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xerith-42 · 3 months

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Stop blaming characters for bad writers

Seriously, stop fucking doing this. While this is a post that could certainly be applicable to MANY fandoms, I'm mainly directing this whole rant at my target audience which is mentally ill minecraft obsessed freaks.

If a character is written badly, gets badly fumbled by the creator, or has the ball dropped in regards to their arc in some way, a lot of people will blame the character, as if they're a real conscious person making these decisions. When they aren't. They're a block man literally being controlled by two people who just aren't very good writers and one or both of them are incredibly sexist, kind of racist, ableist, and just bad writers in general.

Yeah, Laurance does some pretty shitty things through out Season 2 of MCD, actively crossing lines he wouldn't have previously crossed. We as fans can cope by saying something something calling, or just saying Laurance is a bad abusive person, but the reality is that the writers wanted to force the series to fit a specific vision and as a result were willing to do anything to get the series to that point. In order to make Aaron the most favorable suitor for Aphmau, her previous suitors need to be out of the picture, or clearly inferior options.

Garroth suffered the out of the picture, being mostly absent outside of a few cutscenes here and there until episode 81 of season 2, but episode 81 is the culmination of the writers goals to make Aarmau happen. By the time Garroth has returned to the series, the damage has already been done. He's not getting the life he wants. And Laurance is written out of the picture as well, but only after being shown to be inferior because Jesson were pushing an agenda.

Laurance didn't deteriorate as a person due to neglect of his physical and mental well being after a severely traumatic experience. He deteriorated as a character because the writers stopped giving as much of a shit about him and instead were using the series as self indulgent fanfiction of alternate versions of themselves. That's not Laurance's fault.

And this applies to any character who was completely fumbled in MyStreet due to this similar focus on wish fulfillment from the writers. Jess has stated that the relationship between Aphmau and Aaron in Phoenix Drop High is reflective of her relationship with Jason, we all know this. This means that any characters who come off as total fucking creeps in that series (namely Gene), are not actually acting on the whims of their own autonomy or desires as characters. They are acting in service of telling a predetermined story that they are retroactively being added into for author fulfillment.

In this regard I fully support fandom cope and say that you should rewrite your little guys to your hearts content. But if you're going to criticize these characters for their actions, don't criticize them. They didn't do anything wrong. All characters are just puppets in service of the story or themes a writer is trying to push. If a character acts in an objectively terrible way, especially a way that isn't in line with their previous characterizations, that is a failing of the writers, not the character.

And I feel like largely a lot of us can and frequently do this. We're actively criticizing Jesson for being terrible low-key bigoted writers all the god damn time, it's like half of the content here. But when we get into character discourse I feel like some people cling onto bad actions of the canon too closely and I've seen more than a few posts presume some pretty terrible interpretations of characters based on these actions. Obviously Laurance is a character I and a lot of others are fixated on so a lot of discourse revolves around him, and it was seeing some... interesting takes on him that prompted me to start writing this post.

But this happens to everyone. Quite personally based on the character I was shown in MyStreet, it feels really weird that Garroth would make an insensitive comment about his brother's weight. Yeah siblings poke fun at each other and often cross lines, but if that was something Zane was seriously insecure about (which it seems like he might be) then it does make Garroth come off as a really insensitive brother, which just doesn't gel with how hard he tries to bond with Zane despite their tense relationship. And I don't think Garroth should be criticized for making those comments.

Whoever wrote those lines (Jess and/or Jason) should be criticized for writing a scene where a character is mocked by their older sibling over a physical insecurity even if said sibling would not normally do that. It's not Travis' fault that Jesson never decided to give him more of a character beyond "funny pervy guy" that's not funny in every anime they've watched until Season 5 of MyStreet. It's unfair to try and say Travis should be scrutinized for his borderline sexual harassment of some characters when it's not his fault that happened, he was written by writers who don't think this sort of behavior isn't all that bad if they make it out for comedy and punch him in the face.

And god dammit it's not Laurance's fault that his jealousy became the most prevalent emotion he felt. Laurance has always been a character to give into his vices and yet fight against them at the same time, it's what makes him compelling. If they were going to pull on those vices in order to make him a less appealing love interest, he never had a chance to really be his own character after a certain point. Because at a certain point in Season 2, Jesson stopped caring about the character they had been writing for over a hundred episodes at that point. They just wanted to canonize their self insert ship and were willing to do anything to get it.

Laurance isn't an abusive angry person who would have killed Aphmau if they got together. He's a flawed character being handled by incredibly flawed writers who are prone to making some of the worst decisions you have ever seen a creator make in regards to their character writing. He was caught in the crossfire of the adoration he received from a very dedicated fanbase, and the creator who would rather pretend he and his previous arc didn't exist for the sake of her fun. It's not Laurance's fault his arc was stilted, jerked around, and ultimately ended with him completely face planting. And yet still reliably dragging his bloodied body up at just the slightest glimmer of hope (Void Paradox).

It's deeply poetic and tragic that I can describe his character in universe and in the meta-textual sense that way, but we should never blame Laurance, or Aaron, or any other characters for things being like this.

They didn't write the show. Jess and Jason did.

#minecraft diaries #text post #aphblr #aphverse #laurance zvahl #garroth ro'meave #minecraft diaries laurance #mystreet #mystreet garroth #mystreet travis #bad writing #fandom discourse #fandom discussion #character discussion #character discourse

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cryptid-intraining · 2 years

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I feel like I've seen a lot of posts of people talking about how they don't want comics revolving around Cass and Jason, that it doesn't make any sense to push those two characters to interact with one another and while I'm sure they have their reasons for that preference I feel like Cassie and Jay would be such an interesting dynamic.

I'm going to preface this would the caveat that I haven't read many comics focusing on Cass, so most of my knowledge is second hand. Forgive me if I get something wrong.

We all know Cass is just as against killing as Bruce, I would argue even more so, she obviously isn't going to vibe with what Jason does, what he believes, and how he does it, but she has killed. Her moral code against killing comes from the place of trauma, of actually knowing what it is like to kill someone and hating yourself for it.

Both Cass and Bruce swear off killing but they very different, very personal reasons for doing so.

Bruce thinks if he killed even once he wouldn't be able to stop.

Cass killed and took an oath never to do it again.

It's completely different. But I think Jason, albeit a properly written characterization of Jason, would understand that. Or at least, he would have far less of an issue with it.

Batman's moral code is rooted in the privilege of never being forced to kill. It's black and white, and doesn't account for the nuance of most people's lives.

It's predominantly why Jason has an issue with it.

We know Jason respects Cass, he's openly admitted she's terrifying and a formidable fighter, but more specifically I think Jason would have respect for Cassandra's circumstances and her upbringing and how that reflects in her moral code and I think if a situation forced them to work together (because we know they wouldn't willingly) it would be interesting to see them verbally spar.

They really feel like the opposites of the same stick and I think they could both learn a lot from the other.

#jason todd #batfam #batfamily #red hood #batman #dc comics #bruce wayne #cassandra cain #orphan #dc orphan #crowbarpals fanon rambles

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cantsayidont · 5 months

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March 2021. For a long time, I was very reluctant to investigate the DOCTOR APHRA series, put off by the overly cutesy covers and the grim mediocrity of most post-1986 SW comics, but I eventually got some of the trades from the library and was pleasantly surprised.

The titular Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra is an archaeologist (she does actually have a doctorate, even though she did end up blackmailing her thesis advisor to get it), treasure hunter, thief finder of rare antiquities, con artist, and all-around ne'er-do-well who thinks principles are for suckers. Naturally, she gets herself into a lot of trouble (including owing large amounts of money to many very dangerous people, like her sometimes-ally, the Wookiee mercenary Black Krrsantan), and many of her adventures revolve around her trying to get out from under the aftermath of her previous capers.

Aphra is also a lesbian, and kind of a fuckboy, leaving an ever-growing trail of embittered ex-girlfriends who aren't sure if they want to kiss her or shoot her. Much of her initial ongoing series deals with her on-again, off-again relationship with Magna Tolvan (the white cyborg lady pictured behind her above), an Imperial officer who eventually joins the Rebellion after Aphra ruins her career. Given the usual trajectory of online fandom, which is very eager to impute gayness to the most drearily hetero of media, I hadn't expected Aphra being gay to be more than a vague implication in the actual comics, but she does actually canonically sleep with women. Who'dathunkit?

