#also the way to my heart as always is a batman reference

[thattimdrakeguy]

I HAVE BEEN READING ZDARSKY BATMAN, AND I HAVE DECLARED: I FREAKING LOVE IT!!

I'm reading the Batman Zdarsky run in reverse. That way if I see any bull I can back out at anytime: and to be honest--besides a few things. I really enjoy it

LIKE YO, THAT IS JUST STRAIGHT UP TIM DRAKE RIGHT THERE. It knows who he is as a character. his motives, it's great.

Screw the people complaining "oh why is tim still robin :((", THIS IS WHY HE IS STILL ROBIN. Because this is when he's at his BEST. When he gets to hit his character purpose, WHEN HE GETS TO BE HIM AT HIS MOST HIM. It's FANTASTIC.

Reading in reverse because I know I hated the first story, it was so contrived and ridiculous.

But this--this is some good shit.

Tim being an underdog fighter, having to use his wits to win the fight? MY DAWG, MY DUDE, MY GUYS, MY GALS, MY THEMS, MY THEYS, THIS IS SO TIMMY DRAKE. This is so damn Tim Drake, guys. Oh, my gosh, I am loving this so far.

Dick has his temper back? And trust me, he isn't normally like this. But he's hitting a limit AND IT'S SOMETHING NEW, NOT JUST A REFERENCE. HE'S ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING HE'D DO, 'CAUSE HE'S AT HIS LIMIT. That's wonderful, man. That is so wonderful.

Plus Tim is the heart of the Bat-Family again? This feels like someone actually went back to read these characters before writing it. I'm not saying everything is perfect of course, but these high marks are exceeding all my expectations. And I STOPPED reading comics because of how the beginning of this run destroyed any hope I had.

You guys have no idea how much I'm enjoying the few issues I've read. Besides the cussing (I remember after a bit they decided Tim was someone who used funny words instead of proper cusses), this feels like the Tim I know and love during the era I especially loved him.

Tim comparing himself to his predecessors? Tim not being a natural? A WRITER REMEMBERING THAT?? It's been so long since I've seen that! Most writers treat him like he was another prodigy when he wasn't. AND THIS GUY REMEMBERED THAT!

I shouldn't be so happy at just seeing Tim do Tim things, and serving his character purpose. BUT YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG IT'S BEEN SINCE A WRITER KNEW WHAT TIM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE.

Only complaints I have is that Jason feels like a typical Bat-Family member, and not the sketchy outsider that he is. Making him so close makes his character more bland in my opinion. And Steph is--also generic af unless she's wacky quirky...which is a characterization I hate for her, because she started off so damn interesting, but they made her a freaking trope instead, which is such a disservice to her, but she barely does anything so far, so whatever I guess. Doesn't mean much.

--

This is the first honest thing I've seen that I hated.

No

Not this

This isn't the Bat-Family

This is a sitcom world the fandom wants to be the Bat-Family and some comply with

They're not a sitcom. The conflicts, and uniqueness of the characters is what makes things feel alive and well.

This stuff is cheap fanservice for the fanon demographic that doesn't buy comics to begin with.

Fanon doesn't belong in canon.

--

I mean sure Tim could be drawn smaller, the gag of him looking 12 when he's nearly 18 doesn't work when he's bigger than Damian who is 15 (and contrary to some bullshit comics isn't meant to be small. that was a random thing added for writers who aren't clever to write better humor. it actually contradicts things that were already established).

Don't see the big deal though for most of this.

Can't wait to find it, though. Oh boy.

This whole obsession with Zur Batman, is way over done though. So--I wouldn't be shocked if that was the problem, because my golly does that plot point not seem to be stopping--and it was there from the start and part of the reason why I didn't read it 'til now.

Good Tim tho, at least. So heehee, yey for that--I think--I guess.

Oh, well.

It let me peak at a pseudo-version of an AU I made up years ago. So that's pretty freaking cool.

Always a plus.

And redoing Red Robin story beats but better? Normally I'd hate references to Red Robin, 'cause that changed the perception of so many characters for the worst, but ayy, a bit of redemption isn't bad.

Man, just seeing simple stuff like Tim and Bruce being good ol' classic Batman and Robin warms my heart. It's been so long since Batman and Robin has acted like a proper classic Batman and Robin. It's dynamic that's been sorely missed by many.

OH, MY GOSH, WHY DID THE FIRST STORY HAVE TO STINK SO BAD. THIS STUFF IS GREAT.

Like, DUDE, this is such a Tim thing for him to do!!

And he's showing emotion?? He's crying like how he does?? Because he's not a typical Bat-Family member who just angsts his way through?? THEY'RE MAKING HIM STAND-OUT AGAIN BY MAKING HIM, HIM??

WHY DID THE FIRST STORY HAVE TO SUCK SO BAD?? THIS IS GOOD SHIT.

Like this part is why I originally stopped reading, not because Bruce should think Tim is his soldier, and not his son, THE FREAKING OPPOSITE.

But because the original story has Bruce acting weird when unneeded, just to say this was so unneeded, and adding in all these stupid corny Bat-Family moments was so groan worthy.

This run started off with a story that was a total turn off for me.

To end up being a run that could've kept me enjoying DC, rather than running away from it from as far as I have.

Chip Zdarsky started off awful, but really, he ended up great.

And I've seen people complain about his run, and TRUST ME, there's stuff to complain about. But I have only ever seen the stuff worth complaining about, or stuff I WOULD complain about.

WHEN MOST OF THE RUN IS GOOD

At least when Tim is around.

Go figure.

Maybe I should've paid sole attention to how he wrote Tim and nothing else at the very least for that first story.

'Cause even in the first story, Tim was well-written--it's how cheap the rest of the story telling was in that first story that turned me off--and the weird knew about the movie plans that I am still fully judging harshly. (Love the new Superman film suit, though)

[ifyoucandaniel]

i know we all love our jason “reads classical literature and makes obscure literature references” todd, and usually damian is the other reader in the family and they either bond over their love for classical literature or try to kill each other. however i would like to take this a step further and say that EVERYone in the batfam are big readers. i come from a big family and all of us read in some way or another so here are my headcanons for the bats:

jason, as we know and love, is a massive classic literature buff. pride and prejudice, the brontë sisters, the iliad (he swears achilles and Patroclus are the greatest love story of all time), etc. he IS pretentious and everyone groans when classic literature is brought up in any debatable capacity. however his all time favorite book is the princess bride and he would die for buttercup. when the whole family starts watching jujutsu kaisen, jason reads the manga just so he can spoil things for damian that never actually happen. the day a new episode comes out jason tells damian panda was actually a spy and kills megumi. damian tries to kill him with his cereal spoon

while damian was with the league talia made sure he was sufficiently educated in classic literature in all their original languages, and he doesn’t mind a good classic. however i think he actually reads a lot of manga and children's classics. he read where the red fern grows and old yeller and cried, but he won’t ever admit it. he loves shonen and shojo manga, he really likes naruto and attack on titan (i can’t really decide what i think he’d like actually)

Dick is a smut slut girly!! he is in a bookclub with babs and steph where they read the sluttiest books to ever make it through publishing. He read ACOTAR and was constantly facetiming babs to rant. they're currently reading haunting adaline. Bruce once asked what the big deal was when the girls were talking to dick about fouth wing in the kitchen and they all looked at him with such offended expressions he never asked again

tim is also a pretentious fucker, but he reads dark academia. he will ride or die for Donna Tarte, his copy of the secret history is always on the desk by the batcomputer and he takes if we were villians on patrol with him. jason fucking hates his books and they're always fighting on who's taste in books is better. jason actually really loved a little life a cried seven times while reading it, but he would rather die than concede

steph is an AO3 girly!! she's part of the slut bookclub with dick and babs, but at heart she's an ao3 girly. she's also written her fair share of bruce wayne x batman fanfics. she once read a superbat fanfiction out loud to the boys and dick was absolutely enthralled, duke was morbidly facinated, damian had never been more disgusted in his life, and jason laughed so hard he almost threw up

duke reads a lot of comics (spiderman is his favorite because i say so and the MCU is their comic world), and he likes X-men and wolverine. he also really likes high fantasy and has read every book brandon sanderson has ever written

Cass like romance novels and ya books. damian acknowledges her taste in books after she defends his stance on harry potter and percy jackson being classics when jason tries to argue that they don't belong in the same category as his books. she read the cruel prince and convinced bruce to get her a snake she named percy. she reads books damian recommends and he would never actually say it out loud, but he secretly loves sharing his books with her and feels a lot closer to her because of her willingness to read what he recommends

bruce isn't typically a reader (he's too busy serving justice and kicking ass) but he will read books that his kids ask him to. he read the entire wheel of time series with duke and would go on patrols with him after just to talk about it. he read the golden compass to dick when he first took him in, and he read all of jane austen's books after jason told him he must be illiterate if he'd never picked up a classic

now what about alfred...

i dont have time to do everyone else and this is super rushed, but I just couldn't stop thinking about dick and babs having a little book club and reading the sluttiest books ever

[comicaurora]

One thing I noticed is ever since MAWSM came out is how people in discussions have been decreasingly calling Clark "Superman" and now almost exclusively refer to him with his real name. Yeah, of course. He is Clark first and foremost. The farmboy from Smallville, Kansas; reporter at the Daily Planet. Superman is an extension of Clark. He's not like the other dude whose hero persona is his core identity. He's just a normal guy at heart who happens to be indestructible. He's just... Clark.

I think it's because until My Adventures With Superman, his primary cartoon presence was in series that were overtly superhero shows with threat-of-the-week formats, where Clark's life was the two-minute framing sequence around Superman getting to do the good stuff. Even the original Fleischer superman cartoon was ten-minute shorts that couldn't afford to go slice-of-life when they could be animating Superman punching a hole in a jet.

There have been little moments that hinted at this in other series - the Justice League episode Comfort and Joy springs to mind, being one of the only downtime episodes the team gets, where J'onn sees Clark back home on the farm with Ma and Pa Kent and is surprised at how relaxed and genuine he is when he isn't "working", aka "being superman." But for the most part Clark doesn't get that kind of personal focus, and the seasons that center on him are entirely about Superman's villains and the risk of Superman becoming a despot like his Justice Lord counterpart.

Live-action shows have been a little better about this, if only because of the SFX requirements of superman meaning it's cheaper and simpler to lean into Hometown Hero Clark Kent, exemplified in the series Smallville, which had an actual development policy that Clark was never allowed to put on the cape or costume. It started as teen drama where the protagonist just happened to have superpowers and a weird allergy to green rocks, and for a while it even had a similar gimmick to MAWS, where every other episode he developed a new power or discovered a new trait of his physiology that the audience was already expected to know about. But the problem there is that the audience also has the biggest point of dramatic irony hanging over their heads for the entire show - we know Clark's destiny is to become Superman. So while the show is ABOUT Clark, there's this tonal undercurrent that most of the messy things that make him Clark are things he'll eventually outgrow.

I think what's making My Adventures With Superman work is that it's (a) deeply sincere and (b) centered on the thesis that Clark is an emotional, vulnerable person AND ALSO a flying invulnerable brick with laser eyes, and his stress over his powers isn't just "aw it's tough to be a god now put on the tights already" but it's the very reasonable "I don't know why I'm like this, I don't understand what it means or if it's dangerous, I can't stop breaking the things I touch but I don't want to be alone."

Clark's isolation has always been something other characters muse about privately (usually Batman) or a bit of fridge logic he turns into a cool boast (the World of Cardboard speech reframing every fight he's ever been in by telling the audience he is 100% pulling his punches ALL THE TIME) but to my knowledge it's never been played for this deeply impactful and HIGHLY resonant "there is Something Wrong With Me that I don't have a name for but I will regardless find a way to live with myself and the people I love."

When Superman is framed as Clark's inevitable destiny, we lose sight of the fact that Clark is, by necessity, the kind of person who would create Superman.

[morverenmaybewrites]

Hi babes, long time no see....? (Not realy, not truly. But i'm bored and in need of the weight your words press evenly onto my lungs. And i also want to poke you, maybe)

What would be the prise and/or compliments Jason could be fine with? To you, with our delivery girl. Because anything phisical feels dependent on the day, how Aware and squeezy it'll make him. (Like how you suddenly remember that there's clothes on your skin and that your organs move inside of you. That you're Breathing and that it pulls at your muscles, the tissue that's marbled in tapestried along his ribs.)

What would Not do that? (Less so atleast. See: Like skin growing over a splinter istead of rejecting it.)

Also!

This. Made me feel the sudden ache of my heart durring that time in my life. 'S cool. Thanks. 👍

Always so good to hear from you, @thebluespacecow. First off, The Shape of Water is one of my comfort watches/reads. The book, in particular, encapsulates the feeling of isolation from society and the suffocating loneliness that comes from it so well. The quote (said to the Asset by the scientist studying him) so perfectly portrays their relationship and the tragedy of what could have been. The text often refers to (and eventually confirms) that the Asset is a god. It often calls him beautiful and magical and wondrous. Can you imagine finding god, in all his grace and savage beauty, and being told that you must study him like an insect pinned to a corkboard? Can you imagine finding proof of the divine, only to be told to burn it down so that the charcoal of its bones can help fuel a war? It's so tragic. One day that Bucky Barnes Shape of Water!AU WILL come into existence. ONE DAY. Anyway. Your question. What would be the prise and/or compliments Jason could be fine with?

