#i just don't enjoy batcat

[introspectivememories]

fic: selina kyle/bruce wayne

me:

[ghost-bxrd]

No pressure, don't answer if uncomfortable but do you have any ships you're partial to in regards to the bats or enjoy their dynamic? Timsteph? DickRoy? Dickory? Dickbabs? Brutalia? Batcat? Superbat? Etc etc? :)

For me it's Jaykyle (obessing over charas that haven't interacted in comics since 2008 😋), Brutalia and StephCass! Sometimes CassRose too. I was curious to know if you had any that you liked/thought the dynamic was particularly interesting!

Hi!

Yesss, I do have some ships I read from time to time ✨

Usually I’m more of a gen-fic kinda person (love me some familial fluff 💚) but when the fancy strikes me I venture into various Bruce ships (Superbat, Hal/Bruce, Green Arrow/Bruce, BruTalia, Bruce/William Cobb) because— y’know, “emotional intelligence of a brick” Bruce Wayne with anyone is a recipe for angsty and hilarious disaster.

Apart from that TimKon and TimBern have some really cool chemistry I adore! TimSteph depends on the fic, because a lot of times they feel more like “besties” than romantic partners? But that might just be my personal preference ^^ I also read JayTim if I like the premise and setups! JayRoy is also a ship I adore! Along with DickBabs, Dick/Wally, and sometimes JayDick. I’ve also read some awesome StephCass before (mostly on accident because I didn’t check the tags lmao) and absolutely adored the “quiet and lethal but absolute sweetheart”+”loud and brash and sassy” dynamic 🪴

Honestly, to sum it up, I’ll read almost any kind of ship if the premise sounds good. I’m not very picky 🤣

As for the topic of rarepairs, I suppose William Cobb/Bruce and Dick Grayson/Calvin Rose are my most recent obsessions ksksks 💚

JayKyle definitely sounds like an interesting one tho! I’ll have to look into that hehe ✨

[franollie]

do you personally think that fandom brings up misogyny unnecessarily and even when it has nothing to do with the issue at hand?

like some people get up and arms if you don’t ship batcat or brutalia (you’re not obligated to like anything for any reason) or if you ship bruce with someone else this topic will come up for whatever reason even though when there are actual instances of blatant misogyny in fandom and it’ll go fully ignored by these same people.

a point of bruce’s romance is to establish that he can’t really be endgame with any one person so i personally ship him freely. i don’t know why fandom is so obsessed with tokenizing certain shippers as certain prejudices when i’m sure that they genuinely have never interacted with said shipper one on one in their entire life

sorry for taking so long on this i have a LOT of thoughts on the topic

ok so in short: yes, i do think fandom loves to cry misogyny.

that being said, fandom operates in a blatantly misogynistic way (see how in large fandom favors men over women regardless of whether or not that man had more or less screen time than the woman). misogyny in fandom is a very real thing, but it is more a fandom as a whole problem than an individual problem. the only way the problem of misogyny in fandom can be solved is by actually engaging with the women in whatever franchise you're enjoying (writing for them, making art, reblogging art, writing metas, etc). show them the same amount of love that you show other characters

with that in mind, it is also important to note that sometimes you just don't gel with a ship or a character. i agree that people are drawn to certain dynamics and relationships, and you are allowed to ship what you ship. let's take the brutalia/batcat v bruharvey/batjokes because they are similar in dynamic (batman and one of his rogues). it wouldn't be fair to call a bruharvey or batjokes shipper a misogynist just because they don't ship brutalia or batcat. now, if they ship batjokes but hate talia for killing, then you could play the misogyny card. really it's just a matter of how you specific people interact with characters. i think a better example of this is superbat v clois.

i'm gonna try and stay as unbiased and objective as possible because superbat fans scare me lmao but a lot of the criticisms for superbat are about how it ships these characters at the expense of their relationships specifically with the women in their lives. to be even more specific, clark's relationship with lois. it isn't fair to say that "all superbat shippers are misogynist because they ignore lois" because i don't know why every superbat shipper ships superbat. maybe superbat is nostalgic to someone because they grew up reading justice league comics or the world's finest comics, maybe they haven't read or watched that much stuff with lois/clois in it, maybe they just think the idea of superbat is fun, who knows what the reasoning is. the problems really arise when they begin to change lois's personality and character to fit their ship whether it's by writing her as some bitchy ex of clarks or as a "girlboss who doesn't need a man and is superbat's biggest shipper uwu".

i do think when it comes to comic book fandoms in particualr there is another added layer of fandom superiority when it comes to shipping where there are the "correct" ships and the "incorrect" ships. but that's a whole other topic for another day

just to reiterate: fandom misogyny is a very real problem (look at the top 10 ships on ao3 for the past 5 years and that becomes abundantly clear) but the only way to combat it is by actually creating and sharing works positively featuring the women you like.

[aboutzatanna]

To put into perspective just how forced the whole JohnZee pairing has been for the last few years, Zatanna met John 5 times in the pre-reboot continuity. That's 5 out of the 379 times she has appeared in comics before the Pre Nu 52 debut of Justice League Dark. Similarly John's Hellblazer lasted for 300 issues with his own supporting cast and love interests and Zatanna only appeared once in it.

