#and her relationship with thomas

[princess-from-another-galaxy]

Recently got into Downton Abbey, and I NEED fics where Phyllis Baxter really is Thomas's sister, or maybe she's introduced earlier and helps speedrun his character arc lol

Would also not be opposed at Mrs Hughes & Mr Carson parents to Thomas Barrow fics ngl

[casscainmainly]

Together.

Batgirl (2000) #67 // Batgirl (2000) #27 // Batgirl (2000) #18 // Batman and Robin: Eternal #3 // Truth & Justice #16 // Batman & The Outsiders (2019) #9 // Batgirl (2000) #29 // Batgirl (2000) #60 // Batgirl (2008) #6 // Batgirl (2000) #59 + Batgirl (2024) #3

[borgialucrezia]

NOSFERATU (2024) ↴ Directed by Robert Eggers

[grabyourpillow]

Another thing I appreciate about Black Sails is that. They didn't randomly "make" Flint gay, or in love with another man for diversity points or whatever — which would also be fine I mean I'll take any representation, but which has a tendency feel artificial and manufactured.

Toby Stephens (James Flint) said in an interview that they told him from the beginning where they were going with James Flint's character, namely that he was in love with Thomas Hamilton. It's an integral part of the storyline and of who Flint is. So when we are shown their love for the first time in season 2 episode 5 it isn't like. A ha-ha gotcha reveal – except if you're a basic dudebro —but rather it makes all the pieces of Flint's character and of his relationship with Miranda pieces slide into place and you go "Oh. Oh. That's what it was."

[batboopp]

sorry but the routes dc decides to go down when concerning martha + thomas coming back to life/even in the context of flashpoint makes me so mad, mainly because of all that wasted potential. like realistically it would be martha donning the cowl and being a touch more brutal than her son considering she was literally a vigilante who died protecting innocent children and was the thing that inspired bruce all throughout Batman: The Ultimate Evil (the literal last line of this comic is “I will fight in your name, mother.” with a note from martha that reads “when battling demons, aim not at their hearts.”) and it would be thomas who is hyper-pacifist and absolutely refusing to hurt anyone while he’s judging martha and bruce for beating the shit out of muggers, considering thomas was the person who taught bruce to never let anyone die, especially in The Long Halloween (among others). Don’t even get me started on the importance of thomas being a healer and how it’s one of the driving forces that makes batman, a contrasting symbol of fear and violence, want to constantly appease the ghost of his father. and also how his mother was ‘the only person who ever understood bruce’ canonically, how she was the one demanding justice and peace even with violence, how she was the one threatening monsters to stay out of her city or she would make them pay, you’d think there would be more stories where martha isn’t dumbed down to pretty rich housewife with almost no defining characteristic outside of “nice and empathetic” but nope

[autisticrosewilson]

It's not that I hate fanon or that I think fanon is inherently less intelligent or morally wrong, but a LOT of fanon is based in racism, misogyny, and classism that I feel like a lot of you accept without question.

WHY is Duke (Daredevil, son of a god, has never once allowed himself to be defined by anyone's actions but his own) relegated to a background role, only characterized by reacting to the whims of other bats?

Why is Babs - Birds of Prey leader and backbone of the hero society, tells Bruce to fuck off and die 4 times a day and is constantly ruining her relationships by being biased and unhinged - Gotham bound, the mature responsible mom of the group who never argues with Bruce and never gets in trouble?

Why is Dick, both a tactical genius and master manipulator, a himbo only appreciated for his sex appeal? Especially when he is both Romani (group of people demonized and condemned as hypersexual by their nature alone) and an SA victim.

WHY is Damian "feral" and "uncivilized" despite being raised as a literal prince? Half of you treat him like a sociopath with no hope of redemption for an unfunny three second joke and the other half of you go full throttle into Bruce's white savior bullshit so that Damian can be "redeemed". Y'know when you're not villainizing Talia and acting like Dick is his other parent, actually.