I actually think that Jason would be fairly receptive to praise, actually! It doesn't immediately put him on the defensive the way physical forms of affection would. And for most of his life, Jason didn't get much of either. He craves it, however unknowingly, like a man dying of thirst would crave rainwater.

I think the first time you praise him, however small, however innocuous, would always come as a surprise. He's just not that used to it. Maybe he opens a jar for you or point out, where, exactly you had put the spices. (He is, at least, somewhat aware of how much he pays attention to you.). "Thanks, Jason, you're always so helpful." The words scatter from you like birdseed, there and gone again. It barely disturbs the still air of the kitchen. But Jason freezes, and slowly turns to look at you. You're not even looking at him anymore. Instead, you are focused on the recipe you're reading, mumbling to yourself. (In his experience, praise does not come so easily. It comes from long hours of training to perfect his aim, from endless nights of study, it comes from a grueling patrol, done perfectly, to Batman's exacting standards.) (In his experience, he barely does anything praise-worthy at all. He is, after all, the Robin who failed.) The moment passes, and he is able to brush it off. But your words linger in his mind like a thorn, only the sensation is not so unpleasant. The next time you do it, Jason is a little more prepared. Maybe he comes up with a clever solution to a problem, taken down a villain in an unconventional way. And you say it in between fits of laughter (and even the sound of that warms him like a fire in winter). "That was smart. I never would have thought of that." Jason pauses, has to catch his breath. And he mumbles out an answer so low that it's unlikely that you heard it. "Thanks." After that, it gets easier. After that, he seeks it out like a cat seeking out a beam of sunlight (or perhaps, more accurately: like a starved dog seeks out scraps). "You never told me you were such a good cook." "It's nice having you around. You make me feel safe." "You look good today." The last one though, hits like a punch to the gut. It knocks the wind out of Jason, and he has to take several seconds before he can answer.

"What?" You look up from the book you are reading. (It is raining the way it always is in Gotham, and you had chosen to spend the afternoon inside. Curled up with a thick blanket on your lap, in a sweater that is big enough for you to drown in—he would not question it if the compliment had been directed at you. He would have taken it as your due.) "Hm? I said you look good today." Again, he does not answer. Instead, he looks down, as if expecting to find himself wearing someone else's skin. But he is wearing his outfit, it is the Red Hood's helmet in his hands. For the first time, you seem to have realized the effect your words have on him. "Well, don't get a stroke," you say with a grin. "I don't want you coming back here and saying you're leaving me for a supermodel or something." He lets out a strangled laugh, and tries to brush it off the way he did in the kitchen, all those months ago. He turns away and tries to pretend like your words don't haunt him like a ghost. You said he looked good. You said he looked good. (And after all, what reason would he have to doubt you? He trusts you more than he trusts himself.) He finds that he has to put on his helmet to hide his grin.

[brujitaadinbo]

I'm back again with my crazy posts about DINBO parallelism and other iconic couples from cinema or any material. I have had a lot of things to do but I have taken the time to watch Batman content, because I love it, it is one of many favorite characters I have. Watching one of the cartoons of this character I saw a beautiful reference to Catwoman---Batman, in that connection that they have always had.

They are both wounded people, trying to move forward, healing on their own and then healing together, but the process is long and good, there is still a lot of development left (plus they are going to want to exploit Batman every time they can with more movies or series, ect)

Selina and Bruce are a magnetic couple and they complement each other, they don't need to be cheesy or be together all the time, because in their intimate moments, they show each other everything. The hero in the making and the antihero who seeks redemption.

Very much in the style of Din djarin and Bo katan; These two are more possessive of their responsibilities and more closed BUT they recognize well when they feel attracted, when they feel good working together and taking care of each other, sharing moments, living in the moment without labels.

It's something I love; in many comics and series such as Batman Rush Selina and Bruce understand each other very well, so much so that Catwoman and Batman also coincide and suddenly even their hidden personalities come to light. So they work as a team, their romantic dates destroy criminals and save the city, kicking ass.

It reminds me a lot of Din and Bo in their adventures with Grogu, solving problems together, traveling, having adventures, destroying imperials.

I love that Batman in his own way is protective of Catwoman but I feel like he can improve that, he is a very dense character and still has things to fix, just like Selina.

Something like Din; He doesn't talk much but he shows with actions that there are people he cares about and will protect them at all costs, just like Bo.

Din and Batman have as much in common, as do Bo and Selina.

And hey, I don't deny that they have a long way to go to become a healthier couple, but hey, with so much that they've been through, who would be completely fine?

Who is not sick in some way in their emotions???

For the same reason, I relate them to DINBO because both couples fight to be better, more balanced, even if they separate for a while or are together at another time.

I love that both Din and Bruce, although they don't talk much or don't express themselves well at all, when they do, they are very tender and know how to melt the heart of the person they are talking to with their words. .

Just like when they talk to Selina or Bo and they almost always leave them speechless, they don't know how to react. As much as to flatter them or to apologize to them and even an I love you like Batman says in the comics to Selina or a "I'll serve you" to Bo Katan.

And now to close this post; I love how Batman and Catwoman have that very particular and acid humor, their own silly jokes and she accepts them. Like when she gets pregnant, they don't know it yet and he offers her a "Bati bucket" for nausea or when they are already checking Selina and she tells him "it's cancer" he with a soft smile tells her "it's not." and she takes it with her typical humor LOL

It reminds me a lot of Din and Bo's humor, their own jokes "the element of surprise" and those knowing laughs. Or that Bo is ironic about the pog soup thing.

That Din tells her "that's what happens for stealing imperial ships" and she responds that way. Very consistent with their personalities.

I love it and I will continue sending DINBO, getting information and parallels as long as I can. And batman and catwoman are my roman empire.

this is the way.

[mydarlingbat]

Batman Europa #3 lemme just inform everyone that i did not feel like making this one, and It's only because I have to do two parts to Batman Europa #3. there's so many wonderful moments in this issue. It'd be illegal for me not to show all of them. Alright let's talk about the first cutout panel from Batman Europa'#3 I would like to elaborate on Batman's patience here. I've already said this before, however Batman has so much patience with the Joker. He literally just sighs and ask the Joker can he stop his babbling. Batman here is obviously just trying to start a fight. He's once again grabbing the Joker recklessly. Batman you can just ask him you know? Plus he already mention he told you, so this just let's me know you want to argue a little, or even chat a little, but I do think he's also making sure the Joker isn't setting him up. The Joker telling Batman is hypocritical question is so funny to me, and Batman responds with 'heh that's funny' I swear theses two are so married. Batman doesn't tell the Joker to shut up until he talks about them murdering each other. I wonder why? What I really wanted to point out that the Joker listens to the Batman and be quiet for a whole hour? I'm in awe to be honest. The fact that Batman is complimenting the Joker again, and chucking too. It gives me life. Batman is so free around him.

Batman's over here thinking. 'What heart?' Nah, I'm just joking around. I have no doubt that he's just flabbergasted by the Joker right now. He is finding out something new about him, and he's just surprise by it, but I love how his mouth slightly hangs open in befuddle way, like is this really happening too.

I can't entirely believe that Batman just stands by, watching the Joker. He so fascinated with this man!!! Batman also refers to the Joker as his closet enemy. What he really meant is his closest friend. It's in disguise. I'm telling you. I mean but why did he choose those words though? He could've have said my greatest enemy. Bruce please stop playing with us here.

Like Bruce are you saying that the Joker has charm? I actually love this page, because Batman's aware of the Joker's charm. The Joker doesn't need to look amazing in appearance. What makes up for his appearance is his charm itself. It's why Batman can be so intrigue by the Joker, and find him attractive. Batman also wanted to know how it feels to be the Joker, and again Batman's kind of complimenting the Joker here.

I just can't with Batman always trying to start a fight here. The Joker refuses to fight with the Batman while they're working together, but Batman continue to try to go back with the usually routine. Let's fight a little. Batman looks like he misses it more than the Joker here to be honest, but here's a theory. I believe Batman desires the touches from the Joker. He's not fighting with him, which involves a lot of touching. This is Batman way of getting that from the Joker, without making it obvious, and the reason I believe this is because after the Joker's touches Batman arm to call him down He relaxes and doesn't seem the littlest mad to be honest. Batman also grabs the Joker constantly, and even chokes him throughout the comic run. The Joker on the other hand isn't trying to fight with Batman, because he feels free touching Batman whatever way he pleases. Batman's the one who has to stop him. I mean Batman can clearly see no one's laughing. The Joker isn't laughing neither. Batman just find a reason to grab the Joker. He waits for the Joker to say anything about him to attack, that's the only way to touch him without him feeling wrong about it. Now this is just a theory. It definitely might not be true, or maybe it's something I deeply want. Lmao

And the way Batman willingly let's the Joker push him away says a whole lot, and not Bruce raising his hand to ask a question. Oh my god! I'm dying. The Joker just over here like 'bats shut up' and Batman is raising his hand like can I ask something. I can't even think of another villain Batman has done this with? It's so funny to me. I just love, love how the Joker speaks to Batman like he's a child, and Bruce takes it. It's just my opinion.

[farshootergotme]

Oh you and your friend make some interesting points about why Bruce adopting Dick so late in his life was a problem. It’s something writers clearly didn’t take into account when the trying to make this scene work while also not letting go of the not being adopted thing plot line while also trying to have their cake too by having Dick and Bruce makeup and finally having Dick be adopted by Bruce.

I know the writer writing Protugal wanted it to be a touching moment between the two of them. But the problem is it isn’t about what Dick wants and it written in a way where Bruce while has good intention offering him the adoption papers, he doesn’t own up to the fact he caused this issue in the first place if I am remembering correctly although I will have double check and reread that scene so take my statement with a grain of salt. Poor communication is truly the worst emery of them all and cough comic book writers loving to hammer in unnecessary drama and conflict even if makes no bloody sense at times or take into account how it effect the characters going forward. 

The thing about what is a good Batman writer is not necessarily if they nail Bruce Wayne and Batman as a whole but rather if they care about Robin as a concept or even like characters Dick Grayson in general. Same goes to Nightwing writers as well you can absolutely love Dick Grayson but do you actually understand Bruce Wayne as a character and are you willing to explore that aspect of their relationship Ie father/son. (Then again some of Nightwing writers do him so bloody dirty it’s honestly mind boggling to me.)

Another thing to think about is how most modern day writers and even some of older best writers from back in day of Batman is that they refuse to let him be wrong or admit he has messed up. Like my god, I like Bruce as character I really do but it’s so frustrating to see how he is treated in modern books like my god just stop the drama already with his family, I’m tired of Batman being regressed to his younger less mature self mentality and acts like he has learned nothing. Why is it so hard to just let him be a flawed but well meaning dad who yes messes up sometimes but is willing to get better and grow as a person because at the end of the day he truly cares about his children.

My problem with Richard getting adopted as an adult is well mainly with how it was handled. It never about what Dick wants if it was the writers would have made Bruce apologise for his failing as a father to him and make it so it’s up to Richard if he decides to forgive him or not because let’s be honest Bruce hurt his eldest son by his selfish actions but Bruce should also just be honest with him about he has always seen him as a son maybe not at first but it grew into that overtime and that he was wrong for assuming how Dick felt about being adopted and should have done sooner in fact he should have done around the same time as Jason. Again he should have done the minute or at least offered it when he and Dick had a heart to heart in the Marv wolf man run at Donna wedding but I don’t know. You know what amusing about his run is before this story was made he refer to Dick as Bruce adopted child early in his run which is an interesting thing to think about or maybe I misremember and it was a different writer altogether. OvO’)

Or maybe we can just skip all the stupid drama of adopting or no adopting bs and just have Bruce adopt Richard as a young teen which gives Dick enough time to think about it and probably change his mind. It also gives them time to bond as father and son, now I am not asking for Bruce to be a perfect father figure mistakes will happen as he learns what it means to be a father figure to Dick. Like come on give me fun and compassionate Batman please I miss him like geez why are the writers afraid to just let Bruce grow and move on from his past to some extent. 

Another to get off my chest with DC is well isn’t time to just retire the whole ward thing because it not really used anymore and might as well change to Dick being a foster child because that is what he is. Like the 2004 cartoon The Batman made this change to just that. Like I get Ward is historically important to Richard but I don’t know. Another thing I wish for is just to let Dick be adopted earlier at this point because the drama of not being adopted is just hurting both Dick and Bruce as characters at this point. 

When you could instead be focusing on why Dick wanting space and independence from Bruce like how his parenting style can be quite old fashioned the strict yet overprotective father figure and how he shows his love through his actions rather then his words. You could also explore how Bruce being a dad with a mental health issue aka ptsd, being kind of a control freak and suffer from self loathing issues and how he thinks he never be a good enough parent to his adopted soon. Effects Dick development and how Dick felt like over-coddled and suppressed by Bruce being overprotective and at times being super critical of his decisions as a young teen and young adult.

Honestly what frustrating about Tom Tyler run of Nightwing is that the scene with Dick and Bruce in the bat cave is so good but the problem is it is not earned because Tom Tyler hasn’t really taken the time to explore Dick’s and Bruce’s relationship as father and son or having the balls to actually explore the nuances of it and gasp let Dick call Bruce out on where he has hurt him and that Bruce needing to take responsibility for his actions as father. 

