saintvainglorious

[saintvainglorious]

I am always always thinking of him

[saintvainglorious]

My one friend really likes "yo mama" jokes, but she feels bad for saying them to me because my mama's dead, and lately she's been circumventing this by adding "in heaven" to them, a concept I was introduced to with zero warning via a text that said, "Yo mama's so stupid she's in heaven pre-heating the microwave."

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in Gotham Knights #8 (2000) Selina has to explain the concept of Batman having sidekicks to Hugo Strange, who has apparently been remarkably slow on the uptake

the entire interaction is funny but this in particular caught my eye:

partly because the girl situation is in fact kind of complicated (at present we have Cass as a active duty Batgirl, Babs who is retired and serving as Oracle, and Stephanie and Helena who are active as Spoiler and Huntress but both frowned on by Batman) but also because the boy thing gave me pause. this is prior to Jason's resurrection, so the only boys on duty are Dick and Tim, both of whom Selina is pretty well aware of. and they're pals, so who's getting thrown off of bridges?

which is when I realized Jean-Paul is also still in the mix, and Selina witnessed this in Shadow of the Bat #30, six years ago in real time:

and that is, in fact, Bruce flinging ol' JPV off a bridge while Dick and Tim watch. and moments later he reunites with Selina, who saw the whole thing

so I guess those Batboys really do be pushing each other off bridges.

[saintvainglorious]

went into a wine shop the other day to buy pasta and they did not have pasta but they were doing a wine tasting so i thought what the hell. and got to chatting with the other woman there because we had both just come from the library and were comparing our books and sipping wine and turns out we’re both teachers so we got on the topic of phones in classrooms—and the guy pouring our wine was like ‘that’s actually a point of contention in one of my divorces right now.’

and i very delicately said ‘one of your divorces?’ and his eyes got really big and he said I’M A PARALEGAL

[saintvainglorious]

Classic Tim.

Superman/Batman #63 (2009)

[saintvainglorious]

Your white boyfriend will do nothing for you. Leave him. Join my terrorist Organization

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[saintvainglorious]

it has been literal years since I last posted about this so. hey

tinyurl.com/BStracks

unofficial s2-4 music <3 if you’re into that.

pls don’t crosspost or share this link publicly anywhere else

[saintvainglorious]

Batgirl (2024) #3 vs. Batgirl (2000) #50

I'm never going to recover from this, actually

[saintvainglorious]

My grandma’s on and off again boyfriend that she cheated on grandpa with died today.

[saintvainglorious]

As a Kansan I have a Very Strong Random Opinion regarding Superman that probably no one cares about but buckle up cuz you're gonna get it anyway: The Kent farm should be depicted as growing WHEAT, NOT CORN. Sounds like a totally inconsequential detail, right? But hear me out – this is actually important imo for the sake of accuracy, aesthetics, and symbolism.

• It's the quintessential Kansas crop. That's why we're the "Wheat State" and the "Breadbasket of the World". Corn is grown here too, yes, but wheat is the #1 crop. As a Kansan, whenever I see corn on the Kent farm, I think "Uhh, they have us confused with Nebraska." 😒

• Wheat shines golden in the sun, which is just too fitting for a sun-god-esque character. It also makes peaceful, soothing waves in the wind (which isn't really important, it's just nice).

•Most importantly, wheat (like Clark, and *unlike* corn!) is not actually native to Kansas. It was brought here by Mennonite refugee/immigrants in the 1870s. Strict pacifists, they came here from Ukraine to avoid forced military service and to flee extreme (essentially genocidal) violence for their nonviolent beliefs. They were expert farmers who just wanted lead simple lifestyles & live in peace.

That simple, hard-working Kansas farmer life that Jonathan & Martha represent? That comes from Mennonites.

"To the peace loving Mennonites, the worst blow of all came in 1871 with the passage of a universal military service act. The bearded patriarchs of their churches sent a delegation of elders and prominent leaders to St. Petersburg to seek exemption. Some of the members of the commission that was drafting the new law had never heard of the doctrine of nonresistance, and expressed incredulity and skepticism that any group could be naive enough to believe and practice it.

One commissioner asked Elder Leonhard Suderman, “And what would you do if your enemy came to fight you?”

“I would approach him, extend my hand, and embrace him, but would not kill him,” replied Suderman. His answer greatly amused the cynical official."

Source

Doesn't that statement from Suderman (name spelling is a fun coincidence) sound like our boy Clark? And doesn't the official's cynicism sound like Lex, convinced that Superman’s claims of pure intentions must be virtue signaling to hide some nefarious plan for world domination?

I'm just saying, if Clark was a real person, there is zero doubt in my mind that he would know and be influenced by Mennonite neighbors & friends. At the very least, he would have learned about Mennonites in middle school, which is when our public schools teach Kansas history. [He also would have learned about John Brown then, and my personal headcanon is that he would have admired both and forged a middle path for himself, but I digress.]

