#in general i just miss bart he’s my little guy dc just doesn’t give out solos like that anymore

[myriam-draws]

everyone read impulse 1995 for The Guy

[sweetwriting]

TimKon Week 2020 Day 2: What was I expecting?

Category: Gen or Pre-slash

Genre: Angst/Fluff

Fandoms: DC Comics, Batverse, Teamverse

Continuity: Highschool AU - Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint inspired

Summary:   What was Tim expecting from his parents exactly? At this point nothing. Still he had hoped.

But friends can lift your spirits up.

Word Count: 1637

AN:  Welcome to round two.

I wanted to write more but I don't have the time and honestly my wrists are hurt so I can't write much without hurting. I tried to give it a cute open ending cause I don't like Angst without fluff.

Prompt: Highschool AU - Angst

Can be read on AO3

Tim couldn’t believe it. It had happened again.

He shouldn’t be surprised. Well he wasn’t actually surprised. He had expected it, but he had still hoped it wouldn’t happen.

His parents had forgotten they were supposed to come and get him for the weekend. They were supposed to come back from…wherever it was they were supposed to be. Last he checked they were in Dubai but they could have gone around the world three times by now.

It’s just that…they had actually tried to plan this. They had planned the time they should be there after getting off the plane. Usually that’s how he knows he’s gonna actually spend the weekend with his parents. It has never been foolproof as they had cancelled even some of those plans before. But it was fairly rare.

And all the members of the Wayne family made plans because he told them his parents were definitely going to be there. Even Alfred was going to be too busy for him. Everyone else’s parents had come to get them for the Weekend as the school usually frowned upon keeping the students there at this time of the week. Tim was the only one who sometimes stayed there in cases like this. Most of the time when they said they were coming Tim planned ahead to go to Dick’s or Bruce’s, sometimes even Barbara’s or Jason’s. He had met them because once his parents had taken him to a Wayne Gala and gotten sick so he stayed with Alfred while they were being taken care of.

He had already started going to the all-boys boarding school he was currently in back then and they already had the rule about kids going home on the weekend and during the holidays. So he went back home to their Penthouse within Gotham on his own and….well he was pretty reckless and often went on his own without realizing that his clothes were basically criminal bait. Luckily for him Jason Todd had been nearby and helped him out before taking him to Wayne Manor after hearing about his parents.

Which is how he met Dick Grayson for the first time. Well 2nd time really but Dick’s memories of their meeting had mostly been overtaken by a more tragic memory. After that he was often invited to the manor and the Waynes became more his family than his on ever was.

Point was, neither of his families was available and that meant he would probably spend his weekend on his laptop or reading comic books. The only people present at school beside him were the principal and the cleaning staff so as long as he didn’t cross path with any of them he was free to do pretty much anything he wanted.

Which is why he decided to go out to the nearby skate park in order to work on some tricks.

And that’s when he saw Cassie. She was a good friend of his because his dad was a huge archeology afficionado and her mom was a fairly well-known archeologist and museum curator. They had known each other for a while but had only let their kids meet the year before but even so Cassie was probably one of his best friends nonetheless. It was pretty rare for her to be around Gotham and usually her mom and her stayed close to whichever museum Helena Sandsmark was working. So her being here was very surprising. What was even more surprising was that she was accompanied by a pretty buff and good looking guy.

He only realized he might have been interrupting something after hailing her but then he figured what was done was done and he saw her rarely anyway so he wasn’t going to waste his time.

Cassie didn’t seem that bothered even if she did glare at him for 0.2s. Hopefully she was too happy to see him to be mad. The guy next to her didn’t even try to hide his pouting though. Neither from Tim nor from Cassie herself.

When Tim arrived next to them however, the guy seemed to try and let go of his annoyance but as Cassie hugged him, it came back with a vengeance.

Cassie turned to the boy with a big smile and, Tim might be a bit petty since he had never actually been interested in Cassie romantically, but he was pretty damn happy to be responsible for that kind of smile on her face.

