#sasha and robin too

[chrollohearttags]

good morning. thinking about getting fingered awake by a pretty dom fem while she sucks on ur nipples and she’s just teasing you the entire time like ‘aw I know you’re awake gorgeous, just open your eyes’ ‘you’d feel so better if you’d just come already’. and her normally soft(ish) voice is all raspy..she’s nibbling at your ear about to drive you crazy—

[crystalcanis]

Continuing these!

[Ash] [2] How does their social personality differ from how they act when they’re alone?

Ash, like Kana, likes to control how she's viewed. Just, in the opposite way. So in public she's a bit of an aggressive menace to society who revels in being seen as horrible, while being a big hearted softie in private that would give her whole self to her friends (um-). She's a whole other can of worms I'm excited to explore once she shows up :)

[Bobby] [14] What does it take to make them laugh, and what does their laugh sound like?

Bobby is very monotone and holds his laugh back instinctively, so his laugh would sound something like that! He doesn't naturally full on laugh at most things (doesnt meant he isnt havin fun!!) but a laugh will get triggered if other people are laughing cus it rubs off on him but also because it helps him understand the situation better. If other people are laughing then he can do it too!

[Loona] [21] When they’re sick, would they want others to visit them, or they would rather prefer not to be seen at not their best?

She would rather not be seen! I cant get too into it, but based on her current Environment I think its just common for people to not want to seem vulnerable around each other and Loona has a bit of an image to maintain on top of it. But she's ok with Wander helping! uuuuh sometimes! Kinda!

[Billy] [25] Do they have fears and phobias, and if they do, do they usually keep it to themselves or talk about it openly?

Omg an Into History character, I love my silly little fantasy animals. Billy has no phobias! His thing is that he has no fears because his hypersense ability is essentially not feeling pain. He doesn't feel the consequences of his actions! So there is no need to fear anything he can physically see. If he fears something, it'd have to be something abstract or emotional. If he ever was afraid of something physical I dont think he would be open about it because of this! I think he would feel embarrassed of himself.

[cologona]

Aw jeez, Jason won't even hold Dick's hand? But he's the most nicest beautiful boy in the world!

Not like it's relevant at all that he is Batman here, and Jason's singular most core consistent conviction is that he has a big fat stinking problem with Batman you could smell 10 miles away across the Gotham River. Surely the bat-boys are just so important that any reasonable person's major ideological differences borne from extensive truama would just melt away. Jason wouldn't get over it for his actual dad that he loved and knew but yeah he ought to get over it for the guy who maybe came by sometimes, who's picking up the mantle despite knowing what Jason's beef is about. If Jason isn't niceys to Dick surely it means he's not capable of getting along with anyone.

Ignore the side character just off-screen that Jason was given in this run for pretty much the sole purpose of protecting and being nice to. Also ignore UTRH, Lost Days, Titan's Tower, BIB, GA, countdown... what else? The Outsiders? Basically the entirety of the post-crisis continuity, where Jason's primary villainous trait is that he reaches out. Jason's mean to the bat boys, that's basically the whole world.

Jason being a rash self-isolating dunce isn't something that RHATO undid, RHATO is what introduced it to canon. It started with Lobdell's edgy lone-wolf bullshit, developed from there, and then I guess got retroactively applied to post-crisis Jason by fans. Wooo

one cool thing about jason is how alone he is in the world and how everyone around him would (understandably) choose others over him and it’s His Own Damn Fault. all he does is bite the hands that Aren’t even feeding him they’re just like in his periphery and he’s automatically locking onto them with violence. i think part of the reason RHATO doesn’t interest me in any forms is because one of the compelling things about jason to me is his self imposed and self maintained exile. he bites and scratches and hits himself on the periphery of people’s lives but they’ve long since learned that if they try to reach out and intervene he’ll only turn his anger towards them too. nobody likes this but he’s so deep in it he doesn’t know how to get out of it. in the immortal words of a softer world:

[casscainmainly]

If Cassandra was the one taking Batman's mantle back in 2009 instead of Dick, how do u think would've been her dynamic with Damian?

Honestly possibly similar to Dick? In Batman and Robin (2009), Dick wasn't like overtly praising Damian or being outwardly affectionate (until later). What Dick gave Damian was someone who didn't treat him like a prince, but also someone who stuck with him through every mistake; a steady presence during a tumultuous time. Cass could totally provide those, so the foundation of trust that flourished between Dick + Damian would probably flourish for Cass too.

Some key differences would be that Cass, I think, wouldn't feel as immediately responsible for Damian as Dick did. So the beginning would be a lot rockier, and Cass would be giving Damian the silent treatment while he follows her around and insults her. (I also think Cass wouldn't shrug the insults off as easily as Dick). Damian's decision not to kill is also fundamentally different from Cass', so she'd be uncomfortable around him, and they wouldn't have the same sort of lighthearted banter that Dick and Damian had from the beginning.

