#considerate-sidekick

[coffeecupandcorgi]

what would the butterfly effect be if we went back in time and made hawkeye share the spotlight enough with trapper so wayne rogers didn’t leave m*a*s*h. like bad bad?? or just inconvenient?

[yanderenightmare]

Bakugou Katsuki

♡ TW: implied and/or present elements of dubcon/noncon, yandere, kidnapping, captive reader, quirkless reader, mentioned death of important character, discrimination, drawn comparisons between quirklessness and disabilities, implied bakudeku, drugging, needles, mentions of hypochondriasis, also angst

♡ manga spoilers in a way, but also not really. anyway, read at your own discretion.

♡ gn reader

Sharp crimson eyes assess the fresh scrapes and swelling ruining your soft skin. A deep scowl on his face.

“Tch—look at all this…” he grumbles disapprovingly to no one but himself—too upset with you to acknowledge you, yet treating you no different than if you were glass. “These are gonna last weeks.”

You’d tried running away again—tripped and slipped up all on your own, stumbling through hallways and tumbling down stairs in your panic, only to stop short at the locked door—bolted and padlocked beyond all sane reason.

He was disappointed with you, sure. But that’s not the reason for his current anger.

“Sit there while I get bandages,” he orders, getting up from his crouch, pointing a strict finger at you in threat. “Dare move, and it’ll be bed rest for a whole ‘nother week.”

Bakugou’s obsession with your quirkless nature started a couple of months ago…

It was okay at first—he was hardly the first person you’d met who addressed you with patronizing resolve—but he got weird about it quickly.

You worked at another hero agency he was going to be collaborating with for a big upcoming mission. You weren’t a sidekick or anything grand like that, but a simple pencil-pusher—because they need those too, you know? And you liked your job. You got to work along with some of the greatest heroes in the world, see them up close, and help them out with those things they didn’t have time for—paperwork like budget justifications and incidence reports. Yeah, you might have been somewhat of a pushover, but hey, the salary was good, the environment was lively, and even though you don’t have one yourself, you got to see some really amazing quirks in action. It was, out of what you could hope for, your dream job.

The place was in a real buzz when they heard the number one hero would be joining them for a couple of months. You were excited, too—it wasn’t often your smaller agency would undertake big missions—especially not ones that required such big hero names.

DynaMight wasn’t one to share much of anyone’s enthusiasm. He was strict and down to business and otherwise had a major pet peeve for unnecessary rabble loitering around. He’d stopped mid-meeting at the sight of you, seeing as you were obviously no fieldworker, and had gone as far as to demand you tell him your value as if your presence had been some big distracting nuisance.

Luckily, your Pro-Hero coworkers had stepped in on your behalf and told him you were a transcriber keeping track for later reference. It was probably only a slip-up that they’d added the fact that you were quirkless.

You don’t hold it against them, or well… you did a little, but you couldn’t really blame them either. Evoking the explosion hero’s rage must have made them flustered and desperate to play any sympathy card available to them in the spur of the moment.

Of course, it wasn’t their card to play, nor would you ever have played it yourself, but if the humility was worth anything, it successfully managed to calm the top hero down. Actually, he didn’t say anything for the rest of the meeting. And if you hadn’t been so busy taking notes, you would have noticed his lingering stare.

A couple more incidents had occurred in the office after that. Among others, he’d caught an incoming paper airplane your coworker had thrown your way—stepped right in out of nowhere and cremated it with a controlled explosion before it could hit you.

You’d been speechless for a moment—the entire desk area along with you—confused by his strangeness and, at least in your case, even somewhat appalled by his utter lack of consideration—in your office space, no less. Seriously, top hero or not, you can’t just barge in and incinerate stuff?

“That was an important document,” you'd informed—brow quirked—no regard to how offending him could probably make grounds to have you fired. You'd only slightly regretted it after having said it. But geez, you thought—shouldn’t the top hero have some semblance worth of self-control?

“You shouldn’t be playing around,” he'd stated—tone just as sour as the stink of burned paper tainting the air. “Someone might get hurt.”

You’d almost scoffed at him but had held your tongue until he walked away.

Back then, you’d thought it was an offhand insult directed at you and your respected coworker—that the explosion hero had just called you both unprofessional to your faces, like the biggest scumbag to ever walk in through your humble doors. But looking back at it now, you realize he probably might have meant it in its most sincere regard.

His over-protectiveness knows no limit, you’ve learned—calling it patronizing would be a joke in comparison. He treats you as if anything in proximity might make you shatter by association—like a bubble made from the most thinned-out solution of water and soap.

You’d woken up in your well-prepared pillow room shortly after your agency’s collaboration with DynaMight had ended. It didn’t take long for you to piece together his sickness after that.

At first, you’d thought it was a more severe case of benevolent discrimination. After all, most people treat you with some amount of pity after being privy to your being quirkless—treating it no less than a disability of sorts.

But Bakugou’s view of you was increasingly more unsettling than that—suffering from some type of delusion that has him fully convinced you’re utterly inept without him.

In some odd ways, it would have been better if he was just faking—if he was doing it all, treating you as an inferior for some sick sense of deriving his own sadistic pleasure. But no, you think he actually fully and whole-heartedly believes you’re a danger to yourself and that anything, if not monitored in the perfect conditions of the controlled environment he’s established for you, will result in your fatal illness or harm.

He’s a full-sworn hypochondriac concerning you—even as he himself dregs home some of the worst injuries you’ve ever seen as if it were nothing but a splinter in the rough of his worn soles. Meanwhile, he’s scared that if you leave the bed without socks on, it will give you pneumonia.

You were sure you had a couple of control freaks at the agency, but nothing measures up to Bakugou’s mania. How he dresses you is one thing—how he feeds you is another. An assortment of pills first, all vitamins and supplements, a spoon of cod liver oil, then a balanced meal reminding you of those tragic trays you’re served at the hospital—four times a day without fail—breakfast, lunch, dinner, then supper—he also keeps track of all the water he’s decided you need to drink—all things perfectly regulated according to your size and age.

Then there’s the sleep schedule with a set number of eight hours—no more and no less. Exercise is also necessary—workout plans designed and dictated by him. Nothing too severe, though—he’s afraid your quirkless constitution won’t be able to handle anything beyond thirty minutes max.

And then, of course, there’s hygiene.

You sobbed and fought hysterically the first time he’d washed you—in the tub with him after he’d stripped you naked. In fact, you’d made such a fuss he’d had to fetch a sedative.

Even in your drowsed state of complete numb delirium, you’d still heard how he’d fretted over it��the tiny needle hole he’d torn in your arm—as if that was the real violation, even as he’d thoroughly molested the entirety of your body with different cloths and sponges for no shorter than a full hour.

You’d been terrified, of course—horrified by his meticulous routines and odd nature. Yet strangely, despite his rigid rules, he won't ever get violent to enforce them.

You had expected it of him—being known for his brutality—the hero without mercy—the symbol of retribution. You know he's no stranger to leaving the battlefield bloody. But with you, he won't so much as harm a single strand of hair from your head.

He will instead bargain with you, sometimes for hours. Eat what he tells you, and you’ll watch a movie afterward. Go to sleep, and he'll escort you out to see the sun for a few hours in the morning. Let him ensure you wash correctly, and he’ll allow you to dry and dress yourself.  

And in those moments when you leave him no other option, he subdues you through the help of a needle again and never ever by manhandling you—it was as if that weren’t even a viable option. It was obvious he regarded the sedative as the uttermost last resort, always muttering on about chemicals and whatnot under his breath. It seemed he would rather avoid it at all costs—but also, that if it stood between allowing the disturbance of the schedule he felt was needed to keep you healthy and forcibly putting you to sleep, he knew without a doubt which option he considered the lesser evil.

He was certain of it all. And at some point or another… you had even begun sharing his fear of attracting some sort of illness yourself—even something so small as a common cold. But no, it wasn’t the same. Yours was not a fear of the actual disease itself but of what he might do if he caught you sneezing and coughing. You could only imagine the upgraded pill table he’d have in store for you then and what other measures he’d instill due to his excessive ideas of necessity.

And that’s why you’d tried running again even after what must have been a couple of months since the last time. The thought of his inane insanity having affected you so badly you’d started playing along was all too much a painful realization—you’d felt compelled to reject it—run away even when you knew you’d never be able to make the door open if you could even reach it.

You knew it would be in vain, and even though running headfirst into something you know isn’t going to work might be the first signs of madness—you’re still relieved to have found some remaining worth of fight still in you, even if it couldn’t amount to anything.

He comes back as quickly as he’d left, still muttering to himself, cross about the damage you’ve sustained—like you’re one of the collector’s items he keeps up on the mantle in his office—green costume and a big bright smile. You remember the exposés—they’d been rather gruesome, about the hero who’d died in battle not so long ago—a couple of years back now, give or take. He had the number-one spot before DynaMight.

The current top hero retakes his spot at your feet, sighing deeply once he starts dabbing your minor bruises with disinfectant, followed by unnecessary bandages. You’re silent as you watch him work—all so diligently as he does everything, cutting no corners and running zero lights.

His efforts, done with the very epitome of care, all disgust you.

Your lip curls. “I’m not what you think I am…”

His keen glare stops obsessing over your wounds to look up at your face—he’d already tended to the ones he could see, but he’s sure more would blossom and swell in a couple of hours. It’s beyond worrisome—but it’s his fault in any case. He should move you to a place without stairs—it’s way too dangerous for someone as accident-prone as you.

You make eye contact, and his anger fades at the sight of tears welling in your corners—softening as if he’s convinced even a harsh look will have you shatter in his hands.

“I’m quirkless. But ’m not weak.” You’re sure you preached much of the same back at the beginning of your stay, though then you’d hurdled it at him—screamed it from the top of your lungs until you’d lost your voice, unknowing that it’s a statement he’s heard a hundred times over spoken by different lips from yours.

