#and he's camelot's batman

[graysongraysoff]

Every time I think I've finally sated my Arthuriana curiosity (my Arthuriosity) I have another fucking Dream

[bloomeng]

This is my official Batfam Magical Girl AU Masterpost (everyone clapped)

(image updated: 9/21/24)

I’m going to do a brief overview and then go into more details for those interested.

Bruce being from old money (and apparently being connected to Camelot) inherited a mysterious mineral with unknown properties. In its raw form it’s very unassuming, but when cut like gemstones and added to accessories can be harnessed into a tool. By altering the mineral into a wearable item it allows the magic within to be channeled. The magic of the mineral connects with its wielder to create an outfit and (typically) a weapon. These outfits do not grant the wearer special abilities outside of the transformation and the weapon, but when worn the wearer is granted (what is basically) hammerspace and a nearly impenetrable outfit. The uniform granted is not something they can alter the appearance of but will change gradually overtime to reflect how the wielder has grown.

This mineral will henceforth be known as Arcanium. It operates on Kryptonite logic in that it’s— allegedly— super rare but also shows up whenever the plot needs it. (I’m aware it shares a name with a card game, but I wanted my Kryptonite spoof)

Martha Wayne unknowingly started the cycle by turning— what she thought was a rare gemstone— into a brooch. She died shortly after having it made and Alfred held onto it in her memory. Like canon Bruce goes on his journey of self-exploration to train. When he comes back he enacts his plan the way he does in Batman: Year One, where he goes out in basically just make-up, and it goes poorly. He wanders his manor trying to formulate a strategy and is drawn to his parent’s room and finds his mother’s brooch. Cue the first magical girl transformation. From there he alters the brooch to fit his bat aesthetic and the Batman Brooch is born.

Dick comes into his life the same way as canon. Bruce takes him in as a ward, Dick tries to track down Zucco on his own, etc. Bruce decides to use the other raw sample of Arcanium to turn into a second magical artifact. He lets Dick pick the theme, and thus the Robin Pendant is born. The rest is history.

(Before I continue I want to warn that I’m making shit up as I go, so some of this is subject to change as I move forward.)

The Robin Pendant is passed down from Robin to Robin. Each Robin got their own unique look while using it. Following canon, Dick and Bruce have their falling out and Dick gives up the Robin Pendant in a moment of anger. In this au I think Dick, not having the pendant to fall back on, tries to lead a vigilante-free life, but of course falls back into it. During a fight he somehow manages to stumble across Arcanium in its raw form. Recognizing it he takes it with him. Like Nightwing: Year One he has his conversation with Superman and decides to become his own hero. Using his knowledge of Arcanium from his years with Bruce he creates his own magical artifact and becomes Nightwing.

This a good place to interject that I’m not changing any of their hero names. I was asked about it a couple times due to the caption, “Red Bow & Sailor Nightwing” on my Dick and Jason designs. It was was just a silly caption, because I didn’t want to simply state “Jason and Dick Magical Girl au.” But being serious, I don’t really see a reason to change their names, with the exception of maybe Red Hood, seeing as I didn’t give him a red hood. My au operates on Sailor Moon logic where despite the lack of masks no one recognizes them, and it’s just vaguely explained by magic. I think it would be funny if Bruce chose to wear a mask anyway because he’s that paranoid, but we’ll see when I actually design him. Anyway point is Red Hood is lacking a red hood, maybe he secretly has a red hood on his jacket or maybe he really does go by Red Bow, I’ll leave that up to interpretation.

Arcanium does not just accidentally appear. At the end of the day it’s still a mineral and it’s not sentient, but the magic has an element of “the wand chooses the user.” It’s not so much a “chosen one thing,” so much as the magic can sense intention. It doesn’t care about the morality of the user, the magic is more seeking a symbiotic connection. (Meaning yes rougues can in fact wield artifacts.) Simply put, it wants a host that will be able to wield it. In its raw form the magic is dormant but it seeks to be… not dormant, so when it finds those who actually have the potential to create an artifact and use it, it reveals itself. It was not a coincidence that Martha had the inclination to have the brooch made, it was not a coincidence that Bruce was drawn to his parent’s room, and it was not a coincidence that Dick found Arcanium in the alleyway.

Each of the Bats have their origin moments with their own magical artifacts. I don’t have the whole timeline down, but I will say there was a lot of drama between Tim and Damian, because Tim was forced to hand over the pendant. Even though he technically relinquished it, emotionally the connection wasn’t severed. No one was sure if the transition would work, but Arcanium responds to whoever needs it more and therefore who will use it more. Like canon, Tim is having an awful time during that era. On top of all of it he’s had his title striped from him and he can’t even argue because if it wasn’t the right move the pendant wouldn’t have responded to Damian. Dick tries to comfort him by telling him that Arcanium will appear for him when he’s ready, but Tim is furious and impatient. So like a well-adjusted person he decides he’s going to engineer his own magical artifact artificially. It goes as well as his attempt to clone Kon does. It’s not until Tim starts to get back on his feet that Arcanium presents itself to him. My thinking is that while Arcanium finds its users when they need it most, Tim’s case is abnormal. His acquisition of the pendant was unconventional from the start since he showed up and demanded to take on the Robin role. Arcanium is drawn to individuals who will actually use its properties. Tim tends to rely more on his own detective work, which renders the pendant’s properties pretty moot. Especially when he’s going off the deep end, he becomes a hermit meaning a) he wouldn’t really need/use Arcanium’s properties and b) he inadvertently limited his own chances of stumbling across it “in the wild.”

In a similar vein I believe Barbara’s journey is abnormal in that she forged her own Batgirl artifact that operates a little differently than the others, seeing as she made it without Bruce’s influence. After the accident she shelved it, maybe she passed it down to Cass, but eventually she gets it back. She created the Oracle identity without it, and for a long time the Batgirl artifact is something she avoids using, until she gets the idea to combine it with her computer to create a magic computer… sort of. She gets a uniform that is basically connected to the computer.

