#just-a-random-dungeon-master

[dchuntress]

hey! do you have any tips on figuring out if huntress in a post is helena wayne or helena bertinelli?

hi there!! thank you for the ask, this was FUN to make <3

i will be honest, i usually guess it based on the vibes alone 😔 but also !! i do have some suggestions that i think should help, it's not always foolproof because even dc will mess things up but!!

disclaimer: i could always get something wrong in my information below, please don't hesitate to correct me if i said anything inaccurate! also, for the sake of convenience, i'll be using "earth 0" as a broad term for the main/default/prime/whatever earth/reality/canon.

0) elementary facts:

in crossbow at the crossroads, despite the description saying helena bertinelli, the huntress here is actually helena wayne. long story short, h. wayne borrows h. bertinelli's identity so that she could go to italy and shut down a trafficking ring there. i believe this is one of the biggest cause for confusion, as people tend to use catc comic panels for helena bertinelli — i was one of those people too! but really, on my rereads of the comics after i was more familiar with both huntresses, i was truly able to appreciate it as a helena wayne story.

helena wayne was formerly robin (n52). helena bertinelli was never robin.

helena wayne has been a lawyer (pre-crisis). helena bertinelli is a schoolteacher (usually highschool + english).

helena wayne is biologically a member of the batfamily, being the daughter of batcat in an alternate reality.

i specifically biologically because i personally think both huntresses shouldn't be reduced to batfam characters, they're both very independent lone wolf types.

helena bertinelli is of italian-sicilian heritage and is born into the then most powerful mafia family in gotham.

helena bertinelli is explicitly stated to be catholic and her relationship with faith has been depicted several times in the comics.

helena bertinelli has a pet, a white cat named doug. helena wayne does not have a pet... yet. fingers crossed.

in the beast world tour comic series, helena bertinelli gets turned into a panther but helena wayne stays human the whole time (sadly).

in bombshells, helena bertinelli is the huntress that features.

helena bertinelli has never travelled to a different earth within a story like helena wayne has. helena bertinelli has AUs but they are usually pre-established and she's not a multiversal anomaly.

1) continuities:

pre-crisis: helena bertinelli does not exist at all.

post-crisis: helena wayne does not exist at all.

new 52: both exist. however, primarily helena wayne is huntress; helena bertinelli is mostly affiliated with spyral and being matron in this continuity.

post new 52: both are huntresses again, usually h.w with jsa and h.b with gotham.

2) character design:

this is helena wayne's pre-crisis huntress design, unlike the two's other suits throughout the ages, this suit has stayed consistent for her with a couple of exceptions:

in my opinion, other suits have gone through too many changes and variants for me to pinpoint them like "this is helena's main suit!" because comic artists take liberty, but i am confident about some minor details.

eye colours, hair, and skin tone, in my opinion, are not the most helpful factors. both of them have had every eye colour, hair style, and skin tone under the sun. they've both been depicted as ethnically ambiguous, with recent comics confirming them as women of colour.

although, primarily: helena wayne has blue eyes, helena bertinelli has brown eyes. but again, you never know!

helena wayne has never had an abs window in her suit. that's helena bertinelli's thing, especially in the birds of prey comics and subsequent stuff.

helena bertinelli tends to wear crosses religiously, well at least before n52. in my recollection, the only time helena wayne has done that is in catc, when she was again pretending to be miss bertinelli.

similarly, helena bertinelli is the one who tends to have touches of gold on her suit. helena wayne normally doesn't.

shoulder pads are another good indicator; helena wayne's the one who usually has them. helena bertinelli to my recollection probably only wore it once or twice?

helena wayne sometimes has a face scar especially in her newer designs, owing to an extreme injury she sustains in earth 2: society.

personalities:

it's hard to describe their canon personalities in a rigid way, since i think at the end of the day, the two share a lot of values and viewpoints.

one thing i would say is that usually, helena wayne tends to present as emotionally stable or even detached, while helena bertinelli tends to feel her emotions strongly.

nevertheless, they're both silly, they're both intense, and they're both morally grey.

