#and i am very much enjoying this incarnation of Cass

[mlobsters]

supernatural s12e7 rock never dies (w. robert berens)

still kind of boggling that they went with rick springfield for this recurring incarnation of lucifer. funny getting closer to current times - like hey 2016/7 wasn't all that long ago. trying to shift brain to tech and references and such.

SAM So I've been trying to dig up info on the British Men of Letters, keeping an eye out for cases, and you've been goofing off with a game that went out of style five years ago?

LOL see i thought words with friends was popular then, but i never played it. guess we're just ignoring the very obvious lucifer letters in dean's letter tray thingy

DEAN You still living out an '80s buddy comedy with Crowley? CASTIEL Unfortunately.

that horrifying forced smile made me laugh so hard i choked

dear lord the cheesy 80s-esque sitcom music and the cliche montage of LA-ish things i am not optimistic about this -_- dean's ranting about LA but he had fun when they were there 10 years ago? he enjoyed being a PA, he banged the actress he liked on the way out. apparently grumpy old man now

also rolling my eyes per always about insisting dean has this really narrow taste in music with the added annoyance of him being an asshole about sam liking something else. they had the one episode (10x12) where dean admitted to liking taylor swift's shake it off after being de-aged and hearing it. i thought he had a little personal growth moment 😔

i'm glad they had sam push back on dean being an ass and in a way where it's not a fight, sammy just figures out a way to force dean to bend the knee and listen to the vince music with the unimpeachable logic that it's research. and he's so pleased with himself

DEAN Hey. You consider switching up your duds there? Bit stiff for this town. SAM He could be an agent or something. DEAN Yeah, maybe a third-tier agent. CASTIEL At least I don't look like a lumberjack.

okay that made me laugh. they're both so grumpy and cas really went in with a good snarky tone. and dean, doing the harsh but fair face

admire crowley's ability to find a way to have a good time regardless of the circumstances

s12e7 / a different world (1987-1993) kadeem hardison as dwayne wayne

my god another blast from the past, so many good actors on that show!

i'm making a slightly more distressed version of sam's face right now

well hey dean's drinking the vegetable water, maybe he'll be enjoying the vince music by the end too. you can do it, dean

CASTIEL Well, the only way you'll clear that crowd without drawing fire is if he's otherwise engaged. DEAN Engaged in what, Cass? Killing you? SAM Cass, you'll last...three minutes tops. CASTIEL Then I'll buy you three minutes. CROWLEY Make it four. What? I help.

wonder what he's up to

funny how the v-neck makes an otherwise not that far outside the realm of what dean might wear outfit very much outside the realm

LUCIFER!VINCE Because it's fun. Because I can. And because being Lucifer? So much Judeo-Christian baggage. But Vince? He's famous. Everybody loves him.

look at our sam being apparently stronger than lucifer's telekenesis on the doors which doesn't make much sense but it's a striking vaguely jesus-y visual so let's go i guess

DEAN Why are you doing this? LUCIFER!VINCE Why? SAM You and God made up. You forgave him. What would he think? LUCIFER!VINCE I'm not especially interested in his opinion. Dear old Dad, he finally apologized for abandoning me. And what's the very next thing he does? [Voice breaks] He ditches me. [Laughs] And you, too, by the way. And rides off into the sunset with Auntie Amara. He needed my help, and he'd say anything to get it. His words, your words, they mean nothing. Don't you get it? This is all meaningless. Heaven, Hell, this world. If it ever meant anything, that moment is past. Nothing down here but a bunch of hopeless distraction addicts, so filled with emptiness, so desperate to fill up the void… they don't mind being served another stale rerun of a rerun of a rerun. You know what my plan is? I don't have one. I'm just gonna keep on smashing Daddy's already broken toys and make you watch.

i am so confused. lucifer's upset over god abandoning him, and he's hurt by... sam and dean? what. have i already forgotten how they left things with him? there was never any chumminess, was there? i don't think this is the lucifer that i know

sam looks pretty with this backdrop but i started laughing when these horns came in to be some i dunno, rousing of spirits, call to arms on the lucifer hunt! "and we will stop him! we will. it's what we do, man" *sam stares off mournfully in the distance* cue the sad cellos

in the wiki

When Castiel calls Dean, his name appears on Dean's phone spelled as "Cass," thus re-igniting the age-old argument: is it Cas or Cass?.

i mean, in the script it's cass. when metatron was typing, it was cass. the captions say cass. the only people who use cas are fandom?? if we're talking english, cas would be pronounced more like kaz. anyway. i don't see how this is an argument. my personal (probably unpopular) opinion is fandom preference of not using the more feminine spelling (shortened cassandra etc)

well now that i read the linked cas or cass, looks like my points stand

(on twitter) Robbie Thompson: why is Castiel’s nickname spelled Cass not Cas? again: for science Eric Kripke: I think “Cass” just looks cooler on the page. And “Cas” might sound like “Caz.” But that’s just my opinion. Now get back to work.

thank you, eric, for the pronunciation note. somewhat vindicated 🤪

[dragonologist-phd]

Cassia Whitlocke: The Commander; The Gilded Gorgon; The Sword of Plaithus; The Exile

So you laugh. You laugh because your misery is the only thing that brings joy to this wretched kingdom, is it not?

The Exile - @exilethegame

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup 28.6.2017

First off, I’m going to pump myself up some because I just read an incredible number of comics within one day or so in order to get this review out on time and for once I actually managed it so hoora for me. Second off, holy crap a lot of my comics came out this week and I was kinda slammed and didn’t really realize it until it was happening and suddenly it was a whole lot of “uh oh” but that’s just me, my ridiculousness, and talking about sheer volume.

The real question here is, how did everything shape up this week? And if everything was good what was the best? And at this point do you all even trust my judgment to say what best is anymore lol 

Guess there’s one way to find out!

