#like yeah having a dysfunctional family is relatable bc I’m pretty sure everyone has one

[yourqueenb]

The way Getaway Girls is going is unfortunate because it could’ve been fun, but the chapters that focus on Maia and Anita and highlight the family bickering veer into unenjoyable territory imo

[dilfhaljordan]

y’know, i think i might’ve realized why so many people gravitate towards batfam instead of flashfam

to the extent of my knowledge, most of the flashfam are related to each other either biologically or by marrying (to clarify i’m talking specifically abt pre52 flashfam rn since i haven’t actually read any of the new52 yet). you have:

barry allen, the flash

iris west, barry’s wide

wally west, iris’ nephew

linda park, wally’s wife

don and dawn allen, iris and barry’s children in the 30th century

jenni ognats, the daughter of don and jeven ognats

bart, the son of dawn and meloni thawne, making him jenni’s cousin and wally’s first cousin once removed (i think so anyways i’m not sure)

owen mercer, bart’s half-brother

thaddeus thawne II, bart’s clone and technically his twin/brother

jai and irey west, linda and wally’s kids

pretty much the only ones who aren’t biologically related in any sense are jay and joan garrick, who imo act like barry’s parents, and also temporarily had bart in their care for a while

of course, this isn’t including people like jesse chambers, max crandall, johnny chambers, etc. bc i’m mostly going through the family tree, however they are very close friends/allies who are generally considered as part of the flashfam

ANYWAYS, like i said, that list of people? they’re all biologically connected in some way, or in linda + joan + iris’s cases, they married in.

now let’s look at the batfam, which is made up almost entirely of non-biologically related people (once again, not taking into account close friends such as babs and steph):

alfred pennyworth, the wayne’s butler and the man who raised bruce (along with leslie thompkins)

bruce wayne, batman

dick grayson, bruce’s first son

jason todd, bruce’s second son

tim drake, the third son

cassandra cain, bruce’s one and only daughter

damian wayne, son of bruce and talia al ghul, and the only member with any sort of blood relation to bruce

talia al ghul, who isn’t generally considered a part of the batfam (thanks to morrison ruining her entire character smh) but was once married to bruce

this list also doesn’t take into account close friends/allies like stephanie brown, barbara gordon, selina kyle, etc. bc none of them are official members of the family, though they are counted as family by most people (including me). again, these are the official members of the batfam

it’s pretty common knowledge that the batfam is the most popular family in the entire dc franchise. the fanworks alone go to show that, and dc isn’t much better when it comes to that. it can be hard to figure out why, since the batfam can be so messed up sometimes, especially compared to the flashfam, which imo is one of the most openly loving and caring families in dc. despite that, the flashfam fandom is like a single speck of dust compared to the batfam fandom, which can honestly be really frustrating bc they deserve more recognition, but i digress

anyways, the main difference between these two families?

blood relations.

okay, let me explain. here’s the thing—the batfam fandom is mostly made up of people that are queer, neurodivergent, mentally ill, or maybe just don’t have that great of a home life. this post explains it much better than i ever could, but the general gist is that these people love the concept of found family since they usually don’t have an amazing relationship or are rejected by their blood family, and the batfam is built on found family. like i said, the only people related by blood are bruce and damian—everyone else is a) adopted or b) close enough to the family that they’re considered part of it (think steph, babs, alfred, etc.)

now, i’m pretty sure that the batfam is the only family that’s pretty much completely found family (with the exception of lanternfam, but hal, kyle, jess, simon etc. don’t fall into archetypal roles like the dad, the brother, the uncle, etc. so i feel like that plays a big role in why the lanternfam isn’t nearly as popular + the fact that most people just don’t really seem to care about them). most of dc’s other families are blood related—and this includes flashfam, which i think it actually the family that has the most blood-related members in it.

here’s the thing—some of the members of the flashfam absolutely do play at least a little bit into found family. take bart, for example—he travelled back in time from the future. iris couldn’t take care of him bc she couldn’t spoil future events for the others (i think so anyways i’m not too sure), wally was nowhere prepared to mentor a kid who was so much like him, so max was the one to take him in, and they ended up having an amazing father-son relationship, and they weren’t related to each other, either.

still, despite definitely having more healthy relationships than the batfam, most of the flashfam is blood-related, which is probably a huge part of why people gravitate towards the batfam—the idea of having a found family that, while dysfunctional and messy, is a family that loves each other, is really appealing towards people who are queer/neurodivergent/etc. not only that, a lot of the batfam members are unintentionally neurodivergent coded, which is another reason for the flashfam not being nearly as popular (though i firmly believe that most if not all speedsters are adhd i mean just look at bart’s 90s solo comic but that’s not the point)

of course there’s also the fact that dc just loves promoting the batfam for whatever reason...most of the dc animated movies have batman + nightwing in them, and god whenever i scroll down to movies that have ‘batman’ in their title on my tv list it’s so goddamn long...batman himself is one of the most well-known fictional characters ever, and while the flash is popular, it pales in comparison to batman. most forms of dc media have the batfam or at least bruce, alfred + dick or damian in them (batman and harley quinn, batman vs robin, the dcamu universe, etc.) while the flash...