Aphra's early appearances in Kieron Gillen's wretched DARTH VADER comic and the lackluster Jason Aaron STAR WARS book present her as pretty overtly villainous. When she got her own book, Gillen apparently decided that wasn't viable, so in her own series, Aphra acquires a bit of a conscience — never enough to keep her out of trouble, of course, but enough to distinguish her from her meaner allies, like Triple Zero (a protocol droid with the personality of a gleefully polite serial killer) and BT-1 (an astromech who's basically R2-D2 if somebody let him have way too many grenades). The latter part of her first ongoing, written by Si Spurrier after Gillen's departure, eventually threatens to soften her a little too much, but the current ongoing, written by Alyssa Wong, seems to have found a better balance in that regard. On the other hand, I find the current book a bit too episodic — it's more accessible, but a lot of what makes Aphra delightful is her increasingly frantic scramble to escape the accumulating consequences of her many, many terrible decisions.

The massive (1,200+ page) Omnibus pictured above compiles all of Aphra's early appearances and the complete run of her initial ongoing title in chronological order. While her early adventures are important insofar as they introduce Aphra and some of her major supporting characters, they aren't as much fun as her first ongoing series, so you could just as well start there. There's also an audio dramatization of Aphra's early adventures, adapted by Sarah Kuhn and featuring Emily Woo Zeller as Aphra. The dramatization is okay and Zeller is great, although Marc Thompson's Vader is completely unconvincing and a bit of a drag on the proceedings.

#comics #marvel star wars #doctor aphra #chelli lona aphra #ashley witter #kieron gillen #si spurrier #alyssa wong #sarah kuhn #emily woo zeller #marc thompson #i know gillen's darth vader book has its fans #but i am not one of them #it's really really really bad #and i'm not convinced it should have ever existed #star wars

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whetstonefires · 1 month

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10 and 29 for the ask game?

10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

I try not to have expectations, so I'm sure it's happened a lot and I didn't remark upon it enough to remember.

I do recall that All the Roofs of Uncertainty was originally a one-shot that was much better-liked than I expected, so I wrote into the what-happens-next and changed the original open ending into a whole plotline, that consisted almost entirely of Jason Todd talking to people in a hospital.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

Oh gosh I have so many fics that lie unfinished because the work necessary to complete them exceeded my interest in the premise. I could do this for weeks and not run out. Let's see.

Okay, the funniest fic that I will never ever finish is the one that was me trying to draw up a plausible background scenario for an AU (which I couldn't decide if it ought to be modern or not) where Su She was dating Wei Wuxian.

(This in turn was inspired by the fact that I kept reading modern AUs where various canon villains were cast as wwx's shitty boyfriend or ex and it was never Su She, aka the bargain bin version of Lan Wangji, who seemed to me to be the least improbable option on offer. Like if you feel the need to lampshade repeatedly within your fic that it's incomprehensible that Wei Wuxian would ever voluntarily date Jin Zixun, maybe that's a sign you should change that bit.)

The plot of the story that Su-She-uses-his-words-and-pulls-wwx embedded itself in would have revolved around Lan Wangji subsequently agreeing to a date with ten-years-younger Mo Xuanyu, presumably in an attempt to move on, and Su She picking up on his hopeless pining when both couples happened to be in the same room, as dates to the same function or something, and then following a characteristically self-destructive course where he got so wrapped up in rubbing it in Lan Wangji's face that he finally had something the Lan scion wanted and couldn't get that he wound up entirely destroying his own relationship.

Wei Wuxian is a very good judge of people who also attracts strong personal loyalty once people get attached to him in the first place, and notably something that simply never happens to him is someone betraying him who he trusted not to do that. (Jiang Cheng does not count; Wei Wuxian maneuvered him into most of it, he wasn't taken by surprise.) So it could be really neat to finesse the character work of him understanding Su She's basic character flaws, but not expecting them to manifest or affect him quite the way they end up doing.

In the same way he mostly gets Lan Wangji as a person from the start but, lacking insight into certain things he's hiding, is unable to reliably reconstruct his perspective. To an increasingly noticeable degree, as lwj acts on that aspect of his motivations more openly.

I am never going to write that though, because I just don't care enough about that kind of story, although concept free to a good home.

I did write out a little of the backstory to how Su She could have wound up in a position of wanting to date Wei Wuxian on his own merits, which was a fun bit of character study because Su She is basically Jin Guangyao's Wen Ning, you know? Evil Wen Ning.

His understanding of Jin Guangyao as someone who respects and values him earned an insane amount of personal loyalty from a basically very selfish guy--like sure, it's clear he got a steady stream of favors out of the bargain, but he also puts himself on the line way in excess of the practical value Jin Guangyao has provided and is likely to provide; the real inducement was the validation.

So, if Wei Wuxian had happened to be carelessly kind and supportive to Su She the way he was to Wen Ning, having met him in a weak moment before Su She had had a chance to make an impression as a petty asshole rather than just a bit of a dumbass (not that he actually in canon managed to make any personal impression even by shooting him in the arm) you could probably arrange for him to glom onto Wei Wuxian instead, as someone like him, who didn't get the respect he deserved because of his birth station.

And Wei Wuxian would be perfectly willing to reciprocate that friendship, even though (as with Wen Ning) if Su She didn't reach out promptly he'd have totally forgotten he existed until prompted lmao. Su She would never forgive that insult.

You can see in the passage here where I still kind of wanted it to be a modern AU so they're texting, but the setup I'd written previously worked as a clean canon divergence because that's my usual preference, and I really wasn't interested enough in a plot that's entirely about romantic relationships to figure that out and write the rest.

But I did enjoy doing this study of how Su She could have gotten stuck on Wei Wuxian, only to later go on to fuck himself over with his Lan Wangji complex.

It was nice to have someone to complain to who got it. When Su Minshan talked about having no family to turn to, about owing everything to the Sect that had raised him when, to the Lan, everything came down to the clan and he would never have a chance to truly distinguish himself— Sometimes I think about just leaving, Su Minshan wrote, because Wei Wuxian wouldn’t scold him for being ungrateful. You can, if you want, Wei Wuxian wrote, as if it was that easy. Only if you came too, Su Minshan had written back, shaken by his own daring. Of course, Wei Wuxian refused. Jiang Cheng would never forgive me if I ran off. Because he’s counting on you to run his Sect for him. He absolutely is not. Jiang Cheng will work himself into the ground before he lets me do his job for him. He didn’t admit that of course the Sect Heir was counting on him, but he didn’t disagree, which was basically the same thing. Wei Wuxian worked very hard and was rewarded for it, but Su Minshan knew that even in Jiang the equal opportunity only went so far—he was the Sect Leader’s pet for personal reasons, not just on merit, and even so he could never rise to be the equal of the blood heir. It was infuriating sometimes how that didn’t bother him. Have more ambition! You’re so lucky, Su Minshan wrote, because he was jealous, he was so so jealous. I am! <3 But let’s see, outside the main family how important can a person get in Lan Sect? You can make a plan. Weeks of effort did not produce any particularly good plans. The most realistic one took forty years to show results. Maybe I should just kill Lan Wangji and use a spell to disguise myself and take his place, Su Minshan joked. Haha! Minshan-xiong, I’m sorry, you couldn’t pull off being Lan Zhan. That hurt, an unexpected cold dagger to the ribs. Wei Wuxian was his friend! Why not! he typed angrily. Was his playing too weak, his swordsmanship, his deportment? Would even Wei Wuxian tell him he was just not good enough? Because you could never resist saying something bitchy when you had the chance, and he keeps all the bitching inside his head. Su Minshan put his head down and laughed until he thought he might cry.

I have the sneaking suspicion I already shared this one for one of these games, because it really is by far the funniest thing I'm definitely never going to finish, so I'll reblog this post later with another offering.

#ask #hoc est meum #Anonymous #ask game #fanfiction

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zahri-melitor · 4 months

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All the discussion of the guts of the video

This has been floating around my head for months now, particularly a few of the sequences. I had the shape of the pacing of the verses, particularly the Barbara introduction very early on, as well as knowing what issues I was going to rely heavily on for material.

I really wanted to use Something Just Like This as it's both an excellent song to set a ship to, but it also of course allowed a bunch of massive ironic moments for various lyrics.

I wanted it to be set in a pre-Flashpoint universe, so that Barbara was still Oracle. Which made finding enough DickBabs panels for the opening verse somewhat of a challenge, as I was only allowing myself pre-1988 material, legitimate flashbacks, and dream sequences. Batgirl Year One, you will always be famous (and have a very useful kiss). But I succeeded and I didn't even give in to the impulse when I was one panel short to use a Barbara and Jason panel from Gotham Knights #43, even though I was really really tempted. Instead I went through Batman Family from the 1970s and found something I could shoehorn in that sounded shippy.

I did use Lil Gotham, even though it's technically a n52 comic AND an alternate universe. But it has a bunch of very cute DickBabs moments with her wheelchair in them, putting it firmly into the storyline I was trying to convey. That's why all of the Lil Gotham scenes (apart from the one flashback) went into the post-proposal section.