It’s a funny thing almost… how your eyes remind him of his—so soft and yet brimming with determination—a determination that will only get you killed.

He’d put faith in those words before, believed them beyond himself, and it had cost him everything.

But even so, he can’t fault you for believing in them yourself… they’re what makes him love you, after all.

He smiles gently—a most gut-churning sight from the all-scowling man.

“I’m sure you think so.”

He doesn’t relay it with any type of harshness but pity—gross concern and better judgment—overwhelming oodles of it in his garnet eyes, weighing them down with something so awful as compassion and… you don’t exactly know… but it looks like grief.

♡ part two ♡ more thoughts on this ♡ BAKUGOU KATSUKI masterlist ♡ BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA masterlist

[celestialgalaxyglow]

Batfam and Danny, Part 33

A few days later at the gala.

Jon: There's a lot of people here.

Damian: Unfortunately.

Jason: Let's just get through this night.

Danny (to Damian): Try not to murder anyone uncle.

Damian: No promises.

Jon: I'll keep him in check.

Bruce: Thank you Jon.

Damian (done with his family): Let's go Jon.

Damian dragged Jon to the snack table.

Jon: Snack break already?

Damian: Trust me these people are easier to handle with a full stomach.

Jon: Well I'm not going to reject free food.

Damian: That too.

Jon: You're rich, everything is basically free to you.

Damian: That's true.

A few minutes later.

Jon: What's going on over there?

Damian: Hmm? They're clearing the dance floor to well dance.

Jon smiled and held out his hand to Damian.

Damian: Seriously?

Jon: What? We are here together aren't we?

Damian (smiling): Fine but if you step on my shoes I will throw you out the nearest window.

Jon (smiling): Don't threaten me with a good time.

The two made their way to the dance floor and started to dance.

Damian: I don't mean to sound rude but I did not expect you to know how to dance.

Jon: And yet you brought me to a dance and didn't give me any lessons.

Damian: Fair. But how do you know how to dance?

Jon: My grandparents.

Damian: Ah of course, why didn't I think of that?

Jon: Less thinking more dancing, you're rather slow.

Damian (hearing a challenge): You're on Kent.

Jon: Just try to keep up Wayne.

After several minutes of dancing.

Damian (laughing): I haven't had that much fun in a while.

Jon: Me neither.

Damian: You're covered in sweat.

Jon: You too... why don't we sneak away to the roof? Get some fresh air.

Damian: Sure. Let's get away from these rich Gothamites.

At the roof.

Damian: Fresh air.

Jon: You bats have really cleaned up the city.

Damian: We still have a long way to go. Don't tell anyone else I said this but I hope one day Gotham might be like Metropolis.

Jon (looking at Metropolis on the other side of the river): With your help Gotham will surpass Metropolis.

Damian: Not if you keep helping Metropolis.

Jon: Let's agree to disagree.

Damian: I can agree to that. Damian turned to look at Jon. You ok?

Jon: What?

Damian: You look nervous.

Jon: Well you've looked nervous all night too.

Damian: touché.

Jon: Damian can I ask you something?

Damian: Sure.

Jon: I've been meaning to ask you this for a while now, and I might as well do it tonight. Jon grabbed Damian's hands. Damian Wayne al Ghul, will you allow me to court you?

Damian (blushing): Court me?

Jon: Did I say it wrong?

Damian: Yes! I mean no! I mean- you said it right. I mean yes I'd be happy to have you court me.

Jon: Really?

Damian: Yes, but why me?

Jon: Why not? You're smart, considerate even though you don't like to show it, a great friend, and a greater leader whenever we go on missions together. If anything I should be asking you why you'd agree to go out with me.

Damian: You underestimate yourself. You are also incredibly smart, you know how to deescalate things before they get out of hands, and you are also a good leader. You may not notice it but half the time during our missions you take charge. You're not my sidekick you're my partner, my equal.

The two smiled at each other.

Damian: And an idiot!

Jon: What?

Damian: I was going to ask you to court me at the end of the night!

Jon: Wha?

Damian: At first I was just going to swallow my feelings, but then Danny gave me the idea to ask you to the gala and then decide at the end of the night whether to ask you out or not. I was going to ask you out when we got back to the manor. I made up my mind during our dance.

Jon: Damian...

Damian: Yeah?

Jon (blushing): Me too!

Damian: What!?

Jon: I didn't want to ruin our friendship so I was going to swallow my emotions, but then you asked me to the gala and... I made up my mind as well during our dance... to ask you to court me.

Damian: We're idiots.

Jon: I won't argue with you on that.

Damian: So what now?

Jon: I don't know what do couples do?

Damian: I don't know! My siblings go to restaurants with their partners.

Jon: Or the movies. What if we watch that new assassin movie coming out in a few days? You can tell me all the inaccuracies in it.

Damian: That sounds like an good plan, we can have a private screening in my family's at-home theater. I'm sure my dad can secure the movie before its release.

Jon: Sounds like a plan! Just call me when you get it.

Damian: I will.

The two looked at each other.

Jon: Can we hug?

Damian: Yes!

Jon (still hugging): So does this mean we're boyfriends?

Damian: I think so.

Jon: Should we tell people?

Damian: Let's keep it between our families for now, if that's ok.

Jon: That's fine. Let's keep it between us tonight. We can tell our families tomorrow.

Damian: Works for me.

They broke the hug.

Jon: We should get back to the gala before the others worry.

Damian: Right.

The two held each other's hands and started to head towards the stairs... when they hit something.

Jon: The hell? What did we hit?

Damian: There's nothing here- no...

Jon: What?

Damian: Danny?

The rooftop remained for a few seconds... then Danny appeared.

Danny: Hi...

Jon: How much of that-

Danny: Everything.

Damian: Why-

Danny: I saw you two wondering off and wanted to make sure you didn't get in trouble. Then you two started talking and when I realized what you two were talking about I panicked and froze.

Damian: You were invisible. Why weren't you intangible?

Danny: I panicked!

Jon: Well there's no use hiding it from him.

Damian: Guess not. Jon and I are a couple now.

Danny: Congratulations. And don't worry I'll keep this till you guys tell everyone else.

Damian: Thank you.

Danny: Of course. Now let's get you two back to the gala.

(Master Post)

[vechter]

here are some fics from my beautiful mutuals that left me in shambles this month:

those million tons of light by mintchocochips absolutely devastating donna character study set right after countdown with a heavy focus on kyle. stunning prose & the most authentic consideration of donna's identity torment nexus + her relationships with all the people in her life. gorgeous allusions + superb examination of canonical moments

Moments After The End by vividities short ficlet for titans/yj graduation day #3 exploring dick's immediate reaction to donna's death. bonus appearance from roy; succinct & gutting with some heartbreaking imagery & dialogue

Passiontide by bigdamnher0 dick in his spyral era. consideration of the impact of nightwing #30 with the most gorgeous and chewy prose. heavy focus on bruce & the kind of devotion they have for each other + a wonderful insight into some of the grayson '14 elements

with golden string by FromStarstuff donna character study. the thesis. will leave you devastated but heart-fulfilled for the kind of love dick & roy have for donna. gorgeous consideration of donna's personhood + the impact of having all that history encased in her + what a terrible and beautiful thing it can be

all we are is an aching that can barely be filled by 2mad4plaid dickroy in outsiders era my absolute beloved. gorgeous depiction of the push and pull they have in this era + insightful consideration of how differently they grieve for donna. compelling character work with beautifully depicted chemistry

Parable of the Friend at Midnight by dustorange tim centric with a gorgeous juxtaposition of his relationships with jack & bruce. bonus features from alfred and dick. stellar internal voice for tim and as always, dustorange's prose is beautiful and layered; reads so authentic to how tim was in this era

memories {like water slipping through your fingers}. by SHINeeNAilee dickroy but make it canon divergent: roy meets ric grayson. there are layers to every moment and mack does such a wonderful exploration of how well roy knows dick & how terrified and untethered ric is till this moment. insane chemistry work

i'm in the business of losing your interest by mintchocochips babs character study set during NML. absolutely stunning insight into some of the behind the scenes moments of barbara's competence and grit. all her complexities are beautifully considered and her desperation + how tired and scared she is, are all tied together wonderfully

burning money by yutro canon divergence where willis todd lives and comes out of prison into a world where jason is dead. absolutely devastating character work and prose for his grief. every vignette packs a punch + a wonderful examination of the dubious ethics of child sidekicks in a way that feels like it could fit right into canon

[temis-de-leon]

Gn!MC with super long hair

Characters: Lucifer, Leviathan, Satan, Beel and Diavolo (x reader, separately; written as romantic, but could be read as platonic)

Main Masterlist

Anon request: ¡Buenas! I was wondering if you could do a gender neutral mc with lucifer,beel, Levi, satan n dia with head cannons about a mc with suppeerrr long hair? :D take care of yourself n remember to take breaks :)

A/N: I'm killing so many birds with this stone. This one has Lucifer and Satan, who are long overdue, and I'm posting a months-old request, which is way long overdue. Also, I want to thank Beyonce for giving me the motivation necessary to do this.

.

Lucifer

He can’t help but be impressed at first, even though his unbelievable age has allowed him to meet all sorts of living beings and see their diverse features first-hand.

Hair helps express oneself and represents different cultures, so he wonders what motivates you to keep yours so lengthy. Of course, at first, it stays at that, wondering and imagining, since it isn’t something that keeps him awake at night.

Plus, your impressively long hair only proves to be bothersome as days pass.

It’s on the furniture, the floors, the rugs, the laundry, the food… It. Clogs. The. Shower.

He’ll make you clean everything whether you like it or not and will absolutely throw that sadistic smile of his if you dare complain, sitting in a chair and reading the newspaper while you’re on your knees fishing clumps of hair out of the drains.