“Conner, meet my best guy friend, Tim. Tim, this is Conner, he’s the younger brother of Clark Kent and since he had to interview my mom nearby we left them and wandered around.”

Tim smiled slightly as Conner’s shoulders relaxed, no longer threatened by the idea of a possible rival. They shook hands and Conner suddenly started to seem slightly awkward as they exchanged “Nice to meet you”s. Tim could feel his cheeks warm a little under the other guy’s gaze.

“But Tim, your place is in Gotham so what are you doing here?”

And now Tim had a hard time looking away from that guy’s arms. He had met Clark Kent before and both had a similar build so it wasn’t that surprising. It did not make it any easier though. Still he managed to do so within a timeframe that wouldn’t be too damning.

“My school’s 5 minutes away so I came here to work on some tricks”

He showed them his skateboard to prove his point. This surprised both teenagers but Conner was the first one to address it.

“But it’s noon on a Saturday and we’re fairly far from Gotham.”

“My school’s a boarding school so it’s not an issue.”

“What is an issue, Cassie interrupted, with a suspicious look, is that I thought your school didn’t let students stay for the weekend”.

Tim startled a bit. Cassie knew how things were with his parents. She tended to be quite annoyed every time she had to speak with them because of that. No matter how many times he told her it was perfectly understandable for them to be so busy. Actually it tended to annoy her more so he didn’t bring it up if he could help it anymore.

Conner seemed to notice something was wrong with Cassie so he turned to Tim whose cheeks warmed up again.

“Does that mean that you’ve got some free time to be a tour guide?”

“I’d love to but I’m afraid I mostly know the school grounds and it’s forbidden to go there. I only knew about this ‘cause I saw it through the window of my dad’s car. But I can teach you skateboarding."

Conner was all for it and the three of them shared Tim’s skateboard for the rest of the afternoon. Before they parted ways, Conner invited him for lunch with his dad, his best friend, Cassie and her mom while she pouted because she wanted to do it. Apparently his best friend, Bart, hadn’t been able to come because he was grounded but he would join them in the morning.

So Tim went home, well…to his school which, since he had been there for the past 5 years, was pretty much his home. He ate in the kitchen with the principal which was spent chatting amicably. For all the recklessness Tim could show, he tended to listen to authority as much as he could so he wouldn’t get in trouble. He didn’t want to get negative attention from his parents and he didn’t want to be on the staff’s radar negatively or they’d just always survey him. He also just generally liked to talk to people, he liked the attention and wasn’t gonna relish it unless he was forced to. Despite his awkwardness Tim knew he could be pretty charming.

When he went back to his room he looked at his phone he had left charging. There were two missed calls from his parents not even an hour before. There was one message.

Sorry can’t make it something came up but we will next time. Love You baby.

Tim looked at hit for a good five minutes before replying.

Don’t worry Cassie was there because her mom was interviewed nearby. Met one of her acquaintances. it was fun. Love you too

Tim was tired. Seeing Cassie always reminded him that unlike Helena who had put her archeology career on hold to raise Cassie until she was old enough to handle being on her own and even then checked in with her regularly, his own parents, even if they loved him, loved traveling even more. Maybe that’s why she was always mad at them. She realized that too. Not that he’d admit it out loud. He didn’t want to focus on the negative part of his non existing relationship with his parents. He never even came out to them. Not because he feared their reactions but because they just….weren’t there enough for him to share that part of his life. And he lived in an all-boy school. It didn’t take him long to realize he was attracted to guys like he was attracted to girls and he was hardly the only one.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to go to that lunch the next day. Being faced with parents who actually take their family with them when they go somewhere wasn’t the most fun. But if he managed to get past that he would probably enjoy it. So he tried to try thinking of more positive things. Like seeing Cassie again, and seeing that really, really good looking guy.