However, Damian would probably respect her more quickly than he did Dick. And Cass would be more overtly enthusiastic about his decision not to kill, and understand just how big that decision is given his upbringing. This shared understanding would bridge a lot of the cracks in Cass' ability to handle kids. If events play out the same, I think after issue #3 (when Damian fails to save Sasha and is shaken by it), Cass would understand Damian as a person more, and their relationship would improve significantly.

I think they would physically fight a lot more, though, given Cass' tendency to confront with fists. She'd win every time, which would annoy him, but add to the respect thing. This is one area where Cass, if she realises beating up Damian all the time isn't helping, might outsource to Steph.

Anyway in the ideal version of this Dick and Steph would be around to provide the emotional stability a grieving Cass wouldn't be able to give, but I do believe (because they are deeply compassionate people, and Batman and Robin), they would end up being very close.

[twistpixel]

also more toddling about in morrisons Jason like idk if I’ve said it before but Sasha is the most interesting thing about morrisons Jason but she is, ultimately, a reflection of Jason. Or perhaps Jason is a reflection of her. The way she wears the mark and the mask of her abuser and cannot take it off for fear of what she’ll see. It’s why Jason’s wearing the pill head. And it’s her mask and it’s her “mask/cape”. Her hero identity. When sasha gives her speech it’s very clearly “and also Jason”. When it’s ripped off all Jason does is cry about Bruce because that’s Jason’s scar and damage he was too scared to look at. And then Sasha leaves and she leaves it behind and she leaves behind the mask, and the mask. Winick bringing her back by being kidnapped so Jason could save her was not girlpower of him. I can’t bring myself to even evade it by saying the ending is the same, she rides away into the sunset in both, but one is explicity her own power and choice leaving explicitly all the men in her life, Batman, Robin, Jason, her father, Pyg, and the other is a rescue from Batman, Robin, and Jason.

[little2nerdy]

mail time - Neil + Sasha wip

The line at the student mail services was ungodly long. Neil tried to avoid this particular building as much as he could, it was always too crowded for his liking. But since he had no real home address and didn’t want to use the house in Columbia since it was a bit far to get his mail, he resigned himself to waiting. It was also a good way to socialize Sasha with people other than the foxes and practice her tasks.

She’d been trained to watch his back, alerting him to anyone who got too close. She sat patiently between his feet watching as people came in and out, making sure no one startled him from behind. Neil stepped forward as the last person in front of him finally left. 

"What's your name sugar?" Her eyes tracked over his scars in a way that made his skin crawl. He focused on Sasha's presence and took a deep breath.

“Josten.” Giving the name still felt grounding. It was real. He was real. Even after almost six years that novelty still hadn’t worn off. The girl behind the counter flounced off to get his mail while he eyed the bustle of students around him.

“Hey, Neil!” He turned to see Robin bounding up to him just as Sasha nudged the back of his thigh with her nose. He slipped her a treat for a job well done, alerting him to a person approaching even though she knew Robin. 

“Hey Robs, how was class?” The now sophomore goalkeeper had been complaining incessantly about her philosophy professor since the semester started and it didn’t seem to be getting any better.

“Ugh, boring as ever but I’m finally done with that paper so I shouldn’t complain.” The mail girl finally came back and slid a few pieces of mail and one small package at Neil. “Ooh, what’d you get?” Robin eyed the nondescript mailer. He turned it over in his hands, recognizing the return address, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

“I don’t know…” He handed her the other mail items stepping out of line so he could tear open the package. Inside was a wallet-sized photo of Andrew’s headshot, it looked almost identical to his headshot for the foxes but instead of orange and white he was wearing orange and black. He looked slightly older, more piercings adorning his face. Neil took out his wallet sliding the photo into place over Andrew’s college one. Neil had requested a copy during a phone call on the day of the photoshoot.

Andrew had been all huffy because his coaches were trying to get him to retire his piercings, but Andrew was steadfast. No one was supposed to come near the goalie during a game, if they were so worried about his piercings they should focus on their defense line he’d said. (If only Kevin had heard him say that). Neil tipped the package and two more items slid onto the table with a folded note. A Denver Outlaws’ velcro patch and black and orange bandanna, he unfolded the note and smiled. 

for my exy junkies -A

[stele3]

A History of (Supposed) Violence: Every Jason Todd Kill, part 9

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Foreword: Jason Todd kills people. But has he killed as many people as fandom thinks he has? I'm starting to think the answer is a resounding no. Therefore, I am starting this series to list every single one of Jason Todd's on-page, confirmed kills, and -- to be fair -- all of the heavily-implied and attempted ones, too.

Caveat: I have not read every single comic featuring Jason Todd. But by God, by the end of this series, I will have. Do not send me angry messages telling me I have forgotten this glaring example of his murderous ways. I am moving in deliberate, exhaustive, chronological order. I will get to it.

