kiragecko

[kiragecko]

WOW, Gidge! You're an AMAZING narrator. Love this story, but it's even more dynamic getting to listen to the subtleties of timing and mood you intended. And I usually can't listen to podfics at all!

Some people are good storytellers!

I realized that while I made this Podfic long ago, I’d never posted it to Ao3… until now.

Summary: There are five Batmans in the room and one Robin. It sounds like the start of a horrible joke, but Tim isn’t finding anything funny about it.

[kiragecko]

gimme kid flash wally who goes through a phase of refusing to talk about the flash at ALL when he hangs out with the teen titans cause (even tho they love him) they all look at him like he’s got three heads when he goes on for thirty seven minutes straight about how flash beat captain cold the other day and they’re like “wally, we get it, he’s cool.” but like they don’t get it. ‘cause they’re also sidekicks, yeah, but they weren’t like, super-duper mega fans of their mentors first, and like they didn’t grow up with flash-themed bedsheets, and they didn’t go through the whole “my aunt (aka the only adult in my life who i trust and don’t have mixed feelings about and i wholly believe cares about me) is gonna marry my biggest hero” thing, and they didn’t get the odds-breaking luck of getting to work with a legend who changed wally’s life in the very specific way he needed it to change.

and they look at him sometimes like he’s weird for still being a fan of someone he works so closely with and knows so well but they don’t GET IT how he’s been kid flash for a few years now but still gets that feeling of excitement so bad it feels like the butterflies in his stomach and lungs and brain and heart are doing cartwheels whenever he steps into the flash museum ‘cause it’s just so COOL he wants to learn EVERYTHING about this stuff and it’s EXCITING and for all he loves being a hero he just really loves specifically getting to be kid flash even more and see and learn everything about his hero that he can because!!!! because it’s the flash!!!!

and he has to like. pretend to be chill with the titans. because he knows they’re so so nice and accepting and don’t really care. but one little comment of “do you ever talk about anything else than the flash?” and the little voice in his head tells him his friends will think he’s weird (like at home just like his parents and the kids at school in blue valley do) at the end of the day because yeah it’s a little weird to be so into something so much. and yeah it stings like a motherfucker when it’s pointed out and makes him want to curl up into a ball and go lay in a ditch somewhere when it’s pointed out how weird it is. but barry doesn’t seem to mind (barry enables it with the flash fact thing actually let’s be honest ) and wally CAN be normal about it especially because it helps to remember barry allen is the most boring and least interesting person on earth.

but also he’s the flash! and wally west will always be a flash fan first and a person second (and yeah taking on that role when he’s older was hard. for a lot of reasons. but no shit he’s the only kid sidekick to take up the mantle and never look back because why WOULD he. but also he’ll never be barry allen and he will never be the flash barry was because. because the flash is immortalized in his brain as perfect because isn’t that just how it works when you spend all your waking hours as a kid daydreaming about your future you never thought would come true but did)

anyway that’s on wally west & adhd & hyperfixations lol

[kiragecko]

The Next Food Network Star

Authour: somehowunbroken

Subfandom: Batman

Media: All Media Types

Relationships: Shippy (Jason Todd/Tim Drake-centric)

Year: 2014

Rating: Teen

Warnings: None

Summary:

"I hate him." Dick snorts from his seat on the sofa. "You can't hate him, Jay, you've never even met him." "I can and I do," Jason insists, slapping the magazine he's been holding down onto the counter. "Food & Wine thinks he's better than me! Look!"

Submitted by @kiragecko

Submitter's comment:

This is a ridiculously good AU. Extremely fun, clever, and really gets the essence of cooking shows. Everyone is likeable and interesting, and I LOVE how the authour has themed their shows!

[kiragecko]

What it SHOULD mean:

this is a good introduction to the genre - explaining its rules pretty well, not getting into the more ... high level stuff, well written, and making sure to actually get us from point A to Z without the shorthand that experienced fans can navigate

this is Genre B, but written by someone who loves Genre A, and so you see a lot of the Genre A stuff in a different context, without most of the baggage it usually carries

this is so well written that it no longer feels like a specific genre. It's just a story. But it is actually VERY VERY genre

or

this IS Genre A, but it has a B-plot which is Super-Popular Genre B that non-fans can focus on, exposing them to Genre A without abandoning them there

What it usually means:

this is Genre A, but written by someone who actually loves Genre B (or just hates genre fiction), so it just has the trappings of its genre and is missing the heart.

"it's [genre] for people who don't like [genre]" oh, so its dogshit

[kiragecko]

You are REALLY good at textual analysis!