Legit him.

But in all seriousness, his attitude towards you will improve drastically the moment you start to clean your messes; and if you already do that from the start, then he holds you on a much higher level of respect.

You are cleaner and more responsible than his brothers, who would’ve thought?

He will feel beyond honoured if you ask him for help brushing or styling it; a bonding moment he’ll cherish very much.

Levi

He is fangirling hard and is not even embarrassed about it.

There are multiple fictional characters with hair as long as yours, both male and female and everything in between, and he wastes no time in comparing you to all of them regardless of your gender.

He’ll be considerably disappointed if you haven’t watched or read any of the anime, manga or novels he’s referencing, but if you’re willing to learn or if you’re already experienced in the matter, then prepare to never know peace again.

There are marathons, online shopping, gaming sessions, plot debates and, of course, his absolute favourite, cosplay.

You don’t need to dress up if it isn’t up your alley, although you should consider it. Levi is an excellent tailor and, as shy as he is, he has observation skills good enough to know what character resonates with you the most, both appearance and personality-wise.

Villains or heroes, leaders or sidekicks… It doesn’t matter. He would implode with excitement if he ever saw you dressed in armour, sparky or leathery clothes (or even all of them at once) with your hair styled in an intricate design that would normally have to be achieved with a wig.

If you want to watch him passed out on the floor with a worryingly deep blush on his face, you should try making a harness with your braided hair. His nerves won’t allow him to help, but he’ll make up in enthusiasm and admiration.

Satan

As far as he knows, hair holds great symbolism and, according to some, memories as well.

He is one curious demon with an extensive academic background and room to spare for more knowledge, so he’s very interested in knowing whether the length of your hair is determined by personal preference, culture, religion or something else.

Sure, you’re close and cherish each other for the way you are, but he has seen a feature of yours in his books, in history museums and even fashion exhibits. There’s something about seeing an object of interest in real life that makes him pay more attention than he would otherwise.

Even if the reason why your hair is so long is purely aesthetical, he’ll still be interested.

That just means he can tell you everything he knows instead.

Of course, your hair won’t be present in every single one of your conversations; Satan doesn’t want to be exhausting and, after all, it being part of you doesn’t make it you.

However, you will be aware of all the times he thinks of it.

“MC, hypothetically, if you were trapped in a tower, could your hair support the weight of another person? No, right? That’s what I thought! Of course!”

He isn’t fooling anyone.

Beel

Using a scented shampoo is considered a sacrifice in the House of Lamentation and everyone expects you to be aware of that.

He will eat it.

Legitimately.

It’s unavoidable.

Not directly, mostly, but it will happen as you grow closer.

It’s more noticeable when it’s your turn to cook. The brothers feel the visceral need to implement a new rule where you are obligated to wear a hairnet whenever you’re in the kitchen. Obviously, accidents still happen and threads of hair still fall to the simmering pots and pans in the stove while you’re distracted.

And Beel will be the only one to not realise. Thinking it’s just a really long and thin noodle, he will slurp that strand and enjoy it while everyone stares at him in horror.

His sin is a blessing in disguise.

Another example takes place when you’re close enough to share a bed; a situation you need to be careful with.

It improves if you braid your hair or if you use a bonnet at night, keeping it guarded and safe from the tossing and the fraction with the bedsheets, but the risk of it being mistaken for some weird-shaped food still exists.

On the other hand, if your hair is loose while you sleep for whatever reason, you can kiss it goodbye; since Beel will probably want to cuddle you and your impressive mane will inevitably directly be in his face.

He nibbles in his sleep, what can we do about it?

Diavolo

He is amazed by the beauty of it; it’s mesmerizing.

Of course, he has seen plenty of demons and witches with hair as long as yours, a symbol of beauty alone and power in the hierarchy of nobility; although that last one is tied to old customs, since the longer the hair the more time and servants you had to take care of it.

And you attend to it on your own? That’s impressive!

He wants to know everything, hence the huge amount of questions in so little time, almost like an eager child on a school trip to the zoo; shining bright eyes focused entirely on you and fingers twitching to grab a lock and softly stretch it until the very end.

If you let him do just that, he will treat it like a delicate treasure, never pulling harshly and observing with care. He doesn’t bother hiding the blush on his cheeks or the warmth in his gaze, mainly because he wants you to know how much affection he guards for you and how much he loves being able to be so close.

It’s a true pity you don’t have horns. Some demons use theirs as support for their hair, coiling it around them and making interesting designs.

He could give you a crown, though.

Show him what you can do with it.

.

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Taglist: @ilovecandys2010 @ollieoven @kingofspadesdelusion @whimsybloom

[hotvintagepoll]

There's something serious I want to talk about before the contest proper starts. I got a lot of submissions for this contest, and I tried to include a good variety of scrungly little guys. In my head this is a tournament dedicated to the funny, odd, weird character actors, and I'm happy that we have a range of talent here from noir to comedy to horror to drama. With that said—

A few of the submissions walked a line that I felt uncomfortable with, where a physical disability or a facial disfigurement was treated as the only reason to submit someone as scrungly. These submissions made me uncomfortable—the equating of someone outside the able-bodied norm with, by one of my own definitions, a scraggly-looking opossum. It crosses a line for me to frame a person as being odd for simply......existing in a human body. That's not what this tournament is about—this is a tournament about character actors who gave us fun, weird performances, driven by their own acting choices, not an excuse to think someone strange just for the way they exist.

I define scrungle as coming from a person's agency and skill as an actor, an energy and electricity brought by the actor themself, not from an appearance. I will not tolerate any propaganda that focuses on an actor's body in a demeaning or fetishistic context. I also won't tolerate propaganda that gets weird about race or class, comments that focus on a person's look over their performance, etc. etc. And if (against my best intentions) any of the propaganda in a poll post falls into this, I hope you guys will let me know and I'll correct/remove it. Please talk to me if I fuck up.

Some of the people here overcame significant barriers against a society that did not want to see them, making the most of bit parts and sidekick roles by giving warm, funny, weird, and masterful performances. That is a wonderful thing, and a brave thing. Some of these actors never truly got to shine, because Hollywood did not want to see them as more than a stereotype. I want to honor those comedians and character actors anyway for what they did manage to do. This tournament is about highlighting all these scrungly guys for the fun, purposely weird acting they gave us, and I hope we can be considerate in how we talk about their work.

tl;dr Respect for bodily autonomy and diversity of humanity is important in this competition, and it's important to me that we don't conflate "scrungly," ie an intentional performance of weirdness driven by the actor's choices, with "I think they look weird therefore they are weird," which is gross and dehumanizing. Do not do that. I won't tolerate anyone being weird about people who are just being people.

I hope this makes sense and I used the right language! See you guys Thursday :)

[ducktracy]

PIG AND DUCK MANIFESTO #1: Intro to the Classics, Bob Clampett

WELCOME TO MY LATEST OUT OF CONTROL PROJECT! read this ask for context! this is going to be a very long post--one of many--and i want people to read it, so let's just dive right in.

The Classics

THE CLASSICS ARE WHERE IT’S AT. nothing will ever top them in my opinion. you’re getting the characters and their intentions straight from the source. these characters were made up of the life experiences and sense of humor and and contexts of their creators and directors, and everything that has come after that has just been a game of telephone… and not always a very good one. i’m a purist for the classics, i know and don’t even care how snobby that may make me sound. there’s nothing better than seeing these characters in their proper context. they are products of their time, and not even in the typically negative connotation that seems to come with (but it can certainly apply… sigh). i always have and always will be unflinching of this opinion.

but that’s the exciting part: they vary from short to short. with TDTEBU being your gateway, i’m going to lay some things out just as security because I LOVE GETTING TO EDUCATE NEW PEOPLE AHHHHH!! so i’m sorry if this is stuff you already know, but you can never be too careful (and i can never be too eager to play teacher AHHH I’M SO EXCITED.) BUT. 

Porky and Daffy are unique in that they’re some of the only characters who receive the benefit of being passed from director to director. most of the time, a director who debuts a certain character will be the only director who works with that character. Yosemite Sam was Friz Freleng’s creation (and modeled after himself!), and there are only two or so shorts that feature the character that weren’t by him… and one of those was directed by an animator in his unit. same deal with Bob McKimson and Foghorn Leghorn–Foghorn’s a McKimson exclusive. same with Chuck Jones and Marvin the Martian. by the time of the ‘50s or so, everyone kinda kept their own characters to themselves. the mix and match nature of the ‘30s and ‘40s was no longer really present

Porky, Daffy and Bugs are happy exceptions to this rule. it’s amusing, too, in that Porky and Daffy have both sort of been “abandoned” by their “fathers”--Tex Avery, who made Daffy, only directed three shorts with him. Friz Freleng directed a considerable amount of Porky shorts, but the last time he touched him was in 1952–Porky’s last short in the golden age was released in 1965 (1966 if you wanna count reused footage). likewise, Porky and Daffy have long been established as a pair essentially since their conception (which’d be 1937; Porky’s Duck Hunt, the first Daffy cartoon made, was obviously the first to have the star together, and they were recurringly established as sidekicks as early as 1938). they often travel together! so, because their dynamic was so set in stone, this meant that many different directors got to lend a hand in showing us how they portray Porky and Daffy. some directors portray them as best buddies, whereas others portray them as mortal enemies. sometimes they’re like a vaudeville act, with Porky playing Daffy’s second banana. sometimes they’re buddies who wanna kill each other! there are so many unique flavors and variations of their dynamic, and that’s also why i’m so huge on them: through them, we get to see the individual identities of the DIRECTORS, how THEIR individual voices compare… and considering my favorite thing about the franchise is its history and the people behind it, well, i love it HAHA. 