DC’s Batman Beyond, Image’s Black Magick, DC’s Detective Comics, IDW’s Ghostbusters 101, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, DC’s New Super-Man, Kodansha’s Princess Jellyfish, Image’s Saga, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light, DC’s Wonder Woman

DC’s Batman Beyond (2016-present) #9 Dan Jurgens, Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo

*long sobbing sighs are heard from the south of Alabama*

Okay, look. I have always prided myself on the fact that I’m not one of those comic fans that will buy just anything because my favorite characters showed up for three seconds one time in a splash page. I never consider myself someone who reads comics the way people read newspapers — just casually interested in the newest updates on this fictional world I follow at a distance. I come for the story and the characterizations and if they’re not there I won’t waste time and money. I mean there’s a lot of Dick Grayson comics I’ve flat-out ignored over the years and he’s one of my favorite fictional characters. Period!

But there’s… exceptions I can’t stop myself from.

Cassandra Cain, obviously. I make a point of owning everything with Cass in it. But the other is… I can’t avoid Batman Beyond. There is no part of me that can give up on Terry McGinnis, there’s a child in me who will always think of him first as Batman, who will always owe that cartoon for getting me even remotely interested in comics outside of Spider-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I am a sucker for Terry McGinnis and I can’t help it.

which makes it suck that much more that he’s had basically no good comics featuring him since… 2008? 2009ish? And what’s decent ends up irritating me or making me have to turn against it because of the shit treatment other characters I like get.

Before it was Dick and Barbara I was up in arms for.

Now it’s Damian.

The more they try to retroactively shove the main DCU continuity into the DCAU Batman Beyond universe, the less sense it all makes and the more they have to warp characters we love. This Damian might as well have walked right off the pages of Batman and Son because he apparently has lacked all growth and humanity that Damian has achieved — has earned — in the last several years of comics, preboot and DEFINITELY post-New52 and Rebirth.

So that bears the question of what’s the point.

My “what ifs” from last issue of wondering if Damian is somehow controlled by his spinal implants again, that maybe Ra’s al Ghul took over his body the way DCAU Ra’s had Talia — those that I was fearful of now seem more respectful of his character than what seems to be the answer we have instead.

I have a feeling this conclusion is going to get me raging.

But because I am a sucker, because I am a ridiculous fangirl, I’m going to keep buying the things that hurt me. gdi Batman Beyond, can you be good again

Image’s Black Magick (2015-present) #6 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott

Okay but like…

Goddamn there’s no comic like a Greg Rucka comic oh my god.

Alright so I’ve always been a fan of Rucka’s creator owned works and I think they’re easily some of his best works which, as a fan, is really saying something on my part, but I have been utterly amazed by how good Black Magick has been and how Rucka just has this incredibly unique way of making every issue feel complete even while it’s part of a longer storyline. Every issue counts and I feel that in this issue almost as pure as I’ve ever felt it before.

Greg Rucka: he just gets comics.

In all seriousness, this interesting take on how magick works and how Rowan’s life specifically has been affected by her introduction to her long lineage’s powers — especially in light of what we know about present day Rowan Black and how she has not lived up to her potential as a witch just yet — comes together so well here. And I say that as someone who doesn’t really like flashbacks all that much in storytelling.

That being said, I’m so glad that this storyline is all in flashback and doesn’t have us whipping back and forth across timelines because I’ve gotten a lot of flashback fatigue from comics and movies lately. This is a nice, solid ground to stand on if we’re going into backstory territory.

DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #959 James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Brad Anderson

Alright, so I’m beginning to question about how the continuity of the various Bat titles are lining up anymore because, as we just went over a week? Two weeks ago? Bruce had just proposed to Selina. But now we’re getting some heavy flirtations with Zatanna here. Now, I’m all for threesomes and I actually multiship Bruce quite a bit and that includes shipping him with both Selina and with Zatanna, but this is kinda… stepping on the toes of whatever King’s doing. Which fine whatever. I’ll be honest, I’ve had a soft spot for longtime friendship and childhood crosshairs between Bruce and Zatanna thanks to how much I still just adore Paul Dini’s run on Detective Comics (1938-2011). So this pleases me almost despite myself.

That being said, there’s still a lot of unevenness in this story at the moment. Even with the cast diminishing through deaths and quitting and whatever, we have a lot of characters factoring in and out of the storylines from one to the next. It feels like we very barely have time to establish what everyone’s relationships are before we start hinting at even more shakeups. Are Jean Paul and Luke’s friendship going to be busted up after only a few issues of contact between them? Is Clayface considering taking up the doctor’s idea of a cure so soon after I still haven’t figured out why he’s even here? Is Tim’s not-death ever going to be brought up again before Bruce does something truly stupid?

And then there’s just that… looming threat of the summer event I just know is going to come up at some point.

There’s a lot of good in this issue, and I don’t want to knock it, it’s actually one of the more decent mid-story issues that Tynion’s produced so far. And I’ve been harping on him for that from the beginning so that’s saying something from me. And I thought the art this issue was actually very consistent and well done overall, even if I have to wonder how many times has everyone in the Batfamily stood in a perfect pose with a Batfan on them for the computer to scan and give a perfectly COOL holographic image of themselves. But that’s me being silly and questioning superhero world logic. A truly terrible road to go down.

A very interesting issue and I’m curious to see how the storyline with Bruce ties into the storyline about Jean Paul’s struggles with his religion and how his past has warped it. Not that… as a Catholic those… struggles ring true… or anything.

Anyway, seal of approval and waiting for the story to continue on!

DC’s Ghostbusters 101 (2017-present) #4 Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado

Alright, so IDW is just kicking ass with their properties this week and I honestly think that there’s nothing better to combat the absolute bile and grossness that was the internet fanboys of the Ghostbusters circles more than seeing just how amazing and interesting Burnham and Schoening have made this team up with all generations of Ghostbusters at once.