Going back to Damian needing the Robin Pendant more, its reaction to his acquisition was unique. As I mentioned previously the suits typically provide a weapon, well Damian is the exception. Unlike all the other Robin’s Damian didn’t need more weapons in his life, what he needed was guidance. For the first time the pendant granted Damian a magical animal guardian, which is how he gets Alfred the Cat in this au. Despite being an animal lover Damian is extremely pissed at this development. He wanted dual swords or a scarier animal at least. He can’t formally communicate with Alfred the Cat but he understands him intrinsically, though Alfred the Cat seems to be able to understand human speech somewhat. Only Damian seems to be able to truly understand Alfred the Cat. (Cue the antics of his siblings trying to figure out what the cat means or trying to control him in any capacity.) Besides being an animal, Alfred the Cat is also unique in that he doesn’t dissipate when Damian isn’t in uniform the way that the weapons do. Like the weapons he can be summoned by the pendant, but he seems to have existed prior to the pendant’s creation. (I’m toying with the idea that while in uniform, the cat would also get some sort of uniform.)

Before I get into Duke and his abnormalities, I want to address the Speedsters in this au. It’ll make sense after.

So the Flash. I want to say I don’t know if I will get around to creating full designs for them. I do have plans for Bart and maybe Wally, but I have determined how I want their mechanics to operate in the context of the au. Not all the heroes in this au are “magical girls,” in fact I’ve made the executive decision that you have to be human to wield an artifact. Arcanium may have magic in it, but it doesn’t grant its user magical abilities beyond the uniform itself. The speedsters retain their canon origins, hit by lighting blah blah blah, only with one key difference: they had Arcanium on them when they were hit. Instead of engineering an artifact Arcanium fused with their bodies granting them powers. I want to keep the magic transformation aspect (because it’s not a magical girl au without it), so instead of using a physical artifact as a channel for their powers, it’s instead the act of transforming that serves as a gateway to their speed abilities.

To me it was always important to maintain Batman’s identity of not having super powers and having to rely on engineering, which is why the Batfam have to physically build their artifacts. In a similar way I wanted to retain the integrity of the Flash’s identity of being meta but also still human. Which brings me back to Duke. I know in canon that Duke inherited his abilities, but for the sake of the au I’ve decide that he either had an accident when he was young in which traces of Arcanium fused with him or his parents had it in them and he inherited it from them, but regardless it’s less potent, but operates similar to the Speedsters. For years he couldn’t fully transform or use his powers and it wasn’t until— with Bruce’s guidance— he was able to create an artifact that allowed him to channel his abilities and transform. Even though he is a meta I wanted him to still have some of those Batfam qualities in there.

But what about the Superfam? They’re not human so how do their transformations work? The answer is simple: They’re not “magical girls.” At least not real ones, they’re faking. They’re not human (Kon and Jon are technically half human but they still get their abilities from their Kryptonian DNA), and thus cannot forge a connection with Arcanium. Truthfully I’m about to get silly— even sillier than this au already is— but I have decided that Clark is a fake artifact wielder. I like the idea that Batman has been operating longer than Superman has, so when Clark decided to become a hero in his own right his only example of how to style himself was from the bat themed vigilante, who might as well be a cryptid, operating out of Gotham. Only blurry pictures of him existed, so Clark designed his outfit based on his Kryptonian origins and Batman’s aesthetics. He had no idea about the existence of Arcanium or how it worked. This is also why Kon’s design looks so much like his canon outfit with a few magical girl elements (and definitely not because I think the lines in his canon suit already lend themselves well to a magical girl aesthetic and didn’t want to change much). Later when he gets to know Batman more he learns about the transformations, to which he panics and invents his own transformation using Kryptonian tech (ex: MAWS’s transformation). For years Bruce goes crazy trying to figure out Arcanium’s effects on aliens and if it grants them abilities on top of the ones they’re born with, and if Clark has plans to use it as a weapon, and how he managed to forge the connection in the first place— Clark comes clean as a fake once they reveal their identities to each other.

Side tangent but I find it hilarious that Green Lanterns are— by technicality— already “magical girls,” considering they’re granted magical accessories that give them powers and transform their clothing. Hal is very clear with the JL that he is nothing like Batman and constantly feels the need to assert that he is not a magical artifact wielder. The non-human members of the team still lump them together anyway.

Things I haven’t figured out:

- what each of the batfam’s weapons are

- what each of the magical artifacts are

- what to refer to magical artifact wielders as

Stepping outside the canon(?) lore of the au for a minute, obviously I’m redesigning DC characters using inspiration from a genre, because that’s what “magical girl” is. It’s a genre. This is why I refer to it in quotes and don’t call them magical boys, because I am always referring to it as a genre, which isn’t a gendered thing. However, in universe they wouldn’t call themselves magical anything, the same way the characters of Sailor Moon don’t refer to themselves as magical girls, but rather Sailor Scouts. As of right now I’m sort of just referring to them as artifact wielders, but I feel like Bruce would come up with a better name. On a similar note, throughout this whole thing I’ve been referring to Arcanium in it’s wearable state as an artifact. I don’t know if that’s the best term, but I can’t think of anything better for the generalized form of Arcanium outside of it’s raw state. For now I guess it will be “artifacts” and “artifacts wielders.”

- how the wonderfam fits into this

I really can’t think of a reason why Wonder Woman would be a “magical girl” in this au. She was born with abilities, she’s not human, and I can’t see her altering her uniform to match the aesthetic. A transformation would just be a waste of time for her. I could see maybe Cassie or Donna wanting to match with their respective teams, and perhaps maybe that’s why they would alter their uniforms? All I know is I want see Tim, Kon, Bart and Cassie as a matching “magical girl set.”

Fin… for now.