3) analyse the background & the company:

see who they are interacting with and where! based on their friends and teammates, you can usually gauge which huntress this is. for example, helena wayne has never been a member of the birds of prey*

*however, helena wayne did team up with batgirl! barbara gordon and dinah lance briefly in batgirl (n52).

but nevertheless, conversations about birds of prey, including shipping, usually refer to helena bertinelli.

teams and affiliations:

helena wayne: justice society of america. infinity inc.

helena bertinelli: birds of prey. justice league. outsiders. has worked with batfamily several times.

batfamily:

on earth 0, helena wayne was seen having interactions with only bruce wayne and damian al ghul. she actually develops a sort of sibling-like bond with damian briefly!

outside of earth 2, helena wayne has interacted with dick grayson and thomas wayne besides, well, selina kyle and bruce wayne.

on earth 0, helena bertinelli has interacted with: stephanie brown, barbara gordon, kate kane, tim drake, cassandra cain, bruce wayne, nightwing, and by extension, selina kyle and harley quinn.

ships:

helena bertinelli's common ships: barbara gordon, dinah lance, zinda blake, renee montoya, vic sage, nightwing, and so on. there are rarepairs here and there, too. canonically, she's also had a fling with catman and arsenal.

helena wayne's common ships: karen starr aka power girl, and... yeah. i'm very much biased but i honestly don't think i've seen people ship her with other characters much. canonically, her love interests include this dudebro named harry sim and... earth 2 nightwing

*helena bertinelli did interact with karen starr briefly! however, this was purposeful: karen was missing her helena who was dead then, and was hoping to find something with miss b.

3) have a broad idea of the two's comic appearances:

i'm not asking you to read their entire catalogue of comics (however, it'd be a fun experience; besides, if you read even for just one of them, it'll help you figure out comic panels that do not belong), but you can have a brief idea of what comic series you may expect them in.

for example, helena bertinelli is the one who features in the no man's land era, battle of the cowl, hush, convergence, and so on.

helena bertinelli was the bat in nml.

helena wayne was batwoman in an elseworlds comic and batman in earth 2: society.

also, you can usually find the source of their comic panels via reverse image searches!

4) adaptations:

justice league: unlimited: helena bertinelli.

batman: the brave and the bold: helena bertinelli, even though she has pre-crisis helena wayne's suit...

the justice league: crisis on infinite earths trilogy: helena wayne.

the arkhamverse games: helena bertinelli.

birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of harley quinn: helena bertinelli.

birds of prey tv show: helena kyle, apparently.

the arrow show: dead to me. buried and rotting and burned and discarded and molding. that is NOT my huntress!!!

4) peer review:

don't be shy to ask!!! we have a small yet powerful community at huntress hive mind, and imo my helena mutuals have been very chill if you'd like to ask on your dash too 💜

5) other:

watch my dumbass video

if there's anything more i can help you with, please don't hesitate to reach out!!!

[mamawasatesttube]

hey! so i just started reading through superboy '94 and idk exactly how to explain this but like. i like the comic itself but it's really hard to enjoy it bc there's so much of older women hitting on kon. i've read issues zero, one, and two for context. i think i want to read through more of it but does it ever stop having so much of that? bc so far it's really uncomfortable watching like 3 people that're way older than kon hit on him and the narrative not really address it in a significant way (so far)

unfortunately, that won't go away for a hot minute (until about halfway through the run). kesel is like... trying to fulfill the "teen boy fantasy" of dating a ~hot older woman~ and unfortunately, it can be really hard to read because he doesn't seem to comprehend that tana grooming kon, is, like, a bad thing.