We'll just say in terms of the story told in the video, Dick and Babs actually got back together following the proposal instead of what actually happened, and then they had many cute moments together as a couple.

Stuff I really want to point you at and go 'did you see did you see' because I had too much fun with it:-

'Achilles and his gold' - Bruce is of course Achilles here, and his Achilles heel has always been Dick, the boy wearing a gold cape.

'Spider-Man's control and Batman with his fists' - this was another really really early scene I knew. I wanted the World's Finest circus scene with Dick on the trapeze and Bruce catching him. To have Batman's 'fists' in this scene not be punching, but be catching, with all of the imagery that surrounds Dick and his issues about catching people? Yeeeeessss.

'And clearly I don't see myself upon that list. But she said, where'd you wanna go?' - this came together when I was picking panels. I wanted a lovely ironic moment for Dick about how he doesn't see himself as Batman, so the costume transition panel looked SO GOOD for that. And then...I remembered Dick and Babs' first meeting in Robin Year One actually contains the line 'Dad! Are you ready to go yet?!'. And the panels line up so it looks like Dick is sprinting away from Bruce to Barbara, particularly given where the blank white space is.

And then we launch into Batgirl Year One, the main anchor of good DickBabs content prior to both of their costume changes. It's very important to me that I put the giggling panel AFTER the kiss as 'I want something just like this' - what they want is not just the romance but the comfort and trust around each other.

Despite using Batgirl Year One, I still wanted librarian!Barbara with her multiple degrees, so we got two panels of that.

I am SO PROUD to have got oath scenes for both Dick and Babs into this, and I find it amusing I put them on different lines for each of Dick and Barbara. Dick got "the legends and the myths" because his candle oath is such an important part of the mythology of Batman. But Barbara's is on "the testaments they told", because for her the important part of the legends and the myths was choosing to wear an urban legend's costume to the party, while swearing fit best with the testaments.

'The moon and its eclipse' - this was the anchor the entire video revolved around. I had to acknowledge TKJ to get to Oracle, and that line was absolutely perfect. I also went through a BUNCH of panels to decide which one I wanted for the scene, but ultimately picked Gail Simone's n52 retelling, because that one doesn't include imagery of Barbara being shot; it just has the threat.

'And Superman unrolls a suit before he lifts' - this gave me SO MUCH ANGST let me tell you. I actually wanted to use the scenes of Clark flying Barbara for medical treatment in BOP #71 and #85, because I've always loved that moment - Dinah calls Clark in and Clark officially doesn't even know who Babs is at that point, but she's got deadly Brainiac Virus so they're going to do everything they can. And it worked for storytelling as it would be 'Superman transports Barbara Gordon after being shot'. But the associated panels were far less clear than in my memory. So instead I gave 'Superman' to Jim Gordon, and then launched into Oracle Year One and Bruce being a creeper (as opposed to the time he's a creeper during Brainiac. He likes sneaking through the window to stare at Barbara when she's ill).

'But I'm not the kind of person that it fits' this was just perfect for Barbara, because from here on out she doesn't wear a costume. She's Oracle. But teaming it with Oracle Year One and the fact that Babs still learnt new self defense afterwards makes the point that she hasn't stopped fighting.

And then we launch into the extremely Oracle Green scenes, showing off her competency. Including the fun of the 'cover the eyes' moment after an eyes focused panel. I was really happy to find something that worked for Barbara as Oracle and also for 'some fairytale bliss', because a LOT of backlit green computer scenes have grumpy or annoyed Barbara.

'Somebody I can miss' had to be the reunion during Cataclysm. Dick fought his way into Gotham to check on Barbara. They'd both been working so hard not to worry about the other as they did their jobs. And, of course, it made the perfect platform to launch into the most sick!fic of all DickBabs issues - the pair during NML after he gets out of Blackgate.

Which then leads into Joker Last Laugh and the NICE bit of their celebratory roadtrip right before Barbara gets the call from Dinah that that plot started. I adore I managed to line it up so the view on the drive appears just as the music calms, relaxing you. So we can have a lovely dinner followed by the 'Dick and Babs totally had sex' sleepover issues.

Third verse actually was ALWAYS going to be Our Worlds at War, because I think the Nightwing issue of it is underrated in terms of how blatantly shippy it is. Also the narrative of the issue actually fits the verse lyrics pretty well. It's one of Barbara's more badass workout gear looks that she tends to have during the issues when she's got to do things in person.

And of course I wanted to end the third verse with the proposal. Because proposal! I didn't want it too early, because I wanted everything after it to look like DickBabs in a stable, loving, long term relationship. Which is why we get the two shippy flying scenes (with catching! gotta have Dick catching imagery, combined with Barbara letting go of control), then I use 'Happy Birthday' to draw them over to Lil Gotham and Dick about to hand Barbara a present.

Having Lil Gotham here was really fun actually, as it's a continuity that has both Oracle AND DickBabs as a stable background fact, and just a bunch of cute moments between the two.

Then finally... a massive compilation storyline where I pull scenes from all over. After running reasonably canonically through a bunch of earlier storylines, putting together one that's just about the comfort Babs finds in having Dick around was really fun for me (also my Barbara stan nature confirmed)

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luminescentauthor · 1 year

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Good Mom Talia Headcanons

Because Talia al-Ghūl is a Good Mom Screw You

DC – Gotham Knights, specifically – is back on their evil Talia al-Ghūl BS, and they’re also back on their “the less white she appears, the more evil she is” BS and I am. So tired.

So, out of raw spite, here are happy headcanons revolving mainly around Talia being a good mom and generally kicking butt!

This is from my Remained AU, named that because it’s the AU where Jason remained with Talia and Damian after coming back to life. You don’t need to know it to understand this, but if you haven’t seen this AU before, you can find the original post here, or the tag for it here.

CW: Swearing and uhhh I think that’s it but PLEASE do lmk if I missed anything

+ One of the first things Talia did when Ra's was removed from the picture following Death and the Maidens (a batman comic in which Ra’s dies. He eventually came back) was buy Damian the biggest, most ridiculous art set in existence, and about 400 glitter pens. He loves it.

+ Jason and Talia will often have tea and chat while they play strategy games, such as chess, Stratego, and Shogi. She always kicks his ass.

+ Nobody is sure when she sleeps. Maybe she just doesn't.

Multiple members of the League of Assassins claim she has the ability to be in two places at the same time. No one is sure how she does it.

+ Talia calls Damian and Jason lots of affectionate nicknames. She only does this when they're alone prior to leaving the League, or with her few most trusted people, but once they're in Gotham she does it all the time. Some of the nicknames are beloved, habibi (Arabic, basically translates to "my love," I'm stealing it from the thousands of fanfics I've seen her use it in), sweetheart, darling, etc.

+ Absolute fashion icon. Owns the most gorgeous dresses, saris, and pantsuits. As CEO of LexCorp and later when she moves to Gotham, she absolutely redefines what is fashionable by virtue of being the best-looking person in the room. (For context, when Lex Luthor was president, he made Talia CEO of LexCorp, for about a year, I think. She spent most of it trying to give evidence to the Daily Planet about Lex’s criminal activity.)

However Jason makes fun of her for The Pink Jumpsuit relentlessly.

+ Talia almost always wears her hair in a braid or bun; the only time she doesn't is for business meetings and parties and whatnot. If she's just around a League base or fighting, it's tied back. This has nothing to do with the fact that it affects her fighting skill and everything to do with the fact that she finds hair in her face very annoying. Talia is far too good to be affected by whether or not her hair is in her face – she just gets tired of it falling in her eyes when she’s trying to read.

+ Doesn’t wear heels much; she’s an athlete and a fighter, and heels literally deform your feet. Will wear heels when meeting with Ra’s because she enjoys the look on his face when she’s taller than him. She’s also been known to do this to Lex Luthor and many others. She once walked into a LexCorp board meeting wearing eight-inch heels and towered over all the white men’s heads. Just because she doesn’t wear heels much doesn’t mean she can’t walk in them flawlessly.

+ (Tbh everything Talia al-Ghūl does is flawless.)

+ In canon, when Bruce and Talia met, she was studying for a medical degree at Cairo University. She now has that medical degree.

“Ms. Al-Ghūl—” “That is Doctor Al-Ghūl to you.”

Jason: When did even you do your residency???

Talia, drinking tea: Mmm.

Jason, exasperated: Mom.

+ She also got a business degree at some point, and no one is totally sure when or how. It does make explaining why Lex Luthor made the CEO of LexCorp much easier, though.

+ While she prefers tea, Talia did not get through medical school or a whole year of dealing with Lex Luthor’s bullshit without copious amounts of coffee.

+ Jason got her a “HBIC” mug as a joke partway during her year with LexCorp. It promptly became her favorite mug and can always be seen on her desk filled with coffee or tea.

