#because batman as a symbol is extremely personal and important to him

[bitterrobin]

can i ask why you put certain songs in your damian spotify playlist? like why you put ptolemaea, GOLDWING, the mind electric, etc, id love to hear your thought process !

Thanks for asking about the playlist!

In general, when I make character playlists I choose songs based on lyrical content first, then the general "vibe' of that song and whether it flows with all the other songs on the playlist. I don't like mashing together very different genres in one playlist unless it serves the character (see: Jason's playlist contains a mix of fast paced rock/metal contrasted with melancholy folk/country-like songs).

In Damian's playlist, theres running themes of songs with bird or wing imagery, darker and more erratic songs containing some violent lyrics, songs about running away, songs alluding to family issues and a sense of self-importance/duty, and of course, songs in Arabic. The goth music I added later is just personal headcanon that Damian sort of drifts goth-adjacent as he grows older. Overall, the big theme that ties the whole playlist together is Damian's various crises of identity - his identity in the League, in the beginning of staying with Dick as Robin, becoming Robin, etc.

For the songs you listed, they each pertain to my very specific interpretation of Damian. I've noticed that most Damian playlists on Spotify tend to contain the same songs because they're going for more broad music choices ig, but I like being weirdly specific (hence the themes in each playlist I make).

Ptolemaea I put in at first because the overall lyrics and vibe of the song leaned towards dark and violent religious fervor/cult imagery. This matched sort of to my personal interpretation of the League of Assassins as an ancient cult with Damian caught in the middle as someone who would've been one of their leaders had his life not gone a different path. To me, Ptolemaea sort of symbolizes how alone Damian was in the League, despite being completely surrounded by people (worshippers, assassins) and being held up as a leader/religious figure (the blood of al Ghul). The song is a brief cry (scream) for help before eventually falling back into the same place he can't really escape from. The lament of absent parents, the constant push of other voices asking for something, etc.

GOLDWING is put in because it essentially talks about hiding parts of yourself that would be exploited/judged. A lot of the songs I use are supposed to be from Damian's point of view (hence the dark and winding narrative). In his POV, GOLDWING is about hiding the parts of him that are too unsavory to tell the Batfamily (the Year of Blood for example) and hiding the parts that he deems too soft (art, music, love for animals). Both are hidden because he knows he'll be judged. Damian is always a character stuck between choices and extremes. He can't embrace the true horror and violence he knows or he'll be judged, and he can't embrace the softer aspects he already hides because he fears weakness.

The Mind Electric is a song thats pretty broad to interpret, but a common one is that its about someone being put to death in the electric chair/or someone getting electroshock therapy. I put Mind Electric in between A Death and Honey I'm Home because all of these songs make up the death portion of the playlist. It's all about Damian's first death in Batman Inc. The Calling is his determination to go out as Robin despite the danger, the fight with Heretic. A Death is well, about his death, but also the negative thoughts of himself/his family going through his mind as he dies. (Also the winter imagery used fits my Damian headcanon of him being connected to Winter/the snow versus the other Robins who have other seasons). It's made canon later that Damian actually went to Hell when he died, and Mind Electric/Honey I'm Home sort of represent that time. Damian's not actually getting electrocuted, but the very erratic song does represent the confusion and terror of Hell.

I should probably emphasize that my interpretation of Damian is a lot more...depressing and wrought with turmoil, so many of these songs tie a little better with my Taxonomy!AU version of Damian than canon!Damian.

[autisticcassandracain]

Thinking about Bruce and Cass’s relationship and how interesting and complex it is yet again.

The thing about Bruce and Cass is that they’re fundamentally extremely similar, and they know this. Bruce is more aware of it than Cass, at least initially, and this plays into their relationship a lot. Bruce essentially sees Cass as a younger version of himself, to the point where he struggles to remember that she’s her own person. This means that he projects all of his mental health problems all over her.

This is very obvious with the way he pushes her towards vigilantism, and the way he seems to think it’ll solve any and all of her problems. It’s why he sees no issues with making her live in a mini-batcave, and why he disregards all of Barbara’s advice about making Cass live a normal life. To a degree, his approach isn’t wrong. It’s true that Cass, like Bruce, needs vigilantism in a way that the rest of the Batfam doesn’t, really. Bruce sees this in a way that nobody else really can, and it’s why his solutions to her problems often work better than Barbara’s. 

But at the same time, he is wrong; Cass clings to vigilantism because it’s easier for her than trying to live a normal life, and Barbara is right that this isn’t healthy, and that she needs to learn how to live, not just fight. This is something Bruce doesn’t seem to understand, because it’s something he can’t apply to himself, so he doesn’t apply it to Cass, either. If all he needs is vigilantism, than all Cass needs is vigilantism too, surely. And if Cass needs something different, than that puts Bruce’s own coping mechanisms in question, and he can’t have that.

We also see this level of projection when Cass is revealed to have killed someone. Bruce’s intense denial and anger is irrational; it’s clear that Cassandra, at eight, was brainwashed and didn’t understand what she was doing. When she did comprehend what killing was, she immediately abandoned it. The fact that she has killed should, therefore, not negatively reflect on her current character or capacity for heroism. Furthermore, it really should not be this surprising to the World’s Greatest Detective that the child of a world-class assassin who was trained to be the ultimate assassin her whole life has killed. It doesn’t take a genius to pull off that level of deduction.

But Bruce’s denial and anger isn’t about Cass, really. It’s about him, and how it threatens his own self-image. Bruce projects himself onto Cass and feels like she’s the only one to truly understand the depth of his no-killing code, and therefore, the idea that Cass could have actually killed someone scares him. Because it proves that the no-killing code isn’t an inherent character trait; it’s something that’s permanently in danger of being broken, and that terrifies Bruce. He doesn’t want to think of himself as a man capable of killing, and yet, it’s a fact he has to confront when he watches someone who considers to be his mirror kill someone.

At the same time, Bruce isn’t the only one with unhealthy ideas of who the other one is. Cass has similar problems as Bruce in that she doesn’t really see him as a person, but unlike Bruce, it’s not because she sees him as an extension of herself; it’s because she sees him as a symbol rather than a person. And why wouldn’t she? It’s the image that Bruce has always wanted to portray, and it’s a side of himself he shows especially around Cass. When they only interact in a vigilante capacity, it’s no real wonder that Cass sees Bruce as Batman first and only.

Batman is larger than life, to her, an ideal and a goal and a chance at redemption all in one. She never asked about Batman’s secret identity, because she didn’t process the fact that he had one, because Batman is not a person to her. This means that she takes any opinion he has on her not as the potentially flawed opinion of a man, but practically as the word of a god. She internalizes all of his opinions on her and tries desperately to live up to an impossible standard, not one Batman set, but one she set for herself, encouraged by Batman, both the man and the symbol. 

And the way Cass treats Batman as something more than human is internalized by Bruce, as well. It reinforces his own belief that Batman, the symbol, is more important than Bruce, the man, and encourages him in his unhealthy focus on vigilantism, as well as his decisions to encourage Cass to do the same. This level of hero worship isn’t healthy for either for them. 

Eventually, both of them start to mellow out. Cass realizes Batman has a life outside of the cowl in Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, but I’d argue that the first seeds of independence were sown during the Shiva fight, when she comes to terms with her past actions and, therefore, stops trying to hold herself to at least part of the impossible standard set by Batman’s ideals. Bruce’s writing is less strong, but he eventually concedes to Barbara that she has a point, and helps Cass move to Bludhaven, where she strikes out and focuses more on her civilian life in a way that she never could’ve under Batman’s shadow.

Batman and Cass’s relationship is one based around the idea that neither of them sees the other as human, and coming to slowly understand that they are wrong, and that is okay.

[madamescarlette]

the batman (2022) thoughts/impressions

under the cut because this got long!

I honestly believe I have never loved an intro to a film more than Bruce’s entrance into this movie. How it draws you into who Bruce is, what he believes, what he turns towards…it is a masterclass in storytelling. Like all writers do, I have more than a passing fascination with the mechanics of storytelling, and one extremely big portion of that with film is that of atmosphere, which is set instantly by the close-to-the-ground shots of Bruce, peering through the crowds in his city, like a bright beam of light cutting through the hovering layer of nighttime, and him almost melting out of the shadows to wreak havoc on those who would cause needless harm. In a sense, all of this movie’s thesis is explicitly stated at the beginning: fear, fear and what it does to a person. But what is so fascinating to me is that it is not on the fear of senseless evil that the thugs of Gotham fixate. It is the fear of good; something that is very pertinent to me, because not often do we consider the persistence of good in our lives, and yet how unstoppable it can be when we let it. What we are lacking in our lives in a general sense now is the inevitability of anything except for despair—but to live our lives in the expectancy of some invisible, just, fair, kindness-seeking hand; THAT is an ethos I can get behind. How he takes this fear, seizes it into his own hands and relentlessly forges it and makes it into a weapon with which he can strike down the senselessness of evil is so much to me, because it goes back so much to what myths often revolve around: how it is that each of us must take up our own weapons against the dark, be it by carrying a lantern, or be it by taking the darkness in hand and making it our own weapon, making it so much ours that the dark becomes afraid of US. And that is so much to me!!

One other poignant (and immediately symbolic) part of Bruce’s intro to me that of the kid in the group in the beginning has only half of his face painted. Not only is he the only person who doesn’t seem particularly interested in menacing random civilians, he also cries out in fear & shock when his friends start firing on Bruce, and that is so important to me. Perhaps this is only poignant because it represents so much that when we are young and still being molded, we exist in two worlds: who we are told we will become, and who we have always been, and striking the balance between those two truths is the choice that makes each of us who we truly are. By having one foot in the world of violence and one still in that of a child, and by turning away and crying out against the injury of another, letting the rain wash away the half of his mask so he can be an innocent again—it is simply so dear and emotional to me, that maybe in a way by chasing people from the shadows, Bruce is also shocking them back into the light.

love that the first few minutes of the movie also emphasize, however much it is an undercurrent, that being Batman is also Bruce’s love letter to Gotham, that he is tied to it as much as it is tied to his family, and how it is his own God-given responsibility to care for, to tend to, to mend and to nurse as he chose and continues to choose. we love a man who picks his problem and then turns to it even when it is hard to, even when it costs him dearly to do so, even the image of his father, even the bones of his body.

The overall play of light and dark in this movie drives me WILD, they are allowed to have almost no lighting as a treat because for them it was done with intention and with reason!! you have heard it before and yet you will hear it again about the beauty of chiaroscuro as it is here—Bruce quite literally tells us that he IS the shadows, and in a way he is because he is a product of the fog-laden, blood-soaked city that is his, and yet while he cloaks himself in and carries the darkness with him, in his heart he is still just a boy, alone and reaching for the light wherever he can find it. The tension and the expectation of him melting from the shadows into being, and yet all the while being the fearful GOOD, the good that will take wounds upon himself so his friends will be safe, who will wait and watch and stay vigilant so that others may rest; shakes fist it’s so good!

me two minutes into the movie: wait….is that Captain Wentworth????? (it was)

Overall, the theme of the fallibility of men, first in Bruce’s long-idolized father, then in himself was something that drives me crazy! It doesn’t seem like it should be, but in a sense this is very much a story about someone who put his parents’ memory on a peerless pedestal, and then stepped back and tried to find out how to make sense of a world that doesn’t have them in it, how they could be snatched from it in an instant, and how that could be okay.

And then to come and find out that even his last piece of untarnished truth, that his father and mother were good to the core, is something he can’t lean on anymore, and how that breaks Bruce’s actual heart!! And personally I enjoyed the juxtaposition with that heartbreak he experiences at the revelation of his father’s fallibility with the moment later on when he loses himself when beating back his and Selina’s assaulters and Gordon has to shake him out of it—because it is the simple assurance that none of us are safe in the role of being “good” or well-intentioned, it’s something we have to work on, all our lives long! And yet somehow, how that is comforting to me.

I love that the essential truth revolving around Bruce’s life is that he loves people; it’s similar to what I always say is my own impetus behind wanting to write, that we do this work so that at least one person in the world will not feel alone when they experience what we do, and nowhere is that more apparent than with him and the mayor’s son.

You see, or maybe just infer, that so much of why Bruce has taken up this mantle is to ensure that no one will ever go through the horrific loss that he did, and yet how utterly shattering it is for him when history is still repeating itself over and over despite all his efforts otherwise. The generosity of that impulse is the other half of what makes him who he is, and I honor him so much for it. The impulse to ensure that others will never experience the same losses that we have is that exact balm to the evils of the Riddler, who wants to force everyone on the same playing field by experiencing a united grief.

Also, RPats said in an interview that Bruce is, in a way, trying to keep his parents alive by fighting the same kind of person who killed them but now in the present, and oh my am I obsessed with this idea because it’s a very similar one I have about grief. In an effort to keep them alive, even if it’s only through an emotion that at times blinds you to anything but the past, because even that shattering, soul-breaking emotion is the only new thing they will ever make in the world anymore, and by keeping on stoking it, you are in your own way keeping them around. The responsibility we come to feel that we have, after losing those we love, is to be the bearers of their memory, and to keep them alive however we can, even through the pain of constantly reliving that grief over and over again. It’s a duty, it’s a promise, it’s an act of blind faith, it’s love that doesn’t know how to lie down and turn away and close its eyes. And yet, just like how we can never truly lose those who love us, nor can we really set aside that grief, because it is how that love continues, and to lose that would be something more horrific than the mere cost of the pain that grief may bring us.

The direct pipeline between him meeting Selina and melting almost the instant he sees her, then them gradually dancing around trusting each other, her entrusting him with the truth of her and shutting a door on his fears with a gentle kiss, and then him telling Alfred that he had forgotten how to fear losing those he holds dear…I’m not obsessed with writing a Sleeping Beauty retelling for naught, and this parallel in particular really does have its claws in me, loves. She literally saves him at the end, pulls him back from death’s door and kisses him, and he wakes up!! I simply cannot make these things up!

