#he's theirs in a similar way to steph

[redsray]

i do love the idea of the wayne kids giving bernard shovel talks about taking care of tim and all that but also give me batfam who are just as protective of bernard as they are of each other.

give me bernard, attending his first wayne gala as tim's significant other. having a suit custom tailored and funded by bruce even if bernard insists it's not necessary because he already has one. arriving at the gala anxious because of course he is, it's a goddamn socialite event, but being protected from every side by the wayne kids even when tim is dragged away.

Socialite: Oh, and who might you be?

Bernard: Oh, um, hi. I'm Bernard Dowd, nice to meet you.

Socialite: Dowd? I've never heard of your family before. Who...?

Bernard: I'm not here with my family, miss, I'm here with my boyfriend.

Socialite: ... Boyfriend?

Bernard: Yeah, I'm here with Tim.

Socialite, frowning: Tim... as in Drake-Wayne? He has a boyfriend?

Dick, coming up next to Bernard: He sure does! Bernard here is practically one of ours now, aren't you? He matters to Timmy, so he matters to us.

Bernard: Dick—

Dick: C'mon, let's get you back to Timmy. Farewell, Mrs!

Bernard: I could've handled that.

Dick: All the rules that apply to my siblings during galas apply to you too. I'm sure you could've, but you shouldn't have to. I've got your back too, now, yeah?

Bernard: ... Yeah. Thanks, Dick.

Jason, coming up to Bernard at the bar: Not to freak you out, kid, but there's a guy starin' at ya from the other side of the bar. Y'know him or should I encourage him to look away?

Bernard, startled: Huh? (looks around) Oh. No, I don't know him. Why... is he looking at me like that, actually?

Jason, scowling: 'S just how the slimy fuckers at these events are. Can't keep their eyes off anything that's small, young or pretty. Disgusting. I'll deal with him— where's your annoying other half gone, inferior blondie?

Bernard: Tim? He got pulled away for quote; 'something important' by some lady. He said he'll meet me here after he's done, so I've been waiting.

Jason: Huh. If I see him I'll point him yer way. Hey, don't be 'fraid to ask any of us questions or for help if ya need it. We know the best how daunting this shit can be.

Bernard, genuinely touched: ... Thanks, Jason.

Jason: Yeah, yeah. Don't tell Timmers I said that, though, he'll call me a loser.

Bernard, laughing: I won't.

Bernard, being talked to by several people at once and a bit overwhelmed by the attention: Uh— I'm—

Damian, stepping between him and the socialites: Dowd. I require your assistance.

Bernard: Um— hi, Damian— with what?

Damian: You will see when we get there. Follow me, Drake's more tolerable half.

Bernard: Okay... so what do you need from me?

Damian: Nothing. You seemed to dislike the attention from all of the nosy adults over there. It was the most efficient way of extracting you from the situation.

Bernard: Oh. Thanks, Damian.

Damian: Tt, don't thank me yet, Dowd. I am still criticising your choice in romantic partners.

Bernard: Didn't you threaten me with a katana to not dampen Tim's mood in any way shape or form?

Damian: Slander. I said quote 'if you make Drake more annoying by breaking his heart I'm going to maim you.' I don't see how you got the message you did from that.

Bernard, grinning: Sure, Damian. Sure.

[thepercy6andtheradicalsabbatical]

Last full day in Bergen part 2-

We cruised from the historical reenactment via a tiny ferry boat back to the downtown area and enjoyed a brand new playground with lots of nets for the kids to climb on as well as other climbing and swinging structures. There was also an asphalt soccer oval with metal goals where we held the final soccer match of the trip. We then strolled a bit through what felt like a local’s shopping district more than a tourist shopping area, eventually making our way back tot he fish market for some last minute souvenirs and a tasty dinner of ice cream and waffles from the highest rated stand in Bergen (the ice cream gods did not smile on Becca who went to order her own soft serve after the kids ordered theirs only to be told that the machine had broken down in the interim). We then walked to some old graveyards and perused grave markers at Nali Lady’s request to see if we could find any relatives. We did find a few similar-ish names but no direct matches. We then strolled home and supplemented our ice cream and waffles with the left over tortellini, sausage, apples and cucumber we had in the fridge. We then packed, bathed children and watched the steph curry hot ones episode before heading to bed for what we hoped would be our final night sleeping in Europe for a while.

[shyestofhearts]

Reverse Robins Part 2

Part 1 is here

(I forgot to mention this in part 1 but by the time Damian began adopting siblings he'd already adopted all his pets)

Duke becomes Signal at 14 and Cass calls herself Black Bat from the get go

Steph is the next person to be adopted, (emotionally, not legally because she does stay with her mother but she is considered family to the batfam).

Damian is 17 when he hears about a certain 10 year old "Spoiler" thwarting the Cluemaster and decides that she definitely needs training because he doesn't want her to die

He does consider stopping her altogether but it's made abundantly clear Stephanie would continue with or without them so training her was the compromise because, again, trying to avoid any of the kids dying

Bruce isn't super thrilled because he'd rather they'd stopped her from doing something so risky but when Damian points out she was going to continue with or without their help he concedes

They all know each other as heroes only first (Damian made it v clear they were to respect Steph's privacy and she consequently respected theirs) but they share their identities with each other and she spends a lot afternoons at Wayne manor and Bruce set up a room for her for when she stays overnight

9 year old Cass and 10 year old Stephanie are fast friends (which people outside the family find surprising but no one in the family is all that surprised)

All four of the kids are incredibly protective of each other but as the oldest it's usually Damian looking out for the others

14 year old Duke is the next one you'd typically find taking care of the other siblings

Stephanie becomes Robin for a brief interval since Duke became Signal however she finds she switches to Batgirl relatively soon after as she kinda wanted to make her own identity for herself but she wanted a new one from Spoiler

The others don't really mind, they don't want her to feel forced into filling the boots they left behind as they've grown and found themselves anyways.

She does wind up going back to Spoiler eventually in the future because she feels that may have been more true to herself than the others

Tim is 10 when an 18 year old Damian finds this kid dressed up as Robin running around taking pictures of the Batfam fighting villains

In fact, Damian and nearly has a heart attack when he sees the child alone at night on a roof top because why is this child not at home in bed???

And why is he dressed as Robin???

Damian of course tells Bruce

Tim does not know who the Batfam are, seeing as he originally found out because Dick did a backflip the Flying Graysons were known for, and Dick isn't around yet, so he has no reason to know

He winds up joining the family in a similar way to Stephanie, coming over often while still living with his parents after they decided to train him to make sure he doesn't die since he keeps dressing up as Robin and trying to show up to villain fights

(Damian forges the documents to adopt him later after his parents die)

This is once again getting longer than I meant for it to so I'll leave end this one here

[jinx-jade]

How to lose a life

Stephanie parked in front of Wayne manor, quickly hopping off her bike, she rushed inside. She had received a text from Cass at two in the morning, saying ‘Manor. Hurt bad.’

She didn’t know what to think of the text other than to get to the manor as fast as possible. Of course, the one night she took off from patrol and being a vigilante was the one night someone got hurt.

When she made her way into the cave, Steph sure hadn’t been expecting to see Cass in tears. It made her wonder how badly the boys had gotten injured.

Walking closer to the med-area, Steph steeled herself, expecting to see Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, or Bruce in bad or critical condition, but that wasn’t who was lying unconscious in surgery.

Cass pulled her girlfriend into a hug as silent tears ran down her face.

Steph had been prepared to see one of the batboys on the operation table. She hadn’t prepared herself to see her other girlfriend, Marinette on the table.