(Yes, there was a divide between Vertigo and DC at the time but Zatanna was one of the few characters who famously flaunted the line)

Swamp Thing #49-50: this is where we first find out that these characters knew each other as John tries to recruit Zatara and Zatanna for the magical seance. Note that there is an element of manipulation involved in all of John's interactions with everyone in this issue. John was also a new character at the time and Zatanna was a very established character. Moore can be a perv so it's not surprising that he made their relationship sexual. He also basically ended the pairing with John Zatara's death and Zatanna blaming John for it. Although they were established as collegues, we got fans and writers today who think Zatanna should be a novice who needs John to lead her around and tell her where to aim her powers.

Books of Magic: In which we learn that John hasn't met Zatanna at all since the traumatic seance but feels he can just waltz in and ask her to babysit a kid for him. The writer likes him so of course it works and she hugs and kisses him, which felt so very jarring. Books of Magic is a book I enjoy except for the Zatanna scenes (and Spectres). Then we had Zee acting like a complete idiot who endangers Tim Hunter and needed to be saved by John Constantine. Really jarring when you see her appearances in JLA comics around the time where she was a powerful magician whose kicking ass. ( Yet, this one comic would decades later set the pace for her characterization in JLD as this novice with a lot of power except for when John needs to shine. ) We would later get a follow up to this in a dream sequence in the 1991 Zatanna mini series by Lee Mars but that too had a scene where Zatanna went 'oh no, I'm not as good John' which makes no sense since she has been involved in magic her whole life.

Hellblazer Vol 1 #63: Zatanna's only appearance in the title at John's 40th birthday party. I don't have any objections to this one. Zee getting high at a party with a floating joint is hilarious.

Totems mini series: A brief appearance where she turns down his offer for sex and even goes 'reven niaga'.

Zatanna Everyday Magic: I like this one. As it deals with things from her perspective. She is the one who saves him and very subtly we see her shed any resentment she may have for John but is not hung up on him. She has her own life and her own love interests, even has casual sex with them.

So we have a pairing that cratered and halfway buried, only for an ill thought out reboot to drag it back up and heavily retconning both character's respective histories to make it work. Like introducing Nick Necro and treating the seance like Zee's origin story instead of Zatanna's Search. Ignoring any aspect of her that's not related to John, like all her relationships with the JL members (except Batman) don't matter anymore even though they played important roles in her life as well. Yet, John gets to keep most of his history and supporting cast and even get several shots at an ongoing. Zee ends up being treated as less smart, less competent and daresay even less sexy, whenever the JohnZee pairing comes to the forefront. The seeds were there since even their second meeting.

I don't see why this pairing needs to be treated as something so sacrosanct that the characters aren't allowed to grow past it. It's definitely not an earned relationship that's up there with Clark/Lois, BatCat, WallyLinda or BarryIris. It's only post nu52 that writers can't seem to go two pages without mentioning the pairing whenever Zee shows up. And I hate the fact that it's lead to Zee developing a reputation as a woman with a bad body fetish. Yet another aspect of the character they had to twist to make the pairing work.

It's not just that Zee deserves better, it just plain doesn't make sense. Even on it's own, it's a constant merry go round 'oh John, you are lying to me, I can't trust you/John, you lied to me, I trusted you. Everyone in JLD gets this but Zatanna gets it the worst.

Also, Zatanna didn't 'choose him', they were apart then the reboot happened and DC went 'well, lets pretend these two are an angsty couple who can't quit each other, forget anything that might contradict this narrative'.

To drive the point home; compare Zee's last appearance in 2022 in JLD as team leader where she was shown to be reckless and dumb leader who endangered her team for no reason and refused to take responsibility (of course John comes out looking good). To her later appearances in Batgirl and the excellent Knight Terrors crossover team up with Robot Man.

Once she is away from John, she goes back to being her fun, competent, bad ass, sexy self.

Side note: Can we also go back to a time when Zatanna, Phantom Strnager, Spectre and Dr Fate were bad asses and not chumps so John Constantine can look cool as he pulls out a vaguely defined spelled from his ass? I saw scans from a comic recently where he got the drop on freakin' Waverider recently.

[mistress-of-vos]

Once again got all intense about how annoying Ra'sTim haters are. I'm remembering that time on Twitter not long ago when they were calling Ra'sTim i*cest... Yeah I know, Twitter is hell, but come on! 😭

I think it's particularly funny because Ra's is a man who reduces his family to his blood ties and even then he is picky. He *will* disown his children (not hurt them! Do not confuse it!) if he considers he has been betrayed so the proposition that he would see Tim as family... And that Tim would see Ra's as family! It's just so funny to me. Tell me you don't read comics without telling me you don't read comics.

I believe Tim and Ra's (before properly interacting) used to see each other as villain and hero. Period. Tim studies Batman's villains and cases so for him Ra's is synonym of bad guy, extremely dangerous, probably best if avoided. Ra's keeps an eye in all the bats, so Tim (still Robin) is a threat too: awfully loyal to the Batman, highly trained, more likely will provoke lots of damage and won't die. And that's mostly it, until Ra's is forced to meet the bats more frequently due to Damian going to live with Bruce. Ra's is more aware of Tim's abilities, and Tim is more aware of the danger Ra's represents, which I think explains why their meetings go as they do.