[I’m just going to put this here preemptively, because I’ve gotten messages about turning my au into fics or tiktok skits. You’re free to use this lore HOWEVER you MUST credit me not just for the designs but for the creation of the lore. I’ve put a lot of time and thought into this and I love that people love it, so I just ask for recognition. If you want to make something that’s inspired by my designs or loosely based on my au, just a simple credit for the inspiration is fine. You’re free to change things this is just how my own au operates. Regardless I would prefer to be tagged so that people can find me but also because I’d love to see other’s work.]

Current designs:

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

Merlin

The Walls of Camelot by spqr

"Camelot will fall tomorrow,” Arthur says, on the first day of the eighth month of the siege.

DC

IRIS Log #1548 by deadchannelradio

Disclaimer From Your Friendly Neighborhood Oracle:

The following is a transcript of Patrol Communications Audio written by state of the art transcription technology, IRIS (Interpretation of Recorded Intelligence Software). IRIS was created to provide easily searchable records, automatically, and eliminate the need to transcribe each patrol audio log manually. That being said, IRIS is still experimental, and may not always be entirely accurate. - (01:25) Red Hood: (Mild static) (Out of breath, slurred) You motherfuckers. Put some fuckin-

(01:25) Batman: (Shaking) Red Hood-

(01:25) Red Hood: Shut up. Put some fucking respect. On my name. Start fucking copying me. I just got thrown fucking. Um. 40 feet. Into a fucking uh. What's it. Ditch. I'm still fucking conscious.

(01:25) Batman: Red Hood, do not move, we're en route-

(01:25) Red Hood: What'll I win if I stand up.

(01:25) Batman: (Loud) Do not stand up.

we shall be free; we shall find peace by mediant

Clark has accepted what it means to be Lex's prisoner - the pain of the Green, the experiments, the hands on it. The long years buried in its containment cell, let out only to act as Lex's weapon, as Lex's tool. It had fought back at first, but years have ground it down and away to almost nothing.

Then Lex hands it a baby. And Clark realizes that while it may have hurt humans, and lied about what it is, and it may deserve to be locked away - Kon deserves to be free.

Untamed

The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (+ podfic)

Wei Wuxian’s hand jolts, spilling a drop of wine onto the tabletop. “Love?” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again. “Lan Zh— uh, Hanguang-jun, in love?”

“Have you not heard the story?” the other young woman asks, looking pitying. “You must, it is a truly heartrending tale of star-crossed romance and mutual pining — go to any storyhouse in town, everyone has been requesting a reading of this book.”

“There’s a book?” Wei Wuxian says blankly.

-- In which the junior disciples (namely, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a reluctant Lan Sizhui) turn to RPF in an attempt to rehabilitate Wei Wuxian's reputation so that he and Hanguang-jun can get together and get married and live happily ever after. It's... surprisingly effective.

Clone Wars

patron saint by spqr (+ podfic)

Funerary practices? Master Ti writes back. I’m not sure what you mean, Master Kenobi. Used biomass is the property of Kamino and thus is recycled into the cloning process.

So that’s how the revolution begins—with dead brothers, but not the way you might expect.

Miraculous Ladybug

drowning (in plain sight) by buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing:

His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters.

And now he's missing.

Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes.

(But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

[gawrkin]

Why did gawain not become king of orkney after Lot died?

That's a simple question with a very complicated answer.

To be really, really, really short and concise**, it boils down to two things:

One: Lot originally didn't die fighting Arthur.

In the earlies stories of Arthuriana, like Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, Lot never warred with Arthur. The Sword in the Stone and the Mayday Massacre never happened in these older stories, so Lot has no reason to fight Arthur.

In fact, King Lot lives all the way to the end of Arthur's reign. Here's one example:

Didot Percival

So really, Gawain doesn't succeed Lot because originally, Lot was alive the whole time and Gawain dies at Mordred's rebellion before he can succeed Lot, who dies shortly after.

Lot's early death is actually a relatively recent Plot Point that was introduced in Vulgate/Post-Vulgate.

Its a retcon that only exists as a plot device to give Gawain a motive to be evil for revenge against Pellinore and his family.

There's also a bit Stations of the Canon at play here - Traditionally, Gawain is supposed to be one of Arthur's Greatest Warriors, so inevitably, he must join the Round Table... even when later stories change things so it doesn't make sense anymore.

By Post-Vulgate, Arthur is not only responsible for the death of his father but also seemingly the death of his newborn baby brother, Mordred. Gawain, logically, has no reason to like Arthur, much less join him.

So basically, its later retcons that don't jive with Gawain's positioning as member of Arthur's household. With Lot's early death, Gawain shouldn't be running around adventuring and questing when his homeland needs him to run things.

The medieval writers took for granted that Gawain is able to be present in Arthur's court for particular reasons.

Which leads us to the second reason

Two: Because then Gawain would be unable to adventure anymore

Basically, Gawain is a traditional hero of Arthuriana, and him not being in Camelot anymore would drastically change the cast dynamics and the story. It's like if Superman and Batman retired from the Justice League and didn't show up anymore.

Gawain can't meet Lancelot and join the Grail Quest if he's stuck up in the North, doing boring Kingly duties.

Ultimately, the Medieval writers just simply didn't care about Gawain's realistic feudal duties and obligations. To them, Gawain and the other knights are adventurer-protagonists: they're heroes first, feudal lords second.

That's why you don't see Lancelot managing Joyous Gard - that's boring real life crap the Medieval audiences wouldn't be interested in seeing. So, Lancelot goes around joining tournaments and beating up knights in random directions instead.

Arthurian Literature is essentially Chivalric escapist fantasy. It's about quests and fights, action and excitement.

And YES, it doesn't make any sense that Gawain isn't called "King Gawain"

**(I wrote an entire essay as an answer, only to stop I when realized its too long and overly wordy LOL)

[docgold13]

Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Jason Blood

Many centuries ago, Sir Jason was a Knight of the Round Table, serving King Arthur and the Kingdom of Camelot.  Jason was seduced by the sorceress, Morgan Le Fey, leading the lovestruck knight to betray his king.  Morgan killed Jason once she was finished with him, yet the mage Merlin thought this far too lenient a punishment for a knight unfaithful to his oath.  As such, Merlin resurrected Jason and bound him body and soul to the powerful demon known as Etrigan.  