Erin and Holtzy definitely take the cake this issue and there’s a lot of fun, especially with how the Ghostbusters of different universes compare equipment, ghosts, and methodologies as they address one thing about the 2016 movie that actually did bother me quite a bit which was that the ladies just kept… dispersing ghosts and not capturing them where all incarnations before had made a point of the “conservation of ghost matter” or whatever before — establishing that ghosts would just reappear en masse if not absorbed and captured. The explanation was actually rather witty and made perfect sense with the narrative of the 2016 movie, actually.

One of my favorite aspects, though, has to be how many in-jokes they manage. Erin’s neuroses and figuring out how the various cameos in their universe fits into the original’s universe, the joke about Caddy Shack, and just so much more.

It was a really fun issue and I hope people are picking this up and giving it a chance, especially if you enjoyed the 2016 movie, and especially especially if you didn’t but are willing to see the potential that team had all along.

Marvel’s Moon Girls and Devil Dinosaurs (2015-present) #20 Brandon Montclare, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillian

It’s amazing that Marvel is ruining properties by turning them into evil Nazi stand-ins and warping everything good to come out of Marvel’s initial inception while, in the meantime, they have such good and pure creators making a story like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur who give us fantastic all-age stories with beautiful art, a lovable and flawed main heroine, and an honestly rather mature and disquieting storyline.

A kids comic where she learns she can’t save everyone. And it’s still poignant and beautiful. It’s still powerful and speaks on a child’s level.

But it sets up for the first time that Lunella, wonderful and smart and brave as she might be, is imperfect. She can’t save the world (or, in this case, the moon) by herself and she can’t always appreciate people’s feelings and their deserving of her empathy until she works on it. She’s been trying so hard to prove herself and show how good she is at everything, she’s allowed herself to stop thinking of everyone as her equal.

So much so that her replacement with an unfeeling robot only gets mild suspicions from her friends at school.

who hilariously know about Lunella’s super identity and her powers because fourth graders can’t keep secrets and i love that.

It’s just such a good story and it’s remarkable that we live in a time where Lunella Lafayette gets to be kids’ introduction to comic books.

DC’s New Super-Man (2016-present) Vol. 1: Made in China Gene Luen Yang, Viktor Bogdanovic, Richard Friend

Kong Kenan is the New Super-Man of China and he could not be more of a change from the status quo of the American superhero archetype of Superman if he tried! Now, that’s not completely fair, obviously there’s quite a bit of convention bending to the genre in this story right from the start, but honestly it felt from the start like a very honest look at just what superheroes would mean for the world outside of America once the Justice League appeared and changed everything. And why wouldn’t other countries be scrambling to make sure that they could compete with not just the rising threat of super villains, but with the potential firepower that would be superheroes representing and being beholden to other countries.

DC and Marvel both have made varying attempts to answer those questions themselves over the years, and Kenan doesn’t serve as the first Chinese superhero in the DCU, but this is definitely the first time I as a reader felt like I was reading an experience and perspective outside of my own. Usually there’s a lens or veneer to these attempts to expand superheroes outside of the US that’s pretty transparent — they’re either very rarely seen or explored and so lend themselves to vague understandings of other cultures (such as The Great Ten in the preboot) or they’re Americanized in some way, usually by having them join a team of characters that are from the American perspective (Bushido from Super Friends) or having them come to move to America and have the whole experience of being an immigrant or student work visa (Ryan Choi’s The Atom).

For me, it felt like New Super-Man is taking the very notable effort of examining a purely Chinese character and setting from that perspective and building off of the uniqueness inherently built in that, but also showing how Chinese people’s views of the West and of American superheroes would reflect in their own attempts to make a superhero for themselves. And why Kenan, while initially seeming to be unfit to be a Super-Man given a history of being rather haphazard and a bully, could actually bridge that gap and provide a really interesting story of learning what being a superhero means for a culture so different from America’s own.

At least, that’s my take on it. While I’m happy to boast about the fact that I’m from a family of immigrants in America myself, I’m still a product of the West and Europe, and I’m reading the New Super-Man with that perspective, and assumedly a lot of other readers are, too. So it’s hard for me to tell how accurate my takeaway is here.

I’m only fleetingly familiar with previous works by Gene Luen Yang, but I have to give him major props here. I’m more familiar with his work with the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics than I am with his more acclaimed work (American Born Chinese and Boxers & Saints) which I desperately need to fix, but I have no doubt in his abilities to portray characters which are good but fundamentally flawed. That was a trademark of his works that I have read, and he really brings that to life in New Super-Man with Kenan. He is a very flawed, very human character that relates to readers based on personality before the differences between America and China can even be brought up in the narrative. And that’s what really made this a fantastic read by the end.

I’m very interested to see where this story continues with Vol. 2 and hope that the reader base for this story grows along with Kenan’s character.

After all, right now the world could use a Flawed But Good Super-Man almost as much as it could use a Chinese Super-Man.

Kodansha’s Princess Jellyfish (2008-present) Chapter 82 Akiko Higashimura

I believe that it’s pretty obvious, the further we go along with my comics reading and these reviews, that I had a pretty large variety of comic tastes. And really that just has to be indicative of my feelings about narratives in general. There’s a lot of things I appreciate about media’s ability to tell stories, and good stories and good characters, for me, almost always trump genres at the end of the day.

And I have loved Princess Jellyfish since the 12 episode anime adaptation of the first arc aired back when I was in college and @red-dye-number-five and I squealingly watched it as it came out.

The series is very soothing for me to read and this chapter was no different in that way. I have no interest in fashion, but the story of this found-family of adult women blundering their way through the world of fashion to save their community and home speaks to me. I really hate love triangles, but the complexities of the relationships between Tuskimi, Shu, and Kuronosuke has made for some of the most interesting and fascinating dynamics I’ve seen in a romance drama. And while I don’t usually go for coming-out stories anymore, the difficulties and self doubt and guilt we see with Kuronosuke over and over again as he tries to find his personal comfort with his gender and sexuality is honestly heart wrenching and I’m fully invested with.