This is why I hate when people say they aren’t father and son or god damn family because one it makes it out Bruce actions aren’t as bad because they’re just “coworkers/partners” which just gross to me and also takes away Richard agency and why he repels so heavily against Bruce and why he is so upset about not being adopted you can’t just sit there and tell me they’re not family because it’s simply not true because this effects Richard heavily because in his mind he thought he wasn’t good enough to be Bruce’s son and felt replaced. Literally Eldest feeling replaced by the new baby sibling coded right there.

Another thing, I feel people will have come and accept about superhero comics mostly by Marvel and DC is well they’re kinda like fairy tales in a way, writers giving their own spin and takes on the world and the characters that function within it. They only things that keep them connected is how characters themselves and if they develop and grows carries over or sticks within that part of the lore. I also feel that writers are afraid to take big risks like changing how Dick Grayson became Nightwing even though they’re already one or two versions where it doesn’t lead to him fighting with Bruce and getting fired.

Now I am not saying ignore canon completely but I feel you’re at the mercy of the writers or eras of comic book runs and I think people should pick the writers they like rather try to stitch all these different takes and continuities together. Then again, I guess it doesn’t help that most media has Batman alone and completely disregard the concept of Robin or his found family in general and that honestly such a shame because Robin aka Dick Grayson is the reason Batman comics stayed alive for so alive for so long, hell he was created even before blooming Alfred.

Which leads to final point this whole thing about Dick Grayson not being adopted, has made so that is all is ever talked about. Who Dick Grayson the character like what are his goals who he is like yes he relationship with his father figure is important as it what lead him to this pathway and wether he likes or not he can quite similar to Bruce in terms of his beliefs and parts of his personality but also what about his friends the titans or his journey into adulthood and he finds himself that’s more interesting to me. Modern writers what are you doing with Richard he has so much potential and yet it feels like they have no idea on what they want to do with. No more Tony Zuuco no more changing to his backstory leave it alone please it’s fine how it is there is no reason to make it more complicated and by doing that you take away how the parallel between Bruce and Dick backstories 👏👏👏Hot take I know. 

Also, there is nothing wrong with wanting to write Dick and Bruce patching up their relationship as father and son, I love Bruce being a good dad that is trying to best despite being mentally ill himself. But keep in mind how you go about writing Bruce and make sure he faces consequences for his decisions and actions as a parental figure to  Dick Grayson and his other children. 

Oh wow sorry for making another kinda essay in your ask box again. 😅 (Hmm, I could talk about how Dick parents and his lifestyle at the circus effect his personality and how his flaws were already there before Bruce took him in but that probably for another time ha ha.

Anyway, that is enough of my rambles and inner never ending thought of this complicated father and son duo.

Hey, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I personally can agree with a lot that you're saying.

The problem when it comes to writing Dick and Bruce is that their characters are so old that many of the things from the earliest comics would be very different if one wants to write them in a more modern era. But many writers seem to choose to keep things (despite also changing things that are actually alright and should be left alone, but, oh, well...)

I mean, I don't think the drama of Bruce not being able to adopt is all that bad. For example, in one of the origins, there was woman, Sister Mary, who took care of Dick during his time at the orphanage. She mentions doubting Bruce's capabilities as a father because of his reputation as a womanizer, but that she was convinced she'd be good for Dick after talking with him in private.

They could still use this conflict in modern era and how his image as the playboy billionaire could influence the jury's decision to only give him custody of Dick as his new guardian rather than his adoptive father. Plus (I don't remember if it was in the same origin or not) Dick at the beginning wasn't fully ready to have a 'replacement' for his dad, so Bruce would respect that and accept the responsibility as his guardian.

However, here's where I'd say that they screw up; they let the years pass, no mention of adoption whatsoever (despite both clearly growing to see each other as father and son, respectively) and they just leave it at that until, check this out! Jason is adopted! I would assume now the jury is okay with letting him adopt a child because he's proven himself by taking care of Dick all these years. But, yeah, actually, back to Dick, what about him, then?

I don't believe for a second nobody would bring up the adoption issues. Like, if not Bruce or Dick (maybe because they're both afraid of being rejected by the other if they bring it up) why not Alfred? He's not shy about voicing his thoughts to Bruce, and I'm sure he could convince him to have a chat with Dick about a possible adoption because Dick is only getting older and one day it'll be too late to ask.

(Except not apparently because DC wrote Bruce asking a Dick in his early twenty's if he can adopt him which is definitely not late at all! Not to mention they had the first real conversation about adoption years ago, but Bruce just ignored Dick clears desires to be adopted and only brought it up when he thought it was the right time because why make a father that cares also about his son's emotions, am I right?

It just feels like a cheap compensation for all the years they (specially Dick) waited to become an official family. So what if the bond is more important? Maybe Dick wanted the reassurance that no matter what he would still be Bruce's family without meaning the end of their relationship everytime he left the manor to make a life for himself, is that so wrong?)

And it just makes Bruce look so bad when someone comes up with the excuse that "Dick didn't want to be adopted so Bruce was only respecting his wishes". Well, of fucking course he didn't want to get a new father a few weeks after he saw his dad's bloody corpse laying on the floor of the circus! But years later? When he's already learnt to deal with the grief and has found a new family in these two older men that chose to take care of him? What excuse does Bruce have then to not have ever brought it up again? The only 'excuse' I could think of is that he was insecure that he wouldn't be a good father to Dick (or as good as Jhon Grayson) or, as I mentioned before, afraid of being rejected. But this isn't just about him!! And as the adult in the situation he needs to save those feelings for later and communicate with Dick first without coming to any assumptions. What will change from the current relationship, anyway? Other than the security that Bruce can't just get rid of Dick whenever he wants since he's just his guardian and he can pass the responsibility to anyone else which sounds a lot more like a plus to me than a negative change.

And Bruce himself said "it doesn't really change anything" when he gave Dick the papers, so it really was a non-issue since the beginning.

I get he can have doubts and insecurities, but when it's between putting your feelings first or the ones of the child you're raising, I think the decision should come pretty easily. (Not to Bruce, apparently)

So, yeah, if DC really wanted, they could just change the early years again (we know they can, they've done it enough times already) and make Dick Bruce's officially adopted son during his Robin years and fix the whole issue very easily.

Now, I wanted to address the part about Bruce's parenting and DC not letting him develop and grow as both a character and a father, but I don't want to make this too long and you already said enough about the topic, so I'll leave it at that.

(also, would definitely love to hear about your thoughts on Dick's upbringing at the circus and how his issues began from his early childhood and not everything was for Bruce's influence. I have my own thoughts about that and it'd be great to discuss them with you)

[visionsofmagic]

⋆ ― ◜week of celebs◝ ― ⋆

DAY THREE: robert pattinson x f!reader

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• summary: robert and you go for the met gala and when he sees you, he just realizes you are the prettiest girl once again. | wc: 1.3k | tags&warnings: fluff (believe me when I say it), a slight nsfw content too, before!met gala event, kissing, girlfriend!reader, robert is such a good boyfriend, gentle!rob, touching, dirty talk, playful!rob and reader, teasing, enjoy! [also, so sorry for the wait because I had to change my phone, going to practicum process and doing my finals, so, hope this chap will be good! thank u!

Robert knows you are so pretty – the prettiest girl alive he can see and feel. He is sure he is lucky to have you, as he always tells, believing you are his miracle, giving him happiness and affection his soul seeks for. However, he realizes these facts once again when he sees you in a dress that covers your body so beautifully that he fears that his vision go blind because of the light you are spreading with the dress he never seen before on you and your smile – oh, that gorgeous smile, he thinks, the one he can give his life for to see. 

“Oh, love,” He tries to say as he makes his way to you, arms half open to hug you when he reaches his destination, “My love, you look –“ He can’t find any word enough to say how beautiful you look – even more than just a beauty. He can swear if you say you are an angel, he will believe right away because you look so much like an angel – with pureness and light only he sees thanks to being your boyfriend, the one you give your heart and soul to with body as well. 

“You look so good that even if I use hundreds of words to describe it, it will not be enough.” He says in a genuine tone. He always tells truth to you – you don’t deserve lie, no one does, and he likes to be sure that he doesn’t say even white lies because lie is a lie, without matter of the color of it. 

Smiling to him, you feel wonderful because you know how he means it when he says it. He is gentle with you – a perfect boyfriend you have, making every day of your life bearable, worth to live and happy. 

“You are making me blush, honey.” You say as he stays in front of you, opening his arms wider enough for you to get his gesture and hug his neck tightly, feeling softness of the fabric of his suit. His hands find their places on your waist, pulling you closer, putting a few kisses on your hair and spends a moment to smell your hair, saying ‘hmm’ in a low voice – he is happy, so happy, to have you like this, in his arms, kissing freely and seeing your smile, hearing your little chuckles when he says, “You look like the sun on earth, you know that right?” 

Breaking the hug a little, you look at his eyes, smirking playfully, “When you become the moon, I decided that I should be your sun.” I say, referring to his role as The Batman and how the character is belong to nights – to the moon of the nights. Robert is opposite to the Batman with all his gentleness, smiles – oh, those cute little smiles, light golden brown hair and blue eyes with full of sparkles, but, when you have a chance to tease him, you take it.

Chuckling, he puts a kiss on your nose, “You are always my sun, darling, even before I play that role,” He kisses your forehead, “My sun – the light of my life,” He kisses your cheeks one by one, “My love – the one I love from the deepest part of my heart and soul.” Lastly, he puts a kiss on your lips, warmness flowing from his to yours for a moment before he gets back and wait for your action. Oh, such a tease, you think but you play with his little game still.

Firstly, you kiss his nose like he did, “And you are my moon – making my night lighten up with your own gleam.” Then, I kiss his forehead, raising on my tiptoes as he lowers his head down a little with a chuckle, and I hit his shoulder gently with a smile, “My beloved who I want see as the first thing in the morning and the last thing in the night.” I kiss both of his cheeks that have light blushes on, “The one who has my heart and soul within my body,” Lastly, I kiss his lips, longer than his, wanting to feel him closer. Getting my gist, he hugs me tightly, closing the gap between our bodies, making them crash into each other as my hands on his neck travel into his hair, then to his shoulder, ending on his chest. The kiss take longer than I expect but I feel like he needs it – he needs to feel me long enough to let me go, and I agree to his idea because I want to have him too. 

Between the kisses we share, I feel one of his hand goes up to my neck as the other one lowers down to my ass and I chuckle, saying, “Robert, I th –” I moan when he bites my lower lip, closing my eyes because of the feeling, unable to speak more and this makes him laugh playfully, knowing his own effect on me.

“You were saying something, sweetheart?” He asks but he doesn’t wait for my answer when he walks towards me, making me taking steps backwards and when my back find the surface of the nearest wall, I say, “We should go before it is too late.”

I want to stay though, letting him have his way with me and taking all the pleasure he can give but we can’t stay any longer before it is too late to go for the gala which he needs to go as his manager says.

“Just a few minutes, believe me,” He says, hands go under your long skirt as he pulls it up, making your thighs and legs be exposed to his eyes and when his hands touch your ass, he stops for a moment, eyes wide open as he asks in disbelief, “No underwear?” He almost sounds like he enjoys this too much.

With a sudden shy that hit me, I lower my head down, shrugging, I smile, “I – I wanted to tease you with it when we arrive the gala.”

He smirks, feeling shy like you do too but he is better for hiding it than you – always. “You are such a tease! I love it,” He kisses your neck; “You have no idea how much I want to tear this dress up and have you right here.” He speaks with no hesitation – only truth and lust can be heard in his attractive voice. You know how he can be a playboy so easily when it comes to you – only you.

“But we should go,” you say, taking his hands back from your ass even if you want him so much right now. “However, I can give you a promise though,” You say, smirking, making him furrow with curiosity on his face expression.

“And what is that?” He asks; hands stop on the wall, right beside your waist, caging you inside his body.

You put your hands on his neck, still having a smirk, “When we come back to the house, I will let you having your way with me – without no disapproval.”

He only laughs at your deal. Holding your chin with his fingers, he says, “My pretty girl – oh, I will take you with my way, you can be sure about that,” He lowers his head down, whispering into your ear intensely, “But who said I would not have you in the gala?”

It makes your legs shake in excitement because deep down, you know Robert will hold his promise, finding a way to give pleasure both to you and to him and only the idea enough to make you give him all.

Smiling, he puts a kiss on your cheek as he holds you from the waist. Then, he fixes your dress like a gentleman, asking you whether you are ready or not. When you nod, he takes you by the hand and smile widely, “Let’s go and make the whole world see how beautiful you are and that you are my beloved.”

The end. 💕

[celaenaeiln]

The bimbofication of Dick Grayson is sad but I also feel like a lot of it has to do with his place in the batfamily and fitting a certain role which is different from his role as part of the Titans fam. Like there is a reason he gets killed off in a lot of Batfam stories and or he takes up the role as Batman despite wanting to make a name for himself as Nightwing. I’m not a huge Dick Grayson fan but that’s because my introduction to him was through the Batfamily and he was always portrayed rather silly or kind of the butt of the joke to Barbara Gordon’s know-it-all-ness (I love her but that’s how it feels) , but then I would read his interactions with the Titans and I actually became more invested in his character even if the writing is a bit outdated.