I don't think Ra's labels Tim as Damian's brother, but he might label Tim as Bruce's son. Which doesn't mean that makes Ra's *feel* like he's related to Tim, and similarly, Tim labels Ra's as Damian's grandfather, but nothing to him. There's no familiar tie between them, nor is their dynamic close to that, so I do wonder why people look at Ra's saying he wants a heir with Tim's blood and think that's familiar and not low-key homoerotic.

I get it if people dislike Ra'sTim due to the "dark" elements (tho I consider them very tame if compared to ships as Hannigram for example) but there's nothing on them that makes it "i*cest" so I do get mad when people accuse them of so. Particularly when it's the fans of certain Ra's' child and her ship who do so, as if Ra'sTim fandom doesn't actually treat her better than gen fans. Hell, Ra'sTim fics always lean in portraying her nicely, erasing the awkward comic canon and allowing her to have her classical bond with Damian. I have even seen certain tendency to ship her with Bruce (tho yes I admit most fandom goes with BatCat, myself included). So the fact that they have this need of hating Ra'sTim is annoying, because Ra'sTim is NOT the fandom treating their fav poorly nor doing anything wrong.

It's awful that we aren't allowed to like Ra's as his own character, that we aren't allowed to speak freely of the interesting elements of shipping him with MEN. Exploring a queer, individual Ra's al Ghul has taught me a lot about storytelling. Exploring an scenario where he falls in love with someone who contrasts with him the way Tim does has made me realize that fanfiction can be more than "I disliked the ending" and that you can write your own opinions on characters that sometimes other people share. It has been amazing and I adore it.

So what I'm trying to say is... People should stop being these loud, violent haters. There's no need for this. Why can't people let others enjoy themselves?

[unseemingowl]

"About the Blogger" Meme

@all-inmoderation tagged me. I haven't done one of these in ages, so this was fun. Thank you .D

Star Sign(s): Libra (don't ask me about rising and all that stuff, I know nothing about Astrology)

Favorite Holidays: Christmas, I love the cosiness.

Last Meal: Fries from the new kebab place around the corner. Had a craving, but they were sadly a bit underwhelming. Nothing more disappointing food item than underwhelming fries.

Current Favorite Musician: Been listening to a lot of Alabama Shakes this weekend. The intro to Sound and Color is just sooo fucking good.

Last Music Listened To: The spotify playlist called Indie Rock Club, which turned out to be all of the music I listened to in my late teens and early twenties. Ripped me right back to that time. Wild.

Last Movie Watched: Wow, Piggy was the last movie I watched, I really need to have a new years resolution to watch more movies. Piggy is fucking excellent though. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Go watch it.

Last TV Show Watched: I'm in the middle of rewatching Babylon Berlin in order to watch season 4 and 5. All doom and glitter and the party and depravity that never ends, and Charlotte and Gereon are such engaging and complicated lead characters. Still love it.

Also watching season 2 of World on Fire, which is a fine show, though not nearly as good. But it does have Jonah Hauer King in it though, and I am a simple woman, let me watch that man having an existential crisis and I'm THERE. He looks SO handsome when he doesn't know what's going on, lol.

Last Book/Fic Finished: I've been struck hard by project moving, so I've mostly been listening to Agatha Christie audiobooks. The last time I moved, I moved into a single room, and by the time I moved was living in the apartment by myself along with all the new stuff I've acquired. It's been hellish. So cosy mysteries it is.

Last Book/Fic Abandoned: I was reading a biography on Robert the Bruce that I abandoned once project moving started up and I stopped having the bandwidth for anything too complicated.

Currently Reading: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, excellent so far, which is not surprising, since I've loved all of his books that I've read.

Last Thing Researched for Art/Writing/Hyperfixation: Waltzing in the 19th century.

Favorite Online Fandom Memory: The buck wild hour long quarantine era chats with the Nabrina crowd in the discord.

Favorite Old Fandom You Wish Would Drag You Back In/Have A Resurgence: CAOS I guess? The Nabrina fandom is still one of the least toxic ones I've ever been in, at least the little corner that I was in.

I'm counting on a Batcat fandom resurgence once the next Battinson movie comes out in like 500 years (sob!)

Favorite Thing You Enjoy That Never Had an Active or Big "Fandom" but You Wish It Did: Oh so many things. Fandom culture is brutal these days because people are moving on so fast. Like the Little Mermaid came out this spring and it seems mostly dead already. Or perhaps people are just in other places that tumblr?