Through her shaky breathing and the tears that were building up in her throat, Stephanie asked, “Who… who did this…?”

“We’re not sure. Dick found her in an alleyway on his patrol route. Tim and Barbara are trying to find out what happened using our security cameras.” Jason informs them in a serious tone of voice, no jokes, no nicknames.

Steph cleared her throat, she couldn’t let her emotions get the best of her. Cass needed someone to lean on till she could get her emotions under control, so she’ll have to be the person she can lean on.

 “How is she doing?” Stephanie asked, her voice still a little shaky, even with her attempt to push her emotions down.

Jason doesn’t look at her, instead, he shifts uncomfortably from one foot to his other.

“Jason…” Steph said in a bit of a desperate questioning, hoping and praying that it’s not what she thinks.

Cass’s tightening hold on her and increased shaking let her know the answer, but she still wanted someone to say it.

“Alfred doesn’t believe she’ll make it,” Jason claimed, looking them in the eyes, his own being more shades of green than usual.

As Jason told them this, Alfred walked out of the emergency medical area, a solemn look on his features.

“I suggest that you say your goodbyes, Miss Cassandra and Miss Stephanie,” Alfred said walking towards the other bats who had been staying on the other side of the cave.

Most likely they were trying not to crowd the couple, but at this moment in time, they wouldn’t mind the extra company.

As if they heard the couple’s thoughts, the other bats slowly made their way over.

Steph and Cass moved towards the table where their lover laid in a half-conscious state.

“Hey…” Steph greets, grabbing a hold of one hand while Cass is on Marinette’s other side, holding her other hand.

Marinette coughed up some blood before returning the greeting.

“... H… Hi…” She said squeezing both her lovers’ hands.

Cass brought Marinette’s hand up to her lips, placing a kiss on the inside of her wrist.

“Don’t… give me… that… that look,” Marinette said with a soft and reassuring smile. She was clearly trying to comfort them, but to the young woman who already knew their lover’s fate, the comfort could only help so much.

While Cassandra and Stephanie said their goodbyes, the other bats could only watch in wonder as Marinette continued to smile at her lovers and do her best to comfort them.

They had only met the bluenette girl a handful of times, but what they gathered from encounters with her was that she was extremely selfless, a bit clumsy, has a happy, bubbly personality, and seemed to be religious.

The Waynes only being able to see those qualities as Marinette took her last breath, closing her eyes.

Cassandra started shaking worst than before, letting tears fall down her face, a strangled noise coming from her throat.

Stephanie was trying to hold herself together as she comforted her girlfriend, but seemed to be failing, not that any of the bats would point it out.

A few moments after Marinette’s passing, a cat meowed rubbing up against the crying couple.

Cass bent down, picking the cat up to offer pets even as tears continued to fall. The black cat with glowing green eyes seemed to be trying to calm her, but to the Waynes’ surprise, the cat only seemed to upset her more.

Dick rushed over to try and help comfort the young women who he saw as his sisters. He pulled Steph into a side hug and was going to do the same to Cass, but she moved away, placing the black cat on the table next to Marinette.

Before anyone could question the action, Stephanie let out a shaky laugh, tears clear in her voice.

“The god of destruction and chaos known as Plagg took the form of a black cat…” Stephanie repeated what Marinette had told her while explaining her religion to Cass and her one night.

The cat sat next to Marinette, looking in Stephanie’s direction.

“Not bad, kid.” The cat said before shifting into a ball of light, causing shock to run through all the bats’ systems.

The black cat turned into some kind of small flying creature that resembled the black cat it was previously.

The creature placed a hand, flipper, paw, on Marinette’s forehead. A small green glowing gem appeared and seemed to merge into Marinette’s chest.

In a flash of light, all of her injuries were healed.

Marinette shooting up to a sitting-up posture, coughing, and trying to catch her breath. Her normal blue, soft eyes being a similar shade of glowing green. Her pupils are sharp instead of round, once again similar to the cat.

“You need to learn to be a little more careful, kit, you only got five lives left.” The creature told Marinette.

“Yeah. Cause I totally expected a shadow to ambush me.” Marinette sassed back, before turning to look towards the Waynes.

“I told you I would be fine,” Marinette claimed in the same reassuring voice she used earlier. Cass and Steph immediately pulled her into a hug. The couple laughing and sobbing, holding Marinette tightly.

“As heartwarming as this is, kit, you should really be getting to work sending those shadows home. Maybe ruin a plan or two of theirs.” The creature claimed, causing Marinette to groan.

“Can I have like, a day before I have to go hunting Shadows? Last I checked I just lost a life and would like to recover.” Marinette said in a tired tone.

“About the whole, you coming back to life, and that flying creature thing?” Tim questioned.

“Long story short. It’s magic. Don’t question it unless you want to be confused to the point that nothing makes even the slightest sense.” Marinette claimed with a look that probably means she’s done it before, and regretted it, causing the Waynes to chuckle.

They agreed to talk about it in the morning, letting the emotionally exhausted couple rest.

Marinette's eyes shifted back to blue with round pupils when the cat creature disappeared.

Stephanie and Cassandra falling asleep with Marinette smushed between them in their arms. The bluenette not minding in the slightest as she placed a kiss on both of their foreheads.

[enigmainvestigations]

Character list

This is going to be a brief breakdown of Ed’s relationships with the other characters in Gotham mostly from his Riddler days. This is from his perspective, theirs are mostly still open (besides the ones that I explain here). Also, these relations can change over time which many of them will. Please note- This list is for those who are curious, and for writers who might need some inspiration in the case a character comes up in their writing and they get stuck. You don’t have to reference this, these are just my current ideas on these character relations.   

Heroes: 

Batman- HATE. I’ve gone over this already in his bio, but I’ll use this to explain some things from Batman’s perspective. At first Batman saw Ed as someone unable to control their compulsive behavior, and thought Eddie just needed some intervention. However, as the years went by and he began to be the focus of Ed’s schemes he started to see him as a cunning, intelligent, and very dangerous criminal. Especially when it became clear to him that Ed had no regard for others, and Ed’s plans regularly put other’s lives and well being at risk. He knows that Ed’s intelligence and his ability to process and retain knowledge is extremely high, and he worries that Ed’s intellect might surpass his at some point. Ed’s motives were always rather simplistic even if his methods weren’t, but Batman saw his potential and believed if Ed truly applied himself he could become much too dangerous. Because of this he handled Eddie very specifically. He would normally take on the Riddler on his own in hopes of controlling their interactions, and keep himself as the main focus of Ed’s ire. Nightwing- Greatly dislikes. From his time as Robin being a bratty teen with a smart mouth, Ed sees him as an annoyance despite only having brief encounters with him through the years. Oracle- Ed has no idea Oracle is the previous Batgirl, but he REALLY dislikes her. Since Batman doesn’t really control Batgirl he’s had more interactions with her than the Robins. He’s been on the receiving end of too many of her beastmode attacks to have anything but negative feelings toward her. Jason Todd- **I haven’t decided if this is post, pre, or if the Red Hood arc is going to play out like the canon* Robin (Tim)- Ed doesn’t like any of the Robins, but he does have a very slight respect for Tim. He’s had much more interactions with him than the previous two, and he knows that he’s smart and capable. He certainly keeps his guard up around him, and chooses his words wisely so not to divulge too information. Batgirl (Steph)- Dislikes, but doesn’t take her too seriously. 

Batgirl (Cass)- Dislikes. Only in his brief interactions with her, he really doesn’t like her. The reasons should be obvious.