This goes for his relationships too, he used to be portrayed as a one woman man but then Dixon got a hold of him and suddenly the tiring trope of guy is a bit of a playboy except for that one girl who is the love of his life took hold and it hasn’t left since. I miss the Dick who meet this out of this world (literally) woman and who grew to love each other and watching him grow into a man who learned to love in a passionate way and who learned that people were different from him.

Even a lot of his newer relationships have a lot of depth (like with Bea Bennet or Shawn) but then they get axed. Taylor isn’t really writing anything that hasn’t been written before, like Rebirth Dick wasn’t that great and Rebirth DickBabs was childish and Dixon had some takes on Dick but Taylor has really has highlighted a lot of that bad writing and It’s crazy that it’s becoming the most popular iteration of Dick Grayson and even Barbara Gordon.

og post in reference

Absolutely!

There was the comic thing DC released during an event with all the heroes talking to the reader like they were in the Office, and Dick's was, "I'm the nice, funny one."

Now that's funny because Roy literally refers to him as uptight. The statement is true but it's a lie by omission. It doesn't take into account his craziness, his leadership, his dedication, his intelligence, his prowess, his good-standing - nothing! "Nice, funny one." I think Ra's would've run a sword through the writer's heart at that, given that he was easily defeated by the "nice, funny one."

Aside from that I can't really speak to the dumbification of Dick in Batfamily comics because I think most of them have done a good job but I used to see it a lot in fandom. It's much less now but five years ago, there was so much fandom content about incompetent himbo Grayson and some writers genuinely meant it too. Which I don't understand because nowhere in the Nightwing comics is Dick ever written as being dumb. The Batman comics (1940) and (2016) also do a fantastic job of writing him. His fighting ability, his emotional intelligence, his IQ, all of it is there and off the charts!

I guess the main thing with Dick's role in the batfamily is he's seen as an authority figure. He's Batman's second in command and seen that way by both Bruce and the rest of the family. So if some major disaster were to occur, he would need to be killed off because he's both of exceedingly high emotional value to Bruce or because he's going to be the next person in charge and god forbid that happens because the apocalypse would end then.

I mean, the villains made the mistake of leaving him alive in Convergence and he literally reset the universe back to how it's supposed to be.

So there's no way they can leave him alive because of that. Also his death fuels Batman to end whatever crisis the world is facing so that's an important plot event.

But the Barbara Gordon arm candy.

I am certain. That the idea of Dick being stupid comes from him being with Barbara Gordon. No where in the Nightwing comics, Batman comics (both!), Red Robin comics, Robin comics, Titans comics, Justice League comics, and other DC comics is Dick ever written to be stupid EXCEPT when he's written with Barbara.

Take this nightwing panel for instance

Nightwing (2011) Issue #27

or this

Nightwing (1996) Issue #42

and then take this

Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle Issue #1

AKA: I'm smart. You're dumb. Now shut up and leave because you're too stupid to understand.

The arrogance. This is the same shit Bruce would pull except when Dick asks, Bruce actually tells him.

Justice Leagues: Justice League of Atlantis

Barbara in the Nightwing comics isn't the best but at least it tracks with her own personality in her own comics and the Batman and Bird of Prey ones. The best Barbara Gordon depictions I've seen are through Cass and Stephanie's Batgirl comics funnily, but the Barbara Gordon Batgirl comics have the worst treatment I've seen of Dick in all of DC.

This is where I think the idea Dick is dumb orginates because it's definitely not coming from Tim or the Titans or Batman. It also makes sense if that's the case since Dickbabs is such a huge thing in this fandom.

I miss when Dick would just be with Kori through everything. They were so in love! I genuinely believe they could have worked out their problems or at least gotten back together but DC will never let that happen for logical reasons. If Dick marries Kori, he's going to end up spending all his time with the Titans which would be bad for the rest of the family because they need him when they have problems or just to hang out. It's a lot more convenient for them to have Tim hang out with Dick and Barbara if they were dating than him hanging out with Dick and Kori. Which is the biggest reason why Batfamily writers want to keep the romance within the family.

I will never accept the cheating thing because it was so out of character but I've kinda gotten used to him finding new relationships because I grown to fall in love with those characters. As long as he has meaningful relationships like with Bea and Shawn where it develops and grows, I end up loving it. My only requirements for his relationship is letting Dick be himself and letting him be happy. I was furious that whoever writer ended Bea's relationship and for what? "I'm sorry, I can't love you anymore, I got memories back." What kinda a reason is that?! It's not even remotely believable! I have so much to say but it's going to turn into a rant about how dumb the reasoning is.

Tom Taylor took all of Dick's fake worst traits and amplified them by a billion. Actually you know what? I get what's he's trying to do. He picked one trait of Dick's - caring - and trashed his entire life story at the expense of his intelligence, athleticism, humor (c'mon Dick was genuinely funny before this run, his humor did not suck), and wit to support this one little thing.

He wouldn't understand subtlety if it hit him in the face.

[whipbogard]

do you have a bruharvey comic reading list ?

Lmfao I personally feel like every Harvey-centric comic is somewhat a BruHarvey comic if you squint 🤣🤣🤣🤣

This list is in no way exhaustive and I'm pretty sure I've missed out some very important stuff but nevertheless, this is what I could think off at the top of my head:

Disclaimer: I'm bad at continuity. And I won't call some of these excellent writing but they did give me all the delicious bruharv moments.

Batman - A Lonely Place of Dying - Some nice parallels between Batman and Two-Face were made in here when they're busy trying to outwit each other. This is mainly focused on Bruce's angst post-Jason's death and it is rather delicious for the angst-lover. And also origin story for Robin Tim.

Batman: Year One - That infamous scene where Batman hid under Harvey's desk. That's it. That's big reason enough for you to read it. (Harvey is also exceptionally hansum in here. Will always be one of my fav Harveys).

Two-Face: Year One - Chummy college days, Bruce hanging out at Harvey's office late and night and also the one where 2F didn't listen to the coin and spared Bruce's life :^)

Batman: Eye of the Beholder - The one where Jim introduced Harvey to Batman and then they started hanging out together and left Jim out. JK JK JK LOL but it sure felt like that 🤣 In all honesty though, this is one of--if not--the best Harvey story out there so please read it anyway!!!!

Batman: Face The Face - This takes place sometime after Batman: Hush (where if you recall, Harvey betrayed Tommy to save Bruce's ass uwu). Harvey is somewhat "cured" now that his face is fixed. He go about protecting Gotham in Bruce's absence. And oh, Harvey recalling the 30 days whirlwind of a romance with Bruce where they trained together and also went for dinner dates and movies (I KID YOU NOT)---and obviously got 2F very upset LOL.

All-Star Batman: My Own Worst Enemy - The one where Bruce and Harvey went on a cross-country trip while being handcuffed together. Also a look into their childhood together at that very weird school lol

Batman and Robin #24 - #28 (The Big Burn) - This is 2F's origin story for current continuity. The one where Harvey called Bruce a Prince (while looking at his own reflection on a knight armour) and Bruce called Harvey "dummy" affectionately. Also here we learn that Harvey had known that Bruce is Batman since forever and has been protecting that secret from 2F.

Detective Comics #989 - #993 (Deface The Face) - My beloved Gotham Justice Triumvirate reuniting and working together!!!! The ending to this arc truly fulfilled my love for that chasing game between a hero and a villain tbh uwu

Detective Comics #1020 - #1024 (Ugly Heart & Prelude to Joker War) - It started out weird enough with 2F having a cult of some sort and having real weird erotic ritual involving the coin (lbr you know I'd join this cult in a heartbeat LOL). Again, this arc emphasized on Harvey's struggles to protect Bruce and his identity from 2F. And Harvey teaming up with Bruce to beat Joker's talons!!!!! It ended with 2F being suppressed and a somewhat "reformed" Harvey in Blackgate being visited by Matches. I like this arc for a lot of shippy reasons lmfao ("Promises, promises" hehe)

Detective Comics #1062 - present - The current craze. An excellently written Harvey by Ram V and Simon Spurrier. I look forward to where this is heading! (As of now, seems like Harvey has stopped making an appearance but I sure hope he'll come back again!!!)

ADDITIONAL MENTIONS

The Doom That Came to Gotham - This is a depressing Elseworlds story with Lovecraft elements but the BruHarvey in here is absolutely golden and even more so in the movie version.

Batman 1989 Newspaper Comics - I have yet to go through this tbh but there are a lot of good bruharv moments in here and thIS ONE RIGHT HERE I s2G GETS ME ALL THE TIME

THAT IS ALL!!! Thanks for asking me this because now I have a proper record to refer to since I'm so bad with arc names and issues etc 🤣

[riddle-me-ri]

a/n: PHEW okay so here's one of two 4k commissions I was working on. And it's for my very amazing friend @mischievous-marchie (tagging the NSFW blog because this is so NSFW lmao) Marchie, thank you so much for supporting my writing and trusting me with your main man Jervis, and all his variations. I hope I did your sweet idea justice and thanks so much again for supporting me by commissioning me. It means the world. And I hope everyone else gets to enjoy it too.

*Also reader is referred to as the March Hare cause Alice is overrated, The Hare was always my favorite and...yeah it's its for March lol

Content Warning: explicit sexual content, masturbation, sex toy, mutual masturbation, unprotected sexual intercourse (gn so no specific genitalia mentioned), caught in the act, and making out.

Word Count: 4.5 k

General Mad Hatter x Reader - Call Out My Name

Your fingers drummed along the hardback cover of a novel you were trying to read. Soon the tapping of your fingers migrated to your foot on the floor. 

You groaned in frustration. 

You grew restless with boredom. 

Even the white noise of some random show that played on TV began to become silencing…just an echo of how lonely and dim it was when he wasn’t around. 

You sighed, finally surrendering and putting the book down on the coffee table. 

Why did Jervis have to be in Arkham?

You knew why, because if one of you was to get caught by Batman… Jervis ensured it was only going to be him every time. Jervis always made sure you had an escape, even if you didn’t know he had one for you.

“Arkham is no place for lovely people, my dear.” He explained once in a moment of lucidity. “I take it as a chance to reconvene my thoughts and even get to visit old friends.” He chuckled before he continued. “So don’t worry about me, dear…Although don’t forget about me either…please.” 

Your heart panged the same way it did the day he told you that. He didn’t have to worry about you ever forgetting him. 

You could never forget about the man you have loved and continue to love feverishly since day one. 

If he only knew, sometimes you wished he would just miraculously figure it out. Then maybe, just maybe, he would be compelled to reveal his feelings…if he had any for you that is.

It felt like he did anyhow, the way he’d protect you from Batman, how he always somehow made time to see you or include you in everything. 

You two have been companions for quite awhile. Jervis has always been charming, kind, and fun. He always made you smile, even on days when you didn’t feel like rolling out of bed. 

You tried your best to always be there for him. 

During his highs and lows, his madness and his lucidity, for everything. In turn, Jervis is always there for you when you need him in any capacity (except when he was locked up, which he always felt guilty for leaving you.)

You two were inseparable.

The Mad Hatter and The March Hare at the Mad Tea Party–only missing a sleepy Dormouse. 

Yes, a strong, loyal relationship was formed, but if only it could transition from platonic to romantic…

Of course, it didn’t help that he is exquisitely handsome in the most unconventional way that was endearing to you. 

Jervis’ wide bright eyes, cute elongated buck teeth, raggedy hair, and his obtuse nose that you desperately wanted to kiss. 

You sighed as you sunk yourself deeper into the couch, no doubt creating a uniquely shaped dent in the cushions from lounging there all day.

You really did miss him. All of this reminiscing probably doesn’t help either. You just couldn’t help it, just forming his image in your mind made you happier. 

Perhaps…this imagining could help in another area and maybe you can salvage the boring day and turn it into a fun night. 

For a moment, you were grateful that Jervis wasn’t around…

The cushions of the couch sunk against your weight as you laid back and made yourself comfortable. 

You took a deep breath as your head nestled into the plush arm rest. You slowly rolled up the long graphic tee you wore, exposing your lower body. 

It had been a minute since you ventured into the realms of self love in the most physical sense, but you were certain the awkwardness of the start would be well worth the pleasure in the aftermath. 

Your breath hitched as your fingers fell into a decent rhythm stimulating your sex. Every nerve ending on every pore of your skin was ignited. 

You decide to finally take it up a notch. 

You reluctantly removed your hand to reach for the toy on the side table behind your head. You snatched up the dark blue bullet vibrator and turned it on to a low setting. 

Your body jerked slightly at the vibrating sensations as you glided the toy over your chest and down your abdomen. The smooth material made you wish it was something else. 

Instead of the cool smooth mechanical texture…it was rough, soft, and warm. 

Instead of your hand controlling a toy, it was someone else’s hand, better yet, Jervis’ gloved fingers. 

Desperately, you wished it was Jervis that stimulated your body. 

It was his warm diligent hands roaming across your skin causing goosebumps to form. His hands that created delicious friction that you craved. 

As the vibrator made its way closer to your sex, the setting was turned up higher and your moans became louder and more drawn out. 

The vibrations added with the continued pace of your other hand on your genitals. You were a withering mess on the couch. 

