#i think of them as a mix of the bruce and zee and the bruce and babs dynamics. ga/bc came closest i think. it may not have been about them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

internalsealpanic · 4 years

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Hug Tutorials

summary: Constantine is stuck baby sitting. Not exactly his area of expertise. So how is he supposed handle a feral 8 year old? Help comes from an unexpected source.

A/n: I am pretty new to the Hellblazer fandom so forgive the characterization. I own nothing except Ruta (in all his bratty glory) and the plot. Maya belongs to the wonderful @birdy-bat-writes who is a wonderful human being. This thing is kind of part of a crack au me and Riya have been brain storming. I will probably edit or rewrite this later. Yes, I need a better title.

warnings: awkward hugs, implied child neglect, and a lot of swearing

word count: 1,709 (This is actually really short.)

Ruta knows it hadn't started out like this.

He remembers when his mother used to try and help him read. She tried her best but the shapes on the page just made no sense to him. Not the way it did for Raffie or Mimi.

He tries memorizing the words she said to him and parroting them back to her. It works! For awhile...

He also remembers the walks to the park and how they'd listen to him about transparent people.

They probably think he's too young to notice the change.

His mom's slowly cut back on their nightly reading sessions opting for game night with his siblings. They were playing monopoly and that required a little too much reading for him to play.

They haven't read together in months. Maybe he's the only one keeping track.

He still tells them about the transparent people and now he tells them about the shadowy people but now they simply nod out of time with what he says. They used to be better at pretending and nodding in time with what he said.

His dad got mad at him once when he started crying about the shadow people when they were at the market. He shook him, just a little, just enough to make him feel woozy, looking red with embarrassment. Ruta felt bad about it. He felt really horrible about embarrassing his dad that he decided never to mention them again even when they got too close.

The good news is he now had Count Von Bon Bon who listened and read aloud to him. He wasn't allowed inside the house because he was such a big bird but when they went outside he kept the shadow things away.

He doesn’t need anyone else. He’ll be ok.

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

If you asked John Constantine how on Earth he found himself in the mess, he'd likely give you a dumbfounded look, shrug, and mumble something about being too sober.

But in all honesty, how does one find themselves watching their 8-year-old charge about to throw hands with not one but two Green Lanterns who should know better?

Ruta stood , small and imperious, with his little arm crossed and his head thrown back after a great laugh. "I'd like to see ya do it, dumb carrot headed shit!"

Guy, looking as red as, well, Sinestro, looks like he's about to deck the kid. "Oh, I'm gonna,"

John with all the good sense he's got fumbles over to the tiny terror. "Sorry 'bout that lil' Ruta 'ere's just a bit nippy from 'avin' to wake up early. Yanno 'ow kids are,” He grabs the kid by his sweater who makes a little squawking noise not too different from his devastatingly posh familiar who would have been really helpful right now. The kid wriggles a little, trying to claw John's hand away from the sweater. He pauses and John thinks that maybe, just maybe, the kid had gotten some sense knocked into him.

Unfortunately for him, John Constantine is one unlucky bastard.

With the smarmiest grin plastered on his little face, Ruta slips out of the, admittedly, ill-fitting sweater. The kid basically sprinted back toward the lanterns who, by the way, still looked pissed as all hell.

"Oh for the love of-" John is honestly going to pop a blood vessel. He grabs the kid's arm since the kid despite his speed hadn't made it far.

Ruta did not have the expected reaction. He froze. Breath seizing. Body going rigid. John thought about letting go but thought better of it.

"Ruta-"

Ruta begins to thrash violently and make petulant noises. John rolls eyes even as the kid snarls a few colorful words. "Yer gonna hafta do bettern’ that lad if-"

CHOMP

"Sonuva! Zee, a little help would be appreciated, love,"

"Sorry John, I’ve got no clue about how Maya usually gets him to settle down,"

Well, that helped.

Justice League members gather in bewilderment as they watch Constantine let out a string of curses as he tries to pry Ruta off his arm. The kid's teeth were actually digging into his flesh. John is pretty sure he would rather be fighting off all the demon's he's encountered over the years than be here, right now, getting his flesh torn.

Bats and Supes enter the room. Now, John normally didn't give a rat's ass what those two thought but there was a special kind of embarrassment that comes with a tantruming child. He now had a little more sympathy for people with kids in grocery stores.

The next few seconds are hard to process.

Bats discussing something about Earth's defenses with Supes wordlessly walks over to John, pats Ruta on the head, the kid- miraculously- relinquishes his death grip on John's arm, and in a disturbingly fluid motion Bats scoops him up into his arms, settles Ruta on to his hip, walks back to his conversation as if nothing happened.

The kid makes a brief distressed noise and a weak attempt at fighting before huffing and wrapping his wreathy little arms around Bats’ neck as Bats rubs circles on his back.

God, the kid looked so small all of a sudden. Had Ruta been that tiny this whole time?

He looked a little relieved aside from his face which was red and screwed up like all his effort was being devoted to trying not to cry. His breath is still uneven but it was settling down. He’s limp against Bats. For once, he looked like he wasn't about to turn tail and run or to tell someon to fuck off or bite someone's face off.

Fuck, when was the last time the kid looked so relaxed?

The newer league members watch with a mix of awe and confusion while the older ones shake their head and murmur something about not seeing that in a while.

It takes a few minutes, the entire conversation actually, for Batman to realize that all his kids are too big for him to comfortably carry like this even with his size. He panics thinking he accidentally kidnapped a young child. It takes him a moment longer to realize who it is.

"How the fuck did you manage that?" John finally stiffles out, awe clear in his voice.

Batman glares at John for cursing in front of the kid.

"Wot? He’s said worse,"

"That’s cus you’re a fucking cunt," Ruta mumbles his cheek still smooshed into Bats' shoulder. Bats looks as stone faced as ever but from the frown tugging at his lips he seemed mortified but he made a grunt that sounded more nostalgic than reprimanding. Batman adjusts his hold on the kid looking like he was honestly debating on whether to keep carrying the kid around and keep working or give him back to the clearly inexperienced Constantine. He decides it was probably best to give him back to Constantine but a part of him just really wanted to keep holding the little one trembling in his arms. When was the last time he held someone this small. It kind of reminded him of when Jason was small right down to the fowl mouth.

Ruta clearly also doesn't want to let go. Bats is sturdy and surprisingly warm. He looked like he would cry if he let go. The kid’s knuckles were white from gripping Bats’ cowl for Christ’s sake. Sadly, Igris, his annoyingly posh familiar, shows up from who the fuck knows where.

"Little prince, this is no way to behave," He admonishes in an eerie vernacular that was only barely understandable due to exposure. Ruta's face grows hot from embarrassment and with a nod he extricates himself from the caped crusader's arms.

The kid definitely looks like he's about to cry but he mutters a glum ‘Yes, Count Von Bon Bon’.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" John asked. God, he needed a smoke.

"I've been watching over Maya as the little prince had asked," John gives him a questioning look. "I got bored" The bird adds, shrugging in an oddly human manner.

Ruta extricates himself looking sheepish but mostly tired. Kid has probably been stressed and on adrenaline for a while. The sudden feeling of safety just made him crash.

John hesitantly wraps his arms around the kid. The kid freezes but hugs back hesitantly. John tries to lift the kid but the kid stiffens. John honestly had no idea how to hold this kid. He maneuvered his hands clumsily around the kid. Ruta made no objections but he was clearly uncomfortable.

"No. You have to support both of his back and legs. Sometimes you have to lean back a bit to get them to so he leave into you- yeah just like that," Bats instructs, sounding oddly gentle. His usual gravel absent. It kind of scared John, to be honest, so he did his best to follow along.

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

At some point, Maya shows up after her ‘date’ with Damian- not much of a date when there are a bunch of people watching you- and finds Bruce coaching John on how to hold a tired elementary schooler who was drooling on John's favorite beige coat. She tried her best to stifle a laugh. Thankfully, she didn't have to try too hard.

"EXCUSE ME????? B, since when were you a child whisperer?" Dick exclaims as dramatically as humanly possible. Damian and Tim radiated second hand embarrassment while Jason just plays it like he doesn't know his older brother. Maya guessed that if Bruce wasn't used Dick he would be cringing too.

"Nightwing, I've had more than 5 children. I believe I know how to handle children,"

"Uhuh- sure, B. Whatever you say,"

Bruce makes a neutral grunting noise.

"Please tell me you're not adopting that one,"

"Of course no-"

"Yeah sure, B,"

"He's- He's Constantines,"

"Tt, father, you are a terrible influence,"

It is a spectacle to watch Bruce's kids team up on him.

Maya shakes her head and laughs before heading over to John.

“Well, bring me a biscuit and call me Christy Bats’ was right” He mutters rocking the feral child. Ruta’s little arms wrap around him a little tighter.

“‘Course he is, Christy. He’s Batman,” Maya drawls smiling innocently.

"Please never leave him with me again,"

"Dunno, Christy. Looks like you're doing fine,"

tag list:

@idkmanicantenglish (You said any DC content)

@birdy-bat-writes (You enabler)

#john constantine #dc fanfiction #DC comics #parenting #ocs #batman #batfam #good parenting #bad parenting #angst #my wriitng #robins #zantanna zatara

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kaylathekittykat225 · 5 years

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Bonds Across Lifetimes // Dick Grayson X Reader

Warning/s: death, pain, um, flirting? It’s a relationship based one basically

Word Count: 4,217

I thought this was cute, but then again, this is something I wrote almost two years ago and dug up out of my computer, so please don’t judge me too hard core about the corniness.

Here’s my Masterlist.

Enjoy.

—–

Bonds can span lifetimes. The bond of friendship is the foundation to every other bond known to mankind. No one can yet explain how a bond is formed; but whether through magic, other worldly intervention, or something as simplistic as the workings of human emotions, bonds are formed within the first moments of meeting.

Age 8:

Driving through on the outskirts of the city of Gotham is one mistake you would wish your parents never made, but at the same time is happy that you were on the snowy road on the Christmas Eve of 2007.

As you opened your tired eyes, you had to blink multiple times to get the clouds out of your eyes. You looked around, wondering when you fell asleep in the car, taking a while before you notice that the car your family had had as long as you could remember was shoved into a tree on your daddy's side of the car.

"Mommy?" Your young voice squeaked out, looking for your parents around you, not seeing them in the front seats. "Daddy?"

The front window was gone, where did that go too?

You reached for your seat belt, wanting nothing more than to walk around and find where your parents went off to and know why they left you in the car. But your car seat was in the way, pinning the buckle beneath the plastic seat.

"Hello?" All around you from what you could see out the window looked like a bunch of trees with the classic fluffy snowflakes of a Gotham winter covering the car and everything around it.

There were no houses or roads or anything to tell you where you were.

Or the better question, why you were alone in your car.

"Help," Your voice grew quiet, your lower lip began to tremble as warm tears in your eyes began to spill over and run down your cheeks.

A tree branch snapped loudly near you, your sobs stopping to listen for who, or what, was coming near you.

Was it a bear?

Were there even bears in Gotham? Or what if it was Joker, or Penguin, but why would they-

"Robin, really? A stick?"

"Sorry." Two voices began bickering at each other, one sounding older than the other. "I just wanted to get a better look."

Two figures stepped in front of your car; their shadows were all you could see through the heavy snow fall. "They look dead, both of them." The younger of the two voices spoke, the smaller shadow moving around and got darker as it got closer to the car.

"Robin, don't get closer, I smell gasoline." The older and scratchier voice called to the younger one, the shadow stopped getting closer and looked like it started to get farther away.