I enjoy this series so much and as usual we have another chapter that fully delivers on its continued promises. This isn’t a perfect series, but for me it is a bit of chicken soup in the middle of the difficulties of life.

Image’s Saga (2011-present) #44 Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples

I think in twenty, thirty years, we’re going to look back and find that the generation of comics that have come about in the 2010s have changed the medium to a diverse haven of storytelling that comics hasn’t honestly enjoyed since the Comics Code and so on. And thank god for it because we get to read Saga as it’s being published and experience it as the true game changer that it is.

We are experiencing a storyline, from the perspective of a woman, who has to undergo a medical abortion, is being sent on a trial of Jobe for it because of the regressive tendencies and behaviors of her own people, and getting to see how much that burden is adding onto her own torment. We rarely get stories about abortion let alone ones where it’s from the woman’s prospective, is pro-abortion but also honest about its difficulties, and clearly shows avid anti-abortion rhetoric and laws as being crippling and more hurtful to those going through the ordeal than helpful.

It is… unfortunately very relevant to our times.

As is all of Saga’s storytelling. People see the nudity and violence and sex and gore every issue and what I love about Saga is that those things are so average, so unremarkable, that the actual mature content like addiction, prejudice, racism, homophobia, transphobia, infidelity, parenthood, and everything else in between is given the gravitas and exceptionalism it deserves outside of the seedy details that too often help the important points get lost in other lotted “mature” content.

In other words, there’s so much peeing on beds that we don’t lose track of the intrigue of money laundering and collusion as the real stories.

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-present) #71 Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Dave Wachter, Ronda Pattison

There’s not a whole lot to say about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles usually because, as with the best comics with the most consistent quality, they just are great and just should be read and there’s hardly much else I can say about why if you haven’t been sold on it already. It’s like me trying to explain to people why they should read Usagi Yojimbo. If you’re not reading it already I don’t know what I can say to make it understandable how much you need to read it.

That being said, this is a slow issue compared to TMNT’s usual action packed fare. And I think that’s for good reason. We need buffer time between stories, this is part one of a two-parter which provides just that, and it spends its entire time building on the lore and mythology of the world of TMNT as it has been realized by IDW. And it’s fascinating and complex and meaningful.

And of course as a mythology junkie I adored every second of it — learning about the Pantheon and the gods of this universe was fascinating and knowing how various previous canons of TMNT are being incorporated to provide it is amazing (I especially love Jagwar’s new self I’m in love). It was fascinating, as has been the amount of love Eastman and Waltz have shown TMNT overall.

It’s a good comic, a slow comic, but good. And I really enjoyed the read. Definitely something different added to today’s pretty sizable pot.

IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light (2016-present) #7 James Roberts, John Wycough, Jack Lawrence, Joana Lafuente

You know that vin diagram that’s things that are okay and then this over waaaaayyyyyy on the outside? Okay. Good. Because that’s what this issue is for me. Holy shit. My emotions have been played like a fiddle and I am sick and engrossed and devastated and uplifted and there are things that I cannot say or do or what. WHAT.

Okay so I wasn’t entirely sold on this recent storyline opening up the Lost Light, if I’m completely honest. I share a lot of the concerns I’ve seen other fans show with regards to just how much retconning of a pretty unforgivable past Megatron has been shown to have in canon prior to 2011 and how he’s being handled now. And this storyline in a lot of ways was both a redirection to what Transformers should always be about — the fighting of fascism — but also felt like we were going a step too far into the department of “see! Megatron wasn’t the REAL evil fascist, here’s what cartoonishly evil fascists REALLY look like” so as much as I enjoyed this story and as much as I really admire James Roberts’ writing in general, I was on the fence about what to feel about everything that had gone down.

Which made the fact that he took the time to dedicate an entire issue to the aftermath, gauging all the different reactions to the plots that had emerged, giving me a new lesbian couple and bypassing the gross route of having one remember and the other not, and then hammering in the Cygate romance to a conclusion I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT WANT OR NEED BUT AM TOTALLY INVESTED IN…. it’s not just cathartic. For the first time I genuinely feel like the sharpness, wit, depth of character, and real solid execution is back to the standards of what I still consider to be my favorite work of JRo’s which was MTMTE Season 1.

This was just… so much to take in, and so fast, and I swear not an inch of panel was wasted. I’m hoping that this means the pace is picked back up, the course is put back on track, and we return to what was making the characters so fantastic and loving and… oh yeah

TOTAL FRIDGE HORROR FOR THOSE OF US WITH CLAUSTROPHOBIA

I really liked this issue. It’s definitely my favorite of Lost Light so far and has me looking super forward to what happens next. Which is something I desperately needed since I learned Till All Are One, which has honestly been my favorite TF comic for the past year, is ending soon.

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016-present) #25 Greg Rucka, Bilquis Evely, Liam Sharp, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

I have been curious since the announcement of Rucka’s departure from the title just how he was going to pull together his past and present storylines, how things were going to end up. And I have been met with the answers which are large, satisfying, and a bit saddening in knowing that we’re quickly approaching the end.

The idea that, without the lasso, something is simply missing from Diana and her life feels like a great commentary on Wonder Woman herself, and what not only embracing her history and iconography means for the character but what it means for her personality itself. Without the lasso, without her faith, without the support of the Amazons at her back, Diana is shorter with her temper, more quick to anger, more brutal. And it’s not her, it the her that people have tried for decades to turn her into to suit their interpretation of what a Wonder Woman should be. And it’s concerning to the people who love her — here exemplified in Steve, Etta, Bruce, and Clark — and unhelpful to the enemies who require her sense of compassion and understanding, which is what nearly all of Diana’s enemies have been constructed to show — here Cheetah and Veronica Cale.

She’s simply not Wonder Woman without those things, and it’s such a relief to have a modern writer with the caliber of Greg Rucka portraying that in a deft and almost poetic way as it has been in this title and especially in this wrap up issue. It makes me happy to have the character of Wonder Woman brought back to herself on the terms of someone who has as much love and respect for her as Rucka does.