Tempting Project You're Trying to Rein In/Don't Have Time For: Everything? Lol. Between trying to paint my new flat and christmas and some family stuff going on it feels like I don't have time for anything at all right now. Including the self-indulgent smut fic that I'm writing for the Little Mermaid at the moment. But that smut fic is my happy place at the moment, so I must persist!

tagging @robertdeniroimdb @bugsysiegels @raxiesrot @gothamsgaygirlgang @imaginejolls @deadgirlsupremacy @sweet-reverie along with anyone else who'd like to have a go

[ultfreakme]

What makes me more angry about the whole "Jon needs to be a child again" is that it doesn't really make any sense to do that now, like?????? how would that even work? he is almost 18 now, he has a boyfriend, that would be super creepy, and the most annoying part is that this is more about Damian than it is about Jon as a character, I'm so fed up with Damian fans, I'm sorry guys, but DC is not going to make Damian queer and make him date Jon, it's not happening, and I would love if DC stopped making this one shots stories of them in the past, it only fuels this people, It's time to make stories of them in the present, My dream story is to have a double date of JonJay and Damian and his girlfriend, I think it would be super fun.

Yessss say it!! This is all so true. Jon being aged down is more about Damian than Jon. Jon gets nothing out of being younger, all of his plots as a 10 year old was dependent on Damian or Clois. He never had a solo story like Damian back then, there was never enough investment in him alone, and frankly he wasn't bringing anything new to the table despite being the kid of a superhero like Superman, his backstory and motivation were just Clark's and his interest in journalism was all Lois(Which btw, never got utilized well so what was the point?). Now though, he's carrying two solos and has a character arc and supporting cast that is specific to Jon. His goals for being Superman are more complicated than "dad's doing it so I'll do it".

Controversial; I don't think people who want Jon aged down are fans of Jon as an individual character. When they do talk about him, they never mention the conflicts he has on his own(Goldie the cat dying, Eradicator & General Zod outright calling him and abomination, being seen as a future threat and weapon) He wasn't some chipper sweet sunshine baby all the time who 'helped heal' Damian amd is the light of his life or whatever. He was just as argumentative as Damian and they were bickering kids. I think the only part people miss is his dialogue with Damian. Jon genuinely loves Jay and they're compatible, Jay's literally made for Jon and they work well.

I wish they'd stop with the kid Jon stories too, the only one that I enjoyed was the Belle Reve one, because it showed exploration of his queerness a little and his introduction to it. Otherwise, the rest are pointless and are reiterating things we already know. Chances of Damian being queer are next to nothing, he's never had any queer coding intentions by his writers(unlike the other Robins, maybe not Duke, I don't think he's been written with queer coding either). On top of that, you can't have Superman dating a middle schooler.

And yeah Damian and Jon are still friends. This time, I think they're better, proper friends. Back then all they did was argue, now they're having deeper, meaningful conversations and helping each other's missions. We see them have conflicting views; Damian saying Jon being Superman is inevitable when Jon had talked about his hesitance as a Super, Damian and Jon disagreeing on how to approach facing the dark army in dark crisis).

I think right now, Jon's the most interesting he's ever been. I would really love a double date issue too! Sorta like a homage to batcat and clois's double date issue would be cute.

[jupitcrs]

comic wrap up — august ‘24

this is something new that i’m doing!! i want to start engaging more with others who read comics and putting my thoughts out there.

i’ve been reading comics for a while but i didn’t really do a lot of research when i started so my taste is incredibly sporadic (sorry in advance)

— young justice volume 1: gemworld

i was dying for some conner kent content because i was hyperfixating so bad on him. he was very cutie in this, and of course, him as a farmer was also very cutie.

i was a big fan of the art in this comic, the colors were stunning and the characters looked great.

i enjoyed seeing stephanie brown, even if briefly! her and tim are so cute together. this was my first young justice comic, so i was introduced to some really great characters through this (cassie sandsmark!!!)

also, enjoy this timkon moment

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

— batman: under the red hood

i watched the animated film for this like a year ago? jensen ackles voicing jason todd started my love for the character, what can i say.

the relationship between jason and bruce is so interesting to me. jason’s intense, raw emotion combined with bruce’s moral code oh i was eating up the angst like a four course meal.

i would highly recommend this one to the jason todd lovers out there!

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ .5

— batman, volume 6: bride or burglar?

i jumped back into this run after not reading it for a while, but i needed a bruce fix.

i enjoyed the little snapshots of batcat moments, and selina stealing her own wedding dress is iconic. but, mostly, i loved the side characters that appeared in this. wonder woman looks hot as hell, and harley and ivy had a sweet relationship moment.

it’s nothing special, but it passed the time

☆ ☆ ☆ .5

— fantastic four volume 2: mr. and mrs. grimm

deadpool and wolverine launched me back into my johnny storm obsession eek

this was a cute overview of ben and alicia's relationship, and i liked seeing their origin in the comics. there were also some cute moments between sue and ben and also johnny and ben (i loved the bachelor party issue, johnny and ben's little heart-to heart was so precious).

the main thing i will say is that i am not a fan of reed richards. it may just be this version of him and i'm sure he's better in other comics, but i just don't like him in this. i'm happy to accept recommendations for adaptations in which he's less annoying, i do really want to like him.