Part 9: Batman & Robin, Issues 23-25

Jason is staying red-haired for this one. Bruce and Dick are also both Batman? It's confusing. I'm kinda grateful they made Jason red-haired, because it's that much easier to tell him apart from the others.

Anyway. Jason's locked up in Arkham Asylum, but petitions to be moved to regular prison because he passed all his psych evaluations. Now, listen -- I realize comics require a suspension of disbelief but there is no way Jason passed any psychological screenings for whatever the hell is wrong with him.

Anyway, he's now in gen pop, and a lot of criminal elements want him dead. So Jason does what Jason does best.

Give "come fuck me" eyes at a bunch of naked men in the prison shower, then proceed to kill them all one by one. I'm also counting the brother and his thirteen morons, even though that was in the past, so 20 criminals get shanked, prison-style. I will point out that each one of the convicts was trying to kill Jason at the time.

Later, we get the indication that Jason actually killed 14 people while in the slammer. He's really giving "you're locked in here with me" vibes.

Counting the one guy's brother and his thirteen morons, that's a total death count of 29 thus far. Jason's off to quite a banging sta --

Jesus Christ.

And just like that, we're in the triple digits at 111 dead. The warden, pretty reasonably, wants Jason sent back to Arkham Asylum, but en route their police convoy gets attacked by...these guys:

Jason goes along with the Menagerie, as they're called, for all of ten seconds before trying to break free. In the process, he kills one of them before their boss reveals that she has Scarlet, aka Sasha, the teenaged girl who was briefly Jason's sidekick. There's a whole adventure in which Red Hood teams up with Batman and Robin to rescue her, and Dick makes it very clear to Jason that he expects Jason to not kill anyone during this fight. Interestingly, Jason obeys. Therefore, no further death tally.

Conclusion: 112 (111 inmates in the prison and 1 would-be rescuer)

[splinterofpandora]

{BrightKnightUpcoming} <---------------------

-----------don't miss part 9 by tag💜🖤💚💙

Chapter Twelve. Round and round.

Okay, let's quickly recap what Bruce/Selina is in terms of modern history. Their relationship began immediately. Rooftop, street, ship...don't think about location. There was always a spark that attracted them. They saw the darkness and the light in each other. Saw that a partner was different, different from just their domestic environment. Selina wanted to have fun. Bruce gave fun. Wayne wanted Justice. Kyle had it. That's the starting point. Next...

Next was the attitude towards people. No matter how creepy he was, Batman always helped those in need. He didn't care what you had in your wallet. Cat saved animals, and Bruce respected this unusual principle. He did it a lot himself in different comic eras. Plus, you know, Selina and money. She helped orphanages, gave to churches, cheered up doctors, good people. Yes, she took her own, but that's her nature. A good hunt deserves to be paid...like Bats+no gun.

Yeah, they're different codes. Selina loves money, but she can live without it. That's not a problem. For Bruce, murder is a tragedy. And that's where the area of conflict begins. Or rather a basic misunderstanding of how they can help each other if they're going to live together. They are, aren't they?

When we've talked about Bruce in past posts, it's been about friendship, i.e. stable communication and common topics/challenges. When we've talked about kids, we talked about growing up and Batman's role in that. Both sides are giving something. Both sides get their prizes. Don't get me wrong, it's not about profit in the literal sense. But it is about feelings that have a strong base outside of...the feelings themselves. BatCat, most of their life, is fun.

Hot nights(both ways), quick intrigue, temporary rescues. It was with Talia, it was with Kathy, it was with Sasha. Was Selina different globally? Actually, yes!

You see me talking about modern times but using pictures from the past. Because that's the way it's always worked. The only things that changed were backgrounds and methods. The statuses changed a couple times. Selina did make Bruce softer, because she herself was easy on life. She was serious when she saw he was really hurting, and she always tried to help him. After the murder verdict. When Bane took over Gotham(yes, I love Nolan's movies). Or pretty much every Tom King story they went through together. So he knew all her tricks were a mask.

But Batman's soul knows great pain, and only a man that knows how to combine pain and code could stop him in times when the thirst for Revenge and Paranoia took over.

Bruce believed in Selina when it was easy. But he shut down during periods when it was too hard for him. And yes, he did that with the Robins, with Alfred. But they were too close, so eventually he opened up to them. For her...it took a dead wife(Silver) and some crazy stories involving his son's mother. If you remember 2010, he made a move on her and they became a good couple. And Barry decided to ruin it.

The New 52 canceled big part of the relationship, but kept the final feelings and position. The best example here would be Gothtopia, where Bruce was actually happy with his partner and soulmate. It was just a dream, and when Bruce realized it, he tried to pull Selina out. She resisted. When it was over, Catwoman spoke again of a chance, but Bruce was wounded in his soul, and the mission was still above him. My favorite phrase here:

Why can't you believe in us?

She wants it. She's ready. And as we already know from the last post, Batman will be ready soon too...

The comics did it great, but I want to use animation because it makes it simpler but deeper at the same time.