Merging with the Demon rendered Jason immortal and he has spent thousands of years serving his penance, utilizing Etrigan to right wrongs and battling against magic when it is used for evil.  He lived a solitary existence, moving from place to place in order to hide his agelessness  He had long since redeemed himself for his trespass against Camelot, but Merlin could be cruel and the bond between Jason and Etrigan was the best way to ensure the Demon remained a force for good and not evil.

In the modern era, Jason had taken on the surname of ‘Blood’ and became a renown figure in the fields of the occult and ancient religions.  He was sought out by Bruce Wayne when Bruce was a younger man preparing himself for his crusade for justice.  Bruce had come to understand that there were many phenomena that defied the confines of conventional science and deduction; and Jason Blood mentored him in the ways of the occult and black magic.  

Actor Billy Zane provided the voice for Jason Blood, with the tragic hero first appearing in the tenth episode of the first season of The New Batman Adventures, ‘The Demon Within.’      

[cantsayidont]

Sometimes, I think about the huge number of DC properties that will never see media adaptations beyond the Easter eggy variety (like the DC SHOWCASE animated shorts or guest appearances on something like BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD) due to corporate dysfunction — not the big-name superhero stuff, but things like:

KAMANDI, which could make a magnificent animated series.

ATOMIC KNIGHTS, which is less stupid than FALLOUT and has giant mutant Dalmatians the characters ride as steeds.

SILVERBLADE, a charming mid-80s "Maxi-Series" by Cary Bates and Gene Colan about a retired movie star who gains the supernatural power to transform himself into any character he's ever played.

STANLEY AND HIS MONSTER, a delightful kids' comic about a boy who adopts a huge red shaggy monster that his parents (who never actually see the monster) patiently assume is his imaginary friend.

CAMELOT 3000, a sci-fi spin on the Knights of the Round Table with King Arthur reincarnated in a high-tech 31st century world and transgender Sir Tristan.

Then I remind myself that at best, they'd just be reduced to the same hackish nerd show pablum as the various Arrowverse shows (probably by the same hacks), and that, as with STAR WARS and STAR TREK, an abundance of crap can very easily make something too infuriating to even bother hate-watching. So, maybe it's for the best.

[zahri-melitor]

Recent Reads:

I haven’t done a round up of stuff I’ve picked up randomly for a while so let’s have one:-

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles: I tried this, on the back of the fact I do enjoy Mark Russell’s satire. After one issue I rapidly realised I simply don’t know enough about the Hanna-Barbera characters in this to care about the adaption going on. The premise is interesting, it’s just Not For Me.

Madame Xanadu 2008 #1-10: this is Matt Wagner with Amy Reeder on art. Reeder's art is ADORABLE and she has such fun drawing elaborate clothing all the way through this. I really enjoy Matt Wagner's ability to take old stories or concepts and breathe a modern comics approach into them, making them a lot more accessible. This is Wagner telling the backstory of Nimue Inwudu, stopping in with her at 5 points in her history (Camelot, the court of Kublai Khan, the French Revolution, Jack the Ripper London, and America WWII) and her interactions with a bunch of characters from the Magic side of DC (Merlin, Etrigan, Death of the Endless, the Phantom Stranger, Giovanni Zatara, and Jim Corrigan as the Spectre). Nimue has a MASSIVE beef with the Phantom Stranger. She does not like him at all, because he keeps turning up at some of the worst points in her life and won't help her try to evade terribly fated things. Come for the Amy Reeder art, stay for the story.

The Demon: Hell is Earth 2018: I enjoyed this. Because I don’t clean read Etrigan stuff in order I cannot remember if Etrigan is officially a Rhymer again as of Rebirth (he appears to be rhyming for fun and because he enjoys it, but isn’t bound to do so, but he’s also getting mocked by his demon uncle for using rhymes). In any case, Jason Blood and Etrigan get separated for hell-related reasons, and they’re running around with Madame Xanadu and Merlin to prevent Belial taking over Earth by invading from Hell. Good times. Lots of people die. Etrigan potentially ends up King of Hell at the end of this story.

Swamp Thing: I was going to make this its own post but heck let’s put everything in together.

Len Wein (Swamp Thing #1-13 1972): Wein's work is absolutely solid magical horror. He sets up an intriguing premise to build from and he can spin a good story. It's exactly the sort of amusing writing that keeps me coming back to, say, Warlord. Worthwhile to see the starting premise.

David Michelinie (Swamp Thing #14-18, 21-22 1972): Not as good at Wein, but definitely can tell a story. You can tell he spent time on House of Mystery given the episodic horror nature of his storytelling.

Gerry Conway (Swamp #19-20, 23-24 1972 plus Challengers of the Unknown #81-87 1977): Conway I think is the first writer who actually gets some of the specific horror you can imbue in this concept, especially around identity. I can see how his ideas could contribute to the later concepts Moore will introduce. I don't think his execution is fantastic but the hand regeneration? Yeah. Yeah that is playing with the ideas available.

Martin Pasko (Brave and the Bold #176 1955, Saga of the Swamp Thing #1-19 1982): Pasko is definitely processing things. Like, the man has an entire story that's just him responding to the Atlanta Child Murders of 1979-1981. He is very much a cynic about the innocence of childhood (or innocence in general, actually) and wants to explore the dark side of humanity.

The Phantom Stranger: these have been backups to the Martin Pasko Swamp Thing issues. Mostly I’ve found them pretty trite and a bit overly religious in places. Yes I know his entire concept is rooted in religious myth (as the Wandering Jew) but I mean more in a 'this tale has an Overt Christian Moral' way. The concept of the character is fascinating. The execution seems to be very across the shop.