☆ ☆ ☆ .5

— jessica jones: alias, volume 1

i was planned to really love this, i am a big fan of the jessica jones show, so i was hoping for something dark and gritty, but it wasn't as dark as i was expecting it to me (this is also probably just a me thing, not a geniune critique of the comic)

there were a lot of aspects of this that i loved. i'm now obsessed with the carol danvers and jessica jones friendship and i need more of it!! jessica is also a fun narrator, i just really love her character.

i definitely want to continue to this series at some point.

☆☆☆☆

— batman: wayne family adventures volume 3

i like to read these to pass the time when i have a minute or two to spare. these little one-shots always have me kicking my feet and giggling.

there were some really cute pairings that i loved in these. ivy and cassandra and stephanie were so such a cute trio. i also really loved the episode about tim and damian's relationship.

if you're a batfamily fan these are a must-read they are so precious!!

☆☆☆☆

bonus: manga!

— attack on titan: junior high volume 1

my feelings on this manga is the same as wayne family adventures. it's cute little moments of the attack on titan characters. it's nice to see them being happy for once.

i always giggle a bit whenever i read this too, especially the way it pokes fun at eren (he's my favorite character i'm allowed to giggle when they make fun of him!!)

also, eren and armin being each other's folk dance partners...absolutely love it

☆☆☆.5

[distort-opia]

You said you didn’t enjoy Tom King’s writing, especially his take on the Joker. Most Batjokes fans avoided it because of BatCat, and personally I find his dialogue abysmal. But, what are some of your valid criticisms?

Hi! I've criticized aspects of King's writing before, when I was asked about his portrayal of Selina. You can read those discussions here, and here. As you will find though... I'm pointing out flaws but also admitting that I find his writing compelling. Because it's not quite accurate to say I don't enjoy King's writing at all. It's because I'm a masochist, and some of his stories turn me into Charlie from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the conspiracy meme. (Here's me writing a whole-ass essay on just one issue he wrote.)

The thing is, King has stuff to say. The concepts he wants to convey can be deeply compelling. When it comes to his Batman run, I Am Suicide, Cold Days and Knightmares are some of my favorite arcs when it comes to Bruce characterization... but I will also admit there's much to be desired in execution. King often falls into the trap that in my head is named after Moffat-- trying to seem deep, without actually delivering on the foreshadowing and ideas introduced. (Can you tell I'm a Doctor Who and Sherlock BBC survivor.) Also a lot like Moffat, King can be great at telling short self-contained stories, rather than long ones that spawn multiple narrative threads and a large cast. Most of the time secondary characters suffer dearly under King's pen. They become an extension of the protagonist and lose individuality; speech patterns bleed into each other, behaviors become interchangeable. King could benefit so much from an editor who actually ensured that the dialogue doesn't feel so repetitive and choppy, and that the voices of the characters feel distinct. It'd help a lot with making it less grating.

But leaving that aside (and other more story-specific criticisms I have)... at the end of the day, to me it feels like King cares-- something that sadly doesn't apply to a lot of writers at DC. He's got many flaws as a writer, but at least to me, it's clear that Bruce Wayne means something to him. He demonstrates a deep understanding of the character on more than one occasion, which redeems him in my eyes at least partially. Even when it comes to Joker, I dislike some of the writing, not all of it. Joker in Batman (2016) #48-49 is very interesting, and the "I need him to stop me" speech is beautiful. To be honest, I think I dislike the way Mikel Janin draws Joker more, and sadly I've come to associate his art with King's Batman stuff.

[tiger-in-the-flightdeck]

For the salty asks! What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

Popular character you hate?

Least shippable character?

Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?*

What OTPs do I just not get: BatCat. I genuinely don't see the appeal. They rarely even seem that they enjoy each other's company, let alone enough to be in a relationship. I used to Nope out of Batfam fics that would have BatCat in them, because of how much I Do Not Get It.

Popular character I hate: I don't think there are any popular ones I hate. There are plenty I dislike to the point of if they are going to be central to the story I just give it a miss. Also, a lot of the characters I can't stand are pretty universally panned (CoughGuyGardnerCough) Maybe it's more that there are versions of popular characters I can't stand? For example, The Riddler in the new Batman movie. For some reason a lot of people really loved him, and I want to spray him with a hose from a distance.

Least Shippable Character: Dick Grayson. Seriously. I get that he's the Fandom Bicycle of the DCEU, but all of his canon relationships feel soooo flat to me. And even the fanon pairings, like with Wally, I ship the other character with someone else much more strongly than with Dick (Wally with Linda, and also with Hartley.)

Has fandom ever made me enjoy a previously hated pairing: Not really, but that's just because I haven't started to enjoy a pairing I hated before. But it definitely has made me enjoy pairings I was indifferent to before! Like SuperBat. I never shipped it and thought it was actually pretty boring as a pairing before I started reading other fans' thoughts and reasons for it.

And if we extend 'fandom' to include writers who are also really nerdy about the comics they write, then I'd have to say that Mark Waid is to blame for a fair number of my ships, including SuperBat (His run with World's Finest is amazing) but especially with his whole Into Every Generation, A Flash Is Born. And Lo, There Shall Be A Green Lantern With Whom You Can Ship Him Like A Super Yacht thing he's got going on.