It was a good issue, and while I will be the first to say that this run hasn’t been perfect and that Rucka’s shown some genuine problems in his writing through it, I am sad to see it all coming toward its end.

So if I had to sum up this week’s comics as a whole I would just say that I was smacked with a whole lot of emotions all across the spectrum. But as I consider it tonight and really think about what has stuck with me the most in the aftermath of getting through them all, I really can’t understate how much Transformers: Lost Light threw me through about twenty different loops -- I mean the subplot of Cyclonus and Tailgate’s romance alone would earn that spot of just WOW but literally every character, every development, every scene blew me away this week and it really uplifted me to enjoy the read as much as I did again. 

But that’s just my opinion. What are your thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Think I missed something this week I should’ve picked up? I’d love to hear from you on it.

Until then, here’s to another Wednesday full of comics!

[aoida-blue]

Devil on the Lips (Jaydick Fic)

For the Batvdaykink meme, oral fixation. Also, on a related note, I am sorry to all lollipops involved in this fic, just. So sorry. (Warning for smut. I’m also sorry for that. Sorta.)

It should have been a great day. All the bat clan was in the manor (uninjured too), Jason was actually talking (with sentences, Dick was so proud) to Bruce, and Damian and Tim hadn’t killed each other (yet). So really, it was a blue moon sort of perfect evening with everyone together and happy.

But it wasn’t.

It was hell.

Dick’s hell hadn't started with fire and pain either. Hell had started with Jason walking in with a lollipop sticking out of his mouth.

It was a bright red strawberry lollipop, pushed to the edge of Jason’s lips as he talked, a lollipop that came out, glistening and ruby red when Jason laughed. Then when Jason pushed it back in, the damn lollipop turned Jason’s pale pink lips a vivid red.

Normally Dick was all for lollipops, always trying to see if he could get one when he was being bandaged up, always buying a big pack to give Damian and his friends some when he came back to the Manor. But not anymore. Dick was declaring war on the damn things. They were distracting and evil and Dick couldn’t have a single conversation with anyone without his brain turning to the cursed stick and the ball of sugar rolling in Jason’s mouth.

God. Even when he was rough housing with Damian, Jason still didn’t take it out. And it could have killed Jason if Damian had hit his mouth by accident. Killed him. It was a health and safety risk. Really.

But, Dick shot Jason another side glance, watching the lollipop stick slide out, white and clean as a whistle, at least it was over.

Which was good. It was.

Dick didn’t need an oral fixation, and didn’t need one on Jason.

Not when everything was going so well.

Dick let out a discreet breath and turned his attention back to Damian, who was waving his hands.

“Therefore I had inform Jon that I was older, and therefore in charge.” Damian sniffed, and slumped back into couch, “Its like no one expects seniority here. I have been working for thirteen years in this gig, I need some respect.”

Dick couldn’t help the smile, even as he tried to smother it as Damian shot him a look.

“Sorry little D but have you considered that you might not have been…“ Dick stopped abruptly because there was something crinkling, and it couldn’t be, no way-

It was. Jason, whilst nudging Cass about something, was peeling back another wrapper from another perfect little red ball and stick of hell. He smirked at Cass, ad then pushed the new lollipop in, slid it in to his mouth before pulling it out, pressing his lips around it as the sound popped in the air, and it was r rated. That was flat out not fit for general consumption and Dick had to cover Damian’s eyes at the very least if he could work out how to look away from those damn lips as they sucked the lollipop in.

Okay. This all confirmed four things. Lollipops were evil. Jason had absurdly hot lips. Dick had a oral fixation.

Also. This was hell.

“For the eighth time, Richard.” Damian hissed.

Dick pulled his eyes away from Jason laughing with that fucking lollipop in his mouth, and found Damian staring at him.

“Huh?” Dick said, because he was an intelligent individual who wasn’t completely compromised by food, swallowed and pushed out, “What’s up little D, wanna a game of-“

“I want you to stop embarrassing yourself.” Damian said.

“Is this about my sweater?” Dick said, and glanced down his awesome holiday sweater of Batman wearing antlers, Bruce’s mouth had quirked when he’d seen it so it had been so worth it, “Because D, this is style even if it isn’t the season anymore.”

“That is not style.” Damian corrected, and utterly ruthlessly pressed, “You staring at Todd like you want to devour him is awkward for everyone.”

Wow.

“I don’t want to-” Dick said and his eyes wandered back to Jason only to find Jason was staring back at him.

Jason curved a small bewildered smile at him, brows tucking down like he wasn’t sure why Dick was looking at him, then the lollipop bobbed a little in Jason’s mouth and the words failed Dick.

It only got worse as Jason pulled that lollipop out, twisting it, lips pursing around it as popped it back it back in and it was a whole new sexual awakening for Dick. Hallelujah, amen.

Again. Fuck.

Something must shown on his face because Jason went a little pink. He blinked at Dick for two long blinks, but oh so tellingly he didn’t break the gaze. Instead his eyes sunk down and he smirked right around the lollipop. Then popped it out again, and sucked it back in, his eyes fluttering shut. Like he was enjoying every second of the lollipop.

Like he wanted something else in his mouth.

Oh god.

Dick’s pants were getting tight, this was so bad. Not now, not now Damian was right beside him and shit. Damian. Dick pulled his gaze off Jason and back to Damian. Damian’s top lip had curled and he eyed Dick the same way he eyed Titus’s accidents in the Manor.

“Adults are so gross.” Damian told him with all the superiority of a thirteen year old.

“I’m… He…” Dick started unsure where he wanted to go with that sentence.

Damian rolled his eyes and just hopped off the couch, heading over to Steph and Harper with a flick of head. He left Dick alone, with no one around him.

But now that Damian was gone… Dick’s eyes slopped back to Jason.

Jason was still looking at him through hooded eyes, the lollipop pushed obscenely against his lips. Jason lips quirked at his returned attention and popped an eyebrow and glanced pointedly at one of the doors that lead upstairs. Then, without waiting on any response from Dick, he got up, saying something to Cass who smiled a bit too much, then disappeared behind the door.