Most people have never even considered how point-of-view can impact what the main character tells us in prose, much less imagined that the pictures we're being shown might be affected in a comic! That's a really cool thought, which could probably even interest non-comics fans, but is definitely of interest to the broader comics community.

Still mildly confused why my post about how Azrael-the-title frames Bruce is now at *checks* almost 1000 notes, given I guarantee there aren’t 1000 people on tumblr who’ve actually read Denny’s final opus, but clearly something about my analysis there hit with a lot of people?

[kiragecko]

My posts from 2013 show up regularly when I check my blog. Posts I reblogged from a friend will often suggest posts that mention the same friend. Especially if it's Tuesdayisfordancing, for some reason. Tumblr really seems to think Tuesday is a topic people might want to see more about.

Sometimes you get a like on a post and you're like.

Why were you that deep in the blog, friend?

[kiragecko]

One of the best letters I’ve ever seen just popped up on my Facebook memories. Still makes me laugh.

[kiragecko]

5 and 14, for the Superman asks?

5: Why do you think Lex hates Superman?

Oooh. I think this is something where I’m heavily influenced all the way back to being a little kid. My first DC show was Lois & Clark. Fundamentally, I’m on the side of Lex hates Superman because he feels threatened and challenged by his existence. The extremely rich are very insulated from the rest of the world, and Superman as a concept pierces through that: Lex can’t ignore him, and he can’t stop him, and their motivations for why and how to do things are so very separate. Lex hates Superman because Superman challenges him in terms of showing that there is more than winning capitalism, and because Lex can’t buy or manipulate Superman the way he has so many others to do business.

There’s also the aspect of other. Superman comes from a mysterious other. Superman isn’t human. He’s a challenge Lex can’t win against, and he’s ‘cheating’ by not being human, and so not competing on the same playing field Lex has dominated. And Lex digs into that underlying streak of fear of the unknown, of the other, of inherent xenophobia to cling to as justification for himself for his hatred.

Lex can’t look away. Lex has to listen. And he hates being challenged and he hates that he can’t just buy that.  

14: Thoughts on non-Kryptonian Superfam members eg. The Steels, Otho and Osul, pre-2003 Kon, and Mon El?

To a degree, I think that the Last Son of Krypton rule of the 80s and 90s did and did not help here.

One of the interesting aspects of Superman as a narrative is that reaching out for connection with the Other that runs through the whole story. Last Son policy meant in particular that writers could not default to populating the zone with other Kryptonians around Clark; but equally they didn’t just want ordinary humans. And so, they got creative, and we got some fascinating characters. We also got some extremely jury-rigged work arounds to avoid stepping on the rule that got walked back pretty rapidly once editorial allowed it: I remain convinced Kon would have been a proper clone from Clark’s DNA from the very start if not for the rule, and Karen/Power Girl’s Atlantean background disappeared into a black hole the very moment it was possible to have her return to being Kara-From-Earth-Two.

Because of Clark’s backstory, and because he comes from such a foundation of love and acceptance and choosing to connect, he reaches out. Of course he feels kinship to Phaelosians and Daxamites, with their overlapping ways of being Kryptonian-but-not, just like Clark is Kryptonian but culturally human. They’re like him but unlike him, just as he’s like and unlike Kryptonians raised in the culture.

I like the balance characters like the Steels bring to Clark, in that his narrative feels wider and more ‘for everyone’ by having Superfam who come from diverse species, cultures and backgrounds. I don’t want to get too into the politics of blood relations vs found family, but it does feel more special to me to think of John Henry Irons as part of the Superfam and long accepted by Clark as such, compared to focusing on Jon because ‘this kid is biologically related to me’. I think there are important stories in Superman about the hunger for connection with other Kryptonians for Clark, but I think they should only be one aspect, not the sole/main focus. And as such, a broader Superfam works well with that.

[kiragecko]

I've got the ADHD "everything is a pattern" thing going on, and sometimes feel the same frustration with you!

Why are you rejecting that person's perfectly valid extension of your pattern?! Why are you saying they missed the point; that seemed like it fit very well into your argument? Oh, you don't WANT to include those interesting edge cases?? That's so sad!

I'm used to it by now - very few people think things are as connected as I do - and your posts are far too interesting for something like that to scare me away. But it's always interesting to see how everyone's normal is different.

On an intellectual level, I understand that a lot of autistic people struggle with identifying patterns in observational data, so when folks on this site act incredulous when I talk about very obvious trends because they can think of one (1) example that doesn't fit said trend, they're not being disingenuous, they're just genuinely confused.

