#Dea Liane

[la-joie-apres-la-peine]

Je sais qu'elle était pour moi. Je ne sais rien d'elle.

Georgette, Dea Liane

[warningsine]

The Man Who Sold His Skin (2021)

His own body turned into a living work of art and promptly exhibited in a museum, Sam, a Syrian refugee, will soon realize to have sold away more than just his skin.

Directed By: Kaouther Ben Hania

[seitosokusha]

using legends to reshape me, using agony to reforge me 17

“You heard the story of how the first Imbibitor Lunae, Yue, was born to Long. Shortly after that Long vanished and Yue set out to walk the same steps as Long. He traveled the universe for many years by himself and eventually fell to the same problem that Long had.”

“Loneliness,” Stelle murmurs.

“And then he met me as Mei Lian,” Bailu says, patting her chest, proud. It’s childish to say, but she’s only recently out of her adolescent stage. She can indulge a little. It’s an indisputable fact that she is the first one.

She is Fulguris Dea, a Vidyadhara High Elder, first daughter, first granddaughter, first successor.

Bailu is selfish and she’s willing to remain selfish. She will defend her title of first with pride.

read more

[wedreamedlove]

Hiii! First of all i just want to say, i love your writing soo much. It literally matches up with the game. Thank you for your hard work!

And if you could, could you please write just a little summary for chapter 15? It's not translated and I don't know chinese but I really want to learn what's been happening in the game. Of course if it's too much work please ignore this pharagraph TwT Lots of love!

thank you so much for the compliment! unfortunately, i mentioned before that i don't like doing summaries because i feel that they don't do justice to the story. i don't mind answering questions here and there, but i won't delve into the whole history of how things got to this point.

combining this other ask here, because my answer to this is the same as above. talking about the heroine's reaction to Evan's actions would require describing too much of their history together.

i can tell you the current situation in the game, but honestly it's probably going to lead to even more questions and i'll mention ahead of time that i won't be answering these questions because the rabbit hole will never end, haha.

Evan: trying to kill Lu Ting, now chairman of warson, allied to the north blood clan in london through an engagement, trying to find zhou weicheng, and "killed" his relationship with the heroine and now they're both using each other as weapons.

Osborn: awol and doing his best impression of jekyll and hyde because white!Osborn keeps trying to take over his body to commit suicide.

Jesse: official member of the lian shan association, but still secretly investigating the whole Sun Taizhong and Zhou Weicheng mess. also helping the heroine train her powers.

Charlie: declared war on his father and is facing a moral quandary of whether to persist in his beliefs or not as he tries to investigate about DEA and his father's goal with novaten.

Sariel: really nearly seriously almost died from degeneration but he faced off with his mental demon and seems to have broken the seal on his power and memories.

[hcdahlem]

Georgette

Dans son premier roman la comédienne Dea Liane rend hommage à se seconde mère, la bonne qui l'a accompagnée durant ses treize premières années en Syrie, au Liban et en France. Un roman initiatique qui touche au cœur.

      En lice pour le Prix «envoyé par la poste» En deux mots Quand à treize ans la narratrice comprend que Georgette, l’employée qui a veillé sur elle depuis sa naissance, va la quitter pour se marier, le choc est terrible. Comment sa seconde maman peut-elle l’abandonner? Entre colère et résignation, l’adolescente va tenter de surmonter l’épreuve. Ma note ★★★★ (j’ai adoré) Ma chronique «Toutes…

[ueberdemnebelmeer]

THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN / الرجل الذي باع ظهره‎ 2020 | dir. Kaouther Ben Hania

[moviemosaics]

The Man Who Sold His Skin

directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, 2020

[randomrichards]

THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN

[venusinorbit]

The subject has spawned so many newscasts, books, movies and TV shows that it takes real imagination to find an invigorating angle on such a well-worn and difficult theme.

That's why I was surprised and delighted by The Man Who Sold His Skin, a funny, touching and pointed film that's been nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature. Made by the Tunisian writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania, it weaves together satire and humane political awareness to create an original fable about art, privilege, freedom and identity.