Double fuck.

Was that…

Was he…

Dick had to follow.

“I gotta go.” Dick said, already standing up and moving, not really sure who he said his general comment to.

“Okay?” Tim said, sounding very confused.

Dick wanted to pull a face at that, but it was of utmost importance to find Jason. He went into the door through to foyer and the stairs, and listened as a door very determinedly shut upstairs. Jason. Dick swallowed hard and followed, his heart thundering in his chest.

What was he doing? Jason couldn’t have been suggesting anything could he-

The door lead to a study, one of millions, and Dick’s hand felt sweaty as he opened it, utterly unsure of what he expected to see on the other side.

What there was, Jason sitting on the desk, legs wide and inviting, one hand behind him and the other pushing that fucking lollipop in and out of his mouth, was not what Dick had been expecting. What he’d been dreaming? Sure, maybe, and maybe forever in the future now he’d seen it, but fuck. Fuck.

Dick shut the door behind him.

After one particularly slow thrust in and out of the Lollipop of Evil, Jason pulled it out and twirled the damned thing between his fingers. He was wearing a smirk that Dick could only decide was filthy.

“So Dickie.” Jason said, rolling his name like he’d rolled that lollipop earlier, “You seem preoccupied.”

Dick’s feet moved him forwards, eating up the distance between them as Dick eyes helplessly traced Jason’s sugar shiny lips.

“I could say the same.” Dick’s voice was deeper than he thought, and hell there went any subtly that he wasn’t as into this as he was, “You haven’t had a single second when that lollipop wasn’t being toyed in that mouth of yours.”

Well. That was laying his cards out. But clearly it was what Jason had wanted to hear, because in the low light of study Jason’s eyes got darker.

“You sound jealous.” Jason commented, like idle, half-thought thing, and then he licked at lollipop, just a single fucking lap.

Dick’s hands hit the table either side of Jason’s legs and at the point it felt like the only thing keeping him upright. This close he could see the saliva on the lollipop, see the exact shade of red Jason’s lips had gone at the constant attention to them, and couldn’t help but wonder what it would take them to go a deeper colour.

“I’m not jealous.” Dick said, and Jason laughed at him, a low chuckle that made Dick want to grab at him, so he corrected, “I just think you could be doing something more useful with those lips.”

Jason rested the lollipop against the seal of his mouth, and it was barely a hands width from Dick’s own lips, and tilted his head considering.

“And what do you want me to do with them?” Jason asked, and his voice had gotten rougher too, gravel rolled, deep syllables pressed against that bright red lollipop.

“You are a detective.” Dick said, and cocked a brow, use his own smirk right back at Jason, “Figure it out.”

What he’d been expecting was a kiss, what he got was a hand against his chest pushing him back a step, enough for Jason to get up, grab his hips and turn him so his ass was half sitting on the desk. What he got was Jason pulling that damn smirk and pressing his fucking lollipop against Dick’s mouth.

“Keep this wet for me will you?” Jason hummed, eyes glinting and when Dick went to respond, Jason slipped that damn lollipop in and rested it right behind his teeth, then patted his cheek, “Good boy.”

Then, like sin incarnate, Jason melted to his knees pulling down Dick’s pants and boxer-briefs as he did so. The cold air hit Dick’s cock with the same intensity as the realisation about what Jason was about to do, and Dick groaned behind the lollipop, teeth coming down hard at the plastic stick. Jason grinned up at him from the ground.

“I think this might be a better use of my mouth don’t you?” Jason asked, sweet as pie, all but breathing on his freed cock.

Dick couldn’t force out an answer around the lollipop as Jason licked him. Quick, experimental licks like his cock was another lollipop that Jason was trying to taste, and Dick’s hands found the table gripping it hard. Shit, shit this was all going fast and-

Then Jason opened up that red stained mouth and swallowed him in. Dick saw stars, Jason’s mouth was hot and wet and fuck, he kept going, kept pushing him further in and god, god, that was Jason throat he was pushing into. He bottomed out in Jason, Jason’s nose tickling against the hairs at his base.

“Fuck.” Dick breathed around the lollipop, almost chocking on it.

But Jason didn’t move. He stopped there, his eyes flicking up to Dick with an unholy sort of glee. He had just stopped and Dick whined, couldn’t stop the sound, around the lollipop. His hips jerked, a small involuntary jerk and Dick pushed himself back harder against the table eyes going wide down at Jason because he hadn’t meant that-

But Jason groaned, low and showy and pulled Dick’s hand off the table to put in his hair, gaze pointed.

He wanted him to- god.

Dick’s fingers curled into Jason’s hair, thanking the stars that Jason’s hair was long enough to grip now, and gave the smallest of thrusts.

Jason groaned again, pointedly. He was eyeing Dick with something that looked like patronising which was fucking stupid with Dick’s cock shoved down Jason’s throat. Oh Fuck. Dick had his cock down Jason’s throat.

He rocked out again, pulling back to escape Jason’s throat, and hold Jason’s head, and fuck, pushed in and and Jason hummed around him, throat clenching and shivering as the Jason chocked a little. Every blood vessel in Dick’s body had long since moved south and now Dick felt dizzy with it all, with how perfect this felt as he pulled out a little and pushed in again. Jason’s hands clenched on Dick’s thighs and pulled him harder. God, oh god he wanted it, Jason wanted him to fuck his mouth. He was hot and gorgeous and stretched around him, Dick rocked forward again, a helpless little sound escaping him as Jason swallowed up down again.

His hands settled more confidently in Jason’s hair and pulled him back and rocked forward again, and again and again. A steady sort of rhythm building up between them, a wooden knocking as Dick’s ass hit the table, their heavy breaths filling the room.