+ After moving to Gotham, she spends most of her free time spoiling her kids or working on social reform. She's also working on a law degree.

"Mom, a medical degree, a business degree, and a law degree seems like overkill?" "It is, I just want the law degree because it will help me make Lex Luthor's life a living hell." "In that case, understandable have a nice day."

She and Barbara are both “yes I have far too many degrees just so I can wave them in the face of annoying white men what about it” energy and are also both very determined to enact social reform, so they get along quite well. Possibly too well. However, the only people who need to be afraid of their combined might are those who probably deserve it, so the rest of the Batfam has elected to simply get out of the way.

+ Talia owns a private jet, but don’t worry it’s eco-friendly. No ridiculous carbon emissions for this billionaire. She’s an al-Ghūl. Of course, it’s eco-friendly. (She’s also sensible.) Jason proceeds to use it to bounce back and forth between Australia and Gotham, and Talia is. So. Tired. Jason my darling I love you so, so very much, but that is a terrible idea for your education and your sleep schedule please—

For the record, all of Bruce’s vehicles are also electric.

+ Damian wasn't allowed to have pets with the League because Talia didn't trust Ra's not to kill anything Damian showed affection towards. Once Damian lives in Gotham, however, Talia 100% enables his animal-loving tendencies.

Like… maybe a little too much.

Bruce: I’m going to have to build an animal sanctuary in my backyard at this rate.

Talia: I think that would be wonderful, don’t you? It’s not like you don’t have the space.

Tim: *Wheezing*

+ The last name she uses is “Kareem.” Assuming my sources are correct (and admittedly they may not be; my faith in the internet is shaky, at best, though I checked a handful of different sites and they all seem to say the same thing), it is a name of Arabic origin that means generous, honorable, and noble, and is also one of the 99 names of God given in the Quran. It is also the name Jason and Damian use.

When the knowledge that Jason and Damian were Bruce and Talia’s kids becomes public, they both wanted to be Kareem-Waynes. Talia, who wanted to avoid any potential media conflict, pointed out (correctly) that somehow the media would find a way to make a mess out of that and added that she loves them both dearly and they will always be her sons whether or not they use her name. So in the name of Less Media Attention they were going to go with Wayne-Kareem, since it's normal to put the father's name first.

Two hours after they agreed on this, Bruce found out from one of the other batkids and went "WE'RE GOING WITH KAREEM-WAYNE THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY SCREW SEXISM”

Jason and Damian think it’s fantastic. Talia laughs so hard.

The media does try to make a thing out of it, and Bruce literally says “This is the 21st century. Consider it a statement. Also go fuck yourself.”

On a related note, when he marries Selina he becomes Bruce Kyle-Wayne and she becomes Selina Kyle-Wayne and his kids have never loved him more. We stan a feminist!

+ Talia loves animals as much as Damian, and they both get along with Selina because of it.

+ Selina and Talia can often be seen together at galas whispering to one another and generally making everyone else feel like they aren’t worthy to be in the same room.

+ Selina introduces Talia to Ivy and they immediately get along, since they’re both very passionate about environmental reform. Talia does networking and works on policy improvements, while Selina breaks into places for evidence and files, Barbara helps with political wrangling and gathers intelligence, and Ivy and Harley fuck shit up when all else fails. Ivy’s sense for where pollution is coming from is unparalleled, as well, so she can also help gather data to point Talia in the right direction to publicly destroy corrupt companies. Selina’s mostly here to steal things and protect endangered cats.

YEAH I SAID WOMEN IN HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS NOT DEFINED BY THEIR RELATION TO A MAN

WHAT ABOUT IT

For the record, Bruce is very impressed by what they're doing and also absolutely terrified.

(Oh sidenote HarlIvy canon.) (Didn’t even occur to me to say that because I deadass assumed it was a given.)

+ Talia’s initial feelings towards Harley were pretty hostile, given everything the Joker did to Jason, but she comes to understand what Harley went through. Harley and Jason actually bond quite a bit in this AU.

+ Also, not totally on topic with the general theme of this post, I’m going to Own Up to a mistake I made on the last post: I completely forgot the Wayne family is Jewish and was like “yeah, they celebrate Christmas??? Right???” So. Hannukah! They do celebrate Christmas – Tim and Steph grew up celebrating Christmas – they just also celebrate Literally Everything Else.

+ It’s canon in DC that Talia made Damian ox blood soup when he was a kid, so presumably she made it for Jason too. Jason asked her to teach him how to make it. Damian's a vegetarian now, so they're trying to figure out how to replicate the taste.

Talia, affectionately and teasingly: Damian, habibi, I love you dearly, but you are making cooking for you incredibly hard.

Damian: :)

+ She, Jason, and Alfred have been learning how to make a bunch of dishes Damian already likes with tofu and other alternatives, as well as trying out new vegetarian recipes. He’s a growing boy, he needs protein, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be meat.

+ Talia and Alfred go to the farmer’s market every Saturday. Jason often comes with, and the other kids sometimes tag along.

+ Talia bought a cashmere blanket and to this day it is one of the best purchases she's ever made.

She kind of wishes her kids would stop fighting over it, though.

The problem is usually solved by yoinking both children into a cuddle pile.

“Just buy another one—” She has. She owns like six of them, now. It’s this one specific one they want for some reason.

(It’s because it’s Mom’s.)

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wesavegotham · 1 year

Text

I'm mainly a Damian Wayne fan, so of course I'm mostly noticing Tim Drake posts when people also talk about Damian in them, but one thing at least I don't see a lot of people bring up a lot when discussing why Tim started struggling in the 2000s is the return of Jason Todd.

Sure, the death of Tim's father in Identity Crisis removing what set Tim apart from many batfamily characters was probably a bigger factor and DC making a different character Robin with Damian in 2009 also played a part (even though all this "DC pushed Damian and sidelined Tim" crap is simply a fandom myth, sorry, but DC pushing a new character and sidelining another looks very different), but a not insignificant part of Tim's character revolved around justifying Batman having a Robin again after Jason's death.

But in 2005 they brought Jason back, letting him finally have a voice in this discussion after getting victim blamed and used as a bad example that Tim wouldn't follow because he was "so much better than Jason" for 15 years.

Now Jason himself could be used to discuss his time as Robin and his death, you didn't need Tim to do it.

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magicalqueennightmare · 1 year

Text

Sins & Amends Chapter 20

Billy Russo x Female Reader (60 part story)

This follows pre- the punisher into the storyline of daredevil, punisher season 1 and beyond

This is NOT Canon Billy. This is decent human being Billy left with bad options over worse decisions

This was also posted to A03 under: WaywardGaPeach. That account and this one is the only place you'll see me post this. If you see it on any other platform/account know it's not me.

Chapter Summary/Warnings: With Frank dropping bodies at an alarming rate you try your best to keep up and to not get caught in more vigilante bullshit than necessary

You knew Frank's appearances at your door would be few and far between. He was doing his best to keep those he cared about that was still breathing in that shape. You just wished there was more you could do to help him besides keeping your phone turned on at night should he need a patch job unexpectedly.

He was dropping bodies faster than the news or police could keep up. You had enough contacts in the NYPD after so many years of being a paramedic that rumors floated your way. A war between gangs was the best theory. Those who knew what was going on were worried about who would be next or if a civilian would end up in the cross hairs. You knew that wouldn't happen. Frank wasn't a bad guy, he wasn't some psychopath. He was a man who had watched his family get slaughtered and not be able to stop it. Lack of skills was the only thing keeping you from insisting on being at his side.

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

You were trying to find some semblance of a new routine. You'd help Curtis with the meetings he held, the soup kitchen and had dinner with him at least once a week. You started going over to Alice and Kenzie's at least one night a week. You had to keep your head on straight should the occasion arise Frank need you.

A part of you felt wrong not telling Curtis. He deserved to know Frank was alive. It's not like he'd say anything but you had made a promise to not tell anyone and nothing could make you break that promise.

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

Of course around the station house discourse was coming up as to what was actually going on. Some believed what the news was reporting, others thought it was some sort of secret government clean up. You kept your mouth shut and stayed clear of any and all discussions revolving around the gang murders.

You were almost off shift one night when the news of Metro-General being shot up by a lone gunman came through. Apparently he was after a witness involving the Irish gang murders. Your eyes flew up to Jason's when he said those words "How do you know that?" You asked a lot harsher than you meant to. He shrugged "sergeant Mahoney. You remember him don't ya?" You nodded so he continued "He told me. From what they're thinking this guy is the person behind all the killings a one man wrecking crew"

"Well if he shot up the hospital they'll have footage and be able to identify him" Kayla tossed out only to be over talked by Jessie who said "Who cares? Not a single civvie has been injured. Cops need to stay out of it and let the man work" any further conversation was lost to you from the sound of your own heartbeat pounding in your ears. They'd know who he was. Fuck all of New York would know Frank was alive and his face would be plastered every where. You couldn't keep him safe.