The instant softening of his eyes when he and Selina meet each other’s glances for the very first time—I’ve gotta goooo—

(The part where he is checking that the contacts are correctly fitting in her eyes and she tilts her face up towards him and starts ever so imperceptibly leaning in and then he breaks it by TURNING AWAY—me and the folks in my corner of the theater all quite audibly were like EXCUSE ME SIR?? COME BACK HERE? extremely funny times my friends)

the theme where all of the three main characters (who to me are Bruce, Selina, and the Riddler) are children who were molded and scarred and formed by the consequences of their parents actions, how it shapes each of who they are, how in a way the traumas of Gotham keep re-folding and reshaping themselves into new demons for each generation, and yet the quiet glory of how this one is arming themselves to fight those demons back and avoid the pitfalls of their elders.

How literal those consequences are for Selina; it interests me that the phrase “the sins of my father” is used so heavily for Bruce, and can then be applied so closely to Selina; she is quite literally her father’s sin come back to drive a sword through his heart, and to be honest it is one of the most compelling plot lines I’ve seen in a long time; give me a girl with a sword in her hand about to strike down the malevolence that stole her mother from her!!

How Selina grows up from the absolute heart-wrenching grief of the murder of her mother as a child, to becoming a shelterer and protector in her own right, to her cats and her friends and one stray orphan boy. the most dear 2 me.

The instant sunshine burst of wide and deep JOY I had at the very end, watching them race each other. To me, it has the same energy as a truly beautiful dance does, because it sets them so utterly as not just equals, but one another’s partners. That they can part with such utter simplicity and sincerity and yet there is no broken-heartedness because they have given each other only the absolute truth of themselves fully so there is nothing to regret!

Honestly I’m shocked, and it’s because this is not a movie obsessed with darkness for its own sake—it’s about the gradual waking up to the light permeating, changing everything with its touch, and that is why it is so guttural and essential to me. This is not a film that wants you to linger on the senselessness of destruction and violence. It isn’t gratuitous in constantly forcing you to look at the tragedy and bleeding hurt of the world. No, it is a story about the very sensibility of reaching for truth and goodness even when you don’t quite believe they could possibly exist anymore. Bruce as a person is not interested in blind justice—he cares, very much, and so all of his actions are with purpose, and his duty will always have the intent of truth behind it. He is no impartial bystander- he would not be here as he is if he was, and thank goodness for that.

The implications of the planned flood, the cruelty of it being manufactured by men who have false delusions of grandeur and that they should get to decide when others suffer; this contrasted with Bruce, who literally meets the disaster face-first and takes the brunt of it and lets it change him. Bruce falls into the floodwater and then rises again from it to lead others to light by the act of his own hand. When he emerges from that water, he learns to come to terms with the reality of his work; in a way, it is like a revival, like a rebirth.

To be able to hope again is no simple thing, and yet at times it comes at great cost to yourself, and that is extremely apparent to me from this. The shot of him leading the survivors with a flare, in a way akin to the parting of the Red Sea—coming into his own right as a protector and keeper of safety and LIFE, to lead people back to life. To be able to offer a hand, and for it to be taken; each is a beautiful work in its own right. It is no small thing to descend into such darkness, and yet to be able to come back from it, and then turn around and plunge back into it again, and yet he does. And that is the choice which makes him! All of it melting into the dawn of the ending…at the end I was found keeled over knocked clean out by the magnificence of that choice tbh.

Bruce’s journey is that of a person who has a duty- yet his duty is not to dwell in darkness, as he thought. His duty is to extend his hand to those in darkness, and to walk with them towards the sunrise, back towards life itself. And then to plunge back towards the darkness, to do the very same action, and to do it over and over for the rest of his life. It is his work, the responsibility he chose, and yet it is such a precious and dear one.

This combines with the applications of faith, as I see it in Bruce—as he tells Alfred, he has spent so long guarding his heart, jealously trying to not let it be touched as it was touched in the past, only to be shattered—and yet the faith that he upholds, that people are still worth fighting for, worth making their lives something certain, that means so much to me!! To hold to the belief of good things, when all the while we are trapped in some matrix or maze of darkness that binds us to the truths that most horrify us, and yet to continually spend your time putting every bit of your effort into turning towards something good, even when you’re not sure if you really think it exists anymore but it breaks your heart worse to think that it might not be so you must at least fight for a world where it might still exist—AH. the perfect thesis. Because to be blind to the truth and yet to keep continually inescapably searching for it is sometimes all we can do when confronted with an imperfect world, and while it is a heavy duty it is a vitally important one.

It means a lot to me that the entire thesis of this film, quite literally stated, is the gradual transition from that of fear into that of hope. it is the expectancy of the good, just the same as the beginning, but turned on its head, shaped and changed so now Bruce himself can believe and HOPE himself again. Not just for continuing survival, but for life, to live it and live it well. And after years of being in a frozen state, to be able to see life stretching before you, to know te length and breadth of it when you used to think there was nothing there at all but shadow and nothingness—that is a relief no one can undersell, I think. In some strange, imperceptible way, that fear and that hope are the same thing, two faces of one coin, and yet that gradual, stretching, changing belief in the expectancy of the good does, in its own way, make the world & the city more tangible, less an amorphous tangle of shadows and more a living, breathing thing that can be saved, that has a life to live.

To step into the dawn from the nightfall, blinking and squinting in the graciousness of the day, is one of the most basic human emotions, one we should all get to experience in our lives. Because, with all his time inflicting fear on others, now Bruce can be a hand that extends hope to another person. At the end of the day, do not all of our favorite stories revolve around the simple action of someone reaching out to another, despite the world raging around them? That is the lasting image of it all for me; to go into the dark, and then to come back, hand in hand. And to know that you must return to that dark, but that you can still come back afterwards, and to rest content in that fact. A story for our times indeed.

[onlyetherial]

Superman/Batman; Friendship V Inadequacy

So I don’t have a ton of time for the “what if Batman and Superman FOUGHT” stories outside of mid control or some other kind of compulsion because, while the spectacle can be fun with the right team behind it, the larger stories about considered conflict between the two hinge on interpretations of one or both characters that I’ve never been too enamored with. Yeah, they’re different people with different priorities and outlooks on life, and that can drive tension between the characters, and tension between people who share the same goal and similar methods makes for great storytelling, but these guys do ultimately share the same goal. They even have similar perspectives on their duties as heroes. 

Superman is an exemplar for humanity and a symbol of hope (which, I’m told, is what the “S” stands for), not just that the most powerful man on the planet will guard us from its horrors, but that the world and the people in it really are capable of deep-down genuine goodness. There is good in the world, good in us all, and if you ever doubt it all you have to is look up. Look up to the man with the colorful suit and the kind eyes. 

 Batman, likewise, seeks not just to save and protect the innocent, but incite a feeling, in both directions. The powerful and the cruel must know fear. They don’t even have to fear him necessarily, they just need to look out into the night, the time that once felt so unimpeachably theirs, when Gotham and all its little people felt like theirs and know that they are not safe. That somewhere, out in the dark, there’s a figure waiting to swoop down and plant a boot on their neck. And the little people? They know it too. 

And the stories that involve these two that are my favorite, are the ones where they’re friends, or, even better, where they’re gonna be friends. 

So I have a lot of problems with Tom King’s recent run on the main Batman comic, but there’s a dynamic he introduces between Batman and Superman that I love. Essentially, at a time where the two characters are certainly allies and even on good terms beyond that, but are both still unsure how close it gets to friendship, Bruce excludes Clark from something personally important. When they’re each talking to their respective significant other, they each express the same thing. 

Clark isn’t that surprised. He and Bruce are coworkers, not friends. Why would they be, really? Why would Bruce have time for him?  

Bruce, severe as ever, also comes across a little deflated when he explains himself. He’s not gonna put Clark in that position, because if he tells Clark, if Bruce invites him into it, then, because Clark’s really nice, he’ll say yes, and then Clark and Lois will be stuck somewhere feeling awkward and obligated. 

They literally have the same reaction: “Of course this is this way, we’re not really friends, he doesn’t respect me. And on some level, I understand why he wouldn’t.” 

Superman and Batman look at each other and each feel so totally inadequate that the thought of the other viewing them as friends seems terminally unlikely to both of them. 

And I get it. Clark looks at Bruce and sees a man, mortal in ways that Clark himself just isn’t, leaping into impossible danger, over and over, because maybe he can help. Can he claim bravery like that? And even more, for Bruce, all this, the crimefighting, the sacrificing, it’s a choice. Clark has the powers he has and understands that it’s a moral imperative that he use them to help people and stand up for those weaker than him. He could never have been anything but extremely important. But Bruce? Bruce could have done anything and been anyone. He could’ve retreated from the world, and really, how much could we blame him? But no. Violence and crime and greed and the worst parts of the world took those he loved from him and he decided that he’d dedicate everything he had to make sure that happened to fewer people. A man who had all the choices in the world chose to be Gotham’s guardian, at great personal cost. Would Clark have made that choice, as a younger man? Any life he wanted, free of responsibility, simple and quiet and full of love, under the protection of some other super being? Would he have still made it his mission to help? He doesn’t know. And that shames him. 

And Bruce! Of course he looks at Clark and sees none of the frailty that might have cost innocent people their lives because Bruce wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t bulletproof. But more than that, he sees this man, this being with so much power, always choosing to do good. To be good. A man with the power to be anything, and he’s the best of them. Nigh incorruptible, not because he can lift buildings and holds a sun in his eyes, not because of what he is, but who he is, that bone-deep compassion that makes him a hero. A man who trades in hope, instead of fear. Bruce lost his parents and sought to protect others from that pain. Clark never had that. He doesn’t remember Krypton. There’s sadness there, and longing, but not the same kind of grief. There was no great lived tragedy in his life to make him selfless and giving and righteous. He’s just like that. He’s a hero. Would Bruce have been, without that deep sympathy that was so violently thrust onto him? Would he have gotten there himself, to that place of deep, actionable empathy, from which Clark operates? He doesn’t know. And that shames him. 

I just this love that. This deep admiration and insecurity it fosters is the best hurdle to these twos’ friendship. 

[hotdadslade]

DC’s Failed Shared Continuity

This is a subject that I see touched on a lot but not really addressed, so I wanted to break it down.

DC’s core comics (That is, Batman, Superman, Justice League, etc, and not the elseworld style books like DCeased or White Knight) are generally understood to be happening in a shared continuity. That is, what happens in one book reflects in the other. The series cross over, because they take place in the same universe.

Only that isn’t true anymore.

There are a lot of plot holes that don’t really make sense, but that isn’t what I want to talk about. Instead, I want to talk about the fact that DC has absolutely no timeline, the absolute glut of events happening in and out of main books, and the fact that each DC comic is effectively its own universe, rather than shared between it.

I’m going to address the following examples, just to give people an idea of what’s going on and exactly what I mean when I talk about a shared continuity:

The fact that Alfred Pennyworth’s funeral happened before he died.

The fact that Bruce Wayne was in at least three places at once at the start of Perpetua’s invasion.

DC’s insane event schedule through 2019.

The lack of impact events are having with the readers, such as the fact that fact that the entire of South America went to war, China engaged in mass orgies, and the entire of Britain stared at the sky for days on end and almost no reader has heard about it.

City of Bane’s complete lack of impact in the larger DC universe

And last but not least: Why does this matter, and where does DC go from here?

Alfred’s Funeral is before his Death:

Alfred Pennyworth dies during City of Bane. We see his funeral in Pennyworth: R.I.P., where we see the family come together and share stories before immediately getting into a slap fight over it.

This unquestionably happens after City of Bane, because City of Bane is when Alfred died. Despite this, Ric is still around:

That little note in the bottom left makes it clear that this happens before Nightwing Annual #2.

The majority of Annual #2 is a flashback, but it specifically ends with the Court of Owls telling Cobb (that is, Talon) that Dick will soon be his, and telling him to move in. This happens in Nightwing 63, when Cobb shows up (aided by Apex Lex’s gift), and starts screwing with Dick’s life. I’ll skip over the most of it: what matters is that Talon brainwashing Dick Grayson appears the same night Perpetua’s symbol appears over the city (in Nightwing 66 and a number of other issues), Dick attacks the Nightwings, fights Condor Red, and then is freed from the mind control all in one night.

Which is great. Except this can’t happen after Alfred’s death, because the symbol of Perpetua (which appears everywhere at once) appears over Gotham during City of Bane (in Batman 81):

So we have one event happening simultaneously in Nightwing and Batman, only one happens before/during Alfred’s death, and the other supposedly happens well after.

Which leads us into...

Batman apparently can be everywhere at once

So up above we have Batman 81. Bruce is, at this point, in the city rushing to beat Bane when the symbol pops up.

Here’s the symbol popping up in Detective Comics (1014) while fighting the Freezes (the city, I’ll note, is normal Gotham at this point, not controlled by Bane):

Bruce is in Paris (in theory, after his coma) in Outsiders #6, and then arrives back in Gotham just in time for the symbol to appear in the sky in issue 7:

Even just while researching this, I realized that it happened in other issues too. The symbol appears in the sky in Batman/Superman issue 3 while Bruce is being attacked by the infected:

It also happens in Justice League, but I can’t be bothered to get pages.

This is all taking place in a shared universe, so the fact that there’s three or four different Bruce’s in three or four different books who are all doing completely different things in different areas is... baffling. DC has always played a bit fast and lose with Detective Comics and Batman, rarely defining which is happening first or what their exact order of events is, but this takes it a step beyond that.

It also leads into...

DC has how many events? and What happened to the infected?

2019 was a year. Specifically, it was the year of the Villain, but it really should have been year of the event, because DC had so many events happening almost concurrently that it was impossible to figure out what was going on when.

You had Heroes in Crisis running from late September 2018 to May 2019 (acknowledged in Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Red Hood, and Titans, but largely inconsequential and rarely referenced again).

Year of the Villain itself spanned the whole year, with two dedicated series (YoTV and YoTV: Hell Arisen), a huge Justice League arc (14 issues!), literally dozens of tie in issues in main books, and 8 oneshots focusing on specific villains and their upgrades. 

This also tied into The Infected storline, where the Batman who Laughs infected six heroes and sent them out into the universe to torment people. This, too, got a number of oneshots and tie-in issues.

You had Event Leviathan, a six issue series which then got a spinoff and soon a sequel through the second half of 2019, which promised to ‘stretch across the DC universe and touch every character’, which has been, outside of Action Comics (which spun it off), a complete non-entity.