Now that was a nice thought. Granted the guy had seemed interested in Cassie at first. Oh Well. He was still nice eye candy. Turns out he couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

------------------------------------------

AN2: Tim is 17 here. We know from his origin story he started boarding school when he was 12 but Bruce took him out and put him in a normal school when his parents were attacked by the Obeah ManFor the first time ever, Kon is the first one to hit on Cassie. He's mostly doing it 'cause he likes the attention tho. Cassie's gonna be mad at Tim for like...10s, be extremely petty, have Cissie or someone else tell her she's overexaggerating and then admit her friends are perfect for each other and hug them tight (and give the shovel talk to Kon even tho he doesn't deserve it).Kon is actually Clark's kid but he was very young and broke up with his gf before either knew about the pregnancy. She didn't tell him until Kon was like 3yo. Anyway Clark wasn't ready nor wanted the responsability so Ma and Pa said they adopted him from Clark's biological parents. Kon figured out years ago even if he didn't tell anybody. At first he wondered why Clark wouldn't want him when he's perfectly fine having Jon. He realized things weren't that simple but it's still hard.The Waynes are:

Alfred and Bruce ofc.

Dick, Jason and Cass are all adopted. They have a similar backstory but without the vigilante part.

Thalia and Bruce were actually in love but broke up before either knew she was pregnant. Damian is much more adjusted without the whole Assassins stuff. He and Tim actually get along fairly well.

Cass is still one of Tim's favorite. She's currently dating his ex gf Stephanie Brown.

[bookdragonlibrary]

Fourth Tuesday YJ appreciation

1-3 ; 4-6 ; 7-9 ; 10-13 ; 14-16 ; 17 ; 18 ; 19 ; 20 ; 21 ; 22 ; 23 ; 24-26

—————————— Elder Wisdom

- Bwundasa, another fictionnal country? Why the Team always fights in a fictionnal country except for Russia?

- 31 December? So no Christmas episode...

- Garth, the evil UN secretary, Gordon and... a general? His name his Simon M’Barra (and I’m always right with the general status, aren’t I? xD ) It’s a leader in perpetuity? Pretty word for dictator... So Bwundasa is located in Africa.

- You know you’re a bad guy when even Luthor cares about the climate change...

- Troia! In the room 1616 xD

- What? How an arrow couldn’t pierce Garth’s arm but his neck? He has Atlantean skin! Oh no, he’s down!

- They are after Troia now! A psychic? She’s female, it’s not Psimon, who?

- Why Diana calls his sister Troia instead of Donna when Donna calls her sister Diana? 

- Here are Halo and Terra! :D 

- They are against the dictator, are they necessary bad guys?

- Of course, the reptile was Gar :)

- Did he just speak swahili? Or another African language? I guess it’s swahili as it is spoken in various African countries, like esperanto could have been in Europe. He should have learnt it while he was living in Qurac :) 

- “BIF? Bif?” I love this scene xD 

- ED! I love his superhero costume! :D El Dorado makes ED, that’s kind of funny xD But his hero costume is more red than gold, maybe to match with someone... :)

- Where are Jaime, Virgil and Brion? I can understand for Brion as a prince, but for the other two?

-  The cleaning lady was Miss Martian! 

- Terra and Halo fight! The white aura! :D Terra isn’t good at aiming yet :/ 

- And Halo is wounded again! è.é Doesn’t she care anymore? She could have made a shield or something :( And Terra taking care of her

- Psychic fight! But we don’t see it like in season 1 :( She was controlled! :o

- The bad lady is a good fighter to go head to head with an Amazonian :o

- Gar has turned into Wolf! :D

- Bart has exploded! :o 

- Of course, Ed overreacts to his wounded crush :3 But he doesn’t buy Bart’s “I’d be fine” ^^ You’re not as a good liar you used to be, Bart. Or Ed is really good at saying through it because he really cares :)

- Bart just took an explosion in his face and he just has his goggles broken. It was way more visual with Vic’s explosion :/ And how can people be sincerely worried if Bart has just broken goggles? They should say he’s lucky to not have severe wounds instead...

- Garth is super cool! Telepathic waterbend! :D What are his tatoos?

- Flash! Who still have blue eyes... 