Alfred Pennyworth- None

Jim Gordon- This one is a bit complicated. When Ed worked for the GCPD he had very few interactions with Jim, but the two were cordial. When Ed became The Riddler Jim felt betrayed since he used a lot of information he’d complied while working at the department. Over the years though Jim began to see Ed as someone who couldn’t control himself and was suffering with mental issues. He took the stance of treating Ed the way he treated him, but tries not to get him too riled up. He figured out that if he treated Ed with respect then Ed tended to behave and not get too excitable. On the other hand, Eddie actually likes interacting with Jim. He finds him quite entertaining, and likes watching Jim try to hold his tongue in his presence. 

Renee Montoya- Complicated as well. When Ed worked for the GCPD Renee found him to be very odd, and he gave her the creeps though she couldn’t quite put her finger on why. When Ed became The Riddler she also felt betrayed, but she was much more confrontational with her anger toward him than Jim. Through time she also began to see Eddie the same way as Gordon, but she finds it hard to control her distaste toward him. The fact that he can escape handcuffs, and any cell they put him in makes her very nervous around him whenever he’s in custody. Eddie tends to find her outbursts rather funny, and usually would try to get on her nerves whenever he was bored when around her. Renee was rarely the main focus of his attention, but when she was he would be quite rude to her in hopes of getting her riled up. Harvey Bullock- Also complicated. Same situation as the other two, but Harvey actually liked Ed a bit when he worked at the department. He found his snide comments to be very humorous, as long as they were directed toward someone else. He also felt betrayed, but Harvey personally suffered more from Ed’s betrayal. Since then he has a deep disdain toward Ed, and feels zero sympathy or understanding for him. He’s very open about his anger with Eddie, and would often berate him whenever he was in custody. Eddie however loves interacting with Bullock. He finds Harvey’s anger very entertaining, and typically focuses on baiting him into an outburst. He’s used these situations multiple times as a distraction to escape custody.

Villains:

Bane- They haven’t had much interaction, but anyone who breaks the Bat Ed is going to like at least a little bit. Black Mask- Good. Ignoring Roman’s trigger happy temper, Ed tends to find him easy to work with since Roman’s motives are relatively simple. Clayface- Good. He’s hired Basil on a few occasions and found him pretty easy to work with. Catwoman- Dislikes, despite the two not having any real confrontations. The two are respectful to each other, but Selina thinks outside the box too much for Ed’s liking. She’s also better at certain skills than he is, which really messes with his ego since he doesn’t trust her. Long and short of it is- Selina makes Ed feel inadequate so he avoids her, but he’s not stupid so he doesn’t piss her off. Harley Quinn- As The Riddler Ed found Harley to be an annoyance, and couldn’t understand why Joker wouldn’t just kill her. He viewed her as unintelligent, and a waste of time. He generally treated her like he would a child, which sometimes worked and other times Harley found patronizing. *By the time Ed quits his criminal career however, him and Harley have an odd relationship. They’ve survived some very close calls, and even though he still finds her annoying he seems to accept her presence around him even though he tends to ignore most of what she says. Their chumminess is odd, and quite suspicious to everyone else in the city.  Hush-**I haven’t decided if this is post Hush, pre Hush, or if Hush plays out like the canon or not**

The Joker- Ed is one of the few people who can be around Joker repeatedly without getting killed. He made the mistake of teaming up with Joker once, and quickly learned his lesson never to do it again. After that he figured out how to deal with Joker, and kept him at arms length. He has The Joker mostly figured out, and doesn’t find interactions with him to be as unpredictable as others do. He also likes that whenever Joker comes to him needing something silly for one of his plans, he can charge him ridiculously high prices and Joker will pay without a second thought. His reputation of dealing with Joker is a bit of an ego boost for him, thinking he’s learned how to manipulate him. The reality is though, Joker doesn’t kill him simply because he finds Ed’s sensitive ego and his self destructive behavior hilarious. Killer Croc- Eddie thinks they’re alright, but they’re really not. 

Mad Hatter- They’re alright. Ed can’t be around Jervis for too long because his fantastical ramblings get on his nerves, but he tends to play along with Jervis’ delusions enough that Jervis thinks he understands. Because of this Ed finds him easy to influence. He has little interest in Jervis, but his mind control tech is something Ed’s always been trying to get his hands on. Unfortunately for him, currently Jervis is unwilling to fully share it.

Mr. Freeze- Its really 50/50 with these two. Even though Ed sees Victor as an easy way to make some money, or someone to have do some dirty work for him if need be, he also finds Victor’s anger to be exhausting to deal with. He knows Victor doesn’t like him and only really uses him for his own objectives, but Victor also makes their interactions quiet rocky. Ed will work with him if the opportunity arises, but he’ll keep their business brief. The Penguin- Good. The two of them have very similar skills at persuasion, manipulation, and deception. They practically do a constant dance of give and take with each other, to the point that now they both see the other as a valuable resource. Since they both dabble in similar assets the two have found its easier to work together than to be competition, which has really made them both more successful in the long run. From Ed’s perspective this is a battle of intelligence, but he has recognized that Os is aware of it and surprisingly isn’t put off by it like others are. He respects Os’s boundaries, and finds business with him to be smooth sailing. Os has a good level of respect for Ed. Not only because of his intelligence, and reliability, but also that Ed is smart enough to never fully trust Os. He’s used to being underestimated by people, and Ed’s unwillingness to divulge too much is a level of cunning he admires. *Os is not happy about Ed’s “career” change. He doesn’t believe Ed has turned over a new leaf, but his sudden switch makes him very uneasy. He has people watching Eddie very closely.  Poison Ivy- Not at all good. Ed made the mistake of underestimating Ivy early on, giving her the opportunity to see him as the manipulative jerk he really was. She hasn’t trusted him since, and he usually has to avoid her in order to not get crushed by her plants.  Ra’s al Ghul- None. **I currently really want to keep the Gotham criminals in the dark about the League** Scarecrow- Dislike. Considering that Crane is an actual intellectual and a genius, Ed does not like interacting with him. He isn’t outwardly hostile toward Crane, but he definitely avoids him whenever he can. Crane’s intelligence really messes with Ed’s ego. Mix that with Crane’s creepy nature, and his constant psychological analyzing, he usually makes Ed feel like an inferior child. He’s also a bit scared of him and that fear toxin. Two-Face- Also 50/50 with them (I didn’t do that on purpose). Having to interact with two people in one body with two separate motivations can be quite stressful for Ed, but at the same time he enjoys the game. Harvey isn’t as easy for him to manipulate as he can with others, and he’s had a few close calls with Harvey where he pushed things too far. This seems to have fueled his interest in the game more, rather than deter him.

[iobjectfa20]

This painting is entitled Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps, painted in 2005 by American painter Kehinde Wiley. It comes from Wiley’s A New Republic exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum. This is possibly my favorite piece from the exhibition, though it’s a tough choice because they are all beautiful paintings. In this exhibition, Wiley reimagines famous master portraits, particularly those of famous subjects such as Napoleon, recasting the subjects as modern black models — many of which are strangers to him that he approached randomly on the street. This particular painting is a reimagining of Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques Louis-David, dated 1805.