It was like a spiralling sort of madness, Jason was on his knees, Jason was on his knees and Dick was fucking his mouth. Every so often Jason hummed, and Dick found himself gasping, trying hard not to choke on the lollipop and then, he looked down. Saw Jason, taking him in, his lips, those damn red lips were red dripping with spit and Jason’s gaze flicked up, met his gaze and when Dick pulled himself flush in again, Jason’s eyes lowered and his throat… fuck his throat tightened suddenly around him.

It was too much, too much.

“Jay.” Dick groaned, almost spilling the lollipop to the ground, “I-“.

He wanted to pull out, but Jason gripped him suddenly holding him in and fuck, fuck.

Dick spilled, feeling himself jerk down Jason’s throat, and he moaned, low and wrecked. Jason hummed around him, the ultimate sort of torture and only when Dick’s cock had stopped did he pull off, sucking all the way, as if not to waste a drop.

Dick’s hands hit the table behind him and he gripped, to keep himself upright as he focused on breathing. Jason pulled back to his heels, wiping a string of saliva from his chin, from those plush red lips and fuck it all.

“Better way to occupy my mouth then.” Jason had to croak, his voice was wrecked from Dick, Dick had done that, Dick had caused that, but Jason didn’t seem the least bit sorry, his eyes glinting up at Dick, a very prominent budge in his own pants.

“Got one more way.” Dick said, offered a hand down.

Jason brows tilted in a bit of confusion, but he accepted Dick’s hand pulling him up to his feet.

“I don’t think you’re gonna be hard for a while-“ Jason started.

And that was enough of that.

Using the grip Dick had Jason’s hand he pulled him close, and reversed their positions, so Jason was pressed against the table, pressing him until Jason’s ass on it, in a strange half seat. Then, with some relish he plucked out the lollipop out of his mouth, the last lingering strawberry flavour coating his tongue. Jason eyes dropped to it, tracking the movement with an eagerness.

“Did you keep it wet for me?” Jason asked, leaning forward, tongue running over his cherry red lips, opening as if to suck it back in.

Dick smirked and chucked the lollipop over his shoulder. Jason frowned, but his mouth was still open and Dick’s hands jumped up to hold Jason’s head in place as he drew in tight and close and kissed that open, wonderful, damning mouth.

For a second, Jason froze, like he hadn’t expected this, but Dick licked into his open mouth, a gentle sort of persuasion and Jason was on board, moaning as his hands gripped Dick’s shoulders as he kissed him back. Their tongues running together was fantastic, a hot tingle ran down Dick’s spine as it continued, but even better was the hardness Dick could feel from Jason’s lap, rubbing up against Dick’s thigh. Dick ran one hand down Jason’s back, pulling his ass forward, wedging Jason's leg nice and tight between Dick’s thighs. Dick allowed the smallest fraction of pressure by pressing in and Jason keened in the kiss.

Dick pulled back for a breath and Jason panted against his lips, already trembling. God he was so close, so close from just a blowjob and kiss. Fuck, Dick could feel his own cock twitching again and it was so soon since his last orgasm it hurt. But pain had never felt so good and Dick wanted to see Jason fall apart.

“Do you want to come like this?” Dick asked, low and teasing, pressing a fluttering kiss on Jason’s lips and darting back when Jason chased him, “Me occupying your pretty little mouth and you riding my thigh?”

Jason let out a sound that sounded more frustrated then aroused as he moved forward and Dick moved back again. A movement to do anything but tease, to taunt and Jason's face flushed.

“Fuck. Fine yes Dick.” Jason hissed out, his feet just finding the ground to find enough leverage to buck into Dick’s thigh, “Oh fuck, Dick just- god."

Dick didn’t let him finish. He met Jason’s open mouth with his own, and let both of his hands fall to Jason’s ass and grip him tightly. When Jason’s hips jerked again, Dick pulled him forward tighter and pressed back. Dick smiled in their mouths, he was such a great helper wasn’t he, and Jason moaned mouth growing slack for a second.

Dick dug his fingers in tight and pulled Jason in again hard, and when Jason’s mouth slipped off his for a hard breath, Dick caught Jason’s plump bottom lip in his teeth and nipped. It was supposed to be a retribution for pulling back, but Jason’s hips jerked like it was a reward instead.

“Fuck, fuck.” Jason hissed out, close but not there yet, and that was unacceptable.

Dick swallowed his words with another kiss, timing it with another thrust in for Jason and Jason trembled, hands spasming in his shoulder and he had to be close, he had to be so close so Dick held him tight and ground his thigh in and bit Jason’s lip again.

Jason groaned, hips jerking, eyes faltering shut as a very damp spot appeared in his trousers, pressed against Dick’s bare thigh. His mouth was slack and wide and Dick pressed another long kiss as Jason shuddered, his hands tightening and loosening from the space on Dick’s shoulder. When Dick pulled back, Jason’s head fell between them as he all but sagged into Dick’s shoulder.

“Fuck.” Jason said again into Dick’s shoulder, wrecked and panting.

“Pretty much.” Dick agreed, and he couldn’t help himself, he ran his hands up and down Jason’s back soothingly.

Jason stuttered out a little laugh that seemed to scrape at his throat.

“You bastard you ruined my pants.” Jason said.

Dick smiled, utterly unable to help it.

“You started this.” Dick sniped back, “If you hadn’t given to sucking everything in sight.”

Jason pulled back, a smirk on his now very red, sort of puffy lips. It was a gut punch to Dick, because fuck, in that moment Jason was gorgeous. Messy hair, fucked mouth, bright eyes and a sly smile. Damn, it should be a rule that he look like that all the time.

“I suppose a Dick was in sight.” Jason said.

God. He was so- Dick had to. He had to.

Instead of arguing, Dick pulled Jason in again. This kiss was softer, more languid, and Dick was half surprised Jason moved into it. Their was no intention, no anything, just soft lips rubbing and a gentle sort of press of tongue. It felt more exploration than anything.

They broke apart and Jason’s eyes sloped slowly open, looking like he’d had all the air in his lungs pulled straight out off him.