Batcat had a great time in Batman: Hush(2019). They are happy fighting together, happy living together. But Selina talks about taking a vacation, and Bruce insists it's too soon. He has to do a better job for Gotham. A small conflict turns into a disaster when...I'm not Stephanie - you know the ending!

The point is that Selina talks about retribution and disappearance and Bruce says no. In the original comic, Batman let fear win, but he's objectively right in 2019. He's right because it's his life's choice, and now Catwoman is telling him to destroy it. But how can he? Is that really fair? Is that love? No. And she sees it. She leaves in tears because she realizes he won't give in, nor will she wear the mantle forever. They're both right here. It's no longer about the internal fighting. But their paths are too different.

What's all this for if there's nothing at the end? There's a lesson at the end that it's nobody's fault. That life isn't a castle in a crystal ball, but it's not an endless fall either.

Selina teaches Bruce the simplest lesson of all. He's not alone as long as he believes in life. He's human as long as he combines the mantle and Wayne. Sound like Rebirth? Yes.

See you in ten hours!

[bitter-hibiscus]

I absolutely your Robin Jason headcannons, do you have any more? Maybe some Red Hood ones as well?

!!! im so happy to be getting these asks this is so fun

More Jaybin hcs (part one here):

He has a bunch of 1960s style clothes because Rena likes dressing like a mix of Amy Winehouse and Twiggy

baby goth in the making thanks to Natalia. she gives him a collection of Edgar Allen Poe's poems and he's just hook, line, and sinker into the subculture

He usually listens to metal bands but his guilty pleasure music is slow ballads and gayboy pop (think Kevin Atwater and Troye Sivan)

His favorite rogue to fight is KGBeast because of sentimentality, since KGB is the first rogue he ever defeated as Robin

He has pimples on his thighs and neck but somehow never on his face

He hates having his nails painted because of sensory issues, but lets Rena paint them anyway

His favorite of Dick's teammates is Vic, because he let Jason watch him fix one of Kori's alien weapons once, and he's super patient and kind and answers all of Jason's questions

Red Hood hcs:

Still mostly listens to metal but his favorite band is Rainbow Kitten Surprise (his favorite song is Finalist)

He has a journal where he writes shitty, angsty poetry with a fountain pen

He can never quite resist petting dogs during patrol, so there are multiple pictures online of Mafia Boss Red Hood playing with civilian's puppies

Has a tattoo of a wilded rose on top of his batarang scar to hide it. It's corny and ugly as hell but that was kind of the point. After he starts dating Rose he tells her it's because they were destined to meet. She gags every time

full-fledged romantic goth now. I'm talking manic panic white base, big eyeliner, and fake fangs. I'm talking huge messy hair with about a ton of hairspray. I'm talking "hates that every goth clothing he can find has bats on it"

His main mug is one of those corny millennial "don't talk to me until I've had my coffee" ones that Roy got for him during the outlaws. Jason uses it ironically but Roy thinks he also finds it funny

Sometimes when he's feeling nostalgic Jason will lay down on a rooftop and try to find where Oa is up in the sky, because he and Kyle looked for constellations together during Cosmic Mistake

Contrary to popular belief, his favorite superhero isn't Wonder Woman, it's Black Canary. Which is too bad because she hates his guts

Sent Sasha to live with an ex-con he trusted in South Dakota. He still sends her gifts often but they don't talk anymore since they realized how bad he was to her mental health

Deathstroke's #5 hater. Loses only to all 3 Wilson children (minus Res), Cassandra Cain, and Oliver Queen

Really wants to meet Connor Hawke because he was actually being genuine in GA Vol3 when he told Ollie he'd always wanted to meet him, and has since really really wanted to meet all of the Arrows even though none of them like him. He's the world's worst fanboy

Will do anything Talia asks of him but spits on Ra's face if he so much as looks in Jason's direction

Calls Damian "little prince" in Arabic (Amir Le-Zghir) specifically because of the book, but ALSO because it was what Willis called him when he was a child

Duke is his favorite bat because he isn't afraid to make fun of Jason, gets into a shit ton of trouble, and swears around Bruce like it's nothing

Whew, I think that's enough for a single post. Still have a lot more though lmao

[cologona]

How old is Sasha?

(Jason’s partner in Batman & Robin)

I think a lot of folks assume that she was supposed to be something like 12 or 13 due to how young and vulnerable she looks in this panel when Damian first meets her.

and the fact that American children typically grow out of calling their parents’ by diminutives like “papa” by the time they reach high school age.

But Sasha isn’t American! She’s a Russian immigrant. “Papa” is a very standard way of referring to one’s father in Russia, basically equivalent to “dad”.

She has clearly developed secondary sexual characteristics, and a sense of style indicative of a teenager’s.

I do not believe that Jason “running from a terrible secret” Todd would’ve been cool with a 13 year old in heels and short-pants posing in such a way next to him. Sasha has got to be something like 15 years old at least.