How & Why I Chose This Piece

A friend of mine attending art school told me about this exhibition and I was incredibly excited to look into it. I found that the paintings were beautiful and profound, and decided I needed to share them as my contribution to the I Object! exhibit. As stated before, this painting was my favorite. As an English major, I often find myself studying, praising, contradicting, or otherwise discussing the many “greats” in the world of literature. Every professor and student in the English department can surely provide their personal perspectives on Hemmingway, Twain, Atwood, Shakespeare, and the many other literary “greats” of history. While the department at Simmons has recently opened up its English major requirements to be more flexible and allow for broader and more diverse subject matter in classes, we still in many ways glorify and champion the old “masters”. We forgive the misogyny of Charles Dickens because we love so much his tale of two cities, and we push Ezra Pound’s antisemitism out of mind so that we can enjoy his verse.

In speaking with my friend that attends art school, I find many similarities between our disciplines, particularly in this area. The art world has its own greats, and its own masterpieces which should be looked upon by every person who ever wishes to consider themself an artist in order to fully understand and appreciate art. I know someone who quit art school because her professor told her she could never be an artist. His reason? She didn’t understand Pollock. 

It is my opinion that the “masters”, in literature and in art, are not uncriticizable, and neither are their masterpieces. While Wiley’s paintings within the A New Republic exhibition depict famous paintings that I’m sure many art students would recognize, his reimagining of Napoleon Crossing the Alps stunned me; I recognized it instantly. I chose it for the recognition I felt when I saw it, and the joy it brought me upon seeing it. Napoleon Crossing the Alps has always been little more than a painting for me, albeit a famous one. This redirection of a painting that I knew, but had no particular fondness for, amazed me. I liked it better than the original. The original, a masterpiece of the 19th century, something I’ve seen a thousand times, something that would cost an inconceivable amount of money to purchase, has never impressed more than a tiny footprint in my memory. When I looked at Wiley’s piece, though, I knew it was better. Somehow, it felt that the subject was more important than Napoleon, represented more than Napoleon, and was driving a more important moment in history than Napoleon. I wanted to explore why I felt that way, and to discuss it here; especially in case someone else shared my feeling.

This Piece in the Context of Global Resistance / Rejection

While there is certainly lots of merit to objecting to mainstream narratives of classic art and reimagining pieces in a context that rejects oppressive norms, I think there is immeasurable worth in recognizing and appreciating the pieces that exist for the express purpose of resistance — the pieces whose defiance is instantly recognizable, and undeniable. Wiley’s works (especially this piece, in my opinion, though they do all work together to convey a message through the exhibition as a whole) are boldly and proudly defiant, and I think that that is well worth celebrating, so here I will do so. 

Firstly, I think that it is important to explore the foundations of this painting, which come from Napoleon Crossing the Alps. In the original painting, Napoleon is situated in the same manner as the man in Wiley’s portrait. His face is calm amidst the context of war, and his arm is raised in such a way that seems to be leading the viewer more so than the troops behind him. His hand is ungloved, which can symbolize transparency, or even an intention towards peace rather than violence. He sits atop the same white horse as the man in Wiley’s portrait; it was common for royalty to be portrayed in equestrian portraits. He appears confident, powerful, brave, and wealthy. Transferring these qualities onto the figure of a black man, especially in this case, a regular black man (that is, not someone who is rich and famous, but simply a man that Wiley approached on the street) is an incredibly bold and revolutionary choice that highlights the strength, determination, and power of black men. For David to paint Napoleon with these qualities could be interpreted as propagandist or pandering (especially since Napoleon never actually led his troops over the alps, but rather took a safer route following several days behind them.) However, the same posturing to portray a man who the viewer is not acquainted with, but now feels like they are, is a revolutionary choice.

When analyzing Wiley’s work, I think some of the most interesting things to note are the deliberate changes that Wiley made from David’s original Napoleon Crossing the Alps. It is glaringly obvious, for example, that the background has changed: the original painting portrays Bonaparte against a dull mountainous background, whilst Wiley’s piece is set against a bold pattern that resembles an expensive French fabric. The painting is bordered by an ostentatious golden frame. These details appear to be somewhat humorous choices on Wiley’s part; in a way he is parodying the imperiousness of the original painting, or paintings like it that similarly glorified monarchical figures. Wiley also included tiny images of sperm throughout the background of the painting — a subtle humorous commentary on the hypermasculinity of equestrian portraiture and famous portraits depicting men, particularly those involved in battle and/or positions of power.

Furthermore, Wiley changed the dress of the subject in this portrait from Napoleon’s royal, old-fashioned garb. The man in Wiley’s portrait is wearing Timberland boots, a camouflage outfit, and a bandana, which present a modern perspective on the militaristic theme of the original portrait. Napoleon’s royal blue coat can also be seen peeking out from under the man’s camouflage shirt, and he maintains Napoleon’s golden cloak. The man’s dress demonstrates simultaneously that he is a regular, modern black man, and also that he is greatly powerful. It is also notable that, while David’s painting contains the names Hannibal and Charlemagne as well as Bonaparte (Hannibal and Charlemagne were both generals who led troops over the alps, thus placing Bonaparte’s name amongst theirs demonstrated that he deserved recognition alongside these men) Wiley includes the name “Williams” amongst these names. Though we have no way of knowing who Williams is, it is a common last name of black Americans, as many names were wiped from history with slavery and enslaved people took on the surnames of their enslavers. It can be inferred that the man in the portrait’s surname is likely Williams, or that Williams is a name that Wiley feels is representative of him. Like Bonaparte, the man in the portrait never led troops over the alps. However, Wiley has likely found him deserving regardless of being placed amongst men who have done legendary things — powerful men that are leaders and changemakers.

This painting definitely made me consider Fanon’s philosophies on violence and decolonization. I found the painting to be something that honors Fanon. The original painting comes from a violent piece of history, and it glorifies one of history’s most famous conquerors of nations on his way towards more colonization. Wiley’s reimagining of the original portrait feels like it is symbolic of the undoing of the original. Wiley’s piece is not without violence — the man in the portrait still rides a warhorse, wears garments associated with war, and gestures as though he is leading troops — however, I believe that the violence of this portrait is a representation of justified, anti-colonialist violence, as Fanon describes. Napoleon has been ripped out of his own portrait and replaced. His clothes have been taken from him and now dress a man whose ancestors were likely ripped from their homes and dragged elsewhere, while the remainder of his ancestral home was colonized by European imperialists in no way unlike Napoleon. The portrait’s humorous subtleties make a mockery of the many royal portraits that precede it. It is an unabashed reversal of colonialism as Fanon describes; it demonstrates what it looks like when “the last become the first.”

When I look at the man in the portrait’s face and manner, I can’t help but think of Fanon. Though Napoleon has the same stature in the original portrait, Napoleon Crossing the Alps sits unfeelingly with me, while Wiley’s piece strikes me like few other paintings could. The man in the portrait, whom I do not know, as he is not famous or someone I’ve learned about in history in class, is looking directly at me, and he is gesturing that I move onwards. It feels as though he is demonstrating the ways in which power must be inverted and destroyed, as though it is my turn to push some entitled white man off his horse, climb on, and join Wiley and Williams on their journey across the alps and towards decolonization.

-Steph P.