i’m pretty sure barry’s the only one to really consistently appear in any sort of dc media that isn’t comics, but the one movie that could be considered a flashfam movie is justice league: the flashpoint paradox and even then i feel like it’s a stretch. other than that, all i can think of if wally making some cameos in the 2003 teen titans cartoon + his appearances in ttg. even in video games, there’s no bart, no jay, no max—only barry as the flash and wally as kid flash, even if the timeline doesn’t make sense

so yeah. that’s my reasoning for why the batfam is so much more popular than the flashfam

[denyinggravity]

if you have a long car/train/airplane ride ahead of you for the holidays

here are a list of underrated musicals that you should listen to

dog fight - you guys. fucking amazing. it’s about a bunch of boys on their last night before heading to Vietnam and they hold a competition where they see who can ask the ugliest girl out. it sounds awful, i know, but trust me, worth a listen

the last five years - it has only two characters, one is going back in time and the other is going forwards. it’s all about how even relationships that seem perfect can become toxic. if this didn’t convince you, how ab the fact that it’s Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan?

next to normal - this won a couple tonys and the pulitzer prize, but it still gets swept under the rug. it’s about a dysfunctional family, the mother has serious bipolar and hallucinates that their dead son is still alive. get the tissues out tho.

spring awakening - again, this was pretty popular but i feel like it still gets swept under the rug. the music is so beautiful, you will probably die on the spot (i did). it’s about a bunch of german christian teenagers having their sexual awakening with no information. i would especially reccomend to ages 14-17 bc i feel its particularity relatable to those ages

big fish - if you haven’t watched this movie, shame on you, it’s the best movie ever. if you have, you’ll probably be over the moon that there’s a musical based on it. if you haven’t seen the movie, it’s ab a relationship between a distant father who is almost what you’d call a compulsive liar and his son who’s about to have his own son. it’s amazing.

assassins - this is a sondheim musical, and how else can you describe it? (if you don’t know who sondheim is i’m not even going to bother explaining. i am peRSONNALLY disappointed in you and your family.) (also, if you think you don’t, you do. just google him. you know who he is. you’re gonna be like “oh yeah that guy!” everyone knows sondheim.) it’s about all the people in history who have tried to assassinate the president. i would reccomend the 2004 revival (red/orange/red cover, not blue with stars). it’s just better imo

avenue q - if i could describe this musical in one sentence, i would say “depressed sesame street on cocaine” and if that’s not enough to get you interested, i don’t know what to say. it’s a fantastic insight on growing up (after college) in the modern world.

jersey boys - ahhhHHHHhhhHHH if you’re a fan of classic rock, this is a MUST. this is a musical all ab frankie callie and the four seasons. i swear to god some of their covers you will not be able to tell from the original.

legally blonde - i feel like no one knows it’s a musical. (again, i have to say, if you don’t know the movie, shame on you. and i mean it even more this time.) the musical is fantastic. every fucking song is a bop.

something rotten - doesn’t get nearly enough attention for how fucking amazing it is. it is shit your pants funny AND has christian borle in it. i don’t know what else you could ask for. it’s about people writing the first ever musical. they end up writing it about an omelette, spoiler alert. why do they do this? guess you’ll have to listen to it to find out. also, i saw this og cast on broadway and it was the first show i ever saw on broadway so it has a special place in my heart

rodgers & hammerstien’s cinderella - sounds boring, i know, but the music is so good. honestly. you gotta trust me on this. if you don’t know the plot of cinderella, i mean. my dude.

side show - ok, ok, if you’ve listened to it before, you’re probably thinking “wait... what??” and i’ll admit, there are quite a few skipable songs on this soundtrack, but the ones that are good are GOOD. they are GOOD. it’s about two (real) siamese twins in the 1930s who became really famous and then kinda lost it.

joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat - fifty percent of you are thinking one thing and the other fifty percent is thinking another, i know it. group one is “what the actual motherassbitch is that title w h a t t h e f u c k” and the other group is “why would someone recommend to tumblr.com a musical based on the bible?” well, it is based on the bible and has religious connotations, and if you’re not into that, 100% respect. but if you’re interested or don’t care, jospeh is a beautiful show that manages to be funny but make you reflect on yourself as well.

seussical - if you ever read dr seuss as a kid, then this will make you cry. it takes all of dr. seuss’ books and kinda mashes them all into one story.

25th annual putnam county spelling bee - this show.... is weird. you gotta prepare yourself for weird otherwise you won’t like it. but it’s so good, and i guarantee you will laugh and cry during the course of listening to it and you will find at least one of the characters so relatable that you’re sure the author wrote it about your life. also, this show is really cool bc if you see it live, it requires audience participation in the bee. it’s fucking awesome to see live.

uhhhhh ok that’s all i got for now but PLEASE add some more i gotta get my underrated musical fill