And this makes sense considering that she apparently looks old enough for Dick to assume that she is Jason’s girlfriend, and to not really think or worry too much about her despite Damian’s own guilt.

Puberty can go very differently depending on the individual and not all pre-teens will look “child-like enough” but this guy is supposed to be the Good Guy of the story. There is a lower limit to how wrong Dick can be before it starts killing his character.

Sasha herself also calls Damian a little boy, indicating that she’s in a distinct age bracket older than him.

She is neither self-conscious nor naive in the way she questions Jason, and she does question him.

And last but not least- she can drive!

I won’t say that she’s definitely old enough to have a license but I think she’s probably is old enough for a permit since she’s familiar enough with the vehicle to make it out of Gotham, which requires highway travel. Plus I think it says something that she’s able to hide out on her own for a while before she gets abducted by the animal people and Jason makes his break from prison. All in all I’d say she was around 15 or 16.

[annabelle--cane]

do we have any information on the approximate dates or year that TMA takes place in? I’m obsessed with timelines and I’m so curious about if those dates are Known or not or can only be guessed about

yes we do! some parts of the timeline are a little vague, but every live and "in situ" statement (with a few exceptions) has a date attached to it. I won't go through every known date, and I'm also not scrupulously checking to make sure I've copied all these numbers down correctly so there's probably an error or two in here, but some significant ones include:

s1

mag 13 - alone: the first live statement and the first hard date for the show, 13 january 2016

mag 22 - colony: martin's statement after being trapped by jane prentiss, 12 march 2016

mag 26 - a distortion: sasha's statement about meeting michael, 2 april 2016 (<- that was my fourteenth birthday :3)

mag 38 / mag 39 / mag 40: jane prentiss's attack on the institute, sasha's death, and all the debrief statements afterwards, 29 july 2016

s2

mag 41 - too deep: jon's statement about exploring the tunnels and his first supplemental tape about gertrude's murder, 2 september 2016

mag 43 - section 31: basira's statement about diego molina + the start of her giving gertrude's old tapes to jon, 19 september 2016

mag 47 - the new door: helen's statement about the hallways, we meet michael in person for the first time, 2 october 2016

mag 61 - hard shoulder: daisy's statement about seeing the coffin for the first time, 1 december 2016

mag 73 - police lights: basira's statement about rescuing callum brodie from maxwell rayner, 11 february 2017

mag 76 - the smell of blood: melanie's statement about her investigations into war ghosts, at the end she and jon have a bit of a fight about how That Is Not Sasha, 13 february 2017

mag 78 / mag 79 / mag 80: jon releases not-sasha from the table, martin and tim get trapped in the corridors, jon meets leiter, elias smashes leitner with a metal pipe, all on 16 february 2017

s3

mag 81 / mag 82: jon makes a statement at georgie's place about a guest for mr spider at the same time as daisy interviews the remaining archives staff to try and ascertain his whereabouts, 18 february 2017

mag 89 - twice as bright: statement of jude perry, ft. jon hand crispification, 24 april 2017

mag 91 / mag 92 (/ maybe mag 93?): statement of mike crew, death of mike crew, jon daisy and basira's encounter in the woods, the big elias conversation at the institute, 28 april 2017. mag 93 might also be recorded on this day, I'm not quite sure, because georgie's statement (mag 94) is 29 april, but I don't know if that's fully the next day or if jon got back really late on the 28th, recorded mag 93, and then georgie gave her statement in the wee hours of the 29th. up to interpretation and how little sleep you envision jon as having.

mag 100 - I guess you had to be there: lynne hammond's is 2 may 2017, robin lennox's is 20 may 2017, brian finlinson's is 26 may 2017, and "john smith's" statement doesn't have a date.

mag 111 - family business: gerry's posthumous statement about smirke's 14, 30 june 2017. again, trevor and julia's statement about how they met in mag 109 is dated 29 june, and I don't know if it's an either-side-of-midnight thing or a full day elapsed between them.

mag 118 - the masquerade: martin and melanie pull a fast one on elias while the rest of the gang sets up explosives in the unknowing, 6 august 2017.

mag 120 - eye contact: elias's statement about jon's coma dreams + elias's arrest, 9 august 2017.

s4

mag 121 / mag 122: oliver banks gives his statement about point nemo and jon wakes up, 15 february 2018

mag 128 - heavy goods: breekon deliver's the coffin and jon slurps a statement right out of his head, 3 march 2018

mag 132 - entombed: jon buries himself alive to rescue daisy, 24-26 march 2018

mag 141 - doomed voyage: on the boat to norway jon slurps a statement about mikaele salesa out of a shiphand's head, 11 june 2018

mag 142 - scrutiny: jess tyrell comes in to complain about jon slurping a statement out of her head and haunting her nightmares, 12 june 2018

mag 146 / mag 147: jon gets intervened on about all the brain slurping, they go to hilltop road and find annabelle's statement, 20 july 2018

mag 157 / mag 158 / mag 159: peter releases not-sasha and brings martin to the panopticon for a showdown with "elias," julia and trevor attack the institute, daisy goes monster mode, and jon follows martin into the lonely and saves him with the power of gay love and also slurping peter lukas's brain so hard he explodes badly, 25 september 2018

mag 160 - the eye opens: jon reads a normal statement and nothing bad happens, 18 october 2018.

s5

fuck if I know

[bropunzeling]

For the asks: 5, 17, and if you’re not stuck on the Seattle AU, 1 for and a star to steer her by?