[fates-theysband]

hi isa i may or may not be getting into emh 😳 so please tell me abt the emh version of ur s/i ash (i esp want to know abt your canon divergence because i love jeff and he deserves to live) (fawnships)

@fawnships you’re back!!! good choice with jeff he’s a good dude who deserves love!

anyway. the second version of ash is sort of a s/i for the slenderverse as a whole (meaning they also exist within t12 and, well, basically every other slenderman series besides mh). they are pretty similar in personality to the mh version of themself, except they are a lot more openly The Shane Madej Of The Slenderverse. it’s less that they think the slenderman isn’t real so much as it is that they’re not convinced he has any power other than Standing There Menacingly so they do kind of ill-advised things in investigating him.

their whole...story is dangerously close to just making an actual slenderseries. the way i kind of conceive of their story overlapping with emh is that over the course of their own slenderman investigations in oklahoma (theirs is based off an actual local legend in my hometown of a tall, well-dressed ghost haunting the cemetery but that’s a different can of worms entirely) they encounter the hybrids sort of the same way noah maxwell did, by receiving one of the pieces of HABIT’s puzzles and having to travel to new jersey to meet up with the hybrids sometime after the events of “damsel” (so they meet both evan and steph). from then on they keep in touch via social media and email and it all kind of grows from there.

i’m not sure of the specifics of the canon divergence, but things kind of break away from the canon timeline after “a vinny/hybrid christmas” because that’s the last time everyone is really safe and happy (the shit extremely pops off in the next episode). basically, tl;dr in my divergence vinny gets his goddamn head between his ears, realizes “oh god answers aren’t worth this”, and the hybrids as a whole start kind of operating in a very mh “always moving, never staying in the same location for too long” way because it seems like that’s a time-tested way to keep Bastards off your back at least for a little bit. it works well enough to keep everyone alive at least.

[cryptids-and-muses]

I had a weird and/or awesome idea for a bat family story.

I don’t think I’m gonna actually write it but I felt like sharing the outline and ideas for the story. This is a mix of a few continuities because I do what I want, and have trouble keeping everything straight. Feel free to add stuff or make suggestions. Now strap in cause I have some thoughts.

So this guy in Gotham is experimenting with transdimensional technology. Oracle discovers what he’s doing and how dangerous it is so she sends the bat family after him. Nightwing, Red Hood, Spoiler, Red Robin, Black Bat, and Robin go after this guy but he sets off a machine and transports them to a different dimension. The main difference of this dimension is that the Graysons never died which set off quite the chain of events, but our heroes don’t know that yet. Cut to this universe’s Batman finding a gaggle of people ranging from early teens to their twenties dressed in weird costumes smoking in a crater. Not to mention a few of them have bats on their chest. This Batman never had a partner outside of Alfred so when they try to explain who they are it doesn’t go great because Batman can’t even imagine working with one kid let alone six. Then he starts to realize a few of these people seem familiar.

In this universe, Dick would have lived with his parents a bit longer but would have eventually been taken by the Court of Owls to become their Grey Son and new talon. Bruce recognizes him after a while because he’s fought him before. It takes a little because he acts drastically different from his unfeeling counterpart in this universe but Bruce probably figures it out after seeing him do some acrobatics, or hears one of the others call him ‘Grayson.’ The realization is pretty jarring for Bruce and it’s really unsettling to see the cold soulless assassin he knows so full of life. He doesn’t tell the bat family that he knows his universe’s Grayson, because that's totally something Batman would do and fun plot stuff later.

He doesn’t know who Jason is AT ALL. He still meets him the same way in this universe but doesn’t take him in. There’s no role of Robin to fill and he has no idea how to care for a child. Bruce does send him to the wayward school for boys but doesn’t really check up on him after that. The whole event becomes a sort of weird story like “remember that one kid who tried to steal tires off the batmobile?” What happens Jason afterward is harder to figure out. Maybe he became a low-level street criminal or a gang leader or ended up in jail. I can’t quite figure it out. What Batman does know is that the boy he meets is using the Joker’s old alias, carries a lot of guns, and looks like he won’t hesitate to use them. None of which is painting a very good picture. This could lead to a cool moment where Bruce, unaware of Jason’s Tragic Backstory™ and fragile truce with his family (Jason is gonna be a lot closer with his siblings in this au), yells at him for this and the others defend him.

Batman probably recognizes Spoiler first. Stephanie would have still gone after her father and created the spoiler persona, even without the inspiration of Robin. However, she wouldn’t have anyone to train her and Batman would be actively discouraging her from going out as Spoiler. That’s not going to stop Steph from being Spoiler but she probably doesn’t operate on a large scale like she does as part of the batfamily. Not only does she have to avoid villains in this universe but also Batman because he doesn’t think she should get involved in vigilante work and tries to stop her when he can. So he sees this version of Steph in a higher tech version of her Spoiler costume and is just so exhausted.

Tim still totally knows who Batman is in this universe. He may not have had Robin to compare to the Grayson’s acrobatics but he would have figured it out somehow. That's where a lot of the similarities end though. Tim would still live with his parents (who are alive) and never really get involved with Batman directly. He became a vigilante because Batman needed a Robin, but here the role of Robin never existed. Tim probably still takes pictures of Batman and that hero worship never really went away. He’s also still an amazing detective even without any formal training. Bruce knows of Tim but doesn't figure out how much he knows, or that Red Robin is an alternate version of him.

Bruce also doesn't know who Cassandra is because he never met her. Her origin stays pretty much the same except she never joins the batfamily. She’d just be out on the streets doing her own thing, on the run from David Cain.

Now with Damian, things get interesting. Another slight change I’d like to make to the universe the batfamily land in is that Damian never left the League of Assasins. Damian has met and fought Batman on a few occasions but Bruse doesn’t know that Damian is his son. Partly because Damian keeps part of his face covered so he can’t see the resemblance. When he meets Robin he has a feeling he’s familiar but can’t quite place it. He realizes this is Talia’s son a little after he recognizes Grayson. Then there's the really intense exchange of “You’re Damian Al Ghul” “No I’m Damian Wayne!” This is extremely shocking for Bruce because of the realization that he has a son. That son is in the League of Assassins! His mother is Talia al Ghul! He has met said son and didn’t even know it! It sets off all sorts of emotions.

As for the actual story, aside from just the general shenanigans of Bruce interacting with the children of his alternate self and trying to get them home, I was thinking that it would start with the alternate universe’s Tim. In this universe Tim is still a genius detective, he’s just not as good because he doesn’t have the training. So he would start poking around in Gotham and discover a huge conspiracy linked to the Court of Owls and decided to figure out just how powerful they are and how deep the conspiracy runs. Cause investigating an all-powerful organization completely on his own with no training is the type of stuff Tim does Batman or no Batman. He only recently discovered the court and is still investigating it when the batfamily show up so Batman isn’t aware Tim knows about the Court or that he’s been looking into them. The Court finds out about Tim’s investigation and send Talon to kill him. The bat family then have to protect this universe’s Tim from Talon, who is Dick. This causes a lot of angst, drama, and family bonding as the batfamily figure out how this universe is different from theirs. I’d love for the other members of the batfamily to get roped into the story somehow too but I’m not sure how. I feel like this story has a lot of potencail and couldn’t just leave it in my head. 

Random Funny Stuff for this au

Dick named a lot of the equipment and stuff Batman uses so in this universe things would probably be named very differently.

Tim: We’ll need to use the bat computer.

Alt Bruce: The what computer?

Tim: You know? The large computer set up in the cave?

Alt Bruce: Yeah but you called it the bat computer.

Tim: Well what do you call it?

Alt Bruce: The computer.

Tim: …..that just feels wrong.

Damian: Yes I know this part of the cave. This is where we keep Batcow.

Alt Bruce: Where you keep what?!

Alt Barbra: My name is Detective Barbra Gordon. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t arrest you all right now.

Jason: Looks like Babs is a Badass in every universe.

Dick: Did you expect any less?

Jason: Honestly? No.

Alt Jim Gordon: *Sees the batfamily* Oh dear god they’re multiplying.

During the Talon fight

Talon: I am the Grey Son of Gotham.