as for knockout, i will say the culmination of her arc and everything she does to kon is fascinating to analyze in some respects (though still hard to read!). because she is a villain, she does manipulate kon, and the narrative acknowledges that she lies and uses him in a way that is deeply hurtful to him. in some ways this arc reads so intentionally like a story about abuse that i find it hard to believe kesel didn't intend it as exactly that; in other ways i'm like wait no never mind he's an idiot, i don't know. (it's sort of like everything surrounding blockbuster+tarantula in nightwing '96: the guy it happened to reacts realistically like someone who's abused/traumatized would, and it really does read like A Trauma Response, but the rest of the characters in the narrative don't really treat it or the character it happened to like they would if the story was gonna acknowledge that they have any sort of sexual trauma.)

overall i kind of regard this part of sb94 like. almost a horror story? where we're sitting on the outside banging on the glass like NO GET AWAY FROM HIM but he doesn't even realize they're monsters. i also personally kind of interpret it like how kon sees the situations; he doesn't realize anything is wrong, so the narrative doesn't acknowledge anything is wrong. it's unreliable narration. (kesel did not mean this; kesel wanted us to like tana, lmao. but this is kinda how i take it and run with it.)

[oifaaa]

hey! sorry if this is weird but i'm a fanbinder (basically i print out fanfics and bind them in book form) & i like to include some fanart of characters that appear in the fic. i was wondering if you'd be ok with me including some of your art? obviously just for personal use and with full credit given.

Of course if it's just for personal use I'm fine with people using my art it's just when it's reuploaded without credit or my knowledge that I get antsy

[franollie]

cassrose or dinahollie for the ship ask game?

cassrose:

Don't Ship It

Why don't you ship it?

simply doesn't compel me! i understand the appeal it's just not my thing.

2. what would have made you like it?

probably just more time with both of them. so many of their moments are fleeting or one off interactions in single issues. if we got a mini arc or team up series with the two of them id probably be sold if im honest

3. Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

i'm never going to be mad about dykes stabbing each other on my dash. hell yeah, brother, pass the yuri

dinahollie:

Ship It

What made you ship it?

mix of canon and my own understanding of the characters. I wasn't totally sold on them until i started reading green arrow for mia and i was charmed by their interactions. around that time i was also listening to the audiodramas during some of my life drawing classes and the way the voice actors play dinah and ollie was just so endearing.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

i love when superheros date. sorry. basic answer but it's trueeee. i like that theyre co-workers so even when theyre divorced they have to see each other. it's just a fun dynamic

3.Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i dont think this is unpopular (at least it isnt in my echo-chamber) but theyre sooo t4t to meeee <33

[sufroyo]

hey! sorry if this is weird but i'm a fanbinder (basically i print out fanfics and bind them in book form, lately also sometimes in zine form or smth similar) & i like to include some fanart of characters that appear in the fic. i was wondering if you'd be ok with me including some of your art? obviously just for personal use and with full credit given.

hi! yessss as long as its not for commercial or malicious purposes then its totally cool with me 😊 thanks so much for asking!! 🩷

[lemonlimestar]

hey! sorry if this is weird but i'm a fanbinder (basically i print out fanfics and bind them in book form) & i like to include some fanart of characters that appear in the fic. i was wondering if you'd be ok with me including some of your art? obviously just for personal use and with full credit given.

oooo that’s so nice :] ofc!! tysm for asking! and i would love to see it when u do 👀👀

[astrovvitches]

hey! sorry if this is weird but i'm a fanbinder (basically i print out fanfics and bind them in book form) & i like to include some fanart of characters that appear in the fic. i was wondering if you'd be ok with me including some of your art? obviously just for personal use and with full credit given.

hi, totally okay for personal use! but i'd also really love to see how the final comes out so please come back and show me? 🥺

[curse-of-dming-strahd]

every time I think I've finally processed all the weird shit in curse of strahd, I remember there's a mirror somewhere in the Baron's mansion that can like SUMMON A GHOST ASSASSIN and if you do this very specific thing that almost no one would ever do unprompted, there's a 50% chance that Strahd will suddenly join your zoom meeting and invite you to dinner.

like, from a design perspective, I don't know how I'm going to get my party to go into this room, let alone interact with this fucking mirror, why did they put so many mechanics here