As the voice spoke, your nose agreed with him, the smell of a gas station whenever your dad would fill up your car filled your nose. You never did like that smell, it smelled like bad corn on the cob. "What if someone else is in the car, Bruce?"

"They would have been killed with the crash as well, there's no way someone could have survived a head on collision with a tree. We need to leave before the cops show up; I called them as soon as I saw the car."

"Wow, you think of everything, Bruce!"

"Robin, it's Batman when we're out on patrol."

"Oh, sorry." The two voices went farther and farther away from you, the shadows fading away.

You wiggled in your seat, trying again to get free from your seat belt keeping you stuck in the car, the gas smell started to like roasting marshmallows and burnt cookies, "Help! Wait! Please! Help me!" Tears rolled down your face as your fingers began to bleed, the plastic cutting into your skin; your screams and sobs now mixing with coughs from the smell and air chocking you.

How could a little one like you possibly understand what the two voices meant when your parents were dead? How could they be? You just saw them a minute ago when they were driving home.

"Help!" Your voice croaked, the loud screaming hurting your throat, the snot you kept swallowing didn't help either.

Something loudly boomed on the roof of your car, a blanket covered the window behind you, which somehow was still together after being shoved into a tree. The only thing now that allowed you to see was the fire burning from the front of your car.

Wait, fire?

"Hi." A face popped in front of your broken window out of nowhere, the hot yellow fire lighting up his black mask and the smile on his face. The sudden movement proceeded to cause you to scream again, leaning into the corner of your car seat with nowhere to go. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here to get you out." You nodded your head after noticing that he talked like a kid your age.

The boy took out a knife, the silver glinting in the fire light, oh right, the fire. You looked over at the front of the car and saw the fire coming closer to you. "You're free." The boy told you, grabbing your hand to pull you out the window and led you away from your car and the tree it was smashed into.

As soon as the two of you stepped behind a tree, a loud and resounding boom filled your ears, a shock wave shaking the ground beneath you.

You pressed your hands to your ears; all you could hear was ringing while you felt someone hugging you to them. Their breath hitting your face, their own heart beat pounding against your cheek, the rate easily out racing your own.

---

There you were.

Shivering in the cold snow up to your ankles, your purple dress torn and tattered.

Your right foot was cold, that shoe lost in the car you now stared at, the flames flickering and lighting up you E/C eyes, still wet from crying.

Your parents were dead.

Leaving you alone in the woods, cold, and with only one shoe.

"You okay?" The person who pulled you out of the car stood next to you, you noticed he was a little taller than yourself.

"Mhm," He nodded with you, wrapping his cape around your shoulders as you shivered. The Robin logo on his chest now visible to you, confirming that the masked person beside you was in fact Robin, one half of the Gotham Caped Crusaders your parents always talked about.

"Um, Batman is just calling the police, and then you can come with us if you want." Your eyes met the white lenses of his mask before you smiled at him. "I'm...I'm Robin by the way. But I bet you already knew that." He smiled down at you; your eyes being even with his mouth saw a missing front tooth, waiting for a new one to replace it.

"I'm Y/N," You said, giggling at the hole in his mouth, his own confused look contorted his face, questioning why you were laughing at him. "Your tooth is gone."

"Yeah," His smile grew wider as he showed off his missing tooth, proudly placing his hands on his hips. "I lost it last week and everything!"

"Cool! I got both of mine a while ago! See." You smiled like him, showing off your two big kid teeth. He looked in your mouth and his smile turned into a pout, crossing his arms over his chest to emphasize his unhappiness.

"That's no fair. I wanna have my big kid front teeth." You wanted to say more, but a big hand gently pushed the two of you forward, one on each of your backs. Your eyes followed the hand up and saw the masked face of Batman.

"Let's get you two kids home. Y/N, I have someone who's willing to take you in. Welcome to the team." His scratchy voice wasn't so scratchy anymore; it was like he cleared his throat of snot.

You and Robin met each other's stare and giggled, quickly racing each other towards the Batmobile, while the legal driver watched you two with a rare smile on his face, happy that Dick may finally have someone close to his age to be friends with.

Bonds can form from a single look. A single touch.

Science still can't explain how they are formed, or why they are so powerful to break.

But it is the challenges they go through that tests the everlasting strength of a bond.

Age 14:

You sighed loudly, but not loud enough apparently to interrupt Zatanna very openly flirting with Robin. Now you wouldn't be totally bothered by this, if it weren't for the fact that the two of you were dating.

A year long relationship with Dick Grayson was the best thing that had ever happened to you, but it was hard to conceal your feelings toward him when the two of you are in the field together.

At Gotham Academy, the both of you are the open couple, at least, open in the fact that the two of you were almost always seen together, holding hands, trying to out run the other in gym, where ever Y/N was, Dick wasn't far behind, the same way around. Having to go into the stoic, teammate only based relationship of being Robin and Y/S/N, you were slowly going mad.

"Aw, come on, Robin, just one date, like coffee, or food, or anything that will get you out of Mount Justice." Granted, you loved Zee, but not right now. Sitting across from the two as one flirted and the other tried writing a report for Batman wanted to make you sick.

"Ah, young love," Wally sighed as he flopped down onto the couch cushion next to you, his masked pulled down as he chuckled at how awkward his best friend was females. "Isn't it just beautiful."

You grunted in response, if you had the power of Superman's heat vision, the hole in Zatanna would be huge. "Hey, Y/S/N, hello." Wally snapped his fingers in front of your eyes, trying to get any reaction from you, he had just made the best joke and no one heard it! What wasted potential.

Shaking your head, you turned to the ginger, apologizing, "Sorry, was accidentally practicing my Batglare."

Wally hummed, turning back at the two awkwardly flirting teenagers, amazed that his ladysman friend wasn't jumping at the opportunity to go on a date with one of the hottest YJ members, "So why is it that Zatanna's the target for your glare?"

A blush quickly made its way up to your cheeks as you diverted your eyes away from the two raven haired teenagers, "She's not, I was just staring in that direc-"

"Oh. Oh, I get it!" Wally shot to his feet, a wide grin on his face as he became aware of what you were up to. "You like Robin!"

"Wh-what! N-no! What made you think that?" Ad hard as you tried to play off Wally's accusation, the ginger saw right through you.

"Oh darling, you've got it bad for him! How long have you liked him? When was it, have you made a move what about..." His lips moved a mile a minute, his words all getting jumbled together as his excitement built.

"Wally!" You screeched, jumping on top of him to firmly press your hand against his mouth to shut him up. "Stop that!" The two of you were not in a funky looking predicament, with you straddling his waist and your face hovering close to his.

"I will not!"

"Ew! Why did you just lick me!" You pulled your hand back, wiping the spit on your pants to get the nasty liquid off. "So, what if I like him?" You kept your voice low, hoping Robin couldn't hear or see the two of you.

"That means so much! You wouldn't believe how much he talks about you! It gets so annoying!"

"Wally! Would you shut it!" You tried moving your hand over his mouth again, but he was prepared, using his speed to flip the two of you over to have him straddling you, his hands pinning your above your head.

"Come on, Y/S/N, what's so bad about liking Robin, it's not like he's a dick or something." You rolled your eyes as the speedster giggled at his own immature joke, not knowing you fully knew Robin on both sides of the cape.

"Honestly Wallace, could you be anymore immature," You growled at him, his face almost immediately washing of any color when you said that. "I finally did it, silenced the ever-chatty Kid Flash."

But Wally didn't react to your jeering, he stared down at you in disbelief, his bright green eyes wide with shock, shock you didn't know you had caused. "Okay Wally, close your mouth before you start drooling on me."

He kept staring at you, almost in a trance while you tried wiggling out from under him. "Wally, don't make me use your...full..." Your eyes widened as you realized what you did. "Crap!"

You as Y/S/N never called him Wallace, you weren't even supposed to know his full name, Y/N, on the other hand, you and he were practically brother and sister with how close the two of you were. "Wally, snap out of it." You groaned as you tried pushing against his hands, but his entire body weight was pressing into them.

What do you do?

What can you do?

Groaning, you accepted defeat, "Uh, hey Robin." Your voice was kinda meek, not really wanting to pull the conversation of those two to you now, even if you were still sick of seeing Zatanna try making a move on your boyfriend. "Could I get some help?"

His head pooped up from the kitchen where he tried retreating from Zatanna to, even though she easily followed him, eyebrows raising when he saw the two of you. "Y-Y/S/N. Wh-what's this?" Even with the mask on, you could read him like an open book, he was confused and almost hurt seeing the two of you situated like that.

"Wally and I were having a wrestling match and then he froze. Just get him off me, I'm losing feeling of my hands." He slowly nodded and ran over to grab hold of Wally, pulling him up and off you.

"Holy...you weren't kidding when you said that he was frozen, he's like a ton of bricks!" Robin groaned as he shoved his limp friend onto the floor next to the two of you, reaching his hand down to pull you to your feet. "What'd you do to him?"

"Well..."

"Y/N?!" Wally decided that this was his time to wake back up from his weird trance like state, his arms flailing as he tried figuring out where he was instead of leaning over you like he was before.

"Wally!" You hissed back, your eyes couldn't be seen behind your black domino mask, but you were quickly glancing at Zatanna who was trying to hide in the kitchen.

"But...you're...the two of you...huh?!"

"Honestly," Robin gently wrapped his arm around our waist, pulling you closer to his side. Looking up at him he had his signature smirk on his face as he smiled down at you. "I'm surprised it took him this long to figure it all out."

You giggled at his comment, smiling at the thought as well. "Oh yeah, I mean, we are supposed to be his best friends."

Wally stood dumb founded before the two of you, his jaw about ready to drop to the floor as he realized this wasn't a joke. "What the hell! Why am I now just figuring out that Y/S/N is Y-" You once again reached forward and slapped your hand over his mouth.

"Wally, another talk for another time, we have an audience now." Zatanna had now fully stepped out of the kitchen, M'gann floating near her, Artemis also looking over her shoulder to see what was going on. "Well, the cats more or less out of the bag," You muttered, still feeling Dick's arm around you, the three girls were all staring at how touchy he was being with you.

"Wanna just come clean?" Nodding up at your boyfriend, you smiled and stood on your tiptoes to press your lips against his, his other arm finds your waist pulled you flush against his body while your arms went around his neck to keep you steady.

"Called it! Pay up!"

"Dang it, I thought I had him!"

"Wally? Hey, Wally you okay? Guys, I think they broke Wally."

The bond of friendship is the building block and foundation to all other bonds. Bonds are meant to grow over time, never staying the same, having the ups and downs. It's the ups and downs that make the bonds stronger. Bonds are always tested, always pushed to its limit, just to see if the bond will stand the test of time.

Age 20:

You sighed as you watched Tim type away on the main monitor of the Batcave in front of the two of you. You were happily sitting by yourself in the large bat like chair watching as the team patrolled around Gotham, you stuck in the Batcave with a busted collar bone, a hip still sore from being dislocated and the job of making sure Tim didn't die from that concussion he got last night.

Tim decided to push Alfred's buttons, who was making a late-night dinner for the crusaders, and sneak downstairs to the cave and use this grounded time to practice his hacking. And in order to get to the monitor, he needed to get you away from it.

"Was jumping me really necessary?" You groaned as you shook your head working on waking yourself up from being bopped over the head with a stapler.

"Sorry," He gave you an apologetic smile before turning back to the monitor, from where you were sitting you could see he had about fifteen different tabs open, all of them being used at the same time and somehow not slowing down the processor.

Tim began muttering to himself about he needed to out hack the Robin hacking system Dick installed to train hackers on how to hack and keep outsider hackers out. Honestly, you were surprised he didn't three more 'hacks' into that sentence.