Stephanie: Dick, sweetie, I know you like wordplay but this is low even for you. Get some better material.

Jason: Damn Goldie! When you go dark you don’t fuck around!

Tim: I thought if one of my siblings was going to kill me it’d be Robin. But not you Nightwing, never you.

Dick: I appreciate the attempt at humor but can we please focus.

Alt Bruce: I think my alternate self has a problem with adoption.

Jason: THAT'S WHAT WE KEEP SAYING!!!!

Alt Damian: I heard the bat was working with new warriors but looking at you now I doubt you are even worthy to die by my blade.

*Entire batfamily is silent for a moment before bursting into uncontrollable laughter*

Damian: Do I really sound like that?

Tim: He’s even worse than when the brat first showed up! I didn’t even think that was possible!

[nerdlife0612]

Dragon Bound Part 8

Author Note: Reminder – ‘Dragon Bound’ is merely a code name for this work at the current time. Reminder numero dos - for the time being, this is going to be an original work set within a WWE-Paranormal/AU type of setting.

That means original male characters and original female characters as the leads with occasional appearances of already established ‘characters’ (a la Triple H, Stephanie Mc., Roman Reigns, etc).

Since part 7 went short, part 8 is gonna go long… I hope.  Part 8 is going to be a 20 questions continuation as well as a dream world visit to our heroine and ending with some angst/maybe near shenanigans.

Let me know what you think!!

Tag List: @evilangel84 @empress-with-the-crown @misadventuresofathot @thedevilnisworld @bigpixiefoot @littledeadrottinghood @ballins-princess @princess3733 @sugasfatgf

(Uhh I hope I didn’t forget anyone… Lemme know!)

And away we go! --------------------------

Dragon Bound: Part 8 Word Count: 1,842 for the actual story Rating for P. 8: PG13 to start, near NC17 by the end

David grinned ear to ear, clicking his tongue. “Be careful what you wish for…” Flagging the waitress back over for drink refills, he took a moment to pick his first question. After the girl disappeared, David turned his steel eyes back to the woman sitting across from him. “Okay then. We’ll start with something more benign. Favorite color?” Elizabeth snorted. “What?” David snickered, knowing he caught her off guard and enjoying every single minute of it.

“Gotta admit I did not expect that… Uhm… “ She tilted her head to the side and looked out the window. She didn’t want to admit that recently her favorite color had transitioned to steel grey, the color of his eyes. So she picked her second favorite. “Emerald. Yours?”

Putting a finger to his lips, he contemplated his answer very carefully. He had a feeling that she held back. But he was in no mood to do the same. “Right now – topaz.” David found himself extra pleased at the light pink blush that spread across her cheeks and down her neck.  “Favorite kind of food?” And their discussion continued on like this for the remainder of their lunch. David found himself drawn more to Elizabeth than before. She meshed so well with him and yet was still so different. They discovered similar tastes in music and movies. He discovered she is a nerd – anime, gaming… the whole nerdy enchilada. Their tastes in food differed – he was far more into steaks and meat while she leaned more towards fruits and veggies. They both loved sweets. The Dragon smiled, slyly, from his place in David’s core. The Dragon knew it wouldn’t be much longer before he’d find a chink in the boy’s defenses and then they girl would fully be theirs.

Elizabeth looked at her phone and frowned, “Back to work.” David sneered. ‘Man… have to leave her defenseless again…’ Standing up and pushing his chair in, he threw some cash down on the table and offered her his arm again – an offered that she gladly accepted. “Why thank you!” She giggled as they exited the café, only to freeze cold in her tracks. David looked down at her, concern etched on all his features.

Dropping his lips by her ear, he whispered, “What is it?” She shivered involuntarily – both because of what she saw and the effect he had on her just now. Ducking her face into his shoulder, she shook her head no emphatically. Squeezing her shoulder, David forced her to look up at him. “What is it?”

Licking her lips, unsure of what to say she took a breath and whispered, “I saw black eyes in the store window across the street.” David blanched and did all he could to prevent the snarl he felt building from ripping out of his chest. David snaked an arm around her waist, holding her as close as he could.

“Gotcha. Come on. Let’s get back to work. I’ll talk to Hunter about this shit.” He directed her towards the area and subsequent building they were operating out of for this week. But he couldn’t focus on his job. His mind, as well as The Dragon’s, was racing with near murderous thoughts and confused questions about her apparent ability to see or sense things that normal people wouldn’t be able to – and he wasn’t sure what line of thought got him worse than the other. Suddenly, he felt a smaller hand on his chest – and more precisely, on the area of his ribs where his bond mark resided. His whole being stiffened, glaring down at her knowing his eyes was not his own right now. “Remove your hand, little one.”

Elizabeth frowned in worry. “What did I do?” They entered the hotel lobby and he rather forcefully all but carried her to the elevator that just opened up. As the doors closed, she felt his hands on her ass as he jerked her up – growling and grinding his hips against hers. Keeping his hand on the back of her head and neck, he suddenly pinned her against the wall – his lips crashing desperately onto hers. Not knowing what to do with herself let alone how to calm him down, she laid her hands on his chest up near the collar of his short. Groaning at her taste, he gently tilted her head back and deepened the kiss – earning a whimper from his mate. Her whimper was like a blast of cold water. As quickly as he picked her up he sat her back to her feet.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hand, moaning in near agony at the level of emotions he was fighting back all at once. “I’m so sorry, Liz. So fucking sorry.” He all but sobbed. “This whole situation is just so fucking hard to manage and when that God damned Dragon finds a hole – he slips right through it.” She wrapped her arms around his waist while he hooked his around her shoulders.

“It’s okay, David. It’s okay. You took control back before things got… too far. I’d say that’s a win don’t you think?” Half smiling up at him, Elizabeth was trying her best to reassure him. He couldn’t help but to return the half-smile at her. ‘She’s strong enough to handle this. I think. But am I?’ The elevator dinged, indicating they were on the floor that Elizabeth was getting off on, and both of them sighed.

“Like I said, I’ll talk to Hunter about this shortly. He needs to know that something is going on that seems to be of a more nefarious nature. You be careful okay? I’ll see if some of the roster can maybe hang around you or at least be sure they can keep you in eyeshot until I figure this out. “ Elizabeth shot him a look. “Unless you want The Dragon to take control one of these days, you’ll listen to me on this. Please. Besides, I’m pretty sure Steph and Hunter will agree with me on this. I’ll… email you later or something.”

The elevators doors closed again, leaving him by himself. He almost said he’d be by to check on her at her room later but he knew with that as week as he was, that would only spell disaster. Closing his eyes, he licked his lips. Her sweet, clean flavor was still there. But this time, he felt like he could push The Dragon back a little easier. ‘Maybe… maybe these small moments…’ He didn’t know if he should be contemplating what he was but it made sense for him. Once again, the elevator’s noise sounded – indicating he should get off here. As the doors slid open, low and behold whom should he run into – Hunter.

“There’s our star. What’s up young man?” Hunter shook David’s hand. David grimaced at the older gentleman, a look of confusion from Hunter as his reward. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk.” Hunter nodded, arms across his chest as David started recounting everything that happened – from the emails last night to the lunch today and even his theory about what happened just moments ago – as they made their way down the hall and prepped to get back to work.

A few hours later, Elizabeth stumbled back to her room. Her feet throbbed because of the senseless shows she picked today. A quick check of her laptop showed that David hadn’t emailed her yet, so taking the opportunity she got into some comfier clothes and collapsed on the bed. The work of an intern was beyond exhausting and she welcomed a quick nap.