WHY is Stephanie - extremely intelligent detective who can't stand Bruce and has a living mother she loves - lumped in as another member of the Batfam, a blonde ditz who only cares about prank wars and emotionally supporting Tim?

WHY is Cass - intelligent, a grown adult, suicidal perfectionist - emotionally intelligent, primarily existing to support the characters around her, immediately accepting of everyone she meets regardless of her own morals?

Why is Bruce the golden standard? Enough so that though everyone in the fandom could agree that he's an emotionally unstable wreck, being considered "the most like him" is seen as a compliment and not the HIGHEST insult? Everyone would agree if I said that Bruce purposely self sabotages his relationship half the time and the other half he simply does things without caring about the emotional impact it will have on people because he has to be the smartest in the room, but if I said that makes him a shit partner and emotionally abusive parent the fandom would bend over backwards to argue with me.

Why is Tim "the best Robin" when Dick Grayson invented the mantle, it is impossible for someone to embody the spirit of Robin better than him because he made it and he created what being Robin means. Maybe Tim is the best in Bruce's eyes, but what Robin means and who has the right to give it over was a significant thing they argued about. Tim the high school drop out, and yet also somehow the smartest? Tim "the most like Bruce" except no he's not, that's Cass. Poor neglected, abused, victimized little Timmy (the rich boy at the elite boarding school with loving albeit busy parents and almost every instance of him being victimized by another character has either been racist bullshit - The Al Ghuls and Rose Wilson- or a complete 180 for the character that made no sense when examined through the lens of prior characterization - Jason for instance.)

Almost every fanon trope that gets passed around like gospel seems to deliberately push POC characters and women into the background and strip them of interesting complex traits and stories, usually for the purpose of fitting them all into bite sized incorrect quote character types and uncomplicated narrative roles that are not only completely divergent from canon, but primarily exist to prop up the two rich white boys.

Also the insistence that Bruce, a 20 year old at the time, should actually be excused for how much he mentally and emotionally fucked Dick up because really they're more like siblings! While deciding that Dick at the same age was actually the perfect candidate to be Damian's new parent/guardian...have you lost the fucking plot you don't even make sense to yourselves.

Okay I lied at the beginning, I do hate fanon. You guys are so uncritical about the media you consume it is BEYOND just letting people enjoy things and have fun. I guess it's one thing if you KNOW this stuff isn't canon and UNDERSTAND why these tropes are problematic and you engage with it as such, it's fine read and write what you want, but just spreading the same nonsense around and parading it around as "better than canon" (version of the character so bland and boring you've somehow made the old white men at DC look like geniuses in the art of representation) is just infuriating.

[bookburners]

If Bruce had the option to get his parents back but one of his kids would die he’d choose his kids every time.

But what if one of his kids had the option to get their parents back but Bruce would die?

[the-crooked-library]

I liked how in Nosferatu it’s shown that Ellen not only leaves Thomas behind, lets him go, but she effectively remarries, by dressing up in wedding gown and pledging herself to Orlok and then consumating their sort of marriage. Orlok came before Thomas as Ellen’s dark suitor and Ellen ended up in the end with Orlok, not Thomas. Lilacs as running theme also support it because they are associated with Orlok so even when Ellen was marrying Thomas with lilacs on her head she was involving Orlok into her marriage.

Yes, the lilacs!.. God, the lilacs. She wore them throughout the film, on her dresses, in her hair, as a scent - they're such a prominent motif, and it's very clear that she was never able to let go of her occult nature entirely, despite her very best efforts to conform. The way Orlok reacts to the scent of them in the locket is so telling, too!.. It must've felt like a secret note, passed in code - my first love, I've never forgotten you. Come to me. The hesitation, the slight trembling in his hands as he holds it. The way he keeps it without question, the way he can't resist opening it just to catch the scent - again, again, again. There is something so vulnerable about their connection, on either side.