"Y/N you ok? You're a bit flushed" Alice asked in all but a whisper. You slowly shook your head and checked your watch "No I'm not. I um do you think you can cover me leaving early? Riley and Ash will be here soon" "Of course. Is there something I can help with?" You shook your head and headed to the locker room "No but I promise I'll call you in the morning"

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

You hadn't made it but a couple blocks when your phone started ringing from a blocked number "Hello?" You answered cautiously and let out a breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding when Frank's voice was the one on the other end "Hey kid" you glanced around and saw the only other people on the sidewalk were out of ear shot but you lowered your voice regardless "You went after one of the pieces of scum at a hospital?" "No one got hurt. You know me better than that"

You ran a hand across your face so as to not get louder "No shit. I meant the fucking cameras. NYPD knows you're behind the killings. Cameras are a bitch. They're gonna find out who you are" "This the part where you tell me you can't help me any more"

"Of fucking course not. I'm a paramedic and have no legal requirement to report who i render aid to off the clock. I'm just worried about you" "Don't be. I'll come by your place once I'm sure no one knows I'm coming. I just need you to make sure my nose ain't broke" "I'll be around" you said to the dead line and cursed before sliding the phone back into your pocket. Shit was about to get real deep.

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

"So you shot daredevil? Did you fucking kill him?" You asked Frank once you'd popped his nose back into place and made sure there would be no lasting damage. "Naw I hit mainly helmet. He'll have one hell of a headache but I'm sure I'll see that red asshole again soon enough" you wanted to laugh to keep from crying. For the first time in a while you were terrified and not for yourself. What if the remaining members of any of the gangs caught up with Frank?

"I'll be fine Y/N. If you can't handle this anymore I get it sweetheart. It's getting neck deep" you forgot at times just how long you'd known Frank when he read your expressions like that it was a reminder. "I ain't going anywhere just..just stay alive Frankie. Please?" He pressed a quick kiss to your temple "I'll be fine" before you could say anything he was disappearing out your door and down the hall. You glanced out and didn't catch so much as a glimpse of his back.

"From your mouth to God's ear" you said to the empty hall then shut your door and locked it. You glanced at the time and said a silent thank you to the powers that be that you were off the following day,you needed a shower and a nap.

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

Your phone ringing broke you out of your sleep and you groaned when you looked at the time to see you had barely hit four hours.

You felt around on your nightstand then bought the phone to your ear without even looking at the caller i.d. "Hello?" "Y/N I need a favor" you sat up blinking at Kenzie's voice "What's wrong? Did something happen? Are you ok? Is Alice ok?"

Your heart was pounding in your chest and you knew it was just a gut reaction to what had happened with Maria and the kids but you couldn't help it. "Y/N deep breath. I'm ok. Alice is ok. She's just busy and I need some paramedic version of help for a friend of mine" you pushed the blanket off your legs and was already walking into your closet as you asked "There a reason they can't call an on duty squad?"

"Well um his friend is blind and a bit self conscious about getting hurt and he knows I'm with Alice so he called to see if she could come over and since she can't I figured I'd see if you were busy" you reached for a pair of jeans but stopped halfway "This friend have a name by chance?" "Franklin Nelson? You know Nelson and Murdock?" "The law firm that handled the Fisk case? Yeah everyone knows them" you answered sliding the jeans onto your legs. "Well I've known Foggy for a while and apparently last night Matt his law partner took a fall and got a pretty good lick to the head but doesn't want to go in. Can you go to Matt's apartment and check him over?"

"Text me the address and make sure Foggy knows I'm coming" you replied and you heard a ding and saw where she'd already sent the address through "Thank you so much Y/N" "Anything for you dear" you told her before she said bye. You laid the phone down so you could finish getting dressed. Wonder if Foggy had some coffee made because you didn't want to take the time to make any.

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

You walked up the stairs checking numbers until you were at the one Kenzie had said. You hesitated for a second and shifted your med bag before knocking. "One second!" A voice called out before the door opened to show a friendly looking guy with longish hair who was a little on the bigger side but his smile made you feel at ease.

"You must be Y/N" he said and offered his hand. You shook it then patted your bag "Did this give me away" "a bit" he replied then added "I'm Foggy by the way" "Nice to meet you but where's the injured person I'm here for?" You didn't want to seem rude but if you were lucky maybe you could grab some coffee after you left and get a nap before meeting Curtis later that evening.

"Oh yeah he's on the couch" he said waving his hand into the apartment so you walked past him stopping so he could close the door and show you further inside.

On the couch was a brown haired guy who appeared to just be wearing boxers laid back covered with a blanket and his eyes closed. "Matt the paramedic is here" Foggy announced so Matt sat up pulling the blanket further up. You appreciated the thought but you'd seen a lot worse than his bare chest and legs. He was a good looking guy and just a small part of you felt weird for acknowledging that even to yourself. Maybe it was the fact that he was a patient or maybe some remnant of the past lingering in your mind. You pushed it away quickly going into work mode.

"Um Mr Murdock? My name's Y/N is it ok if I give you a once over?" You asked and he smiled slightly "of course. Forewarning don't try to see if my eyes are dilated and it's Matt by the way" "Well I see your sense of humor wasn't hurt huh Matt?" You asked sitting your bag down on the table next to him before digging out gloves.

You checked him over and once you cleaned the blood away saw that dermabond would do the trick to close what wound was there. "How'd this happen again?" You asked as you worked. "I fell" Matt answered almost before you finished asking.

"Well if you don't mind me saying don't you have a cane or something? I'd suggest using it" "Yes ma'am" he replied but the way he tracked your movements not with his eyes but with his actions made you feel there was a lot more to him and how he'd gotten hurt than what you were being told but you brushed it off and finished cleaning him up then stripped your gloves off.

"Well Matt you're good to go. Give it a little while but by tonight showering is fine. I wouldn't suggest taking any more blows to the area so be extra careful please. You can take aspirin as needed. You may have some dizziness or ringing in your ears. That's common but if you feel you're losing any hearing or if the pain gets worse than over the counter meds can help I would suggest going to the hospital" "Thank you Y/N" he smiled when he spoke and once again you got the feeling of something else going on but you brushed it off.

You gathered your things then smiled at Foggy "Do you want my cell number so you can contact me directly should he get hurt again? I don't mind helping who I can"

"Actually that would be great" he held his phone out so you added your number and your name plus paramedic by it in parenthesis. You handed his phone back then said "Take care you two and nice work on the Fisk case" "Thanks and thanks for taking care of Matt" Foggy said and Matt added "If you ever need a lawyer feel free to look us up" "I'll keep that in mind" you laughed then showed yourself out.

So maybe some of Maria's tendencies of claiming strays had rubbed off on you. Those two seemed like decent guys and if Kenzie liked them they must be. Besides when was having two lawyers on your side a bad thing? You shook your head as you walked down the stairs. Quick stop at the coffee shop then you could maybe catch another hour or so before meeting Curtis later.

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

You were just walking downstairs to Curtis' car when your phone started ringing from a blocked number again. You took a breath and held it considering it was night them. That was when Frank hunted so that was when he ended up hurt.

"Y/N. Any way you can bring me a couple suture kits?" You turned around and walked right back into your apartment "Where to? Curtis is waiting downstairs for me so what do I tell him?" There was silence for a moment then Frank spoke "That's even better. I'll give you the address get him to wait on you in the car, just say it's personal. Come up to the roof, give me the kits then get as far from here as possible got me?" You shoved three suture kits out your med bag into your purse and added your gun as well. Frank sounded like trouble was brewing and you didn't want to walk in naked. "Be there in ten" you said then he hung up without another word.

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

You had to hand it to Curtis. Yes he was extremely protective of you but when you told him it was personal he agreed to wait in the car given you be back down in the agreed on twenty minutes. "If I'm not down feel free to call the calvary and come busting doors down ok?" He had rolled his eyes at your comment but laughed nonetheless.

The walk up the stairs you were waiting for someone to point out that you didn't belong here. You could talk your way out the situation of course but you also didn't know what was going on with Frank so better not to even be caught. You made it to the roof access door and the moment your hand touched the handle it opened to show Frank on the other side.

He pulled you out onto the roof checking the stairwell behind you in the meantime. "I bought you three kits. I didn't know how badly you were hurt this time" you held the kits out and he nodded "Thanks it's just a bullet graze. Shit went a little sideways" you heard what sounded like chains rattling and your eyes went wide "Frank do you have someone tied up?"