5. what's something you learned while researching a fic?

while working on seattle au i have learned that we really have always been embarrassing ourselves in front of san jose. it's in our team dna. we should cut that shit out.

17. what is something you recently felt proud of in your writing?

personally im very proud that i managed to have the self-discipline to do a slow burn at all!!!! i love making my little guys kiss and holding myself back from that (or even like. touching meaningfully) has been such a painful growing experience. also, this fic does a bit more with sexuality realization and coming out than my normal fare -- i wouldn't call it The Theme of the fic (that is, as always, loneliness) but it is a pretty big one and im hopeful???? that im doing it in a way that feels honest and like. not bad. so!

1. write a scene from another character's POV

Matthew didn't exactly have a plan when he left the Navy.

Well, no. There was a plan. The plan was to make it back down the gravity well and then get himself discharged in whatever way he could. When no one seemed to want to let him leave through official channels, he opted for going AWOL and hopping on the next flight to Ceres before the alerts went around.

He could only hope it would blow over quickly back home, that Brady and his dad would be spared from the blowback, but it was -- he couldn't keep going. Not under Sutter's command. Not after what happened on that station.

His dad was asked to comment, once, on his son's disappearance. On the scandal of an up and coming officer disappearing into the Belt. In the watery light of the holovid in the noodle shop, Keith had said, in his official, Admiral Tkachuk voice, that he couldn't comment on the specifics. Said, almost too quiet for the cameras to catch, that he hoped Matthew was safe.

Matthew had left with his noodles half-eaten.

There's plenty of odd jobs on Ceres for a guy who's willing to work and keep his mouth shut, even one like Matthew with his Inner accent, his lack of tattoos, his body thick and properly muscled rather than elongated by low-G. Matthew does a few runs on an ice hauler, a few more working security for some food shipments. Boring work, but steady. He only pulls his gun once or twice. Hasn't fired it yet.

He meets Benny on one such job. Benny's from Mars by way of Eros by way of Ceres, has a touch of the valley to his accent and drinks like a fish -- funny for a guy who's never lived on a rock with a lake. They hit it off trading off shots and talking about old jobs, making jokes about the men making decisions who wouldn't be able to tell the butt from the business end of a gun.

"You know," Benny says after they finish up the job, one last beer for the road. "If you need another gig -- I know a crew who could use a guy like you."

It doesn't seem too bad, when Benny explains it. Small ship, long hauls. Sounds like humanitarian missions, almost, some real Robin Hood-ass shit. Maybe a spot of trouble, but not often. And the captain -- "Sasha's good people," Benny says, more serious than he's been all night. "He doesn't lead people wrong. Trust me, Chucky. He's the guy you want in the chair."

"If you say so," Matthew says to placate him. He doesn't say how little he trusts any guy who sits in the chair. Good people or not.

But the job sounds good, at least to get him a few more credits, a few more months before he has to decide what the fuck he's going to do with himself now that he's not UNN. Maurice -- the bankroller -- gives him the nod, and that's how he ends up at the dock, staring at a ship so banged up he wonders how it stays in one piece when it enters atmo.

And then he spots him. Tall, quiet, watching Matthew with obvious distrust. It's clear, immediately, that if it came down to his crew, his ship, or Matthew, Sasha Barkov would pick the former, every time.

It's almost bizarre how comforting that is. That, more than anything else, sends Matthew down the dock, extending his hand.

[kitkat13001]

⋆✴︎˚𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝! 🎃 👻 ☠️👽

aka what costumes i’m dressing up as for halloween w my favs this year!! this is silly and self indulgent but i figured it would be fun. feel free to reblog/comment w your own costume ideas for you and your favs!! <33 - 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚢 !

tooru oikawa: steve harrington and robin buckley from stranger things. oikawa wanted to be the dashing hero and i just want to wear the scoops ahoy outfit :)

shinkami: ghostbusters!! we’re nerds what do you expect 😔 

OR alternately 

ferris bueller, cameron frye, and sloane!!! denki is ferris bueller, obvi, and shinsou as cam and me as sloane

shoyo hinata: statue of liberty and nyc tourist 😫😻 🗽📸 bc hinata adores me and wants to take pics of me all night long

satoru gojo: western barbie and ken!! 🎀🛍️ bc yk gojo wants that cowboy fit

kento nanami: hugh hefner & playboy bunny 🐰 💕 sexy costume is a must and how can we not??