- One has escaped!

- Of course Barry’s worried too for Bart :(

- And Ed is so unconfortable to look at him in the eyes. What does that suppose to mean?

- Of course Lex set that up. That makes the dictator looks good and the resistant look bad è.é

- “I’d be fine!” with a outraged voice in the background xD

- The Flash is ready to smile to the camera but can see right into Lex’s game!

- “Not for long!” Gar is as pissed with Lex he is with Granny. 

- It’s Lia or Lea? Leah? 

- Ed is close to Bart in the bioship and Tara to Violet :) But Bart seems to still have a headache or something. Would he truely be fine? :(

- Ed has the same golden symbol on the back of his jacket than on his T-shirt in season 2. 

- So it’s was a drug forbidden him to use his powers? Could it be possible? I mean, it’s based on magic and mystic, not physical por genetical powers. How could it be?

- Why it doesn’t surprise me it was a set up? (I should have guess)

- The woman who attacked Terra and Halo was Lady Shiva! No question she was able to fight with Troia! And the one who have escaped must be Cassandra. Wait... So the BIF was not even real, they were the League of Shadows. They had to do this to make the dictator looks like a victim instead of a bad guy. 

- The murder of Garth and Donna wasn’t goal 1 but an option. He wanted to shame the Outsiders in the first place. How his logic works? It would have be more useful to get rid of the Ambassadors than the Team’s reputation, no?

- “They captured Briggs!” She’s conscious they freed her right? That she was controlled? Why is she that upset? They probably saw just like a tool anyway... Not friends or something. (Please don’t tell me she was close to her in other ways...)

- Ah! It was because they will know it was a set-up. They probably would guess it with Lex involved...

- “Knowing and proving are two very different things.” True... 

- Ed, Bart and Gar are talking together while Tara gives her report to M’gann.

- Violet still can’t respond to Brion :(

- “You can talk to Helga.” That’s why keeping it secret wasn’t a good idea, Jace...

- “Until I know what’s going on with you, you’re benched from the Team.” That’s blackmail, right? And M’gann, that strategy doesn’t work... Dick already tried it with Roy and the Runaways almost go back to Lex because of it...And we still don’t know what happen to Roy before that. Was he living in the street? Alone? With the Runaways? Halo would feel rejected and definitely won’t come to you to talk. Great, M’gann! Are you a real councelor??

- “That’s the problem. I understood intellectually. But see it live was very different.” Ed, I’m sure you can understand, you were worried too in First Impression.

- “I’d be fine!” *Eduardo senior slowly looking at him* xD

- “He has a metametabolism. He heals fast.” Ed, you were the most worried one of them all :)

-  “You can’t walk away so easily.” “Watch me.” burn Ed is back again. 

- “You didn’t have to be there.” He means Ed? He didn’t understand why he wanted to be part of the Outsiders? Ah no, he meant the Outsiders, no just Ed. “The most powerful man in the world has made you his target?” Ed, that wasn’t a clever move, now he’s even more worried and this sounds more dangerous that it was. And he’s just the UN secretary, if it was a powerful place, things would change faster in our world too... And there’s still the UN Council who can make their veto. “Behind my back? Ugh. I can’t even talk to you now.” At least, Ed prefers to leave before saying something too painful.

“Halo, get us out of here.” The Runaways also left the War World with a boomtube, parallels. 

- The Outsiders look at M’gann because she benched Violet, and not at Eduardo senior, right?

- We also miss the New Year where everyone kiss :( 

- Aw Gar&Tara VS Jaime&Virgil :) And of course, Ed and Bart stand near each other.

- Violet is isolating herself, as I fear with M’gann benching her. And Vic is still doing so...

- Why noone asks for Traci? :( She wasn’t in the covert Team either :( 

- Even Gar barely sees Vic? It’s even worse than I thought...

- It’s been... what? Two weeks already she knows she’s dying? Maybe she should tell the Team now. 