The winning newcomer Yahya Mahayni stars as Sam Ali, a handsome young Syrian madly in love with his girlfriend, Abeer (Dea Liane). But when Sam's thrown into prison by the Assad regime for a trifle, he's forced to escape to Lebanon. He's burning to get to Belgium where Abeer has moved with the Syrian diplomat she's been married off to, but he can't get a visa.

Sam's situation seems hopeless until he sneaks into an opening at a Beirut gallery hoping to sponge free food. Once there, he's caught by a glamorous art-dealer who introduces him to Jeffrey Godefroi, an internationally renowned artist played by Belgian star Koen De Bouw. Jeffrey specializes in glib work that sells for millions and seems to embody Oscar Wilde's definition of a cynic as one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Over drinks, Jeffrey proposes a deal that will let Sam get to Abeer. Using Sam's back as his canvas, Jeffrey creates a large tattoo depicting the Schengen Visa, the document that allows free movement between European countries. In exchange, he gives Sam a cut of the profits and — because Sam is now a pricey work of art — gets him into Belgium. There Sam spends his time being displayed in a museum and looking for Abeer. He finally appears to be free.

[mymoviemania-oscar-2021]

The Man Who Sold His Skin الرجل الذي باع ظهره‎ (2020),   directed by Kaouther Ben Hania;

its plot was inspired by belgian contemporary neo-conceptual artist Wim Delvoye's

Yahya Mahayni as Sam Ali; Dea Liane as Abeer; Koen De Bouw as Jeffrey Godefroi; Monica Bellucci as Soraya Waldy; Wim Delvoye as insurance broker

Nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards:

- Best international feature film of the year -

"The Man Who Sold His Skin" Tunisia

Wim Delvoye  

[genevieveetguy]

The Man Who Sold His Skin (L'Homme qui a vendu sa peau), Kaouther Ben Hania (2020)

[docgold13]

365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

September 29th - Arsenal

Roy Harper was just an infant when his park ranger father was killed in a terrible forest fire.  Roy would have perished as well, but he was saved by a man named Brave Bow.  With no one available to care for the child, Brave Bow took Roy back to his tribe where Roy was raised in the traditions of the Navajo people.  Roy particularly excelled at archery and went on to win numerous contests.

In his early adolescence, Roy learned about the super hero Green Arrow and he came to idolized him greatly.  Not long thereafter, Brave Bow was diagnosed with a terminal illness and he reached out to Green Arrow asking the hero to take guardianship of young Roy after his passing.  Oliver Queen (Green Arrow’s civilian identity) took interest in the matter and ultimately agreed to take on Roy as his ward.  

It wasn’t long before Roy discovered his new guardian’s secret and the lad was able to convince the hero to allow him to act as his sidekick.  Roy earned the nickname ‘Speedy’ after his quick draw enabled him to ensnare a couple of criminals before Green Arrow had the chance to.  This nickname would go on to become Roy’s official super hero alias.  

Following many adventures alongside Green Arrow, Speedy would help establish the first iteration of The Teen Titans, banding together with other sidekicks, including Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Aqualad.  It was a terrific time in Roy’s life.  The Titans would have many exciting adventures and Roy had a romance with his fellow Titan Wonder Girl.  Sadly, the good times did not last.  The Titans ultimately broke up and Green Arrow left Star City to go on adventures abroad, leaving Roy on his own.  In his loneliness, Roy turned to drugs and he ended up forming a crippling addiction to heroin.  

Black Canary helped Roy kick the habit and beat his addiction.  Following this harrowing experience, Roy went to work with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), acting as a counselor in various anti-drug programs as well as helping to take down drug operations and cartels. His work with the DEA led to Roy’s joining the Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI). While on an undercover assignment with this organization in Japan, Roy was assigned to capture the assassin Cheshire, yet the two ended up falling in love with each other.

Roy allowed Cheshire to escape, not realizing that their brief affair would ultimately produce a daughter whom Cheshire named Lian.  Roy learned of his daughter’s existence a bout a year later.  Teaming up with Nightwing, Roy was able to finally track Cheshire down so that he could see Lian.  Cheshire ultimately decided that Lian would likely be safer with her father and allowed Roy full custody of the their daughter.  