Your eyes tightly closed, trying like crazy to suspend reality and envision it was Jervis doing this to you. 

Your moans soon turned into pants and cries. “J-Jervis…Jervis!” 

As you were chasing that sweet release, as if your imaginations manifested him…

Jervis Tetch was actually a free man and was making his way to your apartment. 

Jervis was absolutely beaming with excitement. Adrenaline was still pumping in his veins from his narrow escape from Arkham.

The moment he was out, he knew he had to come see you and let you know he was free! The only person that would actually be waiting for him on the other side…

He just couldn’t wait to surprise you. 

Jervis missed you terribly. No one else understood him, appreciated him…genuinely liked him like you do. To say you made his heart race would be an understatement. However, he was extremely cautious and uncertain. 

As much as he wanted to sweep you off your feet, hold you, kiss you…he didn’t want to risk the chance of losing you–as he has lost others. 

Jervis wasn’t sure he could handle losing you in any capacity. 

Hence why he always did his best to protect you when things got dodgy. Despite your stubbornness to stay by his side…something he juxtapositionally adored and lamented about you. 

His gloved knuckles barely racked along your door when he heard–

“J-Jervis! Jervis!” 

Jervis’ heart fell to his stomach. The adrenaline from his escape rose back up out of sheer panic for you. He quickly grabbed the doorknob and was stantly met with resistance from the locked handle. 

Seeing no other option, he began backing away and braced himself with his side as he ran shoulder first into your door–

You were so lost in your motions and the fantasy in your mind that you didn’t register the reality of your doorknob being rattled. 

You were none the wiser to another presence until he made himself known by busting down your door. 

The loud bang of the door hitting your wall woke you up from your pleasurable reverie. 

Quickly, you sat up, hastily lowering your shirt back down and threw a blanket over your lower half for good measure. 

You were petrified and frustrated.

“J-Jervis?” You let out in a small almost mousy voice, as you finally took in who the intruder was. 

Jervis was looking around wildly, expecting some type of altercation to be happening, but quickly came to the realization nothing was awry. 

In fact, you were alone, on your couch…nothing entirely out of place. 

“Um…well..this is quite a predicament.” He chuckled sheepishly, as he lifted his hat to scratch at the side of his head. 

You gulped down a mouthful of air as you tried to regulate your heartbeat. You began silently praying to whoever could hear that he wouldn’t put two and two together of what you were doing. 

“Jervis,” you began, still trying to calm your nerves that were currently in a tailspin at the moment. “I-W-What are you–how…why did you break in?” 

Your mind struggled to think of just one question, but that one seemed the most pressing. Usually, when Jervis came over he always knocked or he somehow let you know ahead of time that he was coming over. 

“I-I heard you screaming my name…” He stretched his arms out exasperatedly. “I-I thought something was happening to you! It sounded all the same” 

Whatever redness coalesced from your earlier activities quickly drained from your face. 

“Ah…well…something was happening but nothing–bad…” You slowly began covering yourself up more with the blanket. Secretly wishing it would make you disappear.

“Yes, that much is obvious…so tell me, my dear. What was all the ruckus?” 

“Um, well…I was..uh…”

“And what is that?” He interjected. Jervis pointed to a small rounded device on the ground that was still buzzing on the floor. 

Jervis walked over towards where the object laid. He almost grabbed it until you grabbed his wrist. 

“It’s nothing! I’ll get it! Oh sh-”

“Hare! Langua-oh…”

In your panicked leap for the toy, Jervis saw your state of dress or more like the lack thereof. 

You couldn’t help but take note of how cute he looked when his face began blushing at the cheeks. 

Even though yours was most likely as red as his is. 

You instantly turned the toy off once it was in your grip. 

As if seeing the vibrator in your hands was the final piece to the puzzle, Jervis was able to slowly put the puzzle of events together. 

You were alone, on your couch, in nothing but a shirt, your skin was tinted red…you screamed his name…but not in danger or pain…

Jervis may be whimsical and mad most of the time, but he wasn’t ignorant. 

You sighed as you saw him come to the conclusion of what happened. Somewhere deep down you were grateful you didn’t have to spell it out. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I apologize-”

You both looked up at each other after apologizing at the same time. 

“I-I didn’t mean to make you panic.” You continued, rubbing your arm. 

“I didn’t mean to…ahem…ruin your fun?” He nervously chuckled as he played with his hat brim. 

“It’s okay.” You reassured him softly. “I appreciate your concern.” 

Jervis nodded. Of course he was concerned, he was always concerned for your safety. 

“Yet…the question remains…why did you cry my name?” 

Jervis had an idea why. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t guilty of the same act, but he just needed you to confirm it. 

You looked away coyishly, biting your lip to keep from just dumping your emotions mixed with your explanations on him. 

Jervis gulped. He really wished you didn’t do that. Although it did complete this exquisite vision of you just now. 

Your hair a ruffled mess, your body gorgeously silhouetted by your shirt that only came to be just about your mid-thigh…all complimented with a cute lip bite. 

You sighed. “I…I was…uh…thinking of you…while I had fun.”

Jervis took a small but sharp intake of breath. You were actually going to say it.

“Really?” 

You nodded before looking away, not being able to look at him. Assuming he wanted a further explanation after a beat of silence, you continued. 

“I-I’ve cared…I mean. I’ve always…” You groaned in frustration. 

After taking another deep breath to reset your thoughts. You tried once more, “yes really…I’ve had feelings for you for a while and I…when you’re in Arkham…I, for a lack of better words…really miss you.”

Jervis hung onto every word like it was the last life line connecting him to the ship out in the middle of the ocean. 

It was happening…it was really truly happening. Someone he loved…actually loved him back!

Jervis slowly walked over closer to where he was right in front of you. He gently curled his index finger around your chin and directed your head down to look at him. 

His eyes stared softly into yours. “I missed you too, my dear.” 

The sincere look he gave you, lidded eyes and a soft smile made your heart swell. 

“I suppose it comes as no surprise that I, too, have had feelings for you arise.” His eyes shifted slightly, still unsure if he reciprocated correctly. 

Your eyes widened, heart thumped against your chest. 

All embarrassment was dissolved into surprise. 

You reached to touch his hand that still propped your chin and your smile widened when you felt his fingers laced together between your own. 

“If you’re saying what I think you’re saying…I’m very surprised but super happy all the same.” You giggled as your hand tightened around his. 

Jervis chuckled warmly as he turned his hand so the back of your hand faced him. He gently pressed his chapped lips against your hand before smiling up at you. 

"My dear, Hare, you know my way, I always mean what I say."

You were ecstatic, your body unable to keep still. To finally have everything laid out in the open. To know the one you've cherished for so long returns the sentiment.  

"You do! You always do! Oh, Jervis!" You quickly slid your hand out from his grip but only to wrap your arms around his neck and pull him into an excited embrace. 

Jervis became nervous again. He wanted to return the hug desperately, but he wasn't sure how to keep himself composed when he actually got to feel what little you wore. 

Hesitantly, to not upset you, he wrapped his arms around your waist tightly. You were so soft and warm, he tried to refrain his fingers from tugging away at the flimsy obnoxious cotton that still covered you. 

You slowly brought your head back and looked back down at him. Your eyes coyly darting between his eyes and his lips. You were stuck in limbo once more, should you ask first or just go for it? 

Thankfully, despite Jervis' own dilemma, he was able to catch onto yours. As if silently asking if it's what you want, he slowly brought his face closer to yours. 

You gasped softly, not missing the crucial hint. You closed your eyes, slowly leaned forward, and your lips gently pressed against Jervis’. 

The kiss was so soft, sweet, and even innocent in that hesitant uncertain first kiss kind of way, but it felt so right and it capsulated all your emotions in one simple gesture. 

You’ve dreamt of this moment for so long. Always thought if it were to happen it would be this way or that way. However, now that it happened, every made-up scenario and sensation paled in comparison to the real thing. 

Jervis was the first to slowly pull back. You couldn’t help the tiny snickers you made at the sight of him softly panting for air and his pink dusted cheeks. 

Jervis perked an eyebrow at you curiously. 

You shook your head, not wanting him to think he did something wrong. “Sorry, you’re just…so cute.” Your hands came up from behind his back to frame his face. 

Jervis practically melted at your touch. Your touch heated his face up even more, but he didn’t mind one bit. To be touched so tenderly, and lovingly by the only person he cared about…nothing could possibly come close to the sensation. 

He craved more of your touch and kiss. He yearned for your affection as the Knave of Hearts (allegedly) yearned the tarts. 

Jervis couldn’t even think of a response to your compliment as he swiftly crashed his lips back into yours. 

You were shocked but not displeased as you quickly kissed him back with just as much fervor. 

Jervis’ breath hitched when he felt you slightly poke your tongue along the edge of his protruding tooth and his lips. He didn’t hesitate to grant you entrance to his mouth. 

Your kiss became more heated as your tongues explored each other’s mouths. Jervis began exploring more of your body, slowly building confidence to feed his desire to touch more of your skin and hopefully please you. 

His hands raked and grasped around your waist and hips. As well as up and down your back. 

So close to that same feeling you were trying to mimic earlier in your mind.

Your kiss was broken once more, albeit simultaneously as you both fell onto the couch when your knees bent against the cushion at the sudden impact. Jervis’ own hat fell off his head but safely landed on the coffee table in front of you. 

The cheesy silly predicament caused you to snicker. 

Jervis hummed warmly before he slowly rose himself off of you by his hands that were on both sides of your head. 

“Still enjoying yourself, I see.” He chuckled lowly. 

The deep drop in his voice caused a shiver to go down your spine. 

It was then you took in the truly compromising position you were in…your fantasy from earlier was slowly playing out right before your eyes. 

You’ll be damned if you let it slip away. 

“Yep, much more so now with you actually here.” You smiled sweetly. 

“Whatever you sought in your fantasy.” He began.

Jervis leaned up to kiss your forehead. “I’d be more than happy to make a reality.” 

A kiss on your cheek before looking into your eyes in earnest. “If you’ll let me.”

Any confirmation you think you could say didn’t feel strong enough, so you just leaned in to kiss him once more. 

It was all the confirmation Jervis needed as he leaned into your kiss. It was all the motivation he needed as he brought his body back down to try and get closer to you. 

Your back arched slightly when you felt his hands slowly crawl up your body and under your shirt. 

Jervis slowly retracted his lips from yours. Only a small trail of saliva kept you two connected. 

He grabbed the hem of your shirt before looking up at you, silently asking if he could remove it. 

You nodded so quickly your head almost rolled off. 

The moment you were free from the flimsy cotton shirt, Jervis was quick to appreciate the exposure to your body as he began kneading the skin of your chest and abdomen. 

He tucked his head in between your neck and shoulder as he began leaving hot wet kisses along your jaw and neck.

“J-Jervis…” you sighed breathlessly. 

Jervis’ body tensed at your voice. He brought his head back up to face you. 

He gulped. “P-Please…do that again, just the same…want you to call out my name.” 

You nodded, your hand reaching up to cup the side of his face. “I will, just as long as you don’t stop.” 

To that Jervis grinned a grin that would put the Cheshire Cat to shame. He gave your forehead another peck. “My darling, March Hare, I wouldn’t dream of such a thing…I wouldn’t dare.” 

Jervis briefly sat up and rested on his haunches as he began shucking away his suit jacket.

Already missing his close proximity, you quickly sat up and wrapped your arms around his neck while he tried to unbutton his dress shirt, but quickly gave up in exchange for holding you.

He chuckled at your enthusiasm, still deliriously delighted to have someone love him like this. As you began returning the favor with your own kisses to his neck and chest, he continued to make quick work of his trousers. 

To have Jervis here with you almost as bare as you were, overwhelmed you in the best of ways. 

No longer did you have to ponder what he looked like under his clothes or how he would feel against you. 

He was there in reality. All there and all yours. 

Jervis’ cock was hard and occasionally hit his stomach. He breathed a sigh of relief once it was free from its confines. 

He gasped shortly when you lightly traced your fingers up his dick. You turned your head to look at him to make sure this was okay. 

Jervis nodded before leaning in to kiss you again. A kiss that said “I love you” and “I trust you.” 

You felt the sharp intake of air through Jervis’ nose as you slowly wrapped your hand around his cock and began slowly stroking it. His gloved hands dug into the folds of your body, as if trying to keep himself grounded. 

Soon you felt his hand travel further down your body. Not wanting to leave his precious March Hare out, he began trying to copy the same rhythm you were going at to your own sex. 

This caused you to pull back from his lips, as you began panting into the crook of his neck. 

Fantasizing be damned, this was so much better than anything you could imagine or what that toy could replicate.

Yet, you wanted–needed so much more. After years of pining for Jervis, to finally have him here with you in the most passionate way imaginable. How could you not want everything? Every little bit of him he has to offer?

“Jervis–mmh…Jervis..” You moaned. Trying to form a sentence but got caught off guard by his sped up pace. 

“N-Need you…please…now.” You managed to pant out. 

Jervis gulped, slowing down his movements which you did too. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” You almost whined. “Please…Jervis..”

Another shudder overtook Jervis’ body. His heart beating relentlessly against his ribcage. Jervis knows madness, but has never known a madness as passionate and pleasurable as this. 

Jervis gently leaned his body against yours to slowly have you lay back down on your back with him hovering above you once again. 