I think that's why their consummation is so tender sdksjgdjh

[onai88]

This is how i imagined when Hannibal meets them for the first time u.u

[austin-friars]

another fun project I want to work on and put together, is just writing about queer historical figures, and historical figures that i actually suspect were gay, queer, etc. not just tudor era people but like...just queer people both confirmed, and speculated through history.

[casscainmainly]

One thing that's really interesting about Cass' relationships to the other Batfam members is how often she makes them feel insecure.

Dick:

"I think maybe his adoption of you didn't sit well with me on some level." (Batman and the Outsiders (2007) #14)

Steph:

"You've got these insane abilities[...] and you barely even look at me, much less talk..." (Batgirl (2000) #26)

Damian:

"You think I can't cut it, huh?" (Gates of Gotham #2)

Duke:

"I am weak. Weaker than Cass." (Batman & The Outsiders (2019) #1)

To be fair it often goes the other way as well, with Cass feeling insecure because of them (particularly with Dick + Steph, and even Damian). It's funny that Tim is the only one, besides Jason (who just doesn't have enough interactions with her), whose insecurities aren't heightened by Cass' mere presence.

[duusheen]

On her way home, Hope took the opportunity to visit her grandparents and also invited them to her graduation party. Lindsay and Thomas were happy to see her after such a long time 💕

[breadandblankets]

steph and duke hang out a lot while steph is in college, between classes and her apprenticeship with leslie, through that duke gets roped into helping out enough that his first aid skills get a workout

turns out in a medical setting having a guy who can tell u what's wrong on the inside without having to order imaging is really helpful!

having the signal as your radiologist would also kick ass tbh

[flythesail]

Elliot showing up right when Kat needed him most. Elliot always showing up when Kat needs him most—

*MY* ELLIOT

He always has the most in awe face when he gets to time travel and meet someone.

[arabian-batboy]

I have seen some disclosures in the past about how fandoms force a non-existence "found family" dynamic between the characters then forcibly turn that found family into a "nuclear family" where they will make one character be the "dad" while one character is the "mom" and everyone else are siblings when that's not the case and while I definitely know what people mean by that and have seen it happen before, I feel like in the context of the "Batfamily," some people are taking it too far into the opposite direction.

Like first of all, depending on how you divide them, the "Batfamily" is made up by characters who are either literal family or just close friends/lovers, so I can understand why grouping all of them together and labeling them as one big family may sound confusing (but always remember, Wayne family =/= Batfamily)

Characters like Barbara, Stephanie and Duke (I might even throw in Tim & Cassandra, since they both were only adopted at 17) absolutely have an "unconventional" familial ties to each other and to Bruce, so I personally don't think you should be so eager to fit them all into a stereotypical nuclear familial roles, especially since all the characters I mentioned above (except for Cass) have one or two loving parents who have raised them all on their own without the help of Bruce and are still alive and present in their child's life (except Tim, whose parents canonly died a couple of years ago in-universe).

With that being said, sometimes characters just so happen to fit the bill of a stereotypical "nuclear family" in canon and not wanting to accept that because the children are adopted/not related by blood to their parents is fucked up.

And I say that mostly about Dick and Jason, who for for all intent and purposes were both fully adopted at 9 and 11 respectively (ignoring rectons that aged them up or the fact that Dick was a ward at first only because single men couldn't legally adopt in the 40's), so it doesn't matter how you go about it, Bruce is 100% their father and they are 100% his sons, no ifs or buts.

For me, I have seen too many people trying to down-play the fact that Batman is canonly a dad (maybe because they don't think its cool? Idk) by pretending that him and his literal children are just a found family or just partners and accusing anyone who refer to them as parent-and-child of diminishing this found family and forcing them into a "nuclear" family when that's not case with them.

Referring to an adult man who fully adopted a young child to raise them as his own as that child's dad isn't forcing them into a nuclear family, because he's LITERALLY their dad? That's just common sense.