"Timmy," You groaned as you tried pulling on the rope, your shoulder twinging in pain as you worked to free yourself. "You're going to make this all worse for yourself. You won't be able to go out as Red Robin for weeks if you keep looking at that huge computer."

"But I need to keep up my practice. I need to get better!" Apparently reasoning with a concussed teenager doesn't work well. Who knew.

"Tim, come on, just go back up to Jay's room, we put you in there to stop you from using any of your tablets or computers. You need to rest."

"Have you ever been in Jason's room, I think he left a tuna fish sandwich in there and forgot about it! It smells so bad in there."

You quietly whimpered in pain, you normally weren't this emotional, but with your arm being tied behind your back and your pain meds wearing off, your mind was going through the roof with the pain you were in.

"Timothy, Tim, Timmy, TimTim," Shutting your eyes, you muttered as many little nicknames you could as you tried blocking out the pain. "Can you at least give me ibuprofen?"

"Yeah, give me five minutes."

You gulped, knowing Tim had already forgotten about your request even within ten seconds of him answering you. "Dammit Dick, where the hell are you?"

To say you were angry was an understatement. Your shoulder was pounding, the boy you were told to babysit knocked you out and tied you up and was clearly loopy, watching him click on the same tab five times before realizing that he was clicking the wrong one.

Twenty minutes had passed, and Tim was becoming more and more confused with every second he sat in front of that computer, he wasn't even responding to you calling his name. You resorted to calling out to Alfred, but even he wasn't responding. "Holy crap Tim, did you knock Alfred out too!" Still no answer.

You tried pulling yourself to your feet, but your hip locked up, as if telling you to not even think of moving. "Remind me to tell Batman to never let me babysit Tim again when he's sick."

From outside, you heard the loud roar of the Batmobile followed by the quiet purr of Jason's motorcycle. Thanking every god you could think of, even if it took forever for them to get back, to sighed in relief as the two of them pulled in. "Honey I'm home!" Dick joyously cried as he hopped out of the shotgun seat of the Batmobile.

"Get Tim away from the computer!" You barked at him, leaving Dick confused while he looked for your voice. "Richard Grayson get Tim away from that computer." You ordered once again, not needing him wasting time looking around like the idiot he could be sometimes.

Bruce swished past where you were hidden and pulled Tim out of the chair, pushing him onto the medical bed just to the side to get him away from the bright monitor. "Y/N, why'd you let him out of the room?!" Bruce still had his Batman voice going as he checked Tim's eyes, while the teen weakly fought back.

"I'm sorry he jumped me with a stapler!" You screamed back, Dick finally able to find you, he himself quickly running to you.

"What do you mean he jumped you?!"

"He came up behind me and hit me on the head, with a stapler! How is that so hard to understand Bruce!" You screamed back at him, Jason was slowly sneaking upstairs to see if Alfred had any food ready, he wasn't really in the mood to hear his family scream at each other all night. "You trained him! You taught him how to pick any damn lock!"

"Y/N, babe, calm down." This was very out of normal behavior for you, sure you weren't the most level-headed person, but you were acting very rashly about this. He finally undid the rope around your wrists and helped you to your feet, slipping his arm under your legs and picked you up, keeping very gentle care of both your hip and shoulder.

Hiding you face in your boyfriend's shoulder, you finally had time to calm down, "How am I supposed to calm down when Bruce is blaming me for being jumped? Plus, my arm fricking hurts."

The blacknette sighed "When was the last time you had your meds?" He kicked the up button on the elevator, waiting for the pulley system to meet him at the bottom. He thought he heard you say when they left, but he must have heard wrong. "What was that?"

"When you left." Your voice was louder now, but still muffled by his shoulder, meek in having to confess that you were really in pain right now.

Dick groaned in annoyance, "Babe, no wonder you're so moody." Mumbling an apology, Dick stepped into the elevator and rode it up to the entrance out into Wayne Manor. He walked the two of you up the stairs to his bedroom where he gently placed you on the bed and walked into the bathroom.

You grabbed one of his pillows and shoved your face into it, smiling as his smell filled your nose.

The gentle shake of a pill bottle pulled you out of your pillow cuddle moment and you slowly sat up, seeing Dick had changed into sweatpants and one of his skin tight t shirts, hugging every one of his muscles, somehow making him look more muscular than he really was. "Let's get you some pain meds," He muttered, slipping two of the small red pills into your hand, and pressing a glass of water into the other.

Faster than he could do a back flip, you down the pills and the cup of water, handing it to him as a shudder ran through your body. "Honestly, Gotham needs a new water filtering system." You muttered while hacking, trying to get the metallic taste out of your mouth.

"Or you could just get used to it." He chuckled as he slipped in under the covers with you, sliding himself closer to you till he could at least wrap an arm around you.

You hummed as you considered his offer, "Nah, I'll just keep hating." The smile on your face was very evident as you felt Dick's chest vibrate behind you.

The two of you fell into small talk, asking him how the mission was, anything interest. Whether Bruce's car still smells like slushies from when the two of you bought said drink and spilled it everywhere. This slowly faded away as you felt your eyes get heavier as you felt sleep finally taking you over.

Well you were almost asleep.

"A stapler? Really?"

"Why don't I hit you over the head with one and you can see how well it works Bruce!"

Bonds are meant to be tested. To stretch. To grow. To twist and turn. Almost as though they were meant to be pushed past breaking.

But the best of bonds never break, they are strong through determination and the will of two young super hero legends, no bond between the two can break. It will only grow stronger. Stronger through every day spent together and every day they spend together.

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anxiouslowercase · 4 years

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birthday boy, a bruce wayne/zatanna zatara drabble

fandom: dc comics warnings: none notes: both of them are in their twenties, and zatanna is high key crushing on bruce. basically the written bit of this edit because i’ve been in a batanna kick lately.

"You'd think that at a Wayne enterprises gala, one mister Wayne would be one of the first people to be ready." The heel of her shoes clicks on each step she takes down the staircase, and though she might have done a little something to amplify the sound for dramatic effect (she's always down for a good performance, after all) there's no reaction. Not that she was genuinely expecting one. "I should've known better than to wait for you. Alfred, i am shocked you're condoning this behaviour."

"I am merely here to remind Master Bruce of his other, equally important obligations - but you try to get him to look away from that computer of his." Alfred's face, an incredible mix of seriousness and mockery, immediately draws a bubbly chuckle from her; though once again, that's about the only reaction any of them get.

"Oh, I will."

"Should I remind you you invited yourself to this party, Zee?" She keeps walking towards him, curious to see if she imagined that small hint of a smirk in his words. However, he finally stands up as she gets closer, so much so that she feels he'll walk right into her. Her gaze falls to the floor right away, a light pink blush rushing to cover her cheeks. She's known this man for so many years now, yet her heartbeat keeps picking up whenever he's too close, when she feels like she could potentially hold all of his attention for more than one second. It's all very stupid, Zatanna believes, because after all that's exactly what she wants. But alas - a person in love functions in weird ways she's still learning to control. It doesn't help when he takes off his shirt so carelessly and why is he so stupidly attractive.

"I remember," she finally says, clearing her throat and trying to still sound chill and above it, despite her gaze darting to the side. "And I also remember asking- no, telling you to pick me up. Which you didn't." Her arms cross over her chest, and when she finally dares to look back at him, there's that ridiculous smirk of his. Oh, how she hates it (and the way her heart skips a beat to it.)

"Got caught up at-"

"At work; I know, I know. To be honest, I knew you wouldn't go." Their eyes meet and she's so glad she's wearing a long dress, because she's pretty sure her knees are shaking a little.

"I'm sorry." He sounds sincere, so of course her lips curl up with ease, her whole expression softening. Damn him.

"It's fine," she says, with a sigh that she hopes sounds more done than enamored. "I'm here anyways, so now you have no chance but to take me with you."

Bruce rolls his eyes as he adjusts the cufflinks on his shirt, but she's pretty sure there's still a hint of a smile on his face. So she grins, too.

"Come on, B., I even dressed up in actual stars for you! For your gala." She twirls, quickly, and hopes that'll be enough to conceal the new wave of blush at her slip. He's raising an eyebrow at her once she comes to a stop, but Zatanna knows him enough to understand that's at her magic rather than her.

"Actual stars?"

"I might have borrowed a constellation or two." At his head shake, she knows the crisis has been averted.

"You look pretty." Or maybe she was wrong.

It's hard to tell whether she's blushing again, if she went completely white or completely red. Her heart is beating a bit too fast for her liking, and she feels a bit lightheaded. And all this for some innocent, probably just polite compliment? She wants to slap herself, but apparently her body is not responding to her right now. Emoc no, eez.

"Well, it's not every day you're allowed at one of the hottest events in Gotham." That wasn't so bad, right? "You look very handsome yourself. Or, well, you would if it weren't for the crooked tie."

Mentally taking a deep breath, she calmly walks up to him to fix his tie. In all fairness, the magician thinks she's doing an amazing job considering her fingers look pretty steady despite her being a bit too close and easily smelling his cologne. She makes it a point not to look up to his face until after she's done and she's taken some steps back, though. He looks absolutely unfazed and ridiculously attractive.

"Better now."

"Thank you." She bows, playfully, still trying very hard to pretend her pulse isn't barely getting back to normal.

"Anything for the birthday boy." Oh she's so glad to see that flicker of surprise cross his eyes! She barely (not to say never) gets to catch him off-guard. "Don't give me that look - why did you think I wanted to attend this party in the first place?" She chuckles, but doesn't wait his response before turning around to make her way back to the staircase. "Yppah yadhtrib, ecurB." She wiggles her fingers a little (mostly for dramatic effect) and a small box with a bow lands on the floor in the space between them. "See you at the party."

#batanna #bruce wayne #zatanna zatara #batman x zatanna #ch.: bruce wayne #ch.: zatanna zatara #r.: bruce and zatanna #w.: drabble

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harveywritings92 · 5 years

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Bloodlines: Vampire Dick Grayson x Reader 2/4 *Edited*

The following is a non profit fan based story Batman, Red hood, Nightwing etc. belongs to DC Comics please support the official release.

I gain no profit from this nor do I own anything other then OCs and whatever sprouts from my imagination. Thanks for reading!

Warning long!

three weeks later...

Dick felt empty and trapped as he listened to Zatanna and M'gann chatter about dresses and what shop they should hit up next, The vampire just sighed he exhausted he'd been a avoiding Y/n hoping he thirst and lust for her would go away, but it didn't. It only made him want her more... blood packs just weren't doing it for him anymore.

They were mostly congealed and tasted stale. Dark bags started to form under Dick's eyes because of how tired and starved he was for Y/n's blood and touch. But he couldn't just break up Zee they've been dating for three years had sex weeks ago! and now suddenly he wants to break up? oh... that'll definitely look good to everyone.

Dick was brought out of his thoughts when his nose found a familiar scent he breathed in and looked around before his eyes found her... Y/n, She was wearing his jacket, Dick mouth felt dry. but the same time he was salivating at the thought of Y/n's sweet blood rolling down his throat, the memories of the little noises she'd make if he bit down too hard, The way her scent would mix and mingle with his, how warm her body always felt pressed against his own...Dick wanted that! he wanted Y/n. "Dick?" Zatanna's voice caused him to snap out of it.

"..uh, duh what?" He said turned to Zatanna who was pouting at him. "I asked if this looks good on me?" she said holding up a light blue dress "uh I guess?" he said unsure causing the magician girl to roll her eyes "Boys can't take them anywhere." she muttered then grabbed a purple dress "How about--" She blinked seeing Dick gone Zatanna let out annoyed huff and continued her shopping.