yuuji itadori: race car drivers!!! 🚗 💨 iconic red suits n helmets. we borrow gojo’s fancy ass car 🤭

maki zenin: angel (me) & devil (maki) 😇😈

OR OR OR maki as the joker w her green hair and me as harley quinn 😳😳

zoe hange: hange is a sexy vampire and i’m their bloody maiden 😩💕

mastuhana: devil, angel, and lady justice 😈👼⚖️

ymir: yumi as marceline and me as bubblegum 🖤🩷

dabi: pirates 🏴‍☠️ 🗡️ 

kiribaku: ok ok hear me out: powerpuff girls. me as buttercup, kiri as blossom, and kacchan as bubbles!! it would def be against bakugou’s will, but kiri supports it bc they’re ‘manly’. 

chuuya nakahara: mafia executives LMAOO chuuya was too lazy to do a costume 

connie springer: bugs bunny and lola from space jam!! bc connie would look so good in a basketball jersey 🏀 🐰 

rody soul: judy hopps and nick wilde 🪪

sasha braus: cupid and aphrodite 💘 

tomura shigaraki: ghostface and casey becker 🙀🔪

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Okay so I might be overthinking this, but I feel like Scarlet was set up to be both a foil and villain towards Damian and also for their relationship to sorta mirror Bruce and Jason's.

If you don't know who Scarlet is, let me introduce you to her a sec before I explain.

So this is Scarlet. Her real name is Sasha. She got introduced in the first issue of Batman and Robin (2009). Of course, then she looked like this:

Her dad and uncle are both goons, and they're all immigrants from Russia. However, her uncle is killed by Professor Pyg and her father is turned into a dollotron in front of her because they were planning on leaving, having encountered Batman.

However, Dick and Damian aren't looking for Pyg right then - or at least, not that they're aware of. They have an encounter with Le Cirque d'Etrange and discover a man they had been tracking, the Toad, found dead. They get a lead, but unfortunately get into a fight, so Damian takes an opportunity to sneak out alone and track down their lead. This is where he meets Sasha, who has started to have the dollotron process performed on her. She tries to warn him that it's a trap.

The dollotrons, however, manage to quickly overwhelm him. Damian wakes up to find himself to find himself tied to a chair. Sasha is strapped to a medical table, about to have the dollotron process finished on her. Damian breaks free and frees Sasha, promising to get her out, and together they begin fighting Professor Pyg and his dollotrons. Sasha lights him on fire and he tries to flee, which is when this happens:

Then Dick shows up, although the building burns down. But Sasha escaped. The Dollotrons were all brought to the hospital, and that night, she kills her father.

Jason saves her, and offers her a place as his partner, which she accepts. After this she becomes his partner/protegé/sidekick and goes by the name Scarlet.

Okay, so that's Scarlet. Now I want to draw attention to specific parts of her story where she mirrors Jason.

- Dad is a goon

- Is captured by a Rogue who has threatened their parent

- Is severely injured by and loses parent to said Rogue

- Wayne fails to save them

-attempts to kill father

-becomes a villain who believes that they're in the right

idk. Maybe I'm reading way too much into this. But it just feels purposeful to me. Like maybe Damian was supposed to find a way to eventually save or redeem Scarlet, where Bruce failed to with Jason. That maybe they could grow, become better than their predecessors.

[casscainmainly]

Have you read the recent chapter of boy wonder? I feel like it ties nicely with what you were talking about recently like robin, the mantles relationship with poc and batman

Adding your second ask here: "And also robin as being able to be a symbol for the collective and community. Sorry for being so scatter brained I sent the other ask without completing my thoughts😭 I was really interested in how you'll react to the recent chapter and hearing your thoughts on it. I'm not really good at analysis but reading yours are always fun"

I'm really happy you sent this ask because I've been meaning to read The Boy Wonder for ages and I never got around to it, so this was the push I needed!

You're spot on that so much of issue #5 connects to what I was discussing in my Duke Thomas and the Robin Mantle post. In fact, Damian giving the R symbol to the would-be robber directly parallels Duke giving the symbol to Daryl:

The Boy Wonder #5 / Batman (2011) #45

In both, they view Robin as a connection to their families and to the wider Gotham community, as the grounds for both individual and societal change. And honestly this makes sense, given that Damian is the predecessor, both chronologically and spiritually, to Duke's Robin.

Damian as a character of color is fraught with difficulty. The set-up of his story invites a dichotomy between the evil, Asian, brown-skinned Talia and Ra's, and the kind and caring White Wayne family. Morrison's demonisation of Talia is symptomatic of this issue. This is something The Boy Wonder mentions, too; Ra's is aggrieved not only at Damian betraying him, but at Damian siding with a rich White man, the opposite of every ideal he was raised with.