Outsiders #1-33 2003: oh boy. Uh. Tomasi's fill using the original Batman & The Outsiders characters was a WELCOME reprieve to this. Okay, in terms of the main run: I tend to find Judd Winick a writer that either I'm fully enjoying or decidedly not to my taste. Outsiders falls into the 'not to my taste' category. I can see what Winick is going for in terms of 'let's make this Gritty! And Mature!' except for it's really not that gritty and his idea of making it mature is just having everyone hooking up a lot on panel, whether or not said hookup makes characterisation sense. And then he'll turn around every 10 issues or so and have some quite interestingly interrogative storytelling about Dick and Roy. (literally: you want issues #1, 11 and 21). I see what a bunch of the DickRoy shippers enjoy in this, but there's a lot of cantilevered cloud structures required to extract the Shippy Goodness out of the rest of this run.

[chocolatehouse]

i’m rewatching the witchfinder because of course i am and i have thoughts

-- arthur knows about merlin’s magic. period. done deal. did you see him when the woman confessed? (for one he was standing BEHIND his throne in shadows like batman which is hilarious) he IMMEDIATELY says how it might’ve been a truck of light, arthur would’ve known merlin’s with whatever group he was with and knew and wanted to stop the whole deal before it begun (also even if he didn’t know of it he definitely doesn’t agree with uther’s laws and isn’t afraid of magic)

— also uther??? that man is biased against magic(and grudgingly likes merlin). when aredian said it was merlin and he would need to search his room, if that were ANYONE else uther would’ve just killed them. no room searching necessary and uther trusts aredian (“he’s a trusted ally”) so why would he need any more than his word? yet he asks MERLIN, or at least looks towards him, and doesn’t say anything to aredian until merlin gives his consent to his rooms being SEARCHED NOT FUCKING RANSACKED (i’m still mad about that) then tells aredian to do so

— aredian walks into the room “i smell it, uther, the magic, i smell” 👃🏻🪄🪄 arthur “that’s definitely NOT because i fuck magic in my spare time” like seriously WHY did they make that scene so weird i mean yes aredian’s trying to be intimating but magic having a smell is a bit suspicious (of what i don’t know it just is)

— arthur was WATCHING merlin and saw THE moment when merlin snapped and i love that like yes pay attention to your boyfriend then him bringing him to see gaius? yes arthur break the law for your boyfriend (but seriously arthur wouldn’t have left merlin and gaius alone so was he just standing right outside listening to their whole conversation about magic?? if he didn’t know about the magic he certainly does now)

— gwen KNOWS morgana has magic. when aredian goes to question morgana then gwen goes to merlin saying “i’m worried, merlin, she’s close to breaking point” that’s vague enough to make merlin think she’s talking in general but ummm that’s sounds an awful lot like gwen knows because THEY ARE GIRLFRIENDS

— we deserved more gwen and merlin being badass besties and solving crime and breaking laws

— like father like son, apologies are like toads in their throats. remember way back when when merlin arthur’s like “i’m umm sorry that wasn’t fair of me to sack you” then uther trying to apologize to gaius whew it was hard to watch like you are the KING you are FEARED and your stuttering over an apology?? and gaius did NOT hold back

— this episode was super interesting because it’s the first time we see uther falter with magic. i know he’s not a good person by a long shot but he’s always just ruthlessly and without hesitation condemned people with magic but now it’s worse. because now we know that uther knows what he’s doing is wrong but he still condemned gaius to death. he’s too stubborn to change and when the laws become biased to people close are when they become so much more dangerous and yeah uther could���ve tried to change like he told gaius that something would change

— gaius and merlin making fun of aredians face when he puked up the road was amazing and i love them so much

anyway if you read this whole thing, why? and here’s a picture of our favorite gays because look at their smug little faces

last thing THE TENSION in the photo below whew damn how the entirety of Camelot didn't know they were fucking is beyond me

[alice-apparently]

May I humbly request pathetic wet cat characters from thy?? Also, Ames says hi :3

I feel like @amelie-isnt-french , my dear outlawfully wedded wife, just did the digital equivalent of dropping a surprise child on my doorstep

yk, I usually rather define my collective of characters as pathetic little white guys with questionable morals (though usually not, in fact, white) so this might deviate from what ames expects a little lol but anyway, have some pathetic wet cats:

- Hamlet

- I need to let Hamlet stand there on his lonesome but also Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as well as Estragon and Vladimir (waiting for godot)

- zuko (avatar the last airbender the cartoon, not the live thingie, I have not looked upon that and I shall not)

- batman. I shall not elaborate. Also I do wanna mention Jason Todd and Tim Drake, but batman’s the og wet cat. THE wet cat. They are all fine and in no need of therapy whatsoever.

- needles :) (the magnus protocol is a podcast distri—)

- Mr Darcy (Pride and Prejudice, another classic wet cat)

- Klaus (The Umbrella Academy)

- idk if this applies bc german but Adam and Leo from Saarbrücken Tatort.

- murtagh (Inheritance Cycle)

- ok listen he’s not a wet cat, really, but the dude from the Unwind Dystology. Ok so it’s not really about him at all, I just need people to read and talk to me about the Unwind Dystology.

- howl

- I just realised there is no women in this list but that makes sense bc it’s not that I don’t have any female characters I’m fixated on, they just are not wet cats, they can usually murder me :)

- Crowley (Good Omens)

- I really wanna include someone from Detective Conan/Magic Kaito in this but I am sightly hesitant to wholeheartedly name Kuroba Kaito/Kaitou KID a pathetic wet cat. i mean, he is but—

- also akai shuichi, the actual wet cat tm in DCMK

- i can’t decide on a single character but like, The Mechanisms’ discography is full of wet cats. Esp. High Noon over Camelot. Shoutout to my boy Galahad, too religious zealot to be wet cat but I need to mention him.