You also had Doomsday Clock, which launched all the way back in 2017 and only finished in late 2019. This was intended to ‘impact the entire DC universe’, with the idea that when the series ended, the rest of the continuity would catch up to it and you’d see the repercussions. It’s effectively been rendered non-canon, taking place outside the universe in a single line in Justice League.

So many things were happening, and they were all stressed as extremely important, but when the chips were down...

Most of them weren’t.

Half the Villain upgrades went away with the blink of an eye (Black Mask hasn’t shown up since his oneshot, and Riddler threw his retirement out in favor of being cRaZy in Batman). Heroes in Crisis had almost no affect. Event Leviathan is waiting on its sequel, having meant almost nothing despite the fact that an entire country was taken over. Doomsday Clock is now effectively out of canon.

Many of these (mostly YOTV itself) lead into the Death Metal event happening now, but that’s the thing: they only lead into that. There’s minimal acknowledgement of those events happening in other books. Even when huge things that should be impossible to ignore happen, they have minimal to no effect on the wider continuity. When is Death Metal happening, in continuity? No idea. What about the infected arc? What about Justice League?

Who knows? DC doesn’t seem to.

Which leads into the finale, the great big ‘are you kidding me’ moment:

Remember that time hundreds of thousands of people died, the whole of South America went to war, and China descended into mass orgies?

No?

Neither does anyone else.

In Wonder Woman issue 50 (and some issues around it), a series of dark gods emerge from (you guessed it) the dark multiverse. Each takes control over a single country, enacting their dark bidding. 

(Brief Suicide CW in the description below)

The goddess of war causes the entire of South America to literally go to war, invading and murdering each other. The mob god causes the whole of Britain to walk outside and stare up at the sky, not eating or drinking until they started to drop dead. A god of indulgence causes the entire of China to engage in bacchanalia, which is effectively a frenzied orgy of celebration and dancing. The nameless god has taken over Saint Petersburg, causing those within to commit mass-suicide impulsively.

And of course this has been happening world wide. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands are dead. We see shots of other places - mass murder in the streets of Hong Kong, for example.

We actually see other heroes in this. The whole arc actually starts with Supergirl fighting Diana, and then while she's briefly out of commission, the Justice League (Bruce, Arthur, Barry, J’onn, Victor, and Kendra) show up to help only to get absorbed by the big bad. That’s when the above panel happens, and then even more heroes get thrown at the problem.

In the end, Diana ‘wins’ - by sacrificing her brother Jason to the Dark Gods. The gods return the Justice League, and undo the damage they’ve caused on Earth. Those dead aren’t actually dead, for example. Time gets rewound... partially. We see the Justice League who only partially remember what happened, but the damage around the area is still there.

This should be, by any metric, a huge fucking deal. Literal gods appeared from the multiverse and fucked over huge chunks of the planet. Hundreds of thousands died and then were, in theory, un-killed. The heroes are aware of this, and have at least partial memories.

And yet it’s never acknowledged. 

This is supposed to be a huge event. The stakes literally could not be higher, and yet I’ve never seen this arc even acknowledged in any other book. This isn’t even a unique thing, either: all of New York (and most of the world) flooded in Doctor Fate and no one noticed outside that book.

So what about City of Bane?

But by far the most significant example of this is City of Bane itself. City of Bane was a huge event. Some of the top selling issues of 2019 were the City of Bane issues. It received numerous ads in other books, as well as major attention. It was the culmination of Tom King’s entire run, and lasted for more than half a year. It involved Gotham taken over by the titular Bane, ruling it with an iron fist and using mind-controlled villains as his own personal police force. It was a huge, game-changing event.

And outside of the pages of Batman (and Gotham City Monsters), it might as well not have happened. Any time it is acknowledged, it’s in the most awkward and confusing manner possible.

Batman and the Outsiders, Issue 6, Bruce is in Paris, Alfred gets a callout from Ra’s, and calls Bruce home: 

Bruce immediately gets on a plane and flies home, landing at the end of issue 7 when the Perpetua symbol goes up.

In issue eight, taking place immediately after, we are lead to believe that the entire City of Bane arc happened in between Bruce flying home from Paris and arriving in time to help:

This is far from the only example. City of Bane tends to be acknowledged exclusively in terms of ‘this issue takes place before City of Bane’ editor notes. The only real thing that gets acknowledged is Alfred’s absence: Detective Comics skips over City of Bane entirely (The YOTV issues taking place before, and then going straight to ‘after), Red Hood and the Outlaws ignores it, and Batgirls acknowledgement is effectively skipping City of Bane itself to go right back to talking about ‘cleaning up the city’ with a one line mention of ‘what Bane did to Gotham’. Plenty of other books either don’t mention it at all, or the mention is so minor I completely missed it.

So why does this matter?

Early on in my time in this fandom, I noted that the more a fan is into DC comics (not the fandom, but specifically the comics), the more they’d hate the comics themselves. This extends beyond what most people on tumblr would consider the ‘fandom space’ - I’m talking reddit, league of comic geeks, comic review sites, etc. The fact is that DC has created a scenario where the more you read their work, the worse it gets. Any individual comic from the examples above reads just fine on its own, but when you read multiple comics you start getting confused about why nothing makes sense. There’s no order to things, no continuity. Things are said in one issue and ignored in the next. Major events are trumpeted as changing the status quo but don’t change a thing. DC is actively pushing away their most dedicated readers, the ones who are going out and buying 5+ issues a week.

So what comes next?

The original reason this all came up was the news that DC’s upper editorial staff had been hit with major layoffs. While nothing yet has been confirmed (this happened only three days ago), the general rumors is that DC is going to be majorly cutting back the number of titles. With Death Metal almost certainly heralding a continuity reboot ala Flashpoint, now is the perfect time for DC to figure out what it’s doing with its continuity, and realistically, they have two options.

Option One: Forsake Shared Continuity.

I’m sure a lot of people would hate this idea, because shared continuity is such an intrinsic part of DC’s history, but looking realistically at sales numbers, there’s some major appeal. There’s far less work to it (important with the loss of their editors), and this isn’t to say all the books will be separate, just that they won’t all be inherently linked. Maybe they keep TEC and JL in the same canon. Maybe Nightwing, Batman, and Batgirl share too. The point is, though, that the fact that Gotham is burning to the ground will no longer reflect on Clark, who is apparently just out of earshot with his thumb up his ass doing nothing.

There’s precedent for this as well. Injustice, DCeased, Criminal Sanity, and White Knight are all stories in their own world that are selling (or have sold) extremely well. DC’s top fifteen issues sold for January to March of this year include seven issues of Batman, one issue of Wonder Woman, one issue of Flash, and then two issues of Unkillables, the Robin 80th oneshot, Strange Adventures (its own continuity), and an issue of Batman: Curse of the White Knight. If you go farther down, it’s more of the same - you have to go through every issue of Curse of the White Knight released, as well as Criminal Sanity, to get to Batman/Superman, Detective Comics, Justice League, and Superman.

I’m not sure this is the best choice, but I can’t imagine it’s not an appealing choice just the same.

Option Two: Fix Shared Continuity.

Without question, DC’s going to be (at least temporarily) paring down the number of books they have, and there’s never been a better time for figuring out what’s going on with their continuity. Less books means less to organize. A reboot and one very determined editor could help establish a baseline to work from, but that would require DC to focus on it as a priority.

I’m sure this is the choice most people will lean for, but it’s definitely the more intensive option, and we can only hope DC decides it’s worth it.

[dyketectivecomics]

wait i wanna hear the conversation about how cass processes her anger

(its been so long since i made the original tag, but i hope you like this verifiable essay zaed lmao) (and uh, LONG POST warning for everyone else. this is a good 3k of Cited/Summed-Up Issues and Meta about Cass’ Batgirl run)

The reason why Cass processes differently from Bruce is because their traumas have different origin points and therefore have manifested differently. While Bruce’s vigilante drive is in avenging those who have been wronged and bringing villains to justice (bc of his perceived ‘failure’ to save his parents/bring Chill to justice), Cass’ drive is all about her absolution (bc of her continuous guilt for taking a life & later for any other person she feels she ‘failed’ along the way). That being said, while Cass herself is not a typically angry character, the anger that she displays throughout Batgirl (2000) usually has one of three origin points; the vindictiveness towards criminals that she’s learned from Bruce, her unresolved anger towards her father & mother, or the special cases, often where her inhibitions have been selectively lowered due to outside forces. Given that Cass is never given many healthy options to channel this anger, however, is how she ends up emulating Bruce, and is what makes exploring her anger so fascinating.

With that, let’s dive through the canon & Cass’ journey in Batgirl (2000).

I - Learning Vindictiveness

Again, all things considered, Cass isn’t an angry character at the start of her series! In issue #1, wordless as most of it is, there is a very telling moment when both she and Bruce are fighting together, and when she chases a goon into an alley. She watches while Bruce is a little overzealous in taking said goon out. For first-time Cass readers who may not have read NML, this can be a very telling moment. Cass has seen Bruce work. More than that, she’s seen him work in what’s likely one of the most stressful disasters to plague Gotham. But this is one of the first times that she’s really seeing him, and starting to pick up on how and why Bruce operates the way that he does. Admittedly, this is an undertone that I didn’t quite pick up on, during my first readthrough! But I mention it here bc I think it’s something to keep in mind. Because in #4, when Bruce makes his infamous “she’s perfect” speech, he specifically mentions how she ‘holds back’ even for criminals who he wouldn’t care if she was a little harsher with. I think that this is a big moment for Bruce, realizing how he excuses vindictiveness. However, he quickly backtracks on this when in #6, when Cass becomes so incensed (one of the first times we really see full-fledged anger from her) by seeing a criminal shooting arbitrarily that she stops his heart for a few seconds. And Bruce, hypocrite that he is, berates her for taking things a Step Too Far there.

Okay, might be getting a little harsh on Bruce, so in his defense, he doesn’t like the road he sees her heading down. At this point, he’s in denial of the Evidence that Cain has sent him so far that Cass has killed in the past. He’s fearful for what it might mean that he’s putting faith and trust in a potential killer (or rather is in flatout denial that Cass The Perfect Fighter could Ever Have Possibly Killed when she CLEARLY exhibits so much control. Killers must be all or nothing things, after all, right? Once one, aways one? (you’re absolutely wrong bruce but OKAY))

The point still remains, that Cass didn’t show vindictiveness on this level prior to issue #6. And more importantly, prior to Bruce showing her his own vengeful side. And the wildest thing about this… is that he continues to nurture and reward that vengefulness.

Issue #14 is a follow-up to a story where Cass had saved a man while out of costume, and Bruce learns that he had been killed regardless. Hoping to intercede before she finds out on her own, he leads Cass directly to the killers and allows her to punish (read: beat the crap out of) them for the man they killed. Now, there was some significant lead-up to this issue, the biggest shake-up also being that Cass is officially moved out of the Clocktower and into her own Cave. (Promotion or Isolation, it’s tough to speculate which exactly Bruce had in mind, given Cass’ behavior leading to this moment. None of it, I would label as quite angry, however. More... moderately rebellious.) So this can be seen as a kind of turning point where Bruce is explicitly putting faith in her again. 

From here we begin to see more and more instances of children being put in danger & Cass being more vindictive in turn. Most especially in #16 (when Cass realizes the mastermind behind a heist is the father of the boy who sent her after them & she’s harsher with him than with many of the other crooks), and #18 (where she and Tim team up and she breaks a kidnapper’s hands when he threatened to kill the girl he had hostage). By this point in the series, Cass has also been working more consistently with others, and it’s easy to see how this has become a learned behavior, and a poor outlet for her growing anger towards the criminal element.

Cass, for all of her heart and training that she’s poured into her vigilantism, at this point in the series had been working towards one goal, to be ready to die by Shiva’s hands. Now, I want to put  a pin in Shiva since she comes more into play in Part II, but just know that their fight in #25 was a turning point for Cass’ character, where she begins to care much more about the work Bruce does outside of simply fighting criminals, she begins to care about truly helping victims and for solving cases.

#34, specifically, opens with Cass and Bruce investigating a crime scene, where Cass can tell that a child was hurt. She asks Bruce to allow her to help solve it, but he benches her, telling her she’s ‘not ready’ for detective work. The rest of the issue is interspersed with Cass training until her knuckles are bleeding, and does end with her helping Bruce take down the group responsible! When Bruce asks at the end, however, if putting away One Killer is enough for her, she responds ‘No’, and Bruce expresses his pride in that declaration.

For a long time by this point in the run and for quite a time after, Bruce has absolutely been molding Cass more and more into the same type of vigilante that he is. And Cass is perfectly fine with that! She sees Batman as something to aspire to, the symbol as something transformative and redemptive. And as long as she is channeling the anger that she feels at those who so clearly deserve that punishment, then she must be doing something right.

Because there certainly aren’t other outlets or alternatives that could be productive… could there?

II - Dad/Mom Issues

Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive is an extremely notable story arc, not only for the crossover event that it became, but for the impact and repercussions that it would have for Cass. While not expressing anger, per se, during this arc, Cass does show a lot of frustration towards both Dick and Barbara whenever they suggest theories of how/why Bruce may have actually committed the murder (which, spoiler, he was indeed framed for! By Cain, no less!). This is important to note because this arc highlights a few things; the faith and trust that Cass has put into Bruce that she’s willing to go to bat for him, the jealousy & proprietary nature that Cain displays over Cass, and finally the consequences that are had when that jealousy comes to light.

Another case opens up after this arc, and Cass is forced to confront Cain in #33 in an effort to gather intel on the criminal known as Alpha. When she goes in under the guise of a reporter and tries to interrogate him, she’s overcome with unresolved anger towards Cain, yelling “Who do you think you are?” and even breaking through the glass to get to him. This isn’t the first, nor the last time that Cass’ anger towards Cain is on display, but it’s certainly a prominent one, as while she makes physically aggressive moves towards him (and yeah, initially kicks him when breaking through the glass), she never outright lays a hand on him otherwise in this one. Threatens him, sure, but shows remarkable restraint given the high emotions. 