He brought one of his hands to his mouth and bit down on the tip of the finger sleeve of the glove, before peeling it off his hand. 

As sad as you were to see the gloves go, seeing the way he bit down on the finger of the glove made you swoon. 

Once his hand was free from the glove, he reached down to your core and gathered what wetness was there before proceeding to slowly push his finger into your entrance. 

Despite the fun you had earlier, you were still fairly tight as you winced at his finger entering you fully. 

Jervis stared at you intently, looking for any signs of discomfort and hopefully he could see signs of pleasure. 

He slowly added another finger as he continued his steady pace inside you. 

You appreciated the effort he went to make sure you wouldn't be uncomfortable. However, you think you were about to scream if you didn't actually have him. 

You gently put your hand on his arm and squeezed. "I'm ready, Jervis…please…I need you." 

Jervis doesn't think he will ever get over hearing you say that and hearing you pleading for him. 

He slowly brought his fingers out and maneuvered himself to where he could line himself up to your hole. 

Jervis leaned over you again with hooded eyelids before kissing you. As he kissed you, he gently pushed himself inside of you. 

You both took a sharp breath between your lips at the intrusion. Jervis began peppering soft kisses all along your face, jaw, and neck. Anything to ease any sort of pain you were feeling. 

You softly muttered to him you were okay and that he could start moving. 

Jervis seemed unsure at the moment, but took it in stride as he slowly pulled himself out and equally as slowly pushed back in. Every time it got easier and more pleasing.

Your moans continued to egg him on, but not nearly as much as when you moaned his name. 

"Jervis…mhh..Jervis!" 

It made him thrust faster, kiss you harder, and squeeze your skin tighter. Soon you began crying out his name similarly to how you sounded earlier when he thought you were in danger. 

He hoped that this was far better than whatever fantasy you had playing in your mind. 

If he had asked you that, you would have reassured that he was far better than what you imagined. 

Your arms wrapped tightly around his neck to keep his lips near yours. Your hands either clung to his hair or the thin dress shirt he still wore. 

Your throat began to burn from your moans and hot pants but you didn't care. It was well worth the deep burning sensation in your gut that continued to get hotter and tighter. 

"Jervis…Jerv-mmm-I-I'm close.." You managed to announce in between your sounds of continuous pleasure. 

Jervis nodded, all words in the English language being lost on him at that moment. He was close too, his ball tightening every time you squeezed around him or cried out his name. 

His focus was solely on you though as he began thrusting faster than before, pulling out just enough to keep the head of his dick in before thrusting back in. 

It knocked the air out of you, but you didn't care. It made your legs tingle and had you see stars. 

Soon the tingles in your legs soon overtook your whole body as your nerves became ignited from the delicious release from the burning tension finally boiling over inside you.

You cried out his name when you arched your hips up from your shaking legs. Your entrance tightened that much more around Jervis' cock causing him to finally come unwound inside you with an audible groan. 

Jervis reluctantly pulled out of you before collapsing on top of your body. His head nestled in your chest as he tried to catch his breath. 

You tried to do the same, completely at a loss for words at the moment. You brought your hand up to comb through his unruly hair, finally living out another fantasy of yours.  

You lowered your head and kissed the top of his head before whispering. "That was amazing, better than any fantasy." 

Jervis chuckled, but deep down he was ecstatic, he just didn't have the energy to entirely act on it. 

It meant so much to know he could please you, because loving you pleased him. 

He lifted his head up briefly to look at you with pure adoration in his eyes. "It was my pleasure, darling." He scooted a little forward so his lips could reach yours.

When you two broke apart your heart swelled up at the soft look he gave you. It almost felt silly to say it, the way he looked at you made it clear he felt it too, but your heart was so full you swore you were about to combust. 

"I love you, Jervis." You said softly as if speaking it too loudly could break the tender moment. 

Jervis' smile widened as his bright eyes softly glazed over and his eyelids got more heavy. "And I love you, my dear Hare." 

You two slowly slipped into a tender slumber. Likely going to wake up sore from the nightly activities and sleeping on the couch, but it wouldn't matter. 

All that mattered now was that you two had each other in a way you both desired for a long time. 

All those wondrous daydreams, desires, and fantasies were finally part of your wonderful reality. 

[blurredblu]

My opinion on IDW being canon to Sonic

I watched a video by GamesCage on the topic, who I've been watching a long while on YT before subscribing to him recently on Twitch, and it reminded me of my own thoughts on the matter as well!

But first some preemptive notes because I am entering Sonic discoursespace:

This is just some guy's opinion about a little blue dude! That's it! If you hate it or me personally because of it, I refer you to this image:

I won't ever go into using insulting or uncivil language. But because this is an opinion essay and I got opinions up the wazoo, I'm also not trying to word things in some neutral, disinterested way to appeal to all audiences here

That being said, game-story-wise, we don't fuck with meta-era shit here. I Do Not See It

I'm all for chats and discussions about the topic, agreement or disagreement alike in response to this essay—things just ought to stay civil and respectful. Think of WWSD (What Would Sonic Do?) and the image above

Sonic's morality and what IDW misunderstands of it

Though I respect what the IDW team does (I fondly remember following Evan Stanley's Ghosts of the Future on Deviantart back in the day), I don't prefer their characterisation of Sonic, and that alone is enough to have me a little chagrined as to IDW's integration into the games' canon. I think it's because, ultimately, it detracts from what makes Sonic's character—specifically his morality—unique and appealing to me. Though he isn't nearly as anti-hero in nature as characters like Shadow, Sonic still has moral tendencies that are atypical for characters that occupy the hero role as he's been avowed to have in the games, e.g. being labelled Team Hero with Tails and Knuckles multiple times

To give some sense of signposting, here are the headings of this essay:

Sonic distinctive moral thinking - The games' simple, reactive Sonic - IDW's merciful, principles-first Sonic: on freedom and oppression - Sonic's self-centred in a way, though, right? The mascot problem - "What's your idea then, genius?" – the reader reading this - Why keep things static - Examples of peak Sonic Conclusion

Sonic's distinctive moral thinking

To contextualise my judgement of Sonic as distinctive in his moral thinking, I think there is a tendency in Western media to give heroic characters very merciful streaks. Think Superman or Batman—codes of never killing or always offering mercy, often with backstory or informed moral reasoning behind it. While these streaks are understandable, they appear often and thus don't ring as special or particularly unique to me. Sonic has always been interesting to me because he explicitly does not entertain such clear moral principles. His attitudes embodied in his SA2 theme "It Doesn't Matter," Sonic Unleashed, or the Storybook Series (Black Knight being my favourite), show that he just does what he thinks is right and shows no qualms using considerable force (lethal in the case of Black Knight) if he has to against those he thinks are doing wrong—even against people who he would be friends with, like Merlina. He does not barter or reason; he takes action, moves before he thinks, and follows his heart

The games' simple, reactive Sonic

From my interpretation of Sonic regarding mercy, examples from the games show how he isn't interested in rehabilitating or looking for threats to neutralise like some Miguel O'Hedgehog. These tendencies become most apparent when his friends are involved. A standout example is when Amy protects E-102 Gamma from Sonic, convincing Sonic that he isn't like the other badniks. Another, more indirect example is Gemerl, where Sonic fights and subdues him from causing more harm but Tails is the one who reprograms and rehabilitates Gemerl, who lives happily with Cream and Vanilla with his more peaceful disposition. Sonic doesn't go out of his way to help Gemerl post-defeat, but he doesn't doubt or attack him further after his integration either

At heart, I find Sonic to be a reactive, not proactive, hero. He won't go out of his way to check if the day needs saving—he's not a dutiful guardian doing patrol like Knuckles or a principled fighter for an organisation like Shadow—but if Sonic sees someone in need, he won't just pass them by. And I find Sonic's moral judgements to be simple, instinctual, and self-centred in the most literal sense. They come from his bias towards his friends' judgement and what he believes to be right, regardless of how others may judge his actions. I've only mentioned some examples, but they highlight to me that Sonic is neither healer nor hunter. His main priority isn't rehabilitating or reasoning with his foes—he will do what he feels he needs to do, even if that means destroying something or someone for good. But, as Amy for E-102 and Tails and Cream for Gemerl show, he won't go out of his way to make sure threats are dealt with through violence if his friends vouch for them.

IDW's merciful, principles-first Sonic: on freedom and oppression

In IDW, the topic of him showing so much mercy and espousing freedom as an ideal he thinks everyone, even his enemies, deserves makes him much more merciful and deliberate in his mercy than I like him to be. I want to discuss this by briefly expanding on oppression and freedom, a topic that comes up in Surge and Sonic's fight and Surge angrily questions why Sonic wouldn't just end her. Sonic essentially answers it's because he values freedom for all, including his enemies', because he can exercise his freedom to stop them. It's representative of why I think some fans take issue with Sonic's characterisation because it warps how much Sonic might believably value freedom versus oppression on two flops: on philosophical concepts and characterisation.

IDW's concept flop, to me, shows a fundamental misunderstanding on the nature of oppression and freedom, assuming some inherent ranking of freedom above oppression. The two are different things: freedom is a kind of instrument, a means of doing things, a concept that has no content in and of itself. In other words, you have the freedom to do X; having freedom is only meaningful insofar as it enables to do what you want. Oppression, however, is not an instrument in the same way; it makes far less sense to say 'you have the oppression to do X' or 'you are oppressed to do X' like you could for 'freedom' and 'free'. Freedom, precisely because it is an instrument, enables far more flexibility—both good, evil, and neutral acts can arise from it. Oppression is a state of being with an inherently negative core, predicated on suffering and the oppressed being harmed.

Quick and messy take from me on this: freedom for all and oppression for some is worse(!) than freedom for some and oppression for none. But here's something that has a source, leading to the characterisation flop: according to Sonic Adventure's DX Director's Cut manual, the only thing Sonic hates is oppression (for, presumably, anyone). Honestly, you don't even need a game manual to tell you that. I think IDW writers make the mistake of assuming the inverse to be true of Sonic as well: that the thing he loves most is freedom (for, presumably, anyone).

Oppression being the only thing Sonic hates does not mean freedom is the only thing Sonic loves.

It may be notoriously slippery to insist on consistency in the Sonic franchise (or maybe franchises, plural), but this philosophical gloss on freedom and oppression starts to explain why IDW's characterisation strikes me as inherently contradictory to Sonic's preexisting values. Namely, it shows how IDW commits a false equivalence between the two and assigns it to Sonic. Sure, Sonic likes freedom, but that's different to showing mercy and second chances. IDW ends up conflating the two. As a result, IDW has Sonic care more about the principle of freedom than about the feelings and suffering he knows he or his loved ones have gone through. Put another way, it makes little to no sense why Sonic would prioritise freedom for all, even his enemies, when he has been shown to much more consistently put the most weight on what his friends feel and what he himself thinks. IDW does little to no detectable work establishing why Sonic would have such priorities either

Also, not a real argument—just taking things to the extreme in a throwaway thought—but could you imagine Sonic in the beginning of Unleashed actually considering Eggman's pleas saying he's changed and telling Eggman he...values his freedom? Like. c'mon

Sonic's self-centred in a way, though, right?

How about that self-centred angle, though? Sonic's way of thinking is highly independent—he will do what he thinks is right, first and foremost. It would be easy to claim that IDW's characterisation is just a mindset Sonic just holds in the comics, and that alone passes muster; his brand of ethical egoism admittedly does a lot as writerly cover to justify nigh anything about him. Looks like a hedgehog, smells like a hedgehog; chances are it's our hedgehog, right?

I disagree. One: if IDW is considered canon and yet is just so different to what's appealing about Sonic in the games, then the decision to make IDW Sonic canon, to be frank, kinda sucks. That ain't my Sonic—that's some Marvelised-DC version of him trying to moralise that I don't find compelling, distinctive, or endearing.

Two: even if you try to adopt the angle that upholding freedom for all would just be what Sonic believes to be right, it would still be the same as saying Sonic cares more about philosophical ideals than what he sees right in front of him. He's famously poked fun at Knuckles for being gullible before—why is Sonic himself showing that same gullibility and benefit of the doubt towards hostile enemies or those who have notably wrought so much damage to the lives of those he loves?

The trouble is that IDW builds no meaningful narrative foundations on top of which to stake this claim on Sonic's mindset when the games exist. Like, I don't even privilege the games just because they've been around first and for longer (even though, hey, that is true)—he's just cooler in them. Sonic is no philosopher; he's repeatedly shown it's genuinely not that deep when it comes to his moral thinking in the games. All it is is that he has a good heart. As a result, it comes off as a considerable mischaracterisation to show his enemies mercy mostly in the name of freedom or hope for their change (i.e. lofty ideals) compared to something actionable he can do (i.e. kick their ass and break their tech so they don't hurt anyone he cares about again).

The mascot problem

GamesCage mentions a worthwhile point which he calls the mascot problem. Sonic, as a mascot for Sega, has certain narrative lines he cannot cross or change for good. Like with Mario, there is a clear status quo to maintain; for one, Eggman cannot ever truly be vanquished. However, unlike Mario (with the one exception of Super Mario Galaxy), Sonic routinely has narratives that he and his friends undergo. There has to be this delicate balance that Sonic Team, IDW, and anyone writing for Sonic must contend with as a result. You have to write stories—events and plot where characters grow and change and are affected—but maintain the status quo where many fundamental things cannot change

In other words: how do you explain that Sonic never gets rid of Eggman or his other enemies because he, as a company mascot, cannot ever do so?