On an emotional level,

[kiragecko]

TIL the reason you don’t find much Lyme’s Disease in California is not because we don’t have Ticks, or Lyme Disease Vectors; but rather: because the Western Fence Lizard (if you live anywhere in California this is your regular Garden Variety Lizard) has adapted a passive immune response that makes their blood lethal to Lyme Disease Bacteria. Any Tick that feeds on one gets its gut cleansed of Lyme Disease as a side effect.

Fucking neat.

[kiragecko]

Watchmen is an incredibly skilful comic that is exhausting to read and leaves you me unhappy at the end. It's WORTH reading. Deserves its place in history. Can teach you interesting things about what comics are capable of. But the text pieces are SO MUCH WORK, and not that interesting, even though they are important. And the pirate comic is SO GORY and ... yeah. I'd like Watchmen better if those parts didn't exist, but it wouldn't be as good of a comic at that point!

I'm glad I read it but I didn't enjoy it. Meanwhile, the Far Sector fans seem to experience SO MUCH JOY from their comic! And all the panels I've seen have been beautiful! I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and yeah, it's mostly because Watchmen was so definitely not for me, but that's enough. I place a high value on things bringing people joy.

[kiragecko]

[Comic shows a pair of cartoony women at a bar, chatting. A silhouette drops a pill into one of their drinks, with an audible 'splash'. The lady looks surprised, and then turns around and yells, "You put something in my drink!" while pointing at the culprit.

The blobby silhouette turns around and is replaced by a smiling photo of Weird Al Yankovic. The lady looks confused. She asks, "Weird Al?"

They watch the pill dissolve, and a foam stegosaurus expand in her drink. Looking annoyed, she asks, "What is this?"

"dinosaur," smiling Weird Al replies.

End ID.]

i would trust weird al with my drink at a party. granted he may put one of those capsules that expands into a sponge animal in it,

[kiragecko]

characters raised to be tools

Weapons. Trained, tested, forged in steel and fire. Failure is an inevitability that ends in death. Pain should not be felt--it should be recognized, familiar, and inconsequential

Martyrs. In the form of servants and princes, of leaders and underdogs. If blood is necessary, the martyr will lift their hands and offer it all

Shields. Like tempering a sword, but only to bear and not to lash out. Wounds are medals--not symbols of pride, but symbols of worth. A pretty shield is useless; scars mean a job well done

Experiments. Raised on the cold comfort of a lab table. Restraints are only necessary when they're not in their right mind. Is it honorable, to be twisted beyond recognition? Or is it just a necessary evil?

Monsters. Cruelty, caution, and regarding one as a creature beyond reasonable thought is tempering in its own right. But if you keep a leash at the right length, perhaps the massecre won't reach you. One can hope.

Idols. Pretty face, pretty name, pretty hands around their shoulders and throat. There to seduce, manipulate, force any feeling to come to the surface and twist it to their favor. Any genuinity stays locked behind the guilded cage that surrounds their pretty little heart

Trophies. Status and wealth and the traditions that keep someone at their heels, on their knees, to display and serve and decorate one's ballroom.

Sacrifices. Drenched in honorable clothes, prepared and adored and cleansed. The gift of hope at the cost of one's life. Is it taken with no fight? How can you escape the ropes you were born in?

[kiragecko]

Okay, ALL the possibilities here are great!

23 year old Bruce comes back from his trip with a 4 year old, has spent the last 2-3 years adapting his training to include child-rearing advice.

23 year old Bruce comes back from his trip with a 4 year old, spent the last 2-3 years TRYING to get this kid a stable home, but people kept trying to hurt her to get control over him, so now they're trauma bonded and he gets anxious if she's out of his sight. Batman is going to look different.

21 year old Bruce comes home early with a 1-2 year old, expecting Alfred to know how to parent her. It takes 2 weeks for Alfred to realize she's not Bruce's biological child. Batman can wait.

21 year old Bruce comes home early with a 1-2 year old, expecting to dump her with Alfred and go back to training. This, obviously, does not happen. Bruce is forced to take responsibility and Alfred enjoys the experience immensely.

Like, all of these sound really really interesting! I can think of others! This is a VERY good AU idea.

Comics timelines being what they are, do we actually have any idea whenabouts Bruce would have been being trained by David Cain? Because depending on how old Bruce is supposed to be and how long he's supposed to have been Batman by this point, it could have either been before Cass was born or after Cass had already run away from him. I ask because I'm tormented by the mental image of Bruce training with David whilst unbeknownst to him a young Cass sits waiting in the next room with neither of them to this day any the wiser of how close they came to meeting back then and how differently their lives might have gone.