“Maybe I’m not a really good girlfriend.” Sweetie, not of these was your fault :( 

- “Violet has her issues.” So now Brion knows Jace knows something. Tell it to M’gann and Artemis! 

- “First love is very sweet but the truth is: is really last.” are you trying to make them break up? You suppose to be on their side! But she keeps refering them as her childs, so maybe she sees them as siblings? O.o

- We finally see Cassie’s mom and she’s barely better drawn than in the video game... And they live in Washington DC.

- Eldel Initiative? What is that?

- LA Wayne Tech? Is Batman aware of this? Part of it?

- Gar just found a distraction: Ivo? Isn’t he supposed to be in Belle Reve? (maybe working on new invention for the US government)

- LittleMatchGirl16, does it mean a female superboy? Supergirl?

- Cassie is so proud/excited about it!

- “Check her profile.” Bart isn’t stupid :) But Jay isn’t impressed :( 

- We’re going to Ireland! :D 

- “You’re not going anywhere, not until...” Jay, this little girl might be in grave danger... Conversation could wait, not victims.

- Gar is still that polite and... he’s emancipated minor (I think it’s pleonasm But well)? From Mento? Or he was before already?

- “Jaime and Virgil are both 18.” Great to finally know Virgil’s age but I thought majority was 21 in USA? 18 is logical for enter the League as the majority of countries use this age for majority. But there are all US citizens for parenthood? (maybe except Gar)

- It makes more sense that the legal guardians forbid their own child to go and not the others, minor or not.

- Match Electronics Store. Oh, so it was just her last name, no supergirl...

- That is a terrible Irish accent...

- “Other ways to get attention.” That was really mean...

- “By encouraging this children to put themselves in danger?” Actually he has a good point. Tye and Asami would have been great models too, to show the kids there are different paths for them and not all lead to the hero game.

- “Please, don’t say ‘it’s not you, it’s me’.” yes please, that a common trope. 

- Violet at least gives one of her secrets. the smallest one. “but I didn’t stop her.” because you were caught off guard and with alcohol in your system, not your fault! 

- I love Brion is concerned she has feelings for someone else rather than she kissed someone from the same gender :) Pan Brion confirmed? And he understood and forgave her! Brion is such a good boyfriend! But was the point of the kiss seriously? Violet already had secrets to Brion and it didn’t even make her question her sexuality (pan for example).

- “Damm it!” The first curse word of the serie! 

- “Most of the memorials are kids like you.” Well, the show is called Young Justice, so I think that’s why.

- “Marry and have children of their own.” I’m pretty sure that is not the first thing they have in mind when they think about their future self. Especially not Bart who isn’t even born yet!

- Why are you talking about Wally? :’(

- “There’s something I need you and your brother to hear.” Oh no, she’s gonna tell them this secret! And she seems so cold while saying this. 

- “They’re Lex Luthor’s spiderbots.” Why are they in Ivo’s wharehouse?

- Why don’t we see the fight? :o 

- “Gabrielle and who she really was.” The mistakes she made are not the only things about her, Violet :( 

- We still don’t know why Gabrielle took the bribe. But yes, she was killed because she knew too much :( 

- “How long have you know?” “Long enough.” Violet, sweetie, why are you so cold while telling the story? Is that a defensive mechanism? Is she trying to make Brion hate her thinking he would be less sad when she die?

- Tara is the most choked about it her vision begins to blur :o 

- Of course Helga straightly go to Brion...

- Can someone take care of Tara please??

- Oh no,she send a text to Slade because of her panick attack :(

- Bart is such a good liar he can see right behind the other’s mask.

- “But I’m not going anywhere.” You all better be! 

- Whoa! Did the little girl knew he was a machine? Did Blue told her? (because he’s smiling at her) Or just didn’t know she has enough strenght to destroy a machine? 

- Eduardo seems so proud while looking at his son :3

- “Whom.” I never understand that grammar rule...

- “Radley Overshoe Factory” is about to blow. That a change in events... xD

- “the lastest explosive exploy.” Imagine if the public had seen the other explosion xD

- “An explosion. Massive property damaged. Sad.” Lex I knew you with a bigger vocabulary...