[thehauntedhouses]

*fighter pc trying to jump out a closed window*

“you go blasting out- and the window stays in tact but the entire wall around it… goes flying out”

- bizlychannel jrwi wonderlust

i Aspire to have that quick of an imagination while dming one day

[dungeons-and-dictions]

[addicted2coke-theothercoke]

Sharing DND thoughts

So I'm working on a quest idea to play with family(cause they're like the only people I can actually play with for a number of reasons), and I had a sneaky thought

Quest involves them exploring a dark forest, named The Dark Forest, in pursuit of this mysterious creature

Forests mean I can use hags

Hags are cunning and manipulative

Knowing that, and knowing my brother, I fully believe I can trick him into being a tad suspicious of his party members for like a session or two before I reveal the hag

Which I think would be fun

[dchuntress]

I thought hel b and Jason could be a fun platonic pairing to foil each other or whatever but THEYRE BEING SHIPPED?? it’s so fucking over I can’t :((

that's her baby brother in law!!! this should've been a lesbian and a gay man dammit!!! WHY DO THEY NEED TO MAKE EVERY MAN AND WOMAN FUCK I HATE IT HERE

[corrancastor]

Beginner DM me (the Fool):

I gotta PREPARE for D AND FUCKIN' D! My players deserve a Fun and Organized game! Spreadsheets! Full premade plot! Full character sheets for 13 critical NPCs! WORK MAKES FUN HAPPEN!!!

Baby Players with no idea what a bad game even looks like:

Weeee! 🤪 Nat 20'd my Stealth roll! I Friend the Deadly Giant Spider! 🥰 Use Mending to resurrect this bread! 🙌

~2 Years and 54 Sessions later~

Now-Jaded-to-my-friends'-particular-flavors-of-bullshit DM me:

...oh dang, it's 7 minutes to gametime and I forgot to think about today's session. Um..... Blood Cakes? Yeah, I think the Druid would like Blood Cakes. I'll start with Blood Cakes idea and wing it from there.

"Experienced" Players who remain blissfully unaware of some of their core class features but have now acquired dumb magic items/ pets:

Woo!🤪 Let's grab groceries for my baby iguanadon! 🥬CABBAGE BEER! Who wants 🎶Blood Cakes? 🎶 Aw dip, Druid just caught the vampirism. 👹

[thehippiejediblog]

Being so desperate to have a D&d party that you play a game with ghost that you can only hear by having your wife relay everything they say to you is the most relatable thing I’ve seen on tv in a very long time.

[prokopetz]

Old-school D&D's penchant for magic items which appear to have some beneficial property and automatically defeat every conceivable test that would demonstrate otherwise, but the first time you use them in a life-or-death situation they can somehow tell that it's for real this time and suddenly reveal themselves to be horribly cursed has rightly been criticised as player-hostile bullshit, but the oft-unacknowledged corollary is that many of them are also, in context, extremely funny.

There's a flying broom that gets mad when you try to ride it and attempts to beat you to death with its handle. This is separate from, and unrelated to, the flying carpet that gets mad when you try to ride it and attempts to wrap you up and squeeze you to death.

There's a spear which performs normally in sparring matches, but in mortal combat it curves around to make you stab yourself in the back like some sort of fucking Looney Tunes gag.

There's a magic ring which appears to have the powers of a randomly chosen different magic ring, but in reality the only power it has is to employ mental illusions to trick its wearer into thinking it has powers. You are being gaslit by jewellery.

None of these require you to go to obscure sourcebooks, nor are they apparently particularly rare – they're just hanging out on the standard treasure tables in the Dungeon Master's Guide, ready to pop up in any random hoard.

You can even create them by accident by biffing your roll when crafting your own magic items (the roll in question of course being made secretly by the GM, so you can never know whether this has happened until it's too late), which implies several fascinating things about the nature of magic.

There's a hat that makes you stupid and it's plotting against you.

[cozmikvi]

Sounds just like my players lol