Meanwhile

Y/n was browsing through some of the shops trying to get grasp on some normalcy after the incident A lot girls really liked Dr. Nigel so when it came to light that She was the one who was attacked and reported him. Well Y/n had been getting a lot threats and her house was egged and TP'd more than once, and someone had trashed and spray painted some very classy names on her car. She suddenly understood why girls were always scared of telling anyone about their ordeals.

the H/c figured she'd give school a break for while let everything blow over, and let the Nigel fan-club's anger and infatuation simmer down and let them grow a conscious or disbanded. she looked down at her scarred wrist "Oh it won't scar it's not that deep..." she mumbled mocking her doctor, then she felt the healed punctures from Dick bite itch her brows furrow they did that when... in seconds her good arm was in a firm hold and the [e/c] girl was suddenly being dragged through the mall she went to scream only to spy a familiar mop of black hair peeking out from under the stranger's dark blue hoodie. "Dick?" she said only to shushed and be pulled in to a dark room where the stores keep the spare mannequins.

Y/n's breath hitched when she saw the faint red glow of Dick's eyes from under his sunglasses, he was breathing hard as he kept his eyes glued on her. something didn't feel right, It took a sect for her eyes to adjust. but when Y/n got good look a Dick, he look rough... like he hadn't slept in days and was sweating and swaying about like he was drunk "Dick are you okay?" she asked warily he let out a chuckle causing a shiver to go down [Y/n]'s spine it sound... off husky and forced not like Dick at all...

"Asking if I'm alright...after what happen to you, hehe classic n/n.~"

"Dick you ghost me for weeks then drag me into dark room--"

"I'm hungry."

"Then drink a blood pack co's I kinda pissed at you right now."

Y/n huffed and tried get around him, only for Dick let out an inhuman growl and suddenly trap her against the wall and himself. His lips crashed against hers and forced his tongue down her throat, Y/n tried pushing him away, but he was stronger then any human man was, she'd seen him throw grown man 10 ft across a parking lot for groping her ass once. Then [h/c] tried to see if she could pull the same trick she pulled on Nigel she found herself stuck, he used his body to keep her still as he moved from her lips to licking nibbling at her neck as his fangs scraped her along jugular.

Y/n took a sharp breath when she felt Dick's hand slip under her skirt and she thought out carefully what she was going to say "If you do this...You're no better than Dr.Nigel..." She said listlessly that seem to snapped Dick out of whatever came over him, his eyes slowly lost the red color turned back to blue and he immediately pulled away from Y/n distraught and horrified at what he almost did...He looked sick and threw a hand over his mouth he felt like throwing up. "I'm Sorry..." was all he said before running out of the room leaving Y/n alone she pulled her knees to her chest and hugged herself "no...I'm sorry." she whimpered.

later

Dick got back to the manor distressed and disgusted with himself he hid in his room, Ignoring calls from Zee and Wally asking where he disappeared too? he ignored Alfred who left a cooler of blood-packs and plate of cookies on his dresser, Bruce eventually got involved and that's where Dick came clean, he told his adopted father everything. His and Y/n pact, Nigel, the urges and what he almost did to her. Bruce being a dhampire was silent as he took everything in.

"How long?" Bruce asked referring to Dick and Y/n's Bloodbond, his son hugged pillow to himself. "almost seven years...this has never hap--I don't know." Bruce held up a hand to silence him. "And no one else's blood can keep you full or calm? just Y/n's?" the boy nodded Bruce felt his stomach drop he knew exactly what was happening because his father would act the exact same way towards his mother."I think you may have accidentally formed a marriage pact with Y/n somehow."

Dick looked at his foster father confused. Marriage pact? not possible He and Y/n would had to have mixed their blood and consumed-- his eyes widened when he remember an accident when they were twelve...

he and a kidnapped Y/n were caught in an explosion by Penguin they got buried under some rubble, Dick and her got hurt real bad like cut up and coughing up blood bad, they were trapped he was scared and thought they were both going to die... he kissed Y/n without even thinking! their blood must've mixed from their wounds...

And once an marriage pact has formed there's no breaking it unless one of them dies, and the only way to calm Dick down was for him to consummate with Y/n and drink from her every now and then.

Now Dick felt even more distraught because this meant he was technically cheating on Y/n with Zatanna, which was making him feel sick and Zee doesn't even know he's a vampire! which made him feel more crumby,

because and this very shitty to admit, he was never actually in love with Zatanna through their whole relationship, he was just using her to make Y/n jealous! He was in Love with Y/n, he always had been since they were kids. But always assumed she viewed him as a brother and would never see him like a lover.

So he when found out Zatanna liked him, Dick used that in an attempt to get Y/n's attention, but when she didn't seem too interested the e/c just smiled and said she was happy for them, Dick was forced to continue on with the relationship hoping he'd come to like Zatanna and he did...as a friend.

Everytime he was with Zee, his thoughts would always wonder back to Y/n, picturing her pretty e/c eyes, bright smile, her quick wit and how brave she was to stand up to him and try to calm down when he was blood raged, or the way she stood up for any vamps being harassed at school or on the street.

...As for Zatanna? Well, He's heard and seen the way she views vampires it's been very... intolerant. She would absolutely refuse to go on missions with any vamp teammates unless she had no choice and stays as far from them as possible, or doesn't even bother to help any Vampire civilians who were injured in mission crossfire.

“Bruce, could you leave me alone for while?” Dick’s voice as he swallowed “..I have a lot to think about.” Bruce nodded patted his foster son’s shoulder, sympathetically before leaving Dick to his thoughts.

Dick avoided Y/n after that for months, every time she stop by to see Dick and try to talk to him, But Alfred would tell her he was on a mission or busy with Bruce. She heard from Wally that he'd broken up with Zatanna which came to a shock to her, Y/n actually tried to force her way into the manor give Dick a piece of her mind. But he good at hiding soon she just stopped showing up all together.

Dick would find himself standing anxiously at his window waiting to see her walking up the driveway. or he'd find himself standing out in front of her house debating if he should knock or not? only to walk away or be scared off by one of Y/ns neighbors.

Then the vials started showing up, little wrapped boxes with vials of red liquid that Bruce had tested and found out they were Y/n's blood. she must have started dropping them off as way of keep Dick healthy and calm...keep Dick calm? Bruce's eyes widened and he rush of the Bat-cave and drove to the girl's home leaving the vials for Alfred to send to Dick. The taupe haired girl nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Bruce standing in her living room.

"You knew..."

"I knew what?"

"About the marriage pact!"

"Oh...that, yeah. I guess I did."

Batman eyed her incredulously wondering why she hadn't she said anything? or rather how had she known. Y/n got to work putting her groceries away and explained. "One of my neighbors is a vamp, I would go to her for advice about Dick...then we got on the subject of pacts." she rubbed her neck looking sadly at wall.

"I said something must be wrong with mine, because I could feel a tug or an itch when he was near by, She congratulated me on my engagement." Y/n seemed nonchalant about the whole mess, not true. She’d been binging on chocolate ice cream and crappy hallmark movies for weeks.

While thinking about Dick and how stupid she was about not telling him about the pact or her feelings before all this happened, all because she didn't want him to be forced to stay with her because of the pact, So she hid behind a smile and witty jokes every time he introduced her to a girl he seemed interested in.

Bruce saw the bandages on her arms and the bags under Y/n's eyes and stressed and sick she looked and realized this whole thing was taking a toll on her health. "Why didn't you tell him?" he asked the green eyed girl sighed as she tried to come up with an answer.

"He looked happier with Zatanna and everyone kept saying how they looked good together...all I could do was smile." She felt she was standing in Dicks way and figured she should step aside and let him be happy despite her own feelings, "And I figured he'd tell Zee he's a vamp form a pact with her and forget about me all together..." with a shaky breath she looked up at Bruce.

"Am I a bad person?" she asked crying without realizing it, Batman was silent before he reached out and pat her head "No, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He said in a fatherly tone a ghost of a smile played on his lips and just like he was gone leaving Y/n alone to think...

a few days later...

Y/n decided that the best to dealing with this mess was to try to ignore it and get over it. Try and move on... find normal boring human boy to love and let Dick hate her for the rest of her miserable life, It was gonna be hard. Her first course of action hide or get rid of anything that reminded her of Dick...

The h/c snorted as she looked around her house, it was gonna be a busy day, the place was practically Dick's second home he had clothes, toys and kept a few back up Robin or rather now Nightwing suits hidden around, in case his was too damaged or dirty.

Y/n sighed sadly as she searched around her house filling a three Rubbermaid bins with Dick's things and begrudging began the task of pulling the bins up into her attic.

She pulled the stairs down and hummed Goodbye horses under her breath then paused her 'Shenan-Dick-gans' senses were tingling she glared into the dark attic it seemed too innocent..., she went back down to the main floor,

went into her bathroom grabbed a can of air freshener went back up the attic stairs and sprayed and sure enough blue lasers from a motion security system filled her vision. "Son of a..." She grumbled and dug through one of the bins and found an old code sequencer and after a few minutes of tweaking and breaking through Dick's firewalls she was in.

Y/n heard the hum of the security system shutting down. she tossed the gadget back into the bin and turned on the attic lights and rolled her eyes. "When fuck did he...how did he even.." She was impressed, Of course Dick Grayson would somehow smuggle a god damn bat computer into her house....

The h/c was flabbergasted that she never noticed, but then again, looking back on it Dick was oddly insistent on getting her holiday decorations out himself. she always thought he was just being chivalrous...

"God I suck." she grumbled before going the get the bins when something fell out of one of them. a collapsible escrima stick... Dick gave it to her saying he'll teach her how to use it later...Later never really happened. But she seen and trained enough with Bruce to know at least the basic art of self-defense, After some thought Y/n decided to keep it, you never know in Gotham city. The h/c didn't know right she was.

Later that night.

Y/n was shaking due to the cold or nerves, She hated feeling this exposed she wince tugging her dress down only for it ride back up, it was too damn short, she wasn't used to it yes Y/n has worn a dress before, but those were fancy gowns at galas Dick invited her to, and those dresses cost more than her bills and covered her ass and legs!

Not whatever the hell this was...She glared down at the black and blue cocktail dress that Mandy lent her...speaking of which where the fuck was Amanda? she let out a hiss checking her phone, as the clacking of heels echoed down the sidewalk.

"Finally what took you..." Y/n felt her skin prickle when she, looked up and saw the ditzy blond she'd somehow befriended at work come prancing down the sidewalk and not alone like she said she’d be, Y/n grabbed the blond and pulled her into a huddle.

"I thought this was girls night, who are they?" The h/c hissed glaring at the two men standing idly by the brown haired wink the e/c girl felt her stomach flop and not in a good way. "These two yummy boys are Matt and Derek." Mandy chirped oblivious to her friend's mood.

"Okay and?"

They are our wait for it... dates!~"

"...What?! why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you would've said no."

Y/n was floored "and with good reason, We don't know them!" Mandy rolled her eyes ignorantly as the brown haired guy approached them "Everything all right?" he ask with feigned concern before the e/c could even protest, her blond friend threw a hand over her mouth. "Oh, don't mind her she's just down because her boyfriend dumped her.~" If looks could kill Y/n was glaring daggers at Mandy as the man standing before smirked.

"Well, then I'll be sure to have some extra fun with you tonight.~" He purred giving her a once over Y/n felt like throwing up as Mandy dragged her into the club, the h/c felt her skin crawl for the last hour they've been here she hadn't touched her drink.

instead she was focusing on the surroundings years of being with the Bats had taught her to always be on guard when her instincts are telling her to get out! and right now? Her instincts were screaming for her to miraculously develop speedster abilities and get the fuck out of dodge!