[kiragecko]

Don’t have my timeline in front of me, but she should have been 3-4 when Bruce became Batman. So depending on how early in Bruce’s training he was with Cain, she was PROBABLY born, but very young. He was SO CLOSE to actually being able to hold one of his kids as a baby!

My math:

Cass is slight older than Jason (a few weeks to months)

Dick was 18-19 when Jason started as Robin (Dick’s 19th birthday has happened, but it’s also said at another point that it’s been 6 years since he started as Robin and the math works best if we use his 12 year old starting point)

Jason seems to be around 12 when Bruce takes him in, which matches several other data points (even though those points contradict each other) - a fear gas tombstone that gives a 12 year birth to death span (before he actually dies), a death certificate that puts him at 15 when we know Dick is 21, etc.

We know Dick became Robin in Bruce’s 2nd year as Batman

So Jason and Cass were 12 when Dick was 18 or 19, 4/5 when Dick started as Robin, and 3/4 when Bruce started as Batman

Comics timelines being what they are, do we actually have any idea whenabouts Bruce would have been being trained by David Cain? Because depending on how old Bruce is supposed to be and how long he's supposed to have been Batman by this point, it could have either been before Cass was born or after Cass had already run away from him. I ask because I'm tormented by the mental image of Bruce training with David whilst unbeknownst to him a young Cass sits waiting in the next room with neither of them to this day any the wiser of how close they came to meeting back then and how differently their lives might have gone.

[kiragecko]

WIP excerpt for LexiOakEn behind the cut; “project sidekick”. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“Yeah, little weird, but guess we’re just all officially ride or die for our own clones who we haven’t even met yet now, good to know,” Robin says casually, drumming his fingers on his thighs and then suddenly perking up in his seat and grinning at Superboy, who has no idea how he feels about this conversation at all anymore. “Oh wait, SB, real important question here: does my clone-me understand the value of being whelmed? I really need to know if my clone-me understands the value of being whelmed, that is so important for our future relationship.” 

“Sure, I’m narcissistic enough for that,” Kid Flash agrees–then stops again and groans again, dropping his head back on his neck. “God, though, we’re seriously gonna have to deal with two of you? Like that’s literally what this is, like ‘two of you’ is literally what ‘genetically identical with and’ . . . what’s three months for you, like two percent of your life? 1.923 percent, give or take. So ‘two of you’ is literally what ‘genetically identical with and in possession of 98.187 percent of your memories, give or take’ means, yeah.” 

“I think you’re being very ungrateful about the existence of our newly-gained clone-bros, bro,” Robin replies primly, then grins wide at Kid Flash. “What, you don’t want kept on your toes, Yellow? You wanna get all lazy and complacent in life?” 

“Maybe!” Kid Flash shoots back accusingly, then frowns, tapping his foot in a crackling blur for a moment and looking considering. “I mean I guess I’m never gonna be outnumbered again, I guess I’ve got that.” 

“Just try not to edge me out of BFF status by becoming best friends with yourself, huh?” Robin asks with another snigger. Kid Flash eyes him, then looks considering again. 

“Actually, wow, that actually sounds really convenient, I bet Three-Months-Plus!Me would totally go for–” 

“Oh my god, KF!” Robin says with a cackling laugh, then pauses and looks considering himself. “Hey, think they’ll tutor us on the two months of class we missed if we ask nice? That a thing you think they’d be up for?” 

“I think it’s hilarious that you think Three-Months-Plus!Me would be capable of tutoring anyone, actually,” Kid Flash retorts dubiously, and Robin cackles again, and Ahm muffles a quiet laugh behind his fist. 

And Superboy–he still doesn’t know how he feels right now, and knows it doesn’t matter how he feels about any of this anyway, but . . . 

But he definitely feels some very, very complicated things about all of this.

[kiragecko]

Token of Appreciation

Authour: @everythingandthekitchensink (Mist-managed)

Subfandom: Wonder Woman

Media: Comics

Relationships: Gen (Artemis of Bana-Mighdal & Cassie Sandsmark)

Year: 2025

Rating: Gen

Warnings: None

Summary:

“I demand to speak with whomever holds hierarchy above you,” Artemis grits out. The employee smacks her gum and looks at them blankly. Her compatriot wanders off, arms weighed down with swathes of cloth. “It’s okay,” Cassie says, downtrodden look on her child face. “I don’t need it, I only want it.”

Submitted by anon

Submitter's comment:

Short sweet little Artemis-as-Cassie's-trainer fic! Cute warrior bonding at a shopping mall!!