SO LET’S EXPLORE THOSE DYNAMICS! let’s put some relationships to some names.

Bob Clampett

Bob Clampett is my greatest artistic inspiration of all time, so this PROOOOBABLY isn’t a surprise to most of my followers HAHA. he’s always been my favorite director–i find our sensibilities are very similar, his shorts elicit these visceral and emotional reactions out of me like nobody else, and i love his stuff. i very much gravitate to his portrayal of the characters. 

it’s almost unfair to nominate him as #1, because he has the benefit of having so much history with the characters. i mean, ALL of these guys do! but he was really the first to consistently pair them together and establish them as a dynamic duo. much of the understanding of Daffy and Porky as characters, together or separate, were helmed under his direction in the late ‘30s. it’s genuinely very sweet getting to watch them “grow up”--in any sense, but, again, this was largely felt under his shorts. 

i love both the early and later Clampett pig ‘n duck joints for different reasons. the early stuff, i love because there’s such a fondness and innocence about them! which seems REALLY funny to say, because some of the shorts i have in mind when referring to this are about “Daffy tries to cut a very conscious and unwilling Porky in half with a handsaw to prove that he’s a reliable surgeon” or “Daffy gets so drunk that Porky has to save his kid in part due to Daffy’s negligence”. 

but there’s such a sweetness about these early shorts. i always point to the opening of Porky & Daffy as an example; Daffy is still at an incredibly early stage of his lifespan and is still rather incoherent. at this stage, he’s moreso a bundle of nerve endings and noises–very out of his gourd and juvenile. but whereas most modern interpretations have Porky being annoyed by this, he’s ENDEARED by this! he radiates this fondness for Daffy and it’s the sweetest thing ever. you get the sense that he just sees him as his silly little friend who can do no wrong–aw, shucks, sure he’s a bit out there, but isn’t everyone? (mentally ill duck breaking things in the background) < i stole a friend’s wording on this because it’s just stuck with me for years at how correct and true it is.

and it’s funny, Porky’s a bit of an enabler even in these shorts!! in Porky & Daffy, he’s Daffy’s manager and signs him up for a boxing fight in hopes to get some prize money. he enables a lot of his esoteric behavior, and it actually leads them to victory–i love it because it’s very cute in a funny way, it’s nice that we get to see Daffy and his daffiness celebrated rather than shamed. it reflects an innocence on both characters that’s very fitting for the time and i just… i love it! in a world of shorts that are most well known for their adversity and cynicism, there’s something so special about seeing these two goofballs join up and enjoy each others’ company, even if it’s for the use of the very warped context that they may be put into. i still like thinking that Porky was the one who decided to stuff Daffy full of bags of flour to make it seem like he’s more muscular than he really is, sort of hinting at this bit of doubt towards Daffy’s capabilities (that isn’t entirely unwarranted) and it’s just such a funny little commentary, y’know?

the opening of Wise Quacks also really scratches this itch of demonstrating a similar fondness. as alluded to earlier, Porky actually refers to Daffy as his childhood friend (“why, we were kids together–!”) in this ADOOOOORABLEEEEEEE monologue that i think about all the time. again, there’s just this… innocence feels wrong, but it is kind of innocent! compared to how their dynamic would get later on! warmth, maybe? there’s a clear kinship between the two characters, and this is unique WHOLLY to them in how genuine that kinship feels. you have characters like the Goofy Gophers or Ralph and Sam who are friends (more, in the case of the gophers lol)... but that’s the whole joke of their existence. the whole joke is that they’re buds in a world surrounded by murderous, cynical cretins who want to kill each other. which Porky and Daffy can sometimes fall into as well, though this is largely on Porky’s side… 

GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF. anyway, i love the earnest of the early Clampett pig and duck shorts because no other character dynamic or even characters, period, have that benefit. it offers a very unique glimpse to these characters that gives them some versatility and room to work with. and i just really love how they play off of each other! i like that Porky is probably way more fond of this clearly unstable and not all there duck than he probably should be. and in these shorts (Porky’s Last Stand specifically), you get the feeling that he doesn’t really fully… understand him? and he doesn’t try to? because he just assumes him to be this silly little guy. AND, again, like in the case of P.L.S., that ends up having dire consequences (Daffy tries to warn him against a raging bull approaching him, but Porky is still stuck in “this is my silly friend who is crazy and can’t think for himself so he’s probably just up to his tricks. he’s silly” mode, is COMPLETELY oblivious to Daffy’s frantic gesticulating and pointing, and just assumes that there’s a salesman at the door. as if this is how Daffy would react to a salesman). 

this sense of innocent condescension on Porky’s part is still even present in some of the more “transitional” Clampett pig and duck shorts, like the end of A Coy Decoy–this is a short that debuts a bit of a more fleshed out Daffy. trying not to go into the entire history of the characters here–i’m sure i’ll fail–but he’s become quite a bit more lucid at this point; still hasn’t really entirely hit “puberty” yet, but he’s close to it, he can show a wider breadth of emotions and this short rides out on a lot of what P.L.S. establishes, but was limited by Daffy still being a bit more incapacitated by his neuroses. so, basically, it’s PORKY who’s in the wrong and has underestimated him! Porky basically says to his face that he’s an idiot for falling in love with a duck decoy and that he’s wasting his time. and then we see that Daffy has gotten busy in his spare time and proven Porky wrong. i love when Porky has a bit of an innocent ego like this–it’s Porky’s world and we’re all living in it, his obliviousness can often result in some unintentional condescension and i LOVE this about Clampett’s pig, and it’s just so funny to watch paired up against Daffy. especially in these moments where, for a change, he’s actually in the right! you get the sense that Porky is still stuck in the days where he’s Daffy’s boxing manager and having to sneak his robe full of flour bags to make him seem stronger, and not in the current where we now grapple with the horrifying possibility that DAFFY is the one making the most logical sense! horrid!

i’m about to move onto the later Bob Clampett pig and duck shorts (not very many 😢) but going back to my previous points about the fondness and innocence of it all… i mean just c’mon. this is cute. what other LT characters have this benefit. AT ANY POINT IN THE FRANCHISE! played completely straight too!!

WELL… it is LT, and LT is bent on cynicism and violence, and these guys certainly have it. the arrival of the war prompts these shorts to become a lot more brash and raucous, as these cartoons reflect so much about their current eras. and, with it, the characters adapt! everyone is made a bit more abrasive, bold, perhaps mean and fierce. the innocence of the ‘30s is pretty far gone… but not completely. and that’s again why i love Clampett’s pig and duck so much. they have balance.

and that’s why Baby Bottleneck is my all time favorite pig and duck short. directed by–you know who–Bob Clampett!

it’s the perfect short to me for their characterization because it has both sides of what i want from them. it has them working as an established duo, it still has those little subtle, funny themes of condescension from Porky in the tasks he assigns Daffy and way he regards him, and, most importantly, it has them trying to kill each other. 

it’s just such a great escalation and sampling of everything you could want from them. i love that they’re working together as a partnership, i love the history that it implies. there’s also a great subtle commentary of Porky giving the unceremonious task of answering all of the phones for their bottlenecked delivery service–i can just so imagine him thinking “well, Daffy never shuts the hell up, so he’ll be perfect for the job of answering all these phones while i go do my quiet, secluded job elsewhere. this’ll keep him occupied”. like having the talkative never-shuts-up guy in charge of answering all these lines.. it’s so funny at how backhanded it is!!

or Porky’s reasoning that ends up being the catalyst for the short’s conflict: there’s an unhatched egg that needs to be hatched so they know who to send the unclaimed egg to, as they run a baby delivery service. Porky’s thinking is simple: Daffy = duck. Duck = hatch eggs. Daffy = hatch egg. 

and he just asks him to do this so courteously, he’s so confident in thinking that Daffy will OF COURSE hatch out the egg because he’s a duck!!! it’s just simple facts and logic! not at all processing how unintentionally patronizing and even offensive that can come off, like “hey you’re a duck, you’ll hatch this out without objection. do this for me, egg-hatcher” LMFAO. 

and, of course, Daffy takes GREAT offense to this (despite agreeing to it at first), and Porky gets. So. Pissed. no escalation, one shot he’s smiling, seems to vacantly register Daffy’s refusal, and in the next shot he grabs him by the neck and yells at him to sit on the egg. and when he won’t he just immediately starts shoving him. no tact of any kind from either party.

AND I LOVE IT! because these guys are immature pissbabies. said lovingly. at their best they are immature pissbabies. or maybe not. i like when they’re immature pissbabies. and it’s especially made funny because we’ve seen how smiley and happy they were to work together JUST MOMENTS BEFORE. Porky is batting his eyelashes at Daffy and Daffy’s all quick and subservient, appearing at a moment’s notice… and all of the sudden they’re literally wrestling over this stupid egg. at one point Porky grabs Daffy’s hand and tries to force it on the egg–what kind of warmth is a hand gonna give the egg??? it’s not about the hatching of the egg at all, but getting to prove Daffy “wrong”, winning this pissing contest by showing “haha you touched the egg, now you have to sit on it, nyeh nyeh”

and you may be thinking, Eliza. i think you’re going a little far with this. Porky is a sweet and kind little gentleman. maybe a bit esoteric perhaps, but surely he’s not that petty, right?