Cass’ feelings about Cain and about the events of Murderer/Fugitive aren’t ever fully articulated, but given #37, I think we can draw some more definitive conclusions. This issue follows the thread given previously in #33, opening with Cain sending Cass a knife for her birthday. With it, she finally connects the dots that Cain is indeed her biological father, something that was speculated, but not fully confirmed before now. In her anger against everything he’s done to her, they close this issue with a rather dramatic shot of her doing everything possible to destroy the knife, leaving it unclear if she’s truly successful, however.

In later issues when Cass reminisces on her past and on those who have influenced her, Cain is always one of the shadows included. Unfortunate as it is, Cain will always be part of who Cass was, but from this point on in her series, she starts to let some of that anger go. Cain doesn’t decide her future. She does.

Juxtapose this idea, however, much later in #65, when Cass begins to suspect who her mother might be, but wants confirmation. This is what kicks off the final arc of her series, and effectively brings one of the longer running storylines to a close. Cass goes to Gotham to ask Bruce, who also has had his suspicions, but can’t confirm that Shiva is her mom. Since Cass is in town, she goes to train with Onyx (another former assassin-turned vigilante), and whether she’s doing it on purpose or because Shiva is on her mind, she begins to incorporate Shiva’s moves into her fighting, which Onyx points out. All this comes to a head when she confronts Cain for an answer, which he refuses (and we finally see her fully beat his ass lmao). Once again, she doesn’t express anger with Bruce or take out her frustrations on Onyx, but instead levels the blame entirely on Cain, and uses him as an outlet once she’s reached a breaking point. 

Another moment to point out is in #67, when the Birds of Prey help Cass along in tracking down Shiva, and when Cass and Dinah train in the meantime. Dinah shows off her new moves (Shiva’s moves) to Cass, and Cass reacts badly, nearly choking Dinah out as she demands to know how Dinah learned those moves. She learns that Shiva’s been looking for a student/heir, and later on that she’s been working with the League of Assassins to help her to that end. I feel this moment highlights a growing trend, that feelings left bottled up will eventually spill over if they’re not properly acknowledged. Would Cass have otherwise reacted so poorly to Dinah showing her ‘new moves’ otherwise? But I digress.

Given that their first confrontation was in this same vein, of Shiva looking for one to either end her reign or take over her legacy, it’s kind of poetic for them to end on this note. The series concludes with Cass facing off against Shiva for the last time, Cass the unmitigated victor, with nothing left to prove to either of her parents or to herself. She’s finally at peace with her past, and that leaves her present a wide open mystery.

This, however, brings us to a topic that still bears exploration...

III - The Edge™

Because no matter how much Cass is able to hold back, even in her quest for justice. No matter the anger that she feels towards her parents. I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the times that Cass has been pushed back to the worst possible edges.

The first, and most prominent of which, occurs in #15, when Cass is hit by a machine that causes her to hallucinate the Joker killing Bruce. The entire purpose of the machine was to push people into ‘deciding’ to kill others, and for most it would knock them out for a few minutes/hour before they would wake up and be compelled to commit a killing spree. For Cass, it was a matter of seconds that she ran through the scenario presented by her subconscious, and to make that ‘decision’. Cass is introspective at the end of the issue, and her concern for Bruce is made very clear. Her emotions towards that ‘decision’ however… is a lot less understood.

Now another issue I want to bring up is #19, a lot less for it being an issue where Cass’ outright anger is employed, but as another extreme case with high emotions. Cass hears that a man has been sentenced to die, and, believing that all life should be spared, actually goes to the trouble of breaking through the chamber where he’s being held and stops the process in its tracks. She truly does want to believe that anyone can be redeemed, and it’s an admirable part of her character. Ultimately, her efforts are for naught, the man is still sentenced to die and Cass is now forced to contend with a system she does not agree with. It’s an interesting idea to explore and highlights her idealism, but ultimately it’s not as fully understood or even really acknowledged, in my opinion, by the fandom at large. (Which is why I wish I had highlighted it in my previous meta, but I’m getting off topic again.)

Recalling that her ‘Perfect Year’ occurs during this next example, in #21 she almost kills the villain Shadowthief in her preparation for her first deathmatch with Shiva, and immediately regrets the lapse in judgement when she realizes what she had done. Stephanie was luckily nearby to help her resuscitate him, but it was nonetheless a very telling moment and lapse. It’s a harrowing reminder of what Cass IS capable of. Though she’s been preparing and training for a fight to the death, she’s still absolutely abhorred by the thought of taking another life. She’s not angry during this battle, she’s more playful than she’s been in a lot of issues leading up to this, actually. But the point remains, Cass will always be capable of taking another life, what she lacks is the willingness to knowingly do so, and now will always have a fear of the possibility.

With that we circle back around to two of the drug-induced cases, first in #46 where Cass accidentally ingests Soul. The stream of consciousness that materializes on the pages, shows that she HAS picked up on everything that everyone around her feels/sees in her, and that she’s internalized it to some degree. Cass does manage to fight through most of it and held her own against the drug runners she was fighting. Something to note, though, is that this incident is preceded by Cass learning that Babs and Dick are once again at odds, so once Babs sends Dick to check up on Cass, she responds (still in that drug-induced state mind you) by kicking Dick out a window on Babs’ behalf. Given that Cass has no previous history of turning on allies, (& won’t again until the incident with Dinah much later) even when frustrated or in disagreement with them, this moment certainly needs to be kept very carefully in context.

Following this issue, we see a slight personality change from Cass, where she’s becoming more reckless and frustrated. In #48 this culminates in her ignoring both Babs and Bruce’s calls, she ends up comprising his human trafficking investigation, and Bruce grounds her from being Batgirl in the meantime. #49 shows her going against Bruce’s wishes and operating in Babs’ old suit, something that angers Bruce when he discovers this.

This story arc finds its conclusion in #50, where both Cass and Bruce are gassed with Soul and they fight a pretty brutal battle while under its effects. They have their famous heart to heart after, where Bruce asks ‘once and for all’ where Cassandra’s loyalties lie. Bruce later posits that this fight was the ‘therapy’ that Cass needed bc “what other therapy will she understand?”. 

While his heart may have been in the right place, this idea, that Cass can only respond to fighting and express herself through violence, is ultimately not a very healthy one. Cass’ default is already training and fighting, so any further strain that she puts on herself becomes something more akin to self-flagellation than anything near to a proper coping mechanism.

IV - Conclusion

And that’s where the parallel between Cass and Bruce really reaches an uncanny similarity for me. Because they pour everything they can into the mission, often to the detriment of their mental and emotional health. While Bruce’s degrees of self-awareness for his anger may vary by writer, Cass’ is fairly consistent across her Batgirl run. The outlets given to her were so few to begin with, and any effort to examine her emotions or to express herself through other outlets is… simply not given to her for all too long over the course of her series. It’s a rather tragic, and ultimately heartbreaking thing, because so soon after her series ends… DC seemed to decide the best thing to do with her, was to turn her into a villain.

I said at the beginning that Cass is not a naturally angry character, but it does need to be acknowledged that she’s absolutely capable of anger, and that that anger is often not expressed in the healthiest of ways. Whether this development is seen and acknowledged by the fandom at large, however, well… while that’s looking less and less likely by mainstream batfam stans, I am hopeful that Cass fans continue to highlight this aspect of her character in the content they create. And that I, too, can remember to acknowledge this in future fan content that I make as well.

[taffystake]

So......Are you ready for the encore?

Taffy’s Take: Dark Nights Death Metal #1

Written by: Scott “Hallowed Be Thy Name” Snyder

Pencils by: Greg “Panikiller” Capullo

Inks by: Jonathan “Motorbreath” Glapion

Colors by: FCO “Fixxxer” Plascencia

So....it has all finally come to this. The finale. The ultimatum in a long saga of stories that started in the original Dark Nights, began showing its hand in No Justice, and was fully fleshed out with Snyder’s Justice League run. And it opens with a resounding boom that rivets your attention straight to the story and won’t let go until the pages run out. 

We open with Sergeant Rock, preparing himself and an unknown audience for a conflict to come. When or where this is set is somewhat unknown, but the massive futuristic assault rifle he levels to emphasis his last line says that Rock is somewhere in the modern day.

After the credits page, featuring a map of the current world of the DCU and a message that calls Death Metal an “Anti-Crisis”, we cut to Wonder Woman, hard at work deconstructing the invisible jet with a buzzsaw-like device in the literal depths of hell (Originally Themyscira) when someone interrupts her over approaching people. Said person is the flaming, green-covered skeleton that Swamp Thing has become in this world and he says that someone is coming with prisoners. And as Diana walks through her prison to meet these people, we get to see the absolute myriad of villains entombed in the place, including Joker. Once they reach the quartet, we get to meet Batmage, a red-suited Batman, a cloaked figure, and.....Bat-Tyrannosaurus. After some very terse banter, Diana is forced to throw this unknown prisoner into the pits of Tartarus. But before he is cast into the depths, he mutters something to Diana that makes her recognize the person for a moment.

After that, we are shown Castle Bat and given a backstory of a specific field within that area and the rebels who died within the tunnels underneath it before pulling back to a panel of a castle, with The Batman Who Laughs’ twisted Robins and Joker dragons dominating the structure. And then we meet The Batman Who Laughs’ League, composed of pairings of heros and Dark Multiverse Batmen. We have Harley Quinn and Dr Arkham, Aquaman and Bathomet, Wonder Woman and Batmage, and Mister Miracle and Darkfather. With each of them, we get a small question about their current work, with the most noteworthy being Mister Miracle revealing that Superman has almost succumbed to the Anti-Life Equation. Content with their briefings, The Batman Who Laughs begins to explain how Perpetua, the god who created their multiverse, has destroyed another of their universe, leaving only 8 before The Batman Who Laughs and Perpetua can remake the multiverse however they desire. Before we can hear more, we’re dragged into Diana’s perspective as the true Batman engages in a psychic link with her, trying to advocate for a small victory rather than the sweeping final win that Diana desires. As her thoughts turn towards what happened to result in the current state of the universe and her lack of memory about what caused it, The Batman Who Laughs interrupts her as he can tell that she is hiding something.

And at that moment, an explosive arrow fires out of the nearby woods and nearly vaporizes The Batman Who Laughs. Sacrificing one of his Robins, we soon see Bruce stride out to exchange threats with The Batman Who Laughs, who takes with some jest before ordering an entire squadron of Dark Multiverse Batmen to kill Bruce. While the enslaved Justice League does their best to take advantage of the distraction, their Dark Multiverse minders are quick to detain them from any rebellious actions. So Bruce is left alone, simply standing in this field to face down an army. And as The Batman Who Laughs monologues about how disappointed the brave men and women who died in this field would be at Bruce’s actions, he asks him what he would say to justify himself.

His answer?

One word.

“RISE.”

And so, with a BLACK LANTERN RING ON HIS FINGER, BRUCE WAYNE SUMMONS AN ARMY OF UNDEAD REBELS TO FIGHT THE DARK MULTIVERSE BATMEN JUST PURELY TO DEMONSTRATE WHAT HIS METHOD CAN DO TO DIANA BEFORE RIDING OFF ON A SKELETAL MOTORCYCLE AND LEAVING ZOMBIE JONAH HEX TO CONTINUE LEADING THE ASSAULT.

And now, as the audience both in the know about all of that and not in the know but hyped as hell because BRUCE WAYNE WENT FULL FUCKING NECROMANCER sits in the afterglow of that amazing moment, we cut to a single page depicting the planet Ossex as the Main Man, Lobo, unearths something from underneath the living bone of the planet.

Having made it back to Themyscira, Diana is quick to continue with the rebellion, setting off into Tartarus to see who this mystery prisoner is. And its...Wally West, with a Dr Manhattan-style hydrogen atom drawn into the forehead of his costume. And with Wally, we finally get an explanation of what the hell is going on. See, with the traditional multiverses, they are created using the positive energies that were explored in the Justice League run, things like the Speed Force, the Emotional Spectrum, Imagination. The inverse, stuff like chaos magic and the forces of doom that Perpetua wished to bring to power (and succeeded at doing) are what Wally calls Crisis Energy. And whereas the positive energies wish to create a strong united universe, Crisis Energies wish to simply make only one thing, one moment, one person important. And so, when Perpetua was trapped after her attempts to make a universe of war out of crisis energy, she did her best to instigate crises and came back empowered with all that energy. Meanwhile, the league, empowered by the slightly failed efforts of Dr Manhattan to ‘fix’ the multiverse, gathered all the positive energy they could and then, between the last issue of Justice League and Death Metal, the two forces clashed. Which, since they were basically smashing tow inverse forces together, resulted in both sides burning themselves out.

Now, that block of text could be extremely dry feeling, but it works really well in the two page spread, with the word balloons beginning to form an infinity symbol as images of past crises ranging from the original Crisis On Infinite Earths to Emerald Twilight to Dark Nights Metal in the background. 

But back to the story. With that explanation done, Wonder Woman begins to theorize potentially going back to those crises and gathering this information for themselves in order to reshape the universe themselves. Resulting in....”The first Anti-Crisis” The Batman Who Laughs interrupts with, striding into Tartarus to cut his own deal with Wonder Woman to let him take control over Perpetua. If she helps him, she gets all the people Perpetua has trapped and their own planet. And after that, he emphasizes how she can’t out-plan him, how he’s already prepared for her to knock him out, use the invisible jet she was being forced to deconstruct and melt down to give her armor that would render her undetectable. Wonder Woman is quick to counter that despite all the knowledge The Batman Who Laughs says he has, that entire plan is what Bruce would do. So he is quick to counter, stating so then she’d make a weapon, some sort of sword?

But it seems The Batman Who Laughs didn’t account for two things. One, for Diana to have already made her weapon before he showed up. Two, she didn’t need to make a sword. And so, with a pull of its ripcord, THE CHAINSAW OF TRUTH CLEAVES ITS WAY THROUGH THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS IN A SPLASH PAGE OF PURE ENERGY ERUPTING OUT OF THE DEMON WHERE THE CHAINSAW IS CUTTING THROUGH HIM!

