim.

Which is where Stjepan Šejić's Harleen was so fascinating and frustrating alike. Harvey is a major character there, and he's miswritten as a hardline dickbag who is all about being Hard On Crime, just for the sake of clashing with the tragically-empathic Dr. Quinzel.

This Harvey Dent is not sympathetic. He's a moralizing prick who straight-up advocates for a fascist police state, including releasing Arkham inmates to show Gotham in order to unleash martial law. It's a perversion of the subplot from the 1989 comic strips, where Harvey wants to resign for unwittingly almost aiding a plot to do exactly what he tries to do in Harleen. To top it off, this Two-Face is willing to re-flip his coin to get a desired result, which is just Bad Two-Face 101.

And yet, despite ALL that, Šejić makes an impressive stab at showing how his compassionate take on Harleen is two-of-a-kind with even this jerkass Harvey Dent.

Even now, I don't know what to make of this, nor do I know what it could possibly mean for either characters. But I remain intrigued by the potential implications of two tragic characters who both lost everything and became "monsters" all in the name of trying to help others. Two irreconcilable people, bound by fate and ideals and "Ha Ha."

So no, I don't know what kind of relationship these two could ever have. I'm even more doubtful there could ever be romance between them. But in other circumstances... who can say? Maybe in some AU, there's a tormented, scarred crime boss driven by revenge and punishing the Haves (Halves?) on behalf of the Have-Nots, and he surprises even himself by bonding with a whimsical, colorful, tortured, and tragically unstable mischief-maker in pigtails.

Maybe. Just maybe that'd work.

#and while I'd love to see Harvey as the token dude in a girl gang #I think Riddler was already the perfect choice there #I have my own ideas for the dream team for Harvey to lead though #harvey dent #harleen quinzel #harley quinn #twoface #two face #batman

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