- the inspector from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (I may have forgotten his name but he is wet cat okay)

- xiao (genshin impact). Also Cyno.

- that reminds me, gabimaru the hollow (hell’s paradise)

- honourable mention: Patroclus

ok you know what this escalated slightly

[loosingmoreletters]

time is weird so idk what counts as a recent fandom, so I’m gonna put a couple options just in case one of them is a little too old or something if that’s ok (and if none of the fandoms feel right pls pick whatever fandom you want, I just like the prompt)

32 “how much of that did you hear” for CodyWan, or merthur, or something Batman/dc

regardless of what you do I just wanna say that I love your writing :)

Thank you!!! I don’t ship codywan and just wrote dc so merthur it is!

“How much of that did you hear?”

Arthur didn’t look angry or afraid as Merlin would’ve been, only just resigned to his fate. There was this exhausted acceptance in his eyes that Merlin knew from all the times the king gave another order Arthur would have to follow though he didn’t agree with it.

“Enough then,” Arthur concluded and dropped back on his chair. “Are you going to tell my father?”

“What,” Merlin blurted out. “Do you expect me to go to the kinga nd tell him his son is doing magic?”

Somewhere, Merlin registered that he was falling into some kind of panic. He’d caught Arthur Pendragon practicing magic.

“Nevermind, that wouldn’t go over well,” Arthur said. “Father wouldn’t believe you anyway. I suppose it would be too much to ask you to keep quiet? I am aware you have no reason to think good of anyone practicing magic but—”

Keep quiet? About this?

Merlin laughed breathily. He felt as if the first day of spring had come early, all of nature’s might awakening with him, causing flowers to bloom wherever he walked.

“Arthur,” Merlin said. “Arthur, let me show you my silence.”

And just like that, hiding in the crown prince’s chamber, Merlin let go as he’d only ever allowed himself deep in the forest far away from the village. There, the wind had played a song for him and the trees created shadows spilling stories.

Here, in the heart of Camelot, the light of the candles danced to the tune of Merlin’s magic, crowning Arthur king with a circle of fire that didn’t burn a single hair on top of his head.

[bizarroidea]

I'm actually fairly new to superman comics overall, but you seem to have an investment in the character from a wide variety of places, and I've mostly only gotten the same two or three stories suggested when I ask (or just superman/batman stories. which are Fine some are good but I'm pretty neutral on them as a pairing which is a LARGE portion of Clark content in general)...do you have any recommendations for favorite Superman stories? feel free to put this ask aside if you don't want to go through the trouble. 👍

Thank you for asking my opinion, I appreciate it!

So I approached making this list by asking what I would give someone who's read all the typical introductory stories and wants to get a little deeper. But full disclosure, I haven't extensively read all eras of Superman, so this list only pulls from the late 2000s and a little from the bronze age.

Standalone issues:

Action Comics #847 - A story about Superman taking Pa Kent to space, written by Dwayne McDuffie. This story was a pivotal reason why I realised that I can't agree with people complaining about "silly silver age" aspects being brought back in modern stuff.

Action Comics #850 - I think this ties into a Supergirl arc I haven't read, but those aspects are just a framing device and it's not too obtrusive. It's essentially a "hits" of Clark's life and it's a good take.

Superman Annual #13 (2007) "The Best Day" - Just a cute little filler story about the superfam having a picnic on an alien planet.

Action Comics #884 - I'm recommending the Lois story. It takes place during New Krypton, but I don't think you need to read the whole event to get the gist of what's going on.

Superman 80-Page Giant (2010) - An anthology with no specific theme or timeline. The best stories are the first two, "Cold" and "Patience-Centred Care", but you can read the rest if you want. They're all decent!

Runs:

Superman: Confidential

A 14-issue anthology series from 2008. The first arc 'Kryptonite' is the best remembered, a decent story which portrays the characters as flawed; the second arc (#6-7) isn't great but still fun in a weird way (everyone in Metropolis gets turned into mermaids, what more could you want); and the rest is pretty good with some good character insights. The series definitely has STAS vibes, especially the artwork in the first arc which is by the same artist who did 'For All Seasons'.

Kurt Busiek and Geoff Johns runs

Especially: 'Up, Up and Away!', 'Camelot Falls', 'Last Son', 'Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes', 'Brainiac'

Busiek just gets it. He's a very underrated Superman writer who handled just about every character well. Unfortunately, his run gets interrupted with Countdown tie-ins and James Robinson issues, which I tried to exclude from my doc as much as possible. (Robinson is better at writing Jimmy if that's any consolation).

Geoff John's run is decent as well, it ties into 'Secret Origin' as you might imagine. This era included the infamous reinvention/character assassination of Cat Grant, and also brought back Steve Lombard of all people as a member of the Daily Planet staff. But his writing of Clark, Lois and Kara is solid.

The 'Brainiac' arc leads into 'New Krypton', but I don't think you need to read that event because it had no lasting effects. The only story directing addressing it was 'Grounded', which is ooc and reactionary, and then the New 52 happened.

Link to my reading list for the era between Infinite Crisis and New Krypton.

Pre-Crisis:

This needs its own category because reading pre-crisis needs a different headspace. It's a separate canon as well as just a different context and stage of the character's history. I'm not reccing silver age stuff because I haven't read enough of it to be comfortable doing so.

DC Special Series #5 - A good "taster" of pre-crisis Superman. It has a fairly interesting conflict, and includes all the major characters so you get a sense of what was going on with them. And it has that particular brand of pre-crisis weirdness, which it is very sincere about.

Superman #296-299 - A story which explores the fracture between the Superman and Clark Kent identities, and has him come to a good conclusion about his identity imo. I think the first two parts are skippable, as #298 recaps what happened anyway. (But #297 does have the first clois hookup and the origin of boeuf bourguignon).

Action Comics #510-512 - You know that cover of Superman stealing Luthor's bride? That's from here. This story is fantastic though, it really steps up Luthor's level of evil with the reveal, but doesn't make him boring in the process. The whole thing gave me Morrison vibes.