The comic ends with two quick one panel stories. The first, with Batmage executing a final plan that The Batman Who Laughs had in place to unleash a final Bruce Wayne. Which only sounds mildly menacing, unti the art shows both a button with a watchmen-style frownie face and the final Bruce Wayne in silhouette, a glowing hydrogen atom on his forehead.

The other is a cut back to Sergeant Rock, still continuing with his tirade from the beginning of the comic before he is taken out of the moment by Batman coming to retrieve him for the big fight. And as Batman promises One last fight with everyone together, we get to see in silhouette that Sergeant Rock is missing his everything below his torso, revealing himself to likely be another resurrection from Bruce’s Black Lantern ring.

So, in summary, IM PUMPED TO SEE WHAT HEIGHTS THIS THING HITS! THE BIG MOMENTS WERE SO DAMNED COOL! THE ART IS STILL THE ABSOLUTE ALL KILLER NO FILLER THAT CAPULLO ROCKED OUT WITH IN THE LAST DARK NIGHTS METAL EVENT AND I CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT NEW SPORES OF MADNESS HE GETS TO CREATE FOR THIS STORY! 

And while I’d like to be pure hype beast, that feels a little disingenuous when I do have some small moments that seem like they could be tweaked. Both of the long exposition scenes for the Dead Bats and the Positive Energy vs Crisis Energy could have potentially stood for another pass just to really tighten them up, but I will also admit that both those scenes kinda deserve to be long-winded. The Dead Bats to make sure that the setup for Batman with a Black Lantern Ring summoning an army at that point works and the Energy one because its explaining the entire setup for the rest of the event series and it helps lull things down so that the hype of Chainsaw of Truth can hit like it should. 

So yeah, this thing is absolutely something any Scott Snyder fan, any DC fan, heck Id almost venture to say anyone interested in comics read. None of the story elements of the comic intrinsically need you to know the backstory behind them, but there are definitely rewards for knowing DC continuity in general and Scott Snyder’s previous works in this arcing story. So yeah, I am going to sit here, vibrating in anticipation as I await the next issue of Death Metal from the Cowboys From Hell on their encore tour.

[milliondollarbaby87]

From Gotham’s White Knight to Two-Face

“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain”

This was something uttered by the new Gotham district attorney not long after he had begun to get involved with the true low life and scum of the city. Predicting his very own future something that he probably wouldn’t have even believed himself. Happy with his life and how everything just seemed to be falling into place for his professional and personal life. Although his turn to become the villain would not be well known and his death was used to highlight the good side and not the monster that he had become. Rachel’s death pushed him to a very dark place very quickly, going from the incredible hero making such a difference to then going about avenging her death with the traitors within the police force to the mob and more importantly to The Joker.

I have watched The Dark Knight many times now and on a recent cinema trip to eventually witness it in all the IMAX glory it got me thinking about Harvey Dent. Thinking about how we don’t really talk about him that much when discussing The Dark Knight. I mean we all know why because Heath Ledger’s Joker is utterly breathtaking and scene stealing. But that is not meant to take away anything from Aaron Eckhart and the marvellous performance he puts in as Harvey Dent and then later Two-Face. I would even go as far saying it is one of the most impressive turns from good to evil as a character within Nolan’s trilogy. While some characters are walking a fine line between the good side of them and the bad side of them. Dent completely goes from one extreme to the other in dramatic fashion.

Batman highlights to Jim Gordon that Dent was the very best of them and that was the reason why The Joker wanted to bring him down. The toughest target and to prove the point that everyone could be corrupted and changed if you managed to push them far enough. Obviously Dent had no idea that Bruce Wayne was Batman, so the link with Rachel was rather awkward for Wayne. Immediately Dent wanted to get to meet Batman and when the press conference is called he did not actually want the man behind the mask to step forward. Sacrificing himself in hope that Batman would indeed to the right thing in saving him.

A small joke made by Rachel about how terrified Harvey was of the trust fund brigade, but this was very interesting to see unfold when he could not cope with Bruce Wayne and his pals. The fundraiser that was thrown in his honour was something that he did not really want to do or attend. Which shows his character in different situations as he was quite happy going up against the mob and criminals of Gotham even having a gun pointed at him in court not effecting him as much as the rich socialites of the city.

The panic of trying to free himself from being tied up whilst also talking to his love Rachel was never going to end well. A very cruel technique used as they both left with people they trusted and woke up tied up, with a timer and being able to speak to each other. Having to try and reassure the other that everything was going to be ok. That was far from the truth as Batman and Gordon attempted to get the locations of the pair. Falling into oil drums and being stuck on the floor with the oil, mixed with fire was never going to be a good combination, especially as he also had to say goodbye to Rachel.

The build up to seeing him physically injured from the incident was rather impressive, as we see that his nickname given when he was working internal affairs was about to become very true. He really had become Two-Faced. But while visually we can see he has changed the important thing to really focus on is that as a person his spirit was well and truly broken. So much so that he would never be the same again, especially when it comes to the choices he makes when seeking revenge. I also feel it is possible that his new outlook on life links with how he looks, so with his features being destroyed by the oil people will expect him to be a monster.

We instantly see him become the villain when waking up with his face melted off basically, then seeing his coin on the bedside table knowing that Rachel was not saved. She had his double headed coin, something that she did not realise to begin with when he loved leaving things to chance. Now though the coin would also become a symbol of his new dark side, one side of the coin had been burnt. This was one of his trademarks of leaving things to chance, although in his lighter days he always said heads for what he wanted the outcome to be knowing that was the only option. Now it would become a sinister game and first used with none other than The Joker, something he certainly likes very much!

In that very sense The Joker had already won, he took Gotham’s real hero with a face and proud to represent and be changing the city, not needing a mask like Batman and destroyed everything about him. Taking away someone you love being the worst possible thing to happen. That is what he cannot deal with at all, after the encounter with The Joker and managing to escape the hospital before it was blown up he sets on his way to find the people responsible and involved in Rachel’s death. Picking them off one by one and letting the coin decide, as soon as he makes the first kill it is sure that he will never be the white knight again.

The turning on Jim Gordon and forcing him to lie to his family, holding his young son at gun point. That really is one very dark turn right? Especially when Batman seems to take forever to arrive. Anyway the final scene and moments with Dent really show that he had become the evil monster, the villain that he predicted right at the start of the film. Although Batman was not going to allow the world to know about Harvey Dent becoming the villain, he was symbol in a different way to the dark knight and everyone just needed to continue the good work he started.

The Dark Knight: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Dent From Gotham’s White Knight to Two-Face “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain”

[bigskydreaming]

homez18 replied to your post:

Is there anything dumber than a reverse-age AU?...

Like it would be interesting to see how those child heroes would look at being a hero if it was Damian, but I dont think it would cause anything detrimental in the way that they wouldn’t be who they are if it wasn’t for dick grayson’s influence outside of the DC Universe

I see what you’re saying, and I both agree and disagree. The other child heroes are still the same people, and they’re not heroes BECAUSE of Dick Grayson - that was misstated on my part, if it sounded like that was what I meant, so apologies there. Its more the how and why and WHEN of it all, that I see changing as ripple effects.

Like for instance, I mentioned how Damian without Robin as a model or a mantle to take up himself, would likely model himself more of Batman....who is inherently a secretive, mysterious figure. So I’m wondering how likely is it that other people would even know that Batman had a child partner, let alone a young one....at least as early on in the timeline as people found out about Robin, y’know? Dick was front and center from day one as Robin, there was no hiding, because that was part of the point of being Robin for him, the bright, flashy colors. He MEANT to be seen, to be a symbol of brightness in contrast to Bruce’s dark enigma. Damian would be more inclined to act as kind of a secret weapon, I imagine, but regardless, one way or another I think it would be a lot later on in the timeline before it was common knowledge that Damian or Batboy existed and was out there.....much like Batman is often talked about having been an urban legend for years before he was known to factually exist as a member of the Justice League, etc.

So I think at the very least, other child heroes might have gotten a later start than they did.....Dick didn’t MAKE any of them heroes, but his presence as one in the limelight very definitively WAS an example that kind of....opened the floodgates, so to speak. I think any and all of the other child heroes would have eventually debuted of their own volition, even without his example.....but it might have been much later on.

And after that, then what? Dick was instrumental in forming the Teen Titans and taking leadership there, because Dick is a people person. Again, the clear contrast to Bruce, whereas Damian is equally deliberately written as being prickly and having issues working with others, let alone respecting them. So I don’t see it likely that Damian would even be involved with any form of the Teen Titans if not following in the footsteps of his older brothers.....let alone being a leader of the team.

So without Robin or Damian as the leader of an original Teen Titans lineup, whatever characters you select to fill that team, either Dick’s lineup or Damian’s current lineup depending on how far you spread the age swap effect.....well then, who steps up as leader, and what effect does that then have on the rest of the DC universe as the child heroes all grow up? Dick is consistently referred to as being the heart of the DC universe, the most trusted member of the cape community after Superman himself.....with this being cited as a large part of WHY the Batfamily is so integrated into the cape community despite their mentor and father being so infamously stand-offish and mistrusting and distrusted by his own teammates at various times.

With Damian in Dick’s role, and no precursor, would that still be true? Or would the Batfamily be already inherently more isolated from the cape community by the time the next member is added to the family? If Damian isn’t part of the early generation of Teen Titans the way Dick was, or even if he’s just a reluctant and stand-offish ally rather than the central figure Dick was for his team.....then do the later Batkids become more involved with later teams, or do they follow in their big brother Damian’s example the way they tended to follow in Dick’s example in this regard?

And if Damian isn’t the member of the second generation of heroes that’s regarded as a central pillar of the hero community the way Dick was, then who does occupy that spot? How does that then change the shape the second generation takes, the way they interact with the first generation of heroes, who at times have acted to shut down the younger teams or restrict them from acting so independently, with it usually being only Dick’s diplomacy that makes them agree to stand back and let the younger teams do their own thing. Is whomever occupies his place within the hero community here equally effective at convincing the older generation to let teams like the Titans and Young Justice be trusted to do their own thing? Or do the older heroes insist on having more oversight of them, if they even allow these younger teams to continue operating at all?

And so on and so on. Like I said, its all just ripple effects, but ripple effects can be hugely altering. Its not about saying oh Dick is the most important character in the DC universe, its the fact that even a small pebble can create big ripples when thrown into a pond, so when you take out a character who is KNOWN for being a pillar of various communities, extremely well-connected, someone that is consistently referred to as a hero that everyone of the community knows and trusts, someone who basically has far-reaching effects.....and replace that character for one who is EQUALLY known for being more self-isolating, slow to open up to others, hard to win over, insistent on doing things himself and his way.....how can the ripples they both make be at all the same or even similar?

That’s really my point there.

[elecilaombre]

So ... I tried to write a little something inspired by @nanadrawsrobins comics of Tim. I’m clearly not sure about the result, but I enjoyed doing it ! I hope you like it Nana... 

Water. Water was beautiful and calming ; ray of sunshine going through all the shades of blue that could exist ; cold and soothing drop on the skin ; burning tears and warm waves. Water was Tim’s favorite element, but also his most feared one… Because water could easily turn from calming to deadly ; and Tim was fully aware of it and very careful near it.

But right now, Tim was tired, exhausted and morose. Laying motionless in the bathtub, he was waiting for something ; he didn’t knew what exactly, but maybe it will become clearer later, later and that’s why he was waiting. He hoped for something, anything, that will push him to get up and go back to his life. But soon, it will be 3 hours that he was laying in the cold water and, except that Tim was shivering, nothing changed in those hours.

Tim was actually alone in his flat, Bruce had been clear about what would happen if he saw him in the street. Bruce hated him, hated him because he almost killed Boomerang - but it was an accident Bruce I swear it wasn’t in purpose - hated him because Tim wasn’t his son, hated him because he imposed his presence - I wasn’t mean for the mask - and mostly, lastly, hated him because he wasn’t Jason - or Dick, or Damian, not meant for Robin’s mantle- and Tim couldn’t do anything against that.

And, as stupid as it could sound, Tim needed his vigilante life, it was the only thing that he really enjoyed. Because he doesn’t have any friend anymore. Because he doesn’t have parents anymore. Because this role was the most important one he will ever have in his life. Because his friends and family gravitate around his vigilante work.

There was a lump in his throat, an enormous lump and he felt like sobbing and curling on himself, waiting for someone to save him - who would save me ?- to console him.

Now that he begun to think about it again, it almost has been 3 weeks since he was benched and exactly as long that he hadn’t heard about anyone of the family, except Alfred’s morning call remembering him to eat and sleep. Maybe he didn’t mattered if he wasn’t in costume. Because … who would want to be associated with Tim Drake ? Who ? Not Timothy Jackson Drake, heir of the Drake fortune. Nor with Red Robin, vigilante of Gotham. No, just Tim, sad little Timmy who loved photography and - wished for a loving family - loved the Gotham’s Bats with all his passions. Nobody loved this part of his personality. And that was the problem. Tim shouldn’t be Tim if he wanted to be - loved - happy. He needed to be someone else, to endorse another role.

He was getting so cold, literally from the inside, and he straighten to add some burning water to warm his body a little and lay down right back.

Tim started to drift off right away,half there only. He was alone, alone, alone … Just like when he was young and lonely in the manor, that his parents wouldn’t stay with him. It was just like this time when he was 4 and playing in his bathtub. When he was 4 and that he loved water too much. When he was 4 and alone in his bath. When he was 4 and tried to hug back the water. When he was 4 and almost became a new Narcisse. He didn’t drown, but it was close and luckily his mother saw him before it was too late. And truly, it really was just luck if she came at the right moment - she wasn’t worrying for me. And, it’s the first time that Tim realise that water could be gorgeous, but in the same time, dangerous.

But gosh, how Tim loved water. Maybe he was an adrenaline junkie just like Dick …? Ô Dick, what was Tim for Dick ? The young boy use to adulated Dick, to see him almost like a god figure. And Ô, how Tim was happy to work with him, back in his Robin day’s, when Nightwing use to work with him even if he was angry at Bruce. Like if Tim was important for him. Like if they were brothers. Sadly, it turned out to be a lied. After all, as soon as Bruce died, Dick first choice as Batman was to fired Tim and give Robin mantle to Damian. Supposedly, because the young boy need it more than him, since he lost his father … But Tim also needed it, Tim also lost a father - for the second time. Dick never loved him. Tim was just emotionally available at the right time for Dick, but nothing more than a replacement for Jason and a knock-off of Damian. And Tim’s heart ache each time he saw them, Damian and Dick, being brothers and bickering together, lovingly.