>> In her dream, David and her were on the shoreline of the beach, cuddled up together. Sighing, she felt like she was in heaven. Nuzzling his neck where a new mark was, she giggled deliciously as he shuddered and attacked her neck in return. She fingers snap and suddenly, they were in the middle of the Barclays Arena, her dressed in a skin tight leather outfit and him shirtless in his ring gear. She tried to run to him but she felt two cold and icy pale white hands with black nails jerking her arms behind her back. Behind David, she noted a weirdly color being with what could be described as tentacles coming out his head and arms stalking up behind David. She tried to scream but one of the hands covered her mouth, the strength of his hold never ceasing.

“Unh unh unh uhhhh little one…” The wispy voiced declared from beside her. “You areeee ouurrssss. He doesssnn’t desseervee you. Or your powweersss.” The voice drew out as the other creature ran a sword from left to right at a diagonal through David’s chest – through both his heart and his bond mark. It was then she noticed the black eyes of the other beasts.

“More specifically, dear, you belong to the King of Demons… You’ve been warned. Now pass the word.” The first creature tossed her down but not before she noticed the face. And it was truly that of Jeff Hardy but yet not at the same time. As she fell, she woke up screaming and the room shaking.  Doing her best to clear her vision, she grabbed her phone and room key and flip-flops and made a beeline for David’s room. Coming to a skittering stop, her little fist banged on his door like a bass mallet does a drum.

She heard feet shuffling and a voice croak, “I’m coming. I’m coming. Jesus murphy…” David looked out the peephole to see a very disheveled, very tore up Elizabeth. The Dragon growled to life and in a flash, he threw the door open and scooped her up, tripping backwards a bit as he closed the door. “Hey, hey. H-hey. It’s okay.” He tried to soothe the shaking form in his arms, kissing her temple several times. She pulled back for a second, hers clamped shut, obviously trying to compose herself. But when she opened her eyes, he was no longer confronted with her typical icy blues.

Her eyes were now the color of blood - crimson surrounding a black pupil to be exact.

“What the hell…” David whispered and for the first time this entire day The Dragon was speechless as well. Both licked their lips as they looked at their mate.

“I don’t know but… but I….”

“You what?” David’s voiced dipped low, his growing arousal becoming more evident. If she said what he feared was next, he wasn’t sure that he nor The Dragon would be able to stop.  Her lips slammed on his and her first found purchased in his hair. Kissing her way to his earlobe, she bit down – a little harder than she thought she did but he didn’t care. His hips bucked up into hers – both of them groaning.

“I want you.” She spoke lazily against his ear causing his eyes to roll up into the back of his head.  He knew he was doomed. But, oh man, what a way to go….

------------------------------- Author’s notes: Well, I hope this makes up for the short as fuck chapter two days ago. Haha. Haven’t decided if the next one is going to be the real smut or if it’s merely going to be shenanigan-type stuff and save the real shit for later. Guess you gotta wait and see!! TEEHEE!

[chrismaverickdotcom]

Hidden Figures, Visible Baiting: The game of imitation in Hollywood biopics.

(Some minor spoilers in this review. But not much really. After all, it is a historic biopic… and just so you know… John Glenn did make it into space.)

So Steph and I went and saw Hidden Figures yesterday. I had really been looking forward to it. In fact, I maybe made the mistake that I always try to avoid when going to see a movie. Usually I try to go in with no expectations. I don’t want to be disappointed by something not living up to the hype and I don’t want to be tricked into thinking I liked something just because it wasn’t as awful as initial reviews or trailers led me to believe it was. That was pretty hard with Hidden Figures. When I first saw the trailer my initial thought was “well, that’s Oscarbait” (this isn’t a problem. I actually frequently like Oscarbait movies). Then, over the last week with the critical and popular acclaim that has been impossible to ignore I started thinking “wow… I guess the Oscar baiting is working.” It was impossible to ignore.

But I tried my best.

I’m glad I did. As I was sitting down to watch the movie I thought to myself “this is going to be amazing!!!” And then I caught myself and said “no, wait… don’t do that. Watch this and enjoy it for what it is. And it’s a good thing I did that, because otherwise I probably would have been really disappointed.

Instead, what I saw a pretty good movie.

It was by no means a perfect movie. I’m not even sure that it as a *great* movie per se. But it was pretty good. Above average. Enjoyable all the way through.

One really good way to bait the Oscars is to make a socially relevant biopic. There’s two aspects that go into this. First of all, the Academy loves a biopic. And there’s good reasons for this. There’s something of a challenge to presenting the life of a real person. Real people are complex. And when a writer, and actor, a director and everyone else on set can combine to present the audience with a view into a character that is very tangible and very real, that is an accomplishment and it should be celebrated. I love a good superhero movie, and Robert Downey Jr. should certainly be celebrated for bringing as much complexity and depth to the character of Ironman as he has — far more than needs to be there for those films to make money. However, Ironman will never be as complex and nuanced as Katherine Johnson was in this movie because Katherine Johnson is a real life, complex and interesting human being and Taraji P. Henson did an amazing job of de-Cookyfying herself to make the character of Johnson real, relatable and engaging.

The other half of that equation is the social relevance. And that’s where the movie really shined. Diversity, multiculturalism, people of color, feminism. Basically the entire “social justice warrior” culture. These are big buzz words and that means big business. Hollywood, especially the Academy, likes to feel good about itself when it feels like it’s doing something positive and making a difference, an nothing does that like telling the story of heretofore undiscovered minority women who were the secret backbone of one of America’s proudest and most inspiring moments. Yay us for being progressive. Something like that. And this is an important thing. Being able to spoonfeed history dressed up as entertainment is good.

But beyond the need for simply presenting a lesson on the historical significance of the civil rights movement of the sixties. The film seems to be a direct attempt to address the controversy of Hollywood not offering meaty enough roles for minorities, and particularly women of color in order to warrant recognition at the Academy Awards. Or, as it is often summed up, #OscarsSoWhite! This is a clear attempt to address that. By shining a light on the accomplishments of black women in a time in the past where they were essential to the success of the country but invisible, the film attempts to make a statement about their similar invisibility in the media today. You can almost feel the movie saying “look, black women! Black women right here! You looking for black women? We got your black women!”

And that’s not exactly a complaint. They did a good job with it. Henson is really good and does an amazing job of presenting a the character of a black woman in 1961 who must walk the line between showcasing her own brilliance while not overstepping her bounds as an impoversihed member of the society of which she is a part of. There were even some parts while watching where Steph leaned over to me and mentioned that she was surprised that this or that aspect of racism existed at a place like NASA in that time period. So yay! Learning is good! Octavia Spencer, who plays Dorothy Vaughan, similarly shines. Though in her case, this is maybe less surprising, given that she’s already received an Oscar for playing a similar character in The Help. If anything, I’d worry that she’s going to start getting typecast. And perhaps she already is. I feel like producers are starting to say “we want to make a socially conscious movie about the civil rights movement. We need to feature a sassy but respectable black woman. Someone get Octavia Spencer on the line!” Even better, at least for me, was the third lead, Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson. She did an amazing job. Despite being the C-storyline and having the least to do o the three principle actresses, she was amazingly believable and worked to earn the audience’s respect for every second she was on the screen. She was phenomenal. The main cast is rounded out by three white actors. Kevin Costner as a gruff boss who really doesn’t understand the inherent racism in the system, but when it is brought to his attention will serve as an ally of sorts because “lets move past this petty shit so that everyone can get to work, goddammit!!!” and Jim Parsons and Kirsten Dunst whose jobs are to be living embodiment of white privilege leading to casual systemic racism, a function that Spencer’s Vaughan has the pleasure of directly pointing out, just in case the audience doesn’t realize it… “Yes, I get that you’re not trying to be racist. But just so you know… by adhering to the racist status quo, you totally are. HTH!” They really don’t have much to do. Dunst plays “generic white lady from the sixties.” Parson’s pretty much plays exactly his Sheldon Cooper character minus the comedy. They’re good at it. But they’re as much stereotypes in this film as the token black characters would be in any other Hollywood biopic.