And if you want to dive into origins after that, Action Comics #500 and the Superman: The Secret Years miniseries both delve into the backstory and psychology of bronze age Clark.

[marshmyers]

Kurt Busiek (Astro City), Carlos Pacheco (Superman/Batman), and Jesús Merino’s (Action Comics) legendary Superman run returns to print in deluxe format. All seems well in Superman’s world: he’s happily married, Intergang is on the run, and Metropolis is a shining example of a modern-day Camelot. But not even the Man of Steel may be powerful enough to avert disaster when an ancient sorcerer prophesizes that Camelot will fall!

PURCHASE

[tganalostarosciak]

Comic artists researches. Part 1

Frank Miller:

Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil, for which he created the character Elektra, and subsequent Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Sin City, and 300.

What is Frank Miller doing now?

On April 28, 2022, it was reported that Miller was launching an American comic book publishing company titled Frank Miller Presents, or FMP. Miller will act as the company's president and editor-in-chief, working alongside Dan DiDio as publisher and chief operating officer Silenn Thomas.

Did Frank Miller draw Daredevil?

He started out with minor tasks, like drawing covers and short stories for Spiderman anthologies. Then, at the beginning of 1979, came the big break: Miller became the official artist for Daredevil, one of Marvel's lesser-known series.

Who influenced Frank Miller?

Among his graphic influences were Neal Adams, Ernie Bushmiller, Guido Crepax, Will Eisner, Jack Kirby and Goseki Kojima. His made his debut in 1978 with contributions to Gold Key's The Twilight Zone. He soon also drew for DC anthologies and Marvel titles like 'Spectacular Spider-Man' and 'John Carter: Warlord of Mars'.

My opinion for this artist of his art style is very interesting for my opinion, that he uses some specific colours for different comic he made for Sin city, Daredevil and 300. As my point of view toward his comic is a mixed with a big art of scene in the comic and four small boxes to show what is going on with that scene which is very interesting to me.

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

John Romita Jr.:

John Salvatore Romita is an American comics artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2010s. He is the son of artist John Romita Sr.

When did John Romita Jr draw Spider-Man?

Romita Jr. made a name for himself as a key Marvel artist thanks in large part to his work on Spider-Man. He first drew the character in 1977, as the rising star son of the legendary John Romita Sr., and went on to become one of the definitive pencillers to ever work on the character.

What was the first comic of John Romita Jr?

Romita Jr. began his career at Marvel UK, doing sketches for covers of reprints. His American debut was with a six-page story entitled "Chaos at the Coffee Bean!" in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1977)

Is John Romita Jr back at Marvel?

He drew many of Marvel's greatest characters, and then moved to DC for a short period, where he also drew their greatest characters. John Romita Jr. has since returned to Marvel, getting his old job on The Amazing Spider-Man back.

My opinion for this artist of his art style is very pop culture-like as he is uses pop colours for example, red, blue, orange, yellow, etc. As he worked for Marvel as he did his work on Spider-Man as he first dew the character in 1977 as he is going to work back on the Spider-Man for Marvel.

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

Brian Bolland:

Brian Bolland is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in 1982 produced the artwork alongside author Mike W. Barr on Camelot 3000, which was DC Comics' first 12-issue comicbook maxiseries created for the direct market.

What inspired Brian Bolland?

As early as 1962, aged 11, Bolland remembers thinking that "Carmine Infantino's work on the Flash and Gil Kane's on Green Lantern and the Atom had a sophistication about it that I hadn't [previously] seen." He would later cite Kane and Alex Toth as "pinnacle[s] of excellence," alongside Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson

You'll be surprised to hear that even though Judge Dredd had been in 2000AD since Prog 2 the editors weren't sure which of the interior characters would sell the comic best if that character was on the cover. Artists like me just came up with cover ideas and, if they liked them, we'd draw the cover and they would write a one-page text story based on it to go inside. These early covers of mine fall into that category.

Other covers followed for nearly a third of the first 30 progs, as well as stand-alone pages and some inking duties on Gibbons' Dan Dare. Already familiar with Nick Landau (acting editor), when another artist dropped out, Bolland was called directly to complete a Judge Dredd story in Prog 41 (3 Dec 77) and soon was established as a regular artist on the series. "From that point on," writes Bolland, "either he [Landau] or his successor Steve MacManus called me direct whenever they wanted me to do a Dredd story."

Bolland's early work on Judge Dredd was much influenced by McMahon, a talented newcomer whose idiosyncratic style was fuelling the interest in the new character. Bolland thought McMahon was "terrific, the real ideas man on Dredd," but noted that McMahon's approach was "very impressionistic," while the "average comics reader, certainly at the time, does tend to prefer realism." Bolland therefore states that he "aped Mike's genius... and then reinterpreted [Dredd] in a style which actually borrowed a lot from the work of the American artists," retaining McMahon's "granite-jawed" look but bringing a level of realism and fine detail to the character, which Mark Salisbury says "finally cemented the iconic image."

My opinion for this artist of his art style is horrific but in a good way as he is showing us in the comic with joker and batman as showing the Joker a villain in a horrific, disgusting and creepy style as he is showing toward us in world that the style of his is amazing as he did a well done of showing the art style on the comic book to show what horrific is it.

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

[catherinek-g]

Comic artists research

Frank Miller

Works include: Sin City, Ronin, Daredevil, Batman: The Dark Knight ect...

Millers style consists of intense black shadows, white highlights and very little colour. This colouring style creates an intense and serious feeling surrounding his art which sets the tone for the majority of his comics. Even through the use of very little colour, he still manages to include a lot of detail in his work which is something I could use in my own art along with using colours to accent parts of my drawings.

Jack Kirby

Works include: Avengers, X-men, Sandman, New Gods ect...