IDW does this one way by assigning Sonic an inadvertent little philosopher's cap, which I've already opined is a mischaracterisation. It also just generates another kind of untenable narrative problem that's even harder to reconcile: how do you justify that Sonic, hero with a heart of gold, just lets his enemies keep on going for freedom's sake? Arguably, all that does is dress up the mascot problem but with worse consequences—it makes Sonic less likable. It casts him as someone who essentially ends up condoning his enemies' actions, which has already led readers to question his judgement and whether they would even want to root for a character like that when you have an alternative and contradicting blueprint that the games have already provided for him. Like, my boy embodies direct action and IDW turns it into direct-ish-but-hey-do-what-you-want-who-am-I-to-judge action. Dress it up however you want; it's a nerf on who he is

"What's your idea then, genius?" – the reader reading this

In my eyes, what could work for the mascot problem is falling back on the static nature of the characters that have already been long established. The basic formula is there: Eggman is tricksy, proactive, and two steps ahead, but Sonic is always good-hearted enough, reactive enough, and fast enough to catch up by the end.

Elaborating on that formula, you have enough of Sonic's existing characteristics to justify why bad things keep happening despite his presence. He's not like Iron Man, who takes it upon himself to leverage his resources and power to look out for the world when no one's really asked him to. Again, Sonic is a reactive hero; he's not a ruthless hunter and he likes his peace and quiet as well as his adventure. He'll do what he can to fight what's right in front of him but may miss the bigger picture or potential traps by going in too fast. That happened in the beginning of Sonic Unleashed and it made sense. Even in Black Knight, you had him try to whale on King Arthur armed with just a decreasing number of chilli dogs. In an extended or episodic storytelling format, this allows other characters to shine—Tails's powers of analysis, Amy's ability to connect with others emotionally, Knuckles' sense of duty—by contributing to plans and helping Sonic because he has persistent, character-defining flaws. Highlighting his non-proactive and chill nature allows for arcs with more breathing room, too, where the characters aren't going up against some world-ending force or they all hang out. On that front, I'd say IDW has done well giving other characters that spotlight

Briefly touching upon Eggman's characterisation and how that might address the mascot problem, his tried-and-true tendencies should be relied upon, too. He is incredibly intelligent but also a massive narcissist—it makes sense that he has his own sense of short-sightedness where he prioritises and secures his own well-being above all else and underestimates the importance or wrath of godly and natural entities he frequently exploits and disrespects. Because of how strong and distinctive Eggman's brand of narcissism and villainy is, it is honestly fitting that he will never change; that alone explains how often he will cause trouble and will never fully succeed. And that also justifies why Sonic will always be the one to fight him. Both have their imperfections and flaws and that has them in a deadlock.

Why keep things static?

Now, this might bring up the question of static-ness. It might seem like an odd solution to mascot problem to just lean into it. Surely, there has to be greater justification or some potential for change for things to stay interesting, appealing, and compelling for Sonic and his stories.

In response, here's my hot take: ya don't need any of that.

Here's a longer version of my hot take: in any given narrative, Sonic is at his best when he does not grow or change. Sonic is already peak. Others may flounder and oscillate, but he remains steadfast with his heart of gold. He is a pillar of strength. He is static. Think of him in the Sonic Adventure games, characters and humans' reactions to him in Sonic X, the knights of the round table's reactions to him in Black Knight, Chip himself remarking that Sonic has such a good heart that not even the powers of a fucking dark primordial god infecting and transforming him can change who he is on the inside in Unleashed. When unstoppable forces come about, lo and behold, he is the immovable object they meet!

Sonic always stays on the move—that's how you can justify all the amazing, different, wild stories he'll go through, because he is an adventurer at heart. You don't need to humanise a character and subject them to point-A-to-point-B arcs to make them enduring, beloved characters. Just because that's a common format for characters and stories and comics to take nowadays doesn't mean that it's a good fit for Sonic. He's never been one to do something just because everyone else is doing it anyway. I, no joke, think Sonic should be treated like a mythical folklore figure, never-changing and transforming the lives of those he meets before breezing on by—and what figures are more enduring in our consciousness than those of mythology?

And, to refer to IDW, there isn't any need to wax philosophical on top of that. Like I've repeatedly said so far, Sonic is no philosopher (and saying this as someone who did philosophy for undergrad, thank fuck for that). Leave the philosophising and podcast soundbites and video essays to the fans—in fact, I'd even wager the simplicity of Sonic's premise and character, or, hell, even the dissatisfaction that can come from that, is why his fandom even thrives (but that's definitely a separate topic).

Examples of peak Sonic

I forget which interview this was, but Sonic's characterisation was inspired off of Bill Clinton (aged like milk I know; this was before his scandal with Lewinsky), from the idea that actions speak louder than words for him. Obviously, Sonic does get in his quips with his friends and enemies alike, but he's not supposed to be Marvel superhero about it and isn't actually a massive braggart. Even the first episode of Sonic X shows his confidence and demeanour so well—he doesn't need to moralise or talk your ear off for you to know he'll fuck you up. And that's just so much cooler than what IDW accomplishes with their version of Sonic

Like, consider my beloved Murder of StH, which the IDW team had a considerable hand in! Sonic—while recognising that the train is more advanced than other badniks, exhibiting personhood and consciousness—still has the sole objective of destroying the train. Everyone shines and, granted, the format has it so that Sonic doesn't really appear till the end, but he's characterised pitch-perfectly there, instilling so much hope and forward momentum not only in his gameplay but in the heart of the player. Honestly, his late contribution arguably echoes Sonic X, where he often disappears or does his own thing, too

Even in a game or storytelling format where he should be front and centre, you could even explore some big themes with Sonic precisely because of his mental and emotional fortitude! The Storybook Series are so stellar in this regard—you got Sonic helping out Shahra, domestic abuse victim, on dealing with sadness, and him helping Merlina with existentialism and death of all the fucking things. And he doesn't flap his lips about it; he shows it through his actions. He's the protagonist but not in a traditional sense—he's the support and passing through and being unfathomably fuckin cool about it. Any lessons he ends up teaching you is not because he's out to teach you—it's because he's just living his own way and, wouldn't you know it, you just happened to be around for the ride

Conclusion

I'm not excited about IDW Sonic being considered canon because he comes off as an overeager philosopher's take on him when game Sonic is fuckin goated with the sauce. Though the story ideas and arcs in IDW seem cool, Sonic is the heart of the series, and if he's off, then the whole thing ends up a little wonky for my tastes.

To be clear, I don't have issues with different iterations of Sonic as some blanket rule—if the writers do the work to establish why and in what ways Sonic in a particular story is different, then that's just plain fun. Movie Sonic, Sonic Prime, and Sonic Boom are all examples of that. But, above all, the kind of Sonic I adore (and there are in fact many kinds) is the one who you meet and your life is irrevocably changed for the better as he hangs out for a while but never for long. In pivotal moments in the comics, IDW Sonic misses the mark on that for me

Though Sonic Team are making clear moves to integrate all the iterations of Sonic as canon regardless. I do wonder if that, as a move in itself, is the meta-narrative equivalent of Sonic Team changing game-mechanic tacks every game after '06 and Unleashed—a well-intentioned but misguided way to try to appease everyone which I've always thought is the most anti-Sonic thing you can do, but that's just the mascot problem in corporate as opposed to story form.

I was fine with Sonic Twitter just saying 'Everything is canon' as a non-starter – I'll just see how they do what they're intending to do and if I don't like it, then I always got an AO3 account handy

[batmanfruitloops]

Finally, Batman's references are done!

I made multiple because I needed to showcase multiple things. The main one of course is just Batman, as that's how Bruce will appear most of the time. however, it's still important to show how he looks out of costume.

Bruce has only appeared one other time out of costume on here, but yes, I did in fact give him brown eyes. Clooney's portrayal was always one of my favorite live action Batmans; despite Batman and Robin being awful in a lot of ways, the visuals and casting choice always stuck with me.

Another reason, and this is going to sound very strange, is that such clear blue eyes make me nervous. I know that works in Batman's favor sometimes, but I like brown better and I figured it's a good way to show Bruce's kinder, warm side.

Bruce's scars (without spoilers)

the scar over Bruce's heart and under on his ribs is from someone tried to kill him while he was training in China

some of the scars on his right leg are from falling down the well on his property as a kid. Similarly, Bruce also messed up his left foot in the fall, but he walks fine (usually) on both anyway

most of the smaller lacerations on his arms and legs are from his training in China as well

Batman's Main Inspirations

BTAS was going to be on here, no questions asked. It's easily one of the most recognizable versions, and having watching it religiously on Saturday mornings growing up, it showed me so many different aspects of the Batman universe and solidified my love for superhero stories

As previously mentioned, Bruce reminds me of myself in a lot of ways, so I projected a lot of good and bad traits and interactions into him

George Clooney's Batman from Batman and Robin wasn't the best, but it stuck with me. He cares for those around him deeply

BTBATB is such a fun cartoon portrayal of the Batman universe and I adore the art style and dialogue to pieces. The 60's TV version of Batman has a special place in my heart, and I love that this cartoon pays homage to that while still being it's own thing.

Batman: The Enemy Within is what started my whole spiral back into Batman, and I really like the direction they took with focusing on who Bruce is, and what kind of Batman you can be. And of course, I love season 2 for how it handles the Joker. Bruce can be so awkward, but you can still see how much he cares about doing what's right, being calculated, strong, and confident when needs be. It's also nice to see more vulnerable moments for Bruce. I know he's had plenty over the years, it's just the freshest example for me.

I'll be working on Joker's references next and also trying to get the asks done tomorrow, so see you then!

Backstory post

-Sarsee

[froot-batty]

Hi! I'm the Anon who asked about fanart, like I said I really love your redesigns, and I tried sending an Ask like this previously but I'm not sure if it went through. If it did, please ignore this! And sorry for the really long Ask, I'm just really excited about the art <3 Like I was saying, your redesigns are awesome! Like, the coloring, the concepts, the stories behind them are all really cool! I found you after I saw your Azrael art, and I just fell in love! I couldn't help but draw fanart, since I've always loved JPV/Azrael (Also! Since you stated before that your redesign of Azrael is fem, I was wondering if you gave her another name than Jean-Paul? Also Also, to make life easier I'm referring to Az as She/Her the entire Ask) and your art is just so motivating! I did a whole panel redraw, which I think is the first time I've finished a redraw.

This is the original Panel, it's in Issue 2 (I think) of Batman: The Sword of Azrael. Context: Batman is investigating in Switzerland when he nearly busts the Order of Dumas' operations, so the Order send Azrael after him and they fight since they're not yet allies. Bats thinks Az has the disadvantage since she doesn't have snowshoes (and he does), but Az is apparently immune to the laws of physics and nearly kills him.

Like in the original Panel, Bats is trying to defend himself with his cloak, and Az continues to not care about silly things like friction <3. (No but seriously, she's wearing clothes that look really heavy, how is she moving through the snow? Especially with sword and wings? Magic? Spite? My disregard of the laws of physics for the sake of coolness? Probably) The Background nearly killed me, I'm never drawing snow again.

The motivation didn't run dry at the Panel Redraw, so I also have a bunch of sketches! And Questions, if you want to answer them.

When I saw that Az only had one eye in this, and presumably a scar on the other, the first thing I thought of was Lehah/Biis, who was one of Az's original enemies in Batman: The Sword of Azrael. Lehah/Biis also has one eye and a scar on the other, which was given to him by the former Azrael (JPV's father) before Lehah killed him. Lehah was an enemy of the Order, and Biis (Who was a demon lord) was Azrael's (The angels) greatest enemy in St. Dumas lore. Lehah became Biis' host in a similar way that JPV is Azrael's host. Is there a connection, or is it just a coincidence? Does Biis/Lehah still exist or?

Speaking of the Order, is that still a thing in your redesigns? Or does Az have a completely different backstory now? Also, the wings! How did she get them? Was she born with them, or was it an experiment gone wrong? Or right?

Also, does Knightfall still happen, or something similar? Or is there another reason for Azbats? On that, does Bats still take in Az?

I would love to hear everything about her! Any tidbit or fact, I am actually in love (Platonic) with her and would love to hear any details at all about her! Thank You!

I did get your other ask, but I decided I'm answering this one instead so I can actually answer your questions >:]

ANYWAY

HEART EYES !!! HEART EYES HEART EYES !!!!!!!