Roy raised Liam as best he could.  In order to provide for her, Roy accepted work from the spy agency known as Checkmate.  At this point, Roy came to retire his alias of Speedy and took to calling himself ‘Arsenal,’ emphasizing the fact that he had become extraordinarily proficient with numerous types of weapons alongside the bow and arrow.  As Arsenal, Roy would have numerous adventures.  He returned to a reformed version of The Titans and later helped to form a new iteration of The Outsiders.  Some time thereafter, Roy took on the name ‘Red Arrow’ when he was recruited to join The Justice League of America.  

Red Arrow proved a valued member of the League.  Then disaster struck.  The villain known as Prometheus caused an earthquake that devastated Star City and young Lian perished in the cataclysm.  Unhinged over the loss of his daughter, Roy became callus and bloodthirsty.  Roy joined Deathstroke’s new, deadly version of the Titans.  He ultimately discovered that Deathstroke was drugging him to make him compliant to his wishes.  Roy ultimately defeated Deathstroke and vowed to reform a new and heroic version of the Titans to honor his daughter’s legacy.  

During The Convergence event, Roy was offered a devil’s bargain from the powerful entity known as The Dreamslayer.  This villain offered to resurrect Roy’s daughter in exchange for his betraying his friends.  Roy is able to outsmart The Dreamslayer and his Lian is resurrected without the betrayal.  

Aspects of Roy’s backstory were altered following the Nu52 reboot.  Here Roy has resumed the mantle of Arsenal and is a member of The Red Hood’s covert team called The Outlaws.  Liam’s fate had been left a mystery for a while, but it was ultimately revealed that she is now the adolescent associate of Catwoman known as Cheshire Cat who, suffering from a type of amnesia, does not know who her parents are.  

Arsenal was believed to have perished during the Death Metal event.  He actually survived but decided to keep the matter a secret needed a break from his life as a super hero.   Roy’s retirement proved short lived as he was pulled into action, now wielding a black power ring; and soon there after he was recruited into the ranks of The Justice League Incarnate.  

Actor Colton Haynes portrayed a version of Roy Harper in the television series Arrow.  The hero first appeared in the pages of More Fun Comics #73 (1941).  

[redarw]

tried to make a list of where roy’s lived and made some estimates on his age and how long he lived in each. also him being 31 at the end of pre-flashpoint is me being generous lmao, he should probably be older, but since he’s 34-35 now then i guess this is what would have to make sense. i based his ages mostly on how much lian aged in each of the time periods, but that isn’t always consistent but whatever.

2-13: oljato, arizona 13-17: star city, california -- occasionally in new jersey at titans hq 17-18: nomadic (while being with great frog and then when he joined the dea) 18-22: washington, dc (while with the cbi) -- although most of this time was spent on undercover missions in various locations 22: northern ireland 22: los angeles  23: washington, dc (when he joined checkmate.) 24: new york, new york (or rather, liberty island between ny and new jersey. when he was leading the titans.) 24: metropolis (while leading the other titans) 25-26: new york, new york, on titans island 26-27: brooklyn, new york (outsiders) 27-28: ??? (during one year later) 28-30: new york, new york 31-??: star city, california

[multiverseforger]

As an infant, Roy was raised by his father, Roy Harper Sr., a forest ranger. The fate of his birth mother is unknown, something that Roy has questioned his entire life, not sure whether she left them or died. When his father died in a forest fire when Roy was a baby, he rescued a man named Brave Bow, a Navajo medicine chief. Brave Bow took Roy into his tribe and raised him as his own son, telling him about how his birth father saved him, which made Roy grow up seeing him as a hero. Under Brave Bow's tutelage, Roy trained in archery, becoming remarkable at a very young age and a champion in several events. Roy began learning about the superhero Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) and started idolizing him, seeing him as a hero alongside his father and Brave Bow.

When Brave Bow learned of an illness that would lead to his death, he contacted Green Arrow, asking him to take Roy in and raise him after his death. After posing as a judge in an archery contest, Green Arrow was impressed by Roy's skills as an archer, which prompted to him test Roy's character by rigging his arrows with magnets so they can be deflected, where Roy proceeded to impress Green Arrow as well. After Brave Bow's death, Roy was adopted by Green Arrow and became his sidekick, Speedy. He was given the name Speedy after he stopped a pair of robbers faster than Green Arrow could even put on his costume, and for being quicker than at shooting arrows and in general.