- You know it’s a bad sign when Gordon is smiling like this...

- “I happen to know parents and guardians of the teenage Outsiders are not on board with their attics.” The Team would find it suspicious he knows about that, right?

- So now Lex wants to give restrictions to the Outsiders like for the JL? Dude, 50′s aren’t a good example...

- So the Team doesn’t care about secrets ID anymore? They just outed their parents and make them targets! I’m sure Eduardo senior is already famous with his scientific work so now everyone can make a connexion between his son and El Dorado... Same thing with Cassie and her mom who is an archeologist. Just hope this tweet won’t have consequences for the parents or the hero secret ID in the future... 

- “Three generations of heroes.” Technically is four since there is a generation between Barry and Bart :) (But the public better not knows that)

- Jay created an account (or Bart made him for him) just to kick Lex’s ass on the Internet xD 

- Look at them! The girl in Brooklyn, LittleMatchGirl and her dad, Helga, Lia, Donna, Wendy, a Black boy (does VIrgil has a little brother?) and a men. 

- For once Gordon is defending the heroes xD And against Lex! xD

- I knew Gordon secretly works for the Light but it’s great to see it directly. 

- “Personal vendetta?” Ivo’s factory was his? That explains the “massive property damaged” came from...

- “Embrace and coorp.” He wants his own team like in season 2, doesn’t he?

- So the girl, Moira, was M’gann and the father Batman? That explains the bad Irish accent! xD 

- Lex knows it was a set-up (taking his own medicine) but “knowing and proving are two different things.” Did Batman understood Lex’s logic and does he know he said that? Could Lex be on the Anti-Light’s side? That could explain why he did a miserable interview (for him I mean, he’s smarter than that) to give more credits to the Outsiders?

- Diana has a point: it’s not just secrets and lies, now it’s manipulation, the truth, the facts, others, included the public and their allies   

- This picture is so good!

- Violet is writing a note. Please, tell me it’s a runaway note, and not a suicide one :( 

- The Hub with the bioship sleeping in her egg form :3 

So these 3 episodes should have been watched in one go and that would have made more sense...

[littlemissonewhoisall]

Justice League is really good, guys

Okay, let me be level with y’all: I hated Man of Steel. And I mean, despised it. Didn't like Batman V. Superman, though I thought it was slightly better. So far, the only DCEU film I liked was Wonder Woman, so as you can imagine, I didn't have too high hopes for a film by Zack Snyder, whose faux-philosophical brood-fests I despise, and Joss Whedon, who doesn’t always know when to tone down the humor and tends to use a lot of male gaze and other stuff I dislike. Combine that with a very generic plot, and I went into this movie expecting to find it mediocre at best. 

I. Was. Wrong.

I don’t know how it happened. Two mediocre directors, a ton of behind the scenes issues, a bunch of questionable creative decisions, and tons of cut footage SOMEHOW combined to make a movie that I didn't just tolerate, but loved, in spite of its issues. 

I’m gonna go more in depth under the cut, but here’s a brief spoiler-free rundown: Justice League is a movie that understands exactly what makes the JLA the most iconic super team in comic books. It combines some perfect characterization with great acting and some really fun scenes that more than make up for its dodgy cgi, occasionally uncomfortable cinematography (probably Whedon’s doing), and rather mediocre plot (probably Snyder’s).

I give the film an 8/10, and I think it’s a must-see for any DC fan. 

Justice League’s first scene sold me on the film immediately. Superman actually taking the time to talk with some kids after saving the day yet again, being the lovable dork he is, washed away the bad taste in my mouth from the previous two movies almost instantaneously. Somehow, that one scene made the whole following montage of the world grieving for Superman incredibly compelling, despite how little I cared about Superman’s death in BvS. Of course, the movie very quickly reminds me of my issues with Snyder’s previous films when it shows us what is, in my personal opinion, the film’s weakest link: Lois Lane.