Maybe Tim just hadn’t his place in this family. After all, that was the only explanation. He had been the only one to work his way to the family, to struggle to be accepted.And all of that for what ? For being rejected at the first occasion ! Why couldn’t he be loved ?

Even Bruce let him down. Bruce and Batman, symbol of hope for Gotham, loathed him. However, Tim risked his life for Bruce, to prove he was still alive, to save him. Tim had been ready to sell himself to Ra's if it could help Bruce. He had been seen as crazy, pitiful, in denial and everything in the between. He had been left all alone - once again - with no support and people judging him. But he persevered and strive to find his mentor, to make him come back, even if Tim himself doubted of his plans.

But it turned out great, isn’t it ? Bruce was safe and back, everyone was alive… And they were happy together, even without him, they were happy and fine. Maybe Tim did a good job on that...After all, his prime objective was to give Batman a Robin until everything fell back right at his place, until the batfam members were all doing fine. And now they indeed were doing fine, furthermore, without him. He wasn’t needed anymore. He should just move on. Alas, Tim had already sacrificed too much for this lifestyle to be able to go back to the old one, to be able to move on, to be able to quit just like that. If he quitted, what other purpose could his life serve ?

The water was overflowing, dripping in loud splash on the floor. Tim didn’t heard it. He had water on his ears muffling sound. He has his head almost totally dipped in the burning water. He should felt that it was too hot for his skin.

But it has been three weeks. Three weeks that he was alone in his flat rehashing things, turning in the void - hoping for a visit - tired but wide awake, hoping for a reason to stay - alive.

He never felt that numb, if he could say felt… Everything was a blur. He was spiralling once again. Just like those time searching for Bruce. Except that this time, he hadn’t any point to continue. He could stop. Just stop. STOP.

The water called him, appropriating Tim’s malleable body, covering it as a fluid like blanket. He was slowly slipping in the bathtub, his nose brushing the water. Turn out that is what he was waiting for.

Tim thought that maybe it’s exactly what he was destined to do : to die in the embrace of his favorite element. Because soon, if he didn’t straighten up, he knew he wouldn’t be able to breathe anymore, and drown slowly - just like when I was 4.

He should call for help. Now. Before he do something stupid - and irreversible. But who … Who would pick up the phone and come to save him ? For who could he really matter ? Bruce hated him. Dick mocked him. His friends weren’t his friends anymore - they came back changed too much, maybe. Stephanie lied to him, didn’t trusted him. Jason didn’t give a shit about him. Damian wanted him dead. Alfred was just being nice.

The water closed over his head, blurring his tear, burning his skin and heating a little this deadly cold inside of him. He was alone. His job was done. His life lost his purpose. Tim will let himself end, like Narcisse did, like he was supposed to end when he was younger.

His lungs begun to burn, his extremity tingling and suddenly, he felt happy. Tim might have been an accident, but he refund his debt by helping Gotham’s vigilantes to stay binded. He suddenly was peaceful, his work was done and well done. Jason was back. Someone - else - was carrying Robin’s legacy. Tim could leave peacefully, water filling slowly his body. After all, was there someone who cared ?

Cass… He could have called Cass - I’m sorry I love you. Too late.

Tim closed his eyes, his lungs full of water, enjoying it’s warm embrace. Ending in a pseudo-hug was so ironic. His mind drifted off for the last time.

Sorry Cass. Sorry. I always understand too late.

Tim always loved water because it was calming - and easily deadly.

He never felt the arm that closed around him few minutes later.

Too late.

[aconstantstateofbladerunner]

Class 1-A’s Comic Book Projects

I’ve been getting a lot of comments on Butterfly about how much people like the project the kids are working on.  First off, thank you for the lovely feedback! It started as an excuse to shoehorn in some themes and foreshadowing, while also giving the class something outside of the plot to talk about.  I didn’t think so many people would gravitate towards it.

With all that in mind, I decided to make some project headcanons for the whole class.  Relatively few of these will actually show up in the story, and the project itself will be mentioned less and less as it goes on.  All the more reason to put it here.

Here’s the link to the story itself for anyone who stumbles across this:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/17165612/chapters/40360787

The project is that the students had to pick out a pre-quirk comic book superhero, and write about how that hero relates to modern hero society.  They also had to pick a specific storyline to analyze, but I’m a filthy casual and won’t go into that.  Let’s go.

Midoriya - Superman

The only one actually relevant to the story.  Superman is like All Might, so naturally, Izuku would pick him.  Superman was also the first superhero as they are understood today, so there is also the meta perspective that they wouldn’t have their jobs without him.  But the thing about both of them is that their symbolic power is almost as effective as their physical power.  And with all that power, people too often forget that there’s a real person behind it.  A person who makes mistakes, who can’t alway save everyone, and who fears for their own future. Heroes are still human.

Bakugou - The Punisher

Isn’t Bakugou liking the Punisher basically canon?  But what Bakugou takes from him is perseverance.  Frank Castle fights an uphill battle that he can never truly win and could die from at any moment.  Yet he keeps going.  Because there’s nothing else he can do.  And that’s what heroes are supposed to do.

Todoroki - Firestorm

Firestorm is a guy who is two guys.  Todoroki feels like that sometimes.  But if he wants to accomplish his goals, he has to learn to work together with himself.  Not super relevant to broader hero society, but isn’t he a part of that society? (He had to argue a little on that one)  

Sero - Spider-Man 

Like most of his peers, Sero chose his hero based on the similar power set.  He spent admittedly too much time trying to recreate classic moves instead of analyzing Spidey’s place in history.  But then he realized that with how important the secret identity was to the character, not many people go for that anymore.  He ended up with a pretty deep look at hero regulation and how it’s hard to fit a secret identity with the current model.

Hagakure - The Invisible Woman (and the Fantastic Four)

Same initial deal as Sero, went for the similar power.  What she ended up discovering was that the Fantastic Four predicted close-knit hero teams would be rare.  Marvel’s first family is a disfuctional one, and probably wouldn’t last long with the added stress of modern hero bureaucracy.

Kouda - Aquaman

Insert obligatory talks to fish joke.  But Kouda did a fairly straightforward paper of how heroes protect the environment as well as people.

Yaoyorozu - Batman

She picked up Batman based on their similar need to be prepared; Yaoyorozu needs to memorize chemical formulas in advance, Batman needs to bring the right tools to a case.  But through her research, she found the much more interesting perspective of the dichotomy between hero and villain.  Anyone, powers or not, can make the choice to hurt another person.  And someone else can make the choice to stop them.  Both often involve violence.  So where should the line be drawn?

Tokoyami - Moon Knight

Moon Knight’s powers wax and wane with the cycle of his namesake, much as Tokoyami must carefully consider his actions based on the time of day.  Both must also contend with an additional voice telling them how to proceed.  Also, Moon Knight is Marvel’s answer to Batman and Yaoyoruzu beat him to it even though he called dibs this transgression will be avenged!

Iida - The Flash

The Flash is what Iida is working towards: a friendlier, funnier person that friend and stranger alike can open up to.  And shouldn’t all heroes want to be the sort of person the people they save would want to save them?

Mina - Wonder Woman

Something not as many people talk about in regards to Wonder Woman is the way she typically prefers to attempt nonviolent solutions to conflict before moving on to fists.  Mina is the same way, so she felt right at home (for once) while writing.

Kirishima - Luke Cage

A guy who’s skin is bulletproof?  So manly!  But Luke Cage and his stories have almost alway paralleled some real-world issue going on at the time.  In some cases, people believed his appearances to have helped influence public opinion about those issues.  Kirishima thinks more modern heroes should try and get involved like that,

Ojiro - Iron Fist

A quirk is just an extension of the body, and the body is the real weapon.  Both must be sharpened, not just one or the other.

Tsuyu - She-Hulk

Tsuyu doesn’t mind that people make assumptions about her based on her quirk; she’s a frog, so she’s easy-going and likes water.  But that doesn’t mean everyone is okay with stereotypes.  Jennifer Walters is a successful lawyer and hero, but still gets undermined by others for “anger issues.”  Tsuyu also admired her choice to remain in her She-Hulk form for the confidence it brings her, while many people in real life feel pressured to hide more extreme quirks in order to conform.

Aoyama - Dazzler

Searched “sparkly superhero” online and Dazzler was the first result.  Talked about the importance of aesthetics. 

Uraraka - Booster Gold

Like Uraraka, Booster started out in it for the money.  He didn’t have the noble goals she had right out the gate, but was never a bad dude.  But after great hardship, he learned the valuable lesson that fame and fortune should always be second to saving people.

Kaminari - Thor

He had a bit of trouble figuring out what to do with his go-to god of thunder.  Unlike the more well-known MCU version, comics Thor isn’t super funny.  He’s got stuff going on, but Kaminari was really gunning for that humor angle.  So, he settled for discussing Thor’s origin and about the importance of staying humble in the face of great power and influence.

Sato - Hulk

When powering up costs you your intelligence, it can be hard to make good decisions in tough situations.  That’s why you need to make a plan before going rage-mode.

Shoji - Martian Manhunter

Shoji connected to J’onn J’onzz and his struggle to find acceptance with “normal” people right away.  The traditional image of what a hero is “supposed” to look like was out of date even then, and no one should be confinted to that box.

Jirou - Black Canary

The best heroes are good at a lot of different things.  Black Canary’s Wikipedia page under “skills” is nuts.  And Jirou epimmediately started looking up how to incorporate her musical skills into her arsenal.

Mineta - Rogue

I know what you’re thinking: why would I give one of Marvel’s best female characters to me of Hero Aca’s worst?  Two reasons.  One, Rogue is consistently near the top of “hottest hero women” lists, so Mineta probably found her there.  Second, the ethos of her character’s evolution is a line I think he could benefit from.  That being: get your shit together.  You can accomplish amazing things if you just get your shit together.  Sometimes, you are the problem.  Adjust your actions and mindset accordingly.  Get your shit together.

Well, that was long.  Thanks for reading if you made it this far.  Part of me kind of wants to write some of these essays mayself now.  But I think that would be a poor choice of time given my other projects.

Thanks again and please read Buttferfly!

[ufonaut]

could you recommend me some comics to read that have a good amount of batjokes content? and any that you think would be essential for a new dc fan to read? thank you! have a good day!

hiya, yes, of course!!!!

batjokes-positive comics:

the killing joke  – an obvious choice but it still remains some of the best written joker content out there, words dont do it justice, you just gotta experience it

batman (2016) #48 and #49 – the best man arc from tom king’s run, this is the very peak of batjokes for me personally in the sense that joker’s feelings are treated as not only real but entirely sincere and exactly as important as selina’s, bonus points for just how well joker is written (both from a gay pov and a mentally ill pov), i’ve gotten a bit into why it’s so worth reading here and here (warning: part of the wedding arc but considering the outcome i’d call it entirely safe)

arkham asylum: a serious house on serious earth – this is one of my all time favourite comics and while its portrayal of joker isn’t anywhere close to my favourite, the story itself is amazing and pretty heavy on the ‘bruce is exactly like his rogues’ symbolism, if ur into that (which i am)

batman: europa – i haven’t actually finished reading europa because i’m the worst kind of fan but i’m told it’s full of batjokes

the joker: devil’s advocate – not a favourite of mine but hints at joker not being straight, very batjokes-heavy

i’m probably legally required to mention the new 52 arc that goes through “death of the family”, “endgame” and #48 (snyder’s run this time) because it’s definitely a staple of a certain type of batjokes but it’s never been the thing for me (warning: joker cutting off his own face, lots & lots of gore and edginess), it’s not bad per se but definitely not the direction i think batjokes should go

dc essentials for new fans

superman for all seasons – this is the definitive, and i dont use this term lightly, superman comic, it’s the best thing i’ve read in my LIFE, it literally captures clark’s character perfectly and honestly was what got me to love him so much. it’s a good introduction to who, exactly, clark is as a person too so i definitely recommend it and am planning on rereading it myself VERY soon simply because it’s so amazing

world’s finest (1990) – bruce/clark & joker/lex team-ups ahoy. great plot, even greater writing, one of the best thing dc’s ever done imo

batman (2016) #51 - #53 – also from tom king’s run. bruce has to go on jury duty for mr freeze’s trial and tries to convince everyone that he’s not guilty. ESSENTIAL and EXTREMELY good bruce characterisation, up there with top 3 bruce moments as far as i’m concerned solely because it actually acknowledges that batman isn’t bruce’s real self but rather a coping mechanism, his life as ruled by trauma and the very real fear that every new tragedy will be That Night again 

superman: speeding bullets – an elseworlds one-shot (which is a sort of alternate universe) about baby superman being found by the waynes and growing up to be bruce. it somehow manages to be a very solid comic in its right and features some A+ bruce and clark characterisation

justice league international (1987) annual 2  – very corny, extremely hilarious and an eternal favourite. joker does his thing, batman is so very tired

robin: year one – pretty much what it sounds like but it’s very well-written and it’s got some very peak harvey dent moments

scarecrow: year one – GOTHIC HORROR GOTHIC HORROR GOTHIC HORROR crane’s origin, a very dreamy comic for me personally despite the ooc bruce

batman (2011) 23.1 – joker adopts a baby monkey and lives out his dreams of being the world’s bestest dad (genuinely & sincerely good)

batman (2011) 23.2 – solid riddler story, one of the few times eddie is actually shown as being mentally ill and it’s very well written

penguin: pain and prejudice – oswald origin, made me cry the first time i read it, which is the highest compliment i can imagine (and oswald’s not insufferable for once)

batman: gotham adventures #2 – one of the best two face stories i’ve ever read, made me love harvey forever and ever (warning for childhood abuse)

mister miracle (2018) -- 12 issues miniseries by tom king & mitch gerards, still on-going but i got into it without knowing literally anything about the characters and it’s now one of my all time favourite comics (and also! one of the most real thing ive ever seen written about trauma, this is literally everything), it also invented true love

[anr-art-blog]

Some Fanart Pieces and its inspirations

One thing I’ve only briefly mentioned is that netrunner has an amazing fan community, and that that community puts out art and game stuff (tokens and so on) all the damn time. The biggest example of this is fan-art for cards (usually IDs, as they’re the most friendly for other players). So occasionally I’ll be posting fanart - especially if I can find who made it/get comments from them.