But the things that make it good are also part of the failings of it. First of all, it’s just very clean and neat. Hollywood loves a happy ending. It’s easier to send an audience home happy than sad. Costner’s character in particular has a moment where he becomes so offended up Henson’s Johnson having to go across campus to use the negro bathroom that he he takes a crowbar to the bathroom sign and singlehandedly ends bathroom segregation at NASA with a few swoops of the mighty white hand of God. So, at the end of the film, it just kind of feels like “yay! NASA solved racism!” and by extension Hollywood is saying “and we made this movie about black women so we’re totally not racist anymore either! Yay!” It’s all very neat and tidy and clean and wrapped up in a pretty little bow. Look, these three great women went on to have great careers and are important and honored and everything is awesome!!! And while that’s nice and all, its obviously not really true on either account, which is kind of why this movie needed to exist in the first place. It feels a tad to celebratory.

Secondly, the film has the failing of many biopics. Namely, real life just isn’t very interesting a lot of the time. Certainly not as interesting as the movies. And since movies are about tension and drama, that needed to be fixed. At the end of the day, for all of her cultural significance, Katherine Johnson’s actual job was “doing math.” She was really good at this job, by all accounts better digital computers of the time (in real life as well as in the film). But her job was still to sit down and do math, and that’s just not visually compelling to watch on screen. In fact, its boring enough that there really wasn’t enough to make a whole film out of just her doing math, which is what necessitates adding Vaughan and Jackson’s stories into the mix. Vaughan’s B-story at least kind of dovetails into the main storyline, as her struggle to gain recognition for the West Area Computing Unit (the segregated group of African American female mathematicians at NASA that the women were members of) does seem to affect the Friendship 7 mission launch and Vaughan’s promotion to supervisorship of the unit does ultimately allow the Project Mercury missions to take place. The problem with this is that it is historically inaccurate. The West Area Computers never existed at NASA. They were actually part of the NACA (NASA’s predecessor) and were disbanded and integrated into the rest of the NASA workforce when the organization restructured in 1958, three years before the film. The struggle and drama that Vaughan goes through in the movie therefore actually predates Johnson’s struggle by several years.

Similarly, Jackson’s struggle to become NASA’s first official black female engineer also occurred years earlier and was completed by the time she was actually working in the wind tunnel for the Friendship 7 module. This leads to one of the most problematic aspects of the film for me. While Jackson’s C-story of trying to gain an education so that she can be an engineer was, for me, the most compelling part of the film, the pacing of the ilm makes it ultimately meaningless. Since she achieves her goals at the end of the movie, coincident with Johnson and Vaughan achieving theirs, it is ultimately meaningless to the overall plot line. Friendship-7 had launched and the film was over. So whereas in real life, Jackson being an engineer probably was essential to the survival of John Glenn and the mission, in the movie universe, it doesn’t actually matter whether she’s an engineer or not since she didn’t become one until after the climax of the film had been resolved. This was something that I noticed while I was watching the film, even though I didn’t yet know the actual timeline of the real life Jackson (I researched it later). It felt like “Wow, this most interesting person in the movie is actually completely inconsequential. Well that sucks.” However, at the very least, it got me to do some research on Mary Jackson, and that’s a good thing.

Merging Jackson and Vaughan with Johnson’s plot line appears to have been a step to both add more diversity to Hollywood (“you wanted roles for black actresses? Well, hey we could have just given you one. But we gave you three! Please love us! Wait, what do you mean you’d rather they be spread out into multiple movies? Stop being greedy!”) and also to distract from the fact that Johnson in and of herself doesn’t actually do anything that gives much tension for the viewer to cling to. As I said before, she’s basically just doing math. Math is boring. It is super important — the film reminds us on several occasions that the math is essential to the survival of the mission — but it is boring to watch. In order to add drama and a sense of stakes as the film reaches the third act, it is necessary to create a situation where we seen Henson as Johnson basically trying to “math faster” and then running the calculations she’s just completed across the NASA campus as John Glenn is entering the rocket because Glenn refuses to launch without them. Of course if you stop to think about it, you realize that this isn’t actual drama because Glenn simply would have said no. That’s exactly what he said he would do. The actual drama of the Friendship-7 mission were the difficulties that it achieve in flight which caused it to abort its mission after the third orbit (it was scheduled for seven) but once that occurred it was too late for new math to be done. They just had to trust what they had. So the climax of the film sort of necessarily involves all the principle characters just kind of watching to see if all of their hard work actually paid off or if it was a complete failure. Having worked in the tech industry… well, that’s pretty much exactly what it’s like. You watch the product launch and you sit there and you say “please don’t blow up! Please don’t blow up!” over and over again. And it either does or it doesn’t. But the camera watches the guy actually demoing the product. Not all of the engineers and designers who worked on it standing around biting their fingernails, because… well, that shit is boring.

The movie does similar tricks to try and flesh it out by delving into Johnson’s personal life and showing the development of her relationship and eventual marriage to her second husband (which in real life also occurred two years before the movie actually begins) and to a lesser extent familial and marital relationships of Vaughan and Jackson. While this does humanize the characters a bit, it does prove inconsequential to the plot. Unlike The Imitation Game, which is in effect the same basic story (mathematician secretly helps to save the world), the personal life of Johnson never really directly plays into the events of the film (not surprising because in real life it happened earlier), so it seems ind of artificially added on. As a viewer, I am left wondering if the film had about white men trying to save the space program would the domestic life of the characters been downplayed altogether? (Hint: The answer is yes, and that movie is called Apollo 13.) As is, even though the domestic life of the characters is somewhat interesting it never really goes anywhere. The lesson appears to be “oh, and just so you know… women who worked at NASA in the 1960s were married.” Much like the five minute scene of characters watching while John Glenn (the single character in the film with the most to actually gain or lose, and therefore the focal point of the tension despite being a minor part of the narrative) this ultimately becomes filler so that there’s enough minutes to fill screen time.

So in the end, it’s a good movie. I enjoyed watching it, and I think other people should see it. But in reality, it is very much an aspect of this time. It is a response to the complaint of the last two years that the opportunities for the roles that Hollywood is currently celebrating (biopics for intellectual historic figures like The Imitation Game) weren’t available to black actresses. And so the response was to give the viewers EXACTLY that. A biopic of historical intellectual figures like The Imitation Game but this time with black actresses. It’s watchable. It’s engaging and it makes for an interesting bit of introspection as to the way the current cultural moment that the film was produced in compares to the context of the era it is portraying. But ultimately it won’t have the rewatchability that it is going for. It won’t go down as a Hollywood classic. It should get a couple nominations, and yay, there might be some black people in the crowd at the Academy Awards this year, but as good as Henson, Spencer and Monáe are, the Oscars will probably remain SoWhite. Hopefully, it’s at least a step in the right direction and not an excuse to just not try to do another film like this for another decade.

★★★½☆ (3.5 out of 5 stars).

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Hidden Figures, Visible Baiting: The game of imitation in Hollywood biopics. was originally published on ChrisMaverick dotcom