Kirby's style is very classic as it's the style most associated with comic books at that time. He uses bright and very saturated colours which are complemented with black shadows to help differentiate the form of the characters (unlike Frank Millers used of shadows). I like the use saturated colours but I think they work the best with traditional comic book styles so it probably wouldn't look the best if I used it in my style.

This image is by another artist, Steve Ditko. I find his style very similar to Jack Kirby's as they both use a classic comic style and bright colours.

Osamu Tezuka

works include: The Twin Knights, Apollo's Song, Astro Boy, Prime Roes ect...

Tezuka also has a traditional style when it comes to manga (like Jack Kirby's comic book style). Manga usually doesn't have coloued panels but Screentones are used instead to create different textures and patterns in order to show shading or different parts of a characters design. I think is could experiment with the use of screentones in my work to create different textures and add interest into my shading.

Brian Bolland

works include: Batman: The Killing Joke, Judge Dredd, Camelot 3000 , The Actress and the Bishop ect..

Bolland, much like the other artists, uses intense shading and bright colours in his art and in my opinion, his style is almost like a mixture of the previous artist. The intense colors an shading (especially used when drawing the Joker) help create that manic and crazy personality he has. For my comic, I could take inspiration form way he uses both elements to convey intense emotion and visual interest.

[martianloon]

Fic Recs!

9-1-1

I Don't Mind Waiting (If It's For You) by Princessfbi | Rated: E | 48.6 k words | Complete

“Victim is Charles Dumont. Three gunshot wounds to the chest. Looks like an attempted robbery. There was a case of bourbon with a bottle missing and we found Charlie’s wallet tossed a few blocks from here. And Eddie?” Athena stopped just as she got to the door and turned him with a serious expression on her face. “There’s a witness.”

Her frown dipped under the professional mask she was known for and Eddie caught the flicker of concern pulling at her composure.

“You know him?”

Athena pressed her lips into a tight line and nodded.

“Evan Buckley. He’s the bartender here. He was helping Charlie restock tonight when he heard a noise and saw it happen.”

Homicide Detective, Eddie Diaz, is called in to investigate the murder of a local shield and ladder bar owner. There he meets his only witness, Evan "Buck" Buckley.

AKA The Trashy Romance Novel Murder Mystery Buddie AU

AKA Detective!Eddie Diaz and Bartender!Evan "Buck" Buckley

DC/Batman

Alcatraz, But On Hardmode by SunnyBlue | Rated: T | 12.3 k words

“How are we planning to escape, exactly? Cuz we have basically no idea where we are and we’re the only team here. And our strategist,” he emphasizes the word enough that Tim rolls his eyes (painfully, because concussion, woohoo), “is stuck in the Alcatraz version of handcuffs. Who the hell’s gonna help us?”

“People escaped Alcatraz.”

“Yeah, and then they died two seconds later.”

"Technically we don’t know that.”

“I heard they ran away to Argentina.”

"...We're literally never getting out of here."

Then Came the Morning by A_Canceled_Stamp | Rated: T | 13 k words | Complete

Tim flees from the Manor after a fight with Bruce and goes to one of Jason's safe houses, expecting it to be deserted.

Kinnporsche

Even When I'm Not With You by booksnchocolate | Rated: T | 12.9 k words | Complete

When Kim pushes his hands away, Chay cries until he tastes blood in the back of his throat.

+++

Ten years after Kim breaks Chay's heart, they meet again.

MDZS/ The Untamed

for you, andante by xuanxuanwo (ostentatiouslyrealistic) | Rated: T | 35.6 k words | Complete

“Looks like he’s taken a liking to you,” Wei Ying says with a huff. Lan Wangji’s world shifts another ninety degrees when he’s pinned with the full force of Wei Ying’s attention. The guitarist perches on the other half of A-Yuan’s seat and slides an arm around the boy, smoothing back his hair before tweaking his nose. A-Yuan twitches, and Lan Wangji practically burns where Wei Ying had grazed against his shoulder.

Wei Ying leans over and sets his chin lightly against A-Yuan’s head. There’s a gleam to his eye, silver coins that put all other metals in the world to shame. The boy sniffs again, and slowly, under the hollow of the guitarist’s body, he relaxes. “And who,” Wei Ying continues, “has bewitched my little radish?”

--

On a rainy Thursday evening, after his final concert of the season, pianist Lan Wangji ducks into a bookshop, befriends a toddler, falls in love with a guitarist, and, ultimately, rediscovers his passion for music.

Merlin

time, mystical time by andiwriteordie | Rated: T | 16.6 k words | Complete

Finally, the man tears his gaze away and meets Arthur’s eyes once more. “I seek the aid of your Camelot,” he says, but his voice sounds more hesitant now, as if he’s had to change his response for some strange reason.

Merlin can’t help but believe that reason is him.

“As for who I am,” the man says with a bit of a chuckle, and he glances around the room again at familiar faces, at his friends. “I am Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot.”

Or:

When a mysterious stranger shows up to Camelot claiming to be Arthur from the future and seeking help for his sick consort, Merlin learns some things about himself, about Arthur, and about a future he never dreamed was possible.

Six of Crows

a family pulled up from a flood by pumpkinpaperweight | Rated: T | 13.3 k words | Complete

Nina finally came to herself and burst out into the aisle to confront Kaz, indignant.

“You said we were needed for a job at a wedding!”

“You are,” said Kaz briskly, taking the ledger from Rotty and flipping through it.

“I thought we’d be robbing some mercher event! Doing a real job!”

“That’s your folly. Besides, I haven’t told you what you have to do, yet.”

“This is your wedding!"

Kaz looked blankly at her.

“Did I say it wasn’t?”

--

it's a fine day in ketterdam when two monsters are wed.

[attackpunk]

Okay but Merlin au where Merlin really is an assassin/vigilante style rogue, and he wears leather and all black and only goes out at night, he's a legend among Camelot as the only sorcerer left who does not fear the crown and fights for Camelot. But during the daytime he's just normal Merlin. A total dork whom is constantly teased by Arthur. Plz