Or, you know. Judd Winick with the Tim And Kon Hook Up In A Supply Closet In A Hospital Post-Battle thing...

[incomingalbatross]

Hey! I hope you’re doing alright!

If yo don’t mind, I just thought about something Catholic-Batman-related.

How do you think Selina fits in this universe? In my mind, she has left the faith, but doesn’t hold any animosity towards it. What else, do you think?

Also, what do you think is Selina and Bruce’ relationship in this universe? I am a BatCat fan myself, so I like them together, which makes me think he brings her back to the faith through actions instead of words.

And finally, how do you think Bruce and Maggie Kyle (Selina’s sister who is a nun) interact with each other?

Again, sorry for bonbarding with questions and stuff, but I really enjoyed your Catholic Batman ideas! It is very unique, and also very believable because it fits so well with Batman’s philosophy as a whole!!

Thank you so much and may God bless you!!

Hi! I'm doing well. Hope you are too!

Ooh, Selina's a good question. I haven't thought much about her in this context, and I don't know if she has any canon religious background—though I guess she has at least a little, if her sister is a nun. :P I could see her as a believing Christian (Catholic or Protestant), an agnostic, or an atheist... Given her antagonistic relationship with human authority, though, I imagine her relationship with the Church would be troubled at best. At least in her earlier years as Catwoman.

I also like her and Bruce together! I think...I think in terms of faith, like in terms of law/crime, Selina would have to meet him where he is, because Bruce isn't budging. I like Selina having her own journey, though, that's definitely affected by her relationship with Bruce but isn't defined by it. In this area, I think that would look like maybe having her interest in the Church sparked by seeing Bruce's commitment to it, but then her pursuing that interest and entering/reconciling with the Church on her own (maybe not even telling him until afterward). From what I've seen, writing a good Selina/Bruce arc that retains her agency and independence while also incorporating moral growth—and creating character growth for both of them, not just one!—can be a tricky balance. But this might be how I'd approach it.

As for Bruce and Maggie Kyle...not knowing anything about her personality, I'd guess they'd get along. They both love Selina and worry about her, presumably, and that + their shared Faith is a strong foundation for connection.

Thank you, and God bless you too!

[mobiusrp]

About:

I go by M!

29

he/they pronouns (nonbinary guy)

bi

main tumblr -> greywerewolf

Roleplay Info:

I will only rp with adults (21+)

multiparagraph

alright with heavy topics And fluff

limits: non-con (given some of the characters I play this may be mentioned with backstory but not described in detail or roleplayed out), incest, others we can discuss based on what we're writing

I can/will write other characters incidentally if they come up in the story. We can either share side characters and both write them or we can divvy them up and each have some that we write exclusively. That's something we can discuss.

I will rp opposite OCs, but I prefer canon characters. (I like playing nonfandom OCxOC too!)

I enjoy plotting and prefer plot-centric rps. (NSFW is 100% fine, but it needs to be built up to unless it happens quickly for Plot Reasons [looking at Astarion].)

I won't reply every day usually. I have a job, and sometimes I get home and just crash. We're adults, I don't expect replies to always be fast.

AUs and canon-based rps are both fun! I am... always weak to vampire AUs. I also enjoy messing around with romance novel cliches like arranged marriage, etc.

Who I Write:

DC:

Bruce Wayne

Jason Todd

John Constantine (Vertigo-based)

I've also written Selina Kyle and Harvey Dent. (Plus, The Batman Who Laughs, and various other people.)

Ships: batjokes, bruceharvey, batcat, superbat, jayrose, jayroy, jaykyle (+ others if you win me over on them)

Baldur's Gate 3:

Astarion

Gortash

I think Durge would be fun to write too, but I haven't written them yet.

Ships: wyllstarion, bloodweave, durgestarion, durgetash

I will not write halstarion. Do not try to write halstarion with me. Thank you.

Fire Emblem:

Grima/M!Robin

Niles

Kaze

Ships: chrobin, grima/chrom, grima/henry, niles/silas, niles/subaki, kaze/xander (+ others)

Vampire Chronicles:

Lestat de Lioncourt

Louis de Pointe du Lac

Ships: loustat, loumand, louis/daniel/armand, nickistat (+ combinations of those)

I like other things too, so this list may expand if I want to try my hand at other fandoms, but feel free to dm me if any of this sounds up your alley!

[the-marron]

20 questions writer meme.

I've seen it twice with 'whoever wants to do it, please feel tagged' so I am taking it as a sign. I also want to tag friends to see their replies, so let's go ~

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 144

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 1,261,968

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently Guardian and Weilan Derivatives, I am considering trying Beyond Evil at some point. Before - DC Comics, Yu-Gi-Oh, Star Wars, Harry Potter, from the more notable ones

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

This one I already answered many times so I will allow myself to skip it this time.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I love chatting with people and hearing their thoughts, and responding to them. I met some of my best fandom people like that, chatting under their fics or mine 🥰

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ughhh... Erm... that's a tough choice. Do we count stories where both of the characters die as good ending? We do, right?