WRONG! the first short they directed together, What Price Porky, literally has Porky sticking his tongue out at Daffy and going “NYEHHH” in the most wonderfully juvenile way after he “beat” him (got him to stop leading a ducktatorship–sorry–against his hens and stealing their corn). and so Porky’s behavior here is just such a wonderful little callback to that. it’s the last short Clampett directed with them, but a lot of the back and forth fighting and pettiness parallels the first short he directed with them, and there’s just something about that that gets to me!! 

and the best part of Bottleneck is that THERE IS NO WINNER. they’re both petty little idiots who brought this upon themselves, and that’s represented by having them get lodged into their own deathtrap inventions and smushed into this awful, horrifying, disgusting and wonderful pigduck baby hybrid that a mama gorilla immediately adopts without question. at least until we get a Classic Clampett “Innuendo” (in quotes because his sophomoric sense of humor is not subtle at all. i would say 60% of his shorts AT THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM have some sort of dick joke in them, this being one of them) where the mama thinks Porky is Daffy’s talking genitalia and freaks the hell out. understandably so. they both are at a tie and doomed to live this horrible pigduck baby life for the end of time… or at least until the iris closes out. and i just love how balanced that is. we’ve gotten so many shades of their dynamic, packed in 7 minutes of mayhem, and it’s just. AUGH. a little taste of all their different shades and capabilities. also, i should mention that TDTEBU references this short very heavily–everything with the factory is a reference to this short! so, all the more fuel to the fire!

i also feel it necessary to reference The Great Piggy Bank Robbery–the source of my username! and online alias! and icon! and also my favorite cartoon of all time! it’s a Daffy short, but Porky makes a brief cameo in it as an inconspicuously disguised trolley driver and just. HOW I LOVE THAT. 

the context for the short is that Daffy accidentally knocks himself unconscious, thusly dreaming about being Duck Twacy–”the famous duck-tec-a-tive!”. and Porky showing up, i’ve always thought was so cute–like a friend of yours showing up in a dream! it implies a history with them! it’s a testament to their dynamic that they’re good enough buds for Porky to show up in his dreams. i just love how casual and real that feels, very observational and gives their dynamic and history a nice bit of depth to it. 

considering it’s the last time Clampett would work with either character, it feels like a very fitting send-off to all the years of service he put into working these characters from the ground up. i really think he was hugely influential to the trajectory of their dynamic. all of the directors were–it’s a collaborative effort! but Clampett definitely worked with them very frequently at some of their most amoebic(?), doing a lot to establish their dynamic. Tex Avery was the first to pin them together, but Clampett was the first to establish it as a running dynamic.

and that’s why his interpretation is my all-time favorite. i borrow my interpretation and understanding of these guys from ALL the directors, as we will see in coming posts, but his hits a lot of what i want out of these characters. i wish he did direct more shorts of them paired together in the ‘40s, as i’d love to see what he would have done with a more mature and perhaps explosive Porky and Daffy (a la their dynamic in Baby Bottleneck, though they’re kinda anything but mature in that, aren’t they…?). but he is largely responsible for the friendship angle and giving them an exceptionally unique dynamic that no other LT character can live up to, full stop. there’s a lot to treasure about the way he portrays them. and that’s why i’m so adamant about advertising his earlier shorts, as his black and white cartoons seem to get slept on compared to his later works… they’re so charming and formative! you can feel the history! and most importantly, you can just… feel the fondness. fondness for these characters, their dynamic, these cartoons. 

and fondness is important. i’ll probably get into this more in another post (likely the LTC or TLTS post), but a lot of modern adaptations miss that Daffy has a genuine fondness for Porky. even when Porky is shoving a gun in his face and saying he’s gonna blow his head off (real quote! real happening!), there’s this sort of infatuation from Daffy with his persistence in following Porky around–even if it’s just to heckle him for his own satisfaction. if he was that disinterested, if he really hated or was annoyed by him like so many modern adaptations can have a tendency to show, then he just wouldn’t stick around and be as persistent as he is! he could just amuse himself elsewhere! because that’s all he does–tend to his impulses! but i think there’s a real sort of infatuation–even if it doesn’t manifest in him being super smiley or happy all the time about it–he has with Porky, and this is often very misunderstood or overlooked and breaks my heart. “Daffy hates Porky like he hates Bugs” should be on Mythbusters, because not once in the originals is this ever true. i can say that with my full chest. 

and yknow? typing this, i’m realizing Clampett never did a “Daffy heckles Porky” short, maybe beyond What Price Porky. there’s The Daffy Doc, where he tries to perform non consensual surgery on him, but there’s no malicious in his intentions. he’s just batshit insane. he thinks he’s doing a good thing and is following a very warped, but nonetheless present logic. he’s not trying to hurt Porky, but thinks he’s doing him a favor. i LOVE the shorts where Daffy heckles Porky. this is why Bob McKimson is right behind. but i love that, even if Porky doesn’t understand or may very fleetingly get annoyed with Daffy in these shorts, Clampett is maybe the only director (next to Frank Tashlin, who only directed one–but a holy grail of a short, which i’ll mention later–short with them together) who doesn’t have Daffy heckling Porky. there’s a real unity with their dynamic and, well, partnership, that’s unique to Clampett’s direction. i genuinely find that touching and perhaps a little necessary. 

WHEW! AND THIS IS JUST PART 1. thank you for making it this far! i’ll be ending off each post with a list of recommendations: shorts (or episodes, for modern stuff) from each director/show that i think would be good homework viewing to get an understanding of how they’re portrayed. i’ll also be linking my in-depth analyses to each short that i’ve written one for, so if you want to learn more and dive even deeper, you can.

BOB CLAMPETT PIG 'N DUCK SHORTS YOU SHOULD WATCH (links included):

Baby Bottleneck

Porky & Daffy (CLICK HERE to read my breakdown!)

The Daffy Doc (CLICK HERE to read my breakdown!)

Wise Quacks (CLICK HERE to read my breakdown!)

Porky’s Last Stand (CLICK HERE to read my breakdown!) < this is one of my favorite reviews i've ever done, so... worth a read!

Tick Tock Tuckered (so this is actually a remake of Porky's Badtime Story, the first Clampett short he directed--this isn't one of my go-to's since Daffy's role was originally for another character, all hail Gabby Goat, but it's a rare '40s Clampett color cartoon pig 'n duck joint and i think is still nicely indicative of their dynamic. it's not one i watch often, but first timers will likely appreciate it! i've grown to take it for granted, admittedly...)

and if you still want more.. these aren't great, like, at all, but i did some commentaries on the fly of Baby Bottleneck and Porky's Last Stand back in March 2022. i highly recommend reading the review for Last Stand since there's SOOOO MUCH i packed in there that i couldn't in this, but since i haven't been able to do a formal writeup of my favorite pig 'n duck short of all time, hopefully this is a good little substitute.

ideally, my answer is ALL OF THEM, but that seems like a cheat. there's only one Clampett pig 'n duck short i'm iffy on, Scalp Trouble--can probably assume from the title it's troublesome, but, also, Porky and Daffy are incontestably the best part of the short. the gif of Porky holding Daffy comes from that short. i'll also drop a link to my analysis so you can read and enjoy the good pig 'n duck bits and ignore everything else. but they really are all worth watching!

[soleminisanction]

I've always really liked DC's in-house choice of referring to their various superhero groupings as "families," but it has gotten a little frustrating recently with people both in canon and in fandom seeming to forget that families aren't just a parental-unit-and-kids formation. They're complicated, and a lot of the DC families are too messy to fit into that neat little nuclear family mode.

Which is to say... here's some scattered thoughts/summaries about how these families are actually structured in canon, because I think it's interesting:

Supers -- The smaller, more traditional Superfamily (Clark, Lois, Kara, Kon, etc.) is a pretty traditional Midwestern nuclear family, with Jimmy Olsen filling the role of close family friend/goofy neighbor sidekick (in the Silver Age, he was Kara's would-be suitor) and Steel feeling more like part of Clark's personal circle of friends. The recent line up, though, with Jon, the twins, Kong and Nat? Starts to feel more like some old dynasty or noble house, complete with fostered foundlings and the Steels acting almost like knights under a noble's banner, possibly reflective of what the House of El would have been on Krypton.

Arrows -- Might currently be the closet to a traditional nuclear family structure. You've got Ollie and Dinah, their younger sisters, Ollie's adopted and biological children, and Ollie's granddaughter through Roy, plus by some counts Roy's co-parent and her sister as "in-laws." Bonnie and Cissie King-Jones are adjacent to but not technically "part" of the family, though I believe it's implied at one point that Ollie might also be Cissie's bio-dad. Pretty straightforward, these guys are actually family and they act like it, for good and ill.

Shazam Family -- Also a literal, actual family. Not originally, the original golden age "Marvel Family" was considerably more complicated and only Billy and Mary were full siblings, but nowadays the whole point of the modern Shazam family is that they're foster siblings united by familial love and that's fantastic. Meanwhile your average Black Adam story is 75% angsty family drama, 25% Egyptian mythology references.

Flashes -- Technically closer to three nuclear families (the Allens, the Wests and the Garricks; four if you include the Quicks), two of whom are united by marriage and all of whom are bound by the Speedforce, which, given its semi-spiritual connections to things like Speedster afterlives, can act almost like a religious force that connects them to the additional members like Avery, Circuit Breaker and Max as Bart's foster-dad. They're a big, sprawling tree with more cousins than siblings, the kind of family that functionally has a reunion every Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Lanterns -- Now these guys are the exception that proves my point about the whole 'family' thing not being straightforward. The lanterns aren't a family, they're a corps. Soldiers. Space cops. Comrades-in-arms. They respect each other, have each other's backs, might even like or care about each other, but those last two are optional, and they don't have the same kind of assumed obligations towards each other that a family would have. They're friends and co-workers, not family, but that doesn't mean their relationships are less significant, they're just different.

Wonders -- Roughly half of them are either one of Hippolyta's daughters (Diana, Donna, Nubia pre-Crisis) or related to them through the gods (Cassie), and the other half (Artemis, Yara, modern-age Nubia) use sister as a term of endearment more in a utopian lesbian commune kind of way. I think they brought Steve Trevor back recently? He's basically the Ken in this equation and perfectly fine with that role. None of which should be surprising if you've seen Professor Marston and the Wonder Women.