You have to understand something: I LOVE Lois Lane. She is my favorite character within the Superman mythos by a LONG SHOT. So seeing her reduced to this helpless shell feels so goddamn insulting to her character. From the beginning, Amy Adams’ Lois always felt like it was missing the spark that made her comic counterpart so great. She’s too gentle, too traditionally feminine, too much of a damsel in distress. Compared to her badass cynic-with-a-heart-of-gold comic self, I always felt this version of the character was a poor reflection of the original. But in this movie, she does nothing but mope around until Superman comes back. While her scenes with Clark after his return are good, they lack the perfect character dynamic that makes Clark and Lois my favorite couple in comics, and literally her only contribution to the plot is snapping Clark out of his rage when he gets in a fight with the League through some “power of love” crap. It’s really disappointing. 

In addition, Commissioner Gordon feels like a real waste of such a great actor as J.K. Simmons. If you've seen the trailers, you’ve seen his role in the film. There’s nothing else there. He’s basically a glorified cameo. 

The early parts of the film, while Bruce and Diana work to assemble the League, are great. Flash and Cyborg’s introductions are done perfectly, and while Aquaman’s is a little bit clunky, it still gets you interested in the character. As someone who was never really sold on the idea of Cyborg as a member of the League, this film made me really appreciate what he has to offer both in terms of skills and what he adds to the team dynamic. That said, I liked him much better when he had his hoodie on, because his overly complicated all-CGI body does him no favors. There was really no reason to make Cyborg CGI, and his design looks like a Michael Bay Transformer. 

Speaking of unnecessary CGI, we’re soon introduced to our villain, Steppenwolf, who looks like he stepped straight out of a Halo game. Steppenwolf is... not a good villain. I did like his motivations, actually, but they were underdeveloped and his dreadful design did him zero favors. I’m of the opinion that his great-nephew Kalibak the Cruel should have been the villain, as it would have added a great deal of nuance to his motivations. 

In contrast to the lackluster villain, the heroes are incredible. I’d say Aquaman was the weakest of them, but that’s really not saying much, because even he was a blast, especially in the final battle. The Flash is a highlight, as he spends most of his time in Superman’s spot in the main trio. This Flash is absolutely a joy. He’s clearly coded as autistic, yet doesn’t feel like a punchline despite being the film’s main comic relief. Admittedly, fans of Barry Allen will likely be a bit disappointed, as this hyperactive, socially awkward kid has little in common with the comic character outside of his backstory. Fans of Bart Allen like myself, on the other hand, will be overjoyed, as this is the closest we’ve gotten to a real adaptation of the character on-screen. 

Speaking of the trinity: Wonder Woman isn't as strong a character as she was in her solo film, and most of what we get from her is just kicking ass, but she’s still great and feels pretty much like the same person we saw there. Batman is done very well, trading barbs with Alfred and generally being the emotionally stunted loser we all love. It’s obvious that his well-meaning control-freak tendencies are in full effect here, and it’s wonderful. But as great as the rest of the League is, Superman is easily the best part of the film. Holy shit, I was smiling every time he was on-screen. THIS is the Superman I fell in love with eight years ago when I first picked up All Star Superman by Grant Morrison. He’s a sweet, rather goofy dork who just loves people. The bit where he fights the League while still in a fugue state really showed off his powers, but after that his personality is what is most focused on. Yeah, that’s right, HE HAS A PERSONALITY. A huge relief, given his previous DCEU appearances. 

The Justice League as a whole are great, but I’d be remiss if I didn't talk about the true star of the film: a random criminal Batman uses as bait at the beginning of the film. Holy shit, I love this guy. He gets ambushed by Batman, dangled off a roof to lure a monster from another planet, and sees Batman beat the crap out of it before IT EXPLODES. And how does he respond? He casually strolls up to Batman and chats with him about an oncoming alien invasion. What. A. Legend. I’m gonna headcanon he’s this universe’s version of Kite Man. 

To sum it up, Justice League combines the greatest strengths of its directors, completely overshadowing their weaknesses.