They're called Fodder bars, vamps use them as a front to trick unsuspecting humans into false sense of security, The vamps would get the human drunk or drugged up and then it was free game, Men were the "lucky losers" in this sort of situation they were killed once they were drained. women however...well they were usually 'used' and sold to human trafficking once the male Vamps were done with them.

Y/n could see the passed out drunks and 'necking' couples scattered through out the bar, She looked over at Mandy who was barely on her second drink and was already tipsy.

...So, sedatives then, Y/n noticed Matt eyeing her like a piece of meat the way he licked his lips, she could see his fangs occasionally peeking from his gums. the h/c swallowed she felt more eyes watching her.

She heard Mandy giggle and looked over and saw Derek trying to lead her into a darker part in the bar that's it! "Get the hell away from her!" Y/n snapped her voice seem to resonate over the bars music everything went quiet and everyone was looking right at her

"Y/n!~ you're embarrassing me!~" Mandy whined stomping her foot, While Y/n pulled the blond away from Derek who was glaring. "Mandy we have to go..." The e/c saw red eyes and the dark and heard a few thumps in the from somewhere in the bar, drained bodies being thrown aside no doubt.

"Now." Y/n hissed Mandy protest whining about how she was having fun. "Man-" before she could saying thing else Y/n had taken out the escrima stick and just as Matt lunged at her, he went flying into the booth stunned clutching his stomach.

*goddammit my arm, Why is it always my arm!?* Y/n winced in pain as blood streamed from her arm, but held her ground she felt her skin itch. Dick...He was somewhere outside Y/n could feel him.

She felt Mandy grab her hand hid behind her back shaking. "We're leaving... Don't like it? kiss my warm blooded ass!" she snarled Derek tried to grab her only to get 50,000 volts to the manhood. He screamed like a little girl before looking up at the girls, holding his crotch.

"Kill the bitch..." He squeaked and like that all hell broke lose, the women were surrounded. "Mandy, I'm going to distract them...When I tell you, You're gonna go outside." The blond started shaking her head no as the h/c shushed her and looked back at her "Your going go outside and you're going to scream for help as loud as you can..." The blond whimpered as Y/n backed them toward an open window.

One of the vamps lunged at Y/n manage to knock them back, then turned to Mandy "Now Amanda go,go!" the crying blond climbed up the bar she and crawled out the window, and landed out into the alley below and started screaming as figured landed from the rooftops, The gray woman eyed sobbed in relief as she recognized the figure as Nightwing she threw herself at him.

Vigilante was surprised as the blond hugged him and she sobbed into his chest, "Help her! help her please!" He looked around confused he couldn't see anyone else in the alley. "Who?" he asked the blond pointed at the bar "Y/n! they'll kill her!" Nightwing felt his heart sink into his feet. and he rushed into to the bar and felt bile rise in his throat when he realized it was a fodder bar.

He dodged a body being thrown in his direction, his nose just barely caught Y/n's scent through the dwindling sage incense in the air and saw her, To say Dick was stunned was understatement he was absolutely gobsmacked he had no idea Y/n could fight...her reactions were sloppy but, she was holding her own.

He noticed Y/n was favoring her right side she winced and hugged her waist, the vigilante saw a female vampire sneaking up behind her Dick got his sticks out "Y/n, Duck!" He barked The h/c dodged an escrima flying towards her. it hit the female vamp knocking her out cold,

the e/c girl looked behind her at the knock out Vampire then back Dick who ran up to her he felt prideful 'my girl just took on an entire den of Vampires!' that pride slowly turned terror, when he realized why she was favor her side Y/n was bleeding heavily he saw her arm cut open again... and there was a tear in her dress showing a large gash on her hip.

Nightwing saw the other vamps slowly advancing on them he wouldn't be able to take them all and watch over Y/n at the same time, So he did something he never thought he'd ever do, he released his aura field the pressure from it caused the bar's foundation to groan in protest, The Vampire's looked around fearfully wondering where this scary energy was coming from?

they looked at Nightwing who had gathered Y/n in his arms then turned to them "Move..." he ordered they gave them a wide birth as Dick walked out of the bar, He found Mandy sitting on the curve crying into her phone she gasped seeing the vigilante walk out of the bar, with a bloody Y/n in his arms sirens could be heard in the distances coming in fast. He left Y/n with her and took off into the Night.

-------

At Gotham general hospital

After everything was taken care of Nightwing snuck into Y/n's hospital room his sensitive ears could hear everything and everyone moving about their business, He stared at the h/c woman passed out in the bed then checked up her chart 24 stitches..and an unknown sedative was found in her bloodstream.

What the hell was Y/n even doing in that bar? it was too seedy for her tastes. "It was Mandy's idea..." He blinked and saw e/c eyes staring at him warily. Dick sat down at the edge of her bed. "She said I needed to lighten up and invited me to "girl's night" except it wasn't just us girls.." She stood up wincing as her stitched stretched.

"She tricked me, It was a double date." she missed how Dick's eye twitched when she mentioned it was a date, He felt rot slowly settle in him as the H/c continued explaining how she ended up in that bar and what led to her fighting off a hoard of vampires.

But Dick was stuck on the fact that she still with those two guys despite knowing what they were up to and what could've happened to her if he hadn't gotten there in time." So, that's what you been up to, hanging out with other guys?" he spat venom lacing his tone, Y/n brows furrowed why the hell is he upset about that?

"It wasn't my Idea -."

"Oh yeah "Mandy"~ the bimbo you barely know from work, convinced you hang out at a seedy bar."

"I don't know what..."

"You wanted go out tonight didn't you, Wanted to find some weak human male to replace me with, is that it?!"

His voice got louder and his face contorted into a snarl "Dick that's not fair---" She gasped when he grabbed her injured arm and squeezed Y/n yelped in pain as the vampire growled at her. "No, what's not fair is you trying to replaced me someone, am I that easy to forget?"

His eyes were red under his mask as he glared Y/n wince she was having major Jason flashbacks, when he found out about her and Dick's ...arrangement."Answer me! why you are trying to forget me?!" Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes as she felt her bone creaking under Dick's hand threatening to break.

"Because of the pact!" She shrieked Dick eyes widened in shocked when he heard her say that he let go of her arm the stitches had ripped open, But Dick wasn't focus on the blood he focused on Y/n How did she find out about... then it hit him. "You knew..." His broken tone caused Y/n to break down crying as the raven haired vampire stared at her he's was angry, but also confused. Air He needed air he couldn't be here and with that he left Y/n alone crying in the hospital.

#young justice #Dick Grayson x Reader #Vampire! Dick grayson #Batman vampire au #dc universe #dc comics #human reader #reader is female #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #Robin Tim drake

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imogenbennettblogsdp · 4 years

Text

Transmedia storytelling - session 6

again as said in previous blog (week 5) I am virtual learning from my home, which as in that blog I felt not as productive as I would have in a class room but under the circumstances I find I accomplished and learnt quite a bit. Also the working in Pjs is a plus...

Web 2.0 is something we have touched on before, in the first sessions which is important as Web 2.0 has become something everyone is very familiar with (even if they don't know what the word means) and that Social Media, with social media its very much broadened to a active audience, we are contanstly looking, creating and thinking about what we are seeing which can be pretty much anything. take my edit instagram account for example, I am constantly seeking new techniques by others (almost collaborating by sharing editing styles with people and I am making ‘User Generated Content’. Also Web 2.0 offers audience participation ‘Participatory culture’, for example the Comment section. this allows the viewer to give feedback, praise and even abuse (even though that's not what its particularly meant for) This gives the viewer a feel of incorporation towards the creator (or photo, video, information- if on wiki).

*Referring to the voice over presentation video* the way marketing use ‘User Generated Content’ is very interesting and it has changed the ways we receive ads and how marketers approach sponsoring etc, I wanted to look more into it/ provide evidence to this and with two popular examples being - Youtube and Game ads. when you watch a video on youtube by a content creator what do you usually get:

Ads.

Youtube (a popular Web 2.0 website) is a Queen Bee hive for Ads... swarming. compared to old visual Ads being Ads on tv in the commercial break or flyers, these ads can be incorporated in the video, being at the beginning of the ad like the 1st picture above, or in collaboration with the creator of the video. I found this very intriguing and interesting, Im quite fascinated by idea of marketing and this little investigation (even tho I'm pretty familiar by being a YouTube veteran) so perhaps in future I can explore it more.

As I am watching the ‘Harry Jenkins film’ I now feel more supported in what I have said previously in the Blog, Mostly where I mention my instagram account, he says “what were seeing in the digital age people are taking media into their hands... and innovating and experimenting” with that media which Is exactly what I am doing, I am taking content and mixing it up making it into my own.

‘Conversion Culture” Having different platforms to see it (say youtube, insta and TikTok) which is shaped by us rather than corporations, we have control. we can all collaborate and mix information together (on say wiki) which leads to much more complex ‘than what someone in a board room can come up with on their own’. I also found this interesting and very off topic to the video but I realised that a very Recent and Popular example can be how the Convid-19 information is spread out, TikTok a very content creator based app which mostly is used by younger generations and if you go on it now you'll see a lot of information on how to stay safe and social distance during this pandemic which is very interesting... Could it be argued that kids are paying more attention because they see this entering ‘their world’? not just seeing it on the news (which they might not watch as heavily as the app).

interesting as It creates more of a world for the viewer

Talking on the Transmedia topic of having multiple platforms I was shown the Blair witch project website. This fascinated me and reminded me of my personal experience With this, ‘Ingrid goes west’ a film near and dear to my heart, which is mostly based on instagram (and how it effects us) #LIFE. I was reminded of this film as the creators also made Ingrid's and Taylor’s (the influencer in the film) instagram account real which is quite fun and I enjoyed looking into it and felt like she semi excited in a way, provided more of a world outside of the film.

Taylors instagram* I found this so clever and funny, with the captions down to the T. also something to note that loads of fans are allowed to interact with Taylor like Ingrid did, Commenting quotes (especially “Damn girl that looks yummy as fuck!” which is a popular comment you'll see). Its clever if you ask me. I myself have to admit to commenting that quote as- well. (but I'm being involved!)

Watching the ‘Transmedia storytelling’ video with a cinderella adaptation. watching this had made me think. about A- what story I want to create/adapt. and B- how it links so well to todays generation. And yet again watching this reminded me of something I have seen that is off similar structure. An Ad for the social media app ‘Own it” created by BBC. showing how little connections through sharing can lead to bigger things. (this made helped me understand the Transmedia storytelling video more as I know its all about the connections between things and seeing it visually really helped.)Im not looking forward to doing this task though, storyboarding and mind maps are not my friend and I don't enjoy them, (I may have mentioned this before) but I like to freestyle it and see where it takes me instead of planing and expecting etc. Also Im not a fan of Lucid Charts, I find it hard to use and complicated to what it is which I know is unproductive as I should be using a variety of sites to improve my skills but you can't help but hating something... Lucid chart is my kryptonite.

For my Transmedia story I decided to do it based off of Joker (2019), I chose this as it has a major event in it which I felt I could use events for, also I really like the film so why not.

I started to think about what I would focus the story around and it was hard to pin-point a certain one, I did pick joker killing the 3 men on the subway (Spoiler!) as that is essentially in my opinion what cracked him into becoming the ‘Joker’. *Refer to the story map in google docs*. Being honest I didn't enjoy it as much as I though I did, I found it quite confusing for what I had to do for a while (so like what directions do I go in? what characters do I use?). Something I also didn't like which is strange is that I didn't like making all the social media accounts... strange because I usually make tons in my own time (I have 6+ personal instagram accounts :/)

I did start using the software ‘Zeebob’ but I found it quite (this will make me sound snobbish but,) cheap. I just felt it limited me and to what I could create and just didn't seem realistic,

so I made two on here but ditched it and went for the real thing... making actual accounts for the posts. Guess which is which... the 1st one is zee bob and second is an actual account I made. The upside of making the actual accounts is having the freedom and more ability to do more things (like on twitter I can retweet stuff that I feel the character would and who they follow which adds personality to the account.