Speedy became a founding member of the Teen Titans along with Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Wonder Girl, a group they formed so they as sidekicks could come out of their mentors' shadows and become their own. Roy developed a crush on Donna, and the two eventually began dating.

As Roy spent more and more time with the Teen Titans, Oliver left to travel the country with Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) after Oliver had lost his fortune. When the Teen Titans had their first break up, Roy found himself alone. Trying to find some comfort, he started taking drugs and developed a heroin addiction in the award-winning "Snowbirds Don't Fly" story.[5] When Oliver returned and learned of Roy's addiction and behavior, he reacted angrily and banished Roy from his house. When Hal found Roy on the street later, Roy vowed to fight and end his drug addiction.[6] Hal took him to Black Canary, Oliver's girlfriend, who helped Roy with his drug withdrawal and gave him care. Roy reconciled with Oliver, but he officially ended their partnership with him, going fully solo.

When the Teen Titans formed again, Roy rejoined the team. He created a band, Great Frog, with fellow Titan Mal Duncan. Roy also managed the Titans' base of operations under the nightclub Gabriel's Horn, where his band played frequently.

After he went solo, Roy started working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), working as a counselor in various anti-drug programs as well as in helping taking down drug operations and drug lords. His work with the DEA led to him joining the Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI), a fictional federal agency in the DC Universe, where he worked as an agent and spy. While on undercover assignment with the CBI in Japan, Roy was supposed to capture the assassin Cheshire, but they fell in love.

About a year later, Roy met Cheshire again on a mission with the Titans, where he found out he fathered a daughter with her, Lian. Cheshire, however, only allowed Roy to see her once. Desperate to see Lian again on her first birthday, Roy sought the help of his best friend, Dick Grayson, now going by Nightwing. The two of them found Lian and fought off Cheshire, where Dick helped him find Lian and give her to him. It was here that Cheshire realized how much more dangerous her life as an assassin was, and she decided to give Roy full custody of Lian.

As he sought a calmer place to learn how to raise Lian, Roy left the CBI and briefly moved to Northern Ireland, where his birth ancestors came from. Despite his attempt to avoid his work as a superhero there, he found that he could not avoid it as he found himself in the middle of a mystery. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he took up work as a private detective, balancing that job with being Speedy and raising his daughter. It was during this time that Roy also fully reunited with Oliver after some time of not being on full speaking terms, where he was finally prepared to forgive him and accept him as a father

[hood-ex]

Roy Harper Characterization

I am a HUGE fan of Roy Harper. I’ll defend him until the day I die. I’m always interested to read what other people think about him and how they might interpret his actions, so I was interested to read the issues detailed by roywilliamharperjr. I don’t really like N52 and RHATO was eh, but I was surprised by how conflicted I felt about some of their points.

There were some things I agreed with right away - the erasure of Brave Bow, for example, or outright making his father abusive. Roy’s connection with Brave Bow is integral to his connection to archery, it is something that I personally think means a lot to him, so including it in his origins is essential. Making his father an “abusive alcoholic” is also unnecessary. I don’t like this trope, because it implies that all addicts are abusive. His father was never mentioned to be an addict originally, but that part of his characterization would make sense. Addiction tends to run in the family. What I take issue with is automatically making his father abusive. It’s a trait that often gets lumped in with alcoholism, which can overshadow the tragedy of it. But that’s neither here or there. These were the points I agreed with. But there are some things that really gave me pause. 