He looked over his shoulder and gave a sharp nod "Told ya I'd be seeing red again" you pushed past him despite him telling you to go back down and followed the sound of the chain. When you walked around the corner there was daredevil himself chained to a portion of the roof. "At least tell me you didn't shoot him again" you whispered to Frank.

Daredevil's face turned up at your voice. "Who's that?" "None of your fucking concern. Forget she was here or we'll have problems" Frank's voice was a growl but you were frozen to the spot. That voice, added into where Daredevil's helmet was damaged and the familiar way he tracked movement. It wasn't possible was it? Matt was blind, you'd checked his eyes yourself but you had that same feeling you did in his apartment and he'd gotten hurt the same night Frank had shot Daredevil.

"Kid you alright?" Frank asked and you nodded. "He won't bother me. Will you red?" You wanted to call him by his name to see if he'd react but you also didn't want to let on anything considering he also knew your voice and if you were right his best friend had your cell number.

He shook his head "She just bought you suture kits. I can't hold helping someone in need against her" "Good" Frank replied then touched your elbow "Get going now. Once you get back down to Curt decide you want to eat on the other end of the city, got it?"

You nodded and started to walk off but stopped to look back at Frank. There was so much you wanted to say but with another set of ears there you didn't want to get too much into it so you simply said "Stay alive" he shrugged one shoulder and replied "I always do"

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

"So you gonna tell me what that was about or why the sudden change in appetite?" Curtis asked as he drove down the street. You cut your eyes towards him and gave a small smile "I told you it was personal and I remembered Ash talking about the new korean barbeque place and I wanna try it" he studied you for a moment then shook his head "I know you better than that but I'm gonna let it go cause I'm hungry and you're like a sister to me so I'll trust that if you need me you'll tell me"

"You know I will Curt" you were just happy he'd chosen to let it go for tonight and said a silent prayer to whoever or whatever was listening that Frank and Matt would both still be alive and well come morning light.

Tags @intothesoul

@weallhaveadestiny

#au billy russo #billy russo x y/n #billy russo au #billy russo x you #billy russo fanfic #billy russo x reader #sins and amends masterlist

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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 8 days

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What we toons does mod normally read? Any recommendation?

//All things considered, I’m the one who should be asking that. I honestly don’t use webtoon very much, and I think based on my recent posts, you can easily figure out why. I’ve heard that Lore Olympus is worth checking out, but other than that.

//With that being said, I have recently been reading a story on Webtoon called Wayne Family Adventures by CRC Payne and Starbite, which is VERY good. If you don’t know what it is, it’s basically a slice of life story that revolves around Batman and all his protégé’s, acting as a dysfunctional and troubled, but happy family.

//And when I say all his protégé’s I mean ALL his protégé’s! Ordinarily you’d think that it’d just be Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd and Tim Drake, like most official media, but NO! Basically EVERYONE is here; Damien Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Duke Thomas, Luke Fox, and like, SO MANY MORE.

//And it covers basically all the issues that come with being the adoptive father of so many masked vigilante’s, not only teaching them to fight crime, but also trying to give them a normal life, which is increasingly difficult because basically all these kids have deep-rooted childhood trauma just like Bruce does, and it covers all its bases in the most spectacular fashion. One chapter could be centred around one of the characters PTSD (take your pick which one because holy shit) and the next could be a silly chapter where they all have a prank war against each other. And I think it’s great.

//It honestly does show just how important a fanbase is to series, because works made by fans are often the one’s that show the most passion and dedication to its craft.

//Aside from that, there’s only other one I’ve read that I think was interesting. I know that they’re a bit of a controversial figure and it’s not really my place to say anything on the matter, but Merryweather’s StalkerXStalker was actually a pretty fun tale when it was still around.

//It does a lot of the edgy tropes that other webtoons do a lot, but the difference is that the base concept is a romantic relationship between two yanderes, so not only do you expect it to be overly edgy, dark and twisted, but it has the right to be, unlike most manwha’s which take ordinary concepts and make them obscene levels of edgy for no reason.

//And sometimes, it can be pretty funny. Black comedy is not a genre I’m particularly catered to, but StalkerXStalker is kind of where my taste in that genre lies.

//Side note, kind of unrelated to my critiques of this comic, but the main female character’s name is Junko, so…clearly it’s catered to me tastes right from the start.

-Mod

#mod

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lazaruspiss · 1 month

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your ship, character and fandom opinions are so based. i'm also a poly robin shipper so it's nice to see there are more of us here. anyway, i'd love to hear what are your all time favorite dc ships and why, and if you have any headcanons (sfw and nsfw) about them. or you can just ramble about any fic ideas you have, the ones you've mentioned already are very interesting.

thank u for the compliments and also the many things to talk about!! <3 mwah! (readmore added bc of length)

picking a favorite ship is so hard, because im a multishipper and real big on leaving my options open so that i have the most opportunity in any given story!! like, brudick and sladick are both ones i love for dark stories, but they each give such different angles and paths that you can take. all combinations of robins are dear to me for different reasons. and even within the context of one ship, i can usually come up with a lot of different directions that they can go it!!

i can't even say "X is my favorite for Y types of stories" because with a good pairing theres so much you can do with a variety of types of stories!! so. def cant pick a favorite, but i can list some that i like! they mostly involve Dick, bc my biases are quite obivious, lol.

Dick ships: Bruce, Slade, Talia, Slade/Talia, Tim, Jason, Steph, Damian (but it depends a lot on context, i see Dick as being very careful about not taking advantage), any poly robins combo, Slade/Rose, Tara

other ships: Slade/Rose, Slade/Talia, any robins together, Bruce/Talia (but only if Talia is having daddy issues about it), Nyssa/Talia (Nyssa repeatedly kills and revives her to make her understand her anger at Ra's. the rituals. they're intricate i swear-)(but also in arkham knight Nyssa compares her love for Talia to Bruce's explicitly romantic love for Talia and i've never been normal about that), any combo of the Al Ghuls tbh they're so mentally ill about each other

so uhhhhhh. really you could pitch any Dick ship at me and get me talking. if anyone wants to ask about that list ur welcome to lol

fic ideas!!! i have some shorter ones, like a Blackfire/Robin non-con based on that one scene from tt03, but i kinda wanna take this chance to ramble about my longer ideas!

u may have seen some of these, but i have a series called "days without incident" which is a bunch of shorter than usual fics stringing together random semi canon compliant scenes of Dick being in dangerous sexual situations, which are eventually going to end in a rlly angsty fic of Dick being assaulted and just accepting it. it sounds dark, and it is, but due to the length and format they really just serve as quick writing warm-ups more than anything.

DIDick AU. a friend of mine has been on the receiving end of so many DMs of me fleshing out these alter OCs, to the point that it would feel weird if I didn't write anything for it. the problem is that when I think about it, it all revolves around characters and there's no real plot line to use for it. I could just rant about it, bc figuring out what I want to do for a story about them is really tricky. it's also tough bc it's a teeny bit more personal than I usually go for. do /I/ have DID? unclear. I probably wouldn't tell you either way. anyways, it's an idea i want to more with but it's just more complicated to work on than most others.

suicide fic. "Where The Dead Stay Dead", title in reference to this being in a "Jason Stays Dead AU". i want to take a sort of dark comedy direction, but i have trouble controlling how the tone ends up when I write. Dick tries to kill himself post Jason's death + many other bad times but Slade just happens to pop in to try and bother him that day, and is uh. he doesn't know how to feel about it, the kid dying in front of him, but he drags Dick to a safe house and does some made-up comic book science fuckery to give Dick his healing factor. Dick is not very happy about this when he wakes up. the rest of the story follows an arrangement where Dick searches for a way to perma die and is generally a depressed grumpy bitch about everything, and Slade secretly tries to get him to stop doing that while trying to figure out a way to revive Jason. whichever ends up being easier. a lot of it would probably just be about Slade feeling lost with this "new" version of Dick, as well as the two of them swapping stories about dead loved ones and learning how to mourn.

timcel fic. that was the placeholder title, before i settled on "Nature's Order (As Told From Alpha To Beta)", but i still call it the timcel fic for short <3 the alpha in that title is Ra's, and the beta is Tim. the kick off for the story is that Ra's kidnaps omega Dick to use as a human incubator bc he and Talia had a spat that's left him heir-less, and he kidnaps Tim to make Dick more compliant. it's a really extreme take on "right wing alpha male pipeline, but omegaverse". it's gonna be a lot of bad times for Dick <3 i've talked about it so much with my friend that one time they mentioned basing smth partially off of Nature's Order Tim, and I think that's a good sign that I should really be writing this properly at this point. I have started chapter one! but bc it's gonna be a long one I want to get three chapters done before I start posting, bc having a few extra chapters written will help with my nerves a bit.