Of course the downside of making actual accounts is that I couldn't fake the likes or followers which takes away the realism to the accounts.

Out of all the accounts and social media’s I created, surprisingly the @GothamNews was my favourite, probably because i spent the most thought on this; creating the logo (on Canva) .. and finding the cool retweets like the van which I thought was like striking gold to add to the realism.

I did make a mistake that i knew occur from using the same account and changing it (E,G, I made a twitter account and kept changing the name,pictures, retweets etc)... Notice that Arthur’s and GothamNews background photo is the same... well I just noticed that too and its why I need to pay attention to it. so tiny lesson to myself for future and if I was going to do this for real I would create separate accounts and spend more time to trying to find the fitting photos for each character and why? it makes more sense for the news account to have trash as (in the film) Trash was the relevant topic, but joker not so much - he doesn't strike me and the recycling type.

While making the accounts I tried to add as much passive detail as I could... adding the subtle detail, like (as I mentioned) who they follow, retweet, like, what's in their bio, what's their background photo etc. referring a little to one of the earlier sessions in visual design (semiotics 'Denotation and Connotation').

(especially Jokers) I paid attention to the way joker writes, to my knowledge he isn't very educated so his writing is very childlike and he writes how he hears (eg when we see him write ‘hope my life makes more cents etc) it so that was a nice detail I added.

here are some notes I made for when I was thinking about the map:

- plan event - riot

- bruce Waynes dad saying “stop trash/ campaign

- joker “maybe my life would make more cents if I was dead”

- Marty “tonights show will be interesting “

- jokers video going on air

overall I think I will take the idea of broadening the ‘World’ I create (with film) by creating different platforms. I found this lesson a lot harder than I would of found it in class due to my focus being lost and feeling like im not putting 100% into it unfortunately.

And who knows maybe ill get loads of followers on one of the accounts and become famous.

0 notes

renaramblesaboutcomics · 7 years

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Wednesday Roundup 8.8.2017

Okay quite a huge week for my pull list, though with a few sad farewells as a result of that. Will everything pass the muster? Or have we got some duds in waiting?

Just kidding everything’s wonderful and I’m going to explain why that is.

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine, DC’s Detective Comics, DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester, Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists, Dark Horse’s The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, Marvel’s Silk, DC’s Titans, IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine (2015-present) #23 Tom Taylor, Leonard Kirk, Michael Garland, Erick Arciniega

Probably my favorite Marvel book coming out right now is All-New Wolverine and I think nothing has helped my appreciation for Tom Taylor as a writer grow than this book. It’s everything I’ve always wanted for Laura and more, but I won’t waste time. Let’s just dig into the specifics~

Story: We’re in the midst of an arc that’s meant to completely avoid the stink of Secret Empire but also probably will limit exposure to Laura that will be given to the stupid asshole male Wolverine they replaced her with on the main team I meant that is meant to bring us into Laura and Gabby’s first big space opera adventure, which is a proud tradition for all Marvel A-listers, and especially familiar to the X-Men. But Laura’s not with the X-Men on this trip because a forced romance with Warren isn’t being shoved in our faces. She’s here with the Guardians of the Galaxy who are enjoying their rise in Marvel prominence quite a bit, I believe.

In any case, the Brood have kidnapped Gabby and this is pissing both of them off immensely because Laura’s protective of Gabby and Gabby’s protective of Jonathan their pet Wolverine, and everybody is trying to get in the way of the Wolverine ladies living a happy life that they deserve.

Now I don’t often give summaries but it’s difficult to really parse what this story gets right and why even as the crotchety woman that I am who usually doesn’t care for superheroes in space, I am enjoying the aliens and the epic giant crossover and the cast of thousands. And that’s because this story and this comic series is about Laura and Gabby. It’s about the sisterhood, the mother-daughter relationship, the friendship, and the just general goodness that they’ve provided for each other throughout the past 23 issues that makes all the dressing not matter nearly as much as the moments where Laura declares her commitment to getting Gabby back or Gabby’s stern rebuttal to the idea that any outcome would be possible besides Laura coming for her. That faith and trust has been earned for over 20 issues and it’s the thing that really makes this comic stand out from the majority of the comics I’m going over this week.

This is a comic that has always been about these two characters and the loving bond that they share for one another. And it is exactly why it works to the point that I can give a hilariously complex summary like the one above without it making a real difference, and it’s why the final page is so gut wrenching for a cliffhanger.

Art: Leonard Kirk, I believe, has done the majority of the artwork for this series so far, and I really appreciate the look he gives to the title and specifically to Laura. She’s treated with every ounce of power and intimidation that you expect of Wolverine and the sexy costumes or posing are brought down to a severe minimum. Really, his designs for everyone are great and service the action of the story well because with so many aliens and sceneries to be had, the precise and direct approach makes the comic easy to follow. And I like that it manages all that without sacrificing action scenes or Kirk’s own style.

It’s solid comic art through and through.

Characters & Dialogue: For the most part I’ve said everything that needs to be said in the story bit, but I need to again give accolades to Taylor here because of the subtle character growth he’s allowed for in the way Laura and Gabby’s world views are evolving.

The dialogue for the two of them is very specific to their characters, but now we’re starting to see the way that they talk is having an effect on the other. Laura has become more artfully expressive about her feelings and love of others, especially Gabby, which is a change that took a long time for her and also is something her father never quite learned as well. We are a long ways away from the Laura who was ready to give Gabby up to the Jean Grey school and not look back. Likewise, Gabby has become more stern, more encouraged. She relies on Laura and believes in her so much that she doesn’t fear, another far cry away from the Gabby who was abused and misused by the lab that created her.

Basically the characterization isn’t just good, it’s subtle and full of depth beyond what people would be expecting from a giant space opera adventure trying to avoid a storyline centered around Captain Fascism.

DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #962 James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Brad Anderson

So, I think my Roundups are a pretty fair record for how tumultuous my relationship has been over time with Detective Comics. It’s a comic and characters I love fiercely but it’s also often subject to fair criticism of being fairly unpolished, rushed, and just generally misses a mark from time to time that’s just difficult to overcome.

A mixed bag if you will.

And we’re coming to the close on this particular storyline “Intelligence” and I think it’s as good of a place as any to really get into the nitty gritty of what the pros and cons of this Detective Comics run is.

Story: I only recently have begun reading Jean Paul’s original solo series Azrael thanks to DC’s new campaign to volumize old comics and it’s been a surprising read. But I’ve always been familiar enough with him as a character to be fairly curious about what more stories centered around him -- and not Azabats him but him him -- would be like. And I’ve stated before that I enjoy seeing the development of his friendship with Luke and would love to see it feature more prominently.

And in all those respects, I feel like this conclusion and really this whole storyline paid very good tribute to Azrael and Jean Paul in ways that even contemporaries of Denny O’Neil tended to miss the mark on. The complexity of his relationship with religion while also dealing with the additional stress and pressure that has placed on him with his abusive past, the allusions to mental illness which serve throughout his stories. And really just Jean Paul getting a chance to be a character in a way he certainly wasn’t in his re-introduction through Batman and Robin Eternal worked out very well with me. And I’m grateful that his injury in this battle and his paralysis are not going to be immediately erased while they do acknowledge that in this universe that’s a possibility.

I don’t really like the state reasoning for the decision or the near certainty that his disability will eventually be “overcome” but it’s better than the nothing that DC has basically given us in the way of the major titles for a while now.

Plus, consequences! It’s nice to have consequences that matter.

The magic part... well I enjoy Zatanna as a character to an extreme degree so my ability to be completely unbiased here was always going to be difficult. But this is one story where the magical elements being blended in with the spiritual.. I’m not really sure if it worked for me. It’s nice to see Zee, but in an ensemble book I’m getting a little tired of all the excuses being fit into the narrative to excuse not ever actually being about the ensemble.

oh look tim’s alive and ra’s al ghul’s behind it all who saw this coming

At least we don’t have another new made up organization that secretly spans across the whole world and Batman didn’t know about it ever. At least they’re finally converging a bit because that shit was getting ridic.

Art: Of the rotating art teams that we have for Detective, I have to say that this is one of the best and most consistent. There’s a good variation between splash pages and regular paneled format, there’s a proper use of shifting and varying panel differing. And overall it’s just a pleasing comic to read with easy action to follow and a great use of color and inking despite being a literally dark comic.

It is not the most stylized comic for those who prefer styles that are Out of House as opposed to the Big Two’s normal aesthetic, but it is a good comic and easy to read without being redundant.

Characters & Dialogue: Detective Comics has way too many characters. Tynion gives all of them good voice, and everyone who’s featured gets quite a lot to do, but there is not enough balance for the ensemble and the constant addition of new characters, new villains, etc. makes even less room for development and especially for relationship building between characters.

Like I guess Cass is just the only kid in the Belfry period now. Alright.

Cass, Kate, Luke, and... *sigh* Clayface have very little to do in this issue, though I’d argue that their small parts are some of the best content when one’s reading. And while it’s more than okay to center different arcs on different characters and Jean Paul getting his long, long overdue dues is more than welcome, there’s still the problem of giving everyone something that pushes their own plots forward, or at the very least, let’s us see the progress that has been made as a culmination of the previous storylines.

Cassandra is still not even adopted by either Bruce or Kate yet for chrissake. Someone give Cass a family.

Zatanna was good and if I have to measure a Bruce this Bruce is good for my tastes, but again there’s just so many characters it’s very difficult to fully dive into their various developments, especially when it’s hard to tell if there is one.

At the very least, I can give this comic thanks for getting Cass’ speech pattern back to normal. I have to agree with some other fans who have contacted me and said that it’s not too terrible if from time to time Cass learns and memorizes a Shakespeare verse thanks to her time with Clayface, but not showing any of the characters working with Cass to teach her to read and speak and then giving her full sonnets or soliloquies is way too much and is painfully out of character to read.

DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester (2016-present) #12 Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, Becky Coloonan, Adam Archer, MSASSYK, Sandra Hope

After a few years of this fun, YA tale of mystery and friendship, we sadly come to a close on Gotham Academy with this final issue wrapping up the series that was very beloved by myself and a number of my comic reading friends here on the internet. It’s a different type of story in the landscape of DC’s Batbooks and it’s going to very much be missed, regardless of how well or not this last issue was going to do.

But, with this cancelation, did the finale manage to feel like it came to a conclusive resolution for all of our favorite Gotham Academy kids?

Story: Given that this is the finale of both this storyline and for the series as a whole, going into story is a much bigger deal than it has been before. I mean, we’re talking about a narrative that really started back with Gotham Academy (2014-2016) and has come to its end here, a reboot and a year later. And it all, as it should have, revolved around the titular friendship between Olive Silverlock and Maps Mizoguchi.

Of course all the friendships, all the support that has been built up for Olive throughout the series still play a fairly important role to her conclusion here, but it was always going to be the friendship that held Olive and Maps together that would be what drove the story at its core, and in that way this ending doesn’t feel forced or strained, but simply like a natural testing of friendship when both have made mistakes and are wrong for various reasons -- for Maps it was coming to terms with her treatment of Olive’s mental illness and accepting her for it rather than simply ignoring that it was a factor, and for Olive it was about relying on Maps and trusting her to be there for her whenever she should fall.