They literally kept pushing the idea that he couldn’t even be trusted with money since he’ll spend it all on useless junk like ??? Like yeah that the parent that runs a household a business can’t be trusted with money, sure. In Pre52, He was completely independent when he went solo. He even refused to rejoin the Titans at first because he wanted to do things solo and find himself, and most importantly… he was a single father! A responsible father who independently raised a daughter… 

Pre-FP was lighthearted, but he was also serious because of what he’s been through and he was smart and great at what he does. N52 changed him into a literal idiot (like I said, Lobdell loved reminding us of this) who can’t handle himself alone and has to crack a dumb joke every second and doesn’t take things seriously and has to be babysat by Jason. Even when they tried portraying to do things like build tech, they still wrote him as dumb. Roy’s always been someone that was good with tech, since he obviously built his arrows, weapons, so many high tech bases, etc. But the N52 chose to portray that intellect by portraying him as a mad scientist… that’s literally what they refer to him as multiple times, or a “rockabilly genius”. Basically, they wrote him so that he could only build tech, but he gets so carried away with it to the point where he either destroys a lot of crap while doing it or if he’s unsupervised, he’ll spend all their money on it. They wrote him as someone who was so irresponsible and had to be kept in check, whereas Roy is actually someone who builds things when he needs to. He’s someone who prefers to spend his time either with his family, training, or volunteering somewhere. He doesn’t spend his entire time building things for no reason, he has to plan something out, know why he needs it and adds it in. Technology is a hobby for him that he occasionally spends time on, it isn’t an obsession and it’s nowhere near being his main focus. He was extremely dumbed down to serve a role of being the dumb guy who’s good with tech.

Regardless of what the writer meant, being careless with money is a trait impulsive people tend to have (impulsivity also tends to be common for people who have issues with addiction). Not dumb people. I never read Roy as dumb. The mad scientist trope is actually indicative of high intelligence. Dumb guys aren’t good with tech. Was he scattered and irresponsible in RHATO? Sure. Are some fathers like this? Yes. Does that make him a bad father? No.

I think having Lian made him keep those impulses in check and he took on responsibility that didn’t come naturally to him, but I don’t see how fathering a child would mean you’ve now unlocked x, x, and x trait. That seems unrealistic. It’s okay to struggle with fatherhood. That is much more relatable and interesting. Roy could struggle with these impulses and still be a good father. 

Anyway, this was a very simplistic explanation of Roy’s supposed lack of intelligence, which aren’t defined by any of the listed traits. I can see how he might come off that way, however. Anyone looks at disorganization or bad decisions and immediately thinks the person is a moron. This is not the case. 

N52 made him an outcast in the hero community, made the league and all other heroes look down on him instead of being his friends. He looked up to the heroes and wanted to be treated as an equal among them, and he was-- he was just like any other hero, but that was all thrown out to, once again, justify him being an “outlaw”.

I do realize the OP feels otherwise, but I don’t think it was out of the question for Roy. Again, this wouldn’t be the highlight of Roy’s life and it wouldn’t be the healthiest he’s ever been, which I think is obvious, but expecting someone to remain consistent throughout their entire life isn’t realistic. Do I think it was stretched? Yeah. But again, Roy is a complex character, and when someone feels as if they aren’t living up to an ideal, it’s not uncommon to rebel against that ideal. It went a little far, but it’s not that out of the question. 

Roy being a dad, and the erasure of Lian Harper. When Roy’s a dad, he was something to fight for. He has a reason to be a superhero and do what he does, to be responsible and to be more mature than he already is. Him being a dad completely changed him and gave him a reason to strive to become a better man than he already was, all for his daughter. He helped so many characters because of how his fatherhood changed him. Him being a father gave him so much happiness and brightness in his life despite the mistakes he made before. On top of that, Roy became a father when he was young. He risked his life just to see Lian and take her in. He could have easily ignored her and left her with Jade, but he chose to actively seek her out and risked his life to do so. He wanted to be a father. He wanted to raise his daughter right and be an inspiration for her, and to me that just shows the kind of man he was.

Being a father is one of Roy’s biggest character traits. It isn’t just some random thing, it was part of his characters for literal decades. It’s so much of who he is and holds so much of his development, and the erasure of it just changes so much about him for the worst.

Okay, so… while I agree that Lian is important to Roy’s growth and development, I do not think a character’s personality should be completely shaped around having a child. I do agree that Roy wanted to be a good father and improved exponentially because he took responsibility for Lian. However, there are a lot of different types of fathers. It isn’t really fair to assume Roy was perfect when he was that young, or that didn’t make mistakes. 

So yes, this characterization does change him “for the worst” because he has nothing to keep him accountable. That’s okay. I am personally more interested in seeing characters crash and burn and then being shaped by that experience, not deciding to be better just because they’ve reproduced. Children aren’t bandaids.