Bats -- This is the one that people get really wrong when they try to force it into a traditional family structure. Don't let WFA fool you, the Bats are and have always been way more a snarled mess of tangled interpersonal relationships than they've ever been a cohesive family. Whether Dick is Bruce's son or his brother depends on what era you're talking about, and the former reading is much more recent than you think -- as in "started cropping up in the early 2000s" recent. Barbara is both Cassandra's sister and her mother. Duke and Steph both have living parents and neither of them want or would ever dream of treating Bruce like their dad; Tim was the same way until his dad died. None of the Robins ever lived in the mansion together, nor did Cass. Babs considered Jean-Paul Valley her brother and Huntress is so close to Tim she once hallucinated him calling her Big Sister. They're a beautiful mess of people finding places where their broken edges fit together into something that works for them and trying to reduce it down to a cozy nuclear family is just so goddamn reductive and lazy.

Blue Beetles -- Are only tangentially related to each other. Seriously, they never even get direct mentoring, each one just takes over when the previous one dies and works on completely different rules from the other two. They're complete strangers bound by a legacy and that's honestly pretty fun.

Zataras -- There's only three of them and they're literally a father, daughter and cousin.

Martians -- Not really a family because there's only the two of them, but an interesting case where the two survivors of what was functionally a war of mutually assured destruction came together in an attempt to find some peace in the aftermath of what they'd lost.

Titans -- The JLA and JSA aren't really in the "family" category, but the Titans lean into it hard, mostly because they're a textbook found family. They don't mirror a nuclear family structure, they're simply a group of people who came together to form a mutual support network. They're the idealized college friends you grew into your own with, some of them childhood companions and others you only met once you leave home for the first time, but all of them friends that you manage to maintain contact with for life, with everyone coming back together even as you scatter and do your own things.

Young Justice -- Meanwhile, this team is the chaotic group of misfits you hung out with when you were a teenager, especially when you were just starting to be allowed to act without adult supervision. You drive each other crazy, none of you know you're all queer as fuck, and you'd fight a bear for any of them even if they asked you not to. They'd probably be insulted if you tried to call them a family. They come out here to get away from their families, thank you very much.

[chris-prank]

Absolutely love Dr.Seraph, he's such a pathetic man in the best of ways, gotta love it <3

But ngl, I'm also kinda curious about Fatalité, he's been mentioned here and there but we haven't seen much of him ....?

Could you tell us some stuff about him, if you don't mind ? Like how he feels about a hero reader/vigilante reader, or how he would feel if he discovered Dr.Seraph's feelings about the reader, for example

I'm so glad that my little mad scientist is to your liking! 😆 I decided to had some personal info about Fatalité on top of answering your questions!

･*:.｡..｡.:*･*:.｡..｡.:*･

About Fatalité:

💣 Fatalité’s real name is Jules Dubois, he is born in Belgium.

💣 He is in his mid forties.

💣 He can speak French, English and a little bit of Spanish.

💣 He doesn’t have superpowers, that’s what Dr. Seraph is for! The only things that could be considered his “quirk” are his metal gauntlets that gives him inhuman strength. He can easily destroy a wall in one punch!

💣 His real weapon is money. Jules can pay, blackmail and bribe his way into fulfilling his goals. He still is on the field most of the time, since he doesn’t believe his henchman can do the job properly without him. Additionally, he finds sick pleasure in watching his enemies fail, so he wants to witness it first hand.

💣 His evil deeds vary between typical robbery of precious jewels or works of art and trying to take over parts of the city.

💣 Fatalité is a real narcissist, with psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies. Remorse is a feeling foreign to him seeing that he felt it rarely in his life.

What is he like on the romance side of things:

💣 Fatalité is biromantic and asexual, which I subtly hinted at in one of my previous posts. Sorry guys, but that means no spicy time with him.

💣 He is obviously a yandere too, since he is an evil supervillain, obsessing over things is ingrained in him. If he likes someone he doesn’t care what it takes, he will have them. Fatality is inevitable after all.

💣 He would be less mean to his partner than with other people, but taking in consideration his narcissism, his desires are still more important to him. So he might not be the best boyfriend in the world.

💣 You don’t want to cuddle? Too bad he wants it and he’ll trap you in his arms. You're so cute when you’re struggling to get away, you’re just like an aggressive stray cat. He does enjoy seeing you frustrated a little bit too much.

💣 His prominent love language are words of affirmation. He needs to hear you say how much you adore and worship him! Don’t expect any words of affirmation from him, he is too proud to admit his feelings out loud.

💣 On the other hand, he expresses his love for you by giving expensive gifts and physical touch.

His view on hero/vigilante reader and if he discovers Dr. Seraph as real feelings for them:

💣 About the hero reader, in simple words, Fatalité hates them. They take away or prevent him from getting the things HE wants.

💣 His views on vigilante reader will change depending on how much they are on the good side. If they are serving justice but with no moral ground, he will hate them as much as the typical hero. But if they are more flexible with their activities, Fatalité might try to work with them if it can serve his interests.

💣 If Jules founds out that Dr. Seraph is in love with the reader; he will be shocked and feel a bit betrayed. With all the people in the world he chose his arch nemesis!? Vincent should just spit in his face while he's at it.

💣 As long as his sidekick don’t plan on betraying him literally, he doesn’t mind this obsession of his. Actually, it could even turn into something positive, for exemple if Dr. Seraph decides to kidnap the reader for himself. That way Jules wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore.

･*:.｡..｡.:*･*:.｡..｡.:*･

I hope this satisfied your curiosity about Fatalité!

[deifyruby]

wemmbu's uu thumbnail for abandoned civ has changed and eggchan is no longer there... and i'm pretty sure it has to do with the youtube thingy about testing out different thumbnails for more reach, but also that video has been out for a while now. i think it is absolutely reasonable to say that the thumbnail change was intentional because of the sole fact that the video is older. ☝🏻 though i'm not really sure about the mechanics of that function, erm. but regardless, let's make it about lore. 🔥 why not. 🔥 i'm gonna ramble tiny bit.

it's a really silly coincidence that the thumbnail removed egg, while egg himself has been missing these past few eps. has egg been missing because he is just busy irl? (finals, and dude's in college i think. 😭) or was it a thing done on purpose? 🤔 egg hasn't been showing up, and wemmbu hasn't questioned it yet. CAN I BE ANNOYING AND SAY THIS IS THE DIRECTOR'S DOING??? like pointing everything that happens to the director is kinda cheap but, also... a director. a figure that breaks the fourth wall. a person that guides the actors on their stage to tell a story. it isn't a reach to say that the director is probably, maybe, perhaps, Mayhaps, somewhat messing with the previously established 'sidekicks', or somewhat intended to be companions that accompany the mcs in their journey.

parrot → wifies (dead), jumper (kicked out), leo (leo), nufuli (dead) [dean and luigi also are dead, but their deaths happened sort of... before the director's existence came to light, and aren't directly tied to them unlike wifies', but i don't know, taking that into consideration]

wemmbu → rejoice (dead), egg (gone off somewhere), loppezz (uhm. it's. interesting. complicated. oh phew... 😭)

spoke → mapicc (gone), minute (gone), planet (gone).

flame → ashen (still alive and kicking) [but also his pov is relatively new, not to mention the unique circumstances around his introduction as a mc. ☝🏻 have to let that one cook still.]

side note. wtf. the list with parrot compared to the others is crazy. 😭 the greed of this bird bro.

also, egg Logged out by the way. by The way. in the server that, if you log out, it's basically impossible to log back in again because it's choke full of people, and the count is so high it reached server limit. you can't even see all the names on the tab. with egg it's always been hard to tell because he breaks the fourth wall constantly. the logging out could've been just another one of his meta shenanigans, but that discussion always brings us back to the same question: Nobody in universe questions it. wemmbu hasn't acknowledged that bit about the world building, but he Should know. he isn't even slightly agitated at egg logging off and basically losing his spot in the server.

egg ur so silly.

[dead-boys-club]

†  progress : hawks.

❥ scenario: hawks and his love life ❥ no triggers; not rated. ❥ i don't have any beta readers - you get what you get. ❥ this was a request <3

let me start off by saying i approve of the virgin hawks hc because.. i know everyone seems to think all the cool dudes get laid constantly - but hawks has a brain, things he can't let get compromised, is basically government property and well, probably has better things to do. i find it amusing. ( same with dabi because.. well- we won't go there. )

ANYWAY.

let's start off with the type of person who is going to catch his attention. he's going to be attracted to someone who's confident and kind because, at the end of the day, he needs someone who is going to be kind to him. someone genuine and possibly doesn't even take much of his hero persona into consideration. happy to be with hawks but proud to be with keigo. he's drawn to someone who seems.. unique? i'm not sure how to word what i'm trying to say but it's someone who just - radiates some type of gentleness that he's probably mesmerized by. he would be even more screwed if she wasn't the type to keep up with heroes and asked who he was.

without being weird about it, he'd start observing her, taking in her likes, dislikes, habits, favorite things.. just information he'd file away for use later on. somehow, finding out those little things would just have him falling more and more. he'd keep things light, though, playful and easy, testing how everything went with her. he would never, at any point, think to rush anything because not only could that ruin things but it could potentially put her in danger.

despite how in his head he is and control of things, he wouldn't even realize how rapidly his feelings were evolving until one night, sitting in the break room and listening to her laugh out in the hall. oh - he was actually falling for some random office worker? he would absolutely struggle with how dangerous that was but god, the way his heart seemed to pick up hearing that sound. he was a lot more invested in things than he realized.

her company would become his favorite thing but he would still be cautious for a while. he would feel himself becoming protective over her, telling himself that the last thing he needs is to have her hurt. was that his place, though? he rationalized that she was still just a citizen.