That is what affects the narrative the most and that’s what the resolution to this story got right the most here.

Still, the cancelation of GA has come at the cost of the resolution of a lot of other elements that had been built up over the series. An unfortunate affect of having spent so much of the bulk of the series building up the world, the supporting characters, and more for what was no doubt many more mysteries and subplots to come, but it’s ultimately a little lost here. Colton’s confession to Kyle doesn’t see some real focus in the finale due to time and that’s made all the more a painful thing to see cut short considering the confirmed LGBT+ elements of Gotham Academy never received direct attention in ways I know I wish I could have seen. And likewise some resolutions felt missed entirely or unnecessary, Tristan’s apparent comfort with his bat form by the end as an example of the former and Pomeline being in a romantic relationship again with oh-whats-his-beard in the final pages.

I would not have wanted any of the final issue’s focus to have left Maps and Olive at all, as I’ve said, they are the driving force of this comic, but as understandable as it is that these shortcomings happened under the circumstances, they’re still shortcomings nonetheless.

The one that’s the most glaring, however, is the way that Olive’s disdain and distrust of Batman ended up coming to an end here. This is a character trait that was built up with Olive since the first issue of the series, and that relationship complicated between her, her mother, Batman, and Bruce Wayne, began dropping off the radar the moment we came into Second Semester and became more and more lost only to give us this moment in the finale where she comes to terms somehow with the fact that Batman was just trying to save her mom? I don’t know.

Speaking of which, this all coming down to magic and a secret society using Olive’s ancestral blood to control her or whatever reminded me exactly of when I was watching Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated for the first time and I adored that first season SO much and loved how it stuck to the tried and true Scooby-Doo formula of skepticism winning over superstition and the paranormal, only for the second season to... make a 180 and everything was due to magic after all. That’s kinda how I felt about Gotham Academy, we spent the first series constantly solving mysteries of Gotham Academy through the eyes of the Mystery Club and time and time again the lesson seemed to be that the legends and tribulations of the people at the heart of these things were just that -- they were people and they were real, and their problems paralleled the cast’s for that reason.

Only for that to be somewhat wasted due to the fact that... it was all nobody’s fault and the strings were being pulled by the occult the first series had proved were false. And I suppose that’s okay, save for how it feels as though it tries to use this to wave off the genuine symptoms of mental illness Olive has shown throughout the series.

It’s something I’ll have to chew on for a while, honestly. It’s given me a lot of complicated feelings.

Art: Ah, the most contentious part of the series has been the massive shift in art. Karl Kerschl was the original artist for the first few volumes of Gotham Academy and his style remains a truly unique, very stylized, and very character driven style which was a huge contributing factor to launching Gotham Academy and getting it off its feet with a unique flare to draw in audiences that weren’t necessarily picking up other Batman books at the time. And his presence has been missed since he left the book, without a doubt. I’ve had people tell me personally that a big reason for dropping the book when they did had to do with the change up in art.

I’m not condemning Adam Archer here for not being Kerschl, make no mistake. What I think has truly hurt this book, however, is that Archer either chose or was directed to attempt Kerschl’s style as close as possible which comes off as not feeling natural to Adam Archer’s own talents. That’s unfair because Archer’s work is unique, fun, and lovely n its own without this attempt to mimmic a style that was less his own. I think we would have all appreciated the art more in that respect, since other guest artists between the two like Chen were better received for their issues.

That being said the art for this issue is not bad, but it’s not great, and missing that feeling of sincerity that was connected to by so many readers before.

Characters & Dialogue: Considering how character driven this series is, it’s fair to say that the characterization and dialogue of these new Gothamites is unquestionable. They were always well rounded, interesting, and full of intrigue, and all the way to this conclusion, that remains to be the case. The big difference here would be that because we needed to focus on Olive and Maps, the other members of the Mystery Club were less involved than I would have liked though they very much did at least get to play a part in stopping Calamity (pun intended).

The good thing about having a single team writing from the very start of the book is that we get very strong voices throughout for all of the characters, and that remained true to the very end as well. Really, the characters were the best part and it made this feel like a very deserving farewell to our Gotham Academy family.

Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists (2017) #2 (of 6) Kaare Andrews, Afu Chan, Shelly Chen

Well, guys, never say that change isn’t real and tangible, because it almost looks like Marvel learned something from the reception of Immortal Iron Fist on Netflix and is creating a legacy from the title that shock of all shocks actually contains Asian characters for once. I know, I was stunned as well.

In all seriousness, I was super interested in this series when I first saw it with issue #1 but hadn’t bought it by the time I was doing my weekly reviews for that week. Obviously, that has since then been remedied and has left me open for a good ol’ review of the new Marvel Infinite series Immortal Iron Fists.

Story: We’re still very much in the early part set of this story, which is a combination of Danny trying to navigate the trials of adulthood while being a complete human disaster, Pei is attempting to fit in her new public school which is middle school and thus inherently filled with racist little sociopaths in training just like real life high school, and also about the two Iron Fists trying to harness all of these magic scrolls which are currently possessed by demons which increase in power each scroll before culminating into this Mega Awful Demon that is the mortal enemy of the Buddah.

So yes. Immortal Iron Fists is basically ripping off Jackie Chan Adventures and believe it or not I am absolutely fine with that, in fact I think it might be the most fine I have been with a Marvel concept in ages. It’s like making Laura Wolverine, creating Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and now this. There, I had my arm twisted and admitted there are positive things about Marvel this week.

The story itself is a very soft, even light narrative considering the complexity of Pei’s origins and even her connection to Danny, but it’s also at the same time so fitting for what I assume is the intended audience (children and YA) and especially fitting with the art that is positively adorable and awesome.

In this issue Pei makes her first friends, learns that there is a string of missing cases, and also decides that unlike everyone else in middle school she’s not going to be a “key to a single door” but keep all her doors open and try to bridge the gap between the various cliques, who were introduced to us Mean Girls style and it was hilarious.

It’s just a fun read overall, but it’s also a fairly quick read so given that ever high Marvel price tag it’s hard to argue with the assessment that this one could be a trade wait for a lot of you.

Art: As I mentioned before, the art is very soft, gentle, and light. The colors pop, everyone is incredibly stylized, and the action scenes are surprisingly varied and plentiful. While they’re still simple enough to read for beginning comic readers, there is a flow to them, such as the sequence where Pei gets some revenge on some bullies at school through one extended fight sequence across a panel.

I just really enjoyed the art and I’m glad to see so much variation in comic art lately. It’s been a long time coming.

Characters & Dialogue: Pei and Danny are the focus of the comic, obviously, and they play their roles incredibly well. Danny is ... I mean, he’s Danny Rand, he’s a complete disaster of a human being trying to Adult it with an inheritance he never cared about or really earned and as such everything rolls in and catches up with him. He literally can’t teach Pei how to clean the house without tripping on soap, and I feel like that is a perfect summation of everything anyone has ever needed to know about Danny Rand.

In contrast, Pei is a reserved little girl, fish out of water, and drowning in a culture she has no familiarity with while also harnessing power and skills beyond her years. What I find interesting and subversive about this, though, is that Pei neither yearns for normalcy nor does she completely rebel openly against Danny’s orders for her to restrain herself and act normal. It’s honestly a relief to have a character whose problems are so relatable and have her just... treat it with the actions of a kid in the moment: uncertain but trying to play everything out until she decides she doesn’t fit the necessary mold. And she’s pleased with herself for not fitting the mold. It’s honestly kind of inspiring to see that in a kid character these days.

But the big part of this issue was arguably building up the supporting cast, including the nanny Danny has hired for Pei and most of all the kids in Pei’s school. And how there’s apparently no point to her hiding her identity as the tiniest Iron Fist. It’s well paced and all the kids, right down to their overwhelming cruelty to their surprising generosity, are definitely acting like kids.

Dark Horse’s The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars (2017-present) Part One Michael Dante DiMartino, Irene Koh, Vivian Ng

Ah, at long last!

While I was not in on the hype for The Legend of Korra as it was airing, my appreciation for what it’s become has grown over time, and more importantly, I fnd that it provides more possibilities and more opportunity to the world of Avatar, which is always a good thing.

As such, I’ve been waiting for this comic series to come out for quite some time! ... and then had to wait longer because for Reasons we don’t get the comiXology release at the same time as the regular issue’s release in stores. Oh, Dark Horse.

But now to get into the specifics.

Story: It’s always difficult to gage story with just the first issue, but in all honesty I think that the fact that the TV series ended on such an open note really helps the comic in this matter. “Turf War” is an interesting name for the story, but at the same time it’s oddly blunt and fitting. There is a war erupting between the Spirit World, the human lands and property settlement, and with the ever present Republic City triad gang wars. We follow all of these through the Krew members who are exactly where we last left off with them.

Some of the stuff that deserves a lot of attention is the cementation of Korra and Asami’s romantic relationship, which is given a good amount of page time for the first half of the book. They confess true feelings for each other, share a first kiss, have a beautiful vacation together, and we ultimately get to see Korra’s blunt and protective nature play out accordingly. She rushes in to Asami’s aid and frets over her pretty consistently, which could be seen as a callback to the series itself when, as Korra was most down, Asami cared for and nurtured her.

We also get to see Mako and Bolin working together as partners in the Republic City police. They deal with the triads and the general unrest that has come about as a result of Spirits and Humans openly interacting again for the first time in centuries. And this honestly felt like some greatly due development for the brothers’ relationship since in the series it felt like they had grown apart without it ever being explicitly addressed in the text.

And while all this turf grabbing is happening, we also see a parallel drama being played out. And that would be the story of how Korra and Asami choose to come out to their friends, family, and even the world. As usual, Korra barrels in half cocked and not thinking of repercussions, figuring “damned if anyone judges me” whereas Asami is more thoughtful, planning, and reserved. She’s nervous about coming out to people, and she’s nervous about how boisterous Korra is being about it.

But they haven’t communicated this detachment between their processing of the situation yet. It’s fairly obvious that a portion of Turf Wars is going to come to a head with Asami and Korra having to address being respectful of each other’s needs to come out in their own ways first.

In any case, it was a real great start and had lots of little moments to help explain the world without acting as though the intended audience wouldn’t have some more than passing knowledge about what was coming up.

Art: One of the most widely praised and beloved aspects of The Legend of Korra from the very start had been the beauty of its animation, so much so that the same animation house got to move on to other passion projects like the current reboot of Voltron. And one of the things that makes the world of Avatar so unique is that aspect of Eastern philosophy combined with different disciplines which inspire the forms of bending in the series. And, as was pretty clearly seen before in the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics, that is not something that is easy to translate into a more still and less fluid medium like comics.

And that mostly goes the same here. There’s a distinct lack of bending compared to what you would see in an episode of the show, but at the same time that isn’t to say that there isn’t a lot more than I thought there was. It simply did not have that many creative takes on what to do with the bending. No splash shots into the next panels, no using the elements to transition. The sort of things you’d expect from a comic inspired by a show which was all about the uniqueness of bending.

Still, the comic did a fair job of keeping to the style of the series without the character art seeming stagnant and stationary which is usually a problem with cartoons that are adapted into comics. Hair in particular was treated with much more fluidity than I remember the show being able to give it. And the styles of the various nations and cultures were well designed while also fitting.

Everything was well compositioned and especially the events which took place within the Spirit World were beautifully colored, though that came at the seeming cost of a duller color pattern used in the “normal” world.

It’s a good start, and I’d argue it’s better than if it had tried to strictly stay to only the style of the series and not rely on the personal style of the artist.

Characters & Dialogue: Given that this is an ensemble story and there was a limited amount of time to dedicate to each of the characters, we did not get as much individual development for the wider cast. But Korra and Asami got relatively large roles and since they and their relationship seems to be the driving force of the narrative, it worked out well for this issue.