Thank you so much for the kind words <3 When messing with rogues and changing how they are in canon significantly I always worry about fans of specific characters or DC in general being mad at me, so knowing people like 'em despite/because of all the changes is very reassuring :]

THAT REDRAW IS SO GOOD !!!!!! Get his ass Az who needs physics when you have pure rage in your heart. Queen. I'm happy my evil bird woman could motivate you to do a whole panel redraw for lil ole me, even if you had to suffer through drawing snow

THE SKETCHES TOO. I'm glad you made her creepy, her default state is to be weird and off-putting <3 weird ass lab grown angel girl. I especially like that top left corner sketch of her, something about how you drew her spiky hair and STARE I'm a big fan of

NOW FOR YOUR QUESTIONS:

Her name is still Jean-Paul, it's just pronounced like the pants (jeans) instead of the French version of John. The Order had already picked out the name before knowing that her sex was female instead of male (like they'd expected), so they just switched the pronunciation. They're lazy like that (I considered changing her name to Joan-Paul, like Joan of Arc, but it both looks AND sounds weird, so I didn't)

The Order of St. Dumas IS also a thing, yeah :] In my AU, The Agency worked alongside the Order to create Azrael. She was basically lab-grown like a homunculus according to the Order's wishes, thus the wings! They wanted her to look like an angel Az also has inexplicable longevity because of the genetic experimentation, so she's Azrael-ing long after Bruce retires as Batman

....I have a confession. The only comic I've read with Azrael in it is Order of the World, the rest I picked up from fanon or just reading around. I didn't know anything about Biis when I thought up the design; the missing eye is a fun coincidence. Thank you for telling me about him, though! I'm sure Biis/Lehah exists somewhere, who knows what Azrael gets up to when she's not in Gotham? The missing eye itself comes from Batman himself, actually. When Azrael first stops by Gotham, he's super stressed out and in the middle of a VERY ROUGH YEAR, so he ends up accidentally nailing her in the eye with a Batarang. It's meant to connect her with that passage I drew her alongside before, Matthew 7:5 :]

The events of Knightfall sort of happen! Azrael makes two trips to Gotham, and only in the first one does she dress up as Azbats, since she thinks that Batman isn't doing enough to save Gotham and she needs to "become" the new (and better) Batman in his stead. As for Knightfall, in my AU, Azrael and Batman remain enemies (because I love evil women), so Knightfall is actually a team-up between Bane and Azrael after Az gets driven out of Gotham the first time. Azrael breaks Bane out of prison and whisks him off to Gotham to help her beat the shit out of Batman, basically. And it works for a little while! But Bane wants to conquer Gotham alone and also finds Az super duper annoying, so he betrays her. Like in Knightfall, Az almost kills Bane, but instead of deciding not to she just gets beat and then runs away out of Gotham like a coward again

She doesn't come back to Gotham for a few decades after being kicked out the second time. She hears about Bruce's retirement and comes back expecting she can finally save the city, only to be immediately thwarted by both the New Batman and Blight, the latter of which she comes to be both a fascination and enemy of (I'm still slowly thinking about my version of Batman Beyond, so this is subject to change)

Bonus fun fact: I think her and my version of Jane Doe would get along. Or relate to each other. Girls with evil scientist parents who grew them in a vat and sent them out to kill people after manipulating them for their entire lives

Aaaannd that's all I got for now! I hope this little bit of information was satisfactory, and I'm very glad you want to learn more about her :))

[rwbyfan1999]

Justice league X RWBY pt 2 thoughts

I know I’m late to the party but I’ve finally got around to watching the second JL X RWBY movie and man did I love it, I loved it so much that after watching it I watched them both back to back and I’m not gonna do a review this time I’m just gonna give you my impressions on what part 2 brought to the table.

There will be spoilers so you’ve been warned in case you didn’t see it.

So time on remnant work’s differently then earth 3 days on earth equals 3 weeks on remnant so the time gap on remnant makes sense especially to get some V8 and V9 stuff thrown in

Great to see Black Canary thrown in I just wish Green Arrow would have appeared he’s mentioned but I would’ve loved seeing these married dorks together again

It was awesome to get a taste of Vacuo even if it’s super brief

Ruby is confident again which is awesome but she was also being insanely reckless while Yang’s protective instincts are not making her fully trusting of her leadership, given everything that happened in the ever after it makes sense for Yang’s character

Dc villains helping the league against a common enemy is pretty awesome

Man I feel sad for Weiss losing Atlas in this movie

Cute seeing Jessica ask about Jaune really wish JNR could’ve gone to earth

Man team RWBY’s super hero costumes look awesome, still weird seeing Blake without her cat ears but i quickly got used to it

Weiss not having powers is interesting and makes her little arc with Batman interesting sense now the roles are reversed

So Watts helped Kilg%re super surprised to see that

Blake gets 5 points for the reference to Dr Merlot and giving us some Grimm Eclipse representation (still love that game)

Love Ruby and Clark’s talk in the training room telling her that it’s ok to honor your family just don’t be in a rush to join them

Weiss and Bruce will alway’s be fun to watch and he helps Weiss realize where her true home was by the end, in his own way of course

Flash’s PTSD from being controlled by Kilg%re in part 1 plays a big part in this movie and Yang steps in to tell him her struggles, without directly talking about Adam or Raven, just to tell him to not let kilg%re consume his thoughts

The idea of the league using the digital world against Kilg%re and Watts was an interesting twist

Ruby and Yangs heart to heart moment is sweet, Ruby just telling Yang that she can’t protect her from everything and that she’s not gonna leave her

Having the end be at the Schnee manor felt full circle for both Weiss’s arc in the movie and the Atlas trilogy in general

Kilg%ore controlled Yang was crazy and Blake new like instantly, god she knows her girlfriend crazy well which is super cute

Trapping Kilg%re and Watts in the digital realm for good was an excellent way to cap the dualogy up

Another bee kiss need I say more?

All in all I’m very satisfied with this one and can see the development done for Ruby, Weiss, and Yang carry over into V10 especially Weiss

Stay awesome

[glorified-red]

As someone fortunate enough to attend DC's panel at MegaCon today with some of the biggest names in comics (Geoff Johns [Justice Society of America], Joshua Williamson [Superman], Simone DiMeo [DC vs Vampires], Mitch Gerads [Batman: The Brave and the Bold] and Phillip Kennedy Johnson [Action Comics]) here's all the information I managed to write down on what they discussed regarding the future of DC:

All quotes are NOT direct quotes, they are paraphrased. I may be a fast typer but not that good. Spoilers Ahead! Obviously.

Kicking off with the Flash Family, the upcoming releases will explore what Barry and Iris do when they "disappear" every week for date night. No one knows what they could possibly be up to! Turns out, they love to visit the future together, how they get there will be the true story. They also mentioned digging deeper into how being trapped in the speed force impacted ____. (I dont follow Flash so I don't know who they were referring to)

Next is the Superfam (and Arrowfam breifly):

Johnson spoke on Action Comics and said he wanted to evolve the Superfamily as much as the Batfamily has been. Recent comics have been able to take each member of the Batfam and develop them as solo characters to then let them interact with the others as a family. Johnson wants the same for the Superfam. He hates how the family has been boiled down to "looks" (i.e. Kon is just the one with the jacket, the twins are the lookalikes, etc) instead of them as defined characters. Within Action Comics and hopefully more, he hopes to delve into their entire family dynamic just as much as DC has done with the Bats.

Action Comics has been introducing the idea of Aliens coming to earth and certain protests spawning from it, wanting the earth to remain isolated and independent in the galaxy. They breifly teased the idea that this could be emotionally taxing on the Supers---especially Jon and Clark as the more active heroes atm---since they themselves are technically "Aliens". They also said that this new enemy set up will be very impactful for the future of the DCU.

Williamson Chimed in quite a bit to discuss the psychology behind Lex Luther and Clark Kent. "Lex isn't stupid. He's one of the smartest people in the DCU. When he looks at Clark, sometimes he recognizes that the world does need a Superman, but a good one. Lex may just have ulterior motives---i mean, he's lex, he always has ulterior motives---to force Clark to be a better Superman. And when Clark looks at people, all he sees Is the good in them. He sees their potential for growth. But when he looks at Lex, all he feels is disappointment. He feels disappointed in Lex sure, but he feels even more disappointed in himself for failing Lex."

"I love the backstory that Lex is from Smallville. When Clark leaves Smallville, there's what, ten years? Before he makes his way to Metropolis. And when he gets there, Lex is already there. What was he doing during that time? Metropolis had its fair share of villains but he destroyed them so that he could be Lex Luthor, the true villain of the city."

They then mentioned briefly about wanting to do the same thing for the Arrow Family as they did with the Bats and strive to do with the Supers. An upcoming series will explore Oliver getting "lost" and the family coming together to find him. Very exciting.

They showed plenty of beautiful artwork that has not been released yet! Sorry for the grainy photos, I tried as best as I could with my Motorola ok :P

This is for my fellow writers out there!! When asked about this image, Williamson and Johnson said that Clark "wishes people could hear what he does. He hears all of humanity in a connected thum, it's one heartbeat, not billions overlapping. All of our hearts beat together as one. When searching for specific people, he has to focus in through that single heartbeat."

Green Lantern was next! They announced a new run titled War Jounrals which follows US Marine John Stewart. They took heavy inspiration from 80s action movies such as Alien vs Predator when crafting this series. With DC's emphasis on mental health awareness and representation, I really hope they dive into the PTSD that comes from war. Not much was mentioned about this series to confirm or deny this.

Stargirl continuation: When asked about the writing/inspiration behind the future of her comics, they said they "wanted to dig into what being a side kick means---used to mean, anyway---and bring that back. Side Kicks are supposed to be a hero starting within the community, starting small, but always taking the time to save a kid and instil hope in that kid. That small difference makes a side kick. They start with so much hope only to be forgotten about, we want to bring back the old bright tone that was in Young Justice."

The Justice Society of America will follow the Huntress. She brings villains onto her team to offer them a chance to reform and walk a better path, a good path. She wants to be the same way her father, Bruce Wayne, was with her mother, Selina Kyle. The Huntress will link into the rest of the current DCU as she will get trapped in a timeline? Do I know what this means? Absolutely not. But apparently its gonna be important so

And finally! The Batfamily!!!

The first major announcement was the relaunch of Batman: the Brave and the Bold. Upon looking back at the original source material, they decided to extend the 9 page issue to a 96 page story line. They really wanted to deep dive into the series since they thought it had more to tell than what it did originally.

Since this is year one Batman, this will be the story of how Batman first encountered the Joker himself. They didn't share much on the contents but said it would stay true to the original, so this is not a retcon, it's just a more intesive retelling.

The artist for this series admited that he actually forgot year one Batman wouldn't have such a modern suit. After realizing this only after completing the series, he had to go back and redraw every panel with Batman in it. He very proudly said "shit!"

And of course, the HUGE announcement taking the internet by storm:

Batman and Robin

This series will follow after the events of Lazarus Planet and the Lazarus Tournament Damian went through. It will follow Bruce and Damian Wayne as they "come together not just as heros this time, but as father and son." This series is going to be a pretty heavy one since it will dive into how they come together "without Alfred as the buffer as the mentor figure for them both." Not only will Bruce continue on his current character arc of viewing each of the Robins as his sons and truly supporting them, but Damian will be front and center to cope with Alfred's death.

Williamson spoke on this heavily as he was supposed to leave Batman and Robin, but he actually went to DC and said "I'm not done with Damian, there's still more story to tell. He's not going anywhere." But he also mentioned a key point for Damian's growth: "He was trained by Talia and of course by Bruce, but he was also trained by Alfred so you'll see how that shapes Damian interacting with Bruce going forward, especially as they grow as Father and Son."

They said this will tie into the next big series in the DCU which follows Damian having "nightmares and demons". That was all that was mentioned about that.

The Gotham City Zoo will be a huge set piece for the series and I truly hope we see more canon content of Damian's love for animals in this run.

The focus of Damian is him growing into himself and become more emotionally aware of himself and those around him. With Alfred's impression on him, there will be key moments of Damian interacting with Bruce as Bruce goes through tough times.

Additinally, Williamson adores Damian being a fan of manga. Since it's shown Damian has been reading a romance one, there's some hope for emotional connection with others not in a romantic way, but moreso in the ability to be vulnerable with people in a way he has only been able to read about. It's implied he could be reading this manga as a yearning for connection to others on a deeper level, especially as someone who grew up to ignore his emotions. So this will follow Damian as he tries to let himself be more connected to his loved ones the way Alfred was teaching him to. Plus, his love for manga will not be going anywhere, it's "staying strong."

Damian will get his own car! Williamson wanted to give him a car that matched him since hes "a little rough around the edges." It will be a fun addition while the duo grow as family since Bruce will have to be okay with Damian driving. "Its gonna be Bruce saying he's gonna drive and then you turn the page and Damian is saying 'he's got something' and Bruce has to get used to letting his son drive him."

Very much Bruce growing out of strictness to be more soft with his sons as we've seen in the more recent comics.

And ofc, Simone Di Meo will be the artist for this series!! As well as the cover artist for The Brave & The Bold!

----

I am super excited for how DC is starting to write the Batfamily and even the Superfamily. They're starting to tackle a lot of mental health issues and the trauma old comics have left the characters with. It's not perfect by any means, especially with Batman v. Robin being more than a little rough, it had it's moments.

My main concern is how they'll be treating Tim going forward. With TDR getting shortened and Damian returning as Robin, I really really hope they don't just forget Tim exists. My hope is that with Tim's new title, there will be room for another solo series under that title in the way Nightwing and Spoiler has been done.

The last thing I want is for Tim to go through all this work finding where he belongs and how he views himself just to join/lead another team. He's defining himself aside from the Robin legacy to define who he is under his new title. I think he needs time as a solo hero before rejoining a group for an extensive time period. I don't want them to erase all his personal growth just because they don't want to give him another solo series. I'll be more than a little upset at the lost potiential.