#asks #anon #uhhh that was a lot lol #feel free to ask follow up questions...?

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jflashandclash · 2 months

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Is it limiting to write TFMO after already posting TOO, is there any struggle to build the characters up to how they were in the beginning of The Whispers of a Snake?

I've been loving the younger Pax brothers and newer characters like Lou Ellen and Mercedes. It's also cool to see small differences like Pax playing more with gender which wasn't as present in TOO.

(Hi btw, glad to see you back after so long.)

HI JACE! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE ASKS! you have no idea how much they mean to me and how much they encourage me to keep at this!

*rolls up my sleeves*

*puts on my nonprescription glasses for effect*

Let's fucking GO--

Yes.

Yes there is.

Because of this-->

stoic piece of--

(I know. this is an old picture. He should have a combo of dreads, braids, and quarter shave in the old school version. And WAY less facial scars. I told myself to make drawings. one d a y.)

In my main series, you might notice that Axel....

Can be comically useless. Don't get me wrong. He's meant to be a bad ass and have so much complicated turmoil to work through. But, keep a counter on how many times he gets taken out of a final fight before he actually gets to fight. Or gets his ass kicked.

Book 1: Aphrodite kneecaps him. On a sinking ship he didn't want shipped.

Book 2: Brothers being Brothers, blasting Axel's bluster with a bullet

Book 3: he gets to fight. But. Almost dies by praetor. Almost drowns by human fire hose.

Book 4: Almost dies by childhood fear of water puppy. Almost dies by half-brother's mom's parental skills.

Most of Riordon's plots revolve around a Hero's Journey, often times. His characters are normally rising bad asses. Axel already had his hero's journey when you meet him in Traitors of Olympus. It is well established and agreed upon by the other characters that Axel is a bad ass, even though you rarely see him win a fight outright. I get a certain amount of pleasure from the "oooOoooo, he's a bad asssss, when he's fighting oversized pidgeonnnnns with a frying pannnnn--"

My secret with Axel is he spends more time In Need of Rescuing than doing the rescuing. This works (oh gods--it does work? Right? Right guys? He seems cool--please--) because he has the presence, both in how he acts and how others react, of someone who is used to being in command and can command well. People respect him because of past heroics, even if you're not seeing him kick ass here. (How many of his fights has he won against Reyna, hrm?) Otherwise, I spend four books emotionally had physically kicking the cho out of him.

..... then comes the prequel

"Oh, fuck, I need to make Axel ACTUALLY cool--"

Axel is meant to be many things. In the first four books, he was meant to be

I wanted to take figure that looked like he would embody everything of toxic Hispanic Machismo, and then make them a hyper-feminist, social justice warrior that super supports their nonbinary little siblings, someone to fight a nasty stereotype from when I was growing up

Worthy of Reyna. Yes. Axel was made for Reyna, and they STILL SCREWED IT UP--GSDI REYEL, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO--

But in the prequel, he's meant to be the parallel to the Greek's Percy and Rome's Jason. Lord knows (hail Kronos) that Riordan didn't set Luke up well for that. (I can do a different deep dive into this.) That means, not only does Axel need to progress, but he needs to rise above those around him. And he's surrounded by titans, mythical monsters, and serial killers like Jack and Flynn that can alter people's wills and health with words and songs. I'm going to end up truncating Axel's character development more than I want to, but, by all rights, he should have his own series-worth of adventures, and I believe he does.

It's just freaking HARD to go from humiliating and crushing someone for four books and then be like, "oh.... you need to... win here..."

Otherwise, Pax is relatively easy. Oh, except the Lamia thing. I might be, um, skipping over the Lamia thing. That is the one thing I just can't fit (we'll see) but the Trauma from--ehem, I mean the Massacre of Mount Othrys is more important to his character development. He has more pivot points, whereas Axel has long progression.

Jack was always meant to be a sweetie church boy that's got just a smidge of serial killer problem. Just a lil.

I'm SO freaking happy you like Mercedes and Lou Ellen. Mercedes is one of my favorite characters in Tales From Mount Othrys. <3 Her dialogue and scenes are tricky to write, but she's SO much fun to bring to life!

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ASKS!

#asks #jacereaal rocccckkks #I CAN'T BELIEVE ALL THE FREAKING BEAUTIFUL ART YOU HAVE DRAWN #I WILL BE RESPONDING WITH PROPER COMMENTS SOON I HOPE #Axel is a coatimundi's butt #But I still love him even if he has to be cool for real now

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aknosde · 4 months

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aknosde’s 2023 fic roundup

mmokay i was thinking abt a post about fic rec lists and also doing something to end the year, and i ended up with this, a reader-pov of the best fics i’ve read this year.

here you can find my favorite fics i read in 2023, along with breakdowns of their quality & why they’re my favorite. for a more comprehensive list check out my ao3 bookmarks, and w/o further ado—let’s begin with pjo

Percy Jackson

Moral Support by vaguenotion (T; one-shot; 2.4k)

To be honest I'm breaking the rules in this very first review because I actually read Moral Support for the first time several years ago. The fact that I was so enraptured by it that I spent time tracking it down over three years later is a testament to its beauty. Sweet and short Moral Support is a conversation between Hazel, Percy, and Piper after she has an argument with Jason. Dialogue and characterizations are graceful. To no one's surprise it's one of my favorites because Percy is portrayed as thoughtful, considerate, and emotionally intelligent. An incredible fic showing a snapshot of friendship with a glimpse of a quest in the background. Canon-compliant.

no more and no less by palestinianpercy (T; muti-chap completed; 167.9k)

Though I haven't finished this one it stands like many (dare I say all) of palestinianpercy's works: obviously well cared for and composed beautifully. An alternate universe in which Percy, Annabeth, and a few others are ex-Olympians, no more no less revolves around their meeting and subsequent slow burn. A commentary on the destructive and abusive nature of professional and Olympic sports, as well as body image, chronic pain, and disability, no more and no less will have you laughing and crying in turn. As admitted by the author herself Percy's slow and intentional way of speaking does not come across in the text due to the difficulty of portraying it, but in my opinion the rest is flawless. You'll have to devote serious time to this one.

Grishaverse

say it right by ev0lution (T; one shot; 18k)

An incredible modern (but still criminal) SOC au that revolves around Inej after a run-in with Tante Heleen. Concerning her recovery after their last heist and guilt over what her "relapse" caused, say it right explores Inej's relationship with each of the crows as they move between safe houses and jobs, along with reclaiming control over her life. Beautifully handled with incredible characterization, it had me immediately scrolling through ev0lution's other works.

Over the Cold Land by goastandgangsters (G; one shot; 2.7k)

A rare appearance of Vasily, Over the Cold Land covers an evening he and Nikolai spend snowed in in a canon-compliant abandoned cabin. Many good analogies about weather are made, and it also features a wonderful argument between the two––both entertaining and in character. Carefully constructed, Over the Cold Land is an elegant and quick read that will leave you for longing more.

Misc. Fandoms

keep those eyes wide by Fahye (E; one shot; 15k)

After being given a... different task to unclutter the ley line Adam is left to decide what he is and isn't willing to do for Cabeswater in the midst of a canon-typical time crunch and dream sharing between his friends. Featuring Adam & Blue as my favorite platonic duo and an interesting complication to the natural progression of Adam & Ronan's relationship, keep those eyes wide is charming from head to toe, with only the occasional minor typo. I read this one twice in a row. (Note for fellow smut non-enjoyers: the scene is only at the very end and easily skippable).

si tu m'apprivoises by bleepblorp (Cobra Kai; T; one shot; 11k)

si tu m’apprivoises is a lovely stroll of a slice of life fic set during a rather odd moment of life—one in which Robby finds himself following Miguel around as he completes domestic tasks. Internal anxieties are contrasted against a calm background in such a way that the reader becomes completely immersed in the emotional dissonance. Paced beautifully with no discernible typos and possibly the only interpretation of Miguel/Robby I’ve ever appreciated (one-sided crush), si tu m’apprivoises is a wonderfully characterized and low-key read.

Downtime by NightsMistress (Blue Beetle Comics (2006); G; one shot; 6k)

Downtime takes place immediately after the Reach for the Stars run and it's a really excellent look at Jaime and his relationship with being a superhero, having the scarab implant, and his little sister. The pacing makes the story an easy and effortless read while Jaime & Milagro give it a strong emotional backbone. Exactly what I was looking for after finishing issue #45. (And definitely not my least favorite portrayal of Kaji-Da's dialogue.)

make a deal with the big bad wolf (so the bad wolf don't bite no more) by cosmicallycatastrophic (Shameless; T; one shot; 7.5k)

Flawless post-canon story about Lip & Mickey becoming friends. cosmicallycatastrophic excels in their characterization, and it spreads to the rest of their work––dialogue & prose. Told in separate scenes the story builds naturally and compellingly over time. A solid medium length read that I couldn't put down. That being said I have not finished Shameless and therefore cannot speak in full confidence vis a vis the characters and its cannon-compliant-ness.