A particularly excellent example in this latter regard is what I’m posting today (partly because he sent me them ages ago, partly because of writers block), as the artist provided me with an in-depth look at why each piece is the way it is (and did non-ID cards). Working knowledge of the actual cards ideal but not essential. I wrote none of the following words:

"Just some headcanon descriptions of some of my alts and why I depicted them the way I did. Thought it’d be a good way to show off how I imagine characters inhabiting this world.”

Jemison Astronautics

My alma mater is Purdue University, and outside Armstrong Hall, we have a large bronze statue of Neil Armstrong himself sitting on a slab of stone similarly to this one. Virtually everyone in the college takes a picture exactly like this one, sitting next to him and looking up at the first man on the moon. Jemison Astronautics was named after Mae Jemison, the first black female astronaut. FFG has always been good about the importance of diversity in their games, and but this hidden reference really stirred my imagination.

Here we have a young black girl, looking up at her idol. It’s personable and intimate in a way that few scenes in the setting depict. She’s young, and her legs are spread wide because she hasn’t yet been conditioned by society on the way a woman is ‘supposed’ to sit. Pure innocence.

But maybe it’s not so pure. If you look carefully, you can see a cluster of pins on her bookbag. They include, among others, logos for Weyland, the Oberth Protocol, and the SXC (the Space Expeditionary Corps). The SXC is the space-oriented version of the Marines in the setting. Once you realize this, the scene gets flipped on its head.

It’s admirable that Weyland named their flagship astronautics program on Mars after such a paragon of space exploration. However, they are also using and exploiting her image to recruit young minds to militarization and imperialist expansion.

The quote, “Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination,” is an actual Mae Jemison quote. It’s truly inspirational, and in context, it’s a striking rallying cry for continued excellence despite adversity. Weyland removes this quote from its original meaning, and with knowledge of all the devastation the megacorp has wrought, the quote is used as a sign of their continued arrogance and hubris.

Estelle Moon

I was absolutely enamored with Estelle’s appearance when I saw her card for the first time, and resolved to make an alt of her. If there’s going to be a card that warps the meta as she did, I’m at the very least happy that it’s featuring a kind of person that isn’t normally depicted in sci-fi spaces.

In my picture, we have Estelle slurping the HB purple slushie in a rather ritzy part of town, the Laguna Velasco District. She’s showing her megacorp loyalty by wearing a Lakshmi Smartfabrics dress, white and short, fully proud of her body. She must have checked the time recently, because her watch is still showing an auspicious symbol; the signature logo for Women of Netrunner.

I love Estelle Moon. I love that she’s a non-petite Asian woman in a sci-fi setting, the kind of setting which normally doesn’t make room for people like her. I wanted to show her just having a day off, and being normal in a cyberpunk world.

Valencia Estevez

Her story about everyone deserving redemption was extremely appealing to me. Hers was the first story of true altruism in a world of gray and black morality. Why is she so selfless? what led her down this road of Investigative Journalism and Government Investigations?

I latched onto the undercurrent of pain in her arc. She helps a nameless person out in her story, but it seems as though she’s helping someone she wishes she could have helped before. I placed her in a Catholic church, owing to the religious allusion in her name and the predominance of Catholicism in Latinx communities. She’s lighting a votive candle, a sign of respect, sorrow, and redemption for those she’s lost. Behind her in an alcove is a shadowy statue, echoing her moniker of The Angel of Cayambe.

IPO

This one was kind of a struggle. It’s such a boring concept for a card, but I also knew everyone would want more, so I buckled down and tried to come up with something evocative.

I’d just played New Angeles, and I’m stronger with figurative art, so I leaned on the two megacorps in that game that aren’t the Big Four in ANR. Melange Mining Corp is a well known neutral card, and I figured I’d save GlobalSec’s executive for a more action oriented card.

In IPO, we have Yuri Talunik watching his profits rise as the public offering goes off splendidly. He looks dour and somewhat informal, but signs of his wealth abound in the surroundings. He wears a jacket of genuine animal leather, a rarity in a world full of Jinteki soybeef. His glass of whisky (which can only be properly distilled on Earth and had to be imported) rests on a large slab of authentic dead-tree wood. It would have cost a fortune to get actual wood up the Beanstalk to the moon, where everything is made of plascrete. All the while, his He3 mining operation continues without a hitch in the background.

Diesel

This one doesn’t have a huge connection to the lore of the game, but it’s funny because I drew this at the same time as IPO. Diesel took three hours, IPO took well over twenty, and I think Diesel came out as the better piece of art, lol.

This one was inspired by watching the people in my office drink can after can of Monster Energy Drink and watching out trash can overflow with the crumpled cans. My favorite one-off character, soybeef taco dude from Freelance Coding Contract, continues to code well into the night in the background.

Temujin Contract

This one didn’t have any description, though apparently it’s based really closely on a batman cover/iconic moment

Art by Patrick Burk (BlueHg on slack and other places)

[saintscoffee]

Commentary regarding Icebergs (1 to 4)

·         Ice: The Free Planets Alliance idiotically splits their 40,000 ships into three fleets far apart from each other

·         C’mon, it was a nice idea, the execution was the problem here. That, and the commanders’ pride

·         -

·         Ice: Meanwhile, Reinhard and Kircheis make moon-eyes at each other

·         We all have to admit that, when we start this, there’s a lot gazing into each other’s eyes that makes you a bit suspicious

·         -

·         Ice: Reuental and Mittermeyer go on a date

·         YOU GUYS KNOW I ACTUALLY SUSPECTED THEM OF BEING A COUPLE

·         -

·         Ice: Kircheis gently nudging Reinhard to be a bit more empathetic than comes naturally to him.

·         I agree with this

·         -

·         Ice: Annerose is a tragic figure, and on the surface she’s characterized as a pretty one-dimensional martyr-type, which can be frustrating and confusing in a show where even the most minor character contains multitudes. But Annerose does contain multitudes—they’re just hidden under a series of facades, erected by a woman who has been subjected to a decade of sexual slavery

·         I hate to say it, but this is true

·         Still don’t like her though

·         -

·         Ice: and by a creative team that was trying, in 1988, to tell a story about two boys falling in love.

·         Ok, I wasn’t expecting them to jump right into it, but let’s go

·         Maybe they’ll convince me

·         -

·         Ice: She is beautiful, docile, and a victim, the quintessential damsel in perpetual distress. She feels like a symbol, in a world richly populated by humans; her identity is presented to us as revolving entirely around men. There’s no way around it: As our first named female character, Annerose is irritating as hell

·         I ain’t gonna disagree with this

·         -

·         Ice: the fact that in the LoGH novels and short stories, Annerose is heavily implied to be Kircheis’s love interest, whereas in the anime, Kircheis’s love interest is Reinhard. There are a few ways we know for sure that this was an intentional divergence, which we’ll definitely bring up when we get to them

·         I’m curious, cus the show did sell me the whole romantic subplot between Sieg and Anne

·         -

·         Ice: Yang takes command of the remaining fleet after his commander is injured, and promptly outsmarts Reinhard when Reinhard tries to split his fleet down the middle by…splitting the fleet down the middle himself. This forces the battle to become a clear metaphor for the endless futility of this 150-year-war

·         THAT’S VERY TRUE, NICE

·         -

·         Ice: Yang’s history and relationship with Jessica will get fleshed out more in the future

·         Guys

·         No, guys

·         Jessica was awesome

·         She was an amazing female character

·         I’m still very sad that she had to die so soon

·         And without accomplishing much (or having much airtime)

·         -

·         Ice: But also 2) train yourself now to peel away any heteronormativity that’s coloring your assumptions about what the show wants you to think.

·         Ice, I think you’re starting to push it…

·         -

·         Ice: Who is this mysterious and beautiful baroness attempting the sisyphean task of cheering up Annerose? Why, it’s Magdalena von Westfalen

·         I LIKED HER AND THEN SHE DISAPPEARED FROM THE PLOT, WHAT HAPPENED

·         -

·         Ice: Magdalena takes absolutely no shit from anyone, and I (Elizabeth) would die for her. 

·         Same

·         -

·         Ice: Who the fuck is this person? Yang has a “ward”? Why? IS YANG BATMAN?? These are all good questions to be asking yourself.

·         Yang trying to be Batman would be hilarious

·         Cus I just see him complaining every step of the way

·         -

·         Ice: Character development in small visual details: Julian styling his collar and sleeves to exactly match Yang here shows his hero worship and desire to emulate him.

·         OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

·         -

·         Ice: White men: eating this nationalist crap up. White women: feeling slightly uncomfortable but not saying anything. POC: so over Trunicht’s bullshit that they literally all faked sick to avoid him.

·         Ok, no, I’m loving this

·         -

·         Ice: By now I’m sure you’ve noticed that the power structures in LoGH are incredibly male-dominated. (…) Hell, LoGH doesn’t indisputably pass the Bechdel test until episode 103 out of 110.

·         Story of my life…

·         -

·         Ice: The handful of female characters that we do get to know exist within this society as fully defined individuals

·         Ok, this I don’t completely agree with

·         The author tries to give some sort of dimension to the female characters he creates, but they all end up… limited. And not in the way that represents “Oh, society doesn’t let women do what they want”, but simply in the way that women… are still women. And this is extremely hard for me to explain.

·         I’m conscious that all the women in the show are women. And you probably are going “Yeah, and what’s the problem with that?” but that’s the thing. Like being blond or black or needing to wear glasses, it should just be a characteristic and not something that defines them (even if society then stereotypes you and forces you into going through certain events that become common for said characteristic – however, said experience is always personal). A female character in LoGH is female first and then something else.

·         That isn’t to say that what the author did with his female cast isn’t great, because it is. He cared enough to portray their struggles, even if he didn’t identify with them (and because of it, they feel somewhat generic), and I’m pretty sure that the years the novels and the animated show came out in weren’t as kind to female characters as he was. However, by our current standards, it’s very lacking.

·         I’m not sure I managed to express myself well, but I’m moving on.

·         -

·         Ice: Meanwhile Julian, a 14-year-old boy, happily and enthusiastically keeps house for Yang, cooking and cleaning and making tea. While many of the female characters overtly break with the traditional roles assigned to women (by entering politics, the military, etc.), Julian is one of the only characters to push in the other direction; and it’s important that (spoiler) the show never plays this for laughs or really remarks on it at all

·         Huh, this is true

·         Very true

·         And I never realized that

·         Nice one, show!

·         -

·         Ice: And again we see his passivity as he lets the silence stretch until she finally walks away.

·         Kinda of one of the reason why Yang sometimes pissed me off

·         -

·         Ice: Kircheis is rudely accosted by the sinister Oberstein. 

·         Not a fan of Oberstein, I see

·         Well, I was informed of it, so I was expecting it

·         -

·         Ice: Oberstein absolutely uses his malfunctioning robot eyes to intimidate people and then pretends he was unaware.

·         I like this idea, but at the same time I really think he’s just like thatTM

·         -

·         Ice: But first, Oberstein. We’ve seen glimpses of him in the background before now, but it’s finally (deep sigh) time to meet everyone’s least favorite character. You probably don’t hate him yet, but you will. Oh, you will! 

·         HA!

·         -

·         Ice: Kircheis, a very smart boy, hates Oberstein pretty much the second they meet. 

·         I actually disagree

·         I think Sieg was wary of Oberstein

·         But to be honest, I never thought Sieg hated him

·         In fact, I think Sieg would one of the few that would almost like Oberstein

·         -

·         Ice: we’ll have plenty of time to hate Oberstein later on

·         COME AT ME

·         -

·         Ice: Almost as soon as Reinhard (jumping out of the car like a little kid, bless his heart)

·         God bless his heart, indeed

·         -

·         Ice: Reinhard seems to interpret his father’s meaning to be that Annerose consented, or at least assented. Horrified, he sprints upstairs and demands to know why she would do such a thing. Her answer, adding yet another layer of Fucked to this already Extremely Fucked situation, is basically, “I’m doing it for you.”

·         Ice: No pressure, Reinhard!

·         *aggressively points to this*

·         -

·         Ice: Kircheis, with no direct way to help, does the only thing he can: He follows Reinhard on a dangerous, er, mission in the hope that he can maybe keep things from escalating too much. Which… is pretty much Kircheis’s job in life, to be fair.

·         God bless that boy, he tries so much

·         -

·         Ice: Reinhard has never, not once in his life, chilled.

·         THAT’S WHY WE LOVE HIM

·         -

·         Ice: This is a huge turning point for Reinhard, who finally has somewhere to aim his ambition: He’s going to do whatever it takes to get Annerose back, and if that means rearranging the entire universe to suit his needs, that’s what he’ll do.

·         Like the way Ice expresses this. Rein has an enormous amount of ambition, but said ambition had yet to take a shape. This sentence implies that Rein could have used it in other areas, but it was this event with his sister that ultimately guided him unto a specific path. I like that idea a lot.

·         -

·         Ice: Kircheis isn’t going with Reinhard because Annerose wants him to; he isn’t even going with Reinhard because Reinhard wants him to: Kircheis is going with Reinhard because he wants to. 

·         THIS

·         -

·         Ice: I assume Reinhard looks so relieved here because he somehow managed to walk successfully down a flight of stairs backwards.

·         I THOUGHT THE SAME THING

·         -

·         So far, I’m enjoying Icebergs

·         I think the homosexual subtext they’re trying to read into is kinda forced, but nothing too grating so far

·         -

[baby-batboys]

Kink A-Z: Tim Drake

A/N: Honestly, I had no idea there would be so many requests for this! But, I did have so much fun writing this, I really hope you all like it, because Tim is a little unique in his kinks compared to Jason and Dick, but I stand by it. Also, this was written at 2am. So forgive me if this is all over the place.