Korra was brash to a fault, but as always it is her conflict and emotions and her validity that moved the plot forward. For a character it is always important that her purpose and her growth be the defining force. And I think we definitely got that.

Asami on the other hand was the quieter personality, yes, but her hesitation and temperance also did a lot to build suspicion for future conflict in the relationship between her and Korra and also in just the world itself. Her perspective and her concerns are as real and as valid as Korra’s which means that our concerns for their coming out narrative are validated here, too.

The dialogue is a bit harder to pin here, as again there aren’t many characters with specific inflections that really pop out, so we’ll have to wait for more issues to get a larger grasp on how the dialogue changes between characters.

Marvel’s Silk (2015-2017) Vol. 3: The Clone Conspiracy Robbie Thompson, Irene Strychalski, Tana Ford, Ian Herring

I can’t believe I’m having to say goodbye to so many books this week. It’s like my personal Cancellation Day, and the only prize is disappointment that more series I enjoyed aren’t coming my way. I’m supremely sad to see Silk go, as Cindy Moon is a hugely inspirational and important character both for being an Asian-American superhero with her own book and for narratively dealing with anxiety in depression.

And it’s also extremely sad to see her go on what was mostly tie-ins to yet another endless Spider Event. I won’t be going into a full review for that reason, it just doesn’t seem fair to recap the end of the series knowing that a lot of the context for The Clone Conspiracy is not included in this book, nor should it really have been, but I do want to say to fellow Silk fans that there’s enough of Cindy and enough closure to her narrative that it will be worth your collection and time, but yeah there will be some lackluster stuff in the majority of the issues in this since it is a tie-in.

And I hate that, I hate how much endless tie-ins have felt like they’re killing books lately.

But Robbie Thompson was a fantastic, thoughtful, and well articulated writer throughout this series and for Silk before this series, really making her a real character where her initial introduction was... not that... ugh pheromones and gross twitter trolls. Anyway, Robbie Thompson truly made a character to love in Cindy Moon, and the two artists who contributed throughout the series -- Irene Strychalski and Tana Ford did amazing very stylized work and weren’t afraid to experiment with style and page correlation.

It was a great read and I’m going to miss it a whole lot.

DC’s Titans (2016-present) #14 Dan Abnett, Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Andrew Dalhouse

Hello, world, it’s me, the Titans fan who wished upon the monkey’s paw that her favorite heroes would be restored to their former glory and that their friendship would be allowed to flourish on the page once again. And in return I got Roy’s stupid hat.

But in truth, I’ve been fairly pleased with Titans since the very first issue in Rebirth and have felt taken aback by just how much the creative team seems to love the characters, their relationships, and their history. But now we’ve got to answer that ultimate question: a year later with those rosy tinted glasses still firmly on my face, am I starting to eep out of the honeymoon phase? Or it this book still living up to unrealistic expectations?

Story: We’re in the middle of the sleeper agent storyline and it’s probably more difficult to gage how good a story is doing by its middle than it is by its start, in all honesty. All the same, the distrust running through the Titans, the pain of conflict and second guessing each other’s friendships and so on. It’s not a bad way to flesh out the arc, and I wouldn’t say that like a lot of storylines’ mid-issues this one felt useless or flat.

There is a definite escalation throughout the issue of how the Titans are beginning to fold in on each other, how HIVE’s master plan to destroy them from the inside may be working before we ever get confirmation about a betrayer. And the testing of the relationships among the Titans in that delicate web they weave cause everyone to trip over each other once they’re really put to the test.

That being said, it’s still not hitting all those points perfectly. While you can see an organic build to the relationship of Lilith and Garth that’s been pretty fun and true to the characters so far, the love triangle between Wally, Donna, and Roy is something I’m pretty confident in saying no one wanted. I have seen no one say they wanted this. And weirdly it continues to put all the female characters in romantic relationships as the crux of their developments while we still have at least Dick and Gnarrk on the men’s side who don’t have to be motivated by this bull. The best part of the love triangle so far has been Donna throwing Roy and Wally both when she realizes what’s going on.

As for Dick being the sleeper agent well, I guess it’s one of those... shoulda seen it coming because of course we have Dick involved with another covert secret underground all powerful world corrupting group in another book. I don’t know why I was expecting different. But at least in the defense of Titans, it does feel like a good call back to the original New Teen Titans storyline with the cult of Brother Blood where similar happened and it was Dick again.

People just really like mindfucking with Dick, there’s not really much else to say about it.

Art: Ever since Brett Booth first appeared on my radar I’ve been fairly critical of him as an artist. His style was never really my taste, but he’s proven again and again on Titans to really pull some variation in body types and physicality that I hadn’t seen on his previous works. I like that the guys all have different body types and that the girls’ costumes and personality are reflections of themselves.

That being said, we still have a problem of Sameface with the girls at the very least, where honestly some panels the only difference between Donna and Lilith is hair color. But the colors are vibrant and the panels are all full of details, no space wasted.

Which is both a compliment and a criticism since, to be frank, the absolute refusal to have any normal panels basically gives us the opposite of my criticism of Turf Wars which is that there seems to be no real complexity because of the constant unstable panel work.

This is the comic book equivalent of shooting every scene in a movie with dutch angles. There’s no dramatic or narrative reason to have these panels slanted and all over the place, but every panel will be that way. Even panels where we’re literally reading the characters talking about pizza.

It gives us no real change between action sequences and normal sequences so it’s just kind of boring in spite of the dynamic panels. Which I’m pretty sure is the opposite of what they wanted.

Characters & Dialogue: If it wasn’t clear in the story portion, I’m not a fan of how when it comes to individual character development, we have conveniently gotten all three of our female heroes into romantic subplots with at least one (now possibly two? if we’re hinting at Tula like I think we are) love triangles in the mix. It just feels like it’s 2017 and we should be beyond that sort of “what kind of subplot do we give the girls? love I guess”

That being said, it’s really been amazing to me, personally, to see just how good this comic continues to be at making these characters feel like the ones we knew and loved prior to the New52. Not exact, not perfect, but pretty close to the preferences for each of the characters as we can get with the current character histories being what they are. Like, personally, I’m much more enthusiastic about Dick and Wally in this book than I am about them in Nightwing and The Flash because it just feels like them, Wally’s current romantic entanglements aside.

Still, it’s a fun book and for what it lacks with some characterization quirks it always tends to make up for later in the story so for the current storyline I’m willing to wait a touch longer.

IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One (2016-2017) #12 Mairghread Scott, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana Lafuente

Wow. Another one of my favorite ongoings is ending today and I’m starting to worry it’s me. I hope I’m not actually the kiss of death to these comics because, full stop, Windblade and Till All Are One have been some of the most enjoyable comics I’ve read in the last several years and there’s probably no comic getting canceled this year that makes me sadder than this one.

So, how does Till All Are One leave us?

Story: Mairghread Scott has absolutely blown me away over the last year with her comics and just her obvious, obvious love and understanding of the expansive Transformers universe. Her world building has spanned over several series now and her character work has truly been put to task by having to stand up against fan favorite TF writers like John Barber and James Roberts. And I think nothing has proved her talents more than Till All Are One, where all that build up and all that character work is allowed to at long las come to fruition.

This conclusion could have been use to tease us with the ideas and storylines that Scott obviously had planned (and if people are curious I really encourage you to look up the storylines she had planned and posted to her tumblr), but Scott instead made this a solid ending and a celebration of the comic she was allowed to make. And much like Gotham Academy, she did so by bringing it back home to the characters which have driven the series the most: Windblade and Starscream.

The tumultuous relationship between the two same yet so very different jets has been something that I’ve adored watching play out. Their distrust of each other, their manipulations, their political games, and ultimately their teamwork for the greater good. It’s been fascinating and also has put me on the edge of my seat.

There is nothing more uncharacteristic, nothing more selfless than what Starscream did by putting his own life at risk in order to save Windblade, and the fact that Windblade at last got the confirmation she’s desired about Starscream’s true self feels like a great resolution to all the buildup over the years. This is a very triumphant ending, to the point that 80s Business Woman style Windblade ended by strutting out the door.

I sincerely hope we are going to be blessed with more of Scott’s signature Transformers writing in the IDW’verse and I desperately hope that this is not the end of Windblade who has quickly risen as one of my favorite Transformers.

Art: The majority of the artists on the Transformers titles for IDW are honestly so good and so amazing that I barely know what even to say about the art. The art standard for bringing these robotic transforming cars with heart is so high that it leaves one baffled when it comes to what’s left to say about them, any of them. And even with that standard, Sara Pitre-Durocher manages to amaze me.

Of the Transformers artists I would say her style serves to be the most sleak and the most expressive. Theres not necessarily any time where you think of the Transformers as being “soft” or “pliable” -- they’re still metal and wires with all the complexity therein -- but there’s a believability to the phrase “living metal” that doesn’t always come across in some other artist’s work where the bulk and construction of the Transformers seems more prominent than their expressionism and agility.

The fact that this book gets to at least end with having had consistently amazing art throughout is a highlight and why I think it’s going to be one of the titles returned to the most fondly of the IDW’verse.

Characters & Dialogue: Starscream’s duplicity is his most iconic character trait, of course, and I’ll be the first to say I’m sort of worn out with classic villains being “reexamined” and given redemptions and whatnot these days, but I love how malicious and cruel Starscream has remained in this series while simultaneously showing us and himself through Windblade and Till All Are One the kind of character he could aspire to be (hello Armada allusions) and therefore making it more frustrating and even tragic when he boldly makes the decision to be the opposite of his own potential.

Windblade on the other hand has grown as a character since we first met her. Her naivety and pure intentions have been warped and she now understands how to play the game of politics, but also what it costs -- her honesty, her friends, her belief system. And she was willing to sacrifice herself despite learning all of that -- she was willing to put herself in mortal danger knowing that it wasn’t a perfect, harmonious society she was doing it for but a deeply flawed one. And the fact that she ultimately survived and is now capable of moving forward for herself with the new ambition of being open and speaking for herself more than being a figuehead or politician feels like an arc that was built up to through all this time and yet at the same time was something surprising and unexpected.

Other characters didn’t really play much of a significant role in this ending, which puts it like a lot of the other story bookends this week where a large cast doesn’t really get to close out with homage to the majority of those characters. But this felt more solid, at least to me, because of the wisdom Scott had in using the last several issues to bring the focus in particular to Starscream’s POV and then building up to Windblade’s. It feels like what loose ends for other characters are left are left in ways that are going to be easily picked up by another book or by another creative team entirely rather than everything simply being cut off.

Just an awesome book and I’m so sorry to see it come to an end.

It’s another difficult pick of the week but for me, I absolutely have to give this one to Transformers: Till All Are One. It’s one of my favorite series in a long time and it ended on a resolution that made me honestly puff up with pride for the main characters. It’s a comic which embraces history of its franchise while growing it, a comic that embraces questions of politics, identity, gender, sexuality, and more. It’s been a beautiful ride and I wish the best to the entire creative team.

But I thought all the comics were great this week and highly recommend you check them out! Of course I’d love to hear back from you -- agree with me? Disagree? Think I missed any comics I should’ve picked up? I’d love to hear from you.

Before you go, however, I need to share that I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery just yesterday actually.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

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#Wednesday Spoilers #Rena Roundups #SPOILERS #The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars #Titans (2016 )#Gotham Academy: Second Semester (2016 2017)#Detective Comics (2016 )#Transformers: Till All Are One (2016 2017)#All New Wolverine (2015 )#Immortal Iron Fists (2017)#Silk (2016 2017)

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