Rearview Mirror by themus (The OC; E; multi-chap completed; 49k)

A spectacularly well done story about the manifestation of Ryan’s childhood trauma in his new life, Rearview Mirror perfectly slots itself into mid s1. Told in alternating parts, one in the present and one in the past, themus slowly builds tension until the reader is on the edge of their seat. The present-day story feels like a mini arc within the season while the past plays along in perfect tandem; switching between times is near seamless. Characterization and dialogue operates at 100%. My only critique is the author’s interpretation of Ryan & Theresa’s relationship, which in the little bit they imply in-show of their past seemed a bit more deep with not such a hard line about her pursuing him purely romantically.

Carousel by Dreamitbeit (The Maze Runner; M; multi-chap completed; 82.6k)

In an alternate universe in which solar flares never plagued the earth, Dreamitbeit depicts a summer romance between Thomas & Newt in their isolated neighborhood while Thomas keeps a secret from his friends and family—he’s been picked for a prestigious STEM program in the city. Carousel is a carefully crafted story about reckoning one's past and home with their future. Book characterizations shone through and were interpreted delicately into the vibrant and tangible world Dreamitbeit created. Involved and wonderful.

#max.txt #fic recs

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the-knight-of-the-stars · 1 year

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I just finished Mark of Athena and I absolutely loved it, BUT, before I post my overall thoughts, I first feel the need to get two thoughts I have out of the way.

A bit of a warning. I'll spend a ridiculous amount of text complaining and talking about what is probably a deeply personal and irrational opinion but I just need to get it off my chest because it is driving me insane.

First. The thing with Hazel, Leo and Frank was kind of unconfortable. Like idk it didn't pass the vibe check for me. It wasn't a love triangle but it kind of felt like one in very weird way.

Now, I don't date, and I have blurred memories from when I was thirteen, so I don't know if its like normal for 13 year olds to get involved ( romantically or otherwise) with 16 year olds but it felt kind of strange to me, like for me 13 is still a kid and 16 is like a whole other stage of life, right?. Hazel is just like, hagging out with teens three years older than her. Do people her age really do that? (Or should they?)

This isn't exactly a complained about *this book* specifically but I was thinking it while I read.

Now, the other thing probably makes less sense but here we go. *singhs*

So... the part about Hercules. I wasn't a fan.

I know that is an interpretation, and there are many ways to interpret myths, but this one in particular is really bothering me.

It irked me a little since Titan's Curse, but there it was whatever. Now, I really don't like how it was handled here.

Is it me or the story is like, incredibly dismissive of his pain. The characters really take on this attitude of "yeah, we know you suffered and all, but we all did and now you are the trademark asshole of the story."

And like, maybe I'm crazy, but I dont think this is a good case to be so simplistic things. Hercules is arguably one of the heroes that got it worse with how much the god's internal conflicts dragged him under the mud.

This isn't some case of someone just being stuborn because he is like that. Hera made Hercules's life a living hell just for just existing. SHE MADE HIM KILL HIS OWN WIFE AND KIDS. And then he spend years trying to ease his guilt by going on impossible missions under the orders of another man who despised him.

He only got on Zeus's grace after a lifetime of suffering, being puppetired by the gods and finally dying a painful death. So yeah, I would be a little bitter and petty too.

The cult around Heracles is all about strength And it's not just because of his physical strength, but because he survived everything gods and man alike put him through. He was the representation of courage for a reason.

And I really don't see any good reason to potray him like this here. Specially because there seemed to be a lot of parallels between Hercules and Jason, and Hercules and Percy and I really thought they were leading to something. But now I guess those were accidental (? Or for fun or sm.

I don't want to say is a double standart, but is starting to feel a little like it. Or like at leasts like an weirdly handdled anachronism. Applying modern morality standarts to figures from the distant past is anachronistic, and I know the books do it all the time for the story's sake and because well, is fantasy. But in certain cases I can't help but feel like it creates some inconsistencies that I don't understand.

Like, what is the criteria here? Why does it feel like we judge a human more harshly than we are judging, lets say, the gods?

And I may be gettkng a little out of topic here but is not the first time something like this stings me.

It happened before with how Prometheus was potrayed. Why was he, of all greek figures, potrayed like a cowardly traitor? What was the point?

Prometheu's entire myth revolves around the fact that he loves human kind so much that he sacrificed everything for them.

He is one of the first and most important figures who defied and challenged the selfish ways of the gods, and he paid a horrible price for it. He was torutured for years for helping humanity, until another hero finally saved him. AND THAT HERO WAS HERCULES BY THE WAY.

Ok. Am I a little bias because Hercules is my tocayo and favorite greco-roman hero? Maybe, but my point still stands.

Why are we suppose to feel even a little bad for Achelous, the guy who stole a girl to make her his wife but not another demigod? Why is Hercules the asshole for fighting him?

I... I don't get why this was a thing.

Just like... it felt like such an unnecessary judgmental atittude towards him.

Yes I know, at the end of the day this isn't the myths, this is Rick Riordan's own universe and he can bend it to whatever he wants. But you would think that, under his own standarts, Hercules was a victim of the gods as much as any other demigod in the series was.

I don't really have more arguments, it simply did not sit right with me.

Ok, guess I'm done, I'm sorry. I'll post my other thoughts later. It was a great book. :D

#my impulsive instincts won #yeah idk #heroes of olympus #hoo

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popentertainment-moviereviews · 11 months

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THE FLASH (2023)

Starring Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Keaton, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue, Temuera Morrison, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Rudy Mancuso, Luke Brandon Field, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Jeremy Irons, Nicolas Cage, George Clooney and Ben Affleck.

Screenplay by Christina Hodson.

Directed by Andy Muschietti.

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. 144 minutes. Rated PG-13.

The Flash was always my favorite DC superhero (with the possible exception of Superman), so even though I’m well past my comic book phase, I’ve been keenly waiting for this film. Of course, it turned out to be a longer wait than most anticipated.

It’s sort of a tough time for the speedster. The CW television series of The Flash just limped off the air a few weeks ago, long after the show had jumped the shark, going from a terrific series to one that was barely watchable over the last few seasons.

The character has been on the outskirts of the DC film universe for a while, appearing in Justice League and doing cameos in Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad. However, this film has been on hold for a while now – for several reasons. Original plans had it being released in 2018, but a whole series of issues slowed down the speedster.

First of all, the film shuffled through a whole series of potential directors and script revisions. They finally settled on director Andy Muschietti (right off his successful helming of two films based on Stephen King’s IT), but even with Muschietti on board, it was planned to get wide release a year ago.

However, that was right at the time of the DCEU shift from the old Zack Snyder universe to the new conception of the franchise helmed by James Gunn. There were quite a few rumors that the Flash film would be scrapped, both because it was part of the old guard, and also because star Ezra Miller had often been in the news because of a disturbing series of personal and legal issues over recent years.

In fact, honestly, to a certain extent the film was more anticipated because it was going to feature the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, resuming the role for the first time since Batman Returns (1992). In fact, more than even the lead character, I have a feeling that Keaton’s participation in the film was the reason that this film survived and is finally reaching theaters.

It's a good thing that it did, because The Flash is the best DC film since… well… the first Shazam! Of course, this says as much about the overall quality of DCEU efforts as it does about the quality of The Flash. Still, while far from perfect, The Flash is a mostly quite enjoyable time-travel adventure with lots of fun Easter eggs for fans.

Sadly, one of the slight disappointments of the film is Ezra Miller’s performance and Barry Allen / The Flash. In fairness, Miller has many funny moments, but overall he plays the role a bit too broadly, almost like a Randy Rainbow parody of the character. With all of his other issues, it will be interesting to see if Miller continues to play the role in future projects.

The Flash is another one of those comic book films that revolves around a multiverse (I wonder if there will ever be another superhero film that actually stays in one time thread), and while the idea is kind of overdone by now, The Flash does some fun things with it. We get to revisit lots of different variations of superheroes over the years, with Michael Keaton’s Batman and Michael Shannon’s General Zod standing out as fun casting returns.

It's probably best that you go into The Flash not knowing too much of the plot, so I’ll not delve into the storyline too much to avoid dropping any potential spoilers here. The only thing you really need to know is that the nearly two and a half hours of The Flash zips by in an exciting and fun blur, and it’s definitely worth the time.

Jay S. Jacobs

youtube

#The Flash #2023 #Movie Review #Ezra Miller #Jay S. Jacobs #Youtube

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