Warning: EXPLICIT, EXTREMELY NSFW.

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

What Tim is like after sex is what you’re like after sex. Tim will lay with you, your head on his chest, looking up at the cieling catching his breath. That’ll last for about ten minutes. After that, keep talking or that boy is out like a light. It’s the sleep deprivation.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Overall, I think Tim has a pretty positive self-image most of the time, but I don’t think he has a favorite part of himself. Most likely if he did, it would be his chest. It’s strong and broad and gets the job done. Now on the other hand, he can go on and on about his favorite parts of his partner. Most importantly, he loves their legs. He loves running his hands along them and kissing them up and down.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

When it comes to cum, Tim likes to be teased. He likes when his partner rides him and pull off at the last second, leaving him to cum on his stomach. If he specifically had a say in it, he’d love to cum inside though. But what he loves most of all is having his partner pick where he cums, because he can never expect it. Keeps it interesting.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Let’s not beat around the bush. Tim’s a sub. He’s not exactly into BDSM, but when it comes down to it, he likes it when his partner is in control and showing it. It’s super hot to him and takes off the stress he has on him a lot. He likes to be treated and used. But he’d take that secret to the grave.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

Let’s be honest. He’s not that experienced. It’s pretty hard to get to tinder hook-ups when you’re the Boy Wonder on his computer all the time. But Tim’s smart, he picks up cues and such very easily, so he’s not fumbling. Although he may occasionally ask ‘Do you like that?’ or ‘Does that feel good?’ if he’s not sure of something.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

Cowgirl. Reverse cowgirl. Girl on Top. Whatever. If his partner is the one in control, and he’s on his back, Tim is in heaven. Cowgirl is his favorite because of the nice view, but he’ll take whatever. Once again, if his partner is picking he’s down, but sometimes he might breathlessly ask them to get on top, followed by a stuttered ‘please’.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

No time. When Tim’s having sex, his mind is hazy and misty and cloudy. All he can focus on in the feeling, his partner, and his nearing climax. Most of the time he can barely get out a sentence, and if he does it’s riddled with stutters and breaks. No time to be goofy when you’re panting and thrusting up into your partner.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Tim likes to keep it neatly trimmed. He thinks seeing himself clean-shaven looks weird, so he just cuts it low enough that it won’t be noticeable in the suit. He goes back in just when he thinks it’s getting a bit too long and he probably has a specific day he likes to do it.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Tim is a busy person and more than that, he a dedicated person. For him, I feel like he would never be someone to do one-night-stands, so when he does have sex it’s with someone he cares about and who he carves out time for on the regular. Plus, Tim can get stressed, so when he does get down to it, it’s an act of self-care and relaxation. It’s his form of giving his partner his full attention and love. It’s very very intimate for him. Sure, he’s not setting out flowers and candles, but whether it’s planned or just a spur of the moment quickie on the couch, it’s intimate to him.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

Yes, Tim jacks off. He’s stationed at a computer researching for a good chunk of time, so sure, sometimes he can’t help but see something that makes it a necessity. Usually he’ll watch it first, then turn it off to let his imagination take over. He’ll put his head down, one hand going at it while the other muffles his pants. He’ll usually remember nights with his s/o, until he can’t stand it anymore, and he always forgets to cum into a tissue.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

Femdom, SD (Subs and Dominants), Authority Roleplay (him calling his partner ma’am or sir)

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

His favorite place, hands down, is on a desk. It’s an oddly specific location, but he loves bending his partner over a desk (or him being bent over it) and it feels risky, more open than being under covers. He also likes kitchen sex, preferably while waiting for the coffee to brew, as well as outdoor sex. His fantasy is to do it on a roof.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

A wide array of things can get him going. Usually, it’s a combination of stress and temptation. Tim is hard to pull away from work, but if you run your hands across his lap and tell him to come play with you for a bit, he’ll melt so fast he’ll forget what the case was even about. Also, neck kisses and touches below the belt. If you reach around him and start rubbing him through his jeans, he’ll be instantly ready. And if you say ‘Clothes off. Now’, damn straight he’ll listen.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Sex while an important case, ageplay, petplay, hardcore bdsm, watersports, spanking, hot wax, full out sub degradation.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Tim’s not crazy about oral. He likes getting it and will give if you ask, but other than that, he’s more into full on sex. Oral feels too ‘favor-ish’ to him.

P = Pace (Are they fats and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

Honestly, Tim is everywhere. He’ll try to go slow but then his hips will buck and go fast. He’ll try to go fast but then he’ll slow down to savor. The boy is just all over the place pace wise. It’s not up to him, it’s up to his hips and how close he is.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

Tim doesn’t have an opinion on this. He likes quickies and he likes proper sex, however he does prefer sex at night, so he’ll usually go with proper sex. He’ll do a quickie if his partner wants and would do them routinely, usually maybe two times a week.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Tim is a Robin, and being a Robin is a risk, but he’s not a full on thrill-seeker. He’s game to experiment and try new things, but nothing really stands out to him. He’s more open to his partner’s ideas than going out and finding new ones himself.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Long run. Sure, he can do quickies, but when it’s proper sex, be ready. He can go for an hour or two without cumming and can go for about two to three rounds if he’s not exhausted from work. Tim is use to staying up all night, so when it’s time to fuck, he’ll make sure you get use to it too.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

He’s considered it, maybe took a peak in sex shops here and there, but it’s not really his fancy. He’s not into toys or expensive lingerie. He likes it all bare, normal mundane underwear and bras. He likes to feel domestic in that sense and his s.o doesn't need to be dressed up. He finds them sexy without all the pizzazz, although he does have a small collection of lube and ribbed condoms, just for comfort and sensation.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Tim is also very to the point. He’s not one to tease, once he knows it’s going down, he’s ready to go and get to it. He wouldn’t want to hold back or hold out on his partner, he wants them to have all the pleasure.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Tim’s a hushed boy. Even if they’re in complete privacy, he’ll still cover his mouth, letting out squeaks and grunts here and there. His breathing is heavy and he’s panting hard, letting out whispered curses, and asking if his partner is alright.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Pull his hair and he’ll cum right then and there. There a reason he grew it out. He loves it.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

He’s one of the only Robin’s who doesn’t go commando in his suit. Instead, he prefers a jockstrap (The first time Jason learns of this, he thinks it’s the most bizarre thing ever. He is convinced Tim is a psychopath). When not in suit, he usually goes for boxer briefs, usually designed ones with superman, batman, or robin symbols.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Tim isn’t really a horn dog. He doesn’t really crave it unless something triggers it, whether it's a stressful day or a racy ad or his partner teasing him away from the computer. Unless something makes him think of sex, he won’t. He has a lot on his mind.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

The average human being takes 14 minutes to fall asleep. The average Tim takes 4 minutes. Tim after sex, it takes 30 secs. If you’re talking to him he won’t fall asleep - he can’t, he’s mastered the art of focusing while sleep deprived - but if you stop for more than a minute, he’ll be knocked out and sleeping like a baby. And yes, he does hog blankets.

[fyeahbatcat]

Not batcat related but what did you think about the Wonder Woman movie? I love your blog btw!

Thank you!!! I haven’t seen Wonder Woman yet. I have tickets for tonight :)

Edit 6/30/17

Sorry I meant to give you an update right after I saw themovie but then the proposal happened the next day and it shifted my focus for awhile. Anyways, last year I was kind of asked about my thoughts on the thenupcoming Wonder Woman movie and I outlined my concerns about the potential forlightweight feminism, portrayals of violence, and the representation of theAmazons and everyone I am happy to say that I could not have been more wrong(for the most part). I’ve been begging the powers that be at WB for a WonderWoman for years and I fully intended to catch an advanced screening since itwas announced in 2014, but I was away on vacation that week so it didn’t happenand I had to do some extreme internet acrobatics to avoid spoilers. Between that,the letdown that was Suicide Squad,and the pressure of having the first *real* superhero movie starring a woman I thoughtthere was no way it would live up to my expectations.

That said: I am a changed person having now seen Diana ofThemyscira grace a giant plasma screen in her own movie. Watching Wonder Woman was a spiritual experience.In response to my own concerns about:

1.      The trailer looking too violent

It’s not that I expected there to be no fighting or violencein a multi-million dollar action movie I meant more along the lines of WonderWoman was created as a foil for violent hyper-masculinity and a symbol ofpeace. A lot of these themes have become very muted over the last severaldecades by mostly male writers who interpret Wonder Woman’s strength as coincidingwith traditionally masculine ideals when William Moulton Marston created WonderWoman as a symbol of feminine power. Because it was very clear that PattyJenkins and the DCEU is taking the recent New 52 daughter of Zeus origin story Ithought that they would mostly be relying on more recent versions of WonderWoman which, in my opinion, strayed too far from Wonder Woman’s importantlarger themes (until Greg Rucka, God bless him, came back to the series).

The ending completely shattered my expectations and I amhappy to report that I was wrong. The movie was all about Diana’s destiny andhow she became the hero that she is. By the end she decides that she wants tobe a hero that believes in the power of love. That’s exactly who Wonder Womanis. This was a feminist movie through and through.

2.      The diversity of the Amazons

You can read about what I had to say about the initial promoshots of the Amazons in my previous post: but what it came down to is the factthat diversity among the Amazons isn’t just a meaningless gesture of diverserepresentation or just for optics. It’s essential to Wonder Woman’s characterbecause she stands for equality among all women and intersectional feminism.People expressed concerns over how the first images of the Amazons were of allwhite faces and Patty Jenkins said was just Diana’s “immediate family” and the restof the Amazons would be diverse. It was a pretty unsatisfactory placation, buton that end Jenkins did hold up her promise. My exact words last year were:

So diverse like WOC will be playing actually namedcharacters who contribute to the plot and/or Diana’s development? Or diverselike they’ll all be in the background swinging swords, thrown a few tokenlines, and will be credited as “Amazon” #4? Because those are two verydifferent ideas of diversity?

Spoiler alert: it was the second one (though I think some ofthem had names, not that you would’ve known). It’s hard for me to criticize thedecision to cast Robin Wright as Antiope because my goodness she was born toplay that part. It was so thrilling to see an actress in her fifties in actionsequences and woman fighting as warriors free from the male gaze, but it justas well could’ve been Phillipus that also had a hand in training Diana. Evenafter viewing the movie Jenkins reasoning strikes me as defense for casting allwhite actresses in the most prominent roles for the Amazons, which is prettyexpected by Hollywood standards. There wasn’t even any need for Diana to havean “immediate family” as it didn’t contribute to the plot in any way.

Stray thoughts:

Okay I anticipated the “twist” but that didn’tstop me from thinking “If they make her the daughter of Zeus Patty Jenkins isgonna catch these hands” the entire time. I’m willing to overlook it but thatdoesn’t mean that I liked it.

Omg Diana’s characterization was so friggingood. A lot of writers make Wonder Woman too severe and serious, but Diana wasa character that was full of joy and humor. One of my favorite moments in theentire movie was when Diana swoons over the baby (“A BABY!!!!!!”) which wasadorable because they don’t have babies of Themyscira so it’s something thatshe didn’t take for granted. Also I loved it when she tells the ice cream manthat “you should be very proud.” It was just little moments like that you gotto see Diana’s human side and that she was a joyful, loving person.Also the scene in NML when Diana is socompelled by human suffering to cross the trenches and put an end to theviolence once and for all. This is the moment that she becomes Wonder Woman.I also think that they did a really greatjob of conveying what it’s like to be in a foreign place. Some of the mostinsulting stereotypes in media are that foreigners are just stupid and don’tunderstand anything (see Starfire). Dianacan speak dead languages and knows about literature. Diana wasn’t dumb by anymeans, but she didn’t quite know all of the cultural cues. Like when she didn’tknow why her and Steve couldn’t “sleep” together which Steve assumes this meansthat she doesn’t know what sex is and Diana matter-of-factly informs him that she’s“read all twelve volumes of Cleo’s treatises on body and pleasures.” And whenshe tries to hold Steve’s hand because “they’re together.” Cultural norms areregion specific so of course anytime you venture to a place unknown you, youdon’t know everything about there is to know about how to socialize with the peoplethere. The film did it in a way that was funny and honest without beingcondescending.

Gal Gadot and Chris Pine had some of the bestchemistry I’ve ever seen on screen. They were both so charming and funny. Evenmy mom liked them and she hates superhero movies.

“I wish we had more time.” I’ve never sobbed somuch from one line before.

Best universal human theme since The Dark Knight. Wonder Woman was allabout Diana’s journey of self-discovery. When she first leaves the island shenaively believes that all of the violence and evil in the world is a result ofAres’ influence and once she destroys him it will magically end. Before sheleaves she asks Steve if he’s typical representation of mankind.  Sure Steve Trevor was a genuinely good guyand that probably got her expectations a little too high, but he points outthat even he’s not a saint. No one is. When she first kills who she thought wasAres and nothing changed she became immediately disillusioned by mankind andrealizes that people are pretty shitty and it wasn’t just because of Ares. It’sSteve that brings her to this realization that: yeah we suck, but that doesn’t meanthat we’re not worth saving.

Steve got hella fridged. Well sort of. Steve’sdeath is really what motivated Diana to destroy Ares and continue to mentor theworld through love, so it’s a rare example of a male character’s death beingused as motivation for a female character. However, Steve was given much moreagency in his death than a female character would’ve been given. Steve died onhis own terms in a way that was really, really heroic and sacrificial. It’s almostthe way Batman went out in The Dark Knight Rises and how Steve Rogers “dies” inCaptain America. Compare that to GwenStacy’s death in Amazing Spiderman 2 whoseneck snapped in the last ten minutes just to make Peter all sad and angsty. Ithink that writers still have more expectations for male characters to beactive and think that it’s more acceptable for female characters to be passiveso in terms of gender representation in Hollywood there’s still a long way togo but hey it’s a start.

Scene that had me laughing even days later:

Diana, who has neverseen a man before standing in front of a bare ass naked Steve: What’s that?

Steve:

Steve:

Steve:

Steve: This is awatch.

Bottom line: I loved this movie. I LOVE THIS MOVIE. I’mgoing to go see it again this weekend.