But in The Boy Wonder and in canon, the dichotomy is not so simple. Boy Wonder has Damian acknowledge both his 'demon' and Bat sides, with the social movement aspect coming from his mother, not from Bruce. It's also important to anti-racist readings of his character, as well as a general understanding of Damian, that he did not need to learn compassion. He already had it - one of his earliest moments in Morrison's run is feeling devastated at failing to save Sasha. People saying Dick taught Damian to feel things are missing the point: Damian already felt things, and what he learned from Dick was how to process and use those feelings.

(It's also important that Damian's first Batman was Dick, the first Robin, and retroactively the first Robin of Colour.)

Damian as a character moves from the restricting, White-centric legacy of the Batman into the freeing, colourful legacy of Robin. Another parallel to Duke and We Are Robin:

The Boy Wonder #5 / We Are Robin #1

Robin has always stood for youth, but this notion of the future starts with Damian (as Bruce's heir) and flourishes in Duke (as one of Gotham's many heirs). They are the future, which means the future is a place of colour.

One thing I liked more in Boy Wonder than We Are Robin is that Damian starts the movement, whereas WAR has... Alfred (this is a bad move for many reasons but this post is too long already). Damian credits the core moral principle - wanting to change the world in a communal way - to Ra's and Talia, which shows that Damian's morals do not come from the Batfam. Once again, the Robin mantle is not only a connection to the Bat, but a connection to the wearer's original/other family, as it was for Dick and Duke.

In all three cases, the other family is a family of colour. This is why I think Dick works better when his Romani heritage is acknowledged; the Dick-Damian-Duke lineage is a nuanced exploration of the ways kids of Colour navigate the White world, in which Robin functions as a celebration of difference and a rebellion against assimilation. It's a progressive journey: Dick is White-passing and has mostly lost touch with his roots, Damian (ideally, when Talia is written right) equally loves both sides of his family, and Duke is unapologetically, unequivocally Black.

Which is why, though I enjoyed Boy Wonder overall, I'm extremely puzzled why Duke wasn't in it. Like, Damian just started We Are Robin!!! Why would you do WAR and not include WAR characters? Merle could've easily been Duke, and the comic would've been richer for it. (Also why is Babs here?? She says like two lines and is not part of the Robin legacy. Steph being Batgirl or Robin would've made more sense).

I can kind of understand Duke's omission (though this comic pulls so much from We Are Robin it feels like it owes Duke a cameo), but Dick's role was strangely small. It seems like Damian didn't start as Dick's Robin here, but that point is so essential to his character that once again I'm puzzled. There is so much more to be done with Dick, especially with the last issue being a meditation on the Robin legacy.

But it was still a fun read, and Damian is so adorable throughout I can't be mad at it. I hope this post makes up for how long it took me to get to this ask!!

[kindlingkeen]

i am so sorry for the long ask but i am always thinking about bruce’s line in detective comics #790 before the 🤢 victim blaming “he loved cars and girls and getting into fights… neapolitan ice cream and the color green… and most of all the thrill of being robin.” i have turned over every part of this line in my head for ages but here is one aspect

girls: pre crisis? during robin days he did have a gf for a bit named rena, essence and isabel in rhato, rose wilson, idk about red hood: the hill. but even with non romantic relationships he has sasha and duela and kori and artemis and talia (ignoring you know what) and the no longer canon natalia knight motherhood thing vs like roy and bizarro as the guys he hangs out with outside of bats and he even points it out “i feel closer to that big white lump of clay than, well, any guy ive ever known. yeah i knew roy and dick since i was young. but since ive been back? from the dead? hes the first guy friend ive made.” talking about bizarro in rhato and i dont put too much stock in rhato but he really does seem to consistently get along better with women. i dont fully think it is that he finds them less threatening cuz in task force z he was happy to hold his own against multiple bat boys but the second cass showed up he was like oh shit shes scary, plus like sheila is the reason he died and you would think that her betrayal would be a huge part of any ptsd or trust issues he no doubt has. but he also has that line after he and artemis kiss where he says something to the effect that it was a good kiss for a girl and that just… what do you mean by that jason? because you have spent the past lord knows how many issues (with the same writer) kissing isabel and looking back somewhat fondly on your time with essence and while readers can think you have very little chemistry with them the story being told is that all that was cool and good and within the norm for you. so like what does that line in your narration mean jason? if it isnt something you are into than why have you been going around kissing women in multiple instances jason?

Okay, so Jason’s line (“But it was nice. For a girl.” in reference to his kiss with Artemis) comes from Red Hood: Outlaw #41:

Which is actually him remembering events that occurred in Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #25:

Here, Jason asks Artemis what she thinks of their kiss, and Artemis says, “It was okay, for a boy.”

Honestly, my (somewhat boring) interpretation of the line in RHO #41 is that Jason is referring tongue in cheek back to Artemis’ quip in RHATO #25. I don’t think it was actually meant to be commentary on his sexuality.

That said, imo, Jason Todd doesn’t really seem like the kind of person who would feel the need to limit their sexuality to artificially constructed binary categories of gender … YMMV 😏