One final thought: while the impact of wheat and Mennonites on Kansas history is important and absolutely deserving of a subtle nod of recognition in Superman stories, I also want to acknowledge that it's even more important to recognize the Jewish origins of Superman, his values, & history. That erasure is more upsetting, but I'm not Jewish myself and don't feel qualified to speak on that. I'm not Mennonite either, but grew up in a heavily Mennonite community and have definitely been impacted by that culture.

Anyway, thanks for reading my weird info dump about Supes, wheat, and Kansas history. If you have any idea how to help me get this in front of James Gunn , I'm all ears! ☺️

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[saintvainglorious]

replace one word of your url with bitch

[saintvainglorious]

its not funny but i do think about it a lot

[saintvainglorious]

If I had a nickel for every time Dick lands in a group of supervillains that wants him dead and ends up leading the group one issue later, I would have two nickels, which isn’t that many but its weird that it happened twice.

For context:

Dick: lands in the middle of supervillains who want him dead

Dick: No… Chimp.. Cheetah: Thanks for the save, boy wonder. Now who’s going to save you?

Dick one issue later leading the group:

Dick: If we leave the omega knight, Perpetua will know you survived the throne and come for you. If you want to keep your freedom and your lives, we stop the Omega Knight now. Follow my lead. Martian Manhunter, connect us and the legion of doom!

Dick: lands in the middle of supervillains who want him dead:

Villains: “is that really him?” “its gotta be” “What’d he do to get thrown in here? “Who the hell cares?” “Lets kill him” “yeah”

Dick one issue later leading the group: 

Dick, narrating: This gets their mind off me, anyway Dick, out loud: Just your fingers guys. No metal tools. One spark and we blow ourselves up instead of out of here.

[saintvainglorious]

my hottest take

[saintvainglorious]

@disco-troy and i were talking about it... but one of the things that really breaks my heart is how it's both dick and bruce who are such unreliable narrators. consider donna's wedding...

in tales of the teen titans (1984) #50, we have dick asking bruce why he adopted jason and not dick:

what's really interesting about it is the way dick is depicted here... the refusal to make eye contact till he eventually does. there's an element of dick being terrified of bruce's answer and his posture in the beginning of this interaction is almost... defensive? he's hunched, leaning on the balustrade, shadowed... till he receives assurance from bruce. and then, bruce immediately reverts to toasting the success of dick's team... which dick reciprocates but i feel like there's possibly still a degree of doubt from him... about dick grayson's role in bruce wayne's life (because yes, bruce has affirmed that he loves dick as much as any son but it doesn't take away from the fact that jason was adopted instantly and dick is only adopted after tim appears... we've seen how dick reacted to both the times bruce was considering adopting someone else— tim and cass— and it isn't pleasant!!! which means there's still lingering unease about it for him)

and then you have justice league of america (2006) #0, which is a series of flashbacks and future occurrences woven to focus on the trinity. but here's bruce's recollection of this talk at donna's wedding:

there's such a difference between the two!!!

here, it's almost a role reversal... dick is the one reassuring bruce and reiterating the importance of their familial bond... even the physicality of reassurance is from dick to bruce through the hand on the shoulder. despite the similarity in postures between this and the panel from tales, dick is not afraid to meet bruce's eyes— in fact, he's the one who takes it a step further and offers physical reassurance along with the verbal. moreover, the conversation is cut short by dick being pulled away for other obligations... which is an interesting consideration of how bruce has often viewed dick's priorities being split between him and the titans.

of course, we can chalk it up to different things— maybe this part of dick and bruce's conversation actually happened and we simply didn't get to see it in TotTT + it's not always possible for writers of different comics to have the exact same considerations for characters + dick is arguably the focus in tales whereas bruce is the focus in JLA so it makes sense for the narration to pander to them in their respective comics.... but there's also the fact that this is very much a flashback whereas the conversation in tales is happening in the present...

we already know dick & bruce are prone to miscommunication when the communication even happens + bruce is often painfully nostalgic about dick's robin years... so i don't think it's a stretch to say that bruce's recollection of this conversation is warped by his own emotionality.

especially when you consider the handling of robin being passed on to jason. in the very same JLA issue, this is how bruce talks of it:

which is, once again, very different in terms of how that conversation actually went in batman (1940) #416:

(although, i would be remiss if i didn't consider that bruce probably thinks he is being truthful here... because we do see how dick accepts jason as robin. moreover, bruce himself sees it and is grateful to dick for it)

but i think it's interesting how in both cases, bruce is a first-hand spectator to dick's unease/hurt/fear of rejection... and how differently he remembers it... perhaps, even chooses to remember it.

like, just look at this... right after dick & bruce's conversation in JLA, this is what follows:

it's so interesting that he remembers his own sadness and nostalgia at the kind of man dick has grown to be... how that is, in his mind, at a distance from him... how he remembers being the one receiving reassurance and affirmation of his importance to dick from dick... and all of this, maybe, comes at the cost of dick's feelings being diminished & considered with less gravity.

tldr: bruce wayne... you are so deeply unwell!!! you sure are... a Father.