Then it would be probably When I Make an Oath to the Flames (Guardian) because eternal separation is worse, right? Or maybe In Dreams You Lose Your Heartaches? (Yu-Gi-Oh) I like bad and/or bittersweet endings so it's really hard to choose.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Another good question. How do we quantify happiness? But if we go with the 'I fixed the character's terrible fate and gave them a good ending instead of it' then hmmm... Probably And We Mend Our Broken Wings (Harry Potter) series, because some people not only survived, they even went through a whole redemption arc.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

On fics as such not very often - I had a very notable 'good fic but the ending is so fucking stupid' comment in a bookmark, followed by 'it's great. I HATE it' on a different one, but nothing really, truly mean.

Got a lot of thoughtful feedback about writing, adjusting register to the character's manner of speech or just pointing out some mistakes, and those were usually rather nice and definitely needed.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No. No ideological reasons here, I just get bored with writing it, and it always shows when the writer is absolutely disinterested in what they are writing at the moment, so I just don't bother anymore. Fade to Black is my new best friend

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Oh, yes. The entire universe of weilan derivatives is based on crossovers. I enjoy crossovers a lot, provided I see some common points between the two original universes. The craziest one? Hmmmm... I am not sure? all of them are weird in their own right. But let's go with Murders and Mirrors because it features Bai Yu's variety show persona and an Evil Reflection from that one Zhu Yilong ad, all for crack reasons.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Parts of it copied and inserted into other people's fics, yes, all of it? No, thankfully.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, into Chinese, if I remember correctly!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Oh yes, and it's the best fun there is when it comes to writing for me!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Hard to choose really. Each time I meet a new ship that compels me, it gets added to the herd and it stays there. But out of sheer intensity of my feelings about this ship and how longterm my love for it is: BatCat

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I have a Luolin longfic idea that I am not good enough yet to attempt, not if I want to write it well. I would have to get better in many areas and to do lots of research to even try, so I am now just thinking about it fondly.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I would say I am flexible? I try to change styles and registers depending on what genre I am writing and which world/era the characters are, and I find it fun. I also have a lot of things that interest me at any given time so these interests filter through into my fics.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

White room, I never pay attention to what my characters eat and whether they actually have eaten anything in the span of the entire story, I tend to repeat certain words and not always notice the repetitions during the editing

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Sure, let's do it, but I would first ask someone who has greater knowledge than mine, to see if the dialogue sounds like something a person might say and not like an exercise from a textbook.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Either Harry Potter or Inuyasha, can't remember anymore which was first

20. Favorite fic you've written?

You can't make me pick a favourite child ;_;

Truly, no idea because it changes with time and with how much I've been thinking about this particular fic. I have some that I really liked but now I don't see anything special in them. I've had some that didn't seem special at all, but someone's excited comment made me see it in a very different light and appreciate it more.

Nothing to do with popularity here, just usually I am not touched emotionally by what I write, so someone else interacting with my stories gives me some semblance of feeling some way about them.

My all time favourites are always stories I wrote with someone else, because the story itself is a record of the good times we had together when working on it, plus usually I simply like them better as stories.

Finally, the part I am doing this all for!

Tagging: @babischlong-six, @omaenanimonoda, @mjsakurea, @elenothar, @the-cookie-of-doom, @yilian0203 and if you are reading it and want to try do it too, please do and tag me, I would love to see more replies!

[clay-cuttlefish]

Finishing off every Question comic with Bombshells. I procrastinated on this for a while because I don't want to be done and have a real count of how many Question comics are bad, but I can't ignore it forever.

War Stories

Renee's kind of a fusion of her late Gotham Central and post-52 self, plus some unique traits just from this universe. She's got a lot of the guilt and poorly-hidden rage, but she's Not A Cop.

She's around for a while, and isn't totally irrelevant, but mostly she's one of Kate's love interests.

She and Kate found a kid named Jason, which went exactly as well as you'd expect the Bat adopting a Jason to go, and that's the big incident that tore their relationship apart.

Like a lot of the characters her personality's a little shaky, wobbling between a distinct sharp-edged self and the generic-author-voice that everyone falls into sometimes. None of it is a full "she would not fucking say that", it's just bland.

Men Who Would Be Kings

Instead of being a noir detective, she's drawing more on adventurer archaeologist tropes.

I actually really enjoy this! It's a neat way to switch up her background while keeping some of the pulp vibes.

I don't think it'd work for a story that's closer to canon, but Bombshells is a very distinct Elseworld that reinterprets and un-legacies a ton of characters, not working in canon isn't a problem.

Also I think it's fun that all the heroes are lesbians and there's a lot of crack ship flirting. It's weird sometimes but for the most part I'm on board with the lesbian divorce polycule.

Mechanical Gods

It's a little weird to me that Renee's the Question at all, since she doesn't have any theming, costume elements, relevant backstory, or annoying cryptic dialogue.

Even when there's theme-based banter she still gets left out half the time, since the Question doesn't mesh well with everyone else's animal gimmicks.

There's a single page of Renee's guilt issues and then it turns into the BatCat soap opera.

What's Past is Prologue

Renee being called the mother of Kate's child makes me mildly unhinged, especially because Kate has picked up the Bat responsibility of having way too many love interests and is cheating on her girlfriend.