✧*̥˚ getting her attention *̥˚✧

no one can tell me hawks isn't awful at flirting but the way he says shitty pick up lines still just works out? however, he'd feel defeated when he pulled the 'if you were a hero, you'd be my sidekick for life' and you frowned, asking why you wouldn't be able to be a pro on your own. he really should have seen that coming. maybe pick up lines weren't the best route but he still tossed a few out here and there. he's kind of used to people enjoying him.. in general and that being his charm.

he would be the type to, later on, bring you gifts ( he's a bird. lets be real. ) such as things he knew were your favorite like little snacks and drinks, maybe a book or two. maybe smaller things related to comments or inside jokes. this is absolutely the reason you have a pin with a possum on it. he's not against going big when it's called for, arranging more grand dates and trying to impress you.

he is, any second he gets, there for you. for whatever you need. sick? he's not the best nurse but he tries. upset? his shoulder is there. no motivation? did you know feathers can make great pompoms?

let's get into what i'm sure everyone is waiting for: the moment he feels is right to confess, hawks is dropped and keigo is basically baring his soul to you. the playfulness, the teasing; it's gone in that moment as he takes a deep breath. 'you mean a lot to me, you know? and.. i'd really like to see where this can go.' it wouldn't be a lot of frills and sweet words, it would be serious.. wanting you to know he truly meant it when he was telling you how he felt and how he wants to be with you.

✧*̥˚ first tiny drabble *̥˚✧

the sun was beginning to set, painting the city with golden hues as you pushed your way out of the coffee shop, order in hand and moving quickly. you were late for a meeting, not paying attention and attempting to get your vibrating phone out of your pocket without throwing anything else onto the ground. the lack of attention lead to a collision that sent her coffee tumbling to the ground and time to briefly stop.

'shit, i'm so sorry!' you exclaimed, honestly not sure what to do first, a hand coming up to rub your face. it took a second, but you finally looked at the person in front of you, blond hair and a pair of crimson wings folded in neatly. you blinked a few times.

he waved a hand at you dismissively. 'hey, no harm done,' a charming smile forming as he tilted his head, 'should've been watching where i was going.'

the words almost didn't register to you, gaze slipping to the red feathers occasionally. 'thanks but, uh.. are you, like, cosplaying or something?' it was taking a good bit of self control to not reach out and touch but you reminded yourself that was rude.

he was clearly amused, eyebrow raising slowly. 'cosplaying?'

you gestured to him. 'yeah, like, dressing up as a character? your wings are.. super realistic.' no, it didn't cross your mind that they could be real.

hawks shook his head, laughing softly. 'not cosplay. these are the real deal.' as if to back up his words, he stretched them out a little, careful of those around.

you were confused but also mesmerized; they were so pretty. 'wait wait, are you one of those pro heroes or something?'

'bingo, guilty as charged.' he answered, settling his wings back in and studying you for a moment, finding the display endearing in a way. 'hawks, at your service.'

'like.. the bird..?'

he was having field day with your responses. 'yeah, that's the one.. like the bird.' he mused. 'you really don't know who i am?'

your lips pursed a little before you replied. 'i don't really get into the whole heroes thing, sorry. i've got my own job and life to worry about.' it wasn't meant to sound rude or anything but you had enough on your plate than to worry about who was saving what. 'kind of live under a rock when it comes to those things.'

if he didn't know any better, he could have sworn his heart clenched, being unknown to someone just fed into his little delusions. 'it's refreshing, no need to apologize. most people recognize me immediately, it can get tiring, so it's nice to see someone who doesn't see me as a hero, i guess.'

'well.. i'm y/n,' you introduced, offering up a smile. 'sorry about the coffee thing.'

his shoulders lifted in a shrug. 'how about i make it up to you? there's a place around the corner that's pretty great. we can grab another coffee and you can tell me about living under that rock of yours.'

did the meeting even matter? you were sure someone would take notes. you'll just.. say you got sick while out for a break. you nodded to yourself, as if to confirm the story. 'alright, lead the way.'

offering your shoulder a barely there nudge, he began walking with you at his side. you, on the other hand, were still watching him, glancing to his wings and growing more and more curious. what you didn't expect, was such a chance meeting having the potential to turn your entire world upside down.

-

✧*̥˚ notes *̥˚✧

it's not nearly as long ; u ; but, i do have another drabble i threw together, if anyone wants it. this is basically just a basis of hawks having feelings, being scared of those feelings then saying fuck it.

[glimmerfics]

✜ You've been PROMOTED!? From Junior Accountant to Trusty Sidekick ✜

"You'll receive appropriate compensation," he says, guiding you towards the sedan. "Hazard pay, as mentioned. A considerable raise." He opens the passenger door for you, then adds with that same dry almost-humor, "Perhaps even dental."

Maybe being chased after by Russian mobsters is worth it for a stable job in this economy. Well... anything sounds great when it means you get to spend every waking moment with the dark and mysterious Christian Wolff.

Stand by his side and maneuver your way into a FAT paycheck or deep into his HEART? The choice is all yours! ٩(ˊᗜˋ )و

🎮 interactive fanfic The Assistant by Boomtiggaboom

🔗 link to play: https://glimmerfics.com/stories/b6271517-the-assistant

[tinfoil-jones]

Jerk Ford AU: The (J)FHC Members

Response to: This.

It's been revealed before that there are IRL and AU members of The (J)FHC (The (Jerk) Ford Hate Club), the AU character members are listed in Jerk Ford's profile list of enemies with an ˣ.

Criteria for joining The Ford Hate Club? Jerk Ford either lives in your head rent free, and/or he's wronged you in some way (this is for AU characters).

But here's a list; there are currently two V.I.P's, and six regulars.

V.I.P's

@blinday / @stwinsgstdrop

Why: Made a very astute insight early on that no one else knows about yet. First member, not just first VIP.

@i-am-harmless

Why: Broke 'lurker' status just to reblog all of the posts from the JFAU

REGULAR MEMBER

@triptychcryptid

Why: Made a considerable amount of JFAU Fanart and Posts.

Note, triptychcryptid has a Gravity Falls AU, "Demons Disciple AU", but no one from the AU is an actual member of The Ford Hate Club.

Stan-H512'12, who was the one portaled in this AU, does know Jerk Ford. And hates him, because he sucks. But he hates Fords as a concept more, and would never officially join any club or organization run by them.

He does sneak in for the free catering on Thursdays in his laundry day outfit, however.

The Bounty Hunter Twins of the In a World So Cold AU: Stan-83;9F & Ford-83;9F by @nowimjustastranger

Why: They attempted to take Jerk Ford's bounty once, only for him to trap them in a cage dangling over a vat of what appeared to be acid. The only reason Jerk Ford did not drop them in is because they're under Watchdog Ford's protection.

Despite being the only one of the two who applied for a membership, and being the mouth of the duo, BH Stan is still treated as an extension of his Ford (so they added whiteout and put Stans designation on it last-minute like an after thought) because the Ford Hate Club is run by Fords who always view Ford as the 'main' and Stan as the 'sidekick'.

This pair is an interesting, rare example where the Stan hates Jerk Ford more than the Ford does.

Lee-\'64 "The Drifter" and Ford-46’/ "Dr. Pines of the Institute of Oddology" of the Everything Everywhere All At Once AU by @maridrawss

Why:

The Drifter: He was rushing to catch a space elevator once; Jerk Ford was already inside and pushed the 'close' button when he saw him rushing. Then looked him straight in the eye - because it was a glass elevator - and flipped him off when the door closed on Lee before he could enter, and it went up without him.

He's mostly there for the gossip and free catering on Thursdays.

Dr. Pines: Cyberbullying.

Ford-121713 aka "Loser Ford" of the Loser Ford AU by @rayyanishere1

Why: Loser Ford was lost in a cave system, Jerk Ford picked up his distress beacon, and instead of leading him out the normal way, he decided to be a menace, and scare him out.

Jerk Ford pretended to be Slenderman by dressing up in a suit and leaving a bunch of vaguely threatening, ominous notes around the cave telling Loser Ford to drink water.

[foggynelsonarchive]

I still have a lump in my throat.

I can't organize my thoughts about that mess I saw yesterday. Of course I cried a lot, like I'm crying now.

I feel like I lost my best friend and I couldn't even say goodbye.

There was no funeral, no flashback to any moment other than Foggy getting shot and his dead eyes.

I cried when Matt read the avocados at law, of course. I'd been waiting for that for years. But there could have been anything in there, a flashback, Foggy's voice, the sound of his laugh, his giggles, the way he snorted when he was with Matt... But there was nothing.

It feels like I've lost my best friend and I've seen everyone move on and I'm like: Do you guys care that little? What's up Matt? The Matt I know would be more emotional. And the Matt I loved, loved Foggy.

This Matt, he's not the same Matt I loved and who loved Foggy and Foggy's family by extension.

It's impossible to watch the original Daredevil now. I watch Foggy's scenes and feel terrible knowing what Foggy's future holds for him.

Foggy was life, colors, music, food, hugs. He was a son, a brother, a friend, he had cousins ​​and was loved by the community in his neighborhood and Born Again killed that without the slightest consideration. In fact, Dario and his team have no respect for Foggy and Elden in extension.

But as if it wasn't enough to not respect Foggy's story, the entire show is a mess. What was that?

Matt's lines to Karen are a gross copy of what Foggy had said to Theo. And Karen comforting Matt felt so wrong. Foggy had completely accepted Matt since season 3. Foggy's last lines to Matt are heartbreaking and so out of character that they still haunt me.

Foggy is smarter than Born Again made him out to be. He's not an inexperienced lawyer. The way he was killed was even worse than they planned it to be in the initial script. In the initial script, he was at least going to get shot by a dirty cop. In Born Again, he died because he didn't know what he was getting into and didn't share his case with Matt, mistakenly thinking he could handle it all by himself. As if Foggy hadn't worked alone for a long time and made a name for himself by handling tough cases. Born Again made him look like a disposable freshman .