This next part is my biggest issue with their post, however. The subject of addiction.

And then there’s his addiction… N52 changed his addiction from heroin to alcohol (it was changed back in Rebirth but still.) Addictions are not and should not be treated like they’re interchangeable. The original drug addiction story, Snowbirds Don’t Fly, was an award winning story that changed the landscape of stories that could be told in comics. It was that good, and changing for just a generic addiction story is pretty ridiculous.

Okay, so… while I get what they are trying to say, in general, addictions don’t stay in neat little boxes. People prone to addiction will often have other addictive behaviors and/or vices. Sometimes they do trade one addiction for another. I realize that their issue is eliminating the heroin from the story altogether, but my point is: addiction is the problem. The object of that addiction is not.

The original story showed that Roy was the one who kicked his addiction away, all because of his will and drive to kick it away. He was the one who wanted to get rid of his problem. With some help from people around him (aka Dinah), he kicked it away and was determined to be a better person because of it. He wanted to become an educator and volunteer to help people dealing with addictions like his, and he wanted to help fight drug dealers and help fight the drug problem. That’s why he joined the DEA– he wanted to help people who went through what he did. Roy appealed to a specific demographic of teenagers that fell low and fell into drug addiction– something that hasn’t been done before with any other character– and he served as a role model as someone who overcame it. N52 just got rid of all that and not only changed his addiction type, but had him be completely be saved by someone else (who he shouldn’t have any relation to in the first place).

Here is where it started to get really cringey for me. This person is very naive if they think that an addict can “kick their addiction away” with “will and drive.” No. It takes so much more than that. Therapy. Medication. Rehab. There is no shame or weakness in asking for or accepting help. Even if they do everything right, most people relapse. Perpetuating the idea that Roy’s willpower overcame a heroin addiction is ridiculous.

N52 focuses on him relapsing and being tempted back all the time, which is against what the character stands for. The whole point is that he’s someone that wants to move on past his mistakes and become a better person and let others see him for who he is as a hero, but N52 keeps throwing his addictions back at him 

This is a terrible understanding of drug addiction. Relapses don’t happen because the person doesn’t want to “move on” or get better. Relapses happen because people are human. Relapses are extremely, extremely common, and it doesn’t make that person a hypocrite like the OP suggests. This rubs me the wrong way for so many reasons.

Heroin addiction is insidious. It’s a literal epidemic. The relapse rate is ridiculously high (over 80%). Trying to tout Roy as someone who should never relapse because it “goes against his values” is very naive. It also won’t resonate with actual drug addicts. 

The real message should be that it’s okay to let someone help you. It’s even more okay to ask for help. In fact, you need to ask for help. This is not something most people can do alone.

I love Roy Harper and I will defend him until the day I die, but I don’t love him because he’s perfect. I love him because he makes mistakes and gets back up. I love him for how he handles those mistakes. That’s the real success story and that’s what people are inspired by: no matter what happens or what you do, just get back up. Keep going. Keep fighting. 

It’s tiresome to see fictional characters held to impossible standards. Mistakes don’t negate good qualities and it doesn’t make them less likable.

How is an addict going to feel if they received that type of message after a relapse? They’re going to think that they went against everything they stood for, not that it was a simple mistake that happens to an overwhelming percentage of people who suffer from addiction. How is that inspiring or encouraging?

Also to comment on N52 “throwing Roy’s addictions back at him” - look, I have my problems with N52, but this isn’t one of them. That is the life of an addict. They have to overcome their addiction every day. It isn’t something you ever recover from completely. That’s why it’s so easy to relapse. 

Sorry for the ramble. I know you didn’t even write this originally. I do follow your blog and <3 it, and I just needed to say something about some of these points, especially where it concerns drug addiction, because it troubled me. Roy Harper is an icon.

_____________________________________________________

I won’t put words in the OP’s mouth, but since Roy is prob the character I know most outside of the batfam, I’ll touch on a few of these points. 

1. I agree that Roy’s personality doesn’t revolve around Lian. Parenthood itself is not part of the personality, but a child can impact personality in certain ways. For example, forcing someone to be more assertive, responsible, or outgoing.