They hold hands and then disappear from the comic for the last quarter of its run to go be gay and blow up fascists in Spain, which counts as a happy ending.

Bombshells United - War Bonds

Sequel time.

Renee gets a lot more focus in this arc than in all of Bombshells, and this arc is mostly a take on the Black Adam plot from 52, which is a neat bit of spotlight.

The writing, especially the dialogue, is. Well. I am lying to myself about it being alright because the batshit ways it riffs on various canon stories are stuck in my brain a little, but it's pretty bad.

Absolute galaxy brain shit to put the inevitable Jason Resurrection Angst into the 52 plot. Sure, I have reservations about how maternally Kate and Renee are written, but "what if instead of Under the Red Hood we just made Kate and Renee really sad" is such a power move I don't actually care.

Seriously it's such a flex to bring back Jason only to have him walk back into the afterlife with a minor character from a decade-old event. No Bat-importance for him.

I don't think Bombshells is a particularly deep take on Renee, but there's a real attempt to use her character history beyond being a cop, she gets new angles and unique elements, it tries. That means a lot when Renee has 98 non-canon-or-DCAU comic appearances, maybe a dozen of them are doing anything with her, and the best actual take on her as the Question is still Scooby-Doo.

[laufire]

what is your otp (and only one) in each dc canon you know?

there are elseworlds and alternate continuities and so on that I read so so long ago I barely remember any ~shippy feeling I had lol, but I'll try!

COMICS

main comics continuity: taking pre-crisis/post-crisis/new-52/rebirth/whatever as one canon, because it... technically is? although it makes zero sense lmao.

honestly... the more I think of it, the more I'd say I don't have an OTP for it. I can love a relationship in a run, and I certainly have soft spots for a few chosen ones. generally speaking, the legacy romances in DC have Good Shit TM to offer. but the very nature of comics -the inconsistencies, the retcons, the rotating writers with wildly different agendas (not to mention grudges against specific characters), make it so I can't really point at one (1) relationship and embrace it wholeheartedly LOL.

if I have an OTP it's Jason Todd/Good+Interesting Writing, and although I've definitely seen it around, it eludes me just as often xD

Batman - Wayne Family Adventures: lowkey Barbara/Jason which is. LOL. but. see #53, #95, #96, and #104. The plot in 95-96 in particular made me want to write a more grounded+complex version of it.

Dark Knights of Steel: an elseworld run I finished recently. not heavy on romance but Clark/Lois was cute in it (with bonus bondage xD).

DC Bombshells: it's been a really long time and I was up for anything that run threw at me, but I particularly liked Kate/Renee, from what I remember. Tragedy + exes... lovely.

Red Hood - Outlaws: (I know technically there's some overlap in the webtoons but considering them the same canon, especially this one, just... nope. impossible xD). Artemis/Jason FTW.

Zatanna & the Ripper: Constantine/Zatanna is quite good.

ANIMATED WORKS

Batman - The Brave and The Bold: what little I remember of this involves Bruce/Selina being delightfully flirty lol.

DCAU/Timmverse: Clark/Lois. I liked what I saw of others (with caveats regarding certain... choices lol), but STAS is the only one I watched in its entirety and they were delightful.

Harley Quinn: Harley/Ivy. that show has made some shitty choices but they are good lol.

My Adventures with Superman: Clark/Lois, although I wish they were given more room to develop with depth.

Young Justice: DICK/ZATANNA. ngl, I think Chalant is one of the best ships DC has put out which, taking into account how little time and room to breath it had? Remarkable.

LIVE-ACTION WORKS

Arrowverse: kind of a hard pick given the givens but I have the biggest soft spot for Angelique/Ryan from Batwoman.

Batman Returns: Bruce/Selina obviously. I haven't watched any of the other films in the series, but I know they wouldn't change my mind LOL.

Gotham: BEST BATCAT EVER.

Lois & Clark, The New Adventures of Superman: Clark/Lois, obviously.

Nolanverse: I got a lot of misgivings on this one, sure, but I do enjoy some self-indulgent Bruce/Selina here as well.

Preacher: man I really need to finish this one. Anyway. JESSE/TULIP.

Smallville: Clark/Lana has an edge. It just... does.

Snyderverse: Clark/Lois.

The Batman (2022): (obviously its own thing) Bruce/Selina.

The Boys: (wildstorm is dc right now so) I kind of left the show but Frenchie/Kimiko did have a hold on me lol.

ugh. I KNOW I'm forgetting stuff lol. also, if you asked me a couple months from now, the list would probably grow because I'm REALLY delving deep into this 'verse LOL.

[tricoufamily]

i kind of just lurk on simblr because i don't always feel very confident in posting stories or really getting the captures for said stories, but i'm so so tempted because YOUR LEGACY CHALLENGE IS SO DANG COOL!! thanks for awaking the batman special interest part of my brain, the riddlebird and batcat lover in me is just !!! with a way for harlivy to be done possibly twice !!! the excitement is so real. thank you for creating this!

i’m glad!!! it was super fun to make, i hope people enjoy it 💜💚