Matt and Karen went to the location (no spoilers here) and decided to go back and assemble an army because this is the city without fear now. Such poor and lifeless writing.

Dex killed Foggy, but left Benny alive. Could this be left to be resolved in season two? I have my doubts.

It's only eight episodes and there's a lot going on again.

And what about that scene where we apparently see Kirsten holding a phone while Karen is aiming at Dex? I thought it was going to be part of a flashback, but it didn't happen.

They got rid of Foggy to make Matt and Karen bond. How am I supposed to care now that that love is being restored at the cost of Foggy Nelson's death?

How can I care that Karen and Matt are on the run together, if his best friend just died and Matt took over a year to look for answers?

I held on to my little hopes until my last breath.

But after yesterday, I'm just exhausted.

Marvel will continue to tease Elden's return, because apparently, the sidekick had some importance to some fans and they won't want to disappoint this small group of fans who, by the way, even caught the attention of Vincent D'onofrio himself.

But I'm tired of getting my hopes up about this show.

And as I always end my lectures,

Foggy deserves better, Elden deserves much better and Foggy's tiny group of fans deserves better.

[101maverick]

Prompt request: Secretly Atlantean gothamite saving Dick Grayson Robin from drowning in the bay. She recognizes his voice as her classmate crush.

They would ideally be 13-14 ish

A/n: okok this is soooo original i’m in loooveee. I did some research to find out where exactly the Gotham bay is in terms of city area and I hope i got it right :)) Also let’s ignore the fact this took me a whole month to finish, okay? Very sorry about the wait, life has been kicking my butt recently😅

Fishy Business

The water in Gotham was shit.

The pollution typical of every big American city was one thing, but whatever the heck Gotham had was ten times worse. Like, Chernobyl level bad.

Whatever filth was thrown in the waters of the Gotham Harbour on the daily definitely saw a lot of local chemical creations, the ones the city’s rogues were so fond of coming up with to terrorise the population.

Needless to say you would not be swimming in open waters any time soon.

You missed the ocean. You missed being in your element.

The fact you weren’t stupid enough to dare a swim in chemically spiked water didn’t negate the fact the Gotham Harbour was the only body of water you had available though, if not only to look at wistfully while mourning what you had before having to come to this forsaken city.

And that’s what you were doing when it happened. You had been stood up by your classmate and crush, Dick Grayson, for your chemistry study session. Neptune only knows how much that boy sucks at the subject, and the fact he skipped out on your study session made your insides flare up in indignation. Coming to the nearest body of water and reminiscing was the best way you knew of for letting go of ugly feelings.

Just letting your hair be lightly whipped around by the wind, staring wistfully into the last blazing scorches of the dying sun, standing on one of the docks and pretending the overwhelming smell of fish came from the dredges of the seaside market you used to camp out near as a kid.

Then, of course, it happened.

A loud crash startled you out of your musings, and you turned around just in time to see a figure splashing in the water a ways away.

Who the hell goes for an evening swim here? You thought to yourself as you made your way closer to the perturbed water, keeping to the elongated shadows born of the fish crates scattered around.

Once you were close enough to distinguish more of the figure, your eyes widened considerably.

The body flailing around in the murky water of the docks was none other than Robin, infamous sidekick to Gotham’s resident bat-themed vigilante.

Gotham’s resident vigilante that was very clear about his stance on super-powered beings in his territory.

You considered your options. If Batman knew his sidekick was saved by someone with very obviously atlantean powers he no doubt would clock you as somebody who wanted to mess with him, who was probably even spying on him due to the conveniency of the coincidence.

You did not want to find out what Batman did to people who not only disregarder his rules by merely existing in the wrong place, let alone what he did to people he thought were meddling in his business.

Plus, surely Robin could swim, right? He would have no problem getting out of the water by himself, so there was no need for your water-manipulation abilities anyway.

Despite your self-reassurances and the fact you should have been hightailing it out of there as fast as possible, uncertainty kept your feet rooted to the rotten wooden panels.

And so you kept watching, growing increasingly worried as Robin failed to keep his head outside of the water for more than a few seconds at a time.

You made it approximately thirteen seconds before saying ‘fuck it’ and stepping in, emerging from the shadows you had found refuge in just enough time get a good stance, planting your feet and raising your arms while letting your abilities reacquaint themselves with the water near you.

It was a fast affair, getting your powers to grasp at the water Robin was perturbing and pulling, violently yanking both the liquid and the boy out of the Harbor and onto the dock.

The vigilante gasped, gripping the material under him while hacking coughs wracked through his chest as he expelled the water from his human lungs.

You remained hovering above him, watching him, immensely glad the visible part of his face was regaining its normal colour instead of the red-purple it had previously been.

You had always looked upon Batman and Robin as pretty unapproachable, two beacons of justice and penance for Gotham’s criminals, who struck fear into even the most hardened thugs this rotten city had to offer.

But- but Robin was light to Batman’s darkness, and he always had a smile on his face in the grainy pictures that sometimes appeared in the newspaper, and if you focused your inhuman hearing on your surroundings late enough at night you could hear laughter mixing with the swoosh of the wind and the rustling of heavy fabric and the rhythmical zapping of a rope through the air.

And plus, Robin looked so human in this moment, so defenceless while he coughed his lungs out, that you just couldn’t reconcile the boy in front of you with the pillar of rambunctious justice fixed in your mind. And above all else, you couldn’t leave a human, one with so many enemies at that, alone while there was still the risk of him not being completely out of danger.

So you stayed.

You stayed, sat on an empty crate beside him, and kept vigilant with your enhanced senses to avoid any unwanted attention. As he calmed down he seemed to slowly gain awareness of his surroundings.

After what seemed like an eternity, he got his arms under him and slowly lifted himself up into a sitting position. That’s when he took notice of you, still watching him intently.

His eyes weren’t visible through the white-out lenses of his mask, but the way his forehead creased and his mouth opened a little more around his still heavy breaths made you able to accurately guess his surprise. “You- you just…what was-“

You interrupted him before he could keep voicing his question. “Look, just don’t tell the Bat about me and we’re good, okay? I really don’t need the trouble, plus you owe me one.”

Robin just kept looking at you, chest rising and falling with each deep breath, tiny shivers coursing through his soaking-wet form.

After a few beats that felt like eons, he nodded. “Yeah, yeah, don’t worry.” He half-gasped out, voice breathy with exertion. “Won’t tell a soul.”

His voice… it was achingly familiar.

You studied the unmasked portions of his face more closely, more attentively, your superhuman eyesight undisturbed by the darkness.

You were able to make out sun-kissed skin, soaked inky locks you fantasised about running your fingers through every day during chemistry, a defined jaw, high cheekbones and lips that pulled into semi-rare but blinding smiles. Lips you dreamed about kissing at night, while you lay on your bed thinking of your life.

You were sitting face-to-face with Dick Grayson. Robin.

You nodded, looking right into those white lenses. “Good.” At that, you looked around the empty area of the docks, spying the area sounds of fighting were coming from. “Well, I, uh, better go.”

You turned to him. “Try not to drown again, thanks.” And with that you stood.

Before walking away you turned around one last time, unable to stop yourself. “And, by the way, you stood me up for our chemistry study session. We’ll catch it up tomorrow.”

Before he could reply, you ran away from the docks and into Gotham Proper.

Gosh, you really were an idiot, weren’t you?

——————————

A/n: If you like my work, please consider reblogging and checking out my other works through the master list in my pinned post<3

[ttgrobinissues]

"What's Opera Titans" is a very fun episode, but if you happened to read my account's name... you know why i'm bringing it up

This whole segment of Robin having a dream about the past, when he was still Batman's sidekick, is more than just a silly dream when you take more things into consideration and are an expert yapper like me, so let's check it out.

First, this is a dream, so we have to be very careful since clearly not everything here is 100% true nor something that has happened before. After all dreams are mostly things we desire or thought about a lot.

With that in mind, isn't it interesting how Robin seems so out of character in the dream?

As we saw in "Sidekick", "Thanksgiving", and small parts of other episodes, Robin is terrorized of Batman. He is willing to do many things to not possibly piss Batman off, and is shown to get very anxious when it comes to Batman punishing him or just getting upset because of his own clumsiness.

It is true that, if we believe "Christmas Crusades" is a reflection of Robin and Batman's past relationship (and not just a parody without any deeper meaning), Dick isn't scared of him all the time. In fact, he idolizes Batman a lot and never complaints about anything, even if Bruce hurts him in any sort of way.

But regardless of Robin being or not like this in the past, he would never do something he knows would get him in trouble.

But in this dream, he purposefully goes and does the thing he's told not to do that would get him in trouble.

This is why I believe he is dreaming about something that never happened, but he wishes had.

He's dreaming about a Batman that's good with him, patting his head and not punishing him for his actions. He's dreaming about a reality where he doesn't have to be constantly scared to screw things up, something Robin really wishes could exist, but can only dream about.

_______________________________________________

Now, with the ooc thing out of the way, I would like to point out other things I noticed too that could not be as important as the latter but are still worth mentioning.

Dick doing acrobatics is an obvious reference to how he used to do them in the circus. He looks very calm doing them here compared to the excitement and happiness he was feeling with everything else, which I say is because it reminds him of the few happy times he had in the circus before his parents passed away, or it could also be because doing acrobatics reminds him of them in a way.

And lastly, this frame of Batman giving the look to Robin is oddly similar to the other look he gives Robin in "Manor and Mannerisms", with the difference that the dream one is more silly while the one from the real world is more threating and intimidating. This one's not as deep as the other things I talked about, but I found it to be an interesting coincidence.