You said something about how it wasn’t fair to assume Roy was a perfect father. I didn’t get the impression that was a point OP was trying to make. Roy himself said he went into fatherhood fighting and screaming, so it obviously wasn’t easy for him at first. But I got a sense that OP was mostly highlighting the fact that having Lian is the transitional point in Roy’s life that took him from boyhood to manhood. To the newly single father who works as a private detective and then transitions from Speedy to Arsenal to Red Arrow. 

2. I will have to disagree with your view on switching out the heroin for alcohol. I understand what you’re saying about how the addiction to a harmful substance is the main issue. And yeah, in general, the main message of Roy’s drug abuse is that anyone can fall prey to addiction, not just misguided people. 

But “Snowbirds Don’t Fly” was inspired by heroin addicts on the streets and in the drug rehab center that the authors encountered/worked with. 

The effects and risks of heroin addiction also differ from that of alcohol. They produce different struggles for people to deal with, different withdrawal symptoms, etc. Alcohol can be abused more often because of how accessible it is yadda yadda yadda. 

This is why I personally take issue with the two being interchangeable. It may also seem like a minuscule detail that doesn’t really matter (because like you said the focus is the addiction, not the substance itself). But it would be kind of like switching out the murder weapon that killed Bruce’s parents. You may think that the weapon itself doesn’t matter because the focus is on the loss of his parent’s lives.

But everyone knows Bruce’s parents were killed via gun. As a result of that, Bruce has always had an issue with guns in particular. So if we were to switch out the gun with a crowbar (shoutout Jason) in The New 52/Rebirth then that changes Bruce’s character in some ways. It changes his trauma and his association with guns. In his mind gun = murder = loss = grief = failure. The image of the gun is very much so tied into the trauma of losing his parents, which puts significance on the murder weapon. 

Readers would be like wtf I thought Bruce’s parents were killed with a gun, why does this say they got whacked with a crowbar? It would be inconsistent writing and it would make readers confused about what was true and what wasn’t true. 

So I guess you could say the same thing for Roy and heroin. Heroin is the vehicle he used to try and cope with his life, not alcohol. Heroin is the drug that got him fucked up, not alcohol. Heroin is the drug he suffered withdrawal from, not alcohol. Heroin is the drug he constantly has to fight to stay away from, not alcohol. (Although, yes, addictions can be switched out for other addictions, but canonically, as far as I know, Roy never abused alcohol.)

3. In real life, yes, people with addictions generally need to go to some kind of rehab program to get help. However, if we’re going strictly by what’s shown to us in comics, then yes, Roy kicked his addiction without rehab, meds, or therapy. He quit cold turkey and went through the horrific withdrawal symptoms with Dinah by his side. That’s what’s portrayed in the comic. Roy literally attributes his ability to kick the addiction by getting help from Dinah, Hal, and his friends. Not going to rehab or any of that. 

That’s why I think OP possibly found it insulting that N52 portrayed Roy as someone who continued to relapse. Because before N52, he managed to kick his addiction without relapsing. Obviously, not many people in real life can quit cold turkey like Roy did in the Snowbird issue. And before Flashpoint, Roy actually did relapse when Lian died. So I do agree that maybe OP wasn’t very uh… sensitive to the rate of relapse amongst people with addictions. 

Anyways, this is just me sharing some of my thoughts on your points. Glad we can have discussions like this. Thanks for following my blog <3

[rcyharper]

Thank God. No Outlaw Lobdell Roy in live action Titans. From the crumb we've been given we have intelligent, reliable, independant, resourceful, helpful and trusted by Donna Roy Harper (aka the only one that matters. The only one version that's true). My theory of this Roy being a dad to Lian and that's why he's not involved has been given more strength. Even if Red Hood happens at least I know Roy will be safe from that plotline (which was one of my nagging concerns).

I don’t think Lian exists quite yet. I mean, he’d be older here than when Lian was born in the comics, so he might be with her and I’d love that, but I imagine that’s probably a storyline they’d save for when they bring him on, since they’d probably wanna bring on Jade too and maybe have a Cheshire Contract episode or something.

I think he’s working with the DEA or CBI right now, which is why he has access to good intel.