“Okay." Dick said, his voice was roughened to hell so he swallowed hard and continued, because he had to, because even if he wanted to stay here with Jason, or better, drag him into Dick’s old room two corridors away, there was an issue. “We better clean up before the others come searching.”

Which would be awkward as hell. Dick pulled back wincing at the wetness on his bare thigh, and pulled his own pants up from where they’d gotten stuck around his ankles. God, they hadn’t even taken off their shoes or shirts. Jason hadn't even taken off his pants, admittedly that had been Dick's fault though.

“They won’t.” Jason croaked, confident as he could sound with a ruined voice.

“We’ve been away for a while now…” Dick trailed off.

Jason plucked himself off the table, grimacing at the mess he was likely feeling in his very ruined pants.

“Dick, they all saw the looks you were giving me, and we are in a house of detectives.” Jason pulled at his jeans, “Ugh and I’m going to have to get new pants.”

Ah. Right. All good points. Also. Wow. There was going to be so much more awkwardness to come.

“Well.” Dick looked himself down, and up, he looked fine at least, but Jason, yeah, Jason was going to need to work to get back to normal standards, “I guess I’ll see you down there?”

Jason bit at his lip, in a thoughtless sort of way and something dropped heavy in hot in Dick’s gut, and yup, being obsessed with Jason’s mouth might be a long term thing.

“Well good luck with those fun times.” Jason said, “I’m having a shower.”

Dick nodded, and had to tear himself away to go downstairs. He managed two steps before he turned around and Jason was there, and Dick didn’t know who moved first, all he knew was that Jason was pressed against the study wall and they were kissing like they were teens in the back seat of a car.

God. Did Dick have to go downstairs? Really?

“Later.” Dick breathed into the space between them as they gasped apart.

“Yeah later.” Jason agreed, nodding and hands tightening on Dick’s shoulder, “And then later again, and again and-“

“Yeah.” Dick dropped another kiss on Jason’s blessed lips, he couldn’t help it, “Yeah lets do that.”

Screw it. If this was hell, Dick was going to damn himself in every way he could.

[renaroo]

I have an exam tomorrow so I won’t have time to do a regular Rena Roundup this week (especially since there are SOOOO many comics on my list that came out this week good lord) so I’m just going to quickly summarize my thoughts overall for those who are interested!

DC Batman Beyond (2016- ) #4: I have been the most worried about this comic because I wasn’t entirely convinced this was the right writing team for it considering my dislike of Futures End and the previous Batman Beyond series (both the Kyle Higgins Batman Beyond 2.0 and Jurgens’ Tim Drake!Batman Beyond) but I continue to be honestly rather pleased with how things are turning out. Dana, Max, and Matt are all being handled much better, I actually enjoyed the changes to the Batsuit this issue, and @red-dye-number-five is owed a lunch of her choice because predicting it was Bruce and not the Joker last month was a shockingly accurate twist. 

DC Detective Comics (2016- ) #949: Well that was... an issue. I guess. This all could have been covered in Batwoman: Rebirth in February just fine, honestly, and I have to really squint at why this took two issues instead of one. Very flabby writing wise and I still maintain my previous criticisms of the art being colored super dully and the cape thing driving me nuts. The lack of emphasis on Kate’s sexuality playing into her origins is probably a reflection of the times but, as I’ve said before, it was a very important aspect of her story to me personally. So the demphasizing will always rub me raw. And, again, Cass’ story better be amazing next month for it to have been put off by this honestly rather piddling two-issue setup for a one-issue setup for the upcoming Batwoman series. We’ll see. 

IDW Optimus Prime (2016- ) #3: Well, I finally have my answer. I’m dropping this book. There was nothing bad about this issue, and really there’s still a lot of good. I like the different looks at the Cybertronian conflicts, the art is still fantastic, there’s a lot of curiosity about the Junkions and the eventual connection to the Quintessons AND OMG THE ENDING WE FINALLY HAVE SHARKTICONS. But at the end of the day it’s a trade wait for me. I continue to just.... not feel my adoration for Optimus that I maintain in pretty much any incarnation that isn’t the movies, and it’s hard to overlook that we keep humanizing the Decepticons -- even Soundwave -- while simultaneously breaking down the heroic aspects of Optimus’ character. Maybe it’s an examination of a childhood icon that some people are happy about (that really seems to be the case at least with the blogs I keep tabs on), but I’m very exhausted with the idea of “authoritarian reading and deconstructions of classic heroic tropes”. It’s just not the environment in the world right now for me to be signing off on that. 

IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011- ) #66: YES YES YES Good comic, oh my gosh. Angel and Raphael’s friendship, the wandering through Alaska, the fact that Raph took a helicopter from Splinter even if he and his brothers aren’t even talking to him at the moment in order to get to Alopex, it’s all wonderful. And Alopex, my gosh, my little foxy child’s growth has been wonderful and rooting for her this whole time has been quite the journey. The reunion with Raph and with Angel was fantastic and I love it all so much. There’s not even that much to say, it’s just a consistently good book that knows what heartstrings to play and when 

DC Wonder Woman (2016- ) #15: I don’t know how much of it is a personal bias here because I am just incredibly uncomfortable with asylum stories and even though that was a very small part of this issue the cover itself just irked me from the start. Perhaps this is a call for some personal reflection more than anything else, but overall, still just can’t consider myself a fan of the B-stories in Rucka’s run. I think this finally proves, though, that the secret to the success for the A-storylines and the great Achilles’ heel to these, though, is the imbalance (or maybe too much balance?) on time spent concentrating on Diana vs. time concentrated on the larger world around her. I’m not sure. Like i said, some of this is going to be personal bias and will probably continue to be as long as Diana’s in her “mental state” and I’m going to need time reflecting on my own gut reactions to this stuff before I can accurately criticize the use of it here.

My personal pick for this week is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #66, which is becoming one of those books that is so boringly good that it’s difficult to even write about what makes it so good. I shouldn’t have to tell you! You should be reading it!